#I keep thinking swordboy thoughts

[youkaigakkou-tl]

What do you think makes this series so good/fun to read?

AHA YOU’VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD

(using a readmore bc its 1k words)

I think a manga has to do 2 things well, mainly. To grab your attention so you start reading it, and to keep your attention so you don’t drop it, and come back every month/week/whatever for it.

I actually started reading Yohaji because I saw it in a bookstore and the art, characters and premise caught my eye. While the “student transfers to a wacky school” scenario has been done to death (though I do enjoy it), I’ve never actually seen the teacher version of it done. I think I’ve started appreciating it more as I’ve grown up and grown out of “14 year old swordboy saves the world” plots, it’s just as fun to see an adult MC and adult characters having fun.

And speaking of characters, I think Haruaki is the perfect character, in general. His design is clean. Simple. To the point. I think a good indicator of a good character design is how easy you can shorthand it, how many details you can take away and still have it be recognizable. You put a ahoge on a distressed circle and that’s him.

My favorite phenomenon is the fact that on any book website, the first volume is always rated the worst. The biggest criticism I see of the manga, and of Haruaki specifically, is his sailor uniform fetish and “I can’t stand to watch him get bullied”. The second one is a common attitude problem I see of people going into comedy media, of taking things too seriously. Of course different genres of media have to be enjoyed with different metrics, you don’t go into Looney Tunes expecting high literature, and “sucks that Wile E Coyote got an anvil dropped on him”, said no one ever. “You’re supposed to laugh” is the most cringe thing to say about a joke, but I think some people ought to have a wider collection of lenses to look at media through.

I have thought about the sailor uniform fetish thing long and hard. The knee jerk reaction is “fetish is a strong word” and “he doesn’t need that character trait” but those are COWARD THOUGHTS! The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a genius move. First of all, it grounds him. In another more serious series, his combination of character traits (smart, athletic, has exorcism powers, reincarnation of Abe no Seimei) would be pretty scary, but his patheticness and his sailor uniform fetish grounds him firmly in the comedy genre. It’s also a good setup for jokes, and punchline to other jokes. Also, it gives him a reason to use his powers and do all the other weird shit without the story getting too serious.

Second of all, it acts as the great filter. Too many manga have your turn-off way too late into the story, whereas Yohaji has it in the synopsis, and if you don’t read that, on page two of chapter 1. It sets the tone, and you’re immediately confronted with the decision of “am I okay with this”. And if it’s not a turn-off, it’s almost certain you’re the target audience and are going to enjoy it. It’s almost like a thesis statement, “if you like this thing you’ll like the rest of it”.

The progression of the story is good too, while it starts with the tried and true “ahh the students are youkai so scary”, it’s actually a good thing, since it grounds the reader and gives a point of reference to jump off from. And as someone who reads other manga, and has seen fiction before, you probably get used to it pretty quickly, and the story does as well, and by the end of volume 1 it’s no longer doing the “youkai so scary” thing. (Chin up, Seimei-kun! There’s more things to be scared of in the world!)

The 25 students of class 2-3 are also handled super well. It’s a daunting number going into it, but most of them get a focus chapter early on, as well as earlier chapters being focused on the core group of Sano, Mame, Hijita and Beniko to ease you into the world. Even the ones that don’t get focus chapters show up in the background and interact enough that even if you’re bad with names, you can at least remember a trait or schtick of theirs. (See: the amount of times I’ve heard “oh yeah the merman” or “oh yeah the toilet paper”)

As a comedy manga, Yohaji gets to pull my all-time favorite trick: “Ohhhh there’s plot”. This is something I realised watching chainsawman analyses, which is “openly showing emotion is cringe”. This is true of basically everything, casual conversation with your friends, a song that hits too close to home, a story that sees you like a specimen under a microscope to pick apart; instinctively, many people show aversion to this, after all, isn’t it terrible to be seen so thoroughly by something other than yourself?

