#yusuke would also win in the event of a battle

[yyh4ever]

Thoughts of Over 50 years

"Yu Yu Hakusho 100% Maji Battle" Genkai Event

This event was first held on June 10th, 2019, and it is very similar to the event about Toguro, "A demon lives in my heart". But, this time, it's Genkai's thoughts and point of view. Yusuke also appears at the end.

Story: Genkai can't quite agree with Toguro's ideas. As she ponders over his words, a tragedy occurs in the dojo. And then, Toguro has suddenly disappeared from Genkai's sight.

Video:

Translation:

“Thoughts Over 50 Years”

Toguro: Both you and I, we are probably at the peak of our strength right now, right?

Toguro: Lately, I've been thinking that it would be nice if time stopped...

Genkai: What's this, all of sudden?

Toguro: Don't you think so?

Genkai: ...Maybe so.

Toguro: I'm scared.

Toguro: It's not that I'm scared of someone stronger than us appearing.

Toguro: I'm scared to think that when such a person appears, my body will have deteriorated.

Toguro: It's frustrating...

Toguro: Being a human is inconvenient.

Genkai: Really, do you think so? ...

Toguro: I want to obtain a body that will never deteriorate.

Toguro: That'd be simply the greatest!

Genkai: .......

Genkai: If you get old, I'll get old too.

Genkai: That's fine, isn't it?

Toguro: ......

[Genkai ponders over Toguro's words]

Genkai: I've a feeling I saw him in a rare moment of weakness.

Genkai: As time goes by, we will get old. As times change, someone stronger than us will surely appears.

Genkai:

But, that's fine, isn't it?

Genkai: Good grief, the only thing on his mind is fighting. That's the only thing that won't really change...

[At the Dojo]

Genkai: It's unusually quiet...

*slam* (sound of sliding door opening)

Genkai: Th-, this is…!?

Genkai: Hey! Hang in there guys! What happened!?

Genkai: It's useless, they are dead...

Toguro: ........ 

Toguro: Genkai, is that you?

Genkai: You! That wound!

Toguro: Ka ... it's Kairen's ... work...

Toguro: He's the one who ... our disciples...!

Genkai: Kairen...?

Genkai: What is this guy...!

After the tragedy at the dojo, Toguro disappeared.

Genkai was caught unawares, but she believed that Toguro would surely come back.

And then, the day before the Dark Tournament arrived...

Genkai: No way ... of course he's coming!

Genkai: Jeez, I don't even know what he's doing. I can't believe he's gone away without saying a word.

*tmp* ... *tmp*... (sound of fast steps)

Genkai: ...You! Where the hell you been?

Genkai: .....!

Genkai: He looks different than usual ... As if, his eyes were as sharp as a demon's.

Toguro: ...Genkai.

Toguro: The Dark Tournament, it seems if you win, they'll grant you any wish you desire.

Genkai: When he said that, his eyes became even sharper.

Genkai: I knew right away that the incident with Kairen was the cause of it.

Genkai: Hey you, you didn't even write me. What have you been up to for the past three months?

Toguro: ......

Genkai: Ah, really?

Genkai: Is that your answer...?

Thus, the two headed for the Dark Tournament.

Toguro killed Kairen in the finals, and won the Tournament.

Toguro wished to turn into a youkai, and Genkai wished to never participate in the Tournament again.

Who would have thought that 50 years later, these two would meet in the same venue?

Furthermore, to think that Genkai would see Toguro go to the Myogokukai with her own eyes...

T/N: The Myogokukai (Underworld Prison Realm) is the worst level of Hell where Toguro chose to go.

[50 years later]

Yusuke: -san, baa-san!

Genkai: Huh...

Yusuke: You all right, baa-san? I thought you had finally gone senile.

Yusuke:There you are, you came back within 3 minutes!

Genkai: Idiot, I'm always lucid.

Genkai: Well, I was just immersed in memories.

Yusuke: Immersed in memories? Are you feeling sentimental? That doesn't look like baa-san at all.

Yusuke: Leaving that aside, you're gonna give me a special training today, right?

Yusuke: Hurry, let's do it!

Genkai: Toguro, you were afraid of getting old ... You wanted a body that would never deteriorate.

Genkai: But, when I witness my disciple and lad growing up like this...

Genkai: Getting old isn't so bad.

Yusuke: Baa-san, you ignored me again ... You're finally crazy, ain't you?

Yusuke: Should I ask someone to put you in a nursing home...?

*PUNCH*! (Genkai hits Yusuke)

Yusuke: Ouch!

Yusuke: What the fuck, old hag! That hurts, damn it!

Genkai: You really think I'll be taken care by other people, idiot!?

Genkai: Really, I'm impressed. Yusuke's an idiot and ... you're an idiot too.

Genkai: I bet you won't change even if you die.

Genkai: Really, you're an idiot...

-THE END-

I wish we could learn more about Toguro and Genkai’s past, their relationship, who were the two other members of Team Toguro, and more about Elder Toguro as well. He certainly had a thing for Genkai and was probably scared of her power.

[spiritgun92]

Terry M, Yusuke U, and Joey Wheeler would either get along like a house on fire or end up trying to kill each other.

[ashenpages]

Current Projects & Emoji Voting Key

Quick disclaimer: I’m a romance writer in all aspects of the term, so most of my works will contain mature content. Engage at your own risk, you know the rules, you’re responsible for curating your own experience of the internet, blah blah blah.

This post serves as a current mock up of fic ideas I’m either actively working on or considering working on next. You can drop me an ask about any of them, or just vote via the emoji combo I’ve assigned them.

Voting lets me know you’re excited about an idea and makes it more likely I’ll actually work on it. You can vote anytime, there’re no deadlines or winner announcements, just me gauging your interest by what I see in my ask box most often.

You can also ask me about the original stuff I’m working on currently. The current WIPs are Medusa centric and the emoji for them is: 🐍

Support my original work on Ko-fi and Patreon.

- Lupin: 🤑🤠💍  These are all oneshot ideas, between 5-15K each. If you want to vote for a specific idea, send me the emojis and the number of the idea.

Born from the idea that Goemon and Zenigata probably couldn’t be an item, my brain decided to come up with how I could write for them. Goemon’s teaching an ikebana class as part of his training, and Zenigata shows up as a student on forced recreational leave for his health from the ICPO. Zenigata wins the samurai’s heart through flowers. But what happens when Lupin and Jigen find out? (Only good sexy things, I promise. These beans are in a healthy polycule--be gay, do crimes) (WIP)

Jigen/Lupin, but it's Jigen deciding to seduce Lupin while wearing his own Lupin disguise. The thief is waaaaay too into it, and some artistry is taken with the sex so that they don't mess up the disguise too much during their encoutner.

Jigen/Zenigata/Lupin where Jigen has some fantasices about Zenigata, but is pretty sure they'll never happen. Tells Lupin about them. Suddenly the fantasies are coming true, in the middle of a heist, and Jigen doesn't what to do except get swept up in the moment and enjoy. Plot twist, it's Lupin dressed up as Zenigata granting all his gunman's dreams. Plot twist again, Zenigata catches them at it.

Zenigata/Lupin, where Lupin keeps doing good things in illegal ways and Pops has to find a way to punish him for it. Good thing for Pops Lupin's a masochist?

Trans!Lupin and Trans!Jigen premise: Jigen cares for Lupin after the master thief has top surgery, since Jigen has Been There and Done That. Caring, sweet, and a little sexy. Lupin is a much better patient than Jigen.

The one time Zenigata caught Lupin in an alley and kissed him and it was Jigen in disguise. Things get sexy anyway, and Zenigata has crushes on two thieves now. Lupin and Jigen "kidnap" him later for an evening of taking care of their inspector.

The background plot of Jigen's Gravestone where we see Jigen think he's done for and try to leave Lupin. Our thief has none of it, and we get to relish in the inherent eroticism of Lupin sitting in sniper fire, knowing Jigen's got his back. This is the moment I think Jigen finally believes he can be with Lupin forever.

I love the idea of something longer and more plot driven like a Lupin special where Lupin ends up in hot water and Jigen and Fujiko have to work together to save him. Jigen and Fujiko have such an interesting relationship. They're both partners of Lupin, they don't really like each other, they constantly screw the other over, but when it really matters they take care of each other. I'd like to see that highlighted a little more and also give them space to call each other out and bicker. Nothing sexy between them, but maybe a really interesting threesome with Lupin and Fujiko in a strap on once they save their boy.

- Sonic Vampire Novelist Coffee Shop AU: 📚☕💐

Shadow is an immortal vampire who has seen the world change for the worse too many times. These days it feels like he only lives for his coffee dates with Rouge, another immortal who loves each new era they encounter, warts and all. He has to admit that the book series she got him into speaks to him, at least. If someone in this era can understand him without meeting him, it can’t all be bad. But he hardly expected the goofy blue barista at the new coffee place to understand him the way those books do.

This is a novel length romcom romp with some big feelings about what it means to watch as things change, grow, and die. Expect lots of Big gothic feelings from this one, emotionally charged kissing, and overly-adoring sex. But also expect shenanigans from everyone in the coffee shop, which include Rouge, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and more.

- Sonic Blazamy, "Like the Sun": 💖🌸💎

Amy Rose has been in love with Sonic for a while.

Or has she?

When the Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver are trapped as the fuel sources for Doctor Eggman’s newest evil scheme, Amy teams up with Blaze, Rouge, and Cream to save them. With Sonic out of the picture and Amy fulfilling his role, was she ever really in love with him? Or did she just want to be like him?

This is a novel length epic romance with lots of competent women and lots of romantic Blazamy content. Expect flowery hopes and dreams, badass self-actualization, and glancing hand touches that give way to cuddly and sweet sex.

- Persona 5: 🗡🍛☕

After bringing down the Metaverse twice, Ryuji didn’t think graduating high school and figuring out what to do with his life would be so hard. Akira’s back in town, and the gang’s more-or-less all in Tokyo, but everyone else seems to have a plan while Ryuji just floats. How’s he supposed to change the world when he’s not a phantom thief anymore?

This is a novel length fic that addresses how powerless one can feel being just one person in the face of all the corrupted systems and bigotry the world has to offer. It’s about holding on to what you believe in, working through the doubt, and fighting your way to a better tomorrow with the power you do have. The whole gang is queer, featured relationships being Mako x Ann, Ryuji x Akira, Futaba & Yusuke as platonic life partners. Akira is polyamorous and omnisexual, Futaba’s asexual and aromantic while Yusuke is demisexual and very romantic, Makoto’s a lesbian, Ann and Ryuji are bi, and Haru’s pansexual, demisexual, and aromantic. They’re one giant band of queer Phantom Thieves, and even if they’re not really doing the Metaverse thing anymore, they’re still gonna save the world!

Also, I’m gonna make Makoto not a cop. That super didn’t age well. Zenkichi and his boss can work on making them better/abolishing them for other better organizations.

- Hades Game: ❤️‍🔥💀

Oneshot. I just really need to elaborate on the threesome you can have with them in-game, okay? Healthy and canon poly relationships are so few and far between, so often I have to do a ton of groundwork to explain why it’s working in the fic, but NOT WITH THESE KIDS!

Get ready for Meg helping Zag and Than be better at expressing their feelings, lots of kissing, and probably pegging.

- Castlevania Animation Trevor/Sypha/Alucard: 🧛🏰🛌

Castlevania gave Alucard a threesome last season, and I just really need S4 to give me him being taken care of by his partners. They’re probably not going to give it to me, so I’ll need to do it myself. This is just an everybody loves Alucard oneshot, with the gang’s signature banter (to an extent), Sypha being sexy, and Trever being remarkably sincere. This fic is gonna feel like that Ann Hathaway picture with Trevor kissing Alucard and Sypha holding the end of Trevor’s whip while she leans her head on Alucard’s shoulder adoringly.

- Devil May Cry Nico/Lady/Trish: 💋✨😈

Nico’s gay, okay? Like really, really gay. And Lady’s bi and not into men who make her pay bills, but very into women who make amazing guns for her and demonesses with hearts who fight by her side. Trish is ace, but loves people and is pretty attached to Lady at this point. Plus it’s cute when Lady blushes and says nice things like they’re insults. I don’t have super solid ideas for them yet, and I envision these more like a polycule where Lady’s with Nico and with Trish but they’re not with each other more than seeing it as a threesome, but who knows what might happen. This is probably 1-2 oneshots depending on ideas, but might turn into a series of oneshots if people are interested (or I can’t control myself and inspiration strikes).

- Post FMA:B Blind Roy & No Alchemy Ed: 👀👑🙏

This is actually an old novel-length fic I wrote ages ago and didn’t post that didn’t turn out well because I was new to writing sex when I first wrote it. The plot is good, and is all about Roy learning to work with his blindness to reclaim his ambition of being Fuhrer and changing the system to something that actually cares for its people. He and Ed reconnect, fall into bed, and both set about working through their respective traumas about being “useless” having lost their sight/alchemy. They go to Xing as an ambassadorial party to offer Amestris’s collaboration on Al and May’s Alkahestry experiments--and uncover a plot that might threaten both kingdoms.

- Age of Calamity continuity Mipha x Revali: 🦚🐟💘

The first time Revali noticed Mipha, it was in the heat of battle. She stole his mark, taking them down with a flurry of quick blows from her spear. Violence rained from her like water--and then she healed him on her way to her next battle. No questions, no conditions, just pure kindness. The usual need to measure himself against those around him was quiet in her wake. And Revali couldn’t understand it. But how to get to know more about her? A fish and bird may fall in love, but where would they live?

This fic could be a oneshot or novel length depending on how far down the hole I fall. I need it to cover time, but it could be done in linked vignettes or with actually covering events in detail. I may elect to do a oneshot just to get it done and out of my system faster. So much fic to write, so little time.

Expect trans!Revali, polyamorous Zoras, scary competent Mipha, songbird Revali, love confessions that are made up entirely of berating Link for not loving Mipha the way she wants him to, and breaking these characters a little outside of their assigned roles in BotW and Age of Calamity. Background Link x Zelda, and Urbosa x Zelda’s Mom.

- Epic desert romance about Urbosa and Zelda’s mom: 🏜🏝⚡

I just think Urbosa should kiss women and Zelda’s mom should get more development and maybe a name or something. Also, lightning imagery/metaphors/play.

It also went way over my head that Riju wasn’t Urbosa’s daughter the first time I played BotW, so now I want to write about the Gerudo queen who refused to produce an heir. The Gerudo are fascinating and have a very interesting cutlure, but I think it could be examined from a nonbinary perspective that rejected pregnancy and wanting to find a husband. Not in like a hateful way, but in a way that examines if that’s really right for everyone. There’s that shop in town that sells Voe armor, after all. Maybe finding a husband and having children isn’t something you have to do if you don’t want to. And Urbosa really doesn’t want to.

