#and it would be fun and cool if the summer maiden is some new character we get to meet! but i don't really feel like that will happen in v10

[rwby-is-the-best]

oh shit

i was thinking about the maidens again and how on our side we have winter the winter maiden and maybe raven the spring maiden a little bit, and on salems side we have cinder fall, the fall maiden. when salem gets to vacuo she's going to need the summer maiden to open their vault there and get the sword of destruction, and it would make sense for the summer maiden to be on salem's side so that the teams are balanced and can fight more epicly.

yeah . summer rose...

[twilightknight17]

So I fell asleep last night before I could make the post, but I got P5 Scramble yesterday and I’m having a blast so far. ^_^

I’m probably going to go through it the same way I did my Royal playthrough, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t click through on these posts!

Before we start, I just want to mention that I don’t really know anything about the story. Somehow I’ve managed to avoid spoilers for an entire year except for a few small things.

I do know the identity of (who I assume is) Kyoto’s Jail Monarch. (Monarch is kind of a weird, formal word. I think I liked Jail King better. Or... Warden? Warden might have been the best choice.) ANYWAY, I think I know their identity, and by extension, I have a vague idea of why Shadow Joker exists. Other than that... You’re getting speculation and bullshit untainted by later plot revelations. XDDD

I did find it funny that when I booted the game up, I got a “No save data found, unable to start game” message. Like... no shit, PS4, it’s a brand new game. But the little starting tutorial fight was cool, and I liked the opening movie!

The police briefing was...interesting. It’s good to see them actually being somewhat logical? Like... considering everything that happened the year before, it makes sense that they’d assume this is the Thieves again. They have no way of knowing that there’s no way to access Palaces anymore. This isn’t really the Thieves MO, though. Except for the guy who confessed to document tampering. The author shredding his work for no reason and the guy streaking through the criminal justice headquarters don’t seem like they did anything wrong. Those seem more like psychotic breakdowns.

But... I guess we don’t know if the police ever knew anything about Black Mask, or if Shido was convicted on only real-world crimes and not the metaverse hits he ordered. I wonder if that’ll get elaborated on.

Zenkichi’s introduction was him laughing at the streaking guy in the middle of this Serious Police Meeting, so I think I’m gonna like him a lot. ^_^

Anyway, the “higher-ups” really want this case closed, according to “Commissioner Kaburagi”, who I already don’t like. If you’re the police commissioner, Makoto really would be a better choice, holy shit. She’s already prepared to go after Akira, who is the only Thief they know the identity of, so I guess that’s fair. But still. Has he not been falsely accused of enough for a lifetime?

Although... if you’re gonna look up all his life details, can you maybe... share some? Just a few things? Hometown? How are his parents? Anything?

*

Coming back to Leblanc was cute. Got some Trickster’s Maze vibes from the initial text conversation where they were talking about how people kept not responding to texts, but I think it’s all good. Love that the Sayuri is still on the wall, and that Morgana’s been home with Akira.

Naming the app “Emma” is never going to stop being hilarious to me, because reasons.

Y’know, Atlus, this would work a lot better if he could like...respond to their curiosity. At least these dialogue options seem to suggest that talking things out with his parents went well. Even “I missed you” isn’t inherently negative. He’d miss them either way.

.......so when my boyfriend gets back from his soul-searching vacation, he’ll be welcomed back with open arms, right, Ryuji? Right?

Meanwhile, for summer break plans, Yusuke wants to go to Kyoto for a month-long art tour. Unless...

Never change, dear. Never change.

Nice of Sojiro to water my plant and keep my room from drowning in dust, but he really couldn’t have replaced the bedframe with literally anything other than the plastic storage crates? XD The attic looks so empty and lonely without the shelves of trinkets and plushies, and the TV.

So my reaction to this next part was literally, “LAVENZA, IT’S BEEN LESS THAN 24 HOURS”. X’‘‘D Akira really can’t catch a break. But Lavenza’s dialogue sounded actually sad that he was being dragged into this again. And she’s promised repeatedly that she’s going to be there for him. It’s sweet, even though my room is still a prison and she’s still using torture equipment. Iron maidens, Lavenza, really??

I’m a little concerned that Igor’s not around, though. Lavenza did the dream/reality/mind/matter speech instead. Where is he? I know he’s never around for spinoffs but considering my headcanons I’m very curious now. And why didn’t he like... tell Morgana that Lavenza said ruin is coming again? Even if we don’t count thirdsem events, Morgana still knows that he’s Hope, and he still has a bond with the Velvet Room. Talk to your cat damn it.

Oh no, she’s cute and Alice-in-Wonderland themed. I’m doomed.

She called it her “EMMA keyword” and I immediately blurted “what? keyword??” and then everything went directly to Hell immediately. Keyword was the key word, I guess. X’‘‘‘DDD

And you can tell it’s been six months, considering that these nerds got caught almost immediately. And got their hands bound. And got dragged to the throne room and forced to kneel!

...I’m doomed.

Someone at Atlus looked directly at this fandom and all the fanart of the interrogation and said, “Yeah, they’d be into that.” XD Steppy steppy. At least she’s not a rapist like Kamoshida, but jeeze, we keep getting beaten up and thrown in the dungeon by royalty. All we need is a princess and we’ve got a whole royal family!

Although, I suppose the prince didn’t bother with a dungeon. XD

I think it’s interesting that apparently the guards tried to take our Desires and failed. I guess being a persona-user means your mental state is stable enough that something like that can’t manifest.

Oh no, she’s cute. I love her. Another for the collection of Joker’s baby siblings. This is number... 5? She kind of reminds me of Jose, a little. I’ll be interested to see what she is, since she’s got amnesia right now. She can’t be just a straight AI.

But if she’s Yald’s mom, I’m also going to be majorly weirded out.

I really like the gameplay? It’s so interesting to see how the characters move and fight when they’re not limited to turn-based attacks. And I like being able to jump to different points and use them to ambush enemies. I don’t fully understand all of it yet, and it’s hard for me to keep an eye on things like status ailments and my teammates because everything is so chaotic, but I’m sure I’ll get it.

I did die to a miniboss, and when I hit “return to checkpoint”, it gave me the prompt to select a language for the voice acting again. I dunno what was up with that. X’D And I’m baffled by the concept that you can just leave the metaverse and come back and it restores all your health and stuff. No penalty. Time doesn’t pass. You didn’t waste a day. Have the kids finally learned that we are capable of entering and exiting more than once on the same day? Hallelujah.

...this boy is angry that we have to deal with the Jails instead of having a BBQ feast. Never change, Yusuke.

If you go by the crepe shop in Shibuya, Morgana still doesn’t think you’re a crepe person. I’m so tired, Morgana. It’s also a bit weird and forced that Iwai and Takemi are both out of town. We couldn’t have seen at least one of them? I know we’re not gonna be able to use those shops when we’re on the road, but we could worry about that then.

(Disturbingly easy to return a gold bar that you apparently bought off the dark web. Omg. That was hilarious.)

AND THEN YOU GET UP THE NEXT DAY AND ZENKICHI IS JUST IN YOUR HOUSE? SITTING IN THAT CHAIR? That is not the “detective chair”, sir, that is my boyfriend’s chair, and you need to move. At least he likes the curry, but jesus fuck. Sir, I have unresolved trauma of adults coming into my house to snoop into my business. Get out of my house. X’D

You give me a detective sitting in my boyfriend’s chair and then immediately send me to a taping of the same show in the same studio where I first met him. God, P5S, you’re trying to kill me.

Alice clearly knows that giving out the keyword is doing something. She’s being very deliberate about this. But I don’t think she’s actually aware of the Jail. Love that she’s so arrogant that she can’t imagine that Akira just... didn’t use the keyword, and that’s why she can’t control him.

So I guess the Jail Monarchs are called such because they’re imprisoning other people’s shadows in their distortions. So these are people that want control over something to the point that it distorted their worldview. Part of me wants to go off on a ramble about how this relates to Mementos or Apathy Syndrome, but I’ll wait and do that when I have more information. I’ve got some more of the dungeon to do, and I cannot wait to see Alice’s boss fight.

I’m having so much fun. I really missed these kids; they’re grea--

.......I hate these children. X’‘‘‘‘DDDD

[allisondraste]

Temperance (10/?)

Pairing: Nathaniel Howe/ Female, Non-HoF Cousland

Story Summary:  Nathaniel and Elissa were childhood friends, but time and distance tore them apart. In the aftermath of the Fifth Blight, and Ferelden’s Civil War, both Elissa and Nathaniel must attempt reconstruct their tattered lives. As a series of events lead them to be reunited, both are reminded of so many years ago when things were much simpler.

Chapter Summary:  Young Nathaniel begins to realize some things about Liss, but it wouldn't be a party if good old dad didn't mess everything up.

First Chapter Previous Chapter [AO3 LINK]

Highever, 9:18 Dragon

The sun beat down upon Highever from a cloudless sky, uncharacteristically hot and unrelenting for the typically mild Fereldan summer. Men and women, children, and animals accustomed to cooler weather walked about sluggishly, hoping for any sort of reprieve.  Nathaniel wiped away the beads of sweat that formed on forehead as he sat on a grassy hill that overlooked a small pond where the other children played. He didn’t actually mind the heat.

The heat wasn’t the only thing unusual about this particular summer, as everyone at Castle Cousland busied themselves with preparation for the arrival of King Maric and Teyrn Loghain.  From what Nathaniel could gather it was to be an important meeting of powerful people that would also include several feasts, music, and other festivities. Prince Cailan and Lady Anora were to accompany them.  

For days, Liss prattled on and on and on about getting to see the Prince and his betrothed in an almost breathless way,  eyes glittering with excitement. Nathaniel wasn’t certain she actually knew what it meant to be betrothed outside the pages of her stories.  She’d read countless tales of young maidens and their arranged marriages to handsome knights with polished silverite armor and crooked smiles.  He had, after all, listened to her recount the stories at great length. He knew her favorite characters and why they were her favorites. She’d even shown him drawings she’d made of a tall, muscular-looking woman who wielded a broadsword.  According to Fergus, she’d even begun to write her own story, filling pages upon pages of a journal but never willing to talk about what she was writing. He annoyed her about it nearly every day, and nearly every day she awarded him with a scowl and a firm punch in the arm.  It was clearly very private, and Nathaniel pretended to not even know it existed.

As he sat upon the hill, watching her splash around with Delilah and Thomas, who Father had permitted to join him in Highever this year, as well as the servant girl Liss’ parents did not like her to play with, he would have done just about anything to have her tell him the same story for the fifteenth time.  It was lonely on the hill, but he definitely could not join them in the water. Delilah or Thomas might tell Father, or worse, Father might see. He still did not understand why he wasn’t supposed to spend time with Liss. He didn’t expect he ever would. Father rarely explained his rules, but Nathaniel trusted that he knew what was best.

“How did I know I’d find you sitting here by yourself,” a voice rang out from behind him, followed by a chuckle.  It was Fergus who joined him. He was basically a man now, taller than ever with a deep voice and the beginnings of a beard.

“It’s kind of my thing,” Nathaniel answered with a sigh.  He didn’t want it to be his “thing.”

“I’ve seen you have a good time, Nate,” Fergus stated bluntly as he sat down on the grass beside him, “Just never when your old man is here.  What’s up with that?”

“Nothing,” Nathaniel snapped, darting his head toward the other boy who only smiled in return.

“My sister says your father doesn’t like that you two are friends.” Fergus plucked at some blades of grass at his side, tearing them between his fingers. “Is that true, or is she just making things up, again?”

“It’s true.” Nathaniel returned his gaze to the pond, his chest tightening as he watched Liss wrap her arms around Thomas in an attempt to pull him under the water, as she held Delilah’s hands, and as she kissed Rila’s cheek. “ I don’t know why.”

“I think I do.”

“Really?”

Fergus nodded grimly.  “I overheard your father talking to mine.  Something about wanting to arrange for my sister to marry your brother.”

“Like a betrothal,” Nathaniel huffed, “Liss will love that.”

“Father wouldn’t have it, said that Couslands do not treat their children like property, and that he would not decide Liss’ future for her.”  He shook his head and laughed. “There was some angry shouting, and then your father stormed out of the room.”

“My father does a lot of angry shouting and storming out of rooms,” Nathaniel took a deep breath, and stared at the ground, unable to look back out at the pond or up to Fergus. “I still don’t understand what this has to do with me being close to Liss.”

Fergus tried and failed to contain a laugh, so he ended up half-snorting as he slapped Nathaniel roughly on the back. “Well, if Liss fell in love with you, that’d get in the way of her marrying little Tom one of these days, now wouldn’t it?”

“Me? And Liss?” Nathaniel’s voice cracked as he spoke, causing him to squeak.  It’d been doing that a lot lately, and it was not helping him to sound serious or like anything other than some kind of awkward bird. He narrowed his eyes. “That’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said, and you say a lot of stupid things.”

Fergus fell backward, cackling and holding his sides.  Had Liss not been otherwise occupied she would have punched him to make him stop, but Nathaniel preferred to wait him out. Especially since any time he opened his mouth there was a potential to incite more obnoxious laughter. “Sorry Nate,” he said between laughs, “I know you can’t help your voice but…” he trailed off, “Hey, at least by next summer, you’ll sound completely different.”

“Whatever.”

“You can impress my sister with your deep, manly voice.”  He elbowed Nathaniel in the arm. “Hmm?”

“It’s not like that, Fergus,” Nathaniel protested. “We’re just friends.  We’ll always just be friends.”

“Right, right, whatever you say,” Fergus threw his hands up, “But you sure put up with a lot of my sister’s nonsense to just be a friend.”

“I don’t put up with anything.” Nathaniel let his annoyance show in his voice, “I like Liss’ ‘nonsense.’ It’s-.” He paused, realizing the initial end of that sentence proved Fergus’ point.

A devious grin stretched across the older boy’s face, one so similar to Liss’ that Nathaniel couldn’t hate it.  “What were you going to say? Were you going to say that you think it’s cute?”

“No.”

“You were,” Fergus shouted, “Hah! I knew it!”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes and ignored Fergus’ teasing.  Did he like Liss in a different way than just friends? Was that why watching her spend time with the others when he couldn’t join made his chest hurt. He wasn’t used to feeling so angry or resentful toward his sister and brother, but ever since they arrived, he wanted nothing more than for them to go home.  Now, with what Fergus overheard about Thomas, he wished it even more.

He watched as Liss climbed out of the pond, dripping from head to toe, quickly averting his eyes to the ground when he realized the linens in which she swam had become translucent in the water. He’d gone swimming with her before. This was nothing new to see, but it seemed impolite now.  His heart climbed into his throat as he saw her walking in his direction from the corner of his eye. Fergus was still talking about her, and Nathaniel panicked.

“She’s coming, shut up,” he said slapping Fergus on the arm.  Fergus looked at his sister and then back at Nathaniel, eyes sparkling with amusement. He took a breath, and opened his mouth to speak again, but Nathaniel covered it with his hand. “Shut. Up.”

Fergus raised his hands in a truce, eyes still smiling, and Nathaniel uncovered his mouth, but continued to glare at him with the most threatening expression he could muster. Not that it would stop the much larger boy from embarrassing him.  There was no force in Thedas that would do that.

