#watanabe says no doubles

[mirai-e-jump]

TV Guide & TV Station Magazine (Kansai Editions) ft. King-Ohger Cast Interviews for Adventure Heaven (translation below, spoilers)

TV Guide: Half movie talk (beginning), half fun free talk (second half)

TV Station: All movie talk . . . _

TV Guide (page 38-39)

Sakai: The film has wonderful guests such as Shido Nakamura-san and voice actress Ayane Sakura-san. The interaction with them left a deep impression on me.

Watanabe: There's a scene where Gira (Sakai) fights with Reiniol, who is played by Shido-san.

Sakai: There's also a scene where it looked like they were performing tsubazeriai (crossing swords and getting in each others faces).

🕷️Ikeda: Was it really intense when you faced each other?

Sakai: It was too intense! The atmosphere created the moment the cameras started rolling was beyond overwhelming, and it almost felt like I was being "swallowed up." I thought I was going all out, but I guess I wasn't. When we decided to do one more take, Shido-san said, "Come on!" He was very enthusiastic.

All: Whoa~!

Sakai: It feels like I'm only half joking, but he created an atmosphere that said, "Come at me again," I was able to give it everything I had.

Murakami: During the filming of Gira's coronation, I had an opportunity to talk with Sakura-san, who played Devonica. We all had the chance to talk with her and noticed she has a really nice voice.

Hirakawa: It almost resonates.

Murakami: We learned a lot about voices. She performed various voice patterns in front of me, such as low, high, resonant, straight, and a voice with an emotional range. It's an experience that only you can only see in this film.

🐝Kaku: Like the TV series, the CG in this film is amazing. We were surprised to see such original backgrounds, which are even more beautiful and fantastic than those in the TV series. As we watched it on the monitor we were amazed while going, "Oooh." I hope everyone can experience the scale of this film at the theater.

Hirakawa: I think the story is enjoyable, and contains a strong message.

🕷️Ikeda: I would like to encourage you all to see it on the big screen, as I'm sure you'll be impressed by how it evolves from the TV series in so many ways.

Sakai: It's been about half a year since the TV series started filming, and everyone in the cast is naturally getting closer to each other.

🐝Kaku: (to Murakami) You've been making alot of funny faces recently, right?

Murakami: Eeeh? you noticed?!

🕷️Ikeda: When you're tired right? (laughs).

Murakami: Mainly when I start my "engine," or when I'm sleepwalking. Sometimes it seems as if I'm not listening to what others are saying. The other day, Aoto-kun was holding a bottle of water and saying something weird like, "If you want this water, you have to pay 1,000 yen."

Watanabe: If you cut that just that part out, it sounds like a totally unfunny joke! (laughs)

Hirakawa: I'll start from the very beginning (laughs). Aoto-kun walked along a muddy road in the heat to get water for the film site.

🐝Kaku: It took about 20 minuets.

Hirakawa: That's why he jokingly said, "1 bottle is 1,000 yen."

Murakami: But I had just woken up from sleeping and was still feeling abit fuzzy, so I accepted what he said with as normal with a, "Thank you," while making no comments (laughs). If I were my normal self, I would've been more careful and said something. But in this worksite, you can be relaxed without worrying about anything.

Sakai: Lately, you've even started to make yourself laugh (laughs).

Murakami: I was able to train myself, since everyone is so good at boke-tsukkomi (double act)

🐝Kaku: My arms, are up (banzai) (laughs).

Hirakawa: It's about relationship trust. You can go big, because I think everyone will pick up on it.

Sakai: That's right. If you say something, someone will surely pick up on it.

Murakami: Thank you.

Sakai: Finally, which of the 5 countries in the story would you rather live in?

Murakami: I'd want to live in the country of Toufu, where Kaguragi (Kaku) is a Lord. I think it'd be really fun being one of the his citizens, because it's full of hospitality and delicious foods.

🐝Kaku: If there's filming in Toufu, rice is always served.

Hirakawa: Their rice is very tasty. I'd like to live in the country of N'Kosopa, where Yanma (Watanabe) is King, and I'd enjoy my life relying on technology. I want to leave everything to the machines and say, "Take care of me."

Watanabe: Although it's not depicted, I've always thought that there's a sauna in the country of Gokkan, where Rita (Hirakawa) is the King. That's why I want to go to Gokkan, for the sauna.

Hirakawa: If I ordered it, they might make one, but it's too cold to bathe in the open air of Gokkan (laughs).

Watanabe: I see (laughs).

🐝Kaku: For me it's Queen Hymeno's (Murakami) country of Ishabana. If I have an injury on my knee or shoulder and I want it to be healed, it'd be easy to do so.

Sakai: I think I could become macho.

🐝Kaku: Yes, yes. I'm sure you're doing a lot of health research on that.

Sakai: I'm not…

🐝Kaku: Say Toufu.

Sakai: Maybe Ishabana…

🐝Kaku: Why not?! (laughs)

Sakai: Maybe it is Toufu. I like the country side feel of the place! It's like there's nothing there…

🐝Kaku: "Nothing." That's a bit harsh, isn't it? (laughs)

Sakai: I'm joking, I'm joking (laughs)

🕷️Ikeda: For me it's N'Kosopa. I want to play games with Yanma and win.

Watanabe: Oooh~ sounds good!

Hirakawa: Well, It's a tie (laughs).

🕷️Ikeda: Shugoddam isn't popular, huh…(laughs).

Murakami: Shugoddam is a country full of small happiness, but many forms of it.

Watanabe: But, if I were to bring my camera, I would take it to Shugoddam. The architecture there is beautiful.

🕷️Ikeda: It's a European-styled town…and what do you mean "if you bring a camera?" (laughs)

Sakai: The question was "if you want to live there." (laughs)

_

TV Station Magazine (page 96-97)

"Bonds of the Young Kings"

Sakai: The first film for Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger will be released, and when I first read its script, I was very excited to see how the coronation of Gira would turn out, and thought alot about how I would act out his responsibility as king.

Watanabe: When I read the script for the confrontation scene in the film's climax between Gira and Reiniol (Shido Nakamura), the first King of the Kingdom of Death, It made me remember my audition. At that time, I was asked to watch a confrontation scene between Gira and Racules (Masato Yano), and Gira truly looked as though he was shining. As for myself, between the two of them, I was more influenced by Reiniol's way of thinking this time, but even still, I want the children to see Gira succeed.

Murakami: There were multiple scenes in the film where I thought I saw a new side out of all six of us. I wasn't sure how the scene where Hymeno meets her parents in the Kingdom of Death would be executed, so I prepared myself alittle for that part before we started filming.

Hirakawa: I was curious how we would film Gira's coronation and, on a personal level, how we would express a side of Rita that they had not shown before in the TV series. I was looking forward to it, but was also a little worried about possibly ruining what I had established so far.

🐝Kaku: I was very excited about the whole story, including the development of Gira's determination to become king despite hesitating. There are scenes where Kaguragi touches on his past mistakes, and It makes me understand what kind of mindset he had when he became king, so I can't wait to see how it plays out in the film.

🕷️Ikeda: I was honestly impressed by Gira's words. Going to the Kingdom of Death made me think a lot about the meaning of my life and, "what does happiness mean?" I think you'll be able to realize it, that even the smallest of happiness is such a wonderful thing.

Murakami: Between takes, I had a chance to talk with Ayane Sakura-san (Devonica), and she showed me how she does her voice in various patterns while right in front of me. It was a unique experience that can only be seen in this film.

🐝Kaku: The whole film was shot with green screen, but the backgrounds of the world were more magical than those found in the TV series. I was truly impressed by how beautiful the CG was.

Sakai: I think it was the scene where Shido-san and I are fighting. I wanted to go all out, but I guess I was alittle nervous, and the scene lacked some impact. When they decided to shoot the scene one more time, Shido-san said, "Come on!" he was very encouraging and created an atmosphere of excitement. Thanks to him, I was able to give it my all.

🕷️Ikeda: The cost of Gira's coronation has become a hot topic for some time. It's really cool, isn't it? It seems to be one of the main points this time.

Sakai: I also thought it was cool.

🐝Kaku: Also, the fight scene at the end is cool. Saying famous quotes before battle.

🕷️Ikeda: I think the film shows off everyone's good sides, such as how a king is supposed to act.

Watanabe: The part where each king confronts their past, Hymeno's scene had additional dialogue at the end, didn't it?

Murakami: I added the lines.

Watanabe: That part was really well done. I personally thought it was cool.

Murakami: I didn't know how it was going to turn out, and I was also worried about it, so…thank you (laughs).

Hirakawa: Gira, Yamma, and Rita perform actions in their pre-transformation stage. We worked hard on it, and I think it came out looking cool.

Murakami: I also really like the way in which Kaguragi confronts the past Queen.

🐝Kaku: Thank you. The scene with Yanma and Shiokara (Chiwata Yuhei) is also interesting.

Watanabe: Gira is both very straightforward and cool, so I hope that children will think, "I want to be like Gira too." With that, I hope you'll come to the movie theater with your family to see it.

Murakami: Each line has its own message, and feels like it has weight to it, so I would be happy if you could feel them as well.

Hirakawa: I think the message is very strong as the kings face their past. The story is also connected to the TV series, so I hope that you;ll enjoy.

🐝Kaku: The production of the film is different from that of TV series, so I'm sure that when people see the film, they'll think, "King-Ohger looks very interesting."

🕷️Ikeda: The world view of King-Ohger will evolve further and will definitely impress you when you see it on the big screen, so please come and see it.

Sakai: I would like you to see the determination of each king on the big screen. I'd be very happy if you could come to the theater to see this film, which we put alot of effort into. We look forward to seeing you!

[fandomnerd9602]

Can I request another Yuri watanabe (wraith) x male Spider-Man reader where he reveals his identity

Yuri: oh my

Y/N: I know. I live by a double standard. I can stop the bad guys and wear a mask while you can’t

Yuri: I was going to say you’re hot

Y/N: oh

Yuri: thank you for trusting me with this. But this city owes you a lot.

She looks around…

Yuri: and since no one’s around to thank you

Yuri pulls Y/N into a kiss…

[ekwallace]

Here we gooooooo. Part 1!

Title: All My Forevers Fandom: Mononoke Pairing: Kusuriuri/Kayo, eventually Warnings for this part: Canon-typical violence and horror imagery. AU as far as movie lore goes (much of it was written before there was movie lore!). Also, it’s super self-indulgent. :) Epigraph from "A Mouthful of Forevers" by Clementine von Radics.

I will love you when you are a still day. I will love you when you are a hurricane.

Kayo knew seeing Kusuriuri again would mean dealing with another mononoke—when two, she was quite sure, was more than enough for any human lifetime—but she still hoped it would happen. Not that she went looking for trouble. Trouble just had a way of finding her. And when she heard people in the marketplace talking about a terrifying figure haunting the newly abandoned Watanabe Manor--no one seemed to be able to talk about anything else--she knew what it had to be.

It's none of my business, she reminded herself, bowing to the vegetable merchant and accepting the basket of taro.

If he does come, he’ll handle it just fine on his own, she told herself as she haggled over the price of hamachi--the fish was good, but the price the man was asking was absurd!

It’s not like you even care that much, she lied to herself, securing all her packages for the walk to her new home.

She made it all the way back there before she admitted to herself that she was going to the manor to have a look.

***

Kayo tucked some salt into the sagemono at her obi before she set out. Not that she was going to charge into anything. It was just in case.

The stories weren’t exaggerations: the manor already looked like a ruin, even though Kayo knew people had lived here only a few days ago. The yard was full of dead, dried vines and other plants, as if they’d suddenly overtaken everything and just as suddenly died. Torn paper rattled in the screens, stirred by a wind she couldn’t feel. She hesitated to step into the courtyard; it had the feeling of a threshold she wouldn’t be able to un-cross.

“Kayo-san.”

She was expecting to hear Kusuriuri’s voice any moment, but he was so close to her so suddenly that she still jumped.

“I knew you’d be here,” she said, trying to match his calm, which was as unruffled as usual.

“Yet you were surprised.”

Of course he hadn’t missed the jump. He didn’t seem remotely surprised to see her, but then, she hadn’t expected him to.

“That’s because you snuck up on me!”

