#usagi kills people for the first time and admits he didn’t think there would be This Much Blood. and gunichi laughs + offers to support him

[pizzazz-party]

i have more things to say about gunichi and his first meeting with usagi, i just don’t have the energy to doublecheck the appropriate screencaps.

[sleeping-on-cracking-ice]

hiya there! i love your work and i was wondering if i could request a Chishiya fic where its 3 times the reader almost kisses him and the one time he kisses them OR 3 times they almost confess their feelings and the one time Chishiya confesses his feelings. its up to you! :D

Thanks for you request! Here you go! 😉

Interrupted Confessions | Shuntaro Chishiya

{Alice In Borderland Masterlist}

{Main Masterlist}

Character(s): Chishiya (ft. Niragi, middle-aged woman from the second game, OC, Aguni, militants)

Summary: You and Chishiya keep trying to confess your feelings for one another, but something always seems to come between you when you finally get the chance

Warnings: drinking (reader), violence, mention of dying/death, guns, gunshots, panicking, mild angst

Word Count: 2.5k

*reader is gender-neutral

Chishiya wasn’t the best at expressing his emotions, especially when it came to romantic feelings. He appeared so confident and smug most of the time, but if someone was to even give him a bouquet of flowers or wink in his direction, his sarcastic remarks become caught in his throat and he doesn’t know how to react.

He could tell that you held romantic emotions for him. He was a people watcher, so he knows how people act when they feel that way. For ages, he tried to ignore the fact that you liked him, but as time pressed on and he began noticing you a lot more during games and at The Beach, he could slowly feel himself develop feelings for you back.

He knew he had to tell you soon enough, but every time he tried to open up to you, the world just didn’t allow him to have the chance.

************

1st Attempt

The first attempt Chishiya had at trying to express his interest in you was at The Beach.

It was a usual late night, everyone dancing and singing on the big patio of the hotel, allowing themselves to indulge in the delusional thoughts of being safe and sound, not having to worry about their lives for the time that the alcohol infected their hearts and minds.

You had had a few drinks, beginning to feel a little light headed yourself. You had dragged Chishiya down to the bar with you, convincing him to keep you company due to not being able to find Kuina or Usagi. Chishiya gladly went along, wanting to make sure you didn’t over do it and end up getting yourself hurt.

You sat on a stool at the bar, leaning on the wooden bench and staring down into your empty cocktail glass. Chishiya leant on the bar next to you, scanning the crowd of rowdy and social people. It was entertaining, watching people being drunken idiots.

He glanced over to you as you placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Chishiya,” you mumbled. “Have a shot. I feel bad for being the only one ordering. You’re making me look like an alcoholic.” You nudged a small glass filled to the brim with liquor in his direction, trying to encourage him to drink it.

Chishiya smirked as you looked at him pleadingly. He lifted his hand out of his white hoodie pocket and pet your head playfully. “No thanks Y/N. A matter of fact, I think you’ve had quite a bit.”

He could tell the intoxicating alcohol was beginning to get to you as he saw your eyes begin to gloss over. Your movements became a little more lazy and disorientated.

You pouted and looked into his piercing eyes that filled with the unfamiliar feeling of care and concern for you. “Just one more cocktail? We haven’t even been down here for long and you already want to leave,” you groaned, turning back to the bar to shout for the bartender.

Chishiya rolled his eyes and chuckled at you. You were lucky he liked you. If anyone else was to act the way you did around him, they would irritate him like no tomorrow.

Around half an hour later, Chishiya and you were strolling up the stairs to the roof, wanting to escape the chaotic ground level that pounded heavily as the bass in each song seemed to become more and more powerful, beginning to make your head hurt.

Chishiya and you giggled together as you tripped up the stairs slightly, being able to catch yourself before you face planted. Chishiya held a firm grip on your shoulders, making sure you don’t end up hurting yourself.

“You’re such a lil’ goose,” he laughed, turning his head towards you with a wide smile across his face, showing off his cute teeth. You smacked his cheek lightly, being embarrassed from his intense stare, considering how close his lips were to yours. “Shut up, you’re no better when you’re drunk. Last time you drank, I had to drag your ass up all these stairs like a baby. And you’re much heavier than you look.”

Chishiya laughed, and in a moment of bravery, he lifted a hand and gently stroked his knuckles across your face. Your skin was hot and soft under his touch, making him feel warm inside and gaze lovingly at you.

Silence took over the atmosphere, and you both stood still in the hallway together and stared into each other’s eyes. You weren’t sure if it was the alcohol talking, but the warm lights made Chishiya’s skin glow beautifully, and you didn’t think he had ever looked so gorgeous.

“Y/N,” he whispered. “Can I do something?” His heart was pounding so loudly, he was afraid you would be able to hear it through his chest. Why was he suddenly feeling brave?

You smirked and cocked your head to the side, pretending to not understand what he wanted. “And what would that be?” you questioned in a playful tone.

Chishiya took his arm off your shoulder and placed it against your other cheek, holding your face delicately in his hands so he could keep you looking at him. “This.”

Just as Chishiya was slowly leaning in to crash his lips onto yours, you both suddenly heard a deafening bang down the hall. The sound made you both quickly jump apart in fright, snapping your heads to see what caused the noise.

There stood none other than Niragi, having just kicked a young woman into the wall across from the room they came from. 

“Locking doors I see? What exactly do you have to hide?!”

Chishiya and you stood completely still as you watched Niragi stride over to the woman and grip a fist full of her hair, pulling her up and making her scream in pain.

“Y/N, come on,” Chishiya said quietly next to you, sounding rushed.

You looked at him confused. “What? We can’t just leave her,” you said, stumbling after him as he dragged you by your wrist, trying to pull you away from the scene.

“It’s not our business. She went against the rules, we can’t defend her.”

That wasn’t true. He could easily take on Niragi to help the girl, and so could have you. But considering your state at the moment, and Chishiya’s main concern being your safety around Niragi, he just wanted to leave to get you safe again.

Your safety was more important than a small kiss or saving a girl who broke the rules.

*************

2nd Attempt

Chishiya’s second attempt to admit his romantic feelings towards you occurred at a game together.

The game was held in an apartment complex. Luckily, you two had managed to be put into the same group, meaning you could work together to survive. Two militants from The Beach also joined you, one of them being Aguni. Chishiya and you knew you wouldn’t receive any help from them, so you decided to just stick to you two for this one.

The game was a five of spades. The players had to find a safe zone to turn off a bomb within the time limit without getting killed by the ‘Tagger’.

As soon as the game began, you suggested to Chishiya to go to the top level, as you would be able to get a good view from there and be able to determine the Tagger’s patterns and habits to take note when searching for the unlocked door.

You both stood at the end of the top floor, having a clear view of the many levels and seeing all the players scattered in different positions.

You felt your heart sink as you saw a middle aged lady with a handbag on one of the middle levels. She was alone, looking around confused. It made you guilty that you couldn’t do anything to help her.

“As usual,” you heard Chishiya mumble beside you. You glanced at him and saw him scanning the players before continuing. “Everyone looks like they’re about to die.”

You blinked at his statement, looking back over the edge of the concrete railing. The vast sea of darkness that became darker the further it was away from the game made you feel empty. It purely just appeared like a black hole, waiting to suck you back into it’s depressive atmosphere.

“Sounds about right,” you responded to Chishiya.

Chishiya turned his head towards you, feeling his white locks become tangled together from the wispy wind. He examined your features as you stared over the area, admiring the way your skin glowed in the fluorescent lights. He looked down to your legs, hearing your shoe lightly tap anxiously on the ground.

He slid closer to you on the railing, placing a soft hand on your thigh to still your shaking leg and placed his chin on your shoulder before speaking softly. “Don’t be scared, I’ll protect you.”

You turned your head slowly towards him, seeing your lips only inches apart once again. You scoffed and rolled your eyes. “As if I need protection,” you teased.

Chishiya huffed, hiding his face in your hair in fear of you seeing the blush creeping onto his cheeks. You smiled at his movements. “You’re a bit clingy today, aren’t you?”

From that comment, Chishiya pulled his head back and looked into your eyes. His emotions were bouncing around his mind, making his heart beat quickly in confusion. Why couldn’t he just say it? Either of you could die at any time, why was he wasting time?

A piercing sound filled the air, and you gripped the back of Chishiya’s hoodie to roughly pull him to the harsh ground. Your reflexes went into overdrive as the gunshots rang. You glanced towards the hall on your right, in fear of seeing the tagger there. But luckily he wasn’t.

“Y/N, look.”

You looked towards Chishiya to see him standing over the railing again. You scrambled to your feet and stood beside him, following his line of sight.

A door a few levels down had several bullet holes around the sides of it. The tagger had tried to shoot someone there from a different level.

“He hasn’t done that yet. He’s trying to protect it,” Chishiya theorized. You nodded and pushed off the railing. “Come on, we don’t have much time left.”

You both quickly entered the lift and selected the floor the damaged door was on. 

As you both stood in silence, Chishiya’s words that almost poured out of his mouth before still rang in his ears.

‘I’m clingy because you make me feel safe.’

When will he ever have the chance again to tell you that?

He promised himself that if you both survived that game, he would confess to you before your next game. Because who knows what the game makers would make you do next? For all he knew, it could get you killed, and he would never be able to get to tell you how he feels.

************ 3rd Attempt

Surprisingly, Chishiya wasn’t the one to confess his feelings first. You were able to bring enough courage together to say it to him, but it wasn’t under the best circumstances.

He always envisioned his confession to you as being sweet and loving. He dreamed of telling you how he felt underneath the stairs on the roof, like a cliché romance movie.

But he didn’t get that chance.

You and him were huddled together in the corner of a trashed room. Chishiya held you tightly against his chest, patting your head to try and ease your rapidly beating heart and nervous breaths.

“Shh,” he whispered, his voice shaking slightly. “It’s okay. This’ll be over soon, and we can leave. We can find somewhere else to go.”

Gunshots rang outside the door of the room you were hidden in. Chishiya felt you flinch at every bang, making his heart sink lower and lower. He hated not being able to comfort you, it made him feel sick almost.

The Beach had become a game arena. Aguni has demanded the militants to kill everyone on sight so he could find the witch the hard way. As soon as Niragi had yelled and shot several bullets to the ceiling, sending everyone into a sudden panic, Chishiya didn’t even give you time to think before grabbing your arm and dragging you hurryingly away from the lobby to hide from the militants. 

So there you were, trying to make yourselves as small as possible behind a turned over table in the corner of a pitch black hotel room. Chishiya thought it was best not to hide in his room or your room because the militants would look there first to find you.

Chishiya lifted his face from the top of your head to glance towards the door. He sobbed slightly in fear as he saw shadows through the small crack at the bottom of the door. People were running back and forth through the halls screeching for help, trying to escape the murderous militants.

He felt you wrap your hand around his upper back and tuck your face into his neck, causing your tears to make his sensitive skin wet, not that he really cared.

He sighed heavily, trying to relax into your touch. It was deemed impossible to be calm, but having you there with him brought him more relief than anything else could’ve in that moment.

Chishiya placed his cheek on your head, snuggling into you and inhaling your scent. “I-I’m sorry,” you mumbled out.

Chishiya frowned at your apology. “Why are you saying sorry?” he asked.

“I-I’m sorry,” you cried quietly again. “I’m so in love with you Chishiya, and I’m so sorry that I’ve waited until now to say it. But I’m afraid if I don’t, I won’t get another chance.”

Chishiya felt his heart stop in his chest. Silence fell over both of you, but then Chishiya placed a soft hand on your jaw to lift your teary face to face his.

“You idiot,” he laughed, tears still streaming down his smooth cheeks. “You’re an idiot. You should’ve told me this sooner, I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to tell you the exact same thing.”

His words only made you sob harder, pushing your face towards him to share a desperate kiss. It was messy and emotional, but that kiss alone was enough to make both of you understand how much you truly cared.

Whether you both lived or died at that moment didn’t matter to either of you, all that mattered was that Chishiya finally crawled out of his shell to let you in, and you had finally been able to create the courage to express what you truly felt about him.

*****************

3 Months Later...

The breeze flew gently past your body, making your skin develop small goosebumps at the cold feeling. Your eyes scanned over the vast ocean of water in front of you, almost being blinded from the morning sun reflecting off the surface.

You glanced behind you quickly when you heard light taps of feet against the grassy ground. Chishiya walked away from the tent and rubbed his eyes. He sat next to you, but not without giving you a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Good morning baby,” he whispered into your ear. You smiled at the pet name, turning your head and placing your lips against his. “Good morning.”

[mk-wizard]

Sailor Moon 90s Anime is STILL the best

Hi. I know I am on a Sailor Moon binge here, but after seeing all of Crystal, Eternal and on R (season 2) of the first anime, I want to get this all off of my chest... and before I go further, since these are all animes, I will refer to them as 90s, Crystal and Eternal. And after watching them all, I have to say that the 90s takes the gold medal as the best Sailor Moon anime so far and this is why;

1- It had the best pacing. - While I admit that sometimes, it went too far with the filler, 98% of the time, it worked with the 90s. It took its time to make you get to know the characters for better or for worse, it made you see different sides of them, it gave them a chance to truly develop and be multi-dimensional, and it made you care about them. When a death happened, it felt tragic. When a victory happened, you cheered. And when you saw what side characters did, it mattered. I mean, who can ever forget the contribution 90s Naru Osaka had to the story? And everyone who has seen the 90s anime cannot forget her. More on the character development and getting to know characters later.

Sure, it wasn’t true to the manga and even the characters had different personalities, but I let that slide by because when Crystal and Eternal did follow the manga to the letter, we didn’t get a chance to digest anything. The only characters who develop are Usagi, Chibi-Usa and the outer guardians, and for the last bunch, it was the bare minimum. Crystal and Eternal were fun rides and I would be lying if I said I didn’t like them, but they were like roller coasters. They gave you a thrill, but fast and been done. The 90s was like a slow scenic ride that gave you surprises, emotionally touched you, made you cry, made you laugh, made you root for the heroes and even at the age of 37 years now, I keep rewatching this series.

2- The art of the 90s was better because it was sketchy, dark and edgier. - I know Sailor Moon doesn’t seem like this on the surface because the heroines are lovely girls in cute costumes, it emphasizes femininity and all things pretty, it has a romantic theme and is all about love, but Sailor Moon is also one of the darkest, grittiest, edgy and violent magical girl animes I have ever seen since Magic Knights Rayearth. Sailor Moon has on screen deaths which were permanent most of the time, on screen stabbings and the drawing of blood, and fights that got so hardcore, that real punches and kicks were thrown. The dark edges, black line art and sharp edges worked with the atmosphere of the story. I mean, look at the difference between the halls Dark Kingdom of the 90s (above) and that of Crystal.

And if that is not enough to win you over, the characters were much more animated, organic and conveyed more emotion whether they were exaggerated or serious.

In Crystal, the expressions and body language was very dulled down. Not to mention, very stiff.

Everything is also too bright and soft which makes the characters look like velvet dolls with too much make up especially with the line art. I will give them props for adding better details, cleaner lines, the glow of magical items, and details in the gems, but everything else is all wrong.

Eternal was better, but still not quite there. The colours are still way too bright and the characters still look too much like dolls from having line art that is too wispy. And I really do not like how the eyes have this unnatural glow to them. The edgy scenes become lost with all this brightness.

