#i hope you like this when you get the chance to read it ryo ^v^

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Feelings Thawed

Character; Cater Diamond

Content; Fluff, gender-neutral reader, pining, ice skating (to various degrees of success)

Word Count; 650+

Author's Note; This is a present/thank you to my mutual @i-like-forgs. I hope you enjoy this ice skating scene with Cater, and that you get to skate soon!

As a reminder, do not put my work — or others for that matter — into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist

The brisk wind bit at your nose, and you pulled up your scarf, trying to keep away the offending wind. Around you it was a winter wonderland, all made possible in the temperate conditions thanks to Cater, who was filming you skating around on the frozen pond’s surface.

“You know,” you hollered, making sure that you caught his attention, “you should join me! It’s fun!” You came to a stop by the pond’s edge, where Cater was standing with a large thermos.

Cater just shot you a wink, handing you the thermos. “This is for you though, silly!” 

He was deflecting, you could tell; behind that bright and cheery smile that he always seemed to wear around others, you knew when there was something off with Cater. You accepted the thermos though, and took a sip of the spicy apple cider, still piping hot.

You gave him a look and pulled lightly on his coat sleeve. “Yes, but it’s more fun with others, come on Cater!” You stepped back onto the ice, and slowly skated near him, waiting with an eager smile.

He looked at you, and then back at the ice, but he stayed standing in the light snow, shooting you that smile. “But I can’t take photos if I’m out there with you!” He scratched at the back of his neck.

Liar. “Cater,” you looped back around and stepped onto the bank, balancing on your skates, “do you not know how to skate?”

Cater’s smile turned sheepish, and his ‘ahahaha, looks like my gig is up’ chuckle made its appearance. He had been found out. “Never got the chance to,” he hid his face slightly in his scarf, either to keep the cold at bay or to hide that his cheeks were turning pink. “So I’d just slow ya down.”

You took his hand into yours, “Well, I could teach you if you wanted. Just a warning though, you’re gonna fall on your butt a lot, might get a few bruises.”

Cater looked down at your entwined hands. Mittens and gloves separated your skin from touching one another, but Cater could swear that he could feel the sensation nonetheless through the layers of fabric.

“You would? Even if I pull you down with me?” 

The last question wasn’t just about the ice skating; Cater didn’t want to force you to do anything that you didn’t want to… and that included being his friend. His heart seemed to whisper stronger emotions though, but he didn’t want to ruin what the two of you had.

You walked him out to the ice, and the both of you swiftly fell down on the ice, hard. But you just laughed and got right back up again, “Well, we did just fall. There isn’t anything scary about falling down; yes it stings and might leave a gnarly bruise, but in order to move forward we have to fall and get back up. So yes, is what I guess I’m saying.”

Cater looked up at you, the sun illuminating you and the snow glittered behind you. You were holding your hand out again, waiting for him. And Cater took your hand. 

It took him a while to get the hang of it, and he fell down quite a bit, but every time he fell down you helped him back up. And by the time that the sun was setting in the west, the both of you were cold, and both were going to wake up tomorrow with some bruises. It was fun though, which is all that mattered… but that whisper in Cater’s heart was by now singing, and maybe he would listen to it, but for now, he was happy with how the way things were, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, especially with how much you had smiled today. Your smile and knowing that you had fun with him was enough.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tags; @eynnwwyjth, @ithseem, @krenenbaker, @silvers-numberonefan, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii

#twst #twst x reader #twst x gn reader #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland x gn reader #cater diamon #cater diamond x reader #cater diamond x gn reader #i decided to let you decide how reader feels about cater since it allows for various possibilities #also decided to go with cater since i only had the dorm headcanons with him; and he deserved his own drabble #i hope you like this when you get the chance to read it ryo ^v^ #thank you for your support; even if it does give me a mini stroke when you break my tumblr notifications #decided for spicy apple cider as its something i can see cater liking (not super sweet but still warm to keep you warm in the cold) #this is also a thank you for crashing a mutuals wedding and stopping a union; i used my writing as enticement to stop it <3 #let's see how the cater simps react to this; hoping you guys enjoy!

