#all the scenes i am in the middle of writing have mumbo in them

[angeart]

i'm working on this thing now :3

[sparksnevadas]

I finally read skullcrusher mountian and I just wanna say it is chefs kiss. The way you wrote the characters and the sheer amount of emotion you conveyed through your writing?? Incredible. I absolutely should have read this sooner.

But at the same time, I’m glad I had as much as I did to read in one go because I would have been on the edge of my seat waiting for new chapters, particularly all of the ones after ch 10. I still will be eagerly looking out for them but wow so much happened.

I had to get up at one point and just recover from crying for a moment in the middle of (i think it was) the reunion scene with mumbo. Idk I feel like I was actively crying through a handful of chapters so it could have been another point. Anyways, I adored it. I love the premise. I love the character dynamics. You write dialogue and conversations so so so well. And all the little details of location descriptions and emotions and dialogue are so well balanced. I am just in awe.

I had a lovely time staying up until 3am to read the entire thing (and I would do it again). I look forward to future updates to see what the no braincell polycule will get up to next.

EM IM SO SORRY I DIDNT RESPOND UNTIL NOW! im but a fool!!

aw man youre so kind for saying this <3 so much did happen after ch10!! honestly, I hesitate to say this bc i've been thinking this for a while, but i think GIHASM is close to an ending (tbf... been thinking that since like three chapters ago). So we definitely have hit a stride of stuff happening that will hopefully carry us nicely over a finish line.

i am genuinely surprised you cried, but this is no judgement! i just find it hard to cry at media in general. im glad my writing was alright enough to elicit such a reaction. that's really cool to hear, and i am grateful that you're sharing that with me :) was it the part where they talk it out? i actually cant even think of which part would be the saddest, even after rereading after getting this ask, im so sorry--- but please, catch up on sleep. the chapters will always be there in the morning! (and honestly, considering how many typos i find after i post it, it's probably better if you wait LOL)

but again thank you, i love u <3 hope youre doing well!! also "no braincell trio" is their official name now, i won't hear any arguments to the contrary

[votederpycausemufins]

taking a break from my other fics to finally writing this one. It's for the Metal Heart's series, taking some aspects i had featured in Summoning Family, but want to write about in a non-crossover fashion.

More Than One

Grumbot tried not to keep shifting in his seat as he wrote in the book Mumbo had given him. He was sick, and Grum’s dad was taking care of him. Jrum of course just wanted to play, so Grum offered to take his daddy’s place at the Pacific meeting. He had shown Iskall the notes his daddy had written in the book and now the other redstoner was trying to replicate Mumbo’s messy blueprints.

As they did that, they asked Grum questions about the blueprints, having Grum make notes of anything the two of them weren’t sure of. Which was pretty much just anything that Iskall wasn’t sure of since Grum was absolutely clueless when it came to redstone. And the more questions that Grum was asked and couldn’t answer, the more frustrated he became.

Grum was built to be asked questions and give answers. That was his main purpose. Sure, now he was just supposed to be a kid, and he seemed to be good at building, but he still felt like he needed to do this. “Hey, are you doing alright?”

At Iskall’s voice, Grum looked up from the book and to his auncle. “I am feeling stressed and agitated.” Was his reply, the words falling out before he could think about it.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Iskall replied, pausing on their work. “I mean I’m frustrated enough trying to figure out what Mumbo’s notes mean and I work with plenty of redstone. You’re young enough that I’m sure it’s tougher for you.”

Grum frowned. “But Jrum can understand redstone just fine.”

“That he can.” Iskall nodded. “But he’s not you. Grian’s been around longer than Mumbo has and he can’t wrap his head around it all. It’s fine if you don’t understand it all.”

The bot reluctantly agreed, but he couldn’t help the feeling that not knowing was a bad thing, especially after all the questions he left unanswered that just left him feeling wrong. Iskall didn’t ask any more questions thankfully, but it just left Grum to sit and stew, slowly feeling worse and worse.

When they finally wrapped up, Iskall helped Grum back to Mumbo’s base, carrying the bot as they flew to the jungle. As they flew, Grum finally felt a bit calmer as the wind rushed past them. He finally stopped dwelling on the things he felt he had to do. That was only when people asked questions, needed information, stuff like that. But just flying, or spending time at home, that felt better.

His dads weren’t looking for a mayoral robot, they were just looking for a kid. And Grum could be a kid. Sort of. As Iskall landed at the ancient ruins that was Mumbo’s base, Grum started worrying again. Jrum also seemed to get the being a kid thing down. He was always playing games, reading picture books and running around. Grum didn’t really do much of that.

“Hi sweetie.” Grian said as he picked Grum up into his arms. “Did you have fun with Iskall?”

Grum wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that at first, sort of struggling through it. “Well… Redstone is tough, even Iskall said so. And well… it was frustrating, but I did get to write down a bunch of notes. I know Daddy probably can’t look at them and help, but that can be for later, right?”

Grian nodded with a smile that made Grum feel better. “I’m sure he can do that when he’s feeling better. Now, I’m sure you’re tired from helping out. I’ll make you something for dinner and then you can go to bed.”

Grum agreed and then waited until his dad came back with some things for him to eat, like redstone, quartz and stone. The bot happily ate his meal and then started to head off to bed, but then stopped to look back to Grian. “Um, dad?”

Grian looked up from what he was working on. “Yeah Grum? What do you need?”

The bot fidgeted a bit before finally asking his question. “Could you maybe read me a story?” Because he knew that was a thing kids were supposed to ask for, and right now he should be doing kid stuff.

Grian beamed at the request, and before long, Grum was in bed, starting to charge as his dad sat next to him in a chair, reading a book about a chicken and a fox. Grum could tell that some things were being changed a little for an extra flair, like the chicken knowing a certain superhero who was definitely not Grian. But that just made it feel more natural, and soon Grum drifted off to sleep.

And woke up hours later with a nightmare.

.

.

.

Grum didn’t remember much after waking up. He remembered he yelled, waking Jrum up who had come to bed sometime after him. He remembered Grian racing in with a sword, which just scared Grum more. He didn’t know why, it just did. He remembered the sword being put away and then being picked up, but then after that, nothing really.

His best guess right now was that he was still tired, probably wasn’t plugged in right. His nightmare drained what little battery he had left and then by the time Dad had picked him up, he lost power completely. It looked like after that, he was put back to bed, seeing as how he was plugged in again, now fully charged, but what was concerning was that he wasn’t in his normal bed.

