#so like this pose has been haunting me like wont leave my head until i fufill it properly

[skitskatdacat63]

Yaaaayyyyyyyy vettonso wip!!:

THEY WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!

I barely ever use my physical sketchbook, but now there is literally 12 pages just of trying to figure these guys out....

But hey happy to say I can actually draw Seb's face from memory!! I like it better when I can draw from memory than having to stare at ref pics. Nothing wrong with using ref, I use it all the time, but it causes me to think about it way too much. Fernando I've really only drawn one other time so I kinda just copied off my last one as a placeholder 😭 so I should probably just stare at pictures of him for a while, like I did with Seb, until his face is eventually burned into brain

This is like, first joint portrait into the arranged marriage type vibe sjfkfl

[jemej3m]

part 2 to the assassin au! here’s p1 <<<333

warnings for panic attacks and neil plotting to kill kevin lol

*

Neil slid into the booth opposite a nondescript man reading the newspaper in his business suit, briefcase by his feet. That briefcase would hold only a gun and the list of Neil’s wrongdoings. He folded the newspaper down in favour of looking to Neil with a blank expression.

Ichirou was not pleased. And it did not do well to displease a Moriyama.

“Kevin Day is alive.”

“Yes.” Neil agreed.

“My father is dying.” Ichirou hissed. “The title of Lord will be passed down to me in a matter of months. I cannot risk such a liability, Nathaniel.”

Neil winced. “It is proving more difficult than anticipated. He has surrounded himself with vigilant protection at all times. I need more time.”

“Do not forget your place, Wesninski.” Ichirou snapped. “Get out of my sight.”

Neil didn’t need to be told twice and did just that.

He felt as though he was holding his breath all the way until he’d arrived back at his apartment. His hands fumbled for the keys, teeth grinding as he tried to unlock his door.

“Josten,” Came a familiar voice. Neil glanced over his shoulder. Andrew had a slight furrow between his brow, dressed casually with black frames balanced on his nose. “Are you alright?” Neil didn’t know Minyard wore glasses.

Concern.

“Quite fine.” Neil answered, shoving his key into the lock. “Just regretting every decision I’ve ever made that landed me in the position I’m in today.”

“Sounds fine.” Andrew answered.

Neil just shook his head, opening the door.

“Josten -” Minyard hesitated. Neil looked back at him: He scowled. “For fuck’s sake. Just come in.”

That was how Neil found himself sitting on Andrew’s couch, the knitting throw over his knees with a cup of herbal tea.

“You didn’t strike me as a tea drinker.” Neil offered, as Andrew sat down on a beanbag. They were all adults here.

“Kevin gets stressed.” He muttered, sipping on his own mug. Steam rose and fogged his glasses.

“I’ve never seen you wear frames before.” Neil noted. “Do you wear contacts usually?”

“I need them to see, Josten, so yes. It doesn’t bode well for a bodyguard to have a physical ailment that can be exploited.”

No, thought Neil, plans ticking over in his mind. It doesn’t.

“Are you going to keep looking at me like I’m some alien, or are you going to explain why you’re on the verge of a panic attack?”

Neil blinked. “What? No, I’m fine.”

Andrew’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure you know what that means.”

“Just some altercations at -” Neil smiled hesitantly. “At work.”

Andrew settled further into his beanbag, watching Neil over the rim of his glasses. Why did Neil feel like Andrew could see right through him? Why did he feel so vulnerable? There was no way this man could know anything about who he truly was, not when he was so careful. 

Neil should get rid of him too. He was probably just as much of a liability to Ichirou’s position as Kevin was: The two had been friends since college, since Kevin had run from Riko in the first place. 

Neil had to get rid of Andrew. He had to. I don’t have a choice. I don’t have a choice. 

The mug clattered onto the floor, hot tea seeping into his shoes and the handle shattering upon impact. 

“I -” Neil leapt to his feet, horrified at his loss of composure. Neil had killed before. What was another man and his bodyguard? What had changed? “I’m sorry, I -” 

Andrew wasn’t pleased. “Relax. Go home and fucking - take a bath, or something. You need to chill out.” 

Neil nodded weakly, wrapping his arms around his waist and rushing for the door. He couldn’t look back at the other man. It was the understanding that he offered in the corner of his eye. He wasn’t disgusted by Neil’s scars. He wasn’t put-off by Neil’s seemingly unfavourable job. He kept coming onto the balcony, time and time again, sharing quiet moments alongside Neil and answering Neil’s questions whilst offering his own questions in return. 

Neil had posed as someone else to grow intimate enough with someone’s situation to kill them cleanly plenty of times. He’d just never gotten so...

Attached. 

He slammed his fists onto the tiles of his shower. For a moment he saw blood pooling in his fists, the way that it tended to rest when he washed himself off from returning from a job.

This couldn’t last. He wouldn’t let it. 

*

“My father was killed in prison.” Neil said, looking out to the sunrise as it blessed the easterly planes of New York City’s sky-rises. “So why the fuck does his ghost still haunt me?”

Andrew took a drag of his smoke. “Attempting to control your own mind will result in you running in circles.” 

“I wanted him dead for so long.” He muttered. “But now that he is, I don’t know what to do with myself.” 

Andrew could understand that. When Aaron bashed Drake’s skull in, when Andrew strangled Proust, it was a moment of clarity: He would forever be free from the horrors they brought with them. 

But with their departure came an open space, ready to be occupied by the next man who would try and take advantage of Andrew’s vulnerabilities. 

“I killed the man who abused me whilst I was in rehab. I’m subconsciously waiting for someone to come and take his place, like it’s a job opening.” He flicked his cigarette butt over the railing. “There’s no reason why we think and behave the way we do. It’s just ingrained into us.”

He could feel Neil looking at him, gaze drilling into his cheek. He turned his head slowly, meeting Neil’s gaze. 

It wasn’t pity. Or fear. It was just pure, unadulterated understanding. 

The weight pressing onto Andrew’s chest eased, just a little bit. 

