#Usagi: that is the exact opposite of a good idea

[yellowhollyhock]

Leo and Mikey

rant about their brohood under the cut

These two are the brothers ever. Their dynamic is so fun! They bring out the opposite in each other. Like, they are both athletic, responsible young teens with a love of reading (okay maybe Leo being a reader is more my headcanon, but I swear we see him spending his leisure with a book at least once, which is more than the other characters) who both have a deep and openly expressed desire to contribute to the world around them! Leo calls it Bushido, Mikey calls it “the greater good.” And they both love telling silly little jokes! Leo has a darker arc and takes on more of a leader role, but he doesn’t get annoyed with Mikey’s jokes the way Raph and Donnie do, and sometimes during a fight, if he’s relaxed, his sense of humor shines through (like his interactions with Usagi).

But put them together and they are not the same shade of green. All of a sudden instead of two teenage ninja turtles, you have yourself a Ninja and a Teenager. Mikey is beaming at the camera with a big thumbs up and an arm around Leo, who glares intensely into the middle space. And the best part is, they’re both enjoying themselves. Leo isn’t 100% serious leader guy, but he plays that role, because he sees that it will help his family and because he enjoys it! Being the ninja guy is his favorite thing! And in the exact same way, Mikey plays the goofball role, for the greater good, because that’s a way he can use what he loves to help the people he loves. They are both such showboats but they’ve taken opposite approaches and they really seem to respect and enjoy that about each other.

When Leo trains Mikey for his second Battle Nexus is a pretty defining moment. I adore the trust Leo is showing here. He’s got a lot going on, and what we’ve mainly seen from him in his interactions with his family at this point is that he criticizes. Everything. They’re always being too lazy or careless, not taking the threats as seriously as he does. But he’s so much less that way with Mikey. At the start of the episode he’s apparently been pushing Raph and Don to train all morning beyond what Master Splinter would expect (Raph says “if I have to beat you up one more time, I’m really gonna beat you up,” implying that the beating up was Leo’s idea), and yet he has no complaints about Mikey sitting off to the side reading comic books. And then when Mikey asks for more training he immediately offers it, without making a single comment about how Mikey’s been slacking before.

Now, maybe this is just Leo being soft on his littlest brother. But I don’t think that really adds up. His whole deal at that point is that he has to push himself harder to protect his family. If he actually thought Mikey were slacking off and causing problems for the team, and considering the way we’ve seen him scold him for that before, I don’t think he would hesitate to come down hard on him. But he doesn’t. And when they train together, Leo opens up more to Mikey than he has to anyone. It seems like Leo is going easy on Mikey because he really doesn’t see a need to be hard on him. He talks to him about digging deep and protecting the family. He knows his little brother has it in him. Like, that training scene almost feels like Leo picking a successor in the case of him not being able or willing to lead anymore. I’m not saying it is That, but the vibes are similar. He sees a lot of strength in Mikey and you can feel him trying to draw it out.

And Mikey does step up! Not just in the Battle Nexus but as a leader. He helps keep the peace more directly than he had done before. Even after Leo returns, you see Mikey sometimes guiding him along, reminding him of his goals, helping keep the team on track. And he does it without giving up his chosen goofball role. What a legend.

Anyway I love how when they’re together they lean into their respective roles, I love even more how they learn from each other to let more parts of themselves shine through. Leo loosens up and Mikey steps up. And they share this sense of higher moral responsibility that speaks of a positive view of a world that has been cruel to them. They’re just such good kids.

Also, they laugh a each other’s jokes. That’s very important.

Favorite moment: when Leo meets Shredder and almost joins him. All of his interactions with Mikey in that episode are excellent. But especially when Mikey isn’t even there and he mimics his voice to call the letter that just landed at his feet “air mail.” Bro is alone and still has to credit his jokes to Mikey. “This is my goofy little brother he says goofy things. I don’t say goofy things unless I’m mimicking him.”

[hatterstan-shameblog]

For the AiB headcanon thing: Arisu and Usagi are in a queerplatonic relationship. This isn’t News, it's canon. The thing is, people at the beach, including most of the executives, think that they are a full blown couple. This makes things awkward when Niragi catches Arisu and Chishiya agressively making out one day and reports back to Hatter. Hatter goes to Usagi being all "hey girly, hate to be the one to tell you this but your bf is cheating on you". Usagi has 2 possible answers for this: she either goes "Hatter, I'm a lesbian." Or, full blank faced says in a deadpan "oh noooo. How will i get over this."

(So I had to look up the particulars of queer-platonic relationships because they’re kind of new to me, which was a cool learning experience! That being said, I apologize if I got the gist of it wrong—feel free to correct me if you want! I like learning!)

(Also, this is basically PG, only very slight allusions to anything spicy, so anyone can read it!)

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

“Let’s talk about boys.”

Usagi’s heart skips—and not in a good way. Of all the trouble she could have gotten into today, tea with Hatter is perhaps one of the worst options; because it’s never just ‘tea’ or ‘drinks’ or ‘listening to The Doors’ self-titled album while we craft new locker key bracelets.’

No. He definitely has an ulterior motive.

“Specifically,” Hatter clarifies, snapping another grape from the bowl of fruit between them, “yours.”

Usagi stiffens.

“Uh,” she says, taking a nervous sip of hibiscus tea, “what do you want to know?”

“It’s not what I want to know,” Hatter says lazily, admiring his gaudy ring in the early afternoon sunlight, “but what you might like to know, my dear.”

He knows. Usagi gulps nervously, fingertips gripping the delicate porcelain of her teacup a little tighter. Hatter somehow caught wind of Arisu and Chisiya’s plan to steal the cards, and now he’s gonna get me to confirm it.

“I’m not sure I follow…” Usagi recovers, setting her teacup down on the coffee table.

Hatter smirks.

“Your Arisu is a handsome young man, isn’t he? Strong jaw, lovely eyes,the long and elegant limbs of a dancer,” Hatter muses, “why, I imagine he could get away with murder with just a pout of those kissable lips…”

“He’s, uh,” Usagi stammers, “he’s v-very beautiful. I’m, uh…I’m a lucky girl, I guess?”

“Look at how your eyes light up when you talk about him—oh, aren’t you precious,” Hatter pouts, taking up his teacup and examining its contents, “Although I worry that won’t be the case for much longer…”

He watches Usagi over the rim of his teacup as he takes a long, slow sip—he’s waiting for her to react, he’s waiting for her to shatter and tell him all about the card-stealing scheme with tears streaming down her face and a wavering voice.

He’ll have to keep waiting.

Usagi Yuzhua doesn’t break.

“Arisu is a good man,” she insists, “I can’t imagine him doing something that bad.”

“That’s the difference between you and I, I suppose. You can’t imagine and I…well, I don’t have to.”

Hatter leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His chin perched on his right fist, he regards Usagi with a questioning look.

“Your beau,” he says, “he’s…rather close with that Chisiya fellow, isn’t he? I hardly ever see one without the other these days—surely you’ve noticed it, too.”

Usagi feels her palms start to sweat. Not good, not good, not good! She must have told them a hundred times to lay low, that the walls in this place may as well have eyes and ears for all the gossip that gets spread around.

“He and Chisiya are,” Usagi says weakly, “they’re good friends—“

“Very good friends,” Hatter clarifies, putting an uncomfortable amount of emphasis on the word very, “Makes one wonder just what on earth those two have been getting up to…”

“I-I don’t,” Usagi clears her throat, “If you have something to say, I’d rather you just tell me instead of…whatever it is you’re doing right now.”