[nightshadedawn]

Persona 5 Royal Playthrough pt3

I ended up going through two Palaces before I could update y’all. Oh well.

...Yeah, no, quit calling me Miss Special Snowflake's boyfriend. It's not happening.

Ryuji, Morgana, and Yusuke having a conversation in the laundromat: "It's like he's our mom," says Ryuji... the mom friend.

Every time Morgana is like "I have to turn into a human so no one else can have Lady Ann!" then expects no one else to hear him makes me laugh. Like, bitch, no.

I have the restaurant in my Thieves Den 'cause I like it. Yusuke, Ryuji, and Morgana are there. They're so precious.

I got a three in a row Tycoon on cutthroat!!!

Ryuji and Ann just keep going "Shoulda figured" and other versions of the statement every time I win.

Ann just rejected Morgana's feelings HARD. I am happy.

Ryuji is too good, honestly. Why would anyone not like him? He's... He's always trying to build the team up, make them proud of themselves and what they've done. I will admit that he has his moments of being not a great human, but they're teenagers who were given absurd powers, so honestly, can you blame them?

I didn't know darts was an actual minigame! There's so many minigames. I'm so happy.

I don't like Akechi. I don't know why some people do. Like, his death scene was a bit... too late for a redemption for me, right after he tried to kill Joker, several times. His pain is understandable, but still... I can't.

Their "two sides of the same coin" also doesn't seem particularly fair. It's totally uneven in everything but color schemes.

Guys, GUYS, please, PLEASE decide whether you're going to react to my teasing or not.

"We don't have to deal with them directly," Ryuji says joyfully about the mafia. Oh you sweet, sweet, innocent child, if only you knew what I do.

I literally can't play this game around anyone else because I tend to yell "BABY!" to Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke and "BITCH" or "FUCKER" to... a rather long list of villains in this game... and Makoto.

I can literally feel Yusuke's anxiety about his painting when you take him to Leblanc to see Sayuri.

How can you say Yusuke isn't gay when he says everything I do is beautiful?

I love Ryuji's 9th social link. It's LITERALLY written like a confession scene. This also means I kinda hate it because... I can't date him.

Also... PRETTY BOY RYUJI PRETTY BOY RYUJI PRETTY BOY RYUJI

I actually kinda thought that the new scene for Ryuji being a crossdresser is kinda funny??? Is this bad??? I wanna see him in a dress, tho. I gotta agree, he'd be a natural. Not the like, painfully obviously not taking it seriously from the dancing game, though.

Though I do think it's valid that he freaks out when two strange adults come up to him and try to take him somewhere, especially in a place known for being shady, and at night.

...When Ryuji complains about it, I do feel bad about ditching him. Then again, I blame the cat.

Ryuji may be my ideal type on paper, but I'm also highly attracted to Yusuke and this is so totally unfair.

*softly chanting* butlers butlers butlers butlers

Don't mind me just... *makes meticulous plot to avoid having Makoto join the team that i may or may not write a fanfic about*

Makoto is one dumbass bitch. Like, honestly, there's nothing she does that's in any way remotely smart.

...I thought I'd just skip Makoto's scenes until she became relevant, but here I am, still skipping her scenes. Does that mean she’s still irreleveant?

"Witch" I suggest, and Makoto complains! "Would you prefer "Bitch"? I can use that too.

I put Yusuke on the team in the middle of the palace through settings, replacing Morgana, who had been standing right behind me. Which made Yusuke stand right behind me. It looked like he was holding onto my waist and standing uncomfortably close. Bro, babe, I love you, but not in front of my boyfriend and girlfriend!

Just accept the compliment, guys, I'm not going to compliment Queen.

...Opening chests with Ann or Ryuji is just so sweet because they're so affectionate and touchy feely. Especially Ryuji.

Math. Fucking. Sucks. I should not have to use math in a game. I hate this. Obviously it's the Palace Makoto comes in that this happened.

Well, I finished the Palace in a day. I love the feeling. But it was getting close there. Joker and Yusuke were down to no spells...

...Yoshizawa hasn't showed up yet. When is she getting shoehorned in?

WHY IS THE VELVET ROOM RED!?

My very first playthrough I didn't execute a single execution except for the first one we have to do. It  really screwed me over my second playthrough...

...I broke the electric chair. That's certainly something that happened.

147 games of Tycoon later and I've only been a beggar 31 times in total, versus the pure thirty wins in just Cutthroat.

They're in their summer uniforms and it makes make miss warmer weather already. It's fucking snowing outside. Grrrr.

Beat Kaneshiro! ...Wasn't a fan of his new boss battle. I'm even playing on safe mode! But whatever.

Makoto is a DISASTER at Tycoon. She exclusively got beggar all three times I played with her!

...RYUJI YOU CAN'T SAY SHIT LIKE THAT AND NOT LET ME DATE YOU.

Ann, sweeties, baby, you're doing so well.

She confessed to me, then in the call afterwards it was basically insinuated I proposed... WHICH IS LIKE FUCK YEAH 'CAUSE SHE ACCEPTED IT.

It makes me think of the future conversation where they're talking about marriage.

Anyway, if you haven't noticed, l love Ann.

My next playthrough I'm not gong to date her, though. I'm a completionist and I want ALL of the possible awards. But... I refuse to cheat on Ann. So I'll date everyone else then just hang with Ryuji... despite how cringy some of the date things are.

...If Akechi wasn't, you know EVIL and tried to KILL ME, SEVERAL TIMES, I might, MIGHT, like him. But in truth, I think that's really just the Persona 5: Revival talking. We get... into some stuff during that.

I know that either Atlus or the translators know EXACTLY what goes on in the Persona fandom because otherwise "He's too pretty to be wrong" would not be an option when talking to the newspaper girl about Akechi. I have to agree with her that his looks aren't really, you know, awesome enough for that.

Also, I read it as "He's too petty to be wrong" at first and I think that's an accurate sum of his character.

YO AKECHI-FUCK I HAVE NO NEED TO SEE YOUR ASS LIKE THAT WHEN I HAVE BOTH A BF AND AND GF.

...fucker fucking giving me shit about my fake glasses...

If you COULD date the boy out of mod, Akechi would definitely be the one they were pushing you to date. Like Makoto. Or Yoshizawa.

But hey, at least I get to not be nice to him.

I remember seeing this picture where Ann, Ryuji, and Joker kept going to the movies together and seeing 3D movies, and Joker couldn't wear the 3D glasses properly because of his own. I keep imagining that picture during this event with Caroline and Justine.

You know what? Some people call Joker a loli lover because of them, but nope! He's just adopted two more siblings. That is my stance on it.

FUcking

Fucker

WHAT THE FRRRRRRRR

FUCK YOU ATULS OR TRANSLATORS OR WHATEVER

APHRODITE AND MARS ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT MYTHOS. Aphrodite is GREEK, Mars is ROMAN. Their reversed are VENUS and ARES. USE ONE OR THE OTHER PEOPLE.

I get very pissed about this, and it's worse with Hades.

7/4 is the day I am screaming at, if you were wondering.

My dad asked me if the other students think Joker's stupid because every time I answer a question right they get all surprised.

I don't really like Makoto, as I'm sure you've noticed, but she was super nice about Ryuji's special move idea. And that put her ahead of Akechi in my book.

TESTS ARE NERVE WRACKING EVEN WHEN THEY'RE FICTIONAL

Yusuke and Ryuji are good boys, the best boys. And they're so awesome about their special move.

AND RYUJI OFFERED MONEY FOR YUSUKE'S FOOD. And implied that he did it before???? Ryuji, you best boy.

This boys' outing DOES make me happy, though. Like, insanely happy. Dunno why.

Maybe because Joker gets to be so flipping cheesy.

...fuck you, Yoshizawa.

HONESTLY WHAT THE EVER LOVING--- Grr. Too many choices while with her. Too many. OOC Joker when with her. 0/10.

I LOVE THE FESTIVAL PHOTO

And you know, it's really hard to choose between Lala-chan and Ann, but... GONNA TAKE ANN ON A DATE

Got her some flowers. Lets see if we can give them to her this time!

"Such a good FRIEND." Babe, we're DATING. For like, TWO WEEKS NOW.

AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO GIVE HER FLOWERS

Ann called Yusuke a pretty boy, but then she's missing out on the REAL pretty boy, Pretty Boy Ryuji.

Ryuji, why're you so worried about other girls when you've got ME?

"I like the shade." "What are you, moss!?" Oh, admit it, Ryuji, I'm growing on you.

Cargona. Snrk. Gods, I love you, Ryuji.

Dome town with Ryuji! "Isn't it all couples?" That's the point!

I COULD GIVE RYUJI THE ROSES!?

Sadly, I bought those for Ann. Ryuji, you get the noodles.

AND HE FUCKING LOVED IT.

"It feels like I really captured Ryuji's heart!" FUCK YEAH I DID

Gonna give Yusuke the bracelet when I get the chance.

Why is everyone color coded in the chat room? Kawakami, Akechi, Mishima, and the reporter are all ORANGE. What's the point? Well, Akechi's more of a golden orange, but close enough.

While Mishima is not my first choice for a date, he's definitely not my last.

...But the boy really needs some fucking sleep. He's not drawn with the bags under his eyes, but I can see them!

It's not fair that they give Akechi a kicked puppy sprite. I'm... goddamnit, they're trying to make me not hate him.

When Makoto doesn't know something, I'm brought great joy.

NO DAD MAKOTO IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND ANN IS AND SHE IS LITERALLY R I G H T T H E R E

First day in Futaba's Palace! I've gotta say, this is my second favorite palace. Kamoshida, Futaba, Madarame, Sae, Okumura, Shido, Kaneshiro, Holy Grail. In that order. I HATE Kaneshiro's place and dealing with the Holy Grail. But whatevs, man. I love this game. (Vanilla, at least, this one is still on the fence)

I found out a cool little thing. On the uphill sand slopes in the town (don't know about anywhere else) if you're running and turn back quickly, Joker will do a little animation to steady himself. It was cool and made it seem, I dunno, more human? Anyway, while I was admiring this, Ryuji and Yusuke just stood at the top of the slope and Ann followed me while I was running. Best girlfriend ever.

Kin-Ki is looking pretty kin-ky if you know what I'm sayin'

Please don't murder me because I do terrible puns.

*we fall through the trap door* *Ryuji starts screaming* Same, baby, same.

...Makoto is seriously annoying. Like, she's got no business acting as familiar with Futaba's situation. The one who WOULD be the most familiar is Yusuke, and I'm glad he recognizes that. It's not the exact same, none of their stories are after all, but I feel like those two get each other better than even Ryuji and Joker understand each other.

Yusuke and Ryuji's special attack is THE BEST

Ryuji and Joker getting up close and personal in the shadows. All those fanfics coming true, man.

I thought Futaba was sloth, not wrath? Why are her Will Seeds called Wrath?

Beat it in one day! It's so satisfying to watch all those achievements when I leave the palace.

You know, I'm thinking of wearing the Christmas outfits for the final battle. Just to be kinda funny.

Spending a relaxing day with Yusuke after going through Futaba's Palace... kinda want to take him to the bathhouse to check out that new scene, but I also REALLY wanna feed the boy... gonna feed the boy.

Apparently I can only make 'decent curry.' Which is fine. Because "I" can't make curry at all. Joker, you've done much better than I.

THE DATE CHANGE SCREEN HAD A RAINBOW AND RYUJI WAS COMING OVER ON THE SAME DAY FUCK YEAH MY BISEXUAL BABY

...Broooooo, the way you talk about your manga is how I talk right before I start shipping.

Took him to the bathhouse, 'cause I don't gotta worry about Mama Sakamoto feeding him.

...Can I take Ann to the bathhouse?

Asked Ryuji to move in. He was all up for the idea until he remembered that I live in an attic.

I'm Charismatic now!

...I was all hoping Ann would stop by but then Akechi asked me out. Laaaaaaaame.

Ryuji's smile is so fucking cute.

...I say we just be honest, and everyone's so fucking stupid about it until Makoto explains it. This pisses me off. They're not that dumb... At least, they weren't until Makoto showed up.

Futaba's hiding in the closet. ...I've spent too many weeks making jokes about closets to not have a joke about it.

Really, Yusuke? You see those books and think she can't understand?

...Wait, that sassy tone of voice... You were TRYING to pull a reaction of her. I knew I shipped those two for a reason. OTP and BroTP. Doesn't matter, they're both awesome.

I love you Ann, but I don't think your situations were the same at all. It's not like both are valid and bad, but... different.

Joker is SO fast compared to the others, especially when he's speeding.

What the...

Holy fuck...

JOKER IS TOO EFFING COOL

THAT MOVE TO GET FROM THE ENTRANCE TO TO TREASURE DOOR? Awesome!

Damn, Joker has my heart too.

I kinda wish we could see Futaba's costumes in her Persona. That would be pretty neat.

The moment right before Wakaba appears is so aesthetically pleasing.

...Futaba being happy is almost enough for me to accept Maruki's offer, and I haven't gotten there yet.

Ryuji and Ann keep smacking each other out of their ailments. Like, you guys just love each other so much! It's awesome.

Joker has lackluster responses to Wakaba... I'm hoping that isn't one of those "Answer these wrong and you break her!" things... Not that I think I was, but still.

I liked Futaba's new animation for when she defied her mother.

I wish the anime looked more the cutscenes. I'm trying to rewatch the anime so I can pinpoint specific moments for future editing purposes, but it's kinda painful.

1- This is the SECOND TIME you've landed on Yusuke while running from trouble.

2- YUSUKE LET GO OF MY GIRL

No Makoto, I don't want to go see Futaba with you! I can go see her myself.

So, I like Takemi's new voice with her lines during this scene.

Sure, she collapses every so often and sleeps for a while. Stays like that for a few days. Sorry that I put her into a coma for a month, Boss...

SHE LOOKS SO CUTE WITHOUT GLASSES

Guys, we have a month. Stop worrying.

THE TWINS ARE SO CUTE WHILE HANGING ONTO THE BENCH PRESS

Damn, Joker's dying to the amusement of two little girls.

I'm kinda disappointed I didn't get results for all that training. But I liked the scene.

Yusuke just casually be lugging bigass paintings around.

Taking the girls to the church may have been one of the funnier moments. These cement them as Joker's little sisters. With Futaba. Damn, Joker, you got no brothers.

