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sunmoontruth-stiles · 3 years

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Ok this is gonna be long. I’ve literally been slowly working on this for… too long. I’m just in a mood to have a long discussion about ships. I’ll be looking at canon and not, so bare with me. I don’t ship all of these personally. I’m mostly just picking the most popular ones. I chose to leave out a few that I just don’t want to talk about. I tried to keep this loosely chronological, but that quickly went to hell. None of this is meant to be hate towards anyone’s ship, just my personal opinions on each of them.

Canon:

Scott x Allison: True Classic

Scallison is so sweet as it is truly the epitome of young love. Romeo and Juliet, except Romeo is even more of an idiot and Juliet is a badass who dies for a cause. They’re moral and ethical codes are both highly valued by themselves, even if they don’t align with others very often. They loved with everything they had. They were beautiful. We’re they soulmates in the end, or just the first love who will always hold a special place in your heart? Who knows, but I’ll always love these immature kids who thought their love could change everything.

Stiles x Lydia: The Long Awaited

Stydia is as slow burn as you can get. Unfortunately their actual getting together was slightly rushed in my opinion. They didn’t have time to find their own as a couple because Stiles just wasn’t in the show enough at that point. I know the reasons behind it, but it did leave this couple at an awkward stage of official-but-not-shown. The idea that Stiles loved her as a kid, immature and infatuated, and he saw her for who she really was, will always be cute. Then they grew, changed, became friends, and found other people. Them finding each other later on, having real love that’s developed slowly, is a wonderful arc. Though, a part of me will always believe they should have pursued other story lines in the wake of Stiles’ absence from the plot. They’re finally together! …but we don’t get to see it.

Jackson x Lydia: The Image

Oh Jackson and Lydia. Honestly, I love them. Their connection at a time in their lives when they couldn’t open up to anyone else, just hits me right in the feels. I mean, god that HUG. You know the one. Always brings me to tears. I’m so sad their relationship was almost entirely depicted during Jackson’s kanima time when he couldn’t think nor truly act for himself. Those small moments of scared vulnerability when he wanted to protect her from himself… I’ll miss these two. They deserved to find other people and remain life-long friends. I loved their moment in the last episode. I wish they’d gotten to see each other grow. Also they had such bixbi solidarity vibes, and I’ll die on that hill.

Scott x Lydia: Leaders

Ok, I’m gonna be honest here. I ship it. The power couple they would have been?? Also them coming together after they lost Allison would have actually made sense. A part of me kinda wishes the writers had moved on from Stydia as a romantic relationship and leaned into them growing as friends and Stiles moving on from his childhood crush. Scott and Lydia actually would have had good chemistry. They were both very headstrong heroic types, but Lydia would have balanced Scott out well intellectually. They had the history, and I think it could had worked if they wrote it right. Plus, Scott and Lydia would have been a better endgame that Scalia.

Scott x Kira: New Beginnings

These two were adorable. Kira was a badass, don’t get me wrong, but she let herself be soft in a way Allison was always afraid to. This couple was truly Baby. Absolute dorks. I can definitely see the lasting quality between the two of them. They saw things very similarly, and had a ton in common. I do think Kira deserves more characterization outside of their relationship, like more of her friendship with Malia. Overall, her departure from the show will always be sad to me. It was bad writing. Scott was over her far too quickly.

Aiden x Lydia: Pretty People Herd

I honestly didn’t see much between these two other than mutual attraction. The best thing to come out of this relationship was Lydia’s line, “You’re not just a bad boy, Aiden. You’re a bad guy. And I don’t want to be with the bad guys.” Good character development moment.

Ethan x Danny: Step to Redemption

Danny really was the thing that made Ethan look outside of the pack for what he really wanted out of life. They had a few cute scenes. Gotta love Danny’s final remarks, “Dude, it’s Beacon Hills.”

Allison x Isaac: Unexpected Rebound

Ok, I like these two. Isaac could match Allison’s snark in a way Scott couldn’t. They both fought the progression of the relationship slightly. They didn’t expect to fall for each other. They were less willing to let someone in close. I’d love to have seen more… but unfortunately their time was limited. On a side note, sometimes their relationship did feel like ‘we both are in love with the same guy, let’s cope with each other’, but I find that completely valid. I’ll talk about Scallisaac later though.

Stiles x Malia: Anchors

Ok but, them <3 I love what they did for each other. Stiles was able to help Malia connect to her humanity and other people. He never tried to isolate her in their relationship and encouraged her growth. Malia offered Stiles the emotional support he never asked for. She defended him, fought for him, and loved him fiercely. Stiles needed that so much after season 3. I think they were a love that wasn’t meant to last, but the impact of it was forever. I wish we’d gotten to see a real end for them where they agreed that they needed to grow as individuals but would always still care.

Liam x Hayden: Three’s a Pattern

These two’s characterization stopped whenever they had storylines together. Their relationship was built on Scallison references. Hayden’s character could have been interesting, but they never really gave her a moment to shine. Liam has the worst plots when they revolved around her. Cute couple, poor writing.

Derek x Braeden: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girl Boss

Derek deserves to be happy so much. Kate and Jennifer were just... jeez. Him and Braeden were cute and deserved more screen time. I think her intensity allowed for Derek to let go of control a bit more comfortably. Let Derek Be Soft. Anyway, love them.

Corey x Mason: Gotta Have That Rep TM

These two could have been cute if they were shown for more than two seconds at a time. I highkey forget Corey even existed all the time. Kinda just felt like a relationship to fill TW’s gay quota.

Jackson x Ethan: The Callback

Honestly? Loved them. Loved the chemistry. Loved the dynamic. Best twist. I know it was probably written in like that because Colton came out during his time away from the show, but it absolutely fit his character. Jethan is top tier.

Melissa x Chris: BAMF Parent Duo

Ok, so like, Melissa deserved this plot. She deserved someone to care about her. However... what the hell? Chris? In canon, his wife died like 2-ish years prior? His daughter died 1 year prior?? Is Chris really in a position to pursue a new relationship?? Also, like, Scott and Allison dated and loved each other up to her death. Kinda weird to have their parents hook up. I don’t hate it, but I don’t ship it…?

Scott x Malia: Lead up? What’s lead up?

These two came out of nowhere I stg. Like, 6B really tried to tell us this was something that had been slowly developing in the background? Also, I understand that they are their own people, adults, and completely in charge of their own romantic pursuits: but did Scott seriously never call Stiles? Like, Malia wasn’t just his first girlfriend. She was his first. Like, dude that’s your best friend?? Not even a head’s up? No, ‘hey would this bother you?’ Oof. Plus Malia was way too chaotic for Scott. She existed in gray morality that always prioritized her immediate circle, and Scott was a very black/white type of heroism. I just didn’t feel like they fit.

Non-Canon:

Scott x Stiles: Childhood Best Friends

Ya, sorry, I don’t ship Sciles at all. I get it. Like, I totally understand the ship, and I mean no judgment at all. I just see them as friends. I really value good male friendships in media because I feel like we don’t get enough, and I always liked these two.

Stiles x Derek: Enemies to Lovers. 100k. Angst. Hurt/Comfort.

God these two really are what fanfiction was made for. I could write a much longer discussion about Sterek, and I probably will eventually. I’ll try to keep this brief. These two weren’t always on the same side, but their approach was the same. They were very similar at their core. Plus, wow the chemistry. This should have been canon. Jeff’s a coward.

Allison x Lydia: Powerful.

This ship is so great. They really had a great dynamic, and a romantic plot would have easily fit the established narrative. Lydia’s confidence in herself and Allison’s confidence in her own abilities crossing over to each other because that’s what the other lacked? Iconic.

Danny x Jackson: He Gets Him

Danny really saw Jackson for everything he was and still cared. I wished we’d gotten to see more of them. I want more background with Jackson’s eventual coming out and his friendship with Danny. Like, they ended up dating the same guy. What did Ethan have to say about that??

Stiles x Jackson: Bastards

Ok these two had a super fun dynamic. The asshole-energy between them was, great. The snark was always so entertaining.

Melissa x Noah: Family

How were these two not endgame? Their sons were practically brothers already. They had amazing chemistry. The flirting? Not to mention, their timeline would have made way more sense. Missed opportunity.

Chris x Peter: The Opposite of Love is Indifference, Not Hate

Ok so like, this was definitely one of those ships that I had absolutely no knowledge of before I was pretty into the fandom. Like, this was not something I would have guessed just after watching the show. That being said; my god the chaos alone…

Scott x Isaac: The Disaster Duo

Okay ya I love these two. Two dumb asses who act like idiot puppies. Such a fun dynamic. Plus?? Chemistry??? Hellooo

Scott x Allison x Isaac: Three Heads Are Better Than One

This ship is definitely one of my personal favorites. I very rarely poly-ship. I just feel like most of them are just love triangles with an ‘easy solution’, when two of them have no real connection. That is so not the case here. I feel like all of them have such great chemistry with each other. They also have a great dynamic as a group. Season 3A was really just Scallisaac rights.

Stiles x Isaac: I Hate You, jk…Not Really

Ok I loved their banter, but I really just don’t see this ship. Idk, I don’t personally ship it. Would have loved to see their friendship develop more tho.

Erica x Allison: Duo that would stab you with a stiletto

I don’t ship it, but I do wish we’d seen them become friends. I feel like they had a very artificial ‘girls fighting over a boy’ dynamic? They could have been such a badass duo.

Stiles x Erica: Batman x Catwoman

Ok I’m not sure exactly how to express my feelings for these two so bare with me. OMG I love their dynamic so much, and they are sooo cute. Their energy? Amazing. Chemistry? Great. History? It’s there and has so much potential. 10/10. Love them. But, no, I don’t ship it lol. Just really love their friendship, but with the underlying history of crushes.

Boyd x Erica: Was This Not Canon?

How can anyone not love Berica? Ugh they are adorable. These two deserved so much better.

Boyd x Cora: Survivors

Honestly I don’t really see it? Like they definitely had a connection, but it never felt romantic. I really feel like they just had to lean on each other and bond to make it through captivity, and it just lasted.

Boyd x Erica x Cora: The Pack

I literally learned this was a ship a couple days ago. Similar feelings towards this as Bora, but with the added hesitancy of we never actually saw Erica and Cora interact.

Cora x Stiles: Slow Build Up

These two were clearing being lined up to be a thing before Cora ended up leaving. I can’t say I’m disappointed they never happened. Kinda felt like they just wanted to straight-code Sterek.

Cora x Lydia: Mean Lesbians

Not much interaction to actually go off of, but yes I 100% support. They have very different approaches to problems, which is fun. Very ‘opposites attract’.

Malia x Kira: “Maybe you could date the coyote?”

Another one of my favorites!! They really complimented each other. Also, how full circle would they have been? They were introduced in back-to-back episodes. Malia stalking her as a coyote? The line from Kira’s dad about dating it? It would have been so funny if that ended up happening.

Malia x Lydia: Beauty and the Beast, but make it wlw

These two were fun. I liked their friendship, but I don’t really ship it. Though, rip Stiles that would have been hilarious.

Parrish x Lydia: The Cop and The Minor

Must I say more? Like, Parrish’s character, so sweet and big rule follower, did not make sense for what went down with Lydia. I love Parrish, but the dynamic just felt off. It didn’t feel consistent with the rest of his characterization.

Parrish x Stiles: The Cop and The Minor, but gay?

Ok, same reasoning as above, but also they had absolutely no connection romantically.

Scott x Theo / Stiles x Theo: Sometimes The Villain is Hot

Ok I’ve put these together because I have the same opinion for both. I don’t ship it. Neither had any rebuilding of trust, and Theo really hurt both of them. I just don’t really think they work.

Mason x Liam: Sciles Puppy Pack Edition

Similar to my feeling about Sciles, I just don’t ship these two. They had a good friendship, from the little we saw of it.

Theo x Liam: Anchors 2: Electric Boogaloo

Another personal favorite! I really don’t even understand why this didn’t go canon?? The elevator scene was just, so intense. They helped each other grow in 6B, and I really loved their dynamic. They should have hooked up.

Honorable Mention?:

Parrish x Laura: What’s canon?

I’ve seen this in fanfic a lot, and I actually really like it lol. I thought I’d add it in here because I do love the creativity of fandoms.

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burnedbyshoto · 4 years

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Takami Keigo (Hawks) - Alphabet Hc’s

a/n: it’s late, lo siento!!!!!!! enjoy our favorite pro-hero bird man

SFW

A = Affection (How affectionate are they with an s/o?)

Takami is a gentle affection man. Soft touches, soft hand holding, soft kisses, soft hugs. At least in public. In private he is the type to be hanging off your leg as you try walking through the house because he loves you so much.

B = Breath (What could their s/o do to take their breath away?)

Takami loves when you help preen his feathers. The feeling of your gentle and slow fingers carefully ruffling through his sensitive nerves as you pluck and fix them up. The feeling of your breath falling onto his back… he just always goes weak whenever you do this.

C = Cuddling (Do they cuddle? If they do, how and when do they cuddle?)

He loves to cuddle so much. He loves laying down on your stomach, laying his head gently on your chest as your fingers run up and down the length of his spine. Takami wishes he could cuddle you every single day.

D = Dream (What do they dream of doing with their s/o?)

Takami wishes that one day he’ll be able to retire from being a hero and grow old and wrinkly with you. Watching your family from rocking chairs with your hands intertwined.

E = Effort (How much effort do they put into a relationship?)

Takami is an easy going man, but he would do everything and anything for you. He does the most and makes you feel special every single day. Not that him making you feel special is romantic, he may send a meme and be like “me @ you” but it hits home and you’re like “TAKAMIIIII”

F = Fear (What do they do if their s/o is scared? How do they handle it?)

Arms and wings hug!!! He’ll take you to wherever you feel most comfortable. Flying you there without batting his eyes. Takami wants you to feel safe! He handles it well, he’s adept, but it does scare him a lot. He doesn’t like seeing you scared.

G = Gifts (What type of gifts do they give their s/o? Do they want a gift in return?)

The weirdest most obscure things you’ve ever seen in your life. Like the gifts you find at the penny stores because he claims that they have the best finds! But every so often he’ll spoil you with something you wanted so badly. He does expect gifts in return! He even gets pockets onto his jacket to keep his most favorite gifts from you in there

H = Hugs (Do they hug their s/o? How often?)

Takami is the kind of boyfriend who hugs you before kissing you, so yeah. Happens every day, and a lot. He just likes holding you and being held by you as your fingers ruffle his hair.

I = Intimacy (How romantic are they? Do they have problems with intimacy?)

A kinda terrible guy when it comes to romance. He’s just never been the kind to memorize suave details prior to getting with you, and it shows. But it doesn’t mean his gestures aren’t intimate or romantic, they’re just a little weird. He had no problems with intimacy though! Will make out in public with you in case his intimacy is ever questioned.

J = Jealous (Do they get jealous? How do they act when jealous?)

HOOOOOOOOOO. WHEN TAKAMI GETS JEALOUS?!?!?! First of all, he comes over to you he doesn’t touch you. No. he instead goes after the person flirting with you. He talks with the person as if you’re a complete stranger, and you smirk at him as you roll your eyes at your dumb boyfriend. The stranger of course is like ‘fuck yeah i wanna fuck you’ and takami is like ‘let’s bet! Whoever can get her to make out with her first wins?’ and of course he agrees and the stranger will start making money moves but takami will just walk over and start the most lewd makeout session with you that he can manage.

K = Kiss (Are they a good kisser? Do they like to kiss? How often do they try to kiss you?)

He is a really good kisser for some reason. His lips are often chapped though, so buy him some chapstick if that concerns you. Kisses and small pecks are his favorites because it just seems so wholesome and amazing he loves it really.

L = Love (When do they say they love you? How often do they say it? Do they prefer to say or show it?)

Takami says it after you help preen his feather for the first time. The act of preening him takes forever because he has so many feathers and you didn’t complain once even though he sees you rubbing your sore arms. He’ll take your face in his hands as he presses a soft kiss to your mouth. And with that a small “thank you, I love you.” slips out from his mouth.

M = Marriage (Do they want to get married? If so, what kind of ceremony?)

Hell yeah he wants to fucking marry you!!!!!!! Takami wants a small and intimate wedding. He wants only the people who need to be there like family and friends but that’s it.

N = Night out (What type of dates do they like to go on? How often do they like to go on them?)

Takami loves taking you out on flying dates. Whether you’re afraid or not he just loves soaring with you in his arms. Whether you’re hollering in excitement or clutching his neck for dear life he loves it. As a joke once he even lets go of you and will quickly catch you, the adrenaline rush man. Dates are a weekly thing. They don’t happen every day, but for sure at least once a week.

O = Out of the Ordinary (What’s something they don’t normally do with/for their s/o?)

Won’t normally cook for the two of you. He knows only how to make cereal and still struggles with that. (don’t worry though, he’s taking cooking lessons because he’s gonna surprise you)

P = Playful (Are they playful in a relationship? If so, how do they play around/mess with their s/o?)

Takami is a very playful soul, of course he’s gonna be a goofball in your relationship. You remember that age when snapchat first got face filters and the face swap gold mines that came??? Its like 5 years later and the two of you dedicate evenings for doing the most cursed faceswaps on the planet.

Q = Questions (Do they ask their s/o their opinion on things? Do they share theirs?)

Takami values your opinion over his own, like deadass. He is so in love with you that everything he does has your best interest and opinions in front of his own. It’s not even intentional it just happens.

R = Random (How spontaneous is their relationship? Do they do things on the spot or plan ahead?)

Takami is a pretty damn spontaneous person! Especially since he can fly so fucking fast that distance and time have never been an issue for you. So you want that one restaurant on the other side of the country??? Okay, takami will take you!

