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nozomijoestar · 1 year

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Hey. Asuka

ASUKA FROM TEKKEN ❕❕❕

@scalproie

NEW: The Lili Essay

My first impression of them

I started playing Tekken with Tekken 6 when I was like 12 or 13 or slightly younger I can't exactly remember. I just know it was gifted to me one Christmas by my step aunt who randomly chose it because she heard I liked fighting games; I didn't care about it to be honest. It was too different and difficult (I played Kazuya because he was on the box, big mistake when my baby brain had never heard of Mishima gameplay) so I stuck to Street Fighter and Soul Calibur. What got me to play it for real was seeing and playing Street Fighter x Tekken when I was 14 and it was new.

I saw Asuka for the first time that I can remember during her SFxT trailer and I loved her IMMEDIATELY. She looked like an aggressive brawler with a temper who could think on her feet, and she never gave up even when outnumbered by Chun-Li & Cammy (until Lili decided to help her). Her personality was and is the type I gravitate toward in most of my favorite characters. Also I loved her classic default biker outfit and I still think along with her Gi that it's the best one (the Donald of Duck for T8 one has grown on me though)

In summary she looked resilient, tenacious, capable, but not afraid to ask for help despite her ferocity and having a temper.

When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

When I got my hands on her gameplay in SFxT and it felt true to my impression of her, which made me go back and play her in T6. Completely different character in T6, I was so confused when people called her a defensive type because SFxT and her personality felt the complete opposite of that. I went from learning a rush down bruiser to focusing on throws, patience, and keep away- and I'm a rush down main (and shitty Ibuki SF player) so it's hard 😭. But even if the gameplay changed the more I learned about her the more attached I grew to her personality.

If my first impression had been during Tekken 5 like everyone else, I still would've liked her because the first time you see her she's being a fucking problem beating people she doesn't know half to death because their problems annoyed her fjhdhshs love a surface well intentioned mean bitch who wants revenge (and it sets up her being a hypocrite right away)

A song that reminds me of them

Stereopony - Sweet Blue

FLiP - Laila

FLiP - Ame no Onna (Rain Girl)

Sparking!! is also sung from her PoV I want to believe that

Lyrics (except Ame no Onna, can't find any sadly, neither Stereopony nor FLiP caught on in the West the way SCANDAL did to get a bunch of translations): 1 | 2

How many people I ship them with

Her discord kitten

My favorite ship of them

AsuLili (indescribable)

Gay Sex is getting so complicated these days

They are foils. Gay Tom & Jerry. They're so fucking goofy. They're a bit toxic. They're constantly married and divorced. They can't stand each other. They need each other. They communicate what words can't express. They're so frustrating. A story about gay sex because it's about the gay sex that isn't happening. Etc etc.

Asuka loves fighting, is cocky, loves confrontation, hates losing. But she pretends she's none of those things. She uses reasons like justice and honor and the right way to be as excuses to not confront who she really is. Lili loves fighting, is cocky, loves confrontation, hates losing. Pretends to be nothing but herself. Her reasons are honest about indulging her intentions to enjoy a fight while set on achieving what she wants. For both, violence is the means and the end.

They both value their families, but where Asuka follows what's expected of her in order to indulge her impulses, Lili rebels much to her own shame when it hurts her father. But she can't help being true to her desires. (When I talk about her in her own post I will again outline how her narrative is like a coming out story). Asuka doesn't rely on her words to say what she truly feels, Lili is from a world where words are a game of knives. You can't entirely take what they say at face value but rather what they're doing is what talks. Because they're both bad at talking to people. Imagine how much tension and uncertainty would've been resolved by now if even one of them had ever talked out why Lili picks on Asuka to get five seconds of her attention in the first place. But they never do that, they just start fighting!

They both have vulnerability problems. Lili's is that she struggles dropping her guard to express anything directly caring, and Asuka's is about not showing emotional weakness by projecting a tough attitude or letting her temper take over rather than think or dwell. They're so appealing because they're sooo close to realizing how alike they are but its their differences and weaknesses keeping them at verbal arms length.

It feels like Asuka awakens the sense of purpose Lili's been craving her whole life, the person around whom she can share the passion her father disproves of. For Asuka it's looking only at the surface of Lili's actions and being drawn to the challenge rather than defusing or investigating further. Up until T7 the most Lili really does is instigate in order to get attention then she drops it and goes home; only with 7 does she act controlling by registering Asuka for the Iron Fist Tournament without asking first. And STILL Asuka's solution isn't to call her back and talk about it but to go ahead and fight like usual.

I wish we got more insight rather than having to infer on how she feels about giving Lili exactly what she wants all the time rather than pursue any other option about it (on Lili's end we have Sebastian for her to bounce off of to infer her behavior is affectionate at heart). One reason for their impasse could also be that Lili doesn't know how to best reach Asuka aside from their duels, and she's not going to risk looking weak or being misunderstood by ruining their back and forth. But when you put a fight in front of Asuka, who loves any excuse to fight, she's not gonna think deeper about the why, she'll just fight. Lili spends a million hours thinking and plotting and calculating in circles to express herself toward someone who's very reactionary.

I think the fact that Asuka is capable of putting the ways Lili annoys her on hold to work with her when they have a common interest is telling in its own way. She doesn't really hate this girl. To her she doesn't get what Lili's deal toward her is exactly, but something about her as well as wanting to even their battle score keeps Asuka coming back into her company. The repression they both have going on is insane.

Also her reaction if Lili beats her in T7 isn't even angry about losing. She uses the word Kuyashii where the subtitles have her saying "Okay Okay!" Kuyashii literally means regrettable, emotionally painful etc. but in conversation is often meant like the English "This sucks!" / "It sucks!" with the intensity dependent on how/ in what tone the word is said. Since she also uses Kedo, the phrase you use similar to But in English when you want to add more onto your idea, I would translate her sentence as:

"This sucks but I can admit it. It's my loss!"

(Me and the constant struggle when I see English Localization (not translation) of other languages complicating shit or lying. The eternal war broken only by those brief moments we can agree on something.)

She thinks fighting is all Lili wants, and if Lili proves to be the better fighter then she's ok with that. Proud Asuka who starts and finishes fights taking shit from no one is ok with being bested by the girl she calls annoying. Of course what Lili actually wants is to be noticed, so she instigates to keep that going by slapping Asuka for being too dense to realize Lili wants to be looked at by her (and the way Laura Blanc delivered that Toi was so gay...no straight explanation for it). Which Asuka is...again willing to oblige with more fighting to best each other. Its made even funnier when her T7 intro states she considers Lili might fuck off if Asuka defeats her, or that maybe she won't. I don't think you want her to fuck off if you don't even try dropping it win or lose. They have each others phone numbers and its never explained how. To cite Asuka's prologue:

Since they first fought at the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Asuka felt that Lili was taking the whole rivalry nonsense a little too seriously. Asuka recalled Lili's phone call out of the blue a few days earlier:

"Hello, Asuka. I am sure you have heard the news that the King of Iron Fist Tournament is starting again soon. Worry not, I have already been gracious enough to register you for the competition. No trying to weasel out of it, you hear? I am ever so looking forward to fighting you."

As Asuka let her rage toward Lili's presumptuousness fly down the phone, Lili hung up. Fed up of being treated like a rich girl's plaything, Asuka thought that maybe if she beat Lili, the conceited little princess would leave her alone. Then again, maybe not... Asuka wondered how she could resolve the situation but came up with nothing. Eventually, she decided to go along with Lili's plan and enter the tournament.

Taking the nonsense too seriously, girl you keep participating in the nonsense every time it comes knocking. When she beats Lili in her ending and hears from the horse's mouth that she knows Asuka's situation is bad, that she could get dragged into the Mishima bullshit (mind you Lili HATES the Mishima's and her first instinct is to position herself in Asuka's corner should Asuka get involved, she sees her family is struggling and has no one, can easily lose their house, and she thinks I will throw my money at this to keep them alive- ok, ok, ok Ms. De Rochefort see you at Pride) her frustration that follows isn't because Lili knows this information, but that Lili dropped the bomb and wants to jump into it rather than explain. She's perfectly willing for once to listen to her, to talk to her without fighting, if Lili would just slow down about it! She even asks her to just explain several times!

T7 finally FINALLY gave us an out into set up for them communicating with words. My fic is going to look into what they'd do in the interlude between 7 & 8, how Asuka feels about what she now knows, but I NEED more answers officially when T8 drops. I would love more answers and a real look at how their dynamic has changed or grown, how they could both finally be major players and how Asuka will transform if she gets an arc.

It would have baggage, but I think if they finally talk reasonably Lili can atone for how much misunderstanding and stress she's caused; Asuka can find she does have someone supporting her, as someone who gives all her support to others constantly. She's been cared about and not really alone this wholeee time, if she got to know all of Lili's sides and that she's being helped because Lili cares- that would ease her mind. Then with those barriers out the way they could fully fall in love, in my opinion. What they have now is a form of love, but it's not mutual falling in love. It's undeniably messy. I want Lili being a foil to spur the catalyst toward Asuka accepting herself, recognizing her hypocritical selfish aspects so she can overcome them.

Little add on but I think it's cute that they spend the TT2 intro acting opposing with their usual nonsense, but then when Angel comes to fend off Ogre and the building shakes they drop it like their arguing/teasing they were just doing is nothing. Then given how they act when they have a third more pressing issue happening to both of them they would've worked together after the intro ends to figure out what's going on.

EDIT 11/16/2023: Since I wrote this essay we've had two open beta tests and got to see some character unique interactions as they are so far. Asuka more or less acts exactly as I expected when it comes to Lili (and they brought back her revenge toward Feng this is so fucking crazy this game HAS to finally give her more). But this time thanks to the updated voice acting she's also the nicest she's ever been toward her and that surprised me.

Here's the unique dialogues toward Lili: 1 | 2 | 3

Now my translation time, because the subtitles used are completely wrong except for the outro.

OUTRO VS LILI:

"Looks like it's my win. Feel free to come at me again."

SPECIAL INTRO VS LILI"

"Shaddup! That's my line! (OR: "Shaddup! I should be saying that!")

Interestingly this was translated correctly in Lili's reveal trailer, however now the new subtitles are not only wrong, but it does not match Asuka's motion capture. I have no idea what the hell was the thought process here.

RAGE ART VS LILI:

ACTIVATION: There's a few ways to translate 許さん (yurusan) here so I will list some options.

"I won't/haven't forgive/forgiven you!"

"I'm not letting this go on/I've had enough!"

"I'm not letting up!"

Personally for this scene's context I think "I've had enough!" makes the most sense.

FIRST HIT: "You dumbass!!"

FINAL HIT: "Today's the day we end* this!"

*As in their feuding/rivalry

The new voice work is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It's the first time she's sounded somewhat teasing and lighthearted towards her. Also again with the continuing to egg their fights on if the player beats Lili. Asuka refuses walking away from fighting Lili despite everything. Putting this together with her RA makes it seem like maybe she just doesn't want petty rivalry since she doesn't know Lili's beef with her. Fighting for the sake of fighting and outdoing each other is fine though.

And for fun and transparency I'll list the proper translations for Lili's dialogue too.

OUTRO VS ASUKA

"I did it Salt! I got my revenge over Asuka!"

INTRO VS ASUKA

"Have you prepared an excuse for when you lose?"

INTRO VS LEROY

*Notable in that she actually calls him Master Leroy as opposed to just his name

RAGE ART VS ASUKA

ACTIVATION: "Time for your punishment!"

FIRST HIT: "Oh poor Asuka..." (this is the spoken line, in the French official subtitles this was turned into "How rude of you Asuka...")

FINAL HIT: "You lose!" (FR Subs: "Accept your defeat!")

French subs sourced from this video as well as my French speaking friend who sent this ask in their posts talking about Lili's lines.

They continue to serve us mock love/hate fruity vibes. Quite honestly I feel Asuka is more on the fence about Lili rather than outright hatred. Yes things like the Netsu System can say one thing but her actions say another. That's all we have until there's a genuine answer.

When the Vie is Rose I don't know the song :

Le sex gay gagne toujours etc. etc. The tension is tiring kiss already. They are even wearing matching outfits now in T8 Bamco PLEASE with the years of teasing!!

Asuka why are you looking at her like that; this Lili expression is also insane

Pack Mule Boyfriend

If you look at the Dark Resurrection intro it foreshadows them being relevant to each other in my opinion. They literally come after one another in order, but also Lili's scene ends with her ready to face another opponent, as Asuka's scene starts with preparing to pursue Feng. Chasing a new fight.

AsuLili got me to take Tekken seriously because of SFxT. I owe them forever.

EDIT: 11/16/2023 BAMCO WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS YA'LL WANT ME DEAD

My least favorite ship of them

I was going to put AsuLili again to be funny because of the problems in their relationship, but then I remembered people ship Asuka with Jin, you can't beat incest being among the lowest of the low.

A quote of them that you remember

"So that idiot actually went to school at some point." (About Jin)

Asuka: I finally found you! You're the Chinese guy that took out my dad, aren't you?

Feng: The weak don't deserve to live!

Asuka: Then that means you're going to die after I'm through with you, you jerk!

Your favorite outfit of them

Respect the classics

Your least favorite outfit of them

ALL of the bikini outfits, all of the manga artist Collab outfits (sexualized fetish shit in T5 and the T6 one just doesn't fit her personality and established style), and then the T7 outfit because it could have been amazing but it's designed around being sexualized especially with the huge cleavage cut, and then you pair it with the fan service camera angles on her in T7 and it's disgusting

Describe the character in one sentence

The Hurricane.

What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

What if I go back to zero?

Sexuality hc!

I will share this with you I've never thought hard about it, but what she has with Lili is absolutely gay and I think she would deny inside that she's gay and deny being gay if you asked directly but she's fucking gay, whether that be bisexual or lesbian I can't conclusively feel for until we see her interact with people besides Lili- she's some kind of homo

Your favorite friendship they have

We don't really see her with friends that I can remember, but her dynamic with Alisa in T6 was fun, she's mostly nice to her, trusts her enough to do what she asks, and doesn't realize she's talking to a robot which is hilarious. You also see her being friendly with Xiaoyu in the pachinko games but it's barely beyond a conversation or two.

During SFxT her Street Fighter crossover costume is a ninja because she asked Ibuki for ninja training, and I NEED to know how the fuck those two got along enough for that given how cunty they can be, and how complicated Ibuki's feelings are on what she is. Asuka must have really impressed her.

Best storyline they had

The Lili nonsense (beloved beloathed), ONLY because it's the one consistent and constant storyline she even Has that's about Her. In T6 she's a plot device tool so that you get to fight as her and she's along for the ride without thinking of anything except getting to hit people or things. In T5 she either gets her shit kicked in by Feng, beats up Feng and then moves on from it immediately with no further thoughts or reflection etc, or Jin ends up in her boobs for a shitty gag. These are more like events than a proper storyline because they just happen and they're dropped forever they don't flesh out or delve into a full arc to develop her.

Lili on the other hand gives her someone in whom she can see herself and who in a funny way keeps her from causing damage on the streets by funneling her aggression toward one person. The fact that she keeps going along with it rather than making any attempt to seriously ignore Lili also implies she probably knows all this in some way. Fighting Lili has become routine, someone who serves as a goalpost for her abilities since the Feng plot was dropped off a cliff. No it didn't go anywhere until T7 into T8, but it gave her something to care about besides throwing her life away. It did showcase a side of her personality by having another character be antagonizing, and the way Asuka's response to that changed across different iterations.

She's always been a nothing character because they made her to replace Jun in gameplay. So when you take away all the shoehorned shit they write to have her gameplay included, all she actually has is Lili in the gay Tom & Jerry circus. People put a lot of stock in her surname and I understand it and I agree with it on a level, but then people also forget her direction has ALWAYS been confused and half assed. Lili did not start that she just presented an easy target to see the problem. Also characters who have lives outside the Mishimas have always been trashed, and we don't always need characters centered around Mishimas as well; T8 seems like we might all finally get more.

Worst storyline they had

When you go to avenge your dad and end up fighting a demon having no idea what the hell is going on and then some guy with wings and horns passes out on you and you can't call a taxi or get cell service about it and then his face is in your tits and then you storm off because what the fuck has been today

A childhood headcanon

I don't think Asuka knows who her mom is and I think Harada has kept her mother ambiguous on purpose. You could say she died or she's a deadbeat or something else is separating them, OR you could say it's Jun if you are a Harada Would Pull The Mr. Kazama Married Into the Family and Asuka is Jin's Half Sibling Shit As A Twist believer

So I think not knowing her mom made fitting in around kids with picture perfect/big families difficult, which probably made her fall back harder on her dad for support and throw herself more into learning Kazama Ryu, because that was his main teaching to connect with her

What do you think their first word was?

I have no idea lol

How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

I think Asuka became shy only when it felt like things got awkward or if she felt jealous, and if she was angry she becomes standoffish and cold, otherwise she would have been a noisy, social, and nosy kid always surrounded by people, much like what Harada has said about her being a typical outgoing Osakan teenager.

She probably started her meddling around this age the more she trained because she wanted to be a hero and help others and beat up bullies. That made her popular especially with the weaker kids. If you needed a favor you went to Asuka. Also I can't see her as anything other than a ball of energy, the child at cookouts who plays games with the other cousins and gives everyone heart attacks when she goes too far or picks up something she shouldn't. An entire childhood of scraped knees.

EDIT: After thinking about it and checking the materials again, I think people take advantage of Asuka's skills. The minute she fell into trouble though they leave her hanging. To her she thinks she's popular or at least liked because she provides justice, a public service. She believes that people would feel even a little loyalty to her for this, but I noticed the moment her family lost everything, no one she knew before is anywhere to be found. Part of it is fear after the damage Feng did, part of it is not wanting to associate with a loser, part of it is they didn't really value Asuka as much as she thought, and finally her broken angry mental state once overwhelmed drove any help away. She cultivated this sense of identity and trust among her peers and community since childhood, but the second she needs to lean on someone they disappear. Indication that the "good" she believed of herself was in fact her being a tolerated nuisance.

The most random ship you've seen people have with them

Hwowrang, Hwowrang?? Also he would've been 21 when she was 17 in T7

A weird headcanon

Not afraid to eat worms as a kid 🪱 won't do it when older unless she's stranded and the only food to survive are grubs

When do you think they were at their happiest?

Before T5 and after beating Feng playing her arcade mode even if its non canon. We don't know exactly how she felt during the interlude between T7 and T8 yet but I hope Lili brought her some semblance of normalcy and helped her Dad further. I hope it brought her some kind of growth if not happiness, if going by her saying It's not good to fight all the time was something she's learned because of her experience living with Lili, assuming its not Jun influenced. I say this because of the next question:

When do you think they were at their lowest?

T6 actually. T5 was her being fueled by a purpose so that even if she's in pain there's something she has to strive to do. In T6 that adrenaline has worn off and now she's running herself ragged. She feels powerless in her personal situation, Jin throwing the world into chaos takes away any illusion of stability in the world compared to how unstable her life has become. There's nowhere she can go that feels normal or safe because of him, and because it's so painful she isn't going to fall back on talking things out when that was never her communicative strong suit.

She's stressed all the time, alone, broke, angry, fearful that everyone who comes near her is trying to hurt her or her family. All of her VS dialogues are her being driven by paranoia and hyper-vigilance- she tells Jin directly mincing nothing that she's stressed and him blowing up the world has only compounded it. She's like a dog chained to a post in the yard that bites and snaps at anyone coming near because she paints everyone as an enemy, even if they want to help her. Playing as her in the Campaign she's glad to be fighting because its a distraction from being overwhelmed emotionally. Asuka was drained and running on nothing but frustration and exhaustion. She feels traumatized.