[tkpro-scenarios]

[Valentine's Day] Can I request a scenario for Koki, Ryota and Ken with the prompt alone together?

@blackfeliscatus Hope you don’t mind but we combined these two requests together. Hope you like it~!

- Mods nana & mari

Eto Koki(by mod nana)

Water splashed and spread across the ground as the two of you rushed to take shelter under the awning of a bus stop.

“[Name], are you alright?” Koki asked as you moved away from under his jacket.

“I’m fine. What about you, Kou?” you asked, fixing your hair and wiping some of the rainwater from your face.

“I’m fine too.” The blond idol replied with a courteous smile, shaking his jacket to get rid of the excess water before draping it over his arm. Sapphire hue watched the sheets of rain pouring down. “That really got us out of nowhere, didn’t it?”

You nodded, standing beside the young man as the two of you watched the downpour. “Why did it have to have to suddenly rain this hard in the middle of a date? And on Valentine’s Day too!” you whined, earning a soft chuckle from Koki.

“It doesn’t look like there’s any buses coming any time soon either.” Koki noted, looking from the bus schedule to the empty street. “I guess we’re stuck here for a while.” He made his way to the bench, patting the empty space beside him.

You closed your eyes with a sigh, taking a seat as the two of you waited for either a bus to arrive or the rain to stop. [E/c] hues wandered from the empty scenery to the taciturn youth.

His golden locks stuck to his face, a few drops of water still resting on them only to be scattered away once he shook his head. You traced a droplet as it travelled down his face, dropping off his chin onto the ground. A smile curled your lips at the way his brows furrowed while crystal-like azure eyes watched the relentless downpour—Koki’s lips pursed ever so slightly into a frown. No doubt he was worrying about the laundry drying.

It was only when he sent his gaze your way that you realized a laugh had escaped your mouth. You quickly covered it with a hand, shaking your head in reassurance. It was in that moment it finally dawned on you.

“K-Kou…” you called out, Koki giving a gentle hum in reply. “Th-There’s nobody else around, huh?”

“It looks like it…” he mused, looking around only to find the streets had been cleared of people because of the rain.

“W-We’re all alone together here…huh?” you asked, daring to scoot closer.

“Yeah.” The blond nodded as you inched closer some more.

“O-On V-Valentine’s Day, huh?” you muttered shyly, stretching out your pinky to loop it with his.

“…Y-Yeah.” Koki nodded, feeling a little bit bold as he hesitantly tangled his fingers with yours, the lightest of blushes dusting his cheeks as he pulled your closer. “I-It’s a little cold, isn’t it?”

“Y-You think so?” you asked, a shy smile on your features as you took in the sound of the rain, the petrichor that came with it and the warmth spreading from your intertwined hands. You closed your eyes, a short, surprised gasp bubbling past Koki’s lips as you pressed yourself closer to him, resting your head against his shoulder.

“It feels pretty warm to me.”

Sakuraba Ryota (by mod mari)

The library is, at most, a quiet place, aside from the occasional whispers, it was a peaceful and quiet place to read a book or study. For Ryo, it’s the place where it’s exactly that, a peaceful and quiet place for him to catch up on the novel he had been meaning to read. “Ryota-kun~” you sang in a whisper, as you greeted him by sitting down across him.

He looked up from his book, “[Name]…” he made a small sigh as he marked his page and closed his book, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t always come talk to you when there’s something I need,” you said wryly, “I just so happen to see you alone in the library.” At a time where most students were heading home as most of their classes were done, the library was nearly empty.

“And you should know that I wanted to be alone and read.” he countered with a small frown, but sighed nonetheless and apologized, “Sorry. That came out rude.”

You chuckled as you waved it off, “It’s fine. I interrupted you when you got to a good part, huh?”

He nodded, “So, what’re you doing here in the library?”