Instead of being in the room that he and Jrum shared at their daddy’s base, Grum instead found himself in the large bed Mumbo claimed as his own. Usually if Dad was around after working late into the night, he would also use that bed, and it was even big enough for all four of them to be on there at once. But right now, it felt much larger with Grum being the only one there.

Unplugging himself, Grum crawled out of the bed before making his way to the main area of the base to hopefully find one or even both of his dads. He was glad to see Mumbo sitting down at a table with a plate of food in front of him. The man was still a little pale, but compared to how he looked the other day, Grum could tell his daddy was feeling much better.

“Hi there Grum. How are you feeling this morning?”

“Better.” Grum replied with a smile.

“No more nightmare monsters laughing at you?” Mumbo asked, which just confused the bot.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you told Gr- your dad and I about the nightmare you had. I’m guessing based on your response that you didn't have it again.”

Grum wracked his brain, but couldn’t think of any nightmares. “I guess so. I don’t even remember having it the first time. Or even telling you.”

“Well, you did seem pretty tired and shaken up.” Mumbo said. “I’m sure it’s actually a good thing you don’t remember much.”

But Grum wasn’t as sure as his daddy sounded. He didn’t like not knowing. He was supposed to know things. But, that was more like the mayoral part of him. He had been trying to be more like a regular kid, so maybe that was part of it all? He just wished he knew more about what a kid was supposed to do.

“Daddy? Where’s Jrum?” Grum asked, because if there was one thing he knew, it was that Jrum seemed to have things all figured out.

“He’s out at the building area.” Mumbo replied. “And if he’s not there, well he’s most likely at Scar’s village.”

Grum nodded. “Okay. I think I’m gonna find him to go play.” And Mumbo smiled, which made the bot feel like he had gotten something right. From there, it was just a quick trip down to his Daddy’s old hobbit hole, taking a minecart over to his dad’s one, and they going along the edge of the lake to Scar’s village.

Grum figured the village would be the first place to check because it was closer, and if Jrum was there, his trip would be shorter. The village was pretty big though, and it took longer than he thought to search through it, eventually making him wish he had just listened to his daddy and search the build area. At this point though, Grum had an idea. Sure, he could look for Jrum and get his brother’s help, but Grum was the older one. He should be figuring it out by himself. Jrum always played in the village, so he would do the same just to prove to himself that he could do it.

The next thing Grum knew, he was in his dad’s arms, the man laughing at Scar who was very upset about how in the world the village was on fire. Of course, Xisuma had made it so nothing could actually burn down, but the sight was still impressive to behold. After Grum looked the scene over, Grian leaned his head down just a bit and whispered. “I totally want to join your side for this war.”

While Grum was very glad that his dad was supportive and that no one was actually hurt, the bot was still very confused. What war? What had happened? And why couldn’t he remember?

.

.

.

Grum flopped on his bed after getting home. This was the opposite of what he wanted. He had just gone to play, and now here he was in the middle of starting some new event that was now supposed to lead into the end of the season. He hadn’t even been here the whole season, much less more than one, so how was he going to do that? And then since he apparently started it, everyone seemed to be putting him in charge.

They had held a private meeting, which Grum pretended to be excited about, then there was a whirlwind of ideas that overwhelmed him. But his dads were there, so Grum didn’t want to disappoint them and tried to focus and participate, but by the end, he just wanted to curl up in bed. He almost managed to do that, but then he was surprised by Jrum coming in and jumping on his bed.

“Hey! You’re done with your meeting now, right?” Jrum asked, sounding so chipper it just made Grum feel more tired. “Does that mean we can play? I thought about doing hide and seek in Uncle K’s and Aunt Cleo’s city!”

Initially, Grum just wanted to roll over and ignore his brother, but then he realized it was actually a perfect idea. He could hide somewhere and have Jrum spend hours looking for him, or Jrum would hide and he would pretend to search for his brother. “Alright. That sounds like a good idea. Let’s head over that way.”

By the time they reached the city, Jrum agreed that he would let Grum hide and he himself could be the seeker. Grum was glad for that and went off to hide, finding a building with a few floors and hiding at one in the middle. And from there it was just a matter of waiting.

As Grum waited, he started to regret it. The concrete making the building up was starting to feel wrong in a way. And suddenly he kept checking the time, making sure it hadn’t been too long. A skeleton spawning in a dark corner and shooting him shook him out of those thoughts, but it didn’t change the fact that he had them in the first place.

Grum took the closest thing he had to a deep breath and thought it over. He was the one who put himself here. He was not stuck here. He was just playing a game. Playing a game didn’t involve any questions or responsibilities. It was the opposite of being stuck in a box. It was a box he made.

And that gave Grum an idea. He always felt stressed from thinking people expected so much from him, but that was from him expecting them to ask for everything. If instead, he thought of it like different parts, different boxes people would want, it would fit better and he could feel better.

Grum was so happy with the realization that he stopped going on autopilot and realized he had been killing more monsters that spawned. Once they were taken care of, he gave Jrum a hint, and before long he was found and they were going back home.

.

.

.

Grum started by working it out in a book. There were four different sections he would make. There were the all important questions and answers, which would also include any political things. With the election long over with, he likely wouldn’t need that, but it was better to include it just the same. The next section was his building one. His dads always talked about getting in the mindset for something, so that would be that. And since he did that a lot, he could fit in other generic pieces there since most of the hermits were categorized by what they did well. The third would be for more child things. Playtime and stories and having fun. Something like how his brother tended to act. Then, the last one was for all the other stuff. The more unnecessary stuff that he probably wouldn’t ever need, but it was better to have than not have.

With everything written out, Grum read it over a few times to make a few edits, then smiled at his work. The concept was good, now he just needed to implement it all. As a robot, Grum was already sort of divided up into files, but they were sort of all over the place. But now with his plan, he could essentially move them all into their own folders and make things a little more controlled.

Once everything was divided, Grum gave each of the folders their own names to help make things a little less confusing. They were generic names for the most part, something he didn’t pay too much attention to. So, when one of them changed its name just as he stopped looking at them all, it wasn’t something he noticed.

[callboxkat]

Just Your Average Ghost Hunt

Author’s note: I felt like writing a one-shot today, taking a break from my longer WIPs, and here’s the result! I hope you all enjoy.

Summary: Virgil has a YouTube channel where he talks about cryptids and conspiracy theories. Tonight, he sets out with his friend Roman on a ghost hunt. 

Warnings: ghosts, talk of death and murder, some crude humor, fear, Remus

Word Count: 1818

Writing Masterpost!

...

“You remembered the camera, right?”

“Wha—of course I remembered the camera! Come on, give me a little credit.”

“And it’s charged?”

Roman pouted at him, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Virgil smirked, hopping out of the car. “Just checking.”

