#sailor moon was my first anime and one of the longest running loves of my life

[kirayaykimura]

a sailor moon au

Sometimes Obi blacked out. Large swaths of the night completely missing. When he would jokingly mention this to strangers in bars to crowdsource if this was normal or Something To Be Worried About, he inevitably got the same three responses: me too, dude, that’s called sleeping; was it tequila, because same; and oh my god, please see a doctor. 

That last suggestion was right out. Obi didn’t exactly have health insurance at the moment. Insurance was really fucking expensive when you weren’t a student and worked odd jobs under the table (but if the IRS asked, he was an absolutely legit freelancer). Getting too drunk would have been a possibility if he ever allowed himself more than one drink and never drank alone. 

The most probable answer was that he was sleepwalking, but it still didn’t feel right. He was pretty sure sleepwalkers didn’t wake up with cuts and bruises and a deep ache in their muscles like they’d just run for miles. And also gotten into a bar fight. 

He stretched some of the soreness away as he waited for his large, too-expensive coffee at some hipster cafe downtown. He noticed a girl sitting in front of her laptop staring at him at one of the nearby tables and shot her a wink as he lowered his arms. He grinned when she blushed furiously and began typing what he could only assume was nonsense, judging by the speed and ferocity of her fingers on the keyboard. 

The delight he’d felt at making a cute stranger blush faded as he grabbed his coffee from the bar and slipped out into the chilly November morning. A light drizzle settled on his hair and shoulders like a fine dew, and Obi regretted every decision that had led to this moment. He should have stayed in bed. 

Okay, for real this time. He was getting out of this line of work. He’d lie his way into some cushy office job where he wouldn’t have to risk getting pneumonia to intimidate perfectly innocent strangers. He’d been planning this for a while now, and his resolve only grew when he started having his blackouts. If he was dying, he wanted to go out proving he could be better than all the shady shit he’d been doing since he was old enough to do it. 

But for now: one last job for one last client. It was simple enough. Wistaria, Seiran, and Bergatt wanted to expand their law offices. They’d managed to buy up an entire city block except for one small holdout. He was supposed to go in, spook the owner a little about it being a dangerous part of town, come back at night to break a few windows, and then break a few more until they decided to pack up shop. It wasn’t very nice, but it was far from the worst thing he’d ever done. 

A small bell tinkled overhead as he let himself into the Happy Daisy Here Again. His eyes scanned the empty store. Well, empty when it came to people. The place was practically overflowing with plants. 

“I’m sorry,” a woman’s voice came from the back. “We’re not open yet.” 

Said woman, presumably, poked her head out of a door behind the counter a moment later. Her long hair was vibrantly red against all the green in the room. Obi gave her his most charming smile and said, “No, I’m sorry to barge in like this. You see, it’s raining out and I was hoping to take shelter. Just for a little bit.” He ran a hand through his hair to knock off some droplets for extra effect. 

It seemed to work. She immediately softened and said, “Of course. Come on in.”

“Thank you, Miss.” 

“Shirayuki,” she corrected, leaving the back room to take up residence behind the counter. 

“Miss Shirayuki, then.”

He made his way over to the absurdly large plant in the corner of the room that had fascinated him since he’d entered the store. 

“What on earth is this?” he asked, lightly running a finger along one of the leaves. Fronds? 

“That is a large fiddle-leaf fig tree.” Shirayuki’s smile was evident even though he wasn’t looking at her. She was proud of this plant. He made a mental note to avoid it when he ransacked the place later. 

“That’s quite a mouthful,” he said. “Have you ever thought of giving it a nickname?” 

“Like what?” 

“Well.” He eyed the plant. “It’s huge. How about Big Fig. Fat Fig gives you the alliteration, though.” 

“If you’re going to nickname my plants, I’d rather you didn’t give them body image issues.” 

Obi grinned over at her, delighted. Very few people in the world were willing to play along with him. 

“You should think of something nicer,” she said. 

“Nicer, huh? What would be nice to you?” 

She tilted her head, studying the fig tree for a moment, then said, “Fred.” Raising her eyes to meet his, she said, “I liked your alliteration idea.” 

Oh no. He was in trouble. 

Obi cleared his throat, told himself to focus on the plan, and asked, “So what made you open up a shop here? It’s not exactly a great part of town, you know.” 

“I think I’ll be okay,” she said. Her voice was laced with humor he didn’t understand. It kind of felt like she was laughing at him. That was certainly not the reaction he was expecting, but he supposed he shouldn’t have been too surprised. If she was easily spooked or intimidated, Haruka wouldn’t have had to resort to hiring him. 

“Still,” he pushed on, “you should be careful. There have been a lot of wild attacks around the city recently.” 

“Yeah.” All traces of amusement were gone. In its place were confusion and concern and just a hint of sadness. Her gaze drifted to the street outside, clearly lost in thought. 

He should leave it. It wasn’t his job to get involved. Kind of the opposite, in fact. Still, he couldn’t help but ask, “Are you alright, Miss Shirayuki?” 

“Oh.” She blinked at him like she’d just remembered he was there. She shot him a half-hearted smile. “Yes. I’m fine. Sorry about that.” 

“That’s alright,” he said. He glanced over his shoulder out the window where the sun was just starting to peek out from behind the clouds. Guess his excuse for being there was drying up with the rain. Well, he’d done what he’d come in to do. Best to get out now before she had more time to commit his face to memory.  

“Looks like I should get going,” he said, making his way back to the front door. “Thanks again for lending me a place to dry off.” 

“Any time,” she said warmly. “I mean it. Come back. I’ll give you a good discount on…” she trailed off and eyed him speculatively. “A spider plant.” 

“Oh yeah?” he asked, half-way outside already. “Why’s that?” 

“Some people believe they bring good luck. Getting caught in the rain makes me think you could use a little luck.” 

Despite the newly emerged sun, the air outside Shirayuki’s shop had never felt more bitter.  

***

Sometimes Tuxedo Mask blacked out. Large swaths of the night completely missing. One minute he’d be fighting alongside Sailor Moon and the other guardians in one area of the city, the next minute he’d be in a completely different part of the city with only a gut feeling telling him it was a completely different day, too. 

The crowbar was new, though. 

The ridges of the crowbar dug into his palm as he held it tight. He’d been afraid to let it go during his transformation. What if he’d let it fly when he’d flung out a dramatic arm to give his magical suit room to wrap around his upper body? Someone could have gotten hurt, or it could have crashed through the wrong storefront. 

Wait. Back up. There was a wrong storefront? And he transformed? 

He’d become very accustomed to feeling like the answer to something huge was on the tip of his tongue, but it never got any less frustrating. His life right now was kind of one big question mark. He remembered nothing before a year ago. Hell, the only reason he knew he was called Tuxedo Mask and that he was in his late 20’s was because of a wanted poster he’d seen plastered on a billboard he’d passed on the way to help the guardians out one night. (Apparently he was also 6’1” and considered armed and dangerous. He wasn’t going to lie, that info did add a bit of a swagger to his entrance that night. The effect had been ruined by getting his ass handed to him by Kazuki, but he was choosing not to focus on that part.)

The only thing he knew about his life was that he needed to find the Moon Princess. The very first memory he could recall having was of a woman’s voice echoing through his mind saying, “Find her!” He could hear it so clearly it was as if she’d said it in his ear and then disappeared between one breath and the next. 

The rest of it was innate. Just as he knew how to breathe without thinking about it, he also knew how to leap much higher and farther than any normal human should be able to, how to throw roses with so much force they could wedge themselves into concrete, and that the her the woman had told him to find was the Moon Princess. 

What he would do when he found her, he didn’t know. He hoped she would be able to fill in the (many, considerable) gaps in his memory, but mostly he just had this bone-deep sense that everything would be okay once she appeared. 

A scream echoed through the empty streets, distracting him from his thoughts. The scream was followed by a voice he knew very well. She’d been his tentative ally more nights than not and a real pain of a rival for the rainbow crystals.

“Hey!” he heard Sailor Moon shout. “Kidnapping a young woman in love for your own personal harem is unforgivable.” 

“Not to mention gross,” Sailor Mercury said. Her quiet, deadpan delivery floated to him from around the corner to his right. He took off in a light jog to join the fray, happy he didn’t have to run half-way across the city tonight.

Sure enough, he found Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury standing in the middle of the street. They were, as always, very easy to spot. Well, Sailor Moon was. The vibrant red hair beneath her bright gold tiara stood out against the crisp white of her leotard. Sailor Mercury’s blonde bob was pretty common in comparison, but she had something of a sheen to her. It was the same with all the guardians, really. His eyes were drawn to them. Something about the air around them was just brighter somehow. 

They hadn’t noticed him round the corner, but that was fine. They should stay focused on the man in front of them. He was someone Tuxedo Mask had never seen before. It looked like The Claw had sent in a new henchman to pick up where Mihaya had left off. This new guy marked the fourth person The Claw had sent after the Rainbow Crystals. It appeared there was a never-ending legion of people ready and willing to die for their cause. You know, whatever it was. All the lackeys sort of had their own things going on. It was kind of confusing to keep up with. And also he didn’t care about any of them.    

The new guy supported a young woman leaning so heavily against him that she couldn’t be anything but unconscious. Unfortunate for her, of course, but probably for the best in the grand scheme of things. People tended to freak out when the monsters arrived.

“Ah, but who will take her place?” Backup Lackey asked loftily. “Once I collect her Rainbow Crystal, I’m not opposed to letting her go. If you took her place, Sailor Moon.” 

“Gross,” Sailor Mercury repeated at the same time another voice asked, “Who are you?” 

Tuxedo Mask turned to see Sailor Mars jog down the street towards them, his red skirt flapping high against his hairy thighs. (The first time he’d transformed into Sailor Mars, he’d asked, “Why am I in a skirt? And heels?” The other girls looked down at their own skirts in different colors. Sailor Moon shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I guess it’s just the uniform. Sorry about that.” Sailor Mercury had patted him firmly on the shoulder and said, “Looks good on you, though.”) 

Mars nodded at Tuxedo Mask before stopping by Mercury’s side. He asked, “Seriously, who is this guy? He new?” 

“Looks like it,” Mercury said. 

“I am Raj Shenazard, Prince of Evil! And downtown Cleveland.” 

“Raji-who now?” Mars asked. 

“Raj Shenazard, Prince of Evil!” Raj snapped. “You will remember my name as the man who collected all the crystals out from under your noses.” 

He placed a hand over the young woman’s shoulder and a faint glow arose between his hand and her skin. Tuxedo Mask watched as he slowly drew an orange crystal out of the woman. Watched Raj’s fingers close around the crystal. Stood by while Raj dropped the woman and extended a hand to Sailor Moon. 

“Come, Sailor Moon. We will-” 

Raj never got the chance to finish his thought because Tuxedo Mask chucked the crowbar he was still holding at Raj’s head. 

“Ow!” Raj yelped, sounding more offended than pained. “That hurt.” 

“Sorry.” Tuxedo Mask smiled innocently. “It slipped.” 

“Tuxedo Mask!” Sailor Moon whipped around, clearly surprised but happy to see him. “You’re here!” 

How unfair that the cute girl who made him feel welcome and wanted was also sort of his enemy. They were both after the Rainbow Crystals, after all. 

Trampling over his confused feelings, Raj said, “You’ll pay for that, you brute.”

Sure he would. 

Raj snapped his fingers twice and a man materialized beside him. He pointed at Tuxedo Mask and said, “Sakaki. Kill that man.” 

“Certainly, sir,” Sakaki said. 

A man? That was who was supposed to take on Tuxedo Mask? He knew the Great Prince of People who Couldn’t Dodge a Crowbar was new, but a normal dude was going to be a little too easy to handle. But then Sakaki unzipped the skin on his face to reveal a frankly upsetting mass of tentacles and teeth and Tuxedo Mask was forced to admit he might have been wrong. 

“You should zip that back up, buddy,” Tuxedo Mask said as he reached for a rose in his breast pocket. He was ready to throw as many as it took to keep whatever the hell that thing was as far away from him as he could. 

Sailor Moon stepped forward before he could finish aiming, arms flung out wide, and said, “No! Don’t hurt him.” 

Everyone froze. Tuxedo Mask had a rose held high, poised to strike. Sakaki was one step into a sprint at Tuxedo Mask. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars were halfway into their poses to summon whatever magic they had at their disposal. He didn’t know about anyone else, but he wasn’t exactly positive who she was protecting. Sailor Moon tended to go rogue when it came to enemies. Something about seeing the good in people. 

But, no. Her back was to him. She was probably telling Raj and Sakaki to spare him and the other guardians.  

“If I go with you, will you let them all go free?” Sailor Moon asked. She took a few steps towards Raj to prove she meant to go with him. 

“Of course, my dear,” Raj said, sounding deeply insincere. “Whatever you want.” 

The guardians and Tuxedo Mask immediately protested, all shouting a variation of, “This is a terrible plan,” at her, but she simply turned to smile back at them. 

“It’s cool, guys,” she said. “I’ve got it all under cont-” 

Raj closed the gap between them and yanked her back against him by her hair. So, yeah. He needed to die immediately. 

Tuxedo Mask threw a rose at Raj that Sakaki deflected by, unfortunately, clamping down on it with his teeth-enticles. It kind of put a damper on his plan of hurling sharp flowers at the thing’s gaping maw until it bled out internally. 

Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars exchanged a brief glance before they set their sights on Sakaki and Raj. Mercury pelted Sakaki with water that froze his feet to the road below. With that threat neutralized for the moment, he could finally toss a rose at Raj. Except he found he didn’t have a clear shot. Raj was keeping Sailor Moon in front of him as a shield with a hand in her hair. All Tuxedo Mask could see clearly was his forehead and a little bit of shoulder. There was too much of a possibility of Sailor Moon by accident. He was torn between frustration and fascination. How had the man made himself small enough to fit behind such a tiny girl? 

Sailor Mars seemed to come to the same conclusion. He let the fireball at the tips of his fingers die out with a soft pop. 

“You have such beautiful and useful hair, Sailor Moon,” Raj crooned. “You will make a lovely concubine.” 

“Well, if you like it so much, you can have it.” She took her tiara off her forehead, turned it into a disc, and sliced through her hair just above where Raj was holding it. She dove out of the way as the guardians and Tuxedo Mask all turned on Raj at once, suddenly clear to throw everything they had at him. 

“That’s not good,” Raj said a second before he and Sakaki disappeared with two snaps. In his wake was a damp, smoking crater with a rose directly in the center of it. They must have missed him by milliseconds. 

“Sailor Moon, are you alright?” Sailor Mercury asked as Sailor Mars walked over to help her stand.

“I’m fine.” She shot the guardians a sunny smile and brushed off the dirt and pebbles that had stuck to her skin when she dove to the ground. “Thank you.” 

Well, that was that. A new and bizarrely incompetent Claw henchman to deal with and one less crystal in the world. That left only two of the seven unaccounted for, and he only had one so far. It was hard not to feel a little put out by the whole situation. Maybe he should start thinking of ways to steal the crystals from The Claw instead of looking for new ones. 

“Tuxedo Mask,” Sailor Moon said. “Wait right there please.” 

He did as she asked, trying not to notice the way her skirt swished around her hips as she made her way to him. Unfortunately, that meant keeping his gaze solidly above the collar bone, which meant he had a handful of seconds to fixate on the jagged, frayed edges of her much-shorter hair. 

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” he told her. His fingers twitched with the urge to reach out and run his fingers along the singed ends, but she wasn’t his to touch without asking first so he kept his hands at his sides. 

“It’s just hair,” she said, sounding completely unbothered by the whole thing. “It’ll grow back.” 

She glanced over her shoulder at the other guardians, who were helping the young woman Raj had kidnapped earlier sit up. They were both definitely still keeping a distrustful eye on him, though, which was good. They should.   

“Well,” Tuxedo Mask said after a long pause, “I should get going. It looks like you and your friends have things covered here.” 

“Wait! I wanted to thank you for a job well done.” She held out her hand like she wanted to shake his, but she had her fingers curled into fists. He was a magical amnesiac who fought monsters, but this was definitely up there on weird things to happen to him. 

“Uh,” he said, confused but willing to roll with it, “you’re welcome?” 

He took her fist in his hand to shake and felt something small and hard drop into his palm when she unfurled her fingers. Was that what he thought it was? 

“I think we gained something pretty valuable from Raj tonight,” she said, confirming his thoughts. Then she added, “Knowledge and experience.” 

Ah. So it was a secret that she had somehow managed to snag the Rainbow Crystal from Raj while he had her in his grasp, and it was definitely a secret that she was giving it to him. He knew the others wouldn’t be too pleased about it. The question was why? They both wanted all seven crystals. Why would she just give one away? 

“I’m happy we can trust you to have our backs,” she said. She put a subtle emphasis on the word trust, which he assumed meant she was trusting him with the crystal. Bad move, babe. He was only in this for himself. Hadn’t he made that clear already? 

“I was a little worried the last time we talked,” she continued. “But I’m happy to see you came back. So thank you.” 

The last time they’d talked - well, as far as he could remember - they’d discovered they both wanted the Rainbow Crystals for the same reason: they were both searching for the Moon Princess. The only difference was, her cat told her to do it while he felt a deep inner drive pushing him towards his goal. He felt like he won the Magical Mission Olympics, and he could only assume from the weird code she was speaking in that she’d come to agree. 

“I will have another handshake waiting for you the next time we meet,” Sailor Moon said meaningfully. 

He had no idea what to do with this trust she was putting in him. Didn’t she know how unworthy he was of it? The soft smile she gave him said no, she didn’t realize at all what a terrible person he was. What he would do, who he would betray, to get what he wanted.

“Hey,” Sailor Mercury called out, breaking the moment. “Can you be weird some other time? I think this girl needs a hospital.” 

He finally broke her hold and pulled the crystal into the folds of his cape. Sailor Moon turned to her friends and the stranger still passed out on Sailor Mars’s back. 

“Right.” Sailor Moon nodded. With one last look at Tuxedo Mask, she asked, “Will we see you around?” 

She sort of had to. She still had one more Rainbow Crystal to give him. But, loathe as he was to admit it even to himself, he’d grown sort of fond of this weird group of people and their Sisyphean fight against The Claw. He especially liked listening to Sailor Moon lecture bad men who weren’t him. Her speeches were absolutely awful. It was very entertaining. His priority was still to collect the crystals and find the princess, but he could have a little fun along the way. As a treat. 

“Trust me,” he said, purposefully echoing her earlier words to get his point across, “I’ll be there.” 

[senshidaily]

are there multiple sere myus? ive never seen any sailor moon stage shows and id live to see them! is there a viewing order? where can i watch them?

Hello, anon! There are at this point over 30 myus!!! They started in 1993 and continued until 2005, when they went on hiatus until 2013 and since then we've gotten one a year except for covid in 2020. This year instead of a regular stageplay, we're getting some sort of concert in November.

As for viewing order, it depends on what you like about Sailor Moon! The old myus are based heavily in the 90s anime for their plot and characterizations. I'm not a fan of the 90s anime, so aside from some of the music which can be truly incredible, I personally don't like those much. The costumes are also very much of the era and not to my taste, lol. If you ARE a fan of the 90s anime, then starting with the 1993 isn't a bad idea. There are four girls who played Usagi in old myu, Anza was the first, and she's still the most popular and I think the longest-running Usagi from 1993-1998. Following her was Fumina, my personal least favorite Usagi, for 2 years, then Miyuki for several years, who I am about as fond of as Anza. The last was Marina from 2001-2005, by far the youngest actress to play Usagi (I think she was only 13 when she started?), but she grew into the role. Old myu frequently did two plays a year with the second being a slight revision, which might have small changes or featuring an actor who would be leaving, stuff like that. You could pick any run from one of the main Usagi actresses as a place to start, Anza covered mostly the plot of the 90s anime, Fumina and Miyuki were more original stage plots, and Marina returned to more anime plots. I haven't watched any of the old myus in years, so this is all from memory, sorry!

Since my favorite verisons of Sailor Moon are the manga and pgsm and crystal, I personally absolutely LOVE new myu. Its characterizations and plots are much, much more true to the manga. And also, every single character is played by women in new myu, inspired by the Takarazuka Revue, an all-ladies theater company in Japan that Naoko herself is a big fan of and drew inspiration from while writing Sailor Moon, especially for Haruka and Michiru. Several actresses who were Takarazuka members went on to have roles in new myu. The 2013-2017 plays adapts all 5 arcs of the manga, so I would highly recommend starting there and watching all 5. Satomi plays Usagi from 2013-2015 and is my personal favorite Usagi, and together with her cast of senshi is my absolute favorite cast. Shiori as Venus and Yu as Jupiter in particular are some of my favorite casting. Tani/Yuuga is an actress from Takarazuka, and she played the most charismatic Mamoru you will ever see for all 5 years. Hotaru played Usagi with a new cast of inners for the last two years, and I'm STILL sad Satomi's cast was replaced, although Hotaru did a fine job. And they brought back Satomi to play Cosmos in the final one, which was a cool move.

If you'd rather dip your toes in with something shorter, there are three identical Nogizaka46 (a jpop idol goup) adaptations of the Dark Kingdom arc called Teams Star, Moon (both from 2018), and 2019. The script and music for all three are the same, but each one has a different cast of inners, although Mamoru and the villains keep the same actresses for all three. Mamoru is also played by the actress who was Sailor Pluto in the 2014-2018 plays, and she does a spectacular job. My personal favorite of those is Team Star for the team chemistry and because I really enjoyed Sayuri as Usagi, but they're all great. Mizuki as Usagi from Team Moon is a little flat for me, but because Minako is one of my all-time favorite characters, and Team Moon's Venus is tied for my fave Venus with Shiori from 2013-2015, it's still worth watching. 2019 had (a different) Shiori as Usagi and was also very good, and the team chemistry was great again, although overall I still prefer Star. Last year's myu was an adaptation of the manga side story about Kaguya Hime, which isn't a story I particularly enjoy, since the senshi mostly take a backseat in it, and I wasn't blown away by any of the casting or music. But if you're looking for another standalone entry into myu, its stage direction and costumes were great!

When Kaguya was running on stage, they offered tickets to watch the livestream with english subs for $20. Hopefully, they'll do the same for the concert this year. Buying the dvds/blurays from somewhere like cdjapan is another great way to support the franchise, but they don't have subs. Luckily, seaofserenity has subs of pretty much every myu available on their website, and missdream also has older myu, although they had to take down their new myu a few years back.

Anyway, this was very long, but hopefully will help you find a place to start with myu! It's a franchise I really love, and I hope you enjoy it!!

[seventeenlovesthree]

I’ve been seeing a lot of South Park spoilers on Twitter recently, which reminded me how hard I was riding the South Park wave back in 2008 or so. So to distract myself a little, I thought about listing my major ships for every fandom I have hyperfocussed on for more than half a year. That shall be interesting.

The Little Mermaid (approx 1993-1995): I was a literal baby back then, but my mother said I carried my Ariel and Eric dolls with me everywhere, so I guess Eric/Ariel counts as my first OTP.

Sailor Moon (since approx 1995-1997 onwards): I actually didn’t think much about shipping back in the day and my love for certain Sailor Moon ships only started blooming as a teenager, so it didn’t really count back then. I’d say, my favourite ships today would be Usagi/Ami, Makoto/Ami, Haruka/Michiru and basically Everyone/Usagi. I didn’t have a word for pan-/polysexual relationships, but I feel like Sailor Moon contributed a lot to me appreciating these character dynamics nowadays.

Pokémon (since approx 1997-1999 onwards): Like with Sailor Moon, I didn’t care about shipping in my innocent hyperfocus years as a child. The love for ships came much, much later. Around the 2000s, I discovered the world of the internet - and yaoi in particular -, so when it came to the anime, I had a huge soft spot for Takeshi/Satoshi, simply because Takeshi was my absolute favourite and I liked their friendship a lot. As for the games, all of that just came to my attention after 2010, but I’d say, in theory, my favourite game related ships were up until today are: Ruby/Sapphire (also known as Brendan/May aka Yuki/Haruka), Serena/Shauna, Moon/Lillie, Hop/Gloria, Leon/Raihan (also known as Dande/Kibana) and, of course Red/Blue (or Red/Green in the original, they were literally married in Sun/Moon after all).

Digimon Adventure (since approx 2000-2002 onwards): Digimon was the first anime fandom I really experienced through the internet and, judging by my veeeeeery old fandom folders I had back in the say (last edit date: 2003, holy duck), Koushirou had already been my favourite character. And you’ll laugh, while I also had several Taichi/Koushirou fanarts saved back then (although I liked them very casually), I also had a huge soft spot for Koushirou/Mimi. Time really flies, huh.

Digimon Tamers (since approx 2002-2003 onwards): While Digimon Adventure was my entrance drug into the Digimon franchise, Tamers was the one that got me hooked. And it was the one that made me get really intense about shipping. Jenrya/Takato was so dear to my heart and basically the first pairing you might really call one of my OTPs, I was pretty obsessed with it, with Jenrya/Ruki being a very close second. I didn’t think of the concept of OT3s back in the day, so that wasn’t an option yet.

Bakuten Shoot Beyblade (since approx. 2003-2010 onwards): One of my longest-running fandoms and I still find myself looking back at it dearly, even if I’m not as passionate about it as I used to be. Kai/Rei was THE pairing for me back in the day and the one I first proclaimed to actually be THE OTP. Beyblade, like Digimon and Sailor Moon, was also some kind of subconscious door-opener when it came to my multi-shipping attitude; the older I became, the more I appreciated those dynamics, because literally nobody needs triangles, when you just can have OT3s or OT4s. I actually enjoy every dynamic between the main 4 (Takao/Max/Rei/Kai), though I probably couldn’t rank them precisely and my perception for them changes every few months, but I wrote enough meta back in the day about their character dynamics to say that there’s probably something for everyone. (For instance, I used to hate Kai/Max when I was 14 years old, because I thought it didn’t make sense - nowadays, I could write you an essay about why it would actually be one of the healthiest combinations among the four. Amazing.)

South Park (since approx. 2008-2010 onwards): I think it was the “I love you” episode, though I can’t really remember anymore, back in the day, I fell REALLY hard for Stan/Kyle. Like I said, there are a lot of spoilers floating around that make me want to dive back into the series, since these two are just... Making my heart bleed.

One Piece (since approx. 2009-2011 onwards): While One Piece is a series I always kiiiinda let myself floating back to, I’ve never been as passionate about it again as I used to back in the day. And once again, I had a really intense Zoro/Luffy phase, my Lord. I still love them to bits and you can bet that I’ll fall for every moment between them again and again.

Football (since approx. 2010-2018 onwards): Oh, RPS, I never thought I’d fall for you as hard as I did back then. I “friendship” a lot more casually and less seriously these days and I’ll maintain that you shall NEVER speculate on players’ sexual orientations and claim that the stories you explore in your head should be taken for “real”. But I still have a lot of dynamics that make me sigh deeply. You have Friedrich/Mertesacker, who had a huge impact on me getting into the football fandom in the first place and Mertesacker/Podolski, who stole my entire heart throughout the entire Arsenal Germany era. Nowadays, it’s hard to get attached with so many players having retired already (and all the shit that is happening in the business), but, as you might know, I’ll still enjoy certain dynamics for nostalgia sake OR because we all need a bit of current softness in our lives (see Neuer/Müller or Kramer/Everyone, haha).

Digimon Adventure (AGAIN since 2021 onwards): It’s the first time that I actually “fell back” into a fandom - and more intensely than I ever did before. Granted, I was still a child when Digimon caught my interest in the first place, so it may not even count, but man, did I fall hard this time. Taichi/Koushirou has taken over my entire heart, even though I obviously enjoy other ships as well. Let’s see where this fandom will take me this time.

I obviously also have a lot of other fandoms and ships I love very dearly, but I was just listing the ones I was or am ACTIVELY hyperfocusing on, so there’s a difference! Feel free to ask if you’re interested in other fandoms/ships I enoy!

[keyofjetwolf]

Bonus Question Answers! (anime heat 2)

I asked a silly question! You gave me incredible answers. SO VERY MANY INCREDIBLE ANSWERS. Now, I present my favourites! And really, they were ALL favourites. Mmm, headcanony goodness.

Oh, special shoutout to this unattributed one, which I suspect fell prey to someone submitting early, but as phrased, made me snort laugh: “one of my longest held headcanons is that ami“

SAME, FRIEND

Anyway, If your answer is listed below, you’ve earned an entry in a random draw to win a GIFTENING liveblog OF YOUR CHOICE

—

Q: Senshi headcanon time! Intrigue me, humour me, crush me, FEED ME.

* Michiru actually did have a guardian cat, once. It was silvery grey with dark blue eyes. It did not speak, but it was always there to provide support and comfort in a life which had little of either. The first time Michiru had a strong vision, which left her cold and senseless on the floor of her room, it was the small warmth from her cat that brought her back to the world of color and light and solidity. The cat was a friend and confidante in those early days, when Michiru was unsure if this experience was real or the beginnings of schizophrenia. The fact that her mother could see the cat, and regularly make comments about the uncleanliness of such creatures, was proof of Michiru's new reality. So when the cat entered the fray to distract a youma, saving Michiru, but being killed in the process, it became one more thing that the Moon had given her, only to steal away. Michiru promised herself to never rely on another again, or to allow the Moon to have her heart again. And she had done fairly well at this. Haruka, for all her charms, was a plaything, and not something to sacrifice herself for. But pausing outside the Marine Cathedral, Michiru found herself looking into dark blue eyes, so different, but so similar, and knew that she would do anything and everything in her power to keep from having to watch them close, again. -- @incorrecttact  [YOU ARE ALSO KILLING THESE QUESTIONS. This hit me right in the kokoro, and I welcomed its sweet sweet pain.]

~~

*  Mako teaches Hotaru, Chibiusa, and the Amazon Quartet to cook and bake as a bonding activity. Hotaru LOVES making cakes and decorating them. Chibiusa likes cooking with noodles and even making her own; it doesn’t sound special, but the food she makes is DELICIOUS. Ves, the red one, finds cooking easy, but doesn’t like it and so never does outside of being coaxed into it. Jun, the green one, finds baking easy, but also doesn’t like sweet things, which limits her repertoire. Cere, the pink one, has no natural talent, but she very much WANTS to be good at it, so she turns out to be the best cook of her Senshi group. Palla takes to neither, but she is very enthusiastic about eating their experiments.  --  Jules  [I am an absolute slut for Mako and moments with the kids, and including the Quartet was a brilliant stroke.]

~~

*  A Serenity is not supposed to be reborn. They are born, they live, they die, and they are done. They are not like the Senshi, whose souls reincarnate, carefully bound to Serenity blood. They are not supposed to be reborn, so when Queen Serenity sees everything fail and decides to send their souls to the future, the Senshi are easy. Serenity is not. In desperation, Serenity does something she would have never considered in any other circumstance: she ties Serenity's soul to the Senshi. What was once a one way tie, has now become an equal bond, and so everything changes.  -- @madegeeky  [Ooo, this is some lovely twists on my own reincarnation headcanons, while still keeping the “this is a mistake” flavour. IT TASTES GOOD.]

~~

*  How about more Rei whistle antics? You headcanon Usagi would use the whistle for every mundane thing and Rei would come. Usagi would do this at 2 AM in the morning too and Rei would still be woken up and still come even in pajamas if she need be because Usagi had a spooky nightmare or "Rei-chan I fell off my bed and now my face hurts". Knowing Rei whistle antics can be funny for us and maybe aggravating for Rei at times because "Usagi you blew the whistle because you fell off the bed?" what if we can make it a pinch sad? Like what if Rei can tell what sort of peril Usagi is in by the way she blows the whistle in tone? Like when it's a sad somewhat weaker whistle, even if it's just a tiny subtle tone, Rei can IMMEDIATELLY tell "USAGI IS SAD AND NEEDS ME" and she will RUSH over in 5 seconds like in her Rei way, she might even have the mind to bring snacks, cocoa and plush to hug for the comfort.  --  Mrs. Duckling  [HOW ABOUT INDEED. I hadn’t thought about the different ways the whistle can be blown and what it might say, what a wonderful addition. THANK YOU FOR CATERING DIRECTLY TO ME AND MY NEEDS]

~~

*  PGSM!Sailor Mars - [REDACTED] Oh. Right. You're not there yet. Awkward... Anime!Minako is a huge fan of romance manga, but for all the wrong reasons. She tried drawing doujinshi of crack ships before realizing that A) she's not really a writer and B) she's REALLY not an artist. She plans on using some of her rich idol singer money to commission really bizarre romance stories. The sort that make you go WTF?! Of course, step one is "become a rich and famous idol"... Meanwhile, Rei also buys the romance manga that Minako gets into, (partially so she'll shut up about it) but mainly just analyzes them for mood and the characters, and gets frustrated when they inevitably devolve into nothing but sappy kissing and mooning over each other. She's trying to see why Minako gets so obsessed, but doesn't want to flat out admit that she doesn't get it and have to ask. -- Peter "Pigeons!" Svensson  [I had nothing but fun with this, fantastic. ps: THANK YOU FOR THE PIGEONS NOMINATION]

~~

* If these four* Senshi were to meet you, I think they'd each also be meeting some of their best qualities: Usagi is love, and that love is infectious as HELL. Much like a certain blogger who has amassed an international following on the strength of her love for her favourite media, wouldn't you say? Ami is very impressed by your office set-up! But when she sees you re-enter the room with a sprightly little black cat riding on your shoulder, she knows she has discovered a kindred spirit. Where can Rei-chan possibly begin? From your passionately informed and encyclopedic knowledge of their interactions ("She has RECEIPTS, Usagi!"), to your, let's call it tenacity ("She stirred that sugar for TWO HOURS, Usagi!!"), Rei finds so much to admire. And while no one could ever possibly love Rei as much as she loves herself, she magnanimously allows that you are a close second. As for Haruka, well! World Shaking? More like Toilet Breaking! You wrecked that shit and unleashed the sea. She can certainly relate *eyebrows, eyebrows* *would that i had time to write out blurbs for the others! but we're heading back into lockdown today, and i need to get to the post office to mail you a package. PRIORITIES! xo  -- @rasiqra-revulva​  [Okay look when I said “crush me” I didn’t mean WITH NICENESS. Also thank you for the huge laughs. *eyebrows, eyebrows*]

~~

*  Minako manages to write a tell-all book (anonymously, of course, and with names changed to protect the relevant,) about their first few years as Senshi in the lull between Stars and Shit Escalating Again. Even more astoundingly, she manages to get it optioned as a film and play Sailor Mars without blowing her cover! Rei seethes. Minako’s annoyed because she tried out for Usagi. Usagi’s just happy Minako’s successful. The film manages to pick up nominations come award season, and Michiru even arranges for the rest of the Senshi to attend. Minako loses to some film from a really overrated director that manages to out-award bait her reenactment of D-Point. She’s silently fuming through his acceptance speech when he’s Burning Mandala’d mid-sentence. And that’s how the Senshi discovered that Jadeite survived getting run over with planes, joined the entertainment industry after Beryl’s defeat, and had been using it to drain energy ever since! Sailor Mars’s speech about how he disgraces the passion of filmmakers everywhere and her comrade’s hard work goes viral. -- Regalli  [LOVED THE TWIST ENDING, also Rei basically stealing the awards show stage, as we all know she would]

~~

*  Not Senshi, but cats! One day, when Usagi is queen, she's going to decide to knight the cats. Luna thinks it's silly and figures Usagi is just acting on a whim, but Artemis has his chest puffed out and is glowing with pride. They're given tiny medals made by Endymion. -- RibbonFinale  [Oh I DID want this. I wanted this very much, THANK YOU.]

~~

*  Makoto can't culture bonsai trees. It's not a matter of ability, or scale — she can work with tiny tools with equal facility as large ones — but she can't bring herself to push the things down, to cut and twist and bind them to grow the way _she_ wants, not the way it wants to grow.   The tiny pine she bought to try it out, years ago, is in a pot in the corner of her apartment; it's just now grown taller than she is. -- Taperwolf  [I didn’t expect this one to hit me as hard as it did when I started reading. Love it, love it, love it.]

~~

*  You know those 'meetings Usagi doesn't know about'? the ones where the girls dive into the nitty gritty about being senshi, the ones where they decide who will take up being the Disguise Pen Decoy if Minako is killed? Usagi knows about them. it was one of those 'character A eavesdrops and hears character B talking about them' setups, but instead of hearing Ami call Usagi a ditz, she hears Ami saying 'I'm the weakest fighter, if Minako is assassinated and we need someone to be decoy it'd be easier to explain away my absence than Rei's or Mako's' In these meetings they speak very coldly about themselves, Ami is always first to call herself the weak one, Minako calls into attention her showboating, Mako will openly remind people she doesn't think things through on the battlefield, and Rei derides herself on her inability to keep her cool (heh) and they all come up with contingencies to cover for eachother to the minutest detail. Usagi only ever evesdrops on one of these meetings, but now she knows they happen. and she can't un-know.  -- Vega  [OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.]

~~

Manga Sailor Pluto has picked her nose 2,013,417 times. -- too ashamed to say  [WHY THE SHAME THIS IS CORRECT  AND NOW RIGHTFULLY CANON]

---

I’ll be drawing for the bonus liveblog around the start of THE GIFTENING 2020 (currently looking to be Monday, 11 January 2021). Each bonus question is another chance to earn an entry! I CAN ABSOLUTELY AND SHAMELESSLY BE BOUGHT.

[knchins]

1-5 for the anime asks.

sorry I feel asleep before I could answer these!

1) First anime you ever watched

Sailor Moon! I was around 7 and I would run home from school (we lived within walking distance) to watch it. I have no idea why my parents let me walk home by myself at such a young age but lol they did.

2) First Anime Crush

Sesshomaru from Inuyasha. The first fanfiction I ever read was of him at the young age of  11 or 12 lol.

3) Favorite Anime Character

My favorites definitely rotate but currently it is Chuuya from BSD. I just can’t get that little gremlin out of my head. Of all time I guess would also have to be Sesshomaru since I’ve loved him the longest out of anyone.

4) Least Favorite Anime Character

Oh this is hard. I suppose Kogoro Mouri from Case Closed. I never could stand his fucking character.

5) List every anime you’ve ever watched

THIS IS SO HARD BUT I’LL TRY. Some of these I haven’t seen all the way through. No particular order Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon Crystal, Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu Yu Hakusho, InuYasha, Wolf’s Rain, Witch Hunter Robin, Kikaider, Alexander the Great, Tsukuyomi Moon Phase, Princess Tutu, Pet Shop of Horrors, Seven Deadly Sins, Devilman Crybaby, Beserk, Gundam Seed, Gundam Wing, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Haikyuu, Prince of Tennis, Free, Kuroko no Basuke, Yamishibai, Yowamushi Pedal, Samurai Champloo, Bungo Stray Dogs, Rurouni Kenshin, My Hero Academia, Food Wars, The Ancient Magus Bride, Fox Spirit Matchmaker, Interviews with Monster Girls, Tsuredure Children, A Centaur’s Life, Bleach, Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Boruto, My Little Monster, Hellsing, Toradora, Yuri on Ice, Most of the movies by Studio Ghibli, Grave of the Fireflies, Sanrio Boys, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, My Love Story, Kagewani, Welcome to the NHK, One Piece, Bobobobobobobo, M.A.R. Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, AND PROBABLY MORE because I know I have to be forgetting some. This is all I could remember after some light digging and looking through my DVD collection and whatever else I pulled from memory.

Anime Ask Game!

[awesomehoggirl]

it’s wip wednesday so i thought i’d share a quick writing wip from my multi chapter fem howince fic which will maybe be done in 20 years ! it’s got 8 chapters and i am still on chapter 2 if this gets finished it’ll be a miracle. the fic is called eau d’bedroom dancing because i love le tigre and imagine how fantastic riot grrl vince would be ...

mentioning before hand that i write all my first drafts and oneshots with no capitals because i find it a lot easier but with this fic when i go back over i’ll put capitals in :) (also this is a section from chapter one not the opening)

—

her name is vincenzia mirabella lucie-marié le manteau rafflesia vaisseau-spatial noire (the longest name in the class, and the only one never written up on the ‘star student!’ chalkboard) but everyone refers to her as vince. she’s new to the school, and seemingly england, but her accent is pure south london. two teachers have quit because of her already. holly moon has never been so interested in a person in her entire tiny life.

oh, she’s read up on musicians, heard their stories, wished ever so slightly that her life would someday be just as interesting — did you know nina simone had seven siblings, that john coltrane was in the navy? but the weirdness that seems to just bounce off vince’s tongue beats every story she’s ever read hands down.

it quickly becomes apparent that she’s borderline feral: if the staff-room murmurs of the teachers are to be believed, she came from a ‘neglectful home’; if vince’s own word is to be accepted, she was raised in the jungle by a cast of rock stars, animals and french nobility. holly is sensible enough to doubt her at first, but before long (and after many demonstrations of her ability to talk to animals) she’s genuinely on board. they sit behind the ash tree at lunch time, out of sight from dribbling boys and disapproving teachers, and holly figures out that through half a chocolate bar vince can be coaxed into revealing all sorts about her unorthodox childhood.

‘dunno why you’re so desperate to know about my life,’ vince complains once, when asked again to tell the story about the great order of frogs and the backwards waterfall. ‘why can’t i hear stories about you for a change?’

‘all in good time,’ says holly, whose mother is a tax attorney married to a geography teacher. ‘plus, i know you love the attention.’

and so vince sits there and talks until she goes hoarse, or loses interest, or feels like changing the subject right at a crucial moment, or the school bell rings and they have to go inside. she talks about her house made of bus tickets and her animal friends, her french duke uncle who would come down on bank holidays and teach her table manners, about joining the jackals for hunts, about skimming the treetops in the claws of squabbling vultures, about the hoots and screeches of the monkeys as they chased her through the undergrowth on the back of a hippopotamus. and holly will listen breathlessly, trying to seem nonplussed when in reality she is clinging to every last word. (tell me again about the paper-mache tiger and the rhinoceros’ game nights. tell me again again again.)

because no matter how hard her sensible brain tries, she really can’t prove them wrong. vince is hopeless at all forms of spelling or arithmetic. she is genuinely flabbergasted when explained to that, in fact, biting and shoving are not always seen as ‘playful’ in the human world. she swears like a sailor (or perhaps a rockstar) would, until the little old lady vicar gasps, snaps her bible shut and refuses to read to the year six class ever again. idioms are beyond her, let alone algebra, and the teachers insist there’s no hope — but they can’t help liking her, despite it all. there’s something so genuine about her ever-present toothy grin, her bubbly demeanour, that they soon allow her to get away with anything.

and yet holly is her best friend. and the only person (maybe in the world) vince will tell her stories to.

‘once upon a time,’ she begins one lunch break, dipping holly’s generous sacrifice of a curly wurly into her pocket for later, ‘i was out with jahooli the leopard, who was my best friend — he’d give me rides on his back when i was really small, swattin’ the bloodsuckers away with his giant tail. he’d catch me fish in his big strong jaws, crush ‘em up so i could eat ‘em right, i was just a nipper, i’d not got all my teeth in yet, but he was a right sweetheart about that sort of thing. on the surface jahooli always seemed to be a reckless character, a real rough-and-tumble kind of cat, but i knew the reality: he’d lost his mate and his litter and he was gettin’ on a bit, i was all he had left in terms of fatherhood. it meant he did get a bit invasive at times, yeah, he could be real clingy. i didn’t mind though, see, i’m wise beyond my years, so i was quite good with all that stuff, i let him vent to me when it all got a bit too much for his poor leopard heart to handle. anyway, this one day he was lookin’ after me, on account of my foster father bryan ferry being away on tour. and it was a hot afternoon, this one. really hot.’ she sinks down on her heels. ‘the kinda hot that drenches you in sweat no matter how still you stand. the kinda humid that makes your palms slick and your eyelashes heavy. most of the animals were tucked away underground by midday, but the bigger sorts like me and jahooli, we couldn’t exactly join them. so jahooli said, why don’t we make our way down to the river?’

holly feels her spine prickle. it is eerie, the way her friend’s stories pull her in.

she follows vince along to said river, feels jahooli’s long speckled tail curling round her shoulders, bumping against her collarbones, keeping her close. feels the slick wetness of the air, feels the burn of her lungs as they work in shallow pumping gasps. breathes in the hot dark of the bush, the low chatter of the canopy. soon the lumbering gait of the leopard slows, the river is in sight — the banks are busy with boars, bucks and buffalo, sunning lizards and mice. slow-blinking crocodiles cruise in the shallows. vince is not afraid of them. (holly would be.)

‘is it true if you’re being chased by a crocodile you should run in a zig-zag pattern?’ she interrupts (not because the story is getting a little too tense for her or anything).

vince rolls her eyes, makes a face as if holly has asked her the stupidest question in the world (considering just yesterday she asked holly whether all numbers bite or if the three digit ones are just especially fiesty, they clearly have different opinions on what counts as a ‘stupid question’). ‘if a crocodile were to haul its fat arse out of the nice cool water just to give you a bit of trouble, you probably did something awful to deserve it. why? are you plannin’ to go pokin’ sticks at ‘em? cause if you are, insult their music taste, they’ll go absolutely mental. most crocodiles are obsessed with alice cooper, so there’s a good starting point, have that one on me.’

‘so what’s—‘

‘oi, hush! do you want this story or not?’

holly shuts up. vince lowers her voice.

the jungle is sweaty now, the riverbanks a dripping piccadilly circus. jahooli has left vince’s side, gone to make conversation with ranbir the great panther, so she ventures alone to the water’s edge (the animals watch over her, they all like her, tiny and pink and strange as she is) and dips her feet in. the water is so clear and cold it hurts, but soon the pain ebbs and gives way to a calm coolness. she sits down, slides in up to her knees, lies back against the soft mud

the jungle is treacle now, bubbling and pooling, thick. vince soon drifts off and the leaves behind her eyelids are red. the stars are wheeling gulls, the air is thick with salt-spit, her eyelashes tangle and she slips down into the mud. somewhere else, the dulcet waves begin to lap. the elephants have arrived. jahooli and ranbir share a look before they approach, hackles raised (they are not mean-spirited creatures, but they do like to play a prank).

the jungle is long gone now, and vince dreams of strawberry ice cream. somewhere else, jahooli and ranbir wind around each other dizzyingly, teeth flashing slick and sharp. somewhere else, the elephants are fussing, distressed by their feline dance, their ashy trunks whirling as they back up their feet. pelts twist and brush together before the big-cats turn, open their jaws and let out a combined roar that wakes vince, sends animals scattering, splits the sky in two —

and the jungle rumbles. and the elephants charge.

[bloodfcst-a]

THE ULTIMATE GET-TO-KNOW GUIDE !

REPOST, don’t reblog.

favourite things:

season: summer. colour: dark blue, like navy. pie: key lime. fruit: passionfruit. ice cream flavour: french vanilla. also cookies & creme. breakfast food: crepes. alcoholic drink: sex on the beach. soda flavour: strawberry ramune. scent: freesia. flowers: lotus. animal: kitties. movie: mulan. tv show: ... i don’t have a particular one in mind, but i can say yufi would prefer chinese historical dramas like the king’s woman / tribes and empires / nirvana in fire compared to like....... korean dramas like boys over flowers, goblin, my love from another star. but action stuff like iris? she’d be into it. book: definitely enjoyed the empowerment of the sailor moon manga. superhero: what do you mean catwoman & talia al ghul don’t count? then she’d pick raven. fairy tale:  anything regarding guanyin. genre of music: soft pop...  genre of movies: action. genre of books: poetry.

pick one:

hot or cold juice or soda tv or movie movie or book late night talk shows or reality tv twitter or instagram trees or flowers philosophy or psychology ocean or lake water park or amusement park cats or dogs fresh water or sparkling water sugar or honey cookies or candy bath or shower morning or night running or walking piercings or tattoos frozen yogurt or ice cream vanilla or chocolate caramel or butterscotch art or music t-shirt or button down text or call ghosts or aliens

have they ever:

ridden a motorcycle: yes! she owns one, but her dad doesn’t really care for that... it’s her preferred method of transport. she also has muscle cars & jeeps for offroading. stolen something: most definitely. eaten an entire pizza by themselves: only the small personal ones that are like 7″ or smaller. made a prank call: she’ll dial it, come up with the idea, but won’t execute. broken a bone: you’d be surprised? she is baby.... not yet. fallen asleep during a concert or movie: never a concert, but most definitely a film, if she’s exhausted but her friends want her to watch. walked out of a movie because it was so bad: no. she would just refuse to go. been on the phone with someone for longer than 2 hours: no. at that rate y’all should just do chores or hang out together. dined & dashed: never. she gives her team big tips. held a gun: bang bang bang pull my devil trigger. yes. ding dong ditched: never!! in her neighborhood? a bad choice. gone skinny dipping: definitely. cried during a movie: nah. smuggled food into a movie: not really smuggling if you show it off and it’s not challenged, right? lied to get a job: for her covert locations, yes. practiced lines in from of a mirror: nah. she’s confident about her words. her looks? sometimes she questions those.  tried to see how many marshmallows they can stuff in their mouth at once: probably vs tida & majima. been kicked out of somewhere: only bc majima tbh. been on a blind date: her dad thinks this is the ideal way to go. he’s a dumbass. ghosted someone: she warns folks she can and will disappear at anytime. if they hold on to her after that warning, it’s their loss. bragged about something they haven’t done: why would she lie when she’s actually had an incredible life? she could brag about the things she has done. said i love you without meaning it: no. gotten in a fight: most definitely. fallen asleep on a bus: no. doesn’t typically take them,  as she prefers walking, taking her motorbike, or... being chauffeured. thanks, pops.

miscellaneous:

how do they take their tea or coffee: adds nothing to her tea, unless she craves a tea latte ( which in that case, she prefers earl grey or lavender with a touch of honey ). her coffee is typically iced-- a sweet treat to share with james, especially when they have gossip to dish or a necessary vent session. what is their ideal date: one where the attention is one-on-one and there’s no reference to her work or her title. she wants to be seen as an individual, for her own particular positives and not the connections she has or what she can do for someone. what are some of their guilty pleasures: sweets, shiny things like jewels and crystals, excessively cute things. catch her in sanrio or with her gudetama. longest they’ve stayed up for: three days. no rest for the wicked. she also doesn’t like to stop until the job is done. biggest purchase: that she’s personally made? mm, she doesn’t often make purchases for herself, more for her friends or for private services. things are typically bought for her. occasionally she’ll rent out an entire venue for her and her friends, like an arcade or a dance club.  greatest talent: spice level > 9000.  strange habits: perhaps that she’s very interested in the aesthetics & harmony of even basic things. she’s also quite health conscious, despite indulging in sweets from time to time. not that she doesn’t snack, but you’d find her with edamame vs potato chips, for example, or sparkling water to soda.  first job: working as an assistant in a dojo. can they do a handstand: yes. she’s a very athletic and flexible and strong little thing. can they cook: yes. in fact, most of her friends would probably starve or survive only on junk food if she didn’t. it wasn’t considered a necessity to learn, given the dynamics of her household. but she studied under her personal chefs because she enjoys the artistry of it. do they believe in the paranormal: most definitely. she swings buddhist / animist. do they have allergies: outright stupidity. she had to get some immunity to handle tida & majima. she loves them but... unbelievable levels of dumb sometimes. do they believe in love in first sight: never. have any special talents: she’s one of those people who relish in like, twisting cherry stems with her tongue. wiggling her eyebrows. winking with both eyes. making her muscles pop. hyper flexibility. doing stupid amounts of flips. learning things fairly easily and quickly. the annoying kind of special talent.

tagged by: @sharkapologlst offered it to me as a gift & now i bless u tagging: @garrotejima @0xa00001 since i directly referenced y’all. anyone else interested, too. 

[thewrittenpost]

1/4 Century Challenge #3

Going out of order on this one because I definitely wanted to! Plus, it was fun and I was thinking of this prompt! Read More to keep things small, and all that!

Prompt 9: Animated

“So, you won’t watch an anime with me, but you’ll watch cartoons? You realize they’re pretty much the same thing, right? Except generally where they come from.” Violet rolled over on the bed, holding a brand new copy of Sailor Moon to her chest. “This is very important Aria; Sailor Moon is still one of the greatest things I’ve ever watched, and they supposedly remade it better.”

“Why is this the one thing you won’t let go of?” Aria chugged down her coffee, wincing when she discovered it was barely lukewarm. “Ick, why isn’t this hot?”

“Because it’s like… from four this morning, and it was mine. Come on, I agreed to prom. I go out on Friday nights when I absolutely don’t want to. I went to a children’s birthday party for children I don’t know,” Violet raised her eyebrows to stop Aria’s protest. “I have done lots of things you’ve asked. Now, it is the weekend, and I am going to sit in my bedroom with fattening snacks and I am going to fawn over the Sailor Scouts until I either have no more episodes to watch, or I fall asleep, and you can either join me, or you can leave and not bother me for the weekend, because I am busy reliving my childhood.”

Aria stared, her mouth gaping open. “I think that’s the longest sentence you’ve ever said, and I don’t think it was grammatically correct. I think that’s a run-on.”

“Oh, shut up.” Violet threw a pillow at Aria, pointing at the door. “Now, come over here and fall in love with Tuxedo Mask, or leave and do whatever you had planned, but I am not budging from this room. I have not waited this long for my family to be gone for a few days to have it ruined now!”

Aria bit her lip, shrugging and throwing herself onto the bed. “Fine. But only because I know you’ve got a coffee maker hidden around here somewhere.”

“Course I do. How else am I going to get my caffeine fix?” Grateful to have powers, Violet leaned back into her pillows and used her telekinesis to get everything ready and started. All she had to do was lean back, and relax…

And make sure Aria realized the greatness of Sailor Moon. That was also very important!

()~~()~~()

“Alright, you win. I love him. Also Venus is the greatest.”

“Uh-huh. I told you!” Violet opened the window, not surprised when a cat jumped in from the dark. “I told you that it was awesome and you’d love it!”

“Smugness does not suit you,” Aria drawled, taking advantage of Violet’s absence to take control of the bed. “I may have to knock you down a peg.”

“If you did, you wouldn’t be able to watch the other Sailor Moon series I’ve got.” Violet sat on her desk, smirking. “And wow, I’d never tell you what ones were legit, because the internet likes to lie.”

“Other…” Aria’s behavior made a complete 180. “Viv, have I ever told you how completely amazing you are? Great supplier of coffee, wicked sense of humor, math skills could use some work but at least-“

“Laying it on a bit thick.” Violet waved a hand at her shelves, grinning at the dvds that came out at her. “But I do happen to have a few things that have the outer senshi on them…”

“There’s more scouts?!”

“Yep, and we have time to watch… but first. Coffee run!” The dvds flew into a neat pile by the tv, while the keys flew to Aria. Violet grinned, kicking her feet, well aware how childish she was acting. How could she help it? She actually really loved Sailor Moon. “You drive, and I’ll tell you all about Chibi-Usa on the way!”

She hadn’t planned to get Aria sucked in so much… but Violet couldn’t help but be amused at the result.

Seeing the future wasn’t a gift Violet had, but she could already see figurines and decorations in Aria’s future!

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep 42 : Hello, Darkness, my Old and Also Relatively New Teenage Shadow Magic Friend

Recently, on Yugioh, we asked ourselves, (well, I asked myself since I assume most of you have seen this show before) how does it matter at all if you lose your memories of someone for like, ten minutes, when you will obviously have to run into them again once the duel is over? And if you have lost the memories that they ever existed then what would it matter since you would not know that you had known them?

This is how - They become shadow people and you literally can’t see them anymore for what I assume is the rest of your life. I don’t know how that works since they can still like write things down on pieces of paper or I dunno, communicate entirely through texting like most kids do who haven’t been cursed with eternal invisibility.

But don’t think too much about the logic, because people can now be erased from your life via cards, AKA Yugioh is gonna throw us another heavy handed take on depression, get ready. And honestly, it’s not a bad take. Good on Yugioh for this fairly accurate metaphor of what sadness can feel like. Like, sometimes people feel like their friends don't like them anymore, although they may be surrounded by people the entire time who are rooting for them and want to help them, but they just can’t see them. I think every person in the world has been through that at some point. You don’t often see it addressed in a kid’s show, although it really should be, because it happens so often.

Probably shouldn’t have started out with Tea for this example though. Like for reals, when have Mai and Tea ever hung out? That one time Mai told Tea to take a shower because she smelled like a boy? Or...

...That’s it. That’s the last conversation I remember these two having one-on-one. Most of the time Mai has been on screen is with Yugi and Joey instead. Mai and Tea shared a tent once. That’s it.

Lolmao I can’t believe Mime came back.

So now, canonically, BDSM Mime got stranded somewhere in Japan and now Marik doesn’t have any memories to even go and pick him up. He’s just forever trapped in this country now like Shenmue.

(read more)

Mai seems to remember that she used to know someone, so it’s more of like you get the feeling of losing a friend. Like basically every time you lose a monster you feel like you broke up with someone, but you can’t remember who. I can’t really relate to that feeling, but I’m sure this has happened to Mai at least once or twice for reals before this tournament. This is the girl who forgot she set herself up to get engaged.

Again, if you just thought it through for like 3 seconds, you’d have enough evidence to say “Yeah but this is all in my mind, I am standing in weird ass purple fog” but that’s the Shadow Realm.

After Tea’s memory is dissolved, next comes the threat of losing the memories of Joey Wheeler, AKA the vague love interest that she was very mad at up until about 5 seconds ago.

Also please admire how far the storyboarder went out of their way to avoid looking up Mai’s skirt. Straight up, they did not even bother to try and cover up those panty upskirts in Sailor Moon, but the storyboarder for Yugioh was so extra that they said “Hell with it, I’m gonna try” and so Mai’s legs are like double jointed and sprawled in the weirdest ways sometimes to cover that crack.

I mean, it’s still a pinup--there’s no way around this character design--but I really think they were trying to not go too far, but then ended up making it kind of worse sometimes. It’s just what happens when you have a love affair a lot of extreme low angle shots but none of your girls wear pants because it’s 2001 and everyone’s wearing tube tops and minis.

Which was a thing. I’ll admit it, I lived through it, 2001 was kind of a slutty time, it was the era of the glittery backless diamond shaped halter top. Which, while time has tried to forget, I will never forget the 20 minutes I spent in a dressing room trying to figure out how to put on a backless diamond shaped halter top only to realize that I was putting it on sideways.

Now, stepping away from confusing 00′s fashion and back to the show. Mai losing these pile of kids might mean more to me if Mai had been hanging out with them this whole time, but it really does feel like they’re closer to Duke Devlin than they are to Mai Valentine, because Duke at least shared a school with them so I can assume that in the past they’ve passed each other in the hallway or talked on occasion. But, Mai is an adult who never comes in contact outside of cards, and when she does, she only ever pushes them away.

It’s especially that-Yugioh-brand-of-tragic because in the mind of all of the characters on this show, we’ve just kind of assumed Mai has had a life and friendships outside of these couple of kids. But this episode we realize there’s just...no one else but the people she sees at these rare tourneys. As we see here in this flashback to her childhood, in the most anime PJ’s ever drawn.

Why does every flashback look like everyone's straight out the American Girl Doll collection? Like Pegasus and Cecilia were in turn of the century clothes. the Kaibas were dressed like little newsies when they were orphans, little Mai looks like she owns a horse in matching ribbons.

And as it turns out, do you know the reason why Mai hates friendship? You’ll never guess--her Parents. Ah, Neglectful Parents, strikes again, that old Yugioh chestnut. It’s like I’m watching Once Upon a Time again. At least these neglectful parents didn’t lock her up underground and tattoo her eyes. Instead, these ones just worked a lot and she got kinda lonely.

Are there any good parents on this show? I assume if anyone’s parents are good we just never see them, right? Is that why we never see Mr Muto?

Anyway, Mai moved around a lot, her parents were always busy, and it rained like constantly--so Mai decided to get a job on a cruise line, where she became a card shark. And also where she randomly got engaged and then forgot.

I don't remember her tent looking like that but I’ll allow it.

You could have chosen any friends out there Mai, traveling the world on a cruise line, doing cards all over the planet, and you chose these guys? The ones with multiple curses? Like you nabbed both Yugi and Bakura in one go? Congrats!

Anyway she very quickly forgets Joey so Rip MaixJoey that was a good one and half episodes, surely the longest relationship on Yugioh!

So, Yugi decides to activate the millennium item chatroom, where apparently he could just butt into whoever is getting cursed at the moment. And mind you, he could just solve the duel but like, there is a card game going on, and although it’s super duper cursed, we gotta make it fair. Yugi’s just here to give some good advice and then bounce.

No laser fights today. He still isn’t aware he can do that.

freakin love this blue yellow color combo PS.

So something that I do like about this, is that the real threat here in these Shadow Duels is not the duel really--it’s to Mai’s relationships more than injury Mai herself. Yes, she does die if she loses, but the more she loses, the more she loses people in her life, even if she wins. The loss of the people is more scary to her more than the fear of dying.

And this hearkens back to the first time we dealt with the Shadow Realm with Yugi and his Grandfather. Yugi was over that duel in about 15 minutes or whatever the time limit was, and after the initial shock he brushed himself off and may have appeared fully recovered, but it took him almost an entire season to get his Grandpa back in his life.

So if you look at these curses as akin to getting an illness, when you lose a relationship because of illness, that can be a pretty terrible symptom that you don’t really see coming. Happens a whole lot though. In Mai’s case, if she does lose, she also loses the opportunity to repair what she’s lost, which is probably the greatest fear of someone who may be going through A Time.

Like honestly, the Mai duel is *kind of a downer* and I was just talking to my Bro about how of all the shadow duels so far, this is the one that is most clearly “I’m just going to fight you with straight up depression” and how apparently Marik is just so far into his own downward spiral that he no longer cares about who he drags down with him. He’s just given up trying to be better at this point. Like his only ‘friend’ left is BDSM Mime clown. That’s a pretty intense rock bottom, honestly.

But on a positive note, what Yugi points out to Mai is “You’re in this now, but we will get you out of it, no matter what he curses you to believe.” and of anyone here, Yugi’s the only one that can actually reach out and speak to her because he’s the only one who has been through it before and thus knows how it works.

Being cursed with heavy handed illness imagery AKA Shadow Magic does have that perk. You can help out the similarly cursed. Even though he could have probably launched at least a couple fireballs at the problem to help her out also.

Holy hell they actually edited out all the little details on this duel disk here. Good on you, animators. Good on you. I’m glad someone did it. Hope that saved at least one of you from carpal tunnel, you poor overworked animators that had to draw every line on these crazy complicated character designs.

So Mai, spurned onward by the ghostly voices of her forgotten friends figures out how to steal Marik’s God Card.

Again, everyone on this show is obsessed with these awful cards and they feel like they must play them to win when honestly--look how much this card sucks.

If this God Card ends up killing her it’ll only prove my point that all these cards are just fundamentally hella bad.

Same with Odion, he could’ve won just fine without playing a God Card but leave it to these dummies to just go crazy with the one of three cards that has been prophecies to kill them. Like, when Odysseus gives you a bag of wind, just don’t open the bag. That easy.

Anyway, tune in next week to see if Mai ends up blown overboard like the servants of Odysseus, or if she ends up devoured by a giant creature also like the servants of Odysseus. Or if she ends up dating Joey Wheeler. That part didn’t happen in the Odyssey, but I’ve read enough people comparing fanfic to Homer that I guess you could make it happen if you really wanted to.

Link to read these recaps from S1 Ep1

[simplylove101]

Influential TV Shows

Okay this is kinda random and why I prob won’t tag the shows I list cuz this is more just something I wanted to get out of my head after watching J&J’s latest podcast where they were talking about this topic. They kept it to 7 shows each and while that would certainly be interesting to try, that’s kinda hard. lol I went about grouping some of them - shows that shaped me growing up, shows that impacted me/stuck with me, comfort shows/watch with the family, taught me about fandoms, etc. And saying something about each of them. Anyway, this is stupid but here we go lol:

The Shows Growing Up:

Sailor Moon: Okay, nobody make fun of me. lol This is the first show I remember really watching as a kid that wasn't Barney or whatever, something I decided to watch by myself and it actually had an ongoing story. And ofc it took time for me to realize that this was just an English dubbed version that they would play on Cartoon Network. Looking back on it, it’s a little cringey (the voice readings, Serena being a bit of a crybaby) but seeing girls, even if it was animated, kicking ass over evil as a group made an impression on me so it’s no wonder I would watch it religiously after school and was sad when they stopped airing it. And ofc I watched all the movies too. I was a shameless fan. lmao I also eventually read the manga and appreciated it.

Hey Arnold: As a kid, I would watch Cartoon Network & Nickelodeon (& eventually Disney when I got a little bit older), and I think one of the Nickelodeon shows that really stuck with me as a kid, like Rugrats, was this one. It had a wide range of really distinct characters. It was genuinely funny. And I did love the dynamic between Arnold & Helga (who was interesting & sometimes they would let her be the protagonist of an ep instead of him, like the therapist one which is a def fave) even if her crush was kinda as stalkerish as you can get why maintaining innocence. lol And you know what? I did totally watch the recent movie they did where it tied up loose ends like getting these two together and allowing her to grow as a character. Gotta say it was rewarding after all this time. lol  

All That: I feel like I gotta put this here because I watched this show all the time as a kid. And I think it’s something that really taught me about comedy. I had seen things from Saturday Night Live growing up cuz of my parents but this was my Nickelodeon version with people that weren’t much older than me at the time so I could really get what was going on/enjoy it. It’s also the first place where we saw people like Amanda Bynes & Kenan Thompson & Kel Mitchell (which is partly why I later watched things like The Amanda Show and Kenan & Kel) What can I say? As a young person, it was just really cool seeing kids being funny. Yeah, there was some cheese but I didn’t care. It stayed with me.

Boy Meets World/Sister, Sister/Lizzie McGuire/Even Stevens: I kinda cheated here and bundled these shows because these are four of the shows I watched on Disney growing up (Disney showed reruns of Boy Meets World & Sister, Sister for the record) There were others like That’s So Raven, Suite Life, Wizards of Waverly sort of, Proud Family to name a few but these shows I picked have such iconic episodes that I still remember well and love. Like Even Stevens - musical episode hands down Idc. Boy Meets World - Scream-inspired Halloween ep for sure. Yes, there was cheesiness with all these shows. Sometimes very after-school special, but they shaped me I think. Also gotta mention, I remember thinking of Hilary Duff as my idol. lol

The Ones I Watched With the Fam:

That 70′s Show: Now the thing with my family is that we were one where for a time we would watch tv while eating dinner and my dad would have control of what channel we watched. It was always this way, which meant it would either be Law & Order or Seinfeld (the second one I was cool with and I almost included it on here cuz it’s such a staple comedy but eh,,, I appreciated it more later on. It felt more forced on me at the time) This is probably one of the only shows I can say my whole family truly agreed on watching all together tho, including my sister who generally watches trashy reality shows. This show will always remain one of my faves, because it was hilarious. It got a little weaker towards the end (We do NOT speak about Season 8) but I loved how it was a true ensemble sitcom where everyone brought something to the table and enjoyed the different dynamics between the group. The funny running gags, Jackie & Hyde still remain one of my all-time otps, and Kelso is probably the funniest & lovable dumb character I can think of (If nothing else, Ashton Kutcher was meant to play this part ok) It was nice to have something my whole family could enjoy together. It was a rarity so this show has a special place in my heart for that alone.

Joan of Arcadia: Another show that has a place in my heart, despite it only lasting 2 seasons and it ending on a bad note (major cliffhanger, still never fully making things right w/ Adam after destroying his character, ultimately S2 was problematic but still) because this is a show that I watched religiously (pun not actually intended here lol) with my mom every Friday it was on. What I loved about it was that the concept is centered around Joan talking to God yet it generally wasn’t being preachy. Joan wasn’t always willing to do what God wanted her to do, and things didn’t always turn out how she wanted. It was a kinda perfect blend for me and my mom to watch together. After this we were more willing to watch stuff as a pair cuz we were close but this started all that. I remember always being curious how God would appear to Joan cuz it was always changing, but there were some fave recurring ones like Cute Guy God, Goth God & Old Lady God to name a few. heh Joan was played wonderfully by the awesome Amber Tamblyn who could always make me cry (naturally she played my fave Tibby in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies too lol) and she had awesome friends in Adam & Grace (who were my faves) and family. I rewatched this show and you know, I’d say S1 holds up and even the first half of S2. Heck, the episode where Joan & Adam break up towards the end of it, while totally heartbreaking and PISSES me off cuz bad writing for Adam, was solid simply for the acting so there’s that. lol

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Putting this show under this category because this was a show that I mostly got into because my sister loved it growing up. I was really young when it came out so I mostly remembered bits & pieces when I later watched it when I got a little older. It stuck with me tho cuz ofc the awesome Sarah Michelle Gellar playing badass Buffy (she was my sister’s idol) and it was a genuinely funny and smart show. It also got dark too. It wasn’t always solid towards the end, but I think it mostly nailed the actual ending (why Anya had to die tho... Spike I got but ugh) Anyway, this was kinda a big deal cuz it was the only thing my sister and I really watched together that wasn’t bad reality television or me barely paying attention to Dawson’s Creek at the time lol This showed that my sister could have taste when she wanted to (lmao sorry)

The Carol Burnett Show: I had to mention this show because this is one that got me, really my family, through dealing with my mom’s dementia. We chose to care for her at home instead of putting her in a nursing home. We did this for 2 years until her death. And the one thing we (excluding my sister cuz her & old stuff don’t mix) could always count on cheering us up was this show. My dad told me that my mom loved this show growing up and that’s why we turned on for her. So luckily memory or no memory, she still had a sense of humor and she knew when to laugh. And with good reason. This show is hilarious. So iconic. Carol Burnett was/is rightfully loved dearly for this show. I wish I had more I could say, but this was truly a comfort show when I desperately needed it so I am forever grateful that it existed.

Honorable Mention: Young & Hungry - another show that got us through that dark period, my dad actually really enjoyed this, despite seeming skeptical, and eventually started calling it the “Josh & Gaby Show” lmao Only thing is we never finished it together so oops. Not so much influential maybe but worth mentioning it felt like since it was underrated, got me thru a tough time, was hilarious and I loved that cast a lot. Emily Osment deserved to be the lead of her own show. Comedy queen.

The Ones That Brought Out the Fangirl In Me AKA The Teen Years:

The O.C/One Tree Hill/Gossip Girl/The Vampire Diaries: Another category where I’m just grouping them up together cuz ultimately it wasn’t about high art with these shows. They were the staple teen shows that everyone was watching and well, I was one of those people. lol It all started with The O.C. It was one of those ‘at the right time’ kinda things cuz I just went into the 6th grade when S1 started and it was such a big hit that everyone was always talking about it and there were even shirts involved (I never went that far lol) but this is where my need to explore YouTube came and then I was making fanvids. Gossip Girl is the one where I actually inserted myself into a fandom for the first time. My goodness the cringe that came with it but it gave me two of the longest online friendships I’ve ever had so I don’t regret it. (Shoutout to @backtothestart02 here as one of them) And well, three of these shows taught me the toxicity that can come from fandom. So I’ve been less vocal/more aware with other shows because of it. There’s problematic stuff in all of these but they were entertaining most of the time despite frustration (lol) 

Honorable Mention: Teen Wolf - Had to mention this one cuz this was a show where I had a group of friends who all watched this together and we talked about it til the end (even when we weren’t happy with it lol) I was never really vocal in the fandom cuz by this point I was wary of them (fandoms I mean), but it was nice to share a show with people who felt similarly about it. As a show, I truly loved it up to 3B. Some of my favorite episodes were the ones that almost felt standalone-ish (3x06 AKA Motel California still remains my fave to this day) Lastly, it’s because of this show I was introduced to Dylan O’Brien who I always refer to as my ‘always & forever’ guy so yeah lol

Maybe Superhero Shows Are Worth Watching lol:

The Flash/Daredevil/Cloak & Dagger/Runaways: So I’m someone who growing up, beyond Spider-Man and Batman, never really jumped at superhero movies. I still don’t to an extent but I’m more willing to watch stuff now. I think because when it comes to TV, I’m willing to check out at least an ep. I got into The Flash because my friend Lauren was really into it (and still very much is now) and wanted me to check it out so I did. I sorta watched Arrow before it until a point so I’d seen Barry’s appearances on it and remembered thinking he was precious so I wasn’t surprised that I liked him as a main character. I do think these later seasons have lost some quality but I think the earlier ones were very solid and Grant is perfect in the role. Daredevil... R.I.P. That show was so high quality so the fact that Netflix cancelled it is just rude. Now... Cloak & Dagger has been one of those surprises for me cuz it was such a slow burn that when it really got going it left me wanting more. That S1 finale was so solid. Cannot wait for S2. Love the dynamic between Ty & Tandy. Now Runaways isn’t perfect but it’s my biggest fandom right now and I’m proud of that fact. It’s a show that highlights diversity with 4 PoC leads & 4 kickass ladies (Nico & Gert are my bb girls), healthy ships including an LGBTQ couple currently as the main one (tho it is Gertchase that owns my heart), and overall a pretty great cast that meshes well like the thrown together family they portray. It even got me back into writing fanfic again. A miracle tbh. lol

Overall Just Amazing:

This Is Us: I just think that this show pulled me in the second they revealed that first plot twist in the pilot. It surprised me and then they kept doing that a bit after. Now it’s more about how it has the ability to make me cry every ep and feel things. It doesn’t always touch me the same it did in that first season (it was an emotional year for me tbh) but it does have a class act cast who can always pull at my heart strings.

Boardwalk Empire: This technically could have went under something I sort of watched with my dad, but it is kinda a weird show to share I guess. We didn’t usually watch it together (saved some awkward convos sometimes lol) but always talked about each episode weekly and it was kinda fun cuz it was usually in-depth. My dad still quotes things from it to this day. He also once said that he considers S1 the best TV season he’s ever watched. I agree that it was great. For me, the first 3 seasons are solid while the last 2 felt different but still pretty good. There was such quality to it. Great acting headed by Steve Buscemi. What can I say? I have a thing for gangster stories. I could say more but I’ll stop. lol

Stranger Things: The show that really turned me into a binge-watcher. I had just gotten Netflix and what show did I decide to watch on my birthday? This show. I had seen things in the media about the kids from it and I was like, they’re adorable!! And ofc I got hooked when I actually watched the show. It just has everything in it that I like: mystery, thrills, humor, hint of romance, awesome acting, music moments, nostalgia. This was my obsession for a while until I got into some other things but if you don’t think I’m totally pumped for S3, then you best believe I’m watching it all in a day if I can. lol

Community: This is a show that reminded me how a show can think totally outside of the box and still have a lot of heart with its comedy. I love situations where a group of misfits come together and become a family. I love that this show celebrates being different. Troy Barnes remains one of my favorite TV characters ever (& omg his friendship with Abed is pure goals!!) and Donald Glover played him perfectly. And Alison Brie is just adorable as Annie. Love this group of weirdos. The quality was different after S3 but I still adore it.

Into the Badlands: Have to mention this show because what it has been doing action-wise is just incredible. The fighting sequences are out of this world. I’m always excited to see how they top it. Also, an Asian male lead? Go dude! The whole cast is wonderful and everything is just high quality, ok? Also, that cinematography!! Can’t believe it’s ending when it comes back. Sadness.

One Day at a Time: This is more of a recent discovery for me (had friends who watched it and knew it was good but only decided to check it out not too long ago) but it’s already made its impact on me. This show has so much heart to it. The writers put so much care into their work when they bring up these controversial issues in the episodes. All while being totally hilarious (but also trust me, I manage to cry at least 1 or twice an ep lol) A show centered on a Cuban family, plenty of good rep for LGBTQ/non-binary people while also handling things like depression/anxiety, addiction, immigration, etc. It’s definitely making its mark on TV. Also, Rita Moreno is a living legend who I adore. I love this cast so much.

12 Monkeys: I. loved. this. show! I still think it had the best series finale that I have seen in a while. It wrapped up things so well that I was smiling for a while after watching it. I couldn’t believe that of all shows this one gave me a happy ending. lol Casserole remains one of my all-time ships because they were truly epic and pulled at my heart strings so many times. Jennifer Goines was my queen. But seriously, a show about time travel that managed to make sense? So impressed. And the visuals? gahhh

Friday Night Lights: Last, but most definitely not least, this show is just up there as one of the all-time bests IDC. The fact that at first glance the show seems centered only about football and it got me to keep watching definitely says something. lol This show had so much heart, the cast was excellent, an ending that was pretty much perfect. Coach & Tami Taylor were relationship goals. Honestly one of the best portrayals of a married couple I’ve ever seen because they were very much a team (while yes there was the occasional bickering that you gotta love) and it just felt real, you know? Also, it’s a show that proved that you can come back from a sophomore slump (yeah S2 was the worst season) and continue to be great.I can’t decide if it’s my favorite show of all-time but it’s certainly one of the first ones to come to mind. So glad I decided to give it a chance.

There’s probably a couple other shows I could list here but some I haven’t finished yet and don’t feel ready to put them on here yet. This is just what I could come up with.

[nehswritesstuffs]

Sounds like you having lots of fun things to write about 😊I wish I could read your One Piece fics but I haven’t ever watched that show (I’m sure it’s good though) 😄No worries if not but any Whouffaldi fic updates soon?🙂

To answer the last part of the ask first: I plan on it, but I also plan on there being a lot more updates during the year-end holidays, so there’s a bit of hoarding that shall commence until later on in the month and December. There is actually a plan lol pls be patient or the groove will be thrown off

Now the rest of this is going to be me as a not-quite-One Piece-evangelist, because it is one of those things that I recommend with a HUGE caveat, and not for the reason people think.

A lot of people fear it because it’s so long (I just read the newest chapter, 1066, early yesterday morning and sobbed like a baby). That’s actually not the thing I warn against the most! If you can read long-form fics like The Time That We Love Best or The Thick of UNIT, or are able to sit through long and storied shows like Doctor Who, then I don’t think the length is what’ll be the potential problem.

It’s that the series is rather high on the Anime Bullshit Scale.

What is the Anime Bullshit Scale? It’s a scale that goes anywhere from low on the list with slice of life and mild whimsy (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Chii’s Sweet Home, Yotsuba&!, etc) to balls-to-the-wall-runs-on-nonsenseoleum (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Excel Saga, etc). One Piece is not at the tip-top of the scale due to some genuinely emotional and grounded moments, but it’s staggeringly up there thanks to how wacky it gets. There are even some people who really love anime who can’t go too high on the scale, and that’s fine, and I think not knowing about this scale is what creates bad recommendations that turn people off to anime and manga as a whole. You don’t go straight into Attack on Titan as your first anime, more like Cowboy Bebop or Azumanga Daioh, since those are milder than some of the other offerings. Not unless you’ve got a very specifically-tailored rec, such as Sakamoto Days if you’re a fan of John Wick (or so I’ve heard; never seen the Wicks), despite it being up there on the Scale.

Did you like Sailor Moon as a kid? Maybe up through the Ancient Egypt arc of Yu-Gi-Oh? Most of Naruto ‘cause we don’t talk about that show’s filler? Maybe you enjoyed stuff like Chowder or The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack or the Amazing World of Gumball or even a good chunk of early Spongebob Squarepants? Chances are that you might like One Piece. Personally, my attention is usually better with reading, so I’m a mostly-manga person (and there’s many websites with decent-to-great quality scans and translations that beat what I had available to me in high school, so you don’t have to worry about buying +100 volumes if your budget/living space isn’t ready or your local library isn’t carrying it (despite not being the longest manga series, it is the best-selling, so don’t feel bad)), but there is something to be said about watching. Go with the Funimation dub (which I think is on Crunchyroll and Netflix). It does have a bit of filler and it does exaggerate... erm... certain artwork quirks a bit more, but it is overall fairly loyal and coherent in comparison to the manga. Plus the pace is different--more cinematically measured in a way--and you can leave it on in the background if that’s what you need.

(Please take this time to pour one out for Mayumi Tanaka and Colleen Clickenbeard’s vocal chords, holy fcking shit.)

So, yeah, I do recommend One Piece if you’ve got a tolerance for wacky and long-form and lots of emotions everywhere. It’s pretty easy to start too: just go with chapter and/or episode one. Then you too can confuse the hell out of people by making references to it out of context, like saying how Worst Hypnotist Michael Jackson’s best friend is a wine pun who he met by defeating in a dance battle and now they simp together because that’s what bros do, naturally.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Status Update — What Happened to Anime Affected by COVID-19?

  Since the initial announcement that projects would be put on a hiatus due to COVID-19, the anime industry has adjusted its processes looking into remote work options and creating an environment where work can safely continue in order to move forward. Due to updated work models, the industry has been getting back on track. Not only has the anime industry in Japan adjusted to a new workflow, but so has the anime English dubbing industry, which has adapted to remote recordings. While working under these new guidelines, both productions and dubs have slowly started back up and have been able to continue their broadcasts, as well as releasing exciting news regarding the continuation of everyone's favorite series.

  UPCOMING TITLES

The Promised Neverland left fans at the edge of their seat when the first season wrapped back in March of 2019. Fans were eagerly looking forward to the next chapter, but due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the second season of the hit series saw its original release date postponed from spooky October 2020 to January 2021. There were also plans to rebroadcast the first season in July, but in April there was an announcement the rebroadcast would be postponed to October 2020. Despite the delay, the second season has moved forward, releasing a new teaser trailer for the upcoming season which featured the opening theme song "Identity," by Kiro Akiyama. In an official Twitter post from December 17, fans received the news that "Magic," by Myuk would be the season's ending theme, with Eve contributing to the music. The highly anticipated second season will officially premiere Thursday, January 7.  

????Season 2 PV公開 ジャンプフェスタの特別番組で初公開したアニメ #約ネバ Season 2 PVをWeb公開✨https://t.co/qqqmQ8SCvY 1月7日よりフジテレビ"#ノイタミナ"ほかにて毎週木曜25:25～放送！ Amazon Prime Videoにて見放題独占配信 pic.twitter.com/CinV9LNAoy

— 『約束のネバーランド』公式 (@yakuneba_staff) December 20, 2020

October 2020 would have also seen the return of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, but the second season's broadcast would be pushed from October to January 2021. The second season is set to debut on January 12, 2021. With production continuing and the next season coming soon, a series of events have been planned to get fans ready for the premiere of Season 2. It was announced Stereo Dive Foundation will be behind the season's ending theme, and Episodes 1- 8 of Season 1 will air for free on a variety of YouTube channels for two weeks starting December 18. A special online pre-screening featuring members of the cast would also be held on December 26.    

    Moon Prism Power Make-Up! January 8, 2021, will see the release of the first Sailor Moon Eternal film, while the second film is set to hit Japanese theaters on February 11 of that year. Despite the films' delay, promotion for Sailor Moon was able to continue, safely of course! On June 30, in commemoration of Usagi's birthday, fans were treated to a special 25th-anniversary video featuring an array of collaborations, collections, and stunningly vibrant complete editions of Naoko Takeuchi's beloved work. Fans were kept updated on the various casting announcements for the Amazon Trio and Quartet. More recently, a series of new trailers featuring our dynamic duo Usagi and Mamoru, the sailor soldiers, and Chibiusa, was released and a Sailor Moon TV special premiered in Japan. For the special, fans could vote in a series of categories that included their favorite characters and episodes. The broadcast also included a great lineup of guests and was a fun, interactive experience fans could participate in from the comfort of their homes.    

    RELEASED TITLES

It's not uncommon for an anime series to go on hiatus, and while anime fans have seen some of their favorite series delayed, that fate wasn't necessarily the case for long-running series like Pokémon and One Piece. Both of these properties have been on the air since the late '90s and in their 20-ish years gracing the television (or computer) screens of anime fans, both series had rarely experienced a hiatus. But due to the pandemic, both series found themselves on a break. On April 20, the official Twitter account for Toei Animation announced future episodes of the most recent arc, One Piece: WANO KUNI, would be delayed after they "carefully considered the safety measures for the spread," of COVID-19. The series would continue its broadcast starting June 28, and more recently, would even get its own 24/7 channel dedicated to catching up on all the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates.    

  The virus also impacted Pokémon Journeys, Pokémon: Twilight Wings, and the upcoming film, Pokémon the Movie: Coco. After it was announced on April 19 that Pokémon Journeys would be going on hiatus and suspending production, the series would continue its Japanese broadcast on June 7, and would also become available on Netflix starting June 12. Likewise, Pokémon: Twilight Wings would delay its fifth episode to June 5, and the fan-favorite web anime series would return again in November with a special episode! Like Pokémon Journeys and Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Pokémon the Movie: Coco was delayed and the original release date of July 10, 2020, would be pushed back. The film would set a new release date for this upcoming winter. Pokémon Journeys' hiatus resulted in the longest amount of time the series didn't air on Japanese television since the Porygon episode of 1997, and Pokémon the Movie: Coco marks the first Pokémon film to not have a July release date for Japanese theaters since 1998.    

  After the production committee for Violet Evergarden: the Movie announced in a post on the official website the film was being postponed, the film was released in Japanese theaters a few months later on September 18, 2020, and became available in New Zealand and Australia on December 3. Since the premiere, Violet Evergarden: the Movie has achieved many accomplishments. The film's already stunning animation was amplified because of a conversion to Dolby Vision HDR and became the first anime movie to be screened this way. In addition to receiving a special screening of this type, Violet Evergarden: the Movie has also continued to perform at the box office. On December 7, Oricon reported the film surpassed 2 billion yen, (US $19,315,670), an impressive milestone. This achievement is likely to grow, seeing as the film expanded to additional theaters starting on December 11.    

  Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld second cour was set to premiere on April 25, 2020, but an announcement from the series official website confirmed the premiere would be delayed. A new launch date of July 11 was declared and a rebroadcast of the show's first season aired in its place. With the Japanese broadcast of Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld being delayed, the series also saw the delay of its English dub, but on November 7, the English dub would return, and a new trailer previewed just what fans can expect when SAO comes home to Cartoon Network's Toonami block.  

  RELEASED DUBS

With studios looking into ways to continue dubbing anime safely, fans were able to pick up right where they left off on a great slate of dubs including In/Spectre, Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun, Somali and the Forest Spirit, The 8th son? Are you kidding me? starting in May 2020. Also in May 2020, a full line-up of new dubs was released which included Tower of God and My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

  You can check out a full, updated list of anime series, movies, and dubs delayed by COVID-19 here. Which anime series are you looking forward to seeing return? What about a series you were happy to see resume? Let us know in the comments!

      Pro hero Veronica Valencia is an anime-loving hot sauce enthusiast! You can follow more of her work as a host, writer, and producer on Twitter and Instagram.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Veronica Valencia

[roegadynlibrarian]

Honest Q&A: Tulona Grynedornnwyn

What is your full name? “Tulona Grynedornnwyn. Tulona means ‘Dew Gatherer’ in Roegadyn.”

What do your friends call you? “Most people call me Tulona or ‘Miss Gyrnedornnwyn’. Nevi has called me ‘Tuli’ ever since we were kids. I remember my mother used to call me her ‘Little Dew�� when I was small.”

What is your favorite animal? “I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest animal person, so I don’t really have a favorite one. I do have a fondness for our family chocobo, Aerstfryn. We’ve had him since he was a little hatchling, and there’s a reason I named him my ‘First Friend’.”

Where were you born? “My family owned an orange grove in Western La Noscea. That’s where I was born and spend most of my childhood until I was accepted into the Arcanist’s Guild and went to Limsa for my education. Sadly we lost the farm and homestead during the Calamity.”

Do you have children? “I have no children of my own, but I am the Godmother to Nevi’s beautiful daughter Kella. And I’m always available to take the little munchkin off Nevi and Gavin’s hands when she starts being a handful. I also share my home with a young Spriggan, Sugarcube, or as he likes to be called now, Iggy. How I came to be acquainted with him is a story in and of itself. But where some would see Spriggan as a wild creature or some exotic pet, over the years Iggy has become a valued member of the family. Even if he does run off for days on end only to come back with a trail of mud behind him and another rock or gem to add to his ever growing collection.”

Is there a person/people you love? “I view my friends as an extension to my family, and I share a strong love and trust to all of them. Nevienne has been my longest and truest friend ever since we were young and I would consider her my own sister in a heartbeat. Her daughter is also a treasure, and I would do anything to help little Kella! If you are asking about a certain someone, there is none right now. Time is always flowing, you love, and sometimes you must move on. Sometimes that’s just how things are.”

What is your favorite color? “Green. Call me unoriginal, but I think it runs in the family. My father’s name DOES mean ‘Green Thorn’ after all!”

What is your full occupation? “I am a fully studied Arcanist, if you needs documentation I can provide it of course. Currently I am employed at C&L Accounting & Services in Ul’Dah. I curate and maintain their library as well as serve as an aetherial and magical researcher for clients.  ”

Are you good at physical fighting? “Some might jeer that I’m not exactly built for fighting, but my grandfather did teach me the basics of self defense when I was younger. I guess the good thing about having a former pirate for a relative, they kind of know how to stay alive.”

Which form are you best at? “Mostly just self defense with either a dagger or unarmed. I have no intentions on sieging a battlefield, but I know enough to get by should I be separated from my grimoire.”

What about magic? “As I said earlier, I am a licensed and trained Arcanist. I’ve studied Arcanima since I was a young teenager when my parents discovered that I may be aethericaly inclined. They sent me to Limsa for testing, and I stayed in the city until my teachings were complete. With the apparent resurgence of Red Magic I’ve started doing a little research on it, but only at the academic level so far.”

Which type are you best at? “Arcanima contains a rather wide spectrum, from Aetherial projections, like Carbuncle, to detrimental spells like Bio and Ruin, to forms of healing. While I have been able to stagger wounds in times of need, my forte has never really been healing. I’ve excelled more in the manipulation of one’s personal aether, and when needed to, the aether of foes.”

Craftsmanship? “I’ve dabbled in a small bit of Alchemy, but to no major level. And while my cooking will never be as good as ‘how mom used to make’, I have at least never given myself food poisoning from mine own cooking.”

Any other skills? “I’m and avid reader and a novice explorer. It would be a lie to say some research endeavors were not fueled by wanderlust.”

Are you an only child? “I have a brother, a couple years my younger. Loetu. His name mean’s ‘Loud Dew’, and while I love my parent’s dearly, they should not have let their young daughter name her baby brother. Loetu was always fond of my grandfather’s tales of the high seas, so it is of no surprise that he left to become a sailor when he became of age. It is, however, a surprise that he never returned home after the Calamity, or that I still haven’t heard from him since. Honestly, I worry about him and would give anything to see him again. And then punch him in the face for abandoning his family in their time of need!”

Where do you see yourself in five years? “I imagine I will still be working here. I’ve been rather content with things and haven’t seen much reason to change. I would like to perhaps move out of my apartment and into an actual house. Maybe have a family? It’s kind of hard to tell these days, you know?”

Have you ever almost died? “The Calamity and the moons that followed were very rough for many, myself included. We had lost everything my family had, and a sickness spread throughout the shelter we were staying in. Father and I made it through fine, but my mother was hit with the worst of it and passed shortly after. Those times were the hardest I ever faced. I won’t go into details, but some days you just felt like giving up. I thank the Twelve everyday that those times are behind us and that my father and I still have each other.”

Do you have a secret, not just a secret, but like a really big secret, hardly anyone knows? “Either my answer is ‘no’ and I’m called a liar, or I say ‘yes’ and I am pestered endlessly about it. So these lips are sealed.”

Salty or sweet? “A little of both. I don’t nearly have the sweet tooth as a certain Spriggan and elezen mother...but I do treat myself, though as of late I’ve been more mindful and choose more healthier options.”

Do you like yourself? “This is probably the one question would have changed the most, depending on when I was asked. Today I can say with certainty that I am happy with myself and the progress I’ve made on every front. A few years ago, I am not sure I could answer this question honestly.”

Do you believe in the Twelve? “I do.”

Are you religious? “To some degree. Even if someday there was evidence disproving of the gods, I think I would still follow the ideals and beliefs that the Twelve ask of us. ”

Do you carry prejudice with you? “I’ve been told I can be rather uptight, strict and stubborn at times. I think there are somethings about yourself, based on your upbringing, that are hard to change. I try to keep an open mind, but there are some people that are just too hard to try and shake the stigma off of.”

What do you consider entertainment? “Reading mostly. And while I don’t do it around others, I do enjoy dancing and singing. ”

Favorite drink? “I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine.....or maybe a few glasses...”

Do you have any family traditions? “ When I was young, my mother used to take the first orange of the harvest and make a special dish with it for the family. While the farm is long gone, I still go over to my Father’s around harvest time and we share an orange themed meal. Like orange marinaded dodo with orange spice tea, or something similar.”

Are you a good person? “I always try to do what’s best for those I love and care about. We all have our flaws, but as long as we try to make the world a better place, I think that’s what matters most.”

Tagged by: @vila-tadmhe

[ashitomarisu]

2017 Anime Watch: DiGiCEMBER (AKA The Year without Ai Maeda) + 2018 Anime Watch schedule

(This is early but better off getting it over with.)

Wait, no AiM?! Don’t be alarmed. This is the one season she was absent from (due to unknown reasons).

((Komachi: Sorry to intrude, but I think it’s time I take the reins for this year’s DiGiCEMBER.))

Why?

((Komachi: For the past four seasons, this bitch (Karen) has taken host duties. This is the last season my seiyuu has anything to do with Digimon in a supporting sense. So, why not let me host this DiGiCEMBER?!))

((Aguri: You ain’t doing this without me.))

((Komachi: Oh, hi, Aguri. Refresh my memory. Which one are you?))

((Aguri: That kid. With the Falcomon.))

((Komachi: OH. Oh. Right. Well, I don’t see why we can’t have tw--))

[Honoka crashes in]

((Honoka: HOLD IT!! I WANT IN THIS. I HAVE EVIDENCE OF BEING PART OF THIS FRANCHISE.))

Dear God, this is gonna be a trainwreck without Karen.

((Karen: Of course it will be.))

[Komachi shoves Karen out the door and closes it.]

Okay, I suppose this announcement will be odd.

Twas the week before December and all through the Digital World

The feeling wasn’t quite the same, not without her

Alas, the tradition continued in good spirits, with a brand new host--

((Komachi: Okay, this is getting too boring. Due to personal reasons, my friend, Karen, is unable to run this year’s DiGiCEMBER, but rest assured, it will be just as fun with me. Joining this season, is the adorable Aguri Madoka.))

((Aguri: hai.))

((Komachi: Also, we have a special guest this season, isn’t that right?))

*sigh* Yes. Shockingly, we have not only Yukana in this season, but a Kansai-dialect Agumon??

((Tarte: I’M BAAAACK!!!))

((Honoka: Yes! I’m glad to help kick off December with Digimon Savers. I know for the longest time, Karen has always loved to celebrate with each Digimon season that came around.))

Anyways, starting December 1st, I’ll dive into the last season of Digimon to feature Ai Nagano and the late Koji Wada (as an ED singer). Digimon Savers, from what I remember as a kid, was an odd twist, but I never got the chance to finish it when Jetix became Disney XD in 2009. I wonder if it will be even worth watching without AiM present.

Now, for something different and exciting.

With December coming in less than a week, my 2018 schedule will be in a bind atm. Luckily, I have plans for the first five months. For the new year, here are the following titles planned for watch/rewatch:

January 2018: In honor of the Clear Card Arc premiering early next year, and five years since my first watch of this renowned anime, it’s time to turn the clocks back to 1998 for a rewatch!! Yes, I mean Cardcaptor Sakura.

A series so near and dear to me, in animation, charm, and Ai Maeda.

((Kero: SHUT UP.))

Sorry, I almost forgot rule #1 of my own blog: AYA HISAKAWA COMES FIRST.

Okay, I’ll get this out of the way. Some seiyuu facts about this series:

Aya Hisakawa trolled the shit out of Sakura Tange in an interview by impersonating Sakura Kinomoto.

In episode 11, AiM had a one-shot role that lasted one scene.

Near the end of the series, Rie Kugimiya had a one-shot role.

Too many Sailor Moon seiyuus and future Precure VAs were casted. @uzukun has the extensive list if you have the balls to ask her.

How the cast director got Emi Shinohara to return for the Clear Card Arc, I”ll never know.

February is a break, due to my 25th birthday celebration. I have so many things to deal with and take care of.

March will become PRECURE A LA MARCH, for the anticipated, rainbow colored, gaytacular, sweets loving, nonstop rave party that is this sugarcoated hypesicle.

That is all for the updates at this time. I will follow up sometime in February for the spring+summer schedule, but it might become a mess, due to required internship for my program. Until then, here’s hoping senpai (or Sendai, or hell, Yuko Sanpei) notices you. See ya!!

[sailormiyoung89]

hi there! from your url, i'm assuming you're a Sailor Moon and kpop fan? Just wondering as a fellow fan when you discovered them and how long you've been following them? What's your top 10 anime/kpop artists? And what are your opinions of the Sailor Moon reboot and kpop in general? (P.S. what does the 89 stand for?)

 Hey :) You guessed right, SM and kpop are my obsessions XD I first watched the english dub of Sailor Moon when I was...idk like 4 or 5. Then when it went off air I didn’t watch it again for YEARS. I lived in the middle of the countryside and didn’t have a computer till my uncle passed away and we got his. I was about ten. But because we were so isolated, we only had dial-up till I was like...16. At which point the FIRST thing I looked up was Sailor Moon XD 

I’m not certain when exactly I got into kpop. I was a fan of Kesha’s and was listening to her song, Run Devil Run and scrolling through the comments when I saw a lot of people debating whether this or the SNSD and Girls’ Generation versions were better. I’d never heard of SNSD or Girls’ Generation but decided to check them out and find out for myself - it didn’t take me long to discover that SNSD and Girls’ Generation were the same group XD (Incidentally, please don’t ask me to chose which version is better. I refuse XD). 

I don’t know exactly when this was - I THINK the first half of 2012. 

Top 10 anime: I actually haven’t watched a whole lot of anime. I start them and get a few episodes in and then just get distracted XD

10. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. If you like shoujo anime, you probably know about this one but it’s kind of a dark magical girls anime :)

9.Another. It’s a horror mystery anime....I actually kind of want to rewatch it now that I think about it XD

8. Deadman Wonderland. It’s about a boy who’s framed for the murder of his classmates and is imprisoned in a kind of Battle Royale/Hunger Games style prison. I actually named my dog after one of the characters in it, Shiro (and also for the Japanese tale about the dog of the same name who lives with the elderly couple). 

7. Digimon. Back when it was Pokemon vs. Digimon, I may have loved my pokemon red (and blue and yellow), but in terms of anime, I always preferred Digimon. The digimon just seemed to have a lot more personality compared to pokemon. Plus I adored Kari (Hikari in Japanese).

6. Cardcaptor Sakura. After Sailor Moon had gone out of my life as a child, we would occasionally rent videos and dvds from Xtravision and there was always a CCS one. When I first saw it, I thought that maybe it was that other one I watched as a child or something. After the first time, I realised it was definitely something else but I would always pick it up anytime we rented a dvd.

5. I’m going to put Naruto here. Not because I ADORED it or anything and I definitely don’t think it’s the best but despite the fact that it must be one of the longest airing anime, it’s one of the few that I actually saw through to the end.

4.  Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I think it’s just one of those GREAT anime that should be a staple for any anime fan to watch. 

3. Full Moon wo sagashite. It’s a shorter anime about a young terminally ill girl who gains the ability to transform into a singer and fulfill her dream of being a singer. I won’t say anymore except that if you ever watch this one, make sure you have tissues.

2. Death Note. I remember being SO blown away by it when I first watched it when I was 17 - I actually convinced a LOT of people in my class to watch it XD 

1. Sailor Moon. Without question.  

Top 10 kpop artists:

10. Ladies Code

9. Sistar

8. BlackPink

7. GFriend

6. Pristin

5. EXID

4. F(x)

3. Twice

2. Mamamoo

1. SNSD

Opinions about Crystal:

....I REALLY wanted to like it :( I didn’t though. It moved too fast. Sure the anime had a bit too much filler but taking away ALL the filler and just plowing through plot full speed ahead was far too far in the other direction. Personally for me, characters come first and the plot comes second. It’s not that the plot is unimportant but you have to give me reasons to care about the characters - reasons that don’t hinge on things I know about them from other adaptations. Plus I’m not a massive fan of SenShi. I’ll take some VenusXKunzite but other than that, I’m not interested in pairing up all 4 girls with all 4 guys. Like you’re telling me that 2 of them didn’t like the one person? Or everyone was liked by SOMEONE? 8 people are not just gonna pair off that simply. I watched the first season and could feel my interest going away episode by episode. I watched the first episode or two of R and while that was a LITTLE better, that was because I was already predisposed to adoring my lost little baby Chibiusa. 

All that said, I did watch S and enjoyed it a bit. It’s still far too fast paced. Breathing every now and again isn’t bad but they just don’t seem keen on doing that. But I did like it a bit more and will check out at least the first couple of episodes of SuperS. I know also that there’s been a lot of discussion about the animation quality and even though I lack any kind of artistic talents, I can see that the animation hasn’t been great. And it DID get better for S. But honestly, I don’t care. I would take stick figures. All that’s important is that I’m given a reason to love these characters. 

Kpop in general? That’s so vague XD You want my general opinion on an ENTIRE music industry? :P 

Okay well I like kpop. We’ve established that much XD And I’m sure you could tell from my top 10, it’s the girl groups I’m here for. There weren’t any really when I first started listening to kpop that I knew of and I am 10000000% here for girls being friends (or more than friends. lbr, there have to be SOME lesbian kpop idols. There are literally hundreds of female idols) and loving and supporting one another. The thing that really appealed to me and why I can’t tell you exactly when I started listening to kpop was the reality shows. I mean Western artists don’t really have reality shows AND variety shows AND modelling gigs AND mc careers AND acting careers. Kpop idols just seemed to be able to do everything!! The one I spent the first six months or so watching over and over again was Hello Baby. I was completely enamored with it :) Only after I finished watching it did I start to wonder ‘hey, I wonder if they’ve done anything recently...and I googled and found out I missed the debut of their first (and only official) subunit. All because I was watching a show that they’d filmed years ago that I could’ve watched anytime....

And lol. For most people, if they have a number at the end of their username, it’s related to their date of birth. For me, it’s ‘89, as in ‘1989′, the year my bias Tiffany Young Hwang was born. My original tumblr username was ‘SailorMushroom89′, ‘Mushroom’ being a reference to ‘brighter than Mushrooms’, Tiffany’s -butchered- intro when she first debuted. (I don’t know if you’re a Sone but it was back before Tiffany’s Korean was fluent and she was SUPPOSED to introduce herself as ‘brighter than Jewels, Tiffany’ but mispronounced jewels and introduced herself as ‘brighter than Mushrooms, Tiffany’). 

[connorwing]

Hoo boy I did a StoryShift thing.

<b>StoryShift: My Take<b> by <i>ConnorWing<i> Hey everyone, what's going on? My name's ConnorWing, and today we'll be looking at StoryShift by @ut-storyshift. Now, before I get into it, let's go over some rules. First things first: No swapping Character Roles or changing the species of said character to better fit the role. The role must stay the same to the original AU, or it's not really the same AU anymore, is it? Next up: Character Roles This is the section of the post where I talk about a certain character's role so they flush out the role well enough. If they don't meet all the requirements, then it won't count as that character filling that role. Toriel: Guardian of the Ruins. Former leader of the Underground beside the Asgore Role. Generally acts as a caretaker for The Main Character. Asks the Sans Role to protect the main character for whatever reason. Battle at the end of the Ruins. Napstablook: Miniboss in the Ruins. (Yeah, that's it. I know.) Sans: The Judge. Able to read EXP/LOVE. Makes a promise to the Toriel Role to protect the main character for whatever reason. (Isn't required, but they generally have a battle at the end of the Genocide Route.) Papyrus: Sets up some sort of obstacle(s) in Snowdin to keep the main character from passing. Battle at the end of Snowdin. Undyne: Leader of the Royal Guard. Needs/Wants to capture a human for a certain reason. Trains/Mentors the person in the Papyrus Role. Battle at the end of Waterfall. Alphys: The one who did the DETERMINATION experiments, and now repents for it. Looks up to the Undyne Role. Helps throughout Hotland. Mettaton: Is told by the one in the Alphys Role that they’ll get some sort of reward for stopping the human from progressing. Runs throughout Hotland, stopping the human from progressing in some way. Battle at the end of Hotlands. Asgore: Leader of the Underground. Has the six human SOULs and plans to cross the barrier with the seventh (Normally not wanting to). Is killed by Flowey. Asriel: Absorbs the Chara role’s SOUL. Crosses the barrier, then is killed by humans. Turns into Flowey. Breaks the barrier at the end of the game. Chara: Narrator. Influenced by LOVE on the Genocide Route to kill. (Please keep in mind this is my interpretation of the characters. If you don't like, then you don't have to except them.) So, let’s get started! -- Papyrus (Toriel Role): Generally fun-loving and caring, Papyrus took upon taking care of the Ruins after seeing what the deaths of Mettaton (Chara Role) and Napstablook(Asriel Role) did to his brother. He never agreed with the idea of war: In fact, he despises it. Papyrus has improved the ancient puzzles in the Ruins to better suit his liking, making them all more challenging and more fun. He wears an orange scarf over his purple robe, the symbol Canon Papyrus wears on his battle body stamped into the left sleeve said robes. He carries a big, thick bone that helps his weary bones walk. He tosses and turns a lot, evident by the deep bags under his eye sockets. With all of this in mind, he chit-chats with Chara(Sans Role) through the door that leads into Snowdin. He keeps Frisk on the Ruins for someone to talk to, as it gets awfully lonely and sad within the tiny Ruins. For some company, he allows Alphys(Napstablook role) into the Ruins to share some drinks and talk about different anime. Alphys(Napstablook Role): Shy, anime loving, a recluse, and the cause of so many deaths, Alphys was a former Royal Scientist’s Assistant, helping with Asgore’s(Alphys Role) DETERMINATION experiments (effectively ruining the experiment and causing the Amalgamates) and ultimately causing the death of many, Alphys became a recluse. She never comes out of her house, and when she does, it's with a hood up and a shadow over her eyes. She wears a white Hoodie with black highlights, usually having ear buds plugged in so she can drown out the world. Chara (Sans role): A generally calm, sassy, level-headed kid who takes pride in just about anything they can do. They love pranking, but not to the extent shown by Sans in Canon Undertale. After a spare DETERMINATION vial got injected into Chara’s SOUL, they got a power boost and was filled with DETERMINATION. Not enough to gain control over the timeline, but enough to let their SOUL to refuse to die and summon knives that can be deadly. They can move around other DETERMINATION SOULs, allowing them to throw them around and change their gravity. They wear their own gloves to contain their magic, so as to not accidentally hurt anybody. They wear a simple green Hoodie (with no zipper) with a yellow stripe across the neckline and yellow pockets, brown cargo pants, and red boots. They chitchat with Papyrus (Toriel Role) through the Ruins door, because they feel like the old man should take a rest every once in awhile. They help Asriel (Papyrus Role) set up different fun hurdles and games around Snowdin for Asriel to have fun with the human, rather than capture them. Asriel (Papyrus Role): A excitable, shy, and overall happy person, Asriel Dreemurr is only looking for fun. His mother, Toriel (Undyne Role), is the captain of the Royal Guard, causing him to think he must capture a human due to pressure. However, once getting to know Chara, he knows he can't turn them in, causing Chara to be adopted into the Dreemurrs. He wears a dark blue top with a black stripe across it, and a rainbow striped handkerchief. Toriel (Undyne Role): While still pun - loving and a mother at heart, Toriel takes her job as a Royal Guardswoman very seriously. After becoming good friends with Sans (Asgore Role), Toriel took it upon herself to train and become a protector of the people after a long time, she became the leader of the Royal Guard, having a child with Asgore, named Asriel. Unfortunately, her soft heart and pacifism made it difficult for her to reject Asriel’s (Papyrus Role) request to adopt and protect Chara (Sans Role). Her and Asgore (Alphys Role) took Chara in and protected them. Unfortunately, after Chara got injected with the massive amount of DETERMINATION, combined with the tragic Amalgamate experiments, Toriel divorced Asgore. After Asgore (Alphys Role) and Toriel broke up, Toriel, now Asriel and Chara’s main guardian, let them have their own house in Snowdin under her supervision, as guard duties made it difficult for her to keep watch over her children. During the Genocide Run, Toriel blocks the attack to Monster Kid with a wall of fire, and is DETERMINED to stop you because you killed her child and broke the heart of another. Asgore (Alphys Role): Asgore remains largely unchanged, with the exception of the Amalgamate experiments and Chara’s injection of DETERMINATION, which made him even more reclusive and hardly ever opening his doors. He originally wanted to be a gardener, but he found a passion in science, which led him to doing the Amalgamate experiments and building a robot eye for Undyne. He disapproves of what Undyne does to kill the human, but his nature stops him from actually doing anything about it. He does help the player, but to a much lesser degree than Alphys tries too. Undyne (Mettaton Role): Undyne is.. Well. Undyne. Undyne constantly barrages the player with spears much like in Hotland, but uses things Asgore has made her. She uses a water-based veil from a small machine on her hip to help her with the “STUPIDITY HUMIDITY OF HOTLAND!!!” She has a jetpack, allowing her to fly, a robotic eye to help her with locating and spearing the human, and a arm launcher that sends out her spears like a harpoon gun. She doesn't have a miniboss fight in Hotland, rather that, she intimidates the player, but before she can, Asgore comes in and stops Undyne. During her fight, she turns into “Undyne UMBRA”! Which is more so based on DBZ rather than Sailor Moon, boosting her power. During her Genocide fight, she turns into “Undyne the Undead”, Which is based on a stronger version of Goku. Sans (Asgore Role): The brother of Papyrus. After Mettaton and Napstablook died, Sans had thought it over for a long, long time. After careful consideration, Sans had finally declared war on humanity. After Papyrus left his side, Sans became even more ruthless, ordering that every human that fell into the Underground died. During his fight, rather than destroy the Mercy button, he abuses the game mechanics by blocking the button with a string of bones. Thanks to his training and experience, Sans’s stats are higher. Not nearly as high as Asgore, but his tactics and moves make up for that tenfold. Napstablook (Asriel Role): Napstablook is still very shy, reclusive person, but Mettaton (Chara Role) brought out a more outgoing side to Napstablook. Before being able to finish Napstablook’s body, however, a human fell into the Underground. After Mettaton absorbed the first fallen Human’s SOUL, Napstablook stayed behind, and, out of worry, his HP slowly drained. After Mettaton returned, just about dead, Napstablook died with Mettaton. During Asgore’s DETERMINATION experiments, he was accidentally brought Napstablook back as Flowey. Flowey remains virtually unchanged, with the exception of wording and dialogue changes. Mettaton (Chara Role): Mettaton and Napstablook lived together on the streets for the longest time before Papyrus found them and took them in, allowing them to have a home. Sans and Papyrus appointed Asgore (Alphys Role) to make them both a body. Before being able to finish Napstablook’s body, however, a human fell into the Underground. The three became great friends, and Mettaton eventually had the idea to have massive stardom by absorbing the human SOUL, getting six from the humans, and breaking the barrier. But, unfortunately, the humans reacted harshly to a freaky, mech-like robot coming out of the mountain, and they attacked him. They came back, and died with Napstablook. Eventually Mettaton’s spirit was awoken by Frisk’s DETERMINATION, and they went through the Underground together. -- After everything, this may not be canon to StoryShift, but I definitely enjoyed making it! After everything, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you later!