3- We got to see that there was so much more the characters than just heroes or villains. - Since Usagi is the titular character, let us just talk about her in the 90s since I could go on forever about how much we learned about the characters. In any version of Sailor Moon, Usagi’s role as a Sailor Guardian has always been the core of the story and she does indeed show progress as one. However, the 90s tells us that no matter what, she is still going to be herself too which is just as important and she shows character development as just plain old Usagi too. The manga, Crystal and Eternal which only paint Usagi as not doing anything right except be a Sailor Guardian, but the 90s show her hidden talents and learning new skills. For example, she was bad at cooking at the beginning of the series.

However, by Sailor Moon R, she gets the hang of it and is able to cook a meal by herself. Yes, she is messy, clumsy, never gets the hang of making cookies and is nowhere near Makoto’s level especially when it comes to presentation, but she is good at cooking food.

Another hidden talent of Usagi’s is her drawing skills. She isn’t just good at drawing. She’s got talent at it, so in the 90s, Usagi is quite the artist.

And it is admirable that 90s Usagi is open to trying new things even if she isn’t good at them. She practices, she explores and tries to enlighten herself. Sure, academics, coordination and organization will never be her fortes, but she really does have other and tries to discover more.

In Crystal and Eternal, she is good at being Sailor Moon, she is a good friend and a good girlfriend, but that is it. She is one dimensional here and she isn’t the only one to painted like that. Everyone is only the obvious and that is all the audience gets.

4- Better character redemption. - I mentioned before that Sailor Moon had grit and was dark, but the 90s also made it more complex and did character redemption right. It was open to the possibility of bad people becoming good. For instance, the Black Moon Clan Specter Sister are unforgettable for being successfully redeemed.

Yes, I admit that the monster of the day would get killed by the hands of the Sailor Guardians, but they also clearly showed that the monsters were not people or even alive. They were made of energy, clay or sand. When the monster of the day was a possessed innocent, they were saved through exorcism. Very rarely was an actual person ever killed and even when they were, it was either by the hands of another villain, their own hand, self defense or as a last resort. They never used killing as means of dealing with every single bad guy.

Furthermore, the bridge arc about the Makai Tree that also served as a prologue to Sailor Moon R could be seen as a story about mercy, kindness and love. It stands out as the one time the big bad was actually a misunderstood big good being the Makai Tree herself. And even Ail an An were never bad, but were raised bad. And even then, they changed. This story is unique only to the 90s so far, but it was great and stood out for that reason.

In Crystal, the heroines will kill a person without a second thought which I am shocked that no one brings up how repetitive and contradictory that is. The pretty warrior of love and justice should by all means protect the Earth, but doing so by killing off the bad guy all time is not love or justice. I also think the caption in this picture sums up how I feel about how the one and only time bad guys were given a chance to be redeemed...

Eternal was better because the Asteroid Guardians got redeemed and saved. However, even then, I feel like there is still a double standard. They were one of the good guys to begin with and Sailor Guardians. In the 90s, the Amazoness Quartet wasn’t, but were given a chance to change anyway. I find it cool that the Quartet turned out to be Sailors and even better that they will go on to become Chibi-Usa’s team, but mercy is not just for your allies or for your own benefit. Everyone should be given at least one chance to fix their mistakes.

5- We got to know Mamoru better. - I admit that no matter the incarnation, Tuxedo Mask will never be as powerful as Sailor Moon except when he is King Endymion, but the 90s take on his character made him better even if they did omit his super attack being Tuxedo le Smoking Bomber. What the well dressed masked man lacked in firepower, he made up for in intelligence, insight about the enemy’s weakness, courage and skill. The only times he ever did get overpowered was either by bad luck or because it was intentional because he was taking a hit for Sailor Moon. And even then, he always got back up. He’s a real man like that.

More importantly, we get to know him as Mamoru too. Even before he confides being an amnesiac to Usagi, we see his struggles with feeling alone in the world from having no memory of his life before a tragic accident which also killed his parents. Now, him being a stern cynical person makes sense because I probably wouldn’t be pleasant to be around either if I lived with that. Once his walls come down, we see that deep down, all he wants is to belong somewhere and have a family. It should also be noted that 90s Mamoru doesn’t love Usagi because he is “destined” to. He loves her because he wants to. Even during that brief period where he broke up with Usagi was an act of love. The thing I also always liked best about 90s Mamoru is that even though he loves Usagi more than life itself, his life doesn’t revolve around her which is a healthy thing and he tries to encourage Usagi to be the same way for her own good. He is studying to be a doctor, he has a job and he even has his own crowd which I think is great.

In Crystal and Eternal, while I do see an attempt at trying to follow this trend by showing that Usagi and Mamoru were on their way to falling in love even before they got their memories back, I still find he was one note and we never really learn much about him that has nothing to do with Tuxedo Mask, Endymion or anything royal related. Sure, we know that he’s studying to be a doctor and is a genius to an extent too, but that is it.

I would like to end this by admitting that the 90s was not perfect either, but out of all the takes on the tale of Sailor Moon as of date. Crystal and Eternal were ok, but they just cannot stand up to the quality of the 90s. The only thing I can say I find Crystal did better than the 90s were the costume designs. Specifically, how they let Venus keep her chain belt, Pluto’s key chain belt, Uranus and Neptune’s shorter gloves, Uranus’s sword, Uranus having two earrings, Mercury’s suit is shoulder less which I always found suited her better, and I liked Sailor Moon’s brooch and necklace better in season 1.

And even then, I should have liked it if Jupiter’s antenna was always on display as it is just something I always found cute in the manga, I liked Mars’ five point star earrings better in the 90s, and I like how in the 90s, each of the Inner Guardians’ sailor stripes were a little different.

Of course, this is all my opinion. I would like to hear which of the animes did Sailor Moon right in your opinion and why. Thanks for reading and stay safe, and have a great day.

[keyofjetwolf]

Bonus Question Answers! (anime heat 2)

I asked a silly question! You gave me incredible answers. SO VERY MANY INCREDIBLE ANSWERS. Now, I present my favourites! And really, they were ALL favourites. Mmm, headcanony goodness.

Oh, special shoutout to this unattributed one, which I suspect fell prey to someone submitting early, but as phrased, made me snort laugh: “one of my longest held headcanons is that ami“

SAME, FRIEND

Anyway, If your answer is listed below, you’ve earned an entry in a random draw to win a GIFTENING liveblog OF YOUR CHOICE

—

Q: Senshi headcanon time! Intrigue me, humour me, crush me, FEED ME.

* Michiru actually did have a guardian cat, once. It was silvery grey with dark blue eyes. It did not speak, but it was always there to provide support and comfort in a life which had little of either. The first time Michiru had a strong vision, which left her cold and senseless on the floor of her room, it was the small warmth from her cat that brought her back to the world of color and light and solidity. The cat was a friend and confidante in those early days, when Michiru was unsure if this experience was real or the beginnings of schizophrenia. The fact that her mother could see the cat, and regularly make comments about the uncleanliness of such creatures, was proof of Michiru's new reality. So when the cat entered the fray to distract a youma, saving Michiru, but being killed in the process, it became one more thing that the Moon had given her, only to steal away. Michiru promised herself to never rely on another again, or to allow the Moon to have her heart again. And she had done fairly well at this. Haruka, for all her charms, was a plaything, and not something to sacrifice herself for. But pausing outside the Marine Cathedral, Michiru found herself looking into dark blue eyes, so different, but so similar, and knew that she would do anything and everything in her power to keep from having to watch them close, again. -- @incorrecttact  [YOU ARE ALSO KILLING THESE QUESTIONS. This hit me right in the kokoro, and I welcomed its sweet sweet pain.]

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*  Mako teaches Hotaru, Chibiusa, and the Amazon Quartet to cook and bake as a bonding activity. Hotaru LOVES making cakes and decorating them. Chibiusa likes cooking with noodles and even making her own; it doesn’t sound special, but the food she makes is DELICIOUS. Ves, the red one, finds cooking easy, but doesn’t like it and so never does outside of being coaxed into it. Jun, the green one, finds baking easy, but also doesn’t like sweet things, which limits her repertoire. Cere, the pink one, has no natural talent, but she very much WANTS to be good at it, so she turns out to be the best cook of her Senshi group. Palla takes to neither, but she is very enthusiastic about eating their experiments.  --  Jules  [I am an absolute slut for Mako and moments with the kids, and including the Quartet was a brilliant stroke.]

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*  A Serenity is not supposed to be reborn. They are born, they live, they die, and they are done. They are not like the Senshi, whose souls reincarnate, carefully bound to Serenity blood. They are not supposed to be reborn, so when Queen Serenity sees everything fail and decides to send their souls to the future, the Senshi are easy. Serenity is not. In desperation, Serenity does something she would have never considered in any other circumstance: she ties Serenity's soul to the Senshi. What was once a one way tie, has now become an equal bond, and so everything changes.  -- @madegeeky  [Ooo, this is some lovely twists on my own reincarnation headcanons, while still keeping the “this is a mistake” flavour. IT TASTES GOOD.]

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*  How about more Rei whistle antics? You headcanon Usagi would use the whistle for every mundane thing and Rei would come. Usagi would do this at 2 AM in the morning too and Rei would still be woken up and still come even in pajamas if she need be because Usagi had a spooky nightmare or "Rei-chan I fell off my bed and now my face hurts". Knowing Rei whistle antics can be funny for us and maybe aggravating for Rei at times because "Usagi you blew the whistle because you fell off the bed?" what if we can make it a pinch sad? Like what if Rei can tell what sort of peril Usagi is in by the way she blows the whistle in tone? Like when it's a sad somewhat weaker whistle, even if it's just a tiny subtle tone, Rei can IMMEDIATELLY tell "USAGI IS SAD AND NEEDS ME" and she will RUSH over in 5 seconds like in her Rei way, she might even have the mind to bring snacks, cocoa and plush to hug for the comfort.  --  Mrs. Duckling  [HOW ABOUT INDEED. I hadn’t thought about the different ways the whistle can be blown and what it might say, what a wonderful addition. THANK YOU FOR CATERING DIRECTLY TO ME AND MY NEEDS]

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*  PGSM!Sailor Mars - [REDACTED] Oh. Right. You're not there yet. Awkward... Anime!Minako is a huge fan of romance manga, but for all the wrong reasons. She tried drawing doujinshi of crack ships before realizing that A) she's not really a writer and B) she's REALLY not an artist. She plans on using some of her rich idol singer money to commission really bizarre romance stories. The sort that make you go WTF?! Of course, step one is "become a rich and famous idol"... Meanwhile, Rei also buys the romance manga that Minako gets into, (partially so she'll shut up about it) but mainly just analyzes them for mood and the characters, and gets frustrated when they inevitably devolve into nothing but sappy kissing and mooning over each other. She's trying to see why Minako gets so obsessed, but doesn't want to flat out admit that she doesn't get it and have to ask. -- Peter "Pigeons!" Svensson  [I had nothing but fun with this, fantastic. ps: THANK YOU FOR THE PIGEONS NOMINATION]

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* If these four* Senshi were to meet you, I think they'd each also be meeting some of their best qualities: Usagi is love, and that love is infectious as HELL. Much like a certain blogger who has amassed an international following on the strength of her love for her favourite media, wouldn't you say? Ami is very impressed by your office set-up! But when she sees you re-enter the room with a sprightly little black cat riding on your shoulder, she knows she has discovered a kindred spirit. Where can Rei-chan possibly begin? From your passionately informed and encyclopedic knowledge of their interactions ("She has RECEIPTS, Usagi!"), to your, let's call it tenacity ("She stirred that sugar for TWO HOURS, Usagi!!"), Rei finds so much to admire. And while no one could ever possibly love Rei as much as she loves herself, she magnanimously allows that you are a close second. As for Haruka, well! World Shaking? More like Toilet Breaking! You wrecked that shit and unleashed the sea. She can certainly relate *eyebrows, eyebrows* *would that i had time to write out blurbs for the others! but we're heading back into lockdown today, and i need to get to the post office to mail you a package. PRIORITIES! xo  -- @rasiqra-revulva​  [Okay look when I said “crush me” I didn’t mean WITH NICENESS. Also thank you for the huge laughs. *eyebrows, eyebrows*]

~~

*  Minako manages to write a tell-all book (anonymously, of course, and with names changed to protect the relevant,) about their first few years as Senshi in the lull between Stars and Shit Escalating Again. Even more astoundingly, she manages to get it optioned as a film and play Sailor Mars without blowing her cover! Rei seethes. Minako’s annoyed because she tried out for Usagi. Usagi’s just happy Minako’s successful. The film manages to pick up nominations come award season, and Michiru even arranges for the rest of the Senshi to attend. Minako loses to some film from a really overrated director that manages to out-award bait her reenactment of D-Point. She’s silently fuming through his acceptance speech when he’s Burning Mandala’d mid-sentence. And that’s how the Senshi discovered that Jadeite survived getting run over with planes, joined the entertainment industry after Beryl’s defeat, and had been using it to drain energy ever since! Sailor Mars’s speech about how he disgraces the passion of filmmakers everywhere and her comrade’s hard work goes viral. -- Regalli  [LOVED THE TWIST ENDING, also Rei basically stealing the awards show stage, as we all know she would]

~~

*  Not Senshi, but cats! One day, when Usagi is queen, she's going to decide to knight the cats. Luna thinks it's silly and figures Usagi is just acting on a whim, but Artemis has his chest puffed out and is glowing with pride. They're given tiny medals made by Endymion. -- RibbonFinale  [Oh I DID want this. I wanted this very much, THANK YOU.]

~~

*  Makoto can't culture bonsai trees. It's not a matter of ability, or scale — she can work with tiny tools with equal facility as large ones — but she can't bring herself to push the things down, to cut and twist and bind them to grow the way _she_ wants, not the way it wants to grow.   The tiny pine she bought to try it out, years ago, is in a pot in the corner of her apartment; it's just now grown taller than she is. -- Taperwolf  [I didn’t expect this one to hit me as hard as it did when I started reading. Love it, love it, love it.]

~~

*  You know those 'meetings Usagi doesn't know about'? the ones where the girls dive into the nitty gritty about being senshi, the ones where they decide who will take up being the Disguise Pen Decoy if Minako is killed? Usagi knows about them. it was one of those 'character A eavesdrops and hears character B talking about them' setups, but instead of hearing Ami call Usagi a ditz, she hears Ami saying 'I'm the weakest fighter, if Minako is assassinated and we need someone to be decoy it'd be easier to explain away my absence than Rei's or Mako's' In these meetings they speak very coldly about themselves, Ami is always first to call herself the weak one, Minako calls into attention her showboating, Mako will openly remind people she doesn't think things through on the battlefield, and Rei derides herself on her inability to keep her cool (heh) and they all come up with contingencies to cover for eachother to the minutest detail. Usagi only ever evesdrops on one of these meetings, but now she knows they happen. and she can't un-know.  -- Vega  [OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.]

~~

Manga Sailor Pluto has picked her nose 2,013,417 times. -- too ashamed to say  [WHY THE SHAME THIS IS CORRECT  AND NOW RIGHTFULLY CANON]

---

I’ll be drawing for the bonus liveblog around the start of THE GIFTENING 2020 (currently looking to be Monday, 11 January 2021). Each bonus question is another chance to earn an entry! I CAN ABSOLUTELY AND SHAMELESSLY BE BOUGHT.