“It’s your camera, isn’t charging it your job?”

“Knowing you, you’d happily run down the battery before we even got here, with all those selfies you take.”

“That’s what my phone’s for,” Roman claimed, jutting out his chin. He slung the camera strap around his neck, double checking that it was secure.

“Oh, I see.”

“We’re not going to get in trouble for coming here, are we?” Roman asked, following after his friend and staring up the road.

“What, are you scared, Princey?”

“No, I just—”

“Because if you’re scared,” Virgil sighed dramatically, “we can go, I guess, but you have to be the one to tell Logan we still haven’t gotten his proof of ghosts. It’s your fault if he thinks we just couldn’t find it.”

Roman huffed. “What is it with you and proving to him that ghosts are real, anyway, Winnie the Boo? Isn’t talking about cryptids and conspiracies more your usual gig?”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Is that really the best nickname you can come up with? Wow, you really must be scared.”

“What, we’re on a ghost hunt, aren’t we? And don’t avoid the question!”

Virgil rolled his eyes, closing the car door. He took out a flashlight and switched it on, casting their surroundings in high relief. “I wasn’t, calm down. I just want to see the look on the dude’s face when we show him actual video of a ghost.”

The pair’s boots crunched on gravel, twigs, and assorted debris as they began the trek up the long-disused road towards their destination. “So,” Roman asked as they clambered over a fallen tree, “what are you going to do if we can’t find one?”

“I have Photoshop.”

“Well—then why are we even out here? Just photoshop yourself up a ghost and be done with it, Wail-E!”

“That nickname was even worse. And besides—” Virgil hopped down, reaching up to help Roman, whose jacket had gotten caught on a snapped branch— “this is way more fun.”

“Speak for yourself,” Roman grumbled, inspecting his coat for damage.

“Come on, it’s not that far now.” Virgil started forward, flashlight held high. Roman scrambled after, not about to be left behind.

“I don’t like this.” Roman peered around at the surrounding trees, whose shapes and shadows seemed to warp as they passed, reaching towards the pair like spindly arms ready to drag them into the dark.

“I didn’t ask you to come. I’ve done plenty of these without you.”

“You’ve done plenty of these with Janus,” Roman corrected. “In our friends’ houses. Not in the middle of nowhere.”

“I wasn’t going to put this off just because he’s got a stomach bug. It’s supposed to rain all next week.”

Roman swallowed. “And I wasn’t about to let you come to some old abandoned house alone.”

Virgil turned, putting a hand on his chest and grinning. “My hero. Now turn on the camera, I see the house up there.”

Roman squinted, and saw that, in fact, he could make out the shape of some kind of structure ahead. It looked like it was practically part of the forest now, trees grown around it and nearly obscuring the shape in the darkness.

“Welcome to Virgil and Roman’s final moments,” Roman said, turning on the camera slung around his neck, “documented for all those who want to see us torn apart by crazy woods people, or bears, or wolves, or, possibly, ghosts.”

“Very funny,” Virgil said.

“Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” Roman said. “I don’t know, set the scene.”

“Kind of hard to do that when you keep talking, isn’t it?”

Roman stuck his tongue out.

Virgil turned to face the camera. “My name is Virgil, and the lug behind the camera is my friend Roman. Tonight, we’ve got a treat. We’re visiting an abandoned house, deep in the woods.”

Roman silently shook his head, amused at the exaggeration. The nearest major road was only a ten minute walk away.

“Legend says it’s been abandoned since the 50’s—”

“Is Wikipedia where you heard this “legend”?”

“Shut up, Princey. And no, it’s not, actually. Will you let me continue?”

Roman held up his free hand in surrender.

“Legend says it’s been abandoned since the 50’s, but no one had been able to stay in the house for more than a few months at a time even before that. Apparently, there was a murder here decades earlier, and the ghost of that person has haunted the place ever since.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Roman and I are here to get the first solid proof of this ghost, and share its existence with all of you.”

“I’m sure YouTube will love it.”

“I am so glad I can edit out all your dumb comments.”

“You know you love them, Count Woe-laf.”

“You’re going to make me wish I’d waited to come with J, I just know it. Just make sure you’re holding the camera steady.”

Roman smiled innocently, then turned the camera up to focus on the house.

“We’ve just arrived,” Virgil said, “And are about to head inside. Wish us luck.”

“Virge, you know this isn’t live, right?”

“Yes, Roman, I know that,” Virgil said. “Let me put in a little flair, okay?”

“I must be rubbing off on you.”

Virgil ignored this comment and approached the house, peering around the crumbling façade of the dilapidated structure. “It looks like the front door is padlocked, but this window is broken. We can put one of our jackets on the sill and climb in.”

“Wait—whose jacket, Virge?” Roman stepped back, clutching his own protectively.

“Oh, relax,” he said, rolling his eyes as he shrugged off his own jacket.. “Some of us thought better than to bring our favorite jacket on a ghost hunt.”

“If that roof collapses on us, I don’t want cheap plastic all that’s protecting me.”

“I’m pretty sure a jacket won’t save you if the roof collapses; but go off, I guess.”

“Thank you; I will.”

Virgil laid his jacket over the window sill and hopped inside. Roman climbed in after him, turning on his own smaller flashlight and looking around warily.

Dust motes hung in the air, which smelled of mildew. A few pieces of furniture remained in the house, each covered in a sheet that might have once been white. The space had not been spared from the elements. Weeds even grew between some of the rotting floor boards.

“I know this is where I’d want to live, if I were a ghost,” Roman commented dryly, eyeing a grimy puddle that had collected in a fold of one of the sheets.

“Ghosts are tied to places where they died, or to objects that were important to them. Or their body. Odds are, this ghost has no choice but to live here.”

Roman sighed. “Okay, anyway. How are we proving there’s a ghost here?”

Virgil slung off his backpack and pulled out a wooden board. “We’ll start with this. It’s a Ouija board.”

“A Ouija board?”

“Yeah. It channels spiritual energy and lets them talk to us.”

“I know what a Ouija board is,” Roman sighed. “I was just… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you brought one.”

Virgil sat down on the floor, beginning to set up the board. “Set up the tripod, so it can see both of us and the board. You sit across from me.”

Roman did as Virgil asked, then sat across from him. Each perched his fingertips atop the small, triangular piece of wood with a hole in it, which Virgil said was called a planchette. They slowly brought the planchette around in a circle, with Virgil narrating what they were doing and why, probably for the less supernatural-versed Youtube fans. Then Virgil said some mumbo-jumbo words about positive energy and communication, whatever; and then they finally they got to the questions.