Yusuke promises to come by every day and we can tell him to take his clothes off. ATLUS, you have some EXPLAINING to DO.

..And Yusuke took it and ran with it. My sweet summer child, I don't think I could handle you in as little as possible on the day to day.

"The heat induced delirium made me think outside the box." Same.

Guts takes sooooooooooooo long to level up.

"Punish me more" he says, as if Takemi won't do it.

"Good god. Well, none of my medicine can cure THAT." AT LEAST WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE

BATHHOUSE WITH YUSUKE

Awe, he had fun. :)

[penguiduck]

Writing Fight Scenes

I’ve had a lot of readers mention that they don’t feel comfortable with fight scenes.  Well, that’s understandable. It’s challenging writing about experiences you’ve never had.  But with some perspective and practice, you can most certainly work toward writing those fast-paced, heart-pounding scenes with ease.

To give you some background, I practiced competitive martial arts for six years.  I competed in tournaments and trained hard to perform well in the ring. It was a contact sport, and even if I wasn’t sparring, training often left me with bruises, usually of the physical nature, sometimes of the emotional persuasion.

This experience gave me a lot of perspective when it comes to writing fight scenes.

Whenever I step into the ring, I have a flexible strategy in mind that combines what I know about myself, my opponent, and what I’m going to learn about them in the next two minutes.  I’d like to share some of these thoughts and perspectives with you, and how your character may think before and during a match of their own. Of course, my fighting experience is limited to a contact sport.  Your story may very well be far more violent with higher stakes, but strategies may be of similar foundation. Once you take a fight into deeper consideration, aside from the depiction of two fighters merely exchanging blows, you can begin to enrich your writing experience.

I’m including examples from Yu Yu Hakusho because that’s the fandom I write the most for, and as you know, there’s a lot of fighting involved!  But remember — anime and writing are two completely different mediums. There's no one narrating everything that our beloved characters are doing on screen. You just see it. That is why you, as a writer, must paint those scenes through words for your readers.

Nevertheless, this advice really stands for any sort of writing, so do with this information what you will.

A well-written fight scene is never about just trading blows.  There are other conflicts at play, whether between the fighters or even in the heads of your protagonists.

Allow me to elaborate:

1. Who is your protagonist?

Whenever I am preparing for a sparring match, the first thing I worry about is me. I must be self-aware. 

I think about my own fitness.  How am I doing? Do I have any existing injuries or ailments?  How is my weight? My body type? What are my strengths and weaknesses?  What do I have in my toolbox? What techniques do I know? What techniques am I most versed and confident in?  

I also think about my overall wellness. Have I been eating well?  Drinking water? Sleeping? How is my emotional state of mind? What are the stakes?

Is my uniform clean and pressed?  What about my equipment? Headgear?  Mouth guard? Shin guard? Did I replace that torn lace?

I recommend using these questions to bring your character’s own reflection to the forefront in whatever way makes most sense for them.  How is your character’s fitness? Is she in good fighting condition? Has she been injured previously? What has happened since the last fight that might impact her state of mind? 

It’s possible that she’s recovering from an illness or injury.  Perhaps her mentor died a gruesome death. Maybe she’s frustrated because she lost use of her right hand, temporarily or permanently, and has had to compensate with her non-dominant hand.  Or perhaps she’s lost the will to fight, having experienced something traumatic.

Hiei had to constantly think about his own state of health throughout the Dark Tournament after his fight with Zeru.  His arm had been sacrificed to his Dragon of the Darkness Flame, rendered useless, and he was in terrible pain. He never let it impact him, of course, being the stoic warrior he is.  His personality allows for little inner dialogue to be shared with the audience, but as a fighter, he was most certainly considering what options he had with his handicap. And, as a writer, perhaps you would like to elaborate on his thoughts for your readers.

What has your character been practicing lately?  Is her weapon of choice the same? Has it been upgraded?  Has she been training with a different weapon or technique?  Is she perhaps nervous about using something new?

Maybe she just repaired her sword, and she’s unsure if it’s as strong as it was before.  Perhaps she’s been studying a new technique, and she knows she’ll need to use it in this battle.  

Remember when Kuwabara first introduced his spirit sword in Maze Castle?  He was so proud of himself, and that whole battle was an introduction to his newfound technique, how he manipulated his sword, and how he was able to harness his spirit energy.  It’s far more interesting to see this development and exploration than to just watch him stab at Byakko a dozen times.

My point is that while your character probably should keep her emotions out of the ring, she may not be able to.  There are so many things that could be on her mind, plaguing her thoughts, especially if there’s a lot riding on this battle.  I think it’s really important to not only acknowledge the physical part of fighting but the emotional toll it can take a fighter, too.

Think about the fight between Yusuke and Toguro.  Toguro had just killed Genkai, and Yusuke took that very personally.  This was not a simple battle of strength or wits. This was a battle of emotions, and it wasn’t until Yusuke was able to master his feelings and reach beyond that “six foot wall of crap” as Genkai so affectionately calls it that he was able to finally defeat Toguro.

And the catharsis that came from defeating Toguro? It was made all the more powerful because Yusuke went through that emotional journey. It wasnʼt just a fight — it was a calling, a purpose, and a lesson.  It was painful and potent, and it made him realize just how much these experiences shaped him as a person.

2. Who is the opponent? 

Before I participate in a tournament, I do my research.  Who is likely to be competing? Who is in my weight class?  What do I know about these competitors? If I don’t have answers, I would find them.  I’d chat with my instructor, my fellow martial artists. Has anyone else from my school fought these people before?  What were they like? Are there videos online of their performance?  

I find as much information as possible. I make calls, send texts, take people out to lunch, scour the internet for information.  Even if your character lives in a less technologically dependent world, I would imagine that he might talk with friends, look through old records, listen to gossip and hearsay.  He might watch battles leading up to his own fight in an effort to learn more.

And if this pre-work isn’t possible, that’s okay.  Fights in your story may be entirely unpredictable, but your character can also learn things about his opponent during the match.  

When I step into the ring and ready myself to compete, one of the first things I want to find out is on which side my opponent is dominant.  In other words, are they right-handed? Or left-handed? Right-footed? Or left-footed? Maybe they only focus on one side during training (which is silly, but that’s another conversation).  But there could be an underlying reason why as well. Perhaps they injured themselves in the previous round or maybe they just don’t like exposing one particular side of their body for whatever reason.

This information is critical because this tells me what I need to watch out for, which side of my own body I should be guarding, how I may penetrate my opponent’s defenses.  How can I catch them when they least suspect it? Where can I knock them off balance? My instructor always told me to watch the shoulders — shoulders move before the rest of the body.  You can tell what your opponent is about to do by watching their shoulders.

Your character may wish to discover the same thing.  Maybe his opponent uses a two-handed sword and is very clearly right-handed.  This may give him some information on where his blind spot is — or maybe he just needs to disable his opponent’s right arm.  The possibilities are endless, and understanding his opponent will give him leverage, offering him many options.

Understanding an opponent’s technique is also important.  In martial arts, practitioners often favor a strategy or skill.  This seems obvious, but it’s vital that you understand what it is — only then you can combat it.  

Consider Kurama’s matches with Gama and Toya during the events of the Dark Tournament.  The English dub did a wonderful job voicing Kurama’s inner conflict during these fights, struggling with first his inability to move and then his imprisoned spirit energy — if you were to put these scenes into writing, explaining his thought process would be fascinating.  How does Kurama overcome these obstacles? He seeks to understand his opponents before he defeats them, which, unfortunately, also means he risks injury to himself until then.

Your character’s thoughts about the fight, interpreting for your audience what he feels he might need to do to secure victory, is just as important as detailing the fight itself.

3. What about the writing?

The writing will come once you begin to dissect your characters and their motivations for fighting.  Your characters aren’t one-dimensional, or, at least, they shouldn’t be!  

Your fight scenes shouldn’t be, either.  It’s not about two fighters trading blows. It’s about an artfully curated dance.  Two opponents are engaged in a craft that they both know well, and whether they’re fighting to win a tournament or for their very lives, they have reasons and complex thought processes that should make their fight interesting.  

There are two players here, and unless the fight is grossly one-sided, they’re both thinking and acting independently of one another.  My advice is to thread their actions and consequences together — weave the fight scene as if it’s a stream of conscious thought, separated into paragraphs, each with a shift in perspective, for clarity.  

Instead of writing:

Yusuke charged at Kuwabara and punched him in the face.  Kuwabara punched him in the mouth. Yusuke then kicked him in the stomach.

Try this:

Yusuke had little patience for Kuwabara’s bad jokes, and he rushed toward him, landing a blow square in the side of his head.

Kuwabara flew backward with a grunt, stabilizing himself before launching himself at Yusuke, returning the favor.  His fist collided with Yusuke’s jaw, a blow hard enough to knock the teeth out of any regular human.

Yusuke expected him to retaliate, and although he was nearly knocked off balance, he swung his leg around, making full contact with Kuwabara’s stomach.

You may also find it useful to deviate from the fighting itself.  You can speak to a character’s inner dialogue or thoughts, whether about the fight or something else.  You may choose to have them begin a brief conversation. Or you may describe what other characters are feeling about the fight as onlookers.

There are many ways to make these fight scenes seamless and interesting — take some time to explore your options!

Just a few more general tips that might help:

If you’re going to use a thesaurus, be mindful about it. I use a thesaurus when I write because I suffer all day, every day from tip-the-tongue syndrome.  But words, even if they generally fit the same definition, can have vastly different connotations, so before selecting a word from the thesaurus, do some digging.  Look at the exact definition and perhaps Google some common usage. Punch, slap, and stroke do not mean the same thing, even if a thesaurus might say otherwise.

Read your writing out loud.  If you’re unsure, this is the best way to understand your cadence, the flow of the battle.  Use your best Morgan Freeman or Jorge the Ogre voice.

Consider a beta reader.  Sometimes having a second opinion is immensely helpful.

Remember that there are no strict writing rules.  You write whatever your heart desires in whatever manner your heart desires.  Experiment and explore with different styles and techniques to find whatever works for you.

I hope you find this information useful!  Please feel free to suggestion additional blog posts you would like to see from me in the future.  ^_^  Of course, please reblog this if you found it helpful!

Pictures are, of course, not mine.  They are shots from the anime or other official derivatives.

[bobzora]

official persona 5 character review

i have only played up to the end of the third palace but i won’t be able to play for a few weeks because my sibling has ABANDONED ME (single tear) and we play together. and i’m bored. so HERES MY REVIEW of all the major characters so far. under read more because i do tend to ramble

- mc/joker (bob johnson)

why is my silent video game protagonist a catboy. it’s funny to me how much personality he manages to have despite being. yknow. a blank slate to project on. charisma! the dialogue options when you’re talking to shadows that are like “girl power!” live in my mind. joker is a girlboss to me. feminism win

- ryuji

he’s like one of those very excited big dogs where you’re like “oh good for you buddy! oh yeah buddy!” but you’re also just like man this is a bit much. on one hand he’s a very good guy but on the other hand sometimes i feel a very strong urge to insult him or just be mean to him in general, often for no particular reason. i like him i really do he just has that kind of personality. he’s a bro. his pirate thing is funny i know they’re named after like. historical figures/characters in literature(?) but captain kidd sounds so. it’s funny ok. it’s funny. he’d be a backyardagain. i like how he’s a mamas boy that’s cute. sorry about your leg buddy. he’s very. naive isn’t the right word but something like that. i still want to bully him. his grin looks dumb (endeared)

- morgana

i think it’s funny how big his head is when he’s in his metaverse mascot form he’s like a bobblehead i want him to fall over from the weight. the gags about his puppy crush on ann and his dislike of being called a cat are ANNOYING like sorry about your identity crisis but i really don’t care. he is cute sometimes though it’s not like i hate him but he’s a little annoying! you know! i’m not big on mascot characters in general haha

- ann

i adore ann she is cute and great and she deserves a lot better get this girl a better costume PLEASE. at the start of the game i was already rooting for her hardcore cause everyone was being terrible to her (very common occurrence that happens to like every character i have noticed. Society) and then she had that thing where she was like “let’s have him continue to live so he can suffer more” and i was like HELL YEAH ann is always saying the truth man. other thieves like “yah it wouldn’t be moral to kill them” (tho they’re cool with the mind control lol 🤔) but ann’s like “idc about that lol i just want him to suffer” SO TRUE. so true. i like her pigtails

- yusuke

ngl before i started playing i kind of already knew that i’d like this guy. i didn’t know much about him other than gay little artist but i knew. i was right. i am incredibly fond of this guy. partially because i too am a weirdo artist with parental issues (his persona awakening had me like *vibrates*) but mostly because he is just so funny. look at this guy! look at his stupid little tail! i lost my mind while doing his first confidant event thing he is GREAT. VERY cool. i just really like him. i could sit there and listen to his long impassioned speeches for a long time

- makoto

i was a big fairy tail fan in early middle school (unfortunate) and i play in dub so every time she opens her mouth i can only hear lucy/every other dub character her va has voiced cause there’s lots of them. ok first of all i’m not a big fan of her character archetype. yknow the straight laced student council president type. nothing personal just not my thing yknow! i do sympathize with her Issues of being useful and being used by the adults around her ofc but i’m not like INVESTED invested. tbf i haven’t known her too long. what’s his face mafia guy’s palace didn’t feel as personal as the last couple which probably contributes to that (underwhelming). on the other hand i really like that she has a motorcycle i was like ?! QUEEN and then THAT WAS HER CODENme??? very cool of her. i don’t care about her that much but i do think she is cool. if i were to encounter her irl i would be so intimidated

- akechi

he has not joined the team yet but he obviously will. i have not seen much of him yet but i do have many opinions. i did know he was this games komaeda archetype before playing because of the sheer amount of arguing i can vaguely remember scrolling past about him but even if i didn’t i would’ve instantly been able to tell. he’s fake as hell. i lose it every other sentence whenever he’s on screen WHO IS THIS GUY. “thesis antithesis *pretentious stuff*” “woowwwww you’re so interesting ^-^” “woahh look we happen to have met waiting for the train teehee” (whenever he pops up in those train scenes it feels like a jumpscare) there is a high percentage chance that i will like this guy a lot. there is a precedent for me really liking that sort of character and he is very entertaining. i hope he is just so unhinged. i mean there’s like a 99% chance he’s the ~mysterious guy causing all the accidents~ and also the “heh kid u were betrayed by one of your own” guy. so. he gives me the vibes of one of those really tiny cutesy dogs who are just incredibly aggressive. funny to me how ryuji hates him to an absurd degree like buddy chilll yeah he sucks but wowww. i LOVE that stupid doodle of him on the classroom chalkboard. the anime sparkles. his hair is ugly btw. we met on 6/9 which turns me into a 12 year old. i enjoyed our silly little tv debate

- futaba

i’m 99% sure that’s the name of the girl with the orange hair and glasses? i haven’t met her yet. she does the hackerman typing thing in the opening which is cute. i’m just mentioning her because i think she’s cute. she’s a techie with orange hair so i’ll probably like her

- fluffy brown hair girl

only character in the game art i haven’t mentioned so i kind of have to so it’s fair. she looks kind?? very fluffy. fluttershy is probably her favorite my little pony. she would eat bread

IN CONCLUSION everybody here needs therapy and also i’m mad that i got invested in a game with time / resource management / stealth mechanics :/ . the battle system is very cool. also the menus are the best character they’re SO sexy

[sw4gg1e4life]

Yu Yu Hakusho (Reviewing 25 years later)

This anime is like a forgotten gem. It doesn’t come to mind as #1 first but when mentioned everyone goes oh yea that was like one of the best anime’s of all time. I feel like most anime’s don’t have the same level of action, adventure, comedy, drama, and growth that this show offered. Whether you watch it as a kid for action & childish humor or as an adult for the deeper drama, life lessons and adult humor, it’s great across generations and across time whether you watched it as a kid in the 90s/00s or now in 2021. 