You teased, “To keep you company~”

He flinched as you saw a faint blush on his cheeks, “Stop joking around.”

You chuckled, “I won’t bother you.” you said, “So, you can continue where you left off.”

Ryo sighed, “Fine”

You grinned, “Yay~”

Minutes had passed and when Ryo had finished with the book, he saw that the sun had already set. He began to pack up his things and soon noticed that you were sleeping. He was engrossed with his book that he didn’t notice that you had fallen asleep and had also forgotten that you were with him.

“She really didn’t bother me the whole time I was reading…” he muttered to himself as he gently held your hand that was on the table. He looked at you fondly before he slightly flinched when he felt a grip on the hand he held. “You were awake,” he said.

“I just woke up.” you cheekily said, although he noted that you were still sleepy.

“Had a nice nap?”

You sleepily nodded, “Was it a good read?”

He smiled, “Yeah. Come on, I’ll walk you home.” he stood up, and with his hand still holding yours, he lightly tugged it to make you stand up from your chair.

As you two were about to exit the library, you realized something and stopped walking, “Ah.”

“Hm?”

You took something from your bag, “Happy Valentine’s,” you greeted as you handed him a box of homemade chocolates.

Ryo stared at you in surprise before gratefully accepting it, “Thank you, [Name].” 

You grinned, “No problem~”

He took your hand, tugging it to have you move closer and whispered, “And thanks for keeping me company,” as he kissed your forehead.

Yaegashi Kensuke(by mod nana)

“Wow, I’m amazed how fast thisplace got cleared!” The indigo-haired youth marveled at the empty aquarium,looking around the numerous fish tanks and the creatures that lived withinthem. “I know it’s a dolphin show but did they really have to rush this fast?”he let out a short chuckle, stopping in front of a tank.

“I guess you should hurry if youwant good seats but yeah, everyone practically raced to go upstairs.” You laughed,joining the idol.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna seethe show too, [Name]? I heard the dolphins here do really amazing tricks.”Kensuke asked, turning his head to face you. “It’s Valentine’s, after all.Shouldn’t we do something special?”

You hummed in thought for a bit,shaking your head with a smile.

“Nah, I don’t think I can handle being in themiddle of such a big crowd. Especially if someone notices you there.” You gavea wry chuckle at the thought of Growth fans swarming the place if they found outYaegashi Kensuke himself was at the aquarium. “And besides, we wouldn’t get achance to be alone together like this if we went up there.” You mused, takinghis hand into yours.

“[Name]…” He breathed, the usualsmile returning to his face with an energetic nod. “You’re right! We finallyget to be alone together, after all.” He squeezed your hand to which you letout a giggle.

“You’re handling this better thanI thought.” You gave a cheeky grin at his flushed cheeks.

“I-I can handle it now! We’ve beengoing out for this long!” Kensuke retorted, pursing his lips into a pout atyour laughter. His expression soon softened, beryl-blue eyes sparkling at oneof the displays.

“Ahh that one!” he led you closer. “Haha it looks just likeMamoru!”

“Like Mamoru-san? This sunfish?”you blinked in confusion at the rather languid looking fish floating about inthe water.

“Ahhh, I guess you haven’t seenhim like this yet.” Kensuke chuckled. “He makes the exact same face after hebarely manages to finish a song before the deadline. Sometimes when he’s hit a slump for days too.”

“Really?” you giggled, trying toimagine the sight.

“Yeah!” He nodded, the two of youwandering around the aquarium to look at the rest of the underwater creatureson display while occasionally making comparisons between them to people youknew.

“So which one am I?” you askedoffhandedly, gazing at a jellyfish dance around in the water.

“You? Hmm…” he placed a hand tohis chin, a playful grin spreading across his face. “A Puffer Fish!”

“Wha—rude!” you gasped, earning a chuckle from the young singer.

“I’m kidding! It’s a joke. …Kinda.”He coughed the last bit into his fist, biting his cheeks in an attempt to stophimself from saying how he thought your expression was an exact match to thefish whenever you got angry.

