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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 18)

Hiya! I'm posting late, on account of my job. Editing these takes about an hour depending on the post and inserting the images takes a little more, but I didn't have a solid block of time to work on it, so I worked on it in pieces and I only just now finished.

This arc highlights Natsume's powerlessness. He's distancing himself from Mikan to protect her, but by doing this, he leaves her defenseless at times. He wants to be there for her but can't because of the corner he's been pushed into, and in his desperation he turns to anonymity.

Chapter Eighty-One

Hotaru, Natsume, and Ruka are running after them, but are caught by Tsubasa, who asks them what their plan is, exactly. Ruka turns to Natsume, who turns to Hotaru, who pretends she was just practicing her running for the Festival and then the boys started following her for no reason. This comic relief is a badly-needed break from all the bullying and blackmail of the arc so far.

This arc is full of fun comic relief, but the main plot is so depressing and frustrating that sometimes the comic relief is not enough.

In any case, all three of them know that the others are all working to take care of Mikan, even if she doesn't know it. They're all looking out for her in their own ways, even Natsume who seems to have publicly turned against her. At least Hotaru and Ruka can see the truth: he's still quite concerned about it, but he's in something of a bind now.

The next we see of Natsume, he’s walking with Tsubasa, being spied on by both Hotaru and Ruka. It’s here that we discover that Tsubasa has been transferred to the DA class, but is keeping this secret from Mikan. Moreover, he and Natsume are on a mission to locate Yuka, and they’re both aware that Mikan is her daughter. It’s interesting to know just how much information the DA class has on the other students that the other kids have no clue about. Hotaru and Ruka are shocked by this information, but for us as readers, it also demonstrates just how much work Natsume--and Tsubasa--are putting into protecting Mikan.

All this information is stuff they have to consider on their missions. They want to protect Yuka, because she’s Mikan’s mother, but they have no choice but to pursue and chase after her with raids and attacks. On top of that, Tsubasa is keeping his new ability class a secret, and Natsume has to hurt her with this Luna farce. It’s a lot to put on two kids, not that the ESP or Persona have much issue putting pressure on kids.

For Natsume in particular, it was fun while it lasted, being close to Mikan. He had relished and enjoyed it, and now he has to change pace. He’s willing to, because that’s how he can keep her smiling and having fun, even if he’s not on her team and can’t even be in her inner circle anymore. He’s willing to sacrifice anything for her, but we can see that it’s not any fun for him. Mikan is suffering in sadness, yes, but so is Natsume.

The next thing he has to do only makes things worse.

He confronts Mikan about the rumor Luna made up, about Mikan showing her underwear to the Fuukitai to avoid punishment. It’s obviously bogus: Mikan would never even think to do that, let alone actually do it. He knows that too, because Natsume knows her very well. He asks because he has to.

Mikan avoids answering, brushing it off as none of Natsume’s business, because she is also under Luna’s watchful gaze. So they end up having an argument in front of everyone, both not saying what they really mean, and instead doing as Luna commands, to keep everyone safe. Mikan points out that she isn’t his partner--or anything--anymore, so he should mind his business. Natsume then asks if that means his concern is a bother, and she confirms: yes. It’s a big fat pain.

It's heartbreaking and frustrating in equal spades.

It’s almost as if Natsume was testing something. Now he knows that Luna must have threatened Mikan in the storeroom. Something sinister happened there, and now Mikan is different, dishonest, mean. That’s not what she’s actually like, and now he’s concerned. Luna’s shadow is spreading and it’s threatening to encroach on Mikan’s light.

Chapter Eighty-Two

Natsume walks off, having heard all he needs to hear.

Luna is causing mayhem and strife to punish Mikan and Natsume specifically for their misbehavior on New Year’s. She wants Mikan to be isolated from Natsume in particular because he’s her number one protector. If there’s a wedge between them, Mikan is easier to target. After all, Mikan’s purpose at the academy is to lure in Yuka, and the more danger she is in, the more likely Yuka is to try and save her daughter. If Natsume is around, threatening Mikan becomes tricky. He’d never allow anything bad to happen to her, hence his desperation and sacrifice in this arc. In order to fulfill their goals regarding Yuka, they need Natsume out of Mikan’s picture.

Of course, despite Natsume’s secret intel being superior to Ruka or Hotaru’s (and definitely to Mikan’s), he’s still not entirely in the know. Yuka being the main target, for example, is information Natsume is not privy to, and couldn’t even imagine. This is a game Natsume is unaware that he cannot win. If he doesn’t distance himself from Mikan, she’ll be threatened, but if he does, she’ll be threatened. In reality, there's no way he can win this round.

Chapter Eighty-Three

Anyway, the Sports Fest doesn’t slow down for the kids’ drama. The athletic meets have begun, and now there is a relay race.

Ruka and Natsume are on different teams for the relay, and this has inspired Ruka to beat his best friend, so he can be number one in Mikan’s eyes for once.

I will talk way more about the “love triangle” aspect of NatsuMikan and the question of choice, autonomy, and agency in Mikan’s essay, because when it comes to Natsume's side of things, he's very much resigned to losing every romantic game, every relay race, every competition. It's no contest. He's not competing. He's withdrawn from the race, now more than ever. He will not participate. He is destined to lose, after all, so why even bother?

And so Ruka wins the actual relay, and Natsume watches as everyone has fun without him, something that he’s been accustomed to before. It hurts more now, undoubtedly, because for a time, he was actually a part of the group. Knowing what it feels like to fit in and have fun with everyone makes it even worse when it’s gone again. He used to separate himself from the rest and suffer all on his own, but now he’s returned to that state.

He hasn’t quite let go, either. His effort and commitment to the Sports Fest, despite all the drama with Mikan and Luna, demonstrate just how much he actually wants to participate. It’s not about having his friends around him. He actually likes being able to have fun, and be allowed to take part in an event with everyone else, even if he isn’t technically by his friends’ sides.

His bad feelings are only exacerbated by Luna, who shows up to taunt him. He shouldn’t worry about Mikan and Ruka, because they’ll be torn apart eventually. Whatever happiness they find right now is temporary. It won’t last, and Luna will make sure of it.

But Natsume loves both Mikan and Ruka, and that does not reassure him at all. He’s selfless, would rather they be together anyway. In a perfect world, maybe she could pick him, and it makes him sad that the world isn’t perfect and he can’t have what he wants, but he’s always at peace with losing. So he’s not at all comforted by the idea that the happiness his loved ones have found will dissipate in no time.

Chapter Eighty-Four

Luna then giggles, because whether or not Ruka and Mikan’s being split apart will result in Natsume’s happiness is another question entirely. She wants to rub it in that even if Ruka is out of the picture, he can never be with Mikan. Joke’s on her though, because Natsume has already come to terms with this the moment he fell in love with Mikan. He hasn’t been humoring ideas of love confessions and weddings and living happily ever after. It’s outside the realm of possibility, because his circumstances do not allow him much happiness at all.

The future seems bleaker than ever, and knowing that Ruka and Mikan are being kept under watch by the school, Natsume keeps an eye on them too. He’s feeling sad and heart-broken too, of course. He’s not perfect. He can’t erase feelings of jealousy or the ache of unrequited love just because he feels it’s his duty to make peace with them. It hurts, but he’ll carry through. That’s what he’s always done.

But people are gossiping about his presence, putting his position in jeopardy. Luna can’t know he’s still hanging around Mikan, even if Mikan herself is clueless to this. Before he can be discovered, he steals someone’s mask, the mask of a boy named Kusami whose hairstyle looks an awful lot like Natsume’s.

If only he could be allowed to just steal people's identities and not have to face any consequences for it. Alas.

Unfortunately for Natsume, the Borrowing Race is about to begin, and Kusami was arranged to be a participant. He put the mask on to avoid responsibility for his spying, but it’s bit him in the butt now.

Kusami benefits from this, indirectly, since kids who call him moron get the cold shoulder from Natsume, who doesn’t have the same easy-going personality.

It seems nobody actually wants to participate in the Borrowing Race. It’s very personal and vulnerable: you have to borrow a person or item you’d least want to borrow, as dictated on a small piece of paper assigned to you. It’s then judged by some mind-reading alices to test the validity of the borrowed items. The concept of the race functions around embarrassing and humiliating people, so naturally nobody would want to participate.

Natsume has gotten himself into trouble here. He can’t even make a run for it, though he really wants to, because for some reason people are hell-bent on Kusami competing. He’s in the second round, and starts running as he--or Kusami--is supposed to. He gets his paper and although we don’t see what’s written on it quite yet, we can see a focus on Mikan in one of the panels, so we can tell his first thought is to borrow her.

To confess anonymously in front of the whole school or to not confess anonymously in front of the whole school--that is the question.

And then in a few pages, emboldened by the mask he’s wearing, Natsume runs toward Mikan and grabs her wrist. He’s decided he will borrow her, because maybe she’ll never find out his true identity, and he can be selfish just this once. This could be his only chance ever to be honest about how he feels. He's had to lie and hide it for so long that it makes sense he'd take the first opportunity available to go for it. This is quite possibly the most selfish thing he’s done. If he gets caught, he’ll be entirely exposed.

Unlike Ruka, Natsume can't really win this race. He won't be number one in Mikan's eyes, ever. He can't ever tell her it's all for her. The very best he can do is compete with a mask on. Ruka can try his hardest and impress Mikan and Natsume feels he never will. It's not much of a competition when one person cannot and will not compete.

He runs, despite her confusion and obliviousness, or perhaps because of it.

And just as the fireworks displaying his prompt start going off in the sky, he lets her go and walks away resolutely. There. He’s participated.

“The person you love.”

Mikan is chasing after Natsume, but he can’t be caught. Being caught would ruin everything, and would make his selfish act even more selfish. He shoves the mask back into Kusami’s face, and takes off.

You'd think he'd be a bit happier to have finally confessed his feelings but he just looks miserable.

Natsume has been very selfish now. He didn’t have to grab Mikan. He could’ve borrowed anybody and lost. Does it matter if he wins? He’s not Kusami. He could’ve just gotten the race over with and run away, but instead he played along, because he wanted to confess. He’s never been so honest in his life. He wants her to know he loves her, even if she doesn’t know who “he” is. And if he gets caught, then Mikan will know for a fact that Natsume Hyuuga loves her, and everything he’s done so far--hyping up Ruka, distancing himself, being cruel to protect her, allowing Luna to cling to him--will have been for nothing. She’ll know it was all a ruse, and then she’ll be open to all sorts of dangers. But he risks it, because he just can’t hide it anymore. He always has to hide, always has to pretend, always has to sacrifice his own feelings for the sake of others. This time, he’ll say exactly what he means, made all the more easier by the fact that there’s a mask on his face.

He’s done something like this before, particularly when he kissed Mikan on Christmas.

And the Christmas kiss is nothing compared to this: an actual love confession. The kiss was just that, and he had plenty of excuses for why he’d kiss her. It wasn’t because he loved her, no way! It was because she kept saying the other one didn’t count. Or maybe he just wanted to know what it felt like. That’s all. The excuses were just another mask to hide behind.

What excuse could he possibly give for a love confession that a panel of mind-reading judges corroborated? If he’s caught, she will know.

All his tiny instances of selfishness are smaller examples of the same idea: he lets himself be affectionate for once. He can say he prefers her with her hair down, or hug her during the SA class labyrinth, or cuddle with her when he’s having a nightmare, just this one time, and then he’ll give up for good. She won’t notice. It won’t have an effect. It won’t have consequences. He’ll give up for good after; he’ll just do this one selfish thing and then never again. But he can’t give it up, and eventually Christmas happens. He kisses her, unloading so much affection into one action, as if he’s trying to just get it over with. He’ll just get all his love out with one kiss and then he’ll be okay to watch her fall in love with anybody else but him.

But he can’t. He can’t stop doing these little selfish things. He can’t suffocate his love and leave it to die, hidden and smothered like a skeleton in a closet. Despite his every attempt to kill it, to hide it, to pretend like it’s not important, it has only grown stronger. He loves her more and more everyday, and the more he loves her, the harder it is to pretend like he doesn’t care if he never gets what he wants.

He wants to be with her. He wants to kiss her and protect her openly. He wants to sit next to her in class and smile with her. He wants to spend time with her and be on her team for school events. He wants to hold her hand and tell her he loves her.

He doesn’t want to give it all up and wreck his own chances.

The longer he’s loved Mikan, the harder it’s been to be selfless like this. The yearning has only gotten stronger, and now it takes all his power to be cruel to her. What used to come naturally, like being cold and distant and insulting her, has become difficult. What comes naturally to him now is to confess his love or hold her hand or be around her.

Despite the fact that Natsume was the only person who seems to have borrowed the correct person for the race, the White team still loses, on account of him not actually being Kusami.

At the end of the chapter, he sits alone, brooding in a tree.

He hasn’t been caught, so his actions have no consequences for now. He can sit there and mourn what could have been. He can’t be with Mikan, let alone confess his feelings. This was just an excuse to live out a fantasy. He wants to be loud about his feelings, not muffle them. But this is Natsume we’re talking about. He never gets what he wants. And in his opinion, he shouldn’t because Ruka deserves a happy ending way more. And Mikan would never love him back anyway. Ruka would be better for her.

This is just another instance of Natsume promising himself that he’ll do one more selfish thing before he gives up forever. But we know he’s bad at keeping his word, and this is no exception.

Chapter Eighty-Five

Before Mikan can confront Natsume about the borrowing race, Luna steps in, covering for him, claiming she was watching with him from the bleachers during the race. She clings to his arm and drags him off, spurring even more rumors that he and Luna are an item.

She's so violent with him for really no reason.

He tells her to get off, but she reminds him that she’s just done him a favor (though it’s really just a favor to herself). She grabs his hand and holds it tight, and again people get the wrong idea. It’s interesting how such physically painful things come across as romantic to the people around them, who think that Luna is simply holding his hand. Natsume’s persistent look of misery and apathy doesn’t deter people at all from rumors that he’s dating her. After all, Luna is clinging to him with a smile on her face and he’s not doing anything to peel her off, so it must mean they have feelings for each other. Natsume has been so good at hiding his feelings, that nobody--not even the girl he really loves--knows what it looks like when he’s loving and affectionate to somebody. They think he's into Luna, and can't see that what he really needs is help.

Chapter Eighty-Six

Luna has just arranged a terrifying fall for Mikan, knowing she’d use her alice as a knee-jerk reaction to save herself, thus causing others to think she did it for the attention. Mikan could’ve been seriously injured, or worse, and is definitely in trouble now, so Natsume is furious.

He confronts Luna, and the only thing stopping him from hurting her is that he could put Mikan in even more danger by doing so. But Luna is remorseless, giggling that she had no choice but to threaten Mikan. After all, she’s just doing what the principal said they’d do. Mikan should have been put in Persona’s custody in the DA class immediately following the Hana Hime party incident, but Natsume’s sacrifices have allowed her to skate by. Luna is there to observe and punish what she perceives as bad behavior, and anything less than abject misery from Mikan is bad behavior to her.

She warns Natsume: if he really wants to protect Mikan, then he’ll make sure she’s hated. That way, she won’t be in danger.

Powerlessness.

Natsume can’t go around confessing his love to her with a mask on anymore. He needs to sacrifice their relationship entirely in order to keep her safe. And so he does.

He’s sitting on a bench, surrounded by his classmates. Permy is adamantly defending Mikan. These rumors that Mikan fell on purpose for the attention are obviously stemming from Luna, who has the whole class wrapped around her finger. She turns to Natsume, looking for back-up, but Natsume has been told clearly what to do in order to really protect Mikan, and it has nothing to do with standing up for her against these rumors.

Instead, he says that it’s best not to be involved with Mikan anymore. He doesn’t want to see her or hear about her anymore, and he doesn’t want to associate with anyone who associates with her. He tries to give off the impression that he hates her, that he’s disgusted by her.

Then he sees that she’s been there all along, listening.

This is almost like the scene where he tells her he hates everything about her. He’s doing the hard thing to protect her. He’s lying, willing to hurt her, willing to be the villain, if it means she’s in the light and out of the dark.

But this is different.

Mikan could take it before. She yelled back that she hated him too, just as much, and even though that was a lie, it was still something she was able to say. She could argue and fight. This time she crumbles and runs away.

And he’s different too. Before, he could walk away, resolute and determined. Knowing that she’ll be better off this way was enough for him. He didn’t even look back. This time, he can’t leave things like that.

After all, last time was easier. He didn’t think she actually liked him back then. It would really only hurt him. He knows better now. Mikan cares about him, and it doesn’t matter what shape that care takes. It only matters that hearing Natsume call her worthless brings her to tears now, and that’s enough for him to feel way more conflicted.

This time, he apologizes.

He doesn't say he's sorry, but he's saying he's sorry.

He finds Kusami, steals his mask once again, never saying one word to a kid who has been generously keeping his secret for him. He runs after Mikan, and when he finally catches up to her, he hugs her.

Wearing the mask while hugging her is like wearing a raincoat in a hurricane. It won’t change anything or protect him at all. In fact, all he’s doing is giving her confirmation that it’s him, but he doesn’t care.

He doesn’t want her to think he hates her. He can’t stand it anymore. He’s sorry and he didn’t mean it.

He hugs her and this is different from his selfish hugs during the RPG or when he was having a nightmare. Those were little stolen moments for him to remember. He could take them from Mikan and cherish them as precious memories, even if she never thought of them again. This one is different. This one is for her, to comfort her, to apologize.

It’s all the things he can’t say. I didn’t mean it. Sorry. I have to do this. I really do care about you, I promise. It’s not real. Luna’s making me do this.

But before she can turn around to look at him, he leaves again.

He knows, because of Luna’s warning, that Mikan’s life will only get harder. He wants to help her, but by helping her, he’s placing himself further from her, making it harder for him to protect her in the future. If he’s distant from her to keep Luna at bay, then he’s not around to protect her from Luna in the storeroom, or during the cheerleading competition.

It’s what one might call a Catch-22. No matter what he chooses, he loses. And the worst part is that so does Mikan.

Conclusion

Natsume isn't an active participant in the last few chapters of this arc, so this is how I'll wrap the meta here. In the next arc there will be much to say about him. The Sports Fest went deep into Natsume's love for Mikan. It's not surprising that his love inspires selflessness. Natsume will always put others in front of himself and the more he loves someone, the more fervent he is about self-sacrifice. The truly beautiful thing about Natsume's love for Mikan is that it inspires selfishness too. And I never mean selfish as bad when I'm talking about Natsume. His love for Mikan is special in that it makes him want things for himself too.

I'm having doubts about being able to post tomorrow, so I apologize for only two posts this week. Expect normal posting next week at the very least! This essay is probably more than halfway through already, though I can't say for sure how much is left. Where I am now in terms of essay-writing is already deep in the Time-Travel Arc and as a result there's entire chapters I've skipped. Like. Seven in a row at times. Yikes. So basically we're pretty far in!

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danwhobrowses · 3 years

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AEW: Predicting the Next Champions (from Dec 2020 Onward)

Note: Spoilers for AEW Dynamite ‘Winter is Coming’ 2nd December Show

So Winter Came, and it came for Jon Moxley’s title reign. With a new champion, Kenny Omega’s reign will begin and most likely rule into and potentially beyond the year 2021 - along with what seems to be a budding relationship with IMPACT wrestling as well. At this current point I am expecting all the current champions: Darby, Cage, Young Bucks, and Shida to still be champions come the year’s end. So now is time to determine who will take the title from them? Note: While I am Legitimizing the FTW Championship for these predictions I am not doing predictions for the AEW Diamond Ring since it seems to be an annual trophy thing, the same applies for the Deadly Draw medals.

Potential AEW Trios Championship Prediction: Death Triangle Alternative Options: Jurassic Express, Best Friends & Orange Cassidy or Dark Order This is just an out-there one because there currently is no Trios Championship, but recently Tony Khan has noted that there is the possibility of a Trios Championship being introduced in 2021, and with several stables having 3 members it does look very likely. So for my money, PAC and the Lucha Bros’ faction Death Triangle (or Triángulo de la Muerte) will be the first to claim the gold. Currently a tween faction having feuded with Eddie Kingston and family, Death Triangle is definitely one of the most popular trios stables in AEW, to the point that we’ve anticipated their reunion longer than they’ve been a stable. Also, the Lucha Bros are due a title win, they fell short on the AEW Tag tournament and kinda hovered in the midcard, so they do need this the most. Alternatively, I can see other trios winning with the same appeal. Jurassic Express have been a favourite babyface faction who also seem to lose more than they win, the Best Friends with OC could use their experience to establish a solid reign and the Dark Order’s resurgence and usage of the Freebird Rule could allow them to enable dominance by numbers. While Team FTW and the Inner Circle could also be long shots, FTW have their own title and the Inner Circle, may have other plans for them. One can wish that the Trios Championship could be Intergender to allow more women to wrestle and be involved in factions, could have All-Women trios or mixed Trios but I do doubt so I won’t entertain for now.

FTW Championship Prediction: Cody Rhodes Alternative Options: Eddie Kingston, Lance Archer, ‘Hangman’ Page, Wardlow or Mr. Brodie Lee Recently the FTW Championship has been gaining attention due to Team Tazz’s prolonged feud with Darby Allin overlapping with Cody Rhodes. The rankings do have Cage and Starks very high up without title matches - save for Cage’s Casino Ladder Match victory entitling him to one. In the prior Dynamite, Tazz demanded that the FTW Championship be legitimized, and I feel like this will only happen if it changes hands to Cody. As much as he is talented and has a good head on him, Cody has unfortunately been reluctant to leave a form of spotlight. With the Shaq thing going nowhere like the Tyson thing was with Jericho, Cody making a ‘rise up’ feud with Cage and winning the FTW Championship would be a means to keep Cody in a top billing as he looks to legitimize the title only under his possession. This could also further storyline with Tazz, having ‘Hook’ perhaps side with his father and FTW fight to reclaim their branded title, or even Tazz vacating the title from Cody in stubborn rage. The alternative would be down to who else would have Brian Cage in their corsairs to be a legitimate threat. The FTW Championship this way could be a ‘Big Man’ belt since not many can beat Cage and share the FTW mantra Tazz would allow the belt to change hands for. With that in mind, Archer, Wardlow and Brodie are definitely ‘Big Man’ wrestlers capable of dethroning Cage and Eddie Kingston would definitely be someone who fits the FTW attitude, the man is money after all. Hangman Page would also be a decent shout to further his slow-burn storytelling, having Hangman fall into nihilism with this title, but for it to bring him no joy since this first singles title of his is from an illegitimate championship.

AEW World Tag Team Championship Prediction: Santana & Ortiz (Inner Circle) Alternative Options: FTR, Best Friends or Dark Order It is no easy feat to dethrone the Young Bucks. There’s not much else you can say about that, because of this it is not easy to determine who in the uber talented tag division can usurp them. Acclaimed, TNT, Private Party and Top Flight are not ready and Hybrid 2 are so talented but not in the champion mentality, the Trios Title talk also makes JE and Death Triangle less likely to just go for the tandem title. As a result, I am picking the former LAX to beat the Bucks. While Jericho and Hager seem to be representing the Inner Circle’s tag front right now, I do not think they would be successful to defeat the Bucks, this could trigger Santana and Ortiz to finally get involved. Like the Lucha Bros, despite some stellar matches they have found themselves aimless, so this is a good time to rebuild them to the great tag team we know them to be. With the advantage of the Inner Circle backing them also, it would restore legitimacy to the faction’s name. Other than the Inner Circle, FTR are probably the most likely to usurp the Bucks, I only don’t think they will because as the former holder it’d be a bit of a flip flop. The feud doesn’t need a title after all. Best Friends may not have to team with OC to capture gold, the same way that Dark Order don’t need to go for the Trios to capture gold, the Dark Order’s overness and the fact that the Bucks have taken responsibility for their booking could mean that they will seek to pay off the faction as a whole.

AEW TNT Championship Prediction: MJF Alternative Options: Sammy Guevara, Jungle Boy, Ricky Starks, Orange Cassidy or Miro Darby Allin is definitely entertaining as hell, but now he has the test of seeing if he can carry momentum on a weekly TV basis as a champion. I am certainly sure he can do it, but his downfall can easily be putting his body in too much harm’s way, which fits the strategy of MJF. Potentially without the AEW Diamond Ring when his challenge comes around, MJF can certainly profit from being a title holder in year 2 of AEW, his prior snipes at Darby especially before his World Title match against Moxley can fuel his confidence going against him and with the Inner Circle and Wardlow flanking him it can lead to him resorting to cheat tactics for heat and potentially lead to his downfall for when he loses the title, as well as neutralizing the legendary Sting - who I expect to stick around Darby, or at the least have a paternity test - for that extra dose of nuclear heat. Ricky Starks is considered the common alternative right now given their long-term feud, but let’s not forget Sammy Guevara had a great series of matches with Darby in the early days too. Miro right now is in one of AEW’s weaker gimmicks at the moment but a TNT title reign can restore dominance to his character. One possibility we do have to consider though is the heel turn, Darby could easily become consumed with defending his championship by any means, or his challenger obsessed with claiming gold, the former would better suit against opponents like Orange Cassidy - who will then be forced to ‘try’ - or Jungle Boy - who would seek to establish himself as a future world champion and not just an athletic midcarder.

AEW Women’s World Championship Prediction: Britt Baker DMD Alternative Options: Abadon, Kris Statlander, Thunder Rosa or Jade Cargill Despite its criticism, I believe that Hikaru Shida’s record-breaking title reign has been for the most part great. Shida herself has made a great fighting champion, calling on all contenders and having very good matches, to the point where we hold Shida matches at a higher standard to others. While I would love to have a strike match between her an a strongly-booked Tay Conti, I don’t think it’ll happen in time for Shida to still be champion, because the Doctor is in. Britt Baker was intended to be the Face of the Women’s Division, but after failing to connect with the crowd she became a revelation as a heel, only to be cut down by injury. In my opinion, AEW have maintained confidence in Shida’s reign because they want Britt to overcome her, likely by snide heel tactics to subdue Shida when she continues a juggernaut run through the division. Bringing a heel champion in will also open the door for more face challengers to shine, including returns for Riho, Statlander and Yuka Sakazaki. Currently Abadon has began to feud with Shida, crossing paths for the first time since Abadon’s only AEW loss against the then-not-champion Shida. Leaning on having the champion face fear, despite the Champion’s insistence that she is not afraid, it is still possible for fear to take over and for Abadon to win the championship, her gimmick definitely stands out and she has a definite following, there is also crossover value for her if AEW link her with or against IMPACT’s Su Yung and/or Rosemary. Other than Abadon, Statlander’s return from injury could start with a Heel turn of her own, allowing Statlander to use her power moves to more intensity, former NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa may also rekindle the rivalry for a second crack. While I’ll admit I’ve not seen Jade Cargill wrestle, if looks are to be judged, Cargill can certainly rule as a smarmy heel champion, and there can be added story with Vickie Guerrero allying with her and guiding her to get personal vengeance on Shida where Nyla failed.

AEW World Championship Prediction: ‘Hangman’ Page Alternative Options: PAC, Brodie Lee or Brian Cage Storytelling doesn’t have to be convoluted to be great, AEW and NXT have proven that with stellar stories even when we knew how it would end. And climbing Adam Page from the gutter to the top is certainly the story one would top off a big PPV or an Anniversary show on. Granted, it’d be a super slow burn, but Omega is certainly a champion you expect to hold ‘Big Platinum’ for a long time, it also serves AEW better to limit the amount of times their main belt changes hands, which I’m sure the EVPs are all well aware of. Kenny’s alliance with Callis can usher in some IMPACT wrestlers to perhaps bolster Kenny’s allies and opponents but for now I feel that AEW should keep their world title at the very list restricted to their roster. Outside of Hangman, PAC definitely has unfinished business with Omega, the Bastard’s talent cannot go amiss and his character has been a proven success in WWE and the Indies as strong titleholder. Brodie may also fit the top title, his feud with Moxley was brief but very entertaining, I would love him to have the same coveting that he did in the Moxley feud, even having Dark Order members carrying the title for him to the ring. The final option so far has to be Brian Cage, in NJPW Kenny had multiple foils; Okada, Tanahashi, but one of the major ones was the ‘Stone Pitbull’ Tomohiro Ishii, a man with plenty of physical similarities to Brian Cage. Cage’s deceptive speed and monster power could prove to be a similar foil to Omega as Ishii had been for him years prior. So yeah, congrats to AEW’s new champion, I wonder how many I’ll get right.

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toku-explained · 3 years

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The Darkest Swordsman

Z: GAFJ have developed D4 from Barabas' horn, a dimension destroying weapon, and have ordered it's installation in King Joe STORAGE Custom, the installation overseen by Yuki Mai. The Maintenance team make clear from the start they are against this, and the main squad are clearly against it as well, and the Director makes clear he is against using D4 as well, but orders have come down, he's not well, and Celebro encounters him. When Kelbim arrives, drawn by the energy at the initial test site, it quickly heads to where the next D4 weapon is, and the Director brings down the orders from on high to use only King Joe STORAGE Custom and make use of D4, even as more Kelbim descend from the sky and hatch. It's pretty obvious what has happened to the Director, but it's not outright shown. In defiance of orders, Hebikura dispatched Haruki in Windom, but even as they take out one another spawns, and Z is forced to come out. As they continue more appear and Yuka detects the Mother Kelbim in space. Z Delta Rise Claw goes to face it, but even as it wins the numbers become to much and Yoko is forced, out of desperation, to use D4. The attack does take out the Kelbim, but the dimensional collapse keeps spreading, only being stopped by Z. Hebikura makes clear he is angry about all of this, and Yuki Mai seems to have ideas about Ultraman's power. But the big this this time is, as every single member of STORAGE, the entire maintenance team lead by Bako, Yuka, Yoko, Haruki and Hebikura defies GAFJ orders, and the entire unit is being dissolved.

Ultra 6 Brothers The Live: I laid actual money to watch this, since it seems to tie into The Absolute Conspiracy. After Nice warms the crowd up, the story introduces us to Baltan Seijin Baruru, a child alone on a world save for his robot friend. Baruru seems to remember his grandfather, but that's it. One day Red King, Hellberus, Astromons and Giestron rampage, and Man, Seven, Zoffy, Hikari and 80 arrive to stop them. Afterwards the brother discuss why the Kaiju are acting out before all but Ultraman leave. He meets Baruru and befriends him before leaving, asking the robot to look out for him, and after it's gone Baruru and the robot plan to plant a flower, when a gang of Valkie Seijin, Magma Seijin and Zarab Seijin arrive, and start beating up Baruru, calling Hellberus back to assist. The Robot, inspired by Ultraman's words, fights back and does a decent job until losing power, but as more Kaiju come the day is saved by the arrival of the Ultra 6 Brothers. Zoffy fights Zarab, Man fights Red King, Seven fights Valkie, Jack takes Giestron, Ace battles Hellberus, Taro deals with Magma. After the brothers win, they save the Robot and leave, Baruru and his companion continue their journey, but in the end Baruru walks away from the robot, which continues the other way with the flower. Absolute Tartarus appears, commenting on a power. After an intermission the plot moves forward, and to an earth in 2020, where Bemstar and Telesdon come down from the sky, and the narrator explains the Devil Splinters, this is followed by Z Alpha Edge's stock footage, the Rise accompanied with a new one for Zero. Zero and Z Alpha Edge face the two Kaiju, then discuss about the Devil Splinters when an effect devices the Kaiju. Zero defeats Bemstar only for Tartarus, who Zero is aware of, to appear and revive Bemstar, and reveal his servant, the adult Baruru, who created the system reviving the Kaiju. Zero and Z are overpowered until Ultraman and Seven arrive and help defeat them. Ultraman recognises Baruru, and Baruru remembers him, Tartarus arrives and explains their plans. Ultraman asks him to stop but he lashes out, and uses the system to revive Zetton and EX Zetton, which overpower the Ultras, before taking them aside and fusing their genes with himself to become a Zetton Baltan Seijin (variants previously appeared in Orb stages, one being a Dark Ring fusion), and join the Zettons in their battle. While the other Zettons take Seven and Zero offstage, Man and Z fight Baruru. Nice comes onstage to guide some audience interaction to power up the heroes here, which brings Seven and Zero back, and the rest of the Ultra 6 Brothers. After a moment where Man and Baruru wordlessly reflect on their past, Nice somehow finds himself faced with Tartarus, who trounces him before the Brothers minus Man pull him away, they then defeat the Zettons. Zero and Z face Tartarus until he decides to leave, but Z pursues. Ultraman and Baruru fight, although really it's just Man trying to remind Baruru of his true self, Baruru wakes up and returns to normal, but Zetton Baltan Seijin still exists on its own, now mindless and Ultraman is injured taking a hit. Zoffy, Ace and Seven take care if it long enough for Baruru to revive Man using his device, and he destroys Zetton Baltan Seijin. Tartarus murders Baruru and calls on Tyrant, which already mostly defeated Jack and Taro, and Man, Zero and Z struggle with, until Nice leads the audience again. Together the Brothers Zero and Z defeat Tyrant. The dying Baruru is shocked by the robots return. Ultraman informs him they're on earth. The robot uses the system to save Baruru, and presents the healthy plant. After sharing some parting words Baruru and his friend leave. The assembled Ultras thank the audience and leave some last words. All in all good, but about as important as those Ultraman Festival Stages or the Final Stages. Also this is pretty clearly pre-Z so I don't know why they didn't just have Z in his initial state.

The Absolute Conspiracy: The highly anticipated event begins. New Generation Heroes was a prequel to Taiga, and featured the first live action appearance of a character previously only seen in a Pachinko machine. Similarly, The Absolute Conspiracy is a prequel to Z and features several characters previously only seen in the Ultraman Festival Stages. There are differences too though. The central villain here is, to my knowledge, wholly original, and while New Generation Heroes was a a single narrative from start to finish, this is a story in 3 "parts", and while New Generation Heroes focused on only the New Generation Heroes, as well as the two most direct mentors to that group, and an Ultra who debuted in the era but is not considered part of the group, here we have quite a diverse group. So we start here in Part 1, starting Ultraman Ribut. In the M78 timeline this would appear to be set sometime in the 1000s of years gap between Mebius and Ultra Galaxy. Cool to see there's a proper OP this time, evidently going to switch up for each part. After our brief appearance by Absolute Tartarus our focus moves to young recruit Ribut, who is working alongside Civilisation Guard Max (original VA), who is one of a number of M78 Ultras who was originally believed to be from his series' universe version of the Land of Light, but since the Zero movies we now know them to be from the main M78 universe, and traveled from there to the timeline of his series. The planet is having it's energy drained by a Maga-Orochi egg, the existence of which is concerning due to the Maga-Orochi being sealed on Orb's earth....by a group of Ultras that included Zero....this might be later in the timeline than I thought. Hellberus might be an indicator Tregear is behind what's going on, he has interfered with several other New Generation Kaiju, but Sran Seijin is the only mastermind we have at the moment. Gudis Cells are infecting Max now, and I presume they want the Maga-Orochi to evolve into something more. We go to Planet Kanon. This is before the event of The Origin Saga, as the Tree of Life is still standing. The present War God, Queen Izana, is also part of the Galaxy Rescue Force, which seems to draw from an old idea from the 70s of a Galactic Federation that Tsuburaya's heroes were all part of, in this instance though the alliance is multiversal. Anyway here we have Sora, making her first appearance outside of stages, she started out as one of the generic Ultras, but now have that armour to stand out. She's accompanying Yullian (new VA) princess of the Land of Light, who is wearing a mantle here for the first time. Leucocyte attacks, which may further point to Tregear, and 80 (original actor) appears to help, until Leucocyte flees. The 80 sequence heavily reminds me of the Ace and Leo Brothers sequences in Ultra Fight Victory, giving the classic Ultra a strong showing before the newer hero takes centre stage. Ribut reports what happened to Zoffy, Taro and Hikari (all have their longstanding VAs) when the other 3 arrive with their own report, giving them a lot to deal with, and establishes the history of Ribut and Sora. They have to create an antibody to Gudis' cells in 3 days or Max is lost, and Ribut is sent to train on K76, where he meets for some intense training Great (New VA) and Powered (Kai's actor Kane Kosugi in English, Kai's dub VA in Japanese).

Saber: Tassel on the phone to somebody, interesting. I've gotten over my issue with Touma's memory from last time, knowing he was friends with Kento and finding Kento was in the memories that seemed to be dreams are different things. It's only natural that Kento is confused, and he decides getting Kamijo to tell him everything is the only option. Apparently the 6 swordsmen being present is reason for Legeiel to step up Megiddo plans using Goblins. Kento and Rintaro argue before the activity starts, Sophia gives Mei a key and heads out, leaving Northern Base to her. Kenzan goes to face one Megiddo, while Buster's mission to face another is interrupted by Desast. Rintaro and Kento argue about duty to Sword of Logos when Kento is called by Reika to where Sophia is confronting Caliber. Saber arrives at another Goblin. Sophia is trying to get explanations from Kamijo when Kento and Rintaro appears. Kento asks if the worst possible scenario is true before confronting Kamijo, Espada and Kamijo clash, Slash joins Saber and lends Bremen no Rock Band, when Zooous arrives to face Slash. Caliber claims he cut down Hayato for being a traitor, while calling himself a seeker of truth, Espada uses Golden Alangina and pushes Blades out the way. Kento gets a good hit in, and Caliber decides to use Jaou Dragon, becoming Caliber Jaou Dragon. While they fight Sophia suddenly vanishes. Mei uses the key an unlocks the screen, and Saber uses Dragon Bremen to defeat his Goblin as Kenzan does the same. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Legeiel, Zooous and Desast wanted, opening gates of Fire and Wind. Caliber overpowers Espada on the end, and tries to make the killing blow, but Blades takes it, and Rintaro is in critical condition. I think Kento's probably going to act less rashly now. Tassel has a guest, and I have an idea who. I might be wrong.

Kenshin Retsuden: This time we have an episode of Kenzan, listed as being "another side" of episode 9. Ogami and Ren are both looking for Caliber when Ogami realises Sophia is about to do something reckless. Desast, who is looking for Caliber to reclaim his book, confronts Ren and mocks him on the nature of ultimate power, Ren showing some serious might makes right thoughts, before leaving, thinking something about him afterwards about Ren's nature. Ogami saves Sophia as in the episode, but afterwards Sophia comments that Kento will be hurt regardless of who Caliber is, opening Ogami's eyes to the possibility of someone else behind the mask.

Kiramager: Whatever it is the guy wants to say to Sayo, he's clearly nervous. Sayo has gone into the dinner with certain expectations, but isn't sure how she feels quite yet. The team tries to let her keep the evening for her date. While the team is busy, she really wants to hear it at least. Garza's plan is to unleash multiple Jamenju, which Riddle Kamen is making plenty of energy for. As for Sayo, it's not like she doesn't like the dude, but she won't know until he says it, but I like how everyone is just desperate to know more. Sayo solves the riddle but doesn't tell the others what it is. Garza is bending Hakobu to his will. While it appears what Kusaka had in mind was something different, Sayo gets straight in to helping him. I am a little disappointed that we're having a marriage would mean quitting being a ranger plot for a female in fucking 2020, but that doesn't matter because turns out, surprise, Kusaka was working with Yodonna. Garza is off to eliminate Oradin. Sayo still protects him, but any chance of anything more is done for, but she still entrusts him with warning CARAT. To be fair about the marriage plot, Sayo herself had every intention of making it work, and there is the whole surgeon thing giving it more justification here than in other plots. I like how we have this goofy scene of Juru making Riddle Jamen answer a riddle of his own interspersed with the fairly serious drama of the Sayo plot. Garza has arrived in Atamald, the plant is sprouting, and 3 Jamenju arrive.

#toku explained #ultraman z #ultra galaxy fight #kamen rider saber #mashin sentai kirameiger

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precuredaily · 5 years

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Precure Bonus Day: “Futari wa" Era Overview

Across the last year and 4 months, I rewatched all of the Futari wa Precure branded shows that ran from 2004-2007. These three shows form the foundation of the Pretty Cure franchise that currently spans 16 television series, 27 movies, and multiple stage shows. The end of the FW era marks the beginning of a shift away from the franchise’s roots, so before I dive into Yes! Precure 5 and beyond, I want to take the time to reflect and analyze the past three seasons as a whole. What did they have in common? What aspects did they change? Where did each show succeed and fail, and what common threads are there between these successes and failures?

Hopefully it goes without saying that there will be spoilers, but just in case, I will be discussing each of these series in their entireity, including plot twists and details about their finales.

Futari wa Precure (2004)

Obviously, this is the show that kicked it all off. Toei made this two years after their highly popular Ojamajo Doremi series ended, with the gap year 2003 being filled with a non-magical girl shoujo anime called Ashita no Nadja. I don’t think they meant to start a franchise, and honestly I don’t think they even meant to make it a year-long show. The plot wraps up pretty nicely in episode 26: Nagisa and Honoka have defeated all the henchmen and the main villain and they can return to their normal lives, having become great friends along the way. However, it was popular and the merchandise sold well, so they continued it. At least that’s my theory, maybe it really was meant to be an annual show, but the back half feels extremely stagnant and not particularly connected to the first half. They changed the objective, changed the villains, and the animation quality went down the toilet.

Nonetheless, it established important concepts for this era: most obviously, the two-girl team. It’s in the title: “We Two are Pretty Cure” (there’s a reason you don’t see it translated much, lol) The two girls also come from different walks of life, and would probably not have much reason to interact if it weren’t for being Precure. This first season in particular establishes something of a yin-yang theme with the two. Short hair and long hair, sporty and scientific, middle class and upper class, black and white. While less prominent, this idea of girls from diverse backgrounds coming together will remain a theme well beyond the FW era, to the point where the current (as of this writing) team consists of two space aliens. A key element of the two-girl teams is that they have to transform together. They cannot operate as individuals; they are a pair and they are strongest when they work together. From a writing standpoint, this is an excellent idea that allows for a lot of scenarios that can test and strengthen their partnership.

Another big aspect of FWPC is the supporting cast that flesh out the world. Nagisa and Honoka have friends other than each other, who sometimes have their own story arcs despite not being the main characters. Shiho stands out from this series, as we saw her develop and explore an interest in theater, but possibly the unexpected breakout character was Odajima Yuka. I’m getting ahead of myself, because she didn’t really click with me until her single appearance in Max Heart, but that wouldn’t have been meaningful without her sporadic presence in this show. There are also a half dozen other characters who get a focus episode and then recur in the background throughout the show, and I love the consistency. The girls have love interests and we get to see them wrestle with their feelings. It all makes the girls feel more ordinary, despite their secret lives as superheroes. They have normal lives with normal problems. The girls aren’t the center of the universe, they just happen to be the focus of the show, and there are lots of other people that also inhabit it, going about their lives, whose paths sometimes cross with the main characters’.

FWPC established a bit of a trend for the villain faction: they were fronted by a big, giant monster of literal darkness and each of the subordinate generals has a portion of the macguffin. Each general had a gimmick in how they plotted and attacked, be it brute force, overwrought scheming, subterfuge, or infiltration. The inevitable result of this was that some villains felt more interesting than each other, of course. Pisard and Gekidrago were nothing but archetypes. Poisony had a personality, because she played off of her brother Kiriya, and he had his own arc where he learned to appreciate the good side of humanity. Ilkubo combines aspects of several of them, being extremely powerful and basically the Dark King’s right hand, but for all his gesturing he doesn’t amount to much. The Three Seeds of Darkness from the second half of the show have less going for them. They have personality quirks but they’re not particularly memorable as characters. A lot of their time was spent sitting around saying “We need to find the macguffin.” Their most interesting moment was when they realized that they would be consumed by the Dark King, and tried to betray him (unsuccessfully), otherwise they were just kind of there to pad out the series.

Aside from the down-to-earth nature of the characters and the world, the other biggest element that FW gives us, which the series became famous for, is the fighting. The show’s director, Nishio Daisuke, had recently come off of work on the Dragon Ball series, and he went into Precure with the mindset that “girls like action too.” The combat is physical, the girls kick and punch the monsters rather than fighting with magic wands or special attacks, except for the finisher. This set Precure apart from the crowd and I honestly think it was a big contributor to its early success. It offered little girls something they didn’t often get without branching out into the other Sunday morning offerings, which were targeted at boys. Nishio was good at directing action and he made the fights entertaining to watch.

The major failures of FWPC are some truncated character arcs. Kiriya deserved better than to be forgotten halfway through the series, only to come back as something of a guiding spirit at the end and then die an unsatisfying death. Yumiko (the lacrosse captain) was completely forgettable despite the show trying to make her a notable recurring character. Some of the early guest characters of the week had really lame reasons to exist, like Mayu (the girl who looked like Nagisa). The Seeds of Darkness were utterly lame villains so the second half of the show feels less compelling than the first half. Also, the ending is just kind of strange. Mipple, Mepple, and Porun go to sleep seemingly forever, and Nagisa and Honoka’s graduation feels bittersweet when they think about that and see a boy that looks like Kiriya. I’m still not sure if the ending was so sad because they knew the sequel was coming or despite it, so if it’s the former, it’s a strange choice that only kinda works if they knew that the audience knew that Max Heart would be starting the next week and all the sad stuff would be undone. If it’s the latter, then it’s a bold choice to have a downer ending that was undercut by the show’s own popularity. Either way, I don’t think it was effective given the direction Max Heart took. Without Max Heart I’d consider it strong, but I can’t ignore the effect of the sequel. Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Futari wa Precure Max Heart (2005)

Max Heart is an interesting animal. As the sequel to a fairly closed-ended series, it has to invent a reason to exist and uh.... it doesn’t do that very well. The Dark King apparently attacked the Queen of Light before his defeat, and now a few months later she dies and splits into her life, heart, and 12 wills, each of which are marketable in their own way. It essentially turns into another Macguffin quest, but the girls aren’t even actively seeking out the Heartiels, they just come to them. And unlike FWPC’s quest which wrapped up in the first half of that show, they stretch this one out for the entire season, so it gets tiring. That’s my big criticism of MH, but it’s not all bad.

Nagisa and Honoka were enjoyable characters in the first season and I am beyond delighted to get to spend another year with them. This season sees them deepening their friendship as they deal with their new leadership positions in their clubs, offering advice to underclassmen who are struggling with issues they dealt with in the first season, and further exploring Nagisa’s romantic feelings. She finally confesses to Fuji-P at the end of the show, even if he doesn’t actually hear her and consequently nothing comes from it. Season 1 Nagisa would never have gotten that far. Honoka’s development is rather subdued. She learns how to be a good club leader, and in episode 17 she helps push the club out of safe territory for the sake of their passion, but there’s really not much else to be said. She acts as Nagisa’s life coach sometimes when she has anxiety about her future, and helps her confess to Fuji-P, but she really does take a backseat this season next to Hikari. With that said, let’s talk about Hikari!

Hikari is, of course, a new character for this show, and thus her character arc is the most prominent of the trio. She also has more room to grow, since she starts out as basically an empty shell. Even if she is the Queen’s Life, she fully develops into her own person with her own life, friends, interests, and personality. Her overall kindness is probably a side effect of the Queen but she’s still not the Queen. She goes to school, makes friends, gets a job, builds a family, and generally discovers the joy of life. She’s a really enjoyable character to follow, because her journey isn’t just friendship like Nagisa and Honoka’s was, but becoming human. The tragic irony of her character is that the more of an individual person she becomes, the closer the Queen’s resurrection is, which means losing Hikari, and by rights this should form the backbone of the show’s conflict, but they don’t really seem to get this until the last quarter. They raise the question periodically but they don’t give it the discussion it deserves, and that’s a major weakness of the series. They ignore the problem until they can’t anymore. If they had given the audience the sense that this was intentional, that they were actively ignoring the matter, then it could have been interesting. Unfortunately, we never get the sense that Nagisa and Honoka were deliberately ignoring the inevitable question, and it seemed more like they just didn’t care.

As Shiny Luminous, Hikari somewhat changes the team dynamic, but she’s also not just a third fighter like Black and White. She is less combative, except when she has to be, and instead her abilities are more support-oriented. She stays back and activates barriers, slows down the enemy’s movements, and powers up Black and White. Her lack of combat skills means that sometimes Black and White have to protect or save her during fights, which interrupts the flow of battle and can make the fights a bit more drawn out than in the first season. I appreciate what they were trying to do by adding Luminous, and I am not in any way calling her a bad addition to the team, but her particular skills aren’t a very good fit for the style of fights that this show was built on. A lot of times she hides away from fights instead of transforming, making her more vulnerable. It seems like the staff wrote themselves into a corner with that aspect of her, and weren’t sure how to properly utilize her abilities.

The villains in Max Heart are an odd bunch. They’re slightly more memorable than the Seeds of Darkness, but no more competent. Their fights are meaningless, because Baldez is the only one who understands what’s going on with Hikari and Hikaru and the Dark King’s resurrection, and he doesn’t explain anything to the other three, so sometimes they just straight up defy his orders because he hasn’t told them what their objective is. I’m fine with villain infighting but I want there to be a good reason, a clash of ideals or something, not just straight up lack of communication. They have personalities, but that doesn’t play into their fighting styles in any meaningful way. The most interesting thing about them is how they form a family around Hikaru, and try to nurture and protect him while he grows. It brings out the soft side in some of them at home, and causes them to lash out in anger if he comes in contact with the girls somehow. Watching how Hikaru grows and parallels Hikari’s growth was a nice subplot. I’ve never been certain if the audience was supposed to recognize that he was the Dark King’s life before they reveal it in the series, but I really hope they were. Hikaru goes from a carefree kid content with living in the manor to wanting to get out of the house and see more of the world, which leads him into contact with Hikari on a few occasions, spiking each of their innate powers. Since he’s younger, though, he never reaches Hikari’s level of emotional maturity, which actually makes him a little more tragic because he’s just a little kid who unknowingly hosts this great evil. He just wants to do his own thing. Fortunately, in the end he is able to have a life with Hikari and Akane, even after the Dark King is destroyed. Which brings me to.....

Baldez. The final arc where Baldez revives the Dark King and then reveals that he himself now has the power of the Dark King is a neat subversion on expectations. He was always the most mysterious villain of the bunch, he was absent for half of the series and when he was around he played his cards close to his chest. He encouraged Hikaru’s growth by stoking Hikari’s development, and got in the way of Uraganos, Circulas, and Viblis when they tried to defeat her outright. He was a large threat to the girls whenever he did appear, and in a lot of aspects he seems like a precursor to Gohyaan. Ultimately though I can’t say he left a big impression. Most of the time he sat around the mansion saying “They’re developing nicely, the Dark King’s revival is soon....” and rarely set foot on the battlefield. He had no personality to speak of, and didn’t answer to anybody, so he was just flat and boring.

The next thing I want to discuss about Max Heart are some continuing storylines. I discussed the evolution of Nagisa and Honoka’s characters, but their friends get some further development as well. Shiho comes to mind, of course. In the first season she flexed her creative muscles by directing the action version of Romeo and Juliet for the cultural festival. In the sequel she goes a step further, deciding that she wants to be a Hollywood movie director, and chooses to incorporate special effects into their school play. It’s not a lot, but since not a lot of the side characters even get a character arc, it sticks out. However, there’s one character from the first series who didn’t get much to work with who suddenly is a lot more interesting when she recurs in this season, and that is Odajima Yuka, which is especially surprising since she only appeared in one episode, but due to it, all her past appearances suddenly make more sense. This is the episode where she, as a high schooler, joins the middle school science and lacrosse teams on their annual retreat, and ends up challenging Nagisa in a game. She gets out there, works her hardest at a sport she’s never played, and goes toe to toe with the team’s star player. They never outright say this, but what Yuka needed was to be challenged, to compete against somebody at her level. In all of her encounters, Nagisa is the only person who can outrun her. Nagisa may be clumsy at times, but she excels at athletics and gives Yuka the challenge she craves. In fact I think Yuka even envied Nagisa’s laid-back lifestyle. It is remarkable to me that the writers brought her back for Max Heart at all, and saw fit to conclude her story. She was never an important character, but she was memorable, largely because of this season. Later seasons with more main characters tend to sideline their supporting cast, so it’s nice that a minor character gets this kind of focus.

Lastly, there was some attempt to develop Akane early on. There was a three episode arc where a man from her old job stopped by and the girls all thought he was trying to pull her back into an office job. In the end, she declined his offer but he was still interested in dating her. She seemed to take to the idea, and there had been some hints that she wanted to get married and have kids someday, but after this arc, her potential suitor was never seen again and nothing more ever came out of it, beyond her effectively adopting Hikari and Hikaru as her children. It would be interesting to see adult romance play out, even in the background. The first season had Ms. Yoshimi getting married but we never saw any of her life outside the classroom, so giving Akane a little bit more spotlight would have been nice. Sadly, this was not the direction the show took.

Max Heart also got the theatrical treatment, and the movies were honestly very good. Famously, it’s the only series to get two movies, because the first film was originally intended to be just a FWPC film. They share a premise of whisking the girls off to a different land to resolve a problem that the locals are having, and they have their friendship tested along the way before coming out as better and stronger friends than before, acquiring exclusive new forms to defeat the villains. These would become signature elements of all Precure movies.

As I said earlier, the ending to FWPC was very finite, and that was strange juxtaposed to the fact that there was an imminent second season. There’s some strange irony, then, that the finale to Max Heart, the final series that will ever follow this cast of characters, feels a lot more open. It ties off loose ends, of course, and Nagisa and Honoka graduate from middle school, but while it’s implied that Mepple and Mipple go to sleep again, and Hikari is gone after reviving the Queen, less than two minutes pass for the viewer before they find out she and Hikaru are living with Akane, and that all their fairies are awake and as energetic as ever. Even though there ultimately weren’t any shows with these characters, there is room for more. Could they have known what the franchise would become? Could they have had any idea that these characters would still be popular 15 years later?

Futari wa Precure Splash Star (2006)

Splash Star is of course the first full reboot. I don’t know why, maybe they didn’t think they could continue the story of Nagisa and Honoka into high school. Could’ve been neat, but I’ll save the “what ifs” for another time. It rebooted the series, and that set a precedent for shows to follow. It keeps the two girl dynamic of course, and the visual similarities are hard to ignore, but those are fairly superficial, and it manages to find its own identity while improving on the ideas of the prior shows. The theme of the show changes from yin and yang to nature, and that affects everything: the aesthetics of the heroines and villains, the objectives they fight for, and most especially the combat style.

Once again, one girl is athletic while the other has a more academic hobby. Saki has two major friends on the softball team where Nagisa had two major friends on the lacrosse team, but Mai’s companion in the art club is less notable than Yuriko was to Honoka. This time they attend a coed school, and their circle of friends includes a couple of boys, as well as another girl who isn’t a member of either of their teams. Splash Star does the best job at managing its recurring and ensemble cast out of these three seasons. Characters are introduced, have their focus episode, and continue to make notable appearances, often hanging out with the main characters. Kenta even helped Miyasako find a hobby outside of being a class representative. They keep the number of recurring characters lower than FW/MH, use them in better roles, and the result is that they’re better developed and remembered. The romance plots are less fleshed out than in FW, but that’s about the only drawback. Also, Saki and Mai’s relationship with each other is much more immediate. Nagisa and Honoka took a few episodes to warm up to each other and only really cemented their friendship after a big fight, but Saki and Mai are fast friends by the second episode, and all attempts by the villains to introduce discord just backfire because they have absolute trust in each other.

The villains are also extremely fun and memorable. Whether you like them or not, they leave a distinct impression, much like the generals in the first half of FW. They have unique designs, quirky personalities, and at the end of the series we get to see them interact with each other. Karehaan was fairly straight-laced and I don’t like him much. Moerumba has a spicy personality, his problem is his short-sightedness. Dorodoron gets a laugh from me for being so timid. He might have been boring on his own, but he got to spitball with the Kiryuus, which helped him a lot. Miss Shitataare is powerful and cocky but completely inept. Kintolesky was easily my favorite of the lot, being honorable and straightforward and impeccably muscular. Aside from Karehaan’s overall blandness their biggest problem is not having enough cross talk with each other, with that being saved for their revival arc. Later shows do this a lot more often and better, thankfully.

Speaking of villains, however, Gohyaan stands out. He kind of serves multiple roles as both the comic relief of the villains, like the Zakenna Butlers, and as the right hand to the big bad. He spends most of his time sucking up to Akudaikaan, but occasionally he does go out on the field and demonstrates how powerful he actually is. His memorable personality and the twist where he reveals he’s the mastermind all make him a welcome addition. And just to reiterate, that twist had very minimal foreshadowing! Akudaikaan himself was the opposite, very not memorable, he’s blander than the Dark King, and that’s no easy feat. The most interesting thing about him is his physical design, as rather than being an amorphous blob like the Dark King, he has a defined face and a robe. His head resembles a Samurai helmet and a demon mask, and he has fire in his eyes. It’s a shame this theme didn’t really amount to anything.

Michiru and Kaoru’s redemption arc has to be the highlight of the show. The writers took some cues from Kiriya’s similar storyline in the first show but they gave the sisters a lot more time in the limelight, which allowed their characters to be better fleshed out. Over the course of the second quarter of the show, we get to see these girls go from a faux friendship with Saki and Mai into a legitimate one, because they actually listened and learned about the beauty of the natural world. They start to understand what it means to be cared for, to be appreciated for who you are, and not have your value be dependent on what you can provide for someone else. If more villains would take the time to see things from the perspective of the people they’re trying to defeat, they might also understand this, and truly some of them do. We’ll explore several types of redeemed villains in the shows to come, and I look forward to comparing and contrasting them with this. The biggest problem I have with the Kiryuus is that they were absent between episodes 25 and 41, and barely mentioned. Mai and Saki worried for them, and Miss Shitataare gave them hints that they were still alive, but it was sad to see them shoved aside for half the show with no particular explanation being given about what Gohyaan was doing with them. That’s my only major strike against Splash Star.

The fighting in the series is still punchy, but this time the spirits spice things up. There’s bursts of spirit energy whenever they kick and punch, they can concentrate the spirit power in certain parts of their bodies to jump farther, punch harder, and block attacks. As Bright and Windy they have elemental attacks using the light and wind. It’s an evolution of what the first series started, and I enjoy it. Finally, the victories feel meaningful, because every battle they get the reward of a Miracle Drop. Every seven episodes or so they collect enough drops to revive a fountain, and Princess Filia grows more and more complete. There is constant progress throughout the series, so even the slow parts of the show feel meaningful.

Of course, the series got a movie, and it was very similar to the prior two in overall plot: Tension arises between the two, they’re thrust into another world before they can resolve their feelings, the villain takes advantage of their personal conflict to overpower them, they get separated, then they make up with each other and come together stronger to defeat the villain. The closes they get to a movie form in this one is a glowing outline surrounded by the spirits of the zodiac, somewhat bucking the trend, but it’s an excellent movie. That really isn’t something I can say about all of them, so I’m grateful that these early films are so strong.

Splash Star has been described as the perfection of the Futari wa formula, and overall I have to agree. Of the three shows, it is the most consistent in all regards. There’s constant progression, character growth, meaningful supporting characters who you really sympathize with, and a fun and enjoyable cast of both heroes and villains. The first half of FWPC may be more fun, but the second half drags it down. Max Heart as a whole isn’t really sure where it wants to go. Splash Star sets a destination and arrives there at the right time, with some twists and turns along the way. I strongly recommend it to anyone trying to get into the series for the first time.

Unfortunately, despite Splash Star being arguably the best of the three seasons (both Eastern and Western fans ranked it above Max Heart), it tanked in sales after its first quarter, so it was decided that, if the franchise was going to continue, they needed a new look. Thus, they turned to the most enduringly popular magical girl series around for inspiration for their next season. But that’s a story for later.

Analysis

The most obvious shared elements between the three shows is the two-girl team, which they each used slightly differently. In FWPC, it’s the two of them against the world. That’s it. Max Heart switches things up with a third hero, who is not combative, but supports them, and they have to protect her at times, sidetracking their fights. Splash Star goes as far as to introduce two more fighters whose power stems from the darkness but they use it for good. They help the Cures out and the Cures help them out, but it’s Bloom and Egret at the core. The key aspect of this period of Precure is that the duo are regular girls who can only transform when they’re together, and that their powers become stronger when their feelings are in harmony. The shows each explore the pros and cons of this setup, concluding that their teamwork is the most powerful force in the word, and this is quite possibly the best thing to come out of this period of the series. The thing I especially like, however, is that being Pretty Cures means that the protagonists have an especially close bond with each other, moreso than their other friends. Since they have to transform and work together, they more intimately understand each other, and they share experiences their other friends will never know about. They look out for each other in every aspect of their daily lives, they have absolute trust in each other, and they will go through hell to protect each other. Pretty Cure’s most powerful weapon is friendship.

As far as their individual personalities go, Saki tends to be more optimistic than her counterpart. Nagisa is lovable and relatable as all heck, but she had kind of a pessimistic view of the world at times. It’s evident even in their catchphrases: Nagisa always says “I can’t believe this!” while Saki proclaims she’s “In top form!” Neither of them would ever hesitate to help a friend, and especially their partner, but during the daily grind Nagisa is more likely to be upset at her circumstances. Meanwhile, Honoka and Mai are even more dissimilar to each other. Honoka has a scientific mind, she’s very astute and good at picking up details. She kind of struggles with making friends but she tries to help people out, always, especially when they don’t want to help themselves. She puts up with a lot of crap but she will chew you out in the name of making you a better person. Mai, however, is observant but she tends to hyperfocus on one thing while drawing and space out a lot. She is a little timid but not afraid to express when she’s upset. Both Mai and Honoka serve to temper and balance out their more energetic partner, serving as the voice of reason when they get heated, and in general keeping them grounded. I love how, despite the differences in their friendships, both sets of partners help to round each other out and make each other better people. It’s a testament to what a good friend can do for you, and of course the central motif of the shows.

Consequently, other friendships form a big part of these shows, too. The small cast means that the girls have friends besides each other, and in each series we see how the protagonists influence their friends, their friends influence them, and we even get to see Hikari make new friends of her own. Again, all the shows handle this well, and it’s something that will be missed next season, since the larger team size means their friendships are more insular. Having friends outside the team grounds the shows in relatable situations as the protagonists go about their daily lives, hanging out with their friends who become beloved characters and get story arcs of their own. Shiho, Rina, Yuriko, Nao, Miu, Hitomi, Yuuko, Kenta, Miyasako, and Kayo are all memorable and important pillars of the shows. They encourage the leads when necessary, get into hijinks with them, explore their own interests, hang out, and have fun together. This also allows conflicts to be resolved without the Precure. In most superhero media the central conflict of the episode is between people’s feelings or beliefs rather than a physical altercation, but the fight usually resolves things somehow, while in Precure, since the combatants are often not the ones with a disagreement, it instead helps them figure out how to help their friends resolve their troubles.

Since these are the stories of regular girls dealing with regular adolescent issues, love is not a strange subject. Nagisa and Saki each had crushes on slightly older boys in their shows, and they handle it remarkably similarly. They get flustered, embarrassed, and have trouble even speaking to their partner about it. However, Honoka is shrewd enough to discern Nagisa’s feelings, while Mai never learns that Saki has a crush on her brother. The writers even approach their romances differently. Nagisa tends to be more proactive in exploring her feelings. She makes active efforts to make gifts for Fuji-P and confess her love to him, ultimately culminating in that fateful Max Heart Christmas episode where she yells it for all the world (but him) to hear. Meanwhile, Saki tended to just admire Kazuya from a distance, except when he came to her. She got jealous when it appeared he had a girlfriend, but she never acted on her affections in a direct way. I theorized that Fuji-P might actually suspect Nagisa’s feelings, and possibly share them, but he wants her to be ready to tell him. Meanwhile, as far as we can tell, while Kazuya finds Saki interesting, he doesn’t really see her as anything more than a friend. I like these different representations of young love, they show how much or how little of a priority it can have in someone’s life.

Famously, Honoka also got a brief pseudo-romance with Kiriya. She helped him grow as a person, he challenged some of her overbearing ways, but they clearly respected each other. She was distraught when he was taken back to the Dusk Zone, and that was one of the most heartfelt episodes in the entire series so far. There were echoes of his impact on her in the rest of the first series, but I never felt like they explored that story to its full potential, and he was not even mentioned in Max Heart. Mai never got a corresponding love interest, and Hikari’s love was more familial: for Nagisa and Honoka as her partners, for Akane as her guardian, and for Hikaru as the only person who could possibly understand her existential crisis. She learned about romantic love but never experienced it herself, which is fine. Girl has enough to worry about as it is.

The physical fighting pioneered in FWPC set the groundwork for the rest of the series, and you can see it slightly evolve over the course of these three shows. While FW is pure punching and kicking except for finishing moves, Max Heart introduces a character with support spells to help the team, and Splash Star gives the combat a bit of flair and style with the spirit trails and elemental attacks. Each show has carved out its own little niche, and I really think that’s one of the fascinating elements of the series. YPC5 will usher in special weapons, which are a genre staple that the original trilogy avoided. That will become standard for all series going forward, so these three shows with their almost entirely unarmed battles are a true highlight of early Precure to me. They manage to keep the fights interesting, always, it’s not just straightforward sparring. The girls do a lot of jumping around, flipping, fighting in sync with each other or tag-teaming. They always have to find weaknesses in monsters that are designed specifically to be hard to beat. Sometimes they’re fast, other times armored, or they’re heavily offensive, they have special abilities of their own, or the commander is threatening someone else. Always, the heroines find an innovative way to defeat their opponent and save the day in a visually exciting manner.

When it’s not showcasing awesome girls fighting for friendship and love, Precure is about selling toys. Bandai has a long history of designing toys to coincide with Toei’s Sunday morning shows, and they put their experience to work here. Nonetheless, they had some difficulty with the rather nondescript themes of the early shows, so the toys sometimes come across as very out-of-place. The transformation toys are generally cutesy enough to pass, the powerup braces stand out, the mid-season fairy’s compact forms are extremely gaudy (ESPECIALLY the Splash Commune, it’s literally just a computer in a show about nature), and the macguffin storage object of each show (Prism Hopish, Queen Chairect, Fairy Carafe) starts a proud Precure tradition of being a large, expensive toy first and a sacred artifact later. Additionally, there’s at least one object in each show that is Precure-branded merch in the real world which has no combat use and is forced into the plot of one episode before being quickly forgotten. As the years go on, the toys will be more unified with the theme of the show, and we’ll see some new patterns emerge.

One last element I realize that I forgot to bring up before now, but that becomes a franchise trend, is a trademark food and a restaurant of sorts. In FWPC and Max Heart, of course, their food of choice is takoyaki from Akane’s Tako Stand, where Hikari winds up working in Max Heart. Splash Star’s restaurant is Panpaka PAN, the Hyuuga family bakery, and their signature food is chocolate coronets. The restaurant or food stand is always a recurring location, where the girls and their friends often meet to talk and hang out and eat some delicious food. This is certainly not exclusive to Precure, or even the magical girl genre, as having recurring locations saves on the budget, both in animation and live-action, and food is an easy way to get people to congregate. Nonetheless, it’s sort of brought up in Precure All Stars, and there’s some truly great food ahead of us, so I wanted to point out that the trend goes all the way to the start of the series.

Obviously, 2004′s Futari wa Precure wasn’t intended to kick off a franchise, so when it got popular they stuck to what they knew for the second season. I’m not sure why they didn’t take the Doremi approach and keep aging them up a year for more seasons, but perhaps they thought they had exhausted the storytelling potential of the original cast and realized that it had franchise potential if they followed the annual reboot model of other superhero shows. The biggest issues with the first two shows are pacing, which is fixed in Splash Star, and you can see them tweaking and refining the formula in other ways through the three shows as well. If I had to describe this era in a word, relative to the overall franchise, it would be innovative. While the two-girl partnership would take a break for a few years after this, these shows laid the foundation for plot structure, villain organization, toy integration, and combat that would be utilized and enhanced by the rest of the franchise, so it’s cool to trace the roots of many Precure conventions back to their origins. What began as a humble action show for girls meant to sell some toys got popular, and continued past its intended conclusion. It was even referenced in other pop culture of the time.

Powerpuff Girls Z (2006)

The series had gotten the attention of the masses and was a proven success. We got five memorable and lovable heroines, a bunch of beloved supporting characters, some wonderful villains, and even some welcoming food stands. Of course, there were bumps in the road. The series was still finding its footing during this period, and will continue to do so as we head into Yes 5, but without these three shows laying the groundwork for the franchise, I might not be here talking about it.

That’s my ode to the Futari Wa era of Precure, I hope you enjoyed it, I’m sorry that it took so long to get out. Look forward to Yes! Precure 5 reviews coming your way shortly, and remember:

Your best! My best! Ups and downs! Together We are Pretty Cure!

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure #Futari wa Precure Max Heart #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #Precure Bonus Day #PCD Bonus

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ft-dads-au · 4 years

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Revelations

Home for the Holidays 2019 Prompt: Proof (alcohol) Pairing(s): Lyon & Loke (pre-slash), Lyon & Natsu, Loke & Natsu A collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404 AO3

August 3rd, 2020

Most of the time Lyon Vastia loved his job as a family law attorney, but some days, it really wore him down. Today was one of those. After a long day in court where nothing had gone his way, he was tired and irritable.

On days when he felt like this, he would normally go home and have a few drinks, but he had house guests at the moment. He figured it wasn’t a good idea to subject Gray and Aki to his crappy mood.

So instead, he entered Crime Sorciere, a small corner bar near the Magnolia Courthouse, frequented by most of the lawyers in the community. He sauntered over to his regular stool and took a seat, grateful it seemed to be a slow night. He called Natsu over to order a drink.

“How’re you feeling, man?” Lyon asked, noting Natsu’s taciturn expression, so different from how he’d been the night before.

“I’ll live, what can I get you?” Natsu replied in a business-like tone, and Lyon knew enough to back off. They weren’t exactly friends yet, although he thought last night might have changed that a little.

“Can you make me one of those Edolas drinks you’re always going on about?” Lyon saw a little excitement enter the younger man’s eyes as he rushed off to make his order, and it improved his mood a little.

Last night had been rough on all of them, for the first time they’d all understood that there was more going on with Natsu than what they’d initially thought. He always acted so cheerfully that they’d never thought to ask what his real situation was. There were no words Lyon could muster to express how deeply sorry he felt for Natsu’s loss, and Natsu clearly wanted to put the whole incident behind him. About the only good thing to come of it was that Gray would hopefully lay off him a little.

Natsu had just returned with his drink when Lyon heard a sigh to his right. A body plopped down on the stool next to his, and he turned to see Loke Regulus looking disheveled, which was definitely a far cry from his usual meticulous appearance. His eyes were red-rimmed behind the tinted glasses he always wore, and he looked like he might still be dressed in the clothes from the previous night.

Loke grabbed the drink before Lyon could object and downed it in one gulp.

“Hey!” Natsu protested, “That was for Lyon!”

“Just make him another one, and one for me. Put it on my tab.” Loke was positively glaring at Natsu, and both he and Lyon looked at each other in confusion as Loke slapped his credit card on the bar. “And keep them coming.”

Natsu grumbled something under his breath but left to prepare the drinks.

“What died and crawled up your ass?” Lyon had no particular interest in Loke or his life, but he’d been spending enough time with the guys from the Dad’s Club to feel like he kind of belonged and should make some sort of effort.

Lyon had never been one to have a lot of friends, he kept his eyes on his goals and let nothing get in his way. He’d hit it off with Gray in college, and there were Yuka and Toby, but that was about it. Although he had to admit, he kind of enjoyed the camaraderie that was starting to develop with these guys.

He knew Loke from having seen him around the courthouse and at the bar for the last couple of years, but until recently, they’d never had much cause to interact. Loke was a notorious flirt, hitting on anything with legs, and that had always irritated Lyon.

“That fucker, he ruined everything!”

“Who?” Lyon blinked at Loke, having no idea what the hell he was going on about.

“Natsu! All his fucking talk last night, it messed me up.”

Natsu had returned, and by the look on his face, he’d caught the tail end of their conversation. He set the drinks down in front of them and walked away.

“Natsu!” Loke called out, but the bartender didn’t stop. Loke slammed his fist on the bar, “Damn it!”

“What the hell, Loke,” Lyon scolded, remembering how upset Natsu had been the night before, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Lucy kicked me out last night,” Loke mumbled, once again downing the drink in one gulp. “Bastard can sure make drinks,” he whistled appreciatively, “Guess he had to be good at something.”

Lyon decided to ignore the jab at Natsu in favor of trying to get more information out of the defense lawyer. “Alright, I’ll bite. Why did she kick you out?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You’re so full of shit. If you didn’t want to talk about it, why say anything in the first place?”

Loke remained silent, sliding his finger along the rim of the glass, so Lyon being the jaded divorce lawyer he was, made an educated guess.

“Let me guess, she found out you cheated on her?

“I have never cheated on her!”

“Don’t act so outraged, I’ve seen you in here all the time, women hanging all over you. A lot of my clients would consider that cheating. Your choice of clients leaves a lot to be desired as well.”

“Don’t be such a self-righteous asshole. Just because I flirt with people doesn’t mean I step out. And by the way, everyone deserves a fair trial, Lyon, not just the people you think are innocent. You can say whatever you want about me, but at the end of the day, you and I aren’t that different. We’re both in this to help others.”

Lyon thought about that for a moment and had to admit there might be some truth to Loke’s words.

Loke turned to look at Lyon, his eyes uncertain, and from years of experience as a divorce lawyer, he recognized the pain hidden in their depths, and he was shocked by the honesty he hadn’t been expecting.

“It was nothing like that. That whole she was my home thing Natsu was going on about last night, it tore me up, okay.” Loke explained, “There was a time when that was true for Lucy and me, but it hasn’t been like that, not for a long time. At least not for me. I’ve tried, we did the therapy, and all sorts of other crazy stuff, even joining the Dad’s Club. But nothing’s changed. I — I’ve just been going through the motions for the girls. When I told Lucy all that, she went into a screaming fit and kicked me out.”

Lyon didn’t know how to respond to that, but it was the most personal thing Loke had ever shared with him, and he was sure his expression reflected his astonishment.

“What?!”

“I’m just surprised, I never thought you cared about anyone but yourself.”

“Fuck you! You don’t know the first thing about me.”

Lyon found that incredibly amusing, “That’s not entirely true.”

Loke raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to make of that response but soon returned to drinking as quickly as possible.

“I’ve checked in to the hotel across from the courthouse, for now. I guess I’ll have to go home and get some of my stuff.”

Lyon grunted in acknowledgment but didn’t say anything in response. He was all too familiar with this stage, the slow realization at the separation, and the impending thoughts about divorce. He already knew what was coming next, and he wasn’t disappointed.

“Hey, you’re a divorce lawyer, aren’t you? Would you be willing to take my case?”

“No, but I’d be happy to recommend you to a good one.”

“Why the hell not? You’re one of the best ones out there.”

“I don’t represent friends on divorces, only stuff like adoption or surrogacy. You know the types of things we learn about people in this profession, it can destroy even the closest friendships. And before you say anything, Gray is a special case.”

“Why? Cause you’re banging him?”

Lyon erupted into fits of laughter, remembering the conversation he’d had with Gray’s brother some months earlier, “Why does everyone think I have something going with Gray, do I give off a gay vibe or something?”

“More of an asshole vibe,” Loke muttered under his breath.

“Nice to know I’m on brand,” Lyon chuckled, looking down to notice two more drinks had been delivered even though Natsu was all the way at the other end of the bar.

“You’re just very protective of him, it’s rather unlike what I know of you,” Loke pointed out with a shrug.

“Gray’s been through a lot, he deserves better, and that’s all I’m going to say about it,” Lyon cautioned, “If you ever have any other family-related legal issue, I’m your guy. But I can’t help you with this.”

“So we’re friends now?” Loke grabbed his drink and sipped it thoughtfully, “Never thought I’d see the day.”

And with something akin to surprise, Lyon realized he didn’t actually mind the idea. Loke was a pain in the ass, but he also wasn’t as bad as Lyon had initially thought.

“Friends,” Lyon agreed, taking a sip from his drink and smiling in appreciation at the flavor. Natsu did, indeed, make good drinks.

He noticed Loke glancing over at where Natsu was standing, his expression conflicted. A few moments later, he got up and walked over to the bartender. They spoke for a few minutes before shaking hands, with Loke reaching over the bar to ruffle Natsu’s hair roughly, laughing as Natsu scrunched his face in outrage.

Lyon snickered into his drink, relieved to see Loke acting more like his usual self but also feeling a bit glum. Even after years of seeing it happen on a regular basis, it still depressed him to see marriages fall apart. Especially when there were kids involved.

He thought of all the lawyers he went up against on a regular basis and grabbing one of his business cards he wrote down two things on the back, the name of a lawyer he thought would be a good match for Loke and on a whim his own phone number.

A/N: We are working on a separate one-shot titled She Was My Home which will deal with the events Loke and Lyon are referring to. Stay tuned....

#fairy tail #ftdadsau #ftlgbtholidays2019 #loke & lyon #ftlgbtales #prompt: proof #lyon & natsu #loke & natsu #fics

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mdelpin · 5 years

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Gratsu Bingo 2019 Prompt: Obsession AO3 | FF.Net

Things Aren’t Always As They Seem

Chapter 1

Gray looked around the dimly lit room with disinterest. Women were walking around in tight leather miniskirts, and bikini tops, small aprons tied around their waists with Blue Pegasus embroidered on them in blue thread identifying them as waitresses. They had a smile for everyone, and the fakeness of it all irritated Gray’s every last nerve.

Not to be outdone, the male waitstaff walked around in the typical Chippendale’s uniform, tight pants showing off their every asset, a bow tie the only decoration on their torso. Gray’s eyes lingered a bit longer on these as their expressions at least differed one from the other. Some were trying very hard to look appealing, while others seemed increasingly bored with the attention they were receiving from the patrons.

Gray could relate. Hell at this point the only thing that differentiated him from them was the sash reading Groom that was draped diagonally across his chest.

It should have read Groomsman, but it had ripped at some point when he had unconsciously stripped, and someone had fixed it in a way that hid the rest of the word. He would have removed the offending fabric, but Lyon had demanded he keep the damn thing on, and tonight was supposed to be all about him, so Gray had relented without putting up much of a fuss. At least he was in the one place in Magnolia that wouldn’t give him shit about walking around half-naked.

If it had been up to him, he would have left hours ago instead of sitting next to Loke, who was quite busy with the girl that was gyrating oh so teasingly on his cock, her expert movements letting his friend know what could be his for the right price. She’d already mentioned the private rooms a few times. Gray almost felt sorry for her, Loke did not pay for what he could readily get for free.

Gray looked away, uncomfortable by the display. He could sit there, order a drink and try to tune them out, but he really didn’t want to watch was coming next so he made his way to the bar wondering how much longer he’d be forced to stay in this club.

He sat on one of the stools as soon as one opened up and was surprised to see someone he knew behind the bar.

“Mira?” His eyes widened in surprise as he took in the sight of his old classmate dressed in a very lowcut dress.

“Gray!” Mira squealed enthusiastically leaning over the bar to wrap him up in a friendly embrace, “You’re here for Lyon’s thing, right? I was hoping I’d get to see you. How’ve you been?”

Gray snorted as his answer, quickly taking a drink from the beer Mira had set in front of him before he could even ask.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry!” Mira hung her head low, letting her bangs cover her eyes, “I didn’t think about the fact that you used to be with her, this must be so hard for you.”

Gray began to laugh, causing Mira to peer at him confusedly. “Trust me, it’s totally fine.”

He changed the subject, not wanting to delve into the topic. All that ever did was remind him of the real reason for his misery. “Does Elfman know you work here?”

“Yeah, of course. He does too,” Mira looked out on the floor trying to find her large brother among the other male staff. “He’s around here somewhere. He was planning on doing his dancing debut tonight but will all of you here, I rather think he won’t.”

“Elfman’s a stripper?!” Gray chuckled into his drink, and it felt good. It was a real laugh, not the fake shit he’d been dishing out lately.

Mira laughed along with him, “Well, he’s been working on it. They get paid more, plus tips. College is really expensive, you know?”

Gray could only nod at that, he’d found that out too, although he’d never considered stripping. He wondered how much it paid.

Stupid stripper

Gray shook his head, trying to get that well-loved voice out of his head, but it didn’t help. All the emotions he’d been keeping locked inside came crashing down on him from just that one innocent insult. One that he’d heard from those lips more times than he could count.

“Well, I’ve got to get back to work, I’ll check on you again in a little bit.” Mira gave him a quick peck on the cheek before moving away.

“Wait! I never paid for my beer,” Gray called after her, knowing Mira could be a bit scatterbrained sometimes.

“It’s on the house,” Mira waved at him cheerfully. She’d already moved on to another customer, and Gray noticed how her shoulders tensed uncomfortably. Gray made sure to leave a nice tip for her. He couldn’t imagine it would be much fun for her to work here.

Now that he had found Mira, Gray decided to stay at the bar. He made a cursory sweep of the room looking for his twin brother. He hoped Lyon was smart enough to not get into any trouble tonight, Juvia was forgiving, but she was also incredibly jealous. She’d wanted to have a Jack and Jill party but Yuka, Lyon’s best friend, had refused, and so the two parties had remained separate.

He found him quickly enough, looking drunk and uncomfortable in a situation not that dissimilar to Loke with Yuka and Toby cheering him on. Gray whistled, glad not to be in his shoes anymore. Juvia had a way of knowing things like that.

It was still hard for him to believe he had finally caved and dated Juvia. He sighed, not that he’d had much choice. He’d had to do something to quiet the emptiness and longing that had never quite healed after Natsu had left.

Natsu.

There was so much of Gray wrapped up in that name. He could still remember summer days spent climbing trees, lazing on the beach and challenging each other in every possible idiotic way they could think of. They had known each other most of their lives, had been friends since the moment they met. Although to anyone who didn’t know them well, they would appear anything but.

Natsu was sunshine, ice cream, wet dreams, and every other possible thing that brought him joy all wrapped up in one irritatingly loud package. He was the one who had unknowingly held his heart all through high school, and the one he let get away.

In his defense, he hadn’t actually known the idiot was leaving. They’d even enrolled in the same university so as far as Gray knew life was going to remain the same as always. No. It was going to be better because two weeks before school let out for their last summer, Natsu had confessed to Gray that he was gay and that had been all he’d needed to push him into confessing his feelings.

Except he couldn’t do it right away, Gray had waited so long he wanted to do something special. What a joke. He’d ended up getting drunk at their graduation party and kissing him. He put everything he had into that fucking kiss, there was no way Natsu could not have understood his meaning.

But Natsu had not responded, and when Gray had pulled away, there was only sadness in his best friend’s eyes. And that was the last time he’d ever seen him.

No matter how many times he’d called, no matter how many pathetic messages he’d left begging for the prick to just please talk to him, silence was the only response he ever received.

No one knew what had happened to him, or even where he’d gone. His roommate Sting said he’d just disappeared overnight with no explanation, taking all his things with him and leaving one month’s rent on the table to give him time to find another roommate. That had been two years ago, and Gray had never gotten over it.

Good things had come of it, Juvia finally wore him down, and they’d dated for a few months. It hadn’t lasted long, even her fantasies weren’t enough to make the reality of dating him bearable.

In a move that surprised everyone but him, Juvia had dumped him for his brother, and now they were getting married. Honestly, he wished them well. He’d been a dick to her, and she deserved better, and Lyon was definitely that. After the initial awkwardness, he found he really didn’t care.

He tried dating, tried having casual sex, then he tried just being alone as much as possible, and found that was what he preferred. His already surly personality deteriorated to the point only a few people could stand being around him, and that was how he liked it.

Still, his thoughts would return to his best friend. Why had he looked so sad after he kissed him? Where did he go, and why did he have to leave so suddenly? How could he have ignored Gray’s pain so blatantly after everything they’d meant to each other. Had their friendship all been in Gray’s mind?

No matter how many times he thought about it, he could never come up with an answer that satisfied him, and it pissed him off. It had become an obsession. One that he couldn’t seem to claw his way out of.

He still checked in with Sting from time to time, but he had no more clue than Gray did. Lyon had suggested he hire a private investigator. If only to put an end to his questions once and for all, but Gray wasn’t ready to do that yet. Taking that step would force him to let go of too much of himself, and he wasn’t sure he’d like what would remain.

“Gray?” Hands were shaking his shoulders, and he found himself peering into his brother’s worried eyes.

He felt the fake smile curl on his lips, but before he could say anything, Lyon had waved Mira over.

“Hey, Lyon!” Mira must have been feeling generous because she also gave Lyon a hug. “Congratulations! What can I get for you?”

“Do you guys sell any t-shirts or something?” He pointed at Gray’s naked torso, and she giggled.

“Haven’t you tortured the poor guy enough? I doubt he’d want to walk around with a shirt from this place. Let me see if I can find something in Elfman’s locker.” She walked over to a fellow bartender who took over her area as she rushed into a back room, returning a few minutes later with a black shirt that looked to be too small for her burly brother but should fit Gray just fine.

“Here I grabbed one of his muscle shirts, he won’t mind,” Mira said kindly as Lyon thanked her.

He tossed the shirt at Gray, “Put this on, and let’s get out of here before Yuka can get me into any more trouble.”

Gray felt like he should be convincing his brother to stay at his bachelor party, but then again, he wanted to get the hell out of there. He took the dreaded sash off to put on the shirt, happy to see it wasn’t a bad fit after all. He was about to toss the sash into the nearest trash receptacle when Lyon stopped him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“You can’t be serious,” Gray whined, “I’ve worn it all night, come on have a heart.”

“Put it back on, the party isn’t over,” Lyon grinned somewhat drunkenly as he put the sash back on his brother, chuckling at his obvious discomfort, “This is my last night of freedom and I am not done yet. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Gray let Lyon lead him out of the club, stopping to breathe in the fresh air. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was still quite early, not even ten o’clock. “Alright, where do you want to eat? My treat.”

“Steak, lots of steak! Ooh, is there one of those Brazilian steakhouses around?” Lyon asked hopefully, “Juvia wants me to become a vegetarian, says it will make me live longer.”

Gray snorted at the idea, to him that was a fate worse than death.

“Uhm, dunno, lemme check,” Gray grabbed his phone and opened a search window plugging in Brazilian steakhouse near me into the text box. A few seconds later results popped up.

“You’re in luck, it looks like there’s one about a twenty-minute walk from here. Let’s go,” Gray began to walk, and Lyon followed although his steps were a bit wobbly. “Would you rather take an Uber?”

“No, I want to build up an appetite so I can eat more meat, “Lyon replied, his voice sounding almost cheerful, something Gray was definitely not used to.

Gray snickered and kept walking, keeping a loose grip on his brother’s arm.

“You were thinking about him again, weren’t you?” Lyon scolded, “You promised me, no Natsu tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” Gray hung his head, feeling sorry he’d disappointed his brother, “I tried.”

“I know,” Lyon’s voice was surprisingly gentle, something Gray was not expecting. Usually, when the topic came up, Lyon became angry.

“Where do you think he went?” It was a question Gray asked himself daily.

“If it were anyone else, I’d say he was hiding from a gambling debt or something,” Lyon shrugged, “I just can’t think of anything that would make him leave.”

“Or to treat you like that,” this last bit was muttered under his breath but Gray still heard it.

They were getting a lot of strange looks from passersby, and even some cheers and high fives and Gray finally realized that both their sashes read Groom. His mood darkened further, and he tore the sash off, ignoring Lyon’s complaints as he tossed it into the nearest trash bin and sped up his steps towards the restaurant.

Groom, he scoffed. As if he’d ever be such a thing. There was only one person he wanted, and clearly, that wasn’t going to be happening.

They lucked into a last-minute cancellation and were seated right away, both drinking heavily as they picked different items from the waiters that stopped at their table every few minutes. Lyon ate his fill of meat until he was sated, all while looking at his brother worriedly.

“Do you think I’m making a mistake?” Lyon asked suddenly, surprising Gray out of his thoughts.

“Marrying Juvia?” When Lyon nodded, Gray thought about it for a minute. “Nah man, she makes you happy. How could that be wrong?”

“It wasn’t that long ago that you were all she wanted, she could change her mind again.”

The doubt in Lyon’s face gave Gray pause, made his heart feel tight in his chest. He’d thought Lyon was long over that.

“I’m pretty sure I scared Juvia out of that idea,” Gray’s laugh sounded brittle, and he just wanted to go home, but he also wanted to be a good brother. “This might be the one time where you are the better man,” Gray deadpanned before breaking into an amused smile, “And I will forever deny saying that.”

“I wish,” Lyon began before Gray interrupted him.

“Don’t.”

“Alright,” Lyon complied, although he looked sad again and Gray could have kicked himself. “I love you.” Lyon’s eyes welled up, and Gray took that as their cue to go home. He asked for the bill.

“I know, but save your tears for the wedding,” he advised, as he squeezed his brother’s shoulder, “I’ll be fine.”

They called an Uber, and when it finally arrived, Lyon drunkenly refused to get in unless Gray wore his groom sash. He finally did just so they could get home, knowing they would have to get up early for the wedding preparations. Lyon fell asleep in the car, and Gray could only snort. His brother had always been a lightweight, more interested in his studies than partying.

Gray studied his brother’s sleeping face, smiling fondly at how the anxiety Lyon normally exuded just melted away when he was resting. Growing up, he hadn’t really enjoyed being a twin, although it had helped that they weren’t identical. But the last few years they had gotten closer.

When Gray tried to push everyone away in his grief and anger, Lyon had steadfastly ignored him, moving into his apartment and refusing to let him hide away. But after tomorrow everything would be different, and Gray was going to miss him.

He stared out the window for the remainder of the drive.

Natsu, where the hell are you?

To be continued...

A/N: This should only be a two-shot, I think.

#fairy tail #gratsu #gratsubingo2019 #ftlgbtales #prompt: obsession #gray x natsu #natsu x gray #ftfanfics #my edits

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shctteredillusions · 5 years

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For the muses that have ships: How good (or bad) are they with PDA? How far are they comfortable going in public? And do any of them like teasing their partners while in public?

Random but still completely adored inbox invasion ( @odigcs )

Such amazing questions, gosh thank you for these!!! I love having something like these asks to think about and it gives me a good chance to dive into each muse more and sometimes discover things I hadn’t even known. The rest is under a read more because of length. I swear I hadn’t realized how many ships I have now until I started writing them up but they’re all so amazing and beautiful and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Quintin and Eleni: Quintin as you already know will have trouble with PDA and not ending up a flustered mess of a dork, however, I can see him able to handle small things like hand-holding, light touches, soft kisses and such. He’s not an overly possessive or jealous guy either but he is the type to just make his presence known if he feels someone is making a move on Eleni and a few words to make sure the other knows that she is taken (he will have trouble for a long time understanding how he managed to land her by the way). So basically, nice lowkey type of PDA at the most with him since he’d prefer the rest to be kept between the two of them where others can’t see.

Shiori and Ren ( @for-a-prxce ): Shiori and PDA… probably pretty damn bad considering she’s a highly possessive woman and Ren being… well, Ren he tends to get quite a lot of looks which always ends up making her want to show that he’s taken and then knock the one staring or flirting with him right on their asses. But yeah, her types of affection in public will usually start with small things like hand-holding and such and escalate from there to grand gestures such as heated kisses and wandering hands. But she also does enjoy teasing him too. She does so enjoy getting him riled up and making him have to wait until they are somewhere more private to be able to take care of such things though the two of them have proven as of late to be willing to even just run off to a place nearby and tend to things as well so long as they can’t actually be seen.

Ichirou and Imani ( @for-a-prxce ): Ichirou is also more lowkey when it comes to his affections. Hand-holding, an arm around her shoulders or waist, hugs, light kisses and things like that. Though he’s also been known to push it a bit further when he gets possessive and is willing to display it a bit more like kisses along her neck and such. But that’s usually as far as it goes for him. Though I will say that Ichirou is a man who is very proud to be with Imani and will love showing her off.

Yuka and Arata ( @for-a-prxce ): Yuka isn’t the type on her own to show too much, however, she has been seen to be willing to go however far it takes to make her mark when it comes to Arata. She still believes even after all this time that a prettier and far better lady will come and steal her boyfriend right from her and so she’s always trying to make sure that everyone knows that she won’t stand for that. Lots of kisses, playful flirting, exclamations of her love, lots of touching and more.

Lyrica and Somnio ( @for-a-prxce ): Lyrica is, in fact, probably one of my most possessive muses. While in their normal verse, Somnio hasn’t quite seen that side of her, at least not completely yet, she is the type that’s all too eager to destroy someone over him and I don’t think she even realizes just how bad she can get. But she does know to some extent which is why she tries to hold back the crazy out of fear she’ll scare Somnio away. But her types of affection are far showier, then again, everything about Lyrica is. It’s never a simple kiss with her, it’s always deep and passionate. Her touches always linger, her stares always heated, and the things she says are usually more than she should or verging on inuendos (even if most of them end up going over her boyfriends head).

Lucien and Katarina ( @for-a-prxce ; Kris since when did we have this many ships?? Wow): If there is anyone that could give Lyr a run for her money when it comes to being possessive, it’s Lucien. But with even just normal PDA he actually exceeds her. Lucien enjoys having sex in public, he loves doing anything and everything with his girlfriend and he truly doesn’t care who is around to see it. He will tease her, he will toy with her and he will happily take her to the closest place and show her how much he wants her. But at the same time, she returns a lot of these things right back at him and because of that, he knows that he could never find another woman as perfect for him ever in his life.

Cipriana and Emil ( @for-a-prxce ): I didn’t honestly think Cipriana would be the type for much PDA before because of the fact that she’s so easily embarrassed and she’s much better just staying out of sight and not drawing any attention to herself and then comes Emil, blowing that out of the water in every single way. Granted their PDA isn’t nearly as bad as some of the others, they do tend to have quite a bit of trouble keeping their hands to themselves and their lips separated. Good thing they have that adorable little pug Cucciolo to break them up before things get too far. But also note the fact that Cipriana is willing to stand on the rooftops and proclaim her feelings for Emil just to try and prove to him she does because these two both seem to think they aren’t good enough for the other and go out of their way to try to prove each other wrong.

Damian and Dawn ( @for-a-prxce ): Ahhh Damian… hm they are still rather new so I haven’t quite figured out how exactly he is going to be but what I do know is that he truly loves teasing the crap out of Dawn and so far he has shown very little signs of caring if someone is there watching or not. I’m pretty this is going to extend into all sorts of other forms of PDA as well. He’s just not really the type to care at all about what others think unless you’re someone he actually cares about. So in the end, he’s probably going to be pretty bad with it as well.

Taylor and Crowe ( @thewolfisawake ): Taylor is what I’d call the switch of the PDA group. There will be times where she can’t keep her hands to herself and others where she sticks straight to only the light and casual things. Depends more on where her mind is especially if Crowe is just getting back from a mission or something like that because when he first comes to visit, she’s usually very clingy. It’s part of the not seeing him for who knows how long while he was working and to the fact that his job is dangerous and she worries about him and fears the possibility of that day he doesn’t show up and instead she gets a call or a visit from their friends without him. But even when she is clingy, it’s usually nothing too much. Just constantly craving his attention, pulling him for kisses, hugs, very sappy and dorky words exchanged between them and things like that.

Ayame and Aspis ( @thewolfisawake ): These two have not gotten to this point yet but when I think about it, I think they’ll end up being that really cute gushing couple off to the side just doing their own thing. Any PDA from them will likely be along the cute lines instead of the kind that makes you think it’s too much. Ayame is pretty good with being plenty affectionate and expressing herself without displaying too much in front of others. But what others would have to deal with is her constantly being a sap for him and all the cute and dorky little things she says to and about him.

Stelios and Katia ( @vlciasvorka ): Another ship that hasn’t gotten to that point yet but when it does, Stelios will be the type who loves to tease Katia when out in public. He’s big on grand gestures from hot and heavy kisses, showing his claim and marking his territory to even as far as ass grabbing, neck kisses, even picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder to find somewhere more private. His limits will end up becoming only whatever Katia’s limits are.

Vincent and Val ( @solarisesanev ): Vincent doesn’t like anything being too public so he’s on the very low end of this spectrum. He only does the smallest of things and usually, it’s because he wants to make sure that Val herself is happy. Otherwise, everything else remains behind closed doors with him. But Vincent is also quite different than the average wolf so this isn’t that surprising for him.

Yesenia and Rion ( @solarisesanev ): Yesenia is… not exactly bad with it but she’s not quite lowkey either. She can get a bit clingy, have these moments where she’s always got to be touching Rion in some way and, she has her typical territorial side like most wolves and isn’t afraid to show that Rion belongs to her. But she’s also the type that usually goes by a mix of things. From those times she specifically needs more from him to even judging by what he’s feeling.

#odigcs #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { qυiитiи & єlєиi } ; α cσυρlє тнαт яєαdร тσgєтнєя รтαyร тσgєтнєя #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { รнiσяi & รєяєиυร } ; i'll яєwяiтє тнє รтαяร jυรт รσ yσυ'll bє мiиє #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { yυkα & αяαтα } ; мσи รσlєil мσи єтσilє lα lυмiєяє dє мα viє #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { icнiяσυ & iмαиi } ; fσяєvєя αиd αlwαyร yσυ αяє мy єтєяиiтy #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { lyяicα & รσмиiσ } ; συя fiяє bυяиร fσя αll тσ รєє #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { lυciєи & kαтαяiиα }#♥ ⁚ ⁛ { ciρяiαиα ; ємil ; cυcciσlσ } ; αll тнαт yσυ αяє iร αll i'll єvєя иєєd #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { dαмiαи ; dαwи ; αρняσdiтє } ; i'll lσvє yσυ єvєи αfтєя тнє мυรic fαdєร αиd тнє รтαяร иσ lσиgєя รнiиє #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { тαylσя & cяσwє } σиly тσ yσυ รнαll i รнσw мy нєαят #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { αyαмє & αรρiร } ; αиd รυddєиly αll тнє lσvє รσиgร wєяє αbσυт yσυ #♥ ⁚ ⁛ { รтєliσร & kαтiα } ; รнє lσσkєd αт нiм likє รнє jυรт яєαlizєd wнαт lσvє fєєlร likє #{ vincent and val } he’ll never move and she’ll always shimmy shake }#{ yesenia and rion } you're never going to stop 'til you get what you want ; what i want is you #arcxnumvitae #thewolfisawake #solarisesanev #vlciasvorka

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ainomessage · 7 years

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Le Mouvement Final - Spoiler Free Report *Warning - long ass post. I went to see the musical in Tokyo 4 times this year! I had only planned on seeing it 3 times, but well... 😅 Before my first show I got my nails done at my usual place, Cocotte in Harajuku. I asked for the planets (/moon) for each senshi plus shooting stars for the lights. To see more of Mashima’s incredible work, check out his insta! He paints every tiny detail by hand with itty bitty brushes. Wednesday, September 13 I went to this show by myself, but was able to meet up with the lovely @redcat36 @miniaturephantomprincess and @clockworkangel ! Everyone was super sweet and it was wonderful to be able to share the myu experience with fellow international moonies who were just as crazy for the cast as me.😆 This was also the fateful day in which I made the mistake of buying just enough can badges to get myself hooked. My seat was in the 6th row on the left side (facing the stage) so my view was good other than occasionally having a few things blocked by cast members or set pieces. I’m very glad that I wasn’t alone in how much crying I was doing throughout the show. Everyone around me had tissues out and you could hear sniffling throughout the theater. That evening Hinari played Chibi Chibi, and you could hear the whole theater squeal when she first appeared on stage. TOO. CUTE. 💖 Poor Shuu had a lot of mishaps - she flubbed one line, her suspenders popped off, and she almost missed touching Sayaka’s hand during THAT scene. After the show there was a Starlights + Kakyuu sendoff, which went by WAY too fast. I later learned I could slow it down a bit and am sad I didn’t do this for the Lights, but alas. After the show we waited outside the theater to say goodbye to the cast. Hinari gave everyone high fives (AWW) and the Lights stopped to talk to people for a bit! Saki shook my hand and noticed my Kuma Crafts Star Yell necklace and said my Galaxia + Animamates t-shirt was cool.💚 Friday, September 15 This time I went with my good friend @kaikinapela and once again met up with the other girls. This was one of the “fanclub service days” which I have to say was a disappointment. The possible prizes were a photoshoot with the cast, a signed pamphlet, or... a sticker. As you can probably guess, we all got the sticker. I think they could have done better for a third prize, especially considering the sticker was the same image as the flyer. They could have at least given us an original photo! We did, however, miraculously manage to get first row seats through the fanclub! The picture of the stage above is from that seat. I’m not sure it quite does justice to how crazy close we were. The actresses were all about 2 feet in front of my eyes, it was insane. Several times I got distracted from the show by just staring at whoever was in front of me. This is when I learned that Kobayashi Yuka (Seiren) has a belly button piercing lol. This day I also had AMAZING luck with can badges - I managed to pick two signed ones! Rimo and Kaede💛💚 This night Chise was playing Chibi Chibi and she got just as much of a gasp from the crowd at her adorableness. She’s much smaller than Hinari! During the curtain call I managed to catch eyes with Meiku and Mirai. Airi, who is the most adorable ball of energy on the planet, waved at us twice and made a heart with her hands in our direction.💖 She’s too cute! My friend has been trying to catch Yuga’s rose since 2013, but was sadly thwarted again - she did get an apology look from Yuga in return for her disappointed face, though.😉 Saturday, September 16 Same group of girls for this show! This time @kaikinapela and I were seated in the 10th row in the center (right behind ROOT, the former Jadeite, incidentally). Once again I had crazy luck with can badges - this time I pulled 3! Yume, Satomi, and Saki! I still can’t believe I got my two favorite characters (Venus/Healer) and SATOMI. Yume’s signature says “Thank you very much! Let’s meet again!” and Satomi’s says “Satomi Cosmos.” The others signed their name and did a doodle. 💖 We were back to Hinari for this show. I have to say, she was my favorite (more on this later). Though I loved being so close to the stage for the other two shows, this was the first time I fully appreciated all of the visual effects. I hope everything comes through on the DVD. After the show there was a sendoff from the Inners, and this time I at least managed to properly make eye contact with each of them as we went by. Monday, September 18 This was my bonus show. I hadn’t managed to get tickets for it online, but loved the other shows so much I had to try to get into the Tokyo finale. I waited in the insanely long line for the same day ticket lottery and drew “awaiting cancellation (#5).” This means I was 5th in line to get a ticket if someone cancelled. I thought for sure this meant I wouldn’t get in, but no! I managed to get one of the folding chairs they added behind row 6. It was incredibly uncomfortable but WORTH IT. This meant I was in front of an aisle, which is a good place to be on the last day. During Moonlight Densetsu everyone but the villains, Cosmos, ChibiChibi, and Moon (with her giant wings) ran out into the audience. At first no one was coming down our aisle, but I made sure to hold my yellow light high and Rimo saw! She came down our row for high fives. 💛 Later Mikako made a second pass and came down our aisle too. ♥ When everyone returned to the stage to wave and bow, Rimo pointed at me, waved, and blew a kiss! I almost didn’t believe she was aiming at me since she was on the opposite side of the stage, but I was the only yellow light around. 😭 💛 　That evening the inners + Tux gave short speeches, and I could see Meiku trying not to cry.💔 　Poor little Chise just looked bewildered the whole time. After the show I managed to talk to all 3 of the Lights! I was wearing my signed Healer and Venus badges, so Saki gently patted her own badge and then flicked Venus in the face.😆 Meiku was very surprised when I complimented her singing - she doesn’t seem to be very confident, which is unfortunate because she’s very talented. Riona also noticed my badges and asked if I shipped Yaten/Minako. When I said yes, she said “What about Taiki/Ami?” I told her I love them too, and she wondered if she had forced me to say it (she did not). She asked me to wear a Mercury shirt next time.💙 I also met a few other lovely international moonies that evening, but sadly I don’t know their tumblrs! If you guys see this, message me! Thanks to trading with friends, through twitter, and at the venue, both @kaikinapela and I managed to collect a full set of badges!

Overall Impressions I would rank this as one of the best musicals of all time - including the classic Bandai era. I will admit to being biased because the Stars arc is my favorite, but they really pulled out all the stops. The entire cast was amazing, even those who had small roles. Singing was fantastic across the board - the inners have improved a lot and all of the new cast members were great. While it was sad not having Karin stay for the “last” (last!?) musical, Mirai did a great job and was a strong singer. I think everyone will be especially blown away by Galaxia and Kakyuu (who is once again an opera singer!). If you’ve listened to any of Isuzu Coco’s music through her twitter, her Galaxia voice is so different! Much deeper and more powerful. Poor Sayaka seemed to be sick during the Tokyo shows - her voice got progressively weaker and more hoarse. Hopefully she recovers by the finale! The set and visual effects dramatically improved with Amour Eternal and this musical continues that trend. Hotaru does some impressive running up and down moving stairs in her Eternal Moon costume, all of the attacks are projected, and we again have part of a scene projected as a video on stage. You’ll see all the Sailor Crystals float away, which adds another layer of emotion to those scenes. Both actresses playing Chibi Chibi were adorable, but Hinari won out as my favorite. Being a little older she was able to speak all of her lines clearly (Chise’s speech was muddled) and she showed a lot more emotion in both her movements and expressions. I’m glad she’ll be on the DVD performance. A few things were different each show (details in my spoilery post to come), so I hope some sort of compilation ends up on the DVD! There were lots of throwbacks to the Bandai era as well as a few references to the past Nelke era musicals. I think overall in tone this was a nice blend of the two styles - there was a lot of humor added and plenty of references to specific anime scenes, but the overall plot was manga oriented and gave proper weight to its serious moments. They find smart ways to keep the whole cast involved throughout the show, despite everyone being killed off pretty quickly (I don’t consider that a spoiler since it’s a manga plot point). Everyone is going to LOVE Cosmos. I was seriously shocked by how much Satomi had improved at singing. Taking lessons with Coco and Asami seriously paid off. They found a really touching way to give her a bit more story time than she had in the manga, and I think they’re quite clear about who she really is in this canon. This musical had a TON of original music - only two previously used songs made an appearance, and both in shortened versions. “Celestial Born” was made into it’s own song (it initially was part of “Shuketsu - Yume no Atsumaru Basho” during Amour Eternal) and “Music of the Spheres” is used briefly in battle. They save the throwback music mostly for the post-musical curtain call show, which I appreciated. For the first time since the revival of the musicals I loved ALL of the songs (Amour Eternal comes close). One of my few complaints has been the abundance of “talk singing,” where long lines of dialogue (often ripped straight from the manga) are set to awkward, stumbling melody. There is little to none of that this time, and far fewer songs are interrupted by long bits of dialogue. Hopefully sales of the Amour Eternal CD will be good enough to entice them to release another soundtrack - this time with a lot more music. They weren’t kidding when they said everyone has a moment to shine. I fell in love with Nyanko and Mouse, despite them having such small parts. Miraculously, even with all the dying and with an enormous cast, everyone was given enough to work with that they were able to truly embody their character. If this truly is the last musical, I’m going to be super bummed that this cast doesn’t get at least one more opportunity to show off how amazing they are.

#sera myu #le mouvement final

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shslenergytransferspecialis-blog · 7 years

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45 development q’s or w/e

TW for car accident (mention?) and death (mention?)

also uh. fetish talk? discussion? mention? i’m not sure what to classify that as

I said I’d redo this after endgame like cue and farren but unlike cue I did not do this in advance whoops

if a question is bolded that means there’s NEW INFO WOWIE

1. Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

Nah. *typically makes his OCs only children so he doesn’t have to develop siblings bc he’s way too lazy*

2. What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

It was good! I mean I don’t really have anything else to say about it, but they were close.

3. What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

Same as above tbh

4. Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

Yes. Holly. (And for that reason maybe Michiko but idk)

New: okay so. shit I guess I’m just gonna dump the big spoiler in this question right here.

Masashi has symphorophilia. He is sexually attracted to staging and watching disasters. This is ultimately the reason he got into his talent of making rube goldberg machines.

anyway. he discovered this after witnessing his parents’ car accident that ultimately led to the end of their lives. and yeah he told holly at some point about his parents so.

5. On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

In-game, usually just his ID card. Outside of the game, other than essentials like ID, wallet, etc. he carries mints around.

6. Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

Yeah. (”What are they?” shhh)

New: i mean. disaster.

7. Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?

Tbh I don’t think Masashi would ever classify any dream as a “nightmare.” So… no.

New: due to his symphorophilia and how Masashi handles things, he wouldn’t ever consider anything a nightmare because anything bad would still be... well, enjoyable for him.

8. Has your character ever fired a gun? If so, what was their first target?

I mean… probably. But there’s no specific event in his backstory with this subject so your guess is as good as mine.

(”Corey these are the worst answers ever” LISTEN, I’M SORRY,)

New: Masashi’s probably fuckin killed someone due to How He Is but I never created any specific moments like that in his backstory, so,

9. Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Yes. It’s higher now.

10. Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?

He typically wears “more” clothing but he’s not more comfortable with that. He’s indifferent, he’ll wear whatever.

11. In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

Masashi doesn’t really… get afraid. I mean he would have during his childhood but again, no specific event.

He’s definitely experiencing something in-game that could… potentially be classified as making him “afraid” but spoilers. And it’s not really related to the mutual-killing biz.

New: Here I mean before discovering his fetish, but again, nothing personally developed by me. ha ha ha I suck at developing ocs okay-

As for the second part, uh... I honestly can’t remember what I was referring to LMAO

but I can definitely say his feelings for Holly have made him “afraid”, at least in some sort. he’s never actually cared for anyone and he knows that he won’t be afraid to hurt her even though he cares for her, because hurting someone he cares about? delightful. but yeah he’s also rational (I mean in some cases) and doesn’t want to do that to someone he cares about, he just... knows he would.

12. In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

he always calm

13. Is your character bothered by the sight of blood? If so, in what way?

Not at all.

14. Does your character remember names or faces easier?

… Both. Neither one easier than the other.

15. Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

Both/yes? For spoiler reasons unfortunately.

New: people with money and material possessions tend to hold power and are looked up to. and if people are looking up to him he can manipulate them in the name of disaster ahyuck. so yeah he wants money and whatnot

16. Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

Happiness. That ultimately drives everything he does.

New: Sating his fetish drives everything he does.... which is his happiness, as unfortunate and awful as that is.

17. What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

One of those toy piano things.

18. Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

I’d say either, but in-game points to ambition.

19. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

Ha ha ha spoiler question. Yes, yes it has.

New: Honestly all the modified questions should be very predictable for you now. his biggest flaw is his lack of empathy and actually caring about anyone due to his symphorophilia. so he tends to just have his fun with people before doing something stupid. ...actually this still applies to the very rare case he actually does care about someone, like holly, because he’ll still do something stupid eventually.

20. In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

Masashi would just make observations rather than compare himself to someone, although the times he ever would compare himself to others would be for both self-validation and self-criticism… for spoiler reasons.

New: if someone is well-respected and trusted, Mash is going to Copy The Shit Out of Them... because he wants to gain trust from people. ...I didn’t do this in game because I’m a moron but. y’know

21. If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

…He wouldn’t really care either way.

22. What does your character like in other people?

Spoiler question.

(”Corey how is that even possible for this one” HEY I’M TRYING OKAY)

New: Masashi doesn’t really “““like”““ people, so what he likes to see in other people is naivety and gullibility and... y’know. things that make it easy to manipulate them. thanks

Holly is... complicated and deserves her own post. even if it isn’t long-winded, especially because it’s me we’re talking about and I don’t go in-depth with anything

23. What does your character dislike in other people?

See above.

New: people like Yuka who are very wary of others and not willing to put trust in like anyone. (sorry Yuka you were the first example to come to mind i love her tho)

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

See above, even though that probably gives away the answer to this one in some manner.

New: He doesn’t really... “trust” people? but like he isn’t wary of them... he’ll go along with a lot of things. If people screw him over, well.. he’d enjoy it. Ugh

25. How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

He’s very quick to suspect someone else, but only because it doesn’t change his opinion of them. Like… he doesn’t care. As usual.

26. How does your character behave around children?

Same as around anyone else, really. Polite. Agreeable. Nice. hhhhh

27. How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

It’s kinda situational depending on who’s confronting him. In most cases he’d just try to defuse the situation/appease the person. In the other cases he’d just instigate them further and generally be a smug asshole oops.

28. How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

Slow. Masashi’s a noodle, he won’t resort to physical violence unless, somehow, he’s absolutely certain he’d prevail. …I really can’t see that situation happening in a normal 1v1 type confrontation.

29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

Being a musician à la piano (hi Ayato). It did not come true, obviously.

30. What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

Uh, pretty much nothing.

31. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

Anywhere with a person/people that trust him.

32. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

The opposite of the above, I guess? But like… it’s hard to answer this and the one above like I want without spoiler so… next.

New: AGAIN, ANSWERS ARE VERY PREDICTABLE NOW I’M SURE. It’s not possible for Masashi to feel uncomfortable... I mean, like, it is, but he’d most likely be enjoying whatever the hell is happening, so... paradox, dude.

33. In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

Unless the criticism is coming from a select few people, he won’t give a shit about it and would just blow it off/ignore it.

34. Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

He’d stop and reevaluate whatever the situation is, and either keep trying the same solution/method after minor adjustments or move on depending on what he feels is best.

35. How does your character behave around people they like?

Less stiff/formal. (only slightly)

36. How does your character behave around people they dislike?

Hard to say. Masashi doesn’t really “““dislike”““ people.

37. Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

Status, I suppose.

38. Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

Is both possible

39. Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

I wanna say no but I guess it’s always possible, especially if he was doing something incredibly ridiculous for a Rube Goldberg machine. Clearly not affected by it in the event that it happened anyway.

40. How does your character treat people in service jobs?

Respectfully. … Not much else.

41. Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

…Mostly the former, but he’s not, like… spoiled/stupid about it.

42. Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

Naw.

43. Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

Alright I’m dumb does this mean like Mash depending on someone or someone depending on Mash?

If it’s him depending on someone, no.

If it’s someone depending on him…… does Holly count-

44. How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

Extremely easy, yes definitely.

New: Again, if saying “I love you” helps him gain more points/trust/whatever with someone, he has no problem saying it. And he never means it.

45. What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

Nothing. He’ll cease existing, that’s the end, whatever. It doesn’t scare him, no.

#ooc #about masashi #question 4 is all you'll ever need to know about him #i didn't really change as much as i thought i would because i'm lazy and would just... sound like a broken record repeating the same things #over and over

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chairlosophy · 7 years

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45 Chara Dev Qs

ok this is probably going to be for All The Spoilers because i dont give a shit and boy’s dead so

shitte under the cut

1. Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

Genta has... a lot of siblings, and all of them are technically him. He’s the youngest of 14 surviving clones, 15 if one counts the original Genta Sugai. Most of them are a bit distant from one another due to the nature of their work, but he gets along fairly well with the ones he used to live with - as they’re all named after Greek Letters, these Gentas were dubbed Lambda, Omnicron, and Tau.

Out of those three, he’s probably closest to Lambda. Both of them went through similar experiences at the hands of the project they were created for. The distance is still there, though.

2. What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

Genta’s never had a real relationship with his mother due to #CloneLyfe, but what he can recall of her from memories of a past life are fairly positive.

3. What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

Same as above tbh. He looks up to his father’s image to some degree, though, and has tried to model himself after him a bit.

4. Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

He’s... been through a lot of these sorts of situations throughout his lifetimes lmAO. Genta Sugai’s 19 years of life have been kind of dubious. Yuka and Masashi might have Gained Knowledge of probably the most turbulent time of his life.

5. On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

When he was alive, he’d generally have his ID, his contact lens case, a couple of slightly chewed pens and a notebook full of thoughts that occurred to him for contemplation on his person at all times.

Outside of the game, his wallet, phone, and a half smushed/empty box of candy cigarettes could usually be found on his person as well.

6. Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

He used to have reoccurring dreams of being underwater, but not drowning within it often. There’d be nothing for miles but the steady stream of bubbles that would accompany his breathing. He could never explain why that would put him at ease, but it would.

7. Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?

He dreams of a city skyline in the late evening often, blurred faces interspersed under the empty lights below.

And then he hits the ground.

8. Has your character ever fired a gun? If so, what was their first target?

There has been a somewhat uncanny amount of gun usage in Genta’s past oh christ

The first thing he’d ever struck was a person. He wasn’t ready mentally or physically, and his piss poor shot missed, ripped through some of their hair and split open their ear. It wasn’t his finest moment. He wised up a bit after that.

9. Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Yes! He’s closer to living at lower middle class at present. He was born into the upper crust, though.

10. Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?

Definitely more. He’s self-conscious about his body in a lot of ways. He gets warm really easily though, so he tends to try and keep his extremities below his elbows and knees uncovered if possible.

11. In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

Probably the first night of the second week after he first arrived in Brooklyn. He was thirteen and hadn’t known the language at the time, was left alone away from his family, and had run out of what little money he’d had by that time. Hunger was starting to set in, trying to seek help from the authorities was Against The Rules, and he wasn’t entirely sure where he was able to go from there.

12. In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

Any time he’s writing, mostly. It sort of puts him into a zen-like state of sedation and helps him calm down.

13. Is your character bothered by the sight of blood? If so, in what way?

Not the sight of it so much beyond a sympathetic ‘yikes’ if there’s a lot of it, but he’ll be a big baby if he’s expected to actually touch it.

14. Does your character remember names or faces easier?

Faces, usually. He’ll remember names if he can make a direct connection between them and something else, though.

15. Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

He’s preoccupied with money in the way that someone who’s used to both having a lot and then having very little would be. He gets indecisive when he goes shopping a lot, as he’s always tempted by more lavish goods and prone to impulse buys, but then has to scold himself on the notion that he can’t afford them... even when he’s in a position when he could comfortably do so without any major loss on his part. Don’t send him in to pick up anything unless you’re explicit on the brand and size, he’ll take hours.

16. Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

Genta’s very success-driven, for the most part. You can’t achieve happiness unless you’re able to get yourself what you want out of life, in his view.

17. What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

He probably wouldn’t be able to name one specifically. He was more occupied with other children than he was toys.

18. Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

He’d admire both, really. You need the latter to get the former.

19. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

Although he does his best to try and repress it, Genta is ultimately selfish. Although he will try to consider the other person’s needs, he tends to put himself and what he thinks is best first. He thinks with his desires over communicating well sometimes, which... tends to land him in hot water in most of his personal relationships.

Also his flirting technique is kind of terrible being real

20. In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

He tends to put himself apart from most people in some regards, but most of his comparisons tend to be critical when made to others. Usually, it’s only over small things like appearance, though.

21. If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

His worldview immediately suggests to him that he’s at fault for his own actions and knows it, but the petty, childish part of him would be inclined to blame others. He’ll accept responsibility when appropriate generally, though.

22. What does your character like in other people?

Passion, open-mindedness, and a good sense of humor. He has a lot of respect for people able to overcome their own personal failings to be better or stronger than they used to be in some ways.

23. What does your character dislike in other people?

There’s nothing he really dislikes trait wise in isolation, per se - it’s more combinations, and how the person shows them through their actions. For example, being selfish is one thing, but if you are selfish in a way that deeply inconveniences him or harms someone he cares for, he’s not a big fan of that. He’s a little hypocritical sometimes in that way.

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

On a surface level, Genta’s an open book. It doesn’t take much for him to accept what you’re saying as being true, and he’ll generally be content to consider you an honest person until you lie to him.

On a more private level, Genta is a fuckwad with 12 levels of baggage that he will only reveal in small bits, and will reel back the minute you react in a way he doesn’t care for. People he can ‘read’, or get a feel for easily are more likely to gain his trust than those he can’t.

25. How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

This kind of goes under the ‘people he can read’ banner - if he feels like he knows the person, he’ll be able to sus out when something is off. In that regard, he’s willing to suspect just about anyone. His attitude towards this, however, depends on what he’s suspecting them of. Passive aggression bordering on openly argumentative is probably on the worse end of the scale, but he can let most things roll off his back pretty easily.

26. How does your character behave around children?

He’s a little too lax with them and will generally let them get away with more than they should. He likes the way they think and approach things, and thinks they should be able to experience as much as they can on their own terms before society beats that sense of wonder out of them.

... but he probably isn’t the best babysitter for that reason.

27. How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

Generally, it depends on the person and situation. If he’s more neutral towards you, he’s generally going to take a softer approach. Might debate how he’s right, but otherwise addresses it coolly.

An easy way to tell if he’s actually attached to you if he if he instead gets petty and passive aggressive with you. If he values your opinions, he’ll take them personally. Generally his approach is to remove himself from the situation and come back when that happens, and then apologize for being an ass when he cools down.

28. How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

VERY slow. Generally, you’d have to fuck up big time for him to actually hit you. Genta dislikes violence, and would probably never raise a hand to a woman especially under most circumstances. Even if it kills him.

Which it did.

29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

He’s never really been able to decide on that one. There’s so many options! Even now that he’s older, there’s still so many options! Life is grand.

30. What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

Bodily fluids, mostly. Although he accepts them for what they are and in the situations they occur in, sweat especially tend to squick him a little bit. The second Tora motive killed him spiritually lmAO

31. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

Whenever he’s writing. Or out working with his plants. It’s hard to feel uncomfortable when you’re gardening.

32. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

Any time he’s in Sarara’s presence

Having to be a public figure of sorts due to his talent. As much as the attention is validating and he enjoys talking, he’s really not used to to speaking to more than a room’s worth of people.The idea of being famous would be jarring to him.

33. In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

Initially a little defensive, but more than willing to improve once he understood what they were criticizing, exactly.

34. Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

He’d probably want to keep with the same solution in case there was a possibility that they missed something, but if the other suggested method seemed to hold more potential, he definitely wouldn’t be opposed to switching.

35. How does your character behave around people they like?

Physically affectionate and prone to light teasing. He’ll accommodate based on the other person, but if left to himself, expect lots of hugs and shoulder/head pats.

Dudes might also get the chivalry treatment he usually only offers to girls at this point in that he’ll hold open doors for you and offer you his coat.

36. How does your character behave around people they dislike?

Passive aggressive and partial to rude commentary in general. He’s just generally worse at hiding his salt when he feels strongly about someone, be it one way or the other.

37. Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

Does this seem like a man who has either

Probably honor, though. Gentleman’s code and all.

38. Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

Generally, he’s more likely to try and confront a problem directly. However, deciding the best course of action in order to do that tends to take a while for him, so it might seem like avoidance.

39. Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

Oh, probably. It was never enough of one to have left any real permanent damage on his psyche, though.

40. How does your character treat people in service jobs?

With utmost respect. He tips well and is generally pretty forgiving with mixups/mistakes.

41. Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

In his head, he feels that anything one is able to have generally has to be earned. There’s still that spoiled part of him that feels a little entitled to things and gets disappointed when he doesn’t get them, though.

42. Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

There was an elderly bartender during his time in Brooklyn that took him in and allowed him to live with and work for her until he saved up enough money to return to Japan. As he knew he’d never really have a strong connection with his mother otherwise, he grew really attached to her. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, he’s been prohibited from seeing her again, but he decided to start trying to be a better person due to her influence.

43. Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

Nooooot really? Don’t depend on this dude lol

44. How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

He prefers to show it through action rather through words, but if he genuinely feels it and it’s what the other person wants to hear, it tends to be easier.

45. What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

He believes in reincarnation, mostly. Other lives to be lived. Now that he’s died, the ‘dying’ part sort of scares him more than anything, but prior to that, the idea never frightened him. It was a bit enthralling, even.

#out of widom #little gent things

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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 23)

Sorry. It's been a hot second... I missed a day because I got so busy with school that I actually forgot to update and also I just didn't have the time anyway. It's definitely not the end of the world but I'll post on Friday as well to make up for missing Monday.

In this part, we'll complete the Time-Travel Arc. Mikan makes a big choice and Natsume has to deal with the fact that he's the only one who can't dedicate himself to waiting, because he doesn't have enough time to, especially if Mikan won't be around.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty

They’ve just seen Yuka finally give birth to Mikan.

Natsume has been by Mikan’s side this whole time, because he doesn’t want to be anywhere else.

But she’s about to make an announcement, because she’s decided something. Natsume looks shocked, almost like he knows what is even before she’s said it, but she is interrupted by another one of his coughing fits. He’s not the kind of person who’d want others to watch him suffer.

My throat hurts just looking at him.

When we first met Natsume, he went on frequent visits to the hospital. He was in a state of particular illness when he was kidnapped by Reo. After that, we saw the condition he was in while in bed during the Kaname/Bear chapter. I’d said then that Natsume was always in that much pain, but he managed to keep it to himself and tough it out until he was by himself in his room at night. Even after, when Tsubasa first finds out, he’s able to mostly keep it to himself.

Natsume is the kind of person who wants to keep his suffering to himself. He doesn’t like being caught with blood in his palm or dripping out of his nose. But he’s been getting worse and worse and he can’t keep up with his body anymore. He can’t always tough it out and pretend like he’s fine until he’s all alone anymore. He’s coughing more and more. His body can’t take it anymore. He’s in significantly worse shape now than he was when we first met him, and he was already dying then too.

The fact that he can’t hold it back, even in such an important moment when Mikan is about to make an important announcement, even when he’s surrounded by people, just goes to show how much suffering he’s in and how much worse it’s getting.

He brushes it off, like he always does, hiding his blood and reaching for the healing alice stone around his neck. He doesn’t want the attention on him, especially not for the sake of his stupid dying body.

But Kaoru has collapsed when running from the Academy pursuers. Yuka feels responsible, especially since Kaoru is in an especially vulnerable, pregnant state. So she gives Kaoru the alice stone she received from little Subaru. This is the same alice stone that Natsume just used for relief. It has passed many hands to end up in Natsume’s possession.

In the next scene they’re shown, Kaoru is struggling more than ever. They’re being pursued and Kaoru collapses again. Yuka finally realizes it: that Kaoru has the fourth type of alice, and she’s dying. She urges Kaoru to go easy on herself, for the sake of everyone, and then teleports away, unwilling to let her best friend suffer for her anymore.

We see a little flashback of Natsume getting Subaru’s alice stone for the first time. Kaoru gives it to him since she can see right away that he’s like her, getting sick whenever he uses his alice. It’s to protect him in her stead, because she knows that her life has a time limit on it. She then tells him he has to take care of his father and sister, and although she had nothing but good intentions, entrusting such a huge responsibility to a child, one that is already suffering with a life-shortening alice shape, can be damaging. And from what we know about Natsume, we know that he took all those words to heart and made it his only life’s mission to protect the people he loves, to the detriment of his own life and health.

Natsume has seen a great deal of his mother just now, and he’d never felt so close to her before. This is more than he’d ever known. He didn’t know about her bond with Yuka, or the true extent that Kaoru went through for her friend.

But Mikan is looking at him, and she’s obviously putting pieces together. So she asks him if he’s the same as his mother.

Natsume never wants anyone to worry about him. We know for a fact that he’s dying. We know that his body is in terrible shape. But Mikan is already crying, just at the thought of what he’s been suffering through. If he were to be honest now, as blunt as possible, then he would just be more of a burden. He doesn’t want her worrying about her and that’s more important than being honest. All he wants is to comfort her and minimize the pain she feels to the best of his ability.

LIAR!

So he hugs her again, and tells her that he won’t die, that he will not leave her.

But this moment isn’t all about comforting Mikan. He wants to live too. He doesn’t want to die. He promises that he’ll make it because he wants to believe it too. A long time ago, more than a hundred chapters ago, Natsume was willing to blow himself up so that his suffering could finally come to an end. He didn’t see any more value in his life. All he ever did was burden people around him. He felt like he couldn’t protect anybody, like all did was drag the people he loves into darkness. When he met Mikan, that changed. She talked about his future like he had one and even though he’s been resisting, ever since, he’s also seen it. He desperately wants what he’s always forbidden himself. He can’t have even half of what Yuka had dreamt of: getting married and starting a family with someone you love, making a warm home.

Of course he’d like that too! But he won’t make it. His whole life, he’s known he wouldn’t make it. Why waste his time trying anyway? Why waste the girl’s time just to break her heart? He won’t be able to live that long, so he’s distanced himself from everyone. He won’t make friends or really try with the girl he loves because it would be for nothing. From the beginning he tried to accept that and just deal with it, but the longer he knew Mikan and the further he fell in love with her, the harder that was to stick with. How can you give up on something that your whole heart is screaming for? He wants to live. He wants to be with Mikan, as long as he can.

He’s not making this promise out of callousness. He’s making it because he wants it to be true. He doesn't want to break it. He wants to be able to have a future.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One

Natsume and Mikan are hugging. She’s crying, because she doesn’t want him to die. He’s promising he won’t go, because he also doesn’t want to die. But they’re not alone. He looks up at Ruka and immediately feels guilt.

It's been nice seeing the return of Natsume&Ruka again... The gap arc and even the Sports Fest really lacked their dynamic and it always bothers me how little they interact during that time. Seeing Ruka now stick up for Natsume and consider his feelings watching the flashbacks regarding Kaoru, and now giving Natsume his blessing... It's just nice to have my favorite friendship back.

So far, Natsume has done his all to be Team Ruka. He wants his best friend to be happy, for the girl he loves to be happy, so why not together? They deserve happiness. He has forbidden himself from even considering that Mikan could ever choose him. He can’t make anybody happy, after all. All he does is drag people into darkness, steal their smiles away like he did to Ruka, leave them unprotected like he did to Aoi, leave them all alone and lonely like he did to his father. But he can’t leave the embrace now.

He looks at Ruka with guilt because he is sorry. He really did try not to end up like this.

I get a little confused with this, but it's made clear at the beginning of the arc that the time window makes it possible for telepathic conversations, so we know for sure that Natsume is hearing these words from Ruka, receiving his blessing, but it also looks like Mikan can hear it too, and perhaps everyone else. How the heck would I know! Whatever. The possibility of her hearing will be covered in the next POV essay. Why does Mikan keep trying to weasel her way into Natsume's chapter anyway? Stay in your lane, Mikan. You'll have your turn!

But Ruka doesn’t want Natsume to be sorry. He loves Natsume too. And if he can’t be with the girl he loves, then he would want her to be with Natsume, who loves her too, who prioritizes her happiness. He would want her to be with Natsume, because she makes him happy and gave him a reason to live. Natsume wouldn’t make that kind of promise and want to mean it if he hadn’t met Mikan. So Ruka urges Natsume to stop holding back. He’d been resisting for so long, not being honest and not doing what he wanted to this whole time because he always put everyone else’s happiness above his own.

But the flashbacks continue, and Yuka has no choice but to give Mikan up, so that her daughter will not suffer the way she has. All she wants is for Mikan to be safe and happy, so she lets her go and suffers on her own.

Mikan has made her decision, but everyone already knew it would end up this way. She will leave the academy to be with her mother.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Two

Facing the news, Natsume is shocked. He knew it would end with Mikan choosing to leave with Yuka too, but he really didn’t want it to be like this.

Hotaru and Tsubasa and Ruka and everyone else can promise to meet Mikan again in the future, no matter how long it takes. But if Mikan isn’t there, what kind of future has Natsume been looking forward to?

Watch this, Lis! You can actually pinpoint the second when his heart rips in half!

Natsume isn’t selfish, though. He won’t say anything. He stays silent because it wouldn’t be fair. But this is the saddest that he’s been in quite some time. He’s heartbroken. If she leaves, he won’t ever see her again. He will die. He doesn’t have eternity to promise her, even if he wants to.

She looks at him to say sorry that it has to be this way, but Natsume’s feelings show on his face and she crumbles too. He won’t say anything, because he genuinely doesn’t want to make this harder for her than it already is, but even for someone like him, who always puts himself dead last, it’s hard to not feel these feelings of heartbreak.

I have a lot of love for this arc, especially because of the parallels. It’s pretty clear that Natsume got his looks and a lot of personality traits from Kaoru. He looks just like her, if a lot less smiley, and he’s also prone to dry humor and teasing his friends when he’s in a good mood. But the darker elements of his personality--like his tendency to give everything up and the fact that he’s suffered his entire life--have so much in common with Yuka, too. I’m sure Natsume noticed the similarities too.

Yuka had to give Mikan up to protect her, even though she loves her more than anything, even though all she really wanted was to start a family with her. Yuka’s future will never be what she wanted it to be. She will never be able to watch Mikan grow up. She has to give it up for Mikan’s sake.

"I couldn't protect her in any way but to let her go." - Natsume from the moment he fell in love with Mikan (it's actually a Yuka quote jsyk, I'm just making a connection). Why didn't we ever get a real Natsume-Yuka interaction? I've been robbed.

And Natsume gives Mikan up too, even though all he wants is a future with her, even though he loves her more than anything. Just like Yuka, his future will not be a pleasant one. They give up their own little pocket of sunshine so that the sunshine doesn’t get bogged down by the darkness they have to live in all the time. There is too much dark for light like that to survive.

The next scene that we see is Kaoru on the run, driving as fast as she can from some pursuers. Yuka just wants Kaoru to be safe, but it’s not to be. Her car crashes into a bus or a truck and her life ends.

Natsume has no choice but to watch it happen. Natsume isn’t as emotive as Mikan. He doesn’t run to the window to keep it from happening. He doesn’t collapse onto the floor. He simply stands there and keeps all the pain to himself. He wants to be the person Mikan can rely on for comfort, but he would never turn to somebody else for comfort, to burden them with his sadness. He won’t do it for his heartbreak, and he won’t do it for his mother’s death. He just takes it all on his own, because he always does. Besides, he always knew this would happen.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three

He wants to just take it all on his own, but almost everyone is worried about him. Unfortunately, Natsume doesn’t even have a moment of mourning for himself before the topic is suddenly changed to the Z boss. I understand that in universe they might be feeling stressed for what’s happening back in the present, and all the questions anybody brings up are important to talk about, but I do personally resent this a little. Natsume doesn’t even have the time to be comforted by anybody because the moment is suddenly on anything and everything else. Just like Mikan, he had to watch a parent die, but nobody’s had the time to hold him. Even if he wouldn’t let them worry, I’d rather see what would happen when his friends try. If there was just a little more time spent on Natsume’s reaction to it, and his friends wanting to comfort him, I’d feel better. As it is, the scene simply moves on as though it hardly matters. Not my favorite transitional moment in the arc, for sure.

So Mikan got many pages of rightfully being able to cry and mourn her father but Natsume gets this one page for his mother before everyone changes the subject? Jeez, Natsume, it happened like ten years ago! When are you gonna just get over it already?! I guess on the next page. Everyone else does, after all. :/

Although there was hardly any time for Natsume to mourn his mother (I’m still salty), Tono makes sure to take the time so everyone can give Mikan an alice stone for the future. Everyone tries to make her a stone, and they all vary in size and shape. Mikan catches Natsume’s eye. He’s the only one who hasn’t given her one yet.

He wordlessly gestures to the necklace with alice stones that she’s wearing. She finally knows for sure that the mysterious red stone she got before Valentine’s Day was from Natsume. He won’t say anything about what it meant for him. He stays silent the whole time, because anything he says could just make things harder. He’s already said what he needed to, without saying a word: that little pebble she gave him meant the world to him, so he had to give her something in return.

I want to see Natsume cry. I want to see him bawling. Why don't we get to see this kid cry? I'm pissed about it. Why does he swallow everything? No wonder he's so fucking sick.

Maybe Natsume doesn't say anything because there's nothing more to say. Maybe he stays quiet because he doesn't trust himself to not sound bitter or upset if he does. Maybe he shuts up because he's just been through an emotional ordeal and can't bring himself to. An emotional goodbye with Mikan seems like something he'd want, but it's less painful for both of them to not address any of the feelings he's been obvious about all night. It's an elephant in the room she doesn't need to point out. He doesn't want to get rejected. It's enough that she knows that she's loved, even if she doesn't love him back. Even if she never will because she's leaving and he'll never see her again. He'd rather they have this as their formal goodbye (not that they're parting right away) so that he doesn't say the wrong thing or hear the inconvenient thing.

He's put his whole heart on his sleeve and she hasn't said it back all night. He can guess for himself what that means, and he's accepted it. He accepted it from the beginning, when she first tackled him in that warehouse. She knows how he feels now. She has his stone around her neck too. That's the most he'll get forever, and he'll accept it. Accepting things is what he does.

Conclusion

Natsume loves Mikan and she knows it. There's no way that after everything that happened this night that she could walk away oblivious. She hasn't said much about her own feelings, so Natsume has no reason to assume she feels the same. He's about to be separated from her, and even though it's one of the hardest things he's ever had to deal with, he does. He swallows it, like he always does, and doesn't say a single word in protest.

In the next segment, we'll see Natsume continue to swallow it. He completely surrenders, because they only thing he really wants is for Mikan to be safe. He gives up completely. He won't even say goodbye when he's about to part with her for good, but one tiny moment will change everything and uproot every single assumption Natsume has ever made about how she must feel about him.

Sorry if this isn't properly cleaned up. I felt okay starting the editing process but I started feeling a bit sick as I went along and now I'm tired. It's late. Anyway I'll probably update tomorrow's much earlier in the day, after I visit the clinic to find out if I'm anemic. Yes, I am stupid (locked myself out of my car again) AND possibly anemic (hair keeps falling out). We exist.

It seems like the tags won't let me say it but the title image is Populaire-flavored (Zoe gets it, no doubt). Macarons and retro outfits bring Populaire to mind. I like that movie.

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#gakuen alice #alice academy #hyuuga natsume #natsume hyuuga #natsumikan #sakura mikan #mikan sakura #my meta #ga #mine #ga meta #ga meta: nm #ga meta: manga #ga meta: manga nm #let's talk about natsumikan #let's talk about natsumikan: natsume #we'll talk abt mikan 'not reciprocating' in her version #it has no place here. here we only have natsumes sickeningly low self esteem #gosh he really depresses me. i want to protect this child.#end child abuse 2021 #anyway i was writing this essay and came across certain images of this child with a knife in his back and i got very angry #so i changed my blog title #ruka has a canon defense group so ill be natsumes #i will protect him always bc nobody does in canon and too many ppl hate him irl #dni if u hate natsume lmao #anyway song for this segment is boats and birds by gregory and the hawk #(demo version is my fav)#lots of giving up in that song #god if he could just be selfish i would be happy #the title image is good. theyre a very fancy married couple

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norihisahyuga-archived · 7 years

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Closure.

Matsui Chisato/Nakagawa Yuka Battle Royale 2400~ words. Sfw.

Chisato needs closure when her best friend finds her soulmate, and Yuka just wants her friend to be happy. It’s not how Chisato wanted or expected things to be, but that doesn’t mean that’s not how it’s supposed to be. More of that soulmate AU I’ve been working on.

The day her best friend finds her soulmate is a strange day for Chisato Matsui. All things considered, she should be happy for Haruka Tanizawa, and in more ways than one, she is. She’s happy that her best friend has found the one she is supposed to be with for her entire life, and even if it’s strange that that person happens to be Hirono Shimizu, she is still happy for her. She has no reason not to be, even if Hirono isn’t the nicest person in their class.

When she actually watches the two of them walk into class holding hands, she should be nothing but happy for them. And an important part of her is, all things considered. The most important part of her, the part of her that firmly believes that all she wants in the world is for her friends to be happy. And Haruka, being her best friend… That makes her happiness the most important to Chisato, more important than anything else.

Privately, she would have wanted to be the person who made Haruka smile like Hirono does, had sort of hoped that she would be the one to finally make Haruka see in color. Instead, it had been someone else, someone who was more well-known for causing trouble and hurting people rather than trying to make someone else happy.

She had thought someone like Hirono would have been uninterested in the idea of soulmates, much in the same way that Mitsuko Souma and Yoshimi Yahagi are. Instead, she had… Come around, made an effort to make Haruka happy. Made an effort to love her.

“Haruka isn’t here,” Yukie informs them when she sits down at the lunch table, setting her tray on the table in front of her. “She told me something about this big thing they’re doing in the city for soulmate couples and that she was going to try to talk Hirono into taking her. I guess she must have because neither of them have been at school all day.”

Yuka laughs a little at the words, giving her eyebrows a small wiggle. “That sounds like Haruka, persistent as always,” she says. “You think Hiro will come to our volleyball games now?”

Yukie wrinkles her nose. “Only if she doesn’t drag Mitsuko and Yoshimi with her. I don’t want to see either of them on the bleachers.”

“You’re calling her Hiro now?” Satomi asks, wrinkling her nose, her gaze disdainful behind her glasses. “I don’t see why. You know as well as I do that she doesn’t actually like any of us, she’s only doing this because she cares about Haruka. No more, no less.”

Yuka scoffs at her. “So what? I like her, and she’s nice to us when she’s around.”

“What do you think about her, Chisato?” Yukie turns her attention to her, eyes bright and attentive, her smile curious as she cocks her head. “Haruka’s your best friend, right? You’ve probably got the most formed opinion of Hirono since you know Haruka so well.”

Chisato looks up from her own lunch, a bento she had made this morning before she left for home; she normally made one for Haruka as well, but she knew her best friend would not be here today and had not had to worry about it this morning. It was strange to think about, that a routine that had become so ingrained in her over the years had been interrupted by someone else, but she really had not seen this coming. When she had first taken Haruka’s hand back in their first year of junior high and nothing changed, she had thought… Well, she had no idea what to think. Not for a moment did she think Hirono would be the one to change things.

“She makes Haruka happy, you know? Haru is always smiling now, and she seems happy to be with her. And Hirono is obviously making an effort with her if she went with her to the city to something for couples, you know.” Chisato fiddles with her chopsticks, knowing it’s a nervous habit and hoping her friends don’t know her well enough to detect that for themselves. “I’m just happy that Haruka is happy. That’s what I’d want the most from all of this, you know?”

The other girls nod at each other, as if this is the response they wanted or maybe, more simply, the response they expected. Chisato doesn’t know what else to do them, picking at her food, tucking small pieces into her mouth and chewing slowly and thoughtfully. It was the right answer to give and it looks good on the surface, even if a peak beneath the surface gives way to a more truthful stance.

She is happy Haruka is happy. She just wishes she could be happy with her.

In contrast, Yuka Nakagawa has not thought much about Haruka and Hirono ending up together. It is simply another fact of life, another chance encounter that means very little to her in terms of everything else. After all, as far as she’s concerned, one of her friends being happy is more important to her, but she doesn’t have an attachment to anyone in particular, so she doesn’t feel the way Haruka does about the situation. Not in the least.

“What are you doing after school?” Her question is directed toward Chisato, sitting next to her in class, ignoring Mr. Hayashida at the front of the room. “Are you free this afternoon?”

Chisato lifts her eyes from her book and not for the first time, Yuka notices her gaze is just slightly distant, something off about it. Her usual cheer hasn’t been present in her for a while, but Yuka figured it was something private, something she didn’t want to bring up to the rest of them because… Well, Yuka isn’t sure. But Chisato had never hesitated to come to them when she had problems before, so if she was keeping it from them now, that was her decision.

“This afternoon?” she asks, combing her fingers slowly through her hair.

Yuka nods slowly. “Yeah, this afternoon. I was thinking about going into the city but I’m not really up for going along. Satomi will be studying and Yuko doesn’t handle the city well.”

She leaves out asking Yukie or Haruka, because volleyball practice comes after school and she isn’t sure if Haruka will be back by then, but Yukie would never skip if she had the choice. There are other girls Yuka could ask, because she does get on well with most of the girls in her class, but she wants to ask Chisato to go with her. She enjoys spending time with her.

Finally, Chisato clears her throat quietly and nods. “I suppose that would be fine.”

The rest of the day all but flies by and Yuka hurries home to change, intent on finding something nice to wear for her little journey with Chisato. For what it’s worth, she has always liked Chisato as more than a friend, but when Chisato had nervously told all of them that she wanted to wait to find her soulmate, Yuka had been understanding. Some people are afraid to find out young, and the last thing she would want to do is make Chisato uncomfortable.

When she knocks on Chisato’s door, Chisato is waiting for her, or at least she assumes so when the door swings open almost immediately. Yuka beams at her and offers her her arm— covered by the sleeve of her sweater, a gentle offer and not something she usually does, but something has been off with Chisato and she wants to help her if she at all can.

From the way Chisato takes her arm with a small and grateful smile, she might have needed the little boost more than she wanted to admit.

The bus ride to the city isn’t too long, nor too short, and it makes it easy for Yuka to start an easy conversation that Chisato can participate in. The spring dance is a fairly big deal this year, something exciting for most of their class, and people have been pairing up since it was announced the dance was taking place. Yukie and Kyoichi Motobuchi had been in charge of the details, and despite the mismatch, things had been going well.

When they step off of the bus, Yuka doesn’t have a set place in mind to go to. She leads Chisato to a small cafe, somewhere where they can get a warm drink and a small bite to eat before spending the afternoon together, but she stops dead in her tracks when she sees a familiar sight at the counter. Haruka’s short hair hair combined with Hirono’s bleached blond hair is hard to miss, and from the small noise Chisato makes next to her, she sees them too.

“We can go somewhere else,” Yuka says after a moment, tugging Chisato’s arm.

Instead of listening, Chisato lets go of Yuka’s arm and walks slowly across the tiled floor of the cafe, her gaze fixed on them. Yuka opens her mouth, intent on saying or doing anything to stop her from this, whatever this is. She hadn’t been able to connect the dots before, not really, not without any clear theories to go off of, but she can see it now. Chisato had lost much of her sparkle when Haruka and Hirono had realized they were soulmates.

It should have been obvious. The two of them have always been close. It all makes sense now.

Yuka takes an empty table and decides to wait. If Chisato has something she needs to say to Haruka, then Yuka can only do what’s right: Let her friend make important decisions for her life.

“I wish I’d noticed for myself. I guess I didn’t really pay enough attention. I was so hung up on Yukie I failed to see the obvious.” Haruka’s smile is small and a little bittersweet; Chisato just nods at her. “I wish I could have had this talk with you back then.”

Chisato shakes her head. “It was my choice not to tell you and my choice to keep it to myself. Besides, you know you deserve to be happy even if it’s not with me.”

“Still, though. If Yukie had found her soulmate… I think I can understand exactly how you would feel, actually, when I think of it like that.” Haruka’s smile is softer and sadder now and Chisato manages a small smile of her own in return, not sure what else to say.

Standing by the windows, with Hirono waiting at one table and Yuka waiting at another, this conversation feels stranger and more surreal than Chisato thought possible. She had known this would come one way or another, but she was surprised to find herself wanting to have this conversation in a public place where anyone could overhear them, including the very person that Haruka is now in love with. But when Chisato had seen them, the urge had risen up within her, and somehow having Yuka nearby had made her feel more secure in her decision.

She clears her throat a little, glances down at her feet, then looks up at her best friend once more. They haven’t even had a proper conversation since Hirono had become Haruka’s soulmate, what with Haruka being so busy and Chisato not knowing what to say to her.

“I don’t resent you for it or anything, you know,” Haruka says, resting her hand lightly on Chisato’s shoulder. “I understand. I’m glad you came and talked to me about it.”

Chisato smiles. “I’m glad to have spoken to you about it. I was… I wasn’t sure what to say at first, but I’m glad you managed to understand just the same. I don’t want our friendship to be affected by this especially when your friendship means so much to me.”

“Your friendship means the world to me, too. Besides… I do want you to be happy too, you know. I know you said you wanted to wait to find your soulmate, but let me give you some advice.” Haruka loops her arm easily around Chisato’s shoulders and leans down enough that her next words don’t leave the bubble around them. “You don’t have to move any faster even if you do know, and it’s better to pursue your happiness rather than be worried about it. If you still don’t want to look, and don’t want to touch people, that’s your decision, and I will respect it. But please don’t cost yourself your own happiness.”

Chisato beams up at her. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that,” she says. “You and Noriko both seem happy with your soulmates, so maybe I’ll go ahead and give it a shot.”

The two of them embrace once more before Haruka returns to Hirono and Chisato takes her place at her table with Yuka, who immediately leans closer to her. “Is everything okay then?”

“Everything’s fine. I just needed to talk things out with Haru to really get myself together.” Chisato takes a deep breath to show that she is stable and steady, and Yuka’s relieved smile warms her all the way through. “I suppose I let myself overthink things, and I needed some… I guess what I’m trying to say is that I needed closure, and I have it now, and I feel better.”

Yuka beams at her. “I’m glad to hear that. I want you both to be happy.”

They get their drinks and some food, and when they sit back down, Yuka launches into a funny story she’s clearly saved for an occasion like this, and Chisato appreciates it as she sips her hot tea, picking apart a pastry with her fingers. Listening to Yuka’s vibrant voice has always had a calming effect on Chisato, and this time is really no different.

She remembers what Haruka had told her about not sacrificing her own happiness as Yuka reaches the crescendo of her story and does something she’s never done before in her life. The slow process by which she moves should be easily noticeable, something that anyone paying close enough attention might notice, but Yuka is too busy finishing her story to notice.

With a finesse she usually reserves to her cooking, she leans forward and takes Yuka’s hands firmly in hers.

#battle royale #chisato matsui #yuka nakagawa #*f: mine #*f: br #*f: chisato #*f: yuka #*f: soulmate au

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vkacerus · 4 years

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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 24)

Hello, friends. The story is rapidly approaching an end. I imagine I'll only be posting for another couple weeks (maybe three at the most) before this essay draws to a close.

Last night we wrapped up the Time Travel Arc. Now we return to the larger parent arc, the Escape Arc. Mikan has made up her mind to escape the school with her mother, and although this breaks Natsume's heart, he'll do all he can to get her out safely without at all complaining. If she's leaving for good, then the only thing that matters to him for the next little bit is keeping her as safe as possible. After that, he's resigned himself to a lonely and imminent death... And then Mikan has an epiphany.

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four

They’re finally all back in the present. The room they left is now empty, and they wonder what happened. Undoubtedly the situation is more pressing than ever.

Mikan is concerned about everyone’s safety, but Natsume makes it clear that the priority is making sure she can make it out of the academy with her mother. If she’s going to leave, then he will do everything he can to make sure the process goes as smoothly and safely for her as possible. Her concerns about everyone else have no place here when everyone’s dreams and futures are threatened by the ESP if he ever gets his hands on Mikan’s alices. Besides, his happiness and safety always come dead last to him. He’d act and speak this way, even if it was only Mikan’s well-being on the line.

He will protect her no matter what happens, he says. That’s his priority. This is no different than the way he’s been living for the last year or so.

Yeah, there's the whole thing with the school and protecting the student body and stopping the ESP but Mikan is his priority always.

Everyone else agrees, and Mikan is outvoted. She comes first now.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven

Mikan and her friends run into a horde of students, either controlled by Luna’s alice or afraid that they’ll end up being controlled or punished. They all move to attack Mikan in particular, to capture her because maybe they’ll even be rewarded for it.

This is a mistake, because Natsume will not allow anything to happen to her. He uses his alice to fend off the students, but his fire takes a strange shape, unlike anything he’s ever made before. His ability to manipulate the shape better than ever is a result of the stone Mikan inserted into him, which Tsubasa theorizes is psychokinesis.

Ruka pleads with him to stop, concerned about Natsume’s health the more he uses his alice. He immediately stops on the behest of his best friend, but then he uses his new alice to pull everyone over closer to him. Mikan specifically flies into his arms, where he wanted her. He’s able to catch her, whereas the others land on their heads. Now that they’re safer, he tells her to teleport them.

Who cares where the rest of them land? They can deal with it on their own.

Tsubasa comments that this extra power makes Natsume feel like more of a man, more powerful. This isn’t a farfetched theory. We know how much Natsume wants to grow up, to have power. Now that he has this extra alice, he’s more useful than he already was, and that naturally translates into some extra confidence.

Another thing is that Natsume is putting his all into getting Mikan out safe. He’s willing to expend all his energy and alice in order to accomplish his goal. Adding on to that, he knows he won’t see her again after this. He can hold on for a little longer, but to survive the unknowable amount of years before he can see her again? Unlikely. He doubted he’d even be able to graduate, let alone be on standby for possibly a decade and maybe even more. He has no reason to believe he’ll make it. So he keeps her close now. He’ll be right by her side ‘til the very end, take advantage of every touch and interaction he can. So even if everyone else collapses onto the ground after he uses his extra alice, Mikan will land safely in his arms.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine

Natsume may have spared Nobara earlier, but he still doesn’t really trust her. She’s been acting weird this whole time and he’s suspicious. When they have a moment, he confronts her, warning her that if she sells them out to Persona, he won’t go easy on her. After all, to him, she’s still the girl who’s always been Persona’s little pet.

But Nobara doesn’t want to sell them out. She wants to stop Persona and her DA friends from hurting the cause and themselves. She wants to stop them so they don’t become a part of the fight.

She stands back so she doesn’t teleport again with the rest of them. She wants to do this for Mikan.

Mikan doesn’t understand. She’s concerned that she left Nobara behind, so she says she’ll go back to get her, but Natsume stops her. She needs to allow Nobara to make her own choice. Even if Mikan doesn’t get it, the only thing that matters is their original mission. Nothing will change that. He won’t be strayed from it, no matter what obstacles come their way. Nobara made the choice, and she’s the best person to confront the DA class. The rest of them should allow her to do as she wants.

They move forward, and Natsume keeps back when he feels his coughing fit coming on. Now that everything is dire, he definitely doesn’t want to slow things down by worrying people with his body. He worries that he won’t be able to properly protect Mikan, considering the shape he’s in, but he would never say that out loud.

Death creeps ever closer... Why isn't he ever concerned for himself?

Even more, Nobara stressed before she left that Natsume was the most important person to stay by Mikan's side, that he should protect her to the end. Though he wouldn't be so bold to say that about himself, he wants to stay 'til the end. But the fact that he might die at any moment doesn't reassure him. However, any insecurities or fears he has must stay in his mind. He wants to be strong for Mikan, to accomplish their goal and keep her safe. He’s pushed any and all feelings of his own out the window. All that matters is their goal.

He can die afterwards.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four

Mikan needs to go to her mother. She and Ruka are to teleport to Yuka, since Ruka has the barrier alice and he can keep her safe. The rest of them are going to hold off the Fuukitai and other enemies. There’s really no time for heartfelt goodbyes. Natsume might never see Mikan again, but he turns away because there’s no time for anything else. He will fight off the enemies to keep her safe. That’s what he can do. Anything else will just waste precious time.

Except that Mikan has the telepathy alice now. She’s mostly kept it a secret, sharing it with Hotaru and nobody else.

Natsume can stay silent all he wants, but his heart and mind are racing with thoughts and feelings. She couldn’t ignore it if she wanted to. It’s not the time to be lollygagging. She has to get going, and everyone is urging her to move on and teleport with Ruka, but she’s hesitating.

And then Natsume hears it too. She’s saying it back, telepathically, that she loves him too.

Terrible timing, Mikan. You had all night to say it back! (joking)

It’s all he’s never allowed himself to want to hear. Something that would only happen in a delusional fantasy world. Mikan may care about him, to some degree, but he’d never expected she would love him back. She should love Ruka, who is kind and polite, or literally anybody else. He’s always had to push her away, and even if she saw through his insults to see what he really meant, he still wouldn’t be good enough. He can’t be with her, because his life is running out. He shouldn’t be with her, because all he will do is cause her more pain. He’ll never be with her, because he doesn’t deserve to be. He won’t be with her, because she’s running away with her mother and he’ll never see her again.

But she loves him too anyway.

Despite every insult and attempt to keep his distance. Despite their beginnings of mutual disdain. Despite how he’s said he hated everything about her, about how he wanted her out of his sight. Despite acting like she was a pest and nothing more than an annoyance. Despite everything he did, she somehow still loves him.

It’s the worst thing to ever happen to him, to stand there and hear her saying that in his mind and then watch her disappear forever.

He’s said it out loud only one time. He confessed with his kiss at Christmas, with his alice stone, with the borrowing race, with his speech to the ESP. He’s confessed with every time he got in front of her to protect her, with every cruel word forced out of him by the higher ups, with every smile he had just for her.

Now she finally said it back and it’s too late for anything. He can’t kiss her and show her how much he means it, how much it isn’t just hype over nothing. He can’t tell her he loves her to her face and with his whole chest. He can’t take her by the hand and run away with her. He can’t live happily ever after with her.

That was all okay before, when it was just him who was suffering. So his life would be lonely and short. Okay. Who cares? But now he knows she wants all that too.

He’s miserable. He calls out to her but it’s too late. She’s gone now and all he can do is fight the enemies who want to threaten her security.

Natsume has been left behind with Tono and Tsubasa to fight as hard as they can against the Fuukitai. When they finally get away for a moment, Tono tells them to fight for the girls they love. Tsubasa and Natsume both berate him for this, because who was he talking about? Tono argues it wasn’t about him; he was just trying to cheer the two up after they had to break apart from their girls.

Natsume is clearly in emotional turmoil, but he frequently is, so he doesn’t let it show a lot. He may threaten Tono with his alice or tease him with Tsubasa like all is normal, but it’s not. His current circumstances couldn’t be any worse unless Mikan were in danger, and he’s doing everything he can to keep that from happening.

Tono finally admits that he’s been nervous this whole time because Noda is probably the traitor among them, but Natsume realizes the truth: It’s Goshima.

Tsubasa and Tono are going to try and find Goshima, who has the key Yuka and Mikan need to escape. They also need someone to go and tell them that Goshima can’t be trusted, and Tono wants Natsume to do it.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five

Tono is urging Natsume to go and tell Mikan about Goshima, to go protect her. Naturally, he doesn’t hesitate before taking off. Any excuse to see her again and keep her safe is enough for him.

Tsubasa doesn’t understand why Tono sent him off, though, since Natsume is in such bad shape. Having him run and exert himself further seems wrong.

I just want him to be happy. Is that really so much to ask?

Tono puts it all into perspective. It had to be Natsume. The kid was in a state of absolute misery, even knowing his love is requited and perhaps because of it. He can never see Mikan again. His life will end. The rest of them can talk about decades and decades into the future and still be sure that they will meet Mikan again, but it’s clear that Natsume won’t make it that far. As Tono puts it, it’s important that Natsume has a chance to see her for the last time, to say good-bye properly.

Natsume would go to her no matter what, too, and he does, running with all his might to find her, even though he’s coughing and his body is breaking.

He will use his alice and do anything he can to find her and tell her and keep her safe, and they finally meet again.

He’s standing over the bodies of enemies that he’s just defeated for her, and he finally has a chance to say the good-bye he thought he’d never get.

There are other things that need to be said, but he might not have a chance to say his feelings again if he doesn’t take the opportunity now. He’s sad, because no matter what, their story will end soon. But this is more than he could’ve asked for.

But all of the words that should come out of his mouth don’t. He doesn’t talk about the traitor. He doesn’t tell her he loves her to her face. He doesn’t say anything except her name. None of the feelings he has can be put into words. For the moment he’s speechless.

She is too. She rushes into his arms and they share a quick second of holding each other before they inevitably part forever. The fact that she hugs him might have reminded him that she loves him too. Then again, how could he forget? Either way, he finds the words that were lost to him before.

He’s going to stay with her until the very last second. He won’t leave her or part from her for even a moment again until they have to say good-bye for good.

No, they won't last. She'll leave and he'll die, but they have this moment, even if it's the only thing they'll ever have.

No, he doesn’t mention the traitor even though he was sent to. Natsume very rarely talks about his feelings, but they felt so important this time that he had to say them out loud.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six

Even though Natsume didn’t say it to Mikan, Shiki got the information from him via telepathy and then conveyed the information to Yuka.

Now that Yuka and Mikan are reunited, they can all go to see them off, fighting Fuukitai and Luna along the way. Narumi and Mikan are trapped in an enemy’s ice alice for a moment, until Natsume melts the ice and takes Mikan’s hand. He wasn’t joking about staying by her side until the very end.

Until the very last moment.

Sure, she needed to reunite with her mother and Narumi, but they’ll be spending forever with her after this night. He only has these next few minutes. He’ll be the one to take her by the hand until he has no choice but to let go. Until then, he will stay by her side.

Lucky for them, Yuka’s plan to wait until the last moment for the key so they can leave with Naru panned out. “Tsubasa” arrives with the key and hands it off. There’s no time to waste; Yuka rushes to open the warp-hole but all that comes from it is an explosion.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven

Yuka and Narumi were caught in the blast. Yuka shielded Narumi with her body and took the brunt of the hit. She’s now in critical condition.

No hesitation. That's his only keepsake from his mother, his only reprieve from endless pain, but he'll give it Yuka because he can't not give it to her.

Natsume doesn’t hesitate, and he gives Mikan the healing alice stone that his mother got from Yuka. Yuka is Mikan’s mother. Her death would be crushing for Mikan, who’s already had to face so much trauma from watching her father die too. This all was about getting Mikan and Yuka out safely, and all that effort would be in vain if Yuka dies. And after Natsume has seen everything that happened in the past, he respects Yuka too. All Yuka has ever done is suffer, just like he has. To simply die after all that--he doesn’t want that either. Yuka gave his mother that alice stone, something that brought him a little reprieve whenever he had a coughing fit or felt ill. The least he can do now is give it back.

But it doesn’t work. It’s not enough. Yuka has enough time before her death to hug Mikan and apologize to Luna, but then her heart stops.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight

The ESP arrives to break the period of mourning. Luna can’t believe that he would orchestrate this, but it’s not much of a surprise to anyone else. The “Tsubasa” decoy reveals himself to be Goshima, who holds Mikan by the wrists. The ESP only needed one person with the stealing alice. Yuka had become extendable, so he eliminated her.

Goshima goes to surrender Mikan to the ESP, but she fights, and Natsume moves to fight too, because that’s his girlfriend and he promised he would keep her safe. But the ESP always has the barrier alice cast on him, always protected, even from Natsume’s strong alice. Even Natsume can’t help Mikan now.

But Shiki breaks the ESP’s barrier and Mikan rushes to her friends’ side.

Z is invading the school and threatening to take the students captive. The MSP needs her successor, Shiki to be appointed so that he can protect the school with his barrier alice. The ESP is in a bind. Shiki can either run away with Mikan as Yuka had intended to, or he will agree to stay and act as the MSP to protect the school.

Conclusion

God this arc is a mess when all you want are the NM moments. How dare they be so scattered! Anyways, Natsume now knows that Mikan loves him too, romantically, but everything has been upside down for a while, specifically tonight, so the future doesn't look bright. In the next part, we'll talk about how Natsume feels about being separated from Mikan when she's locked away.

Sorry this is late. I'm not in a fantastic mood today which affected my motivation. I shoved a bunch of content in here and it might be too much. I don't know. There wasn't a clear way I could cut it into multiple parts without them being choppy and short as hell. I just wanted to get to the next part because this arc was stressing me out.

In any case, I feel like crap right now emotionally, because this day was very draining. I'll try to post tomorrow at a reasonable time. Thank you for reading.

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#gakuen alice #alice academy #hyuuga natsume #natsume hyuuga #natsumikan #sakura mikan #mikan sakura #my meta #ga #mine #ga meta #ga meta: nm #ga meta: manga #ga meta: manga nm #let's talk about natsumikan #let's talk about natsumikan: natsume #run by snow patrol for ur natsumikan song needs #for the last little while its been hard to motivate myself to do this essay when i feel so horrible #i want to NOT feel like this and focus on natsumikan bc they make me so happy but its been really hard #please have patience with me #bully @thesightofworms into paying more attention to me and my mood will improve. this is all her fault for abandoning me #none of this is nm related im sorry for venting here #please have a nice happy day #sry if theres issues here #sorry if it seems rushed. tbh the editing and formatting WAS bc i wanted to post and i felt Bad.#i dont think ill be fixing anything too major so apologies in advance

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