Hatter chuckles.

“I’ll admit,” he says, leaning back into a relaxed slouch, “not many people speak to me like that these days. It’s…refreshing to see a young lady so unafraid to speak her mind.”

He plucks a strawberry from the spread in front of him, examining the glistening perfection of the ripe fruit in the light. With a casual glance thrown in her direction, Hatter twists off the green stem and pops the entire strawberry into his mouth.

“I didn’t mean to barge in—truly, I didn’t,” Hatter recounts, “I was fetching some documents from the meeting room; classified information, couldn’t let just anyone pick them up, so I simply decided to go get them myself.”

Usagi nods along politely. It’s very difficult to maintain her composure when it feels like there’s an axe above her head about to come swinging down at any moment, but she must be doing a good enough job because Hatter is still regaling her with his little adventure.

“…Well, you know how it is,” He says, shooting her a cheeky little wink, “Anyways, imagine my surprise when I opened the door to see that your darling dearest and that little blonde fellow were already there. And—oh, how do I put this?—they were very much up to something.”

“What, uh,” Usagi asks, “what were they up to?”

He must have caught them with the very documents Hatter had been going to retrieve—it had a detailed set of blueprints, plus all the information they’d need to formulate their escape once the cards had been stolen.

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, darling,” Hatter says with an air of fake regret, “but I saw your boyfriend and his best friend…”

Here it comes. Usagi’s stomach flips with nervousness. There’s a few windows in this room—not many, but maybe she could break one and escape if things got rough. She’s not really wearing the right shoes for that, but she would just have to make do.

“…in flagrante delicto,” Hatter says, drawing out each syllable for dramatic effect, “and right on the table, no less.”

“Oh.”

Relief crashes over Usagi like a wave. Of course Chisiya and Arisu wouldn’t have failed their mission—they’re two of the smartest, sneakiest people Usagi’s ever met, and snatching up a few documents wouldn’t be any kind of challenge for either of them.

…But Hatter is looking at her like she’s insane, jaw slack and sunglasses pushing his hair back to reveal a pair of very concerned eyes.

“I mean, oooooooooh,” Usagi attempts to recover, doing her best to appear hurt, “that’s, that’s terrible! I’m, uh…Arisu is going to be getting a stern talking-to when I get back to our room…”

Hatter does not seem impressed.

“Nice try, sister,” he snaps, crossing his arms across his chest and regarding her with an impatient look, “but I’m not falling for whatever cute little doe-eyed excuse you’re trying to sell me. You…you knew about this, didn’t you?”

Now, Usagi isn’t usually one to speak publicly about her relationships. In a place such as the Borderlands, it could…complicate matters, particularly when it comes to being paired up for games.

But right now? With Hatter staring at her with the fire of curiosity burning deep in his pupils, Usagi has no choice but to fill him in on their situation.

Who knows—maybe this could throw him off their trail even further?

“Arisu and I,” she starts carefully, “we’re…well, we’re in a queer-platonic relationship.”

“A what, now?”

“It’s,” Usagi considers how best to explain it to the gobsmacked man in front of her, “uh, I’m a lesbian and Arisu is still figuring out his sexuality, but he definitely doesn’t identify as straight.”

“But you’re…together,” he says slowly, the cogs in his strange little mind doing their best to process this information.

“Our relationship is mostly based on emotional intimacy. He loves me, and I love him,” Usagi explains, “it may not be what some would call a ‘conventional’ relationship, but we’re happy together.”

Hatter ponders. The takes a wedge of pineapple and pops it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

“So, the whole thing between Arisu and Chisiya,” he asks, “that’s…everybody’s cool with it?”

Usagi laughs lightly.

“Yes,” she nods, “in fact, I’m happy to hear that Arisu and Chisiya are, uh, finally expressing their feelings for each other.”

“Oh, they were expressing something,” Hatter muses, “Don’t worry—I left them to it. Far be it from me to interrupt young love…or whatever the hell that Chisiya kid’s got going on, I don’t pretend to know.”

He shrugs.

“Well, anyways,” Hatter concludes, “their business is their business, and I’m not one to pry.”

Usagi doubts that, but nods along anyways.

“But you, though,” he adds, lifting the delicate little teapot on the table and topping off her hibiscus tea, “since you’re already here, and we’re having such a lovely time together…”

Usagi gulps, that feeling of ‘this is not good’ settling into her stomach once again.

“…Let’s talk about girls.”

[keyofjetwolf]

Random ask! How would you have reacted if Rei and Minako did the fake betrayal instead of Haruka and Michiru in Stars?

Wow, I sure hope you wanted 2300 words on this. SORRY EVERYONE

First of all: REI HINO: BETRAYER??? YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH

Which is also approximately Usagi’s reaction as well. It rather makes an already difficult situation even more difficult, as Usagi keeps VERY LOUDLY AND PUBLICLY (Usagi, not in front of Galaxia, Usagi please) protesting that Rei would never NEVER EVER WOULD NEVER turn traitor.

There are an assortment of amazing ways this could go (I have seven I love and I’m barely trying), but in the spirit of the Ask, I’ll pick the one that I think would give me the most FEELS right in my Jet Wolfian heartspace.

Come, friends. Come with me.

To set the stage, I’m going to be an utter shit and have Galaxia already have killed Ami, Mako, Pluto, and Hotaru. I LOVE YOU GIRLS I’M SO SORRY. For us to get to this point, Minako (and Rei, but it’s Minako’s idea) have to be desperate. Utterly fucking “it’s this or the entire universe is destroyed” levels of desperate, and I just don’t think they’d ever go there if their forces weren’t at least halved, including their team’s literal personifications of Time and Destruction. Which is the point I think where Minako would be forced to admit they can’t win this the usual way.

To further aid in selling this, I would’ve folded Pluto and Hotaru more into the season leading up to this fight. Well, I would’ve done that anyway so their deaths actually mattered to both the audience and the characters, but that’s a separate thing. I would’ve given Pluto and Hotaru (and Haruka and Michiru) new attacks that helped reframe their place as a powerhouse, affirmed that power (and its consequences, because there would be, particularly for Hotaru) over the course of the season, and then had those powers unleashed on Galaxia (possibly combined) because things are just That Dire, then have Galaxia “meh” and totally obliterate them.

“Oh, we are FUCKED,” Minako realizes.

I’m not sure if I would or wouldn’t include the audience in the fact Minako Has A Plan, though right here, right now, I think probably. While I’m going to play a bit fast and loose (FOR ME) in this hypothetical scenario, the series to this point hasn’t even remotely set the stage for a believable heel turn by Minako, and it’s spent all five goddamn seasons doing the exact opposite for Rei. Building and reinforcing Rei and Usagi’s friendship has been one of the show’s major points since literally EPISODE TEN, and by the time we get to 195-ish, we’re waaaaay too far to try and use this as a dramatic fake-out cheering moment for the audience. Without adequate time to build it up (which, unless done with amazing deftness, I think would just tip your hand and/or suck out the feeling of impulse desperation that I think is an essential core of the plan in the first place), I think it more likely it’ll feel insulting to the audience that they were ever supposed to believe it.