Let me simplify it because there’s so much in-depth analysis I could go into.

Ratings per Arc/Saga:

Spirit Detective - 8/10

Dark Tournament - 10/10

Chapter Black - 8/10

Three Kings - 7/10

Deeper Analysis:

Spirit Detective - Honestly this arc had amazing parts to it, introducing the main characters, slowly improving enemies, and setting up for the Dark Tournament. I love the intro and how Yusuke has to undergo his ordeal showing his relationship with Kuwabara, Keiko, his mother, Boton, Koenma and everyone else around him. We’re introduced to a brat who doesn’t really belong but slowly finds his place and purpose starting here as Spirit Detective. I loved the deeper stories with introducing Hiei and Kurama. The introduction of Genkai was amazing, it showed there’s different aspects of growing and trying to master spirit energy. I only wish that section was a bit longer, maybe just 2-3 episodes of more unique competitors. The Spirit Beasts section is what made it a tad lackluster. This is their first real mission to spirit world and the abilities of the 4 spirit beasts just felt somewhat limited to me. Especially the fire-tiger beast, his tenacity just became annoying at some point. This is what dropped the Spirit Detective Saga to an 8 for me or else I would’ve made it a 9. The final part is amazing, it brings some backstory to Hiei by introducing her sister and most importantly the Toguro brothers leading to the Dark Tournament. 

All together, it’s probably one of the best intro sagas to any anime I’ve seen at least. There’s simplicity but also complexity at the same time depending on how deep you look into it. They didn’t just half ass the action like many of my other favorite action-packed anime (DBZ, Fairy Tail). There’s a lot of mystery, dark moments, and strategy for a supposed kids cartoon for the haters out there. 

Dark Tournament - This has to be the best saga in any ever because of the different strategies, emotions, growth, and somehow comedy still added in. I can’t help but re-watch this saga again and again every few years. We start with a mystery question: how much did the main characters grow in strength, abilities, and strategies? Now as a teen then now adult, the masked fighter is obviously Genkai because of the height, outfit and abilities, but as a kid, she was such a mystery for me haha. Anyways we go into the tournament and the committee seems hell bent on pitting everything against Yusuke & friends. I like that though Yusuke’s team comes out on top at the end of each fight, they do lose some individual matches for multiple different reasons. Instead of mindless matches purely on the fighting, we actually learn some backstory about many enemies and our main characters. It didn’t take long either; there wasn’t a ridiculous amount of episodes spent per backstory like Naruto or Fairy Tail. Genkai showed even more wisdom but also understanding of humanity as she knows her time is ending so she passes on her power abilities and most importantly wisdom to her favorite dim-wit. And throughout the story, we get to know more about Genkai and Toguro’s backstory and how power, morals and unfortunate events can change one’s future. The part that most people forget is the final episodes of the Dark Tournament: Toguro has been and wants to continue punishing himself. He actually does care for Genkai and Yusuke. He knows Yusuke has greater potential to grow into something great but needs proper and sometimes drastic measures and guidance to do so.

This saga had an amazing start, several related series of actions in the middle and a proper explanation at the end for many questions we had. On top of all that we’re left clues to the next arc, subtle clues you don’t realize until the next arc comes around. Episode 66, was shocking, Koenma actually granted Yusuke’s wish for his mentor and friend to be revived to live until the end of her life in peace as much as possible. 

Chapter Black - This saga was great. You really don’t know what it is until it’s fully explained. We all know there were stronger demons deeper in spirit world. But something deeper darker is coming and it’s crazy because after 66 episodes we realized we never wondered about a previous Spirit Detective. What happened to that one? Now we get a trio of test spiritually aware humans just to test Yusuke & Kuwabara, but the really interesting part is when Sensui and his team is brought in. A few abilities were obvious but others were so mysterious with a constant ominous presence and heartbeat music looming over. What is each unique opponent’s abilities and what is Sensui’s background and end goal? His multiple personalities each containing yet even more unique abilities with his desire for an open tunnel into the depths of Spirit World for A/S class demons is insane. It seems impossible for Yusuke to win here even with Kuwabara’s sacrifice again. But wow what a reveal that he does have a secret demon king lineage in his blood. I both love and hate this at the same time. It feels like a cop-out but also explains everything at the same time. It’s like Super Saiyan in DBZ but different because at least here it took until the 3rd Saga and several arcs to reveal it. I guess in the overall scheme of things it’s like having Dragonball before Dragonball Z. Anyways the ending is amazing as we see them fight and find out just why Sensui wanted this all along as well as his gay partner’s obsession over him. 

This was a great saga with a truly ominous back story and I love it. The only reason I keep it rated at 8/10 is unfortunately it happens right after the best saga ever in the Dark Tournament. At this point, power scaling and the use of demon king lineage in Yusuke just unfortunately puts the rating here. And we already know what the next saga is about for sure. There’s nothing left to really explore.

Three Kings - Here we go, the finale of Yu Yu Hakusho. We know Yusuke is of demon king lineage so of course he’s going to go train in Demon World. Hiei and Kurama obviously would follow along. Now with everything being obvious, why is it still interesting? Somehow the writers/producers of Yu Yu Hakusho find a way to bring even more back story in appropriate timing without it becoming filler. Learning about the deep ancient history of Raizen vs Yomi vs Mukuro shows how even as demons they have a human aspect: Raizen who ended up loving a human, Yomi who had a child and history with Kurama, and Mukuro with her tragic backstory that led to an odd relationship with Hiei. The ending is great with yet another tournament. As a kid, I wished they had a full tournament arc, but decades later I realized how much sense it makes that they didn’t show us the whole tournament, just key battles and how no one in our main crew won. Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei still has much to learn and grow. Yomi and Mukuro’s time has passed. A new brighter future awaits the demon world. Yusuke finally gets his happy ending with Keiko. 

This final saga unfortunately because of its timing and closure gets a rating of 7/10. For an ending it’s great and I’m not sure how to improve it. That’s why I’m not a producer/writer haha. But it is definitely amazing and I appreciate it. Yusuke went from a kid/teen to a young adult. The story we came to know and love is over and he did NOT end up obsessed like Toguro. He didn’t choose the demon life. He also didn’t choose a psychic path like Genkai. He chose his own path with his friends in the human world continuing as spirit detective but living as close to a normal life as possible. I love this ending, The ending and whole narrative makes me give this show a 10/10. Yes I know they released 2 specials in 2018 but why not that’s a small treat for us fans. They can do specials maybe every decade or so. I don’t actually want them to do a new continued series like Dragonball Super. Let the original show be what it is and be remembered in history as one of the most unique shows with catchy theme songs. Also the Eng dub is actually good haha. Listen carefully for the adult humor hidden in the show if you’re re-watching it. You likely didn’t understand every NSFW joke as a kid. I know I didn’t haha. 

[recentanimenews]

What Makes A Good Anime Tournament?

  I, much like you and your parents and your parents' parents, love a good anime tournament. The minute I see a few pairs of brackets or hear an overzealous announcer talk about "elimination style rules" or whatever, my blood gets pumping. Even before I was an anime fan and just enjoyed the most anime-esque non-anime out there (professional wrestling), my favorite event was the King of the Ring, a tournament that always promised rare match-ups and photos of a bodybuilder pretending to enjoy wearing a big, red crown. But why do tournaments always make me so excited? And more importantly, what goes into making a good anime tournament?

  Well, after the most recent arc of Dr. STONE, in which members of the village compete in the Grand Bout, I decided to look into this. And I've come to realize that every awesome anime tournament has a few things in common, with the first being that they take into account which characters need the tournament the most. 

    Obviously, it's really cool for a tournament to have a sense of inevitability. Yusuke and Toguro's fight in the Dark Tournament of Yu Yu Hakusho hangs over every preceding match-up. It becomes destiny, and even when combat is going on with other characters, it always driving the show in the background. And when it happens, the excitement is equal parts a satisfying sigh of relief and an explosive climax.

  The same goes for the Heavens Arena arc in Hunter x Hunter. Gon facing off against Hisoka, even when not being directly showcased, is still constantly looming. And it takes a lot of talent to build this kind of tension and have it last, which the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, Yoshihiro Togashi, has in spades. But despite how cool it is to see this, not every tournament needs this kind of be-all, end-all final match. Instead, a good tournament is usually made through match-ups that feel unique and give us a chance to see characters in a light that's been previously hidden. 

    Take the aforementioned Dr. STONE tournament. Obviously, the most dynamic, hard hitting match possible is Kohaku vs Magma. She's the only one who's a physical match for him, and if this was 2004, it would no doubt have led to a thousand AMV's set to Linkin Park's "Faint." Instead, though, Magma faces Chrome and Kinro. Rather than "Strongest vs. Strongest," you get "Strongest vs. Character That Needs The Development." Kinro needs to learn to trust in science and Chrome needs to prove himself, something that their fights with Magma provide. 

  Another great example is Naruto's Chunin exams. Obviously, the show is built around Naruto and Sasuke's burgeoning friendship/rivalry, and them fighting multiple times is bound to happen. So why not have it at the Chunin exams? Why not build the Chunin exams around one of the main dramatic conflicts of the show? That would've been a super easy way to ratchet up the intensity of the feud. Well, Naruto's creator Masashi Kishimoto knew that it didn't need the Chunin exams. Instead, the exams were a necessary showcase for characters like Rock Lee and Hinata. Thanks to the emotional weight (and dropping of actual weight) in the Chunin exams, these side characters are now big deals. They've been solidified as a must-watch part of the story.

    Another aspect of a good tournament is that even the non-tournament parts must be worth watching. So what can a tournament do to maintain interest while no one is getting beaten up? Well, look at the fantastic Cell Games from Dragon Ball Z. Obviously, you come into that to see characters like Gohan and Trunks take on the nefarious super android, but this isn't just a Cell-brand World Martial Arts Tournament. Instead of warriors battling solely out of a sense of pride or obligation, this tourney reeks of desperation. Good guys fail and are sometimes killed, so even when people aren't battling, they're dealing with their grief. 

    Both the non-fighting tournaments in shows like Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma and Haikyu!! do a great job with this as well, as they're both just as interested in the mental preparation as they are in the exertion of the contestants. Haikyu!! nails character interaction and team-building so well that you can't help but be just as engaged when they're off the court or just practicing. 

  Finally, a good tournament doesn't always provide the obvious conclusions. Look at the tournament to win the Mera Mera no Mi Devil Fruit in the Dressrosa arc of One Piece. One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda used this tournament not only as a way to easily introduce the tidal wave of characters that play big roles in the arc, but also as a way to nudge Sabo back into the story, and immediately give him a starring place in the current One Piece universe. Obviously, his cool goggle/hat/pipe combo should've been enough, but it doesn't hurt that he can now chuck flames at people.

  In the Battle City tournament of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Joey Wheeler makes it to the final four. But instead of getting beaten in the traditional sense and having his life points go to zero, he succumbs to the special rules of the Shadow Game. This keeps our boy Joey looking like a strong, competent duelist while also not redoing the Yugi vs Joey duel that we saw in the previous Duelist Kingdom arc. Though I'm always down to here Joey's dub voice shouting "I AINT GOIN' EASY ON YA, YOOG. I PLAY BABY DRAH'GIN IN DEFENSE MODE." 

      Overall, rad tournaments are a staple of shonen anime and they've given me indescribable amounts of joy during the time that I've been a fan. And with any luck, organized punching (with brackets) is a trend that is here to stay. Huzzah, brackets! Huzzah, anime tournaments!

  What is your favorite anime tournament? Which series do you think is especially good at handling them? Let us know in the comments below!

  ----------------------

Daniel Dockery is a writer and editor for Crunchyroll. You should follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[battlekidx2]

The Dark Tournament-My Favorite Shonen Tournament Arc

I recently rewatched Yu Yu Hakusho and upon seeing the dark tournament for the second time I was struck by just how well done Yoshihiro Togashi made this classic shonen arc. He uses all the traditional shonen tropes to their greatest strength and he creates his own twist on them. This arc used background elements to accentuate elements that play into the story and tournament itself. All of these elements create my favorite shonen tournament arc.

The setting of the tournament is fascinating in that it is used to increase your emotions inn regards to each fight. The entire arena, except for Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru, is against Yusuke and his friends as well as the tournament committee. This makes each win seem so much more hard fought and each loss even more crushing. When the crowd finally cheers for Yusuke it is out of self preservation and creates an atmosphere of desperation for the final battle with Toguro. I’ve never really seen this done in a shonen quite like it is here. Most series I’ve read just focus on the reactions of a select few characters the protagonist knows and everyone else is mostly irrelevant. When you think about sporting event or competitions in real life part of the intensity of it all is the crowd cheering when a goal is scored for their team or being frustrated when they think the referee made a bad call. When sitting in the stands if fans for your team are in the minority you’re usually more excited when the score and win the game because they overcame the odds and won in “enemy” territory. The fact that it utilized this aspect of competition when it could have been thrown away like it so often is was really refreshing.

