#his tendencies and problems are a lot more visible- they show more easily through his actions and his words. and she works and adjust to-

[rafegasm]

Rafe Cameron’s psycho analysis

What’s wrong with Rafe?

Warnings : mental health, abuse, trauma, depression, violence, drugs

Knowing that I study psychology, and that i have a certain toxic taste for villains in general, i really want to write my psychological analysis on the character of Rafe Cameron in Outer Banks.

Obviously I'm not a psychologist (well not yet), the goal is not to have a 100% real analysis, I just want to give my opinion by arguing my words as best as possible.

I read and inform myself a lot about mental / behavioral disorders, mental pathologies, the different types of behavior or reactions of people, it fascinates me and allows me both an understanding of others, but also of myself.

Also, i do speak english fluenty but it isn’t my first language so i may make some mistakes, please don’t mind them.

no more talk lets get into it :)

To put things into context, Rafe Cameron is Ward Cameron's eldest son and Sarah and Wheezie's brother.

Since the beginning of season 1, we quickly realize that Ward is very protective of his daughter, Sarah, but doesn’t seem to care about his other children, Rafe and Wheezie. He is shown to be emotionally and psychologically abusive towards his son Rafe, and his neglect is visible when he finds out that Rafe was spending his money on drugs after dropping out of college. We see through the first episodes Ward's differential treatment of his son and daughter, one is literally called "the princess" while the brother lives in his sister's shadow, seen as a rebellious and insignificant delinquent.

What is not emphasized enough is how much favoritism towards a child can be the consequence of significant psychological trauma. Every child wants attention. If you deny it to them, or take it away from them, it is normal that they´ll do everything to get it back better. The problem is that they unconsciously choose the "wrong" type of behavior. As a result, aggressiveness, tearfulness, or overly strong or even obsessive attachment can be observed in the child. Children observe their parents, easily imitate their mood and become their reflection. Does that remind you of anyone? His father, Ward Cameron is a liar, manipulator, egocentric with a narcissistic tendency capable of anything to achieve his ends. Finally we can clearly see that his favoritism and negligence towards his son turned him into his carbon copy.

In case of obvious favoritism, there are two possibilities, a child who will be "studious", and hard on himself, always aiming for perfection, for fear of disappointment. Or a child who will feel very sure of himself, but who can also become very narcissistic, due to an injustice wound* (which I will develop later) In this case, we observe a child who demands attention as a right, but does not show gratitude if he receives it. The child will often think he is better than the others, has high expectations of others, difficulty maintaining friendships. In adulthood, narcissism can lead to big problems in personal and professional life because the individual needs constant attention, to be the center of the world.

Obviously, another aspect that may seem logical, the complex sibling relationship. Arguments and fights, which start when children see a situation as unfair. When a child repeatedly receives less love and attention than their sibling, it can become a trigger for arguments, jealousy. Even when they become adults, they fail to find common ground, and often fail to forgive or forget. This is the case with Rafe and Sarah, he does not hate his sister, but he envies and jealous her, and resents her for having always been the favorite, to the point where he tried to kill her under an excess of anger.

Finally, the last point I wanted to address on favoritism is the behavior of the child growing up towards his parents. If you consistently show less love to a child, it can have a big impact on your communication with them in the future. When your child becomes an adult, he may decide to ignore you or even in some cases to take revenge. He only reflects the behavior you had towards him. It can be a conscious or unconscious choice. Here we can see that Rafe tried everything to receive his father's validation and attention, but even trying the best he could, Ward put all the blame on him until he told him that because of him "fucked us all", that he had "dirtyed their family", and that he would never be "a Cameron"

Now I will address the wound of betrayal and injustice which can be closely linked to favoritism.

There are 5 psychological wounds also called "soul wounds". It is these wounds that will cause physical, emotional and mental problems. It is these wounds that will prevent us from being ourselves. Emotional wounds are formed during our childhood before the age of 10. Most of the time, these wounds emerge from the parents or parent figures, and are done without their will.

The 5 injuries identified are:

- rejection

- abandonment

- humiliation

- betrayal

- injustice

Most of the time, one injury will dominate the others, however it can be associated with other injuries. We all develop certain injuries, which will have a greater or lesser impact on our lives. Faced with this "aggression", we put in place, in an unconscious way, "masks". These masks are defense strategies that will be put in place automatically and which will prevent us from being ourselves, from behaving as we would like. do it. Thus, in order to no longer be limited by these masks, it is necessary for us to identify his wounds and accept them.

*be careful, not every wound forms the same, it is not because scientifically it has been proven that they appear at a fixed age or the sex of a specific parent, that this is always the case.

The Wound of Injustice : This is the first thing I noticed through Rafe, a lack of empathy and emotion, certainly linked to his difficult childhood, where he had to create a mask, a shell to be able to defend himself against to his father, and the favoritism he experienced over his sister. The wound of injustice is often caused by devaluation and often leads to perfectionism, to wanting to be strong and by a need for recognition. If you noticed well in season 1 and 2, Rafe tries everything to have the recognition of his father, he wants to be perfect, to appear strong, both physically and mentally after killing Sheriff Peterkin. We see very little of his emotions, he tries to show that everything is fine, but we often see him losing control through various impulsive and violent acts, which perfectly illustrate his unhappiness and his internal wound.

Main symptoms:

- Create a rigid, cold mask

- Push back his wound

- Being resentful towards others and oneself

- Divert your sensitivity

- Authority

- Seeking justice and perfection

- Being unfair to oneself

- Suppress feelings

- Wanting to feel strong in the eyes of others, untouchable

- Need of recognition

The awakening of the injury occurs between 4 and 6 years. This wound often forms with the parent of the same sex who will be perceived by the child as being distant, cold, rigid. The wound of injustice will bring out the mask of rigidity. These are people who will appear without any emotion, insensitive. They will tend to hide their emotions, wanting to be "strong". Because for them emotions are a sign of weakness. In permanent control, these are people who will tend to organize everything in their lives. This hurt can arise because of a toxic family such as toxic parents or overbearing parents within your household which then creates a toxic relationship between yourself and your mother or father. It develops through the actions of your parents towards you.

For example, your father or mother may encourage you to follow the model of your sister or brother during your childhood. An obligation of excellence and a desire for perfectionism were then created, developing this wound of injustice. It is caused by the devaluation of the child and causes excessive emotional reactions in you. When a person is injured by injustice, it is common for them to hold resentment towards others and themselves. Indeed, his constant quest for excellence gives him varied emotions and a high degree of requirement.

A rigid person will be more likely to develop anger towards themselves and towards others. Just like other wounds, injustice is going to have to fill a need. For the latter, it is a need for recognition that must take place. How to heal it: It is important to learn to reconnect with your emotions, your needs, while accepting that everything is not "perfect", to make mistakes. Accept each of your emotions to avoid panic attacks related to emotional denial, "overflow" and impulsivity attacks.

The Wound of Betrayal: This wound has a lot in common with the wound of injustice, namely the need to control everything, and the difficulty of adapting to society. It's a hurt I've seen in Rafe as well, and it's been showing especially since Season 3. After he did everything for his dad, never receiving any gratitude or recognition, that hurt was definitely more seen in him. He started wanting to take control of everything, even his father, where we see the paradox with season 2 and 3 when the father hits Rafe saying "it's me who decides here" and the season 3 where Rafe takes control over his father by fighting with him and tells him "I'm talking now". We notice a darker aspect of him, in particular through his manipulative, lying side, his difficulty in trusting, his impulsiveness, his authority and his resentment. It's a wound that can stay untouched in us until it "explodes" at some point in our lives (disappointment, betrayal, offense, humiliation), at which point the brain sets up a system of protection through the mask of the "controller" to avoid any occurrences of harming us. It is a wound that leads to emotional denial, which in the long run leads to anxiety, phobias and a lot of stress.

Main symptoms:

- Always need to control

- Strong personality

- Authoritarian

- Very demanding of himself and others

- Anticipation (control even in the future)

- Trust issues

- liar, but hates lies in others

- Speed ​​and intelligence (learn very quickly)

- Sensitive but not demonstrative

- Cares a lot about other people's business - Internal anger

- Arrogance

- Difficulty in his love/sexual life because he idealizes his/her partner and cannot let go

Its development takes place between the ages of 2 and 4 years, often with the parent of the opposite sex. Wakes up when the child feels betrayed, manipulated by his parent.

The wound of betrayal, will bring the mask of the controller. The controller is a manipulative person who needs to control everything that happens around them, be it their projects, their relationships, people. She needs to hold the reins and everything goes her way. Seductive, she attaches great importance to the material side or to the image. Controllers will have a strong personality, with an overactive mind and impulsiveness. Controlling people will fear both engagement and disengagement. As part of the betrayal wound, people will have a strong need for trust. For this this need can be filled by the self-confidence and the confidence that she can have towards others (which is very rare because often she has confidence only in herself, and gives her confidence only to a number of very restricted individuals) How to heal the wound of betrayal: Healing will go through learning to let go, accepting that you cannot control everything, and that it does not make you weak.

Now I'm going to talk about Rafe's drug addiction, which is something to consider. Anxiety, relational problems, past traumas and the malaise felt are often at the origin of these uses. Belonging to a group, feeling accepted: the concern for recognition or belonging is very important for teenagers. It is also a way to escape from the real world, and to forget the stress or the pressure, the daily problems. Rafe through his conflicted relationship with his family, got himself a drug dealer, barry and dove into drugs. Not only weed but also cocaine, considered a hard drug, which has many repercussions on health and behavior. The two drugs that Rafe uses are cannabis and cocaine. We feel his addiction especially when he goes to beg his dealer Barry, to sell him rails, against his motorcycle, promising him a large sum of money. But do you really know the effects of these drugs?

Cannabis will "unstuck" and facilitate social relationships. It will relax and relax some people in the face of stress and anxiety in the family, school and / or professional environment. Well-being and relaxation will make you want to feel these effects again. Consumption is increasing and it must be found by all means. Professional and social detachment ensues. There is evidence that cannabis use increases the risk of developing psychotic disorders.

*won’t talk about physical disorders but there are many

* psychic disorders: in the short or medium term (anxiety, suffocation, confusion, nervousness, panic, phobias, delusions, mood instability, hallucinations...), during the "descent" (depressive state, withdrawal) and more or less long term (aggravation or revelation of a mental illness, depression, suicide, etc.)

* social risks: disinhibition can lead to outbursts of violence and/or an inability to defend oneself (loss of self-control, provocative attitudes exposing to aggression, etc.), changes in perception can endanger those around them, even cause accidents...

Cocaine is a potent stimulant that induces instant euphoria, a feeling of great self-confidence, intellectual and physical power, and indifference to pain and fatigue. It cancels out any shyness and gives the illusion of relational ease, a feeling of performance and confidence. When this phase ends, it means that the reserve of neuromediators is exhausted, giving way to a state of strong depression, an anxiety that can lead to alleviating this state by taking heroin or cannabis.

Long-term consumption leads to serious psychic disorders, great mood instability and paranoid delusions, panic attacks and severe depression.

Stopping acute cocaine use is very difficult, because this drug brings a feeling of well-being. The behavior of a cocaine addict is akin to paranoia, because he is convinced that he has the right reasoning and that his actions are right. Weaning is very difficult, because the memory of pleasure remains for a long time, months or even years after the cessation of consumption. A relapse during this period is very likely.

After reading about the effects of these drugs, you might have been able to make the connection with Rafe, the fact that he took drugs to "feel better" and forget his discomfort. Maybe you went through it too, or not, anyway even if it partly made him so unpredictable and irritable in his actions, basically it proves once again that it was only one more misunderstood teenager, who also wanted to taste happiness.

Besides, I mentioned paranoia vis-à-vis cocaine, which I will develop from now on.

The person with paranoia is suspicious, they feel constantly threatened and persecuted. She interprets situations, words, behaviors in an erroneous way. A word or a look can be enough to awaken in her the feeling of persecution. There are several theories aimed at defining the causes of paranoia. Some claim that the disease results from a narcissistic wound, a long-standing wound that the subject has kept buried deep inside him and which makes him particularly vulnerable. Others argue that brain microlesions are the cause of the disease. Head trauma, alcohol or drug use, stress or lack of oxygen to the brain could be responsible for these lesions. Note that Rafe started to really lose control when he killed Sheriff Peterkin, but that already before when he was on drugs he tended to show signs of paranoia.

The main symptoms:

- Exaggerated distrust

- A paranoid person is convinced that the people around him seek to deceive him, exploit him, harm him, manipulate him.

- The doubt

- She doubts the friendship, fidelity, benevolence of those around her, family, friends or professional.

- The tendency to secrecy (The paranoid person confides very little fear that what she says will be used against her)

- Negative interpretation (A word, a sigh, a silence, an action, a banal behavior, everything is interpreted in a negative way. The paranoid person interprets everything and believes he sees humiliating, aggressive, threatening innuendoes everywhere.

- Resentment: Feeling (most often wrongly) hurt, humiliated, used, even insulted, this person does not forgive the person he considers to have been aggressive towards him

- Aggressiveness: This person, feeling constantly threatened, humiliated, hurt, easily reacts with anger or aggressiveness, a reaction that is often incomprehensible to those around him.

- Suspicion: The entourage is suspected of deceiving, of plotting. Also come into play: - An overvaluation of oneself and undervaluation of others;

- excessive pride;

- tyrannical authoritarianism;

- the absence of self-criticism;

- a disorder of social relations;

- passionate reactions to real or supposed events: threats of lawsuits, money affairs, rivalries

- major depression with the possibility of violent action (murder or attempts)

One scene in particular caught my attention when I thought about paranoia was when the police arrive and Cameron is with his dad, in a state of shock and completely disconnected from reality after the murder he comes commit. He tells his father that the pressure is too strong, that he will not be able to get away with it, that he has terrible scenarios going on in his head. Since this episode, he has become twice as violent, twice as aggressive, nothing takes on disproportionate dimensions, he lives in constant fear and guilt. From there we have seen the rise in power of his anger issues, his excessive violence (in his vocabulary, by knocking into the walls, by trying to kill several times) There are a number of emotions that go hand in hand with anger. You may notice the following emotional symptoms: irritability, frustration, anxiety, rage, stress and feeling overwhelmed, guilty. Once again these are character traits very present in Rafe.