“You two are missing out on the fun,” Liss said cheerfully, plopping down on the ground beside Nathaniel.  Cool water droplets bounced from her hair with the movement, sprinkling onto his skin.

“Don’t be silly, Sis.” Fergus’ voice was full of irony. “Nathaniel doesn’t know how to have fun.”

“Be nice.” Liss leaned over and around Nathaniel to smack her brother on the head. “You okay, Nate?” Her hand fell on Nathaniel’s shoulder and he looked up at her even though he knew he shouldn’t. His heart immediately skipped a beat and he wanted to bury his head in the dirt.  He’d never thought about her like that before. Why now? Clearly this was Fergus’ doing for mentioning it.

He just nodded and Liss gave him a disbelieving look.  She’d known him long enough to know better.

“I,” she announced, poking his cheek and letting her finger rest there, “Don’t believe you.”

His face burned hot, and he wasn’t sure if it was the actual heat or the insufferable shame he felt just being so near her now.  He turned his eyes to look at Fergus who looked as if he were about to burst, then lightly swatted Liss’ hand away. It was absent minded, an attempt to alleviate the embarrassment boiling up in him, but he knew what it meant to her.

Nathaniel forced himself to meet her gaze, and to see the hurt expression on her face as she pulled away from him. “Liss, I - ,”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she stated tersely, standing up and stomping away, back down to the pond where the others greeted her fondly.   He brought his hands to his face and shook his head, falling back into the grass.

“That went well,” Fergus teased.“Tell me again how you don’t like my sister.  I’m waiting.”

“Piss off,” Nathaniel muttered, voice muffled by his hands.

Nathaniel had the remainder of the afternoon and evening to ruminate. Despite Fergus forcing him to distraction by dragging him to the kennels, he couldn’t seem to get Liss off his mind. He still was not quite sure what to make of anything that happened. He had only known her for a few years, but it was impossible to remember a time when she hadn’t been a major part of his life. He honestly didn’t care to. There had been so few people who took such a vested interest in him, who truly cared.  For all that he preferred solitude, he enjoyed her company more. Even when he said he wanted to be alone, it did not apply to her. He loved her, and he wasn’t afraid to admit that.

However, the new set of feelings that had smacked him this summer made him uncomfortable. He was afraid to admit to those because that meant that things between he and Liss could never be the same again.  He would never be able to look at her without feeling like he was suffocating, without his chest aching. And, if what Fergus said had any truth to it, and he figured it did knowing Father, he would always feel that way.  He would never be allowed to act on it. Ever.

With a mournful sigh, he flung himself down on his bed.  It was still early for sleep, but if he lay there long enough, it wouldn’t be.   He could drift off and not think about Liss and how pretty she was, or how she smelled nice, or how she smiled when she talked about her favorite books.  He also wouldn’t have to think about the hurt in her eyes when he brushed her off earlier. He would have dreamless sleep and think absolutely nothing about Elissa Cousland or how she made him want to die.  Maybe it was just a fever and he’d wake up with the tangled ball of emotions inside him gone. He rolled his eyes at himself. Unlikely.

A rapid succession of knocks at his door jolted him from his bed and he rushed to answer it.  Unfastening the lock he reached for the handle but the door burst open before he even touched it, and he took a step backward to keep it from hitting him in the nose.  Liss barged into the room and shut the door behind her, leaning against it. Her eyes were red and swollen from tears that continued to fall, and she was sniffling, trying to catch her breath.

“Liss, what’s -.” She fell forward into his arms, catching him off guard.  All the shame and embarrassment from earlier fizzled away, replaced by overwhelming concern.  He hugged her to him tightly, unsure what else he could do.

“I’m sorry to...to bother you,” she said through sobs and sniffles,”You probably don’t want me here.”

“No, it’s fine,” he reassured her, “What’s wrong?”

“After we finished swimming, Rila and I wanted to show Delilah and Thomas our spot in the garden.  You know the one?” She looked up at Nathaniel desperately, and he shook his head. He knew the one.  “While we were there, your father came to look for your brother and sister, I don’t know why - something about introducing them to some important people at dinner... “ She trailed off, tears still streaking down her face.

Nathaniel’s heart dropped like lead into his stomach.  He had an idea where this story was going, and it made him sick.  He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her out and away from him so he could look at her directly. “What did my father do, Liss?”

A look of anguish crossed her delicate features and she shook with sobs again.  He’d never seen her like this before. “He saw Rila, and he got really angry. She didn’t even do anything, but he was just so angry.  He called her a ‘knife-ear’ and told me and the others we had no business playing with ‘filth.’

“Rila ran off, and I went to find her once your Father left, but she wouldn’t listen.  She told me she hated me and never wanted to talk to me again. This is all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” Nathaniel grasped her shoulders more firmly, “She is your friend and you couldn’t have known this would happen.”

She pulled back. “But I did!  Mama and Papa have told me tons of times, but I just didn’t listen.  I’m stupid. I’m a stupid, dumb person who never listens.” She tapped her forehead repeatedly with the heel of her hand.  “Rila is never going to be my friend again.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said, almost in a whisper, and she wrapped her arms around him again.  Her hair was still damp and smelled like the outside air. He wished he knew what to say, that he was good at consoling people, but that was not a strength of his.  He wondered why she sought him out instead of her parents, instead of Fergus.

“I get it now.”  Liss’ expression hardened as she pulled away again, and she offered him a definitive nod.  “I know why you are different when he’s here. I didn’t before, not really, but I do now.”

“Father is…” He sighed. “Difficult.”

“I hate him,” Liss snapped, unapologetically.

“Sometimes... I think I might, too.”  He laughed bitterly and walked to sit on the edge of his bed. “But he’s my father, and I have to respect his wishes.”

It was staggering to think that he might hate his own father, let alone admit it out loud.  Liss walked over and sat beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder. She didn’t say a word, but she didn’t have to.  He understood the gesture well enough. He offered her his hand and she laced her fingers through his, squeezing tightly.

They sat there for several moments in heavy silence until footsteps and the voices of men were heard down the hallway.

“Rendon, I assure you Nathaniel is not having an undue influence on Elissa,” Bryce’s voice urged, “And I certainly doubt she’s in his room right now.”  He had spoken so loudly on purpose. It was a warning.

Liss and Nathaniel both startled, and they looked at each other with widened eyes, conveying their plan without any words.  She drew a finger to her lips and slid down to the floor, crawling under the bed. He hurried to busy himself, taking a book from the shelf, rushing to his desk an pretending to be intently focused on the dusty tome that was almost certainly about Mabari.

There was a gentle knock at the door. “It’s open,” Nathaniel shouted, his heart pounding in his chest.

Bryce entered first, followed by Father, who looked around the room suspiciously.  “See,” he said in the same cheerful tone Liss always used. “She’s not here.” He winked at Nathaniel discreetly.

“Yes, well.” His father approached the desk, boots clicking against the stone floor.  He placed a hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder with enough pressure that it was uncomfortable. “One can never be certain with this one.  He is always up to something.”

“Nathaniel has always been on his best behavior with us,” Bryce’s voice was happy, but his eyes looked sad.

“I am sure he is.”  He released Nathaniel’s arm and walked out of the room.  Bryce lingered behind for a moment, offering an apologetic expression before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Liss crawled out from under the bed and stood, more shyly than he had ever seen her, in the center of the room.  She had the same expression her father had worn.

“I should probably go.” She motioned toward the door with her thumb. “I don’t want to get you in trouble, too.”

Nathaniel wanted to ask her to stay, to say that he didn’t care what Father thought, that it was worth the risk because she was the only friend he had ever really had.  But he didn’t. He just hung his head and watched as she left his room, closing the door gently behind her.

[kichimiangracomics]

HAPPY NEW YEAR (And rambling)

Howdy all!  It's been a while, I haven't been bouncing up on social media as much lately.  It feels like that bought of depression happened and the minute it was gone work picked up and people at my job quite etc.

So other than that what have I been up to?  Mostly art still.  Tried to up and quit several times under duress and stress but I keep coming back anyway.  At least things will be a lot chiller for a bit (Maybe) with my job going into 'dead hours'.

BUT A COOL THING!  I modded a fountain pen to use a Hunter dip pen nib!

No more dipping!   ------------------------

I wish I had more art to show, but this year I've been working on a lot of comic projects ^^

One of which is, of course, the Candle.  It's still getting worked on, but slower because of shared limited time with my other projects...

I mean... that and I got really burned out on it... and when I get burned out the quality drops really really bad...

And when the quality drops I don't get that juice back.  It's like... I don't have fun doing ANYTHING, I have fun FINISHING things and then it converts that into energy to work on the next thing to completion.  But when I don't feel like I completed something because it doesn't look decent then no energy return -_-.  I'm not going to lie, I much prefer getting things done in hyper bulk so I wish I had stopped weekly updates after chapter 1 and then completely finished chapter two and three before returning again.  It gives time for that break from creative burnout to recoup and by the time the pages need you again you've got the groove back or did something else and are ready to go again. In the meantime I have gotten pretty good practice at inking without pencils!

Yeah yeah this ain't a spoiler!  You've all seen the chapter art, you knew they'd be here!  God I love drawing them!  The Candle will eventually return.  Just... not until Chapter 3 is done on my end, which is a bit slow going because it's art priority #3. -------------------------

Art Priority #2 is my paid work commission comic I've been working on since around the summer!  It's also slow going because it's done completely by hand with pen and paper!  I can't say much about it because I promised not to spoil anything, but I did get Permission from my commissioner :iconLepouvoirduflan: to show off my favorite out of context panels XD! I love drawing Bowsers back~!

I'm really having fun working on this project with her!  Familiar characters with a breath of fresh air, being a different plot from the Candle and all!  Having more comics to do makes each one slower, but it keeps me from burning out without the weekly time limit and the constant change of scenery! ^_^  And Lepouvoirduflan has been helping me with Art Priority #1 as well! Speaking of that... ---------------------------

Art Priority #1 is a comic I've wanted to make for a long time, it even predates The Candle and I've been working on it more seriously for the last 5 years (It probably isn't 5 years worth of good but HEY my New Years resolution for 2020 is to be less critical of my work so I can get stuff done!) but it finally feels like it's gotten to a point that it's going to happen!  A few bits of it have popped up here and there on DA and Tumblr but I think it's far enough along that I'm ready to talk about this passion project as I think it'll be coming out sometime this year! (Not that any of you are here for that, you're all here for Mario stuff! ^^')

This passion project is called Faeredoux, a combination of the word "Fae" and the french word "Redoux".  Faeredoux is... basically the same stuff Disney does.  I like the fairy tale, I take the fairy tale, I tell my own version of the fairy tale.

 I had always been told "Write what you know" but I never felt like I knew really anything. That is until a friend said "....... Why don't you like... draw a comic about fairy tales?  That time you told me about the frog Prince was hilarious!  And the Nightingale and Cinderella!  Those were cool ideas!"  And that's when it hit me... I do really love fairy tales.  I own the Grimm and Andrew Lang collection, among others, I loved those old bargain bin Disney rip offs that stayed closer to the original tale (I loved Encyclopedia Britanicas Beauty and the Beast especially!!!) and, I had a love hate relationship with a fandom I was in in 2010 for all it's fairy tale AUs that just copy paste the transcript to the Disney film.

I at least want to do the first 3 stories I had planned because they fell into place so well (And one is a revamp of itself from 2006 so an oldie!)  The first one is what I've been working on a lot recently: "Faeredoux: Glass and Gold" (Name pending because I might have a better one in mind but haven't committed yet.)

Glass and Gold is the Story of Eloise Cendres, cursed by a fairy as a child to suffer 13 years of bad luck and, should she live that long, be destined to die on the anniversary of the thirteenth year... that is unless she marries the local prince (Fairies are weird).   Now in these kinda of stories usually a maiden in need would get a knight in shining armor or a fairy god mother, but with none to be seen she chooses to summon her own!  But wait!  You don't "Summon" a fairy like that! Eloise unknowingly summons the demon Francine, who luckily has a bone to pick with a certain fairy.  Together can they get Eloise to a happily ever after?  Or when the clock strikes midnight will her world come crumbling down?

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

I guess that's really all I have except some art (Not much) that I've done... but I don't have a scanner at the moment so I guess photos it'll be?  Sometime tomorrow or now-ish?  I dunno.  Typing all this sounded like a better idea when I started. Maybe I should just go play some more Digimon World... or use my badass custom pen...

[disregardcanon]

end of year writing meme

Total Stories Written: 27

Total Words Written: 147413 Average Words Per Story: if you do the mean, then it’s 5,459 Shortest Story: the aftermath of rebirth at 338 words Longest: Paint a New Horizon at 23,673 words

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?

I wrote fewer stories than I expected, but they were far longer than I expected. I wrote a lot of 11k fics. 

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write most?

pairing: Sansa/Margaery (throwback to 2015 omg) 

genre: I don’t feel like I had a certain genre I wrote a lot of tbh. 

fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?

THE POKEMON GAMES! Like, oh my god. I wrote fanfiction about soul silver. I wrote fanfiction about POKEMON WHITE. what. the fuck. Like, technically the first fic i ever wrote was about pokemon but i never expected to do it again. 

Did you take any writing risks this year?

I wrote 2 very long asoiaf fics about difficult subject matter. Combined, they add up to more than 40 thousand words of fic. 

Do you have any fanfic or general writing goals for the new year?

Fanfiction wise, I would like to finish up some of my wips and try to improve. 

In general, I would like to figure out more what I want my writing to look like moving forward and how to go about that. I’m experiencing some growing pains, so I need to reassess my style and strategy and see what I need to readjust moving forward. 

From the past year of writing, what was your…

Best story of this year: Paint a New Horizon

This feels like a bit of a cop out since it’s the longest, but I am very firmly the most proud of this fic out of anything I wrote this year. I feel like the emotional bits were satisfying, the romance worked nicely, and the action kept me interested in a way that almost never does. I was able to commit to TWENTY THREE THOUSAND WORDS and put my ALL INTO IT! that is. monumental for me. I’ve written long fics in the past, but those were chaptered and frankly, not as good as this one was or as much work. 

I love this verse so well that I might actually go back and write more in it later when I have time. I have the beginnings of a sequel ruminating around in my drats. 

Most popular story of this year: normally I split this up into multiple categories, but by hits, kudos, OR comment threads The Times They Are a Changin’ comes out on top. The mcu fandom really went nuts over Carol and Maria, didn’t they? 

Personal favorite:

Washing Machine Heart is a fic that I hold close to my heart. 1. I wrote this one when I was on a study abroad in Latin America, which is the coolest thing that I have ever done 2. it’s just. really well done. I’ve never written something quite so messy and unpleasant in a realistic way before. It’s ugly in the way that Steven Universe: Future is ugly right now. In exactly the way that “Washing Machine Heart” should imply 3. oh god was it cathartic 

Most under-appreciated:

Maternal, Paternal at 71 kudos, I know I shouldn’t call this one “under-appreciated”, but it’s in a few VERY happening tags, in a very happening fandom with a VERY popular set of characters. I’d think that people would be more interested in reading “Endeavor is an asshole and eventually Dabi kills him” but like. it’s whateves I guess XD

Most fun to write:

We Could Be Heroes both semesters that I had during 2019 were. super fucking stressful. the only times that I’ve had that were productive for fic was January break, summer vacation, and December break. 