He coolly ignored that, and stepped easily across the line where she had hesitated. “What do you know about the family that lived here?”

She stood up straighter and followed him. The air was noticeably chillier in the courtyard, and now Kayo could feel the icy wind’s bite on her skin. Dead leaves skittered across the ground, though autumn was still weeks away, and all the trees were gnarled and dead, too. Even as they passed by one of them, it crumbled and fell as ashes behind them. Kayo scurried to get closer to Kusuriuri, the sleeves of their kimonos almost touching.

“I know the lord’s eldest son got married, not long ago. I heard his bride was called a great beauty in her village, but I’ve never seen her. No one here has.”

“Hm.”

The great double doors of the main entrance stood ajar, and Kusuriuri used the hilt of his sword to push one open. Wind gusted out, even colder than the air outside, almost knocking Kayo off her feet. Kusuriuri steadied her with a hand on her arm. Kayo didn’t see him fling the ofuda this time, but she heard the papery rustle as they hit the wall behind them, and she glanced back. None of them turned red.

“A great beauty no one had caught a glimpse of,” Kusuriuri mused, lifting the sword to look into its gruesome little face. He gave another considering hum when it failed to react.

“Oh! That wasn’t all. Akiko-san next door told me the lord’s son already wanted a divorce.”

Kusuriuri turned a sharp glance on her. “Divorce? On what grounds?”

“That she was greedy, can you believe it? But they did say in the marketplace that not too long they married, the servants here started having to buy almost twice as much rice as before!”

“Ah.” The metallic clink sounded that meant a piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. “The form is kuwazu nyobo,” Kusuriuri murmured.

“We have to deal with a lady with two mouths?” Kayo squeaked. She knew this ghost story.

“You need not.”

That didn’t deserve an answer; she just gave him a look.

“So she seemed like the picture of a perfect wife,” she said, thinking aloud to figure out the mononoke’s story. “The Watanabes are very traditional and serious. No fun at all! Even when the sons were kids, they never played or laughed. That poor girl must’ve been miserable.”

I might have ended up miserable like that.

Might have?

She wasn’t sure when, but she’d stopped taking it for granted that she’d marry someone someday.

Kusuriuri paused and looked back at her. Shafts of light from holes in the roof pierced the dimness, one falling on him so that his pale skin seemed almost to glow and the markings on his face stood out even more vividly than usual.

Well, maybe she had some idea when she’d stopped thinking that.

She could’ve tried to pretend she wanted a normal life with a husband and children and all the rest, but that was a lie she told herself, or maybe a lie she’d been told that she’d never thought to question. But she’d been questioning it ever since the umi bozu showed her what her true fear was.

This: puzzling out the mystery of a mononoke with Kusuriuri, working together, talking together, and yes, sharing more than that. This was what she wanted to do.

“Mononoke can seldom resist suffering of that kind.” He flicked another flurry of seals onto the walls ahead, and these flared bright red.

“The kitchen,” Kayo said.

The room was in ruins, shattered pots and dishes everywhere. Every container had been opened and emptied. Kayo didn’t see a single scrap of food, not even a stray grain of rice. She edged into the room to take a closer look, curious to see if everything really was gone.

“What was it?” Kusuriuri asked the ruins. “What, in the end, could you not endure?”

Kayo spotted a single piece of bright paper among the broken shards of pottery. “Kusuriuri-san.”

He swept across the wreckage and plucked it up. “Chocolate. I see now.”

“What?”

“They denied her even an indulgence as small as this.” He lifted the sword as if to let it see the mess on the floor, and maybe it really could.

“And that was too much for her to take."

“Yes. Trapped behind a mask of perfection, with no one to understand her and no respite or whimsy.”

“Whimsy?” Kayo asked, surprised.

He gave her an unreadable look; she thought he might have been silently chiding her for having imagined him so dour that he wouldn’t know that. “No one can live without small joys. The Watanabes tried to force her to, and when she could not find it in herself to rebel, the mononoke stepped in. That is its truth.”

Kayo didn’t hear the sword’s confirming clack over the huge crash that echoed the moment the words were spoken.

Faster than thought, Kusuriuri seized her hand and pulled her out the kitchen door. She stumbled into him and caught at his sleeve.

The ceiling in the kitchen had fallen, crushed by another desiccated, dead tree.

“Now the regret.”

“How are you always so calm?”

He gave her a look much like the one she’d given him at the suggestion she might turn back.

Impossible man!

The wind picked up again, as if the mononoke knew its end was approaching and was trying any trick it could to throw them off. It whipped a whirlwind of skeletal leaves about them and drove Kayo’s hair into her face, blinding her.

“There’s nothing alive out here, either!” She could feel Kusuriuri right beside her, but she didn’t know if she’d heard her cry over the roaring wind. He wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her in tight against his side.

A sickening crunch sounded from the roof of the kitchen.

The kuwazu nyobo was wrapped around the roof, monstrously huge and two-headed. It gripped the ōmune in great yellow talons like a falcon’s, the wood splintering further even as Kayo watched in frozen, horrified fascination. One of its necks snaked out toward them, wearing a face that was nothing but bloody fangs.

The creature shrieked, a razor-sharp cry between a woman’s wail and a bird of prey, and the second head swung around to stare at them. The face had once been beautiful, but now it was distorted, the skin blackened, the eyes red, the teeth so elongated that the mouth couldn’t close. The fangs cut into the creature’s lips when she screamed again, sending black blood pouring down her chin that smoked where it hit the roof and the stones of the courtyard.

Kusuriuri pulled Kayo even closer and held up his sword. “Once you had devoured the family who had mistreated you, you turned to the growing things left alive here for sustenance. Even after you became a mononoke, you could not conceive of escape. For you, the world was a place where you would never be allowed to ask for what you wanted.”

Does he feel sorry for her? Kayo wondered suddenly. It wasn’t a new thought, but it was one she didn’t have time for, because the sword rang for the final time.

“The regret is revealed.”

Everything spun away into blankness, swirling and surreal.

The mononoke slammed its faceless head down onto the ground, and Kayo was driven to her knees. She was dimly aware of Kusuriuri’s otherself advancing on the kuwazu nyobo, the fiery sword at the ready. He spun and struck with deadly grace, but the mononoke attacked with its second head, and he had to dodge, what surely would’ve been a killing blow going wide.

Kayo looked desperately for something she could use to help, but they were in an in-between world, the shapes of the manor and landscape as sketchy as brushstrokes.

The golden one brought the sword around in a huge arc, grunting with the effort, and lopped off the kuwazu nyobo’s faceless head. He reached without looking, and the mirror Kusuriuri wore appeared in his hand, just in time for him to use it to deflect the spray of blood that fountained from the monster’s neck.

The mononoke’s scream of pain shook the whole world. It writhed and struck out with its claws, catching the mirror and sending it tumbling to the ground.

“No!” Kayo launched herself toward the battle.

She was too far away.

The kuwazu nyobo caught up the mirror, raised it to her bloody mouth, and bit down. The glass shivered between the great teeth, one crack snaking across it, then two, then too many to count.

Kayo met the golden one’s eyes and saw the fear in them, which frightened her almost more than anything else that had yet happened, but he visibly steeled himself and, with a wordless battle cry, brought the sword down on the mononoke’s remaining head.

Kayo knew the blow had come too late.

The very air shivered and fractured, as if the whole world were breaking. In a falling shard of it, Kayo saw two arms, one pale, one dark and gold, reaching toward each other, straining. Not meeting.

Everything exploded.

***

Some time later, she came to, aching all over. She pushed herself up to a sitting position with shaky arms. The air was thick with choking dust, and it reeked of blood and ashes. “Kusuriuri!”

She got no answer.

Gritting her teeth against the pain--it felt as if something huge had kicked her in the chest--she struggled to her feet and called him again.

“Who is there?”

His voice. She made her way toward the sound, carefully. The air began to clear. “It’s only me. Are you--”

The question died on her lips. He was looking up at her blankly from where the blast had flung him. The markings on his face were gone, but Kayo had glimpsed him without them before, and there was something else not right about the way he looked, something she couldn’t put her finger on--

His ears weren’t pointed anymore.

“What happened to you?” she blurted out.

He got to his feet, clearly in as much pain as she was, which was unsettling enough, but it got worse. He bowed neatly. “I am sorry, but I don’t know who you are.” He thought for a moment and frowned. “And I’m not sure who I am, either.”

Kayo could only stare in dismay. She felt her mouth trying to form words and failing. “It’s going to be all right,” she said finally, even though he could probably still tell she was lying. If he doesn’t know what to do, how on earth am I supposed to figure it out? “My name’s Kayo.”

“I-- What did you call me?”

“Kusuriuri-san.”

“That is no name.”

“I don’t know yours. I’m sorry.”

The play of emotions across his face was perfectly easy to read--disturbingly so, when she was so used to his cool poise that gave nothing away. Confusion was the strongest, but there was sadness in his eyes, too. She could tell when he made a conscious decision to put both aside for later. “I certainly don’t know it now,” he said. “I don’t mind ‘Kusuriuri’.”

“You don’t remember where you’re from, do you?”

He shook his head.

She couldn’t leave him alone, that much was certain. If another mononoke were drawn to him like this, he was in no shape to fight it.

That sparked a sudden thought, and a fear, and Kayo looked around on the ground for the sword. To her vast relief, she found it. It looked just the same as ever, to all appearances as tightly sheathed as usual. “Here. You hold onto this.”

“It’s mine?”

She nodded.

“Strange.” But he tucked it into his obi.

The swirls on his kimono were gone, too.

Finding the medicine box took longer--some rubble had landed on it, but it was, somehow, undamaged. Kayo hoped there was something inside that would help them. She hefted it onto her own shoulders. “I’ll explain what’s going on... as much as I can, anyway. But it’s not safe to stay here.”

“Mm, I guessed as much from our injuries.”

He followed her back to the street, clearly wary but just as clearly having decided to trust her. He was subtle about it, but she could tell he was feeling out the extent of his own hurts just as she had tested hers when she first stood up.

It hadn’t gotten any less alarming that he was hurt enough to have to do that.

The town beyond the collapsed manor house looked completely normal. No one was even stopping to gawk. It was hard to believe no one had seen or, more to the point, heard anything, but then Kayo remembered leaving the Sakai estate to discover that outside, it had still been the same day she’d all unknowingly let a stranger selling medicine into the kitchen.

I’d do it again. Even now.

Taking him to her employer’s house was out of the question, but this wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have out in the open, either. “Would it be too weird to get a room at an inn?”

“Would it?” he countered with a straight face, and Kayo felt her own face heat up.

“Maybe. But it’ll be safe. And private.”

OK. What would Kusuriuri-san do?

Kayo pretended that wasn’t a crazy thing to wonder when he was right next to her, only... not. All too conscious of how she would stare if she weren’t careful not to, she snuck glances at him as they walked.

She’d never been able to get used to his beauty--it had always struck her anew nearly every time she looked at him. He still took her breath away. Maybe even more now, with the inhuman grace and strangeness stripped away.

“How old are you, anyway?” She hadn’t meant to ask so rudely, but he seemed very young, despite nothing actually being different except the missing markings.

He had to think for a moment. “I’m not sure of that, either, but ‘twenty-two’ is the answer that comes to mind.”

“Twenty-two?” It came out in a mortifying squeak. “That’s younger than I am!” Somehow that felt like the most unfair and wrong part of any of this.

“It cannot be much younger.”

“I’m twenty-five,” she said, grinning in spite of herself.

If Kusuriuri were really here, he’d think of something really smart and fix this!

Well, I can’t do that, so I’ll just have to do the best I can.

[ajwamiju]

Scene 4: 3... 2... 1... Action!

CW: Reader and Suna being a lil silly, but nothing too serious.

Note: Double upload this time around because I forgot to upload last week lmfao, calculus held me in a chokehold.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

“So, how did your discussion with Suna go?” Kasumi asks as she enters your dressing room where you’re getting your makeup done.

“Horrible. We wanted to try and practise scenes we’re struggling with, but we couldn’t even get through one scene!” You answer and groan. “We tried to do the scene where Hiroki is defending Kumiko from her bullies, but I ended up looking like a helpless victim of attempted murder and Suna looked like he’s actually about to commit homicide… with me being said helpless victim.”

