#while I was drawing that first one I was wondering if the AI of shin that he destroyed was slightly (or not so slightly?) different

[reminiscentrainclouds]

Shin AI doodle collection (he is on my wall)

[you-cant-fuck-megaman]

megaman AI box art

there’s a pretty big discussion around AI art, it seems i’m not super-familiar with The Discourse but if my programming experience has taught me anything it’s that random generation has to springboard off of something (usually called a seed), and you have to feed stuff in to an AI to get material to build off of that springboard so i’ve got several big goddamn questions as to where t f these guys would get their seeds and material from

but me being me, the first thing on my mind is “can you draw megaman with it?” so i decided to insert in "megaman box art" to a handful of different ones, see what happens

first off is a place called Nightcafe Studio, which allows you to pick one of three styles to make art in: cosmic, matte, and cyberpunk. nacho cheese and cool ranch were out, sorry.

this is "megaman box art" as done in its cosmic style and it certainly looks cosmic megaman got a nose guard to defend against space pollen, i guess and either his arm got detached and is floating down there or he's got a vacuum cleaner attached to his shins but it sure is cosmic

6/10, pretty colors but not very megaman

next style was matte, and

this actually looks pretty fucking cool! you've got a rad cityscape in the background, lighting’s really neat, and background to the MGA AIN MGATAN logo as sponsored by pepsi is cool

i guess that's kind of sort of Model ZX aile if you squint and tilt your head, but she’s the main part that turns the entire thing sinister. did you know that when you’re dealing with the fae shapeshifted as a human, you should count the features to make sure everything’s accurate? count the knuckles, count the fingers, count the shadows... oops, six fingers hah hah hah hah hhhhhhhhhhhh this is not Model ZX aile, this is not your friend.

7/10 you’re not stealing my goddamn teeth today, oberon

last to go is cyberpunk style and

holy shit this is a fucking WWE poster roman reigns dressed in pink and got a fucking beam tonfa??? or something a very distorted vince mcmahon puts on a power glove while brock lesnar looks disappointed to the side, and fiery font tells us that the meemen meeaiiaininaihiniahin is gonna happen at 2 / F' / 20 i could imagine you could probably print this out, put it through photoshop for edits, and then try to pass it off as an official poster for a synthwave megaman reboot. if you were a moron who wanted to get fired, i mean. fantastic way to commit career suicide.

1/10 coolest shit i've ever seen but very bad megaman art tbh

still, i'll give cyberpunk another shot. maybe it was confused, thinking it was going to have men that were mega, rather than megaman

HOLY SHIT

fuckin AXE DADY megaman over here this has it all it's got the dictator cam, looking up like it's hitler it's got the stance, holding a black vylon slinky to the side while he contemplates shooting above it it's got the logo sleekness, i've never seen MEEMN AXE DADY rendered so well it's got the color contrast, bright blue city in the left while a goddamn laser rips through time and space on the right and it's got a cool robot that actually kind of has a buster arm, though the computer is clearly confused as to what megaman’s buster actually looks like maybe should’ve let an artist handle that?

10/10, great megaman art, fucking amazing, would play, would watch, would let axe dady shoot things

next up is deepai's Machine Learning Model doesn’t seem to have any parameters, just put in a text box and go, so i did

thanks i've been wondering how it would be possible to turn megaman into a horror icon i didn't think hollowing his face out and replacing it with a fucking skull would be the answer but this is a pretty handy way to ensure my insomnia persists through the night

0/10 i

fucking

hate it

hastily getting the fuck away from that abomination unto both god and man, next up is dream.ai it seems to be a service mostly for developing and providing NFTs, but it's actually completely free with a little finagling so i don’t get where the value is supposed to come from

anyway, there's a lot of different options to provide a customized art style for the prompt, and you can even see it with different things it's got a lot of options too many to safely delve into, in fact, so i'm going to do the game journalist thing and generate maybe a handful of things and judge it entirely off that

first off is a comic art style generated without a seed

and at first glance this looks partially like the megaman 1 box art characters decided to pvp with each other at second glance as you look closer, though, you can clearly tell it's an i don't know what the fuck

4/10 colors look cool at least

maybe weird shit is the best part of it, though maybe weird shit is what it specializes in so let's try psychadelic

well, that's psychadelic all right i guess the dude in the middle is kind of sort of vaguely megaman but i don't know what the fuck else there is, there's actually less sensible shit going on here

2/10 i like listening to shpongle too, dude

but it's safe to say this system needs a bit of help let's go back to comic style and feed in some nice art from existing megaman

in my opinion, this poster is the peak megaman experience. it’s the quintessential representation. this pretty clearly dictates what megaman's about guy in blue shooting things robots getting shot at ominous shitbag in the background castlevania for some reason

favorite promo art, hands down. so let’s see how the AI works with this.

all right, finally, we're getting somewhere. guess this AI just needed to copy from someone else’s homework first. wow, that brings up a lot of questions about the nature of the materials AI art generators use to build their random images. well, that’s goddamn horrifying to contemplate. am i a monster unwittingly contributing to a system of artistic exploitation for the sake of making a shitpost on a megaman shitpost blog? fucked up.

anyway, we got a robot dude, he's got a gun, he's even got a little strut i like this guy a lot, he's got moxie and a rad face-visor thing

all right, i'm feeling generous 6/10 you fucked up but now you're getting better

let's go once more for comic style and

all right, holy shit, you're learning fast yeah this is undeniably megaman he's even got the weird helmet and weird boots and everything

there's a cool cityscape, a sci-fi sky, and he's trying to give the underside of a ship the highest of fives he doesn't look like he's standing very well on his taco bowl of destiny, though but i can't fault him with his dildo leg, must be difficult to stand on and judging by his pants, he's got trouble with testicles the size of texas growing in after kicking wily's ass 69 times understandable problem, really, after you go through 10 games that’s when you turn from a mega boy to a real mega man

9/10, good box art

you know, i'm feeling confident, i think dream's got a good idea as to what's going on with megaman let's take a risk and go for a different art style synthwave looks good, it's all about that retro shit and megaman's a retro series

this doesn't look like a new picture that just looks like you took the original picture and put a shitty smear on it

god fucking damn it

0/10, apply yourself, pick up a goddamn pencil and then see me after class

getting away from that, next up is stable diffusion, apparently a state-of-the-art AI generator hosted by Hugging Face, which i hope is a legitimate company and not a front for xenomorphs

and HOLY SHIT

on the first go we have some actual fucking box art good background, very clear, we've got a skyline with a forcefield pyramid in the background i guess wily's a space egyptian now? rad.

napalm bomb megaman's doing some fucking pelvic thrusts ready to spread war crimes all about bit distressing for our sweet friendly superhero boy but i'll admit i'd react the same way after getting a fucking napalm gun for an arm.

we've even got a rating on the bottom right, indicating that it's suitable for ages Video Game and up got a clearly-defined line for letting the publishers rub their dick all over, filling it with logos or titles or other corporate information

i feel confident about this, i like our MEAAN game, shit's looking pretty good

10/10, good box art. real good box art. little timmy would probably be confused seeing it on the shelf but this strikes me as something Bob Capcom would reasonably okay after five lagers and an existential crisis.

getting a little concerned here, looks like crisis on infinite megamans

i don’t want to imagine how many official variants of rock there are, especially if you count all the fangame/indie game knockoffs, but having them all collide together into a single Enter the Megaverse sounds like it'd be effectively impossible to handle do you want to play megaman, megaman x, megaman volnutt, megaman.exe, star force, zx, x over flavored? dos-flavored? bad box art flavored? captain n flavored? pachinko-flavored?