“Is there a spirit with us in this house?”

There was a long pause, long enough that Roman started to think that maybe Logan had the right idea, before the planchette slid over to Yes.

That was you, wasn’t it, Virgil?

Virgil was trying to hide a grin. “How many spirits are here with us?”

1.

“What’s your name?”

The planchette slid over to B.

“Brandon? Bethany? Bella? Benjamin?”

U.

“…Buford? Bucky?”

T.

Virgil frowned. “Butler?”

T.

Roman bit his lip to keep from laughing.

S.

“Roman, stop messing with the planchette,” Virgil snapped.

Roman made an indignant noise. “I didn’t!”

“Spirit, I apologize for my friend. What is your name?”

B-U-T-T-H-O-L-E.

“Maybe it doesn’t want to tell us,” Roman said, shrugging and trying not to laugh.

Virgil was starting to look exasperated.

“Maybe it’s a kid. How old are you?” he asked.

6.

“You’re six years old?” Virgil’s mouth opened. “That’s so y…”

The planchette moved again, interrupting him.

9.

“69,” Virgil repeated. “Okay, maybe not a kid.” He glanced at Roman, looking suspicious, as if wondering whether he’d changed the results again. Roman pouted at him in response.

“How did you die?”

“Wow, that’s pretty personal, isn’t it?” Roman asked. “Ask it how it’s doing, at least.”

Virgil sighed. “They don’t usually stick around for long, Roman.” Then seemingly deciding to humor him, he asked, “Spirit, how are you?”

Yes.

“Well, that’s… an answer,” Roman said. Maybe the Ouija board was broken or something.

“How did you die?” Virgil asked, repeating his earlier question.

The planchette hovered for a few seconds.

K-N-I-V-E-S.

Roman swallowed.

“Oh.” Virgil shifted. “What year did that happen?”

4-2-0.

“Roman, seriously, stop.”

“I swear, it’s not me.”

“Fine, then let’s try again. What year did you die?”

D-E-A-D.

“Yes, you died,” Virgil said. “Do you remember what year that happened?”

Y-O-U A-R-E D-E-A-D.

Roman’s eyes widened. Virgil wouldn’t have done that, would he? “Um, Virge? I think maybe we should leave.”

“Are… are you a good spirit?” Virgil asked, his voice uncertain.

No.

The lights above flared into life, far, far too bright, like small suns. They shouldn’t have worked, even if they were still connected to power, or had the bulbs replaced in the past decade. Wind rushed through the room from an invisible source, the temperature dropping.

POP!

The light above them burst, sending sparks falling around them. The rest of the lights followed in rapid succession. The tripod fell over as if pushed, crashing to the ground between the pair and sending up a cloud of dust.

Roman and Virgil screamed, scrambling for the exit, pushing each other through the window, back into the woods. They raced back towards the car, both the camera and Virgil’s jacket forgotten.

Hysterical, cackling laughter followed them through the trees.

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy VII Review

 Year: 1997

Original Platform: PlayStation One

Also available on: PC, PlayStation Store

Version I Played: PlayStation One

Synopsis:

The Shinra Electric Power Company rules over the city of Midgar, and the eco-terrorists AVALANCHE stop at nothing to try and prevent the life essence of the planet from being used as energy. Barrett, leader of AVALANCHE, hires a mercenary named Cloud Strife for their bombing mission on a Shinra Mako Reactor. Cloud doesn’t care much for the greater cause and only wants his pay. But then, after a mission goes awry, he meets Aerith, a flower girl who is the descendant of the Ancients. He quickly finds himself wrapped up in the greater conflict against Shinra.

 Gameplay:

Final Fanatasy VII utilizes magic spells via Materia – little orbs that come in a variety of colors pertaining to the natural elements. You can mix and match them on your weapons and equipment, which gives you access to different spells and stats. All your equipment varies with the number of slots for how many Materia orbs you can put in. Leveling up not only upgrades the character but the equipped Materia as well.

 Final Fantasy VII also uses an ATB system but is known for introducing Limit Breaks – finishing moves that build up after the character gets hit over time. Final Fantasy VI had a prototype called Desperation Attack – but it was very rare as it only appeared when your character had 1/8 of their total HP, and there was a 1 in 6 chance of performing the Desperation Attack after selecting Attack. I actually had no idea that was a thing until long after I finished the game, and never experienced it when I played Final Fantasy VI.

Graphics:

Out of all the Final Fantasy games, I have to say that this one has not aged well. It has the worst graphics of the entire series. The battle and cinematic graphics are passable.

(Most of the graphics power seemed to be put in Tifa’s, uh, bosom.)

But the characters in towns, the overworld, and in-game cutscenes are incredibly blocky. PC versions are supposedly sharper, but the PlayStation One version makes it nigh impossible to see any facial expressions. 

The graphics are definitely a product of its time. I always say that the beginning of 3D gaming was essentially like puberty – awkward and full of zits. It wasn’t yet at that stage where it could be aesthetically pleasing. We marveled about it when it was first released, yes, but then we cringed in retrospect.

The environment backdrops however are probably the strongest points, where they capture the industrial nature of Midgar, the reactors and other such buildings.

Story:

Final Fantasy VII became legendary the minute Square released it. Every aspect was memorable. Part of it could be due to the fact that it was the first Final Fantasy game to enter the 3D realm. Another part was Tetsuya Nomura’s character designs, which hit the cool meter to the point of sub-zero.

 The cinematics blew our minds. The opening action scene with Cloud, Barrett, and the rest of AVALANCHE attacking Shinra’s mako reactor is the most memorable opening to a Final Fantasy game. Period. Final Fantasy games really do know how to start at the right spot, no matter how good or bad the overall game is. The opening is always the best part.

Then there was the motorcycle chase. Cid’s airship. The gun fights. Battles with Sephiroth. The extra stuff to find, like summons and extra bosses. So much was jam-packed into the game.

 But the story was the primary factor in making VII famous. It’s definitely one of the better ones. Man, the story became so famous that even gamers who haven’t touched a Final Fantasy game knew the major spoilers. It is the equivalent to knowing Darth Vader’s line, “I am your father” without having actually watched Star Wars.

Aerith (Aeris in the English releases) Gainsborough – the innocent flower girl who holds the secrets of the Ancients – develops a romance with Cloud and fucking dies at the end of Disc 1 by the main villain – Sephiroth. The scene shocked everyone and practically made headlines. Everybody has seen the horrible image in one way or another.

It seems to me that since Final Fantasy V, the stories have gotten more and more used to main character deaths, ultimately transforming into a heavy-hitting TV series rather than simply a video game series. In other words – it matured. Looking back, Final Fantasy IV appears to be child’s play and a prototype of later dramatic storylines with fully realized worlds.

