#which she got the ability to do because he did the dirty work of eliminating her dad

[theskyexists]

ok but so the only characters (not rando soldiers) who died in gundam were:

1. Seethia, a poor Earthian kid who’d just lost her dad and got bombed by Benerit Group

2. Sophie, a poor Earthian kid who hated Spacians for having the nice life that she never had because she grew up poor and a refugee because of Spacian economic domination

3. Norea, a poor Earthian kid who hated Spacians because her best friend was just killed and she was convinced everybody she knew was dead (though they weren’t...)

4. Not-Elan, a poor (likely Earthian) kid who was put under severe duress to kill himself piloting a GUNDAM, then was destroyed like a faulty cog

5. Counting the prologue, some scientists who were just trying to develop some prosthetic limbs

6. oh and Jeturk-dad.

#am i missing someone? #i just think that they went: there is an underclass and they're treated like SHIT #and we barely saw it #and we didnt really see anyone speak for them that didn't get murdered #weird #my stuff #personal #also why did shaddiq say: you always outclassed me #or something about miorine #she simply executed his plan...? #which she got the ability to do because he did the dirty work of eliminating her dad #why was shaddiq even interested in the stupid Aerial - just to eliminate it as a potential threat to his plans? #gundam

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - Young Guns With Guns

@ishouldgetatumbler @idiot-cheesehead-archenemy @faedemon @miss-nov @summerssixecho @torscrawls

Valerie’s actually managed to get college placement lined up, which means she’s got to get a Red Huntress replacement lined up too. Unfortunately every good choice is chaotic.

That single simple letter changed so much for her, could change so much. She’s spent the past year working her ass off to get her grades up, probably giving her a seriously long term case of sleep deprivation due to ghosts still being an issue, but she’s baffled it actually worked out. She had been fully expecting nothing but rejection, instead she got in at her first pick college and it’s nanotechnology and nanoscience bachelors program; meaning she didn’t even have to settle for her second choice bachelors of science.

She had honestly cried a little, danced, jumped, went ghost hunting just for the joy of it. Phantom probably didn’t appreciate her deciding to chase It around for the heck of it, or maybe It did since it was always hard to tell with that ghost and Its goddamn puns. Plus, she knew that It knew that she knew she couldn’t actually take It down in a fight. 

She might be the only half decent ghost hunter in Amity but Phantom was beyond human ability to deal with. Which yeah, meant there was someone to deal with other absurdly powerful ghosts, but It was still a damn ghost and she had no interest in leaving all of Amity’s ghost issues in Its dead hands. Amity needs to have a human protector too. She had debated not even trying to leave Amity genuinely, to go to college; but she promised her dad she’d at least ty, that she wouldn’t give up on a ‘normal’ future. Frankly even if she does get her degree there’s zero chance of her staying gone and being ‘normal’, she loved being the Red Huntress and couldn’t see her giving it up full. Zone, she basically picked her program to help her do a better job as a ghost hunter. Knowing better how to use the nanobots and machinery that flowed through her veins would be a dream, and technically self preservations since she currently couldn’t do too much if something went majorly wrong with them. She knew enough and had enough skill to use them and modify them but she wasn’t the expert she wanted to be. This, this acceptance letter would change that, let her study nanotechnology. Even if any studying or work she did with her own self would have to be private and not actually used for school; last thing she wanted was to give someone a very stupid idea. Same reason she wasn’t about to try to suit someone up exactly like she was, heck she’s pretty sure the nanobots are very much fused to her, putting someone else in that same situation just because she wanted to go to college would be incredibly mean and just a shitty thing to do. 

So...

She refuses to leave Amity without an actually decent and not insane (Maddie and Jack) ghost hunter and she also can’t refuse to go to her ideal college. She can’t give away her suit, and wouldn’t even if she could, and she’s not going to try and basically ‘infect’ someone like what that asshole dirty bastard half ghost Vlad did. She needed a stand in, a temporary worker if you will, for at least a few years. Preferable someone she wouldn’t have to actually train and who wouldn’t either be extremely bigoted to the point of being stupid -again, Jack and Maddie- or so pro-ghost they’d be leiniate on the spooks. Unfortunately that eliminated practically everyone who was actually physically capable of fighting ghosts at all. Pretty much every adult and teen involved in sports had this weird hero worship mascot thing for Phantom and ghosts in general, many having out right crushes *cough cough* Paulina and Dash *cough cough*. That one guy who runs the little martial arts place wouldn’t be half bad but he was... a little bit insane. She could see him causing a lot of damages. There was also the fact that whoever would have to deal with Vlad, meaning they needed to be distrustful of that jerk. Unfortunately, nearly the whole town actually supports that man as mayor now since he kept the government on a leash and got funding for all the damages. Powerful people with money could get away with being awful shit people. 

... Though... 

She can think of someone who not only wouldn’t be played by Vlad but also wouldn’t exactly need training. That someone being Danny of course. Danny probably managed to cause more suffering and annoyance to Vlad than Vlad had ever caused her, and he would just laugh in Vlad’s face if the guy tried manipulating him, like he usually did. Sometimes she wonders if Danny actually knows what Vlad is. Then Danny, and his friends really, did have Fenton training and all of them were in really good shape these days. The only problem with Danny and his friends, was that they were staunchly pro-ghost and had been so before anyone else really. But, and this is a big but, they were also pro-ghost hunting. They were pro-ghost in more of a ‘ghosts are just like people and demonising them universally is dumb. Some are assholes though’ kind of way. Which... was a lot more positive than her view of ghosts, them being mostly shit stirrers who wanted to mess with the living and their personhood was questionable. 

Sam she wouldn’t even consider, she’d heard that girl justify UnderGrowth’s takeover of the town on multiple occasions, apparently she even helped the ghost with that. Valerie never understood how that girl could be both incredibly holier than thou moral and incredibly ‘humans are weeds’ immoral. 

And Tucker? Tucker should not be allowed to ever have any amount of real power, authority, or control over people. Ever. Whenever she thinks of that guy having any kind of power she can taste sand in her mouth in a really revolting way, she’s got no clue why that happens but she ain’t gonna play stupid games. 

Danny... might be a little crazy, and weird, and creepy, and stupid, but she couldn’t really think of a reason why him being what’s practically a vigilant would be bad. Zone, with how he intentionally pissed off Dash so Dash would only target him, and how protective he could be; she’s kinda surprised he wasn’t already trying to be a masked hero or whatever. Her best guess is that he didn’t want to deal with his parents if they ever found out or he just didn’t want to be ‘like them’. Fair enough. But she’s kinda low on options here. 

Sure fine maybe there were other options but, screw her, she liked Danny and she’d rather hand shit off to him than someone she’s not already friendly with. Plus there was the fact that Danny said ‘Ancients no’ like it was the obvious answer whenever anyone asked if he was leaving Amity. For whatever reason he liked this town and it’s weird ass ghost problem more than most, the fact that anyone did at all was already kinda weird. Well it meant she didn’t really have to worry about him not sticking around here, same as she really didn’t have to worry about how to track Danny down. Since, like her, he wound up getting work at the Nasty Burger, in his words ‘it’s the only place that would hire even a corpse or a Fenton’ which yeah, lots of places wouldn’t hire any Fenton purely for being a Fenton.

And if she remembers properly he should be working closing shift tonight. Nice.

Getting up and stretching, “why do I feel like getting him to agree to wear a disguise is going to more difficult than actually getting him to say yes?”, he would absolutely be the type to just rip off a mask for the dramatics of it. Popping out of her room and grinning at her dad, “I’m going out, to talk to a Fenton, just not the crazy ones, about keeping an eye on those parents of his”.

Damon blinks, putting down his book, “are the Fenton’s planning to do something crazy again?”.

Valerie shakes her head, grinning now and holding up the little envelope, “no, but someone’s gotta keep an eye on them if I’m going”.

His eyes widening instantly, book getting abandoned as he jumps up to run over and hug, “congrats! You got in! I knew you could do it!”, pulling back and pointing at her face, “now I don’t want you worrying about costs, you do still have a college fund, and I don’t want you worrying about ghosts either, missy”.

Valerie flushing, “I know I know, that’s part of why I want to go see Danny”.

“Are you giving him your suit? I don’t really want that going with you”.

“Dad, you know I can’t physically do that”.

“I know, I know, that won’t stop me from asking if you’ve figured out a way to”.

She sighs at him, shaking her head. It did kind of bother her that he had it in his head that she should want her suit ripped out of her, that she was trying to figure out how to do that. The suit was part of her as a person too, why would she want to lose it and part of what makes Valerie Valerie?

He nods strongly to himself, “I’m getting a cake”.

“Dad no-”.

“It will be cake time”.

“Dad-”.

“It will be the most audacious one I can find”.

Valerie buries her head in her hands with a laugh, “ask Paulina to make a Phantom-themed one, that was the worst thing I’ve ever seen”. Even Damon cringes, because yeah that woman was still obsessed over a dead guy.

Damon shaking his head, “it will not be ghost themed. Tech perhaps?”, and hums to himself, tapping his chin before making shooing motions at her, “if trying to wrangle that boy, or man I should say, into spying on his parents makes you more willing to go then go on”.

“There’s no way this place should be without a non-crazy human ghost hunter”.

“Heck, I’ll take up your guns if that gets you to go”.

“Dad no, you have terrible balance, Danny’s is actually a bit terrifying”. Honestly she swears that gravity doesn’t affect Danny the way it should, which if that was actually true it would one hundred percent be because of that accident his parents basically caused. Either way she moves to the door waving at him, “please don’t spend too much on the cake? Please?”. He just rolls his eyes at her as she leaves. (He absolutely did wind up spending more than she’d like on the cake, it looked like it was made out of techno Lego blocks).

It takes her all of three minutes to get to the Nasty Burgers back parking lot, she thinks that’s a new record or almost a new record, man she loves seeing improvements…. Shit she’s totally going to have to take full advantage of the on-campus gym purely to make sure she stays in shape. Maybe she should ask Sam for pointers on that? She still has no clue how that girl is so ridiculously fit without do any extracurriculars during school. She out bench pressed Dash once, it was terrifying and impressive.

“Dude, I asked for goddamn Reddened Chicken Strips, not Fenton Froth! Those aren’t even in the same food group!”.

Valerie shakes her head sympathetically as she walks in through the doors. Man she would absolutely not miss having to deal with asshole customers.

“You know? Fuck this shit. Give me back my money, hell, give me all your damn money”.

What. She goes stock still, as the guy pulls an actual normal human gun and points it in Danny’s face. Shit. How should she deal with this? How could she even? She fights ghosts! With supernatural guns and a hoverboard! Not a cops badge and a freaking Glock or whatever! Quickly ducking under a table, she has no clue how her nano bots would handle her getting shot by a regular human bullet. Would it even recognise the injury since it wasn’t ectoplasmicly based? Could it even repair non-ectoplasmic injuries in the first place?! This is what she means by she needs to be more of an expert on the stuff!

Then Danny, typical fucking insane stupid Danny, says something horrifically stupid, “whatcha gonna do? Shoot me?”, scoffing like that’s ever remotely what you should do with a gun to your face, Danny might be a little too desensitised to weapons, “you can't kill me because then I'll just turn into ghost, and you'll have a Real problem on your hands because I will absolutely haunt your ass to the Zone and back. No, we need to work this out another way”.

“The only way this is working out is if you give me all the damn money! They don’t even pay you enough to put up a fight anyways”.

“I happen to actually like this place and what? Are you offering me a paycheck? No? Then get fucked and go get lost in the sauce or something, cause yeah I definitely ain’t paid to deal with your poorly packaged human shit”.

On one hand, this level of ‘I don’t care’ and reckless self endangerment was kinda necessary for her job but he doesn’t even have on a helmet and this isn’t a freaking ghost! Should she try throwing a chair at the robber? And where the hell was the manager? Other employees? Oh don’t tell her that Danny agreed to work alone like a dumbass, the manager was probably off fucking gambling again, jerk.

The robber squawks, “what?!? Dude this is a real gun!”.

“You say that like I care. You know what else is real? This bored unimpressed face, go try to show off how big your dick is somewhere else”.

Oh zone damn it, Danny. At this rate he’s going to get himself shot.

“This isn’t even a big gun!”.

“So what you’re saying is it’s the perfect size for you”.

And then the shot rings out, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuck FUCK! Valerie popping up, ghost hunter gun in hand only to see Danny having apparently blocked the goddamn near point blank shot with a fucking tray. How???? Danny then smacks the guy, one-handed, with said tray, “bad, I’d like to keep my pretty face thank you very much, it’s my money maker”.

Valerie blurting out, “what the Zone!”.

The robber guy stumbles back, looking from the tray-wielding Danny to Valerie and her red and black gun, “ah fuck”, backing up a bit and looking for an exit that she wasn’t literally right beside it. Like hell she’s letting some jackass that tried to shoot Danny leave that easily.

Her snarling, “don’t even try it, asshole”, and keeps her gun on him. Danny apparently has a similar idea, grabbing a fist full of nasty sauce packets, “I will set these on fire and blow all of us up, all my fucks have flowneth off. I’m over my fuck budget and I’m now in fucking debt!”.

Both the robber and Valerie still, slowly staring at Danny. Valerie blinking harshly, “Danny, put those down”.

He pouts at her, “no. It’ll scratch my explosive itch”.

“Danny if you do that then he’ll haunt you and you’ll be the one with the problems”. She’s slightly rethinking trying to make a stand-in of him. He had the guts but come on!

Danny blinks like he hadn’t thought of that, “oh right, I mean… what’s another ghost wanting to put me on their shit list? Am I right?”, and holds the sauce packets up a little higher, and pulls a blow torch out from under the counter.

Why… was there a freaking blowtorch there??? It wasn’t there yesterday??? “Where did you get that”.

Danny shrugs, turning the blowtorch on, the flames are loud, “Brittney broke her lighter, brought this instead as a gag”.

The robber drops his gun and puts his hands, “nope nope nope, I’m not playing chicken with that. Make a citizens arrest or whatever”.

Danny smirks, “oh I don’t know, I kinda want to blow you up now and the blowtorch is already on”, and wiggles the blowtorch around, “eh? Eh? Eh? Come on, it’ll be fun. We could start a fireworks show out of building pieces?”.

Valerie glares before hurling her gun at his head, his neck cracking a little when his head tilts as the gun bounces off of his skull. “Stop it, you little shit”, and stomps over to the guy who smartly doesn't move. At least she does actually have handcuffs, they’re made for ghosts but whatever, the guy gets handcuffed aggressively, “don’t be a dumbass before you make Danny become more of a dumbass”.

Danny apparently takes offence to that like he has any right to, “hey!”. At least he’s put the blowtorch back.

…

What he didn’t do was turn the damn thing off, the counter is now on fire. “Danny the counter!”.

Danny looking down at the slight burning and flicker of flames, “okay that was stupid, note to self don’t handle flammables on forty two hours of sleep deprivation”.

“Well put it out!”.

The robber grumbles, “I made a mistake, lord forgive me and don’t let me get burned to death by an overworked underpaid fast food employee”.

Danny points at the guy, instead of dealing with the flames, “that’s what you get for trying to shot me! And! For trying to steal money from the bestest nastiest restaurant in town!”.

“Why are you throwing the damn slogan at him! Put out the fire Danny!”.

Danny slams his hand directly into the fire, “no!”, and then, “ow!”, and that finally makes him deal with it by smashing his hand, that is full of nasty sauce packets, into the flames. Smacking his hands on the fire a couple of times before realising what he’s done, going wide-eyed, “oh shit”. The robber is crying. Danny’s over the counter in a second grabbing the robber and her by the arm and fucking booking it. It takes her a bit to get her footing and to also run of her own volition; Danny is notably faster than her.

The explosion blows out a wall, all three of them getting mildly covered in rubble, Valerie sticking her head out… the blowtorch is still on, looking back at Danny, “you stay put while I turn off your fuck up. Maine is gonna be so pissed”.

“Hey, he should have known better than to let anyone work a closing shift alone, especially me”.

“You should know better than to agree to doing that!”, her huffing and running off to get the blowtorch, getting slightly covered in ash as she does so. Stupid Danny. By the time she’s gotten back Danny’s just shaking the handcuffed robber back and forth blaming him for damaging the best fast food joint in town. “Danny stop that, before you give him whiplash”.

“He deserves it!”. The robber just groans and then passes out. That at least gets Danny to stop, “shit, did I kill him?”, and then sighing in relief at the guy clearly still breathing, dropping the man in an uncomfortable looking heap on the ground. Then looking to Valerie, “so besides being my unwitting audience, why’d you come by? You don’t usually get your Nasty on when you don’t work?”.

She blinks, giving him a disgusted look, “never say that again, ew”, sighing, “well I was going to brag about my college acception but I’m seriously reconsidering that”.

He brightens up immediately, it’s almost blinding, “oh! Congrats! You hanging up the hoverboard then?”.

“More like take a vacation- hey wait what!”, scowling at him and sticking her arms out to the side, “since when have you known!?!”.

“You threw a red and black ecto-gun at my head, I’m dumb not stupid! And who the fuck else would have ghost handcuffs just on their person?! Even my folks don’t do that!”.

“Damn you!”, Valerie groans into her hands, “you are way too casual about this to have just found out”.

“Val, my uncles a psycho half ghost, there’s a portal to a death dimension under my bedroom, one of my friends is adopted by a genocidal plant god and the others a reincarnated pharaoh. You could reveal you’re literally god themselves and Lucifer somehow sharing the same body and I wouldn’t be phased”.

There was so much wrong with all of that. “That’s really messed up”,

“I know!”.

What is she supposed to do with this? With him? Also though… “you know about Vlad? And what the zone is wrong with Sam and Tucker?!?”.

Danny snorts, “too much”, shrugging, “and yeah, that guys abducted me to try and get me to be his happy son way too many times not to notice he was freaky. Also, his super illegal creepy underground lab doesn’t have doors, how would he get in there if he wasn’t spooky”.

“How do you know he even has a lab if there’s no doors?”.

“Eh play enough stupid games and get him to blast you through enough walls and you’ll find it”.

… It’s a miracle Danny hasn’t gotten himself killed. Making him her replacement might just improve his life’s survivability, that’s was so screwed up. Huffing and sticking a hand out down to him, “well if you’re going to annoy one sorta ghost, why not annoy all of them and be my replacement?”.

He blinks at her before laughing loudly, rocking back a little, “you fucking crazy hunter, or huntress whatever”, and grabs her hand to pull himself up, dragging the robber guy up with him in one hand, “eh fuck it, why not? Note, I have no clue how your suit works beyond breaking the law of physics and matter”.

She shakes her head at him, “I’m not giving you my suit, dummy”.

“So you’re trying to employ me as your replacement but making me fight naked, got it”.

“Ew!”, she whacks him over the head for that. Crossing her arms at him, “I’ll just make you something similar, and you can help with that, you jerk”, rolling her eyes, “you know ghost hunter tech so it’s whatever and it’s not like I started out with a freaking nanobot suit”.

“Can it be white and black, you know, the total opposite of Phantom’s? Since I’m the living Danny?”.

Why did she think this was a good idea? “You, are so stupid”, looking to the robber, “we should take him to the jailhouse”.

Danny looking down at the unconscious man, “I mean, probably? He’s so gonna think this was just a really weird fever dream”.

“And whose fault is that? You might cause more chaos than the ghosts do”.

“Sounds like that’s a you problem, and a town problem”.

Valerie sighs, “at least try to keep the other Fenton’s from causing chaos”, starting to walk off towards the jailhouse, Danny hoisting the guy up onto his shoulder in a fireman carry.

Him grumbling, “you say that like I can control them”, tilting his head, “wait does this mean Vlad’s gonna start paying me? Paying me in a way that isn’t clearly a bribe?”, snickering, “he’s gonna be so unimpressed you went with me of all people”.

Valerie smirking to herself, “that’s half the point. I couldn’t pick someone who’d actually trust that lying snake”.

“He’s more of a bat than a snake, you know, the whole knock off vampire thing he’s got going on”.

“Zone you’re a dumbass”.

The cheeky smirk is audible in his response, “I know”.

Was Vlad mad about her choice? Absolutely. Was she? Absolutely not. Regardless of being at college she tried to keep up to date with what’s going on in Amity, Danny was absolutely terrorising the wealthy half dead man. The random insults he was putting into practically every public interview or announcement was making the feud between the mayor and ‘Monochrome’ very public and everyone was debating why Vlad even employed this guy and where the Red Huntress found him.

Vlad kept calling her and offering to pay for things just to get her back sooner and apparently ‘Monochrome’ fighting Phantom really annoyed Vlad, which to be fair what she’s seen of those little ‘chases’ was usually really absurd. ‘Monochrome’ dumped melted cheese on the ghost once and then bailed, it did make Technus confused enough that Phantom caught the other ghost easily though.

She’s got no clue how Danny convinced everyone that Monochrome wasn’t an Amity native. That was just baffling but did help with the ‘secret identity’ thing. She’d definitely not realised just how much Danny looked exactly like Phantom though, so she officially actually agrees with Jack’s and Maddie’s insane theory that Phantom did actually copy their son’s appearance. She’d bet her pocket change that Phantom’s real face was some kind of eldritch horror abomination, and copying Danny was to seem more ‘human’; stupid manipulative ghosts.

At least it did seem Amity was in good, if chaotic, hands and Danny was actually keeping the damn suit on and the Fenton’s were actually respecting him. Danny’d called and bragged about that, she’d been happy for him.

Maybe…

Maybe he’d continue doing it, even when she got back, even if he seemed to view it as very firmly temporary in a way that almost seemed… sad.

End.

Prompts: Well, you can't kill me because then I'll turn into ghost, and you'll have a Real problem on your hands. No, we need to work this out another way. The only option left was surrender All Amity Parkers know to never work a closing shift alone. How could the wrong Nasty Burger order lead to this? Valerie got accepted at her desired college. Since she'll be leaving Amity Park, she needs to find a new replacement to keep the ghosts at bay while she's gone. Someone tries to rob the Nasty Burger but sadly for them the person working the register happens to be a newly employed Danny Fenton. Danny has an hour left of his shift and does not have enough energy left to play nice.

#danny phantom #phandom #danny fenton #phicphight24 #phantomphangphucker #have a fic suck my dick #my writing #phic phight 24 #valerie #robbery #Nasty Burger #Adult Characters #Reveal #Danny Gets A Job #danny's a little shit #gothmoth #fan fic #phan phic #guns #Danny Blows Up A Building

[deltas-writing-corner]

Tsukumo Yuki relationship headcanons

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing: Tsukumo Yuki x reader

Author note: Tsukomo Yuki is the reason I love woman and she can crush me between her thighs send tweet

Warnings: Potential manga spoilers (?) | Mentions of s*x, but nothing too blatantly explicit. I would still prefer it if minors did not interact with this post in any way.

Yuki always asks the people she meets what type of woman they like. If someone were to ask that same question back to her, she’ll most certainly utter back your name as if it were an obvious response.

What’s not to love about you? You’re cute. You make her laugh. You cook for her because heaven knows she can't if her life depended on it. Most importantly, you keep her company due to the lack of curses she’s ever sent to exorcise. Traveling the world is fun and all, but it’s even more fun with you by her side!

You’re not a sorcerer. You can’t even see curses. Yuki is a childhood friend of yours and has kept you in the loop regarding the world of jujutsu sorcery since she started integrating into it. She thinks it’s important for you to know that someone like you, a non-curse user who has no control over the curse energy you create, should know what exactly your negative emotions can lead to. It’s not to make you feel bad or pin blame on you in any way. It’s her way of protecting you beyond physical means as well as a way of showing you that she places a great deal of trust in you regarding the nature of her line of work and her true goals.