So let’s not even try. We don’t have to directly TELL the audience, but show enough clues that they can easily piece it together. Let the audience tension come from the fear of Galaxia figuring it out, or Usagi ruining the whole thing.

Back to the set-up. Pluto and Hotaru are the first to go. By this point in the series, shit is serious, we’re not here to chat nicely to Galaxia and try to talk her down. None of this team separation shit, the Senshi go in as a unit, full force, most of them distractions and wearing her down while Big Guns Pluto and Hotaru do their thing and fucking end this.

Oops.

Now down their Big Guns, the Senshi need new plans. They run and regroup, and this could perhaps be a great time to start dropping those clues. You could even have it be background, the girls arguing and debating what to do next, Minako hinting or proposing (frontal assault didn’t work, it’s time to get sneaky), have Rei and possibly Mako heavily protesting, etc. etc., but what the camera and audience are actually focused on is Usagi grieving Pluto and Hotaru.

Attack, Phase Two. The specifics of the attack itself aren’t overly important as it’s going to fail. Maybe the– Oo! Maybe the Senshi DO want Usagi to try to talk Galaxia down, AND I FUCKING LOVE THE IDEA OF USAGI REFUSING. There’s been so much death, LITERALLY ACROSS THE ENTIRE GALAXY, and Usagi’s so caught up in her own grief and rage. She’s the Senshi of love, yes, but also JUSTICE, and holy fucking shit, to see Usagi starting to embrace the second half of her mantra is just HRRRN. To have her go through with it anyway, trying to convince Galaxia that it doesn’t have to be this way, convince her to lower her guard, while also knowing it’s all a ploy while the other Senshi flank her, wait for the right moment, and try to take her by surprise.

Of course it fails. But it extra deluxe fails with cheese. Haruka and Michriu manage to escape with Usagi, but the Inners are captured. Uasgi takes this REALLY WELL.

Galaxia, with the Inners bound and helpless, decides it’s time to play her favourite game: Corrupt A Senshi. She begins with Ami, believing she’s the weakest and thus the most cowardly. She offers Ami a chance to live, if she’ll only join Team Googlaxia. “GO BLEACH YOUR ROOTS CREEP”, Ami doesn’t say, but also effectively does. Galaxia shrugs and shoots Ami with her Braclets of Doom. The other Senshi are forced to watch as Ami slowly disintegrates into nothing.

MAKO LOSES HER SHIT. (She had the good fortune to go first at D Point, she’s never had to watch her friends die before.) Fuck, let’s give Mako a great moment where she busts out of her bindings and goes for Galaxia with her bear fucking hands. Galaxia ACTUALLY JUMPS, and shoots Mako reflexively as much as anything. She chukles a little after Mako fades away. That shouldn’t have been possible, but that’s what Galaxia loves about Earth, it always keeps things interesting.

Two down, two to go. Galaxia turns to the next Senshi in line: Rei. Before Galaxia can even ask, Rei opens her mouth to tell Galaxia to shove her offer up her ass. But before REI can say anything, Minako jumps in. “We accept.”

Rei is about to implode, explode, and a half dozen other -odes, but Minako continues. Galaxia’s proven she’s the most powerful. They’ve tried everything they can think of to stop her and didn’t even slow her down. She injects just enough truth to really sell it. She gave up EVERYTHING to fight for the Earth, to fight for Usagi, and for what? Minako’s spent her entire life choosing what’s best for other people, she’s going to finally choose what’s best for herself.

“We can’t win, Rei.”

Rei visibly struggles. She wants to argue, wants to deny it all, but can’t. Finally, she sags, and quietly agrees. Galaxia is DELIGHTED by Rei’s moral dilemma and how seemingly broken she is, as much as she is Minako’s apparent turn to self-interest. She’s watched this story play out from planet to planet to planet, but it’s always just a little different and it NEVER gets old. She shoots, and just before impact, Rei and Minako share a look. Rei, still with a spark of fire we perhaps foolishly thought extinguished. Minako, a confident smirk, ready to take the stage for the performance of her life.

Their mission is simple: bring Galaxia the remaining Senshi.

I INTERRUPT MYSELF TO NOTE THAT AT THIS POINT HOLLIGAY HAS CORRUPTED ME WITH BROTP MINAKO AND HARUKA AND I AM ABOUT TO INDULGE THIS

I’d devote an entire episode to Rei and Minako hunting down Usagi, Haruka, and Michiru. Keeping it all from their perspective, having them try to deal with what appears to be their best friends turning on them (Michiru maintaining a cooler head, you know, all “It will be difficult to debate morality from beyond the grave, so perhaps we should keep moving.”) As the pursuit wears on, and their conflicts become tighter and crueler and more difficult to escape, Haruka becomes convinced that Minako and Rei really have betrayed them.

OR AT LEAST SO SHE LOUDLY AND REPEATEDLY PROCLAIMS. There’s room to argue – you know, if you’re a Jet Wolf watching this with an eye to dig into literally every fertile spot of character meta – that Haruka’s convincing herself of what she’s increasingly afraid she’s going to have to do: kill Minako (and Rei but mostly Minako) to protect Usagi and thus the world. Not to mention that the shit Minako’s saying only digs DIRECTLY into Haruka’s own fears and self-hate, making it all that much easier to believe.

Meanwhile Usagi cannot, absolutely 10000000000000% DOES NOT, believe that Rei would betray her. She knows Rei, SHE KNOWS REI, and even while Rei is being hard and cruel and dragging up every little thing wrong with Usagi (and there’s so much and IT HURTS), Usagi’s faith doesn’t waver. She doesn’t know what’s wrong or why this is happening, but she knows Rei already knew all this shit wrong with her and loved her anyway. It’s just fact, the end.

GIVING ME ALL THE REI AND USAGI FRIENDSHIP FEELINGS I CAN STUFF IN MY GODDAMN PIEHOLE. With the added fun of, if you’re a Jet Wolf sopping every drop of this up with delicious freshly baked bread, the fact that Usagi pretty much only brings Minako into it as a logical conclusion to “Well if Rei’s not really evil then Minako isn’t either” showing how much less certain Usagi is, in her Senshi Heart, that the things Minako is saying aren’t maybe JUST A LITTLE TRUE. (Proving what Minako of course already knows, which is a lie is best buried in truth.)

So we have two extremely opposing, emotionally-charged, increasingly desperate views shared by Usagi and Haruka. With everything running high and the noose tightening, they functionally get into screaming matches about this, both insisting their view is right, both fueled in no small part by the fear that they’re wrong. Because if Rei has turned on Usagi, then one of the major truths of her life has been a lie. And if Minako HASN’T turned on Haruka, then she’s able to say and do all these things, so how much did she ever actually love her? Was that all a lie too?

OH HO HO HO

Pour one out for Michiru’s sanity, trying to keep all this moving. She’s probably at least a little relieved on some level when Rei and Minako do finally catch them. Maybe something like, Haruka, being incredibly Haruka about it, bellows that they HAVE to do this, and then legit tries to kill one of the others (Minako? Rei? I CAN’T DECIDE), and Usagi tackles her or something, throwing it off and anyway everything’s awful and amazing. Usagi and Haruka do in fact get captured and brought before Galaxia. (Michiru, slippery eel she is, escapes again.)