S = Sleep (How do they sleep with their s/o?)

Sleeps on your stomach because he can’t sleep on his back. It’s a system that took you awhile to get used to, but now you can’t sleep without his weight on your stomach

T = Trust (How much do they trust their s/o?)

Takami trusts you with his entire life. Secrets??? Sorry, the two of you don’t know any. Everything is shared between the two of you as you both highly value honesty and integrity.

U = Unique (What makes them unique as an s/o?)

Takami is a very not serious yet serious boyfriend. He just acts super nonchalant sometimes but does literally everything that anybody would want from a significant other!

V = Vulnerable (How long until they can be vulnerable around their s/o? What are they like in this state?)

It doesn’t take long for takami to be vulnerable around you, in fact you’ll probably see him crack even before getting together. In this state, takami is so twitchy, fluttering, unable to sit still. His wings are tense, and his feathers seem to stand up straight. It’s not your favorite thing, but you’re there to help him.

W = Wild Card (Get a random domestic headcanon of the character of your choice)

You know those feather earrings? Yeah, takami has custom made his tiny wings into jewelry for you. He doesn’t know what to get you for your one year, and that was it, and well… it was something that made you cry.

X = X-Ray (What would they do if their s/o got injured?)

You’re injured so you’re babey now. He will make your injury a living nightmare because he will annoy you for being an idiot and getting injured. Like a mother hen as he scolds you and reprimands your actions before helping you out even more than you had asked for.

Y = Yuck (Do they have any pet peeves about their s/o? Are there any habits that might bother their s/o?)

When you whistle too shrilly, it just really makes his head spin. It doesn’t happen often, but it really doesn’t make him happy when it does. He has a bad habit of plucking out feathers that annoy him, so if you’re a neat freak, beware.

Z = Zeal (Are they passionate as an s/o? Do they want or like passion?)

Pretty passionate. Takami loves when you’re super lovely dovey just lay it on him!!!!!!!!

NSFW (under the cut):

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Takami is big fat baby, you have to literally take care of him!!! Okay, not really, but he definitely will use his quirk to get everything needed because the two of you for sure tire each other out.

B = Body part (Their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Takami’s favorite body part is his back. His back is so fucking ripped because of the flying, like it’s so defined and delicious and oh god he loves when you fucking mark his back up with your nails. On you, his favorite part is your thighs and your stomach. They’re so soft and comfy first of all. But he loves the way your stomach tenses when he goes down on you, and loves holding your thighs and how they shake and aohgaogiarar yes.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

His cum is super opaque, it comes out in a few loads whenever he releases. Loves to fucking creampie you, okay???

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Takami really really fucking loves it when you pegged him that one time. The feeling of you commanding him, your fingers dragging against his back and along his feathers. The dirty words dripping from your mouth and the powerful thrusts you gave?!

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He’s a pretty experienced guy. He never really had shame when it came to sleeping around. He does however need help in certain areas in how to please you properly, but the two of you definitely work on that together.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Because of his wings, he is very sad that he can’t watch you ride him properly. But he loves sitting at the edge of the bed and seeing you ride his lap, loves the straddle :)

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Takami tries so hard at being light hearted but always fails. He tries his best to be fun and cool, but damnit the second he sees your naked body he can’t help the seriousness that overcomes him and his need to make sure you are attended to in every aspect.

H = Hair (How well-groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Okay, so his pubes are someone the softest pubes on the goddamn world. They’re a bit blonder than his hair, and are well groomed to ensure your ease and pleasure,

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

He is the lover who whispers sweet nothings in your ear while slamming into you at a ridiculous speeds and strength. His fingers are permanently glued onto your body and never will leave your body.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Tamaki is someone who masturbates when he can’t get to you. Definitely while jack off to the sound of your voice as you speak to him about your day.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

He’s a switch but fucking loves being dommed the hell out of you. Into degradation both giving and receiving. Really fucking loves being seduced because he thinks its so fucking hot seeing you giving him the bedroom eyes and yet completely not letting him touch you.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

His favorite place to do it is actually outside. Being able to fly far and fast, he was able to find this amazing outdoor location for a date that ended with the two of you fucking, and well, it’s his most favorite place.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

The thing that turns him on the most is whispering into his ear. It doesn’t have to be anything raunchy or even explict, but the feeling of your lips ghosting against his ear and the timber and volume of your voice dropping backs his dick so fucking hard.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs)

He will not do a bird mating dance for you. He thinks its embarrassing in the worst of ways, even if you think its hot or whatever, it just doesn’t sit well with him.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

HE WANTS TO GIVE IT TO YOU!!!! Takami wants his face inbetween your fucking legs!! He wants to go down on you and see the way your body rolls and twists under his manipulation. His skill is amazing because he notices the tiniest of details.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

He’s not known as the fastest hero for nothing. Fast and rough is the best thing he’s good at. The thrills of fucking you at such a high speed is so alluring to him and he won’t stop. But there are times that are slow and sensual and good lord… those nights are unforgettable.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

He’s into quickies because of the way it electrifies his senses at seeing you just coming undone and knowing that he’s about to go over the edge. He is thrilled by the idea of someone walking in on the two of you like that.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Takami knows what he likes and knows what he doesn’t. Doesn’t really experiment, but if you are dying to try something out, he won’t deny you the chance. It is how he found out that pegging wasn’t as bad as he thought initially.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Takami can last the entire fucking night if you would let him. He’s just so fucking turned on by you that it doesn’t matter how tired he is he will continue. Until. You’re. Done. it’s also why he sucks at aftercare.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Has the very basic toys like a vibrator, binds, and a gag. They are used on both of you, just depending on who’s domming.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Takami teases on one condition and one condition only. When you deserve it after being a fucking brat. Besides that he is very down to business and trying to make you feel amazing as soon as possible. He will never tease you unless pushed to it.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Takami is SOOOOOOO loud. Lots of grunting, cursing, and moaning. His mouth is basically permantly open even if it’s a little bit because good god do you feel so fucking amazing around his cock.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Takami has definitely fucked you in the air before. Like not near the city, far away so that no one can see your naked bodies. But he has definitely held you in the sky and fucked you there, it was by far the best sex the two of you had even though it was the messiest and hardest one to accomplish.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Takami is about five inches flaccid and gains an inch and a half when he’s hard. He is a bit girthy, nothing too traumatizing, but enough to make your jaw drop in pain if there isn’t lube.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Takami has a few periods of high sex drives especially during warmer weather, but as soon as it’s cold it goes to about average! But he can get turned on very easily.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

As soon as you whisper a goodnight takami has probably been asleep for two whole minutes. He knocks out very quickly as soon as you’re cleaned up.

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tsukihoshino · 4 years

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Super long Sasori post

I’m going to begin this by saying everyone is entitled to their view on Sasori and how to characterize him within the parameters set up by canon or whatever AU/Bent Timeline a person has inserted him into but I do believe there are certain things about him that remain the same no matter what situation you put him in-- otherwise he’s just no longer Sasori (IMO.) So much of his character is about hyper analyzing his words and actions, and what others have said about him through a microscope because the fact of the matter is for such an interesting character he really had such little time.

I was originally not going to bring shipping into this but as I was writing Sasosaku kinda slipped in there, mostly because it felt like it provided a good contrast to what we get of Sasori in canon and how it can translate into fanon.

(All of these opinions are based on the Manga and the Akatsuki formation because OP cannot be assed with novels and filler for the most part...Making an exception for Komushi.)

1. He’s highly manipulative. He’s a puppet master and he has a spy ring. He gathers information so he can use it against people, he manipulates the corpses of what used to be people--or things that LOOK, very often like people. That says a lot about who he is as a person.

And when you first see his real face, when he reveals himself to Chiyo this is the face you get;

I don’t get the impression that he’s actually happy to see her given the events that follow, its largely about trying to put his grandmother off center and BOTHER her. Sasori is perfectly capable of acting to get to a desired result--which makes a lot of sense to me because while Bunraku is largely about the Narrator's words there is also the performance element to it via the puppets.

2. He’s all about control. Control of himself, of others, of events. It's really an offshoot of manipulation but I don’t think Sasori blinks without putting thought into the action. ( I mean technically, lmao given his unique anatomy in canon that might be 100% accurate.)

3. He’s not only an artist. The guy is the very definition of being a mad scientist. He sits at a place where Art and Science meet and become something more. It's not one or the other when it comes to Sasori, there is something almost Frankenstein like in the way that he creates his human puppets, the 3rd and himself. Think about the knowledge that had to go into that from basic human anatomy to the chakra system as a whole. I mean we never get a play by play on HOW he did it but we know he’s the only one who ever did and then repeated a similar, much more complicated process on himself.

Then there is his poison, we know he’s primarily relied on the infamous one because it was sooo effective (until it wasn’t, thanks Sakura.) But we have to assume given how he is Sasori makes ART out of deadly concoctions and methods of murder.

To him synthesizing that poison was probably no different than an artist trying to get that perfect shade of red.

The weird thing about Sasori ( and I guess it's just ONE of the many weird things) Is that for an Artist he is very...clinical. When we think about people in the arts we often imagine passionate people like Deidara--bombastic and flamboyant free spirits.

4. Logical and likely to the extreme.

He’s not a sore loser. When he loses and it's fair he accepts it. He's not bitter about the end of his fight with Sakura and Chiyo, he’s not pissy with Konan--he respects it because to Sasori the weak die and the strong survive, losers don’t have a right to complain when they shoulda got gud to begin with.

I don’t doubt that in Sasori’s logical mind he came to the conclusion that his parents died because they were weak. Ergo unlike Chiyo he’s just completely unaffected by seeing Kakashi, the world just followed its natural order in the death of his parents.

He’s got a reptile brain and he just sort of views people as animals because it's probably simpler--except for himself. He thinks he’s above that, to himself he is a god.

The thing with Komushi...I perceive it as largely an accident but in Sasori’s “perfectly” logical mind he was just like well: it’s sort of Komushi’s own fault and never let a tragedy go to waste because again, hyper logical. Not only that but he was BEGGED to do something for Komushi and there really was nothing to be done for him at that point other than make something useful out of his death.

The problem with being TOO logical is that it is just as detrimental as being too emotional. If we all just went around doing what was logical we’d be no different than animals or machines. Logic dictates we do whatever it takes to survive and come out on top even at the expense of others but because we are balanced by emotion most people don’t live like that.

On the flipside because he’s logical he can be convinced by compelling arguments without ego getting in the way. In this same vein he finds it very difficult to feel sorry about things he’s done in the past but when able to recognize it was wrong he can accept it and simply resolve not to do it in the future--he doesn’t have the capacity to agonize over feelings of guilt.

5. He hates being lied to and he’s impatient. Sasori will lie to everyone around him and even to himself if he can manage it but if he finds out He’s the one being lied to? Intense hate. See points 1&2.

6. He’s blunt and often rude when acting as his natural self. I don’t find the need to explain this one much.

7. Sasori is largely self-focused. He thinks he has a perfect handle on himself and understands exactly why he is the way he is--but it couldn’t be further from the truth. He really doesn’t understand his own feelings much less those of others and what he does understand he often doesn’t care about. This can be changed if a person is able to get through to him.

This is the guy who thought that by removing his concious from a human body and sticking it into what's basically a decorative vase all his problems would MAGICALLY vanish. Because as smart as he is, he was also desperate to escape his own feelings not realizing that when you pour the water in one glass into another glass the contents remain the same.

No matter how hard he tries he cannot escape the problem plaguing him; himself.

8. Sasori does not value life, not his own and certainly not others. Unless you are like that ONE person who is able to get through to him. He has what I would call a “Very narrow heart.” which simply does not have a lot of space for people. To him it's probably Sasori and “That Person” VS the world.

9. He likes things that last, sculptures and paintings, classical music and literature, things that have been around for ages and withstood the trials of time.

10. He does not do well on his own. He thinks he does but he really doesn’t, when he is by himself he is destructive. When he feels alone he is at his most dangerous. Sasori is very much a person who NEEDS someone to essentially be his emotional center otherwise we get him turning himself into a puppet in what amounted to a one longass theatrical suicide.

11. Sasori was probably always a little...different even as a kid but environment and events certainly played a role. His parents died at an early age and he was essentially lied to and given false hope. (hence the impatience and hatred of lies.) Throw into that an intellect seldom seen in a time of war where child soldiers are the norm. He killed his first person at 8, he earned himself a title denoting that he was so good at killing he soaked the sands in blood. Imagine what that's like at 8, getting a pat on the head everytime you kill someone?

Of course you would become conditioned to believe that killing is right and good when you’re being congratulated and rewarded for being proficient at it.

Its assumption on my part but I do believe Sasori lays somewhere on the Antisocial Personality Disorder spectrum.

12. He’s vain AF. Look at him. He made sure to replicate himself in his prime to perfect detail in the places that were most visible, his face and his hands. He could have made himself look like anything but in the end he still chose that form.

13. When he wants something he makes a plan and gets it done. Doesn’t matter how long or what he has to do to get to point A to point B he’s going to do it.

14. He has three main expressions; blank, smug and insane.

15: His power levels are again, insane. He is a master of multiple trades. The guy ganked a Kage at 15 the strongest one Sand ever had by that point, ( Orochimaru was waay older and came out way more damaged as far as we know when he fought Sarutobi.) toppled a nation, made himself a new body with mysterious methods.

It's time for the Sasosaku bit:

Part of the reason why I think the two of them fit so well together is that they are opposites and yet complimentary. Sakura is an antidote and Sasori is the poison, but sometimes a medicine can become a poison and a poison can be used as medicine. Sakura is a close range combatant and Sasori is long but they have this odd intersection of skill sets and interest. They both deal in the human body and the manipulation of it, Sakura’s focus is to maintain it as it is and improve its condition if needed and Sasori’s is to both destroy and create it anew all at once.

If they weren’t trying to kill one another in canon they would have had tons to talk about.

Ultimately Sakura gets gut stabbed not because he was aiming for her but because she got LITERALLY in the way of a family feud. He was going for Chiyo and you can assume that's because he thought his grandma was the bigger threat or because he was still bitter about the past on some subconscious level and was gunning for her--i mean he goes in for Chiyo a second time after he disconnects from the arm Sakura was death gripping. But Sakura’s selfless action is something that viscerally shocks him:

And it only gets worse when Chiyo starts feeding her life force into Sakura--a second selfless act on the part of someone he hates and feels wronged by.

Sakura values life and Sasori doesn’t because he doesn’t understand it. He was raised his whole life to think that people like them--Shinobi had no value other than to kill or to be killed. He’s visibly shocked when she starts yelling after socking him in the face about Human lives and family bonds. Like no one had ever mentioned that to him before and forget about risking your life to save someone else's, that goes against his logical lizard brain.

At that point he’s already beaten, he’s already impressed with her. It’s right after her punching him that Sasori gives what amounts to an odd marriage proposal IMO. It was completely pointless of him to even bring it up but you can tell by the “Glint” in his eye that he meant it.

Sasori: Want to become like me? You’ll get what I mean. An undecaying body, Unfettered by a mortal lifespan, capable of being rebuilt over and over again. ( if you were immortal would you offer immortality to someone you had no interest in? Not me. I wouldn’t want to have them around for virtually “forever” in any shape or form. And Sasori is not talking about making Sakura into just some controllable puppet, he’s talking about being JUST like him, sentient thought and movement.)

Sasori: I can make as many people as I want out of puppets….-Looks dead at Sakura- If I want them...but my collection isn’t just about quantity. Quality is important too.

That whole conversation is like A CREEPY FLIRTATION from him because we know what he considers “True beauty” to be. Eternal.

And then it comes to a head where he gives her a “sentimental reward” in the information she wanted. Now I’m not saying Sakura was interested or anything but it seems like he was in some shape or form.

In my opinion when you put someone like Sakura--who is brilliant and logical but also heavily swayed by her emotions with someone like Sasori, brilliant, logical and emotionally repressed. A person who values life with someone who neither values their own life or others what you get is agitation.

Agitation is not a bad thing, it breaks stagnation--which is what, imo drives Sasori to his death. It is the lack of change, he’s made it so he cannot feel physically and he has tried his hardest and for the most part succeeded in numbing his inner feelings.

Part of me is convinced that what ultimately kills him is complacency. He gets so used to being at the top that when he is confronted with someone who neutralizes his life’s work and destroys his collection and keeps confronting and beating him with all the qualities he deems useless and pointless it just drives home the point that everything he has ever done or thought was in vain and on some level wrong. There is no point in winning against them because everything is already destroyed. There is no going back to what he was before, therefore death is preferable.

Through Sakura, in Au’s or alt timelines, or w/e she is able to reach him through their similarities but change him due to the fundamental differences in their nature.

As to what Sakura gets from Sasori; Someone who clearly respects her skills and understands her interests because his own align--and therefore would be supportive and present. The two of them actually have things in common and therefore shit to talk about.

In that same vein Sasori seems like the type of person who if he were to fall in love it is to the point of obsession, for someone who was repressed and held themselves apart from others I see him in a lot of ways as almost touch, and certainly affection starved. It becomes addictive to him. (Which is probably why when I write him he’s handsy.)

We know how Sakura likes to take care of people--we see it with Naruto, Sasuke and Sai. In some of these cases it is often to the detriment of her own well being and Sasori, the selfish person that he is, can reign that in and pull it back so that it isn’t so all consuming. (mostly because the only person she should be worried about is herself and him.)

In the end, If Sasori is the logic and Sakura is the emotion, what you end up with is something more balanced. In the same way that if you were to mix a Poison with an Antidote you would end up with a neutralization.

