#anyways my thoughts are Madoka is good but not for the reasons most of its fans say it is and it isn't THAT good either

[magicalgirlmindcrank]

I'm 100% on board with you for your disdain for makoda

We are making out

#i don't even really hate madoka i just hate the fans that treat it like it's something really special & a subversion of magical girl tropes #I honestly enjoyed watching Madoka and playing Magia Record i have Tsuruno and Ashley stickers on my PC #it's just #it's not a subversion #nor does it really do anything too unique except being very heavy handed with the suffering the girl's go through #to the point it feels voyeuristic instead of character driven #like they point to kyubey or the tone and say 'deconstruction' when those are just. in the genre already. #the only thing that comes close to a deconstruction of the genre is the 'hope' at the end is a bandage at best and even THAT'S not new #hell Sailor Moon did two out three of those #anyways my thoughts are Madoka is good but not for the reasons most of its fans say it is and it isn't THAT good either #overhyped

[fantasythetrashywriter]

HI! i know this is really random, but i really wanted to share this with someone who likes madoka magica and get their opinion on it! (also, youve seen more then i have, so i dont know how well it fits...)

i think the song Dynamism by Muship REALLY REALLY REALLY fits madoka magica. i cant really put it into words, it just screams madoka magica, and none of my friends can truly understand how much it does!! this song has literally made me cry just thinking about homura and madoka and the entire plot its so complex just like the show, gives off a magical yet dark scratchy vibe, has the sort of weirdness that the witches give off...i seriously cant describe how much it has affected me and my view on madoka magica.

i would LOVE to get your opinion on it!! let me know your thoughts and how you like it!!!♡♡

Oh dear…to be honest, I’m not sure if I’m the best person to answer this, and and I’m not sure if I am correct with this…but I will help! Ahhh but, I’m not sure if I am correct with this, there’s a high possibility I am wrong or I misunderstood certain parts.

Okay, first of all, I absolutely LOVE the song! It’s so beautiful, and I love how the beginning starts off calm and mellow until it suddenly becomes rough and scratchy. This does fit the Witches from the series, the scratchy and glitchy-like sounds fit them so well oddly enough. The lyrics meanwhile make me think of Homura and Madoka, though I’m not entirely sure why. The lyrics fit Homura, especially this line: “The reason I came to see you, the reason I let hearts float, is that you have wished for it strongly. I want you to trust me with your fate” which, in a way, represent her constant looping. She’s pushing on because Madoka asked her to. Remember, she nearly gave up in timeline three until Madoka made her request. That is what rejuvenated Homura. Also, the portion with the “trust me with your fate” makes me think of when Homura begs Madoka to let her protect her.

However, the lyrics give me an obsessive vibe, especially these parts: “You are alone. A slave to delusion. An uncontrolled dropout.” this and “The almost-unused body of yours is hopping, the dim eyes of yours are a bit confused, my beloved, you are my doll, true to desire, crazy love inside” and one of the comments even say it’s about abuse. Homura did become obsessed (with either Madoka or her safety) and did develop a tunnel vision focusing on her only, but I wouldn’t say their relationship is abuse. Plus, this scene feels like manipulation, and I can guarantee there isn’t any manipulation in their relationship, as far as I can tell…

The song also gives off a surreal yet dark atmosphere, which is similar to the series and yes, I agree with you on the Witches portion. It’s a weird sound, sort of glitchy too, kinda like a Witch. It’s a very complex song, just like the series, and it’s giving me some thoughts but I think I won’t voice it here.

Okay! I think that is all I can say about the song! So, just a little reminder, I may have misread or misinterpreted certain scenes, and I do agree with you on most parts. Honestly, stuff like this is very much not my stromg suit I guess. I’d suggest you ask others, especially since I haven’t been here for very long either (a few months, I believe) and because I am not very good at this 😔 If you want, maybe you could ask @evergreenalice (they seem to be really good at analyzing stuff like this) or maybe @homuraakumaakemi. He seems to know a lot more about Homura than I do, I’m probably only scratching the surface. Also, they’ve been in this fandom much, much longer than I have, so you could always ask them too!

Anyway, I hope this answered your question, even if slightly. Thank you so much for the ask as well, this is my very first ask!! Feel free to ask any more questions!

Oh and here’s the link to the song I heard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5wYntIGTNE

#ASKS!!💌 #Fantasy talks #I hope this answered your question! #Also thank you so so so much for the ask!! I really appreciate it! #I may be wrong with this but I hope it helps! #Also I really like the song it’s really nice! #Thank you again!! #What a beautiful and mysterious song… #The lyrics seem to speak about cannibalism for me on a re-read #One of the comments in the video I saw also said something about that #That could be taken metaphorically though #But then that feels like it would fit the Witches instead…

[fecto-forgo]

3, 6, 9, 12, 19?

have already answered 3 !

6.episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you?

i only rly watched fionna and cake so if i had to pickkkk id say the winter king episode ! theres a reason its everyones favorite lmao.the farm world one is p cool too i just hope someone told finn where his kid went in the last episode 💔

9.best month for you this year?

(thought i had known someone for a couple weeks when we had met five months ago no concept of time) ...uhhh april bc it was easter n i get chocolate on easter.or back in july where i got a sprinkles candy apple n chocolate covered strawberries.or wtv month we had the most pizza.wait was getting free cake samples this year.WAIT WHENEVER MONTH MY MOMS BOYFRIENDS NEPHEW HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY N SHE BOUGHT COCONUT CANDY N A CAKE SLICE BACK FOR ME.THAT SPIDERMAN CAKE WAS MAD GOOD EVEN THO THE DYE STAINED EVERYTHING

my adhd makes it rly hard to recall when events happened n when i demand a more time accurate memory it just gives me yummy food man 💔

12.talk about a new friend you made this year

hi kiki are you reading this are you reading this hi kiki hi kiki hi kiki are you reading this HI KIKI ARE YOU READING THIS.hi 🩷

19.what’re you excited about for next year?

i want.to eat a pavé :) or get the festa junina candies again.n also getting an easter egg.also i want to eat a cake.again my adhd memory loss n time perception r so severe i start getting upset if i notice i cant remember too many things so i just default to wanting food anyways LMAO

oh!!! oh actually im planning a mass sonic games playthrough once i finish my pokemon one!!! im excited abt that one :3

waittt is the next madoka movie next year...im excited if so i wanna see nagisa again i want her to have her magia record characterization so bad...

oh i also get to go to the cinema bc of sonic movie three!!! beyond my petty spite metal n amy were skipped im still excited

also i wanna see the zelda movie flop.wherever that is.

...i wanna get a milkshake in january also.

oh oh!!! alien stage next three videos from my calculations :333

#ask #girl who mostly keeps dopamine levels stable by eating:man i cant remember anything but when i ate smth good #tbh im a mix of a little upset i forget when things happened n completely fine w it bc its nice everything feels recent lol

[magicalgirlagency]

Honestly I don't know if it was Madoka that's made recent kids' shows darker (well, maybe it did for SU? idk). At first I thought it was more due to Gravity Falls and/or Adventure Time because I know those shows get really dark later on. Oddly enough even though there are shows I've seen that are much darker than Steven Universe for some reason it's only Steven that feels like Madoka again. Like sure with some other shows I'm like "oh holy crap thats fucked up" but with Steven?Straightup Madoka.

It's complicated, but I think I can give my 2 cents on the matter...

While MadoMagi did certainly contribuited to the popularization of Tragical Girls (Raising Project, Yuki Yuna, Magical Girl Site, Daybreak Illusion and SpecOps Asuka), it didn't got people thinking about how fucked up it is to rely on minors to do the dirty work and clean up the adults' messes.

I mean, nothing has changed; I still keep seeing children/teenagers getting into the most traumatic experiences ever. BNHA, JJK, and KnY, for example, are high-grossing shounen series with teenaged MCs witnessing the most horrendous shit ever, and actively have their joy and energy sucked right out of their bodies in the process.

As for Steven Universe, well, I wouldn't say it's "straight up Madoka", despite the similarities that they may share. At first, it was marketed as some spiritual successor to famous series such as Sailor Moon and DragonBall, having the strong potential of going down as one of the most memorable cartoons in TV history with its heroines with diverse body types and actual queer relationships...

...but the truth is way more complicated than that.

You see, Steven Universe is one of those series that didn't knew which demographic to be aimed at. It wanted to be child-friendly with SatAm-esque scenarios and a Monster-of-the-Day/Week routine, but it wanted to be serious and appeal to older audiences with the Gem War, the Diamond Authority, the Cluster, etc...

The staff was amateurish and black-and-white in their approach of nuanced themes, not to mention the irresponsibility and laziness with the amount of fillers and hiatuses. They have bitten more than they could chew, and all became one big neo-liberalistic mess in the end. Steven Universe was more worried about looking visually good than actually telling a good story.

Meanwhile Madoka just straight up lied to its audience. They have used the Magical Girl genre as bait to get a public to watch their anime. I mean, the title is written in a curvy and cutesy font...

And its main heroines are constantly marketed as a team and are always looking as if they were besties (emulating the likes of the Inner Senshi)...

...except that Homura was indifferent to anyone who wasn't Madoka, Mami was devoured right after her debut (and became the target of a 10 year joke that's no longer funny), Kyouko was territorial and aggressive to Sayaka on their first meeting (and both girls became shipping fodder despite having the worst first impression ever), Sayaka was treated like a guinea pig to show the audience how Witches were born, Madoka ascends to Nirvana and stops existing, and Homura becomes a test subject and attempts suicide and becomes a yandere when her plan fails.

Oh, and let's not forget the alternative timeline where Mami loses her composure and kills Kyouko after witnessing Sayaka become Oktavia, and is then killed by Madoka before she could do the same to Homura.

And when these girls are FINALLY seen working together, it's later revealed to be all a fabricated lie.

So much for friendship.

Anyways, so long story short: Steven Universe was highly ambitious in theory, but utterly incompetent in practice. Madoka Magica actively lied to the public with their façade of cuteness and frills. Even though they have their places in pop culture, we must also acknowledge that their executions were made in really bad taste.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

If there was an animated adaptation of the Twilight series, who would you pick as the voice cast for all of the vampires?

Thoughts on an animated Twilight series.

We’re going to play a similar game as this, where we can pick and choose people across the time space continuum with a TARDIS. And also we’re ignoring language barriers.

With that, here we go.

Crispin Freeman as Jasper

Casting Crispin Freeman’s voice for me is a given. It’s sad, but if Crispin Freeman is cast in a role I will watch that show and I will watch it dubbed. The man is phenomenal and is not only charismatic in every single role he plays but plays a myriad of different personalities so damn well you almost don’t recognize it as his voice.

I honestly would put Crispin Freeman as pretty much anyone and expect him to pull it off. However, I think he’d do particularly well as Jasper. Of course, this would make Jasper one of the most charismatic characters on screen per voice alone but in an ideal world this is a more ensemble cast anyway.

Crispin Freeman as Kirei Kotomine in Fate/Zero

Bridget Hoffman as Esme

Bridget Hoffman is able to get across not only great raw emotion but also a clear sense of over the top, artificial, femininity that is very present in Esme. I think she could confer Esme’s general creepiness, as well as her likeability and mother persona, with a young voice very well.

Bridget Hoffman as Irisviel in Fate/Zero (same clip as above)

Rachel Lillis as Rosalie

I know Rachel from a very different role in the dub of “The Revolutionary Girl Utena” as Utena Tenjou. However, her voice is very pleasant to listen to, clear and melodic, and able to carry great emotional weight and pain when necessary. She also sounds very young when needed.

Rachel Lillis as Utena Tenjou in The Revolutionary Girl Utena (note, they start speaking about two minutes in)

Mamoru Miyano as Edward Cullen

And this is where we start drifting from English voice actors. The English dubbed Light Yagami sounds young but, well, he never sold me on the role the way the original Japanese voice actor did. This guy not only sells Light’s inherent creepiness, his charisma, his brilliance, and his sheer threatening persona. There are so many aspects to Light Yagami and the voice actor captures them all.

Many of these same aspects exist in Edward. Edward must at once be appealing, charismatic, terrifying, and completely mad.

Alternatively, David Vincent, who played Gilgamesh in Fate/Zero and most of the modern Fate franchise, and does contempt so damn well with an imposing but very young voice. However, we’re going to put him as Caius for similar reasons.

Mamoru Miyano as Light Yagami in Death Note

David Vincent as Gilgamesh in Fate

Lisa Ortiz as Victoria

Lisa is a phenomenal voice actress I’ve seen carry off a lot of different roles with several different personalities. What brings her to the table for Victoria is what she did with Shiori in the Revolutionary Girl Utena dub. Shiori carries such bitterness that turns itself into madness, and is overall such a desperate and miserable character. Lisa’s voice conveys all of that.

Many of these traits exist in Victoria as a character as well. Bonus that it makes Victoria sound younger and rougher around the edges.

Lisa Ortiz as Shiori in The Revolutionary Girl Utena (same clip as above)

Sarah Anne Williams as Jessica Stanley

Yes, we’re casting Jessica. Sarah played the role of Sayaka in the dub of P3M and greatly conveys a normal human girl who then falls into despair. Jessica doesn’t go quite that far, but I imagine the emotions of the movie disaster with Bella would really come through here with this voice actress.

As well, of course, as Jessica’s later contempt for Bella.

Sarah Anne Williams as Sayaka the Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Takahiro Sakurai as Aro

We get another Japanese voice actor because I can think of no better Aro. Takahiro perfectly portrays an otherworldly, ethreal, presence through his casting as the Medicine Seller in Mononoke. The Medicine Seller has a distinctly different persona than Aro but it’s that otherworldly aspect that I think is needed most of all.

Takahiro Sakurai as The Medicine Seller in Mononoke

Jamieson Price as Emmett

Jamieson is able to relay huge, easy going guy, so easily just through the sound of his voice. He’s not quite so Dudebro in the things I’ve seen him, but you easily get the idea of “huge” as well as someone with good humor and simple tastes in life.