[docholligay]

Stargazing

For day 5 of Fluffvember, requested by @keyofjetwolf. Rei and Usagi! 800 words, FLUFF IS SO MUCH HARDER FOR ME THAN ANGST

It was strange, to see this many stars. 

Tokyo was bright and fast and crowded, and there was little time to look up at the stars, even if you could see them. Or maybe it was only Rei, always ever looking down at the stones she swept, or at the hot fire that channeled her Sight, never bothering to look up at some writings of fate so far away she could never make out the letters. Maybe others looked up to find their futures unreadable, but still peered, still wondered. 

Looking up at the stars now, it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the immensity of them, scraping across the sky in bright, glittering lines and clumps, as random as sequins left on a threadbare old party dress. The were from those stars, and bound to them. Rei had known this for many years, and maybe this, she admitted only to herself, was why she never looked at them. They could control her, but they could not make her give them the time of night. 

Usagi sat at her side, looking up at the stars with her, the stream from the hot spring rising around them. Rei had been suspicious, to see it so empty, but that had never occurred to Usagi. Years of being the princes, of being on the run, and all she saw was a rare chance to sit with Rei in relative solitude, the low lights allowing the stars to do the work. 

There was a charm Rei could not capture in that. Usagi always believed in the essential goodness of the world around her, that people, in general, wanted to be good. That the world was kind, and safe, at its base. It was foolish, and it was stupid, and Rei loved it. She would always fight that in Usagi. She would always protect that in usagi. She knew both of these things were true, whatever the stars said. 

“I think those over there look like a girl wearing a tiara,” Usagi stared up, smiling, “Look, you can see how her dress sweeps out, and it’s so sparkly on her head! Oh! It could be Michiru, at one of those fancy balls!” 

“It’s Scorpius, Usagi,” she said, leaning against the wall of the hot spring and following Usagi’s eyes, “He killed Orion, the hero.” 

Usagi shook her head. “I don’t think Michiru would do that.” 

“Orion was a man who said he could kill anything,” Her voice sounded far away, even to her, “Scorpius’ in the sky to remind mankind of their arrogance.” 

“Okay, maybe Michiru would do that.” She smiled, her nose crinkling as she looked over at Rei. “What do you think that one looks like?” 

She pointed to a bright cluster of stars next to Scorpius. 

“That’s Sagittarius,” she wondered when she had learned this, but she knew she had, “Sagittarius was--” 

She was stopped by a splash of water to her face, and Rei scowled, pushing back the wet of her hair to find it met by Usagi’s own. 

“I didn’t ask what the Egyptians thought!” 

“Greeks, Usagi.” She dipped further down in the spring, against the slight chill of the wind that had whipped up. 

“Whatever,” moved closer to Rei, and looked up again, ‘I want to know what you think it looks like. Not anyone else.” 

This, too, was Usagi’s magic, Rei thought, sitting side by side with her as the steam and murmurs of other conversations surrounded them. She could look at those stars, where the stories had been set for thousands of years, and utterly reject them. Usagi could make her own story of other people’s materials, and she would do so until the world was the way she wanted it to be. The scorpion didn’t have to kill. Maybe it was a princess after all. 

Usagi was selfish, and who put the Greeks in charge, anyway, and Rei loved that selfish sense of beauty like she loved the fire. She couldn’t touch it, but she found herself focused in its light. 

“I think…” she stared at the stars, trying to make them beautiful, “It looks like a teapot. Hot tea waiting for the girl in the tiara when she gets home.” She drew an arm around Usagi, “What’s that one?”

“A heart!” She answered immediately “The girl’s in love. And anyway,” she gave a fake pout, “I don’t like the Orion story. It’s just her prince bringing her a drink. They’re reaching for each other across the dance floor.” She thought for a moment. “Which I guess makes it Haruka. I wonder where we are in the sky, Rei!” 

Usagi nuzzled into her shoulder, and Rei looked up at those stars for the first time without fearin so very many years. 

“Wherever we want to be, Usagi.”

She found that she believed it.

[obscurelysevere]

5: Introductions

Nerves that were uncharacteristic of her were flitting around in her stomach, as Usagi tugged at her and Mamoru's arms, pulling them toward Crown parlor. "Ooh, I can't wait to introduce you to my friends! Another senshi! This is so exciting!" the tiny blonde bubbled, as the sliding doors parted for the trio. "How many others are there?" Kat asked, betraying her own nerves. "Well, there's..." Usagi stopped to think, counting silently on her fingers. "Ten of us? If you include Chibimoon and myself." "Ten?!" She was not expecting that many. "Oh! But don't worry, not everybody is here all the time. Haruka and Michiru and Setsuna and Hotaru kind of like to... keep to themselves. And Chibimoon is in the future with Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion," she continued to babble on. "Endymion? Neo Queen...?" Kat stopped walking, and looked up at her brother, who went by the same name in a previous life, with her, and Princess Serenity. Usagi stopped walking and looked back at the siblings. "Eh... uhm... yeah. So... Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion are me and Mamo-chan in the future. And Chibiusa is their... our daughter." Usagi poked her two pointer fingers together a couple of times, sounding slightly embarrassed.

It was Kat's turn for her mouth to fall open slightly, at a complete loss for words. So Usagi continued. "Chibiusa - Chibimoon - comes and visits us here, in the past, sometimes. She also comes to see Hotaru - they're best friends, you see." Kat closed her eyes for a moment. She just spent the past few months trying to wrap her head around her past. But there was a future world she had to think about too? She couldn't help but smile, though. The idea that the prince and princess still existed in another time made her happy. "Well, I can't wait to meet her sometime." "I guess that would make her your niece!" Usagi exclaimed, excitedly, now that she knew she didn't freak Kat out. "So, then, if she's from the future... Does she already know about me?" The question tumbled from Kat's lips before she could swallow it. It didn't want to impose on their lives in any way, and that question almost felt too close to the line. Usagi and Mamoru exchanged an unsure glance. "Eh... She hasn't said anything about you, before," Usagi started, carefully. "Yeah, but, I only became aware of your existence after you did. So maybe, your... awakening will start to spark something in all of our memories?" Mamoru was quick to offer. "Yeah, yeah!" Usagi agreed just as quickly. She grabbed Kat's and Mamoru's hands, pulling them along again, as she walked backwards towards a booth full of four other girls and two... cats? "Usagi-chan!" A blonde with a red bow stood up, beaming. All the girls looked up at the sound of Usagi's announcement. They looked like they were going to greet her, but their voices stuck in their throats at the sight of the newcomer. The girl with the blue bob spoke up first. "Who's your new friend, Usagi?" Kat suddenly felt very under the microscope. All she had planned on doing was meeting her brother today. But she'd already met him, his fiancé - the moon princess - heard of their daughter, and she was meeting other senshi, that she had only had a very faint knowledge of just until an hour ago. Her face felt hot - was she blushing? "This is Roun Katrina! She's... well..." Usagi stopped again, looking up at Kat and Mamoru, as if asking them to finish explaining for her. Mamoru cleared his throat and put his free hand on Kat's shoulder. "This is my sister, from the Silver Millennium." "Whaaat!?" All four girls - and the cats - cried at once, in disbelief. "Your sister!?" the raven-haired girl repeated, the words almost sounding funny on her tongue. "Mamoru, honestly, how long have you been keeping this a secret from us?" she demanded. "He didn't know," Kat was quick to jump in. "I just... found him today. I only got my memories back a few months ago." "Right around the time Galaxia... killed me." Mamoru added. "Wait, what!?" Kat's head snapped up. "You died again?" Mamoru quickly put up his hands in defense. "Yeah... When you showed me your memories, I saw more than just our past, I saw your life up until... well, today, really." "Kat is a sailor senshi, just like us!" Usagi added, with much excitement. The girls began throwing a barrage of questions at Mamoru and Katrina. "Here, here, let me just show you," Kat offered. She glanced around, there weren't many people in the Crown parlor, so she felt fairly safe letting the other girls see her past. She wasn't aware that her past also included her transforming for the first time in the present and fighting the phages, which she assumed came from this Galaxia that her brother had mentioned. The girls each put a hand in the middle of the table, fingertips touching, and Kat hovered her hand over theirs. Her signature rosy-golden glow illuminated her fingertips and warmth flooded over the other girls' hands. They were all silent as the memories merged in their minds. Kat also sensed the two cats presences in the peripheral of her mind. They all opened their eyes as Kat pulled her hand back. They blinked slowly, and looked at her with new eyes. Not recognition, but acceptance. The warmth that squeezed at Kat's heart was new and unfamiliar. She'd never had so many people around her before. "Sailor Earth," the brunette said, wonder in her voice. They each began to introduce themselves - Minako, Sailor Venus, Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, Rei, Sailor Mars, Ami, Sailor Mercury, and even the two cats - Artemis and Luna. They all moved to make way for her to sit amongst them. Mamoru excused himself, kissing Usagi atop her head, saying something about really needing to study, and he was so, so sorry, but he promised Usagi and Kat that they could all get together for dinner that night. Kat wasn't in the least bit nervous about her brother leaving her behind with these girls she'd only just met. It felt like she'd always known them, Usagi especially. Conversation quickly bubbled up, about school and studies, and eating and sleeping and gaming (courtesy of Usagi, herself). It was clear the girls had a deep bond, one that went far beyond them just being sailor senshi. The girls asked where Kat lived, where she went to school, what she did for a living, etc. Kat tucked some hair behind her ear, looking down at the strawberry parfait sitting in front of her (one that Usagi had insisted that she try). "Well... I live in Hakone right now... but I've been looking at moving here and studying at Keio University. I want to continue studying biology, with an emphasis at animal husbandry and conservation. I'm currently a vet tech at one of the best vets in Hakone, but I want to be able to do much more." "So like, zoology?" Ami asked, smiling gently at her. "Yeah, exactly like zoology, actually. I would love to work at the Tokyo zoo, eventually. But that seems like such a long ways down the road. Especially after discovering who I really am. But it's gotten so quiet since you beat Galaxia, that I feel like I might be able to dedicate more of myself to my studies." Ami nodded sagely. "Being a sailor guardian can be a lot of work, itself. But I've been able to maintain my studies and honor roll, so it's not impossible." Usagi and Minako groaned and rolled their eyes a little bit. Kat laughed. "I take it you two aren't too fond of school?" Rei smorted. "Usagi avoids studying like the plague. And her grades show how vested she is in her 'studies'." "Why should I try to memorize something I'm going to forget immediately? And it's something that's not so important anyway, not like being Sailor Moon is!" Usagi's voice grew louder with determination. "Shhh!" The girls were quick to shush her, and she hung her head slightly. Kat laughed. "You're such good friends." "What about your friends, Kat-chan?" Usagi asked, innocently. Kat wasn't used to the affectionate nickname. It made her feel warm and welcomed. "Well... I don't really have friends outside of my coworkers back home, really," she admitted, quietly. "Don't worry, we'll be your friends, from now on!" Usagi cheered. "Especially if you're going to move here! Oh, you have to move here! Us scouts have to stick together!" Kat smiled at her. "You really think so?" "Of course I do! You can't stay alone! Especially now that Mamo-chan knows he has a sister. Mamo's parents... they died in a car accident when he was younger. So he's never had any blood relatives around. He was an orphan when he was younger. But I'm his family now! I could be... your family too, if you would let me." Usagi offered a soft, small, genuine smile. Kat couldn't help but feel the warmness spread through her. Though there was something that tugged sadly at her heart. How her brother grew up, it didn't sound too much different than her upbringing. Though her parents hadn't died. They had just given her up. She spent most of her life feeling unwanted, and like she didn't belong. But here, now, sitting with the five other girls, and knowing that Mamoru was in her life, it felt like she'd never really been alone at all. That night, Usagi and Katrina went to Mamoru's apartment. When they walked in, the rich smell of home-cooked udon ramen warmed the sparse living-space. "I don't cook often," Mamoru admitted, when he saw Kat eyeing the cooking food. "But this felt like an extra special occasion." He smiled at her and rested his hand atop her head, like he always used to do. It made her smile, fondly. Everything about this day had gone so much better than she had expected it to. In fact, she had been pretty sure that she wasn't even going to find her brother on this short trip at all. At the very least, she would check out Keio and talk to some professors, to see if it would be a good fit for her. But here she was, with her brother, and her new-found friend, whom she felt as if she had known her whole life. Usagi was purity and goodness and sunshine and love. It was no wonder she was Sailor Moon, and Princess Serenity. Even when she wolfed down her double chocolate parfait, leaving whipped cream and chocolate on her face, somehow Kat could still envision her as the princess of the Moon Kingdom. Even when she bickered with Rei in a losing argument, she could see it. Even when she tripped over the lip of the step up into Mamoru's apartment, Kat couldn't shake the vision of who Usagi once was; who she was destined to be. "It looks so delicious, En- Mamoru," Kat said, whilst Usagi peered over her shoulder. Usagi giggled. "Mamo-chan, it looks soooo yummy! Much better than the instant noodles that Mama buys me!" Mamoru laughed, and turned his affections to his fiancé. He slipped an arm around her waist, kissing her tenderly. Kat turned away. She wasn't used to this level of love, or any sort of stable relationship. Because of the way she'd grown up, and the deep-seeded feeling that there was something so very different inside of her, none of her relationships had lasted past the one year mark. And that was only a one time thing. All of her other relationships lasted far less, it seemed. Not that she minded - it had given her time to focus on her studies, and her job. But seeing her brother and Usagi together, Katrina felt a pang in her chest. Quietly, she pulled herself away from the small, but open kitchen, and padded around Mamoru's living space. It was very minimalistic, and she got the feeling that he didn't spend a whole lot of time here, save for sleeping. It was very clear that Usagi didn't spend more than a bit of a time here, either, as there wasn't a woman's touch to be seen. Not even a trace of clothing. "Oh, Mamo-chan! Katrina-chan is looking at enrolling at Keio!" Kat perked up at the sound of her name, and looked at the couple in the kitchenette, mainly her brother. He had one raised brow. "Oh really? What for?" He sounded genuinely interested. "Biology. Zoology to be more specific." "Yeah! Yeah! She wants to work at the zoo. Wouldn't that be so cool, Mamo-chan? She could spend all her days working with cute little animals!" Usagi was so animated. Mamoru smiled at Kat. "That doesn't surprise me. From what I can remember, you were very much an animal-whisperer, even when you were a little girl." It sounded weird having someone refer to her at such a young age. She was used to people knowing that part of her. No one had ever stuck around long enough to even try and learn. She laughed, a little self conscious now. "I guess I did spend a lot of time in the gardens, and the woods, getting to know the animals in the area." "Ooh. Like a real-life Snow White?" Usagi sounded fascinated. "Well... I never sang to them." Kat's face was a little flushed. She wasn't used to all of the attention, and positive feedback she was receiving from both of them. Kat was absolutely flabbergasted when she saw the way Usagi wolfed down three full bowls of ramen, not even waiting for them to cool down, and gasping and whining every time she took an especially hot bite. "Where does it all go?" Kat asked, half joking. Usagi shrugged. "That's what I wonder, all the time," Mamoru said with a chuckle. Once they were all finished, Usagi and Kat stood in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes. "You and Mamoru are really close, huh?" Kat asked. Usagi was happily wiping the dishes dry, and putting them away, as she went. "Of course!" she answered, without missing a beat. "I mean... he's my soul mate. And if time has proven anything to us, it's that we'll always find our way back to each other, every time." Usagi grew quiet for a moment, as if she were deep in thought. "I mean, Queen Beryl killed and brainwashed him, but he came back. Then, he was receiving warning dreams from King Endymion in the future, warning him that he might be my downfall. So we broke up. But he came back. And the Dark Moon Circus was draining his crystal with their powers, while they were here. But he never went anywhere, at least not completely. And then Galaxia... killed him. I thought he was just overseas, studying in America, and he didn't have time for me. But he came back, once I defeated the Chaos in Galaxia." "You know what I'm hearing?" "What's that?" "That you, and your love, have saved him time and time again. Without you battling to protect this planet, and everyone on it, none of us might be here right now. I really wish I had gotten to know you sooner, Usagi." Kat's voice had grown a little softer, a little more quiet. Usagi stopped wiping, and peered up at the other woman. "But... you're here now, and that's all that matters, right?" She smiled so brightly, the room seemed to glow with her energy. "Right." Kat smiled warmly back at her. "Usako!" Mamoru burst from his bathroom, in dark grey sweatpants, his hair still dripping wet from his shower. His voice was urgent. "People are being attacked downtown!"