This tournament firmly established the personalities of all of the major players within this arc and the series moving forward. This tournament is what made me love Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke. Whether it be Kuwabara’s big heart and empathy for others, Kurama’s calm calculation, Hiei’s confidence and quiet fury, or Yusuke’s confidence and determination I enjoyed how these characteristics played into each fight and their interactions between the fights. It wasn’t just the heroes either, but also the villains. Toguro is a deceivingly complex villain with a sadness underlying his cold and brutal facade. His final conversation with Genkai was cathartic and managed to incorporate themes of desire, love, and loss in a single two sentence exchange “Don’t ever regret what happened between us.” “No, but it would have been a beautiful life.” Toguro, when all was said and done, truly was a “man with a wounded heart and a broken dream.” The fact that after seeing all the awful things this character has done the story manages to make me empathize with this character is a testament to the character writing put into it.

All of the fights were well animated and had something that kept my watching. In Kurama’s fights it was his intellect and seeing how he gets out of the situation at hand even with handicaps. Yoko Kurama’s first appearance was incredibly memorable and had me in awe of his overwhelming power and control of plants. In Hiei’s fights it was his ingenious uses of the dragon of the darkness flame. In Kuwabara’s fights I was interested in seeing how his empathy interacted with his actions and how he competes against the odds. In Yusuke’s fights it was interesting to see him grow through the obstacles until he couldn’t grow through just physical means and had to accept and grow emotionally through learning how to be outwardly genuine by embracing his emotions.

This is why I found this to be my favorite tournament arc in anime. I understand if others have a different opinion. I know of many anime that have a great tournament that uses conventional and unconventional methods to create a compelling arc.

[sambart93]

2018.04.18 Marker Light Blue: Blessed Review!

This is the FOURTH installment of their series!

First Stage Deeper Crimson

And now this one!

Official Site here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4 Online Shop here

CAST and CHARACTERS

Jyounin Tatsuki as Saphir Sugie Masahiro as Verite Oguri Ryo as Honette Furuhata Keisuke as Affection Iwa Yoshito as Tendress Tanaka Hiroki as Chasete Tenma Shoto as Horace / Orasu Kobayashi Mizuki as Roro/Roro Tominaga Yuya as Ruby Shiokawa Wataru as Dignite Kurotaka as Beaute Takeda Tomohiro as Walter Tsuji Ryo as Sanom Akiba Yusuke as Inutile Ukai Mondo as Diamant Kida Keisuke as Serieux (Seryuu) Uchino Futo as Shounen/Boy

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: As expected this was so good! I think it might even be better than Crimson! I have so many feels about this one that I don't know where to start. As usual the story was very interesting and again they went in a completely different direction to what I was expecting! There was a lot of emotion and a lot of heartbreak, which is expected, and I cried so hard towards the end (probably the entire last 30 minutes). I love being in this world so much and I love the characters and every time they bring new characters in it's so interesting! BUT it definitely felt like this was the 'THE END' stage. Especially with the ending, it feels like they're closing the book on this one BUT I did ask them to please continue this series and perhaps bring or focus on OTHER characters and make other characters the MAIN character next time rather than Safire. His story is definitely complete and feels finished but I would love like a Red Clan spin off or a stage that focuses on the two brothers or a stage that completely focuses on Walter or something! I love so many characters and this world and I just want MORE! They're always leaving me wanting MORE! Rating: 8.5-9/10 <<< as you can see my freaking rating is going up every time too!

*

SPOILER REVIEW

Like I said in my non-spoiler, where the fuck do I begin with this stage...

STORY - major spoilers for previous stages.

So it's set after all the other stages so far and somehow all the people who died so far how been brought back to life. But something is VERY different about them all. They're colder, they don't care for anyone but themselves, they don't care about who they left behind; Verite, Safire, Roro, Ruby etc. Soon we find out that they're merely puppets. Their bodies were brought back but their heart and minds are lost. We learn that a man called Diamant has brought them back and while he's adamant he knows Safire, Safire has no knowledge or memory of him. So now they're left to figure out 'how do we stop our friends without killing them by our own hands? How do we get their memories and their heart back?' and stuff like that. I won't spoil anymore but if that intrigues you enough then PLEASE WATCH AND SUPPORT THIS! It's so good okay!

CAST/CHARACTERS

Jyounin Tatsuki as Saphir: I've watched Jyounin in a number of plays, including this being the third time I've seen him in Marker. But I finally decided this time around; I just don't like this boy's acting. Something just doesn't work for me. Maybe it's his character?! But he just doesn't impress me and he bores me. I definitely remember him the least in ALL of these Marker stages and I'm kind of glad we're DONE with his story; I'd much rather see and learn about someone else because everyone else is a far better and far more interesting character/actor. I'm sorry to his fans but I just don't see it. Like I said, could just be the character.

Sugie Masahiro as Verite: After seeing him in Lucky Dog, my views of Verite changed a little. He's always been so cool but he's always seemed so proper and kind of... teachery-like. But I do like the actor and after seeing him doing something completely different in Lucky Dog (review here), I could see the attractiveness in Verite more. OHHH!! And there's scene in this where his hair is tied up and I loved it!! Has he done this in previous ones? He should do this ALL the time!

Oguri Ryo as Honette: We ALLLLL know I love Oguri Ryo! I cannot give the boy ANY more praise than what I already give him! But as usual his Honette was so bad ass and cool! There's a moment where he jumps down the stage and even though he's one of the older ones there, he does it so flawlessly and looks so cool doing it! Naturally it made me upset seeing him and Chasete not getting along but there are two moments in this stage where him and Chasete are sat next to each other top right of the upper stage, and they're just being so cutesy and sweet together and have a secret discussion and smiling and Chasete was poking Honette at one point too(!!!) -- It just filled me with so many feels! They were SO cute together. As expected his fighting scenes and choreography were so good and his fight with Verite was so much fun, though it was hurting my heart.

Furuhata Keisuke as Affection and Iwa Yoshito as Tendress: I have to put these two together because their characters are twins. And because of the circumstances this time around, seeing them just being completely brutal and not caring and physically hurting each other in this really hit me in the feels. It was disgusting to see the lack of emotion and care they had for each other. So much so that it became a competition with them during the fight scenes; they each wanted to win so while also attacking their enemy, they would attack and sabotage each other!! I much prefer Iwa between these two and it became more evident this time around when I could clearly see this huge ability gap between them when it came to dancing and the fighting choreography and their flexibility etc. It was really obvious this time. Also I enjoyed Iwa's dancing SO MUCH! He's so good!!

Tanaka Hiroki as Chasete: This time around Chasete is still his bitchy, mean self but it feels different. It doesn't feel like he's hurting and manipulating because he has a motivation or a reason to. You can see this time he's doing it just because! And what I loved about Chasete this time around is that because of their lack of soul/heart/memories Chasete did NOT give a shit about who had brought him back to life. It was hilarious! He'd get these orders and he's like 'why should I do what you say? I have no reason to fight for you' which is just like 'ahhh my sassy Chasete!'. He was great!

I also noticed this time around that his outfit had some extra accessories and such. He had this chain around his jeans and on the end of it was a clock and I really liked that new and extra touch. It really suited him and to be honest, I kind of want one too!

Tenma Shoto as Horace / Orasu: Horace is still trying to get over his pubescent emotions and feelings during this one. He gets really jealous! Towards the beginning of the stage, straight away he's like 'why is everyone fighting for Saphire? Why is everyone running to help him?!' and he makes a DAMN VALID point! Why IS everyone risking themselves for this mystery student who showed up like 3 months ago. But of course the answer is obvious: friendship. And Horace's jealous and hate towards Saphire stems from two things; Verite pays less attention to Horace with Saphire around -- this is due to A. Verite and Saphire having an actual spiritual/magical connection with each other and B. Verite is like the one who should be leading, who should be protecting everyone so yes he is going to push away a young student who looks up to him so he can protect him. and C. Horace, at the end of the day, still has major feelings for Chasete even after all the manipulating and trickery that happened to him because of Chasete and then when Chasete gets killed BECAUSE he went off to help fight with Saphire, you can totally understand why he's just like 'ah fuck this guy' towards Saphire. But obviously his character arch this time is to move past that and understand why and get to know Saphire more etc.

OH there is another reason why Horace is so mean and that's with the next character...

Kobayashi Mizuki as Roro/Roro: He actually gets a MAJOR development point in this stage and that is: HE FINALLY GETS HIS POWERS!! He spends the first half of the play with Saphire going 'when you have time, I have something I want to tell you!' and then just before Saphire, Verite and co go into battle he's like 'I finally got my powers!' and he uses them to help during the final battle! It was so satisfying and so great to see Roro finally get his powers! The first few stages he was always somewhat worried that his powers would never come and would always feel like 'why was I accepted into this school when I can't even do anything?!' so to have him finally gain powers made me so happy! And his damn power is so good! He can tansport to pretty much anywhere! It was so coooool!!

So yes, this reason of 'now Horace is the only one without a developed power' causes Horace to be even more mean and cold towards everyone and causes him to lash out etc.

Roro is just SO DAMN ADORABLE! And I am so happy that Kobayashi ended up playing him this time around because he is so damn cute too! ***Shortly after this stage, Kobayashi announced his going to 'take a break' (he never said quit) from acting to pursue other work and other experiences. He's so cute and he's such a great actor so if you ever have time, please take some time out to watch some of his performances on DVD! I recommend Tenimyu, BASARA, Marker Light Blue, IkazuchigaOka and Yuhi no Shinobi.

Tominaga Yuya as Ruby:

I'm going to be honest, I had NO idea this character's actor had changed until I looked at the pamphelt! They did really well replacing this one! And I thought the actor was very faithful as Ruby! I have no qualms about him.

Shiokawa Wataru as Dignite: I really like this character. I think he’s so cool with a slight stupid side to him. But because of the events that occur, he’s cold and fighting side really comes out this time. Especially because with the story being centered on the Blue group, the Reds are kind of left to figure out what the hell Beaute is up to, which finally comes to light this time around. So there’s a lot of Dignite vs Beaute in this; and I love both of them so it’s kind of difficult for my heart xD

Kurotaka as Beaute: I have to say......... I COULD NOT un-see Domoto as Beaute. Like this guy was talking but my brain was like translating and changing it all into how Domoto would say it and how he would sound. And there's a part where *MAJOR SPOILERS COMING* Beaute is finally defeated and he's on his last few breaths and of course, Reds been sweeties at heart, Ruby is holding him up and Beaute is just like 'You're the one I hate the most' and it was SUCH a good moment and my brain was just like 'arrrghhhh Domoto would've said that line SO WELL! I can totally see Domoto nailing that moment!!!' so as much as the new actor tried -- he had a very Sephiroth feel to him in his movements and his voice, and obviously the hair -- and he did a good job, I just couldn't unsee Domoto as Beaute and my brain was just like 'I wish Domoto was here playing Beaute' and 'oh Domoto would've done this moment like this' sorry but, I'm bias!  But Beaute getting his comeuppance was so good! When it was all finally revealed, it felt so satisfying and I really like how he ended and he was such a good little shit. And that line he says to Ruby is just PERFECT.

Takeda Tomohiro as Walter: I very obviously miss the original cast for Walter but this guy did great too! But he was a lot more manly than the last one. With the previous actor, Katou Mao, I felt like we knew he was TRYING to be tough and cold but we could see the soft side in him. This time around I definitely felt he was more cold than  closet softie. But he did a good job nonetheless. I'm just a sucker for changes and tend to really hate (especially cast) changes.

Tsuji Ryo as Sanom:

I am glad we got a replacement here because I don't particularly like Oshima Ryo or at least what I've seen him in I haven't really warmed to him. And this guy did fine. He was definitely the better actor but there was nothing that really stood out to me about him or his role. OH! There IS a moment where he explains his story and it's like TEN MINUTES LONG, it's a really long storytelling sequence and I just felt like we could've done without that. It felt like a waste of time to me. And I really do not like Sanom's outfit. I really don't! It looks like it would give you the BIGGEST wedgie in the world! OH no thank you...

Akiba Yusuke as Inutile: Well, SPOILERS but, Inutile is.... dead. So Akiba couldn't really do much during this stage and his part was really small. The only parts where he was necessary is when Sanom is using his new curing power -- thanks to Inutile giving up his life and giving it to him -- because they do the power and the movements together. But that's about it. I really wanted Akiba to have a much bigger role both in this one AND in Crimson but I guess the writers didn't think the same. I hope I can see him in a much bigger role in the future. He deserves it.

I felt the brothers were pretty pointless this time around, especially because their actual story is set BEFORE Marker Light Blue Deeper even happens (so before everyone dies) and to have them randomly show up after ALL that has happened. I didn't think it worked but obviously you needed them for certain plot points (Walter and Beaute).

Ukai Mondo as Diamant: I’m having trouble writing this one because Mondo is the fucking MVP of this whole god damn stage! He was absolutely amazing! His character at first appears to be this super evil guy with this really crazy laugh. But then as the show goes on, we see him very quickly remembering his past and having a conscious and he starts to break and becomes this crying mess with this small quivering voice. It was amazing seeing him switch SO flawlessly on stage! His two personalities were so amazing and very believable and so well done!

One moment I really loved was when Serieux was going to attack Beaute but for his protection Diamant stops him! It was such a good moment!

He met my expectations, went PAST that, gave me this amazing performance and I just wept and enjoyed his character so freaking much! I cannot fault this boy. He was PER-FECT-ION! Seriously, go and support this boy!

Kida Keisuke as Serieux (Seryuu): Oooooohhhh I like this boy's acting STRAIGHT away! He reminds me of an elf; he's tall and very proper and has this pride and arrogance about him. He was a really interesting character to me. There's also this mysterious side to him because we see him making an effort in trying to stop Mondo/Diamant from remembering who he is, or the memories and such, and we don't know why until much later.Then when we get to the scene where his motives come to light and he's like 'I only did it to protect you! I've always been by your side and yet you're so obsessed with reconnecting with Saphire! Am I not good enough for you?!' and I was just in streams of tears. He pretty much goes OBERYN STYLE when he’s yelling at Diamat (as in just yelling the same thing like three times to his face). And then he's just holding onto Mondo for dear life when Mondo is dying and just my heart could not take it! He died in him arms! I also really love the character visual and his staff and his whole personality is interesting too. I was really impressed with both the character and the actor one this one.

Uchino Futo as Shounen/Boy: Uchino was really good. For some reason my expectations are always somewhat lower for younger actors but he did great! He had a very emotional and very dark role to play and I think he did it very well! SPOILERS >>> he was so good as the child version of Diamant. His mirroring with Mondo was so good! I absolutely loved the scene where they hug each other.

AFTER EVENT

The after event was a photo session so here’s the one’s I snapped:

*

GOODS

*

And there we go! My June (from now really) is pretty empty so fingers crossed I actually get my reviews and shit done.