Jamieson Price as Iskander in Fate/Zero

David Vincent as Caius

I brought this up earlier in Edward’s section but as Gilgamesh David Vincent is the king of contempt and disdain. This makes him an excellent and imposing Caius.

David Vincent as Gilgamesh in Fate (Same Clips As Earlier)

Peter O’Toole as Carlisle

Yes, we’re going back in time for this, but I’m not actually in charge of casting this show so I can do what I want. It helps that this was my vote for the live action fan cast of the movie, but beyond his sheer persona, I think his voice also fits Carlisle very well. There’s a whole range of emotion in there while, at its base, being something very charismatic and in certain moments kind.

Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia

Christina Valenzuela as Bella Swan

As Homura in the P3M dub, Christina has nerves of steel, but she also does despair so well. I believe she would easily pull off Bella’s depression throughout the series and especially in the New Moon arc.

Christina Valenzuela as Homura Akemi in Puella Magi Madoka Magica

I swear I have a choice for Marcus somewhere in my head, but it’s not immediately coming to mind. I might cast Freeman for him as well, and since Marcus has so few lines and does such different roles so well, probably no one would notice and or care.

So, I’ll quite while I’m ahead.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight animated series #voice casting #the revolutionary girl utena #fate/zero #puella magi madoka magica #mononoke #death note #lawrence of arabia #meta #opinion #twilight renaissance

[catherdrashepard]

Darrow is Not Going to Die at the End of the Series Part 2

There are probably going to be at least one or two more parts depending on how much I can stop myself from blathering on. Anyway, spoilers ahead for the following: Dark Age, Hunger Games, Castlevania, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, Avengers Endgame, The Hobbit, Voltron, FMA, HttYD, Death Note, Madoka Magica, Merlin, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, HunterxHunter, Dragon Prince, He-Man (the new one), Yu Yu Hakusho, Persona 3. Mass Effect, The Hollow, Camp Cretaceous, and whatever else I can think of.

I last left off on talking about how my thoughts implied that Darrow could die at the end as long all the loose ends are tied. But, I don’t think that that’s really something that can actually happen. A lot of this is speculation on my part and really relies on what happens during the 6th book.

The first thing that came to mind was Mass Effect. The ending of Mass Effect 3 was...not very well received. I’m not going to say that I’m particularly happy with it either but I also think it fits the narrative. However, one thing to note, video games are different than books and the story that Shepard goes through is reliant on the player. Also, stories in games are going to be shorter than stories in books (for the most part, there are definitely exceptions) due to player involvement.

I’m going to start with Shepard’s first death, at the beginning of Mass Effect 2. Of course, being the second game, their death couldn’t be permanent unless BioWare switched protagonists mid trilogy. There are a few reasons, in my opinion, that Shepard was killed during the opening credits of the second game.

First of all, the combat changed between games (a lot between the first and second and only slightly between second and third), and I think Shepard’s two year absence gave a reason for a tutorial on the new combat system. They were dead and had to learn how to use new technology. This is also done between the second and third games, with a 6 month gap, but the combat only changed slightly. Secondly, having the main protagonist die really highlights the threat that the player is dealing with in the second game but, Shepard’s return also shows that they still have unfinished business and that their story isn’t over. Thirdly, I think the absence gives time for the secondary characters time to develop on their own. This is shown more with the characters who appeared in the first game but also it gives an idea of just how much of an impact Shepard had. I feel like this is a parallel to the time Darrow spent in the table between GS and MS.

Now to move on to Shepard’s more permanent death...although if you complete the game entirely (at least in the legendary edition; thank goodness I hated the battle readiness thing) there is a dubious ending where Shepard may or may not have lived. But in any case, Shepard is considered dead and their story is over. Whatever my feelings about this may be, this type of ending didn’t come out of nowhere. The main threat, the Reapers, have been dealt with in a permanent manner, or at least it’s heavily implied that they won’t be coming back. However, just because the Reapers are gone doesn’t mean there aren’t still things to be done. Specifically, recovery. Shepard very well could have been involved in this but it’s not necessary. Their story is over, they have dealt with the threat and it’s not coming back.

Darrow, on the other hand, has not finished his mission. Even if he does by the end of the next book, however, it’s a very different circumstance from Shepard. The threat in Mass Effect was a very large and tangible thing, whereas the problem Darrow faces is an ideology and the people who hold those views. Something like that doesn’t end with a large space weapon pointed directly at the threat; it permeates everything. So even if Darrow defeats Atalantia, Lysander, and whoever else, there’s most likely going to be more people who shared belief that Golds are best. Also, we saw how the Vox Populi felt about the things Darrow was doing. Darrow is essentially reconstructing an entire system of government and, no matter how correct Darrow is, there will always be people who disagree with him.

Assuming Darrow defeats the remnants of the Society, stops the Ascomanni, deals with Quicksilver and whatever he’s doing, takes care of Atlas, handles Apple, what’s left? Much like with the end of Mass Effect, what’s left is recovery. The difference between these two, however, is that while Shepard was not necessarily needed for the rebuilding, Darrow would be.

Now, both Shepard and Darrow spearheaded their respective causes, but (and this relies heavily on how the sixth RR book goes) defeating the Reapers was a group effort, utilising every species and as many resources as they can spare. No doubt the rebuilding of the entire galaxy will require the same. Not that Darrow’s goal hasn’t been similar in that regards, with the help of so many different Colors being necessary. It’s just....Darrow’s circle feels a lot smaller than Shepard’s.

I mean, obviously being the face of a war is going to get you a lot supporters and people to work with, but the most important players are Darrow’s close friends and family. I’m sure part of this is the fact that the books are first person with specific POVs. Mass Effect does focus on Shepard’s story, but it’s in third person and you get a lot of different information through sidequests and talking to other characters. I mean, there’s a whole codex in Mass Effect with a lot of information and there isn’t one for RR (PB should make one tho). Our knowledge of the universe and its history is more limited in RR than Mass Effect, but I think that’s mostly because the lore in Mass Effect has more of a direct impact on how the story goes.

But back to the original point, it’s explicitly shown in Mass Effect that it requires everyone to stop the Reapers. And even though we see Darrow’s army, the main players, the ones who are taking care of the big things, are still Darrow’s inner circle. As an example, Mass Effect would be more like a pyramid (ironic) where Shepard is at the top. Even if it crumbles away (they die), the pyramid will still stand. For RR, it feels more like a chain. If one of the links (Darrow) breaks, then the chain is also broken. You could re-attach the pieces but it wouldn’t be as strong as it once was.

One last thing I wanted to bring up (which I will bring up again in part 4, yes I said part 4), is technology. Both Mass Effect and RR take place in the future and therefore have better technology than we do. There is something very important about this technology though that makes it more likely for Darrow to live. The Reapers are a race of sentient squid machines hellbent on the genocide of every other sentient species in the galaxy. But they are the ONLY things with access to that kind of technology. Even when they share it with Saren or the Collectors, it’s not something others can replicate. And once they’re destroyed (control ending notwithstanding) at the end of the third game, that’s it. They could still have people who are indoctrinated (although I think that stops when the Reapers were destroyed?) or people who are just stupid and think they were right, but...those people aren’t a threat. They can’t bring back the Reapers, I doubt anyone would be able to recreate such a thing (at least not within Shepard’s lifetime even if they did live). So once the Reapers were gone...that’s it.

Now, the technology in RR is, for the most part, accessible to everyone. Assuming Darrow defeats Atalantia, Lysander, etc. their way of thinking would still be around. But with the way the universe works, I think it would entirely possible for supporters of the Society to rise up and start a conflict all over again. This means Darrow is not finished yet, even if the immediate threats are gone. It wouldn’t make sense for him to die when there’s still stuff for him to do.

I do think, though, that it is worth mentioning that the definite ending of Mass Effect is probably related to the fact that it’s a video game and especially for stories like that, a more open ended conclusion with the implication that I COULD do more would only be frustrating. With tv shows, movies, and books, I notice, having a more vague ending works better because you’re just separated enough from the story that you can enjoy the implications of more stuff without feeling unsatisfied. There’s always exceptions of course.

ANYWAY, it part 3 I’m going to be talking about Persona 3 and 5 so....stay tuned.

#darrow of lykos #dark age spoilers #character study #long post

[dreamerwitches]

Manga reviews!

I’ve read quite a few of the Madoka Magica manga, mostly to find witches.... So I thought I’d do a little review of the ones I’ve read! Enjoy! (also, they’re my own opinions and it’s meant to be a little funny so I exaggerate a little... so please don’t get angry!! Also kinda spoiler-y)

Madoka Magica (og manga)

Just a really compressed version of the anime. Has some changes but not often good... I only have the first one in physical and I think it’s the only one I’ll get cause it’s the most interesting part. 0/10 cause they completely removed Gisela... Also not too fond of the art style, some things are drawn really badly.. Though I’ve fallen in love with manga Gertrud. Not too fond of it but I like having the manga on my shelf. 4/10 watch the anime instead

Madoka Magica Rebellion

Will be biased cause I love rebellion. A really lovely manga, better than the og manga cause it doesn’t compress the story and even expands it. Suits three volumes better than the original. Treats familiars really well, we get bonus bartels, dora and polina~~! Doesn’t have all the fun of the movie cause it obviously doesn’t have the amazing soundtrack but it’s a really nice manga anyway. Bebe is drawn really well but the Clara Dolls aren’t. 9/10 almost as good as the movie

Kazumi Magica

Plot: seven magical girls trying to do good stuff and Kazumi, the protag, has amnesia I was surprised how much I loved this manga... I enjoyed it so much and got attached to almost all the characters. Though, spoilers, all my favourites either died or turned out to be evil... Lots of plot twists. LOTS. A wonderful lack of kyubey too... I found the story to be so intriguing. It took a spin on the original series far better than - imo - Oriko did. Really ace witches too. Only downside was sometimes the art. Too many ass shots thanks. Also a lot of the magi outfits were a tad distasteful (and some distasteful jokes too). 8/10 pretty darn good

Oriko Magica

Plot: two girls want to kill Madoka cause they know about Homu’s shenanigans. Has a pretty out there story, gets quite serious at the end. First time reading I didn’t care about it but I’ve grown fond of some of the main characters like Oriko, Kirika and Yuma. I found Kirika annoying and op first time reading. The addition of the original Madoka characters feels weird even though they are in the same universe. Original characters are also sometimes unrecognisable because of the art style. I almost never recognised Kyoko... The bonus stories are really fun, I liked them a lot. They’re short but nice. New and interesting witches too! I probably preferred Extra and Sadness prayer to the original story (Sadness prayer is like, basically a retelling of the og Oriko story but better) 6/10 for main story (feels a bit like babies first fanfic), side stories are probably a 7/10 (writer probs had more experience)

The Different Story

Plot: Mami and Kyoko backstory plus a spin on the original story. A really fun and interesting read, especially if you like Mami or Kyoko a lot. I loved the expansion of the original characters, it’s really great. I got a bit lost at the end but I was kinda scanning through... Art is by the same artist as the original manga but it’s certainly improved. Really amazing witches too~! Read it again when I got volume 1 for Chrimbo and its far sadder than I remembered... hm. Lovely art though, and very powerful scenes 7 or 8/10. I’d need to read it in full again to give a better judgement

Suzune Magica

Plot: Very edgy, lots of die. Never got attached to Suzune like I did with the Oriko characters. Some costume designs are also gross and pervy. Didn’t find it memorable and didn’t care much about the characters. Nice witches though. 3/10

Haven’t read Tart magica and don’t have any opinions on it yet. Hate the artist so I don’t think I will ever read it. (witches also look like afterthoughts... boooo)

Wraith Arc

Gave it a scan aaannndd.... didn’t enjoy it...... found it so boring. Wraiths are so boring as the enemy. Bland and have no character or inu curry flair. I feel you’d really enjoy it if you adored Homura and Madoka. I don’t so... I don’t think my opinion would be justified for this one.

Homura’s Revenge

Plot: Homura, Madoka and Kyubey go back in time before Madoka turns God. I. HATED. This one. Sigh.. It was the most frustrating manga I’ve ever read. Kyubey just gets in the way and not in a funny or clever way. Kills off Mami too early too. The witch designs are also crap like the artist don’t care about them. Illustrated by the same artist as Tart Magica and they’re a creep so it’s an automatic ‘euch’. Homura just resets in the end anyway. Just like Wraith Arc, I feel you’d like it more if you really liked Homura and Madoka 1/10 I liked the part with Elly and that’s it

The Veranda of Madoka

Plot: All five girls are living in the same house as sisters. Spoilers, this is my favourite manga... it’s so so cute and lovely! It’s a 4Koma (four square panels for a joke/story but sometimes has longer stories) manga with cute humour and fun stories. You really care about the girls and want them to be happy together. I’ve only read volume 1 cause it’s the only one translated but I really wanna read the rest cause it seems to add Nagisa. Only downsides are it has some tasteless jokes like breast sizes and Homura’s sometimes kinda pervy towards Madoka (remember, they are sisters in this one) but those things are rare in the long run. Has lesbian Hitomi which increases the score tenfold. The art style is also adorable, I prefer it to PAPA’s current style honestly. 9.5/10 would be 10 if it didn’t have some questionable jokes sometimes

Mitakihara Anti Materials

Plot: Homura accidentally winds up living with Mami. I thought I was gonna hate this one. Turns out I love this one. If you ship Homura and Mami, it’s the best, but it also works well for a platonic friendship. It’s a lovely slice of life with lots of fluffy bits with Homu and Mami but also the other girls. Sayaka also for some reason has the super hots for Mami (I mean, who wouldn’t). Sadly, has some tasteless jokes like Veranda which bring it down. Taking pictures of people against their will and body-swapping, I just wasn’t into it... Art is pretty generic but works just fine. 8/10

Mami Tomoe’s everyday life

Plot: The girls are older. Excuse me while I vomit. Read a few pages and quickly ran. CLEARLY written by a perverted old man. The girls are all married and only talk about husbands and their weight and things men think women talk about. Also. Homura is married to Tatsuya, excuse me while I hurl again. Just look at the covers and you can tell the artist is a porn artist. -10/10 kill it

Welcome to Cafe Grief Seed

Plot: The girls work at a cake cafe. I um, love this one, it’s so soft and wonderful. The art style is so adorable, I’ve shamelessly stolen it for some of my art cause I love it that much. It’s a sweet mix of Sailor Moon and Ghibli. The pages are laid out like 4Koma but like Veranda, they often have longer stories. The take on the witches are really fun and imaginative too (they’re simply problematic customers). A really nice and harmless read (no pervy jokes, thanks). 9/10 wish it was longer and the artist seems to have not done anything else...

Pomu Magi

Plot: Homura is tiny and chibi for some reason. Reeeaalllyy didn’t gel with this one. Seems kinda like someone’s fetish... Just felt weird, I stopped reading quickly. Not disgusting like Everyday Life but made me feel uncomfortable. 0/10

Mahou Shoujobu

Plot: the girls make a magical girl club in a school shared with witches. Although it apparently involved witches it barely included them. LIES. Disappointed, Homura was also really weird too. 1/10 got to see witches but they weren’t portrayed well

Homura Tamura

Plot: take a look at lots of different timelines. I liked this one but damn it was all over the place. Every chapter is a different wacky timeline, and I mean wacky. A world where Mami rules and everyone wears hair drills, a world where Sayaka drives an Oktavia mech. Wacky. Kinda hard to follow first time through. But funny and quite charming. Made me laugh out loud sometimes. On a re-read for images I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, even more. 8/10 good if you like humour and silly jokes

#madoka magica manga #madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #manga #kazumi magica #puella magi kazumi magica #oriko magica #puella magi oriko magica #tart magica #puella magi tart magica #puella magi suzune magica #suzune magica

[beybladefanfictions]

Beyblade One-Shot: Constellations

(Author’s Note: Yeah, this is really random. I got this idea of Ryuga and Kenta looking at constellations together and thought it would make a cute one-shot. This takes place in my fanfiction’s continuity after what is currently the newest Ryuga x King chapter: A Departing Battle, but this was written recently while those chapters are a month old now. This isn’t needed to understand anything going on there but I thought it was cute so I’m publishing it on its own. Anyways, enjoy!)

Ryuga’s POV

The night sky glistened through the treetops above Ryuga as he made his way through the familiar forest. A cool night breeze blew his white jacket back and forth. A peaceful aura surrounded him. The only sound was the slight ruffling of the leaves and Ryuga’s footsteps.

Ryuga suddenly stopped. Around him, the trees parted, allowing him to see the stars in all their glory. Without those irksome city lights, the stars glowed much brighter, like specks of gemstones, and more colours glowed around them. Ryuga had a contempt for big cities. They were generally loud and packed and their light tainted this beautiful night sky.

A new sound suddenly filled the air. Footsteps.

“Ryuga?”

“Hm?” Ryuga looked over his shoulder. Kenta was walking toward him, holding out a flashlight.

“I figured you’d be here,” Kenta replied, lowering the flashlight as he went to stand beside him. “What are you doing out after dark?”

“Getting fresh air…” Before Kenta could reply, Ryuga added, “Calm down, your parents know where I am.”

“You told them?”

“Mhm.” Ryuga nodded.

“Okay…” Kenta muttered to himself. “Good…” As Kenta texted his parents, Ryuga looked back up at the sky.

“Are you… looking at the stars?”

Ryuga looked away. “…maybe.”

He’d never told anyone about this appreciation of his. It probably seemed strange for someone like him to appreciate something like this.

Kenta smiled. “Do you know any of the constellations?”

“Just Draco,” Ryuga replied, with a shrug.

He had to admit he didn’t really see the point in assigning shapes to stars that were in reality, billions of kilometres away from each other. Why not just appreciate their beauty for what it was? There was no point in assigning silly stories to all of them. Still, Ryuga obviously knew about Draco, the constellation his bey, L-Drago, was based on. He could even see it now. The head was a small triangle and the body was the long twisting line of stars behind it, as if it were twisting its body around the way an Asian dragon would.

“Not even Sagittarius?” Kenta asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sagittarius?” Ryuga froze. That’s right: Sagittarius was a summer constellation as well. He scanned the sky. However, he didn’t even have a basic idea of what the constellation was supposed to look like.

Kenta chuckled. “It’s right there.” He pointed at the night sky, forming some complex shape with his finger as if tracing the stars.

Ryuga tilted his head to the side. “Can you be more specific?”

“Here…” Kenta sat down on the ground. Ryuga sat next to him without a second thought. “Right there.” He pointed again. “That open triangle part is the legs.” He moved his finger up. “That long line is the body. Then that part is the arm and the part that goes out in the three directions is the bow.” Kenta held his hands out like he was holding a bow.

“Looks like a bunch of dots to me,” Ryuga grunted, his eyes narrowed.

Kenta shrugged. “Madoka showed me that one in Koma Village,” he informed, gazing at him with a smile. “Since then, I’ve been really interested in constellations. During the World Tournament, when I was left at home…” There was a pang of sadness in his voice at those words. “I started studying them since I had so much time. I can name most of the major ones.”

“How do you remember all that?” Ryuga asked, admittedly a little stunned. 

“Well almost all of them have Beyblades based on them,” Kenta explained, looking back at the sky. “So I remember that way. Like right there…” He pointed at a cluster of stars that formed a triangle. “That’s Aquila, like Tsubasa’s Earth Eagle. I remember that because the corners of the triangle look a bit like wings and that one can be the head.”

Ryuga gazed at his friend silently. *Is this where these constellations came from? The mind of a child?*

“Seems like a stretch,” Ryuga replied with a shrug.

“Oh, come on, Ryuga,” Kenta nudged Ryuga’s shoulder. “You have no imagination.”

Ryuga rolled his eyes. “What are the rest of these?” he asked, laying down in the grass.

Kenta laid down as well. “Well…” He searched the sky for a few moments. “There’s part of Aquarius. It’s a little harder to see in July but you can see the tail part.” Kenta trailed his finger over the stars as if he were drawing a line on top of them to connect them.

Ryuga looked away. Aquarius… it was the constellation of the bey, Aquario. The one blader Ryuga knew with an Aquario bey was Hikaru. Guilt pricked his heart.

“Ooh!” Kenta perked up. “There’s Cygnus! The swan constellation.” Kenta gazed at Ryuga with a smile. “Fun story about that one, Yuki and Gingka told me how that constellation helped them find one of the Legendary Bladers by pointing the way into a temple.”

Ryuga raised an eyebrow. “A constellation did that?”

Kenta nodded. “Yeah, there were these rock pillars in front of it, right? And to open the door to the temple, Yuki had to fire his bey through the pillars with holes, forming the shape of the Cygnus constellation.” Kenta sighed, lying back down. “I wish I could’ve been there to see that.”

Ryuga’s jaw clenched. “No, you don’t.”

“Huh?” Kenta sat up again, tilting his head to the side.

Ryuga looked away, surprised at the jealousy that had suddenly pricked him like a needle.

“If you’d stayed with them, you never would have been friends with me,” Ryuga grunted, his fingers digging into the dirt.

Although Ryuga still somewhat resented how soft Kenta had made him, the idea of them never being friends made him feel sick.

“Right…” Kenta put his arms around Ryuga in a small hug. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I’m glad I followed you, and I’m glad we’re friends. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Ryuga relaxed a bit. Kenta let go of him after a few moments, looking back at the sky.

“Um…” He gazed at the sky for a few moments in silence, as if searching for something to talk about. “There’s Pegasus…” He pointed to it.

“Pegasus? In Summer?” Ryuga was stunned. He was sure Pegasus was an Autumn constellation. Wasn’t that the reason Gingka was picked as a Legendary Blader?

“Yeah, you can see it as early as July,” Kenta answered with a nod. “That square is the body, those two lines are the legs, and that curved one is the neck and head.”

“Where are the wings?” Ryuga grunted, annoyance slipping into his tone. “That’s the whole point of Pegasus.”

Kenta shrugged. “Maybe this Pegasus doesn’t need wings to fly, like your L-Drago.”

“Pegasus means winged horse.”

Kenta smirked. “And dragon means winged lizard.”

“No, it doesn’t!” Ryuga blazed with indignation. How dare someone call his L-Drago a mere lizard?!

Kenta giggled into his hand. “According to America, it does.”

“Well, we’re not in America.”

*Thankfully,* Ryuga bit back the word as he remembered King, who had recently returned to America. He looked away, his heart aching.

“Anyways…” Kenta looked back up, pointing at the sky. “And there’s…” He suddenly froze, his eyes going wide.

Concern swept over Ryuga. “What? What is it?”

“S-Serpent…” Ryuga’s heart skipped a beat. “Er- Serpens. The… the snake constellation.” Kenta was suddenly shivering. He turned away, rolling over onto his side.

“Kenta?” Ryuga scooted closer.

His friend wasn’t meeting his gaze. Ryuga knew exactly what Kenta was remembering and that same memory made Ryuga’s blood boil. He opened his mouth to speak.

“I…” Kenta’s voice was weak. “I know I defeated Reiji and everything but…” He wrapped his arms around himself. “He still freaks me out. So many bad memories…”

Ryuga put his arms around Kenta, pulling him into a hug.

“I know,” Ryuga’s voice was soft. “It scared me too.”

Kenta looked up at him. “But you said yourself he can’t do a thing to you.”

“It wasn’t myself I was worried about,” Ryuga replied, pulling Kenta into his chest. “It was you being hurt.”

Kenta returned the hug, letting out a small sob. After a few long breaths, Kenta let go, shuffling away to gaze at the ground. Ryuga froze for a moment. He needed to get Kenta’s mind off that battle…

“What’s that one?” Ryuga nodded in the direction of a zigzag formation of stars.

Kenta glanced at it. “Oh… that’s Cassiopeia… I… don’t really know anyone with a bey like that.”

“Cassiopeia…” Ryuga dipped his head. “The queen from Greek mythology.”

“You know Greek Mythology?” Kenta asked, turning to him.

Ryuga shrugged. “A little. Cassiopeia boasted about… something so Poseidon turned her into a sea monster.”

Kenta raised an eyebrow. “Well, that seems like an overreaction.”

“Everything in Greek mythology was an overreaction to something. Zeus sees anyone? Has… kids with them. Poseidon loses a duel? Curses the city into a drought. Hades sees a pretty girl? Kidnaps her. Athena sees a woman in her sacred temple? Curses her to be a Gorgon. It’s ridiculous.”

“What’s a Gorgon?”

“It’s what Medusa was.”

Kenta flinched. “Wait, Medusa was cursed to be like that?” Ryuga nodded. “Oh…” He looked away. “That makes me feel a little bad for her.”

Ryuga nodded in agreement. He and Kenta looked back at the sky.

“You can’t see all of it but there’s Libra.” Kenta pointed at another cluster of stars, near the edge of the glade. “It kinda looks like a diamond during this time actually.”

Ryuga could see that. He stayed silent as Kenta pointed out more constellations.

“There’s Capricornus, it looks a bit like a goat’s head. And Scorpius…” He moved his finger back and forth in a line. “You can see the stinger. Oh! And of course Hercules, the hero from the Greek myths.” Kenta glanced at him. “Know anything about him?”

Ryuga shrugged. “Just that Hera hated his guts.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. The Gods were all jerks. Besides Artemis. She was unproblematic.” *And awesome,* Ryuga thought to himself. 

Kenta raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t she hate men or something?”

Ryuga nodded slowly. “Completely unproblematic.” He couldn’t stop himself from cracking a smile at that.

“Ryuga… you’re-you’re a boy…”

Ryuga chuckled. “Boys are the worst.”

“Ryuga, you’re gay.”

Ryuga glanced at his friend with a smile. “Then surely I know better than anyone?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

Ryuga and Kenta both chuckled.

Then Kenta let out a yawn. “We should start heading home,” he replied, standing up. “It’s getting late.”

Ryuga nodded, standing up as well. The two of them walked back to the house in silence.

#beyblade #beyblade metal fight #beyblade metal saga #ryuga #ryuga kishatu #kenta yumiya #metal fusion #metal masters #metal fury #all three seasons are alluded to in some way #reiji's also mentioned #greek mythology #constellations #fanfiction #one-shot #hurt and comfort #kinda #it's more just casual and cute

[takerfoxx]

Well, in honor of the Rebellion sequel FINALLY being announced, here’s something I was going to do today anyway! Here’s the second part of the crew of Walpurgis Nights watch The Rebellion Story, stretching from Madoka arriving at the school to Hitomi’s nightmare!

Note: I originally was going to write this as one big piece and release it all at once, but then I realized what a dumb idea that would be, so it’s going to get released in chunks as they’re finished.

Note the 2nd: Every time a prolonged conversation takes place, just assume that they’re pausing the movie to talk.

Reminder:

G=Gretchen

H=Homulilly

Op=Ophelia

Ok=Oktavia

Ca=Candeloro/Mami

Ch=Charlotte

...

G: You know, I can’t get over Tavi having legs, or Fee having hair.

Op: It does look good, I gotta say. Must’ve been a bitch to keep it looking so fresh though.

Ch: And probably sets fewer low-hanging branches alight or set off fewer sprinklers.

Op: As far as you know. That style is smokin’

…

H: Seeing all those boys is…weird.

Ch: I know what you mean. I mean, I can picture what they look like, and I’ve seen recreations, but even still…

G: It is interesting to think about. I mean, here it’s perfectly normal for girls to get into relationships with other girls. But there girls like us would be a minority.

Op: Can’t imagine why. Now that I’m seeing them…not really getting the appeal. They don’t even have tits!

Ch: I guess you had to be there.

Ok: Hey, is it true that girls who liked other girls got picked on a lot?

Ca: Well, that’s an oversimplification of a serious problem, and I certainly never saw it happen. But then, I was a little…sheltered. And yes, in some places of the world, that does unfortunately happen. And worst.

G: Poor girls.

Ch: And guys. It happens to the gay guys too.

Op: I never got the gay thing. I mean, using the word as an insult. Like, why would that even be something to be ashamed of?

Ca: That’s…a really complicated question, and I’m not sure I’m really qualified to explain.