You frowned at his comment, Kensuke’ssmile soon reflected on your face too as the two of you began laughing.

“Ahh, it’s been a while since wegot to mess around like this!” the teal-eyed idol mused, gently tugging yourhand to pull you into a hug. “Work is super fun but I missed you, [Name].” hewhispered, hiding his face in the crook of your neck as you returned his hug.

“I missed you too, Ken.” You replied,Kensuke standing straight to meet you again for a kiss.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

#tsukipro #tsukipro imagines #ALIVE #Growth #Eto Koki #Sakuraba Ryota #Yaegashi Kensuke #holiday special #valentines day #scenarios

[northenn]

My 100 yens about the album...

I’ll be brief. The worst album ever made. By humankind.

It’s so bad that if I were about to die and had some blood to waste, I’d probably use it to write this album name on the cold, hard ground. It’s so bad that my cat was in the same room while I was listening to the whole shit and she abandoned me on the side of a trafficked highway. It’s so bad that Death came at my door and when I asked her how bad I was she was like “nah man, you know, you’re kinda in a bad position but not as bad as this album”.

When they told me they were going to ask random artists the write them shit  they didn’t tell me said artists had already this shit written and that they used it to wipe their asses. Is this some kind of poetic revenge? For having forced so many good souls to play with Nishi on Sunday afternoons? Is this a dream? Is this a reality? Did I slip over the blood coming from my ears and died? Is that Subaru over my dead body? Is that Subaru that tiny, sad old man running in the distance with a bras in hand? Hold on, where’s my bras? Is that my bras? SUBARU YOU LIL PIECE OF SHIT COME BACK WITH M-

02. IMA That. Motherfucking. CRESCENDO. Them nanaNANANAAAANAAANAAAAA. I can’t. They did put it basically everywhere. Even the damn line before the chorus (that is the crescendo) basically grows on a crescendo. Subaru sings in crescendo. The violins go in crescendo. You know what else is in crescendo in this song? My balls. You have managed to get my balls in crescendo and I’m not even a man. You had Yoko Kanno for this one and you managed to lose her like that. It’s almost like having the chance to bring back Dax Johnson from hell and being like “Yo Dax, man! Since you’re gimme some of them Daft Punk vibes, will ya? Love you man, you the man!” Like. WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK IS EVEN WRONG WITH YOU YOU PIECES OF PIGS SCRA-

03. DO NA I For some reasons I dance the chorus of this one as Aserejé. Don’t ask, don’t know. It’s a good song after all. Kinda summerish, kinda happy, doesn’t pretend to be too much if not a song with two lines counted and a Gorilla that had a perfect chance to rap with the others during Egetsunai (hold on asshole, it’s not your moment yet) but probably during the recordings was like “I don’t mix with the plebs” and went out of the studios like a diva, flipping his fur coat all over his shoulders even tho it was mid August. It had me dancing like a polar bear shoot in the shoulder, which is always a good sign when it comes to the songs I like, so it’s okay. I guess.

05. YUME HE NO KAERIMICHI Okay, listen to this. Now go and listen to Aladdin’s A Whole New World. And don’t tell it’s not the same basic hook ‘cause I’m going to hire a llama to spit you in the face. I know the right people, I have the possibilities to do this. They needed an encore song. They needed it so badly that probably the writing of the song went on like: “We need LALALAS for people to sing over them while branding our new balls shaped concert torches”. “So you want a song with some LALALAS?”. “No, we ain’t need a song. We need LALALAS”. “LALALAS?” “LALALAS motherfucker.” They’re going to put this in the encore. We’re going to be forced to sing sixty-two hours of LALALAS while Subaru gropes everything on stage, Nishi watches him in awe from behind the curtains and the Gorilla thanks even his mother for having porked her husband 40 years ago and so having given him the chance to perform that day. Watch them. Get your balls torches ready and watch them.

06. EGETSUNAI I kinda want to hate on this one but at the same time I can’t ‘cause I know this is going to be FIRE during the lives. Ohkura asking Yasu if he needs some phone books to stand on to be seen. Subaru wondering if Yoko has fried his last brain cell left while doing the sauna. Yoko reminding us that Subaru drops his videogames in the toilet and then spends the evenings crying about it. Like. They’ve improved the dragging game so much that I feel that I, as a common mortal, all I can do is stare at them awe and praying for their benevolence. At least five of them are going to stab each other in the eyes during this performance before the end of this tour, god bless their hearts, this song has taught me so much.

08. NEVER SAY NEVER Imagine. You’re in theatre, watching with pounding heart uncle Ben getting shot for the sixth time in the span of seven years while all the hands of the uncles in the sala misteriously disappear between their legs, right where balls are supposed to be, and a general grasp grasp starts to be heard in the dark of the theatre. Uncle Ben dies in the middle of a busy street. And then, during a funeral full of black umbrellas, rain and people watching the ceremony from under a tree 4 chilometres away, the opening of Hamtaro starts playing. Now. Dwarf, with all due respect. NOW. I’m not saying the song is bad, what I’m saying is that all I’m hearing is “hey hey bon bon” and so will probably all the people attending to uncle Ben’s funeral. I’m not saying this is bad, but Elektra get an Amy Lee singing for her while all Spidey is going to get is you and other six crippled old men singing “dance dance”. Just. Just think ‘bout it, ‘kay? Friends as before, we’re chill.

10. S.E.V.E.N KOROBI E.I.G.H.T OKI “S.E.V.E.N KOROBI E.I.G.H.T OKI” *this going on for some time*

12. SEISHUN NO SUBETE Yume V 2.0 but this time we decided to cut Ohkura’s atrocious tower of babel off to give him that white, angelic voice that every boy under the age of eight has but that we don’t have enough money to hire so he can sing that one line. Also. You get a season, and you get a season, and you get a seaso- 13. ANSWER Q: Is George Michael really dead? A. No. I honestly have no idea what’s bothering me more in this song: if the Broadway Cool Gang Entering In The Scene Snapping Fingers, if the people happily clapping their hands while Yoko is singing in a futile attempt to cover his voice, if George Michael appearing in my room as the ghost of the past, the present and the future everytime the chorus starts or if them throwing up sounds towards the end of the song. Debate is opened.

14. NOSTALGIA AHAHAHAHAH. FUCK. YOU.

The regular edition is not around yet, so I still have no idea what Jam Lady and Ikiro are going to be. I’ve heard that for Ikiro members were requested to write their own scores, so I’m kinda curious for this one. Never mind, good souls exist and they’ve helped me to find Subaru’s long lost daughter. So, for the members song I have:

1.1. TRAFFIC If you’ve read the entire shit or even the first paragraph then you probably have a pretty clear idea of my opinion regarding this album. I did only pre-ordered one limited (the B) as soon as YesAsia released the album infos and that was it. By the end on the week I’m probably going to get myself the Regular, cause that’s how much this song is good. TRAFFIC is hands down one of their best band songs. It has balance, it has balls and guts and in certain ways it has managed to change their game when it comes to band songs. The classic guitar opens the song and is chaotic and never going to be heard again. The bass plays the boss role and appears predominatly during the verses. It’s loud and tight and it has the drums following closely, step by step. The trumpet appears only in the pre-chorus and speeds up the tempo. Then, all the instruments have this match midway song. Even the way the members split the verses has changed: Yasu challenged the beginning, Ryo forgotten his central role during the chorus and went second, Subaru and Ohkura somehow ended up together, speeding up together during the pre-chorus, Maru is first heard during the last bit of the song and funny enough the only instruments following him are the drums, keeping this strange balance of bass and drums, bassist and drummer. It’s refreshing. I guess there’re no other words to describe it: a refreshing, intense band song that dares to challenge the usual positions of the members.

