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shikai-the-storyteller · 1 year

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Ok, pre-lore Karmaland liveblog + the inevitable L / Q lore liveblog whenever that starts:

(very late because I forgot to hit "post” before I left the house orz)

Sapo Peta: I WILL rescue Luckity Me: King you better rescue Luzu’s PC first he’s been lagging ALL DAY

Oh man Sapo Peta doesn’t think of Quackity romantically after the situation in the cave?? I don’t even remember what happened in the cave I just remember that they had a big fight

Sapo Peta: If I save Luckity, it will also save Karmaland *HEAVY BREATHING* DOES THIS MEAN MY THEORY IS CORRECT???

As long as Sapo Peta can keep them from dying that’s what matters :(

Sapo Peta’s trying so hard to help them, he’s not concerned about love or his own feelings :(((

Gosh I wish he’d post a PNG of the Karmaland news so I could translate it and read it properly :(

why is Alexby hitting on Sapo Peta GIRL ARENT YOU ENGAGED

Actually Fargan never frickin proposed, chase your bliss Alexby you deserve something

Awh Sapo Peta saying he’s suffered enough in love :((( Poor Sapo Peta, his poor heart...

OH NO HE SAID HE FEELS USED....MAN I FEEL SO BAD

Sapo Peta just said of all the worlds he has been to, this is the worst, the most chaotic of all, J E E Z

AWH.. ALEXBY GAVE HIM A HUG TT o TT

I adore Alexby so much he’s SO sweet

Wait why are they visting Vegetta I missed that completely

Man I really hope Luzu’s tech issues will get fixed. Can you imagine if they all had to stop mid-lore and go UHHHH TBH TOMORROW because Luzu can’t log in? Pftt

LMAO SAPO PETA SAYING “Everyone wants a frickin thumbnail”, poor guy. “All of you only want me for clicks :(((”

Rubius just realized Vegetta is on the server and they’re immediately fighting in DMs boys PLEASE

Alexby telling Sapo Peta he’s in love with Fargan.... FARGAN LOG THE FRICK ON, Fargexby fans are the real losers today, no matter how Luckity ends :( I’m so sorry Fargexby fans but at least you got your crumbs

LUZU’S ONLINE??? OH BOY

oh no but what if he can’t go live again?

Noooo Rubius said he has a Christmas present that can’t be opened until December, but Karmaland probably won’t last until the 25th of December SOBS

Sapo Peta said he has a plan for Luzu and Quackity to restore peace to Karmaland, and he will try to make them fall in love again and I’m like. A) My theory is absolutely correct and B) MY HEART IS SHATTERED

Ow someone said “Maybe they’ll forgive each other but I don’t know if they’ll be able to fall in love again”

IMO even if they forgive each other I don’t think they’ll ever be the same as they were before. They aren’t the same people anymore. The person they loved isn’t there anymore, but the love remains

FRICK LUZU AND Q JUST WENT LIVE

Quackity: Someone in chat just said "I hope it ends up with a wedding". So stupid, mock them in chat LMFAO DONT BE FRICKIN RUDE QUACKITY, LET US DREAM IT”S ALL WE HAVE

Quackity: Today we are having a conversation with Luzu but what he doesn't know is that I'm taking something with me that threatens his life WHAT IS THIS ACTUALLY GONNA BE A MURDER SUICIDE ENDING?? Does he have a bomb on him or something?? QUACKITY PLEASE DONT DIE

Quackity: It ends today. Chat: You should fix it in bed Quackity: NO. Today either he dies or I die LMFAO CHAT.....GUYS PLEASE

Quackity: I'm about to have the most important conversation in my life and Rubius has me trapped down here LMAO Rubius really said “The bit > Lore” and He’s Right

Luzu: Today, Quackity and I have to either work together... or say goodbye. [SKULL EMOJI]

Sapo Peta told them if they went to space they might not be able to come back?? Maybe that’s what they mean when they say Karmaland will end, because they will no longer be in Karmaland???

Rubius: It’s better this way, if I can’t come back HUH???

Sapo Peta: They always ask me for a thumbnail but they never ask me how I am LMFAO I LOVE HIM

I take it back, Fargexby fans aren’t losing, Sapo Peta himself is losing

Rubius has Titi’s stick :(((

Rubius: I’m excited to see Titi again SOBBING

I love that Luzu and Quackity are both doing a dramatic monologue rn

I KEEP FORGETTING LUZU JUST HAS THAT GIANT NUDE PAINTING OF HIMSELF IN THE MAYOR’S OFFICE LMAO. Imagine trying to talk about politics with the Karmaland mayor and you gotta stare at his naked portrait while discussing some environmental protection act or something PFTTTT

oh man he still has Rubius’ daughter I FORGOT ABOUT THAT

Oh next week they’re going to revive Titi? So Luzu and Quackity might not live to see Titi come back? Oh no

Luzu: It's necessary to forget everything Quackity has done, temporarily. If we're not united, we're doomed. That’s for sure

Luzu: I have to think of Karmaland. Everything I've done has been for Karmaland, I cannot be selfish right now. Oh? I thought everything was supposed to be for Quackity? Hmmmmm suspicious

Quackity: Right now I don't care about Karmaland. I care about my revenge UH OH Man that contrast...

WHAT THE FRICK

Oh is that Sapo Peta??? LMFAO that voice caught me off-guard

THEY BOTH GOT TRANSPORTED AND QUACKITY INSTANTLY STARTS SHOOTING LMFAO

Quackity: HELP Luzu: QUACKITY STOP SHOOTING THIS IS NOT HELPING PFTTT

But his instinct to call for help :((((

Quackity: WHICH OF YOUR HENCHMAN IS DOING THIS? Luzu: NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU !!!!

THEY GOT LED INTO A FANART ROOM IM LOSING MY FRICKIN MIND

THEY PULLED GUNS ON EACH OTHER

l o r d

PFTT OK VALID REACTION

OH MY GOSH I DIDNT EVEN FRICKIN NOTICE THERE’S A BED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM IM SCREAMING?? THIS IS LITERALLY A FANFIC WHAT IS *HAPPENING*

Oh my gosh they can’t kill each other THANK GOODNESS THAT SCARED ME SO BAD WHEN LUZU SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD

They’re actually talking... but... :(((

But will it change anything? Or will it make things worse? Will Quackity even believe anything Luzu says?

Luzu: It's true, I committed fraud. But I swear to you. It was to protect you. Just before the elections, I had a vision. I didn't remember anything but pain after I woke up, and something in me told me that I had to stop you from being the mayor because I didn't want you to suffer, or be used by others. I wanted to tell you everything, but you got crazy. I wanted to do everything with you, but you behaved unlawfully. I couldn't talk to you anymore. You weren't you anymore, you went insane. Oh my heart is shattered

They should’ve communicated more :((

Luzu: If we had talked to each other from the beginning, nothing would have happened. LIKE I SAID

wait why is Luzu watching a Football Ad

Sapo Peta: I see hate in your eyes Quackity

Quackity: Luzu, you were the best person I knew in Karmaland AGH!!!

Quackity: you're the only one who offered me a hand, and it stops me from shooting you right between the eyes right now AGH....

Quackity: Listen to me carefully. One of the main rules of power and life is the concept involved in our culture. You were the best person I knew. Ever since I came here, my welcome was mocking and humiliation. But you helped me. And I am thankful for that, even now. It took me a while to get accustomed here. But now that I have, I became someone. My voice was heard. And through politics, I finally was heard. And even if they didn't agree with me, I was in a position to be different from the person I was when I got here. And you took that away from me. And even if you want to pretend you wanted to protect me, I don't believe you one bit. I don't regret anything I've done because you took the most important thing I wanted. Oh this writing is so good...