[subskywalker]

I was tagged by @gffa thanks Moonlight!!💕💕💕😊😊😊 Tagging: @glare-gryphon @skjwalkers @mademoisellemurders @anankeskywalker @saunterdvaguelydownward @cordeanddorme @darlingamidala @vulpesarctica @writegowrite and anyone else who wants to do this!! As always you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to!🤗 List ten of your fave characters from ten different fandoms:

1). Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars. I don’t think anyone’s surprised that they’re on my list but I feel like I have to explain why I love them both so much. They’re both my favorite and I don’t think I can choose between them??? Anakin is such a disaster and he made so many terrible choices but his story to me will always be the most heart breaking one of all. And Obi-Wan god he lost so much but he’s so good??? He’s been through hell (they all have and Anakin too!!) but Obi-Wan still managed to find the good in people and Anakin I the end managed to do good in the end, fought to free himself and remember who he was before everything happened. And I just fucking love both of them damn much!!!

2). Thor, Marvel. #what an icon #legends only #the only one who gets four solo movies I love him??? Catch me crying the club over Thor 4: More Thor when it comes out in theaters bc when I see him imma be like that’s my baby and I’m proud!!! Like he’s been through so much and has suffered so much and lost so much and he’s still so good??? He’s so good and he’s still trying his best and I just love him so fucking much???? Protect Thor 2kforever!!!

3). Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon. So like Sailor Moon is the earliest anime/movie that I remember watching. And I remember loving her so much and wanting to be just like her! Like 5/6 year old me would go to the blockbuster with my parents and older sister and I would always without fail pick Sailor Moon. Like she’s just so good and wonderful and she’s trying her best and always trying to be and do good??? I just love Usagi so much!!

4). Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor Nikiforov, Yuuri On Ice. It’s really hard to choose between the two of them bbc I just love them both so much???? And they’re both the most relatable characters ever???? Both of them are literally #legends only!!!! And I love their characterization and character development so much???? That Yuuri found his passion and confidence for what he loved again with Viktor and Viktor found his inspiration with Yuuri!!! They’re both just so good and wonderful????? But if I had to pick a scene that really cemented my love for them it would be the banquet scene aka the most iconic scene in the show aka the best plot twist in the history ever!!! Like looking at the scene and then all the characters interactions and reasoning all makes so much sense????? Like they legit met a year ago and Yuuri literally met Viktor and talked to him and danced the night away with him and everyone else and accidentally seduced him a year ago at the banquet except that Yuuri was so drunk that night that he didn’t remember anything the next morning and left. Meanwhile Viktor was pining and being like why hasn’t he called me???? Like what kind of icons?????? I love them??????? ALSO ALSO the fact that everyone had pictures and videos of yuuri and the banquet that night like oh my god!!!! I love this show I love these characters so much!!

5). Harry Potter, HP. Like it’s so hard for me to choose a fave character from them. Bc I love them all so fucking much for different reasons and they all just tried their best to survive, and Harry god Harry lost so much more than any other character and he still manages to be so good and so loving and keeps getting back up. And I love it, I love my son so much?????? Like pls protect him at all costs and also he’s such a sarcastic little shit I love him???

6). James Flint, Black Sails. James Flint is a fucking legend and I would die for him. Like I just really love the way they built his backstory and shows him in the present and in the flashbacks and how he became who he was and how he wasn’t always like that. I love that James did what he had to do to survive and that he never stopped being good. And y’all...y’all the fact that Miranda/Thomas/James was canon and they were all so in love?????? Fucking killed me?????? Like oh my god. And then and then y’all...y’all the book scene, where Miranda gives James the book Thomas left him to remind him, and that it said “My truest love, know no shame” y’all what the actual fuck I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it. And and oh my goodness, when James got to the plantation right, where they had the prisoners, and someone looks at him, and it’s fuckinbg Thomas, and they way they got towards each other and hold each other so gently oh fucking god y’all my heart. I love them so much. I love James so much he deserves nothing but happiness I’m crying!!!😭😭

7). Santanico Pandemonium, FDTD: the series. I’ll admit that one the reasons why I love her so much is bc Eiza González portrays her character in the show and anyone who knows me knows how much I love her. I don’t think I’ll ever not love her??? She’s just such and amazing character and her character development through the seasons makes me love her all that much more. Because she’s suffered so much, she’s been through so much shit but she’s still surviving, still fighting and still getting back up. Her backstory to me is one of the most heartbreaking in the show and just...like how can I not love her??? How can I not root for her when she fought to get where she is??? She’s amazing and I love her and I would die for her tbh 😭

8). Will Graham, Hannibal. I just???? Really fucking love Will???? He’s my fave from the show tbh???? Adopts dogs he finds and names them and just wants to spend his time with his dogs like wow will same bc I too would much rather spend time with dogs. But also he’s such a bamf!!! An icon!!!! A disaster too!!!! (Bc he really is a disaster will what are you doing smh smh).

9). Nina Zenik, Six Of Crows. I just??? I just really fucking love her so much???? And I love her characterization in the books and her relationship with everyone but especially her relationship with Matthias (like their background story and her background in general is so fucking amazing????) And her journey through the books is so fucking lovely and heartbreaking and I honestly think that if I had to pick a fave character from the books it would be her (not that I don’t love all of them bc I do and I’m crying just thinking about them) 😭

10). Daenerys Targaryen, Game Of Thrones. I honestly don’t think I could ever hate Dany. And her character is the one that I fell in love with immediately when I first saw her on the show and she’s been through so much.

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Sarazanmai - Thoughts

I’ve been hearing so much hype about the ending, and I just watched the end. I’m just going to voice some candid thoughts. That’s why I call it “thoughts”; it isn’t a proper review or anything.

Long story short: 

It was a pretty good series! It wasn’t amazing or anything, but it was fun to watch for the most part. I couldn’t take it seriously at times, but I still found myself invested in it at some points. The art was nice, the music was great, and the voice acting was pretty good too! I would recommend this series to people who like kappas, drama, and butts.

Kunihiko Ikuhara is credited with directing many masterpieces (that I haven’t watched) including Revolutionary Girl Utena (which he also created), Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Mawaru Penguindrum, and more. His work is praised by a lot of people in the anime community, and he does have a lot of talent. He incorporates themes that aren’t usually seen in anime which is fully present in Utena where childhood idealism, illusions, ambition, adulthood, sexuality, abuse, and identity are all prominent themes. Many regular tropes are known to be deconstructed. When people heard he was making Sarazanmai, a lot of people were excited! A stacked cast, Ikuhara himself, and the MAPPA production team? It was already set up for greatness.

But after all that hype, what’s left? I found myself a little disappointed after getting myself a little too excited. It wasn’t like other series where I went in with no expectations or other series where I actually did go in with high expectations that were delivered. I went in with these expectations, it delivered somewhat, and now I find myself with a slightly unsatisfied feeling.

Three boys accidentally break a statue then are tasked with becoming kappas and fighting zombies. They do this to return to their human form. At first, these three seem unconnected, but over time, secrets are revealed. They eventually accept the risks to collect dishes which can grant a wish. This is the sarcastic fantasy of three boys who don't feel connected to their important ones, getting to realize the real meaning of bonds.

[Paraphrased from MAL]

It came off as being completely weird and bizarre, and it stays that way. In a way, it’s quirkiness was its strong-suit, but it finally got down to the drama and conflict in the story, I found myself not finding it seriously. The writing itself wasn’t bad, but with its art style and with its already outlandish plot, it ultimately made me feel a bit confused. When they had scenes that were supposed to evoke emotions, I couldn’t quite feel it right.

Especially when there’s a kappa in the frame. I kind of thought, “How am I supposed to feel when there’s this staring at me?”

I found that the only emotional scenes that even slightly hit the mark were the ones where all characters were in human form. Yeah, that’s right. I just said kappas ruin the mood. 

Character: No! Don’t die! Me: *chuckles* he’s a fricking kappa.

Everything towards the end felt a little melodramatic. Don’t get me wrong, I can be down for melodrama. I’m that person who enjoyed Kiznaiver. I just felt like this series was episodic for the most part with a bit of sprinkling of the main story, and I couldn’t have done it any differently. I just felt like something was missing. Reo and Mabu’s storyline was only riveting towards the end. For the majority of the series, they are shrouded in mystery then we get a wham of backstory and stuff over the last few episodes before the climax with Hosoya and Mamo hit.

Speaking of voice acting, they kept Kouki Uchiyama to play the kid version of his character, and I didn’t mind that. The main trio was okay! Shun Horie, Ayumu Murase, and Kouki Uchiyama did great jobs! Ayumu does a great job voicing the darker and lighter moments (as expected since watching 5 episodes of Devilman). I feel like Ayumu and Kouki didn’t really do a role that was that much out of their zone. Kouki plays another edgy “cinnamon roll” while Ayumu plays another energetic boy (like Hinata from Haikyuu). I don’t know what Horie did in other anime though.

Mamo and Hosoya surprised me towards the end, but surprisingly, I would’ve directed one of Mamo’s lines differently during episode 10. I won’t say which one, but I felt like the character didn’t portray emotion properly. Besides that, those two have acted in so much together. The music they provided was great (even though there were only two songs).

The art was okay! It was very out-there, new, and fresh, but it wasn’t stand out enough that when I watched it, I went, “HOLY MOLY GUACAMOLE”. It was nice, fluid, and it was definitely... sexual. I haven’t seen so much butt and a**s (b-hole) stuff.

The music was really catchy! I know Yukari Hashimoto for composing the music for Toradora, 3-Gatsu no Lion, Gekkan Shoujo, and a few other things. While I can’t always say that her music sticks like glue, I can say that there are certain tracks that still resonate with me. I gotta admit, the quality of the overall series affects how much I like an OST. This one was repetitive enough (with its episodic nature) to be catchy.

Oh yeah, the ED by the Peggies was better (for me) than Kimi no Sei from Seishun Buta Yarou (which I didn’t really like... please don’t kill me). The opening was so much fun. I really liked it. It ranks up there with that Naruto OP. I can feel its significance growing, and I listened to it more than once (which is rare for me)

Anyways, I can’t be the only one who had a hard time really getting with the drama of this series. It was pretty good... it wasn’t great, but I still enjoyed watching this. Unlike most anime series, this ends on a good note.

I would rate this a 7.5/10 (rounding it up to an 8 on MAL)

Spoiler Part:

Toi went to a juvenile detention centre for three years but for which crime? If you murder someone and tried as an adult, that’s an automatic 20+ years. If it was truly self-defence, he would’ve been pardoned. So, what was he exactly charged for?

Reo and Mabu were great, and I didn’t realize their greatness until the end because their side plot was put off until the end. Mamo mostly did a good job. Hosoya’s role wasn’t as tasking as maybe some of his other ones. I’m just glad to see Hosoya singing and working together with Mamo. I think we all wanted to see that.

I still can’t take kappas seriously. Have we learned anything from Arakawa Under the Bridge?

The ending was great though. I found that saved its rating because some anime end so badly that it goes from a 9 to a 4 real fast (nothing beats reading what happened in Usagi Drop which continues to be a scar on my mind that bursts out bleeding whenever remembered)

[juuni-taisen-ushii-dotsuku]

Valentine’s Day

High School A/U. And Yes, I know it’s nowhere near Valentine’s Day, but I just felt like writting a V-Day fic.

>.<

Michio didn’t care much for Valentine's day...

Not because it was a day for lovers since Michio was single, but because he was very allergic to chocolate. Last time he ate chocolate was went he was six, it would’ve killed him had he not reached the hospital in time.

So since then, Michio avoided chocolate like the plague.

However, that was impossible on a day like Valentine’s Day... But as long as he didn’t eat anything with or near chocolate, Michio should be fine...

Michio passed a group of giggling girls, talking about how they’ll give their chocolate treats to Kashii Eiji on Valentine’s Day next week. They stopped talking as soon as they notice Michio. Muttering something along the lines of him being a hater of Valentine’s Day. 

He paid no mind to it, he was used to it. However, he did wish that they would be a bit more considerate of his circumstances. He told the whole damn school last year he was deathly allergic to chocolate! But it seems as though only a few people at this school actually remembers that fact. 

>.<

“Happy Early Valentine’s Day,” Misaki said cheerfully as she handed Michio a box with a white bow on it. Usagi was holding out a box with an orange ribbon. Michio blinked, accepted the gifts, and asked, “Why are you two handing out your Valentine’s gifts a week early?” 

Misaki and Usagi were step-siblings. 

Misaki smiled softly and said “We’re going to be out of town for a family friend’s wedding. They have a tradition of having weddings on Valentine’s Day.” “Ah, I see, and neither of you wanted to give out Valentine’s gifts late because it’s considered rude,” Michio said as he looked inside the boxes. He smiled. Homemade candy apple chips from Misaki and little rabbit sculptures made from carrots from Usagi. 

Now, these are the kinds of Valentine’s Day gift that need to be handed out more often. 

Tsugiyoshi looked at the gifts and said “Not a lot of gifts these days are handmade. Glad some people are thoughtful enough to make gifts that way.” The gray-haired teen then yawned. Michio playfully whacked Tsugiyoshi over the head. 

Once the rest of the class started walking into the class, Michio closed the two boxes and placed them in his school bag. 

Michio then heard a good number of the female students make some whispering noises. He rolled his cyan-on-black eyes, he knew that Kashii Eiji must’ve just walked into the classroom. 

Kashii Eiji was one of the top students in the school, had the highest grades, was captain of the fencing team (which has never lost a competition since he became captain), and he has been scouted by some of the biggest named colleges. Another thing to add is that Kashii Eiji was pretty handsome, hence why 99% of the girls swoon when he’s nearby. 

>.< 

Once all the classes had finished, everyone got ready to leave. 

Michio went to his assigned shoe locker to switch his school shoes for his outside shoes. When he opened his locker, a little white box wrapped in a black ribbon with a neatly folded piece of paper tucked under the ribbon was sitting innocently on top of his shoes. Michio blinked at the small box before taking it out. Tsugiyoshi, who’s shoe locker was next to Michio, looked at the box and asked “What’s that suppose to be?” 