 Final Fantasy VII was also the first Final Fantasy game to create a world much like ours – one with cars and trains and airplanes and machine guns and even cellphones. The main city of Midgar reflects industrialization at its worst, with miles of slums and claustrophobic cities. Shinra Electric Power Company is a reflection of capitalism at its worst - a single entity in charge of so much that it’s pretty much the government. For the first time in a Final Fantasy game, you play as characters who dance between the morally ambiguous line of terrorism and activism. Funny enough, the theme of neglecting the planet resonates with us now more than ever. This game ended up being rather prophetic about the uncontrollable growth of corporations.

While the story is memorable with many intriguing elements, the plot itself is a tangled web. In my opinion, they really hashed in so many things that it’s easy to forget crucial details. It’s not straightforward, but at the same time everything does connect by the end. While Shinra is the driving force as a whole as the villain, Sephiroth takes over, then you learn about his backstory and then with the evil scientist Hojo and the extra-terrestrial Jenova and then “Weapon” and then the planet’s history and this and that and the other thing.

If I were to put Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII together and contrast them, as many gamers do, I would find that Final Fantasy VII is the summer blockbuster and Final Fantasy VI is the Oscar winner. Final Fantasy VII started introducing the sappy romance subplot to the series. A love triangle forms among Aerith, Cloud, and Cloud’s childhood friend Tifa. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with having a love triangle, the writing is like watching middle schoolers trying to express their feelings. Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy IV treated any romance with dignity and realism.

But maybe I’m being a bit harsh. After all, Cloud Strife did go through some suffering as an adolescent. His backstory clearly drives his antisocial behavior, so that becomes a good arc. 

The goofiest but memorable part of the story deals with Don Corneo and Wall Market and running around store to store doing tasks in order to free Tifa from Don Corneo. It ends with Cloud needing to cross-dress as a woman to get inside Don’s mansion. Because, you know, it’s not like Cloud can just break in with his sword and Aerith’s magic or anything like that. But whatever. It’s anime.

The recent Final Fantasy VII Remake for the PS4 seems to streamline the story, and actually enhances the emotions they were trying to deliver in the original. I will be talking about the remake in a separate post altogether since I’m almost done with it at the time of this writing. But there’s a lot that I want to say about comparing and contrasting the remake and the original.

The latter half of the plot takes a couple weird turns. At one point, Cloud became catatonic and confined to a wheelchair.

That part of the game became the sluggish part for me. Sephiroth also tries to confuse Cloud, which confused me. Cloud apparently suffers from some alternate subconscious mumbo-jumbo and like. . .ungh. I get an aneurysm thinking about it sometimes.

Complicated plotlines like Final Fantasy VII start showing up from here on out in the Final Fantasy series. The trend of bishonen characters also begin here, bishonen being the Japanese term for “beautiful boy.” Cloud and Sephiroth have that look. The series starts hashing in sappier romances and much more of an anime feel.

Final Fantasy VII ultimately marked the start of a new era for the series – introducing both cool and overused tropes.

Music:

Hands down the best Final Fantasy soundtrack of all.

The entire soundtrack of this game is memorable. The opening tune, with its light twinkle when the stars show up, is enough to make any gamer know exactly what that’s from.

With a story set in a more modern world, we have music that is more modern. After Final Fantasy VI had a more serious and operatic score, Uematsu displayed his love of progressive rock here. The motorcycle chase incorporates a lot of synth, which was fitting for zipping through the streets of Midgar. However, Final Fantasy VII is the first Final Fantasy game without that familiar starting bassline for the battle them. The battle theme is instantly recognizable but also radically different from its predecessors. It’s dramatic and displays danger.

Meanwhile, the boss theme is one of the best boss themes in the series, or any video game really. It’s an electrifying progressive rock piece, and it’s my personal favorite boss theme.

 The more instrumental pieces are somber, given the dreary atmosphere of the planet. The world map music is very different from its predecessors. It’s romantic one moment, soaring the next, and then dips into foreboding terror. I guess that sums up the story of Final Fantasy VII.

And we cannot leave out One-Winged Angel, which I will talk about below.

Notable Theme:

Without a doubt, One-Winged Angel – played during the terrifying final battle against Sephiroth – is the most memorable piece of music in Final Fantasy VII.

It may very well be the most popular song of the entire series. Nobuo Uematsu was inspired by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. It’s a whopping 30 something minute classical piece. If you look it up on YouTube and browse through it, you can definitely note the similarities. However, Uematsu didn’t want some boring classical introduction to the piece. He wanted to add the destructive impact of rock. The theme has a very distinct stamping-your-foot-down quality to it.

I had noticed a certain piece-by-piece feel of the song and that’s exactly how Uematsu composed it. This is the only song that Uematsu has composed where he created several tunes in his head and then rearranged them to make a single comprehensive song.

If you want to get technical, One-Winged Angel is the first Final Fantasy song with lyrics. The chorus sings in Latin about Sephiroth’s burning anger, with some lyrics actually taken from the medieval poem Carmina Burana. It sounds fantastic when fully orchestrated.

In Advent Children, the animated sequel to Final Fantasy VII, the music is accompanied by hardcore metal. This new rendition really illustrates the destructive power of Sephiroth. Uematsu changed the lyrics for Advent Children. They are more original now. I specifically noticed the lyrics “Veni, veni, mi fili”, which translates to “Come, come, my son.” Sephiroth is inviting you so he can kill you.

 Uematsu has stated that the original orchestration didn’t sit well with him. As I suspected, Advent Children’s hardcore metal version is the one he preferred, the one he would have composed had he the technology at the time of Final Fantasy VII.

Verdict:

Another must-play for any RPG fan, even if you think it’s overrated. It’s a must-play because of its popularity, in the same way that people are wide-eyed when you say you haven’t seen Star Wars or such-and-such other popular movie. It’s a whole lot of fun, especially in the scenes that involve other forms of gameplay, such as the motorcycle chase and even a battlefield strategy game in protecting Fort Condor. 

Direct Sequel?

Yes – first there was the CGI movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

I actually watched Advent Children before playing Final Fantasy VII. I had already known most of what happened in the game and Advent Children became a monumental craze when it first came out. Everybody was talking about it. Watching the sequel before playing the game skewers your interpretation of things. My first impression of Cloud was that he was always whiny and angsty, and meanwhile Tifa kept nagging him to move on. I felt really bad for Cloud losing Aerith.