Last April on my birthday, though, I rewarded myself and after I got home from hanging with some friends I just sat down at my laptop and didn’t think about literally anything. I just wrote. I took a format that I knew I liked and didn’t have to think about (talk show format with an OC I already made for a different story) and then 3 characters I was very interested in then (Melissa Shield, Monica Rambeau, and Tahani Al-Jamil) and then I just. ran with it. I wrote and wrote and wrote and it was amazing. I didn’t think about it being good or about my homework or literally anything other than this talk show lady talking to these three cool characters. 

It was wonderful. 10/10 would do it again. 

Story with the single sexiest moment: 

Familiarity. It is literally the only thing I wrote this year with ANY sex in it, so it’s automatically the sexiest. Way to go Margaery you did it. 

Most “holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story:

Um. Just Souring Grapes in general. 

Most challenging to write:

Biggest disappointment:

Shouto Todoroki Joins the Supervillain Dads Club I hoped to finish this fic last year in January. It’s currently December and I haven’t been able to look at the thing since. 

I think it’s mainly because I just lost the drive, but it’s also kind of because wips stress me the fuck out. And also I had 2 stressful semesters so that doesn’t help.  Favorite character to write: my favorite characters to write this year were both Todorokis! Dabi and Fuyumi are both a joy to write, I swear

Favorite opening lines: 

Serena falls down at the kitchen table feeling as cold and distant as the room does. The harsh lines and open floor plan were supposed to show a minimalism only possible with wealth, but to Serena it's always felt empty.

A Woman’s Place

Surprisingly, Theon’s life does not change much either way after Maron is taken to the Greenlands. Balon does not magically start paying attention to him, even though he’d prayed every night to the Drowned God that he would. 

Pretty Little Thrall 

The Twins are a grand fortress spanning the width of the Green Fork. A great stone tower stands on each side of the river, with a greater bridge running in between. The Frey stable boys have taken their horses, and Jeyne walks as close to the river as she dares as they make their way to the tower. She watches the river rush beside her in awe. She’s never seen a river run so wild before. It seems like the very waters rushing beside her want to rise up and drown her themselves.

Good Family

Favorite closing lines:

That's what she gave up fighting the Kree for, and Carol will do everything that she can to bring them back. She's stopped fighting for some things, but she'll never stop fighting for this. If the times don't change on this one, she'll make them. She'll rip that gaudy fucking glove off of that bastard's grape crush colored hand and shove it up his ass if that's what it takes to get her family back.

The Times They Are a Changin’

"Alright, then. Let’s do this together,” you say, “as a team.” You think that you really like this "being friends" thing. Maybe after you beat Red, you and Silver can go to Hoenn- or Sinnoh. Unova even. Somewhere new and exciting with new people to beat. It’s nice to have a partner who’s not a Pokemon, for once. You think that, together, you could be the best trainers that ever lived.

Maybe the best friends too.

no silver medals (when you get the gold together) 

The stars spread out above you- the universe expanding outwards onwards and upwards, excelsior.

Excelsior

Other favorite lines:

What does a grape do under pressure? Grapes tend to shrivel in the sunlight. Turn to raisins, actually. She doesn’t remember what poem that was from, but she remembers reading something like that in English class once. Some poem that she didn’t understand really, and might not have gotten even if it were in Japanese. She doesn’t think that’s what she’s doing.

Does it ferment, like wine? Her father always joked about her mother aging like a fine wine, growing more beautiful every year, growing stronger. But Miné isn't gaining strength, not really. Not right now. Maybe she’s just souring, getting more and more bitter about things that she can't have. Maybe she's just souring grapes.

Souring Grapes

“The authorities confirmed that Endeavor was not even in the state during the accident, and Shouto’s doctors confirmed that the burns were consistent with boiling liquid, not an open flame.” Superman looks visibly relieved to hear that.

“But that does not mean that I trust him,” Batman says, “I would prefer to keep an eye on him.”

“Why would you want to keep an eye on him, he’s a superhero ,” Captain Marvel says, with none of The Wisdom of Solomon but all of The Innocence of a Ten Year Old, “that means that he’s a good guy, right?”

Shouto Todoroki Joins the Supervillain Dads Club

The thought stabs into his brain like a needle, like the scent of pine, like the memories he’s never wanted back. Robb was the one person who ever cared about him, and Theon betrayed him to parade around as a prince and become Ramsay Bolton’s broken little toy. He swore himself to the little boy who took him by the hand when he came to Winterfell as a scared little boy and never let go. And then Theon betrayed him.

“Theon,” the trees whisper,” Theon.” The crows in the branches take flight, cawing his name, and he feels something else take flight too. His heart, beating somewhere deep inside his chest.

“Theon,” it throbs, “Theon, Theon.”

He wants to do something, something reckless, something brave. Something that makes him redeemable.

He can’t save Robb, but he can save someone . He can save Robb’s fake sister. Theon can save Jeyne from some of her pain.

If You Believe in Me (I’ll Still Believe)

She dared a glance forward and met Margaery’s eyes- a deep, chocolate brown. They were warm and inviting and Margaery’s little curly bangs framed her face like a heart. Margaery’s head went over the back of the booth and it seemed to almost be floating against the flowery wallpaper. It looked like Margaery was lying out in a field of flowers- the Maiden gazing up at the clouds and trying to make shapes of them.

She could imagine Margaery telling her that this one is a flower, like Tyrell, and this one’s a deer, like Baratheon, and this one’s a dick, like Joffrey. She giggled nervously again and felt her cheeks flush. She’d never felt this giddy and unsteady in her whole life.

“Are you alright, Sansa?” Margaery asked cautiously. She reached across the table and laid a hand over Sansa’s own. The touch was warm and tender, and Sansa felt the blush from her toes to the tip of her head.

“I’m perfect!” Sansa nearly screeched. Margaery laughed at that, but her look was kind.

“Yes, darling,” she said with a smile that was wide and fond, “I think that you are.”

Lesbian. The word wasn’t supposed to fill her with such a warm, hopeful feeling, was it? She wiggled awkwardly in her chair, trying to get situated and stop feeling so silly and excited and vulnerable, but it didn’t fix anything. She felt Margaery’s leg brush against hers under the table. It sent a jolt through her.

Lesbian.

Sansa took a shaky breath. She thought to herself that there might be something to that.

Paint a New Horizon 

[recentanimenews]

Summer 2019 Anime, Ranked.

With the exception of Fire Force’s twelfth episode, we’ve wrapped up our coverage of the Summer 2019 season, which is just as well since we’re technically in the second week of Autumn.

Between Braverade, sesameacrylic and MagicalChurlSukui we watched and reviewed eleven shows in all (plus additional coverage from Oigakkosan, not detailed here), totaling 132 episodes, or approximately 53 hours. Without further math, here’s how we ranked those shows, and why.

11. HenSuki

RABUJOI Score: 7.00/10 MAL Score: 6.83/10

Pros: Novel premise, colorful pastel palette, likable characters, generally witty banter, risque ecchi situations that never cross hard lines of decency.

Cons: Uneven at best animation, silly central mystery that drags on too long, “twist” resolution feels like a cheat.

Verdict: An enjoyable, fluffy guilty pleasure. I try to watch one per season.

10. Lord El-Melloi II Case Files

RABUJOI Score: 7.77/10 MAL Score: 7.44/10

Pros: Built-in goodwill from Fate/Zero, always intriguing setup for cases, sumptuous setting, production, and mechanical design, stirring score, bonkers magical battles.

Cons: Excessive magical technobabble can be exhausting, conclusions to mysteries can feel contrived/arbitrary, non-Fate fanatics will end up hopelessly lost by most cameos or name-drops.

Verdict: A pale shadow of the classic upon which it’s based, but nonetheless a fun and moderately clever detective series.

9. Fire Force (Episodes 1-11 of 12)

RABUJOI Score: 7.82/10 MAL Score: 7.75/10

Pros: Gorgeously bizarre alternate-universe setting, elegant world-building, virtuoso action sequences, powerful orchestral soundtrack.

Cons: And MC who is dull and cliched within an inch of his life, Characters who go from evil-to-good (or vice versa) at the drop of a hat, a tedious central conspiracy, the potential for character bloat, frustratingly uneven gender balance, pathetic bouts of fanservice.

Verdict: A stylish show primarily about spontaneous human combustion might’ve weathered news of the horrific KyoAni arson attack, but isn’t quite good enough to watching following into the Fall.

7 (tie). How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?

RABUJOI Score: 7.83/10 MAL Score: 7.68/10 Pros: A fresh, original premise to which it remains totally devoted, marvelous comic timing in the rapid-fire, self-deprecating, fourth-wall breaking dialogue, lovable and believable MC, decent animation, one hell of an earworm OP.

Cons: Ecchi elements and a superfluous Russian chick don’t add much, some parody bits are too on-the-nose, the show loses momentum in the final couple episodes.

Verdict: The show that inspired me to get off my skinny, underdeveloped backside and actually join a gym for the first time in my life!

7 (tie). Cop Craft

RABUJOI Score: 7.82/10 MAL Score: 6.94/10

Pros: Cool reverse-Isekai-lite premise, Range Murata character design, toe-tapping OP and lively soundtrack, entertaining buddy cop dynamic, engaging fights and chases.

Cons: Lame villains, some odd narrative choices, inconsistent/unfocused direction, disappointing animation, underutilized supporting cop cast, lots of loose ends.

Verdict: A show with some good parts to work with, mostly used badly. A wasted opportunity that’s not as good as our episodes ratings indicated.

6. DanMachi II

RABUJOI Score: 8.25/10 MAL Score: 7.45/10

Pros: Appealing, charismatic characters you love to root for, amusing romantic polygons, tremendous score, superb utilization of twelve episodes to tell a variety of engaging stories with a beginning, middle and oh-so-epic end, culminating in a quiet finale that doesn’t forget its core goddess-child dynamic.

Cons: Villains’ barks prove far worse than their bites, a couple slower episodes between mini-arcs don’t really distinguish themselves, and that huge Amazoness Phryne…what the hell?! 

Verdict: After the very lame Sword Oratoria spinoff DanMachi got a proper sequel, focused on the characters we cared about, full of emotion, excitement, and good old-fashioned fantasy ass-kickin’.

5. Fruits Basket 1st Season (Episodes 14-25)

RABUJOI Score: 8.50/10 MAL Score: 8.36/10

Pros: Impeccably-rendered characters and depictions of their various psychological issues, dark and poignant flashbacks, exquisitely cozy slice-of-life, a good balance of the mundane and the mystic, and hard-hitting cathartic scenes.

Cons: Some members of the Souma family are more interesting (and tolerable) than others, but even the less interesting ones get plenty of screen time, Tooru’s saintly selflessness can wear thin at times.

Verdict: A beautifully-crafted second half that rewarded patience by delivering some of the strongest and most moving episodes of the year.

4. Master Teaser Takagi-san 2

RABUJOI Score: 8.58/10 MAL Score: 8.40/10 Pros: Truly magnetic chemistry in the central pair, Deft use of subtle facial expressions and body language in the animation, superb performances by Takahashi Rie and Kaji Yuki.

Cons: Like the first season, the various teasing games can grow repetitive, as can Nishikata’s denseness and inability to see more than one or two moves ahead, the side stories involving side characters often felt like padding.

Verdict: Continues and refines the brilliantly simple teasing formula of the first season, while ever-so-gradually blurring of the line between teasing and flirting. A sweet and touching, slow-burn portrayal of young, awkward first love.

2 (tie). Vinland Saga (Episodes 1-12)

RABUJOI Score: 8.67/10 MAL Score: 8.57/10

Pros: Flawed but rootable MC whose character is more complex than it initially seems, his multi-layered antihero mentor, exemplary action and battle sequences, powerful score, compelling exploration of the hard old world, with enticing glimmers of a brighter new one.

Cons: That said mentor would keep a kid dedicated to murdering him around so long stretches credulity at times, those battle sequences sometimes feature individuals or groups doing superhuman things that detract from the otherwise naturalistic milieu.

Verdict: While not quite as big, loud, epic, or bonkers as Attack on Titan, or Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Vinland Saga is arguably Wit Studio’s most balanced and human series. Looking forward to the second half.

2 (tie). Astra Lost in Space

RABUJOI Score: 7.77/10 MAL Score: 7.44/10

Pros: Very well done futuristic world- and space-building, a large-ish main cast that you steadily come to know and love, the sense of family that arises from the crewmembers’ experiences together, an optimistic spirit of exploration that isn’t constantly beset by mortal peril, creative planets and lifeforms, thankfully subverted expectations for a Lerche-style bloodbath.

Cons: “Character gets a backstory” formula to some episodes felt repetitive at times, the crew almost faces too little mortal peril considering their circumstances, they similarly rely on a lot of luck, some major plotlines and twists could have been left out and still resulted in a pretty strong show.

Verdict: Maybe the season’s biggest surprise hit, the ambitious Astra calls to mind some of the best of live-action shades-of-gray sci-fi (Firefly, Battlestar, Expanse) while maintaining an old school optimistic, exploratory outlook. It set out to do and say a lot, and was mostly successful in doing so.

1. O Maidens in Your Savage Season

RABUJOI Score: 8.58/10 MAL Score: 8.40/10 Pros: Fearlessly tackles tough social topics on adolescence, sexuality, gender roles, upbringing, and abuse, ably juggles multiple, diverse love stories and triangles at once, pleasingly drawn and animated, and despite all its serious themes, doesn’t leave out the comedy.

Cons: What seemed to be an irreversible dive into an abyss that would tear the five girls apart, they work almost everything out almost too easily for a tidier ending than expected; while the show dips a toe in LGBTQ themes through Momo’s awakening, her’s is one of the least developed arcs despite being one of the most interesting.

Verdict: A rare-for-anime honest and unblinking exploration of the awkward, painful, and sometimes savage emotional journey to adulthood all kids must face (and not always at the same speed). By the numbers, the best show I watched this Summer, and the one I looked forward too most from week to week.

Summer 2019 Big Board:

By: rabujoistaff

[vanilla-blessing]

Why you should check out summer 2019 anime despite my previous blog post

I was mostly wrong about this season here’s qb’s revised

Hype rankings for Summer 2019

Cop Craft (Funimation)

COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED is the biggest surprise of the season for me. Coming from Millepensee, the studio and director team known for such Art as Teekyuu seasons 4-9 and Berserk 2016, this extremely sincere and wildly stupid Americanized take on anime fantasy adventure colliding with a hard-boiled cop drama is surprisingly highly enjoyable to watch for both intended and unintended reasons. 

The intended appeal of COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED hinges on a well-realized mashup of genres from a long running novel series, the buddy-cop teamup of an anime girl with a magical sword and a gruff but kind-hearted cop, and the dramatic thrill of one of the weirder spinoffs of law&order. The show promises an interesting setting where a magical portal ring to the fairy forest where anime-chans are real has naturally slotted into the organized crime of a New Yorkish city, resulting in a fresh take on well-trodden ground, and it actually kind of succeeds at this. In practice, watching loose cannon cops shoot guns at wizards while busting a drug ring who sling fairy dust is maybe the dumbest thing I’ve seen in years, but the story is so overly detailed, thought out, and delivered without an ounce of irony, unlike the recent terrible movie from Netflix that also attempted to do this premise almost word for word, that it wraps around to legitimately compelling. It also helps that this anime adaptation is being scripted by the novel’s author.

The unintended benefit of watching COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED is partly how completely absurd the words they are saying appear in English, producing some of the funniest out of context screenshots imaginable, the animation in execution ratchets between cool, frenetic action that contains distinct shades of a certain tennis club, and the hysterically awful cg that you’ve come to expect and love from the only team capable of producing Berserk 2016. When it’s good, it’s good, and when it’s bad, it’s incredible. 

In short, COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED is a two-for-one deal of the best of both bad and good anime. It’s also getting an English dub by Funimation and I can’t even imagine how good literally any line read from that will be.

The Demon Girl Next Door (Hidive, VRV) 

Despite my earlier protests, this is actually totally fine, good even. It avoids the fanservice problem I predicted completely and instead sets a relaxed comedic tone that quietly highlights small gags in a way that feels natural, which sounds impossible but they found the only director who could pull it off (Hiroaki Sakurai, known for some quite good comedies like Cromartie High School and Majokko Tsukune-chan). The content is actually pretty funny when delivered in a non-hyperactive way, since a story about a girl who is bullied into making friends after her family circumstances tell her to murderize a magical girl, told naturally, hits that level of low surrealism that works. Her friends also take this in stride, encouraging her to use this as an opportunity to go out more, open up socially, and suffer for their amusement. The magical girl in question, after heroically saving Yuko from being run over by a truck, also encourages her to defeat her and drain all of her blood, because Shadow Mistress Yuko is so much of a non-threat that Momo takes advantage of their impending ultimate confrontation to trick her into being her gym buddy. It takes place in a post-season magical girl anime landscape where the world has already been saved, normal people are used to weird episodic junk, and hitting demon puberty just another thing your friends will tease you over. 

It still probably shouldn’t be full episode length, but it actually does something with that length, and is definitely the least painful iteration of this kind of slower, long-form comedy that you don’t usually see in anime because it’s usually a terrible idea. Predicting this would end up like other entries in the incredibly cursed magical girl parody genre was a safe bet, but this anime is the rare exception and it’s actually worth checking out. 

Given (Crunchyroll, VRV) is on the noitamina block and it’s about boys in a rock band who might become more than friends. You’ve probably tuned out at this point and you’d be right because you know exactly the tone and style of this from that description but it’s executed well and written well and directed okay, so if you’d like this sort of thing try it out. There’s an interesting range of ages (the band has members in high school, college, and graduate school), a fun sense of humor, and the music is a standout in a season that has Carole and Tuesday in it, so that’s something.  

I forgot to mention Fruits Basket (Crunchyroll, VRV, Funimation) in my last post because i didn’t know it was continuing. It’s hitting its “stride” in being massively depressing so check that out still. It’s tragic and great. 

Granbelm (Crunchyroll, VRV) is a magical girl show I watched on a whim and turns out it’s actually a magical mecha battle royale. The color scheme is overly bright and the mechs look squashed, but it has girls snarling and yelling their heads off summoning beam swords so it’s different from what I expected. It’s got a G-Gundam energy with the multiregional cast and how the mecha fights are playing out, so if you’re fans of that, and magical girl, this is both at once. The second episode introduced a unique motivation for the main character, that piloting the mech helped her get over crushing nihilism, and I want to see where that goes, if at all. Combining the sometimes bleak and fun-sucking writing of overly dark and philosophical magical girl with what I can only describe as Domon Kasshu energy is a choice and I would like to see where Granbelm is going with that.

Misc variable hype list

O Maidens in Your Savage Season (Hidive) 

This looks gorgeous and it may be the most Mari Okada thing ever written, move over Dragon Pilot, but the manga has some uncomfortable elements that would translate poorly to anime, in terms of keeping me watching it.

Crunchyroll actually did pick up Symphogear AXZ and XV, against my pessimistic attitude. 

Ensemble Stars (Funimation) is okay.

Fire Force’s animation is fire af but the girl who lives in her own hellish fanservice series is about to be introduced and this part of the series is kind of slow so it would take a lot of effort to elevate the material until it gets to the “good stuff”. David production seems willing to give it their best shot though, so we’ll see.

Vinland Saga started slow, quiet, chronological and ultimately strong, but it took multiple episodes to get there, which is why they aired 3 episodes in the first week. I think I still prefer the high octane opening chapter of the manga, but they’ll get there soon enough so it’ll be a non-issue in a few months anyway. I recommended this before and I still do. WIT studio is clearly playing for the longer game, setting themes that encompass the whole series first rather than the fleeting themes of watch the bad ass viking slice the mans, but it is currently missing the energy people associated with that opening volume or two. It will probably pay off though.

[tawneybel]

Because I mentioned I was going to eventually get rid of my old shower curtain, my mom surprised me and got me an Edward Gorey one. Gashlycrumb Tinies! 

One of the recent ghost books on ghost I read mostly just (intentionally or not) taught me how to fake spooky sh*t at seances but in the entry on mirrors it mentioned looking into one at night was considered bad luck. But that’s kind of hard to avoid. I already knew using candlelight to look into a mirror is considered to be unlucky but I think a cellphone’s flashlight doesn’t count. Anyway, going to the bathroom at night is going to be spookier. :D 

Life’s been kind of hectic lately, mostly due to things outside of my control. I want to get a new job this summer. And fix my sleeping schedule. I’ve been getting stress dreams again for the first time in a while. I don’t count a bad dream as a nightmare unless I wake up terrified but it still sucks. Going to ask my doctor if melatonin is a good idea.  

My dog (see above) had a nasty cough after getting knocked out for some dental surgery, which is supposed to be normal, but it lasted for a while so we took her to the vet. And it turns out that the reason she was scratching on my door every night to be let outside was because of a UTI. She’s doing better now. 

Mm, there’s a lot more things to talk about but I’ll save that for another post. 

The Dark Knight: There was a scene where a bunch of men got their uniforms stolen and they were tied up and g*gged. I watched the trilogy out of order. To be honest, I get kind of bored watching these but the villains are cool. Bane’s darling but now that I’ve seen Venom I prefer Eddie Brock. Jonathan Crane is kind of cute, too. 

Now I finally get why people like the Joker so much. He gives not a single f*ck. So many things could go wrong at any moment during his plans, he relies so much on luck, but he has so much confidence. I feel like if tried to slide down a hill of money I would hurt myself. The best scene was the Joker walking quickly out and away from the hospital. Also, the bank heist in the beginning. 

Crimson Peak started to get good when Edith and Lucille were having the butterfly discussion and ended up being better paced than I thought it would be. But after Carter got his head smashed in, I’m not sure why Edith would go with Thomas after that. 

Gothic horror is actually fun to learn about in school because the genre’s progenitors would probably be into yandere and monster f*cking. It’s like... In the first art history class I took, we were looking at Renaissance paintings and there was a fair amount of stuff with a de*th and the maiden motif. The modern equivalent would be a lot of metal album covers.

Brain Damage: I was looking for infestation movies and I’m so glad I stumbled upon this. Not because it’s particularly good but ‘cause the MC is super cute. Basically the talking leechy thing pumps Brian full of an addictive fluid through the the back of his neck and they have a faux symbiotic relationship where Aylmer gorily eats other people’s brains.

There was a scene where Brian’s brother answers the phone lying on his stomach in his und*rwear. Followed by a scene where Brian takes his pants off and you see his t*sh. Also a very brief M/F/M thr*some dream that gets gruesome real quick. 

The Stuff: If you’re into The Blob, you’ll probably like this. The mode of killing is a bit different. Stuff’s alive and controls people from the inside. 

A Cure for Wellness: Shout out to his movie for showing n*ked/scantily clad old people without getting weird about it. Within the first half hour I was surprised when it didn’t do well at the box office. The visuals draw you in but it was probably too long and could have been better. I wasn’t expecting to it get kind of fantastical. It’s got existentialism, surrealism, mystery... Uhhhh... I’m not sure whether to classify it as fantasy or sci fi. 

Venom: Hits so many k*nks. Dan’s cute, Anne has good taste in men. Carlton Drake gets symbioted. Actually, I’m not sure if he or Eddie is sexier. The first guy to get possessed in the Eminem video is also cute. Best line is Venom saying, “Look at her. She has no idea we are going to get her back.” The Rorschach-like ending credits were cool. 

Sleepaway Camp: Before I watched this, I already knew the ending. Sort of. To be honest, I expected “Angela” to be an offensive portrayal of a trans woman but the situation was more like David Reimer, minus g*nital m*tilation. The ending itself... Aunt Martha may not have gone on a murder spree but she’s the scariest person in the film. Otherwise I wouldn’t have said there’s anything terribly special about this film. Based on the synopsis of the sequel, I’m probably not going to watch the rest of the franchise. 

Hell Fest: Pretty typical modern slasher but the atmosphere is great. It was also funny. I’m just gonna use bullet points for this.

“You know what? He deserves at least some dignity after death.” “Let’s give him a b*ner.” 

When asked if he mentioned something about having a f*tish for p*ddles, Gavin answers, “I have never said that in my entire life.”

Why did Asher get hotter while he was struggling and getting stabbed in the eyeball?

It took me a minute to recognize Tony Todd. Sad. 

Men in Black II: At no point in the film did Serleena, who is capable of transformation and has tentacles, transform into a male und*rwear model. :’( 

Fullmetal Alchemist: (The manga.) A military fantasy that raises some good questions about ethics. And dat solar aesthetic. The chimera designs were so cool. Envy is a cruel, skimpily dressed shapeshifter with a grotesque “true form” and Lin gets willingly possessed by Greed. So that’s right up my alley. 

Break My Heart 1,000 Times: Good time to read this. It takes place in February. Read this because I Still See You has Richard Harmon. The book started off decently but I didn’t like the protagonist’s behavior near the end of part three. And there’s some sexism. Like hysterically slapping her love interest and blaming herself for not having any weapons in her room because she’s a girl. Seriously, I keep a bigass King James Bible on my nightstand. If anyone breaks in, they’re getting brained by the Good Book. Or a lamp. Or the nightstand itself. But hopefully my dog would maul an intruder first. 

Christine: Wasn’t really into it but you might be if you’re into corruption, e.g. a nerdy guy becoming slightly more physically appealing jerk*ss. 

The 100: I got teary-eyed when Clarke and Lexa were saying goodbye and then the latter accidentally gets short. Poor Murphy can’t catch a break, as usual. Started season four the other day. 

Hostel: DUMB REASON TO GO “OUT OF BOUNDS”, FELLAS.

Going into this, I thought I’d like Jay Hernandez’s character the most but then I found the other guys cuter until the end then I really liked Paxton. Weirdly enough, I found Alexei cute. There’s decent whump but I’m not into v*mit. 

I think I saw an ad with the guy who tortured Paxton when I was in elementary school but I mistook it for something from one of the Saw movies. This was obviously before I had any interest in watching these kinds of movies. XD  

Songs of the Day: I’ve been listening to a lot of Dead inside the Chrysalis/Dedderz lately... I’m crushing on Manek Deboto. He should be the one wearing a th*ng in the She’s So Rad music vid! If they ever do  “He’s So Rad” they should include Elm Street’s Jesse Walsh and Brian from Brain Damage...

[rwdestuffs]

Done dirty: Yang.

Because I guess her having an entire hate group dedicated to her on deviantart isn’t enough to make the writers to think that maybe they should actually develop her and cut her some slack.

Hey everyone, and welcome to ‘Done dirty’ the blog series that takes a look at these characters, and shows how they’ve failed at being characters, or at least the ones that the writers have tried to tell us that they are.

And Yang is a perfect example of this.

See, Yang was meant to be a deconstruction of the party girl trope. This means she loves fun, and doesn’t take things seriously.

If that sounds nothing like Yang, then congratulations!- You clearly know the difference between what was told and what was shown.

The Yang/Yellow trailer shows Yang going to a nightclub and wrecking the place because she didn’t get the information she wanted. While her going to a nightclub seems to be all that is needed for her to fulfill the party girl trope for the writers, it really isn’t enough for the viewers. Here’s an idea: How about we open on Yang on the dance floor, and when she does a minor offense (Like spilling someone’s drink while she’s dancing), the guy she offended attacks her, and she defends herself.

Not only would this give Yang a valid reason to fight, but it would also show that she was there for a good time, only to have it ruined because some asshole didn’t accept an apology.

Instead, she walks up to Junior, skipping the dance floor entirely, and demands that Junior give her the information that she wants. Such a ‘party girl’ am I right?- Then she assaults him for not giving it to her, and wrecks the place!

She doesn’t even face any consequences for wrecking the place! Some of the fanfics I’ve read have the excuse being that Junior doesn’t want any attention from the police, as he associates with criminals. But that doesn’t work because a) This isn’t conveyed well enough to the audience and is pretty much moot, and b) Yang tends to not do this often.

Volume 1 rolls around, and she’s giving her sister a big hug. But once they touch down, she immediately ditches Ruby to hang out with her shadow friends!- But not only that, they establish in the very next episode that Yang was like a mother figure for Ruby, so this contradicts what happened because on one hand, the first part makes us think that Yang is actually a party girl, like the writers intended, but the second part…

… Establishes her as a motherly figure. She wants Ruby to break out of her shell, and meet new people, as established in the next episode.

and she does this even further by not actively looking for Ruby, so that she can help her little sister break out of her shel- She doesn’t at all. If you���ve been following, Yang is really contradictory in the first volume.

Party girl tendencies?- Practically nonexistent. Motherly figure to Ruby?- Only when the plot calls for it. Wanting to help Ruby grow?- Doesn’t even apply to the following episode. Cares about her partner?- She doesn’t even run off trying to chase and stop her after Blake runs off.

There’s no consistency about Yang in volume 1 because at this point, she’s just a pretty face who punches things. At least she’s strategic about it, as she came up with the idea of blasting the Nevermore from the inside on her own and didn’t just recklessly shoot it from the ground in a fruitless manner (remember this for me, would you?)

Volume 2 gave her some personality. She makes puns! Oh I get it! It’s just like Barbara!- Oh that’s clever.

Yeah, the start wasn’t good to Yang, but she provides some interesting things to say, and she manages to get Blake to calm down with a heartfelt speech about how she should have died when she went out to look for Raven, yadda yadda, we know how the end went.

She dances with Blake for… about what?- five seconds of screentime?

Then she doesn’t dance with anyone else.

And when we get to Mountain Glenn, she provides some pretty neat exposition on the location.

And people keep saying that she’s a ‘dumb blonde.’- HA!

Like… the other things. I mean, she blocks, dodges and weaves in all the fights she’s in (remember that for me).

She also nearly rings out Mercury, and that’s actually pretty brilliant. She almost threw the entire plan of Cinder out the window, and she didn’t even realize it. It’s actually a pretty cool fight.

And we know how it ends, so let’s talk about the consequences of the fight.

There are none. Sure, she gets disqualified, but that’s hardly anything. We finally had Yang in a position that she couldn’t punch her way out of, and the writers didn’t capitalize on it. This would have been a perfect opportunity for the Yellow trailer to come back and bite her, but we don’t get that. We don’t get to see Yang developing from bad social stigma. We don’t get to see people flinching away at her, or being on edge because they’re afraid of making her mad, we just see her uncle calling her crazy.

Right… The guy who fought a person who could distort what they were seeing being at the tournament is totally never going to happen. It’s not like Qrow once fought a person with that ability when he was trailing the fall maiden.

But really, the biggest insult of all comes from the audience, when Yang got her arm cut off. After the initial shock, we got treated to people saying that “She deserved it” “Now she won’t be so reckless” and ‘She should have waited!”

Right. Because obviously, if that were said viewer’s friend in that same situation, they would have waited too. There was no reason for Yang to believe that Adam would step away from Blake, there was no reason for her to know that Blake had enough aura to use her semblance, and there was no reason for Yang to wait around and strategize. If she did, then I’m positive that the fans would say “Why did she wait?- She put Blake in danger by waiting! She should have rushed in!”- Effectively blaming Yang for losing her arm, and putting her in a no-win situation.

Then we have Volume 4. Oh boy, how to deconstruct this piece of shit.

Let’s start with the positives of Yang’s arc.

It starts off really well. Yang’s PTSD is portrayed realistically, and she finds it hard to function as she once did. She acknowledges that she has to get used to this, and her nightmares feel very real.

Tai doesn’t blame her for not wanting to put on the arm, and that’s actually pretty good. He’s not guilt tripping her……… yet.

We go to a later part, and we now see that Tai actually does blame Yang for losing her arm.

WHO. THE FUCK. WANTED THIS. JOKE?- Who thought that this was an okay thing to say to a person who lost their limb on the battlefield?

Not only does this show that Tai blames Yang for losing her arm, but it also carries the implication that Tai would have let his teammates suffer through death had he been in Yang’s shoes. And then Yang has to diffuse the situation.

If this was how they functioned, then Yang would have shot back with something equally as scathing. But why should I think that Tai knows how to parent when he was stated to have ‘shut down’ after Summer died?

There is no reason to. Tai was a shitty parent not only in that scene, but in the past as well. And yet, the narrative still seems to want to shit on Yang some more.

Yep. comparing losing a limb and getting PTSD from it to a fear of mice. I guess that’s something you’d see if you only read the cliff notes of the cliff notes on how to write PTSD.

And remember how I said that Tai hadn’t guilt-tripped Yang into putting on the arm?

……… Yeah, it didn’t last long. Whether he intended to or not, Tai guilt-tripped Yang into putting on the arm. And the narrative still makes Tai out to be in the right in this situation.

This is only like… four or five episodes after she lost the arm, by the way. This makes the whole drama of her losing it totally pointless. How about she loses that feeling of invincibility by just having Adam defeat her in a brutally-drawn-out manner, and then she collapses from exhaustion? Not only would this provide an explanation as to why Blake managed to save her (she could recover enough aura in the time they were fighting), but it would also instill a deeper fear of Adam. And it would also make it so that it didn’t feel like the writers half-assed and rushed the PTSD arc so that they could get Yang back into action. But we don’t get that.

And do you want to know the worst part about the training session?- It’s not when he makes unfair comparisons to Raven. It’s not when he implies that Yang’s fighting style isn’t his fault (despite him being her teacher). It’s when he outright calls her semblance, the manifestation of her soul, a temper tantrum.

Real father of the year material right here. Yeesh, and people wonder why I don’t like Tai. And that line “What if you miss?”- That’s not an actual argument. That’s like asking Ruby “What if you miss with your scythe?”- It applies to everyone, not just Yang. So Tai saying that just feels like the writers couldn’t find a flaw in Yang’s fighting style, so they went with the most generic and useless concept they could think of: The possibility of missing.

Gasp! That’s right! What if Yang does miss?- She could be left about as vulnerable as……… any time that she’d miss before charging her semblance! How about focusing on how she’s predictable instead? Or how she doesn’t think of incorporating kicks into her fighting style? Was that too hard?

Volume 5 is slightly better to Yang, but not by much. For starters, Qrow apparently decided that after only knowing three-fourths of them for about two months, that team RNJR needed to know everything about Raven, despite the fact that Yang’s been asking for at least a decade.

And while the arm shaking is nice to see, it feels… tacked on. As if the writers decided to throw it in because they realized that Yang didn’t have many lines back in the Volume that shall not be named. It doesn’t seem like a genuine effort to actually show the trauma, it just feels really forced.

Yang beats up some bandits by……… doing what she’s been doing. Blocking, dodging, weaving, and getting in close to her opponent. She doesn’t deliberately take hits like she did in that one single fight we saw back in volume 2, and it just shows that Tai (and the writers) knew absolutely nothing about Yang’s fighting style.

She confronts her mother, and instead of getting the answers she wanted, the writers threw out that motivation in favor of her demanding that Raven send her to Mr. “I fought a person with the ability to alter a person’s perception but it’s impossible that Yang was under that influence when she kneecapped that Mercury kid who shares a name with that one assassin named Marcus Black.” (Can you tell that I’m not happy with any of the male authority figures in Yang’s life?).

Also also, we don’t see that shopkeep from earlier being wary of Yang. So either word got out that there were some shenanigans going on at the tournament, or people in this world are really forgetful. Considering that Emerald later forgot about her semblance and the “Pulling Coco  using her weapon’s chains back  in Volume 3″ feat, the latter is pretty likely.

And I guess to Yang and pretty much everyone else in the world, Ozpin possessing a kid, dragging him into a war, and eventually assimilating him takes a lower priority than him giving Qrow and Raven bird powers. Granted, this is a problem with everyone, but Yang is the one who brought up the bird thing.

Unfortunately, she seems to have forgotten that she once described Summer as

Because now, Summer is now just

Thankfully, Yang shows some human emotion, and talks about how she’s always been abandoned.

It’s really great to see a character actually talking about their issues, and- waitaminute. Tai was what?

And she had to what?

And she was what?

So, we’re all in agreement that Tai isn’t ‘dad of the year’ material, right?- The guy left Yang alone to pick up the pieces, and forced her to grow up really quickly. Albeit, he did this unintentionally, but he still did it. And the narrative just doesn’t ever bring this up. There’s very little resentment towards him outside of Yang calling her father by his name, and nobody seems to want to talk about this?

She shows some human emotion and is convinced that she should at least try to understand why Blake left, but considering all she’s been through……… I can’t help but blame her for wanting someone to be there for her.

Later in the volume, Weiss gets impaled. And like a lot of people in RWDE discussed before, only jaune gets to react to it.

And Yang abandons her arm when she’s told to go after Raven. Like……… why? There’s a time and a place for brute force, and that was a time and a place for it. What was she going to do if Cinder had won?- Ask nicely for her to not take the relic?

Her speech to Raven also feels empty. She wasn’t brave coming down to that vault, she was reckless. She wasn’t thinking ahead, and she wasn’t using what she had available to her. I dare say that it was Taiyang’s advice that made her think to abandon the arm.

And can we talk about how jaune was rewarded for rushing in to fulfill his revenge boner, while Yang was punished for wanting to save Blake?- Again, nobody is saying that jaune had no right to those emotions. But the narrative, characters (specifically Tai), and a few audience members seem to believe that Yang was in the wrong for wanting to save her friend, while saying that jaune was in the right for wanting revenge.

[maggiewritesthings-blog]

Blooming: 7

Fandom: Final Fantasy 4 Genre: Character Study, ongoing Warnings: N/A Characters: Rosa Farrell, Cecil Harvey, Cid Pollendina

Rosa had stayed true to her word, writing a letter every day that Cecil was gone. Her fingertips were lightly stained by the quill ink, but she had slipped each note under his door. She knew exactly which soldier’s quarters were his, and with all of the Red Wings deployed for their patrol of the western mountains, she didn’t have to sneak past anyone to deliver the little envelopes.

On the tenth note, she walked away from the Dark Knight barracks with a sigh on her lips, one hand reaching up to rub at the back of her neck. There was still another half hour until she was due back to the White Mage clinic for her next medical shift.

She remembered the way Cecil’s lips felt over her own. How warm his hand had been on her waist. How easy it was to lean on him and find support. He had left the morning after the ball, finding his first assignment left him no time to celebrate.  Rosa worried about him-- about Kain as well, though he and the Dragoons had already returned home from the Eastern Mountains-- and she wondered. Every idle moment had was filled with wondering.

Her fingers curled into the wisps of honey hair at her nape, tugging lightly to wake herself up. She looked to the sky, a clear blue with the crisp whites of scattered clouds. A good day for flying, should any airships be departing or arriving today.

‘I’ll miss you too, Rosa.’

“But do you miss me as your friend, or as...” she muttered under her breath and the whispered memory of that night. It kept circling around her mind, never giving her a moment of rest. Only anxiety and longing. It was only a matter of time before the other white mages began to notice her pining. At least they would not know who she pined for... wanting the king’s ward was not a good place to be in.

Rosa dragged her feet across the castle grounds, moving from the western wings to the center, where she caught sight of Cid-- always welcome company. “Cid! Working on anything fun today?” she asked.

The engineer grinned like the toothy bear he was and set his course for Rosa. She was growing taller than him-- though it was not a hard feat. Rumor had it that Cid was part Dwarf, which would explain his untameable beard and stouter stature.

“New transport ship,” he bragged. “She’s a beauty, Rosa! Can hold up to fifty passengers this one, with lodgings. Can you imagine overnight trips to Troia? Fabul? Even Eblan, if their damned king would open their borders!”

Rosa’s eyes widened. “That sounds amazing... They wouldn’t have to stop for fuel with all those people on board?”

“Not a bit! Airships can go long distances on steam alone when they have no cannons. Take out the guns and boom! You’ve got a tourist ferry. Or a trading ferry. Any kind of ferry, really, as long as the load is right.”

Such a ship would be immensely prosperous for Baron. As a military might, none would question them, but being strong was not everything. King Odin didn’t seem to prioritize cultural exchange very much, but his people did. They wanted the fine silks of Damcyan and the music of Troia.

“I would love to ride one someday,” Rosa told him with a smile. It was easier to throw herself into the facade of happiness than to admit to Cid the circles she was thinking in.

“Lassie, you’ll be invited to the inaugural trip!” Cid bellowed with a laugh. “You’re practically family, my girl, you and Cecil both. Hell, even Kain can come along, if I can get to crack a laugh just once--”

Rosa gulped and glanced away. What was the time? She didn’t know, but her hand went back to her neck, rubbing and pulling on her nape’s wispy hair again.

“That sounds lovely... But I think I’m due at the clinic soon. Tell me more later?” she offered.

Cid’s eyes narrowed slightly from behind his goggles. “...Aye, lassie, we’ll talk later. But probably not for long. You know, the Red Wings are docking back in today.”

Green eyes flew open wide and her attention snapped back to Cid. “They are?”

“Aye. Just before supper. I imagine you’ll be finishing your shift around the same time. That’s mighty convenient, don’t ya think?”

Rosa nodded, but began walking once more, heading into the castle towards the clinic. “I should get to work! Who knows what the Red Wings might need when they get back!”

As she fled down the staircase to the mage’s chambers, Cid smirked and muttered, “I suspect one, in particular, will need quite a lot from you, lassie.”

The hours at the clinic flew by, and yet still ticked too slowly. The evening sun was setting when Rosa hung up her mage’s mantle and wrapped her own sheer cloak over her shoulders. Waist-tied skirts hung in loose layers of folds and fringe around her thighs and knees. As she rushed to leave the mage’s quarters, she paused by a mirror, making sure her bodice wasn’t askew. It was fitted, a more form-hugging style than she usually wore.

The thin straps of the bodice sat wide on her shoulders, and it occurred to Rosa just how masculine her shoulders looked. They were wide, muscular, from so many years of archery. Even now, it was a sport she kept up, even if she wasn’t in the military ranks. She had never noticed until now--

Are they ugly? Does Cecil think they’re too big?

Rosa huffed, shaking her head at herself. She felt like an idiot. Cecil was her friend, just because he had kissed her before he went on his first mission in the field meant nothing. Soldiers did things like that often, it was a fragile effort to hold onto their own mortality. An overly romantic ideal of ‘going out’ with a maiden’s taste on their lips.

Rosa flung the gossamer and lace of her cloak over her shoulders, wrapping it like a wide scarf over them before she hurried up the stairs and into the castle proper. Kain had returned four days ago and gotten his own homecoming greeting-- his mother and Rosa’s had made a feast and the Farrells and Highwinds had celebrated together, toasting Kain’s bravery all night. It was Cecil’s turn to be welcomed home, and rosa was determined to make up for his own lack of parents tonight.

As she rounded the corner at the top of the staircase, she stopped in her tracks, staring at the line of Dark Knights who left the King’s recieving room.

Their armor all glistened with abysmal ebony and streaks of purple, red, blue. The horns came off of their form-fitting helms like a demon’s might, with their faces obscured by visors and mouth guards alike. One of her hands lifted to rest against her collarbone, brows pursing together as she struggled to identify Cecil in their orderly lines.

Many passed by her without a second glance, but one of them hesitated, straining to see her around the inky silhouettes of the other knights. His arm seemed to itch, wanting to wave her down, but could not until he was dismissed from his ranks. His head jerked to the side, gesturing silently to the west courtyard.

Rosa focused on him. Red. Cecil’s armor was lined in red, and it looked darker than it had at his knighting ceremony. Stained somehow. But she nodded, understanding his meaning. She lifted a hand with five splayed fingers-- five minutes-- for him.

“Handsome, huh?” a voice asked at her ear. Rosa jumped, but found that the other white mages had filed up the stairs as well, each of them smirking wide rivers of clever observation. Emillia, with pink hair cropped short around her ears, began to nudge Rosa’s side teasing her. “Cecil’s in there, huh~?”

“Oh stop,” Rosa insisted, though her cheeks flushed pink. “We’ve been friends since I was four. I just want to know how his first mission went. I’m proud... like a mother or a sister would be.”

Wilfred scoffed, lowering his mage robes’ hood. “Right, sure, a sister. You definitely look at him like a sister.”

Gretta giggled, the last mage to come up from their shift, her voice snorting in amusement. “Be nice, Wil! She’s young, you must be easy with her.”

Rosa’s face tinted a brighter and brighter hue, her embarrassment rising. Was it that obvious? She thought she had hidden the pining well, the questioning she’d been circling around in her head.

“I know, I know... I’m sorry, Rosa,” Wil told her, giving a one-armed hug in apology. He was the oldest mage on Rosa’s clinic team, with a wife and newborn child of his own at home. He wasn’t the eldest mage in all of the program, but he liked to act like he was a middle-aged wizard sometimes. “It's just that I know you’ve been crushing on him for some time. Young love is beautiful.”

Rosa blinked in surprised. “For... a while? I have?” Hearing it aloud made her see it, in little snippets and moments. How easy it was to lean on Cecil, how physical they tended to be with one another. How much she loved his company and could handle the heavy stares of the dark knights if it meant she could watch Cecil spar and train in the hot summer sun.

How much she had been thinking about that kiss for the past ten days.

“...Maybe I have,” she whispered under her breath, hands finding one another and beginning to worry. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Gretta and Emillia both nudged her. “Go find him, See how that mission went. I’m sure you’re the first person he wants to see.”

Rosa doubted it, but she smiled all the same and made her goodbyes to the other mages. With flighty steps, she navigated her way to the west courtyard of the castle grounds, where the Dark Knights trained and worked. She hesitated in the stone archway that led to it. The stone work was intricately carved of granite and obsidian as if the darker bricks and slabs made it easier for the Dark Knights to work. She leaned her back on one wall, feeling the cool rocks against her back and letting out a sigh. Cecil must have gone to change from his armor, she couldn’t see him outside. 

“Stop being silly... you’re just his friend--” she muttered to herself, eyes closing as she did. For some reason, the stone archway smelled clean like a stream, yet it had not rained in over a week.

“Rosa--” Cecil spoke. Somehow he had managed to sneak up on her, despite the armor he still wore. His helmet was off, but the rest of his suit still hugged his skin. It almost looked tight, but that was the nature of Dark Knight armor. It was meant to mold to its wearer, become one with the warrior. A frightening thought.

“Cecil,” she breathed, eyes opening and posture straightening. Her cheeks blazed once again, yet she smiled. “How was it? How was your mission?”

“Fine! It was fine, I promise, no injuries this time. I got lucky, only had to fight a few fliers,” he told her. His pale skin looked flushed too, like hers, but Rosa couldn’t tell if that was left over from his helmet or not. “I see you kept your word. Ten letters exactly, each and every day.”

“Hahah--” Rosa chuckled, trying to make light of the too-sentimental gesture. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have cluttered your room like that.”

Cecil leaned forward, very briefly letting his lips brush against hers. “Don’t be, I’m going to enjoy reading them later.”

Rosa felt her heart jump right into her throat, lungs clenching. Her hands gripped at her drapery skirt, a gasp on her lips. “Wh... what was that for?”

Now she knew his cheeks weren’t flushed from the armor.

“I’m sorry, I should have asked. I just... Before I left...” he stumbled over the right words. As well as Cecil could articulate himself in the castle, when discussing matters with the King or the generals, he had yet to discover a means of perfectly articulating his own feelings.

Somehow, she knew what he wanted to say. So Rosa lifted her hands up to rest on either cold plate of his shoulders. She stood on her toes and leaned in close, returning his gesture with a gentle kiss.

His armored hand found its way to her wide, and despite the dark metal covering it, he still felt so warm. Rosa smiled against his lips as she kissed him again, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and tracing the fitted seams of his armored shoulders. Cecil smiled too, she could feel his lips turn up against her own. Both of them grinning and kissing with fluttering hearts.

Neither of them noticed that Kain had approached, trying to congratulate Cecil on his first mission. They didn’t notice when he left either.

[cinephiled-com]

New Post has been published on Cinephiled

New Post has been published on http://www.cinephiled.com/interview-costume-designer-donna-zakowska-brings-marvelous-mrs-maisel-life/

Interview: Costume Designer Donna Zakowska Brings ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ to Life

I am a huge fan of the award-winning Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. In addition to great performances by Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Tony Shalhoub, Marin Hinkle, and many others, I get completely lost in the colorful world of 1950s New York and Brosnahan’s Midge deciding to forego her life as an upper west side housewife and mother and try her hand at stand-up comedy, something that was quite unusual for a woman during that time period, much less one in Midge’s social sphere. Adding immeasurably to the powerful acting in the series is the exquisite period look of the show, especially Donna Zakowska’s fabulous costume designs. Zakowska, already an Emmy winner for her gorgeous costumes in the John Adams miniseries, has also designed costumes for plays, films, operas, rock concert tours, and even the circus. I spoke to her by phone from the set of the much-anticipated Season 3 of Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel which will premiere in December.

Danny Miller: Hi, Donna! I’m so looking forward to the next season of this show that I’m counting the minutes. I wish I could be there with you on set!

Donna Zakowska and Rachel Brosnahan

Donna Zakowska: We’re actually in the last two weeks of filming but there’s still a lot to do. We’ll be finished in September. Working on the new season has been loads of fun!

I just love the character of Midge and think Rachel Brosnahan has done an incredible job with it. I’m so glad she won an Emmy last year for her performance and am looking for you to snag the Emmy on September 22nd! It’s been fun to see the character of Midge evolve in your designs. Can you talk about how you created her look at the beginning and how you think it’s changed over time?

I did a ton of period research of the period and then combined it with the fact that she is moving into the comedy world. Her transition from a classic upper west side housewife to a successful performer obviously has a big impact on the evolution of her clothes in the series. Whatever she’s wearing, I’m always trying to keep Midge’s indestructible spirit in mind that just forged ahead no matter what was going on in her life. Her style evolution is completely intertwined with her evolution as a character, really.

I love the attention to historical details in her clothes, but would you say her look is a bit heightened from what we might have actually seen on women in her situation back in the day?

Yes, to some extent. But, you know, if you look at the Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines from those years, you will see quite a heightened color sense during that period. I may have pushed it a little bit but a lot of it actually does come from that unique time of the late 1950s and early 60s. Midge’s color palette ultimately became sort of her emotional landscape in her journey as a character.

I find the whole color palette on this series absolutely delicious. It reminds me of my grandfather’s old Kodachrome slides of my family during those years. My family was kind of similar to the Weissmans (Midge Maisel’s maiden name), and I’m always dazzled by the gorgeous colors and fabrics. Whatever happened to color, why are we all so drab today by comparison?

I know, it’s true, I feel the same way! But I think there are a lot of reasons. When you look at the vintage dresses from this period, you can’t help but be shocked how beautiful the fabrics and colors and prints are. Along with how intricate the sewing is. But I think when mass production took over the clothing industry, all of that changed.

I loved seeing last season how Rose Weissman’s (Midge’s mother, played by Marin Hinkle) time in Paris influenced her clothes in such a big way. Is that something that will always play a role in that character’s look from here on out?

Yes, I think it will, actually. She started in a Chanel suit with some Claire McCardell sportwear, and then evolved during her time in Paris based on what was in fashion there. In Season 3, I definitely have her in a much more interesting silhouette, a little avant-garde, a little bit more stylized, because once she went to France, that became a part of her. She was evolving as a character and as a woman and her clothes had to reflect that.

Marin Hinkle, Rachel Brosnahan, Tony Shalhoub

And I would say even more so once she decided to return to her family in New York. For me, it felt like that even though she made that decision, she desperately wanted to retain some of the independence she felt in Paris, including through her wardrobe.

Yes, that’s a good point.

How about Alex Bornstein’s Susie Myerson? She is obviously an extremely different character from Midge and someone with big financial challenges that would impact her wardrobe. How did you design her look?

For Susie I looked into the more androgynous fashion elements that were creeping in during that time. Her look has definitely evolved as well over time but in much more subtle ways and I always had to keep her financial situation in mind. You didn’t want to put her in anything that would have anyone watching think, “Hmm, how could Susie afford that?”

Alex Bornstein and Rachel Brosnahan

Right, as opposed to Midge, who rarely wears the same thing twice and for whom money seems to be no object.

Yes. With Susie, there might be a new jacket every now and then or new bits of color slipping in. It’s actually been a tricky wardrobe to design but also a lot of fun.

As an outsider, my initial assumption would be that it’s more interesting working on the women characters, but then I start obsessing on the clothes and fabrics that the men are wearing, too, and how much they also say about the characters. I like seeing how the looks of Abe (Midge’s father, played by Tony Shalhoub) and Joel (Midge’s ex-husband, played by Michael Zegen) are evolving as well.

Yes, there was certainly a lot less variety in men’s clothing in that era compared to women, but I worked very hard at creating their palettes, like different blue and gray tones, the kind of stripes that might be in Joel’s shirts, and other elements that reflect their characters. Abe, for example, started out very much the college professor, but then he was also affected by his time in France with his beret and scarf and leather jacket.

Tony Shalhoub

And, of course, his amazing romper when he was in the Catskills that immediately became so iconic and talked-about it could have had its own Twitter account!

(Laughs.) Oh, that was very fun! The cool thing about the scenes in the Catskills was that every character had an opportunity to be a little bit off the charts. Which is how it kind of was when the more affluent New Yorkers would head for the hills every summer. But I was shocked to see all the comments Abe’s romper got! I based that look on old photos of exercise guru Jack LaLanne. It just seemed like something Abe would wear in that setting!

You get to design for all these characters who are a bit over the top and then you also have Lenny Bruce (played by Luke Kirby) as a recurring character. I assume for Lenny you rely more on actual images of the actual person?

Yes. With Lenny Bruce there’s really no point in trying to make a fashion statement, you know? He was very specific with what he wore and the key is finding the absolutely correct look — the right tan coat and the dark suits that Lenny always had on when he performed.

When you work on a show for this long, do the main actors get so familiar with their characters that they start having a lot more suggestions for what they should wear?

Yes, I think that’s true. I have a very good dialogue with all of the characters, and of course I work with Rachel an enormous amount. Whenever we put an outfit together, or even choose a pair of earrings or whatever, we both use our shared understanding of exactly who Midge is at this stage in her life. When you design for or play a character, you just really have to instinctually understand who that person is. Rachel and I are almost always on the same page.

You could probably get a psychology degree for all the work you’ve had to do getting inside these characters.

Or maybe a psychiatric one at this point! (Laughs.)

Season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel premieres on Amazon on December 9, 2019.

[ariarichardson]

4 Beautiful Destinations in Ireland you can get to by Train

Experience Interrailing

If you’re looking for something new to experience, interrailing is the most relaxing way to travel and to explore new cities across Ireland.

It’s the new way to experience culture and explore breathtaking views. Explore the wonderful beauty of Ireland with no road maps. Instead sit back and relax with a cup of tea during your train journey.

Discovering Ireland has listed below four beautiful towns in Ireland that are easily accessible by Irish rail.

Cobh, Co.Cork

Co. Galway

Kilkenny Town

Tralee, Co. Kerry

Cobh, Co.Cork

Cobh (“Cove”) previously known as Queenstown. Cobh is a pleasant waterside town, which is rich in history. It was the last port of call for The Titanic before it met its tragic fate. Cobh is situated on Great Island, just one of the three large islands in Cork harbor (Little Island and Fota Island), which all three are now connected by roads and bridges.

  Things to do in Cobh

Spike Island

View from Spike Island to Cobh in Cork in the south of Ireland.

For the last 1300 years, a 6th century Monastery has been situated on Spike Island. The Monastery is a 24-acre Fortress, the largest convict depot in the world in Victorian times and centuries of island homes.

Today the island is dominated by the 200-year-old Fort Mitchell, the star shaped Fortress which became a prison holding over 2300 prisoners.

Embrace the beauty that Cobh has to offer by taking a scenic ferry ride from Kennedy Pier, Cobh. Guided tours are encouraged to learn about the history of the island and fortress. After your adventure, relax in the cafe or set up camp and have yourself a picnic in our picnic areas.

In 2017, Spike Island won winner of Europe’s leading tourist attraction at the world travel awards.

The Titanic Experience

Old White Star Line Offices and pier in Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland. The original pier where passengers board the tenders PS Ireland and PS America to join the RMS Titanic, which had moored off Roche’s Point before departing on it’s last maiden voyage to North America.

The Titanic Experience Cobh is a well-known tourist attraction. It’s located in the original White Star Line Ticket Office in the center of Cobh town, which was the departure point for the final 123 passengers who boarded the Titanic.

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a passenger on the Titanic? Now is your chance to experience the life of a passenger on the Titanic whether first-class or third class. It’s a great way to learn about history long ago for children and adults.

Enjoy the experience by pretending to be one of the 123 passengers. When you check in, you will receive a boarding card. The boarding card will have details of one of the 123 passengers. You will experience the life of a third class or first class passenger long ago.

After the tour you are free to explore the exhibition area. Interact with a collection of audio-visual presentations and story boards exploring the events that led to the tragic sinking.

The final farewell of the experience is located in the story room. Here you will find out if you survived the Titanic or not from looking for your name on the wall.

Fota Wildlife Park 

Cheetah glaring whilst lying down

Fota Wildlife Park has an annual attendance of 440,000 visitors. It is currently the second largest visitor attraction in Ireland outside of Leinster.

Fota Wildlife Park’s aim is to inspire people to understand and conserve the biodiversity of our natural world. Explore the sanctuary at your own pace. Take in the beauty of the animals.

Fota Wildlife Park is a very unique place, and you can see it in a whole new light when you take one of their exciting tour options.

Learn about different species and how they adapt to the environment. Great photography opportunities.

Everyone, including adults love Fota Wildlife Park. It’s a fantastic and romantic place to have a date or as a family bonding time. No matter what, you will have a great time at Fota Wildlife Park.

Cobh railway is located in Cobh town and is situated beside Heritage Centre.

Co. Galway

County Galway is the most charming city that you will encounter in Ireland. It is the third largest city in Ireland, located on the West Coast. Galway was crowned the European Capital of Culture in 2020.

Things to do in Galway City

Beaches

Photo of a beautiful scenic sea and sky landscape. View of ocean scenery. Beach and promenade, West coast of Ireland, Galway, Salthill, Atlantic ocean. Sea shore line

Galway is home to many beautiful beaches, all with breathtaking views. Walk along the beach during sunset and sit watching the sun go down. Who wouldn’t want to watch this most angelic view? It’s a great way to relax and destress.

Bring the kiddies to the beach, they’ll love it! It’s a great way to spend some quality family time together. A trip to the beach is a refreshing activity as it is cooling during the hot summer weather.

Galway Races

“Galway , Ireland – July: Unidentified Man riding with Horse.”

For the 150th year, The Galway races returns from Monday 29th July to Sunday the 4th August 2019. The Galway races is an exceptional week of fun filled excitement.

It’s an excuse to get dolled up and be in a chance to win best dressed on the day. Women feel honored that their fashion sense is recognized by many others.

Shopping

Shop Street in downtown Galway, County Galway, Ireland.

Galway provides an excellent Shopping experience like no other. Most of the shops are located in small districts within the city center, including The Latin Quarter, The Westend and at stalls in Galway’s outdoor market.

There is a shop for everyone, and shopping is made easy in Galway as you can enjoy entertainment from street performers if you are a person who hates shopping and is made go to every shop. Enjoy the atmosphere around the city centre with free entertainment.

Experience Irish Culture

Galway, Ireland – August 27, 2012: Street with pubs in Galway, Ireland. People are walking around.

Galway is rich with Irish Culture. Galway and Mayo are very fortunate to have Gaeltachts and Irish speaking areas in both Galway and Mayo.

The Irish language is continued on and remains deep in Galway, unlike most counties who no longer speak the traditional language in everyday speech unless they are in school. Which is such a shame as the traditional Irish language is beautiful to hear.

The pubs in Galway are always full of traditional Irish live music. You will always have a great time in any pub regardless which one that you are in. The Atmosphere in Galway is fantastic, and the nightlife is perfect for everyone including hen and stag dos.

You will always find talent around Galway streets. Enjoy performances (buskers) from the public along Shop St,High St, Quay St and around the Spanish Arch

Galway train station is located in the city center, just off Eyre Square.

Kilkenny Town

Kilkenny is rich in heritage and is visible through its narrow streets, historical buildings and landmarks. Ireland’s Medieval Mile is situated in the heart of Kilkenny. It runs from Kilkenny’s majestic Castle to St. Canice’s Cathedral, the Round Tower and covers everything in between.

Kilkenny, Ireland – August 23, 2014: Kilkenny Castle. Historic landmark in the town of Kilkenny in Ireland.

Visit the magnificent Kilkenny Castle with a beautiful scenic walking route. Surrounded by a rose garden, ornamental lake and extensive woodland paths. It is the ideal location for a romantic stroll. Visitors can explore the castle at their leisure.

Kilkenny’s Medieval Mile Museum provides an international standard attraction for visitors to the museum. Helps paint Kilkenny’s history as Ireland’s premier medieval city in a clearer picture. It’s an excellent way to devour yourself in rich history and culture of Kilkenny.

Music is a huge part of Irish history. Kilkenny’s pubs will have something to offer everyone. Grab your mates and start a pub crawl. No matter which pub you are in, there is always something that is going on.

Live traditional musicians in almost most of the pubs. Get inside and enjoy the craic with friends and even join in on an Irish jig. Kilkenny is the perfect location for Hen and Stag parties.

Kilkenny Train station is located 0.25 miles from the town center.

  Tralee, Co. Kerry

Tralee has something to offer everyone. It’s a beautiful holiday destination for tourists or Irish residents. It’s full of culture and heritage. With many pubs along the street, there’s always a great atmosphere and traditional Irish music being played.

The Aqua dome

Looking for an activity for both the children and you? Bring the kids to Aqua Dome. Parents can relax at the adults-only health suite, which has saunas, a steam room and a pool. Put your feet up while your children splash around in the Aqua Dome. It’s great activity which both the parents and children can enjoy.

The Aqua Dome is one of Ireland’s Largest Indoor Water world & Premier Tourist Attractions located on the Wild Atlantic Way. The Aqua Dome offers tropical temperatures all year round. The Aqua Dome is suitable for swimmers & non-swimmers.

Rose of Tralee festival

The Rose of Tralee is an international event.

It’s not a beauty pageant but more so a “lovely lady” pageant. It’s all about who the women are and what character each and everyone has, in order to pick a fantastic ambassador for Ireland and Tralee.

New York, NY, USA – March 17, 2016: The The beautiful Rose of Tralee women march in the St Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City.

During the lead up to the selection weekend, you will experience a week-long festival in Tralee, where you get a chance to meet all the roses and escorts and join in on all the activities. The Rose of Tralee is filmed live on the Television for two nights. It’s certainly not a week to miss in Tralee.

Slieve Mish Mountains

Black faced sheep on high country farming Slieve Mish Mountains, Ireland

The estimate terrain elevation above sea level is 380 meters. It is a beautiful compact little range that safeguards the southern margins of Tralee Bay and the northern boundary of Castlemaine Harbor.

This hike is perfect for all you go getters out there. It’s an incredible accomplishment when you finish and the views along the way are spectacular. Very important to bring plenty of water and food with you.

The train station in Tralee is located at John Joe Sheehy Rd, Cloonalour, Tralee, Co. Kerry. It is a five-minute walk from the Town Centre.

You won’t be disappointed travelling across Ireland by train. It’s the easiest way to get around and all you must do is sit back relax with a cup of coffee and watch the world go by.

If you have any queries about rail tours please feel free to email us at;

E: info@discoveringireland.com

from Ireland Vacations with DiscoveringIreland.com http://bit.ly/2YOTEGy

[echoslammin]

Press Start 2018 Letter

Dear Press Starter, Thanks so much for checking out this letter! Video games have been my favorite hobby for as long as I can remember, and I’m super excited to participate in an exchange revolving around them. 

General Information: DNW: Body waste kinks, futa, bestiality, character bashing, inflation kink, vore,  unrequested pairings as the main focus. Likes: Any kind of AU, friendship, worldbuilding, smut, canon-appropriate pop culture references, humor (all kinds - characters poking fun at each other or snarking, running gags, memes, etc. Seriously, if you've ever wanted to experiment with bizarre crack, I'd be happy to be your guinea pig). I also *love* metafiction and nods to quirky game mechanics and canon in-jokes. Most of my favorite works tend to be character studies and fluffy romance, but I definitely enjoy darker stuff as well. If you have an idea that doesn't exactly match with my likes/prompts, please feel free to go with that! Art likes: High contrast, portrait-style, characters posing in different outfits or showing off abilities, couples being cute together Video likes: Shipping montage, parody/humor - fake trailer, meme vid etc. (I would prefer it if you used in-game footage only). Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) - Any Character You can probably guess from my username who my favorite hero is! That said, you definitely don't have to force yourself to make something about Earthshaker or any character in particular (I like everybody in the tagset). I would definitely appreciate worldbuilding for this request, especially if it references abilities, item builds, or strategies. I'm more familiar with the Allstars version of the game, but I do play DotA 2 as well, so if you're more familiar with that, feel free to go by the new lore. Some of the changes did weird me out a little, like how Rylai and Lina became sisters and Mirana went from "priestess" to "princess." Other than that, I don't really mind. Prompts: -Shipfic for any of the following: Crystal Maiden/Invoker, Crystal Maiden/Drow, or Drow/Mirana. For the first two pairs, I imagine there could be some sort of common ground given their shared proficiency in ice magic, and for Drow/Mirana I like the idea of a contentious rivalry between two skilled archers. -Something meta-ish about the teams squabbling over how to spend resources at the beginning of the match. (Of course Crytal Maiden still gets stuck with buying the courier). -Anything referencing some of the weird mechanics of the items in this game. Ex: How the heck do Tangoes work? What does a tree even taste like? -Anyone remember the song "DOTA" by Basshunter? Anything referencing that song or the music video would be hilarious. Dungeon Fighter Online - Any Character

I originally started playing this game as a part of my ~research~ for a King's Avatar fanfic, and now I'm seriously hooked. Playing it really makes me feel like a kid again and makes me so nostalgic for old school 2D dungeon runners like Diablo 2 and Ragnarok Online, and I absolutely love the dozens of subclasses and their flashy skills. (I am a big fan of ridiculous rainbow-colored animations that take up your entire screen).

Prompts: -I love the idea of a female slayer interacting with a female priest. They both have a history of abuse at the hand of authority figures (the slayer by the De Los Empire and the priest by the False Prophet) and have some parallels in the theming of their subclasses. It would be really cool to compare and contrast the Slayer as a Dark Templar or Demon Slayer with the Priest as an Inquisitor or Mistress.

-Any kind of worldbuilding about Arad and Empyrean would be cool as well as any exploration of the backstories of the main player characters/NPCs. What does the daily life of a dungeon fighter look like? Are they actually having fun running into Hell all the time or is it just a terrible grind? (Yeah, I love meta stuff).

I generally like player characters to be referred to by their class only (as in being called just "the slayer" or "the priestess") but if there are specific names you prefer, feel free to use them. Master X Master - Any Character RIP dead game. This was basically NCSoft’s version of Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm, and boy was I sad when the servers closed down in January. Flashback to last summer: The English version of MXM debuted with mild hype, and everyone's guild was named after one of the teams from The King's Avatar. This was a really fun MOBA with some very cool characters concepts and mechanics. So much lost potential :(

Prompts: -Anything Lua x Sizuka! These two were everyone's starter Masters, and it really amused me how they played off of one another in story mode with Sizuka's seriousness contrasting with Lua's overeager attitude.

-I loved Lorraine and her flashbang camera! Something about her combat paparazzi Master abilities would be awesome.

-For Vita, I would be amused by anything referencing "Upside Down" (aka MXM's meme song that people played on the lobby jukebox nonstop)

Liar! Uncover the Truth - Any Character

I'm a huge fan of this mystery/romance app with its feisty heroine and the quirky Liars she has to unmask before finding her Mr. Right. If you're interested, I maintain a sideblog dedicated to it over @whoistheliar (Warning for spoilers at the link). Kazumi and Haruichi are my favorite love interests, but I would definitely be happy to receive something revolving around other characters. I love how MC isn’t a blank slate and is very much her own character. She can be quite a mess at home and has a lot of insecurity about her humble background, seeing as she’s originally from a small country town (IIRC one of Joe’s side stories mentions that she’s from Akita prefecture). 

Prompts (just suggestions - please feel free to go with your own ideas!):

-Scenes from the Ayumi/MC route that Voltage is never going to give us.

-Out of all of the Liars, I felt that #8 was the most outright malicious. I wasn't convinced by the ending of his Lover's Route, and I would be curious to see something showing his mindset and feelings towards MC at the end of the game.

-It seems that people are really divided when it comes to the guy who ends up being "Mr. Right." Some see him as the most precious cinnamon roll, but I've also had people tell me that he comes off as a creepy stalker. I'm pretty sympathetic towards him myself, but I'd love to see your own take on him, whether romantic and sentimental or super dark.

-I really feel like the 9th Liar got the short end of the stick in the main story. His interactions with MC kept getting interrupted by unnecessary drama, and it felt like they never got the chance to really get to know each other. Fix-it fic with them ending up together would be great. BTW, I would love it if Rumi showed up - she was truly the savior of his route, imo.

I generally prefer for MC to be left nameless, but I do feel kind of bad for being so demanding about it in the past, so if there's a name you prefer, please feel free to use it.

Liar! Office Deception - Any Character

I love the Liar! sequel every bit as much as the original game. Workaholic MC is amazing, and you can bet that I'm super thrilled that Voltage is going to be releasing Office Deception Lover's Routes in the future.

-Post-game or redemption story revolving around any of the Liars, with the exception of the 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Ideally, this would end on a positive note with them being able to have a reciprocal friendship/romance with MC.

-Office Battle! I was so amused by the Star Wars parody that kept popping up throughout the story and how everyone seemed to be totally into it except for MC, who's just completely out of the loop. Maybe one of the Office Liars tries to teach her about the series or something like an Office Battle AU that's basically Office Deception in space?

-Narration of some part of the game from James' POV. I love MC's cat and found it hilarious how she kept spoiling him at home while being so disciplined at the office.

-The 9th Liar did some horrible things to get what they wanted, even putting the 8th Liar in the hospital. I’d like to see something that shows some of their inner conflict once they realize they're hurting someone that has actually become a friend to them. 

Thanks so much again, and hope you have a great exchange experience!

[recentanimenews]

STAFF PICKS: Crunchyroll Features' Most Anticipated Summer Anime!

  SUMMER IS ALMOST HERE, KIDDOS! And that means a brand new batch of exciting anime to dig into! The Crunchyroll News and Features teams got together and had a chat about which series we're most excited about for the next three months! From the petryfiyingly cool Dr. STONE to DanMachi's long awaited second season, to the extremely excellently titled To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts, this summer is gonna be chock full of excellent anime! Let's jump right in!

  Joseph Luster

  Dr. STONE

I’ve only read the first few chapters of the manga and I think, for now at least, I’m gonna leave it at that. The adaptation looks solid enough to make me want to be surprised as it airs, so I can’t wait to follow this one week by week!

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Season 2

This is one of those series I came late to because I didn’t think I’d like it at all. Turns out I was totally wrong, because I wolfed down the first season and the Sword Oratoria spinoff. I can’t wait to check out the movie, but for now the second season is at the core of my DanMachi hype.

Fire Force

I’ve been covering this series as all the new cast announcements and trailers popped up, so naturally I started getting more and more curious about it. This is another where I haven’t read the source material yet, so I’m ready to see some SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION!

GRANBELM

  The story and characters have me intrigued with this one, but I have to admit most of my excitement lies in seeing what the director of Re:ZERO does next. I’ve got high hopes for this one.

  To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts

I read a few volumes of Maybe’s manga, but it only took one for me to think, “Man, this really needs an anime adaptation!” Flash forward a couple years and I’m delighted to see it happening, thanks in no small part to the idle thought I had while reading manga by myself, no doubt.

Nicole Mejias

  Dr. STONE

  When I was first looking at what was coming in Summer 2019, Dr. STONE intrigued me and quickly sat at the top of my list. After very recently reading the manga, I fell in love with the unique twist on the traditional Shonen Jump action series, using science in place of magic, supernatural abilities, or other usual stand-bys. When I first heard that it would use science, I was pretty skeptical; I figured it would just be an excuse for sci-fi, but then Senku solved a problem literally by using pulleys, and I knew this would be something special. I think people are going to be in for a real treat when Dr. STONE hits, and I can’t wait to see how it all looks in motion!

  Vinland Saga

  Vinland Saga is an absolute classic of a manga (and you should read it!) about one of the least explored historical groups in anime: vikings! A dramatic saga following a cast of characters pulled from actual viking history and from the author’s own imagination, Vinland Saga could be an absolute smash hit if the anime goes off right. Fans of Golden Kamuy may want to keep an eye out for this one, and if you’re a fan of historical series, action series, or PLANETES (the author’s previous manga), then you may be as excited for Vinland Saga as I am! I can’t wait to see Thorfinn and the rest in action.

  Ensemble Stars

I’m a big fan of series like Utano☆Princesama, and I’ve always heard a lot of really good things about the Ensemble Stars game, so when I heard it was getting an anime, I figured now would be a great time to get into the series! I know that idol anime tend to go into totally bonkers directions too, so I’m really curious to see what type of world Ensemble Stars sets up for itself in the anime. While I’m not expecting anything dramatic or a Norio Wakamoto cameo (y’all know you love it!), I'm hoping it will keep me entertained with cute guys and cool music!

Danield Dockery

Dr. STONE

I’m gonna break the trend here and say that I’m pretty excited for Dr. Stone. I’ve been reading the manga since it started in Shonen Jump and I grin like a maniac through every page. I didn’t think that I’d like Senku, with his “I’m smarter than you” personality and post 2003 Tim Burton movie haircut, but I dig him and the whole cast. I don’t think there’s another manga running today that’s as much of a consistent pleasure to read. I can’t wait to see what the anime does with this one.

One Piece

  This isn’t a new show, but it’s entering Wano, a new arc that they’ve been hinting at and hyping up for 11 years. You know what that means? I’ve been getting ready for Wano since 2008, since The Dark Knight was my favorite movie and my favorite song was “Let It Rock” by Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne. Basically, what I’m trying to say here is that I’ve changed a lot since then (though “Let It Rock” still bumps), but One Piece is still grinding away, being the standard for all shonen shows. God, I’m so pumped for Wano. The manga has been killing it lately, and if the anime is even half as good, it’ll be a masterpiece.

  Vinland Saga

Vinland Saga has been a big manga blindspot for me, despite it being recommended to me by no less than 3 people. So I’m glad to finally watch the anime and know what’s going on whenever my friends won’t shut up about Vinland Saga.

Paul Chapman

O Maidens in Your Savage Season

When this show was first announced, I assumed it would be a weepy, super-serious drama, but after seeing some of the more comedic key art and checking out Kodansha's free preview on the first chapter of the manga, I now expect it to be a painful, awkward, earnest, and very, very funny exploration of budding adolescence as only uber-geek Mari Okada could tell it.

GRANBELM

This original TV anime which mixes moe and mecha flew under my radar until I caught a promotional ten minute preview of the first episode on Youtube. I was hooked by the combination of fantastical production design, cute characters, and heavy-duty giant robot action. GRANBELM might just be a sleeper hit next season.

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?

My interest in the “girls gettin' swole” TV anime from the same author as Kengan Ashura (not to be confused with Senran Kagura) is purely scientific, I assure you. It's all about learning the most efficient way to burn calories. Yes, indeed. Calories.

Kara Dennison

  Dr. STONE

It’s been a long time since a series has made me fall in love with it sight unseen based solely on a trailer. I know the manga’s popular, but am woefully behind on all things manga. The mix of science, setting, and that edge of Ellisonian “I have no mouth and I must scream” got me. I can’t wait for this.