LOOK I’VE ALREADY BEEN LIKE FOUR HOURS WRITING THIS I HAVE TO WRAP UP

It’s really Usagi and Haruka’s reactions that sell this so wholeheartedly for Galaxia. It’s the most fun she’s had all invasion! She’s completely sold on the betrayal, at her absolute most vulnerable, and snuggles into her favourite beanbag with a bucket of popcorn to watch EVERY SECOND when she orders Rei and Minako to kill Usagi and Haruka.

When they attack her instead, she’s nearly as unprepared as she is unharmed.

WELL, SHIT.

Galaxia yanks away the life-support bracelets. SHE’S GETTING EXTENDED DRAMA FROM SOMEWEHRE BY GOD. As we get our tender friendship death scenes, please remember that Usagi and Haruka are still bound. THEY CAN’T EVEN GO TO REI AND MINAKO’S SIDES HAHAH AWESOME

Haruka is GUTTED. She never should’ve doubted Minako, no matter what mean things she said (Minako: I literally always call you an over-dramatic butch disaster. Haruka: BUT YOU SAID IT MEANLY). Minako’s being flippantly Minako about it, though more out of habit at this point than anything. She admits it was hard to be so cruel to Haruka, but was that some Oscar-worthy acting or what? She makes Haruka promise to spit in Galaxia’s face before she dies. Haruka will keep that promise.

Usagi is everywhere, emotionally. She was right and Rei never betrayed her! Usagi knew it! AND NOW REI’S DYING AND USAGI CAN’T GET TO HER AND REI CAN’T LEAVE SHE PROMISED TO NEVER LEAVE AND DIDN’T WE JUST PROVE THAT WAS TRUE HOW CAN IT BE A LIE NOW IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS WHAT’S USAGI SUPPOSED TO DO WITHOUT REI. Rei fighting to hang on, telling Usagi that they didn’t come this far to lose faith now. The thing Rei wanted most for Usagi was to never give up, no matter what. Usagi just showed Rei she wouldn’t, even when Rei herself was the one telling her to. “No matter what happens, I’m so proud of you, Usagi.”

Then Rei and Minako are gone.

In the ensuing chaos, Michiru swoops in and saves Haruka and Usagi, BUT THAT’S ANOTHER EPISODE.

[prince-demando]

A short list of plots I’d like to explore if people are interested!

- I just remembered this thread I had a few months ago with a now inactive RPer that I’d love to continue: it’s an AU where, instead of going to the 20th century, Demando went back to the Silver Millenium era to abduct Princess Serenity and make her believe the fall of the Moon Kingdom was caused by Endymion leading the army of Earth. This would lead the present/future to be heavily changed, as Serenity, now a part of the Black Moon clan, would not be reincarnated as Tsukino Usagi/Sailor Moon and would not inherit the silver crystal from Queen Serenity.

- Anything with corrupted by the black crystal / Dark Serenity, queen of Nemesis. Literally anything, I’m very weak against this idea (and so is Demando)

- the exact opposite aka good ending 30th century where Nemesis has been cleansed and the Black Moon clan, brought back by Neo Queen Serenity, can live on a beautiful planet. Demando and Serenity are working together to bring a durable peace between their people.

- single dad Hikaru AU with his twin daughters Aaron and Mana.

- R timeline threads! As much as I love writing my redeemed Hikaru, I miss writing Demando as a villain.

- threads with characters who won’t forgive Hikaru for what he, as Demando, and the black moon clan did. This guy deserves a punch or two.

- I’d like to bring back my Sailor Nemesis AU but I’m not sure if I should leave her character as she used to be (aka AU where everything is the same except the leader of the Black Moon clan is Princess Diamond) or if I should change it? I was thinking “Diamond grew up posing as a prince despite being a woman, because they’re more comfortable that way. Only their close friends know, until the day they awaken as Sailor Nemesis" which is kinda the same but with a nonbinary Diamond instead, Haruka like. idk (Diamond =/= Demando, the name is different in this AU so there’s no confusion)

Hit me on IM or discord or just raise your hand if you’d like to discuss/plot~

[galaxy-apple]

i think the premise of a magical girl leaving her TV show and into the real world is still an interesting idea, though.

i think the book missed the mark by essentially stating that if one of these characters were transported to our world, they would reign chaos, and wouldn't know how to function in daily life. that's the exact opposite of what a magical girl stands for, generally! if sakura or usagi woke up in our world today, they wouldn't just start blowing innocent people up because they are good people. even if they are young, magical girls aren't written to lack critical thinking skills. that's how they are able to be heroes.

also, i brushed over the fanservice thing; i cannot understand why they say the magical girl is supposed to be from a kiddy show, but she has a boob window in her outfit and constantly flashes her panties. just. make it make sense. please

i finally read volume 1 and 2 of the manga Unmagical Girl. has anyone else read this? i gotta say i think my expectations were misplaced going into these books; it sounded like it was going to be the trope of a superhero losing their powers and having to reintegrate into the real world with a magical girl twist, and i was interested in seeing her navigate an "unmagical" world.

don't get me wrong, that's pretty close to the story, but instead of a more down to earth story that the covers implied i got a fanservice heavy comedy with more misses than hits. it would be fine, except the magical girl is frankly a terrible person! by the end i was wishing she would just go back to her TV world and leave her poor human friend alone instead of staying in the real world.

i wish i could enjoy these books! it's a shame because i've already bought them and i don't really want to get rid of them either.

[easilyaddicted]

Interview with Tachikawa Yuzuru (director) and Kameda Yoshimichi (character designer) of Mob Psycho 100 anime

from PASH! Illustration File 2017

-----Even after ending, Mob Psycho 100's popularity has yet to fade out. Please tell us about the charm of this work.

Tachikawa: Mob Psycho 100 is a story that's filled to the brim with all kinds of elements, with a focus on psychic powers, but its biggest charm point to me is definitely how each of its characters are so unique.

Kameda: There's a lot of characters that leave a big impression on you, even when they don't do much.

T: I was reminded of how easy it was for me to write the characters interacting when I was making scripts for the recent event ("Mob Psycho 100 - Assembly of the Psycho Helmet Cult - Special Event") held on January 29. The script for the anime directly follows the lines in ONE-san's manga, but the script for the event was a completely original product, so I ended up being the one to write for it. Even when writing the story from scratch, I found it easy to imagine how each character would reply to one another.

K: In my case, since none of the main characters are very flashy in how they dress, I spent a lot of time worrying about what poses would best express their personalities. But as I continued to draw official material for the series, I somehow developed a sense of how each character should be.

T: Do you think you've got a good grasp on the characters' charms now?

K: Yes. Now that all the episodes have aired, I finally feel like I could express everything about them that I wanted to express.

-----Tell us your thoughts about this amusement park piece that was drawn specifically for this magazine.

T: I've always entertained the scenario of having Mob Psycho 100 characters go to an amusement park, so I'm quite fond of this piece. They look like they're having fun.

K: There wasn't much room for a peaceful scene like this in the anime, after all.

T: We would've liked to put an episode like in the anime if we had the chance to.

K: But Reigen and Ritsu-kun aren't on very good terms, so if we did something like this in the anime, I feel like the air around them would be really tense (laughs).

T: (Laughing) Would it? But after the 7th Branch arc, Ritsu should be seeing Reigen in a bit of a different light, so I don't think it'd be as bad as it was in the beginning.

-----We're quite pleased to hear that so much detail and thought went into this!