Then when I actually played Final Fantasy VII, I saw that Cloud starts as this badass mercenary. Tifa is spunky and clearly is the better choice (IMO) but Cloud is enamored by Aerith after only meeting her briefly. WHAT? Cloud. Bro. Make a move on Tifa, you nitwit. Tifa is AMAZING.

 Square Enix then continued the story with Dirge of Cerberus – Final Fantasy VII. This video game sequel focuses on Vincent Valentine, a fan favorite of the original game.

Let me remind you about something – the original game revealed Shinra’s inner deep secret experiments, namely with Sephiroth and Jenova. Dirge of Cerberus introduces an even deeper research team within Shinra called Deepground. I don’t know about you, but it already sounds like the start of a terribly redundant string of sequels, like how the Jason Bourne movies keep revealing an even deeper level of conspiracy theories. Vincent’s mysterious background is now fully revealed. He is defined by – guess what? – another angsty lost lover story, this time with a woman named Lucrecia. Now, okay, look, maybe I’m just being a dick about these types of love stories. But when it keeps popping up within the same series in the same manner, I start asking if you have anything else to offer on your menu.

Lastly, there is the prequel for the PSP – Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Of all the games in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core has received the most positive reception. If anything, play that after playing Final Fantasy VII before bothering with anything else.

 Oh, and of course there is the Final Fantasy VII Remake, which we thought wasn’t going to happen for the longest time but they finally released it in April 2020. More on that later after I finish it, and after I post my entire series of Final Fantasy reviews!

[lunanight2012]

My Self insert RenDocSelf story Part 1

Here is part 1, it’ll be under the cut, because i’m still nervous about it.

Enjoy

Also tagging @cuteypandapie because they seemed interested in this story

I smirked as a trident was pressed against my throat. Yep, me and Doc were fighting again. This happened every week. I felt the trident pierce my neck a tiny bit. I pulled out my TNT and within a millisecond, pulled out my flint and steel, lighting the TNT.

"See you after respawn, Docy~!" I teased before the TNT exploded, killing both of us.

I gasped as I sat up in my bed, in my base. Getting up, I walked over to my mirror, seeing all my respawn scars. But the one I reached up and touched was the latest one, on my neck. I turned around and grabbed my collar necklace. I couldn't show it off like I wanted to. I had stuff to do now.

I grabbed my extra set of enchanted diamond armor, diamond tools, and elytra. I took off using my elytra and rockets back towards where I blew me and Doc up. I quickly gathered my items, putting Doc's items in a shulker box, leaving a sign that read "To the Goatfather. From L" 

I smirked, before quickly taking off towards Dead Dog Gulch. I had to help Ren out with his Quadchopper. I landed as gracefully as I could before making my way to the Bigger Logz Inc meeting room.

I quickly got on my work helmet, my name painted across the front. I reached the door to the building. Fixing myself to make myself seem presentable before knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Ren called from inside.

I felt myself shiver at his voice. Yes, I had a crush on Doc AND Ren. Do they know? God no. I'm pretty sure neither of them feel the same. I opened up the door and smiled at Ren.

"Good morning Luna. Did you and Doc finish your fight already?" He asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "I had a meeting I couldn't miss. So I ended it quickly. Now what is wrong with your QuadChopper?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"One of the timers isn't working." Ren explained, getting up from his desk, walking around and sitting on his desk, facing me.

His tail swayed and his ears twitched in different directions. God, he was so freaking cute! But he's my boss!

"Didn't you create it?" I questioned, smirking.

Ren tugged on his vest a bit, not meeting my eyes. Weird.

"Yea. But I figured a fresh set of eyes would help." 

"But you know I'm better at helping harvest wood than I am with redstone. Ren. You know you should ask any of the redstoners on the server to help, not me. So call Mumbo, call Tango, hell call Doc, "The Goatfather". I'm going to go refill the barrels at the shopping district. I believe in you boss!" I called out saluting before I took off towards the Bigger Logz wood storage.

I opened the door and began to gather wood into the shulker box for moving the wood between storage and the shop. I rubbed at my collar, people would call it a choker but I like to think of it as a collar. I mean hell I fight Doc every week, and I work for Ren. I belong to both of them but they don't know.

I finished loading the shulker box, placed it in my inventory and left. Flying towards the Cowmercial District. I landed outside of the shop, smiling as I went through the barrels and restocked. It didn't take long. Any profit from the shop, I placed in the now empty shulker box. 

"Alright, better get this to Ren." I exclaimed, packing up the shulker and getting ready to take off. 

I stopped, seeing something that caught my eye. Doc, Etho, and False walking down the Cowmercial district. I hid behind a barrel as I listened to them talk.

"Thank you once again False. I'm glad to finally have had BDubs killed." Doc stated, getting closer to the shop.

I held my breath and peeked out from the side of the barrel. Watching the scene unfold. I noticed that False now had the tag. Or as Grian liked people to call it, Tag 2: Electric Boogaloo. Yes I rolled my eyes thinking about it.

"Not a problem at all! Thank you for letting me have the tag in exchange for killing him. I better head out to my base! See you later Doc!" False exclaimed, taking off towards her base.

I hid behind the barrel once more. Why was I jealous? Doc and I were "enemies". Not dating… so why am I hurt he didn't ask me?

"I think I love her Etho."

I could feel my heart break.

"Doc, you've been talking about her for the last hour. I would be more surprised if you weren't." Etho explained, the two sounding as if they were walking away.

"She's an amazing fighter! How can I not be!" Doc exclaimed.

I stopped listening before I quickly pulled out my rockets and ran down the hill towards the water. Yea, I couldn't get my rockets out fast enough. I just swam over to Dead Dog Gulch.

It took me longer, but I made it there, walking over to the office, dripping wet. But hey it hid the fact that I was crying. I walked into the office, startling Ren.

"Luna? That was quick. Why are you soaking wet?" Ren asked, walking over to me.

"Fell into the water and had to swim over from the Cowmercial district. Is it alright if I just take the day off? I got the sales. Here." I handed him the shulker box before turning around and walking out.

"See you tomorrow, please stay safe!" Ren called out to me, worry in his voice.

I smiled weakly at him before running out and taking off towards my base. I entered into my base. Heading straight for the bathroom. I dried off and changed before walking to my room. I grabbed the only makeup I had. Something Cleo gave me in the last world, cover up makeup. Yes. I've been fighting with Doc since the S6 1.13 world. I sat on my bed and faced my mirror. I took off my collar and tossed it into the corner. It was a joke gift from Doc. From the first Christmas in the last world. That was the other reason I liked wearing it. There were many reasons but still. 