Michio shrugged and took the piece of paper out from under the ribbon. He flicked his wrist to open the paper and read it. With a confused look on his face, Michio said “I think this is supposed to be a Valentine’s Day Gift.” Tsugiyoshi looked at his friends and asked “You think?” Michio handed Tsugiyoshi the note so he could read it. 

With an ‘of course’ look on his face, Tsugiyoshi said “How cheesy.” Misaki, then Usagi, looked at the note, and both agreed with the gray-haired teen. Michio carefully removed the ribbon and opened the box. It was full of small roses and violets. Michio showed the small flowers to his friends. “Like I said, Cheesy,” Tsuyoshi stated as he folded his arms. 

Usagi leaned close and sniffed the flowers, then said “Hey! The flowers smell like sugar.” Michio ran a finger over the petals, said “You’re right!”, and picked up one of the roses. Misaki looked at one of the roses and said “Whoever gave you these used sugar paper to make origami flowers.” 

Michio popped the “flower” into his mouth. The taste wasn’t what he expected. “Not just sugar paper! Rose flavored sugar paper!” Michio stated in shock, then he popped one of the violets into his mouth. “These are Violet Flavored!” Michio stated. 

Misaki was the one to say “But... Making sugar paper is a delacate process, and adding certain flavors is difficult.” Tsugiyoshi looked at the note again. 

“Roses are red, Violets are blue.

These may be sweet, but so are you.

Your Secret Admirer.” 

The friends looked at one another and wondered ‘Who would make something like this? And for a supposed Valentine’s Day gift?’ Not to mention Valentine’s Day was next week. 

>.< 

Over the next few school days, Michio got those white boxes with the black ribbons in his shoe locker, each of them were filled with origami made from flavored sugar paper and a note with a somewhat cheesy poem line. He knew it couldn’t be either Misaki nor Usagi since they left for the wedding the other day. Tsugiyoshi wasn’t even an option, he loved cheese and preferred to give them out as Valentine’s Day gifts. 

Today, the box was filled with star origami, each one being a different colour. The note this time read “Starlight, Starbright. The first star I see tonight is You. Your Secret Admirer.”

Tsugiyoshi folded his arms and said “Whoever is sending you these may have amazing origami skills and enough patients to make all these sugar paper, but these lines are cheesy. Even for me.” Michio stared at the paper stars and said “I agree, but to go through all the effort to makes these for me... It’s really making me feel guilty that I have to tell them that they can’t do this anymore...” 

Tsugiyoshi looked at his friend and asked “Michio... Did your parents... Actually...” The taller teen sadly nodded and said “Yeah... They accepted the marriage proposal... I’ll be meeting my so-to-be husband on Valentines Day... I’m... Not going to be at school because of it... Maybe even the day after...” 

Tsugiyoshi looked at the side and stated “They should’ve at least waited until you graduated high school... Have you told Misaki and Usagi?” Michio shook his head and said “They’re attending a wedding and I didn’t want them to worry about me during it.” 

All Tsugiyoshi could really do was place a hand on Michio’s shoulder. 

>.< 

It was Valentine’s Day and Michio was getting ready to meet his future groom. 

Michio couldn’t help but think that kimonos had to be the hardest article of clothing to put on. But then again, he wasn’t use to wearing them... 

Michio sighed as he looked out the window, trying to make himself comfortable while wearing a kimono and trying to look appropriate to his future husband. “They could’ve at least tell me his name...” Michio muttered under his breath. 

“That would’ve spoiled the surprise,” A voice from the doorway suddenly said. Michio immediately turned to the voice, and to his shock, it was someone he’d never expect. 

“Kashii Eiji?! What are you doing here?” Michio managed to get out, doing his best to contain his emotions. 

Raising an amused brow, Eiji said “Is that any way to greet your future husband? And after I went through all the trouble with making you all those treats up until today too.” “Wait, wait, wait! You were the one making all those flavored sugar paper origami?!” Michio asked, no longer able to contain his emotions. Eiji let out a calm, simple “Yes,” before he sat across from Michio, and adding “Flavored sugar paper isn’t the easiest thing to make and it doesn’t really have a long shelf life.” 

Michio’s cheeks turned pink when he said “Misaki told me that... But the thing I want to know is Why?” Eiji closed his eyes and said “You’re worth the effort.” 

Michio couldn’t help but snicker and said “Well if there's one thing Tsugiyoshi got right, is that those lines are cheesy.” “Romance... Isn’t the easiest thing for me to understand...” Eiji said, pink dusting his cheeks, then said “So a lot of my knowledge of romance is from Kanae.” Michio raised a brow and asked “Kanae? As in Aira Kanae, from the Aira Dojo?” 

Eiji nodded and said “That’s right. She was the one who told me that Romantic Valentine’s Day gifts are to be handmade from scratch and that you should make a card that matches what you have made, so I assumed that that meant that the card also had to be made by hand.” Michio couldn’t help but say “That does explain a lot...” 

Maybe Valentine’s Day wasn’t all that bad for Michio after all. 

>.< 

Extra Moments: 

Misaki and Usagi came back to the school being in a state of panic and dismay. Neither being sure what happened while they were gone, so they asked Tsygiyoshi what happened. 

“Oh, Kashii Eiji was absent Valentine’s Day, so all the girls that had stuff to give him started thinking that it was the end of the world,” Tsugiyoshi stated with a yawn before adding “He’s also absent today. I’m going to admit, that’s strange for him.”  “Maybe he got sick,” Usagi suggested. Misaki had to agree. After all, Kashii Eiji NEVER skips school unless there was a good reason to. 

....

The Next Day, Eiji and Michio were back. 

When Michio met up with his friends, Eiji kissed him on the cheek, in front of everyone. Which, of course, made Michio turn red and cause him to snap “What was that for?!” Eiji then said in a calm tone “I was just giving my future bride a kiss before class starts. Since we won’t be allowed to do so during class.” With his face still red, Michio snapped “Oh please, we both know that you wouldn’t even think of it!” “Of course not during class,” Eiji admitted. 

This statement took a while to get, but once he got it, Michio turned really red. 

Eiji smiled at that, then walked off, leaving 95% of the school stunned. 

“What exactly happened while we were gone?” Misaki asked, not quite sure what exactly just happened. Michio sighed and said “I’ll explain it on the way to class.” 

With that Michio, Misaki, Usagi, and Tsugiyoshi walked into the school as the raven-haired teen explained what happened on Valentine’s Day, ignoring the statue-like students where they stood. 

>.< 

End

>.<

[isuzukuretsuki]

Welp I finished Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk and my biggest comment is that this game has more plot holes than swiss cheese.

*insert more shifty eye uncomfortable emojis* 

What was...... that convoluted mess of a game I just played? Like this is reaching Zero Escape level of plot holes and “wow the writer clearly has no idea what the hell they are doing”. I don’t even know where I’m gonna start breaking down the amount of issues. Lots of spoilers beneath.

My favourite order is prob Levi > Elric > Lugus > Hugh > Eiar > Aria > Tee > Lord > Olgar > Lawrence >>>> Lavan >>>>>>>>>> Francisca

For starters, this felt like less of an otome game and more of a gang bang 5p fuck pile orgy. Seriously. One moment, Eiar is making out with Lavan, the next moment, Eiar is dreaming of sleeping with Lugus and wakes up panicking because “oh no! I think I’m in love with Lugus!”. If the romance is “the heroine being passed among all the guys”, I’d rather there be no romance at all. It felt more like a fucking badly written reverse harem anime than an otome. I had this problem with PBB but boy it was not this level of bad. 

None of the characters really develop, none of the relationships really develop. Let’s not even get started on the fact that 2/4 of your love interests are your adopted brothers who are actually your blood cousins. At first I enjoyed Lugus’s enchantment with Eiar but it doesn’t develop beyond that. Why is Lugus even in love with Eiar? His feelings never felt like anything beyond captivation, and the same applied for Eiar. Why is Lavan in love with Eiar? Because he’s some gross nii-chan lusty pervert who’s in love with his adopted sister??? IDK. 

The only one who genuinely felt like he loved Eiar was Levi, and even Levi’s character was butchered with the whole “yeah I’m a serial killer who enjoys inflicting pain onto other people”. Even if you blame it on the ~magical stone~, the revelation was like a slap in the face and it was so disconnected w everything we knew of Levi. The writers clearly didn’t know if they wanted to write him as a character who’s sadistic and ruthless, or if they wanted to write him as a character who was manipulated by his mother into becoming her assassin through abuse + gaslighting. The writers aimed for both, and failed miserably at both. 

Speaking of Francisca, the fact that Francisca is an evil bitch is literally NEVER brought up lol???? Like when Levi admits that Francisca was using him as an assassin, Eiar and Lavan are shocked but.......... that’s it. Especially in Levi’s ending, the fact that there’s never a hint of acknowledgement that Francisca was abusing him is jarring to say the least. There’s never any real discussion of how Eiar and the Wolf brothers feel about Francisca after they find out what she did to Aria and Olgar. Like wow we just found out our mom is a piece of shit, let us NEVER DISCUSS THIS or have ANY heart to heart talk about this EVER. Because that will give our characters perfect closure! The fact that Eiar never returns to her real name, the name given to her by her mother, also kind of bothers me.

Francisca’s character was honestly butchered along with Levi after everything she did to Aria was revealed. "That evil slut is taking away all the men in my life!” is not a good enough motive to burn a completely innocent woman to death, sorry. Her love for her sons felt shallow and her love for Eiar felt like she was just trying to show up Aria. I can’t find any redeemable thing about her and her character just ended up being at to the bottom of the barrel along with Rika and Mejojo. The only emotion I got out of the whole dumpster fire between the parents was “wow Aria deserved so much fucking better”.

Now lets get started with all the fucking plot holes this game has. 

For starters, if the whole town is actually Psychedelica and everyone lost their memories, it makes no sense for Francisca to be the only one who remembers killing Aria, and there’s never any indication to confirm whether or not Francisca is actually aware the fact that everyone is in Psychedelica.

Speaking of Aria, that scene where Aria is shown to be slumbering in the abyss and stops the kids from completing the Kaleido Via makes no sense either. For starters, why is Aria even in the abyss? She died in the real world, so her soul should have moved onto the afterlife, or she should have been trapped in the Psychedelica town too. Actually, the fact that she isn’t trapped makes no sense. Olgar activated the Kaleido Via with a desire to see Aria again (similar to Hikage with Usagi), so it makes no sense for Aria’s soul to not be drawn to the town if the town was created through Aprus and Olgar’s collective desires.

I don’t really understand why tf Aria would want to stop the kids from completing the Kaleido Via when that’s literally the only method to free the souls of the town so they continue into the afterlife? It’d make sense for Aria to stop them if their souls would go into the abyss, but again, it’s explicitly stated that your soul will only end up in the abyss if you die in Psychedelica. And again, the fact that Aria is supposedly in the abyss makes no sense in the first place. The scene with the kids and the kaleido via was so out of place it was ridiculous. How do you not remember a scene where a shard flew into your friend’s eye and caused her to bleed everywhere?

Moving on, it’s literally never explained what the hell is up with Eiar’s red eye. It can be assumed that Eiar inherited it from Aria who really was a witch, but then that doesn’t explain why only one of Eiar’s eyes glow red and not both. 

MOVING ON, who the fuck is Hugh and literally what is his damn role in the story. Like I looove character types like him bc and I’m a huge sucker for “mysterious observer characters who act as the story’s narrator” not to mention he’s beautiful but Hugh’s origins and role remains wishy washy from start to end and his character ends up being a plot device to give 30 minute info dumps on the plot. Like, he’s the dumb dead bird that lived with Ashen Witch (whom I assume is Aria’s mother), and after he’s killed by Aprus, Ashen Witch... releases his... soul? So he becomes... a mindless traveler traveling between the different Psychedelica worlds...? I guess??? It’s implied that Hugh is the one who gave Hikage the kaleidoscope but again, how or why he did so is never explained either. I also dunno wtf is up with his ending where Eiar just magically turns into a butterfly and whooshes away with Hugh.

I still have no idea what was with that scene where he chats with Aria about the stories in the Links ending, and I definitely don’t know what was with that scene where Aria talks with Eiar and decides to name her non born child off of her (who is the same Eiar). Like what?? are dreams and timelines converging or something??? No clue.

Also. What the fuck is the deal with Lawrence and Elric??? THAT’S NEVER EXPLAINED? Like yes, I know that much that they’re Kagiha and Hikage respectively but literally wtf is Kagiha and Hikage doing in Aprus/Olgar’s Psychedelica. Lawrence clearly retains his memories as Kagiha, but Hikage never does and it’s like ??? why?? Also why is Usagi in a form of a rabbit in this world? WHO KNOWS. I was just so tired of this game that by the time I was half way done all the endings I just wanted it to be over already.

No joke, I seriously thought that PAA took place in the real world where Hikage was born and raised because of the medieval/historical setting and we’d learn more about the lore of the manor and the kaleidoscope. Honestly though, I wish it was because it prob would have made this game a million times better. If the game was split between a “wolves” and “hawks” path like BWS, it probably would have fixed some of the problems with the terrible romance.

The one good thing I will say about this game is that it’s the first otome game localization from Aksys I’ve played that didn’t give me a migraine because of no proof readers. There were some issues with wrong tenses being used but other than that it wasn't littered with typos like literally EVERY OTHER otome they’ve localized so far lmao.

Presentation wise, this game is beautiful. The sprite work is beautiful and the cgs are amazing. I loved the character designs for all the guys like A++ pretty boys. Unfortunately, the OST really lacked in comparison to PBB this time around. This game had so much potential but everything just fell apart the further and further you go and that’s what makes it even more disappointing. It’s setting and premise were a million times more interesting than PBB. Like medieval setting? Check. Feud between two clans with the heroine caught in between? Check. It had everything I loved and I was confident I was going to love it but the execution was just so terribad that I don’t love it. I can’t love it. I do love all the characters sans Lavan and Francisca though and I think they all deserved better. They deserved better writing. They deserved better development. I wish I could just rework this entire game from the ground up because that’s how frustrated I am with it lmao.

TLDR; I am very very disappointed with this game and it’s such a shame because I loved Black Butterfly to bits and pieces but this game ended up being a convoluted mess of bad and inconsistent writing. PBB had a rather weak premise with an uninteresting and incredibly cliche “all childhood friends in love w the heroine and there’s ~tragedy~!”. However, it had a very interesting and well written lore and universe while simultaneously being clean and easy to understand so it didn’t make any unnecessary loop holes for itself. PAA was the complete opposite. I enjoyed the connections this game made to the first game, but that was pretty much it. 

anyway wow that was long, this is the first time I’ve played a game where all I can do is go on a tangent about all the problems I’ve had with it. Hopefully other people enjoyed this game more than I did HAHA.

[usagi-did-nothing-wrong]

Birth of A Necromantist - Chapter 3/Final Chapter

Warnings: Violence/gore

The elders of the House of the Rabbit murmured amongst each other.  The Juuni Taisen was finally approaching once again, and it was time to choose a warrior to represent them.

“I don’t understand why we even bother!  Our clan hasn’t won a Juuni Taisen in over a millennium!  There’s no sense in sending some poor fool to die in a vain attempt at victory in our names!”

