#dark academia short preview

[victorluvsalice]

Sims 4 Valicer Outfit Fun III -- Dark Academic Crystals Edition!

Time for another "I've been fucking around in CAS making outfits for Victor, Alice, and Smiler" lookbook post! This time focusing on outfits created in response to me getting the Crystal Creations stuff pack recently! So, without further ado --

This is Victor in the outfit I most wanted to put him in ever since I saw the previews for the clothing you got with Crystal Creations – that vest and shirt combo is PERFECT for a slightly more casual Victor. :) The black pants aren’t bad either, and I rather like the little boots. Another Valicer In The Dark look, I think!

While normally I’m all about the blue with Alice, I really liked the forest-green swatch for this particular dress, so here it is. :) It’s a very pretty outfit (though looking at it, I can understand why some people were like “some of these clothes look like they should have been part of Realm Of Magic”), and I like it in combination with the patterned tights, and the other new set of boots.

Back to traditional blue swatches with Alice here – I had to try this dress on for size as well, and I think it looks pretty on her. Though I suspect this is something I’d be more likely to give a “teen” Alice over a “young adult” one... Maybe if I ever do that save file where I have Alice, Victor, Victoria, Emily, and Smiler all grow up together. :p As I had this outfit replace one of her formals (hence the fancy necklace and bright white stockings), I decided to pair it with the fancy crystalline shoes you get with the pack too – VERY cool-looking. :)

Okay, this is an amusing one – I was using Smiler to hunt down new clothes that I hadn’t clicked on yet from any pack, having thrown them in one of the comfy sweaters that you get from Crystal Creations (in the black swatch, because obviously it doesn’t have a good yellow one – dark academia is not know for its bold colors, after all) – and I stumbled across a pair of ripped leggings from Werewolves that I had apparently never properly clicked on. A pair of leggings –

That came in a “one yellow leg one black leg” swatch that was perfectly Smilerish! :D So yeah, I had to show them off – with a quick pair of mini-shorts thrown on to help hide Smiler’s, uh, bulge a bit better. XD But yeah, don’t those look very them? I’ll have to find a “real” outfit to use them in, instead of this monstrosity. :p

Here's Smiler in some real pants to make a proper outfit for them -- and honestly, I rather like the combination of the yellow slacks with the nice loose black sweater. :) Probably should have gone with black shoes over the yellow ones, but I was literally just messing around in CAS with all the new clothes I could find, so... Oh, and you may notice that Smiler's got something around their neck?

Yeah, it's the new double-strand necklace made in conjunction with Simmer arethabee! You see, I also used Smiler to clear out some of the stuff in the “head” section of CAS (including all the new hairstyles from all my new packs that I hadn’t looked at yet – let me tell you, Smiler does NOT look like themselves if they don’t have this specific weirdass haircut), which meant that Smiler got to be the one to show off this cute little necklace! I rather like it – and not just because it comes in Smiler-appropriate colors. XD It’s simple without being TOO simple, you know? And it does look like something Smiler might wear. Or Alice, come to think of it. I’ll have to play around with it a bit more.

Enjoy this handful of new looks! And be prepared for a few more in the future, because I also did some playing around in CAS in response to the SDX "new swimsuit stuff" drop last week on 5/14. XD First though, another Chill Valicer Save update -- see you then!

#sims 4 #looks #fashion #victor van dort #alice liddell #smiler alton #smiler always #the pack was on sale recently #and I DID want to get it sooo #easier to justify spending less than ten bucks on Sims 4 content then the price of a full expansion pack these days #especially because of all the damn bugs #but yes I am enjoying the new clothes that come with the pack #especially for Victor and Alice who very much suit the 'dark academia' look #Smiler not so much but the sweater at least looks comfy #and actually pairs pretty well with that pair of yellow pants #so that's nice #and the necklace looks good on them too #I don't generally have my Sims wear a lot of jewelry so #might need to start experimenting with that some more #and yes those tights were a fun find #definitely have to find a proper outfit to use them in! #yellow and black stuff like this is kind of at a premium in this game #gotta use it where you can! #queued

[jeanstoppable]

11TH OF OCTOBER

~thinkin’ about you~

“Gabrielle!” Someone shouted her name in the middle of a busy corridor. A few heads turn towards the source but eventually minded their own business.

Gabrielle twisted to the side and looked behind her, seeing a familiar face waving an arm in the air, one of the limited pile of shifters whose company she’d actually tolerated and enjoyed.

“Benette.” Gabrielle casually greeted him when he finally reached her.

“Hey, fangs.” He shot back, waggling his brows while wearing a toothy grin. Gabrielle rolled her eyes at the lousy job of a nickname, cocking a hip and crossing her arms.

“What is it you want?”

“Straight to the point, huh? Normally, I’d waste some of your time but since class is about to start soon, I’ll make this quick. Someone wanted me to give this to you.” He pulled out a piece of paper from one of his pockets and handed it to her.

Raising an inquisitive brow, she carefully took the small paper and then glared accusingly at him, “I swear if this is another one of your god awful tricks—”

“No! No, nothing like that.” He quickly interjected, “Just doing someone a service.”

“And who would that be?”

Benette chuckled and winked, “Go and find out yourself. Oh and also—“ He passed by her, shoving Gabrielle’s shoulder playfully before he whispered,

“Congratulations!”

The girl stared at his back for a moment, and then redirected her attention to the note between her fingers. Brushing a thumb over the surface of the paper, she faintly had an idea on who it belonged, and then opened it,

Thinkin’ about you.

~ V, your girlfriend

ps: I was really excited so, I hope you don’t get mad

pps: I told every person I met, sorry

The note ended with a kiss mark right at the bottom.

Gabrielle’s face flamed, from her neck up to the tips of her pointed ears, and then quickly pocketed the note, looking left and right to see if anyone’s seen it’s contents. Thankfully the crowd earlier had dispersed and there were only a couple of students lingering here and there.

Taking a deep breath, Gabrielle regained her composure and held back the urge to go search for that bold shifter of hers to—

That girl was going to be the death of her someday, she groaned and groaned again when a stupid smile grudgingly split her lips.

Extra: Her Side

“HEY!” Valerie screamed at the first person she saw out of her dorm room and ran up to them.

It was a human, a witch to be precise and one that she had never seen before. A freshman perhaps? Well, It doesn’t matter either way as Valerie instantly asked her a question, stepping into her space.

“Do you know Gabrielle O’Sullivan, a third year Night Stalker?”

“I...uh, I’m afraid not.” They squeaked out, eyes going wide.

“Well, she’s now OFF LIMITS.” Valerie pointed a finger at her, squinting her eyes a bit to look intimidating.

It seemed to work as the witch paled, “Um, I really don’t know her—“

“She’s my girlfriend.”

“O-oh? Congratulations?”

Valerie smiled and nodded as if she’s satisfied, “Thank you! And have a nice day!” The shifter chirped and then simply walked away like nothing happened. The witch made a mental note to change routes so that she won’t have to pass by here again.

EXTRA extra: here’s what Gabrielle looks like conceptually

(A/N: I feel a bit under the weather, sorry if this feels rushed. I really wanted to make this longer but lets settle with this for now. This explores the first stages of their relationship, as you can see Valerie is very affectionate. Also, another character was introduced, I may have about 6 more characters to show in this story. Look out for them! See yall next time! PEACE)

#alkinktober #inktober prompt #my art #myoc #mywriting #dark academia oc’s #dark academia short preview #dark academia story #wlw #established relationship is v cute #day 11 now DAAAMN

[queenie-the-writer]

so, you want to start a writing account?

HI ROYALS. in this post i’ll just be giving some basic tips i wish i’d had before making my account! this is the second post of my series abt running a writing account :). what else do i even say in intros?? (don’t mind me just having a mini crisis while writing this) IM FINEEEEE

what should i post?

i think starting off with a “meet the writer” or some sort of intro to who you are is a great idea. that way people will feel like they know the person behind the account, which in turn could lead to people with similar interests reaching out and becoming friends.

after your first post, it’s really up to you. not every writing account posts tips, but you could post about your writing and wip if you have one, memes if you’re so inclined, book reviews, aesthetics like lookbooks or anything else you can come up with!! we love seeing creativity in this community and seeing smth new is always refreshing :)

finding a place in the community

the simplest thing is that this takes time. the more consistent you are with your activity, the sooner it will happen i’m sure. but don’t burn yourself out so quick!

one of the best things you can do is find a bunch of other writing accounts to follow. this will simultaneously help you make friends and increase your reach!

don’t be afraid to reach out in dms. plenty of us are ready to help and can understand where you’re coming from—so if you ever have a question or just want to talk, go for it!!

engagement

again, this will probably be slow going. and there’s nothing wrong with that! here’s a few quick tips when it comes to reach and engagement:

— aesthetic / theme: see next slide

— understand the algorithm: the insta algorithm is a fickle thing and we can never seem to grasp the concept for long, but as far as i’m aware the most valuable interaction is shares, the least being likes. feel free to research this! (and lemme know what you find)

— engage with others: more often than not, creators will notice your activity on their account if you’re consistent and wander over to your account to repay the favour!

— question of the day (qotd): often a simple question in the caption that gives followers the chance to leave a comment.

— hashtags: using tags that relate to you post helps your content reach other people! try to use big and small hashtags, and between 12-15 a post.

a short guide to acc aesthetics / themes

a specific theme isn’t obligatory when you make an account, but a certain vibe or aesthetic can definitely help in the growth department because let’s be real. we all like looking at pretty things, as much as we might say “don’t judge a book by its cover”. (a horrible mindset, rlly)

when it comes down to designating an aesthetic for your account, here’s some aesthetics to inspire:

— dark / light academia

— royalcore

— ethereal / fairycore

— indie

— minimalist

— black and white

THERE ARE SO MANY POSSIBILITIES LIKE THE CREATIVITY IS ENDLESS.

in my experience, the more specific and unique your theme is, the better people will like it—taking my reign theme as an example!

but, when it comes down to what’s really important, it’s that you love the way your account looks. it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. it’s your space, so pour your heart and soul into it and make it your very own.

apps to download

— instagram: oh wait you prob already have this one huh

— canva: really useful for making posts, i use it for all of mine. user-friendly and there’s a lot to discover, i could spend hours on this app!!

— video star: a great tool for making end cards or adding music to a slide.

— feed preview for instagram: functions very simply, allows you to plan out what your account will look like before you post!

— picsart: good for editing photos and creating aesthetics!

— pinterest: the b e s t source for aesthetic photos and super easy to organize :)

final word

there is no right or wrong way to go about making a writing account. it should be a space for you and your writing and your characters, and a chance to find other writers like you. my best piece of advice would be to have patience and to persevere. do it because you love it, and if it starts to feel like a chore, stop. take a break. YOU GOT THIS <3

#writergram #writersofinstagram #writers on instagram #writers #writing therapy #writing account #writing again #world domination

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Style Check: Winter Package 2021 - Style 1

by Admin 1

I don’t know about you but I’ve been feeling constantly attacked by BH and BTS releasing these preview pictures for this year’s Winter Package. They gave us four different styles and settings, and honestly, all of them are absolutely amazing, ranging from something I can only describe as dark academia, over lovely Christmas and two variations of cute winter boys.

As pretty as their Summer Packages used to be, there’s something distinctly more aesthetically pleasing, at least to me, about the Winter Package looks we had for both editions. But maybe I’m bias since I don’t really like summer all that much and am more interested in winter themed things and fashion.

So, since we have four styles for Winter Package, I though I’ll post something short for each one separately, instead of one massive post that’ll just end up being way too long, even for our standards. It’ll also make it easier to add things and details through reblogs as we get to see more and also once the full thing will be released. Sounds good? I think so, too.

First let’s have a look at what Style 1 even looks like before we get into a more detailed overview of what each of them wore:

I don’t know about you but there’s something so cozy and pretty color pallet wise that really gets me with this set of clothes, as well as the setting they chose for the pictures. I love the different shades of blue and green as accents along with white and cream as neutral base colors. It really makes them pop, especially the contrasting splashes of orange and red on Namjoon’s sweater, Seokjin’s beanie and the entirety of Hoseok’s more yellowish one. It helps for the pieces, as well as the members, to not get lost and become one with the backdrop and instead turns them into an eye-catching focal point your eyes are immediately drawn to. It all works perfectly with the partially cloudy sky and dry grass hill, both in light (almost solid) shades.

Their mittens? Adorable. Their earmuffs and beanies? So cute! Add to that the members looking fantastic and voila, beautiful pictures. A round of applause for the stylists for these styling choices.

Below the cut, let’s check out the details thanks to the help of Bangtan Style, a great twt account to follow if fashion in the context of BTS interests you:

One thing I’ve noticed at least with some of the pieces is that the prices are somewhat more “reasonable” than when it comes to some of their other outfits where seemingly everything costs around a thousand dollars or more. Which isn’t to say that any of this is cheap by any means, but you get the point.

Styling wise these are some great choices for each of the above members. I really like Hoseok’s and Jungkook’s coats, those shades of green are magnificent and I like how Hoseok’s is a light green (fitting with his bright personality) and Jungkook’s a darker one, fitting more with his usual aesthetic and just the fact that he suits dark colors amazingly in general. That light blue jacket on Yoongi is just the perfect splash of color for his skin complexion and the shades of white of his other pieces. I appreciate the red heart detail on Yoongi’s beanie and Hoseok’s sweater, which I know are the designer’s logo but they could’ve chosen shades that stick out more, but they didn’t and I really like that.

When it comes to Jimin, his outfit out of these four seems comfiest and almost has a pajama like feel to it due to those denim pattern pants that, upon first glance, I actually thought were pajama pants. Paired with his very warm looking jacket and cute mittens and earmuffs, it fits him truly amazingly.

If I had to choose my favorite out of these four, I think I’d go with Jungkook’s.

Now here’s where my statement about more reasonable price tags basically drowns because there is nothing “cheap” about Tae’s coat. Or Seokjin’s almost thousand dollar jacket (though JKs and Hoseok’s were still a little more expensive). Some great choices were made with all three Kim’s, very in line with their usual styles and preferences. The contrast of green pants to the orange of his beanie while his jacket is mostly white with some colored accents suits Seokjin perfectly. I could see him wearing that jacket on an average day as well, though it’s interesting how he’s the only member who isn’t wearing anything around his neck, regardless if in form of a turtleneck sweater or scarf.

Namjoon looks comfy and very Namjoon with those straight leg jeans, that cute light blue (a shade very close to that of Yoongi’s jacket) with what appears to perhaps be some kind of flowers in red, and that grayish blue bucket hat. His mittens hanging off of his neck and that furry scarf are the perfect cheery on top adding this extra bit of cute to it. This seems like something Namjoon would also put together for himself, more or less, to go namjooning. And then we have Tae who, how do I put this, looks fantastic but also adorable AF, his duality, I swear. That blue scarf and shades of brown earmuffs looks marvelous with his hair, and generally browns and creams are definitely the perfect color for him. His coat is rather simple in style, one solid color, but goes great with the green sweater and light blue pants. It reminds me of outfits Tae wore in the past that followed a similar vibe and style, so again the stylists did a really good job.

Overall the Kim’s look great, though my favorite out of these three might just be Namjoon. 

But now something I’d really like to draw your attention to since I needed a moment to collect myself (I’m being dramatic here) when I realized it is this:

Not only are vmin wearing the matching earmuffs in different colors, which in and of itself is already such a cute and lovely detail, but also the price tag? $95? Like 1995? That’s such a small trivial detail and yet it just makes sense with our precious soulmates. It was most certainly a complete coincidence looking at how it’s a Korean conceptual knit project label and thus they were acquired based on how much they cost in won, and yet...! Like any vminnie I appreciate it when their stylists add these small matching details for them.

And that’s it. Overall I’m really happy with all these choices and the pictures, and members look fantastic. JK’s and Namjoon’s are my favorites out of this set. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing the rest of the pictures they took in these clothes once the Winter Package will be released.

#winter package 2021 #winter package #style discussion #BTS #bangtan sonyeondan #Jimin #Taehyung #Namjoon #Seokjin #Jungkook #Hoseok #Yoongi #not at me trying to make it seem like I have any tangible knowledge on fashion #which I don't #but I'm really having fun with this #fashion

[mythgirlimagines]

Here is a brand new talentswap for this week! Let’s give a sweet welcome to Myth, the Former Ultimate Mathematician!

——————————————————-

BACKSTORY AND TALENT

Myth was raised by a family of academics and alumni of Hope’s Peak, and thus, Myth has a massive appreciation for all things academia. Ever since Myth was little, she has shown stunning aptitude in math, and eventually, it became her favorite subject in school. Myth was also captain of her school’s Math Bowl team, after usurping the previous captain in a battle of wits. Before Myth was invited to join the Hope’s Peak roster, Myth attended a very prestigious school district, and garnered local fame for her mathematical prowess. Her mathematical aptitude is so large, that she can solve complex mathematical equations, such as calculus, mentally and in under half a minute. These skills make her a valuable asset in both competitions and mathematical journals. As an adult, she runs a mathematics tutoring business, for younger struggling students.

 ——————————————————-

RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Baton Twirler

Two halves of a whole nerd, these two have been best friends ever since they first met in the same prestigious academy. As opposed to the math club, Wyre was part of the marching band as the head baton twirler, and garnered infamy for her prowess at leading the band. Despite Wyre’s wild and crude nature contrasting heavily against both her former academy and Myth’s personality, Wyre is like Myth’s personal cheerleader and hype girl, always there to pick Myth up on her low days and defend her against people who want to pick on Myth’s weight. In return, Myth offers Wyre tutoring to help her get through the private school. 

Outfit: A blue and red majorette outfit with a matching hat, glasses are clean and unbroken.

Anon Scar, Ultimate Gardener

Fancying herself as the “Supreme High Overlord of The Valley of Death”, said ”Valley of Death” is actually simply a very large flower garden that Scar tends to all by herself. With a vast botanical knowledge and a caring and maternal nature towards both plants and people, underneath her constant supernatural boasting. Myth never really had much experience with botany, but she uses her conversations with Scar as learning experiences. While Scar finds Myth polite and kindhearted enough, Scar’s maternal instincts just flair up, every time she witnesses Myth get stressed and then shoving unhealthy snacks into her face.

Outfit: Hair in a side plait and decorated with small flowers, a hooded black cloak and matching makeup, over a copper and green dress, nothing on her feet.

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Billiards Player

Originally from a less-than-fortunate family, Fusion has taken it to the pool tables to earn his family money. Fusion’s accurate eyesight and strategic mindset lets him dominate every pool tournament that he enters. Myth and Fusion both bond over their intellectual interests and their love for snacks. In fact, Myth and Fusion usually meet up to exchange snacks with each other. Fusion is currently trying to teach Myth how to play billiards, viewing Myth’s intelligence as a great advantage on the pool table. Similar to Scar, Fusion carries himself with a parental air and regularly looks after the other Ultimates like they are his children. 

Outfit: A blue and yellow striped vest over a red tie with a star on it and a white dress shirt, glasses, pants and shoes from original design, always carries and stims with his lucky pool cue.

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Knitter

As much as Fusion II tries to pull off the rebellious teenager act, it’s a bit hard to do that, considering she knits in her spare time and donates her knitted crafts to charity. While at first, Myth viewed Fusion II as simply a thug from the wrong side of the rails and Fusion II viewed Myth as a reminder of her nerdy self from middle school, her opinion of the knitter quickly changed once she learned about her charitable and kindhearted side, particularly to children and elders. Now the two’s relationship are on the more positive side, with a private intellectual meme chat being the ultimate deciding factor in their friendship. 

Outfit: Same outfit from the original, but with a red scarf around her neck and blue gloves and brown boots with white fluff on the inside.

Just Anon, Ultimate DJ

DJanon is well-known in underground nightclubs for his energetic music mixes and his expertise in hyping up his audience. Many rumors claim that he is nocturnal, and it’s not hard to see why, for he seems to lose all of his energy during the day and become grouchy and lazy. Myth never really was experienced when it comes to music, and Janon’s music just seems to hurt her ears. Janon doesn’t seem to like anyone who reminds him of school, so the hatred between Myth and Janon is mutual. However, Janon has a secret soft spot for the preteen fanbase of his that he desperately wants to keep hidden.

Outfit: A pink Daft Punk style helmet with bunny ears on top, a pink jumpsuit with blue circuit patterns, light blue boots.

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Jazz Musician

As both an expert on both the saxophone and the piano and a person with a very flashy stage presence, it is no wonder that Sparkle is the leading lady of her all-female jazz troupe, ”THE SPECTACULAR SONGSTRESSES”. As opposed to Janon’s music, Myth finds Sparkle’s music to be much more pleasant to listen to. Myth may not understand much of Sparkle’s over-dramatic demeanor and vocabulary, but she stays silent and tries her best to keep up with the energetic attitude of the jazz musician. Sparkle appreciates the high class and intelligent musical tastes of Myth, and usually lets Myth preview her new jazz songs. 

Outfit: A black fedora, a black overcoat slung around her shoulders, a white dress shirt with golden music note buttons, a red tie, black pants, black slip-on shoes.

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Soccer Player, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Actor

Both of these twins have achieved stardom and became role models for NB youth everywhere. They also have a penchant for creeping people out with the cursed images they put into people‘s heads, but the similarities stop there. While Egg is an inspiration for non-binary people thanks to their athletic prowess securing wins for their varsity team, Wet Sock inspires and astonishes non-binary people, thanks to their famous face and stellar performance skills on both theater sets and movie sets. As much as Myth tries to be polite when interacting with the Freak Twins, their verbal intrusive thoughts just disgust her.

Egg’s Outfit: A green headband, a green and dark blue track jacket, a white tanktop, shorts that match their jacket, white socks, blue and green cleats.

Wet Sock’s Outfit: A black and white tuxedo with a light green scarf.

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Film Director

Despite their age and relative newness to the job, Curious has garnered fame for their high-budget and gripping emotional tales on the big screen. But the one film that truly sealed their fame as a director was ”The Ice Cage”, a film detailing a person slowly moving out of the glass shell that they have been put into by society. Because of their similar polite and passive temperaments, Myth and Curious get along very well. While Myth may not have much experience with the arts, she uses her conversations with Curious as learning opportunities to gain more knowledge on the creative process.

Outfit: Same outfit from the original, but with a black jacket and beret.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Kickboxer

Dominating the underground kickboxing tournaments that are frequently held in his less-than-stellar hometown, Nerd‘s sheer physical power is nothing to laugh at and many people yearn to learn Nerd’s ways. Unfortunately, Nerd isn’t exactly the best when it comes to being kind to others, and responds to foreign emotions with his fists and feet. Nerd can’t help but want to whip the chubby mathematician into shape, upon seeing her get stressed and stress eat as a result. But Nerd’s aggressive training just scares the kindly mathematician away, much to the kickboxing champion’s chagrin and anger. 

Outfit: Black shorts held up by a white drawstring, bandaged-up arms and feet, a black bathrobe over all that.

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Party Planner

As a strong believer in Murphy’s Law, Eldritch shoots and double-shoots to make sure that every party that he plans goes off without a hitch, and nothing bad will ever happen. This mindset may make him a great planner, but he isn’t so crash-hot, when he actually attends the parties he planned. Fortunately, Myth is polite and easily-pleased, which is a pass in Eldritch’s party-planning and people-pleasing book. Unfortunately, Eldritch found out that Myth gets easily stressed, so he has to remove any stress—arousing things from any party that she happens to be attending. At least Eldritch now has some common ground with Myth.

Outfit: A green and yellow party hat on his head, hair stained with streamers and sprinkles, a pink camo jacket with his pockets stuffed with party favors over a light pink shirt with blue and yellow balloons on the front, shorts and slippers from original design.

Dream Anon, Ultimate BMX Biker

Commonly known by the stunt community as the “Pink Pinball”, Dream became famous on the internet for her filmed BMX stunts, and her bright pink ensemble she wears while performing said stunts. She regularly frequents skate parks and bike-racing tracks to practice her skills, and even established a BMX club at her school. Dream and Myth are complete opposites in just about everything, so Dream regularly gives proper workout sessions (unlike Nerd) and encourages Myth to loosen up and live on the edge, and Myth regularly looks after Dream to make sure her stunts aren‘t too dangerous. 

Outfit: A bright pink and grey jump suit with a matching motorcycle helmet. 

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Glassblower

As the latest child in a long and prestigious line of glassblowers, it was expected by her parents that Iris would carry the family business. Despite her parent’s doubts due of her supreme clumsiness, Iris is amazing at both creating and delivering drinking glasses and adorable glass trinkets, which happen to be her two major specialities. Despite her optimistic temperament, Iris has anxiety that she tries desperately to hide underneath her happy and slightly ditzy facade. Myth can especially relate to keeping up a facade to mask anxiety, and Iris regularly imparts wisdom onto Myth to help the constantly-stressed mathematician.

Outfit: Hair pulled back into a braided ponytail, a pair of brown goggles over her eyes, a grey jumpsuit, black gloves and boots.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Sailor

Well-known amongst her peers for piloting the P.S Prose, Purple sailed across the vast and open ocean, and dodged dangerous storms, waves and wildlife along the way. Unfortunately, spending all your time surrounded by nothing but water doesn’t exactly do wonders for your social skills, for Purple is shockingly timid and regularly hides behind her good friend Fusion. Despite Purple’s archaic maritime terms confusing everybody but Myth and Fusion, Purple is still very sweet and kind. Myth offering Purple some of her anti-stress candy was the start of a simply beautiful friendship. 

Outfit: A white captain‘s hat, hair tied into small pigtails, a purple overcoat over a blue and white striped shirt and a black ascot, black pants, tall white socks, black shoes.

This series centers around the secretly-stressed mathematician learning about new anti-stress techniques from her colorful peers, in order to combat her constant stress-snacking.

——————————————————-

APPEARANCE

Myth wears her brown hair down with hairpins on each side that resemble a plus and minus sign. Myth wears the same uniform from her old private school that she (much to her embarrassment) still is able to fit into. It consists of a black jacket that has math-themed pins over a white dress shirt and a red and blue tie, a white and light blue checkered skirt that resembles a line graph. On her legs and feet are black leggings and red Mary Janes. Because of her chronic snacking, Math!Myth has a plumper figure compared to Romantic!Myth.

——-————————————————

PERSONALITY

Because of her upbringing, Math!Myth has a taste for anything scholastic or pertaining to academics, and always appreciates a good intellectual conversation. Math!Myth carries herself with a polite and courteous demeanor, treating all men like kings and all women like queens. Unfortunately, underneath that calm and well-put-together facade, is a very stressed young lady. Because Math!Myth doesn’t like stress, she tries her best to stave off the stress. However, stress-eating is her go-to-method for dealing with stress, and the other Anons are trying their best to teach Myth a proper way of dealing with constant stress and anxiety. On the plus side, Myth is a constant source of snacks for the other Anons. If anyone needs a snack, they just head over to Myth and ask for one, for she will have it stashed somewhere on her person.  ————————————————-——

I’ve done Buff!Myth before, but I haven’t done Chubby!Myth yet, so here you go. Let me know what you think of this Myth and the other Anons in this AU!

-Fusion Anon

#fun fact i was in math league for a year in hs #submission #anon #fusion anon #art #not my art #talentswap tuesday #fusion anon ii #egg anon #wet sock anon #purple anon #iris anon #just anon #curious anon #dream anon #sparkling anon #eldritch anon #anon nerd #anon scar #my evil twin #anon kg

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Patreon Exclusive Drabble Preview - Boku no Hero Academia (Erasermic)

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Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Characters: Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic,  Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Rating: Teen Audiences

Alternate Universe: God and Deities 

Summary:  Original Prompt (Given by Patron Istas): Bnha EraserMic. Let's say that it's mostly canon except that it's standard practice for people to dedicate themselves to a patron/deity. Shouta is not particularly well know or liked and he prefers it that way. Then one day, a human attaches themselves to him and curiosity sparked. Shouta takes his duties seriously, so might as well as take a look. He disguises himself in mortal garb and meets Yamada Hizashi. He's instantly smitten. Hizashi has bright goals and dreams, paired with all the determination to make them happen. Shouta could wait until he's older, but humans live such short lives and hero work is dangerous. So you have an ancient god enrolling into high-school with the intent on courting and wooing his human. And he means courting properly. Hizashi  is touched and flustered by this intense, odd, yet really sweet guy.

Basically, deity!Shouta seeing Hizashi and going "I'm gonna marry that man".

Word Count: 1,915

                     hear my prayer up above (and come join me down below)

Smells like… plum blossoms? Consciousness returning slowly from where he often hid between spring breezes and winter clouds, the god let himself be slowly pulled back into the mortal world at the sweet scent that was ridiculously different from he had once been familiar with. An offering? 

Stirring awake more and more, the god that rested in the long abandoned shrine he called home came to realize, groggily, that his small stone shrine tucked away into the darker parts of the woods was… clean. Oh, yes, it was still crumbling at the edges and looked like it was one good storm away from falling apart completely, but it was no longer overgrown and hidden by vines and moss. 

Instead the vines that had grown around it had been cut away, the grass plucked around the edges neatly, and all traces of moss and mold scrubbed away. As if that hadn’t been odd enough, there was a single incense stick burning in the very heart of his shrine, along with an offering of what looked like… mochi. It was a brightly colored, sugary sweet, ridiculous looking mochi that sat there, obviously intended as an offering. 

You have to be kidding me, the deity thought to himself, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that not only was he awake for the first time in what felt like decades, possibly even centuries, but it looked like he had a follower. Not only did he have a follower, but he had a follower that left him mochi. Had his shrine been mistaken for that of another god?

There was no mortal, nor even spirit, in sight of his shrine. The piece of woods he had long since claimed as his own was empty, and it was clear to see that whoever had left the offering was long gone.

I wonder… how long have I slept? The god couldn’t help but feel as if he had slept for longer than he had fully intended. It wasn’t as if there was much to do, however, when one had no followers or worshippers or priests of any kind. His last follower had died sometime around the surge of what the mortals referred to as quirks. 

He supposed that not many wanted to worship a god that was known for leashing and containing the power that mortals wielded — not in a world where power was so much more common. That made him wonder, though, who would go through the effort of trying to gain his attention.

Someone with dark intentions, no doubt. To ask for a god’s blessing with power such as what he held… it would cripple society if his power was used on them all. Ah, he had never been one for the politics of mortals, but he had his own rules and judgements. If this new worshipper of his — if that’s truly what the offerings meant — wanted his power, well, then. 

He could do with some fun after centuries of so little amusement to be had. He was not a noble spirit, that much was certain, but he was just in his own way. If a… villain wanted to use him to harm mortals who had done nothing wrong, well… 

It had been so long since he had any fun. 

That was what he thought he would be dealing with, at least. With what he knew and how the times had passed, he thought for sure that he would be asked for his power to be used against those who didn’t deserve it. Instead… 

“-and Nemuri is totally wrong, by the way, about how lame you are. I mean, sure, okay, you don’t have, like, a temple or anything, but who needs temples? Not many gods have shrines these days, and even less have just a single shrine in a super cool spot in the woods that everyone thinks is haunted. That just means you’re awesome!” 

No, he had not been expecting a teenager that, it seemed, was incapable of shutting up. Oh, yes, he had seen the occasional worshipper or two who would commune with him by talking, but most chose to simply meditate on their thoughts and prayers. This one, however…

#bnha #boku no hero academia #erasermic #yamada hizashi #present mic #aizawa shouta #eraserhead #mha #my hero academia #original #my writing #my patreon

[ao3feed-bakudeku]

by VirtualxChaos

A series of short, unconnected one-shots, inspired by plot bunnies. Will be updated frequently.

--

CH 1 Preview: It’s easier this way, with no words spoken between them, safe in the darkness. Easier for Katsuki to pretend he upholds the law every minute of every day and doesn’t let a criminal in his bed in the middle of the night.

Words: 373, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochako

Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako

Additional Tags: Fluff, Light Angst, Quirk Shenanigans (My Hero Academia), I didn't realize there was an actual tag for that lmao, No Plot/Plotless, for the most part anyway, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rated T for potential violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Villain Midoriya Izuku, One Shot

#ao3feed #fanfic #BnHA #Boku no Hero Academia #My Hero Academia #Bakugo Katsuki #Midoriya Izuku #ao3

[rooneytooons]

I posted 756 times in 2021

92 posts created (12%)

664 posts reblogged (88%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 7.2 posts.

I added 80 tags in 2021

#books - 12 posts

#literature - 11 posts

#art - 11 posts

#academia - 10 posts

#dark academia - 9 posts

#poetry - 8 posts

#light academia - 6 posts

#india - 5 posts

#portrait of a lady on fire - 4 posts

#greek mythology - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 41 characters

#is anybody actually interested to do this

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Oh please, please, be the Achilles to my Patroclus?

37 notes • Posted 2021-07-26 01:52:03 GMT

#4

A concept : An Online gathering of people, once a week, to read poetry, play your instruments or just listen to music together.

38 notes • Posted 2021-04-09 16:21:48 GMT

#3

See the full post

38 notes • Posted 2021-06-17 14:50:26 GMT

#2

Now that I'm free to be myself

Who am I?

-Mary Oliver

49 notes • Posted 2021-06-13 14:02:09 GMT

#1

How to get back into reading.

(From someone who read 2 books in 2020 and 10 books in 2021 so far)

Short story Collections are a great place to start. You can start with classics like OHenry, Guy de Maupassant and Saki. Or short stories by your favourite author. They help you to get back into the habit of sitting with a book, understanding characters and tracing the plot in your mind. Sherlock Holmes stories are another brilliant place to start. Mystery books also give you a reason to read further to know what happens.

Poetry. Don't have to start with Shakespearean sonnets. Instead, begin with something easy to read or accessible. My favourite is Mary Oliver. Her poetry is beautiful and not very hard to understand. There are poetry reading videos by Mary Oliver available on YouTube. These are fun to watch and will give you an idea about her as a poet.

Short novels or novellas are another good way to get back into reading.

Listen to Audiobooks if you already like Podcasts. Or listen to Slam Poetry.

And Don't read anything you don't like, just because others like it. Pick up a book only if it interests you. Going through the book previews on Google Books are an easy way to see if you like particular book.

And try to find out atleast a little bit about the author and the setting before starting a new story or poetry collection. This helps you understand the book better and is readily available on the internet.

Become a member of your local library. Going out to read and being amidst books will encourage you to read more. You can browse books easily. And a library membership is also very pocket friendly.

Watch book related videos on YouTube - bookshelf tours, book reviews, reading like a celebrity, anything that interests you. My suggestions will be JackEdwards and Uncarley.

Hope you find something useful from this. Happy Reading.

-@messybits

62 notes • Posted 2021-08-03 10:29:09 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[jeanstoppable]

12th, 13th & 14th OF OCTOBER

~locked here for forever~

~treasure that needs no explanation~

~I know my destination, I’m just not there~

(A/N: This is a Dark Academia story after all. So prepare for the spooks!)

Wake up. Wake up.

You’re here again. Wake up!

Is there really no other way? I don’t want to wake up.

The feel of soft sheets caressed her cheeks, the smell of burning incense filled her nostrils, and a quietness that’s not normal in any way, devoid of the blowing wind, birds, people. She’d woken up and those eyelashes drifted open as they normally do, routinely, constant and never changing.

Here again. You’re here again.

Despite the creeping sensation of fear and the unexplainable erratic beating of her heart, a peaceful calm washed over her, like she shouldn’t feel afraid because nothing’s happened. Nothing’s happened yet.

Later. Later. The thought vanished as soon as it came.

The girl pushed aside the sheets, smaller hands gripping the blanket tightly as she placed a foot on the floor, trying to test its temperature. The coldness of it was still the same, she’d remember becoming numb after feeling it over and over again, a painful cycle that would repeat each and every day.

Cycle? And once again the thought was forgotten.

She slowly stood up and fixed the bedding, neat and tidy—the girl halted as something throbbed on the back of her mind, delaying her movements for a few seconds.

No. You never lingered there for too long.

Her body suddenly moved forward as if pulled by invisible strings and that calm from earlier returned without warning, and her mind just went blank. Feeling languid, the girl opened the door to the dresser and picked out the dress in the middle, the only dress, then went towards the mirror beside it.

The girl stared at her reflection, holding it against her body—it was a long white dress with a v-neck, the ends of it were piled on the ground, the sleeves were also long, stretching further beyond her hands—it was enchanting and the girl found herself staring dreamily at it.

The girl’s attention flitted to her face for a split second—

Blood was smeared across it.

The dress slipped and fell to the floor as the girl backed away from the mirror, tearing her gaze away from it as fast as possible because…!

She frowned and then eyed the dirtied dress sitting on the ground. Because what? Why was the dress on the floor?

“You’re out of it, Dahlia.” The girl said to herself as she pulled the dress close and dusted it off, “Today’s the day, there’s no time for nervousness.”

Dahlia quickly stripped away her previous clothes, because she was running late after all, and stepped into that white dress with ease. She smoothed a hand down and finally turned towards the mirror again.

Beautiful. It fit perfectly.

The girl twirled, watching the dress trail from side to side as giggles soon filled the silent room and she was twirling and twirling. When she caught sight of her horrified expression on the reflection, she froze and rushed to grasp the border of the mirror. Dahlia didn’t remove her eyes from it, etching every single detail into her mind.

“Who are you?”

The girl in the mirror opened those blood streaked lips and mouthed something.

“What?” Dahlia asked, not understanding the word that she said.

It kept talking, and talking, and talking. Repeating the same word.

Dahlia read those lips for a moment before mimicking its shape, “Wake…Up?”

“But I’m already—“ Something wet touched her feet.

Dahlia looked down and paled at the blood pouring out of the mirror, her eyes snapped back the reflection to find the girl on her knees, shoulders hunched over and trembling.

“W-what?” She said fearfully and started crying out, “Wake up. Wake up!”

Because she now understands, none of this was supposed to happen, the girl in the mirror and the blood. Nightmare. This was another nightmare. Dahlia fled back to the bed, jumping on it carelessly even if the blood-soaked dress stained it. Her hands pulled the sheets over her head, breaths coming in short and quick puffs as she forced her lids shut and waited.

And waited. And waited.

Wake up. Please.

The blanket was suddenly pulled from her and Dahlia screamed her lungs out—

“No! No!”

Strong hands gripped her arms and shook them, “Hey! Hey, it’s me! Valerie, it’s Valerie!”

Dahlia didn’t hear the familiar voice of her friend and continued to thrash from the hold, believing she’s still trapped in a nightmare. “Wake up! Wake up!”

“Dammit.” The grip eased and disappeared, but she still refused to see. If what awaits her were those faces, she’d rather go blind.

Unexpectedly, a soft, fur-like sensation tickled her hand. Dahlia registered the strange yet comforting feeling, and unconsciously opened her eyes.

Honey orbs greeted her. And when the girl looked at the source of the sensation, a tail was there.

“...Dahlia.” The shifter in front of her said firmly.

“Valerie...?”

“Yes, it’s me. It’s me, doll.”

Dahlia collapsed forward and Valerie easily caught the girl in an embrace, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” The shifter hushed, “It was only a nightmare.”

“It’s only a nightmare.” Dahlia repeated the phrase, as she did like the nights before.

It’s not real.

Deny all you want. An ugly whisper wormed its way into her thoughts and Dahlia instinctively covered her ears.

You’re locked here forever. With us. With us.

No. No, that’s not true.

We’re still here.

And here, we are with you. Because we’re bound to you. And soon you’ll see.

WE’LL DRAG YOU DOWN.

Dahlia whimpered at the violent and manic voices shrieking, “...Valerie, my wand please.”

The shifter looked concerned and uncertain but reached over for the witch’s wand anyway and placed it into her waiting palm.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” Dahlia said to Valerie who was about to make a comment, “The spell will help with the nightmares, I just won’t be dreaming again tonight.”

“You are pretty nifty with that thing, speaking from personal experience and all that.” The shifter weakly sighed and caved in, “Okay. Take care of yourself, I won’t be back for a while.”

“Leaving for classes?” Dahlia asked quietly.

“Yeah.”

“Goodluck tonight.” Valerie raised an eyebrow to which Dahlia simply offered her a tired smile in return, “And complain to me about how you get rejected once again by that Night Stalker of yours.”

Valerie’s lips curled upwards dangerously, “One day, you're going to eat your words, witch.”

With that said, the shifter shuffled towards the door, shooting Dahlia one final look before exiting and shutting the door with a soft click.

Dahlia dropped back on the bed, and stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes. Relishing in the silence for she knows that the voices will shortly return, they never went away for too long and neither did they ever allowed her to have peace.

For as long as you live!

The witch ignored the resurfacing memory, and pointed the wand beside her head. And then finally, when ready, said the words of a spell.

. . .

They weren’t always that close.

In fact, their first impressions of each other were...dreadful. At best.

Who’d known that a shifter and a witch would have that much bad blood between them.

. . .

Valerie had been that one little kid that's always getting in trouble for being too curious for their own good, too nosy, too reckless—you’d think she’d leave that trait behind while growing up.

It didn’t.

Not even for a second. It stuck to her like a permanent scar. Still as fearless and daring as ever, never one to deny an adventure even those that had high risks. A small percentage of those were rewarding, but Valerie had to admit, most of them she would end up on someone’s shit list.

This was not an exception.

After all, it was her first time to see a wand up close, Valerie had barely contained her excitement. The other witches don’t use them anymore, it was old practice they’d said and then sent her off on her way.

When she heard that her new roommate was coming, she was beyond ecstatic. Valerie had half expected one of her own species, but it turns out, it was a witch. A human with magic powers!

Too curious for your own good, Val. The shifter thought as she sneakily picked up the wand on the witch’s desk. It was...an ordinary tree branch from which tree, she had no idea. It looks a bit worn. Well...To be very honest, Valerie was disappointed.

Wasn’t it supposed to be fancier?

She pouted and brought it much closer to her face, she didn’t know what prompted her to sniff it but—

The faintest scent of blood. Valerie eyed the wand critically before sniffing it again—the door opening was what made her freeze on the spot like a deer in headlights. The shifter cautiously turned around, forgetting that the wand was still in her hand.

The witch immediately spotted it and shouted, “PUT THAT DOWN!”

Valerie placed it down as quick as she can and started to explain, “Um, Dahlia, Dahlia right? I-uh listen, I was only…”

Dahlia was fuming, her left hand was clenched and bleeding from those sharp black nails of hers piercing the skin. Shoulders were shaking with rage and the shifter could see the storm building in her dark eyes, waiting to be released.

Valerie gulped, she really pushed her luck with this one.

All of a sudden, Dahlia stretched out a hand, barked a word and then the wand flew from her desk towards her open palm. Those fingers curled around the branch automatically.

Valerie’s jaw dropped at the marvellous display of magic and then instantly closed it, reminding herself that this was not the time and she should be—

“I’m sorry!”

Those dark eyes of her roommate hardened and hissed, “Don’t ever. Touch it.”

“Yes, I won’t.”

Surprisingly, the witch broke eye-contact first and shook her head, seemingly quite done with the shifter and turned to leave the room. Valerie let herself sigh in relief when—

Twisting back an arm, Dahlia launched a spell on the spot just a few centimetres away from where Valerie was standing. The shifter screamed as she jumped high in the air and ended up on the witch’s desk. Valerie’s eyes bulged out at the sight below her—the floor was cracked and something sizzled in the air—before sending the glare right back at Dahlia.

Her foot could have been that poor floor panel.

The shifter snarled, feeling fangs protrude out, “What the fuck?”

“Just a warning.” The witch said dryly.

“I said I won’t touch it!”

“People lie.”

“I fucking promise I won’t touch it, okay?”

Dahlia regarded her for a second, and then nodded.

“You’ll end up like that—“ she jutted a chin at the floor and Valerie shot her an unamused look, “—if you break your promise.”

The shifter held back a growl that was about to slip out of her lips and tried to get her breathing in control. This was her fault to begin with. Valerie sulked. She had to suck it up now she had a pissed off witch on her back.

Dahlia said nothing as her gaze slid down to her right hand that was holding the wand, unaware that Valerie was observing.

Valerie continued to watch as the witch’s orbs glossed over with an unreadable emotion, then replaced by fierce possession as if she wanted to hide it from the rest of the world and then the next was—hate. The shifter was surprised the wand didn’t combust into flames with how hard Dahlia had been glowering at it.

Although, Valerie could see that she valued the wand to a certain extent.

Like some twisted kind of treasure that needs no explaining. Just one look and it’s obvious---the witch was fond of it as much as she hates it.

Cursed.

One word stood out to her amongst all the others. The wand was cursed, Valerie would bet her entire fortune on it.

. . .

Like most things, she would come to underestimate it and how truly cursed it was.

. . .

Valerie found her roommate on the floor again—like the previous nights—kneeling and rocking back and forth. Sobs racking her entire body and shaking like a leaf in a storm. Her wand was nowhere to be found, she might’ve flung it somewhere in the room earlier.

Valerie briefly recounted the various incidents that have happened so far:

At first, it was the muttering---that incessant muttering of hers that would sometimes disrupt Valerie’s sleep since she had sensitive ears, given that she was a shifter. And then remembering a time being so pissed that she threw a pillow at her roommate. The act earned her a few hexes that lasted for days on end, she had to crash at someone else’s for a while.

Then came the sleep walking, which terrified Valerie on multiple accounts and would much rather have preferred the mutterings instead of being shaken awake by an unconscious Dahlia.

And now, nightmares had come to visit the witch and those were the worst of them all.

Valerie nearly, nearly had a heart-attack when she woke up to a blood-curdling scream in the middle of the night. At some point, it became intolerable that Valerie even had to switch classes just so she could avoid hearing Dahlia scream, because it was the kind of terrible sound that unsettles. A deep-seated disturbance that buries itself inside of you and doesn’t leave without its marks on your soul.

But if that was just from the cries, she’d shudder at the mere thought of what were the actual nightmares that plagued the witch.

However, these phenomenons become somewhat of a bridge for Valerie to befriend the troubled human.

Here we are again. Valerie thought as she left the warmth of her bed and towards Dahlia. She put a gentle hand on her friend’s back and stayed silent.

“I’m trying, Val.” Dahlia whispered and then curled herself further into a ball.

When the shifter opted to only listen, the witch continued to breathe life into her thoughts, “I’m trying to get better. I know what I-I should do, better than anyone else. I know where to start, where to go. I know my destination. How far—gods, Valerie, I know. But I’m just...not there.” Her voice cracked and Valerie’s heart shattered at the heaviness of it.

“I see the end, I really do. I can see...me being happy.” She laughed and nothing about it was humorous, “It’s like...I’m in the between. Stuck. Running in the same spot over and over again. And I don’t know why. Why? Why am I still here?”

“Dahlia...Look at me.” Those dark brown orbs flicked up to her and there she found the thing that gave Valerie the strength to fight the overwhelming hurt she felt for her dear friend, “I can see it in your eyes, you know? That you want to change, the drive to break free of whatever the hell that’s been clinging so desperately to your ankles, that’s why you try.”

“Why aren’t you there, you ask me...But doll,” Valerie gave her the brightest smile despite the tears in her eyes, ”I think you aren’t there yet. Yet. It’s the little things that count, the small yet stubborn belief to change a mindset. You aren’t there yet, but you will be. Keep chasing, no matter how tiring and exhausting, and if you truly see yourself happy in the end, just hold on to that hope, doll.”

“They haven’t taken you, Dahlia. You’ve got to remember that. You’re here. Here.” The shifter gestured her hands around their room, “With your shitty shifter friend,” Valerie pointed to herself. “It’s only us, you and me, no one else. The best those nightmares can do is knock you down—convince you that they still have control, but in reality they don’t because they’re not here.”

Dahlia burst into tears anew as Valerie looped an arm around her back and pulled the witch towards her. After a while of only sniffling and quietness, Dahlia soffly said, “...You’re not a shitty friend, Val.”

Valerie hid a smile, “I think so too, but hey, I’m glad you said it.”

The strange pair both laughed.

. . .

If those silly fairy tales that humans had written held at least some ounce of truth in it, she sincerely hopes that the part where there’s always a way to break the curse was true.

So that you can live happily ever after.

(A/N: very very late but I decided to make mash all three prompts into one! Finally we get a witch! October wouldn’t be complete without a witch. So Adding one more to the oc roster, Dahlia thw witch room mate of our precious shifter Valerie. They have a wholesome frienship even if they got off on a bad start, hope yall give them some love!! Peace!)

#alkinktober #my art #myoc #mywriting #dark academia short preview #dark academia oc’s #oh boy this one is tortured #like all my ocs :) #spooky stuff #ALSO I DONT KNOW HOW I DID THIS BUT HOORAY ITS DONE

[sometimesrosy]

Tagged by @tracylorde thank you! and i’m glad you’ve come over to the dark side of writing fanfic too.

1. what is your most popular fic by kudos? comments? bookmarks? are they all the same?

kudos Proof Canon AU fake marriage where Bellamy and Clarke must marry to secure an alliance. This one has a lot to do with Clarke helping Bellamy recover from his trauma and learn to believe that he deserves love and happiness. Not slow burn. They get busy right away. And it causes problems.

comments Got You A series of interlinked story prompts set in canon AU after season 3. No second apocalypse. It’s mainly about how Bellamy is helping Clarke recover from her trauma and stop being afraid to love. Slow burn. A bit of angst in there that I think is why the comments are tops. Everyone freaked out. It was awesome.

bookmarks: The Air Is Fine Up Here This is an Ark AU set 5 years after the show, but in a world where The Ark’s air system is fine. It’s the political environment that is destructive. Second children are not illegal they are just shunned. Clarke is a doctor with an illegal clinic in Factory, and she meets Bellamy because he is doing gladiator fights to earn money to support Octavia. It’s pretty plot heavy. It was nominated for a best Ark AU on bellarke fanfiction awards a couple years back, so it was my most popular for a long time, but the others have caught up.

2. do you have a favorite of your fics? if not, do you have one you’re most proud of? why?

Coming Home, which is a modern AU with a divorced Clarke and professor Bellamy, where she comes back to her college town and discovers who she is again surrounded by her friends. So it’s got some themes of the show. I wanted to think about what kind of “apocalypse” would be that devastating in the real world. So I made it this kind of divorce/abuse thing. But it’s not about the divorce, it’s all about the recovery. So it’s not personal at all. (okay it is. although it’s still entirely fictional, not a memoir in the slightest.) I’m also really proud of the bit of humor in this. 

3. what fandom/ship (if you write for more than one) is your favorite to write for?

The 100 Bellarke

4. do you have any fics that got more popularity/attention than you expected? if so what were they?

Contracting and Expanding, this weird little child birth fic that I wrote because I was frustrated that women and girls don’t seem to understand what childbirth is really like. Like it’s this kind of open secret, and it’s so romanticized sometimes. I added a second chapter to wrap it up over a year later. I’ve never really understood why it is one of my most popular one shots. 

5. where do you get your ideas/inspiration from? do you have a fic that you feel is particularly unique in that area?

I have a WAY different path to fanfiction than most of you. It wasn’t a thing when I was a kid. There was no internet. I started writing fantasy and science fiction when i was 15, but it was all original because I didn’t know of this concept. And there was certainly no community for it. Nowadays I think writers build their chops with fanfiction, explore, experiment. When I got to fanfiction, I’d already been through that stage and was taking my writing SO SERIOUSLY. Fanfiction let me get the fun back, and lowered the artificially high stakes that I had created in my head. Writing is so psychological and the writing process is basically a writer fighting the demons in their head in order to get words on a page. Fanfiction was like a big FU to my demons, because I was going to enjoy writing again.

Most of my writing inspiration comes out of my history, my reading, my curiosity, my questions. Me. I’ve been such a Fantasy/Scifi geek for so long though, that a lot of it is based on that. Fanfiction, though, allowed me to write general fiction, without the pretension of literary fiction, which going to school for English/Creative Writing had conned me into thinking was the only deserving writing (screw you academia.) Ha. I actually wrote about Clarke as a professor and Bellamy as a student in Academic. Be aware, I was not an academic. I got out of college and started waiting tables so I could be a writer/artist. Ha. Like in The Arkadias/Just Having Fun Clarke/Bellamy povs for the same story. Okay. So my inspiration either comes out my real life or out of my scifi/fantasy reading. Or wish fulfillment and my love of fake marriage tropes ala The Carriage House.

6. do you have a favorite character to write POV for?

honestly it alternates between Bellamy and Clarke. I suppose I might have more from Clarke’s pov. I’ve never checked.

7. what’s your favorite sidepairing to include?

Raven and Wells maybe. I don’t do too many side pairings. I’m more into the platonic friendships.

8. do you have a fic you feel is underrated in comparison to your other fics? or you just wish more people would read?

Maybe Moonshine. Because I turned it into an original novel that I’m still working on and I really like it, but I can’t blame anyone because I left it unfinished it when I decided to adapt it. But it’s like a preview of my novel.

9. what’s something you would go back and change in one of your fics?

I think I did go back and change an Echo ex Bellamy girlfriend to Gina. 

Oh wait. I would have made everyone older in The Valley, part 1. It started out as a soulmate HS witches AU, but I tried to explain the sharing skin marks and it got pretty dark and very sexual. It’s the most sexual of all my fics, and I think it’s a little icky that she’s only 18. I like the concept but the HS thing was a mistake. Just like I don’t think I should try for writing smut, I also don’t think I should try for YA fic. I’m just not a YA writer. Or maybe it was the wrong story to try on. I had to drop that story. It went down a path that was more complicated than anticipated.

10. what is your favorite sort of comment to receive on a fic?

It’s kind of cool when people take quotes from the work and talk about what they meant or how they affected them.

11. what are your favorite genres of fic to write? (e.g. modern au, hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, etc.)

oh, sometimes I feel the need for Modern AU fluff ( a lot actually) but my favorite is probably Science Fiction, like not post apocalyptic, but space.

12. what are your favorite tropes to write?

Hands down, fake marriage/dating. Canon AU. Modern AU. Space AU. I’ve got a fake marriage for all. I’ve got a MULTI FIC fake marriage for all. And I’m not sorry.

13. do you write fics similar to what you enjoy reading or completely different? both?

The science fiction and the canon au is similar to what I used to enjoy reading IRL. But I’m in a phase of reading very gentle fiction. Fluff and easy reading. Comfort reading, so what I mainly read in my fanfiction is modern AU fluff fics.

14. what’s your writing process like?

My fic writing is a lot less planned out that my original novel writing. Probably because I already have the characters straight in my head and if I’m doing canon, I have the world too. 

So what happens is I get an idea that excites me. It starts spinning around in my head and I want to see what would happen if I put Clarke and Bellamy in that world. Sometimes I have an idea about where it ends up. Sometimes I don’t have any idea (except for Bellamy and Clarke always get together, but i may not know how.)

Then I go with the inspiration and write furiously for however long. When I’m posting a chapter every day or three? That’s this phase. Then I hit a snag. I’ve run out of inspiration or doubts have infiltrated my story or I don’t know where the plot goes next or life has gotten messy and ruined my focus, or maybe the story just got complicated and I need to work out the snag. My pace slows down. I start taking on other projects, writing or otherwise. I figure out the snag and work my way back into the story (or occasionally) I decide that story is either too complicated and drop it, or I decide that I’ve actually finished the story and need to wrap it up. 

15. multi-chapter, oneshot, or drabble?

Multi-chap. At heart, I’m a novelist and I have a hard time not thinking about how the tropes got to be the way they were in the story, so I build a world around them and create things to make them more logical or deal with cause and effect. And I also have a hard time leaving short stories the way they are, without continuing with what comes next. Sometimes when I read one shots or drabbles, I really don’t understand how the fic writers can simply not write what comes next. How do you keep yourself from continuing? My urge is to keep exploring the characters, story and world. I have finished multichaps that I could keep going with, but I have moved on to other stories.

16. if someone was only going to read one of your fics, which would you want them to read?

That’s a hard one. I think each one has something different to offer and I like them all. I put so much effort into the multichaps so I’m going to stick with one of those and pick the one I’m writing right now. Into Eden. It’s a space colonist AU and is turning out to be my longest fic ever and I think I’d count it as a novel. It will have a beginning, middle and an end, and there’s quite a bit of world building and conflict. It’s a fake marriage/mail order bride where Bellamy is the bride. If I can take a trope and put my personal spin on it so it’s a unique story, that’s what I’ll do. And that’s what I am trying to do here.

i’m really bad at tagging and this is why i don’t often do these things. it gives me anxiety so I’m only tagging a couple and if i missed you and you want to do it, please pretend that I tagged you because I actually want to hear EVERYONE do this. I think this stuff is interesting and it’s always good to think about your writing and your process. @mareebrittenford @marauders-groupie @the-ships-to-rule-them-all 

for ease, the questions are copied blank, after the jump. (good idea kat)

1. what is your most popular fic by kudos? comments? bookmarks? are they all the same?

2. do you have a favorite of your fics? if not, do you have one you’re most proud of? why?

3. what fandom/ship (if you write for more than one) is your favorite to write for?

4. do you have any fics that got more popularity/attention than you expected? if so what were they?

5. where do you get your ideas/inspiration from? do you have a fic that you feel is particularly unique in that area?

6. do you have a favorite character to write POV for?

7. what’s your favorite sidepairing to include?

8. do you have a fic you feel is underrated in comparison to your other fics? or you just wish more people would read?

9. what’s something you would go back and change in one of your fics?

10. what is your favorite sort of comment to receive on a fic?

11. what are your favorite genres of fic to write? (e.g. modern au, hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, etc.)

12. what are your favorite tropes to write?

13. do you write fics similar to what you enjoy reading or completely different? both?

14. what’s your writing process like?

15. multi-chapter, oneshot, or drabble?

16. if someone was only going to read one of your fics, which would you want them to read?

#writing fanfiction #bellarke #bellarke fanfiction #fanfiction recs #writing process #i think i linked all my multi chaps #except Mount Vie

[pendulumprince]

All I know is in 146, my sons better be coming home.

After the opening!

Reiji fills Yusho in on wtf a ‘Jack Atlas’ is

‘Forever king? But how can someone be a king forev—?“

DON’T QUESTION, YUSHO

JUST ACCEPT

Back at academia, Jack is… scolding Yuya?? Okay well somebody’s gotta

Yuya’s talking about Reira

I really think it’s time they go and take that infant to see a neurologist

You don’t play around with that kinda blank stare in a infant

Yuya, for a moment, is discouraged by Jack’s verbal lashing

But Reiji pops up via hologram to encourage Yuya

Reiji snaps his fingers??

Nakejima’s doing some shit behind him

O-okay

What’s this

So

The ‘Dimension Highway’ is a solid vision hologram

Crow comes riding up on everybody

Throws his helmet on Yuya

Hits him in the head

Yuya’s out cold

Well that was a short episode

Nah jk Yuya’s gonna hop back up on that bike

In the Synchro D, Melissa Claire is hosting!

Tokumatsu and the Three Sycnhro Darlings are watching!

So are Crow, Shun, Sora and Asuka

Yuya’s on his bike

They’re getting ready to start…

Yuya thinks back to what Jack told him

“Riding. Duel. Acceleration.”

They begin!

Jack takes first turn!

Summons some 1200 ATK monster

And a 600 ATK tuner

He brings up the 600 ATK monster from level 2 to level 4

He tunes them!

Summons Red Demons Dragon -  Scarlight at 3000 ATK

Jack sets a facedown, ends his turn

Dares Yuya to grow a pair of ovaries and summon the 4 dragons

Yuya takes his turn

Sets the scales with Astro and Chrono

He pendulum summons Odd Eyes and a 1700 ATK monster and another at 1200 ATK

Yuya and Jack disappear into one of the portals, much to Melissa’s disappointment

Yuya think about the other three dragons

And all the shenanigans he pulled as Zarc

They make it to the XYZ D!

The Tyler Sisters, Blockhead, Edo, Sayaka, Allen, and Kaito are all watching

So are Dennis and his little proteges

Both Odd Eyes and the 1700 ATK monster go up by 500 ATK

Yuya goes in for the attack with Odd Eyes?!

Yuya’s other monster brings Scarlight down to 2700 ATK

Here comes the attack…!

But ofc Jack activates his trap, negating Scarlight’s destruction

The attack still does damage, though

And Jack’s down to 3400 LP!

Scarlight goes back to 3000 ATK

Yuya ends his turn

Jack takes his

Goes in to attack Yuya’s 1200 ATK monster

Yuya’s somehow able to reduce the damage down so that he’s at 3500 LP

Jack goes to attack again?!

Takes out Yuya’s 2200 ATK monster

And he’s down to 2700 LP

Odd Eyes goes back down to 2500 ATK as a result

Jack pressures Yuya to just summon the damn dragons already

Yuya thinks about Leo, who’s still trying to revive Ray/Yuzu

He says something about Reira that makes Himika gasp?!

Jack and Yuya make it to the Pendulum D

Where all the folks we know and love are sitting in the stands

Yuya takes his turn!

Pendulum summons his 1700 ATK and 1200 ATK monsters again

C’mon lil guy try out some new shit

Odd Eyes goes back up to 3000 ATK and the other one goes up to 2200 ATK

Yuya redoes his strategy: brings Scarlight down to 2700 ATK

Attacks with Odd Eyes

But Jack grabs an action card!

Plays it!

But Yuya negates it’s activation with Astro’s effect!

Jack summons some 600 ATK monster

That… does something?!

Yuya ends his turn

This concerns Shingo and Gongenzaka

The Three precious Darlings talk things over

Shuzou starts talking about Yuzu

Yoko… gets up?!

STARTS

CHEERLEADING?!

Omg Yoko you’re such an embarrassing mom lol I love it

Jack takes his turn

Draws, plays a magic card

Brings back his 1200 ATK monster from before

And a 0 ATK tuner

He double tunes his monsters!

Jack’s eye catches fire!

Summons Red Demons Dragon - Tyrant at 3500 ATK

He goes in for the attack!

Takes out the 2200 ATK monster

Yuya’s down to 1400 LP

And he’s going to attack again?!

FUCK

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

Yuya

Has a internal moment

YUTO, YUGO AND YURI URGE HIM TO SUMMON THE DRAGONS

YUYA’S SUPRISED AS SHIT TO SEE YUGO AND YURI THERE

YAAAAAAAS

YUYA PLAYS SOME SPELLCASTER LOOKING MONSTER AT 2000 ATK

HE BINDS TYRANT?!

JACK’S ABLE TO ATTACK ODD EYES ANYWAY

YUYA’S DOWN TO 400 LP

JACK SETS A FACEDOWN, ENDS HIS TURN

YUYA THINKS ABOUT THE PENDULUM

AND HOW THE BOYS ARE INSIDE HIS HEAD NOW

AND HOW

THEY’RE ALL

ZARC

I. AM. SCREAMING.

HE ACKNOWLEDGED ZARC

FUCK

YUYA TAKES HIS TURN PENDULUM SUMMONS ODD EYES AND THE OTHER TWO MONSTERS FROM BEFORE

THIS PISSES JACK OFF BEYOND BELIEF

BUT HOLD ON, JACK

YUYA CHANNELS YUTO OR SOME SHIT

AND OVERLAYS THE OTHER TWO MONSTERS

HEEEEEERE COOOOMES DARK REBELLION!

THEY MAKE IT BACK TO THE XYZ D!

AND THE FIRST THING THESE MOTHERFUCKERS SEE IS DARK REBELLION

OMG YES

YUTO IS STILL ALIVE

Y’ALL CAN REST EASY TONIGHT

O-omg wait

No

ODD EYES AND DARK REBELLION START ROARING AND SHIT

REIRA IS WHIMPERING?!

FUCK ME SIDEWAYS

YUYA SUMMONS A SYNCHRO MONSTER, CHANNGELS YUGO

BRINGS DOWN ASTRO FOR THE PURPOSES OF TUNING THEM TOGETHER

SYNCHRO SUMMONS CLEAR WING!

REIRA IS LITERALLY GLOWING PURPLE OMG ZARC CAN WE NOT

BACK TO THE DUEL

YUYA CHANNELS YURI!

AW YIS

HE FUSES HIS SPELLCASTER ON THE FIELD WITH CHRONO

HELL YEAH

HEEEEEELL YEAH

AHHH AND YUYA DID THE FUSION CLAP-HAND THING!

HERE’S STARVE VENOM!

REIRA’S GLOWING INTENSIFIES!

HIMIKA LOOKS READY TO FUCKING CRY

YUSHO PATS REIRA ON THE HEAD?!

HE FOUR DRAGONS START ROARING

Some… weird music starts playing?!

But Yuya’s okay

AND HE’S ABOUT TO KNOCK ASS

PREVIEW TIME!

Jack reminds Yuya that he’s gotta keep that entertainer mindset

He and Yuya exchange some words and shit

He has Strave Venom take control of RDD - Tyrant?! Nice nice nice

#yugioh arc v #arc v episode reactions #arc v episode 146 #yuya sakaki #jack atlas #reira akaba #yuto #yugo #yuri arc v #zarc #fusion dimension #the city #synchro dimension #heartland #xyz dimension #maiami city #pendulum dimension

[savetopnow]

2018-03-17 19 GAME now

GAME

Attack of the Fanboy

Xur Exotic Items and Location in Destiny 2 This Week

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Progression Redesign To Release on March 21st

Lugia Raids Return to Pokemon GO

Super Bomberman R Heading To PS4, Xbox One And PC With Platform-Exclusive Characters

Attack on Titan 2 Review

Brutal Gamer

The Avengers get brand new Fresh Start this May

New Nindie showcase Nintendo Direct coming up next week

The Hunt for Wolverine begins next month

Witcher’s Geralt to appear as a playable character in Soul Calibur VI

Inquisitor – Martyr gets release date, new trailer, and fresh screens

Game Banshee

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog Q&A

Might & Magic: Elemental Guardians Pre-registration Open

The Banner Saga 3 “Bolverk, Leader of the Ravens” Trailer

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr Release Date Announced

Anthem Developer Q&A

Game Informer

Dragon Ball FighterZ Currently Has The Most Entrants For EVO

Replay 300 – Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

Weekend Warrior – St. Patrick's Edition

Ys: Memories Of Celceta Announced For PC

Sega Teases New Sonic Racing Game, Not A Sequel

Game Watch

Sonic Mania Plus Announced, coming Summer 2018

First Surviving Mars Patch Drops - Patch Notes

Radio Tuner mod for Final Fantasy XV allows you to add your own soundtrack

Star Wars Battlefront II New Upgrade And Customisation System Coming Soon

Surviving Mars Review

Gematsu

Open Forum #294

Ys: Memories of Celceta coming to PC this summer

Sega teases new Sonic racing game

Sonic Mania Adventures animated shorts series announced

Sonic Mania Plus announced

IGN

Bloodborne: How to Get the Secret Ending

Monster Hunter: This Week's New Event Quests and Challenges

Sea of Thieves Achievements are Actually Riddles

Super Smash Bros for Switch Could Be Much Bigger Than We Think - Nintendo Voice Chat Ep. 399

SEGA Teases New Sonic Racing Game

Niche Gamer

YS: Memories Of Celceta Coming To PC

Sega Teases New Sonic the Hedgehog Racing Game

Sonic the Hedgehog Puma Sneakers Announced

Sonic Mania Adventures Animated Series Announced

Sonic Mania Plus Announced, Heading to Retail Summer 2018

Nintendo Life

Talking Point: What Games Are You Playing This Weekend

The Fight Rages On As PQube Brings BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle To The EU This Summer

Weirdness: Mario Tennis Aces Artwork Triggers An Unlikely Discussion About Luigi's Lunch Box

Guide: Kirby Star Allies Big Switch Locations

Feature: CIRCLE Entertainment On Outgrowing 3DS, Embracing Switch And Maturing As A Publisher

PC Invasion

inXile’s The Mage’s Tale releases for the Vive this month

The Crew 2 launches in June on PC

Life as a Battletech Mercenary is not straightforward

Skyrim VR heading to PC in April

SEGA Mega Drive Classics coming to PC with fifty games

Playstation Blog

The Drop: New PlayStation Games for 3/20/2018

Share of the Week: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life “Essence of Art” Exhibit Opens in LA March 17

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time Arrives on PS4 May 15th

PlayStation VR: All The Games Coming in Spring 2018

Reddit Gaming

The accuracy is real.

Picked this up at a thrift store...what exactly did I buy?

Ready Player One (2018)

If there is no ramp, bring your own

Let the Weekend Grind begin

Xbox News

Your chance to build and battle robots in Robocraft Infinity starts now!

This Week on Xbox: March 16, 2018

New Preview Delta 1804 System Update – 3/16/18

A Deep Dive on the Controls for Sea of Thieves on Xbox One and Windows 10

Buy Xbox One X, Get Sea of Thieves for a Limited Time

#game

[animeindoblog-blog]

Spring 2018 Preview!

New Post has been published on https://animeindo.org/blog/2018/03/25/spring-2018-preview/

Spring 2018 Preview!

March is said to go out like a lamb, but the next season of anime apparently never got the memo. After several strong showings we are looking at one of the most stacked springs in years, as the hotly anticipated sequels for Shokugeki no Souma and Boku no Hero Academia are accompanied by the return of Tokyo Ghoul, the wildly successful visual novel adaptation Steins;Gate, and incredibly surprising—but no less hyped—continuations of Full Metal Panic, WIXOSS, Amanchu, the ever popular harem High School DxD, and fighting anime’s star Souten no Ken. Not to be outdone are the latest adaptations for Sword Art Online and the Persona series, and even a remake for one of anime’s most influential OVAs in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Plus, if we weren’t spoiled enough for choice already (hint: we aren’t), there’s a slew of promising newcomers, from the violent magical girl series Mahou Shoujo Site to the psychic comedy Hinamatsuri, the quirky monster family slice of life Jikken-hin Kazoku, and the latest otaku romance in Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii. Spring has never looked stronger, and we are here to tell you all about it. This is the Random Curiosity Spring 2018 Preview!

This season we’ll continue using the Excitement Levels we introduced in Fall 2017. Don’t recall why? Because trying to anticipate how a show is going to turn out is a fool’s errand, but we can definitely tell you how excited we are! Just remember that these levels reflect our own subjective excitement for each show, and do not necessarily reflect how each will pan out. For more information, check out the Overall Impressions section at the bottom, which includes an expanded explanation of each category and a list of all shows by excitement level.

Disclaimer: Back in ye olde year of 2012—which is practically ancient history now—previews were done by a single writer, Divine. Since none of the current writers are superhero enough to take time off of work or school to solo this thing, we’ve divided everything up among our staff (Cherrie, Choya, Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Takaii, Zaiden, and Zephyr) in order to maintain the quality of this preview. We will try to point out what appeals to us in each series, in the hope that it will help you determine if it coincides with your tastes.

Disclaimer #2: Please note that this list does not reflect all the series airing this coming season. It is meant to be as comprehensive as possible, but omissions have been made for shows that stray from the anime norm or seem to be oriented toward young children. Please check out MOON PHASE for complete listings, syoboi for specific air times, and Fansub DB for a list of potential sources for each series.

As always a big shout out to the entire Random Curiosity crew for banding together to finish this preview. With work obligations, family plans, school responsibilities, and more than a few epic moves across country (or the world) interfering with things, this was a fun preview to put together, but everyone has persevered and the result couldn’t be better. Thanks as always to Xumbra and Divine for encoding the PVs; Zephyr for doing early prep work; Stilts for editing, people wrangling, and for being a slow bad person; Passerby for proofreading and the shorts section; and of course Cherrie for handling all the formatting, links, pictures, and any other nagging issues. Also, thanks to everyone who wrote previews. You all rock! Sometimes.

Last but not least, thank you to you, dear friends and readers of Random Curiosity. I (Pancakes) have only been here a year and a bit, but the fun of chatting with you in the comments and the use so many get from the weekly ramblings is what keeps me (and the rest) coming back every time. Also we might be closet masochists who get a kick out of unpaid labour, who can say? If it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t be doing this, so once again thank you for being a part of this amazing community, we love you all!

Technical Note: The chart below is ordered by the date and time that the shows premiere. The links in the schedule will take you to a series’ corresponding entry and the “Top” links on the right will bring you back. You can also use the back/forward buttons in your browser to jump between links you’ve clicked. All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.

Preview by Zaiden

An investigator buries two Ghosts, ghoulish humanoids who were the very last of their kind. He keeps the terrible secret of their existence, out of pity for their plight. But a small and decrepit figure digs its way out of the grave, and makes itself known to the world. That would be Kitarou (Sawashiro Miyuki), the last survivor of the Ghost tribe. Despite being physically deformed, Kitarou has a heart of gold, and tries to help both humans and youkai alike. Fortunately, he is not alone in his endeavours. His father, Medama-Oyaji (Nozawa Masako), reincarnates as an eyeball after dying to an incurable disease, and wanders around looking after his beloved son in spite of his minuscule stature. In facing off against monsters who might threaten the harmony between humans and youkai, they are joined by Nezumi-Otoko (Furukawa Toshio), Neko-Musume (Shouji Umeka), and a few other legendary creatures who might haunt the average Japanese nightmare.

Gegege no Kitarou’s generational influence cannot be understated, given how it essentially revived the popularity of classical folklore in Japanese mainstream media – effects which are still felt within the industry today. The jitters and creeps imparted by these horrors mesh delightfully with some hearty wholesomeness, resulting in a cult classic, complete with well-received reruns. Every decade or so, Toei Animation seems to enjoy busting out a new anime adaptation of Gegege no Kitarou, though this isn’t without reason. Since its original publication from 1960-69, Gegege no Kitarou is a series that has withstood the test of time by remaining truly beloved in Japan, even if it never made any impact in the international market. If you enjoy dark humour and supernatural action, you might be in for a pleasant surprise if you give this series a chance.

Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Zaiden Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Pancakes

In a Taisho era that went on for an extra twenty-five years, the young girl Kuze Tsugumi (Kimura Juri) is in the throes of courtship. Needing to marry a man to save her family’s fortunes, Tsugumi is desperate to make the right choice, but runs headfirst into personal disaster when her younger brother commits suicide. Shocked and confused, with only a book clutched by her dead brother as any clue to the tragedy, Tsugumi’s upheaval worsens when Fukurou, an imperial investigation service, requests her assistance with the case. Tsugumi learns that the book is a Maremono, a special tome capable of exerting significant influence over its readers, and she just happens to have an ability able to decipher the sentiments (called Auras) residing within Maremonos. Wanting answers and with nowhere else to turn, Tsugumi agrees to help Fukurou in their investigation, but as she’ll soon find out, the truth can often be more painful than never knowing why.

Did someone order an otome game adaptation? Because we’ve got the next otome game adaptation right here. Nil Admirari no Tenbin is the latest adaptation from Otomate’s catalogue, and like all others of late harems of pretty boys is the name of the game. Expect plentiful amounts of romance and chivalrous swooning amidst the undeniably unique mystery drama and you won’t leave disappointed. The only concern for otome fans will be the execution. Zero-G is a hit or miss studio at the best of times, and director Takada Masahiro has no prior experience at all with full length shows. Nevertheless, should Nil Admirari no Tenbin faithfully adapt the source game story and keep the rushing to a minimum, it’s certainly capable of being a fun bit of mystery-tinged romance. Considering this one has been in the works for over two years, a little leeway is rightfully deserved.

Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Limited

Preview by Choya

Special Week (Waki Azumi) is an equine girl who aspires to be an athlete and idol. To follow her dreams, she transfers to Traincent Academy, where other equine girls go to train in racing and singing. Along the way, she becomes acquaintances with colleagues such as Silence Suzuka (Kouno Marika), Toukai Teio (Machico), and Vodka (Ohashi Ayaka), who share her goal of utilizing their talents to become stars. With all of the competition she faces, can Special Week hold a candle to her fellow classmates? Can Special Week withstand the competitive environment that awaits her in Traincent Academy? Find out in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby!

Uma Musume has had quite the journey. It’s supposed to be a mobile game project that Cygames is developing for this year, but has only had promotional material. If you recognize the image of horse girls sprinting on a track-and-field ring like they’re in gym class, it’s because the promotional ONA has been floating around the Internet since 2016 as one of those grand concepts that gaming/anime sites tout as the latest outlandish idea to come from popular anime. In Uma Musume’s case, it combines horse-racing with idol phone games, with your choice of horse idol sprinting across a track to obtain victory and glory. To the series’ credit, they stay true to the spirit of horse racing with all of the funny race-horse names they came up with for the girls. The fact that the girls are only visibly horses by their ears and tails also adds to the moe appeal that could make such a concept seem more normal than people give it credit for. The premise of the show is pretty straight-forward, but P.A. Works’ involvement and the direction of Oikawa Kei does build confidence that we’ll get a competent, well-made project. You’ll know if the idea alone is enough to reel you in, but only time will tell whether you’d want to say “aye” or “neigh” to Uma Musume.

Watching This: Choya Excitement Level: Limited

Preview by Passerby

Uno Saki (Ohashi Ayaka) had figured out her life. She’s a fledgling idol. She had formed a unit with her best friend, Mikage Sakuyo (Misawa Sachika). She nursed an innocent crush on said friend’s brother, Mohiro (Toyonaga Toshiyuki). They’re mundane things that a normal 15-year-old girl may be expected to deal with. But one day, Mohiro is kidnapped by demons and there are none who can help him! Saki is offered a chance: ‘Make a contract with me and become a magical girl!’. What choice did she have? She accepts. With the power of love, Saki swoops in, rescues Mohiro, and saves the day! Mohiro swoons for his saviour. Textbook happy ending. But wait—why is her magical girl form a guy (Ishikawa Kaito)? Well, a rather built and handsome guy—wait, why does he still wear the frilly skirt? What on earth is going on? What happened to Saki’s normal, 15-year-old-girl life?

In anime, girls transform. Boys transform. Sometimes, boys transform into girls. Girls transforming into boys, why not? Well, besides it being stupid, but it’s okay for anime to be stupid. In comedy, it should even be encouraged. You can’t have absurdity without at least partially short-circuiting the frontal cortex, and Mahou Shoujo Ore, based on a digital manga by Moukon Icchokusen, takes that philosophy and runs with it. Why cross-dressing magical girl idols? Because it’s dumb. Why is the mascot character a yakuza gangster? Because it’s dumb. And dumb is funny. And is humour not born of wit, and wit born of insight? Underneath Mahou Shoujo Ore’s giggles about the downstairs plumbing and the confused sexual tension is a cutting commentary about preconceived gender roles imprinted upon us by socio-eco—no, scratch that, it’s stupid. Mahou Shoujo Ore knows it is stupid. It revels in the stupid. Enjoy.

Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Pancakes

From the manga of the same name, Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi tells the story of the university student Tsubaki Aoi (Touyama Nao). Born with the inherited ability to see ayakashi (ghosts), Aoi strives to take care of her supernatural brethren, feeding those in need and ensuring none go without. All of that quickly changes one day, however, when Aoi is snatched away by a demon named Oodana (Konishi Katsuyuki). Claiming Aoi’s deceased grandfather owed him a substantial debt, Oodana states Aoi must pay the collateral, and must do so through marriage—to him. Naturally, Aoi refuses such a vulgar demand, but out of respect for her grandfather she offers to pay Oodana back by working as a cook in his private inn Tenjinya. Now stuck serving up hearty food to all manner of supernatural beings while dealing with the whims of one fierce and cranky demon, Aoi’s simple and pleasant life will never be the same again.

Supernatural and anime, like peanut butter and jam it’s a classic combination, and whether as a serious romp through mature themes or a more gentle meander in slice of life, the shows we get seldom disappoint. Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi won’t be breaking that trend. With a humorous and lighthearted romance plot, this one won’t be lacking in character, and with a noticeable foodie flair spicing things up the show is bound to get more than a few stomachs rumbling. In a way KnY is the supernatural form of Isekai Shokudou, where food becomes the means to explore the various memories and relationships of Tenjinya’s clientele, Aoi and Oodana included. It’s excellent relaxation material, although considering Gonzo misses more than it hits and director Okuda Yoshiko has little experience with such series, it’s a shot in the dark just how good it will be. While it would be a good idea to keep expectations in check, if you have a thing for supernatural romance and food, I’d give KnY a chance. It’s on the right course to be more than a simple tale of wining and dining.

Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Choya

Elementary school student Oozora Tsubasa (Sanpei Yuuko) has a love for soccer that completely encompasses his thoughts and dreams. He started playing at a very young age, and while it was just a fun, recreational sport in his friends’ eyes, it developed into an obsession for Tsubasa. To excel further in his favorite sport, he moves with his mother to Nankatsu City, which is known for its schools with prestigious soccer teams. Although he was the best player in his hometown, Tsubasa has his work cut out for him in Nankatsu, where he will need all of his skills and talents in order to stand out from the tough competition he faces. In Nankatsu, he not only meets new rivals, but also new friends like Nakazawa Sanae (Hara Sayuri) and goalkeeper Wakabayashi Genzo (Suzumura Kenichi), whose shared interest in the same dreams as Tsubasa drives him to help his valuable friend reach his goals. Tsubasa’s ultimate goal is representing Japan at the FIFA World Cup, but it will take more than talent and ambition to live the dream.

To say that Captain Tsubasa is iconic would be an understatement. The manga, which started in 1981, has gone on to inspire professional footballers like Lionel Messi, the film Shaolin Soccer, and was included in the promotional material for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo as a symbol of prosperity in Japanese pop culture and sports. While this reboot is two years shy of the next Olympics, it aligns with the next FIFA World Cup in Russia, and will help to promote Team Japan in their efforts this year. They couldn’t have chosen a better staff to helm such a reboot as David Productions has a track record of doing justice to the source material of older, highly-beloved manga. Director Kato Toshiyuki’s efforts also ensure that the Captain Tsubasa reboot will be in great hands. While many David Productions fans are getting antsy about wanting the Vento Aureo adaptation to just be announced already, there’s no doubt that their take on Captain Tsubasa will create that same spark of magic that readers worldwide have felt when they flipped to the first page of Tsubasa’s story.

Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Choya

According to Gundam Build Divers, the Gundam franchise hasn’t even begun to peak! At least, not until the near future, when the popularity of Gundam and Gunpla has skyrocketed to such incredible heights that it inspires a new Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online (VRMMO) Game called “Gunpla Battle Nexus Online”. In GBN Online, players can upload themselves and their Gunpla to the internet and battle with players from across the world. The player assumes the role of a Gunpla Diver, and with their chosen Gunpla model, they can take part in the annual Gunpla Force Battle Tournament to test their strength with other Divers and determine who’s the best. Our main protagonist, Mikami Riku (Kobayashi Yuusuke), is a junior high school student and an admirer of famous Gunpla Diver Kujo Kyoya (Kasama Jun). He and his friends Yukio (Fujiwara Natsuki) and Momoka (Hieda Nene) love Gunpla and play GBN together. However, his life is turned upside down when he meets a mysterious Gunpla Diver named Sara (Terui Haruka). As strange events unfold, Riku is guided by his new allies as he forms his first Gunpla Diver group, embarks on epic adventures with his friends and a ferret, dives further into GBA to face off against other Divers, and seeks to become the very best, like no one ever was.

With the success of the Gundam Build Fighters series, Divers has large shoes to fill, and faces questions such as whether it will be better than recent Gundam shows or whether there will be an attractive mom character. Rather than try to continue where the originals left off, this foray into online gaming is a good way of going about it. It lends itself to the conversation on how digital media has overtaken the old ways as the crafting of Gunpla for combat is overtaken by the talent it takes to handle a controller. It does look like it is shamefully capitalizing on the popularity of virtual game anime that are as plentiful as ever in this day and age, but it also looks like a ton of fun and offers a lot for fans of Gundam and Gunpla fans who want more of their Gundam Build fix. Models from Turn A, ZZ, 00, and Age round out our main cast as they go forth and use their mechs to become number one, and it might just be as much of a fun, exciting breath of fresh air as Gundam Build Fighters was when it came out.

Watching This: Guardian Enzo Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Pancakes

A long time in the future, in a galaxy quite the same, two rival interstellar powers—the absolutist Galactic Empire and democratic Free Planets Alliance—battle over the right to rule all of humanity. Locked in a stalemate for over 150 years, both states continuously seek ways to overcome the other, but it’s only when a new group of leaders emerge that the board is finally wiped clean. While the intensely ambitious Reinhard von Müsel (Miyano Mamoru) ascends through the ranks of the Empire’s decadent Goldenbaum dynasty to rescue his sister-made-concubine, the lazy and reserved historian Yang Wenli (Suzumura Kenichi) finds himself thrust into an Alliance wartime command he very much could do without. Winding up leaders in the only conflict they have ever known, Yang and Reinhard will soon find themselves fighting not only each other, but their own sides as the desires of each man run headfirst into the harsh reality of interstellar politics.

At some point every anime fan will have heard of Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu, i.e. Legend of the Galactic Heroes. This is a series with no equal, adapted from a set of novels by the famed Tanaka Yoshiki into the longest ever OVA series featuring the largest ever assembled voice acting cast. More than Space Battleship Yamato or Gundam, LotGH defined modern Japanese space opera, arguably creating the closest version of Star Wars to date with political and philosophical intrigue that left every competitor in the dust. Any sort of remake was always going to have problems living up to LotGH’s larger than life image, and so far all the signs do little to ease concerns. Besides only one confirmed cour (and three follow-up movies) leaving little chance of getting through all the material, all original character designs have been completely (and controversially) altered, and Kuroko no Basket’s flamboyant Tada Shunsuke has been left in charge of directing. There’s nothing to say the new LotGH cannot live up to the hype, but it’s just as likely to morph into promotional pandering as much as proper (re)adaptation. Much like with Star Wars’ recent return, truly anything is possible here, so until we can see the results in action, keeping those expectations in check is firmly advised.

Watching This: Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Takaii, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Zephyr

Hidden in the shadows of Tokyo are man-eating beings known as ghouls. Indistinguishable from humans, they blend in to society, hunting humans for food. In response, the Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG) is formed to investigate and exterminate ghouls. After being involved in a certain incident, previous protagonist Kaneki Ken finds himself implanted with Ghoul parts, turning him into a half-human, half-ghoul hybrid. As he struggles to maintain his psychological balance and to find a place for himself, CCG launches a raid on Anteiku, Kaneki’s former workplace and a cafe rumored to be the hiding place of a legendary ghoul called the “One Eyed Owl”. Taking place two years after the Anteiku raid, Tokyo Ghoul:re is a sequel to the original series. The fight between CCG and a group of ghouls calling themselves Aogiri Tree continues, with many of the raid’s participants now missing or confirmed dead. To turn the tide, a special Quinx Squad is created composed of members capable of using ghoul abilities. They are led by a half-human, half-ghoul named Sasaki Haise (Hanae Natsuki), who is tasked with managing a squad filled with difficult personalities while grappling with his own powers and lost memories. Pierrot will reprise its role, with Mikasano Chuuji returning for series composition, and Watanabe Odahiro in his second directorial role.

Following the reference to :re at the end of Tokyo Ghoul √A, many of us expected a sequel to arrive eventually. What we didn’t expect was that it’d take three years. Since then, we’ve gotten an English dub of the anime, a live-action adaptation, and even an official English release of the manga! Thankfully the wait is over, and given how well :re answers the original series’ questions while building on its foundations with new characters, the expectations are high. The problem is that Watanabe Odahiro doesn’t have significant experience as a director, and his resume—while lengthy—is filled with key animator or episode director roles that rarely go past a few episodes. We also don’t know if they’ll just adapt :re as is, or alter it based on what happened in the adaptation’s second season, which shuffled and omitted events in an attempt to reach the original series’ ending in a single cour. The expectations based on the source material are there, but I’m hesitant to say that they’ll give the series the adaptation it deserves, especially if (given the ending of √A) they extend this to multiple cours in future seasons.

Watching This: Pancakes, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Choya

Natsuno Hanabi (Tsuda Minami) is moving back to her hometown for high school, assuming that she would return to a wonderful life back where she came from. However, she didn’t know what she signed up for when she chose to live in Tachibana-kan, a dormitory close by. What she thought would be an easy dorm for her to settle into and make her commute much simpler turned out to be much more chaotic than she expected. With a crew of unruly roommates, each with their own personality and quirks, Natsuno’s dorm life is about to be crazy, adventurous, and perhaps a little spicy.

The story that Tachibana-kan to Lie Angle is looking to tell is in the tradition of a multitude of fun dorm-ready anime. Which is a good reason to look forward to it, as it centers on life among a cast of hilarious characters who all have to find a way to cope with living with each other, differences and all. One fascinating thing to note about this anime are the list of genres that it falls under. It’s a shoujo-ai comedy, but also associates itself with ecchi and harem as well. It will be nice to see some comedy from the yuri genre given that the recent surge of yuri shows have been all about the spectacle of relationship drama. It has potential to fall into that dramatic territory with director Hirasawa Hisayoshi, but hopefully it’ll steer more toward a fun route by emphasizing the eccentricities of Natsuno’s roommates. With all the toxic relationships that have stemmed from recent netorare-inspired yuri stories, Tachibana-kan to Lie Angle has the opportunity to brighten up the genre with some humor, quirkiness, and even a little fanservice along the way.

Watching This: Stilts, Takaii, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Passerby

Back in 2015, the venerable swashbuckling adventure Lupin III finally got a new anime series. Now, after a much shorter two-year-and-change wait, here’s more! After a stint capering around Italy, the titular thief Lupin (Kurita Kanichi) and his trusty partners, the crack shot Jigen Daisuke (Kobayashi Kiyoshi) and stoic swordsman Ishikawa Goemon XIII (Namikawa Daisuke), are now going to be traipsing around France. That’s exciting, since the original Lupin III manga by Monkey Punch is loosely based on Maurice Leblanc’s French novels about the gentleman-thief, Arsène Lupin, with Lupin III being, as one may guess by the numbering, the legendary heister’s grandson. So what to make of the new rival, Alber d’Andrezy (Tsuda Kenjiro), who shares the family name of the mother of Arsène Lupin I? In France there will be both history and homeland, and a past that Lupin may not care to face.

While the Lupin III franchise has had a long run, with the manga debuting all the way back in 1967, it was usually fine to jump into the anime whenever one wanted. It was mostly a series of episodic escapades and self-contained stories, with Lupin himself being a something of a timeless creature, a free spirit who always lived in the present and stayed true to his adventurous whims. Lupin III is a constant that has stood the test of time, so why change it? For this 2018 edition, though, I hesitate to offer that same advice. Lupin III (2015) actually had a semblance of continuity, and this new season may be building on that. Lupin is still wearing his blue coat, and the entire anime staff more or less returns in full for production. This includes the voice cast, who are all reprising their roles. So if you’re new to Lupin III I would suggest you at least watch the 2015 series first to get yourself up to speed. If you’re a returning fan, you already know what’s up. It’s Lupin. Even if there may be a bit more narrative this season, it’s still going to be everything we know and love about anime’s most famous thief.

Watching This: Passerby Excitement Level: Established

Preview by Zaiden

The subject specimen, Tsuitsui Hikari (Uenishi Teppei), is a reclusive otaku. Itou Yuuto (Aoi Shouta) is his sole companion, a fellow otaku cast from a similar mould. Both are social outcasts due to their nerdy interests, laughed at by popular girls who dismiss their otaku hobbies as being ‘uncool’, which causes them to develop an aversion towards womenkind. But fortunately, things don’t stay this way in a romance series. One day, Tsuitsui is made to clean up a dirty swimming pool with Igarashi Iroha (Serizawa Yuu), a girl who seems to epitomise all the things he hates in the opposite gender. She skips school, comes across as bitchy, and is rumoured to constantly hang out with guys in a promiscuous fashion. However, after spending some time with her, he comes to realise that not all the things said about her were true. Behind her blunt and beautiful exterior, she’s a person who has complex reasons for her behaviour. Above all, she chooses not to judge Tsuitsui for his hobbies, and even defends him from his tormentors. Can a social misfit like Tsuitsui, who has a deep distrust of women, fall in love? Or is he going to become a mere plaything to satisfy someone’s momentary whim?

Having read the manga, I can tell you that 3D Kanojo has a character-driven story that distinguishes itself from your run of the mill shoujo series. Common archetypes are generally avoided, and each character is substantially fleshed out through the chapters. You may also find it easy to relate to Tsuitsui’s struggles, since he is bullied for having a keen interest in anime. I suspect some of us can relate. Feelings are also dealt with in a mature way and come across as quite realistic, which is successfully maintained even through periods of melodrama. I can’t guarantee an exceptional adaptation though, because with only twelve episodes to work with, either the anime will be incomplete or cuts will be made across the board. I’d prefer the former, because I hope a studio wouldn’t attempt to adapt a single volume per episode. What I can guarantee is that 3D Kanojo is a unique and refreshing story about friendship and love, that also tackles the topics of prejudice and acceptance within a high school setting.

Watching This: Choya, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Zaiden

Not to be outdone by last year’s imouto-based rabble, the spring season graces us with Alice or Alice. So how does one do the unthinkable? Quick math tells me that 1 + 1 = 2, so logic dictates that we must have two sisters instead of one. Older Brother (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu), an aptly named protagonist, leads a truly blessed life. Everyday, he looks after his beloved twin sisters, Airi (Hidaka Rina) and Rise (Sakura Ayane). It certainly helps that he harbours a huge sister complex. What’s more, his sisters certainly love him back in their own way. Prepare for trouble, and make it double, as our eccentric family and friends entertain us with their daily antics!

A year on from Eromanga-sensei, an unassuming newcomer is determined to take the spring by storm through the power of incest! Making the step up to a full directorial role, Kobayashi Kousuke seems intent on tackling the taboo from the offset. Fortunately he has capable seiyuu in the main three roles, including the voice of Masamune Izumi from Eromanga-sensei and the Hidaka Rina/Sakura Ayane pair, both of whom have played the little sister role many times. Reading the source material, it would seem that the degeneracy runs particularly deep this time around. While this older brother does the household chores, and smiles all the time, don’t be fooled! He actually dotes a little too much on his younger sisters, to the point where you would consider him to be a creepy pervert. This is mostly played for laughs, so take it as you will, but I understand it can be off-putting for many. However, for those who enjoy a nice bit of incest or moe, this will probably become your weekly source of guilty pleasures.

Watching This: Choya, Stilts, Zephyr Excitement Level: Limited

Preview by Passerby

The Singularity is here. Biological humans have been made obsolete. This happened by neither design nor serendipity, but disaster. In the year 2031, the Quantum Reactor, a revolutionary new power source meant to solve the world’s energy problems, suddenly explodes. The fallout reaches across the world with bizarre side effects. Animals start mutating spontaneously and rapidly. Machines merge with the wildlife. New hybrid lifeforms rise in dominance and wage a war on humanity that drives them almost to the brink of extinction. But when faced with monster threats mankind always has one fall-back: giant mecha. In the city of Neo Xianlong, one of the last bastions of humanity, maverick scientist Leon Lau (Maeno Tomoaki) and his sister Chloe (Touyama Nao) continue to devise new weaponry and countermeasures, but their efforts may be for naught. How can technology that requires human progress compete with technology that can progress itself?

Every once in a while, Kawamori Shoji decides to make a mecha anime. And out pops something Macross or Aquarion or … Basquash. That’s the great thing about being the executive director of an anime studio, you can make what you want. It’s not like Satelight has done poorly out of that though; no matter one’s opinion on the latest iterations of Macross and Aquarion, it’s undeniable that Satelight has built its mecha-anime bona fides by the hand of Kawamori. That said, Kawamori is not going to be in the director’s role for Juushinki Pandora, instead bringing in Sato Hidekazu from Aquarion Evol with Nemoto Toshizo from Macross Δ on series composition. Unfortunately Sato has a weak record and Nemoto is somewhat inconsistent, so there’s some cause for pessimism, but at least we still have Kawamori doing the mecha designs. Yeah, the mecha are CGI again, but they’re interesting nonetheless, and they also reflect the setting, which is definitely the main draw. We can never get enough apocalyptic science fiction in anime, and Juushinki Pandora looks like it might explore some interesting areas about the relationship between nature and technology and the obsolescence of homo sapien biology. It’s certainly a more interesting human extinction event than the usual great floods and zombie hordes, and if that’s the kind of cheer you enjoy in your anime, give Juushinki Pandora a try.

Watching This: Pancakes, Passerby Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Stilts

Tada-kun Does Not Fall in Love is an original romantic comedy from the folks at Doga Kobo. The story starts when Tada Mitsuyoshi (Nakamura Yuuichi), who is taking pictures of blooming cherry blossoms, meets Teresa Wagner (Iwami Manaka), an exchange student from Luxembourg. Upon arriving in Japan, Teresa got separated from her travel companion. Mitsuyoshi helps her and brings her to his grandfather’s coffee shop. Other characters include Tada’s best friend Ijuuin Kaoru (Miyano Mamoru), little sister Tada Yui (Minase Inori), sempais Sugimoto Hajime (Umehara Yuuichirou) and Hasegawa Hinako (Ishigami Shizuka), kouhai Yamashita Kentarou (Shimono Hiro), and Teresa’s fellow transfer student Alexandra Magritte (Shimoji Shino).

Did you enjoy Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun? Because this original is from the studio (Doga Kobo), director (Yamazaki Mitsue), and script writer (Nakamura Yoshiko) of that series. Heck, Nozaki’s seiyuu is even in the lead role again! I would counsel caution though, because there was more that went into Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun’s success besides studio and staff, including more seiyuu with killer comedic timing and the original mangaka Tsubaki Izumi. This time Nakamura-sensei has to write with no source material, so will it turn out as well? At least the seiyuu crew seems solid, with co-lead Iwami Manaka having proven her cute-and-comedic chops after her performance in Gamers! The vibe here seems to be going more toward romance and less hijinks (there are four girls and four boys—convenient!), which is totally fine in my book, but it is different. I do have a good amount of faith in this staff, the premise looks fun, and the promos so far look really pleasant. If you go into this wanting more Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, you may end up disappointed, but if you’d like something slightly different but hopefully with that same level of quality and execution, Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai might be for you. I know I’ll be watching, and hoping for another dark horse win from a series that has all the markers of a great time.

Watching This: Choya, Passerby, Stilts, Takaii, Zephyr Excitement Level: High

Preview by Choya

This adaptation of a 4-koma comedy manga tells the story of the daily lives of up-and-coming female mangaka who must face the trials and tribulations of living together in a dormitory. One of the new girls, Moeta Kaoruko (Akao Hikaru) hits close to home as she is a 4-koma manga artist who writes under the pen name Kaosu. Many of Kaosu’s roommates, however, vary in genre and expertise, such as Koizuka Koyume (Hondo Kaede), who works as a shoujo manga artist under the pen name Koisuru Koyume. Meanwhile, they share their living space with shounen manga artist Katsuki Tsubasa (Takahashi Rie), who’s pen name is Wing V. Finally, they meet one of the more peculiar roommates in Irokawa Ruki (Oonishi Saori), who is the artist behind ecchi manga under her pen name Bakunyuu♥Himeko. Differences in work ethic, stylistic preferences, and personality cause our leading ladies to butt heads as much as they find common ground.

This sounds like quite the fun series, given how it takes subsections of artists behind different genres of manga, and gives them a living space to bounce off of each other, whether its in agreement or adversity. Comic Girls has the potential to explore different facets of manga fandom with how broad they’re able to work with 4-koma, ecchi, shoujo, and shounen genres all at once. Additionally, it is always fascinating to see how anime adaptations of 4-koma manga fare, as each one takes an entirely different approach to how they adapt the material. Some are straightforward in retaining their format as individual segments with little variation to the material, while others adapt the four panel comics into 24-minute episodes that are fluid and integrated naturally enough that you could barely tell they were adapting several strips. Where Comic Girls will lean toward is anyone’s guess, but the finished product looks like it will be as fun and zany as it sounds.

Watching This: Choya, Stilts, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Stilts

Megalo Box is a spin-off, tribute, and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the classic boxing manga and anime Ashita no Joe. This sci-fi boxing series stars JD (Junk Dog) (Hosoya Yoshimasa), who participates in fixed underground boxing matches in order to make a living. At the beginning of the story he enters the ring once again, but he encounters a certain person. JD decides he wants to take on a challenge that risks everything.

“Sci-fi boxing anime” is a pretty cool idea, though there are a lot of details you’ll need to know before committing to this series. First of all, while I haven’t read or watched Ashita no Joe myself, it appears to be a classic sports story, complete with a sports anime-style protagonist who trains hard, confronts all sorts of difficulties, and wins through grit, spirit, and wanting it more than the other guy. Now take that idea, and move it to a dystopian cyberpunk future where boxers utilize metal prosthetics in the ring, because what boxing clearly needs is more brain damage. The art style is pointedly retro, so viewers who can’t abide by the old school Lupin III-type animation should steer clear. Nostalgia is a helluva drug, though, so I suspect old Joe fans are already tuning in, and sports anime aficionados could be well served by giving this a try. For everyone else, I can only say that I don’t typically go in for retro series, but the dystopian cyberpunk sci-fi boxing got my attention. I may give this a shot after all.

Watching This: Passerby, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Choya

The story focuses on the two main characters, Gaius Sorel (Shimazaki Nobunaga) and Gigina Ashley-Bufh (Hosoya Yoshimasa), the only two employees of spell formulist dispatch office Ashley-Bufh & Sorel Co. They are met with a variety of requests from a variety of clients, all requiring the adept use of spell formulae, which are essentially chemical reactions augmented through Magic Staff weapons that cause a magic spell-like effect. The two leading men use spell formulae to fight against Beasts of Abhorrent Form, natural creatures that use spell formulae and pose a threat to humans.

Don’t be too intimidated by how much detail and description pops up when you look this one up, it should be an easy series to get invested in. The show appears to be a compelling dark fantasy anime that builds off the deep lore of the universe as well as the friendly rivalry between Gaius and Gigina while they work together to survive in this harsh universe. With highly polished visuals and the promise of magic sword fights, it’s bound to be a neat anime to watch if you’re looking to scratch that itch. It looks like enough fun, drama, and action to keep anyone engaged in the jobs and assignments of the Ashley-Bufh & Sorel Co.

Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Zaiden

Sticking to the old formula, Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin focuses on a group of boys who love to play football. Or as Americans might call it, ‘soccer’. However, their club is suddenly disbanded, and they are given a single condition for its reinstatement: winning the prestigious Football Frontier. To compete in the tournament, Inamori Asuto (Murase Ayumu) and his friends leave the island they had lived on for their entire lives, enrolling at a high school in Tokyo. However, their first match is against the number one team, Seishou Gakuen. Will Asuto and his friends have their dream come to an end, or is this where it all begins?

Inazuma Eleven is adapted from a series of games made by Level-5. As someone who is not acquainted with the franchise, my general impression is that it looks like an animated version of Shaolin Soccer, dialed up to eleven. The director Hino Akihiro deviates from his norm of being an original concept creator for Level-5, being the brains behind other games like Danball Senki and Youkai Watch. Ares no Tenbin is in fact his first foray into directing anime, but if I had to guess, he’s probably good at catering toward the demographic targeted by his games. Longtime fans of the Inazuma Eleven franchise might get a kick out of this new series, but I wouldn’t expect newcomers to have an easy time finding a comfortable foothold.

Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Pancakes

As head of the yakuza Ashigawa Group, the young and intelligent bachelor Nitta Yoshifumi (Nakajima Yoshiki) has it made. The jobs are simple, the payout is good, and by god does no one ever come to him with any annoying problems to solve. All of that changes one day when Yoshifumi is literally hit over the head by a mysterious object containing a girl called Nina (Tanaka Takako). Normally Yoshifumi would quickly rid himself of such unwanted surprises, but when Nina displays awesome psychic powers that could come in handy for business—not to mention kill him in the blink of an eye—Yoshifumi is left with little choice but to take the impulsive and lazy girl in. Now stuck playing father to a nuclear bomb of a daughter in the midst of Japan’s chaotic underworld, Yoshifumi’s easygoing yakuza life will never be the same again.

Gentlemen, say hello to the new Mob Psycho 100. Much like that romp through hilarious psychic shenangians, Hinamatsuri is a tale of crazy mental powers combined with an even more outrageous cast of characters. Any “serious” plot here is firmly sidelined in favour of comedy and slice of life as Hinamasturi’s story revolves around bite-sized story arcs focusing on the ridiculous (yet endearing) relationship between Yoshifumi and the hikkikomori-esque Nina. It’s a perfect kick back and laugh story, and with over 13 published manga volumes so far, there’s plenty of it to go around. While adaptations of ongoing manga can have their issues, considering studio feel. has plenty of experience with similar series and director Oikawa Kei is well-versed in the art of easygoing anime, it’s not that unreasonable to expect something amazing here. We won’t know how well it works until the first episode drops of course, but given the story and crew at work, I would expect Hinamatsuri to be one of this season’s top comedy contenders.

Watching This: Choya, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Takaii

Akkun to Kanojo revolves around the quirky relationship between male lead Kagari “Akkun” Atsuhiro (Suzuki Tatsuhisa) and female lead Katagiri “Nontan” Non (Suwa Ayaka). On the outside the two look like a normal couple, but their everyday lives couldn’t be anything further. On the one hand you have the extremely tsundere Akkun, who is awfully cold toward his girlfriend but in reality is so madly in love with her that he’ll engage in activities that most people would consider borderline stalking. On the other you have Nontan, a levelheaded, down-to-earth individual who gracefully ignores Akkun’s terrible outward personality and loves him with every fiber in her body. Together, the two form an awkwardly lovable duo. To help round out the cast are Masago Matsuo (Ueda Keisuke), Akkun’s partner-in-crime, and Kagari Chigo (Kouri Arisa), Akkun’s younger sister. Two side characters who are anything but, as they try and work out just how in the world people like Akkun and Nontan could exist.

If you’ve been looking for a romantic comedy with a twist, Akkun to Kanojo could be the one. It’s almost eerie how different it feels when you flip the genders of character types you’ve seen countless times before. Besides the slight paradigm shift, there’s definitely some charm in watching Akkun do his thing. As the main tsundere of the show, it’s really funny to see him have such a cold exterior toward his girlfriend. Especially when you realize just how much he’s into her! Paired with Nontan’s ability to look completely past all of Akkun’s awkward behavior, you end up with this interesting pattern of expecting one thing only to be pleasantly surprised with what actually happens. Toss in two strong secondary characters who help balance things out and you have a story that’ll keep your attention without wearing you out. When it comes to its adaptation, Akkun to Kanojo has some strong people working on it. With Katagai Shin (Eyeshield 21) leading the charge at Yumeta Company works (Tamayura, Yuruyuri) and Yamada Yuka (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon) handling the writing, it’s tough not to get excited thinking about what a team like this could do. It may be a bit early to call anything, but you can bet I’m excited for this one.

Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Stilts, Takaii, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Pancakes

After a two year break, the WIXOSS franchise returns to anime with a brand new sequel in Lostorage conflated WIXOSS. Centered on the wildly popular in-universe trading card game of the same name, WIXOSS involves a group of girls called Selectors who battle one another with LRIGs, living cards serving as in-game avatars. While victory in WIXOSS can see Selectors obtain their most cherished wishes, experiencing three defeats inflicts a curse on the loser designed to ruin any chance at happiness. With last season’s heroine Suzuko (Hashimoto Chinami) proving victorious by saving her childhood friend Chinatsu (Iguchi Yuka), attention now turns to tracking down the new mastermind of the games while some familiar faces from Selector Infected WIXOSS wind up caught in the chaos. As two generations of Selectors and LRIGs find themselves back on familiar [battle]ground, the only goal now on everyone’s mind is putting a stop to the madness once and for all.

Ahh WIXOSS, it’s certainly hard finding a more imaginative anime advertisement. When it first premiered in 2014, WIXOSS quickly became known as the Madoka of TCG, utilizing Okada Mari to forge a psychologically grimdark story of suffering that took conventional card game tropes and thoroughly upended them. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but those who stuck around got treated to a wild ride of plot twists and even crazier climaxes. While the follow-up Lostorage Incited WIXOSS unfortunately lost some of the magic—in part from staff changes—it left plenty of openings for a new season to take advantage of, and that indeed is what looks to be happening. With both Selector/LRIG casts featured, it’s very likely this season will answer many outstanding mythos-based questions, and with the franchise focus on psychological suffering remaining you can bet even more outrageous twists await us in the future. While most viewers probably already know where they stand regarding WIXOSS, if you have the curiosity I’d give this one a shot. For all we know this season could end up being the best WIXOSS iteration yet.

Watching This: Pancakes, Zephyr Excitement Level: Established

Preview by Pancakes

For Asagiri Aya (Oono Yuuko), life truly sucks. She’s viciously bullied at school, beaten and tormented by her devil of a brother Kaname (Okamoto Nobuhiko), and ignored by anyone afraid of her pariah status wearing off on them. More often than not suicide seems to be Aya’s only solution, but all that changes one day when she stumbles across the mysterious website Mahou Shoujo Girl. Granting her a magical device capable of making anyone disappear permanently, Aya thinks the website has given her the solution to her misery, but it’s just the harbinger of a more radical transformation. After fellow classmate Yatsumura Tsuruno (Akaneya Himika) catches Aya using her power, Aya rapidly discovers she’s not the only girl with a magical device, and that many are willing to kill over their powers. Now caught up in a world far more insidious than her old tumultuous life, Aya is about to learn what it really means to be a magical girl.

Magical girls and suffering is a well-trodden theme these days; thanks to Madoka’s overwhelming success we receive a variation or two every other season, with only a few ever truly standing out. In this regard MSS is nothing special, but it does have one thing going for it: this one gets violent. Really violent. Compared to Madoka or even Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku, MSS goes all in on the suffering and agony as every character takes twisted and disgusting to the absolute limit, with some like Kaname providing a showcase in reprehensible immorality. It’s textbook torture porn, which means MSS’s success is going to be heavily determined by its handling; if it skips on the violence or overdoes the censoring it could easily become the cutie breaking version of Terra Formars. Thankfully, however, with Tokyo Ghoul’s Matsubayashi Tadahito sitting in the director’s chair and confirmed Amazon simulcasting (i.e. likely no censorship), all signs point toward a fun bit of bloody, suffering-injected entertainment. As long as MSS doesn’t stray far from its pulpy, violence-driven source material, there’s no reason to doubt it being anything but a wicked ride.

Watching This: Choya, Pancakes Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Zaiden

As a time traveler from the future, I’m here to tell you that studio Bones is producing the one and only show that’s set to sweep the Crunchyroll Anime Awards for 2018. You guessed it right, the greatly beloved My Hero Academia is about to receive a highly anticipated third season! In a world where 80% of the population possess Quirks, a genetic mutation bestowing superpowers to next generation humans, it just so happens that Midoriya “Deku” Izuku (Yamashita Daiki) is among the 20% born without one. But that doesn’t stop our young boy from striving toward his dreams of becoming a superhero, even if he’s met with crushing difficulties that would make anyone else give up. As fate would have it, Deku ended up having a chance encounter with All Might (Miyake Kenta ), the No.1 hero, with a secret behind his superpower that Deku becomes privy to. Seeing something in the boy, All-Might chooses Deku as his successor and takes him on as his personal disciple. And so Deku’s journey begins with the passing of a torch, and the inheritance of an all-mighty legacy. Plus Ultra!

Given their recent struggles, it’s no secret that Weekly Shounen Jump is fully invested in sorting out their flagships for the next generation. At this point, it’s become pretty obvious that Boku no Hero Academia is the chosen one, destined to save the shounen genre from utter destruction. Through combining a dynamic mix of western comic norms and the conventions typical to the shounen tag, Boku no Hero Academia succeeds in capturing the hearts of many by turning in a refreshing take on Japanese-inspired superheroes. The quality and execution of the story is consistent across the board, and is in fact some of the best in recent years. As outlined by Stilts last year, the series proves to be ‘a masterclass in tension, reversals, justified twists, and well-earned victories’. Since Nagasaki Kenji returns as director, alongside most of his fellow production staff, you can be certain that this will continue to be the case, with much more to follow. With season 3 starting so soon, my excitement cannot be understated for the triumphant return of Boku no Hero Academia. YOU’RE NEXT!

Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Takaii, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High

Preview by Takaii

For those of you out of the loop (like I was), this show is actually a spin-off of another baseball show called Major where the story followed Honda Gorou throughout his life as he became a professional baseball player. Fast forward a couple decades and now the story has transitioned from Gorou to his son Shigeno Daigo (Fujiwara Natsumi). That said, if you were expecting a fairy tale story of a professional’s son rising throughout the ranks, you’d be wrong. Unlike the monster of a player that his father was, Daigo didn’t inherit any of his father (or older sister’s) athleticism. Through a lot of hard work and love for the sport, he was able to be just about as good as your typical player except with one fatal flaw: a terrible throwing arm that could probably be out thrown by a three-year-old. Which in turn caused him to be the butt of every comparison the public could think of, leading to Daigo giving it all up and abandoning the sport that he cared about so much. That is, until one day when a transfer student by the name of Satou Hikaru (Nishiyama Koutarou) shows up and manages to flip Daigo’s view of himself upside down.

After ripping myself away from the source material because I was spending way too much time reading it, I have to say that Major 2nd checks all the right boxes when it comes to a sports anime. With the focus equally revolving around the characters and the sport, you avoid the fatal flaw of not caring about the characters who are actually doing the playing. For Major 2nd though, I think it’s greatest strength will come from the rivalry between Daigo and Hikaru. With the former troubled by his status as the son of a professional player (and also putting way too much weight on that notion), and the latter also the son of a professional player who could care less about the implications that the title carries, I can’t wait to see just how exciting things get as Daigo lets go of his inhibitions and becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Takaii Excitement Level: High

Preview by Zephyr

Following a nearly two year wait, Amanchu! returns with its second season in Advance. Based off of Amano Kozue’s (the creator of ARIA) scuba diving manga, the series follows Ooki Futaba (Kayano Ai), a young girl who has recently moved to Ito, a rural town by the sea. Having come from Tokyo, Futaba finds herself in an unfamiliar place filled with few of the conveniences she had in the big city. Combined with her shy nature, she finds herself not looking forward to her first year of high school until she meets fellow first-year Kohinata Hikari (Suzuki Eri). A veritable ball of enthusiastic energy, Hikari drags Futaba out of her shell, introducing her to underwater diving and a group of divers that would become close friends. Through her participation, Futaba finds herself falling in love with a world she never knew existed, all while coming to love the town and life in general. J.C. Staff will return to produce Amanchu! Advance, with Satou Junichi (also of the ARIA series), Mieno Hitomi (Arakawa Under the Bridge, Flying Witch), and Gontiti returning to take roles as director, script writer, and music composer.

As my personal choice for 2016′s best slice of life series, Amanchu! Advance comes in with high expectations. Its first season was every bit the “healing” anime we expected it to be, and given the pedigree of the staff behind it, that says a lot. The magical combination of Satou Junichi, Mieno Hitomi, and Gontiti yielded a feel good story that had virtually everything. Great character interactions, mouth-watering visuals, memorable compositions for its soundtrack and OP/ED, and unique perspectives on life and the sea were all part of Amanchu!’s package, and despite the fact that we seem to get multiple great slice of life series every year now, Amanchu! still sticks out as one of the best in recent history. To say this is a must-watch for fans of the genre is an understatement, and here’s to looking forward to a series that should continue the greatness of its much lauded predecessor.

Watching This: Passerby, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High

Preview by Takaii

Devil’s Line could be one of the best stories I’ve ever read when it comes to vampires and the difficulties they face when you integrate them into the real world. The story revolves around human Taira Tsukasa (Ishikawa Yui) and half-vampire Anzai Yuuki (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu), and it dives into a scenario that resembles something of a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Backtracking a bit, in Devil’s Line’s world vampires are nearly indistinguishable from humans and they don’t need to consume blood to survive. However, there is one distinct difference: their bloodlust, which comes out whenever they sense blood. Be it from a tiny paper cut or a gash on someone’s arm, once a vampire’s bloodlust has been triggered they turn into less of a human and more of a demon. Their eyes change shape and color, their nails grow into claws, and their mind focuses on one thing: how to suck the most blood possible from wherever it’s coming from. In order to protect the public, society has created a secret task force composed of humans and vampires to keep everyone safe. With a vast set of rules and regulations, Devil’s Line dives into what happens when you picture a perfect world but have to deal with the problems that arise when that vision collides with reality.

I’m really excited for this show. It’s tough to pinpoint exactly what it was that caught my interest, but everything from Devil’s Line’s source material was just so damn fun. Maybe it’s how the story manages to juggle three vastly different ideas as it tries to tell a coherent story. If you peek at the genres for this show, you’ll notice that it has Action, Drama, and Romance listed—which is exactly what you get from Devil’s Line. At any point in time you could be experiencing a tragic love story between a human and half-vampire that’s frowned upon, a thrilling police story that tries to fairly police vampires who may or may not be falling victim to their own genetics, or a societal analysis on just how shaky the whole idea of persecuting vampires is and the idea of whether or not it’s fair to persecute some to save the “whole”. In fact, the only uncertainty about this one might be the studio that’s producing it, but a new studio doesn’t mean they can’t do things right! Anyway, don’t let me spoil any more of this one for you—be sure to check it out if anything above managed to grab your attention!

Watching This: Pancakes, Takaii Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Takaii

For those of you who haven’t heard of this little series called Sword Art Online, boy do you have a bunch of stuff to catch up on. Revolving around a certain person who goes by the handle Kirito, the show follows a group of characters as they spend their time in various online virtual worlds tackling problems that tend to have real world implications. HOWEVER, Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online has very little to do with the main story of SAO, due to this being a side story that takes place in Gun Gale Online, a virtual online shooter that played an important part in the main series. This story instead follows 183 centimeter tall Kohiruimaki Karen (Kusunoki Tomori), a college student who has a height complex due to all the bullying she dealt with growing up. That made it difficult for her to interact with people face-to-face. In order to escape from the real world, she enters the world of Gun Gale Online where she ends up making a character named Lleen who’s 150 centimeters tall, likes to wear pink-colored gear, and is a beast at lighting up other players.

With the popularity of SAO, it’s no surprise that the audience for a show like this would be polarized. Based off what we’ve seen thus far, it’s safe to assume that many would blow this off as another spin-off that’s trying to capitalize on the original’s success. However, those people couldn’t be more wrong. Unlike the original show, Alternative Gun Gale Online feels more like a show made for gamers who dream about experiencing the virtual world we all hope will become a reality in the future. Toss in a main character who has to deal with their own problems and finds a way to break free from some of her stress through playing GGO and you have an experience that I think will appeal to just about anyone who’s ever played a video game. If I were to throw out a word of caution, I would say it’s best to set aside your SAO and approach this as its own thing. With new characters who aren’t bound by the already established story, I think there’s a high chance this could become another fan favorite for all of us who really enjoy gamer anime.

Watching This: Pancakes, Stilts, Takaii, Zaiden Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Passerby

Shujin Academy appears to be a normal high school in modern Tokyo, and Amamiya Ren (Fukuyama Jun) appears to be a normal transfer student. But he’s actually a criminal. Made to unjustly take the fall for an influential socialite, Ren is assigned to study at Shujin as part of his probation. There he finds himself ostracised, his criminal record leaked to gossiping students by abusive teachers. But Ren finds a chance to strike back at the powerful and unaccountable. He stumbles upon the ability to enter the mental landscapes of these twisted individuals and summon forth a Persona, a spiritual manifestation of his psyche, with which he can ‘steal hearts’ and force his target to have a change of conscience. He and a group of like-minded youths decide to form a team to take down the wicked who are otherwise untouchable by conventional means, and the Phantom Thieves are born.

The Persona franchise by ATLUS is one of the most popular series of Japanese role-playing games, especially with the release of Persona 5 in 2016. It took the industry by storm and still stands as one of the most critically acclaimed titles of recent history. It seemingly had it all: some picaresque here and some dating sim there, deep mythology with an approachable narrative, a power fantasy and a stealth fantasy. How does it translate to an anime, though? Video game adaptations are notoriously inconsistent due to the difficulty of translating game mechanics into a non-interactive medium, and the previous Persona anime have ranged from decent to mediocre. Again, the Persona games are very busy and hard to fit into limited episode time, and the mechanics are often abstract and hard to capture visually. Good news though: Persona 5 the Animation comes with new staff. Shin Sekai Yori’s Ishihama Masashi will be directing, joined by Akatsuki no Yona’s Inotsume Shinichi on series composition. That’s cause for optimism, and as long as Persona 5 the Animation is not treated as just another tug on the cash cow and actually as a valuable investment in the value of the franchise, we may have a good video game adaptation on our hands.

Watching This: Choya, Passerby, Takaii, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High

Preview by Zaiden

Hell is overflowing with dead souls, who cannot find rest. But in the depths of Japanese Hell, there lurks an effective administrator at the heart of a bureaucratic system, infamous for his demonic efficiency. Feared by his subordinates and superiors alike, our cool-headed Hoozuki (Yasumoto Hiroki) pulls the strings from the background, as he spends every waking moment trying to resolve Hell’s numerous problems.

In the current industry, it seems that splitting a second season into two separate cours has become all the rage. It’s understandable that production teams sometimes require a break in the middle of their projects, and as such, Deen is returning to complete this particular venture. You can be rest assured that the overall quality should be maintained over this break. For the uninitiated, Hoozuki no Reitetsu relies on dark and dry humour to sustain itself, which can be pretty hit or miss. Old fans of the series will know what they’re getting, but if you’re interested in stuff relating to afterlife, you might find this conception of Shinto hell to be worth your while.

Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Zephyr Excitement Level: High

Preview by Stilts

Lost Song is an original anime from LIDENFILMS and Netflix. It tells the story of two young women in a fantasy world of music and war. One is Rin (Suzuki Konomi), an energetic girl who loves to eat and who lives in a verdant frontier village. The other is Finis (Tamura Yukari), a songstress who spends her lonely days deep within the royal palace. Both share a special power no one else has, a miraculous power that can heal wounds, create water, and stir the wind—the power of song. Guided by destiny, the two young women each face an arduous journey. The shadow of war looms over the kingdom, and loved ones will meet their deaths as silent screams echo through a stone prison. As their destinies intersect, will the final song be one of despair or hope?

This series instantly calls to mind Symphogear or Macross, where the very premise seems designed to put two or more female seiyuu in a position to belt out songs (and sell CDs) in a world that was fashioned so that this would make sense. In this case it’s because songs are the pathway to incredible magic, at least for the two main characters. That first sentence sounded pretty cynical, but there’s a long history of music intertwining with magic, so I’m cool with that. Where it doesn’t work so well is with the glaring CGI the series segues into once the song and dance numbers begin, which reminds me of watching the first episode of Love Live! (“Whoa, sudden CGI!”), without the silly self-awareness to make it work. This is a more serious fantasy tale, with swords dripping blood and the fate of kingdoms hanging in the balance. I do appreciate that one of my favorite anime OP/ED singers (Suzuki Konomi) is going to be in a lead role, and a Yukarin is always appreciated. Lost Song will begin airing on March 31st in Japan and will be be released all at once to the rest of the world later this year, because apparently Netflix doesn’t realize how this is all gonna go. I’ll admit that I might check this out for the music (I’m a sucker for catchy pop songs), though the story is going to have to do some work to get me interested. Hopefully it gets there, because if Netflix is going to be the future of anime, I’d prefer they at least make good anime. And release it all around the world at the same time, you daft fools.

Watching This: Zephyr Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Choya

Honey Flash! The story of Cutie Honey revolves around a normal school girl, Kisaragi Honey (Sakamoto Maaya). She was your average girl until her father was murdered by the Panther Claw organization, who were seeking something known as the Airbourne Elemental Fixation Device. She then finds out that she is actually an android that her father created with that very device embedded within her. Upon learning about her and her father’s secrets, she aims to strike a balance between her ordinary school life and her quest to avenge her father as she pursues the Panther Claw. While the story and lore of Cutie Honey Universe could differ from Honey’s classic origin story, it aims to recapture the same fast-paced action and erotic fanservice of Nagai Go’s classic 1973 series, only this time, there’s more than one Honey!

This new project, alongside DEVILMAN crybaby, commemorates the 50th anniversary of Nagai Go’s works, and helps to revitalize the interest in his series that crybaby helped to cultivate. Nagai himself has explained that the main theme of this particular adaptation is “Kakko Kawaii Onnanoko” (Cool and Cute Girl), so Honey, her friends, and her foes will undergo a certain stylish flair that is specific to our modern times. Promotional material has steered towards highlighting a certain blonde cohort to Honey as her dakimakura will be available to coincide with the anime’s release. With that alone, it’s easy to see that we can look forward to the series’ trademark tongue-in-cheek fanservice to go along with our cool and cute themes. Universe already has some connection to crybaby, as a staff member (Yokoyama Akitoshi) who assisted with numerous Yuasa Masaaki productions will direct the new adaptation. Although his directorial credentials might raise flags with some viewers, his experience could do justice to both the stylistic choices that made crybaby a success and the titillation that makes Cutie Honey Universe a fitting entry into the classic franchise.

Watching This: Choya Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Pancakes

From the RPG of the same name, Caligula takes place in the future where the downtrodden masses can escape their pain by reliving their high school lives in Mobius, a virtual reality program. Simply find meaning in the songs of μ (Ueda Reina), Mobius’ virtual idol AI, and before one knows it one is enjoying life at idyllic Kishimai High School. There’s just one catch: when you enter Mobius, you stay. Forever. For some like second year Shikishima Ritsu (Sawashiro Chiharu), being a student for life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, so with fellow like-minded Mobius members they form the Go-Home Club for the sole purpose of escaping the program. With μ herself opposing their actions alongside a group of Mobius loving oddballs called the Ostinato Musicians, the Go-Home Club has its work cut out for it, but with the promise of Mobius losing its lustre by the day, these kids are determined to break through back to reality once again.

Video game adaptations are an anime crap shoot a lot of the time. Between representing game mechanics and dealing with a different storytelling approach, the results can prove underwhelming, and Caligula isn’t likely to be any different. With the original game releasing to less than stellar ratings and the anime coming out the same time as Caligula’s remake (can someone say promotional material?), it’s hard imagining this being the new Shingeki no Bahamut, but there are some positive signs. Studio Satelight (Log Horizon) for one has good experience tackling similar adaptations, and with SukaSuka’s Wada Junichi handling direction there’s a decent chance at seeing Caligula’s main story at its best. Plus with all of the game cast (who are all seasoned idol anime veterans) reprising their roles, this one won’t be lacking for the complementary array of catchy idol song tie-ins. While always a good idea to remain cautious on any video game adaptation, should Caligula align its pieces right, there’s nothing stopping it from being one of this season’s potential surprises.

Watching This: Pancakes, Zaiden Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Zaiden

On the edge of a city, inside a sleepy forest, lies a broken piano that has lost all trace of its sound. The kids at school create rumours that it’s haunted, and attempting to play it at night becomes a test of courage. Amamiya Shuhei (Hanae Natsuki), a transfer student hailing from a lineage of distinguished pianists, resents the expectations laid upon him of seeing his family’s musical legacy through. He experiences peer pressure from bullies to try and take this test of courage, in order to prove his manliness. However, Shuhei’s life takes a turn when he meets Ichinose Kai (Saitou Souma), the son of a prostitute. Although Kai has never had any formal musical training, he is able to remember any song he’s ever heard and reproduce melodies from the piano within the forest. This earns him the respect of Ajino Sosuke (Suwabe Junichi), a former master pianist who lost all ability to play following a terrible accident many decades beforehand. Kai firmly refuses to hone his techniques under Ajino’s tutelage, but once he hears Chopin, and discovers that he’s unable to play it with unrefined finger techniques, he returns to properly pursue the path of the piano. Can the wild beauty in Kai’s talent be tamed? Through his encounter with an incredibly prodigy, Shuhei’s previously uninspired path is about to change forevermore.

On the 20th anniversary of its first serialisation in a magazine, Piano no Mori receives a proper anime adaptation, which will hopefully cover the full extent of its 26 volume run. Coming from someone who has read the manga, the source material is truly a masterpiece, and once won the Grand Prize for best manga at the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival. Two boys from completely different backgrounds aspire to be piano maestros, all while overcoming despair and hopelessness in regards to their respective circumstances. Dark and dramatic moments are successfully contrasted, with emotional freedom delivered through a love for music. And much like Nodame Cantabile or Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, it’s able to elicit a musical appreciation for the classical style by sheer virtue of the story alone. Worryingly, Fukushima Gainax is a mere offshoot of Gainax that has never handled a full TV series before. For the good of the anime world, I hope that they can live up to the reputation of their founding father and bring this remarkable series to life.

Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Passerby, Zaiden Excitement Level: High

Preview by Zephyr

Following a brief hiatus, Shokugeki no Souma’s third season returns with the latter half of its two-cour run. The first cour saw the beginning of Toutsuki Academy’s Moon Banquet Festival, an annual gala and competition where students’ profit margins determine victory. Those who found themselves unable to profit found themselves with the threat of expulsion, naturally bringing Yukihira Souma (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu) into the fray. While competing against Elite Ten member Terunori Kuga (Kaji Yuuki), the return of a dark figure from Erina’s past culminates with a threat to the existence of the Polar Star Dormitory and a plot to overturn the very foundations of Toutsuki Academy. Having weathered the initial wave, Yukihira and a growing group of friends now find themselves caught in between the machinations of the food world’s elite. As one group seeks to keep Toutsuki open to all with talent, another seeks to turn Toutsuki into a haven for select culinary creations and techniques. J.C. Staff will return as the series’ production studio along with the first cour’s main cast and staff.

The Shokugeki train continues and we all know what that means. Mouthwatering culinary creations, cooking showdowns, and foodgasms are the expectation, as is the steady rise of Yukihira Souma to the top of the culinary world. Now shouldering the hopes of those wishing to preserve Toutsuki as the institution it was previously, the stakes are higher and the level of competition more challenging than ever. The Elite Ten have taken center stage as the targets to beat for everyone involved, and it’s hard not to get excited for a series that’s been enjoyable throughout its entire run and continues to add more to its shokugeki formula while maintaining the development of its side characters despite a growing cast. With the same studio, cast, and staff returning as well, look for Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara – Toutsuki Ressha-hen to be one of the better offerings of the spring season.

Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Established

Preview by Takaii

Oh boy—after a one season break we have the return of a magical boy classic. Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu HAPPY KISS is the continuation of the Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu series that concluded things in an hour long OVA toward the end of 2017. However, the spirit of Binan High School’s Earth Defense club lives on in this new sequel. For the uninitiated, the Earth Defense Club specializes in doing just about nothing. As more of a joke club (or a way to escape the “going home” club), its members lounge around after school while chatting over a nice hot cup of team. Afterwards they frequent the Kurotama Bathhouse where they enjoy a rather luxurious hot-bath experience. That is, they used to enjoy this type of life, up until they were magically whisked away (naked mind you) by a mysterious prince from the country known as Honyara Land where our five boys end up taking part in deciding who the next heir of the country will be.

I know the intro to Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu HAPPY KISS probably sounded ridiculous, and to an extent it is. But you’d be wrong if you didn’t think this show was taking it every bit as seriously as every other show out there. Because when it comes to execution, the people behind this show manage to do a pretty damn good job at parodying a ton of genres at once. It’s tough to know whether to recommend shows like this which rely so much on comedy, since different things are funny to different people. But if you’re looking for a show that is definitely different from traditional offerings, goes all the way when it comes to executing its ridiculous premise, and somehow found enough commercial success to have two prior seasons and an HOUR long OVA to close out those seasons, there’s nothing wrong in giving Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu HAPPY KISS a shot.

Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Takaii Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Zaiden

Having long inhabited Japan prior to the arrival of Japanese people themselves, the Ainu are discontent with becoming second-class citizens. As they stockpile a reserve of gold, preparing to fund an uprising against the Japanese government, a brazen criminal murders some Ainu tribesmen. But with justice catching up to him, the thief hides his ill-gotten gains before being captured by the police. He most certainly will not be let out of prison, at least until he reveals the location of the gold. However, he concocts a plan whereby the details of said location are tattooed across the backs of 24 prisoners. Sugimoto Saichi (Kobayashi Chikahiro), a survivor of the Russo-Japanese war nicknamed “Immortal Sugimoto”, now seeks the riches promised by the gold rush, hoping to save the widowed wife of his now deceased comrade. Through pure chance, he encounters one of the 24 prisoners, gaining his first hint toward the legendary treasure. After partnering with an Ainu girl named Asirpa (Shiraishi Haruka), who is looking for her father’s murderer, they go on a bizarre adventure to discover the stash. Along the way, they fight against powerful factions such as the Japanese army, as well as a powerful criminal syndicate that is also interested in acquiring this sizable wealth.

Crazy and energetic from its inception, yet thoroughly compelling, Golden Kamui has been making waves within manga community. With 4.6 million copies in print and having won the 9th Manga Taishou award, which has previously been awarded to Chihayafuru, 3-gatsu and Gin no Saji, the quality or popularity of this series isn’t in doubt. Particularly impressive is how it doesn’t get too self-important, nor does it pull cheap tricks to keep our interest. It’s also has an admirable dedication to accurately depicting the Ainu culture. It pulls together a mishmash of conflicting genres that just shouldn’t work together, but somehow, they do. Without further spoilers, let’s have a look at the production team. Studio Geno has really impressed me with its exciting adaptation of Kokkoku, which proved itself to be a dark horse of its season. Nanba Hitoshi lacks an inspiring CV as a director, but it seems like he can generate a fair bit of hype and excitement through both his storyboarding and directorial vision. Is this worth a shot? If the prospect of a bloody battle royale between hardened badasses tickles your fancy, then hell yeah!

Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden Excitement Level: High

Preview by Choya

Imagine, if you will, a family slice-of-life, except most of the family are mutated! This is the premise of Jikkenhin Kazoku, otherwise known as Frankenstein Family. A scientist couple had children they raised in their laboratory, four of which have been mutated in different ways such as gaining telepathy, plant genes, spider genes, and dog genes. The youngest child, Dannis, is the only one who grew up as a normal human, and tries to find the medicine to give the rest of his siblings their fully human forms back. One day, the couple is arrested for conducting illegal experiments, allegedly for performing genetic modification on their children. How will these family members who grew up in the laboratory survive in the outside world?

This series is particularly interesting because of how bold it looks as it tries to see what obstacles and perks there can be for the kinds of mutations these kids have to live with. It’s described as a slice-of-life, but wants to explore more of its deeper themes such as trying to find a sense of belonging after being shut away from the world for most of their lives, or what to think of their parents for doing Shou Tucker’s big no-no to almost their entire family. It sounds like an intriguing story that combines the serious undertones behind the origin stories of the cast’s mutations and the mellow slice-of-life adventures the cast has as they grow adjusted to their new place in society. Will they be welcomed by people who pity them? Will they be able to apply their powers to their daily activities? Do they want to get rid of their mutations, or has it become so much of a part of them that it feels like they’re getting rid of themselves? These are interesting ideas that it appears Jikkenhin Kazoku will explore.

Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Zaiden

There was once a man named Kenshiro, who was famed for saying ‘Omae wa mou shindeiru‘ while poking down bad guys, right before they disintegrated into a pile of mush. If we delve into the specifics of things, we can trace everything back to his namesake: Kasumi Kenshiro (Yamadera Kouichi). Known as ‘The King of Death’. Kenshiro Senior roams the streets of 1930s Shanghai, subduing any villains who come across his path. This becomes a frequent occurrence, since the place is embroiled in a power struggle between various factions, each seeking to carve out their own brand of laws and governments. As the 62nd successor of the Hokuto Shinken, it is down to Kasumi Kenshiro to restore peace and justice to his troubled locality.

The access threshold for Souten no Ken REGENESIS is ridiculously high. It’s a sequel to Souten no Ken, which is a prequel to Hokuto no Ken, and takes place in between. Therefore, if you want to watch this show with all the required context, there’s a whole lot of content to crunch through. Alternatively, it can serve as a simple action flick for those who want a quick way of satisfying their fighting itch. There is no production experience to speak of from the staff, but as the industry leader on adopting CGI, Polygon Pictures (Ajin, Sidonia no Kishi, Blame) merges 3D animation with a very old art style to bring us this new series – though this type of combination hasn’t always gone over well with manga fans. Nonetheless, Souten no Ken REGENESIS promises to be an action flick about gangster rivalry and territory wars, that happens to feature the beloved Hokuto Shinken fighting style.

Watching This: Pancakes Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Choya

This slice of life manga’s translated title, Railroad Crossing Time, helps to explain the premise that encapsulates the vignettes captured in the series. The story is told through a series of omnibus short stories featuring conversations from women who are waiting for the next train to arrive. Many topics surface along the railway crossings, from bittersweet talks among high school girls to elementary school students gossiping about occult events they’ve encountered. The idyllic times that these girls and women encounter in their daily lives are the central focus of this anime.

Fumikiri Jikan is a mysterious anime in that it has a plentiful list of characters and voices, but it is a fairly new manga for a fairly new production company, EKACHI EPILKA, by director Suzuki Yoshio, who was previously but an assistant director. Although the details for this anime are relatively mysterious, its status as a slice-of-life, and its interest in creating a small anthology of stories interconnected in their relation to railroad crossings is fascinating. It offers up a level of mystery and nuance that leaves your expectations with something more to hold onto than any projected, preconceived notions of what exactly to expect from each of the characters’ stories. It will be interesting to see how each of the stories is adapted or whether the tone will be toward straight-up comedy, cozy warmth, or the naturalistic feel of just seeing a group of friends talking among themselves.

Watching This: Passerby Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Stilts

The Oppai Dragon is returning for a fourth season! This series once again stars Hyoudou Issei (Kaji Yuki), a shamelessly perverted high schooler who was killed by a girl on his very first date. Fortunately he was resurrected (as a demon) by the beautiful and busty school idol Rias Gremory (Hikasa Yoko). Now Issei is one of Rias’ “chess pieces”—her Pawn—along with her flirty Queen Himejima Akeno (Itou Shizuka), taciturn Rook Toujou Koneko (Taketatsu Ayana), ikemen Knight Kiba Yuuto (Nojima Kenji), ditsy Knight Xenovia Quarta (Taneda Risa), gentle Bishop Asia Argento (Asakura Azumi), ultimate trap Bishop Gasper Vladi (Sakura Ayane), and hopeless Valkyrie-turned-teacher Rook Rossweisse (Kakuma Ai). This season will cover the 9th volume “Pandemonium at the School Trip” and the 10th volume “Lion Heart of the School Festival” arcs.

For anyone who hasn’t heard of High School DxD yet, here’s the long and the short: it’s action fanservice done right. It’s one of the better magical-fantasy-action-harem-ecchi series because it leans into the fanservice (it’s shameless, but that’s endearing), it doesn’t neglect the action (it’s not top tier on its own, but it hits all the right notes), and there’s actually some effort put into the plot. As a bonus all the haremettes are cool with the harem setup, which avoids tiresome drama and lets the wish fulfillment silliness take hold. There are some big changes coming to this season, though. The previous three seasons were all animated by TNK, directed by Yanagisawa Tetsuya, and with series comp by Yoshioka Takao, while this one is animated by Passione, directed by Sueda Yoshifumi, and with series comp by Konuta Kenji. Whether that’s a good change remains to be seen, but the TNK crew arguably earned their firing, because after two and a half good seasons they totally botched the (anime original) ending of BorN. It also means we’re in for new character designs, which are perfectly fine if a bit jarring after so long with the old ones. We’re back to adapting two light novels per season, which is a good pace, so if the new team can just execute on the source material then they’ll be all right. That plus provide plenty of bouncy, booby fanservice. What? The ecchi comes first and foremost with High School DxD, and I’m sure fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

Watching This: Stilts, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Choya

At the popular Japanese-style tea house Rokuhoudou, customers can count on receiving services far beyond your typical expectations. Guests are not only served excellent food and exquisite drinks, but are treated like family. If customers wish for a helping hand to solve any issues that plague their daily lives, the staff at Rokuhoudou are more than happy to assist. The tea shop is run by four men, tea expert Tougoku Kyousui (Suwabe Junichi), latte artist Gregorio Valentino (Ono Daisuke), patissier Nakao Tsubaki (Yamashita Daiki), and chef Nagae Tokitaka (Nakamura Yuuichi). Together, they are consummate professionals who use their talents to serve the best tea and plates that Rokuhoudou offers, and ensure that their guests leave with a positive outlook on life.

The premise may sound familiar as a blend of the feel-good hospitality of various series and anime’s recent fascination with food and drinks. As a tea fanatic, it’s exciting to see a show that could potentially dive into the nuances and details behind types of tea and methods of brewing that match the quality of traditional Japanese tea shops. For those into attractive men, this is also a must-watch as it has Ono, Suwabe, Nakamura, and Yamashita all in the same place as the voices of the suave, sophisticated men behind Rokuhoudou. For anyone who loves the feel of shows centered around cafes, it is nice to see more material like Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori surface, and hopefully, it spares no expense in capturing what makes the dishes and cups at tea shops delectable and refreshing.

Watching This: Choya Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Stilts

Last Period: The Story of an Endless Spiral is an adaptation of the mobile game of the same name from mobile developer Happy Elements. The story takes place in a world where fantastic beasts called Spirals are born out of isolation. Those who can defeat the beasts are called Periods. 14-year-old Haru (Hanae Natsuki) is one such Period, an apprentice assigned to the Arc End 8th Branch. However, after a mysterious theft sinks the division into bankruptcy, the Arc End headquarters abandons the 8th, leaving it with only three Periods, Haru included. Haru and the others set out to rebuild their branch by completing quests.

I’m a sucker for these semi-generic fantasy adventures, where the world is all about quests, monster battles, and bands of friends struggling together. It was actually a pleasant surprise to find that the premise works for me, because this series originally caught my eye mostly because of the art. The character designs are just so vibrant and full of personality, and the promos show smooth animation that can really suck you in. Story-wise I would go in expecting a light-hearted affair, both because of the art style, the palette choices, and because the main character is 14 years old but looks younger. I doubt this will go grimdark. I’d also go in expecting a fair amount of comedy, because when there’s a trio who looks like Team Rocket with a goofier fashion sense, I don’t think serious business is on the table. Video game adaptations are generally pretty fraught, so approach this with all due caution, but if the art style or the upbeat fantasy adventure appeals to you, consider giving this one a shot.

Watching This: Stilts Excitement Level: Average

Preview by Passerby

We usually spend the first paragraph of these previews giving a summary of the story, but it’s impossible to talk about the story of Steins;Gate 0 without spoiling the original Steins;Gate. This is a direct sequel, and completely without context if lacking the first series. I’ll give the blurb in the second paragraph, and those who have already experienced the original or don’t care about spoilers can jump there. If you’ve never watched the first Steins;Gate, though, I highly recommend it. It was an adaptation of a highly acclaimed visual novel, and a very solidly executed anime in its own right, still one of the top offerings of its genre. It managed to tell well, in a linear medium, a story about time travel and its consequences, and those are always complicated because messing with causality opens a can of worms and the possibility of incoherent timey-whimey balls. That said, Steins;Gate 0 is even more convoluted and is definitely a difficult adaptation. If that wasn’t concern enough, there’s also been a staff shift. I would say that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but unfortunately Steins;Gate 0′s director has been changed to Kawamura Kenichi, whose only prior experience in the main director chair is Qualidea Code. Thankfully, we still have Hanada Jukki held over to oversee the scripts, which will hopefully help the story maintain the same standard as the original. If you’re wondering what it’ll be about, here’s how it goes:

[Spoilers for Steins;Gate] In the year 2010, university student Okabe Rintarou (Miyano Mamoru) accidentally invented a time machine. No good comes out of it. Even with extensive use of the time machine Okabe could find only two possible futures: one where his childhood friend Shiina Mayuri (Hanazawa Kana) is killed and international research organisation SERN takes over the world using time machine technology, or one where his love interest, genius researcher Makise Kurisu (Imai Asami) dies and World War III breaks out. After a recent failed attempt to save Kurisu, a mentally and emotionally drained Okabe finally decides to give up and forswear meddling with time forever. But one day, Okabe attends a presentation by a professor from an American university. His lab, the Brain Science Institute, had invented a method of copying and digitising human memory, which could then be used to create an AI simulation of a human being. One such AI has already been created, based on someone Okabe knew well, someone whose knowledge of time travel theory was responsible for global dystopia in a different timeline, someone who should no longer exist in this world: Makise Kurisu.

Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Takaii, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High

Preview by Stilts

This quasi-original anime centers on two protagonists. First is Jinguuji “Jay” Kouma (Suzuki Tatsuhisa), the smart and handsome student council president of Koyomi Academy, whose elegant smile captures the hearts of all the women. The other is Hayakawa Tsubasa (Satou Takuya), the talented and gentle shop assistant at a charming cafe, whose cafe latte with owl latte art is very popular with female customers. But the two men have a secret: they’re Butlers, guardians of a clan which has one thousand years of history and a peculiar destiny. They’re also from one hundred years in the past, and only arrived in the present due to an errant timewarp. Together the two men travel through time to fight their archenemy, while also experiencing a slapstick comedic school life.

Do you like bishounen? How about anime based on Chinese mixed media projects? If you answered “yes” to one of these, keep reading. This quasi-original series is based on the mixed media project “Intouchable Butlers” produced by China’s SUMMERACG, and it’s populated almost entirely by pretty men (and one pretty, plot-significant imouto). I’m unsure what tone it’s going for, since some of the promotional material talks about goofy slapstick comedy, but the promo videos are all dire dramatic music and self-serious battles. What’s definitely true is that the boys are pretty, and I appreciate that a woman is doing the series composition for a series aimed squarely at women, even if Shimizu Megumi doesn’t have anything else on her resume. After that, just ask yourself this: Do you want to watch an anime where each character has an image color? (Emerald green, light brown, indigo, etc.) I feel I’ve told you enough.

Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Limited

Preview by Stilts

This original series by BONES stars the straightforward and innocent Amakasu Hisone (Kuno Misaki), a rookie with the Air Self-Defense Force who’s stationed at Gifu Base. She’s been struggling with how she sometimes unintentionally hurts people with her words, which is why she decided to join the Air Self-Defense Force in the first place, hoping to keep a certain distance from others. This decision led to a fateful encounter, because it was there that she met an “OTF” (Organic Transformed Flyer) dragon hidden on the base, and it chose Hisone as its pilot. When Maso-tan soared into the sky with Hisone, her fate as a dragon pilot was sealed. What’s more, it is said that dragons have a key to the future of the world…

What if a story about fighter pilots, but their planes are also dragons. But there are also jets too! That’s the quirk to the world of Hisone to Maso-tan, and it’s both deeply weird and intriguing. It’s not an idea that would get my attention in a pitch meeting, but now that someone’s actually made a whole anime about it, I’m curious as to what they know that I’m not seeing. I’m getting vibes of those stories where a small kid befriends a big friendly beast, though in this case Hisone is an adult, and the proceedings are wrapped in a military setting. I actually get an almost relaxing vibe from the the promo videos—let’s call it deliberate—which hints at more low-key drama as opposed to adrenaline-fueled action. The big goofy face on the dragon Maso-tan sure hints at that. As befitting a BONES production the animation is more kinetic and free-flowing than the current norm, something it shares only with Trigger in the modern industry. The staff features some old hands, including an occasional Trigger director and an old Gainax legend, but the most notable (and infamous) is Okada Mari, who at this point has an almost M. Night Shyamalan-esque reputation even though she’s been straying from her old tricks and still doing good work (unlike M. Night Shyamalan). Which is to say, I wouldn’t go in expecting melodrama just because she’s involved, though I might enjoy it if that happens. This is a weird enough idea that I can only say, “Try out an episode or two,” because who knows if it’ll be any good. The pedigree is there, so now we just have to see how it turns out.

Watching This: Choya, Passerby, Stilts Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Takaii

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku isn’t your typical romance story. Revolving around the love life of Momose Narumi (Date Arisa) and Nifuji Hirotaka (Itou Kento), the story asks the question, “How difficult could it be for a fujoshi and a gamer to fall in love?” A question that may seem pretty obvious at first, but in reality is a little more difficult than you would have originally thought. Luckily, Narumi and Hirotaka make for fantastic leads with a back story that could make any romantic’s heart swoon. Childhood friends who lost contact after middle school, the two are reunited when they realize they work together at the same company. Except Narumi (somewhat) tries to keep her otaku tendencies under wraps while Hirotaka couldn’t care less who sees him grinding out dailies on his phone or his PSP. Together with their respective work-senpais—Koyanagi Hanako (Sawashiro Miyuki) for Narumi and Kabakura Tarou (Sugita Tomokazu) for Hirotaka—who also have a history of their own as former high school classmates, Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii takes a slightly more mature and nuanced look at just what it means to be in love with somebody.

Boy, I haven’t been this excited for a romcom in a while, and I’m the type of person who will leap at the opportunity to watch one. For Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii, I must say that the lure of otakus dating reeled me in, but the overall story and the presentation of it all is what kept me coming back for more. As with any romance, the characters and their supporting cast are what make or break a show, and I can only see great things for this one. Keeping things small with a core cast of four characters, everyone gets ample time to develop and become something more than what they started as. Toss in the super relevant material of otaku-related activities (Comiket workshopping, cosplaying, game nights) that are integrated into the “romance” part of the show and could mirror a lot of our own real life’s pretty well. But as if that wasn’t enough, we have the one and only A-1 Pictures leading the charge. Something that in itself doesn’t mean much, but when you look at their track record, there’s definitely something going on there that’s fostering a healthy production environment for a show like this. Which for us (the viewers) should be good news! So, if you’re looking for a romantic comedy that has a fun premise, great characters, and a lot of material to keep you coming back for more, why not give Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii a shot?

Watching This: Choya, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Takaii, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic

Preview by Pancakes

Slavery. Maybe you’ve fantasized about it in some form or another, being able to make your most hated enemy do your bidding or have that crush reciprocate your feelings. In Dorei-ku’s world, such things are reality. Thanks to a small wearable device called an SCM, people can turn others into their permanent slaves, with the only requirement being to beat a fellow SCM wearer at any agreed upon game. Win, and the loser’s life is yours for the taking, but lose and you may never taste freedom again. As word of SCM spreads, many like Oota Yuuga (Suzuki Ryouta) naturally begin turning to the device to solve their problems, whether that be for revenge, attention, or in Yuuga’s case, a simple test of mettle. Everyone has their reason for putting on the device, but as all SCM users like Yuuga will eventually learn, the consequences of use can be far greater than they ever imagined.

Oh boy, now here’s a hot potato. Fetish anime are a dime a dozen any day of the week, but Dorei-ku takes the concept and runs with it all the way. Everything from perverse sexual fantasies to outright physical torment is on the table here, and the manga doesn’t flinch at showing each act in disgustingly brutal detail. It’s truly a cornucopia of psychologically crazy and ridiculous pseudoscience (no magic shenanigans), but the series also has a surprisingly calculating side at work, as every character interaction comes down to a game of some form or another. In effect, Kakegurui on steroids. How well it works will naturally boil down to execution, but with TNK (and Zero-G) animating, and Tsugumomo’s Kuraya Ryouichi directing, you can firmly expect that every ribald and heinous act will be played to its fullest. Excessive censoring, chopping, or simple budgetary constraints can of course sink this show, but if Dorei-ku sticks to the path of pure popcorn entertainment, there’s nothing stopping it from being one hell of a wild ride.

Watching This: Choya, Pancakes Excitement Level: Niche

Preview by Passerby

There is something off with the world as we know it. Anachronistic military technology, decades more advanced than what should be currently possible, have been trickling in since the Cold War, and modern warfare has become defined by improbable super-weapons like giant robots and cloaking devices. This ‘Black Technology’ is made possible by individuals who, unbeknownst to even themselves, contain in their head scientific knowledge of inexplicable origin. They are collectively known as the Whispered, and include people like Chidori Kaname (Yukino Satsuki), who would be an average high school girl if not for her intuitive knowledge of recondite physics. Such knowledge puts her under many crosshairs, and thus international mercenary organisation Mithril dispatched lifetime soldier, professional mecha pilot, and amateur teenager Sagara Sousuke (Seki Tomokazu) to infiltrate Kaname’s school and act as her bodyguard. But Mithril is opposed by a shadowy paramilitary organisation calling itself Amalgam, which seems to have access to Black Technology similar to Mithril. Amalgam has designs for the Whispered, and their reach may be greater than anything Kaname and Sousuke can hope to resist.

Full Metal Panic! has come a long way. Sixteen years ago it was an anime adaptation by the now probably-deceased-but-strangely-not studio Gonzo, later series were picked up by a fledgling Kyoto Animation, and now Xebec will be animating Invisible Victory. Xebec may not be a bad pick, as traditionally they have had, if nothing else, plenty of experience with mecha anime. When one thinks of Xebec, one thinks of mecha and fanservice, and FMP! has always served up both with aplomb. It was half mecha drama, half romantic comedy, and half fish-out-of-water slapstick, 150% anime, with wide appeal. That said, the best of FMP! was arguably its humour—Fumoffu still stands as one of the tightest comedies in anime—but if Invisible victory continues following the source novel, the humour will have to take a back seat. That’s not saying there will be no comic relief, just that it will noticeably recede as the plot moves further into Serious Business. Perhaps we should temper our hype slightly, especially since director Nakayama Katsuichi is relatively fresh (though Planetarian was pretty great). However, original author Gatoh Shouji is going to be doing the writing himself, which is usually promising. And let’s face it, not matter the predictions, we’ve waited more than a decade for more Full Metal Panic! The hype is real.

Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zephyr Excitement Level: High

Technical Note: As of the Fall 2016 Preview onward, short one-cour series that are being broadcast with irregular duration times (under the 24 minute per episode norm) have been separated from the main preview into their own section. This is to account for the increasing number of short series and to allow for ease of viewing for those who have a preference for one type of series over another. While the list should be complete, there are short series that have been announced very close to the start of a season, in which case they may not have made it onto the list. If you notice an anything missing, incomplete, or incorrect, please feel free to point it out in the comments or e-mail Passerby directly.

Technical Note: OVAs are sorted by the date they are released. For series that have multiple episodes coming out over the course of the season, please refer to the Notes column for additional dates. More information on each OVA can be found on their respective websites, including promotional videos in some cases. Movie premiere dates are not included since they don’t mean a whole lot to viewers outside of Japan. BD/DVD movie releases are, however. This list is likely incomplete and will be updated as more titles surface (usually by the next season’s preview). If you notice anything missing or incorrect, please feel free to point it out in the comments or e-mail one of us directly (Stilts, Zephyr).

There’s only one word for this season: wow. It would be a lie to say I (your ever tasty lovable Pancakes) am not ecstatic for a huge number of shows, and that’s before getting into stuff that aren’t a sequel. Spring is always labelled as anime’s best season year over year, but this one takes the cake with the number of nostalgic series returns and new adaptations of popular franchises. We are truly spoiled for choice this time around, and I suspect that the blogging picks for us are going to be a vicious battle when it comes to some of these hard hitters. No guarantee some or all won’t blow up in our faces (it’s been known to happen), but until that occurs we are going to thoroughly enjoy slobbering over the potential of these very tasty morsels.

As for levels, we’ll continue with the Excitement Levels introduced in Fall 2017, which includes four main levels plus Established and Niche for special cases. Our goal with this change was to make it easier to use the top and bottom of the scale, and to take away the incentive to hedge our bets—after all, we’re not saying these shows will be good or bad, we’re just saying how excited we are. Exciting things can be flawed, and unambitious things can be fun! Hopefully this guide will help those of you with limited time understand which shows to try first, based on our preliminary examination of each show’s staff, seiyuu, and source material. Failing that, it’ll give you another reason to laugh when we get all hot and bothered about a show that ended up splattering spectacularly against the wall.

As usual, these levels were arrived at by our regular (and reliably shady) “Excitement Council” of Passerby, Zephyr, and—the boss man himself—Stilts. While we’ve gone to great lengths to consider multiple viewpoints and not get swept away by their own proclivities, these aren’t predictions, and shouldn’t be taken as such. Take these labels with a liberal helping of salt.

Note: Lists are sorted in alphabetical order.

High excitement shows are the ones we’re truly pumped about. These are the shows we want to watch the most, and which we think have a good chance of being exemplars of their kind — or at least come close. Shows in this category might be sequels to excellent anime, adaptations of highly regarded source material, projects with stellar pedigrees, or even originals that just light up our minds. They don’t have to be perfect, but they do have to feel like something special. If you consider yourself a casual fan who only gets your toes wet every season, then these are the shows we feel you should most keep an eye on.

Optimistic shows are ones that we’re hopeful will be really good, and which we have good reasons to think they might be. The underpinnings of these are generally strong, with a lot to suggest in each of them, but with one or two elements that give us pause and keep our enthusiasm from boiling over. They still have most of the makings of very strong series, though, and many stellar anime will arise from this category. If you’ve exhausted all the High shows, or want to delve deeper into your favored genres, check out these as well.

Average excitement shows look middle-of-the-road to us. They could be good or they could be bad, but they don’t provide much immediate indication that they’ll be amazing in retrospect. This is often the case with shows that are firmly ensconced in their genres’ tropes, or which overly rely on some of anime’s overused plot devices. It can also apply to shows that seem deeply flawed, with elements that could make them amazing, but with so many potential pitfalls that we’re not getting hyped up. However, in many of our experiences these shows still provide a great deal of entertainment, and may turn out a lot better than they appear. Personal taste comes heavily into play, so your mileage will vary.

Limited excitement shows are ones that we simply aren’t all that excited about. They often don’t seem to be striving for much, and choose to focus on more frivolous aspects such as senseless humor and fanservice. Other times they’re doing the same thing we’ve seen a thousand times, with few mitigating signs that they’ll rise above their tropes. That doesn’t mean they’re the bottom of the barrel and shouldn’t get any consideration, but simply that they’re not doing a lot to suggest themselves. Keep in mind what kind of show they are, though, and you might find something you enjoy amid this cohort.

Niche shows break away from the norm by being slower-paced, extremely dark/grotesque, or even controversial. In most cases these shows are oriented towards older audiences or those who feel that anime has become far too repetitive and want something different. Shows of this category tend to be highly under-appreciated, but can turn out to be hidden gems for that very reason. Includes some works oriented toward younger audiences.

Established shows are any series that has aired for more than 40 episodes or has been previewed three or more times. This can include anything from never-ending shounen and decade-spanning dramas to that quirky comedy that keeps getting renewed season after season. The only commonality is that they’ve aired a lot of episodes, and that they’re the kind of show that most viewers will want to catch up on all the previous content before watching the new. Spin-offs and remakes don’t automatically qualify, since they’re considered new series.

[jeanstoppable]

15th & 16th OF OCTOBER

~been waiting on this my whole life~

~back and forth~

(A/N: this is two snippets, retelling the tale of two more characters in my dark academia story. try to figure out what those hands mean ;> )

BENETTE

One day, you’ll understand. They’d said.

Ridiculous. He answered, cockily.

And then he’d hear the stories from people in love. Those who praise the myth and eagerly urged him to start searching for his right away. Obviously, he didn’t listen. However, the doubt in his resolve grew weaker and weaker until he found himself oblivious to the fact that—

There’s longing in his heart.

He started talking to more people. Be intimate with them. Because—what if it’s identifiable by contact? An experimenting brush of fingers here, an attentive touch there, a small peck on the lips that transformed into sweet as sin kisses all over, or atleast wherever they’d allow him to. But there was still nothing.

Until something happened, it happened, during the break of the day. A chance encounter, fateful as others would say.

“Do you feel that?” It was then he knew. The moment those fingers lightly caressed his face—he knew that he’d been waiting on this his whole life.

Mate.

“It’s you. I can’t believe it.”

Silence.

The silence from her was defeaning.

“...What do you mean? I believe we haven’t met before.”

Falling and falling, he descended as fear rose and filled up his chest for he’s afraid that there’s no one waiting at the bottom to catch him.

“You don’t...feel it? But weren’t you also waiting?”

For this?

For me?

She smiled, it was angelic and he could have it ingrained in his memory forever. But he would also remember that this was also the loudest he ever heard his heart break.

NOX

It was a game of some kind. One that only existed between the two of them. Where she pushes, and he pulls then the next, he pushes and she pulls. On and on. The cycle refuses to break when the players themselves refuse to stop. The game slowly turned addicting, but perhaps it’s because his partner was simply bewitching.

Back and forth, their game of poisonous tongues.

Back and forth, he feels a little bit more alive.

Back and forth, although she drives him insane.

“Do try to keep up, I won’t be holding your hand through this, beast.”

“Touch me and your hand will be no more, witch.”

Back and forth, yet he returns all the same.

(A/N: I’m slowly but surely catching up! Also, did y’all enjoy this? I wanted to make them longer but suprise surprise, time isn’t my friend this time around. There’s three more to introduce, believe it or not— these ones so far aren’t exactly the MC’s. So look out for them in the future!

Ps: I’m gonna have to put my other dark academia ocs on hold because i have plans for another *wink* but I’ll pick this up at the right prompt! PEACE TILL NEXT TIME!)

#alkinktober #my art #myoc #mywriting #dark academia short preview #dark academia oc’s #dark academia story #WHY IS IT ANGSTY AGAIN #i cant avoid it

[jeanstoppable]

10TH OF OCTOBER

~keep a place for me~

The shifter girl kept finding her, probably already had her scent down and was purposely showing up at the spots she frequented—for what reasons? She didn’t know. Was it troublesome? Most definitely. Even scaring her didn’t work, the girl would always bounce back and even more so determined. Her persistence was giving Gabrielle all kinds of headaches one can experience.

So, she figured to stalk the shifter one day.

Gabrielle blew off a stray hair as she crouched on a tree branch whilst hiding behind it’s thick foliage, providing a pretty nice hiding spot way above ground. She peeped through the small spaces between the leaves and silently observed the girl below.

The shifter was on one knee, inspecting something on the ground and then jerked her head up, seemingly sniffing the air around her.

Interesting.

Gabrielle had never seen a shifter do their version of a hunting, rather she more or less didn’t care at all what they did. Beyond curious, she leaned forward unconsciously and...

Creak.

The girl whipped her head around at record-breaking speed, eyes narrowing and glaring towards where Gabrielle was at. Her arm startlingly disappeared and luckily enough, Gabrielle managed to dodge the sailing projectile that appeared out of nowhere—did she throw a damn rock?—leaving a scratch on the tree’s surface.

Alarmed, Gabrielle shifted to another position—

and made the mistake of landing on a light branch.

SNAP!

Body lurching backwards, Gabrielle tried to stop the descent by grabbing anything she could reach but failed as her vision was momentarily blinded by the leaves. A shocked cry broke free from her throat.

And then—

What the…? I didn’t hit the ground, did I?

Gabrielle slowly fluttered her lids open, as if in a daze, and found herself staring at those glowing honey orbs that haunted her as of late and noted that they seemed much brighter tonight. Seconds after, she only now came to the realisation that both of their faces were only a couple inches apart.

Regardless of the fact, it still didn’t stop Gabrielle from dropping her gaze down to their lips. She didn’t know why they were so transfixing at that moment and at the same time a strange feeling surged in her veins, mimicking the strong impulse she gets before a feeding.

But she fed already so what’s this...hunger?

Those lips parted and a gentle purr followed, “Are you just going to stare or are you going to do something?”

Gabrielle blinked and then a mortified expression overwhelmed her features.

“You seem comforta—“

Gabrielle hauled ass out of those awfully sturdy arms and tumbled on the cold ground with the grace of a three year old.

“Crap!” Exclaiming in pain as she landed wrong on her arm, thinking she must’ve sprained it, all while trying to stifle her small and short grunts.

Please don’t notice. Please don’t say anything.

“HOLY!”

Great.

“Are you okay?” The shifter asked, going down on one knee again as her hands automatically reached forward to help but suddenly stopped and was just awkwardly waiting in the air, hesitant to touch her without permission.

Gabrielle brushed the gesture off and sat up, wincing a little as she cradled her hurt arm close to her chest. Meanwhile, avoiding the girl’s piercing gaze, that might as well leave a sizable hole if she didn’t stop, and felt her cheeks flame in embarrassment. She shut her eyes and fervently wished—someone please take her out of her misery—and kept quiet.

“Um…”

“Just leave me alone, Copper.” Gabrielle finally snapped, tired and humiliated, influencing her words that were much harsher than she had intended it to.

It seemed like forever when she thankfully heard the rustling of clothes.

“Open your hand.” Copper suddenly said and from her tone, she could tell the shifter was a bit miffed.

“Didn’t I tell you—“

Something hit her on the shoulder.

Confused, Gabrielle peeked at what it was and was left stunned to discover a white bandage roll, partially unraveled. Her eyes jerked upwards, a refusal for help ready on her tongue—because dammit she really didn’t want any of it—only for the shifter to...disappear?

What an enigma.

Gabrielle thought as she stared hard at the abandoned bandage on the grass and gradually picked it up, uncertain if she should use it or just leave it there.

She did tell her to get lost, at the very least—

Gabrielle decided she didn’t want to deny it anymore. It would be far too ungrateful, and besides, she really did need it.

Just this once.

. . .

Once became a few times and then a few more times, then a few times too many.

“Don’t you get tired of this?”

“Of what?”

“...Me.”

Copper only laughed and shook her head as if she found the question silly.

“I couldn’t stop even if I tried.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

After that, she started looking at her in a new light—a better one.

. . .

She’d surprised her yet again when Gabrielle found her at the top of a tall tree that looked over the gloomy lake just a distance from the academy. It was foggier than usual so the view wasn’t that great, but it makes you focus more on the moon though.

“I’m offended you didn’t tell me.” Copper pouted, swinging her legs to and fro, eyes never straying from the view.

“...You never asked.” Gabrielle pulled herself up the last branch and settled for standing, instead of sitting, beside the girl.

“From now on then.” Her voice was light yet showed signs of weariness, “I’d like you to keep a place for me.”

Bold. If there was one word to describe Copper, it would be safe to say that she’s very, very bold.

In fact, she’d mentioned it to her in the past on multiple occasions and the girl merely thanked her as if it was a compliment every single time. Perhaps now, Gabrielle can see that while it’s a particularly hard trait to deal with, it was also endearing.

At first, Gabrielle was unsure about letting her find out about the secret spots she liked to keep to herself and sometimes share with her twin—yet in the end, she agreed to it.

A tiny part inside couldn’t help but pick on Copper a bit though, “You’d invite yourself anyway, no matter what I answer.”

Her laugh rang pleasantly in the air, “Looks like I’ve done you in already.”

Perhaps she had, and Gabrielle had no idea.

. . .

“You’re late.”

She rolled her eyes, a cheeky smile shaping her lips. “I’m guessing you like keeping me on my toes, Gabrielle. This spot was pretty hard to find.”

“Losing your touch, Copper?”

“Shut up.” She grumbled, making the other one chuckle in amusement.

The shifter faced away, muttering under her breath about how the Night Stalker kind was dreadful company and went on and on and on. It brought a genuine smile to Gabrielle’s lips after hearing her familiar chatter. Although several seconds later, those chatterings stopped and the air was oddly silent.

“...Um, hey.” Copper’s voice was kind of subdued, speaking in a hushed tone all of a sudden.

The mood instantly sobered.

Raising her guard up, Gabrielle asked with pinched brows, “What is it?”

Copper didn’t reply right away. The other would have tried to read her expression but since her back was to her, she couldn’t see what face the shifter’s wearing now.

Then, softly she asked her a question.

“When will you call me by my first name?”

Gabrielle turned mute.

“You know what?” Copper suddenly blurted out loud, her sentence coming out shakily. “You talking to me is enough and I...I—forget I ever said anything.” The shifter was racking her brain for anything, any subject that she can steer the conversation towards even if it was abrupt—

“Would you like me to?”

Copper’s knees threatened to give out but forcefully pushed on as she turned around at a steady pace and finally met Gabrielle’s gaze, looking sheepish and hopeful and nervous and somehow all at once.

“Okay.” Gabrielle nodded calmly.

Still feeling like she’d forced it on her, Copper added and insisted at the last moment, “...You don’t have to. Copper’s fine as it is.”

Let’s just move on and...

“Valerie.”

Copper’s eyes bulged out, her jaw went slack and then promptly closed it, a rush going straight to her head and a pleasant feeling spread throughout her whole body down to her toes.

“Again, please.” She sounded small yet the request was bold.

Gabrielle decided to humor her as she leaned back against the tree trunk, “Valerie. Valerie. Valerie.” She repeated the name as many times as she wanted and then when her eyes swiveled back—

Those honey orbs shone. Brilliantly. Blazingly. They were simply mesmerizing and if she wasn’t careful, Gabrielle could mistaken them as jewels. As stars.

“You’re way too happy about this...” She broke off the eye contact, secretly trying to get her heartbeat under control.

Valerie laughed again and this time it lingered in the air, “You have no idea.”

. . .

You said to keep a place for you. And I did, I searched and I kept and then searched again and again until I ran out of places to give you.

So, tell me. Where else? Because surely you know that my heart’s already taken, so I cannot keep a place for you there if you have it wherever you are and wherever you go.

Then...how about you keep a place for me instead?

“I couldn’t stop even if I tried.”

Ah, so you have since the beginning?

. . .

EXTRA:

here’s some general info about what supernatural beings they are—

Night Stalkers aren’t strong but they’re incredibly agile and have swift reflexes, allowing them to surprise their prey. Although if they lose their element of surprise, they have to be very careful with their attacks because if they fail, their next movements should be ones that offer escape.

Essentially vampires, their eyes turn red in the night to adjust to the darkness but in the daylight, they’re normal eye colors. Other details to be specified later.

On the other hand, Shifters have two types: Full Shifters and Half-Shifters, the former can transform into their animal bodies while the latter can only adapt animal-like features and their movements, some are granted brute strength and are a fearsome kind to cross. But there exists peaceful shifters as well. Other details to be specified.

💖HAPPY BELATED INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN DAY💖

(A/N: oh wow, i had so much fun writing this, so much fun and I think the words just flowed in this one and my fingers were moving across the keys—okay um so! Yesterday’s prompt was about these two, and today’s prompt is all about how their feelings slowly evolved. It’s getting there, I would have loved to add in more scenes in this but it’ll be too long again so maybe next time! No art but maybe tomorrow? :> hope yall enjoyed this as much as I have, PEACEEE)

#alkinktober #inktober prompt #myoc #mywriting #this one is so adorable #i love them with all my heart #dark academia oc’s #dark academia story #supernatural couples ftw #wlw #dark academia short preview

[savetopnow]

2018-03-17 16 GAME now

GAME

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Dragon Ball FighterZ Currently Has The Most Entrants For EVO

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Sonic Mania Plus Announced, coming Summer 2018

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Gematsu

Open Forum #294

Ys: Memories of Celceta coming to PC this summer

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IGN

Bloodborne: How to Get the Secret Ending

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Playstation Blog

The Drop: New PlayStation Games for 3/20/2018

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Reddit Gaming

Picked this up at a thrift store...what exactly did I buy?

Ready Player One (2018)

Change my mind

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Xbox News

Your chance to build and battle robots in Robocraft Infinity starts now!

This Week on Xbox: March 16, 2018

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#game