These are just my personal opinions and thoughts on the matter.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also I headcanon that Sasori is basically Sakura-sexual so -cough- there. I guess that's a topic for another time...

Look at all these conceited Sasori faces:

#Sasori #Sasosaku #Its long

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legobiwan · 4 years

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Thrawn: Alliances Chapter 8.8-12.8

It only registered with me yesterday that when Vader refers to “The Jedi,” he’s referring to himself as Anakin Skywalker. Nice bit of depersonalization there, Anakin.

Okay, but when Vader starts going off on how “The Jedi” (himself) was distrusted, his opinions not valued, that he was always an outsider... I mean, yes, of course, he’s referring to the Order, but more specifically, he has to be referring to Obi-wan and that just breaks my damn heart.

Anakin’s “plan” to infiltrate the Separatist base - is to do a costume change and then fake an attack by another Jedi? Hahahahaha! Also, who wants to take bets this is where Thrawn’s weird cosplay fetish started - the one we saw utilized so hilariously with Eli Vanto in the previous Thrawn installment. Because I would take that bet.

But Thrawn’s breakdown of the Jedi uniform was actually fascinating - how all those twirling fabrics not only give range of motion, but distract the energy. Maybe there is something to the dramatic disrobe, after all, but I’m more inclined to believe the Dooku-Qui-gon-Obi-wan lineage is just prone to drama.

Speaking of Serenno...I’m highly intrigued by the fact this operation is run by Serennians. It makes some sense, if one takes Jedi Lost into account, in that Serenno was an active mining planet and Dooku needed to find a way for the sentients to be gainfully employed after his father and brother basically tied all labor to droids. Also interesting is the presence of a distinct Serenno accent and the fact that the cloaks are such a feature of the nobility. I must needs remember this for the future.

Okay, so Thrawn is obviously onto the relationship between Padmé and Anakin, but what killed me was the line when Anakin was going on about how he and Padmé had bonded over difficult times, like when friends were lost - and then he references the death of Qui-gon fucking Jinn!!! Which - I find fascinating given the fact Anakin is right now with another being who is kinda/kinda not acting as a mentor in a way that somehow Anakin finds palatable compared to the Jedi - Obi-wan, specifically. As I said before, I think Anakin was going to rebel against anyone but Obi-wan really got put in a bad position. And now Anakin is reminiscing about the man who was supposed to train him, not having known the mountain of hypocrisy and frustration that was the Jedi Knight Qui-gon Jinn and you have to think Anakin kind of hero-worshipped the guy in absentia and just how much that had to have killed Obi-wan, for about twelve different reasons.

Getting back to the Vader/Thrawn episodes, Vader really is a one-note samba - “I will put on hand on my lightsaber threateningly or I will think about choking somebody.” It’s just a barrage of constant intimidation and how insecure was Anakin that this was the only way he felt he could establish his dominance? I mean, Anakin’s not dumb, he was a good strategist, but that all gets pushed to the side as he was crammed into this role as “the muscle” and “the enforcer” for Sidious. (Which I imagine is exactly what Sheev wanted - no thinking means no rebellion.)

But you have to love Thrawn giving no fucks. What a badass.

Let’s bop over to Padmé for a moment. She starts this whole charade saying her “Uncle Anakin” is going to come with some ransom money and in the space of - what - a few days and one conversation she’s suddenly trying to stoke a rebellion? First of all, this is Leia’s mother, without a doubt and secondly, she and Anakin really do deserve each other. My gods.

But I found the constant, “Anakin is coming to save me,” to be a little...I don’t know? Is this the part of their relationship where they’re getting a bit too co-dependent? A thought.

Padmé recognizing Anakin’s “audacious” style of fighting was hilarious. An in-character.

Seems like much of this section is a lot more about Anakin and Padmé than Thrawn, although there is that mystery with the Grissks to be solved. We’ll see how this plays out...

#hello there #thrawn: alliances #admiral thrawn #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #more than halfway through!#these long runs really facilitate book listening #but!#no running today my legs are shot #i'll plan for a walk later on though #legobiwan listens to a book #also to reiterate #WHERE THE FUCK IS ELI VANTO?

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taleslations · 4 years

Video

dailymotion

Drama CD Tales Ring Xillia C86

Track #4: The Chimeriad and the Hot Springs Inn (4)

The plot is unraveling. Or is it?

Script under read more.

Agria: What's up, Wingul? Why did you suddenly call us? Jiao: Was there a complaint? Presa: Is it about that mysterious peeping tom? Agria: You found him? Wingul: No. I have called you but for one reason: The secret meeting will take place tomorrow, at long last. Presa: I see. The end is near. Agria: Finally! I thought I was gonna die of boredom. Jiao: Wingul, do you know what time it will take place? Wingul: I checked in the guest registry. It will take place at noon. I want you to act as planned. However, a problem has arisen... All: A problem?

Man: You sharp eye is impressive, Mr Rowen. You could tell that plate's value with just a glance. Rowen: You flatter me. I just noticed that it was of different quality than the others. Man: Don't be modest! Mr Alvin, your grandfather is quite humble. Alvin: Yeah. He's always babbling about old stuff though, so he's hard to handle. Man: Little miss, don't hide in the corner and come eat some sweets. Elize: I-I... Alvin: Sorry, my sister is a bit shy. Elize, come sit next to me. The seat is free. Elize: Okay, just for a little bit... Teepo: I'll bite you if you do anything funny! Man: Oh, how does this doll talk? Milla: Bad things will happen to you if you learn the truth. Are you sure you want to know? Jude: Milla, don't eat so much at once!

Presa: What's going on here? And why are they putting on an act? Agria: Don't ask me. Man: Waitress, could you get me some tea, please? Presa: Of course, sir! Leia: Here is your tea. Please drink it while it is warm. Presa: Hey, what are you doing? Leia: Well, I just kinda... ended up helping. Presa: Helping?! Milla: Leia, tea, please. Leia: Right! Here you are! Jude: I'm sorry, Presa. We met those guys in the hot springs. We just started talking, and here we are. Presa: I heard about it, but I didn't expect such a big party. Agria: Well I guess lazy bums stick together. Leia: Why do you have to put it like that? Agria: I wasn't talking to you, pimple. Leia: You're a meanie!

Presa: Agria! It's become more troublesome than expected. Agria: The heck are Wingul and Jiao doing? Presa: They said they had something to check. We don't have time to theorize about their absense. Let's execute our strategy. Agria: What strategy? Presa: Let's casually join their conversation. That's our only way to approach our target and gain information. Agria: Join them? There? No way! Man: Hey, waitress! Presa: Coming! Here's our chance, Agria! Agria: Woah.

Milla: I was surprised when I experienced it for myself. I'd heard that naked bonding experiences had a positive effect on human relationships but I didn't expect it to be so intense. Leia: I wish we met someone in the women's bath too. Rowen: You're always welcome to join us in the men's bath. Man: Ha ha ha. Indeed. That would be true heaven. Agria: Want me to take you to heaven? Leia: Huh? Agria! Man: That's... Well, you know, men have dreams. How about it? Would you wash my back next time? Agria: Huh? Man: Wait, that could be construed as sexual harassment. What are you saying? Man: This girl is so plain I'm the one who feels harassed. Agria: Who are you calling plain? Alvin: Hey, isn't this bad? Teepo: I can see a dark aura. Agria: You! Try saying that again. Man: Did I offend you? Sorry, sorry. Even if you're plain, you are a wonderful lady. Agria: Huh huh, I see, you really want to go to heaven. As you wish, I will—ouch! Presa: Tee hee. My apologies. I will scold her properly later. Agria: You! Man: No need. It's unusual to find so many beauties in the same place. We got overexcited. Leia: Did you hear that? He called us beauties! Teepo: You're gonna make me blush. Agria: He obviously wasn't talking about you. Man: You're all so lively and fun. Presa: Is that so? By the way... I have been wondering for a while, but may I ask what all those sweets are for? Man: These are our new samples. We made them ourselves. Presa: Samples? That you made yourselves? Man: Right! How about telling them about it? Man: Good idea. In truth, there is a favor we would like to ask you. Agria: What now? It better not be stupid, or I'll kill you. Man: We cannot really say it out loud, but we are part of a secret plot. Presa: A secret plot? Man: Yes. So please keep it between us. Man: We... need young women!! Agria: Die! Man: Wait, let me explain! Rowen: Calm down, Agria. Agria: Out of the way, gramps! Are you trying to defend the pervs? Rowen: That's not it. They just want to talk to women. Agria: Huh? Man: Yes! Mr Rowen is right! We need young ladies opinions more than anything! Presa: Young ladies? Then, do you mean... Agria: Not you, obviously. Presa: Why you... Al, why are you laughing? Alvin: Nooo, I just thought you look cute when you get flustered. Jude: It's not new, but... Milla: Indeed. Alvin's idle joking is impressive as ever. Elize: It's the worst. Teepo: Go get stabbed! Man: No, no, age has nothing to do with it. We just want various women's opinions. So you see... Yes... Man: Women's buying power is not to be underestimated.

Presa: So, what is this about? Man: Well, to make it short, we come from Auj Oule's remote tribes. We are currently developing a new special product and are sharing opinions with other tribes. Agria: Sharing opinions? Man: Exactly. Man: You know how Gaius Dumplings are famous in Kanbalar? We heard they brought many tourists to the city. So we got off our butts and started thinking. We want our products to become as popular in Auj Oule. Presa: Oh, so that's what it was about. Milla: What did you think it was? Presa: Nothing. Agria: This is so misleading. You could have been clear from the start! Man: No way. What if someone stole our idea? That's why we're pretending to have a boring business meeting. You never know who might be a spy. Man: Now you understand, please try a sample. Come here. Agria: Huh? Stop it! Let me go! Man: We have Gaius Wafers, Gaius Crackers, Gaius Bean Paste, Gaius Cakes and Gaius Jelly. Agria: They're all imitations! And don't just go using His Highness' name! Since we are competing against Gaius Dumplings, we need to give it an official flair. We are sure it tastes good. Please have a bite.

Wingul: As I thought, they were planning on developing a new product. Jiao: Yes, just like you said. Presa: You two, how long have you been watching? Jiao: A while. - Presa: Then you could have... Actually, if you knew, you should have told us. Wingul: I apologize. It took us some time to get confirmation. Jiao: The information Agria gathered raised many questions. Presa: I don't believe you. Wingul, I know you had another objective. Wingul: Remote tribes are not easy to supervise from the capital. Observing their relationship during this meeting will prove very insightful for our country's future. Presa: I knew it. Wingul: Besides, I was able to persuade a chief. He will be our eyes and ears from now on. Are you now satisfied? Presa: Yes, very. You're a really shrewd man. Jiao: Presa, are you angry? Presa: I'm just going to fix my make-up. Jiao: Sorry, Wingul. Thanks for agreeing to my selfish request. Wingul: I don't know what you're talking about. Jiao: No need to pretend. It's because I said we should rest that you arranged for our stay to last. Wingul: You think too highly of me. As I said, it just took me some time to investigate. That is all. Jiao: All right, if you say so. Wingul: We can come back anytime. Though next time we should come as guests. Jiao: Next time, huh... Right... That would be fun.

Agria: Dang it, when did "compete against Gaius Dumplings" become "compete against Gaius"? Damn it, go to hell! Jiao: Calm down, Agria. Why don't you try this sample and see if it improves your mood? Agria: Don't try to distract me with sweets. Jiao: Don't say that. This dango looks delicious. Agria: What? The color's weird. Man: Aah, that's... Agria: Yuck! What the heck? Man: Heart leaf-flavored Gaius Dango. We thought it'd be popular with healthy people. It's good for your health, but the taste... Agria: Who came up with that? Jiao: Sorry, Agria. What about this wafer? Man: I'm proud of that one. Agria: Wha... Seriously, this is weirder than the other one. Man: Really? To appeal to youngsters, we came up with this cream croquette-flavored Gaius Wafer. Agria: Who the heck would eat that? Are even you taking this seriously? Man: Then, how about this fruits yakisoba-flavored Gaius Bean Paste? Agria: Enough! If you don't stop fooling around, I'm gonna beat you to a pulp.

Presa: How carefree. Looks like the remote tribes will not be a problem after all. Wingul: I shall write a report to His Highness. Along with a proposition for new products.

#tales of xillia #wingul #presa #agria #jiao #xillia drama #credit: yumexhanabi

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beneaththetangles · 4 years

Text

Rising and Falling with Japan Sinks: 2020

TWWK: With the possibly exception of DECA-DENCE and its story with a story structure, the most surprising series this anime season may be Japan Sinks: 2020. I tuned in because I’ve become a fan of the director, Masaaki Yuasa, with his other work from this year, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, locked in as one of 2020’s best anime. Japan Sinks is a different animal, a violent disaster series originally created to coincide with this year’s Summer Olympic games. Netflix premiered the show, and I blew through it quickly, as did a couple of other staff members, Samuru and @thathilomgirl. But as much as I found the show addicting, I had a challenging time writing about it, and so besides a first impressions post, have avoided doing so. But we three decided to unpack the series together—a good decision, I think, because it perhaps takes three people to really discuss the ups and downs of this series, starting with the why each person tuned in and what they thought of regarding that visceral opening episode.

SPOILERS from throughout the series ahead!

-----

thathilomgirl: Honestly, I watched it because someone in a Discord group I’m in mentioned that the mom was from my home province (XD). The show wasn’t really on my radar early on because I thought it was a movie with a theatrical release, but seeing other word-of-mouth posts eventually made me try it out on a whim. The fact that it was all on Netflix made it easier for me to finish it off so quickly, too. As for my reaction after episode one, well, it really didn’t hold back at all. It seemed fitting for the catastrophic scenario it was supposed to portray.

Samuru: I saw the trailer on Netflix since they constantly preview new anime (I watch a lot of it on that platform.) It looked interesting, and like thathilomgirl, I thought it was a movie! But I was interested more when I discovered it was a series. My first reaction was that the show was not going to be a relaxing one; it seemed to be very serious from the start and it was not afraid to be very realistic and dangerous. The animation was very good (in episode one, at least—more on that later) and it hooked me.

TWWK: For sure! It definitely tried to convey a sense of realism and danger. It felt like 1970s disaster movies, where everything goes wrong and lot of crazy stuff happens, like the bodies falling from the sky—all the death, really—and the disastrous time at the cult sanctuary.

Samuru: I thought the middle section with the cult was out of place. I get that it changed things around and gave the viewer a break from all the destruction, but I didn’t understand why that was even in the anime. Also, the random sexual encounter that was only a few seconds was also unnecessary, but maybe they were just experimenting with ideas?

thathilomgirl: I just thought the psychic cult was just plain weird. Like, even going into how and why it managed to start up at all was kinda strange, even with how well-intentioned the woman was at first. Part of me just wanted to go through the screen and tell her, “This is all well and good, ma’am, but I think you may have gone way off course the moment gold entered the picture.” I thought the best part of that arc was when the old man managed to just nonchalantly broke into the temple to kidnap the woman’s child, just for how tonally different it was from everything else.

TWWK: You know, I actually really liked that section. I think when it comes the narrative, it was the best part of the series. A lot of foreboding and discomfort was building, especially centered around Daniel (Is he really as sweet natured as he seems? Is it like a horror movie, where he was actually just baiting the travelers? Or was he going to be another sad victim?). I think besides giving us a little break from the destruction, and leading to some character development, the section also helped emphasize a theme of the series, which is acceptance of those different from you and the importance of the Japanese coming together despite having different values and being in different generations. Cults have a bad wrap in Japan as they do elsewhere in the world, so this cult not being pure evil in the sense we expected, and their leader truly trying to help, was to me as big a surprise as any in the series.

thathilomgirl: Similar to what you touched upon a bit, I saw a lot of diversity among the characters in the show, whether in race, age, or even the difference in opinion regarding nationalism. It wasn’t that surprising to me, considering the anime was made by Science Saru, who also takes value in diversity as seen from the Eizouken anime. Putting aside any possible bias on my end, having the main characters comprise a Filipino-Japanese family was a good foundation to allow certain issues be addressed in the anime. On the other hand, sometimes it did feel like some non-Japanese characters such as KITE were kind of put on a pedestal because almost every action taken upon by them turned out to be the right decision in the end.

TWWK: Oh man, now I suddenly wonder if this “KITE! Best character of the season!” feeling I have is just feeding into a sense of faux diversity…

Samuru: Good points on the diversity of the characters. I noticed it then but am now really thinking about; I’m glad to have seen it. The anime gave perspectives that some Japanese have with foreigners and just as a people that aren’t often seen in anime. God made us all different, all with varying features, languages, etc. I enjoyed seeing some acceptance of that, especially from Ayumu who just wanted to help others regardless of who they were (as well as her mom and brother, Gō). Gō also expressed how he did not feel very Japanese, and he just wanted to move to Estonia instead. This created friction a few times with other characters, as they thought he either wasn’t Japanese or trying to act like a foreigner. It showed how proud, to a fault, the Japanese are (in the anime) to their culture. I myself am proud of being Hispanic, so I get where they were coming from, but it seemed to be too much on how they were pressuring him, instead of just letting him enjoy other countries and their differences.

TWWK: That’s an interesting thought, though the overall quality of the writing leads me to believe that the writers just didn’t achieve the subtlety in such remarks that may have made for a more intriguing series. But more than that, I don’t think they wanted subtlety; that strong pro-Japanese / anti-everyone else feel from the old man was certainly intentional.

thathilomgirl: There was also that ultra-nationalistic group that refused the Mutohs on their megafloat because the kids weren’t Japanese enough. It was too on-the-nose for me, but if a country did end up getting destroyed one way or another, it wouldn’t surprise me if a group like that started to surface. On another note, the more cynical side of me was wondering if all the non-Japanese characters were inputted in just so the series was able to check off diversity points to get more views and traction from international watchers. It did work on me a bit (and I also saw a lot of that from other anime fans in my country), but I’ve learned not to get too hung up on or cling hard to how certain areas of my identity are represented in the media over the years.