I opened up the makeup and began to cover up all my scars from my fights with Doc. The one on my neck, one going up my left arm, one in the middle of my back, one on my stomach, and the last one, the one over my heart. That one hurt to cover. It was the first time I had fought with Doc and the moment I realized I had a crush on him.

I hadn't even realized I was crying until I felt the tears hit my hand. I looked up at myself in the mirror. Tears streaming down my face.

I looked down at my hands. I was better with explosives then I was with my hands. I can't fight very well with a sword. Maybe I should practice.

I looked outside, it was night time. And BDubs was away for the week. Time to fight some Zombies without using TNT. I lived on the island to the far north, just behind Zedaph's base. I got on my diamond armor, pulled out my enchanted diamond sword. I walked out of my base, instantly finding a Zombie. 

I ran towards it, swinging my sword at it only to miss and shove my sword into the dirt, getting mud on my face. I groaned, trying to pull my sword out of the mud. 

I could hear the mobs getting closer. I was being too cocky. God dammit! Now I'm gunna get killed by zombies, skeletons, and suicidal creepers! And spider, yuck. 

"Ow!" I exclaimed as a Skeleton shot my arm, an area where my armor didn't cover.

I finally managed to get my sword out of the mud and slipped trying to get up. I finally managed to rush back into my base. Closing the door and pressing my back up against it. All I could do was cry as I heard the zombies breaking my door. It didn't take long. Zombies broke my door, and then a creeper blew me up. Of course everyone was notified. I gasped and sat up in my bed, running over to the door and grabbing my stuff before rushing back to my room and switching my spruce door out for an iron door. 

"I'm so stupid! Now Doc is probably laughing about how bad I am at PVE. I hate everything…. I think I'm just going to stay in here for a while… I'm sorry Ren sweetie. But I don't think I'll be able to work for a while." I cried to myself, pulling out a book and quill, writing in it like a diary.

[lunawings]

King of Prism SSS episode 4 commentary (Kakeru)

Ahhhh.... finally seeing this episode again after a long time was really good. You may think I’m just being over-dramatic, but I honestly think I felt normal again for the first time since seeing SSS Part 4 while I was watching the stream with you guys. Like halfway through I was like WOAH IM SMILING... ahah....... ha......... Part 4 messed me up even more than I thought holy s--

Thanks for always coming to the streams! And thank you Kakeru, for reminding me about love.....

*deep breath* Now, let’s get to it...

So like I mentioned last time, we’re now on what I know as the “Part 2″ episodes.

 My experience seeing Part 2 in the theater was like night and day compared to seeing Part 1. For Part 1 I got to go to the midnight showing, and it was super emotional and exciting seeing it with an entire theater-worth of people also seeing it for the first time. 

But for Part 2 I had to work until 1am and thus couldn’t make the midnight showing. Instead I slept for about 2-3 hours, went all the way to Nagoya, saw this at 8am, went all the way home, and went back to bed before waking up again to go to work at 4pm wondering if it was all a weird dream. So needless to say I was super out of it. I got about two minutes into Kakeru’s episode when I was like... wha... huh..... wait wha....... and comical sweat-beads started rolling down my forehead when I realized I had NO idea what was going on. I felt like the entire theater was just as out of it as I was since they were really quiet. Probably because most of them went to the midnight showing and got just about as much sleep as I did....

The whole what is going onnnnnnnn feeling never quite left me. Especially with this episode in particular. But.  

My favorite feature of Kakeru has always been his eyes....

So seeing him go through 8 stages of acceptance in this opening always gives me chills....

OH MY FUCKING G..............

So in the past I have railed on Crunchyroll for their wonky wording, but this is the first outright mistranslation I think. (Unless “solid style” wasn’t on purpose, but that one was so ridiculous I kinda feel like it may have been....)

If you have seen Pride the Hero, you’ll know Kakeru doesn’t leak the Prism System to his friends. He leaks it to the Itsutomo Group. 

To be fair Sadana doesn’t say Itsutomo Group here. Just Itsutomo. But still, what did the translator think the “Itsu” part meant? They leave so many things as-is, but this... THIS they decide to attempt to translate into something. 

Okay. OKAY...................................

I really, really like Kakeru’s dad. But not for anything he does in the movies/anime. He’s a super boring pushover here. But if you take Young of Prism and layer it on top of all that..... he’s fucking great. 

I was so out of it when I first saw this the entire natural gas plot went over my head. I was just like “Episode 5: Kakeru goes to Madagascar. Does a prism show. Then he comes back for some reason. The end?????” 

I also missed the earlier reference as well. To think when Kakeru looks at the newspaper in episode 1 and is like “Natural gas is expensive!!” that was foreshadowing ahah. 

So this is the most controversial part of the episode I think. Globalization/colonization/industrialism has done damage lot of nations which were just fine beforehand, and I think paving over all of Africa’s natural habitats would likely cause.... various problems. 

Do I really have any right to be commentating on this? No. But I don’t think King of Prism does either. I just don’t think it’s really the time/place for it. 

But all-in-all I suppose Merina’s opinion isn’t too unusual for someone who works for Juuouin Group. I just wish they made it more clearer that his opinion and not the general opinion of Madagascar. 

But then again what do I know. I really don’t even want to be talking about this!! It was just such a weird choice to take this episode to Madagascar at all. 

This brought me so much joy. Please go read Young of Prism if you haven’t yet. 

NNghkdhgkdhg baby Kakeru................. face......... uuuUUUgfh and his cute little voice...........

I also often wonder what Kakeru was doing in Kodama’s office in the first place. He’s not actually his uncle I believe.

My headcanon is that his mother dropped him off there one day when she was busy with something and needed someone to watch him quickly, then Kodama-san’s office just gradually became Kakeru’s daycare. 

In cheering people will point up one concert light shaking with increasing intensity. Usually orange because nobody knows what other color to use. 

.......GGDGDGDGdksl;fl;sgs.......... AHHHHHHHHHH.....HHH........hhhhhhhhh.. K.....

Crunchyroll agrees with me that Kakeru’s father is “Momojiro”. I know that’s the most likely reading, I’m just really bothered and concerned that there is just no furigana for it anywhere.

And behold, my favorite Kakeru face of all time. 

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh poor baby you were so pure back then

And behold my second favorite Kakeru face of all time aahaha

Okay now is as good a time as ever to bring it up, but. 

I’m a bit disappointed that young Kakeru doesn’t wear glasses. 

Because most kids get glasses before middle school if they are going to get them, don’t they? It makes me worry Kakeru’s glasses are just an image thing. 

I mean he’s certainly frikkin adorable without them, but I dunno.... It made me weirdly happy to learn that Hiro wears contacts in episode 1. 