LET HIM FINISH TALKING LUZU!!!!

One of Quackity’s biggest things has always been agency, but he feels like Luzu is taking away that agency and that freedom, and ultimately, his voice. And to some extent, he’s right.

Nooo nooo this isn’t working this isn’t working on no it’s just like we thought

They’re too hurt :(((

Quackity: I got nothing else to live for right now. You took my house, you humiliated me, right now, the only thing I want is to kill you. It's the only thing I will do once we leave, even if I die trying. Oh my heart aches so much

Luzu: What's the first thing I told you? Don't trust anyone but me. And if you did trust me, you would have asked why I did what I did. Quackity: You aren't listening! I am thankful, but I don't care anymore! A FRIEND SHOULDN’T JUST ASK FOR THAT TRUST! THEY SHOULD SHOW IT! QUACKITY IS RIGHT! And it hurts but I understand what he’s saying

Oh my gosh it scared me when Luzu yelled FRICK he’s so good

ahhhh and they’re shooting at each other again, there’s just no way to resolve this peacefully. The hurt runs too deep, the scars are too strong

Sapo Peta sounds so sad :(((

Quackity: Sapo Peta, just let me kill Luzu, then you can kill me. Then everything will end, then Karmaland will be peaceful. FRICK HE REALLY IS GOING FOR A MURDER SUICIDE ROUTE FRICK!!! SAPO PETA PLEASE SAVE THEM

EVEN IF THEY DONT RECONCILE, DONT LET THEM DIE PLEASE

Sapo Peta: For power you've done very bad things. It doesn’t matter anymore what you two have now, because I will erase your memories

WHAT

NOO

NO SAPO PETA IS GOING TO ERASE THEIR MEMORIES NO NO NO SAPO PETA THIS IS NOT WHAT I FRICKIN MEANT!!!!!

Quackity: WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU DOING SAPO PETA -- I SWEAR THERE ARE BETTER WAYS TO DEAL WITH THIS

NO THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT NO NO NO DONT DO IT

Sapo Peta: I don't care what you think of each other! Karmaland comes first! Luzu: I won't forget anything you've done! I will keep the memories somewhere and I'll kill you! AND ITS TRUE LUZU’S THE ONLY ONE WHO REMEMBERS THINGS. HE”LL FEEL IT, EVEN IF HE CANT REMEMBER IT

Quackity: Please don't erase my memories I cant live what I've lived through again OH NO... NO NO please don’t re-traumatize him like this

Sapo Peta: This will hurt a little bit Quackity: Please don’t do this

Oh this hurts so much

NO OH NO HES ACTUALLY DOING IT NO!!! NO SAPO PETA PLEASE NO

Quackity: My only purpose is to kill you! I won't forget anything you've done! And before we're brainwashed, I can tell you I'm glad I killed your kids. You don't know how much I've wanted to kill you, I've prayed for it. I'm willing to die to kill you!

Oh my gosh. he actually did it. Sapo Peta actually erased their memories

Sapo Peta: Oh I’m so glad you’re awake! You were in a coma :D OH FRICK OFF

Sapo Peta’s introducing them to each other I want to SOB

Luzu: “Quackity”... like a duckling! I’m gonna frickin turn into a pile of dust

Quackity: I’m going to call you Vlogs Luzu: Please don’t I WANT TO LAUGH BUT MY HEART HURTS TOO MUCH

So they can remember everything except for each other :((((

Oh no Quackity’s bringing up his cousins, Sapo Peta can’t allow him to see his cousins again though or they’ll remind him aGHHGHHHHH

Luzu: Where do you live, Quackity? Quackity: I used to live in an island, but now I'm homeless. Luzu: Maybe I can help you out, come to my house! Though I can tell you, don't trust people in Karmaland. Quackity: I've been living here for a while though. I CRAVE DEATH

AH.... HE CALLED QUACKITY QUACKS

But this plan won’t work -- because as soon as they talk to literally anyone else in Karmaland, they’ll remember

OH NO QUACKITY IS ASKING ABOUT THE ELECTIONS

Wait I JUST realized Luzu changed out of his outfit that’s such an AWESOME frickin detail. Reposting this tweet because their photo comparisons is so much better than the screenshots I took

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

Ok I got interrupted for a giant 2 hour meeting so I’m going to rewind and rewatch some stuff because I was too caught up writing down stuff for this liveblog, I feel like I didn’t appreciate the details enough. Going to focus more on watching this time than note taking, but I’ll pause when I have major thoughts I’d like to share

:((((

I think it’s interesting how differently they react to the dark space when they’re first transported. Quackity shouts for help, and Luzu almost seems to shrink into himself and is instantly cautious. Quackity’s loud aggressive approach vs. Luzu’s quiet analytical one

Also. Good lord. The fanart room. See this is another reason I’m rewatching because I was too busy writing notes to truly get a good look at just WHAT Sapo Peta put in there

WOW HE PUT SOME REALLY SHIPPY ONES IN THERE

awh one of the DTIYS Blisky drawings is there! Awwww

Ah Yes And Then There’s One Of Them Sleeping Together (biblically) PFTTT. Makes me wonder how often Sapo Peta browses the tag for the Newspaper / for these uhhhh events shall we say. Sapo Peta / Maxo is braver than any US Marine

It’s so cool being like :O ! I KNOW THAT ARTIST but also I wonder how they felt seeing their art in that room. If it was me I think I’d be mortified. Like, I’d definitely be flattered, but mortified

Quackity shooting at the frickin fanart of them kissing I’m screaming

I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND WHY LUZU PAUSED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LORE

WHY THE FRICK DID LUZU PULL UP FOOTBALL IM STILL CONFUSED

oh my gosh he said “Thursday night football” in such a perfect American Football Announcer voice that just killed me

DO THEY WANT ME DEAD OR WHAT

But Luzu and Quackity are smart. I don’t think they’re going to be brainwashed like this for long. They’re too observant of the details, they can tell when something’s being withheld. And Quackity seems so suspicious, I really think he’s holding onto his instincts.

“Cerlus left because he lost the elections” LORD....

OH NO OSITO BIMBO THE BURGER

“It’s a brand not actually Osito Bimbo” GOOD SAVE

Oh my gosh I thought he ate the Osito Bimbo burger for a second, he swapped it for a cheeseburger at the last second THAT SCARED ME

WHY IS LUZU SHOOTING AT SAPO PETA

Luzu’s just listing off all the Karmaland boys he’s friends with pftt

OH??? Quackity is messaging Rubius???

I keep expecting to see Quackity splat on the ground he dies so often in Karmaland PFTT

“Maybe I don’t see you because I log on so early” PFTTT

Man Karmaland is GENUINELY so frickin pretty dude what the frick.

Quackity: Rubius says he’s on the moon Luzu: What Me: WHAT

Ok I read up on the Rubegetta lore that happened today what the FRICK. Talk about a frickin tonal shift. Rubegetta be like “ :D ! Shenanigans!” today meanwhile Luckity is HARDCORE angst

UHHHHHHHH

HE JUST SAW THE LUZU POSTER??? HUH UHH

OH THEY FOUND THE BEHEADED DUDE UHHHHHH

AND THE HENCHMEN ARE STILL THERE???

Imagine you’re living in a town that’s in the middle of a war and then the leaders of the two sides just wander into the market like “WHOA what’s all this???” wild

THE NAKED LUZU PHOTO NOOOO

“WHY DO YOU HAVE THIS” “I DON”T KNOW???”

LMFAO NOT QUACKITY ZOOMING IN ON THE ARTIST SIGNATURE, HE REALLY CALLED OUT THAT POOR ARTIST

“Quackity calm down. ....I look very sensual in that photo” IM DYING

QUACKITY I SWEAR DONT FRICKIN HIT ON RUBIUS’ DAUGHTER

This is so frickin wild I’m like. Still reeling

Meanwhile Rubius is frickin dying somewhere

The rising sun... oh I just realized Quackity no longer has the grey overlay. Things are brighter now. Luzu is outlined by the sun this time. :(

That’s way too intentional for it to be a mere coincidence

SAPO PETA... /vanish PFTT

OH NO AND QUACKITY MEETING UP WITH RUBIUS??

Lemme see what Luzu is up to first

The colors in this are so beautiful. Even Luzu said “How beautiful” I LOVE HIM... He did SUCH a great job he’s such a fantastic actor. When he speaks, there’s such a kind light in his eye, but when he plays the evil version of his character, that light just Isn’t There it’s WILD!!! He’s such an incredible actor I’m so frickin impressed :’)

Alright back to Quackity....

Actually, if he remembers everyone BUT Luzu, will he still have the same motivation to trust Rubius? He remembers that they rely on each other now, but Quackity can’t remember why. How will that change their dynamic? The slowly blooming trust they’ve been developing?

Quackity: *banging on his front door* LET ME IN Rubius: Gimme a minute Quackity: ARE YOU HAVING SEX??? QUACKITY.........

Oh Sapo Peta is there DID HE TELL RUBIUS WHAT HE DID???? I GENUINELY DONT KNOW

YOOO SPACE SUIT RUBIUS did he actually go to the frickin moon what the frick

Quackity: Do you know someone named “Vlogs”? Rubius: ? No? Uh Oh

OH RUBIUS REALIZED HE WAS TALKING ABOUT LUZU OH NO

Oh man what will Rubius do? Will he immediately do something that will remind Quackity of the truth? Or will he say nothing?

FRICKK

Rubius: Don’t you hate Luzu? Quackity: ...Hate him? But I just met him? AGHHHHHHHHH

RUBIUS...

Rubius really do be the “gaslight gatekeep girlboss” of Karmaland. Man be like “lemme scam my bro outta some diamonds real quick”

I wonder if, on some level, Rubius is unwilling to remind Quackity fully because he knows how things will end if they remember the truth. Neither Luzu nor Quackity will be able to continue living if they try and carry out this revenge

IS RUBIUS REALLY ABOUT TO PULL A SWORD ON HIM OR IS HE JUST PLAYING

agh. the fact that he pulled out a pickaxe too. Quackity has a bad history with those

QUACKITY CALLED LUZU FOR HELP... HE JUST “met” HIM YET HE CALLED HIM FOR HELP....

Quackity blew on the horn and Rubius was like “What do you need help with??” PFTT GOSH I MISSED THEIR DUMB SHENANIGANS

LUZU RESPONDED....

The instincts they can’t seem to forget :((((

Rubius in full frickin netherite and Luzu in his Hot Evil Guy suit and tie PFTTT

RUBIUS CLAIMING TO BE HIS FIRST LADY NOT THIS AGAIN

RUBIUS???????

DID THIS GUY REALLY JUST SAY “Yeah you guys were a couple” KING...

Rubius: You don’t remember the wedding? Luzu and Quackity: WEDDING??? IM FRICKIN SCREAMING????

Luzu calling him Quacks I’m SOBBING

They’re just sitting on the couch together so casually while Rubius is making coffee TT _ TT

It’s like. It’s not even “domestic” it’s just insane

WHAT

RUBIUS JUST RANDOMLY SHOWING QUACKITY THE PHOTO OF COCHI AND BENI IN JAIL

chat frickin freaks out instantly LMAO same

Did they really just blame Vegetta for jailing his cousins AINT NO WAY

oh they’re ALL idiots my gosh

I love my stupid idiot sons

Rubius out here leading the idiot squad

THEYRE BREAKING INTO VEGETTA’S HOUSE TO LOOK FOR QUACKITY’S COUSINS AND THEIR FPS INSTANTLY TANK, PFTTT

LUZU ACCIDENTALLY KNOCKING HIM OFF VEGETTA”S HOUSE THEN INSTANTLY JUMPING AFTER HIM.... LORD

THAT’S... LOVE? IT”S SOMETHING

Gosh what a gorgeous flower garden they fell into. What the frick. How is every single thing in this series so frickin poetic

They just... casually walk by a propaganda poster like “Huh that’s weird”

GOSH I wish I understood Spanish

weeps..............................................

gosh this is so heartbreaking. They’re so different. Even erasing the anger didn’t return them to their previous selves. There’s too much hurt, too many scars on Quackity’s heart. Luzu seems fairly ok, but Quackity still seems suspicious and hurting

PFTTT He was gonna talk with Rubius but Rubius had already logged out so he just went BYEEEE and ended stream

AGH. MAN THAT WAS SO MUCH. I REALLY NEED SOME TIME TO DIGEST EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED but as much as I normally despise “amnesia” as a trope, this is actually SO up my alley because it’s not total amnesia, it’s specific, and you KNOW it’s gonna backfire. It’s so cruel and yet intended to be kind, because the alternative would’ve been death for them. It was so cruel of Sapo Peta to do this, but he doesn’t want to see them get hurt. just. agh. This is so beautifully written, I’m so excited and anxious and scared to see how it will end

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!

#i talk #karmaland talk #[LOUD PROLONGED SCREAMING]

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wedreamedlove · 4 years

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Li Zeyan In Love - Character Study

I sat on this because I wanted to get more dates done but, after seeing people bring up this one poem that is the epitome of Li Zeyan in the aftermath of 34, I decided to finish this. This essay has been brought to you from my occasional bursts of frustration at Elex LOL.

First, I need to acknowledge that I'll be pulling comments from others who have made their own amazing discussions about Li Zeyan's charcter. PS. Thanks for inspiring me and giving me points to think about!

SPOILERS to Chapter 21. Plus CN card lines up to Chapter 34.

THE ENDLESS SEARCH

(Sorry, Luoluo, I still have no good essay thoughts on you yet.)

It's amusing that if Bai Qi's love is in the form of "all roads lead to you". He can see where MC is standing and he is moving towards that point, struggling through all the obstacles in the way.

And Xu Mo's love is in the form of the red string of fate. No matter how much they hurt each other, walk in opposite directions, or try to tangle it up, they are forever connected to each other.

Then Li Zeyan's love is in the form of searching for a needle in the haystack. The needle being MC and the haystack being all possible worlds and universes in space-time.

Li Zeyan has tons of quotes about time, staying beside each other, and searching:

[Winter Infatuation SSR] "No matter the distance or time, nothing can prevent me from keeping you by my side."

[Time's End SSR] "I'll find and bring back the past you."

[Tour to Deep Space SSR] "No matter where you are, I will always find you."

[CN Silent Twilight SSR] "You are the only predestined ending I believe in." and "I will cross countless spaces of time to look for an ending which has you."

[Main Story 18-16] "I will definitely find and bring back the past you."

[Main Story 18-23] "Don't make it hard for me to find you, understand?"

This is reflected so painfully in [Dim Light SR] where MC takes Li Zeyan to light lanterns and he writes a poem on it. Elex didn't translate the poem and, at the time, I was somewhat lenient. But after seeing references made to it... ELEX, COME OVER HERE. I JUST WANNA TALK.

So, Li Zeyan wrote:

The last line about his wish having come true already is the same in both CN and ENG.

He wrote the last line of this poem by Xin Qiji, one of many great poets in Chinese history. Here I have provided Irving Y. Lo's translation of the poem from "Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry".

The Night of the Lantern Festival, to the Tune of ‘Green Jade Table’ - Xin Qiji [1140–1207]

One night’s wind made a thousand trees burst into flower, And breath down still more Showers of fallen stars. Splendid horses, carved carriages, fragrance filled the road. Music resounded from paired flutes, Light swirled on water-clock towers. All night long, the fabled fish-dragons danced. Gold-threaded jacket, moth- or willow-shaped hair ornaments Melted into the throng, giggling, a trail of scents. In the crowd I looked for her a thousand and one times, And all at once, as I turned my head, I was startled to find her Among the lanterns where the candles were growing dim.

The bold is Li Zeyan's lines in Chinese.

@love-p typed up an amazing post about the context of this poem:

Regarding Xin Qiji, and the political context of this poem—he was a military general during the Southern Song dynasty, sidelined due to the policy of appeasement against the Jurchen.

The poem reflects his unfortunate political circumstances by contrasting the brilliance and liveliness of the Lantern Festival and the single-minded search of the narrator for just one, special, woman, ultimately finding her in the darkness with the dimming lights.

To the writer, the brilliance and beauty of the festival pale in comparison to his goal. He is not swayed by all this finery, and in fact is willing to reject the light, for what he has held in his heart all along.

Xin Qiji was a deeply passionate patriot, which ultimately led to his discharge and suppression in the changing political tides of the era. He spent decades in seclusion pretending to be indifferent to the world, but he never lost his love for his country, and held fast to his beliefs, even when they could (and did) cost him heavily.

There's other romantic interpretations of this poem, such as the woman deciding to stop and wait when she realized this man was looking for her. She is willing to be with him.

Another interpretation is that, these two are already lovers, and when he turns his head and sees her it reflects how your happiness was right beside you all along and you just needed to turn your head, instead of searching ahead desperately.

So, back to Li Zeyan and MC. He is quoting a poem from someone who suffered for holding fast to their beliefs and who can still ignore everything around him, even the light, to find what he's held in his heart all this time. HM.

@unluckysatellite also pointed out something great, which I bolded for emphasis:

I realized this just now, but MC and Victor have this narrative theme where they keep losing and finding each other, both in the main story and in their dates. The main story plays this out pretty seriously: Victor and MC meet as kids, and then Victor loses MC because of Black Swan, which causes him to search for her the next 17 years. Victor and MC meet in chapter 1 and then Victor loses MC in chapter 18 and he vows to find her again. Victor finding MC in that HBS trap during chapter 10 and nearly losing her at the end of the chapter (with the added irony of him realizing that she was the girl he was looking for all this time). YMMV if you consider MC losing Victor in chapter 14 since a black hole sent Victor traveling into the future, but both managed to keep contact with each other in the time he was away.

BTW the reference is that his [Dim Light SR] was released in 2018 for the real lantern festival holiday. Then in 2019 all the men send gems as gifts during the holiday. Li Zeyan sends mail with the title of "Turning My Head" and the body of the message is him promising to go to the lantern festival with MC this year too, but he reminds her to stay beside him and don't make it so that when he turns his head he can't find her.

THE CONSTANT

Now another common theme that appears over and over again in Li Zeyan's character arc is him being a constant amongst all the change.

[Main Story 11-19] MC confronts Li Zeyan about his overprotectiveness: "It doesn't matter if it's the previous me, or the me in the present, all of them are [a single] me. Do you understand?"

[Winter Infatuation SSR Sinful Late-Night Snack Call] "Of course I'm me. No matter when, the person at your side is always the same me."

@sharinluna wrote a great section about Li Zeyan in Chapters 19-21 and IMO these chapters just hammer in this theme more. Even in a world where none of the men remember MC, Li Zeyan still cruises along (mostly) the same as usual. He really is a steady constant when everything's gone topsy-turvy for the poor MC.

I commented about this in my post on Chapter 19's use of horror but hilariously Li Zeyan is the most normal out of the rest of the men. If the MC weren't around, it's likely he wouldn't be involved in so much craziness. This is reflected in how the MC thinks about how he'd be better off without her in [Main Story 20-4] and her dream version of him in [Main Story 19-6].

However, I always end up thinking about Alfred Lord Tennyson's quote on this topic: "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

I honestly think this is one of the themes of the game too, shown at the end of Chapter 19 where MC doesn't regret holding onto her memories and experiences with everyone, even if that means going back to the cruel real world.

Because the game (hopefully) isn't going to invalidate our experiences with everyone that means that Li Zeyan is not better off for not meeting the MC.

IMO love doesn't have to do something monumental like change your world but I think it adds something to our experience as humans (no matter its form: platonic, romantic, compassionate, selfless, etc). This is why I love this game so much because it's all about love in its entirety.

So, even if Li Zeyan's character isn't changed in any earth-shattering way from meeting or not meeting the MC the fact that he chooses MC again and again over everything else means something. He is willing to sacrifice everything to find her, no matter how long it takes him or how many worlds and times he has to traverse. His constant state is choosing MC.

I'm so scared about the Banquet of the Fallen Moon. Why did he turn into a demon lord SOBS when he promised his father he wouldn't go down that path? If it's connected to MC... OOF.

THE LOVE AND SUPPORT

Here we reach the relationship the two do have! Uh, I swear I wasn't intentionally picking the sad quotes...

[Main Story 6-16] "In your eyes? Am I that unapproachable?" He says this but then grabs her hand and holds it through his company, not caring who sees them.

[Main Story 10-25] "I'm sorry, I came late. I won't lose you a second time. Nothing will be able to hurt you again. In the future, let me fight your battles for you, just like how you protected me that year, alright?"

[Main Story 11-14] "I won't hesitate to pay any price in order to let you avoid all dangers and affairs... The things you wish to do, I will release you and let you do them. However, now isn't the time. That's why, you need to be a bit more obedient."

[Chapter 11] in general shows his protectiveness over MC and consideration for her. From caring for her in the hospital, to sending her between work and home, and even the SP detail (even though it became overwhelming).

[Main Story 18-3] "... Every time I call you dumb isn't to insult you. [...] It's acknowledgement."

IMO these are all more examples of how Li Zeyan is like a steady mountain or a tree that provides a canopy and safe harbor for the MC to take her time growing up under. He wants her to better herself because he cares for her (like a quintessential Capricorn) but at the same time he knows when to back off and let her go at her own speed.

Li Zeyan will be there every step of the way with MC, just a little bit ahead of her so she has a direction but always ready to catch her should she fall. Unlike a certain BS liar COUGHS.

@sharinluna also wrote this great post on Reddit about how the dates reflect Li Zeyan's patience and awareness of the imbalance in his and MC's relationship. Chapter 11 shows this too where he realizes he was overwhelming her and brings back the "old" Li Zeyan to wait for her to make a decision on her own feelings.

Finishing off this essay with some quotes:

[Instant Moment SSR] "There is no such thing as eternity, only every single moment together with you."

This is so cute since it's said by the man who can traverse time. It's the little snapshot moments he can get with MC that mean the most to him.

There's actually another related quote which comes from [Winter Infatuation SSR Sinful Late-Night Snack Call]. This happens when they're talking about the meaning of the Ephemere shop and Li Zeyan quotes a poem about mayflies.

The Chinese line is from the poem "Former Ode on the Red Cliffs" by Su Shi:

"We are like mayflies enjoying a flicker of life in this world, and as infinitesimal as a grain in the sea."

Ironically, Li Zeyan is not asking much at all of the world. He is someone who has everything but all he wants is just a peaceful life with the love of his life and he has shown again and again that he's willing to give up everything for her...

But the universe spits in his face (because tragic Chinese archetype of Crown Prince/Emperor LOL) and makes him suffer so much just for wanting some fleeting moments of joy in this flickering human life they both have.

#mlqc #mr love queen's choice #mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #love and producer #love and produc(ing) meta #ELEX I WILL BURN YOUR COMPANY DOWN ONE DAY!!

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phosphorescent-naidheachd · 6 years

Text

I was asked about my thoughts re: the political!Jon theory, but my thoughts ended up being WAY too long to go into a message.

I know the political!Jon theory is a somewhat incendiary topic in sections of the GOT fandom, so I’ve placed my reply under a cut. If you choose to read this, please be aware that these are just my personal opinions---no condescension or offense is meant towards anyone.

As much as political!Jon might help make sense of the clunky pacing and tone of Jon's decision to bend the knee in S7, I don't think that theory is going to be canon on GOT. IMO, what you see is generally what you get with GOT; if what you see doesn't make sense, that's just due to poor writing/pacing rather than it being a red flag for viewers to look closer. Keep in mind, these are the same fine people who brought us Season 5's "Marry Your Enemies for Revenge" plotline and who managed to utterly misconstrue who characters like Ellaria Sand and Stannis Baratheon are at their core in ASOIAF. You can’t look at GOT from a purely Watsonian standpoint when trying to make accurate predictions; you have to keep the Doylist factors in mind. And from a Doylist standpoint, I highly doubt that D&D would intentionally write political!Jon. Which is a pity, because that could make for such a rich, interesting storyline!

Beyond that, I can't decide whether political!Jon would be in character for show!Jon at this point. For one thing, I have a difficult time seeing show!Jon initiating sex with someone he doesn’t care about in order to manipulate them. (Going along with it, on the other hand...) For another, the people writing/directing GOT seem to believe that characters can’t simultaneously be clever/cunning and be kind or have a strong sense of morals. In the GOT universe, honor gets you killed, full stop, so obviously if honor=good, then good=always stupid. (Don’t get me started on the nihilistic way in which The North Remembers plotline has been implemented on GOT lol.) The writers have been hammering home that Jon is honorable but occasionally thick-headed because of it for several seasons now... it’s possible that this is just a misdirect to make political!Jon seem all the more ironic and/or shocking in retrospect, but I rather doubt it. See again: when in doubt, I generally assume that what you see is what you get on GOT, and that goes double for anything that would have required planning across multiple seasons. (Note: big book plot points like R+L=J are an exception, and even those don’t tend to be foreshadowed very consistently on the show.)

As a general rule, I think the GOT writers/directors have a difficult time crafting character arcs that feel organic and earned, and that this weakness was exacerbated once they lost the scaffolding of GRRM’s books. For instance, take a look at show!Sansa, whose character has been jerked this way and that over the seasons according to what’s most convenient for the plot. In some episodes, she’s reasonably intelligent, whereas in others she’s clearly carrying the Idiot Ball rather than merely making mistakes that would make sense for her character. (And this situation, I hasten to add, isn’t unique to her character.) Of course, that’s not getting into the show’s tendency to have important developments occur offscreen... and I’m not just talking about huge developments like Sansa and Arya learning the truth about Baelish, I’m talking about smaller things too, like Arya actually being shown learning how to fight rather than just being constantly beat up by the Waif until suddenly she wasn’t. Obviously we don’t need to see everything---viewers can be trusted to intuit a fair amount and can put pieces together without being constantly spoon-fed them---but we do need to see a certain amount onscreen in order to find a character arc believable and satisfying. Headcanons are all very well and good, but they should be an added bonus... not a necessity.

Though it may not seem it, I have a fair amount of empathy for the people running/writing GOT. Intelligent characters are incredibly difficult to write, especially if their strengths are different from your own! And not only has it got to be hard to try to wrap up this massive series from just a handful of plot points from GRRM, but what works well in books doesn’t always translate well to the screen. I don’t think the writers on GOT are always bad at their job... they’ve added some good original scenes to the show (ex: Ned saying goodbye to Jon in S1) and they’ve made some good changes (ex: book!Sansa says “Maybe my brother will give me your head” in response to Joffrey’s taunt about gifting her with her brother’s head; show!Sansa says “Or maybe he’ll give me yours”, which is a much snappier retort, IMO). That said, they’ve also become increasingly lazy over the seasons and are far too fond of shocking “twists” that exist merely to be “shocking”. I enjoy GOT for what it is, but when people create clever theories about what’s happening on it and genuinely believe that those theories will be borne out in the show, I think that they’re usually setting themselves up for major disappointment. (Having said that, I’m certainly not some arbiter of How You Should Fandom. As long as you aren’t harming anyone, do what brings you joy, y’know?) And hey, I love reading all the cool theories that fans come up with! This is a creative, talented fandom, and it’s much enriched by all of the theorizing, regardless of which of those theories end up being true.

When well executed, I enjoy political!Jon in fanfic, as long as it doesn’t become too mean-spirited towards Daenerys. I’m not much a fan of show!Dany---she’s another character who has been rather poorly served by GOT, IMO, especially with Tyrion taking on so much of her role in the show’s adaptation of her ADWD plot---but the level of vitriol that some fans have towards her makes me extremely uncomfortable. Once again, I’m not saying fans can’t write what they want to, that there aren’t a lot of legitimate criticisms to be made about Dany and her decisions, or that dark/antagonist!Dany can’t be written without bashing her... just that some people really hate her and want to see her utterly humiliated and destroyed to a degree that I simply can’t wrap my head around. (I think that some of this has to do with the usual fandom shipping wars and that some of this has to do with the usual societal unconscious sexism/misogyny, but YMMV.)

As far as ASOIAF goes, I’m not ruling the political!Jon theory out, but I don’t feel like I have enough information to make a decision one way or the other. Dany hasn’t even heard of Jon yet in ASOIAF, after all, and Jon has only barely heard her alluded to, IIRC. Whether political!Jon ends up being a thing in ASOIAF or not, however, I suspect the pacing and tone of Jon allying with Dany will be significantly different (and more nuanced) than it was on the show. This is because book!Jon and book!Dany are different characters than their counterparts on the show; because books are a different medium than TV and allow for both more detail and more internal character development; and because, quite frankly, I think GRRM is a better writer than the people writing GOT. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hope this rather long-winded reply answered your question!

#phos replies #anti got #3~~#4~~#5~~#jon snow #fan criticism #fan theories #GOT meta #well sort of #game of thrones #meta #anti d&d #long post

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velartrill · 7 years

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null relativization

a thing i really like is when languages use syntax or morphology instead of particles to indicate relativization.

english is the most obvious example of this, but it’s kind of a cheat. (also i hate doing grammatical analyses of my native language because that’s extremely bad behavior as a linguist and it’s also just fucking boring, but since it’s the elephant in the room here i can’t really avoid it.)

(1) the drugs Clarice bought

(2) Clarice bought drugs from an undercover cop who entrapped her.

(3) the drugs that Clarice bought

(4) the drugs that were in Clarice’s van

(5) they didn’t find the drugs that were in Clarice’s van.

*(6) Clarice bought from an undercover cop entrapped her.

(7) the drugs were in Clarice’s van.

(8) they didn’t find the drugs were in Clarice’s van.

(9) Clarice shot up under a tree that fell on her.

*(10) Clarice shot up under a tree fell on her.

(11) They didn’t find that the drugs were in Clarice’s van.

in (1), we see the basic strategy: place the modified NP before a verb phrase that describes it. while this singular example would indicate English is a null-relativizing language, (3) shows the presence of a relativizing particle (”that”), which can be used in any situation where null-relativization could also be used. therefore, even if we ignore diachronic analysis (which is usually a good policy imo) and considerations of register, we can reasonably conclude that null-relativization in English is nothing more than an optional elision of an implied relativizing particle.

where it gets interesting, though, is when we try to elide that relativizer naively. (2) is grammatical in standard English and uses the relativizer “who” (which performs the same function as “that” but can only be used to relativize persons, as opposed to “that” or “which,” which preferentially relativize things but can be used in colloquial speech to relativize persons, at the risk of dehumanizing them). (6), however, the same sentence with the relativizer removed is not grammatical. how does this differ from the contrast between (3) and (1)?

the licensing criteria become clear when we break the sentences down by grammatical role. in (1) “Clarice” is the subject of the verb “bought,” where the relativized phrase “the drugs” is the indicated object. (n.b. some languages use different particles or morphology to indicate whether a noun phrase is being relativized as the subject or object of the subordinate clause; apart from imposing these extra syntactic constraints, English relies entirely on word order for this purpose.)

in (2) however, the pig is the subject of the subordinate clause. the pig entrapped her, not the other way around (so Clarice better lawyer the fuck up because that is totally not legit.) as seen in (6), dropping the complementizer becomes ungrammatical.

at this point, we can reasonably conclude that when nouns are relativized in the object role, the relativizer may be grammatically elided. however, in the subject role, the relativizer must be present.

“but wait!” you might exclaim, “hang on, the examples you’ve cited don’t prove anything. those are completely different relativizers. it could be a property of the person/nonperson distinction, and have nothing to do with subject/object role!”

and you would be correct! that’s why it’s perilous to try to do grammatical analyses of your own language: you already know all the finicky little details (or at least think you do), so examining the grammar requires working backwards from the conclusion to show your work.

in this case, however, we also have examples (9) and (10) to prove the relativizer “that” obeys the same constraint, and also that Clarice just can’t get a break, the poor girl.

let’s look at some more examples of what removing the relativizer does in subject-relativized noun phrases. in (4) and (5), “the drugs” are the relativized as subjects of the verb “were.” but when we delete the relativizer, the sentence (or clause) doesn’t become ungrammatical - it just radically changes the meaning!

in (7) and (8) we see the outcome of that transformation. deleting the relativizer transforms (4), a fragment, into a full sentence simply stating the location of Clarice’s stash. something even more remarkable happens in (8), where the phrase is likewise flattened into a plain sentence — but is then complementized as the argument the verb “find,” with the sense of “discover the fact that,” as expanded in (11). this happens English also allows elision of complementizers, which contributes to the wonderful phenomenon of garden-path sentences - the grammatical structure of the utterance remains ambiguous until it is completed, and overly-eager parsing can lead to parse errors. just like in C++.

can you see why we anglophones have such a hard time grasping these concepts in other languages?

things get more interesting in arabic, where null relativizers aren’t just an innovation by lazy speakers, but a core part of the grammar.

(12) أقرأ كتابا. “‹a›qr‹a›ʔ-u k‹i›t‹ā›b-a-n.” — read‹1SG.NPST›-IND book‹SG›-ACC-SG.INDEF — “i read a book.”

(13) يأكل رشيد كتابا قرأته . “‹ya›ʔk‹u›l‹u› Rašīd-an k‹i›t‹ā›b-an q‹a›r‹a›ʔ‹tu›-hu” — eat‹3SG.M.NPST› Rashīd-3SG.NOM book‹SG›-ACC.SG read‹1SG.PST›-3SG.M.ACC — “Rashīd eats a book that i read.”

(14) يأكل رشيد الكتاب الذي قرأته. “‹ya›ʔk‹u›l‹u› Rašīd-an al-k‹i›t‹ā›b-a allaðī q‹a›r‹a›ʔ‹tu›-hu” — eat‹3SG.M.NPST› Rashīd-3SG.NOM DEF-book‹SG›-ACC PART read‹1SG.PST›-3SG.M.ACC — “Rashīd eats the book that i read.”

(15) قرأت الكتاب الذي أكل رشيدا. “q‹a›r‹a›ʔ‹tu› al-k‹i›t‹ā›b-a allaðī ‹ʔa›’k‹a›l‹a› Rašīd-an” — read‹1SG.PST› DEF-book‹SG›-ACC PART read‹3SG.M.PST› Rashīd-3SG.NOM — “I read the book that ate Rashid.”

okay, so, that notation may be a little overwhelming to people who haven’t done work on Semitic languages. the first field is the original arabic, the second is a romanization with separated morphomes, the third is a morpheme-by-morpheme gloss, and the fourth is a translation. the ‹ › brackets denote the vowel templates Semitic languages use to inflect triliteral roots like [QRʔ] “read.” yeah, it’s a mess.

in (12) we have a plain sentence, “i read a book.” the object كتاب follows the verb and takes the marker ـا “an,” indicating that it is in the singular masculine accusative case. (note that, while the feminine singular accusative takes the same marker, it is not indicated in writing, which the masculine is.)

in (13) we have a relativized sentence with an indefinite relativized NP (كتابا “a book”). the relativization is encoded simply by placing a descriptive sentence after the relativized NP, in this case قرأته “i read it.” here arabic demonstrates wildly different syntax from english: rather than marking the explicit role of the NP in the subordinate clause, the NP takes on a topical role and is referenced anaphorically in the subordinate clause, in this case by the 3rd-person masculine singular accusative pronoun ـه “-hu”.

this structure is much more flexible than English and can encode complex meanings that the standard English equivalent cannot. a closer approximation of Arabic relativizers in English might perhaps be the phrase “such that,” rendering (13) in English as “Rashīd eats a book such that I read it.”

in (14) we see the use of the masculine singular relativizer particle الذي, which is required in order to relativize definite nouns such as الكتاب “the book”, and cannot be used with indefinite nouns like كتاب “a book”. other than that, the syntax and semantics are indentical.

finally, in (15) we see how arabic encodes subject-relativization. while in (14) the accusative pronoun ـه “-hu” was used to reference the topic, in (15) the topic is referenced by the person for which the verb أكل is conjugated - as the person encoded by أكل matches the topic in gender, number, and animacy, the topic takes on a subject role in the subordinate clause.

if you haven’t studied arabic yourself, it probably seems like a complicated bureaucratic nightmare of a language to you now. so i’d like the reassure you that what you’ve witnessed here was only the tip of the iceberg that is the fractal intricacy of Arabic morphosyntax.

at last we come to japanese, the most interesting of the three (and the one i’m currently learning, so if i make any errors, あたしに叫んで下さい!). like arabic, japanese relativizes NPs into a topic role — but unlike arabic or english, japanese provides no way to explicitly specify the subsequent grammatical role of the topic, which should surprise nobody since japanese is a topic-comment language.

(16) 本です。”hon desu.” — book COP.POLITE — “(It) is (a) book.”

(17) 本の中で麻薬を隠した。”hon no naka de mayaku wo kaku-shita.” — book GEN inside LOC drugs OBJ hide-PST — “(I) hid drugs inside (a) book.”

(18) 雪さんが麻薬を中で隠した本 “yuki-san ga mayaku wo naka de kaku-shita hon” — Yuki PART SUBJ drugs OBJ inside LOC hide-PST book — “the book Yuki hid her drugs in”

(19) 事が大好きだ。”koto ga daisuki da.” — thing SUBJ loved COP.FAMILIAR — “I love the thing.” / “This shit’s great, man.” / “Good stuff!”

(19) 雪ちゃんはいつも麻薬がある事が大好きだね? “yuki-chan wa itsumo mayaku ga aru koto ga daisuki da ne?” — Yuki PART TOP always drugs SUBJ exist thing SUBJ loved COP.FAMILIAR PART — “Man, isn’t it great how little Yuki’s always got drugs?”, “Gotta love how my girl Yuki’s always got drugs, huh?” or even “Yuki, it’s great how you’ve always got drugs.” Japanese is crazy context-dependent.

(20) 死んだ景観だけいい景観です。”shi-nda keikan dake ii keikan desu.” — die-PST cop only good cop COP — “The only good cop is a dead cop.” / “Only dead cops are good cops.”

being an aggressively left-branching language, it should be no surprise that the subordinate clause precedes the noun it modifies, unlike English or Arabic. Japanese relativization is accomplished purely through word order. (16) and (17) show the structure of basic sentences, and that Yuki is way sneakier than Clarice. (18) shows the term「本」 “book” relativized with the subordinate clause「雪さんが麻薬を中で隠した」which is in fact a complete and valid sentence on its own, meaning “Yuki hid the drugs inside.”

modifying「本」with this clause leads to a fairly straightforward reading of “the book Yuki hid her drugs in,” but since「本」is taking a topic role rather than a defined syntactic role, it could mean anything from that to “the book that suggested Yuki hide her drugs inside things” to even “the book Yuki avoided hiding her drugs in” (although that last one’s a stretch). it all depends on context.

the extreme flexibility of Japanese relative constructions has led to a fascinating phenomenon where complementization and relativization are unified. since any noun can be modified by a verb phrase, any noun can be a complementizer, as we see in (19) where「事」”thing” is modified by the clause「雪ちゃはいつも麻薬がある」”as for little miss Yuki, there’s always drugs” or more idiomatically “Yuki’s always got drugs.” appending「事」enables the clause to be discussed in the abstract.

(the particle「の」is also used as a complementizer in some circumstances, but it’s a little less common than「事」and carries more specific connotations.「と」also functions as a subjunctive~quotative complementizer tho im not totally sure how to use it yet)

finite verb forms also are responsible in Japanese for what past participles or adjectives are used for in english, as seen in (20) where「死んだ」”died” and「いい」”be good” directly modify nouns. verbs ending in 〜い are often described as adjectives in Japanese teaching materials, but they are not syntactically distinguishable from verbs.

anyway English is boring, Arabic is beautiful but excruciating, and Japanese is the Ideal Language imo.

#linguistics #grammar #english #arabic #japanese #im not a weeb #i swear

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speakeasy8 · 7 years

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[010] Suzuki, A.

Just to clear the air, this is what Akiko Suzuki said. So before you all start raising your pitchforks and burning the poor lady at stake (I see some on forums, here and Twitter already attempting it) why doncha all read and be your own judges:

What Akiko Suzuki thinks Yuzuru Hanyu should work on next season: Strive for a more emotional performance

I think Yuzuru Hanyu, while hailed as *the* Champion and having lost the last two WCs, probably has a lot of pent-up a frustration over the losses. This is because he’s not the kind of guy who only wants to win, he’s the kind of guy who wants to win by a mile.

He put up another record-breaking score in his LP at World’s. At 4CC back in February, from what I could tell of the expression on his face before his SP, he seemed to believe that there was still a gap between himself and younger competitors like Nathan Chen and Shoma Uno. He’s been able to afford a mistake here and there and still win so far but after that comp, he must’ve felt that that’s no longer the case. Something just seemed to have clicked within him after the end of the men’s SP that night. The final result saw him getting beaten in terms of combined total by Nathan and that’s likely what brought about his WC win. 4CC was the turning point for Yuzuru.

Ever since Yuzuru became the Olympic Champion in Sochi 2014, other skaters must have been thinking, “How do I beat Hanyu?” And the answer they apparently came to was, “Why, do all the jumps Hanyu can’t, of course!” So these other skaters started arming themselves with weapons Yuzuru doesn’t yet have. Skaters like Shoma, Nathan and Boyang, who podiumed at WC, are using these new quads to close in on Yuzuru, which is why we see them attempting all those flips and lutzes out there.

Yuzuru’s comeback performance of his free that led to his regaining his title was probably the best I’ve ever seen, bar none the best he’s able to put out for now (TL: read this part wrong and didn’t do a tl check when I posted. Sorry bout that. Good thing someone pointed it out in the forums). In the various things he has attempted during this 2016-2017 season, he must have come to a solid conclusion of what to include and what to exclude, so it’s only a matter of polishing the things that remain and tweaking them to as high a quality as he can get them. And that would likely be the base he’d be using going into the next season.

Yuzuru has a competitive streak that goes above and beyond so I’m guessing what he really wants to do is to put out a performance that is far beyond even what we have just seen. Maybe he’s even putting a lot of thought into the 4A and perhaps being the first to land it. But he’s also aware that he could end up hurting himself, and getting hurt never helps. So I’m sure he’s calmly studying what’s going on around him and thinking, “What’s my best strategy now?” Before, he would’ve been all gung-ho and just gone, “Imma do it!” but he’s now able exert a calm control that translated very well into his performance.

The instinct of an athlete and the calm of a competitor–being able to strike a perfect balance between these two was what enabled him to win at World’s. This will, in turn, heighten the resolve of skaters still in their teens like Shoma and Nathan to include even more technical content. Going by age, it would be tougher for Yuzuru to follow the same route. If Shoma and Nathan’s weapon is to arm themselves with even more firepower, Yuzuru will answer their challenge by sharpening his own even more, and raise his own level to heights unknown. With Yuzuru, it’s a matter of how one enhances what they have and how they use it.

What’s scary about Shoma and Nathan is that they are not entirely outdone by Yuzuru in terms of PCS. They aren’t exactly slacking in the skating department either. Which is why Yuzuru has come to perceive them as real threats.

After his SP at 4CC, Yuzuru was very clearly burning on the inside. And his barely-contained irritation after his SP at World’s was a good sign. When I saw that look on his face, I couldn’t help but think, “Now, /that’s/ an athlete.”

When Yuzuru is able to flawlessly execute his 3 types of jumps (TL, Sal & Lp) over 4 passes (like this), he’s in a whole different league altogether. So if there’s anything else he needs to aim for, it’s probably the ability to express more of his emotions. Had he been able to express them more on top of those jumps in the perfect performance he gave at WC, I think it’d have been even better than what it is now.*

Packing all those quads in is no cakewalk. That’s a given. What he put out on the ice at World’s is something I won’t hesitate to give him a standing ovation for. But Yuzuru’s emotions are a sight to behold and it would have been even greater if we could have seen more of them (that day). He has beautiful jumps while also being an emotional skater. Yuzuru has it in him to combine both. I know he does.

These three years, Yuzuru has been assailed by more than his fair share of health issues and like any other human, he has his ups and downs. But it’s precisely because of those, he has become even stronger than before. Anything and everything he could grow, I’m willing to bet he has. His mind and body have grown stronger, his abilities have increased. The Yuzuru Hanyu that we saw back in Sochi and the one we’ll see in PyeongChang will be two separate entities, I’m sure of it.

In Sochi, he was but a single challenger. In PyeongChang, he’ll be going in as the defending champion. The pressure that will surely be set upon him will be totally different than the one before. No doubt it’ll be extremely tough on him but it’ll be exciting to see the kind of performance he’ll present when he’s in his absolute zone devoid of others. That moment of release will be epic to behold.

–Akiko SUZUKI

[SOURCE]

I gotta say, I agree with the lady. The dude was maxed out putting out a clean and foot-perfect performance that he wasn’t able to manage the capacity for the more overt emotions like the ones we experienced from his H&L performances at NHK and GPF. Of course, if those had to go to make way for that lovely precision performance to be born, it’s well worth the sacrifice.

But now that he’s already done it, perhaps he can work on increasing his capacity so as to be able to fit both precision despite high difficulty and those beautiful emotions he’s so famed for? I mean it’d definitely be growth if he manages it, which is what he wants so much himself. He always seems to want it, no matter how far he’s come. And that’s one of the major things I really admire about him. If he manages it, he’d finally be the kind of complete skater no one in their right minds can naysay as well as one that’s, just as Suzuki has said, epic to behold.

p/s: Incidentally, my perfect rendition of H&L woulda been the NHK one with all its quads and its Bielmann replaced by the ones from WC.

pp/s: And I get why people are exasperated since all they apparently see and hear are people saying what they want to see Yuzuru improve on but never others. But get this. I feel Yuzuru’s unique drive is what’s inspiring people to give their two cents about his skating. I dunno about the other people who are being whinged about now but Akiko’s comment seems friendly and helpful. Like, she’s invested in him. Just like I am. So really, I simply don’t care about what the others’ flaws and strengths are. I only just care about Yuzuru’s, both his flaws and strengths. Because the kind of ideal performance he’s been making us dream about? That’s something only he, with his skills and physique, can deliver. Not others.

When she said PCS and SS, I got the impression she meant based on the protocols, because according to the judges, that’s indeed the case and unless Yuzuru is completely clean in both his short and long, or deliver something so scarily and inarguably beyond others even at their very best that their (the judges) hands are tied, it’s also up to them in the end whether or not he wins over the rest. What she seems to be doing, imo, is suggesting stuff that would give him the edge.

What I don’t agree with her is the age thing because it’s not due to age he’s not packing them in, it’s idealism, which she’s also addressing here so it makes that bit about him not packing in stuff just cos he’s a little bit older a tad contradictory. But to be fair, it was also a logic Yuzuru himself subscribed to once upon a time. He mentioned to the press right after Sochi that he intended to try as many quads as he could while still in his teens cos he didn't know how spry he'd still be once he hits his 20s. It's only now that he feels it's more a matter of sense than it is age. Still don’t find what she said offensive tho.

*Just realized I actually accidentally skipped an entire paragraph. It’s in now. Sorry bout that cos I did the whole thing on an iPad. And yeah I tend to translate based on context and nuance I perceive rather than direct when it comes to opinion pieces like this cos Japanese is a language that can sometimes seem rather cold and straightforward when not taken in context (where you’ve gotta read between the lines for the deeper layers and meaning the words may represent) with the context itself not translating well into English. So I do the next best thing and put it in way in actual words instead of subtle implication. Take my translations with a pinch of salt if you will but this is just how I do things when they are opinion or literary-based. (Not so much on hard news and facts, tho.)

#yuzuru hanyu #akiko suzuki #figure skating #men's figure skating

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sarcasticace · 7 years

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RoE book 2 notes cause, despite always voicing my complaints with it, RoE has amazing characters and the potential for being a better book.

The pregnancy scare, if they really wanted to go with the whole ‘it was just stress’ thing, should’ve only lasted 2 or 3 chapters. 4 or 5 at the most if you're intertwining it with other stories going on at the same time. It wasted time that could’ve been better spent developing Carter and Blake as LIs+characters (and Mira too if that had been their intentions) or actually having Mean!Aunt+Cousin try to sabotage Party!twin. Like... how about having her overhear Party!twin talking to Mira and then tattle on the captain demanding on having her fired????? Nah, let’s just drag this out and make a third book.

While on the pregnancy scare, as much as I didn’t want this storyline to take place in the first place. really??? having a baby with your boss??? They should've have stuck with it. It was, admittedly, a good turn for her story. Party!twin started off as a giant flirt, enjoying parties and drinking, but then started to become responsible like her twin, but never losing her fun nature THEN they could’ve brought it all around with her being a responsible mother. Obviously, this would be a much later book (like 5-6), but until then they also could’ve gone with the whole family helping their sis out with being pregnant and Mira too, bringing them all closer together, But, nope, she’s not pregnant let’s get wasted.

The trick marriage, though should've never happened in the first place because L O G I C (who the fuck signs a document from your creepy, scheming ex-fiance in another language and NOT ask friend who you saw 3 secs ago who speaks said language translate it geezus fuck), I would have let slide lasting that many chapters had it actually gone somewhere with it. Instead, they used it as a means to justify the whole ‘are you sure’ storyline and then drag it out cause... you know, they couldn’t just code who you committed to like in TFM. Gotta save that for book 3 so we can stretch RoE to last as long as possible.

And how they dropped the twist that Bartender was in cahoots with ex-fiance and mean!cousin, built up that cliffhanger, then went nowhere with it by explaining in 2 secs that he was trying to be a double agent but found nothing out and then "hey let me take you to this super romantic island despite us not being together and propose to you despite this import save saying you’re dating business!LI.

Study!twin dropping her dream career because Grace’s mom was cold, harsh, and emotionally detached from anyone around her, therefore, that means she would’ve turned out that way too cause... you know... EVERY woman in a position of power eventually develops the same cold personality. Like... fuck. I get not everyone wants a career-driven life, I don’t, but Study!twin had been established to be career-driven. That’s why her granny made her task what it is, she wanted her to loosen up a bit... not drop her dreams altogether. I mean, does she even have a plan anymore or is she committed to YOLO-ing for the next couple of years? Imo, that scene should have been optional. One choice to follow what happened in game and another where Study!twin takes the position, but on the condition she be given the rest of the summer to enjoy with her family/find Audrey with a scene saying she wants to be better than Grace mom who, though offended, feels kinda proud and respects that Study!twin isn’t settling to be like her but better than her.

On top of that, fucking Paolo or however you spell his name cheated and (in some player’s playthrough) seduced study!twin into sleeping with him (which is all kinda of wrong) and he wins the position anyways. I mean, come on, at least make Blaire refuse to give him it for karma’s sake. I don’t care if he came from a poor family, don’t fucking seduce a girl into sleeping with you so you can sabotage her. fuck him.

Why in the hell was Carter depicted as the bad dad choice all of a sudden? I mean, yes, he is young and I get not wanting to be a dad right now, but wow oh wow is that kinda of a cheap move setting Blake up as the one true and only LI choice. Too bad she’s not really pregnant.

#AntiRoE

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