NGL though if rockman taisen ends up being some sort of dumb megaman battle royale then i would actually punch a cactus out to be able to play as ruby spears megaman frankly, huge missed opportunity that they're not even in X Dive the tagline even writes itself, "I knew you'd pull for Mr. Lincoln!"

oh yeah i was rating the cover uhhhhhhhh i dunno, there's dudes i don't know, they're doing poses, ominous guy in the background i guess it's serviceable? this doesn’t really tell me anything about the game, there’s just guys.

6/10 i'd pass it over and look at something else

holy shit are you okay? either he's (she's? they're?) taking a dump and all their lower intestines got caught in it, or something is burning out in the thinkpan and won’t be coming back

that dead-eyed glare is actually legitimately haunting this is the expression someone makes in anime after they realize you stabbed them and you were never their friend i've only seen that gaze in my life twice before and let me tell you, you remember things

1/10 someone call the police

all right, i’m moving away from that before i bring up more questionable ground our final contestant for the night is hotpot.ai, a website for general purpose game asset AI generation. they’ve got AI-handled copywrite, too, which strikes me as risky ground. if i can’t trust a machine with megaman, can i trust a machine to legally cover my ass? i would never trust a machine with my pants, ass or no. we’ve already firmly established that robot masters are always a pants-on debacle.

anyway, let’s give this a shot

aaaaaand hit “Generate”, and

EXCU

NOPE

FUCK THIS

I’M DONE

[sou-ver-2-0]

I'm curious about your thoughts on the relevance of the Hades Incident to the Death Game. My one friend thinks that the survivor from it who wrote the journal organized it and is, in a way, trying to make Sara like the girl from it through the Death Game, which is there's such focus on her. Also, we discusses who's parallel wrote the journal: Sou's or Keiji's (since the girl=Sara, lost best friend during first vitim=Joe, Boy even younger=Gin). But I just wanna hear your thoughts on the incident

The Hades Incident, the Present Death Game, and the Role of the Man from the Memorandum

I think about the Hades Incident a lot! My thoughts are very similar to yours, Anon!

Like your friend, I have a feeling that this relationship between the Man from the Memorandum and his own High School Girl is at the heart of the Death Game.

Based on all the parallels we can draw between the past participants and the current participants, it feels like the present Death Game is an attempt to recreate the past Death Game. Assuming that the Man was the sole survivor of the past Death Game, the logical conclusion is that this recreation is his attempt to meet his beloved High School Girl again, likely by forging Sara Chidouin into her by putting her through the same trials.

The fact that all of the participants have been observed by Asu-Naro since birth also contributes to the theory that they were chosen because of their resemblance to past participants, or that they were even molded to fit the personalities of past participants.

I’m also on board with the theory that the Man is most likely Meister from Russian Roulette, since they share a similar color scheme. Meister is the first villain we meet, so it would be satisfying to bring him back as the main villain. Additionally, the Russian Roulette trial is Sara’s first step to becoming a leader, so it makes sense that the Man would want to witness it. Especially since he apparently missed Russian Roulette during the Hades Incident; he would be curious to see it with his own eyes this time.

Here are the most apparent parallel roles from the Past and Present Death Games:

“17-year-old School Girl”: Sara Chidouin

“Her Best Friend”: Joe Tazuna

“A Boy Even Younger Than Her”: Gin Ibushi

“The Man Whose Views Most Aligned with Hers”: Keiji Shinogi

“The Man from the Memorandum”: Shin Tsukimi

There are striking parallels between the Man from the Memorandum and Shin Tsukimi, but there are striking differences too. So I’d love to share a theory my friend and I have often discussed:

“The Man from the Memorandum” was first meant to be played by Original Sou Hiyori. Since Hiyori died, he was replaced by a “back-up”, Shin Tsukimi. This explains why the kidnappers would give Shin such an unusual First Trial. Shin’s First Trial fundamentally changed his personality to more closely resemble Original Sou. What if that personality change was by design?

My friend came up with this theory to explain Shin Tsukimi’s paradoxical position: he is technically a candidate qualified to win, and yet he has a zero percent chance of winning. He seems to exist as both a candidate and a non-candidate. What if—my friend suggested—Shin was originally a non-candidate, but his position was shifted to fill in Sou Hiyori’s candidacy?

Ever since they shared that theory with me, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head! It would certainly explain why Shin’s First Trial is so strange compared to the others.

The part of “The Man from the Memorandum” himself would have been an important role. Since the Man left his First Trial deciding to not trust anyone, it was likely an antagonistic role. Given this role’s difficulty and importance, could it be that Original Sou Hiyori was perhaps…trained for the part?

This also leads into my other theory that Original Sou could be Meister’s son. Original Sou was a unique candidate for the Death Game who seemed intimately involved in preparations from a young age. I’m assuming that he was about Shin Tsukimi’s age since they met in high school. While it would be scarier if Original Sou was an adult pretending to be a teenager in Shin’s school, I think it would be more compelling if he was simply the teenage son of a villain. It would go a long way to explain Original Sou’s strange dedication to Asu-Naro, in spite of him being a potential victim of the Death Game. It would also explain his uniquely serious reaction to the player trying to name him “Meister.”

It could also parallel Rio Ranger’s relationship with Gashu! There’s a moment when Shin and Sara wonder if Gashu hoped to make Rio Ranger his “successor,” but they decide that it ultimately doesn’t matter. Clearly, Rio Ranger’s life didn’t actually matter to Gashu; only the Death Game mattered to Gashu. What if this was meant to foreshadow the relationship between Meister and Midori? Personally, this is one of my favorite pet theories; it would make Original Sou a more complex character and explain some of his bizarre quirks.

Similarities between the Man and Shin

I’d like to talk some more why Shin fits the role of “The Man from the Memorandum” better than Keiji.