On the other hand, before making my conclusion I would like to give you my opinion in relation to the statuses of psychopaths and sociopaths that people tend to give him. For me, these two terms are used excessively, to such an extent that we do not know exactly what these two pathologies are linked to. Because of the world of entertainment, films, series, books, the term psychopath or sociopath is used in all directions, most of the time simply to describe a person who is overwhelmed by his emotions, who does not fit into social norms and unpredictable, often led to kill, torture, kidnap etc. Very often your favorite characters have many pathologies, but none of them are psychopathy.

Why do I think Rafe is neither a sociopath nor a psychopath?

*note that the two pathologies are very similar, we will tend to distinguish sociopathy by more impulsiveness, and linked to the social environment, while the psychopath, will plan and be more in the observation (Joe Goldberg in You can be an example, although there are many other disorders), the psychopath is explained by a mixture of psychological, biological, genetic and environmental factors. The term psychopathy has disappeared from the classifications of mental disorders, but it is still used to describe a complex personality disorder, now called antisocial personality disorder.

Among the main symptoms are:

- inability to conform to laws and social norms

- the tendency to deceive for profit or pleasure (indicated by repeated lies, the use of pseudonyms, scams)

- impulsiveness or inability to plan ahead - irritability or aggressiveness (indicated by repeated fights or assaults) reckless disregard for one's safety or that of others

- persistent irresponsibility (indicated by inability to hold steady employment or meet financial obligations)

- the absence of remorse (indicated by the fact of being indifferent or justifying oneself after having hurt, mistreated or robbed another)

Admittedly, the symptoms highlighting violence are found in Rafe, but the big difference between him and the profile of the psychopath is the feeling of guilt. Many times in the series, we can see how Rafe is consumed by remorse, how guilty he feels. The psychopath does not have access to this emotion, he has a total lack of empathy and does harm for pleasure. He never questions himself. Again, Rafe is not violent for fun, he did not kill Peterkin for fun, he blamed himself. He knows he's a bad person and completely destroyed by his own actions, which he still tries to hide behind his mask of a cold and powerful man.

Conclusion

Here is my conclusion on this character, in my opinion underdeveloped: Rafe Cameron went through traumas in his life that had significant emotional consequences on his life. These psychic traumas are like open wounds if we do not treat them, they follow us as we grow and can get worse, triggering trouble after trouble and deeply affecting our personality. Since our identity is forged until our 7-8 years generally, a toxic environment during childhood is the cause of most of our problems as adults or adolescents. Here with Rafe, we could see how favoritism can totally destroy a child, as well as his life in the long term if he does not heal from this wound. I may sound mean, but no parent is perfect, and even if you love them, some of the hurts you have today were caused by them without you even knowing it. An injury can come from even a very small remark, a very small detail that was made to you. And yet this little detail will follow you for years, until sometimes you have a behavior that does not look like you. Yes, if Rafe is like that today it is the fault of his father, Ward. The fact that he is not known his biological mother is surely also hard for him. He is a young man in pain, haunted by himself, who has a deep unhappiness.

He's not a psychopath, he seems anxious, guilty. He has a wound of betrayal and injustice, vulnerable narcissistic tendencies, a paranoid personality, drug addictions and anger issues. He's not inherently a bad person, he just never experienced a healthy environment and genuine parental love. Now I'm not saying he's forgivable, he tried to kill half of the protagonists, including his own sister. He killed the sheriff too. His violent acts, his impulsiveness and his hatred for pogues (which again I believe is closely tied to his father) makes him a "bad guy" that most outer banks fans describe as "loathsome" and I can understand it.

Nevertheless I think for my part that he is a complex and deep character who could have been better developed in order to not just show this "psychopathic" side to the public but precisely the aspect of the lost and wounded man that he is. . I hope season 4 brings him a healthier environment and better development :) even a love affair with Sofia (apparently confirmed)

I hope you liked it and that it helped you better understand this character! Do not hesitate to give your opinion in comment and to like!❤️

#outerbanks rafe #rafe cameron #rafe smut #rafe x you #rafe obx #rafe fic #rafe outer banks #outer banks #obx2 #obx cast #obx netflix #obx3 #obx1 #obx imagine #rafe imagine #rafe cameron imagine #psychic #villain #psychoanalysis #jj obx #rafe x y/n #sarah cameron #john booker routledge #jj maybank #kiara carrera #pope obx #cleo obx #ward cameron

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

There's something about the Unburied spin off bringing in Jean Paul/Azrael right when you're reading through his comic appearances. Is there something you like about his characterisation in it or is it all bad?

the timing is BANANAS I cannot escape from this man!

but to answer your question like genuinely NO and it's because Jean-Paul doesn't really like... HAVE a characterization in Secrets in the Dark? or rather, he does, but that's not. that's not Jean-Paul.

like JP having no prior personal connection to Batman before he starts vigilante-ing is weird, and so is him apparently just deciding to go rogue as Azrael rather than being conditioned into it from childhood by his dad and the order, but the way he's set up as having been an uptight religious extremist from an early age is really where I draw my line on this one. hello hi, he MAIMED is roommate?? pre-Azrael Jean-Paul was Literally Just Some Guy! he was studying computer science, man! he was not a violent dude, all of that comes from the system and the hell training he got after his dad was murdered! idk, it really seems like the writers got the cliffsnotes on Azrael and just ran with "religious Batman who kills people" without wanting to look any deeper into what actually drives the character.

JP is filling kind of a similar role as Cornelius Stirk did in Unburied; they're both filling the role of being the most initially visible antagonist who presents an initial problem to solve but is actually being controlled by something way more convoluted than simple homicide. but even though Stirk is ultimately just a tool for Ivy, he gets a relatively large amount of development as a person! especially through listening to his sessions with Strange, you really get to see how he was pushed further and further into embracing his worst delusions and homicidal cannibal tendencies and how he got warped into being a tool for Strange and Ivy to use; it makes him a lot more sympathetic and shows how his vulnerabilities were exploited by the corruption within Arkham. it fits very well in a series that's surprisingly sympathetic to its rogues - Eddie being an unambiguously sympathetic victim of police framing and brutality, Batman apologizing to Tut for the medical abuse he experienced, Ivy herself starting out as a victim of abuse and sexual harrassment and ultimately abandoning her plan when she's won over with the power of gay love. the only villain in Unburied who DOESN'T get any humanizing moments at all, in my opinion, is Strange, and that's because he was a man who was 100% in a position of power over the people he was hurting and get that narrative sympathy.

Secrets in the Dark has kind of a weird moment of trying to have its cake and eat it too. it wants to make textual a lot of those more subtly presented ideas about criminals as people that started in Unburied, with Eddie repeatedly emphasizing the injustice of society looking away from convicted felons and treating their lives as expendable, while also like. presenting Azrael as a one-dimensional religious zealot who gets almost no interiority and is easily manipulated by other characters at pretty much every turn. (which is extra wild because like??? HELLO. if we wanted to continue that theme of exploring wrong committed by people in power, the Catholic church was a GREAT place to do that!) and there just doesn't really seem to be a satisfying stance on that other than, I guess, the Riddler is the POV character, so the murderers that he likes are fine but the one he doesn't like is fair game.

I uuuuuuuh had more feelings about this than I thought I was going to when I sat down to type this actually. justice for my boy Jean-Paul, that wasn't him.

#secrets in the dark #jean paul valley

[dragonofthestone]

As Tim becomes more let's say self aware of how different he is from, let's be real basically everyone at the Comodeen, it unfortunately does lead to developing some degree of being - whether they realize it themselves or not- self conscious.

While being treated with well tbh basic respect, and not like an animal or worse an object and instead like their own person. Like everyone else does do a lot of good and they like it

But at least in Tim's mind it also slowly starts creating an awkwardness when it comes to their more unusual mannerisms, that being mostly their animalistic tendencies.

And to be clear this would be through no fault of anyone for the most part- regardless of any extra outside factors like someone just being a dick to the poor Chimera.

It starts at first with small things that just happen to come along with them learning to trust and live with others and just coming into their own like finally deciding a name- but that's fine cause that was something they decided they wanted.

Then there's talking more which wasn't entirely by choice, they don't hate it but being naturally quiet, it's honestly a bother but not everyone is like Kaze or Kain (even Kumo to an extent) where words aren't always needed with body language and other cues are enough-

While not violent at all most certainly snapped, figuratively and literally at least once at someone who didn't get the hint to leave him alone, and more often then not their go to way of expressing displeasure of any form is hissing.

On the flip side however is their way of expressing joy, while fully capable of expressing emotion like a person, it doesn't always show on their face or at least more subtly. Smiles are small at most revealing part of his fangs that stick out some but never would you catch with big toothy smile- and gets very conflicted feelings when they see others do so as although their body language may give off a relaxed and non threatening vibe a show of teeth- to the animal part of them anyway- does not and makes em uncomfy.

Instead a lot of his expression comes through with their tail especially as well as other vocalizations that well not everyone might pick up on.

Unfortunately having that long tail proves bring out another problem that it gets in the way, causing both him and others problems.

Can easily knock things over, not to mention having it stepped or sat on by those not paying attention, leading him to start holding on to it- even if it does mess with his balance a bit. Which brings visible another big difference, their hands.

Awkwardly shaped with only three digits and sharp nails that he always has to be mindful about lest he hurt someone.

Frequently they can be seen flicking their tongue, especially when presented with something new - unfortunately for them most find the act of sticking ones tongue out as quite rude so the act may be misconstrued. And even if no one has said anything they may have given a look, so they try hard against instinct to not to let it happen

Overall physical appearance is one of if not the biggest factor, even among the diverse group of people in the Comodeen, they don't see anyone like them.

Which frustrates them, for reasons they don't fully understand either.

Perhaps there's a slight jealousy in that there are even those although not from Amestris that well still look the same as those who are. Hell for as different as he is Kumo still looks far more like then he does.

Mostly it's a painful reminder of the truth of what they are.

So, unconsciously at first, they start to hide parts of themselves

#lab!life tim #Chimera in Wonderland (ffu) #; identity

[ahugenerdynerd]

So I think a lot of us can agree that Titans isnt a great show. But not just with their portrayals of the characters but also with the writing.

I personally can forgive what Titans has done with the different takes of the characters, don’t get me wrong it’s still shit but that’s not what this post is about.

The show is just packed full of bad writing. This coming from someone who has studied film for over 4 years. But anyone who knows anything can see how bad the writing is.

(I will be waiting to pass judgment on season 3 until the entire season is out, so this will be focusing of season 1 and 2)

Analysis under the cut

Firstly they will establish something, only for them to completely forget about that fact next episode. Case and point in episode 7 of season 2 Dick finds out that Deathstroke has been stalking them and is in the tower. After that he rushes back, visibly distraught with a gun in hand dramatically declaring that Deathstroke was there in the building. Only for in the very next episode for that fact to have been completely forgotten and now they’re all just leaving and it never gets brought up again.

This isn’t the only time something like this has happened but it’s the most glaringly obvious one.

Something that they also do which is most prevalent in season 2 is the spacing of the events between episodes. Titans will dedicate entire episodes just for one part of the story. This may work for some shows, specifically sitcoms that are aired on tv. Shows like The Big Bang Theory or Friends that viewers generally aren’t going to be watching in the correct order so they’re made to be stand alone episodes. But Titans isn’t a sitcom nor is it being aired on tv. What they really should have done is spread these scenes out over several episodes as flashbacks rather than to condense them down into one episode. Because by having the full flashback episodes it makes the show feel disjointed and they interrupt the drama and the suspense. It’s like getting to the climax of a film only to be interrupted by a 40 minute ad. You end up not really caring for the episode because you just want to know what happens with the cliffhanger from the previous episode. When really the events of these flashback episodes should be the most important and interesting part of the show. Where we get to see what happened between the Titans that made them brake up and character backstories and the like.

I think the most disappointing use of this is with the episode ‘Connor’. Rather than condensing Conners entire backstory up to meeting the Titans into one episode leaves a lot to be desired. I would have much preferred to have seen his backstory of escaping Cadmus and his relationship with Eve spread out over sever episodes in tandem to what was happen with the main cast. It would have created a lot more build up and anticipation for him finally meeting up with the rest of the Titans. Whereas what we got was one episode where we could easily guess exactly what was going to happen and where too distracted by Jason supposedly falling to his death to really appreciate the episode.

Secondly, is the shows pacing. It is all over the place. Season 1 was especially bad when it came to this and season 2 was only marginally better. Obviously I’m going to be talking about what happened with Trigon.

Fist of all the decisions for Trigon to be the big bad of the fist season was an interesting decision to say the least. But let’s forget about the comic book aspect and look at what made this season so bad writing wise.

Basically it all boils down to set up and pay off. The set up obviously being how the show sets up the climax, in this case the battle against Trigon. And the pay off basically being how rewarding the climax feels for the audience. With good writing you will have a pay off that is equal to or greater than the set up. If there’s not much set up then it’s easier for the pay off to be worth it for the audience. However in Titans case they set up the battle against Trigon right from the get go slowly building it up over the season, painting him as this neigh unbeatable force. Admittedly Titans was already of to a bad start with their decision to include Trigon in the first season what with the comic fans already knowing about his character and having to live up to the pre existing show Teen Titans as well as the animated movies. In a way they set themselves up for failure.

However where they really let themselves selves down was with the pay off. After having all this build up for the battle against Trigon, the final product falls extremely short. Where they really went off was not including the finale for the season in the actual season but instead moving it to the fist episode of season 2. I don’t know about any one else but when I went into season two after how season 1 ended I was expecting a majority of the episodes to be about the trying to defeat Trigon. But not even 40 minutes in and he’s defeated. This felt extremely unrewarding and underwhelming after waiting an entire season and the time in between to find out what’s going to happen next, only for him to be defeated almost immediately with little to no fuss.

This battle should have definitely been drawn out more. Taking place over several episodes or at least and entire one, where all of the Titans have to work together and struggle to defeat him. Rather than Raven just going out there herself and beating him instantly. There was no reward there. It was just over.

They had a similar problem in season 2 with Deathstroke, one of the Titans main villains. Going through all this build up and emotional turmoil only for him to just be stabbed and oh look he’s dead. You don’t just kill Deathstroke.