1.2 IKIRO Subaru’s songs always have this weird “you can do it!” feeling. It’s kinda hard to explain, but it’s almost like you’re watching a romantic comedy and there’s this guy that realizes last minute how much he loves the girl that now is leaving the country and so he runs to the airport. Subaru’s songs are basically how I see the dude’s brain working as soon as he realizes he might still have a chance, if he manages to make it in time. Ikiro is not any different, with the only exception that before writing his guitar score the Dwarf went on Hendrix’s grave and spit on it in a challenging way. Ikiro is good song after all even tho it has some of this “already heard” feeling, some bits of LIFE, some others coming from their ballads I can’t really put my finger on. But you can still pick that hopeful, weird Subaru-ish sound and that’s the reason why I promote Ikiro after all.

So, in conclusion: TRAFFIC, IKIRO: GOOD ALL THE OTHER 26526 SONGS: THAT’S THE TEMPO DANTE WAS IMAGING THE DAMNED SOULS DANCING TO IN HELL

#no one gives a shit #my life full of surprises

[wupassman]

Reviewing SweetStoryBro’s Review of the Shenmue story

https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro/status/831177322803892225

Some first ofs:

I am writing this directly adressing Sweetstorybro because it feels more natural and less impersonal to address him but that doesn’t mean it’s not intended for anybody else. I am one of the big backers (toy capsule set pledge) so I have a lot to say about this game I fought 14 years for to get that Kickstarter.

I am sorry if this may read a lil bit like a scatterbrained person wrote this. I basically take notes as I listen and since I managed to lose my write up for the first half of the podcast I had to rewrite that from memory too.

I really like the effort and research you put into this, while in places I can add something overall this is very sastisfying for a long time fan and definately a pretty goddamn complete rundown of what the story is about and how its executed. That being said generally if there’s agreement there is not a whole lot more to add so if I don’t outright disagree you can assume I agreed.

Let get to it then:

I think you did a really good job at explaining in which way Shenmue surpasses your average gaming experience, while its clearly a game it kinda goes past playing but experiencing. As you pointed out this game can be a very different experience for each player based on how hard they are looking to find connections and generally explore the world (and progress the story at just the right pace as to not miss a single cutscenes XD It’s not too easy to make a 100% run but if you do, things like Nozomi moving isn't as much out of the blue, yes she basically leaves as abrupt as he does but it's foreshadowed during the convos with her). Yu indeed built a very lifelike world with tons of lil details and NPCs that felt real. I really like how you brought up that book explaining what Yu was trying to do with this world. That was a thing I fan haven't heard of before. Indeed it is a very key aspect to differentiate between japanese and chinese, which of course becomes a much bigger deal in part II even, when Ryo is removed from his stomping grounds but in Hongkong. It's actually p interesting how a game about chinese culture was kinda a main idea from the beginning, as he was inspired to be making Shenmue (then Akira RPG/Project Berkley) many years prior, when he travelled China in order to research martial arts for Virtua Fighter.

As this is a perfect segway I’ll be skipping ahead a little bit here and talk about the fighting system.On of the main genres I always played were fighting games so I personally appreciated the super simplified VF fighting system (try VF3TB from the same time and youll know the difference) and being such a player I wouldnt even have thought of wanting to play this with analog stick. Golden rule of fighting games: dpad = accuracy, analog = wishy washy. That being said I am not at all opposed to change it up for Shenmue III and make it feel more like Sleeping Dogs. After all back in the day it was a different controller not quite as handy for 3D games (the lack of a 2nd stick means a lot). As long as the fighting is tight and responsive it works for me either way, iof there is a change that needs to happen it’s the camera. I am not really holding it against the game cuz it’s really old but the camera screw ups during fights could leave you clueless which way youre facing at times.

I wouldnt worry too much about the thing with the chapters. The games don’t equal chapters. It’s more like arcs/themes (as you later said when talking about the PostMortem). From basically the very start Shenmue was supposed to be split into 5 games and as of yet the plan/hope is that the final game will be Shenmue V. Shenmue I was only 1 chapter but Shenmue II was 3.

At the risk of completly blowing any kind of credibility I might have and just come off as a crazed fanboy: The pacing of Shenmue I had purpose. It very much corresponds with the mental state of Ryo. Feeling of grief and feeling lost. Shenmue I basically is about running into a brickwall and trying a different path until at the end he finally finds a way to get his passage to China. Until then his plans were shattered and ruined a couple of times and it weighs on him. And it should weigh on the player too. It’s part of how you manage to get this deep connection to the character because you as a player are forced to live out the day as is (or just go for the blocking out that your dad was killed and spend all day in the You Arcade). this is further emphasiszed that in Shenmue I theres rarely ever good weather and most of the soundtrack is depressing too. The days getting long is absolutely intentional. I can see how this might not be the most fun kind of gaming for a lot of people, but this is why different games exist. Shenmue’s job is not to appeal to players who can’t enjoy a game where shit doesn’t explode every 5 seconds. It is important to tell people who are interested so they know what theyre in for but its not actually a negative for the game itself because it actually perfectly fullfills what was required for this part of the story.

There is no way to talk about this without explaining how this correlates with the 4 themes Yu brought up and why Shenmue II is such a change of tone. It’s not just the fact that Hongkong is a bustling metropolis. It is very much the fact that due to the unseen part on the ferry and much more so because of all the masters and other freaks he meets in Hongkong that he opens up more. Again the change in tone of Shenmue II is also accompanied by visual and audio cues. THe soundtrack of Shenmue II is overall more upbeat, depressing themes do play in the more run down quarters but overall the game sounds cheerier. Likewise its not just that Hongkong of course is a much more colorful place than the suburban area he grew up in. It’s also basically always sunny in SHenmue II. Granted it makes a lot of sense due to the different seasons the game takes place in but of course with a highly artistic work like this, this is not a coincidence.

Let’s move right into the next part here. Yes Ryo behaves like a jerkass towards a lot of his peers. While there is a chance that the Voice Acting has some to do with it (No dissing Corey Marshall, the man is a hero!) it is still fully intended for him to be as cold and brooding as he is. You can tell by the face animation, which is p goddamn good for a game that old. Every Shenmue player made jokes about how Ryo’s happy face looks the same as his angry face. His moments where he is at least not totally miserable are rare and special. He is consumed with grief in Shenmue I. Shenmue II is about moving forward from that. HENCE DEPARTURE. not just locally but mentally. I really need to compare the interactions he had with the 2 most important females in his personal life.

The first one is obviously Nozomi: These conversations are awkward for more reasons than just them sucking at talking about their feelings (which btw isnt just them being teens but really very much them being japanese in this era too). Keep in mind both are aware of the feelings the other one has so they have a very close relationship. You’d think close enough for him to actually tell Nozomi what hes on and about to do in order to find the killer of his father. He doesn’t He’s very sparse with the information he shares which is entirely rooted in the fact that revenge is highly egoistical (heres a theme that gets such importance placed upon in Shenmue II). That doesn’t even mean hes an egoist, cuz he is not. He is just super preoccupied with his grief and aparently nobody really knows how to help him finding a better way to deal with it (given his age that makes sense too, no complaints there). As I mentioned earlier tho it depends on your play how many scenes with Nozomi you’re going to see (the Shenmue Passport cd is a good reference). Also since it wasn’t actually out of the blue that she would be going to Canada soon it is quite understandable she has a hard time telling him about her feelings too. This is not only a well known story beat but IRL youd think whether you wanna tell someone you love them when you know for a fact you’ll be moving overseas anytime soon. Especially when you consider the circumstance that if Ryo wasn’t on his revenge trip he’d assume his role as patriarch of the Hazuki Dojo.