I just want visually impaired comrades in my anime I guess!!!

Or maybe he just went without for longer than he should have by memorizing the eye test by listening to the kid in front of him like I did. 

Kakeru can you see I’m worried about you.

Okay I’ll move on......

So someone pointed this out in the stream, but he doesn’t really say “mood” here. He says “kao iro” which would translate more into like... health? I don’t know. I honestly have no idea what he was getting at and it’s always puzzled me. 

Oh the controversy.....

Okay so, that whole non-issue aside. About the rest of this scene. 

I am not particularly offended by it for two reasons. 

First...

Kakeru’s grandfather is giving him important life advice while his face is IN A BOOB

YOU CANT TAKE THIS SHIT SERIOUSLY COME ON 

King of Prism has a tenancy to pair serious moments with ridiculous visuals that nearly ruin them on purpose and it’s a whole other level of humor ahah. There is an even better example of this in the next episode.......

Secondly...

KEI-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

In the theater people hold up two light blue lights as soon as she rises up and then go nuts. It’s the best. 

While most of the other characters were inspired by watching male prism stars like Hijiri or Rei, Kakeru watched mostly the girls and I get a kick out of that. We have already known he’s their fan for a while due to his Blowin’ in the Mind ringtone and side materials saying he has their magazines in his room, etc. 

“What” - cheering audience

So if you look up “kakeru” in a Japanese-English dictionary, you’ll know it has.... a lot of meanings. And since they always write the boys’ names in katakana (to make it ambiguous I guess) you can never know for sure. 

Here we confirmed for the first time it is intended to be 翔 = to fly/soar

This is a theme throughout SSS. How much Shin changed things for everyone............(I’ll come back to this)............

LOVE

So I guess when Kakeru got back from Madagascar Leo was like “So what do you want for your Prism One outfit?” and he was like “Make me a flamingo” and Leo was like “......You got it.”

Or maybe Leo was already like half done with Kakeru’s outfit and then he just burst in the door like “LEO I NEED TO BE A FLAMINGO--” 

I only have one bad thing to say about Kakeru’s prism show and it has nothing to do with Kakeru’s prism show. I noticed that his legwork is really similar to Taiga’s, which was when I realized for the first time that it’s the same person doing all the motion capture. So that kind of brought me back to reality a little bit. But oh well. That person is really fucking talented. 

They have been talking about Kakeru doing a prism jump where he’s naked with a pile of money for YEARS. HE DID IT. I’ve seen it in manga, I’ve seen it on Prism Rush... BUT THIS

Also how similar this is to the Prism Rush version amazes me...

CYALUME CH--

.....So I guess the translators haven’t watched PriPara either huh.

Wait is this even supposed to be for “Cyalume Change” because the subtitle is at such weird timing. 

Also I felt bad afterwards about putting “CYALUME CHANGE” as one of my shitty out of context spoilers ahah. I hope I didn’t ruin it for anyone. At least I didn’t say what episode it was. My hope is that anyone who read it has been waiting to be blindsided by CYALUME CHANGE and it came at the best possible moment. 

The first couple times I saw this episode I really wondered how cheering would go since so much of this episode is just business mumbo jumbo and if a lot of people would even show up for Part 2 cheering at all. 

But then after about a week in I found myself waiting in the lobby before a sold out cheering show and saw a girl whip out a giant pink feathery fan. 

Then the girl next to her was like hold my beer and took out a giant (fake) money fan. 

Never underestimate Kakeru fangirls is a lesson I have learned over and over and over again. 

A lot of people will also have three or four pink concert lights in one hand and an orange one or a color changing one in the other for this part ahah. 

PAINT IT ORANGE PAINT IT ORANGE 

(The lyrics to this song are nonsense. But it’s Kakeru, you can’t expect anything less.)

Prism shows with jungle animals are always a good time. (I can’t help but think of Shi Yoon.) 

And there you have it, Kakeru saved the entire country of Madagascar.... with his prism show........ let’s not..... let’s not think too hard about this........

I suppose there are multiple ways this could be true so I shouldn’t be thinking too hard about this either. But. 

The debut of the Leo pigtails. 

Well actually I think he had them earlier in the episode too, but this was the first time I noticed. 

Nothing warms my heart more than the few times Taiga throws Kakeru a bone by showing him the tiniest bit of affection. Even if it’s tsundere. Look at him. He’s just so happy. Aw Kakeru. Good for you.  

I think this moment was kinda ruined by the new ending music though. In the theater it’s more quiet. 

So I have always kinda felt like the Part 2 episodes are a bit weak compared with Part 1 and Part 3, but that’s probably a bit unfair considering how I experienced them. All of them grew on me more with time. It was also kind of hard coming down off of Taiga’s episode. After Taiga’s was so high tension I kinda expected the same for Kakeru too, but they went in a totally different direction. It was nothing like I thought it would be.

Before it aired I wondered if it would be about Kakeru trying to decide if spending his life in the Juuouin Group was right for him or not. And he did question it at one point when he was younger, but unless I misinterpreted it this episode was more about him loosing what he had and trying to get it back? He had doubts in his mind at one time about whether love exists, but he already came to believe it does before the events of this episode. So I guess Kakeru really has no doubt in his mind about what he wants for his future. You know, I think I like that better. I worry about him burning out with all the stuff he does, but it really does seem to be his true calling.  

I find it rather sad that the Edel Rose boys never found out Kakeru’s backstory though. Instead he shares it with Merina. He couldn’t even tell them he was leaving. But then again, Minato quickly interpreted that it was probably too difficult for him, I’m sure he was right. The other boys seemed to understand and support him regardless. Kakeruuuuuuuuu...............

In side materials it’s kinda of hinted at here and there that Kakeru really wants to be more like Minato. He wants to be someone strong who supports everyone. He also really seems to not want to show any weakness to anyone, especially his friends....? (As I’m typing this I’m thinking back to the White Day event on Prism Rush when he was trying so hard to organize everything while also trying his hardest to hide that he was falling apart......) I guess he picked this up in the business world as well. Because of this I still feel there is a lot to Kakeru we still don’t know. 

Well. Since I remembered this time and I liked this one: The special video for this episode that they show in the theaters has a voice over describing Kakeru’s  intense schedule on a normal day. 

But apparently on weekends he does no work at all. He gets caught up on manga and then plays with his friends. They showed a lot of stills of him hanging out with the Edel Rose boys, but my favorite and the one I remember the most was him playing arcade games with Shin (on a mysteriously PriPara-looking cabinet.... I think it was a fighting game though?)

Also Kakeru has a secret trunk in his room which must never be opened.