#so surprised that michirus winning

[editrevue]

UHHH Top 5 best Arcana Arcadia moments

gosh making me choose just 5 is so cruel but the rules are the rules jHASDKS I'll leave it under the cut for rambling purposes teehee [ask]

Yumeoji Sisters

TamaRui

Revue Frontier

the actual parts of the play??

YachiMei

honarary mentions: chitose, kuromaya flirting, nana slips up vs maya, "death has gentle eyes", kaoruko & tamao's revue

hm. a lot of my answers are probably personal but i guess that's half the fun and half the point! and these are in no particular order either because I just love Arcana's overarching story overall :

The Yumeoji Sisters. people who know me already know that I adore them both so so much and it's no surprise that I'd love their arc because I am a very big Shiori Yumeoji kinner. I wish that we had the satisfaction of seeing it through to the end before Yachiyo started hearing boss music but honestly the note it left off of and the interpretation that you can take away from their revue's ending had my lying on the floor. It started so rocky and ended so sweet, it felt like such a normal sibling quarrel and just... so like them?, yknow? like of course they're going to be super petty and then hang out that weekend. so real! Shiori's desperate struggle to get an honest answer out of Fumi and inability to let go or move on, Fumi finding her stage and realizing the kind of person she wants and needs to be, aiming to overcome their pride; Michiru and Ichie's honest efforts to bring those strong and opposing traits out of the two of them in their own revues prior. AUGH. Shiori gaining confidence as a stage girl, and as a younger sister, to stand up to and alongside her older sister for the first time in months... when Fumi finally acknowledges Shiori's growth to her face, and when they made a new promise oh my god it was such an irreplaceable feeling to watch happen. like girl has the RANGE. Sun and I often talk about her roles and compare them, like say Belle or Aries for an example but then you see Shuten-Doji or Holly Taker?? INSANE!! Honorary mention that ties into this too actually is when Michiru threw her coat down and let Shiori win, recognizing her determination and passion, and allowing Shiori to reach her sister and confront their promise, like Michiru wishes she had the strength to do with Akira. god god their revue struck so many chords with me. things that did not have to be so personal. For the sake of everything I'll just lump everything involving Shiori and Fumi together, which includes the revues with Michiru and Ichie, and just say their whole arc together and separate during Arcana made me sob like crazy. I've seen someone say this and I agree, I'd give literally anything to see this revue specifically animated!! i'm so serious

TamaRui. when me (Tamao) and Rui have our little spat and then all of Rinmeikan shows up. they're all saying words of encouragement and are like. awawawa okay okay okay let me get the screenshots or i won't make it out alive hold on. here:

WHEN I SAY THIS REVUE CHANGED ME FUNDAMENTALLY AS A PERSON. Another kinnie moment unfortunately but it's like they literally took me and put me into the source. Tamao balancing good and evil in her head, with the weight of decision constantly on her shoulders. You can see up until Arcana when it comes to a head her wavering slipping through cracks, her internal struggle to choose which path best suits her and her goals. The personality changes resonated with me, something I can relate to as a person today. Actually, and more importantly, Rui's development in Arcana is also one of my favorites overall. good! for! her!! gosh she deserved this growth and it's one of the most important things for her to have gone through. That she can healthily detach and be her own person outside of Tamao while still looking up to her as a role model and as a friend. I could talk for hours about Tamao's issues as a stage girl and as a person, but what made this moment in arcana so impactful for me is Rui loosely doing unto Tamao what Shiori did with Fumi, and that's create a new promise together while also diverging their own paths. I absolutely love that Rui brought back Yuyuko's "spell" and used it in their revue, I love that Rui learned what kind of stage girl SHE wants to be, I love that Rui was inspired by someone other than Tamao to realize these goals and dreams. All while keeping her love for Tamao so dear to her heart. Rui's proclamations of love, her fighting back against Tamao for her truth and not faltering once even when Tamao raised her voice and struggled to fight back, goddd all of it just made me so emotional . The fact it ended on such a positive note for everyone too and helped them all move forward together better than ever I'm (clutches my heart) Rinmeikan means so much to me

Revue Frontier. um. uh. um. not only is What Shines the Darkness literally like my favorite arcana arcadia song probably but everything about Frontier in this oh my god. very similarly to rinmeikan their whole dynamic and found family together is just something so special, something so pure and beautiful and absolutely unmatched. OH AND ALSO. Elle's inclusion in the story!!! can i mention that!!! I'm grouping that part of the story with this even if it's not until the end of arcana just because she is a part of frontier and their story anyway!! The fact that Elle decides to join Frontier when she's older warmed my heart so much it was such a touching moment for me. I love Frontier and wish they got more attention, their part of the story in Arcana was so memorable and so integral. I love their found family and each of their interactions with each other. it broke my heart when Aruru ran away and everyone was just so scared and lost. The irony of this when their part of the story before arcana involved the others being lost and Aruru having to find them and "bring them back" to her stage, it's just so cathartic and poetic. such a beautiful arc

The Play! this is a cheesy silly answer probably but i don't think people talk about the actual parts of the play enough. which i wholeheartedly get because the most important parts of arcana is the actual character interactions and the revues between them. but I absolutely loved the actual play parts and getting to read them with Sun out loud on call. We voice acted the lines and did our own little private performance it was literally so fun!! it left a very positive memory with us and I just think getting to see the starira characters actually play their roles adds to the emersion of the game itself. it's some of my favorite parts of the game overall. the songs, the story, the actual play, getting to see how the play is put together in the intermissions (shoutout to masai and amemiya for real! plus it was really fun to see michiru get included in creating the play as well actually I enjoyed how they went about that), and also the fact that it's based on tarot. Each arcana fitting the character it represents down to both the positive AND negative traits, ah, you love to see it. I own a few decks irl and have been around tarot through my mother, so a source I'm this passionate about that has ties to another interest so dear to me just adds to its charm. I own the official bushiroad starira arcana set!! i'd love to show it sometime if anyone's curious :3c

YACHIMEI. "it's dangerous to go alone, take this!" but seriously when Mei Fan handed their weapon to Yachiyo I literally didn't even know how to process it at first. Not only was it really awesome to see the two of them up against Akira in the first place, but Mei Fan turning the tide in their favor but giving Yachiyo the fighting change and final blow was just icing on the cake for me. I was just as surprised as when Michiru removed the coat for Shiori to earn the win. When YCHM shouted their Frau Platin introductions I was so proud of both of them too, that was such a defining moment for the two of them. Another moment like the yumeoji sisters I'd LOVE to see animated. A whole series just based on the arcana arcadia arc would be a dream come true... but, seeing Akira laugh in pride and challenge them further, Mei Fan faced with his pride and jealousy towards Yachiyo, Yachiyo being tested to stop holding herself back "for the sake of others", it was the perfect storm in my opinion. A great way to showcase all of their strengths and weaknesses, and in general was a very entertaining matchup. Just the live2d wasn't enough I need more :sob:

Honorary mention: Chitose! When we got a glimpse of her and when Yachiyo finally was able to come to terms with her feelings involving her sister in the revue between yachiyo and kuromaya. I love Yachiyo and Chitose so much, but I know that whole dynamic and their story mean everything to mod Sun. She'd appreciate this being one of my answers for sure. I loved getting to learn what kind of soul she is, even before her more official appearance in the Gemini bond story (PLEASE GO READ IT) it was so interesting. Nothing will be funnier to me btw than when Yachiyo is talking about Chitose and then Claudine and Maya start openly flirting with each other. iconic

kaoruko and tamao's revue made me insane. no further questions

honestly every part of arcana arcadia matters and I purposefully left out the Intermissions/Bond Stories because I feel like those are more separate pieces to the whole I could tackle in a completely different train of thought. don't ask me about emperor intermission . please

[mono-blogs-art]

SOLVED VERSION BELOW!

Full spoilers ahead! (we got a bingo ... kind of???)

here are some notes! (keep in mind that my JP is really bad so it's possible I missed a lot here, so this isn't necessarily the final version)

song from a previous play reprise but differently: yes, this happens a lot actually, and I loved all the throwbacks and new versions!!

Kukugumi post-HS scene: no, all of it takes place before up until the day of graduation (though maybe i missed some of the context cuz they jump around in time a lot)

Momoyo Solo Slay: #MOMOYOSOLOSLAY SO REAL. LITERALLY THE REALEST OF IT ALL SHE SERVED IT ALL A FULL FEAST

someone confesses but chickens out last second: nope, though that one MYKR scene gave me some vibes, but unless I have a clear translation I won't count it

Karen loses a revue: no, by God, the exact opposite of this happens lmao. #KARENSWEEP

Maya loses a revue: our first "yes, technically"! Maya is on the "losing" side of the Climax revue so I'm kinda counting this one.

video message: doesn't happen (though I wish it did, Koharu&Suzu would have been cute!)

Souda-sensei cries: ok, this one is admittedly a stretch. But she gets very emotional a few times, even more than usual, and although no one acknowledges it, I am going to say that it's a valid interpretation. Half points, I guess

Gekijouban parallel: yes. Like, so so many. I guess you could say Climax is the real "gekijouban" of the stageplay-verse. There are a lot of parallels but the execution is very different. I loved it!!!

HUG: in my dreams.

Junna unhinged moment: this was free space; this is just what happens when you put Sato Hinata on a stage.

parental pressure angst: to my (lousy) jp knowledge, this doesn't come up in conversation at all. (to be confirmed later)

you cried: i sure did!

AkiMichi & KareHika parallels: YES. THEY EVEN HAVE MICHIRU SING A MELANCHOLIC SOLO ABOUT IT MY GOD.

Claudine therapist moment: Yes! I was so happy about this. One of my favourite scenes. Claudine consoles Futaba.

KareHika flashback moments: they show some scenes of them from the anime on screen, so I'm counting it (still a stretch though)

AkiHisa duet: didn't happen, Akira and Hisame were on very different lanes in this one. And I kind of didn't mind, it felt very natural. Akira should be the funnyman more (insert joke about Edelight here)

2+ hour length: nope, it was 90 minutes long.

perform off-stage: didn't happen in the stageplay part.

Mahiru wins a revue: *sigh* alright, you guys win. I predicted this one wrong, very wrong, and I was sooooo convinced it was her time but it wasn't. She won some fights, but not overall, as there was only 1 sole winner of the entire revue this time, not a bunch of smaller revues.

Junna VS Hisame revue: another "technically yes" as they were on opposing sides of a large group revue, but didn't really go 1v1. Half points. Still predicted a totally wrong direction tho lol

B-gumi appreciation song: Nope, B-gumi was almost entirely absent from the play (as their B-gumi characters), but many of the B-gumi actors AKA the Starlight Ensemble played a bunch of different, more important side characters, which I loved!!!!! They're all such good performers!!!!!!!!!

KISS: in my dreams, always and forever, I'm never giving up

FutaKao least angsty divorce: I was surprised that this wasn't the case, though it was still quite mild, there was just a lot of Futaba angst because she was a more central character this time. The award for the least angsty divorce this time goes to, and absolutely no one expected this: JUNNANA, OF ALL PAIRS ?

a capella song: Maya sings part of a song completely without any music. It's just partly, but it was unexpected enough that I'm giving myself a full point here lol. Also ofc #MahoSlay

it's #4 Climax week so here's my totally serious predictions (also feat. suggestions by the besties @transimailisa & @flibbityflob) (i will never give up on the possibility of an on-stage kiss)

please feel free to share your own predictions !!!

[ohworm-writes]

BNA: Brand New Animal Various Relationship Headcanons

bna masterlist

‼ First Date Headcanons ‼

Featuring: Shirou Ogami, Michiru Kagemori, Nazuna Hiwatashi, Marie Itami, Pinga

Warnings: spoilers for BNA!, minor death mention in Marie’s part, anxious shirou

a/n - again, i love BNA, so i couldn’t resist! you can see which are my favorites very clearly~ enjoy!

content below the cut!

shirou ogami

» !! walk + bookstore viewing !!

» shirou is a bit clueless when it comes to a first date

» even living a thousand years, he’s rarely had a real relationship

» he’ll search up first date ideas, i have no doubt about that

» he’s not really keen on a fancy dinner or movie or that

» he wants something relaxing, something you could do as friends too

» it’s his own insecurities coming in at full force, but it’s what makes him comfortable

» he decides for the first part of the date, he’ll take you out for a walk

» sure, it doesn’t sound all the special

» but remember, it’s Anima City we’re talking about

there’s always something to see

» something to do

» he starts right at your apartment, walking around with you

» he tries to strike up conversation, as nervous as he is about it

» he really does like you, but he’s not all that sure of how to show it

» he’s scared to even take your hand in his

» will it make you uncomfortable? will he be overstepping? what if you never want to go out with him again?!

» if you want that sort of stuff to happen, you are going to have to be the person to initiate it

» if you do initiate it, though, he’d never turn you down

» he’s the quiet type, but a fantastic listener!

» he loves to hear you talk about yourself, the things you love, everything!

» he’s awkward talking about himself

» how does he explain to you that he’s the silver wolf

» that’ll take him a while for him to tell

» maybe after a few more dates?

» anywho, your walking inevitable leads you to a small bookstore in the middle of the city

» it looks small from the outside, but the inside

» it’s a wonderland

» even if it seems like quite the find from a random stroll

» he’s had this all planned out

» he watches your face as you walk inside

» the way your eyes light up

» the way your grin reaches your eyes

» he’s enamored by it

» he’d let you pick out anything you want

» a huge book series? it’s as good as yours

» a single book? that’s no problem

» a weird snake shaped eraser you found at the front? why not!

» whatever makes you happy

» you don’t see it, but he has this smile full of adoration while he’s around you

» when you finally reach your home, and it’s late into the night, only then will he ask you for a second date

» he’s all blushy, but his words come out strong

“I enjoyed today with you, more than I could have imagined. Would you want to do this again soon?”

michiru kagemori

» !! theme park !!

» michiru is a sweetheart, we know this

» so her bringing you to a theme park on your first date doesn’t seem all too out of character for her

» she’d probably meet you there, seeing as he doesn’t have a vehicle of her own

» and she doesn’t think you want to hang onto her for dear life as she flies the two of you over there

» so meeting up seemed like the more… plausible option

» tons of games!

» no matter what the game is, she’ll play every. single. one.

» those strength games?

» she may have won the top prize for it

» how? she’ll never tell

» loves the co-op games though, they’re her favorite

» very competitive

» it’s lighthearted, of course, but she will try and sabotage you

» she tries to win you tons of stuffed animals

» Y/n: Michiru, my arms are full, I can’t hold any more plushies-

» Michiru: wait Y/n look! that stand has a huge duck plush! i’m winning that for you

» Y/n: Michiru no-

» in all seriousness, she wants to make a lasting impression

» she goes with you on every ride that you want to go on

» the scariest roller coaster there?

» sure! just know she’ll deny you seeing her shaking like a leaf in line for it

» if you want to go on more mellow rides?

» she’s all for it! whatever you want

» towards the end of the night, she goes on the Ferris Wheel with you

» cliché? maybe so

» but it doesn’t matter to her

» she really likes you, and she wants you to know

» she won’t kiss you, she doesn’t want to force you into anything

» but she will thank you for spending your night with her

“If you want, can we do this again? I’d really really like to.”

nazuna hiwatashi

» !! movie !!

» oh my sweet, sweet girl

» she was so lost on what to do

» 1. you accepted her date

» why? how? she’s not complaining, not in the slightest, but- you? her? why!

» 2. she has no clue what to do for a first date

» she had to search up “first date ideas”

» but in all seriousness, she’s very excited for your night together

» she didn’t want to go out to a theater, so she opted to bring you to her place to watch something

» she bought everything you could ask for

» ice-cream? check

» drinks? check

» popcorn? she’s bought the packets and the stove-top brand

» she’s going all out for your night together

» she has quite the collection, so she’d let you pick out whatever you like

» once the movie is picked, it’s time to get comfy!

» she has so many pillows and blankets

» she not only are some of them placed meticulously around the area in front of the TV, giving you both a comfy space to watch

» but she also has extras in case you get cold or want more comfort! 

» she’s very adamant about giving you your needed space

» she doesn’t want to overstep

» butttt, if she can, she’ll lean up against you and watch the said movie with you

» you both give commentary on the movie as well

» critiquing it, the actors, the scenes, all of it

» it adds for some playful banter between the two of you

» Nazuna: i think the actor could have shown more emotion during the scene, you know?

» Y/n: Nazuna, he was playing a dead man. i don’t think he’d be able to show emotion

» Nazuna: well- still!

» when your night of watching films is over, she’ll bring you home

» it’s a lot more comfortable, especially when you tell her how good of a time you had

“Thank you for being with me tonight, Y/n. If it’s okay, maybe we can do this again?”

marie itami

» !! haunted location + ice cream !!

» cocky little thing, she is

» while she was surprised you actually accepted her offer, she doesn’t seem like it whatsoever

» she’s very confident, dripping with it

» so, why not impress you with something scary

» she’d found out this warehouse by the docks was actually the death site of several people

» and she also heard there had been ghost sightings, so she took to first chance to take you there

» she may seem all cocky and full of herself, but if something even mildly scary happens

» she’s out of there

» you don’t know that though

» she uses her phone’s flashlight to look around, you by her side

» if you’re scared, she’ll tease you oh-so much about it

» in a loving way

» honestly, no matter what you think of the situation, she’ll tease you

» Y/n, unfazed by the whole situation: are you alright Marie?

» Marie: are you asking me because you’re scared? come on Y/n, you know i’ll protect you~

» queue a broom falling down in the background, Marie screaming and running out of there with you

» after you both leave, she still tries to play off the whole situation

» she leads you to a small ice cream stand nearby

» she sounds annoyed when she pays for you, but she thinks it’s so worth it

» you won’t see it, she’s sly, but she’s staring at you the whole time

“So, Y/n, you free to do this again Saturday?”

pingua

» !! diner + dancing in the park !!

» pinga, the gentleman as ever, makes your first date classy

» he takes you to a small, family owned diner in the city

» the place itself is cozy, warm, welcoming

» he knows all the workers there

» he gets a booth for the two of you to sit at near a large window

» he spends a lot of the date admiring you

» the way your eyes light up as you talk about something you’re passionate about

» the way your cheeks flush when he compliments you

» the way your eyes are on him so intently when he talks

» he adores it

» speaking of…

» lots, and i mean lots of flirting and compliments from him

» he loves teasing you

» if you bite back, he’ll seem unfazed

» but he finds it awfully attractive

» his idea of a first date is really getting to know the other person

» their likes, dislikes

» the things that make them double over laughing

» the things that make them tick

» everything and anything

» of course, he pays for your food

» there’s no room for arguing with him

» Y/n: Pinga, please let me at least pay for this all

» Pinga: i’ll have no such thing. come on Y/n, dear, allow me

» he’s so nice about it, you can’t even tell him no

» once your dinner is over, he’ll hold your hand and lead you away from the diner to the park nearby

» [ a/n - i like to imagine this is the one in episode 6 where michiru and nazuna have their argument ]

» it’s late, the path is only visible from the streetlamps overhead

» he’d hold your hand tighter, not too tight, and slowly bring you into a slow dance

» the stars are barely visible in the city, but their still there

» he’s so elegant when he dances too

» light on his feet, full of passion

» he’s falling for you

“You know my dear, if you’d allow me, I’d love to do this again sometime with you.”

[leefi]

Starira MBTI II - Siegfeld

These were the most fun to write up.

Seisho

Siegfeld

Frontier

Rinmeikan

Michiru Otori: ENFJ

Oh my woof woof...My evil little girlboss. i love you sooooo soooooo so much. Michiru is fake as fuck and soooooo evil and funny. She's the final entry I'm writing because I wanted to save the best for last.

She is the perfect example of how manipulative and conniving Fe doms can be (we even see a teeny tiny bit of this in Nana - see how she tricks Kaoruko into doing work in their My Theatre conversations). Michiru is also a visionary - she has a very distinct plan for the future that she’s always working towards (aux Ni), but you’d never guess that about her at first glance. She works very hard to maintain an affable, easygoing, approachable persona to contrast with Te dom Akira’s more intimidating and domineering one (dom Fe). I can’t say that I’ve seen her use too much of that tertiary Se, but her Ni and Fe are so strong that I have absolutely no doubt that she’s an ENFJ. We definitely see that inferior Ti struggle to catch up with Akira’s dominant Te reasoning for prioritizing Elysion over the Performance Festival, though, because Michiru’s Ni is thinking so far--too far, she comes to realize--ahead.

I could talk more about how smart and pragmatic and intuitive Michiru is, but we’d be stuck here all day. She’s my evil little girlboss, yes, but she also cares for her friends so much. At the end of the day, she’s an Fe dom, and that mastermind auxiliary Ni comes second - everything she does is to uplift and benefit the people around her. That dominant extroverted Feeling is what allows her to pick up on Akira’s potential from that day in their childhood - and auxiliary Ni instantly begins setting a plan into motion for how to get there. Why doesn’t Michiru try for the throne herself, then? Well, maybe there’s some deep-seated insecurity towards Akira and their relationship that we’re not seeing. It has always intrigued me so much as to why she prefers to work in the background. It would be fine if she truly preferred to stay in the shadows - that’s a normal thing for a lot of people to want, and they thrive there. But I’ve always had the feeling that isn’t quite the case for her…Sometimes she says things that make me think she desires more.

But again, she’s an Fe dom - her mind is geared towards thinking about other people, about what’s best for the group. And we see that once more when she’s perfectly poised to win the Arcana revue against Shiori, when she flippantly remarks at the start that there’s no way in hell that she’s losing to her - but then she sees how hard Shiori is trying, the potential she has to succeed her the role of Frau Saphir one day, how much she’s grown and come into her own and found a cause to fight for, while Michiru is is too far stuck in the future...and dominant Fe stamps that conniving auxiliary Ni down, and she rips off her own jacket for her kouhai.

Akira Yukishiro: ESTJ

Funnily enough, the “extroverted” ESTJ actually tends to be a bit more socially reserved than their “introverted” ISTJ siblings - this is because ESTJs have Feeling in their inferior slot, while ISTJs have it in their Tertiary (compare her to ISTJ Junna, who as a class leader actively goes out of her way to interact with the other girls and make sure everyone’s included, while Akira bothers herself only with the Edels). ESTJ’s extroversion instead manifests in their desire to control, order, and yes, be on top, just like Akira’s ENTJ cousin Claudine. Akira is a Te dom and Si aux, so she’s all about leading by example and doing it by the tried-and-true. This is why she fits so well into the role of the quintessential emperor/king, but as I mentioned with her inferior Fi, doesn’t actually have any charisma beyond what Fe-dom Michiru has manufactured for her (it's explicitly stated that Akira is even more revered than Edels of old - yes, due to her phenomenal and unparalleled talent, but also because Michiru actively works to cultivate an image that makes her untouchable). This is exactly why her relationship with Michiru works so well. It’s only natural that two extroverted judgers aimed for Siegfeld - and absolutely thrive there.

Her tertiary Ne, meanwhile, is why a lot of people (myself included) love her interactions with Yachiyo and Aruru (Ne doms). Akira’s Ne and Fi are weak, but she’s very smart and - contrary to first impressions - isn’t a stubborn person when she trusts the competency of the people around her (Te). And that’s thanks to her Ne. She lives for the stage, it’s her pride and joy, and when she sees people who are doing something that pay ode to it well - whether that’s ENFP Aruru’s excitable and childlike Ne-Fi or ENTP Yachiyo’s more pragmatic and intellectually curious Ne-Ti, she is quick to place her trust in them. Akira surprises the other two school leaders in the event story when she tells them they’d be wise to learn from Karen and Aruru’s senses of wonder, and Yachiyo’s passion for the stage - though wildly different from Akira’s own - is what makes her confident in her decision to pass the throne off to her.

Shiori Yumeoji: ISFJ

A PERFECT example of using dominant Si is when Shiori inhabits the role of the Chariot to draw out the strength and energy she needs during her revue with Michiru - introverted Sensing is all about deriving from past experiences and using them to inform the present!

And she and Tamao are!! The same!! Type!! Which is so interesting to me! ISFJs are so sweet and kind and caring (they and INFPs are actually often mistaken for each other - compare her to Mahiru!) - but there’s an inner fire to them that can be so easy to miss! I can’t think of a single fictional ISFJ I’ve met that didn’t, at some point, become incredibly insane and unhinged! I’m not sure what it is, but if I had to guess I think it’s that inferior Ne showing up, kicking down the door, and going “I’M HEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEE BITCHESSSSSSSSSS”

Anyway - textbook ISFJ. So, so sweet and demure (Si dominant, Fe auxiliary - both are so concerned with standards, group sentiment, how things were done before, how everyone is feeling - so so so accommodating but can end up becoming doormats). We see that Si a lot in her woes towards her sister - “we were supposed to do this, we were supposed to be this,” etc. etc...hell the only reason in the first place that she joins the Edels is because of her original promise with Fumi. Tend to keep their inner thoughts and machinations to themselves (Ti tertiary). Prone to snapping and going insane if they get pushed/bothered too much (Ne inferior) - I legitimately think that Ne is the scariest function to have in your inferior slot. Godspeed, ladies.

Another fun note: she and Yachiyo are polar opposites, something I never noticed until just now. Interesting lmao

Liu Mei Fan: ENFJ

I had to check her PDB page to get her type because I honestly had no clue! She was the most difficult for me! But after seeing her listed as ENFJ I went “...hm?” and then went “oh yeah.”. Because she reminds me of Sonia Nevermind from Dangan Ronpa LMAOOOOO. FORGIVE ME FOR THIS COMPARISON. IT’S NOT BECAUSE OF THE EXCHANGE STUDENT THING!! They just have the same personality type, and it kind of manifests itself in the same way - despite the stereotype being that Fe doms are always very socially conscious and suave, these two are both a quirkier/more awkward type of ENFJ, and at first glance both could pass off as their happy-go-luckier ENFP or ESFP cousins instead...if you’re just looking at the letters. But when you look at their actual functions, they’re both ENFJ as they come! See how different two people of the same type can be?! She and Michiru share a type! Mei Fan is a well-meaning, driven Fe-dom in a strict Si-heavy environment like Siegfeld’s, and it’s SO funny to watch her dominant Fe desperately try to adjust her personality as she goes to fit in properly (while Michiru watches like 🙂 , Shiori is right there with her desperately adjusting (Fe aux), and Yachiyo doesn’t give a shit and does her own thing anyway). Our beloved shimbo has Ti in her last slot which isn’t surprising given her penchant to speak before she thinks, and Se in her tertiary slot which shows up in, again, her physicality (MUSCLEMAN MEI FAN HIGH-INTENSITY JOCK TRAINING IN THE MOUNTAINS). Aux Ni showed itself in that ceaseless determination to become an Edel, and her constant work towards shaping herself into an ideal one to impress Akira (and achieve her own goals in surpassing Akira herself!). Just compare her to dom Ne Yachi, who could care less about any of that stuff and goes her own way.

Yachiyo Tsuruhime: ENTP

“What do I wish for? World peace and happiness for everyone, I guess.” The moment I saw this homescreen quote I knew she was an ENTP - somebody else on her PDB page actually pointed it out too lmao. ENTPs are the “devil’s advocate” type which can lead to ruffling a lot of other peoples’ feathers, but Yachiyo is a bit suaver than that (developed tertiary Fe). Granted, she doesn’t escape the stereotype completely - she has a lot of fun in teasing the Fe-aux and Fe-dom Shiori and Mei Fan respectively, though she would never dare to do the same to Michiru. As we learn through the main story, there’s something that appears insidious about her at first glance - but that’s genuinely all it is, a first impression. She keeps to herself, yes, but Yachiyo’s an actress to the core, and her greatest love is the stage, just like (if not more than) all of the other girls around her. Yachiyo’s unique in that she breaks some of the typical Starira model of seeing her partner as her greatest inspiration - she’s not invested in a person like Shiori is with her sister or Michiru and Mei Fan are in Akira - Yachiyo pursues the stage solely for her own fulfillment and desires. Everything is a curiosity to her (Ne feeding Ti - how can I make sense of this world, and what can I do for myself to gain access to more information and experiences, because I’m always, always hungry for more). Her inferior Si shows up in how much she contrasts Akira, who is an Si-aux - just look at the unconventional way she found to practice her acting (pretending to be a spy snooping on the Edels), compared to Akira’s more conventional methods of stringent, scheduled practice.

[tickly-trashcan]

Jealousy {NazuMichi}

A/N: I don’t know if the second ask was meant as a prompt for them but it was too cute to pass up pls. I’m so excited to finally write for BNA like?? This show left a hole in my heart for daysss after i finished it, not because it was sad or anything it was just really good and i missed it! Thank you for the prompt, and I hope you enjoy! :D

Summary: Michiru has been waiting for Nazuna to finish up a fan signing, and eventually gets impatient when she takes longer than expected. When will she finally see her?

Word Count: 1.6k (under the cut)

Michiru tapped her foot impatiently, frowning. She checked her phone, sighing when she saw the time and lack of texts. She had been waiting for Nazuna to finish up with her fan signing, and it had been hours. She hadn’t gotten there too long agol, but Nazuna had promised to have been done by now.

Michiru supposed she couldn’t help it, being the Silver Wolf and a popstar, so naturally she was quite famous with a lot of people who adored her…

Michiru couldn’t help but feel jealous. Not because she wasn’t as famous as Nazuna, but because she felt as if more of Nazuna’s attention went to her fans instead of her, her actual girlfriend.

Michiru frowned and texted Nazuna for the third time asking whether or not she was done, and closed her phone. She was surprised when she got a sudden buzz from her phone and checked it excitedly, thinking it was Nazuna.

Can you pick up some milk for Melissa and Gem when you’re done hanging out with Nazuna? Thanks.

Michiru groaned in annoyance. It was only Shirou, and of course he would be the one concerned about milk. Why couldn’t he pick it up himself? Michiru typed a quick response before stuffing her phone away, watching as a few more people left the building that Nazuna was currently signing in. When she had gotten there the line was out the door, but now it was shortened enough for everyone to be in the building. Michiru decided she would just wait for Nazuna in her tent, she was tired of just standing around waiting for her.

She felt a bit bad as she walked away so she sent one more text to Nazuna saying where she was headed, and then rushed off towards the tent. 

She walked in and flopped on Nazuna’s bed, scrolling through her phone for a little bit until she got bored, checking the time again. She kicked her legs in frustration. She just wanted to see Nazuna! It wasn’t fair that her fans were getting more attention than her right now.

“Michiru?”

Michiru immediately sat up, beaming when she saw her pink haired girlfriend walk in, wearing a cute, popstar-like dress to impress her fans. Michiru leapt off the bed and launched herself at Nazuna, embracing her in a tight hug, almost knocking her over.

Nazuna laughed, nuzzling her fox nose gently against Michiru’s making her hum contentedly.

“You took so longgg!” Michiru whined, taking Nazuna’s hands in her own as she frowned, turning her gaze away from Michiru.

“I’m sorry, there were more people than we were expecting to come… But I’m here now!”

She smiled and Michiru grinned weakly, happy that she would finally get to spend some time with Nazuna. She lead her over to the bed and they sat down, Nazuna cupping Michiru’s cheek. She smiled, leaning in.

There was a sudden buzzing and ringing coming from Nazuna’s phone and she halted, reaching into her pocket and checking who it was. She sighed.

“It’s Boris, I have to get this,” She said quietly, and Michiru whined, wrapping her arms around Nazuna’s waist as she rested her head in her lap, looking up at her with pleading eyes. Nazuna frowned and kissed Michiru’s forehead quickly, whispering a quick “sorry” before picking up the phone.

“Yes? Yes, we finished the signing… More? Boris, I can’t, I need to rest-”

Michiru clenched her fists in anger. Damn that Boris, trying to overwork Nazuna. She would definitely be punching some sense into him later. But right now, Nazuna was her top priority, and the frown on her face as she tried to reason with Boris filled Michiru’s heart with sadness.

She hated seeing Nazuna upset, even her frowning was enough to make Michiru feel guilty and like she wasn’t there enough for her. Michiru squeezed her arms a bit tighter around Nazuna, making her glance down at her before going back to talking to Boris.

“Boris please, can you just - hehe! S-Sorry, Boris. No, I don’t think it’s funny, I need a break, just for the rest of the day?”

Nazuna glared at Michiru, who only grinned back, having just pinched her side gently. Nazuna kept up her conversation with Boris, managing to keep her giggles in check as Michiru continued to tickle up and down her side, making her huff occasionally as she stuttered.

“B-Boris, can - can I call you later? I need to take care - Aha! O-Of sohohomething! Goodbye!”

She quickly hung up when Michiru focused on Nazuna’s lower ribs, poking and prodding at them as she continued to grin at Nazuna.

“Are you done now? Can you pay attention to your poor girlfriend?” Michiru teased, using both hands now to scribble along Nazuna’s ribs, making her squeak as giggles started to pour from her lips.

“Yehehes, I’m done! Stop it!” She snickered, squirming as she pushed at Michiru, who only laughed.

“Nah, you’re cute when you laugh~”

“S-So are you!”

“What-” Michiru was suddenly cut off when Nazuna started to tickle under Michiru’s arms, which were currently exposed as she had her arms wrapped around Nazuna’s waist. She shrieked and quickly let go of Nazuna to protect herself, laughing.

“Wahahahait! Th-That’s cheheheating!”

“Is not!” Nazuna teased, sticking her tongue out as she continued to dig under Michiru’s arms, who tried to wiggle away. Nazuna easily followed her, Michiru flipping onto her back as Nazuna started to spider her fingers across Michiru’s tummy. She yelped, squirming around as she reached to Nazuna’s knee, squeezing them as Nazuna squeaked, quickly pulling her knees away. 

Michiru quickly flipped the tables, jumping up with a roar as she laughed, pulling Nazuna down onto the bed as she dug into her ribs again, making her squeal.

“Michiruhuhu! Not thehehehere!”

“Not where? You mean here~?” Michiru teased, poking and prodding between each rib as Nazuna laughed loudly, trying to push Michiru away as she was attacked by Michiru’s vicious tickle attack. 

Nazuna shrieked loudly when Michiru wiggled her fingers on her upper ribs. She managed to keep her arms from clamping against her sides, and instead reached up and scratched her fingers behind Michiru’s raccoon ears.

A shrill noise echoed through the room as Michiru immediately covered her ears with her hands. Nazuna quickly took advantage of this and tackled Michiru, who yelped, Nazuna quickly burying her fingers under Michiru’s arms as she wiggled them around, Michiru arching her back as frantic laughter began to pour from her mouth like a waterfall.

“Not thehehere! Anywhehehere but there!”

“Not where? You mean here~?” Nazuna parroted, making Michiru whine.

“Dohohon’t copy meee!”

Nazuna only stuck out her tongue playfully as she scribbled under her arms. An idea popped into her head and she pulled one hand out of Michiru’s underarm, lifting up her shirt.

“Dohohohon’t!” Michiru yelled, wiggling around desperately to try and escape those cruel ticklish sensations. Nazuna only chuckled as she used her fluffy fox tail to tickle Michiru’s tummy, making her holler with laughter.

“NAHAhahahaa - Nazuna! Wahahahait, not the tahahahail!”

“This is what you get for interrupting my call!”

Nazuna continued to tickle Michiru furiously, Michiru’s laughter echoing throughout the whole room as the sheer volume of it threatened to burst their eardrums, but Nazuna couldn’t help but smile as she watched Michiru.

Her eyes squeezed shut, her nose scrunched up… She looked adorable, and Nazuna couldn’t help it when she felt her cheeks warm at the sight of Michiru. Her tickling slowed, and Michiru slowly caught her breath.

As Nazuna was caught in her trance of Michiru, she quickly turned the tables, pinning Nazuna down now and sitting on her thighs, Nazuna wailing.

“That’s not fahahahair!” She whined, kicking her legs around as Michiru squeezed her knees and lower thighs, grinning.

“All’s fair in love and war!” She said gleefully, and yelped when Nazuna weakly started tickling her feet, scratching lightly at the pads on her soles as she laughed. But she was determined, she wouldn’t lose!

Michiru kept up her own tickling as she laughed, Nazuna still tickling her pawed feet as she laughed as well, and neither of them was intent on stopping any time soon.

“Stahahahap!” Michiru yelled, crumpling over slightly as she kept kneading Nazuna’s thighs, making her shriek.

“Y-You fihihihirst!”

They laughed and laughed, several minutes passing as neither refused to give up.

“Okahahahay! I give up! Stahahahap!” Nazuna finally cried out, tapping her palm on the bed to signal for Michiru to stop. She did, and she quickly laid down next to Nazuna, resting her head on her hands as she giggled.

“I won~”

“Shush,” Nazuna said, though she was grinning. Michiru smiled and leaned over, kissing Nazuna quickly before nuzzling their noses together. Nazuna chuckled and rubbed her thumb on Michiru’s cheek, smiling.

“Sorry about earlier, I really do try my best to balance my fans and you…” Nazuna said, a sad hint in her voice as Michiru shook her head, frowning.

“Don’t be sorry, I know it’s difficult for you… Are you feeling alright now, though? You seemed a little down,” Michiru asked. Nazuna nodded, smiling as she laid next to Michiru.

“I feel much better after seeing you,” She said, and Michiru felt her cheeks heating up. She nodded softly and Nazuna giggled. 

“Thank you for making me feel better,” Nazuna said, and Michiru puffed her chest, grinning cockily.

“But of course! The great Michiru Kagemori is the best at cheering people up! And at winning tickle fights~”

“Oh? Are you sure about that?” Nazuna asked, wiggling her fingers at Michiru. Michiru backed up slightly, grinning nervously. Nazuna pounced and Michiru was back to laughing her head off, but she would definitely win this round too!

[keyofjetwolf]

Bonus Question Answers! (non-anime animated noms)

This was SO. FUCKING. HARD. This question went so much better than I expected, and I’m only sad I lack the artistic skills to make it all a reality.

Below, my PAINSTAKINGLY selected top answers, If yours is listed below, you’ve earned an entry in a random draw to win a GIFTENING liveblog OF YOUR CHOICE

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Q: The Senshi suddenly find themselves in a very different animated world. Which cartoon power (think Looney Tunes) do they each now possess?

*  Usagi can make literal rainbows happen when she smiles.  Rei can set anything on fire with her mind (she feels a bit cheated because she can do that at home too).  Ami can write down anything in her special notebook and it literally changes reality around her (she does not share this with her fellow Senshi, because she knows the full weight of this power.  She did, however, write Michiru having a bad hair day for just one day.  Just one.)  Makoto has the ability to pull out any ingredient she wants from any pantry/door/closet.  She usually uses this for cooking purposes, so she won't have to purchase groceries.  Minako has the ability to mimic any voice in the world, whether she has heard it or not.  Hijinks ensue.  The Outer Senshi sensibly escaped from the new animated world right after Michiru recovered from her bad hair day.  They don't speak of the experience. -- @amberlilly  [The whole thing was so solid, but what absolutely sent it over the top for me was Ami using her powers to fuck with Michiru in the most petty benign way, which is EVERYTHING.]

*  Usagi is definitely rocking the exaggerated tear gushers.  Ami can pull charts/diagrams out of nowhere at any time.  Rei combusts when she gets sufficiently mad.  Makoto has birds fly around when she sings while cooking or cleaning.  Minako breaks the fourth wall to make jokes and asides to the audience.  Chibi-Usa is somehow able to walk through ludicrous danger without getting touched, because the censors won't allow kids to be hurt in this show. Haruka can make girls melt into puddles of goo with her flirting.  Michiru can summon a servant at any time to take care of an unpleasant or potentially dirty task for her (including to take the slapstick comedy for her).  Setsuna has access to the script.  Hotaru just sort of appears sometimes, just standing there, silently and menacingly, but never does anything on-screen (though you may hear the occasional off-screen screaming).  Oh, and while I'd like to say Mamoru gains the power of inexplicable entrances... he kinda already has that one.  --Darkcloud k'California  [Again, I loved all these, but particularly Chibs saved by the censors, Michiru’s poor hapless slapstick avatar, and everything about Hotaru, thank you.]

*  Usagi: The power to be found charming by every character she encounters and somehow escape all consequences and damage by simply remaining oblivious, a la Tweety Bird.

Rei: The power to explode, reducing her surroundings to charred wasteland, but remain relatively unscathed (perhaps a bit singed)

Ami: The power to grow multiple arms, hands, and hundreds of fingers in order to do tech stuff

Makoto: The power to punch someone through a brick wall, possibly several, and into someone's family dinner. It's always some surprised-looking family's private event. Often the same family.

Minako: the power to, Bugs Bunny style, apply lipstick and seduce ANYTHING. Which, according to her, is a power she already has.

Haruka: The power to run off a cliff and keep going until she looks down. She never learns to not look down.

Michiru: The power to stick a pin into any other character and cause them to deflate like a balloon

Hotaru: She just gets to actually be used. It is thrilling.

Pluto: She will observe this strange planet from afar with her huge telescope and breathe the Martian air and look great in a kilt and Roman-style helmet. --  @incorrecttact  [Your set-up and punchline delivery style on all of these was perfection, and I legit lol’d at Mako and the poor family she continually interrupts.]

* to make dynamite go BOOM (Rei obviously); to have their opponent chase them to the point where they're floating in midair and then their opponent falls 5000 feet but they calmly walk back to land (like Wil E Coyote & the Roadrunner) (Usagi); the power to blow kisses to their opponent (which are clearly poisonous and end up killing the chap) (Minako); the power to have their opponent's entire arm shattered if they try to even punch them lightly on the arm (Makoto - this is canon anyways, but moreso exaggerated here hehe); to open a book and start reading it out loud and words start showing up on screen, confusing tf out of their opponent (Ami - also canon already)  --@midnightdrops  [Each of these were great, but Usagi and Mako as you described them totally sold me.]

* usagi: can now float on yummy aromas, so long as they lead her somewhere tasty! the others play a quick tournament of jun-ken-pon each time it happens to determine who will be responsible for steering her from blissfully drifting into traffic. again.

ami: is now possessed of x-ray vision! only she can neither turn it off, nor control its intensity. she is working on developing a set of goggles to dampen the effect, and secretly hopes they will make her look like geordi laforge.

rei: rei-chan is now blessed with the power of song! her heartfelt melodies soften the malice of even the most one-dimensional baddie, and influence public policy on a global scale. international success life, yo! i guess she's really a hard worker!

makoto: has become something of a cartoon cupid! in a poorly-ventilated room, her mere presence has bystanders declaring their love for one another within minutes*; and her decadent wedding cakes are the hit of second marriages across the country. *all of them so like her old senpai, and none of them falling for her, alas!

minako: employs her considerable powers of confidence and charm to convince the others she now has access to Plot Manipulation, mainly by engineering and taking ownership of a series of happy accidents. her real power is to literally jump out of her skin when she's startled*, and she has no intention of EVER letting the others know about it.  *minako discovered this new ability while she was changing a roll of toilet paper, and a spider dropped onto her hand. the leader of the inner senshi had never been so horrified. her bones were so slick and cold, her skin a hideous unwiped pile, and then THE SPIDER CRAWLED INTO THE PILE and she STILL doesn't know if it ever got out and sometimes her skin itches REALLY bad and you know what let's stop talking about this right now okay???

setsuna: can now manifest a giant pencil and erase the enemy! but doing so would be breaking The Greatest Taboo, and leave her impaled upon the pencil.

haruka: her new empathetic ability is remarkably similar to Ma-Ti's "heart" ring (Captain Planet and the Planeteers, 1990 - 1996). basically, she's just like really soft at you, and it inspires you to take more positive actions toward yourself and the world at large? she protests about wishing she'd received something tough and intimidating, but secretly is very moved by being made an instrument of kindness.

michiru: her intuition has mutated into fourth wall awareness, and the subtlety with which she makes this known to you is SO GODDAMN UNCOMFORTABLE OH MY GOD

hotaru: can now not only communicate with inanimate objects, but also render them permanently animate! you should have been there during the princess tutu crossover episode when she met lamp-chan - they're STILL inseparable, and chibiusa is SUPER jealous. speaking of which,

chibiusa: can now use hammerspace to store her endless series of magical geegaws and weird animal boyfriends.  -- @rasiqra-revulva  [Dude, you have got to stop making me snort laugh, it’s RUDE. Pure solid gold, every word, with a special nod to Haruka, MICHIRU, and Minako’s extended tragic cartoon backstory.]

* Usagi - like her name suggests, she is now Bunny. By which I mean she is now a very pink and blonde bunny (somewhere between Bugs and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit), but with super-elastic limbs to accompany her new form. Ami - Magical Science Powers up to and including ‘mix one brightly colored liquid in flask with another brightly colored liquid in flask, explosion, get hammer.’ Rei - An infinite supply of dynamite she can pull out of nowhere. This shouldn’t be as useful as it is. Mako - Literally suplexed a giant metallic youma not just untransformed, but before she has Senshi powers at all. I fully believe she could lift an anvil in canon. Minako - While Usagi looks like a rabbit, Mina now has the supernatural trickster abilities of Bugs Bunny. Implausibly effective bad disguises, persuasion, showing up out of nowhere. Chibs - Now that gun from her first appearance is a real gun, but it shoots anything from normal bullets to pies in the face to live birds. Pluto - The fourth wall is a real and tangible thing. Pluto can not just break it, but control it. If she wants to remove a layer of cel or suddenly turn things into sketch, she can do it. If she wants to teleport, she can skip in the animation. If she wants to suddenly appear as a Roger Rabbit-style cartoon in a live action field, or vice versa? Yeah, she can do that too. She basically uses this power to warp the layers of her cartoonish reality for pastry acquisition. Haruka - You’d think it would be Roadrunner speed. Haruka thinks it will be Roadrunner speed. But no, it isn’t. Space Jam is Looney Tunes, and Haruka’s power is Basketball. Michiru - Another power that’s just canonical: Wealth. Ridiculous, tremendous wealth. Hotaru - The funniest thing for Hotaru to be in a zany cartoon world is Even More Spooky. Nothing changes except the artstyle and a ridiculous supervillain cape.  -- Regalli  [Pluto, man. Fantastic and brilliant and I legit WANT THIS. Also though, Hotaru with a cape.]

*  Usagi gains the ability to eat anything and everything like the Tazmanian Devil, though she shares none of his aggressive personality; Minako enjoys fucking with people by bending reality (you know, diving into painted tunnels and stuff like that); Ami is able to utilize and test unreal technology without harm, like jet boots, massive bombs, tornado seeds, etc.; Mako uses body manipulations to change her size and shape--especially for blocking attacks to protect people or grabbing people (coupled with her immense strength); and Rei is the only one aware of the audience beyond the Fourth Wall... She tries not to talk to them but sometimes she just can't help it, especially when Usagi is getting on her nerves.  -- @thehubby  [I said pander to me, and you absolutely did. I can’t stop thinking about Rei trying not to make fourth wall eye contact, then just whirling around all “CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE THIS SHIT??!?” and as it turns out, that IS precisely what I wanted.]

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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, so keep those answers coming! I CAN ABSOLUTELY AND SHAMELESSLY BE BOUGHT.

[docholligay]

Time and Tide

@amberlilly requested “Michiru realizing she loves Haruka.” This is me INTENSELY on my bullshit, and I hope you enjoy grabbing your closest dictionary, i got to use so many words I rarely get an opportunity to use, I love you Michiru. 

It is terribly odd how one’s life can change, and how you believe it to be in a single moment. But that isn’t how things happen, not really. It is only that in one single moment, you realize what has been true for some time. Love is not a strike of lighting, that is only true of fools and children. Love is the tide coming in, so slow and so sure that it hardly seems different from the last moment, and then you are underwater, awakened to the knowledge that the world is not as you last left it. That this harmless thing has come in and covered everything you knew. 

There is a fortress in France, where the tide runs in, and separates it from everything, and island unto itself, and this has been my experience of love. Perhaps a better person might be as a dock or some seaside restaurant, the water only filling the space that it was always meant to, and making it lovelier, but for me it has surrounded me fully. Such it is with all things that do not prepare for love to come, I suppose. 

Rest assured that any long philippic you might offer about the nature of my heart and all its empty and cavernous spaces is already quite known to me. I reflect on that now, so desperately loving her, knowing I do not deserve her. I look at her in the long, thin blades of moonlight that cross her body and know that I am owed every ounce of pain that my heart is served.

It wasn’t always this way. In the beginning, things were so much simpler. I am a spoilt child, and this has always been true, and I wanted her as one wants a doll or a pony. I am not accustomed to being defied, and I don't care for it. The moon had already given me my twenty lashes, and so it owed me a reward. If I was trapped in this fate, at least there would be a lovely bauble to call mine and mine alone. She was handsome, and she was tall, and she was bound to me whether she wanted to be or no. 

That was enough, then. I seduced her as I have plenty of other women, thinking only that she would be a lovely mark on my record, that her low breeding and total lack of polish would annoy my parents and give my friends a good laugh. She was slow to warm to me, of course, so shy and unsure in the ways of romance and seduction, even as she puffed her chest and played the big butch. 

Maybe that was the first moment, that first gentle lap of the tide, when she took off her shirt, and she trembled, and I saw how very inexperienced she was. Haruka. I knew I had said her name, before then, but that was the first time I had tasted it on my lips. Sweet as cream, delicate as rosewater. Unburdened of the layers she put on to protect herself form the world, she looked so vulnerable, so thin and bright, a string of spun sugar catching the light. I might have loved her in the first moment then. 

She loved me, certainly. Haruka would call it a curse, that she can give her love so easily, that affection touches her so deeply, that kind words write themselves upon the sand of her soul and struggle to stay as the waves of her own self-regard wash over them. She finds herself silly, I know, for her softness. I found her silly as well, I suppose, when she became besotted with me, while trying to hold herself at a distance, a dance for which she had neither the training nor the skill. I saw her immediately for what she was. 

I wish I could say this tempered me, that I found some humanity within myself where I did not wish to hurt her. It would be a lie, and I endeavor not, at the least, to lie to myself. I was pleased. Being raised in such penury, she would need me as much as she wanted me, once she became accustomed to all those finer things, I assured myself. I wanted her to be my lapdog, my toy, the clay upon which I could mold a splendid little thing for my own decoration and delight. 

I laugh at that girl, now. How foolish she was to believe she could be so near Haruka, and feel the weight of her love, and remain dry, and safe, and in control. You have never known a girl like this one, I would tell her. She is a beauty, and she will transform you, beast that you are, into something that can almost be called human. Something that can feel fear and pain, the very heart of love. 

Perhaps the tide of love came in at my ankles when she accompanied me to a gala, when she asked me to dance and waltzed, her frame beautiful, her feet light. When she beamed and told me she had found someone to teach her, and she’d been fixing up their car in exchange, and how she wanted to surprise me. She could learn how to be classy, she whispered into my ear, and she would do her best. Flowers slipped into a tiny bud vase, served alongside an evening glass of wine. Lovingly written billets-doux describing my hair and eyes and hands, artless and plain-spoken. That earnestness. What a cruel thing. 

But I was blind even then, to how I would come to love her. I have always thought myself intelligent, and perhaps this is a sign of my greater folly, to think myself so logical against the flood that comes for so many. Perhaps I can blame the moon even for this, for bringing me this vulnerability I for so long saw as peccant. 

Even now, it frightens me, to see how I love her. What a perfect little fool I’ve become, to love something that can be taken away. 

I am often asked, what made me love her, now that we have been together these few years, and I find myself ever at a ramble. I suppose I have not done much better here. I have outlined so many small things that drew me to her, little laps of water growing higher and higher, and I could outline a dozen more at the least, all in very florid and unnecessarily embellished prose. I am almost a Rococo caricature of myself, at times, and I suppose this is cross anyone who cares to read this will be forced to bear. 

But I can tell you when I realized that love. When I realized that life slips like water through one’s fingers, and that I could know fear. 

We were in some manner of battle. This, I know, begins so many of my stories, but it is impossible to take into account how many battles I have been in and chide me overmuch on the subject. We were in battle, and it was heated and difficult. Mina was on the ropes herself, and certainly you must know how irregular a moment it was for us all. She wanted to regroup, to rethink. She did not declare us beaten, for I cannot believe that Mina would ever draw breath and consider a battle she had not won finished, but we needed to take a moment and find our footing. 

Haruka hated herself nearly as much as she loved me. I am not certain this is the venue to describe all the ways in which she has struggled over the course of her life, trying to find a reason she was born. Perhaps it is enough to tell you that her own mother was unkind on the subject of her birth, and there was little in the way of anyone to dissuade her that it was true, and the improvident moon did not consider that such a girl might be the wrong one to put into danger. Handing her something to die for, to prove her goodness and worth by her willingness to be hurt, was always a foolish gamble. 

She did not wait. 

Haruka ran toward the enemy, even as Mina yelled her sign, and I was caught quite flat-footed. Haruka did little without my go-along, you must understand, and I was so arrogant as to assume that would always be true. That even in the heat of the moment, her deference  to me could overwhelm her desire to play the hero. None of us could catch her. She was determined to have the moment of surprise. 

I remember seeing her fall to the floor. I am, despite even my own protestations, not an unfeeling creature, and perhaps any of my comrades at arms, falling in such obvious pain, might have pulled at my heartstring. But I assure you it would not have caused the immediate flash of fear and pain, so like a dagger in my chest, sharp and cold, the very breath stolen from my lungs. For a few brief moments, I could not move. I was chilled by the knowledge of which I now had possession. 

I would die for her. Worse than that, I would kill for her, I would let every single soldier beside me, all the world, crumble to ash if it could spare her life. Haruka had found something to die for, but the moon had given me something to destroy for, and if it played the fool with Haruka it had done oh so much worse with me. 

I left the girls, then. I drew my dagger as if I were pulling it from my own chest and not the buckler that made up my mirror, and I did not look back. I heard Mina call my planet, too, curse me for my own special brand of cowardice. I cared not. Court-martial me, and put me to my death, but do not ask me to endure the loss of her. I had not known, before that moment, that I was such a fragile thing. That I could so easily be undone, the ice princess in the high tower brought low by the very idea of her plaything being wounded. Knowing that no longer was she the plaything, but the princess, and I her prince, her ardent defender, the Orpheous that would happily walk myself into Hell and Hades to be at her side. 

I may have made a miscalculation, but the enemy had, as well. For you see, I am a great and terrible opponent, when I have something to lose. It seems the enemy was as unknowing as myself, and they paid for it in blood. I never even noticed its death, too busy running to Haruka’s side. 

All’s well that ends well, I suppose. Mina barked something to me about orders, but she could only say so much when my great foolishness had won the day. It matters little how one wins the battle, so long as you win. Haruka was hurt, and angry that I had saved her, and touched that I had wanted to, and afraid that she could never be worthy of that desire. She said none of these things, of course, but she has no gift of emotional legerdemain, and I could read it all so clearly. 

I knew fear. I have never know how to express that fear. To say I am afraid she will die is too simple and easy, for we all hope our nearest ones will live. I am afraid of so much more than than that. I am afraid that she will die, and so will every good thing in me, that the tide of love will recede and all that will be left is the exposed shipwrecks of what I am underneath it all. 

And yet, here in the night, writing this for whoever might care to read when I am gone, I will tell you now: I would make this Faustian bargain again in one beat of my heart. 

Love has made me a fortress, cut off from the land, but it has given the fortress a thing to protect besides itself. It has given me purpose. 

It has made something inside of me alive.

[lucyoftheabyss48]

Top 6 Spring 2020 Anime to Watch

I was going to make this a Top 10, but it got way too long, so I cut it to 6. (Also above pic is from BNA)

Anyway, these are the Top 6 Spring 2020 Anime that I personally think will be worth watching. For all of these included in the list, I have watched at least the first episode. But of course, this list will be very biased, because my beloved Studio Trigger finally has another show again.

I won’t be including sequels (but I’m watching Fruits Basket S2, Ascendance of a Bookworm S2, and I’m trying to catch up on Kaguya-sama and Tsugumomo)

Let’s start from Number 6. May contain vague spoilers for the first episodes of these shows. More below!

6. Gal to Kyouryuu

This one looks like trash. I know. I know, but give it a chance. Maybe all you’ll get out of it is its comedy and strangeness, and its wacky live action second half. But just let me tell you the best part of this show, and why it’s so high on my list.

First, a quick summary. A gyaru (gal) girl takes in a dinosaur that she found one day, and they spend their time just living life together. That’s it.

That is it, but I think there’s more to it than just that. This gal girl, Kaede, from what I can tell, has just been going through the motions in life. She felt bored and uninspired and unmotivated. Her life was just work, and whatever fun things she could find to fill up her free time.

But when she brings in the dinosaur, despite her many complaints, she still cares for him and thinks of him and is considerate towards him. And for her to have someone by her side, and looking to her as a companion to face life together, side by side, creates a little more fun and a little more motivation in her own life.

This isn’t a deep show or anything. I don’t think there’s some dark hidden message, unless you want to look at it that way. It’s a sweet little show about the relationship between two lost and lonely people, finding their way in life together. One of them just happens to be a cute dinosaur.

Which amazingly, no one seems to question. I think that’s great, because it just cuts out that whole obstacle of others coming to terms with the dinosaur’s existence, and goes straight to him as just an individual character, and his relationship with Kaede.

It’s just really sweet, I can’t say this enough. It might be a little subtle. But just watch out for the things that Kaede does for the dinosaur, like how she seriously thinks about what she can do to help him. I also think the dinosaur definitely helps Kaede let down her guard and be more relaxed about some things. Both their lives are just brighter with each other than without.

(Edit after seeing Episode 2, SPOILERS: Never mind about this not being deep or dark, the ending of Episode 2 has changed my mind!! Please watch it, and let’s discuss theories!!!)

5. Arte

If you’ve read any of my past essays, maybe you’ve found out by now that I live for the dynamic between really great and supportive partnerships. And maybe you’ve also found out by now that most of this list consists of said partnerships. Arte definitely has one too.

So Arte is about a noblewoman who wants to be an artist, but everyone is against that, because she’s a woman, and women at that time don’t become artists. And moreover, she’s a noble, and so she needs to be ladylike and get married so she can continue to live a comfy life.

Basically that’s the premise, and Arte goes about trying to find her path to becoming an artist. She eventually becomes the apprentice of someone we all know: Leonardo da Vinci.

If you like art, if you like history and historical figures (read: if you’re a Fate fan like me), or if you just like a cool and determined female MC, then this is for you. I would say this is comparable to Ascendance of a Bookworm, or the anime movie Miss Hokusai. It’ll probably have equal parts lighthearted comedy and darker seriousness, and plenty of coolness from Arte and Leo both.

4. Gleipnir

I read a good chunk of the manga a year or two before this came out, so I’ve been looking forward to this. The animation in this first episode was really good quality, and it’ll probably only get better from here. The story is basically, one day, our MC Shuichi suddenly gains powers to turn into a big stuffed animal suit. Everyone who has these powers to transform has entered into a big battle royale to the death to collect the most coins.

Shuichi just wants to live a normal life and get rid of this animal form, and Claire wants to find a certain someone (among other things). Shuichi doesn’t want to fight, doesn’t want to kill anyone — but he can’t do nothing because then he’d be killed. And he doesn’t even know yet why he was turned into this monster.

That’s where Claire comes in. She has a goal, but she doesn’t have powers like he does. She’d be killed instantly on her own, just as he would because of his hesitation. Just so you know, she gets it into her head that the best way for them both to live, and get what they both want, is for her to get inside his animal suit form, and control him from the inside.

They’d both die on their own, but together, they can survive.

I think the story is interesting and plenty mysterious. There’s a lot of good stuff to sink your teeth into. But like always, the core of the show, to me, is the dynamic between Shuichi and Claire, and how they both find purpose and motivation because of each other.

Also Shuichi’s VA is the same as Tanjirou. And Ikuto in Runway de Waratte. So that’s a plus.

3. Princess Connect! Re:Dive

So it might be easy to dismiss this as another fantasy adventure harem with the lackluster MC, but I’m going to argue for our mostly silent and robotic protagonist. We find out in the first episode when he wakes up that he lost his memory, so I would say that that’s the reason why he’s pretty emotionless. So as he interacts more with Kokkoro, and learns more about the world from her, he becomes more expressive.

I think the best example of this is his last line at the end of the first episode, which sounded a little more emotional and personal than any lines he’d said earlier.

On another note, the animation is top notch — way, way too excessively pretty and beautiful and detailed, but I ain’t complaining. The grass. The grass. Watch it, and you’ll see what I mean. And the lighting. The lighting.

The action animation and comedy both are pretty reminiscent of Konosuba. A certain character’s finishing move is pretty similar to Explosion. And like Konosuba, a lot of the appeal of this show will probably be the female characters, their wild personalities, and all the shenanigans they get into.

But also like Konosuba, there’s a small, hidden sweet side sprinkled throughout, in how their ragtag group finds friendship and companionship with each other, when they couldn’t find it elsewhere. If you look at it that way, I think this show can be sweet and deep in its own way.

2. Tower of God

This is a big one that I know lots of people have been looking forward to, as it’s an adaptation of a popular Webtoon. I haven’t read the webtoon yet, but I will eventually. I’ll just say that first, the art and animation here is really, really good. In particular, the scenery and background art is amazing, and really creates the whole atmosphere. A single change in background can change the mood in a second. You’ll see what I mean immediately in the first scene with the big door. Or a little later on with the blood splatter.

The animation of the movement in action scenes is smooth and fluid, no problems there. The art style may take some time to get used to for some people who may not like it, but it’s personally just the kind I like. Honestly it reminds me of a Shaft work. So if you like the Monogatari series, the use of art style and background art here gives a similar vibe, or at least I think so.

As for the story, it starts with Bam getting separated from Rachel, and he starts his journey to climb a tower so he can meet her again. We get pretty much no reason for why she left yet, but I think we’re in for something really good with this story.

(I’m planning on making a separate analysis essay entirely on a certain scene in the first episode, so look forward to that.)

1. BNA

Brand New Animal. Trigger’s latest work, the last few being SSSS Gridman and Darling in the Franxx, and their first movie, Promare. I am a huge Trigger fan, and I’ve been excited for this one for a while.

Our MC, Michiru, is a human, but she suddenly gets turned into a tanuki person. She seeks refuge in Anima City, because (surprise!) the humans don’t like the animal people. But not everything is as it seems in Anima City, and she teams up with the wolf person, Ogami Shiro, to find answers — thus getting caught up in something way bigger and stranger than she ever expected.

First off, if you’ve been missing the crazy and cartoonish animation from Trigger’s earlier stuff, then you’re in for a treat. This has an undeniable Kill la Kill vibe, but with Promare’s amazing popping colors and backgrounds.

If you want to say it’s another animal show, like Beastars and Zootopia, go ahead. Let’s just get that out of the way.

Moving on, Michiru escapes to Anima City, expecting it to be a place where all the animal people can live freely and be themselves. But it turned out to be a free-for-all, strongest wins type of society, where animal people are quick to betray their own kind for their own personal gain. And even side with the humans who discriminated them in the first place.

Michiru’s character will probably be a hit or miss for most people. Some might find her annoying, others charming and endearing. I like her, as I tend to like these types of characters.

But I think what’s great, is that she gets challenged. Her ideas and beliefs about both the animal people and humans are put to the test, and her suddenly becoming an animal person herself means that she’s in a unique position of being able to understand both sides. But she’s also still an outsider, and she finds that maybe neither side was really quite like what she once believed. And so, her place in either side of society will come into question for her. There’s a lot to dig into here, and I’ll probably make separate posts for BNA alone later on.

If you like Trigger, watch it. It’s probably more of a mix between Gridman and Promare than it is Kill la Kill, despite sharing many animation similarities (even a certain sports match that’s basically torn right out of Kill la Kill). If you want something that’s a little more different and subtle and intriguing than their usual works, then this is for you. If you liked Beastars, give this one a try too.

Some Extras

--that I wanted to add to this list, but I’ll just briefly put them here so this post doesn’t get any longer:

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle

Listeners

If there’s more you think I missed, feel free to put ‘em in the replies!

Upcoming Essays:

Analysis on Orb Scene in Tower of God Episode 1

Navigating the numerous Fantasy-Adventure genre anime of the Spring 2020 Season

Various BNA essays (I’ve seen episodes 1-6 already, will be tagged for spoilers)

Gal to Kyouryuu Theories

Maybe something Fate related, it’s my recent obsession

[onedivinemisfit]

Ans indulgent next!gen bbs masterpooooooost~ >:)

AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata Art: Me

Akemi: Obi and Shirayuki’s oldest daughter, third oldest fan-kid in the lineup. Born in Lyrias, but raised in Wistal. With her dark hair, sharp eyes and natural owo face she’s clearly her daddy’s kid. Sneaky, unpredictable, a “jackdaw” with a tendency to take off with the shinies, and otherwise causing mischief during most of her waking hours, this is a most chaotic creature. Most. Chaotic.

Shigure: Obi and Shirayuki’s oldest son, 7th oldest fan-kid, and born in Wistal (born by c-section, Garack was midwife -- it was a bloody affair, Shirayuki doesn’t remember much, and Obi would prefer to keep it that way) Russet-haired, heavily freckled and eyes like his mother, Shigure is a precious little bab who defy his own weakly constitution by loving the outdoors and asking unending questions about nature and plants and animals. 

Michiru: Mitsuhide’s only son by Torou, second oldest kid in the line-up, Micchi was the accidental result of a desperate, short-lived affair between his parents (Kiki was due to wed and Mitsuhide, amid his self-deprecation, indulged in Torou’s no-strings-attached intimacy) Born in a hospital “somewhere in the far south”, Mitsuhide remained unaware of his natural son for years, as Torou had too much integrity to burst into the halls of Seiran like some vindicated mistress. Michiru is street-smart, and well-traveled despite his youth due to his mother’s vocation, even a tad bratty - it’s his developing brattiness that leads Torou to finally concede and introduce him to the rest of his family, hoping it’ll help him put down roots, belong somewhere, and become better for it.

Nakuru: Kiki’s daughter by her first husband, Hisame, fourth oldest fan-kid. Born, as was proper, at home on the Seiran estate - but she was barely a couple months old before her father went and pulled his Evil Snake Act, was branded a traitor, and got himself executed. Nakuru only knows Mitsuhide to be her dad, having come into her life so early as he did, marrying her mother the moment decorum would let them do so, and when the whispers behind her backs about her “black blood” gets the better of her, Nakuru wishes he really was her dad. Shy and introverted she prefers to stay at home, reading, and sewing, and spending time with her family. 

Kirika: Mitsuhide and Kiki’s daughter, 6th oldest fan-kid, happened to be born in a barn because she came early -- or so they insist, afterall her parents had only been married seven months... The math never added up. Ever-cheerful, always energetic and smiling a beaming smile winning her the majority vote wherever she goes, Kirika is a piece of walking sunshine. However, those who annoy her, or hurt her loved ones, face the wrath of a natural born momma bear. How a tiny speck of a girl can trash people twice her size is anyone’s guess. Kiki just wishes she’d wait till after teatime. 

Hakuya: Izana and Haki’s first-born son, and oldest fan-kid. Heir to the Wisteria crown, with beautiful features, and a sharp intellect, this is a perfectionist in the making, already stiff with protocol and expectation. Also hilariously tactless at times, born from bashful naiveté, and is very much his momma’s little boy - when nobody’s watching. 

Touma: Izana and Haki’s second son, the “royal spare”, or not, because Touma, despite his being a child, has already realized nobody would accept a mute for a king. Even the unofficial court made up of courtier’s children can be a struggle when you lack for speech. He’s determined to make up for it, practicing sign language and working on gestures - oftentimes mirroring duke Haruka’s demeanour since it’s so. effective. A boy does what a boy must. 5th oldest fan-kid.

Umi: Izana and Haki’s oldest daughter, and the older of their twins. Supremely adorable, yet silently judging you. Deceptively covered in cute, she plays tea party like a strategist preparing for war, affects sweetness as a mask to shield how little she thinks of you, and while too much a child to realize to what extent, already the world has lost its rosy hue to her eyes. That Izana’s sweetest child should be the one to inherit most of his cynicism was a surprise even to the monarch. Her and her brother are the 10th youngest fan-kids.

Zenji: Izana and Haki’s youngest son, and the younger twin. Obviously named for his uncle, because of the uncanny likeness, as Zenji also sports the trademark silvery hair that runs in the Wisteria line. A dreamy, spaced-out kid for the most part, Zenji is happy to be dragged along with his sister’s antics, playing, spying on his older brothers, nagging his parents, and so on, and so forth. Happy to stay blissfully unaware of the real world, for the time being. 

Chize & Miza: Suzu and Yuzuri’s hellspawn, otherwise known as their identical twin girls. Coincidentally conceived, and delivered, on the same table, or so Yuzuri insists (Shirayuki still can’t put her teacup down on the table in their parlour without choking slightly on this knowledge) The twins are devious and cunning wrapped in two nearly identical packages, their unnerving, heterochromatic eyes the only feature with which you can tell them apart. As such they are feared as much as they are doted on by the college of Lyrias, where they have practically been raised their entire lives, due to their antics. Chize is the sweeter girl, and Miza the mature one, according to Suzu. The 8th youngest fan-kids.

Teru: Zen and Kihal’s only son, and the youngest of all the fan-kids. His birth defied the expectations of his parents, as they had come to regard themselves as forever childless. Zen had never felt the acute need for children of his own, but neither he nor Kihal expected the soul-shattering relief they felt when Teru came into the world, like being granted something you no longer even dared hope for. Teru takes after his mother’s side of the family, but his stamina is surely a combination of both, because his source of energy appears endless. His zoomies can go on for hours. Kihal has resigned herself to the fact he can be everywhere, and nowhere, at the same time. All the time. 

[solarmiracle-makeup]

Watching Sailor Moon musicals with my sister :)

I asked my sister if she had any thoughts/comments about the musicals that she’s seen so far so that I could post them here.

So far she’s seen (not in this order):

Usagi – Ai no Senshi e no Michi

Yume Senshi – Ai – Eien ni… (Kaiteiban) – Saturn Fukkatsu Hen

 Sailor Stars and Sailor Stars Kaiteiban

 Eien Densetsu

 Shin Densetsu Kourin

 Kaguya Shima Densetsu Kaiteiban

 All 4 of the Dracul musicals

Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady

10th Anniversary Festival – Ai no Sanctuary  

Petite Étrangère 

Un Nouveau Voyage

Le Mouvement Final

Nogizaka46 Team Moon and Team Star

Her favorite actors are:

Sailor Moon: Anza Ooyama and Miyuki Kanbe

Sailor Mercury: Chieko Kawabe

Sailor Mars: Megumi Yoshida

Sailor Jupiter: Minami Umezawa

Sailor Pluto: Yuuko Hosaka (“She has really strong mom-energy and seems like the most responsible of the group”), Mikako Ishii, and Seiko Nakazawa

Sailor Saturn: Ayami Kakiuchi and Karin Takahashi

Sailor Uranus: Nao Takagi

Sailor Neptune: Yuuka Asami

Sailor Chibi Moon: Ayano Gunji

She said there was a Sailor Venus that she really liked but she couldn’t remember which one.

Okay, so here’s what she remembers from the musicals she’s seen. I can’t guarantee that this is going to make 100% sense because we were being really silly when I was asking for her thoughts. I probably should’ve asked for her thoughts as we were watching them because she couldn’t remember a lot from some of them, but I’ll do that moving forward :)

Yume Senshi – Ai – Eien ni… (Kaiteiban) – Saturn Fukkatsu Hen: “That Pegasus made me feel scared, I couldn’t tell if it was flying away from or towards me. There should’ve been more Hawkseye” (because Hawkseye is played by Hikari Ono)

Sailor Stars/Sailor Stars Kaiteiban/Eien Densetsu:

“These 3 Lights are my favorites because they are the nicest and they vibe with the other guardians” (in comparison to the 3 Lights in Le Mouvement Final and in the anime)

Kaguya Shima Densetsu Kaiteiban: “The pirates doing their walk is my last few brain cells” (about Kern, Serpen, and Kraken doing that weird walk where they are kind of crawling?? I don’t know how to describe it??)

Dracul musicals:

“Why doesn’t Michiru just bite Haruka and then they can be vampires together?”

“I couldn’t wait until the second one because you told me Vampir was in it, but everyone was mean to her and she just wanted her dad to be there for her, and when she changed her outfit to look like the cool kids he didn’t like it. Also Le Fay wanted to wear matching mother-daughter outfits”

When Vampir says “Damn it!” in “All of You Shall Die” my sister said “Did she forget her line?!” (she didn’t realize that it was part of the song).

Un Nouveau Voyage:

 “You didn’t prepare me, I wasn’t ready for the Haruka!! You told me she was an idol, but I didn’t realize she was that kind of performer. I’m not mad, I’m just surprised, I was just so confused” (about Haruka’s idol performance at the beginning of the musical).

“Professor Tomoe doesn’t win father of the year award”

 “This Michiru is baby, she looks really young”

Petite Étrangère:

“Sapphir was like ‘Demande, I think you’re being tricked’, and Demande was like ‘Don’t ask questions, just leave it to me’. And that didn’t work out well”.

“Maybe this is more manga-based and I haven’t read the manga, but how upset Usagi was over Chibiusa felt really exaggerated. It seemed like she tolerated her more in the anime and the other musicals. It felt really forced. I like Satomi better in Un Nouveau Voyage”

Le Mouvement Final:

“The 3 Lights were SO RUDE to Setsuna. THE DISRESPECT”

She said that Yaten (Saki Matsuda) reminded her of Yurio from Yuri on Ice. “Yaten is Yurio. If there were a Yuri on Ice musical, you’ve got a Yurio”.

“This Galaxia is terrifying”

10th Anniversary Festival – Ai no Sanctuary :

“Oh my god, they had matching jackets!! Happiest Happy Family!!” (We refer to the outers family as the Happy Family because they’re just so cute and we love them!!)

“I think Marina would’ve been a good Chibiusa. Or if they need an Usagi for like a flashback scene where Usagi was younger”

Her favorite songs are:

“Over the Moon”

“Dream Yume wa Ookiku”

“Onna Kaizoku no Sakusen”

“All of You Shall Die”

“Galaxia Gorgeous”

“Honoo no Messenger” 

“Chasin’ After You”

“See Me, Boku-tachi no Jidai”

“Traditional the Grace”

[mariposalass]

Should you Fight my F/Os? [The Mains]

I saw a lot of people are doing this such as @withlovefromlyell @jaklovemail @plucky-belmondo @astralshipper and @goldenworldsabound. So I am going to be making this as well. (not tagging anyone at the moment, but feel free to do this if you like to)

💗Romantic💗

Philip Hamilton (Hamilton: An American Musical)

My dearly beloved can be very scary even if he isn’t armed with a gun! He will just mince you with words, and possibly rapping from the musical & giving non-French speakers nosebleeds by speaking in French. (5/10; looks like a cinnamon bun but could scare you with words)

☮️Platonic☮️

Isabelle Miravelez (Ikaw Lamang)

Yeah, she never fought anyone physically in her series, but be forewarned, she has a resilience of forged iron. In one series I have done in deviantART, she was once trained in Arnis (a Filipino martial arts) and can disarm anyone with or without sticks. Also, her actress does have some of the most intense emotional outputs in her roles and I won’t be surprised if she catches you off guard with just a single Kubrick stare, swipe your weapons with ease, or bonk you on the temples with sticks. (4.5/10; has looks of Maria Clara, intelligence of a genius, martial art skills of Bruce Lee, and a big scary outburst when provoked)

Kirby (Kirby)

I agree with Plucky: Kirby maybe adorable and is definitely a sweetheart, but he is a Star Warrior in spite of his age. Seriously, he has killed gods (real and fake), eldritch abominations, and monsters bigger than him, survived the beginning of World of Light, can split a planet in half in Super Star & Super Star Ultra, and has beat up a monster over a piece of Strawberry Shortcake. It gets worse if you piss him off, nobody dares to hurt Kirby’s feelings! But he will still try to befriend you no matter what. (-poyo/10; fear the small and powerful, although still friendly)

Marina (Toei’s The Little Mermaid)

Unfortunately, Marina doesn’t fall under the category of ‘can fight for themselves in battle’. If you want to hurt her, you first have to deal with her many adopted siblings who can tear you apart and also deal with Ven as he is dating her. No really, I do mean it. (N/A/10; highly recommended not to be fought with at all lest you want to incur her adopted folks and boyfriend’s wrath) @husband-of-lucoa won’t you agree with what I said here?

🏠Familial🏠

Harry Potter (Harry Potter)

As for my big wizard brother, Lord have mercy on you if you dare to fight him. Because of the crap he has to deal with in canon, his dueling skills grew significantly to the point that he managed to beat Voldemort in the end of Deathly Hallows and could easily disarm more experienced adult wizards before turning 18. Also, he has a temper to match and it can scary if he is peeved off, including hurting the fam bunch and me & Kairi especially. The one thing he hasn’t mastered really is hand to hand combat, so he can get punched in the face during a fist fight. Other than that, he is one of the most powerful British wizards of all time, so feel free wand dueling with him. (Has defeated Voldemort 3 times/10; can beat you in a wand duel with no sweat)

Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)

While the first games and pre-Re:Mind KH3 doesn’t have her kick ass much, you will be damned if Kairi isn’t willing to give up during a battle or fight even when in a disadvantage. In KH3, she has started on Keyblade Mastery and teamed up with Sora to kick Xehanort’s behind in the big battle in Re:Mind. She is also a Princess of Light and her purity & caring soul can kill you if you’re not pure of heart. (5/10; Dark hearted people and non-humans beware)

👧Kiddos👦

Edelgard von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Ho boy, Edelgard, Edelgard, my dear daughter... She is scary in the battlefield, is the powerhouse among the house leaders in her game, and has the clever mind to match. How else is she able to sneak an entire army into the Holy Mausoleum in the end of the Academy Phase regardless of the house you pick? That Axe wielding skill is pretty darn excellent, Authority is pretty high too, and she does look like she can snap you into half. Definitely wins the Kubrick Stare contest with Issa, Hermione, Harry, Michiru, and the Doctor. What’s more: if you are in the Blue Lions route and entering the end of the War Phase, she uses her twin crests to turn into a scary powerful Demonic Beast! Yikes! And she is the only house leader who can tap into magic spells with very little problem (since the Adrestian Empire specializes in axes and magic alike, though not as wide of a range as compared to Dorothea, Annette, and Lysithea). Unless you don’t want to get destroyed by the person who goes by the moniker of the Flame Emperor, please don’t provoke her. (2/10; Enter at your own risk)

[sittingoverheredreaming]

This is an ENTIRELY self-indulgent fic I’ve written in between cases at work today, but it’s been awhile since I got a fic out on Michiru’s birthday, so, here’s 1500 words of Rei & Michiru BroTP

_________

Michiru had not said it was her birthday, but Rei knew. And Rei knew that Michiru knew she knew, of course Rei knew, so surely, this was a test. The invitation had been casual— “When should we next have tea together? How does the sixth sound?”— and there the challenge was set. What did you get a woman that had everything, without being so tacky as to ask her what she’d like, or mention her birthday at all?

Rei knew what Michiru thought of the Inners as a whole. That she’d still ask Rei to prove herself more than that was frustrating, but that did not mean Rei would not pass with flying colors. She was Rei Hino after all. She was unstoppable, and nothing so simple as a birthday could change that.

And yet. As she browsed through the third boutique she’d visited that morning, she felt the tiniest sliver of doubt. She was running out of time, and had nothing. It wasn’t that she procrastinated, only that she had been sure the right idea would strike her if she gave it time. She was down to just a few hours now, and it had yet to come.

“Can I help you?” a sales woman with her hair up in a tight bun asked.

Yes, Rei wanted to shout, yes, help me! But instead she said, “I’m looking for a gift.”

“Ah.” The woman gave a knowing nod. “For a lady friend?”

“A friend who is a lady, yes.” It was a shop for women’s accessories, did they really get enough clueless people to need to ask... Rei’s face warmed. “A friend only. Still a lady, but a friend.”

The saleswoman kept nodding. “And you are seeking an expensive gift for this... friend.”

“Well, she’s got a lot of money,” Rei said, her defenses rising. “I can’t just give her some knick knack and a comic book and call it a day.” That had been exactly what she had gotten Usagi for her last birthday. Usagi was simple. She liked things as freely as she liked people. As did Michiru, Rei supposed, just on the opposite side of the spectrum. 

“I see. And your budget is...?”

“Ideally, as cheap as possible, but still something nice. Do you have any sales?”

The saleswoman pressed her lips together. “I thought that might be the case. I can show you a few items, but if she’s worth so much to you, perhaps consider...”

Rei huffed and left. Maybe this was the wrong angle— Michiru could buy herself anything from these shops with no markdowns or clearance. But Michiru could buy herself anything anywhere. Rei peered into another shop window. “Show her you care!” a sign demanded in elegant font next to a glimmering gemstone bracelet. Rei sighed.  Would that she could pick out something so gaudy and generic, and have it matter simply because she cared. She thought again of Usagi, of any of the others. Even Mina, demanding as she was, could be pleased without much deliberation. 

She wandered the streets, meandering towards lower price tags and less nosy shopkeepers as her time ticked down. One shop tried to sell her on a handbag that cost more than a month’s rent, another on a perfume Rei knew Michiru would say smelt cheap. She looked at jewelry and scarves, books and candles, stopped short of entering a pet shop that sold exotic fish. Somehow, that felt like both the best and worst idea.

Finally, with barely an hour left, Rei found herself at the door of a thrift shop. She almost didn’t enter— Michiru would surely chide her for a secondhand gift— but then she turned the handle. If Michiru was going to set Rei a challenge, she had to be prepared for Rei to solve it the Rei way.

The old man at the counter inclined his head at the sound of bell above the door, but did not look up from his crossword. As it should be, in Rei’s opinion. The shop smelled of dust and full of cluttered floor to ceiling shelves positioned haphazardly around furniture for sale. Michiru would be utterly out of place, which made it precisely the right store to find a gift. She could buy herself anything, certainly, but something she wouldn’t buy herself, that was the winning idea. Michiru would never deign to rummage through other people’s cast offs— perhaps her worst flaw, in Rei’s eyes— so she would never find what treasures she could get a great deal on. When Rei found the perfect gift— and she would find it— she would simply buy overpriced wrapping, and Michiru would be none the wiser.

She’d nearly settled on an ornate vase, on the justification Haruka bought Michiru far too many flowers, so she should have something nice to keep them in, and besides, it had a fantastic price, when something else caught her eye. It was less striking than the vase, or anything else she’d considered. It would be a gamble as a gift, and Rei was not sure she wanted to take that chance.

A cacophony erupted through the shop as every clock marked the hour in its own dissonant chime. Rei had to make her decision, and she needed to make it quick.

*****

Michiru eyed the clock as the kettle began to whistle. It was quite unlike Rei to be late. Their tea time was hardly a momentous occasion, but it was one Michiru had come to enjoy, as she’d assumed Rei had. Perhaps, though, it had become a burden to her. Perhaps Michiru was nothing more than an obligation to check off her list between school work and shrine duties, something that must be taken care of before real fun could be had. Michiru should not have been surprised, Rei would not be the first nor the last to be less than genuine in her intentions. The only sting in the matter was that Rei had not seemed the type, but, as Michiru well knew, most everyone was the type, when it came down to it.

She took the kettle off the burner, but did not pour the water into the teapot she’d prepared. It was fatalistic, perhaps, but it was always best to prepare oneself. As her mother had often said, if others are cruel, it is their weakness, but if you respond to their cruelty, it is yours. Little as Michiru liked to agree with her mother, the philosophy had served her well.

The clock had ticked nearly twenty minutes past their arrange time when Rei burst through the door. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair just slightly displaced by the wind. A delicately decorated gift bag was nestled into the crook of her arm. “I’m late,” she said without apology. “But I made it.”

“Indeed you did.” Michiru leaned against the counter to keep from crossing her arms. “And what is that?” She indicated the gift bag.

Rei frowned. “It’s your birthday present.”

“My…” Michiru thought for a moment, and then allowed herself a small laugh. “It is my birthday, isn’t it? I’d quite forgotten.” She had asked Haruka to forgo the fanfare this year, but it seemed without it, she couldn’t mark the day. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Of course I did!” Rei huffed. “Even if you weren’t testing me, I wouldn’t let your birthday just pass by.”

Michiru raised an eyebrow, but did not comment. Testing Rei did sound like something she might do, even if in this circumstance she hadn’t been. The results of such a test, intentional or not, might prove interesting. “What then, did you get me?”

Rei shoved the bag at her unceremoniously. Michiru set it gently on the counter, pulling back the tissue paper to reveal a two person tea set, the tea pot and cups emblazoned with a pattern of simple crows. They were slightly faded with age, and dust had settled in the crease of the handles. Still, Michiru could not help but smile. 

“It’s not entirely your style,” Rei said. “But I thought you might like to have a set just for my visits.”

“And here I’d thought you might be tiring of me.”

Rei snorted. “Oh please, this is the only peace I get some weeks.”

Michiru looked at the cups. They were garish, and cheaply made, but she found she quite like them. She could have this day wiped from memory, and it would take only a look to know where they had come from. “It’s lucky, then, that I haven’t poured our tea yet. Should I give these a quick wash?”

“If you want to,” Rei said. Her voice had the slightest edge, one Michiru had come to recognize meant she was trying to be casual about something that held importance. 

“I would like to very much.” She turned towards the sink, but paused. “Thank you, Rei.”

“It’s nothing. Happy birthday.” Rei cracked a smile, and Michiru smiled back, feeling a warmth spread inside her that had nothing to do with tea.

[venus-says]

Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star Episodes 38-49 + Movie

So this is what I've been missing for all these years???

It has taken me 10 years of being a Precure fan for me to finally watch Splash Star from beginning to end, and I feel like a fool becAUSE I'VE BEEN MISSING SO MUCH, HOW COULD'VE I SPENT TEN YEARS WITHOUT WATCHING THIS??????? This series is so good, THIS ENDING IS SO GOOD!!!!!!! I've finished watching it yesterday and I'm still in awe. Gosh, I love this show.

But before I can talk about the ending, allow me to dedicate a small paragraph to comment on the movie. Originally I thought about making a separate post for the movie, but I don't have much to say about it so I'm adding this extra portion here (thank god I watched the movie before this was posted so I can add this beforehand). This movie is very lackluster, I got excited from the first scenes, watching it in HD and not DVD quality really brings way much more life to the screen and I was pretty impressed, but then Saki and Mai started to fight before their performance and all the joy went down because it immediately started to feel like Friends of the Snow Sky but worse because Saki and Mai were never this "hostile" against each other before so their fight doesn't seem true to their characters especially considering what originated this argument to begin with.

The movie exclusive characters are good, sadly they don't get that much time on screen and they also don't get a lot to do so they're not used to their full potential and they end up being just flat. In fact, I believe this is a good way to describe this movie, interesting concepts that aren't used fully because they wanna focus on this fight that makes no sense and that is something they've already done before. I don't know if this has to do with the weird duration of the movie, it's not even one hour long, or if it's just the script that is weak, but I really didn't enjoy this movie all that much. 😕

But now let's talk about the good stuff, let's talk about the ending of the season.

I have so many feels I don't even know where to begin with. Well to begin with, in the title of this post it says this is a review of episodes 38 to 49 but that's actually a lie since episodes 38 and 39 are just fillers that don't add much so I have nothing to comment on. But from episode 40 onward the show picks itself up and it just goes all out to wrap up this story in a very beautiful, exciting, and emotional way.

I admit I was a bit afraid of how this final stretch would go when I saw that the final Dark Fall general was defeated in episode 40, but they managed to wrap up this ending in a very clever way. Bringing back the defeated generals at first felt like a cheap way to do it, but the fact that the villains weren't back for just a single episode and considering there was no monster of the week, all the fights were against the generals themselves, it really enhanced the experience, it was like in the Mega Man games where you'll fight all the Robot Masters again in one of the Wily stages. It was also great that they came back WAY STRONGER and the girls really had to give their best to win those fights, I especially like that they lost right away when the villains came back because it's not always that we see precure losing so it was great to see just how much more difficult it would be for them to win in the end.

The final twist of Gohyan being the actual final villain wasn't all that much surprising, I mean he's the character who's always plotting something I knew he would betray Akudaikan at some point, and in normal circumstances, I'd wouldn't be pleased with this fake-out, but because Gohyan is a character we've seen since the beginning and he has been active, either plotting against his comrades or actually going against the precure, it worked. I kinda wish they had kept him in his "elderly" form, I think he works better that way, but seeing how great the action was for that final fight I'm more than okay with it.

If I had to say one thing that I completely disliked about this ending it's that, aside of the Christmas episode that once again had the pink try to deal with her feelings for a guy who doesn't look at them on a romantic way, having a four-part ending didn't really feel necessary. I think they could've made it in a way where episodes 46, 47, and 48, where focused in the actual fight, like episode 46 is the raid at Dark Fall, the fight against Akudaikan goes from Part B of 46 and Part A of 47, and then the final battle against Gohyan goes from Part B of 47 and lasts the entirety of episode 48, and then we have episode 49 focused for the aftermath and the epilogue. But that's just a minor thing because they hit the nail in the head in the important stuff so it's all good.

And speaking of action, THEY NAILED IT IN THIS PORTION OF THE STORY. I complained a lot about hoe the fights during the season weren't as good as they could've been, but if they were saving so much just so this ending could be so action-heavy and look so damn good as it was I feel like it was a good trade. Of course, the repeated shots of Bright and (especially) Windy using her powers are still here, but it's incorporated a lot better here and they do some actual creative stuff with it.

But the greatest thing of this finale was seeing Michiru and Kaoru finally being back, again I was reluctant about bringing them back so soon, but they knew what they're doing and they managed to do so much with them in this short amount of time. And I think it only works so well because they did an excellent job with them in their first arc so we as an audience can feel for them and we can also share the feelings Saki and Mai were having because we care about these characters just as much as they do. And I also like that they were brought back and they served a purpose, they weren't just extensions of Saki and Mai, they had their own concerns, they had their own issues so it wasn't like they were there to do just a single thing and they were able to conclude their arcs in a very satisfactory way. They've become really complex characters and I was always excited about seeing them on screen because I knew something great would come out of it every time, that being either them in their fighting scenes or while they were doing mundane stuff like Michiru enjoying helping at Pan Paka Pan or Kaoru spending time with Minori. Kaoru and Michiru's story was everything Kiriya's story wanted to be and more and this is definitely one of the strongest points of this show.

Our protagonists were probably the less worked during this arc, they sort of became an entity rather than two distinctive characters, but it somehow works? I think that because Saki ad Mai are such a great duo, they have so much chemistry, and the show seems to balance pretty well the spotlight they give to each girl, that deciding to focus more on these two as a duo rather than individually doesn't backfire. Their arc is more about solidifying their friendship more and more each time and spreading that out to Kaoru and Michiru, and they do a pretty good job at that. I feel like a lot of people don't have high opinions on them because of that, but I honestly didn't leave the show with the feeling that something was missing in regards to this matter so as far as I'm concerned they're great characters.

Before I wrap up I wanna talk about the ending in specific. It was the perfect pay off that this show needed. After everything Saki, Mai, Kaoru, and Michiru had gone through seeing they fight the big final boss together on an amazing showdown was incredibly awesome, when they lost their powers and the remaining of the spirits still living on Earth gathered together to bring not just Bloom and Egret but also Bright and Windy personified in Kaoru and Michiru felt rewarding as hell. It's pretty sad Kaoru and Michiru aren't considered official Cures because this final battle wouldn't have been the same without them.

If you read my Kamen Rider reviews you know I don't like it when characters come back from the dead immediately after they die. That wasn't the case here, in fact actually cried during that scene. We've said goodbye to them once and it hurt, seeing that they would go disappear again was like having my chest crushed, especially after everything that went down during this final arc and their speech in the fight about not giving up on the future they want to build with Saki and Mai. I knew precure is a kids show so they wouldn't kill them, but I expected they would go back to the Fountain of the Sky to live with Moop and Food there, but the show allowed the girls to stay with their friends in the Land of Greenery and that made me feel all fuzzy and warm inside.

And that montage at the end, with the four together, Kaoru joining Mai in the Art Club so she can learn how to draw so she can spend more time with Minori, Saki teaching Michiru how to bake, gosh, very few things made me as happy as that little montage did. Even seeing that Flappy finally confessed to Choppy and now they're officially a couple I believe was very endearing to see. And this is pretty much why I wanted the epilogue to be it's own separated episode because these are all things I'd love to watch as they were happening. It was still good, don't get me wrong, I have the dumbest smile in my face from just remembering it, but I wish we had more, GIVE ME AN OVA TOEI!!!!!

I'm not sure if I said everything I had to say, a lot of what I enjoyed from Splash Star was how the show touched me with emotional moments centered around characters I've grown to love throughout these 49 episodes and sadly my vocabulary isn't so vast so I can put out all these feelings here without sounding more repetitive than I already do. Splash Star is a really wonderful season, it had a slow start but as soon as they found their identity they really shined brightly, this season definitely shouldn't be so overlooked. So if you never watched it, give it a chance, and if you have watched it already, please do it again, appreciate the show for what it is and spread the love that this season and its characters deserve.

Three seasons of Precure down, thirteen more to go. Thank you so much for reading this far, please share the love for Splash Star in the comments. I'll see you soon for Yes! Pretty Cure 5!

P.S.: I was revising the post and I realized I didn't mention Kintolesky and Shitataare became a couple in the Christmas episode and it makes me really sad that these villains came back to being dust because I'd love to see this relationship. XD Again, GIVE ME AN OVA TOEI (and come up with a dumb excuse for why they're alive like humans and tell us how they've become regulars at Pan Paka Pan and how Kintolesky and Saki's father became the bestest friends ever).

[leefi]

Hello! I don't know how old is it, but I just read your answer on that TamaFumi ask and as a shipper myself I couldn't agree more! :D Also I'm so happy to find someone else who's got so much in the arcana story and their parallels!

Right now I'm in hype for the new chapters of Relive story, that on Shiori and Michiru, which is fantastic! Have you read it? I don't know if I could spoil it or not xD

Anyway, back to Rinmeikan, I'm still wondering in the Arcana story what kinda role will take Ichie. Would be a "follower" of Tamao, understanding her war? Or would it plot against? Since we still have not see her it worries me.

P.s. sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language

Hello anon! No need to apologize, your English is great!

Yes, I've read the Shiori and Michiru story and I thought it was amazing! Michiru is one of my favorite characters in the franchise, and one of the primary reasons for that is how she balances her ambitions with her love for the people around her. Yes, she's very single-minded in getting what she wants, but she's also extremely cognizant of what is best for the others around her - she's prideful but not opportunistic. And I think that her revue with Shiori gave her a much needed wakeup call with Akira - that she cannot control the destiny of one person and that she wasn't allowing herself to enjoy the stage she was on right now. I don't know how caught up you are with the stories that have only been released on JP so far, but I encourage you to read her conversation with Misora as well if you haven't already!

And Shiori fully deserves the win that was gifted to her with how much she's focused in on getting her sister back. I love how she used her role as the Chariot to push herself out of her comfort zone and fight more aggressively. She's so young that I don't fault her for being a meeker person, but she's really coming into her own.

But your ask was about Ichie!!

Your question is an interesting one because I haven't given Ichie's role in AA much thought yet, so let's work through it together.

I think that the three Rinmeikan senpais are unique in that they are all united on the same front of what they're aiming to get - the revival of their performance department. It may be Tamao's darling, but Ichie is just as driven not to lose it either. Therefore, I believe that she'll work in Tamao's best interests, even if she doesn't agree with her methods.

The Sun arcana represents happiness, joy, and harmony. All of these things encapsulate Ichie perfectly - she is Rinmeikan's heart and light.

But The Sun also represents good fortune and success. "The universe comes together and agrees with your path and aides your forward movement into something greater.". I think that this is where Ichie faces the opposite situation from her assigned Arcana. Fate didn't play out well for her. Her idol career was killed in its childhood without a second thought by the people running it, and her second chance with theatre at Rinmeikan is quickly slipping through her fingers as well. She's positive and bubbly, but not passive. It doesn't seem so at a first glance, but Ichie is tenacious. I was so surprised when reading Rinmeikan's arc for the first time to see how angry and determined she was to reverse the loss of the performance department.

She's already been through the wringer once, and that's why I anticipate that she'll work in earnest to defend her and Tamao's best interests, even if she isn't necessarily on board with whatever plans Tamao has in store - either way, lord knows that Tamao needs an ally right now. Tamao and Fumi are also both known for being grimdark edgelords, so I don't think Ichie's gonna be buying the whole gay little "death sure has gentle eyes..." schtick. She'll have a blast playing her ditzy airhead role along with Yachiyo and her wife Kuro and god DAMMIT they'll have a ton of fun with it. AND she'll get the performance department back too!!

However many times she gets knocked down, Ichie believes in rebirth and fighting for second chances. Right now, Tamao and Fumi are fixated only on the the first part of that cycle: death. I don't think they've given much thought to the aftermath, and they'll very much need Ichie to guide them through that.

Sorry that this answer is a bit shorter and not as comprehensive as my previous ones - Ichie's Sun bond stories are only released in Japanese right now and really got mangled by Google Translate, so they were difficult for me to pick apart. That being said, I think I mostly reiterated here what I said in the last part of the TamaFumi ask - that for Tamao's single-minded sacrificial mindset and Fumi's pragmatic and realistic approach to life, they really, really need Ichie around to offer a lighter and happier kind of wisdom. I might try to revisit this once her story gets released on WW!

[sailorportia]

Not a Morning Person

Fandom: Revue Starlight Relive Pairing: Yukishiro Akira/Tsuruhime Yachiyo

Rating: T for teen

Word Count: approx. 1,150

Summary: Out of all the Edels, Yachiyo is the only one who isn't a morning person. A girl's gotta have her beauty sleep, but the rest of the Siegfeld girls don't see it that way. They've each failed to pry her out of bed for morning practice, until the duty falls on Akira. Has Yachiyo finally met her match?

Tags: Comedy, Teasing, Kissing, Surprise Kissing

also available on AO3

Akira, Michiru, Mei Fan, and Shiori stood assembled in the dormitory common room, waiting for the last of their number to arrive for early morning practice. Minutes passed, and Yachiyo had yet to leave her bedroom. When she refused to join the other Edels, their faces turned grave.

"Whose turn is it this time?" Michiru asked.

In preparation for their performance of Elysion, Michiru had scheduled practice sessions before breakfast. Four out of five of the Edels had no trouble waking up early, but Yachiyo was another story. She'd always been the last of their group to show up for breakfast, and she would sleep through the practices unless someone forced her to get up. Hence, "Sleeping Beauty" duty was added to the Edel's responsibilities, rotating between each girl every day.

"I think it's Akira-san's turn today," Mei Fan said.

Shiori placed a hand on Akira's arm. "Good luck, Akira-senpai!" She might need it. Shiori herself had to be rescued during her last attempt after half an hour of failing to rouse Yachiyo, who had distracted the younger girl with flirtatious remarks from the comfort of her bed.

"This way of doing things is inefficient," Akira said. "We're being too lax on her." Not being a morning person wasn't an adequate reason for Yachiyo's blatant insubordination. It was almost as if she was doing it for fun.

"Don't be so dour." Michiru smiled. "If anyone can wake up Sleeping Beauty, it's our Frau Platin!"

The others might've taken Michiru's cheeriness at face value, but Akira knew her well enough to detect the tension in her smile, the almost imperceptible furrowing of her brows. She was frustrated over losing valuable practice time.

"Very well," Akira said. "I shall return with Yachiyo soon." The others were counting on her, and she wouldn't allow anything to stand in the way of progress.

Akira went to Yachiyo's room and knocked on the door. No response. Akira wasn't one to hesitate to do what needed to be done; she entered the room.

As expected, Yachiyo was still asleep. Her luscious, pink hair framed her sleeping face in a halo, the angel imagery belying her mischievous nature. The blankets were strewn around her, and Akira could see her pyjamas, a navy blue long-sleeved shirt and matching shorts. Akira was relieved. In the light of the revealing costumes the seamstress was so fond of, Akira half-expected her to sleep in the nude. At least that would've been a proper excuse for not getting out of bed when one of the Edels came to fetch her.

Yachiyo cracked open an eye and adopted her usual smirk. "Watching innocent maidens sleep is a bad habit, you know."

Akira frowned at her. "If you were awake, you should've gotten up already."

"What's the fun in that?" Yachiyo yawned. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

Given that this was the fourth day in a row that someone had gone into her room to wake her up, Yachiyo knew full well what brought Akira there. She wouldn't give her the satisfaction of explaining the obvious. Akira was in no mood for games. But then again, when was she ever?

"You're going to get out of bed now and get ready for practice," Akira said, her face hardened with resolve. "You're holding your comrades back with your slovenly behaviour. There's no excuse for you to be sleeping in this late when the rest of us are up and about. If this happens again... are you even listening to me?"

Yachiyo let out a little snore. She'd fallen asleep again.

Akira groaned. She sat down on the bed next to Yachiyo and jostled her shoulder.

The other girl's eyes fluttered open again. "Inviting yourself onto a lady's bed?" Yachiyo chuckled. "How bold of you, Akira-senpai."

Her flirtation might have worked on Shiori or Yachiyo, but Akira was made of sterner stuff. Or at the least more oblivious stuff. "No more games, Yachiyo. This behaviour is unbefitting of an actress of your calibre."

She pouted. "What's the point of being a talented actress if I can't act however I like?"

Akira sighed. "If you applied yourself like that on the stage, you would be the top student, not I. But enough of this. You can't distract me, and I'll do whatever it takes to get you up and ready for practice."

"Is that so?" Yachiyo placed a finger on her chin. "Maybe I'll get up if you give me a kiss."

"Very well." Yukishiro Akira was a woman of her word, and if that was what it took to get Yachiyo out of bed, then the ends justified the means. Akira was not a faint-hearted maiden who would allow trivialities to interfere with her goals.

A kiss to wake the Sleeping Beauty? What could be more fitting?

Akira placed her hands on Yachiyo's shoulders with all the firm will for which she was known. She didn't so much as hesitate as she leaned in.

"Wait, you're not really—!?" Yachiyo whimpered as the rest of her words were smothered by Akira's mouth. Akira being Akira, she didn't half-ass things. This was no light brushing of the lips—this was an act of war, and Akira was winning. She held her lips against Yachiyo's long enough for it to count, and then she pulled away, the kiss over just as quickly as it began.

Akira could've sworn she heard noises at the open doorway, but when she looked there was nothing to be seen.

She turned back to see an unusual sight indeed.

Yachiyo was blushing, her eyes wider than Akira had ever seen them. "Y-y-you really did it." She touched her fingertips to her lips as if to confirm the facts. "I should've expected as much of Frau Platin." Judging by the flustered tension in her face, she hadn't expected Akira would call her bluff. However, the smile shining through indicated that she wasn't displeased with the result.

"Nothing clever to say?" Akira smiled in that haughty way of hers. "A staged kiss shouldn't be so disarming for such a talented actress."

"You're acting awfully high and might for someone playing that dirty," Yachiyo mumbled. Her blush and awkward smile had yet to abate.

"I'll leave you to change into your leotard," Akira said. "Be ready in three minutes." Or else. She left the room and closed the door behind her, without looking back.

When Akira returned to the common room to join the others, she found only Michiru waiting for her. "Where have Shiori and Mei Fan gone?"

"They peeked in on you and Yachiyo to try to pick up tips on how to deal with her. Before you came out they scurried back to their own rooms and I think they got back in bed." Michiru raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing with Yachiyo?"

Akira explained what had happened and received a lecture of her own for her troubles.

[keyofjetwolf]

Bonus Question Answers! (anime heat 3)

I asked a silly question! You gave me incredible answers. SO VERY MANY INCREDIBLE ANSWERS. If yours is listed below, you’ve earned an entry in a random draw to win a GIFTENING liveblog OF YOUR CHOICE

SURPRISE EVERYONE WHO ANSWERED THIS ONE GETS AN ENTRY (with extra entry if you pulled a specific line). This has been such a struggle for me for the past ... you know, million years or something, and each of you made me feel so good, thank you. ♥

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Q: This is reaching back into the memory a bit, I know, but what's your favourite of my fanfic? (BONUS BONUS ENTRY if you pull a specific line!)

*  i cannot remember a specific line off the top of my head but i remember the post-S series dealing with usagi's trauma from pharaoh 90 (sound of silence?) was a gut punch and a half --  anewconstellation

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* "Blue shirt. Pearl buttons." I think this was the first time I read you writing the Outers, particularly Neptune and Uranus, and, uh, holy shit. Absolutely note-perfect dialogue and dynamic, particularly for that period of Sailor Moon S when Michiru and Haruka used intimacy of speech and gesture as an instrument of distancing and obfuscation (of their goals to the Inners, of their hearts to themselves and to each other, of the heli-pad to the staff at Mugen Academy, etc). It was so clear, and so clearly *them* that I could actually hear the intonations of their respective seiyuu. And then to deploy such spot-on character elements in combination with the stakes and the maturity the anime never reached for, my WORD, are you trying to kill me??? The pacing, the restraint! What an absolute gift. You're a wonder. (also your drabbles are fuckin peerless, and the BTL concept is such a clever series framework)  -- @rasiqra-revulva​

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*  This was so hard to pick from, but I finally settled on "Cause and Affect" - it's such a heartbreaking story, but the juxtaposition between the clinical lines of information from the computer to the memories Ami is dealing with to the horror of the visuals around her... it's so bright and sharp and PRESENT.  It keeps me in the story, that mix of tones and feelings.  And the final line?  Perfection.  "Number of regrets: none"  What an amazing take on Ami and how she processes information and how she deals with the situation she is in.  I still get chills up my back when I read the story.  -- @amberlilly​

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*  I love your Between the Lines series, it's how I found your Tumblr and liveblogs back in the day -- @amboato​

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*  Author Alert.  “So never, ever, going to live this down.” -- @crunchbuttsteak​

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*  "Of her word" quote "But for all that, it remained sand. Rei erased it with one swipe."  -- Dei

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*  Between The Lines. Adding further character/emotional depth to canon is YES PLZ. I really liked the whole idea of Usagi having trauma post-Pharaoh 90 and all the chapters that hit on that. On a less serious note Chibs' circus-related PTSD and freaking out when Hotaru wants to go to the circus kills me every time. ("But your precious dreams Hotaru-chan!")  -- forgottenfae

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*  This is probably the obvious choice, but "The Sounds of The Silence" has haunted me in all the best ways since I first read it. The way you write Rei, Usagi, and Rei and Usagi hits me right in the heart every time. This particular fic, with Usagi so traumatized, and Rei being as soft and gentle as Usagi needs, will always stick with me. I pulled up the fic to try and narrow down a single line, and ultimately there's no real debate. "She would never stop trying to do more, but for now, she simply did this." That line is, at its core, the essence of Rei Hino. And it is perfection.  -- gatorsandglitter

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*  I don't expect this to win at all, just sharing,, but I just super fondly remembered the goggles and all the amazing content, meta, and fic those inspired, both from you and others  -- @goosebytrade

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*  "You Win or You Die"  my favorite line is "She and Rei WOULD have The Moment, they WOULD get their thousand years of bliss, and they WOULD be making out after all this was over. Like, SO HARD."  -- @i-needa-nap-please

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*  I'm always really bad at answering questions like this because my mind has pretty much become a goldfish in my old age and I have a hard time remembering specific fics; it all sort of starts to jumble up in my brain and things get lost. But I have always loved reading your writing, it's what got me onto this godforsaken website in the first place -- it was just before Crystal dropped, and we were all foolishly full of hope and excitement, and you were going through the Moon Pride video and waxing poetic about the FRIENDSHIPS and I was like, "YES! Finally! Someone who understands why I love this stupid kids' show!" I think I sent you an ask saying this before, (but who knows if you ever got it, Tumblrs being what they are - indifferent) but I tried reading fanfic and even published novels based on properties, like the Buffy novels and Star Trek and Star Wars novels, for a long time, and mostly found it frustrating and annoying and just... wrong. It always had this awkwardness and clunkiness to it that didn't do anything for me and just constantly screamed "THIS IS A FANFIC IT IS NOT REAL WRITING" at me. Didn't like it. But, I liked yours. Yours didn't feel awkward or clunky. You have never written any sentences like, "Rei watched the blonde stand up" where "the blonde" is Minako, and I don't know why fanfic writers think that calling characters "the blonde" or "the redhead" or whatever is sexy or cute but it ain't (sorry, pet peeve tangent). So, when you were writing stuff more, I would read it like it was going out of style, and you led me to Doc's writing, which had the same natural, "this is real writing" quality, and I loved hers, too. Anyway, my favorites of yours have always been the Between the Lines stuff. I just love the "hidden" moments that we didn't get to see. The Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead bits of Sailor Moon (speaking of fanfic that actually works) that bring so much depth to characters we know and love already or to characters we see only briefly. Also, the Shadow Senshi, because FUCK. Just... Kill Me. In any event, I know that writing has been difficult for you of late, and I know how that feels, so I hope that people who are actually able to answer this question have given you some places to go and draw strength from so that it can become part of your life again. TBH, I've been using the bonus questions on your Giftening surveys and Doc's 8 Days surveys as an excuse to try doing some small bits of quick, no pressure, nobody's gonna see it unless you or Doc actually LIKE it, don't think about it writing, and it has been helpful. I hope you can find something that gives you the same opportunity. Now that I've written you a novel that doesn't even answer the question you asked (goldfish, remember? *sigh*), have a gorgeous Tuesday!  -- @incorrecttact

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*  The one with Pluto and Queen Serenity, where Serenity is selfish in a very Usagi way, but her arrogance combined with that selfishness makes it a fatal flaw? I liked that one a lot. -- Jules

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*  the bit you wrote to 'fill in' a gap for why during r did mamoru act like a distant jerk. My favourite parts were Rei coming to see the same dream, and despite being the one to have the biggest reason to believe in these kinds of prophetic visions, Rei still doesn't believe fate is set in stone. -- just... a fan. a well-baked one

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*  Make It To New Year's -- @kaleidodreams

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*  ahhh, where is a link to all of your fanfic? It's the series you started after S, with Rei comforting Usagi, because like you I was let down by the fact that they never followed up on what Usagi saw, or even how she dealt, with the end of S. runner up: the one where Usagi is about to give birth because everything you write with Rei and Usagi is amazing. -- kari

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*  There was a drabble/draft/something that you used one of my prompts for, and I prompted you with Usagi and Rei, but you did it from Luna's perspective and THAT WAS SO UNEXPECTED and it turned out SO GOOD cause like!!!!!! You made Sailor Moon both someone Luna cares for, because still the legacy of the moon, and someone utterly discouraging for her because *this should not be*, and wow what a way to make it both about Usagi herself and about her powers.  -- katrani

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*  I love the btl fics, they fill in the missing gaps, add depth to the story, and sometimes smooth over things (SuperS) when canon is just...blah. One line I really liked was: “I was listening, at first, but then I started thinking about how hungry I was, and how a pork bun would be really good right now, and then I wondered what makes a thing a bun, and like, if you put ANYTHING in a bun, does it become a Thing-Bun, so could you make a bun out of another bun and would it be a Bun Bun, and wouldn’t that be the greatest thing to– Rei?” It's a great run-on, stream of thought sentence that just really catches Usagi's voice, is hilarious, and such a natural progression. -- @kumeko

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*  “HUG,” Usagi demanded again, because dammit, she’d been promised a hug and SOMEONE was going to deliver. (The one where Michiru has the hiccups. Because it's fun HaruMichi stuff, because it weaponises Usagi in a useful way, because it manages to (gently) make fun of both perfect!Michiru and saint!Usagi without being mean to either character, and also because I get hiccups a lot and I haaaaate them.) -- nerdy-flutterings

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*  I can't remember a specific fic, but I LOVE your Shadow Senshi headcanons and they're the main reason I started writing my own Shadow Senshi stories. -- @notesfromtheidiotbox

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*  The Figuarts saga is the Sailor Moon fic I never knew I needed -- Raye

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*  Special Delivery is a delight. So much Rei Certainty (that ends up being misplaced). So much Usagi being The Most Usagi About Pregnancy. So much Comedic Hijinks, because why the hell WOULDN’T ‘the Senshi get blindsided when Usagi goes into labor’ end up going full screwball? There’s a lot of great lines there (Rei’s theory about Chibs taking control of the Gate of Time and manipulating things is fantastic, as is the ending,) but my favorite is definitely “Rei Hino if I give birth to my daughter on the side of the road I swear I will go back in time and tear all the pages out of your favorite coloring book! [...] I’ll break the crayons too, Rei-chan!” Delightfully specific and childish, especially since Usagi sticks with it, and that particular brand of comic specificity is definitely a highlight of yours. -- Regalli

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*  Fire on Mountain!!! When I got to “Her voice was deeper than most expected when facing the certainty of her. It was rough, sandpaper running over cherry. She’d been a singer, once. Nobody would have believed her.” I was like oh. OH! -- Sasha

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*  My favorite of your fanfic, one one of the first I read is 'Hard to Break'. And my absolute favorite line is Usagi's panic when Minako tries to smoke: "Minako who was almost certainly dying, the cigarette had spread its evil and killed her instantly oh god."  -- @shavedjudomonkey

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*  Tonight Ami would grieve, and wish she understood why.'  This Between the Lines about Ami getting her mini computer both haunts me and brings tears to my eyes.  -- @shonasof

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*  I can't remember the title, but it's the one where Minako realizes that Rei's been writing Sailor V fanfic under the name Red Bow -- Somariel

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*  You would think Mako-chan's Happy Ending, but nope, this one goes to Hard to Break (although I had to look up the exact name.) This thing is filled with such great lines. How am I supposed to pick out one? "[Watch out, boys,]" Minako said in smooth and entirely unnecessary English. "[Lady Super Cool is on the prowl.]" -- Ultrace

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*  I forget the title, but it's the 'last senshi standing' fic where Ami is reflecting on the battle that took the others from her. Detatched and cold as she analyzes Rei Minako and Mako and finally Usagi's death with a medical efficiency, going through her Visors readout and then reflecting that the clinical words were nothing compared to what she'd actually seen. following up the method of death of the senshi with a statistic in relation to her friendship with the girl. Number of milkshakes shared, number of conversations lasting well into the night, number of hugs, number of smiles that brightened the darkest of moods. Describing how Rei's heart was pulped in a monster's grip, Minako's once beautiful face smashed against the rocks, Mako's lightning that outlived its mistress as she and Usagi ran off, and then finally that one last attempt to protect Usagi failing as 'Cervical Fracture' flashes on her visor. And From there she just... accepts death. sitting beside where Usagi had fallen and waiting for the end. it's dark af but it's the first one that always comes to mind when i think about ur fics :>  -- Vega

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*  I am extremely predictable here with two of my choices, as you know that I am obsessed with Fire on the Mountain and Blue Shirt, two things you wrote when you "definitely couldn't write" (Sidenote: My new year's resolution is to be harder on your about writing) We all know why I love blue shirt, it's basically an underhand pitch to the face for me, but Fire on the Mountain has a quality of regret and longing that I really connected with, something that really struck me in a way that was powerful. It's different from a lot of your inners work, and I think about Mina posing as Rei, in her disguise magic in the woods, and all the reasons why, fairly often. Something that MAY come as a surprise to you, is I really wish we got more ofyour overwatch stuff, and maybe I'll just keep asking for this for my birthday for the rest of our natural lives, but I think of like, the one you wrote on 7/14/20, with Pharah longing to have a man to shoot in the face because that would be easier than the emotions around whatever's going on with her, and I'm utterly tantalized. And I loved that hurt/comfort you wrote for me, where Pharah had this single minded drive to find out what had happened to Angela, and Tracer's trying to, well, comfort her, on some level, and the way you described Pharah's "animal cry" was FANTASTIC, and as always I am deeply jealous of your Tracer voice and IF YOU WOULD WRITE IT MORE IT WOULD HELP ME. -- WRITE, BITCH.

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*  The one were Hotaru confronted Michiru and Haruka about how they had tried to kill her in order to stop the Silence. Such a good little moment =w= -- zorrito

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AND THEN THESE WERE UNSIGNED SAD FACE

*  Chosen. I like your Overwatch stuff but Chosen was a goddamn masterpiece.

*  Operation: Heart Angels. Senshi going after Mamoru for his bullshit was something I didn't know I needed.

*  The entirety of Beggars Would Ride, including every single line of Anya's dialogue.

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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.