The great trick of comedy, is its ability to let your guard down to things like that. Unlike sadness or outrage, also exploitable and addictive emotions, joy is positive, and there’s no reason to pull yourself away. Comedy also typically doesn’t take itself as seriously, so when there IS an emotional moment, you’re vulnerable and it hits you full force. Basically it’s like this:

And now, the most important thing that Yohaji does well IMO, is each chapter’s structure. With monthly manga, a huge problem is by the next month you’ve forgotten what the previous chapter was about. (This is a problem I personally have with a lot of the Jump SQ monthly mangas, that shit just keeps escalating and I don’t know what’s going on anymore and I’m just along for the ride) This isn’t even usually a problem with Yohaji, since most chapters are standalones anyway (or 2 parters) but we’ve gotten to see how it handles this with Renren arc and Kyoto arc, and I have to say, really well!

Each chapter sets up its own minor conflict and resolves it by the end, while also setting up a vague direction for the next chapter. And the first 1 or 2 pages of each chapter has enough information to remind you what happened previously. This self-contained conflict-resolution makes each chapter a lot more memorable and satisfying, as well as being more effective for establishing new information for the rest of the arc to act on. (See: the common complaint on monthly manga chapters of “what? that’s all that happened this month??”, which is what happens, I find, when you keep escalating and escalating without ever resolving anything)

Well. All that said, the simplest answer to “what makes this fun to read” could probably be boiled down to clear panelling and clean character designs. Without those nobody will stick around to see what else the manga has to offer. Ultimately, it’s a matter of personal taste, and I think it’s better to have a specific target audience than casting the net wide, and it just happens you find out if you’re that target audience by page 2 of chapter 1.

#asks #rambles #i always feel like i go off topic when i write stuff like this and im gonna get docked points

[toukenramblings]

Dating Headcanons: Kuwana Gou, Murakumo Gou, Kotegiri Gou

Whaaa, Gou Bros! Bros Gou! I’m so excited to do dissss. Dedicated to darling Mei Mei who is orchestrating my downfall further into swordboi hell.

Warnings: Well we are talking about the pasts of these sword bois and some of them aren’t too...pretty? But it’s mostly SFW. Me, projecting.

Kuwana Gou

Kuwa’s feelings for you are...rather quiet, creeping up on him like the ivy vines that snake up structures. He will notice them at a slow rate, as he values his relationship with you. It’s languid and takes its time to flourish and bloom like the flowers he sometimes works with, and Gods forbid it ever being destroyed. It’s a relationship cultivated over time, and when Kuwana falls for you, it’s a sudden free fall when the ground crumbles under him.

Kuwana is terrified of his feelings for you, terrified of confessing. He does think that he doesn’t deserve you, but most of all, Kuwana is terrified of destroying a beautiful relationship you two have. Consider him like the boy next door, your childhood friend that you always talk to. Kuwana is that boy, your first love, your first crush, your first kiss - oh so terrified to cross that line between love and friendship. What if you don’t like him back? The foundation of respect and trust and camaraderie you have built together just shattered like that? Destroyed? Nope. Bye. He can’t handle the thought of it.

If anything, you need to confess to Kuwana first. When he realizes that he loves you, it’s kind of obvious. He flushes around you, always giving you flowers and checking up on you with food - it’s not that different from his normal self, but sometimes your hands will brush each other and he jerks his hand away, timid and shy, terrified of such a thing. He loves it when you two do hold hands though. If Kuwana ever confesses, it’s because he probably talked with Tonbokiri about it. He has to make a move, or else he’ll only stew in his feelings in such an unhealthy manner.

His confession is planned, one day he’ll come talk to you, asking for some time alone in your office later that night. He comes to you with a bouquet of roses from the garden, cheeks flushed, still somewhat dirty from working in the gardens, and shuffling his feet. “T-These are for you. I...I wanted to tell you this for a long time but, I’ve fallen for you.” it’s short, straight to the point, and he almost leaves the flowers there on your desk before running away. You catch him in time though, tripping over your feet which leads him to catch you. And then you return his feelings and Kuwana’s eyes light up brighter than the stars! no tonbo and the rest of the gou bros are totally not crying in the corner, proud of kuwana

Oh the kisses with Kuwana are so sweet. He will always cup your cheek or chin before leaning in, pressing your foreheads together before kissing you. It’s always a slow and sensual kiss, full of love that he has for you. Rarely do they become any deeper than sweet pecks or quick make outs. He is always busy in the fields and you are always busy as well. He doesn’t wanna take up too much of your time!

Kuwawa’s PDA is always oh so sweet. Whenever he has to wake up and work in the fields in the morning or cook, he always gives you a peck on your lips before dashing off to do whatever. If you visit him in those areas, expect a sweet cheek kiss as well! Kuwana’s hands are big and warm so when you hold them, you feel so damn sAFE. He also really really loves hand kisses, washes his hands first before doing so.

Kuwana will love it when you two have a private part of the garden just for you two! He does work in the fields a lot but will make sure to take extra extra care of the flowers you two grow together. Hell, he always brings flowers to you! Missions, working in the fields, whatever! He is going to bring you some flowers and make a lil vase of them for you! He’ll always tuck a flower behind your ear whenever he sees you as well. It’s so soft guys.Will also tuck a pressed flower into an omamori whenever he’s away from you.

Kuwana was never really meant for battle, and he knows it. But after entering a relationship with you, expect him to be training more. He knows he has to become stronger to protect history and all, but he wants to become much more stronger to protect you too! It doesn’t hurt to see him oh so determined either! “I want to protect you for as long as I can. To do that, I need to become stronger. I know that I’m not as much as a weapon as Tonbokiri-sama or my brothers, but I have to try!”

Then there are days when Kuwana works shirtless in the fields. It’s....a damn good sight to say the least. He won’t tease you about it, but if you tease him about it, he’ll flush and stutter over his words. ITS GREAT, TRUST ME.

Kuwana is also quite the chef. He’ll always keeps you healthy, ensuring you go to bed on time, eat the healthiest of foods, exercise enough, it’s like having a personal trainer beside you at all times! If you do not feel confident in your body, Kuwana will always be there for you, whispering how much he loves you and that you’re perfect to him.

Kuwana also loves it when you take baths/showers together! It’s a great way to clean himself up and he just loves the intimacy! If you two are sexually intimate by this time, he won’t mind that either but if anything he just loves the feeling of always holding you close! He loves it when you help scrub him down and he does the same to you!

This leads us into massages! Kuwana is really good hands for this kind of shit, big and strong. He’ll happily take away your pain if he must, if only he could purge it in its entirety and push it on to himself. But he’ll melt if you massage him int turn! His body is built and slightly tanned from working in the fields all of the time, sun kissed as they say! He works really hard, so pamper him in turn!

Speaking of pampering, oh Kuwana spoils you but you need to spoil him in return! Give him love! Headpats! Kuwana secretly loves it when you pat his head! He’ll flush and mumble that it doesn’t suit him but he’ll lean into your touch!

Kuwana is also pretty touch starved as well, he doesn’t realize it until you two begin dating. Kuwawa will always glance down at your hands whenever you two are in the same room but doing something different. Or even in the same vicinity. He loves it when you two hold hands, or when you two are just cuddling and pressing your foreheads together. He’s also quite the cuddlebear.

Kuwana will give you nicknames based on flowers and crops. It may sound strange at first but him calling you his ‘pumpkin’ or his ‘rosebud’ just flows off of the tongue right and makes you flush with happiness every time.

Murakumo Gou

Kumo kumo’s feelings for you are...not taken well. Whenever he thinks about you, his stomach begins to churn in the most terrible of ways and he almost wants to vomit with how fast his heart is beating. How you make him feel. Kumo kumo tends to run away with his tail between his legs whenever he’s even near you. His feelings for you surprise even him! It makes his heart hurt much more then his tum tum so when he goes to Yagen or Samidare, they try their best. Of course it’s Yagen who’s like, “You’re in love, dumbass” cue shook Murakumo.

Murakumo will begin to avoid the shit outta you for a while. He can’t handle being around you when you make his heart beat like this! It’s almost too much for him, and he’s oh so terrified about falling in love as well. What if you give him away? Falling in love means pain, right? Why else would be feeling like this? Like he wanted to crawl further into a hole and die.

It’s because of this that you will need to confess to Murakumo, and it will honestly...be a venture. He will not take it well at first, thinking that you are lying, just trying to get under his skin. He won’t lash out at you, oh no. In his heart, he’s oh so happy! He’s loved! You love him back! His stomach will be doing flip flops and it won’t hurt as bad as it normally does. But give him some time, patience is very key in a relationship with Kumo-san after all. Wait for him to come around to you, it’ll take his brothers help to do that too.

“I...I...I don’t know how to deal with these emotions. But, if possible, I want to be by your side. It hurts a lot when we were apart, so...if it’s okay, can...can I be yours? Forever?” Murakumo’s biggest fear, after all, is you leaving him, abandoning him, sold off like a prostitution ring im sorry hfuigsgdh and just almost left to rot. When you still love him and prove that you will want to be by his side, Kumo kumo will almost be over the moon! His tummy will hurt a bit but he pushes past the pain as you two hug, a soft and gentle embrace, as the TouDan inhales your scent and holds you close. It’s super warm in his arms, oh so comfy.

Like Kuwana, Murakumo adores hand kisses and general hand holding! Maybe it’s the dog in him but you holding out your hand to him makes him happy, and whenever he does take your hand into his, he always laces the fingers together! He is rather sparse on his PDA though? Prefers the privacy of just being alone with you though. He also adores forehead kisses, especially if you are giving them to him! You can almost see an imaginary tail wagging whenever you to do.

To say that Murakumo is clingy is an understatement. He has severe abandonment issues from being sold off so Kumo Kumo has a habit of making sure and ensuring that you love him. Yes he trusts you, but that fear will not leave him, always staying at the back of his mind, haunting him, taunting him. These manifest as nightmares whenever you two are cuddling, to the point his tum hurts beyond belief and he wakes up with a start. He won’t want to wake you, worried that you’ll come to hate him more. But when you do wake up to your lover in tears, you bring him into your arms and he melts. His sobs are quiet, reaching in pitch every now and then but he keeps them quiet, hidden in the cloth of your clothing.. Hug him please, tell him that it’ll be ok in the end. He needs it.

He’s that partner who tends to apologize for every lil thing he does. He just worries that you’ll come to hate him, and sell him off. It’ll take time for him to get his confidence up, as said before, patience is very key in a relationship with Kumo Kumo. Of course as he changes and gains a lil more confidence by your side, his stomach aches will begin to slowly cease. He does get loop-de-loops whenever he plans something special for you, and he does have his fair share of worries, but he’s trying his best!

Yes Murakumo is a slightly jealous person, pouty whenever he sees you with another person. He trusts his brothers (Samidare especially) around you but anyone else? No fam, you got a guard dog right here. THe thought of you leaving him almost makes him want to vomit and of course you love him the most! Verbal praise is what gets him going the most, so do nothing but tell him that you love him.

As he moves on from his shortcomings, Murakumo is slowly becoming a bit spontaneous with his affections with you. One of his favorite things to do is to hug you from behind, burying his face into your shoulder or something and just...exist in the same space. Lap pillows are also his favorite thing in the world! He loves it when he can rest on your lap, and will do the same for you. Prefers just straight up cuddling though, is a smol spoon. Loves resting his head on your chest most of all, he loves the sound of your heartbeat.

Like Samidare, Murakumo will love animals! He loves much more calm animals, and while he does love puppies, he slightly prefers cats as they are more chill. If you take him to a petting zoo or a zoo in general, Murakumo will be so happy! He may get excited and his tum may hurt but if you hold his hand and take it one step at a time, he’ll be okay! He loves holding hands anyway.

Samidare will honestly be very happy for you two! He’s just happy that Murakumo found another person to be comfortable and safe around. He isn’t the kinda guy who will give warnings but he’ll probably shed a tear or two at how proud he is of you two!