*

Andrew was growing hedgier. Kevin and Thea’s wedding was fast approaching, and the needless press and public appearances had his head spinning. He wasn’t even the one being interviewed. 

He was still no closer to figuring out who’d been in their apartment, and how, but Andrew would sleep with one eye open until he’d resolved this mess. He was sure someone was on their tail. Betsy insisted he was being overly paranoid, and demonstrated it was proof that he take some form of break from watching over Kevin, but it wasn’t like Andrew could up and leave. He’d come back and Kevin would be half-pulled into a drain with both of his hands run over by military tanks. 

He worked grooves into the carpets. He’d set up cameras around the flat and building that only he had access to and controlled all the access points. It didn’t make him sleep any easier. He wanted to move houses. Kevin thought he was crazy. 

Andrew knew he wasn’t crazy. He was perceptive, not crazy. 

So, whilst he was pissed off about it, he wasn’t surprised when he got the call.

“You’re going to keep Day in his apartment. You’re not going to call the police. Do as I say and no one gets hurt.” 

Andrew ground his teeth. There was only one party who could be responsible for this, and where the Moriyamas were involved, someone always got hurt. 

Andrew kept Kevin in his room, walking out onto the balcony. With the three-foot gap between their railings, it was easy to chuck a pen around the corner to Neil’s sliding doors. 

The man appeared, bemused and probably tired from a long Friday evening. “Andrew?”

Andrew hated him. Hated the quick to his eyebrows that Andrew noticed when Neil looked at him. “Look after Day. I’m going to hideout for this freaky fucking stalker.”

Neil blinked. “Did I miss something?”

“Weird shit around the place.” Andrew said dismissively. “Always." 

“You’re going to have provide me some context, Minyard.” Neil challenged, crossing his arms. 

Andrew grit his teeth and looked at the man. Why he trusted Neil was beyond him. He was still not sick of Neil’s inquisitive gaze: He wasn’t bored by his careful questions. Neil had traded quiet truths about hating his work and predispositions set by his family over cigarettes and mugs of coffee. Andrew knew he liked fruit and going for jogs and Exy. Neil, in return, knew Andrew had an awful sweet-tooth, a deliberating fear of heights, knife sheaths in his armbands, and that Andrew had gone to prison when he was younger.

Small, banal things, shared like golden artefacts between hesitant hands. 

And yeah, the sexual attraction had been foremost and obvious, but it had dulled into something else. Something Andrew didn’t really understand. He wanted to kiss the slight frown off his lips and see if his curls would really fall through his fingers like he dreamed they would. 

No, he thought. That was not a productive line of thinking. 

“Kevin is in danger.” He said lowly. “Keep him in your flat. Watch over him.”

Neil nodded. 

“Give me your number.” 

“This isn’t how I imagined you asking me for my details, but I’ll take what I’ll get.” Neil grinned softly. 

Andrew knew his ears were going red for no god-damned reason. He simply served Neil a flat glare and left him standing on the balcony. 

“Climb from our balcony to Neil’s. You’ll hide in there until this blows over.” Andrew said, re-tying his shoelaces and checking his knives were in their sheaths. 

Kevin sent him a startled look. “Who’s Neil?”

Andrew ground his teeth. “Next door neighbour.” 

“Thea -” 

“I’ll text her. Leave your phone with me: They could be tracking it.”

He supervised Kevin clambering across between the two railings with a slight race to his heart rate. Neil knew and understood, putting out his hands. 

“It’ll be alright.” Neil said quietly. “I’ve got him. Go do what you need to do.”

Andrew nodded. He supposed thanks would be in order, but he wasn’t a thankful guy, and Neil didn’t strike him as someone who needed verbal cues to understand. 

He crouched on the inside of Kevin’s room, right by the door with a knife at the ready. 

Sure enough, heavy footsteps echoed around the apartment. Andrew held his breath, taking out his phone. 

new message to: neil 

someone’s in the apartment. 

from: neil 

where are you?

to: neil 

in kevin’s room. waiting for them to come in so i can subdue them. 

from: neil

i could take kevin away whilst they’re in the apartment. they wont be keeping an eye on cameras and i’ll disguise kevin to avoid any backup around place. 

Andrew frowned.

to: neil

and if you’re attacked? 

from: neil 

i know you’ve seen the scars. i’m more well versed with this kind of stuff than you think.

Andrew pursed his lips. Neil’s multi-faceted nature had him going in circles, time and time again. He was unsolvable. Having Kevin out of the building would be optimal, but it would require Andrew placing a hell of a lot of trust in Neil. Trust he wouldn’t allow on anyone other than himself. 

to: neil

you’d better make sure he stays in one piece. 

from: neil

on it. 

Andrew breathed a little easier, pocketing his phone. 

The footsteps continued. He heard his bedroom door be tested: The attacker obviously tried to pick his lock and was unable to. It was an electronic deadbolt that Andrew could control from the outside on the one and only remote. 

Andrew took a deep breath and stood at the ready. 

The footsteps didn’t even approach Kevin’s bedroom, turning away immediately and continuing back to the living room. 

Odd. They surely would check the room of their desired victim to see if he was there. After a few moments of quiet, Andrew slowly unlocked the door. Element of surprise be damned: He’d fucking get this person if it was the last thing he did. He had a promise to Kevin. He’d fulfill it. 

There was no one there. They must have slipped out of the front door, silently, as Andrew slipped out of Kevin’s room. Andrew lowered his knife and grit his teeth. What was this fucker’s game? 

He pulled out his phone. Neil had texted him. 

from: neil 

nothing encountered on the way to the garage. driving now. will text you when secure. 

He didn’t want to text Neil to tell him to come back if that was what the assailant was waiting for. Instead, he rummaged for Kevin’s phone and made a call. 

“Hello?” Jean’s voice was familiar. He hadn’t escaped the Moriyamas for years after Kevin had, being inducted into the main branch after Ichirou murdered Riko. He’d worked out of his debt, becoming a coveted Exy star in southern California. Andrew hadn’t spoken to him in years, but it was the only man who’d been exposed to the inner working of the Moriyamas. 

“Someone is trying to kill Kevin. What do you know?”

“I haven’t been involved in you-know-who’s business in years, Andrew.” Jean countered. 

“You still know more than we do.” Andrew countered. “Why now?”

Jean was quiet for a moment. It sounded like he was getting out of bed, walking into an adjacent room. His voice was low, the French accent pronounced when he talked this fast. 

“Kengo is dying. Illness that they just can’t resolve. Ichirou would be eliminating any loose ends in anticipation of the change-over.”

Andrew grit his teeth. “Who would he send?”

“I can only think of one man.” Jean mused. “He has a highly trained assassin who takes care of such public and convoluted matters. I met him once and it was enough. That was after years of working with the main family.”

Andrew waited for Jean to continue. It took Jean a moment. 

“Nathaniel Wesninski, is his name.” He said, voice so quiet it was difficult to hear. “Kengo’s Butcher had a son, who became Ichirou’s most powerful weapon.”

“What does he look like?”

“He’s unmissable, really. Not great for an assassin. Short, red curls, blue eyes. He always wears clothes to cover the markings left by his father, but his scars are truly awful. Some are even visible through shirts pale or tight enough.”

Andrew’s stomach bottomed out. He hung up on Jean and closed his eyes. 

Fuck. 

He couldn’t tell Neil he knew who he was. He had to find them before Neil could slit Kevin’s throat and dispose of his body so thoroughly that he’d never be found again. Andrew had made an enormous mistake in trusting that man: It was the least he could do to get Kevin out of his own mistakes. 

to: neil 

still driving? 

from: neil

secure now. got the guy?

Andrew shook his head. 

to: neil 

yeah. police are coming now. i’m on my way. 

from: neil

right. good. see you soon. 

Andrew needed to find out where this signal was coming from and fast. He was running against a clock that had ticked into over-time eons ago. In the midst of uploading the IP address into a program on his laptop, his phone began ringing. 

Renee. 

“Why is Jean telling me to keep an eye on you, Andrew? What have you done?”

Andrew ground his teeth together. His jaw ached with the tension in his neck. “I may or may not have let Kevin go galavanting off with an assassin charged to kill him. I’m working on it.”

“Oh, good lord.” Renee murmured. “I’m - nowhere near you. How can I help?”

“I’ll handle it.” He insisted. 

He heard Renee’s sad smile over the phone-line and wished she were here to spar with him. He really needed to punch something. “Whoever claims you’re heartless is a jealous liar. Call me soon, alright? Be careful.”

He hung up on her. He didn’t need her self-love preaching bullshit. He needed to concentrate. 

A signal rung out from fifteen minutes ago, pinging a tower in the industrial sector of upper New York. It was too close to the rich estates of business tycoons that Andrew knew housed the Moriyamas for his liking, so he collected his coat and car keys. 

His phone began to ring. neil flashed across the top of his screen and he gripped the phone, anger rippling across his skin in hot flashes. 

He hated being taken advantage of. This was exactly why trust never came easily to him, and he should have fucking known better. 

He answered the phone and grit out “You’d better have a good explanation for this, Wesninski.”

“Andrew,” Kevin breathed. “It’s me. It’s me. I’m fine. I’m alive.”

Andrew covered his eyes with his hand. “Where are you? What’s happening?”

“Neil drove me to this warehouse and cuffed me to a pipe in the corner before I could fight him. Then he looked at me for like five minutes, yelled fuck at the top of his voice and threw a tarp over me and told me not to move or he’d shoot me. I heard voices and cars and gunshots: When everything was quiet I threw the tarp off. Neil is gone, but a bunch of men are bleeding out here. Moriyama men. They’ve got M’s on their knuckles, I - I think Neil’s gone rogue or something.” 

Andrew let out a muffled sigh of relief. “Stay where you are. Hide under the tarp. I’m coming.”

*

Kevin and Thea sat to Andrew’s right. They all perched on the edge of the couch, watching the news. 

“Business man Kengo Moriyama died this morning before police could glean a statement regarding his son’s involvement in the mass shooting at a Moriyama leased warehouse on the outskirts of New York City two months ago. FBI’s Chief Wymack and his team have found evidence of premeditated murders at Ichirou’s hand, including that of the supposed suicide of his brother Riko Moriyama approximately seven years ago. Encrypted video evidence has been provided from anonymous sources that police refuse to disclose. Ichirou Moriyama and many of his closest affiliates are in custody, charged with extortion, theft, tax-evasion and money laundering, involvement in trafficking circles and many cold homicide and disappearance cases.

More has been uncovered about the Moriyama business, including that of Nathan Wesninski’s true identity as Baltimore’s infamous serial killer, the Butcher, with evidence showing that Wesninski and Moriyama were heavily involved business partners...”

“Turn this shit off.” Thea muttered, nudging Kevin’s shoulder. 

Kevin sighed, rubbing his eye. “I just can’t believe they’ve been so neatly backed into a corner. I never thought they’d be successfully prosecuted.”

“There’s no way they’re getting out of this, now.” Thea reminisced. “Someone pretty close to Ichirou must have turned over a new leaf.” 

Andrew said nothing, keeping his hands clasped together over his mouth. 

Kevin looked at him and sighed. Andrew still hadn’t forgiven himself over the Neil/Nathaniel mess and anything to do with the Moriyamas lured him into a quiet, volatile state of mind. “I’ll get Indian takeout.” 

Thea answered the door forty minutes later, and a familiar voice echoed from the hallway. Andrew was on his feet in an instant. 

Neil looked a little sheepish. There was an enormous scar curving from his eye down to his jaw and burns covering his other cheek in a careless pattern. He held out the food.

“Beef and chicken korma?” 

“What the fuck do you want?” Andrew asked, brandishing his knife. Thea looked between them, baffled. “Did you kill the take out guy?”

Neil shrugged. “I’ve been granted immunity by the FBI. Only took six weeks and needless wading through bureaucracy, but I’m free now. And no, I didn’t kill the take out guy.”

“I’m going to leave,” Thea murmured, taking the take-out from Neil’s hands and shuffling further inside. 

“Why are you here?” Andrew stepped closer, holding the knife closer to Neil’s throat. “You should have known better than to show your face after everything.”

Neil put up his hands. “I know. But I didn’t actually kill him, did I?”

“Congratulations.” Andrew snapped, sour. “Would you like a fucking sticker? A certificate?”

Neil’s lips quirked into a sad smile. “I grew too attached. The idea of hurting him - or you - was intolerable. I’m a terrible assassin, I know. I just wanted to make sure you’re all okay. I’m sure I’ve helped the FBI lock up all the potential Moriyama trouble-makers, but I’m forever paranoid.”

Andrew looked at him.

He shrugged awkwardly. “Seems like you’re fine. I’d best get going.”

He turned around and took a few steps towards the elevator. 

“Wesninski,” Andrew called, against his better judgment. 

Neil winced. “I changed my name. Legally. It’s Neil Josten, now.” 

“Josten.” He amended. “Come in for dinner.”

Neil looked at him, unsure. “Kevin won’t shit himself?”

Andrew shrugged. “It’ll be amusing.” 

Neil looked at his feet before letting himself smile, just a little bit. Andrew still wanted to kiss it off his lips. 

“Make the wrong move and I’ll kill you.” Andrew murmured into Neil’s ear as he stepped through the threshold of Andrew’s apartment. 

“Undoubtedly.” Neil said easily. “I’d let you.”

“Idiot.” Andrew growled. 

The glitter returned to Josten’s eye, and Andrew decided then and there: It was a terrible decision, and Josten was a terrible man, but their jagged edges fit together without unsure gaps and abrasive overlaps. 

“Did I read your cues wrong, or do you actually want to kiss me? Because I can understand why you’d be a little conflicted, and I was never sure if I was projecting my own confusion and doubt onto you and hoping you felt the same -”

Andrew shoved a kiss against the corner of Neil’s lips, pulling back just as quickly as he’d leaned forward and surveying Neil’s old t-shirt and ratty jeans with distaste. “You truly are bad at your job.”

Neil grinned. 

*

(why did i write 6k for this stupid idea lmao its such a mess)

[ishgard]

Title: Gifts & Curses Chapter 1: Nothing if Not Consistent Words: 2,545 Rating: T/PG-13 AO3 Link A/N: I opened one of those RP prompts ages ago that said something like 'Gaius gets cursed and Ahru can heal him', and then at like 4am falling asleep it burst wide open. One day I might go back, tweak it up, and fit it in to the grander story at large, but for now it’s just a stand-alone, for fun, deal.

________

Curses were tricky things, suffice it to say. They didn’t work in the ways one expected, or in ways that were obvious. Other times the cursemaker may not have been practiced in the art of it, bringing forth spite-driven but clumsy results.

As it stood, it was difficult to say one way or the other what Gaius Baelsar’s particular case was, but the effects had been wearing on him for days.

“I’m not sure, it’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before…” Yulania frowned, leaning back and folding her arms over her chest. She was still reluctant to help the ex-legatus, but she’d come at Ahru’s behest just the same.

Moving almost in unison with her, Arsh instead leaned forward, tilting his head this and that as he looked Gaius over, scratching his chin.

“That’s because it scarcely resembles anything it ought to. A mess is what it is. Someone slapping together whatever bits of knowledge they could assemble…” He restrained a chuckle -barely- and shrugged. “I’d be surprised if they themselves didn’t suffer for the casting of such a foolish attempt.”

In a small, dim-lit storage room in Ala Mhigo, Gaius sat in silence, gaze cast low to the ground before him, head sunk between his shoulders. He’d always thought himself a decently sensible man - arguable to some, he could reason, when he’d been blinded by grand ideals and the promise of power.

Such was neither here nor there though; whatever this curse, it weighed on him. Hushed whispers and babbling played at the back of his mind, barely audible - only to be crashed by a sudden scream, or angry shouts. Countless voices, all in unison, sometimes dulling to silence, as if to offer him some mild hope of reprieve only, of course, to come barreling over his senses again in a rush.

Sleep was impossible, his performance in battle suffered, and though he held himself together best he could, he could no longer deny the threads were growing thin.

“Can’t say I’m too surprised, there’s no small few who would love to see the Black Wolf hang - or worse.” Yulania sighed and shook her head. While she wasn’t so comfortable with their new ‘ally’, capital punishment didn’t sit right with her either.

“Think you could… I dunno, trace the aetherial patterns or some shit?” Ahru waved a hand at the air. "Track down who might have done it?" She may have been better at the aetherial arts than she’d ever been in her life, but hells if she knew how to deal with any of this. At best she could muddle her way through more basic healing, and instinct had often guided her well, but it had been clear from the moment Gaius had come to her this was well beyond anything she could pull off.

Yulania scrunched up her nose. “You really think the Elementals are going to give me a hand with this?”

“Pff, of course not. I just figured you might have some handy witch-y tricks up your billowing sleeves.” She didn’t give a piss about the Elementals, Yul was one of the most gifted healers she knew, and that wasn’t because of them. Catching her meaning, Yulania’s cheeks gave a faint pink glow, though she hid it with a frown and shake of her head.

“Unfortunately, it’s such a mess, I’d be afraid to apply any of my usual remedies. Fixing one thing could cause something else to worsen.”

Together they both looked to Arshadaya, who was now crouched down in front of Gaius, waving his hand not five ilms from his face. Gaius, however, didn’t seem to notice, his eyes wide and glazed over, mouth agape. The lines of his face were writ in horror, as if he were seeing some fearsome, terrible thing beyond Arsh’s palm and wiggling digits.

Ahru reached over and smacked Arsh’s hand back - even that did not draw the man out of his stupor, however.

“Gaius.” Bodily shoving Arsh out of the way she instead clapped her hands on either of his shoulders, trying to bring his gaze to hers. She’d seen him go like this once before already, and nothing had worked to bring him out of it then, yet still she could not help but try. There was little use in trying to wrap her mind around whatever their relationship was at this point, but she didn’t enjoy the idea of any she counted among her allies suffering.

“Another part of another stitched-together hex,” Arsh shrugged dismissively. “I don’t think wiggling him around will snap him out of it.”

“Your pointless commentary is not why I asked you here,” she grumbled back. He knew that, he knew everything, and she was oh so certain he knew how to fix this, but it was ever his wont to play so frustratingly coy.

“Yet it’s all I’m capable of offering.” Feigning a crestfallen pout, he dramatically shrugged his hands out to either side of him. Now that she knew better, these little gestures of his at times reminded her of Emet-Selch. But she quickly shoved that thought away, as she was becoming accustomed to doing every time the dead Ascian surfaced from the deep to haunt her.

“Oh, come now, that can’t be true.” Yulania was the first to speak up, as exasperated with the Ascians usual antics as Ahru herself was. No matter how accustomed to it they may have been. “According to Ahru, Emet-Selch could snap his fingers and pluck souls from the lifestream. You’ve practically done the same with her. Surely a tangled up little curse can’t pose such a problem.”

“Ah, but it can. And I’d like to remind you I very nearly died saving our darling Ahru. Emet-Selch was nothing short of prodigious in his abilities to see and understand the movements of the lifestream, and I but a paltry babe suckling at the teet by compare.”

“Imagery I could do without,” Ahru muttered. Her hands remained on Gaius’s shoulders, her eyes on his - still swimming in mute, abject fear. What nightmare of his own making must he have been seeing this time? Unable to scream, same as the dead bodies in his wake. Such was as much as he’d conveyed to her the last time this had occurred. That he’d found himself trapped in the corpses of those who had suffered for his ego, watching with lifeless eyes as even greater atrocities ensued. Their fears and horrors became his, but their anger and resentment wrapped gnarled fists around his throat and strangled him.

“Unfortunately, messy as this curse is, it’s effective. Patchwork bits of one hex and another strewn into his very soul, all twisted and knotted together with one great thread of hatred and murderous spite. Removing one could cause upheaval of another, but worse still is the very potential to unravel his very being.”

It was, at times, difficult to grasp just what Arshadaya really felt on a matter. One sentence or word weighed with amusement and curiosity, another with pity. Such was the case now, but Ahru knew the truth to be simple enough. He was fascinated, but not without sympathy.

“So… it’ll keep going like this…”

“Until it kills him, yes. Perhaps he will go mad and take his own life. Perhaps he will act rashly, or from exhaustion, and get himself killed. Or perhaps the shock will soon grow too much for his withered old heart.”

“Arshadaya, please…” Yulania’s voice was soft and small, the barest rustle of leaves on a spring breeze. “There’s no need to elaborate on what we already know just because you relish the chance to talk more.”

Again, Arshadaya shrugged, but his flippant demeanor slowly began to slip away, like a mask discarded. Instead he watched Ahru’s face in profile, the way it furrowed and stared deep into the Garlean’s gazeless eyes. Her fingers were sunk deep into the folds of his coat, making the subtlest of movements as if she hoped to massage away the tension even while knowing it would do no good.

“It’s not really a problem, is it?” The moment the words were out of his mouth she was snapped back to the present, face an amusing blend somewhere between a ‘glower’ and aghast. This did not dissuade or give him pause. “By the laws of mortals, this is a just fate, is it not? To suffer all he has made others suffer, to bear every fear and scar upon his soul. In fact, I daresay it’s better than what any judicial system might be able to fathom up. Beheadings are much too quick.”

With each word her face scrunched up more and more, but so too did her obvious annoyance. Alas, it would seem he’d become much to predictable to his favorite little mortal.

“Can we please skip the part where I have to justify my desire to help people?”

“Even old enemies who’ve done so very, very, many terrible things?” He spoke as if he were talking to a puppy, the sarcasm dripping. What fool mortal could possibly have had more blood on his hands than an Ascian, after all?

Ahru turned partway to him now, drawing her hands back from Gaius’s shoulders to fold them across her chest. She was good at nailing this particular expression, half pleading pout, half stubborn glare. But then, it did precisely encapsulate two of her most prevalent emotions; long-suffering exhaustion and willful defiance. She was not so gifted in the Echo that they could share thoughts, but he could hear her loud and clear. ’Do not make me work more than is necessary for information you could just as easily provide me freely.’

“Fine, deprive me of my fun,” Arsh pouted right back at her, though his he would argue was far more heartfelt. “I could, possibly, fix him up if you are truly so adamant about it, but it will require ample payment. Sacrifice, you might even say.”

Had the current situation not already been sobering enough, Ahru and Yulania both tensed, listening with rapt attention. ‘Sacrifice’ was no small word to them, who had buried the bodies of countless comrades, and something neither of them took lightly. Arshadaya, however, simply grinned at them both, shaking his head.

“Ahru, my darling, you’ll have to take him home with you. To Hyr’asra, and your mother.”

Immediately Ahru blanched, eyes wide and mouth agape, not looking all too different now from Gaius.

“You… have to be joking.” There was no emotion to her words, she wasn’t processing much in the way of thoughts let alone emotions, and the thoughts that did get by simply came out like some automated recording on old Allag tech.

Yulania arched a brow. While she was well aware Ahru’s relation with her mother and birthplace were not particularly great, she didn’t realize it was quite so bad as to warrant such a flabbergasted response.

“Mm, as I recall, the Hiraeth don’t take too kindly to outsiders…” Instead Yul grappled for the easy, obvious answer - or question, rather, which she posed to Arshadaya. “So, wouldn’t it be difficult taking a Garlean there?”

“Oh, that’s not the problem.” Arsh moved over to Gaius now running a finger over the crease in the mans brow as if he were naught more than a statue to bear his intrigue. “Ahru can, technically get away with almost whatever she wants-” at that, Ahru nearly choked on a sudden, bitter laugh. “…The problem is she’s been avoiding it so long she hasn’t the faintest clue how to face going back.”

“Yeah, and marching in for the sole purpose of healing an ex-legatus isn’t exactly going to sit well with the uma’taja.” Ahru piped in, her words betraying her reluctance. But even as unwilling as she was, the greater reluctance was saying no to the suggestion if it might really help.

“I mean… will they punish you at all?” Yulania muddled over what they were telling her, unable to pick apart what from what. Arshadaya, conveniently, was more than willing now to be silent and pin any answers on Ahru, his golden gaze locked on her. Ahru simply shook her head.

“It… really doesn’t matter one way or the other.”

“Well that doesn’t sound promising.”

“The worst punishment she’ll endure is her mothers disappointment and dissatisfaction,” Arsh offered.

“No, I’m sure they could do a lot worse.” Ahru rolled her eyes, but she was already coming to her decision. Arsh joked of payment and sacrifices, but as far as she could see it was only her own stubborn pride at stake. “Will you really be able to help him if I take him there?” She frowned, squinting at Gaius. “You said… mother could?”

“Maybe. First I’d try the ruins. We may be able to fix him there, where the aether is strong and pure. But if nothing else,” he grinned - vicious and cruel. “They could always sing it out of him.”

Ahru shivered. The phrase, however, was perhaps comically lost on Yulania - and for the better.

“Are they… bad at singing?” She hazarded, voice small and uncertain like a mouse. To that, Arshadaya laughed.

“The worst,” he answered, clapping her on the shoulder in a way that did nothing to alleviate her unease. “But if we’re going to do this, I should go on ahead and prepare.”

This time he did not wait for assurances or firm glares. A dark portal opened for him, and he was gone, leaving the women and nigh-catatonic legatus behind. Yulania sighed, looking to her friend for some sort of assurance that there was not some worser fate awaiting her. As did, unfortunately, seem to often be the case.

Frustratingly, Ahru simply smiled back at her. That same, tired smile she’d seen countless times before when, inevitably, she rallied herself off to some great battle despite however much she needed the rest. The same one she used to ‘jokingly’ breath the words ‘No rest for the weary.’

“Ahru… You really don’t have to do this.”

“Hah, I do too. I’d do the same for you, or Regi. Any of you.”

Face scrunched up, she fixed her friend with a most ungrateful and quizzical look. “I do hope Regi and I place a little higher than Gaius, Ahru.”

She laughed outright at that, genuine and hearty, and it seemed to liven her up. “Without a doubt, but the sentiment remains the same. So I have a painfully awkward family reunion waiting for me? Not much of a price to pay if it means saving someone.”

Sighing, Yul was near to agreeing, but stopped herself short seeing the apologetic grin now unfolding across Ahru’s features. “…What?”

“Besides~” she sang, “you’ll have the much more arduous task here, letting the others know what’s going on. Should probably start with Valdeaulin.”

“Oh, he'll be pissed, don’t you dare saddle me with-”

“You’re a gem, Yul. I couldn’t do this without you!” Before she could utter another word of protest, Ahru had seized her by the shoulders and given her a kiss on the nose. “Look after him a moment while I grab my things!”

And then she was darting out the storeroom door, leaving her blinking and grumbling to herself.

“You’re as bad as the Ascian…”

[ick25]

Rockman.EXE Episodes 26 and 27. Special Summer Review!

Stand back! Iceman is gonna explode!

It’s summer everyone! This is a special review, we have reached season 2 of the first saga of Rockman.EXE! Today I am gonna review two episodes since not only are they beach episodes, but because these two episodes were never aired in America. That’s right, these are two of the four skipped episodes that were never dubbed, so in America, after Rockman’s revival, we skip to episode 28. 

Why were these episodes never shown in America? Let’s find out!

Spooky.

We open the first skipped episode in an airport where Netto seems ready to travel somewhere all by himself, with his parents and friends seeing him off.

“So what you’re saying is that if I’m losing in a Net Battle I activate the instant win button, right?”

Netto is ready to leave until his useless mom tells him something before leaving.

Playing the “favoritism card”, aren’t we? It’s bad enough that she sucks as a mom, but now she worries about his Navi more than her own son? And also, WHO LETS THEIR ELEVEN YEAR OLD TRAVEL ABROAD ALL BY HIMSELF?!

Netto’s plane leaves, and his friends let us know that he has won some kind of trip for winning second place in the N-1 tournament, right before Dekao shows everyone his swimming trousers.

Just... why?

In the plane, we see that just like with cellphones, PETs have to be turned off before take off. Netto turns on his PET and and sees the sun outside the window, he and Rockman then share a cute moment.

Aww.

The title card appears, and Netto arrives at his first destination, Uki Yuugi (Placent game) beach at the Southern Islands, where he is surprised to find that Meiru-chan and the others are there too!

I like their shared reactions. Wait, why does Rockman call Yaito “sama”?

Yaito explains, with a view of her very own comercial plane, that she was planning to take everyone to Jyawaii and decided to stop at the southern islands on the way, where she just happens to have her own summer mansion.

At the summer “house”, the PETs seem to be conected to eachother as we can see that the Navis, including Rush, are all enjoying a cyber version of the beach, each wearing a typical beach item.

Rockman looks so cute with goggles!

Everyone except for Iceman who, since he is an ice Navi, doesn’t go well with the cyber sun.

We then cut to Netto and the others playing in the ocean, until suddenly, a mechanical shark leaps out of the water over Netto’s head. It turns out to be Masa-san who is there for some reason, but why is the robotic shark huge in the next shot?

Also, does the aquarium know that Masa-san has their shark?

Netto invites Masa-san to play with them, Yaito and Meiru say that they are gonna rest at the summer house, but not before Yaito warns Netto about a Ghost Ship.

Whats with the pose? If a ghost appears to me like that, I would be really confused.

They all end up laughing about it, except for Dekao who is still spooked, and soon after we see the guys riding on a banana boat pulled by Masa’s robot shark. However, fog comes in and a giant ship appears.

The ship crashes into them and casts a net capturing Masa and Tohru while leaving Netto and Dekao in the middle of the ocean.

Back in the summer house, (where Meiru and Yaito seemed to have been playing UNO) they wonder what happend to the boys. Luckily, Yaito has access to a satelite camera where they quickly spot Dekao and Netto. Yaito decides to take action, with Meiru carrying all the PETs running after her.

And we get the reused footage of Yaito sitting in a couch and being transported to her very own submarine. This time the cloths are different, and I like how Meiru put a seat belt on the PETs.

To the Yaito sub! or how it’s called, to the “Yaito Mako”!

Netto and Dekao are paddling their way searching for the ship until they encounter the Yaito Mako that scares them to death, only to wake up inside it in the next shot.

They tell them about what happend and we see Rockman’s reaction to this.

“I wasn’t present when you first talked about it!”

We cut to and back from commercials with a new animation secuence with Rush being chased by a Mettool.

Our heroes catch up with the ghost ship under water, Yaito’s submarine then shoots inflatible bags at it forcing the ship to surface.

The group boards the ship, with Dekao clearly scared out of his wits, and of course, they decide to split up to search for the missing Tohru and Masa-san.

Dekao encounters the “ghost”, who anyone that played the second game know that it is a Null virus, and runs past Netto.

Shortly after, Yaito and Meiru-chan encounter the ghost as well.

What happend to calling her Yaito-sama?

Netto encounters the ghost and finds out that Meiru-chan has been captured in a net.

Netto tries to fight it off but his attacks go through it. The ghost leaves taking Meiru with it. Netto searches for everyone with Rockman hiding inside his PET.

They hear a bang coming from a door and after it falls over, giving both of them a heart attack, a freezing Tohru comes out.

He tells Netto that he was brought into the freezer along with the fish and that the ghost ship isn’t really haunted.

The two of them break into the ships control room where they encounter the ghost from before, Tohru tells Netto to plug-in to the wheel’s computer while he distracts it.

I think its safe to say that it isn’t a ghost, Rockman. And how does Tohru know this? Wasn’t he locked in the freezer until now?

Rockman starts deleting all of the aqua viruses, but an Octo virus absorbs all of the remaining viruses to transform into a bigger version of itself, blowing Rockman away with one attack. This causes the PET to activate the instant win program and Rockman gets the Heat Guts Style.

Which shouldn’t be the case since the Heat Style is suppoused to give him fire based attacks and the Octo virus is an aqua type. He defeats the virus and their friends roll out of a closet where the ghost kept them in a net.

They run up to deck where they find Masa-san who seems to be very good friends with the Null virus, I mean, ghost.

Masa says that he can understand the ghost because they are both “men of the sea” and explains that the ship’s A.I was infected with a virus, and since it is a fishing ship, it caught Masa and Tohru by mistake and Ibo ambushed them thinking that they wanted to steal the fish.

Oh, right, the ghost’s name is Ibo. The ship is returning underwater for some reason and Masa-san says good bye to his new friend before leaving with everyone.

In the next scene we see that everything went back to normal since Netto and friends are playing in the ocean again like nothing ever happen.

Iceman seems to be dying and nobody cares. XD 

Right after this, we cut over to Miyuki’s shop where she and Saloma are trying to close a suitcase thats blows up, followed by Saloma being embarrassed of her bikini bottom that lands on her head.

Turns out they are being called over by Commander Beef to solve a mystery about viruses becoming stronger.

And the episode ends with Commander Beef wondering about the problem and having an hallucination of Ibo where they go fishing together.

My thoughts.

This episode was weird, but that doesn’t explain why it was never dubbed, I guess it was because they spend a lot of time in the real world, running around in a ghost ship and playing on the beach, that we barely get any cyberworld action. So it was pretty boring for an anime that is suppoused to be action packed. And they never aknowlege that Ibo is in a fact a virus.

This episode introduces Rockman’s fear of ghosts that will become a little running gag in future seasons.

The next episode opens with a music video where a Hatsune Miku inspired character name Aki-chan is singing one of the weirdest and cheesiest songs I have ever read the lyrics from.

I also made a parody of this song in a short video I made with MMD, with Miku instead of Aki. Just so you know.

Tohru tells Netto that Aki-chan is the pop idol of Jyawaii aka Hawaii.

The Navis explain that they can’t touch her because her data is different from theirs. Which is noticeble considering that she is actually CGI, just seeing them together in the same shot is weird.

They complement how cute she is, even Rockman, but Roll has no problem with this since she also thinks Aki is cute.

“But if she even thinks of coming close to Rockman she wont be looking so cute anymore”

After talking more about Aki-chan, and also Masa-san complementing her fish shaped button, Yaito and Meiru appear to reveal their new outfits and poses.

The title card appears and it is explained that there is a contest coming up called  “The Real Aki-chan” where girls dress up as Aki and have to sing her songs, Netto finally realizes that Meiru and Yaito plan to enter the contest as well, but he doesn’t get scolded for his reaction since they suddenly hear someone screaming.

It is a terrified Mariko-sensei who is landing on a parachute, Masa tries to catch her, but is nowhere near and Mariko lands on her own.

Jesus Christ, Yaito! Can’t you just send her an e-mail like a normal person?!

And if Mariko-sensei hasn’t suffered enough, the wind blows the parachute away sending her flying again with Masa running after her.

This funny scene is followed by a shot of Miyuki and Saloma sun bathing in a boat before seeing Mariko-sensei pass by. They talk about not finding any clues regarding the powered up viruses and are interrupted by the Commander’s voice coming from a camera, who critizes their outfits or something.

Aren’t you supposed to be chasing Mariko-sensei who flew by just a minute ago?

For some reason we cut to Madoi who we see in some kind of photo shooting dressed as Aki-chan too, but then takes it off to reveal a full shot of herself in a bikini.

I burned my eyes taking this shot so you guys better leave me a good comment after this review.

Madoi is in a set she made because she is annoyed that everyone is at the southern islands except for her, and after this we also see Hinouken who looks like he is in Jyawaii hoping to find Netto so he can finally get his revenge, but it turns out he is just working at a construction site.

We cut back to Jyawaii where Netto and friends are walking around along with Mariko-sensei who seems to have gotten over the whole parachute incident and is looking foward to take part in the Aki-chan contest too.

I guess no one wants to tell her that she is a little too old  to be in the contest.

Suddenly, a giant trash cleaning machine appears and kidnaps Meiru, Yaito and Mariko-sensei.

The boys give chase to the machine. Netto, with Rockman’s help, takes a shortcut where he lands on top of the machine and activates its breaks. Unfortunately, it is the wrong one since there were different girls inside, they tell the boys how there were rumors that all the girls who entered the contest are getting kidnapped, which is confirm when they go talk to the manager of the contest.

The man is also the Manager of Aki-chan herself who is in a computer near them, she tells everyone about how sad she is for the contest being canceled if they dont stop whoever is kidnapping the participants. With this we notice that Iceman has a huge crush on Aki-chan as he promises that they will save the contest to make her happy again. 

Netto comes up with a plan to find the missing girls, and in the next scene we get this.

That’s it, I am blind now. I like the Navis reaction to this, though.

Iceman doesn’t agree with this plan since he thinks it is an insult to Aki-chan and that it will never work. Too bad for him a machine doesn’t see the difference and it catches them with the exact same animations from before.

After Iceman yells about them being the ENEMIES of Aki-chan, the machine takes them to an undergroud path where it dumps them in a warehouse, they slide down a shoot and Netto SOMEHOW manages to tie a wire as he falls.

The timing was so perfect I had to include that last shot! XD

They walk around and quickly find the missing girls with Meiru, Yaito and Mariko-sensei giving them a concert. Because they just had too much fate in them to even worry about being kidnapped.

Why the heck are the manager and his assistant there too?! Probably to make Iceman appear in Netto’s PET after saying that Aki-chan has gone missing. Looks like a lot happend while they were dressing up as Aki.

Was Netto’s plan for everyone to climb up that tiny wire? I know he is not a genious, but seriously!

After this fail, the cooling system of the warehouse starts to activate, luckily, Saloma and Miyuki suddenly appear to get them out.

“I think a better question here is, why are YOU dressed like that?”

Outside, Netto talks to the manager since they all find Aki-chan’s situation and the kidnapping very suspitious, so they agree to let Netto plug-in Rockman into the system to find the server where Aki-chan is stored in case of emergencies, because Aki isnt actually missing, they just lost contact with her.

Rockman types in the cheesy password, “A-R-A-I-N-B-O-W”, and various signs pop up to guide Rockman.

But Rockman is suddenly stopped by a Spooky virus. For some reason the anti-virus program isn’t working so Dekao and Tohru decide to plug-in their Navis to go help Rockman. Gutsman and Iceman coming to help distracts the virus, giving Rockman the chance to cover... whatever things it has for ears.

This confirms Rockman’s theory about Aki’s song being whats causing all the trouble.

I’m not sure how that would work if Aki wasn’t the one infected by a virus, but this turns out to be the case after Rockman, Iceman and Gutsman find a portal that transports them to the server where Aki is, only to find that her appearence have changed to an evil looking queen.

Much for Iceman’s dismay, Aki reveals that she was the one who kidnapped the girls because she is the REAL Aki-chan.

 The dark Aki sends a couple of Shadow viruses to attack them, the viruses have the ability to transform into various weapons, including a cannon, and soon they over power Gutsman and Iceman.

To make matters worse, the Shadow viruses use Aki-chan as a hostage. 

Rockman is unable to fight back until Netto realizes something suspitious about one of Aki’s buttons. After seeing Aki-chan shed a tear, Rockman gets motivated and Netto sends him a Sword to cut off the button revealing that a LV.3 Shadow virus was the one controlling her.

Netto activates the Style Change as the three viruses merge together to create a giant cannon. Rockman and the cannon’s attack collide, but Rockman’s power literally cuts through deleting the viruses.

In the next scene we get a sad looking Aki-chan worried that she can no longer be an idol after what she did, but thanks to Meiru-chan and everyone else cheering her up, she finally thanks them and vows to do her best.

What are you talking about, Rockman? What song?

 And the episode ends with everyone dressed as Aki-chan singing to their hearts content at the contest.

Tohru, you know you don’t have to dress like that, right? Also, those creepy men in the background. o-o

So what do I think of this one?

Despite my initial thoughts, Aki-chan is not a parody of Hatsune Miku. In fact, the vocaloid Hatsune Miku debuted in 2007 while this episode aired in 2002, maybe it was ahead of its time, maybe Aki-chan inspired Miku’s creation, or maybe it was an idea that wasn’t still very popular in and outside of Japan. Who knows?

This episode introduces Aki-chan who will appear in future episodes of this season, though her songs are changed for the dub to something less corny since they already changed most of the musical score of the show to a futuristic high tech beat.

This episode was probably skipped because of Madoi’s bikini scene and seeing Netto, Dekao and Tohru cross dressing. I can’t say that its also because of the girls dressed as Aki-chan because we see them dress like this again in another episode for a short moment.

The Shadow viruses looked tough in this episode, but if you play the game you’ll notice that their only weakness are sword chips, thats why Rockman was able to free Aki from the virus’s control and defeat all three of them in the end.

Speaking of viruses, since the second season is based on the events from BN2 the episodes will start to feature viruses from the second game, such as the Null and Octo virus in the previous episode and the shadow viruses in this one.

It was a fun episode, weird but charming, it’s not exactly important to the plot unless they aknowlege how the new viruses are smarter and stronger than the previous ones in future episodes.