TWWK: Playing on your point, I wonder if Kite, among others, was lifted so highly because Yuasa was looking to strike a sort of balance, one critical of those who would be too nationalistic, to the point of being xenophobic, with an ultimate view that Japan is generally good, and has the potential of being marvelous. We seem to be a little skeptical of their inclusion, but it’s hard not to be when the themes about what Japan is and should be were usually quite bombastic—kind of like all the deaths.

Samuru: Speaking of deaths, I think there were too many. After a while it felt like one of those horror movies where you know who is going to die, except for the main characters (of course!). I knew around the last few episodes who was going to die, but it was still impactful when they did because of the way it happened. I actually felt sad for the loss of those characters.

thathilomgirl: It’s really hard to say for me to judge whether there were “too many deaths” for this show. On one hand, I did at least wish some characters like the Mutoh dad lived for a few more episodes so that we’d be more attached to him. However, realistically speaking, it made a lot more sense considering the aftereffects of what goes on if Japan really did start sinking to the ground and the possible consequences it has for the survivors on the land. By far, the only death I thought was the most out-of-place was for the cult leader’s son. It just came so suddenly like the debris that fell on him, laughter was the only thing that escaped my mouth during that scene.

TWWK: You laughed at that? Oh my gosh haha. I don’t think you were alone, though.

Samuru: I knew that kid was not going to make it, as he barely had any dialogue or interaction so he seemed “expendable” and I noticed that this anime liked to get rid of those minor characters. So yeah, he was on the anime’s “hit list” for sure.

thathilomgirl: There was another thing I noticed regarding death. Among the Mutoh family, Ayumu seems to be the only one who actually visibly struggles throughout the anime, but that’s because she was the only one who actually came face-to-face with watching her entire track team die in front of her eyes as soon as she came to from the initial earthquake. The other family members, meanwhile, were either in a relatively safer area from the ground and/or alone when it occurred. Every other death afterwards just goes on to make the survivor’s guilt she’s experiencing worsen as the story goes on. I also figured out right away that Mari’s seeming indifference to her husband’s death was just her being strong for her kids, because I’ve seen that a lot from the other people in my life. There was never really a good time for her to properly grieve as well, until they arrived at the cult in Shan City.

TWWK: You know, I don’t know…Like you, I noticed the seeming lack of empathy throughout the series, and I think Mari’s final episode or two was definitely meant to show that she hid her emotions on purpose (I think an idea many Asian kids can understand that westerners may not), but I felt like it was too little, too late. It was just so awkward that after the dad’s death, most everyone was kind of okay—even and especially Go. it was just too unrealistic, even with Go kind of in his own world and trying to make sense of it with his dad’s death. It was too disingenuous. Ultimately, I think it was poor writing, confirmed by the fact that Go’s emotional age seemed to drift anywhere between 7 years old and 14.

And I also struggled with the sheer number of character deaths shown. The shock value was important to the series, yes, but it got to be too much for me by the end. The old man getting eaten by the shark was my almost-laughable moment, for instance. And all the self-sacrifice already demonstrated by so many may have taken away some of the emotion of Mari’s death, which affected me, but not terribly deeply. I will say that Haruo’s death got to me, however; I thought that the themes of the show, particularly the idea of the older generation passing their love onto the younger, meant that he and the Mutoh kids would all survive. That was rough.

Samuru: I agree also about the deaths. I think it was somewhat laughable because it just kept happening. I would think, “Uh oh, it’s a new character, he probably won’t last long”. Also, I have new found respect for seagulls, those birds can’t be that ravenous…right? Haruo and Ayumu’s father dying were the most shocking for me. I really thought they would both make it, so once the dad died, I knew all bets were off with this anime and nobody was safe. I thought even Ayumu wouldn’t make it, even though she lost a part of herself in the ordeal. It made it seem very real, unlike a lot of TV shows where the main cast, and only the main cast, escapes just fine.

thathilomgirl: Mari’s death got to me a bit because I was hoping that she would at least last long enough to make it to relative safety before her heart got to her, and because of that storybook she used to read to her kids. But the latter’s just me being really sentimental in general.

TWWK: The show was unusual in the sense that it tried to balance that sentimentality you’re talking about with hard, sudden violence. That’s not an easy thing to do. Comparisons will be made to Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 or other disaster anime and films, like I did earlier, but I also immediately think of American movies regarding 9/11—United 93 and World Trade Center. The earlier had violence and shock on par with Japan Sinks, and it was draining and emotional in a successful way. The latter didn’t feel as overwhelming, nor was it as good a film. I think Japan Sinks found itself somewhere in between those both in how it tried to animate its disaster and in how meaningful the end product is. What did you both ultimately think of the series?

Samuru: I thought the show was excellent and very different than most anime I have seen. I liked the intensity of it, the diversity of the cast, and the originality of the story, even though it’s based on a book from the 70s. A lot of anime try to copy another one, and just add something else to make it standout. This series stands on its own.

However, the animation was off and on for me. There were some scenes in the last episodes that were terrible. I wanted to take pictures of it to share in case I was the only one that was noticing that. I don’t know what was going on with the animators at the end. But how the story concludes in a satisfying way, as I got to see what happened to the survivors and how they were living their lives. It gave hope when there seemed none, which reminded me of this verse: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

thathilomgirl: I thought it was a good show overall. Not the best one I’ve ever seen, but it did what it set out to do with its story. Yeah, the animation was a bit off at times, but I thought that was just how Science Saru anime was sometimes (keep in mind that I’ve only seen Eizouken and Ride Your Wave from them so far). I’m glad it ended on a hopeful note with Japan slowly rising back up, and seeing how every Japanese person that survived fared through the eight years since.

TWWK: My thoughts on the series are ultimately not as positive as they were for both of you. After one episode, and based on the studio and director, I commented that this might be the best anime of the year; I was so off that it’s not even funny. What was funny, though, was some of the scenes in the show that were supposed to be serious, as we referred to earlier. And that’s troublesome. Its high moments were extremely high, and could have lifted the show up to a 9 or 10 in my book, while the low moments—like the unintentionally funny ones—were very low, awful even. I gave the series a “7” rating, which is average to mildly good in my book, because it was a balance between those extremes.

Ultimately, though, it’s a major disappointment. Hot on the heels of Eizouken, I thought we could potentially have another classic, which this series is assuredly not. But its mileage will vary, and I very much emphasize that—all of us judged the series differently and felt strongly, one way or another, about many different moments. And there are so many vivid and memorable scenes in this show! Most viewers’ experience will likely be powerful, too, and in that way, I think we can all suggest Japan Sinks: 2020 is well worth the watch.

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The entire Japan Sinks: 2020 series can be streamed now on Netflix. All images courtesy of Netflix.

#Anime #Japan Sinks: 2020 #Nihon Chinbotsu 2020 #Japan Sinks #Japan Sinks 2020 #Nihon Chinbotsu #Articles #Author: TWWK #Author: thathilomgirl #Author: Samuru

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kinetic-elaboration · 4 years

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May 21: The 100 2x11 Coup De Grace

It’s late, my computer’s more tired than I am (and hardcore hates me and very well may decide to eat this entire post who even knows), and this is probably a bad idea but I’m gonna do it anyway.

Or at least start.

Another episode, or partial episode, of The 100.

This opening torture sequence makes me so uncomfortable. Which like I get is the point but tbh I’m just not into ‘look how unflinching we are at the realities of Bad Stuff.’ Especially when my tired computer is skipping and the sequence becomes, like...trippy. Trippier.

This is probably a super bad idea because my computer literally cannot handle video lol. I am going to restart it.

It’s actually kind of nuts that Monty’s been missing for 2 days and Harper even longer and Jasper and Maya are like ‘this is weird and upsetting but I guess we’ll find them somewhere!!’ Well, Maya more than Jasper. Mount Weather isn’t THAT big.

“You have to look like nothing’s wrong. Like everything’s okay” is so sad. I think it’s situations like that that make S2 my favorite, just b/c I’m a sucker for scenarios of enclosed tension. Like, forget war and blah blah blah, I want this, like... secretive, spying, being spied upon, uncertainty. That’s the real horror in a satisfying way.

Gosh his haircut is awful though.

When does Clarke learn to ride a horse?

I have literally no idea what’s happening bc I rewatch these eps so infrequently.

Clarke just got “yes ma’amed.” I find that semi-hilarious, not because she’s 18 but because you knew Grounders used words like “ma’am.”

I love Clarke’s single-mindedness. “We can’t stop for water. We can’t stop for anything. We’re on a mission. And Bellamy might have called!” AWWNH!Clarke is so OOC lol but she has a different background okay?

I’m not really in the mood to trust Abby about anything. Does she... actually make good decisions? I feel like you’d have to track her through all of the seasons but I am inclined to say...perhaps......not.

So the Mountain Men tried to assassinate Clarke and Lexa. Completely forgot about that.

The introduction of Echo. I just... I just have no opinions on her, I guess. Literally my only opinion is that she should have been the Ice Queen and, not being the Ice Queen, she’s just not interesting to me. I will say, she couldn’t have been in Mount Weather long if she knew who the Sky People are, as they’ve only been on the ground about a month. But also...why does she hate them? They were only fighting with Trikru, and Azgeda territory isn’t even, like, in the vicinity.

I love Dante but he has some major balls looking Jasper in the face and saying he doesn’t know where his friends are. I mean, he doesn’t, because Cage stole them, but how do you just MISPLACE people in a 600,000 square foot bunker? Where COULD they go?

I’m sure I’ve said this before but as someone who went to a high school with a uniform I find it HIGHLY unrealistic that all these teenage boys tuck in their shirts and keep them tucked in all the time without exceptions.

Jasper being protective of Monty <3<3<3.

So it was MW that told them there were no Ark survivors. Did I know that? Did I forget that? Not that it matters as my Clarke/Maya fic is done lol.

Dante is the most Hilarious and Wonderful of all of the attempted father figures on this show I said what I said--they’re all terrible but at least he bring the Weird Father Figure energy to 11. I’ll lie to you but it’s to protect you, call you son (always weird), super good at self-defense--ah-ha! sword at at your neck!

“This is not a toy.” If the sword is in MW it’s probably Important and Famous.

IMO and I completely stand by this assessment, it’s harder for Jasper to be brave than it is for other people, and he was really brave, and it worked, and I’m proud of him.

I realize this is also a problem with the literal world but we actually do know that torture isn’t effective so Indra being all upset that she’s not allowed to torture Emerson is just so....exhausting to me. Like Clarke isn’t suggesting not torturing him bc she loves the high ground and must walk it at all times. She’s suggesting not torturing him bc the last time she tortured someone, she got 0 good information. And even though neither of them know it, it was the shit information garnered from torture that led Finn to TonDC! Also if they had let Emerson die, the Grounder would have also still died--it’s not that they chose to use resources on one and not the other. They had two different types of wounds. I mean I guess if they’d brought them in faster without patching up Emerson in the field? That’s probably what she meant. However the Grounder Death Cult and their complete willingness to declare their fight over at the merest papercut makes me again less sympathetic to this point of view.

I’d literally already forgotten that someone tried to assassinate Clarke like an hour earlier. Abby doesn’t need to be concerned about that, lol, Clarke’s used to it!

Okay first I did have a longstanding headcanon that Echo had a crush on Bellamy going way back--I mean that’s practically canon, yeah?--but now I’m super convinced because in their second scene together, he sacrifices himself for her using information she gave him (that MW takes the loud/strong looking ones), even though she greeted him by spitting in his face, and actually, that was very heroic and selfless of him. I’d fall in love too.

Second, I thought she had no tattoos because she’s a spy or w/e but I CLEARLY see tattoos on her legs. And they are not white either.

I don’t think I ever realized that Maya found Bellamy because she was in the infirmary/harvest chamber looking for Harper and Monty. I do not have a good memory for each scene leading into the next. AND she think she’s found them when she sees how fast the random patient’s treatment is working, because that has to be a Sky Person and she would never guess Bellamy.

They really do just talk about their little torture machine casually all the time. “I need to go over the treatment schedule so I know how many cages to clear.”

Hey so like how did Maya get in if she’s not cleared for this facility?

What a wonderful time to remember yet again that if Bellamy knows who Maya is from her reference to Jasper, Clarke, who saw Maya and Jasper flirt like ONE TIME, must have told him about them, which is cute and funny all at once.

Maya: “I wanted to see what was so special about him, but... he’s dead.” Bellamy: Ah yes! I’m dead! * immediately closes his eyes * Why am I laughing so hard at this?

Good thing they take dead bodies down slowly instead of just thunking them on their heads.

Maya, Bellamy, and Echo v. Lovejoy is a pretty satisfying fight. Also, what did Clarke just say about Emerson talking b/c they saved his life? Echo helps Bellamy because he saved her life. Sometimes you get more flies with honey.

I tend to forget that Bellamy literally strangled this guy with his bare hands. Like it was self-defense to some degree, in that this had to be a fight to the death, but it was also just pure fucking rage. Like he said, he (like Clarke for a while) wants to kill everyone in the Mountain.

And then he thanks Echo and asks Maya if she’s all right. A True Catch. Tbh I could see something forming out of Echo and Bellamy here, but not after some of the later twists and turns in the later narrative.

Honesty, I’ve always loved Maya but... let’s just appreciate her, shall we? That was horrific, seeing someone she knew killed in front of her--and helping, because she knew he was on the wrong side, even though that was the same side she’d been on her whole life. Is she completely in the moment, or is she already seeing that there’s no way out for her here? That the people they’ve brought into the Mountain are really going to destroy it?

Bellamy coming out in Lovejoy’s clothes looks like a kid trying on new clothes at the mall before the new school year. Except he’s just dumped a body down a trash chute.

Like “I’ll come back for you, I promise”--I can see a basis for a ship in that. So far it is 100% built on how Echo would have to be dumb not to fall in love with Bellamy but still.

This Maya and Bellamy scene is amazing. I love every aspect of it.

Lemme just...watch that Jonty hug on repeat.

Honestly they even ended the scene with them walking out the door together even though there’s no way anyone could have moved Harper that fast and there’s also no indication of who moved her or how. Guess she’s...not that important...?? LOL??

Kane has only two modes: fairly ineffectual bastard or utterly ineffectual neo-hippie. “You’re not grasping the situation! We’re nice! Be nice to us!” I probably shouldn’t mock him bc he is me lol, I also would not know what else to say to Emerson other than ‘please????’ but still. Common sense and peace and love would be great but those aren’t shared values I guess.

And then he goes 180 to ‘let’s torture him then?’

What you should be doing is good cop bad cop. Or like, wearing him down with repeated questioning? I heard that’s an effective interrogation technique, although here Emerson has a certain advantage of time and that his interrogators are way more easily annoyed than he is easily worn down or confused.

Anyway I remember now. Clarke ultimately solves this problem with that ultimate BDE moment, sending him with a message and 6 hours of oxygen. She really is just the Smartest.

At least Kane acknowledges that the Chancellorship is a completely random title since Abby literally just kinda stole it? Like Jaha is the rightful Chancellor and Kane is the second-most-rightful Chancellor and she’s just sorta...there? But it also doesn’t matter because as established, Clarke is the one actually in charge.

This Bellamy and Maya elevator scene is also the kind of tension that I like. Is Bellamy...legitimately considering shooting him? In the elevator? That would end badly lol. He has this idea to just start randomly offing people in public/enclosed places, while Lexa is all like ‘we can’t save TonDC bc it would blow Bellamy’s cover!’ like the irony.

I wonder if the MW classes are like...to some end, like, mandatory schooling that must be completed, or if they’re just like for funsies? I think the second, partially because it’s an “Expressionist class” which doesn’t seem like the Three Rs and partially because this dude doesn’t seem upset that Maya didn’t show, like he’s just vaguely wondering where she was.

“We’ve accomplished great things” in that tone is like the MOST American thing I have ever heard. (I can say this because I’m American.)

“We’ve been bleeding people to stay alive for generations. That’s our legacy” is true in the sense that Dante’s line in the sane is...truly in the sand. But also has it been ‘generations’? I’m not sure you understand how time works, show-as-a-whole. I mean maybe this is technically true? They probably discovered Grounders like....50 years ago? Which is sort of “generations.” But when you say it like that it makes it sound way longer.

You wanna root for Dante over Cage because he’s on the side of our heroes but in terms of like bitter logic Cage has the advantage. What they’ve already done and what Dante has managed to rationalize to himself is bad enough. They’re already Doing Bad Things, doing yet more bad things isn’t going to bother anyone. Especially when these extra bad things (1) come out to the same--torturing/killing people and (2) lead them to a permanent home on the ground.

I wonder if Dante/MW justified what they did to Grounders with stories of them being like...irradiated mutants. Like literally inhuman. So it ‘doesn’t count.’ I mean objectively they’re wrong of course but I mean in their heads. And then for Dante the line is so obvious between killing radiation casualties and killing just normal humans like themselves, whereas for Cage--who sees the Grounders more because of Cerberus, and knows they don’t look that much different, that they are also just people underneath the masks and big clothes--sees no difference between the Grounders and the Sky People, and if he’s already sullied himself by using one set, he can continue sullying himself, for a greater cause, by using the other set. It’s just a question of which story you’re telling yourself and how much you’re willing to lie.