Side note: no one checked for a pulse, so I am personally of the opinion that he wasn’t actually dead but was just laying there playing dead hopping no one realised

Finally in this list of examples of bad writing is their tendency to introduce something new out of nowhere with no previous foreshadowing. The most obvious example being in season 2 episode 7 where out of no where we find out that Dick is hallucinating seeing Bruce. This came out of absolutely no where when there should have really been some build up to this. Maybe we could have seen Dick acting oddly, or Talking to no one or really anything. But we got nothing. It felt like someone had just come up with the idea on the day of filming with no previous forethought. Not to mention the fact that it basically only lasted the one episode, with it briefly coming back in episode 11.

Tl:dr: Titans had so much potential to be a great show but they just fell short with the writing. Everything just feels very rushed and not very thought over and they definitely could have done better.

P.S There is definitely still good writing in Titans however. Mostly to do with their portrayals of mental health. So don’t take this post as me just dissing on Titans. Maybe I’ll write another post about the good writing or analysing their camera usage, idk.

#titans #titans season 1 #titans season 2 #dick grayson #nightwing #connor kent #kori anders #raven roth #rachel roth #jason todd #garfield logan #deathstroke #dc comics #detective comics #writing analysis #bruce wayne #batman

[beelovesnct]

𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 [𝐞𝐩. 𝟑]

— episode 3

The episode begins with the introduction of the two trained professionals who will be evaluating the personalities of the members; Aiko could be seen bowing and clapping respectfully together with the boys.

They began by introducing what the HEXACO test was, and when asked if they had any idea of what it could be, Jisung answered that it might be related to the MBTI, while Jaemin and Jeno revealed they thought it was for psychopaths (with Aiko scoffing and commenting, "You're both crazy," under her breath.)

Before proceeding with their assessment, both professionals put out a disclaimer that the test was not one hundred percent accurate, rather simply something that a person could relate to and say, "Oh I feel that way sometimes,"

Jaemin's assessment: Mr. My Way

They first examined Jaemin's character, explaining that he's someone who abides by his own rules and standards, and makes it clear whenever those are not met. In short, he's a character who does things his way.

Immediately, the dreamies reacted with subtle shock, amazed at how close the results were to his actual personality; even Aiko was nodding her head along with their explanation, especially about how he was such a complicated character overall and had a hard time dissecting what he was actually like.

The host noticed this, and asked why she was nodding so much; Aiko then stated that "Even I'm surprised by Jaemin every time; he's like an onion that can reform its layers, sometimes he shows everything and other times nothing at all."

The professionals and even Jaemin himself were surprised by Aiko's specification, "That's exactly how we would point it out." They complimented her use of words.

Jeno's assessment: A scholar who gets hurt easily

For Jeno, they revealed that he's the type of person who holds everything in; so when asked about his infamous nickname, "Jeno-jam", he revealed that he was actually hurt the first few times when he was teased as such, only getting over it when he finally viewed it as a positive thing—something that was unique only to him.

When asked who called him that name, Renjun admitted that besides Aiko, everyone called him that even way back in their trainee days to which Jeno then confirmed.

Aiko was suddenly asked why she didn't tease Jeno, she replied with a stutter, "H-He was funny then," to which Haechan immediately responded with "Don't lie," bringing laughter to everyone.

Regaining her flustered composure, Aiko tried explaining again, "Just, he's reminded by them anyway, me teasing him would be a waste of time," She shrugged her shoulders cooly, but it failed to conceal her true emotions as the tip of her ears started turning red; especially with Mark's revelation,

"Actually, Aiko came to me one night when we were preparing for debut, she told me if I could tell the kids to stop teasing Jeno because she was worried his confidence would decrease,"

A bunch of oohs and aahs came after the confession; Aiko rolled her eyes but covered her face after, earning a "Tsundere!" comment from Jaemin.

Jeno simply smiled and side-hugged Aiko who was still crouched over with her face in her hands.

Ako was once again complimented, making the host joke if she was doing this to get more screen time, to which the boys denied altogether, "Aiko is really like that, she's observant. She knows when we're having problems without us having even to tell her, she has like a detector of some sort." Renjun said with much sincerity, making everyone nod in understanding (and Aiko embarrassed again so she settled on putting her entire face on Jeno's shoulder).

With such timing, the professionals intervened that that was exactly what they got from Aiko's personality test as well, and so the segment moved to Aiko's examination.

Aiko's assessment: Individualistic Tsundere

After seeing Aiko's HEXACO results, the members let out a sound of surprise, as much like Jeno's, Aiko's chart was very unconventional.

"As we can see, Aiko-nim's results were a 3-3 situation; her humility, emotionality, and conscientiousness were very high, but her extroversion, openness, and agreeableness were all lower than what is of standard."

"This is the reason why we gave you the title, 'Individualistic Tsundere'", they continued, and once again, even just from the title, the members gasp and showed their agreement.

"You are very individualistic, and that simply means that you enjoy being alone, and you actually value your alone time. For that reason, you are very independent and often won't turn to others for help." They began their explanation, the set quiet as all of the dreamies paid attention to what they were saying about their precious member, only nodding whenever they agreed with what was revealed.

"Wah, why is that so accurate," Renjun commented, his voice low as he glanced at Aiko who has kept silent right from the start when her results were shared.

"I've heard that you're lazy, right? Fans call you a cat because you laze around too much," The comparison brought a smile to Aiko's face as she nodded, confirming their thoughts.

"But I think that you're not lazy at all; as a result of your low extraversion and high conscientiousness, you're very picky with what you put your efforts in. In short, you're practical. You share the same 'My Way' attitude with Jaemin-nim, that if something does not interest you, you tend to back off completely."

The dreamies, once more, portrayed an appalled expression; this time, even Aiko was not excused as she felt immensely exposed to that particular revelation.

"Yah, this is so crazy," Mark chimed in, shaking his head in disbelief.

The professionals continued, seemingly pleased with the reaction, "There were some essay portions in the test, and Aiko-nim answered some of them—which I assume was in line with your interests, with essays that were good enough for college applications."

"Like with the David Statue, she made references to the art of human anatomy, and even stated possible reasons as to why Michaelangelo sculpted it; it was an amazing read,"

"But for those that she might have not found so interesting, she simply stated some simple phrases that weren't at all expounded."

"One question asked if you would steal money in the instance that you would never get caught, Aiko-nim simply stated, 'I'm rich enough, so no thank you.'" The disclosure didn't fail to bring smiles and laughter to both the members and hosts, finding Aiko's savage response too amusing. Aiko simply shook her head as she hid her face behind her hands once again, only regaining her composure once the topic was changed.

"It's also because of your lack of extroversion that you tend to hide how you care for others. You have really high emotionality, which means you have the tendency to be an empath—detecting whenever a person is down even if they don't show it; so you help them in any way you can—especially if they're important to you, but often would brush it off as nothing, hence we gave you the title, 'Tsundere'"

Jaemin nodded vigorously, displaying full-on his 'my way' attitude as he screamed his thoughts, "That's RIGHHHHHT."

The dreamies, though amused with Jaemin, sided with his thoughts, with Jisung declaring one particular story from their trainee days.

“Noona always sees right through any of us. She'd buy medicine from across the street during break times just so we won't have to suffer. She would then always lie that she already had those medicines with her, but she didn't know that we could see her right from the window."

At Jisung's confession, everyone visibly cooed; adoration in their eyes as they looked at Aiko (who waved her hands in front of her, trying to deny the accusation, but the dreamies won't let her have it). Jaemin, who was beside her, ruffled her hair fondly.

"With that, there are a lot of benefits with having you on the team, one of which is making sure that everybody's doing okay behind the scenes, but I do have a tip for you, Ms. Tsundere." The laughing seized, as the professional's tone was somber; Aiko listened intently, her face morphed into seriousness.

"Since you value independence, you have a tendency to keep all your problems in. You have no problem helping others, but you have a problem with them helping you. Remember that you are never a burden, so you can lean on others too."

For the nth time, all the dreamies portrayed an immense gesture of agreement, either commenting, "That's right, Aiko, stop holding everything in," "Be more like Jaeman"; or simply nodding their heads as they glanced at the neko-member, relieved that she heard those words outside of their own team (which means she'd probably take their advice since she views that there are no biases).

Aiko simply showed a smile, "I'll take that to heart, thank you." She responded politely.

The personality examination finished for Aiko and then continued to the other members until the host told everyone that it was the time for the next activity.

#nct 24th member #nct 24th member au #nct dream 8th member #nct female oc #kpop female addition #nct additional member #nct extra member #nct female member #nct female addition #neko #nct #nct dream #nct 127 #wayv #female oc #girl crush #kpop!oc #nct dream au #nct 127 au #aiko in the media #nct x oc #nct x reader

[itsclydebitches]

Hey there! Admittedly I'm a little bit nervous since this is my first ask, but I'll try to not be too rambly.

So, recently the main subreddit, r/RWBY, made a ban on active users of the r/RWBYcritics subreddit. As a result there's been discussion around bad-faith criticism in the latter subreddit. What are your takes on bad-faith criticism?

For me personally, I think a bunch of people are misusing the term "bad-faith" and using it as a way to shut down criticism, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Hey there, everyone! We woke up to some drama this morning, huh? And hello to you too, Tortoise! I'm so glad you decided to send in an ask, even if it's following some pretty tumultuous events...

Right, I'd like to start with a story. The story of how I personally don't spend time on Reddit, but I have plenty of friends who will occasionally cross-post something for me to see. Yesterday (or the day before? Idk time is meaningless) a friend told me about a post — which, significantly, I'm now having trouble finding — that covers RWBY's inconsistent writing and the fandom's tendency to try and explain away those missteps. They'd thought I'd be interested because I'd just had a conversation here on tumblr where I made that exact point to someone who, also significantly, vehemently disagreed with me, but in a very civil fashion. Given everything going on, I feel like this side point needs emphasis: we debated, we did so in a sometimes heated, but nevertheless respectful manner, it was clear neither of us was going to sway the other, and the conversation ended. The two "sides" of the community interacted without Armageddon coming about.

But back to the purpose of this tale. I went to take a look at this point and found that it no longer exists. There's just some vague message about it not obeying the subreddit's rules. "What happened?" I asked. "Why'd they take the post down?" "People were getting too heated in the comments," my friend replies. So, given that the comments were still visible, I proceeded to read through them, expecting personal attacks, slurs, harassment, etc. Any number of things that would justify deleting the post itself to put an end to such behavior. Instead, I found a thread of people having a conversation. Was the conversation heated at times? Sure. Did one or two individual posters edge into the realm of petulant, "No. You're wrong and stupid" responses? Yes. Was any of this remotely what I was expecting given the post's removal? NOPE.

"This isn't allowed?" I said. "Well then what is? People were being civil! Or at least as civil as hundreds of strangers ever get when discussing a series they're passionate about online."

Then, this morning, I hear that the entire critic subreddit has been banned.

So to answer your question, Tortoise, I don't actually think that "good faith" criticism exists. Meaning, it's not just that fans are misusing the term "bad faith criticism," but rather that there is no unified, agreed up method of writing criticism that will meet their standards. It's not possible and we know it's not possible because fans have been trying to meet those elusive standards for years:

A fan posts nothing but praise for RWBY until changes make them criticize the show as it is now. Their entire body of work is dismissed as the product of a "hater," despite the overwhelming gap between positive and negative reviews.

A fan posts a review that's a pretty balanced mix between praise and criticism. They're dismissed because it's still too much criticism.

A fan posts a review that's 99% praise with 1% criticism. That's still too much, with fans focusing on the single problem they had with the work and using it as an excuse to dismiss the entire review out of hand.

(As an aside, the argument that critics are "obsessed" with only saying negative things and that the only problem here is that they're "too" negative ignores the argument that... RWBY has a lot of flaws nowadays. Few are willing to acknowledge the possibility that it's not fans insisting on making things up to be mad about/ignoring the good parts of the show, it's the that show is, as of now, legitimately more of a mess than it is a praise-worthy product. If I'd been writing recaps in the Volumes 1-4 days, my work would have been skewed far more towards the positive. The critics' stance is that RWBY has gotten worse, which yes, results a higher volume of critical posts. To say nothing of how criticism takes far longer to explain, likewise resulting in posts focused primarily on that side of the divide. I really enjoyed the image of a crying Jaune reflected in his sword. I did not enjoy that moment's context. Saying that you liked an animation choice is a one sentence thing. Explaining the complexities of Jaune securing emotional moments, the problems with Penny's second death, the hurt many fans experienced watching an assisted suicide, etc. takes a whooole lot longer. Hence, you get massive, multiple posts about these nuanced topics and fewer, smaller posts about the details that are working well.)

A fan talks about a topic that has been metaphorically banned by the fandom as a whole. They have something good to say about Ironwood. They dislike something about Blake/Yang. They enjoyed Adam as a character. They have a problem with Ruby's leadership, etc. There's a whole list of topics nowadays that will result in an automatic dismissal, regardless of the point the fan is trying to make or how well they make it.

A fan talks about the minority representation of RWBY — its black characters, its queer characters, its disabled characters, etc. — and as a result has something to say about the biases and missteps of those writing these characters. This is considered an attack on the writers and, therefore, automatically bad.

A fan talks about how they enjoyed RWBY as it was years ago and is having trouble reconciling the dark, complicated story with the simple, hopeful one we started out with. This is seen as an attack on Monty's vision and an unwillingness to accept that "everything is planned."

A fan does as asked and ensures that their post is meeting all the requirements of "real" criticism. They have an argument to make. They have a point. They provide evidence. They recommend a solution. They keep their tone respectful. They don't attack the creators. They provide disclaimers in every single paragraph about how they do not hate RWBY. It doesn't matter. They're considered too negative.

I have, quite literally, seen every one of the above examples on multiple occasions. I have had many of the above accusations leveled at my own work. When fans say that they're fine with criticism provided it's not "bad faith" criticism, they don't actually have a specific post-type in mind; a checklist of behaviors another fan can emulate and, provided they do that, no hate will come their way. Or, if an individual fan does actually go, "Yeah. That criticism I'm fine with" that response is in no way universal. One person's "They make a good, civil point" is another person's, "Omg stop bashing the show!" Because "bashing" has come to mean everything from curse-laden insults towards everything RWBY has ever done, to posts that just happen to say something other fans don't agree with.

It's a rigged game. There is no way to post criticism about RWBY in an agreed-upon, appropriate manner. This recent ban is proof of that. I think it's incredibly telling that almost immediately after I was going, "Wow. A pretty calm debate about the flaws of RWBY in the main sub. That's great to see," all posters from the criticism subreddit were banned. The main sub literally just had the sort of criticism that they claim to accept — people respectfully posting analysis-based arguments resulting in calm debate — and yet they implemented the ban anyway. I'm not going to pretend that I've never gotten too heated on my own posts, never made snarky comments when I'm frustrated, never used exaggerated reaction GIFs that can come across as insulting... but I'd say on the whole my RWBY work is precisely the sort of "good faith" criticism that other fans are supposedly looking for. I never make an argument I don't think I can back up with evidence. I try to allow for the nuance and differing opinions of complicated topics. I try — even if I don't always succeed — to write in a clear, respectful manner. Yet none of that work has stopped people from telling me I'm a "bitter... raging asshole," a "deranged, delusional psychopath," telling me to set myself on fire, threatening to smash my head in, or just messages to straight up kill myself. If someone like me who legitimately works hard to create fair, defendable criticism and who only ever posts on a personal blog that people can easily block, who never engages in debate until someone else starts it first, never seeks out other fans I disagree with to harass them about what they like... if someone like me is still a "bad faith" critic who "deserves" that kind of hate mail... then what kind of criticism do people want?

Nothing. That's the answer. No criticism whatsoever, of any kind, no matter if it's delivered respectfully, is making a good point, whatever. That's why "RWDE" was created. That's why the critic subreddit was created. The community at large has demanded a complete separation between Praise and Anything That's Not 100% Praise, which has now resulted in this ban. Any other explanations we see are excuses, which becomes glaringly obvious when you look at the mods' supposed reasons for implementing the ban:

"Constant arguments with r/RWBY users" - As opposed to the arguments surrounding things like shipping that never, ever happen?

"Vote manipulation and comment brigades" - The subreddit with 3,000 participants, with around 200 on at a time, is manipulating the votes of a subreddit with 155,000 participants, with over 1,000 on at a time? Those numbers just do not check out. If a positive post is downvoted, or a critical post upvoted, maybe that's because large swaths of the community actually agree/disagree with that assessment, not because the incredibly smaller group is somehow manipulating things.

"Attacking and harassing those they disagree with" — Again, as opposed to those non-critics that never, ever harass people? This is an individual problem, not a community problem. Both critics and non-critics have their sub-groups acting in ways they shouldn't. If anything, the main sub will have more individuals harassing other fans, simply by virtue of being so much larger. As the above examples attest, it's not other critics who have told me to light myself on fire and, just to be clear, the asks I've responded to are a miniscule number compared to the amount I've received. I delete the lion's share for my own sanity and to save my followers from reading the really graphic threats.

"Months-long NSFL spam brigades" — I am, admittedly, not sure what this is referring to. Spamming of NSFW content? If so, that's also an individual problem.

"Homophobic, transphobic, and racist attacks towards our users" — See the above points. Again. If someone is being homophobic, transphobic, or racist, then yes please, ban them. Don't ban an entire community for the actions of a few. It's like walking into a store and banning a customer for causing a scene... but then also banning everyone else who happened to be shopping at the same time. It's guilt by association.

The silver lining to all this? The community as a whole isn't pleased. At least according to the main subreddit comments and a few individual voices like MurderofBirds. Despite the increase (from my perspective anyway) of critical voices post-Volume 8, criticism of RWBY is still very much seen as taboo. As this ban showcases. But it's really reassuring to see so many fans, critics and non-critics alike, going, "This was a mistake." A community is meant to include all aspects of engagement: praise, criticism, and the gray area between. If anything, fans like the mods of the main subreddit should be creating a separate subreddit that is specifically for praise. In the same way that there should have been a tag for RWBY praise, rather than trying to eliminate any and all criticism from the main "RWBY" tag. The majority of fans, even those who claim to hate critics and all they (presumably) stand for, recognize that a blanket ban of all criticism is not the way to go, especially when "criticism" has come to have such a staggeringly broad definition. If you want your RWBY experience to be nothing but sunshine and roses (ha), then cultivate your own internet experience to reflect that. Create your own pockets with rules about how this is the space for praise and if you're not up for praising RWBY right now, don't interact with us in this particular space. Don't try to make the entire community — the main tools used to discuss the show online — conform to your preferences. As established, there is no "good" criticism that everyone in the fandom will accept, which just leaves a fandom with no criticism at all. I'm glad to see I'm far from the only one who, when presented with that extreme, is going, "Nope. No thank you."

#rwby #mymetas #suicide tw #rwde

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Would it be ok to ask for a lot of characters? I love them all!! ✋ and 👄 for the Magic and Silver crew, and for Written In Ink 😘😘😘

TOTALLY ok! ✋ Are your OC’s hands smooth, rough, or average? Why? How do they keep their nails? Do they bite them, paint them, neatly trim them, et cetera? Magic & Silver Robin - Robin's hands are rough, both from the constant outdoor work he does when he's at Rowan House and the fact that his powers dry out the skin when he uses them. He usually has cat claw scratches and some paper cuts from his origami. His nails are generally trimmed short so he doesn't rip them off, but after he's been a host they're harder to cut, since they're partially turned into the same material as a vampire claw. John - John's hands are softer than someone might expect. He does fairly constant upkeep on the leather on his car seats, his boots, his whip, and his knife sheath, as well as his jacket and his wrist cuff, so his hands almost always have been recently working with leather oil. He keeps his nails cut short and blunt, and they almost always have grease under them from working on his car. Kira - her hands are chapped from working with chemicals and the constant hand washing she has to do in the lab. The only time her nails have color is if they pick up a chemical stain, bright nail polish can be distracting for anyone trying to watch someone using ASL, and she also doesn't want something to interact with a chemical in a bad way. Maira - Maira's hands are calloused and scarred from her field days, although both of those are now faded with time. She generally has her nails done in some pastel color, although she keeps them short for practicality, Cody - Cody always has paper cuts somewhere on his hands from working with books. He keeps a little tub of aloe salve next to his desk at work and uses it often. Emma - vampires have naturally long nails, and Emma makes an effort to accentuate hers with bright or dark red polish. Like most other things about her public persona, she carefully curates a dangerous, not-to-be-crossed image. Arion - Arion's hands used to be scarred from the wars he was in before his turning. However, turnings remove the scars aside from the ones they themselves create, and since Arion was one of the original vampires created with stolen magic, instead of fang marks he has a single ragged scar like a burn in the palm of his hand. It's comparable to the wound left by an electrocution. Written in Ink Jesse - Jesse's hands are calloused from working on his father's fishing boat, and they also usually have paint or charcoal stains from his artwork. He has a tendency to smudge his drawings with his fingers, and this means the tips of his fingers and his nails are almost permanently stained. It's easy to tell what art medium he's currently fixated on because there will be evidence of it on his hands. Tina - Tina's hands are chapped and stained from working in the dirt in her garden and creating tinctures and poultices by hand. There's almost always dirt under her nails unless she's scrubbed up for working on a patient in the infirmary. Amy - Amy's hands are calloused from her hunting weapons, but she tends to take good care of them otherwise. She often has a coat of some shade of pink or coral nail polish, and she keeps her nails trimmed neatly but not extremely short. 👄 What is your OC’s smile like? Is it bright and wide, or thin and reserved? Does your OC wear any lipgloss or lipstick? Do they chew their lips? Magic & Silver Robin - Robin's smile is different depending on who he's with. With strangers it's small and reserved, hardly there at all, but with his friends it's wide and joyful. Robin initially sometimes bit his lips when he was concentrating, but after he was kidnapped by Arion and developed his host fangs, he broke himself of the habit. John - John's smile is open and cheerful, although somewhat rare. He'll often smirk or smile closed-lipped, but the genuine open smile is reserved for times when he's truly happy and at ease. He has a chipped front tooth from a fight with a vampire when he was younger that is clearly visible when he smiles fully. Kira - Kira has a very vibrant smile.

All of her expressions come across as almost larger than life because of her signing, and her smiles are no exception. When she's happy, you know it. She likes to wear the kind of cherry chapstick she wore when she was running cross-country in middle school, it reminds her of those days and trying to avoid wind-burned lips. Maira - Maira's smile has permanent pain lines around it, but is cheerful nonetheless. She's been through a lot, but she's also kept her joy through it all. She's proud of every part of her past and it shows in her smile. Cody - Cody has his work smile and his off-time smile. His work smile stays on his face no matter what, no matter how many surly patrons he has to deal with at the library. He's good at maintaining his cool and problem-solving. But off work is where the real Cody is visible, the legitimately happy and cheerful person who loves nothing more than spending time with his people. Emma - Emma's smile is something dangerous, with her visible fangs, but it's also capable of being something real when she's around John. He's the one person from her old, human life that she keeps regular contact with, and the emotions from it too. She tends to wear bright red lipstick the color of blood. Arion - Arion's smile is disconcerting, and not just because of the visible fangs. There's something cold and inhuman in it that makes people feel uneasy if they see it. His smile is almost more menacing than a snarl would be. Written in Ink Jesse - Jesse's smile is soft and small, but it is clearly real and happy when he does smile. He's shy and reserved around people, so opening up to anyone is a big thing for him, and his smiles are a hard-earned thing. Jesse has a habit of chewing on his lower lip when he's agitated or upset.  Tina - Tina smiles a lot, especially when she's gardening, just small things that quirk the corners of her lips up. Her bigger smiles are common too, cheerful, carefree things that comes easily to her. While she doesn't wear lipstick per se, she often uses beeswax that she stains with blackberry to keep her lips from getting chapped. Amy - Amy smiles less than she used to, but her smiles, when they come, are large and bright. She knows life is short, so she tries to fill it with moments that make her happy, and when they do, she spins around and smiles widely and lets herself act as wild and happy as a small child.

#magic & silver #written in ink #robin #John stoker #maira lawson #kira burke #Cody dayton #Emma cole #arion #Jesse baumgartner #tina baumgartner #Amy sherwin

[mbtiofwhys]

Goro Akechi

ENTJ

Functional Order: Te- Ni - Se - Fi

Spoiler warning This article will cover Akechi’s typing with precise references to both P5 plot and P5R new confidant and added scenes. An additional premise before progressing further: we don’t think Akechi suffers from any form of mental illness, functions loop or even lasting grips. All his problems revolve around a heavy imbalanced stack, consisting of two developed extroverted functions (with the dominant being unhealthy) paired with underdeveloped introverted ones.

Judging Functional Axis

Extroverted Thinking (Te) / Introverted Feeling (Fi)  

Akechi is an absolute pragmatist, always opting for the most efficient, reliable and profitable approach - in right and wrong. His Te is the most developed function in the stack, but during most of the game it doesn’t show in a healthy way. Akechi has a clear goal in mind and knows the steps he needs to take to accomplish it, it doesn’t matter the cost or what he has to sacrifice to achieve Shido’s downfall. He uses logic to solve problems and confront various situations, and can easily come off (reasonably) as cold or over assertive - for example, when he blackmails the Thieves into siding with him to push through Sae’s Palace. And despite being the newest member of the party (and, in theory, the most inexperienced one), Akechi has no problems slipping into lowkey leading roles and bossy attitude, as both Futaba and Ryuji repeatedly point out. This is because, actually, he has a lot more experience in the Metaverse: he’s one of the strongest Persona user in the game and the oldest one, and thus he puts this competence at use, even if he has to lie about his true powers. At the same time, Akechi enjoys being in charge, being efficient and being recognised as competent, at the point that this becomes one of the crucial flaw in his plan against Shido: he never doubted being in complete control of the situation, so he failed to acknowledge Shido’s true intentions and manipulation until his shadow-self revealed them in the engine room. His Te shows even in the feelings of hate and jealousy towards protagonist: Akechi is brilliant, he’s a hard-worker and a celebrity, from a logical standpoint he’s the definition of success in life, and yet why does protagonist have everything Akechi never had? Royal does an additional job of showing how much Akechi cares for competence and competition based on strength and personal abilities, as these themes are carried out over the whole of his confidant. His powerful Te is badly counterbalanced by an underdeveloped inferior Fi. His Introverted Feeling is not only weaker or misused, it is straight absent for a good portion of the game. Looking at inferior Fi on a more superficial and less personal level, we can see how Akechi despises the Thieves’ “justice”, as he doesn’t believe in a justice carried out outside of the law, and this trait doesn’t get lost in the new semester, as he often places sardonic comments on the group’s ideals. Moreover, everything regarding the emotional sphere is deemed as worthless and a sign of weakness - and this, too, stays the same during January. Though, the real problem with his Fi is that it’s so poorly developed that it has no part in his decision making process - even less than what’s the norm for a Te dom, at least. His plan to get revenge on Shido stems from a deep, personal hate and is fueled by the unjust society he lives in, but that is as far as it goes. Akechi never stops for a moment to reflect upon himself, his believes, what he truly wants or feels and, in the end, this leads him pursuing a hollow goal that costs his life in P5 vanilla and almost kills him in Royal. The engine room scene is where events come to a head: with his back against a wall, Akechi must finally acknowledge his own feelings regarding the whole situation, his life decisions and his supposed hate for Joker. In P5 vanilla, this ends with him sacrificing his life in order to let the Thieves escape the ship, since he came to terms with his mistakes and found a way to redeem himself and still fight for a cause by entrusting his mission against Shido to the group/ to protagonist. In Royal, however, we can see a further development of his Fi: it doesn’t properly bloom, but it’s a start. Akechi still remains highly pragmatic and very dismissive of anything regarding feelings, but at the same time he’s more self-aware. We see him finally fighting for something aligned with his moral (rather than for ensuring a “mere” revenge) and with a strong sense of self, rooted in his will to make decisions by his own and follow his own path in life, even if this means he will have to die again once Maruki’s reality will come to an end.