K: Turning the horses on the merry-go-round into evil spirits was the idea of our art director, Kouno [Ryou]-san. When I first saw them, I wondered, "Do Matsuo and the other Claw members manage this park?" (Laughs)

T: (Laughs). There's that mechanical cat in the corner of the image, too - is that the same cat that Tsubomi has a charm of on her bag?

K: That's right. Sitting on top of it are Mezato and Tome-san -- our key animator Yoshihara [Takuya]-kun added them in as a bonus (laughs).

-----We thought it was rare to see the female characters in an official piece like this. Out of all the pieces that have been published in PASH!, is there one that left a deep impression on you?

T: Probably the one published in the August 2016 edition with Mob, Reigen, and Ritsu in the alleyway. It took us a long time to figure out what colors should go on each of their suits.

K: That piece was made before we started airing, so I didn't have a strong grasp on the characters yet, and had a hard time figuring out what would work best on them. I think this was the first "eccentric" type of material that we officially put out -- "eccentric" in that Mob-kun and the others weren't wearing their usual outfits.

T: Maybe that's why it left such a deep impression? The three of them look like they belong to the mafia (laughs). I'm also personally fond of the piece in the December 2016 issue, with the ramen shop. We didn't get many opportunities to show Mob and Reigen eating ramen together, so I was pretty happy with this.

K: The only time we got to do that was with the vase story in episode 7, where they went to eat tsukemen. Between this amusement park piece and the piece from the February 2017 issue of PASH!, I feel like security guard Ekubo's been getting a lot of spotlight (laughs).

T: Lately, we've been getting more orders* for security guard Ekubo than his regular green version (laughs). Even before his introduction in episode 9, we knew he was fairly popular among fans, so we had an idea that this would happen, but...

K: After episode 9 aired, I was really surprised that "security guard Ekubo" made its way into Twitter's trends. But either way, I'm glad that we're still receiving requests from all kinds of media outlets for official material, even after the broadcast finished.

T: We're very thankful.

-----When you were working on producing the anime, did you receive any specific requests from ONE-sensei?

K: At first, we talked about bringing the show in a "cool direction." At the time, ONE-sensei's other work, One-Punch Man, was also in the middle of production. I wondered if he wanted to bring some of the coolness of One-Punch Man's flavorful art style and flashy action scenes into Mob Psycho 100, too.

T: But he was also willing to listen to what the people involved with the production wanted to do with the project. ONE-san is the kind of person that'd get happy when we'd say, "We want to make the work look cool in this way," or "We want to keep it close to the original." In the end, since the entire anime staff wanted to make the most of the manga's original charm, we made sure to have ONE-san check over all our character designs and make slight changes to them.

K: Most of those changes was me making the jawlines a little rounder. Also, I'm glad that we made Reigen's tie be pink. It's black in the manga, but I wanted to bring out some of Reigen's shadiness. So we narrowed down our tie color choices to pink, blue, and purple with the anime staff members, and consulted ONE-sensei about them.

-----And in the end, his tie became pink.

K: Right. I think the first thing I consulted ONE-sensei about was the color of Reigen's tie. I talked with him about that, and the exact type of blue that should go on the girls' uniforms. I wanted to make them a bright blue like Usagi's uniform in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, but that blue didn't really suit Tome-san well (laughs).

T: It worked fine on Mezato and Tsubomi, but it didn't look good on Tome at all (laughs).

K: It looked really good on Mezato, since her hair is a bright color, too! So to make it fit on Tome, we adjusted the blue to be a little darker, and went to get ONE-sensei's opinion in it...

T: Right, right. And he said, "Isn't it a little too blue?"

K: So we toned the blues back a little bit.

-----Are there any other conversations you had with ONE-sensei that stood out to you?

T: This doesn't have much to do with the anime production, but I bumped into ONE-san at last year's end-of-the-year party, and we started talking about what we start with when making a new story. For me, I make the story after I decide on exactly what themes I want to depict, and insert characters into that world afterwards. But ONE-san is the complete opposite. He starts off by making the characters.

K: Apparently, the first character he made for Mob Psycho 100 was Reigen.

T: Reigen used to be the protagonist. After he made the "self-proclaimed psychic" character, he made "a boy that's a real esper, but doesn't really want to use his powers" to serve as a contrast to that character.

K: So it's like Mob-kun was made to bring out the best of Reigen's personality.

T: Since the first thing he thinks about are the qualities of each character, it makes sense that there are so many charming characters in ONE-san's works. According to ONE-san, once he has a really charming character in place, the story naturally builds itself around that character. Also, I asked him if he based any of the characters of Mob Psycho 100 on people he knew, but he said not in particular.

-----Then, tell us about the things you had to pay attention to or found difficult working with in both the character designs and the actual animation.

K: I based the character designs off of the art in volumes 9 and 10 of the manga, but when using those designs to tell stories from the first volume of the manga, I wanted to bring each character's facial expressions and general atmosphere closer to how they were in volume 1. I felt like we wouldn't be able to bring out this work's unique atmosphere if we didn't try to preserve the atmosphere of the first two volumes. So I put a lot of my efforts into bringing as much of the manga's charm as I could onto the screen.

T: With the character designs, the only ones that we kept asking ONE-san about were Mob and Reigen's, weren't they?

K: Tsubomi-chan too, I think.

-----Regarding the two mains, Mob and Reigen - exactly what about them did you talk to ONE-sensei about?

K: We talked about the color of Reigen's tie, as I mentioned earlier, and about how much "cooler" we could make Mob and Reigen. The looks of all the other characters depend on how Mob-kun and Reigen feel. I can get a good grasp of how much cooler I can make those characters based on them. For instance, Ritsu shares a lot of facial features with Mob-kun, but he still has to look cooler than him. So when drawing Mob-kun, I had to be careful not to make him stand out too much.

T: By the way, Kameda-san, when you draw characters, what part of the character do you start from? ONE-san said that he usually starts from the nose...

K: I've heard that, too. I don't think I could start from the nose... I usually sketch out the shape of the face first. But once when I saw ONE-sensei drawing on an autograph board, he started with the hand!! When I saw that, I figured that he must immediately have an image of what he's about to draw in his head. What do you start from, Tachikawa-san?

T: I start with the shape of the face first, too.

K: On the topic of faces, in Mob Psycho 100, the characters' faces are a lot rounder than ones from other works. Most other characters are drawn with large foreheads or sharper chins, but Mob-kun and the others don't have as much variety in the shape of their faces. I try to pay attention to that when drawing them.

-----They do seem to be fairly round-looking.

K: Another thing that I personally paid close attention to were the ears. The antitragus (part of ear above the earlobe) on the ears that ONE-sensei draws stand out more than in your average design. I didn't specifically tell the other animators to do this, but I myself made sure to imitate the way ONE-sensei draws ears. I've gotten so used to it that now I want to draw that shape in all my other works (laugh).

-----We've asked you two a lot about the characters so far. Which characters would you call your favorite?

T: Reigen for me. I like how human he is. My favorite Reigen is in volume 9 of the manga, so I'm a little sad that we couldn't get that far in this season of the anime...

K: Some of Reigen's best moments come after what we could put into season 1, after all. My favorite is Mezato. In my opinion, she's way cuter than Tsubomi-chan!

-----By February 22nd, all of the Blu-rays and DVDs for the series will have been released. Out of all twelve episodes, which episodes would you like viewers to pay special attention to?