“Yikes…” Kasumi mumbles under her breath, enough for you to hear it. “Well, if it makes you feel better, you’re starting off with a more dramatic scene where Kumiko confronts Hiroki on campus… y’know… scene 113?”

“... The only argument scenes I’ve done are ones where my characters are desperate to try and survive! How am I going to pull this shit off?” You groan, your stylist trying her hardest to hold back her laugh and failing miserably as giggles slip out of her lips. “You can laugh, Watanabe-san. I would also laugh if I were in your position.”

“I’m sorry [Surname]-san… please understand I’m also questioning Director Kurosu’s decision to cast you and Suna-san when you two are horror actors…” Watanabe says as she finishes up styling your hair.

You immediately get into costume and head outside, being escorted to where the scene takes place with Suna and his team already on set, waiting for your arrival. Director Kurosu claps excitedly and sits on his director’s chair. “Ready to do this scene?” He asks.

You and Suna glance at each other and grimace. “Would you like us to be honest or…” You answer half-jokingly.

“I’ll take that as a yes then. Now go on!” Director Kurosu says as he urges you and Suna to get into position.

You walk out of the stage and remind yourself of your lines, waiting for the cue from Director Kurosu for you to enter the scene. Once you hear the ‘action!’ coming from Director Kurosu, you take a deep breath as you stomp into the scene, the camera currently focused on Suna.

“Ashikaga-san!” You shout, keeping in mind to control your emotions to look worried rather than any other expressions you’re far used to while Suna ignores you. “Ashikaga-san! I know you can hear me! Stop ignoring me!”

Suna turns around to look at you, his eyes glaring intensely into your soul, making you stop in your tracks and flinch, as if it’s already ingrained in your brain. “Cut!” Director Kurosu shouts from his seat. “Suna-san, your expression looked too… murderous. Try to look more like you’re caught off guard and startled.” He says.

“Right, sorry…” Suna apologises, scratching the back of his head while you and the extra actors move to your original positions.

“Alright, from the top. Scene 113, take 2…” Director Kurosu announces, “3… 2… 1…action!”

“Ashikaga-san!” You shout, repeating the scene. “Ashikaga-san! I know you can hear me! Stop ignoring me!”

Suna stops and glances back, to see your figure approaching him quickly, stomping towards him. “... Shoji-san…?” Suna mumbles, looking startled.

You grab Suna’s arm and pull him towards you, making him stumble. “Why are you shutting me out? I thought you promised to tell me–”

“Cut!”

You and Suna break character and sigh, knowing you’re the one who made the mistake this time. “[Surname]-san, now you’re the one who looks murderous. You need to be more exasperated and desperate to talk to Suna-san, not like you’re taking revenge after he murdered your loved ones.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll try to manage my expressions more.” You apologise as you walk back to your starting position.

“Alright, let’s start from the top again. Scene 113, take 3… action!”

“Ashikaga-san!” You shout, repeating the scene yet again. “Ashikaga-san! I know you can hear me! Stop ignoring me!”

Suna stops and glances back, to see your figure approaching him quickly, jogging to catch up to him this time, rather than stomping. “... Shoji-san…?” Suna mumbles, looking startled.

You grab Suna’s arm and pull him towards you, holding both his arms as you try to look desperate, yet not to the point where your life seems to be threatened. “Why are you shutting me out? I thought you promised to tell me everything!”

“... Shoji-san…” Suna mutters as his face scrunches up to one in anger as is what is written in the script. “Who do you think you are!” He scowls, trying to pull himself out of your grasp.

“I am your friend! You’ve promised to tell me if you’re dealing with something so at least you won’t be alone in your struggles!” You recite, trying to keep Suna in your hold, though you’re visibly struggling as well. “Please Ashikaga-san… don’t push me away…”

Suna then successfully pushes you away, his eyes showing anger and distrust towards you. “Don’t overstep your boundaries, [Surname]– I am so sorry.” He says, accidentally mixing up your surname with Kumiko’s.

Director Kurosu sighs before he shouts the cut signal. “This is going to take a while…” He mutters as he rubs the bridge of his nose, bracing himself for a long day of shooting.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Taglist: @mirophobic @atrashsith @lilith412426 @rntrsuna @reignsaway @fallenisded @sunaemoby @buttercupp-baby @akari-fujikawa @omlxlaure (Drop it here to be included in the taglist!)

[ranger-ribbons]

Ollie Akana Headcanons:

(Warning: mentions spoilers, mentions abuse, mentions sexual assault)

1.) Despite his vehement denial of all things ghosts and spirit like, Ollie likes supernatural shows like Supernatural (he stopped watching after season 5 or 6, whenever the Leviathans came) and Stranger Things

2.) Ollie had nightmares for weeks about being turned evil by the Void King and Void Queen, then working as a double agent for Zedd. His s/o reassures him for hours after these nightmares.

3.) Ollie wasn't evil during his time with Zedd. He was a double agent working around the clock to help his friends in any sort of way he could

4.) Ollie's father was a piece of shit and abused him and his mom. Ollie was six when his father died, via falling down the stairs. Ollie doesn't regret it. Ollie also doesn't miss him.

5.) Ollie is protective of his mother to the point that he checks on her three times a day outside of normal texting

6.) Ollie is the youngest of the Rangers, not Izzy. He's 16 at the start of Dino Fury. He skipped a few grades, currently he's registered for online college classes. There's also a reason that Solon and the other Rangers call him Boy Genius/Baby Genius

7.) Ollie's heroes include: his mother, Billy Cranston, Rose Ortiz, Riley Griffin, Nate Silva, Hayley Ziktor, Andros, Jen Scotts, Taylor Earhardt, and Cam Watanabe

8.) There was a point in his life when Ollie very much wanted to be a pirate

9.) Ollie's been in karate since he was a kid, fencing since he was 14

10.) Billy offers Ollie an internship at Cranston Tech when Ollie graduates college. Ollie happily accepts.

11.) Ollie is well aware of other dimensions and would LOVE to go visit them if given the chance

12.) Ollie can speak and understand multiple languages due to his travels with his mother. The only ones he'd say he's fluent to mastery in are English, Japanese, and Hawaiian

13.) Ollie was bullied in school and people did tend to stay away because he was young, not just because of his attitude regarding group projects

14.) Ollie was sexually assaulted as a kid, around age 12 to 13. His mother won a million dollar lawsuit off the situation in order to take down the school, that teacher, and the board of education members that allowed it. She refused to let Ollie testify because he burst into tears at the thought and she refused to out him under more duress

15.) Ollie has ptsd, anxiety, and a minor form of OCD

16.) Ollie's OCD contributes a lot to his attitude regarding group projects, not just his pride

17.) Ollie is bisexual, leaning more towards girls, and polygamous

18.) Ollie writes poetry to cope with his trauma and his feelings

[tewwor-moving]

NEWEST MUSE LIST 06-24

*** doubles as an interest check so like this and i'll cook up a starter! highly suggest specifying muse(s) for this one! i will be focusing on them more between drafts!

the unnamed

once a normal girl turned into a fragment of saul's liminal world. she spoke to an aspect of void and made a trade of names. thus, erasing hers while also being in ownership of the void's own. said void fused with her, stamping an archaic spiral symbol at the base of her throat and causes a never-ending hunger in her gut. her true form blurs into a soft darkness that tricks the eyes. only the feeling of fuzzy static comes from making contact with her. she dares not speak in fear that the void within her will consume parts of the other person like it had done to her. crime verse is pending.

bishop 'cain roth'

Civilian occupation: journalist. Marked position: scout. Part of The Marked ( lore here ). One of the few that were exposed to the supernatural prior death. Keeps close tabs on the hunter group he was raised in and betrayed. Swears to hunt down the corrupt creature that granted his wish in trade of half his soul. Has to live with the repercussions of having reaped what he stupidly sowed. Tries to befriend the other Marked, but honestly doesn't hold it against them if he's disliked.

cruor 'amine kovač'

Civilian occupation: unemployed. Marked position: reluctant healer. Part of The Marked ( lore here ). Was an uprising MMA fighter in their past life. Unfortunately, they sustained a fatal head injury and passed soon after. The newest of the Marked, and is having an incredibly tough time adapting. Not quite have hemophobia, but does get queasy at the sight of a lot of blood. Which.. doesn't bode well since they learned their own blood has potent healing properties. Is usually anemic, still has a penchant to push themselves to help regardless, needs to have their hand held to meet the monthly hunt quota. Is truly #babey.

caesura 'chiru sato'

Civilian occupation: TBA. Marked position: wheelman. Part of The Marked ( lore here ). Flighty, little thing. Doubles as a honeypot for high threat hunts, but would much rather make a quick escape rather than fight. Almost always with a partner on any job. Arguably the most in tune with her emotions. Often sought out for deep conversations or quiet companionship.

soothsayer 'saraj cai' .

Civilian occupation: stenographer. Marked position: advisor. Part of The Marked ( lore here ). Mother of this local sect, does dote on pretty much all of The Marked but in her own semi-strict way, has prosthetic eyes, it’s ok to accidentally make a pun or two around her — she does it too ( no, the irony of of her saying ‘i see’ or being titled as an overseer isn’t lost on her ), prefers to use a cane, has her way on keeping tabs on everyone.

tatsuro watanabe .

your life begins like this. .. something tragic and unjust befalls your crew. the bastards didn’t even touch the treasure. they simply reaped each life by the dozen and set ruin to your body. all that hatred and sorrow and everything in between lingers despite your descent to the seabed. it’s strong enough to catch the attention of someone powerful. powerful enough to fix a magically imbued priceless gem directly in the your chest. moments pass. the sea god swims away. then there’s movement. consciousness floods you as wooden shoulders wrench forward, arms crack, and hands scrabble to split away from the wreckage. you, the once figurehead that guided the crew safely, immediately take to the sea. you'll stop at nothing to return the anguish twofold.

formally shaped as a dragon, tatsuro is able to shift between forms at will. there's an almost wooden like quality to him when assuming his draconic form. multiple scars are marked across the face, arms, side, chest, and back. a shard of painite is embedded in the middle of his chest; surrounding flesh is raised and becomes irritated when using magic / changing forms.

amant taylor boudreaux

just a guy that's been obsessed with harborview's happenings. he's dedicated his life to accurately detail not only it's citizens but also the mysterious people that return from the sea. is the author of the harborview codex. would 1000% try to get nasty with someone just to lowkey research them. brainrot on god ( aka oram, even if he doesn't know that weird soggy man is the sea god responsible for all sea creatures )

[yanderu-deredere]

UM so like, ive been feeling really shittt? and i was wondering which of the yanderes would be good at dealing with a depressed or suicidal so?

a/n: yooo im so sorry it took me forever to answer this ask but i hope you're feeling better! and, if you're not, have these lovely yanderes to help! also, i placed it under the cut just because of the warnings so heed the warnings and lets get started!

warnings: mentions of gender dysphoria, mentions of sucidal thoughts and ideations, mentions of depression, mentions of conservative opinion/thoughts, mentions of suicide attempts

gawain dubhán byrne ★ profile

Gawain knew exactly how that felt. In fact, he’d been in the same position as you. There was a time where he was in the wrong body and it made him want to tear himself apart. He dreaded waking up in the morning, all he wanted to do was fall asleep and just never have to deal with anything ever again.

That being said, because of his unique circumstance, he knew kind of what to do. He’d been to therapists and doctors, he knew the breathing techniques and the journaling methods, he knew kind of how to talk you through depressive episodes; he’d take care of you as best as he can.

Actually, Gawain would be the type to take care of you even to the detriment of his own mental health. 

If he hasn’t kidnapped you and trapped you in his expensive penthouse, he definitely would now. He has no choice. He couldn't risk leaving you to your own devices! Nobody knew better than him that you can’t fix mentally ill people immediately. A lot of suicides are impulsive.

So, he'd need to trap you in his house. He’d call his brother over if he needs someone to babysit you but, basically, until he deems you well enough to be left alone, the two of you are attached at the hip. He would totally spoon feed you, he’d bathe you, he’d tuck you in; literally becomes an annoying caregiving leech.