The plotting of this season is, overall, very good. Especially in the second half.

I think Clarke’s default mode when stressed is order giving. It’s part of the control thing. She’s okay if she has everything under control, and if she knows everything, and when she has all that knowledge and control it just...spills out of her, directing people with what they need to do and where they need to go.

Whereas Raven’s in full ‘falling out of love with Clarke’ mode.

Also I think Clarke is very quick to comfort people and she is genuine in this but because she ALSO has her agenda and her strident tone and her controlled demeanor, it can look like manipulation. Or at least, if I were her friend, I would always wonder if she really cared or if she just wanted me to calm down so my emotions weren’t in the way of The Plan.

My 15 second Raven, Clarke, and Octavia scene. Lemme just rewatch this a bunch of times too.

“Jackson found genetic marker anomalies that can only come from someone born on the Ark.” Remember when people were theorizing that this was a big deal in some way? The Arkers were genetically modified to withstand space? I remember that being a theory. Anyway in retrospect, it’s just a Plot Device. Possibly a Pseudo-Science Plot Device I would not know.

Never mind. “We were genetically engineered. They weren’t.” So it is in fact canon, just meaningless canon. HOW IS THIS SOME RANDOM THROWAWAY LINE?

Clarke’s feral moments are the best.

It’s cute how Abby continues to think Clarke isn’t in charge.

Having Bell run into Lovejoy’s son is cheap but effective. I still remember that scene and I can really feel the full effect on him through Bob’s acting and the music. I also always remember that line “What did you expect you’d find here?” Because the answer is obviously ‘monsters.’ They had their simple narrative too: about how MW were the bad guys and thus they could destroy them all and it would be vengeful and feel good. But it’s more complicated than that: everyone in the Mountain is complicit in terrors. But many of them passively so. Bellamy was ready to kill all of them, and so was Clarke, but he changes his mind based on this encounter, tells her about it over the radio, and makes HER change her mind and in fact change her entire plan, by the time she explains it in 2x15.

And it’s sad for Maya too because Bellamy is being aided by her but she is still a Mountain Person. It’s easy to say ‘she’s an exception, she’s Jasper’s friend, she’s our friend.’ But she’s done everything he hates the Mountain for. If the whole Mountain is evil, she’s evil. And to the extent you can’t be both pro-MW and pro-Sky People, she’s put in this impossible position of choosing sides, or trying to switch sides abruptly. Bellamy sees that, and it’s like yet one more additional layer to his guilt over what he did, because he sees a new angle to how it affected Maya, without whom he’d be dead.

Jonty the leader couple. And Jasper’s face when Monty says “We’re not safe here.”

S2 is my favorite bc of plotting like this episode: just as the 47 are about to leave, Cage stages his coup. Just as Bellamy is about to see his friends, the doors lock and they’re trapped. The moment when Jasper sees Bellamy--with absolutely no reason to believe this could even be possible. In trying to plan fics that use S2 I tend to get confused about the plot bc it goes back and forth and circles around a lot, but in actually watching it, it’s quite effective, and I think part of the circling confusion is just bc there are so many moving parts, people need to be in the right places at the right times, meet and separate at the right moments, so it can read awkwardly in summary. But they did a good job ultimately, I think.

Another thing about S2 generally is that even though it’s much more expansive than S1 in terms of locations and number of characters and groups of characters, ultimately almost everything revolves around one story (except for the CoL setup stuff), and 2 main locations that have meaning, with various points in between. So it is more concise and more centralized and more meaningful than later seasons, which become increasingly spread out and disjointed. Or so I try to explain to myself at 1am.

Yaaaay emotional Princess Mechanic and then Bravenlarke. I live for these moments when characters are just like...emotional together.

I don’t know if I find it realistic that Clarke would be like ‘it’s over’ so fast but nevertheless I like Raven and Bellamy picking her back up.

Clarke’s relieved face...she’s in love.

Bellamy: I’m fine. Me: He’s a liar!!! But I guess they can talk about his emotions later.

When they’re all together, they’re all better. Like immediately. Even Clarke’s “Raven’s going to help you” with a little look to her, like, this isn’t an order, and Raven nods....

I love that Bellamy took Maya’s expression to mean “It’s not a problem” when it quite obviously meant “It’s a huge problem.” But also Clarke smiled for .05 seconds so I think she knew he was a-lying. This could be a sitcom if it were a totally different show.

Weirdly, I watched part of 2x15 again for a fic I decided not to write atm and...they don’t actually use the Grounders as a Trojan Horse army. Their plan NOT to kill everyone including the kids meant basically that they used their real army as a distraction and then just took the inside-Grounders out the back way. Or that was the idea. Which in retrospect is actually kind of disappointing.

Clarke’s power walk through the hallway with her Grounder Entourage is just so....satisfying. This is the emotional payoff that got me into this show.

Clarke just literally staging a coup against her own mother, using the Grounder force that sees her as a leader, is so.... I feel like I have never appreciated it before this rewatch. I think in the past I found it kind of annoying tbh. But this time I like it a lot more. I like Clarke’s just insane levels of confidence and self-assurance. It is a good look.

First of all the parallel to the Wallaces. But more importantly, I always wanted this big story line of Delinquents Versus Arkers that never fully came as I wanted it, but this is pretty close, where she’s just used to being in charge by now, so you know what, she is. And the only thing she needs to make her desire for power real is muscle, which she has, thanks to Lexa, so she uses it. It’s also very satisfying. And should ultimately have been the groundwork for the delinquents to form a separate community but WHAT DO I KNOW?

All that said, and this isn’t contradictory, but Clarke picks like the MOST inflammatory way to go about her plan. She just does it, she gives no explanation, she stages a showdown at the gate with her own Mom the Chancellor. There is a subtler way of doing this. But I like that she didn’t do subtle because it’s IC for her. It’s IC for her age (who is more Dramatique than a teen?) and it’s IC for her place in her hero’s arc: under L’s influence, she’s becoming big-headed, leaning into the sin of pride, here in the form of “I do can do no wrong,” and by 2x16 in the form of “I can do no right, no one has ever been more wrong than I, no one has ever been more sorrowful than I, let me perform penance in the woods.”

Pride: the most annoying deadly sin.

Anyway.

And Kane, who always bows to the Alpha Female in the room, immediately enables Clarke’s Drama.

“Let our people go and we’ll let you live. It’s just that simple.”

“The Grounder army is bigger than you think and the acid fog can’t hurt them” is honestly a bluff though? Because again, they do not use or even PLAN to use the inside Grounders and they DO plan to take out the acid fog so??? I guess the point, if she was protecting Bellamy, WAS the bluff, WAS the distraction.

I think it was unnecessary to take out his O2 but I guess she’s really just showing off, which again is IC and I guess has the purpose of showing MW she means business and is Not To Be Fucked With. Still, it is important that her message make it to MW since it’s the distraction Bellamy asked for, so it seems like something of a risk to make it hard for the messenger to arrive home safely.

I do like that she gets to use that classic retort “That sounds like a you problem.”

And so.... I meant to go to sleep like 3 hours ago, and my power is flickering. Time for bed. The end, goodnight.

#the 100 #the year 2020 #2020: the 100 s2 #2020: fandom thoughts

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thatyanderecritic · 5 years

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First Impressions: XOXO Blood Droplets

Hey there everyone, Kai here! As everyone knows, Julie and I are at the end of our rope when it comes to content for the blog. But just yesterday, a saw the download link for XOXO Blood Droplets demo being shared around. Normally, I much rather wait for the full game to be released instead of playing a demo; it’s just not a satisfying experience for me. But I decided to change my tune and give it a try. This is just my impression of the game so far and not a review, since the game isn’t even finished. That being said, here’s my opinion.

TL;DR

Well, I have a lot to say about the game since I’m an otome fan (I’m a picky highly opinionated girl). But I’m sure everyone here cares more if the guys are really yanderes or not based on the screenshots on the game that has been floating around. And my answer to that question is… I guess? Like I said, it’s way too early to give anything concrete. But from what I have seen, the guys are more… how to put it… they all give me this “psychopathic oresama” feel than a yandere feel. The way they all treat the MC rather cold or dickishly, just like an oresama or a kuudere (in Pran’s case). The only real exception to this behavior was from Shiloh, who was far better on the yandere scale since he’s more open with his affections with the MC. I guess we can think of them all as Yandere Hybrids… an oresama-yandere mix but they don’t feel particularly lovesick unless you forcibly trigger that side. They’re all in a 2-4 range on the yandere scale… Shiloh being obviously a 4 and Bae being the lowest with a 2. The MC is on the same boat in that she’s more of a “psychopathic oresama” or maybe a Yandere Hybrid. But unlike the guys, she’s like a flat out 1 on the yandere scale. Let’s just say… she’s not much of a fighter (What a surprise for an MC). But does this make her a bad MC? Nah, she’s actually pretty good and I really like her. She’s just not that great of a yandere herself.

For the story and otome game itself… eh, it’s alright. Besides the psychopathic/yandere gimmick it has, it’s pretty ordinary in terms of otome game. High school setting, check. Slice of life, check. Literally no plot besides trying to get with the guys (and the emotional baggage they come with), check. The most interaction is just the choices and figuring out where the guy hangs out, check. It’s just a solid 3/5 otome game. I’ll toss in half a point, making it a 3.5/5… I can appreciate the quirkiness of it.

Below the cut, I have a more detailed opinion piece that you can read.

Music

Normally, I don’t really mention something like music when it comes to media. It’s mostly a “meh” topic since music is subjective and isn’t something to mention unless there’s something remarkable about it. And the music in this game is pretty… bad. When you first hear the music playing in the background, it’s your generic otome music that you could easily zone out. But then there’s certain scenes where the story turns “twisted” and the music follows suit. Fucking yikes on the twisted music my dude. Shiloh’s twisted music is fine and there’s this second one that isn’t bad either. But there’s this particular song that’s on the tip of being almost ear r*pe. This twisted song is used way more than I would like. Like, headphone users be weary. How to describe the sound… it’s like that weird pitch a mic would do if you scream in a mic and your scream is so loud that it doesn’t even sound like a scream anymore… just pain. It’s that sound that comes up at random intervals of the song… it’s almost like the sound mixer realize it’s a bad idea to make the song completely ear r*pe. I had my computer at 5 volume and it still hurt my ear like a goddamn dog whistle for a dog. Either mute the sound or don’t use your headphone when playing the game.

Art

Again, like music, I don’t particularly like mentioning this since art is subjective. I’m just talking about it since this is an otome game, so I’m just going “why not toss in my opinion on it.” In general, it’s alright. At first, I didn’t particularly like it. But after playing the game, I started to dig it. It’s very cartoony… reminded me of the sort of art a kid would doodle when they’re bored in math class. And I find it rather cute. But I really like the expressions and the eyes… reminds me of twitch emotes for some reason.

Story

Story? What story?

Well, joking aside, there’s really no story here. Not like I was expecting anything. Practically all otome games are like this. Slice of life and the only “drama” would be the emotional baggage the guy you’re chasing after carries. But there’s two things that bother me about the general story. The first thing is that it’s very obvious that it’s trying to push you to play the original game. If no one knew, XOXO Blood Droplets is actually an AU spin off of their original game XOXO Droplets. In the original game, the gimmick there was that everyone and the MC are a bunch of assholes. Since Blood Droplets isn’t the original game, the story progresses as if you should already know the “overall story”, character background, and character family life. Everyone just drops information like it’s the most obvious thing and clearly we should know this shit; stupid players. Well… it’s not like I’m expecting much. Blood Droplets is an AU spin off after all.

The other thing about the story is the over the top/shock value scenes the story would have sometimes. This isn’t exactly a bad thing in my opinion. But some parts feel kinda forced for the whole “OoooOOoOo they’re crazy! They’re psychopaths!” It’s a comedy game and it is a bit funny. But sometimes it’s just cheesy. I think the one scene that got me to roll my eyes was the very first scene where all the guys were going “Sooooo, who do you want to kill the most~?” Context wise, it’s funny but it was made to be an abrupt cut to break the illusion that “everything is normal~” to the audience. We already know this game is supposed to be fucked up and crazy in a funny way, don’t pretend that we don’t already know that.

Love Interests

From all the otome games I played, the love interest cast here… aren’t my favorite. I prefer different casts than this one. Though no one should be surprised seeing how all these guys original counterparts were assholes. If you know me by now, y’all should realize I hate the asshole/oresama type in otome games. I don’t find them fun to chase after and go through the verbal abuse for. That being said, their asshole nature is reflected here… even if they’re “yanderes” now. It’s just not fun. And now, I shall break down each character and why they’re weak yanderes.

Pran Taylor- One word: Kuudere. Based on his looks, he should be my type. But that cold attitude isn’t something I was keen on. But personal taste aside, he was so cold to the point that he straight up just abandons the MC after Shiloh taunted Pran about his parents and the MC not needing him. Not very yandere of him to just ditch the MC once the going went tough. He’s also not particularly affectionate either. If we recall back to the Yandere Hybrid post, I mentioned Kuudere-Yandere mix. To handle them well, we need to really see how the character’s mind is working. But since we don’t see that, Pran just doesn’t seem lovesick. But I have to say: the scenes that he does act yandere was fun and rather cute. He’s probably the cutest with the yandere actions, second to Shiloh.

Jeremy King- What a weird character. He’s a bit of a tsundere besides being a misanthropic clean freak. Unlike Pran, Jeremy’s asshole side and yandere side are more balanced. But since he’s a bit of a tsundere, he doesn’t seem very affectionate. He’s pretty cold actually. Don’t have much evidence for him being a yandere but him overreacting about someone puking on the MC’s shoes and jumping to the solution in cutting off her feet isn’t very… smart? I can’t blame him too much since his quirk is that he’s a germaphobe.

Bae Pyoun- Now here’s the perfect oresama for you all. Probably my least favorite, imo. While Bae does have his moments in being slightly fond of the MC, he pretty much doesn’t care about her interacting with others or showing his ownership of the MC. Like there’s one scene where a side character tells Bae that he’ll take the MC out on a date. Bae just went “Okay then.” I get he’s confident that the MC won’t leave him, there wasn’t even a tinge of jealousy. Not very yandere like of him. While Bae isn’t social cold, he’s emotionally cold. He’s like the least affectionate of the bunch.

Shiloh Fields- I really like Shiloh, lol. He probably has the best yandere potential out of all of the guys. When the MC asked him to kill someone for her, he did. When people try to get in the way of their relationship, he kills them, threatens them, and manipulate people to doing his dirty work. He also stole the MC’s phone and he’s obviously a stalker. His affections for the MC is also very clear too. Really, the only thing that was bad on his part was that he killed the MC by pushing her to oncoming traffic.

Nate Lawson- Probably the next best yandere potential surprisingly. His affections for the MC is there and he’s shown to get jealousy, easily I might add. He’s a bit possessive of the MC too. And… that’s about it. There are a couple of scenes where Nate is clearly jealous and about to snap but that’s about it. He’s mostly a workaholic and cares more about his work than the MC. Wrong priority there for a yandere…

Everett Gray- Eh… I don’t know what to say about this one. Third most likely to have yandere potential. He’s clearly the “flirt” love interest otome games would have. He’s shown to be possessive of the MC and has affections for her. But he has the same problem as Nate in that he has a priority issue. Though his priority list was probably a joke in the game, there was some truth to it. Andddd, that’s about it. Everett wasn’t really remarkable.

As everyone knows, here at ThatYandereCritic have our issues with MCs. Nine times out of ten, the MC usually sucks. But surprisingly, the MC here wasn’t that bad. She’s like a breath of fresh air for MCs. She is an asshole but she’s one of those charming asshole that are actually passible in media. The only issue is her “yandere” side. It ain’t that strong fam. Someone fucking with her man? Eh… let’s just simmer down here fellas. Someone threatening her and telling her to give up on her love interest? Lol you funny… anyways, have a nice day! :-/ I guess it’s just nice that she’s ride or die. Though, she does give up on Nate in one of the paths.

#yandere #male yandere #otome game #XOXO Blood Droplets #xoxo droplets #opinion #not really a review

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coridae · 5 years

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Constant Disconnect

#autism #nerd #life #work

So, I’ve mentioned a few times that I have Aspergers. For those not quite savvy, it’s part of the umbrella that is Austism. Most people think of autistics as the lone kid who hates being touched, doesn’t talk or doesn’t talk much drawing symbols all by themselves. For an Aspie like me however, this is not the case, this gets further muddled by the fact that Aspie boys and Aspie girls are different. Autism tends to be more intense in boys than girls, don’t ask me why. I won’t be able to explain and frankly, its a long thing filled with science and technical terms that I just do not have the patience to try and muddle out. Suffice to say, I understand it, but most won’t bother.

For me, being an Aspie is like watching food go bad and being fascinated. I call it ‘permanent foot in mouth disease’. Basically, the shit that comes out of my mouth is nine steps ahead of what everyone around me can catch onto and it just plain either weirds, irritates or goes over most peoples heads. Compound the fact that I am highly emotionally empathetic, social and generally like to keep the people in my circle as heart-comfy as possible? It’s a recipe for disaster.

I like to call my self the introverted extrovert. I like being in rooms with people, because I like watching and seeing how what ripples where and the cause and effect of x to z, but I also like being alone or with smaller groups of my more cherished circle.

So what does being emotionally empathetic mean exactly? Wells, here is the best things I can use as an example. Take today for instance while I was at work. One of my coworkers snapped and got upset at another, both people are those I adore. The guy who lost his temper normally doesn’t, it was out of character and I wanted to immediately stop scrubbing dishes to go to him and find out what was bothering him. Seeing him upset, troubled me and his familiar attitude, mannerisms and HIM-ness, was just... Off.

Most people would shrug it off and simply wait for later. I on the other hand kept bouncing it around in my head as I did my work, looking up periodically in case I could see him to wave him over. Meanwhile my other work-friend who was snapped at did come to me all upset and I was able to get her side and comfort her without seeming like I was taking her side. Only reason why I laughed at the comment she made was cuz she said balls, bite me I’m susceptible to potty humor. She’s all of five foot two and adorable as only a cute thing can be and it amused the shit out of me. Honestly, I didn’t think of her as someone who would say ‘balls’ cuz, pfff she’s just so HER.

I did find out what happened and why he got upset. LaLa, not her real name cuz nicknames, can be kinda... Self absorbed. She’s like, all of nineteen, so her work ethic versus something she wants or say, her phone, is kinda sketchy sometimes and she can step on toes without meaning to. I get it, but we older folk can get kinda ruffled and she had done something a few times to my other friend that made him feel kind of waspish.

I’d like to tell her she should be more aware of being more considerate to others, but at the same time, my other friend didn’t have a right to lash out even if I understand his position. I still wanna hug them both and soothe the ruffled fur on both ends, but I know I cannot.

The other example I have is, literally any sad moment in shows, movies, sad story, will make my heart hurt. Like, if I see an older patient at my work struggling to walk with a walker, my chest hurts and I wanna cry.

Most people get their hearts jerked, but man I tear up and get weepy. It really bothers me seeing someone upset and hurting. I was up picking up dirties when I noticed two ladies standing and talking, one looked like she was about to cry, I found some tissue for her and offered it, because by the time I got there she was actually crying. I’m that person.

Most people, don’t get me. I pretty much like most of my coworkers, save for two and pretty much adore everyone. If you are an asshole to me, like the two I dislike, well, let’s just say I don’t go out of my way for you. I’ll be polite and give you a polite hello and stuff, but I won’t do favors for them or pay attention to them unless I have to.

My oddities make it hard for me because most people above a certain age just flat out can’t compute and adapt. The group I find myself fitting in well enough with is 19 to 25, which is within the ball park of my mental age range. See, that’s something else about being an Aspie. Inside I am younger than my outside, which also tends to irk older people. I don’t do it intentionally, but they act like I do.

Its not always the case, I have a couple coworkers who have kids or family that aren’t neuro-typical who are a lot more tolerant of me. But I still find it hard to make friends, even now.

I tend to jive with more nerdy folk which makes me happy, I just hope that the new coworker I have befriended doesn’t find me annoying. He and I bonded over tea, he’s working on getting his tea business going and for the first time I might actually find myself in a place where my sensitive nose and tongue will be of benefit.

I don’t think he knows just how much his offer meant to me. I struggle day to day with my environment in the kitchen. A job tasting and growing the things I love would just be... Heaven.

It’s not every day someone actually finds what I have to say, or the way I describe taste, of value. I know that everyone struggles with finding a place they fit, but to me, it’s... I want to be of value. I want to fit, to be useful, to assist and to connect. If I could find that ‘spot’ and well... Fit in it, I’d be so grateful. I go my whole life at odds with most of the people around me. I am constantly aware of how my eccentricities can bother others that I feel badly because it’s nothing I can fix.

I know, I know, I should just be ME, but... I don’t want to be an imposition to others. I try to be considerate, but not to the point where people succeed in taking advantage of me.

So, I just don’t have enough words to describe how I feel. Honestly? I admire him. He’s younger than me, but he is forward thinking and confident which is nice to see. He’s a good leader. I worry about how I come across and find myself wondering at his opinion, not cuz I’d change, but just to hear what details stick in his mind. Eesh, I sound like a kid with a crush or something, good gods. I promise, it’s nothing like that.

I like hearing how others perceive me, just cuz I don’t see myself clearly. Plus, I learn new things about myself which is useful and comforting. I’m aware of my place, whether it be in a hierarchy or just within a social circle. Its something that wiggles and squirms in my mind a lot, among other thoughts, feelings, impressions and so on. Honestly, my mind is always chewing on something. Its exhausting sometimes.

Anyways, enough. I’ll stop now lest I go on for ages lol.

#autism #life #nerd #work

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lucienfairfax · 6 years

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(I gave myself the name of one of my OCs for this meme. If you want to send me a character to do I’d still appreciate it.)

01. Full name:

Severine Stark. Neither of these names was given to her at birth; the trader that raised her called her “Abilene”. Severine was the name she took as an acolyte in the Chapel of Skorm, and when standardised currency made a system of aristocracy possible in Albion, she eventually rose to its ranks and took the surname Stark as a mark of status.

02. Best friend:

The closest equivalent would probably be Ernest Faraday, one of the first members of the Alban Inventors’ Guild, a patronage she started. Ernest has always had one of those cute crushes on her, where he doesn’t expect anything out of it but he just likes spending time with her and occasionally bringing her huge bouquets of flowers or making her things in his workshop. The crush evolves into a lasting sweet fondness and mutual trust and appreciation that’s really just unique to them, like a lot of people don’t understand it but it works for them.

03. Sexuality:

I guess “pansexual” would be the word we’d use. She’s rarely turned anyone down because if they manage to approach her on that level in the first place, they usually know their worth (and that’s hot). But she’s a sworn bachelorette and has never gone in for monogamy -- honestly, she’s just never found anyone she actively wanted to commit to in that way.

04. Favorite color:

She’s really into black and gold, red and gold, almost anything and gold, honestly. Her colours need to be rich and deep, and she’ll import dyes and fabrics from the farthest reaches of Erda if she has to.

05. Relationship status:

Terminally single. I’m not going to say that Severine is always happy with this situation, because of course she isn’t always happy with it. But the aristocracy in Albion is a bit of a toxic mess (that’s how folk like Reaver end up with so much power) and the class divide in Albion is rather wide, so she doesn’t have a lot of close extended contact with people that aren’t in her patronage or other aristocrats. She thinks if she lived elsewhere, in Aurora or Samarkand maybe, she’d have a better time (which also goes back to her belief that she isn’t genetically Alban, although she’s never known her birth parents; she doesn’t feel connected to Albion but she feels more kinship in other lands). She also thinks that if she wasn’t a lich, a lot of things about relationships would be easier. It’s hard to be functionally immortal and have mortal-style relationships. Very hard. And it’s not like there are a lot of viable immortals just hanging around.

She does have flings and courtships and FWBs and all that, but no committed relationships.

06. Ideal mate:

She’d want someone like her. Someone who is passionate about arts and science, who likes the finer things but won’t lord them over others, who treats all people with respect and compassion, who is fussy about their hygiene and environment. She likes the well-read and thoughtful (one of her favourite things to do with Ernest is debate philosophy and theory), the well-travelled, people whose opinions and thoughts aren’t entirely formed by the small patch of land that they’ve never left. She needs someone who’ll let her cry on them but also stand her up afterward and say “all right, now it’s time to go to work” and not let her just lie in bed all day moping. Also, whoever it is would have to have a very well developed sense of courtship and romance because she’s definitely that kinda woman.

And of course, whoever it is would have to be okay with the fact that she’s a lich.

07. Turn-ons:

Like I mentioned -- really romantic gestures, declarations of passion, unabashed interest. Show her how much you value and desire her and she’s all yours. Dancing, she loves dancing. A good dancer will always catch her eye. A regal bearing-- and this one’s hard to describe, because people will assume it means “acting like a haughty princeling” or something and... no. That’s actually a turn-off. It’s just... a quiet confidence, a sense of self-worth, an easiness about a person that means they’re not trying too hard, that they know they don’t have to try to impress anyone. A magnetism that’s refined and a little sweet.

Also, she likes getting her back blown out by someone who’s all of the above in the streets but a freak-nasty top in the sheets. Just sayin’.

08. Favorite food:

One of the reasons she knew she had to start making money was because the best food she’d had was when she was working for Reaver, and she’d nick food from the catering at his soirées. Reaver is like the king of “I love Exotic(tm) things” so of course he’d have Samarkin dishes and shit brought in, to show how Worldly(tm) he was, and Severine would just die of bliss eating her stolen meals in her quarters. There was nothing native to Albion that could compare.

Well, now she’s had ample opportunity to refine her tastes, and I can tell you that what she enjoys most is the method of eating that’s common in port cities in Samarkand and the city of Aurora, where it’s basically a collection of hors d’oeuvres that are snacked on at leisure and often revisited throughout the day, augmented with small dense dishes cooked in the morning and early afternoon to keep energy up. It’s hard to do it with Alban food because Alban custom is to make heavy, dense meals eaten morning, sometimes noon, and evening; but she does her best incorporating imported food with local food to form her own hybrid. I didn’t even get into ingredients or specific dishes she likes or anything but honestly this answer is long enough.

09. Crushes:

This varies a lot. She develops and drops crushes the way people change their clothes, it seems.

10. Favorite music:

She loves stringed instruments but finds a lot of lute music in Albion to be too simplistic for her enjoyment. She likes what Aurorans do with lutes, using ones of different sizes in tandem to make a layered harmonic sound. But to be fair to Albion -- because in talking about Severine I feel like I’ve had to be very unfair to Albion -- there are some local lutists she enjoys and sponsors, and who play at her parties.

11. Biggest fear:

That someone will find the mandrake root that her soul is bound to and destroy it. It’s obviously a highly unlikely occurrence, but it’s her fear of its possibility that has made her so vigilant about making sure it stays hidden -- so the fear prevents itself from being fulfilled. There are worse ways to have a fear, I guess.

12. Biggest fantasy:

She meets the paramour of her dreams from question #6, they go on holiday to the Southern Islands or somewhere, she gets pampered the entire time and doesn’t have to lift a finger to do anything except ~get busy~. They come back to Millfields and said paramour immediately sets to work helping her with her work, taking on tasks she didn’t ask them to do but greatly appreciates, and generally proving their dependability and worth to her.

13. Bad habits:

She can be a bit of a lush, although never during working hours, to be fair. She is nitpicky about her appearance. She falls asleep reading or working and forgets to blow out lamps and wakes up in weird and painful positions. She curses a blue streak more than is ladylike.

14. Biggest regret:

Ever letting Reaver take advantage of her.

15. Best kept secrets:

No one knows that she used to be a Skorm acolyte, let alone one of the inner circle (not a First Shadow, but close). Even the people who know how long she’s been alive would still lose their shit over her having been a part of that particular cult.

16. Last thought:

Her last thought, in life? Man, I have no idea.

17. Worst romantic experience:

One word, honestly: Reaver. I mean, that wasn’t even a “romantic” experience, per se, since he’s about as romantic as a wet noodle, but still.

18. Biggest insecurity:

Sometimes she realises exactly how much power she’s amassed for herself, and she thinks it’s too fragile to depend on, or that she missed something vital and her house of cards will collapse, or that someone cunning will come along and rip the rug out from under her. Power makes people paranoid, money makes people paranoid, and having a lot of both is a recipe for neurosis. She’s levelheaded and pragmatic by nature, so she doesn’t fall into the trap of overthinking very often, but when she does it’s pretty deep.

19. Weapon of choice:

Shrewdness, social manipulation, knowledge, and money.

20. Role Model:

Albion is sorely lacking for role models; even its Heroes are often disappointing. Severine is a role model, to be honest, because she blazed a trail where no one else had bothered.

#about.severine #.severine #fable

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norman-reedus-gossip · 7 years

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Last Bulk and its a long one

~~mod~~ everything else concerning this topic will be kicked to the modblog. ill try to add to the comments today. i feel like i got ran over so i may not be on at all. sorry for slacking on you and for probably being a world class asshole today. please keep it medium.

Anon: What kind of woman ALLOWS “her boyfriend” to make her hideout so she’s not seen with him? What kind of man DOES that? Be happy for them all you want. I think they look and act like morons. As “adorable ” as people think he is , he seems lately like a total douchebag. Good thing all the fucking booze he consumes gives him the balls to “allow” her be photographed with him. And how fucking desperate does one have to be to let themselves be treated like that? Typical Hollywood. I give this a week.

Anon:Okay, NOW do you think he will make an announcement on Jimmy Fallon about DK? Or that Jimmy will mention it? ~~mod~~ dont know dont care. as long as we get some couch action im good.

Anon:No new stories talk about the trip to italy right before dk dumped pacey. They dont talk about how long nr knew pacey before sky. Wonder how much that cost

Anon:I’m so sad mod….. 😢 Twd’s cast are finally coming to my country and i thinks that is very hard for they bring Norman because he is very expensive…. I mean, Norman is so rich, why he charge that much??! 😢😢 (Sorry for the english) ~~mod~~ aww maybe its not the money but more if he has time. where are they coming? you english is awesome

ahauntedfool: My two cents. I feel badly for disappointed fans who have invested so much time, energy, and possibly even money, on their beloved celebrity, only to see him acting in a way they do not agree with. That must be very hard for them. Maybe I can offer some hope and positivity?I believe no two relationships are alike, and none are black and white. Who really knows everything about their relationship besides them? But it does seem like they are together, and if that is the case I hope they make each other happy. I truly mean that. Love is not something we can plan for, but life is short and happiness is everything. I am still a fan of N, I enjoy many of his films and photographs, his charisma is pleasing, he makes me laugh and he makes me smile. There are some things I don’t like about him, but that’s how it is with people. We are all complex and flawed individuals, and in our imperfections there is beauty. I don’t know much about D yet, but I think I’ll check out her work, watch a few of her films and read some interviews. Maybe I’ll learn something about her that inspires me in some way. With that being said, I think they are an attractive couple, and I love seeing him smile like that. They appear happy in those photos and I hope they are. Maybe this relationship will be good for both of them. Oftentimes we learn from our partners how to be better people.

Anon: Wait for the other shoe to drop on fallon, the baby shoe, lol. He has an extra 0 on his paycheck now, so dk can stay in ny and give up her career while nk goes to ga and cons to keep her in designer duds and pap shots shopping and fashion shows. She can laugh with jdms wife about ppl who pay $$$$ to wait in line for a pic, and we get crappy cgi on twd ~~mod~~ come on the deer really wasnt that bad, if you squint it almost looked real

awesomebrokenheartuniverse: What the fucking fuck??? This is beyond baffling. The public make out session. Even as a teenager I didn’t make out on the street for 30 min. They clearly wanted to be seen. Have we been fooled by NR with some fake persona all these years? Has he drastically changed due to DKs influence? Is he whipped? Is he tired of keeping it a secret and overjoyed to let it all hang out? Does she have dirt on him and forcing this on him (sounds crazy but ya never know)? Is this a juvenile shit show for publicity to benefit both of them? So many questions! Maybe it’s not our business but when they flaunt themselves like this they are kinda asking for it. This is like reality show in your face over the top attention whoring. I feel embarrassed for them. At least she is age appropriate. I don’t know a lot about DK, but the opinions here are largely unfavorable. JJ seems like a decent guy. Why would he stick with her 10 yrs if she’s such bad news? I keep remembering a quote from AL where he said something like “the longer I know N, the more he is an enigma.” NR seems totally all over the place to me right now.

Anon: There’s a video of them kissing now. ~~mod~~ ok

Anon: Hey mod! Sorry to keep adding to this but I’m SO aggravated. Now she’s acting like CS posting pics from his apartment. An her fans are saying to stop bringing up Norman an respect her privacy to people. She doesn’t want privacy! Hence the photo! An the photos taken of them on the street the other night for a hour. If I’m w/ my bf I dont stop and post on SM things from his house. She wants everyone to know she finally got Norman. When will this “relationship” end 😭 personally he deserves better

Anon: Why would Norman be so open about his relationship? This PDA doesn’t fit to him, he never showed so much of his relationship, making out on the street, like in the video it looks like they were making a show. They just stood in the same street walked around kissed hugged just to make a show for the pap, my guess they called him, don’t know why

Anon: Re: the “lie.” Doesn’t it look like Norman’s reps said “friends” because of JJ? Timeline: Pic of Norman and DK at the car looking friendly with story about vacation. Rep said “friends.” Weeks later: picture of JJ kissing and snuggling with another woman at a restaurant. Stories: He’s moved on!! Two - three days later, Norman/DK are completely public. The “lie” was so JJ could say he moved on first. It had nothing to do with manipulating Norman’s fans. Anon: Daily mail has just released an article on NR and DK confirming their relationship and they’ve got a few new pics in there and in one of them NR is looking directly at the camera. I guess we know for sure it was planned and a bit staged now.

Anon: Mod - this was an absolute publicity stunt but I don’t understand why. It makes him look like the biggest possible lying fake asshole alive so why would he want that image? I’m secretly hoping this is some kind of early April Fools day joke.

Anon: Mod when do you think NR and DK became more than just friends? ~~ mod~~ would you be offended if i said i have no idea becasue i dont care enough about them as a couple to even guess. sorry if i sound like a jerk im still not feeling well

Anon: I hope Norman doesn’t think we’re just going to “get over it”? It doesn’t work that way. There is a difference between lying about who you ARE and just simply having a girlfriend. (I won’t even go into how fake SHE is) You Lied to the people that supported you Norman. This isn’t just jealous fangirls. This doesn’t just go away in a few weeks.~~mod~~ im sure he knows it isnt just gonna go away in a few days

Anon: Woke up today with tears in my eyes. Every day I used to go check out all he cool Norman/Daryl fan art on instagram. Now I can’t even look at him.~~mod~~ dont cry anon we can find you someone else to look at.

Jan: Listen up To those deeply upset and disturbed by Norman’s recent actions, please read this - Nothing in your life has actually changes NOTHING! You still breath the same air, work at the same place, hang with the same friends and are surrounded by people that love and care about you in REAL LIFE. You have never, nor will you ever, know the real man behind Norman Reeds and thats probably for the best. All that has happened is that the fantasy you have of him in your head is altered, but you have the power and control to change that narrative back at any point, back to thinking he is kind and sweet and honourable and all the other things that gave you comfort and joy, use him for whatever purpose you want - because I have news for you as a fan/consumer of his brand he is just USING you. He is clever, he will smile and be nice as pie if you are paying for his time, (he is a professional actor), what he is actually like once the show is over, behind closed doors, is probably a very different story that really would shock and upset you. He is part of an ugly dark industry and his values are probably way off the mark to what any of us would consider acceptable. The clues are all around us, the fake hollywood friends he has, the partying showbiz life he leads, his love of attention and the limelight, the blind after blind about his shitty behaviour. It does upset me to see people defending him with the best of intentions, when they have no clue that he doesn’t deserve defending, he is surrounded by wealth and privilege and I highly doubt he cares one bit what faceless avatars on the internet say about him when he is home surrounded by his millions of dollars and fake narcissistic hollywood friends. Me, I love Daryl and I will always love Daryl, he is a real sweetheart and the subject of many a fantasy, Norman not so much, I could never fantasise about someone like him -a shallow and highly privileged actor who can have any beautiful woman he desires at the drop of a hat, and knows it. His priorities are clearly material things, this set up relationship with DK that will be played out in the public eye will just be linked to and part of that agenda in some weird way…(I do have my theories as to why he is so keen to play along with it, but best kept to myself) So seriously people go back to your Daryl (or nice sweet Norman) fantasises… Whatever helps you sleep at night…

Anon: You know what’s even worse than finding out he’s a lying sneaking jerk? That he let her troll his fandom for the whole year. He let us try to defend him the whole time when it was all true. It just shows that his fans don’t really mean anything to him. He didn’t care that she was playing with us and mocking us. It’s just so unbelievable that he is the complete opposite of what he made us believe.

Anon: sorry but I feel betrayed. And before I get jumped on it’s not jealousy or that he can’t have a private life, it’s about thinking one thing about Norman and admiring that person for so long then suddenly finding out that it was all a lie. He made us think that he was our friend but he’s not. he’s laughing at us behind the scenes watching how we buy into the image that he made us think was the real him. it’s not him now. he’s a phony. anyone want walker stalker tickets? don’t want to meet him now ~~mod~~ no need to be sorry anon lots of people are feeling all kinds of way right now. i hear craiglist is a great place to sell those

Anon: God Mod it just breaks my heart to see how fake he looks. Allowing himself to be papped is something I never thought he would do. I admired Norman for being down to earth and real. Where is that man now? He’s gone. He sold out. He’s not who he claims to be. Honest? Lol nope. So this is the real Norman we have been tricked into supporting? He looks just as fake as we know she is. It’s so sad and disheartening and I never thought it would happen to him. He’s just like all the rest. :( So sad.

Anon: Wonder how this will work when he starts filming in May will she go to Georgia she doesn’t seem the country girl

Anon: Mod why do think NR’s reps have the statements that they were “just friends” 3 weeks ago only for them to walk done the street holding hands and kissing now? Do you think NR’s reps didn’t know about the relationship? Or he didn’t consult with them before going public? Or do you think it was all planned? I’m just really confused about the whole thing!

Anon: Sorry…this is a long one… People seem to focus on others being upset because he lied. But I think a lot of people are upset for 2 main reasons. One, they really don’t like DK. It is hard to swallow watching someone you like, date someone you hate. I had a good guy friend date a girl that the rest of us LOATHED. She was just a horrible person and we were all so disappointed when he started dating her. When we asked him why, he just replied, “well, she is not like that towards me”. Um..ok…so since she’s “nice” to you, it’s ok that she is a a-hole to everyone else? It lasted all of 4 months, but I just remember we were all so disgusted. So, anyway, I think that plays a big part in the fan hate. Fans love Norman and think he is wonderful/nice/kind/good to his friends and fans and they can’t understand how he could fall for someone who is the opposite of all those things. The second reason is the cheating. Let’s face it, this didn’t start AFTER she split from JJ. We would be naive to believe that. Personally, I think it started during the filming of SKY. They are together constantly, in the middle of nowhere, I am sure they got very close. Even if there was nothing physical, they could have been having an emotional affair…which is often worse than physical. Although we can argue that with his schedule and her being with JJ, they didn’t actually see each other a lot after filming SKY was over, they still could have been texting and calling, thereby continuing the connection and closeness that was formed during filming. Looking back, I can’t help but wonder if someone DID see them hooking up in a NYC bar (before the break-up with JJ). If they did in fact have an emotional connection, add a lot of alcohol to that and you can definitely lose control for a minute. Obviously, this is my own speculation, but no matter when the physical aspect of their relationship developed, I truly believe, the affair started long before it. As for the people talking about a possible pregnancy. I can see it. Even though Norman is pushing 50 and may not want a baby, as some people pointed out, it may not be up to him. There are many ways for a woman to “accidentally” get pregnant. Someone, I think it was PR wife, mentioned that DK’s star faded long ago. She is definitely someone who will do anything to bring attention to herself. Well, having NR’s baby would certainly bring the spot light. It may be far fetched but I think DK is really sketchy and I would not put it past her. I guess only time will tell if there is a baby as well as how long this thing will last. We shall see…

Anon:I gave a heads up months ago that Diane had a plan and that she and Norman were playing out a fantasy as if they were living their film “Sky”. Health issues included. But guess what comes next (not the end) ;)

Stephanie Kumke: Maybe it´s not DK in the photo, but come on, a naked bully with lights on it with the message “ Waking up to good News”… ~~mod~~ maybe she got a job that wasnt in Europe

Anon: Ya’ll need to be realistic. Daryl isn’t the cash cow of TWD anymore. Not sure if no one sees this but the ratings last week dropped. Why weren’t they higher? I mean Daryl was in it a lot yet they weren’t as good as the week before. I’ve noticed whenever Carol and the Kingdom are on the ratings go up. Seems like she’s more of a cash cow now. She makes more viewers tune in. So I really don’t get when people say Daryl is the No 1 cash cow. It’s not true. It may have been years back, but not anymore

Anon: It disgusts the shit out of me when I see people support their relationship and are happy and even say DK is gorgeous. Wtf NOTHING on this woman is gorgeous. She’s manipulative, attention whore and snobby. I can’t believe his fans (not all of them) support her. She’s the worst nightmare. Norman went down to her level. She is unsympathetic to fans, Norman clearly isn’t the man he claimed to be. Not sure if I’m more disappointed or disgusted because he played all of us the whole time for his image

Anon: I think some people are not getting it…NR didnt own anyone anything but he was not coherent and yeah he deceived and lied when he said he doesn’t like cheaters and loves honest people. Regardless of course he have the right to date who the fuck he wants. not my problem. now the way he did it, for someone that calls himself honest is very questionable when you can see CLEARLY how this pics were staged. When you stage pics like that and you claimed for years being the opposite of course people are going to question who you are and who was the person they have been a fan off all this years. People defended him exactly from this behavior. People defended him when people called him sell out and asshole and manwhore and honestly he just proves the others right. This have nothing to do with DK this have to do with him as a person and how he carries himself. He didnt assume her before because he was sticking his dick somewhere else too and the other kick him to the curb.

dandelioncherokee : Interesting. Norman and Diane are not looking AT EACH OTHER in one single picture. A loving couple would do that ALL THE TIME. One word. FAKE. I honestly haven’t got a clue WHY ALL THIS. Oh Norman,you had it going all good for you.Now I can only pray that the universe will give you another chance,so you can try to fix this. Kisses to you,mod ❤️hope you are alright.~~mod~~ i feel like i got kicked down 10 flights of stairs.. you flirting makes me feel better

Anon: I was just thinking about the happy anniversary post and the ‘comment’. Turns out the DK part of that was true and it makes me wonder how many of the other parts were also true. Maya Angelo said when people show you who they are, believe them the first time. Eyes opened, I get it now and I’m just here for wicked gifs, and weird banter. Good things always come from bad, you’re the good thing Mod.

Anon: Pic look good, his fans on ig congrat to him so lol. Congrat to him too. We know here it so far from jealous but it is about who is this guy. Why he won’t hint their relationship at all.jdm said I think he’s single. So he happy it’s foiod but it different story from why he lid like liar, completely behave another and then be another man. And I didn’t see any pic that he look at her face. He smile to ppl. Wake up idiot fans! ~~mod~~ Please dont call fans idiots we all have our opinion

Anon: Another blog says they KNOW that Norman and DK were a thing since Sky. They supposedly have a source but won’t reveal it, they’re also saying no one knows if cheating was involved because no one knows the status of DK and JJ’ relationship. DK moved to NYC in late 2015 to be with JJ AFTER sky was finished. They bought a home together in LA in early 2016. So if her “source” is correct than yes, they were cheating all along, which makes the dec 2015 rumor seem not so false. They’re disgusting

Anon: Who knows…Maybe they both have an agreement? Maybe he agreed to help her with her image by doing this. He may think what’s the harm in helping a friend?? I am soooooo not on her side…I’m just trying to ration it out. Unfortunately we may never know. I still haven’t seen pics of them full on kissing. That one pic where they’re close looks like he was lighting a smoke. Hand holding? Even friends do that. He seemed pretty drunk anyway. Ugh and her IG? Tries to be like N & HC. UMM no.

Anon: Thinking if the 2 of them together makes me so ill but hey…He’s a big boy. I’ve been going thru the stages of grief (as stupid as that may sound) and I don’t regret smashing my DVD copy of Sky! Didn’t much like it anyway lol now I’m past the anger and just sad. I’m not as mad at N as I was a few days ago but I still think DK is a snake. I hope that he guards his heart from her nasty ways! I also think the whole thing with the paps is strange. N is very impulsive and sometimes too too nice!

Anon:Hahaha I share the same first name as DK, so at least I know when Norman is having sex he is screaming my name. Seriously tho at least she is age appropriate and who cares anyway. You are a fan of his work or not no matter who he is boning.

Anon:Is it me or is Norman avoiding liking DK IG posts? I believe he may have been drunk that night and is regretting what he did

rebellacycle:Are you going to watch jimmy Fallon tonight ? Wonder if he will talk about the new relationship. Or just TWD~~mod~~ i will probaly be asleep. probaly just talk about he twd

Anon:

Norman and Diane are happy and in love so the haters have already lost ✌🏼

Anon:

I have a question for those fans who keep saying things like “Be respectful of Norman’s private life!”…. But they’re the ones who are (unnecessarily!) publicizing it. They staged and sold pics and video. In PDA, the P doesn’t stand for Private. If they are not respecting their own relationship, why should we? Also is talking about Norman’s penis size respecting his privacy? So what exactly do y'all mean? They don’t seem to want that. They want people to talk, comment, click the links.

Anon

:Feel better soon Mod! I don’t understand something about the whole DK Shitshow. If this is legit (and not just publicity) then how come no other gossip sites are picking it up??? TMZ doesn’t have anything to say about it after they just ran the garage pics/got his denial?? It looks like People ENews DM UsWeekly and a few less known sites are the only ones going with it, so how come??? I don’t get it! I don’t understand how Norman can be one thing one day and the TOTAL OPPOSITE the next!??! WTAF

Anon: The photos and the video of NR and DK … Looking at it I just feel DK is walking with his trophy. She wants everybody to see her new toy, her little puppy that she will manipulate as she pleases. DK wants everyone to see his new trophy !! While NR smiles like a fool who does not understand the situation. Yes he became the DK puppet

anon:

I appreciate this blog and your work, but you have to moderate some comments that appear on your site. I read comments accusing Norman of lust after teenage girls. This is defamation and it is very serious. It is unbearable to see all this hate and these lies dumped on an actor we have supposed to love. It is all the more intolerable that currently the world is experiencing serious problems. Thousands of people are dying of hunger, London and Paris are the target of terrorists, but some people prefer to waste their time to dumped their hate on Norman. Treat him as if he was a criminal just because he’s in love and he lied because he didn’t want to reveal his private life in the press.I doubt that you post this message on your blog but I needed to say. Many of us live very difficult moments and see all this hate for a simple relationship is ridiculous. Some may express their disappointment but have no right to invent lies and spill their hatred. Sorry for my aproximative English, I hope to find a warm and funny blog. Good luck to you Mod….

~~mod~~ just a few things. 1.tumblr rarely lets me delete comments, the tumblr app hates me…2. the quickest way to get your post deleted is to say “you probaly wont post this”.. i hate that.

Anon:Hope you feel better soon mod. This is for when you do the bulk: at this point I think I’d be happier finding out he did accidentally get her pregnant one drunken night but actually can’t stand her and did this for appearances only and they aren’t really a thing. At least that way he would be the same guy who just made one huge mistake while intoxicated. One night stands happen all the time. But being with her?? it changes everything about him and it makes him a liar.

Anon:

been two days I haven’t looked at anything to do with N and I still can’t get over this. He’s a complete fake. short of telling us he was abducted by aliens and this was an imposter in his body I will never understand. ’s like he just revealed that he is the opposite of everything he made people believe for the past seven years. Liar. Fake. Hollywood. Stupid. Ingenuine. That’s what this makes him look like now. It makes me want to cry. someone say it was all a nightmare. where’s the real norman

Anon

:Happy Today, Mod! I hope your body parts will all in good working order soon. Please take care of yourself. The drama of Norman Reedus means nothing in the long run. Kind people like you who take the time to create community are what matters!

Anon:If DK’s marrage broke down because she cheating then norman gotta run far and fast, they cheat WITH you they cheat ON you. You should look at enty and type in Norman reedus/Diane Kruger this shit been stirring for a while Anon:Will Jimmy Fallon grill Norman about DK? ~~mod~~ dont know

Anon

:Have you seen the pap walk pics & videos?? Omg I’ll swear DK slipped a Mickey Finn in Norman’s whiskey. For him to agree to call the paps on himself, something was totally wrong with him! I don’t recognize that Norman. DK is destructive & opportunistic. She manipulated her way into his life from day one when she recommended him for the SKY role. She is as TOXIC as they come! Wtf’s he doing with her? He’s in self-destructive mode, I pray he comes to his senses in Ga surrounded by good ppl.

Anon:Diane manipulates the media and manipulates Norman. An avid woman who likes to manipulate her little world. How can people defend it? I saw her in truth, she behaves like a haughty princess.

Anon:I no longer see goodness in Norman.

Anon

:Just canceled my trip to San Fran wsc. I was gonna meet him but I can’t even look at him nevermind meet him. How are we supposed to pretend he’s the same guy? He’s NOT what he told us he was! It’s NOT bc of a gf but 1) that it’s HER of all ppl (she is the epitome of famewhore sell out and no one I’ve talked to who met her have ANYTHING nice to say) and 2) He LIED about everything. He’s not any of the things we thought, made his reps look stupid and sold out to let himself be papped. WTF is that

anon

: Personally I’m wondering if she got him drunk, got him to agree to this to make the rumors look true, and that he was too wasted to care. This is NOT the guy we know and love. This is also coming from a mutual friend of his not just some fan. he never calls the media, like TMZ on himself. He’s a private, fairly normal dude, and that’s why I think DK set it up. To boost her American publicity and get noticed for work here. Sad, sick, and sketchy.

Anon: I’m definitely over reading about it Mod but I don’t understand how anything is gonna go back to the way it was anyway so I vote to keep it on the main blog. He’s a lying jerk and this is what we have to see now every day because how can we not if he’s seriously with her. I think I’m gonna have to quit being his fan altogether bc I can’t take her I don’t want to see her ridiculous face every single time he goes anywhere ~~mod~~ here the thing its an N blog, i dont have to post anything with her in it. im really good at cropping things out of pics.

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crystalelemental · 7 years

Text

Atelier Meruru Plus Opinions

Meruru Plus is a game I feel very positively about, while also feeling like it was the most stressful game I played. On the one hand, it feels very much like Rorona, in that it's a game that's very fun and I would gladly pick up again to play. On the other, it's very difficult to get things done in time, and I don't think I've ever been as caught off-guard by some of the stuff that opens up when you think you’re done. It definitely makes it high on the replay value scale, but I also feel like getting everything I wanted done may as well have been impossible. Which...may be the point? But it’s still weird to me that I played through this game twice and still have less than half of all available characters outfitted properly. I don’t even think Gino has armor right now...

CHARACTERS As a whole, characters are great, but Meruru is by far the lowest number of new entries to a game. Most of your playable cast is in returning characters, with only 4 (5 if you count Meruru herself) being complete new, and two of those are DLC in the base game. In a cast of 13 playable characters, the largest thus far, that's...a very small percentage. It's not bad, but it does kinda detract a bit from this being a separate kingdom. It's also tough for the newcomers, who can be fairly bland, to compete with the development that returning powerhouses bring.

Meruru - Meruru was my least favorite of the alchemists initially, but she's grown on me a lot. She's boisterous and loud, but is also presented as an alchemist who, more than the other two, is highly driven toward a goal with alchemy in mind. Totori arguably could've accomplished her goal just through physical training, and while Rorona's goals were entirely based in alchemy, it never really amounts to more than "keep the workshop." Meruru aims to develop her entire kingdom using alchemy, and I think it's a neat little parallel to the history we get at the start of Rorona Plus. More on that later, but Meruru just winds up being a really fun protagonist. Plus, as her alchemy skills develop, so does her personality. She shifts from seeming highly self-centered on just doing whatever she wants, to a character who is driven both for her own sake, but also for the sake of the people in her kingdom. It’s a really nice development path.

Keina - I like Keina. She's fine. But she is not very interesting. Her main character traits are being really lucky, and really devoted to Meruru. She doesn't really bring a lot to the table in terms of being interesting on her own, and serves more as an addition to Meruru. Her primary problem is just not standing out, which, again, is partly because of the returning characters.

Lias - Same issue. Lias has some fun stuff going on, in his own negative self-perceptions and having to overcome them, and his constant looking up to his brother as a role model. Like Keina, there are endearing traits, but he does feel entirely overshadowed.

Totori - TOTORI IS BACK! Totori is a delight, and honestly, I'm super glad she's back as Meruru's teacher. She does well as a foil to Rorona's teaching style, being very explicit and clear in her teachings, and a lot more hands-on than Rorona ever was. She's very involved in Meruru's learning, and the bond they have as teacher and student is really precious. Plus, her basic attack is a massive AoE, so she's fantastic in combat. And of course, there’s her interactions with...

Mimi - THE OTHER BEST GIRL RETURNS! And oh my god, what a return. I love adult Mimi's design, and she carries over the difficulties with expressing herself, but with her entire character arc this game being about trying to...okay, the game will say it's expressing her appreciation for Totori being her friend, but this is a love confession. These two are married now. Canon. The trophy is called “Friendship, Love” for god’s sake! Mimi's arc of trying to move past her resistance to being open and expressing her feelings for Totori is the most precious thing imaginable, and I love it.

Gino - Oh good, this guy. Gino returns, and has learned nothing. He's still the same knucklehead as before. I really have nothing good to say about Gino, so I guess it’s nice of him to make sure that not all returning characters were better than the new faces.

Esty - Esty shows up again, and her role as a sort of spy within Arls is...actually super cool. The entirety of the Arland group being here is interesting, really. For Esty, a lot of it is in how she examines others within the kingdom and brings Meruru along to get a closer look at her subjects to build that sense of commitment to her people. It's a nice little arc.

Sterk - Sterk is back again, and with the same knight complex as always. This time, though, he's within a kingdom with royalty left, and he once again pushes to become a true knight, only to be reminded that this kingdom is fading out too. He continues to struggle with moving past a dying dream, and it's a nice continuing story arc for Sterk.

Rorona - Okay, listen. Rorona's return is arguably the worst part of this game, not because of Rorona coming back, but how she does so. Why is she 8? Did we really need this plotline, Japan? Kid Rorona can be cute and all, but this is just...so bizarre to me. I really can't appreciate kid Rorona. At all.

Astrid - Astrid, being outside of the kingdom that she despises, should be more tolerable. The opposite happens. She demonstrates the same issues, where she's needlessly cruel to people who have done nothing to deserve this. It's just her nature to be awful to people, and it makes it really hard to appreciate her. It's worse this time because she tried to change Rorona back to her 14-year-old self and messed up, creating the awkward child Rorona piece. "Who wants a Rorona in her 30s?" ME, THAT'S WHO! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?

Rufus - Lias' older brother. I love this guy. The super-serious counter-point to almost everyone in the cast. Sterk winds up being an over-zealous crazy person compared to Rufus staying ever calm, and of course with Meruru he's a stern advisor who genuinely cares about his princess and wants her to succeed in her goals. He's a sweet and serious character, and I really appreciate that.

Pamela - WOO, PAMELA! Pamela's been in the other games as well, but only ever as a shopkeeper who is delightfully quirky. Now she's playable, and it's great. I wanted this so badly. Just a shame her basic attack is all elemental, so she's borderline useless against post-game bosses. At least, I’d imagine. I never really tried.

Hanna - Hanna has shades of Melvia, without being quite as bad. She's definitely the primary source of uncomfortable moments (most notably, the "someone's drunk" trophy from every game that's always super uncomfortable to get), but it doesn't feel like she's as...constant as Melvia. I'm still not a big fan of her, but there's at least some appreciation for her upbeat and energetic attitude.

Gio - This guy. The king of Arland shows up, and is basically a sort of advisor to Meruru, at times. Although, he's sort of far removed from a lot of the first run through the game. Only when you start NG+ do you start getting anything from him. Gio then gives his history as an adventurer with Meruru's father, and another alchemist named Sofra, and their ill-fated attempt to take down the demon of the volcano and how Sofra lost her life. It's a nice backstory, really, and is kind of Totori-esque in how it establishes Meruru as a successor to a legacy.

Hagel - This guy is back! That’s neat! He’s still great. No changes.

Homs - Male and Female Hom are both present here, and they can be interesting. They get a fun little sub-plot about their role as servants being completely invalidated by Keina’s maid expertise, and have some interesting conversations about the difficulties of rapid social change with the chims. Odd that the only characters that ever address this are the Homs...

Dessier - Did you know that Meruru’s dad was in this game? Because it’s real easy to forget, outside of the four scenes he shows up in and the Airshatter sidequest, the latter of which is solid, as it introduces him as a competent ruler who once had the same ambitions as Meruru, but lost that drive when Meruru’s aunt Sofra died trying to subdue the demon.

STORY This is an odd one. Your story is that Meruru is a princess who hates being such, and wants to be an alchemist. Her father, the king, refuses, but she pursues it anyway, and with Rufus' help, an agreement is struck where she can use alchemy to develop the kingdom, but if she doesn't meet the goals that are set, she has to give up. The odd thing is, there's a simultaneous plot running where the kingdom of Arls is about to be integrated into the Republic of Arland. So Meruru won't even be royalty in a few years anyway, and developing the kingdom is...kind of a moot point, since the kingdom won't exist soon? It's really odd when you look at it from that angle, but I honestly think they’re going for something interesting on this one. The game focuses a lot on this theme of "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Meruru's entire arc with Keina is about how their changing roles won't matter in the grand scheme, since they're going to stay together regardless of what happens. That's a pretty good parallel to the game as a whole. The kingdom isn't going to be a kingdom anymore in a few years, but the development is for the individual people that make up the kingdom, not the stature of its royalty. It feels like it's an attempt to demonstrate what's important with Meruru's actions, and how the changes she makes will have a lasting impact for the people who won't change when the political climate does. SETTING I mentioned this in the Rorona breakdown, about how I feel like Meruru is a parallel to the bit of history we got at the start of Rorona. Part of this is because of Arls itself. It's...kind of a dump. All nearby locations tend to be overrun with plant life and untamed wilderness, and there are several areas that, just based on appearance, are run down and have little to offer even in the way of alchemy resources. Through development of the kingdom, things become better. Farmlands have actual crops, energy is harvested from the windiest areas, drinking water is diverted to the kingdom, and enemy threats are combated and removed. Meruru's actions turned a generally uninhabitable area into something that people would dwell in, and I feel like it's a good showing of how Arland came to be in its current state. Arls certainly doesn't feel any smaller in terms of locations you can go within its walls, but the safe locations outside of its walls has expanded dramatically, and I like to believe that this is exactly how Arland was developed back when their original alchemist began their work.

SYNTHESIS SYSTEM Exactly like Rorona Plus. Like, almost exactly the same. There are a few things that are different, in terms of traits that can be inherited, but it's the same sort of Cost system with the combining of traits and everything. There are also development items that Meruru can equip that make certain actions easier. Rorona Plus also had these, though they were just kept in the Atelier and had their respective effects. For Meruru, they're equipment that you can put on or take off as needed to apply or remove the effects. Generally, you just put them on and leave them on forever, though there's maybe one time you might want a low quality Sage Herb for an Elixer that recovers MP.

BATTLE SYSTEM Much like Rorona, it's very fast-paced, and your equipment is everything. You don't really need items at almost any point in the game, barring Elixers for end-game and maybe some good bombs. The biggest difference is the post-game bosses. In Rorona, post-game bosses required a good amount of items and planning. Things could still ultimately be completed with just attack skills of allies, but you needed items to cause debuffs and deal consistent damage, especially past bosses that would heal indefinitely. In Meruru? Just bring Gio. Bring Gio with Shadow Essence, skill cost reduction traits, and call it a day, because you do not even have to TRY anymore after that point. With Gio's Slash skill, which costs very little, you can potentially earn an extra turn. With Shadow Essence, you attack twice in one turn. So Gio will do a regular attack, then follow with Slash, an 99.9% of the time, gain another two turns, and can do this indefinitely. I beast most of the post-game bosses before they could attack. The only reason the Machina Domain final boss got a shot in was because I forgot which attack was which after getting distracted and Gio missed his turn. It was dead on his next action. There is zero challenge with these post-game bosses, and it's entirely because of Gio. I'd almost go so far as to say it's not fun because of it. The post-game bosses become a chore rather than a fight. You just have to keep up the pattern until they die, which isn't particularly engaging. Post-game superbosses are always hard to design, but these ones...I just don't feel like they're all that fun. Maybe if I replay and try to insist on beating bosses without using Gio there would be engagement, but with the amount of HP they have and the damage they deal, I kind of wonder if it's worth it.

OTHER MECHANICS Development points replace license points from last game, and at set intervals your kingdom ranks up. The difference is, when you rank up a kingdom, you just get new requests for development, and maybe new characters showing up. Locations on the map can be accessed as soon as you move there. Your stopping points are because Meruru noted something interesting about the landscape, and you have to go back to Rufus to develop. Once you develop it the first time, you can progress through to the next area. This is a really cool system, and there's an area north of Arls that's really close by that opens up fairly early, but is SUPER hard to fight through because enemies are so strong. I honestly love that. I love when the game establishes boundaries not through arbitrary progression points, but by letting you go through and then brutally kicking your face into the dirt to say "Maybe come back when you are not baby weak."

The development points are also stockpiled and invested into different facilities. These facilities confer benefits, such as increasing experience for battle or synthesis, giving extra uses on items or reducing needed materials, and most importantly, giving you an allowance on certain days of the month, which is HYPER-VITAL, because money is tough to come by in this game, and you have a ton of characters to outfit. To give an idea: I have finished NG+, and still have only half my party fully outfitted. It's that rough.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS I think it's worth noting that endings are very, very different in this game. In the previous games, and even in subsequent games, endings are based entirely on character friendship levels. When you max a character's friendship and complete their events, you unlock that character's specific ending. Usually this is some manner of adventuring with that specific person, and that's it. With Meruru, endings are determined based on what you accomplish in the world. There's one ending for getting max friendship with all characters, and that one takes highest priority (barring the new Plus-exclusive ending), but the remainder are all based on what you accomplish. One is for meeting the population goals without anything else. Two are based on finishing the lizard army sidequest, one with beating Masked G and one while losing. Two are based on beating the volcano demon, one with Gio and one without. Three are based on creating the Potion of Youth again: one for completing it and nothing else; one for completing it once and reaching Alchemy level 50; and one for completing it twice, reaching alchemy level 50, and then creating a new type of potion that actually works. That last one takes FOREVER, and is, I believe, the highest-priority ending, which shows adult Rorona. And I gotta say...nice.

We also get a few of the uncomfortable fanservice moments in this game as well. They're less constant than Totori, but we still get the "Drunken Person" trophy, which has been in every Arland game and involves the main character getting molested by a drunk person. Oh, and there's a scene where you run into Hanna bathing naked. That was super necessary.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Atelier Meruru is, much like Rorona, a very fun game. I think it has a bit more going for it in terms of an interesting story, but ultimately runs exactly the same. If there's any major faults, it's that the new characters are very few, and not all that interesting compared to previously introduced characters. Combat also tends to feel like a drag in the post-game, as the only real strategy needed to win is "Bring Gio, spam Slash." As a result, the game can really feel like it lacks teeth, especially when you get your best equipment set up. Still, all in all, it's a fun game that's definitely worth picking up.

If you enjoyed this (for some reason), consider checking out the write-ups for the other games in the series as well!

Atelier Rorona Plus Atelier Totori Plus Atelier Meruru Plus Atelier Ayesha Plus Atelier Escha and Logy Plus Atelier Shallie Plus Atelier Sophie Atelier Firis

#atelier meruru plus #atelier meruru #atelier series #atelier opinions

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languagesoloists-blog · 7 years

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French Immersion

Immersion is my favorite method of language learning. I find it to be the most entertaining, and I’ve heard stories of how many people picked up a language during a few months time in another country. Unfortunately I’m poor, and I can’t just pack up my bags and hop over to France. But I’ve found other ways to immerse myself, and these are some of my favorites.

Movies

I don’t really watch a lot of movies, so this list isn’t all that long. But here are some movies that are in French, or available in French

Pretty much all Disney movies - I enjoyed Frozen in French more than English. Not entirely sure why it made the difference, as that was a while ago and I couldn’t understand anything that was said.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron - This is a childhood favorite so I had to include it

Beauty and the Beast 2014 - This is originally French, which is nice so you don’t have to watch out of sync mouths. Though it’s… uh. A little weird. Visually amazing in my opinion, but also kinda weird. You’ve been warned.

Just… movies in general - I’m just putting it out there that, in general, you can find a lot of movies in French. It’s one of the perks of learning a popular language.

Games

These are a little harder to come by, but since French is a popular language, it’s still possible. I think gameplay in French is one of my favorite things. One, because I really enjoy video games, but two because it’s the closest I’ll get to actually going to France and being completely surrounded by this language.

Petz Horsez 2 - This game is originally in French, and it’s set in France so it’s basically the best thing ever (I also highly recommend it to horse/adventure game lovers because reasons). It’s an older game, but I grew up with old games so I’m used to that stuff. It’s well put together, and has really aided me in expanding my vocabulary. I often keep a notebook handy to write down new words I want to remember, as well as a translator nearby, just in case.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - This is a game I adore, and it’s available in French. Of course a majority of this game consists of battling, so it’s not the most productive to your learning, but even so, it’s an extra excuse to play, amiright? Plus, you’ll be able to say this infamous line in French: J'étais un aventurier comme vous. Puis j'ai pris une flèche au genou.

Nancy Drew Games - HerInteractive has a select few games available to play in French (and German!). I bought one this last year, and had fun going through a game I knew so well in another language. Having played all their games multiple times through, I was not entirely confused. But if it’s your first time through the game, and it’s not in your native language, have a translator by hand. Google Translate isn’t perfect, but it’ll do the job.

Music

This one is kinda obvious for some people. These are some of my favorite French artists, and of course when in doubt, listen to Disney music in French, because you can find all of those translated into 25+ different languages.

Indila - Some of my favorites include: Tourner Dans le Vide, Mini World, Dernière danse, S.O.S., Run Run, Tu Ne M’Entends, Love Story, Boite En Argent

Kendji Girac - (Not all his stuff is French) Some of my favorites include: Ma solitude, C’est trop, Mes potes et moi, Jamais à genoux

Maitre Gims - Some of my favorites include: Je te pardonne (feat. Sia), Mon coeur avait raison, Zombie, Tu vas me manquer

YouTube

Damon And Jo - This is probably one of my favorite channels on YouTube. I really love them, they’re fun to watch, they travel a lot, and they post a lot as well (four times a week! Though only one video a week is dedicated to French).

The Urban Eve - This girl is fluent in seven languages, so French isn’t all you’ll find on her channel. She’s a beauty, fashion, travel YouTuber, though she’s done videos specifically talking about language learning, so you’ll have to sift through to find the ones that are in French, or about French. Still, I really like her channel.

Around the House

My calendar - I have a whiteboard calendar, so I changed it up so it’s all in French.

Various sites on my computer, and my phone - I changed up a lot of settings on websites and my computer, so that I can be surrounded by French all day. And my phone is almost entirely in French, as changing the main setting will translate everything it possibly can. Though for now, a few select areas are still in English, as I need to be able to perform my job properly.

My journal - Whenever I can, I try and write bits and pieces of my journal in French. It can be difficult, and I just know I’m probably messing up the grammar. But vocabulary recall is my hardest challenge, and that’s how I’m trying to remedy that. I mean, the other day I couldn’t remember how to say please in French. I slapped myself when I looked it up.

General Resources

Finally I’ll cap this off with my general French learning material, as that’s what makes all of the above helpful and not just gibberish. In the past I often just stuck to a language course on Duolingo, so my list isn’t as long as I’d like. However it’s become extremely evident to me that learning a language solely through a single course is probably impossible. You’re gonna need a helping hand, especially if you want to speed up the process.

Books

Essential French Grammar - So far I’m really enjoying this book. It’s relatively easy to read and is packed with good information to get started on French grammar. I would say it’s something I’d like to add to my personal library soon.

French in 10 Minutes a Day - This is a fun book, to get you started and familiar with all the basics. If you’re intermediate, then it probably has no value for you, unless you want to review. My favorite part is that it’s interactive.

Easy French Reader - Even though it’s literally called Easy French Reader, I find this one a little intimidating, though still very helpful. You can start reading this early on in your learning, but if you’re a stickler like me who wants to perfectly pronounce every word, it’ll be a slow read.

Websites

Duolingo - I started here when picking up French. It’s a great site, great interactive learning, but I don’t care for how they teach grammar. It’s not incorporated into the lesson, and so I often just skip it because reading it feels like an information overload. Mostly I use Duo to get a good grasp of the language, and to expand my vocabulary.

Mango Languages - Mango isn’t quite as interactive as Duo for learning, but they incorporate grammar and cultural notes into the lessons, which I really like.

Other

Berlitz French Guaranteed - My sister took a French class years ago, and had some old CD’s lying around that she gave me the other day. They pretty much just have people speak a phrase in French, then in English. It’s great to have on in the background though.

Accents - This isn’t exclusively for French, but all languages. If you don’t have the alt key code of accents memorized, you need this reference sheet, it’s helped me so much.

-Alina

#français #french #langblr #language #resources #immersion

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