[yyh4ever]

The theft of the Spirit World Heavenly Crown

“A Mirage Smolders in Demon Neon Smoke” - Part 1

The first part of this “Yu Yu Hakusho 100% Maji Battle” quest event was released from March 15th to March 31st 2022. The second part came out on April 15th and will last until April 30th 2022. It is translated here. I want to thank @vermilionyouko for sharing this event.

Summary: The “tenkan” (divine crown), is a treasure that has been missing from the Spirit World, and it is now being traded in the Human World by none other than Youko Kurama!? Let’s join Yusuke in this investigation and find out the truth!

  [Spirit World]

 Koenma: Hmmm...

 Botan: Koenma-sama...this is

Koenma: Show me the footage again.

 Botan: That treasure, just the fact it is being traded in the Human World is a major incident…this can’t be happening.

 Koenma: Aah....the trade is being organized by

 Koenma: Youko Kurama...

 “A Mirage Smolders in Demon Neon Smoke”

[Human World]

Yusuke: Yo, the weather’s nice. For the first time in a while, let's have a good time〜!

 Botan: Yusukeee!

Yusuke: Oh, Botan? What happened, you have such an angry expression.

Botan: That’s because…

Botan: Kurama seems to be trying to trade the "tenkan" in the Human World.

T/N: 天冠 (tenkan) = “The Heavenly Crown”

Yusuke: What ....!

Yusuke: What the heck is the tenkan?

Botan: It's a great treasure!

Botan: It's been missing from the Spirit World for a long time. It looks like a golden crown.

Botan: It is said that if you wear that crown in the Spirit World on the night of the full moon, you can obtain any kind of power.

Botan: The one who wears the tenkan can rule the Spirit World.

Yusuke: And the treasure was? By Kurama?

Yusuke: No fucking way.

Botan: I believe in Kurama, too.

Botan: That's why Koenma-sama wants you to find out the truth.

Botan: Before it becomes a big deal…

I will leave it to you, Yusuke!

Yusuke: Ok, I got it.

Yusuke: But, I don't think Kurama has anything to do with banditry now.

 [Night falls]

Yusuke: Pshaw, Koemma and Botan...it’s just a wild goose chase.

Kurama: .......

Yusuke: Oh, isn't that Kurama? He seems different than usual.

Yusuke: Where’s he off to?

Yusuke: Whoa, wait a minute…I ended up in front of some shady store.

Yusuke: No way, he really is…

Yusuke: Aaahhh! Damn it! Actually, sneaking around is not my thing.

Yusuke: Kurama!

Kurama: …! Yusuke!?

Yusuke: What are you doing here, man?

Kurama: I am…

Yusuke: Is that tenkan a treasure?

Kurama: How do you know that...

Yusuke: Youko Kurama is trying to trade the tenkan…I heard this information is being reported at Koenma’s.

Yusuke: What the hell's going on?

Kurama: I also heard the rumors, and came to investigate.

Kurama: There seems to be a youkai active in this store under the name of Youko.

Yusuke : This store…doesn't look like a Chinese restaurant.

Kurama: The “Shen Meng” (Mirage Dream)…is a membership-based nightclub. On the surface.

Kurama: Behind the scenes, they seem to be making illegal trades with special members.

Yusuke: I see…

Yusuke: So, let's get in there already, and knock that bastard down.

Kurama: I want to do that, but without a membership card, I can't reach the VIP room where the enemy is.

Kurama: If you make any fuss at the entrance, he'll probably vanish in a heartbeat.

Yusuke : What a pain in the ass.

...hey, someone's here.

Member A: Heh heh, today’s deal. We'll get the treasure for sure!

Member B: Yeah, the others can’t beat us.

Yusuke: …Hey, Kurama.

Kurama: Hmm?

Yusuke: It’d be nice if we had a membership card, right?

  [Inside the nightclub]

Member: I never thought that treasure would become the subject transaction…

Member: How much does it cost to trade it?

Member: It's not a transaction. I heard whoever wins the bet gets it.

Member: Is this everyone?

????: Nooooooo

Yusuke: We’ll also participate.

Kurama: As for the membership cards, here they are.

Member: I see...Then, we're all here.

Member: Hey, the organizer is not here yet!

Yusuke:  Heeeh…it worked!

Kurama: I'm sorry for those real members, but they'll have to rest in their car for a while.

Yusuke: There’s a bunch of suspicious guys gathered here. Not only humans, but also youkai blended in.

Yusuke: Now...let's see the organizer's face.

???: Looks like we're all here.

Youko Kurama (?):  Kuku (*giggle*)…who will be the one who gets the tenkan?

Yusuke/Kurama: !!

Yusuke: ...Hey, that's quite an elaborate disguise, right?

Kurama: This youki (demon energy)…

Member: Hey, hurry up and show us the tenkan!

Member: I wonder if it really exists!

???: Well, well...

Karasu (?): It’s a lot of impatient customers.

Yusuke: What!? Karasu...?

Kurama: .....!

Karasu (?): This case contains the treasure you desire.

*OPENS THE CASE*

Member: Oh, my God!

Member: It’s authentic…

Member: If I obtain this, the ruler of the Spirit World will change!

Member: What should I trade for it!

Member: I'll pay you as much money as you want…!!

Youko Kurama (?): The tenkan will only be given to the winner.

Youko Kurama (?): I’ll have everyone here play a game. We’ll give it to the one who wins.

Youko Kurama (?): And everyone who loses...die.

Member: Whaaa…….aaat

Member: Everyone, but the one who wins, will die, what…

Member: I, I'm out of here…I'm not willing to bet my life.

Member: I'm leaving too!

Karasu (?): Oops…now that you have a membership card in your hands, you can't quit this game.

Karasu (?): That is a hex. If you withdraw, it'll blow up its owner's heart.

Youko Kurama (?): If you don't want to die, you have no choice but to win.

Member: It can't be...

Yusuke: Shit…

TO BE CONTINUED…

OMG, is this the Squid Game? lol How does it work? What are the alleged Karasu and Youko Kurama up to? Let's find out how this story ends in Part 2.

[ashenpages]

Current Fic Ideas & Emoji Voting Key

Quick disclaimer that I’m a romance writer in all aspects of the term, so most of my fics will contain mature content. Engage at your own risk, you know the rules, you’re responsible for curating your own experience of the internet, blah blah blah. This post serves as a current mock up of fic ideas I’m either actively working on or considering working on next. You can drop me an ask about any of them, or just vote via the emoji combo I’ve assigned them.

Voting lets me know you’re excited about an idea and makes it more likely I’ll actually work on it. You can vote anytime, there’re no deadlines or winner announcements, just me gauging your interest by what I see in my ask box most often.

You can also ask me about the original stuff I’m working on currently. The current WIPs are Medusa centric and the emoji for them is: 🐍

- Lupin: 🤑🤠💍  These are all oneshot ideas, between 5-15K each. If you want to vote for a specific idea, send me the emojis and the number of the idea. 

Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon always play rock-paper-scissors after a big heist to decide who’ll give the group a striptease, and who will get showered with money. Based on a piece of fanart that is basically this sequence of events in a 4koma (except in their version Jigen loses and in mine, it’s Goemon). (written, just needs editing)

Zenigata cuffs Lupin four times, and Lupin steals his heart. Very NSFW conclusion. Zenigata is the most caring lover you’ll ever find. Lupin is as thirsty as usual and twice as intense. (written, just needs editing)

Jigen protects Lupin from poison darts during a treasure hunt in an Aztec temple, and Lupin nurses him back to help--forcibly, since Jigen is a horrible patient. Born from my desire to spoil Jigen and talk about what ridiculous domestic husbands these two are. (WIP)

Born from the idea that Goemon and Zenigata probably couldn’t be an item, my brain decided to come up with how I could write for them. Goemon’s teaching an ikebana class as part of his training, and Zenigata shows up as a student on forced recreational leave for his health from the ICPO. Zenigata wins the samurai’s heart through flowers. But what happens when Lupin and Jigen find out? (Only good sexy things, I promise. These beans are in a healthy polycule--be gay, do crimes)

Trans!Lupin and Trans!Jigen premise: Jigen cares for Lupin after the master thief has top surgery, since Jigen has Been There and Done That. Caring, sweet, and a little sexy. Lupin is a much better patient than Jigen.

- Sonic Vampire Novelist Coffee Shop AU: 📚☕💐 

Shadow is an immortal vampire who has seen the world change for the worse too many times. These days it feels like he only lives for his coffee dates with Rouge, another immortal who loves each new era they encounter, warts and all. He has to admit that the book series she got him into speaks to him, at least. If someone in this era can understand him without meeting him, it can’t all be bad. But he hardly expected the goofy blue barista at the new coffee place to understand him the way those books do.

This is a novel length romcom romp with some big feelings about what it means to watch as things change, grow, and die. Expect lots of Big gothic feelings from this one, emotionally charged kissing, and overly-adoring sex. But also expect shenanigans from everyone in the coffee shop, which include Rouge, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and more.

- Sonic Blazamy: 💖🌸💎

Amy Rose has been in love with Sonic for a while.

Or has she?

When the Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver are trapped as the fuel sources for Doctor Eggman’s newest evil scheme, Amy teams up with Blaze, Rouge, and Cream to save them. With Sonic out of the picture and Amy fulfilling his role, was she ever really in love with him? Or did she just want to be like him?

This is a novel length epic romance with lots of competent women and lots of romantic Blazamy content. Expect flowery hopes and dreams, badass self-actualization, and glancing hand touches that give way to cuddly and sweet sex.

- Persona 5: 🗡🍛☕

After bringing down the Metaverse twice, Ryuji didn’t think graduating high school and figuring out what to do with his life would be so hard. Akira’s back in town, and the gang’s more-or-less all in Tokyo, but everyone else seems to have a plan while Ryuji just floats. How’s he supposed to change the world when he’s not a phantom thief anymore?

This is a novel length fic that addresses how powerless one can feel being just one person in the face of all the corrupted systems and bigotry the world has to offer. It’s about holding on to what you believe in, working through the doubt, and fighting your way to a better tomorrow with the power you do have. The whole gang is queer, featured relationships being Mako x Ann, Ryuji x Akira, Futaba & Yusuke as platonic life partners. Akira is polyamorous and omnisexual, Futaba’s asexual and aromantic while Yusuke is demisexual and very romantic, Makoto’s a lesbian, Ann and Ryuji are bi, and Haru’s pansexual, demisexual, and aromantic. They’re one giant band of queer Phantom Thieves, and even if they’re not really doing the Metaverse thing anymore, they’re still gonna save the world!

Also, I’m gonna make Makoto not a cop. That super didn’t age well. Zenkichi and his boss can work on making them better/abolishing them for other better organizations.

- Hades Game: ❤️‍🔥💀

Oneshot. I just really need to elaborate on the threesome you can have with them in-game, okay? Healthy and canon poly relationships are so few and far between, so often I have to do a ton of groundwork to explain why it’s working in the fic, but NOT WITH THESE KIDS!

Get ready for Meg helping Zag and Than be better at expressing their feelings, lots of kissing, and probably pegging.

- Castlevania Animation Trevor/Sypha/Alucard: 🧛🏰🛌 

Castlevania gave Alucard a threesome last season, and I just really need S4 to give me him being taken care of by his partners. They’re probably not going to give it to me, so I’ll need to do it myself. This is just an everybody loves Alucard oneshot, with the gang’s signature banter (to an extent), Sypha being sexy, and Trever being remarkably sincere. This fic is gonna feel like that Ann Hathaway picture with Trevor kissing Alucard and Sypha holding the end of Trevor’s whip while she leans her head on Alucard’s shoulder adoringly.

- Devil May Cry Nico/Lady/Trish: 💋✨😈 

Nico’s gay, okay? Like really, really gay. And Lady’s bi and not into men who make her pay bills, but very into women who make amazing guns for her and demonesses with hearts who fight by her side. Trish is ace, but loves people and is pretty attached to Lady at this point. Plus it’s cute when Lady blushes and says nice things like they’re insults. I don’t have super solid ideas for them yet, and I envision these more like a polycule where Lady’s with Nico and with Trish but they’re not with each other more than seeing it as a threesome, but who knows what might happen. This is probably 1-2 oneshots depending on ideas, but might turn into a series of oneshots if people are interested (or I can’t control myself and inspiration strikes).

- Post FMA:B Blind Roy & No Alchemy Ed: 👀👑🙏

This is actually an old novel-length fic I wrote ages ago and didn’t post that didn’t turn out well because I was new to writing sex when I first wrote it. The plot is good, and is all about Roy learning to work with his blindness to reclaim his ambition of being Fuhrer and changing the system to something that actually cares for its people. He and Ed reconnect, fall into bed, and both set about working through their respective traumas about being “useless” having lost their sight/alchemy. They go to Xing as an ambassadorial party to offer Amestris’s collaboration on Al and May’s Alkahestry experiments--and uncover a plot that might threaten both kingdoms.

- Age of Calamity continuity Mipha x Revali: 🦚🐟💘

The first time Revali noticed Mipha, it was in the heat of battle. She stole his mark, taking them down with a flurry of quick blows from her spear. Violence rained from her like water--and then she healed him on her way to her next battle. No questions, no conditions, just pure kindness. The usual need to measure himself against those around him was quiet in her wake. And Revali couldn’t understand it. But how to get to know more about her? A fish and bird may fall in love, but where would they live?

This fic could be a oneshot or novel length depending on how far down the hole I fall. I need it to cover time, but it could be done in linked vignettes or with actually covering events in detail. I may elect to do a oneshot just to get it done and out of my system faster. So much fic to write, so little time.

Expect trans!Revali, polyamorous Zoras, scary competent Mipha, songbird Revali, love confessions that are made up entirely of berating Link for not loving Mipha the way she wants him to, and breaking these characters a little outside of their assigned roles in BotW and Age of Calamity. Background Link x Zelda, and Urbosa x Zelda’s Mom.

- Epic desert romance about Urbosa and Zelda’s mom: 🏜🏝⚡

I just think Urbosa should kiss women and Zelda’s mom should get more development and maybe a name or something. Also, lightning imagery/metaphors/play.

It also went way over my head that Riju wasn’t Urbosa’s daughter the first time I played BotW, so now I want to write about the Gerudo queen who refused to produce an heir. The Gerudo are fascinating and have a very interesting cutlure, but I think it could be examined from a nonbinary perspective that rejected pregnancy and wanting to find a husband. Not in like a hateful way, but in a way that examines if that’s really right for everyone. There’s that shop in town that sells Voe armor, after all. Maybe finding a husband and having children isn’t something you have to do if you don’t want to. And Urbosa really doesn’t want to.

