#Also started watermarking because honestly I should have been doing that this whole time

[sylphical]

Metamorphosis

---------

I found out that Magical Mystery Cure had a 10 year anniversary yesterday so I absolutely had to celebrate! Happy late birthday alicorn Twilight!

[shortbeantum]

It's been a hot minute since I've posted a gemsona. I have a few cool ideas that I've wanted to do for a while but haven't really had the time. The only reason I did this was because I needed a bit of destress from studying for finals (wish me luck!). I guess I'll go into the lore info now lmao

Gem: Moonstone

Gender: Female

Court: Any

Purpose: Sings for the Diamonds to entertain them.

Weapon(s)/Power(s): Powerful voice that can reach deafening levels if the gem so chooses

Voice: Michella Moss

I had this idea for Moonstone when I decided I wanted a gem that's whole purpose was to sing for the Diamonds. I know that the pearls have already been used for that (such as for What's the Use of Feeling Blue) but I figured that the pearls would only be used when a moonstone wasn't immediately available. I designed her based off an opera singer because I feel like that kind of music would be something the Diamonds would listen to. My very first draft of her was her head looking like a music note but I couldn't really figure out how to incorporate that into her design without having it look awkward so I resorted to the spheres because I felt they still looked alien and other-worldly. I also debated whether she should be a fusion of Sapphire and Pearl because honestly, the design ended up looking like it. I ultimately decided against it because I felt like I could do more with her character if she was separate from the gems we already know, but I wouldn't be opposed to a fusion of Sapphire and Pearl being a moonstone, much like Sapphire and Ruby form a garnet, which already exists on Homeworld. Also, I imagine her voice would have the ability to be deafening loud, like a banshee. Finding her voice was tough for me. I had considered Kristen Chenoweth for a while but I felt like her voice was too high for me. I also looked at Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), Emma Rossum (Phantom of the Opera), and Emily Rohm (Ride the Cyclone). I eventually settled on Michella Ross (FNAF voice of Ballora) because she has such a mature, deep, and sultry voice. This was pretty close to what I wanted Moonstone to sound like.

Total drawing time took about 2 hours, but technically the whole process took like 3 years since I came up with her concept in 2021.

On a sorta related note, I wanna start using text watermarks because they're easier to read than my signature so if my artwork is ever stolen, I can easily be identified by just looking at the watermark.

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

Hey there Miyabi! How do you get such high-res, beautiful, and professional scan quality? What's your process?

Thank you! I certainly don't think I do anything that professional, so glad you have been decieved into thinking that about them! LOL I started doing this scan of the day stuff just to bring better quality to a lot of the older contributions of mine floating around the web. Looking at them on here, the Megaman wikia and other places, they just felt small and dirty. Especially as basic technology had gotten better over the decade or so since I first scanned them. I have 2 different scanners, one of which is a fancier Epson that I bought specifically to scan film slides a year or so ago. Still use it for basic scans from time to time. But honestly, for the settei, I'm still just using my general home HP Envy printer/scanner combo. I always scan at 600 DPI. After that part is done and the bitmap image is scanned to my computer, it's really just doing some heavy touchup. As I have alluded to in some recent posts, some of these sheets will take me an hour to an hour and a half just to clean up, because they have so many artifacts and dotty garbage on them. Settei at auction are mostly just scanned copies themselves after all, so there's a bit of residue to clean up. Ever wonder why sometimes I don't post these at a regular time of day? That's why, I'm still working on touchup before I post (and probably off from work, so I'm not prepping the night before, like when I post at a scheduled time).

Let's use this recent Gauss sheet as an example.

The original scan was pretty messy. Probably can't see it as well in tumblr resize scale, so here's the original scan. But it is dotted all over the place, there's like a smudge line which goes through the whole bottom of the sheet, where the "Final Draft" stamp, character/episode number marking is, and through some of Gauss' headshots as well. You can also probably see some black on the edges, where the sheet comes to an end within my scanner.

The first bit of touchup I usually do is within my image viewer. I use FastStone Image Viewer to help organize and view everything. In there, I will adjust the brightness, contrast, and sometimes the gamma, to get the sheet background a bit lighter and the lines darker.

I just like the number 14. Is it always 14? No. But that's usually my baseline starting point. After that's saved, into the photo editing program of choice we go. I match my brush color to the background white and just paint over all those ugly dots and wipe those black edges away.

Zoom in at 100% to try not to miss those artifacts you don't notice zoomed out. Look at Gauss' speckled fingers. Ugh, cleaning that stuff up is hell. But I do it, so you all can see clean-ish looking art. Do I get everything? No. But I try to at least get the major issues out of the way.

Some things I take liberties on. The shading on his jacket goes outside the lineart. Should I leave it as is for authenticity? Probably. But if I'm cleaning it, I'm gonna clean it all. So you'll see in the finished version I posted, those shading lines are all inside the lineart only.

Some people are jerks and could easily resell these settei just by printing scans and claiming them as original. Another way I try to have a way to differentiate my edits without slapping a watermark on is my editing of the text boxes. See the top left and bottom right of it above Netto? There's almost always some overhang on the originals. I have usually taken the liberty of editing that overlap line off, so that the text box is a clean rectangle where the line stops at each corner, as close as I can take it. It's a dumb, but simple way for me to tell if it's my edit.

Otherwise, that's really it. Just a lot of added effort in touchup, honestly.

Cel scans are a little different, because most of them are too big for either scanner. Especially cels with backgrounds. So many of those involve 2-4 scans and then stitching them all together. Much less touchup that I do to them, but otherwise it's mostly the same. 600 DPI, and some brightness/contrast or slight color saturation adjustments to them, if needed.

And now you know!

[namelessmewmew]

[Image ID: Shown is a rough pixel art drawing of an anthro zombie raccoon character. They have bright purple fur and high rainbow pigtails. They are wearing various accessories, including a rainbow spiked collar, a rainbow spiked tail band, rainbow sleeves, rainbow chains, a large pink bow, some pink and blue hairclips and a studded belt.  They are looking at the viewer. There a static/noise filter applied to the whole image. END ID]

Title: Z0MB1E RACC00N N0 CL1CKBA1T

Had alot alot of fun making this. :] The smiley's, stars and hearts are brushes I made X). Oh and I also made the static/noise texture! I wanted to create a old fuzzy image vibe but it’s also, like the watermark, meant to be obnoxious to nft fans/ai prompters! Two for the price of one!

Warning gigantic wall of text ahead.

Rambling: [about my irrational anxiety and ai prompted creations. I'm okay and please don't worry, k? I just wanted to mention alot of stuff that's been on my mind because lots of artists are probably also thinking stuff like this and might need encouragement. Their also may be typos and incoherentness, so if there is just let me know. probs will edit this later.]

Rambling [About anxiety] if you think that maybe some cheesy encouragement to make 'shit' art might do you some good.

Been going through the classic if I make bad art I am a bad person phase this year again and that combined with how busy I have been with studies and work I haven’t had time to work on improving my art so I have been telling myself that I just can’t make art so haven’t been making much this year honestly. [Again, I just have weird anxiety, please don’t worry k?] So, when making quick rough stuff like this, I feel alot more at peace with just creating stuff. I'll try to ride this 'you are allowed to make stuff that might be a bit or very shit' train for my sake for as long as I can. I feel alot more confident in making my rough paint 3d stuff, making a 'shit' voxel model, make something in 30 minutes in mspaint, draw something using highlighters and old lined exam pad.

Rambling [About 'ai 'art'] if you think that maybe some cheesy encouragement to keep going as an artist might do you some good.

I have been for awhile [and still am aiming for] my art skills getting to the point where I am able to make soft shaded anime paintings with amazing anatomy and super expressive faces and full detailed backgrounds, but with how AI Prompters have shown again how their are people [and big corps of course] that only care about the end product and could care less about human heart and soul, I have been thinking a lot about my relationship to the art I create and I think if you are self-conscious about your art not being good enough, or professional enough or reasonably feel mis-treated as an artist I think you should be kinder on yourself. That you should value the fact that you put whatever amount of skill and love for art you have into your art, whether you started a few seconds ago or decades ago. No matter if you think their are areas you really need to improve in or not. Wanting to improve or make grand things is wonderful and a good thing to strive for but like the whole point of art is just to connect with people, to express whats going on inside you, to analyze or interact with something you love like a video game, movie or book, to let your creativity fly and make your own thing, make a living off your passion by making paid art for people, or even just because you think it would be cool to make something! You, me and many other regular people that are artists and non-artists will continue to care about the soul behind art, about their being a person behind the art. We need to continue to care about human created art. If you are on fence about caring, I urge you to at least consider it. Not just but especially for the people that depend on it but also just for the sake about caring about such a base human thing that has been apart of our culture since basically since we started to exist!

I understand how it's hard lately to keep going as an artist and I am actively having to fight myself against discouraging 'I should just quit art' thoughts, because shit like Ai prompters getting hundreds of followers, selling ai 'art' commissions,  training models off specific artists works [including recently decreased ones, mind you!] is very disheartening [Especially with it seeming like they have support of many big corps and sites, including da!] No one should be trying to tell you as an artist or lover of art to not be upset! You have very right to be! Especially if art is your livelihood! Especially if art is very something personal to you! Especially if you rightfully think people should just give a shit about art!

AI Art does suck AND it is actively harming artists work. Especially artists that depend on surviving on their work. If I have a chance of convincing you, someone, anyone that is on the fence or is extremely pro ai prompted creations, I might as well ask you to listen to artists and let them have at least a change to explain why and how ai prompted creations are wrecking the world of art and why artists are rightfully upset.

Please if you can support artists, support them, especially those in need. Doesn't need to just be financially, sharing and engaging with art you think is cool is something that matters as well! We are all just regular people that all are just trying to survive!

Done Rambling:

All of that negativity and positivity leads me to a thing I made spontaneously in 3 days: A very silly very short [2-3 minutes] twine game about the above zombie raccoon trying to escape a rave forest. I really enjoyed making the art for it! It's ‘shit’ and I absolutely love it!

Character[s]:

xX Arc Doom Glitter Xx  [OC]

Have a good day/night further!

[MewMewMew~]

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Season Zero: The Yo-yo Crimes of Jounouchi Pt 2

OK, last we left off, we were in a different Youtube video. This one I grabbed off of 2 different videos (you’ll see their watermark in the corner change) and it makes me appreciate the quality that our other episodes have been, honestly. A little bit of compression going on in these, just to give you even more of that nostalgic feel of watching a bootleg anime from the 90′s your brother got from his weird high school friend’s Napster account.

Because this is done with subtitles on, it takes more caps to cover it. Part of why I rewrite the dialogue in these recaps is to help abridge stuff, and so consider yourself warned...there’s a lot of caps in this one. For most of you, that’s probably not much of a problem. But I’m just letting you know because...I sure wasn’t expecting it to be over 40 caps for half an episode, and I’ll probably just type less to make up for that. (Tumblr keeps Erasing All My Words anyway, so this is for the best, but that’s a tech issue I already went into in another post.)

(read more under the cut)

So, to start off, Yugioh and co. walk up to a bar like a really weird version of a bar joke and are like “do you know where we can find the yo-yo gang?” And, much like a video game npc, the bartender was like “I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about, and I heard every part of their intimate conversation. Let me give you all the details, children.”

Hey, PS, there’s an entire Wikipedia entry about the bar joke. And that is wild. Apparently the first bar joke was from Ancient Sumeria, and Wikipedia was like “Here is the Sumerian joke, but we Do Not Get it. Please don’t try to get it.”

The joke being: "A dog walked into a tavern and said, 'I can't see a thing. I'll open this one'."

Damn. I can’t believe the Sumerians were onto meme humor before we ever invented memes. They were in the Galaxy brain over there in the land before time, holy crap. Depositing their memes knowing that 7,000 years later mankind would look at the world’s first joke and be like “I don’t get it!” while all the millennials and zoomers with our MB of nonsense memes on our phones are like “No. I get it.” Good on you Sumerians, that is freakin the best joke ever made. 7000 years to get to the punch line of confusing the hell out of all us. Bless.

They promptly tell Miho that everything was resolved and that she should go to bed and she was like “Cool!” and exited stage left. Bye, I guess. Anzu also went home, but she didn’t have to be tricked into doing it, she just went the hell to bed.

(PS, I just realized that if I want to write less...I should probably not look up Wikipedia articles about the world’s first ever bar joke. But y’all, habits die so freakin hard, and I just feel like it’s very pertinent to this Yugioh recap, although I know it’s really not.)

Yuugi and Honda decide to visit the warehouse and harass Jounouchi. In the context of the show, they’re going out of their way to pull their best friend out of society’s systemic downward pull of a life of crime and most likely turning into exactly like his Father. But, the way that it’s storyboarded makes it look a lot like these kids just show up out of the corner and this gang was like “Damn it, again? OMG small children, please leave us alone!”

Honda hands over the symbolism sash, to which Jounouchi symbolically says “Nyeh.”

And Honda didn’t take it very well.

After tending to his kidneys for a little while, Honda decided to go back at it again at the Krispy Cream and do some sort of insane parkour over this completely ordinary fence.

Ah, the very first instance of real duel law where you duel over a relationship. In later seasons duel law is invoked for things like Mai’s marriage and the right to date Tea (and then just kind of forgetting you ever won the right to date Tea twice). But to think the very first time was Honda dueling for the right of Jounouchi to be part of nerd gang because Jounouchi had fallen to the dark side yo-yo gang across the street run by some 40 year old man with blue hair.

How many times is Honda gonna fight with a broom? Like are they just magnetized to his location? where are they even coming from?

Freakin janitor powers over here, put him in a Final Fantasy style RPG. I want to see what his limit break would be.

Not like it matters, because Hirotani very quickly explains why these yo-yo’s are at all a threat.

Which honestly shouldn’t be...so lethal? Seems like the weight is all you need, not really the spikes. But it’s at least stronger than Honda’s janitor stuff.

Unfortunate for Honda that he just destroyed an antique.

So with lightning reflexes, Yuugi does what he does most:

The death yo-yo ricochets back and does this little itty bitty scrape to this guy’s face and he’s real bothered by it. Although it’s like...well dude, you’re a 50 year old high schooler, I don’t think people will notice the scrape compared to everything else falling apart in your life.

And so then the Yugioh Season Zero team was like “oh shoot is it time to torture Yuugi???” and they got hella excited.

Like I thought it was just Yuugi’s class that were a bunch of disturbing criminal disasters, but I guess it’s the whole city. Like...was Yuugi’s class the good school?

I mean, it can’t be, there’s no way...

but like...is there a good school in this universe? How does anyone survive till graduation? If you so much as disgrace a yo-yo, you will get the torture treatment that I sure did expect in Yakuza games, but not so much in Yugioh, tbh.

Just a reminder: This is the third time we’ve beat up Yuugi this episode. Within the first meeting of Yuugi and Hirotani, he beat the tar out of Yuugi within eye shot of Jounouchi. So like...Jounouchi was reallllllllllllllllly lax on that deal, right? Like...he took his toot sweet time to realize “yeah this just ain’t ever gonna happen.”

And then the yo-yo wars begin.

Just like Solid Snake crawling through the radiation chamber.

Hirotani throws his Fyper-yoyo, Jounouchi intercepts with his Eireboy, and Hirotani’s completely terrible yo-yo just flies off the string again because Hirotani should have just sticked to using his fists. No wonder they wanted to recruit Jounouchi so badly, their yo-yo game is so off.

We never get a door to darkness in this episode, dipping our enemies into mind horrors. Instead, we get home-alone style traps. But, this makes sense. Not only do the show makers have to make Yuugi avoid solving problems with magic in front of Jounouchi, they also have to make it Jounouchi’s choice to leave Hirotani behind. If Yuugi did it for him in like...some sort of duel law situation...then that sort of leaves out Jounouchi’s choice in the equation.

Not like this ever really comes up in later seasons, since who even follows through with duel law and marries Mai? But like, it does feel like Season Zero calls out the later Seasons a bit in this regard. Honda got beat up because he tried to win Jounouchi back by force (or game, I guess.) That was just another form of coercion on the heels of Hirotani’s. What Jounouchi actually needed was to make his own decision to leave.

...most other anime I’d be like “I’m sure that’s just a translation error” but not this one.

So Yuugi runs to the roof where Jounouchi will never see this.

My audible sigh reading this line about fight club roof.

These stupid gang members went into Yuugi’s native territory, not just a fight club roof, but on a warehouse? They were dead before they arrived.

This was like maybe 3 frames of animation in just rapid succession, it was pretty silly and good.

Reminder that like 4 minutes ago, Yuugi was about to get like executed on a meat hook.

Speaking of getting executed on a meathook:

Hope you like the idea of glass in your eyes, because this anime’s got it.

They chase Yuugi around, in a sequence that was done mostly to conserve frames, so you rarely saw the ground until this shot:

Lots of falling down this episode, but unlike Tea, who fell from a warehouse ceiling once and just kind of rubbed her ass after and was like “ah damn it.” these guys won’t come out of it virtually unscathed.

Also, Honda is here now:

Jumping off of his symbolic sash trapeze, he decides to do in Hirotani for good.

Hey so like...walk the dog is a fairly gentle walk that a yo-yo does slowly on the ground right?

Just pointing out how sensitive Hirotani’s fingies are.

And he...didn’t appear to be dead, so I don’t have to add to the bodycount...but it’s gonna be a real long road for recovery.

And now, with the gang back together Jounouchi is back at school knee deep in make up assignments he’ll probably completely ignore since we know that in a years time, these fools are going to be trapped on Pegasus’ island, and at that point school will be just that place you talk about when you try to remember why you’re friends with Bakura.

---hey aren’t those chairs attached to the desks?

Because...holy crap, Anzu.

Honestly this is what you see before you die, but I guess Jounouchi died off screen after the episode ended, so I don’t have to add him to the deathcount (again). RIP.

Alright! That took like...8 tries to get Tumblr to save this one, but it managed! (well...I guess “managed” isn’t the word you’d use for a typing program that takes 8 tries to save)

Next time, we’ll be back to S5, for an arc I’ve heard is kind of boring. We’ll see. If it truly is, I can condense episodes into fewer posts. Or maybe it’s a secret gem? I guess we shall see.

And if you just got here this is a link to read all the Season Zero recaps from the start:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yuugi-muto/chrono

(there’s also a link to read all the Yugioh posts we wrote from the start in chrono order but straight up, this file won’t freakin save, and I just can’t even will myself to look up that link again. It’s on the home page of this blog on the right.)

[betafibiiiiiivviiixiiixxixxxiv]

Alright, this whole thing with Honey Impact is a clusterfuck, so I’m gonna make a rant (written with the help of friends) about it breaking every leg Honey Impact seems to think they can stand on. Buckle on in kids, because this is gonna be a long one.

Disclaimer: I am not a legal expert, but you do not have to be a legal expert to do some basic fucking research, which Honey Impact has clearly not done despite saying that they have.

First, it should be known that months ago Mihoyo released a statement asking people to stop supporting leaks and that they would be increasing efforts to deal with illegal disclosures of their unreleased content. This has been a long time coming, and honestly with the recent actions of leakers and/or dataminers, I think it’s deserved.

https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1372142018621706240

Second, unlike what many people seem to think, it is not unfair of Mihoyo to shut down Honey Impact’s site. It is within their rights. Honey Impact is sharing and profiting from content that does not belong to them. That is the bottom line of this. They do not own that content and they do not have the permission, nor the right, to share it.

Furthermore, Mihoyo did not go behind Honey Impact’s back to shut down their website. For example, if a streamer or youtube video infringes copyright, the company/corporation/individual/whatever entity holding that copyright would go to the highest power to tell the streamer or person who uploaded that youtube video that they’re infringing on that copyright, which would be Twitch and Youtube respectively. In this case, the highest power was the host domain hosting Honey Impact’s website.

https://twitter.com/HoneyDodogama/status/1436309421932548098?s=20

https://genshin.honeyhunterworld.com/2021/09/10/mhy-is-trying-to-take-us-down/?lang=EN

Heading on to the points from the 9/11 update Honey Impact shared on their website and on their discord blatantly trying to paint Mihoyo as the bad guy and claiming that what they’re doing is in fact not illegal and pretty much digging a bigger hole for themselves:

Here is where they claim they did some legal work to try and keep their website afloat. Honestly, it seems more like they were trying to find a way to keep doing their illegal work for profit.

1)    In their first point, they claim that the Terms of Service (ToS) is not a contract. That is incorrect. It is a contract. You may not have signed with your name in blood, but you agreed to it when you checked the little box(es) to access the game because a digital signature is still your signature. If you agreed to the ToS and you violate it, you can be held accountable for doing so. What kind of legal work are you doing that you don’t even know this?

2)     In this point they say that Mihoyo provides a software that requires Kernel level of access to your PC. First of all, you have to grant Mihoyo/Genshin this permission. It is like when an app on your phone asks you for permission to access your photos, your microphone, your camera, etc. Second, the Kernel level of access to your PC isn’t to steal and sell your information, install a virus, etc., but to enforce anti-cheat measures which is common in other games.

Furthermore, it has been adjusted to be as minimally invasive as possible and if they violated any rules or laws regarding invasion of privacy or if they made it so that your computer turned into a bitcoin farm, the Google Play Store and the Apple Store and other platforms would have removed Genshin Impact from their platform. (And Mihoyo would’ve gotten into a whole lot of trouble.) What kind of developer are you that you don’t even know this?

On top of their misleading accusations, they use cookie based ads on their own site. Aka the things that save and keep track of your emails, passwords, browser history, etc, and they sell it to the highest bidder without informing you of who or what it's for or giving you a single share of the profits they're making off the private information you have stored on your device(s) while accessing their site. So who is actually being invasive?

3)     Honey Impact does give credit where credit is due with the watermarks, but they host ads on the website and they run a Patreon asking people to support them in developing their website. Which is very hypocritical of them since they themselves said that they make 10kUSD+ a month and stated that they don’t want people in their discord server to donate to them. They also beg for donations in their streams.

They are not only illegally distributing someone else’s content, they are also profiting from it. This violates the fair use clause of copyright law.

This is like people taking artists’ work and selling them behind their back. Even if the artist is making bank compared to whatever you are making, it is still theft of intellectual property. You are pretty much reposting art that the artist has said not to repost. You are a thief. What kind of content creator are you that you don’t even know this?

4)     Unlike what Honey Impact has said, everything that is under the Genshin Impact banner, be it released content or unreleased is covered under the trademark that Mihoyo owns. As the owners of that trademark, they want Honey Impact to stop using their website to illegally share unreleased content that they illegally acquired.

Honey Impact also refers to their website as a fansite. But fansites generally aren’t for profit/have ad revenue, as profiting off of someone else's content goes directly against Fair Use, which they seem to think they are somehow entitled to if they scream about it loud enough… 

Just look at the Genshin Impact fandom wiki. There is a reason why they do not allow leaked/datamined/unreleased content on their page. (Because it is illegal!!!!!!!) Also, since Honey Impact was using Fandom, the host domain of the Genshin Impact fanwiki, as an example of an entity making money off of official content: first, Fandom hosts a lot more fanwikis than just the Genshin Impact fanwiki (which, btw, has no for-profit ads), which culminates in a lot more overall traffic compared to Honey Impact’s site of stolen goods. Which means Fandom needs more money.

https://twitter.com/HoneyDodogama/status/1436990491942342662?s=20

Second, again, the Genshin fanwiki DOES NOT POST UNRELEASED/LEAKED/DATAMINED CONTENT ON THEIR PAGES. BECAUSE DOING SO IS ILLEGAL. I don't know why Honey Impact thinks the fanwiki has that kind of content on its pages, but it doesn't.

Moreover, about not being subject to the NDA; it does not matter that Honey Impact, or anyone else on their team, did not sign an NDA. The crux of the matter is that the stuff they’re sharing doesn’t fucking belong to them. It is still theft of intellectual property.

Furthermore, this is not a grey area in law. Any company/corporation/individual/entitiy with a copyright has the right to tell other people to stop using their content protected by that copyright if they so choose. There has been precedent for this. D*sney is one such example as is Anne Rice.

As for other content creators that aren’t dataminers and/or leakers, they have been sanctioned by Mihoyo to release the content they have been releasing. Don't drag down other content creators such as streamers, artists, fanmerch creators, etc as they comply with a very much public list of conditions that Mihoyo has published to allow them to LEGALLY profit. They make fun of Mihoyo’s legal department not even being able to make a clear paragraph in English, yet Honey Impact’s English isn’t perfect either. So what if Mihoyo can’t spell? Honey Impact apparently can’t even read.

5)     What they are asking Honey Impact to do with their website is to follow the law. It is not some fraud company politics, it. Is. The. Fucking. Law. The reason they don’t want Honey Impact to have backups is because they’re not supposed to fucking have it in the first place. Furthermore, company politics has to do with what goes on inside the company, not what the company does to people/entities outside of it.

Ultimately, the stuff related to unreleased content of Genshin Impact Honey Impact has been posting on their website DOES NOT BELONG TO THEM. It’s bad enough that they were posting it without permission, it’s even worse that they were getting money for it.

Not to mention, with the way they have been acting, if you’ve been sympathetic and/or defending them, they really don’t deserve it. They added a pretty nasty disclaimer on their new website (which has since been deleted), which, by the way, can get them sued for libel, so that’s another charge on them, and also really shows how petty and childish they’re acting.

Moving on to how they claim they’re back, which at this rate won’t be for long, they say they’ve moved to an Amsterdam based server and that that server is non-DMCA compliant.

So Ionos, their former host server for their website, is, in Honey's words, "DMCA compliant" only in the sense that they take responsibility for the content posted on their platform(s) and domain(s). All that means is that Mihoyo has to go through the DMCA process with the company to officiate the start of the paperwork.

Moving to an Amsterdam server that claims to be "not DMCA compliant" doesn't mean they can't get struck by DMCA. It just means that the company disclaims any and all legal obligations regarding the content posted and it will be solely the content creator's responsibility. So all that means is that they'll get their DMCA even faster now because Mihoyo will not be legally obligated to send the paperwork to the hosting company before sending it to them.

By the way, DMCA laws are INTERNATIONAL. Just because you moved servers from the US to Amsterdam does not mean you suddenly do not have to follow DMCA laws. Also, Mihoyo does have a local EU branch to deal with such things in Europe.

[hoidn]

tree Explains Things 01: SnapMotion

In this tutorial I talk about using SnapMotion to create caps from video clips for the purpose of making gifs. (I recommend viewing this on YouTube for better quality and a larger video size.)

Please note that I'm not affiliated with SnapMotion or its creator in any way and there's nothing in it for me if you choose to purchase SnapMotion for yourself. Obviously, I recommend it, but do investigate your options, as there may be something out there that's better suited to you.

(This transcript is approximately 60% accurate to the tutorial and 40% me condensing my waffle into more sensible narration.)

--

SnapMotion is a Mac OS X program available to buy at the App Store. (As far as I'm aware, there are no releases for any other operating system.) It's fairly inexpensive: AUD $7.99 when I bought it two years ago. (In the video I said $12, from memory, but then I looked up the receipt email to confirm and found myself $4.01 wrong.) Considering that I've made thousands and thousands of caps in the couple of years I've been using it, I've definitely gotten my money's worth.

SnapMotion has two modes: what I call photo mode and then batch mode. Photo mode is good for one or two caps, but to extract caps in bulk you'll be using batch mode. (Something I forgot to mention in the video is that dragging your file to the SnapMotion icon will open it in photo mode by default. In order to access batch mode, you have to open the program and select it.)

Selecting Show Batch Mode takes you to the batch mode work space. Here you can drag and drop your clip or click the plus sign to add it. Once you've loaded a clip, select it in order to access the Add Batch Tasks menu.

One of the things that I particularly like about this program is that all the information you need about the file is clearly set out. In particular, it shows you how many frames per second you're working with. This is important because the fps rate determines how many frames you want to extract from a clip.

--

Why? Because math.

All the sources I've worked with have an fps rate of either 24 or 60. That number tells you how many individual images are contained in one second of video. Obviously, there's a considerable difference between 24 and 60, and that affects how many frames you choose to extract.

I've found I get the best results by extracting every other frame from 24 fps sources and every fifth frame from 60 fps sources. So:

24 fps = 2 (or 1/2 ← why does Tumblr do that?? I hate that!) 60 fps = 5 (or 1/5)

(That gives you roughly 12 caps per second for both sources. I say 'roughly' because, as you can see on my screen, the fps rate is rounded to the nearest whole number. 24 fps is actually 23.7 fps, so that missing .03 can have a cumulative effect.)

I find this is the best compromise between having smooth, natural looking motion in your gifs and keeping your file size within Tumblr's constraints. (I'll talk more about that in the next tutorial.)

--

Tools

The green bar is obviously your clip timeline. The cursor defaults to being in the centre for some reason. You have start and end caps (or whatever you call them) that define the start and end points of your extraction. The left and right arrow|bar buttons move your cursor to the start or end cap respectively, and between them is the play button. To the left are the transformation options. I've never used them, so I don't know what they do. (If you decide to experiment, please report back about your results!) To the right of that is the volume icon, which allows you to hear sound from your clip during playback. I don't find it useful, so I don't bother. The tortoise icon allows you to adjust the speed of your playback (left is slower, right is faster in case that’s not obvious). The arrowheads on the far right move your playback cursor to the start and end caps respectively.

Add Batch Tasks

This is where you specify the parameters for the batch.

Mode: there are four options. I primarily use Every X Frames. As this is a 24 fps source, I want to extract every 2 frames, so I use the value 2. When I type my value in and then press tab, the bottom of the panel shows the number of frames that will be generated from my selection. If I process this selection, SnapMotion will create twenty-five images. But because I moved the start and end caps earlier, and I actually want to extract frames from the whole clip, I need to adjust them. When I tab through my X value again, I see an updated number of generated frames.

I always include the Starting and Ending frames because I trim my clips to the exact frames I want (unless I'm being lazy).

Max size: This refers to the width of the image in pixels. (Technically, it refers to the maximum size of the largest dimension, but since video sources are universally landscape oriented, for our purposes this number will always refer to the width.) The default setting is 4,000 pixels and since the source clip is 1920 pixels wide my caps are going to remain 1920 pixels wide. However, if you know what width you want your eventual gif to be and you don't want to go through the extra step of resizing it in Photoshop, you can use this setting to do that for you. For example, if you want your gif to be 540 pixels wide you would enter 540 in this field. When you process this batch, SnapMotion will resize each frame it extracts to a width of 540 pixels with a proportional height. (Yeah, I said width at first and then I had trouble getting out the word height. Talking is hard!)

I don't use this feature simply because sometimes I change my mind, and I would have to rerun the batch if I did. (This isn't a big deal for a single shot like this, but if you're working with a whole scene that contains hundreds of frames, it's a hassle.) I also reuse caps sometimes. As you probably know, if you follow my Longmire gifs, sometimes I do a full scene using small gifs and then I go back and do large versions of some of the Vic shots. (Because I love her so.) And sometimes I make other graphics. In those situations, I want the image at its original size, so that I can resize or crop it the way I want.

Format: I prefer PNG.

Override: this tells the program what to do when a file with the same name already exists in the destination folder. The options are Replace existing files or Use alternative name. They're probably fairly self-explanatory (but just in case, I included a note).

Errors: I don't think I've ever had an error in this program. You can choose to generate a log file with each batch, but I kept getting logs that said "no errors" every time I ran one and it was annoying having to constantly delete them, so I switched to No error handling.

Headline/Credit: I believe this is like watermarking your images. If you want to watermark your gifs (I honestly don't see the point but some people do it), I think it'd be a lot easier to do it in Photoshop (or whatever program you use for image editing).

Export: this is where you specify the destination for your extracted image files. Click Choose to open the menu from here. Alternatively, when you're ready to process a batch, click the red button (aka the "Do the Thing" button according to me when I recorded this), and if there is no destination already specified, it will prompt you for a location.

Once you've clicked the Do the Thing button (yeah, I'm just leaning into it now), SnapMotion will display Task Added. If you look at the top of the window, you'll see a progress bar showing the percentage of completion as it processes.

When the images are fully exported, you'll see All Tasks Done and also an alert if you've selected that in your preferences (which I haven't gotten to yet but it's coming up). If you go to the destination folder, you'll find all the images that have been extracted. That's it!

--

I want to address the syntax for how files are named because I found the options very confusing to begin with. The default syntax made no sense to me and it took me a while to configure something that did. File names are defined in the program preferences, so go to the SnapMotion menu, select Preferences, then select the Batch tab.

Number of concurrent snaps: how many frames should be extracted at the same time. This has an impact on your RAM usage and also impacts how long it takes a batch to run.

Alert users with: this is where you choose whether or not you want a notification outside the program. It's useful if you're running a larger batch in the background and therefore don't see the All Tasks Done message.

Output name format:  these are the elements I use:

<movie_name> = the title of your clip file

hyphen

<time_seconds> = the actual second position of the frame within the clip; for example, a frame that was extracted at 14s would be numbered beginning with 14. This parameter converts durations of 1 minute+ into seconds, e.g. 60, 61, etc.

<frame _index> = the running number of the frames extracted in the batch, beginning at 1. The position of this number depends on the total number of frames you're extracting. From 1 to 99 frames, the number will be 01; from 100 to 999 frames, the number will be 001. I've never extracted more than 1,000 frames, but I assume in that situation you'd begin with 0001.

If I were extracting 40 frames from my clip beginning at 14s, then the numerical portion of my file names would start at 1401. If I were extracting 120 frames, then the numerical portion of my file names would start at 14001.

<image_extension> = the file format you've specified

So, my file names are constructed like this: 

<movie_name>-<time_seconds><frame _index>.<image_extension>

And the files from the batch I've just run look like this if you separate the elements: 

1x05_2206 - 0 01 . png

In this batch, the seconds run from 0 to 3 and there are 34 frames in total. The first number column represents <time_seconds>, while columns two and three combined represent <frame_index>. You can see that the numbers in columns two and three are sequential from 1-34, whereas the numbers in column one aren't. That's because I've extracted multiple frames per second. Caps 1-7 were extracted from the first second of the clip, caps 8-18 from the second, caps 19-31 from the third, and caps 32-34 from the fraction of the fourth second.

This naming system is what works for me, but you should experiment with the options so that you can construct file names that work best for you.

--

The last couple of things:

You can import multiple clips either individually or at the same time. 

You can delete a clip by selecting it and clicking the minus button.

--

And that's SnapMotion!

If anything is unclear or I've omitted something that you wanted to know about, please let me know. Thanks for watching and listening (and reading). Next up, I’ll be explaining the process of importing your caps into Photoshop and creating your gif file.

[acrispyapple]

why do you watermark official pics that aren't yours? i'm honestly shocked cybird hasn't had you banned for dcma laws + spoiling paid stories and epilogues, but you do you. you made it so i never have to pay money for any of the cybird games + mlqc. also i read why you aren't posting the sprites which is cool and all but you shouldn't be posting game elements either way. that's super shitty of you to do because spoiler THE ARTWORK ISN'T YOURSSSSSSS. the pic of victor on your twitter isnt yours 2

heya! i’ve already answered an ask like this recently and ignored the follow up ones because i don’t really wanna keep repeating myself. but since you’re very persistent and it’s still the same thing, here i go! putting under a cut because it’s long and has images – with stuff written on them! dun dun dunnnn (¯▿¯)

to start things, i’m the wrong person to accuse of being irresponsible with my posts because i’m very mindful of posting etiquette. have you not seen all my campaigns about not stealing from artists, from blogs, etc. i ask for permission for everything, even for random text i want to translate from someone’s post. even for cosplay i’ve seen other people freely post, i always go to the source and ask. i hope my answer clarifies things for you because i don’t really wanna have to repeat it again! (*^^*)♡

re: watermarks (complaint mostly about mlqc because i don’t really do it for cybird)

re: cybird

i’m not exactly a hidden secret blog, so i’m pretty sure cybird is well aware of me. plus, they’ve left comments on my blog in the past. sooo, there’s nothing shocking about it at all! maybe what’s shocking is you somehow expected cybird to not have noticed my blog all these years. do you actually know what the digital millennium copyright act covers? (dmca not dcma btw) as long as i know how to read and understand rules and i’m always within its boundaries, there’s nothing being violated. always post obstructed cgs / never full, snippets of 10 for screenies, never in consecutive order, etc. you should read the rules tbh, you seem unfamiliar with it. ☆

re: you never having to pay money for any cybird game

again, snippets = not full stories. everyone can post snippets. paid or not. that’s so weird that you feel you don’t need to pay for ~any cybird game~ anymore because of my blog. i haven’t been consistently posting paid content for so long. even ikesen epilogues. because i don’t have the time. and i’ve skipped posting a couple of events on my blog too. i don’t post ikerev / midcin consistently either. i’ve posted from two ikevam events in the past months with epilogue snippets. i guess you only played those? that’s hardly everything. nice attempt at creating an issue about me making cybird lose money tho! for someone who thinks i do dodgy things, you sure do like reading from my blog– if what you’re saying is true. but you seem to not know my blog content either. (⌒_⌒;)

i have another answer for this from an ask from 9 months ago:

re: not paying for mlqc

they allow posting everything from their game, i even verified with their team! but even i don’t have the time or post slot to post everything from it. i mostly post about victor soooo, i guess that’s everything you need to know about mlqc then? yay for you only needing victor! ♡

re: game elements

what?

anyway, moving forward to my twitter header:

it’s from this post i made, where i screenied scenes (and edited them a bit to look brighter and prettier) from the pv of the new chapters in the ch version.

now, i just put my username there as a marker and it was already covered in the first part of this ask. (how it helps me keep track of my posts, helps me when people are able to identify it’s from my blog and alert me of it being posted elsewhere, etc.) but i wanted to show it even clearer so you can finally let go of whatever it is you’re burning with. ( ˙▿˙ )

it just says acrispyapple on this screenie i took (that’s right, it’s just a screenshot lmao), it’s a random word or name. i made it small and inconspicuous so it wouldn’t distract from the image. the weibo watermark is bigger and clearer but i don’t use it– i can, but i don’t. when people see it, they know it’s official art and that’s it. there’s no “made by acrispyapple™©®”

(thanks for visiting my twitter btw! it doesn’t really have a lot of followers haha)

sooo, there’s weibo and its automatic watermarks (location can be changed).

“damn, all the users on weibo are claiming stuff as their own!!!! it’s not just a marker that a certain thing was posted from a certain blog!!! they’re claiming it as theirs even tho it’s clearly very easy to see that it’s one of many free-for-all official images!!!” (≧◡≦)

and i’ve seen people use the cards as banners for fanfics and other stuff, or even memes where they put random stuff on it like this:

but writing a random word on it, just because you know my blog is somehow a great sin? it’s not even acrispyapple.tumblr.com ✿

would it maybe make you feel better if it wasn’t just acrispyapple? i can use random words and it’ll still serve as a marker for me lmao

anyway anon, it pays to actually listen and read before you get mad and accuse. i’m not breaking any rules and i’m very much aware of what’s not allowed and what’s allowed. (^ ^*)♡

edit:

i kinda like it. (^◔ᴥ◔^)

side note: if you have a vendetta against me, you’re free to have one. but please don’t try to make stuff up just to yell at me. you can hate me quietly from afar or just avoid me altogether. or if you want to find a reason to yell at me, at least try to educate yourself about what you’re planning on yelling at me about. it’ll save me time trying to explain stuff! i also don’t like wasting my post slots for the day. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i would suggest looking at my actual content first, so your lack of knowledge of it doesn’t give you away. also, try asking yourself if you really think cybird’s en team would miss me after all these years and if you’re somehow the only enlightened one who can see all my ~misgivings~? are you aware of mlqc’s rules?

it’s funny because i’m not even close to covering everything for mlqc and there are blogs that cover far more than i do. i answer a lot of asks (i wish asks were paid content, as in i get paid to answer asks), but game content-wise, i’m faaaar from covering everyone. unless you really consider victor the whole game (♡). in which case i’m still missing his ch11 and ch19 screenies and one date. oh and the recent rumors&secrets! if you take a look at my posts, it’s mostly announcements, asks, fanart, general info, avatar posts, etc. i think you blindly went in with salt. ( ˙▿˙ )

i don’t really interact with people unless i have to talk about reposts and fanart-related stuff. i also just talk about games on my blog. so i don’t know what i could’ve done to merit your hatred. maybe you dislike that i ask for basic courtesy or that i enforce rules given to me by artists? i’m always polite tho. hmm, mystery-desu! ✩‧₊˚

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #406

“turned on all the lights, the tv, and the radio  /  still, i can’t escape the ghost of you”

Have you ever had an ulcer? No. Do you have any rare medical conditions? I believe AvPD is considered to be a rare mental disorder. Do you have to carry an epi pen? No. What color is your mailbox? I think it's black. I don't pay attention. Would you ever want a job working with animals? I'd love to. The thing is, without a degree in something, my duties working with animals would almost certainly involve cleaning up after them, which I am WAY too squeamish with fecal matter and vomit to do. It's extremely embarrassing, but I've never even been able to clean up after my own pets if they ever had an accident or got sick. I obviously couldn't do it with random animals. Did you have a good high school experience? It's... so odd, retrospecting on high school. In some ways, it was the best time of my life because of my memories with my friends and especially Jason, but at the time, I absolutely loathed it and was horribly depressed. But at least I saw a future for myself. I took better care of myself, all that stuff... That Brittany would be fucking mortified to get a glimpse at who she becomes. Have you ever watched any Monty Python movies? Which one is your favourite? I know I've seen some of at least one. Would you ever get a "below the belt" piercing? Nah. If a couple is married, do you think there should be any legal punishment if one person cheats? No...? Like don't get me wrong at all, I am firmly against cheating under any circumstance, but for there to be legal retribution seems extreme. What is the greatest source of anxiety for you? My future. Are there any hallucinogenic drugs you’d like to try? Nah man. What made you choose your current job? I'm unemployed. Do you feel uncomfortable on the dance floor? Or are you confident with you dancing abilities? Oh hunny, you won't see me on the dance floor. Unless MAYBE if the Cha-Cha Slide comes on, or the Cupid Shuffle. That's as skilled as I get, haha. Is it exciting to you to imagine having an affair with a teacher? ... No??????????? It's fucking creepy. Adultery isn't exciting. Do you like your smile? No. I absolutely look high when I smile. What is something silly that you believed to be true when you were a child? That I could invoke the traits of any animal, which I just referred to as my "animal powers." Like for example, if I "called upon" a kangaroo, I could jump higher. I was a weird fucking kid. Have you ever been in a relationship with someone you completely connected with on a mental/emotional level, but did not find physically attractive in any way? Was physical intimacy a problem? How did it work out? I was never really physically attracted to Girt, but it was never a big deal to me. I cared way more about his personality and how much he cared about me. We were never really "intimate," per se, we just would give each other a simple peck. It didn't work out, but not at all because of physical things. He was just too much of a brother to me. What classic or cult movie have you never seen and have no desire to? Hm. I know there's some, but I'm blanking. Does The Human Centipede count here? Like everyone knows about it, so I would assume it does. I have ZERO desire to see a second of that repulsive movie. Have you ever taken a real liking to a band/singer you never ever....ever thought you'd enjoy? Maybe Melanie Martinez? Her voice is so cutesy, as are some of her songs, but I really enjoy how dark her lyrics can be. People who know me would probably be shocked to hear I thoroughly like her. After seeing the movie Avatar did you suddenly view our Earth as ugly and/or boring? If you have not seen the movie, do you think it’s worth your time? I've seen a little bit of it, but I never finished it because I was very tired and chose to go to sleep. I actually do want to see the full thing, though; it looks very good. How helpful are your parents to you? Would they help you to pay for your first apartment? College? Where does the line end? My parents are truly incredible with helping me the best they are capable of. They helped me pay for school, among other things, but I doubt they'd help with my first home, whenever that is. I wouldn't really want them to, either, because that's my responsibility for sure. Do you like playing video games? If so, what do you usually play? I love video games, and horror is absolutely my favorite genre. I also love fantasy games though with deep stories. I've never been the best at playing super long games, like Final Fantasy games, even if I'm seriously invested in the story, though. I burn out. Have you ever sewn a garment? No. Are there any plants in the room you’re in? No. I don't bother with plants. What’s your highest level of education? Some college. What’s the most important thing in any kind of relationship? Proper communication, probably. If you wear lipstick, what’s your favourite colour to wear? I only really put on lipstick to occasionally take a picture, and it's pretty much always black. Is your style feminine, masculine or somewhere in the middle? Somewhere in the middle, I guess? Are there a lot of dragonflies around your house? I've never seen one around this house, and I doubt I ever will because it's too urban. When we lived in the woods, however, I saw them a lot. Of all the Disney couples, which one would you say is your favorite? Kovu and Kiara came to my mind first. Do you think it is cute/funny or disgraceful when a child swears? It's shocking, more than anything. You don't expect it. I don't believe it should be encouraged, but only because children just don't know when swearing really isn't appropriate. If/when you have a baby, how do you think you would want to decorate its room? I don't want kids, but I'll entertain the question and assume this is before the child is born and develops interests. Whether it's a boy or a girl, I'd probably go with a cutesy animal theme. Would you more likely buy a shirt with a picture of Mickey/Minnie Mouse, a Winnie the Pooh character, Snoopy, Hello Kitty, or Tweety Bird on it? None, honestly. Perhaps like, a gothic Hello Kitty. Of all the states you have been to, which one did you have the best experiences? Putting aside the AWFUL heat and humidity, I probably had the best time in Florida. I loved all the palm trees, seeing so many lizards on my grandma's patio, and going to Disney World was a blast. I liked that swimming pools were always warm, too. Have you ever had a crush on someone “too young” for you? No. Do you regret losing your virginity to who you lost it to? No. I was madly in love with him, so no regrets on that. If your boyfriend ever hit you, would you dump him? HA, BYYYYEEEEEEEEE MOTHERFUCKER. ZERO hesitation. Did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologize? He did, but I honestly don't know if he meant it. Is there anything you want to say to someone? It'll probably go unsaid for the rest of my life. If they were to televise a live execution, would you watch it? Yikes, hard pass. If you could be the president of the USA, would you be willing to do it? Noooo thank you. Did you wake up in the middle of the night? I always do. Does your animal sleep with you? My cat does. Venus obviously sleeps in her terrarium, but she is in my room. Last color you dyed your hair? Red. Will you keep your last name when you get married? Very unlikely. I don't like my last name. What are you looking forward to? Hearing back again from the woman whose wedding I shot literally two years ago. I thought she ghosted me, but she messaged me the other day about seeing the pictures again and going through them to actually buy some. I don't know why the hell it took her two years, but whatever, I guess? I spent two whole hours resizing the files and re-adding the preview watermark (I deleted the OneDrive folder for space forever ago, but I have the files still), so I hate to sound like an ass, but she better buy something. Between sweating my ass off on location when I shot the wedding, editing those 100+ pictures two years ago, and now re-doing the previews, I have invested so much goddamn time into them that yeah, I think I have the right to be pretty damn salty if I don't hear back from her again. If your significant other cut sex out of your relationship for any reason, what would you do? It'd be whatever. I mean sure, that sort of intimacy is a very special part of serious romantic relationships to me, but I can live without it pretty easily. What was the last thing you said out loud? "Thank you for dinner" to my mom. She brought home Hardee's. Who are your godparents? I don't believe I have any. Do you like Gushers? omggggg yes Can you touch​ your nose with your tongue?​​ No. Is there a particular sport you follow on a regular basis? Nope. Are you waiting for something to arrive in the mail? No. Think of the last film you watched. Who was your favourite character? Uhhhh what was it... The Shining, I think? I didn't really develop a favorite. Do you have a friend whose name starts with ‘L’? Describe him/her. Lisa. <3 She's one of my WoW friends. She'll talk your ear off, but I don't really mind. She is SO sweet and caring for other people and loves to cook. She recently had triplets, and seeing as she had a son only months before accidentally getting pregnant with the triplets, she's obviously been MEGA busy so we haven't talked much lately. When you’re being kissed do you like it when they hold your face? Yeah, but not too early on. Doing that has a promise of seriousness and passion in it to me, and it would probably weird me out if that happened too soon. Last thing that made you cry? My health. Would you ever consider getting a piercing in your septum? Nah. I don't think it would look good on me. Do you enjoy being outdoors? If it's cool outside and I have a place to sit when I want to, yeah. Do people tell you that you have an accent? Only sometimes. It's definitely not as bad as your average Southerner, though. Do you enjoy watching fireworks on the 4th of July? Ha, what nice timing. I think they're very pretty, but I believe I went over in a recent survey how I don't encourage their usage in consideration of veterans with PTSD as well as being conscious of animals and the absolute terror it can cause for them. What’re some unspeakable subjects for you? So my sister is a children's social worker, and she shares a LOT of stories with Mom (and me, if I'm present) that I can't listen to. The ones that involve pedophilia and/or rape, especially from the child's very own parent(s), I just cannot listen to. Period. It's so fucking repulsive and just unimaginable to me how even a monster of a human can commit something THAT goddamn vile. What’s your opinion of root beer? I'm not a big fan. I mean I can tolerate drinking some of it, but I don't really *enjoy* it. Have you ever seen The Breakfast Club, and what’s your opinion of it? I have, and I didn't get the appeal at all. Did you have a Furby when you were younger? Oh god, I did. Those things are so creepy. If you had a baby boy, what would you name him? Damien, most likely.

[welcometocaritas]

‘if you love me, don’t let go...’

First chapter of my yumagna fic is out ladies and gentlebabies! 

Chapter: 1/6

Characters: Yumiko & Magna

Pairing: Yumagna

Fandom: The Walking Dead

Format: Multi-Chap

Summary:  At some point, you just have to let go - or so Yumiko keeps telling herself.There was never any letting go of Magna.

Links: A03, FF.NET

[watermark is from my instagram yumagnas.home don’t worry i didn’t steal the pic ;)]

 A/N: 

[The rape/non-con is there for Magna's cousin and it will only ever be in references I will not be writing anything detailed about it because I don't want to trigger anyone and this isn't the story for writing about something like that as I would not be able to give it the time and attention it deserves]

Small note: Magna's cousin is called Maisie in this and I've also given her a brother called Morgan.

y'all are going to hate me because yes, this is going to be over 20000 words about a single night. And probably not even the whole night. but there's also flashbacks so it's OK? In my defense, we've gotten very few conversations with these two so there was a lot to talk about. I can't be held responsible for my actions. blame the writers.

I’m honestly a little worried that I’m going to bore people to tears because there’s really no plot. It’s just yumagna being soft and finally sorting out their shit.

I'm also working on a short oneshot - for real this time it's actually going to be short - that's set in the indeterminate future after this. It's basically just going to be pure fluff which you should knew is unheard of - I never write fluff. So hopefully it's not terrible.

There be angst here, lots of angst, but also comfort - if you’re familiar with my writing that won’t be a surprise to you.

I don’t have much hope for canon so I decided to do what I could to fix the mess they made.

I normally wouldn’t reveal anything that’s going to happen in a fic but y’all have been tortured enough already so just know I will absolutely be getting these girls back together, it won’t take more than a night, but it will take about 20000 words. Most of the story is written out already I’m just doing post-edits so I’ll update daily :)

If things seem a little disjointed it’s because I wrote everything out of order and it’s been a bit of a struggle to get everything to fit into place. I also haven’t slept more than 1-4 hours a night for the past three weeks, have been getting constant migraines and blood sugar crashes so I’m gonna apologize right now if there are any mistakes. I’m super sorry.

This is for the yumagna fandom cos I wanted y'all to have something nice with everything that's going on. I would also like to give a special thanks to Abbey and Mina who acted as my sounding board throughout this whole thing and were very patient with me - love you guys :)

....

"If you love me, don't let go

Hold

Hold on

Hold on to me

'Cause I'm a little unsteady

A little unsteady . . . "

- Unsteady by X Ambassadors

. . .

Nightmares had always been an issue, though less so in recent years. Magna had gotten almost gotten used to having a full night's sleep, barring the occasional pillow snatch. Back before all this started, she'd been on medication for PTSD, but well, it was kind of hard to fill a prescription in the middle of the apocalypse - and, well, the apocalypse had only added to the previous need for said medication. At least she was in good company. These days, it was more of a surprise if someone wasn't experiencing some form of post-traumatic stress, and that was a somewhat odd reality to wake up in, day after day. For years, this thing had set her apart but now? Now it just made her like everyone else.

Miko had nightmares too.

It was what had led to them sharing a 'bed' in the first place, way before things between them moved beyond the confines of friendship. They'd fallen asleep by the fire one particularly cold night, curled around each other for warmth, and they hadn't awoken until morning.

It had been something of a revelation.

On Magna's end, she suspected it had had a lot to do with trust. She'd trusted Miko not to shove a shiv into her side or try to cop a feel whilst she slept, trusted her even more to have her back if things went south during the night. She'd been . . . safe. Magna wasn't used to people being safe - she wasn't quite sure what she offered Miko in return, though; maybe the same thing.

Of course, in many ways Yumiko wasn't safe. There was nothing safe about the way Magna felt about her. Or the way those feelings seemed to be returned. She knew Miko had had a girlfriend in college who cheated - and when the other woman had told her that, a vindictive part of her had hoped the bitch had been one of the many, many people to meet their end by sicko teeth. Miko had smacked her on the arm for that comment, exasperation tempered by fondness and reluctant amusement.

She'd realized in her time away, that this past hurt would have only sharpened Magna's betrayal. Trust was important to Miko - hell, it was important to Magna - and she had broken hers by lying, lying for years. She hadn't thought of it that way when she'd been doing it. The secret had weighed on her, yes, but she'd been viewing it from a place of hadn't really considered how it would hurt Miko, only what it would do to their relationship if it had ever come out, what it would do to her.

That, more than anything, had made her realize that Miko had been right to kick her out. More than right.

Which is why she could hardly believe that they were here now. That Miko was letting her head rest in her lap, that she had invited her to do so. Sitting back against a tree and patting her thigh with a small smile her way when Magna had gone to settle a short distance off. The way she had nearly fallen over herself to accept that invitation was almost embarrassing but she couldn't bring herself to feel self-conscious about it, or to second guess the action. They'd done this as friends too and she was glad it wasn't something she had sacrificed with their relationship.

She'd been attracted to Yumiko from the moment they met. It was hard not to be. She wasn't blind - hot lawyer lady in a suit, how could she not notice her in that way? The woman had entered into her dilapidated life with a sureness and determination that was hard to dismiss. Intelligent, strong, and fighting for her.

No one had ever fought for Magna. Not until Miko.

(really, she'd been screwed from the start)

Of course, the person Yumiko was fighting for was little more than an illusion. If Miko had only known the truth then . . .

She probably would have dropped her like a hot potato, just like everybody else. She probably would have been wise to.

Or maybe she wasn't giving Miko enough credit. After all, she was still here now. Carding her hand through Magna's hair in a soothing motion as she pretended to sleep - and Miko pretended to believe her. She knew the truth now, and still she kept close. Maybe they weren't together anymore but that had been as much Magna's choice as Miko's. She couldn't let herself get to that place again, where she was so terrified of losing something, she ended up destroying it.

  And God, Magna was so tired, so tired of being afraid, so tired of being angry.

Just so tired.

('I can't do this anymore.')

She needed a distance between them, even if she didn't want it. Romantic relationships had a tendency to blow up in her face. But friendships . . . well, they tended to be more reliable. After all, she had been friends with Miko for years and things only turned sour after they had crossed over the safety of that border into something more.

(things turned sour because you couldn't stand keeping it a secret from her anymore. The same thing would have happened if you'd still been only friends)

She shifted uncomfortably, remembering at the last second that she was supposed to be asleep. But Miko only stilled a moment before continuing with her motions, allowing the deception to maintain itself.

The relief passed her lips in a shaky exhale.

Magna couldn't bring herself to talk anymore. She was drained - both emotionally and physically - and the thought of pulling any more words out almost made her cry from exhaustion. And Miko seemed to sense that, almost as soon as Magna had first fallen silent. But then, she'd always been good at reading her.

She was observant. Like Connie.

Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, she immediately regretted the action. In the darkness, all she saw was her friend's face, disappearing into the crowd of sickos, possibly never to be seen again. Of course, Magna hadn't seen that at all. She'd kept her gaze ahead, too wary to look around and give away the disguise, but she had felt Connie's hand slip from hers, the ache of the empty space it left behind. Her imagination filled in the blanks now, even adding in a few colorful extras - wide eyes, a silent scream, falling beneath the weight of too many bodies, torn apart. Gone.

So many people were just . . . gone.

"Do you think she survived?" The words hung in the night air; foreign, distant. Magna blinked, unsure if they'd really come from her. She couldn't remember opening her mouth. But her tongue felt thick and heavy, her lips cracked, she could taste the metallic hint of blood caused by the effort.

Miko paused. Just a second, her fingers tangling in Magna's hair a little too tight, almost painful, then a breath, and she returned to smoothing it back. "You did."

"Barely. I was lucky."

"And there's no reason she won't be, too. Connie's smart, strong. She could make it."

Magna could think of a hundred reasons. A thousand.

Her stomach turned and she closed her eyes, opening them in a snap when Connie's face answered her. She trembled. "I should have stopped. I should have looked for her."

Miko didn't hesitate. "Then you'd be dead. Might even have gotten her killed as well. All for nothing."

At least, I wouldn 't be feeling like this.

Magna opened her mouth to argue but found that she didn't have the strength. She closed her eyes again, inhaling the scent of the woods, of the leaves and dirt beneath their bodies, of Miko. Especially Miko. "What the hell am I going to say to Kelly?"

If she wasn't dead.

What if they were the only ones left? Her and Miko. Bernie gone. Connie gone. Kelly gone. Luke gone. She'd failed to protect them. All of them.

And she'd thought she'd cried enough tears but her eyes burned and she rubbed at them fiercely, like there was dirt, like if she could just get it out the fire would vanish and she wouldn't crumble to ashes in its grip.

And there was Miko's voice, all at once gentle and firm, pulling her back. "She won't blame you. She knows you. You've always fought hard for us. As hard as you can. This just wasn't a situation in which you could."

Magna nearly scoffed.

No, she could have fought. But she'd gotten scared. She'd hesitated. She hated being fucking scared (small and shaking, hugging Morgan to her chest as Daddy's voice got loud, so loud, why was it so loud?). It was such a useless emotion. And now it had probably gotten Connie killed.

Miko tugged at her hair slightly, gentle but scolding. "Seriously, Magna. You couldn't have done anything. If anyone should be feeling guilty it's me."

Frowning, she turned her head in her grip to look up, a strand of hair snagged but she didn't mind the pain. "What are you talking about?"

But Miko shook her head, refusing to meet her gaze as she focused on raking her hands through Magna's hair, avoiding the knots with an ease born of years of practice. "I should have been there with you. I shouldn't have stayed behind that day."

And then you might be dead, too. Magna shuddered at the thought. Her worst fear, worse than Miko choosing to leave her, being taken from her. Forever.

And it wasn't even a what-if situation. It felt inevitable. This was the apocalypse: their expiration dates were always inching closer.

"I'm glad you did." Even though Magna couldn't see her face, she sensed her hurt, felt the flinch of her hand. "I couldn't lose you. Not like that."

Giving up on getting Miko to look at her, she settled back in her lap but kept her eyes open.

Yumiko's voice was caustic when she responded, fragile and harsh all at once. "I thought I lost you." The hand resumed its stroking, stiffer now, almost angry. "At least if I had been there I could have helped, and I would have known. I would have known if you were okay."

Not if you got out with Kelly.

But, no, Miko wouldn't have left them, wouldn't have left her. She would have seen her double back with Connie and gone after her too - like Magna, she was always watching. Maybe she would even have noticed and gone after Connie first - she was equally as protective of their group - and then Magna would have been the one left behind, to wonder, to fear.

Thinking about it, that probably would have driven her to punch Carol, too. Though her fuse had always been a lot shorter than Miko's.

Now, she snorted at the sudden memory. "I can't believe you punched Carol. I've never seen you like that." In a way, it had scared her. She was so used to Miko being the calm one, forever in control. She was the one who reined Magna in.

Okay, it had also been kind of hot. Even half-dead on her feet, she couldn't fail to notice that.

"To be honest, neither can I." There was a wry note to the older woman's tone, and Magna wondered if she was smiling, almost risked looking up again to find out. "I don't regret it, if that's what you're wondering."

"Not like you to kick a dog when it's down."

"Not like you to be so forgiving."

She scoffed. "I'm not. Connie's gone. Probably dead and she-" Magna swallowed, collecting herself. "I'm not forgiving. I just don't have the energy to be angry anymore."

"Well that's definitely not like you." Miko teased, hesitating for a moment before severity bled back into her tone. "Are you going to be okay?"

She closed her eyes, sighed. Why was she so good? "You don't have to worry about me, Miko."

Scoff. "Another lie. I found a grey hair the other day, thanks to you."

"Oh and it couldn't have possibly been the literal end of days that we're stuck in?"

"Have you met you?" Another tug at her hair, this time playful and, for a moment, Magna could breathe easier. "Seriously, though, are you going to be okay?"

For a moment.

She shifted, hair pulling painfully but that was almost welcome. "I'll be fine. I'll be a lot better once we find Kelly and Luke."

"And Connie."

"And Connie." She wished she could feel more hopeful on that front. Miko squeezed her shoulder and she relaxed slightly, trying to push the dark thoughts away for now. There'd been too many of them tonight already. There were always too many. But just for tonight she wanted to escape them, to hide away in Miko's lap and absorb every touch, every smell, every word . . . that she had come so close to never experiencing again.

. . .

"How can you lose me? You've owned me from the first moment I saw you."

― Dianna Hardy, Cry Of The Wolf

. . .

The full gravity of the world ending fell upon Yumiko within a matter of hours, there'd been no time to trivialize or hope. Right from the start, she'd felt the impact.

Her mother had been a doctor in the old world and she'd been working a shift at the hospital when the outbreak hit the city and surrounding areas. Yumiko's stomach still turned at the memory of calling her up from the safety of Magna's apartment, her eyes trained on the insanity playing out across every news station, her heart pounding as she pleaded, pleaded for the other woman to pick up, to be alright, to-

But the phone had rung and rung. One, two, twelve phone calls later and nothing.

----

Unable to sit and wait any longer, Yumiko swiped her abandoned keys off the table and marched towards the door, ready to drive over there right that second and  make  her mother okay. She was smart, her mother was smart, and resourceful, and she'd never stopped practicing krav maga - and Yumiko would definitely come to regret refusing all those classes the woman had tried to get her to enroll in growing up but she 'd been focused on her books and her studies and all her dreams for a future that fighting never entered into-

Her mother would be  fine .

But a hand grabbed hers - strong, nails almost biting into her skin - and pulled her back. "You can't go out there."

Magna.

At some point, she 'd forgotten the other woman was even there, just whose home she stood barricaded within.

"I have to get to the hospital, my mother she-"

"Yumiko, you saw the news - hell, you just almost got your face bitten off by one of those sickos - the world's fucking lost it. " Her face took on an expression of incredulity. "And you want to go to the fucking hospital? No, no way."

Yumiko clenched her jaw, trying not to snap. "She's my mother. I  need  to make sure she's okay."

"I know, OK? Trust me I get it but . . ." she took a breath, frustrated and Yumiko could detect an air of desperation in the way she closed her eyes, pressed her lips together. "But you just, you can't, okay? They said that part of the city is already overrun and it's a  hospital . The amount of people in there,  dying  people . . . it's a death trap."

Yumiko looked away, knowing she was right but unwilling to face it. It was her  mother .

For a spiteful moment, she wondered whether Magna really did  'get it'. As far as she knew, the other woman hadn't visited her own mother since she was a child. Yumiko didn't even know if she was still alive - or if Magna knew for that matter.

"Look, I . . . " Magna shook her head. "If I thought that it could work, that we'd be able to help, hell even be able to get  in  there, I would drive you myself."

"You don't have a license." She wasn 't sure why she said it, why out of all the things Magna was saying,  that  had stuck out the most. But it was the only thing she had the means to protest.

Magna huffed. "Fine, I'd let you drive but that-that's not the point. Miko, we don't even know how to kill these things. I stabbed that guy in the neck and he barely even flinched. The dead are eating people, I can't . . ." She shook her head, lost for words. "I can't protect you from that."

Yumiko cursed the way those words made her stomach flip -  not  the time. Her phone felt heavy in her pocket, useless, and her mind was a violent hellscape, tossing up image after image of all the situations that could be keeping her mother from answering but . . .

Fuck it.

She was right.

The world shook for a moment, shaky legs almost falling out from under her as she allowed herself to sink down onto the floor, hiding her head in her hands.  She was right . The darkness made everything still and she could imagine for a moment that this wasn't really happening, that it was just some big nightmare, that-

People were fucking  eating  people, for god's sakes.  Dead  people. How  could  this be real?

There was a pause, the sound of shuffling, and she felt a stiff form settle down beside her. Hesitantly, an arm came around her, too lose, too distant, but there. "I'm sorry."

Yumiko shook her head, forgetting entirely Magna's discomfort when it came to any kind of physical intimacy - hell, any kind of intimacy in general - and allowed herself to collapse. Falling into her, she buried her head in the other woman's chest, hands coming up to latch onto the fabric of her shirt, desperate for something, anything to hold onto.

Magna flinched and her body became like a rock, rebelling at every place of contact between them.

Remembering herself, Yumiko moved to withdraw, "Shit, sorry, I-" but the arm around her tightened, keeping her in place. Slowly, she felt the muscles against her force themselves to relax as that arm found a surer purchase, pulling her closer. After a moment, she felt the slight weight of a chin coming to rest on her head, a hand coming up to find one of hers. Disentangling Yumiko 's almost rabid hold, they wrapped around her and squeezed, held tight and this-

This was better.

"Stay."

She did.

. . .

"I am your friend. a soul for your soul. a place for your life. home. know this. sun or water. here or away. we are a lighthouse. we leave. and we stay."

― Nayyirah Waheed

. . .

Magna knew that Miko's upbringing had been a fair bit more stable than hers. Parents divorced at nine, yes, but that was terribly common wasn't it? (and neither of them had tried to shoot the other.) She'd graduated at the top of her class, whilst Magna had been kicked out of three schools for fighting before her aunt and uncle had given up and stopped sending her. It wasn't a huge loss. The only classes she'd been doing well in were art and P.E. And whilst she had missed those it was a relief to get away from the taunting students and judgmental teachers.

Considering her criminal record that kept her from working at anything other than a seedy truck stop with its overly handsy customers, that had probably worked out for the best. Good grades wouldn't have been of any help to her by then.

She still laughed sometimes at the memory of Miko popping by on her shifts, how out of place she'd looked, sitting on a rickety stool behind the counter whilst Magna tended customers, still dressed in a suit from work that never seemed to wrinkle.

The pair of them had garnered more than a few looks.

But Miko had been at ease with it, picking at her fries - the only food on the menu that would probably pass a health inspection - making small talk, interjecting with the occasional complaint about Jerry, the company vulture, who kept trying to steal her clients. Magna had been confused by the attention, wary even. She'd wondered if the lawyer checked up on all her former clients like this, or if she was just a special case. She hadn't asked - she hadn't wanted to know the answer, to face the inevitable 'yes'.

A part of her had wanted to scare her off, had hated the way she got instantly on edge as soon as she saw Miko's form enter in the door, the way she felt even worse when she watched her leave out it. But another, more secret part, had been starved for company; the kind that didn't make her want to punch someone, anyway. So she'd held her tongue, and slowly let down her defenses.

Until one night, a trucker had gone to bite a chunk out of Miko's face.

It had been her turn to work the truck stop diner connected to the store, and Yumiko had been leaning against the counter, nursing a cup of too-sweet hot chocolate and conversing with her between customers. She'd just glanced down at her phone after hearing a ping and Magna had looked up at the sound, glimpsed the man lumbering closer, closer - too close.

She'd never been so glad of the quick reflexes life had beaten into her, because in that moment she hadn't needed to think. She'd shoved Miko back, a little too forcefully since she ended up hitting the ground with a smack that made Magna wince - but it was enough.

Her hand had been grabbing the knife from beneath the bench before she even registered, her arm jolting with the shock of sinking it into flesh that gave way too easily as she leapt across the counter, blood spattering against her face in a terrible sort of deja vu, her stomach turning - fuck fuck fuck - but he didn't fall, didn't scream; and then she'd grabbed Miko, tugged her up and ran, ears howling with the sound of all hell breaking loose around them. The police sirens in her head hadn't been real, she'd known they weren't, they couldn't be, not this soon, but her heart pounded in her chest from more than just adrenaline and fuck-

She'd done it again.

And just when she was finally starting to get used to freedom.

She hadn't realized until later that night, hauled up in her apartment - it had been closest and neither of them had really wanted to be alone after that - and watching the actual End of Days unfold on international television, that it had been the first time they'd touched. Magna had always kept a certain level of distance and Miko had never tried to cross it. Not until later that night, when Magna had reached out to stop her from leaving, when she'd collapsed into her arms with an ease that made Magna want to run out the door instead . . . and later when Miko grabbed her hand as she was heading to bed. It was just a moment, just a brief squeeze accompanied by a weak but grateful smile - but Magna had felt her heart try to escape her chest at that smile, at that touch . . .

It had just been a push. Barely anything compared to getting someone out of jail at least twelve years - though more likely an entire lifetime - earlier than expected. Especially when she still hadn't known that the person she'd been fighting so hard to free wasn't nearly as innocent as she'd assumed.

Somehow, the most surprising event of the night, was that Magna hadn't minded the touch, hadn't pulled away. More shocking, she'd missed it when it was gone; had felt empty each time Miko left her grasp, yearning to reach out and-

And that was when Magna had known she was screwed.

Miko told her that she'd known the same thing sometime around the third day of planning their trial strategy.

Thirteen years later and they were still pretty screwed.

. . .

"I've spent much too long in the space between staying and letting go."

- Perry Poetry

 . . .

A/N: So this story has turned out to be a lot more Magna-centric then intended and that's not because I love Yumiko any less, I just find it easier to get inside the heads of characters like Magna. I'm used to writing somewhat dysfunctional people with more than a bit of trauma (probably cos I have a bit of trauma of my own lol). You know, the loveable walking disasters of the world. She might come off a bit ooc in this and that's partly because I'm still familiarizing myself with writing her and because she's a tad bit fragile after everything that's happened, which i think we all saw in last episode - Miko is also feeling pretty fragile for the same reason. Speaking of which. What. The. Fuck. It makes zero sense to me that these two would make up but still not get back together and I'm gonna sue the writers for torture if this keeps going on. So I had to write a fix-it fic. And I also felt like there was a lot these two still needed to talk about that I'm not entirely confident the show will ever address so voila a fic was made.

Also, just gonna note going forth that Magna’s own feelings about herself aren’t necessarily a reflection of my own feelings about her character. Girl’s got some insecurities to sort through. Likewise, her judgments - good and bad - about Yumiko aren’t necessarily true, either, for the same reason. It’s one of the causes for conflict in their relationship.

So there are probably two ways to look at how these two might have noticed they had feelings for each other: a) these two idiots have been in love for 13 years and were both too chicken and oblivious to do do anything about it, or b) their love developed slowly from the bonds of friendship over a very long time. I like both options but I decided to go with the former for this fic.

The series titles is from the song You by Keaton Henson. If you're familiar with the song - my Lost Girl buddies will be - don't worry nobody is going to die! that line just really fits them so much, and it's also about accepting the fact that you might lose the one you love but that doesn't mean you should be afraid of loving them or living your life.

. . .

OK, just gonna do a little shameless self-promotion, hope you don't mind :)

I made a yumagna vid so if you haven't seen it already and you're interested it's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grzrpr0QZEE (I'm gonna do more so if you want to stay in the loop subscribe to my youtube channel. I'll probs end up doing a short one for Unsteady because of this fic but I'm holding out till we get a yumagna hug)

I have an insta for yumagna called @yumagnas.home . my multifandom one is @bonnielextra (lots of awesome women that i make edits for just fyi) and my personal one is @cissyalice. Hit me up so I can follow some more yumagna stans!

My twitter is @bonnielextra and @welcometocaritas (for my edits). Currently just a lot of crying about yumagna on the first one.

And my tumblr is welcometocaritas. Obviously no pressure to look at any of these but I just thought I'd put them in just case :)

[fangirlinsweden]

Never Mess with Voodoo Part 2

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: Voodoo, magical things, money problems, angst                        

Word Count:                                                                    

Square Filled: Fairytale AU for @star-spangled-bingo        

Summary:  Prince Steven visits New Orleans and gets tangled with a Voodoo Curse and running for his life. Y/N gets messed up in his curse and together they try to find a way to break the course and free their new friends they made during the journey.

A/N: New series for the @star-spangled-bingo. I think it will be about 5 parts. It is based on the Disney movie The Princess and the frog. But it is my twist of things.

Also today it’s been a year since Stan Lee past away and I wrote this series him in mind. So I have written him into the story, as a cameo.

I would like to thank @allaboutthebooz​ for her support and motivation. And I would also like to thank @kaunis-sielu​ and @banditthewriter​ for there insight in how they write and deal with things. If you have not read any of there work, you really should check it out!!

You had spent the last couple of days baking a thousand Beignets and now you feel exhausted, but you had promised Virginia to be at her masquerade and you kept your promises. Virginia had been so giddy when you met her the other day and so sure that Prince Steven would fall madly in love with her. You were not so sure. Not that Virginia was not lovely, but did love at first sight really happen? Maybe Prince Steven would become Virginia's husband in the future or her friend might make an ass out of herself as she goes after her dreams at becoming a real princess. You hoped for the first and if you could you would try and make sure that the last one did not happen. Your costume was one of a simple farm girl because it was a costume you found in your closet. No need to spend money on a new costume. The money needed to go to your dream and nothing else. You knew Virginia would not be happy with your costume, but that she would get over it.   

You packed everything together and walked out to the car that Virginia's father, Robert, had sent to pick you up. Robert was a sweetheart and you knew that he was worried about you living in your neighbourhood, but you had refused to accept his help at living somewhere else. You needed to take care of yourself. It was a thing about pride for you. He had even offered you move in with him and Virginia at the mansion, but it was too far to your jobs from there. You greeted the driver and he helped you put everything in the car and then you were off to the party. 

  When you arrived at the mansion the preparations for the party was in full swing. Virginia was walking around all the servers in a beautiful pale pink ball gown and she had a tiara on her head that glistered in the light. It didn't surprise you that she was dressed as a princess.  “Oh, Y/N,” Virginia said as she hurried over to you. “I am so glad that you are here.” She gave you a big hug.  “Where else would I be,” You hugged her back.  “I am just so nervous,” she admits and drags you towards the snack table where servers are plating your Beignets.  “You have nothing to be nervous about,” You say and squeeze her hand. “You look beautiful, the part looks fantastic and you are going to meet a prince. What more can you ask for?” Virginia looks away and it sounded like she sobbed.  “What is wrong?” you ask and she turns around. You can see the tears in her eyes.  “I need to tell you something…” Virginia starts saying when her father comes over and interrupts. Virginia looks away from her father and blinks away her tears.  “Y/N, you came,” He laughs and pulls you into a hug.  “Hey, there Robert,” you laugh. “Or should I call you King Robert?” He laughs and realises you from his arms. “I am not the King until tomorrow,” Robert winks at you. “Then I will just wait until tomorrow,” You smile at him. Virginia is quiet, just standing there which was not like her.  “Still nervous, my dear?” Robert asks his daughter. She smiles at her father and shakes her head.  “Not now that Y/N is here,” she answers and lay her arm around your shoulders. “Although I wish she would have a more eye-catching costume on.”  “You know the reason behind my clothes,” you look down at your feet, feeling your face heat up. You hated this.  “I know,” Virginia pulls you a bit closer. “I just wish you would let me spoil you sometimes.” You make a waving gesture with your hand and they drop it. They know you well enough to know what you have said if you had continued talking. You wanted to be independent and not live on your friends. Yes, you could probably ask Robert for a loan for the restaurant, but it just felt wrong not to earn your own money. Robert and his family had worked hard for generations to have the riches they had now. You wanted to do that as well, without shortcuts.  The band that was going to play at the party arrived and Virginia says she needs to deal with them, but that she would be back soon. “I think it is time that you change before Virginia comes back and scolds at you,” you smirk at Robert. He laughs a big belly laugh.  “You are so right, my dear Y/N,” Robert looks around. “Save me a dance later on.” You promise and he walks up the stairs. You twirl around looking at all the pretty lights and feel better than you had in a while. Being with your friends always helped get your spirit up. 

The party was in full swing around you. People were dressed as pirates, mermaids, ghosts and famous people. Robert was dressed as Julius Caesar. You were looking for Virginia because you had not seen her for a while. During the party, men had asked her to dance the whole night, but she had still not accepted a single one, that wasn't her father. She was no were to be seen as you walked around the party. Just as you were about to go ask Robert if he had seen his daughter you saw her standing away from people in the shadows. You hurried over. “Virginia, I been looking for you,” You say as you come closer to her. Her eyes were watery and there were watermarks down her cheeks. In her hand she had a paper tissue that has been torn and twisted. It was clenched in her hand. “Are you all right?” you whisper out. You knew Virginia would not want anyone to see her like this.  “No. I am not. I can’t believe this. I am stood up by a man I never even met. I am stood up again,” Virginia brings the hand with the tissue up to her chest, not looking at you. “Maybe he will be here soon,” you try and make her feel better.  Trying to figure out who could have stood her up in the past. It was not something you had heard about before. Virginia shifts her eyes up to the sky. “Please, please,” she whispers out as a tear falls down her cheek. You quietly dry it with your thumb. It did not feel like she was wishing for Prince Steven.   “Virginia, I am sorry,” you say and take her hand. “I don’t think that will work.” “It always worked before,” Virginia said. “Or almost always.” She looks away from your eyes. The heartbroken look on her face over the wish that had not come true, that you wondered what it could have been? There goes a whisper through the party and someone announces that Prince Steven of Maldonia has arrived at the party. Virginia’s whip around with wide-open eyes. You can see her father walks over to the prince. She dries away her tears with her hand and looks at you. “How do I look?” she asks you and you give her a smile. “Beautiful as always,” you answer honestly.  She gives you a big smile, but it does not really reach her eyes. She walks through the crowd and to her father and Prince Steven. You stand in the sidelines and look on as she bows to him and he kisses her hand. You had to admit he was gorgeous. You were not surprised when he walks out on the dancefloor with Virginia. They looked beautiful together. There is a small tug in your chest. You wanted to find someone to share your life with, but you wanted to be a successful first. Because who would want you as you were? A waiter with hardly any money that worked all the time. You did not have time for dating and falling in love not now.  

Virginia was still dancing around with Prince Steven an hour later. They looked beautiful together and you would believe that Virginia would have a big smile on her face, and she had a smile on, but it seemed fake. To think of it, Virginia had not been herself the whole night and if she thought back to her friend had been acting kind of different for a long time now. It was as she was putting on a happy front for everyone to see. Her smile did not reach her eyes and her laugh was just a tone of.  You turn around to walk over to the snack table. A group of men are talking loudly to the right of you and one of the men are eyeing you. It makes a cold shiver go through your body. It was as if he thought you were a part of the snacks served at the party. You take one of your Beignets and take a bit. It melted on your tongue, which made you really happy. It was a recipe from your father and it was going to be on the menu on your restaurant. You decide to take a glass of punch so you make your way over to the bar, but the men that been talking loudly start walking towards you, so you step to your side, but still one of the men walk right into you and you can feel a cold wet sensation over your upper body. It felt sticky as well.  “Look where you are going,” you mutter at the partygoer that just dumped a whole glass of punch over you.  “Sorry, I did not see you,” the man smirks and looks down at you. “Go along and give me a new glass of punch.” You ball your hands into fists. “I am not here as a server, I am a guest.” you grit your teeth, “Could have fooled me with that outfit,” the man snicker at you. You take a step forward. You hated when people looked down on you. Virginia hurried up to you and the man.  “Y/N, come along with me now,” Virginia says and drags you away from the man. You don't see but she makes a gesture to two of your friends to escort the man from the party.  “Let’s get you out of these wet clothes. I have the perfect dress for you in my room,” Virginia guides you into the mansion and up the stairs. You don’t fight her.  “I am so sorry for that moron down there,” Virginia says as you walk into Virginia's bedroom.  “It’s okay Virginia,” you look down at the floor. “Maybe I should just go home.” “Absolutely not,” Virginia says determinedly. “I need my best friend here with me tonight.” You nod and smile at her. “I saw you dance with Prince Steven,” you say and she looks down at the floor. “He is really something else,” Virginia mutters.  “Not what you had thought?” you tilt your head to the side. “I.. I just..,” Virginia starts and walks over to one of her wardrobes.  “You know you can tell me anything,” You say and walk over to her. “Please tell me what it was you wanted to tell me earlier.” Virginia shakes her head.  “Not tonight,” she says and starts going through her closet. “I just can’t tonight. Can we talk about it after Mardi Gras?” “Of course,” You say and she hands you a beautiful light blue shimmering dress. “Just know I am here for you.” She nods hands you a tiara and begs you to get changed and come down to the party. You agree and she leaves you alone.

30 minutes later you stood dressed in the shimmering light blue dressed and a tiara that hat looked like it was made out of diamonds and silver. If you knew your friend it probably was. You were ready to join the party again, but something was holding you back. You look at your reflection in the mirror. Had you ever been dressed in something so beautiful before? You sigh and walked over to the balcony doors and opened them and stepped out in the moonlight. Maybe Virginia was right? Maybe all she needed to do was wish upon the brightest star in the sky and all her dreams would come true. It couldn't hurt to try, could it?  You found the brightest star and closed your eyes and wished for your restaurant. After a while, you opened your eyes and nothing was different. How long until you knew if it worked? “Excuse me,” you heard a tiny voice. You looked around but saw nobody. “Down here,” the voice said and you looked down at the floor. You let out a yelp. On the floor sat a green frog. Was it the frog that had talked? Can frogs talk or am I going insane? I really must be tired, hallucinating. But then it happens again. The frog opens his mouth and says:  “I am Prince Steven of Maldonia, but you can call me Steve,” the frog bows to you. You let out a scream and run into Virginia’s room. The frog hops after you so you take up the closest thing to you, which is Virginia’s favourite book when they grew up. A book full of fairy tales. “Wait, don’t hit me,” the frog screams out. You stop with the book above your head.  “Give me one good reason why I should not.” The book is still over your head and you are ready to toss it at the frog. “I will not hurt you,” Steve said with his hands raised up in the air.  “I don’t believe you,” you narrow your eyes on the frog. “And how can you be Prince Steven? Virginia is dancing with him right now.” “I don’t know who that is, I am the real Prince Steven,” Steve says still with his hands in the air. “Please, I just want to be a human again. I am not going to hurt you, I promise.”  “Well, that is not something I can help you with,” you slowly lower the book and place it on a table. Because what could a frog do to you? Steve jumps up on the table. He looks down at the book. “Maybe you can,” he says and stamps on the book. “What do you mean?” you raise an eyebrow to him. “Kiss me and I will be human again,” Steve winks at you. “No, never!” You take a step back, scrunching up your face. “Oh, come on, Princess” Steve begs. “Just one little kiss, it won’t kill you.” “I won’t kiss a frog,” you cross your arms over your chest. “If you kiss me I will marry you,” the frog Steve told you looking up at you. “I don’t need a prince or a knight in shining armour.” You say and raises your chin in the air.  “Then what do you need?” Steve asks and takes a slow hop closer to you. A sigh is heard in the room. Should you really tell a frog your problems?  “What I need is money to open my own restaurant.” You look down at the floor, feeling defeated. “If you kiss me, I can get you all the money you want,” the frog answered, with what looked like a grin. “I am rich.” He looked almost proud if a frog could look proud. “So all I need to do is to kiss you,” you muttered. “Kiss a frog and get all the money I need.” The frog nodded. “This sounds almost too good to be true, but what do I get to lose?” You crutch down and pick up the frog. The frog is slimy and kind of gross. Are you really going to kiss a frog? Yes, you are. There was always soap and water to wash your mouth after. After placing Steve on the dresser you close your eyes and inches your mouth closer to the frog. Just as your lips are going to touch you open your eyes and see the frog up and close, so you jump back.  “Juck, juck, juck,” you get out and when you look at Steve, he looks almost hurt. Can a frog look hurt? You don’t say a word, just steady yourself for the kiss. You close your eyes and promise yourself that you will keep them closed this time. You go down for the kiss and when your lips meet there is a light and then everything becomes black. 

~ *~*~*~ *~*~*~ *~*~*~ *~ *~*~*~ *~*~*~

Taglist:

@kaithezaftig

@lumar014

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 121: New Semester

Previously on BnHA: After an intense shounen throwdown, Kacchan emerged victorious. Then All Might showed up and revealed he had been spying on them. He explained to Katsuki why he chose Deku to inherit his quirk, and told him what happened at Kamino wasn’t Katsuki’s fault. Then he gave him a mini hug, no big deal, I didn’t cry or anything. Anyway, he told Deku and Katsuki that heroes need to have Katsuki’s strength and Deku’s spirit both. And he told them that if they could recognize each other and raise each other up, they would both become the best heroes. At this point that was more than good enough for me, but then to cap it all off, Kacchan was officially inducted into the Club of People Who Know Deku’s Secret, and the circle of trust was expanded. Ugh, this whole little mini-arc has been incredible. Where do we even go from here.

Today on BnHA: All Might lets Kacchan in on The Whole Deal with All for One and all that stuff. Kacchan and Deku become Official Rivals™. Aizawa grounds them and sends them off to bed. The next morning the rest of class 1-A (i.e. the actual good kids who don’t cause trouble and don’t sneak out to beat the living shit out of each other in the middle of the night) heads off to the opening ceremony for the new term. Kacchan and Deku have an actual conversation with no shouting and no crying and no one is getting punched or dying or whatnot! It’s less than ten sentences long but MY GOD PEOPLE IT’S A START. Class 1-B shows up for two seconds to remind everyone that they still exist. Rat Principal gives a long and boring speech and mentions the word “successors” exactly once. All Might is all, “successors, eh?” and has a flashback to when he was first hired by U.A. prior to meeting Deku, and Rat Principal was all “hey we got someone for you here.” WHO COULD THIS MYSTERIOUS PERSON BE.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 151 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.) 

I wonder if I’m emotionally prepared to continue this shit. well here goes

haHA WE’RE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS SCENE OMG. IT’S STILL GOING. SURE, WHY NOT. I LOVE IT, LET’S CONTINUE

All Might says he’s sorry Bakugou ended up learning his secret. not in a “why does this asshole know” way, but in a “that’s a huge burden to have been carrying” way

so basically All Might understands how heavy that was for him along with everything else, so he’s apologizing

Kacchan says it’s no big and it’s too risky to tell anyone else anyway. yeah no shit

OH MY GOD

HE’S GETTING THE SAME TREATMENT AS DEKU. THE FULL STORY ABOUT ALL MIGHT AND ALL FOR ONE

which, yeah. seeing as Kacchan actually met All for One face-to-face, he knows about that part of it even more intimately than Deku

and also if he understands the whole thing and knows how long it’s been going on, it might ease some of his lingering guilt just a bit more. because All Might’s right, it really was something that was going to happen eventually no matter what

you guys I’m just really enjoying Kacchan being part of the inner circle so much. this means he gets to be in on all important plot-related things from here on out. because you can’t very well trust him with this and then not keep him in the loop moving forward

(ETA: although I’d like them to do a better job of this! granted I’m still like 60 chapters behind, so they might have caught him up on the specific thing I’m thinking of by this point. but if not, I’m officially launching Keep Kacchan in the Loop 2019 dammit. who do I need to get in touch with. what’s Horikoshi’s email)

anyway, obviously they’re not showing the whole scene because IT WOULD TAKE SO MUCH TIME!! but please show me Kacchan’s reaction now

okay good they’re showing it

lol now that he knows, he’s even more annoyed that Deku went and blabbed to him on their second fucking day of school lmao

(ETA: to be fair, it’s only because he went and challenged Deku and practically blew him up and then had a meltdown after. on their second day. and now we have this shit happening at the start of their second term. they still have two more terms and then two more years of this. will they survive?? will we survive?! stay tuned!!)

and All Might’s telling Kacchan again -- because yeah, he already did, but this is important for him to understand -- that it wasn’t his fault

and obviously words alone can’t make that kind of feeling go away completely. but he understands it in full now and knows the whole story, and to hear All Might tell him so firmly should help a lot

and now there’s a character development moment happening! no big. it’s just Bakugou having possibly the single most important and defining moment in his life which is going to change his entire course from here on out haha. it’s cool. I’m cool

(ETA: even higher. implying that Deku is now the one to beat. the goal post. the watermark. just casually acknowledging it. “chosen one.” no bitterness, no jealousy, and no underestimating him or chalking him down as not worthy either. even as he declares that he’s going to surpass him, he simultaneously recognizes that Deku is still going to be right up there with him at the top. of course. he’s the one All Might chose. how could he not be.

yeah, don’t mind me. I’m just gonna bask in this moment for just a sec. I fucking love rivals, guys. I really, really do.)

how fucking great is this. how fucking perfect is this. they hashed everything out and it didn’t wreck their dynamic or make it stale or boring. on the contrary, it now has more potential than ever before. they’re still rivals. they’ll still push themselves to become better while setting each other as the benchmark. and thus pushing each other to become better as well. but the confusion and hostility and resentment is gone. this is healthy rivalry. they’re not going to all of a sudden become buddy-buddy, but they understand each other now, and there’s a balance there that was missing before

YOU SEE, THEY CAN STILL SQUABBLE AND ANNOY EACH OTHER. but it’s so much purer now

THANK YOU ALL MIGHT. THE REAL MVP

can I just say, in hindsight, Kacchan’s emotions were going to come bursting out of him at some point no matter what. you could see during the fight how hard he was struggling to control them and to clamp back down on them, but he kept losing that battle and breaking down. but All Might is the reason he and Deku were able to resolve things so calmly and healthily in the end. he took full advantage of the fact that they both respect him so much lol. he’s such a good dad and I want him to take both of these kids out for ice cream

-- oh my god

speaking of good dads

well actually this one’s more of a mom

children you’ve interrupted this man’s beauty sleep and I’m afraid you must pay

also

can we just stop and appreciate it for a little bit. why does his hair look better in his off hours than it fucking does at work, honestly. were you just bored and wanting a change of pace. I guess it doesn’t really matter does it

does Aizawa’s ponytail have a fanclub you guys. asking for a friend

All Might’s telling him to hold up a sec and that it was his fault! wow taking one for the team

also can we take another moment and appreciate how fucking cute lil Deku and Kacchan are, being sat down and scolded like the troublemakers they are

now we’re having a quick flashback to All Might meeting Aizawa outside

Aizawa’s telling him about the fight, and All Might is all “I think I know what’s going on, can you leave it to me?”

and yes, just a reminder that even though Aizawa always seems to know everything, and even though he’s a trustworthy guy, he doesn’t actually know about One for All (even though I’d argue that he should, since Deku is his student too)

so now he’s confused and asking what this has to do with All Might, and

I fucking love so much that Kacchan gets to be a part of these moments now omfg

good thing All Might is a smooth fucking operator

fucking look at this master at work, though? he sticks to the truth enough to keep the whole thing plausible, and manages to let Aizawa in on the fact that Bakugou’s mental health has been shaky lately, so now he knows about it too and can be on the alert for it if it becomes an issue again. and he even helps make it so the boys will hopefully be in less trouble

so Aizawa looks a bit more understanding now (but like. still Aizawa though), but he says “nonetheless, rules are rules” and that he’ll dole out an appropriate punishment

fifty points from Gryffindor. but at least he won’t fucking expel them lol

who do you fucking think

Kacchan’s owning up to it because he’s a good, honest boy who owns up to his shit and doesn’t try to weasel out

and Deku is also just such a good fucking kid because he immediately adds that he fought back. yeah, after about a whole chapter’s worth of Kacchan diving at you trying to blow you up, and only after he broke down and started fucking crying and you realized it was a therapy fight

anyways. so they’re grounded

TWELVE YEARS DUNGEON. EVERYONE, DUNGEON. SEVEN YEARS, NO TRIALS

lmao this is why he’s the mom. the strict disciplinarian these kids fucking need

I want to read Bakugou’s written statement of regret so bad

(ETA: I imagine it being a single page with giant font containing only two words: “I REGRET.” he feels it’s sufficient. Aizawa just stares for a moment after Kacchan hands it to him. and then he just shrugs and he’s like, “eh. okay.”)

Aizawa’s also yelling at them to go to the infirmary if they need to. because yeah they beat the living fuck out of each other. Bakugou’s face got folded in on itself, and he slammed Deku into the concrete from like three stories up lmao

buuut, he says to “heal your selfish injuries by yourselves” and not to bother Recovery Girl. yeah as if they want to be chewed out by anyone else tonight

what are you going to do with these kids I swear. omgggg I love this

so now it’s morning and news spreads fast

lollll I love it!! so much!! the best!

GIRL YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW. IT WAS A WHOLE THING. BUT LONG STORY SHORT, YES

Deku says... it’s hard to put into words. ffff

now Iida’s telling them off. because he also thinks he is their dad. poor BakuDeku dealing with dads scolding them left and right

Shouto’s asking Bakugou what he’s going to do about the provisional license supplementary lessons and Bakugou says it’s none of his business. sorry for caring

but really Shouto don’t worry. he just likes to go about his character development the hard way is all

so now everyone’s leaving

AND WE’RE STICKING WITH THESE GUYS

I have no idea what’s going to happen but I’m loving it so much

BAKUGOU IS INITIATING CONVERSATION!?!?!?!

(ETA: nope, Mangastream got it wrong. it should be Deku asking Kacchan what he thought of his shoot style. I would have just posted FA’s scan here instead, but then my reaction wouldn’t have made sense)

NO I DON’T KNOW, WHAT ABOUT HIS SHOOT STYLE

there’s a really long pause, which it turns out it just Bakugou not knowing how to do this without being awkward about it

nothing to see here, just Bakugou fucking Katsuki giving free advice to his rivalfriend Deku because they have a healthy rival relationship. just a little thing we like to call Character Development. it’s how we do things here in BnHA. we develop our fucking characters

so Deku’s asking him about it, and Kacchan’s like, ‘how can I make sure this is still surly’

heeeeee

:))))

(ETA: and now I am going to post the correct translation though because I love this part.

:))))))))))))

I now have a headcanon of Kacchan following through on his vow to adopt Deku’s “observe everyone else and learn from them in order to get stronger” philosophy by starting his own stalker notebook (in secret. obviously. no one can ever know). because if it works for Deku then he should at least try it, goddammit. only his notebook doesn’t work at all because his observations mostly consist of things like “fuck this asshole” and “her quirk is such bullshit” and “when he punches it pisses me off.” one day the others find it and they’re just like “holy shit Bakugou I can’t believe you have a burn book.”)

I expect we’re going to see a lot of the back of Bakugou’s head during these moments in the future lol. I don’t mind. LET HIM KEEP HIS DIGNITY

so now we’re cutting to U.A.

they’re heading to one of the training grounds and Iida is telling everyone to move swiftly and DON’T BREAK THE LINE!!!

IIDA FUCKING TENYA YOU’RE A PEACH

(ETA: he wakes up at night in a cold sweat thinking about this)

ah, interesting. Ochako says Aizawa wasn’t at the entrance ceremony either

(ETA: so far this doesn’t seem to be plot related that I can recall, so I’m going to assume he just wanted to skip out on the boring speeches and have a nap instead)

here comes Monoma. I was wondering when he would hear this news

what are the odds he failed his own damn self

lol Kirishima’s asking the same thing

but Monoma’s laughing

oh snap

oh yeah!? well! our kids had character development! so

lmao Todoroki can’t handle the shame

HE’S LET YOU ALL DOWN

oh my god finally it’s that pony girl from before! I definitely looked at those bonus pages too soon lol

she has a weird accent. it’s cause she’s American, I remember that from her bio

anyway she says that their two classes will have a class together during second semester. like a one-time thing? or like a regular class. because that’ll be nuts

(ETA: I think that maybe this is either happening right now in the manga or just wrapped up, because I feel like there was a lot of class B stuff making the rounds on tumblr over the past couple of months)

Monoma’s whispering something to her

omg

NO DON’T STOP. TEACH HER MORE

oh shit look who it is!!!

Sero says he seems a little “rougher” now. does he? idk

he should have been put in the hero course after the sports festival. and since they’re showing him again and it’s the start of a new semester, can I dare to hope that they’re about to rectify that?

so all the students are lined up for the opening ceremony, and the Rat Principal (whose name I finally memorized in spite of my best efforts. but to me he’ll always still be Rat Principal, so there, Nezu) is waving at everyone

he’s rambling on about how everyone needs proper sleep. wow what a captivating speech

this is followed by a page of All Might and Thirteen, which I’m going to post because it does a great job of showing something I was trying not to get too excited about during the BakuDeku fight

namely, the fact that All Might has finally, FINALLY started wearing clothes that actually fit him omgggg

and the fitted shirt/vest/rolled-up sleeves combo looks damn good on him, I gotta say

anyway, so yet again an authority figure is lecturing everyone about the effects of All Might’s absence and how they’re going to face great difficulties moving forward

honestly, by this point they fucking get it. we all get it. shit’s tough

he’s mentioning hero internships that the second and third-year students are engaged in, and I figured it was just more of the same that the first-years did in the previous semester. but Mina and Tsuyu are whispering to each other, and it seems like they don’t know what this is about, so that’s interesting. maybe they do longer internships in the second and third years since they have their provisional licenses by that point

Rat Principal is still talking. I’ll just post the rest of the speech so I don’t have to paraphrase it

yes, everyone is very invested in making sure the new generation of heroes is prepared for the new post-All Might society. it’s great, but we covered this exact same thing less than ten chapters ago at the end of the provisional exam arc. so this is kind of a retread now

now RP is finally stepping down from the podium and bragging about how he kept thing short and sweet. ahaha. funny. jokes

and All Might is reflecting on RP’s use of the word “successors”

and remembering what Bakugou said to Deku the previous night

and he’s flashing back to, I guess, his job interview with RP when he agreed to come teach at U.A.

flashback!RP is sliding a piece of paper toward All Might

and now All Might’s thinking that U.A. used to contact him every once in a while regarding his search for a successor

oh my god

I’m almost positive that this is the guy with wings that I’ve seen in fanart and shit. oh my god

(ETA: lmao it is not. however, now I’m for reals almost positive that I’ve been spoiled on who the wings guy is, which was bound to happen since it’s been two and a half months since I read this chapter, and I’ve only gotten 30 chapters further in that entire time. and also because once I caught up with the anime I gave in and started reading fanfic. so basically I have only myself to blame)

so Rat Principal thought this guy was worthy of being All Might’s successor, huh. well, he might not be wrong about that. in fact, even though Deku is officially the one who inherited One for All, I’m gradually becoming more and more certain that the next “Symbol of Peace” won’t be a single hero at all, but rather multiple individuals, and possibly a whole new generation. but at the very least, I envision Deku and Kacchan being at the top together, the same way Batman and Superman lead the Justice League and Iron Man and Captain America lead the Avengers. and I can just see the other students from U.A. forming a team just like that, and that team being the new Symbol of Peace that keeps evil at bay and brings hope to the world

so yeah. successors. a whole lot of them. at least I hope so

 haha and that’s the end of the chapter but I guess we have to skip the bonus content since I already posted it! Tsunotori Pony, who has horns similar to Mina and seems to have nothing to actually do with ponies whatsoever, and who is from America. and is adorable

[sheikah]

Jonerys in 7.04

Okay so I had a couple of you ask for a breakdown of the Jonerys scenes only since you didn’t want the whole episode spoiled. Here it is! (Under the cut).

Our first Jonerys moment is hilarious and cute. Missandei and Dany discuss that they still haven’t gotten news from the Unsullied soldiers at Casterly Rock. Dany senses Missandei is worried and assures her that Grey Worm will return. Missandei says, “He better,” prompting Dany to ask what went down between them. Missandei is super vague and says, “Many things,” or something like that, and we all know she means Grey Worm went down on her. 

Cue Jon Snow entering at the most hilarious moment, clearly foreshadowing some Lord’s Kiss action in Dany’s future haha. Missandei and Dany share a meaningful look at his approach.

Then Jon escorts Missandei and Dany into the caves beneath Dragonstone. To me this scene is adorable right from the start because Jon’s initial explanation is that he wanted to show it to Dany before it was messed up from the mining process. Basically, he wanted to show her something pretty. If that’s not sweet and a huge leap forward from their interactions last episode, then I don’t know what is!

Inside the cave does look really cool and there’s dragonglass EVERYWHERE. The quality of the leaked episode is awful, about 360p so my gifs are fuzzy and I couldn’t get good ones of the cave itself; but one of my favorite moments is right in the beginning, Dany is looking around at all of it in awe, and then Jon is looking at her looking at it. 

It was totally one of those cute, tropey moments where one person is looking at something beautiful, and the other person is looking at them and thinking they are the beautiful thing. Idk. It’s good stuff.

Also good to note: the Jon and Dany theme music is a thing, it’s back in this episode, it plays a LOT, and it’s good. It reminds me most of the Jon/Ygritte theme, but it’s a new song.

After this Jon reveals he had another reason for bringing Dany here. He wants to show her the cave carvings by the Children of the Forest. This scene was cool too because Dany was really awed and commented on how cool it was that they were standing in the same spot where the COTF stood in ancient history. She said that it was where they stood before “Targaryens, Starks, or Lannisters,” foreshadowing she and Jon making an alliance despite their family names/differences. She speculated that maybe the COTF were there before men existed at all.

Then Jon tells her no, that the First Men had been there too. At this point, he touches her, and I about died lmao.

He guides her to drawings of the White Walkers and talks about how the First Men and COTF fought them together, emphasis on the together part. There is some pretty intense eye contact going on during this scene and the whole episode with these two honestly. 

So Dany looks at the drawings, listens to Jon’s history lesson, and is moved. She says she will fight for Jon and for the North, if he bends the knee. Jon is not thrilled but there is no anger this time. He disagrees, but barely; and they are about one inch from the other’s face when this goes down.

This part of their conversation was really significant to me because 1. Dany acknowledged him as a king and 2. She said his people would accept a southern ruler if he does, stepping toward him as she says it. In other words, she was basically like, “Take me Jon Snow.” Jk. But I do think it foreshadows their marriage alliance in the future.