Also why was Kazuya looking for other Kazamas when he talks to her... (Was he looking for a person who can stop his son like Jun? Trying to find Jun herself?). Side note, Kazuya would never be her friend but I think part of him would respect her resolve and envy that she has a father who loves her enough for her to fight for him willingly. Aside from her connection to Jun and any positives he finds in the Kazama Clan's spirit, maybe in her he'd even see a bit of himself or what kind of son he could have been were Heihachi not a piece of shit. If things had been better would he do as Asuka does?

I think like Lili though he would tell her, harshly in his way, to stop pretending there isn't an element of selfishness in why she fights or that she seems to enjoy the power from doing so- rather than acting as if she's doing a public service. That indulgence of power, projecting confidence, the way fear and loss have pushed her into a cold insistence on self reliance, fighting alone against forces out of her control, and her anger I see as the most Kazuya-like things about her, so he'd see it too. The Kazuya - Asuka Connection, even.

Her "Devil" duality has nothing literal about it like voices in her head or nightmares, but it's still the internal struggle of who you are by what you express and what you keep hidden. Her "Devil" like Kazuya's is about wielding power but feeling there isn't much room for vulnerability when doing so. And in the same way Kazumi literally passed on her Devil Gene while Heihachi awakened it in Kaz, what happened to Asuka's family is her broken inheritance that pushes her toward a pursuit of power to defend it. If you want to stretch it further you can say if Asuka does canonically have the ability to counter DG like Jun, and Mr. Kazama married into the family rather than be born into it, Asuka gets that cleanse ability from whoever her mother is, and her father being brutalized was her catalyst to eventually draw that ability out.

T6 Kazuya sees T6 Asuka defending her home like a mad dog and when he looks into her eyes he sees his 5 year old self after having survived the cliff fall.

Actually no they probably would never be friends but its hilarious and maybe even a little cathartic to imagine them as friends. Asuka and her 50 year old coworker friend dynamic, then suddenly she learns he's also Jin's dad. She starts calling him Uncle Kaz. Jin's like why are you friends with my dad, why does he treat you like his kid. Lili screams cries throws up in confusion realizing her lame boyfriend is friends with a fucking Mishima. What do you mean you're related to him and Jin Kazama?!! The evil guys on TV?! The company that bought out my Father???

EDIT 2/2/2024: 8 CONFIRMED ALL MAIN CLAN KAZAMAS ARE DEAD INFERRING THIS IS WHY ASUKA DOESN'T KNOW HER FAMILY

So with that in mind it only added to the ways she contrasts Jin to me (Jin is pulled down literally and figuratively with drowning metaphors for how his self centered suicidal self loathing has destroyed him and he's hurting his chances with the people around him as much as himself; Asuka is continuously reminded she has no control in this world with something always being stacked against her or outside her understanding, the kingdom of control she builds believing if she minds her business and stays within what she knows she's fine is founded on sand- yet she meets everything despite how it hurts her and persists anyway) and I still think if Kaz talked with her they'd be funny but also have more in common than they realize

Future headcanon

Asuka reevaluates what martial arts (and violence) mean to her and she becomes the new leader of Kazama Ryu (in my opinion the only current master is Jun, since Asuka's father was brutalized by Feng I don't think he'd be able to continue practicing it- Jin doesn't count because his training was interrupted when he picked up Mishima Ryu) as an adult. She rebuilds the dojo's position as a school for self defense and spiritual growth (as opposed to continuing to become more destructive and ironically like Feng in her quest to defeat him). It becomes a place where people like her and Lili, who inside enjoy fighting for the sake of fighting, can channel that rage and sadistic thrill away from being destructive into becoming protectors ruled by sound judgement. If they're willing to learn and change she'll even accept the street punk types she used to beat up for fun.

As an adult I think it would be best for her to let go of being driven so much by her self interest, and to become humbler. Becoming less emotionally rash, she can have her fire still but become a person who considers and reasons before driving forward. She should fight for peace for real and be in a happier place mentally. A true warrior weighs their options before acting; there's a difference between using force to protect and instigating/escalating with violence.

What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

Whenever she doubts herself or feels afraid. With all I've said it's easy to imagine why. She can ask for help, but she still has to look cool about it, to me. Her vulnerability isn't quite so available yet unless she's truly snapped and breaking down.

When do you think they acted the most ooc

She's been pretty consistent because there isn't a lot to her in the first place, so I don't think Team Tekken have managed fucking up her 3 or 4 basic traits, askdjaskl even in that piece of shit spin off comedy manga- if anything LILI felt ooc and it was a portrayal of homophobic stereotypes.

I will also say SFxT was in character because it built even in a minor way on aspects Asuka already possesses, it just extended those parts to how she treats Lili.

When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

When she tells Feng "You'll die when I'm through with you" before their rival battle in T5, you only get that line if you play as Feng when you meet her. If you play as Asuka it goes:

Asuka: Hey, you haven't seen a strange Chinese Kenpo fighter around here, have you? He's muscular... and looks like a... Hey! It's you! Feng: Yes. My name is Feng Wei. Asuka: You're my father's sworn enemy! You're mine!

After Winning

Asuka: You're pretty strong! Now I see why my father had such a hard time with you. But you are still no match for me. Well, now that I've avenged my father, it's time to have some fun! -

The Feng PoV one where she says she's going to kill him is so sad when you see her show up not in her default costume but in the Gi uniform. She's prepared to meet the same fate as her father or even die and she's going to represent the full dignity of her Ryu while doing it. The Dark Resurrection intro even sets this up because it shows Asuka meditating in the family dojo before tying her headband (an act associated with showing resolve, effort, and courage) as if she's going on a journey and wishing for luck/saying goodbyes, then it cuts to Yoshimitsu training because he wants his revenge against Bryan, then it cuts to Feng beating Lei (the man responsible for violent acts evading justice by literally beating up the cop sent after him) before he looks at the camera in a close up that matches Asuka's.

Even if you play as her she still says: "You're my father's enemy, you're mine!" - Asuka's father was unconscious on a machine fighting for his life while she's doing this. Did he tell her to go get revenge, or is she deciding that because she's full of rage? Instead of staying by his bedside and helping take care of him her response is violence to handle her grief, her possible self hatred for not being there when people were hurt. She's using this and her reactionary emotions to indulge her thrill for fighting, because even when she beats him she instantly puts her dad's skill down to make herself out as the best in battle. (You could also translate her line about it as "I see why Dad lost to you. Well, I still won." which sort of feels like the same thing just toned down, or perhaps can be read as Even if you are strong I'm the winner between us- still a flex but not as indirectly harsh to her Dad)

EDIT: 1/19/2024 I FORGOT TO SAY THIS BUT AFTER NON CANONICALLY BEATING FENG ASUKA CHOOSES TO STAY IN THE TOURNAMENT FOR FUN (that's what she meant when she said it's time to enjoy myself) SHE JUST LOVES BLOOD, SHE LOVES FIGHTING SO MUCH

There's so much to play with here because it touches directly on who Asuka becomes when she has a personal goal/grudge, while giving true insight into her ego. If she was 100% about helping and doing what's right she wouldn't make her victories about herself. If she had better self control and emotional maturity she wouldn't rush to put herself in harms way without even asking consent from the person she's doing it for. She doesn't consider how her Dad might feel if he wakes up to hear his daughter is in the hospital bed next to him or dead. She doesn't consider how much more of a disturbance or collateral she could cause/add on to when she fights gangs in public.

She just does what she wants and deals with the consequences as they come because its motivating and will feel good to go ahead. Because she wants to do it. She doesn't particularly care about collateral from others either as long as it doesn't happen where others and she herself has to see it. This is all the core of her character and its why she never would've made a good accessory to solving Jin's Devil Gene problem (aside from making a woman be nothing but a development tool for a man being trash as a device, which is often how fans propose it). She's proud and will prioritize doing what she wants to do for her own gain/catharsis/beliefs, and she's not helping someone she doesn't understand or who directly counters those beliefs and she thinks they should get their ass beat. So if she does help Jin in T8 I can only see that through a lot of work and some revelations.

You would have to convince her there's something in it for her (similar to why she kept fighting in T6 Campaign) or pull on her emotions. Very interesting then that she never actually chases Lili away aheem ahurm. She gets mad at Lili because Lili gives Asuka a taste of her own medicine (and because Lili misdirects rather than being blunt like Asuka is) in a sense, but by that same token she's receptive to the attention because Lili indulges what Asuka likes most. She just doesn't say it with words, but through battle. And by being there even if she groans about it when Lili drags her along to partner up in something.

And I won't forget that split second after Xiaoyu ran them both over and they share a look like Fuck fighting each other let's get her, before chasing Xiaoyu down fdjsfsf. Or that the pachislot had Asuka looking at Lili like C'mon join in with us and then you see Lili was staring longingly at her before looking away. Or how SFxT made Asuka a bit protective (in character as well since she does want to stand up for others at home even if the motive isn't entirely selfless, also not just physically protective, she tries to warn Lili not to be rude before things can get worse) when other people bully Lili, and reminds Lili that Lili herself said she'd be useless without Asuka. If the crossover and Tag games aren't canon Bamco why are they the gayest. You made that not me fjdgkdjg)

You can see how that bit of a lead in T5 is still consistent to her character even if its never presented so honestly afterwards. Those interactions were Asuka embodying her strengths and weakness. Then it was never that serious again until hopefully Tekken 8 brings it back.

If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

I want her being Ibuki's friend and learning from her and them going places as a plot line for an entire crossover game. They would get into so much and where Asuka accepts expectations and tries to exceed them, Ibuki rebels in a struggle to be an individual even as part of her is still pulled toward her inheritance. They would be iconic together. Ibuki would bring her to the Glade of Ninjas and everyone would be like What part of Secret do you not understand Ibuki. More Asuka in Street Fighter.

The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

"I don't appreciate being called annoying."

How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

THE KAZAMA BLOODLINE CONTINUES

An AsuLili child would be a menace, a force of nature even. I can see Lili spoiling them the way she does Salt and the way her father spoils her with gifts she's not appreciative of (except she's confident her gifts will be loved instead). Asuka would also dote on them and probably already does dote on neighborhood kids or any who used to attend the dojo. She and Lili would be direct whenever they're firm with them, but Asuka can be more blunt about it, sometimes unintentionally harsh as a left over habit from her teenage days if they're involved in something that works up her emotions.

I can only imagine the blow up if her child tried to seek revenge and she tries to talk them out of it, they would not be able to walk out the house and go do it without her intervening 100%. She feels she needs to protect them as much as anyone else she loves, and if she can't stop them doing something stupid or drastic she makes sure they're as prepared as possible and understand the responsibility of their choices.

Would probably fight alongside them too or not be too far behind if they're in a dangerous situation to make sure they're not alone. When she starts seeing herself in them there's a mix of pride and frustration. Ideally they'd inherit the dojo, but above all what would matter to Asuka is raising someone courageous, with strong principles not doubting themselves constantly, who can and will forge their own path through life. Even if it means carving their own way differently from hers.

The funniest scene they had?

11:08 - 11:29

*sees Jin dying* "Somebody's getting their ass beat..I wonder if they're still alive- Oh shit it saw me LET'S GO BITCH."

#tekken #asuka kazama #asuka

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diamondcitydarlin · 2 years

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i got unreasonably frustrated with a post last night advocating for Lucius' death to be permanent for story reasons lol and the urge to counter this person's points are too great for me to ignore but I didn't want to just randomly go after someone entitled to their opinion I just wanted to argue with the opinion that it would be better writing if he stayed dead because I absolutely could not disagree more so I'm just putting this here to get it off my chest...and, mostly, to defend Lucius' right to say alive at this point (if you know which post this is addressing pls don't share it with the OP they don't deserve to see some random old lady whining about something they posted for fun)

The thesis statement of their argument that I will try to sum up as objectively as possible and as close to what was actually said without creating a strawman:

"Lucius should stay dead in season 2 because the moment where Ed pushed him off the side of the ship was a very shocking scene that I believe would be diminished if it turned out Lucius had survived. Ed shouldn't get a bandaid solution like that when he's a bad person who makes bad decisions. I feel like this show already shows us that not everyone is immortal and there are consequences for violence and having Lucius be alive would also diminish that. Basically I loved Lucius dying and I hope he stays that way." (and then also some frankly condescending suggestions that anyone who thinks otherwise maybe doesn't understand how television writing works)

Well. As someone who has had to write, edit, and make up concepts for professional scripts, I absolutely disagree that Lucius staying dead would be a natural fulfillment of anything the writing has planted beforehand. To a point, I'm not even really sure we were watching the same TV show because this stuff you're saying about how no one is immortal and there are always consequences for violence...uhm.

1) Stede and Ed casually get impaled, all the time, and yet are somehow completely fine by the next day even without modern medicine.

2) Both Roach and the Swede have jumped off the ship without lasting consequences.

3) Like literally anything else that happens on the show unless you're a Badminton in which case everything is permanent lol

But okay, let's humor the idea for a moment that OFMD pulled a game of thrones and decided to just perma-murder Lucius via a method that has yet to kill anyone else. What kind of significant effect do we think that will have on the plot? How will that move the story forward? Because Ed is the only one who knows what happened, and the revelation of what he did to Lucius wouldn't come out or be important until he and Stede crossed paths again and it (potentially) came out. I suppose it could give Black Pete some sort of motivation to do a revenge thing? But then he isn't a difficult character to give motivation to, he hardly needs someone PERMANENTLY dead to do an impulsive thing- in fact, even in this context it makes a lot more sense for Pete to just THINK he's dead. Beyond this I don't see how Lucius being permanently dead is supposed to have a more profound effect on the narrative than him actually being alive, I don't see why him being permanently dead is even a necessity for the aforementioned things to happen anyway. Because at least from how I understand this trope and how it works in scripted TV narratives is that the death has to be shocking, but it also has to contribute to the plot. A princess let's say being suddenly murdered without warning shocks the audience and brings about the potential of a war plot between the opposing kingdoms, etc. Stede and Ed also already have more than enough reasons to be at odds with each other and have drama (Stede left him, Ed marooned his crew and took his ship) and I'm not sure Lucius and Stede are close enough for his dismissive attitude about Lucius' possible death before to have changed all that much.

The main thing for me is that it's just too vague. All we really know for sure is that Ed pushed Lucius off the side of the ship and that he was still alive after hitting the water. Technically he did not die on screen and any assumptions that he might be dead are just that, because falling overboard gives a rather wide range of possibilities of survival and it's kind of missing the point of the show to go 'well it's not realistic that Lucius could find a piece of driftwood or get rescued by another ship or turn into a mermaid or just hold on to a piece of the ship or find a way to sneak back in etc' because uhm...yes, in terms of the rules of 'realism' that this show has established for its own universe, any of those things are absolutely plausible. I'm pretty sure getting impaled multiple times without significant health issues isn't 'realistic' either but that's not really the point, is it? Like these characters might as well be made of rubber I'm not really sure where the idea that consequential realism is a huge part of this show (maybe they were watching Black Sails instead or at the same time and got the wires crossed? idk, I'm confused)

also in my experience with Taika's works and works he is involved in, this is exactly the kind of chekov's gun that will come back in a big way later and the only way Lucius' 'death' as it is is going to have that kind of an effect is if he is in fact not dead at all, and yet FULLY aware of what Ed tried to do to him. It may take a couple episodes for him to pop back up but it's what makes the most sense to me. Really the only person that can give a quality, dramatic reaction with profound effects on the narrative as a result of what happened to Lucius is...Lucius himself lol. See, that's the problem. There aren't many preexsiting parties that could bring about much of a consequence to this action outside of him.

also ofc I take issue with the assertion that Ed is a 'bad person who does bad things' because, again, missing the point. If the show were trying to make a point about how irredeemably bad Ed is and how irrevocable Lucius 'death' at his hands was, why not have Ed strangle him before pushing him in? Stab him? Why not have Ed make some kind of effort to insure the job is done instead of falling back on that old pattern of 'outsourcing the job'? No it doesn't make what he did, as it was, fine and okay and undeserving of recourse, but the entire point of Ed and Stede's stories are that they flawed, nuanced characters, neither of whom are entirely 'good' or entirely 'bad'. The point is not and never has been to prove why one of them is completely irredeemable and always has been, otherwise those moments like the one in the tub were pointless and might as well have been cut. hell I'll even go so far as to say killing Lucius wasn't Ed's main priority, it was just getting him the hell off the ship so he could revert into Blackbeard without being called out on it by someone who knows better.

So, that all essentially gives Lucius access to knowledge that no one else has. Why would they plant all that with a character that couldn't bring all the dirty laundry back and make it everyone's problem?

Anyway, my basic point is that it's 100% okay to personally prefer that Lucius stays dead for your own reasons, but I don't think it's at all accurate to say that this has been the sort of thing the show has been leading up to all this time.

#im not tagging this lol #im literally just ranting to avoid addressing someone directly #i dont want a fight i just want to kvetch

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czechforrain · 4 years

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CR Quarantine meta thoughts

So I thought I’d give a quick approximation of where I am with Critical Role and where I think C2 will go and where the characters still have to go before the campaign comes to a close.

In order name-wise

1. Beauregard

As of right now she seems to be in not the best place. Her major goal along with Caleb’s for the last 40 chapters was to bring an end to the war. Now that there’s an uneasy peace, she’s partially conflicted on what to do next and how the people behind this war should face justice and whether the costs of that could outweigh the risks. She also wants to tell jester about how she feels and her apprehension to this seems to be based on her self worth. This came up again as a result of visiting her father and she seems to think that she could lose everything and go back to being an outsider without a place again. There’s also her old girlfriend who was arrested that the party might run into. Not to avoid mentioning, Yasha and her having some feeling toward each other before E69 and how her returning may complicate her feelings with Jester. A lot of moving pieces. How she deals with her feelings and her family is something I’m definitely interested in.

2. Caduceus

Caduceus is currently finding his purpose in helping others find theirs and seems to be committed until some arbitrarily defined point where everyone seems fine off on their own. I do think part of him will realize that he’s not beholden to these people and that he doesn’t owe them anything and they like him for who he is. I think he knows this subconsciously but he’s a very duty driven man and it’ll be interesting to see how this changes when he realizes the M9 have developed over time and might not need him but still continue to want him. There’s also still the grove and whether what he has done is enough to save it. This remains to be seen and might be handled more towards the endgame depending on how powerful the source of the corruption is.

3. Caleb

Caleb seems to have progressed a lot on overcoming his desire to change fate. He straight up mentions “ you can’t change the past” in talking about personal compliance in causing harm but I don’t think he’s completely over the ideas of going back in time and erasing his sin from happening. He’s certainly much more comfortable with where he is now and has found himself a family again. His main goal right now still seems to be finding away to bring the Cerebrus Assembly (or more accurately the bad seeds in the assembly) to justice without jeopardizing the unsteady peace they’ve won. This seems to be leading into Mighty Nein Navy Seals Vigilantism but might involve a ton of investigative journalism as well. I have no doubt that his plot hook and that of his former organization will continue to play a big role in the story going forward. The extent he can change the organization and possibly even turn his childhood friends away from the path of trent is another interesting side plot. The same goes for his buddy Essek and how he decides to react to Caleb wanting him to make amends for the mistake he’s made.

4. Fjord

Fjord is a super interesting character especially when comparing him before and after the Pirate Arc. A lot of people, for clear reasons, separate Fjord’s attitude based on when he lost his accent but to me his change in personality came a bit earlier than that. His role as a character for the Mighty Nein early on was as one of the faces, the badass Texan smooth guy who was able to get what he wanted generally easy and was afraid of flexing his martial might. This kind of escalated a bit, one of the moments which really stuck with me was when he cut off Algar’s hand after he already had him beaten. It’s mentioned by Fjord later on that he found himself using more power / violence as a short cut to get where he wanted and that he feels he started to cheat himself by doing so. Once they ended their pirate adventure, Fjord seemed like he took more of a backseat with his role as a leader in the group and I think part of that was due to him questioning if he really deserved to be a leader. This also tied in with him questioning whether following Ukotoa was the right choice and his realization he couldn’t game the system and earn powers with nothing expected in return. This culminated in him renouncing Satan...I mean Uka’Toa and following the Wildmother as a paladin. Since he has done so he’s starting to act more reasonably and less impulsive when there’s a possibility of conflict. He’s humbled himself and I think he feels it’s more freeing than what he was before he changed as a person. The one thing that has accompanied this though is a string of combat misfortunes (due to dumb luck) which is a neat perpendicular to his personal growth. He feels more free and more himself but he may feel weaker than he did when he was putting on a mask. I don’t think this will lead to him having second thoughts as a Paladin but I think it’s building up to him eventually assuming a larger role asa leader once he truly realizes that he can be both himself AND great. Caduceus has mentioned this before about ‘one day someone will ask for a miracle and you’ll be there to help’ and I cannot wait for the moment where Fjord is able to get a HDYWTDT and be generally badass in his New Voice and prove to himself that he had nothing to worry about.

5. Jester

Jester is my favorite version of a cheerful but awkward person, earlier on she kind of had me worrying about how much trouble she’d get them into but I over time realized that she has control over what she does and when she’s chaotic randomly vs when she has a purpose behind it. Case in point, the Cupcake Scene which was excellent and super risky but really paid off. Right now she’s dealing once again with how she feels as a disciple of the Traveler and the revelation he’s not a god revealed to her right before Travellercon. Now she’s kind of wondering what to do with several other devotees and what even will happen with him in the future regarding his divinity. I’m very interested in how this event will shape out and if there’s any 3rd party intervention into the story that will occur at this place during the time. It just seems like a narrative point where Matt could reveal something huge. But then again everyone expected fireworks at the meeting at Sea and cooler heads prevailed so maybe everything will work out swimmingly. Anyways I can’t wait to see what her next journey is after Travellercon, it will probably involve her dad and mother and may involve Darktow and is sure to not be predictable. There’s also her romance options but there’s a myriad of ways that could go and everyone else on tumblr has mentioned it so I’ll leave my peace there.

6. Veth

Veth essentially got exactly what she wanted and there’s no grand reason for her to stick around besides her enjoying the company of these people and possibly something similar like Caduceus’ “To the end of the road” type thing. She loves her family obviously the most of all, which was most pointedly seen when she insulted Caleb and blamed him for what happened to her husband after being super supportive of him for the first 49 episodes. I think she still has a lot of growth to do as a character and there might be an avenue with her prejudices. Someone else on here has mentioned it before but basically, Veth is kind of a suburban wine mom who believes a bunch of stereotypes and has a “us vs them” type of mentality. That’s one possibly route for her to go if she decides to stick around for awhile. It is possible a huge event is around the corner that throws Wildemount into disarray and requires her to stay for awhile but we’re currently in a limbo where her leaving after travelercon would make sense.

7. Yasha

Yasha is right now in a bit of a floating period. She really wants to make up for her role in Obann’s schemes even though it’s not her fault. She had a heart to heart with Caleb where he basically told her the pain never really goes away but it can be eased by the company by the company you keep. So her redemption can be pretty open-ended. I really want to see her wings again and please let them be white and feathery, I would love it. There’s also the possibility of her wife being alive / them running into her old tribe, with the boss behind it still being alive and there being some sort of conflict like how Grog had his issues with the Herd of Storms. Ashley is a full time member for the first time so hopefully there’s a lot to do with her on the cards and we get to see more juicy fireside interactions with the Nein.

#critical role #critical role c2 #the mighty nein #yasha #beau #fjord #caleb widowgast #beauregard lionett #jester lavorre #caduceus clay #veth brenatto #nott the brave #critical role spoilers #cr meta

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im-the-king-of-the-ocean · 6 years

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Cruise Ship Story (Troll Grandpa AU) Narrative

So, I’ve been spending time thinking about my stories, the fact I took on way too many that I can feasibly write, and which ones I currently want to write.

As fun as the troll grandpa au has been and as much as I love it, I’ve also spent all of 2018 working on some part of it or another. And, honestly, it would be kind of nice to work on something new.

Therefore, for the time being (because I could decide to go back to it one day), I’ve decided to bench my troll grandpa au in order to focus on other things. I don’t love it any less. I just need to let it go for now.

Beneath the cut, for anyone who’s maybe been waiting on it, is an outline for the cruise ship story I planned (where Toby’s father (Ralph), Toby, Barbara, and Jim go on a fateful around the world cruise in place of the one that canonically killed Toby’s parents) as the next au story. I don’t know when or if it’ll get written, so if anyone wants answers, I’m offering them now.

The choice to look is yours to make.

Content Notes: Character Death, Violence, Dismemberment scene (someone gets a hand chopped off).

Chapter 1: Just A Little Adventure

-Start with Ralph, Barbara, Toby, and Jim are on a plane heading to NYC (where they’ll board the cruise ship). It’s been an exhausting flight because Ralph and Barbara have had to entertain their five-year-old sons, who are extremely excited.

**Ralph is internally conflicted because he and Megan planned on taking Toby traveling to see the world, but they never got the chance to. Now he’s taking their son traveling, but without Megan (and also with Barbara).

-That night, in NYC, the group goes to see The Lion King on Broadway (Ralph’s treat, due to lottery money). They have an enjoyable evening and all are excited for the start of their adventure the next day.

Chapter 2: Across The Atlantic

-The part of the cruise that’s crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The group takes advantage of all the fun entertainment things available to them such as a mini theater, the pool, and quite possible whale sightings.

-This is an entirely fun and fluffy chapter.

-It ends with them reaching the Strait of Gibraltar (between Spain and Morocco). They go outside to the deck to check it out. Ralph and Barbara have to chase after their sons, who are eager to see both Spain and Morocco by racing from one side of the ship to the other.

Chapter 3: I Won’t Say I’m In Love

-Barbara and Ralph begin to fall for each other, but pretend they’re absolutely not. This chapter will focus entirely on their relationship and the complications of it, as it grows over various excursions/land visits while the cruise is in the Mediterranean.

**They like each other, but they’re not sure whether that’s romantic love or that they just like each other since they offer each other parental support.

**Also, they relate to each other on having previous relationships that went sourly due to supernatural, magical intervention (more or less). At the very least, they both have issues with trolls in their pasts.

-The boys want to do a kids’ sleepover program the cruise is hosting one night, so Barbara and Ralph are left completely to their own devices. They get to talking and realize that they met each other as kids obsessed with ghosts.

-Eventually, they end up spending that night together.

Chapter 4: All Good Things

-Barbara wakes up the next morning and realizes she can see into Ralph’s mind.

*Mind reading is an ability gained by her growing Heartstone magic (granted from that one time she ate a crystal as a kid. The magic was dormant in her all her life since then, until she began to interact with trolls regularly, at which point it woke up).

-Barbara goes prying into Ralph’s mind, finds out about Megan, and Ralph’s mixed up feelings about moving on. Ralph wakes up, gets mad about the invasion of privacy, and storms out.

-Ralph goes up to the deck to cool down his anger and reflect on his relationships to both Megan and Barbara. He feels guilty about moving on past his late wife, but thinks Barbara still shouldn’t have gone prying into his most personal thoughts.

-While he’s above deck, Ralph feels the ship shudder. The captain announces over the intercom that there’s a problem, but it’s okay, they have a plan for this. The passengers are to disembark in Athens, Greece, where they’ll be put in hotel rooms while the ship is fixed. Then they can continue on their way.

- Ralph gathers the boys from their event and returns to their cabins. While packing, he doesn’t talk to Barbara or acknowledge her. Though, she does apologize.

- While going through the process of disembarking and getting a hotel room, the group is pulled aside for apparently no reason (that they’re aware of).

-Ralph and Barbara protest, but get now answers. Then Ralph recognizes a device one of the officials has as a kairosect at the same time Barbara recognizes the official as James. They try to yell warnings to each other, but James presses the kairosect and time stops.

Chapter 5: The Eleventh Hour

-When time starts again, Ralph finds himself with the boys and not Barbara. After a bit of investigating, they find they’re in an airplane about to take off.

-James comes in and tells Jim he can take him to see mom (wouldn’t he like that?). Jim won’t go without Toby and Toby won’t go without Ralph so they all eventually go together.

-They go to a room where Barbara is being held. She has a gun to a changeling’s head.

-James tells her to put it down because he’s shown her Jim is alive (and she wouldn’t want to do something she’d regret having her son see, would she?).

-As soon as Barbara lowers the gun, James incapacitates her. He orders the previous hostage changeling to lock Jim and Toby back in the room where Ralph was held with them.

-James explains to Barbara and Ralph that they’ve been kidnapped by an alliance between the Janus Order and the Morgana cult Megan grew up in. They sabotaged the cruise ship to create a scenario where it would be easier to separate the group and capture them without anyone noticing (the cruise ship itself needs repairs, but everyone safely got off it so there are no casualties there).

-James goes on to tell Barbara that, for every time she doesn’t do what he wants from this moment onwards, he’ll hurt Ralph physically. As an example, James kicks Ralph in the gronk knuts.

-Barbara agrees to James’s terms to stop him from hurting Ralph more.

-James reveals that, because she has Heartstone magic, Barbara is to become a vessel for Morgana. The plane will shortly take off to fly them to Morgana’s cave in Bulgaria on the Black Sea. They just have to do a little preparing before they get there.

-Because Morgana lost her left hand to Merlin, for Barbara to become the perfect vessel, she needs to lose her left hand as well. With help from other changelings, James proceeds to remove Barbara’s left hand.

-As an immediate result, heartstone crystal grows out of Barbara’s arm into a new crystal hand. A wave of magic bursts from it and disintegrates everyone there but Barbara, James, and Ralph.

-Ralph calms and comforts Barbara. James flees the room.

-After some time of recovery (and while the plane is flying), Barbara figures out her new crystal hand can act sort of like a horngazel. She can make portals to Trollmarket in any wall.

-Barbara and Ralph break out of the room to find Jim and Toby. They reach the boys and get them through a portal to safety in Trollmarket.

-They are caught before they can go through themselves. The changelings knock Barbara out with a tranquilizer so she can’t use magic anymore.

Chapter 6: Vessel

-The plane arrives in Bulgaria and they travel to Morgana’s cave on the coast.

-As they get closer, Ralph gets more and more anxious that this is going to be a repeat of what happened with Megan (Morgana possessing someone he cares about).

-Ralph impulsively attacks their captors. Since he has the element of surprise, he manages to get Barbara out of there by shoving her in the sea. They swim to escape, wash ashore some distance away, and manage to hide in a different cave.

-Barbara, still woozy from the tranquilizer they gave her earlier, pukes. This gives away their location.

-James finds them. He attacks and stabs Ralph repeatedly with his sword when Ralph tries to protect Barbara from him.

-Barbara attacks James with a stalactite to save Ralph. She stabs James through the heart with it.

-Both James and Ralph are dying.

-Barbara uses Heartstone magic to take James’s remaining life force and use it to save Ralph’s life.

-James dies. Ralph lives.

-But the magic causes Ralph’s troll heritage to become apparent. He becomes more of a half-troll (he gains physical troll characteristics and loses the ability to walk in daylight).

-Barbara and Ralph leave James’s body and escape into the night.

Chapter 7: Never Going Back

-Nana answers a phone call. She’s worried because Jim and Toby appeared randomly in Trollmarket about a month ago and the story they tell about how they got there is extremely worrisome.

-Ralph is on the other end of the call. He tells his mother he can’t come home and is cryptic as to why. He asks Nana to raise Toby and Jim, and hangs up before Nana can ask too many questions.

-Cut to: Ralph and Barbara standing by a payphone at an undisclosed location.

-They haven’t returned home because Barbara’s magic has become increasingly unstable as time goes on.

-She can now sense the life essence of other living beings and, on occasion without meaning to, she’s drained creatures (like small rodents) of life. Also her entire left arm is gradually becoming crystal.

-Barbara is terrified that she’ll accidentally hurt and/or kill Jim if she’s near him, so she refuses to go home (she believes her son is safer without her there).

-Ralph refuses to leave Barbara alone. He already lost one person he cared for to magic. He will do anything to prevent losing another, so he’ll stay with her no matter what (even if not going home and being with Toby pains him a lot).

-They walk off together, to start searching for something that will help control Barbara’s magic.

Epilogue: 11 Years Later

On their way to school from Nana and Vraxel’s house, Jim and Toby find Kanjigar’s remains (they know who he is because one of their guardians is a troll, Blinky and Arrrgh!!! have been their “uncles”, and they know trolls exist pretty much).

The amulet chooses Toby as the next Trollhunter.

#trollhunters #troll grandpa au #it could've been great tbh #but it's a story im not currently capable of writing #and i don't know when or if i'll be able to #so i have to leave it for now #im sorry

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