[mechagalaxy]

Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184: Mountain Climbing Mecha Combat #1428

(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184) Mountain Climbing Mecha Combat #1428 Brought to you by ANN Highlighting the November 3367 Front Line Fight As usual, between the second and third battleday we got an event where only the Mechs in the first (rightmost) line  would be engaged in the fighting. Good thing for me. The battles against Death`s Collectors had left most of my formations as wreckage spread out over the battlefield, and getting even a handfull of Mechs battleworthy in time for the fighting would be an herculian task even for my elite Techs. But somehow they managed, so with a trio of Humbabas and a couple Notos`es we managed to sign in on K3 before the scramble started. As usual when we fight on K3, our licence were among the lowest. Only Mlb Ling from "Raging Vengeance" had a lower one. Of the other sixteen opponents, a half-dozen was members of the 300 club and the rest of the 200 club, so this would be a serious struggle. Of course, the fact that we only had five Mechs while most of the others had a six-Mech line made things harder. On the other hand my rides had only the best equipment Niodes could buy, and were armed pretty extensively as well. So without regard for the towering superiority of the opponents, we clawed our way up the foothills, and managed to grab a spot on the slopes. Some serious fighting ensued, and we were in the thick of it. Darren Proctor of the Northwind Dragons, Felix Fogg of "Raging Vengeance". Yusuke Paul Okabayashi of Myth & Legends Team Banzai as well as James Waddington from the Brotherhood of Arcane Dragons were also highly active, and we got quite shot up. But after a while things settled, and we managed to end up with a Silver, pretty good considering the opposition. Those who held the tops when the light flashed were: Div 1 452+ (27 Commanders): Fabio Favaro, O.s.c. (5m,56s) 2: Dexter Berry 3: Gary Muenzel 4: Ben Rail 5: Mk Mathews 6: Sal Vezzosi Jr 7: Orion Prime 8: Roy Cheah 9: Jeff Page 10: Jaime Beltran Div 2 -451 (17 Commanders): Mike Wach, O.s.c. (48m,28s) Div 3 -352 (18 Commanders): Darren Proctor, Northwind Dragons (8m,41s) Div 4 -227 (25 Commanders): Darren Jackson, M&L Team Banzai (35m,23s) Div 5 -159 (26 Commanders): Jason Pedracini, Northwind Dragons (8h,28m) Div 6 -131 (18 Commanders): Chris Page, Death`s Revenge (1h,39m) Div 7 -99 (25 Commanders): Siegfried Gust, Black Star Bandits (46m,1s) Div 8 -71 (25 Commanders): Djohn Ddrake, Death`s Hecklers (2d,11h) Div 9 -39 (43 Commanders): Chuck Auld, Murdermech Micro (1h,26m) Total Contestants: 224 Total medals claimed: 135 (of 135 possible) Compared to the last pre-war event, the number of contestants were increased by sixty-one Commanders. And, despite some imbalance between the tops, all the medals were claimed this time. The last half-hour of fighting saw only two Golds changing hands. But no more than two Golds were held form ore than two hours either (one  for more than a day). So while the fighting were somewhat muted, the winners were not unaproachable either. On the other hand, perhaps the fighting for the rest of the prizes were closer? To find out, all we have to do is count the number of medals held for more than 30 minutes in this event: .............Silvers......Bronzes Div 1 ....0 of 4.........5 of 10 Div 2 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10 Div 3 ....2 of 4.........5 of 10 Div 4 ....2 of 4.........9 of 10 Div 5 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10 Div 6 ....3 of 4.........8 of 10 Div 7 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10 Div 8 ....2 of 4.........9 of 10 Div 9 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10 On four of the tops (K2, K5, K7 and K10) there were no succesfull medal attacks at all. On the other hand, at least Mount Olympus and K3 had sufficient action to redistribute most of their medals. A total of eleven Silvers(31%) and fouteen Bronzes(16%) changed hands, leaving the Gold turnover (22%) in between them. Both Odins secret chamber (Mount Olympus + K2) and Northwind Dragons (K3 + K5) managed to bring home double Golds from this event. There were no unaligned winners this time, and none of the Laser winners managed to claim a fresh win either. Upcoming event: Point Mech Panic The classic end-of-war event. Only the mech in the point position (uppermost, rightmost) will fight in this event. Which means all multidamaging is worthless, and one should concentrate on speed, precision, crit, freeze and slow instead. Of course, solid damage and serious multiples will also be playing a n important role. Event ends February 4 between 2000 and 2030 New York Time

[doktorpeace]

in Persona 5 for me it’s July 11th, meaning I’m exactly 3 months into the game. I’m going to assume I’m getting to about the third way point, both previous games lasted 9-10 months and I’ll assume this one will last until January on the end game Calendar. Here’s my thoughts so far, spoilers inside:

Well I’ve spent a clean 44 hours on the game already so there’s that. I haven’t even been fucking around a lot, I completed Madarame’s Palace in just the 3 required visits and I completely cleaned out Kaneshiro’s Palace in just one discounting Makoto’s joining visit and the re-visit to defeat the boss. I’m really digging the story so far, it feels well paced and everything’s progressing at a reasonable, steady rate but the tension keeps building. It also REALLY breaks tradition, but in ways I’m finding refreshing. I’ve already formed my Judgement Confidant in spite of being only a third(ish?) of the way into the game, and I’ve formed a Confidant relationship with someone I know WILL be a party member even when he’s not a party member yet. Though I don’t trust Akechi as far as I could throw him. I’ll have to play farther into the story to write a real feeling piece about it, I’ll probably do that once I complete the game. Igor’s got me scared though, and I really loved and trusted Igor wholly in the last two games. My social stats are progressing well, I’m at rank 4 on Knowledge, 3 on Guts (promoting to 4 soon I think), 3 on Charm, 2 on Kindness, and 2 on Proficiency (also promoting soon). I knew Knowledge and Guts would be the most important ones going in, they always are so I’ve given them a special priority. So far I love this game, it’s really stellar and it’ll be my game of the year for certain. Everything works really well, my sole complaint at this point is that one time I had a shadow not join me after giving two good answers to its questions during a negotiation and I wasn’t told why not, but whatever it’s fine. The dungeons are getting steadily tougher and I really like the variety in design approaches they take. Kaneshiro’s was incredibly long but could be done all at once if you had enough items and good enough pacing, Madarame’s required more involvement and opting into scripted events since you had to get stuff done in the real world as well, and given it was a tutorial dungeon Kamoshida’s was also good. Honestly the level design in the Palaces has all been really good and I’ve liked each more than the last by quite a bit. I even got unlucky with some Onis getting crits and hitting my whole party with Rampage near the beginning of my run through Kaneshiro’s Palace and I still made it through so I was pretty happy with that. The main plot and characters are very much enjoying that the game, while fairly lighthearted so far, takes itself seriously and handles its themes maturely. They don’t make jokes about serious things and they let things have the weight that they should. The Party Member’s social links going on lockdown if you advance them too fast to wait for another moment in the plot is also a great idea since it means they can build in some of the character’s development from the plot into the social link and vice versa. This, combined with how the social links each focus on them growing as a person from the issue that caused them to be socially outcast and ostracized in the first place gives it a more down to earth feel. The party members have noticeable growths of character and mindset in both components of the game’s writing side by side, and it’s good to see them finally address this issue the series had been having. Rather than being like Persona 4 and making each of them a HUGE LIFE CHANGING EVENT THAT HAS A MASSIVE EFFECT ON THEIR PERSONALITY but then that having no bearing on the plot so the whiplash of maturity is really immersion breaking, this game’s focus on a more personal push towards growth and change. Be it making amends for past mistakes like Ryuji, finding a new source of strength with Ann, or pushing forward and grasping his future in spite of his situation like Yusuke, they all have to deal directly with what caused them to become an outcast in the first place, and feel like strong bits of development that don’t completely change them as people. I personally like and relate to Makoto’s being about being more honest with oneself and living for you, and not for the expectations others have for you. This sense of giving situations the gravitas and seriousness they require extends to side social links as well, of which I’ve liked all the ones I’ve found. One that sticks out to me is Kawakami’s social link. She is your teacher and you happen to hire her through a maid service because Ryuji and Mishima are fucking dumbasses who want to see a hot maid do chores for them and the situation you find yourselves in is naturally a little sexually charged, something which the game does not ignore or distract from. It owns up to the awkwardness of the situation it sets up. As the social link progresses (without Ryuji and Mishima there) it even gives the player the option to try and hit on her in a sexual manner, but she turns you down on the grounds that A) You’re her student B) the age gap is gross and C) specifically sites it would make her no better than Kamoshida, who was your first target as the Phantom Thieves in no small part because he sexually harassed and in one case raped a student. The fact that the game doesn’t just walk the walk of saying ‘oh yeah sexually assaulting minors is bad’ which is obvious to anyone of decent moral standing, but further drives the point home and WON’T make an exception for you because you’re the player is very good and not something many games are willing to do.  The variety of characters you encounter during social links is also nice, from a washed up politician genuinely trying to improve the world after learning from his mistakes, to the owner of a model weapon shop doing illicit business, to just the guy who runs the Phantom Thieves’ Forum they’ve all got a charm to them and feel well written. One that worried me initially was one where you meet a news reporter in a bar and the bar happens to be run by a drag queen. I was worried cause I had heard this content was transphobic, but seemingly that was a misunderstanding from someone playing the japanese version with less than a perfect understanding of the language. Lala Escargot as she goes by, is voiced by a man in both versions and is referred to with ‘-chan’ and female pronouns, however this is proper etiquette for drag queens while playing their stage persona. Further, Lala Escargot is shown to be of good moral standing and isn’t made out to be a joke, two things I was glad to see happen. This game’s schedule also feels good. Like I said, I’m about a third of the way in and I feel like I’ve been able to make comfortable growth with both social stats and social links, and I was worried about that because the game really railroads you a lot in the first two plot arcs, but it’s working out comfortably. Combat feels really good, while spell animations feel a tiny bit less flashy than previous games I’ve still only seen a handful of them, and the combat animations are all still really good. The balance is great, I feel challenged but not overwhelmed, but it is noticeably getting a lot harder with each main palace. Your Teammate’s in combat abilities they gain from social links are definitely nerfed compared to P4 or P3 Portable, but honestly that’s welcome in my opinion. In the previous games they were flat out overpowered and could carry you through the game. As is they feel like nice bonuses that happen just often enough you don’t forget they’re there, but not so often that they take away any feeling of depth or strategy, particularly in P4 where they were extremely ‘Win More’ mechanics. Particularly the ‘Save the main character from death once per battle’ is reduced to a chance, but can happen more than once per battle if you’re lucky, and requires the relationship be at rank 9 instead of rank 5. A hefty but welcomed nerf that doesn’t eliminate any feeling of danger. Oh also! The fact that your non-party member Confidants confer permanent benefits, some in combat, some out of combat is a GREAT incentive to level them up. I know that I’m focusing on Kawakami’s so hard because it frees up so many phases in the game, not having to waste my own time brewing coffee or doing laundry is a huge boon, plus 1 point in knowledge from lecture (assuming I get the answer right) can be exchanged for two lockpicks and two points in proficiency, or a book read and its bonuses which is a great bonus effect. Eventually she even gives you the ability to go out at night after going dungeon crawling which in and of itself is an ENORMOUS benefit. Finally, as for the party members it’s really cool the variety this party has and their variety of motivations. They’re a very fun group whose personalities work together dynamically an in a fun way, I know I still have 3 party members left to get, so we’ll see how they affect things. I’m just loving how much we get to see them all interact, between how many plot events there are and that there’s at least one text chatlog a day with everyone talking together, it gives you a ton of dialogue with them and time to see their party dynamic.  Ryuji’s a good boy. I like him a lot, he reminds me a lot of myself in terms of behavior. His social link has been a little slow, but cute, and his date sequences when you aren’t actively going up ranks are also cool. One big improvement he has over Yosuke in particular is that after being hit on by a couple of gay guys he just expresses distaste for the situation and leaves it at that. He was uncomfortable with it, but he doesn’t hark on it and veer off into being a homophobic shitbag like Yosuke. But Atlas, blease let him be gay in the expansion I know you’re going to make. Let me date the vulgar boy he’s such a cute good boy. Really though his growth as a person is already tangible, he’s gone from feeling like a total outsider with nothing to work for and nothing to lose to being a fairly responsible guy who owns up to his mistakes. He’s still not smart but he’s grown enough that he’s the party member to remind the others to keep it calm and lay low after a major operation, which is a really cool role for him to play. Ann is fucking great, her force of personality and strength as a character is immediate right from the start. I was worried for her, but she’s an explosive character, a lot of facets to her personality and situation are revealed to you quickly and then elaborated on over the course of her social link and when you hang out with her or go on sunday dates together. She’s obviously a kind, strong individual but she questions her own genuinity and strength as a person, and is exploring different ways to broaden her horizons and improve. I was a little worried she’d be a generic spitfire angry girl, but really she’s only super pissed off at injustice and sexual harassment. A big part of her character comes from her staunch hatred and opposition ‘of men who treat women as sexual outlets’ (literally word for word something she says) and it’s a really strong, cool way for her to be. I’m very grateful for the game’s writing for having such a staunch, unmoving stance in opposition of treating women like objects especially in a series like Persona where fans have an extremely gross tendency to do just that. It’s a good lesson and message to put out there. In other cases she’s actually really level headed and willing to admit when she was wrong or when someone’s outplayed her. I like Ann a lot. Yusuke’s a really deep and interesting character who I sadly keep blowing off for Makoto and Ryuji, but I’ll hang out with him more soon. His circumstances are really fucking difficult, first of all he’s an orphan, which sucks. Secondly his adoptive father is abusive, which really sucks. Third off he’s autistic. Seriously, think on his dialogue and tell me I’m wrong. We directly get the line ‘not many people will deal with my eccentricities’ which is as close as Japanese media ever gets to saying ‘yes I’m autistic.’ His dialogue often hints to how people ostracize him for being autistic even though he’s a great guy and I’m sure it’ll come up in his social link in the future. I’m glad the game paints it as a negative thing for society to treat him bad and not that it’s bad he’s autistic, it’d be very easy to slip into that but they haven’t fucked up yet. And finally, he’s fuckin gay dude. Don’t fight me on this one, I know a gay when I see one. He specifically dodges the idea of being attracted to Ann ‘as a member of the opposite sex’ and the way he says it isn’t ‘oh I’m interesting in girls, just not Ann’ it’s much more ‘I’m not interested in girl, and thus not interested in Ann.’ He’s got a lot going against him, but unlike with Kanji nobody acts like it’s weird he isn’t attracted to Ann (though Ryuji will rib the player for saying the same thing) and everybody’s doing their best to be supportive of him. I’m excited to see more of his character and see how he overcomes the ways society is stacked against him. You can even take him on dates and he comments that it looks like you’re lovers. I hope he gets a nice boyfriend. (also atlus please make him a romance option in the expansion as well.) Finally Makoto is the character I’ve most been suspicious of how she fits in. She’s an honor student, lives in a nice house, has a sister in a high paying job, was born into a good family, what’s bad about her life? Well, she’s outcast from the average student because she’s ‘just a robot’ and she has these obscene expectations thrust upon her, yet people still call her useless. She has to constantly wear a face and be who people expect her to be and not who she really is. It’s a more subtle kind of outcasting and she certainly doesn’t face the negatives the other members do like being an orphan or having their best friend hospitalized after a suicide attempt, but she’s got her own set of issues which are playing out alongside these things. The game also doesn’t frame her situation as equally bad, it’s just a very stressful, difficult situation for her and she really needs an outlet and somewhere she can genuinely just be herself. The fact that her rebellion is just having a space to express herself normally in is kind of fucked up, she had a really suffocating life and now she doesn’t and I like that. Her Confidant relationship is also really fun so far, I like Makoto even if she’s not an outcast in as strong or the same kind of way as everyone else. I don’t have a lot to say about Morgana so far. I like him, he’s an enormous step up from Teddie, but I think I’ll only be able to write how I really feel about him once the game is over. All in all I fucking love this game and it’s a huge improvement over all of Atlus’ old products in all the ways I’d hope it would be. I’d still prefer there be a gay romance option in the game, but the fact that you can take guys on dates and that you have a gay party member who isn’t treated as weird for it is great. 10/10, my personal game of the year already.