“We can’t just not compete.  We’d be the disgrace of the Twelve Zodiac Houses.”

“What’s worse?  Being an embarrassment because we don’t compete, or because we always lose?  Losing always ends in death!  Soon we won’t even have anyone left to even argue over this!”

“You’re over-exaggerating.”

“Am I?!”

The table was divided between the two opposing views and the argument grew into an uproar.

“Alright, smartass!  Since you know everything, what do you propose we do?  There’s no denying the truth of our history of failure, and since you’re so adamant on us competing, whose damned soul are we going to sacrifice this time?”

The pro-war side of the table fell silent.  Would it really make any difference whether or not they fought?  They were already considered the weakest of them all.  Maybe they would be better off if they forfeit.

“I know someone who can fight.”

The crowd turned their attention to one of their youngest members.  She tossed a decade old newspaper onto the table; the front page featured a young boy with the headline, “Kimura the Killer Sentenced to Life In Asylum.”  The eldest members stared at the newspaper as if it were a joke.

“What could your explanation possibly be for this?”

“Don’t you remember this mass killing?  A boy slaughtered one hundred people in one night, and then brought them back from the dead.  Not only is this child capable of murder, but he can create an army from his victims.”

“He could be dead by now.”

“Are you serious?  He was fifteen when he was committed.”

“He could’ve gotten sick.  Even if he is alive, he could either be close to rehabilitation, or too dangerous to control.”

“Do you have any better ideas?”

Once again, the house fell silent.  The eldest sighed and rubbed her temples.

“Fine.  Find the Kimura boy.”

-x-

A pair of agents from the House of the Rabbit approached the front desk of the asylum.  The secretary glanced up at the two.

“Can I help you?”

“Hopefully, yes.  We represent the House of the Rabbit, and we’re looking for a recruit chosen by the elders to compete in the upcoming Juuni Taisen.”

“... uh huh.  And your chosen one is a psych ward patient?”

“Specifically, we’re looking for Ryo Kimura.”

“Oh, him…” The secretary looked through her computer.  “Well, I can see why you’d want him…”

“Will we be able to speak with him?”

“... I’ll have his nurse speak with you.  Have a seat.”

The agents sat in the waiting room as the secretary called up to the floor.

“... they say they’re from a Zodiac House…” she muttered softly into the phone.  “... the Rabbit House… yes, that one… I don’t know, I told them you’d talk to them… because he’s your patient… just come down for a minute…”

The agents waited around five minutes before they were greeted by a nurse.

“So, you’re here to see Kimura-san?” she asked.

“That’s correct,” an agent answered.  “The elders of the House of the Rabbit have requested recruitment of your patient.”

“May I ask why?”

The agent handed the nurse a copy of the newspaper featuring Kimura-san.  “We don’t know much about him as of today, but the night of the murders, he was shown to possess an astounding ability known as necromantistry.”

“... don’t you mean necromancy?” the nurse asked.

“Not in this case.  A necromancer can reanimate any dead person or animal, regardless of circumstance.  A necromantist can only reanimate those that they’ve killed.”

“Well, how do you know they were all his victims?”

“All of the people who had been resurrected were already in the city at the time of the slaughter. If he were just a necromancer, it would’ve been easier to stop by a cemetery so he would already have an army by the time he reached the city, don’t you think?”

The nurse looked over the newspaper in thought.  “There are so many powerful people who would be willing to fight for you.  Why him?”

The agents looked at each other and sighed.

“As much as it pains us to admit, the House of the Rabbit hasn’t seen a victory since the second Juuni Taisen.  The elders are desperate to send someone who at least stands a chance.  May we please speak with him?”

“... the doctor will have to be present, but… I’ll take you to him.”

-x-

“Are you sure you want to do this?” the doctor asked.  “I mean… he’s been much calmer recently, but there’s no telling if you can actually control him.”

“We don’t need to control him.  We just need him to cooperate until the night of the battle.”

The doctor twisted her mouth in concern, but led the agents to the open room where many patients usually socialized.  However, there were very few patients present.  A brutish, muscular man sat on the floor in front of a couch.  Another patient sat silently with him, and a pair of nurses stood behind the couch.  They were all silent and staring intently at the TV as it played cartoons.

“Ryo, what have you done?” the doctor asked.

The four looked at the doctor in unison.  Their eyes all looked of obsidian with glowing rubies fixed in the middle.  The smaller patient’s head lolled to the side; his neck had been broken.  One nurse’s head had been smashed open, while the other had blood pouring from his chest.  The large patient was the only one unharmed.

“It wasn’t me.”

“Ryo, we talked about this-”

“It wasn’t me!”

The doctor sighed.  “There’s someone who would like to talk to you.  Can you take a break from the TV for a few minutes?”

Ryo turned off the TV, but kept the remote in his hand.

-x-

“Do you understand what we’re asking of you?”

Ryo absentmindedly pressed the buttons on the remote as he thought.  “So you’re saying… if I fight for you, I’ll be able to make as many friends as I want?”

“If you win, you’ll be granted a single wish, no matter what it is.  If you wish for friends, so be it.”

“Then I accept.”

The agents were taken aback by the sudden acceptance, but were relieved nonetheless.

“Unfortunately,” they continued, “We won’t have time to train you, so you’ll have to rely on your necromantistry to survive.”

“My what?”

“Your ability to… ‘make friends,’ as you put it.”

“There’s a name for it?  That’s so cool!”

“Indeed…” the agents muttered.  “This is a great honor, Kimura-san.  Once we clear everything with the hospital staff, we’ll arrange to have you taken to a safe haven to prepare for the battle.  Win or lose, you won’t be coming back here.”

-x-

“Kimura-san, are you sure about this outfit?”

As the Juuni Taisen approached, the House of the Rabbit ensured that although Ryo didn’t have proper training, he at least had his costume and weapons prepared.  The traditional Rabbit attire was very provocative, consisting only of a brassiere, tiny shorts with suspenders, red pumps, and a matching bowtie and cufflink set.  Not to mention the bunny ears and giant, fluffy tail to show who they were representing.

“We’d be happy to tailor a new costume for you,” the seamstress said.

“No, I like this one.” Ryo looked at himself in the mirror as he modelled the outfit.  His massive thighs and buttocks seemed to swallow the bottoms of the shorts, and his bulge threatened to pop out at any sudden movement.  “I’ve seen people on TV dress like this, and they have lots of friends.”

The seamstress turned her head so she wouldn’t be caught blushing at the new warrior.  They were soon joined by the blacksmith.

“Kimura-san, I’ve been given the honor of crafting your weapon.  Have you given thought to what you will fight with?”

Ryo thought for a minute.  He stepped up to a nearby desk, treading carefully in his high heels, and scribbled on a piece of paper.

“I want these.”  He showed the blacksmith a crude drawing of a pair of asymmetrical swords; one resembled a butterknife, the other curved like a sickle that someone gave up halfway through making.  “I used knives to make my first friends.  My new friends deserve even better.”

A chill traveled down the blacksmith’s back as she took the drawing.  “Simple, yet effective.  I should have these ready before the sun sets tonight.”

-x-

“Who are you?”

“Usagi.”

“What is your title?”

“Warrior of the Rabbit.”

“How do you kill?”

“I kill… I kill psychotically.”

“Good.  Now, introduce yourself.”

Ryo straightened his back and raised his swords, aptly named White Rabbit and March Hare.  “Usagi, Warrior of the Rabbit, killing psychotically.”

The elder rested her hand on Ryo’s shoulder.  “From now on, that is all you are.  You are no longer Ryo Kimura.  You are only Usagi.  Remember that, and victory will be yours.”

“And my wish?”

“Once you win, it’s as good as yours.”

A sharp grin crept across the warrior’s face.  “I’m ready to go fight now…”

END

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Code:Realise 9 - 10 | Juuni Taisen 11 - 12 (FINAL) | Girls’ Last Tour 10 | Ancient Magus’ Bride 10

My seasonal stuff is now being spread out over WordPress and Tumblr, but the smulcast commentary is staying here.

Code:Realise 9

“The Mes”??? When it’s meant to be “Thames”? Someone can’t English.

“It makes me feel just a little discouraged.”

“…I’ll just have to open your [Saint’s] eyes.” – But…his eyes were never open in the first place, like Pokémon’s Brock! You can only open his eyes using a huge surprise!

Code:Realise 10

This is a pretty standard anime (in story at least), but a better than average otome game adaption! Well, that’s something I don’t say every day.

Is that an astrolabe?

Well…when I said that thing about Saint and Brock, I guess I didn’t mean this…

This is a tad suspicious. How will this show go on for 2 more episodes?

Juuni Taisen 11

Notice the face of the Dragon is hidden…

“Can a person have a wish they’d die to see granted?” – Ask Madoka, she’ll know…

(trigger alert: suicide) Oh dear. This show is grim, but this is even more grim – the one chance I get to back a good Ume character, he contemplates killing himself. Yikes.

Lemme guess: victor by inaction?

“Everybody, clap your hands!” - There is no “everybody” anymore, Duodecuple. You of all people should know that by now.

It’s like Re:Zero. I’ve been reading the light novels for that series, but…welp, I’ve read up on my share of spoilers for this show, so I know what this really is. I just wanted to link the two.

Hey Nezumi. What if you’d just said “yes”?

“If it looks right, one cannot look left.” – Nice pun.

Schrodinger’s Rat. Guess I never saw that one coming (LOL). (kinda sarcastic)

Judging from the title of episode 12, they’ve adapted the sequel oneshot as well. Ha, me and my predictions strike again (see the 12 Days of Anime Juuni Taisen post on the Animanga Spellbook for why I say this).

Juuni Taisen 12 (FINAL)

Welp, here’s the end. Let’s go.

C’mon, that face of shock looked like King’s Game! (That is not a good label to have, y’know, Juuni Taisen?)

Nezumi’s drawn doodles of Ushii, Sharyu and Usagi! Haha…

How will they get through 99 wishes in one episode? They have about 15 minutes to do so.

One wish…the thing about one wish is that you can only choose the one wish that befits you most of all. Regardless of how much you mull over it, you will pick the one wish that befits you the most, I think.

That blonde kid near Nezumi kinda looks like Bakugo, which kinda scares me.

I seem to remember that Isaac Akers (for Crunchyroll) evaluated the twins as not being honest with their feelings for each other. Well, as they say, blood is stronger than water.

I thought Tora was talking about Ushii at first, but then she mentioned “bu” and “michi”. She’s talking about her dad!

Nezumi’s 17, Tora. You gotta admit he’s underage by American and Japanese standards.

Nezumi is very much like Light (from Death Note, obviously). Too cynical by way of being in this world.

“I wish every day could be Sunday. Go to work.” – LOL, ouch.

“I want to enter a manga.” – But he’s in one as of Oogiri and the Juuni Taisen manga! Geesh, even light novel protagonists don’t know how to be meta, do they?

“I want to be a manga artist.” – Why does it mention Young Jump anyway? More irony and self-deprecation? I’m pretty sure Young Jump is where the Juuni Taisen manga is, anyway. Update: Nope, it’s from Shonen Jump Plus.

“I want to go to an amusement park. What are you, a girl raised to be a living weapon?” – It’s SaiKano! Does anyone remember that series? I haven’t seen it myself, but the internet is a vast place, y’know?

“I want to be the strongest man in the world. What, so you can bully the weak?” – Sounds like One Punch Man to me…

Hey, I just realised that if anyone else wrote this show, it would end up extremely different. I bet a lot of people (from the Western fandom) would make Monkey win anyways…

Girls’ Last Tour 10

Hey. It’s interesting that they chose a train station, because if there’s one thing Japan loves, it’s trains. Specifically shinkansen, because those trains and their train culture are so unique to Japan, but you get the point.

Moving + moving doesn’t necessarily mean moving x 2, you know.

Wavelength…is literally that in Japanese…the length of a wave, so to speak.

Red has a high wavelength. It’s the highest amount of waves you can get for a colour in visual light IIRC.

Girls’ Last Tour just became Made in Abyss…? (Did it?)

Yuu has the radio around her neck, instead of Chi handling it. Huh.

Katto (cut) vs. neko (cat). That’s quite the difference you’ve got there, subbers.

Hey wait! It looks like those god statues from a while back! Someone must’ve worshipped this creature a long time ago!

“Sure, but are you going to carry it, Yuu?”

Ancient Magus’ Bride 10

I will always think of Lindel as the Ancient Magus’ Bride equivalent to zaShunina (Kado).

There was something tied to the bottom of that spruce. I think it may have been an adder stone…?

“We ought not to live by ourselves.” – I always seem to parrot the words that “humans are social creatures”.

“Curses and blessings are the same in essence…” – There’s a similar quote in Tactics, IIRC.

Lindel’s so tsundere…

Bird convos. Just as fun as jellyfish votes (Houseki no Kuni), if not more.

[kurara-black-blog]

A MysMe Au

Once I saw two pictures of V, Rika and MC as Sailor Moon characters (I won't post them bc they're not mine, obviously, but I have prints of them because they're beautiful). V was Mamoru and MC was Usagi (and Rika was Mars, but not really)... And it gave me an idea!

(If you know/are the artist who did the drawings, please tell me so I can thank them/you)

*Have you ever said "I'm hungry" and someone just decides to eat something in front of you? Or told your sibling "This cake is mine" and the next day the cake is gone but the plate is still on the refrigerator? We say those kinda people have a "wooden face". Maybe I'll explain better later.

_____________

We don't really know how V was before Rika. I believe he was sweet but sassy.

Just like MC.

One Valentine's Day, MC is being really bitter because of her (now ex) boyfriend. The guy broke up with her by letter! By LETTER!!

They were supposed to meet in his favorite restaurant (which she didn't like very much) for lunch, but when she gets there, one waitress (one of his exes and one of the reasons MC didn't like the place) came with a letter and said "I told you he would leave you. At least with me he had the balls to call."

MC was just so angry she didn't eat anything, even when he, as we brazilians say, the wooden face* to leave some money inside the envelope. The JERK!

She gave the money to the other girl and left.

Walking back home, she crumples the card and throws away the ridiculous piece of paper.

And it falls on V's head.

"Hey, you, don't go throwing your trash in the head of others."

MC turns around and there's V in all his pastel not blind yet glory.

He's annoyed, his family makes him go crazy everytime he visits

"Look, dude, I'm not in the mood, so just give me the paper and we won't see each other again."

She didn't need someone taking pity on her.

"I'm not surprised you're all alone, such a bad temper."

"I'll show you a bad temper, you ass! You're alone too! Give me the paper!"

"Okay, okay, no need to get more angry, no one wants to see your bad grades anyway, little girl."

"Excuse me?!"

If it wasn't for Jumin, they would continue to argue for God know how long.

They go in separate ways, grumbling about the rude tower/gnome.

Jumin is surprised, V is not one to argue with random people. Sass them maybe, but not argue.

The next time they meet is in a photography exhibition. V looking for inspiration and MC looking for peace...

... because of course her family loves the guy who broke up with her via letter after three years of dating...

... and of course they think it's her fault...

... and of course they're not going to hear from her for at least four years. (It's a lie, but let her think like that)

So, trying to help, MC's best friend brings her to a photography exhibition.

They meet again and of course they start bickering.

"Wow, you must be blind (get it?), pastel tower, this one is crappy."