Because she rejects the methods of the higher-ups and her ideology is more along the lines of putting an end to the creation of curses permanently instead of letting them manifest and dealing with them when they start causing profound trouble, you’re often the one that has to listen to all her new, sometimes overreaching, hypotheses now and then. You may even take part in her research, but she would never put you in any sort of harm! At least, not unless you give her the okay to. Be warned, if you give your blessing to be her little lab rat she’s prone to get carried away with her methods. Speak up if she’s doing something outrageous or if she’s making you uncomfortable. Otherwise, you might end up in some precarious situations.

As mentioned previously, Yuki isn’t sent out on missions that often, if ever. She instead chooses to travel in and out of the country, for the sake of her research as well as for the pleasure of it. Since she’s one of three, later four, special grade sorcerers her salary is rather tremendous. Unfortunately, her travels outside Japan are “unauthorized” and sometimes her funds get frozen by the higher-ups. Her quick solution to the matter is to fly back, take on a mission or two to get her funds unfrozen (and into your account because you’re her partner-in-crime) or even take on a mission to earn some more funds, and then you and her are right back to traveling the world again.

During one of these money replenishing heists, she met a kid that she took a particular interest in and wanted to mentor, Aoi Todo. It’s hard for most people to spark her interest to the extent Todo did, so you happily supported her endeavors and even met with her young pupil a few times throughout the years. Her methods of training are a bit....extreme, to put it lightly. You understand that holding back her punches will only hinder Todo’s progress instead of allowing him the ability to improve and push past his limits, but you can’t help but flinch over the large scar that marks his face whenever you briefly meet up with him.

Todo is eccentric, but so is Yuki. Perhaps not idol obsessed like Todo, but seeing the way he takes great care of his appearance and flaunts his body (during a battle even), he’s a near-identical clone of Yuki. She knows that she’s good-looking, and she will always flaunt this fact to anyone with working eyes, even you! Does it work every single time? Yes. Yes, it does.

Honestly, how can it not? She’s tall. She has a great butt. She drives a motorcycle. Her tight biker pants are your Achilles heels and she knows it. Sometimes she’ll wear them around the house just to flaunt her curves and other bodily goods, even if it’s the middle of the summer, the AC is broken and the pants are made of stuffy leather material. If it gets your face all heated up, she'll wear it.

The compliments she gets from strangers are nice and all, but it’s your reactions she truly cares about. You’ve been by her side through it all. You're still sticking with her even despite the fact that she’s constantly moving around and living a somewhat free-spirited lifestyle. You genuinely support and help her when almost everyone else has rejected her methods and ideals and brush her off as some lazy, outrageous-thinking woman. Really, you stole this woman’s heart just by letting her be herself, a lazy, outrageous-thinking woman.

Yuki is indeed lazy, to the point it sometimes affects you and your shared apartment is left in a week-long accumulated mess. I’m talking clothes strewed about and spilling out the already full laundry basket, sink filled with dirty dishes, houseplant half dead due to insufficient watering, and little dusty bunnies in the corner of the room. Whenever you try to get around to getting your living space in order, she always drags you back to the bed with her either to nap some more or for a quick round of sex that leads to more napping. Eventually, you have to beat her with a pillow and threaten her with no sex for a certain period of time to get her to back off, which always works without fail.

If you really hold the “no sex until...” ultimatum over her head long enough, she’ll even pitch in and help you clean. But to be honest she kinda sucks at it so it’s sometimes better to just have her sit on the sidelines while you do all the work. She’ll jokingly suggest you clean with just an apron on (because she’s a freak like that), but you haven’t taken her up on the suggestion just yet. It’s mostly because you’ll use the “naked apron” method to further insinuate her punishment if your usual threat begins to lose its potency (because you are also a freak like that).

She’s a bad sleeping partner. Not only does she hog all the blankets and pillows, but she even stretches out her limbs over the entire bed. This usually leaves you curled up in a corner shivering your ass off until you either fall asleep via exhaustion or move to the couch. If you go to the couch, she’s 99.9% likely to wake up and join you shortly after, where she’s less of a hassle to deal with because of the limited space.

She’s a great big spoon, which is actually one of the ways you later use to solve her troublesome habits as once she latches onto you, she will not let go the rest of the evening. Unfortunately, she also snores terribly loud, but it’s nothing earbuds can’t fix.

Some might think she sleeps in something flattering, maybe even a bit scanty. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. Her pj’s are decades-old shirts and gym shorts that she never got around to getting rid of. If not that, she’ll sleep completely naked and she doesn’t care if someone walks in on her with the covers off. She’ll only ever wear lingerie or other promiscuous pieces of clothing if she has intentions of getting between your legs and rocking your world for the rest of the night.

I think it goes without saying that she looks great in lace, but as hot as she may look, she really likes seeing you dressed up in something risque as well.

If you’re female, she sometimes likes to wear matching lingerie sets with you, but her favorite material to see you in is leather, especially those harness-styled sets that squeeze your flesh all around.

If you’re male, she’s a complete sucker for a man in a clean-cut, custom-tailored suit and will take it off as soon as you put it on. Hope you don’t mind losing a button or two, because she will pop them off for sure when she rips your dress shirt off of you.

To all my gender-neutral folks, It’s never too late to whip out that naked apron I mentioned earlier! Or a leather jacket. Everyone looks great in a leather jacket!

Yuki’s diet is fucking terrible. You’re a decent cook, but despite this, all she ever seems to want is greasy take-out food that makes you wonder how the hell she’s still so fit after witnessing her down three chicken burritos in one sitting. Even when the two of you are abroad and are able to try out different types of cuisines not so readily available in Japan, she’ll still want to go out to a fast food joint that you can easily find everywhere. You’ve tried to get her to branch out of her comfort zone and eat somewhat healthier alternatives of her favorite foods, but so far you’ve gotten mixed results.

In summary: Yuki is a pretty outgoing person and sometimes can be a bit of a hassle to deal with, but she’s clearly ambitious and moves to the tune of her own beat. Her goal of finding and effectively eliminating the source of all curses is a testament to the fact that she wants to save future generations from having to carry the burden sorcerers have been carrying for thousands of years. Her goals are not only for the sake of the people who will come after her, but also for the sake of her future with you. You’re someone she genuinely cares for and wishes to spend the rest of her life with, evident by the numerous times she’s come clean to you about her fears of you dying when she isn't around to protect you or of her dying and leaving you behind to mourn during late-night pillow talks in hotels or in your shared home. A future where you and her can travel the world and truly take in and enjoy the sights and wonders instead of searching for an answer to one of the world’s greatest phenomenon is a future worth fighting for, even if she’s met with some pushback or the end goal seems like nothing more than a pipedream at times. So long as you’re there with her to see her research bear fruit, she’ll keep testing and coming up with new methods to eliminate curses permanently, no matter the extremes her research takes her to.

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #jjk x reader #yuki tsukumo #tsukumo yuki #jjk #writing #reader insert #gender neutral reader #female reader #male reader #jjk headcanons #minors dni

[theultimatecrabcake]

Some Danganronpa spoilers ahead for the entire franchise so please don't read if you don't want spoilers, serious topics will be discussed

Ok so a while back me and a discord friend had this au-ish idea where the entirety of danganronpa is just Tsumugi's trauma fanfiction based off of people she knows irl and online as a way to cope because she was abused and neglected at home

These are the main details of the au under the cut, there will be no in depth details about the abuse but it is mentioned, I sincerely apologize if I inaccurately portray these issues just in case I did

Tsumugi cosplays at home and that's why she calls herself the ultimate cosplayer, and she makes herself the mastermind because she likes being the villain to cope with her trauma

All the characters from dr1 and sdr2 and the dr3 anime are all based off of people online that she looks up to (or despises in some cases), and characters with alternate versions of themselves are the combinations of their siblings (ex. Toko and Syo are twins and Izuru, Hajime, and super saiyan Hajime are triplets), with the exception of Junko who is an actress who mainly plays villains but irl is really sweet

Monokuma is Tsumugi's homeroom teacher who occasionally lets his sister substitute and the monokubs are his young children that Tsumugi really hates, he's also Junko and Mukuro's uncle and he and Tsumugi have a father-daughter relationship

Junko helps Tsumugi with her cosplays and makeup which is why Tsumugi idolizes her so much and wants to be like her

A lot of the poor writing in dr is due to Tsumugi not having the proper writing experience or knowledge on certain subjects which is why they come off so poorly

The Love Hotel scenes are Tsumugi trying to work through her own sexuality crisis alone (albeit poorly), and her own LH scene is her projecting what she believes is the only relationship she'd ever be loved in even if it's really messed up

All of the blackened and antagonistic characters in dr are people Tsumugi either hates or fears, and those with redeeming motives are the ones Tsumugi fears but recognizes that they are good people

Most characters in dr are cosplayers irl, streamers/youtubers, or social media influencers, aside from in v3 where everyone is a classmate of hers

The survivors of v3 are Tsumugi's irl friends, and the survivors of the prior games just came down to process of elimination mixed with who she liked

Her insistence of being "plain" in the games is because her parents always called her useless, and a part of the reason she hates Monokuma's kids is because she envies them for having the happy childhood she never had

She made monokuma the mascot because he’s known for his brutal punishments to kids who severely break school rules

All of the backstories for the dr1 and sdr2 characters are based off of one of the following: their main cosplay, their favorite game that they’ve played, or their aesthetic on their main social media account

Tsumugi works a lot of part time jobs to pay for her cosplays and her clothes and food

At some point Tsumugi posted her trauma/vent fanfics online under a different pen name and renaming all of the characters so they couldn’t be tracked (each of the games and the anime were posted as their separate fanfics and each chapter in the games is a chapter in the fanfic) and the fanfic blew up super fast, which she didn’t expect, and then people started cosplaying it for the irony and when she’s asked about if she’ll cosplay from it she says she’s not in it for the irony, she also got jaw-dropped when the cosplayers she turned into some of the characters from dr1 and sdr2 started cosplaying from it

One time Kokichi found her fanfic for v3 and commented about how his character seemed super familiar and she responded “no reason :)” and blocked him because his username was super obvious, he soon makes confused posts about it on tiktok

Eventually during Tsumugi’s 3rd year she reposted all of the fanfics but with much better writing and character arcs because she took online writing classes and the internet BLEW UP EVEN HARDER and so many people geeked out over it

Eventually Tsumugi tells her close friends about how she wrote the fics but it accidentally gets out to the whole class and when anyone tries to bully her about it all of her friends fight the bullies

The Love Hotel scenes were completely separate fanfics she impulsively wrote and posted at 3am when her sexuality crisis hit too hard, even she hates them and deleted them a year after they were posted because she just can’t believe she wrote them, let alone post them, and never rewrote them

The following are her relationships with the characters in V3 since she has no real relationships with the characters in dr1 and sdr2

All of the character’s ultimates are in fact based on actual skills they each have, and if they don’t have a distinct skill Tsumugi deep dives and tries to think of one, Junko was mostly inspired by her ability to analyze super well, which helped with her makeup ability, and because she played villain characters who caused despair

Edit: forgot to mention, but when Tsumugi kills her self insert at the end of v3, it's her essentially venting out how if all the important people in her life leave her she has nothing to live for anymore

Shuichi: They met after being some of the few kids in class who had nowhere to sit during lunch so they sat next to each other, after talking some more and realizing they had a lot in common, they became really close and he would sometimes cosplay with her, he also has a crush on Kaede even though it’s only from afar due to his social anxiety, Tsumugi however feels as though she’s a burden to him which is why she has him hate her in the last trial, when she told him she wrote the fanfic he constantly reassured her that she’s not a burden and was super embarrassed that he was made the protag after kaede, though he did find pregame him a bit odd

Himiko: Himiko is also an outsider due to her depression and general tired personality, she’s one of the few people who don’t judge Tsumugi for her cosplaying and anime interests and they’re both in anime club and will occasionally cosplay together, she was the one who accidentally let it slip about the fanfic thing but Tsumugi couldn’t bring herself to be mad

Maki: Another outsider but on purpose, she met Tsumugi after she found Tsumugi getting bullied and pushed around by some older kids, and afterwards she hung around Tsumugi to protect her and they eventually got pretty close even though Maki is generally socially dead, she also helps get Tsumugi food when Tsumugi’s parents are too neglectful to feed her, she also is the main protector of Tsumugi from her bullies, before and after the fic

Kiibo: An exchange student from being homeschooled, he and Tsumugi used to be pretty close, he was pretty famous on social media so sometimes they would go and do influencer stuff together and he’d cosplay with her, eventually he started dating Miu and they got a bit more distant due to Tsumugi not being a big fan of Miu, but they have no harsh feelings towards each other, even though Tsumugi thinks he hates her, he’s also a top student, he was a little weirded out by how both he and Miu were portrayed in the original fic but after talking it out with Tsumugi he let it slide and they talk more often because of that

Kaede: She met Kaede in secondary school and they got fairly close up until Kaede met Rantaro, after they met Kaede started hanging out with him more (romantic or platonic is up for interpretation) and Tsumugi was really hurt and jealous which is why she has Kaede kill Rantaro, she and Tsumugi reignited a relationship after the fanfic thing came out because she was super concerned about how Tsumugi was doing since you don’t just write that stuff without having some sort of trauma, they became closer afterwards and told Tsumugi she was flattered she was made into such a nice girl but also kinda freaked out that Tsumugi technically killed her but they also talked that out, she didn’t hold pregame Kaede against her because Kaede did in fact act like that when she was younger

Rantaro: Him and Tsumugi knew each other in middle school but didn’t like each other, she envied him because of how easy of a time he had making friends, and later on hated him for “stealing” Kaede from her, he is on ok terms with Tsumugi after the fanfic incident because Kaede and Tsumugi reignited a friendship and they tolerate each other

Kirumi: Tsumugi fears and looks up to Kirumi, as Kirumi is head of the student council and class rep but also very strict, one time Tsumugi got pushed down before school and was forced to come with a dirty uniform and Kirumi ripped into her for it and made her cry (although Kirumi quickly apologized and tried to comfort her but the trauma already set in), after she learned about the fic she talked to Tsumugi and gave her a singular pass for it because she did a fairly good job capturing Kirumi’s determination and sophistication

Ryoma: She’s never talked to Ryoma personally but she knows he has a criminal record for some minor crime and that scares her alongside how he one time suplexed a student three times his size after the student tried to pick on him for being short

Korekiyo: He freaks her out and she really hates his sister, and one time he psychoanalyzed her and it hit way too close to home so now she both doesn’t like him and respects him, which is why she just has his sister be the motive/his abuser because she full on just hates her cause she’s a “normie” who made fun of her one time in public, after he learned about the fic he tried to talk to her about the original version of the v3 fic to talk it through because he knew about her issues and now they’re on good terms

Angie: Funny enough she just is way too afraid to talk to Angie because she is a foreign exchange student and Tsumugi was really confused by her religion which is why it’s handled so poorly and why Angie is so focused on Atua, Angie also is super confident in herself and extroverted and that intimidated Tsumugi so much she just never talked to her, after the fic Angie sat her down and educated her on the details of her religion so Tsumugi could fix any accidental misconceptions about the religion and culture

Tenko: With Tsumugi’s constant sexuality crisis, she also has internalized homophobia which is why Tenko, an open women lover, scares her so much, Tsumugi can’t comprehend it so she made Tenko really creepy and oddly violent towards men even though the actual Tenko only beats up men who harass her or other women and not just every single man, she’s also really nice to Himiko and because Tsumugi fears Tenko she warped it

Miu: Miu is also a woman confident in her sexuality, she just comes off a lot more strongly than Tenko and is even more intimidating to Tsumugi, Tsumugi also thinks she’s gross because she’s open about her kinks and her gross ways of making sure she’s healthy, after she and Kiibo started dating she started to resent Miu, but regardless of this she still acknowledges that Miu is a top student, she only really likes Miu because she and Kokichi hate each other, but after it got out that Tsumugi wrote the fic Miu tried to pick on her but Maki scared her off

Gonta: She really loves Gonta and at some point had a crush on him, but he turned her down after Kokichi spread rumors that she was afraid of bugs and Gonta didn’t want to freak her out due to the fact he lives in an area full of bugs and has a few pet bugs, she has no harsh feelings towards him however and still likes him, though not as a crush, Gonta was still super nice to her after the fic thing and doesn’t think any less of her

Kokichi: She absolutely despises him and everything he does, they’ve known each other since they were kids and he’s always picked on her, though to him he’s only friendly teasing and thinks they have a friendly rivalry, he does everything out of childish amusement and doesn’t actually think he’s doing any harm to her even though she actively hates him and has gotten punched on several occasions by Maki for teasing Tsumugi too much, he also is purposely controversial online and has tried to be cancelled way too many times but somehow finds a way to find dirt on the people cancelling him and now everyone is too scared to cancel him, he also “bullies” cosplayers on tiktok by dueting them and mocking them but to him it’s ironic but to everyone else it isn’t, he has done this to Tsumugi on multiple occasions and she hates it, he tried to tease her about writing the fic and blocking him but Maki punches him in the throat, he makes a tiktok about that as well but keeps her identity a secret

Kaito: He became Maki’s boyfriend sometime after she met Maki and, in his stupidity, accidentally insulted Tsumugi’s comfort cosplay and she hated him after that, his death and illness was inspired by the one time he got the flu and gave it to everyone and it ruined one of her wigs, after a while they began talking more and she began to realize he wasn’t a jerk, just really stupid, so she made him a nicer character, after it got out that she wrote the fanfics she asked if he was mad he died but instead he was like “nah man that was a super cool way to go”, he was confused on pregame Kaito until Tsumugi explained that that’s how she used to see him

#danganronpa #danganronpa spoilers #danganronpa tsumugi #drv3 tsumugi #tsumugi shirogane #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #sdr2 #danganronpa au #dr spoilers #danganronpa 2 #monokuma #danganronpa monokuma #shuichi saihara #himiko yumeno #maki harukawa #kiibo #k1b0 #ryoma hoshi #kirumi tojo #rantaro amami #angie yonaga #korekiyo shinguji #tenko chabashira #kokichi oma #miu iruma #kaito momota #gonta gokuhara

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Hol Horse

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

So last year I thought it was a good idea to try and review all of the enemy Stand users in Stardust Crusaders in a totally random order. The results were… mixed. Some of them I think came out okay, but others? Not so much. One of them was just an entire backhanded attack against some guy who decided to say “No one likes your analyses” because I think ProJared was a creep. It was, quite frankly, a mess, and I never bothered to revisit it and never thought I would, even though I still hadn’t covered the glorious, wonderful human being who is Hol Horse.

Well, now, after playing Heritage for the Future and All-Star Battle as well as just becoming a bit more knowledgeable on JJBA, I’ve decided to not only give Hol Horse his dues, but also at least briefly go back over or cover the other Stand users and give them a rating or an updated rating, as the case may be. So buckle in, this is gonna be a long one, and it’s all gonna start with everyone’s favorite incompetent henchman.

Hol Horse is probably one of the most amazing characters Araki has ever created. Hol Horse is in possession of a powerful Stand, The Emperor, which is literally a magical gun that fires bullets he can control the trajectory of. By all accounts, Hol Horse should be the single most dangerous foe that the Crusaders face, more than even Vanilla Ice. This guy should be able to shoot them all dead without a second thought! There’s just one tiny little caveat:

Hol Horse is a fucking moron.

This man is cowardly, incompetent, and just the punching bag of cruel misfortune as all his plans constantly go awry and he is constantly knocked on his ass. And yet, Hol Horse is still the most beloved enemy Stand User of Stardust Crusaders, and it’s not hard to see why. Because despite all of his bumbling, Hol Horse just oozes a sort of cool you just don’t see every day.

(For best results, listen to this the whole time while reading the following).

Motivation/Goals: Hol Horse is one of the few henchmen of DIO who is motivated purely by his own greed… at least, at first. Eventually he has his ass handed to him one too many times, and he decides to try and assassinate DIO. This goes about as well as you’d expect, and Hol Horse – not just part of it, the ENTIRE Horse – is so scared out of his mind that he decides, yep, loyalty to DIO is the way to go! It doesn’t work out, but hey, he tried, right?

Performance: Imami Williams gives Hol Horse that raspy, American charm he needs in the anime adaptation. With his voice and the animation combined, we get to see our favorite smarmy sharpshooter who can’t shoot for shit shoot his shot and miss every time, and it is simply glorious.

Final Fate: Hol Horse kidnaps Boingo and forces him to work with him to finally get his revenge! With the prophetic skills of Thoth and the raw damage that can be done with Emperor, there’s no way they could lose! And yet, as is always the case with Thoth, things go horrendously awry and Hol Horse, despite having the ability to control the trajectory of his bullets, ends up shooting himself and knocking him out of part 3 for good.

Best Scene: Really, just the entirety of the episodes where he teams up with Boingo, especially when he tries holding up Polnareff. Considering what comes after and what came before it, it’s just the dose of lighthearted fun needed before you watch all of your favorite characters get brutally murdered by DIO and Vanilla Ice,. 

Best Quote: There is only one line it could be, and it’s Hol Horse’s response to Thoth’s suggestion he kick a woman in the neck: “Listen, Boingo... I am the nicest man in the world. I have girlfriends everywhere. I might lie to a woman, but I'll never hit them! It doesn't matter how ugly they are! Because I respect women!”

That’s right, everyone. Hol Horse drinks Respect Women Juice.

Final Thoughts & Score: Hol Horse is simply astounding. The character is such a colossal screwup that he shouldn’t be as good as he is… yet he is. The dude is gifted with the most incredible power imaginable, and yet somehow he is never able to do a goddamn thing with that power! You control where the bullets go, dude! How can you not hit anything?! It’s interesting how his cowardice and lack of motivation makes him a perfect representation of the inverted Emperor tarot card, but hey, tarot motifs are par for the course with the Stand users.

But there’s something charming to how pathetic Hol Horse is. He’s always plying second banana, he’s a dirty coward who turns tail and runs when things aren’t looking good for him, he never wins a single battle, he didn’t even kill the one guy it seemed like he killed… but throughout it all he still has this sort of smarmy charisma to him that makes him impossible to hate. It’s no wonder this guy has girls all over the world, because he is a world-class charmer. There’s also how Hol Horse is just a character who really, really lives by his own personal philosophy – that is to say, he always likes to be #2, never going into a fight without backup. It’s kind of refreshing to see him always stick by this, even to his own detriment; it’s hard to hate a man who’s principled to that degree. And, of course, this man respects women. Good on him.

It helps that Hol Horse’s inexplicable popularity has led to him getting his time to shine in outside media. Heritage for the Future has two versions of him, his regular form and one that partners him with Boingo, and in skilled hands his Emperor finally gets to live up to its deadly potential. And he’s no slouch in his return appearance in All-Star Battle, and what’s more impressive is in that game he is part of the base roster while Joseph and Iggy, two of the main heroes, are relegated to DLC! You heard me right: the bumbling cowboy who did not win a single fight or even come close to it and spent a lot of time shooting himself managed to beat out out two iconic heroes from the same part onto the roster! Horsey Man must be doing something right.

As this video shows, Hol Horse is one of the most influential characters in the JJBA franchise, having helped to shape the franchise going forward and helped to inspire the traits that made beloved characters like Guido Mista, Gyro Zeppeli, and Yoshikage Kira as legendary as they are. Hell, Hol Horse is just so awesome he almost got to be a protagonist, but Araki decided that Horsey was too similar to my favorite big-titty Frenchman, Polnareff. This means Hol Horse never got his time to shine as a hero, and so stayed a villain til the end… but hey, can he really be that sad if he gets a 10/10 on Psycho Analysis?

Actually, maybe he wouldn’t like that. He likes to play second fiddle to others, after all. But I guess that’s just the curse with these JoJo villains who want to not stand out; they always end up being the best and most memorable characters.

Anyway, now that we’ve got the best of the best out of the way, it’s time for...

Psycho Analysis: DIO’s Other Henchmen

I’m just gonna give my brief thoughts on these guys. Most of them are pretty one-note oneshots, but there are a few who rise above that and manage to be something else entirely. These guys were a learning experience for Araki, and his enemy Stand users of the week definitely improved with later parts, with Vento Aureo really cranking it up to 11. 

