#because i suddenly have this idea for a michi story

[linkspooky]

Just finished reading Butterfly Curved, which by the way, was an amazing read I enjoyed it a lot!

But I do wonder what happened to Non in the end. Last time we saw her was when she was in Junpei-totodile’s body and was being dragged by Yuji so Nanami and Michi have their conversation.

Did Non disappeared after Michi modified the body? Or what happened?

And will we get to see Non again in the future?

Okay, to answer your question I will go into more depth in Non's cursed technique.

Non (short for Non-Human) is based on the legend of the doppelganger. An identical copy of a living person who suddenly appears before them to either show them they are about to die, or the doppelganger is a hostile other that wants to kill them and take their place in life. I included the Lake Mungo poster because it's a really good horror movie and what inspired me to make Non, a cursed spirit that revolves around the idea of a cursed spirit who desires to be real and exist in the real world (cursed spirits can't be seen or interact with reality that much) so they kill a human being and try to take their place. A cursed spirit who can only be a shadow, or a reflection of the water in our world.

Non was created by accident. In the first fic she appears in "Exponential Growth" a bunch of coincidental events result in her accidental birth. Yuta, Maki, and Mai fall into the domain of a cursed womb that has no fully formed yet. Yuta and Maki get separated from Mai. Yuta than starts to wish Mai and Maki would get along. Yuta's uncontrolled curse energy then curses the cursed womb, in a similiar way to how he cursed Rika resulted in the imprinting of Mai onto Non making them a double of someone else. Non kept Mai in her domain and Yuta and Maki left. When Mai was in Non's domain, Non could perfectly imitate her and take her form. Eventually, Mai would have died and Non would have completely replaced her, creating an exact copy and gaining flesh and blood. That didn't happen however, as Yuta and Maki found Mai and removed her. Maki then attempted to exorcise Non, but it did not go all the way.

Non then lived on from that severely injured. Which is where we find her later in Exponential Decay. Basically she can only use her ability at a fraction of what they were, she has spent the last year trying to heal and failing.

Non's Cursed Technique: Lake Mungo she can create a physical double of something that can be seen by humans, but she has to eat them first. Basically, Copy + Replace.

Rule 1) Scanning In order to exist in the physical realm Non must eat something, either animal or human living or dead. She scans them to read all of their data, including past memories and physiological makeup. During scanning the object she is trying to create a double of is kept in her innate domain a space created by the user's mind. While they are being scanned, the original eventually withers away and dies.

Rule 2) Printing Non creates bodies for herself by scanning reading the data of the original. She then prints it from her shadow form and creates an entire physical body. The digestion of the original provides her with the cursed energy to do this. HOWEVER, if she cannot continually fuel cursed energy through her creation the body breaks down. If she creates a copy of a dead person, she can temporarily become them for a few days, but the body breaks down because she does not have enough cursed energy to keep circulating. If she creates the body of a living non-sorcerer, it lasts longer because a living body will give off more cursed energy then a dead one. Humans also last longer than animals. The only way for Non to create a living double that would not die is 1) a living human, and 2) a living human capable of channeling cursed energy. Which is why she targeted Mai in Exponential Decay. The reason she does not do this in this story is because she is not strong enough to take even a student, they would just exorcise her. If she were to fully succesfully replace a person she would essentially be a cursed spirit with a physical body ala choso, and his brothers.

Flat Surface the real body of Non is just a shadow. The body she has copy and printed is not her real body because she dwells in her shadow, hence Mahito kills the body she had printed temporarily but Non is just find because she exists as a shadow. If Mahito had taken a cursed tool like Nobara's and driven nails into the two dimmensional shadow that Non projected, Non would have died.

Flattening Non can hide in other people's shadows and observe. That person will have two shadows. She can also speak in shadow form.

At the end of the fic Non disappeared after modifying the body. Basically, she died and her cursed energy itself helped provide the cursed energy required to fix Junpei's body back to its semi-original state so he could continue on as a cursed hybrid after eating Yuji's heart. (I forgot I did that it's the sickest detail). It was Non's wish as if she couldn't become another person or connect to a human she wanted to help Junpei who Mahito screwed up so badly.

(This was going to be explained the next time Michi arrived).

However, cursed spirits do not die, they eventually reform as revealed to us by Jogo. After she disappeared and was exorcised the negative cursed energy that made her up coalesced in Mai's shadow. She probably reformed so quickly, because of the bizarre circumstances of her creation and her connection to Mai.

This created the reformed curse spirit Not-Mai. She is essentially Non, but has none of the memories of Non's existence, though she is also a doppelganger, and has the same technique. A copy of a copy.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Watching the snow fall while time freezes for a brief moment

I don’t remember how I learned about the Eternal Snowcaps and the legend of the restful girl, but they both stuck with me for a long time. I’ve never imagined that someday I’d get the chance to visit the infamous place where time literally freezes for unknown reasons. There’s a lot of mysteries surrounding the snowcaps, especially with the people who decided to settle there.

Rumor has it that the Eternal Snowcaps originated with the Restful Girl. In ancient times, the snowcaps was a wasteland, supposedly burn remains of what was once a forest. Supposedly, a civil war broke out, and as punishment, the land engulfed with flames, leaving behind only ashes and charred remains. The land became hostile, so people avoided it. That is, unless they intend to disappear.

Possibly due to the spirits of the dead who laid to rest in the ashes, the place was considered cursed. It’s said that some researchers tried to investigate and verify the claims, but all their attempts end in misfortune. At least they were able to confirm that something’s definitely wrong, and so they did their best to close it off to the public.

Centuries passed and the ashes were largely forgotten until a certain incident brought it back to public awareness. That was the legend of the Restful Girl. The story was that a young girl somehow wandered into the ashes and was found lying near what used to be a lake. The reports said it looked like she simply went to sleep, and looked so serene and peaceful - a stark contrast from the victims they managed to recover in the past.

There’s not a lot on the girl other than she was likely an orphan wandering the streets. She likely was just passing by, and maybe decided to rest, only to succumb to the elements. Despite their efforts, the authorities were unable to identify the girl. Even now, there’s still some historians who are still trying to figure that out, mostly so at least they can put a name on her grave other than “Restful Girl”.

And for some unexplained reason, it began snowing. Soon, it covered the ashes and strange phenomena began to take place. Aside from the eternal cold, time moved strangely at random moments. As in, time would suddenly stop for roughly an hour, and if you’re in the snowcaps, you may or may not be affected by it. From my understanding, there’s no rhyme or reason to it, and though it may be disorienting to experience, there’s no lasting side effects. You’re either frozen in time, or you’re not.

Since the land was destroyed by some divine order, people naturally concluded that this strange phenomena was their doing as well. The most logical conclusion was that the Restful Girl was an anomaly because her death was not the result of suicide or murder, and maybe that somehow broke the curse. As for the snow and time freeze however, that’s still a debatable topic, and I haven’t really looked much into those.

These days, the Eternal Snowcaps has become a home for exiles. Part of it was because while the land isn’t entirely hostile anymore, it’s not the kind of place people gravitate towards because it’s still a harsh environment. Maybe it has something to do with the Restful Girl - that’s still up to debate - but it became a place where people went to for redemption.

The idea at the time was that those who came to the snowcaps came to atone for their sins by having to endure the cold and experience the strange time phenomenon. Most were unable to survive the cold - or they willingly succumbed to the elements - but those who did chose to stay and live out their lives there. Eventually, it became home to exiles - not necessarily criminals, but people who fell hard and completely lost their way, whether it was by their own downfall or by forces completely out of their control. Or, in most cases, a combination of the two.

So, how did I end up visiting such a place? Well, it happens that Sumi, Michi, Hanzou, and Eloise have their reasons to stop by. Sumi has some packages to deliver, Michi and Hanzou are visiting someone, and Eloise is doing an interview. As for what Daisy Jane, Isabelle, and I are doing in a place like this, we’re here for craft supplies, which happen to not be too far from the snowcaps. So things just happened to work out that we decided to meet up with the others.

While most people wouldn’t think of walking through the snowcaps, it’s not as closed off as you think. Sure, there are guards surrounding the area, but it’s more to deter adventurers from entering the cold without proper preparation, as well as ensure the safety of the residents. After all, a lot of them have enemies, and this happens to be a neutral zone.

This is Sumi’s first time here, so Mio asked Michi to accompany her since he’s been there before. Around the same time, Eloise managed to snag an interview with one of the residents after being told over and over again that it was an impossible task. After all, there’s a lot of misconceptions going around about the snowcaps and the exiles, so it’s understandable why her colleagues were wary. They didn’t want her to go alone, but Eloise didn’t want someone from the paper tag along as they’ll end up getting in the way of her reporting - something that seems to be a recurring issue with her. As a compromise, she joined Sumi and Michi since she’s worked with both of them in the past.

Although Eloise isn’t officially part of the crew yet, she’s already familiar with some of the gang. When I last spoke to Pai, she said Connie was trying to get Eloise’s paperwork ready for the guild so they’d immediately have a connection in Marippe. However, things didn’t exactly pan out that way as Eloise ended up being put on the waitlist - four times, to be exact.

While she says that it’s a bummer she can’t work with Connie and Pai on an official capacity yet, there are explanations as to why things happened like that. The first being something called a package deal, which apparently is a thing in these official adventuring factions. Basically, after Connie exonerated Beryl of false accusations, that doesn’t entirely clear him of other things he and his siblings are involved with that are considered gray areas.

From my understanding based on what Pai told me, Connie and the Marippe authorities are still on the fence about Beryl and his siblings due to their ties to the Underground. As in, Beryl’s close to someone powerful, which was why he was the main target while Ruby and Topaz were collateral. Eloise figured that putting them sort of under Connie serves lot more than damage control, especially since it looks like the Guardian of Justice was involved in arrangement too.

As someone who’s been trying to get an exclusive interview with Beryl, Eloise sees this as an absolute win as that gives her more chances to be alone with him and his siblings. She’s tried many times, but they always decline for whatever reason, or the timing just wasn’t right. Still, Eloise won’t give up. And aside from wanting to interview them, she just wants to be friends as well, so that’s another reason why she’s fine with being waitlisted.

Just when things were finished with the siblings, Eloise heard from Connie that she unfortunately was bumped off the list again. This time, however, was by the Guardian of Justice, out of all people. Eloise said she couldn’t believe her ears at first, especially since the Justice is someone she’s been trying to talk to ever since she set her dreams of being a reporter. In other words, based on what Pai said, Justice Fontaine is one of the most powerful figures in Marippe, as well as the most respected. Even though Lady Roselyne is at the top, it’s The Justice who really holds Marippe together.

Even now, Eloise says she’s still in a bit of a shock. She knew that Connie and The Justice quickly became well acquainted, but she didn’t think Connie was that close. I mean, for someone as well connected as Connie, it makes sense for them to immediately go for the top figureheads. Though, I think this is a record. Eloise doesn’t know too much about what’s going on between them other than it’s a big deal, which is why she didn’t pry too much. As much as she wants to find the truth, Eloise knows when to step back, especially when someone like the Guardian of Justice is personally involved.

While she’s waiting for the guild to finally approve her, Eloise figured that she take some vacation time and hang out with Sumi. And then out of the blue, she got a letter from a Snowcap resident inquiring about an interview. Eloise had reached out to him months ago at someone’s request but he declined. Then some things came up, so he wanted Eloise to come and get the truth out before it inevitably gets muddled.

The resident Eloise is interviewing has lived in the Snowcaps for almost twenty years. He was a former general involved with the fall of Lyrica, which was said to be a catastrophic disaster for a variety of reasons, negligence being a major one. Chase - the name he goes by now - was one of the few who cooperated while the others either fled, committed suicide, or caused more problems.

The whole thing’s still a sensitive topic, which was why he turned down Eloise at first. But then some of his former colleagues have begun spreading lies, which is nothing new. That is, until it became apparent that the general public forgot what really happened and began accepting the false narrative as the truth. Yeah, it’s understandable why he decided to break his silence.

Like pretty much everyone who lives here, Chase came to the Snowcaps because he had nowhere else to go. According to Eloise, he was a big deal back then, pretty much on a similar rank like Lady Roselyne and Justice Fontaine. In other words, he fell fast and hard. The fact that he went from being one of the most respected to pretty much the exact opposite, plus him fully accepting this unfortunate turn of events without any resentment whatsoever while bearing far more responsibility than he should, is what intrigued Eloise.

In short, the downfall of Lyrica had to do with a lot of infighting, negligence, and ignorance. Chase said he failed by underestimating just how bad and how ingrained Lyrica’s problems were. It sounded like he tried his best, but at the same time his ignorance and unwillingness to get to the root of the conflicts ended up adding fuel to the fire. In his view, despite losing everything, he still thinks he got off too easily. That seems to be the case with most of the residents here.

They say that those who choose to live in the Snowcaps have their convictions, which is why this place is not for the weak. A lot of these people fucked up big time and have major regrets, so they live out the rest of their lives with a clean slate while actively trying to right their wrongs. Chase has accepted that he can’t escape Lyrica, nor should he have the luxury to move on while others still pay a heavy price for what happened, and that’s why he’s determined not to let history be forgotten as it could easily lead to another Lyrica incident.

Despite what he’s been through, he seems content with the way his life is now. That doesn’t mean he has regrets, but he’s accepted the circumstances and learned to live with it. After speaking to a former Lyrica resident - the one who introduced Eloise to him - he realized that the spirit of Lyrica still lives on. He can’t change the past, but he can use what he knows to help in any way he can.

According to him, aside from the loss of life, the worst thing you can take away from someone is their future. Although I’ve only seen Chase for a short time, I think I can get sort of a good grasp of what kind of person he is, as well as why Eloise wanted to know more about him. He’s the kind of person with good, noble intentions who continues to persevere even after being kicked down. What he wants isn’t forgiveness, it’s retribution - because, to him, to forgive is to minimize the catastrophe.

Before Eloise and Chase went off, Michi introduced us to Gin, who spent the rest of the day with us. Like Chase, she’s got an interesting story too.

To start, Gin was an ordinary human teenage girl who was partially resurrected as a zombie against her will. That’s actually the most straightforward thing about her past. Basically, it all began about 40 years ago on the night of her 15th birthday.

Before she was Gin, she was the daughter of an insecure socialite and a controlling workaholic. She described her mother as the kind of person who hides behind her wealth and uses that to compensate for everything else, which was why the other socialites didn’t like her. That night, her mother attempted to throw an elaborate party for Gin, except it didn’t go so well. Her mother got into a drunken fight, and on the way home, she lost control of the car and drove off the bridge.

Next thing Gin knew, she woke up in some mysterious hospital room with her memories all messed up. She spent the next three years with some sketchy “psychiatrist” recovering her memories. All she knew at the time was that she was declared brain dead, at least until her father paid some big bucks to have some experimental procedure to reverse her injuries. So, in other words, she was an unwilling guinea pig.

But things didn’t start getting weird until three years later. Seriously, it sounds like something straight out of one of those slasher movies where everyone gets murdered left and right. Except it involved a small group of elites in Gin’s circle. To this day, she’s not entirely sure how it started, not that it mattered anyway. Sure, she was concerned when a couple of her “friends” disappeared, but she never expected to become one of the suspected.

And that where she says things got messy. There was no one culprit for the disappearances and murders, just chaos. While she was a victim in the mess as she was considered an easy target due to being easily manipulated, that’s not to say she wasn’t guilty either. Though, in her case, as Hanzou clarified, the three classmates she killed were out of self defense. So that, can’t really fault her on that it sounded like they were creeps.

However, she takes full responsibility for killing her psychiatrist and later burning the entire institute down. While she was freaking out over possibly being the next victim, Gin was also regaining memories of the accident as well as the questionable medical procedures the institute did on her. She started to get suspicious when some of her memories that came back to her naturally didn’t like up with what her psychiatrist said.

This is just pure speculation on her part, but she suspected they played a role in casting suspicion on her because of her memory issues. She said they weren’t entirely wrong as she still suffered gaps, and that made her a convenient scapegoat. Because she was also paranoid since the victims were in the same circles as her, it’s the perfect cover as she wouldn’t know what to believe. So they took advantage of her and fucked her over.

After learning the true nature of the institution and her father’s involvement, Gin was rightfully angry. It also didn’t help that the third person she killed - out of self defense - was responsible for killing most of their friends in their inner circle intended to target Gin next and then pin all their deaths on her. The psychiatrist had apparently been stalking her and saw the fight, so he tried to gaslight Gin into thinking she was the mastermind the entire time.

Obviously, that didn’t work as Gin was aware and conscious the whole time. She tried to reason with the psychiatrist, who actually recorded the whole conversation, but he kept deflecting her. After that, she wasn’t too sure what happened other than things got physical and he was dead.

Next thing she knew, she ran into the institute with a lighter and a can of gasoline. Given that it was a sketchy place, it’s no surprise the entire building lit up like a match. Gin expected to burn up with the place, so it came as a surprise when she woke up disoriented, but otherwise uninjured.

Then she confronted her father and they got into a fight. She doesn’t remember what happened except that he tried to kill her. Somehow, she escaped and he apparently went into hiding. Since it’s been 40 years, Gin doubts he’s still alive, so let’s hope he burns in hell.

For a while, Gin wandered in the wilderness, not knowing what to do with herself. She just wanted to die and her father and the institution took that away from her. The way she put it, she was neither a saint or a monster, just somebody - a nobody who just wanted to make it through the day.

Even though she wasn’t entirely innocent, I think she had every right to get revenge on those who mistreated her. Based on what Michi and Hanzou uncovered about Gin’s past, it sounds like her parents and “friends” were just as shitty as the institution.

Based on what little I know of Gin, I can’t imagine someone like her hanging out with the elite socialite group. She doesn’t have that snobbish pretentiousness and arrogant attitude that’s usually associated with those kinds of people. Even though her father was loaded, I get the feeling that Gin never really got along with the elites, which also contributed to her being the ideal scapegoat.

Like Chase, Gin learned to accept that she couldn’t fully escape her past no matter how hard she tried. She found that out when she unexpectedly ran into a couple of her ex-friends who had scores to settle with her. Michi suspected that maybe her father had led them to her.

At the time, Michi was finding his footing as a detective, though he was getting ready to throw in the towel after dealing with one too many missing pet cases. Then Gin came along and he saw it as the perfect opportunity to see whether or not being a detective could help people. Of course, it was difficult at first as Gin had her walls up. And Michi admits that he could have been more tactful, especially since he greatly underestimated just what exactly he was putting himself into. Luckily, he had Hanzou and Hanako to bail him out when things got rough.

Sure, he got in over his head, but Michi was ultimately able to help Gin finally move on and start anew. Though there’s still a lot of unsolved mysteries regarding the murders and disappearances, Michi was able to knock the elite down by a lot, as well as prove that Gin was really the victim. He also uncovered a lot of things about the institution that really put the city to shame, so they ended up dropping all charges against Gin.

After ensuring Gin’s safety, Michi told her that the only way she could repay him was to live. That is, to start over with nothing and live out the days the way she wants to without being burdened by her past. At Mio’s suggestion, Gin decided to give the Snowcaps a try after meeting some of the residents there. She didn’t expect to fit right in, but she did. And for the first time in her life, she no longer had to put up an act or constantly second guess herself.

So it’s safe to say she’s been through a lot. There’s still a lot of things that Gin’s still bitter about, but she’s moved on. Even if there’s still people who want her head on a stake, as long as she’s in the Snowcaps, they can’t touch her. She says she’s still trying to find a way to repay Michi for what he’s done, though Michi says her happiness is more than enough.

The time freezes are a bit disorienting at first, though it doesn’t take too long to get used to. Gin says that the freeze is often used as a time of reflection and meditation. It sounds a bit strange to outsiders, like it did for her at first, but that’s how it’s always been. I guess it kinda makes sense - you can’t really do much when time is literally stuck, so you might as well do some reflecting.

Read on AO3

[zoetekohana]

@sakurastar28 replied to your post: 

Write it, write it! :)

Ohhh myyyy, you’re flattering me way too much. I don’t deserve it, but I truly and immensely appreciate all the interest in the knnw!au for Michi. Thank you! ♡

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

hi, is it ok if i word vomit my thoughs about tokrev? i promise ill be as coherent as possible,, i dont have many thoughts anyway, im hooked on the story but im also completely clueless, im just perceiving, also none of my mutuals watches or reads tokrev so ugh i feel like i missed something. im just so baffled by wakuis um narrative mode cuz it feels so incoherent and inorganic and poorly thought out you know? what i mean is that at first for most the of arcs he got us thinking the story revolves around takemichis future/present or past whatever, being continually jeopardised by kisaki, time leaps, revenge n stuff, he tricked us with the hinting of the possible existence of a second time leaper, but then he suddenly changes direction and now it's all about mikey. i mean sure we did get a peek of mikeys problem since the vahlalla arc but the story still feels unresolved? everything that was a focal point at the beginning like michi's power, courage and resolve, is now dismissed and it's like we're reading a different story but not entirely? im sorry but it feels so stupid and shallow but i doubt that so im definitely missing something here , im kinda annoyed, i guess were not gonna get an explanation of michi's power and the fact that he was saved by the same person he himself saved by going to the past and warn him about the day he will die like that's a paradox whats the real trigger in all of this? if that matters at all... or maybe its smth like a psychological allegory like evangelion or revolutionary girl utena ahhhh idk hope i made some sense, just wanna understand where yall are at because i can barely trust the panels im reading its almost surreal

Yeah I understand where you're coming from, I feel like I'm almost reading a different story now from when I first started. It actually doesn't annoy me though since I prefer the direction in which this ones going.

And when you think about it the future is still being jeopardised by Kisaki. All this is happening because Kisaki killed Emma which lead to Mikey and Draken missing the start of the Tenjiku fight so Hina then had to confess about the future thing to make them show up. Then because Mikey found out about it he decided to separate himself from the others and create the kantou manji gang and the current timeline. It all comes back to Kisaki's actions again.

Yeah the second time leaper thing was weird, a lot of people still believe that there is one though. Personally I'm doubtful but not 100% against the idea. I think he maybe put it in to show just how good Kisaki was at manipulating his surroundings.

I think it's pretty much always been all about Mikey though, in most scenes he's in he almost seems to steal the mc title from Takemichi. From the moment Takemichi meets him a lot of his actions shift from being just about Hina to also helping Mikey (and saving Akkun too but he seems to forgot about this after a while????). Also with the constant references to there being something not quite right with Mikey I think it was foreshadowed that something bigger was going to happen. Though I did think this was because of Kisaki's manipulations at first and it was a suprise to find out this was happening way before Kisaki.

I also agree that I don't think we're going to get an explanation for Takemichi's powers. I think Wakui wants us to focus more on why he's time leaping rather then the how. (Not entirely sure why he can suddenly sometimes see the future now too though.)

[dumbdotcomm]

how to fall in love with your best friends

(a/n) i had this queued up in my old blog and totally didn’t repost it here so! here’s the commission i did for @fanfic-inator795‘s wonderful ocs!

Now if Mikey got to thinking about it hard he guess it all really started off like this: a nice beautiful morning- sun shining birds singing over the bustling clamor and the sweet caress of the wafting scent of oil and gasoline making him feel like everything was just right. It ought to have been- he’ll be with his friends soon, and they’ll all be extently laxed, a simultaneous, collective easygoingness to them that's undeniably the best part of working down at Hueso’s in the first place.

And sure things would get messy and, sure, it may not have been ideal for the back, a little hard on the muscles lugging trays out and garbage out and dealing with less than cooperative customers but it paid nice.

Yeah, Mikey thinks it all started there, really, if he got to thinking about it. At that little pizza joint and a water gun fight. 

And as he stood, ready to punch out of work and collect his red metal lunchbox from the side in the little cubby,  Michi pops up just in time, an eager grin creating little lines on her face. It catches Mikey a little off guard, though he should be used to her sneaking up on him by now. 

“Sorry! ” she says, slapping him hard on the shoulder (oh, and in the process she nearly knocks the life out of him and the little pointless badge with his name so nicely inscribed on that customers never actually read when they’d ask “um so what’s your name again, kid?” only to call him ‘waiter’ in five minutes). 

“You’re a ninja, shoulda- like- felt me coming in the wind or whatever it is you guys do,” Michi snorts, tugging Mikey along out the back door to Hueso’s. 

And Mikey doesn’t even stick around to see if someone had already stolen his lunch from inside his box- Frankie liked to do stupid stuff like that- and, with something a little less than dignity- because he totally should’ve sensed her coming, Mikey saunters out behind Michi as she excitedly pounds down the sidewalk and up the avenues.

“We do not ‘feel people sneakin’ up on us in the wind’,” he says around a chuckle, and lumbers up the creaky wooden steps to Junior’s apartment, kicking the compiling stack of mail to the side of the hall and smiles as they both round the corner to see Junior helping his neighbor into her apartment, lugging her bags in.

She’s blind and still thinks she can go grocery shopping; and she pinches Junior’s sweatshirt and calls his face hard when she tries to pinch his cheek.

“I’ll be right out guys,” Junior calls, before disappearing inside the apartment for just a couple minutes, “Just head inside, I’ll be there in a sec!”

It, of course, takes a bit longer than a second, which Mikey and Michi don’t complain about, but as the few minutes turn into close to twenty they almost wonder if they should go rescue their friend from his untimely demise of listening to ‘elderly stories’, Junior texts them.

Psst look out the window

And there he is, tossing a tiny rock up at his living room window from the street two stories below, with a floaty around his waist and swimming trunks and no shirt with a dopey grin flippers on his feet and oh my….this has to be some kind of joke. 

Michi barely suppresses what might just be a pure blend of a giggle, a snort and a groan- but it's funny nonetheless, and theatrical. Mikey stands at the window, grinning wildly down at his friend. 

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’re you doing man?”

“Oh Mikey…” Junior calls from the doorway, raising his arms high above his head in some glorious exaltation, “I’m embracing my adventurous side. You guys aren’t the only ones with crazy ideas.”

“Where are we even gonna go swimming.…” Michi shouts, folding her arms around a pillow as she goes into Junior’s kitchen to grab a bag of chips, “Plus, I don't own a bathing suit. My last one fit like when we were like fourteen.” 

And she turns around on her heels, sauntering casually back to the window, smirking slyly as she hears Junior scamper up to the front door of the apartment building, shouting her name in a breathless laugh. 

“Michi! Mich, c’mon guys! Jus’...just go with me, aight? I found a cool spot, I promise it’s legit.” 

And she didn't mean to make him desperate, really...but Michi could not understand why Junior had wanted to spend so much of his free time with her; it perplexed her almost as much as it amused her. Almost five years of friendship didn’t really change her self doubts. 

And somehow he's already bursting into the apartment, and Mikey’s doubled over laughing. Junior’s always been so ridiculously hopeful for her, his arms raised like a plea and a desperate smile, breathless and begging. 

“So…? What’cha guys think?”

Michi isn't all about doing things right, or the right thing at all. Sometimes she can be dumb and make bad calls. 

This, she figures, looking down at her toes that curl around the loose fringes of that rug, that this is no different. 

_____________________________________

They don’t know where they’re headed; there’s about a thousand ways to go now and Junior, feeling suddenly so spontaneous, didn’t think any of it through. 

And, somehow that’s more comforting than the thought of knowing as they race down 135 and 95, letting the breeze whip into the open windows, sending Michi’s hair into a whirl and Mikey sighs in tranquility. 

They finally come to a stop, the light up ahead transitioning from yellow to red.

Mikey looks over Junior’s way, eyes flickering between his softly closed eyes and the open road ahead of them. And it was something so kindred and so delicate- gazing at his gentle quiescence like that. It makes something like a reckless stillness, a certain way his heart flutters under the white cotton of his t-shirt and it makes Mikey want to do more- for Junior, for Michi. And he’s afraid to tell them, they deserve a whole lot more than what he can give.

The words won’t work, anyway, though. The moment passes, the light turns green and Junior makes a left on the ramp. 

The highway roars with the careless rumbles of motorcycles and endangerment like that; still, in spite of the anxiousness he feels,  it makes Mikey crack a smile, leaning back against his leather-torn seat, glancing over at Michi in the rearview mirror as she lifts her head from the window, staring a hole in him or something with her overbright eyes, turning them back, again, out to the highway.

“They really shouldn’t go so fast….” she says with a breathlike whisper that Mikey almost misses with all the noise; and she pops a sunflower seed into her mouth.

They stopped at a gas station somewhere along the lines between New York and Jersey, stashed the back seat with packs of sunflower seeds, coca cola, and hit the road again. Humans are kinda oblivious, or they’re just too desensitized that the surprise of a Kappa, a mutant turtle and a bone-skeleton guy undisguised is pretty much nonexistent. 

And it’s almost like they could just keep going if they wanted- and never stop.

“But…” Mikey stops and chuckles, resting his forehead on the back of Junior’s seat, and Michi who now takes up the passenger’s seat looks back at Mikey, with a cocky grin that’s always insightful like she’s pulling words out of him without a preamble to.

“But....” he stops again in thought, looking out into the highway, “I couldn’t leave my family…”

Michi thinks about it, her eyes never entirely leaving Mikey’s, and he catches her stare, clearing his throat in the most obnoxious cough. “And I...well, I don’t know if you guys knew this, but um...I’m actually makin’ a motorcycle’a my own!” he brags, voice strained in an awkward way that almost reminded him of Donnie. 

“Really…?” Junior queries with the corners of his lips curling up in slight disbelieving and taunting superiority, his brows rutting where they stay risen, “...you’re making...a motorcycle.” 

Mikey sputters, nodding profusely to that, “Psh..yeah. I am...an’ ya’ll really shouldn’t be actin’ all smug like that ‘cause ya know what?” he nudges Michi.

“What.” her face, unamused, tilts. 

“If I finish it….when I finish it-” he takes a happy breath, a deep sigh that dreams just about a thousand things- too much for his friends to ever know, he thinks, “-I’m gonna take you guys ‘cross the world with it.” It’s a vow that seems intended to be kept and unbroken by all odds. 

Even if Mikey knows it’s probably impossible. He’s got responsibilities here. A city both above and below ground to protect. A...destiny or something, to fulfill. 

And Michi doesn’t know to laugh or just sigh like she’s inclined to when things and concepts and promises and people don’t make sense at all; because why...why would he go...wasting time like that- on her.

“Motorcycles can’t go across the ocean, Orange Spice,” she says instead-

-and laughs raw and raspy, her laughs intertwining with her best friends.

_____________________________________

Cape May, New Jersey

Michi feels she’s spent a lifetime in Junior’s truck, all hot and sweaty and smelling like pickles. 

(“No...guys, look- look, look, see? Ya ain’t gotta eat the pickles- just smear ‘em right on the sandwich- there ya go-!” Junior tossed his head back as Mikey dropped the pickle, slipping right out of his hands as he rubbed it over his sandwich with a frustrated growl. It was completely pointless and pickles were absolutely gross by taste and texture-

-but it wound up being, he won’t ever admit, the best sandwich he ever made.)

And they pulled up on a beach- a beach they didn’t know. In the middle of the night.

They threw a blanket and sat.

Just sat. 

Junior watches, though, as Michi looks out into the ocean, the bright moon- bright and golden yellow- it's light engulfing her almost, it seems. And she keeps watching the waves’ recessions and their ebbing, with a hollowness again. 

Still, there was something mesmerizing about her empty stare, a far off glance into a distant unknown and he wanted- Junior just wants to get any piece of that...understanding. 

“It's beautiful…” Michi says, her voice as broken and shattered as glass left to reflect the grand luminescent rays of something magnificent. She always sounds so joyful, but Junior’s known her long enough to know there’s a hurt buried deep in there. 

It catches him, and a particular ineptitude of speech gets a hold of him, too; he can only blink a few times, ogle a little at her face, too awkward still to say anything.  

Mikey’s unloading the truck, juggling fifty things and making Junior laugh softly at it. 

Still, Michi watches the water. “The waves- it’s they're...in a prison. It’s like every time they come in closer, they get pulled back further, a-and...and then, well’um…” in an instant her voice trails and her eyes glaze over to somewhere else. 

Junior just watches them go. He knows her attachment to water. They’ll stay here as long as she needs. 

And they just sit for a moment. So unique in this quietude that he almost feels half of himself. Smaller and more shy. 

He's about to...to pull her up and drag her into the water and forget this because he wants to give her so much more than hurt and watching her sit and think of the water, and probably, with that, her parents- both Junior and Mikey know it’s her own kind of hurt. 

But Michi’s breath hitches and the eyes fall back to here, back down to something less painful in so many odd ways. 

And Michi releases herself, in the most apportioned way that she gives, her eyes flickering for a moment to Junior, and back down to the cool sand, the quilted blanket, and beach toys with the loose, fringed strings of it.

_____________________________________

“I...hate to be a bother….” Mikey says in a posh, pretentious accent, tottering on the rocks and shells, the shirt he wears drying in the blowing breeze.

Out here, they've found a grove, or a cave far off and secluded, dark and damp and glistening with a thing with a semblance of enigmas. 

She slips back and catches herself, finding footing below and, also, finding his quizzically amused stare. 

“Junior, how are we...when are we getting back?” he asks, eyes lost on the walls of the cave, his fingers lightly grazing them.

Michi snaps her head over to him when there's no noise- none of his muttered curses under his breath or the dumb laugh- Junior just sits, studying the array of seashells they've found and the compiled piles of sand, pressing his knuckles to his lips. 

“Uh, never.” he quips back without lifting his pondering stare at the assortment. 

Michi scoffs, her shoulders dropping, “Skull-cap...” 

I’m thinking of...somethin’...somethin’, somethin’ somethin’,” he starts a melody, mostly in his head probably; Michi doesn’t think it fits to a tune just right, but Mikey joins in on it too, and she just starts laughing.

_____________________________________

It’s the worst best idea ever to be thought of and maybe, perhaps- it makes them all forget their worries for a little bit.

They learn to surf. Try to surf. Fail at surfing. 

Mikey winds up falling over and pulling a joint. 

“Oh...man- I’m definitely not gettin’ up for weeks after all this,” he exclaims through a pained laugh, as they walk side by side, gas station, cotton candy between them. Junior and Michi supporting most of his weight.

They have enough seashells to fill three bags, and six stuffed animals Michi nabbed from a boardwalk game.

_____________________________________

The rising sun cascades as reddish hue over the sand, making them shine in a dull kind of light that they lay on, looking up at the flying kites and the puffing clouds with pleasant simpers- the kind that mean, yeah, okay, I’m happy with this and even now, after all of it (after making sandwiches and sandcastles and surfing and getting lost in a cave looking for exotic shells and the longest drive and everything) they still can’t make sense of it, of the feeling. 

And Mikey tells Michi, with just how open they are now, he figures it is as good as any time to- that she should leave it, leave her hurt here and forget it. 

Forget and start...somewhere else. 

“With us!” he petitions, turning his head in the sand over to her, the grains stuck in her hair, long out of the bun she twisted into place earlier. “You...you could come and...an’ stay or...or, Michi I dunno but’cha gotta get out sometime soon…”

His words break like the desperation his face carries; the silence falls over them again and Michi watches one of those pointless blimps fly overhead, ready for another day at the beach, her eyes empty shimmer in the rising sun. 

“I know….” she starts in a deep breath, “Mikey, I know you...you and your brothers- they...you guys do so much. And you save, you’re...you saved a whole ton of people but…” she turns her eyes into his, and he sees every nightmare through hers, through her eyes, “You can’t save everyone. I think...I think you know that.” she says.

So why do you keep trying with me? she doesn’t. 

But Mikey grabs her hand and she can tell when his heart flutters and his face flushes without at all having to spare him her eyes. And, now, she gets it.

“‘S ‘cause...well, I dunno…” he smiles sheepishly. 

“Yes...you do,” Michi offers one back, wishing Junior would wake up already and tell them it’s time to go, “But you shouldn’t.”

And they drop the mystery for now and all the unconventionally odd and terribly obscure feelings that went in tow, Michi breaking off a chunk of Junior’s unfinished and kinda stale cotton candy she snagged, sliding it into her mouth while they look up at the blimps and clouds and setting sun.

“Ya gonna pay for that?” Junior asks, standing over his two friends, his smile brighter and just as beautiful as the sun. 

“Nah, I’m good, Bone-boy,” she says, staring still at the morning sky, spawning a laugh, genuine and, all the very same, brittle. 

_____________________________________

In about ten days she gets a bill of two dollars in her mailbox and a seashell necklace, her best friend’s initials carved into a shell. 

[fille-lioncelle]

i watched alles isy before i learned about druck, it was just smth that was on tv and having no expectations at all for a german tv movie (they're usually just bad), i remember that i somehow got sucked into it. i liked the acting, the atmosphere, how dense everything felt. i get that the focus on jonas (that was michis character right?) conflicts can seem inappropriate, but i felt like it was a story worth telling, and that it was told in a compelling manner (1/2)

“i found the reactions/actions of the adults, their brutality, their helplessness and their ruthlessness in pursuing their interests, realistic. i remember though that i wasn't that happy with the resolution, it somehow felt of and couldn't deliver what the film promised/developed, but overall i was just pleasantly surprised about this film, that made me think and 'feel' thinks without having expected that before. (2/2)”

I do actually agree with you on the acting and the getting sucked into it! I absolutely understand that both Milena and Michelangelo got awards for this film because they really were very, very good. Isy is heart-breaking, of course, but even Jonas (yes, that was his part haha) managed to elicit some sympathy from me and he raped his best friend who he claims to be in love with.

And I think that “brutality, helplessness, and ruthlessness” you mention that everyone displays was probably the point of the film, that they wanted to show how deeply such an event uproots (and reveals!) everyone who is touched by it, but for me that just wasn’t enough to make me like the film. In the end it actually did the opposite for me.

The focus on Jonas I think is not just inappropriate but heartless. In a story about a girl who is raped by three of her friends and doesn’t even remember it, who cannot tell her own story because she doesn’t know it, the film itself doesn’t even do her the courtesy of telling her story. I would be inclined to call that clever film-making, to say that was a conscious choice, to show how helpless and devastated she in particular was, if the film had spent time making me think that. But that would have meant spending time showing how helpless and devastated she was. And not just once or twice, but for most of the movie. Instead they spend time with everyone else, and everyone else is almost cartoonishly evil.

I think the problem with the resolution I have is the same problem I have with the whole film - they get so invested in this idea that they want to show “all angles” of this story that they never give it any kind of resolution at all. They don’t even purposely give it a lack of resolution. In the end, they all get away with it, you know the asshole-instigator-”friend” is definitely going to do it again, and not even that gets a moment to sink in. Nothing is given any more weight than anything else in the film. Everything is equally valid and treated as though it’s just as important as everything else. There is no ending to this film, it’s just suddenly over at one point and you’re left going “.....what the fuck was that?”.

So on the point of it being a story worth telling - I just don’t agree. For one, I’m not even sure what story they’re actually trying to tell. For another, my best guess at that is that they’re telling Jonas’ story and Jonas’ character arc goes from “does what other people tell him to do - get drunk, rape his best friend” to “does what other people tell him to do - leave the country forever, don’t take responsibility for it”. And it’s not even presented as though this is evidence of the characters’ shortcomings, a result of the appalling way we treat victims of sexual assault. Instead it almost comes across as though this is meant to be what’s best for everyone and I... really can’t handle that.

I’m just not interested in a “have you considered all angles” kind of story about this kind of thing. A girl got raped by three of her supposed friends while blacked out at a party. All angles of that story are not equally important and in some way anything that deals with this topic has to acknowledge that, I think.

Thank you very much for dropping by, though! It certainly is a film that’s made me feel and think a lot, even if most of that was outrage and disgust haha. I’m very glad it worked better for you though.

- H

[still-we-go-pumpkins]

An amazing fan tribute to Weiki. Unique facts compilation 👌🎃

I've just found the post on DeviantArt. As great Weiki fan also, I can confirm that he's really that marvelous just as the author describes him. This will make you feel warm and will set smile on your face as well as you will check Helloween vids/lives while exploring this facts. So, here we go.

Further credits : SamWeiki

100 Reasons I love Michael Weikath

Possible – scratch that, definite – Fangirling ahead (I tried to keep it to a minimum and I probably failed)

1. He has the most gorgeous blue eyes. [right off, I told you – Fangirling]

2. The songs he writes are so unique and AMAZING. Most of them mean quite a lot to me, as well. I’ve always been drawn to them. They just have a certain special quality to them that I love.

3. He wrote “Keeper of the Seven Keys” for cryin’ out loud!

4. His “thanks” section in the Unarmed booklet.

5. He’d pick Judas Priest over Iron Maiden in an instant.

6. The way he sometimes answers questions. For instance, he was asked about what fans could expect from The Dark Ride and his response was: “Well....hmmmm you can expect that it will be standing in stores and it’s very likely you can buy it when you find it there! hahahahahaha apart from that I don’t know if it’s going to say anything but you can go there and buy it, listen to it, and use it, because it’s a CD and it usually makes a lot of sound if you put it into a CD player......but probably doesn't work if you put it into a toaster.....hahahahahaha.”

7. If he wasn’t a musician, he says his life would be dedicated to cartoons.

8. He dedicated the Hammond version of “Burning Sun” to the great Jon Lord.

9. He’s an artist. His little skull and pumpkin drawing is beautiful.

10. He makes the best faces in concerts.

11. I love watching him in the High Live video, especially during “Steel Tormentor”. [I did not just say that]

12. He made the frog noises at the end of “Nothing to Say”.

13. So many people have blamed him for things over the years, when he did nothing wrong, just because they feel it's easier to blame him. I experience that quite a lot and have for several years, so I understand what it's like but he seems a lot stronger than me about it, as it's very hard for me to get over a lot of that stuff. He's sort of my hero about that because it seems like he hasn't let that really stop him.

14. How he totally told off that Phantom guy. His responses were awesome.

15. A part of “Do You Know What You Are Fighting For” is Deep Purple’s “Stormbringer” backwards. There’s actually a lot of Deep Purple in that song. Makes me love it even more – both songs.

16. He played on Uli Kusch’s cover of “Eyes of the World” from the Rainbow tribute album and he played all the guitar on that song. “Yeah I played on Eyes Of The World. So I did all of the guitar work on it. Uli told me that he did not expect me to have the guitar work as close to the original song as I had it.”

17. The seven pronged star on the cover of 7 Sinners was his idea. And what a damn fine idea it was because it makes a freaking sweet album cover! It was a lot of fun for me to draw, as well.

18. When writing “LAVDATE DOMINVM”, he called upon his old Latin lessons from school and actually got to work with his old Latin teacher on the lyrics. Weiki hadn’t worked with Latin for a bit, so he had to relearn a few things and he even managed to correct something his teacher had written.

19. His response to what animal he would be: “A lion, 'cause I could be lyin' round lazy and have my food brought to me by other people.”

20. Helloween would not be Helloween without him, plus Markus and Andi wouldn’t let him quit in 2000/2001.

21. He drew the logo and original pumpkin.

22. How beautiful the lyrics to “Windmill” are. Example:

"Don't feel alone and depressed

Someone will come, at last

To soothe your storming mind

To keep it away from the evil storms."

23. You can clearly hear the man singing in “White Christmas” and he’s the most fun to listen to.

24. “Introduction” never fails to make me laugh very loudly, especially the lyrics to “Rock n’ Roll All Day”.

25. He likes Spinal Tap.

26. The way he sang “Gorgar will eat you” in the Keeper Legacy interviews.

27. He was asked what his motto in life was and his response was: Be as friendly as it comes; have fun, make money and spend it on charity to help people. ~Sei so freundlich wie es geht; Spaß haben, viel Geld verdienen und es für wohltätige Zwecke ausgeben, um Leuten zu helfen~ (it was originally in German)

28. His black and white outfits in the ‘80s and ‘90s, especially those awesome star-printed pants.

29. The entire story of the Keeper of the Seven Keys and Master of the Rings.

30. The Jacuzzi scene in the Keeper Legacy Road movie.

31. He likes Aphrodite’s Child, Nektar, and Camel. He’s cool.

32. I really don’t think I’ve heard him say anything bad about anyone.

33. The moment when he switched his guitar off and “played” a solo after he was introduced in The Legacy concert.

34. “All right… That’s enough! Now, I want to hear Dani’s drum solo!” *rapid fire – BLAMBLAMBLAM!* The first time I watched the “Smoke On the Water” bit from Hellish Rock, I nearly fell to the floor laughing.

35. About the time Pink Bubbles Go Ape came out, in an interview, Michael Kiske said something about they weren’t Metal, they didn’t do that “Heavy Metal” thing and Weiki says, “I thought we were Heavy Metal”. And Michi completely just stopped talking for a second.

36. The way Weiki messed around with Michi and Roland during the interview mentioned above.

37. How much fun he looked like he was having in the “Kids of the Century” video.

38. Every time he dances around on stage.

39. His love for Gibson Les Pauls.

40. He was reading “A Hat Full of Sky” and even recommended it.

41. He says that his writing “Keeper of the Seven Keys” kept him alive and he considers it a major turning point in his life to have come up with the idea for it.

42. The hairspray scene in the Hellish Rock road movie.

43. He actually got involved with the DJ game when they were in Japan (Keeper Legacy road movie) – the whole arcade scene was great.

44. The way he just looks at a camera sometimes and doesn’t say a word – he just starts making faces and looking off in different directions. He can be funny without saying a single word.

45. His guitar solo in “Back On the Ground”.

46. He played most of the guitar on the Better Than Raw album.

47. Weikath Syndrome is the coolest thing to catch.

48. During the German Top 6 video (1993), he was drinking a Capri Sun. I think it may have even been Wild Cherry.

49. A Gibson Les Paul looks absolutely perfect on him. I also love the way he holds the guitar.

50. How his hair has always been shoulder length (at least) since the late ‘80s (and beautiful).

51. He thinks of the younger viewers/fans.

52. All the love for him in the Hellbook.

53. I don’t how much of the lyrics to “Dreambound” he wrote, but he has a credit on that song and OH MY GOD, is it flipping incredible! I must make special mention to how amazing “the Saints” is, too.

54. He wanted to talk to Michael Kiske when they met at a festival in 2012/2013, so they could try and work things out a little.

55. He wanted “Livin’ Ain’t No Crime” to be a single.

56. His song “Number One” and how uplifting and positive the lyrics are, especially the chorus.

57. When they were on the Ferris wheel, they didn’t start REALLY laughing until Weiki did.

58. How he introduces himself as “de Michael Weikath of Helloween” and he even got Dani to do it with him.

59. He contributed a guitar solo to the German Rock Project’s “Let Love Conquer the World” (the long Metal version) but went all incognito with it and is credited as “a member of the Seventh Key”.

60. The fact that he wanted a flute in “Raise the Noise” and it sounds totally awesome!

61. The sexy witch on the cover of Better Than Raw was Weiki’s idea.

62. His makeshift rocking chair.

63. His spoken part of the Dezperadoz song “First Blood” (and “Echoes of Eternity”, too).

64. How funny was in the two Nuremberg interviews from the ‘80s that are on YouTube.

1987 – He lights a cigarette, he passes it Ingo, Ingo passes it back, and Weiki passes it back to him. Ingo then proceeds to throw it on the ground and Weiki attempts to lightly hit him but only manages to hit his hair. xD

1988 – The FUNNY one! He was so frickin’ funny in that one. I won’t give away the end of it if you’ve never seen it, but it involves a balloon and a cigarette. (by the way, Michael Weikath takes his sunglasses off and puts them back on 13 times, 10 of which are in the first three minutes).

65. After an interviewer thanks him for being there, “Ja, that’s not so much I can do about it, because somebody put me on this Earth and I went out of my mother and suddenly I was there and now I have to deal with this crap.”

66. During the Indianapolis Hell On Wheels concert, during “Halloween”, Michi passes the mic over to Weiki and Weiki does the “I’ll show you power and glory” part. Michi then makes a disgruntled face at him and rubs the mic with his shirt, causing Weiki to make a face back at him!

67. Also from the same Hell On Wheels concert, during “A Tale That Wasn’t Right”, he was stepping on the skeleton and making Ingo laugh.

68. Speaking of “A Tale That Wasn’t Right”, that song is incredible and very powerful.

69. He let the other members of the band help out on “Mission Motherland”. That song is very quickly becoming my favorite song of theirs.

70. His backing vocals in the “Sea of Fears” demo.

71. All of his little pins that he wears: the pumpkin, the W, the stars…

72. This comment he made about the Hellbook: “With the hardcover you can better smash your naughty brother... and you can with the regular as well, just maybe not as effective.” I have actually made that joke to my brother before. xD

73. Someone at a meet-n-greet in 2008 showed the band an old picture of the guys, which they all signed. It was an old picture. Kai was stunned, Markus laughed his ass off, and Michael actually said he remembered where it was taken and when. The picture was taken in 1986, so that is kind of impressive.

74. He helped me become a big fan of Deep Purple. Yes, I will admit to only becoming a major Deep Purple fan after becoming a Helloween fan - and it was all because of Weiki. And now I'm really happy because I never realized how awesome Deep Purple is. Same thing with Wishbone Ash.

75. He’s given me several phrases to use whenever applicable.

- “Impressive, isn’t it?”

- “You have to listen with your ears.”

- “It’s nice, cold, windy, sunny weather.” (which pretty much describes Florida in the winter sometimes)

76. He can still sing with a cigarette in his mouth and not drop the cigarette.

77. The intro to “Halloween”. I’m not sure if he played it on the original recording, but when he plays it live… OH MY GOD.

78. His guitar solo in “First Time”.

79. He’s fun to watch in the “When the Sinner” video when he’s shown, especially when he’s playing those power chords in the beginning (even though he played no guitar on the song) and the part in the saloon.

80. How amazing “Les Hambourgeois Walkways” is.

81. He’s written a couple songs that he has dedicated to groups of fans ~ “LAVDATE DOMINVM” for the Latin speaking fans, and “Born on Judgment Day” for the people of Brazil.

82. How he’s so easily able to make Sascha laugh behind the camera.

More here 💜

[mizunocaitlin]

A Synopsis of Le Mouvment Final, the Sailor Stars musical

Here is my mostly comprehensive synopsis of Le Mouvement Final, the final Sailor Moon revival musical that opened in Tokyo on September 8th, 2017. This synopsis is full of spoilers. And pictures. You have been warned. 

Also, I apologize for errors and omissions. I took notes for this one, but it’s a tad hard to take comprehensive notes in the dark. 

The musical opens at the airport where Usagi is seeing off Mamoru. He's gotten into Harvard and they're both quite sad about being separated, but Usagi wants him to see his dream through. Mamoru presents Usagi with a ring, but holds back actually proposing marriage. [Overture ~Prologue~]

Around the same time, the Three Lights arrive at the airport from presumably an overseas concert. Lots of fans to dodge! Usagi has no idea who they are and what all the hoopla is about. Walking by, Seiya and the gang sense the “Star Light” coming off of Usagi and Mamoru, but Yaten doesn't want to get involved. They are on a mission. Suddenly, the baddies show and Mamoru is taken/killed right in front of Usagi, who doesn't have time to transform or anything. He never even gets on the plane. No ambiguity. He's dead. She's frozen in terror. The Three Lights come to her aid and she collapses in their arms.

Usagi recovers physically, but she’s not all there mentally. Chibi Chibi makes her first appearance and serves as a distraction! Usagi pretends nothing happened and sees this stray child and decides to help her. Brings her to the authorities, I think. 

...and cut to the Music Festival. I missed some dialogue so I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a student/school music festival or a general music festival, but the first act we see is the Sailor Band. Just like in the previous musicals, the inner senshi are a band. Usagi is late so they go on without her.  They sing [Otome no Michi] and their performance clothes are so manga-like! Jeans jackets! Lace shawls! Minako's keytar made me laugh.

The act that follows the Sailor Band is a duet: Haruka on paino, Michiru on violin. Though we don't get to see the duet, one of the other senshi comments that the piece they perform is written by Haruka for Michiru. Haruka and Michiru are really THE couple of this musical. Japanese Twitter identified the dress on Michiru, btw. It’s available online. 

Instead of seeing the Haruka/Michiru performance, we watch back stage as the inners chastise Usagi for being late. She says she'd gone to the airport to see Mamoru off. She's already PTSD forgot about his death. It was that traumatic. The girls gush about how the Thee Lights are performing at the same music festival they are. Amazing! And here they are now! The girls spend some stage time fawning over how perfect the boys of Three Lights are. The inners all in the fan club, too! Each of the inner senshi proudly recites her fan club membership number. Naturally, the punchline of this joke is Ami. Everyone else's fan club number is in the hundreds or thousands. Ami's is #7.

Usagi still has no idea who this boy band is, and begins listing off good qualities in a man, but comments at each one that Mamoru is better than these cheesy boy band guys. Seiya, who remembers that Mamoru was killed in the airport, instantly feels terrible for Usagi. He wants to correct her and comfort her, but when he tries everyone accuses him of being sweet on Usagi.

We see the Three Lights perform next. They're so cool! But, their song [Wandering Stars] is full of novelty English. A little too much for me, personally. We see Haruka and Michiru come off stage after their performance and meet the Lights. I believe at this point is when Haruka shakes hands very pissing contest style with Seiya and everybody sense everybody else's magic powers.

At the end of the Three Lights song, the power cuts out and Iron Mouse appears. Before she can really get an attack in on the Thee Lights, Sailor Moon is on the scene. She whips out a powerful attack that knocks down Iron Mouse. I believe this battle song is [Sky of Jewels]. Quickly pretty much all the senshi show up to join Sailor Moon in the fight with Iron Mouse and she's forced to retreat. The youma costumes in this musical aren't nearly as cool as before. All black and gold. Meh. In the battle, the Three Lights are outed as senshi to pretty much everyone. The outers are concerned. The inners are super stoked their favorite boyband is just like them.

Then, we see Galaxia and get her intro song, [Dictator of Densetsu/Dictator of Legend]. Very rock opera. There's a ton of English in it. She sings her motivations and plans for taking over world domination. Pretty badass, really. Her costume glitters beautifully on stage. Galaxia is pissed that Iron Mouse took the initiative to attack, but didn't get any Star Seeds/Sailor Crystals. Iron Mouse pleads that there were more senshi than she expected. She gets punished by Galaxia for her failure.

After Galaxia's intro, we see the Animates talking among themselves. Tin Nyanko defends Iron Mouse and says they should stick together because they're friends. They should support poor chastised Iron Mouse! But Lead Crow and Aluminum Siren say, fuck no. We are not friends. We're henchmen in Galaxia's army. Fuck off. Iron Mouse leans on Tin Nyanko for comfort and says she's hungry, let's go get something to eat. So, two couples in the Animates and they want nothing to do with each other.

We cut to the Three Lights in school uniforms on the roof of Azabu Jyuban High School, where they've just enrolled. They lament to each other how they've been on this planet a whole month-ish and they still haven't found Kakyuu. They wonder aloud if it's because their singing isn't good enough. They accuse each other of being off key and then sort of test their pitch against each other, mocking each other's failures. Singing is very much the sign of power on Kinmoku.

Usagi ends up on the roof, too, writing a letter to Mamoru – Even though she's had no contact from him since she thinks he left for Harvard. Even though the Three Lights are aliens, they still dis her shitty grammar and kanji. Seiya tries again to spill the beans, but Setsuna, who appears to be the school nurse, finds Usagi with the Lights and intervenes. When she touches Seiya, she feels his power first hand and tells him to stay away from Usagi. Then, Setsuna freaks out because OMG she touched the hot lead singer of the coolest boyband ever. Kya!

That afternoon, they hold a meeting at I believe Rei's place, to discuss these Three Lights and the new threat. Chibi Chibi just shows up to the meeting like it ain't no thing. She sings an adorable song [CHIBI CHIBI] that reminds me of the Kewpie dance and everyone guesses she must be a new, mysterious relative of Usagi's. Another child or a grand child or something, maybe? And they just let her stay.

The meeting commenses. Setsuna has drawn up chibi faces of the Three Lights on a white board as a visual aid for the meeting. They talk about what the Lights have been up to since transfering to the senshis' school. Seiya is on the baskeball team and is naturally the best player. We see Seiya in a ridiculously poorly fitting basketball jersey playing around with a ball. Taiki has scored better than even Ami on that one test. Yaten is such a sassy gay that he called out Michiru on her make-up choices, which pissed off both her and Haruka. Like, literally. He called her out on her makeup. What the hell, Yaten?

The senshi speculate that they must have arrived in the meteor shower that happened last month. And, Setsuna further speculates that since she and Haruka both felt spiritual energy from them, that all three must be senshi.... Which means they can transform... Which means that they must put on sailor collars and short skirts and Setsuna starts to draw sailor fuku on the chibis she's sketched of the Three Lights on her white board and EVERYBODY FREAKS THE FUCK OUT. Partly at the idea of boy band guys in short skirts. Partly, seemly, at the idea that they might not be boys at all. Which, that part is a tad disappointing.

After the meeting, Chibi Chibi wanders off and Usagi bumps into Seiya looking for her in a nearby park. Since they both already know each other are senshi, Seiya takes this opportunity to sing [Wandering Stars Ballad Version] about what the Starlights are doing on earth. He gets just emo enough to release some of his spiritual power, which lures the baddies to the scene. Senshi and baddies convene on the spot and transform/arrive to the song [Sailor Make Up!].

In the battle, Siren an Crow sing about their back story in [Crow to Siren]. They kinda sorta were senshi, you see, but their worlds were not well off and relatively peaceful like Earth. Shit was bad, and they're with Galaxia now. Sailor Moon manages to get Iron Mouse and Tin Nyanko in a Gorgeous Mediation attack, healing them from the brainwashing and breaking their power bracelets. Mouse and Nyanko say even more about Galaxia and her insane slaughter across the galaxy. Before they get too far, however, Siren and Crow kill them for betraying Galaxia and reclaim their Sailor Crystals/Star Seeds.

This freaks Sailor Moon right the fuck out. Seing senshi-on-senshi violence and watching two people die in front of her, triggers her PTSD and she's basically frozen in trauma until we hear the snap snap snap. The Sailor Starlights appear! By now we've got basically all the senshi and all the baddies on stage, Galaxia included. Galaxia kinda mocks Sailor Moon and the senshi for being overly attached to their mortal, human bodies. We are so much more than that! I believe she then kills Mercury and Jupiter.

A sweet aside, Neptune laments that they're at war again and she's so tired of war. But Uranus says it doesn't matter, because they can face anything if they're together. Aw.

After the battle, we see Chibi Chibi walk on stage in the darkness. She starts to speak about Galaxia and the battle, then her speech is taken over by Sailor Cosmos who appears behind her.

Seiya is back in human form again, and shooting hoops to let off some steam. Haruka shows up to basically beat him up just because. Stay the fuck away from Usagi, bitch! She's ours! And Seiya once again has to be all, there's just something she needs to know. Something I have to tell her. Seiya relly gives off the vibe that he relates to Usagi's loss on a deep, traumatic level. He seems to correlate the trauma of him losing Kakyuu to the trauma of Usagi loosing Mamoru. Haruka's like ok fine you can talk to Usagi about whatever... BUT ONLY FOR 5 MINUTES I'M WATCHING YOU PUNK.

At some point here they sing [Scent of War].

The outers have a moment where they lament maybe putting up a shield around the solar system. Fucking, outers, man. WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT BEFORE ASSHOLES????

Everyone is freaking out about the new enemy. Usagi has a PTSD flashback about Mamoru's death but still can't quite accept it. Mars reads the Tarot and turns up a Death card, says this fight is different from all the rest. Minako complains that she just wants to be a normal teen for once and get a boyfriend. Yaten comment that this is foolish. They've all pledged their lives and their very souls to their princess. Romantic entanglements are for people without a mission. Minako quickly agrees.

Usagi sings [My Only Love], lamenting how much she treasures Mamoru and misses him and needs him. Seiya joins in her song, sort of realizing that his sympathy for Usagi is sort of turning into a crush on Usagi. Oops. Chibi Chibi sort of pushes the two together and Usagi finally fully remembers Mamoru's death. Seiya explains to Usagi more about Galaxia and this massive, universe wide war they're in.

But Usagi gets no rest. Galaxia ambushes them and kills Mars and Venus, again right in front of her. Galaxia says she's doing this whole murdering your loved ones in front of you thing on purpose, too. She says the anger and fear will rev up Sailor Moon's power and make her more ripe for the picking. Ugh. Asshole.

The Lights show up and Seiya wants to intervene, but Yaten pulls a Switzerland and rants that this is not their fight. The outers show up, though, and yell at them for this bullshit. They school the Lights all about how awesome Usagi is. She's so kind and gently and compassionate and everyone who meets her loves her and didn't you just sense her virtue standing next to her??? Aw, outers, I didn't know you cared so much!

This battle features Neptune and Siren so we get to see two water users battle it out. They “flood” the battle area. Pretty awesome, really. Siren is not nearly the ditz she was in the anime. They really go at it. When Usagi joins the battle, Galaxia unleashes the pain. Her massive attack hits the outers. Pluto uses herself as a human shield to protect Saturn (and secretly sends Saturn to the Time Gate) and Uranus and Neptune are fatally wounded. They reach out for each other as they die.