Part of it is because he’s overprotective and wants to take care of you. The other part of it is that he wanted someone to do that for him when he was depressed and suicidal. He wanted someone to sweep him of his feet, to take care of him so he didn’t have to think about anything else; someone that would just hug him and hold him and coddle him.

So, now, that’s who he is to you. And, if you don’t like it, well… Gawain thinks you’re too depressed and suicidal to really decide anything for yourself.

fujio watanabe ★ profile

Not to burst your bubble but oh my god, Fujio is definitely the type of person to be like Depressed? The fuck? Just go get a job or something, being depressed is for people who have too much time on their hands.

It really is unfortunate but Fujio isn’t going to take you seriously until he has to. 

This means he’ll brush you off until you try to kill yourself, you start hurting yourself physically, you start wasting away because you’re not taking care of yourself, etc. When your health starts being threatened in one way or another, Fujio will explode.

He’s always had a volatile temper and it’s ten times as worse when it comes to his precious darling. Nobody can hurt you, not even yourself.

So, then, he starts talking to people. Not professionals, unfortunately, but like people he knows at work or his boss or people he trains with. It’ll be super stupid, like he just comes out and says it, rolling his eyes like Can you believe this? Being suicidal? Depression? What a load of bullshit, amirite?

Except he’s not right and a lot of people in Lovelock, city notorious for its seedy underbelly, knows it. A lot of people Fujio works with used to be kids that wanted to die rather than continue living their terrible lives with abusive families or with no food on the table. Fujio would definitely be put in his place.

Then he finally understands. He finally realises that this is something he could lose you over. For Fujio, he’d be the type to immediately kidnap his darling so he doubles up on security. He baby proofs your room and you’re not allowed to go outside unless he’s there. 

Before, you kind of just had free reign and he let you do whatever as long as you let him know. Now, privileges are revoked. Not because it’s a punishment but because he’s worried you’ll end up hurting yourself.

He’d also be way nicer and gentler to you. It would surprise him since the main reason he ended up falling in love with you was because he felt like he didn’t need to walk on eggshells around you. But, instead of falling out of love, you encourage this weird feeling of overprotectiveness. All he wants to do now is take care of you.

ayaka yamato ★ profile

What do you mean you want to die? 

Ayaka wouldn’t be able to understand. Of course she wouldn’t. She’s lived a privileged life where, though her father’s a piece of shit, she’s had everything pretty much handed to her for free. Most people either always want to say yes to her or aren’t able to say no. What more could a lady want?

So, if she finds out that you’re depressed or suicidal, she’d panic a little. You’d think she’d be really conservative about it since she grew up in a conservative household. Something along the lines of you’re not depressed, you’re just being a snowflake. 

However, that’s actually the opposite case. Ayaka has never met anyone that’s made her feel the same way you make her feel and, if she has to believe you and do something about it, she will. Anything to keep you by her side.

She just doesn’t know what the fuck you’re talking about at first. So, to learn, she’ll consult her tutor, a doctor, anybody she can find; she’ll learn exactly what she’s supposed to do here, what you need, what she needs to force you to do or what she needs to let you do by yourself.

Surprisingly, for someone who’s never had to lift a single finger her entire life, Ayaka can be relentless and resourceful when she wants to be. She low-key dumps money on the problem which, most of the time, can be a bad idea.

However, with Ayaka, she throws money at the problem with all the love in her heart. She gets you the best therapist money can buy, she makes sure to take you to different places if need be or stay with you in your room if going outside is too much. She makes sure to find out exactly why you’re feeling the way you’re feeling and she’ll put a stop to anything threatening your mental health.

(The one thing she won’t stop is bullying you but she definitely controls her tone in a way that makes it clear to you that she’s joking or teasing you. And, if you voice that you didn’t like something she said, unlike a normal darling, she’d definitely apologise and avoid saying it again in the future)

liam anthony arieh ★ profile

Liam is like a mix of Gawain and Fujio. Part of him is like Depression? Aren’t you being a special snowflake? But also part of him is like oh no, I was severely depressed and suicidal once! 

That first part of him comes from the fact that he had nobody to help him when he was depressed. When he wanted to die, the only thing stopping him was the fact that every single time he tried, he ended up in the hospital instead of in the morgue. It took him going through several attempts before he finally got a grip of himself and stopped.

It definitely took him a while to work through his depression and, even now, he sometimes makes suicidal jokes about how funny it would be if he blew his brains out with a gun or if he overdosed, etc. But he doesn’t want to seriously die now and he’s definitely far from depressed.

So, part of him expects you to go through that as well. Part of him thinks that the reason you’re depressed and suicidal is because you’re weak and you just need to get stronger.

However, the other part of him acknowledges that you’re weak. If you’re his darling, most likely the reason why you’ve piqued his interest is because, in his eyes, you are pure and innocent. In his eyes, you needed him to protect you from other people that wanted to do to you the same things he did but for the wrong reasons. 

In any case, his solution is surprisingly not to lock you up (if you aren’t already). He’ll definitely start stalking you hard or assigning employees to start trailing you and making sure you’re okay on days he’s not able to do so himself. He also tries to find a therapist but, specifically, a therapist that doesn’t mind breaking patient privilege. 

He needs control. He needs to be able to manouver you in the exact way he wants and depression? Depression makes you unpredictable. Depression makes it possible for you to be hurt by the one person he can’t completely protect you from: yourself.And he’d be damned if he lets anyone, especially yourself, take away the one good thing in Lovelock.

[nakanotamu]

I'm watching Fight in the Top 2022 rn and it's your fault

What non-Meltear Stardom should I check out next?

First of all, anon, I am so, so happy, thank you for checking them out and thank you for telling me.

Second of all, anon, you have come to maybe the worst person you could ask with your question. I'm not, like... a wrestling "greatest hits" person. When people say they want to watch wrestling with me and ask what I want to watch I'm always like well I'm like a month behind so, the next show I haven't seen? I agree with Hiromu Takahashi when he said it's not necessary to go back and catch up on old wrestling, because wrestling is something that's happening right now. I seriously almost never rewatch old matches.

BUT because you came to me I can still try and rec some matches anyway. I'm really bad with dates so unfortunately you'll have to do a little bit of work to find them.

Tam vs Arisa Hoshiki for the white belt is maybe my favourite match ever, if I had to pick one? Tam felt like she had to challenge Arisa for the white belt because she had been chasing it so ardently, but it was also at the exact point she was realizing how she felt about her and didn't actually want to fight Arisa at all. It still makes me cry just to think about it. It made Mayu cry.

Both Tam vs Unagi Sayaka singles matches are incredible and heartbreaking. The first one is Tam confirming to Unagi that yeah, the way she cares about her is special, but she can't put her feelings above her role as champion right now. (I'm like for real to this day so insane about the fact they actually told a story of Unagi saying I know you love me, I know we could be something special, why won't you admit it.) The second one is just, about their entire relationship, as Unagi was on her way out of the company, begging Tam to take her seriously as a competitor and Tam telling her she already did. They also referenced spots from Tam vs Unagi 1 in the recent Tam vs Mina double title match, with Tam cementing that she did not feel the same way towards Mina as she did towards Unagi, something that was always sort of... the gorilla in the room when they were factionmates.

Hazuki vs Momo Watanabe from... March? Last year I remember really enjoying, Momo is trying to bring out the anger that used to define Hazuki while Hazuki tries to prove she just doesn't need to be that person any more.

Momo Kohgo vs Saki Kashima from the 5 Star GP last year isn't super long or serious, but I love both of them and the story around it was so fun. Saki told Momo she could either win their match, or she would give her a signed copy of her photobook. Momo said she'd take the photobook, no question, and then beat her anyway.

Momo Kohgo vs Maika from last October (NOT their 5 Star match, though that one I also enjoy a lot), specifically the rematch with Maika determined to absolutely crush Momo for beating her in the 5 Star, is short and light and feels like seeing two people going through a BDSM tutorial in the most incredible way.

Pretty much, like, any Syuri or Utami singles match? Like their ones together or just with anyone. I love them both so much and they miss so so rarely.

Also I still haven't watched the recent QQ vs Oedo Tai cagematch but I know the story was great and incredibly emotional, though maybe it won't hit the same if you didn't follow along with the drama between Utami and Kamitani.

Which brings me back to my evergreen biggest recommendation, just anything recent that seems interesting to you. I am always up for talking about stories and stuff to the best of my ability to get people caught up too.

[litcityblues]

Ask Chat GPT About This Movie, I Dare You

This movie had been on my 'to watch' list for a while but going in, I had no idea what to expect and by the end, I would happily say that this was the best movie that I have seen in a long, long time and it wasn't just interesting: it made some thought-provoking choices as well.

Set in 2065, ten years after an artificial intelligence detonated a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, most of the world is at war with a collection of republics in Asia that have formed the country of New Asia. The United States and the West is intent on hunting down AI and eradicating it from the face of the globe (which struck me as almost too real but also exactly what the American response would be if AI did detonate a nuke over LA) and New Asia is resisting, still embracing AI.

The US Government is convinced that the key to ending this war is finding the mysterious Nirmata and at the beginning of the movie, US Army Sergeant Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) is undercover with his pregnant wife, Maya (Gemma Chan) who is believed to be the daughter of Nirmata. He is close to finding the truth when his superiors pull the plug, blowing his cover and sending in the North American Orbital Mobile Aerospace Command (NOMAD) to blow the place up and kill everyone. Maya is presumed dead in the aftermath and Taylor is exfiltrated.

Five years after that, Taylor is working with the ground zero clean-up crew (one of the most chilling and excellent moments is when a defunct AI comes back alive looking for the child it is supposed to be nannying- whose corpse is in the seat next to it) when he is approached by the military again- this time by Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) and General Andrews (Ralph Ineson) who has been tasked with tracking down a reported new weapon that could destroy NOMAD, the mysterious Alpha-O. They show Taylor evidence that Maya survived and he is all in for the mission.

Only when they find Alphie in a New Asia compound, it is revealed to be a young girl, who can control technology. Realizing the importance of this ability and being unable or unwilling to murder a child in cold blood, Taylor abandons Howell and goes to seek out his ex-commander, Drew. (Sturgill Simpson- yes, that Sturgill Simpson. I did a double-take as well.) An attack kills Drew's simulant girlfriend and leaves him fatally wounded and Taylor and Alphie are captured by New Asia forces led by Harun (Ken Watanabe) who is a former ally of Taylor's. He gets Taylor to Maya, who turns out to be Nirmata- Alphie is modeled after her unborn child. Maya has also been stranded-- since AI is unable to harm Nirmata (their creator), she has been on life-support and unable to die. Taylor removes her from life support.

Eventually, he and Alphie are captured again and escape to do what must be done: destroy NOMAD which changes the course of the war against AI forever.

Overall: This could have been very cringe, but turned out to be a really smart, fun science fiction movie. I loved the fact that it put America in a kind of weird, morally grey place because I think that we would absolutely start a war to eradicate AI if we thought one of them had nuked LA and I also think Americans would have a big problem being asked to murder a child in cold blood. So it's not afraid to pose interesting questions either... The cast was excellent-- I'm a big fan of Allison Janney from The West Wing and pretty much everything else she's ever been in and she was awesome in this role- really leaned into the 'bad guy' of it all-- providing another little morally grey moment where she downloads the memories of a fallen soldier/asset and gets accused of 'playing God'. I like a movie that makes you think in intelligent ways and this one fits the bill-- it kind of slots into that District 9 territory quite nicely. My Grade: **** out of ****

[helenaheissner]

Love During Robot Fighting Time: Chapter 17

Hello, lovelies! Hope y'all are doing well :)

Don't forget you can read three chapters ahead on this story, twenty chapters ahead on "A Dream of Summer Rain", and two chapters ahead on "Magical Girl Exorcist Squad", by becoming a paid subscriber on my Substack or my Patreon!

If that's too steep for you but you'd still like to support my work, consider making a one-time donation via Ko-Fi:

Thank you so much for your continued support of my work! Every little bit helps me to keep going :)

And now, back to our regularly scheduled nerdy romcom shenanigans!

***

Zeke

4 Years Ago

���Hey there,” I said as I walked through the Lair, our school’s main cafeteria, renowned for its aggressively mediocre food. It  was a wide room divided into two halves, and overlooked an admittedly gorgeous lawn leading to the big white chapel that was on all of our brochures. The lighting was dim in the late evening hours- the cafeteria was closing in less than an hour, but I’d been so busy at the library trying to get caught up on everything that I’d barely even looked at the time. And then my stomach growled and I realized I hadn’t eaten in almost twelve hours, at which point I braved the thousand yard trek from the library to the Lair. I’d managed to acquire a club sandwich for myself and searched far and wide across the cafeteria in search of someone, anyone, I even remotely knew, anything to say I was at least making some goddamn friends finally. I traversed all the way to the far end, overlooking the law, where, atop a pleather seat in a booth eating a caesar salad, I found someone. “It’s Watanabe, right? Don’t we have two classes together?”

The rumpled, exhausted looking boy with the shaggy black hair falling around his face looked up from his salad and his phone and made eye contact with me, seeming legitimately startled that anyone was talking to him. “Oh, uh, yeah, I think so. But, I… Uh, I don’t think I remember your name?”

“Zeke Underhill,” I smiled. “Mind if I sit? This place looks haunted at night, figured it’s better to have strength in numbers.”

He laughed weakly. “Yeah, I suppose so. Uh, go ahead and sit. I don’t know if I’m that great of company, though.”

“I mean you’re here, aren’t you?” I said. “That’s all that’s required.”

“Yeah, but I meant, like, conversationally.” “We’re talking right now, aren’t we?”

He gave another weak laugh, filtered through a snort. “Yeah, I guess. Anything else you wanna talk about?” 

“You ready for Professor Eddington’s test next week?”

“We have a test? Already?” Watanabe leaned forward, panic encroaching on his acne-marked face. 

“Yeah, he announced it yesterday,” I said. 

“Shit.”

“You were there yesterday- I saw you,” I pointed out.

“I… Was distracted.”

“By what?”

He did a conspiratorial double-take, then pulled up an image on his phone and slid it over to me. “I call her Dai Gurren.”

“Oh, awesome!” I said. “Like from Gurren Lagan?”

“Yeah! You a fan?”

“Huge- love anime. Giant robots for days,” I said. 

“Awesome!” he said. “What are your favorites?”

“Uh, Gundam, especially SEED and IBO. Raxephon, Mazinger Z, IGPX-”

“I! G! P! X!” he said, fist pumping at each letter. It was certainly something- he’d practically come alive once we’d both started speaking the shared language of nerd. We wound up talking for a while after that, and he invited me to hang out in his dorm’s common room with him the next night to watch Planet With. So, I headed over there at 8 PM, into a beige room with a collection of couches and desks and a plasma screen television adorning the far wall. 

A girl was there with him, short and black with great hair and huge… Tracts of land. 

“Zeke, this is my girlfriend, Olivia,” he said. “Olivia, this is Zeke, from our class with Eddington.”

“Nice to meet you,” Olivia said, half-heartedly offering a handshake. 

I picked up on a disappointed vibe from her before even making hand-contact. “You too. Hey, uh, if you guys wanna have a date night, I can scram-”

“No, it’s fine,” Watanabe said. 

I noted the frustrated look on Olivia’s face right away. “Aaaare you sure, Watanbe?”

“Please, call me Frank,” he said. “And yeah, it’s fine. Olivia and I wanted to ask you something, anyway.”

“We did?” Olivia said. 

“Yeah, we did,” Frank furrowed his brow. “But not till later. For now, let’s watch this weird freaking show!”

And so we did, though after an episode, Olivia and Frank started making out right next to me. I tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the tv, but then it kept going the entirety of the second episode. 

“I’ll see myself out,” I said, getting up from the uncomfortable couch and heading for the door. 

Frank pulled himself off of his girlfriend for five seconds and managed to grab me by the back of my shirt. “Wait! WAIT! Not yet!” 

 I rolled my eyes and gave a mild exhale. “What’s up?”

“Still need to ask you something!”

“Then fire away,” I said, struggling not to laugh.

“Do you wanna join our robotics team?” he asked. “I want at least three of us for it, and based on our conversation yesterday, I’d say you really know your stuff.”

I turned around and looked at Frank, all pleading and hopeful and earnest and enthusiastic, while also noting Olivia’s face- annoyed, frustrated, but some of that was seemingly aimed at herself more than at me. 

“Sure,” I said. I mean what the hell, it would be the closest thing I had to a social life. What was the worst that could happen?

***

NOW

Kate stood on her tip toes as she kissed me goodnight under the lamppost on the corner of my street, her lips wet and slick from her lipstick, her tongue entering my mouth as mine entered hers, her hands on my chest as mine squeezed her butt. She giggled, and gave me one more peck on the cheek. “You have a good night, Mr. Underhill?”

“I had a great night, Ms. Calloway,” I said, drinking in the cherry-blossom scent of her perfume. “Sure I can’t convince you to come up for a night-cap?”

“My heart says yes, my brain and body say I’m exhausted after tonight,” she said. “Say hi to Faith for me, though. Let’s all hang out again this week, yeah?”

“Definitely,” I said. 

She turned around and started to scamper off, but then pivoted around and ran back to me and kissed me one more time. I stood there, stunned as she ran off again, but I smiled anyway. ‘Hate to see her leave, love to watch her walk away’ as she herself admitted she’d once thought about me. 

I ambled up to my apartment, the witching hour long since past, whistling ‘Feel Good Inc’ under my breath as I turned on the hallway light and took off my leather jacket. Kate and I had gotten In ‘N’ Out and eaten our burgers together in the back of her truck while parked on top of a cliff in the Hollywood Hills. We looked out into the city and just… Talked. About us. About the tournament. About Kate’s whole ‘image makeover’ plan. I’d never been great at the self-promotion stuff, but she seemed to be taking to it relatively well. 

And then, you know… We made out a bunch. Started getting a little frisky but stopped short of outright fooling around. We weren’t there yet, and Kate admitted she wasn’t sure if she was totally comfortable exploring her body like that at the moment. At least not until she was further along in her transition. Still, it wasn’t an absolute, and she’d even said if there was anyone she’d wanted to explore it with

I jumped when I saw Faith laying on the couch, staring up at her phone while All My Children played on mute from the tv screen. A handle of vodka sat on the coffee-table, significantly reduced in contents compared to when I’d last laid eyes on it. “Hey,” I said, walking over to the couch. “You okay?”

“No,” she said. “I’m drinking alone- does that sound okay to you?”

“It definitely doesn’t,” I said, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, pushing aside the table to make some room for me in this equation. “What’s going on? Who are you texting?”

“I’m not texting anyone,” Faith said, rolling onto her side and facing me. “I’m contemplating texting Olivia.”

“Oh?” I said, swatting her hand away when she tried to reach for the vodka. “What are you contemplating texting her?”

She looked at me with a tortured expression. “Please don’t make me say it.”

“Okay, I won’t make you say it. But if you don’t, then I can’t help talk you down from this proverbial ledge, girl,” I said. 

She pouted. Which was in no way cute, definitely not, I definitely wasn’t still thinking that about her. Not in the slightest. “I miss her.”

My jaw dropped, and I blinked. Hard. “What?”

“I… She… I miss her.”

“You… Miss her. After what she did to you, you miss her?”

“She apologized,” Faith said weakly. 

“After what she did to Kate, you miss her?”

“Kate started it,” Faith said with a wave of her hand.

My eyes narrowed. 

“Okay, that’s not a great line of internal logic, I know,” she said, sitting up and crossing her legs. “But like… Kate did provoke her.”

“What are you gonna say next? That you provoked Olivia into cussing you out when you-”

“Don’t go there, Zeke,” Faith snapped. “And don’t… Don’t make that comparison, please.”

“Okay, but can you please consider this from my perspective for a moment?” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Olivia has now been weird and hostile about two trans girls coming out to her- one is my best friend, the other is my girlfriend.”

Her eyes, previously fixed on our rotating ceiling fan, shot towards me. “Girlfriend?”

“Y-yeah,” I said, flinching at her intensity. “We’re… Uh, well, we’re putting labels on it now.”

“How long has that been a thing?”

“About,” I started, then checked the clock on the homescreen of my phone, “Five hours?”

“I see.”

“What?” I asked. 

“... Nothing.”

“Don’t do that, Faith,” I said, “If you’ve something to say, please just say it.”

“...”

“Faith.”

“...”

“Faith!” I said. No, no, stop getting angry with her- she’s drunk, you’ve dealt with drunk people plenty of times without losing your temper. She’s drunk and she’s lovesick and she’s dealing with the uncomfortable truth that someone she loved might not exactly be the best person ever. 

Then again, it wasn’t like I was in any way unbiased where Olivia Root was concerned. 

I inhaled and exhaled through my nose, letting the fresh air filter up into my brain and clear out all the junk. “Actually, it’s okay. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through with all this, you don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t want to tell me.”

“But I do wanna tell you, I just… Can’t,” she said, looking down at me, hair framing her face beautifully, freshly-shaven legs stretched across the couch… 

NO, NO, BAD! I thought instantly. You have a girlfriend. Do not check out Faith like that. You are not gonna be like Dad. “Okay,” I said, “If you can’t, then you can’t. Just please, please don’t text Olivia the ‘I miss you’ text- I’m really worried about what’s down that road.”

She nodded sagely… And then hiccuped. I suppressed a chuckle

She failed to suppress hers, which I didn’t not think was cute. She’s. Just. A. Friend. I repeated the mantra in my mind over and over again. 

“How was your date?” she asked. 

“Really nice,” I said.

She winced. I squinted. Was she… Okay, no, no, no, no. Don’t read into that. Just don’t. Nothing good down that road either. 

“Kate really is something, isn’t she?” Faith asked. 

“Yeah,” I smiled, the image flickering in my mind of her on my lap in the back of that truck, the city below us and the stars above, all the time and opportunity in the world. I felt like I could be whoever I wanted to be when I was around her, and I knew she felt the same about me. “I’m… I’m glad you two have become friends.”

She gave a smile I couldn’t help but think looked a bit bitter, and said, “I am too.”

That was when both of our phones went off. We checked them, and I saw an alert from the robot fighting tournament committee. Next week’s fights had been announced. Faith and I’s next fight had been announced. 

“Oh, crap,” we both said at the same time. 

***

9 Months Ago

“Hey, uh, Zeke?” 

“What’s up, Faithy?” I said, sitting at the kitchen table and eating a plate of turkey sausage and scrambled eggs while scrolling through some onboarding documents on my laptop that I had to read for a temp job that started tomorrow. Help getting a new type of passenger plane ready- they needed extra workers for a few months, but there was no chance of it leading to anything full-time. Perfect, as far as I was concerned. 

Faith was having a bit more trouble finding temp jobs since she started her transition a few months back- nobody said out loud they didn’t wanna hire her because she was trans, but it was hard for her- or me, for that matter- to take it any other way when she was a bloody genius engineer and yet they kept hiring other folks from our graduating class who I knew weren’t as smart as her. 

Such as me, for example. 

“Will you take me bra shopping?” she asked. She stood in the doorway to her room, wearing a baggy black and gold West Point football jersey over her long red skirt. Interesting fashion choice in the middle of the last gasp of the baking summer heat. 

I nearly spat out my black coffee. “Um… Yes?”

“Really? You mean it? I don’t wanna inconvenience you-”

“I’m just a little confused as to why you want me to go with you. Did you suddenly forget how to drive?”

“No, it’s not that,” Faith said. “I just… Look, my breasts are budding and my nipples are all poking through my tops, but I don’t really pass yet, so I’m kinda scared to go bra shopping alone, okay?”

I tilted my head, looking at the five-foot-three-inch girl with the perfect hair and the perfect makeup, and sincerely wondered how anyone could see anything other than a young woman. “Alright, sure. Just gimme a few minutes.”

“Are you sure- I know you’ve gotta read and sign all that stuff by tomorrow-”

“It can wait a few hours,” I said, closing my laptop and standing up. 

As I made my way for my bedroom to put my computer away, Faith asked, “Can I hug you?”

She’d been asking that a lot, lately. “You know you don’t always have to ask, right?”

“Yeah, but, I… I don’t wanna make anyone uncomfortable,” she said, looking at her feet as they traced the surface of the floor. 

I smiled gently. “You could never make me uncomfortable, Faith.”

“I did that one time, when Olivia and I kept making out right next to you-”

“Yeah, but that’s her fault for being a jackass,” I said. 

Faith glared at me. 

“Sorry,” I said, “Forgot I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

I stepped around her, but then she grabbed a fistful of the back of my shirt again. I chuckled, then turned around and hugged her. 

And then I felt something, two somethings, poking my chest. 

My eyes bulged. “Uh, Faith-”

Her eyes did the same, and she leapt off of me. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I said, laughing nervously, scratching the back of my head. 

Silence, so awkward it belonged in an episode of The Office, sat over the room. 

Finally, Faith broke it: “Well, uh, do you get the point now?”

My mouth curved up into a smile. 

“Or do you need another poke?” she said, looking ready to mug for the proverbial camera. 

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Just the tips, right?” she said.

And I laughed, waaaaayyy harder than I should have at puns that stupid. And she giggled at her own joke, swaying back and forth as she stood there, light from the window scattering around her hair like a brilliant halo, framing her in all her awkward, ridiculous, degenerate, glory. And I saw her. I saw HER. And she was the same person I’d met all those years ago, but everything that had always been good about her- her heart, her humor, her sincerity- had all been amplified twenty fold and was now wrapped up in a very pretty package. 

A shot of emotion, hot and fierce and downright ravenous, went through my heart and pumped through the rest of my body. Yearning, desire, attraction, all slamming into me like a violent tide. 

Oh, crap, I thought.

***

Present Day

The names ‘George Gregson’ and ‘Pendulum’ loomed large in the robotics community. Winning five championships and only having four total losses in the professional circuit to your name over a decade-spanning career tended to have that effect. Faith and I had been lucky enough to not have to face him at all our freshman season, and that he’d been knocked out of the championships due to mechanical failure in the semi-finals. 

Yes, that’s right- Kate had beaten the guy. On a technicality- his engine just overheated and shorted out within ten seconds of the match starting. Kate hadn’t landed a single blow against the guy before experiencing victory by default, something even she admitted was pretty hollow. But it was also the only reason she’d gotten to the finals. Which was probably the only reason Faith and I had won last year, because I was convinced we would lose to Pendulum in a fair fight. Olivia and Faith had a similar opinion on our prospects against Gregson last season. 

And given Gregson already had a 3-0 record and was basically guaranteed a spot in the championship bracket, I saw no reason for this season to be any different. 

Faith and I stood in our rented garage in Culver City, looking at Dai Gurren, wondering what, precisely, the hell we were going to do.

“This is bad, Zeke,” Faith said. 

“I know it’s bad, Faithy,” I replied. 

“Please don’t call me that anymore,” she said, somewhat curtly. 

I blinked. “Ooookay,” I said, hoping the bite wasn’t too obvious in my voice. 

If it was, she didn’t notice, or at least pretended not to. “We need to win both of our remaining fights if we want a spot in the championship.”

“I am aware of this,” I said, breaking the power tools out of their plastic containers. Drills. Lots of drills. Appropriately enough. “So, Ms. Chief Engineer/Team Captain: how do we approach this?”

Faith took out a drill and pulled on a pair of safety goggles. “We work with what we’ve got. Also, text Kate the address and tell her to meet us here. I have an idea.”

I fired off the text, and then Faith and I started disassembling the front of Dai Gurren and removing the maw of six small drills. We replaced them with much larger, thicker drills, all made of titanium and sharp enough to puncture sheet iron. And which, hopefully, would stand up to Pendulum’s swing of death a bit better. 

Pendulum was the type of unconventional bot that worked primarily through raw power. It was tall and cylindrical, painted jet black and made of carbon steel. Down the middle was a hammer that was normally nestled safely inside a slot, held in place by a magnet, but a flip of Gregson’s control panel caused the magnet to turn over to a reversed charge magnet that repelled the metal hammer with a terrifying concussive impact. I’d seen it undercut bots and tear their faceplates off, shatter weapons and crush wheels and brutalize engines. It was perfectly designed to destroy flippers and spinners, and most drills and other melee weapons weren’t safe to use in a direct assault. You had to come at Pendulum from an angle, stay out of its range. That was its only real weakness- the angle of its attack was limited to what was right in front of it. 

Which would be less of a problem if Gregson weren’t also a ridiculously good driver. So good, the only driver I could imagine having even a fraction of a chance against him was… 

Entering the garage right that moment, wearing ripped jeans and a purple tank top, her hair tied back and her face sans-makeup. “Hello there!”

I smiled. “General K-”

“We don’t have time,” Faith said. “Hey, Kate. Did you bring the stuff?”

“Poly’s in my truck,” she said, hitching her thumb back and pointing to the parking lot outside. “I’m not crazy about incurring a bunch of damage outside the box though.”

“Then it’s a good thing this will be a no-contact match,” Faith said. “We just need to work on our driving.” She pointed at me without making eye contact. “We both do.”

Okay, this was getting a little ridiculous. But now probably wasn’t the time or the place, so I let it slide. 

We cleared out the workstation, swept the floor clean, and put the bots on the ground: Polyphemus, Dai Gurren, and Gurren, our minibot. It was barely the size of Faith’s handbag, with a single drill protruding from the front. But we would need every weapon in our arsenal if we had a snowball’s chance in hell on this one. 

“Ready?” Kate asked from the other side of our garage. 

“Ready,” Faith said. 

“Ready,” I said, not feeling at all ready. This, a match against Kate, felt… Wrong. Even a training match, a glorified game of two-hand-touch football, felt distinctly off when fought against my girlfriend. 

Which could pose a serious problem going forward. 

Polyphemus’ ax was still attached, meaning it was moving slower than it would normally. Which was good- Pendulum’s slow and steady speed was one thing we could plan for. Even still, Kate hurdled towards us, dividing our two bots down the middle and pivoting left very suddenly to aim for DG. Faith went on the retreat, letting Poly chase DG in circles before suddenly changing direction while I went after Kate from behind. 

That was when Kate shot left again and went on the retreat; Poly slid over to my feet and skidded into a sharp turn as both DG and regular G were giving chase. 

I flanked wide and went around the room counterclockwise, going towards Poly at its center before banking right and connecting, very lightly, with its wheel. Faith did the same with its other side. 

“You got me!” Kate said. “Great job!”

“Thanks!” I smiled. 

“It’s not good enough,” Faith said. 

“Huh?” I said. 

“We need to be on the offensive the entire time, both of us. Gregson is relentless- he will not give us the chance to get our bearings. Let’s go again.”

And because she was, objectively speaking, correct, I nodded, and we went again. 

Kate didn’t make it easy on us, forcing us to scramble for enough ground to try and attack her from the sides, but after a few minutes we managed it. 

But it wasn’t good enough for Faith, so we went again. 

And again. 

And again, and again, and again, a few more times after that, until we all ran out of fuel. 

“Okay, I think we’re done for the day,” I finally said. 

“What are you talking about?” Faith said. 

“We can’t expend any more of our fuel budget if we wanna be able to comp Katie for helping us today,” I said. “Which you agreed to do- in fact, you suggested it.”

“That… Okay, yeah, fair enough,” Faith said. 

“Good fight, y’all,” Kate said, walking over and taking her goggles off, then taking mine off of my face and poking my nose playfully. “Boop.” 

I smiled, and probably looked like a huge dork. 

Kate went to do the same with Faith, but swatted her hand away. 

“Sorry,” Kate said. 

“You really need to work on not touching people all the time without warning!” Faith said with a nasty grimace and a clenched jaw. 

Kate’s eyes dropped. “Sorry.”

My eyes narrowed. “Little hostile there, Faithy, don’t you think?”

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that!” she snapped. 

I balked, then raised a finger and took a step forward. “What is going on with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what aren’t you telling me?” I said. “Because it’s clearly something- you’ve said as much.”

“I also said I didn’t wanna tell you.”

“And that’s fair. But what isn’t fair is you taking out your frustration over that fact on me and especially on my girlfriend!”

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Kate said, holding up both hands and offering a conciliatory smile. 

“Like hell it isn’t- you came all the way over here to help us, your competition, do better in a fight, in spite of the risks to your bot and having to take time away from your own stuff to do this,” I said, “And Faith rewards you by acting like a drill sergeant and then hissing at you!”

“Oh for- don’t do that! Don’t use your girlfriend like a talking point in your argument. Your problem is with me, don’t make it about how she and I are trying to establish boundaries!” Faith said. 

“You both know I’m standing right here, yeah?” Kate said flatly. 

“Yes!” Faith and I both shouted. 

Kate stared at us… Actually, glared is probably the better word. “I can’t believe I’m the rational one in this room right now. That literally never happens.”

I winced. “You’re right, I’m sorry-”

“It’s fine,” she said, “This isn’t actually about me. You both think it is, but it’s really not.”

“Kate,” Faith whined. 

“What does that mean?” I asked. Oh no. Oh no no no. 

“It means-”

“Don’t!” Faith snapped again. “It is not your place to tell him that!”

“Tell me what?!” I shouted. Please, say it ain’t so. 

Kate breathed in through her nose slowly, then out through her mouth with equal speed and purpose. “Tell you guys what- I’m gonna run to the gas station on the corner, get us all some sodas. And while I’m gone, you two can hash this out.”

“Please don’t,” Faith said. 

“Watanabe, seriously, it’s time to face the truth,” Kate said. “It really will set you free.”

She turned on her heel and left before either Faith or I could stop her. 

Leaving the two of us there with nothing but the proverbial elephant in the room. Dread gnawed at my stomach lining like mud wasps digging into my flesh. It couldn’t be what I thought it was. There was no way. 

But it would explain… Well, a lot of stuff, honestly. 

I took off my work gloves and heaved a sigh. “So…”

“So?”

“So.”

“Yeah,” Faith said. 

“Yeah what?”

“I…”

I closed my eyes. “Faith. We have the fight of our lives coming up on Friday, and we need to be a functional team when that happens. If you’re just stressed about that, then that’s fine, I’ll accept it. But I need you to talk to me.”

“I… Can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both?”

“Faith.” There was no other explanation. Nothing else made sense. But if she didn’t say it… It would keep eating away at her. But I still had no right to force her to say anything. “Maybe I should just go home, let you cool off.”

I started towards the exit, then felt a tug on the back of my shirt. 

I turned my head, and saw her clinging to me, face scrunched up, tears falling out her eyes. “Wait.”

So I waited. 

“I like you, Zeke,” Faith said, half a whisper and half a scream. “I like you a lot, and I have for a long time. Since… Before I was even living as the real me. You’ve always been there for me, propping me up when I just wanted to fall down, and… I can’t picture myself without you. I like you.”

My back went stiff, and I didn’t turn around. I… It just… Hearing that, from her, after all this time… It sent a hundred million different thoughts pinballing inside my brain simultaneously. The first one was an instinct, to turn around and kiss her, to sweep her off her feet and make violent love to her on the floor. 

The next one, far louder, far angrier, was ‘I won’t be like Dad.’

“Why… Why did you wait so long?” I asked, still not facing her. 

“I was scared,” she said, still not letting me go. 

“Scared of what?”

“That you wouldn’t like me back. That I’d ruin things between us. That you’d reject me like Olivia did and then I’d… Then I’d be all alone.”

The words screamed inside my mind: I could never reject you. I could never let you be all alone. They were followed by the words, You only ruined things by waiting until now to tell me. 

I gulped as I thought that, disgust coagulating inside my core. What is wrong with me- she’s pouring her heart out to me, and I need to say something. Anything. 

“Do you hate me?” Faith asked. 

“I could never hate you,” I said, and it was the truth. “You’re my best freaking friend.”

“And that’s all?” she asked. 

“I… I don’t know what to say to that,” I said. “I’m with Kate- you know I’m-”

“I know. And she’s… She’s a gem. I was wrong about her. The fact that she’s okay with me having this conversation alone with her boyfriend is… It says a lot, I think. Especially about how trusting she is.”

“I agree. So you can see why it’s important that neither of us betray that trust,” I said evenly. Finally, slowly, I turned around.

I regretted it immediately upon seeing the tears flooding out of her. Faith said, “You’re right. And I don’t wanna hurt her like…”

I knitted my eyebrows together. “Like?”

“Like Olivia did with me. I don’t… I don’t wanna hurt either of you, and I feel like the longer I stay here, the longer I do this, the more likely it will become that I do.”

I reached for her shoulders. “That’s not gonna happen.”

She pulled away, stepped out of my reach, and said, with the guiltiest voice I’d ever heard, “It already has. You don’t even know that you’re crying too, do you?”

“W-what?” I reached for my eyes and found the water leaking out. 

“This was a mistake,” she said, taking a few more steps back. “I’m a damn coward and this was all a mistake. I- I’m sorry, Zeke. I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you all this, and I’m sorry for putting you in this position. I know how much you don’t… Don’t wanna be like your dad. This isn’t fair to you. Or her. Or anyone.”

She started for the back exit, and I started after her. I reached for her. 

She pivoted and swatted my hand away. “Don’t follow me. Please just… I need to be alone right now. Go to Kate, Zeke. Go be with your girlfriend. You deserve someone like her.”

She ran out, and left me there, too stunned to say anything or move. By the time I regained my senses and chased her out into the parking lot, she’d already gotten in our car and started driving away. 

“Um… What just happened?” Kate said.

I jumped, turned around, and saw her walking up behind me with a can of soda in one hand and a plastic convenience store bag in t’other one. 

She hugged me without asking- she didn’t need to anymore. And right then… I needed it. I just needed it. “I messed up.”

She held me close and tight, and we stood there a while under the harsh light of day.

[koukouture]

Interesting things abt PGR

Things I want to put into a video but I’m really fucking lazy so....

ALSO

Massive spoilers for PGR’s main and extra stories, including hidden. And character interludes. You have been warned

- Remember Bruce from Fostered by Blade and Cyril from Land of the Fallen star? Watanabe’s interludes? We know they’re father and son, but did you know that they’re Scottish? Cyril’s nickname, The Beak of Islay clues us into this, as Islay is an island in Scotland.

- Nikola isn’t actually part of Kurono. Idk why but my dumb of ass (and a other people from what I’ve seen) thought that he was with Kurono in some way. But, he actually left it long before the main story.

- Speaking of Nikola, despite how cold he seems, he is scared of one person: Collins, the leader of Kurono. It’s not explicitly stated, and we don’t know why, but Collins was his superior and even after leaving Kurono, he has leverage over Nikola. Spicy.

- While we’re still on the topic of command, despite how Nikola and Hassen seem at odds with each other in earlier chapters, they actually work pretty well together and seem to go back pretty far. I will do a whole other analysis post of command/pgr npcs bc they’re so interesting. (And I’m also filling the void where the Dominik’s orphan’s comic is supposed to be, idk if it ever got updated ueehh) 

- Idk if anyone else noticed but in Inscription of Labyrinth but when you first walk up to Luna and Lucia’s old home, you see a shadow dash away. That’s Roland, as you later find out in the Hidden Story.

- Pfaff, Rosetta’s grandfather, shares a name with a name with a sewing machine manufacturing company. Idk, it was interesting to me since they have Pfaff sewing machines at my school. Pfaff is also a German name, so Pfaff and Rosetta (if she’s related by blood which idk if that’s been confirmed) are possibly of German origin

- Kowloong as we all know is inspired by East Asia, mostly China. The description supports this and says that Kowloong is made up of mostly coastal east Asian cities. So there are three possible candidates for Kowloong’s location: Shanghai, as it’s one of China’s most prominent cities Hong Kong is also a strong candidate, as it is also a port city And Hong Kong Island, you know, and island surrounded by water.

- Watanabe wields two kukri knives, a type of machete originally from India but heavily associated with Nepal.

- Asimov is named after the sci fi author Isaac Asimov. It’s pretty fitting, since Asimov is responsible for designing construct frames. Double fitting since constructs fit nicely with Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2) A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Someone on the PGR writing team really loved sci fi lol

- The second agent, Vonnegut is also named after an author. Kurt Vonnegut, known for his dark humor in his novels. Interesting, since I believe that Vonnegut says only to call him Vonnegut, meaning it is not his real name. I wonder what prompted him to choose it, but trying to answer that means actually researching Kurt Vonnegut which is... uh... not something I want to do on a weekend. Since I would probably have to read the synopsis of every single one of his works which he has well over 27 of since more were published after he died, and they’re not all novels. Someday, perhaps. 

- Nanami says yeet. I think it’s in chapter 7 or 8 hidden story but she says yeet. I don’t know how to feel about this. It has been haunting me for the past year. 

- In Roland’s interlude, he is an actor on the Mansdati show (I think glbl renamed it but I forgor) in which the main character, Mansdati doesn’t know he’s actually in a show and is just living his regular everyday life while everyone around him are actors. It’s basically the Truman Show, an old movie with the same premise. Except without robots and depressed clowns. (maybe? idk I haven’t seen that movie in a while. It’s pretty good tho, watch it) 

And that’s it, that’s all I got. Let me know if I got anything wrong. 

[f1]

Aston Martin and in-coming engine partner Honda open to extending Alonso tie-up for 2026

Aston Martin would love Fernando Alonso to still be driving for them in 2026 if he remains competitive, says their Performance Technologies CEO Martin Whitmarsh – with in-coming engine partner Honda saying they would have no objections with him driving despite their difficult past relationship. Earlier on Wednesday at a press conference in Tokyo, Honda announced they would make a full-scale return to Formula 1 with Aston Martin in 2026, having been attracted by new power unit rules introduced from that season that focus on electrical power and the use of 100% sustainable fuel. READ MORE: Honda to make full-scale F1 return in 2026 as they join forces with Aston Martin Alonso, 41, joined Aston Martin for this season on a multi-year deal and is enjoying his best season for a decade, having scored four podiums in five races to sit third in the drivers’ championships behind the two Red Bulls. The Spaniard, who will be 44 at the start of Aston Martin’s relationship with Honda, was not afraid to give his assessment of the Japanese manufacturer’s performance when he drove with that power unit across three seasons with McLaren in 2015-17. He famously called the power unit a “GP2 engine” on team radio when driving at Honda’s home track at Suzuka. Fernando Alonso was not afraid to give his assessment of Honda's performance when he drove with their power unit across three seasons with McLaren from 2015 to 2017 When asked if Honda would have any objections to running Alonso, should Aston Martin stick with him in 2026, Honda Racing Corporation President Koji Watanabe said: “We have been accelerating out development during all our recent time in Formula 1, while working with Alonso, and that enabled us to win the World Championship. “The selection of drivers is up to the team to decide. So, if the team decides we’ll have Alonso as a driver again, we will have no objections whatsoever in him driving.” Group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies Martin Whitmarsh said Alonso’s presence was not discussed with Honda during the power unit talks – but said it would be “fantastic” if the double world champion was driving for them in 2026. “Clearly Fernando is doing a great job in the team and I’m delighted to have him as part of our team as he’s making a great contribution both on and off the track,” said Whitmarsh. “Obviously I spoke to Fernando a while ago about the direction we wanted to go. Alonso has enjoyed four third-place finishes with Aston Martin in 2023 so far “He’s a very intelligent individual, I’m sure everyone here is referring to some comments that were made in the heat of the battle once, which were quite memorable for some, but I think he understands and respects what Honda is doing. “We’ve got to be aware - and we haven’t said it but we should say it - Honda won the 2021 and 2022 World Championships and unless we can beat them this year they’re going to do it again. So, they are a great partner for us, and I think Fernando sees that. ANALYSIS: How and why Honda and Aston Martin got together for 2026 “Probably 2026, who knows, it’s probably outside his planning, horizon, at the moment. We’ve got to give him a car that is consistently capable of winning races. As I hope you’ve observed, we’ve made a reasonable step forward this year, we’re not yet where we need to be but we’re continuing to develop the team’s facilities and we’ll get stronger. “And we’ll have a discussion before 2026, I’m sure, about where Fernando’s future lies. I hope he’ll be around for a number of years, and it would be great if he’s as fit and competitive as he is today. Then it would be fantastic to have him in the car in 2026 as well.” This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences Breaking news: Aston Martin to switch to Honda power from 2026 via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[crossoverquest]

I have something I’d like to publicly say to @arjengelly and anyone who’s new to the Crossover Quest storyverse: If you haven’t read into my storyverse’s Miraculous arc, here’s my description of it so far:

Argent and Sable’s Arc:

Monarch goes up against Argent Branson and Sable Branson, a pair of siblings that know witchcraft, when he learns that they know how to brew a black potion that allows them to match his powers of transmission and surpass it in many other aspects. Argent and Sable act as antiheroic foils to Ladybug and Cat Noir, who were the basis of two of their antiheroic personas. They’re an antiheroic foil to Monarch, too; as I’ve said before on my page, they’ll go to any length that’s within their own reason to unmask him.

The Celestial Anthology:

Veda Patel-Watanabe is the latest guardian of a group of Miraculouses that represent the signs of the Celestial Zodiac. These Miraculouses in particular work in mysterious ways; they chose their own wielders after Veda scattered them throughout the world in hopes of keeping them out of evil hands. Veda set off on a secret mission to find these wielders and create a unified force alongside Doppia, the monochrome Kwami that represents the Gemini sign, a Kwami whose body is shared by a male and a female personality, and the Kwami that allows Veda to transform into a superheroine called Double Dare. Double Dare has the ability to make a perfect duplicate of herself or any object that isn’t magical once.

[ofsupernovcs]

basics:

full name: Miyuri Watanabe

nicknames:  Ri, Yuri, Hotshot

gender:Cis Woman

pronouns:  she/her,

sexuality: bisexual

aesthetics:  parachutes, messy curls, leather gloves,

age:  twenty four

zodiac sign:  aquarius

occupation: stunt double (per diem), personal trainer/archery coach (per diem) , model (very brief for a now defunct Singaporean clothing company) , Miss Sacremento (former), Pageant Contestant (former)

species:  human

appearance:

faceclaim:  imada mio

height: 5

build: ectomorph

eyes:  brown

hair: black but has dyed and permed it

other distinguishing features: said to be doe eyed

style:  catalogue worthy, part supreme and zara, chic yet sporty

personality:

traits:  daring, mysterious, charismatic

labels / tropes: the red herring the stunt double

likes:  leather, cotton candy, a good deal

dislikes : her coworkers, wasting time, sour patch kids

To say Miyuri had a charmed life would be an understatement

Growing up she was known as the charmer, making her lead to her pageant days

Forunately she started pagentry a bit older as a teenager and her father, much to her mothers chagrin, insisted she keep up with her studies

As Miss Sacremento she finally got her big break, being a model and exercise science major

It would seem that Miyuri was set until she met him

There was something about the Singaporean business major that lured her in. Maybe it was the smirk and maybe it was the promise of being set for life. Maybe she believed that was her other half

But all that glitters isn't gold as Mayuri learned. Her fiance always gone while she was at home. Desperate to do anything she did modeling but even that couldn't scather her boredom

When she saw a seminar late at night on youtube, she decided she wanted to persue being a stunt woman. And truthfully it was the most fun she had in a while

It came crashing down though when she saw the texts from her fiance to another girl. Some undeniably explicit in nature.

When she told her family the news, very few people supported her decision, pleading for her to work it out

So she did her best. For the next year she tried everything to keep him in her life, but old habits die hard for him

Thats when Miyuri had enough. To be stuck with a man that wouldnt even change was stressful. That was six months ago

Recently seeing her cousin Nagisa's post of her brother's passing made her think she needed the support. So she hopped the first plane to NOLA

But she did not know what she walking into was far less cushy than her current lifestyle

And she hasn't seen anything yet

Personality:

Miyuri is that girl who knows what she wants and reaches for it

Miyuri has strong feelings about what happened but she wants to move forward

Miyuri tries to dismiss her beauty because of her past

Miyuri is a spirtual person like Nova but hasn't really involved herself due to her fast living lifestyle

Says shes here for a good time

[sithwitch13]

Forbidden Door 6/30/24

Amanda and Negative One, I'm gonna cry

Ooh, Serpentico? I didn't know we were getting Serpentico!

Newly beltless Kyle Fletcher cheering himself up by destroying SNAKEMAN

Roddy, grabbing Gabe Kidd in an aggressive hug: "LOOK AT MY NEW FRIEND, ISN'T HE SO COOL, UNLIKE A CERTAIN BABY SEAL BOY"

KOR, chilling with the Conglomeration plus Ishii and Willow: "Sorry, did you say something? We were busy making friendship bracelets."

BARK-OFF

STAT TIME AND ALSO STOKELY AND MOMO WATANABE

WILLOW TIME AND ALSO TAM NAKANO

Forming a conspiracy board because Tam and Momo are wearing contrasting colors while Kris and Willow are wearing the same color.

Oh my god Toni's ringside outfit

YEAH MARIAH

And here's Mina to keep the love triangle going

LIJ, you are so adorable

Aww, Alex's face paint

Aaaaaa it's time

So is the crowdsurfing a reference to Cody, Punk, both, or neither? I'm good either way

Is it just me or does MJF not have his usual dogshit spray tan?

LOL Kenny's face blurred

Double LOL they called Okada the Best Bout Machine

Okay gremlins let's see how cunty you're feeling tonight

Reasonably, excellent

Oooh Okada is very shiny tonight

Dying at Nick and Okada doing Antics

God I love these horrible little scamps

Dragon vs Dragon time!

Ah, it's the time of the match where Danielson tries to give us all a heart attack

EVERYONE SHUT UP IT'S TIME FOR THE SAPPHIC LOVE TRIANGLE

Oh my god Toni lol

Mariah's beautiful face acting, she's so amazing and the absolute heart of this story

Mariah: "now kiss"

TEAM POLYCULE WINS

THE HORNINESS CONTINUES WITH OC VS ZSJ

Black Glasses Dark Jeans Orange

Thank you Tony Khan and Hiroshi Tanahashi for your gift of squirming men

Is my brain failing more than usual or was this supposed to be a Zero Hour match?

I have been informed it was always a main card match and now I am sad

Aww, yay for Hook

This is the most "whoever wins, I win" match of the night for me

Ladder matches always make me nervous since every time I try to use a ladder I injure myself

ELP nipple attack, congrats to us all!

OW FUCK JESUS

Don't mind me, I'm just sitting here screaming "PLEASE BE CAREFUL" every 30 seconds

:3

Stephanie's whole look is reminding me of Hela from Thor: Ragnarok and I'm here for it

I have no good occasion to do eye makeup like Mercedes' but I really really want to. Maybe just for sitting around and playing video games.

Holy shit Stephanie's dragon screw is brutal

BRITT

SHOW IN JAPAN I'M GOING TO DIE

Mox vs Naito time!

Oh good they didn't make Taz or Nigel leave when JR came in

Oh shit yes and the Death Rider theme

RED SHOES

Mox why are you not wearing the NJPW shorts

Please stop saying "tran-KWEE-low," it's pronounced "tran-KEE-loh"

Mox has two gears, Nigel: "violent" and "clumsy puppy"

Aww, grats Naito

MAIN EVENT, LET'S GO SWERVE

Garcia watching? HMMMM

I HAVE BEEN SHRIEKING THIS WHOLE TIME OH MY GOD

I may actually be dying

HEAD PATS AAAAA

SWERVE!!!!!!!!!

The forehead kiss

The tears

Fletcher comforting Ospreay

I love everything

[wrestlingwiththoughts]

AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2024 Preview

After missing AEW Double or Nothing 2024 and feeling like I missed nothing of significance, I suppose that my enthusiasm for AEW has cooled off significantly since I gave them a second shot at Dynasty. Throwing a dream match like Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson will deposit a lot of credits in your favor, and I enjoyed how simple the match's story felt. It was a competition between two people who claim to be the best, and they fought with every tool in their arsenal to prove it. At the same time, I hated the contrived finish where Ospreay supposedly hurt Danielson so badly with the Tiger Driver '98 that he put Danielson out of commission, and I hated the aftermath even more when Danielson returned a short time after to fight the Elite in Anarchy in the Arena.

That inability to find and build on the emotional highpoint feels emblematic of what AEW has become over the past two years.

Dynamite feels like a chore to do rather than a show to enjoy, and I no longer make time for Rampage or Collision the way that I once did.

The BCC vs. CMLL feud reignited my interest, but the company seems to have blown past that idea after an eight man tag where Wheeler Yuta returned and triumphed over a collection of second tier CMLL luchadors. So long, grand fantasy of a hair vs. mask match between Bryan Danielson and Mistico. Farewell, Jon Moxley vs. Ultimo Guerrero in a singles match. Bon voyage, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mascara Dorada. It was nice to have had your company in my dreams.

Nonetheless, if AEW (and NJPW, CMLL, and Stardom) are going to be close enough that I can get to the show by public transit in less than 3 hours, I should take advantage of the opportunity. So, despite my cooled interest with AEW and the prospect of taking the LIRR home and then subways after midnight with a bunch of other wrestling fans, I have a ticket for Forbidden Door 2024 at the UBS Arena. Let's take a look at the card.

A. Willow Nightingale and Momo Watanabe vs. Kris Statlander and Tam Nakano

It seems a waste to have Watanabe and Nakano in a tag match on the preshow, but this should be good since Nightingale and Statlander have good chemistry as opponents. Their issues feel personal without also being parodic, and Watanabe and Nakano will pair well themselves. All of the possible iterations in this match feel interesting, and I'm interested in seeing Statlander and Nightingale keep up with Watanabe and Nakano.

Given the feud between Nightingale and Statlander, I'd rather have this on the main show instead of, say, Jericho, Big Bill and Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and Hook.

B. Owen Hart Cup Tournament first round match: Mariah May w/Timeless Toni and Luther vs. Saraya w/Anna Jay and Harley Cameron

Timeless Toni used to inspire angry upset within me, but now I treat the presentation and the character with disgusted indifference, which is much worse. Saraya does nothing for me. It's not surprising that the high optimism that fans had for Mariah May after signing from Stardom seems to have evaporated.

This will hopefully be short so Mariah May can move on in the Owen Hart Cup tournament and move toward the inevitable break-up with Timeless Toni.

C. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Titan, Yota Tsuji, and Hiromu Takahashi) vs. The Lucha Brothers (Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo) and Mistico

While I am delighted at the idea of seeing Mistico live in this randomly thrown together six-man tag match, I really wish we had gotten something of substance with Mistico. Guiding the BCC vs. CMLL feud to boil to a match between the leaders of each group in an emotional mascara contra caballera match between Mistico and Danielson would have been incredible, but AEW has been so scattershot in its planning that I should have known that it was impossible. Instead, we have Mistico in what should still be an entertaining but likely ultimately forgettable preshow match.

1. Ladder match for the AEW TNT Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin vs. Lio Rush vs. El Phantasmo

Ideally, Takeshita would at least be acknowledged for his potential and great work with a more prestigious role as the TNT champion than showing up to wrestle every couple of months. Instead, because the company feels committed to giving the convoluted and inane Elite as heel authority figures idea, Jack Perry seems like the foregone winner in this match. This is where my interests contrast with the company's creative pursuits: I want to see a wrestler as great as Konosuke Takeshita more often and in higher profile, more meaningful matches. The company wants to give us a tired heel authority figure story with the Elite that has Flanderized Kazuchika Okada and has thoroughly run its course in the company already with probably months of airtime left. It's no wonder my enthusiasm for the company has cooled. Martin, Rush, and Phantasmo are here for some of the stunt work, and Mark Briscoe should be in a singles match for the ROH World Championship elsewhere on the card instead of being the sixth man in this ladder match. Picking a name out of a hat, Mark Briscoe vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the ROH World Championship would have been a better use of his and our time instead of this.

2. AEW Women's World Championship match: Timeless Toni (c) w/Luther vs. Mina Shirakawa

It's a foregone conclusion that Toni Storm will win this because the endgame is still Mariah May vs. Toni Storm. I wish we could get there sooner. It still feels like the presentation has been for the delight of the male gaze, but lesbian fans have stated that they have enjoyed it, so I'm glad that they have had this gift. This will hopefully be short so we can move toward the inevitable break-up with Mariah May.

3. The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho and Big Bill) and Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata

Speaking of Flanderized Japanese wrestlers, here's Shibata, who only speaks through his phone's translation app. The presentation of Shibata as a comedic wrestler is only less grating because he's in a lower profile in the company. It still feels like a misuse of what Shibata can be, which we saw just this year when he was a plot point in Ospreay and Danielson's feud. I'm glad Big Bill is getting a moment in the sun; I just wish it was something more serious and less tongue-in-cheek. There's too much that is tongue-in-cheek in the company; so far, three out of three matches in this show's main card involves ironic acts. Like Saraya, I have little energy or time for Chris Jericho, and the idea of revisiting Hook vs. Chris Jericho now or in future is deflating. This will hopefully be short so we can move toward anything but another Hook vs. Chris Jericho feud. Picking a name out of a hat, a Samoa Joe, Hook, and Shibata vs. Bullet Club Gold six man match would have been a better use of their time and ours instead of this.

4. MJF vs. Hechicero

The idea of seeing a show where MJF will be treated as a conquering hero was certainly a point against seeing Forbidden Door live. I had enough of that experience at Grand Slam 2023. That dread combined with the idea that Hechicero will have to slow it down against MJF so MJF can do his usual shtick of cheating to win and probably beating down the entire Cage of Agony squad to do it is making me reconsider going to Forbidden Door. Picking a name out of a hat, Hechicero vs. Claudio Castagnoli would have been a better use of their time and ours instead of this.

5. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

We have the first match of the card about which I feel unreservedly enthusiastic...except for any misgivings about the wider storyline with Roderick Strong, the Undisputed Kingdom, Gabe Kidd, and Kyle O'Reilly. Hopefully, the focus will be on this match, which is a low-key dream match and a first time singles match. The beefier Sabre is still a strange sight to behold, but he doesn't seem limited by his increased mass. Cassidy (another example of squandered potential in AEW) is skilled and in perfect command of his character. I'm looking forward to this.

6. IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito

I'm glad Moxley is here to give the show a shot of violence and danger into the show. In theory, Naito should take off the t-shirt and put on some effort here; he is, after all, likely to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship back from Moxley. I'm looking forward to this.

7. AEW TBS Championship and NJPW Strong Women's Championship match: Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer

Missing Double or Nothing meant that I missed Mone's match against Nightingale. This will be the first time I've seen her live since NXT Takeover Brooklyn, arguably that pseudo-company's highpoint. I think Vaquer's presentation is great and in-ring work is good, so I'm looking forward to this.

8. The Elite (Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, and Kazuchika Okada) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster and Anthony Bowens) and Hiroshi Tanahashi w/Billy Gunn

All this just so we could revisit Okada vs. Tanahashi once more. I'm annoyed with how the company has reduced Okada to a punchline. I'm annoyed that we're still trying with the Acclaimed. I'm annoyed (and not in the way that they intend) with the Jacksons' smarmy characters. Picking a name out of a hat, the Elite could have faced the Acclaimed at a TV taping and Okada could have wrestled Volador Jr. instead for the Continental Championship.

9. Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

Bryan Danielson is probably my favorite wrestler of all time, and it will be good to see a rematch against Takagi 14 years after their last singles match in DGUSA. I'm looking forward to this.

10. AEW World Championship match: Swerve Strickland (c) w/Prince Nana vs. Will Ospreay

The number of viable outcomes for this match seems to have narrowed to Ospreay losing because he's distracted by his hesitation to use the Tiger Drive '98. I wish this didn't feel like AEW was using an Ospreay loss to prop up Strickland's reign. I wish I didn't have as many doubts about the company's ability to keep Ospreay as hot as he is so that he could win the championship later. I wish Strickland had won the title earlier in 2023 when he seemed hotter and so he could have had a longer reign. I wish the company were better so I wouldn't dread where this match goes; the possibility that the Don Callis Family interferes to cost Ospreay the match dampens my enthusiasm greatly.

And that encapsulates my feelings about AEW as a fan: I have serious doubts that they know how to best present their wrestlers' strengths. Their decisions in 2023 feel like an inflection point about their creative direction and priorities, and while I had hoped that Okada and Ospreay would have forced them to alter their direction, the company has instead bent them to fit the company's shape.