But for now, we’re stuck with these guys.

Gray Fly: I actually stand by my opinion from my original review of him; he’s nothing incredibly memorable, but he’s a solid start to the adventure and he is directly responsible for diverting the journey onto the course it ended up going on. Without him, things would have likely played out far differently. A 5/10 is still a good score for him.

Fake Captain Tenille: He actually gets bumped down to a 2/10, due to my changes in how things are scored. He’s not amusing enough to be in the “So bad it’s good” category of the other 3s, he’s just really lame and forgettable, and he still somehow manages to lose when he has the advantage. What a dweeb.

Forever: If you think the monkey boat fight is dropping in score, you’re mistaken. Forever remains at an 8/10 for being such a delightfully weird curveball that helps set the tone for the franchise to follow.

Devo: One of the weirder playable character choices from Heritage for the Future, and certainly not one I like too much; he’s also a random event that is pretty useful in All-Star Battle’s online campaign, so that’s a good mark for him. If nothing else, he gave a good showing of Polnareff’s skills when under pressure, so… yeah. I think a 5/10 is good enough.

Rubber Soul: This review I regret because I was backhandedly responding to that guy who weirdly decided to bring up my distaste for ProJared in a review of Arabia Fats and Kenny G. I do mostly stand by what I said; Rubber Soul is one of the more amusing minor foes, if only because of his ridiculous performance as Kakyoin. Still, it really sucks he was just a clone character in Heritage for the Future… put he gets points for  having the iconic cherry-licking as a taunt. 6/10 is where he remains.

J. Geil: Again, my opinion hasn’t changed: J. Geil is a mountain of wasted potential, but at the very least he makes for a good antagonist for his brief appearance and hey, he’s the one who helped bring us the beautiful hunk of man that is Hol Horse, so I’d feel bad giving him less than a 7/10.

Nena: I honestly think Nena is one of the most boring Stand users of the part, which is sad because her episode gives Joseph the spotlight. She’s just really gross and uninteresting, and you’ll likely forget her after her episode is over. 2/10.

ZZ: ZZ is not particularly great, and his design is just there to be a joke, but it’s hard to totally hate a guy who manages to roll references to Christine, Duel, and the album cover for Eliminator by his namesake into one. I think he’s more of a 4/10, but probably on the higher end there. He’s not great, but he has enough going for him to keep me from hating him.

Enya: So if I thought that J. Geil was a waste of potential, I feel this even more so for his mother Enya. Despite being hyped up as this big, intimidating right-hand woman to DIO early on, she gets one appearance where her Stand is defeated by Star Platinum pulling a power out his ass and then is unceremoniously killed by Steely Dan of all people. I will give her this: her interactions with Polnareff are absolutely hilarious. But when all you have going for is some jokes, don’t be surprised when you end up with a 6/10, which you’re pretty much only getting because even despite the mountains of wasted potential you’re really not that bad.

She do be looking hot in the OVA tho.

Steely Dan: My opinion is unchanged; he’s a solid 7/10 oneshot douchebag. Nothing more, nothing less. His level in the PS1 game seriously blows, though.

Arabia Fats: I was too hard on this guy. While I meant everything I said, and his episode is boring filler, does it really make him a bottom of the barrel all-time worst villain? No. It just makes him a crappy joke character. 2/10.

Mannish Boy: I regret not getting to this guy last time, because aside from Forever he’s probably one of the most insane Stand user of the part, seeing as he is an infant. Like, he’s just an evil baby who can kill people in their dreams. And he gets defeated by being force fed his own crap. Much like Forever, it’s fun to speculate where exactly DIO found this guy; did he just go to a nursery and start jabbing babies with the Stand arrow? Did he meet this guy at a Cairo night club? What exactly is Mannish Boy’s origin? He’s just so utterly and hilariously inexplicable. He’s definitely a 7/10; he doesn’t quite have the shock factor that Forever did before him, but let’s not pretend an evil talking baby Stand user isn’t one hell of a weird twist.

Cameo: This guy really lives up to his name; his Stand is the one that gets the most screentime, with the actual Stand user being relegated to a – you guessed it – cameo appearance at the end of the fight. Thankfully, his Stand is an enjoyable take on jerkass genies and gives a pretty sad and disturbing episode that not only features my man Polnareff, but also marks the point where Avdol returns and brings “Hell 2 U!” I think he deserves at least a 7/10, even if this is mainly for Judgment. Still, a Stand is a representation of the user’s soul, so I think it works out.

Here’s the Stand:

And here’s the man behind it:

Midler: Midler is one of the single most interesting characters from the pre-Egypt half of Stardust Crusaders, and is the point where Stand users really started to get interesting. Her Stand, High Priestess, has a really funky and unique design, and her battle serves as the final roadblock before the Crusaders arrive in Egypt. Despite never appearing onscreen, with only her unconscious body being shown at the end of the fight in a way that obscures her, she got to appear in Heritage for the Future with an awesome sexy belly dancer design and a badass moveset that makes her a really fun character to play as. Taking everything into account, I think she just barely scrapes into the bottom of the 8/10 pool, though really this is mainly for her playable appearance.

N’Doul: My opinions really haven’t changed on him. He’s still an 8/10.

Oingo & Boingo: These guys are, in a word, hilarious. In between the grueling, brutal fight with N’Doul and the later fights in the part, these guys bring some much needed levity to the proceedings. Oingo gets an entire episode where he just completely bumbles about as he attempts to impersonate Jotaro to assassinate the Crusaders, failing at every turn and only managing to blow himself up in the end. Boingo fares a little better, eventually getting roped in to Hol Horse’s scheme to get some revenge, which leads to one of the funniest episodes of the entire series as Hol Horse and Oingo hold up Polnareff. I think they collectively get an 8/10 for being two of the funniest Stand users in the part. They even get their own unique end credits in the anime (with Hol Horse joining in on the fun when he teams up with Boingo)!

Anubis: Again, my opinion is unchanged, though I must say him having technically three playable appearances in Heritage for the Future does make me have at least a little more fondness for him. Black Polnareff, Chaka, and Khan are all amusing characters to play as and all have some awesome theme music. Introducing the concept of Stands being able to exist independently of their Original user is pretty neat, as well as the idea of a Stand that can switch users like it does. 7/10 is still what I’d give it, but I think that it’s pretty telling that this is probably the “weakest” character in the Egypt arcs in terms of being a villain, and yet he’s still pretty cool.

Mariah: Completely unchanged. She still deserves an 8/10, because her episode is hilarious, her playable appearance in Heritage for the Future is a blast, and she’s just really frikkin’ hot. I’m not gonna lie, she’s probably my second favorite enemy Stand user out of the Egyptian ones. I may or may not want her to step on me.

Alessi: I’m going to be honest here: Alessi is my favorite of the Egyptian Stand users. He’s an ax crazy coward with pedophile undertones who is just an utterly demented and sick individual with a seriously intriguing Stand that de-ages its victims. It’s a damn shame he never crossed paths with Joseph and de-aged him, but when he’s just such a hilarious and hateable lunatic with an incredibly fun playable appearance in Heritage for the Future (complete with awesomely creepy theme music!) it’s hard for me to give Alessi anything less than a 9/10. Attaboy!

Daniel J. D’Arby: My opinion is honestly unchanged, but I think I’d bump him down to an 8/10.

Pet Shop: Again, unchanged really. It’s hard to give a character as busted as he is in Heritage for the Future anything less than a 9/10 any way you slice it.

Telence T. D’Arby: Opinion unchanged, 8/10. I don’t have much else to say here, besides Xander Mobus rocks.

Kenny G: See Arabia Fats above. I got irrationally mad over a dumb joke character. He’s not going above a 2/10, but he’s not worth really getting mad about.

Vanilla Ice: I still think he’s the only enemy Stand user besides Hol Horse who deserves his 10/10. My opinion of him remains unchanged, but I would like to say he’s easily one of my favorite characters to play as in All-Star Battle.

Nukesaku: Ok, he’s not an enemy Stand user, he’s just some weird vampire… zombie… thing. Still, I feel he’s at least worth briefly mentioning, if only because he’s probably the only easily-defeated joke villain Araki did from the first three parts who is particularly memorable. Wired Beck and Doobie are really not all that memorable, but Nukesaku at least elicits a few chuckles – he even gets cameos in Heritage for the Future as well as getting to be a stage hazard in All-Star Battle. For what he is, I think he deserves a 5/10.

And with all these enemies taken care of, that just leaves one more Stand user to talk about.. one whose Psycho Analysis has been sitting in my drafts for a year now...

#Psycho Analysis #Hol Horse #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #Stardust Crusaders #Imami Williams

[phoebehalliwell]

can we talk about richard for a minute. i was browsing your paige tag and found a mention of paige/richard and got in my feelings. mainly the feeling that dominates is annoyance because WHY why on earth did the writers try to do an addiction storyline only to fuck it up this badly. richard was straight up villified by every character other than paige for being an addict and my god it makes my blood boil. i thought willow's addiction storyline bugged me but this is on another level

and the way they ended this pairing too? like richard and paige deserved better let's just say it right now. richard deserved better. they basically tried to send the viewers this message of richard is no good for paige, he's not bad but he is bad FOR paige but then they turn around and have an actual toxic relationship (i don't wanna say abusive but it borders for sure) with her and brody but we're supposed to root for THEM and him? what the hecking fuck ever?

honestly i feel like they really did richard dirty. like i think he had a great potential maybe not as a love interest (though it definitely could have worked if they viewed paige and richard’s relationship as anything other than an obstacle) but just as like a character they don’t really have any witch friends just to have this family who are allies sorta in the background could have been so nice. in regards to the addiction storyline, it was...... i really don’t know what their intention was. to prove paige is a good person for trying to help him? to say addiction is bad? like the first two episodes richards like no i don’t practice magic it makes me into a person who i really don’t want to be and then after his dad is murdered he’s like i feel like my hand’s been forced i feel like i have to take up the craft and paige is like no you don’t have to please just listen to me you can solve this without magic and richards like you’re right and then the next episode he’s still like i support you but i really don’t feel comfortable performing magic and paige is like no i would never ask you to do that and richards like oh : ) thanks And Then The NEXT Episode richard’s fuckin using magic like hello? make it make sense?? i only use it once in a while, for little things like that’s not really how addiction works?? if i was a former alcoholic i wouldn’t be drinking champagne on new years like as a little treat uwu because that is the first step towards a major backslide. like okay if we had him use magic to dramatically save paige bc there was no other way and that triggered a backslide sure. maybe. but this? everything we’ve seen about richard so far is like centered around the fact that he doesn’t practice magic and then you give us this? and then it’s villainization from here on out from the abuse of their book of shadows to the attempted brainwash like why. why are you giving us this. why do we need to see this.

and not top of that paige is a former addict (which they never brought up once in this storyline) she was an alcoholic throughout high school and i think into college and now she just doesn’t drink. so to think she would sit idly by as richard starts using magic “for the little things” is fuckin buckwild! bro when she sees him use magic for the first time she’s like nice : ) as if the past two episodes weren’t about him not using magic bc it’s like an addiction. like Ma’am. if your sisters came home and saw you with a bottle of beer they would be Extremely Fucking Concerned and rightfully so?? they wouldn’t be like oh it’s good to see paige kick back and relax with this one time little thing at least it’s not vodka : ) they would like stage an intervention right then and there. and they went insofar as to have like phoebe say hey wasn’t richard like an addict didn’t he like explicitly say he didn’t like the person he became when he used magic and paige is like yeah lmao but he seems fine like your former addict who is now completely sober is saying that are those the worlds coming out of her mouth rn??

And Another Thing! all richard does in the end is take a power stripping potion and boom addiction gone bc he can literally no longer access this. so like?? why didn’t he do this like five years ago??? if you swore you were never gonna use magic again because you knew it was addictive and also hurt the people you love, why not take it away right then. completely eliminate even the possibility of a relapse. hello??

back to paige and richard’s relationship: they spent so much time on this addiction thing that we never really got to see the actual goddamn relationship. like oh paige was so open hearted and optimistic that pessimist richard actually starts to feel hope. they hook up. magic addiction plotline. like?? could you give us maybe ninety fuckin seconds of how they actually feel about each other. can we see them as a couple once?? evifuckindently not. and so many people are like blah blah blah i don’t like paige and richard’s relationship but bro,, What Relationship. all we got from then was an addiction plotline. there was never romance portrayed that wasn’t directly connected to richard’s abuse of magic. we never got to see a real relationship. and that’s fuckin bullshit man bc you know what they could have been really cute together the sullen straightlaced pessimist with the exuberant wild child optimist hello?? that’s a great trope. they fit those roles so well. and yet we got nothing. goddamn disrespectful.

now if i’m switching gears from a less emotionally driven rant lemme give you this headcanon about richard: okay. so he’s addicted to magic, right? it fucks him up, it’s difficult to quit, etc. but this really shouldn’t happen to a witch. they’re born magic, they’re never given more than they can handle. really the only time we’ve ever seen any being act this way is dr. williamson when he was dosed with the charmed one’s blood. now, in that episode, leo said that the ability to sort of control/wield/manage that much magic is something that is built up in a line for generations, and if someone is infected with a magic too strong for them to handle, they lose it. (we also see something akin to this where prue, when given empathy, almost completely loses it, because it was a power she was never meant to have.) now. am i accusing richard of dosing himself with the blood of a being more powerful than him? i am not. i’m accusing his parents. think about it. they literally have a black magic vault in their house. they’ve been in a feud for centuries and they keep losing loved ones. maybe they thought giving richard the blood of a greater being would give them the edge to win this battle, and make sure the montana line stays safe. i don’t think they would ever tell richard what they did either. i think he would just live believe that something in him is cosmically screwed up. a witch who can’t control their own magic. a cruel joke. which is another reason he stops believing in fate and destiny and a grand design. because if there was one, it was clear he was supposed to be a villain.

and onto kyle. see okay here’s the thing i know i just said we never got to see paige and richard’s relationship but it did really feel like they were in love with each other. we never got that with brody. richard tried to manipulate paige by saying other girls would love to be showered in gifts and she should appreciate what he’s doing for her. brody manipulated paige by infecting her with a paranoia crystal so he could further his own agenda. his grand sacrifice in the end is Murdering someone. richard’s was admitting his wrongdoings and drinking a power stripping potion. and yet the show paints kyle as the greater man?? dude brody wasn’t even like constantly battling addiction he was just an asshole and for some reason was regarded as a better relationship for paige. hard pass.

#1000 words on richard montana 😌 #in which more effort is put into his character #than anyone on charmed actual tried to produce #💌 #paige matthews #richard montana #paige x richard #charmed

[danwhobrowses]

AEW All Out 2020 Review

Okay...lot to unpack there All Out is in the books but not all of it was positive vibes, but there was still a lot of good stuff here that I’m gonna run down So Obviously, Spoilers for All Out

I’d like to preface that this has not been AEW’s best PPV, but parts of it was not AEW’s fault, I also have to add that the card took some heavy shuffles, starting with moving the Casino Battle Royale and Tooth and Nail match to the main card, quickly adding two new Buy In shows. The Buy In Joey Janela (w/Sonny Kiss) vs Serpentico (w/Luther) - Winner: Janela (Pinfall via Elbow Drop) A nice fun opener, Luther doesn’t do it for me but Serpentico definitely does, Janela looked very solid as Serpentico sold for him, some pretty decent athleticism and some solid heelish brutality from the Snakeman. Kiss got a hit in on Luther’s interfering and the result was fine, Janela then put over Kiss on the hard cam saying he’d win the Battle Royale. Private Party vs Dark Order Members John ‘3′ Silver and Alex ‘4′ Reynolds - Winner: Private Party (Pinfall via Gin n Juice) Another fun opening tag match, the kind of energetic tag you get from Pre-Shows really. Both teams were solid but it was the Dark Order who had the better share of the tag synergy. That being said, Marq Quen literally ignored gravity for a moment with a Moonsault and Silver rocked Quen with a Burning Hammer F-5 (I think it’s called the Spin Doctor) for a near fall. Many fans would be convinced that Dark Order should’ve won, and in hindsight they probably should have, but a small flurry got them the Gin n Juice for the win. Main Card Tooth and Nail Match, Britt Baker (w/Rebel ‘Reba’ Tanea) vs Big Swole - Winner: Big Swole (KO) After heavy fan demand, Tony Khan decided to move the match onto the main card as the opener. Swole rolled up with a BLM armband and a fancy car into Baker’s office, met by ‘Reba’ acting as the receptionist. After hitting her with a clipboard Swole was mentally tormented a little by blood in the sink and chattering teeth as Baker quietly stalked her and then hit Swole (kinda lightly really) with her diploma. Baker looked to torture Swole for most of the match with dentistry equipment, some solid landings on the unprotected floor did sell a bit of intensity, when Swole rallied they went to the back where Reba also returned, she was dunked into a nearby bin via Britt’s ‘Role’s Royce’. Britt returned to the advantage as she looked to inject Swole with something (I think it’d be a numbing agent), but ended up taking it into the leg herself as Reba funnily screamed ‘You Stabbed Her!’, a dazed Swole then used another Diploma to do ‘Dirty Dancing’ through the diploma on Reba, another Dirty Dancing on Britt knocked her into the Doctor’s chair as Swole finished Baker with some anesthetic. As cinematic matches go it was a mixed bag, some bits were funny but some of it was just ‘silly bobbins’, a theme with AEW’s women’s matches sadly is that JR really can’t commentate on Women without saying something wrong or outdated (more on that later), it probably should’ve stayed on the Buy In where it would’ve been afforded more time and less seriousness, also odd that Baker took the loss on her return. The Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express (w/ Marko Stunt) - Winner: The Young Bucks (Pinfall via BTE Trigger on Jungle Boy) A PPV-quality tag match, Jurassic Express and the Bucks started with a lot of energy as the Bucks started leaning into their asshole heel attitudes. Isolating Jungle Boy and infuriating Luchasaurus, there was a fair amount of Back and Forth which usually ended with the Bucks once more doubling on the Big Man to focus on JB. At one point, Marko Stunt (in a crutch after being demolished by Jake Hager on a prior AEW Dark match) pulled Matt off the ring apron as he mocked JB to tag him in. Eventually Luchasaurus did what he does best: the Hot Tag, taking both on with his unique offence, he also added what I could only call a ‘Chokesault’ since he chokeslammed Nick so hard onto Matt that he basically moonsaulted onto his prone brother. Jurassic Express wowed with their airborne abilities with JB using Luchasaurus to hop over the top rope onto Nick for a perfect crossbody but were again undone when the rana setup led to JB being powerbombed on the apron and Luchasaurus hit with a destroyer. The Boy and his Dinosaur almost got the win by reversing a Meltzer Driver setup into an Extinction Level Event but the pin was broken. Marko’s action before came to haunt him as Matt kicked away Marko’s crutch in torment, then murdered him with a superkick that wrote him out of interference. After the Bucks were set over the guard rail, Luchasaurus took himself out by launching from the ring over the barricade to the group of uncarded wrestlers (including Griff Garrison, Brandon Cutler - who was on the opposite end of the ring to Peter Avalon who split from him on Dark, and the Gunn Club) in a gravity-defying dive. But this left Jungle Boy at the mercy of the Bucks, eating a superkick for 2, then a Superkick Party also for 2 but then being destroyed by a BTE trigger for 3. A great birds eye shot of a limp Jungle Boy encapsulated the match as once again Jack Perry (and Luchasaurus) light up AEW’s card even in defeat, tremendous resilience as we see a much more heelish Bucks come about. Casino Battle Royale - Winner: Lance Archer (eliminated Eddie Kingston) The Casino Battle Royale started strong with Trent, Hager, Fénix, Blade and Christopher Daniels. No eliminations took place until the next bunch came out; Kazarian, Santana & Ortiz, Taylor and happy surprise Will Hobbs! And Hobbs was the first to get an elimination, taking out the Blade, CD was taken by Hager until the next group came about, Best Friends renewing hostilities with Santana and Ortiz. The third group was Billy Gunn, Penta El Zero M, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage and Darby Allin. The Latter quickly went for Team Tazz as Gunn went for the bigger fish, only to be eliminated by Cage, Allin then surprisingly eliminated Fenix as Santana and Ortiz doubled to take out Chuck. The final group of entrants came with Sonny Kiss, Eddie Kingston, the Butcher, Lance Archer and Shawn Spears - who lingered on the sides for a bit to cut a promo. Sonny Kiss made a quick impact by eliminating Hager, but was then eliminated by Cage and left prone to Hager’s wrath. Trent overcame the double team by eliminating Santana and almost got Ortiz until Archer through Trent over as Ortiz ducked...then Archer dumped Ortiz. Kazarian also got a surprise elimination of Penta as the Butcher then avenged him, Allin got some payback on Team Tazz by eliminating Starks to Tazz’s dismay, but this led to a brutal beatdown on Allin, with Starks pulling out a body bag for Cage and Cage ‘filled’ it with Thumbtacks, stuffed Allin in it completely then brutally dumped the bagged (and thus blind to impact) Allin out of the match. The Joker would soon arrive and it was someone nobody expected: Matt Sydal. The former Evan Bourne looked to make headlines and he did...for the wrong reasons. Unfortunately as he set up his beautiful shooting star press, he botched the jump and didn’t make the rotation, falling flat on his back (Props to Hobbs though who quickly rolled to check on him). A soured taste to a decent royale, Sydal did manage to rally by eliminating Spears before eating a Spinebuster from Hobbs, Kingston sticking in the corner with the Butcher as his shield while Cage began to clean up house. Cage and Archer had an exchange as the Machine went to deal with Hobbs, but Hobbs pulled Cage over with him leaving Archer to dropkick both of them off. Sydal then managed to take the Butcher out but was thrown out by Kingston in his decimation by Archer. This left some head scratching though, because Kingston went under the bottom rope in his exchange with Archer to the apron, but as he pulled the Murderhawk Monster over with him, it looked like there might be a double fall, Kingston was put onto the top turnbuckle but looked to knock away Archer, it’s only when Jake the Snake used his bag with a ‘snake’ (we never saw it) in it that Kingston was distracted for Archer to chokeslam him into his gang for the win. A good winner, still would’ve preferred Kingston, but the finish was weird, he went to the apron under the bottom rope so he should’ve still been legal, but I guess when he sat on the top turnbuckle that counted as in-ring? A fun royale though marred slightly by Sydal’s botch and that finish, Will Hobbs as well impressing many on a big stage. Broken Rules Match, Matt Hardy vs Sammy Guevara - Winner, Matt Hardy (via Sammy not answering the 10-Count) Ho boy. This one. So it started out very good, outside the stadium Matt called out Sammy, who had commondeered a golf cart of his own to chase Matt with, Matt weaved him to have Sammy crash into some boxes and bins as the fighting continued. The controversy began with a table spot involving a Scissor Lift, Matt looking to throw Sammy off it onto two merch tables below only to have Sammy Spear them both. Unfortunately, the trajectory was a bit over, Matt’s feet hit the first table which meant his landing onto the second was overshot and Matt landed head-first into the ground. Aubrey quickly checked on him and pulled up the X, but Matt seemed adamant to continue so they started the 10 count. Sammy noticed that Matt wasn’t going to stand for 10 so ‘attacked’ him to keep the match going but Matt continued to lose footing as fans felt unease on whether it was a work or shoot. The X was called again and the bell rang as Commentary noted the risks in wrestling, but by then Matt was walking on his feet and Sammy pulled nearer to the ring, the match controversially restarted with Matt blindsiding Sammy from the side, sprawling to the stage as they climbed scaffolding and dumped Sammy into the floor for the 10 Count. Concussed, AEW has gotten criticism for letting Matt continue, even to a rushed finish so that the storyline remained intact. I’m 50/50 myself, Khan later noted that the Doctor felt he could continue enough and they did limit his movement, they didn’t climb as high as they intended and Hardy was quickly rushed to hospital. Despite his wife’s fuming and angry fans looking to smear AEW like a shark in bloody water, they did as much as they could without ending the match super abruptly, and if anyone says ‘we’d be slaughtering them if WWE did this’, WWE did do this, memory serves me right Becky Lynch was concussed and kept going with the iconic ‘bloody Becky’ moment, Undertaker was concussed and kept going when the streak ended, Kairi Sane had 2 concussions in 2 different matches and finished both matches. It’s a shame, because the two did look like they had a lot of ideas, but this match did very much taint the first half of All Out and will overshadow a lot of positive vibes that came from the show as a whole. AEW Women’s Championship, Hikaru Shida (c) vs NWA Women’s Champion & TJPW International Princess Champion Thunder Rosa - Winner: Hikaru Shida (Pinfall via ‘Three Count’ Knee Strike) With a sour taste in the mouth, the anticipated Women’s match was just what fans needed to regain some excitement - though I personally questioned the card structure from here since Mimosa Mayhem and an 8 Man tag was still to come. Before the match I also popped for Shida getting streamers for her entrance, I fucking love streamers it’s a great way to involve the crowd. Shida and Rosa put on a strike and technical show which demonstrated why they were at the top of their divisions, Rosa proved to have scouted Shida’s movesets a lot by counter moves and cutting Shida off when she was getting momentum. But Shida would also pull out counters of her own, a great backbreaker and knee strike flowed with the back and forth nature of both champions, Rosa rocking Shida with a DVD on the apron but Shida wasting Rosa with a Meteora on the ramp. Both women also wore the other down with submissions, Rosa working the back with various stretches as Shida locked in the Stretch Muffler. Rosa looked to rally again as she kicked out of a Falcon Arrow at 1 and reversed a second attempt, but like lightning Shida struck with the Three Count, wiping her out for the win. This was the solid bout we needed to start the second half, both women looked strong and tough, Rosa lost nothing from the defeat and Shida was thoroughly challenged by her, it definitely met the expectations set out for it and hopefully we can see more of Rosa in AEW’s future. The only real criticism I can give for this match is commentary again, JR just can’t commentate a good women’s match anymore, and frankly I think for these matches we should really look towards having Veda Scott, Renee or Mauro be brought in, at least for these matches, let JR commentate matches that are more his speed or genre but that is the only criticism, and it’s not against the women. Segment: Interview with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford A short, oddly-placed, segment came next as Penelope announced that she and Kip were getting married. Selling a wedding segment for Dynamite, Kip noted that first must come a Bachelor Party and he’s found a perfect best man for it. Kip notes that he’ll reveal who on Dynamite. Expect a debut or a faction formation, is my TH2 x Kip/Penelope faction hopes coming true? There was also a slight dig at WWE’s controversial edict to not approve third party monetization as Kip promoted his twitch channel with a disclaimer beneath saying that AEW approve it. The Dark Order (TNT Champion Mr Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) vs The Natural Nightmares (w/ Brandi Rhodes and Allie), Matt Cardona and Scorpio Sky - Winner: Nightmare Family (Pinfall via Rollup on Cabana by Dustin) A match that seemed a dead cert for the Dark Order to win especially since they failed on the Buy In, the 8-Man had a steady as each member showed off their athleticism, Sky and Cardona also getting some impressive moves on Uno and Grayson, but Lee was always prepared to clean up house as he also mocked Brandi at ringside. Dustin - appearing jarringly in blue this time - was the surprising speedster of the match, upping the pace was his hot tag as he set up the energy of the match. As Sky and Brodie confronted with the latter the illegal man, Anna Jay snuck up from behind but was blocked by Sky and booted out of her heels by Brandi before being pulled apart by Grayson (JR joking that she had a wardrobe malfunction did not sit well for many, including me). Grayson managed to rally for the Dark Order as QT Marshall was isolated by the Quartet, but Brodie stared a hole in Dustin in some solid storytelling, telling Cabana to tag him in despite a sure win, Brodie goaded Dustin into the match by throwing QT to tag Dustin in as they brawled. It was a bit of a hoss but it was great and well-timed, with Brodie wiping Dustin out with a delayed Discus Clothesline. Content, Brodie offered the pin to Cabana and tagged him in, but Cabana then made the misstep by missing the Moonsault, the Nightmare family pulled the Dark Order away as Dustin rolled up the hurt Cabana for 3. As the Nightmare Family praised Dustin, Brodie fumed at Cabana for going for the Moonsault when Dustin was already finished, shoving Cabana as he walked his frustrations off. Evil Uno proved to be the Good Cop as he helped Cabana up after Brodie left. Dustin was interviewed by Tony in a very 80s esque promo as Dustin kinda felt like he was jacked on ‘vitamins’, it was entertaining at the least and set up Brodie vs Dustin for the TNT Title. A surprise outcome for booking but not one I hated, this pushes a TNT title match and the Cabana story, I am upset we didn’t see Tay Conti show but maybe they’re saving it for later, Allie didn’t really involve herself at all with the match after all. AEW World Tag Team Championship, Kenny Omega & ‘Hangman’ Adam Page (c) vs FTR (w/ Tully Blanchard) - Winner: And NEW Tag Champions, FTR (via Pinfall by Dax on Page after a Spike Piledriver) The story of one of the more anticipated matches on the card was clear: the challengers, one of the best purist tag wrestlers in the world arrived together with little showmanship, and the champions, two of the most talented singles wrestlers in the world with their solo entrances, including the name plate guy having Hangman’s as ‘I don’t care what the graphic says anymore’. The match showed off the duality of both teams but it was the champions who started well, a hesitant high 10 from Kenny sowing the small seeds within the match as it became a war of Talent vs Cohesion. FTR worked their pace of isolating the legal man (mainly Hangman) as the solo wrestlers would look for their opening. For a while Kenny showed his Best Bout Machine talents to handle FTR but would be thwarted by their tandem offense of catch wrestling and lifts. Hangman would return to equalize at points including stopping a Goodnight Express on Kenny, but miscommunication was often in the air on Kenny’s part, one time even knocking Hangman off the apron in his attack. Hangman got a pop from a swanton onto FTR and Tully onto the outside while FTR wiped both men out individually with a Tower-of-Doom-esque Bulldog, Kenny’s outside the ring but Hangman’s inside. Hangman once again pushed back, getting his Fallaway Moonsault Slam from the top rope, but this led to the finish as Kenny motioned for the ‘Last Call’, Hangman had hesitations but went with it and got V-Triggered for his troubles, FTR threw Kenny out and landed the Spike Piledriver. But Hangman kicked out at 2! Bafflement on his face, Dax looked to an exhausted Kenny and then to Tully and went for the Spike Piledriver again, after nudging Kenny away it landed as Dax stared gladly at Kenny in great psychology; FTR let Kenny knew that they won, not just physically but mentally too. A bit of an abrupt end led into the aftermath of the match, Kenny rolled to grab what looked like a small coffee table from under the ring. After considering laying into Hangman, he threw the weapon away to the revenant Hangman’s relief, but as he went to embrace Kenny, Kenny side steps him as Hangman collapses. Some poetic storytelling there as Kenny just seems to give up on Hangman, a switch gone in his head as the camera follows him out, venting to the Bucks as he leaves and hints that they need a ‘clean break’. The saga continues, but the Cleaner is still kept in arm’s reach. So the match was a great wrestling match, and the end was good storytelling, but this would miss the mark with many since people were expecting the Cleaner, for the trigger to be pulled and for it to have the same emotional weight as the Bucks match. But at least for the latter, it is a tall ask, and it still was the correct booking decision. Mimosa Mayhem Match, Chris Jericho vs Orange Cassidy - Winner: Orange Cassidy (via Submerging Jericho into a pool of Mimosa with two Superman Punches) So the setup and positioning of this was weird, it was clear that AEW wanted a palatte cleanser between the heavy storylines but the match already looked super gimmicky. Two pools of Mimosa either side like a kids gameshow with tables of Bubbly, it wasn’t what I imagined at least. Jericho and Cassidy came out uncharacteristically alone and without their stablemates as they went for their rubber match, starting with an excellent opener as Cassidy’s charge was met with a codebreaker. Jericho controlled a lot of the match as he tried to dip Cassidy in Mimosa, getting a foot and his hair in there at different times and smashing a plate over Cassidy on the left side. Cassidy came to life a few times with some solid counters as he mostly looked for a pin, but he would often be caught by Jericho in tense situations, at one point being at the mercy of a powerbomb drop as he hammered at Jericho’s head, only to be sent through a table which still had the Bubbly, Glasses and Plates on it. Welted on his back, Cassidy wiped Jericho out but the Birds Eye shot conspicuously showed Aubrey adjust a glass. This unfortunately telegraphed its use later as Cassidy got caught in the Walls of Jericho, with no rope breaks Cassidy used the glass to throw Mimosa in Cassidy’s eyes, a Superman Punch led to a near fall as both looked to put the other away. Having to tightrope around the pool of Mimosa, Cassidy caught Jericho with a Superman Punch after escaping a suplex, Jericho lingered but the second did the trick, with Jericho soaking in this pool of Mimosa. Frankly I wasn’t all invested in this match, it was a bit too much especially since at this point it was 4am, but both men did good and OC gets very over as Jericho soaks in another ‘moment’. I was very surprised that the Inner Circle didn’t get involved at all, why were there two pools? Why was Hager wearing white? Something tells me that plans led to this match being condensed a little. AEW World Championship Match (If Moxley uses the Paradigm Shift he will be Disqualified and forfeit the title), Jon Moxley (c) vs MJF (w/ Wardlow) - Winner, Jon Moxley (Pinfall via Paradigm Shift) Unfortunately, the 5th hour of AEW was met with a lot of fatigue from the audience, to the point where the Main Event was hoped to be a short affair. MJF continued his Presidential Homages by wearing Red, White and Blue tights as Moxley appeared in his usual camo rogue uniform, Wardlow also had the a MJF scarf-styled tie. The Psychology of this match though was good, MJF frustrated Moxley with quick counters, pins and rest holds. After cooling off a bit, Moxley played smarter by baiting MJF into his offense, while reminding Wardlow that he was in the ref’s eyeshot. Moxley was twice enticed to use the Paradigm Shift but had to fight against his instincts, as MJF looked to quickly sneak advantages in, Wardlow would prove to gift him a big opening as his lingering gave MJF time to drop Moxley’s shoulder hard on the apron. Fighting with one arm now, MJF focused in as he groomed Moxley for the Salt of the Earth, but Moxley’s rabid offence would hit back, locking in the rear naked choke, but MJF would then counter himself and get the cross armbreaker on the hurt shoulder. MJF sold the idea that he could win by a pretty big blade job when Moxley took things to the outside, attacking with the guardrail as he has often done in his defenses, a third Paradigm Shift was shifted to a Money Clip but the arm gave out on the Gotch Piledriver, the two hammered at each other back and forth as Moxley scrapped him, even resorting to biting, MJF would return the favour after locking in a brutal-looking armbar after a vicious top rope double stomp on Moxley’s arm, biting the fingers in the process. Adrenaline proved Moxley’s fiend as his landed the Gotch Piledriver, swiftly knocking MJF down with suplexes and clotheslines, but only getting 2 because his injured arm prevented him from hooking the leg. MJF’s violent side looked to finish the champion as he used a rope-assisted facebuster but only got one, attempting the second granted Moxley the Air Raid Crash for 2, the two hit each other as they got to their feet, Moxley seeming immune of pain or caring as MJF seemed driven by blood and fury. The finish was how I predicted though, MJF’s usual last resort is the diamond ring, which would be handed to him by Wardlow as he makes a distraction. Only this time, when Wardlow threw the ring at MJF, he wasn’t ready. A brief stare ensued between Champion and Challenger as Moxley added up the numbers, MJF giving his ‘oh shit’ look as he realised in telling Moxley that the ref is distracted, he gave him an opening. A Paradigm Shift followed as Moxley then beckoned the distracted ref to count the fall, Moxley retains with a secret Silver Bullet. After the match Jake and Archer watch on with smiles as Moxley gives them the finger.  A great title match that did what it intended to do, look MJF look a million bucks. The schism between MJF and Wardlow will be the story that drives him forward until he is ready to lead the division, this also continues to sell the protection of the Paradigm Shift, through this match we are highlighted that while Moxley can win by other means he struggles without it, which can be a telling weak point in the future. For now though Moxley continues to prove himself to be a survivor, but how do you survive when Everybody Dies? Conclusion AEW All Out 2020 was not AEW’s best PPV. But it was still a very good PPV, outside of the Sydal Botch, the Hardy injury and the mixed response of the Tooth and Nail match (which really is the fault of fan demand forcing Khan’s hand, you got what you wished for and now you see why Khan was right all along) we got some great progression of storylines, great matches, and several talent got over. Will Hobbs had an impressive PPV debut making it into the final stages of the battle royale, Rosa and Shida were excellent and successfully brought the fans back into the match, Bucks, JE, Kenny, Hangman, FTR, Moxley, Archer, Kingston and MJF were all excellent in their matches too, it’s a little unfair that Hardy’s injury overshadows all that. Of course I hope he’s okay, but Wrestling comes with risk and they finished the match without having Matt take any serious bumps after.  Living in the UK the card was a bit long for me, the card shuffling did seem to upset the pace because of how abruptly the Buy In was changed again due to fan demand, I do feel like the card structure was a little off and that Tony and JR probably need to be talked about with their commentary of women. A lot of the energy got sapped out by their lack of enthusiasm. But despite what people may tell you, All Out was good. The matches were good, the wrestlers got over, the character directions all look promising and we have storyline progression which entices people to want to watch the next Dynamite Overall, 7/10 - which is also how many I got right in predictions (well 7/11)

#aew #all elite wrestling #aew all out #all elite wrestling all out #all out 2020 #aew all out 2020 #jim ross #tony schiavone #excalibur aew #kip sabian #penelope ford #allie #allie aew #brandi rhodes #joey janela #sonny kiss #serpentico #dr luther #luther #private party #Marq Quen #isaiah kassidy #dark order #alex reynolds #john silver #britt baker #dr britt baker dmd #big swole #rebel tanea #reba

[ick25]

Top 5 worst Megaman Nt Warrior episodes.

(Only the first two seasons, not counting Axess)

I’ve been reviewing the original versions of the episodes from Megaman Nt Warrior AKA the Rockman.EXE anime. My reviews are just for fun because I love to talk about the things a like, but even my favorite anime isn’t without its flaws, so I want to talk about the worst episodes from the first two seasons of Rockman.EXE and why I think they are bad.

5. Episode 13, “Burning Hot Net Battle.”

Ah yeah, the episode were Netto almost dies from over exposure. This episode is about Rockman and Fireman’s tournament battle, where Hinoken cheats by infecting the dome’s computers with viruses to power up Fireman. 

The episode actually had good animation, the battle was well executed and interesting, but the real problem was in the writing. By focusing more on the battle, there was little effort put into the rest of the story, as in, having the story make sense. They ignore the fact that they are supposed to be in a tournament where millions of people are watching the battle. We know Hinoken and Fireman are dirty cheaters and they need to use tricks in order to defeat Rockman who was kicking their ass in the beginning of the episode, but here is the thing, NOBODY IN THE TOURNAMENT REALIZED HE WAS CHEATING WHEN IT WAS OBVIOUS!

True, very few people know the identity of the WWW members, but it was so obvious that Fireman was taking advantage of the situation to power up. Everyone just thought it was some random virus infecting the solar energy computer AND the environmental shutters causing the dome to turn into a giant sauna. 

Another problem was what the tournament did in that situation, NOTHING! They had no reason to have the match continue, if the people inside were in danger the tournament would’ve been held responsible for not doing anything about it, specially if the heat is worse in the battle arena where one of the competitors, who is a minor, loses consciousness. I get it, this was to make the episode more exciting, but it doesn’t feel like it when the world around them is incompetent, it just feels unrealistic and makes children believe that adults don’t know any better. Having Rockman almost deleted by someone cheating in front of millions of people who didn’t notice that is infuriating.

4. Episode 39, “Pretty Pretty Princess.”

This episode introduces Princess Pride from Creamland. The princess disguises herself as a boy named Poipu so she can go sightseeing in Japan without having her bodyguards catch her. 

The entire episode had a low budget animation with a lot of still images and slow action scenes compared to other episodes of the season. The writing wasn’t very good either; the first half of the episode has Poipu and Netto running away from her bodyguards, the amusement park scene has Netto and his friends helping her escape without asking any questions, which feels rush and absurd.

The worst part of the episode is near the end. Yes, I’m talking about the scene where Pride and Netto finally have their Net Battle at some weird location that had a giant crank game in the background that actually works. Even though I spend an entire paragraph talking about how that giant crank game didn’t make any sense, that is not my only problem with this part. The problem is the poor execution of the battles, one of the reasons I watch the show is because I want to see Rockman fight the bad guys. Since the action in the animation was lacking, the battle wasn’t satisfying.

The fight between Rockman and Knightman was pretty decent, but once Shadowman appeared, it all went downhill. First Shadowman gets Netto out of the way by using the crank machine, and then immobilizes Rockman very easily with his giant shuriken. Not only that, but instead of fighting Knightman, Shadowman summons some Ninjy viruses to attack him. This was part of three weird episodes were Shadowman returns to try to delete Rockman, and occasionally someone new he befriends, but has someone or something else to do the job for him. Why? When Shadowman first appeared in episode 33 we see that he is an actual threat, a very dangerous Navi that if it wasn’t for the rare Battle Chips Netto sent to Rockman, who knows what might’ve happen, but the way they defeat Shadowman in this episode was very easy, he just runs away after they delete the virus with “Team work.” They could’ve done a better job with the idea of a ninja hired to eliminate the hero and failing at the end, but instead they just make Shadowman look like a coward who can’t fight.

3. Episode 52, “Secret of the house of Ayanokouji.”

Though this episode had some funny parts, it was a huge waste of time. This was never aired outside of Japan, probably because it was just filler, it got boring after a while and we don’t get to see Rockman or any action scene until the end. 

The plot was that all of the PETs were stolen by a crazy automatic vacuum cleaner, and Netto and friends chase it around Yaito’s mansion while avoiding all of the ridiculous traps that have been set there for generations. It has always been a running gag that Yaito is stupidly rich to the point that she can buy almost every crazy thing in existence to help the group in their adventures, but this episode focuses on that and nothing else, they take a simple gag and make an entire episode around it.

Yaito is not the most likable character of the show and we certainly don’t care about her family’s history suddenly having a love hate relationship with the Ijuuin family. All that comes from this episode is the introduction to one of Yaito’s maids that looks a like a child but is probably an adult since that is a classic anime trope, and she isn’t even important, she was just the butt of a bad joke that is never mentioned again in future seasons. 

Rockman only gets a few lines and a short encounter with a security program and that’s it, the action in this part was non-existing, he just knocks the program out after avoiding his attacks. Even after this, Rockman’s scene didn’t even matter because the silly maid immediately activates the mother of all stupid gags, destroying any hope I had for this episode. 

2. Episode 48, “The cybernetic monster.”

This episode is the first appearance of the Gospel beast, a cybernetic monster that has been consuming Navis all over the world in order to grow and eventually destroy the cyberworld; but it has the worst pacing I have ever seen in an anime! Nearly 15 minutes of pointless filler before the plot kicks in. If it wasn’t for the first scene where Airman is absorbed by Gospel, and the title card, I would’ve thought that the episode was about Higure and Masa competing for Mariko-sensei’s affection. Their attempts have absolutely nothing to do with the plot and not only does it happen once, but twice. Thankfully, their second attempt was edited out of the american dub.

Not only the pacing, but the animation was terrible as well, it was so bad that it made some scenes confusing, you couldn’t really tell what happened or why it happened, and the action was slow and boring.

Introducing the Gospel Beast is a big deal, and they could’ve written something better instead of wasting so much time.

Some “honorable” mentions.

Episode 41, “The good dog Rush.”

This episode was very silly, Navis turning into cats was really weird to watch in the dub, but in Japanese, it is actually funny and cute. Excluding the parts with Rush and his new ability to materialize in the real world, seeing Rockman and his friends with their original voices saying Nya all the time wasn’t that bad. I guess we are just so use to hearing Iceman with an old man voice and Rockman as a surfer dude/teen hero that the cat puns feel embarrassing and out of place. Even though I hate Rush, I can’t include this episode just because of that, it actually made me laugh in some parts.

Episode 16, “Miracle Net Navis.”

I want to point out that this episode might have a slow animation and a lot of design mistakes- like the consistent one where they color Bombman’s eyes purple- but that doesn’t automatically make it a bad episode. This is an example of how using a slow pacing or animation can make an episode work. The episode introduces Bombman and Stoneman AKA the independent Net Navis, they claim to be invincible and they demonstrate this in their tag battle against Gutsman and Woodman. The pacing in the battle was nothing special, but that contributes to the main idea. Having Bombman and Stoneman barely move in the battle not only saves money in animation, but it also demonstrates how Woodman and Gutsman’s attacks are slow and weak against them since they couldn’t move their opponents only to have the very next episode increase the speed when it was Rockman and Sharkman’s turn to fight. The superior animation of episode 17 shows that Rockman and Sharkman are stronger than Woodman and Gutsman because they actually force the independent Navis to move during their battle, creating a good contrast between the two episodes.

Episode 8, “Fireman’s revenge.”

Meiru’s character in this season wasn’t the best, especially in this episode where she was very unlikable. Fireman seeks Rockman for revenge and creates a series of high temperature incidents around the city to get his attention, but this only results in Meiru having her hair ruined which led to Netto laughing at her. Netto laughing at her wan’t nice, but Meiru is the one who went too far by deleting his homework just because of that, something that can cost him school.  Roll also has a fight with Rockman but doesn’t do anything bad to him in return.

Fireman appears to give Roll a letter so she can deliver it to Rockman, but after reading it out of curiosity, she finds out that Fireman was responsible for ruining Meiru’s hair. She tells Meiru about this and they decide to take Netto’s place to get revenge on both of them.

Meiru’s pride in this episode made her unlikable and she never even apologizes to Netto afterwards, in fact, Netto doesn’t apologize either, they just end the episode arguing again because Netto doesn’t want to admit that he was worried about her and Meiru gets mad at this.

Just because a character is unlikable in an episode, doesn’t make it a bad one, Roll and Rockman’s relationship saves it. Roll understands that Rockman got hurt because of her being somewhere she wasn’t suppose to be, so she decides to do something about it, by defeating Fireman in a very unconventional and funny way.

1. Episode 19, “Horror! The Devil Chip!”

From the very beginning this episode felt out of place. It is suppose to start from where the previous episode ended but it felt like a big chunk of the story was taken out leaving us with a lot of questions.

The last episode was “World Three secret operation” where Mahajarama disguises himself as Higure-san and gives Meiru a rare chip called the Super Great White Angel chip. The Chip turns out to be some kind of hacking device that allows Count Elect to gain control over Roll who then changes her into an evil Elec-woman looking queen. The episode ended with the evil Roll about to attack Rockman with a sword, but in this episode the sword disappears and Rockman is like a mile away from Roll just staring at her. Even the background is different, changing from a blue and green area to a purple and black one. I believe a different person directed this episode with the animation being a downgrade from the previous one. 

The art style was unpleasant in some scenes and had to be replaced with better looking ones for the american dub and the DVD releases.

The worst offender of this episode is the writing. Just like in episode 13, the tournament proved to incompetent. Midorikawa, who never shuts up, had no clue why Roll suddenly changed and sided with the opposing team, but she doesn’t even question this and acts like it was something normal! It has been established that Midorikawa can see and or hear the teams, but she ignores that Meiru and Netto have been trying to pull out a chip and log out Roll with no luck. This could’ve raised a lot of red flags, since it looks like something is wrong with Meiru’s PET, it was clear that this was out of the operator’s control, so a competent tournament would have stop the battle to investigate and prevent another lawsuit! 

