i couldn’t do it, y’all. i spent the time to age up and adjust ivory’s save, because playing her in a world where dallas didn’t exist just felt wrong 🥺 that’s one dinner party of five down! (which i missed, bc i left my computer running dhdhs)

catch up with the kruegers below! ⛓️

for those of you who don’t know, dallas (sixth pic, they/them!) was a nameless sim i’d created with the idea of playing through the joy of life legacy with! they became much larger in-game than the confines of the challenge, though, and while they were working on starting their own 🌿 bakery, dallas was also working as a stripper and a sex worker at “the flamingo” in del sol valley.

dallas wasn’t on any protection when they successfully seduced mayor ted roswell at the club and freak-a-leeked the next month’s rent payment out of him. when they found out they were pregnant, they resolved to raise their daughter as best as they could.

little ivory was born maybe three in-game weeks into the game, i’m not kidding.

though she was a major upset in the course of the challenge, ivory has been a delightful sim to watch grow up! dallas did a wonderful job raising her - but their fate was never to be a simple legacy founder!! so while dallas is freed of mantle of “tjol gen one”, ivory gets to don the “tjol+ gen two” crown 💛 i did a timeskip in-save and now we catch up with her fresh off of her graduation from ubrite 😌

i hope this can help explain a little bit of what’s happened and why the legacy has been all over the place! we’re sticking with ivory from here on out, who has a much more streamlined gen dhdh

morgan fyres, wolfgang munch, savannah price, cassandra goth, and gemma charm are ivory’s best friends since highschool. she used to date cass when they were still teens, but they cooled things off before going to college. now, ivory’s crush on savannah has been popping up in her mind from time to time… 👀 shingo sasaki (fifth pic) was ivory’s nanny from the moment she was born to the moment she grew into a teen! he was there since day one, and over the course of the years has woven his way into the kruegers’ lil unit of two. he’s wearing a ring because dallas proposed to him, not the other way around 🥹 he’s also the reason our girl is level 5 in komorebigo, and they exclusively gossip together in this language. (shingo has never learned simlish dhdhd he’s like level 4 and we love that for him) ivory calls him “toji” or “otoji” — basically “grandpa-dad”. cliff kiser (by @gothoffspring) and anaya jang (third pic) are dallas’ best friends and the first two sims outside of her parent and nanny that ivory ever made friends with! they’re solid figures in her life, and ivory views cliff as the fun-uncle-slash-father that she never had in ted!

(ivory has been thinking a lot about ted in-game, though: she’s been calling him to chat every day bc her “think about family member” dialogue is always him. i’m imagining that the motherfucker didn’t exactly go to any of her graduations 🙄 ted still doesn’t recognize ivory as legitimate, even if he was paying her child support and even if she’s met her half-sisters and they adore her!)

also like??? my baby dallas did so good, look at ivory’s traits 🥹 none of these were cheated in: dallas was just an absolute super parent!

Wrenching

Shouta Aizawa x Reader (1258 words)

This is sfw, but this blog is not. Minors and ageless blogs DNI. I check each notification.

Warnings: angst, loss, low self-esteem, unhealthy coping mechanisms. Not quite a happy ending?? Kind of a neutral ending.

Notes: This is just a slightly modified EraserJoke fic from my Ao3, where I removed all things I deemed unique to their relationship. You don't have to be like Joke to enjoy this one! lol

Also, this was written to be pre-canon, but I suppose it doesn't matter. Anyway, enjoy!

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

His form is sloppy.

You never thought you’d think that while watching Shouta train, but it was true. Left, right, left, right; he struck at the chest-high wooden pole, wrapped in thick rope for extra toughness with the swords he held in each hand, one at a time. The swords he’d never been able to grasp…

Not in the way Shingo had.

Your heart ached at the thought of the aged Pro, Shouta’s father, who’d died just a couple of weeks prior. He’d been known for his technique with his double swords, on top of the Erasure Shouta had inherited. The sword skills, however, had not been passed down quite so smoothly.

Shouta hated it. He always had; that much you knew, but he’d only gotten like this once before, when his cloudy-haired friend had been killed. Somehow, loss made him that much angrier at his perceived deficit. 

The imperfect form wasn’t all because of that, though. You knew that. Shouta was injured, but he wasn’t letting that stop him. He wasn’t listening to reason at all. That was why you had come in the first place.

Shouta grunted each time he swung, whether from frustration or pain you weren’t sure, but you knew that the rigorous exercise couldn’t be good for the cracked ribs that lay under his purpled flesh. The blades had cleaved through some of the rope now, and were working deep grooves into the wood. Splinters scattered every which way with every slash, but Shouta wasn’t satisfied. No, he wouldn’t be until the pole was cut fully in half.

Alas, it was not to be. With one last swing, Shouta cut halfway through the wood, but when he pulled back, the sound that left him was definitely pained. The sudden jerk had aggravated his injury, and with a strangled cry his hand sprang off of the sword’s handle, like it had burned him. He stumbled hard into a sitting position, driving another sharp, pained sound from his lips. Instinctively, he curled around the source of his misery, hugging his midsection and shaking. You felt another sympathetic pang.

The pang worsened, however, when the first sob left him.

Shouta’s wasn’t crying from the pain; at least, you didn’t think. No, those tears were frustrated. Harsh and raw and angry, with gritted teeth and tightly shut eyes trying to keep them in. When Shouta shed tears, they were like this. 

Shouta rasped out a swear, his shoulders shuddering. With a cracked, furious yell, he threw his other sword to the side, so hard that it clanged against the ground, cursing again.

Before you could think about it, you were at his side, gently rubbing his back and stroking his hair, murmuring comforts with her own voice deeply pained. “I know, I know… It’s okay, Shouta. It’s going to be okay.”

Shouta’s sobs began to quiet, but he said nothing. He didn’t try to stop you, so she just kept talking to him. He just glared at the ground with reddened, glossy eyes, chest heaving erratically with his shaky breaths. He just looked so angry at the world.

“After everything,” Shouta finally growled, muscles tensing, “After everything, I still can’t do a freaking thing right. Couldn’t get my act together for Oboro… F-For Dad… I really am useless.”

“You are not,” you said firmly. Shouta looked up at her, and behind the biting rage, she saw pure misery in his eyes. “Come on, okay?” you added gently. “Let’s go get you cleaned up. I’ll get you something to drink, too.”

Shouta grunted, keeping his gaze bitterly averted. Even though he was so close now, to you he felt hundreds of miles away. Uoi wondered if he’d even heard you. He just shook with the force of another suppressed sob, lowering his head more as if intentionally obscuring his tear-streaked features. 

“I feel…” he croaked after a long pause, not lifting his head. He swallowed. “Think I’m gonna pass out.”

Despite the alarm that filled you at that statement, you nodded as calmly as you could. “Okay. Okay. I’ve got you. Just try to breathe.”

Shouta nodded, still not looking up, but he seemed to follow your instructions. He didn’t speak any more for a time, letting her keep him steady. When at last the color seemed to return to his ears and neck (all you could really observe at the the moment), he heaved a shaky sigh. “Dad got hit, and I went berserk. I… I should’ve kept my wits about me. I should have gone to get help. I could’ve gotten Recovery Girl, or at least the paramedics. I could have… he could have…” he finally whispered, voice strained as if he was trying to force his voice back to normal now that his tears were subsiding. 

“There was no saving him once he got hit,” you replied evenly. “You did everything you could. You helped to defeat the villain who killed him, and you were with Shingo as he passed.”

Shouta said nothing.

At some point you were able to walk him into the house, past the rooms of the house’s inhabitants– his brother Aki, emotionally exhausted and hopefully asleep; his other brother Hanzo, also physically exhausted from his urgent move back home and no doubt asleep, if his soft snores were any indication; and his mother Asuka, now alone in her futon. You had Shouta sit on the couch and brought him a water to sip before you went to run a bath for him. Once it was prepared, you returned, finding Shouta sitting hunched over just about identically to before. 

“Hey,” you whispered. “How are you feeling now? Still faint?”

Shouta shook his head silently.

“Good,” you murmured, kneeling so that you could get as close to making eye contact as possible. “I ran a bath for you. Go get in, okay? It’s gonna be all right.” You paused, before adding a soft, “I love you, you hear me?”

Shouta mumbled something, fatigued and clumped together, but it sounded like, “I love you too.” You moved closer so that your bodies touched, and Shouta rested his damp forehead on your shoulder. Then finally, finally, he lifted his head, his eyes grateful and somehow remorseful, yet bleary and almost unfocused even as they met yours. Still, they met yours. That was all you needed.

“Think you can get up?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, good. I’m right here,” you reminded him as the both of you stood up together, Shouta wincing from the pain still fresh in his ribs. He was due for a shave, you observed, and he had dark rings under his eyes. He looked so worn and brittle, but affection still surged in your chest at the sight of him, if not more so now than before. “Come on, Shouta,” you urged gently, guiding him to the bathroom.

Once the two of you arrived, you reached up to card her fingers through his hair once before turning to leave and give him privacy. That was, until he spoke again. “You’d best go home. I’ll be fine. You need your rest.” 

“So do you,” you retorted at once. Shouta exhaled through his nose, his gaze lowering. 

“I’m going to be all right,” Shouta assured you almost half-heartedly.

You sighed, knowing you probably shouldn’t believe him. “I’m gonna stay until you get out of the bath, in case you get dizzy again. Then I’ll go home. Call me tomorrow and tell me how you’re doing, okay?” Shouta nodded, and reluctantly, you took your leave.

AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2022

The question I will continuously ask myself throughout this show: Where tf is Tetsuya Naito????????

Shota Umino, Wheeler Yuta, and Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki, Chris Jericho, and Sammy Guevara -- This was a fine opener. Umino essentially carries the match. Loved seeing him lock in the Walls on Jericho.

Jeff Cobb and Great O'Khan (c) vs. FTR vs. Roppongi Vice for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship -- This tag match rocked hard. FTR tag team action, effortless Jeff Cobb power, sneaky style Roppongi Vice. Cash fighting off Cobb and O'Khan on his own after Dax is taken to the back for medical attention. That hot tag when Dax finally comes back out, and my god, the crowd reaction. HELL YEAH FTR HITS BIG RIG FOR THE WIN!!! ROH AND IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG CHAMPS FTR!!!!!!!!!!

Pac vs. Miro vs. Malakai Black vs. Clark Connors for the Inaugural All Atlantic Championship -- This match was great. Loved the finishing sequence. I was freaking out when Miro had Game Over locked in on Pac. Thought that was it. Black with mist to Miro's face. Pac hits top rope 450 on Black to take him out, then locks in the Brutalizer on Miro for the win!!!! HELL YEAH, THIS SHOW WAS BOOKED JUST FOR ME.

Shingo Takagi, Darby Allin, and Sting vs. The Young Bucks and El Phantasmo -- Fine match. Nothing real serious to get excited about, other than Shingo being a rock star, as usual. Shingo rightfully gets the pinfall on ELP with Last of the Dragon.

Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's World Championship -- This match was fine. I have no other thoughts.

Will Ospreay (c) vs. Orange Cassidy for the IWGP United States Championship-- I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. Good balance of Orange Cassidy's nonsense (which I think Schiavone and Excalibur sold well) and serious wrestling. Orange Cassidy can go when given the chance. I never really thought Cassidy was going to win, but I still freaked out over the near-falls. He kicked out of the OsCutter, reversed the first attempt at Storm Breaker, and kicked out of the Hidden Blade!! Wtf?? Love to see it. Storm Breaker finally lands and puts him away. UE attacks Cassidy after the match and attempts to rip his pockets out of his jeans. To which JR brilliantly responds, "As if he can't buy more jeans!!!!!" I was almost in tears over that call, holy shit. AND THEN!!!!!!!!! SHIBATA COMES TO CASSIDY'S AID. HE LANDS A BEAUTIFUL CORNER DROPKICK TO OSPREAY AND I AM ON THE VERGE OF TEARS!!!!

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Claudio Castagnoli -- Now to the highlight of the show. I was so looking forward to ZSJ vs. Danielson, but my god, if this wasn't the best replacement for Danielson that I could have ever wanted. CLAUDIO!!!!!!!!! I have waited so long for him to escape from Vince's clutches, I could cry at the mere sight of him here in AEW. I loved this match so much. Claudio explodes out of the gate with uppercuts immediately, catching Zack off guard. It takes Zack several minutes to regain his composure and get in some offense, which I think was a good way to go here. The mix of Claudio's raw power and Zack's submission game was a beautiful thing to behold. Claudio counters Zack's armbar by deadlifting Zack and attempting to dump him out of the ring, but both guys go crashing to the outside. But Claudio holds on and deadlifts Zack back up, walks up the damn ring stairs carrying him, and dumps him back in the ring. Wtf??? Claudio ultimately wins via pinfall with a pop-up uppercut, followed by the Ricola Bomb. Bums me out a bit to see ZSJ take a loss, but Claudio obviously had to win in his debut match.

Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Adam Cole vs. Adam Page for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship-- This was fine. I don't think this needed to be a four-way match. I really don't think it even needed to be an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match. I hold that title in such high regard, it just sort of diminishes it for me, especially with Page having done nothing to earn a spot like this and Cole being a joke to me in general. Nice to see Okada anyway. Jay retains with a sneaky pinfall on Cole, which was the correct way for this to end.

Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the vacant Interim AEW World Championship -- This was a good, back and forth match, with both guys just beating the crap out of each other. However, the use of blood in AEW is getting out of control, and Moxley bleeding inexplicably in this match really took me out of it. It was obvious Moxley would win this, but that doesn't make him pinning Tanahashi any less annoying to me.

I feel so betrayed by how Psyqualia Zombie Aichi was adapted thinking back on it now

Especially looking back at the manga the anime makes him look straight up derpy. You don’t get the same creepy energy as the manga. I noticed this while rereading the seen where Psyqualia Zombie Aichi first wakes up.

I didn’t notice this detail till @crystalmemoria pointed it out, but his tie is actually loose as a PSY zombie in the manga. However, in the anime this isn’t the case. I love all the subtle parts of this scene that really sets the creepy mood. When comparing the manga to V series after rereading it I do not like the changes made. Heck, did you know Aichi where’s his casual Link Joker arc outfit in the manga and not in the reboot? Or some of the lines that were changed? So, anyway I think the manga is better than V series at displaying these events.

These red flags are to his friends not the reader that already knows he’s a PSY zombie.

Aichi’s 1st red flag

When he first get up he’s eerily sways like he’s not really there. Like he’s not Aichi and really just a puppet right now. Especially seeing Naoki and Shingo’s reaction here adds to the ominous feeling you can feel their fear rising throughout this scene.

Aichi’s 2nd red flag

His tie is loose as mentioned before. Aichi is normally a lot neater than this. He wears his school uniform very formal and neatly in the first arc. Not to mention in the Japanese version Aichi often uses honorifics and such. So, Aichi being rather messy here is immediately strange. It seems almost thrown on like Takuto is just having him throw the clothes on. The bare minimum so no one is immediately becomes suspicious seeing him in just his dress shirt.

Aichi’s 3rd red flag

He rather harshly slaps away his friends hand. Of course with Aichi’s friendly personality this action really freaks out Naoki and Shingo who immediately see this as unAichi-like.

Then the don’t touch me line with the spectral Takuto. This panel still sends chills down his spine. At this point his friends are positive they aren’t dealing with Aichi right now.

Then the terrible realization…I can practically hear Naoki questioning “who are you?”. Like seriously I feel chills. He realizes he’s done this. Aichi has been warped to this unrecognizable state by his hands. This is when all the panic and fear reaches its crescendo. It’s scary stuff man. For moments like this I think the reactions really help in selling it. It’s one thing to see something happen then have it and the characters reacting. I can feel their fear in this scene. Their fear for what has happened to their dear friend, their captain. He’s been turned into this empty vessel being manipulated by some unknown force to them. Think. They don’t even know who Brandt is. They don’t even fully understand what’s happening. They just saw their friend be assimilated by the borg and their scarred shitless. Can you even imagine what their feeling? I think this scene makes you able to imagine it. The absolute fear they must feel here. It was a screenshot of Psyqualia Zombie Aichi that made me interested in reading the manga to begin with. Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.

Keisuke gets drunk…

( I only ship Takumi and Keisuke…)

Project D had just finished up a few random races that were challenged to them by the Night Kids: the races were only for fun and counted towards nothing in particular.

Keisuke and Takumi talked alongside the road and Shingo and Nakazato battled it out on the course of Akagi.

“I think they are betting on who buys the first round of drinks…” Keisuke said, hearing the wheels skidding and the engines roaring.

“You think so? I guess it hadn’t occurred to me that they were joining us for karaoke.” Takumi said feeling like he was gonna end up being the chauffeur because he was the only one unable to drink due to age.

“Well I know project D is going to have a good time but I think they are joining us after a bit.” Keisuke explained. “You’re ride correct?”

Takumi only nodded. “Yes of course. I just feel like you're a heavy drinker.” Takumi said without realizing.

Keisuke only chuckled and heard the moans of the engines come closer and soon met back at the top of the mountain. Shingo got out of his car turning to Nakazato with a smirk.

“You're a slow freak.” He then turned to Takumi and Keisuke. “Nakazato and I will be at the place later after we drop the cars off at our places. Don’t need anyone wrecking.”

•

The sounds of people laughing in the rooms that had karaoke and drinks as well as many dishes that kept being rotated by waiters filled the building.

“Keisuke not gonna lie to you man but you sound like shit!!” Kenta laughed seeing Keisuke holding the microphone while singing.

Ryosuke rolled his eyes, holding papers and writing on them. Shingo and Nakazato kept playing cards to see who would buy the next round of drinks.

“Shut up you stupid kenta!” Keisuke said in between the lines.

Takumi only watched the little team of Project D as well as the members of the night kids chat around. He reached to grab a sushi roll and eat it.

“Takumi-“ Ryosuke called out leaning into him. “Keisuke is drunk to hell. I have to leave. Can I trust you to take him home?”

“Yes sir. I can.” Takumi nodded and stood up. “My turn to sing.” He started walking over to the microphone and grabbed the remote to change the song list.

“YEAH TAKUMI!!” Kenta yelled as a joke.

“Ah shut the fuck up!” Keisuke tackled Kenta trying to get wasabi into his mouth.

“GH! Keisuke!!”

Ryosuke took this moment to get away and walk out. He walked to his car and took off elsewhere.

•

The night was long and at this point Ryosuke was home from his errands and he was now on his computer wondering where Takumi and Keisuke were.

“Come on Keisuke you have to get home…” Takumi said, trying to pull Keisuke off the bathroom floor.

“No. I’m not moving.” He said with a chuckle.

“Keisuke.” Takumi debated on calling someone. But Kenta showed up in time to throw Keisuke into the car. Takumi drove Kenta home then made his way to the Takahashi house.

Keisuke felt the car being shifted before feeling his body picked up and brought into a cold room.

“Thanks Takumi. I’m sure he will thank you later as well.” Ryosuke said holding Keisukes dead weight.

“He won’t have a fun morning.” Takumi said before waving goodbye.

Keisuke groaned and blinked his eyes open. “Ryosuke… brother- I’m gonna-“ Keisuke seemed to have regained a little soberness before sprinting to the bathroom and throwing up his guts.

Ryosuke only shook his head watching the pathetic sight on the floor. “How much did you drink?”

“Too much!” Keisuke snapped and pulled away. “Oh I already know my head is gonna hurt when I get up…” he said leaning back.

Ryosuke watched only for one more moment before walking over and picking Keisuke up and flushing the toilet and bringing Keisuke's body to his own room, mostly because Keisuke’s room is a mess.

“Ryosuke… where did you leave too?”

“You don’t need to know.” He said, reaching for a hair tie and pulling Keisuke's blond hair off his sweaty forehead.

“Let’s get you to drink some water. Ok?”

Keisuke nodded, leaning back watching his brother leave and come back with a glass of water.

“Drink up.” He says next to Keisuke and rubs his back.

Keisuke drank some of the water before leaning close to Ryosuke. “You're such a good bro.” He said and then leaned back. Ryosuke knew it was the drink talking so he didn’t think much of it so he just ignored him completely.

“Yeah sure. You get to sleep, ok?” Ryosuke said calmly and then ignored him, he got up leaving the room truly thankful he left Takumi in charge of bringing him home instead of trying to bring him home himself.

•

Ryosuke in the morning woke up to hear Keisuke throwing up in the bathroom. Ryosuke stood up and began walking to the bathroom. The door was locked.

“Keisuke?” Ryosuke knocked, making sure he was ok.

“Bleh… what?!” He looked at the door and stood up unlocking the door.

Ryosuke saw the door open and was completely shocked. “Oh god… Keisuke.” He saw how crazy his brother looked. “You should go rest and I can be your personal assistant.” He chuckled and patted Keisuke's back.

Keisuke froze, then rushed back to the bathroom, shutting the door in Ryosuke's face. Ryosuke paused and then he heard the toilet flush.

“Ugh… my stomach!” Keisuke cursed then walked out. “It’s cramping so much!!” He snapped, his hand clenching his stomach.

“You could take a bath or rest on the couch.” Ryosuke said calmly.

Keisuke scuffed and walked down to the couch in the living room area. He sat his ass on the couch kicking his feet on it too. His hands ran through his hair trying to stop his headache.

“Here's water. As well as some Advil.” Ryosuke said calmly and gave him some pills and a glass.

Keisuke took it from his brother. “Thanks.”

Ryosuke sat down and set on the news watching it intently. His eyes every now and then, looking over to Keisuke to make sure he was doing ok. After some time, Keisuke ended up falling asleep on the couch.

Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome Night 1 - 9/4/2021; Wrestle Kingdom 16 Will Be Three Nights, Two Arenas; NJPW Strong Episode 56 - 9/3/2021; Yuya Uemura v. Vinnie Massaro in West Coast Pro 9/10/2021

This is the second attempt at writing this post, as my laptop decided to give me the good old Blue Screen of Death in the middle of writing this before, and of course, Tumblr isn’t set up up save posts in progress. I had issues last weekend technologically too, so I get the feeling a new laptop may be in my future. This post may not be as long or informative as it was previously, as I don’t know if I have it in me to rewrite this all again.

In any event, Night 1 of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome took place earlier today in Saitama, and you can see it now on NJPWWorld or FITE TV. This comes during a very busy weekend for wrestling, not just in Hoffman Estates, IL, either, with all the AEW, GCW and BLP events happening around ALL OUT weekend. Earlier as well, STARDOM held a critical 5-Star Grand Prix show (where I misspoke yesterday, it was Syuri, not Giulia, who wrestled Utami Hayashishita to a 20-minute time limit draw in the tournament today), NOAH ran a big-ish show, and DDT had a major show as well that saw the dissolution of popular heel unit DAMNATION.

Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome - 9/4/2021, Saitama MetLife Dome (NJPWWorld, FITE TV)

STARDOM Offer Match: Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani [Queen’s Quest] d. Maika [Donna del Mundo] & Lady C (Kamitani > C, Phoenix Splash, 12:02)

Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV d. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Eagles > BUSHI, Ron Miller Special, 11:40)

SHO [CHAOS] d. YOH [CHAOS] (Referee Stoppage, 24:41)

Provisional KOPW2021 No-DQ I Quit Match: Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. Chase Owens [Bullet Club] © (28:03) - Yano is the Provisional KOPW2021 Champion

Jeff Cobb [United Empire] d. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] (Tour Of The Islands, 27:41)

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi © d. Kota Ibushi (High Fly Flow, 17:47) - Tanahashi succeeds his 1st defense

Tanahashi is still America’s Champion, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone to argue against that. Post-main, Tana declared that although it will take a long time, that the world will eventually get better, and he will still be in the NJPW ring when it does. Meanwhile, Ibushi wept to start the match, his first in several months following a bout with pneumonia. The loss makes me wonder what they will do with Ibushi next. He is not currently in the picture for the IWGP World Heavyweight title he (kayfabe) created earlier this year. He never got a rematch with Will Ospreay, who’s now absconded to NJPW Strong, and his scheduled match v. Shingo Takagi from Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome has not been rescheduled yet either. I can’t imagine they would have Ibushi win a 3rd consecutive G1 Climax (or have him in a 4th consecutive final either). It just seems like the Golden Star has really fallen from the high of his victory over Tetsuya Naito for the Double Gold back in January, which honestly feels like years, not months, ago.

Cobb, as predicted, gets the win over Okada, which will lead to a rubber match happening during G1 Climax more than likely. Toru Yano, hair dyed for the first time in a long while, got very hardcore, including threatening to use scissors at one point, meaning NJPW’s plan to incorporate Nick Gage at some point is full steam ahead. Yano regains the KOPW trophy. There was no reason on God’s green Earth for there to be three different 20+ minute matches (two of which going almost 30) on this show. Not every match needs to be an epic, much less a freaking KOPW match, which is meant to be gimmicky and ridiculous by nature. I understand the need to reduce the number of matches per show, but the answer is not to bloat them. Tana v. Ibushi managed to keep it under twenty and that was the main event. Enough with this already.

SHO is, as expected, no longer part of CHAOS, and has instead gone over to the Bullet Club, specifically a new sub-faction called the House of Torture. This is a very very bad name. The group appears to be EVIL, SHO, Dick Togo and Yujiro Takahashi. Sub-factions in Bullet Club have always been successful and they do not tease a break-up angle within BC ever. Ahem. I get the short-term need; as with last summer, many of the critical Bullet Club members (in this case Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and presumably KENTA) are not in Japan right now, choosing to stay in the USA due to continuing COVID-19/quarantine issues. So numbers need to be made up. Creatively, SHO joining Bullet Club, much less a sub-faction, was the most boring route to take. Given his recent outing in GLEAT, succeeding in a UWF-rules match, as well as his MMA bona fides, one would have thought Suzuki-gun would be a better fit, or even the Empire, who need the numbers right now, as well as a junior member (if indeed SHO is staying as a junior). I can see an angle coming from this, depending on how tomorrow goes, but SHO in Bullet Club is just Meh. Whatever the case, SHO defeats YOH, and this angle will continue.

Los Dos Peligrosos are just cursed anymore, but it does make me think that Hiromu will win tomorrow. The STARDOM match was very good, and I hope that whatever contract entanglements were preventing previous STARDOM exhibition matches from being shown on NJPWWorld are being worked out, because I’d like to see more STARDOM on NJPWWorld if the STARDOM World app isn’t coming on Fire TV Stick. Tomorrow is another match.

The biggest news to come from this show is the announcement that Wrestle Kingdom 16 will not just be two nights, but indeed three, and at two different venues. The shows on the now-traditional January 4 & 5, 2022, dates will be at the Tokyo Dome, as with the last two years. Then, on 1/8/2022, NJPW will run Wrestle Kingdom 16 in Yokohama Arena, an obvious make-good for blowing off the August 8 Yokohama Bunka Gym date the last two years. This, honestly, seems really unnecessary. The two-night Wrestle Kingdom 14 was one thing, as the dates fell on a Saturday and Sunday, and there was a specific mission from Bushiroad, to legit sell out the Tokyo Dome; that they were able to somewhat naturally come up with the Double Gold Dash at the same time made this feel pretty special, especially with the final winner being Tetsuya Naito. This past January, we got another two-night WK, but that seemed out of necessity, with the attendance and match number restrictions foisted upon NJPW due to the pandemic. Three years in, and it seems like making this a three-night event is out of a sense of “because we can,” not because they should. There’s still time for me to change my mind, but I don’t see it happening, especially since NJPW has very much cooled off as a product in the pandemic years, although still by far the biggest promotion in Japan.

Last night’s episode of NJPW Strong was the BBQ Brawl, which, LORD that is an AWFUL name...

Josh Alexander [Impact] d. Daniel Garcia [FREE] (Divine Intervention, 10:38)

TJP [FREE] d. Rey Horus [ROH] (Mambe Splash, 11:06)

Hikuleo [Bullet Club] d. Matt Morris (Tongan Driver, 9:44)

Hikuleo gets the win in prep for the forthcoming (cough) tables match v. Juice Robinson. The second match was a rematch from a previous Strong episode, back in February. Garcia once again wrestles on Strong and AEW Rampage on the same night, losing in both cases, to Impact’s X Division champion, and Darby Allin, respectively.

Next week’s episode will be the final Friday night episode for the show.

Yuya Uemura’s excursion in the LA Dojo now begins in earnest with his first non-NJPW booking. This coming Friday, 9/10/2021 in West Coast Pro Wrestling (the same promotion hosting Minoru Suzuki v. Daniel Garcia on 10/8/2021) at their I Hate You With A Passion event, Yuya will take on veteran Vinnie Massaro. Massaro has been around the block a few times; he’s featured over the years on Lucha Underground and AEW Dark, and has also taken on the alter-ego Ultimo Panda on more than one occasion. He’s pretty active on Wrestling Twitter too, and is a pretty fun guy. 

Tomorrow is the second night of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, which will once again show on both NJPWWorld and FITE TV. Four title matches and another STARDOM match feature here.

- 9/5/2021, Saitama MetLife Dome (NJPWWorld, FITE TV)

STARDOM Offer Match: Giulia & Syuri [Donna del Mundo] v. Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani [Queen’s Quest]

Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire]

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] © v. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] © v. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Championship: Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] © v. Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables]

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] © v. EVIL [Bullet Club]

Cardfight!! Vanguard Extra Story IF 16 things

forgot to post this, heck

Fanguard’s dream of actual hobo Kai-kun sleeping on Bench-chan is finally realized

There’s a lot of Kamui and Shin instinctively having feelings true to the true reality and mismatched to IF’s world. There’s two possibilities for this: a) Aichi did a really shitty job nailing down everything due to his concentration being focused primarily on Kai-kun b) the rupture from the illusion around Kai-kun unravelling tore into the IF world as a whole and it’s unable to entirely maintain its story, allowing for instances like Morikawa recalling Kai-kun’s line from Reboot’s first episode or Kamui and Shin recognizing Kagero as a clan expected of him.

The Kamui/Morikawa interactions were really cute, it’s nice to see them butting heads and just being rambunctious kids

Izaki sank the Miyaji Kai-kun theory, curious what he’s like at school in this form.

The ferocity of his original memories invading and scaring him having a lasting impact and making him afraid to play again even a couple/few days later is both fascinating and gutwrenching.

Honestly very surprised that Shin would reprimand anyone for being loud, particularly when that’s Misaki’s thing and where are you hiding her?

The softer he is, the more heartbreaking his situation is in the grand scheme of things, even if he’s come to terms with it. How dare you, Bushi.

IF 15: [roasts himself]. IF 16: [literally roasts a nerd]

Love and hate how the opportunity to elaborate and delve into Kai-kun’s relationship with Dragonic Overlord is taken advantage of because why not just stab me instead? It’s a nice insight into a facet of his time away from Hitsue that was never truly touched on in either version prior.

Emi and Shingo become Fanguard.

Right eye sighted. But being it’s Shingo's recollection of Aichi, not yet willing to buy that it’s completely normal with the fact that, beyond this and his encountering Shuka, it’s remained hidden — the purpose of the shot itself was to establish Shingo isn’t remembering things correctly, so there’s no reason to believe that he’s aware of anything that might be different about it.     — This could be reflected in how Aichi keeps his distance from the others, holed up in his private quarters and suffering with only Kourin seeming to be anywhere near him during such times. It’s reminiscent of Legion Mate, both in his trying to shoulder everything alone/hide the agony he’s going through and Kourin’s close proximity, standing as his right hand in a manner that no-one else fills.    — Also to go with the Legion Mate topic, in this moment, IF Aichi gives off VoidAichi vibes. Despite how broken up it’s apparent he would and should be to exile himself (see V epi 21 and the flashback to him watching the others in Card Capital from Legion Mate), he shows no emotion, but rather seems completely numbed. Also probably looking waaaay too far into it, but 2/2 times when his face has been completely obscured, there’s been a stylistic choice beneath his eyes that is typical of exhaustion/strain/fatigue and it keeps worrying me.

IF 17

The preview gives the impression that this episode is about to be a turning point; that with Naoki and Shingo both having some understanding that things aren’t quite right, their loyalty to Aichi might start to wane.

Naoki’s going out in his Miyaji school uniform has alarm bells ringing, personally, for reasons elaborated below.

Never knew that needed Kai-kun working a part-time job in my life but boy is it a need now.

Here for Mamoru reigniting his fandom for Kai-kun. Very here for it.

IF vs. V 21

As a first note, Kai-kun being the one to separation between Aichi and his deck against their IF selves has a nice touch of irony to it. Calling back to it would be a powerful way of drawing on their positions in relation to the scene.

Considering just how badly Aichi freaked out over the idea of giving up his Royal Paladin deck and what it would force unto him, there’s little reason to suspect anything that’s happening in IF is really of his own free will.   — It’s been brought up that, without the two meeting as kids, Aichi shouldn’t really have much knowhow about Vanguard, much less a relationship to it. Considering Kai-kun remained a Hitsue student, it’s an easy assumption to make that Aichi’s education followed the same pattern (though his reasoning for returning to Miyaji remains a mystery, with his lacking the confidence that his original reality/Outside World self had); his exposure to the game might come through his time in Middle School, but it’s a loose and distant connection at best. IF World Aichi, without knowledge of Outside World (if they are two separate versions), would have no reason to target Vanguard over anything else.

As Void and Star-Vaders aren’t a facet of the Reboot continuity, a theory that had in mind for a while is that a remnant of Brandt may have seized the moment when Aichi was Deleted and been festering away in the same manner as the Link Joker Seed. A previous post detailed the mindfuckery involved to break Aichi enough that he would turn on the game, particularly given how fearful he was of relinquishing it and the isolation it would return him to — the very circumstances he’s imposed upon himself (but far worse, in exiling himself from the real world). Though he’s a selfless boy and Kai-kun means an enormous amount to him, it simply doesn’t make sense that he would willingly go down this road.

Rather he’s mind has been twisted so much to believe in what he’s now doing or he’s being controlled by something of Brandt (as we’d never confirmation it was no longer a threat), if not some other force (though to introduce a new one at this stage in both the franchise and the reboot continuity with OverDress around the corner would be a peculiar choice).

Couple of theory things, feat. one really out there idea:

Naoki:

Naoki’s actions in the preview might be glimpses of him starting to break away from Aichi’s will; not with malicious intent, but rather the opposite.

The line of thinking goes as so: as he and Shingo come to realize their memories have been tampered with, Naoki seeks out Emi and Shuka, obtaining Blaster Blade with the intent of returning to the point in time where Aichi should have received it. Among the screencaps Bushiroad has released, one shows a young Naoki and Aichi, who’s holding a card  — rather than allowing the event to play out as it should have, Naoki intends to give Aichi the card himself.

In doing so, Aichi can begin down his path that liberates him from the crushing loneliness that he endured prior to actively playing the game, or in the case of IF, running away from home. Simultaneously, Naoki himself is freed from the guilt that’s shackled him in both continuities about not doing anything to help Aichi, as the Reboot has demonstrated how he yearned to at the time but was too late to make any move. This is his means of doing so and atoning for a reality when he failed.

When Emi, Shuka and Kai-kun would recognize him as the one who threatened the latter’s parents plus Suiko (and Ibuki) would be familiar with him as normal, there’s not a clear reason why he would forgo his Sanctuary Knight uniform for a civilian look other than to avoid attracting the attention of bystanders.;(It might be overthinking it to speculate there being anything more to it than this, but when has that ever worked?)    — Granted this is under the assumption that he would be able to leap through the timeline though Jammers of earlier episodes were capable of doing so, none of the enemy’s core have made any such move yet. And the consequences of doing so; if Aichi’s suffering is the result of IF World unravelling, then Naoki venturing to alter the timeline further may, in fact, cause him more harm than any good he may intend.

2.5 hours later edit: Courtney just shared the epi synposis and FUCK

Alternatively, Naoki might regain glimpses of the Psyqualia Zombie arc and see himself beating Aichi, leading to Destiny Conductor being able to control him and his eventual Deletion by Ibuki’s hand.

On the one side, it reinforces Aichi’s feelings that Vanguard is something they shouldn’t come into contact with, but Naoki could see it otherwise. He harbours guilt over being the catalyst for those instances, piling on top of his failure to reach out when they were in elementary school, spurning him to go back and redo everything so that he can always protect Aichi, not to embody anguish that the other goes through.

It would also strengthen a hostile opposition towards Ibuki, whose past sin comes back into play. He might throw the event in his face as a means of trying to dredge up his old feelings towards Vanguard and sway him to resist setting things right, whenever/however it is he’s released from wherever Aichi sent him and depending on what he experiences there.

Kourin:

Where we are currently feels very much like the “Sera’s betrayal leading to the Quatre Knights’ dissolution” point. Sera and Rati clashed with one another personally, Gaillard joined with Kai-kun and Naoki, Neve opposed VoidAichi directly — Naoki’s actions in the preview might be glimpses of him starting to break away from Aichi’s will. Though Naoki’s intentions are ultimately to save Aichi from the position he’s stuck in, it’s ultimately defying him — a far cry from what has been shown of the Knights, thus far, who have been fiercely loyal to him, which makes this sort of movement striking.

Miwa also doesn’t appear best pleased in the preview. As someone whose best friend was nearly killed as a result of Aichi’s orders  — a friend at risk now that he’s taking a stance against the group’s status quo — there’s every reason for him to defect for the sake of preventing another (and possibly actually fatal) incident. It’s very possible that It’s entirely possible that, in similar vein to Legion Mate, the collapse of the Knights will leave only Kourin by Aichi’s side, who’ll serve as the last line of defence. 

Mamoru & Tokoha / Aichi & Emi:

It wasn’t touched on during Nagisa and Gouki’s episode, but the dynamic of older brother and younger sister has the potential to crop up here, as well as the chance to contrast the Sendous’ current selves with the Anjou siblings (and the former’s past).

   — Not to mention how Mamoru and Aichi are polar opposites, at the moment in regards to their sisters in danger. Mamoru gambled with his life to keep Tokoha safe in the Dragon Empire attack of the original continuity, and anyone could see Aichi would do the same, but IF Aichi is the one who would inflict harm upon Emi, made clear by his soldiers’ attack on her and Shuka when they attempted to enter the past. Maybe, inadvertently, Tokoha might be put in jeopardy and Mamoru propelled to protect her in the same way, bringing about the behaviour of the two versions of her brother that Emi knows in the same situation.

Give me 11-year old Tokoha to mirror 11-year old Emi at the start of each continuity and drive this home.

And most importantly:

DRAGONIC OVERLORD ARMOUR

hns ep 9 rant!

ok!! lots to talk about!! this episode took my heart and proceeded to squeeze it until it shattered!! but whatever!!

first of all! shingo and his (half? step?)sister are rlly cute :((

and then his step mom comes and ruins it, thanks m o m

nao :( i really hate to see him so sad and distant,,, also his mother hates lefties? i think i heard somewhere that japan just don’t like ppl who are left-handed??

also why the heck can’t she let nao be happy?? she’s literally gonna make him quit?? will tacky allow that?

also ngl i actually thought he was gonna slap her or like,, throw the chopsticks at her

also the difference in the dinners(breakfasts???) between shingo’s family and nao’s,,, that hurt

but an is so supportive and cute and lovely!! all which nao’s mom isn’t!! (sorry i just,, really hate her)

shingo’s dad joins the club of “only good parents allowed”!! he’s the 4th (and HOPEFULLY not the last member)

maki’s mom!! i love her :(( she’s so nice and im glad she’s ok with maki playing tennis

ALSO WHEN I FIRST SAW THE PREVIEWS I THOUGHT: “i’d love to see the soft tennis team meet shingo’s sis 💕💕 imagine how cute they’d all be”

AND WE GOT IT?? THANK YOU HOSHIAI

also total sidenote but uhh,, yuu?? we had nothing with them?? maybe it’ll come later but i was rlly scared on how they’d continue from last ep

nao is rlly gonna snap soon and tbh can’t blame him? i wish maki would have said or say something to him

nearly screamed at my screen when an decided to explore,, like chiLD WHERE ARE YOU G O I N G??

taiyo,, bby u had one job,, like i understand buT STILL

mitsue frantically searching for an was rlly cute too :((

when nao locked the door, i rlly thought he had just killed her or smth and my ass was screaming at his for a whole 2 min

maki good boy, thanks for coming to my tedtalk

nao :(( pls don’t cry :( i rlly have a small feeling he’s gonna become (if not already) suicidal, i mean with the whole “i don’t belong here” i just got those vibes

wow

thanks for the 20 sec match hoshiai hfjkfkldd

no but srsly, the boys have improved a lot since ep 1! man i love character development

i kinda guessed that nao used his fairytales to escape reality but damn ://

pathological lying? i’ll make sure to look that up later, i want to understand more about it

tsubasa’s brothers!! they’re really cute and one of them is really tall jesus

oh no, another parent,,, coming to ruin the happy times

my actual reaction to the scene where tsubasa and his dad argue was just,,, [INTERNAL SCREAMING]

and his dad fucking sLAPS HIM?? BECAUSE OF WHAT??

AND TSUBASA F A LLS??

[INTERNAL SCREAMING INTENSIFIES]

like

and

he lands on his wrist, and that freaking c r u n c h

frEakin BITCH OF A FATHER

and i hate to announce we have another member joining the “shit parents eat shit” club!!

and tsubasa?? just runs?

like im glad he got away from his dad, who knows what else could’ve happened (even tho his dad didn’t look like he wanted that to happen, STILL, WHAT DOES HE EXPECT WHEN HE SLAPS HIS SON HARD ON THE STAIRS??)

but like, baby,, you ain’t gonna get to the hospital on foot

but?? it kinda all clicked when he stood in front of shingo’s house and i was like “oH OK GIVE ME SOME HURT/COMFORT THEN”

thank u shingo ily

“it’s no big deal” ???

BITCH ITS TURNING MORE BLUE THAN YOUR FUCKING HAIR???

thank u shingo’s dad for not only being a good father but also just a good man

why do they all lie,, wdym u fell down the stairs bc u were clumsy

anyways there is no way that doctor believed him

his entire face says it all

anD NOW HE CANT HOLD A RACKET FOR TWO MONTHS??

WHAT ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT??

HHHH???

also that credits scene, ouch

so tsubasa’s dad wants tsubasa to play soccer bc he did?? fuck u play soccer urself u old man before i break ur kneecaps

and that final sentence,, not ok

“i wanna play... in our match...!”

Bonding

Featuring:  LIJ

Category:   Light angst/light fluff

Word Count: 1726

Warnings: Language and drinking

Just some LIJ family bonding time.   It ends kind of abruptly and really doesn’t have a point, but I felt like writing it soooo.

It wasn’t the usual kind of hang out for the boys of Los Ingobernables de Japon, but then again, that was kind of the point.  This wasn’t a night out like their usual.  This was a night for bonding.  No pussy allowed.  To remove temptation, cause god knows despite his best intentions Naito will fuck someone if the opportunity presents itself, they had congregated at a dilapidated run down bar in one of the worst neighborhoods in the city.  Women wouldn’t be caught dead in this place. 

Sanada arrived first, refusing to remove his gloves or coat on the chance his skin might actually come into contact with something in this bar.   There was no one else in this world he would venture into a place like this for.  Even when slumming it with Evil he had his limits.   But for the four men who were his brothers, and the fifth who was slowly inching his way into that spot; Sanada would compromise his standards.  

As he commandeered a table in the back with enough seating for them all Sanada could feel the eyes of the clientele on him.  He knew he looked out of place, his designer clothes sticking out like a sore thumb and he could only imagine they were imagining jumping him.  A part of him hoped they did.  If he wasn’t going to get laid tonight, perhaps a fight could entertain him.  Show anyone that dared to fuck with him that he wasn’t just a pretty face.   With a sneer of derision and face full of challenge Sanada locked eyes with two men seated near the door who were eyeing him in rampant speculation.  

That was as far as it got when the door burst open with a loud bang, sunlight briefly blinding the bar and casting over the hulking figure pushing in.   Sanada rolled his eyes as he took a seat in a rickety chair he wasn’t entirely confident could safely hold his weight, watching as those who had been sizing him up immediately looked away from Evil’s intimidating presence.  Evil didn’t even have to do anything for others to recognize the danger that wafted from him.  

Shouting out for pitchers of beer to the barkeep Evil scanned the room and found Sanada, pushing through the empty tables to join his friend. 

“You order anything to eat?”  Evil said by way of greeting as he slid into the seat next to Sanada, frowning as the chair protested under his weight. 

“Hell no.  I’m not risking food poisoning.”  Sanada sniffed with a look of disgust.  “I can’t believe you’d even think about food in here.”

Evil simply laughed and stretched across the table for a menu.

“I’ve got a cast iron stomach my friend.”  Evil bragged.  “I can eat anything.” 

Their pitchers were delivered and Evil gave his order for an array of appetizers before reaching for a glass and filling it with the frothy brew rolling his eyes at Sanada as he pulled out a silk handkerchief and polished the glass before deigning it worthy to drink from. 

“You’re such a priss.”  Evil told him.  “How am I even friends with you?” 

Sanada shrugged and took a pull from his mug nose crinkling at the cheap bitter taste and longing for a nice aged scotch or bottle of chardonnay. 

Bushi’s arrival heralded stares as it usually did, a masked man was wont to draw attention no matter where he was.   He too kept his gloves on as he slid into a chair across from Evil exchanging a glance full of commiseration with Sanada.  While nowhere near Sanada’s level of snobbery, this place was pushing Bushi’s comfort boundaries a bit too much for his tastes. 

“You’re seriously going to eat here?” Bushi asked Evil incredulously as the first of several plates were brought to the table.  

“Of course, I’m starving.”  Evil said a sauce drenched Jiaozi already headed towards his mouth, eyes closing in bliss as he chewed. 

“It’s good.” Evil mumbled through a mouthful.  “You should try it.” 

“You’ll excuse me if I doubt your culinary divinity.”  Sanada scoffed making Evil shrug.

“Your loss.” 

Shingo was the next to arrive, looking rather worse for wear, his appearance speaking of a long night out but a bright grin on his face. 

“Long night?”  Bushi asked as Shingo sat next to Evil and immediately reached for the pitcher of beer. 

“Just a little.”  Shingo said as he downed half his glass in quick gulps. 

“Not hungover?” Sanada asked surprised Shingo didn’t seem even the slightest bit out of sorts from his escapades the night before.  Judging by the looks of him, he hadn’t been home since leaving the arena last night. 

“That’s the key Sanada-san.”  Shingo said grinning widely.  “You have to stop drinking to get hungover.” 

That made the gathered men snicker. They were quickly learning there wasn’t a party Shingo didn’t enjoy or a drink he would turn down.   He rivaled Evil in his ability to handle his alcohol, no small feat as Evil was undisputedly the king of that domain.  

Their laughter cut off abruptly when the door swung open once again, all of them shooting to their feet and hurrying towards the door like worried mother hens as Naito appeared with his arm hovering around the waist of Hiromu Takahashi.  

“Back off guys,”  Naito waved them away in annoyance making them part to create a path, Evil moving ahead of them to shove tables out of the way, glaring at the man at one of the tables who dared to grumble at him, to make a walkway for Hiromu.  

Bushi hurried ahead of Evil and pulled out a chair, pushing and shaking it to make sure it was stable enough before deeming it suitable for Hiromu’s use.  It was a slow process, Hiromu well on the road to recovery, but on his first public outing and Naito was fussing over him to take it easy.  Hiromu was barely recognizable from the frenetic ball of energy they were so used to, dressed in muted clothes with his hair pulled back in a ponytail and glasses perched on his nose.  A stark contrast to be sure, but they were all excited to see him out of the hospital.  It was difficult for them all to visit him at the same time in the small room he was housed in, making them have to spread them out so they all had the chance to see their littlest brother.  

Once everyone was settled conversation flowed smoothly, everyone talking over the others as they tried to keep Hiromu’s attention and fill him in on the going ons since the last time they had seen him.   Hiromu sat quietly, happy to soak up all the chatter and thrilled to be the center of attention.   It wasn’t so often that he garnered all this from his brothers.  Drinks flowed and food was eaten, even Sanada wearing down and grabbing a few bites with mumbled warnings of kicking Evil’s ass if he got sick.  

It made Hiromu sad that he wasn’t going to get to stay with them long.   He was only allowed out for a few hours before he got dragged back to his hospital room.  There he would be alone to flounder in his self-doubts.  No matter how much they visited, and how earnest they were in their proclamations of missing him dreadfully, there were still those nasty voices in his head saying they were going to forget about him.  That he was a broken toy and his brothers and the fans were going to move onto the next big thing.   Unbidden his eyes moved to Shingo, his lips pursing tightly as he looked at the newest member of LIJ. 

“I’m not trying to take your place Hiromu,” Shingo said catching the look, a hush immediately falling over the table at his words, worried looks cast at the frowning Hiromu.  “I don’t want to replace you.”  

Naito frowned looking between the two men.  Did Hiromu really think that?  Hiromu was the one who suggested they find a sixth member in the first place. 

“Nobody is ever going to replace you Hiro.”  Bushi said firmly.  “Nobody can and we don’t want anybody to.” 

“Why wouldn’t you?”  Hiromu said softly, lowering his eyes to stare at the fingers wringing in his lap.   “Shingo is so much better than me.   Bushi and I never almost won the junior tag tournament together.  He deserves a partner who can take him to the top.   Why would you want someone who may not ever wrestle again?” 

“I don’t give a shit about your wrestling.”  Evil snapped. “You’re my brother.  My family.  I’m just going to forget you because you can’t go in the ring? Stop with the bullshit Hiromu.” 

“Evil!”  Naito chastised.

“What?  He’s got a broken neck so I can’t get pissed off that he thinks he’s worthless?”  Evil argued.  “That he thinks our feelings are so shallow that we’ll move onto the next shiny new thing the second he turns his back?” 

“I don’t think that!”  Hiromu protested vehemently.  

“Obviously you do if you think we’re going to leave you behind.”  The anger seeped from Evil’s words, trailing off into uncertainty.   “You must not think very much of us.” 

Uncomfortable silence descended over the table everyone looking everywhere but at each other as the bitter words floated in the air between them. 

“Fuck beer, we needs shots.”  Bushi muttered rising to head to the bar.  

As he moved Evil heard someone muttering about “masked freaks” making Evil’s head shoot up, his eyes glaring holes into the culprit.

“Say that again bakayarou!”  Evil spat.  “I’ll pull your tongue out with my bare hand and watch you choke to death on your own blood.” 

The man paled and sunk back into his seat, shifting so he was looking in the opposite direction of Evil.  

Muffled giggles came from behind Hiromu’s hand and it wasn’t long before it spread throughout the table, the Ingobernables laughing loudly and tension melting away as Bushi sat down a tray filled with double shots. 

One by one the grabbed shot glass and clinked them together in the center. 

“To family.” Naito proclaimed, his words enthusiastically echoed by them all before the shots were downed. 

what if jojo ships had old fashioned/yugioh ship names

I love yugioh but also the ship names are so fun! Since yugioh is so long and we have a lot of repeated parts of characters names I,e. Yusei, yugi, yuya, yugo, yuri, yuto, Yuma, yuga , yusaku etc, or characters just being plain awkward to find ship names for. (We have two Rays! In separate series that are important!) and some names would just sound awkward Kurosaki x Reiji is the example I’ll use. I literally cannot think of a decent enough sounding ship name. Kuroeiji is the only one that doesn’t sound god awful in my opinion (even then that sounds more like a name then a ship name) or if they went by the other name that would be Shun and Akaba. Which since the Akaba family is important to arc-v and their were like 5 members that would be confusing and Kurosaki like never goes by shun always his last name so if we called it shunkaba then who are we talking about? We just call them Hostageshipping since their first interaction was Kurosaki attempting to take Reiji hostage (and reiji just saying. ‘No.’) The ship names can fall into a few categories.

Character interaction: since yugioh characters do not communicate often if the6 have a cool interaction sometimes that interaction will be the majority of the ship name or be iconic for the ship (see hostageshipping above is based offhow they met that’s important for their relationship)

Some are just traits the characters have in common (see Spiritshipping from gx Johan and Judai can both see spirits and they start to bond because of this! Or like any of the entertainment duelist ships from arc-v.) sometimes it’s a mix of these two point see dartshipping (yuya x sawatari) sawatari loves playing darts and yuya loves games and fun and their first interaction involving these two was sawatari throwing darts at a board talking about yuya

And sometimes it’s just a character theme or a physical trait. Uh Duskshipping comes to mind (Yuri x Dennis) where it’s called that because their hair colors put together are the color of dusk.

Or it’s just straight up a crack ship but it has a fun name. Or it’s just a piece of culture or a cute play on words like redlightshipping (Reiji x Sawatari) it’s because in Japanese you say Akashingo as red light and since sawatari first name is Shingo it’s funny. And cute.

so I raise you! What if we do this with jojo? Idk I love some jojo ship names (some are kinda awkward in my opinion tbh) but since they communicate a lot more then yugioh characters do it would just be fun I am not saying I want to change the ship names it would just be fun to think of some funny name for these characters. And some are just fun to think about as a sort of mini trip down memory lane. Like Shortcakeshipping for Fugo x Mista since their first interaction was Mista freaking out over cake and we have Strawberry shortcake. Idk it’s just something I think about sometimes y’all tell me if you want me to talk about the personal ideas I have.

The moral of Ao no Flag chapter 44 is that Shingo is definitely the kind of person to be like ‘I vote third party because both political parties seem equally bad to me’.

Anyway, oh boy do I have some Thoughts on this chapter, which will be under the cut.

This is definitely gonna be a really polarizing chapter for a lot of people, and in a lot of ways I’m nervous about where it’ll go, and which characters Kaito is being more sympathetic toward here.

Since this whole chapter was about characters talking about homophobia from different angles, I may as well just jump straight into it as well and talk about the ideas and themes being discussed here.

To be blunt, Shingo’s attitude in this chapter pisses me off because it’s the kind of ‘neutrality’ that actively benefits oppressors and abusers. It’s the kind of attitude that just keeps victims from being able to defend themselves, and that allows abusers to keep hurting people. It’s the type of middle-of-the-road nothingness that supports the status quo, which in practice just means that people like him just end up sitting back and watching homophobes beat up gay people and all they feel like doing is going ‘hmm I dunno guys, both sides seem equally at fault here :/’. This is exactly the sort of situation where the idea of the paradox of tolerance comes into play. If you express universal tolerance toward everything, including intolerance, that just creates a situation where bigots and abusers get free reign to hurt people, which is obviously a bad thing. The only way to actually take any meaningful steps to punishing and preventing bigotry is to accept the fact that not everything deserves to be tolerated, and that punishing hatred is not morally equivalent to hating and hurting innocent people.

The situation with Touma and Kensuke pretty bluntly illustrates the imbalance of power and blame that lies at the heart of this. Literally the only thing that Touma did was being gay and having a crush on his best friend. And on the other hand, Kensuke decided to step into this situation that didn’t involve him at all and physically assault Touma over it. Acting like those two things are on any level meaningfully equivalent is cowardly and selfish. Kensuke’s own feelings and personal history are a separate topic that at this point have nothing to do with the immorality of how he treated Touma. Particularly because what Touma did has literally no direct connection to Kensuke. All Touma did was just tell Mami that he likes Taichi, and Kensuke was outside of the room eavesdropping. He wasn’t involved in the conversation at all, and he wasn’t even the subject of Touma’s feelings. He just went out of his way to force his own insecurities and baggage and bigotry onto a situation that has nothing to do with him. Maybe if it was a situation where, like, Touma had a crush on Kensuke and suddenly kissed him and Kensuke freaked out about it, then his past trauma might at least somewhat excuse it, but that’s not what happened.

Even though on paper the topic of male victims of rape is something that should be discussed and respected, I feel like it was kinda haphazardly thrown into this chapter to try and make Kensuke seem even somewhat sympathetic, even if it didn’t really work. As I said, the fact that Touma was talking about having feelings for someone other than Kensuke, and that Kensuke wasn’t part of the conversation at all, means that there’s absolutely no room to act like Kensuke’s trauma has anything to do with it. Him having past trauma because of some other gay person he knew doesn’t give him the right to randomly beat up any other gay person he knows about. Again, it’d be one thing if Kensuke was actually part of the conversation, or the subject of Touma’s feelings, or if Touma actually acted inappropriately toward him in a way that would be triggering, but, yet again, literally all Touma did was tell Mami that he likes Taichi, and Kensuke decided to go out of his way to barge in and assault him. Besides, if we’re going down the route of moral equivalency, it seems hypocritical for Kensuke to use his own past assault to completely ignore the fact that he also assaulted Touma. If they want to play the both sides card to get sympathy points, they don’t get to have it both ways and ignore Kensuke’s own assault toward Touma.

Which is it’s own thing, really. That most people who try and play the devil’s advocate centrist role aren’t actually what they seem to be. They’re usually not arguing in any sort of good faith. More often than not, they have their own biases and prejudices, and don’t in fact see everything equally. They just use the idea of politeness and tolerance to try and guilt-trip people who want to point out that it’s shitty of them to beat up a gay dude just for him being gay.

On the one hand, you can definitely say that Mami’s friends were inconsiderate and disrespectful toward Kensuke’s past assault, but honestly that whole plot point felt so transparently like ‘a plot point’, so to say, that I can’t even really suspend my disbelief over it, so I can’t exactly blame them for not caring. It’d be one thing if these were real people talking about real experiences, but since they’re just fictional characters, in this sort of situation I think what matters more is the author’s own intentions and methods in how and why they chose to bring this sort of thing up in the first place.

I was kinda hoping that there might be more layers to the whole situation with Kensuke, but nah it really was exactly what it seemed to be right from the get-go, and he really is just inexcusably bigoted and awful. But at least I expected that. I’m more disappointed with Shingo for deciding to completely throw Touma under the bus in order to try and protect Kensuke and his gross homophobic violence. He’s very rapidly losing points with me after this chapter, to be honest. Even on top of how incredibly rude he’s being to Touma by more or less accusing him of being just as bad as Kensuke, it seems really shitty of him to suddenly be defending Mr. “I have literally no choice but to treat men and women differently and to treat all women as sex objects and all gay men as rapists. I am just a smol creacher I cannut help it uwu” after the whole flashback with him sticking up for Mami and validating her desire to just be seen as a person and not as a woman. It kinda makes him seem really fake and two-faced in retrospect.

Not to mention the last minute implication that the blonde girl is apparently Shingo’s girlfriend, which makes his attitude seem even more shitty, honestly.

I honestly have to wonder if there’s some deeper reason why he seems to be pretty much abandoning his morals so he can aggressively double down on defending Kensuke’s actions at all costs. It just seems like a bit of an unnatural 180 for him.

And then there’s the whole scene with Futaba and co at the end of the chapter. Which is it’s own whole thing. I don’t really have much to say about it, but I do gotta admit that the whole way that they’re hammering in this idea of it being rude to Futaba for anyone to wish that Touma and Taichi could have gotten together is kinda feeling more and more uncomfortably meanspirited as time goes on. I dunno exactly how to put it, but especially after the whole “Touma’s apparently just as bad as Kensuke and apparently deserved to get assaulted for being gay” thing, it just seems all kinda of uncomfortable and loaded with all sorts of potential baggage that we immediately then had a whole scene of Mami basically going “you shouldn’t care so much about Touma’s feelings, you should just prioritize yourself and be happy about the fact that YOU’RE the one who ended up dating Taichi instead of Touma”. It really just seems like Touma’s getting shit on from all sides of the equation here. In a lot of ways it doesn’t really help that I don’t even think Taichi and Futaba’s relationship is that interesting or deep, so it’s just kinda annoying to see it get propped up and used as ammunition for this weird guilt-trip-y ‘if you want Touma to be happy, that just means you hate Futaba and her relationship with Taichi’ attitude.

Then there’s the whole thing at the very end of the chapter with Futaba unintentionally striking a raw nerve by being all cliffhangery and suddenly bringing up the [not-so-]hypothetical situation of Masumi being in love with her. I’m curious to see how that goes, but let’s just say that I don’t really want Masumi to also get shit on in the next chapter after what happened in this one, lol.

On the note of Masumi, we also finally got confirmation that she, for one reason or another, suspected that Touma was gay before she eventually became certain of it. I’m still curious to see if there’s any specific reason why she suspected it that early on, but I guess we’ll see.

Most of all I really wanna see more of Taichi’s thoughts on everything, since he’s been kinda non-existent for the last few chapters. Though I’m a bit nervous about whether or not I’ll even like what happens when we get a deeper look into his head.

At least for the time being I’m not going to personally judge Kaito for what happened in this chapter, since at the very least everything the characters said is more or less realistic for how teenagers talk about these things, but the big question is just which side of the argument Kaito wants us to sympathize with more in the long run. It’s one thing to just present different sides of an argument in a piece of fiction, but when it becomes clear that you as the author personally advocate for one over another, then it’s something worth talking about, one way or another.

This was really negative and ranty, but it’s not like I hate the series or anything, lol. I mean, my opinion on it might take a sharp downward turn if it becomes clear that Kaito just wants to throw Touma [and Masumi] under as many buses as possible while cozying up to violent homophobes, but we’ll see if it gets to that sorta point.

I’m just particularly sensitive about these sorts of centrist, willfully ignorant attitudes because they’re so directly at fault for so many of the world’s current political problems.

Stars Align 5 - 8 | Dr Stone 19 - 21 | Shinchou Yuusha 6 - 8 | No Guns Life 6 - 7 | BnHA 67 | Iruma-kun 7

Stars Align 5

Geepers, I accidentally read some spoilers before watching this episode…so I realised that the person in te clubroom was Toma without his glasses, but it took me a bit to realise still.

“Makimaki”…cute.

Don’t give Maki’s father your name, Toma. Names are weapons for guys like him!

It’s ben a while since I’ve done this type of maths, although the answer appears to be correct.

Huh? The ED went straight to the teachers instead of going to Kinuyo/Ruriha/Kaori (whatever her name is)…

Oh! That heart gesture hints at the fact he has a sister (I’ve forgotten the guy’s name though) – he might’ve learnt some dance choreography from watching idols or magical girls with her. Update: That’s Shingo.

Dr Stone 19

Rule no. 2 of shonen – don’t underestimate the bishonen.

The guy who kinda looks like Kirishima with orange hair is definitely going to be important…(rule no. ???? of anime).

Ooh! The themes I thought would never came back…came back!

Some people do consider underpaying people a modern form of slavery, y’know.

Does Tsukasa always have to be called “the strongest primate”, though…? It’s a badass title, to be sure, but it certainly wouldn’t be said a lot in a normal conversation.

Judging by the flame (homura) she carries, I’d wager her name is Homu-oh, dangit. Her name really is Homura!

Senku teaches Fire Safety 101.

Ginro’s not holding his bokuto (wooden kendo practice sword) anymore…hmm.

I didn’t think Sulfuric Acid lady would be back…ever.

The funny thing is that Tsukasa seems to be a gender-neutral name, so telling the brawny men to “go suck on Mommy Tsukasa’s teat”…LOL.

Hyoga has that mask thing of his anyway, so he’s probably better off than, say, Homura.

Is that a Death Star??????!!!!

Kensaku means “search”.

Cell phone…you’d need extensive knowledge of electronics and/or IT and architecture (for the larger networks, or at least the towers) to get one running.

“…who’ll be our double agent?” – No duh. It’s either Gen (as suggested in the scene just before) or Taiju and/or Yuzuriha.

I never thought a smartphone would make me feel sad for what has gone before, but it just did when all these quotes from the past came through.

Okay, so one of the ingredients is steel (hagane).

I love how Gen gets the wine image. He’s a stage magician, so his fancy suit matches the image of a sommelier.

Byakuya seems to be the one represented in the battery image.

BnHA 67

Yay! Amajiki, my booooooooooy!

Shinchou Yuusha 6

I never thought I’d say this to my seasonal husbandos – I don’t even say this about zaShunina, the random yandere – but…Seiya, you a**hole!

Lemme guess…Seiya’s gonna use some speed seeds?

I read on Leviae’s status earlier that she has an immunity towards fire…*gulp*

A nurikabe is a wall youkai that blocks travel, while a hyosube lives in a river and eats rice plants.

What’s the age gap between Mash and Elulu? I know Mash is hot enough (in the manga) to be compltly within my range, so I’d say he’s about 16 at the youngest, but Elulu is, what, 12…? Update: There’s no real indication as to what the characters’ ages are, but Mash is lvl 16 and Elulu is lvl 8.

Ooh, this is new! Seiya’s thrown caution to the wind for once for the sake of Elulu!

No Guns Life 6

“Strong Smells” (on the can) – Yep, Olivier seems to be proving that name right.

Motor City…I didn’t really care for it at first, but now I’m starting to warm up to it.

Ooh, it seems the implication here is that Olivier inherited the title of EMS commander from her dad.

“…I’m gonna get shot!” - I guess when you’ve got a gun for a head, the assumption is you’re gonna get shot.

Armed Tokisada seems to be this world’s version of All Might…(but then is Juzo Deku? LOL.)

Iruma-kun 7

This OP is a lot more battle-oriented than I remember…

I want a GIF of sparkly Amelie, stat!

Iruma’s voice as Rin is too CUTE! LOL!

Kawaii Comics, LOL.

Ooh! I can recognise Opera by his nail polish now…! His nail polish appears to be purple today.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Opera express his own concern for Iruma until now. Maybe he’s like a surrogate mother to Iruma by now…?

They even have monsters to call out bell noises…LOL wut.

Hmm…I just realised Azz speaks to Iruma rather formally. Not just the –sama, but the keigo as well.

Azz is rather observant too…(Seriously, I swear he’s been teetering on the edge of being my husbando from this show, but since he’s so subservient, it’s a bit of a hard concept to grasp. Not to mention the guy is, what, 14…?)

Even the shadows of background characters are blue and pink…

The little arrow over Clara really sells the moment.

The bird is so cute~!

I only realised it this year, but boba is really in, all over the world, for young people. *stares at all the boba shops that have appeared around my area lately*

I think Ameri = watashi and Iruma = boku. It’s politeness all the way ‘round. I think Sabro might’ve used ore.

“Don’t let go. Desire is your life.” – Sarazanmai ad <- I think this quote is appropriate for this episode.

Oh! We see Kuromu the Akudol in the ED…I didn’t realise that. (<- knows about her due to spoilers)

Oh! I think next episode might be Clara’s seduction class! Ooh! Interesting…

Dr Stone 20

Come to the dark side, we have candy…amirite???

Dr Stone 21

The pun here is that tou is a way to pronounce “copper” and “steal”, so Chrome copped copper in the Eng subs.

Couldn’t Ginro just use the word “s***” instead? That would’ve made the pun a lot better, tbh.

Thy translated all the dialogue in the fake menus! Yay! (<- translator’s brain showing up) For instance, Senku’s attack is listed as 1 while Suika’s is 3 and Gen’s is 5…LOL. The one that really made me laugh was “Runs away the second he knows he’s at a disadvantage. You’re scum, Ginro!”

Magma wasn’t in the fake game menu…!!! (I like how Magma questioned how Senku suddenly started calling him a “friend”.)

No Guns Life 7

I feel like the length of time between distracting the guard and Tetsuro conveying his plan was a bit much, but…okay.

Shinchou Yuusha 7

LOL, Beel Bub…y’know, Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies.

If Seiya were watching No Guns Life, he’d freak out…

Is that Cerceus in the back-yep, thought so!

Shinchou Yuusha 8

I almost expected Rosalie to woof…that’s how doglike she is!

Why do I get the feeling we’ll 1) find out what the Warmaster looks like next ep and 2) find out Rosalie’s armour is actually the armour Seiya’s meant to look for…? I could be wrong, but my intuition has some chance of being correct, even if I think up stuff that’s pure speculation…

Stars Align 6

Does Yonex sponsor this show, like Mikasa for Harukana Receive…?

LOL, Mitsue’s reaction.

If this were the Amazing Race, the hometown advantage would suck…but this is Hoshiai no Sora, so this could go either way.

���How to Soft Tennis” indeed…sic.

Wait, who’s Takada…? Update: She’s on the girls’ team, IIRC.

The Takenouchi/Souga pair is a bunch of trolls…LOL.

Oji seems to be the leader, full stop. Same way Katsuragi has been running things.

It’s been a few weeks since I last watched this show, but…is Oji the guy who threatened to punch them all…? He is, isn’t he…?

Stars Align 7

I feel like Mitsue’s bitterness is fuelled by personal experience in the manga field…

Well, the guy’s name isn’t Arashi (storm) for nothing! Update: The guy’s name is in katakana, which may or may not prove my point…

Arashi’s surname sounds like the Japanese word for “prince”, if you’re wondering.

I LOLled so hard at the line “Versus Arashi?” Y’see, there’s this game show with a group called Arashi. Therefore, its name is “Versus Arashi”.

I learnt most of what I know about tennis from Wii Sports, LOL.

I mentally cringed when I saw Itsuki’s burns again…

“…years and experience.” – That’s two things, Tacky!

Souya from Planet With would be in heaven here…what with all this meat.

Doesn’t “Kamuy” mean “god” in Ainu…? That Ouji, so conceited! *huffs at how arrogant the boy is*

Girls do eat like fiends…LOL.

I can’t believe 7 episodes in real life time was only a month in Stars Align time…

Yuta’s really sensitive to Toma’s mood…probably because the former likes the latter. (Yeah, I’m a derp for saying what we already know.)

Stars Align 8

I-I wanna cry…you do realise I gave up piano halfway through high school, only to become an absolute bum when I got into higher levels because I can’t use my piano lessons to demonstrate I can manage my time responsibly anymore???? I quit Chinese the same year and now it’s the one thing that’s preventing me from getting a bunch of beneficial opportunities because now there are so many Chinese people in my region! Studies are not your life! (distant crying can be heard in the background)

I kinda get where the mother’s going with this, but knowing what I know…please compromise, you two.

“The handsome half” – I wasn’t sure what that meant until I saw the image…”half” meaning ha-fu, or a person who’s half Japanese half something else. It’s like calling someone gweilow in Cantonese –it’s vaguely derogatory at the very minimum.

*Yuta’s sisters suggest clothes for him to wear* “Don’t tell mom about this.” – Oh, I have a bad feeling about this…(Then again, I got vaguely spoiled for this point by the This Week in Anime segment…that’s why I decided to watch 3 episodes in one shot.)

Maki’s shirt says “to continue”, as if it’s echoing his nonchalance. Like, “Yuta, please continue” or something like that.

To be real with you, the first resource I consulted to start thinking about the LGBTIQ+ spectrum (outside gender-bending fiction) was a book about an FtM person, so I guess I’m the most used to that sort of thing.

This is why empathy is so good, Maki.

Go, Mitsue! Be the diversion!

Who’s “Kanacat”? Kanako?...Oh, it’s Mitsue. Rigggggggggght.*facepalm*

Why do I get the feeling Mitsue wants to join the soft tennis club…?

Sakurai-sensei’s glasses are all fogged up, LOL.

Ohh (sounds down). These kiddos are soccer nuts.*grumbles about soccer nuts*

Update: To be honest with you, I’m fine with not making hard gender decisions too…Just so you know.

My Review of Prison School

But I still find myself hating on Shingo. He literally turns on his best friend, has everyone else turn on him so that Kiyoshi is solo in everything, and won’t even give Kiyoshi the benefit of the doubt. Yes, Kiyoshi did some sneaky things in order to be with a girl he really liked and even almost screwed up their peeping mission, but Shingo went too far. I’m glad Shingo came to his senses and realized Kiyoshi is pretty damn loyal (especially all he’s done for Gakuto). It’s just after Kiyoshi was found out, Shingo turned into such a jerk that I hated seeing him for the several episodes he had his broodish behavior. SHIPPING: So there were several ships worth mentioning. *Kiyoshi x Chiyo: It was weird how they came to meet because Chiyo noticed an item on Kiyoshi’s desk that had to do with sumo. Meanwhile Kiyoshi only had it because his grandma likes sumo and he doesn’t. But it doesn’t stop him from flirting with Chiyo. And you know that saying about how men will do anything for a pretty girl? That’s pretty accurate here as Kiyoshi was desperate enough to escape from prison by disguising himself as a girl, and hang out with Chiyo at an event that bores the fuck out of him. But hey, he’s with a girl that actually acknowledges his existence, so why the fuck not?! It’s clear that Kiyoshi does care for Chiyo. As for Chiyo, she sees the good in him (despite some of the questionable things he’s been involved with). She goes as far as to stand up for him when her older sister Mari tries to expel Kiyoshi and his friends. In fact, she downright disobeys her older sister for the sake of a boy. Yep, this ship has just left port! *Shingo x Anzu: I know Anzu was only around for the sake of leading-on Shingo per Mari’s order. But the fact that she did the right thing by being truthful to Shingo before he could be expelled from school was good on her part. I know her infatuation was fake from the get-go, but that kind gesture at the end of their “date” makes me think she might come around later. And she does in the finale. But after the OVA, I’m pretty sure they’re on good footing.

*Kiyoshi x Hana ... ...I don't know what you want me to say here. Crazy Bitch Hana has been on a crusade to crush Kiyoshi personally after he accidentally was in the same area as her as she took a piss in the forest. And ever since that day, she has done everything in her power to destroy him for what he (accidentally) came upon. And all times have kinda backfired on her with her being R. Kelly'd all over, feeling an unwanted mushroom touching her, and a kiss that'll leave her stupid her for three weeks. In a strange way, yeah, I can see her being obsessed over Kiyoshi (especially after that last kiss they had). But I'm not a full supporter of them. *Mari x Meiko: I’m not even going to discuss how many fanarts involving these two I had to go through in my research. But seeing as there’s some history involving Meiko being indebted to Mari from their middle school days, it doesn’t surprise me that this ship is heavily sided on Meiko. Meiko does everything for the sake of her madam president. And if she feels as though she has failed her madam president, she will punish her own self. I can’t really tell if this requited love or not. I'm leaning on Mari just using Meiko and doesn't return the feelings. Maybe if we get another season, I’ll change my thoughts on this. *Kiyoshi x Gakuto ... Only in Shingo's imagination. NO! Fuck no! By the end of the special OVA, it seems as though all 5 boys had some girl that seemed semi-interested or fully interested in them. Kiyoshi x Chiyo is a definite big one. Shingo and Anzu might be a little rocky, but a few hints were dropped. As for the others, Andre has a few admirers, Jo got a special surprise in a random girl, and Gakuto found luck in the world’s unluckiest girl. OMG MOMENTS: So I’ll admit that what peaked my curiosity with this particular series was some of the O.M.G. moments. I saw and heared about these certain moments and I wanted to hear more. Now, the two moments that first caught me years prior was Hana peeing in the woods and Gakuto deficating in class (yes, you read right, a guy shit his pants in class). Certainly that should be the end of this disg…Not by a long shot! There were plenty of jaw-dropping, O.M.G. moments to go on! Accidental panty shots, squat-thrusts that go on longer than it really should, graphic details of a high-heel shoe in a boy’s ass-crack, a girl getting aroused by a stray hair on a boy’s nipple, nudity of just about every variety, and a girl being R. Kelly’d all over (a.k.a. golden shower). And those are just the ones I could remember from the top of my head! But seriously, I think Hana getting R. Kelly'd was the one that did me in. ANIMATION: I will say this anime can go very creative when it comes to the animation. Many scenes go completely different from the norm. The facial expressions for one are VERY detailed (especially in the suspenseful scenes). But one scene I want to mention was when Kiyoshi and Gakuto were planning their escape and the animation decides to use legos to detail the escape. That was very fun to watch. Though I’m sure when it first came out The Lego Movie was probably still a big thing and this series wanted to use lego-mation for a few scenes throughout the series. Whatever the case, I loved it. But for me, I feel like they go WAY over the top when it comes to animating Meiko. And to tell you the truth, it’s probably the creator’s fault with this too, but getting several moments where the viewer is face-to-face with her taint as she does squat thrusts. Her ass literally swallows up panties. But it doesn’t help when this teenager… (REMEMBER SHE’S A TEENAGER) ...has overly-exaggerated drawn body parts. Like dominatrixs show more than she does, it’s so insane! THE DUB CONTROVERSY: So dubs can be notorious for putting unnecessary lines into the series. It could be one line in an episode or movie, several lines throughout the series, or in special cases like Shin Chan and Ghost Stories, the entire series. And trust me, Rica Matsumoto never once insulted Vikings or Minnesota in Pokemon the First Movie. You may blame the good folks at 4Kids for that line! In a couple of their dubs in the past five years, FUNimation inserted a few dub lines in animes including Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, My Girlfriend is a Gal, and Prison School that did not go over well with anyone. And the one that seemed to set people off the most was when Shingo was asked if he was a “GamerGate creepshow”. It caused so much controversy that fans got into a fight with the writer on Twitter, angry letters were sent to FUNimation, and the line was eventually changed for DVD release. I’ll be honest, I was never aware of this particular term or the controversy that surrounded it until I heard about the mess the Prison School dub wound up in because of it. Probably because after 2010, I stayed clear from those certain topics/sites/etc. But I’ll admit that this was very out of place and things like that really shouldn’t be in that unless the dub is supposed to be out of left-field like in Shin Chan and Ghost Stories. But it isn’t! This is Prison School! This anime has enough going on without out of place lines being spouted! ENDING: It is clear that the girls of the Underground Disciplinary Committee hate these men. Especially Mari! Actually, Mari has a strong disdain for the male gender due to her father's dirty little habit of lusting over Brazilian ladies with big asses. But all of them hate the boys. Hate them so much that they would go so far as to mess with their brains and set them up for failure as long as they remain prisoners. Kiyoshi’s escape arc caused the boys to get another month to their sentence and giving them one strike. So the girls figured two more offenses were going to happen one way or another. Once they get three strikes, they are eligible for expulsion. And that’s where Operation D.T.O. comes in (Destroy Testicles Operation). The girls were devious enough to lure Shingo with a plant and have Meiko mentally destroy Andre with “punishment”. Shingo was allowed a couple of hours out of the prison, but had to be back at a certain time.

Mari sets up a plant to distract Shingo. That plant managed to seduce him during his time out of prison and while his back was turned, changed the time on his clock so he’d be late returning back to the prison. Meanwhile, Andre is the biggest masochist in this anime, quite possibly in the whole anime world. He lives for being struck by women when he’s been bad. So when Meiko held back her punishment tactics, he went crazy. So much so that when Meiko called him over, he crashed through barbed wire and the girls considered it as a prison break. That’s strike two! And even though Shingo’s plant broke down and confessed what was going on and Shingo managed to get back to campus on time. He didn’t technically make it inside the premises. So now the boys are at strike three and up for expulsion. Meiko, Hana, and Mari are some manipulative bitches! With any luck, the principal will go easy on them. On the plus side, he’s an ass-man and can understand the boy’s lust for ladies. But then it gets ugly when you realize this guy is also Mari and Chiyo’s father. While Kiyoshi was able to get favor points with the principal by giving (false) praise to the booty that would make even Space Dandy proud, the principal was only able to give the boys 24 hours left at the school before they are fully expelled. If the boys have one more plan, they better pull it off and FAST. Actually, with the help of Chiyo, Anzu, and the other boys, they were able to pull off one hell of a method to combat D.T.O. The boys distracted Meiko with an arm-wrestling match. Anzu distracted the girls by sneaking around the prison. Gakuto was able to hack into Mari’s computer to dig up dirt for the principal. Kiyoshi got the final laugh with crazy-bitch Hana by sticking his tongue so far down her throat she won’t think straight for a week. And the sprinkles on top, we got Chiyo to pose as Jo, Jo pose as Gakuto, and then have Gakuto get the final nail in the coffin to take down the Underground Disciplinary Council. With this amounting evidence, the principal felt that the boys more than enough did their time in prison school and have all earned their freedom. And yes, they can stay admitted to the school. As for Meiko, Hana, and Mari, those three have won a one-way trip to the clink. Now this didn’t turn around like having the boys become the warden and the girls become the prisoners. Actually, the REAL president of the student council stepped in as warden for this special occasion. We meet Kate Takenomiya literally in the final five minutes of the last episode (despite so much more discovered in the manga). And she wastes no time chastising, embarrassing, and breaking the girls of the underground disciplinary council in a private and even public setting. But enough about Meiko, Hana, and Mari’s backstory, we now rejoin the boys as they are enjoying their freedom. MAD WAX: This is the sequel OVA to Prison School where we see what life is like for the boys after leaving prison and watch as Meiko, Hana, and Mari are sent to prison and literally stripped of their dignity. Actually, we don’t even watch more than 2 minutes involving the three witches. Most of the episode does consist the boys interacting with the girls of the school. Kiyoshi and Chiyo are cute together. And there’s some hope for Anzu and Shingo after all that has happened between them. That just leaves Gakuto, Andre, and Jo. Andre quickly became popular with the ladies for being strong. Gakuto got lucky with the world’s unluckiest girl. Since it’s a given that Gakuto risked being an outcast through high school and quite possibly a virgin for life after he shit his pants during class. This girl understands due to a similar incident that happened when she was younger. And like I said before she’s the world’s unluckiest girl. She ends up in mishaps where we end up seeing her panties or her being half-naked for some reason. But all wasn’t good with one of the boys. Jo started to feel that he’s unable to survive in the outside world and misses being locked up. And he was willing to fondle a girl’s ass just to go back in the system. Kinda relatable to people who are locked up for a long time and they know no other life outside prison. Really sad! But Jo gets a surprise by a female classmate as she took the time to give him a baked good personally and even address him by name. This actually touched Jo and made him second-guess the whole prospect of living outside the system. And through some accidents, Andre wound up naked, bondaged, and kicked by scared, naked females. Don’t ask. It’s an OVA. OVA’s are notorious for kinky shit like this happening. Despite a lot of fanservice (not aimed at me whatsoever), I was really captivated by the story of these boys trying to survive the prison school. The animation was very inventive at times and fun to watch. I just think I could do without constant close-ups of Meiko’s taint. And while I’m on the subject of Meiko, who put bull hormones in her milk?! Not since Eiken have I seen a high school girl with overly-eggagerated proportions and clothing that doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Okay, I'm being too harsh here. But if you watch this girl, you'll understand where I'm coming from. But I enjoyed the story overall. Shock factor and all! There were so many shocking moments in the anime that might scare off some folks. I leaned in closer, jaw-dropped waiting to see if there’s another scene in this anime that’s going to top this one! My only issue was with the dub. Yes, controversial line aside, some of the voices just feel like they didn’t belong. Particularly when it comes to characters like Gakuto and Andre! But I honestly think it’s because I was never a fan of Eric Vale voicing a high school student…yes, even when he was doing that on Fruits Basket. And Andre…who told Sonny Strait it was a good idea to do Jarjarbinks through the entirety of the series? If you’re looking for a thrilling anime filled with escape plans, sweat dripping from between girl’s thighs (skeet, skeet, mother fucker), clever moments, oh my gosh moments, big ol’ jiggly bits, and moments that’ll keep you at the edge of your seat, check this one out. Just watch the dub at your own risk. And if you want more of that, the manga goes much, much, much further than what the anime tells. Currently, FUNimation and Hulu are the only ones streaming the series. The OVA, Mad Wax is not streamed on any platform. I’m also pretty confident it’s not on the home release either. So you might have to do some digging around for that one. Okay, that's done. Okay what anime on my LONG list of FUNimation licensed animes am I going to watch next? Let's fire up the random... Yes, I see you Zombieland Saga. But I really need to do the randomizer and... Yes, I realize Mamoru Miyano is in this and is at his maximum craziest. It's just that I have a long list to get through and...

OKAY, FINE! I'll watch Zombieland Saga! I'm hoping that this guy is crazier than Cilan, Rintaro Okabe, Light Yagami, and Tamaki Suoh.

some x starlights friendships i would’ve liked to have seen in sailor moon that never (really) happened (head canons)

seiya x chibiusa

ー they tease usagi to her wit’s ends

ー seiya babysitting chibiusa

ー seiya teaching chibiusa pranks much to usagi’s dismay (a la rachel and ben from friends)

ー “chibiusa, your mother fell asleep all the time in class. as much as i love her, try to pay more attention. also, try to find yourself a handsome boy to sit in front of that will wake you up when you fall asleep!”

ー maybe chibiusa has a smol crush on seiya idk i don’t make the rules (she gets over it tho)

seiya x tsukino family

ー shingo helping in teasing usagi to her wit’s ends (with the help of chibiusa, just makes usagi want to die. seiya is the only one who feels bad)

ー shingo always asks usagi to invite her “friend-boy” over to play a new video game he got

ー shingo going to seiya for girl advice (but considering seiya was in love with his sister he questions his tastes)

ー ikuko: seiya, you’re doing so well in school… i thought that maybe she would learn better studying habits from ami but since you’re here so often, maybe you two should study!

ー ikuko and kenji thinking seiya is her new boyfriend

ー ikuko: usagi… seiya is very handsome and very popular, but what about mamoru? he seemed to have a more stable job. i won’t judge! poor mamoru.

ー kenji: usagi, this guy seems like a bad choice. he’s a celebrity! how could you fall for a celebrity! my little girl, i never liked him, but i think you should get back together with that chiba guy…

seiya x haruka

ー seiya watching one of haruka’s races and wanting in on it

ー seiya and haruka AGGRESSIVELY playing mario kart and smash bros

ー these games can and WILL turn into full scale wwe fights

ー if they were ever in the same car together i can just imagine a RADIO battle between them where seiya wants to listen to the pop / dance channel and haruka having none of that bullcrap

ー they even get aggressive during just dance i swear

ー walking pride together tho

seiya x hotaru

ー idk i just imagine them being really fluffy

ー imagine seiya babysitting chibiusa and hotaru for a playdate :(

ー hotaru accidentally gives hints to seiya that chibiusa has a crush on him

ー maybe she has a crush on him too idk all the girls love seiya

seiya x mamoru

ー buying dumb clothes together

ー talking in english to each other in front of usagi who has no idea wth they’re saying (seiya knows english bc he’s done a few world tours and after learning japanese in like two months it’s not that hard)

yaten x michiru

ー despite their rivalry we see a lot of (taken from the try guys’ 2016 trends videos)

michiru: alright you shut the fuck up

yaten: you shut the fuck up

michiru: imma take A REAL KNIFE TO YOUR EYE

yaten: BITCH IMMA STAB YOU IN THE EYE WITH THIS EYELINER

michiru: wow your eyes look really nice!

yaten: oh thank you! your eyeliner is looking really good too!

michiru: ah, thank you, i tried to make it thick!

kakyuu x setsuna

ー just watching the three lights and harumichi trying to rip each others throats out, drinking tea in the bg

kakyuu x usagi

ー “princess” meetings turn into gossiping at cafes

ー at first kakyuu doesn’t know what to think of usagi but over time she grows to like her and the two of them are much like ami and usagi together

kakyuu x inners

ー minako freaking the hell out of kakyuu

ー kakyuu and ami don’t actually get along that well until she runs into her and usagi sneaking out at a cafe. the two bond over how goofy usagi isー the two never hang out without usagi

ー kakyuu and rei get along though, kakyuu loves learning about the shrine and about rei’s religionー yuuichiro develops a crush on kakyuu and rei’s grandfather is mooooore than happy to invite the princess inside

kakyuu x mamoru

ー maybe she gets a dumb crush on him as well ー or maybe it’s just in the fanfics

ー they met one day when usagi and seiya were hanging out and didn’t really see each other unless seiya and usagi were there but after time went by they started hanging out more

ー mamoru is v interested in life on kinmoku (biological and social things) and kakyuu is interested about similar things on earth

ー if this world has seiya x kakyuu as a thing then i could definitely see double dates happening and when seiya and usagi get really in-depth about some video game or something, they can get in-depth about some other thing

Top Five Kenichi Suzumura Roles

Happy birthday to Maaya Sakamoto’s husband, Kenichi Suzumura! He created his own agency called Intention, and he created the whole Ad-Live event! It’s been going on for years now, and it’s certainly quite something? I’ll probably be checking it out this year as it comes out. Just a couple of roles that I’ve watched that didn’t make it onto the list are Haruki from Honeyworks (he sang some songs from there which deserves the shout-out) and Foyfoy from Senyuu (because it was funny). 

Honourable Mentions (I Haven’t Seen)

Atsushi Murasakibara - Kuroko no Basket

He will know something that I will never experience, and that’s the feeling of being tall. That giraffe-like freak. Pssh. I don’t need height! *struggles to reach cookies*

Shingo Wakamoto - Prison School

(This is the only PG one)

I don’t and won’t watch Prison School. That’s just a fact. I hear it’s funny, but it’s just not my type of show.

Mikoshiba Momotarou - Free

I haven’t watched Free yet.

Tsubaki Asahina - Brother’s Conflict

(didn’t find a gif and couldn’t tell the difference between the brothers because they suffer from “same face” syndrome. Seriously, why are character designs like this?)

I haven’t watched this, and I’m not sure if I want to.

Lavi - D. Grayman

I really want to watch D. Grayman eventually.

Top Five

5, Ka Koubun - Magi

The manipulative advisor to one of the Ren princesses, he definitely gets his own little spot on his list. He’s quite the trickster, so I like how his mood and voice changes on a whim.

4. Mikiya Kokutou - Kara no Kyoukai

I’ve only watched three or four out of the eight Kara no Kyoukai movies, but this is where he worked with his current wife Maaya Sakamoto (before they got married). I hear it goes along in a weird timeline, so I probably should’ve watched all the movies back to back.

3. Iyami - Osomatsu-san

*insert SHEEEEH sound effect*

Yeah, he’s part of the questionable but kinda funny Osomatsu cast.

2. Yoshitake Tanaka - Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Life of High School Boys) was really funny and relatable at times, so I just wanted to give this role a high spot because it was like a Gintama reunion. You have so many shared seiyuu, and they make the show really funny (what else would you expect from the Gintama seiyuu?)

1. Sougo Okita - Gintama

(This is the way my sister looks at me when my mom says she’s right)

Speaking of Gintama, we had to make this sadistic samurai as number one. He’s one of my favourite characters in the show (I’ve watched around 50 episodes, so I guess that isn’t a fair statement, but oh well...) When he tried to stop a date and ends up stuck on the back of a rollercoaster spilling a life secret, that really made me laugh. Really, you have to watch Gintama to figure it out. He’s the “love interest” of Kagura, and that’s a ship that’s just... unique (I still ship it though).

Sailor Moon (classic Anime - not that it matters, shortly before the series starts) Characters: Usagi, Naru, Motoki, assorted family members, classmates and staff Plot/Genre: The Gamer AU (remember when that was like the new Coffee Shop AU for a while there back in... I don't even remember what year it was...)

Destiny approaches, so get your game face on!

[You have slept in your bed: Health and (Locked) fully restored]

Usagi blinked at the floating screen. Why was she awake? It was too early, it was seven-thirty. Wait! How was she awake, she wasn't tired at all, and since she'd just woken up she should still be tired, she was always tired when she woke up.

Wait! (Again!)

Why was there a blue screen floating in front of her face at 6:30 am telling her that her health and... whatever "(locked)" was, was restored?

It was like something out of one of her video games...

Oh, of course, she was dreaming. Usagi was dreaming she was awake and there was a video game notice.

What else could it be?

Usagi waved the screen away.

Quest Alert: Get to School on Time Rewards: Increase Reputation with Haruna, 50 Exp Failure: Decrease Reputation with Haruna, 1 Exp

What? Oh right it was Monday. She had time.

Usagi turn over and tried to go back to sleep. It didn't work. With a huff she sat up, flinging her covers away. Well this was a stupid dream. Really, who dreamt about video game quests about going to school?

Well fine, at least she'd get to see Dream!Haruna freak out when she arrived Early!

Her family was shocked to see Usagi up and about, getting ready for school.

Usagi felt a smug victory in being up, dressed, fed and packed for school with plenty of time to get there by walking; she decided to run any way.

Skill Discovered: Through action you have discovered: Sprint – run fast as the wind SPD Stat unlocked

And then Usagi stacked it, tripping, she hit the ground hard and tumbled.

-4HP Skill Discovered: Through action you have discovered the skill: Acrobatics – tumble safely without hurting yourself

Well that was a lie, she'd clearly hurt herself.

…

Wait... Usagi was hurt, she was in pain but... but you couldn't get hurt in a dream! Did that mean she wasn't dreaming? Then why were there video game screens?

And if she wasn't dreaming did it really matter if she was on time? Apart from Miss Haruna actually freaking out, rather than just freaking out in a dream.

Since she wasn't that sore any more, Usagi decided to go for it.

Discovered New Area: Minato Ward Juban Public Middle School 50 Exp Quest Alert: Quest Complete: Increased reputation with Haruna, 50 Exp Bonus: Ate a full breakfast – 5 Exp Remembered all School gear – 5 Exp Arrived Early – 5 Exp

Quest Alert: Time to spare: You've arrived at school with time to spare, best spend it by finishing your homework Rewards: Increased Reputation with Haruna, 20 Exp Failure: Decrease Reputation with Haruna, 1 Exp

'Wah! My life is a video game that wants me to do school work!' Grumbling silently to herself Usagi pulled out the homework she hadn't finished and gave it another go. Haruna's face when she arrived to find not just Usagi but Usagi's English homework. (Mostly wrong but completed none the less.)

Quest alert: Quest Complete: Increased Reputation with Haruna, 20 Exp Bonus: Completed Maths Homework – 10 Exp Completed History Homework – 10 Exp

'Huh, so I get more Exp for doing my Homework than for eating breakfast? Maybe I should do my homework more often.'

Her other teachers were just as shocked when she handed in her homework. (It was still mostly wrong but she had completed it)

Wasn't until lunch time that Usagi decided she really, truly hated The Game that seemed to have taken over her life.

Haruna was Level 25, Umino was level 15, Naru was level 12 and all her other class mates were at least level 9.

So why was she only Level 3!?!

And how did she know this? Because after spending the morning paying attention to everything but class:

Skill Discovered: Through action you have discovered the Skill: Observe – Learn about people and things just by looking

She could only see people's names and levels but it was enough to make her feel sick in the stomach and hate The Game. Was she really only Level 3 because she didn't do her homework? Was the game just being harder on her? Maybe it was because she was late all the time?

The rest of her school day gave her another 100 Exp, and her arrival home gave her another kick to the ego.

Tsukino Shingo Level 6

She needed a Game Manual.

Quest Alert: Homework at home – complete your Homework Reward: Increase Reputation with Teachers, 15 Exp per Homework assignment Failure: Decrease Reputation with Teachers, Detention

Two hours and four pieces of Homework later had her another 60 Exp and increased reputation, whatever that meant. She really needed a Game Manual.

Usagi sighed happily as she sunk into the warm water of her bath, all her troubles melting away in the heat. Maybe tomorrow would be better, maybe tomorrow she wouldn't have to worry about this stupid Game.

“What kind of Game doesn't have a Game Manual?”

Quest Alert: Tutorial: Start the Tutorial by saying 'Game: Begin Tutorial' Rewards: Starting the Tutorial, 100 Exp, unlock Magic Failure: Floundering around in the dark

Usagi huffed at the Game.

“Game: Begin Tutorial.”

“Welcome to the Game, you are now The Gamer. From here on out the world around you is subject to change, life as you know it will never be the same. Basic Controls...”

Character: Tsukino Usagi The Gamer Level: 3 Exp: 315/3,000 HP: 600 MP: 860 Stats: STR: 12 VIT: 20 DEX: 4 INT: 8 (7) WIS: 7 (6) LUK: 10 SPD: 28 Status: The Slacker (-30% Reputation gains with people in 'Authority,' -10% INT, -10% WIS, 50% chance Status Effect: Lethargy), Crybaby (40% Chance Courage Fail, 40% Chance Flinch, 45 % Chance Auto-activation ???????), ??? ??? (Recap Physical Stats +100, Recap Mental Stats +50, +50% Physical Stats when in effect, +25 Mental Stats when in effect), ??? ??? (+100 MP per Level, Recap Mental Stats +50)

Abilities: Gamer's Mind Gamer's Body ??? ??? ???

[You have slept in your bed: Health and Magic fully Restored]

Usagi smacked the pop-up window with her pillow, she'd half been hoping Monday had been the result of something she'd eaten.

She still wasn't sure where the power had come from, but Usagi decided to play like she was in for the Long Haul.

Getting to school on time would net her 50 to 65 Exp, the biggest single Exp reward she'd gotten other than 'discovering' the school.

Paying attention in class would be hard but it would help her increase her INT and WIS and help her get rid of her Slacker Flaw. Completely Mapping an area would net her the same Exp as discovering an area with a chance to find quests and with the HUD turned on, she could keep an eye on the area she's mapped so she knew where she had and hadn't gone.

Usagi had even been rewarded with 1 INT point for her plan, such as it was.

School went much the same way, though running had netted her another sore knee and a point of VIT. Haruna was again shocked to see Usagi on time, (when Naru asked, Usagi told her she had a new alarm clock, which wasn't entirely inaccurate) and Usagi learned having her homework done netted her another bonus 5 Exp for her getting to school on time Quest. Actually paying attention in class gave her 1 INT and created a few new Skills.

After School Usagi stuck around and used what was normally her detention time to explore the school. A few of the other students staying late asked her if she needed anything but she told them she was fine and not to worry about it.

It took her a little longer than her normal detention time to finish going through the areas of the school she hadn't gone to during the day; at last the only area to explore was the school's basement.

Usagi opened the door slowly, edging in with a quiet 'Hello?' hoping there was no one there, she hadn't thought of an excuse as to why she was there. No one answered though and she deemed it safe to enter.

Area Map Complete: 50 Exp

Looking around the dim lit area her eyes caught on a crow bar with a small swirl of pink sparkles dancing around it.

Combat Crowbar A crude weapon made from a re-purposed tool +10 Bludgeoning +5 Stabbing Requires 10 STR

Usagi gulped, nervous, and picked up the Crowbar. She'd been afraid of this: Dungeon Zones.

The Crowbar was heavy in her hands but she held tight as tiny eyes started appearing in the darkness.

Mutant Rat – Level 4 Mutant Rat – Level 3 Mutant Rat – Level 4 Mutant Mouse – Level 2 Mutant Mouse – Level 6

There was almost a dozen.

Observe levelled Up > Level 4 Mutant Rat – Level 4 HP: 40/40 Defence: 20 Mutant Mouse – Level 2 HP: 20/20 Defence: 10

When they attacked Usagi tried to go after the Mouse first, gasping in alarm when her attack did only 2 damage. Her stabbing attack did nothing. She tried whacking the Mouse again but had to dodge away when some of the other creatures attacked.

Usagi lashed out with the Crowbar again and again, tripping here and there as she flinched back from assault, most of her attacks did nothing but a few hits landed on the level 2 monster.

She tried racing after it hitting again and again.

Skill Discovered: through repeated action you have discovered the Skill: Fury Flail – strike an opponent multiple times in rapid succession Level 1 – 2 Strikes per attack (Fury Flail allows you to stack attack damage)

With her new Skill Usagi finished off Mutant Mouse – level 2 [30 Exp] and turned her Crowbar on the next level 2.

When she ran out of Level 2 monsters (there'd only been 3 to begin with) Usagi went after a level 3 Mouse. Her bludgeoning attack did nothing.

“What!?” She tried a Fury Flail, again nothing. Usagi would have happily run away at that point but the Mutant rodents were between her and the door so she kept Flailing her Crowbar.

Fury Flail Levelled Up > level 2 Level 2 – 3 Strikes per attack

And just like that every time she managed a follow up on the same level 3 she did 1 damage.

Usagi didn't manage to kill any of the level 3 monsters but she was able to make her way back to the door and escape. She leaned against the door and heaved a breath.

Trophy: Kinda Dodgy Escape your first Battle Unscathed +1 STR +1 LUK +1 DEX +1 SPD

300 Exp

“Huh...” 390 Exp for her venture into the Basement, plus the Combat Crowbar she still had in her hands... “URGH! I need a milkshake.” Usagi banished the Crowbar into her Inventory and staggered off.

Discovered New Area: Crown Game Centre 100 Exp

'Huh, twice as much as the school, I wonder if there's a link between the Area Exp and the Dungeon Zone?'

“Usagi-Chan!” Usagi looked at Motoki behind the counter, returning his wave.

“You're looking a little tired Usagi-Chan, want a milkshake?”

Usagi felt her eye twitched as Motoki's level came into view... along with his stats.

Motoki Level 20 HP: 36,600 STR: 25 VIT: 30 DEX: 24 INT: 43 WIS: 52 LUK: 61

“Yeah, milkshake, sure.”

“Oh? You don't sound so enthusiastic Usagi-chan, what's wrong.” The girl in question let out a large sigh.

“Long day.” She settled into a booth to wait for her milkshake and a Quest window popped up. Usagi whimpered but obeyed the Game's 'suggestion' to do her homework, she could use all the Exp she could get since she doubted she'd be able to avoid Dungeons forever and there was a better than good chance the Basement at school was an easy one.