GRANBELM

Writing news for upcoming shows is kind of a slow burn. You don’t always know whether you’re going to be interested until one key piece of info hits. And that key piece of info here is: mecha. The robot/fantasy blend with the Re:ZERO artist handling character designs looks like a lot of fun. I’m wondering if we’ll be getting Escaflowne vibes at all.

  Cop Craft

One of my big loves outside of anime is police procedurals. I especially love shows with a paranormal twist like Sleepy Hollow or Life on Mars. Hoping this will scratch a similar itch. Also the original art is by Range Murata, whom I really enjoy. Can’t wait to see this come to life.

  O Maidens in Your Savage Season

I was unfamiliar with the manga until we started getting in news stories about the anime adaptation, and I’m just enamored. It looks like it’s actually going to be a great coming-of-age series, more interested in being honest than edgy. And I love the literature angle, too.

Cayla Coats

    Dr. STONE

  There are many other articles detailing this series’ premise and “rebuilding-fallen-civilization-with-science” appeal, so I wanted to take a different approach here. Look at the image above this text. That is Tsukasa, the main villain. He’s just so beautiful you can’t not watch this show.

      Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 2

  There are A LOT of isekai series to pick from, but 2015’s Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? remains one of my personal favorites. From the immensely likeable Bell Cranel and his supporting cast to the overall stellar animation, I’m very ready to jump back in to this world.

      To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts

My friend and fellow Crunchyroll employee Andrea Ramirez keeps telling me I need to read the source manga this series is based on, and she has objectively good taste so I’m automatically excited for it. Bonus points for being animated by MAPPA (a studio that’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine) and having an absolutely gorgeously designed main character.

  ---

  Want to see which new series are coming to Crunchyroll? Check out our Summer preview guide here!

Which new anime series are you excited for this Summer? Let us know in the comments below!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[meowsaidmayaanime]

What I'm Watching June 2016

Here I will post the anime's that I am currently watching or re-watching, of course this does not include simulcasts as they are in a separate category all together. No, this is a list of the (some partially completed) anime that I binge watch. This post is constantly updated, as I tend to go through a single anime in its entirety within a couple of days, so keep your eye out!

6/25 Blood Blockade Battlefront

Let me get this down now. This anime is visually beautiful, sooooooo much time went into the art and details. Its movie quality beautiful, which is very unusual in a series. So onto the series itself it's about a boy who began living in a post apocalyptic New York after the gates between the human world and the 'monster' world opened. The characters are great, the premise was great, the episodes were great, everything was going wonderfully. Until the anime took an arrow to the knee... Metaphorically of course. So much was left unresolved, and in the last few episodes an obstacle was haphazardly thrown at us. I didn't check the episode count before watching the anime so I was shocked when I found out that there were only 13 (well 12 really) episodes. I get the impression that the studio was initially expecting to do a full 24 ep season considering the pacing of the anime up until episode 10. Evidently this is where the anime diverges quite a bit from the manga itself (my guess is that its unfinished. SOOOOO many anime are left in disappointment because the anime company decides to start a series before the manga has a chance to complete itself leaving the anime with a weird and out of place ending. sigh)

It really is a huge shame that Blood Blockade Battlefront ended the way it did. And its a shame that this recent trend of only creating 'half seasons' has once again resulted in a poor ending. I really liked this anime too, like I said earlier it was amazing. Seriously here's a quote from Toshi Nakamura who wrote a review of the anime itself.

"All in all, Blood Blockade Battlefront was a beautiful jewelry box filled with glittering stones that are individually beautiful, but when you put them on a string to make a necklace, on a whole, they lose a lot of their shine. Plus it feels like some of the most precious gems were left in the box."

My thoughts exactly. Those loose gems left in the box being the other 12 episodes this anime deserved in order to make one complete 24 ep season. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Its so hard trying to recommend an anime when the end is a let down. I want people to see it because the first 9 episodes are fabulous, but I don't want to subject an unsatisfactory anime to anyone. Its not like the ending was bad, for how last minute it was, it was pretty well done, and it did make sense. It just wasn't the ending this anime deserved. If your willing to take this on I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the paranormal genre. Maybe it would just be best to read the manga. Its definitely on my list to read.

6/21 Sankarea Undying Love re-watch

Last time I watched this anime it was in high school after a friend recommended it to me. So I figured why not watch it again? Its a short 12 episode zombie love story. Haha, yup a zombie slice of life love story. In the world of American media, its a really unusual combination of genres, but in anime its no real surprise. I suppose the only real surprise about the anime is the fact that its relatively good, and not at all a harem like High School of the Dead. Its very cute and I think well done. The main female characters father is a total creep and wack-job but that is one of the reasons why he is the main antagonist. For being a zombie anime, its very laid back and you'll find out why as you watch it. Sankarea is an anime that I would recommend to people if I was aware of what kind of anime they liked. If you like the zombie scene but want to watch something not totally gruesome and hyped up, or if you like unusual/ supernatural/ paranormal/ ect. romances I think this is worth a shot.

6/17 Barakamon

WOW, this was really good. I initially started watching this because Funimation's YouTube channel posts trailers and promo videos for its anime. I watched the promo trailer for the English dub, recognized a lot of the voice actors in it and decided to give it a try. I'm gonna say this now, it's probably the best slice of life anime I have seen. and I mean full on slice of life, no paranormal or fantasy or anything else, it's pure slice of life. Its well written, the episodes flow, and its got a great story and great characters. The premise is that a young 20-something artist calligrapher Seishu punches a man who criticized his work as being unimaginative. As a result Seishu's father sends him to live on a rural island to 'cool his head'. The anime then follows the life of Seishu as he makes unexpected friendships and discovers who he is as an artist.

I just loved this anime, If you like slice of life, yes DEFINITELY watch this. Same if you like watching characters grow and their struggle to discover themselves, or if you like comedy, or if you like realism, or if you want a well made anime to calm down with after watching an emotionally draining one. Even if your not into the genre I recommend you give the first episode a try at least. I was immensely impressed with it.

Oh, and the full series won't be released in English until August 9, 2016, but Funimation is releasing the first two episodes in English on June 28th. I know I will definitely be re-watching this when the full English dub release comes out!!

6/16 Charlotte (re-watch)

I LOVED this anime when it came out last year. I remember getting to the last few episodes and going to the public library to finish watching it because the power went out in my house. I just finished re-watching it with one of my friends who had never seen it before. Haha, she was mad at me cause she got so invested in it. It is a doozy. But anyway, it follows high school boy Yuu Otosaka who recently became aware of a supernatural ability of his to be able to control a persons body for 5 seconds at a time. After abusing this power to cheat his way into a good high school, a girl named Tomoe catches him and makes him transfer to a school for people with other abilities. It goes on from there showing their lives, introducing characters and fortifying relationships until the REAL plot reveals itself~

If you like supernatural anime this is a really one, full story in only 13 episodes. It also touches up on quite a few 'heavy' topics, which it actually handles really well. I do recommend this to anyone actually, it was my third favourite 2015 anime of the one I watched that year.

(Bonus: I don't know who wrote this or how far into the anime hey were in, but I agree.)

6/14 50% Off (re-watch)

Oh man, I love this show. I just watched their two A-kon panels from a few weeks ago, and it's great. Just watch this show, make sure you watch it. Here's a link to my post on my favourite parody/abridge series where I talk about this show more. You don't have to know the original anime to enjoy it (I didn't watch Free until recently), so get on YouTube type it in and get going!

6/13 Princess Jellyfish (re-watch)

Alright, So now you guys are up to speed on the anime I watched during my vacation, I just started re-watching Princess Jellyfish. Oh man, I completely forgot about this little gem. I first watched it my freshman year of college (two years ago), and LOVED it. It's basically about a household of otaku young women, and one in particular who is in love with jellyfish, who make friends with their arch enemy, a stylish person! Haha, it is hilarious and a great commentary on stereotypes/social norms in Japanese culture (and really many other first world cultures for that matter.) I am having so much fun re-watching this series, it is slice of life so there is not much of an overarching plot so much as it is just following the exploits of the group after becoming friends with said stylish person I mentioned earlier. Each episode flows naturally into the next creating a constant story with each episode having to do with the next. So despite it being a slice of life, there are no filler episodes that forgotten or have nothing to do with anything. it also consistently references pop-culture and media not just from Japan, but from America too. Really, I can't express how great it is. Watch it, you won't regret it.

6/9 & 6/12

HEY! Sorry for the inactivity, I was on vacation out of state. While I was not able to do anything on this site for the past week, I was able to watch a few anime! AND hey are new ones!

So during my summer vay-cay (haha, thats such a terrible word) I watched:

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia

and Amnesia

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia was good. It's about a high school boy who makes a friend out of a ghost, Yuuko, who doesn't remember anything from when she was alive. In terms of content, while they do try to figure out how she died and who she is, a good portion is about tellig the story of the two main characters. Doing high school activities, developing relationships, ect. While the anime does frequently talk about the mystery and paranormal throughout these episodes, its not until the end of the series that the mystery of Yuuko ACTUALLY begins being solved, and they find out REAL information of her past. In hindsight, her past and the climax of the series is thrust upon you towards the end. It would have been better in my opinion if the events and info were more evenly dispersed throughout each episode from the beginning. I still really liked this anime, though I'm not sure as to how good it is. If your into the sort of subdued paranormal scene, then you may want to give this a shot. Its short, its sweet, I really liked learning about Yuuko's past when it finally got around to it, and I personally really liked it. But again, if you like the paranormal, you may like this. If your not into paranormal stuff, then I wouldn't recommend it.

Now Amnesia was a whole different box of pillows. By that I mean body pillows, and by that I mean I am sure that there area tons available. Why? Because this short anime was adapted from a dating sim called Amnesia: Memories. I wish I had known that before I started watching it, but no matter. In terms of dating sim adaptations, it's pretty good. In terms of an anime, not so much. The premise for both the anime and the game is that you are a girl who just woke up and knows absolutely nothing about herself, where she is, or who anyone else is. She has, you guessed it, amnesia. Amnesia caused by a fairy 'bumping' into her? which doesn't make too much sense. (but hey at least it wasn't because she performed horrific acts of manslaughter, created a patchwork monster, and played a huge part in nearly destroying humanity all so Alexander could become godlike, am I right?) Anyway, she wakes up and begins jumping alternate worlds in which she is dating different guys, thus the dating sim part comes in. In therms of the anime itself, the plot is a little wobbly waiting until the last 2 or 3 episodes to actually explain her true past and give a substantial story line. Because in the game, the female character and her name/personality is you, the anime version of her is left 'blank' for self insertion. Making a poor main character being pushed to and fro. But I will tell you this the music was REALLY good, the opening, closing and background music were absolutely fantastic. SO, if you have played this game and enjoyed it then I would definitely recommend it. If you have not, and have absolutely no interest in self-insertion romance, then its not worth the watch for the plot. Although I did like it myself. It's a good addition to my, quote-unquote, "trash anime" (watch out for a post in the maybe near future). Basically a list of guilty pleasure anime which are terrible when it comes to plot and characters, but I just can't resist. Its like reading trashy romance novels, but better and worse at the same time.

6/5 Red Data Girl (re-watch)

Another re-watch, maybe June will be a month of oldies~ (at least for me). RDG is an adorable anime, its a short 12 ep, one season series based off the Japanese novels of the same title. 6 novels (no official translation, but this person on tumblr has been translating them in their spare time), 4 manga novel adaptations, and one anime as mentioned. I'm not familiar with the novels or manga, but I do know that the anime covers most but not all of the novels. One person said it covers the first 5 novels but that's it. Anyway, the anime is super cute, and I really like the premise. My only issue is that the end felt like the completion of a smaller story arch within a larger one. Leaving no REAL ending, you can't even argue that the end is open to interpretation because they didn't leave you wondering what happened, they leave you without ever continuing the main story arch. Without explaining the endless questions that rose with the intention of it being resolved later. Hopefully the manga will give me some solace but with 4 books, i'm not sure if it will... I really like it, and I really wish it would continue.

oh btw, as of right now it's available on netflix, the English voice acting is ok, its not bad, but its also not great. The voice actors are able to but the right voice out, but not give the voice the emotion that the words give. I greatly prefer the Japanese voice acting, but I'm able to live with the English if I'm multi-tasking. (random note: the ending theme is super pretty. Actually, a lot about this anime is pretty)

6/2 Blue Exorcist Movie TOP PICK FOR THIS MONTH (new)

The movie has nothing to do with the plot of the anime at all, and takes place after the events in the series. Atleast I'm fairly certain it does? There's an important (and spoiler-y) thing that happens at the end of the series, that is never addressed or acknowledged in the movie which I think is really weird..... Either way, the movie itself is simply a completely stand alone story from the series. And it was absolutely stunning! Sooooo much detail went into all of the backgrounds and items. On top of that its very well scripted, and the plot flowed incredibly well together without being convoluted, which is surprising since a number of movie sequels to tv series's tend to go overboard by stuffing too much information into an hour and a half.

It was amazing. Its possible that someone could watch the movie without watching the single season anime, just because of how it was written. However you would not know the relationships or the back story of the main character, which helps to explain a lot of the terminology and setting. Especially the part about demons ect ect.

Either way, I LOVED this movie. I didn't even know that there was a movie at all until just now. I'm going to re-watch it with a friend when she gets back into town and I am soooooo excited because I KNOW she will love it too. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. I RECOMMEND THIS SO HARD.

6/1 Blue Exorcist (re-watch)

Well I can't sleep, so what better opportunity than this to re-watch Ao no Exorcist in the English dub~ Ah, I love this anime. Its funny, has great main characters, a good story and writing, and I seem to have a week spot for exorcist anime's, haha. Man, I remember watching this when it first came out in high school, I have a distinct memory of watching one of the later episodes before going to one of my friends concerts. There was a movie made about a year later, AAAAAND a series of specials. Oh, man the movie was so amazing. It has nothing to do with the plot of the anime at all, in fact the anime wrapped up everything rather nicely. The Movie itself is simply another story in cinematic format. It was absolutely beautiful, well made, well scripted, and the plot flowed incredibly well together without being convoluted. Would 100% recommend.

Oh, right! The dub isn't that bad, I mean I wish they had a different voice actor for Rin, I just don't feel like this one really lives up to the character. The other voice actors are great though, really fit the characters. The dub is well done, but I think I preferred the Japanese voice actors (they have a better pick than we do.) I just think that someone with a slightly lower, more thug-ish voice would have been better. The English actors voice is a little too high for me, it's even higher than Yukio's voice ._.

6/1 Black Butler (re-watch)

I decided to re-watch the show (minus the second season) after writing up my post from yesterday about anime whose second season could just go and disappear from existence. I love Sebastian, he is a saint, well a saint among devils. Not only is he one hell of a butler, but one hell of a contractor too, he REALLY get into his jobs, and it is amazing. Even I would enter into a contract if I could have him as a butler~ It's a goon anime, not sure if its recommendation worthy though. I mean yes it's good but it's not something that you HAVE to see, or something you would be missing out on. It's surprisingly fun and while it can and does get intense in certain areas, its not so intense that its going to mess you up.  As long as you never touch the second season, NEVER.

Bonus image, cause why not: