#it's just so cute and pointless and like LOOK AT THIS WHOLE WORLD OUR SHOW HAS

[casanovawrites]

reneé rapp sentence starters

i can't be everything to everyone.

who do you talk to when you can't talk to no one?

forget all your problems, you know that i'm gonna solve them.

i can't take it. i hate when you're crying.

i need the guts to go and give you up.

it's you that i'm missing.

we're too young, too dumb, too in love to afford it.

now it's just me and a hundred square feet of bittersweet memories.

i'm too scared to delete all our videos 'cause it's real once everyone knows.

falling in love, it ain't for the weak.

it's funny how time shows you, you know nothing.

i used to love you, but now you're dead to me.

who am i kidding, i'm addicted to the chip on my shoulder.

this is hell, but i'll stay right here.

i worry about you. don't worry about me.

you don't even get it, you don't understand.

i know i'm only one of your friends.

i know all about you, all your favorite things. i listen to your stories, all your wildest dreams.

you know you're too good for him, but if it were me, i'd give you everything.

i just wanna say it, but i'm scared if i do you ain't looking at me the way i'm looking at you.

i'd rather keep on lying than to tell you the truth.

i'll be here forever wondering, what can i do?

i swear that you feel it, but then i second guess. i don't know if you see us how i do in my head.

today, i woke up in a good mood for once.

first time in six months, i don't hate you as much.

you weren't there in my dreams, i could finally sleep.

i felt good, but it sucks, i don't hate you as much.

it's easier holding a grudge. i'd rather be angry than crushed.

i'm back where i started again, crying and calling my friends.

this shit never ends.

i get so sick of myself, can't stop overthinking.

i heard you're happy somewhere else.

i don't miss you 'til the moment when i flip off the lights and i'm still in this room.

now it hurts, i know you're somewhere out there still existing.

you split my world in two, now i'm half the one you knew.

how can i be dead to you when we're looking at the same moon?

are you lonely?

in the stars, i can see your eyes. all the stars make me feel alive.

i go through six different moods at a time. i'm happy, then i'm losing my mind.

i'm so sensitive, just one touch and i feel pain.

i bruise easily.

it didn't feel like a dream.

woke up, and you looked so cute.

don't think i could love you more.

so what the hell does it all mean?

i know it's crazy, but what if it's right?

i'm here again, talking myself out of my own happiness.

i think i talk too much.

god forbid, you're not the center of attention.

as far as i'm concerned, they should just burn the whole city down.

you get on my nerves, you're so fucking annoying.

you could poison poison, you're the worst.

forgiving you is pointless.

it didn't have to be like this. i didn't wanna have to use the knife behind your back.

you almost got away with it.

i hate that bitch.

i talk shit, then i bite my tongue.

you're so fucking perfect.

yesterday was heaven, now i'm bored.

i bet you're sick of it. believe me, so am i.

i'll make it through the winter if it kills me.

smiles hide what secrets keep. can't tell a lie if you never speak.

i tried so hard. i came so far.

i met a boy, he broke my heart. i blame him 'cause it's easier.

i wish i went a different way, but if i went back, i would do the same.

i found out from a friend of a friend that you're here again.

so what now? should we talk?

do you tell your friends that things ended well? that i'm overdramatic, it was chill, do you lie and say you don't wanna see me again?

both of us like to pretend, so we feel like we're cool.

i might kiss you, but i also might fight you.

you think that i'd be flattered. it's pathetic, 'cause you're right.

it's a blessing and a curse.

i can predict this shit line by line.

keep on pretending, pretty girl.

some goodbyes are forever.

thought we'd always be together.

how can the person who taught me to breathe take their last breath right in front of me?

i wish i could still see the world through those eyes.

stay a little longer, i'm not ready for you to go.

i have been mourning since ten years old.

stay a little longer.

jesus, you're hard to rely on.

i just want some recognition for having good tits and a big heart.

i wanna ask how you're doing and mean it.

i feel like everyone hates me.

how old do you have to be to live so young and careless?

if i'm being honest, when you look at me, it's like kissing a million angels.

i had to be strong, i'm still scared of it all.

i know one day i could wake up, and you'll be gone.

i'll just be lonely, missing holding your hand when we're half asleep.

that's what scares me the most, knowing you could just let me go.

don't know why, but i like that.

you don't notice one red flag, 'cause on the surface i'm too perfect.

loving me gets messy.

you don't see us like i do.

when we're saying "i love you," i mean it different than you do.

i never stood a chance.

thoughts of you are soft as snow.

#sentence starters #sentence prompts #rp sentence starters #rp ask meme #ask meme #rp sentence prompts #meme #* #renee rapp sentence starters

[animeficsworld]

A Story of Snow and Love

Gojo Satoru x Reader

You always loved snow.

There was just something about sitting by the window, drinking a hot beverage while watching the world getting a fluffy white coat around you.

And yet there you were, perfectly warm and comfortable, in the arms of the man, who’s hair was the same colour as the snow outside.

Whenever he was with you, he took off his blindfold, letting you see his gorgeous eyes you loved so much.

Satoru was a work of art, passionate, strong, kind and yours.

Completely yours.

The ring on both of your fingers were the proof.

He pulled you closer, if that was even possible, and kissed your temple.

“Are you kissing me because you want to steal my hot chocolate?” you asked, knowing him too well.

He pouted, how could you?

“No, I just want to show my lovely wife how much I love her.” He leaned in again and kissed your cheek this time.

But you knew better than to believe his words. This is how it always started, small kisses here and there and then half of your brownie is gone, half of your tea disappears and the worse of it all, half of your ice cream.

You knew him, he was sleek. But you caught him almost every time.

Sometimes, too late. But lately you have been good.

“You could get more, there’s a whole mug in the kitchen.” You said, taking a sip as you looked at his empty mug by your side.

He pouted again.

“But I don’t want to leave you, you are so warm. Give me just a sip? Just one? PLEASE?”

You let out a sigh, you knew arguing with him was pointless, but if you gave into him, you could mourn the loss of your hot chocolate.

But he was too cute, and he always won.

You handed him the mug and let out a sigh as he cheered.

You touched the glass in front of you. Feeling how cold it was.

“Do you think that one day, our children will build snowman while we watch them just like this?” Satoru looked at you, smiling as he handed your mug back.

“I know they will. They will be happy, because they will have the best mommy ever.”

“And the coolest dad.” You said as you slightly turned to look into his eyes and smile. He smiled as well before he leaned in and kissed you, fully on the lips this time.

You felt one of his hands wonder to your waist then it moved somewhere as he deepened the kiss. You grabbed your mug, pulling it away before he could grab it.

You pulled back from the kiss.

“You sleek little fox.” You said and he smirked.

You were the only person able to stop him.

#gojo satoru scenario #gojo satoru #gojo satoru imagine #gojo satoru imagines #gojo satoru reader #gojo satoru x you #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen scenarios #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen scenario

[grrrlsoverdramas]

#I'm screaming #WHAt'S the point of this!???? #it's just so cute and pointless and like LOOK AT THIS WHOLE WORLD OUR SHOW HAS #ENJOY #run on

[captnjacksparrow]

Hey, really liked your analysis of Hinata. I feel almost the same way about her. Even though generally I dislike female characters who are naturally meek, subservient and pointless with no character arc in any type of media, what made me absolutely hate her character was how she treated Neji. If Kishi wanted to show her arc being developed organically, instead of proposing to Naruto that removes her stuttering and gives her new found confidence (because girls only get confident when proposing to guys 🙄), Kishi could have shown her talking to Neji after he literally told his bitter story on the chuunin exam grounds in front of everyone. She is shown like she is sympathetic but didn't do anything about it. She didn't even talk to him after he was hospitalized. She knew exactly why he was the way he was, and yet she fights him as if it was his fault. She, an heir of the clan, could have asked her father to support Neji, she had some clout. But nope. In fact, it was Neji who apologizes to her in a way, he is the one who trains her and help create a new jutsu for her. What did she ever do for him exactly? And Neji didn't have to help her. She was in the best position to help and understand Neji but what did she do? A lot of fans like her character because she is reserved but kind and sympathetic. She is reserved but a coward. She was not kind towards Neji. He died for her when he didn't deserve to, he had dreams and goals that were much bigger than Hinata's entire existence. She couldn't even see her own cousin's pain and she claims to understand Naruto?? Really??

Even Kishi said she was a pitiful character who only watches from a distance. He deliberately made her that way, no goal, no backbone and no lines. And I think she sucks the most after Danzo.

WoooW!!!! Thanks for the ask, Anon.

[[Hinata and Sakura fans!!!! Please stay away and don't interact. I fucking tagged them properly]].

Even though generally I dislike female characters who are naturally meek, subservient and pointless with no character arc in any type of media, what made me absolutely hate her character was how she treated Neji.

We definitely share the same thoughts on this one, Anon.

I am really tired on most of the media for their poor treatment of female characters.

The last time I was amused by a female character was from 'Game of Thrones', I loved Cersei Lannister, who is an absolute biashhh and Sansa Stark, started out as an annoying rose tinted princess but ended up winning everyone's heart. Both are non-combative, soft spoken and somewhat powerless women in a world dominated by men. But they just didn't let the inconveniences stop them and instead they learned how to fuck that world back and take control. Both are similar and yet very different.

After seeing, such well-developed characters..... For me girls in Naruto series, is blehhhhh..... Nothing to get inspired from them. And I knew it by episode 3 itself. I have no idea how can girls, in real life, treat Sakura as some feminist icon, which makes my skin crawl for number of reasons. If you point her mistakes out in any discussions, they will pull the misogynist card to your face. When in reality, I am also a girl and my world views are entirely different from Sakura or Hinata. There is no way a 12 year old girl would want to look at the Duck of another boy.

And the problem is, They form the majority, I mean people who can connect with Sakura or Hinata. So, as long as girls like them exists, we really should suffer from these crap portrayal I guess.

That's why I advise people that If you want to see a good woman character, Narutoverse is not the place.

Having said that, I find Temari, Konan, Tsunade were better (I mean inside the Narutoverse). Though their motivations or reason to achieve a goal revolve around their men, I find their attitude relieving. Unlike Sakura or Hinata, they don't wet themselves on the sight of the men they love.

What irritates me was, Kishimoto could've easily put a character like Temari or TenTen or Tsunade into Team 7. It would've made my viewing experience a lot better. If he doesn't want the strong girls to take over the attention from his boys, then he should've introduced a meek character like Rin Nohara. She is silent and cute but atleast she was willing to die for the Village and never wetted herself over Kakashi, though she loved him. And she treated Obito like her best friend. But he deliberately made Sakura hateful and he never stopped.

Sakura and Hinata were the lowest of the low, compared to any other side characters. And, in the end, they got the main Character's Ducks without actively doing anything. For me this tells me three things

He was using these girls as a shield to close the hetero normative mouths while in reality hiding those boys true feelings under that shield.

He really hated these kind of girls and constantly showing his hatred on them at every given chance and never redeemed them back. 

He knew the target audience’ mindset and he simply caters them by giving them what they need and at the same time writing the important arcs according to his wish.

I think, it’s the combination of all three. 

Just to give you an example.

There is this delusional SS shipper Who justifies Sasuke was acting Tsundere throughout the war arc. I mean, come on!!!! 

I came across this post because, the Original Poster was an idiot who comes into the anti SS tag and reblogged my content and saying I was wrong... So, I don’t mind sharing that person’s content.

So I don’t know where this delusion comes from... It's truly pathetic.

There are millions of idiots who believe in this kind of shit and Kishi is deliberately feeding them with bits and crumbs while making his boys go out and save the world.

These delusional mindset tells us they don’t give a single shit about the story as a whole. They watch it purely for the pretty faces and getting high over them. In this case, Sasuke.

It’s as clear as day that Sasuke didn’t care about anyone other than Naruto when fighting the war. You don’t have to be a shipper but even a non-shipper can point this out. I mean Sasuke wouldn’t have saved Jugo either, if he didn’t come to Sasuke and advice him. Do you think Sasuke would’ve tried to look for Jugo and saved him at all cost???? It’s just that he came to Sasuke and he helps him back. But Sasuke would’ve saved Naruto from the bomb blast even if he was standing a mile away.

So, if these delusions reflects the mindset of the majority of the women audience, then the creator will never try to give anything better but instead give us some low-life characters like Sakura and Hinata. 

So, Anon, your expectation for Hinata’s character could’ve been developed much better is just a wishful thinking. Because, Hinata is a character for these kind of people and not for us. And the author deliberately did it. 

She was in the best position to help and understand Neji but what did she do? A lot of fans like her character because she is reserved but kind and sympathetic. She is reserved but a coward. She was not kind towards Neji. He died for her when he didn't deserve to, he had dreams and goals that were much bigger than Hinata's entire existence. She couldn't even see her own cousin's pain and she claims to understand Naruto?? Really??

For me, this also irked me a lot. 

Hinata could’ve tried to talk to Neji about his problems even when he was a child. But she was simply playing innocent when in reality, she is just a coward. Even after the Chunin Exams, there was no apologies from her side, like you said. Because she is from the Main Branch. That hierarchy never changed. If she had the gall, she could’ve easily broken that hierarchy by saying, ‘I want Neji Nii-San to take over our Clan, He is the best candidate for this and I can gladly help him with all my efforts’.  A single line and just 2 or 3 panels, it all takes.

For me killing Neji is where Kishi asking us silently, 

Do you really want these pair to happen despite having a blood stain of another character??? 

Most people said, ‘Yes!!!’, because they don’t give two shits about Neji. As long as Hinata gets Naruto, the main character’s Duck, that’s all there is to it. It doesn’t matter who dies, who lives. 

That's why Kishi is shitting on them by making her as a non-existent woman in the Boruto Manga.

Even in real life, there are many hopeless foolish little girls who would do anything for the man she loves. I've seen them and I always stay 2 miles away from them. I mean, they even ditch their own friends and spends her entire time with him and when he dumps her later, she will come back to her friends for consolation. I think Sansa Stark is the best example for this. She started out much similar to Sakura and Hinata, believing in Princes and shit, she even naively betrayed her father for the man she had crush on. But the author made her to learn her lesson in a much painful way and later she came out as a Queen who no longer needed any man at the end. I think, this is called Development.

At the end of the day, Romance and Sex is all that matters. The author knew it. So, he is feeding these girls with some low quality cookies and they are very glad to take and eat it.

#ask #anti naruhina #anti hinata #anti sakura #anti sasusaku #anti nh #anti ss #naruto analysis #sasunaru #sasunarusasu #sns #antisasusaku #antiss #antisakura

[multiplefandomsblog]

“Offer”

request; Can I get an imagine with Kokichi with an artist S/O who wants to paint him but he keeps flustering them with suggestions of a nude painting of him?

warnings; kind of suggestive, mention of nudity, cussing, mutual pining i think, i made it kinda crack fic, reader has an ultimate talent(artist), not edited too well, ended it weird like always, kissing, lowkey making out tho- 

note; wow i wrote way too much- but hey, i still hope you enjoy this!

word count; 1.9k+

You walked around the school, looking for Kokichi to ask him to be your model.

Although you have sketched Kokichi several times before, you felt you needed to ask him face-to-face so he could just stay still in his goddamn chair instead of changing positions every 5 seconds and ruining your half-done sketch. And so, you went off to go find the boy, finding it surprisingly hard to catch him. 

“There you are! I was looking for you-” You puffed out a sigh of relief, clutching your art supplies close to you as you saw your purple-haired classmate. Not a second after he caught sight of your figure jogging towards him, he had started taunting you. 

“Oooooh, hey S/o, you seem mighty happy to see me, hm? I wonder why that is…” He took a funny-looking step towards you, voice laced with an interrogating tone.

He had that strange smirk on his face, and not the one you liked. N-not that you liked his smile! In consequence of staring at him and sketching him constantly without his knowledge—or so you thought—, you have become almost a master of reading his mood and expressions. 

“Don’t get any wrong ideas, I just wanted to ask you if I could paint you.” For a small moment you swore you could see his expression twist into one of shock, before quickly melting back into his shit-eating grin. “Well of course you would! I’m the ultimate supreme leader, after all.” He acted as if he wasn’t just gob-smacked a second ago.

You beamed up at him, you had been in a small art block for a while and the moment you saw Kokichi, you knew he would be the cure to it. And so, you were ecstatic when he said what he said, “So you’ll do it?” You jumped a little too high, and spoke a little too eagerly.

“Mhm! —but with a catch, of course.” Your face dropped, you should’ve known the little fucker would try and get something out of you. “Nishishi!”

Unsure if you even wanted to know, you asked carefully, “W-what’s the catch..?” Your voice laced with caution, brain suddenly being reminded of all the pranks and blackmail he had fucked everyone else over with in the past. Knowing him, it could vary from, ‘Eat a bug.’ to, ‘Survive a knife game against me!’ 

But what he said was definitely worse than the former, and the latter. 

“You have to paint me fully-nude.”

… It was suddenly very quiet, the echo of his insane remark, bouncing off the walls. The silence mostly coming from your side—then again, what did you expect? Painting Kokichi would mean the end of your art block and a painting of Kokichi, like, c’mon, but painting Kokichi nude would mean- Well, you weren’t sure what it meant; hence, the silence.

Impatient and somewhat annoyed by the silence, he poked at your shoulder, “So? Are you gonna paint me naked or not?” You stared at your shoes, too afraid to make eye contact with the boy you were now thinking of... naked. 

“... C-can’t I just paint you normally?” He pouted, a comedically high whine erupting from his throat as he replied, “But that’s no fuuuuuun!” 

“Don’t you want to see your ultimate supreme leader, whipping out his wang?-” You shoved his face away from your warm one, “Y… I mean n-no, no!” Your tone weak before getting loud and defensive as you caught yourself before all hell broke loose. 

You felt your stomach drop as you thought about the possibility of Kokichi knowing you wanted to see him, and I quote, ‘Whipping out his wang’, Kokichi would never let that one go. 

“Aw man, well I guess you don’t wanna paint me theeeen.” He slowly stepped away, a pout on his face as his back faced towards you. He hummed circus music as he teetered on his feet, balancing on one foot at once as he ‘walked’ away from you agonizingly slow, obviously waiting for you to tell him to come back. 

“Koki-” In a flash, Kokichi had been by your side, dragging your hand to god knows where. “You have me convinced! I’ll let you paint me because I’m suuuuuch a nice guy. Nishishi!” Although you should’ve asked where the both of you were going, you felt knowing the catch was more important, “B-but what’s the catch?” 

Kokichi kept at his speedy pace, yet he answered with a voice that still had so much energy in it, “Aww, I’m hurt you think there’s a catch, do you not trust me that much?”

Silence.

“Meanie... but yeah, you were right to suspect me. The catch is.... “ He drum-rolled on your palm, “You just have to kiss me for payment!” He slowed down a bit to send a cheeky smile your way. You almost tripped on your feet as you heard him, “What!? Bu-” 

Kokichi quickly interrupted you, “Uh-uh, don’t try to pretend you don’t wanna. I know you have nooooo problem kissing those little sketches of me when you think no one is looking~” His voice quieted down sinisterly as he spoke, the evil smile spreading across his face once more. Although he had been wearing an extremely thick mask of a smile to hide his true feelings, anyone would’ve noticed that small blush on his upper right cheek. Anyone.

“You saw that?” Kokichi cackled at your agitated and flustered face, “Nishishi! Don’t worry, I’m the only one that knows. After all, no one finds you interesting enough to actually notice that.” You furrowed your brow at the subtle hint he had given you, “But you did-” 

Kokichi put on a teasing smile this time, “That was a lie! I didn’t see anything with my own eyes, I just assumed you have and so you helped me confirm it! Nice job on fucking yourself over, S/o! Nishishi~!” You rolled your eyes, you liked this guy?

Well anyways, it didn’t seem to matter whether you questioned your feelings for the liar, as you finally made it to where Kokichi had been dragging you to. You watched as Kokichi skipped away from you and hopped on the bench, surrounded by moss and other wild plants. 

“Ta-da! When I first saw this place, I immediately thought of you! You know, because you’re a nerd who likes cliché art settings.” He grinned, posing on top of the bench, “How’s this? Nishishi! Don’t answer that, I know this is perfect.”

 ... He looked like an idiot. But a cute idiot.

Suppressing a laugh, you gestured downwards to guide him down from his strange pose, “U-uh, maybe you could just, sit down? Like a normal person, I mean.” He sneered at you, before reluctantly sitting down, “You’re so boring.” The way he sat on the bench reminded you of a child who had just gotten denied candy. 

Smiling in relief, you quickly took a seat on the bench opposite to him, bringing out your supplies excitedly. Despite the pout on Kokichi’s face, and the grudge he wanted to keep, the way you so excitedly took out your canvas made his heart melt as well as his attitude. 

In the corner of your eye, you swore you could see Kokichi’s genuine smile, albeit it was lopsided but it still made you flush. Without thinking, you spoke, tilting your head upwards to look at him better, “You should smile more, you’re really pretty like that.” He… his mind blanked for a second, his façade fading away slightly to reveal a genuine expression of shock.

He quickly gained his composure back, “Um, okay? I always smile, are you blind?” Despite his passive-aggressive reply, you couldn’t find any reason to be mad, although you should’ve been. You smiled fondly and shook your head, diving back into concentration towards your canvas.

--

After an hour of pointless conversation, flirting, and calculated strokes of your brush, you were satisfied with the result. “... Alright, I’m done.” Kokichi sighed exasperatedly as he stood up and stretched, “Finally! I was afraid my limbs were going to freeze forever in that position.” You stared at him accusingly, “You didn’t even stay still the entire time. At one point, you did a fucking cartwheel-” 

Kokichi slid on over you, leaning over your seated figure to peak at the painting of him. “Lemme see!” He reached for the painting with his pale hands, causing you to jerk the painting away from his reach. “It’s not dry yet! Just look, don’t touch.” You scolded, unamused by his pouty expression. “You’re no fun S/o-chan, but okay. I know how much you like to be in charge~” He teased, before finally laying his eyes on the painting he stayed still one whole hour for. 

You felt your anxiety rise at his silence, “... Well, d-do you like it?” Although you were pretty confident in your ultimate talent and skills, for some odd reason, you felt extremely nervous when you showed it to Kokichi. 

You were confused as to why your hands were shaking, you’ve shown your artwork to galleries, museums, the harshest art critics in the world! So why the hell did it matter so much to you if this one boy liked it or not?

“I think it looks super handsome! And by it, I mean me. Nishishi!” He grinned, “I look good in everything after all.” You scoffed, you couldn’t believe you actually expected a genuine compliment from Kokichi, of all people. 

“Hey so, it’s time for your payment you know?” Payment... what? You looked up at him in confusion, big fat crocodile tears sprung out from his eyes, “Waaaah! I can’t believe S/o forgot our deal!” You flushed again as you were suddenly reminded of the kiss. 

You sighed tiredly, “You were serious?” He glared at you, “I’m always serious!” You gave him an accusing look that screamed, ‘You know that’s bullshit.’ But sighed defeatedly for what seemed like the umpteenth time. As you stood up to walk up to him, you set your painting down nearby.

Squirming underneath his expectant gaze, you leaned in torturously slow until your noses were nearly touching, your eyes were glued to his lips nervously. You kind of just… stood there, waiting. Waiting for him to take initiative, as he usually does. “... You know, You’re kissing me, right? Not the other way around.” His voice was lower, quieter than usual, and you could feel his breath within each word.

He smirked at your awkward shuffle towards him, finding your averting eyes and flushed face extremely endearing. Though Kokichi would never admit it, deep down he was nervous too- But of course, he refused to ever admit that reality. Even to himself. 

“I-I know that! I was just… preparing.” He hummed a skeptical ‘Okay’, standing patiently for the kiss you owed him. Letting out a shaky breath, you quickly pressed your lips on his, before immediately pulling away. Well, you tried pulling away. Kokichi gripped your collar, eagerly going in for more. His lips enveloped yours roughly, he could feel you trying to back away and so he just decided he had to go even harder. 

Once he pulled away, he saw your lips puffy and swollen, and face completely dazed. You wanted to ask him why he stopped but he interrupted you before you could, “You know, I never said you had to kiss my lips, pervert〜” Your eyes widened at his statement, “It seems you’ve been wanting this for a while, huh?” You didn’t say anything, only fuelling his fire. 

“Nishishi! You’re so obsessed with me, it’s adorable~” You took a defensive step back, “I-I am not!” He suddenly leaned his face dangerously close to yours, grinning sadistically as he heard your whimper. “You shouldn’t lie, you know? Especially not to me.” He leaned in next to your ear, catching your earlobe between his teeth and biting gently. 

“Anyway!” You snapped out your daze as he barked suddenly, “The nude painting offer still stands, you know!” He yelled out, walking away from you, strangely.

#mod chia #kokichi x reader #danganronpa kokichi #kokichi oma #kokichi fluff #kokichi headcanons #kokichi imagines #kokichi ouma x reader #kokichi oma x reader #kokichi oneshots #kokichi tag #dr3 kokichi #drv3 kokichi #kokichi x reader oneshots #kokichi x reader fluff #kokichi oma x reader imagines #kokichi #danganronpa v3 oneshots #danganronpa x reader #drv3 x reader #kokichi angst

[its-miichan]

TGCF criticisms

Spoilers and unpopular/critical opinions ahead! Beware! I tried to like this, I really did, but this novel really makes me frustrated. It clearly has so much potential, but so much of that potential was wasted on pandering romance and shallow caricatures of main characters. Overall 1.5-2 stars because it gets worse the more you think about it. CHARACTERS: 1. The main character, Xie Lian was wildly bland and boring. He is presented as the kindest, purest, most selfless person in the world, but really he was just a bland white lotus. With Xie Lian, his personality can be described in just a sentence or so, while the author's other two MC's (Wei Wuxian and Shen Qingqiu) are both charming, funny, and deep with their own motivations. Xie Lian just walks around in the story with no purpose and he says that he wants to help the common people, but he really hasn't done that! He's barely helped anyone at all, and those times he did help people are quickly followed by flirting with the ML and forgetting all about the people he was supposed to help. Honestly, in the past, Xie Lian was also the biggest jerk ever. He gave up his own friends and family's well being for his own sense of justice and was stubborn to a fault and refused to listen. What's worse is that none of these flaws are actually addressed, and the story just lets him roll with it and never actually calls him out on it. If you want to see all the reasons why he's a poorly written character, check out this reddit post: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/j2l9ye/why_xl_is_a_poorly_written_character_in_my_opinion/

2. The ML, Hua Cheng, is equally as bad. He is extremely shallow and such a static character, with his development in the present times being nonexistent and his development from the past to the present being wholly nonsensical. His personality is very cliche and his motivations and thoughts are left entirely up to the reader's imagination, which significantly reduces character depth. He could've been such a great character, a ghost king who rules over hell and is morally grey, but instead he is dumbed down to a Xie Lian fanboy. Everything about him not related to Xie Lian is thrown at us in a few paragraphs if at all, and what little motivation and thoughts about him we do get always fall flat. [Like apparently this guy saved him once, and he fell in love with him and became devoted to him for 800 years? Like people get saved all the time and we don't see them going 800 years and 3 deaths for a guy they've barely talked to] Also, he is wildly unlikable. Of course, this is purely subjective, but he is irritatingly smug and lords over literally everyone he meets. It doesn't help that he's an insufferable Mary Sue with an endless array of powers, intelligent as hell and knows literally everything, really good at painting, sculpting, woodworking, and on top of that the richest, most powerful, most handsome, and most charismatic man in the book. His biggest flaw is supposed to be his insecurity and inferiority complex, but that barely ever comes up and 90% of the time he is arrogant and smug. More information on why he's badly written here: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/iskkp5/why_hc_is_a_bad_character_in_my_opinion/

3. The side characters in my opinion are written far better, but obviously quite underdeveloped. They are all three dimensional and have their own thoughts, emotions, and feelings as well as a believable backstory, but so many of them are quickly offed to make way for the main couple, some of them not only not becoming better, but actually getting quite a whole lot worse. Qi Rong, who was supposed to be super strong demon that is one of the 4 great evils becomes a comedic relief gremlin who just shows up for some comedy and then leaves. Feng Xin and Mu Qing, the MC's childhood caretakers disappear for like 100 chapters after we're given their backstories and then once they reappear, they don't do anything either. Shi Qingxuan, who in my opinion is by far the best character in the book, has his arc left open with no ending at all, only to be forgotten about for 80+ chapters only to reappear completely the same with no character growth at all. All of this is because the main couple take up so much of the book, and the rest of the side characters and their character growth is sabotaged for the author's ego so that the main couple can look better and get more screen time.

4. I lost interest in the story pretty quickly due to the bland characters and their out of place romance and how unlikable they were. A lot of this novel was very surface level, and it's pretty on paper, but when you think about the characters a bit longer, the more bland and shallow they become.

PLOT: 1. The plot was... There was no plot. It was just a collection of monster of the day arcs that aimlessly meander about and then everything returns to the status quo once they return to Xie Lian's temple/home. Obviously books 4 and 5 were a lot more to my taste because the writing was a lot more concise and the pacing was less slow and pointless, as well as actually incorporating fantasy elements and shaking up the status quo. However, the other 3 books, especially books 1 and 2 had way too much fan service, pointless romance, and plot lines that don't go anywhere and don't contribute to the story.

2. The past plot line, or the flashbacks were pretty interesting, except for how b*tchy the MC was. Book 2 has a lot of important information and some action, but a lot of it was boring fluff that didn't really contribute to the story other than introducing the villain and showing how XL and HC met. The rest, we're literally told already and there's no new information. Book 4 was supposed to be suffering heavy, and I agree that the character development was alright, but it was too brooding and oppressive. In the end, I just stopped feeling bad for Xie Lian because of how bad the story was trying to make you feel for him. I was not invested in him, and although he was significantly more deep in this book than in the other 4, the bad logic is still there. [you wanna kill people but then someone gives you a bamboo hat and you're all sunshine and rainbows again?] The suffering is excessive in my opinion, and although it's supposed to provide contrast to the romance, it just feels done in poor taste. seriously, 20 chapters straight of suffering is not necessary, and the pacing and tone suffers because of this. The flashbacks really don't contribute too much to XL or HC's character development, but is just there to be angsty and cryp*rn.

3. The final battle was the most unbelievable thing I've ever read. All the gods got together and the first part seemed pretty epic as we got to see all the side characters finally showcase their powers.... Until the MC and ML show up. The MC and ML show up, and instantly the background extras—excuse me I mean side characters, go back into hibernation as the main couple show off how cool and powerful they are. And then we get to the final confrontation, which has our MC, ML, and MC's two friends face off against literally the most powerful being in the freaking universe. I thought it would be a tense fight scene with lots of close calls, but I was so disappointed. Instead the ML is so OP that he breaks the spells binding MC's powers, and MC becomes so overpowered and slams the big boss into the wall with the power of love while his two friends just stand there doing nothing.

4. A lot of what happens in the flashback is directly Xie Lian's fault, but the book never seems to register it? I won't go into detail on this point since it's already covered in the first Reddit thread, but basically because of XL's s*upidity and refusal to listen to anyone else, the people around him suffer.

WRITING: 1. The writing wasn't great. It was very choppy and as I said previously, very monotonous and monster-of-the-day. Yes there were great scenes which got to me, but most of it was really boring and descriptions and dialogue dragged on and on with no end, and with the bland MC, it wasn't even interesting such as the dialogue in MDZS was. Side arcs were introduced with no warning and ended with no warning, leaving the reader wondering "Why was that even there in the first place if it was just going to be forgotten about?"

2. The water demon/wind god arc. The opening and most of the middle of this arc was extremely good, the logic and mystery was written well, and Shi Qingxuan's (the wind god) antics were funny. But after the big reveal and the tense climax, the story just... stops. Like it's literally forgotten about. [The MC gets dragged out by his all powerful lover, they romance some more, and forget all about Shi Qingxuan who is literally left in the hands of the second or third most powerful demon ever who is also his mortal enemy]

3. The incessant flirting really got on my nerves. The tension and tone of the entire story got completely ruined because of the MC and ML flirting and the MC blushing and giggling while the ML teases him and everyone else is literally fighting for their lives. This felt very fan-service like, and it felt like the author stopped trying and just fed us dog food after an emotionally taxing arc so that she wouldn't have to close out the arc properly, completely destroying the tone. Speaking of the tone, the tone whiplash was just... wow. You're fed fluff and romance during or after a high tensity and highly emotional scene with no connection at all, and you're just supposed to accept it instead of wondering what's happening to the characters you actually care about.

4. Romance and side arcs quite disconnected from the story. Quite frankly, most of this book is just romance with the plot and characters put in second place because "lOOk hOw CuTe the COuPLe iS!" You could literally take out all the side arcs and the story would literally be no different. The romance overtakes the entire plot and becomes the main point of the story. With her other two books, the romance is like the icing on the cake. With this book, the icing overtakes the cake and becomes the cake.

5. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I was uninterested through most of the book was due to the lack of tension and suspense. The flashbacks were better in the sense that Xie Lian was helpless and couldn't figure anything out, which was why he was just as likely to get hurt as anyone, making the stakes significantly higher. But in the present, with the existence of Hua Cheng, that tension is completely gone. This is because HC knows basically all there is to know, and what he doesn't know he can figure out in seconds. Additionally, he is super powerful to the point that anything that can harm XL can be one shot K.O'ed by him. At this point the conflict becomes trivial to the point where I'm just asking "why are we solving this mystery anyways when HC can just blast it into oblivion?"

6. The fact that HC does the bare minimum in arcs frustrates me. If you're going to include a character with powers that will basically deem any threat against them null, then actually use them at least! HC's apathy does not feel like a coherent part of his character, but an excuse for MXTX to drag out plot lines and make things unnecessarily long and winded. Additionally, his apathy is contradictory. On one hand, he is super overprotective of XL and wants to make sure he won't get hurt a single bit, but on the other hand, he has this advanced ideology of the 21st century that he believes XL is capable so won't constrain him as much. If anything, they should start out with HC as this overprotective follower and have a dysfunctional relationship, and end up with XL teaching HC that he is able to do things and doesn't mind doing them, and that HC can live a life outside of him as well. That would've introduced some narrative stakes and romantic tension, but no, MXTX just had to make these characters perfect in every way.

ROMANCE: 1. The logic is so flawed here. The reason that HC started loving XL is literally because Xie Lian saved him once as a child and therefore he will devote his entire life to XL, not caring about literally anything else. The reason that XL started loving HC is even more so. The thing is someone like say Shi Qingxuan has done every bit as much for XL as HC has, but we don't see XL fall in love with SQX, do we? HC literally listens to him talk and XL falls in love with him, and although it does make sense due to XL being lonely for 800 years, how low the bar is set really bothers me.

2. The constant blue-balling was annoying. At some point, the ignorant MC became annoying and self indulgent instead of cute, and having it be drawn out over nearly 200 chapters makes it even worse. The MC is supposed to be super intelligent, but he literally misses all of the super obvious hints the ML drops at him, which is so weird.

3. It felt like MXTX (the author) went overboard on the romance here. Like she tried way too hard to the point where it was obvious she wanted to make this "the most romantic CP ever". The aesthetics went so overboard with butterflies and flowers as romantic themes, thousands of lanterns, the red string of fate (which didn't even do anything in the actual story), poetry, etc.

4. The romance could almost be described as kind of creepy. Like the ML obsesses over the MC for 800 years, isolating himself from the world and not taking any side of the story besides MC's is supposed to be romantic, but it really isn't. The ML carves thousands of statues of the MC, which is sweet in a way, but also really, really creepy. To quote someone from NovelUpdates who put it 100x better than I could: " They don't feel like equal lovers, HC obviously worships XL to an unbelievably amazing degree while XL only knew he existed from only a while ago (Is this obsession? Stalker-ish? I know his stalker-ish tendencies are usually played for laughs, but realistically?) HC very very very rarely calls XL by his given name but with GeGe or CrownPrince, dude has a name you know. I know you feel lower than XL, but seriously man, the guy's your life partner. HC would destroy the world if XL said to. He'd probably try to talk to XL first, confirm things, but if at the end XL really does want it, HC would do it. He lives for XL, he has no other reason to do something aside for XL. No reason to say NO for himself. They're not equals in which one wanna do something bad, the other would stop him because they have their own convictions. You can't tell me one only lives for one person's sake, will do anything for that guy, and has no attachments in the world aside from that guy, is a healthy person. It may seem romantic, but when you actually think about it, it becomes uncomfortable."

5. The romance was really cheesy. There were some powerful moments, but it was mostly flirting and "he fell on top of me" or "he needs mouth to mouth". Most of it was just the ML flirting with the MC, which you may like if you like this kind of stuff, but I really didn't enjoy it. Overall, I was desperate to love this novel, but I couldn't because of the shallow characters, unlikable main pair, and the constant abandonment of great plot lines in favor of the shallow romance. It felt like MXTX was constantly trying to one-up MDZS in angst, drama, and romance, but at the same time it felt like she didn't know what to do with the characters and world, and therefore fed us fan service and took the easy way out. This review is purely subjective, and if you want to read this go ahead, but I'll be seeing myself out.

#tgcf criticism #tianguancifu #tgcf #mxtx critical #xie lan #hua cheng #ok but this kinda sucks

[scarletwinterxx]

voted most likely to run away with you

Okay but this is probably one of my most fave one? 😂 I do apologize for the slow updates but I’ve been very busy this past few weeks. I hope you like this one!

For my other works you can check them out here, and for my other story series’ you can check them out here.

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2020 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

It’s always nerve racking on your first day of school. Especially now that you’re the new girl on campus, you can feel the anxious to the tip of your fingers. 

You made sure you got to your first class early so you don’t have to awkwardly enter the room when there’s too many people. Sitting quietly on the side as few more students walk in. 

You were too lost in your own world to notice someone standing by your table, you only looked up when someone cleared their throat

“What do you think you’re doing?” the girl asked

“Uh sitting”

“Was that suppose to be funny?” she sasilly asked, not knowing what to say back you just gapped at her. She was about to say something when someone spoke from the back of the class

“What are you doing?” the guy asked, you looked over to see a very unimpressed but veru good looking guy

“She’s sitting on your seat” she answered, crossing her arms and sending you a glare

“I don’t know there was a sitting arrangement” you mumbled, feeling embarrased. Thankfully someone saved you from your misery, 

“No we don’t, you can seat there sweetheart. Stop bothering girls who come close within Jeno’s radius, will you” he sassily told the other girl, feeling like you’re in the middle of a fight 

“I-”

“Leave her alone”

“Yea Haechan, leave me alone” she smirked but the boy, Haechan, just smirked back at her

“I was talking to you, leave the new girl alone” Jeno, you guess, told the girl. 

You weren’t sure how your first day was going to go but that was definitely not how you imagined it would go.

Jeno took the seat behind you, not sparing anyone in the room a single glance. It was like nothing happened just moments ago,

“Thank you” you mumbled to him, he looked up at you with a blank look on his face

“I don’t like being bothered early this morning”

Oh okay then, you nodded then turned your attention to the front. 

You didn’t see the way Haechan shot Jeno a look, the latter shaking his friend off ignoring him completely. 

That was the first encounter you had with Lee Jeno. 

As the weeks passed by you learned that he’s pretty much the most popular boy on campus, along side his three bestfriends. It’s like something straight out of a movie, whenever you see them walking down the halls, there’s a guarantee that heads will turn their way. 

You’re no exception. but not for the same reason the rest of their fanclubs have. You were just curious about them. 

The first one you met was the mood maker of the group, Lee Haechan. He’s pretty much friends with everyone. He was also the one who stood up for you on your first day. Pretty much since then you’ve considered him to be a friend too. There was something light about him, like you want to be friends with him. The second one was the foreign artsy boy, Huang Renjun, you always see him and Haechan arguing. Jokingly ofcourse, it’s always funny to overhear them argue about something pointless while waiting for your next class. The third one was a bit intimidating, Na Jaemin, He always have his earphones on with a blank expression on his face not really paying attention to his friends or at anything really. But when he’s with friends he can get just as rowdy. In contrast to his resting bitch face, he’s actually quite a sweetheart..

The last one, you aren’t going to lie, caught your eye the most. Lee Jeno. Although his initial appearance looked very intimidating, there was something comforting about him. He feels safe. That doesn’t make any sense since you don’t even know him or any of them, but that’s your initial impression on them.

You’ve mostly kept to yourself, you occasionally hangout with your classmates but most of the time you roam the halls or stay in the library by yourself. You don’t mind. 

It was currently vacant time for you so you decided to go outside and sit on one of the benches. Pulling some of your notes out to study for a bit before your next class. 

Too immersed in your reading, you didn’t notice the looming figure on the side. Totally catching you by surprise, making you jump up your seat

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”

“No, it’s fine” you smiled up at him

“Actually I have something to ask you”

That caught you by surprise, “Uh sure what is it?”

“I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me some time?”

“Uh-”

“What are you doing?” You hear someone ask from behind you, looking over to see Jeno looking straight at Hyunjin

“Nothing that concerns you”

How you always end up in middle was a mystery to you, “He was just asking me something”

“If you think you can even get close to her, get lost” your eyes widened at Jeno’s words. 

Is he angry? at you? at Hyunjin? What is he talking about?”

Hyunjin took his gaze off of Jeno then to you, you feel him stand closer behind you until you’re practically between the two boys

“Uh I think it’s time for one of you to go, or maybe I should” before you could stand up, Jeno’s hand land on your shoulder. Gently. 

“He’ll go, right Hyunjin? Your presence is not needed here anymore” 

The guys exchanged looks before Hyunjin walked away without another word. 

You looked over at Jeno to ask him what just happened but he was already walking away, quickly gathering your stuff you jogged quickly after him. 

When you got close enough, you pulled the back of his jacket making him halt his steps

“What the heck was that about?”

“Don’t worry about it”

“I think I should, since I feel like it concerns me” you told him ,feeling a bit aggravated with the way he was acting. 

Not knowing that the guy across you is thinking just how cute you looked, glaring up at him like you could take him on.

You’d probably win. 

“If he bothers you again, tell me”

“That doesn’t explain anything, Lee Jeno”

“If he bothers you, tell me” he repeated his words, making you nod in agreement

“Okay good, now go study in the library. It’s colder in there anyways” he said then walked away.

Few days have passed since that incident, Hyunjin acted like it never happened. Like you don’t exist. It’s still confusing just what went down that day but what’s more confusing is the boy sitting behind you. 

Lee Jeno changes his mood like the weather, you’re never sure just what it will be the next day. One time while waiting for class you start, you were sitting on your seat skimming through your notes, your hair kept falling on your face so you keep tucking it behind your ear. It went on and on. 

Then suddenly you feel someone tug on your hair, catching you by surprise

“Do you have a hair tie?” Jeno whispered by your ear, at this point you’re pretty sure the whole had their eyes on the two of you but that was not where your attention was. 

Jeno was literally so close to you, you can feel his breath on the side of your face

“Huh?” you dumbly asked making the boy chuckle, “You know those things you use to tie your hair”

It was mistake to look to side and be face to face with him because he was literally right on your face. Your cheeks burning at this point. Not being able to form any words, you just held your wrist up showing him the hair tie. 

He smiled then took it from you before leaning back on his seat. You feel his fingers weave through your hair, “What are you doing?”

“Braiding your hair”

“You know how to?”

“Mhm”

He didn’t say much after that, you didn’t say anything either. Still on the process of trying to calm your raging heart. Meanwhile Haechan was trying to hold back his laughter, Jeno shooting him a quick glare to keep him quiet. 

That’s when the rumors started. 

The new girl got the It Boy. 

You’re never one to mind what other people say about you. That came in handy during these times since you can practically feel the daggers coming from Jeno’s fangirls. 

Planning to talk to him about it, you tracked Jeno down after class one day. Finding him by the parking lot with his friends. Renjun was the first one who spotted you walking towards them, patting Jeno on the arm making the latter look over. 

“Hi, uh can we talk” feeling a bit intimated when all four pair of eyes landed on you, keeping your gaze on Jeno

“That’s our cue to leave” Haechan said, pulling Renjun along with him. Jaemin shooting a smile before following behind the two boys. 

“You said you wanted to talk?” Jeno asked when you didn’t speak again

“Uh yea well, can you like tell your fanclub we’re not like dating or anything like that” at this point you wished the ground would open up and swallow you whole. You can’t believe you just asked him that, he probably doesn’t even want to be acquianted with you like that either. 

“And if I don’t”

“Sorry, pardon?” you leaned your ear closer to hear him clearly

“I said, what if I don’t?”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t want to tell them that” he said with an amused look on his face, finding your expression cute. There’s that glare again, looking like you can take him down. 

You already did.

“But we’re not dating. Come on, Jeno please” you exasperatedly said

“I don’t really care what they say, why do you?” it took you a few seconds to answer, gathering your thoughts to give him a coherent one

“And why would you want to be acquainted with me? I’m like-”

“Like what?” he asked like he was challenging you

“I’m me, you’re you”

“That’s not a very solid argument” he laughed, making you sigh out loud

“Please can you just tell them that, I’d very much appreciate it if they don’t glare at like like their ready to jump me every time I walk in the room”

 He walked towards you, crouching down until you were eye to eye

“I don’t know, I kinda like it though”

“Whyyyy” you grumbled, even stomping your feet 

Jeno wanted nothing but to keep you in his pocket, if he could. You were being so adorable, it took every bit of self control not to gather you in his arms and whisk you away. 

“Because maybe I do want to date you”

You looked at him with an unimpressed expression, rolling your eyes at him

See, the cutest. Jeno thought. 

“You’re weird you know that” now that’s not the response Jeno was expecting, but it was so you to say that. 

“I’m weird because I like you?”

“Stop saying that” you’re now a blushing mess, that was the final straw for him. 

He pulled on your arms until you were flush against him, 

“And I don’t?”

“I-”

“You?”

“You’re driving me crazy, Lee Jeno” you grumbled then pushed him away, walking off leaving him behind. 

“You’re driving me crazy, too” Jeno said as he watch you walk across the lot, a small smile playing on his lips. 

From that day one, it seemed like you can’t get the boy off your mind. Much like he can’t keep you off of his. 

But unlike you, he wasn’t afraid to show it. You were shocked when he suddenly sat across from you during lunch, 

“What are you doing here?”

“Eating”

“I can see that but why are here? Your friends are right there” you said while pointing to where the other three guys were sitting, 

“I want to sit here though” he shot you his very adorable eye-smile before he resumed eating

“I have a question” you told him, “Sure, I'll go on a date with you” you just shot him a glare, him showing you another smile

“Remember when you said to tell you if Hyunjin bothers me again?”

“Why? Did he? When?” he asked, his expression and posture completely changed

“No no, he didn’t. He hasn’t since that day, really. I was just wondering what was that about” you told him, watching Jeno relax once again but not missing the way he clenched his jaw when you mentioned that incident

“I overheard him and some other guys betting on you, saying he could make you go out with him then not show up” 

That was what it was about? Why would Jeno care though when he barely knew you back then

“Why did you stop him though?”

He looked over at you, eyes on yours like he was trying to say his answer without actually saying it out loud

“I can’t read minds, you know” you mumbled, breaking the tension. Jeno chuckling at your statement. 

“No one deserves to be treated like that, first of all. And secondly, have you ever thought I meant it when I said I like you?” he asked you

“You’re being weird again” was all you said back to him

“Careful now, next time you call me weird I might have to prove you wrong” he smirked at you. You didn’t how he’ll prove you wrong, worried your pretty little heart might not be able to handle it. 

You just bit your lip and look back down on the table, feeling Jeno’s gaze still on you. Not knowing just how weak you’re making him right now. Just how much power you hold over him. 

“Tell me again why you called me to talk at this time of the night?” You asked Jeno who was walking beside you, 

“Just cause”

“And you happen to bring this bottle of goodness with you?” you asked, holding up the banana milk he just gave you

“Knew you wouldn’t say no if I give it to you”

“Smart”

You really didn’t have any destination in mind, just walking along the streets. You didn’t actually mind that he called you. It was the weekend, you don’t have any  plans beside staying at home and watching some shows. 

“Hey, wait” Jeno said making you halt your steps, then he was crouching down in front of you

“Yah what are you doing?” you asked

“Your laces are untied” he answered as he took your shoelaces and tied them back together. “There” he said when he was done, smiling up at you. 

Just then you swear you felt your heart skip a beat.

Who knew this intimidating, scary, cold looking guy was such a sweetheart?

“Why are you looking at me like that? You’re worrying me” he chuckled at you, standing back up so now you’re face to face

“Lee Jeno”

“Mhm, that’s me”

“You’re very weird” you whispered, then his arms were around you. Tangling around your waist until you were flush against his chest. Your heart hammering away in yours. 

“You want to say that again, sweetheart?”

“You’re weird, Lee Jeno” then his lips were on yours. You didn’t expect him to be so gentle, but he was. His lips were as light as feathers on yours, the taste of the sweet drink still on his lips making you smile

When the two of you broke apart you were still smiling at him, 

“What?” he asked

“Okay maybe now I believe you” you told him, “That’s all you needed? I should’ve kissed you back then” that earned him a smack on the arm

“Shut up”

“You like me”

“Unfortunately” you said then started to walk again

“Hey, no running away from me now”

You looked over to him, seeing the smile he had on was enough to convince you. Holding his hand out for you to take,  

“Want to run away with me instead?” 

#tags #this was a long one #gosh i love it though #lee jeno #nct #nct dream #nct dream hot sauce #nct dream dear future #nct jeno #jeno scenario #jeno imagine #jeno au #jeno fluff #jeno oneshot #jeno fic #nct fic #nct imagine #nct onesot #nct au #jeno boyfriend #jeno lee #nct lee jeno #haechan #jaemin #renjun #nct dream imagine #nct fluff #nct jeno fluff

[jounetsunosymphonia]

Alex in Wonderland (Mankai Stage Spring 2019 translation)

translation for the stage version of spring’s second play! song can be found in full here

i’m including a little bit of spoken lines before the song starts because...yeah. it’s technically still part of the thing. but u just won’t get to hear it and i’m sorry for that.

cast list Usui Masumi (Makishima Hikaru) as Alex Chigasaki Itaru (Tateishi Toshiki) as Mad Hatter, Professor Minagi Tsuzuru (Maekawa Yuuki) as White Rabbit, Usaka Sakuma Sakuya (Yokota Ryugi) as Cheshire Cat, Nekota Citron (Furuya Yamato) as King of Hearts, Shintani (i’m not sure this is actually his name i can’t hear very well and i don’t have the script sdjfndjsh if anyone knows lmk!!)

[bell chimes]

Shintani: A~h. They’re late.

Nekota: Hey!

Usaka: Sorry to keep you waiting!

(all three of them like, fist bumping and going EYYYY at each other. yeah)

Usaka: So something really funny happened at my club today--

Nekota: Oh, if it isn’t Alex! Good morning--

Alex: (walks past them)

Nekota: Eh, he’s totally ignoring us? Don’t you recognise us? It’s Nekota, Usaka, and Shintani!

Shintani: We’re in the same class so...let’s be friends! (holds out his hand for a fist bump c’mon alex don’t leave him hanging like that)

Alex: No thanks, I’m not interested. (sits down to read his book)

Usaka: Man, he’s sour. What’s he even coming to school for?

Shintani: (puts his hand down with the most hurt look on his face i’m so sad)

Nekota: Nah, it’s fine, right? Everyone’s different! But anyway-- (nekota and usaka exit)

Shintani: (running after them) What is it~?

Professor: Now, are you sitting here reading on your own again? Why don’t you act a little more like a college student and go have fun with your friends?

Alex: That would be a waste of my time. Books give me knowledge, meanwhile all they can give me are pointless conversations and boredom.

Professor: Though you might hate humans, you like animals, do you not?

Alex: For the most part, yes, but...that’s because they’re fluffy. Fluffiness can heal people, it’s not pointless at all.

Professor: Do you really hate useless things so much?

Alex: Of course. I didn’t come to university to waste time being unproductive.

Professor: Hmm. Productivity, you say. ...Alex, say there is a treasure of gold that only your friends can see, but is invisible to you. What could it be?

Alex: If we think about it logically, Professor, a situation like that could never exist in reality. Therefore, the only conclusion is that it is a dream. Please stop with the pointless questions.

Professor: Alex, what you have in intelligence, you lack in imagination. Here, try drinking this. (SIR DON’T OFFER YOUR STUDENT ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES. SIR.)

Alex: And this is?

Professor: Plain black tea. Perhaps it’ll help loosen up your rigid way of thinking.

Alex: I doubt it, but I’ll take your word for it. I know you won’t let me leave til I drink it, anyway...

Professor: You’re a tough one, as usual.

(alex drinks the tea and stuff starts to get funky! from this point onward is the actual song)

White Rabbit: Oh dear, I’m late! You, get out of my way!

Alex: What’s with the ears? You’re in college, but you’re still dressing up like that?

White Rabbit: Enough of that, just let me through. It’ll all be over for me if I’m late!

(commotion ensues as white rabbit tries to carry alex out of the way, and throws him down to wonderland)

Alex: Ah---!

White Rabbit: I’m going to be terribly late!

Professor: Now, Alex. It’s time to search for that golden treasure!

(i’m not typing this all out it’s the same lalala as in wonderland a go go dnfjsdhsd)

Cheshire Cat That’s my favourite napping spot Get out of the way! Go away!

Alex: What are you--?! Where am I...

Cheshire Cat I’m Cheshire and this is Wonderland!

Alex: Wonderland, you say? That’s absurd! Even making me put on this kind of costume...

Alex I need to return to my own world Have you seen someone with white rabbit ears?

Cheshire Cat If you mean White Rabbit, he’s seeing the King

Alex Take me there, he’s the one who brought me here

Cheshire Cat You’re one to demand something of me! Well, it’s fine~! This fellow and the King should be fun to see

[spring telepathy time part 1] Sakuya: (Isn’t this amazing, Masumi-kun? It’s only the first show, but we’ve already settled down like this!)

Masumi: (You seem like you’re enjoying yourself, as usual.)

Sakuya: (Yeah! Maybe it isn’t enough for me to just be doing that, but...this really is fun!)

(more funny stuff where they’re thinking while still acting as the character bc...sakuya is talking as himself here, but    walking on all fours as cheshire. and masumi is responding to him perfectly normally. it’s hilarious.)

Cheshire Cat: Follow me.

Masumi: (That’s fine...I think you’re fine that way.)

-

King of Hearts: The court has decided, the White Rabbit will be put to death.

White Rabbit: Please wait. I was only late by three seconds!

King of Hearts: For the crime of stealing away my time, White Rabbit is sentenced to death. Off with his head!

Alex: Wait. Don’t just murder that rabbit!

King of Hearts: What is it to you? Are you a friend of his?

Alex: No. But I need him around.

King of Hearts: Then you can take his place.

Alex: Eh?

King of Hearts: We’ll have another trial by croquet just for this. Now, the preparations for the trial!

-

Alex: Hold on. This is a flamingo and a hedgehog.

King of Hearts: And what of it?

Alex: I can’t do this...not to these cute little babies...

King of Hearts: Then you have chosen death. Off with his head!

[spring telepathy time part 2] Citron: (I’m saying the lines properly. I’m getting better at Japanese!)

Masumi: (If you’re going to act onstage, that’s only to be expected.)

Citron: (I hate kings, but I like this role. I’ll move upstage more like you said, Masumi!)

Masumi: (Good. We’ll get along better if you’re not forcing it.) (you all need to know that this entire time he’s just holding the flamingo and hedgehog plushies to his chest like little baby. son.)

-

White Rabbit: Ah--! I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?

King of Hearts(??? i think): What are you--

White Rabbit: Take that! (he smacks the cards. it’s cute.) Let’s go. This is thanks for you saving me. That way, I don’t owe you anything!

King of Hearts: What do you think you’re doing! Seize them!

-

White Rabbit: Whew, we finally shook them off...

Alex: Tell me how to get back to the surface.

White Rabbit: No idea.

Alex: Huh?

Cheshire Cat: My, my, looks like you finally found White Rabbit~

Alex: And yet I haven’t achieved my goal. I want to return to the surface.

Cheshire Cat: Then you should go ask the Hatter.

-

Alex: Professor?!

White Rabbit: This guy wants to go back to...his own world, he says.

Alex: If I drink that tea again, I should be able to return home! Mad Hatter: Now, I’ve never heard of anything like that. Isn’t that right? (directed at the audience) What do you all think we should do with this young man? Hmm, I see! Alex: ...who have you been talking to. Mad Hatter: Reality is not limited to what you can see. There are those in this world who sink a lot of money into things that cannot be seen. Like, say, items in a game.

Alex: I’m getting a headache...

[spring telepathy time part 3] Masumi: Don’t do weird adlibs like that.

Itaru: I told you, let’s just do things our own way. Besides, you look like you’re having fun too. Is that for the director?

Masumi: Of course. But today, it’s not just that. Acting...is fun.

Itaru: Hmm~? What was that?

Masumi: Shut up!

-

Mad Hatter Then I shall tell you! The world is always the world that you are in!

Alex: Huh?

Mad Hatter You are me, and he is you, and I am he

Alex: Enough of the Zen questions and answers! Just send me back to the world I came from!

Mad Hatter The only one who can rescue you from what you’re telling me is yourself.

-

King of Hearts: Found you!

Alex: What are you doing here?!

Mad Hatter: You ask why, well, that’s the King’s seat.

King of Hearts: Off with his head!

Alex: Wait! I don’t want to die here!

King of Hearts: Then you should ask one of your friends. If the White Rabbit will take his place, then Alex will live.

White Rabbit: I don’t owe him anything anymore. In the first place, we aren’t even friends.

King of Hearts: And you?

Mad Hatter: You must be joking. I have no need for friends.

King of Hearts: And you?

Cheshire Cat: Isn’t having friends pointless?

Alex: Haha...we’d get along. I feel the same way.

Alex: ...get along...? You are me...he is you...I am he...could it be that this world is my subconscious? How absurd!

King of Hearts: For the crime of having no friends, you are sentenced to death!

Alex: You’re only being so aggressive because you do want friends, don’t you?

King of Hearts: Huh? Just who do you think you’re talking to?!

Alex: You’re lonely. So you push everyone away to protect yourself.

King of Hearts: How do you know that?

Alex: ...because I’m the same.

King of Hearts: What...?

Alex: So...if you’ll have me...can we be friends?

King of Hearts: Friends...with me?!

Alex: I don’t know what it’s like to have friends, so I was afraid of having anything to do with anyone. You’re the same, aren’t you? But since we’re each other’s first friends, even if we’re both awkward, we’ll be able to forgive each other.

[spring telepathy part 4] Masumi: Tsuzuru, this is just what’s in the script and not my own words.

Tsuzuru: But you’re acting it out even better than I expected!

Masumi: Of course I am. For Director’s sake...and because I’m an actor.

Tsuzuru: They’re lines I don’t think you’d be able to say if you didn’t really think them, Masumi.

-

King of Hearts: Let’s...let’s be friends!

Alex: I also want you to stop doing terrible things to animals.

King of Hearts: I will. An official decree! Free all the animals, and all of the prisoners. Ten days of consecutive holidays for all the land!

White Rabbit: My dream vacation?!

Alex: He’s way too happy about this...

King of Hearts: Now, everyone! A party for the whole country, and a toast to my friend, Alex!

Everyone: Yay!!

the lalalas from wonderland a-go go

King of Hearts: Let’s carry Alex into the air!

Everyone: Yay! Heave-ho!

-

this is like, the part where it’s just alex and hatter for a bit and everyone goes away. like a dream. woooo.

Professor: Good morning. How are you feeling?

Alex: Awful. Like I just wasted a bunch of time.

Professor: That’s the answer to my earlier question. That which only you cannot see, is the treasure of spare time.

-

[i’ve lost count of the spring telepathy times] Itaru: So, do you get it? What it means to be an adult.

Masumi: Yes, with you as a cautionary tale.

-

Professor: Was it a bad dream?

Alex: I didn’t...hate it.

Professor: My! How honest.

Alex: I just don’t want any more of that tea.

-

Masumi: I won’t grow up to be like you.

Itaru: Well, if you’ve ever got any worries, you can come talk to me.

Masumi: No thanks. I’ve had enough of arcades.

Itaru: Come on, it’s the last scene.

Masumi: Don’t you tell me what to do. Let’s go.

-

Alex We are alone, but

Hatter We are not alone

Alex and Hatter If you close your eyes, Everyone will always be there smiling in your heart

Alex There, in Wonderland

Hatter (in Wonderland)

Alex I found

Alex and Hatter An important key

All Now unlock your dreams and your heart It’s a fantasy!

(and as always, they go into the actual song here. tl from the wiki, as usual.)

Alex Since I've fallen into this Wonderland, Why don't you and I go on a journey together?

Hatter Although this world is filled with uncertainty, As long as

Alex I'm with you

Alex and Hatter It seems like we'll be just fine.

Alex and Hatter Since we've fallen into this Wonderland, Why don't you and I go on a journey together? Although this world is filled with uncertainty, As long as I'm with you It seems like we'll be just fine As long as I'm with with you, it seems like we'll be just fine

#spring 2019 #mankai stage #usui masumi #chigasaki itaru #minagi tsuzuru #sakuma sakuya #citron #makishima hikaru #Tateishi Toshiki #maekawa yuuki #yokota ryugi #Furuya Yamato #a3 #november translations

[zkfanworkweek]

ZFAW Fan Content Creator Interviews: HayleyNFoster

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

For the second interview in this cycle, we have our best propaganda creator and this fandom’s hottest new artist/undisputed queen of the animatic, @hayleynfoster!

1. Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you?

When I was around 14 or 15 and caught Avatar: The Last Airbender on television, I was drawn in by the art style, the humor, and the wonderful characters. I caught the episodes out of order, and the first one I saw and wasn’t prepared to be sucked in by was The Waterbending Scroll. It intrigued me at that age, and the line “I’ll save you from the pirates” combined with the tension between Katara and Zuko in that whole scene was electrifying. I remember my teenage self thinking these two have so much chemistry! And when I saw a commercial on Nickelodeon that featured fanart submitted by fellow Avatar fans, I realized that I could do that to! So I set about making Zutara fanart for myself. I stumbled onto Youtube, practically in its infancy, and discovered that people set clips of Zuko and Katara set to music (And this was still in season 1 days… so people who made these amvs were the real mvps because they were able to make compelling narratives in their amvs with like practically nothing to work with!). The AMVs really spurred my interest in this couple, I remember distinctly one Zutara AMV using the Dido song White Flag utterly capturing my imagination. I found fandom shortly after, getting into deviantart and forums. But the ship really began to mean something to me when, as I was working on my drawings in the computer lab at school, a buoyant presence hovered over my shoulder noticing my Zutara art on the computer screen. The girl was someone I had never really talked to and had only seen from afar but she immediately started excitedly saying she shipped Zuko and Katara too! In this simple shared obsession, I made one of the best friends I’ve ever had and we’re still friends to this day. We would theorize and fangirl over Avatar like it was nobody’s business; we poured over bootleg San Diego Comic Con footage that showed spoilers for season 2 before it aired; we lost our freaking minds when we finally saw The Crossroads of Destiny. We had watch parties every week as Season 3 of A:TLA aired, and comforted each other when the show ended as it did (much ranting was shared). Those are some of my happiest memories from high school… all because this one pairing from this wonderful show. Even though Zutara didn’t happen, we still chat every now and then about it. Zutara will probably be a lifelong obsession, always bubbling under the surface. And without it, I would have never realized that animation was a viable career path. It really did inspire everything including the work I’m doing to this day in the animation industry. I owe a lot to this ship and to Avatar: the Last Airbender.

2. What inspires you to create zutara fanworks?

The resurgence of Avatar: The Last Airbender this year really helped sort of spark that dormant love I had for Zutara. The show’s ending still disappointed me on the rewatch, but Zuko and Katara’s relationship arc was as captivating as ever, so I turned to some fanfiction and looking at people’s pretty Zutara art and AMVs to just revel in fanon instead of getting to hung up on the actual ending of the show. But then I realized, with quarantine and my work load being pretty light, I had time to actually make all new Zutara art for myself, art I was never fully capable of making as a kid, but now could do with my 7 years of industry experience and just… life experience. And I was inspired to do some corrective animatics to satisfy my own desire for a different ending. I just really like exploring these two characters, doing different and interesting things with them, and frankly I’m inspired to make cute, fluffy, romantic art simply by virtue of living in a really sad and depressing world. Things are so crazy right now, creating art about two characters I love being in love, is comforting. And it helps to have inspiring music and amazing Zutara amvs to just sort of stir up my emotions and imagery in my head to make into animatics and art.

3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create?

Ohhhh… Well, It’s always nice to have people write fanfiction that puts words to my animatics. I am not that great at coming up with dialog myself, so I’ve just chosen to indulge in visuals and emotions for my boards. But when I read things like RideBoldlyRide’s take on my Reunion Animatic, it makes me pretty giddy. (They finally have voices!) :) And this is the MOST selfish thing I could request, but I’m not shy about saying how much I love well done amvs, so I will literally kill for someone to make Zutara AMVs to songs I like… Like, most of AURORA’s songs but especially Exist for Love, Sunseeker by The Naked and Famous, Promises or Take Me by Aly & AJ, Adore You by Harry Styles, Human Enough by ONR, Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine, and/or Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier just… I can see the AMVs so clearly to any of these songs in my head, but I don’t have the tools or skill set at my disposal to make a compelling fan video. When I was in high school, I originally thought I wanted to go into video editing simply because I loved making very crappy AMVs (they were so bad you guys), but I figured out being a storyboard artist was more in my wheelhouse. haha

4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time?

If you’re new to the Zutara fandom, just have a good time! Don’t waste too much time arguing with people over your shipping preferences. I wasted so much of my teen years having pointless shipping wars with people on DeviantArt, and I’m just so much happier nowadays because I’m just making Zutara art in my little corner of the internet, and honestly, in the politest of ways, I don’t give a shit if people don’t like my art or Zutara. haha I think that’s sort of a key thing for people thinking of posting creative works here in the fandom, just make art for yourself, satisfy your own desires for the pairing, get your creative sparks flying, and create just for the joy of creating. It’s always nice to get comments and such, but simply making the art should be what spurs you on, not the external validation. And have a good time, don’t worry too much - I say as someone who worries about EVERYTHING. But honestly, making art for A:TLA is some of the most relaxed I’ve been because I make it just for me. I’m lucky others seem to like it too!

5. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven't gotten around to making?

I have an idea for a second generation storyline with my Zutara kids that involves Kya (the eldest firebending daughter) falling in love with an airbender boy (tentatively named Gora in my headcanon who’s a bit of a rabble rouser and one of Aang’s kids he had with a Kyoshi Warrior), and then they start a socialist revolution in the Fire Nation in order to dismantle all of the hierarchical societies across the Avatar world… Together Kya and Gora Fan the Flames of revolution… ehhhhh... Get it?? Oh! Oh, and then Katara, who had put in legit liberal reforms in her time as Fire Lady listens to her daughter after resisting in the first part of the story, but then realizes she can actually play a part in the dissolution of the royalty and is also active in the revolution realizing that moderate liberal reforms are no substitute for a society free of serving royalty (which she had always been uncomfortable with but had rationalized with herself that she was doing good in her capacity as Fire Lady.) I just feel like there’s a lot of cool potential for discussing these ideas and also having some aspirational change in the Avatar world. lol For aesthetics and just happy fluffy times, I can indulge in Fire Lady and Fire Lord Zuko stuff, but really at the end of the day, I take issue with the structures in a society that have to exist for monarchies to exist. Soooo, I kind of want to do my own corrective story for that… if I ever have the time or guts. On a less ambitious note, I would love to do a Zutara sparring animatic to practice doing action, but I need a good story; I am not good at doing fights just for fighting’s sake. Those are just some things I have rattling around in my head.  

6. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so want to give us a hint as to your plans?

Yes! The most I can say is I have one animatic almost finished and one that’s still being thumbnailed. The rest are probably going to be comics or emotive single pieces based on the fanfics I really like right now. :)

#interviews #zutara fanworks appreciation week #zfaw #hayleynfoster #zutara

[wanderlustinwonderland18]

Stepanova & Bukin: “Our Fans Really Want Us To Be Together”

How do you feel about being the new Russian National Champions?

Vanya: Wow! To be honest, we didn't get enough sleep. It was a busy time. We sat, talked with the team, discussed a lot. This was our first competition in a long time, so we were a little exhausted.

Sasha: So far, we don't really feel that something major has happened, but the assessment of our coaches is very important for us. They didn't know how we would perform. Yes, the coaches did everything to make us perform well. But from the very start, everything depended only on us... And we managed to perform well so many thanks to our team for this.

Vanya: In general, we liked everything very much. We missed the audience a lot and we hope to perform somewhere else soon. Yes, there are nerves, but they are very pleasant nerves. Competition is great.

Is this national title the main award of your career?

Sasha: No. We have silver and bronze medals from European Championships. We have also performed well at World Championships. The situation here is completely different in all aspects. We had a different task... But overall, we are very pleased with the title of Russian National Champions.

Vanya: Yes, indeed, this is the first time for us. The support was great. Even though the arena was only 35 percent capacity, we felt incredible warmth.

Is the lack of vivid emotions due to the fact your main competitors were not here?

Sasha: Yes, many skaters were missing in Chelyabinsk. It’s a pity that this is the case. We, ourselves, were not able to participate in early competitions such as the Grand Prix in Moscow.

Vanya: For instance, Dima Aliev did not compete here although we were expecting him. We are friends with him, and we communicate a lot. We hope to meet the entire Russian team after the New Year.

Did this situation personally blur the impression of the Russian Championships?

Sasha: Of course. In addition, the federation indicated that this is not the final selection for the World Championships. We simply perceived it as a certain stage where we need to show what we are capable of.

Vanya: On the other hand, the fact that it was our first competition in a long time added more importance to it.

Is it a shame that Europeans got cancelled, while everything goes well in other sports?

Vanya: Of course, it's upsetting.

Sasha: I don’t really follow what is happening in other sports, but the cancellation of our Europeans was not a surprise. Everything pointed towards this direction gradually. We were ready for this news. We understand that holding a competition in such conditions is difficult and unsafe.

How do you feel now?

Sasha: I’m good now, thanks.

Vanya: Yes, we have already recovered.

You guys joked at the press conference that you were unlucky, because you were ill with COVID at different times.

(Sasha and Vanya laugh)

Sasha: Well, yes, we were really out of luck.

How did this happen? You spend so much time together.

Sasha: At first, I just caught a cold. There was bronchitis or something like that. I got better and then fell ill again, but with COVID. I don't know why that happened, but after I got sick, the coaches and Vanya fell ill.

Vanya: Why this happened is still a mystery to us. It is very incomprehensible.

How did you handle the disease?

Vanya: It was not easy. I had palpable lung damage. The temperature was monitored for a very long time, and the dose of antibiotics was quite strong. The hardest part is not how I got sick, but how I went back to the ice. It was very strange and a little scary.

Sasha: You may be fine at home, but as soon as you go out on the ice, you immediately start coughing due to the cold air and the slightest exertion. Usually for us, skating in circles is nothing at all... But after the illness, the body perceives it as a serious threat and reacts instantly. It is scary. You start thinking: "How am I going to skate now?"

Did it come to hospitalizations?

Sasha and Vanya: No.

Vanya: Fortunately, it didn't come to that. I didn't have extreme temperatures (around 37.5 to 38 only). The only problem is that it lasted a long time. Sasha’s condition was different though. High temperatures in the beginning, but the illness quickly disappeared.

Sasha: In my case, it started with a common cold, then the whole body began to ache. I came back from training and it felt like someone was breaking all my bones from the inside. Then, body temperature began to rise. The maximum was over 39. I immediately took antibiotics. The state itself was unpleasant - you go to the kitchen, or to the bathroom and you are already very tired. You also hear how you breathe.

Sasha, I looked at your Instagram and came to the conclusion that you love black and white tones. Why is that?

Sasha: In black and white, there is...

Vanya: Magic.

Sasha: Yes, some kind of charm. Many photographs look better in black and white. I like the lines and shadows.

Do you hear from fans a lot?

Sasha: Very much! Just yesterday, one fan gave gifts through the coaches. She loves our group very much, follows us to all competitions. From my understanding, she is not alone. It is just her who communicates with us. I called for a photo session, but unfortunately, this has not yet happened because of the virus situation. But yes, they write a lot! They post stories, write long messages. Sometimes I read and tears come, people give a lot of themselves. You think how this is possible. Many are busy with family and work, but they take time for us.

Vanya: Most of the times, they post our reactions to performances. This has already become a meme! We have been compared to animals. Sasha recently reposted a picture where I am a dog who smiles, and she is a serious cat. In many shots, myself and Irina Vasilievna (Zhuk) are explosive, and Sasha and Alexander Vasilievich (Svinin) are more restrained. It’s cool and funny!

Does this reflect your nature?

Vanya: I’m probably more emotional after performances. I keep everything to myself so much that it just breaks at the end. Sasha, on the other hand, gives so much to the performances and at the end, she has nothing left.

Are you offended by any comments?

Vanya: Some comments are very interesting. There have certainly been times where I wanted to respond, but realized that it was pointless. It is nonsense.

Sasha: Because you will be invested in it.

Vanya: Now, I laugh at such comments. If a person doesn't like something and expresses their opinion, please, especially if it is really constructive criticism. When you see that this is not the first time a person has written, and really understands figure skating, you can listen to this... But there are some that just write for the sake of saying something.

Sasha: Yes, there are some who throw out unnecessary emotions based on nothing.

Has it ever happened that thanks to a person's comment, you changed something in your performance?

Vanya: A couple of times.

Sasha: It is not with regards to steps and technical issues though. Most comments are like “I want power, brightness.” At such moments, you can reconsider and decide that, indeed, something is missing somewhere.

It happens that unpleasant things are written by fans of other teams.

Vanya: I'm okay with this, but if you like another couple, why are you writing under our post? Go to your guys and write good things.

Sasha, you are sometimes compared to Victoria Sinitsina? Are you okay with this?

Sasha: Yes, absolutely! We sometimes laugh about our similarities. We also have common views on wardrobe sometimes.

What about the comments that you and Vanya would make a good pair in real life?

Sasha: It's fun too.

Vanya: On one hand, that is a compliment because it means that we can show real emotions on the ice. People believe in our story and think that we are also together behind the scenes... But we have already said many times that we are not a couple in real life, so it is quite strange when people ask about this.

Sasha: It's very cute though!

Vanya: Those who have been with us for a long time know that we are not together, but our fans really want us to be together.

Do you follow the situation regarding Russia's two-year sentence? You guys already had some bad experiences in the past with this decision.

Sasha: Yes, we heard this news. As far as I understand, the consequences could be much worse - all athletes from Russia could be expelled indiscriminately. They could say, "Russia, goodbye." But we are still allowed to compete. Let it be without the anthem at the World Championships and the Olympics, but on our form, the name of the country can still be written. This is already pleasant for us. I do not know all the little details, but in this situation, I want to find something positive.

Vanya: Of course, we are upset, because this is our country. We would very much like to perform with the flag and anthem. But the decision has been made, and nothing can be done. We will calmly prepare for all the major competitions. It remains to be seen how athletes will be admitted to the Olympics.

What would you change in ice dance to make it more popular?

Vanya: Ice Dance is a very creative sport. Everything should look simple, easy, and unpredictable with us. In my opinion, to make our sport more popular, teams must be given more freedom for creativity. Then, the couples will not be alike. We have many rules that do not allow us to go beyond.

Sasha: In general, the rules are made for judges. Previously, ice dance judging was based on "like it or not like it."

Do you have long-term career plans?

Vanya: This season has shown that it is difficult to plan the future. We have decided to live day by day, and prepare for specific events. There have been many times where we plan a lot, and in the end, the plan does not come true.

Do you think about life after sports?

Sasha: I do not have any serious thoughts. Maybe participate in shows, but there are no specific plans. However, I can definitely say that I want to stay in figure skating and take a new role in the sport. For now, we still have a lot to accomplish. We have just reached the top level. We have just started receiving recognition from the audience.

Vanya: And we are very grateful to our fans. When new broke out that we were sick, many wrote to us and supported us. It is really motivating!

Do you have plans for the New Year holidays?

Sasha: I would like to go to the skating rink in front of the Red Square. I have never been to massive street skating rinks, so I want to feel this atmosphere.

Vanya: Oh cool! Let's go and invite everyone!

A small wish to your fans at the end of the interview?

Sasha: Health and love. Be happy no matter what. Live everyday.

Vanya: To make all your dreams come true in the New Year.

#MY BABIES ❤️ #Stepanova Bukin #Alexandra Stepanova #Ivan Bukin #Figure Skating #Ice Dance #Dance #Skating #Sports #Arts #Interview #Partnership #Love #Life

[ariainstars]

Will Din Djarin and Grogu Have to Part?

Since this question has been discussed quite controversially in the fandom since the second season of The Mandalorian, here are my two cents about it. 

Luke and Anakin

A subject my husband and I can’t agree upon 😉 is the character of Luke Skywalker. I always liked him, while my husband finds him annoying. But consider: Luke’s hotheadedness, his naivety, his obstinacy, are perfectly normal for a young man of nineteen or twenty. Given A New Hope’s roots in classic Western, Luke is the typical greenhorn, who tries to man it up but doesn’t know how to do it yet. Luke is a normal adolescent with dreams and ambitions. Remember how we see him playing with a toy skyhopper at his uncle’s homestead? He obviously feels safe there. His aunt and uncle later even sacrifice their lives rather than revealing to the Imperial stormtroopers where R2D2 is, because they know that Luke went in search of the droid, and they don’t want them to find him. Luke is a good boy though raw and green. In the end, his story is a success because he chooses to use his powers to save the ones he cares about, even when it’s a father who, except for saving his life at the last moment, never did anything good for him.

Now compare him to Anakin Skywalker, his father, at the same age: many fans define young Anakin as a whiny, arrogant brat and they’re not so wrong with that. Anakin comes over as an irritating person, much more so than his son, because he is emotionally stunted, having spent the last ten years being told to stifle his emotions and not to allow any personal attachment. Which blatantly failed: we see right away that his bond with Padmé is still intact although they didn’t meet in the meantime, and we witness him getting mad with fury and hatred when his mother has to die in that cruel, meaningless way when he could have saved her had he arrived just a little sooner. Young Anakin is unbalanced and frustrated because by now he knows his enormous powers but is not allowed to use them in a way that actually makes sense to him. Anakin is a family man: his instinct is to protect. But at age nineteen, thanks to the uncompassionate mindset of the oh-so wise Jedi, he already is a ticking bomb.

Now to Our New Heroes…

While the first season was about Mando’s redemption and hero’s journey, the second one thematizes the development of the child. Until now he hardly wielded the Force and most of the time he’s just being cute and getting into trouble, but that’s not simply bothersome, nor is it unfitting for the narrative: it’s normal. Grogu is being a child at last, because he can, and he can because someone is looking after him and genuinely caring for him.

Look at him: the little cookie monster is having a blast. He’s meeting people and making friends. He’s enjoying life (including food). He can let go, because he knows that “daddy” has his back. Literally!

Which is why I don’t believe that Grogu will choose to join some Jedi or other: it would be pointless for his story. Grogu has the chance to be the child he could not be until now, and since he thankfully ages slowly, he’s taking that chance. Like with his predecessor Yoda, there is more to Grogu than meets the eye: he understands more than he lets on. He’s making experiences, and he’s learning from these experiences. Instinctively, he wants Mando because he wants belonging. My take is that he will learn how to have healthy attachments, and that if he is to be the future Yoda in some distant new tv show or new trilogy, he will be very different from this one in that he won’t discourage Force-sensitive children from learning how to love other people in a proper way. Also, Yoda lived mostly at the Jedi temple, which from the outside reminded of an ivory tower and indeed did shield the Jedi from seeing many of the ugly things happening outside. Grogu is travelling: he witnesses the injustices in the galaxy with his own eyes. 

One of the crucial messages of the Star Wars saga always was how wrong it is to separate families. Palpatine’s greatest villainy was making people who belonged together mistrust one another until they resorted to violence. What’s worse, he enjoyed it.

To remain in balance, children need to grow up serene and protected. Anakin, the Dark Father, was the most blatant example for this: his mere existence was a living proof for the Jedi’s failure. Terrified of his former padawan’s turn to the Dark Side, Obi-Wan set the seal on his fate right when Padmé was succeeding into making him go away with her. The Jedi was aware that Anakin was a husband and future father at this point, but the convictions of the Jedi had been so deeply ingrained into his mind since he was small that he believed them to be more important than Anakin’s role not as a Jedi, but as a human being. Still twenty years later, he tried to trick Anakin’s own son into killing him. Anakin’s soul was saved, though only by a hair’s breadth, due to his son’s stubborn compassion. Anakin had been willing to sacrifice everything to save his wife; Luke chose to rather give up his life than his integrity, which is why the moment when he throws his light sabre away before Palpatine is so significant, setting him apart from Anakin.

None of the surviving Jedi would have lifted a finger for Anakin: to them, he was a damned man. Which he was, but that was largely also due to the Jedi’s sins and not only his own. They never showed regret or assumed that they might have wronged him. The aim of both the prequel and sequel trilogy was not to excuse Darth Vader’s / Anakin Skywalker’s or Kylo Ren’s / Ben Solo’s terrible deeds, but to demonstrate that their fate could have been avoided; that they were not alone with their guilt but had been for a large part pushed into their role by their environment, instead of being, as the cliché runs, “mad guys who choose to be evil because they want power”, like e.g. in a James Bond movie. (Except of course for Palpatine, but even he got a second chance through Rey, equally powerful but much more well-meaning than him.)

Conclusions

The message of Star Wars is not about the all-powerful Jedi and the significance of their order: they are not some kind of superheroes who will return and save the galaxy. I daresay that who hopes to see Luke Skywalker, e.g. instructing Grogu, will be bitterly disappointed. If Luke would enter the narrative, the story would become about him, making the show’s set-up and title pointless. His story, the Hero’s Journey, was accomplished with Return of the Jedi, which is why George Lucas never wrote a continuation. Luke himself developed his capacities instinctively, both Obi-Wan and Yoda had little time to train him. (So much also for Rey being “a Mary Sue who knows how to wield her power without training”.) It obviously does not take years and years of learning at a Jedi temple to learn to wield one’s Force powers: it appears that what padawans are taught there, more than anything else, is how to control their feelings. Which is unrealistic on the long run, because every living being wishes for personal fulfilment and even the greatest Jedi can’t live solely for others.

Will the child’s Force abilities fade in time without training, the way Ahsoka said? They won’t. The show is set some 25 years after the fall of the Jedi Temple, and yet Grogu managed to make a mudhorn float in the air with his power. He was exhausted afterwards, but he managed. In another episode he healed Greef Karga from a mortal wound and he is the first Force-sensitive whom we ever saw with this capacity. In the next episode he rejected a fireball with his bare hands. The Force is strong with this one. He does not need a Jedi master to train him. What he needs is to develop a good judgement about what he should use his powers for, and when he should not. 

The saga as a whole always showed a clear structure where the puzzle pieces fit together, adding up to one final picture: life is not about power but about love and belonging. Power can win, but that victory is always short-lived. Who chooses power over compassion in the end will always lose and have to look back on a destroyed world where there are only losses and bitter memories.

Ever from the first episode, The Mandalorian lived from the dynamics between the gruff but kind bounty-hunter and the innocent yet powerful child. At its core, it is a father-son relationship: tear them apart and the whole story ceases to make sense. By the beginning of season 2 Din Djarin and Grogu have grown so close that you could hardly fit a sheet of paper between them. Their story is not about rebuilding the Jedi order, it is about healing together, overcoming loneliness and trauma, starting a new life together. 

Maybe they will be separated at the end of the second season, e.g. by Moff Gideon who wants the child for his despicable experiments: but if that happens, I can foretell what the next season will be about: 

Mando will move heaven and hell to get “his” child back under his protection. Because contrarily to both Luke and Anakin, he is a father, and a good and devoted one at that.

#the mandalorian #star wars #sw #mando #grogu #baby yo #din djarin #greef karga #the jedi #the force #anakin skywalker #darth vader #luke skywalker #kylo ren #ben solo #a new hope #return of the jedi #obi-wan kenobi #padme amidala #the clone wars #moff gideon #ahsoka tano #read more #R2D2 #shmi skywalker

[softrozene]

Falling in Love for the First Time

Just a cute idea I had and how I think these three characters would react to falling in love for the first time. I’m soft af right now. :’)

Summary: These characters (Crocodile, Doflamingo, Mihawk) have a moment of realization when they realize they are in love for the first time with Reader.

Crocodile, Donquixote Doflamingo, Dracule Mihawk x Reader (Gender Neutral/Non-Binary)

Warnings: Crocodile and Doflamingo are very creepy tbh so borderline unhealthy possessive thoughts, besides that fluff, grammar errors I’m exhausted and it’s like past midnight for me.

Words: 2004

Crocodile-

Crocodile eyes are growing heavy as he stares down at some pointless paperwork for the Underworld on his ship. It is the price to pay when he must climb back up to the top again doing meaningless work until he can find an opportunity like Alabasta. Though, his anger is slowly increasing from how long he has been up. The urge to just shred the paper with his hook is strong until the doors to office open.

Now the anger is about to be directed to whoever is disturbing him. That is until his eyes land on you. The anger is slowly replaced with a bit of irritation from the relief he feels from seeing you. It makes him feel odd and curious as to why he has been feeling like that whenever he sees you.

You have been a good employee and just someone who listens to all his commands without fail. Much like Mr. 1, Daz Bones. The difference being you have emotion. Daz listens to him like a loyal robot. He is grateful for the mutual respect that drives the relationship but the need for human emotions from others has been piling up, so he has been more grateful for you, the one who openly shows how you are feeling.

He stares at you as you bring in a cup of something warm for him. Your smile is also showing fatigue. You look exhausted and it makes him upset. You and Daz have been working non-stop to try and help him return to a higher position in the Underworld, to show to others that he still has a chance at being an amazing pirate.

“Sorry for disturbing you Crocodile. I noticed you are still up and made you some herbal tea. It should help ease any stress you are feeling,” You say making your way to his desk.

Crocodile hums as his thanks and takes the mug from you. He looks at the contents and the aroma it gives off makes him even more tired, but the tension does leave him for a brief moment. You look like you are about to leave and he is quick to demand otherwise.

“Take a seat. Help me take a quick break,” Crocodile orders.

The smile on your face widens as you sit in a chair in front of his desk. The tiredness on your face slowly goes away as you eagerly fill him in on your day, what you are doing to help him, what you and Daz have come up with, and how you are handling the more rowdier and shadier bigger pirates here in the New World.

Your voice is so soothing to his ears and the tea helps him relax. However, now his fingers itch as he gets the odd urge to touch you. Your hair just looks so soft to him. The way you stare at him as if you truly do care for him too? His heart nearly stops as he realizes what this is.

A dark feeling manifests in him as he takes pride in knowing what is wrong with him. He has fallen in love with you. He laughs interrupting your story and you grow concerned. It makes him laugh more. It makes sense to him now. You were his to begin with ever since you gave your life to his organization and now freely to him.

Words will not do. He will not say or admit. Instead, he will just keep you close as you always have been.  No one but him will be able to have these moments with you. His heart eases at the idea and he apologizes.

“Sorry for startling you (Name). I just had an epiphany. Please do continue. Your voice is so soothing to listen to.”

You do without question, your own expression soft and he smiles at the why. You were his from the beginning and only now has he realized it.

Donquixote Doflamingo-

The anger he feels is too much for him. He does not know how he can handle it. His whole body is fighting off the urge to tear off that person’s head he saw with one of his precious family members. One of the newest members who joined prior to him taking over Dressrosa. So, he has known them for a long time but as of now he has no idea why his anger is possessing his entire being.

His harem, consisting of gorgeous men, women, and people are not pleasing to the eye right now. He is currently with them and they cannot help ease his anger. They are walking on eggshells and he can tell how cautious these beautiful people are in his harem are being and he despises it. It is one of the rare moments for him where he would love to be showered with affection but he fucking hates that idea right now.

He does not want any of their love, their fake love. The vein on his forehead appears to get larger and his harem grows uneasy by the second as he remembers what he had witnessed just earlier. Who were you with and what did he see? He hates remembering it as it plays through his head.

It was a simple scene to most, but he is not most. He knows the person you were with has bad intentions. He took a lovely visit through the island and happen to see you at a restaurant. This would not have bothered him, but he saw you with someone else. You were hugging them. What gives them a right to hug you?

What gives them the right to touch his precious person?

His… Precious person?

Doflamingo’s harem freezes as Doflamingo seems to have gone from a bad mood to one unfathomable. They could not tell what he was feeling but the mood they did felt before gave them all a big concern. They have the right to be as soon as Doflamingo smirks. Then laughs. He is laughing like a maniac.

“Leave me. I realize I need to talk to someone important. Pass a message around the castle and have (Name) brought to me. Tell them it is an emergency,” Doflamingo orders.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, all the people in his harem leave. They do not have any second thoughts but only slight pity if (Name) is being called during one of Doflamingo’s crazed episodes. The sweet person does not deserve the anger they felt earlier.

When they find you and relay the message that it is an emergency you drop everything to go to his room. The worried expression on your face made their hearts melt and they felt bad once again.

“You don’t think he’ll hurt them, do you?” One of the harem members ask.

The others do not know what to think. Usually Doffy-sama is good with the family members and treats them as royalty too but there are times when they question him as if they do not trust him. They only wish that it will not happen to (Name).

As soon as you enter the room Doflamingo feels his anger being soothed. It makes him smile as you approach him, ask what is wrong and what is the emergency. He can’t stop his smile from growing. The look of concern just for him? It’s just as it should be.

“Doffy-sama?” You question.

He snaps out of his thoughts and states, “The emergency is I am not feeling quite like myself today. Your presence is already doing wonders. Say tell me about your day, perhaps about the café you visited with that sketchy person.”

It is no surprise he hops straight to his intention, especially since you are in the family. Jora and his elite officers have taught you well to never disobey him and always trust him. However, the expression on your face is one of slight guilt before complete embarrassment.

“You saw me? I guess that means the surprise is ruined. That was the party planner Jora sent me to talk to. It was my idea, but she knew the person. I wanted to throw a party for you. I thought you deserve a break and all.”

You were throwing a party for him? So sweet. You really are something special. It makes his heart burst as he demands for you to sit by him.

-

Needless to say, the harem is surprised when they find out that their presence in the castle is no longer required.

Dracule Mihawk-

Mihawk’s stare is cold and hard as he tries to stare into the soul of the person challenging him. Of course, this never works. He should be used to it but something about your infuriating presence makes him want to slice you in half but also keep you around. It’s worse than when he has to deal with Shanks.

You are all smiles as if you know you are getting on his last nerve.

“What’s up, Mihawk?”

Yeah… You definitely are. He doesn’t say a word as he starts to walk back to his castle. You follow closely behind him and he ignores the close proximity. He feels the irritation grow when you start to whistle.

“Why are you here?” He finally asks.

Your response surprises him a little bit. “To see you of course. It’s been a while and I heard that Shanks was going to try and meet you so I had to beat him so I can see my favorite person of course.”

He wants to curse at the faster pace his heart decides to take. It makes him uneasy since he has no idea why he is suddenly feeling a bit more anxious with you around. You then bring up challenging him to which he snorts at this.

“I am not challenging you. Our previous challenges have proved that I will remain victorious. It appears you wasted your time. You could’ve showed up with Shanks,” Mihawk states his eyes glancing at you and once again trying to pierce through your soul.

It has no affect as that smile remains on your face and almost makes him smile as well. His lips twitch before settling into the frown that they always are. He’s thinking of ways to entertain you since you had to make it a race between you and Shanks so he doesn’t want you to grow bored here.

As he goes to ask you a question he takes note that you stop walking. He glances at you again and notices that a worried expression is on your face.

“I just realized what a douchey move I made. I’ve been trying to be considerate of others lately but it’s difficult. If I am intruding on you I will leave. I just don’t want you to hate me y’know? I meant it when I said you’re my favorite person,” You say.

He hums as he watches you with that serious gaze. With a sigh, he goes to make a point. “You honestly believe that you are intruding on me? I much prefer your company over Shanks and even then, I still enjoy that fool’s company.”

He waits for a response but when he receives just an unsure look he hesitates. His heart feels like it is going faster as he offers his hand out to you. When you accept it, he finally smiles.

“Come. I’ll open up a bottle of one of my best wines,” He states.

Your eyes widen and you ask, “Really? This is a first.”

He pauses. He quickly recalls every memory and you are correct. This is a first he has ever offered wine not just to you but to anyone. It makes his body warm up even more and a tender feeling to overcome it. If this is what he thinks it is then he will make sure to offer you wine plenty of time in the future.

He’ll be much more nicer to you but only because he believes he may be falling for you.

#my writing #one piece x reader #doflamingo x reader #crocodile x reader #mihawk x reader #fanfiction #one piece fanfiction #scenarios #one piece scenarios #donquixote doflamingo #donquixote doflamingo x reader #one piece crocodile #crocodile #dracule mihawk #dracule mihawk x reader #one piece

[neakco]

The Lost Temple Ch.3

Ao3 First Prev Next Masterlist

Tim and Marinette are captured by the enemy. At least they don't have to search for them anymore.

Ch.3 That's One Way...

Tim didn’t say much for the rest of the night. What is someone supposed to say when your told the entire universe will end?

 

After quietly making their way back to camp he watched her start on breakfast so he decided to make an attempt at coffee. He let himself get lost in thought as the water boiled, this was no longer a reconnaissance mission. Even without reporting back he knew that it was his duty to help save the world. There was no way he was going to make it home before the paperwork piled up again, he really wished Bruce would pay attention to his civilian work every once and a while.

 

He was distracted from his thoughts by an amazing smell. Looking up he could see that Marinette was cooking pastries. He looked around to make sure they were still in the jungle. How, just how? She was making more from scratch while others cooked over the fire.

 

Tim shook his head and focused on pouring his now boiled water into a French press while he let his thoughts wander back to the mission.

 

He knew he had to tell his friends something but Bart was loud. As long as there was a chance the enemy didn’t know what they were searching for. It wasn’t a large chance, especially since he was never that lucky.

 

It was still enough of a chance though that he didn’t want to risk informing Bart.

 

In the end he just asked Kin to casually sweep the ground to see if he was able to spot anything unusual. When asked why he casually answered that if they could find what the target was looking for first then they could go home that much sooner.

 

Marinette and Adrien both looked a bit surprised that he hadn’t told his friends everything. He did wonder how Adrien even knew she had told him but filed it under his ‘children of gods' theory. Less of a headache that way.

 

The rest of breakfast was filled with Bart's apologies for ever hating croissants and the revelation that Kon had never tried any French pastries before.

 

Adrien had tried to stop him from admitting this but he was too late. Marinette had already adopted Kon into her abused children club and sworn that she would bake him at least one of every pastry in existence after the mission was over.

 

She was still describing different mouth watering treats when Adrien finally shook her and reminded her that the mission came first.

 

Tim laughed while helping clean up as Marinette kept pouting cutely and muttering about noting being more important than good pastries.

 

Finally they split up to start their search. He made good time with Marinette despite her odd stops to check plants. Maybe it was a weird tracking habit.

 

They had been at this for awhile and he had just looked up to check for dropping snakes when Marinette tackled him to the ground. Before he did more then break the fall she had shoved sunglasses on his face, removed and hidden his Cape and had somehow pulled a long sleeved shirt over his head. He was actually impressed albeit a tad confused.

 

“Sorry" She whispered directly into his ear. “Don’t want our targets to know you’re a hero.”

 

“What..” He stopped as he picked up the sounds of several approaching voices. They were coming towards them in a semicircle and it was too early in the day for him to merge with the shadows.

 

Knowing it was probably pointless  he still swung Marinette onto his back and carried them as high into the trees as he could. Once high enough they flattened themselves as close to the branch as possible. Their only chance was to hope this group was stupid, but he doubted they would be that lucky. Their targets probably would have learned by now to keep an eye for jungle predators dropping on them from above, and they were easier to spot then a tiger.

 

It didn’t take long for the group of men to have guns pointed at them as the apparent leader gestured at them to climb down. They climbed down carefully and Tim just barely caught the small smirk and wink she gave him moments before hitting the ground.

In a blink she was a completely different person. Not only was she scared and rambling but she physically appeared smaller. His French was a little rusty but he was fairly positive she was rambling about getting lost and assuming they were a predator.

 

“Enough!” the leader yelled. Tim tried to act as startled and scared as Marinette. Pretty sure he failed, but it seemed to fool the men pointing guns at them.

 

“Tie up the tourists, we will release them once we have what we came for.” He paused and looked at his men, “Do any of you speak their gibberish?”

 

Marinette clung suddenly to Tim's arm and shook as if scared. He may have found it cute if he didn’t know it was all an act. It did give him a chance to act as if he was trying to be brave for her.

 

He swore internally as he realized he had been paying attention to Marinette instead of the threat. Thankfully he had been at least noting that none of them spoke French.

 

The apparent leader gestured to two of his group, “Drag them back to camp and toss ‘em in one of the cages, I will find a better solution tonight.”

 

As they lightly struggled against their captors to keep up the illusion Marinette started her panicked rambling again. “I really hope you can understand me. I vote we go along and escaped after we've learned what we need.”

 

Tim tired to make his voice sound scared as he responded in French, “Quick thinking, you have my vote. I'll contact the others when I can.”

 

She smiled to show she heard before bursting into quiet sobs. Tim was a little intimidated by her acting skills.

 

It was roughly an hour before their captors emerged into a clearing and tossed them into a cage at the far end. They were left bound as one of them men explained something about the boss’s orders and how the stupid tourists couldn’t even speak a proper language.

 

Tim waited until the men were out of earshot before activating the comm with his shoulder. “Marinette and I found the camp. Keep scanning the ground. We will join back when we can.”

 

He looked over to Marinette to see her analyzing the camp layout. There position was weirdly ideal for it. They had gotten lucky that the cages were on a small slope at the back.

 

He made sure to keep to French in case any of the men came to check on them. “So how did you know they were coming? I didn’t hear anything until after you forcefully dressed me.”

 

He thought he saw her cheeks colour but it was gone before she spoke.

 

“It wasn’t what I heard but rather what I didn’t.” a sly smile graced her face, “A quiet forest is a human filled forest.”

 

He blinked and listened. It was easy to hear the noises of camp, but there was no wildlife, not even birds.

“I can’t believe I missed that.” Some detective he was.

 

“Don’t feel bad, you work mostly in a busy city. It took quite a few wilderness adventures before Adrien and I learned that quiet always meant either humans or danger.”

 

There was a lot in that statement for Tim to try and unravel later, for now he had to focus on escape. He tapped the release on his wrist to loosen a knife and started to slice at the rope. He faltered briefly when he saw Marinette’s ropes fall behind her, untied and uncut. How did she?

 

The thought ended as she held out a long wire, “How good are you with locks?”

 

“A lock like this should only take seconds.”

 

 

Marinette smiled to herself, the lock would only distract his clever mind for a fee minutes. At least she could trust him not to bring it up until the were safe.

 

“Done.” She watched him creep forward before signalling to show it was clear.

 

Escape was slow. The whole operation was larger than she could possibly have imagined. So it took them longer than she would like to sneak past everyone in order to make it to the main tent. But make it they did.

 

Red Robin had led them expertly and with easy to follow hand signals . Sure she didn’t work quite as effortlessly with him as she did with her kitty, but Adrien and her had gone through Hell together.

 

Being Red Robin had only known her a day, he seemed to instinctively understand her. Or maybe he thought just similarly enough to her that they worked. They didn’t even exchange words as he stood watch for her to search the tent.

 

As soon as the flap closed behind her Tikki flew out to help with the search.

 

“Marinette, over here.”

 

Tikki had found a torn document written in the language of the guardians. She carefully shoved it into her bag before glancing at the poor translation next to it. After a brief moment she decided to leave that since it didn’t actually contain any useful information and snuck back out.

 

She quickly nodded to let Red know she had what she needed and he started to led them back into the jungle. She was happy to let someone else take the lead as she let her thoughts wander. Honestly with an operation this large they were lucky that the temple hadn’t been found yet.

 

It was three silent hours before they found their way to camp. Marinette was finally starting to feel the results of her sleepless night and wished she could take a nap. She had to share what she had found, Red Robin had been more than patient with her and her secrets.

 

 

Tim watched Marinette call Adrien over to their makeshift table. He was expecting them to discussing things among themselves first, so he was actually taken off guard when she took hold of his hand to pull him over.

 

“I know your mission is only supposed to be reconnaissance, but Adrien and I would really welcome the extra help.”

 

He watched as Adrien flattened the stolen document out. He leaned closer to try and make it out but saw that it was in some unknown and possibly ancient text.

 

Marinette waved Bart and Kon over and waited until everyone was settled before speaking.

 

“According to the translation I saw, our target believes they are looking for an ancient treasure guarded in an old temple.”

 

That isn’t quite the case.” Adrien point out a passage, “This actually translates roughly to ‘That which even gods fear.’ Not treasure.”

 

Tim could see the grim looks on the duo's faces.

 

Bart looked surprised, “You can read this?”

 

“Impulse, don't just ignore that these people are going to unknowingly unleash something bad.” Kon turned towards the duo accusingly, “but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

 

“Actually, no. Even after reading this we have no idea what the temple is guarding. We only know the temple was lost.” Adrien shrugged.

 

Tim looked closely at the two, once again suspicious and looking for any sign of deceit. “How did you know about the temple?”

 

Marinette sighed, “The monks sent us.”

 

“Threatened us.” Adrien corrected. Tim saw her glare before deciding to ignore him.

 

“The monks hail from a sister temple with their own well guarded secrets. They tasked us to go rescue the treasure.”

 

Adrien gestured to the paper, “This is written in their language.”

 

Tim could observe some anger on both their faces before it was gone with Bart's appearance in their space.

 

“You were threatened? But you two are so awesome.”

 

Adrien was laughing too hard to answer, Marinette looked at him briefly with concern and Tim remembered what they had said about laughing. That couldn’t be good.

 

He was about to ask if the blonde was okay when Marinette spoke, “We were unofficially inducted into their order by a rogue monk that believed he was the last. The currant group don’t  really like that they can’t remove us or make us follow their rules.”

 

Adrien's laughter died away suddenly, “We do this for them and the leave our loved ones alone. My girlfriend…” He trailed off as his eyes misted up.

 

“and my grandparents.” Marinette finished looking just as lost.

 

The heroes were all silent, this was a lot bigger than they thought.

 

Tim blinked in surprise as the pair's words fully settled. He would have bet money that the duo were dating. They had affectionate nicknames and absolutely no boundaries.

 

Kon looked to him and the duo which snapped Tim back to the problem at hand, “What's our plan?”

 

Tim spared only a small glance to Marinette before smiling confidently. “We find the temple first.”

Taglist @toodaloo-kangaroo

#maribat #the lost temple #adventure #some humor #some angst #all chaos #rin writes

[tossawary]

Chapter 24: “Seeing is Believing” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” random favorite lines and commentary. Not a full list or full commentary, but longer commentary than usual to talk about quest construction. 

-

AN: This was... a weird chapter to write. When I started outlining, I had... the conversation with Shen Qingqiu planned... the conversation with Shen Yuan planned... the fact that SQH, SY, LQG, and LFL was the quest party... and the fact that they get the Eye at the end of it. That was everything. 

The entire rest of this chapter came together FRIDAY LAST WEEK. 

Huan Hua Palace wasn’t going to be there. The Weeper didn’t exist. The Eye or its previous owner wasn’t at all connected to the Garden Master. The Shadow Cave Wolf Spiders didn’t exist. The murder plant didn’t exist. The mysterious monster showing up at the end wasn’t originally planned either. 

I mean, I had a lot of pre-existing plot threads to tie in and weave with, but ohhh boy! Picture someone lying facedown on a floor like, “I forgot to plan the contents of the super important quest...” 

I was originally going to have the Eye quest a lot simpler, but given the weight “Death of the Author” had when I finally reached this part of the story, that wasn’t really going to do! It had to be bigger than that! It needed oomph! This also felt like a good opportunity to really establish the new SQH-SY dynamic. To explore SY fumbling to find a place in this world without strict character role, especially in relation to settled and well-supported SQH. 

- 

“One attempts to remain dignified,” Shen Qingqiu agrees. “As there is little point in kicking and screaming about how such ignobility isn’t fair.”

“Ha! Is there ever?”

“Not in my experience.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not cute when I do it,” Shang Qinghua jokes.

Shen Qingqiu’s lips actually twitch at that.

Success?!

- 

AN: I wasn’t going into this fic with the intention of writing any Shang Qinghua and Original Shen Qingqiu almost friendship! But it started developing and it seemed a shame not to explore Shang Qinghua developing a real relationship with Shen Qingqiu (though not a particularly close one) when the man is suppose to be the scum villain (and the readers know that the man might get replaced by Shen Yuan). 

I can see myself writing more Shang Qinghua and Original Shen Qingqiu content in the future. Someone dropped a particularly nice prompt for them in my inbox that I’m looking forward to exploring at some point. 

(I mean, not to say that Shang Qinghua has a type, but Shang Qinghua has a type and it’s handsome, deadly, intimidating, frosty men with a villainous character design and trust/abandonment and communication issues. I could make it work.)

- 

“Ah, well, two ‘ideal’ situations come to mind: severing the personal relationship for good… or, ah, talking about how to do better and trying that. You don’t have to forget or even forgive if you don’t want to! But, ah… there’s got to be a difference between totally swallowing your anger and cutting ties forever, right?” Shang Qinghua says awkwardly. “If there’s… ever going to be anything good afterwards…”

Shen Qingqiu stares at him for a sweat-inducing length of time.

 “Ah, fuck,” Shang Qinghua thinks.

“Sorry,” he says. “Ahhh, I’m just… thinking about something someone told me… in… in regards to some of my own problems. Never mind! Never mind!”

- 

AN: Luo Jiahui really is out here making Moshang and Qijiu get their fucking act together just by setting a better example. 

- 

“Shizun, my apologies for the interruption, but I came to ask Shizun if he would be willing to join our music lesson today? The disciples have missed his playing and are eager to present their improvements.”

“...Very well, unless anyone here would disagree…?” Shen Qingqiu looks directly at the Qian Cao Peak cultivator, as though daring her to object and die.

“It’s an excellent suggestion!” the Qian Cao Peak cultivator says quickly.

The young woman smiles. “And perhaps Shizun could sit in on the calligraphy lesson afterwards? In order to offer his opinion on my progress as a teacher?”

“Fishing for compliments is unbecoming,” Shen Qingqiu says dryly.

“Wait, what?” Shang Qinghua thinks.

- 

AN: So, this has all been happening in the background, but Shen Qingqiu accepted this House of Rejuvenation woman onto his Peak about... 6-ish years ago now? This is kind of meant to parallel Shang Qinghua’s once-secret relationship with Luo Jiahui. 

Shang Qinghua was out here trying to be a better person and Shen Qingqiu noticed; now Shen Qingqiu has his own positive (platonic) relationship with a nameless background character who was meant to die for plot reasons. What a thing, huh? If the story was saved because Shang Qinghua started a domino effect of saving random people who went on to change things? 

- 

After all, as Shang Qinghua said to the kid, besides Peerless Cucumber’s apparent talent for cultivation, he knows that his fellow transmigrator has three very important skills that will serve him well on An Ding Peak! 1) An encyclopedia knowledge for even seemingly pointless bullshit (which is kind of flattering, honestly). 2) The willingness to fight total strangers over seemingly pointless bullshit. And 3) a sharp enough tongue to win.

Peerless Cucumber didn’t find these points as funny as Shang Qinghua did.

- 

AN: Shen Yuan was always going to end up on An Ding Peak. I thought about sending him to Qing Jing or Qian Cao or Qiong Ding... or any other Peak... but that would take him too far away from Shang Qinghua to really explore their relationship and to move him around conveniently in the story. And SY sticking to An Ding seemed to best illustrate the fact that SY is lost and doesn’t know what to do except cling to SQH. 

- 

“It’s not much, sure, but it’s yours,” Shang Qinghua says finally. “You’ll be joining the talisman classes soon, so don’t try anything from a book and then need to request some home repairs.”

Peerless Cucumber nods and puts his stack of manuals down on the table.

“How’s your tutorial mission going?”

“Fine,” the kid says shortly. “Have you found anything for the other one yet?”

“Ah, not yet.”

- 

AN: “Are you winning, son?” meme energy here. 

- 

Ah, now Shang Qinghua recognizes his fellow transmigrator’s expression! That’s the same stunned expression one of his Huan Hua not-disciples, Yu Chaonan, made upon meeting the Bai Zhan Peak War God for the first time. Shang Qinghua assumes that Peerless Cucumber was expecting a man who looked more like a musclebound giant and less like a pop idol (if one with amazingly muscular arms), which is a super common and never-not-funny misconception people have about Liu Qingge.  

“Brother of one of the most beautiful women in this world, bro,” Shang Qinghua reminds his fellow transmigrator, amused. Aha! Now Peerless Cucumber’s vehement disinterest in the harem stuff is making even more sense than before!

Shang Qinghua’s assumption gets 100% confirmed when it comes time for Peerless Cucumber to fly with Liu Qingge for the next leg of the journey. The other transmigrator is so embarrassed and awkward about it that Shang Qinghua’s super direct brother-in-law asks if the young man is alright.

- 

AN: This was so fun to write. Shang Qinghua really can use the Liu siblings to gauge people’s sexual/romantic orientation. 

- 

The map (or rather, the copy Shang Qinghua made of the delicate original map) takes them to a green and grey landscape of leafy trees crawling over a wide network of tall cliffs and deep gorges. Gurgling rivers cut through twisting rock formations. Shang Qinghua can’t see any of these rivers on the map. Or these deathly drop ravines. From the outside, the whole thing looks like a natural maze (holy shit, there could be so many monsters and death-traps in there!), and Shang Qinghua would know those golden robes flying low over the hanging trees anywhere.

“Huan Hua,” Liu Qingge mutters.

“Do you think they’re looking for what we’re looking for?” Luo Fanli asks.

“That’s usually how it goes,” Peerless Cucumber says, before Shang Qinghua can.

- 

AN: I came up with the skeleton idea first. Then I was like... “I should give it three eyes.” And then I was like... “But who IS this dead author? A god? A spirit? What grander implications am I spinning here?” 

And THEN I remembered that I had some ambiguous powerful being force the Garden Master into exile due to a flood. This was because, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the immortal man Gilgamesh meets in the abyss is the survivor of a great flood. So I was like, “Reduce! Re-use! Recycle! There’s my skeleton!” 

So I wanted to relate the skeleton to water because of the flood angle. Water as a symbol of cleansing/reincarnation is a big thing throughout many cultures. I can’t remember exactly how the crying aspect came up, but I knew there was going to be water in the temple now, so at some point my brain like was, “Bro, this skeleton should totally be crying because mythology vibes.” 

So I built the surrounding land off the idea that there was water flowing from or around this temple. At this point, I had decided that Huan Hua Palace should also be looking for this artifact, so I had to come up with a way to hide the temple, yet have a way for SQH’s party to track it down. 

- 

The damage to the doors is worse: someone once upon a time collapsed a part of the cliff face around the entrance, essentially leaving only the top fourth of the utterly smashed stone doors visible. It’s a wall now and has been for ages. It looks like it would take days to dig through the rubble. Someone has even super helpfully carved, “These doors will never open again,” just above the wreck.

“Guess we’ll have to go in as intruders rather than guests!” Luo Fanli says.

“What would be welcoming us inside a lost temple exactly?” Shang Qinghua asks vaguely, inwardly cursing the fact that explosive mining techniques will definitely attract the Huan Hua Palace Sect cultivators’ attention and also probably collapse the whole cliff on them.

“We only have to clear a passage for us, not the whole door,” Peerless Cucumber says optimistically. “Is there a special technique for this kind of thing?”

“Aha, not really.”

“Oh.”

“Why don’t we just keep following the water?” Luo Fanli says.

“...How so?” Shang Qinghua asks.

“Some of those waterfalls could be passages inside,” Liu Qingge explains, because he and the little sister-in-law apparently share the same brain. He’s already eyeing the waterfall wearing down the giant statue on the left.

- 

AN: Temples in quests need to have traps and obstacles and monsters! Well, not ALL of the did, but this one did. I based the obstacles they faced as much as I could around the whole “Death of the Author” theme, while using this whole quest to explore Shen Yuan, Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua, Shang Qinghua and Liu Qingge and Luo Fanli, and so on. 

The idea here with the door is that the “author” is not going to let them inside the temple to take the interpretation of the narrative (the Eye) for themselves. The story is over (the temple is closed for business)! The author is dead! If they want to get inside, they have to break inside or slip inside as intruders. 

This also creates a convenient obstacle to hold up the Huan Hua Palace Sect cultivators so that our party can be nearly caught later! And shows off Shang Qinghua, Liu Qingge, and Luo Fanli’s twisty lines of thinking. 

- 

Luo Fanli is holding the light and Shang Qinghua passes the other transmigrator to her, while accepting Liu Qingge’s hand for help getting out of the water.

“Ahhh, that was fun,” Shang Qinghua mutters.

Then he notices that Liu Qingge has the Cheng Luan sword out and ready. Shang Qinghua looks through the surrounding darkness, but all he can see are columns and water. For a moment, he thinks he sees something, a prowling shadow at the other end of the cavernous room, but he wipes the water out of his eyes and it’s gone.

- 

AN: The water in Shang Qinghua’s eyes briefly lets him see a flash of the invisible monsters who show up later! It helps up the tension. 

- 

Another low growl rips through the darkness and Peerless Cucumber shuffles a little closer to Shang Qinghua. Because that sounded really fucking close and yet Shang Qinghua still can’t see the thing that’s making that sound.

He doesn’t see Liu Qingge lunge at him either. He only feels his brother-in-law shove him into Peerless Cucumber, knocking them into the water, out of the way of something that howls when Liu Qingge slashes at it with his sword. Shang Qinghua rolls off Peerless Cucumber and looks up just in time to see dark blood splatter across the watery floor. Liu Qingge pursues the attacker with a second slash, but only seems to meet thin air this time.

“It’s invisible!” Luo Fanli cries. “Fuck!”

“Behind you!” Liu Qingge snaps, and spins to slash at the thin air beside him. Dark droplets of blood hit the water again and something hisses at him.

Luo Fanli whirls and slashes, searching for an opponent.

“They’re reflected in the water!” Liu Qingge yells at her, standing guard over Shang Qinghua as he gets to his feet again. “Listen for their footsteps and vocalizations! Feel the demonic energy and air displacement!”

- 

AN: I got this from a list of Dungeons and Dragons puzzles. The idea is that there’s some puzzle that must be solved, but the truth of the room can only be seen in the reflection of the nearby water (or mirror or whatever). 

Which felt fitting for a “Death of the Author” quest! Whatever an author’s intentions, the story is what they actually wrote, so the audience interprets a text without the context of the author’s insight. The truth (of the story) is in the reflection (audience interpretation)! It felt like a fun idea. 

It also allows Shen Yuan to actually contribute to the quest via monster lore and bring up his impaired vision problem. And to confront Shen Yuan with the reality of this world. And to show off Luo Fanli’s fighting skills. And to show off LIU QINGGE’S legendary fighting skills, instincts as a warrior who fights many dangerous beasts, and the fact that he’s clever and observant! 

Liu Qingge is good at what he does! And this is what he does! 

- 

Someone has… angrily… or desperately… carved a lopsided message into the wall.

 “‘If I go blind, so does the world,’” Peerless Cucumber reads.

“...That’s probably not good,” Shang Qinghua says.

“Nooo…” Fanli agrees.

The messages continue as they climb, carved into the walls, the ceilings, the floors. Most of it is illegible. Some of it is just nonsense. Some of it looks like the same kind of historical records carved into the broken tablets. Some of it looks like someone attacked the walls after reading what was written there. There are deep gouges in the walls and cracked marks that would match a giant’s hands.

 “‘The water cleans the lies,’” Peerless Cucumber reads. “‘I am the only one who can see.’ ‘Lies everywhere, lies everywhere, lies everywhere.’ ‘The water cleans the evil.’ ‘I do not have enough tears.’ ‘Everything is nothing now. Everything in vain.’”

“You really don’t need to read them!” Shang Qinghua tells the kid. “It’s fine. It's totally fine.”

- 

AN: This is mostly here to up the tension, but it’s also here to try and give insight into this being and relate them more to the “Death of the Author” and the “Seeing is Believing” themes. 

I also saw the phrase “If I go blind, so does the world” while I was browsing a list of riddles for D&D campaigns and I was like, “THAT’S SICK, I’M USING THAT.” Really brings the “an eye for an eye” and vengeance vibes. (The riddle was longer than that one phrase, but the answer was “the sun”.) 

- 

The top of the temple reveals one massive room that looks like someone was alternatively scratching their insanity into the walls and tearing chunks out of the interior design with their bare hands. Overtop of the rubble is that eerie overgrowth. There’s a fine layer of water over the floor. At the center of it all is an incredibly enormous desk, cracked in half, with a robed skeleton sitting behind it, slumped over the top. It’s a little too large to be an ordinary human.

Plus, its skull is a little too long, probably to accommodate the third eye socket in the forehead. There’s something gleaming softly yellow in the third eye socket.

“Is… there water dripping from its eyes?” Luo Fanli whispers.

“It looks like it…” Peerless Cucumber whispers back. “Like it's crying…?”

“Still…? Is it dead or not?”

 “Holy shit,” Shang Qinghua thinks, slightly nauseated. “System, bro, the worst bro I’ve ever known, tell me that we have not been swimming in a three-eyed skeleton’s magical undead tears or something this whole time.”

The shitty, no-good System stays unsurprisingly silent. 

- 

AN: Okay, so the idea here is that this being was someone who recorded history and shared their knowledge freely. This being had the ability to discern the truth of a person - they were extremely perceptive. (The Weeper is either female or doesn’t have a gender, by the way.) 

The Weeper met the Garden Master at some point. The Garden Master was an asshole, a liar, arrogant, etc.. The Weeper and the Garden Master clashed badly, until the Weeper sent the cleansing flood that nearly destroyed the sect and the Garden Master essentially had to flee to a personal abyss. 

The Garden Master sent the plant as a final “fuck you” to the Weeper. The plant caused the Weeper to slowly go mad. The smashed tablets and destroyed temple are the Weeper’s work. The Weeper (not in a great state of mind) had the temple closed themselves once they realized they and their work had been corrupted. This was a “you destroy my (embellished) reputation, I destroy yours (and your entire life)” plot by the Garden Master. 

The idea behind the tears is the whole “water is cleansing” thing. The Weeper tried to clean away the madness using their magical water-related abilities... and it actually worked for a long time. But eventually the madness began to overpower the effects of the magical water. The Weeper’s tears are from frustration and helplessness at losing control. 

The water inside the temple combats the plant’s physical effects. Also stabbing the root killed the plant and essentially broke its mental/spiritual powers. 

- 

Unfortunately, to get the fuck out of here, they have to go back through the temple. But hey! That’s still a lot better than an extended hike through an underground, haunted desert in darkness! The battle with the now-dead plant caused its growth to writhe around the temple. The vines need to be hacked through sometimes as they travel down through the rooms of broken shelves and shattered tablets.

“So much history lost…” Peerless Cucumber murmurs.

 “He still thinks of himself as a reader - an observer, a visitor, separate from the flow of fate.”

- 

AN: This is... absolutely based on the Heart from the Dishonored franchise. But this sort of item didn’t originate with Dishonored and I need it! It’s a surprise/mystery tool that will help us later! 

The Eye isn’t exactly a mind-reading object. I mean, it kind of is, but it works in a very specific way that I’m looking forward to getting into. 

- 

From there, their path back out of the natural maze is even more careful and stressful than before, now that the Huan Hua Palace Sect cultivators are actively looking for them rather than the temple. It’s slow-going and stressful and silent, except for when the Weeper’s Eye presses too close against his chest.

 “He is afraid that if he starts screaming, he will never stop,” it tells him, when he’s looking at a pale-faced Peerless Cucumber, as they fly over a particularly deathly-looking drop.

 “Oh, me too, bro!” Shang Qinghua thinks. “Seriously! Tell me something I don’t know!”

- 

AN: Having Shang Qinghua be totally unimpressed by an object like this was very funny to me. He’s the author! He’s a transmigrator! He knows these people well! He already has insight into their situations. 

- 

Shang Qinghua groans, but supposes that Peerless Cucumber would have at least been disguising Liu Qingge from the back. “You tell them that you were tracking thieves who stole something from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect,” he says quickly. “Rule of embarrassment! Admitting something that makes us look bad to a rival makes it sound true. Don’t tell them what was stolen and act really offended if they try to poke into Cang Qiong business. I’ll come back as soon as I get these two out!”

Liu Qingge nods and launches forward into the fight.

“We’re just leaving him?” Peerless Cucumber says, as they do exactly that.

“I’ll get changed and come back ‘looking for him for urgent sect business’ as soon as I’ve dropped you two off in the last town,” Shang Qinghua says. “I’m really good at acting stressed and confused, and at desperately needing an unstoppable wandering Liu Qingge back at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect immediately. Now let’s go! Let’s go! Mission isn’t over yet!”

- 

AN: Shang Qinghua is, at heart, a liar. I love him. 

#tossawary updates #tossawary svsss #pride is not the word #tossawary commentary

[thisizaraisu]

In/spectre vs The Detective is Already Dead: Every Masterpiece Has its Cheap Imitation

So I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. While I did only give In/spectre an 8/10 due to its admittedly weak pacing, it was also one of my favorite anime to come out last year. I love the character chemistry and banter, it was enough to make me forgive the pacing a million times over. And The Detective is Already Dead sets itself up similarly to In/spectre with some great character interaction and a main girl that reminded me a LOT of Kotoko (and you can take one look at my profile picture to know how I feel about Kotoko). But if you’ve been reading my posts, you’d have seen that The Detective is Already Dead was the first show I dropped this season. So while I was initially very interested in everything the show had set up, there was a point where it all went wrong, and admittedly I don’t think it was Episode 2. Today I wanna take a deep dive into both series, and explain why one is a masterpiece and one is a disappointment.

Structure

The Detective is Already Dead has the most screwed-up story structure I’ve ever seen in an anime... and I watched God of High School. My biggest problem with the way the show is structured is that the chronology being completely random isn’t my only issue. We gleam two major facts from episodes 1-3: Siesta has passed away, and her heart is within the body of another girl. For whatever ungodly reason, knowing this we go back to a flashback where Siesta is fighting a kaiju with toxic breath that could wipe out the entire nation of Japan. Now tell me, if Siesta were to be killed by this monster, would she have any salvageable body parts left over? Hell no. And therein lies my problem: the way that the story has already gone through its motions leaves NO room for feelings of stakes or tension in these flashback sequences. It’s not just the chronological whiplash that bogs the whole thing down, but the fact that we already know Siesta’s fate makes these “intense” flashback sequences utterly pointless (I’ll get to why “intense” was put in quotations later). I honestly did not mind the idol arc at all, but at the end of said arc, a new character was teased, only for her to not be introduced in the following episodes. There are SO many structural issues that I was baffled, it continually left me with more questions than answers and not in the way a good mystery series does so. More often than not, the question it left me with was “What the fuck were they thinking?”

In/spectre on the other hand is structurally sound. It jumps around occasionally but it covers events that are entirely relevant to the lives of our two lead characters and their relationship. Additionally, while the pacing is admittedly lackluster, it’s not confusing. We see the high-stakes war between Kotoko and Rikka unfold in real-time, with Kotoko’s plan to rid the world of Steel Lady Nanase encoutering numerous logical hurdles. Again, I’ll get into why this works down the line. But for now, I wanna talk a bit more about:

Character Chemistry

The chemistry between Kotoko and Kuro is a real saving grace for the show. I’m gonna be bringing up the term “saving grace” a few more times for In/spectre, and I do realize that the term is typically used for good qualities of bad media, but here’s where I’m coming from on this: pacing is something that I typically put a LOT of stock into for an anime. However, when the other qualities are so enjoyable that I can put weak pacing to the side, I consider those qualities a saving grace. All that being said, every interaction between Kotoko and Kuro brought a genuine smile to my face. The witty banter and innuendo shared between them is not only well-written, but reserved for the right moments. It never breaks the tension that the show has worked so hard to build up, rather it’s present in their initial meeting, their moments shared in the hotel, and after the conflicts they encounter have been resolved. There are occasionally tongue-and-cheek jokes thrown into the preludes to action sequences but they’re very quick laughs as immediately after we’re thrown right back into the action. The timing and writing in In/spectre is just top-notch and they’re a direct result of how naturally Kotoko and Kuro’s conversations flow and how well the two completely different leads compliment each other.

The only character Kimihiko had good chemistry with is fucking dead now. Moving on.

Action

In/spectre is not very heavy on the action, but two scenes in the show’s runtime did make my jaw drop: the conclusion of episode 1, and the scene where Kuro pulls his body across the I-beam impaled into his chest to punch Nanase in the face. Kotoko and Kuro have a bit of a “brains and brawn” dynamic going on. While Kuro is by no means unsmart, Kotoko is definitely more of the master strategist, while Kuro can use his immortality to keep their target at bay. This present is incredibly present in the fight with Steel Lady Nanase. Kuro is constantly knocked down, battered, bruised, impaled, yet he keeps rising back up to give Kotoko enough time to work her magic. It’s a plan that promises nothing but searing pain for Kuro, and throughout it all I was constantly wondering, at what point will Kuro break? This has been happening for numerous episodes, when will he not be able to get back up? The fact that In/spectre made me feel that there were stakes for an IMMORTAL BEING is, in hindsight, kind of amazing.

In direct contrast, The Detective is Already Dead really falls off after the first fight. While looking back on it, it is really dumb that Siesta was able to bring a gun onto an airplane, on first watch I honestly really liked what I was seeing in the fight between her and tentacle boy (I don’t remember his name and I don’t feel like looking it up). And what got me REALLY invested was the way Siesta didn’t actually kill him, rather faking his death and having him imprisoned. I was invested for a key reason: the show’s title isn’t exactly spoiler-free, but it got me wondering, is Siesta ACTUALLY dead? Is she truly gone from this world, or is her “death” in name only like Tentacle Boy’s, and do I actually get to see more of this enjoyable, In/spectre-style character dynamic? Sadly, this was thwarted by episode 2′s reveal of the girl that received Siesta’s heart. Again, a horrifically paced sequence between episodes that kills any momentum the series had built up.

Additionally, it was during the fight between Siesta and Petelguise that I felt the show had genuinely hit rock bottom, because they made a fight between a cute waifu in a mech suit and a kaiju that could wipe out all of Japan in a moment’s notice BORING. I didn’t touch on it much during my initial explanation of why I dropped the show, but I wanna elaborate a bit. First of all, as I said previously, there are no stakes to be found. We KNOW that Siesta can’t die here. Secondly, the movement is just so wooden, there’s no attempt at animating the fight in an exciting way, rather it just feels like they’re going through the motions to convey the words of the light novel without trying to get it to translate to video form. Finally, there’s WAY too much dialogue and it drags down the entire sequence by making the chase scene way longer than it needs to be, and given the show’s propensity to really over-season every scene with dialogue, I imagine this was the same for future action sequences as well. I dropped the show as soon as Siesta jumped onto the clock tower with Petelguise, because it was in that moment I realized: I feel literally nothing right now.

The last point of comparison I want to draw between these two shows is:

Bullshit

Thinking about the very different way these two shows use the art of bullshitting is honestly the reason I wanted to make this post. Kotoko’s solution to the entire Steel Lady Nanase conflict is, after all, the art of bullshitting. What makes it work is the fact that it’s the perfect solution to what the situation calls for. I know this is a bit of an odd comparison, but In/spectre is like a reverse version of Elf starring Will Ferrell. Unlike how at the end of Elf, they wanted to make everyone believe in Santa to restore his power, Kotoko’s ambition is to get the Internet to toss out their belief in Steel Lady Nanase to rid her of her power as a “monster of the imagination.” If people maintain their belief in this monster of Rikka’s imagination, there’s no realistic way to stop her. Here lies the biggest obstacle, however: the power of imagination is so strong that Nanase has become a very real entity, responsible for multiple murders. Kotoko can’t just magically find an incriminating piece of evidence that outs Nanase as superstition, so her only solution is to trick the people of the internet and convince them that she’s a myth. As she does this, her invented inference runs into skepticism and she has to continue to bullshit her way out of it until finally, she’s created an explanation for the recent string of murders with no holes in its argument. It’s an arduous process but one that does have to be drawn out as Kotoko very clearly and intentionally sets up explanations that would draw skepticism before inventing an excuse that refutes any potential counter-arguments. It’s honestly the equivalent to someone writing a 50-page college thesis with no research and successfully defending it.

Siesta, on the other hand, is the most annoying kind of supergenius character. Personally, I love Siesta. I think her character design is great, I think she’s funny and that she shares some really enjoyable dialogue with Kimihiko, so when the show isn’t butchering fight scenes I actually really enjoyed her screen time. So it’s not Siesta herself that bothers me, but it’s the way that the plot is so willing to let her make perfect deductions with the most minimal knowledge given to her. This also reminds me a bit of Sherlock in Moriarty the Patriot, with his ability to make perfect deductions from just a glance at the scene of the crime, but it works well in Holmes’ case because all of the necessary evidence is in that confined space. Siesta on the other hand is just magically able to decipher a villain’s motivation and weaknesses with a two-minute conversation... yeah I don’t buy it.

So that’s about it, I probably could have drawn up more contrasts if I had actually continued watching The Detective is Already Dead, but it became such an abject disappointment that I just ended up going back to In/spectre instead. You know, a mystery show where the writers and animators knew what they were doing.

#anime #anime review #in/spectre #kyokou suiri #tantei wa mou shindeiru #The Detective is Already Dead #Seasonal anime #winter 2020 #summer 2021

[purplesurveys]

1385

Do you prefer dark, brown or white chocolate?  White even though it’snottechnicallychocolateyaddayadda.

Do you get Easter eggs at Easter?  There were a few years where my aunts and uncles would organize an Easter egg hunt of sorts, but they were irregular at best and I wouldn’t call it a tradition in our family.

Would you prefer a pet rat, mouse, snake, lizard or spider?  None of these, honestly. I’d rather keep it to dogs.

Do you like carrot cake?  No. This reminds me of the time my uncle made me carrot cake for my graduation and of course I just didn’t have the heart to tell him I don’t actually particularly like it...I did finish it all on my own because I wanted to appreciate the effort, but yeah, I just don’t like carrot cake haha.

Nerdy question time. If you were in a more medieval time period, would you prefer to excel in might, magic, or finesse?  Pass, I have no interest in any of these.

What is one recipe that you would like to learn how to make? (Can be anything from breakfast to dessert.)  The perfect chocolate chip cookies.

Is there any specific reason why you prefer to take a shower in the morning or night?  It’s colder at night, so I feel a lot fresher if I’m showered by then. Taking a shower during the day here (especially during summer) is the most pointless thing because you would literally start sweating the moment you step out of the bathroom.

What is your favorite type of muffin?  Chocolate chip or just chocolate.

What is the last expensive item you bought?  My new phone.

Would you rather be a successful writer or artist?  Writer. It would really be nice to be known for the main thing I’m confident in doing.

Would you rather have a cottage on the beach or in a forest?  Beach. I get how the forest can be calming but I feel like I’d feel suffocated eventually.

Who’s the last person you talked to about sex?  Idk but I would guess Angela.

Where is the biggest scar on your body?  The scar above my left eye has a good size but it’s also the kind that you wouldn’t notice unless I told you about it, or if you were close enough to my face.

Would you date someone who was addicted to drugs?  If I wasn’t already with them, I wouldn’t start to.

Do you know anyone who drinks a lot?  I wouldn’t say so.

Do you have any facial piercings?  Nope.

What were you afraid of the most when you were a kid?  Cockroaches and seeing my relatives (I grew up with extended family, some of whom had problems handling their alcohol) turn violent when they’d get drunk.

Is your hair long enough to put in a ponytail?  Yep, it’s been long enough for a while.

Last time you were attacked by an animal?  A mosquito bit me last Friday, if it counts.

If you need to ask a question in class do you raise your hand?  I never did that. I just always asked a classmate, lmao.

How many times have you been engaged (if any at all)?  Zero.

Is the United States really the best country in the world?  No.

Have you ever gotten so dehydrated that you passed out?  Multiple times. I was a fainter as a kid and even up until my mid-teens.

Are your eyes sensitive to sunlight? Aren’t all of ours?

Would you ever change your whole appearance?  Not my whole appearance, but some aspects of it. I’m working towards saving up for braces so that I can have my front teeth straightened again.

Do you have a picture of you and your lover kissing?  I don’t have a ~lover.

What is a comfort show of yours?  Friends.

Do you think we were put on this earth for a reason? I hate to be a debbie downer, but I don't believe anyone is. The only reason you're here is because your parents had sex, let's just be factual. However, don't at all be mistaken, I believe we make our reason and purpose as we go. < This is good.

Animal Crossing, yay or nay?  Never played it but I’m gonna say yay since it looks like such a cute game.

Did you ever have a MySpace?  Yeah but I barely used it.

Do you have a YouTube channel? If no, would you create one? If yes what’s your content?  I have a channel but only to manage my subscriptions and to have a curated homepage; I don’t post videos and don’t ever plan on doing so.

Do you watch anime?  No, not my thing.

Do you like TikTok?  TikToks can be hilarious and educational and I enjoy them, but I don’t spend time on the actual app. I just rely on TikTok links from my friends or videos I’ll see on Facebook/Twitter.

Do you ever miss Vine?  I mean it really sucked for a while when it was no more, but I feel like TikTok is able to fulfill Vine’s purpose now haha. Those 6-second clips were something else though, I will say.

Would you ever have a pet rat?  No.

Do you think dreams mean anything?  I think they can sometimes be a reflection of your current state of mind, especially if you’re feeling something heavy (I almost always have dreams about work when I’m particularly dreading the incoming workday). But I don’t think they hold meanings or predictions per se.

What was the last topic you read about?  I found myself reading about president-related deaths last night.

What’s the best amusement park ride you’ve ever been on?  None, I don’t like to go on rides.

Would you know how to read a house blueprint? Nah but I could always ask Anj and Reena for help, haha.

What shirt do you wear the most?  I’m not too sure. I like mixing them up.

Have you ever used Duolingo to learn another language?  Yes. I reached pretty good progress with Spanish up until the verbs; and I also tried Korean but the program they have in place is terrible. I’ve learned more self-teaching myself from watching Korean variety shows. 

Do you remember much from high school?  Yep. Unfortunately a bunch of my memories from it were with people who eventually did me wrong so they aren’t very pleasant memories now; but that’s fine, I guess. I’m glad I experienced happiness in those years.

What’s your favorite fruit to snack on?  Mangoes only if it’s part of sushi.

Has anyone ever come out to you?  Yes my ex came out to me sometime in like Grade 7.

What was the last album you listened to in full?  Enypen’s Border: Carnival.

Would you prefer cupcakes or a big cake for your birthday?  OMG CUPCAKES. Cupcakes and if they had really cute BTS-themed icing? I would die.

How many jobs do you have on your resume?  One.

What in your opinion is the best love song ever written?  Angels. The xx.

Pro-life/Pro-choice? Pro-choice.

Was your mother married when she had you?  Yep. It was 6 days before their first wedding anniversary.

Who is the person you dislike the most?  I don’t think there’s such person. I mean I dislike a few people, but I don’t think I dislike anyone the most.

What’s your favourite type of cookie?  Chocolate chip cookies.

Do you have a pair of Beat headphones?  Used to. Mine are super worn out now and I’m actually pretty sure I threw them out years ago, haha.

Are any of your electronics not working properly at the moment?  I don’t think so. 

Are you excited to pick out your wedding dress one day?  I feel like it’d be more overwhelming than anything because of the amount of choices haha.

What’s a food that you like every once in awhile but not often?  Ribs.

Are you the type of person that enjoys getting hugs?  Yeah. Especially these days as I rarely get hugs.

Do you carry a bottle of water wherever you go?  Not always.

Are you afraid that one day you might get cancer?  Little bit.

What age do you look forward to reaching? I don't look forward to any specific age anymore. Same.

What exercise do you hate the most?  Pull-ups and any chest-centric workout.

What do you do at a party?  I haven’t been to a lot, but I like settling with a group and basically socializing the night away haha. And of course, the food.

What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen?  Eraserhead and Under the Skin.

What’s something people don’t worry about but really should?  Continued from Monday. Never understood what the fuck they were but I know they don’t bring good news.

What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis?  I never use movie quotes in real life.

If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?  Putting a curse on corrupt political families.

What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked?  The last few weeks have been very draining emotionally, physically, and mentally. I’ve been very close to resigning but I just feel bad about leaving Bea and it’s also a pride thing, I guess – I don’t want to resign early on in my promotion.

If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose?  Pyramids of Giza.

What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been?  Probably Rhythm Hive.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?  I didn’t prepare the proper clothes for Japan and felt like shit the whole time I had to walk outdoors.

Do you eat food that’s passed its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine?  Not usually. My dad - a chef and knows a thing or two about food - will always give me a sermon about it but I just don’t wanna, hahaha.

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to?  Hang gliding.

What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?  Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Dark Side of the Ring is also generally a fun watch.

What really needs to be modernized?  The public transport system in this country.

Do you know anyone that has a gecko as a pet?  I don’t think so.

Do you put ketchup on your burgers?  No, not if it’s just ketchup. A mayo-ketchup mix would be fine, though.

Are you or were you in any clubs in high school?  Yeah, it was mandatory. I was in table tennis a couple of years, then yearbook.

Do you own a yoga mat?  We have one here at home but it’s not mine.

Do you like Greek mythology?  No.

Do you like peaches?  Nope.

What is your favorite endangered animal?  I’m not sure if I have one.

What is your favorite game to play on your phone?  Rhythm Hive though I haven’t played it in like two weeks. It’s the first time that’s happened since I started playing the game in June last year haha. Work’s just been a lot.

Who was the last person who was rude to you?  Not sure if there’s been anyone. People have been kind these days, I think.

What was the last thing you bought at the farmer’s market?  I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything from one.

Are you scared to stand up to a police officer?  No.

Have you downloaded unique fonts for your computer?  Before, but it’s not a regular thing that I do. I’ve done it a couple of times for work.

What is your doctor’s first name?  I don’t have a regular one I go to.

Have you ever worn those Drunk Goggles?  Never heard of those.

Do you draw fanart of anything?  Nope, can’t draw, never learned how to draw.

Favorite thing to see in museums?  Paintings or artifacts. Bones/fossils are cool too.

Have you ever seen an unwrapped mummy in person?  Nope. I’ve never even seen a mummy, period.

Which animals do you tend to go check out first at the pet store?  I don’t like going to pet stores.

Have you ever been a victim of a house fire?  No, fortunately.

Have you ever had a cavity before? How about a root canal? A tooth pulled? Braces?  I’ve had three of these. The only one I can’t say yes to is the root canal.

Last movie you saw in theaters before the pandemic hit?  Knives Out, and unfortunately I’m always gonna have to associate the last pre-pandemic movie I saw with an ex, hahaha.

What is your favorite zoo animal that you would like to set free?  All of them, I guess. Not a huge fan of zoos to begin with.

Favorite kind of fish?  Like, as a pet? I’m not very familiar with fish so idk. But as for fish as food, tuna.

Is there anyone that you’ve visited in jail? Nope.

Has anyone ever told you that you looked like a celebrity?  Yeah.

Kissing someone with facial hair, do you mind?  I haven’t tried it but I don’t think I’d mind it for the most part, unless it feels sweaty and gross.

Have you ever slept on a beach?  No. Too dangerous lol.

What size shirt do you normally wear?  XS for the most part but I’ve been experimenting with M and L ever since I started getting into oversized styeles.

Would you ever travel to Los Angeles?  I mean sure, but it’s never been on my priorities. I’ve always preferred New York.

#survey #surveys