"If I'm blind, your brain doesn't work, grumpy gnome. This is art, it's beautiful."

MC's best friend giggles. Her mama once said "Those who fight a lot with each other in the end get married". ("Quem briga, casa") You go, pastel giant! (Have you seen V? He's TALL)

Life goes on, they meet at random for almost six months.

Thing is, they stopped bickering and started bantering.

Well, they thought it was friendly banter.

Everyone else knew thought it was flirting.

You know these couples who act like an old married couple but are not really dating because neither of them have the courage to confess? Or they just won't admit they like each other?

Here in Brazil we call it "chove mas não molha" ("It is raining but the floor is still dry" is a rough translation)

And then... Rika happened.

At the beginning, MC, a little heartbroken, supported her husband friend and she even tried and failed to like Rika.

But things started to change.

V changed. He distanced himself from everything and everyone except for Jumin.

MC never saw him again, life goes on, and it does not wait for anyone.

So, the first time she saw V on the chat, she was so happy...

But he changed.

He was broken and sad and had so much guilt and pain...

And she swore to bring him back.

With the help of best man Jumin Han and Elizabeth the 3rd.

"Fight me, Yoosung! I'll protect my pastel husband!"

"lololol Hold your wife, V! She's going to kill the boy! lololol"

"Shut up, Seven."

"lololol your wife is mean, v"

[briusami]

15 with usagi and misaki please

I had the intention of making this angsty, I really did. Also this probably comes out more Minimum than Romantica (well, it’s about Romantica but…you’ll see).

Thank you!

Hiroki never considered himself selfish. 

He wasegotistical, that much was for certain, but carrying yourself differed frombeing greedy. However there were things in this life he would kill to let go,and he admitted that at one point, Akihiko was one of those things.

It wasn’t like he invited Akihiko into his life. Heremembered walking into their part of the woods, where they would stargaze,talk about their favorite books and almost bring their hands together like thatone walk home. 

But it wasn’t like Hiroki opened his arms. He kept himselfclosed, and maybe that was what ruined it for them. Maybe if he conveyed hisfeelings that one night, they couldspend the rest of their nights together.

So, now he was sitting close to the ceremony,decorations of orchids covering the courtyard. It was an outdoor wedding in theforest, one that Hiroki had always wanted. He was a glutton for how the darkgreen contrasted the white and black tuxedos in his imagination. There was evena moment that Nowaki considered that venue for their wedding – that, of course,was several years ago. They never went through with it, and they had settledfor the beach, even if Hiroki wasn’t much of a fan of the sand. However, this,this was perfect.

Watching your best friend get married is something youdon’t think about while you’re playing in their backyard, or chasing firefliesin the evening. Childhood never transcends into the what-ifs, unless you’re Hiroki and you pine for it since the firstencounter. His heart was beating in his chest as the vows were exchanged, andNowaki took a glance over his shoulder. Hiroki was sure his face could expressa thousand words, but he wasn’t sure one of those could match how he was feeling.

The afterparty was just as enjoyable. Akihiko reallyknew how to arrange an event, as there were several people hired just to pourthe wine into your glass. Hiroki obliged and brought the drink to his lips.This particular wine was bitter but he needed the encouragement. Nowaki toldhim he was going to the restroom and he’d be right back but Hiroki knew whatthat meant. Time to make amends, or so it was inevitable as Akihiko walkedtowards him

His tuxedo made him look incredibly dashing. Hirokiwas sure Misaki would tear it apart once the ceremony finished.

“This actually went better than I anticipated.”Akihiko started, standing by Hiroki and watching his glass. “I didn’t think youliked Konteki?”

“I don’t, but they just handed it to me and I didn’t feellike getting something else.” Hiroki replied. He grinned at his drink andshrugged. “Who drinks wine just for the taste?”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Akihiko said.He had his own drink in hand and Hiroki scoffed.

“Maybe you’ll actually get drunk for a change. We bothknow your husband will.”

“He’s already tipsy, just from one drink. We’ve beentogether for almost ten years and he still can’t hold his alcohol.” Akihikolaughed and Hiroki knew he must have been thinking of a past memory, perhapstheir first round of drinking together. Or, perhaps, it could have been Misakidrinking absently while his lover was away, that would have been anentertaining thought.

“Where is he, anyways?” Hiroki asked.

Akihiko glanced towardsthe other side of the yard, and Hiroki followed suit. Misaki was talking to hisbrother, probably the obligatory words of gratitude. Hiroki raised an eyebrow.

“He knows?”

“He’s known for the past few years but we hardly evertalk about it. Actually getting to where we could tell him was difficultenough, but he accepted our relationship after a good year of barely saying asingle word.”

“Takahiro, you beautiful fool.” Hiroki commented. Hefelt Akihiko shift towards him, a heaviness that Hiroki knew was coming but hehad held off for long enough. He sighed.

“If you have something to say…”

“I’m just wondering if you’re doing okay.” Akihikosaid. He gave a slight smile to ease the tension he had just created. “You knowI’m thankful for the two of you for coming.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Hiroki brought his drink back tohis lips. He needed to get drunk after this or else he’d be shaking all night.

“I know that it took a while for you to know about ourrelationship too, even if I passed enough hints regarding it.”

Hiroki laughed at that. What hints? He felt as thoughit was Akihiko’s humor, but even with the surprise that their relationshipbrought, he knew he was content with Nowaki. He loved him, a different kind oflove but it was still valid.

“Talk about hints. You barely made them sound serious.”Hiroki said and Akihiko gave a passive glance.

“When Misaki and I first got together we weren’t surewhether it was serious or not, either. I knew about my feelings, of course, butMisaki’s relationship with me was his first. I knew it would be a rocking boatfor the first phases.”

“And now?”

Hiroki felt the question drop like a weight. Hewondered if Akihiko thought about him like that before Misaki came into thepicture. It was a bitter hope – a rekindled spark that Hiroki wanted to know ifAkihiko thought of him in a loving way, even with Takahiro. He wanted it badly,but Misaki’s happiness was shining like a blown-up sun. There was no way hecould replace that.

“And now we’re married, finally. It took him longenough to say yes, but we’re bounded to one another for life, as I knew wewould be.”

“Getting married is a beautiful thing.” Hirokimumbled. He held Akihiko’s gaze for a few seconds before needing to break it,coughing into his fist. Akihiko found Misaki across the way and grinned.

“I just want you to know how thankful I am that you’retonight, Hiroki. We’ve been through so much together.”

“Since we were children.” Hiroki added, and Akihikonodded.

“Children who barely knew the world outside of eachother.”

“Akihiko you know that I…” Hiroki wasn’t sure what hewanted to say. He wanted to confess his old love but Akihiko raised a hand.

“I know. And maybe for a moment I felt the same. Butyou and I have a relationship nobody else could find strength in comparing. Youwere there for me through it all, and my appreciation for you, my love for youis something that I will always cherish.”

Hiroki was quivering as he stared back at Akihiko.What was with his man, making his guests sentimental at his own wedding? Theprofessor sighed, relieved as Nowaki came back and grinned at Akihiko.

“Congratulations, Usami-sensei. Hiro-san and I werehappy we were able to make it.”

Akihiko grinned and Hiroki saw stars. The same starsthey gazed together while they were younger, friends with fruitful love betweenthem. Something about this man…

Akihiko and Hiroki passed smiles.

“Me too.”

[docholligay]

DO WE WANT 2,200 WORDS ON REI’S PERSONAL GROWTH IN EPISODE 23 GOD I HOPE SO

So one of the things that comes up over the course of these four episodes is Rei and her personal growth as manifested through her Senshi power. This also comes up in earlier episodes, so I’ll be drawing from them a little bit, too. (Also Minako being a manipulative troll) 

Rei is a pretty standoffish and grumpy member of the Senshi, and I really love that PGSM gives her the space to be that. She’s been working on a lot of this youma stuff alone, because that’s how Rei is used to doing things: Alone. She’s spent most of her life alone, and life has taught her that to rely on anyone is a mistake. It takes time to unlearn that, and I really appreciate that PGSM allows her the time for that. 

Usagi powered up in the last episode by learning the shocking truth that she can be really fucking selfish and self-centered, and I love that it works as an aspect of her power but not Ami’s evil, because apologizing is one thing, but that doens’t make everything right, right away. Why should it? And so we have the genius of “Fuck your friendship mittens” even though USagi’s power-up magically heals the mittens as well just to remind us all that we are in a Sailor Moon joint ANYWAY, this is about Rei, and how Rei needs to grow. 

Rei’s problems aren’t are the same as Usagi’s and it’s a mark of the quality of PGSM that it allows each of the girls to go through their own growth in order to power-up. It’s not just a leveling up, it's a better understanding of how to be a team member, the ways in which each of them can greater contribute to the whole. It’s an important part of teamwork that I think gets glossed over oftentimes, that to really be in harmony with each other we have to change the ways we’ve done things. If you do this portrayed in media, it’s generally only in a romantic setting. The idea of a group of magical girls having to grow and change to fit each other isn’t that common. 

Admittedly the title of this episode is a little fucking crackers, even more so when you consider that it is in fact literally what happens here: Rei sings to get her power-up. That’s nuts. That’s wild. Why am I holding this up as a paragon of character development?  Because, as with all crackers things that actually work, it’s not about Rei singing at all. It’s about her learning important object lessons that the leader of the senshi has to convey through on the ground knowledge, because Rei won’t fucking listen to a thing she says. 

(It’s actually hilarious how little the senshi listen to her given that they think she’s the actual fucking princess. Rei wouldn’t go after the youma, Usagi wouldn’t fight Ami, like I need PGSM background that’s just Mina swearing about how SHE IS LITERALLY THEIR SUPERIOR WHY DID I EVEN BOTHER WITH THE TOY R US CROWN IF THIS IS WHAT I’M GETTING) 

And admittedly, this first lesson I’m about to point out is the less important one, but it is the more hilarious one: Mina told Rei to leave her the fuck alone and she won’t. The fun way of thinking about this is that Mina knows Rei has feelings for her even if Rei doesn’t quite know that yet because our darling and beloved Rei hino is a little bit of a repressed sunflower. Mina knew that Rei would, in no way, listen to Mina or keep her promise to leave Mina alone and stop following her. Mina knows a dumb lesbian when she sees one, and she can see the writing on the wall, but if at least for this moment, she can teach her: Fucking listen to me. 

Now the less fun way (for most of us, but not for my evil ass) is to remember that MINA IS GOING TO DIE. She knows this. No one else knows this. Mina has a vested interest in getting everyone’s shit together before she fucking dies, and has no interest in anyone’s pity. For all she knew Rei was never going to listen to her, no way no how, there has to be a small part of her that hoped Rei would. Because Rei getting closer to her is a mistake, no matter how much Rei wants it. Mina is distant for a reason. There’s no benefit in letting anyone get close to her when she knows that her Narratively Convenient Illness is going to claim her sooner rather than later, and I admit that I LOVE THIS SHIT. People covering up their illnesses to try to spare those around them is a trope I fucking feast upon like a fat Roman emperor with a grape. However annoyed I get with the conclusion to this whole fiasco, AND I DO, I love that I got a little bit of this delicious angst. 

That isn’t to say that MIna really spends a lot of time beating around the motherfucking bush

The absolute shade that she has going on here, the way she says “that sure surprised me” and Rei of course takes it personally from Mina in a way that I’m not sure I think she would from anyone else, because she respects Mina in a way she doesn’t anyone els eon beyond her being “the princess” A lot of people wonder where I get this idea about Mina being the leader and specifically Rei being the second in command, and it’s pretty much here in PGSM that all of that arises from, although given my general feelings on Rei I admit it may have come of its own accord eventually. 

Rei takes that role as leader so seriously, and she feels in her heart that’s why she’s a fuckup, because fucking USAGI powered up before her, before any of them, and how is she meant to be leader, when she’s failing so hard? Her immediate lead in for Rei is that Mina will think her shameful, that she should say Rei is shameful, and you know what? Mina fucking does it, ebcause she does not have time for this shit and she is not here pat heads and make everyone feel better. She’s working on a tight timeline, and I LOVE that she doesn’t hesitate before saying “Yes, I was going to say that you’re shameful, actually.” And then she points tot he fact that awakening is a problem of the heart (which is what we’re going to get into with what she needs to learn) and without telling her what she’s lacking as leader, simply tells her that, she is lacking. 

Mina’s not going to leave her to twist in the wind here, even if it feels like it--her grand plan for Rei Hino with all of this is coming down the hallway just shortly--but I like that she doesn’t spoonfeed the answer of “You can’t do all this shit alone (she said, doing everything alone, Mina you hypocrite) and you have to learn to ask for help. That’s how you become leader” because Rei wouldn’t learn anything from that. Rei reacts to asking for help like a cat to a fucking spray bottle. She wants nothing to do with it, and while, yes, this is a bit of goofy way to cast the idea she can trust her team and ask them for help, I think it still manages to be effective. 

AND THERE IT IS, HER MASTER PLAN. This is particularly hilarious given the fact that we know Rei fucking hates karaoke, and so maybe that particular aspect of it isn’t exactly for Rei’s edification so much as MIna’s amusement, but there we are. 

AHAHHAHAAH oh Mina how I fucking adore you. 

Anyway, Rei goes to go sulk in the batcave over Mina’s challenge, is beleagured and thrown to the ground in a definitely unnecessary and highly dramatic sense, and then, the worst thing that could ever happen, happens. SHE IS FORCED TO ASK FOR HELP. 

I want to give full credit to the actress who plays Rei here, because she makes the absolute awkwardness of this, the way this is like pulling teeth for Rei, so clear. This is the Fareeha Amari experience of asking for help. Usagi is the only person she knows that can help her with this, because I feel like mad karaoke skills don’t necessarily get a lot of play over at the shrine, and you can tell this is just killing her. She never expected to have to ask this kind of help from anyone, let alone Usagi, who is immediately thrilled and runs to her aid. (It must also be noted that Rei stays in this exact dramatic position on the floor until Usagi gets there, Rei, my god, please, you lesbian bowl of porridge, Mina is not wrong and you desperately need to pull it together) 

Even when Usagi gets there, her body language is so stilted and uncomfortable, this is so foreign and almost frightening to her, which was pretty much exactly Mina’s point: It’s easy for Rei to fight, easy for her to curse, but it isn’t easy for her to put herself in a place of vulnerability, in a place where someone can say no or otherwise reject her, leave her out on her own, which we all know Usaig as no intention of doing, which was also, I think, why Mina chose this exact mode of torment. She’s setting Rei up for success. 

Rei expects so much of herself at all times, and is so used to being alone in the world, and its really very striking the way she reacts to this entire thing. Rei, you’re singing for children not letting someone die on the battlefield. 

But of course we get around to the day, and Usagi gives her what I think Mina always knew she would, the reassurance that not only would Usaig help her, but that Usagi genuinely wanted to and enjoyed helping her, and also that it brought them together as a team. Usagi knows, really for the first time with Rei, that she’s trusted, that they are doing this together, and it reaches Rei, too, in such a way that we actually see her tear up: 

I’ve thought about this a lot over the times I’ve seen this episode, but I think what I finally land on for Rei and her tears is that sense that she’s been holding back so much aand being so strong for so much of her life, and maybe, just maybe, she doesn’t actually have to be literally all of the time. Maybe she’s allowed to get help, and to face things with people who care about her, and this is something she’s been able to do on the battlefield, but really not translate into her real life, and here Usagi and Mina have really woked ina  tandem that Usagi didn’t even know was happening to show Rei that her life is not just her own, and that she matters and that when you have a real team, help is expected. 