[horrible-monstrosity]

p5 finally ends its first arc after like five million episodes and it's as weird, disappointing and disturbing as I could ever dream it to be. so they mindbroke the le evil bad guy, and after spending a few days presumably locked up in his house freaking the fuck out because he'd just been mindbroken he shows up at the school and blurts out a confession. Then he tries to "run" because he's completely just freaking the fuck out, and our main girl reeeees at him to not run from his crimes how dare he!! ... except that's exactly what he was just doing, not running, and instead dragging himself in terror to the school to call himself a horrible person in front of everybody because some unknown mind event scrambled his brain and made him like this against his will. And after all that you still feel the need to scream at him for acting like an actual human and being terrified by the actions and thoughts forced on him by an outside entity, even though he came this far on his own. I mean what's it even gonna matter if he runs anyway, everyone heard him confess, the police can easily still catch him- nope, beat him down even more for not acting like a perfect little punish-ee, make him call himself even more terrible, because we said so. I- I don't know.

Probably doesn't help that he was such a cartoony villain I can hardly bring myself to believe he's a human being who actually deserves a punishment for his actions. It's like someone created a strawman as an excuse to have some mental torture fantasy and feel righteous about it. It's the kind of villain you have around to get instantaneously brutally murdered, a death/punishment as equally ridiculous and shallow as the events that made him deserving of it. You can't just have some cardboard-y villain suddenly deserving a three-dimensional, thought out into every little corner of his mind meat-space punishment. Or rather, it's like I can barely believe this sort of ridiculous charicature of a person could exist and take these actions in the way this character did, so his punishment by mental torture and forced guilt ends up feeling paradoxically undeserved due to how "real" it is by comparison. It's just somehow unsettling. Also he's entirely repentant while he's freaking out. It's not like he's like "a ha, I can get away with the crimes I was just forced to acknowledge and confess to if I run now!", was he? I don't now, maybe my brain was melting too much after watching this shit and I missed him return to being a cardboard evil villain for a femtosecond there that totally justified this shit. fuck idk

Oh, and it doesn't get any better after that. For one we have the slurge of "look guys, game mechanics!" moments. First main guy meets the world's least interesting fairy, who looks exactly like any of the other generic fairy monters they've fought in the dungeon already but this one randomly decides it'z a perzona and it lives in main guy's head now. Okay, you expect this to be useful later, right? Nope, before the fairy ever sees a second of use it gets thrown into the succpot along with the super-cool, imposing and iconic-looking Arsene and turned into this useless, pointless little Pot of Greed-looking motherfucker. Which we're then visually informed is totally more powerful than any cool-looking monters we might have actually wanted to see on screen. Okay. It's a completely pointless and underwhelming piece of script but there's totally gonna be people defending it because le "it's in thu game!!!!". Blah.

Then they get the crown, and it... turns into a medal. Because the game had a very thoughtful table of items in it that had no connection to reality- probbly something like, there's a generic but impressive item used to portray treasure, but once you pick it up it has a specific but arbitrary name or description depending on whose it is, without any real connection between the two- and the anime just had to show off all that generic haaaaard work without actually putting in the work to make it actually make any sense. This brings up its own little logical conundrum until the anime uses another logical conundrum to shit itself and cover up the first one. The medal, the cat says, is something as important to evilteach as a crown to a king, or some shit, as though it's an important item to him- given what it is, it's something like a first-place prize he's very proud of winning. Something that was a wonderful memory, maybe something that inspired him on the path to becoming a teacher, before it all became corrupted by greed and ambition. Yeah, that'll really help him, to physically steal the one thing most precious to him that might be his last decent memory and sell it for cash like it's trash- oh wait, never mind, the cat said it's just a mindclone or something. W- what? Yeah, now they just... sold a counterfeit medal to a pawn shop for dough, that's all. Much better. The pacing of this is astoundingly fucked, too. First we're told the crown turned into the medal after the palace collapsed, then we're shown a flashback of that happening that adds absolutely nothing to what we were just told. Then, we're told the medal is some important thing as valuable as a crown so that's why the crown, which represented the thing at the center of the teacher's mind, represented the medal. Except then, after they sold the medal for god damn money, we're told the medal... also just represented the thing that the thing represented... ???? What a confused fucking metaphor. They keep saying one thing and giving it just enough time to sink in before saying it's something else. All that because the game allows you to sell the treasure as arbitrary vendor trash.

Oh yeah, and the kids went to a pawnshop and bought a fucking gun before this, because fuck you. Or rather, because the game has to have these sorts of useless extra attacks- weak early-game moves and support moves that probably use less mana or whatever, because using the impressive persona powermoves all the time while dungeon-grinding would devalue them and make them less impressive. But that's not the case in an anime. The time spent battling is cut down significantly and looks much better if you use it to focus on the reason the franchise exists, the Personas, rather than wasting any of it on ridiculous battle toys. There's a reason that the only part of this part of the battle system that survived in the P4 anime was Yusuke or whoever showing up with katanas and being made a joke of, because these things can go unscrutinized in game mechanics where it's an arbitrary sprite and name attached to whatever but is ridiculous and pointless outside of it. It's like in megucas where Sayaka brought a baseball bat to a witch barrier and Mami basically humored her by putting a shield magic thing on it, so Sayaka swung it around pointlessly while the shield that came out of it was the only thing really doing anything.

And then it adds another layer of stupid- the kids decide to look up a bit-time villain in the collectiveness consciousness palace, fine enough. There's already a fansite full of people begging the phantom thieves to fix problems for them, because uuuuuhhhhhhhhSo they start looking at crimes, read one that sounds not particularly like one they have reason to not respond to, decide to skip it, move on to the next one and OH WHOA WOW IT'S A SOMEONE BEING STALKERED BY THEIR EX! It's a MAN committing MAN-CRIME against WOMAN-VICTIM! Wow we'd better get on this one right now guys. So they go to the collective sewer-subway of the mind, encounter him; he strawmans himself out as le evil man who literally views his ex as property because any human being ever actually thinks like that; they take him out in one shot and he doesn't fight back at all but they try to make it look like it's totally impressive anyway, and he ends it by seeing the light and calling himself an evil man-crimer who should will respekt whammen from now on like it's a fucking Natty comic. What And then the group and the cat decide they'll only ever go after real big-time evil people, which is what they came all the way down here exactly not to do. Why

And thennn they look up Akechi's kawaii instagram feed on the internet because reasons, insult his detective ability for no reason, decide his interest in the Phantoms is totally not because he's detective and that's what he does and call him a stalker instead. Remember, like that stalker just before this that we decided was the worst possible most evil scum of the earth and we need to go take him out now? Except now nobody really cares, because... I don't know, because the target is vague and unspecified, and vaguely implied to be primarily the main guy because he's the leader and he's the one looking at Akechi's snapchats at that moment I guess, and that's not nearly as somethingorotherly as when the victim is definitely and exclusively le femlae. Except theennnnn the girl character says she feeeeels like she's been being stalked, and now we're supposed to care. Because feels. And it's clearly not even because we're supposed to have suspected before this point that someone was actually stalking her, because the "stalker" shows up like one minute later and it's some guy we've never seen before. ok. Why is every little thing just... like this?

And now this next episode starts off by turbo-frontloading exposition about how awfully terrible the next main villain is, and my brain can't take any more of this right now I'm done. bye

... Wait, if the next super-evil-palace guy is the guy who "stole" the stalker's girlfriend, doesn't that potentially... exonerate him? Like, he's keeping people in a dungeon somewhere making art for him, if your girlfriend got caught in that you'd probably be pretty frustrated and go try to figure out what happened to her, right? The request did say "Madarame", didn't it? Wait, if the girl is chained up in the art basement who posted the request? If it was her why the heck was she just whining about her ex and not about Madarame? What the FUCK is happening???

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UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura Preview

By Joel Croichy

Follow @joelcroichy

11/17/2017

On Saturday, the UFC make their return to Australia with UFC Fight Night 121. The main event will feature a heavyweight collision between Fabricio Werdum and Marcin Tybura. Along with that, this main card will also include local talents and intriguing matchups from the bottom of the card to the top.

Fabricio Werdum (22–7–1) vs. Marcin Tybura (16–2)

At the top of the card, former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Werdum looks to secure another win against former M-1 Heavyweight Champion and top prospect Tybura. Werdum is a high-level jiu-jitsu practitioner who has over the years developed an impressive standup game as well. Throughout his professional MMA career, Werdum gathered twenty-two wins with half of them coming from submission and six by way of KO/TKO.  Tybura always looks to score takedowns, and while standing, he does not mind trading strikes with his opponents. He compiled seven wins via KO/TKO and six by way of submission. Tybura is currently riding a three-fight win streak in which he picked up knockout wins over Viktor Pešta and Luis Henrique, and a decision victory over MMA veteran Andrei Arlovski. Werdum however, is a well-rounded MMA competitor who has all the tools to slow down opponents’ momentum and should pick up a win over Tybura.  Pick: Fabricio Werdum

Bec Rawlings (7–6) vs. Jessy Rose-Clark (7–4)

The co-main event will feature a women's flyweight contest between two Australian talents, Jessy Rose-Clark and Bec Rawlings who both look to excite their home audience. Newcomer Rose-Clark previously competed at Titan FC and Invicta FC organizations and had gathered seven wins out of twelve bouts. This two-time former MMA champion has serious power in her hands and is not afraid to exchange strikes. Rawlings is looking to get back in the win column because she is coming off two consecutive losses and is 2-3 so far in her UFC career. This bout will be a close, competitive contest with Rose-Clark being the busier fighter and picking up a decision victory. Pick: Jessy Rose-Clark

Tim Means (27–8–1) vs. Belal Muhammad (12–2)

A striking showdown between power hitters Tim Means and Belal Muhammad will be the fourth fight on this main card. Means is a dangerous opponent for anyone in the welterweight division. Impressively, he has gathered eighteen wins via KO/TKO in which he stopped Sabah Homasi, Dhiego Lima, and John Howard. His upcoming opponent, Muhammad has an iron chin and shows no signs of fear with whoever stands in front of him. He is currently riding a two-fight winning streak besting opponents such as Randy Brown and Jordan Mein. This exciting matchup has all the ingredients of being a three-round slugfest with competitors looking to knock each other out. Means is a better striker who will look to overwhelm Muhammad with landing combinations and should pick up the decision win. Pick: Tim Means

Jake Matthews (10–3) vs. Bojan Velickovic (15–5–1)

Australia’s own Jake Matthews will look to thrill his home country as he makes his welterweight debut against former RFA Welterweight Champion Bojan Velickovic. Matthews is a talented, dangerous young prospect who has secured ten professional wins out of thirteen fights. Throughout his professional MMA career, he managed to leave the fight out of the judges’ hands with five of his wins coming via submission and four via KO/TKO. His first fight at welterweight will not be easy because Velickovic is a submission specialist who also has dynamic in his hands. Although Velickovic’s current record in the UFC is 2-2-1, he remains as a threat to his division. In his professional MMA run, he compiled eight wins by way of submission and four via KO/TKO. With Matthews both looking to end his two-fight losing streak and having the home crowd advantage, he should earn the victory. Pick: Jake Matthews

Elias Theodorou (13–2) vs. Dan Kelly (13–2)

TUF Nations tournament winner Elias Theodorou will battle on enemy’s soil against Dan Kelly in a middleweight contest. Kelly is a four-time judo Olympian and a top 15 ranked competitor who is looking to redeem himself from his previous knockout loss to Derek Brunson. Before losing to Brunson, Kelly was on a four-fight winning streak in which he picks up wins against Rashad Evans, Chris Camozzi, Antônio Carlos Júnior, and Steve Montgomery.  Theodorou is former two-time MMA champion who showcased in his previous bouts his incredible kickboxing skills. Out of his thirteen professional wins, he gathered five wins via KO/TKO and two via submission. If Theodorou successfully defends Kelly’s takedowns and manage to keep this bout standing up, he secured the win. Pick up: Elias Theodorou

Alexander Volkanovski (15–1) vs. Shane Young (11-3)

Opening the main card will be former two-time AFC Champion and local MMA competitor Alexander Volkanovski and dangerous striker Shane Young. Both competitors will put their winning streaks on the line as they both look to make a statement in the UFC. Volkanovski is currently riding a twelve-fight winning streak, and has scored wins over Yusuke Kasuya and Mizuto Hirota since joining the UFC last year. Young will be making his UFC debut Saturday and has gathered five consecutive wins. Out of his eleven wins, Young secured five wins via KO/TKO and four by way of submission. Volkanovski will look to overwhelm Young with strikes early and should pick the win via stoppage. Pick: Alexander Volkanovski

If Werdum picks up another win, he would most likely be in line for another title shot earning a rematch against current UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic. Styles make fights, and this card has exciting match ups that should be fun to watch.