The first thing we learn about the Man is his confession, “In the first trial, I killed a person.” Obviously, this more directly parallels with Keiji who literally kills a person, while Shin only metaphorically kills himself. But the metaphorical suicide still counts as a parallel, since the narrative treats it so seriously. (However, I still consider this a potentially significant difference between the Man and Shin. I think it could be evidence that Original Sou would have been a better fit for the role, since Sou had a harsher personality than Shin.)

The role of “The Man Whose Views Most Aligned with Hers” can only be Keiji. Keiji is an adult man and Sara’s strongest ally. He is the voice of reason who helps Sara establish order in the group.

The roles of Keiji and Gin are still important. They are two of Sara’s closest allies. Their deaths would devastate her. And they even get to be mentioned in the book! So it’s not like Nankidai is ignoring Keiji’s significance.

The clearest and simplest parallel between the Man and Shin is that neither of them participates in Russian Roulette. Shin is even deliberately barred from participating! That’s significant! Meanwhile, Keiji is one of the most important voices in Russian Roulette so he needed to be there to help place trust in Sara.

I believe the Man’s role is an antagonistic role, since he wrote, “I would never trust others. That was what I decided.” This line fits Shin better than Keiji. Even though they are both cynical characters, Shin sets himself apart from the group, while Keiji makes himself indispensable to the group.

The relationship between the Man and the High School Girl is at the heart of the Past Death Game. Similarly, I think that the relationship between Shin and Sara is the beating heart of the Present Death Game. Their rivalry is the story’s most fundamental relationship that gives way to conflict and resolution. Even in the event that Shin dies, his presence is still felt in a major way through Kanna, Midori, and the Shin AI.

The game gives us an obvious visual parallel between the Man and Shin in the screenshot I pulled earlier. Notably, both Shin and the Man have slim frames and fluffy hair. However, the Man wears an expensive suit more similar to Midori, while Shin looks like he could have gotten his clothes while dumpster diving.

The wiki mentions another parallel, which is that both the Man and Shin change their views on the High School Girl after the Second Main Game. I agree that’s significant, although we can once again point to some obvious differences in how their views change…

Differences between the Man and Shin

Beyond the question of whether they killed someone in their First Trial, and beyond their taste in clothes, the most glaring difference between the Man and Shin is this:

The Man didn’t care about Kanna.

Not once in his Memorandum does the Man mention anyone resembling Kanna. If the Man took on an antagonistic role like I suspect, he might have acquired a minion like Kanna. However, he considers the Kanna role so insignificant that she doesn’t even merit a line. And since the Man became the victor of his Death Game, he was presumably willing to throw his minion under the bus like everyone else in order to survive. When the Man weeps at the end of his story, his tears aren’t for the loyal, vulnerable little girl; he cries for the brave High School Girl and the lost romantic relationship he desired with her.

If Shin wrote a memorandum about his experience in the Death Game, don’t you think he would have written words for Kanna? He cared so much for Kanna that he would have sacrificed himself for her.

Furthermore, while both the Man and Shin share an obsession with the High School Girl, the nature of their obsessions is different.

After the Second Main Game, the man writes that he felt that “I would be fine with my own death as long as she won it all.” That’s completely different from how Shin feels after the Second Main Game, whether Sara votes for him or Kanna.

If Sara chooses to kill Shin and save Kanna, Shin doesn’t think about Sara’s chances to “win” the Death Game at all. He’s thinking about how grateful he is that Sara—the strongest character—chose to protect the most vulnerable among them, the suicidal little girl. Shin is “fine with his own death,” but not because he wants Sara to win. He’s fine with his own death because he finally trusts Sara to make the most ethical decisions and to always protect the weak. He isn’t thinking about Sara’s life; he’s thinking about her will. He realizes that he should have trusted her from the beginning, because Shin and Emotion Sara share a commitment to protecting the vulnerable.

Likewise, if Sara chooses to kill Kanna and save Shin, Shin still isn’t thinking about anyone winning the Death Game. All he can think about is revenge. Logic Sara affirms Shin’s belief that the strong will always betray the weak. I believe that this Shin has also accepted his own future death, but he seems determined to take Miss Sara down with him, along with the Floor Masters and everyone in charge of the Death Game.

In both cases, Shin is thinking outside the box while the Man from the Memorandum could only think within the rules of the Death Game. Shin is principled in a way that the Man was not. This is another reason why I think Original Sou would have been a very different kind of antagonist than Shin, since Original Sou is presumably loyal to Asu-Naro. If I’m right, Original Sou would not be likely to think about breaking the Death Game or hoping for escape.

…

Those are my main thoughts on the Hades Incident! I could be completely wrong on some of these theories, but it sure is fun to think about. This has already gotten very long so I’ll end it here. Thank you for asking!

[3w-writer-with-wings]

The end of VRAINS season 2, why was Lightning a failure and future predictions.

To those of you who follow my theories and predictions for future VRAINS episodes and are wondering why I haven’t posted anything lately - there are two reasons:

1) This show is continuing to surprise me, by throwing the most insane plotlines on me that I simply don’t even know what to think anymore. Shin Yoshida is truly a talented scriptwriter and I’m both terrified and excited about what he’ll think of next. Barian Arc and ARC V manga were just a warm-up - VRAINS is the real deal.

2) I still haven’t got over how both Bowman’s duels that were completely underwhelming and made to win. I mean I get it, he is supposed to be an AI that can learn and had to win, but not like that! I was sort of okay with Blue Maiden’s defeat, but Takeru? It was downright disgusting to watch him pull the exact cards he needed and got rid of damage or direct attacks with complete luck. If you want to show off his duelling skills, then do so - not make him overpowered just because he has to be. You basically made him cheat and sure if he was an episodic villain, that’s okay but for a major boss opponent that’s a bit no-no for me. It felt like Pegasus duel (who mind read every one and practically killed off Yugi in order to win) and Don Thousand duel (who actually had a card that makes you LOSE the duel automatically if you didn’t do something), so that was one of the major flaws in the otherwise a really intense round of episodes.

 Okay, now that I have this out of my system, I can finally focus on the main topic - what will happen next. So I am one of those people who checks the cast lists and episode summaries every Tuesday, so if you don’t want any spoilers to stop reading at this point. I apologize, but my thoughts will be heavily centred around the info that came with the summaries for what appears to be the final episodes of season 2.

So where are we right now? Team Playmaker has been massively reduced to only Yusaku, Ai, Ryoken and Ryoken’s loyal generals aka. Faust, Vyra and Dr. Genome. Bowman has absorbed four Ignis, including Earth. I was a bit confused about how he got Earth when I remembered back in episode 79 during the conversation between Windy and Lightning, it was mentioned that Bowman was on a “special mission” and that mission was probably to hack in SOL and take Earth’s data. Ryoken brought it up many times that SOL is not even close to as experienced as he is, so it was most likely really easy for Bowman to get Earth.