And then rei sings a deeply overserious song for a group of seven year olds but I will get into that in detail next post. 

ANd then that trust is immediately reciprocated by Usagi, who goes to fight the youma on her own and simply mouths to Rei that she will go on ahead and Rei can come afterwards. It isn’t as if Rei has ever particularly been unrelaiable in a fight, but I think given the exchange they just had, there’s definitely a sense of it having greater weight here, where Usagi would be delighted and surprised when Sailor Mars shows up. She knows she can trust her, and Rei knows that she is trusted, and that they are part of a far greater web than she ever assumed was possible in her life. 

And with that, in the battle: 

The deal with PGSM is that there are largely your finest cheapest MS paint special effects, and none of us really care because the senshi are people. BUt even with the finest cheapest effects the emotional impact of this moment really hits. It’s done in slow motion, and you can really see on her face the realization that her power has grown within her, that she has known grown as a person and as a soldier, and there’s this look of competence and of self-assurance that runs through her every movement. It’s just something that was shot and done in a really compelling way, and given that this whole episode has really been devoted to Rei’s growth (with a mamoru B-plot, to extra assure we don’t care about anything else) I’m glad they gave it the emotional gravitas it deserved. 

MIna, as ever, gives her effusive praise, immmediately after saying “But there’s a lot more you have to do.” this inclusion is only for me to profess my love for her and that’s all I’m sorry. And also for Rei to finally get what I’ve taken over 2,000 words to say. 

And then the most perfect ending to an episode ever, Rei re-asserting that she is still the same grumpy gus, and just because she trusts Usagi doesn’t mean she’s going to put up with the horseshit Usagi loves. THERE IS TRUST BUT NEVER KARAOKE >:( 

[serpentinred]

blackmantagirl mentioned you in a post “@serpentinred LOL! Same here. Most of the time, I follow new people...”

@ serpentinred LOL! Same here. Most…

@blackmantagirl Well, then, that’s good. At least we can gang up on anyone who dares to call us anything but young and beautiful. ;)

No, it wasn’t Jump! *goes to search on the Internet for the comic book name* It MIGHT have been Nakayoshi. I don’t quite remember it, to be honest, although I’m certain that it was translated version of it (I think they imported it from Hong Kong at that time, since I got it in Chinatown, Manhattan). I'm checking it up, and it still might be Nakayoshi, since I think I saw Cardcaptor Sakura being published in the same book. I didn’t read it but remember my second older sister liking one of the other mangas being published in there, and I THINK it was Cardcaptor. I think there was also a manga of a female Robin Hood-ish in there as well. Anyhow ... too many years ago. LOL!

I haven’t rewatched Super/Stars as much as Classics/R/S, so I’m not really certain about Chibs’ birthday. 

Also, after Luna-P went over to the dark side and turned into that drill-umbrella. Like, sure, some people might argue that it’s because of the black crystal, but I really don’t think so. Chibs was exposed to that crystal, not Luna-P. Luna-P just changed itself to be with Chibs. Knowing kids, when they are bullied to the extent that the franchise wanted us to believe Chibs was, they’re going to retaliate pretty harshly without thinking of the consequences unless it was in retrospect. Heck, I know of a child who drew blood (by scratching) who only knew remorse after they were confronted by someone they liked, not when they’d first done it. Well, actually, it was only that case - the kid scratched more than one person already, so ...

Kids (well, humans in general, to be honest) can be very cruel in the right (or is it wrong?) situations.

Anyhow, Chibs in the 90′s anime gave me no indication that she would hold back in dishing out pain towards the people that bullied her that much, tbh.

ROTFLMAO! Exactly! I recall thinking “How the hell didn’t they know she was the Queen’s child when she has the freaking moon symbol on her forehead whenever she had the temper tantrum?” But I tend to ignore plot holes when the rest of the story is entertaining, so I was willing to let it slide. Didn’t stop me from disliking Chibs though. XDDD

Now you’re making me imagine the Senshi running all over CT trying to pacify the worried citizens - “No, we’re not under attack ... No, it’s just the Princess getting hungry ... NO, SHE HADN’T BEEN POSSESSED BY A YOUMA."

In retrospect, no wonder nobody knew that the Black Moon clan was going to attack CT in the 30th century. Any signs were brushed under “another Princess anomaly” until it was too late. XDDD

Well, ignoring SenShi (or in general, Shitennou) fan theories of the Shitennou being brought back to life to have extra guards for Mamoru, they had at least 4 Sailor Senshi protecting the Queen and the King. So ... um ... shouldn’t at least one of them be, like, protecting the Princess, too? I mean, she is the next in line to the throne. Sure, CT is supposed to be a utopia, but, erm ... did you forget that you happened to banish people to Nemesis? And besides, if it WERE a complete utopia, there shouldn’t be any needs of guards for the Queen and King. So, why weren’t the Senshi helping Chibiusa control her powers anyway?

Maybe they were going for “Chibs had the power because she absorbed the Silver Crystal”, yeah, no, not buying it because how did the Black Moon clan knew that it was Chibs shining the beacon?

Yeah, Manga!Chibs had more basis for being insecure, and it made sense for her to question if she were the Queen’s kid because if Sailor Moon was so powerful, and Neo-queen Serenity could wield the Silver Crystal, what was she, Chibs, doing? Why didn’t she have any powers?

Agreed with what you said about the difference between two different Black Lady. 

Well, I think 90′s Usagi also gets distracted rather easily. She’ll set herself for a goal to do better and then the next second she’s like “Oh, video games! Manga!” whereas Manga!Usagi doesn’t bother setting a goal for schoolwork. At least, I don’t remember her doing this in the manga. 

Like I’ve said, binge watching Crystal these couple of days, I can say with confidence that you can see that Usagi pretty much matured from Season 1 to Season 3. 

Anyhow, I agree that there’s a way to keep immaturity and maturity at a balance, which wasn’t accomplished in Classics, unfortunately.

Agreed about the running around bit in Season 3. Well, to be honest, it’s a bit jarring to go from the elegant and graceful artwork of S1 and S2 and then to S3. Not that S3 isn’t pretty, but imho, it lacks the elegance of S1 and S2. So when the running around bit came around, I guess I was already a bit ... numb? Anyhow ...

Yeah, I know a lot of people didn’t like it because it felt too convenient with everyone pairing off. I didn’t mind it much because it gave me plenty of things to play with. LOL! I’m that strange kid in the back of the room that has to make pairs with everything (not humans of course, but with things, yeah ...).

No, I get what you mean about some of the personality. I think Jadeite’s boyish laid-back attitude came from PGSM where they had a scene in which Jadeite was jumping around in the back. But I never really got that feel from Jadeite. To me, he was serious, rash at some points. He was probably a bit more relaxed when he was with his Shitennou brothers and Endymion (and with Rei, if we’re going with SenShi fanfics). Sure, he might troll people every once in a while because being with the rest of the Shitennou has to rub off on him after a while. So basically, I see him more as an even more serious, more rash, and more sarcastic version of Ami. 

Oh, Nephrite is definitely the Casanova type with a love for being over-dramatic in everything he does. Seriously, you’re from the Dark Kingdom and the leader of youma, what are you doing riding around town in a freaking red sports car and having a mansion in the middle of some spooky forest? Are you seriously trying to tell me that you can’t look at stars elsewhere? LOL! 

Zoisite is a whole other can of worms, imho. I don’t get when people make him introverted. To me, he’s the refined version of Nephrite? Like ... he’s dramatic but more in the peacock way while Nephrite is more the Lion King way, I guess. LOL!

No, I get what you mean. Though I admit that I’m a fangirl of the traditional pairings, I do see why mixing things up will be fun. :)

I still think that it’s because they were trying to stuff everything into 13 Acts. I agree with what you said about the reveal. Like perhaps let the Senshi somewhat feel something after they’d defeated the Shitennou? Like even if they’d wanted something stupid dramatic like having Metallia blast the Shitennou, they could’ve done something along the lines of:

[Mercury freezes Zoisite, harming him significantly. However, before she could proceed to permanently dust him, a voice resounded in her ears, that sounded suspiciously like Zoisite, but with a lot less malice and with more friendliness, and even endearment, if the production team wanted it to go that way.

That pause proved to enough time for Zoisite to break free of his confines and escape back to the Dark Kingdom.]

Something similar for the rest of the girls and then the girls discuss this with Venus, who then reveal that yes, they had relationships before, but she didn’t want to tell them in case it got in the way. So the girls know that the Shitennou were good people before getting brainwashed. Then the Metallia scene and they mourn that good people were killed, rather than for relationships that could never be.

Well, it broke my running record of shipping pairings that are never canon, so there’s that. My friend joked to me that it must be some kind of phenomenon that I actually liked a pairing that became canon. LOL!

(Oh, the musicals are great. I still need to go through all of them, but nearly every one I’d watched was immensely entertaining.)

ROTFLMAO! Oh no. Now you’re going to create a monster. As if this reply isn’t already long enough without me complaining about the break-up arc. ;)

Anyhow, let’s see ...

For one thing, Mamoru was stupid in there.

There is absolutely no other way around it or to say it kindly. Like yeah, a voice that you don’t know (or is vaguely familiar with) tells you that if you don’t break up with Usagi, she’s going to die.

Let’s look at the statistics here, shall we? Starting from the Silver Millennium, it was YOU, Mamoru Chiba, who’d died first. Okay, fine, 90′s anime, you died together, but still only evens the score to Mamoru: 1, Usagi: 1. Then we go to the Dark Kingdom era where you got yourself fatally injured which then got you brainwashed. Mamoru: 2, Usagi: 1. During Alan and Ann’s period, you forget about Usagi, while she had a full set of powers, and you had to become schizophrenic to save her. Remind me if I’m wrong, but you could’ve easily died near the Doom Tree if Ann wasn’t fond of you. So, I’ll be nice Mamoru: 2 1/2, Usagi: 1.

Hell, with those statistics, I don’t know, maybe YOU’RE the one who should be worried about dying, instead of worrying about Usagi dying? It’s pretty much established that though she’s klutzy at times, she’s not the damsel in distress here. More often than not, it’s YOU, Mamoru Chiba, who’s the damsel in distress.

Let’s move on the the scenes - not the artwork, of course. Some of the angsty parts were well-drawn. Seriously, I love a regency romance as much Ami-chan, and I’m guilty of shipping crack pairing that are very controversial and in which there’s nothing redeemable about one of the parties in said pairing.

However with Sailor Moon, you want me to believe that she’s the strongest warrior alive and then you made her become Twilight!Bella. Sure, Bella came after her, but still. What’s up with Usagi nearly wanting her life to end because Mamoru dumped her?

Seriously, I don’t need my female heroines to super heroes. I belong to the HP fandom, and while I do believe Hermione is strong, I click on the X button out of the fic whenever someone makes her stronger than Voldemort, shit rainbows, and barges into Death Eater meetings in order to ruin their plans. However, with Usagi in the break-up arc ...

Seriously, I know that she’s heartbroken, so of course, she’s under depression. My problem is that she doesn’t walk OUT of it before she knows she has a chance with Mamoru again. Without even knowing why he was breaking up with her in the first place.

I know that there are women out there who becomes completely AWOL when they go through heartbreak, but imho, this is not a good message to send out to young girls. It’s the same old trope of “If you hang on long enough, you’ll have him back again” and “If he broke up with you, there must be something wrong, not because he’s out of love with you. Just wait for him to come around and he’ll love you again because it’s TRUUUU WUV!!!” 

While it’s not explicitly said like that, the subliminal messages being sent out with that arc makes me frown.

As a disclaimer, I have to say that I adore the Usagi/Mamoru relationship in manga (and of course, now, in Crystal as well), but in Classics, I really, really wanted Usagi to just dump him. Seriously. I wanted her to go out with someone else because he was such a douche to her. Sure, we knew he did it for a reason, but Usagi doesn’t know this. Without the context, I really wanted to be Makoto so I can beat the crap out of Mamoru. 

Tanya already made wonderful posts as to why the Senshi were horrible friends in other posts, so I won’t repeat it here. I’ll just say I completely agree with her points. 

During that break-up arc, it made me wonder why the Senshi were friends with Usagi anyway. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say: Why was Usagi friends with them anyway? I would’ve stayed away from them if they kept telling me “It’s because of ______, that’s why Mamoru doesn’t want you anymore.” Hell, if I were one of the Senshi, I would’ve either told her to get over it, gave her a makeover, go party, and hook up with some new guys or grab a bunch of ice cream, find some movies, and cry over those tubs of ice cream with her, whichever way she wanted. It’s shitty of them to put her down when she’s going through break-up. 

Hell, it would’ve made more sense for BERYL to be doing that to Usagi, but not the girls. Or maybe they’d gotten possessed by Beryl after that final showdown between Metallia!Beryl and Usagi. After all, we only knew that Beryl got enveloped by the pink light. Maybe some residue of Beryl got incorporated into the girls. :P

And I mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again, I really, really hated when Usagi was all Twilight: New Moon!Bella-ish in the break-up arc. I mean, sure, I know they’d wanted it as a way for Usagi and Mamoru to make up, but ugh. UGGGGGGH. I’m pretty certain the break-up arc was also responsible for me rearranging my list of fave Senshi, but anyhow ...

Okay, don’t know if I’d missed anything, but if I did, I’ll probably come back and mention it, but ... yeah ... those are some of the reasons why I hated the break up arc.

Oh, I’ve been interested in villains ever since who-knows-when, although the interest itself didn’t make itself clear until I was a bit older. But yeah, I don’t really like the cardboard cutouts of villains and antagonists either. Also, I prefer them to be intelligent. Give me villains with the minds of Albert Einstein and the elegance of royalty. XDD Of course, I wouldn’t say no if they were also pretty boys, but that’s just the additional plus points at the bottom at the resume that might or might not be reviewed.

It’s really no wonder why Zoisite is my favorite Shitennou, really, regardless of whether he’s paired with Kunzite, Mercury, or whatever. He’s just so evilly delightful. (Yeah, I also see him as being a major troll with a vengeful attitude even if he returns to Mamoru’s side.)

PGSM did well with the character development, much better than most, if not all, of the different versions. This reminds me that I should go back and rewatch PGSM one of these days.

ROTFLMAO! I don’t know why, but I giggled when I read this part: “Anime wise, I didn’t get why they just didn’t take their ships and go to a different star system that has habitable planets using time travel. Or going to a distant future. Like..guys.. for real.” 

Yes, I totally agree with your assessment of the Black Moon clan, but yeah, I liked the Dead Moon Circus more than the Black Moon clan. I recall Nehellenia having different backgrounds in the anime and the manga, but nonetheless, both of them were interesting and intriguing.

LOL! Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of redemption either. I mean, if you do it every once in a while, it’s fine. But except for the Big Bads, you get nearly every mini-boss having some sob story about why they’d turned bad and that just gets annoying. 

ROTFLMAO! Same here. Well, it’s not just the Sailor Moon fandom having that problem, unfortunately. So I find myself disconnecting from a lot of general fandom and just hanging around with people with similar tastes. Though I suppose that might get me attacked as well. LOL!