So this part ends when Dany explains that Jon’s people chose him as their king so they will respect his decisions even if those decisions mean allying with her. She says that his people’s lives (presumably at risk because of the White Walker’s) should come before his pride.

Jon is visibly shaken when she says this because if you’ll recall, he gives the exact same speech to Mance Rayder when Mance refuses to kneel to Stannis.

This exchange ends positively with Jon and Dany literally just staring at each other with major heart eyes.

As they leave the cave, there are two pretty interesting shots of them walking shoulder to shoulder. If I wasn’t cutting out the stupid watermark at the top and bottom of the video, you would see that it’s made to look almost as if they’re holding hands. 

 Back on the beach, Dany receives the unfortunate news about Casterly Rock and Highgarden. This makes her very angry and she insinuates that Tyrion is trying to undermine her since she has lost to his family time and time again and the only place they’ve taken successfully is his own home. 

She ignores Tyrion’s advice and wants to fly her dragons straight to the Red Keep. Then she asks Jon what he thinks she should do. He is so delightfully surprised at being asked for his opinion and at first he doesn’t want to give it. But Dany presses him and he gives a really moving speech where he says that her dragons are something that many people thought impossible. She can do the impossible. He says that gives her people hope for a better life, but if she just flies to KL to melt castles and burn cities, then she is no better than bad people like Cersei.

Then they have the intense stare-off I gifed here.

Again, this interaction ends positively because Dany takes Jon’s advice and instead of attacking a civilian city she flies Drogon to intercept the Lannister soldiers outside Highgarden.

Back on Dragonstone, Jon and Davos walk around on the cool staircases. Conversation--

Davos: “What do you think of her?”

Jon: “Who?”

Davos: “I believe you know of whom I speak.” (This is sort of playful, Davos giving him a hard time on purpose. It’s adorable.)

Jon: “I think she has a good heart.”

Davos: “A good heart? I’ve noticed you staring at her good heart.”

Jon: *doesn’t deny it! AKA he admits to being into Dany, BUT* “There’s no time for that.”

Then the two of them come upon Missandei and they chat about Jon’s last name and how it means he’s a bastard. This is a foreign concept to Missandei because in Naath marriage doesn’t exist so there are no bastards. This prompts Jon to ask how she left Naath. She says it was because she was taken by slavers. She notes that Dany freed her.

Davos says she is still serving Dany. But Missandei is very clear in her explanation that she follows Dany willingly out of loyalty. Jon asks her what Dany would do if Missandei asked to go back home. Missandei insists Dany would give her a ship and let her go.

Jon asks, “You believe that?”

Missandei, a little annoyed, says, “I know that.”

Then she says that Dany’s people don’t follow her because of her father’s name but because they all believe in her. It’s an effective speech. Davos turns to Jon and jokes about “changing sides” to follow Dany instead. 

And that’s the end of anything dealing with Jonerys! Overall this episode takes huge leaps toward building their romance and it is even better than I expected. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here! 

[yukipri]

Announcement regarding Patreon Tier adjustments for October, 2017

So I made an announcement last night on Patreon regarding some changes I hope to make starting NOT THIS MONTH, but next month. I’ve copied the message below to those considering becoming patrons. LONG, so beneath a cut but IMPORTANT so please read if it’s relevant to you.

Hi all!

So I've mentioned this before, but I'm new to patreon, as many of you likely are too, and a lot of this is figuring things out as I go. I'm learning the platform and learning how to manage my works on it, and I feel I know a lot more about Patreon now than I did when I first started 1.5 months ago.

One of the things that has changed a bit is me learning that I'm not really producing the kinds of content I thought I would be.

Namely, I never really expected myself to enjoy drawing NSFW so much (COUGH) or that I'd be drawing full NSFW comics, sometimes fully lined to the quality of stuff I'd post on Tumblr. I expected to stick to mostly rough sketch illustrations only. But in general, I've discovered having some sort of short story/character interaction makes it a lot more fun for me, which I should have expected, knowing me >.>; . And hopefully these are more fun for you too haha! ^ ^;

Unfortunately, these comics take up a HUGE amount of time, usually 2-3 days (anywhere from 15-30 hours each _:(´ཀ`」∠):_), which means I have no time to do much of anything else. Combined with the 1-2 other Patreon posts and my public posts, my schedule is completely full, if barely manageable (with a guaranteed burn out at the end of each week HAHA!!).

I've also been stressing quite a bit because I haven't had time to work on Inferno at all, which I feel some of you may be here for. Inferno is, in the end, my BIG serious story that I'm heavily invested in, but because the chapters take so dang long to produce and are honestly so exhausting, it's easier for me to work on Future!Verse where I can produce lots of less stressful, shorter posts with immediate feedback. Immediate gratification is so sweet OTL

But all this sorta sucks because it means that I feel I don't have enough content to thank my higher tier patrons. I originally meant to do more tutorial posts and world building posts, but I haven't had the time to make them. Sure there are request/poll posts, but I personally don't feel that's quite enough to thank patrons nor enough to exactly motivate people to pledge when almost all my content is $1 ^ ^;;

I've also done a lot more exploring of other people's patreons to see how tiering works and I've noticed that I seem...to be posting a lot more, a lot more regularly than many other patreons, even taking out all the Also Public posts (which I never post unless I also have a Patreon Only post to upload at the same time). And all available at the lowest tier too, which other patreons usually do not do.

While I'd like to keep most of my work viewable to as many patrons as possible, and I really love the community I have here where so many of you leave such incredibly kind and motivating comments (thank you!! ;A;) I've learned that I also need to balance this with a desire to thank higher paying patrons, as well as the need to actually support myself through here if I want this to really be my main form of income.

While I truly am so incredibly grateful to all $1 patrons and your pledge DOES mean a lot and has added up, I also get that because my content in general targets a very niche audience (minor YOI ships, complex AUs, OCs), I don't and shouldn't count on the number of patrons alone. I uh, also figure that most people'll only pay what they have to in order to see what they want, which is totally fair and reasonable, and I hope you feel my art/time/effort is worth the price ^ ^;

As such, I think I will make the starting changes, which will come into effect October:

- All NSFW comics (things like currently, Minami's birthday, Yurio x Yuuri + watching Vic, and Phi x Yuu x Vic) will be moved to $5/Silver medal tier +. Again, this is a type of content I was never expecting to produce, hence why it is currently not marked for any of the tiers and simply placed in $1 by default. Upcoming NSFW comics include All husbands x Yuuri, Chris x Yuuri x Vic sandwich, and Yurio x Yuuri x Otabek sandwich.

- All of my single standalone NSFW illustrations (currently, Vic x Yuu x Yurio, Phi x Yuuri) will remain on $1 tier.

- All of my WIPs/sketches/abandoned works/New Kids stuff will remain on $1 Tier, so there'll still be 1-2 of these every week. This is what I had initially promised on the tier description to begin with.

- I will still post ONE NSFW piece every week, most likely alternating between $5 comics and $1 illustrations. If I end up doing comics almost every week, I'll take one frame from there and put it in the $1 tier ^ ^;

- I am setting a goal for myself to post at least ONE page of Inferno from my upcoming chapter every week onto the $20 Tier. While I usually prefer to wait to post pages until the whole chapter's done so you can enjoy the entire story experience as I mean for people to read it, I'm hoping this more short-term goal will regular deadlines will motivate me to actually work on it at all, and that the more limited audience will still let me save the suspense for the rest of my readers. ^ ^;

The upcoming Inferno chapter is in two parts, the first currently set at 7-8 pages, the second around the same. I will not be posting publicly until they're both complete, as I don't want there to be a large gap between posting the two.

The individual pages will all be posted at public resolution + watermarked, so if you have the patience you'll see it all regardless of your tier ^ ^; But I AM also hoping this will mean a more constant stream of content for $20 tier.

Again, none of these changes will be put into effect this month, so you'll still be able to see comics at the $1 Tier until October 1st! ^ ^ If you're $1, please enjoy them all this month, and if you like them and want to see similar/want to support me more in general, please consider upgrading to $5 next month!

If you decide to drop being a patron/downgrade your Tier as a result of these changes I ask that you please stay until you are charged for this month on October 1st. If you leave before then, I will not receive any payment, but you will already have accessed all of my currently available patron-only content. It's a really shitty system Patreon has here, but I'll do my part and work very hard to provide you a full month's worth of content including everything you signed up for as no changes will be made this month, and in return I'm sincerely hoping you'll do your part too and not be an asshole (a rather heartbreaking number of people didn't last month >.<;). So please wait until you've paid your promised pledge if you decide to leave.

If you wish to upgrade, you may do so at any time ^ ^;

So to recap, Starting October:

- $1 Tier - at least 2 posts per week. Sketches/WIPs, new kid posts, NSFW illustrations likely every other week

- $5+ Tiers - NSFW comics at least every other week, request + poll, tutorials (I WILL do at least one each month orz)

- $20+ Tiers - Weekly Inferno page, additional request post, at least one HQ download, some more concept stuff (I will also do at least one of these each month orz)

I hope these changes sound fair, I'm open to suggestions as well! Thank you all for reading and supporting my work! m(_ _)m

-Kazu

If you’re concerned about these changes, please also read this response further explaining them.

[efosa123]

Lazy Profit Engine 2.0 Review hey it's Jonas welcome to my lazy profit engine 2.0 review I'll show you the members area I'll show exactly what this is I'm swimming through the episodes what they are and on top of that I've got some bonuses in this case combined with is me and Jon Olsson bonuses and the truth is if you're not getting this product from me or John or if he decides to promote it this is not going to work so and I'm not saying that because I want you to implied from my link which obviously I want you to do but the thing is if you're picking this up and you don't buy it from me or John it's not going to work that's the thing so if you're planning on getting this through someone else don't just ignore this product completely because it's not going to work and I know that because I've been making a full-time living from this exact method although I'm doing it in a different way which actually kind of works and so it's donal and that's the thing so I got some good things and some bad things to say about this obviously the bad thing you started that's when you work but let me show you the sales page quickly and I'll explain what why are saying this so first of all if you're looking for big results for in the next 24 hours then you're in the right place okay so you're about to discover the EC's money stacking method that will Bank you two hundred and two dollars per day with minimal effort and at zero cost um is it possible to make two hundred dollars per day with this method yes but I would say not consistently you may have it or you most likely will have two hundred all days maybe 300 or 400 or days but not every day other days you might make 0 or you might make $10 $30 $50 I said average you should be looking at somewhere between 50 and 70 dollars per day or so although journal 8 there has been absolutely crushing and he's been making like two three hundred bucks per day with this so he has really perfected this and you're actually going to get a super cool bonus from John oh it's a case study that he just completed himself even according this a couple of days ago we can see these results here this is from November 22nd which is just over a week ago and those three days to make $238 282 233 and these videos are so good and the reason that I'm talking more about that I'm be more excited about the bonuses here is because I did John Oh probably like an hour per day and I'm gonna do now for the last couple of weeks or months we talk a lot and he's doing the same method as I am kind of except he's he's been crushing it lately I don't even want to admit it but he's kicking my ass late and he's doing a better job than I am and I'm like the person has been doing this for so long and he just comes in and he just takes all the sales basically so why don't I say that he knows what he's doing and you're going to be getting a two hour long course from him which is like an ATC case study which is just super cool you're also going to get my own method and this is really cool as well so some people may already have it and in that case that's cool but I in this course explain everything that I'm doing to rank my videos at the top of Google and YouTube as well as on comic but what you're also getting here is something that I've never also before and something that you're only going to get if you pick up place the profit engine 2.0 and that's I you get the rights to give away millions Lacey matter which is my course as a bonus and you can get this course and then if you're gonna build your bonus page and where I have some really high-quality bonuses to give away give away my course that's that's what you get here is how again see this it's not something I'm planning offering again and that's completely true as well because I was actually planning on as soon as I launched my own course this was on July 1st I think I actually told myself that I'm never going to promote another launch jacking product again because it makes no sense and I wouldn't promote this either if it wasn't for Jonas boys very much and this is just so in-depth and it's so professionally made that I couldn't resist that's what we decided to do you're going to get another secret YouTube ranking method and this is the ATC launch tracks and campaign setup and some other things as well but overall our bonuses if you get this course again as I said if you get this course without getting it from me or Joe no it's not going to work don't get it that skip it if you're getting it from my link then and you get Joe knows bonus course my bonus course you can use my course as a bonus you're gonna be able to make a lot of money because you're going to learn how to do things right okay I've been talking for a long time now about my bonuses and stuff let's get into the good and bad about this course first of all the lazy method it's it possible to make money with it yes maybe I would never use it the lazy method is a perfect name for this method however I'll give him that but the thing is it's not good it's basically how to create a video made out of images and that's pretty much it so if I personally were to Google something like a product named review and I come to a video that's made up of like three images and it's basically hello this is a great product click link in the description below that's not a review that's that's not how you do a review video it doesn't help at all yes you managed to rank the video and yes you probably will get a few sales every now and then but don't do that number two is much better this is what you should be doing and ten videos here and again as I said there's some good content it's not all about all ten videos not gonna disable create a video made out of three images there's some decent content in here that you may want to go through either way if you get this course but don't do the videos as mentioned in this courses don't what you're going to undo it the way you're going to want to do your videos is with optimal methods that's about installing a screen capture software in your computer you can use screencast-o-matic which is what Brett recommends that's what I use myself it's free if you're ok with having a little watermark at the bottom left corner I would highly recommend you to pay fifteen dollars per year to get the pro version you can then record there's no limits to anything and I guess I say it's 15 dollars per year which is just super super cheap and besides that you're going to learn time where to get bonuses and stock which is awesome you're also going to see how to record it the actual visual you can see here a framework of a format that you and the reason that Brett says then you should do a maximum of like 45 minutes reviews because people will kind of get sick of you after that and I I agree I've been looking into my YouTube stats and I know that most people's drop off of my videos after like three and four minutes so I guess it doesn't really make any sense for me to make them like 10 to 15 minutes since most people drop off way before that but I want to do a proper review anyway and just show people exactly what it is that they're getting so for me I'm not going to shorten my videos by that much but I'll try it for a while but I just feel like it's impossible to cover everything that I want to cover in a four-minute video but I do like the idea and this is something I have been thinking out before so anyway my Brett says is introduce yourself in a product name that's great the gist of the product vendors and the proof lots of proof should be shown in that first minute with that as well that's that's good stuff dive into the product talk about the benefits pull off the products in this video talking about the flourescent down so that's great as well that's that's how you do a review I just feel like talking about doing all this in one it I can't do it I guess I like to talk too much but I can't get it done that quickly and then there's a couple of things as well it's hidden e announced I'm not going to get rid of that you can see that when you get to course by absolute to go through the optional method and some more things here as well and that's preferred your certainty has include bonuses and that is it but overall as I said like the course itself it's it's not it's not the best it's not going to help you rank and that's the big problem that I have here they don't talk about backlinks at all how to actually get the video to rank which is kind of the whole point here you're going to do this because you want your video to rank at the top so people actually click it and then you get sales but if you're just doing it like the lazy method I would say you will fail to ranked 98 out of a hundred times you might rank those two times it's been going after a launch that no one else is targeting and it's just not going to get any traffic in that case but if you go and after a fairly big launch it's very unlikely that you'll rank without using backlinks and that's what I'm going to show you in my own course to Lacey method I'll show you exactly where to go it's pretty much going to be copy and paste almost and that you do that it'll take it up for 20 minutes or so to do the backlinking after that in many cases you will be racked at the top and do it more and more and you're going to almost rank automatically after a while which is pretty cool as well and again like not only will you get by on course should be able to give it away as a bonus but you also get Jonas really really cool course it's an ATC case study so I would honestly say that the bonuses are worth a lot more than the actual product that I'm reviewing today Lacey profit engine and again if you buy this course but from someone else's link good luck I can't say I'm very afraid of competing with you for a top spot on Google you - I'm sorry but you you just you're not going to rank it's a simplest tie if you get it through my link though and you get the bonus package you go through my math that I get up and do this full time for over two years now I know how to rank a video go through that course go through Jonah's course and you're going to be kicking butt and me and Jonah will have some competition from you then but that's fine I mean bring it on so that's it that's my summary don't get this course if you're planning on getting it from anyone else if you get it from me though then yes you're going to get some cool tips from the opto method and a couple decent things from the lace methods well but most of all you're getting our insane bonus package which I think you're really going to love so that's it actually that's not at all I'm sorry let's go up here and take a look at the upsells so I'll put another one plus bonuses $27 this upgrades include more advanced strategies this is for those who has scaled from 15 to 35 I don't really know what this is this doesn't seem like it's related to launch jacking so take a look at it sales patient it sounds cool get it if not it'll be don't get it and you'll get our bonuses though if you just get the front end that's fine you need to get in there the absolutes just get this for between 7 and 13 dollars and the bonuses will be delivered to you automatically and you're just going to become a racking superstar very very quickly down a sale property 117 bucks ten dollars off and we remove while the bonuses I don't know what the boys are but if you want to save 10 bucks and up great number to you that is closer series to build a six-figure sensing seven-figure business Brett's millionaire blueprint all of the upsells from Lisa Proctor engine one okay take a look at sales page if it seems cool get it if not don't get down sell to is 27 bucks $20 off and we remove one and bonuses again I don't know what the boss is also upgrade three is one on one coaching with Brett where he'll help coach the students to get to at least 50 hours players pretty cool again I hope he's going to be talking about backlinks and how to actually get the video to rag because it's not I don't know if I would get any of these upsells probably get this one down still number one $17 because that does sound pretty interesting I gotta say especially email marketing strategies does something you can combine that something both me and John are will be talking about a little bit this both Janos case study and my own course as well it's super simple to build a list from YouTube and I don't do it as much as I should because I'm very lazy but it is it's a pretty cool it's pretty cool so anyway that's that's it if you get this course from my link again it's in the description below you are going to get two amazing bonuses and a decent course but as I said you you can pretty much skip the lazy method or at least don't do the video itself like I like just don't you might be tempted because it's easy to just gets three images something but it's not going to ver convert and people will just be like what the heck is this why did this person even bother applying this so do it properly or don't do that all that's what I would say okay hope this really review may only sense I again though you don't have a choice you have to buy to my link or don't buy this course at all that's why I finish off if you want this actually work though alright so thanks for watching hi gyetae about is it

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Season Zero: All Your Friends are Cursed

You know what? It’s been a while, lets revisit Zero.

For those new here, I’ve been also very slowly going through Season Zero alongside the show we are more familiar with, which is not at all the same as the other seasons. If you want to read just the recaps of Zero from the beginning you can do that by clicking on this link right here. I think I’ve only done like 3 or 4 so far.

OK. It’s been...a time since we ventured here to this very weird place, where were we?

So, first off you may have noticed there was a wee gap in updating, this is mostly because I burned up all my backlog when I got sick for two weeks (and I’m still hella tired) so...I’m playing catch up and this is a hobby, so it takes a back seat. But also, it’s partially because I was like suuuper conflicted with what I should do about that logo. Like, I did feel like I had to blur it just because I don’t want there to be confusion if the images ever get pulled away from this post, but I was seriously considering just repainting every cap because it sure bothered me a whole lot.

It was Illustrator OCD Problems that in the end don’t matter, but you can see my quandary of the right corner in the rest of these. Anyways, thanks Team Millennium for the fandubs so I don’t have to cap over subs. Y’all did a good job, and I get why they need to watermark since like...it’s Youtube so every random bot channel is stealing any other video getting clicks.

Also, this took a while because it’s like over 60 caps long. These Season Zero episodes are just...so much content. They’re so much. And I thought this one handles some interesting themes, so grab yourself a snack, because this is gonna be a little bit of a marathon. I could split it into two but like...I don’t know where to split it, so enjoy. This post is basically a 2 for 1.

Anyway, Shadi’s back. I didn’t really expect for him to be back so soon, but he’s here with a vengeance. He spooks up on Grandpa’s old Egyptologist friend (who’s name I have forgotten) and this guy kind of already knows what’s next.

In this episode, as you can see from the title, everyone is gonna get cursed. Except Miho, but like, I tend to forget she exists. We start off with Yuugi’s Grandfather’s friend getting tossed out a window, which is sort of strange because you figure that this guy wouldn’t let a girl drown down a well for a rare coin (which was the Shadi metric for if you deserve to be eaten by a chair). But apparently we were wrong and Grandpa’s friend has actually been a jackass this entire time.

"Your friend has actually been a jackass this entire time” is another underlying theme of this episode. What’s wild is that Yuugi and his Grandpa are not at all surprised by this revelation, nor do they seem to mind.

Shadi says something cryptic, decides he wants a rematch with the alter ego of Yuugi Muto, and then has the weirdest plan of how to do it. The rest of this recap is basically all of Shadi’s master plan and it’s...pretty...something.

(read more under the cut)

Since we haven’t gotten a Miho episode, I haven’t really gotten a chance to learn what she...is. Right now she just seems like a G rated Cheryl Tunt. Which is probably incorrect, I dunno maybe this girl will end up being their savior but for right now she just kind of uses Tristan for favors and enjoys spooky stuff maybe a little too much. I’m not sure she’s even aware what planet she’s on.

Shadi’s also looking more and more like a bird this episode with the artistic choice to join the brow to the nose with a deep shadow like this. If there’s deeper historical meaning to that, I have no idea. Went on a little deep dive through Google to see if it matches from art and sarcophagi from Egypt and Greece but like...nah. You do get a strong thin nose on golden sarcophagi that can give it a really cut look since it’s usually covered in reflective gold, so that could be it. But overall, joining the nose to brow is something more modern, I think. Just our own touch to make him a spook.

And honestly Yugioh really does enjoy putting a very heavy shadow between the eyebrows, but usually in the form of lots of lines and not a solid black shape.

Youknow we’ve never had the chance to enter anyone’s mind space before. I kind of assumed that no one other than Yuugi even had one. So Anzu’s mind, shouldn’t be too ba- oh

Just take this whole sequence, put some generic lo-fi on it, and you have yourself a youtube channel. It’s amazing how, since the 90′s anime style is back into fashion, this bizarre sequence just hit so many good notes. Those pink and blue flowers matched with a silver metallic tree with weird purple fruit? Not gonna lie, that’s some good inspo material. Maye not the weird bird and terrifying 90′s sun--I don’t know why he’s here--but everything else? Shoot.

This hasn’t come up before and the only guy with G in his name that I can think of is Gozoboro and he cannot be this guy. Maybe just a reference to some comic book stuff because he does have a Superman shape to that G, but I don’t know comics well enough to know if this was a manga Superman parody.

PS now that we know that Tea’s mind is just a lo-fi channel, we now know that Bakura and Marik have just been hanging out next to a weird silver fruit tree, staring at a horrifying green sun and avoiding eye contact with one single green bird for basically this entire Noah arc. Assuming of course that a piece of Bakura is still in there in Tea’s mind, which he may have decided to vacate at this point because what’s he supposed to do in there? Do barre?

Maybe they both just do barre workouts in the tea mindfort while a parrot awkwardly watches.

So Shadi has been just hanging out in Tea’s head for how long? Like half a day now?

She really has always been the ghost uber. From the very beginning. Wow.

Also, speaking of vaporwave, the pink to yellow tint on the irises? A+. That could be your lo-fi thumbnail, easy.

Anyway we are blessed with another tiny Yuugi this episode. I think I’ve mentioned it before but I’ll mention it again, I love it when artists have to draw their characters as small as ants because then the characters are given their rawest, purest form. Which in his case is just being very squat and having hair with spikes.

And then Anzu somehow hides in this closet and tips over a bunch of beams at him. Are these cross country beams? What are these? I did water polo and swim team so I just have no idea what you land people did.

When beams don’t work out, Shadi sets in play the next step of his super evil and sinister plan. Please remember that this guy is a 5000 year old very scary ghost with crazy OP powers.

So then Shadi starts his third phase. So far we’ve had a bunch of poles and a basketball, what will be next? Will Anzu come up with two chalkboard erasers and start pounding them together to make a sick chalk cloud? Will Anzu step on the back of Yuugi’s shoe so his foot falls out? Will Anzu unzip his backpack when he’s not looking so all his books fall out? What dick move will Anzu do?

SOOOOOO

This is a thing that canonically happened in Yugioh.

It’s like finding out that Big Bird once violently choked out Elmo in Season One but now they’re good and they don’t want to talk about it.

Like...this is a lot and it’s not even discussed in this very episode!

The one time.

The one time they should have just ditched.

This is the one time you should just find a boat/blimp, smuggle yourself on board, and then play cards for a straight week with an evil psychopath. The one time.

No wonder they go out of their way to avoid this school for the rest of this show. They ditch just to survive their 1st year of High School.

So they decided to split up which...they’ve made worse choices, and only Yugi finds Tea. What would Shadi’s plan have been if anyone else was up here first?

Reminder that in the second or third episode of Season 1, Joey and Yugi came up here to reminisce the good ol days. I had no idea at the time that the “good ol days” involved being dangled on the edge of whatever this weird contraption is called.

Eat your heart out Jeffree Star and Rituel de Fille, Shadi here did black highlighter first. In 1999. And that nose is snatched.

Appropriately, Honda is still embracing his janitorial duties. Maybe that’s why he’s not a janitor anymore? Because he was getting tooooo into being a janitor? Like if you go janitor while being a zombie that’s toooooo much janitorial.

Another thing Season Zero does that may either be a limitation of their budget or just a limitation of their experience is that, unlike most foreign films, the pacing of the cuts are really quick. Like REALLY frantic. (And yeah I’m generalizing a lot when I say that Western shows and movies have quicker cuts, but lets just say that it’s true about 90% of the time. Not better or worse, just different.)

And like, this was the 90′s, a time period I don’t really remember, but back then we were into bizarre editing. It was a very experimental time in film because suddenly there were a lot of computer and filming tools available for a decent price and people kind of lost their minds. They were getting into doing tons of dutch angles and tons of filters and it was just a real...interesting time in film. It’s gauche by our standards but like...art kind of lives in the time period it’s from and you shouldn’t pull it out and compare it to our current standards too much because--welcome to 90′s Xtreme cuts. Docking something for being too 90′s is like saying that medieval art sucks balls because they didn’t want to use perspective and all their cats look weird. This was the time.

It’s just interesting to me that they decided to attempt to copy this frantic editing style into a cartoon when it’s normally done splicing together live action shots that were done with three+ different cameras. They planned out each cut in a storyboard and drew every frame. It was a lot of work. And it didn’t age well, which is a shame.

And it could have been that because this is a horror show, they decided to experiment. It’s a pretty edge show based on a pretty intense manga. But, it’s...interesting. Can’t exactly cap it, you’ll have to watch it for itself but it’s...interesting. And overall, I honestly feel like I can’t come to any conclusions about the direction that Season Zero editing has taken since I’ve only seen four episodes, so these are just my five cents, don’t quote me on it. I may take back this opinion a few episodes from now.

Y’all this was never told to us until like Season 2. Season Zero told us this in like episode 4. Would have been really nice to have this information a little earlier.

So then we introduce the mummy mechanic of this “game.” Anzu’s plank contraption is tied to these baby mummies. Kind of looks like they’re chocolate mummies you get from the Egyptian museum store. In fact, They might actually be museum gift shop chocolate mummies that Shadi shoplifted up after he killed that fat guy.

Not sure how he set any of this up, especially when he totally botched it with the beams and the basketball and the strangling, but somehow, Shadi got this complicated knot system all ready to go. Weird how Marik was the one on the boat when Shadi has like a degree in knots.

So I said this in the last episode but we get this reoccurring theme in Season Zero where Yugioh is a little boy learning to grow up and be a man, and yet every guy he meets has just a pile of toxic misinformation about how to be a powerful adult. In Shadi’s case, he believes that weakness stems from caring about other people and relying on them for support, hallmarks of mortality. Which is easy for Shadi to say because he’s some 5000 yo undead (I think?) with no friends, unless you count Chair Barney. But Shadi’s pretty sure that attachment to living people will only ultimately hurt you, especially when they’re complete assholes, which most of Yuugi’s friends are. They’re good assholes, though.

It’s a pretty common anime trope and I’m surprised it took us this long to get to the power of friendship. Freakin finally. And there’s nothing wrong with tropes. It’s how stories are made.

Anyways, in case you thought this episode would not address the teachers, they actually did for about 3 seconds.

Neat that this is the most unsafe school in all of Japan.

I am a fan of the combo of blue, purple, green, and very large teeth. I will give Chair Barney that much. Anyway, lets see what game Shadi made.

Oh cool, it’s the game I made to go in my babysitting kit when I was like 11.

Granted, so were playing cards.

Wow everyone is just assaulting each other this episode, damn!

Back on the roof, Yugi calmly wins the game without ever flipping a tile.

Now for some reason I missed the part where he says “two feet” and so I was missing a pair of things and so I listened to this part again and either my sick brain missed it three times (cuz y’all I have had the plague and my recovery has been so sloooow) there were these shapes on the tiles that looked like kidneys and I thought--but it’s not two kidneys, right? and I was like what else is a pair and round and lobby shaped? and then I didn’t really want to go there, and assumed--FEET.

Knowing full well feet are not kidney shaped, but I’m gonna assume he said feet. If he actually said weird monster testicles, you’ll be sure let me know.

And then this happened and it’s pretty legit.

We have never actually addressed the fact that Yuugi forced his friends to like him. Like it’s a pretty effed up origin story that Jounouchi was like like “I feel like very strongly I should be his friend” but doesn’t really know it’s because he got cursed. Kinda figured the show would just breeze by it, but no, here we are, and Yuugi has to face the fact that maybe the only reason he’s not a loner anymore is because he won Jounouchi as a prize for finishing an accessory.

And whether or not Jounouchi would have been his friend no matter what isn’t really what’s being tested, it’s whether or not Yuugi believes that this friendship is actually real, or a curse. Like Jounouchi did try to defend Yuugi before Yuugi finished the puzzle, but does Yuugi know that? He was passing out at the time. It’s a real insecure spot for Yuugi since before Jounouchi he was just a little punching bag playing board games alone in the homeroom. Jounouchi was introduced as someone who was legitimately bullying Yuugi and tossing that puzzle out a window. There’s going to be the underlying fear that Jounouchi would go back.

In the S1 anime, they basically wrote that plot point out of the show or decided that because this was done in Season Zero they don’t need to retread on old territory. Joey, Tristan, and Tea aren’t cursed to be Yugi’s friends, as far as I know.

But this test between the friendship of Yugi and Joey is recreated again in S2 with Marik when they were both tied to an anchor and one had to choose to kill the other or live. But there’s some pretty major differences. This time, instead of Joey being possessed by Marik and being forced to kill his friend, he’s just Jounouchi sans curse.

Although Jounouchi is still somewhat mind controlled as he is just an illusion. He’s just...not as badly mind controlled as the whole Marik thing. This Jounouchi has more motor control and doesn’t seem to have any inner conflict at all. Because again, this isn’t so much Yuugi vs Jounouchi, this is Yuugi vs Yuugi’s fear of being alone again.

That’s a realllllly different takeaway. And honestly, it’s pretty interesting.

Also, instead of Tea with a shipping container over her head, this time Anzu is walking a plank. Really didn’t expect that Shadi would basically turn into Marik but without the cards. And without the underground bunker lifestyle where he kills his own Dad.

The game is kind of hard to show in caps but they have to drop the puzzle in the direction they want the other to walk. Mostly it’s just another reason for Jounouchi to steal Yuugi’s puzzle again and relive the trauma.

Remember that time that Jounouchi tried to get Yuugi to punch him and Yuugi broke out in tears because he didn’t like violence? I mean honestly, out of everyone Yuugi knows. Jounouchi was probably the nicest bully he had. Doesn’t mean Yuugi isn’t incredibly insecure about it.

Instead of fighting back, Yuugi decides to skip his turn. It’s a contrast to the other Joey/Yugi fight because instead of just throwing a fireball in his own face until Joey snaps out of it, Yuugi has decided to rely on trust.

And, much like Grandpa’s Blue Eyed Dragon that would not perform under Kaiba’s reign to kill Yuugi, neither would Jounouchi under Shadi. They even disappear into the aether with the same smoke effect.

And what I think is the most interesting part of this is that the question of “so would they have been friends without the puzzle?” is mostly left open ended.

And if the friendship were solid as a rock, then this whole debate Yuugi has with Shadi wouldn’t even be a debate. Shadi is certain that people will betray you because they can, Yuugi is confident that, even though they do walk you to that ledge, they can change although there is a history of hurt. Shadi was convinced Yuugi couldn’t overcome his lonely past, and Yuugi had to prove that the past can’t hurt him anymore, the past being also his best friend.

Like it’s just something never mentioned in the S1-3, that Yuugi has a lot of issues because all of his friends have been his bully at one point. And like, not to get too PSA, but every friendship has to be looked at by a case by case basis. You can’t generalize and say “everyone who betrays you can change.” But the message here isn’t about keeping any relationship that is toxic, it’s about overcoming the pain of the past.

Also Jounouchi is hella cursed so he won’t be back to his old ways anytime soon.

Kind of hard to tell, but Honda got covered in a layer of white fire extinguisher juice and it’s a look that uhhhh we would never illustrate this way in 2019. Times were more innocent in the 90′s.

Just kidding, they absolutely weren’t, I have no idea who allowed Honda to be drawn this way.

Reminder that Kaiba is just sitting pretty in one of these classrooms, maybe watching Joey’s ass scrape up against the window while Honda completely covered in mysterious white stuff screams bloody mercy. As the teacher teaching this particular class ignores all of this, Kaiba would just be thinking to himself “Aw. that’s fun.”

And so ends this really long but honestly, pretty interesting episode. Season Zero has a lot of rough patches, like I’m probably not going to do every episode of it, but when it connects to what we’re watching its neat to compare and contrast the two. Kind of wish we had more of Yugi facing his past in the current anime but instead it’s Kaiba facing his past. So we...kind of get it? Just with a different character?

Shadi picks up his key and walks away unscathed. Mostly because Yuugi does not currently know how to mind-wipe. Seems that that is mostly a Pharaoh thing and as far as I can tell Yuugi is still just one person with an alternate personality.

Off he goes, that bastard.

Amazing that everyone’s pretty much on good terms with Shadi by the end of S1. Like he’s just kind of a pal that shows up and “accidentally” leads you directly to kill your own Dad when in Season Zero he is...really outwardly evil.

Anyway, that was a hellton of content haha, next week it’s back to Joey dueling a lawyer while Kaiba gets lost in the woods.