Murakumo also tends to pick up random things that he thinks you’ll like. He loves it when you two go out on a walk together, sometimes he’ll bring back wildflowers for you, and if you two go shopping together, watch him look at stores he knows you’ll like. He’s pretty attentive to the stuff you like and likes to surprise you when he can!

He’s also very much into sharing clothing. He doesn’t care if your clothes are bigger/smaller than he is, he just finds your scent very comforting. If he’s on long missions away from you, he’ll ask to take your jacket or sweater with him because he’ll miss you! Uh yeah, gods help the person who gets it dirty or rips it. He loves it when you wear his clothes too! IT’s a way for him to be there when he is not.

The first thing Murakumo does when he comes back though is to run to your side and hug you! He missed you so much, he has to give you a hug! He also loves it when you tend to his wounds, whining and whimpering, leaning into your touch. Spoil him while you can, give him forehead kisses and nose kisses. He adores those.

Murakumo isn’t much for nicknames that are based around titles, “honey, darling, etc” he prefers making lil nicknames based off of your name instead! It’s really sweet.

Kotegiri Gou

Giri Giri aiiii ikenaii borderliiiie the song slaps im so sorry is a person who is always around you. He tends to your needs like Hasebe does and he knows your schedule like the back of his hand. But when he does get his feelings, he won’t notice it. He’ll think of it just wanting to be close to you, to be a better tsukumogami for you, and to help you as best as he can! It has to be someone who tells him that he is in love. You compliment him on his singing when he doesn’t notice? He flushes bright red and promises to sing for you from now on. What are you, his muse? Maybe.

Yes Kotegiri, you’re in love if you start making love songs for them/making songs with them in mind. Someone looks at his damn drafts and calls his ass out and he freezes. Oh no, is that what love feels like? To always be your little songbird and make you smile? Oh no. Oh no. Panic time engaged. Outwardly he’s fine! He’ll still be your attendant but will almost have his head in the clouds? He’ll flush whenever you come closer, almost running away.

It takes some time for Kotegiri to confess, and it’s probably with a love song. He won’t make a big show of it, even though he would, but he wants this song to be yours and yours alone. Will he rope his brothers into this? Maybe. Is he gonna rope the AWT48 into this? Fuck yeah. Of course it all depends. If you’re a more private person then it’s a private concert for you and you alone. It’s a sweet song and when he finishes, he kneels at your side what is this a marriage proposal holding out his hand, “I...I wrote this song for you, master. I poured all of my love for you into it. It’s okay if you do not feel the same, but I want to tell this to you now. I love you, and I will say it no matter how many times it takes.” and then you save his confession song as your ringtone and probably cry.

Giri giri claims he doesn’t like his hands, but they are indeed beautiful. Slightly calloused and all but they are soft and gentle. He does love holding your hand and adores yours though - no matter how dry or cracked or smooth they are, he’ll kiss your fingers and your knuckles. It’s one of his favorite ways to display affection. Other than cheek pecks and full on lip pecks. He knows that you two are always busy so he’ll always drop off some kinda kiss and then skedaddle, leaving you both wanting more.

Kotegiri takes great care of his appearance and this extends to you! After a good cuddling session during your sleep, he’ll wake up early and get you prepared for the day. Your clothes checked, breakfast in bed, morning time kisses, the whole shebang! It’s lowkey a married relationship anyway.

Kotegiri becomes a lot more confident in singing after you two enter a relationship. He’ll start humming and composing songs meant for just you two! Kotegiri has the lungs of a singer after all, this also means he can kiss you for a long time as well. Giri giri may make an entire album dedicated of songs for you! He can’t help it! He loves you so so much! It’s always signed with some sort of lovey dovey poem or something.

Kotegiri does enjoy shopping as well! He loves it when you two can shop together and find cute clothes to wear, he’ll make sure the said clothing will compliment you! Speaking of clothing, he will also love it if you two match! He highkey adores matching clothing with you! He also adores it when you swap clothing. Sure they may not fit...per say, but whatever the hell. Kotegiri is just happy to be connected with you in another way!

Date nights with Kotegiri are also kinda work nights? He’ll notice that you work too hard and suddenly murmur softly that you deserve a break. It’s just sitting in the same office together, working together, feeding each other snacks. It’s just soft and quiet, some good shit to be honest. Especially if you two just like cuddle on the couch, doing nothing, papers thrown to the side and just...existing.

Whenever Kotegiri is away for long, he always gives you a kiss before he leaves. He will also have something special from you to remind him of you while he’s away. It ranges from what he’s feeling. Maybe it’s the first drafts of his love songs for you, folded neatly and tucked into the protection charm. Maybe you wrote a song for him in turn and he keeps it in there? Who knows! He just likes the feeling of being close to you, no matter how far you two are apart from each other.

While he doesn’t mind lap pillows, he loves it more whenever you sit on his lap and fidget with your fingers. That being said, hugs from behind are also something he adores. He just loves being with you! Let him hug you!! Hugs are the besttttt.

Yes he’s going to be teased by the rest of the Gou bros, he’ll take it stride though. He’ll flush and mumble and fluster and stutter but dAMN IT HE’S SO PROUD OF BEING YOURS.

Oh dancing dates. Kotegiri adores aDORES dancing. Something about holding you close, hand in hand, as you lead each other through the steps, he may pull you closer on purpose with a sly smile but immediately flush when you do the same to him. I’m sorry but closely dancing with him like this, whether or not it’s a formal ballroom dance or just slowly waltzing to the music? It’s great, he just loves the closeness.

Most likely will know quite a bit about modern technology, computers, phones, so on and so forth. He has a phone himself and will take pictures of you two when he can! Most of the time the damn thing is used to download music and watch idols perform. Of course having a phone is mandatory whenever you two are out shopping together, getting lost is scary after all. His ringtone will be either his own love song for you, or just a recording of you humming his songs! He thinks of it as the biggest praise ever if you love his music.

Kotegiri calls you all kinds of sweet nicknames. His preferred one is muse tis because you are indeed his muse! You give him creativity and support and oh so much inspiration and he’s just....oh so happy that you approve of his love for idols.

Kotegiri may think that his hands aren’t good or anything, but to you, his hands and his everything is beautiful! His hands make the music he writes and they hold you with a sense of gentleness that no one could compare to. So really, a relationship with Kotegiri is just full of mutual support. He knows that you’re always busy but know when to give you a break. In the end, you tow start and end the day together and he’s ultimately happy.

#touken ranbu #touken danshi #touken ranbu imagine #touken ranbu x reader #my writing #tkrb #tkrb imagine #tkrb x reader #kuwana gou #kuwana gou x reader #kuwana gou imagine #murakumo gou #murakumo gou x reader #murakumo gou imagine #kotegiri gou #kotegiri gou x reader #kotegiri gou imagine #i hope you like this mei mei~! #me and my nickname habits: kuwawa kumokumo and giri giri #mUST NOT SING IKENAI BORDERLINE

[asknarashikari]

Since Rintaro was put through the gutter this episode, let us take our mind off it with a minific of him being cute with Mei

WHY DOES TOEI KEEP TORMENTING THE PRECIOUS WATER SWORDBOY TOT

Have some Meitaro fluff y’all, we need it after episode 30 fucked us all up

“Mei-san, I don’t think this is such a good idea...” Rintaro said, trying to keep the woman from dragging him into the city. “The Megid may attack any time... I need to be ready in case we need to fight...”

“Mou, just relax, Rintaro!” Mei chided, tugging the reluctant swordsman along. “Touma and Kento promised to call if there’s any trouble, and you have your Book Gate with you, don’t you? You can afford to have a bit of fun!”

“B-But... Mei-san...” Rintaro half-heartedly protested. 

“Anyways, we’re here!” She exclaimed, pointing at little café right across the street.

Rintaro nearly ran into Mei with how abruptly she had stopped, and he blinked at the cutesy, pink sign on the window awning. “What is this place, Mei-san?” he questioned. 

“It’s the place where I get the eclairs from,” Mei explained. “I thought you might want to come here some time, to see what other treats you might like to try.”  

She pulled him along as they crossed the street, and hauled him into the store with very little resistance from the curious swordsman with a sweet tooth. The smell of freshly baked bread, sugary pastries and brewed coffee greeted them, and Rintaro’s eyes were instantly drawn to the display of cakes and pies at the counter. 

He bent over to examine them closely, eyes wide with child-like delight. “Mont Blanc... strawberry shortcake... fruit tart... apple pie... Oh, they all look so good...” 

“I knew you’d like it here!” Mei clapped her hands excitedly. “Why don’t you pick some out for us and we can have some coffee or tea to go with it? It’s my treat today!”

Rintaro turned to look at her, eyes wide and a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “M-Mei-san, it would be improper for a lady to- I mean, I’d rather pay for my own, thank you,” he stammered in embarrassment.

“Rintaro, just let me do this, geez!” Mei groaned. “It’s okay for friends to treat each other sometimes, okay?” When Rintaro gave her a dubious look, she sighed. “Okay then. Let me treat you this time, and next time, it’s your turn, okay?”

“Next time?” Rintaro echoed. 

“Yes, next time. What, you think this is the only time I’ll hang out with you?” Mei asked.

Rintaro blushed. “N-No,” he stuttered, then nodded jerkily. “T-thank you, Mei-san,” he told her gratefully.

“It’s no problem, Rintaro,” Mei responded, smiling brightly at him before pushing him towards the cashier. “Now, just order something already so we can eat! I’m getting hungry!”

“Alright, alright, Mei-san...” Rintaro chuckled, turning to the lady at the counter who’d been watching them the entire time with an amused smile on her face. “Let’s see... How about some of the apple pie to start with...”

#kamen rider saber #shindo rintaro #sudo mei #ask #askrikkaiandhyotei

[mxmearcstapa]

Naked Madlions Update #1!

Welcome all to the exciting adventure that is the Naked Madlions, my Maddening playthrough of Blue Lions without New Game+! (All updates are going to be tagged with #Molly's Madlions) As a warning, I've played all 4 routes and as this is a playthrough, it gets pretty spoiler-heavy. I might, and have in previous posts, talk about plot elements, comparisons, and other details.

Basically, spoiler warning for potentially all of FE3H, but most specifically Blue Lions.

With that out of the way, here's how it's going!

Prologue:

GUYS I FAILED THE FUCKING PROLOGUE AHAHAHA. We stole Claude and Edelgards' weapons and shoved them behind a wall to keep them out of danger. I put Dimitri in a bush and said, "yeah, he's sufficiently tanky, he can--" and then he took one hit, and he was okay, and then he took the second hit, and then he wasn't okay. And I thought, "oh, I'll Divine Pul--oh...right." Anyay, I've now seen what the Game Over screen looks like.

With more liberal healing and less aggressive tactics, we succeeded. :P

Mock Battle:

Battle requires Byleth and Dimitri, and I took Dedue, Mercedes, and Ingrid for other slots. Dedue has a swell personal ability which makes him excellent at taking physical hits. Mercie I took because she was the only one who could heal. Ingrid I was really on the fence about, as my past experiences with her have not been the best, but I picked her for her Res, which came really in handy this battle. I made sure to stock up on as many weapons as I could, and I equipped everyone with 2 vulneraries. It did take several restarts to find the right combination of actions, and I admit that Mercedes went down, but because this is like, one of two battles that aren't permadeath, I just left her down. She was out of heals anyway, and we were close to winning. Her survival is, of course, more important to me moving forward. Even so, it took 26 turns (and several swears) to complete three mock battle. Bleh.

"HEY, KOSTAS, REMEMBER US?":

Oh, my Divine Pulses! *cries in joy* oh...there's...only 3 of them. Okay. Cool. I'm used to like...10, but this...this is fine.

This is a tough fight to start out with, because most of these dumb babies are still level 1. No one got to 5 from the practice battle because, like a dingus, I split my exp a little more evenly before thinking about what might happen next. Plus, those Poison Touch Archers are AGGRESSIVE. All the Swordbois have Pass, so we had to watch our backs to make sure no one was sneaking behind us to stab the squishier ones. Most of the battle, we kept to the initial bridge and let the enemies come to us. The bridge gives a nice choke point to control enemy movement. Much to my own surprise, we kept everyone alive and didn't need to use any Divine Pulses (oh me of little faith). As long as you're mindful of archer range, it's workable.

DP Used: 0

Mutiny in the Mist:

CATHERINE IS AN EXP THIEF. WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

*ahem*

Fog...sucks. About half the army had torches ready, and we only lost of one of our allied soldiers (because he ran himself through an enemy weapon. I cannot help you, sir), so not too bad! About midway through the map, I used a Pulse to pull Sylvain back up (STOP. MISSING.). At this point, Ingrid and Sylvain had learned their basic Reason magic, but their Magic skills are craaaaaaap. Sylvain I know will grow better, and Ingrid we're mostly expecting to crit, but it's a weird progression. I've never gone for straight Magic Ingrid before. When not using magic, she's been proccing her Crest fervently in the hopes that I will reconsider and have her focus on the Lance. *laughs in distance*

At the very least, having Annette, Mercedes, and Dimitri all healing was a boon. Dedue actually crit Lonato to low health, which blew away a lot of his difficulty.

This map is also funny, because I forgot I don't have access to adjutants in the very beginning, so we have to court Ferdinand the old-fashioned way. :P HE SHALL JOIN US YET. If nothing else, his weapon and vulneraries both get restored after each battle, which means "resources I don't have to worry about." As long as he's not stealing exp getting KOs, we're all happy.

DP Used: 1

Gimme My Sword!:

So I was nervous about this because I know there's a lot of mages here, and the Lions aren't super Res-blessed as a whole. But they were okay! I did split the party--Dimitri, Byleth, Dedue, Ashe, Annette, and Ferdie to the left, and Sylvain, Felix, Ingrid, and Mercedes to the right. With Ingrid's Res, Felix's Crest-laced bow shots, Sylvain's raw strength, and Mercie's healing/Res/magic, the right side was only in deep trouble at one point. I was afraid I'd need to reset entirely, but Felix just straight dodged a lethal hit, and they pushed forward. Plus, Ingrid and Sylvain both knew Heal, which was helpful.

Meanwhile, Left Team slowly fed Annette axe kills, and Dimitri and Ashe dispatched the reinforcements. The kids are shaping up well!

DP Used: 1

Closing Thoughts:

it's, uh, it's tough. It's a completely different set of resources to work with. Having 3 Divine Pulses instead of 10 really changes how careful I am: if there's an issue, I am closer to restarting the battle than being able to rewind, which is more time spent. I knew I wouldn't start with a lot of activity points, but I had forgotten how desolately you begin. Mostly I have using my AP for faculty training and cooking for the stat boosts. My truest love, fishing, returns to me as I attempt to raise my professor level. But because I'm not dining with students, they often have low motivation, which prohibits me from training as intensely. With the battle time being longer overall, it's not as prohibitive towards weapons, but magic has limited uses, so if I'm not pumping that in lessons, they learn it much more slowly. AND, even though we're getting weapon exp, it's at the cost of the weapons themselves, and this army is NOT made of money. So striving to find a balance is something of an issue, but I think I'm getting it.

Roster Progression (Post Tomb-Raiding):

Byleth: 10, Mercenary

Dimitri: 11, Priest

Dedue: 8, Soldier

Ashe: 8, Fighter

Felix: 10, Archer

Annette: 8, Monk

Sylvain: 8, Monk

Mercedes: 8, Monk

Ingrid: 9, Monk

Current Professor Level: C

Time Stamp: 14:45

#molly's madlions #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #blue lions #maddening mode #poison touch archers #fe3h #fe3h spoilers #fire emblem three houses spoilers #fe16 #fe16 spoilers #gamelog #let's play #naked madlions