Sailor Moon is now alone, and Galaxia sets about the destruction of planet Earth. Chibi Chibi suddenly shows and stops it, however. And, Kakyuu comes out of hiding to join the fight. Holy shit, you guys. Kakyuu's voice? Basically opera. She's an opera singer. She sings [Saigo no Kibou/Last Hope]. On Kinmoku, singing ability = power for sure!

Intermission

Back from Intermission, Chaos is having words with Galaxia about The Plan. Blah, blah. Who cares.

Cut to Usagi. She's in her school uniform, just standing there. Alone. Grieveing. Then, suddenly, Ami, Makoto, and Minako appear! They form a playful ring around her Dogeball style saying they need to protect her. Tee-hee! Then they bring up this, basically, rape whistle that Rei apparently gave Usagi if she was ever in trouble. She blows the whistle and Rei comes running. Everybody laughs, and laughs. Usagi is tearful. Why is everyone so loyal to her? Why do they care so much? But the emotional manipulation is not over! The girls say that a special chef has prepared a meal for Usagi. It's Mamoru! He's made a special pun laden dish he calls “Tuxedo La Smoking Hamburg” and why hasn't THAT been on any of the cafe menus, huh?

The peace is broken by Galaxia, and the apparent dream becomes a nightmare. Chibi Chibi then wakes Usagi, who finds herself on the couch in the living room of the house the Three Lights all share. Kakyuu explains that she was always searching for Usagi, because Usagi is pretty much the most powerful being in the universe. She says her own lover was killed, and that's what set her off. Usagi laments that the Silver Crystal always starts conflicts.

Seiya is now in full angst mode. His princess is here, but Usagi is suffering. He wants to comfort Usagi, but feels he can't. He gets down on one knee before Usagi and vows not to leave her side. Meanwhile, Yaten is a catty bitch. Yaten wants nothing to do with these Earth people. Kinmoku First! Kakyuu shuts that down fast. No, we help.

They decide to seek out Galaxia where she lives. They band together and, in a great light show and bit of projection mapping, end up at the River of Memories that acts as a moat to Galaxia's Palace. It's a river of sand. Everyone is separated. We don't see Lethe and Mnemosyne, but the back up dancers that hassle Sailor Moon as tries to remember who she was and why she's here are dressed just like the pair are in the manga before they reveal themselves.

Usagi comes to herself and... poof! Heeeerrrrreee's Chibi Moon! Turns out when Pluto used herself as a human shield to protect Saturn, Saturn went to the future to fetch Chibi Usa. Genius! Nice shipper moment for Hotaru and Chibi Usa there. A battle occurs between Saturn, Sailor Moon, Chibi Moon, Siren and Crow.

Usagi manages to break the hold of the brainwashing bracelets, but Crow and Siren have much more complicated loyalties. Siren says she's sick of fighting. Crow talks about their home worlds. Kinda deep. They guilt Sailor Moon about her super powerful crystal being too strong a lure for bad people and things. They urge her to basically commit suicide for the good of the universe. Sailor Moon... considers it.

Naturally, Galaxia kills Siren and Crow for their betrayal. So, Kakyuu attacks! She's no real match for Galaxia, though, so she takes a fatal hit and dies in Star Fighter's arms. Seiya just can not win. All the Starlights get an attack in. Then, the inevitable. Galaxia revives Tuxedo Kamen and the solar system senshi as baddies complete with super charged abilities thanks to their power bracelets. They have special, Galaxia version of all their attacks and Tuxedo Kamen is the leader instead of Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon can't bring herself to attack her brainwashed friends. Naturally, Galaxia has also brainwashed Tuxedo Kamen to be in love with her and they kiss just to fuck with Sailor Moon some more. Mamoru is really sexually abused throughout the series, isn't he? Chibi Moon wants to intervene, but Chibi Chibi stops her. When Tuxedo Kamen comes at Sailor Moon, apparently as an attack, the touch forms a telepathic connection. Mamoru assures Usagi that all of them are still alive and intact on the inside and it's just the push she needs!

Sailor Moon upgrades to her ultimate form and we get to see the wings again. Yay! She sets in on Galaxia. Galaxia mocks the fragility of life and human connection. Usagi sings the virtues of love and comradiere and compassion. The battle shifts to the Galaxy Cauldron.

Galaxia wants to make this shit final. She takes all the Sailor Crystals/Star Seeds she's collected and throws them in the Galaxy Cauldron to melt them and destroy them forever. She calls Sailor Moon the ultimate senshi. Galaxia makes a move to kill Sailor Moon, but it stopped by Chaos. Meanwhile, Chibi Chibi and Chibi Moon stand off to the side of the stage, seemingly helpless, watching.

Chaos reframes the argument. Chaos calls back to all the evil Sailor Moon has faced, and calls them the siblings of Sailor Moon. Everything powerful ever was formed in the same Galaxy Cauldron as Sailor Moon's Sailor Crystal/soul was. They are all one in the same.

Galaxia is injured, dying. Sailor Moon says she is lonely. Deserves compassion herself. Needs to be saved.

Chibi Chibi now speaks up. She builds on what the Animates and Chaos have said in the second act: If power exists, it will be used for evil eventually. The only way to achieve peace is to destroy the power that made the Silver Crystal and Usagi in the first place: The Galaxy Cauldron itself. Usagi objects. Wouldn't that mean no more souls would be created? Wouldn't the universe slowly whither and die? Yes, says Chibi Chibi. But there would be no more evil. There would be peace.

Sailor Moon doesn't really hesitate. Life is better. Deeply flawed life is better than peaceful nothing. She pledges to endlessly fight the battle against evil no matter what it takes, because life is worth it. She takes on the responsibility.

The injured Galaxia dies. Chibi Chibi disappears and is replaced by Sailor Cosmos. It's a dramatic moment. Everything is silent. Seeing the Cosmos and Sailor Moon on stage together is freaking amazing you guys.

They manage to revive the solar system senshi and Sailor Moon asks for their help to defeat Chaos. Cosmos and Chibi Moon both sit out the fight together, on the same part of the stage as before. This is the point where I started to suspect Cosmos and Chibi Moon were the same person.

The melted Sailor Crystals are pulled from the Galaxy Cauldron and reformed. Cosmos talks to Chibi Moon. She calls herself the future Sailor Moon. She says that she fled here from a distant future because the battle was too hard. She basically presented Sailor Moon with the moral choice she couldn't make. She says at one point “I have returned here many times”. Very cryptic. I plan to analyze the fuck out of this dialog when the DVD comes out. Usagi barely interacts with Cosmos. It's all Chibi Moon here. I really thing she's talking to her past self. Cosmos calls this Sailor Moon the best Sailor Moon. Read into that what you will. Cosmos promises she won't run away anymore.

Now with the battle over, everyone de-transforms and is reunited. The girls are all in white dresses and pose on the stage after hugging each other, happy to be alive, recreating an artbook scene. Mamoru is so happy to be alive and see Usagi that he wastes no time. Proposes marriage on the spot.

The last scene in the musical is the wedding of Usagi and Mamoru. Mamory is in the green embroidered tuxedo jacket from the artbooks and Usagi has on her pretty white wedding dress. They embrace and are so happy. SO HAPPY! Usagi tells Mamoru that she thinks she's already pregnany with ChibiUsa. I can't remember the exact phrasing but it's something along the lines of “I can already feel the light of a new star growing within me.” Mamoru is ELATED! I cried, you guys.

All of the other senshi flood into the stage, also in white. I believe it's Minako who says that Usagi it's not fair that Usagi be only one to wear a pretty dress. They pose on the stairs in a facimile of the artbook wedding dress image used in the musical promos. Usagi tosses the bouquet and Rei catches it. Whatever, we know Haruka and Michiru are getting married next.

They fade to black and a highlight montage of past musicals is projected on the stage. I cried again. At the end of the montage it says “The end.”. Noo!!! Do Sailor V or the side stories or ANYTHING! More! More!

There were 5 encore songs. Tuxedo Kamen, all senshi, Uranus/Neptune, Endymion, everyone doing Ai no Starshine, and then everyone doing Moonlight Densetsu. I didn't just cry, I bawled like a baby.

The musical was amazing. The story was much faster paced than, say, the Sailor Moon S musical. The way several characters framed the final battle as a moral choice was really masterful storytelling for one of these things. With the exception of the backup dancers, every costume was awesome. Super 90's civilian clothes! Super shiny senshi ensembles! Wedding dresses! The best! I can't wait to see it on DVD. Wish I could have gone again. And again.

Thematically, this musical really puts Usagi to the test. It presents her with the ultimate moral choice surrounding her power. She actively chooses to fight evil forever. She chooses to preserve life. She never wavers in her love for Mamoru. Seiya might start to fall for her, but she doesn’t seem to even notice. I feel like the writers really listened to criticism of previous shows here. So much worked so well!