Now lets fast forward to disc 4 of Shenmue II (THIS GEM!) and inspect the interactions Ryo has with Shenhua. These are amazing. They’re literally the best conversations Ryo has in all of the 2 games. Shenhua’s cheery and innocent, good natured personality makes it exceedingly hard for him to be the brooding jerkass anymore. A lot of that has to do with all the people he met who became his friends/mentors in Hongkong/Kowloon. He grew because of them. But Shenhua’s personality helped a great deal too. All of the sudden there are no distractions. Just the environment and her. What else would he do but chat with her? If you havent played Shenmue II I implore you to just youtube the conversations he has with Shenhua and compare with Nozomi yourself. It’s like night and day and p much the ultimate signifier for his growth throughout the progress of the game. Now this is venturing a into fan theory territory: the fan base is p much split down the middle of what kind of romantic role Nozomi is going to play in Ryo’s future. To me shes the child hood love interest that never became more due to him being preoccupied and her frankly not actually being available either. It would seem sensible to accept this as a chance missed as a part of moving on. I am positive he is going to end up with Shenhua as she resumes transforming him from this brooding dude preoccupied with revenge to a guy who truly internalises the lessons he learnt in Hongkong and adds a big helping of humanity to it. 

Not to excuse his behavior towards Ine-san and Fukuhara-san (because you rightly identify them as cold) part of that is also rooted in japanese culture. With Iwao’s death Ryo became the patriarch of the family. Ine-san may scold him but in the end it is not her place to deny him. Likewise Fukuhara-san was Iwao’s student so that kind of transferred to Ryo now. The bigger point here is that he abandons his responsibilities for them. I don’t think it’ll have actual negative impact for him in story, but there is likely going to be a moment of awakening that it is high time he returns home and takes care of the martial arts school.

I am sorry this actually took a 2nd day to finish but I got busy watching Collisions 2017. I only listened to it once but in seghments. Since I am such a huge fan of the game I wanted to be fair and not overanalyze your review and find nitpicks where there arent any.

While the individual play style is entirely up to each player it is my recommendation for everyone playing this, it to give it time. Let it breathe. Just waste your time away doing fun stuff. You’re going to miss out on a lot if you’re playing it in the way youd play most linear games where you just resume with the next goal in the main quest like crossing of a check list. You are not supposed to leave this early. During my fast plays I still never finished before christmas. At best I managed a jan 15 arrival in Hongkong just to see if I manage to arrive on my own birthday lol. But in all seriousness the time limit for this game is so goddamn long because you arent really suppoed to rush through this too fast. Leaving by the middle of January or even by the end of it makes for an overall better experience IMO (lol I just heard the 10 hours thing and I damn near lost it haha. look as I said it’s ok to play it any way you see fit, but seriously 10 hours literally means just the main quest. no goofing off. You’re missing out on stuff and an overall more majestic experience is all I am saying) To me the harbor segment was super fun cuz it was cool figuring out how you get the most out of each day, incl at least some good toy collecting and maybe training (usually didnt need that anymore at this point). By no means I am trying to tell you to like an aspect you didn’t, but to me this very much comes down to how deep you immerse yourself in the world. If you let the time go by slowly (dont run basically😉) such things as working have a deeper impact on how you experience it - then 2h lunch break still feels like 15 minutes. It was literally the opposite for me in that the harbor is when I am p much forced to move the plot forward instead of just goofing off so much. I know people who share this kinda play style feel the same way that the harbor is - to us - where it really picks up.

Before my review of this is over I’d also like to personally recommend the japanese dub over the english dub. Yeah the english dub feels weird at times but this is also intentional. A good comparision to that would be the lines in the Spartacus TV show. Just like that one was speaking latin in english the Shenmue dub was speaking japanese in english if you get my meaning. The VAs talked about this on the SEGANerds podcast during the kickstarter. Of course due to having played it so much it works for me but it’s easy to tell the difference. At the same time I can not praise the english VAs enough for being incredible heroes who promoted the Kickstarter hard, it was amazing. I love all of you guys. Thank you for your passion. Will def play Shenmue III in both japanese and english to honor all of you!

I warned ya it’s prolly a lil bit all over the place. Anyway thanks for the review. give the man a follow: https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro