#vs watching it now and going 'oh wow haha. its not great' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

argumentl · 3 years

Text

The Freedom of Expression - Ep 19, Shogi player Fujii Souta continues with a streak of the baseball equivalent of no hitters.

K: This is Dir en grey's Kaoru, starting this week's installment of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san, Tasai san, welcome....So, how's it going recently?

T: I'm watching Youtube quite a lot.

K: Oh, really?

T: Yeah. Quite a lot.

K: Have you found something you like?

T: Well, I'm watching various things, one of them was Dir's unofficial footage from when you were young. It came up as 'Recommend for you', and I thought..'Oh, they're young!'.

K, J: Hahaha.

J: Isn't that obvious?

K: Well, yeh, haha. Like when everything was really disordered?

T: It was kinda disorderly like that, everyone was getting excited. But you were probably all really young.

J: By getting excited you mean like, gathering in a circle and going 'Oughh!!'

T: Yeh, I saw something like that. I thought 'Wow, they're doing this kind of thing!?'.

K: Well, we still do that, even now.

T: Ah?

K: Yeah.

T: Oh, really? And then, there was one with the band members backstage doing something I really like..Um, don't you all play with remote control toys? Sometimes?

K: Uh uh uh

T: I really love that. That kind of fun chattering.

J: I don't understand this thing at all, what you are raving about, Tasai san, haha. Really?

T: Its like, usually, behind the scenes..

K: Its the bits you don't see.

T: Yeah.

J: Ahh.

T: Isn't is quite rare for people in bands to be into remote control toys?

K: I don't know whether we're 'into' them... *laughs*

J: Hahaha

T: That bit stuck with me strangely, it looked like fun. And I also like remote control toys.

K: Oh, you like them too?

T: Yeah. And, normally, you don't see those kind of stage performers doing that.

J: But, the Dir members don't play with remote control toys do you?

K: No, well at that time..

J: You used to?

T: They did, kinda.

J: Who did? Was it you Kaoru?

K: It was a present we recieved off a fan.

J: Ahh, I see, the kind of thing you can build and stuff?

T: Yeh, yeh, yeh, thats what they did. It looked really good.

J: Well, recently you havn't been able to play any live shows, but, Kaoru, how do you spend your time backstage before playing a show these days?

K: Hm, how do I spend my time?..I don't really do anything especially.

J: Relatively normally?

K: Mmm, yeah.

J: I covered a Dir en grey live show once with Rolling Stone magazine. Where was it again?

K: Osaka

J: Oh, was it Osaka? Well, certainly, just as the show was about to start you all gathered in a circle..

T: Ahh, really?

J: That is really cool, right?

T: Yeah, its good.

J: Should we do that here? Next time before we start recording?

J, T: Hahaha

T: Should we yell?

K: Haha, that would be so lame. A little bit difficult, haha.

J: No no no

T: It would be quite tough, haha.

J: Whhy can't we? I wanna try it! Just once, only once I wanna try.

T: We're not gonna.

J: We're not?

T: No.

Kami: Can I join in?

J: Oh, he's here! What is it, Kami?

Kami: Um, can I join in your circle?

J: Can Kami join in the circle too?

Kami: Yeah.

K: He can join, but he can't really put his hand in the middle can he?

J: You could just use your voice, right Kami?

Kami: Yeah, just my voice.

K: But the timing would probably be..

J: A bit off?

K: Yeh, I don't think he'd be in time.

J: You're right. But Kami..

Kami: It might seem a bit flat with only my voice.

K: You know, back then, our make up and stuff used to take such a long time to do, we had to arrive at the venue in the morning.

J: Ahh.

K: So we had time to spare. So we used to have fun like that quite a bit. But now, we tend to arrive at the last minute, well, I mean with just enough time to do what needs doing, so we don't really have a lot of spare time.

J: I see.

T: Well, including remote control toys, I have quite a lot of hobbies, things I like. And one of those hobbies is Shogi (Japanese Chess).

J: Oh, you like Shogi?

T: Yes, and today I'd like to go with a news story concerning Shogi....If you mention Shogi at the moment...Joe, do you know about this?

J: Of course! Fujii Souta san, right?

T: Yeah. Well Fujii Souta, who ranks at 7th dan, recently began his championship title match. Its named the 'Keisei Title'. So, the first game started at the Shibuya Shogi Hall on the 8th of July, and 7th dan ranking Fujii won this first game.

J: Its brilliant isn't it?

T: Yes, so he won the game in 157 moves, but he himself responded with, 'It was a really narrow margin, and I didn't have much time, so towards the end, I felt as if I was playing without knowing what to do'. But to Shogi fans, even though he said that, they think he was reading into every move untill the end. It took about 30 moves at the end. I mean, in Shogi, continuing with 50 vs 50 gets really tough. There is always this pulling from each side...For example, if you lose one pawn in the piece toss, if you are playing a pro, they will extend thier lead from there, and you will lose. So you have to make sure you continue at a decent pace for how ever many hours. I thought the way he won in the end was really cool. The current title holder, Watanabe was close to victory at about 120 moves. He put Fujii in check. From the viewers perspective, White looks cool making check, right?

K: Its looks as if its closing in?

T: Yeah, it looks as if its closing in, but this check was a little tired. Still, if Fujii had made one mistake, Watanabe might have won. He's a pro though, so he didn't make a mistake. This went on for thirty odd moves, with Fujii preventing check perfectly each time, and eventually he won in the end. Its incredible.

J: It is, yeah.

T: He's 17 years old!

K: Right.

J: Sevent..?

K: Seventeen.

T: What were we doing at 17 years old?

K: Haha, at 17?

J: Only lewd/dirty stuff.

K: Hahaha.

J: Im serious, really!

T: Really? *laughing* What does that mean?

J: Well, I'm still the same now. But I was about ten times worse back then.

K: Haha.

T: So, within this story there is the thing about Fujii san's winning meal..

J: Ah, yes yes yes. I just heard about this on Monday, but I was doing a live broadcast on InterFM, and a listener...ah, I think it was relayed on Ameba, you could listen on the radio and watch on Ameba. It was just about the time for them (the shogi players) to have lunch, and apparently Watanabe san ate Unaju (grilled eel on rice in a lacquered box).

T: Yes, it cost 3600yen.

J: Yeh, and then Fujii Souta san ordered a Katsu curry from Hosojimaya. And Hosojimaya is my favourite noodle restaurant.

T: Ehh?!

J: Really! I mean, its a noodle restaurant, but everyone who goes there almost always orders Half curry with chinese noodles.

T: What is that?

J: Well, a half sized curry and rice, with a bowl of chinese noodles. Thier curry together with chinese noodles tastes soo good!

K: You're really excited about this, aren't you?

J: Last week I was...???*1 I'm old, I get easily excited, I'm getting so excited with corona waining a bit now. But it really is delicious! And this place is about a 1 min walk from the Shogi Hall...Hosojimaya. So, whenever I go, I often meet shogi players, and I once met and shook hands with the former Shogi Master, Moriuchi san.

T: Moriuchi san...you shook hands with him?!

J: Yes.

T: Moriuchi san is a really great guy, isn't he?

J: He's like nobility.

T: Yeh, yeh, yeh.

J: He was dressed magnificently, almost vintage looking, as a shogi player. Similarly, people like Sato san, and players from the era of Habu Yoshiharu, players who are less emphasised...they saw him too, and were like, 'Ah! Moriuchi san!', and shook his hand. There are alwsys tonnes of shogi players in this restaurant. But it must have been tough for Hosojimaya..

K: After the news got out?

J: Because the next day after this news was out, TV reporters turned up at thier door. And, then I went there the day after too , but Im a regular customer, so they welcomed me in. I ordered my usual half curry with chinese noodles for 1250 yen, but for me they never take the small change from me, they let me have it for 1000 yen.

T: Ehh, you are a real regular!

K: Are you allowed to say that?

J: Yeh, I think its probably ok? *laughs*

K: Hahaha.

J: Ah, but the restaurant asked me if 1000 yen was ok, I said of course!...well, i don't know about the price and stuff now though...There might be some people who go there after watching this, but they shouldn't ask for 250yen off, just because I got it. But it really is delicious. Kaoru, do you having any kind of 'winning meal'?

K: Winning meal?

J: Like an important thing you have to eat before playing a live show or something?

K: No, I don't.

J: Or something you eat while you are recording?

K: No..

T: Haha

K: When we do a live show, we have a buffet provided.

J: Oh, right yeh, at a live show.

K: But, actually in Tokyo, we often get bentos. Like from Kiyoken, steamed dumpings..or sometimes Torikyu.

J, T: Ehh?

T: That sounds nice.

K: Also, Kinbe.

T: Oh, Kinbe, yeh.

J: What was that?

K: Kinbe.

T: Its quite famous..

J: Oh, fish?

K: Yes

J: Oh, yeh yeh yeh.

K: You can see it at train stations and stuff.

J: Like at ???*2?

K: Yeh yeh yeh. That makes me quite happy.

J: It raises the tension, right?

T: Yeah.

J: Ah, I see. Well, its important isn't it?

T: That steamed dumping bento sounds really good..

K: Haha

J: Yeah.

K: We often get those in Kawasaki or Yokohama and stuff.

J: Steamed dumping bentos?

K: Yeah.

J: Ahh, yeh, food is really important.

K:I wanna go to this place (Hosojimaya). Won't it be busy though?

J: I think it'll probably be ok. Its quite far from the station, its not the type of place loads of people go. Should we go?

K: Oh, yes please.

J: Really though, this place's Half curry with chinese noodles! Hosojimaya's half curry with chinese noodles!

T: Are you in league with them?

K: It sounds like you have an arrangement with them or something?

J: Haha, no, I don't.

K: You do!

J: Saying I have an agreement in exchange for 250yen off is not like one of those scandals at Dentsu! Forgive me! Its a cute arrangement, right?!

T: *laughing* Its cute.

K: But this person (Fujii) likes Katsu Curry?

J: Yeah, Katsu Curry. If it was something like ramen, it might impart fate and make the game longer, right?

K, T: Mm, yeah.

J: Noodles would do that...but the Katsu curry is also really delicious. Anyway, Kaoru, do you like Shogi?

K: I had a shogi set in my family home, I used to play.

J: Oh, you can play?

K: Well, I don't know about now...I'm not that good at it. I only used to play with my dad. Also, they have shogi pages in the sports newspapers don't they?

J: Yes

K: I used to try and copy that and play on my own.

T: Ehh?

J: Right, well next time...I can also play shogi..let's have a tournament with the three of us.

K: No, I'm not really that good at it.

T: Hahaha

J: For once, I feel like I could win. Tasai san, do you play well?

T: I would play seriously.

K: Hahaha

T: But if it became a fight between us..

K: Yeah..

J: Well yeah..

T: I would go for it.

K: I wonder if Kami can play?

J: Kami, can you play Shogi? What do you think?

K: I can play Yama kuzushi (an easier game which uses Shogi board and pieces).

T: Hehehe

K: Ahh

Kami: Or Mawari Shogi and stuff (again, a kids' game which uses shogi pieces). Im good at those games. I would beat Fujii Souta at those. Yama kuzushi shogi and mawari shogi.

J: I see.

Kami: Also, Hasami shogi.

J: Oh, Hasami shogi. I played that when I was little. So, Kami, if we do a 'The Freedom of Expression' Shogi tournament, please take part.

Kami: Yes, I will.

J: And the winner can get a Katsu curry from Hosojimaya.

K: Oh yeah.

T: Oh, that sounds good.

J: I think its a good plan.

Kami: I've been checking out the reviews of Hosojimaya online since earlier. On Tabelog (restaurant review site).

J: On Tabelog?

K: Hahaha

T: I thought he was being quiet!

J: It looks good though, right?

Kami: Yeah, it looks really good.

J: But curry in noodle restaurants is really great, isn't it?

K: Ahh, yeah.

J: Right?! Its kinda..

T: Sweet

J: Yeah, sweet, and it is soo good in this half curry with chinese noodles set.

T: Do they have Katsudon too?

J: Yeah, they do.

Kami: I really wanna eat there.

J: You do?

Kami: Yes, I really want to.

T: Me too.

K: Ok, shall we go?

J: Lets go! All of us.

K: Yeah.

T: Joe, you arrange it for us.

J: Ok.

K: Well, lets finish this episode here. Please subscribe. Thank you very much.

J, T, Kami: Thank you.

*1, 2 Couldn't catch

P.S. I'm not a Shogi player.

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression #tfoe #kaoru #薫

18 notes · View notes

sw4gg1e4life · 3 years

Text

Yu Yu Hakusho (Reviewing 25 years later)

This anime is like a forgotten gem. It doesn’t come to mind as #1 first but when mentioned everyone goes oh yea that was like one of the best anime’s of all time. I feel like most anime’s don’t have the same level of action, adventure, comedy, drama, and growth that this show offered. Whether you watch it as a kid for action & childish humor or as an adult for the deeper drama, life lessons and adult humor, it’s great across generations and across time whether you watched it as a kid in the 90s/00s or now in 2021.

Let me simplify it because there’s so much in-depth analysis I could go into.

Ratings per Arc/Saga:

Spirit Detective - 8/10

Dark Tournament - 10/10

Chapter Black - 8/10

Three Kings - 7/10

Deeper Analysis:

Spirit Detective - Honestly this arc had amazing parts to it, introducing the main characters, slowly improving enemies, and setting up for the Dark Tournament. I love the intro and how Yusuke has to undergo his ordeal showing his relationship with Kuwabara, Keiko, his mother, Boton, Koenma and everyone else around him. We’re introduced to a brat who doesn’t really belong but slowly finds his place and purpose starting here as Spirit Detective. I loved the deeper stories with introducing Hiei and Kurama. The introduction of Genkai was amazing, it showed there’s different aspects of growing and trying to master spirit energy. I only wish that section was a bit longer, maybe just 2-3 episodes of more unique competitors. The Spirit Beasts section is what made it a tad lackluster. This is their first real mission to spirit world and the abilities of the 4 spirit beasts just felt somewhat limited to me. Especially the fire-tiger beast, his tenacity just became annoying at some point. This is what dropped the Spirit Detective Saga to an 8 for me or else I would’ve made it a 9. The final part is amazing, it brings some backstory to Hiei by introducing her sister and most importantly the Toguro brothers leading to the Dark Tournament.

All together, it’s probably one of the best intro sagas to any anime I’ve seen at least. There’s simplicity but also complexity at the same time depending on how deep you look into it. They didn’t just half ass the action like many of my other favorite action-packed anime (DBZ, Fairy Tail). There’s a lot of mystery, dark moments, and strategy for a supposed kids cartoon for the haters out there.

Dark Tournament - This has to be the best saga in any ever because of the different strategies, emotions, growth, and somehow comedy still added in. I can’t help but re-watch this saga again and again every few years. We start with a mystery question: how much did the main characters grow in strength, abilities, and strategies? Now as a teen then now adult, the masked fighter is obviously Genkai because of the height, outfit and abilities, but as a kid, she was such a mystery for me haha. Anyways we go into the tournament and the committee seems hell bent on pitting everything against Yusuke & friends. I like that though Yusuke’s team comes out on top at the end of each fight, they do lose some individual matches for multiple different reasons. Instead of mindless matches purely on the fighting, we actually learn some backstory about many enemies and our main characters. It didn’t take long either; there wasn’t a ridiculous amount of episodes spent per backstory like Naruto or Fairy Tail. Genkai showed even more wisdom but also understanding of humanity as she knows her time is ending so she passes on her power abilities and most importantly wisdom to her favorite dim-wit. And throughout the story, we get to know more about Genkai and Toguro’s backstory and how power, morals and unfortunate events can change one’s future. The part that most people forget is the final episodes of the Dark Tournament: Toguro has been and wants to continue punishing himself. He actually does care for Genkai and Yusuke. He knows Yusuke has greater potential to grow into something great but needs proper and sometimes drastic measures and guidance to do so.

This saga had an amazing start, several related series of actions in the middle and a proper explanation at the end for many questions we had. On top of all that we’re left clues to the next arc, subtle clues you don’t realize until the next arc comes around. Episode 66, was shocking, Koenma actually granted Yusuke’s wish for his mentor and friend to be revived to live until the end of her life in peace as much as possible.

Chapter Black - This saga was great. You really don’t know what it is until it’s fully explained. We all know there were stronger demons deeper in spirit world. But something deeper darker is coming and it’s crazy because after 66 episodes we realized we never wondered about a previous Spirit Detective. What happened to that one? Now we get a trio of test spiritually aware humans just to test Yusuke & Kuwabara, but the really interesting part is when Sensui and his team is brought in. A few abilities were obvious but others were so mysterious with a constant ominous presence and heartbeat music looming over. What is each unique opponent’s abilities and what is Sensui’s background and end goal? His multiple personalities each containing yet even more unique abilities with his desire for an open tunnel into the depths of Spirit World for A/S class demons is insane. It seems impossible for Yusuke to win here even with Kuwabara’s sacrifice again. But wow what a reveal that he does have a secret demon king lineage in his blood. I both love and hate this at the same time. It feels like a cop-out but also explains everything at the same time. It’s like Super Saiyan in DBZ but different because at least here it took until the 3rd Saga and several arcs to reveal it. I guess in the overall scheme of things it’s like having Dragonball before Dragonball Z. Anyways the ending is amazing as we see them fight and find out just why Sensui wanted this all along as well as his gay partner’s obsession over him.

This was a great saga with a truly ominous back story and I love it. The only reason I keep it rated at 8/10 is unfortunately it happens right after the best saga ever in the Dark Tournament. At this point, power scaling and the use of demon king lineage in Yusuke just unfortunately puts the rating here. And we already know what the next saga is about for sure. There’s nothing left to really explore.

Three Kings - Here we go, the finale of Yu Yu Hakusho. We know Yusuke is of demon king lineage so of course he’s going to go train in Demon World. Hiei and Kurama obviously would follow along. Now with everything being obvious, why is it still interesting? Somehow the writers/producers of Yu Yu Hakusho find a way to bring even more back story in appropriate timing without it becoming filler. Learning about the deep ancient history of Raizen vs Yomi vs Mukuro shows how even as demons they have a human aspect: Raizen who ended up loving a human, Yomi who had a child and history with Kurama, and Mukuro with her tragic backstory that led to an odd relationship with Hiei. The ending is great with yet another tournament. As a kid, I wished they had a full tournament arc, but decades later I realized how much sense it makes that they didn’t show us the whole tournament, just key battles and how no one in our main crew won. Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei still has much to learn and grow. Yomi and Mukuro’s time has passed. A new brighter future awaits the demon world. Yusuke finally gets his happy ending with Keiko.

This final saga unfortunately because of its timing and closure gets a rating of 7/10. For an ending it’s great and I’m not sure how to improve it. That’s why I’m not a producer/writer haha. But it is definitely amazing and I appreciate it. Yusuke went from a kid/teen to a young adult. The story we came to know and love is over and he did NOT end up obsessed like Toguro. He didn’t choose the demon life. He also didn’t choose a psychic path like Genkai. He chose his own path with his friends in the human world continuing as spirit detective but living as close to a normal life as possible. I love this ending, The ending and whole narrative makes me give this show a 10/10. Yes I know they released 2 specials in 2018 but why not that’s a small treat for us fans. They can do specials maybe every decade or so. I don’t actually want them to do a new continued series like Dragonball Super. Let the original show be what it is and be remembered in history as one of the most unique shows with catchy theme songs. Also the Eng dub is actually good haha. Listen carefully for the adult humor hidden in the show if you’re re-watching it. You likely didn’t understand every NSFW joke as a kid. I know I didn’t haha.

#YuYuKakusho Yusuke Anime AnimeReview

4 notes · View notes

splendidshinobi · 3 years

Text

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 2003 LIVE REACT: EPISODES 11-15

LETS GO ROUND 3

episode 11: the other brothers elric part 1

yeet this thing edward

ok who r these so called other brothers

“METAL FATHER”

this girl’s uncle is sus. he’s now known as uncle lemons.

THE STONE???? WHOS MAKING A STONE

oh shit they got kicked to the curb

“THE REAL ELRIC BROTHERS???????” WHOSE ASS

i bet “alphonse” is the taller one

never mind

this twink is annoying

on your knees???????????????????????

ed plz

oh twink doesnt need a circle but doubtful he’s opened a portal of truth

he’s got philosopher’s juice instead i suppose!!

wheres mugear or whoever

oh found him

LUST <3

girly looks hot

anyways

oh its uncle lemons

these townspeople are annoying as shit

wow what a parallel tragic backstory

operation mole hole

what is the cough sub plot

i have questions

hmm there we go thx fletcher

ugh the twink is back

and now he’s an attempted murderer

OH FUCKKKKKKKK

great going twink your brother is gonna die

his villain origin story

uhhh what? part 2 i guess

episode 12: the other brothers elric part 2

fletcher is a homie

ed’s window dive was so dramatic

i literally cannot tell you what the twink’s name is

he is just twink

mugear is suspicious

he’s not even an alchemist??? bro

who is nash tringham

is he important other than in this specific episode arc

nash tringham and uncle lemons definitely got naughty back in the day

to be fair what is uncle lemons’ name? i do not know

like i cant be expected to remember every one bit character’s name? especially when i have all this other fma knowledge floating around in my head

MARCOH!!!!!!!

why is ed sitting in the tree like that

ed: “google earth...always taking pics”

what is this stone making process with pregnant ladies who thought of this

lets all throw mugear in a septic tank

sussssssss

edward is so unimpressed by this mans

HAHA yes edward my son

“it’s been a good while since i killed anyone. i kinda miss it.” EDWARD YOU KILL ME LMAOOO

uh oh he’s got a red water gun or somethin

so fletcher is the plant alchemist i see

twink’s name is RUSSELL????? how did i miss that

wooooooof sucks to suck mugear

thats A LOT of red water

fletcher’s alchemy is so weird

from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waterssss

what in tarnation is this boy doing

i guess we have another prodigy on our hands okayyyy

why do i feel like we’ll see the tringhams again

uncle lemons strikes again with LEMONS

whats in the letter????

from russell??? why r u so embarrassed edward

thats mighty homosexual of you good sir

episode 13: fullmetal vs flame

so this one is called fullmetal vs flame which makes me think theyre animating that bonus chapter??!!!??!!! yes!!!!!

colonel sarcasm?? nice ed

i too enjoy mocking roy toy

al found a cat

he definitely did

yup

um who’s yelling

probably mustang that dumpster fire of a man

BREDA!!!!!!!!!

black hayate!!!!!!! baby!!!!!!!

FUERY!!!!! he’s so small

breda is a mess omg

havoc is a mess too

kitty! “he called to me” precious al

these boys are a trainwreck

oh sad kitty flashback

mustang is such a freak

yeaH i wondER if mustang knows marcoh hmmmmmm HMMM

“names not familiar” yeah sure baby all yall ishval war criminals know each other

ARMSTRONG!!! hey!!!

ummm wtf fuhrer bradley

UM WHO IS THE LADY UM

hughes is a mESS

ed’s gremlin face gives me life

roy with hayate...im scared

take that dog away from him

yayayay bonus chapter fight scene!

shut up miniskirt man

oh no take the mic away from hughes

“you just want a promotion!!!” “give back my girlfriend!!!” im dying

i too would love to put a fist in mustang’s face

“too slow” damn idk that was kinda hot

but no im still gonna kill him

he’s so stupid

this is so chaotic

oooh cut the glove yessss

ope never mind

oh great he’s getting flashbacks... well shit happens when you commit war crimes

“ehhh???”

oh hmm theyre saying ishBal in this one instead of ishVal

ill probably still write ishval im more used to that

oh no black hayate she’s gonna pop a cap ive seen this clip before

she did it

“strict mommy” oh um ok

poor kitty cat

scar IS heather

episode 14: destruction’s right hand

back in liore with some more amestrian war crimes on the docket for today

ayyy envy our favorite morally corrupt they/them

gluttony’s snack time

new op lets gooooo

im not vibing as much but hey its kinda poppin

oh hey armstrong what up baby

to be fair ed did meet marcoh with armstrong in manga canon so

hahaha no thats not the fullmetal alchemist...thats alphonse!!!

marcoh’s voice sounds different hold on

yep different VA

dr marcoh’s alchemical oobleck

oh hey basque grand u sexy mustachioed bootlicker you shouldnt be here

what the FUCK he’s a weapon of mass destruction

i wish so hard netflix let you screenshot so i could add pics for added value!!!

if philosophers stones fall under grand’s jurisdiction then he is VERY SUS

he aint it

ope hey scar

this is an odd amalgamation of plot points

oops boy bye

ive always enjoyed scar’s CLEARLY adidas brand track pants

ummmm why did scar’s brother have BROWN hair

i- ok

i miss j michael tatum

ooooooh armstrong baby i was wondering where you were!

rose!!!! tell him!!! fuck u hakuro!!!!

trying to help?? dont make me laugh you’re a general in the amestrian military

episode 15: the ishbal massacre

kinda early for the ishval talk imo?? wonder what we’ll learn

armstrong is literally the buff rasputin trope on tiktok rn

“accidentally” shot an ishvalan child. hmm yeah no

envy just sneezed

HEY KIMBLEE YOU LITTLE SHIT

kimblee looks like christmas came early

they gave roy a stone??????? sounds noncanonical but ok

basque grand is literally wildin out fuck that guy

yuriy and sara’s skeletal remains just sneezed in the ground

wait a damn minute

wait a fucking minute

did roy

shoot

yuriy and sara

ROY SHOT WINRY’S PARENTS

and now hes gonna shoot himself

im taking a lap around my apartment OH MY GOD WHAT IN THE HELLLLLLLL

IM NEVER GOING TO RECOVER FROM THIS

FINANCIALLY OR OTHERWISE

im texting my sister about it right now and just SCREAMING

OH NO NO NO MARCOH DO NOT TELL ED WHO KILLED THE ROCKBELLS

oh good he ran away

i literally CANNOT handle them finding out about this

ahaha roy shoots the gun in the air again

roy take that glove off its raining

riza’s leg sweep was way less funny this time

WAIT IT JUST OCCURRED TO ME THAT ROY WAS AT THE HOUSE AND SPOKE TO WINRY AND PINAKO

i mean hes no idiot he knew

what did marcoh just do to scar im confused

nothing will ever make sense to me again after what ive just witnessed

feral al lets gooo

so this episode’s events were pretty similar. other than marcoh.

AND THE FUCKING ROY MUSTANG ISSUE...,...........

OH NOOOOOO

MOMS VOICE???

MOMS VOICE????

episode 15 said hey bitch lets watch your world come CRASHING The FUCK DOWN

#carol watches fma03 #fullmetal alchemist #carol's remaining brain cells #im honest to god six feet under #IF YOURE IN THE 2003 TAGS AND SEE THIS POST #SLIDE INTO MY ASKS SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT EPISODE 15 #IM GOING #TO SCREAM

6 notes · View notes

riskeith · 3 years

Note

good morning love! (or afternoon for you hehe)

deku vs kacchan part 2 is my favorite ep of the entire series actually. i’ve watch that ep so many times as well it’s just perfect. i got into them when i watched that episode actually! the voice acting god..... literally shivers. now that i think about it it might even be my favorite anime ep of all time help. i just love how bakugou lets it all out and we get to see that side of him.. the insecure scared child he tries to hide. god i could ramble about it forever idk just love it. OH YOU WATCHED THE MOVE RIGHT AFTER? a scene with bakugou and todoroki is guaranteed a good time.. and they work so well together. haha that’s such a nice coincidence tho their dynamic is great in that movie even if it’s mostly kiribaku sjsksjk. what do you think about kiribaku btw?

RIGHT!!! at least we have a couple days to decide hihi.... paimon no longer emergency snack.. only seelie. 🥴 oooh? what kind of thing have you envisioned? (if you wanna share ofc!)

i’ve seen so many people mention that!! like one of the worst parts of the game is that in the higher level you get the less there are to do.. ssjksjdk at some point all you can do is grind domains and try to level up shdkdfhdj

LEVEL 40 INTO A LEVEL 70+ FIGHT ok that’s honestly hilariously brave doesn’t she like die right away 😔 oh yeah you’ll be leveling up Again soon *praying for you*... can’t believe they don’t keep the easy bosses anymore sjdkfh that’s so rude. this game is just grind grind grind. WE NEED A BENNY STORY SO BADLY. like imagine a story with him wanting to seek out diluc because he wants to learn how to fight from a master or something like that. i saw it in a comic and i can’t stop thinking about it 😭 all of them deserve stories!!! there’s so many ways they could make it happen pls mihoyo... chongyun x xingqiu story... <333

shfkjdskdjhf nope right now i’m playing with noelle as my main damage dealer, traveller, lisa and barbara actually. so i think i have a pretty good balance atm.. 2 long range 2 short range-ish. i usually trade out barbara for another character if i have to tho, hehe. that’s only combat though ^ benny is with me when we explore. mood is me having a 5 star and not even using her... i still need to think of ways qiqi could fit into the group yk. is your group still looking the same as before? ooooh if you could rank the elements what would your ranking look like?

172!!!!! that’s a bit short though when you said tall i thought like... 190 or something sjksjdxk. wait how tall are You?

oh i just meant like... people bashing others for spending too much money on the game vs those that bash people for not spending money and complaining that they don’t get 5 star etc? idk yt comments can be so ugly though so it’s a good thing that you don’t read them sjdjdjdkd

that’s super smart!!! you just follow along the plan and delete when you come to the part. must feel so satisfying too i imagine. haha, what little notes i have i put in the notes app and just check up on when i need to. sometimes i even forget they’re there shdkdhsks. my notes are filled with half-assed dialogue or random one words notes that don’t make any sense to me anymore.. nskdhddjdj

you’re right!! so you write at night? sometimes i just open docs on my phone and write a bit before i sleep and when i wake up it’s either a grammatical mess or just... super bad hskshd the brain is simply too tired to create anything shakespeareian

nooo i’ll def check these out and let you know what i think. i’ve seen halsey being in pretty much every klance playlist on spotify so i imagine she portrays their vibes pretty nicely. doesn’t she have a song she sings about being blue and red or something... shdjfhdj such a bad description but i see it being used in edits a lot. also now that i think of it melanie has a song called pacify her that i really like!! do you like it?

THATS SO CUTE YOU ARE A CRYBABY. 🥺 same here tbh i actually like crying sometimes... sjskdjdjd like you said it just feels nice to get it all out. i cry to almost movie or series or book i read i’m a super emotional person but i also think it adds to the experience? you feel more immersed in it that way.

RIGHT??? ITS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! and it’s our boys 😭 and they’re cuddling 😭 under the sun 😭 ssjdjdhdjdj 😭

can’t wait to hear from you again <3 yours, ma <3

good night! more like ahhah

:o!! that’s so legendary of them wow.. <33 and yeah honestly the voice acting is phenomenal.. and all the implications behind the fight too? bakugou finally opening up? midoriya understanding that what he needs is to fight him? ugh. kiribaku is fine! fhdsjfks my brain is so full of todobaku that any other ship is really just... in the background hfskjfs but i can appreciate the relationship they have! with kiri being the only one bakugou has really acknowledged and seeing as being on the same level, that iconic hand clasp when bakugou was being rescued... i have a kiribaku fic in my drafts but idk if i can ever get to it ahha. you like them a lot right?

ikkk also i didn’t know we had to wait until the very end to buy? i have more than enough to buy it rn but when i clicked it said ‘must explore area 14 first’ and i was just... bruh. AHAHAH. okay so in my mind it’s like.. chongyun at a funky angle we’re kinda looking up at him and his body is like bent down towards us fhsdkjs idk how to describe it but i can picture it very well but i also cannot put it to paper/screen. and then his clothes are just black instead of white! HAHAH. tho i kinda wanna see if i can draw a xiao first to offer up to the gacha gods hfsdjkfs (and if i can i’ll do a version w a dark outfit too for u hehe)

legitttt im literally just logging in and grinding the talent domains every day fhsdkjfhskfhjd there are some artifacts i want as well but the domain is literally SO difficult for me fuck.

i just go in and use her skill then heal a bit and switch right away fhsdkjfsd it going alright! and then i go ham with my other 3 charas and switch back to her to heal again fhskfjd. OMGGG that’s so cute please... i miss diluc too... come back!! i wish we had a way to replay the old quests even if we get nothing out of them like i just wanna experience it again ya know.

oooo! that’s pretty nice. hfskjd you could switch barbara out for qiqi! since she’s a healer as well. omg wait you have lumine right? so your combat team has no males? legendary 😩 we love fighting queens! ya! traveller, chongyun, xiangling, fischl. and then i switch depending on the domain/boss i’m gonna fight. hmm elements I think would go: anemo, cryo, electro, pyro, hydro, geo, dendro? LMAO i reckon if i had diluc tho pyro would be higher... i also almost forgot to add geo to that list lmaooooooo oops, hbu??

I JUST SAW THE LINK.... AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! the bestest boys look how cute they’re sjdkfjdjjdd i’m obsessed. the picture where benny has his back turned sjdudjdjddnd stop. 🥺 they’re so neat. 🥺 also NO ARE YOU SERIOUS? that’s so upsetting are you gonna try it out nonetheless or do you think it’s too risky?

they’re SO neat!!! and bennett facing the other way was so fhskjfd yeah cute <3333333 I KNOWWW IM SO SAD :((( and no...... im not gonna try 😭😭😭 i told my brother about it too and he asked how many rolls i was at and i said 70 and he was straight up ‘you can’t try then’ and i was like ‘i know 😔😔’. @ xiao... i am giving up xingqiu rate up for you 😤😤😤😤 ugh i hope i can still get xingqiu in xiao’s banner tho even tho the chances will be shit. are you gonna roll ganyu’s banner?

FHSKJFSD NOOOOOO don’t tell me 172 is average for you wtf... (apparently the average male height in japan is 160cm! for reference ahah) and i myself am. one hundred and. fifty something cm hfsdjfhskjdfhskdjfhw9uehdsifhwsdkjfhsdkfhsd 😔 big sighs lmaoooooooo. how tall are you? (im assuming much taller 😔😔😔😔😔)

ooh notes app? nice ahaha. fhdkjfhskfsk hdthat’s the mood tho! if i don’t have my laptop with me i’ll write out everything on notes first then transfer to my laptop~

AHAHAH yeahhh i think mostly i do? bc during school times i’ll only write after i’m done with my work which = night time. for a while Peak writing time for me was like 1am lmfao but i do that in a like half-asleep half-conscious state so when i come back the next day at a “normal” time i run into the same issue as you fshdfkjshfs

she does!!! it’s called colours 😩 but i think the one i related to voltron most is control! there was this really good shiro edit with that song i still remember it to this day <3 yeah i do!!! i like most of melanie’s songs actually ahahah. i think my favourite for a while was show and tell~

it totally does!! like it’s satisfying as well you know... like the characters have gone through so much and you experienced that with them so it’s natural to get emotional about it. that reminds me, what kind of books do/did you read? did you read all Those YA novels ahah talking about crying has reminded me how i cried reading those..

<333 i wanna be there with them 😩 actually no i want to BE them 😩😩😩

eager for your response <33 love, c.r.

#marriage anon #wowclunaanswers #long post

2 notes · View notes

courage-a-word-of-justice · 4 years

Text

Iruma-kun 10

That mascot is still around to annoy poor Kalego, huh? (LOL) I also noticed the demonstration demons have horns like oni.

Oh no! This means Azz-Azz is a prime target for Iruma!

(I was going to write something. Then I got so engrossed in the action, I forgot to…)

LOL, Sabro’s too heavy for Team A to lift!

Oh, Iruma’s hair isn’t tied anymore…

“…pruning this cactus.” – Does Eggie-sensei like plants?

Ooh, the first double-parter ever for this show, I think it is.

Shinchou Yuusha 9

Apparently ep 10 got delayed…*sigh*

LOL, thre’s product placement for a certain ice cream brand in this episode, huh?

Can we not with the boob grope???

*Rista takes care of Mash and Elulu* - Rista’s such a mom sometimes…

Stars Align 9

This one scene with Nao looks really blue…it’s almost unsettling.

Oh dear…I understand the sentiment of an inferiority complex all too well.

Dr Stone 22

Now we’re back to good ol’ science vs. survival of the fittest philosophy clash. Now, see, that’s the Dr Stone I like best!

Torricelli’s law.

Why is mica like baumkuchen? Probably because it has a lot of layers…

Wow, for WSJ – which encouraged fangirls all over the world to make yaoi/shonen ai ships – they sure tossed out the yaoi/shonen ai option real fast…

Skarn. I’ve never heard of it until now.

Magma, staring at the product of magma…LOL.

I…don’t get it. Even after watching the bit again, I don’t understand why Magma was trying to save Senku.

So…as is said for most WSJ series, the treasure was the friends we made along the way…LOL, what a way to acknowledge a trope.

Lemme guess…surprise birthday party? (Sorry, when I was reading up on Magma earlier, I saw that Magma helps with a birthday surprise for Senku and I found out what it was.)

I wonder if Rei is still up there at this point…? (Who’s Rei? You’ll find out if you read the Byakuya reboot…)

Well, “Rock Day” only works in Japanese. The language would’ve drifted over thousands of years so it shouldn’t work in the year 5731 (or whatever year Dr Stone is set).

Dr Stone 23

One episode until the end…but I’m away over Christmas, so I’ll have quite a bit to catch up on when I’m back. Update: I never did end up going away over Christmas.

Senku is much more of a trickster hero than an action hero. That’s been pretty obvious all the way through, but here it’s at its most obvious.

Oh, so Kaseki made the village bridge? Is that a correct assumption…? Update: I think the answer was yes from the manga.

How much chemistry does Gen know, anyway? Assuming he’s a humanities person because of psychology and his tricks, it must only be basic, right?

Thse intense stares…I’ve been reading JJBA: DiU lately, so I’m expecting an 80s-style “!!” to appear over someone’s head at this point, LOL.

Ooh, hardware. In fact, it looks like the inside of a computer…or, more relevant to this case, a phone.

So it’s not “rules are rules” anymore? Now Kinro’s changed his words to reflect his faith in Senku…hmm! Interesting! (Update: A quick google says Kinro is 18. Senku is about 18 (+ 3700 years). Plus, after they start dragging Ginro away, Kinro says his trademark line.)

Wouldn’t the coal smoke alert Tsukasa of the village’s location, though…? Then again, thanks to Homura and Hyouga, Tsukasa already knows their location…oops.

Rochelle salt.

I saw that one shot of the world from the 1st OP and I thought there was meant to be a post-credits segment…LOL, nope.

Dr Stone 24 (FINAL)

The “acquisition message” basically said “We didn’t (just) need one cell phone, (so) it was useless!” Notably, it uses the counter for large items (like computers) for the phone.

Having finished the Byakuya reboot now, I wanna cry every time I hear about the guy…

Oh! The eyecatch is a record!

Basically, what records do is that they recreate sounds by using vibrations created by the grooves of the disc. Sound is a set of vibrations.

“Astronauts are science elites…” – Except maybe Lillian Weinberg…

I like Shamil out of the guys from the Soyuz the most. He’s a cross between Tsukasa and Senku. Stoic yet skeptical, a voice of reason for Byakuya’s sillier outbursts.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the shield was made with CGI, tbh.

Byakuya’s humour here is betraying the emotional capacity of the scene…it’s gone from “100% tear-inducing” to “confusing”.

Please sing Tsubasa wo Kudasai, Lillian…*crosses fingers*

I didn’t get what I wanted, but oh well. This song is good too. (I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the record player was CGI too. It’s good CGI for sure.)

LOL, Puyo Puyo! Even Sherlock Holmes! Dragon Ball, Nintendo Switch, VR, Saiyuki! It’s like a treasure trove of references!

Normally the s2 announcement comes after the credits, so I was thrown for a loop when it was announced before the ED…anyways, this is the end of the s1 coverage. See you for s2!

BnHA 72

[no notes, sorry!]

Iruma-kun 11

Robin looks like Iruma…(this vaguely annoys me.)

I noticed Keroli (sp?) is in the back left, alone…that’s kinda sad.

Sabro is hella tall…even taller than Azz-kun, and that says something.

Ah…I love Eggie-sensei. He’s so funny!

Really? I thought Sullivan wrote them (the rules).

I wanna see an episode where Eggie-sensei can’t turn into his fuzzy form and has to do familiar activities with Iruma. That, or an episode where Eggie-sensei has some human parts and some familiar ones (although that would scare some little kids, I think…)

What a Machiavellian mindset Eggie-sensei has!

Iruma’s got wine, people! Underage drinking is a no-no! (partially joking)

Good on ya, Clara! Go kick those girls to the kerb!

The butterflies are so beautiful in this show!

So basically school clubs.

Hmm…it’s almost a Fordist approach. I mean, “freeing yourself up to do other things” is basically the entire ethos of that.

NGL 10

I was reading JJBA: DiU today and Colt seriously looks like a Jojo’s character…

“Your face is just like…”

N-No way! You mean, the Victor Mary’s wanted to see all along…is the other gunhead…?! Geesh, what a plot twist!

Stars Align 10

“We all play to win.” – That’s very Maki of you, Maki.

Shinjo/Oshimi???? That must be Ryoma…! By the way, what’s up with these Itsuse twins…?

Who’s Hatanooka? Update: That’s the team with Joy in it…and those fangirls who busted Mitsue up.

F*** it…Arashi, I wanna pummel you someday.

LOL, you can sell your temmates out with chanpuru, huh, Arashi?

Did Maki suggest something subliminally…?

*Maki and Toma run around* - LOL, this play is completely unorthodox, haha. I can tell even if I’m no expert.

Shinchou Yuusha 10

We’re back after another week’s break…

Come to think of it, how do fantasy worlds have concepts of “hours”?

LOL, how convenient it was that there just happened to be a dude needing healing walking past! (partially sarcastic, partially meaning it since the circumstances foreshadowed it)

“Talent”, eh? *stares at the camera, which is showing Rista’s boobs, with disapproval*

The Demon Spirit Orb is basically a monster cell from OPM 2, isn’t it…?

If Seiya came from our world…then I’m sorry, Wolks, but whoever told you is completely and utterly wrong. *gestures at all the conflicts around the world, including political turmoil*

“Are you calling…”

No Guns Life 11

Second-last ep!

Oh great…another yandere?(I read JJBA: DiU hardcover vol. 2 yesterday, so I’m still thinking about Yukako Yamagishi…)

There’s a convertible in the OP, though…I wonder if that will come into play later. Update: Even if it does come into play in the future, it doesn’t happen in ths cour.

Stars Align 11

It was like Joy was showing off to the camera…LOL.

Apparently, Joy’s name is a weird reading for yorokobi (happiness).

This feels like a final episode…

Hmm. I thought Yonex sponsored this. Turns out that’s a parody logo after all (or at least, here it’s a parody).

One of the Itsuse bros looks exactly like Maki, so it’s confusing…

I’m still confused as to why Shijo Minami’s shirts say nantei on them. The minami might be nan in another way of reading it, but…the shi can only be read kokorozashi otherwise and while the jou can be read many, many ways, tei isn’t one of them.

Ume = plum blossom, so that purple-pink colour really suits them.

BnHA 73

Eri’s name means, literally, “to break reason”.

This scene with the stars and the dancefloor…that’s new.

Iruma-kun 12

Sometims you forget this dork *points at Azz* is more powerful than Iruma and Clara…

You can see Clara and Iruma in the shot of Azz-kun.

The reason why I like calling Kalego “Eggie-sensei” is because he doesn’t like it!

I love how the narrator is even aware it’s been mentioned several times Iruma can’t decline requests.

New Magic is basically science…?

Oh, it would be hilarious if this character Iruma just bumped into and he (Iruma) would be in a Battler together…but I’ve read spoilers, so I know what Iruma will join…

Is this some kind of allegory for technology…?! *eyes sparkle* Yes, I want in! Iruma! Join this club!

Even this demon’s clip is a book! Amazing!

Clara! She dab! In a pot!

Come to think of it, in the basic premise, Iruma-kun (the show) is Kenja no Mago, right? The Wise Man’s Grandson…sort of.

Shinchou Yuusha 11

Almost at the end…I’ll sorely miss this show.

Is Tiana some former version of Rista…?

How old is Seiya again…? Update: Apparently he’s 17…and if he’s the same age as he used to be in this flashback, then…kinda squicky, no?

Stars Align 12 (FINAL)

I heard this show dropped the ball and that Nao’s mother got a rant, but otherwise I don’t quite know what happens here…so let’s finish what we started. Update: Nao’s mother’s rant was in a previous episode.

Oh hey! It’s that running thing Nao and Taiyo were doing…I think. (I don’t think I’ve grasped everyone’s names, even over 12 eps, so I had to check Taiyo’s name up.)

Oh, these gremlins…*sighs happily but also exasperatedly* No wonder this show took out a top 10 position for my 2019 list.

I’m worried now…there’s always a last minute thing to ruin an episode on this show.

I always thought Ryoma’s hair was pretty nice…(small LOL). That’s just my bias for bishonen showing though.

I’m…scared now…Maki’s dad must’ve come back and the red in the sky really sold that moment…

Maki…no!!!!!!!! Aw, f***, that’s the final seconds…geesh, way to end the series. If this were a 2 cour, I’d definitely watch the next one, but since I heard through ANN that this is all we have so far, really, the only thing I can do for a passion project is hope another cour gets funded and (maybe) purchase what I can to help out. Well, that’s it, folks, skedaddle out of here until next time.

No Guns Life 12 (FINAL)

This pendant reminds me of the mana compass I saw in Fate/Zero yesterday.

I bet Danny planted those footprints…or something like that. Update: Yup, he did.

Come to think of it, is Juzo still missing his arm from last time…?

“You weren’t my client, little lady.” – There’s one of two possible options here, I think: 1) the hands guy was or 2) Danny was.

I wonder, will the hand Extended ever become his (Juzo’s) left hand? Or will he get an Extension for it?

Wow, second huge end-of-season cliffhanger! Juzo got a new buddy, it seems…anyway, see you in spring!

Cautious Hero 12 (FINAL)

If the Valkyryja (sp?) isn’t magic…what is it???

That one guy lying on the side of the fountain, looking all drunk…LOL.

Geez, you make me wanna cry, show!!!

Even the alarm clock is dejected…geez…

This is…the best conclusion of the fall season in that Seiya defeated the Demon King and the story wrapped up properly, but the worst in that Seiya died. No one died in Stars Align, even if they failed a tonne! So…I dunno. I guess it should be happy it ended optimistically…anyways, enough of my moping. See you next time.

BnHA 74

Shin Nemoto = “the truth of the origin of the sound”, if you stuck the particle no between each character.

Tintin got scary, LOL.

Lemillion, making “no capes” go out of fashion again (LOL).

Wow, talk about a clip show…! This is really one.

Check the end of the episode, don’t forget to watch the post-credits segments, people.

#simulcast commentary #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #shinchou yuusha #kono yuusha ga ore tueee kuse ni shinchou sugiru #no guns life #Stars Align #hoshiai no sora #Dr Stone #mairimashita! iruma-kun #welcome to demon school iruma kun #Chesarka watches MI-k #Chesarka watches BnHA #Chesarka watches Stars Align #Chesarka watches Shinchou Yuusha #Chesarka watches NGL #Chesarka watches Dr Stone #this hero is invincible but too cautious #the hero is overpowered but overly cautious

7 notes · View notes

lantern-hill · 4 years

Text

just spent like two hours on tiktok and i just want to say like. those tiktoks or jokes in general where someone says something horribly discriminatory and then takes it back or flips it on its head near the end? if you make those get the fuck off my blog.

“fat girl vs skinny girls... blue haired girls be like.... black ppl be like.... the difference between girl and guys..... sike haha no you idiot i’m actually a decent human being”

haha wow you said something horrible about me that i’ve heard a thousand times before, except you... actually didn’t mean it? haha omg you’re HILARIOUS!!!!!! isn’t the everyday discrimination i experience just such fun?

haha you made me feel like crap then told me it was just a joke... gold fuckin medal dude..... it’s so great that you’re not (x)-phobic...... WE ALL KNOW THERE’S NOTHING MORE HILARIOUS THAN MAKING SOMEONE THINK THEY’RE ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE A TYPE OF HARASSMENT THEY’VE CONSTANTLY EXPERIENCED AND THEN MAKING THEM FEEL STUPID FOR EXPECTING IT.

there is literally no way to avoid these. if you scroll past immediately you’re left with only the initial discriminatory statement. if you don’t you have to watch the whole thing for the odd chance that they don’t mean it

why don’t you just follow me home at night through a dark alley and grab me just to give me a coin i dropped? why don’t you just chase me with an axe and catch me and say “oh i was just getting excercise?” why don’t you do those things, and then expect me to clap and gush over you for not actually committing a crime?

why don’t you just turn discrimination into a fucking joke? why don’t you just open the door for people to discriminate against me in real life and then go “haha no i didn’t mean it?” wow, dude, you’re a real riot. congratulations, take all my money, i’m going to go throw myself off a building now

#og #foy speaks #i'm right and i will say it #rant #tw body image #tw discrimination

2 notes · View notes

arkus-rhapsode · 4 years

Text

Rhapsode Reacts: RWBY Volume 3

Hey guys, Rhapsode here. So I’ve been on the record numerous times saying I haven’t watched the internet series RWBY. I haven’t. However, I have a rather close mutual @remnantoforario who tells me about most of the series and characters. Seriously, I basically have experienced the plot through osmosis. Now me and remnant work on a lot of fanfiction stuff and general discussions of video games and manga. And highly suggest anyone who wants a more in depth look at RWBY to please check him out. He’s great.

Now due to the fact he has basically told me the series up this point, its kinda been a bit frustrating when I forget something and ask him to reiterate. So I decided to knuckle down and watch some of the series.

I helped remnant get a non RWBY fan opinion, by basically live-blogging him in our PMs. And I thought I had some level of humorous reactions and Remnant had some witty observations to my reactions.

Anyway, if you didn’t catch it the first time, I must repeat, I’m not coming at this from the perspective of a fan. I have very little emotional or personal enjoyment going in the series up to this point. If I say something that offends you as a fan, I’m sorry in advance.

With that out of the way, let’s dive in:

Oh that’s a sweet scene of Ruby at her mother’s grave.

Why would you start Team RWBY’s preliminary fight in the middle of it?

the Vytal Festival feels like it should be reversed: you should start with 1, then go to 2, then for your finals, 4. Or just do a solid 4 v 4 all tournament

Remnantoforario: I dont know what the purpose of the tournament is, or why anyone would want to participate. There is no prize

Me: Bragging rights I guess. But the whole point of the festival is to celebrate peace. Lets celebrate piece with a bunch of kids beating each other up .

Ruby has a line of "we did it?" like she was surprised. Was that a concern?

Like I understand the festival has been built up since the second volume, but there's a reason most good tournament arcs ease you into the first round. Its to reaffirm character motivation and actually show you what a fight would look like

I do appreciate some of the “show don't tell” moments like the one girl using a heat crystal in her skate board to free her teammate

But usually even if the first round is jobbers, they're at least presented as a threat. I never really got that. The tide seemed more and Rwby's favor, but I can't tell if that was always the case because we started in the middle of the fight

the pacing just feels like you can't handle the story, so it wants to get to the fight scenes to keep your attention

Emerald is actually really funny, holy shit

“How can they be so happy?” And “It’s the heiress and the bimbo”

Still Weiss and Yang, better savor this duo while I can

Neo’s gothic Lolita is cute. Though I feel like their match should’ve gotten a focus

Like I mean not an episode but if they started with the instant eliminations of 1v1, I could easily see this cool intro of Rwby has met Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder, but then is shocked at who this fourth member even is

OK I feel like the scene with Rwby and JNPR should’ve happened before the first round. Given Nora’s rant would actually tie to Ruby’s whole “we won?” Surprise

“Cinder: Even if you know how the story ends that doesn’t make it any less fun to watch.” I’d agree with you if you know the story wasn’t Rwby. And it’s not really that fun to watch a bunch of fighting with no weight.

OK team JNPR vs team BRNZ is actually a much better introduction to the tournament than Rwby vs Abrn

We actually see how the field is chosen and we actually get some genuine strategy and coordination. And before all this we actually get some motivation about how the characters feel going into this battle

Me: OK why are these not the protagonists and why was this not episode one?

Remnantoforario: questions for the writers

I got admit I’m not very much of a fan of melee weapons that also turn into guns and just kind of makes the purpose of melee fighters and ranged fighters pointless

Logically it makes sense that if you’re making a weapon you do want it to have multiple functionality but at the same time it kind of makes a lot of that fighting less fun

I mean what do you want to see more a team complete each other or just one person who can just do everything with the right weapon?

Ehh OK the team meeting joke is running a tad too long

Okay, that was what I was mentioning before... Just cut out Nora with missiles. I feels more like a give and take as well as more unique to have that moment with her slamming on the ground

“Crow Bar.” Oh you go to the corner for that pun.

OK that joke with Weiss and telling Indigo to beat up Neptune was timed and delivered really bad

Also port makes a point that Sun is from Vacuo. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the leader or any membr of Indigo actually did know Sun from Vacuo?

I say that because no member of team Indigo has said anything, and it would at least add something unique to this fight

OK I have to bring up the weird use of western cartoon comedy

Neptune running up the mountain it’s super speed is kind of funny but this is also a fight I’m supposed to take seriously

Nora and Ruby kind of get away with it given their powers but Neptune just ran up a mountain like it was nothing

What is the tone here?

Sage went out like a bitch

you know if you wanted to eliminate someone to make me feel for this team being in trouble why didn’t you just eliminate Neptune?

OK scarlet’s scene actually really works

That nut joke didn’t. Again, tone?

Me: Why would you sacrifice the two characters we don’t know anything about just to do Neptunes stupid joke?

Remnant: COMEDY

OK this fight was bad

Me: I get the idea indigo was a bunch of jobbers so you decided to play the comedy angle. OK, well then tone down the serious rock music, turn down the cartoon physics

Remnant: For reference. That was a post Monty fight

I agree with Qrow, that was a mess

okay introduction to Winter is pretty good. Shame we don't really get that "Novice victory" vibe from their fight. Maybe if it last for more than 8 minutes and didn't start from the middle...

okay see, I don't mid Winter and Qrow having a fight in the middle of the square as it helps serve as an introduction to the characters and flexes their strength

though Im also starting to notice something else that bugs me in the fights, no banter or introspection or comments

its just fight moves

like there's times that's god, DBZ did it tons of times when its just Goku making "Hiyah" noises but there was still a bit of time to get in a line that both broke up the action and highlighted how two characters felt or through thought was able to give us a peek into their head

watching rwby fights makes me think, "This be better as a video game"

so... does no woman in this world wear a bra?

Ironwood: “If you were one of my men, I'd have you shot!”

Okay, that can't be legal

Ironwood is kinda becoming my favorite character

He's a flawed human being, and the narrative shows that, but it also shows he has a point

Okay, yeah I see what you mean, all this Fall stuff is happening in the background which is nice, but there's no real plot with the tournament

Okay Mercury and Emerald vs Coco and Yatsuhashi is actually really good

not much character, but its actually more intimidating seeing how strong these two are. Wish the music had a bit more ambiance

Okay, that's an interesting plot point. Qrow explaining how beating one high profile criminal hasn't stopped crime. And the fact there is zero crime is concerning and relating it back to Ironwood

Wow, its almost when you just slow down and lt characters breath and talk to each other and have them be characters without shoving in a fight scene, its pretty good

Why is team Cardin fighting a non faunus team? Feels like a waste of characters

disappointing that Ciel doesn't know Penny is a robot

mainly because the way its queued up with Ciel seemed like she was only spending time with Penny because ordered and her attention to the schedule makes it seem like she is a soldier just having to play dress up for the robot to make it comfortable

Me: Wow Weiss's heels... Never noticed them. I just thought they were boots

Remnant: Nope heels

Also Neon and Flynt actually have a pretty good intro

We know what Atlas is like seeing Winter and Ironwood, so Neon and Flynt make an interesting and immediate contrast

And it feels like there is something riding on our opponents side given Flynts history with the Schnee. Which makes him stand out from the other jobbers

And Neon's intentionally irritating personality actually is more character displayed by any other opponent character

I actually really like the OST in the fight too. This might be my favorite action scene

Flynt actually has a really cool semblance too

oh wow, some actual dread with Weiss getting eliminated

Imma let you get away with that Hulk reference Port

I like how Yang beat Flynt, but if I was gonna beat Neon, I'd have Yang punch the ground and through her off balance

Haha Ironwood doesn't have a heart, I get it, he's tin man

least they didn't go with Ozpin saying Qrow doesn't have a brain

Me: So... If Pyrrha is all these things, why aren't we following her team?

So abridged version of the four seasons story Four random chicks find a guy camped out in his house, be nice to him and he gives them super powers. If I were a kid being told that, I’d demand another story

Pyrrha: like a semblance?

Oz: Like magic!

Me: Like a semblance

Qrow is right, this selection is stupid

You’re keeping a woman in your basement in cryogenic suspension. Oz you and Rhea need to share notes

Oh god... Adam. You can’t act

Adam seems already psychopathic Or maybe that’s just his acting

So this is the famous Yang punching Mercury... It works I guess

Actually getting a chance to see some Jaune and Pyrrha moments in v3 and it’s good

Me: Velvet is British? Huh... never predicted that

Remnant: Australian

How can Ruby notice Emerald all the way across the arena? Actually wait she’s the only one not in a black uniform

Why did they leave Mercury behind where anyone could find him?

And Penny is dead and I do not care at this point

Cinder’s little speech is the first time I’m actually feeling like I’m getting a villain motivation out of her

She talks about how Oz and the headmasters are just men capable of making mistakes But she’s someone who would embrace and all powerful godly being. Though that seems and odds with the presumed motive that she’s working with Salem to potentially kill the brother gods

Okay, Blake and Weiss have a pretty good scene when all hell was breaking loose

Ruby versus the big ass bird was actually pretty cool and the scene of everyone’s lockers being what puts it down is really clever

Oh really cool scene of Port and Oobleck. Hey the fall is turning out pretty decent

Ironwood killing the wolf was pretty good

Roman is a breath of fresh air as a villain. And it’s namely his acting

You know I feel like you could let the more tertiary characters fight the robots while Weiss and Blake fight WF

OK I repeat this is just become a video game. Giant dragon that spawns mini monsters in a destroyed town

The spectacle fighting actually really works when your opponents are mindless and faceless brutes

You have Adam in a school full of terrified people, why aren’t you showing his nuance by showing he won’t hurt Faunus staff and is giving them an out?

Velvet’s scene be cool if it was powers she was mimicking. Looking at a lot of weapons really doesn’t do much for me.

That said, this could work if she ended up copying the mech and fighting against it

Okay I feel like Weiss finally being able to summon something should’ve been done with a lot more gravitas

And Sun proceeds to be the best male character

Neo is fucking beast. Y’know what, let her be final boss

Now I just have this image of Neo flying through the air with a sign reading “I’m Mary Poppins, Y’all”

Wow, Roman went out like a bitch

Like zero build up just dead. And his replacement is Adam... There is no justice

Ironwood: someone has done the unthinkable and taken control of my machines!

Watts: What? Like it’s hard?

Blake and Yang holding hands on the ground after Yang lost an arm. Yeah that’s pretty shippy

Also, I feel like the animation really limits a lot of the characters expressions. Like the time Ruby spent dwelling on her sister being mutilated is well timed. But usually a lot of the emotional devastation comes down to the expression.

a lot of faces seem stiff in transition expressions. Or they have this doll like quality

The most expressive person seems to be Emerald

Pyrrha and Jaune’s kiss is actually really tender

Me: Okay how the hell is Cinder’s dress still managing to cover her loins?

Remnant: maiden magic.

And Pyrrha died

Are you done with the whole line of do you believe in destiny was fine Personally I would’ve also accepted the Ted Kord response, Rot in Hell.

Ruby went super saiyan

Tai being the first person Ruby sees is nice

Yang’s bitterness works here. Though given how I wasn’t feeling too much of the sisterly bond between the two, it’s probably not as hard hitting as they wanted

Salem’s introduction isn’t bad

so after watching V3. my final opinion is meh

Strikes me as they wanted to the fall, and the tournament was just a lot of window dressing. Because the stuff with the Fall is the best part, but everything else has felt dull and fillery.

Maybe I’ll do this for the next season of a series I binge. But till next time, take care.

3 notes · View notes

onepunchmiss · 5 years

Text

OPM s2e6 Live Blog

“The Monster Uprising”

Sorry this is later than usual. I’ve been having some personal issues lately that have been rather time consuming. But anyway yall ain’t here for that! So let’s get on with the episode. As always, I’m watching from the perspective of someone who has read both the manga and web comic

Once again, picking up right where we left off! Suiryu finally makes his fighting debut. He’s been introduced like what, 3 episodes ago? But honestly idgaf about him nearly as much as

MAX MY BOI I KNOW HOW THIS ENDS FOR YOU BUT I’M ROUTING FOR YOU ANYWAY. Oh god I gotta say, I forgot Suirya has a couple nightmare faces yikes. Also, I love how the Sea King keeps having an impact on heroes so long after his defeat. First Prisoner during the alien invasion, then Max and I know in just a bit Snek too. What a villain. Jeez, the mildly ominous music really isn’t subtle about making Suiryu out to be antagonistic, yeah? Also, this is the most we’ve heard him talk so far- Suiryu’s voice is exactly what I imagined I love it. MAX NO ITS OK I LOVE YOU ANYWAY AND SUIRYU IS A DICK ITS FINE YOU DID GREAT

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is the sixth episode this season and i STILL pause every time Zombieman is in the intro. Even his tiny silhouette at the end. just

NGAH BEST ONE YET MY BBY GIRL

Ok ok back to the action. Genos makes a good point and I wonder that, too. Saitama broke his limiter through sheer willpower right, like thats crazy but also not THAT crazy. Is he REALLY the only person EVER to have done that thus far (aside from probably blast)? Thankfully no monster ever has otherwise we’d surely know about it. Is Saitama really just THAT insane? Its not even like he had an extreme desire his whole life, he just beat some crab guy and snapped one day? OH OH GENO’S PHONE OS RINGING MONSTERS! MONSTER! MO N S T ER S ! aw wait no go to the monsters hey

OH WAIT NEVERMIND THIS IS OK SNEK SNEK S N E K OK I actually really like him?? He’s like they show’s resident butt-monkey but also just a good guy.

OH HEY THAATS DIFFERENT!?!? Wow ok so in the manga, it just happened by chance that the cheering in the stadium was so loud that no one heard the monster evacuation alarms, but here they’re setting up Bakuzan preemptively as an asshole who actively disregarded the alarm and everyone’s safety (although he kinda has a point?). Because the way he acts later on is clearly not evil enough already? I feel like that’s unnecessary but it doesn’t add or detract from anything really so whatever I guess?

FUCKIN KEK DAVE. Top tier humor ffs the random mundane name joke will never get old fite me ooh Oh good god OK Choze’s face is also terrifying oh no. Dude you don’t need a monster cell you ALREADY LOOK LIKE ONE but OK

YASSS GENOS SLAY YAAASSSSS He finally wins a few rounds WITHOUT losing any limbs! IM JUST! SO EXCITED TO SEE HIM FIGHTING YASSS WAIT NO GO BACK HEKK so much jumping around is making this more difficult to maintain any semblance of coherency asdfghjk

HAH you know what? When I was rereading the manga and came across face ripper, I thought to myself he looks like he would be some tan/ olive/ pale purple color or something so I bet the anime will be like HAHA RED BITCH. and looky here. I’m catching on finally. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Genos my boy my son you are such a bad ass and I love you hhhhhhhhhhhhhh HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAA AWAKENED COCKROACH AWAKENED COCKROACH ALREADY FUCK THIS EPISODE IS HAPPENING FASTER THAN I ANTICIPATED HECK HECK THERE GOES MY HEART RATE I THOUGHT I WAS PREPARED ALAS I AM BUT A FO O L

HAH I think this is anime-only too?? I dont remember it Why is this so funny what the fuck?? “Dark Hell Killing” Juijitsu omg calm down you absolute edgelord literally half of that name would have been sufficient.

FFFFFFFFFF The slowly building intense music just cut off like- I was so distracted by Bakuzam’s freaky murder face i forgot this happened DAMNIT SAITAMA i NEED my LUNGS to BREATH but no i LAFF and then the silence in the stadium turns to TRIUMPHANT MUSIC as if that was some valiant victory and THAT SOUR FACE FACE FUCK IM DEAD ITS TOO GOOD IM DEAD

Aw Tareo Sweetheart its ok noooooo also side note don’t they also mention Metal Bat is hospitalized? Hey! HEY! TALK ABOUT MY OTHER SON WE DONT EVEN SEE HIM FOREVER HEY oh oh I spoke too soon my b my b

Well shit it’s Shiny vs Shiny jeezus. I don’t have a particular issue with the coloring of Genos’ arms and such but this is just very noticable- Roach could’ve done without the SHINE. Eyyyy a complimentary Sonic for all yall SOS fans out there HAH “No matter it’s still fatal” r u sure about that child r u sure

AAHHH THE WIFE AGAINNNN yo I have A Lot Of Thoughts ™ about the females in OPM that I think I’ll make a separate post about because of the inevitable backlash of Super-S’ design.

OH FUCK COOL SHOT COOL COOL OH FUCK THAT WAS COOL TOO OUT OF NO WHERE hey wait was that supposed to be the Hell Storm attack? WHAT REALLY. AW MAN I was getting hyped about how that would look cmon

Super-S with messed up hair is perfection just saying

Also, Tatsumaki is the definition of Yandere and its terrifying jeez.

Terrifying, but also this. HEK

Aw snekm nooooo I BELIEVE IN YOU OK HES A DICK DONT LISTEN TO HIM YOU JUST WAIT A FEW EPISODES SWEETHEART THEN YOULL SEE

Oh weird dude seeing the Madhouse animation in the middle of season 2 is weird not jarring which is good because at least to me that means JC staff is keeping up well enough but still weirdddd

“Everything about you disgusts me” me too snek DONT LISTEN TO HIM HES A DICK

((((((((((((((((((((ew amai mask go away)))))))))))))))))))))

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I SCREAM FOR THE FIRST TIME OUT LOUD I WAS HONESTLY DOUBTING HED BE SHOWN CAUSE THEY SKIPPED SOME OTHER MONSTERS BEFORE BUT THERE HE IS NYAN NYANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

OOF OUCH I FELT THAT KICK THE IMPACT IN MY BONES

ok post credits scene i have an idea of what it might be and I’m shaking in my seat but hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK

yoooooooooooooooooooooo I WAS NOT IMAGINING GYOROS VOICE LIKE THAT HONESTLY I WAS READING IN ALL IN URSULA’S VOICE LIKE FROM THE LITTLE MERMAID BUT OK THIS IS GOOD OH FUCK GOUKETSU OH HECK OK HEY AT LEAST HES NOT RAINBOW COLORED BUT HECK OH GENOS NO

OH HEY BITCH YOU DIDNT DO SHIT AGAINST METAL BAT YOU GOT LUCKY HE DOESNT COUNT

THERE IS LITERALLY NO AVOIDING IT NOW NEXT WEEK CHILD EMPEROR MY DEAR AND DRIVE KNIGHT AT THE VERY LEAST LIKE THIS IS LITERALLY CONFIRMED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Good Episode GOOD EPISODE OK so my least favorite thing easily was the cop-out on Fubuki’s Hell Storm attack but otherwise my favorite thing was??? I dont know?? Like this episode was a lot of build up for next week’s episode but also so much happened anyway?? I loved seeing Genos in action and also BDSM Wife AND OROCHI AND GYORO and also also I know a lot of people have an issue with the existence of the tournament thing in general but I don’t mind it because its hilarious honestly and all of the happenings otherwise feel well balanced enough sooooooooo yeah I’m SO PUMPED for next week like bring me THE S CLASS BRING ME BRING

#opmiss mumbling #one punch man #live blogging #opm #s2e6 #s2e18 #super-s #genos #saitama #fubuki #tatsumaki #pig god #lightning max #suiryu #snek #nyan #orochi #gyoro gyoro

39 notes · View notes

poorvioletdraws · 5 years

Text

Tom vs. The Underworld

Chapter 3: Santeria, Part 2

We came to the Susanoo Hot Spring at the base of the Mountain of Boom. The resort was quite lavish and architecturally exquisite; it was like something you would see in Japan. This was definitely the highlight of this town. There were demons and monster tourists everywhere. We came to an outdoor lounge area where what looked to be the rest of Raya’s family had been waiting.

“Belmontes, front and center!” Albion called. And with a snap, eight more Stone Demons assembled. “We have been granted the honor of being blessed with the arrival of our Prince of the Underworld, Thomas Lucitor. Welcome him and accept receiving him here today.” He bowed at the conclusion of his announcement.

I tried to say, “Really we don’t have to be so formal I--”

“First my oldest son, Your Highness. Tremaine.” Albion continued.

The eldest son approached me and bowed. He had the same serious expression like his father as he said, “Your Highness, it is my pleasure to receive you.”

“Hey, nice to meet ya.” I said.

“My eldest daughter, Rochelle, Your Highness.” Albion continued.

The eldest daughter approached and bowed. She had a sophisticated stare and said, “Your Highness, it is my pleasure to receive you.”

“Yo, what’s up.” I said.

“My daughter, Shaila, Your Highness.” Albion continued.

His second daughter approached and bowed. She had a bouncy attitude as she said, “Your Highness, it is my pleasure to receive you.”

“Really you don’t have to--”

“My son, Cephastian, Your Highness.” Albion continued.

The second son approached and bowed. He seemed a bit unnerved as he said, “Your Highness, it is my pleasure to receive you.”

“Ok, just keep going I gue--”

“My daughter, Kivi, Your Highness.” Albion continued.

The third daughter approached and bowed. She oozed a snobbish aura about her as she said, “Your Highness, it is my pleasure to receive you.”

“Yes, hi, nice to meet you.” I said with a sigh.

“The twins, Piers and Peter, Your Highness.” Albion continued.

The twin boys approached and bowed with the same motion as if they were one. They were the ones Albion vaguely mentioned who were spying on Raya and I earlier. Both boys had mischievous grins on their faces as they said, “Your Highness, it is our pleasure to receive you.”

“Wow, there is just as many kids as Pony Head’s family…” I muttered under my breath. I glimpsed over to see Raya smiling gently as she watched the entire exchange. It made me smile a bit too honestly.

“And finally, my wife, of the Harlow family, Griselda.” Albion took his wife’s hand and presented her to me.

But instead of being as ceremonious as her family, Griselda took me in her arms for a tight embrace that squeezed the air from my lungs. She said cheerily. “Your Highness, thank you for coming! We are so happy to have you and learn Raya wasn’t lying when she said she met you before!”

“Mom!” Raya groaned as she blushed in embarrassment.

“Yea of course. It is nice meeting all of you. Thank you for welcoming me.” I beamed. Although a bit overwhelming at first, they seemed to be a great family. It felt nice feeling accepted.

“Now let’s all reserve the private dining room and treat our Prince to a feast in his honor.” Albion commanded as the rest of the family eagerly agreed.

“Oh, well I don’t want to impose or anything like that.” I said while rubbing the back of my head.

“Nonsense, Your Highness!” Albion startled me with a friendly pat on the back. “It would be rude if we did not put up our Prince!”

Deep down I wanted to be included and was glad he obliged.

And with that, we were inside the hot spring’s Ryokan-styled Inn and placed in there dining area within minutes of the staff learning of my arrival. We were all sitting on tatami floors with a great table before us. Waitresses entered with elaborate cuisines and exited with our empty dishes through the sliding doors behind us. Raya’s family was incredible. The Stone Demon clan seemed like their hunger was never-ending as each of their plates were cleared one by one. They were a close family and after being in my presence for a bit, they began to get comfortable around me and not be so formal. And although Albion was loud, he was a jolly soul that really loved his family. Him and his wife sat across from me and proudly praised each one of their children and noted their accomplishments. This was a much-needed change.

I looked over to Raya who had been furiously clearing plates as if it were a contest. All her siblings were doing the same and reaching over the other for the next dish even before their own was finished.

I leaned over and said to her, “Heeeey, the food isn’t going anywhere, you know.” I chuckled.

“Oh!” She brought her head up from her trance and looked at me, realizing she must have forgotten I was sitting next to her. “I’m sorry, Prince Tom. That’s kind of rude of me” She began patting her face with her napkin hastily.

“Heh, I was just joking. That’s cool you have an appetite.” I laughed. “And you know, it's pretty sweet when you get nervous too.”

Raya started fiddling with chopsticks and looking at her plate, her face as red as her hair.

I chuckled to myself again and focused on my own plate now. It was nice being in a new place with different faces for a change. The atmosphere was perfect. It was lively yet full of warmth. The resort was amazing. The food was delicious. I bet Star would have liked this…

Suddenly, Albion began slamming the table as if he were a judge banging his gavel. “Now, Belmonte Family, we have eaten our fill, have we not?” His children boisterously concurred. “Haha! And with such a feast in honor of our future King of the Underworld, we must unwind with a refreshing dip in the Yomi Hot Spring!”

Raya snapped up from her shy spell and disputed him. “Dad, I’m sure Prince Tom doesn’t want to spend his day soaking with commoners.”

“Actually, that does sound kind of nice.” I thought it over.

Raya was about to advise her disagreement further but her family’s cheers of approval drowned her out. They all stood from the table with a flash and we were on our way.

The hot springs of Yomi were so cool. Tremaine was telling me how the water here is famous for rejuvenating your soul and revitalizing your inner demons. Literally. All of mine were in bliss as they emitted from me like I were casting a shadow on the water I was lounging in. Tremaine thought it was sick one demon can have that many in them. The two eldest brothers and I were sitting in a smaller part of the hot spring with a waterfall spraying down in front of us.

“I like that it is the right temperature too. Boiling.” I exhaled in pleasure. But then I just realized something and asked, “Hey, the temperature doesn’t harm any of you?”

“No, Prince Tom. Stone Demons are impervious to fire and heat.” Tremaine explained.

“Sweet.” I said. Well that explains why hardly any of the tourist monsters are in the spring. The ones that couldn’t stand the heat were all enjoying the steam it released on the sideline in their lounge chairs. It was still soothing enough and causing the same effects as being in the spring would.

“Skull Ball!” Piers shouted as he unexpectedly came crashing down into the hot spring.

“Double Skull Ball!” Peter shouted next as he came splashing in balled up as well.

“Hey! Why do you always do that! Both of you are so childish, why don’t you act your age sometimes?!” Cephastian stood up from his seated position next to us and glanced over in my direction. “Agh! Both of you got Prince Tom wet!”

“Aren’t we all wet though?” Piers said sarcastically.

“Haha, it’s cool, bro.” I said leaning back with my hands cradling the back of my head.

“Yea, Cephas, it’s cool, bro!” Peter mocked his older brother as he used his arm to fling water at him.

“That’s it! Hyugh!” Cephastian barked back while placing his hand on the closest boulder by the edge of the spring.

“Hey Cephas, keep your temper in check before you--” Tremaine warned but it was too late.

Cephastian used his ability to make the boulder light enough to pick up and hurled it to the space next to Piers and Peter. Once it was no longer touching him, the boulder regained its previous weight. It hit the water with so much force that it pushed it away and out of the small spring that we were sitting in. All of the bystanders were engulfed by the wave of boiling water and were now writhing from the heat.

“Ugh. Cephas.” Tremaine rolled his eyes.

The hot spring started to fill back up from its waterfall regardless of the turn of events.

I was looking behind me at the ones left in pain. The tourists were running around and screaming that it burned. I asked bemused, “Um… Are they ok?”

“I don’t know. I guess. This happens all the time.” Tremaine shrugged as he looked at his younger brother annoyed. Piers and Peter were now on each of Cephastian’s arms trying to pull him into the waterfall as he yelled for them to stop. Tremaine took it upon himself and went to go stop their bickering.

Having brothers would be kind of crazy, but it would be fun too.

“Haha! Boys will be boys!” Albion laughed deeply from behind me, making my heart jump yet again. He proceeded to sit down next to me in the hot spring.

“Oh, Mr. Belmonte. I wanted to thank you. This has been great, I didn’t expect my day to go this way honestly.” I expressed my gratitude to the paternal demon.

Albion’s expression grew serious. “Young Prince, Raya tells me you both visited the temple here.”

“Yea! It was amazing! I mean, I’ve seen torture before but never—“

“Do you understand what Amaterasu Temple symbolizes, Young Prince?” Albion cut me off, still in his serious tone.

I shook my head in a “no”. I tried to think back at what I may have learned about Yomi Town before, but it had never been mentioned. Not even by my parents. I didn’t even know the name of the temple come to think of it. I mean, this was the first time I’ve been here. All I knew of this place was what I saw today and what Raya had told me.

“Did you know, the Belmontes are the Underworld’s most renowned stonemasons? I have built so many landmarks and structures, Lucitor Castle being one of my accomplishments.” Albion mentioned.

“Whoa really?” I gasped at the revelation by Albion.

He nodded and continued. “When I was a boy, my father and grandfather were commissioned to build Amaterasu Temple together, in which I was able to help alongside them for the first time. They taught me how to construct something as grand as that.”

“That is awesome. You could really tell all the time and hard work you and your family must’ve put into it. It took my breath away honestly.” I complimented the large Stone Demon.

“Heh. Thank you for your acknowledgement, Young Prince.” Albion gave a hearty chuckle but soon cut it short as he said, “It was crafted from stone we mined from the Mountain of Boom known as obsidian. Do you know why we used such a material?”

I thought it over and said, “Must be for the color and effect. It being shiny and black catches your eye.”

Albion chuckled again, “That’s partly true but there is another purpose as well.” He cast his gaze up toward the Mountain of Boom and grew pensive. “Obsidian can be used by our people as a totem for protection, healing, and truthfulness. Therefore, if you are lacking in any of those aspects, it is best to enter the temple in order to gain the power of what it can provide. It rids the body of the resentments, fear, and anger that has been built up and helps the seeker calm his mind to think clearly again. In short, all the negativity you are facing will be cancelled out from existence. ”

“...” I was speechless so I continued to listen quietly to what Albion had to say.

“There are many opinions that have skewed what Amaterasu Temple is used for--tortures, rituals, ceremonies--but to me and what my grandfather and father built it for was more philosophical than those reasons. It was created for the beliefs that I gave you. To help those who are lost and need protection, healing, and the truth. It is a special place I have shared with my family. For all of my children were born there in order to take in those same three properties.”

“Oh wow…” I was intrigued by finding out such a remarkable bit of information about Raya and her family. Now it makes sense why she looked at the temple so proudly. It is apart of her family legacy. It is where she was born. This place is where she was born. I wonder why she never mentioned it?

Albion now cast his gaze upon me as he spoke. “Over the years, I’ve noticed Raya being very drawn to that temple. Most importantly, out of all of the Belmonte children, she is the one closest to what I envisioned for Amaterasu Temple. Raya is growing highly clairvoyant. She may not see it yet but she will in time. I mean, she was able to sense what was troubling you enough to guide you to the temple, Young Prince.”

“W-what?” I stammered.

“You’ve come here in search of protection, healing, and the truth. And Raya helped you find it or is still helping you find it in some way.” Albion theorized.

“Huh… I guess that could be right…”

Albion chuckled a bit. “Heh. Sorry to get so serious, Young Prince. I suppose I just want you to better understand what is precious to us. And I hope you have been able to recognize what is precious to you from your time here.”

What is precious to me now?

“Raya is the youngest and is still trying to find her place in the world. She is stagnant when it comes to change and making friends; she still has the same five she has grown up with since she was little.” Albion studied the steady moving water around us. His sons had moved on to the top of the waterfall and looked as if they were trying to push Cephastian off of it.

Albion continued speaking, “It is nice to see her branching out and making new friends, and with our Prince no less. That is highly out of the ordinary for her but you are a special person regardless of your family name. So I hope you value your friendship.”

I perked up and affirmed his remark, “Yes, of course, Mr. Belmonte! We even made—“ Oh no! What happened to our friendship necklaces we made at the temple?!

Albion smiled down at me, not realizing I cut my sentence short. “And I would not object if in time it became a union of great strength for the Belmonte name as well, Your Highness. We must all be strong for the future of our Underworld.”

“Y-Yea… you’re right.” I grew pensive now and glanced away. We were both silent after that, but it was more in a mutual understanding way instead of an awkward one. There was so much more I needed to learn about this place, the Underworld, and everything in general. How could I have gotten this out of touch? How can I become a better prince for my people?

We continued to bask in the Hot Spring, content with each other’s company. And being entertained by the Belmonte boys pushing Cephastian over the waterfall.

As twilight was beginning to encompass the Susanoo Hot Spring, I was now checking out the rest of the resort alone and still thinking over what Albion told me earlier. The Belmontes suggested that I come with them and partake in the nightly activities that were being highlighted by the Inn but I think it was time for me to bow out. As much as I liked the company of such a large family--especially after they opened my mind to how I’ve been handling my situation--it was best for me to start figuring my issues out again apart from them. I thanked and said goodbye to all of them before they dispersed. All except Raya who was not with them.

I wonder where she ran off to? I haven’t seen her since dinner. I hope I didn’t upset her by agreeing to keep on hanging out with her family like that. She did seem embarrassed with me being around but hopefully she knows I’m the last to judge anyone, her family was awesome! … I wish she would’ve told me more about the temple and why it was so special to her… I wonder if I’ll even see her again…

As if on cue with my thoughts, there she was. Raya was standing on a small bridge in the garden of the hot spring that faced the Mountain of Boom.

I waved my hand so she could see me as I shouted for her, “Hey! Raya!”

She brought her head in my direction and squinted through the passersby until I caught her sight.

I navigated through the crowd and was in front of her in no time.

Seeing Raya again gave me an indescribable feeling—like when you go to a carnival and you ride your favorite ride over and over. The thrill of going and the anticipation of waiting in line until it’s your turn. That feeling of not wanting it to end... But why am I feeling like this now? Was it because I thought I wouldn’t have been able to thank her or say goodbye before I left? Did I really want to leave right now?

Raya held one of her hands to her chest while the other was tucked away in her jean jacket pocket. “I see you survived… I hope my Dad and brothers weren’t too… aggressive...” She coyly said but wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Nah, they were pretty awesome.” I shrugged.

“...” Raya continued to stare at the stream beneath us as the other guests of the resort walked on by. This silence was odd, especially after today. I wonder why she doesn’t want to talk much to me now? We did spend most of the day together so maybe she was just tired of me hanging around… Like Star was…

I shook the thought from my head. Why do I keep doing this. After everything that was said and done today, Raya would never be like that. She even said it herself and I had to respect her words by believing in them. But is this the appropriate time to tell her goodbye or should I wait it out a little longer?

I decided to carry on the conversation instead. So I told her, “Hey your dad told me all about that temple we went to. Totally cool that he built it with his dad and grandpa.”

“Oh..”

“And he told me how special it is to your family. That’s amazing you were born there.” I tried coaxing her further.

But she didn’t budge as she mumbled, “Oh, he even told you that…”

“Oh and your brothers are so funny! Cephas dumped all the water out of the hot spring and onto the guests just because he was mad at the twins. You should’ve seen it, haha.” I laughed nervously.

“...”

I was getting a little annoyed from her vague responses, if anything at all, but I was determined to get us back to the way we were. Us? Well yes, there isn’t anything wrong with wanting to hold on to a friendship. No matter if you’ve only known the person a short while… And like her dad said, I do value our friendship and if she does too she will tell me what’s wrong.

I took a breath and gave her a reassuring smile as I stepped in front of her. I asked her, “Hey, is everything okay?”

Now that I had cut off her view of the stream, she had no choice but to look me in the eyes and talk. Or so I thought.

Raya clenched her eyes shut and seemed to be trying her hardest not to break down and cry. But why?

I grew concerned and placed my hands on her shoulders to get her attention further. I asked her again, “Hey what’s up? Did I do something to upset you?”

Raya broke from her momentary silence and finally replied, “Of course not, Prince Tom…”

“Okay… Well what’s going on…” I retreated my hands away from her shoulders. I was unsure of how to proceed. I didn’t want to pressure her and I didn’t want to get upset either. But that’s what landed me in the situation I’m in before I came here. Because me not wanting to goad the truth is why I wound up in Yomi Town hurting. I didn’t want to feel that pain right now.

I explained further, “It’s just… You’ve been acting kind of distant and it’s kind of bringing up negative feelings I’ve had with--”

“I just thought you left without saying goodbye!” Raya blurted out.

And then that unusual feeling from earlier returned. It was my turn to be silent as she spoke.

“I’m sorry, Prince Tom. I should’ve known better, it is an insult to question your character especially after the day we had. I ran into my family after you left them and Piers and Peter heavily implied how you already left and told them all goodbye.” Raya gave a sigh of relief after getting all that off her chest.

I couldn’t help but smile from what she said. I can’t believe I also questioned her character after today. I felt some relief too.

“Especially since…” Raya’s hand began to tremble in her pocket as she meekly stammered, “I… I thought you left… without giving you…”

Suddenly, a demon pulling his son along bumped into my shoulder. He apologized as they hurried away with both Raya and I looking to where he was heading. I realized there was a lot of commotion as other guests were heading toward a certain location in the garden.

There was a sizable crowd starting to circle around a large basin at the foot of the Mountain of Boom. I asked her, “What’s going on over there?”

“... Oh, that’s Old Fearful. It’s a gigantic fire geyser that erupts every hour, spewing its incinerating flame from the mountain’s core.” Raya said matter-of-factly.

“Okay I need to see this.” I said without hesitation. “Let’s go!” I didn’t realize I had grabbed onto the demon girl’s hand as we ran over to the gathering crowd. Something about it just felt right. And for a second it felt as if I were running with Star.

Raya and I stood among the ruckus of demons anxiously waiting for the show to begin. I could see a large mound on the ground with what appeared to be steam releasing from it. People were chattering away until a loud hiss abruptly escaped from the opening of the mound and quieted the crowd. And then with a flash, a huge gulf of magma flared out like a flame from a lighter. It was bright and blinding as it illuminated the darkening atmosphere. It shot so high in the air, I’m sure all of Yomi Town was able to witness this spectacle. It was beautiful.

The blaze was so hot that a lot of the guests standing closer to it had to flee unless they wanted to be scorched by such blistering heat. For some reason, I felt another undefinable feeling as I observed the fiery geyser. I was in awe but I felt something familiar. It felt like when I would also blow up in rage towards my friends. Was it that terrifying and unbearable for them? But the Mountain of Boom was different. This was natural for it and it had to let go of what was built up within it, kind of like a more liberating experience. Could I learn to handle my stress in a more positive way? Maybe that will help my situation with...

Being deep in thought, I didn’t know I was still holding Raya’s hand and began lightly squeezing it. I felt her squeeze back.

We sat on a bench nearby and watched Old Fearful until it diminished back to its previous frothing state. The crowd had disbanded by now, leaving just the two of us still enjoying what we had seen. The steam from the geyser that enveloped us was a comforting heat and I felt my mind and body were at a most unexpected peace.

I hope Star is having as much fun as I am… Ugh, why am I even thinking of that right now… She probably doesn’t even.... Ugh

“Prince Tom?” I heard Raya pipe up.

“Hm? Yea what’s up?” I asked her.

“Excuse me for asking--I’m just curious is all... And it has been in the back of my mind all day.” Raya sat up a bit from our lounged position. “... What brings you to such a normal place like this? I mean, for us lesser demons, this is as adventurous as we get.” The demon girl stared ruefully at her hands in her lap. “You must’ve been pretty bored today…”

“No way, today was sweet!” My sudden outburst caused Raya to flinch. “I mean, the shops, the temple, and the hot spring with this flaming geyser. It was the best!” I calmed my excitement and leaned back with my hands behind my head. “I mean, I’m to rule the Underworld one day so might as well get to know everything about it, right?”

Raya looked toward the sky with a dreamlike gaze. “... Such a life to be someone as important as you. You must have so much fun being a prince. Everyday must be something new. My life is always the same… Just ordinary.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I wish my life was ordinary. Your family is awesome. I’m kind of envious.” I gave a half-smile as I looked up towards the sky as well. “My parents are away a lot so I have to stand-in for them while they’re gone. I can handle it but… It’s just so many people are watching me to succeed and carry on my family’s legacy. It can get kind of overwhelming.”

“That’s how I feel too!” Raya startled me from her change in tone. “When others find out that I’m a Belmonte, they just assume I’m to be just like my Dad, or a great forger like my Mom. My siblings don’t help none either. Everyone just tries to keep me in this box.”

“Heh, no kidding.” I agreed.

“Yea, just because I like music over building, or take longer than others to come to a decision, or just ‘cause I’m a little clumsy here and there. I’m just a…” I noticed Raya hold her hand to her mouth, silencing what she was intending to say. “Sorry, Prince Tom. I kind of get a little… passionate when it comes to… I don’t know.”

“Destiny.” I finished her sentence as I started to gaze upward again.

Raya took a breath and went on to say, “I just wish… I wish that your destiny weren’t so heavily decided by who your parents are…”

I closed my eyes and said rather forlorn, “You’re like her too, huh.”

“Hm?” Raya looked over to me, wondering who I was referring to.

“Everyone has their own path… ” I muttered.

“Prince Tom?” Raya sounded concerned.

I shook my head in order to bring me back to my senses. “It’s nothing, just thinking out loud.”

“Oh, ok…” Raya quieted.

It would probably be best to change the subject anyway before I grow sad over the situation I’m in with Star. I was doing somewhat good at forgetting about it but was that really helping me?

“Actually, in response to your question earlier, I’m trying to decide on which dimension to visit. I haven’t been to many and I’m just taking some time to figure it out, I guess.” I felt the smile I gave her was a bit forced.

“Oh, really? All I’ve ever known is the Underworld. You’re able to travel across the multiverse?” Raya grew interested in what I had mentioned.

“Yea, I can use portals.”

“Wicked cool!” Raya leaned in excitedly. For a moment, she had let a little bit of her personality break through her shyness; but then she caught it just as fast again. “Erm--I mean, that’s great...” the demon girl began to blush as she placed her hands quickly in her lap and darted her head away in embarrassment.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I looked back at Old Fearful’s orifice. Its steam left a somber mist hanging among us; to some it would feel eerie, but to me it was tranquil. You could hear the busy sounds of the Inn behind us and the boiling and bubbling of the hot spring around us. I’m glad I ended up in a place such as this. But then I started to feel guilty again.

This is how it should be, everything about being here is how it should feel, but with Star. I hate being away from her. I hate not being able to contact her. Does she even care how I feel? Why won’t she choose me? How can I even attempt to be happy knowing she isn’t the one here sitting next to me...

The creeping sadness began to show on my face again and I knew Raya saw it for sure this time.

“Prince Tom, is everything alright?” I heard her ask. I just couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“I… I’m sorry… It isn’t anything about you, or your family, or today. Today was great! I just… I just can’t stop thinking about my girlfriend and what I should do next. I thought if I distracted myself or got away or just--I don’t know, I don’t know what I’m feeling anymore or what I should do. I feel like I know but she is just so… special to me… But… Ugh!” I got up from the bench and rubbed my hands through my head slightly agitated.

Raya stood up too and held her hands to her chest. I realized that was a habit of hers that she would do when she was nervous. Was I making her nervous? Or was I making her feel insecure? What’s wrong with me… How inconsiderate of me to just start ranting about my personal problems after all this time her and her family spent cheering me up. Raya was patient and had a subtle outlook on life. She wasn’t loud or attention-seeking, nor was she plain by any means. She was different. She had a shell that I started to see crack the more she becomes comfortable around me. Her eccentric mind was admirable and although she seemed a bit spacey at times, I see a girl that is just looking for something more than the ordinary life she has been given. Raya took the time out of her own family vacation to spend it with me. And here I am just neglecting her hospitality by wishing Star were here… This is just so difficult to figure out right now… Maybe this is something I should’ve waited to talk to my Mom about…

And then suddenly, Raya had a reassuring expression cover her face and spoke in a tone that matched the softness in her eyes, “She must make you very happy… When I first met you, Prince Tom, you had this smile that could brighten any room… Something I wish I am capable of doing one day. Just being a reason for someone’s happiness… Your girlfriend was the reason for that smile, I’m sure...”

But then, the female stone demon’s smile disappeared into a slight frown as she cast her lemon-colored eyes away. “For someone to make you this upset--you, our Prince of the Underworld--it is… It hurts us all. I want you to be happy again, I’ll listen to whatever problems you have and try to help you find a way back to that happiness with her if I can. So please, let me know what happened and maybe we can figure out how you can resolve things with her.”

Raya looked back at me with another smile that gave me solace. I was surprised and couldn’t help but to follow through with her offer. So I gushed.

“Okay… Well, she keeps shutting me out. And whenever there is a problem between us, she runs away from it or we just pretend it doesn’t exist. I want her to tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it or at least confide in me with what bothers her, but I never get that chance. I always come second because she puts her best friend before me. He is someone I care about too, so the situation is just kind of… complicated. I care about them both and feel selfish wanting her all to myself sometimes. But that’s how a boyfriend should feel about his girlfriend.” I didn’t realize I had started to pace back and forth as my ranting continued.

“And the more I tried to close the distance between us, the more I was pushed away. I tried everything. But in the end I was the one who kept running away from the truth.” I clenched back tears and turned away from the redhead. Thinking about all of this was one thing, but actually revealing what has been building inside of me for so long was showing it for the hard reality that it is. This was what heartbreak feels like, and it was so painful. But for some reason, getting it off my chest was also alleviating some of that pain. “I’m tired of not being acknowledged. I’m tired of not knowing what I’m doing wrong or if I’m doing anything right. Just once I want to be able for her to understand why I’m upset sometimes and that she can take a step back and value my own feelings for a change. Is that too much to ask of your girlfriend?”

Raya was silent for a moment.

I held my head down and said, “I’m sorry, Raya. I shouldn’t be dumping all of this on you like this…” I began rubbing my left arm as if it were sore.

“No, I’m sorry, Prince Tom…” Raya looked genuinely saddened by my revelation. “I don’t know how that feels, or what you could do… I have never been in a relationship… but I would think both involved should make each other’s feelings a priority over the feelings of others outside of their relationship…”

“Yea… I wish that were my case…”

“And your feelings matter just as much as hers!” Raya straightened up and became a bit serious with me. “Your situation may seem complicated, but that doesn’t describe a typical relationship to me. I really only have my parents to go off of here, but they would never do to each other what you say your girlfriend is doing to you… Sorry if I’m being too blunt...”

“No, not at all. I think I actually need to hear this…” I started to get this strange feeling of adrenaline in my chest from listening to what Raya had to say.

“Have you told your girlfriend what’s been bothering you at all?” She asked me.

“No… If I do, I feel I’ll just stress her out even more over what I want and she’ll just shut me out. Or she’ll want to break up… And I don’t know if I’m ready for that or if I want that… I’ve come a long way for her. I changed a lot for her. Should I just let it all be for nothing?” I looked down at the ground defeated.

“Has she done the same for you?” Raya spoke rather straightforwardly.

“What?” I was taken aback by her sudden change in tone.

“Has she changed for you too?” She repeated herself. “Because if you’re the only one that has changed or you have to avoid conflict instead of working through it with her just so she won’t leave, then that doesn’t seem fair at all to me.”

“Well... She hasn’t really shown me a definite change when it comes to being in a relationship…” I pondered that possibility. “Maybe I was too focused on changing for her that I forgot about her own insecurities that she needed to work on as well. I think I was just scared that Star was going to get so far ahead of me on the path she has chosen for herself that I wouldn’t be able to catch up. ”

“Yea, but where does your path lead?” Raya had a newfound air of sophistication about her and was speaking as if she were a totally different person. She continued to speak without reservation and practically challenged my way of thinking. Brian would give me coping techniques but this was a method that nobody ever has done for me before. I was interested to hear more of what she had to say..

“My path? I hadn’t really thought of my own, it was always shadowed by Star’s. I know what I want to be in the future, but I don’t know if she’ll be by my side and that’s what’s freaking me out the most...”

“Like you said earlier. Everyone has their own path. I think what you want to say is that those paths will either come together with another or they will separate and go its own way. You start out on the path of another, such as your parents, but eventually you’ll have to branch out and figure out your own way to get where you’re destined to be. If you truly feel you’re headed on one different from what others believe then go for it. You are Prince Thomas Lucitor, future King of the Underworld. If both you and your girlfriend’s paths can’t compromise to one day end at what you believe is your destiny, then I think you have the only answer you need.”

“Is that really all it is?” I whispered to myself. Raya’s words really resonated with me. Am I in denial of the possibility of our paths beginning to separate? Have I really been making this way more complicated than it needed to be? I started to feel that adrenaline build in my chest once more. I was starting to feel frustrated. But not with what Raya was saying, or the situation with Star again; I was frustrated with myself.

“Are you alright, Prince Tom? I hope I wasn’t being too harsh…” Raya asked attentively.

“Not at all... You know, your father was right about you.”

“Hm?” She blinked confused.

“Heh nevermind...” I forced a smile and looked back toward the ground. “Back then, I probably would’ve blown up and used my anger and power in a way to get what I want. I was a person back then you or your family probably would never want to be around.”

“If you and your girlfriend break up, will you go back to that person you once were?”

Raya’s question shocked me. I began to remember how I use to be. How much others hated me. How Star couldn’t stand me and how cruel I was to Marco. I never want to go back to that person.

“Never.” I told her.

“Then maybe all this time you weren’t just changing for your girlfriend. She was the catalyst for you to start on your own path towards your destiny. You changed for yourself and that’s something you should be proud of.” Raya commended me.

“Yea… I just can’t believe I almost wasted all my progress by almost blowing up at her. I mean, I was getting angry with Star just because she didn't pick a place to go to from a silly book when I can’t even do the same myself...” I threw my arms up and landed back on the bench. We sat for a moment without talking to each other but it was Raya who finally broke the silence.

“Um, Prince Tom, can your portal take you anywhere?” She asked.

“Yea, of course. As long as I know where it is I’m going that is.”

“Please wait here for a moment, Prince Tom. I won’t be long.” Raya hopped up from her seat and took off toward the inn.

I sighed and leaned back on the bench. I had put my hand in my pocket and pulled out my compact phone. I opened it up to see if I had any missed messages or calls. Still nothing. It’s been almost five days now. Did Star even care what I was doing, or where I went, or who I was with? I was so tempted to call her. I want to know what she is doing. I want to know where she went. I want to know who she was with. But I think I already knew the answers to all those questions. Ugh. I should just call her and apologize, maybe it isn’t too late and we can get over this… Or do I just want to keep hurting myself by even continuing this…

I was about to punch in Star’s contact when Raya returned. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and stood up from the bench.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Prince Tom.” Raya huffed trying to catch her breath.

“What happened, why’d you run off?” I asked.

“Here.” Raya said as she gave me a folded up piece of paper.

I opened it up to see coordinates written down.

“Rochelle looked it up for me, would your portal be able to take us there?” Raya asked eagerly.

“Sure, but why--”

“Please?” Raya insisted. What could it hurt? If Raya wanted to show me something, it couldn’t be all that bad.

And without another word, we went through my flaming portal to a destination unknown to me.

A cascade of fire shot up from the ground and out we walked to a breathtaking sight.

An endless sea of golden sand stretched out behind us as we stood on a small mound of it. What should've been an ocean, filled with water, instead resembled the universe in all of its spectacular glory. A plethora of vibrant red gases were blotched against the dark abyss of the duplicated space while shooting stars skidded by like tadpoles. It was as if we were standing at the edge of the world looking out across the glistening galaxy. And suddenly it happened. The sky was cast in brilliant gradients of oranges, pinks, blues, and purples as what could’ve been a thousand suns were setting in the sky sporadically. One by one, they went down in the realm like a domino effect, but never ceasing. It was a land of infinite sunsets.

I had been holding my breath during such wonder, but I finally felt myself gasp ,“Whoa! This is amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“... Yea… Me neither…” Raya looked just as awestruck as I did.

“You’ve never been here before too?”

Raya brought her gaze to me. I could see the sunbeams reflecting in her yellow eyes and I had to admit the sparkling it created in them while in symphony with the rays outlining her body was rather ethereal. She smiled contently and said, “This is my first time coming here. Rochelle loves watching sunsets, and I usually sit out with her watching them while at her shop… She has been to this dimension before with my aunt a long time ago. We never really get a chance to travel because we can’t freely use portals, but when she told me of this place, I always wanted to see it for myself one day.” Raya was now staring back out across the canvas of cosmic colors. “... Something so beautiful yet simple as a sunset is taken for granted. Tomorrow is never promised, but the sunset gives you hope that the sun will rise again...”

“That’s… kind of deep…” I finally diverted my eyes from her and back at the galactic beach scene as well. Looking out over the horizon as the suns would continuously set, I began to realize something from what Raya meant.

I don’t want to be lied to, and I don’t want to lie to myself any longer either. I don’t want explanations or excuses. I want closure. I’m avoiding it in every way possible. I pretended to be oblivious to all of the signs--Song Day, the photo booth at the wedding, thinking the Severing Stone would solve a nonexistent curse. I didn’t want to pressure Star because I thought she would want to immediately end our relationship instead of dealing with the stress of her own divided feelings. Neither of us want to admit what we need to do or what is best for the both of us because we love each other so much that we don’t want to hurt each other. But just because it hurts now, doesn’t mean it will always be that way. There are all kinds of love out there. I love my Mom, my Dad, my friends. Marco. And I truly love Star. We’ve had something not many people get to experience, and no matter if it is long-term, short-term, on-again-off-again, or even just friends, the memories will always be special. She will always be my friend no matter where our paths lead. The sun may set today but there will always be a new day awaiting me. And I value both Star and Marco so much that I want to continue being with them both well into the years to come. Should it be as friends, well that is good enough for me.

Without warning, a loud shriek startled me from my thoughts.

“Kyyyaaaaah!!” Raya was purposefully screaming.

I glanced around as if for a sign of danger but I didn’t find any. I asked her, “What-W-What are you doing?”

“Come on, try it too, Prince Tom.” She had a mischievous smirk aimed my way.

“Try what exactly?”

“Let it all out.” She explained.

I guess it couldn’t hurt. So we both began to yell.

“Gyyyyyyaaaahhh!!!”

“Kyyyyaaaahhhh!!!”

Upon ending our noisefest, both of us broke out in a fit of laughter. The adrenaline that had been building within me had flushed out from its rampaging climax to now a slow trickle—just like Old Fearful. Was that really all I needed? No, it was just part of it. I understood what she was showing me now. I have kept so much of my feelings bottled up inside, believing for a while now that it was wrong to let them loose. I need to come to terms with who I am and make sure others respect not just me but my feelings also. Because being afraid of letting out how I feel is what got me into my situation with Star in the first place.

“... You--just seemed--like you really--n-needed to let it--all out.” She caught her breath in between bouts of giggles.

“Yea… You’re right.” I came to the realization with a grin across my face as I confided in her, “I used to have a problem with my anger and didn’t really have the best way to cope with it.” I cast my eyes down to the side, now fixated on the sand of the shore. “I’ve been treated as if letting my anger out wasn’t something I was suppose to do if I wanted to keep my friends.” I looked at her and continued. “But I understand now that friends should be more concerned with helping me with what’s bothering me instead of just avoiding the problem. They should want to help me better myself and resolve our differences.” I saw her smile back at me as if in tune with my decision. “So, thanks, Raya, for this… For today…All of it.”

“Of course, Prince Tom.” Raya looked back at the setting suns.

“Hey…” I began rubbing the back of my neck. “Do you think you could just call me Tom? We’re friends and all…”

I knew how her upbringing was and I knew she would object. But it couldn’t hurt to ask. I was just tired of formal titles right now. I just wanted to be treated like everyone else, well to a point I suppose. But in this moment and after today, it just felt right to drop the formalities.

I didn’t get the disapproval I expected from her. As she continued to take in the universe in the sea, she blushed and softly said . “Alright… Tom.”

We walked through my flaming portal and back out to the entrance of Yomi Town. The shops had all closed and the people had gone home with the lights inside their residences all glittering in the darkness. The torch of the lamp post at the gateway entrance flickered dimly on us as we stood there facing each other. I could see my carriage positioned outside the gate and my skeleton horse snoozing away.

We had stayed in the sunset dimension for a good bit of time, just hanging out and playing in the water and sand. We didn’t want to be gone for too long to cause Raya’s family to worry. Especially her father. I may be a prince but he is still a parent. I could already picture Albion and his intimidating glare…

“Well, I guess I better get going.” I said rubbing the back of my head. Part of me didn’t want to leave but I knew it was time for me to confront the truth I had been avoiding.

“I’m glad you were able to enjoy your time here in Yomi Town… Tom.” Raya blushed a little when she said my name without the honorific. She was holding her hands to her chest again and looking at the ground. I wonder if she enjoyed herself today as much as I did as well.

“Well thanks to you and your family, I did. Hope I wasn’t the only one who had fun though.” I chuckled and waited for her reply.

“Um… I had fun too.” She mumbled as she twiddled her fingers together.

I wonder why now all of a sudden it was so awkward for her. Surely she knows that I have to go. And at least this time I can properly say goodbye to her. Maybe she didn’t want me to go?

But it was time. It was hard saying goodbye, and not just to her. I needed to address that goodbye with another person too. It was time to truly set her free. So I began to slowly turn away as I said, “Well, I better get going. Thanks again Raya.”

I hesitantly waited in hopes for her to say goodbye, but she didn’t. She was still gazing at the ground, fidgeting with her hands. I sighed, a little let down, and started walking toward the exit.

“...Tom!” She called after me.

I stopped in my tracks and turned back to her, I internally smiled. “Yea?”

She closed the space between us and held out her hand. I instinctively brought my own hand forward and let her put whatever she wanted to give me in it. It was the necklace we made from the temple!

“I think you should have this… I mean… I want you to have this. As a souvenir from your time here. And as a symbol of our friendship.” She was still not meeting my eyes while her cheeks remained as red as her hair.

“Oh, thank you!” I said with glee as I placed it around my neck. This will be a great memory of my time here for sure. And a great memory of her as well. To think she even thought to get me, one of her friends, a gift now too.

She finally looked up at me with an expression I hadn’t seen from her before. Her eyes seemed to be searching for some form of validation from my own. It seemed like she wanted to say something else but instead she said, “I hope you’re able to work out everything with your girlfriend and get your happiness back.”

I wanted to say something else too, but instead I said, “Thanks, I know I will be able to now.” And I stepped away from her.

“Bye, Tom. Have a safe trip back.”

“See-ya, Raya.” I gave her a half-smile and used the goodbye that was a play on her name that I had said to her back when we first met.

She returned my smile with one of her own and began to run off, back to the inn and her family, back to her normal life. I wondered why she was hesitant to give this gift to me. I wondered why that even though she said it with a smile, it was the first time it looked like there was some pain behind it. I began to walk off, back to my carriage and back to my kingdom, back to being a prince.

I flopped down in my throne chair, a little exhausted from the day I just had. As my skeleton horse began to pull the carriage through the mountain pass and further away from Yomi Town, I started thinking about Star. I know what I have to do now. And it will be the hardest decision I have ever had to make.

And with that, I reached in my pocket and pulled out my compact phone. I punched in the contact and waited for it to connect.

“Hey Star, can we meet up tomorrow?” I asked her and she excitedly accepted. We didn’t talk long because she wanted to get back to playing with Marco’s new little sister...

I sat quietly at my throne during the long ride home, not noticing that I had been clutching the necklace Raya gave me the entire time as I thought about tomorrow.

#svtfoe #starvstheforcesofevil #OC #star vs the forces of evil #oc fanfiction #tom lucitor #The Underworld #TomVSTheUnderworldFanfic #TVTU

2 notes · View notes

hiraethstill · 5 years

Text

THIS WEEK AND LAST WEEK ON DAIYA NO ACE (7/16 and 7/23)

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

7/16 LIVEBLOG:

IMMEDIATE assault by eijun's handsome face

and his DETERMINATION

every time the OP comes on im like where are the babies? THERE THEY ARE @ firsties

the way i GASPED

THIS IS HOW WE FELL IN LOVE WITH EIJUN I TELL YOU

haha poor audience member doesnt know sawamura is mostly good at swinging from the bunt stance

eijun... you have every right to be frustrated

ugh... the way he looks when he was a doormat to the ace... i feel this too much my chest hurts

"if i had pitched like furuya did today i wouldve been subbed out" TOO TRUE AND OUCH

HE HITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

THE BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGENDDD

AND JUST LOOK AT ASADA AND KUKI'S F A C E S

DOUBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

lmao did eijun learn to run bases from mochi? now i want this

uhhh the announcer was wrong? the STANDS were all cheering and happy, it was mostly the dugout that was surprised

bc this is level of trust he gets from first string sigh

sorry all my frustration is here

HAHA OKAY BUT why does this look gayalso sawamura's little "na!" with the pew pew is so cute wtf

his lil cheeky face in the corner im hashjdlkdgj

haruichi and toujou in that shot look like they'd been helping him practice batting and it paid off

hslkhg eijun and his "hips!" i cant

KANEMARUUUUUUUUU

HELL YEAH TAKUMI NICE SHOULDER

nice eijun is safe

haha i never know who to root for bc i love all the bois

okay but

has anyone ever talked about how cool amahisa's eyes are???

i mean

look at this

so cool

yoooo wtf amahisa's voice in this part is really appealing??? damnn

so... kanemaru's a capable batter even if he's not top tier, why you gotta keep making him bunt

oh well, i like that face you're making kanemaru

noooooooooooo

it's okay kanemaru you did your best

cmon mochi bring him home!!!!!!!!!!

EIJUN ENOUGH WITH THE HIPS LMAO

yeah thats right mochi + other batters, give him the run support he deserves

AMAHISA THE DISASTER BI IM

"did he shave his eyebrows? he looks like a strong fighter" are you just checking him out

you'd want him to do those jump kicks amahisa

moon-face?????

omg i feel the tinglings... of a rarepair... amakura.....................

what was i saying about his EYES??

come the fuck ON dont leave eijun stranded on second!!!!!!

HHHHH

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

MY BOISSSSSSSSSSS

SHOW ME YOUR FACEEE

(and u rite yall amahisa is yabai)

THERE BE YOUR FACEEEE

IM SO EMOTIONAL

AND HIS VOICE

FUCKLE

AND HIMSTDVEEE

whoaaa that slowmo pitching sequence!

HARUCCHIII

oh hello eijun upping the tempo and looking great doing it

wow this super HD sparkle miyuki

EIJUN IS BEAUTIFULLLL and lowkey this looks like the OP

ASADA AND KUKI MY SONS I WOULD DIE FOR YOUUUUUUUUUUUU

BEING SO EXCITED ABOUT THE CUTTER KAI AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I ALSO LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

HLKDHFS AURA

okay sun we gettin a lil cap happy

another pretty eijun shottttt

WHOA 3D BALL

3D SLOWMO BALL

N* H* TT * R

i feel like i jinxed him sorry eijun

also i LOVE when the stands yell OSH OSH OSH back

wow toujou's voice was. so cute??

noriiiii i love you so much and thank you

furuya silently reflecting huh?

YO WTF IN THE MANGA NORI'S CAP COVERS FURUYA'S NUMBER WTF ANIMATORS ITS ICONIC

awww theyre all patting him i wanna pat eijun too

NORIIIIII YOU ARE SO PRECIOUS

kanemaru's eyes are gray??

kousei-san.......... mayhaps i have.......... Feelings about this

"gureato" man tahara is great

HLJSKDFHKGSFJGKFHDGLDF BLONDE AMAHISA

THIS IS JUST FUELING MY AMAKURA LMAOOO

WHY IS BLONDE HAIR IN MIDDLE SCHOOL A RUNNING JOKE IN ANIME

kuramochi, amahisa, hyuuga from knb, alla dem yankees

oh my god is that suddenly shaved head amahisa still in first year he's so smol

wow kousei is so eccentric haha i love it

YESSS BRINGING BACK MANAKA-BOY

omg yakushi cameo!!

wow this is so pleasant to look at and idk why??

his eyeeesss

and this too omgg

I SEE NISHINO

omgggg are they who i think they are

YES THEY AREANIMATORS REALLY BE FEEDING ME TODAY

sorry mimei that was too much tension in a single glance not to be homoerotic

go shirasu-senpai!

wellll shit, rip zono and rip seidou

142 pitches???????? are they throwing out amahisa's arm imma fight

YO OKAY BUT DOES THIS MEAN INAJITSU VS ICHIDAI

"that wouldnt be any fun" uh you do realize you're talking about a person's physical health right audience member???

the. ace. is. not. the. only. player.

its okay this is the peanut gallery they dont matter in the long run

omg are the first years wearing their school uniform slacks

AWWWW TAKU OFFERED TO CARRY SAWAMURA'S BAG

taku always worried about everyone and sawamura looking rather nice actually

HLJSKFDHGD AMAHISA'S FACE LIGHTING UP AT EIJUN

omg was that a little bow eijun made at amahisa before moving on?

"something i want to ask you" are you boutta ask him out amahisa

im sorry i love eyes too much

and also! eijun getting the recognition he deserves!! buuuut from another team rip

cmon eijun he's trying to be nice tbh

lmao koushuu and shirakawa should meet... resting bitch face club

"i've never seen kousei-san take interest in another pitcher" THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO UNPACK IN THIS STATEMENT

LMAO HE DID HE DID ASK FOR HIS LINE

my sonsssss

yes asada and kuki, be free! go move around!

asdkfh i just squee every time taku

and these lines on koushuu look so nice??

intense son

scremmm

he's so happy and fired up to see koushuu fired up im

wholeass Sons™

lmao koushuu getting mad for sawamura

my inexperience... yes kataoka

teito and inajitsu coaches lmao

500K rivals to fwb to lovers

ive always thought kunitomo's neck crack is so funny

UHHHHH CARLOSHIRA REALLY TOYING WITH MY HEART HERE

THIS IS NOT OKAY

IM NOT OKAY

mochi looking mighty fine in this shot

aw... ejun sitting alone....

just wanna say oda and kuroki very lesbian in the ED

preview

ooh mei batting

sawamura and furuya watching so intently!!

INUI KENGOOOOOO

aw... eijun turning to harucchi for support

oh man third years...

SUMMARY (7/16):

eijun DOUBLES!!

rip seidou tho

amahisa's eyes??? pretty???

ATTACC BY INAJITSU CAMEO

taku offering to carry eijun's bag + serious senpai face

careful amahisa your gay is showing

koushuu mad on eijun's behalf lmao

inajitsu vs teito next!

7/23 LIVEBLOG:

ah yes, that tension-filled mimei look

CAN THEY STOP TESTING ME WITH CARLOSHIRA SCREENS

ooh this parallel of mei and mukai #1s

why does mei look so young at bat lmao

rather nice shot of mukai tbh

omg that tiny background akamatsu is adorable

WOW i love this shot

hell yeah mei kicking ass and taking names

boi... what you doin

KANETOU RIGHTS

kuraharu rights too!!

wow mochi's voice, never over it

BOI ARE THEY JUST SHOWING SHIPS LOOK AT MINORI

lookit mochi bein a good senpai

ooh eijun finally said no huh

mochi and harucchi look so concerned tbh i am too

mm and miyuki and furuya too huh

WHAT IS THIS BLEP STAHP

oowada always cracks me up lmao

esp when mine is so grave next to her

oh so mukai likes gambling? im not surprised lmaooo

INUI-SANNN I LOVE YOUUU

THE BOIIII

H E

H I M S T

omg the way tetsu says carlos sounds all proud and im soft

PRETTY BOIS DOIN J O B S

GETTIN THAT BREAD

omg two RBIs too good job shirakawa!!!

omg im so glad mei encouraged itsuki

have i ever mentioned

inui x mukai RIGHTS

ESP THIS SEQUENCE OF MUKAI (AND INUI) PRACTICING

BOIIII

that toujou face... some toujou and mukai art i saw comes to mind

DAMN THE IMAGE WHEN INUI HITS IM WOW

also is carlos actually wearing his compression undershirt holy wow

he didnt used to at least

ANYWAY INUI DINGERRRRRRRRRRRRRR

HELL YAHHH

omg was that a little tiger next to inui SO CUTE

oh my god "mei-san mei-san" too cute

LMAO TOO LONG

MEI I SWEAR

yoo mei you okay there

SLOW MO BALL

okay why does he look so good please

OKAY WHY DOES HE LOOK SO GOOD PLEASE

do you know how many times i had to rewind for this screenshot

shirakawa also looks good frustrated fuckle

mei stop shakin off signs dammit

ooh nice akamatsu shot

seidou shares one (1) brain cell in this screen

much too short a game damn...

ive heard we were robbed of itsuki's blush??? cause hello i need catcher catcher goodness with him and inui

omg... they're literal children

SSLKDFHLSKDHGSSTOPPPPPPPPP

IM WEAK OKAY

I KNOW IT

I ACCEPT IT

HOW DAREMSTDVE

AND HIS V O I C E

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFF

hahaha anyway im just laughing at carlos being a momentary harada

"mei-san" !!!

mei x mukai... so chaotic

wow amahisa looks so nice???

lmao they really didnt HAVE to put harucchi in the bg when miyuki's talking to furuya but they DID

miyuki... looking at mei too long not to be homo there

eijun :c

oh man

that really hurt

the face of a SON tho

"so you are human after all" so many things i want to say about this

sawamura... doesn't seem to hold a grudge against furuya at all and honestly wow...

tho its def not furuya's fault i think thats a mark of him being pretty mature!

anyway im glad furuya wants to watch the video too

also nabe!!!!! i wonder how close eijun and nabe are and how many times eijun has bothered him for the videos haha

ochiai, a backup catcher... interesting

"he must overcome this on his own" do you know how many problems there are with this statement

yeah it wasnt fair

"for better or for worse" are you kidding

oh furusawa lmaoo

and nabe just patient over there

oh hello masayui and kanetou

anime fist clench

koushuu!!!

oh man miyuki introspection......... i know where this is going.........

appreciating sawamura's hard work and optimism!!!!!

HE IS READY DAMMIT

how many more times does he have to prove it to you

loveLY but also reused?

WOW IM EMOTIONAL ALL THESE MEMORIES...

ALSO THIS IS PRETTY DAMN GAY...

and the shadow of miyuki in the background... WOW

three months............. until the third years retire...........................................

im not okA Y............................

all the things this smile hides

preview

BOI YOU ALREADY PITCH THAT WELL

wow too many sons

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

BABY TAKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

AND BABY KOUSHUU

END CARD WITH MANAGERS AAA CUTE

SUMMARY (7/26):

mei kicking ass and taking names

mukai and his fooken BLEP

PRETTY INAJITSU BOIS DOIN JOBS

INUI DINGERRR

inui/mukai rights

mei + mukai actual CHILDREN

carloshira stop attaccing sun challenge f a iled

eijun @ harucchi :c

three months...

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!

#daiya spoilers #daiya no ace act ii #daiya no ace #inajitsu #teito #seidou

1 note · View note

aspiringarmstrong · 6 years

Text

Star vs Destiny - Chapter 11

Marco emptied the boiling water into his water skins. He may be on a suicide mission, but he didn’t need to come down with a case of Montezuma's Revenge.

“It’s odd you only drink boiled water,” BuffFrog said.

“On our world, we have to purify the water so parasite and bacteria don't infect us,” Marco explained. Looking around the swampy forest, he was sure there was something nasty was waiting for him to ingest it.

“Ah, make sense. My grandmother once ate fish with parasite. Six weeks later, her belly burst opened and thousands of bugs covered the table.” BuffFrog reminisce. “It was a great feast for our family.”

“You… ate your grandmother?” Marco asked in horror. BuffFrog let out a chuckle.

“No… no… we ate the bugs. Grandmother still alive.” BuffFrog said. His leaned close to Marco, showing his a rather scary face. “My grandmother… she never dies.”

Marco didn’t know how to take that and turned back to his pot of water.

“Marco…” BuffFrog whispered and pointed up. There was a flying eyeball with bat wings staring at them.

“Toffee watches us.” He whispered.

Marco pulled a dagger from behind his cloak and threw it at the eyeball. It dodged the attack, but its wing was nicked, causing it to careen into the ground.

“Marco…” BuffFrog said with a pleading warning.

“He knows we’re coming for him now, There’s no turning back,” Marco said, recovering the eyeball. He looked dead into its center.

“You hear me Toffee? I’m coming for you! I’ll make you pay for everything you did!” Marco screamed and threw the eye on the ground. It flopped helplessly and let out a squeal as Marco’s foot crushed it.

BuffFrog looked away with a solemn gaze.

“Eyebat was longtime friend.” He said. “I will miss him.”

Marco stopped twisting his foot and turned to BuffFrog.

“I… I’m sorry. I assumed it was just a projection or something.” Marco said, regretting killing the creature.

“Was his birthday next week,” he said, picking up his friend and moved to the treeline. He turned his head to look back at him. “You assume many things Marco, this war… this will happen, but… losing good friend still hurts.”

Marco watched BuffFrog fade into the forest to bury his friend. Marco shook off his guilt and continued with his water replenishment task.

OoOoO

Star, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, King and Queen Butterfly sat in one of the meeting room with a newly conscious Ludo. Star looked around for Glossaryck all day, but he couldn’t be found. Jackie was in her assigned room with guards outside, and Tom agreed to keep her company.

She didn’t want to even think about Tom right now and the whole mess she’d made with that. Jackie was slightly apprehensive to have him hang out, but if Toffee tried another attack, she would be the most likely target, and Tom was best suited to handle something like that.

At least… the best chance of surviving.

“Are those two insane?” Ludo screeched once he was apprised of the situation.

Mrs. Diaz cried into the barrel chest of her husband. Star’s parents regarded the others with a look of grave concern.

“What are we going to do?” Star asked.

“As much as I regret to say it… we should assemble the guards.” King Butterfly suggested. “I’ll send the word out to the other kingdoms. We’ll need to assault Ludo’s Castle as soon as we can.

“I’ll send word to the Magic High Commission,” Queen Butterfly said. “We’ll need all the firepower we can get.”

“I’ll help,” Ludo said, standing up on the table. Everyone glared at him. He cleared his throat and stood up as regally as he could. “I still have monster contacts who didn’t join me or Toffee. I’m sure I can convince them to join us.”

“I can call Princess Ponyhead and see if she can get her family help too,” Star suggested. She thought of her other friends, but none really had the fighting power they need, and she didn’t want to put them in danger.

“It’s a five-day trek through the forest to get to Ludo’s Castle.” King Butterfly said. “We all know how sturdy Marco is, but I worry he won’t survive that trip. Even in my prime… I’d have difficulty.”

“He’ll be fine,” Ludo said with a grin. “BuffFrog is with him, and if anyone can get him there in one piece, it'll be him.”

Ludo thought for a moment.

“Well… I can’t really tell if that’s good or bad… what’s better? Dying horribly in the forest, or dying horribly by Toffee’s hand?”

“No matter what,” Star interrupted. “We need to move now. He’s got a three days lead on us. Why can’t I just scissor us to the castle and meet him there?”

“Ah..haha” Ludo chuckled. “That’d be my fault.”

Star looked at the green chicken creature with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, only my scissors would let us in there. I’ve set up various portal traps that redirects anyone attempting to breach my borders into the bottom of a lava lake.” Ludo chuckled.

“How can he do that?” Star shouted. “Mom! How can he do that?”

Queen Butterfly shrugged.

“I’ll talk to Hekapoo when she gets here… see if she can figure that out.”

Heckapoo is a being on the magic high council and the creator of the Interdimensional Scissors. Everyone who has a pair has met her and passed her test. Each set of scissors is designed for the owner specifically. She’s a rather aloof person, but Star liked her when she met her.

“I suggest we start getting our forces together,” King Butterfly said. “If Hekapoo can fix whatever Ludo’s done around his castle, then we can portal there quickly, otherwise it’s going to be a long and treacherous march.”

“We’ll get Marco back.” Queen Butterfly said, reassuringly. Her expression didn’t quite seem to match her confident tone.

OoOoO

Toffee watched his screen black out when Marco’s foot crushed his spy. The other monsters around him seemed upset over the loss of their spy. He didn’t understand why the loss of such an insignificant being was affecting morale, but it didn’t matter.

Marco was coming… alone.

He grinned in delight.

He knew that the boy was going to be useful.

Even though BuffFrog survived his attack, it was inconsequential. The creature served his use. Ludo surely had succumbed to the poison, even if he didn’t, It really didn’t matter. Those pieces were off the board.

He has the wand. The Butterfly Army was on their way. He was sure the Magic High Commission was going to be there, along with a force from the underworld and whatever other Mewmans who were stupid enough to join them.

What was the earth term he heard?

Fish in a barrel.

He flexed his right hand, staring at his missing middle finger. Turning his gaze to the right, he smiled at the pedestal that held the wand and toasted his glass to it.

To his future rule… and revenge on Queen Butterfly

OoOoO

Jackie set down her cards with a grin.

“Full house! Aces over sevens!” she declared.

Tom grunted and threw his cards down.

“Sorry that you got stuck babysitting,” Jackie said.

“Nah, it’s not a problem. I get why they asked.” Tom said as he shuffled the cards. Jackie piled up the poker chips on her side and took the cards as he dealt them. “If Toffee used Star’s wand to control you again...”

“Yeah I’d get all possessed and my head will spin around like a pea soup sprinkler.” Jackie laughed. She was terrified by the idea, but she was trying to put her situation in a better light.

“The castle is really well protected. The only reason Toffee kept control was because Marco brought you in.” Tom explained. “But, I don’t know much about this guy. Queen Butterfly said he’s a real mastermind type… and he thinks like ten moves ahead.”

Jackie passed two cards and looked at her hand. It was three of a kind. Not that strong, but from Tom’s bewildered expression, she could make it work.

She added to the pot and gave him a wink.

“I get the rules to the game, but why do you keep on winning?” He said as he fumbled his cards around. He matched her bet.

“It’s more about reading people,” Jackie said and added more chips. “And taking risks.”

Tom matched her bet and chuckled.

“You sound like Star,” he said. Jackie grinned and added more to the pile. Tom raised an eyebrow at her.

“She never really talked much about your history…” Jackie said, adding another few to the pot. Tom seemed visibly agitated with the large pile of chips that had accrued. He changed his hand around a few times before matching.

“Honestly there’s not much to talk about. Ponyhead, Star and I were friends since kids. We dated for about a year, that felt like a lifetime ago but was only a few years ago. She was crazy, I was hot-tempered, Ponyhead… well, she hasn’t changed much.” Tom laughed. “I feel so stupid how I was used in all this, too. Honestly, part of this is my fault… I just, once I found out who Toffee really was, I couldn’t bring myself to really say much about it.”

“Oh?” Jackie said, adding more to the pile. “Do tell?”

Tom chuckled and matched her bet.

“I can see what you’re trying to do,” Tom said. “When I met back up with Star, I was trying to fix my anger.”

Jackie quietly listened. It seemed important, so she didn’t want to instigate another bet just yet.

“I used to have a counselor who would help me out. I thought if I fix myself for Star, she’d take me back.” Tom said. “It didn’t help much, because I realized I was doing it for her… not for me.”

“I see,” Jackie said. “Self-reflection can be good.”

“So, I found Toffee.” He said, ashamed. “My counselor told me he couldn’t do much for me and gave me his contact information.”

“So… this evil mastermind… became your therapist?” Jackie said in shock. “Wow… that’s a lot to take in.”

“I know… I mean, he helped a lot with things. Aspects of myself I didn’t want to acknowledge.” Tom said, setting down his cards. “He helped me talk to Star and get close to her. Showed me how you can plant little seeds, and if you tend them gently, they will be able to grow into something powerful.”

Jackie leaned back and put her feet on the table.

“Yea, I guess I can see that,” Jackie said. “I mean, Marco’s been trying to plant his seed in me since kindergarten… wait… that sounded really bad.”

Jackie and Tom both erupted in laughter. They stopped for a moment and smiled at each other. She felt slightly guilty knowing what was going to happen to Tom once things settle down. He seemed like a really good guy.

“Are you worried about Marco?” Tom asked. He must have seen her worry and assumed it was about him.

“Yeah.” She said, throwing another chip in. “Are you?”

Tom matched her bet and nodded.

“All right, I call,” Jackie said and showed her three of a kind.

Tom grinned devilishly and showed a straight flush.

“What?” Jackie said astonished. “How?”

Tom whipped his hair back in a cool manner and threw on his shades.

“Well… you are playing cards with a devil.” He grinned and took his winnings.

“Oh give me a break!” Jackie exclaimed with a chuckle. “And give me those!”

She snatched the sunglasses off Tom and put them on herself.

“Ohhh, I’m a devil” She mocked him.

“Hey! I don’t sound like that!” He protested and tried to snatch the glasses back.

“Oh, you so totally do!”

OoOoO

Star sat in another meeting room on the other side of the castle. She wondered how many of these rooms there were, and why her ancestors decided to scatter them all over the place. Why not just make a ‘meeting room wing’ or tower or something.

She sat next to her mother and stared at the Magical High Commission members. She had met and even grew up with some of them.

Lekmet: the bipedal goat with bat wings who could only communicate with goat noises.

Rhombulus: A large man who wears fur underwear and a cape, with snakes for arms crystal nipples and a massive rhombus shaped crystal for a head with one eye floating inside. He seemed to be the only one who could understand Lekmet’s bleats.

Omnitraxus Prime: A small floating orb with stars and galaxies swirling about inside the glass, a skull suspended in the center.

Two other chairs sat empty.

“Blaat,” Lekmet replied.

“He wants to know where Glossaryck is.” Rhombulus translated.

Queen Butterfly shrugged.

“Uhhhg,” Rhombulus grunted. “He’s always like that!”

“Where the heck is Heckapoo?” Omitraxus inquired with a small giggle at his pun.

A portal was sheared open near the door and in stepped Hekapoo

She wore a black and yellow dress. Spikes came out from the elbows of her long sleeves, flame red hair, and a golden crown with a flame on it.

“We don't need that dingbat anyway,” she said with a scoff and took her seat. “Let's get this over with.”

Star watched as her mother went over the events that had taken place. Once she was finished, the Magic High Commission all stared at her, mouth agape.

“That Septarian is still alive?” Hekapoo replied. “I thought we took care of him years ago!

“I’ll crystalize him this time,” Rhombulus said, waving his snake arms around.

“You know that won’t work” Omitraxus replied. “He can absorb magic.”

“I know this is a dire event… but,” Queen Butterfly stammered. “I think Marco needs to be the priority. We need to stop him before he gets to the castle and attempts to take Toffee on by himself.”

Queen Butterfly looked to Hekapoo.

“What? Why are you looking at me?” She asked. Queen Butterfly pulled out a birdcage with Ludo inside. “What… is that gross chicken looking thing?”

“It’s Ludo, the original owner of the castle. He did something to prevent any magic teleportation to his borders. It’s a two-day march from any point we can teleport.” Queen Butterfly said. Hekapoo gave the chicken a weird look.

“I don’t remember giving you any scissors.” She said suspiciously.

“Well… I inherited them… from my great uncle’s sister’s cousin.” he said with a nervous chuckle. She glowered at him and grunted.

“What… exactly did you do to block portals for that big of a distance?” she growled.

“Well, you know how portals have a radius. They can’t be more than so much apart or they won’t work?” he chuckled and fidgeted his fingers. “I found out you can connect portals to each other if you overlap them.”

“YOU DID WHAT?” Hekapoo shouted.

“It took me years, but I linked the boundaries of my kingdom with portals from the scissors. They’re not active and open since they’re weaved together like a web.” He chuckled, showing some pride in his ingenuity. “There’s only one spot that’s safe to go through, and my scissors are the only pair that is programmed with it.”

“And… if I were to go there right now?” Hekapoo asked while brandishing her scissors.

“One of two things,” Ludo said nervously. “This room fills with lava… or you’ll be swimming in it.”

“Do you know the spatial coordinate for your hole?” Hekapoo said while glaring at the tiny birdman.

“No… It’s programmed into the scissors,” he said with a whimper. Hekapoo grumbled to herself, slashed a hole in space-time and left. A few moments later she came back with a massive book and slammed it in front of Ludo.

“What one is it?” she roared. Ludo looked up at her and down to the massive book. He gingerly reached out of his cage and opened it to the first page.

“No… that’s not it,” he said and turned the page. “Not this one either.”

“This is going to take forever.” Omnitraxus bemoaned.

“Yeaj… this is volume one of three thousand. I can’t fix what he did unless I know what pair of scissors his ‘ancestor’ bequeathed him.” she said.

“Blaat.” Lekmet said

“He asked; doesn’t your dimension’s time run differently? Like… 12 days per second?”

Hekapoo glared at the goat. Grabbed Ludo’s cage and stormed off through her portal.

“Is Ludo going to be okay?” Star asked her mom. She shrugged.

An hour almost passed. Star was getting worried. The portal tore open again and the birdcage was thrown back through as Hekapoo stepped back.

“Mom… how long…?” Star was about to ask.

“A hundred and twenty years.. Give or take.”

“Can Ludos live that long?” She asked, looking into the motionless figure in the cage.

“He’s fine. I had to regenerate him a few times over the years.” She said. “We went through all my scissors… twice.”

“Snip… snip… snip...” Ludo said from the bars. “They all go snip.”

“The whole trip was a waste of time. His junking up the system like that, I can’t access the history of them from my main book. It’s going to take weeks to clean up his mess manually.” She groaned.

“Umm, Hekapoo?” Star asked, raising her hand. Everyone looked at her. She loved being the center of attention, but not the center of their attention. “From what I understood, it’s like a big web or net right? Can’t you focus on one part of it, and open it up enough to let us in? If it's around the borders, we can port there… walk through… and port to the castle?”

Everyone turned to Hekapoo. She closed her eyes for a moment as if mulling something over.

“Yeah… that could work. If the donk head here only did this to the borders, then inside should be fine. We just can’t emergency teleport out of there until I get the original scissors back.” She said and tossed a tiny fireball at his cage. He let out a small squeak and scooted back. “Yeah… that got boring after the first ten years.“

“I’ll go and let everyone know what the plan is and ready everyone for the first transport.” Queen Butterfly said and stood up. Everyone else agreed and left the meeting room. Star looked over at Ludo’s cage when she was halfway out of the room. She looked up at her mom who rolled her eyes and sighed.

She gave her mom a hug and ran over to Ludo’s cage, grabbed it and followed along behind her. She hoped that she would be a strong and powerful ruler like her someday.

#star vs the forces of evil #star vs evil #starco #star_Butterfly #Marco_Diaz #toffee #Jackie_Lynn #Jacko

4 notes · View notes