K: I would say episode 8. That episode marked off a chapter in Mob-kun and Ritsu-kun's relationship, so we put a lot of focus into the expressions in that episode. Also, we put a lot of effort into episode 1 of the series, because that was where we had to show off what Mob Psycho 100 is all about. Between the normal everyday scenes and the comedic scenes, Mob-kun's facial expression doesn't change a lot, so we warped Reigen's face a lot to make up for it. In the end, that made Reigen look like he was carrying a comedy routine all on his own (laughs). He became a lot more animated than his manga counterpart.

T: I mean, Mob's not that expressive, so he had to be. I think I'd have to go with episode 11. There's the part where Mob's emotions begin to steer out of control and Reigen slaps him on the cheeks, saying, "When things go south, it's okay to run away!" After that, we enter a scene showing Mob and Reigen's first meeting. I actually planned to put this scene in from the very beginning. One of the reasons behind that was because I wanted to focus on developing the story with Mob and Reigen at its center. But the chief reason was because I felt that without it, we wouldn't be able to properly show that Mob decided it was "okay to run away" because Reigen told him that he'd "show [him] how to use [his] powers." I'm glad that it worked so well in the episode. In the manga, that entire scene takes place in a long windowless corridor, but for the sake of dramatization, we destroyed the building in the anime and turned it into an open space where you could see the sky and the moon.

-----There were several other scenes in the anime besides the one about Mob and Reigen's meeting that came from later volumes.

T: The meeting scene comes from volume 9. We wanted to do the "Fake Vase" omake story from volume 2, too, so we added that to episode 7.

K: There was also the "Terrifying Haunted Spot" omake manga from volume 1 that we put into the second half of episode 1, and the all-girls school infiltration chapter from volume 7 that we brought into episode 2.

T: We wanted each episode to have its own little incident to wrap up, and we also wanted to fit some exorcism stories in because they were fun.

K: But starting from episode 3, Ekubo showed up...

T: And in episode 4, Teru gets introduced, so the story kept moving along on its own...

K: In the end, we could only give the first two episodes their own little stories to wrap up. But since they both dealt with exorcisms, I think they did a good job in showing Mob-kun and Reigen's relations to each other and their strength as a combo.

-----Finally, please leave a message for our readers.

K: I'm extremely happy that this work is still receiving this much support, even after the broadcast ended. Personally, I believe Mob Psycho 100 has so much more to offer beyond the 7th Branch arc that we could show in this season. With your continued support, I think we'd be able do a second season, so we would greatly appreciate your help.

T: Mob Psycho 100 is a work that anyone can enjoy over and over again, so I encourage you to rewatch it. I'd also be happy if you enjoyed the specials in the Blu-ray and DVDs, along with the drama CD. I would be glad to continue the story past season 1 as well, so please take good care of us.