Another fail is when the “Loser squad” discover that Mahajarama was impersonating Higure to plant the corrupted chip, and had proof of it, but chose not to tell the judges of the tournament for some stupid reason, because once again, children have to take matters into their own hands.

And finally, the conclusion to this plot. Higure, after being accidentally woken up by Dekao and Tohru, casually walks into the arena and talks to Meiru and Netto. He tells them about the Devil chip and whispers how to get it out, BY LITERALLY JUST USING ANOTHER CHIP!  And that is not even a surprising reveal because back in episode 14 we clearly saw that Netto’s PET ejected a chip after sending in a third one, in fact, a chip can easily be push by another one and ejected later on. That solution was so stupid that it ruins the entire episode, and that’s why I think this is the worst episode of the first season of Rockman.EXE/ Megaman NT Warrior.

#MegaMan NT Warrior #megaman battle network #Rockman.exe #anime #dub vs sub

[nadziejastar]

Even

Ansem's Report 2

It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:

-Extract the darkness from a person's heart. -Cultivate darkness in a pure heart. -Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.

The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are!

Well, the experiments primarily involved three things. It seems like Even was involved in extracting the darkness from a person’s heart. In his Data Battle, he summons an Anti-Sora after extracting enough data from you. I think that’s exactly what he did to Riku in Castle Oblivion, which is why Riku Replica is actually Anti-Riku and he became a Seeker of Darkness. The Replica Project was definitely tied to these shadow replicas. Xion was also one of these "shadow puppets" but she was obviously unique.

Dilan

Maleficent: It's not a matter of "why," but of will. In your heart, there is darkness just waiting to be awakened.

Terra: I don't know what you're talking about.

Maleficent: Perhaps not yet... But I have power over sleep. And I can awaken what's inside you... Then you will be free to be who you truly are.

It’d be a waste not to use the concept of “sleep” in some way. When someone is in a sleep state, they are more suggestible. Roxas was given his new name and purpose while he was still in a daze. It’s basically hypnosis. Both Terra and Beast had their worst fears used against them while they were in a sleep state. This was probably Dilan’s role in the experiments. He was good at finding people’s weaknesses and manipulating their hearts. If the person was in a deep enough trance, they wouldn’t even consciously remember any of the things said to them. It would just leave an impression on their subconscious.

Every time he tried to wake up, all Axel could think was how badly he wanted to go back to sleep—although he was getting enough rest. He just wished he could have a day to himself and do nothing but sleep. It was probably some remnant of his human memories.

I think it’s very possible that Lea had difficulty sleeping during the experiments simply because he was so worried all the time and afraid of what they would do to him. Maybe he was afraid of being hypnotized by Dilan.

Saïx was standing next to his bed, as irritated as one might have guessed from his voice. Axel hadn’t been so rudely awakened since before turning into a Nobody.

It’s also very possible that he was deliberately deprived of sleep as part of an experiment. Sleep deprivation is a common technique of brainwashing. It could have been used to make him more compliant.

Aeleus

Ansem's Report 4

The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.

Then there’s fighting. I’m sure that the subjects were made to fight not only Heartless, but the apprentices as well. After all, vessels can't be weak. Aeleus wasn't good at manipulating hearts. His role may have been to test and train subjects. I think this may have been how Saïx’s berserk state was originally triggered. That is his Limit Break, too. In the manga, Saïx used his berserk state to test Demyx. Like Demyx, I think Isa was thought to be not good at fighting, so they had to get him on his last legs to get him to put up a real fight. 

Axel looked away into the distance. “Something in you probably does remember what it’s like to be scared. So you think you’re feeling it now.”

Since Axel was an assassin, I am sure he was forced to fight, too. Maybe he was even forced to fight against other subjects. I'm sure if he was afraid for Isa's safety, he'd get his hands dirty.

Xehanort

Marluxia: Naminé... Erase Sora's memory.

Naminé: But if I do that...

Marluxia: That's right. Sora's heart will be destroyed.

Marluxia: You ignorant fool. If Naminé uses her powers to erase your memory, you'll be nothing but an empty shell. Your heart will no longer be able to feel or to care. Just like---Vexen's pathetic imitation of your Riku.

The darkness experiments all started with Ansem the Wise’s experiments on the heart and memory. The Chamber of Repose looks like Castle Oblivion. So, Xehanort probably tried to manipulate the memory of his subjects as a form of mind control. Maybe he tried to wipe all of their memories, to turn them into empty shells. But this would have resulted in the collapse of their hearts.

Ansem's Report 8

There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart. As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. 

This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless. This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially.

I’m convinced that a lot of the names of the days in 358/2 Days had a double meaning. One meaning refers to the present, the other refers to Axel's past with the experiments. “The Program” is a good example. 

Xemnas: Rub a few memories together, and you get a spark of emotion, a feeling. But in a digital world, memory does not work like that. Nothing is ever felt. You can hold a thousand, a million times the information, but there is still no heart with which to parse it. Once, my master, Ansem, found an old system and made a copy of its Master Control Program...and used it to serve his own ends. This is the original data of that system. Here, data can be copied. Memory can be changed and easily manipulated. Tron is a digital entity, so why would he be any different? He obeys the rules of this world.

Space Paranoids is referred to as “The Program”. Everyone was recompleted outside the entrance to that world. And in KH3D, we learn that The Grid was used by Ansem the Wise to create his datascape. I’m sure this world was supposed to be relevant in BBSV2 and the experiments. Xehanort wanted to create a heart from nothing.

Xigbar: Sora has a pretty powerful effect on her is all I'm saying.

Xemnas: Yes, it was not supposed to gain a mind of its own---nor become the person we see. But in the end, it only proves that the puppet is the more worthy vessel. The time has come. Saïx, are the devices ready?

Saïx: In a matter of days.

Xemnas: Both of them have connections to Sora, but we only need one of them under our thumb. Whether Xion takes from Roxas the rest of what he has to give...or, whether he destroys her first and takes back what is his, there is no change to our plans. No matter how, Sora's power will belong to us.

On this day, the effect that Xion and Roxas had on each other was brought up.

Beast: No... I won't believe it. He must have been lying. Belle, betray me? He said she would take everything from me. That's not possible. I trust her!

Roxas: He, who? Xaldin? It sounds like Xaldin made some kind of contact. Then he might still be somewhere in the castle...

Day 322 was also the day Xaldin made contact with the Beast, preparing him for KH2, where he couldn't trust anyone and lost control of himself. I think one of the experiments involved trying to dissolve the trust between Lea and Isa. Their bond---the effect they were having on each other---was preventing them from being made into vessels. If BBSV2 were made, I believe that Lea and Isa’s backstory would have involved Tron’s world and the premise would be similar to the Toy Story world. It was an experiment about isolating people from each other to test the strength of their bond. The void of isolation can be filled with darkness. I think that’s what was done to Isa.

Braig

“What about Axel?” Number 9, Demyx, softly mentioned the last missing member.

Luxord, number 10, answered bluntly from his low-ranking seat, “He’s apparently betrayed us.”

“…Betrayed us, hmm?” rumbled number 1—Xemnas.

“Really? Him?” Demyx practically squealed.

“He was involved in the incident at Castle Oblivion… I warned you he had a hand in the demise of Marluxia and the others, and yet someone failed to eliminate him.” Saïx, number 7, glared at Xigbar from under his hood with a sharp glint in his eyes.

“Hey, he’s the only one who’s had direct contact with the Keyblade wielder,” Xigbar replied, unruffled.

I think other than Xehanort, Braig played the biggest role in the experiments. His main role was probably psychological/emotional/verbal abuse of the subjects. This is a very important tactic in mind control. Degradation undermines a person’s sense of self. Braig was probably very integral in destroying Isa’s ability to trust. He’s very good at putting people down. In KH2, he was still trying to get Saïx to think Axel betrayed him. Saïx gave Xigbar a sharp glare. And we know how much Xigbar hated being glared at.

Braig: Oh, so this kiddo thinks he's a full-fledged Keyblade wielder? He's got the angry look down.

Aqua: Go ahead if you want to waste your time. Keep trying to drive us apart with your mind games. It'll never work!

Ventus glared at Braig when he was using mind games to break up the trust between Terra and Aqua, making them fight. Then Terra would fall to darkness. Ventus was a gentle person, but he glared at Braig with pure hatred.

Sora: Hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them--they're what ties us together even when we're apart! They're what...make me strong.

Xigbar: Duh! You're strong because of the ties you have with other people. As if the Keyblade would choose a wimp like you. But no pouting. We see much bigger and better things in your future...once you side with us.

I think Xigbar started to see Xion as Ventus because of his memories of Isa. On Day 117, he said Nobodies could never escape the things they’ve done as humans. Roxas reminded him of Ventus, obviously, and this was the first time Ventus is mentioned. Roxas's Diary entry was called "Special Nobodies". Xion was finally getting comfortable fighting separately from Roxas. Axel was clapping and praising her, then he saw her as Naminé. He seemed to remember something from the past while praising her. 

“Xion, fight fight fight~” Axel clapped, as she turned around.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing… I’m praising you, you know.”

“You’re weird,” said Xion, laughing.

Just then, Axel suddenly felt like Xion’s face had blurred, and he rubbed his eyes.

Then Xigbar taunted Saïx by praising Xion in a similar way. When Saïx said the Organization were special Nobodies in KH2, he was clapping and praising Sora. When Axel said the organization were special Nobodies on Day 95, it was about how Demyx wasn’t good at fighting, but everyone is good at different things. Isa probably wasn’t a strong fighter, but he had a strong heart. 

Xigbar, standing and watching their exchange with his arms folded, opened his mouth. “You’ve been working really well lately haven’t you, Poppet.”

“…Thank you,” Xion replied in a small voice.

“Thank you? Why do you have to say thanks?

“Well, you were praising me, weren’t you? Was I wrong?”

“Haha… Yeah, I guess you could see it like that.” He pressed his hand to his mouth and snickered.

“Did I say something funny?”

“No, no. You’re fine.”

Xion looked up at Xigbar, anxiously. Beside them, Saïx didn’t show any notable reaction. He just watched.

I think he finally felt comfortable fighting on his own because he felt inseparable from Lea after receiving encouragement and praise from him. I think that’s why on Day 96, Axel was so uncomfortable being thanked by Roxas and Xion. Then he got really sad and said they’d never be apart.

“Luxord is sweeping the worlds, but he hasn’t found him yet. And, Axel has been sent to Castle Oblivion to search for clues on the Hero and his friends,” Saïx answered, quietly. No change of expression could be seen in his face.

“Axel, Axel… you two are quite the pals, aren’t you? Wonder what you two whisper about,” Xigbar shot, jiggling his crossed leg.

“Now you’ve mentioned it, I wonder the same about you.” At Saïx’s words, the atmosphere froze over.

Xigbar started planning something with Axel and Saïx a few days after that exchange, on Day 119. During the meeting, they made a point of stating that Saïx showed no expression on his face. Xigbar didn’t like how close Axel and Saïx were, since he blamed them for half their members getting wiped out. He apparently started plotting to break up their relationship. 

“Yeah. I have no idea why you’re here either,” said Axel, with only the slightest hint of sarcasm.

Xigbar laughed like it was unbearably funny, body almost bent double. “Hahaha. So very true. It’s because I tagged along on my own selfish whim, that’s all. Guys shooting for power do make a point to listen to guys like me.”

Guys shooting for power—he means Saïx. Axel listened to Xigbar in silence. I’m sure Xigbar has noticed Saïx and my conspiracy. So, he’s trying to trick me into revealing the truth.

That’s what he seemed to be trying to do on Day 353, before Xion ran away. He wanted Axel to talk more about what he and Saïx were plotting, probably to make Saïx think that Axel couldn’t be trusted.

Xigbar stood up, laughing. “Haha!! So that’s how it is!!” Xion pulled her hood back up in a hurry. “For me to be able to see you, well, that’s something.”

What the hell does Xigbar see Xion as? And the way Xion looks to me—why do I see her like that?

“Why do you always glare at me like that?” Xigbar asked, and Xion pounced. The two of them clashed, and Xigbar hit the ground. 

And that’s probably why he saw Xion as Ventus at that exact moment. 

But, Xigbar only laughed at Saïx’s answer. “Haha! I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Is something funny?”

“Guess guys without hearts really are different,” said Xigbar, laughing.

Look at the glare Saïx gave Xigbar when he taunted him on Day 255. Then he made fun of him for having no heart. This is the first time we learn that Saïx can't see Xion. The next day, we learn from Xigbar's report that he saw Xion as Ventus. 

Xigbar: That’s RIGHT, he used to give me that same exact look.

Sora: I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!

Xigbar: Gee… I just don’t know. Be a good boy now!

I definitely think Isa also used to glare at Braig like that. Braig probably also used to call him a “good boy”, like he did when Sora glared at him. Saïx is one of the most submissive organization members, and I’m sure Isa was submissive because of his fear. Deep down, I think Braig was jealous of anyone who had a close bond, since he didn’t have any.

#kh meta #KH

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

The Murderess from the Grunewald (16): Getting Closer (2)

“Wecker” by CrizzlDizzl

Previously

Six months ago. Fourth Attorney’s Visit to Prison, one day after the previous one

         "What a messy day!" James Fraser thought as he followed a female law enforcement officer through the barren, cold corridors of the prison a few minutes past nine. It was a foggy December morning, and the cold that was pouring from Russia towards the west had kept the German capital and the entire surrounding Brandenburg region firmly under control for days.  

        Dr. jur. James Fraser was a well-organized and disciplined man. In addition to the high IQ he inherited from his father, the emotional intelligence, developed under the loving eyes and care of his mother, and his rhetorical qualities that had already become noticeable at an early age, his ability to self-discipline was an important, if not the most important foundation of his success. His daily life followed a precise plan. Every day, including Sundays, started not later than 5:30 am and ended at 11:30 pm, if possible. His days were clearly structured and two 'invisible allies', as he secretly called them, helped him to archive his goals: Tessa Lüttgenjohann, his irreplaceable secretary and his smartphone. The device with numerous apps had almost become a sort of 'second brain' for him. It counted everything: The number of hours he had slept. The number of work hours he spent on a case. The cups of coffee he drunk that particular day (still too many!). The device also managed the results of his daily blood pressure measurements and the status of his home food storage. It contained lists of his books, CDs and DVDs, but also a list of the groceries he had to buy the next time he went shopping and a list of orders he had to place on a special date. A calendar for 'work dates' (which was connected with Tessa’s calendar in the law office) kept him up-to-date with the client and court appointments, birthdays (of colleagues and other important people), anniversaries and training events on a daily basis. A second calendar app reminded him of his private dates. Although there were only a few such dates (appointments with doctors or friends, some private social obligations and the deadline for his private annual tax declaration), it was necessary to be reminded in time. Every night James Fraser knew exactly how much he had worked, how many liters of water he had drunk, which appointments were due the next day, and when he had to buy a new tube of toothpaste.                              But all this didn't stop things from falling into chaos on some days, and today was such a day.

“Sonnenuntergang Berlin” by StockSnap

         Jamie had gone to bed the night before on time and had - at first - also slept well. At some point during the night, however, he had dreamed of Claire. What he saw in this dream was an unraveling mess of images. Glances of her beautiful appearance alternated with images of her bloodied hands followed in turn by a glimpse of her radiant face. He knew that he had seen much more in his dream, but it was impossible for him to remember everything. When he woke up, he was cold and when he switched on the lamp on his bedside table, he saw that it was 4.10 am. Obviously, he had been tossing and turning during his dream because the blanket had partially slipped out of bed and only his feet were still covered. Jamie had gotten up, gone to the bathroom, and peed. Returning to the bedroom, he sat on the edge of the bed and tried to make sense of what he had seen. What if this dream was a warning message from his subconscious? What if Claire was not innocent? What if he fell in love with an icy self-serving killer like Vera Brühne? He had risen and gone down to the kitchen. There he had been greeted by a surprised and apparently equally sleepy Bismarck. Jamie had taken a bottle of water from the fridge and drank. Then he turned to Bismarck, who looked expectantly up at him and the open fridge.

         "Come on," he'd said to the dog as he closed the fridge, "we'll get us some fresh air, old friend."          Bismarck followed him willingly into the winter garden. But when Jamie opened the door to the garden and stepped out, the dachshund clearly showed his unwillingness to take a walk. It was cold - according to the season - and hoarfrost lay across the lawn. Jamie took a deep breath and stretched, then he took a few steps. The dog followed him, lifting his characteristic short legs in a manner that expressed all his indignation. After a few minutes, Jamie felt the cold too.          "Come," he said, "we'll go back in."          The dog, who had understood at once, turned around and ran inside. When Jamie followed him, he saw that a trail of dirty dachshund paws led from the winter garden to the kitchen.

         "Irfrinn!"          He knew that Mrs. Schaller would come in the morning and get rid of the filth. But he didn’t want her to eliminate the effects of his ill-considered action. So he went into the kitchen, got a scrubber out of one of the cabinets, and put one of those practical wet wipes on its wiping surface. Shortly thereafter, the dirt was removed and a few minutes later, Jamie returned to his bedroom. The alarm clock on his bedside table showed 4.30 am. It was clear to him that it was not a good idea to go to bed again. The danger of falling asleep too deeply and oversleeping was too great. But he felt limp and drained. So he set the alarm clock of his smartphone to 'extra loud' and hoped that two alarm clocks would not miss their effect. His hope should not be fulfilled.          It was Tessa Lüttgenjohann who - once again - had saved his day. Or rather, what was left of that day. When he didn’t appear in the office at 8:00 am, she had called him and the continuous ringing of the smartphone and his analog telephone had archived what two alarm clocks had failed to do. First, the look at the alarm clock had shocked him, then he had jumped out of bed and rushed under the shower. The cold water seemed like a punishment, but it had the desired effect. The good thing was, that he had at least put out his suit, a shirt, and a tie for the day the evening before. He got dressed, grabbed his briefcase, and left the house. Shortly thereafter, when he had pulled himself into the morning traffic of the city, he turned to his smartphone and dialed the number of Mr. and Mrs. Schaller. When Mrs. Schaller took the call, Jamie asked her to feed Bismarck and go for a walk with the dog.  A few minutes later, he stopped in front of a coffee shop where he bought a coffee, two sandwiches, some nut bars, and three daily papers. When he was back in the car, he took a big gulp of coffee and unpacked two of the nut bars. If he hurried, he would be still on time for his appointment at the prison. Then his eyes fell on the front page of one of the newspapers.          "Irfrinn! Irfrinn! Irfrinn!"

“News” by MichaelGaida

         "Murder in the Millionaire's Quarter" was written in large letters on one of it and below there were two large pictures showing Claire being handcuffed and brought into the police headquarters by police officers. Her whole head was defaced, but the hints found in the entry text of the article would enable even a teenager to disclose Claire's identity:

         "Berlin. Already in March, she was suspected of murdering her 15 years older husband. Now the suspicions have hardened and new evidence has been found. Dr. Claire B., who has been working in the surgery of Berlin’s international recognized University hospital Charité, was arrested a few days ago and presented to the custodial judge of the District Court. Convinced of the new evidence, judge Wilfried Mackenroth issued an arrest warrant and ordered the transfer of the suspect to the correctional facility for women in Moabit. According to the spokeswoman of the general prosecutor's office, the long-prepared bill of indictment has since been delivered to Dr. B. The general prosecutor's representative was confident that the accused would be convicted of the murder of her former husband, the well-known British historian, and professor at the history department of the Humboldt University, Dr. Frank R. The marriage of the two British nationals, who have been living in a villa in Berlin’s most prestigious quarter of the rich and famous for several years, has been shattered for quite some time as sources told our reporter .... "

         Jamie's eyes fell on the covers of the other two papers. They too had made the murder of Frank Randall the headline of the day.

         "Former successful doctor - a killer?" and "Internationally respected British historian -  Was he killed by the hands that otherwise healed?" was what he read. Under both titles, the same pictures could be found as in the first newspaper. A wave of disgust arose in him, but he forced himself to focus all his attention on the traffic. Now was the time to hold all his strength together. He could not afford more confusion today.

         The judicial officer, a woman, led the Fraser through the now well-known, bald and cool corridors of the prison. Minutes later, they were standing in front of the door of the meeting room for lawyers and their clients. As the officer stepped forward to unlock it, Jamie raised his hand.

         "Just a moment, please," he whispered.

         He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on Claire. Then he said:

         "We can go."

         The officer opened the door and locked it behind him. Claire stood at the window with her back to him. She wore the blue pants and the dark red angora sweater,  he had sent her with the clothing package some days earlier.

         "Good morning, Claire!"

         Jamie tried to smile and exude confidence. Claire turned and came to meet him. When he looked into her face, a feeling of greater concern filled his whole being. Obviously, she had hardly slept and cried a lot.

         "Good morning, Jamie," she answered softly, her voice hinting the full extent of her exhaustion.

         "Claire, are you not feeling well?"

         She did not answer immediately but pointed to the table. There was another newspaper, and on its front page the headline asked: "The deadly grip on the scalpel - last resort for a broken marriage?" Below he saw - as expected - the same pictures as seen on the front pages of the other newspapers.          Jamie hurried toward Claire, gently grabbed her by the left arm and led her the few steps to the table. There he pulled out the chair and asked her to sit down. He scarcely suppressed his inner anger. Deliberately he had left his own papers in the car because he didn’t want her to see that and still ...          "Claire, I am sorry that you are exposed to ... this slander."          He grabbed her hand and held her tight. Then he looked into her eyes.

”Fenster” by StockSnap

         "But I've already taken the first steps to make this ...," he breathed deeply, "to put an  end to this crap."          She looked at him questioningly. But before she could begin to speak, he sat down and answered:          "I have arranged a consultation with Germany's leading media lawyer. Professor Nerz teaches at the University of Hamburg and is an expert in this field. I will ask him for thorough advice and then we will develop a strategy on how we can hold this gutter press to account. "          Claire closed her eyes and Jamie could see how she kneaded her folded hands.          "Thanks," she said, "I don’t know how to thank you ... and … it will surely cost a lot of money ..."          "Claire," he interrupted gently but firmly, "you do not have to worry about that now. I came here today to discuss some very important things with you. Let’s focus on that, please."          Jamie picked up the newspaper and put it in his briefcase. Then he took out the drinks he had gotten from the vending machine in the visitor area of the prison.          "Coke or water?"          "Coke, if possible."          "Certainly."          He opened the bottle and poured the paper cup halfway.          "Thank you."          "Claire," he said as she took a sip, "as sad as it is ... yet it was clear the media would jump on this case. We are not in a small provincial village, but in the capital of the fourth largest industrial nation on the earth. However, I promise you: I will sue anyone who makes a prejudgemental statement about you in any way and anyone who even tries to stain your good name will pay dearly for it. As I said, I will consult with Professor Nerz and then ... then there is a friend of mine ... who also works in the media industry and could help us ... if ... "          "If …? If what?!"          "His name is David de Koning. He worked for one of the country's largest tabloids for many years. Then he went to Nepal for a story. You remember the massive Earthquake of 2015? Luckily, the death toll was not as high as in Haiti five years prior, but 800,000 homes collapsed and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. David flew over to report and came back ... well, let's say, quite changed... A year or so later he then set up his own news platform, The U-Turn. He tries to publish more in-depth stories and avoids sensational headlines like ... He's a very good journalist, but his company is still young ... he offered to help us if I gave him all the important information two hours earlier than other papers and ... "          "And?"          "And ... if we will, ... that is, ... if you will give him an exclusive interview."          She went pale.           "I understand that you are worried, Claire. But on the one hand, this interview would not take place until after the lawsuit is completed and, moreover, it would give you the opportunity to present your story unfiltered."

         He was silent for a moment. Then he continued:          "When I thought about David's offer, I remembered a case that was in the news several years ago. A well-known biochemist, who had built up a small but growing business in Brandenburg, had been accused of having injured her boyfriend with a knife. Supposedly she wanted to kill him because he had turned to another woman. The classic motive of jealousy. The media went all the way and suddenly there were people all over the papers who said they know her and then spread a lot of negative things and even lies about the woman. And of course, these 'witnesses' were paid well for their 'interviews'. The reputation of the scientist was destroyed in no time. At the end of the legal trial, it turned out, that the alleged victim had lied and that his injuries were inflicted by his own hands. He wanted to put the woman behind bars to get rid of her once and for all. As a result of the trial, she lost her company and, as I said, her reputation. But she had good lawyers. After she was acquitted, many newspapers had to pay her high compensations. She gave a magazine a detailed interview and then appeared on national television for one time. This put the whole thing to an end. Today she has a new expanding company in her new hometown."          Claire had listened attentively. She put her hands over her face and took a deep breath. Then she looked at Jamie and asked:          "Do ... you trust this ... David ... de Koning?"          "Yes, I've known him for almost ten years now and he's never disappointed me to this day."          "Good," she said, "then I rely on your judgment."          "That means we're working with him?"          She hesitated for a moment, but then said firmly:          "Yes. Even if it seems almost hopeless, but if I have a chance to tell what really happened ... Yes, you can figure out an agreement with him."          Jamie smiled. This first big hurdle was done. Now he had to talk to her about the diaries.            "Then there's something else, Claire. I was at your house to see if everything is all right. Adso is fine. He is fed regularly and is well."          "Oh, that's good news! Please greet Mrs. Fritz and tell her how grateful I am to her."          "For sure."          Jamie nodded and bit back a big grin. At the same time, he was pleased that the news of Adso made Claire smiling again for the first time on that day. He decided to mention him more often.          "When I was in your apartment, I noticed that there is a room in the attic. I went upstairs and saw that everything is still fine. The room was not searched by the police. I looked around a bit ... "          Claire stared at him, feeling her blood pressure rise. What had he found in her private affairs that he urgently needed to discuss with her?

”The Traveler’s Notebook” by AnnaBetlejewska

         "I've noticed that there are a number of yearbooks on your desk and I ... am I right if I assume that these are your diaries?"          "Yes," she answered softly.          "I have not looked into any of the books, Claire. I would never do that. You are my client and I want to protect your privacy. However, we can't be sure that the police will not search your house again. I would, therefore, like to take these diaries and also your laptop and give it to a person I trust. For safekeeping."          "Why don’t you keep these things with you, Jamie?"          "I think it's safer to keep them somewhere else. While there are high legal hurdles to search a law firm or the private house of a lawyer, you never know ... "          "And where would you keep my books?"

         "I would put all into a box and seal the package. Then I would hand it over to my secretary, Tessa Lüttgenjohann, for safekeeping. She is very reliable. I can assure you, she will not touch the package. Your things are in good hands with her."       One more time she put her hands over her face and took a deep breath. Then she said:

         "Seems I have no other choice."          "So may I do it as proposed?"          "Yes."          "Is there anything else you want me to keep safe?"          "No, nothing I can think of right now."          "Fine, then we would have discussed that as well."          "Thank you for taking care of ... all this."          "Of course. Is there anything else I can do? Do you have any problems in prison?"          "No, I'm just very exhausted."          "I understand. We have discussed everything for today. I will try to come back as soon as possible."          Jamie had risen and shaken her hand.          "Goodbye, Claire."          "Goodbye, Jamie."          He had already turned to the door and was about to press the button that would inform the officer that the meeting had ended and she had to open the door. But then he remembered something else.          "Oh, just one more question!"          Claire, who was standing in front of the prisoner's door on the other side of the room and was about to push the button, turned around once more.          "Yes, Jamie?"          "Tell me, were Joe and Gail Abernathy allowed to visit you?"          Claire's face darkened and Jamie sensed that the subject touched something very painful inside of Claire's soul.

“Saal” by stux

         "Yes, ... yes, they came for a visit. The judge allowed them to visit me for 30 minutes. 30 minutes!"          "Claire, that's the usual duration. Longer …"          "We had to meet in this big hall where there is no privacy at all."          Her voice had begun to tremble again. Then he saw that tears were running down her cheeks again and with a few big steps he was at her side.           "Claire, what happened?"          "Ach, nothing," she protested. But he did not give in.          "Please tell me what happened."          A new stream of tears ran down her cheeks and she began to sob. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief which he handed her.          She wiped her face and blew her nose.          "Thank you," she said in a tear-stained voice. Once again he asked:          "Please, tell me what happened!"          "Oh, really nothing. Joe and Gail ... they ... they wanted to hug me, but they were not allowed to. I ... I know that's not allowed, but ... ah! Everything is taken away, that could give you at least a little strength! "          He looked into her crying eyes and wanted to kiss her on the spot.          "Claire," he said softly, "it's against all the rules of an attorney-client relationship. But ... if I can leave you with some strength, then ... then I would like to hug you ... now."          She looked at him in astonishment, but then a smile appeared on her face.          "That ... that ... you would do ...?"          He nodded and smiled as well.          "If I'm allowed?"  

         "Yes. Yes of course," she whispered.          Before she could add more, he had already wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight.          "I promise you that I ... that we ... our law office ... will do everything to get you out of here. And anyone who pollutes your name will pay for it. Trust me."          She raised her head and looked at him.          "I trust you, Jamie."          He pulled her back to him and rested her head against his chest. It seemed the most natural thing in the world, for she had slipped into his embrace without any resistance. Then he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her hair. He felt how the warmth of her body began to warm his own as well and it took tremendous strength not to let his hands caress her entire body. How would it feel to brush with his hands through the dark curls of her hair? How would it feel to kiss the full lips of her tender mouth? How would it be to make love and become completely one with her? Before he knew it, Jamie felt an unwanted physical reaction. He pulled his right leg tight against the left and then slowly pulled away from her.          "Claire, I have to go now, yet I'll be back as soon as possible. This can take a few days. But in the meantime, I will be working on a strategy for your trial."

         Once again, he pulled her briefly to himself.          "See you then, Claire. Try to calm down a bit. I know that's not easy. But you will need all your strength for the coming trial."          She looked at him and nodded. Then she slowly broke away from him.          "Thank you. Thank you for everything."          He smiled again, then turned to leave.

Thank you for reading. If you have questions, just sent me a DM or put it in the comments. You are very welcome :) - Next time, read: “Secret Whitsun Holidays on Rügen (7): Sharing Joy and Sorrow (5)”

#Outlander #Outlander Fan Fiction #TheMurderessoftheGrunewald #Crime AU #Canon Divergent AU #Claire Fraser #Claire Beauchamp #Claire Randall #Frank Randall #Jamie Fraser #Adso the cat #Bismarck the dachshund #Berlin #German #TheFrasersinPrussia #Grunewald

[sparda3g]

My Hero Academia Chapter 232 Review

It appears the climax is on the horizon. Actually, the magazine spilled the bean on the news, so the ending is near. But the arc must showcase the power of the main boss that is Redestro, now with Twice closing in to save his precious friend, Giran. Can Twice win? Well, this is hype time, so no, he won’t. But this chapter offered more than demonstration with the clarification on the Meta Liberation Army’s purpose and the big boss fight is fast approaching.

One thing I should comment about Twice. Despite the last chapter more or less wasted on the reactions on his doubles going extreme, he does bring some energy to this arc with plentiful dialogues of non-sense, but in a good way. I dare to say he’s carrying this arc as much as Jim Carrey in Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Granted, it’s not out, but first impression wise, it would seem to be. Moving on.

Twice explains even further about his multiply goes faster when the original does the creation. Good to know, I suppose. It makes up for his clones to be represented by the League, including Shigaraki the Leader. Again, Twice does make it lively with his interactions and absurd lines. Yeah, it kills panel spaces, but in this case, it’s amusing. It’s not going to be easy, because now it’s the time for Redestro to show off his real power.

At first, Twice clone tried to save Giran, but got smacked away to oblivion. It’s a good thing it was a clone, or else, it would have been a bloody mess. The second time they tried, they did it with Compress and Dabi, only now we get to see Redestro’s quirk. Actually, I can’t say as it wasn’t announced, but we could assume it’s gigantic. His arm grows large and smack all of them away. Well gee, I wonder who he will face as well. It’s not like the League has a giant to show up one day. Okay, I’ll be nice; I’ll wait and see, because it’s not established what his quirk is. I wonder why his sleeve remains intact though. But hey, at least it will be flashy with taijutsu combat and gigantic size battle.

I find the reunion a bit charming since it’s with Twice and Giran. Poor guy has to realize that his best friend’s fingers are really cut off. Redestro now find Twice unacceptable to their cause; now willing to kill him. Well, that hardly went anywhere. I know Twice will stay with the League no matter what, but it could have enlightened better. Anyway, Shigaraki Clone is around to fight the main boss, but not without a backstory to boot.

In midst of fighting, Redestro suddenly talks about a mother that gave birth to a baby with meta ability. Despite a random segue timing to exploit a backstory, though I guess talking about a dream was a heads-up, I thought it was good.  You don’t see any vision of the backstory aside from a woman and a baby, so you could only draw the images in your head. Long story short, it was a dark time with people hating on meta abilities, so they took it on them, with words that echoed, “This is just a quirk of my child.” She was killed and the baby was abused with no freedom. It changed when they established the system for the use of quirk due to the rise of heroism. The problem is, it’s still not balance as it only restrict to those without permission, hence heroes under law.

The twist behind the story is, Destro was that child that was abused by the hateful society. It’s kind of odd because in hindsight, why not have him as the main villain here rather than his son, who was once hidden until now. Like the Doctor said, who knew he had one; certainly until the plot demands it. Basically, the son is carrying the torch and keep the world reminded of the legacy. Who said a child isn’t born evil? His agenda is to incite rebellion against the state; to pursue true freedom. It makes sense to me, based on his introduction. Yes, it is dirty work, but whatever it takes. There’s just one problem: this should have been an arc with a hero.

This concept of rebelling against the system could have been pretty interesting, but what good it will do if it’s with another villain? It doesn’t help that this Shigaraki is a clone; not like he will give a crap about it. This is like revealing the big secret in Attack on Titan to someone who knows already; why should that be effective? If it was a hero, or Deku to be exact, this could have challenge the foundation of free will and use of quirk. I mean Deku did a heroic stuff back in chapter 1, no license and such, so it could have worked. What’s there to carry forward if it’s a villain versus a villain? I understand why Redestro is taking on the League, but perhaps it would have been better if it was a three-way battle. Maybe the idea is to eliminate Redestro before the next arc, which would be disappointing for an interesting concept to be wasted like this.

The other problem or maybe the reason for this arc to flow this way, is that the backstory isn’t really demanding a deep insight on the system and morale. I know it dropped a mention on the government, but I doubt Kohei is going to go deep into it. Unlike in Naruto with Itachi’s big reveal or Pain’s motivation, it’s simply just a guy who carried the family’s legacy of righteous moral on freedom, but society remains unfair and cruel, so they respond with violence. Maybe due to lack of depth world building, this arc was designed as a one-off thing for the Army; care more on the League’s development. If so, that’s pretty disappointing. I still have my fingers crossed to be wrong, but I got a feeling I’m being optimistic.

The cliffhanger is intriguing, though I can see the arc concluding very soon. The real Shigaraki decays the tower, though why the guys weren’t affected, and bring it down to the ground. That’s a nice shortcut to reach to your main boss. I do like the last page with the two leaders in their most detailed artwork yet. I doubt the main fight begins or at least fully focus on them; we have other battles to worry about for now.

Overall, I enjoyed this chapter. It’s not clear on what Redestro’s quirk is; we can only assume it’s gigantic based. The backstory was good, which means the end is near. I may have problems with the idea that seems more appropriate to have heroes involved, but I’ll enjoy the ride and think over the execution when it ends. At least the artwork has been pretty solid. My Villain Academia is entering the climax with the two leaders meeting face-to-face. I don’t think we will skip other battles, but we can expect more words exchange. Will the legacy carry on, or fall and decay to oblivion?

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #chapter 232 #review #spoilers

[deepdisireslonging]

Family Found Part 40: Sorta Forgiven

Dean confronts the Reader about being denied opportunities and hears her reasons. Matches are focused on who will enter their prospective chamber matches last, thus having the best opportunity to win heading towards Sunday.

Warnings/Promises: wrestling violence, angst into family fluff

Word Count: 2370

Note: Only 10 chapters to go after this!

Part 1: Welcome to the Team

Part 39: Misplaced Second Chances

Monday Night Raw – February 11, 2019

The five women of the championship elimination match stood in a circle in the ring. They were all ready to go, ready to fight, ready to find out which one of them would enter last on Sunday. Ruby Riott was nowhere to be seen, but she didn’t need to be. Because she had beaten Ember, she would be starting the match. Whoever would be pinned tonight would join her in opening the chamber match.

Alicia Fox darted one way towards Natalya, then snapped the other way to Mickie James. Nikki Cross copied her movements from her position between Nia Jax and Natalya. Mickie James took a step towards Alicia and one away from Nia. Four of the women shared a nod. Then they attacked Nia as one. She was the most imminent threat. They succeeded in forcing her through the ropes, then turned on each other.

Natalya was the one who had the best upper hand. Her head kept on a swivel. Some of the fighting continued outside of the ring, but Nikki screeched, and jump attacked her. Natalya had just succeeded throwing her off when Nia re-entered the ring. The immovable force succeeded in pinning her, taking the last entry spot. Natalya would start the match. She groaned from the canvas at the thought of having to face off with Ruby right off the bat.

***

“Hey, Ladybug.” Dean waltzed into the conversation you were having with a crew member with a tight grin. Seth showed up at his shoulder a second later.

You nodded, dismissing the crewman. “You only call me that when I’m being brilliant… or when I’m in a lot of trouble. Which is it this time?” Struggling to hold a light smile, you crossed your arms.

Seth spoke up. “Y/N, have you been keeping opportunities from us?”

“No…” You trailed off as they glared at you. “Okay, yes. I didn’t want people thinking I was giving you guys special treatment.”

Both of them rolled their eyes and scoffed. Dean tested the tape around his wrist. “You know that’s a weak excuse. I would be okay with that, but you don’t seem to see yourself in the wrong for any of it. This has been going on for weeks, Y/N. If not months.”

“What was I supposed to do?” The fabric of your sleeves did little to brace against the sharpness of your nails digging into your arms. “The McMahons have been watching my every move. I was afraid that if I gave you what I wanted to give you… it would make you a target. Both of you. All three of you when Roman was here,” you added softly. “Was it wrong? Probably. But it was what I had to do.”

Dean sighed and placed his hands on your shoulders. He pursed his lips, and you knew he was trying to look like a character from the old black and white movies you used to watch. One that usually was rough and tough on the outside but was all marshmallow on the inside. You had to hold back a giggle, even as he shook himself out of the pose. “It’s… well, it’s not okay. But last week you mentioned that you were going to try to have something for us this week.”

Adjusting the title on his shoulder, Seth eagerly looked to you asking, “any luck?”

You had to smile now. They weren’t as mad at you as they could have been. You’d have to be more careful in the future, but for now… “Maybe. Dean, have you ever fought Kalisto before? He wanted to try for the Intercontinental championship too. Is a match with him tonight okay? For the last spot in the Intercontinental elimination chamber?”

He beamed. “Hell, yeah, it is.”

“And, Seth, we have to figure out who’s going to enter last on Sunday. How would you like to compete for entering last in your own elimination match?”

Seth circled around to your other shoulder from Dean. He patted you on the back. “You’re an angel, Y/N.”

Under his breath, Dean muttered, “debatable.” He flinched as you play-punched his shoulder.

“Hey, we’ve got to figure out that spot for your chamber match too. Will having two matches tonight make up for not having one tonight? Assuming you beat Kalisto.”

He chuckled. “You know, normal people don’t usually like having two matches in one night.”

You and Seth both had a remark for that. “Since when are you normal?” “Normal? Has that ever described you?” Seth bumped your shoulder and laughed with you.

Dean laughed too. “Touché. Sure. You’re sorta forgiven.”

“I’ll send Kalisto to the ring, then. He’ll meet you there.” You shot Dean a smile as he left. Before Seth could follow him, you caught his arm. “Do you think he will forgive me? Do you? I’m trying, I promise, but everything keeps snowballing-“

“Y/N,” he said, cutting you off. “I know we are terrible at doing it ourselves, but talk to us. This business… it has a way of making secrets seem like the best route for things. Don’t buy into it. Trust me. It will never be worth it.” He titled his head to look into your eyes where they were watching the floor. “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”

The moment of hesitation was already passing when you shook your head. “No. Everything else is fine.”

Seth bobbed his head. “Okay. Then… thanks for the match. I’ll make sure to give ‘em a show.”

Then he was gone. You’d had your chance, but you still couldn’t tell him.

***

Renee was excited for Dean’s match. “I was wondering when he was going to get this opportunity. He beat Baron right after the Rumble, but Baron got a match first!”

“Yeah, and had his job on the line at the same time.” Corey grumbled, “none of this is fair to Baron, to… Dean, or even to Kalisto. If he beats Dean tonight, he’ll have to fight later too. With the way Dean fights, Kalisto can go ahead and plan to start the match on Sunday.”

Both of the men in the ring knew what was at stake. Not just their attendance in the elimination match, but their placement too. Even with this, neither held back. Dean did take several moments to appreciate his opponent’s athletic abilities, once he had stepped out of the way. And Kalisto encouraged ‘Ambrose’ chants, combining it with the motions from the ‘Lucha’ posing. Momentary distractions, doubling as breathing time they both needed. Kalisto went high for a jump. When he came down, Dean was ready with a knee to his face and a Dirty Deeds. After Dean won the pin, they shook hands and promised to try and fight each other again soon.

But first, Dean had to get ready for the second part of his opportunity.

***

Taking the ring next, Heavy Machinery received the welcome of the crowd from each side. Then Otis Dozovic took a mic and began their demand. “In NXT, if we wanted an opportunity, we asked for one. And we used it. Last week we demanded a match. And we won it. This week, we intend to do the same thing. But Heavy Machinery is not going to wait through another challenge before going through the big ones, oh no.” He chuckled. “We want AOP, old buddies, old pals. And we want you to put your titles on the line.” Tucker Knight was patting him on the back in agreement when the champions’ music hit.

Akam and Rezar walked out onto the stage, but no further. They waited. An erie laugh and a flicker of lights later, Dr. M stood in the ring in front of Dozovic and Knight. They jumped back, making Dr. M chuckle.

“No need to react so, old friends. I don’t have the plague. And you… you do not have a deal.” He paced back and forth. “You don’t know how procedure works around here. Title matches do not just roll around the corners at your beck and call. They must be earned. Must be deserved.” Dr. M traced his thumb across his bottom lip. “But we’ve seen you.” He motioned back to his newer prodigies. “And they have informed me as to your talents. You are to be praised!” As he outstretched his arms, the men flinched back again. “And you are to be tested, one more little step.”

The Authors of Pain began to walk down the ramp. Dozovic and Knight stanced-up for an attack.

Dr. M continued. “One last match before you can reach for the tag titles of Monday Night Raw. A number one contender’s match. Are we agreed?” He reached out his hand, waiting for one of them to shake it. Knight hesitantly took it and firmly sealed the deal. Dr. M giggled and moved out of the ring.

He watched from ringside, not saying a word. Akam and Rezar were not themselves. They stumbled around the ring. Bounced off of their challengers. And fell into moves that could have been easily avoided. Knight won the pin on Akam. The tag champions rolled out of the ring, holding the sides of their heads. Their new leader joined them on the ramp.

Giving Heavy Machinery a small wave, Dr. M smiled. “See you both on Sunday.”

“Why does this feel like a trap?” Dozovic asked. Knight frowned and shrugged. He couldn’t shake the feeling either.

***

The Riott Squad had demolished a local team last week. And Bayley. And Sasha. They were hungry for more destruction. They set their eyes on Alicia Fox and Alexa Bliss, ignoring how Alicia had already been in a match earlier.

“It seems to be a common problem,” Ruby said during their pre-match interview in front of a colored screen. “The women of Raw can’t figure out if they want to go after the women’s title, or for the women’s tag titles. Singles or tag teams?” They all giggled. “Can’t put to much emphasis on it. The guys flip-flop for title chances too. We’re not worried. Tonight, we’ll do our jobs. On Sunday Sarah and Liv will crush Bayley and Banks. And I’ll become number one contender for the women’s title. And I’ll win that too with my teammates by my side. Then we’ll really be the golden team.”

Ruby paced along the outside of the ring while Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan did good on their threats. Alexa couldn’t reach Alicia for a tag. Not that Alicia had any energy to offer. It looked like they were going to be finished in a minute. Then Alicia was dragged off the apron. Liv twisted around and saw clearly Sarah and Ruby on the other side of the ring. Turning back, she saw Sasha and Bayley attacking her next target, retaliating for last week. She screeched as the referee called for the disqualification.

Bayley gave Alicia an apologetic pat to the top of her head. They left together, their smug smiles promising that, come Sunday, the fight was not going to be so cut-and-dry as the Riott Squad thought.

***

Each member of Sunday’s Universal championship elimination match made their way down to the ring. EC3 entered first, strutting and posing all the way down. Then Bobby Roode, in his glorious fashion. And Jinder Mahal, who sent the Singh brothers backstage, assuring them he wouldn’t need their assistance. All three men shuddered when Braun entered. The whole crowd went ballistic with Finn Balor’s entrance, making him the obvious favorite. And, true to your promise, Seth entered as the last spot.

“The man has held the title for fifty-seven days now. Why would he jeopardize such a reign by inserting himself into the match on Sunday?”

“Because this is Monday Night Rollins!” Renee said. “And be careful. We all know The Man is technically on Smackdown.”

With the ring of the bell, the six men paired up against one another. The momentary tags formed and broke apart ‘faster than amoebas,’ to use Michael Cole’s words, which earned an ‘ew’ from Renee and Corey alike. When it came down to the end of the match, four of the competitors were trying to knock Braun to the outside. He tossed them all off with a roar, sending them rolling under the ropes, or flying through them. Seth jumped from a ring post with his attack, but he was caught mid-air. Braun slammed him down for the pin.

Not only had Braun ensured his entry as the last one, but he had kicked Seth to open the match too.

***

Drew McIntyre had plenty to say about Seth being in the match. “As champion, he’s supposed to start the match anyway.” He leaned back in the commentary chair, trying to stretch out in the small space. “I don’t need to waste my time being in the match tonight. I’m a true champion. I’m going to do on Sunday what a real champion would do: defend my title from the start.”

Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, and Zack Ryder entered the arena for the match. Dolph gave Drew a wave on his way in. So did Dean. Neither was well received. Nobody was willing to team up as in the last match. Apollo and Dean did work towards the common goal of beating Baron to the ground, but when Ryder tried to swing in to help, Dolph crashed through all of them in his haste to continue holding Ryder’s attention.

The final entry came down to the last second. Dolph was half a moment away from being dropped in a Dirty Deeds. He circled out, bouncing off the ropes and took Dean down with a Zig-Zag. At the count of two, he was dragged out of the ring by Baron, then tossed into the stairs. Dean tried to stagger to his feet. He blinked away the blurriness at the edge of his vision just in time to see Baron incoming. Not in time to avoid the End of Days. He was pinned. Baron rushed to the corner nearest to commentary and pointed at Drew.

The Scottish Psychopath stood, re-hefting his title on his shoulder. And pointed back.

Part 41: Fall Short (Elimination Chamber)

Series Masterlist 

Masterlist 

Forever Tags: @blondekel77 @hallemichelles @laochbaineann @ramblingsofabourbondrinker @savmontreal @southsidebucky @tinyelfperson @zuni21798

WWE/Series Tags: @a-home-for-stray-stories @kingslayers-queen @top-1-percent @mother-forker @neversatisfiedgirl @racheo91 @roman-reigns-princess @secretagentfangirl @thetherianthropydaily @scuzmunkie @likeisaidwhatever @cait-kae @ramsaypants @sony-undead18 @brianaraydean @st4yingstrong @dopeybubbles @crystallizeme @jessica91073 @denise8691 @stalelight @kenyadakblalock @1dluver13xx @lauren-novak @lunatic-desert-child @littledeadrottinghood @livelifewondering 

#Family Found Series #cousin!dean ambrose #cousin!reader #cousin Ambrose storyline #general manager!reader #original wwe series #40/50 #10 more chapters to go #dean ambrose #seth rollins #riott squad #nia jax #natalya hart #sasha banks #bayley wwe #Braun Strowman #drew mcintyre #baron corbin #dolph ziggler

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

I was wondering Thoughts on Sakamoto and Kitagawa?

Under the cut cause it got a bit long

Ryuji: Really good in the first dungeon and CoOp. A bit of a loudmouth but has great values imo (kinda gets screwed in his CoOp, why is the MC letting him get beat up???? Why do his stupid teammates still feel the need to beat him up???Like what the hell????).

After that.....I get really sour (also I hate his anime adaptation, really fudged up his characterization in the 1st dungeon, he is NOT lecherous towards Anne or any girl during that dungeon, in fact he is downright HORRIFIED of everything in that dungeon). I really love his dedication to the MC (like as a friend he’s just such a great bro), but...well....I like how he was willing to almost get hit by a car to save Makoto (he was annoyed but considering the stupid stuff she was doing it was understandable).....and I’d say I liked how he was willing to help Anne with her “stalker” problem but....he just seemed like he almost didn’t want to be bothered in that scene despite her fears (and knowing what she just went through).....his carefree attitude in that scene left a bad taste in my mouth, esp when he even questions her after looking at Yusuke (who cares what he looks like, he’s been following her for like what? a week? of course only the MC knows this if you talk to her but like she has every right to be worried and he just is so ‘whatever’ with the situation, like he still has her back but his attitude felt like such a 180 slap in the fact just following the first dungeon, and nothing Anne did warranted that annoyance). 

He gets screwed by the writing a lot, like he’s the butt of a joke he doesn’t deserve, or gets beat up for no reason and that’s just.....bad. But he also does some not so great things with the girls, which makes it extra worse considering this is post-dungeon 1..... I like the guy but....I really do question some of Atlus’ writing with him. ;w; Ryuji’s writing deserved better

Yusuke: I hate him. Probably my 3rd most hated (Goro’s right behind him), probably cause, unlike Goro, Yusuke provides absolutely nothing with his skill. Plus I hate his super blunt attitude, just cause “he’s just blunt” doesn’t mean he can be an asshole. I especially hate it when he uses it with his friends. But back to Yusuke being useless (and tbh I actually kinda feel bad Atlus just....forgot about him it feels like). He’s one of the worst tiers in terms of gameplay (he might be better than Goro), and I mean not endgame gameplay (cause by that point everyone is OP and a team structure shouldn’t matter). He’s out damaged by Anne and Ryuji (or even Haru), he has no buff for Ice, Ice isn’t as common as Frei/Fire/Thunder, just cause he has a strength stat doesn’t cover Ryu’s power charge+swift strike/bad beat/other abilities (this is stuff that’s been tested by the gameplay meta scene I’m just the messenger). His agility boost isn’t nearly as good as a defense/attack boost or defense/attack debuff (because att/def is ALWAYS 50% increase/decrease, while the agility it’s only a 50% CHANCE of helping with crits....so it’s not even guaranteed). Plus Mona is a better crit player than Yusuke and he also has healing. Anne/Makoto synergize well with Makoto’s defense buff and Anne’s attack debuff, and Anne/Ryuji(or Haru) just deal more damage. 

That’s just gameplay, what about Yusuke’s actually artist skills? How does that help the PT (I know skill cards, but that’s gameplay, I mean story, and it’s not like they couldn’t do something else with the skill cards I mean P3P/4G didn’t have an artist and they did just fine)? That’s right, it doesn’t. The only time it helps is that one specific puzzle with telling which is the real Sayuri, which is just process of elimination and you have to fight if you get it wrong so it doesn’t matter. He did the thief logo? Well thanks I hate it, sure it’s stylish but Ryuji’s matched better with the cheesy PT genre more (and gdi what do you hate what makes the PT genre good Atlus? ;w; Ryuji’s logo is really the only thing PT in this game I swear). But despite how I feel about the design, it doesn’t do anything useful. Oh but the Shido ship thing right? His big moment? Yeah no still doesn’t do anything, actually he opens his big fat dumb mouth and says another assholery thing, and they get mad at us and fight iirc. His art didn’t stop us from having to fight the mini boss, he just prolonged us getting to that fight (actually on Anne and Haru got their letters from their mini bosses without having to fight them, I mean we were still forced to fight cause P5 sucks like that, but they are the only ones on the team who got their letters using their special skills aka femme fatal and business relations/financial back person (even tho she didn’t back them financially missed opportunity) whatever thing. basically that ‘shining moment’ of his isn’t so shining when he couldn’t even avoid a fight....and there’s really no reason to fight them....it leaves no impact! sorry I have an issue with that part of the dungeon).

I know some people will say he’s (one of) the “level headed” character of the group, but it wasn’t like Anne or Ryuji were going off the rails..... esp in dungeon 2 (I mean I do love how all of them worked together), and it’s not like Mona isn’t there. Tbh I think he could’ve been, I think if Makoto never came along he could’ve been that character, and I think he did a much better job esp since we actually were all utilizing our teammates in dungeon 2. But in the end that didn’t happen....and thus he doesn’t really provide that to the table. 

I also don’t like how he blackmailed the team. Well no, mostly the contents of his blackmail (btw I dislike all the characters who blackmailed the team inb4 someone says “what about” yes yes I dislike them too ok?) Like listen. MC/Ryu were not trespassing until he revoked his invitation to them (aka after he said to never come back there again and Ryuji said “nah we’re coming back” and Yusuke was about to call the police....Yusuke has every right under the law, at THAT moment those two boys were trespassing). The SECOND (ironically it look almost a second for him to switch too) he said he wouldn’t do it as long as Anne nude modeled for him....that’s when it blackmail/extortion and he lost the high ground (and while it led to the funniest scene in the game, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Atlus has him 1) stalk Anne and then 2) rope her into his blackmail to get her to nude model for him after the events of dungeon 1). And I know, “Yusuke didn’t know about their record” blah blah, who cares? No one wants the police called on them to begin with. (sorry just a weird counter argument I’ve seen and that annoys me)

I also hate his CoOp, I know what they were going for at the end but like....he had the perfect deal.... “I don’t want to have my work be tainted by money but I need money to live.” and then the deal is like “we’ll give you money regardless, we just want you to live so you can make art but really no pressure it’s all in good faith” and it’s like/????? so perfect???? And he says no????? The boy is gonna starve to death I’m not joking (also I really hate those jokes, more than the Protein and meat ones from P3/4....they are worse imo). I also just don’t care about his relationship with Madarame, it might be because I blame Yusuke for derailing Madarame as a villain. I found Madarame more interesting when it was just about his ideology and exploiting people, but as soon as he was like “I let your mom die Yusuke” it felt like it became all about that and....yeah....

And ok, I know I just shit all over Yusuke for like 5 paragraphs (btw this is just my opinion/personal thoughts on the guy, I’m not the word of god and you can still like him, I’m just being honest with how I feel), but tbh...the game did him dirty too. Gameplay wise, screentime wise. Just everything. I’m sorry Yusuke fans the game did you and your boy dirty. Yusuke deserved better. 

[demalore]

Snake Eyes

A fanfic (i guess?) about Greek Mythology

Apollo, God of the Arts, Master of Muses, Charioteer of the Sun Itself, was helplessly into hentai.

“It's an art form!” he argued internally against the shaming voice in his head. The other gods would never let him live this one down if they found out. Not even Poseidon, although, let's be real, he had to be into some shit.

Apollo was determined, as most gods are, to see his unspeakable desires fulfilled, by any means necessary. Consulting a fellow deity was out of the question, and he didn’t know a single mortal who could keep their mouth shut. But there was one individual Apollo knew who was so wretched, so despised, and so introverted, that she couldn’t spread even the juiciest Olympian gossip. Too bad she wasn't very happy to see him.

“Haven't you dickheads humiliated me enough?” Medusa snarled at Apollo’s reflection in her full-length mirror. She had a nice collection of mirrors at this point--mementos from would-be vanquishers--and had nothing better to do with them. Despite her damnation, Medusa was far from ugly. She could no longer count her hair or eyes among her more attractive features, but should one avoid her hypnotic stare, they would be transfixed nonetheless by her kingly cheekbones and chiseled jaw. Her arms were toned nicely after centuries of battling Greece’s finest warriors and, afterwards, lugging their remains out of her cave. Even her snakes’ scales shimmered, coils of rainbows spilling over her shoulders.

A few of her snakes turned to face Apollo while he made his proposition. Medusa kept her back to him, refusing to grant him any more of her attention than necessary. When he had finished explaining herself, she answered, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I kid not, fair Medusa,” Apollo crooned. His eggshell tunic dripped from his chiseled body, held up by a sun-shaped brooch and a stupid amount of god-magic. “On this fair day, your beauty been found worthy in the eyes of Olympus.”

Medusa tilted her mirror to look at the intruder’s face, but she could only see half of it clearly. Something black and reflective was covering Apollo’s eyes. “There's some...device, on your head.”

Apollo whipped the pair of sunglasses off. A second pair immediately materialized in its place. “Gotta have shades, when your other ride’s the sun. And you didn't think I’d come without protection, did you, ‘Dusey?””

Electricity darted between Medusa’s narrowed eyes. “Call me ‘’Dusey’ again,” she muttered, turning to Apollo, stepping over her throne of skeletal remains, “and I'll smite those ‘shades' from your hideous upturned nose!”

Apollo's nose rose a bit higher. “Please, love. Those pretty peepers of yours wouldn't give me anything worse than a headache. Me being a god, and all that. There's only one part of me that you can make hard.” Without warning, Apollo thrust himself at his target, eliminating any confusion as to which part he referred to.

Medusa’s grimace was nearly as deadly as her gaze. She had weathered swords, axes, and bare fists; all were more pleasant than Apollo’s insatiable groin against hers. His hands were on her left shoulder and right buttock before she could pull away. Apollo’s trouser snake squirmed unpleasantly underneath his tunic. Medusa couldn’t shake off his grip, but luckily, she had a trouser snake of her own.

Apollo’s ‘yipe!’ of pain was most unbefitting a god. A mirthless smile crept up onto Medusa’s translucent cheeks. Apollo whined as she leaned forward, claws pressing into his chest. Medusa cocked her head and fiddled with the edge of his sunglasses. With a flick of her finger, she sent the glasses to the cave floor, and relished the fear in Apollo’s eyes. The taste in her snake’s mouth was horrid, but it was well worth it.

“Is something the matter, ‘Paul?” Medusa asked in her husky, slithering voice. “Or did you need more protection after all?”

Apollo returned to Olympus like a beaten puppy, his usually fashionably-loose robes tied tightly about his waist. He almost envied Prometheus. Even he was never without his manhood.

It would take mere days for Apollo’s godflesh to heal, but his pride wasn't so quickly repaired. Back in his bachelor pad, he raised a silver chalice to his lips, collected his thoughts, then whispered into the vessel:

Medusa the Gorgon, no man will dare wed, else he meet his untimely end.

Sure, it didn’t really rhyme, but he was impatient. And he was fucking Apollo, so who could even judge his poetry?

The silver chalice reverberated, and Apollo’s prophecy traveled down to the twine tethered at its bottom. The twine led far from Olympus, traveling through sunlight and dust motes, to the residence of Apollo’s Muses. An identical chalice rang until a Muse picked it up to receive the new prophecy.

Important prophecies had to be delivered by proper gods, but Apollo outsourced his more personal tasks to the Muses. He couldn’t be expected to hand-deliver every bit of artistic inspiration, he was a busy guy! So long as the Muse delivered the prophecy to a proper Oracle, it would be fulfilled, and Medusa would be permanently cockblocked.

But the Muses (who were sick of handling Apollo’s dirty laundry) had a particular, not-quite-proper Oracle in mind.

As far as the ability to see the future went, Cassandra had received better romantic gestures. Being an Oracle did come with a cushy job at any of Apollo’s temples, and that wasn’t anything to sneeze at. Cassandra loved her some fresh grapes and velvet couches (to hide the grape juice stains), but the job itself? Not so much.

See, everyone thought she sucked at her job. But really, it was everyone else who sucked at their…uh, critical thinking. Sure, it wasn’t their fault Apollo cursed Cassandra so that no one would believe her prophecies, but part of her still thought everyone was just being stupid. ‘Such and such army will attack at such and such place’, she’d tell them, and they’d laugh and call her a moron. And then the enemy launched a surprise attack (a surprise to everyone but Cassandra, that is) and the people blamed her for not warning them.

But apart from being constantly snubbed and vilified, yeah, it wasn’t a bad gig.

When the other Oracles weren’t busy blaming Cassandra for everything, she actually got along with them pretty well. After all, she was the one who had the idea to convince the townspeople that the stuff they were constantly burning in the temple was ‘incense’, something the gods definitely requested and not at all just dank Mediterranean weed. That perk alone made Apollo’s stupid curse almost worth it. Even some lesser deities would come to light up at the temple; that’s how good their shit was. So Cassandra wasn’t surprised to wake up to a Muse knocking at her door.

Cassandra rolled out of bed, pulled a gown over her bare chest, and opened the door. The faceless figure standing there was emitting a many-hued light, hovering two inches off the floor, and seemed to be sucking the color out of the space around them. Typical Muse stuff.

“Ey, what’s up, duder?” Cassandra asked groggily. “If you’re here to blaze a few, I’m totally down, just give me like a minute to find some pants and maybe some pita-“

“I am not here to blaze a few,” the Muse interrupted. Heavenly harp music accompanied their voice whenever they spoke, and unbidden tears welled in Cassandra’s eyes. Uck. “I have come to deliver a prophecy from Blessed Apollo. Although I would not be strongly opposed to partaking in a few dank nugs afterwards.”

“Shit, I don’t wanna work today.” Cassandra complained. She scratched her head, and her hand came away greasy. It had been at least a week since she had left her room to go to the public bathhouse. She was in no state to give a prophecy.

“Why’s Apollo even giving me a prophecy,” Cassandra continued groaning, “no one’ll listen.”

The Muse’s invisible harp quieted while the Muse recited the prophecy, exactly as Apollo had stated it.

“Hit me up when you’re done,” the Muse said as they departed in a burst of divine light, “I just got some new shit that’s ‘sposed to be wild…”

Cassandra blinked at the empty hallway. “Fine,” she said to no one, “but I’ll only do the prophecy because because I was promised weed, not because Apollo said so.”

        “Dish it,” Adonis ordered, pouring Melina an appropriately tall glass of wine. The fact of their friendship was, in and of itself, strange: they ran competing news blogs (scrolls that they handed out to anyone who walked by) and should’ve ostensibly been at each other’s throats. However, their shared love of gossip far outweighed their business interests, and they tended to share any particularly juicy tidbits with each other. Adonis didn’t know why Melina was being coy now.

“Adonis, you’re my friend and I love you,” Melina said, taking a few obliging sips of wine, “but you can’t be fucking trusted. Especially not with something like this.”

“Dish. It.” Adonis repeated. He was squirming in his chair. Other patrons of the gay wine bar shot them some curious glances, but no one appeared to be eavesdropping.

Melina grinned, and Adonis knew he had her. That, or the wine was finally working its magic. “Fine, but swear to me that you won’t go blabbing about it to your new boyfriend.”

Adonis froze. He dropped his eyes and became very interested in his designer sandals. “B-boyfriend?” he answered with practiced (but far from perfected) offhandedness. “I assure you I haven’t the faintest idea whom you could be referring to.”

“Hermes.”

Adonis cleared his throat. “If you mean Herman, then it was just the one night, and-“

“Oh, come, on Adonis,” Melina rolled her eyes. “Are you seriously still buying that ‘Herman’ shit? The guy has pet snakes and carries that weird curly staff. Who carries a staff anymore?”

Adonis’ face was as crimson as the wine, which Melina was now drinking with a satisfied smirk.

“Fine, if you’re still in denial about banging a god,“--Adonis squeaked in protest—"then just promise me you won’t tell ‘Herman’.”

“Promise,” Adonis answered indignantly.

Melina lowered her head, posed like a sphinx, ready to pounce. “So…there’s been talk of a new prophecy out of Troy.”

“Prophecy? Yawn,” Adonis slumped back in his chair. “If it’s another one about Zeus’ cosmic dick fucking things up for the rest of us, then hon, y’all don’t need an Oracle to know that.”

“No, this is for real,” Melina continued, “this one’s from Cassandra.”

That caught Adonis’ interest. Cassandra may have been blackballed by most of the Olympic pantheon because of her falling-out with Apollo, but that only made her more popular among mortals. Damnation was very in these days. “What’d she predict this time? Is it more dirt on Apollo?”

“Better. She said some shit about how no one should try boning Medusa.”

“Like, the gorgon Medusa?” People were definitely staring at them now, but Adonis didn’t care.

Melina nodded. “And if it’s Cassandra who predicted that-“

“-Then dudes are gonna be piling up on her doorstep,” Adonis finished the thought. He himself had a few tasteless fantasies involving various daemons and monsters (didn’t everyone?), but even he would think twice about wooing Medusa. But by Cassandra’s track record, her prophecy would be sending Medusa more suitors than she could shake a stick at.

“Yeah, but so far it’s only hit the temple gossip circuit, so don’t-“

“Sure, sure, I promised, didn’t I?”

“Because if the literal god of messengers finds out-“

“He’s not, and I won’t!”

Within three days, half of Greece had heard Cassandra’s prophecy. Whether it had anything to do with a certain god’s recent visit to Earth for a night of romance, and a certain blogger’s inability to walk for the week afterwards, one can only speculate.

Ironically, Medusa was one of the last people to find out. She had a blog of her own; it was primarily an Apollo hate blog with the occasional aesthetic post. But it wasn’t super popular, on account of no traveling merchant being brave enough to visit her cave and exchange scrolls. For that same reason, she wasn’t plugged in to the local gossip scene.

When she did get a visitor who wasn’t Apollo, it was some dickbag hero looking for glory, and she didn’t keep them around long enough to get any news out of them. She didn’t take them for much of conversationalists anyway.

She was curious, though, about her sudden influx of visitors. Out of the blue, she was getting dozens of men at her cave on a daily basis. Even stranger were their intentions—instead of slaying her, they were all wanted to marry her. At first, she had dismissed it as an ineffective trick to catch her off guard, and she added them to her statue collection without a second thought. When they kept coming, she thought it had to be some sick joke. She had pissed Apollo off pretty bad this time, maybe he was sending her ‘suitors’ just to taunt her. There was one way to find out, but it involved talking to men instead of killing them outright. Hardly seemed worth it, but she missed the peace and quiet.

“What’s your deal, anyway?” Medusa tried to dodge her latest gentleman caller’s advances, but it was difficult to do with her hand covering her eyes. She didn’t trust the guy not to try to stare longingly into her eyes, no matter how infamously deadly they were. That was something guys tried to do with chicks they liked, right? Medusa hadn’t given the romantic habits of men much thought.

“I seek nothing less than to make you my bride, noble Medusa!” Guy #54 professed, grappling Medusa around her waist. He didn’t seem to mind being dragged around the cave, neither did he mind Medusa’s attempts to shake him off.

“Sure, I got that bit, but why? Why all the sudden interest in getting me hitched?”

“Have you not heard, m’lady?” Guy #54 asked, continuing to sport a formal tone as he was dragged through the dirt. “The Oracle Cassandra has prophesied that the man who weds you will be met with great misfortune; but, knowing her prophecies to be wholly unreliable, I reasoned that to make you my bride would be most fortunate indeed!”

“You and everyone else,” Medusa muttered, looking over her recently expanded sculpture collection. She’d need a second cave, at this rate.

She tried prying more details from the poor sap, but he had spiraled into the same tired stream of compliments and professions of love. Yeuch. Medusa removed her hand and dealt with him as quickly as she had the others.

One more statue to deal with. But at least Medusa had a name to pin her misfortunes on: Cassandra. An Oracle, probably one of Apollo’s, prophesying for the sole purpose of tormenting her.

There was only so much Medusa could do about Apollo, but an Oracle, she could deal with.

        The one upside of every man in Greece falling in love with her was that it made getting directions very easy. All Medusa had taken with her from the cave was the pair of sunglasses Apollo had left behind on his most recent visit. Turns out they worked just as well in the opposite direction. Wearing them, she could pass through towns without petrifying everyone she saw and causing a riot. It made travel a breeze, but if she was being honest, she kind of missed the riots. What good was being a monster if you didn’t get to start riots?

The temple was a breeze to find. It was on the outskirts of Troy, centered around a few smaller towns, but stood on an isolated hillside, miles from any village. Good location, in any case, although Medusa wasn’t a fan of all the elaborate columns and arches. A cave was more practical, required far less upkeep.

Word of Medusa’s quest had traveled almost as fast as the prophecy. Medusa expected the temple to be empty, but a thick wall of smoke hit her as she opened the door and walked inside. There was no one to greet her at the temple entrance—indeed, not one person in the entrance hall. But smoke was continuing to billow from a room deeper in the temple, so someone had to be home.

Two steps in and the smoke was already giving Medusa a headache. She held her nose, and called out in a nasally voice, “I’ve come for the Oracle Cassandra! Step forth and receive your due!” She had already removed her glasses, prepared to deliver sweet revenge.

Medusa paused. Half a minute passed, with no response. Just as Medusa decided that the temple was, in fact, empty, a faint answer came from the internal chamber:

“Uhh, sorry, temple’s closed today, on account of…I dunno, man, god shit.”

Medusa squinted into the chamber, but the smoke was too thick for her to make out any distinct shapes. The speaker didn’t sound formal enough to be an Oracle, but Medusa had to admit she didn’t know any Oracles. Maybe they all sounded like stoners.

“Are you the one known as Cassandra?” Medusa continued in her haughty voice, thought she was still holding her nose in a rather uh-haughty-ish manner. She continued toward the source of the voice, the smoke around her growing thicker, more potent.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Medusa heard the speaker take a deep breath in, inhaling a substance likely related to the surrounding smoke cloud, and let out a long, satisfied sigh. “You the pizza man or somethin’? Whatever a pizza is, I think I could really go for one. Didn’t think it was invented yet…”

“You of all people should know who I am,” Medusa snarled. She had to walk with her hands held out in front of her to avoid running into the prayer shrines and offerings scattered on the temple floor. “I’m the one you’ve cursed with your gift of prophecy!”

“Gift?” Cassandra chuckled, but slowly, as if it took her a second to understand her own joke. “It’s a fuckin’ curse dude. That’s the whole deal. Don’t you know? Apollo hates my guts, he ain’t givin’ me gifts.”

“Apollo?” The name of her most hated enemy stopped Medusa in her tracks. “He cursed you, too?”

“Yee-up.” Medusa heard Cassandra stand up and approach her. A stout, yet graceful silhouette began floating out of the haze.

A second before Cassandra came into focus, Medusa flung her hands over her eyes. “Wait wait wait!” she insisted. Her righteous fury had melted into embarrassment. Hands still over her eyes, she danced in place, turning this way and that, trying to figure out how to get her sunglasses back on without accidentally turning Cassandra to stone.

“You okay, m- woah.” Medusa heard Cassandra stop, just a few steps ahead of her, certainly enough to see Medusa clearly. Medusa heard a low, almost melodic sound, and realized it was Cassandra whistling. “Sorry. You’re not a man at all, huh?”

The prophecy hadn’t said anything about women. That was convenient.

Medusa had the distinct impression that she was being stared at. “Just let me- cover your eyes for a second, okay?”

Cassandra chuckled again—a deep, raspy belly laugh that made Medusa’s insides writhe like they, too, were made of snakes. Medusa softly pressed her hands forward, making sure that Cassandra’s hands were safely covering her eyes.

Medusa looked. The figure before her—Cassandra—did not only meet the temple in regards to elegance, but far surpassed it. If Medusa had stopped to imagine what an Oracle looked like beforehand, it would’ve quite nearly been this. Medusa could tell at first glance that this was no common soldier’s wife, nor a widowed washerwoman; this was a lady of wealth, intellect, and charm. Golden hair flowed lazily down Cassandra’s back. Her figure was round with opulence, glowing in a way Medusa had attributed only to the gods, until now. She was tempted to remove Cassandra’s hands, just for a glimpse at her face.

Remembering herself, Medusa put her sunglasses back on before lowering Cassandra’s hands. She took her time meeting Cassandra’s eyes, letting her eyes linger on her gown, her soft, scented flesh. Finally, she plunged herself in Cassandra’s eyes, the first mortal eyes she had seen that were not made of stone.

They’re brown, Medusa thought. Her heart fluttered desperately against her chest. I didn’t know mortal eyes could be colored.

Cassandra was, understandably, confused. She blinked a few times, making sure that, no, the lady with hair made of snakes wasn’t just a drug-induced aftereffect. The snakes weren’t as off-putting as Cassandra may have expected. Medusa was so unlike any being she had ever come into contact with—and that was saying quite a bit, for an Oracle of the gods—but the expression on Medusa’s face was all too familiar.

The two women simultaneously understood what had driven Apollo to curse the other. Who wouldn’t feel spurned, to be denied such beauty?

Medusa’s hands lingered around Cassandra’s. Cassandra waited for her to speak, but Medusa was as still as her victims. Whatever the gorgon had been threatening to do before, it now seemed to be the farthest thing from her mind. Well, if Medusa wasn’t going to move, Cassandra would move her herself.

“Hup!” Cassandra linked her hands behind Medusa’s back and lifted her off the ground. Medusa was shocked by how warm Cassandra was against her own semi-cold-blooded flesh, and instinctively wrapped herself around her. Cassandra was stronger than she looked, and effortlessly carried Medusa to her private chambers.

“Now,” Cassandra crooned seductively, “tell me more about how much you hate Apollo.”

#greek mythology but gay #(er) #i don't think i have a fic tag but i definitely did write this #putting no tags at all looks hella fishy #so does writing in the tags about how i definitely did write this and no one else

[daleisgreat]

Fast & Furious

I did not mean for nearly a year and a half to pass since my last entry covering the Fast and Furious franchise. I apologize for keeping everyone waiting for today’s much anticipated blog covering the fourth film in the franchise, 2009’s Fast & Furious (trailer). I recalled seeing the initial previews for this and remembered being excited about Universal reuniting the four core original cast members, but also thought that it might have been too late because it seemed like at this point both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel’s careers were well into their decline and this was their last gasp for success. As we all know by now, F&F revitalized the franchise and transitioned the films from the underground street racing/car culture series into the blockbuster action/heist movies we embrace them as today. As I alluded to in my Tokyo Drift review, F&F is where the timeline for the series goes sideways. Director Justin Lin stated in the commentary that even though Han was killed off in Tokyo Drift, he wanted to bring him back since he was a fun character so Lin has F&F take place before Tokyo Drift. Sure enough, Han is here, but only in the opening scene riding with Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew on their latest rig heist which involves a semi with five(!) gas tanker attachments on a stretch of highway that is well over the one kilometer they proclaim (though later films will greatly outdo this exaggeration). The tanker heist goes sideways and leads to Dom abandoning Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and retreating to Panama. After some time passes Dom finds out Letty was murdered, and he comes back to Cali and reunites with his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and FBI agent Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) to track down the Braga gang responsible for Letty’s murder.

I remember the scene introducing O’Conner chasing down a thug for information on his latest target in a high adrenaline foot chase that seemed ripped right out of a Bourne film. Apparently O’Conner has lethal Parkour abilities now that would multiply exponentially in his 2014 film, Brick Mansions. After eight years it was fun seeing O’Conner, Dom and Mia all reunite and within no time their chemistry was clicking with a plethora of callbacks to the first film. Yes, Dom still loves ‘family’ and crosses and O’Conner still loves NOS. I mentioned in the intro F&F transitions the series from its underground street racing roots into the action/heist genre because the film is about half and half of each. There is a big street race in the middle of the film Dom & O’Conner participate in order to win an open slot in Braga. Lin stated in the commentary GPS tech was a couple years into ubiquity and wanted to different this race by implementing plenty of snazzy GPS CG effects throughout the race. Lin unapologetically went all in with the GPS effects here and while over-the-top, they enhance this race and make it stand out as one of the marquee races in the whole Fast and Furious franchise.

I recall Gal Gadot’s character, Gisele being more prominent in the later films, and completely forgot about her being a support character in F&F. She is working for the head of Braga, Campos (John Ortiz) and the film teases a relationship between Dom and her that I also completely neglected from my initial viewing. I could not help but chuckle at Lin’s comments in the commentary predicting big things coming for the future Wonder Woman. Two big things I took away from my first viewing of this film nine years ago was that it made GPS seem like the coolest tech out there, and the intense tunnel chase scenes. There are two tunnel chase scenes in F&F, and they both paid off with memorable thrills. If you have the time make sure to check out the extra features that break down how the crew constructed their own makeshift tunnel which enabled them to pull off the insane stunts entirely with practical effects. F&F closes with O’Conner trying to get Dom’s name cleared for helping takedown Braga, only to see Dom still get carted into a bus for lockup…that is until O’Conner goes rogue and pulls up with his own crew to bust Dom off the prison transport bus in one of the best endings of the entire series. I was in disbelief on Lin’s commentary track thoughts on the ending: ‘Yeah, we left it open-ended, we’ll see what happens if folks want to revisit this.’ As box office records and many sequels would later indicate, people went on to revisit the films with aplomb.

I referenced Lin’s commentary track a few times already, and even though it is a solo commentary I highly recommend giving it a listen since it is full on nonstop factoids and anecdotes from the filming. Aside from the commentary there is another hour and a half of extra features. There is a 20-minute short film, Los Bandolerors, that sets the stage for the beginning of F&F, and while it features most of the cast and has a couple little moments referenced in the film, I would not say it is requisite viewing. There are eight extra features with most of them showcasing the cars and stunt work. The two extras I would recommend the most are Getting the Gang Back Together and Races & Chases. The former has the cast reflecting on the past films and how it felt to reunite for this film and the latter is the aforementioned extra that breaks down how the crew made the awesome GPS race and tunnel chases possible. The Pitbull music video for ‘Blanco’ is skip-worthy, but do not skip through the gag reel because it has a killer spoof at the end that left me rolling! I should mention like the prior films, on this F&F re-watch, I experienced it with the Giant Bomb commentary track where their staff does another commendable job highlighted with Alex’s vast knowledge of the series shepherding Dan’s earnest negligence of it. I enjoyed Fast & Furious much more than I remembered. The latter films upped the ante so much more with their casting and stunts that it made me forget how this film got the movies going in that direction. If you have somehow not seen this installment in the films yet, go out of your way now to correct that wrong! Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed Deck the Halls Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Guardians of the Galaxy Hercules: Reborn Hitman Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Man of Steel Man on the Moon Marine 3-5 Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Days of Future Past

#random movie #Fast and Furious #vin diesel #Paul Walker #jordana brewster #michelle rodriguez #john ortiz #Gal Gadot #Justin Lin #nos

[nadziejastar]

How do you think the experiments would have impacted Lea? Obviously he wasn't as traumatized as Isa, but no one gets kidnapped and used as a lab rat and comes out unscathed

Roxas: Saïx called her “broken.”

Axel: Hmm… Well, if it cheers you up, I’m probably a lot more broken than her.

Ooh, I love this question. I get to use one of my favorite Axel quotes. Yeah, I definitely agree with you. He’d still be very messed up even if he hadn’t lost his heart. He has a LOT of anger and pain underneath the surface. He lost everything in his life. I’m really disappointed that we never got to see his entire backstory. He’s such an interesting character. I wanted to see how he went form an innocent frisbee playing kid to a remorseless assassin. What did he think the Organization was after when they kidnapped him? Did he think they stole his heart as part of the experiment? I wanted to know how he felt about having his heart stolen and then being asked to build KH to try and get it back…by the people who stole it. That must have been confusing. And did he know how the apprentices lost their hearts, too?

I think that he and Saix plotted to take over the Organization for revenge as well for as their freedom. In the novel, this is what is going through Axel’s mind when he first convinces the Riku Replica to join him.

Given the right memories, the Replica could mimic the powers of the original. Which meant that if he were implanted with somebody else’s memories, he would, hypothetically, gain other powers. Somebody’s—or maybe even a Nobody’s. He had one particular Nobody in mind. All the members of the Organization were still influenced by the memories of their human lives.

This sounds like a subplot that never materialized. I wonder who the Nobody was. Braig or Xemnas? It wasn’t Zexion, because Axel says he’s as good a place to start as any. He was testing the Replica on Zexion. I’m not exactly sure what experiments were done to Axel, but I would guess they are the reason why he can control fire. And there were a lot of Emblem Heartless being manufactured in that basement.

He probably was forced to fight at the very least, as I suspect Isa was. The black cloaks are meant to prevent someone from getting swallowed by darkness. Lea and Isa were wearing them when they were recompleted. This indicates they had things done to them that risked them getting swallowed by darkness.

The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I’ve provided them both living and nonliving samples. They’ve responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.

Not only is he traumatized because of what he personally experienced, but probably also from witnessing what happened to others as well.

Yeah, I know. Our plans. That part won’t change.

This is what Axel is thinking in the novel when talking to Saix. Even though they weren’t really getting along at that point, he said that their plans wont change. He wasn’t doing it for just for Saix. He wanted to take over the Organization as much as Saix did. He only becomes less motivated when he starts growing a heart and enters an existential crisis.

Hearing his old name, Axel glanced up at Saix watching him intently. He remembered being human. Memories surged inside him, crowding the space in his chest. For Nobodies, memory had all the weight of a heart.

I remember. I won’t forget.

I think he’s talking about both his memories of Isa, and his memories of the experiments that took everything away from him. His normal life, his heart, his best friend’s personality, his ability to experience happiness and love. He has a really dark and twisted side to his personality. Which I love. It makes total sense. I think the upside-down tear marks were something he came up with himself. Not Saix. Gang members get the tear-shaped tattoos as a permanent reminder that they’ve killed someone or they’ve had a friend killed and they want revenge. And Axel’s are upside-down. As an assassin, the message being sent is, “Ain’t no tears being shed for you, bitch”. But deep down…I think there are.

“The dirty work doesn’t bother me”, Axel went on. “You just make for the top.”

There was nothing false in that, and he looked at Saix in the eye as he said it.

Since the heart is the seat of your emotions and interpersonal relationships, I think that Axel and Saix probably got along decently during their time in the Organization. They were both single-mindedly focused on revenge. They were less like close friends and more like gang brothers. Loyal, but not close. Axel didn’t have an intimate relationship with Saix. They didn’t have fun together, or laugh. And this didn’t seem to bother Axel too much until he met Roxas.

Zexion had never trusted Axel one bit. In fact, he had never trusted anyone besides the original members of the Organization–those he had once known in the laboratory. But he found two especially untrustworthy: Saix, who had somehow wormed his way into Lord Xemnas’s confidence, and his close acquaintance Axel.

Zexion was just a kid when everything happened. I doubt he had anything to do with the experiments personally.He didn’t seem to have any clue who Axel and Saix were in the novel. Nor did he know Saix was Xehanort’d. He trusted them the least out of anyone, because he could tell how much they hated the apprentices. So if this is how much pleasure he took in eliminating Zexion, I can only wonder what he was imagining doing to Xemnas or Braig.

His title, Flurry of Dancing Flames, is a reference to a dance the god Shiva performed that almost caused the end of the universe because he was so angry after his wife killed herself.  Another weapon, Ifrit, is a death spirit drawn to the life-force or blood of a murdered victim seeking revenge on the murderer. He might not have known the whole story on Isa, but as soon as they woke up after turning into Nobodies, he obviously would have noticed that he had a giant scar on his face. I’m sure he was beyond pissed when he saw that. I wish I could see how furious he’d be if he knew the entire truth.

Sora: What are you— What ARE you people?!

Axel: Hm… Don’t know. I wonder about that myself.

I really wonder how he would have acted around Even in DDD. I think they kept him and Dilan away from Lea for a reason. He absolutely revels in Vexen’s death. To Axel, Vexen is a symbol of all that was taken away from him. In the novels, he feels kinda bad destroying Dusks because they are fellow Nobodies. Yet he never, ever shows remorse for taking out Vexen or Zexion. He detests the Organization. But at the same time, he recognizes that he isn’t naturally like this. That he’s warped. Broken. This isn’t the person he wanted to be. He’s changed into someone else because of everything he’s been through. He remembers being different. I think that’s why he never really hates Saix, either. He assumes he’s just warped, like he is.

Axel: Most kids spend summer vacation just goofing off with their friends. They save the homework till the end and then help each other finish it.

Roxas: That sounds fun, I guess.

Axel: Yeah. I hadn’t really thought about it much since becoming a Nobody. So how’d you spend the day?

Axel: Hey, I’m not about to tell you ALL my dark secrets. Got it memorized? I bet you keep a thing or two from me.

Axel admits he hadn’t thought of his normal life too much since becoming a Nobody. He’s had other things on his mind, obviously. He jokes about having dark secrets after sleeping the entire day away. I think the experiments are another reason why he says that memories are just baggage that have never done him any good.

He won’t allow anyone to get too close to him. He never really confides in anyone. Ever. Not even Roxas. He keeps an emotional distance with everyone at all times. Even when Axel says dark things, like he’ll never get to experience love, Roxas doesn’t pick up on anything wrong or ask him about it. He is too naive to tell that he’s got lots of baggage. Not his fault, but it is what it is. Not that Axel would want to talk about it anyways, but still… he always puts on a smile to hide his pain. Always. Even his closest friends had no idea how much he was suffering. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Even after he begins to grow a heart, he still kidnaps Kairi. He even does the iconic hand reach of darkness. He feels bad about this later, but he’s so lonely and miserable at that point, he doesn’t care about morality. Morals didn’t exist in the Organization. You didn’t survive that way. In the novel, Axel and Kairi have this exchange which I absolutely loved.

Kairi looked up at him. “Aren’t you…a bad guy?”

“I’m not,” Axel replied, completely serious. “But not really a good guy, either.”

“This doggy likes you, though,” she pointed out.

Axel dropped his gaze, and indeed, Pluto was right there with his tail whipping back and forth.

“Just because dogs like someone doesn’t mean they’re a good person, y’know. Got it memorized?”

I swear, Pluto LOVES Axel in the novels. I almost think they must have met before or something. I also love it because Axel’s main weapon, Eternal Flames, is actually shaped like the symbol for Aleister Crowley’s Chaos magic.

Chaos is neither good nor evil, but both and neither at once. It cannot be controlled; not even by itself. It promotes freedom of choice, thought, and action above all else, even if this leads the world into a primal state of vice and survival of the fittest. Chaos refuses any limitations placed on it. I love how his weapons are so different from Saix’s. Ironically Saix’s are named after benevolent female goddesses and such. Axel’s are the ones who are much darker. You’ve got the lance of Mars, the Roman god of war.

Then there’s the Fuma Shuriken with the Recusant’s Sigil right in the middle. This is the Mystery Gear weapon that’s supposed to represent his true personality. A recusant is someone who refuses to submit to authority. If anyone is a recusant, it is Axel. He’d wear that “X” proudly. Fuma Shuriken was a weapon said to be wielded by the leader of the Fuma clan. The Fuma Clan were a group of outlaw ninjas, especially skilled at night raids and other sorts of sneaky surprise attacks. They were extremely strong, extremely deadly, and had a reputation for pretty much having no morals whatsoever. They would slash enemies in the back, set entire villages on fire, and resort to all sorts of violent and non-violent trickery. They were also said to be experts at the use of fire and smoke – including the smoke-shield practice. In a folk legend, the leader is often depicted as an inhuman figure: a supposedly part-oni, monstrous giant with inverted eyes.

I loved how awkward his conversation with Ienzo was in DDD when he is looking for Isa. It’s even funnier when you hear that scene in Japanese because he sounded so impatient, like, “yeah yeah, shut up already with your long explanations, no one cares. Where’s Isa so I can leave this shithole already?” I’m so mad we didn’t get to see him confront the apprentices. I wanted to see him get mad. Something similar to when Roxas smashed up all of the computers. THAT level of rage. He needed to heal from his past, too. And the first step would be to face it head on and be angry.

I don’t think Axel truly got to heal from his pain in the story, either. He and Isa needed to heal each other. Axel immediately went to being perfectly okay after DDD. But I definitely don’t think he would be. He still needed closure. He needed to get angry at Saix to truly grieve the loss of Isa. And he needed to get angry at Xion when she tried to destroy herself. For himself. To acknowledge his own pain that he always minimizes or tries to hide. It felt like the writers forgot all about Axel’s pain and darkness in KH3.

Goofy: Gawrsh, Lea sure hurried back to Radiant Garden

At the end of DDD, after he saw that Isa had become a vessel, Goofy says Lea hurried back to Radiant Garden. I was so sure that he was going to confront the apprentices and finally learn what happened with Isa. He saw how vessels are made after rescuing Sora. He knew they were made by breaking the person’s soul and having Xehanort’s heart forcibly put into them. He knew Saix had yellow eyes and pointy ears. God, it blew my mind that he never seemed to suspect that Isa might have had the same thing done to him. Never in a million years was I expecting to learn in KH3 that Lea and Isa were “apprentices” all along, and Isa just chose to stay with them because he wanted to get stronger. Um, yeah right.

The longer you know someone, the less you need to speak in clear terms. Everything gets across with a wink and a nudge, a little reading between the lines…When it comes to what befell our late comrades at Castle Oblivion, ambiguity suits me just fine. But the Keyblade master and Roxas come out and say every little thing that comes to mind. Maybe that’s human, or maybe they’re just special.

But in addition to anger, I think he forgot what it felt like to have positive feelings at all. That’s why Roxas was so important to him. He made him remember what being whole felt like. And he also looked like Ventus, so he brought back all sorts of memories from when he was young. There was a time, long ago, when he was just like Roxas.

Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It’s a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. It’s strange, but I’m content with just missing what’s gone. I’m not the one who changed. You did.

From this you can tell that he didn’t always mind talking to Saix. But after spending time with Roxas and Xion, he starts to grow a heart, and then he remembers how genuine friendship felt. He’s sick of living like this. Like a criminal. He wants to eat ice cream and laugh about stupid stuff…And he starts missing Isa. And he can’t stand to be around Saix anymore, since hes nothing like Isa. The chasm between past and present is just too great. 

What were you really after, Lea? We joined the Organization at the same time, and formulated our plan. At this point, it’s just an idle fantasy. Everything changed. You, and me.

Saix says that Axel has changed. He used to be a lot more cold and brutal. Saix says he’s changed as well. I think it’s because he has Isa’s memories, so he can remember what Isa was like. And even he knows that he isn’t like Isa. I thought that was interesting. That he had that level of self-awareness. It must have been confusing to him, too. How different he used to be.

Roxas doesn’t trust me after the whole Xion incident, but I can’t tell him the truth yet. So I keep lying. It’s no big deal when you’re a Nobody. There’s no guilt, no feeling at all. So why does it still sting, just a little, when I lie to him? All my dealings with Roxas give me this bizarre illusion of humanity.

Axel isn’t used to feeling guilt when he lies. He forgot what that felt like, so it surprises him when he feels it. But he can’t imagine it’s anything more than an illusion…

“You know, I’ve been thinking about something Naminé said. Roxas, are you really sure that you don’t have a heart? Is it possible that we ALL have one? You, me, her… Or is that just wishful thinking?”

…Just wishful thinking. It’s too scary to hope for anything more.

Riku Replica was just a tool, but I can’t just use Xion. No, I was wrong to have just used Riku Replica in the first place. How is a man-made puppet any less worthy than a Nobody that was never meant to exist at all? They’re both ambiguous. Tenuous at best.

Even when he does start to feel emotion again, he is confronted with overwhelming despair. He doesn’t even view himself as human. When he’s revived in DDD, he says hes “human again”. As a Nobody he sees himself as sub-human. On the same level as a Replica. When he disappears, he tells Roxas they’ll meet again in the next life. But he really didn’t believe he had one. I don’t think this outlook is just the result of losing his heart. I think it all started with losing his faith in humanity after the experiments were done to him. He sees Roxas as pure and innocent; something he no longer is. To Axel, Roxas is more worthy of humanity than he is. Honestly, he gets even more cynical after he starts to grow a heart again. That’s when he can feel the brunt of his trauma with full force, unlike before.

He had never apologized to anyone before. Or thanked anyone, either. Without a heart, there was never any need. If he had no heart, did it mean anything to say he was lonely, or sorry, or grateful? The words couldn’t be heartfelt, when there was no heart to feel them. But even that word, painful—what could it possibly mean for someone with no heart?

This whole passage from the novel shows how he views himself. He’s ashamed of himself. He knows it’s abnormal to lack emotion. Humans aren’t supposed to be like that. He’s broken. He invalidates his own feelings because he thinks he’s not worthy of having them in his condition.

Axel stretched his neck and munched on his ice cream.

“You know, I don’t mind disappearing.”

Namine’s breath caught.

Riku stared at him.

“Roxas is gone. When we bring Kairi here, Namine will be gone, too. Same for me,” he said, as if he were discussing the weather, and then punctuated his comment with another bite of sea-salt ice cream.

“We don’t disappear…We’re only reborn,” Namine murmured, perhaps to herself.

“I‘m not like you and Roxas,” Axel said flatly, his hand holding his ice pop stick in midair.

“But—But you…” She looked down, clenching her fists.

“It’s because I don’t have a heart,” Axel went on. “I don’t want to disappear, but I’m not upset or sad about it.”

Namine tried to say something and failed.

Nobodies aren’t supposed to exist. Nobodies don’t have hearts, so they can’t feel anything.

I really love how much extra characterization the novels give. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he says he can’t feel anything. Or ironically, maybe he just wishes he didn’t. Maybe he forgot that having a heart can make you feel more profound pain, just as it can make you feel fulfilled. And he mistakes that emptiness for heartlessness.

Then someone else spoke behind him. ”I’ve been waiting for you Axel.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d show up.” His smirk turned nastier as he turned to see Saix. He didn’t take his eyes off the other man as he spoke to the girl in the cage. “Listen, Kairi! Trust me. I’m going to get you out!”

Behind him the portal closed.

“What are you saying…? Vile traitor! The great Claymore took shape at Saix’s back. Axel didn’t waste a second grabbing his chakrams. But his body was reluctant somehow.

I don’t want to disappear…But still, it wouldn’t be so bad if I did. Not here.

What does he even have left? Roxas forgot about him and disappeared. Isa forgot about him a long time ago (he thinks). And now he’s trying to kill him. If he wants to live, he might have to try and kill Isa now. He said he wanted to find hope—the hope that Sora and Riku have. But now? He thinks it wouldn’t be so bad to disappear. He puts on a “nasty smirk” when Saix comes. Just like when he disappeared with Sora, he still put on a smile to hide his pain. Like, wow. That is SO sad. It’s why I the LOVE the fact that his Keyblade is Phoenix-themed. The glorious rebirth from the ashes of death. Both for him and Isa. Yeah, I think the experiments had a devastating effect on Lea that the story didn’t provide any closure to at all. 

#anti-kh3 #kh axel #kh lea #kh meta #kh org #damn i really love lea #kingdom hearts #kh