#he would pass away before the artbook was released :(

[devilsrains]

eroica 35th anniversary book

by shinji wada

[raflovestuffs]

Promise~

Hey there People! I’m so glad that I’m finally able to present you the first os of a two parts story I wrote and called "Upcoming Age". I have this in mind since a long time but wasn’t able to write it!

@poppysfanworld gave me the idea of the flashback and I also was inspired by the artbook and the piece of art of @looneylolita!

I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter :)

...

Like a dancing ballet, the dragons flew to the hidden world. The spectacle of their flapping wings showed the greatness of these majestic beings. Hiccup had spent five years of his life with them and witnessing their departure was by far the most difficult thing he had ever faced. Toothless’ glanced down even more. He looked at his human friend from the edge of the cliff with his big sad eyes, still hesitating to take off. The auburn-haired man smiled through his tears to reassure him, as if to say, ‘It's going to be alright’, and Toothless gave him one last look before flying off to his freedom.

The Berkians stayed long in front of this cliff, gazing at the sky, even after all the dragons had left. Thereafter, everyone had finally returned to the camp. The dragon riders had wanted to stay a little longer, but eventually did the same. Only the chief remained.

In the absence of his artificial leg to support him, he had taken a seat at the edge of the cliff and remained there until nightfall, lost in thought. The tears he had let flow earlier, had dried on his cheeks.

He heard footsteps behind him. Someone crouched down by putting their hand on his shoulder. Without having to turn around, he knew it was Astrid. His gaze crossed hers and the young man's face relaxed. His features softened as he smiled at her.

"Come on, it's time to join the others."

Hiccup sighed before agreeing. She helped him to get up and he leaned on her shoulder to walk. Astrid supported him in his steps to where the villagers had gathered. Small groups had formed around improvised campfires.

The couple passed through them, stepping over a few people. They watched the men rub their hands to warm themselves by the fire. They told each other stories from the good old days, smiling at the memory of the dragons.

Berk obviously needed to gather after the sad event that had just taken place. Sharing the happy memories that their friendship with the dragons had given them seemed like good therapy.

The further he went, the more amazement could be seen on the young leader's face. Seeing his people gather in this way made them happy despite everything that had happened.

Astrid turned to him.

"What should we do when our loved ones are not with us?"

"We celebrate them," he replied without hesitation.

That's what his father always said. He always had the right words in difficult times. Hiccup was happy to have Astrid at his side for this, among other reasons. She reminded him a lot of his father and it helped him to move forward.

They finally found their old friends sitting in a circle around a fire. The gang was complete. Fishlegs was crying in Ruffnut’s arms as she gave her brother a sadden glance. Snotlout, who was next to Tuffnut, watched the scene unfold without saying anything. They looked really bad. They looked up when their group leader and friend arrived. He smiled at them before sitting beside them.

"So what are you doing out here?" he said to them.

"Well, like everyone else... " Tuffnut replied.

"We’re telling each other stories," her sister added.

"We were recalling the time when the twins almost burned down the shoreline with the fireworms fiasco," explained Snotlout, somewhat amused.

"And I was explaining to them that it wasn't completely my fault... maybe Ruffnut’s," retorted the male twin.

Snotlout was about to say something, but Hiccup cut him off.

"The Edge... it was the good old days, wasn't it?"

"We were young and free," Astrid agreed.

The others then let themselves go to their good memories.

"The Dragon Eye... when we discovered it, it changed everything. It allowed us to explore the world... a world so vast... " his voice broke when he realized that he could never explore this world in this way anymore.

Astrid grabbed his hand and squeezed it into hers, as if to testify to his presence, she was there for him.

"It also allowed us to expand our knowledge of dragons! " exclaimed Fishlegs, who had just dried his tears. "We've discovered so much! Between the Night Terrors, the Death Songs, the Sentinels, the Eruptodons, the Razorwhips..."

This last evocation inevitably reminded him of Heather, for whom he had been of particular interest for some time. As he looked at others, he realized that they had thought of her too. Astrid put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I miss her too," she sighed, trying to smile.

"Ah... she still had the coolest dragon of all," exclaimed Tuffnut, looking nostalgic.

Everyone laughed at his dreamy gaze.

"We experienced a lot of things there, though... " said Ruffnut. "We learned to work as a team, didn't we, Astrid?" she said while giving a light punch to Astrid’s shoulder.

"Aha, that's right."

"And we have met so many different people, different cultures, different places..." added the chief.

"The last few years have been really rich," concluded his girlfriend.

"Rich in twists and turns, yeah," Snotlout suddenly exclaimed. "Don't forget that we almost got killed, I don't know how many times, by dragon hunters! Not to mention the volcano on the shore, which almost destroyed the entire island! And do you remember the time you and Fishlegs almost-"

Astrid had presented him with her axe in front of his eyes and Hiccup had hastened to lower it down gently.

"And you forget how many dragons we were able to save because of our recklessness," Hiccup reminded him.

The brown-haired man looked down, grumbling, and Hiccup continued his speech.

"We left Berk to live new adventures, to learn how to manage on our own. And that's what we did. We've been through... so much there. These last six years have undoubtedly been the best years of my life. I've been through... incredible things with Toothless, with all of you. We learned to help each other, to support each other in the most difficult times."

He turned to Astrid and looked into her eyes.

"To love each other."

The blonde's blue eyes grew larger; a smile appeared on the corners of her lips. Hiccup took her hand, squeezed it, and kissed her, before facing the gang once again.

"And as for today, we left Berk to offer a better life to our dragons and new adventures that await us."

He squeezed the hand of the young Hofferson, once more. The rest of the dragon riders looked disconcerted. They were stunned by the words of their leader. They all nodded with big eyes. All except Tuffnut.

"That's all well and good, but can you tell me who's going to take me to see Chicken now?!" he exclaimed.

The others looked at him strangely before laughing with a good heart.

Hiccup felt as if a breath of fresh air was invading him. Like he could breathe again. As if any tension had dissipated. His friends had managed to cheer him up. He felt good in their presence. And he knew he owed it to one person.

"Thank you," he said, turning to the one he loved.

This one smiles at him. With a glance, he invited her to get up to escape from the group. She took him under her arm and they left the others with a last nod.

As they moved away from the crowd to their respective tents, they observed the landscape around them. They had a whole village to rebuild, a whole life.

In front of the distracted look of her boyfriend, the blonde called him by name.

"Hiccup, are you all right?"

"I feel better. Thank you again for taking me to see them. I needed this."

The girl looked down and smiled.

"You had to make a serious decision today. It was essential to the survival of the dragons and to ours as well."

She raised his head and looked into his eyes.

"I just want you to know that even though it was hard for all of us, you made the right decision, Hiccup."

Hearing Astrid say it aloud reassured him somewhat because it was true that he had asked himself the question and had turned it over several times in his head after the fact. But Astrid knew him too well and she already knew all that.

"I'm going to miss him," the young leader whispered.

They had just arrived in front of his tent. Astrid helped him to sit on the floor while keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder. In his saddened look, she held his head in her hands.

"I'm going to miss him too, just as much as Stormfly, but you did it for their own good."

The young woman lowered her hands down along his chest.

"And, they'll always be there," she had finished saying by placing a hand on his heart.

She managed to get a smile from Berk’s chief, who covered her hand with his. His other hand caressed her face by releasing it from the golden strands that concealed it.

"You've always been there for me, Astrid."

He kissed her on her forehead.

"Toothless is my best friend. He helped me to become the man I am today. But none of this would have been possible without your support."

The girl's eyes opened wide.

"Living without him will be a difficult ordeal, but you know what, Astrid?"

He paused.

"When I picture myself happy, it's with you."

Hiccup’s face relaxed. He smiled, with misty eyes:

"Do you remember the promise I made to you when we were children?"

"As if it was yesterday," the young woman agreed.

"So I’m asking you Astrid Hofferson, do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Winter was already well settled in when young Hiccup Haddock decided to leave home. As usual, he had left without permission. Anyway, his father Stoick the Vast wasn't there to stop him. And with Gobber as his only babysitter, he could get away.

At just ten years old, the future village chief was an intrepid boy, in love with nature and its beauty. He liked to get lost in the woods. He didn't really have any friends among the children in the village, but he claimed to love his solitude. The truth is that he was only looking for recognition from his village, and for them to stop treating him a ball and chain.

He soon arrived at the entrance to the forest. He rubbed his arms to warm himself up a little before venturing inward. His feet treaded on the snow-covered ground, leaving footprints behind him, sinking deeper into the forest. The young boy had planned to land in a quiet place to observe the few birds that would hide in the hollows of the trees. In this period of extreme cold, the dragons had left as they did every time the Snoggletog period arrived. The small animals could therefore find a quiet life where they did not have to constantly escape from their dangerous flames.

Hiccup then took a position on a tree trunk from which he could observe some birds coming out to wash themselves. He grabbed his notebook and, with his left hand, began to scribble some sketches. Despite the cold and his red cheeks, he continued to draw for nearly half an hour. After a while of staying in the same position, he decided to move to another place. He went a bit further into a more densely wooded area, and settled again. He began to draw the trees around him and the white carpet at their feet. A noise, however, made him lift his head from his notebook. He closed it with one hand and approached the sound he had just heard. It sounded like cracking wood. He then, continued to walk a little further.

"Ah!"

Someone seemed to be making a physical effort. He approached again.

Tchuc!

It was a girl cutting wood. She seemed to be his age. Two blond strands of hair protruded from her white fur hat. A wolf's skin as a coat, the little girl didn't seem to feel the cold.

Tchuc!

She chopped one more log. Hiccup was watching her closely. This figure looked familiar to him, but he was not sure of himself until she turned around. Without realizing it, he had laid a hand on a branch that had broken under the pressure of the latter. The noise had alerted the blonde. He instantly stooped down to hide.

"Is anyone there?"

That voice. That authoritarian voice that could only belong to one person. Astrid Hofferson. The girl had always occupied a very large place in his heart. So much so that he fell in love with it. He had fallen in love with her fiery temperament, her ability to handle the axe like no one else and her beautiful blue eyes. Hiccup was desperately in love with this girl but he was too shy to confess it to her. Yet he wanted to, but he was too afraid of being ridiculed.

"Have you been here long?!"

The young boy jumped. He hadn't seen it coming. He immediately got up to face her. She crossed her arms on her stomach and raised an eyebrow. And Hiccup knew what it meant; she wanted answers.

"Well... that is to say..."

"What exactly were you doing?"

He gulped with difficulty.

"Well, it's just... I was in the forest and... you were there and..."

"And what Haddock?"

He was stuck. She would never want to believe it. He had to invent something. Or not. Why not go for it?

"There, I followed you because... I love you Astrid Hofferson. Since forever and... one day I will marry you."

He had done it. He had said what he had on his mind.

"It‘s never gonna happen."

And she had dashed all his hopes in less than five seconds. Hiccup stood still in front of her, wondering why he had said all these things. The poor boy didn't know where to put himself. He finally regained his senses and turned back.

"Goodbye, Hiccup."

She had said his name. Astrid had said his name. And she said goodbye to him. The young boy's legs became all shaky. He smiled a little stupidly at her before leaving, red cheeked, for his hut. Gobber could lecture him tonight, it wouldn't change anything about what happened earlier in the forest.

Astrid had tears in her eyes.

"Of course, Hiccup."

He took her in his arms and held her very tightly against him. They were both so happy. They had come a long way. Astrid was so proud of what he had become. By doing that, Hiccup was finally taking full responsibility for himself.

Astrid slipped her hand over his cheek. She looked at his face.

"I love you Hiccup Haddock," she said before kissing him tenderly.

...

Huddled together in the chief's bed, Hiccup and Astrid were not asleep. They didn't need to talk either. One look was enough. And Hiccup looked her in the eye. He had a question.

"When?" he asked, clasping her hand.

"When what?"

"When are you going to be my wife?"

She smiled.

"In winter, just like when we got engaged."

[recentanimenews]

My Week in Manga: April 10-April 16, 2017

My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga was relatively quiet, but I did post the Bookshelf Overload for March. As mentioned in that post (and I think sometime prior to that as well), I’m currently in the process of changing jobs, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied to say the least. (If you follow me on Twitter, this largely explains my sporadic appearances there.) This week is my last week in my current position, so I’m understandably pretty busy with meetings and tying up loose ends and such. I still plan on finishing up and posting my review of the first volume of Nagabe’s The Girl from the Other Side sometime this week, but it will probably be towards the end.

Over the last week, Seven sees announced a couple more new licenses: Yoshikazu Takeuchi’s Perfect Blue novels (which were the basis for Satoshi Kon’s anime film of the same name) as well as Jin and Sayuki’s manga series Nirvana. Yen Press also had a slew of announcements: Natsume Ono’s ACCA 13 (probably the one I’m most excited about), Kudan Naduka and Nakoto Sanada’s Angel of Slaughter, Matoba’s As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Rihito Takarai’s Graineliers, Afro’s Laid-Back Camp?, Mufirushi Shimazaki’s The Monster Tamer Girls, Koromo’s A Polar Bear in Love, Matcha Hazuki’s One Week Friends, Fuse’s Regarding Reincarnating as Slime light novel (Kodansha Comics has licensed the manga), both the light novel and manga of Carlo Zen’s The Saga of Evil Tanya, Okina Baba’s light novel So I’m a Spider, So What?, Keiichi Shigusawa and Tadadi Tamori’s Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online, Abec’s Sword Art Online Artworks artbook, Reki Kawahara and Shii Kiya’s Sword Art Online: Calibur, Mai Tanaka’s Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School, Kakashi Oniyazu’s Though You May Burn to Ash, and Ryousuke Asakura’s Val X Love.

As for crowdfunding efforts, Digital Manga will be launching its most recent Juné Kickstarter sometime later today in an effort to publish print editions of some of Psyche Delico’s manga which were previously only released digitally. (This is in addition to recently announced print licenses of Psyche Delico’s Even a Dog Won’t Eat It and Choco Strawberry Vanilla.) Another Kickstarter project to keep an eye on is Retrofit Comic’s Spring 2017 collection which includes Yuichi Yokoyama’s Iceland. (In general Retrofit Comics releases some great books, but this will be the publisher’s first manga to be translated.) Finally, the wonderful people behind Queer Japan are currently raising funds for the film’s post-production as well as some of the non-profit organizations featured in the documentary.

Quick Takes

Dawn of the Arcana, Volumes 7-13 by Rei Toma. I enjoyed the first part of Dawn of the Arcana a great deal and so was looking forward to reading the rest of the series. As the manga progresses it becomes less reliant on the standard fantasy tropes that form its base, although it never escapes them entirely. However, even considering this, Dawn of the Arcana is still a satisfying and enjoyable series. The story’s most dramatic plot twist I guessed at long before it was actually revealed, but there were still developments and directions that the story took that managed to surprise me. At times it felt like Dawn of the Arcana was only scratching the surface, as if the manga was only providing a summary version of a much more complicated narrative. The characters and story have depth to them, but not everything is thoroughly and completely explored, much of the more nuanced interpretations being left to the readers to form. I really liked Dawn of the Arcana. It can be heartbreaking–the characters’ struggling with circumstances that have no easy resolutions–but also thrilling as they find ways to take control of their own fates.

Murciélago, Volume 1 by Yoshimurakana. I was forewarned about the violence, gore, and otherwise explicit nature of Murciélago, so I was well aware of what I was getting myself into by picking up the manga. Murciélago is ridiculous, absurd, extreme, over-the-top, and a great deal of fun if someone doesn’t have a problem with the series’ aforementioned blood and brutality. Interestingly, the risqué lesbian sex scenes which both open and close the first volume, while being deliberately lewd, scandalous, and outrageous are also entirely consensual and in a way are bizarrely one of the more wholesome aspects of the manga. The lead of Murciélago is Kuroko Koumori, a dangerous, murderous, and lecherous woman who has been sentenced to death for her crimes. Kuroko is a monster and is portrayed as such. (She’s an awful person, but I really like her as a character.) The only reason that she’s still alive is that the police have indefinitely postponed her execution in order to take advantage of her impressive skills as an assassin. So, yeah, Murciélago definitely isn’t a series for everyone, but I certainly plan on reading more of it.

Triton of the Sea, Omnibus 2 (equivalent to Volumes 3-4) by Osamu Tezuka. It has been a very long time since I read the first half of Triton of the Sea. So long ago in fact that I had forgot that I hadn’t actually finished the series yet. Fortunately, the manga was pretty easy to pick up again. I seem to like Triton of the Sea best when the story centers its focus on family. In the first omnibus, it was Triton’s relationships with his human family that really captured my attention and in the second it was his experiences as a new father that most delighted me. (It probably didn’t hurt that the baby merfolk were super cute.) Triton of the Sea is also a story of revenge. Triton is determined destroy the Poseidon clan for the sake of his people who have been nearly driven to extinction, his desire for retribution blinding him from seeing other courses of action that might allow the two clans to establish a lasting peace. This of course only serves to continue the cycle of violence that puts him and his loved ones in danger. Triton of the Sea isn’t Tezuka’s strongest or most notable work, but I did appreciate the themes that Tezuka was exploring with the series.

Wandering Island, Volume 1 by Kenji Tsuruta. The premise of Wandering Island is fairly simple: Mikura Amelia is a pilot for an air delivery service based in the Izu Islands that she and her grandfather established together. When he unexpectedly passes away, she understandably takes it pretty hard. While in mourning she discovers package among her grandfather’s belongings with an address on it that shouldn’t exist, leading Mikura to become obsessed with a search for a mysterious, disappearing island. Although there are some wonderful scenes of Mikura in flight, there’s not really much action in Wandering Island. Instead, the manga is rather leisurely paced with a contemplative and melancholic feel to it. Wandering Island is also beautifully illustrated, Tsuruta’s artwork being one of the series’ highlights. I love how Tsuruta is able to capture a sense of place and the people who live there. I’m not sure when or if the second volume of Wandering Island will be published in English (the Japanese edition itself isn’t even scheduled to be released until next month), but I would definitely like to see it translated.

Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure: A Tale That Begins with Fukushima by Hideo Furukawa. Fukushima has been on my mind lately which reminded me of the fact that I had yet to read Furukawa’s Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure, one of the first major literary responses to the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters associated with March 11, 2011. The work is rather curious, but it’s also worthwhile and powerful. In part it’s a sequel of sorts to Furukawa’s novel Seikazoku (The Holy Family), which hasn’t actually been released in English. However, familiarity with that earlier work isn’t at all necessary. Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure also delves into the history of Fukushima as a whole, both before and after 2011. But perhaps most importantly, it’s an incredibly personal memoir. Though he was away at the time, Furukawa was originally from Fukushima. Soon after the disasters struck, he traveled back to the area in order to witness the aftermath of the events himself. A fair amount of the volume is devoted to Furukawa’s profound experiences while on that trip, combining fiction, history, and biography in a compelling way.

By: Ash Brown

[digitalreverse-blog]

Take Over the World With Me (TOWWM) Pilot Chapter

Disclaimer: I may have created a few things within this story, but I do not make any money off of this story, and I only claim to truly own the OC. But even then, he's probably not the most original guy out there.

A/N This is a short pilot chapter. It's been slightly revamped since inception, but it's still currently just here to introduce the story and the OC. That's my excuse. Yep. Oh, also, most of the revamping was the addition of world-building exposition, so the balance between exposition and story flow may be a bit off, for which I apologize. As well, Parseltongue is indicated as §Parseltongue§, and spells are italicized only when spoken.

Enjoy

Ah, how refreshing the train compartments are. The ashy blond teen rolled his eyes. The only thing refreshing about them is the knowledge they're taking him away from his incompetent peers.

With a sigh, he dropped down into the seat next to the window, letting his trunk fall silently to the floor. At least he only had to deal with said peers for two and a half more years. And not all of them were incompetent, just... the vast majority. One would think that after Voldemort's return, the students would have been more efficiently taught, but that didn't end up being the case. Rather, everyone relied on Harry Potter's skill to defeat the Dark Lord - which worked out quite well in the end: Voldemort had certainly been defeated by the surprisingly talented Potter during the anti-climatic scene staged in a graveyard. Anti-climatic because Voldemort hadn't quite expected Potter to be so battle able, and was quickly dispatched in a duel. So the papers told, at least.

In that following summer, Albus Dumbledore make the executive decision to inform the media of Voldemort's horcruxes, thus beginning a short and sweet search and destroy of all five remaining horcruxes - Potter's included. How exactly the Ministry destroyed the horcrux without also destroying the boy was never said: the Department of Mysteries is called so for a reason.

After placing basic sound wards on the compartment, both to block sounds coming in and to block sounds from going out, the teen reached up and took hold of a pendant around his neck, bringing it up to get a better look. It was a simple thing. Nobody would think it more than a trinket. He had been wearing it for three years now. It had almost become part of his image.

A sapphire sat as a four sided star in the center of a silver oval, which had simple filigree designs engraved on the edges. Very simple. But a dark, cruel brat was inside the gem. Voldemort had been killed, there was no doubt about that. Tom Riddle, on the other hand, survived.

Not even a year had passed, and good ol' Marvolo was ready to burst from his chrysalis into a blood curdling beautiful python.

"Calm down Marvolo. We've a couple weeks yet." he said with unveiled amusement. He himself was excited too, though. He never did get to do any fighting last time. He was kept under the radar. Nobody was supposed to know he was related to the dark in any way, after all. Although, if the plan goes right, he was unlikely to do any fighting anyways.

Light annoyance arose from the gem, but it didn't last very long.

Chuckling quietly to himself, he gently dropped the horcrux to lay against his chest. He released the wards on the compartment a few minutes later once remembering that Sirius Black was on the train, someone well versed in magic and could likely sense it. While he probably knew enough from his mother, a dark arts as well as a defense against the dark arts historian, to put up undetectable ones, it's always better to be safe than sorry. He was still under the radar, and drawing attention to himself for having wards up was not preferable.

Much to the teen's displeasure, the door slid open to reveal two people he hadn't expected. Not that he had expected anyone. He was a classic Ravenclaw - he liked to read books and keep to himself.

He raised an eyebrow at the intruders, Harry Potter and Sirius Black themselves, silently questioning their reasoning for disturbing him. He was just about to pull out a new book too, and he couldn't bring that one out with the two light labourers there.

Instead of answering, the dog grinned and hopped in, taking the seat across from him, while Harry sat next to Sirius after closing the door.

"Thanks for letting us join you, Lycus! We needed a place to talk without disturbance and knew you'd be cool with us being here." Sirius said, completely disregarding the bored look on the Ravenclaw's face. Harry was nice enough to shoot him an apologetic look, to which he replied by giving an inaudible sigh, accompanied by a look of understanding. Sirius was granted the right to be annoyingly excited to do most things after thirteen years in Azkaban. It was only fair. It wouldn't surprise Lycus if they had actively sought out his compartment - Sirius had a generous soft spot for the Ravenclaw that found Wormtail in the Forbidden Forest, ultimately ensuring his freedom.

The two Gryffindors began to talk to each other about plans for winter break, to which Lycus ignored (though didn't tune out) and leaned back to get more comfortable for the long ride ahead. Grabbing an artbook and color-automatic pencil from his trunk, he began to draw out some runic templates to try out when he got bored.

At some point during the ride, the two Gryffindors finished their planning and instead turned towards other topics, some of which Lycus participated in. Small banter continued through the rest of the ride.

The ride ended right after the drawing was finished, and the two Gryffindors had exited with a farewell by the time Lycus got the artbook back in the trunk.

He allowed himself a small smile when he got home. Free for three weeks.

The first of which was spent preparing for Marvolo's return. Unlike what one may think, it wasn't a blood or sacrificial ritual. It could be considered dark, but not necessarily evil. It was also rather simple, like many successful things in life. Occam's Razor. In fact, it required only one incantation.

T'was a Reincarnation Ritual, done when you wish to force a reincarnation before the soul's time, or to call the reincarnated soul that's in it's new body to you. It was created by Marvolo and Lycus - Marvolo with the idea, and Lycus with the knowledge to make it happen - based on a preceding ritual. Marvolo tested it (more like had Barty test it), and it was capable of taking a soul out of an inanimate object, and transferring it to a body, rather than making a new one. The caveat was that there was a soul mass to body mass ratio, so if you didn't have enough of a soul in the object, it would be unable to properly transfer and animate. They had half of Marvolo's soul, which should be enough, but it was always possible that it wouldn't be.

The preparation for it was creating the body, a potion, a very special leaf, and setting up the rune circle in which the body will be placed for the soul to enter.

The body was rather easy. Lycus was exemplary at ancient runes, far beyond that of what Hogwarts could ever teach. Granted, he had been provided with advanced runes from birth, so perhaps it was an unfair comparison. To him, the creation of a body with the specifications of being based off the original Tom Marvolo Riddle, alive and human, with the capabilities, repercussions, and magic to fit the wizarding bill, was kind of child's play. It was just like copying a prewritten text to a new page.

A silver moon leaf is a leaf of a yew tree, funnily enough, which had been covered in dew and placed under the light of a full moon. From a yew tree, because they were connected to death and resurrection already. The dew was just a transmitter of power from the moon, which, when full, provided some artifact of life giving magic. Lycus didn't fully understand it. The texts his mother had only went into so much detail. Such leaves are common, however, as they aren't that difficult to make. The only issue is that they only work when decently fresh.

The pendant had been soaking in the potion for eight days. It was akin to a Pepper Up potion, but it was made for a disembodied soul rather than a living person. Not surprisingly, a disembodied soul has a hard time being aware or doing things. The potion set out to make sure Marvolo was able to find his body, both by making him aware and by providing him with a connection to his body. It was designed by Lycus's father, a private potions master. Once the potion turned dark silver, Lycus began the ritual.

The golem-like body was in the center of the previously drawn runic circle, clothed, with runes on the inner outline with nine paths leading to the body, runes lining the inside of these paths as well, all geared to guiding the energy of the spell to the body rather than allowing it to escape. Walking over to the body, Lycus took the pendant out of the potion and placed the sapphire directly over the heart of the body. The rest of the potion was poured into the mouth of the body, and a wisp of light appeared, wrapping around the body, connected to the sapphire.

The teen placed the leaf on top of the pendant, stood up, and backed out of the circle. Once out, he knelt down to place his hand on the outermost part of the circle to provide it with power after he cast the spell. Focusing his magic, he looked at the leaf, and whispered one word in Parseltongue, courtesy of Marvolo. "§Fiendfyrei§."

The leaf blazed in a black fire, quickly turning stormy grey, and battered against the edges of the circle, but always forced back to the body by the nine paths. The sound of glass breaking was heard as the sapphire broke, releasing the half soul of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Looking at his watch, Lycus wondered if he would have enough energy after this was done to get to reading that one goblin book. He couldn't leave until Marvolo successfully entered his body: the runes have to be continuously powered lest he wanted the circle to break.

Lucky for him, Marvolo was conscious enough to find his body within a minute. The fire dimmed down and dissipated in a few seconds after the soul entered the body.

Once feeling the circle wouldn't break if he stopped powering, Lycus brought his magic back into himself. Marvolo, for the body is no longer just a body, sat up, blinked, and grinned. The amber eyes of Lycus rolled at that.

"To have hands again!" to accompany this, Marvolo brought his hands up to look at said hands, flexing them and bending their fingers as though they were odd and new appendages. "And not be a snake-face."

"I rather liked the snake-face. Perhaps not the most terrifying, but better to watch people avoid looking at you in fear than to watch them avoid looking at you because they'll blush." Lycus shook his head lightly, snorting in amusement.

"Perhaps... but a charming appearance is only beneficial for our plans you'll have to agree." the newly human Dark Lord stated, expecting no disagreement despite the semi-questioning tone he used.

"Naturally. But you're not the one who has to do most of the charming." Lycus countered. Marvolo may have chosen to have his original body back, but that didn't mean anything when you have magic to disguise yourself. What did matter was that Marvolo did more management than active interaction. At least, that was the plan.

"Hmm, perchance it seems that I may be more involved than we initially decided. I don't fancy the idea of being complacent, you see." Marvolo said, once more with the tone that he didn't expect any opposition to the notion described. Lycus would grant him acquiescence for the time being, opting to slowly nod his head in reply. It's not like he really minded the idea of Marvolo taking a more active stance.

After a few seconds of silence, the teen stood. "Well, while I'd love to continue this exhilarating conversation, I have a book to read," and he began to walk out.

"Of course, of course. Just remember that we have things to do very soon!" Marvolo called after, holding up the broken pendant as a reminder of what exactly they needed to do.

Anyways, hope y’all enjoyed. Till next time.

[asktailikku]

Halloween is the rarest of rare times when the villains get to run rampant with their merrymaking.  Of course for some of them, being a villain is just their job when the audience is present.  Take it from Bad Guys Anonymous from Wreck-it Ralph and its sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet.  As the films are primarily set within Litwak’s Arcade, this allows for Disney to experiment with all sorts of villains and enemies from video games past and present, with Bad-Anon being the defining example in the film.  Of course, there are a few viewers who don’t know who most of these are, or haven’t played a game yet; without further ado, I will give the run-down as to who’s who in Bad-Anon, starting with the generic ones.  In this case, 1011001, Shinobi, Cycloptopus, and Sorceress.  All three of them represent various enemies and bosses found in various arcade games, with Shinobi being representative of ninja enemies, 1011001 representing robotic enemies, Sorceress representing witches and succubi (including playable ones), and Cycloptopus representing stock fantasy monsters like the Beholder from Dungeons and Dragons.

Saitine (pronounced “Sah-teen”)

Saitine, in comparison to the four previous members, may represent the idea of Satan appearing in older video games, but a more definitive answer to what game he is from is Bally Midway’s 1982 shoot ’em up Satan’s Hollow.  Gameplay is similar to Galaga and Space Invaders, both by Namco, but themed instead to a demonic hoard with Satan appearing as a “boss” character.

Dr. Wily

I know what you’re thinking, “But Wily wasn’t in the film!” Actually, he was going to be in the film, but was cut for unknown reasons and replaced by Shinobi.  Wily originally debuted in the first Mega Man game on 12/17/1987 and appeared in almost every game following.  Throughout the Mega Man series, Wily uses an army of Robot Masters (special term for boss characters) to aid in his bid for world domination, with Mega Man, a former robotic lab assistant to Wily’s old partner Dr. Light, being the main threat to his operations.  At an unknown point in time in the series’ future, Wily creats a super robot named Zero to act as his ace-in-the-hole, carrying a deadly computer virus that would infect other artificial lifeforms.  He passed away sometime at an unknown point in time later, but his influence could still be felt by this new virus called “the Maverick Virus,” continuing onwards through the Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, and Mega Man ZX series.

Bowser

Who were you expecting, the tooth-fairy?

Arguably one of the most iconic villains in gaming, Bowser debuted on Friday September 13th, 1985 in the original Super Mario Bros. as the main antagonist.  In most of his appearances throughout the Mario franchise, Bowser’s main goal is to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, primarily by kidnapping its ruler, Princess Peach, doing battle with both Mario and Luigi.  Various spinoffs have seen Bowser act as either an NPC or a playable character, with the RPG titles having Bowser mainly as a boss character but with at least four having him as one of the playable characters (Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario and Luigi 3, Super Paper Mario).  Rather recently, Bowser has become part of an internet meme called “Bowsette” based on the recent announcement of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe for the Switch and the release of the Super Mario Odyssey artbook.  Nintendo gave specific input on how Bowser should hold and drink his coffee in the scene, which Disney followed to a T.

Zangief

Truth be told, Zangief isn’t a villain persay, but Phil Johnston, one of the writers for the film, added him as a bad guy because of how much trouble he had going up against him in Street Fighter II’s heyday in the early 1990’s.  Zangief debuted in Street Fighter II in 1991 as one of eight playable characters, hailing from the USSR (later changed to Russia in rereleases) and fighting using his skills as a professional wrestler.  In his native Russia, he is a national hero both in the game and in real life where he is adored by Russian gamers, especially since he is good friends with former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, with Gorbachev still appearing in later games as a cameo of sorts.  Interestingly enough, various adaptations, other than the comics by UDON, portray Zangief as a bad guy, referencing the fact that the Soviets were seen as the bad guys during the Cold War when the game was released.  Normally, Zangief is voiced by Anthony Landor, the voice of Golbez from Final Fantasy IV, but in the film he is voiced by the director, Rich Moore.

Dr. Eggman

Formerly known as “Dr. Ivo Robotnik,” Eggman first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog game on 6/23/1991 on the Sega Genesis, appearing in all but two games in the series.  His main goal is to conquer the world and rule it as part of the Eggman Empire, using an army of robots called “Badniks” to aid in his conquest.  Eggman also has had the most varied ammount of designs in the media as seen in the games prior to 1998 (recently resurfacing in both 2011’s Sonic Generations and 2017’s Sonic Mania), British literature (such as Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic) and the cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (which used to air on Toon Disney), the now cancelled Archie comic (which was shared with the 1993 animated series on ABC and 1999’s Sonic Underground), games released after 1998 as seen above in art for the anime Sonic X, and the recent Sonic Boom series on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.  Eggman was one of the few villains to be voiced in test scenes for the film, provided by Jim Cummings, who voiced the versions seen in the ABC cartoon and the pilot episode of AoStH.  The current voice as of 2003, Mike Pollock, was unaware of the recording sessions for the film.

M. Bison

Delicious

Not to be confused with his underlings Balrog and Vega, Bison is the main antagonist in the Street Fighter franchise, debuting as the final opponent in Street Fighter II.  Nearly every event that unfolds in the series is because of his bid for world domination through his terrorist organization Shadowlaw.  Bison wields a special form of power called “Psycho Power” which is powered by his chi and pure evil.  As for why pure evil, he ripped out the good half of his soul for more Psycho Power!  Bison is responsible for the deaths of Dorai (father of Chun-Li), Charlie Nash (best friend of Guile), a village of gypsies from Genoa (leading to the birth of his good counterpart, Rose), and Arojo Hawk (father of Thunder Hawk), as well as the creation of the Doll Project which involves the kidnapping of nearly a dozen young women from around the globe, brainwashing them, and renaming them with various foreign spellings of the 12 months (Enero, Février, März, Aprile, Satsuki, Juni, Juli, Santamu, Xiayu, Jiayu, Noembelu, Decapre), as well as the creation of a few backup bodies, who ultimately broke away from his influence (Cammy White, Seth, Abel, Ed).  By the time Story Mode takes place in Street Fighter V, his body is starting to decay rapidly from his overuse of the Psycho Power, and is eventually destoryed once and for all by series protagonist Ryu.  Unlike Zangief, Bison is voiced by his usual actor, Gerald C. Rivers, providing his sole line of “You’re not going Turbo, are you?”  This one line is a clever bit of foreshadowing as to King Candy’s true identity as well as a reference to Super Street Fighter II Turbo, where he is killed by the game’s secret boss Akuma.

Clyde

The main organizer of Bad-Anon, Clyde is one of the four ghosts that debuted in Pac-Man in 1980, alongside Inky, Pinky, and Blinky.  In Bally Midway’s sequel Ms. Pac-Man, he was replaced by Sue, before Capcom made both the Ms. and Sue (now colored purple) canon in Pac-Land, one of the very first side-scrolling video games.  Clyde is shown as the leader of the four ghosts in various media, including Hanna-Barbera’s animated series where he was voiced by Neil Ross.  In the Pac-Man World games, he and Blinky accidentally switched names, making him the red ghost and Blinky into the orange ghost.  In the film he is voiced by Phil Johnston.

Neff

This is taking the “Be careful who you call ugly in highschool” meme to the next level.  Neff (otherwise known as Majin in Japan) is the main anatagonist of Sega’s Altered Beast, a sidescrolling beat ’em up released in 1988 before being ported to the Genesis in 1989 as a launch title.  His main goal is to take over Olympus, by holding Athena for ransom towards Zeus, turning her into a dove in cutscenes.  Zeus brings a centurion back to life to rescue his daughter from this evil warlock from the infernal city of Dis, fighting his way through five to eight stages (depending on the version) and encountering a copy of Neff in a different form, after a brief threat towards the centurion with a voice-sampled line of “Welcome to your doom!”.  In Wreck-it Ralph, Neff appears as a large purple rhino, which is how he is fought as the final boss in the game, after he has taken enough damage.  The overall design of Neff’s rhino form resembles that of the rhino from Bedknobs and Broomsticks’ football game (by football, I mean what the US and Canada refer to as soccer.)

Kano

Although renamed as “Cyborg” in the film, Kano hails from the Mortal Kombat series, a fighting game that is popular in the West and well-known for its over-the-top violence, motion-captured graphics, and finishing moves known as “Fatalities”.  While I myself have not played any MK game, I do know that what Kano does to the zombie next to him is his most well-known Fatality, “Heart Rip”, where he pulls a Mola Ram on his opponent by tearing out their still-beating heart before crushing it.  In the games, Kano is primilarily voiced by Michael McConnohie, but in Wreck-it Ralph he is voiced by writer Brian Kessinger.

Cyril

Zombie bad guy!

Unlike how Kano was toned down from MK to film in a subtle way, Disney went all out on toning down Cyril (or Zombie as he is known in the film) from Sega’s lightgun game House of the Dead.  The series plays almost similar to a B-rated horror movie, with antagonists themed after the Major Arcana tarot card set.  Cyril appears as the first of many zombie enemies in the series.

To wrap things up, I think the most fitting way is to recite the Bad-Anon creed

“I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.”

Bad Guys Anonymous Halloween is the rarest of rare times when the villains get to run rampant with their merrymaking.