-------------------------------------------------------------

*: "Orders" refers to magazine orders. Whenever a series gets a piece of official art featured in a magazine, the studio usually receives a direct order from the magazine outlining exactly what characters they'd like in the piece, along with the situation they should be in.

~~~~~~

Translator: Kaga Scanalated by: Clay source

[aegisoul-blog]

BUT HOW DOES MAMORU FEEL ABOUT MINAKO? Like honestly? Cause I was sensing some antagonism there in the manga/PGSM thanks to the Silver Millenium

I’ll confess I’m due for a rewatch of PGSM and I don’t wholly remember Mamoru and Minako’s interactions during the manga. Actually it’s kinda one of my gripes with Mamoru since he’s like so isolated from the senshi. Most of his interactions are usually limited to only Usagi or Chibiusa. I would even bet good money that Mamoru’s spoken more with his future self than he has with all of the senshi combined. Which is also kind of why I loved PGSM since as I recall, Mamoru actually interacted with the senshi on a few occasions. 

But that kind of salt aside, I mean it kind of comes down to the interpretation of Minako since her personality’s almost completely different in nearly every iteration of her. In Classic you see more of that goofy personaility, in PGSM it veered way too much into the serious leader part of her and then the Manga, her being the leader kinda gets glossed over and she becomes more of a goofball later on. Honestly, it’s in the new musicals where we actually see a nice blend of leader and goofball. 

But when it comes down to it, Mamoru probably doesn’t really know what to do with Minako since she represents everything about girls that Mamoru never could understand or relate to – idols, music, what’s popular, fashion etc etc. It’s so hard for Mamoru and Minako to have a connecting point since the exact opposite’s the same for Minako – who in their right mind would enjoy sitting down to read of their own free will?? 

I also sense that this question really wants me to address that popular fanon idea that Minako actually hates Mamoru and blames him for the tragedy of the SilMil. It’s actually a 100% valid interpretation and I’m quite fond of it myself and wouldn’t mind exploring it to be honest. But coming from Mamoru’s point of view, who also blames himself a lot (read: blames himself entirely) for what happened during the SilMil, he wouldn’t hold it against Minako at all if she were to hate him for what he did as Endymion. 

Though with Minako being the leader of the senshi and her taking her duties as being Usagi’s protector very seriously, I truly believe that they at least can put aside their differences and work together to ensure that Usagi is protected. Of course Minako probably has no faith in Mamoru’s ability, but she might at least respect him somewhat for the lengths he’d go to in order to keep Usagi safe.

So the long and short of it: depends on the Minako. But basically the girl can either really try Mamoru’s patience or he simply feels a lot of apathy towards her and tends to keep his distance when possible.

[lilietsblog]

Sailor Moon 38 NO SEIROUSLY REI WHAT THE FUCK

im feelin like shit and i dunno how much ill liveblog

hahaha just kidding i can never shut up

this episode... I kind of remember it? It had lots of Rei, I remember that... I remembered this whole arc as a sequence of 'Kunzite tries to determine who the princess is becuase she would be the best at everything, repeatedly targets one of the other senshi instead because Usagi is terrible at everything' (which is also why I didn't want to watch it again)

but hey so far there's been a lot of awareness of how Usagi actaully is, it's mostly wacky coincidences and Usagi's closeness to other girls that foil him the true power of friendship: a shared hairbrush fucking up a DNA test

awww and Usagi is just complaining about how unfair everything is to her GOOD JOB GIRL

also I think I remember this as the episode where the 'love triangle' of Rei/Mamoru/Usagi is resolved bc Rei gets a new love interest I sure hope that's not accurate

YES USAGI IT WAS MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU AS A TRAP YOU ARE VERY INSIGHTFUL

aww skiing Rei <3 ambitiously romantic

btw Rei is my icon for 'cupioromantic' = craves the romantic images of having a relationship, has 0 care for WHO to be in that relationship with other than surface aesthetic matching

also I gotta love Usagi's title of the episode sounding so resigned to the fact that OF COURSE THERE IS A MONSTER

also hey I guess this is the much tauted Usagi/Rei friendship beginning: they finally are talking to each other in ways other than antagonistic

ahaha and Usagi doesn't expect Minako to be manipulative XD

ah yes! Yuichiro sure has been lying in wait for some time

I love Usagi <3

REI JFC DO YOU WANT HIM TO ARRANGE YOU A VACATION AND NOT COME MEANIE

also I can't believe that the senshi actually... did buy into that

gotta love Endy sassing Kunzite though 'it was entirely due to you underestimating them as opponents'

also Kunzite I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to remind Endy of his time as Tux I wonder how much he really doesn't remember there...

awww heated tables <3 wish we had those here... awww cats <33333333

I love Rei's relunctance and Usagi's surprise at adding 'san' there also 'HOLY WOW HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU A RICH KID' XD

oh girls you wouldn't want to interfere with their special time would you~ that is to say, their time as TWO COMPETENT SKIERS

awww poor Usagi XD

LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL BABY TRYING HER BEST LIVING UP TO THE RESPONSIBILITY AS BEST SHE CAN

yeah I think Kunzite is out of workable plans and into desperately grasping now the first two were good tho

why couldn't he use the info from those tho... like the second one narrowed it down to three girls... altho Rei was one of them XD

COMPLETELY SAFE SURE MONSTER-SAN WHATEVER YOU SAY

...this makes me want to try skiing...

YUICHIRO FUCKING DON'T YOU OBLIVIOUS FUCKER JFC

I love the youma's self pleasing in saying 'IT ACTUALLY GOES STRAIGHT TO HELL'

and oh Rei you naive child seirously how did you not see through the 'Moon Princess Contest' thing also how do you not see that Usagi is desperately flailing jfc

and yea the monster has no clue what's what

Kunzite guessed well with frisbee but skiing, just... no

oh Rei has started NOTICING hasn't she

it's a pure miracle of princesshood that Usagi's still standing isn't it muscle memories of past life keeping her upright

oh hey Yuichiro how about saving the girl you PUSHED here while she was too scared to start because she actually has no idea how to ski

USAGI PLEASE DON'T BE CRUSHED THANK YOU REI FOR DOING THAT

um I hope Yuichiro is alive there

REALLY REI SOMETHING IS WRONG THERE

REI HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT

I love their attitude clash

I wonder if Usagi is just fucking with Rei at this point

NO WAIT OKAY WHAT THE FUCK REI WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE DOING IF USAGI WASN'T THERE LITERALLY ICE WALLS CRUSHED AROUND YOU NONE OF THIS IS USAGI'S FAULT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK

AND OF COURSE USAGI APOLOGIZES BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE MOST OTHER STUFF SHE'S CHIDED FOR IS SOMETHING SHE COULD DO ANYTHING ABOUT

really Usagi is this a good time to be thinking about Tux ah actually he was the one who supported and encouraged her so kidn of yes

but also wow Rei sure did give up on that climb easily no way it's that impossible ...or maybe it is

aww Usagi is considerate of Rei's boyfriend feelings but ah Rei was never actaully in love, it was just boyfriend-as-accessory + normal human attachment to people you know

okay it sure is a good thing it didn't take another dude appearing to get this resolved <3

also hahahaha did I actually write here that I called that solution or did I get distracted by the cat but anyway I totally called that Rei's fire powers are a good solution to ice traps, when Usagi said that there must be some other way

REI WHAT THE FUCK BLOWING UP AT USAGI FOR NOT NOTICING A SOLUTION EARLIER IT'S KIND OF YOUR POWER HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?????????????????

thankfully Usagi doesn't just apologize THIS TIME

and aww Yuichiro <3

this is reminding me of the Witch skiing episode in a good way they probably copied off this didn't they

lol this monster was clearly not informed by Kunzite the way the last one was

and I love that the dude's heroic sacrifice is played for so much goofiness instead of pathos here <3

anyway if Kunzite were watching he'd know which of them was Sailor Moon at this point... maybe he was??? and this is the end of the arc???

awww poor monster in over her head

and Rei is already possessive over her new accessory-to-be XD

her 'i will chastise you' is never not hilarious never change Rei

jfc their shared SQUEE over Tux <3

I couldn't not read that as 'Blizzar, you fuck off' at first and honestly accurate

but really Endy repeatedly bailing the girls out of tight spots like I WILL HANDLE THIS how much does he really not remember

awww Rei is being so adorable and romantic here??? and aww the rose is there flashing red <3

AWWW THE ROSE IS RED FOR GOOD JFC THIS WHOLE SCEME WITH ENDY IS A DISASTER I CAN'T BELEIVE I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS ON THE FIRST REWATCH

oh Tux you fucking liar

and ahaha I think Usagi successfully forgot that she only ever saw Tux during fights for like one minute at a time and everything about Mamoru's attitude just MINE NOW COME BACK TO ME

and Rei is grumbling about Yuichiro being an idiot, as if that's not what she wants <3

yeah I think the Moon princess contest was aborted

gotta love the precise lie 'the pretty soldiers showed up and rescued up'

AND THERE IS USAGI THE KIND BUNNY ALWAYS HELPING PEOPLE UP THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF HOW EVERYONE TREATS HER I BET SHE WISHES THAT SOMEONE TOLD HER THAT

AND HEY OTHER GIRLS Minako and her not-quite-nerdiness-enough is THE CUTEST

REI FUCK YOU PERSONALLY WHY THE FUCK have you actually ever had anyone treat you like that have moments of friendship in private, then have them treat you like shit in public did that ever happen to you because what the actual fuckign fuck are you doing how fucking dare do you do this to Usagi ever ever ever ever???????

[cocacolamoss]

idiotsofsouthpark:

Craig returns to earth at about the same moment that Cole does, blinking in surprise. Cole looks… good. Exhausted, but definitely good. He looks much happier than the time they last saw each other, on that freezing night in the park just a few blocks over from here. Honestly, Craig is glad about that; he thought he’d be upset that he’s been prospering without him, that Craig has missed all the good things going on in Cole’s life, but it’s the total opposite. Craig likes to think that he made the best of his time in Australia, that he was able to get away from the toxic home life they tried to escape from together all those years ago. He looks genuinely happy right now, and Craig is relieved.

And he’s a dad. Craig’s jaw tightens slightly at that realization- if there’s a kid, there’s probably a wife too. There’s no way that Cole adopted this kid, Leo. He’s the spitting image of Cole, with the exact same big brown eyes and ruffled brown hair. Despite this, Craig makes it his mission to still make the best of the situation, toying with the sleeve of his dress shirt in contemplation. He still wants to be around Cole, and if his wife makes him happy then that’s the best thing for him. Craig won’t get in the way of that.

The raven’s expression never changes as he watches Cole introduce his son, a growing smile on his face. They seem cute together, and Cole seems proud of the little boy. “Spiderman is the coolest superhero, after all,” he says softly in response to Leo, giving a shrug of his shoulder.

Bebe laughs, rolling her hazel eyes and waving her manicured hand. “Clyde, but I’d hardly consider him lucky, considering he has to deal with me and Abby.” She says with a grin, combing Abby’s curls away from her face. She looks on curiously from behind her mom’s skirt, watching both Cole and Leo carefully. She doesn’t much like the idea of some other kid in Uncle Craig’s life, cause she’s definitely heard the name Cole from both her mom and her uncle. “Can you believe that Clyde actually wanted to name her Hermione, after the girl from Harry Potter?” Craig scoffs at the memory.

“Clyde is obsessed. I’m surprised he didn’t try to convince you to name her Usagi, after Sailor Moon.” He adds, rolling his eyes. Bebe laughs again, shaking her head. “Cute, but never in a million years.” She says. Craig redirects his attention back to Cole, giving a cautious smile.

“So.. how have you been..?” He asks, tilting his head slightly.

“Hi Abby,” Cole grins, giving the smaller blonde a little wave before shrugging his shoulders at Bebe with a smile. “I’m sure Clyde must be over the moon about the both of you.” 

It makes sense, all things considered. The two of them were an item all throughout Cole’s senior year and they always seemed genuinely happy together. Of course they stayed the course. It’s food for thought, in any case, Cole’s mind drifting slightly as he pictures an alternate reality in which he and Craig had been allowed to stay together, grow up together... maybe even have a child together. 

They’d have to adopt, of course. Would that kid have been anything like Leo, he wonders. Probably not. And he can’t very well imagine life without his son at this point, even if Hannah had no such problem. Shaking his head slightly to scatter the dream-like scenario, he focuses back in on the conversation playing out in front of him. 

“Guess we can all appreciate the fact that Clyde didn’t end up a single parent,” he adds, smile slightly awkward from the unintentional jab at himself. What about Craig, he realizes suddenly. There’s no ring on his finger, but that doesn’t automatically mean that the raven is alone. If he isn’t, maybe it’s for the best. Maybe they do need to move on. After all, it’s been over half a decade. Just because Cole locked away his feelings for Craig in a safe space, that doesn’t mean Craig did as well.

Still, Cole is anxious to be put out of his misery. 

A slight tug on the hem of his jacket derails his train of thought and Cole glances down at Leo with a small noise of acknowledgement. 

“Daddy, Mr. Robot asked you something I think.”

Shit, well. Cole’s making a great first impression, spacing out within five minutes of normal conversation. Well, as normal as can be between former classmates and old lovers. 

“Hm? Oh yeah, uh. Sorry, bit tired. Uhm yeah, I’ve been... y’know, good?” He replies, gesturing to Leo to emphasize the ‘good’-part. The next part is harder, but with all the other parents and kids now filling the classroom he’s running out of time on getting to it. “Actually, I was wondering, if- if you’re not busy later, I’d really like to talk to you, uh, about.... about everything?”

[lilietsblog]

2/2 sailor moon episode 11 liveblog (the candy doll princess is the creepiest villain yet)

ah yes I stopped the liveblog last time at p much the exact middle of the episode

lol actually the EXACT middle omfg the second before the ad break

meanwhile here's Usagi WANTING TO GO IN and Rei feeling the evil aura please do more productive information sharing and less needless antagonizing

meanwhile here's Ami being smart! ...but alone. why oh right Rei and Usagi were late

oh look Usagi does actually believe Rei's claims when she's not busy yelling at her

Rei why do you have to lash out at Usagi every single time jfc she has a crush on you dont be cruel ...or had. that might be gone by now with how Rei acts

btw I love that senshi can transform independently. this is the power each of them has, they done have to rely on Usagi which would be a pretty artificial way of making her the leader (I mean I enjoyed that in Witch but that had a p different dynamic overall...)

ah yes Rei's Fire Blast sorry all of their attacks are now Pokemon attacks I don't make the rules

man Usagi complaining about Rei calling the shots may seem petty but... she's had to take her time and gather her courage before rushing into danger every time, and now Rei's not letting her do that that's hella stressful, and particularly when it comes from someone who's beel low key bullying her all day

NO BUT USAGI WHY ARE YOU ACCEPTING THIS FLOWER CROWN _JUST_ TO SPITE REI IM PRETTY SURE YOU ARE CAPABLE OF BEING MORE INSIGHTFUL THAN THAT OR IS IT THAT EVERYONE RUSHED YOU INTO ACTION BEFORE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO FIGURE OUT THINGS AND SWITCH YOUR FEELINGS FROM CONFUSED TO ANGRY BECAUSE IM PRETTY SURE THATS WHY YOU WERE MORE EFFICIENT ON YOUR OWN THAN NOW WITH A TEAM

welp and now Rei gets hurt defending Usagi which she'll probably blame on her but seriously it wouldn't have made the situation noticably worse to wait a minute more for Usagi to gather her wits before charging into battle

Usagi is the only possible leader for the sailor senshi because when anyone else takes lead her effectiveness p much drops to 0

ah okay Usagi blames herself of course man this is just so sad

aww Rei can do some pretty cool shit with her miko powers they are NEVER explained or elaborated upon and i have no idea if its an established Japanese cultural thing or was just made up for Rei personally and either way is great

Usagi keeps being ineffectual and Rei keeps pushing and this is painful to watch yes, it's true, Usagi CAN'T work at the same speed as the other senshi, she can't keep up when Rei's the one setting the tempo WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO SHE NEVER ASKED FOR ANY OF THIS SHE IS A MIDDLE SCHOOLER

man I just... look, my processing speed has been DROPPING lately. like, ten seconds after being asked a simple question dropping. and it feels so IMPOSSIBLE when everyone around you just isn't giving you time. they ask what feels like ten questions at the same time and from their perspective they gave you a reasonable pause after each and assumed you refused to answer but YOU ARE STILL THINKING ABOUT THE ANSWER TO THE FIRST ONE and keep failing to think of it because you're being distracted by new ones that you can't even focus on and make sense of

it's really fucking hard being the slow one when people don't accomodate it

also Usagi responding to the monster's greeting before anything else going on is A+ most relatable like, that's the easiest thing to respond to so let's do that while everything else is still being processed

aw yeah she's gathered all her shit together and is now making up a new inspiring speech good <3

omfg Rei questions the details and Usagi is like DONT MESS WITH MY FUNKY FLOW

thank you Luna for providing helpfully obvious information

(no seriously thank you, that's one less thing to sap Usagi's focus)

okay omfg is this going to be the trap they're gonna BOTH fall for aka Tuxedo Kamen because let me tell you that's HILARIOUS

OMFG YES ITS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS AND EVEN REI DROPS ALL PRETENSE YES DO THAT AGREE WITH USAGI MORE

and poor Luna

okay but like. is that for real how allos work. does it SERIOUSLY get that distracting. like i know these are teenage girls way overtaxed but also they are in the middle of an illusion made by someone who had just tried to kill them so wtf

AW YIS RESCUED BY THE REAL TUXEDO KAMEN THANK YOU DUDE DONT LET THIS EVIL MONSTER USE YOUR LIKENESS WITHOUT EVEN PAYING ANY ROYALTIES I BET

I wonder if he realizes himself how much of an influence he has on the senshi at this moment

and yep Rei notices something's wrong like two seconds before Usagi which is yet another sign that they have different processing speeds

okay I just realized that he probably didn't see inside the illusion but seriously, 'you should dream only when you're sleeping' that's kinda harsh dude

I love how fucking DONE the girls are with her illusions after this one like NOPE WERE OUTTA HERE FOR NOW TUXEDO KAMEN IS WHERE IT CROSSES THE LINE

AW YIS FOUND AMI

I wonder how long the transformation takes in-universe? It's one thing when everybody transforms at the same time, but when one girl transforms and the others just stand there waiting for her?

BUBBLE BEAM

ahaha have the confusing environment turned against you

hm I wonder how effective Rei's paper was on her stunned her perhaps?

FIRE BLAST

OH HELL YES FIRE BLAST + ACTION TIARA

ah yes, she can't move because of Rei's spell

good job yoooo

I love the even clearly enunciated SHIMATTA!

so I wonder if Jadeite managed to lose all the collected energy this time?

and omfg Usagi's picked up the NEEDLESSLY ANTAGONIZING EACH OTHER ALL THE TIME ball with Rei

this looks like the opposite of progress but I think this is what progress looks like here bc Rei isn't going to stop teasing so Usagi has to shape up and start giving as good as she gets