G: Well, I think they’re just being silly! I don’t see how anyone could see anything wrong with this!

=Gretchen leans over to give Homulilly a small kiss on the lips. Homulilly is more than happy to reciprocate=

Op: GAAAAY!

=Homulilly smacks Ophelia upside the head=

Ca: All of…that aside, I have to say, this is sort of nostalgic.

Ch: Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?

Ca: Oh, relax. I mean, just this. The school. The girls and the boys. The uniforms. Don’t worry, I’m not going to be struck with an uncontrollable desire for penis.

Op: Though if you do, I know a girl who-

Ca: Thank you, Ophelia. Please don’t finish that thought.

…

Op: Ha. Still a rebel, even then.

Ca: You were. You definitely were. Even more than this version. At least this version of you is going to school.

Op: And Tavi’s the goody-goody, sneaking off…hold up.

Ok: What?

Op: Rewind it a bit.

Ch: Okay…?

Op: So, does this version of me and Oktavia…do we live together?

Ch: Huh?

H: What?

Op: How would she know about me slacking on my homework after school if she wasn’t there? Like, in the same house?

Ca: W-Well, friends visit after school, sometimes to work on homework…

Ok: No, I’m going with Ophelia. We were totally shacking up. I mean, look at us. Look how irritated I am with her. That is love.

Ca: Girls, I hate to burst your bubble, but nobody was actually dating anyone back then.

Op: Oh, come on! Look at us!

Ok: Yeah, I mean the only other explanation is…

=silence=

Op: Is what? What are you…Oh, my God.

G: What’s wrong?

=Ophelia and Oktavia both start to look very uncomfortable=

Op: Candy, tell us the honest truth here: are we sisters?

Ca: What?!

Ch: Oh my God, I’m not hearing this.

Op: If you hid it so we wouldn’t freak out, I understand, but we really need to know-

Ca: No! No, you are not sisters, and you did not live together in our timeline! You knew each other for little over a month when we died, and only really got along for about two weeks!

Op: Oh, thank the flames.

Ok: Whew.

Ca: Seriously, what’s wrong with you? I already told you your stories.

G: Yeah, and Hitomi’s known Oktavia and me for a very long time! I think she’d mention it if you two were related.

H: Plus you look nothing alike. At all.

Ok: Okay! Okay! It was a momentary slip of stupid! We panicked! Leave us alone.

H: Would you two have stopped dating if it turned out you were related?

=Ophelia and Oktavia exchange looks=

Op: Probably not.

Ok: Nope.

Ch: Great. Now that we’ve established yet again how degenerate you two are, can we please continue the movie?

…

G: Huh?

Ok: What’s her deal?

Ca: I…kind of remember her? She was a teacher, and I think I had her my first year. But it’s been so long that-

Op: This lady’s bugging.

Ch: Too many shots in her coffee.

Op: I don’t think that’s alcohol.

Ok: Look at the class. Look at us! We’re all as confused as…we are…huh.

Ch: Don’t think about it too hard.

Op: Okay, seriously! Who allowed this lady around children?

Ca: I can remember her being a little eccentric, but this is on a whole new level.

Ch: Well, as the first few minutes proved, this whole city’s totally drugged out of its mind.

G: Does she want the world to end?

Ok: You know, I’m kind of feeling her.

G: Eh?!

Ok: Okay, look! Way back in the day, before I had a reliable gig, I used to sub every now and then for the FIB’s music department, and let me tell you, after a couple days of trying to keep those sand crabs under control, the apocalypse wasn’t sounding too bad!

Ch: How bad does her class have to be for her to go that far off the deep end?

Ok: Well, me and Fee are in the class.

=Ophelia snickers=

G: Oh, I saw Hitomi!

H: Fantastic.

Ok: I thought you two were cool now.

H: Eh…

Ch: Hey, kids! It’s time to play, “Spot the important characters!”

Ca: Did our hair really stand out that much? I distinctly remember other kids having bright hair colors!

Ch: Well, if you have a bunch of characters that you’re only animating for one scene, then you gotta skimp on some of the details.

…

G: Oh, there you are, Lilly!

Ca: Okay, this part I remember as being fairly accurate.

H: Huh?

Ca: I mean the bit about you being a transfer student and having been in the hospital for a while.

H: Ah.

=pause=

H: My God, I look stupid.

G: Don’t say that! You look cute!

H: Did I really wear my hair like that?

Ca: Well, no. You wore it straight. And I don’t remember there being glasses.

…

Ca: This part…is different though.

G: Really? How so?

Ca: I didn’t know Homulilly before she showed up.

Op: Yeah, you talked about that before. She just sort of appeared out of nowhere one day?

Ca: Yes. And pretty much just…aggressively inserted herself into our group. I mean, she wasn’t rude about it, but…

H: I was a time-traveler trying to save the only person that had ever cared about me from a terrible fate and had already failed several times. No doubt I wanted to skip the pleasantries.

Ca: I’m s-sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything negative.

H: No offense taken.

Ok: So basically, you had reloaded your save over and over and was skipping the cutscenes so you could get to work on the part you were having trouble on.

H: That is…a remarkably accurate way of putting it. At least I assume that was the reason. I don’t know anything other than I was told, and to be quite frank, I’m glad of it.

Op: Hear fuckin’ hear.

Ok: Cheers. Oh, uh, sorry, Candy.

Ca: Don’t worry about it.

…

Ok: Well, Candy’s really talking you up. Guess you were kind of an ass-kicker, Homulilly.

H: No, it’s like the other version of me said. I was probably in a support role.

Ch: What, with the time-stop thing?

H: Yes.

Ok: Support role, my scaly ass! That is like the most OP power ever! I mean, what could I do?

=pause=

Ok: Uh, that wasn’t a rhetorical question. Candy, what could I do?

Ca: Oh, uh. In addition to your sword, you could use boost pads to jump and heal very quickly.

Op: So a tank, basically.

Ok: See? Just take and give damage! Basic as hell! Now time-stop, that’s a power with some class!

Ch: Plus time-travel.

Ok: Yeah, that’s like the jackpot of unfair.

H: Didn’t do me any good. We all died anyway.

Op: We’re chilling in our expensive, two-story house in a really nice neighborhood watching all this on our expensive big-screen instead of getting our asses beat every night and worrying about homework. I’d say things worked out.

…

Op: GAAAAAAY!

Ca: Oh, come on. It’s just hand-holding.

Op: Look at that blush! Look at it!

H: She has a point. By all accounts I was already pretty infatuated with Gretchen.

=Gretchen blushes=

Ca: Fair enough. GAAAAAAY!

=group cracks up=

Op: Though, seriously. Were any of us straight?

Ca: Well, Oktavia did have that crush on that one boy that supposedly started the whole trouble, and I had a couple of crushes of my own.

Ok: Did you not see me earlier in the movie? I at the very least bisexual!

Op: Or Kyoko-sexual. Everyone’s gay for Kyoko! Even the boys are gay for Kyoko!

G: I don’t really know what that means.

Op: It means the boys find me incredibly attractive, but in a gay sort of way.

G: I still don’t know what that means!

=Oktavia leans over to whisper something in Gretchen’s ear. Gretchen’s eyes go wide=

G: Oooohhhh…

…

Ch: A month? So do the landscape shots just mean a time-skip?

Ok: Okay, we were joking just now, but this is pretty explicitly romantic.

H: As I said, it was at least on my end. Though I don’t understand why he has to be there.

Ca: He was always around, unfortunately. I’m mainly wondering why he’s being so quiet. Or catlike.

H: Why, was he talkative?

Ca: Very.

Op: Huh. Maybe that’s why we got Cheese. We were just used to the animal companion that wouldn’t shut the hell-

=Cheese starts screeching from the other room=

C: Pickinilly! Pickidelly! Picadely whore!

Ch: Great, now you’ve set him off.

=Cheese flies into the room and lands on Homulilly’s flower. She tries not to laugh as he prances about before spying the movie playing=

C: Rat bastard! Rat bastard! Rat bastard!

Op: Where’d he learn that? I didn’t teach him that.

C: Rat bastard! Rat bastard!

Ch: Oh, for the love of…Here, I’ll take him.

=Charlotte offers Cheese her arm, and takes him outside=

Op: I’ll say this: the bird might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he is smart.

Ok: …did anyone else see the freaking dirigibles flying around in the background, or just me?

….

Op: Shit, those are a lot of airships. Hey, Candy-

Ca: No, those are new also.

Op: Something’s seriously off about this timeline, then.

Ch: Who the hell is that?

G: Oh! It’s Hitomi!

H: Of course it is.

Ch: Huh. Guess she does get more than a cameo.

Op: Jesus Christ, does her entire family all sleep in the same bed? You could fit an entire studio apartment into that thing!

G: Well, we were apparently all pretty well off.

Op: You had a normal-sized twin with a bunch of stuffed animals. She’s captaining the HMS Spoiled Rotten in there.

G: She’s not spoiled!

Op: Look, there are like three queen-sized beds between the six of us. You could put them all together and they still wouldn’t be as big as that monstrosity!

Ch: Isn’t she like living with three other girls now?

G: So? That doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people have roommates.

H: They’re dating.

G: What? What are you talking about? That’s silly to just assume-

Ok: Gretch. C’mon. It’s not a secret.

G: B-But-

Ok: Poly relationships happen all the time.

G: I…how did you find out?

Ok: You do know that I talk to her too, right? And honestly, you’re making more of it than she is.

G: I guess so.

Op: She should’ve brought that bigass bed with her, then. Gotten some use out of it.

…

H: Who’s she calling?

Ok: Oh boy.

Op: Well, well, well! Violin-boy!

Ok: Fantastic. Hey! I sold my soul for you! Hope it was worth it!

Ch: Er, you okay?

Ok: Yeah, I’m fine. I am pretty curious though.

Op: Oh! Stood the fuck up!

Ch: Wow, he just shot his own rich girlfriend down to play with his stringy stick!

Ok: Violins are way more than just stringy sticks! But yeah, he did shoot her right down, didn’t he? Starting to think I dodged a bullet.

H: You literally died.

Ok: I know what I said.

Op: I guess Hitomi dodged the same bullet. Traded in one deadbeat for three smokin’ hot girlfriends. Can’t see how that’s not a win!

G: Uh, her family? Whom she still remembers?

Op: Er…yeah. That’s a good point.

…

Op: Oh, she mad.

Ca: Teenage relationships are just like that sometimes. You feel all these big emotions and-Huh.

Ch: And you throw up yarn all over your room? What’s going on here?

Ok: We’re back on that weird shit again, aren’t we?

Op: Does she not notice any of this?

Ok: She just got shot down by her own boyfriend. Cut her some slack.

Op: Did the bed just…Okay, it ate her. It ate her and threw up even more yarn.

Ca: This is all getting very…witch-like.

G: I thought only Puella Magi could become witches.

Ca: So did I. But clearly my knowledge is very obsolete.

Op: Goddamn, Homulilly! You butterfly-effected the universe something crazy!

H: How is this my fault?

Ch: Oh, there’s another freaky teddy-bear. At least we know how they’re made.

Ok: Teenaged angst?

Ch: Most terrifying force known to mankind.

#WN Rebellion MST

[ghostmartyr]

So if you, like me, have nothing to do but wonder about the state of my inbox, you might rightfully be wondering how I plan to deal with the obscene backlog I have spent so many years failing to deal with.

If you have never wondered that, fear not, that doesn’t exclude you from finding out.

Today we’re just going to go through my entire slew of unanswered asks, and instead of answering them, I am going to provide excuses for why I didn’t do anything with them.

For added fun, several of the asks were in my Drafts.

I will not be cutting out the comments I started to make.

I will no doubt regret this.

Let’s have a time, shall we?

I don’t even know what year this is from. If I remember correctly, I didn’t get back to you because I thought about trying to reason out who would legitimately win, and there were too many points for both sides. I kept intending to come up with a proper answer, then time went by and this got buried.

Though the actual answer is probably “it depends on who gets the main character sticker at the time.”

...

..

.

Well.

I can tell you this is multiple years old.

We, as humans, aren’t equipped for time travel.

I didn’t answer this one because I didn’t feel like it was asking for one, and I’m only reproducing it here because it is really, really funny now.

Two years old. Plus change.

I think the entire reason I never replied to this one is that it cheered me up whenever I scrolled down enough to see it, so thank you.

You know, I entered the link at the time. Really, I did. But then came trying to come up with a comment and what can you really follow that with?

(Click the link.)

Okay then.

I still feel no need to respond to this, so that’s probably why I didn’t to start with.

Historia and literally anyone.

I don’t remember why I didn’t answer this, which usually means some combination of feeling tired and not being in the mood to scroll down to where it was.

Oops.

The thing is, this crosses dangerously close to being a fic idea. Fic ideas take time and effort. You can imagine the absolute dread I felt at having to engage with either concept.

It would have been a lot of fun to do, though. Hats off.

See, again. This is a very interesting concept that requires thought. I can tell you when I received it I was in no mood for anything that required anything of the sort.

I wrote a fic that is possibly never going to see the light of day now where they hang out in a kitchen with hot chocolate together and bond through unstated trauma and Frieda attempting to make things better.

That probably contributed to interfering with imagining how they would actually get along.

Anyway, I ship them slightly in that fic AU. Don’t @ me.

Oh dang. I remember this.

I actually really wanted to answer it, but the problem is that I wanted to come up with a good answer. Every character, tiered by their chances. A full Hunger Games edition of what went down and who killed who.

Then I didn’t.

Anyway, turns out the answer is that no one feels the need to chop of rocking chairs in a hurry, so she’d last a long time!

I didn’t answer this because I try to avoid responding with, “I don’t know.” My secondary answer would probably have been, “By being killed.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with those answers, but unless there’s been a tonal trend in asks, I assume that pithy answers that don’t actually have any meat behind them would not be appreciated.

I would stick to him probably being killed, though. But some signs do point to him being relatively immortal.

Hm.

Hmm.

I don’t know why I didn’t answer this, but I would guess it had something to do with me caring very little about Ymir’s thoughts on anything outside of her little clutch of people. And ongoing trauma of repeated dead/alive Ymir commentary killing off my desire to come up with a good answer.

Sorry?

I... have no idea why I didn’t answer this? Maybe I didn’t see it?

Anyway, yes.

There’s a longer version behind that yes, and I’m sure that might have contributed to never getting around to answering this. ...Assuming a past where I did actually see this one.

I have a confession.

I don’t really like crossovers.

There’s a sliding scale of degree, but that’s basically why this didn’t get a response.

Ah, we’ve landed on a recurring theme.

Sometimes, answers involve me thinking about the entire cast.

The usual consequence of that is I don’t have the energy for that, so nothing ever happens with these.

Oh, this one’s easy.

I had no fucking clue.

No ideas, head empty.

That didn’t seem like a good answer, so here we are, probably around a year later. I still have no clue. If I were forced to write a singing duo AU, I would probably just put some adjectives and nouns into a blender and flip a coin.

Names are hard.

I think I didn’t answer this one because I felt like I’d answered similar asks before. And I’m not really sure when this is from, but it’s possible canon complicated coming up with an answer that wasn’t distressed screeching.

Something something give Connie and Mikasa hugs, not partial about where they get them from.

Apparently not. Oops.

I can’t remember why I didn’t respond to this one. It’s possible the oodles of bad parenting proved too distracting to formulate such a post.

Sometimes I get an ask, and my immediate, gut reaction is, how the fuck should I know?

If I can move past that, the ask is answered.

If I can’t, the ask continues its descent through scroll hell.

I am sorry. There are no answers here.

Yeah, this is just the same as the above, just with I have no idea.

It’d probably be a Madoka Magic deal.

Huh. I don’t remember passing this one over. If I were to guess a timeline, I was probably too bitter over potential post-timeskip looks that I never got to be interested in focusing on the characters lucky enough to get good ones.

Go Connie for being less short, I suppose.

This clearly belonged to something that I was doing, but time has eroded the context, so I am simply left with failure and disappointment on all sides. Sorry.

Aw, we’re getting into the boring part of the inbox now, I think. Not because of the questions; you guys are always great. But I can’t think of a reason why I wouldn’t have answered this, which leads me to think that the reason was I was too tired to put words together.

That’s a boring reason, so maybe I should go into Drafts for the next few...

Yeah, still unfairly prejudiced against crossovers. I am no fun, etc. etc.

I have no memory of it, but I feel like I didn’t answer this because there was no way I could match this kindly anon’s enthusiasm.

You go, random internet person.

You have good ideas.

Oh no.

Uh.

See.

I know exactly why I didn’t answer this one.

I am so sorry, Anon.

I really didn’t care.

I am filled with affection for you because you clearly do, but uh.

...I basically put this on Read.

This has a very simple, ie boring, explanation. Any time someone asks about the cast as a whole, I want to think about the cast as a whole, and that takes a lot more thought than most of the asks I get. Cue putting it off. Cue it getting lost in scroll hell. On and on we go until we end up here.

Anything that opens with kilometers is something that requires more brain power than I have had in the past year.

Also I think I got this during a spoiler week, so I saw it, but I was trying not to look at it, and then it got lost in the post-chapter asks.

That happens a lot.

We might see it more soon.

If I can’t come up with words more than “-shrug-” I try not to answer.

...Good news, though!

The manga did my job for me!

I feel like I answered some variation of this. That might be why I didn’t answer this specific one.

The wiki does a better job keeping track of the timeline than I ever have. I probably didn’t answer this because it would involve trying to remember which volume actually name-dropped a number of weeks or months. Searching for lines I know a character said is pretty easy, but searching out lines I have a vague feeling of someone providing? That tends to hit the frustration button with the force of a truck.

But yeah, if you ever want to know how long something took, the wiki is absolutely your friend. They do good work.

Consider: “What if” questions are hard, and I am lazy.

This is actually one I really did mean to get to, sorry. It’s an interesting thought, and I miss Sasha.

...I clearly did a magnificent job answering your asks, friend.

Prediction asks are hard for me; I feel like I’m throwing darts randomly into the air and the dartboard is still deciding if it’s going to show up. So uh. I guess I just kept putting this off until it didn’t get answered.

This post is going to have so many apologies. Implied and otherwise.

I continue to be the No Fun Police who accidentally-on-purpose avoids crossover commentary.

I feel like I didn’t answer this one entirely because seeing it in my inbox gave me far too much joy to have it lost in a sea of posts.

This is what my inbox was made for.

I have no idea when this was from, but I see your emotions and appreciate them, Anon.

...Did I not see this one?

Hey, Anon who probably doesn’t remember sending this: This is a good ask and deserved some good attention, and I’m sorry I missed my shot at it. Good thoughts.

I didn’t answer this one entirely because I knew I couldn’t match the energy of it, and responding with anything less felt heretical.

That is one hell of a mood, Anon.

This is definitely from the era of, “Can’t think, brain empty.” Sorry about not getting back to you, I just really couldn’t organize my thoughts well enough to come up with an answer.

I feel like I didn’t know what this was continuing from and was too exhausted to ask.

LOOK YOU CAN SEE I WANTED TO ANSWER THIS BECAUSE IT’S A DRAFT.

Too many things, Anon.

I liked so many things about all of that. Trying to turn that enthusiasm into words wasn’t agreeing with me, so I put it in Drafts and told myself one day I’d do the most awesome post detailing everything.

Intentions, huh?

Every time I tried to take a normal screenshot with formatting Tumblr just laughed at me, so that might have been a contributing factor.

Dang, I’m really sorry. This is another one of those cases where I wanted to take my time with a response, and I took too long.

I, uh.

Am guilty of not being too interested in pondering Ymir’s thoughts on Levi or Erwin.

That’s it, that’s the explanation.

Yeah, I just couldn’t come up with an answer here? Or someone else asked? Or several of my friends decided to be annoying about lists on Discord? I don’t even know.

Presumably there could be a list.

There is not.

Honestly, I just couldn’t figure out how to follow that starting sentence up. A thought exercise on Armin, Historia, gender, and themes sounded really interesting, and I put it in Drafts so as not to forget it being interesting.

Then, you know. This post sort of paints the picture.

Ah.

Man, I really was looking forward to putting some proper thought into this. That’s the problem with having so many things I love in one place, I guess. Symbolism? Historia and Ymir? Mikasa? So many good things! Where do I start!

With paralyzing indecision that results in not a lot. Sorry, Anon. This really did light up my day when I got it.

Here’s the thing about me and writing:

I often fail to.

(I love both these ideas, though.)

Yes.

Do I know why I didn’t get around to answering this?

Absolutely not.

But yes, I’d agree with that.

GOOD NEWS!

The manga actually gave us some of them together in the future.

I occasionally giggled over their shared distaste.

It was a good time.

And this is another one I just do not know why I didn’t answer, whoops.

This never got answered because I couldn’t come up with an answer.

Broad questions are scary because they can go just about anywhere and I didn’t know how to handle that level of commitment.

I think I didn’t answer this one, A), because words are hard, and B), because mostly I just wanted to listen to more of your wondering and less of mine.

I probably could have answered this by saying I don’t have any, but that seemed rude, so I didn’t respond to it at all.

Yep.

Frieda is worthy of my time and effort.

Landing this in Drafts instead of my inbox.

Where the lighting makes it more obvious that hope has gone there to die.

I think about it so much too.

I find the answers fundamentally upsetting.

That is probably why I did not provide an answer here.

That is a lot of kids to make up headcanons for.

So I didn’t.

She’s eaten by dogs before she develops a personality.

Since that seemed like the wrong thing to say, I said nothing, and into Drafts this went.

‘I have no earthly clue’ seemed similarly unhelpful.

At this point, we understand that there is no mystery to my backlog.

This one hurts.

-sees the 112 reference-

Wow does it hurt.

As I hope is obvious, I really, really loved this question, and kept meaning to carve out time to work on it specifically. What went sideways was trying to put words to how EMA functions. I knew the feel of what I wanted to express, but every time I tried to write it, it came out wonky.

I’m very sorry I couldn’t do anything for this, because I was thrilled to spend time with it.

I didn’t answer this because Fuck Marley.

It’s nothing against you. At the time, I simply wasn’t in any mood to consider any version of Marley. Even the canon version was too much for me, so giving it my time in a roleswap AU had me hissing.

Roleswaps in general are amazing, and I love them a lot. A dedicated person could make a fantastic one based around Marley and Paradis. I think it would probably be cool af.

But I was so tired of Marley when I got this, I just couldn’t make myself think about it. Sorry. It’s a fun idea.

I didn’t answer this one because I kept trying to extend my response past, “I think he just really likes baseball.”

I think he just really likes baseball.

My feelings on that as a quality answer are derogatory.

Mm. The ones where I actually tried to get something started hurts.

Ultimately, this ask was a larger demand than I could make my brain work through at the time. I made sure to write down the tl;dr version of Sasha’s, because I found that desperately important, and not something that people talk about much, but the additional weight of trying to think of themes for multiple characters made it hard to progress.

Me, looking at the prompts: Hi my brain left me.

Sorry, Anon. Too many gears were moving for me to get a proper feel for what I wanted to do with this one, so I ended up ditching it. ...I was planning to finish it, though. Eventually. See, I even put the quote in the Draft version as a reminder of what I was doing, so I could get back to it right away.

Yeeeeah, this is just one more to the “I will give this wonderful thing all the time it deserves!” pile.

The pile is stored in the Failure Corner.

Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.

You guys really like crossovers.

I love that for you.

-spends two years ignoring you-

I mean, I just didn’t know what to do with the rainbows.

They sure are there.

They sure are pretty.

I sure couldn’t come up with a comment to add.

...I don’t know why I didn’t answer this. Possibly because I think it’s fine? I’m not too attached to it, and spent the whole manga period wanting to watch an anime version instead, then we got an anime version.

I’d guess that my general “meh” feelings interfered with responding here.

No idea why I didn’t answer this.

Yes, and good for you.

I support all thoughts on giving the Reiss kiddos personalities.

I think I didn’t get back to you on this because I wasn’t sure how to encourage you to keep going so I just sat awkwardly on my hands and felt weird about not saying anything.

...Thanks for sharing!

I love how it’s the little things that date these.

Unfortunately, we’re now at the point where 90% of the reason I didn’t answer was because I was too sick to muster up anything approaching enthusiasm.

Or because I’d just finished answering a bunch of chapter-specific things and was burnt out.

This felt pretty self-explanatory to me, so I felt like that gave me permission to ignore it.

Also, it mentions Marley.

I might be slightly petty.

Really though, I think what stopped me from giving a proper answer is that the question of what an author is trying to say throws me off a little. I work better thinking of it in terms of what the story is saying, with the author just happening to be the hands that wrote it all down.

I don’t know. This was probably another case of feeling like I should give this more of my time than I was able.

I couldn’t decide.

That’s it.

That’s the reason.

Everyone needs to give Mikasa a hug.

My blog title for a hug.

-the crossover snake hisses and consumes another-

I am so sorry.

This is fun.

I probably should have just gone with posting and saying so, because I am genuinely charmed by this. I tend to feel like I have to add something to asks to justify the post. That policy maybe didn’t need to be a thing.

I love my anons.

I want that to be clear.

Really, I do.

I especially love their willingness to embrace my crackpot logic.

Still.

Sometimes, the only response one can have to Schrodinger’s Ymir is to ignore its existence, find a pillow, and scream into it for the rest of time.

This replaces typing.

-looks at Armin-

-looks at Eren-

Yeah, don’t know why I didn’t answer this one, either. I blame tiredness? Sorry about that.

I feel like I didn’t answer this one because it felt like work.

This is where I start considering that making this post was a mistake.

I could have just agreed with you and gone about my day.

Probably should have.

Did not.

Another one for that, “had nothing to add so I just left it in a corner, abandoned and unloved,” pile.

There is an apology section at the end, but we’re not there yet.

This one I don’t think I noticed.

Alternatively, I did notice, and wasn’t sure “Yes,” would pass as a good enough answer.

--------------------------------------

Okay, time to really just get into it: I think for the remainder of my inbox, I didn’t answer because physically, I was just too damn exhausted, and I kept waiting for a point in time where I’d feel better. Sorry to put a limit on the personalization, but in the end, that’s all there was to it, and rephrasing it a dozen times will make me crazy.

And here we are.

Well.

Good grief, do you guys even have any clue how much I like all of you?

Obviously there’s a lot of guilt in the above, because I can’t tell you how much I wanted, each time, to give a great answer that would make you thrilled you messaged me. I am so sorry to all of these I didn’t get to. There were days when the alerts in my inbox were the best thing to happen to me, and I never wanted to let any of them go without acknowledgment.

I try to say thank you as often as I can in my responses, because that’s as close as I can get to reminding you all, constantly, that I am grateful for your participation. The only times I don’t say it is when I worry that it’ll look like it’s being done out of habit, not genuine gratitude. Or when I think you might take it the wrong way if I say thanks for a basic conversation. Because you provide me content and make me interested in things I might not normally look twice at.

There are so many instances of people saying hi, and thank you, and wishing everyone well here.

I haven’t been active in the larger fandom in two years, but I have always been so happy that you guys kept dropping by my space anyway.

You are a pleasure and light in my life, no matter how much snark I might throw about.

Thank you all.

#attack on asks #tl;dr #long post

[ryqoshay]

So I just finished reading all of How to Handle a Nico and I absolutely fucking loved it, do you have any NicoMaki fanfic recommendations of your own?

I must offer my apologies for the delay in response. I did not forget you, Anon, despite answering two questions that came in after this one. However, I wanted to wait until I knew I had a good amount of time I could dedicate to making a proper list of recommendations worthy of my time in the LL/NicoMaki fandom, which is typically sometime during my weekend.

Also, please bear in mind that this list is not all-inclusive. NicoMaki has one of, if not the most extensive list of fanworks out of the various LL ships. If someone reading this list is a fan of, or the author of a given work not included, please do not take it personally, this is merely a sampling of my favorites. There are genres and tags that I tend to avoid for various reasons, and there are many perfectly good works with the NicoMaki ship tag that I haven’t read simply because they are not the primary focus. And due to current events, as well as those of last year, there is a sizable backlog of NicoMaki focused fics that I hope to get around to reading sometime soon.

And as I expect this to get long, I will put the list itself under a cut.

First and foremost, I must shamelessly shill an author whose first forays into NicoMaki fanfic are based on HtHaN. It’s been almost a year since the first one went up and I remain in awe that I was able to pay forward the inspiration given to me by other authors. For this list I will only be including said works based on HtHaN, though VNVdarkangel has written some other NicoMakis I haven’t read yet.  - Always there - Nico wakes up in the middle of the night. Some post-canon fluffy angst.  - On tracks to the heart - Takes place during the scene transition in Homecoming.  - Meet ‘n’ greet - Nico has a meet ‘n’ greet event and Maki shows up  - Part-time idol composer - Nico hires Riko to compose some idol music for Egao. Minor YohaRiko to keep up the casual connections between HtHaN and HL.  - Next steps... - A long, multi-chapter work that takes place after the numbered chapters of HtHaN. This work tells the story of NicoMaki as they take advantage of the research mentioned way back in Telling Mama. Yay science babies!  - Out of focus - Maki can’t focus on anything but Nico  - The door to dreams - Riko finds the piano from How to Celebrate a Maki and Maki finds Riko. More minor YohaRiko from HL.  - Idol trainer - A non-NicoMaki, RinPana honorable mention tied to HtHaN

Next, I must link a few things from jstonedd, whose works I can point to as being among those that helped cement NicoMaki as a my favorite ship.  - Buy Your Love - By the gods, I’ve honestly lost track of how many times I’ve reread this fic. It is also responsible for my headcanon that Tsubasa teaches Honoka how to skate, which I thusly include in Nico on Ice.  - Soldier Wars - If memory serves, this work earns its M rating less for lewd stuff and more for action movie depictions of violence, like an R rated Charlie’s Angels or something.  - After School Troublemakers - Earns its tag of Fluff and Crack.  - Babies Maybe - More Fluff and Crack I only skimmed the first few chapters of Otonokizaka Private Academy and it didn’t seem very NicoMaki focused or really much my cup of tea. But I’ve heard others like it, and it was finally completed a few years back, so there’s that.

One author with whom I’ve interacted moreso than any other - maybe not VNVdarkangel as of late, but... - is the creator of one of my favorite Fantasy AUs, which is often a genre I don’t read much as it so often leans on Harry Potter, of which I’m quite unfamiliar. Of course I say I often avoid Fantasy AUs despite now writing two... Anyway, we have a few differing headcanons and I must say it’s fun to have a civil discussion about them - as opposed to others that become heated and dissolve into ad hominum attacks like the one marked by Comment Deleted tombstones in the comments of HtHaN. Anyway, that train of thought derailed, so here are some of lonelypond’s works. Worth mentioning that most works take place in the U.S. instead of Japan, something that confused me for a few chapters when I first started reading, but have come to enjoy it, especially when places are mentioned that I know.  - Casual Lunacy - The aforementioned Fantasy AU as well as my introduction to this wonderful writer. Pulls in a quirky character from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, an adorable anime I’ve been meaning to finish. Maki is a werewolf. And I really need to reread this one at some point.  - PhotoJazz - Maki is a photographer and Nico is an actress.  - AU Yeah August - A collection of short 1 Shots. I haven’t read all of them, e.g. the Harry Potter one, but those I have were adorable, e.g. Summer Camp, Fake Dating and FWB.  - Christmas Confections - A collection of amazing Christmas themed works that rank among my favorite gifts each year since I first started reading them. I’d link them each individually, but they’re all amazing so just read them all; you won’t be disappointed. Maki and Christmas just go together and lonelypond writes them well.  - Can’t Get Started - To quote the summary “Nishikino Maki is trying to make it in the piranha fishbowl of movies, music and Hollywood. Yazawa Nico already has. And they keep crashing into each other.” Literally. It’s quite amusing. I’ve heard good things from other readers about the 1Kiss series but have only skimmed a few; they are high on my To Read list. The Idol House series came out during my troubled 2019, so it also remains on my To Read list. The Moonlight series seems to focus on NozoEli, which is fine, but for better or worse lowers it position on my To Read list. It’s lonelypond, so I do intend to read it eventually, but there are more NicoMaki focused fics that I’d like to get to first.

Next up is Lucia Hunter, a case where I must separate author from work. To this day I remain uncertain as to the details of the issues between this author and the denizens of Sukutomo, but the animosity exists nonetheless. Still, the listed works below were part of my gateway drugs into the wonderful world of NicoMaki fanfics.  - The Diamond Princess’s Melancholy - How NicoMaki came together.  - Love marginal - My favorite portrayal of KotoHonoUmi. NicoMaki is a side pairing here, and remain so through the rest of the works, but they’re still worth reading, imho.  - Shiranai Love*Oshiete Love - RinPana focus but NicoMaki still plays their role.  - Garden of Glass - de de deee de de deee Obviously NozoEli focused.

My first encounter with Rinforzando was a T rated cute and fluffy fic but they’ve done some pretty good NSFW works as well.  - Ten Years - Always enjoy a good adult NicoMaki fic. - Limbo - NSFW FWB NicoMaki - Caprice - NSFW 2nd Person post-canon NicoMaki. I’m not typically a fan of 2nd Person perspective, but this one was worth it.  - Cheers for Loving You - NicoMaki Secret Santa.

Hidekins is another author that has written a lot of NicoMaki I’ve enjoyed, but on a quick scan through the AO3 entries, few are jogging my memory with title and description alone. Perhaps I’ve read more here on tumblr? Perhaps I’ll come back and add more if I remember them better later.  - NicoMakisses - A set of five cute short NicoMaki stories about kisses.

Saberin writes a lot of 3rd year stuff, and that’s fine, but the NicoMaki collection is worth checking out.  - Prickly Love - As of writing this list, there are 10 chapters of cuteness

whoneedsapublisher writes a lot and I enjoy the style. Thus, when I see NicoMaki pop up on the account, I try to read.  - Couples Therapy - One of my favorite Maki headcanons is included here. Not explicit but earns its M rating and thus is NSFW.  - Subtle - Not particularly crazy about the Nico-taller-than-Maki, but that’s a minor complaint compared to the rest of this wonderful work.  - At Least Six Confessions - Presequel to the above work. Poor Nico had her work cut out for her with a romantically dense Maki.  - Keep Your Promises - Ten years later...  - Happy New Year - Sometimes stalemates must be broken by someone.  - Hidden Depth - Nico’s voice changes. And Maki likes it  - Pretending to Pretend - Not explicit, but earns its M rating so NSFW. One of my favorite examples of the Fake Dating trope.  - Merry Christmas Maki - I can’t think of a better present.  - No Lies Allowed - Truth of Dare, NicoMaki style.  - All Dressed Up - Based on a wonderful pic by noelclover  - Santa’s Stand-in - Guess who still believes...  - Switcheroo - Always love the idea of the girls trying to behave like the others. Makes me want to rewatch that episode.  - Tick, Tock - Some introspective Maki  - Insensitive - NicoMaki dating issues  - Tomatoes - Maki’s favorite food I’ve heard good things about Dazzling Warrior Nightshade, so it’s on my To Read List, but I must admit I can be picky about my Magical Girls stuff. Madoka set an... interesting bar for the genre for me and in most cases I’d prefer to watch it as an anime or read it as a manga/doujin. Still, the idea of Nico being a magic girl amuses me greatly, thus why the fic remains on my radar.

And here are some other random works I’ve enjoyed over the years.  - Smile, Nico Nico! - In which Nico drags Maki to the dentist  - Billiards - NSFW 2nd Person. Yes, I know I just said I’m not typically a fan, but this one was also good.  - Piano For Beginners - NSFW AU where Maki is assigned to teach Nico how to play the piano so as to be convincing for a film.  - critical rules for not-dating - NSFW FWB AU that I need to finish reading someday but was happy enough with what I’ve read that I’d still recommend it.  - 24 visits - Visits as in Nico the idol visiting Maki the doctor in the hospital.  - 24 dates - A NSFW followup to 24 visits

So yeah, that’s a fairly decent list to get one started in their AO3 NicoMaki delving. As mentioned above, this is not all-inclusive and there are a ton of NicoMaki works out there. I haven’t visited FFN in years, so there may still be some authors that post there exclusively and have written some amazing stuff, but I cannot recommend what I haven’t read, or at least skimmed. I also have some tumblr works bookmarked... somewhere, so if I find them I might compare them to this list and maybe add those missed.

Here’s hoping something here piques your interest and makes you fall a little more for the wonderful NicoMaki.

#Ryqo's Q&A #NicoMaki #fanfic stuff

[littlepurinsesu]

V Watches MagiReco - Episode 8 Review

*Spoilers for Magia Record Anime Episode 8*

Okay, I was not expecting to enjoy this week’s episode as much as I did! :O From the anime’s pattern so far, I was fully expecting a slower episode with less action as they introduced the next main character (in this case Sana), but this episode had a lot of deviations from the game that did a lot of good, in my opinion!

Lots of positive things to say again for this review ^0^ And no, it’s not just because of that Kanagi “cameo” (even though there WILL be at least one paragraph of me screaming about that LOL you have been warned) xD

I think the slower pace of this episode gave us a really good chance to see how the main characters have adjusted and truly integrated themselves into their new lives. We see Iroha starting at her new school, Felicia starting her part-time job at Banbanzai, Tsuruno visiting to deliver bento boxes for Iroha and the two going to school together... so many small details that seem unimportant to the plot but really give us a good picture of the characters’ new lives and relationships. And that’s really important stuff. They seem to have taken a longer time and really drew out the introduction of this new Rumour rather than immediately rushing into the next one, and this gives the main cast some room to breathe and just be themselves, and also gives the audience a sense of some time having passed as well.

It was also really nice to see Rena back! Seems strange to me that Momoko wasn’t with her, but I was starting to worry that Momoko’s team would be forgotten and pushed to the background, so I was quite pleased to see them still popping up every now and then. The episode also gave us some quality Iroha and Rena bonding, which is kind of bittersweet when you consider that both of them either don’t have friends or always find themselves somehow isolated from the crowd. Rena is still a prickly little tsundere, but seeing her waiting for Iroha and giving her more information and talking with her really put a smile on my face :) I really want Rena and Iroha to be able to make more friends, and it’s super cute when the new friends are none other than each other ^^

Also, the thing about Kaede is really interesting. I’m sure this is an anime-original plot point, but I’m wondering how this is going to tie in with Sana’s arc, or any other part of the Main Story. Rena confirms that Kaede hasn’t actually disappeared; she still comes to school, but rushes home immediately after and doesn’t talk or reply to anyone. We also see her at home with all her plants at the beginning (cute!). I’m guessing she’s still traumatised from that Doppel experience and hasn’t figured out what’s going on, so is too afraid of getting close to her friends in fear of hurting them? Whatever they’re planning, I hope it has some relevance to that post-credits scene in episode 5 so we get some closure to what actually happened and the scene won’t seem so “cool but random” lmao.

Alright imma get this out of the way. (Feel free to skip this paragraph if you’re not interested in hearing me gush about my queen.) K A N A G I I Z U M I. If anyone reading this has been following my past MagiReco posts or knows anything about me at all, you’ll know that I’m absolute trash for Kanagi Izumi xD My best girl may be Iroha, but Kanagi is a character I really admire, respect, and adore. Anyway, I saw the official MagiReco Twitter account post about a Kanagi rate-up banner and was hella confused but excited because my queen was not supposed to appear until... at least until Tsuruno is captured by the Magius and Felicia and Sana have returned. So I guess it makes sense that it was in the form of a “mysterious person on the phone” rather than an actual debut, but gosh as soon as I heard her voice I almost lost it AHHHHHHHHHH （♥>ｏ<♥） This eases any fears I had of her being cut from the anime (I would have hunted down the studio if they made that decision LOL); not only is she not gonna be cut, but they gave her a surprise, mysterious, early introduction, too?!?!? YASSSSS (ᗒᗨᗕ)

Yachiyo’s phonecall with Kanagi is a surprising change to make because Kanagi’s presence is really “not very relevant” at this point, but I guess they really wanted to show how big the Wings of Magius' influence is. As Kanagi says, they’ve taken most of the girls from the East by now. I’m wondering what anime-onlys would feel about this scene, since they probably have no idea who Yachiyo is talking to. If anything, it would probably add to the mystery surrounding Yachiyo (which I hope the anime goes into soon). I was a little conflicted at first because I really wanted Yachiyo’s first contact with Kanagi to seem like a “we haven’t spoken in ages but desperate times call for desperate measures” kind of thing, because with this scene, the next time they "openly” contact her won’t have that same impact. But then the more I think about it, the more I think this might actually be for the better. Kanagi’s introduction into the cast won’t feel like such a “random” thing (like, “oh wait, who are you and since when were you so important?”); Yachiyo has been in some degree of contact with her and she was “there" all along. So yeah, a good change in retrospect, and I’m never gonna say no to seeing (or hearing) more of Kanagi so I’m all for this change either way LOL

Okay enough rambling about Kanagi (OTL I’m so sorry). Felicia working at Banbanzai is just SO CUTE!!! She’s like a cute little gangster omg those glares and “HUHHH?!?!?” (I’d be scared too, Iroha) xD I think the character that’s gotten the best portrayal in the anime so far really is Felicia. And also the reveal that the reason for her getting into a fight and being sent to the police station was because she was defending Yachiyo and Iroha? CUTEEE OMG I LOVE THIS CHILD!!! She also has a really good sense of fashion hehe :D

The little snippet in there with Ui, Touka, and Nemu may seem a little out of place, but I was actually quite relieved to see them. Every week the anime is throwing new characters at its viewers, so I was worried that anime-only viewers wouldn’t even remember who Touka and Nemu are when they’re eventually revealed to be the Magius. I think it’s good to keep drilling them into viewers’ minds so as not to lose that “OMGGG” factor when they make their proper debut. Also it’s adorable how Ui throws teddy bears in their faces to stop them from arguing LOLLL

The radio show was a really good way to not only sneak in tiny “cameos” of other girls (I think it was Rika and Kanoko this week), but also give a nice picture of life in Kamihama. There’s a sense that Iroha really is a part of this city now, and it’s such a nice feeling to see everything “falling into place;” we’re no longer in those inconsistent and uncertain “introductory” episodes anymore, even though we still have one more major character to bring in. And the laughter coming from the phone is super creepy--cute, but in a really creepy way. All the illustrations for when they were talking about the Rumours this week were also really, really well-done. I have nothing much to say about them except “sasuga Inucurry” haha xD

I really was expecting Madoka and Homura to appear this week, but I guess we may have to wait a little bit more for that >_< BUT Tsukuyo did appear again in her “civilian” form! Iroha chasing her into that building was also a really nice change the anime made; some things really need to be animated for full impact, and I’m loving these minor changes and how much more they add to the characters and atmosphere! Anyway, Tsukuyo seems a lot more menacing here compared to her dine-and-dash incident in the game lmaooo, and I wasn’t expecting a Witch battle!

Speaking of Witch battle, I think this might be one of my main letdowns with this episode: I just really want to see Iroha fight more. I appreciate that she’s proactive in seeking answers and brave enough to jump into these situations despite knowing that she’s weak, but she hasn’t really contributed much in battles so far except a few Connects and using her Doppel. I want to see my girl Iroha go all-out and kick ass with her arrows!!! But it was nice to see the rest of Team Mikazuki showing up so quickly; there’s a real sense of them being an actual team now, and they’ve always got each other’s backs! It would have been nice if the rest of the team got to fight as well rather than Yachiyo taking all the spotlight, but at least Yachiyo was super cool haha (as usual). But the battle clearly isn’t the point of this episode, so I won’t pick on it too much :)

By the way, that Mami appearance was super random. When I saw the ribbons and flowers, I almost thought she was going to appear as Holy Mami for a second. At least we know she hasn’t lost her head just yet ;) The appearance was random, but from what they offered, at least we know that Mami is still either in Kamihama or coming to Kamihama regularly to investigate, and while she was suspicious of Iroha in the past, she went out of her way to help her this time, which was a nice touch.

Anyway, now that Iroha has finally replied to the mysterious messages, we might really get to meet Sana (and Ai-chan) next time! Maybe Madoka and Homura, too! But yeah, this episode is a prime example of one where not much seems to happen, but a lot actually does happen and there’s plenty to pull apart and discuss when you really think back on it. Clearly Kanagi took half my attention and feels this week, but I’m definitely having lots of warm and fuzzies seeing Team Mikazuki doing normal, everyday things together. Seeing Felicia added to the OP was expected but still a treat (the way she bobs around on the spot is SO CUTE!), and I can’t wait for the family to finally be fully formed!

(Also, Yachiyo looks gorgeous in anything she wears, seriously.)

#magia record #magireco #puella magi madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica side story #pmmm #fandom #mine #anime #review #magia record review #v watches magireco

[muthaz-rapapa]

StarPre Ep 29: Planet Saaman, the Frontier (??)

Alternatively,  “YEARSH, MOAR LALA!!”

Sooooo many things to discuss about this episode (yay!) as I expected as much with going back to Lala’s homeland.

Therefore, I should go through everything efficiently (ahahaha~). 

*cracks knuckles* Let’s begin!

1) Saaman, a world ruled by AI + Lala, the anomaly

I believe by now, most of us have consumed enough media to understand that a utopia run completely by a computer is NOT the ideal world it paints itself to be.

While there are certain perks in efficiency, the lack of freedom, authenticity and most importantly, the limit on a person’s individuality and true potential (among many other things) are so alarmingly concerning that such a reality is not worth it.

However, Saaman is just that. Its citizens not only thrive on their reliance of the AI, they are also super (!!) content with a machine deciding every single aspect of how they live.

Which suggests that Saaman’s current social infrastructure and foundation must have lasted quite long already (probably centuries) for the entire population to rarely, if ever, question the decisions that AI “Mother” made for them.

Save for one. Our lovely Lala-chan.

I mean, can you blame her for not going along with the norm like her family and fellow Saamanians do? 

AI Mother’s evaluation of her determined that she was most suited to investigate garbage.

After everything we’ve seen her done, how much she’s experienced and grown on this journey, of course, she can never be satisfied with that!

Lala deserves SO👏MUCH👏 FRIGGIN’👏MORE👏 (give her the galaxy!) than to sit hours upon hours sorting through junk!

Unfortunately, given the longstanding situation and culture of her planet (again, a reminder that the people of Saaman have no problem with this lifestyle), it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to actually voice their opinions of disagreement with Mother’s decisions.

Especially Lala, whose parents are big shots in Saaman and older brother is the poster child/epitome of Saamanian values.

When the majority of your family is so ensconced in societal conventions, it’s not surprising that they would push the “lesser” relative to be more like “everybody else”.

Please don’t make the mistake that this means they don’t love and care about Lala because it doesn’t. It’s so obvious that they worry for her and only want the best for her.

BUT! It’s also obvious that they don’t really know Lala nor can they be considered close to her (she calls her parents by their given names instead of simply “Mom” or “Dad”, for stars’ sake!). 

Lala’s family doesn’t understand her or her unhappiness with her assigned role on Saaman. They’re so content with their own jobs that they fail to see anyone else can feel differently about theirs. So the only solution they can think of to “help” Lala is to push her further into it, believing that eventually she’ll become content.

It’s something that happens to a lot of people and perhaps the reason why Lala left Saaman in the first place. She couldn’t exactly rebel so she ran away from the pressure on her spaceship. Maybe she didn’t intend to be away for an extended period of time but still, she left hoping to search for something that Saaman could not, would not, give her.

Then she fatefully bumped into Prunce and Fuwa running away from the Notrayders, met Hikaru, became Precure and the rest was history (or rather, destiny~).

At least, that’s how I see it.

2) Madoka relates

Y’know, at first, I thought Madoka empathizing with Lala’s discomfort was based on their similar upbringings.

Despite how close Lala and Hikaru are with each other, it’s Lala and Madoka who have the most in common out of all the other members of their team and I’ve been waiting for the writers to touch on that for some time now.

From birth or early childhood at the very least, everything was already decided for them. What they will be when they grow up, what their routines will be every single day, what expectations they’re supposed to fulfill, etc. 

It’s a suffocating position that doesn’t leave a lot of room for argument and what shaped these two girls into having very detrimental perfectionist outlooks before that changed after meeting Hikaru and becoming Precure.

And now that Lala finds herself under stucky circumstances with her family, unable to enjoy the same openness with them as she does with her friends, I thought Madoka was going to try to encourage Lala not to let that get to her. She’s going through the same thing with her own father, after all, so if anyone can tell Lala’s going through a hard time, it’d be Madoka.

But turns out, that’s not quite the case here as the issue lies with them keeping their Precure identities and duties secret from their families instead.

Which is fine because at least Lala still has someone who can understand her on that.

Anyways, it’s a problem because being the upstanding, honest and serious types they are (majimeko) and both coming from families with high reputations, it’s really difficult for Lala and Madoka to not tell the people who are important to them about another part of their lives that is very important to them.

For Madoka, she feels that she’s betraying her father by hiding the fact that her friends, the very first and truest friends she’s ever made, are either aliens or helping the aliens avoid being caught.

For Lala, she’s torn between her duties as a Saamanian and wanting the acknowledgement of her family and community against the desire the protect her friends from the consequences of acting on the former.

And they are right when they suspect things would probably be worst off if they were to reveal that they are Precure.

Sure, they can probably expect to receive some more substantial support from the officials of their home planet (more from the Starscape Alliance than Earth’s government, sorry Madoka)...but at what cost?

The Star team can operate and travel smoothly throughout space precisely because nobody else is aware of who they really are. If they reveal their identities, there’s no doubt they will be targeted to be controlled.

Because sadly and not to get too political or anything, that’s just what governments do. They have to control the situation, they have to think about the interests of their own countries and more often than not, they extremely suck at it and turn everything into a huge mess (and this is just massively simplifying the general for length).

If they let other people get involved, the team’s balance and even their friendship will likely absolutely be affected and strained because no way will the universe at large care about a bunch of girls getting along as much as they do about using them for its own needs.

Which I’ll get more into on Point #3 below.

But for certain, that’s one of the reasons why Lala and Madoka are unable to tell their families about being Precure.

Yes, it makes them very uncomfortable to keep this huge secret...a secret.

But at the same time, it feels even more wrong to expose it because once that happens, nothing will be the same. Nothing can stay the same.

Even if they avoid all the worse case scenarios, the ones who will definitely suffer the most will still be the girls.

Perhaps that sounds selfish because they’re putting their friends above everything else but it’s not like the Star team isn’t also doing their best to keep the villains at bay while trying to save the universe at the same time. And they’re already doing an exceptional job without anyone breathing down their necks about it.

*cough* Sorry, getting off track a bit.

Anyways, the point is, they’re following their instincts this time which is a BIG deal for people like Lala and Madoka who have tendency to lean more towards logic.

After meeting Hikaru, after letting Hikaru teach them about valuable things they didn’t know before, both Lala and Madoka learned that there is much more to the world than the structures built around them.

Sometimes, the right answer doesn’t lie in the data or the rules, cold and fair in judgement.

Sometimes, simply trusting what you feel is just more correct.

Nobody ever said doing the right thing will be easy (in fact, many times, it never is) but the heart can never lie to you after all. And it’s even more dangerous to ignore it and live through the regrets afterwards.

So which would you choose?

Going with what you feel and doing everything you can to get the best outcome? Or choosing the opposite, knowing that doing so, the best outcome becomes more impossible to achieve and you can only hope for the best of the worse?

Eh..my phrasing isn’t very good but you get what I mean, right?

Anyways, it’s just very meaningful for Madoka to be the one to say these words to Lala.

I wouldn’t say she and Lala have completed their personal journeys yet (we still have like 20 more episodes to go after all) but I do believe that this particular moment marks a very significant point in their arcs.

Having been exposed to more of the world out there beyond their own, they would never go back to being the same Lala and Madoka from the beginning.

They are still unsure about whether their choices will lead them to what they’re looking for but they both know there’s no point in looking back. They can only move forward, trusting in what they feel as right.

Which it will be and not just because this is Precure but because it will leave a very bad taste in my mouth if I wrote all that and the right doesn’t end up prevailing. :P

3) The next step...

I’ll give you a straight up “NOPE!” to that, Pops!

Apologies for letting some of my RL views seep into this post (though can you blame me when it’s been disaster after disaster out there?) but I’m positive that “joining” the Starscape Alliance (their terms, not Precure’s), no matter how well-intentioned they are, will hurt the Star team more than benefit them.

Again, cuz it will allow busybodies to unnecessarily butt into their affairs and make things harder for the girls than they already are.

Moreover...

This is just Lala’s boss being an incompetent ass-for-brains idiot but if the Starscape Alliance is anything like him or even thinks remotely like him, then the Star team coming under their control spells doom for all.

Seriously, this is another level of messed up stupid. They just got terrorized by a flamboyant tengu woman and the person he accuses of trying to steal the Princess pen is Lala?! Even though the wrecked video footage is NOT enough sufficient evidence to point her as an accomplice to Tenjou? Even though Lala’s safely holding onto the pen in the aftermath, is noticeably NOT running away with it and showing concern for her boss?

WHAT THE SERIOUS FUCKING FUCK?!?!

D:<

That said, I hope that in midst of all the chaos of next week’s episode, Lala’s family will at least refuse to believe Lala is a thief and try to find a way to talk to her to know what’s really going on.

Because if they can’t even do that and join the chase to jail their own daughter, then I have another concern to worry about and will immediately fly to Saaman, lay waste to it, take Lala home with me and file to adopt her as my own child (don’t laugh).

But seeing how Lala fought so hard, despite her awkward relationship with her family, to make sure Lolo’s efforts weren’t for nothing, I’m sure it’ll be alright.

Having both her parents and Lolo come to understand Lala would be ideal...but if not, then either one or the other. I’m banking on Lolo atm since he’s her twin but he can be the type who chooses the system over his own kin, too, so... 

The screentime we were given just wasn’t enough for me to grasp where each of Lala’s family members stand on their respective relations with her so I can only hope for the best. :/

Ooo, and also, Cancer Star Princess gets revived next week! Yay~! :D 

#i gotta go #spent all morning doing this #star twinkle precure #hagoromo lala #kaguya madoka

[ichika27]

Winter 2020: Episode 3

I said before on my first Winter 2020 post that I’d give the anime I chose to watch 3 episodes to see whether or not I’d continue watching.

Here are my thoughts on them.

First off, Magia Record.

It’s not like the main Madoka series but I can’t exactly put my finger on why. It just feels different but not in a bad way of course. It’s still interesting due to the mystery but I’ve not connected with any characters yet. By that I mean, other than Iroha, I don’t feel like caring much about the other girls yet. That’d probably change in later episodes the more I know about them but I don’t know how well they can showcase everyone when, according to the OP, there are gonna be a lot of characters for this show unlike the main one with 5 important characters (plus Kyubey).

Still, it’s good although I wish Iroha gets stronger cause right now she hasn’t really done much in terms of fighting. All the better character development in the future though so I’d look forward to it.

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen (2020)

Different from it’s previous adaptation not only in art style but also in how they handled the first few episodes. The art style still kinda uh, confuses me on how to feel? Some characters look good in this (Childman looks way younger here than he did in the first anime. It was the reason I didn’t recognize him at first.) while some looked better in the first series (Orphen looks like a pretty boy in this style but I think he looks more handsome in the old style).

Since the way they handled the story is different, for someone like me who watched this like, more than 10 years ago and remembers little of it except some parts in the beginning and end, this made me feel excited and interested. For one, back in the first anime, the thing about Azalie being the dragon was a spoiler but here it’s showed in the beginning. Her dragon form is called ‘Bloody August’ in the first anime but here, I don’t think I remember her being referred to as that. Anyways, start of adventure soon, I hope? There’s a lot of magic school flashbacks here and while interesting, I’d like to see the main characters get more screentime (Orphen, Claiohm, and Majic).

Bofuri continues to be a fun and exciting series about cute girls playing a VRMMO! Despite being an OP character, watching Maple and Sally fight is still fun and also, the mods are starting to nerf her lol.

Still no overall plot at the moment and I dunno what that would be later on but for now, I’m just enjoying the ride. I’m curious about the blond guy though - the knight who got 1st in the event whose face isn’t shown. What will be his significance, I wonder?

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard is an okay show, I guess? Not the ‘case files’ I was hoping for. They have little detective work done and the show is more like ‘Character of the day needs a jewelry-related thing and has some personal problems and is helped by the 2 main guys whose shop becomes some kind of counseling room’. It’s not bad as I said but its kinda boring at times. While Richard and Seigi are the MCs, the ones with the spotlight is whoever the character of the day is. It’s episodic right now and there maybe a bigger plot later but I’m not sure if I’d still continue following this series. It’s nice if you like jewelry though as they do give info on that so kudos to them as the ‘jeweler’ part is not just something they threw in - the characters actually know stuff about it.

So verdict is: semi-dropped for now. Might come back later if I felt like it but it’s not a priority anymore. I wanted a detective series, dude. Oh and Seigi might be straight and has a thing for that girl he met before but if you guys wanna ship the two MCs, there are some shippy stuff here for you as well :)

Hatena Illusion explains to us why Kana’s family steals: her mom’s family makes magic items and they decided to sell them even thought they’re dangerous. Her mom, Maeve, thinks this is bad and runs off with the guy she likes and also goes everywhere to steal the ‘artifacts’ (magic items) so they would pose no danger. She does replace it with a non-powered replica so the people she steals from won’t miss them. Reminds me somewhat of DNAngel.

That said, Kana is annoying as heck. Typical tsundere who is violent and keeps hurting Makoto even when something is her fault. Makoto is some kind of dormat as well which is annoying. Ema, the maid makes things worse with her stupid comments which doesn’t help and Kokomi, while annoying in the first episodes seems like the only one with common sense and I ended up liking her in episode 3.

I want to drop this show cause Kana pisses me off but hey, Makoto just became a magical (thief) boy and now I need to give it 2 more episodes! It’s rare for there to be a protag magical boy. Most of the time, they’re either supporting or background character but Makoto is a co-protagonist (I know Binan Koukou exist but that’s more of a parody anime).

I’ll be back on whether or not I’ll drop this completely after seeing episode 5.

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is one of the few shows here which has a different ‘style’ in presentation which isn’t bad and actually makes it stand out. The story is also fun with the seven mysteries (and if you watch the OP, everytime a mystery is revealed, they stop being shown as silhouettes in the next episode’s opening) with their respective rumors and backstories. We also have some new characters and some clues about Hanako’s past.

I like this show. It’s cute and has some adventures and a tiny bit of romance (I already ship Hanako with Yashiro) and comedy. The current story with the stairs seem like it’d be fun as a video game haha. I’d definitely be watching this one til the end.

Side note: this and MagiReco feels similar due to the ‘rumors’ and such. I mean, they started dealing with some rumored ‘stairs’ this time. It’s like MagiReco’s seven mysteries is spread in towns instead of just in one school. Just saying the coincidence is interesting.

A Destructive God Sits Next to Me is probably the biggest disappointment to me for this list as I looked forward to this since last year. I needed a replacement for Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy and this seems perfect but character-wise, it is not.

While it is funny (the first episode had me laughing so hard), there are a lot of scenes that just annoys or frustrates me. The 2nd episode in particular was unbearable and the only thing that kept me going is the thought that I promised to watch 3 episodes. By the end of the episode, all of the frustration I felt just broke when Koyuki had the misunderstanding with the girl and I ended up crying. Yeah, I cried. It sounds stupid and it is which makes it worse. I only ever cry in comedy anime when there’s either a heartwarming or dramatic scene. Here it’s frustration.

I can tolerate Hanadori since Koyuki can and does punch him when he goes too far. It’s Tsukimiya I can’t take. His actions and personality gives me nothing but pure annoyance and hate (except the notebook scene in episode 1 which is really funny). He’s a mean-spirited character and he just makes me uncomfortable. Their homeroom teacher too, is annoying, by the way.

We have a new character this time, though who looks up to Hanado-- er, I mean ‘Miguel’-senpai. He’s annoying but only a little as its his first appearance. I’d give this 1 or 2 more episodes as I want to see who and what kind of person the long-haired guy in the OP is but I don’t think I can take this entire series.

Too bad as the art style is super cute and part of me low-key ships Koyuki with Hanadori (their interactions are cute sometimes esp. when Hanadori drags Koyuki in his fantasy). It also got a banger OP I can’t stop listening to. If I’m able to ignore or at least get used to Tsukimiya, I might watch more. Might. I’m not positive I can take it.

--

These are all my personal thoughts and opinions of these shows. They’re not an indication of whether or not you, the reader of this post, will enjoy it. Give them all a shot and maybe you’d end up liking them more or less than I do as we all have different taste and sense of humor. Hope you guys are enjoying this season’s anime offers. I’d write more about these later on probably when they end or when I decide to completely drop them.

#anime #winter 2020 #magia record #bofuri #the case files of jeweler richard #hatena illusion #Sorcerous Stabber Orphen #jibaku shounen hanako kun #a destructive god sits next to me #sana_post

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Thought experiment I was entertaining the idea of: if I could just magically take any non-10/10 show I’ve seen and have it so it was good enough to be a 10/10, which show would I pick? Because there are actually a lot of angles I could approach this from.

I could pick a 1/10 show such as Your lie in April and just have it be something I love rather than hate with a passion. But then I think it’s good to have a 1/10 that you can really hate, just so you have something that shows what the absolute worst of the worst looks like for you.

I could pick something that I think is pretty bad but has a cool concept or salvageable qualities and just have it now be absolutely amazing. Take Release the Spyce, a show I thought could be really good but turned out to be shit. But then I could also just watch Princess Principal, which does most of the things Release the Spyce could’ve done well, uh, well. Or maybe I could take a show like Yuki Yuna which likewise isn’t that great but could have been super interesting if just the general writing quality was more up to par with some other shows. But then what Yuki Yuna could have done for me is stuff that Madoka’s already did for me, so do I really need Yuki Yuna to also have that role?

There’s also the approach of take a show that I actually do think is good and just make it, better. I’ve mentioned Princess Principal so why not talk about Black Fox, another 3Hz property? That movie kicked ass, but in a lot of ways it was pretty generic, and it obviously had way more of a story it just wasn’t able to tell. Do I pick something like that and just get the rest of the story out of it?

Bringing the good approach even further, why not take one of my 9/10 shows and just give it that tiny little push? A Place Further Than The Universe was held back for me by Kimari being underwhelming and Megumi outright sucking, but if those elements were fixed it’d be an easy 10/10. But if it’s one of my favourites anyway, do I need to change it? Koe no Katachi likewise makes enough cuts to the manga to where certain scenes and also entire characters lose a lot of their impact, particularly Mashiba or whatever and the entire bridge scene. Do I fix that and have another 10/10 movie? Could always just read the manga though which I actually have given a 10/10.

How about Flip Flappers then? A show which I gave a 9/10 despite a pretty harsh dropoff in quality around episode 8 until the end of the show. I’d probably place this one really high on this list of shows I’d like to magically make a 10/10 because it’s the only show in my top 5 that’s not a 10, and if it were just a more consistent product I’d have a way easier time recommending it to people and probably hold the show even closer to my heart. The problems with this show being bigger than the problems in the last 2 I mentioned, despite me giving it the same score, are probably a pretty compelling reason for me to want this one to be better.

Though honestly I think if I had to truly settle on one show for this, it’d be Gakkougurashi. A show that starts off at like, honestly a 10/10 level, but close enough to its entire second half is just so drab and boring and sometimes annoying, also Yuri never becomes a character and the show gets weirdly afraid of commitment, that it drags the whole thing down to a mere 7/10. Which is still a great score by the way but like, the first half of the show is so amazing, if that second half were just as good I think the show could easily be in my top 5, and since I like so many elements of it anyway I think that might be good enough reason for me to want this one to be perfect.

Ultimately this is a dumb post because I can’t change what these shows are and while my opinions on them can, I’m still more or less decided on what I think of all of them. It’s just that I was thinking about this in the shower and thought it might be neat to talk about.

#Your lie in April #Release the Spyce #Princess Principal #yuki yuna #pmmm #black fox #A Place Further Than The Universe #A Silent Voice #Flip Flappers #gakkougurashi #12.11.19

[merryfortune]

001. Precure in general. 002: HikaLala. 003: Himari Arisugawa? (not all of them, just what you would like to answer, if any at all)

PreCure in general

Favorite character: Emiru Aisaki

Least Favorite character: this is… highkey unfair and for no good reason but that Towa girl. I’m like 2 episodes away from the violinist princess getting redeemed in Go Princess PreCure but I stan Yui so hard that in my eyes, Towa is the reason that Yui isn’t able to become the Princess of Music & Art

5 Favourite ships (canon or non-canon): Emiru/Lulu, Haruka/Kirara, Hikaru/Lala, Nozomi/Coco, Haruka/Close but there are more but these ones with the most interesting story or dynamic

Character I find most attractive: don’t at @ me but I think Close (and Shut) are both gorgeous as all hell (I like thots apparently)

Character I would marry:

Character I would be best friends with: Emiru!!!!!!!!!!

A random thought: where is all the fic ;w;

An unpopular opinion: I really liked how the Homare has a crush on Harry plot was handled. Maybe it’s because I remember/was in Homare’s position once (16/17 year old me was hot for teacher lol), I really liked how she found closure for herself without having to confess her feelings. I dislike how vehemently fandom will deny that this plotline even took place because I think young girls, who will develop crushes on unattainable/older men, need to be shown stories of how to handle those feelings without placing themselves in danger of being preyed on.

My canon OTP: Akira/Yukari (look, if the dub had to ungay them, that must make them canon)

Non-canon OTP: gonna give this to Ichika/Himari because I shipped them before Emiru was introduced I’m p sure so they get seniority privileges

Most badass character:

Pairing I am not a fan of: tbh I think I can give most precure ships a chance but I did see some Smile PreCure ships where I’m ehhh on. I only like Nao/Reika from that set. all the others should stick to being friends.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I think this goes without saying but Hana. Saaya, and Homare got super screwed over by Hugtto having a lot of Emiru/Lulu subplots. Also, Yui. She should have gone PreCure.

Favourite friendship: I mostly read said friendship as romantic but Emiru and Lulu……… they’re best friends oh my god

HikaLala

when or if I started shipping it: hmmmm middle of episode 1; definitely cemented by the end of episode 2 lol

my thoughts: I wrote a meta on them so I have a lot which mostly boils down to a lot of great symbolism between them gives them subtextual evidences, they hold hands a lot canonically so that’s cute, and it’s just a great ship

What makes me happy about them: Hikaru gets an alien girlfriend aND ITS FANTASTIC

What makes me sad about them: the Hikoboshi and Orihime parallels between them heavily implies that sometime in the future, they will separate and they will only have miniscules chances of continually/regularly seeing each other thereafter ;v;

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: me, who owns a lot of property in the hikalala fanfic tag on ao3, jack and shit, babe!

Things I look for in fanfic: anything which accentuates Lala’s alien-ness

My kinks: look… Lala can generate electricity…. that gives a lot of stimulation play scenarios but mostly… nah

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I like these ships a lot - Hikaru/Yuni, Lala/Yuni, and Lala/Madoka

My happily ever after for them: they go off traipsing the universe, exploring. Hikaru takes after her father and writes a book on her travels whilst Lala uses the information to update the Saman Planet AI because I’d love to see a plot twist where the AI isn’t quite as benevolent as Lala trusts it is so she takes it upon herself to remedy it (using the Rainbow Planet Tragedy as a catalyst for said goal or as foreshadowing towards it)

Himari Arisugawa

How I feel about this character: I was expecting to fall totally head over heels in love with either Aoi or Yukari since their animal motifs are both feline and I’m a major cat person but instead, Himari managed to steal my heart before either of them got the chance. I super relate to her and see a lot of myself and some of my struggles (particularly in social situations) in her. so yeah. I love my squirrel daughter.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Ichika

My non-romantic OTP for this character: no one in canon springs to mind…  which brings to mind something else… so this is out of the left-field but I had a dream once where Spectre met all the KiraKira PreCure A La Mode girls but it was Himari whom he bonded the most with in said dream (kind of “I’ve only had Himari for five minutes but if anything happened to her, I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself” type situation or maybe its more comparable to the reaction image of the samurai dude (spectre) with the cat (himari)). anyway long story short, her and spectre because if one favourite character makes me happy then two makes me even happier.

My unpopular opinion about this character: she is the best girl of KiraKira PreCure A La Mode.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: can’t remember if this happens or not but I swear KiraKira forgot at some point that the girls gained animal characteristics (so, in Himari’s case, her superspeed) so I would have liked to see that explored more. also in a kind of Tokyo Mew Mew twist, I would have liked to see Himari (and by extension, all the girls) deal with their new animal natures in their civilian forms too… like, this might be too lore heavy for PreCure but I would have liked to see Himari (and I guess this applies to all the girls) deal with becoming “part fairy” (just like Pekorin and Ciel had to deal with becoming part human). TLDR: more Squirrel characteristics from Himari, please!!! because I am a furry!!!!

My OTP: Ichika/Himari

My OT3: i don’t have any but if I was at gunpoint, the options I suppose I could live with are Rio/Ichika/Himari (gee, Ichika, who let you have a girlfriend AND a boyfriend) or Aoi/Himari/Ichika because apparently Aoi/Himari is a semi-popular ship???

#fandom/character/ship ask meme #doing this was fun!! #enjoy my precure opinions #a-fool-without-a-clue #edit: accidentally skipped a few questions here and there #i'm not bothered enough to add my replies in bc idk man