Then there’s Yusaku who has just been through another traumatizing experience. The duel between him and Kusanagi has shown just how little Yusaku actually knows about himself as it was clear that he knew something like this would happen, but when it actually happened, he froze completely. As sad as it was, it was shown really realistically since this is something that is very likely to happen to victims of past abuse like Yusaku. I was already impressed by the Takeru vs. Ryoken duel - the pure emotion and amazing pacing and Yusaku’s reaction to the duel with Kusanagi was even better. It showed that no matter how strong Yusaku makes himself to be, he is just a traumatized child underneath a superhero suit. The pain he suffered was the one he was trying so hard to avoid hence why he was reluctant to call Kusanagi his friend or make friends in the first place - he was afraid of the pain of loss. At the moment Ryoken and Lightning are facing off in a duel that will likely last three full episodes and here’s what I think - Ryoken will be the next one to fall.

But why Ryoken? Well several reasons. I’m not saying Ryoken will lose due to a poor strategy - Lightning will most likely play dirty. The summaries revealed that Lightning will use Jin as a hostage and knowing Ryoken, it will work. The guy might’ve been one of the most ruthless rivals so far but at the same time he is also the one to suffer the most. His brutality has been always projected towards the Ignis, namely Windy who killed/seriously injured his partner and Lightning who is using Jin as a puppet. Ryoken might not show it, but he has a great sympathy for the Lost Incident victims and despite him stating that he “regretted saving them” I think that he still believes that he did the right thing by reporting the incident. It was revealed that Jin will be speaking in both episodes as well, so if Lightning pulls a cruel trick like threatening to destroy Jin’s soul right in front of him or use Jin in some other sickening way. It is also possible that there will be a draw or something else will happen to Ryoken. It was also revealed that even Ryoken’s generals will sacrificed themselves to stop Bowman. Akira and Emma might also be absorbed in that data storm that takes the souls of the people logged in VRAINS - awfully similar to how those charms for Earthbound Immortals in 5Ds worked. 

And the result of all this - Yusaku and Ai are completly on their own against Bowman. This will be the final boss of this season. Yusuku will not only have to be the hero everyone depends on, but will have to keep his emotions under tight control. If Kusanagi’s death wasn’t enough, just think how will he react to Ryoken’s death - a person who has been his symbol of hope for the past ten years is gone too. I imagine it will be a really intense reaction which will cause yet another breakdown, but unlike with Kusanagi, I believe Ryoken will say something really meaningful just before he will fade away or even give him three reasons to defeat Bowman and Yusaku will use that as a coping mechanism to defeat Bowman. How will this duel conclude - I have no idea really. At this point, Yusaku will have to win - too many people had died in front of his eyes and this very same person plans to go after more people and change the world to his perfect image. And there’s another thing that sort of bugs me:

Bowman and Haru strangely look a lot like Shoichi and younger Jin. It is probably becuase Jin is Lightning’s Origin and because Shoichi was likely Jin’s three reasons. Also Lightning most likely didn’t have much to chose from when designing new AIs. Though this may have a much deeper meaning - I already kinda brought it up with my Haru is Real Jin theory, but just think - what if this has to do with the reason why Lightning was the only Ignis with no bright future with humans? Why did Light Ignis become an error in the first place? I believe it is because Jin gave up first. Apart from Yusaku, Takeru, Specter and Miyu, we don’t know much what was going on over those excruciating months, but I think Jin has lost his will to fight far before Lost Incident was over. Shoichi described him as a cheerful and kind person, a lot like Yuya and Yuma, and if those two would be put through such hell, they would likely break the most and give up at one point. Jin’s Ignis therefore didn’t recieve all necessary data to be properly developed like other Ignis. This may also be the reason why he kiddnaped Jin - using him as a puppet is a sort of a punishment since he probably blames him for all of this. “It is your fault I have no future! So you will spend the eternity as my prisoner.” 

Another less believable theory is that Lightning represents Jin’s anger. Because really, we’ve only seen Lightning being pissed off in the last few episodes. Before that he was calm and collected, like highly educated person in charge. But the second his insecurities were brought up, he completly lost it. Maybe Jin did develop strong hatred during the Lost Incident, resulting in Lightning’s own rage. Maybe Jin broke down at some point, crying and asking why that happened to him. After some time those tears might’ve turned into anger and swore to punish the people who did that to him, but then more time passed and Jin realized it was impossible and instead of plotting revenge he slowly became an empty shell of himself until he was rescued. That pushed down anger was then passed to Lightning.

One last detail that I would like to point out - Kusanagi Shoichi. Ryoken specifically ordered Faust that he has to get Shoichi. But why? Why would he need him for? One reason is kinda obvious - he needed him to wake up Yusaku. Faust and Dr. Genome entered the truck with unconscius Shoichi and after a while Yusaku woke up after hearing Shoichi’s voice. Coincidence? I think not - Faust and Dr. Genome did soemthing to wake Yusaku up. Let’s not forget - both Yusaku and Takeru are also in the truck, logged in VRAINS. Could be possible that they wired Shoichi’s duel disk to Yusaku’s chamber or something?

Plus that might not be the only reason why Ryoken needs him. The summories stated that Lightning will use Jin as a hostage. What if Ryoken will use Kusanagi’s body and his consciusness data that Ai holds in order to save Jin? What if Shoichi is in fact the ultimate weapon against Lightning? There is a high possibility that Jin was kidnapped while Shoich was looking after him, hence why he blames himself so much. Maybe Jin kept calling after his brother for months and Shoichi so became Jin’s three reasons. This may be the reason why Bowman looks like toughed up Shoichi - he represents the perfect savior. So what would happen when Jin sees his big brother? Will he manage to break through Lightning’s prison and finally be free of his hold? Breaking through the mind prison has been a common theme in yugioh so I won’t be surprised if VRAINS uses it as well. Maybe that’s what will lead to the happy screenshot in the new ending, of the two of them watching stars together. 

But what were to become of Yusaku, Ai and other Ignis. I imagine that no matter what happens, Bowman will absorb Lightning and maybe Ryoken as well (that way we will actually have Yusaku indirectly fighting all Ignis except for Ai, his entire team plus Specter and Blood Shepard - kinda like how possessed Yuya fought all of his friends) and the final battle will occur. Playmaker will have to save VRAINS once more.

And then? Maybe Bowman will give human society one more chance after his defeat. Considering how developed and honorable he has become in the last few episodes, I believe that he will realize that humans cannot be surpassed by AIs since they have something he will never be able to have. Bowman so releases everyone that he has absorbed and restores VRAINS back to the way it was, returning the souls back to the people who were sacrificed during the duel. Then he lets himself being absorbed in VRAINS, saying he won’t be alone since Haru is in there somewhere. This may be the last calm before the storm that is SOL (that still deserves to pay for all of their crimes!). And judging from this screenshot from the new ending, only Ai will be left.

 Now another source of what we may see is the new ending that is actually a one big tease. Right after Ai is shown, mourning after other Ignis, the scene switches to Roboppi watching the stars as the shooting star crosses the sky. What if that shooting star was Ai? What if this is the hint that Ai will sacrifice himself for others? There’s even a scene with Yusaku’s duel disk without Ai. The Dark Ignis has become really protective of Yusaku, so what would happen in the next fight against SOL, if something happens to Yusaku? Queen has proven to be the most merciless memeber of SOL, willing to kill a living being and risk an employee’s life for the good of the company. What is stopping her from getting her hands on the last Ignis in order to power up their own Artificial Ignis. SOL basically means sun and when you get too close to it, you get burnt. There’s no doubt Yusaku will do anything to keep his promise to Ai, especially now that he is the only one left. But what if SOL will discover Yusaku’s real identity and attack him in the real world? What if that will anger Ai to the point of turning completely against humans and become the very Ignis that Dr. Kogami was so afraid of?

Ai already hates SOL for killing Earth, so just imagine what he would do if they would capture and torture Yusaku, like Akira did in the first first few episodes. Maybe they will make it even more emotional by showing the flashbacks of how Yusaku was tortured during the Lost Incident while Ai’s eye couldn only observe. I often see Ai and Yusaku as Astral and Yuma and Astral has sacrificed himself for Yuma and also became corrupted. Shin Yoshida wrote a lot of Zexal episodes with such scenes, so there is a great possibility he will be in charge of the concluding story. 

What I would like to see? Ai becoming that terrifying Ignis when SOL invokes him by hurting Yusaku. Maybe Ai loses it to the point that he starts attacking everyone and Yusaku duels him in order to get him back to his senses. Maybe this last ending flashes before his eyes - showing the perfect reality where Ignis never existed and knowing that as long as he is there, more harm will come to Yusaku and the people he knows. So my prediction is - Yusaku will defeat Ai in one last duel to bring him to his old self and when it seems like Ai will be willing to recreate Cyberse and stay there, Ai will ultimately change his mind and instead sacrifice himself to wipe up any signs of Ignis research and data. The Lost Incident will once again become lost, but maybe this will be finally a chance for Yusaku and others to move one and live peacefully.

Happy, sad or bittersweet ending - I don’t really care as long as it is conclusive.

[desperate-entwives]

to deprive of feeling

Emori appreciation week day six: home.  True to form, this is a day late. 

The word anesthetize floats in front of Emori’s eyes and she wonders if the artificial light could sear it into her vision. A tattoo, a strange scar, to keep thinking of this word.

She and the Azgeda spy have been learning to read in English from a medical dictionary. They don’t speak to one another while the leader, Bellamy, takes a pen and draws out the letters and forms them into separate words, into sentences. He holds the pen like it’s natural to speak silently in dark lines on paper, like it’s natural that his only two pupils are exiles who cannot look at one another. Like it’s natural that John is sleeping in the other room, and has been sleeping for two weeks, and might not wake up.

She sleeps next to him every night, listening to his heartbeat, reminding herself what it means. He’s still fighting. He’s always fighting. Right now, she’s in the mess hall, and writing utensils are scattered on the table, untouched. Bellamy senses something when he gently tugs the dictionary away from her. “Do you want to go back to your room?” he asks, and she just stares at where the dictionary was. The ghost of the book of words, the memory imprint.  

For the first week, she didn’t leave John’s side. But: “I feel so useless,” she murmurs. The spy looks at her sideways, as though to say that’s because you are. 

“We all do,” Bellamy admits. “But my gut tells me he’s going to pull through this.” It isn’t helpful, but it is honest. A thought flashes through her mind: this man once wanted John to die. No. Not a useful thought, not a relevant one. She tightens her grip on her pencil, which she has transferred to her gloved hand. It snaps in her grip, and she looks at it blankly. John and Raven are the only inhabitants of this ship who have seen her hand, but she knows the spy is aware of what it means. She knows it means death, and Emori can see it in her gaze right now when it travels to the shards of broken wood. “Now isn’t the time for this,” the spy says.

“For what?” Emori snaps, and instantly regrets her lapse of control. She can’t afford enemies in this small group of strangers, even if the Azgeda already is one.

But the other woman looks at her carefully. Not with kindness, but with observation. “It isn’t the time for learning this language. What you need is a fight.”

Azgeda is a hard culture. Emori knew a fellow scavenger once who came from their lands, a small man named Gamto who was born with two noses on his face, one of them ineffectual. From him, she found out the Ice Nation doesn’t leave their frikdreina in the woods for animals-- they throw them in the cold ocean. When she and the Azgeda were thrown together to work on the rocket, she’d tried not to think about this. It wasn’t useful, and the other woman was numb, unthreatening, distracted by her own turmoil. But in the relative peace on the Ark, the loud silence between them has been growing, and Emori often can’t help but remember how her king had grabbed her in Becca’s lab, holding a knife to her throat and offering her as a sacrifice to their experiments.

Sometimes she even remembers the woman the Azgeda would have chosen for Heda.    These memories come at odd times, while she’s sleeping alone with John unwakeable beside her or working on wires with Raven, hands shaking. And looking at the spy, the memories resurface: the king’s cool indifference, frostbite scars on Gamto’s fingers. John waking up in the middle of the night, shaking, a hand to his throat. The spy has been in palpable shadow since their arrival on the ship, carrying something she still cannot put down. Her face masks pain strikingly well; Emori can recognize this ability, this cold kind of training. The woman is about to erupt, and she’s chosen well for her target. She thinks she has chosen someone weak. These are the first words directly exchanged between them since they left Earth.

“Maybe you’re right,” Emori says, meeting the woman’s eyes, and it is decided.

---

The room used for sparring is next to the mess area where Bellamy sits with a disgruntled Raven. Their two shapes are hunched over the table, where they have diagnostic printouts spread out, and their voices are low in the background. Emori knows they’re keeping out of the way but keeping an eye on them; she can tell Bellamy has a reluctant closeness with Echo, and Raven is the closest thing Emori has to a friend now that John is… When she punches, the spy blocks it easily. “You can do better than that,” she mutters and Emori ducks under the returning punch, which she knows the other woman threw sloppily on purpose. She’s trying to fool her into a false idea of her fighting patterns. Emori swings her leg, aiming to trip the Azgeda, but she catches the kick and aims a successful blow to Emori’s shin. The pain is dull, ringing through her body in a way that grows and aches. She ignores it, standing up and backing up a few steps, reevaluating. “Be smart,” the woman says in their own language. “Show me why it is you’re still alive.” “I don’t have to prove anything to you,” Emori responds quietly, the rage simmering into her next blow, which connects with the spy’s shoulder even though it was aimed at her chin. They aren’t meant to aim for the face in sparring, but neither of them have regard for those skaikru rules.   “Show me,” the woman says again, tich ai, and the sentiment is ambiguous, but her eyes are clouded with something harsh, bitter. There is no war paint here on the Ark and the spy’s face is strange for an Azgeda, free of customary scarring. A blank slate full of unknowable things. Emori throws two more punches hard, knowing they’ll be blocked, and takes a blow to the stomach from the other woman. She allows it to knock her off her feet, to take the wind from her, and curls up on the ground. A chair scrapes in the background, and a brace creaks. Before Raven can finish her approach, the spy aims a kick at the back of her knees and Emori completes her trap, snapping her legs closed on her foot, knocking her to the ground and springing over her. When Emori goes to punch her in the face, the woman halts her blow by grabbing her wrist. Her left wrist. This was planned. “Fir in?” Emori says, almost cruelly. Are you afraid, Azgeda? The spy’s face starts to pinch in something, disgust or anger, and she yanks the glove off Emori’s hand, throwing the fabric on the ground.

“How is it,” the woman says lowly, staring at Emori’s hand the way one might look at a bloody stump, “that you thought you deserved to live after being banished by your people?” Emori clenches her longer fingers, letting the tips of them brush the spy on the wrist. The woman flinches, and she takes satisfaction in that.

“I know why you hate me,” Emori hisses, still speaking their tongue. “I found a lover, a home, a family. Me, a frikdreina. You’re less than a stain because you have no one.” “There’s no family among the dead,” the spy says, and knocks her on her back, scrambling upright. Enraged, Emori jumps up and charges her with one shoulder, switching her weight at the last minute and attacking from the other side.

She hears Raven say, “cool the hell down, guys,” and she’s closer, and Bellamy’s there, ready to interfere, to save them from themselves. The spy dodges her change and grabs her around the middle; she turns in the grip, trying to loosen the hold and lock her arms around the woman’s head. They are both strong, and as they tangle tightly, Emori notices the woman is shaking. It would almost be an embrace, were it not so violent, and maybe this woman was right. Maybe the medical dictionary was a ghost compared to the copper, the bruising, the anger spilling and shaking. Maybe language is too fragile for this kind of pain.  Anesthetize: to deprive of feeling. A cruel word. “I know there’s no family among the dead,” Emori says. “So do you.” She means to keep her fear masked, but her voice cracks on the last word. She is shaking too and the woman, Echo, cries out, and cries again, her voice loud in Emori’s ear, and there’s a cry in her own chest that emerges, violent, broken. From the corner of her eye, she sees Raven pause and walk away, nodding at Bellamy to follow.  

The two enemies hold one another, and beneath them the Earth still burns, and isn’t their home anymore.

[komatsunana]

Ai Yazawa End-of-Book Notes 1-21

So at the end of every volume of NANA, Ai Yazawa has a brief paragraph about the manga or just some introspection about her life. They give great insight into the series and I think only a few are found on the scans of NANA online, so I thought I’d share them all!

Volume 1

The creator, Ai Yazawa, told us, “I created this story so that it could be enjoyed as a stand-alone and, at the same time, have a complete ending that could be connected to an ongoing series.  I hope you’ll look forward to the future of the two Nanas!”

Volume 2

A note from Ai Yazawa: “I had thought that if the two Nanas met each other, they would probably be constantly fighting, but they seem oddly friendly.  What’s up with that?!  It’s one of me (not so) seven wonders (ha-ha).”

Volume 3

Since childhood, the artists I’ve looked up to haven’t been writers and illustrators, but mostly musicians.  Music provides me the most emotional effect and excitement.  If there was no music, I don’t think my creative juices would boil.  Music is that important to my life.

- Ai Yazawa

Volume 4

I realized one day that there are hit songs with the same names as the main female characters, NANA, JUNKO, and SACHIKO (the kanji for JUNKO is different, though).  It’s not that big a deal, but I sometimes just hum the melodies longingly.

- Ai Yazawa

Volume 5

In the initial drafts, Nana’s band was a rockabilly band like the Stray Cats.  But due to various circumstances, I didn’t keep it that way.  But if they were rockabilly, Ren, Nobu and Shin would have had pompadours.  And Yasu too?

- Ai Yazawa

Volume 6

When I was a child, I used to take piano lessons.  Even after I stopped taking lessons, I bought sheet music I liked and continued playing.  I’ve had my hands full for several years now, but one of these days I’d like to learn how to play jazz piano, which I’ve wanted to do for years now.

- Ai Yazawa

Volume 7

I had an opportunity to interview a group of professional musicians.  I showered them with questions, but they answered willingly, and it was very helpful.  I was having problems balancing the fictional world of manga-like simplicity and gorgeousness with a sense of reality.  But I realized again that what’s important is the humanity of the characters.

- Ai Yazawa

Volume 8

When I was in high school, there was a cool girl in my class who was a lone wolf.  I was really into a foreign New Romantic-type band then, and when she asked me one day, “Do you want to go to their concert together?” I was overwhelmed.  My heart fluttered more than when I was with my boyfriend (☺).  Have you had a Hachiko experience like that?  - Ai Yazawa

Volume 9

One day, I realized I had to write a bonus story.  I was talking to my editor about it (Let’s do a story about the history of Trapnest!) when Naoki swooped down triumphantly, shouting “Then I’m the star!”  The day will come when he gets his place in the sun.  You really don’t know what’s going to happen next in this manga! ☺  - Ai Yazawa

Volume 10

Natural disasters can’t be prevented, but man-made disasters don’t have to occur.  That’s what I think.  I didn’t end up writing real world events into the Nana story, cause there are people who would have been deeply affect by my retelling.  I wouldn’t be able to keep it ambiguous enough, and I didn’t want to just brush over the issue irresponsibly.  I hope you all understand.   - Ai Yazawa

Volume 11

The 2001 Chofu City Hanabi Festival was really postponed ‘cause of typhoon and was rescheduled for Oct 27.  When I was taking photos by the Tama River, an old man started talking to me and told me that “the fireworks festival that as cancelled is going to be held soon.”  The entire fireworks arc was born that way.  A uniquely precious encounter.  It came out of this chance encounter with that man.  Thank you very much.  - Ai Yazawa

Volume 12

Nana is expanding into other media!  Since I believe it’s my duty to concentrate on my work, my policy is to get involved as little as possible.  (Sorry!)  The way the creators are developing this work is so passionate, I’m overwhelmed by it.  I have to do my best along with Blast, so people don’t say this manga is worthless and that the publicity is the only good thing about it.   - Ai Yazawa

Volume 13

Before the shooting of the movie began, I accepted and offer to rite the lyrics for the theme song.  I did this to thank them and hoped it would be a song of encouragement.  I had my doubts, ‘cause I was worried it might not turn out how they wanted.  But the heartwarming work of HYDE, the composer, cheered me on.  The live-action NANA movie is filled with director Otani’s (and many others’) love for Nana.  I was very moved by that.  So please watch the movie and feel their love too.   - Ai Yazawa

Volume 14

I confess.  The seven characters I find easiest to draw (as pictures and as characters) are Kudo from Search Weekly, Hachi’s father, Kawano from Gaia, Matsuo from Gaia, the guard Yamagishi, Ginpei Moroboshi, and Mitsuru Narita.  I’ve been a manga for 20 years.  Lately I’ve been wondering about myself as a shoujo mangaka. ☺

- Ai Yazawa

Volume 15

In the small garden of the house I’ve been living in for over ten years, I have encountered many living beings.  Stray cats taking naps, intimidating praying mantids, lizards shining iridescently, a jet-black leech with a head shaped like a hammer, long thin flatworms, and snakes.  A perfectly shaped cast-off cicada shell has turned into a fixture for three years because I didn’t want to take if off the window screen.  When I’m busy, I want to move to a condominium in the heart of Tokyo, but I feel at home in this place.

Volume 16

I talked before about wanting to make Blast a rockabilly band.  The other day, the editor of Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai pointed out, “Ms. Yazawa, you said you wanted to do a rockabilly band story before you began Ten-nai.”  I don’t remember that at all, but I had the idea that long ago?!  Nowadays, I really have the urge to draw a comedy manga: What if Blast was a rockabilly band? ☺

Volume 17

I don’t particularly like talking about my age ☺, but maybe because of my age or not exercising enough or the curse of the Demon Lord, I can’t overexert myself anymore.  I’m going to get a thorough physical checkup for the first time in my life.  It’ll take two days, including an overnight stay, and they’re going to check all my internal organs thoroughly.  How frightening.  I should have the results by the time this volume comes out in Japan.  Please pray that I won’t be thrown in the hospital.  Not for my sake, but for Nana and the others!

Volume 18

Hello.  They found something wrong with me during the thorough physical checkup I mentioned in volume 1.  I went to the hospital, I gave up smoking for a while, and in the end, I had an operation.  I’m finally getting better.  I apologize for making people worry.  During my hospital stay, the beautiful nurse inserted a painkiller suppository as if it was nothing and told me “I’m a big fan ♥.”  I was really embarrassed! ☺ Thanks for taking care of me. Thank you!

Volume 19

Hello.  I wrote in the last volume that “I’m getting better,” but as soon as I wrote that, I had to call an ambulance and was forced to suspend the series, so the release date of the new volume was set back.  I’m really sorry to keep you people waiting!  For those of you who waited patiently, thank you so much.  It’s a rare thing for me, but I took a break like a human being, and so this time I was able to recover completely.  From now on, I’ll my best but won’t push myself to the brink of collapse.  Please watch over Nana-san and the others from now on as well!

Volume 20

Hello.  Because of the way the story turns out, I thought it would be inappropriate to joke around with bonus pages at the end of the volume.  I figured we could do without them sometimes, that they’re just bonus pages, so I took the plunge and did away with them completely this time.  But I’m feeling super anxious ‘cause it seems like somethings missing.  It looks like I can’t be a stylish mangaka who can play the game with just the main story, someone who doesn’t need to throw up a smoke screen with the extras.

Volume 21

Hello, Yazawa here.  With this volume, no matter what scene I was drawing, I as heartbroken.  I had a hard time, and it took longer than usual to draw.  So it was such a relief when Satsuki appeared.  Somehow the panel with Satsuki and Yasu together felt especially soothing.  I never envied any of Yasu’s girlfriends or Nana, whom Yasu protects, but I’m totally jealous of Satsuki, whom Yasu’s taken under his wing since she was a baby.

[eggutamaplz]

Unbelieveable (Original Story)

So even though I haven’t gone on Ao3 in a really long time, I have been working on school and other personal projects...

And that includes a genderbend AU.

Yup! I've been currently writing a story that centers around a genderbend classic adventuring party AU based on this post. Because it does not belong to a fandom, I can't post it to Ao3, but it is available on my Wattpad! Without the "behind-the-scenes" background inspiration on characters, this can be seen as an original story on it's own! Yes, I am aware it's spelt wrong, but my friend Megan, who I'm collabing with on this fic (she's going to make art and animatics with VOICE ACTING from our friends! It's so exciting!) is the one who named it, and so the series is named that way forever I guess. I've decided to post it here to Tumblr as well. I hope you'll give it at least a little skim!

Series Summary

Briana is tired of the life of a princess, and wants to go on adventures sailing the vast sea. One night, she gets the offer along with her two trusted knights and a group of her friends from a mysterious drunk who claims to be a pirate... Join a "band" of adventurers as they set off into a journey filled with comedic moments, treasures, and ships... of both kinds!

Genderbend/Classic Adventuring Party/Pirate AU featuring friends. Roles of all the characters in the story will be explained as they appear, and loosely based off a zodiac textpost. All roles explained in the first chapter. Characters involved in the story: *Names are listed as "genderbend first name, last name, (irl person first name)". Evan Maldo (Emma) Mason Shen (Megan) Kaleb Ung (Kayla) Ashley Khon (Asher) Erica Ai (Eric) Briana Min (Brandon) Aden Daniel Bale Chan (Belle) Nicholas Ye (Nichole) Hannah Chu (Hansen) Sabrina/Sabi Cusainovic (Sebastian/Sebi) Carlos Obrusnik (Carmela) Anthony Carillo (Anna) Kaden Vasquez (Kassandra) Brenda Lee (Brendon) Created 09/04/17 in collaboration with dis_lazy_otaku.

Chapter 1: The Royal Ball (Briana's POV)

"And I present to you, Princess Briana of Uminami!" Hundreds of individuals in attendance bow or curtsy in respect as I enter the ball room. Straighten your spine, smile, greet other attendants, act like the princess that is expected at a diplomatic ball, blah blah blah.

No thanks. I'd rather be with the pirates.

Externally, I am that perfect princess. Briana of the royal Min family and crown princess of Uminami. But internally, fuck all of that. I want to be Briana. Just Briana. No royal duties, no "suitors" to be married to (almost all of them are dickbags anyway), no titles. No connection to the royal family, because frankly they pressure me on my future as a "princess" and it's not like I'm already pushed to the brink with all my studies as it is. I make my way over to a corner in the ballroom where no one really goes to. Others have said it has this weird dark aura that radiates depression. I find it the best spot in the vast area where I am trapped tonight, because everyone avoids it. I want to be free from all this, free to do whatever I want. Fuck hierarchy. Fuck the law. Fuck this b- "Hello there miss." I look up to see a prince with dirty blond hair, blue eyes, that one hairstyle I've deemed "The Fuckboy Haircut™", and a suit decorated with medals and pins. He probably bought them to make himself look good. In summary, I could already tell this guy was a total douche. Fuck the external perfect imagery. "I was wondering why what a wonderful lady such as y-" "Yourself is hanging out in a shady corner all by herself, yadayadayada. Go away, I've heard all this before," I say, quickly shutting down the dickbag prince and giving a death glare. "Aw, c'mon sweetie," he said back, "don't say that to Prince Quincey, future ruler of Uminami." My cold stare intensifies. "How about you go marry some other princess who actually falls for your shit so called 'flirting techniques', because it's not going to work on me buddy. So final warning, back off." Can't this guy seriously take a hint? I think. To be safe, I look over to my most trusted knights, who are standing guard not too far away from me. They catch my glance, nod, and silently march over to me, ready to back me up. Prince Quincey, however, does not notice, and I can clearly see the annoyance in his eyes. "You know, a princess should not have such a filthy mouth," he says while slowly invading my personal space. "But no matter. It'll be even filthier when you su-" His advancements are stopped with a quick kick in the shin from my foot. I was aiming for his genitalia, but it'll do. "Princes like you are such hypocrites. I told you, final warning. Next thing I will kick is your ass out of this castle and Uminami if you do not cease your behavior this instant." "Why you-!" Prince Quincey snarled. The look on his face was hilarious. "I'll show you who is dominant in this society." He stepped dangerously close when two swords blocked the distance between me and him. "Huh?" Quincey said, stepping back when he saw Kaleb and Evan, my guards who I mentioned earlier, as well as some of my closest friends, cross their weapons in front of me. "With all due respect, your majesty, the crown princess of Uminami does not appreciate your unauthorized advances," Kaleb said, his voice dangerously low. I could see his jaw clench. Evan slowly stepped towards Prince Dickbag, sword poised to strike. "Rest assured, Princess Briana could probably take down your prideful gait in a flash, as I am eyewitness to that. If were not for her being a representative of her kingdom, you would already be out cold." His face laced with displeasure and anger... his trademark "Angry Dad Glare™", as we called it, had resurfaced once again. He held up his sword to the prince's neck. "She has said it twice, she does not have to say it again. Step. Away. From. The princess." Quincey faltered, fearful eyes darting from Evan's sword to his face. Then he sneered. "Now, I remember you. You're Evan Maldo, that commoner that always snapped at me and my comrades. You disappeared from my kingdom a while after. Glad to get rid of scum like you." "Hierarchy does not determine purity of the heart and soul. Maybe you could learn a thing or two if you actually paid attention to your royal studies." Evan's face remained unamused and stony, his voice steady. "I will warn you one last time to step off, or I will show you how this commoner became a royal knight." He pressed his blade closer to the douchebag's jugular. "May I also mention I know the places where a body bleeds out the fastest?" Prince Fuckboy whimpered, then stepped back, tripping and falling on his ass. "My father will hear about this, and there will be no trade deals with our kingdoms!" "For what," Kaleb growled, stepping forward. "Making unwanted advances on a princess, getting shut down by her and her guards, and then taking the defeat sorely? Not a good image for a future ruler." By this point, nearby attendants have their attention over to our fight. They watch as Quincey storms back into the crowd, oohing at the event of him being ridiculed by me and my knights. I then silently walk away from the corner and outside the building, Kaleb and Evan by my side. As soon as we are out of sight, Kaleb hugs me from the side, worry laced in his features. Evan turns and grips my shoulders tightly. "I swear to God, Briana, did that ass of a prince try to hurt you in any way possible because if he did I swear I'll-" "Okay Dad, calm down," I reply laughing, using Evan's nickname amongst my friends. Evan is a person who is extremely loyal and fiercely cares for comrades and close friends, so much that we ended up comparing him to an ideal father figure, and it's been that way ever since. I can see why he became a knight, and if he does become a real father in the future, he'd absolutely raise a great child. "You witnessed what happened, and you stepped in when he crossed the line. I'm fine, don't worry." "Okay, good." He lets go of my shoulders. Kaleb still hugs me. Despite his armor, his hug is enjoyable, the cool metal soothing compared to the brief excitement. "Princess Briana? Sir Maldo? Sir Ung?" A voice calls from behind us. We turn to see my father's messenger. Oh no. "Princess, why are you outside of the castle? Your Majesty has called for you three in his study. It seems you have caused a stir in the ballroom?" My eyes widen, and so do Kaleb's and Evan's. We turn to each other, knowing what a summon from my father to his study ensued. Oh crap. TO BE CONTINUED...

Characters introduced: Briana Min, Princess of Uminami. Tired of royal life, wants to be free from the castle walls. She constantly dreams about running away from the castle, living life at sea where her kingdom was built around. Her favorite places in the castle are corners where she can curl up and sit there. Briana is able to play a clarinet, and is also learning how to play a tenor saxophone. Is constantly accompanied by her royal guards and friends, Evan and Kaleb, of which the latter she has started to experience strange feelings?... (Virgo) (Person based off of: Brandon, Clarinet-senpai) Kaleb Ung, royal knight and guard of Princess Briana. Dedicated to his country, and even more so to the Princess he's sworn to protect, he became a knight through the ground up. Kaleb met Evan through knighthood training. Both were assigned to the princess, and is close friends with them as well as several people throughout Uminami. He also has a knack for drawing, and is able to play trombone. Has seemed to have feelings more complex than just friends to the princess?... (Taurus) (Person based off of: Kayla, Trombone-Kohai) Evan Maldo, royal knight and guard of Princess Briana. Hailing from a family of medics in a farther kingdom, he trained to become a knight from a younger age, but still picked up some first aid, as well as a little bit of healing magic?... As a commoner training for knighthood, he was constantly ridiculed for his bloodline by the higher classes, especially the royalty; however he was moved to Uminami where he met Kaleb, as well as more people whom he became close friends with. Accepted as the fatherly within his friends, he is affectionately called "Dad". Evan is fiercely protective and loyal to friends, as well as incredibly empathetic. (Taurus) (Person based off of: Emma, or me lol)

Thanks for reading! Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!