Perceiving Functional Axis

Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se) 

Akechi’s Te is paired with a not-so-strong auxiliary Ni. Not that Akechi doesn’t use his Ni - he simply doesn’t use it at even half potential. His Ni is what makes him so focused on a single, long-term goal: getting his revenge against Shido, even if this means working for him for years and committing murders (TeNi). The problem with this lays in the nature of Ni: since it’s an introverted, perceiving function, it needs to abstract outside data to find meaning and patterns to use in decision making. But Akechi, from what the game tells us (because his awakening is never shown) seems to have skipped this process of finding a meaningful and personal outcome to one’s life in the long run - maybe partially because he was angry, and partially because he was young. And thus, he works for something that in the end reveals hollow and meaningless. Ni is paired with Se in the stack, thus it should be supported by the ability to consider more options during the process of data collection. A healthy, high Ni user has a certain amount of flexibility, even as a J. They will never be open to new possibilities like a high Se user, but they should still be able to take reality into consideration while deciphering future scenarios, knowing that life is complex and one can’t rely on a single vision about how things must play out. And Akechi not only overlooked establishing a meaningful goal for himself, he also became obsessed over a single mission without considering a broader spectrum of options through his tertiary Se. We don’t believe he suffers from a TeSe loop, though, because that would mean a person becomes reckless, focused on short-term results and incapable of properly seeing the consequences of his actions. This is probably not Akechi’s case, as he is a very meticulous person who doesn’t act hastily, even under stress (with the sole exception of the engine room scene). For the whole game, he can stay steps ahead of the others, always trying to figure future implications of his actions, and the mistakes he makes (the pancake scene and protagonist's failed murder) are due to a lack of data and information to process, more than recklessness. All those events happen while Akechi is outnumbered: he’s alone against a whole team of Persona user. And even with the Thieves’ plan, a completely unrelated call from Shido is sufficient to raise doubt about the outcome, so much that he personally goes inside Shido’s Palace to check. His tertiary Se is still present though and, as an extroverted function, it shows in more visible manners than his Ni and Fi. Akechi is a TJ, and thus needs plans, structure and closure. This doesn’t mean he’s rigid or slow to act, on contrary, he can adapt pretty quickly as long as the situation is under control. This is due to his tertiary Se, which allows him to live in the world without getting too lost in his mind - a trait that he uses to shape and wear his public persona, the ace detective mask. Moreover, even if he isn’t a P, Akechi learned the basics of the Metaverse alone with hand-to-hand experiences. We can assume that Shido gave him information about the Metaverse, but at the same time Akechi never had a group of peers to consult. During his collaboration with the Phantom Thieves, Akechi not only shows a developed Te -always being ahead of Sae’s schemes to hinder the group- he also takes a more leading role with proactiveness, taking important decisions quickly. Akechi finds a logical and efficient way to solve problems not only as a Te dom, but also due to his Se which aids him with its adaptability and openness, obviously limited since Akechi needs structure first, but still effectively as a tertiary function.

Also typed as: ENTP, ENFJ

ENTP Surprisingly, since it’s a completely different stack. So, why he’s so commonly mistyped as ENTP? The main argument we could find is that he’s an ace detective/ devil’s advocate, but this is quite an oversimplification due to stereotypes. Firstly, because his public persona is different from his actual personality: in front of the cameras, he’s a rookie detective who loves to debate things, but in real life, this practically shows exclusively in his confidant - so, with protagonist. In every other situation, Akechi tends to stay down to earth, with matter-of-factly statements and a tendency to go straight to the point and solve a problem. Moreover, Akechi never shows signs of Ne - the love for debating isn’t a trait exclusive to Ne and Ti users. On contrary, he’s clearly focused on a single goal due to his auxiliary Ni. Also, Ne shouldn’t be confused with Te. Akechi has an admirable ability to understand the underlying patterns of a problem, but not as a way to evaluate a broad set of abstract options, rather as a Te dom tendency to solve a question quickly and efficiently. ENTP also implies Fe, but cognition must be separated from behaviors. Not all Fe users strive for validation, and every human has a need to belong to a certain extent. Akechi seeks Shido’s attention and acceptance because he’s his father, it’s an unhealthy and human reaction to a deep trauma that defined his life. But if we go to the root of his behaviors we can see how Akechi doesn’t care about social harmony or general wellbeing. He’s never influenced by the emotional environment, and he lacks self-awareness because he doesn’t use his inferior Fi, not because he has a poorly developed Fe.

ENFJ ENFJ and ENTJ shares the NiSe perceiving axis, so we can see why ENFJ is a common mistype. At the same time, ENFJ implies dominant Fe. As we stated above, Akechi’s underdeveloped inferior Fi and his traumas may mimic an unhealthy Fe. However, Fe implies a deep will to create the most positive emotional environment for everyone, a tendency to care for the wellbeing of everyone and, if unhealthy, Fe might mask selfish needs with what is best for other people, or shift the blame onto others for personal mistakes and flaws. Akechi does the exact opposite, and it’s very clear during third semester how much he holds dear the concept of free will and the idea of being his own person, with all the bad choices he’s made. He doesn’t care if the world Maruki has created is ideal and peaceful: it’s fake, thus is a manipulation, and he’s done being manipulated, therefore he wants to shatter it because, to him, it’s worthless living a life that isn’t determined by one’s own actions. Additionally, an ENFJ will use dominant Fe paired with his auxiliary Ni to envision the most plausible and realistic process to reach a goal, which generally is something related to the global wellbeing of other people. Akechi, on contrary, is very rational and logical. The best solution is the one involving the most easy route to solve a problem, he never takes social harmony into consideration and never stops considering what others might think: if they’re with him, that’s good, if they don’t agree, he either crush them if they directly oppose him, ignores them, or forces them working with him.

#persona 5 #p5 #persona 5 royal #p5r #goro akechi #akechi goro #akechi #mbti #mbti of whys #entj #te dom #ni aux #se tert #fi inf #chtype:entj #chtype:goroakechi #typology #fictional characters #character analysis #video games #video game characters #meta post

[swisslow9]

Fun Methods To Look After Your Canine

There is absolutely no such point as a ideal puppy manager. You could think back regretfully on blunders you've created, but the truth is that you're not by yourself. Studying out of your errors is key, and also this report ought to reveal to you the right way to maintain your pet as it is chock full of assistance utilizing owners such as you. When coaching a puppy or puppy, retain the classes simple! Industry experts claim that a dog has the consideration span of a little kid, sometimes a lot less, and therefore longer trainings will actually lead to him to neglect every little thing you've acquired jointly. Use positive strengthening and reduce your training sessions to a maximum of fifteen minutes. In case your canine has ticks, and they tumble away from his jacket to your flooring, vacuum them up. However, remember that ticks are excellent escape performers, so you should dispose off the bag immediately after you are done. To get around the safe area, tape the bag fully shut prior to taking it for your trash can can. Never ever allow your pet to leave your lawn with no leash even when he would seem really honest and quiet. A feral dog might catch their consideration, resulting in these people to focus on them, or perhaps unexpected incitement may possibly cause a terrible scenario along with other animal owners. You will end up to pin the blame on when your pet receives injured as being away from his leash. When a canine does something effectively like resting prior to deciding to leash them, give them a great deal of praise and affection. This can show you enjoy what your puppy has been doing. He'll understand that admiration will come as he is good, too. Will not find the cheapest pet food. Generally, meals which is less costly is not really as wholesome for your animal due to chemical preservatives and additives dedicated to the foodstuff. Find an advocacy class that can present you with a listing of veterinarian encouraged food products. You will see a change with your dog's exercise level and general joy when you give him "great" food items. When you are considering implementing a pet dog, attempt using a couple of weeks off function in order to spend some time with the puppy and instruct it a couple of excellent behavior. Coaching your pup and aiding it get used to its new environment will likely be easier if you are home. Be aware of basics of animal initial-support if you have your dog within your household. Being able to take action easily in an emergency, including your pooch getting bitten by a snake, can mean the visible difference in between life and death. Go through an effective reserve about them or request your veterinary clinic to simple yourself on the basic principles. If you do not have any hearing more clean remedy readily available, use a infant wipe alternatively. Just wrap it around the tip of your finger and wipe the inside of the ear's surface. Only go so far as your finger can certainly match. Tend not to use Q-ideas as they possibly can damage the ear. Proper dog training requires you to definitely be consistent. Once cat laser toy determine you need to create a tip for your personal canine, will not make any exceptions. Ensure everyone in the home helps you impose the tip and inspire your friends and family not to allow your pet dog jump on them or to not understand your pet if it barks. Keep your canine in comfortable real estate. They should be able to rest from the ground and clear of drafts. A instruction crate is a superb decision or any covered protection outside the house. Attempt placing a canine bed furniture within that includes a comfortable quilt or a pillow inside. Rinse the dog's home bedding commonly. Ensure you give your pet dog with fondness regularly. Owners are inclined to target the negative occasions, not the excellent. This may lead to a great deal of trouble for you. Instead, be sure to give compliment 5 times with greater frequency than you reprimand. Your pet is going to be far better behaved. Before you decide to have your pet fitted by using a microchip, be certain and look the data bank from the company that may shop his info. Not all of them are made the same and you want to understand that you'll get a quick reaction in case your puppy is dropped. Search for a big data base that links to shelters and vets close to you. Be a accountable puppy owner, to stand for the varieties nicely. For example, Pit Bulls are dreaded and quite often even despised in the majority of spots currently, on account of reckless management. Folks have a tendency to fault the wildlife during times of fact it's a persons aspect impacting the dog's actions. Train your dog nicely by leaving an effective effect on others! When your pet is experiencing constipation or diarrhoea, you can try providing the animal canned pumpkin. This is simply not same as pumpkin pie filling up. Pumpkin features fiber content which assists with bowel problems. Moreover, furthermore, it absorbs normal water which helps with diarrhoea. Don't offer the canine much, merely a teaspoon or two with the dog's typical dinner. The fact is that no guidance is going to be perfect possibly. Every situation requires various responses, whether it is what to supply your dog or whether or not to consider the pet for the veterinary. Your dog will be delighted provided that you really like them, and thankfully, this is the quickest area of the job!

#pet products #cat toys #dog toys #litter boxes #hi-tech pet products

[haikyuu-matches]

｡˚✰˚✦ 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐏 

exchange with @angelwithglasswings

— ❛ 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂'𝗅𝗅 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 ❜

˚✶⋆｡˚☆ﾟ✦

thank you for requesting the first starburst matchup/exchange! i had a lot of fun with this ahh! you’re such a sweetheart, and i really hope you like your matchup !!  (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

˚✶⋆｡˚☆ﾟ✦

— 【❈】 ‣  i match you up with . . . 𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐘𝐀 𝐘𝐔𝐔 !!

when i read your description, i definitely got the vibes you need a match who will have relentless determination to support you & bring you out of your shell whenever you’re with him. a kind of partner who will accept you with all your strengths & weaknesses. . . and will never hesitate to draw you in while saying you’re perfect when you feel especially low--

and thus, this leads me to talk about the best hype-man & number one sweetheart: nishinoya yuu. 

from a mbti standpoint, an infj x esfp may seem like they don’t have much in common . . . they have enough differences that almost make them polar opposites. but hear me out: this difference, in terms of your relationship with nishinoya, works out splendidly. 

like any relationship, nothing ever is perfect, but yours comes pretty close. nishinoya complements your traits with his own and vice versa. if i’m being honest, the notion opposites attract is real here. to your anxious and insecure nature, nishinoya will bestow confidence and a sense of calm (somehow, his energetic tendencies will do the trick)!

if you’re ever feeling down because someone is taking advantage of your kindness, you better believe your guardian deity that is nishinoya yuu will always be there to tell a person off & stand up for you no matter what. if you struggle to say no . . . much like a guard dog, he’ll intervene and inspire you to stand by your convictions, too. 

additionally, nishinoya is a great match because his infectious positive energy & live-in-the-moment kind of ways will influence you greatly- you tend to feel things deeply & then get caught up in your own thoughts and self-criticisms. however, nishinoya will give a peace of mind by allowing you to get out of your head & enjoy life to the fullest. he’ll make you remember again the feeling of child-like curiosity & wonderment.

moreover, he’ll draw out your playful side for sure-- and he loses it whenever you have a perfectly-timed joke or punch-line. he visibly brightens up whenever you laugh and smile that it then becomes his life-long mission to maintain your high level of happiness.

the libero is ready to bring a spontaneous and fun component to your relationship at any time, such as fun date ideas that perhaps you never thought of before. but, at the same time, he’ll be sensitive to your needs and wants. yes, he enjoys adventure & fun, but as your relationship progresses, you notice he can also be chill and decently calm when needed. there will end up being a balance of fun outings & stay-at-home sort of dates (ie: a movie at home with takeout or video game night). it doesn’t matter what you guys do because it’s the company that truly matters to you. 

for instance: stargazing? oh yes-- he’ll  be sure to open the blinds ! cuddling? he’ll make a personalized music playlist to match the mood & don’t think he forgot about the candles because he knows that’s an integral, soothing aspect of the date. although you may have to tell him which candle scent is best to light. just about anything works with nishinoya, and he’ll be happy being with you.

of course, if you guys are playing video games, nishinoya will try his ultimate best to impress you by either beating you or the boss stage . . . unfortunately, him doing that doesn’t happen as often as he’d like. and you end up teasing him & laughing at his sorry attempts. as you probably would guess, he’ll pout saying you’re being "mean”, and that his happiness meter will only be restored if you give him a kiss. . . well, you may have to indulge him there.

also-- i must add, nishinoya is a total hug monster & he’ll definitely be down to staying in and cuddling, too!! he’s not as serious about academics, but you find out that if you cuddle him & then talk or read about certain topics that were discussed in class. . . he actually retains the information better because it’s you . . . and he’ll always be seriously attentive & listen up. plus, study dates are such a time because if you implement this reward system, it keeps him motivated (ie: snacks or a kiss for correct answers).

also ! nishinoya get so fired up about supporting you that you may be taken aback at how he gets into the things you are into— even the witch themed things & fantasy stories. he’ll support your hobbies— like, he’ll have to be quiet when you’re shooting an arrow, but after, he’ll root for you so loud! 

if you support him at his volleyball games? oh, he’ll be so smitten & would definitely want to make it worthwhile. he’ll positively bounce over to you after his games & chat quickly about if you indeed saw what he did here and there!

anyway. . . nishinoya does try to sweep you off your feet-- for instance, he actually has an eye for cute, small gifts to brighten up your day. that stuffed animal you’ve been eyeing at a certain game booth? you blink, and the next thing you know nishinoya is proudly holding it out to you because he’s stubborn when he wants to win (not just the plushy but your affections).

for all his goofs and his attempts to keep you happy, you bring something so very important as well to keep him secure & happy. a sense of grounding. if nishinoya could, he could go on so many exploits & pull you along to exact the fun things in life, but you do a good job of keeping him aware of the realities of life. 

you help shift his perspective to valuing the lasting connection with people rather than solely the fun moments. 

he also treasures how you have a good head on your shoulder-- you don’t dive into things; you’re a little more cautious & use your head to think things through. you have a better impulse control than him suffice to say. and, you essentially help him understand things that he doesn’t care to think through about.

plus, he thinks your very personality is beautiful. beyond your pretty looks, you care about others & doing well in life. he finds it admirable that even if you have insecurity, you still find a way to do it all with evidence of success in school & co-curriculars. and that’s why he’s not only your #1 boyfriend but also fan (kiyoko is eternally gratefulf for this lol).

on the other hand, the main conflict i can see you guys having is the fact you two are so different, which is ironic because that’s also the reason why you two are at your most harmonious.

to elaborate, there will be times when you’ll butt heads about what to do and big decisions because you two are very different-- those are the times when things you normally can work through easily, taking account of both of your perspectives, just doesn’t work for this one problem. 

and it can be tough to see eye-to-eye and have things run smoothly. but at the end of day, even if you two argue, there will be always resolution . . . you two just can’t stay at odds- the conflict can be intense in the moment, but nishinoya tends to get over things fairly quick & he’s not too prideful to say sorry. 

makeup hugs & kisses are a must as nishinoya definitely thrives on the love languages of quality time & physical touch. it’s his way of showing his love & appreciation!

overall, your relationship is just. . . goals. when you’re together, you two learn a lot about each other but also yourselves. furthermore, there’s always a shared thought you can be yourselves no matter what & you’ll accept each other through and through.

possible runner-ups:

bokuto koutarou

lev haiba

#starburst matchup #exchange matchup #haikyuu matchups #haikyuu matchup #haikyuu #nishinoya yuu #haikyuu request #haikyuu requests #hq matchups #hq matchup #exchange #haikyuu!! #hq #angelwithglasswings

[toarmsrw]

How I feel a Ronin Warriors Remake could go

Ronin Warriors AKA Yoroiden Samurai Troopers was one of my favorite anime back in the day. I first heard of this series when it was airing on UPN TV 44, the same channel that had aired Sailor Moon when it was being produced by DIC entertainment. Unfortunately, this series aired during times when it’s target range viewers were in school so it didn’t have a particularly long run on US TV. It was only years later that this series would air on the Toonami lineup and gained a greater interest from American anime fans than it had during its first airing.

Currently Samurai Troopers is celebrating its 30th anniversary and it made me wonder, what this series would be like if remade for the more current age. After all, the main TV series was set in 1988 and a lot of things reflected that time period. Now in 2020 things can be updated to match current settings and technology.

I’m familiar with both the Japanese Names and the English Dub names. But I’m going to use English Dub names here as it was the version that introduced me to this series.

As much as I love the original series, I do feel that it is certainly deserving of an updated reboot. The original series did have a number of moments where they were constrained by budget and it showed. Budget cuts, and repeating animation is a common way of cuting corners in animation in varius series, but it is rather obvious when you see the animation cheepen.

There are some things in the anime itself that did bug me because they felt rushed or they came off as unrealistic. I’m not an expert in Japanese culture so please understand if I am approaching these things with a bit of a bias.

One of the things that bothered me is having the five warriors are just open to working together from the start.

For example in the first episode Mia is surprised that all five Ronin have appeared at the same time and then is dismayed that they aren’t united. So she tells the five Ronin they need to work together if they hope to beat the Dynasty, and they all look at one another as though saying “Um…what?”.

The English dub does give the impression that there is at least some familiarity between the five boys. However, in the original version all five of the Ronin are from different parts of Japan and this is the first time any of them have met.

The one thing I’ve always liked in anime is when the main cast is free to grow and understand each other at their own pace.

While having the main warriors joining forces is ideal and an inevitably, having them all partner up from the start is unrealistic. Particularly since the five Ronin do develop an almost familial unity with one another over the course of the series.

An anime with a similar concept to this would be Sailor Moon. Please note I’m not comparing Sailor Moon to this series for bias reasons. Sailor Moon certainly had a larger production budget and more of a story to adapt to as it started out as a manga before it became an anime series. Ronin Warriors is it’s own story and it also has some things it is better at conveying then Sailor Moon did.

I am using Sailor Moon as an example, because these two series do center on the plot of five teenagers drawn together to save the world from an otherworldly evil force.  

Sailor Moon as a series was able to introduce the characters gradually.

The series begins with introducing the titular character, Sailor Moon herself. The first handful of episodes follow her, then Sailor Mercury is introduced and she assists in battles for a couple episodes. Then Sailor Mars is brought in and a sizable chunk of the series centers on these three warriors stopping the forces of the Dark Kingdom. Then around half way through the first season Sailor Jupiter is brought in as another member of the group and then finally Sailor Venus.

Other Sailor Soldiers such as the Outer Sailors and the Sailor Star Lights are introduced in the continuing seasons. These groups don’t really involve themselves with Sailor Moon and her companions right away.  They do assist in battles at times, but they would also make it clear that they don’t want Sailor Moon and her allies interfering with their goals. Eventually the groups do choose to join forces, but that is only when they have come to the realization that the only way to take on the main foe was to merge groups.

The way this story is set up all five warriors needed to be introduced right away. However, I find having them join forces from the start is a little rushed.  Now, granted they had some idea they all knew the fate of the world rested on their backs and they were given the mystical armor to help them save their world, their homes, the people they love.

Each of them also have a story passed through the years about an armor that their family has watched over. Like many things these stories have faded from memory with some of the families or they don’t have anyone to tell them about the amor legend. So they discover their armors through other sources.

For example, Whiteblaze, Ryo’s tiger companion, is is the familiar of the Ancient One and chose Ryo as the one who will bear the Armor of Wildfire. Whiteblaze led the Ancient One to Ryo, so he could be trained in its use.

While each of the Ronin would have unconsciously or unknowingly been trained since childhood to become ready for their armors. It is the armors themselves that do draw them together initially.  That wouldn’t stop at least some of them from be reluctant in working together and then have at least a couple episodes where they warm up to if not become downright convinced working together is the only way

Cye and Kento are chummy and open hearted so I can see these two being more open to the idea of working together as a team from the start.  

Sage, Ryo, and Rowen on the other hand might be less open to working as a group.

Ryo is not absolutely against working as a team, but he is a loaner, he is also fiercely protective of those around him. He doesn’t want anyone to be hurt for him or because of him, so he has a tendency to place burdens upon himself such as going off to face enemies on his own without his friends. So I feel he would just tell the other Ronin to go home and protect their families, while he would deal with the Dynasty on his own.

Sage is more likely to be the lone wolf. He does have a guarded personality and doesn’t warm up to people all that easily. He wants to rely on himself and his own power rather than depending on others, but has his own doubts and fears that he unconsciously deals with. So when Sage leaves the group he would tell everyone else they would only slow him down and get in his way.

Rowen would be more on the fence regarding allegiances. His guiding virtue is wisdom so he would know or at least see how working together would be beneficial going forward. But much like Ryo he is used to being alone. However, due to his intelligence,  Rowen does have problems with socialization. So he wouldn’t say anything in regards to why he doesn’t want to work together with anyone else…he just leaves.

As the series progresses the battles will force the Ronin together. It would start with them merging into groups of two, so Cye and Kento would become one group. Rowen and Sage would also grow to work together and leads to the four of them joining forces before reuniting with Ryo. These encounters will enable them to gradually get to know each other and understand who they are in the battle to save the mortal world and their reasons for fighting in the battles against the Dynasty.

Another thing that bugged me was how the Dynasty depended on divide and conquer as a strategy. Granted the Ronin can be a challenging force when they are together. Still each of the Ronin are also dangerous on their own, particularly since their armors do gain strength and power as they fight.

Three of the Warriors have families with siblings, and both Ryo and Rowen have parental figures who may not be present in their lives but still matter.  Heck, Kento alone would have had family affected when the Dynasty captured everybody in the Tokyo area.

One of the Warlords has power over illusion. Have the Ronin given illusions of their loved ones in the Dynasty’s possession. This would be even more poignant when the Ronin have entered the Dynasty’s strong hold. Have the Ronin ready to deal with whatever the Dynasty would throw at them, then suddenly a scream is heard which Sage, Cye, or Kento could recognize as one of their loved ones.

Or Kento’s family for instance, show them among the humans imprisoned in the Dynasty. Kento has a fierce temper, particularly when someone he cares about is being harmed so that could trigger him to act rashly.

I’ve never really liked how the families of the Ronin are only limited to the supplemental materials such as the Audio dramas, Light Novels and such.

Another thing Sailor Moon did well is how it balanced out the home lives of the main cast along with their lives as Sailor Soldiers. We don’t need to see the families of all the characters, but even a simple mention can be used to add to how the main characters relate to each other and feel more well rounded over the course of the series. But they still had to maintain secrecy about their lives as Sailor Soldiers from their loved ones.

What Ronin Warriors was able to achieve is to suggest the families of the five warriors do have some knowledge about the armors. Or at the very least have some familiarity with the story of a legendary armor that has passed down through their line for the past thousand years.

Such as Cye’s mother saying “At last it has come” when he informed her of finding his armor.

Each of the Ronin also have attributes that mark them as chosen or destined to wear the armors since birth. In most cases these attributes aren’t outwardly visible

Ryo-Encountered Whiteblaze at a young age and holds a companionship with the white tiger and was personally trained by the Ancient One himself.  It’s not emphasized, but it is possible he has a sensitivity to cold temperatures as he has a strong dislike for flavored ice and lukewarm baths.

Cye: Able to swim to vast depths of water without needing an air tank.

He also has an affinity for sea based creatures. He isn’t able to talk to them or anything like that, but there is an orca and a number of other sea creatures that do recognize him as a friend.

Kento: No displayed or attributed traits aside from being strong and hard headed. Possibly has more physical endurance then his companions.

Rowen: He is physically marked by his armor because of his blue hair. And also he has an IQ of 250.

Sage: Physically marked by his armor because he physically represents his armor element of light.

While each of the Ronin are chosen by their armors or from a force associated with the armors. There is still a test they need to undergo to prove they understand the guiding virtue associated with the armor.

With Sailor Moon there were moments where the family members of the Sailor Soldiers or people they know are affected by the evil forces at play. With the Ronin however, having people know about their armor or their identities as Ronin Warriors does lead to tragic results.

It’s generally an unstated rule among the five warriors to not to involve their loved ones or allow any knowledge of their existence as Ronin Warriors. Since that would only cause needless danger or cause their loved ones to become targeted by the evil forces they are facing.

The families of the Ronin themselves aren’t completely required, after all the five Ronin do become a family of brothers themselves. And at its core, the entire story of the Ronin Warriors is a romantic story centered on a brotherhood forged by blood, sweat,and tears in the battle to save humanity. The trueborn families of each of the Ronin, would just be an extension of that bond they share with each other.

I’ve always seen each of the five warriors as wounded in various ways. Some have known personal loss, but there are those among them who have experienced pain, loneliness, isolation, self-doubts, and other things such as that.

In the Message OVA in particular, brings a lot of this into view as the five warriors do have internal monologues about their experiences as Ronin Warriors and how that has affected them personally.

Cye in particular during his monologue talks about how he personally didn’t want to fight, but he still took up arms in the war against Dynasty anyway because he felt there was like there was little choice in the matter. He also questions whether he even deserved the power of his armor to begin with.

“In order to avoid pain, suffering, and fear human bearings aspire to collect all the power that they can, then they cling to it no matter what. I was no different, I felt exactly the same way. I never wanted to fight though, I thought my destiny followed a different course. Could I have resisted this power? Could I have denied it? Even if someone had realized the truth, we still wouldn’t have had any other options. It was fight or die, none of us had any regrets for what we did…in staying alive. But that didn’t change the fact that *I* didn’t want to fight!”

The armors they each possess were forged from evil, but were created to be a force for good. As such the armors themselves are neither good or evil, but both. It was the heart and soul of their bearers that determined what choices they made in using the armors they were given.

While they all have seen the negative side of humanity and what it can do if left unchecked. They are also able to know that there is still enough human goodness to believe it was worth saving. And while they still fought and were motivated by their own own personal desires to protect those nearest and dearest to them. The companionship they forge in the fires of war is what heals the wounds each of them carry. Even then there is resistance and pain in being healed, but it is part of becoming the people they know they are because of it. While other hidden wounds are exposed because of the battles faced.

With Ronin Warriors and their families, Ryo and Rowen are the only children of their respective family and their respective parental figures aren’t around all that often.

Ryo’s father is a photojournalist and is always away on assignment but he does send money to cover Ryo’s living expenses.

Rowen’s parents divorced when he was twelve but even before then both of them were more married to their careers then they were as a family. The times they were home their minds would still be work oriented.

However, having two Ronin with workaholic parents just feels boring. Having Ryo being an orphan could translate into why he is so protective of his companions and why they mean so much to him. Because Ryo regards the other Ronin, Mia, and Yuli as a surrogate family to him, and he would gladly fight and give his life to protect them for that reason. He nearly dies just trying to get Sage and Rowen back after the five of them are seperated. And during the war when all the Ronin with the exception of Ryo are absorbed by Talpa, he is devastated knowing each of them are gone. In the Japanese version he says “You fools, how dare you die for me.” This is later expanded upon when the four of them are able to use their Spirits to take hold of Talpa’s armor and tell him to strike the demon emperor down while they have him restrained. And Ryo refuses to do it because doing so meant killing his friends as well.

Rowen has a detached, mature demeanor that is underscored by the fact he is the youngest member of the Ronin. He’s often viewed and treated like an adult by people around him when he really is just a kid. Since he is so used to living for his own convenience, he has trouble really understanding what actually means to have friends or even what having a present family is like. So that could be something that could be explored with his character in how he relates to the other Ronin.

He generally gets along with all the Ronin, but will at times (often unintentionally) say or do something that might have annoyed or exasperated reactions. For example in the Tenkuden CD Drama, there is a part where Yuli asks Rowen for assistance on a problem in his math homework. Rowen looks at the problem and says “That’s easy, you must have skipped the day they were teaching it.” Yuli then goes and asks Cye for assistance who is able to help him figure out the answer. After Yuli runs off to continue his homework. Cye turns to Rowen and chidingly says “Just because you find something simple, doesn’t mean it’s the same for others.”  

Rowen’s father is someone who wouldn’t really be included as a character. I’ve always had the impression that he generally isn’t really all that present even on the occasions he does return home to the apartment he shares with his son.

Rowen’s mother on the other hand could work as an occasional character. However she comes across as a bit too much to handle. She’s friendly and well-meaning but has boisterous energy that is difficult to really take in all at once. The five Ronin and Mia first meet her in the Tenkuden CD Drama after Rowen receives a voice mail call from her telling him he will be arriving at Narita International on Such and Such date. And every one automatically is like “Great Idea, let’s all go meet Rowen’s mother”.  

As much as he does care about both his parental figures, I did get the impression he is embarrassed by his mother as well.

For example, the first act of Tenkuden actually does involve Rowen waiting with Sage at the airport terminal for Rowen’s mother to arrive. After they encounter her, Rowen’s mother runs off to go make a phone call.  Sage then remarks “Okay, that IS different” to which Rowen sighs and says “You got it.” Funnily enough, every time I had heard that exchange in the past I’ve always visualized Rowen holding up a sign that says “Shoot Me” afterward.

So if Rowen’s mother appears at all it would be a humorous one-shot episode where the armors aren’t really needed. There can be some dramatic moments as well though. Since TenkuDen is also the moment where Rowen learns his armor has the ability to fly. There is also a moment at the end of the CD where Rowen’s mother pulls her son aside and alludes that she saw him in his armor hovering outside of the window of the airplane she was traveling in. But she assumes the whole thing was just a dream.

When it comes to Kento, Sage, and Cye they are the eldest, middle, and youngest siblings of each of their respective families. So the familial dynamic of the Ronin will be something they can easily adapt to, but still, give them a different dynamic that can challenge and affect them.

Cye is the youngest child in his family, but he is the oldest of the five Ronin. So this puts him in a sort of older sibling role in some ways. He doesn’t need to adapt too much, particularly since Mia already plays an older sister role with the five Ronin. And his older sister Sayoko had more or less served a parental role of sorts in his late father’s absence. He’s also the only Ronin who is actually living away from his family, as he has an apartment in Tokyo where he lives alone while he is attending high school. In one of the Cassette Dramas Rowen has a habit of visiting Mia’s grandfather’s mansion so he could read the books there. Unfortunately when he does this he loses all track of time and frequently misses the last train back to Kansai. So he has to end up couch surfing over at Cye’s apartment much to the Torrent Armor bearers irritation.

Cye’s family is more likely to be included as part of a dramatic storyline.  

For instance, Cye’s mother has heart disease and is frequently in ill health, but she still runs her family and her family’s pottery business until her daughter Sayoko can take over.

Sayoko is ten years older then Cye and has also been an influential figure in Cye’s life. She helps look after their mother and their families pottery shop.

Ryuusuke Shizuka is Sayoko’s fiance and works at the Hagi Marine Research Institute. After meeting Cye he chooses to marry into Cye’s family. Sayoko and Ryuusuke are supposedly married by the final OVA of this series..

One of the cassette dramas has Cye returning to Hagi after learning his mother had fallen ill. Kento accompanies him on the trip, however the only reason he’s going is because he mistakenly thought Hagiyaki was a kind of food. It’s this Drama where Cye is introduced to his sister’s finance.  

Kento is the oldest child in his family, and so he is well used to playing the older brother role among his siblings. As the second youngest member of the Ronin he has the freedom to be a younger brother. Still when it comes to his companions, the protective brother instinct will still be a present part of his personality over all.

Kento is also the most inclusive of the Ronin and does consider his friends to be like his family.  

I can see Kento’s family being used in heart warming slice-of-life plots. Kento just feels like one of those people you meet in life who just adopts you into their family. As much as he would make disparaging comments about the number of people in his household, in all honesty he wouldn’t have it any other way.

During the Tsuki CD Drama, following their final battle with Saranbo. Kento realizes they are near Yokohama and starts inviting his friends to his family’s restaurant only to be shot down and scolded for being too carefree. After Kento storms off he has a monologue where he states about how much he loves the town of Yokohama and his family and he the reason he fights is all for them. That’s why he wanted his friends to meet his family, to show his companions they are just like family to him.  

That is something I can certainly see happening in an updated version of this series. With Ryo and Rowen, Kento would want to include them so they can at least know what a loving family was like. Knowing Cye and Sage are away from their respective homes. I can see Kento making an effort to make them feel there is something like a family there for them.

Cye might welcome the idea since he understands Kento is wanting to include them as part of his family.

Sage might not be so open about it. Not because he doesn’t understand Kento’s reasoning for it. He however would firmly point out that their family lives and their lives as Ronin should be two different things. Kento would be upset it’s only later on that he would realize Sage’s reasoning.

During the times when they are not involved with fighting the Dynasty. I can see Kento dropping by Cye’s apartment with take out now and again. This would later extend to Ryo when he starts living in the city.

Of the Ronin, I see him learning his family was affected by the Dynasty because Yokohama is in the Tokyo area. He is the only one of the five who would have had immediate loved ones in the vicinity of the Dynasty’s first attack . Which would make the battle to stop the Dynasty all the more personal for him.

Sage is the middle child of his family, but both of his siblings are his sisters. His older sister Yayoi and his younger sister Satsuki. He cares about both of them and would defend them to his last breath, though Yayoi does have a bit of a contentious past with him as she is the reason he is uncomfortable around women.  

Sage’s family is a family I can see included dramatic storylines, but wholesome ones as well.

When it comes to Sage’s family there is a lot you could work with. I will start with Sage’s sisters since I’ve seen a number of interpretations regarding them. In fanfics Yayoi often ranges between being an entitled sister up to just being an evil abusive witch. I have been guilty of this view myself.

Thinking back on it, I wonder if fans were blowing her relationship with Sage out of proportion.

Yayoi is five years older than Sage. From the basic description of her she is in essence a female version of her younger brother as she does talk in the same formal manner he does, and is also a talented kendo fighter.  She is a medical student and is attending college during the TV series.

The worst thing she’s known to have done to tease her brother is to use him as a dress up doll when they had been younger. She also still possesses a picture of him with ribbons in his hair.

This is largely just kid stuff, still some actions as innocent as they may seem can have a negative affect. In this case, Sage is uncomfortable talking to or being around girls as a result.

Women also tend to hold power in Sage’s family, meaning the female members of his family do hold sway in the decisions and actions of the Date House. Because of this they are highly respected. The only male who is an exception to this would be Sage’s Grandfather who is the current head of the family.  Yayoi was likely able to get away with tormenting her brother the way she has, because she knew if he retaliated in any way he would be the one who would be punished.  

In later years, Yayoi may have realized what she actually was doing, but by then the damage had already been done. So while the picture she still has of him with ribbons could be something she could threaten her brother with. It’s also just as possible that perhaps the reason Yayoi keeps the photo, is to remind herself of what she has done to hurt her younger brother in the past.

She seems to have some moments where she does make an attempt establishing a better relationship with him. Such as when Sage was beginning elementary the light color of his eyes made him appear cold and intimidating, because of this his schoolmates would often cry when they saw him. It was Yayoi who suggested he cover one of them with his hair so schoolmates wouldn’t be so scared of him.

Also In the Yoroi Guiden novel, the day Sage received his armor he had been forced into a match against another Kendo practitioner known as Shingo Kazamatsuri. During the match Shingo attempts to cheat by throwing sand or something into Sage’s eyes. Due to one eye being covered by his hair, only his visible eye had affected. Angered that his opponent would resort to cheating, Sage goes into a blind rage and attacks Shingo, rendering him unconscious. While her brother is being punished for his actions, Yayoi tends to Shingo’s injuries. Which made her one of the first people to learn what had taken place. She then tells Shingo that he was fortunate he didn’t lose a limb after making her brother that mad.

I can see Yayoi gaining friendship with Mia, and through that she and Sage could begin to heal the rift that exists between them.

Satsuki is younger than Sage by two years. She is the only member of Sage’s immediate family who doesn’t have any interest in the family Dojo and the only one who speaks casually. I see Sage in some ways being somewhat envious of his younger sister, because she possesses a freedom he isn’t able to have within their family. But he also values that she is able to have such freedom as well.

I’ve seen her placed with Rowen or Kento as possible romantic interests. Personally, I just see Satsuki just viewing the other Ronin as additional brothers. She knows her brother doesn’t have many friends and wouldn’t want to become a catalyst in causing him to lose his companions. Hints at romantic interest could be there, but at best she would just be a sister figure.

Sage’s family life on the other hand is where things take on a more dramatic turn. As I’ve stated before that each of the Ronin have attributes that mark them as chosen by their armors. Sage and Rowen are the only ones who have physical attributes that mark their connection to their armor.

Anyone who is familiar with anime and manga lore would know hair color has specific meaning. Blond or yellow hair often has a variety of meanings, but the most widespread meaning is a person who is special in some manner. Often in most anime the characters would have a variety of hair color tones that no one bats an eye, despite the fact it might look a little strange aesthetically.

The only time a character’s hair color is brought up as peculiar is if the story itself wants it to be  something that is meant to be seen as questionable.

Sage’s family is one of the Ronin families that is well versed in the legend of the Ronin Armor that is passed through their family. It’s never emphasized in the series, but from the sound of things in supplemental materials such as the novels, Sage is the only one in his family with his hair and eye color. This means that yes Sage was meant to physically represent the element of his armor. That would also lead to problems that Sage would have had to face growing up.

In Japanese Culture, one of the worst scarlet letters you can possess is to stand out. Sage is from a traditional family so being born representing his armors element would have raised a lot of eyebrows. I’ve seen numerous dramatic fanfictions where Sage is picked on because of his implausible hair color. I’ve also seen the word Konketsu applied to him as well in some of these fics. Konketsu means mixed-blood but it can be used as a slur that means half-breed. 

In a more modernized incarnation this traditionalist might not be used quite as often. So you can sum it up as anime logic.

While the legend of the Halo Armor is well known in the Date family, only a small fraction would believe the legend to be more than just a story.  While an even smaller fraction would recognize that Sage was born connected to the Halo Armor.  Namely Sage’s grandparents and possibly his mother.

The circumstances of Sage’s mother being chosen to provide a male heir to the Date Clan are unknown. It’s often speculated that Grandfather Date only had daughters, if there had been a boy born to their family he either died before he could prove himself as an heir. Or he was expelled from the Date Estate for some reason. Which in turn would put the burden of producing an heir on the shoulders of his sister or one of them.

Sage’s mother could be the oldest daughter, or she was deemed the one who was more likely to produce a suitable male heir.

Whatever the case may be, the Ronin are the first real friends that he’s ever had. And it’s likely that his upbringing didn’t really allow for friendships to exist in his life.

With Sage’s character bio for the original series it is stated that his grandfather was largely responsible for Sage’s upbringing. Some bios state that he was given over to his grandfather because his parents had trouble disciplining him.

Personally to me it always felt there was more to this. Grandfather Date likely would have recognized from the moment Sage was born that he was destined to bear the Halo Armor. So he would have naturally taken it upon himself to prepare Sage for when the armor would deem him worthy of it.  As well as to groom Sage for the day he would inherit their families Dojo and become the next head of the Date Clan. While he would have told Sage and also Sage’s sisters of the family legend, he would continue to let Sage believe the rigorous training he is given is all associated with being his grandfather’s successor.

While Kento is actually the wealthiest of the five Ronin, neither Kento nor Sage’s home’s are described. The best that’s given is that his family live on the outskirts of Sendai and that the Dojo is a part of it, or at least an area of the family estate that can be visited without invitation.  

Wanting to ensure his grandson was raised in a way *he* deemed fit, Grandfather Date would insist that Sage come live with him at the main house. I can imagine he was around the ages of 4-6 when this occurred. Sage’s grandfather is described as being unusually strict. Sage was also rather rambunctious at that age, so he may have believed that he must have done something bad so he was being taken away from his family as punishment.

Sage is still able to see his parents and sisters, but he would live under his grandfather’s roof at the Date Estate. Grandfather Date according to the brief description of him is said to be the walking precept of Date House, he was also a soldier in his youth he raises Sage to be the same.

The time Grandfather Date was a soldier is rather unclear, some bios he was a soldier during the Meiji Era which means he was around Sage’s age during the early 1900’s since that era ran from 1868-1912. Since this series is set in the late eighties, it is possible that he may have been in the tail end of that time period. Though I have seen bios that have said he was a soldier during the Edo Period, which would be physically impossible since that time period ended just as the Meiji era started. Logically if he was in a war at all, it would more likely be WWII.

Since Sage’s family is descended from Date Mesamune, a more logical conclusion was that Grandfather Date was trained to be like a soldier from the Edo period and raised Sage to follow those same disapplines. So this would be a bit of a reverse of what Rowen’s life is like. Where Rowen is a child who is seen and treated as an adult, Sage is a child who has his life framed with the expectation that he will act like an adult.

Perhaps Sage viewed his home life under his grandfather’s teaching as a gilded cage. Everything he needs is provided for, however there is always the sense that everything he says and does is watched and has to meet a certain expectation. If he does something that is met with disapproval it can result in a harsh punishment. The same expectations he would be expected to follow at home would also apply to his school life.

With School aside from meeting his Grandfather’s rigorous criteria, which would make it difficult for him to make friends with his schoolmates. All this of course translates into the self doubts and fears he shows at times during the war with the Dynasty.

With the Ronin Warriors, Sage would likely find himself in a bit of a conundrum. As he has actual friends for the first time in his life and not only that people he comes to see as brothers. While being raised by his grandfather and following his directive, he’s always presented himself as the persona his grandfather had expected him to have. The one thing he has never really been permitted to be is himself, and that could lead into the issues he has in events such as the Korinden CD drama.

Mia and Yuli would largely be the same, as they are in the series. Just a pair of civilians who are friends with the Ronin and understand the battles they go through. Mia would continue her grandfather’s research on the armors and assist where she can. Mostly she would be a big sister figure to the Ronin and help them figure out. In the Message OVA she does become a delegate at the United Nations. While the other Delegates are wondering about the strange things that are going on and wondering about how they were dealt with in previous events. Mia stands up and says she believes she may know what they are looking for.

To be honest, this often bugged me. I mean I like the idea of the Ronin being needed in other parts of the world aside from Japan. Still at that point, the Ronin Armors as they were originally had all been destroyed. Mia would have recognized what was going on was connected to the power of the Armors. Still telling a group of bureaucrats, a bunch of suits that believed in facts, science, and other such tangible information that everything that was going on hinged on a group of teenagers with mystical armor. I’m sorry, the only thing they will believe is that the person telling them this is insane.

All this is stuff that was demonstrated in the series and OVA so there isn’t just headcanon.

In the second episode of the series, the Japanese Self-Defence Force is deployed against Talpa’s castle in the first war, and all their efforts prove useless. The first episode also shows electronics, vehicles, and other man-made creations lose power due to the forces of Mystical energy coming from the Dynasty.  

And even if they could be convinced that the Ronin Armors were real. Talpa’s Armor was the corporeal embodiment of all human evil. Figures in places of power and authority would be anything but happy in knowing that five suits of armor are capable of wielding weapons-grade levels of mystical power even exist. And they would be even less then happy knowing these said suits of armor were given to people who are essentially children.

While the Ronin themselves know they are fighting for the good of the Mortal Realm, authority figures would argue they are just children playing with power they couldn’t possibly understand. While other people would fear hate them on the grounds that if they can use their armors for good, what was to stop them from using them for evil.

This is seen during the series where Rowen breaks Anubus’s helmet and is stunned to find that instead of a netherworld demon, Anubus was actually a human. Later on Kento is approached by Dais and told that he would become corrupted by his own armor in time. In the Dub, Kento is told that the five armors in the past had been worn by men who have used their power for their own selfish desires. In the Japanese version, Kento is told the armors were sought by people who wanted their power for themselves.  

During the Guiden OVA, Sage is believed to have become evil and is killing innocent people in New York. In the Japanese Version, Kento makes a comment about how the name of the Samurai Troopers is tarnished because one of them decided to go rogue. Which causes Rowen to look at Kento with a horrified expression.  

Later on when Rowen and Kento are confronting Sage about his actions, they find it’s not their friend but actually his armor. While the Ronin themselves don’t use their ultimate attacks because of all the civilians around them, the Police and National Guard are still brought in to try and arrest the Ronin because of the public disturbance their battle is causing.  

During Legend of the Inferno Armor, Cye is the first of the Ronin to notice the power of their Armors starting to corrupt, Each of the Ronin also eventually notice their armor becoming corrupted.

In the Message OVA Rowen does say that the armors were just as much of a curse as they were a gift. And the Ronin do comment on and fear the eventuality of losing themselves to their armors.

Worse yet, people in places of authority would use any excuse they could think of to imprison the five Ronin. They would have their armors taken to be studied and weaponized if possible.  If they can’t do that, they would force the Ronin to agree to use their armors as a superweapon against the people they want. And if they can’t do that, have them executed.

Again in the Guiden OVA, Sage is abducted and tortured for days by a Scientist working for Shikaisen so his Armor could be studied for his own personal interests. Shikaisen also used Sage’s armor to slaughter hundreds of innocent people

All of this would lead to Talpa reforming himself and starting the cycle of the Ronin armors once again.

In the Guiden OVA, after Shikaisen merges with the Scientists computer, he does become a figure that resembles Talpa.

Message OVA,The Ronin all get this sense that their battles against the Dynasty are repeating itself. Rowen comes across a play written in the Edo Period depicting their fights against the Dynasty and sends it to Ryo.  

Since the Ronin are destined to be Warriors until the day they die, The Ronin are just best off as being guardian figures who watch the humans and protect humans from afar. Mia can open her mansion to allow the Ronin to live there as permanent house guests, or just give them the house so they all can live there at their leisure.

The new armors they recieve at the end of the Message OVA aren’t tainted with Talpa’s evil since Suzunagi’s mother she placed love in the corner of them. So they don’t act as a becon that attracts beings of evil from the Netherworld Given this the Ronin themselves could spread the teachings of the Ancient One by creating a new Legend of the Ronin Armor. 

It could start with Sage talking to his grandfather about expanding their families Dojo. Or at the very least telling his Grandfather he will not inherit the Dojo as it stands, but instead will recreate it. So instead of teaching Kendo alone it will include Archery, Swordfighting, Kungfu, meditation, and other forms of martial and spiritual arts. The other Ronin would be brought in as instructors to lead these various class all the while instilling the Anicent Ones teachings about not giving into the sinister urges of man kind. And when needed the Ronin would don their armors and face the forces from the neather world who seek to destroy the peace they have created. 

Eventually the time will come where they feel they have played their role in protecting the world, and hand the Dojo over to Yuli or at least someone they know would look after things and carry on the legend of the five armors. 

Once they have their affairs in order, they could make the choice to enter the Netherworld. This will be a tragic choice as a year in the Netherworld is a hundred years in the human world. So the Ronin would be making the choice to leave their families and loved ones behind. But they do this knowing that when they are needed they will return, and in time choose worthy successors to bear their armors. 

Yuli in an updated version would be a somewhat tragic case following the first war. During the series Yuli seems to stay with the Ronin and Mia indefinitely and is able to travel to distant countries at a moments notice. He sees all the Ronin as adoptive brothers, though he idolizes Ryo the most out of all of them. A large part of the first war with the Dynasty is that Yuli’s parents were abducted by the Dynasty. However the series never shows him with his parents again.

He should be shown meeting up with his parents again after the first war just so viewers have that closure. Then somewhere in the interim episodes between the first and second war something should happen to his parents so he loses them, it can be left up for interpretation if his parents are permanently lost. Yuli would then start to live with the Ronin and Mia until arrangements can be made for him; he will eventually be taken in by the families of one of the Ronin.  

Of the three Ronin I see Kento’s family being the only one that would work. Kento has siblings roughly around Yuli’s age, and also Yuli himself would want to be near his adoptive big brothers.

In the Message OVA, Yuli is shown as a thirteen year old having won his jr. high’s Kendo tournament. Sage teaches elementary school aged kids at his families Dojo, so I can certainly see Sage privately teaching Yuli at some point.  

#ronin warriors #update-samurai-troopers #Samurai-troopers #rw2020 #Ronin-armors #armor legend samurai troopers #samurai troopers #Ryo sanada #Sage Date #Rowen hashiba #cye mouri #fan-speculation

[snaileer]

Chips & Salsa Chp 5

Lance stared blankly at his team, each caught up in their own worlds. Pidge and Hunk discussing some new gadget. Allura and Coran discussing the castle. Shiro and Keith talking about... training probably. They were all together in the common room, but nobody was talking to anybody else. 

He felt fuzzy. Like he was empty, not bad empty. Just.. silence. The world felt muted. It felt like he was watching himself sit there. It was like he was another person, no emotions tethering him. It felt dangerously peaceful, something heavy sat in his stomach telling him it was wrong. 

They hadn’t done anything after yesterday, and he hadn’t slept last night, or since he’d been back. The sleep deprivation must be getting to him more than he thought it was. 

Lance still watched himself sit there, looking at nothing, seeing nothing. Nothing but haunting, eerie, calm that-

Lance winced harshly and grabbed his ears as he leaned over in pain. The others stopped and glanced over in worry.

“I’m fine, ignore it.” The words felt heavy to get out, like pulling his mind from a fog, though the ringing in his ears had already yanked him away.

The team hesitantly turned back to their conversations. And he pretended not to notice their inability to subtly glance at him.

‘Ignore it.’ What wonderful, fantastic, completely useless advice.

The ringing was barely even the problem, he could deal with this. It was the nothing that was bothering him. Doing nothing, talking about nothing, he was bored.

His leg started bouncing. 

He spread his arms out behind him and tapped his fingers on top of the couch backrest.

He looked around at the room, to his teammates. He glanced back and forth between each small group.

Screw this. Lance stood and left the room without a word, easily brushing off the questions that followed him out. He wasn't ‘leaving-leaving’ so they shouldn't get too worried about it. And it’s not like he was participating in any particularly riveting discussions with them.

It’s not like they were even having a moderately boring conversation with him.

It’s not like they were talking to him instead of about him. Or including him in anything.

It’s not like it was any different from when he left in the first place.

Lance ran his hand through his hair, feeling the small scab on his temple from his first moments back in the castle. He sighed,

To the training room it is then. Lance rolled his eyes,

Hooray.

x--x--x

Lance sagged against his bayard, using the barrel of the gun as a staff. He was exhausted, his breath was ragged and his muscles burned from overexertion.

Lance flinched harshly when the doors swished open. He blinked the blurriness out of his vision, and there stood Keith in all his mulleted glory. 

“Keith?”

“Oh, hey, Lance, I didn’t know you were in here.” Keith stood there stiffly, his words tight. The tension from yesterday had not disappeared completely yet.

“It’s fine, I just finished.”

“Really?”

“Yes, don't worry Samurai, I won't tell Shiro you’re in here. Train to your heart’s content. Or ‘til you drop. Whichever comes first.”

“Ha ha,” Keith said sarcastically, “I’m better at regulating my training now.” Lance gave him a doubtful eyebrow. “Most of the time,.” Another skeptical look, “Alright, some of the time, but I’ve got it under control.” His voice got defensive.

“Okaay, whatever you say, Keith,” Lance spoke over his shoulder as he started towards the doors.

“Oh! Wait! I was supposed to tell you, we have a team meeting in an hour.”

Right. That.

“No problem. See ya’ there.” An hour was just enough time for a shower and a short face cleanse, finally.

The shower immediately made him feel better. Lance stood under the showerhead for longer than necessary, feeling the water flow over his face and his skin. He missed the water. Missed being clean. He’d hated the dirt and grime of the cells, the terror of every second-

No, don’t think about that. Anything else.

He shut off the faucet with a bit more force than necessary. Stepping out of the steam, Lance stumbled and braced a hand on the wall as a headache bloomed. He really needed to sleep, he could feel the dropoff point of exhaustion creeping up on him. Lance shook it off and wrapped himself in a towel, pointedly avoiding the mirror as he left the room.

He was relieved to find all of his facial supplies were still usable. The space-avocado face wash was a blessing he had longed for in captivity. There were a lot of things he had wished for in-

Nope. Nope. Nope nope nope. Other things. Puppies. And rainbows. Properly cut mullets.

Lance quickly moved his thoughts away, forcibly humming ‘These Are A Few of My Favorite Things’ under his breath as he washed the avocado cream off. He glanced up at the mirror in habit. His eyes caught his own reflection.

His wet hair was still stuck in weird spikes and plastered to his forehead. Before, he might have fussed about it drying like that. Now: he was still annoyed by the mangled haircut, but his eyes focused on the scars.

Lance had managed to protect his face relatively well. There was still a few marks he hadn't managed to avoid. 

The scab on his right temple. From Keith’s knife when he got out of the pod. To remind him he was here.

The grooved slash at his hairline. From being thrown across the room by Zarkon. To remind him of his place.

The small nicked mark on his neck. From his first fight. To remind him to survive.

The short rough scar at the bridge of his nose.

From the muzzle.

To remind him of obedience.

Lance’s eyes lingered on that one. He remembered it well, though it was the least noticeable. It was barely there, visible if you looked but easier to feel. Lance ran his finger across it. It was short, probably less than an inch long in total. But it was the implications that gave it weight.

Because it looked exactly like Shiro’s.

Lance finally pulled himself away from the mirror, deciding it was best to ignore his other scars. He got dressed again, just in time to be... very late to the team meeting.

Crap.

Lance was still pulling on his jacket as he ran down the hall. He came to a rolling stop in front of the bridge doorway.

“-still has no punctuality.” He heard Keith’s voice first when the doors opened automatically. 

“Sorry I’m late. I did remember it though,” Lance announced as he entered.

“It’s fine, Lance. Keith complains but he was only ten minutes earlier than you.” Shiro said from behind Pidge’s chair.

“Thanks, Shiro.” Lance gave him a grateful smile, Shiro nodding in response.

“Don't tell him that!” Keith burst out at the same time.

“What? It’s true.” Shiro smiled cheekily at his brother.

“Yeah, I know that but-”

“I’ve got it!” Pidge’s exclamation called everybody’s attention to her. Her paladin chair was surrounded by gears and random metal pieces with various pop-up holograms. Hunk among them as well.

The momentary pause as they moved to Pidge made Lance realize he still had the headache from getting out of the shower. The bags under his eyes felt heavier, he would need to rest at some point soon.

“So, yesterday, after, ahem,” Pidge cleared her throat awkwardly, glancing at Lance, “breakfast. I started going over the old missions, including that mission.”

“And why were you looking at that mission?” Shiro’s space-dad came out to scold her.

“Because I was hit by a wave of guilt and decided to indulge my self-destructive tendencies. Why else?”

“Pidge, we’ve talked about-”

“Anyways. I was also looking at the rescue mission and the EMP device we used. And I realized that if I could miniaturize and focus the pulse onto the chip, I might be able to shut it down-.”

“So do it. Let’s get this show on the road.” Lance stepped closer, eager to get this over with. Allura moved to give him space.

“Let me finish, Lance. I could shut it down temporarily. And even then, it’s risky. A high-level electromagnetic pulse aimed directly at your brain? There’s too many possible consequences and too many variables.”

“So why tell us about this at all?” Keith snapped.

“Because it’s still useful.” She barked back, before taking a deep breath, “It could be useful in times we need him asleep. Like in the pod, or when we can get rid of the chip.” She glared at Keith sharply, “I did make something else though. A way to stop the tracker within the chip.”

“Then you can stay, Lance,” Hunk looked at his friend hopefully, “We can be legs again!”

“Can’t wait, bud,” Lance could wait for it, he wanted to. Yes, he loved being a part of Voltron, but he didn’t even know if Blue would still accept him. He was afraid to find out.

“So I was working the design to be small and compact, Hunk helped me with that, and we made it into a bracelet.” Pidge pulled a small box out from among her things, handing it to Lance. 

Inside the box was a grayish bracelet, it was about 2 inches long, went all the way around and- 

“How am I going to get this on my wrist? There’s no gap.” Lance looked from the box back up to Pidge.

“Ooh! That’s the coolest part!” Pidge jumped up from her seat to grap the bracelet from him.

“A bracelet that blocks radio-waves across the galaxy from a magic chip in my head, and that’s the coolest part?” Lance looked at her doubtfully.

“Of course. Watch this,” She tapped an almost invisible button on the bracelet and a piece slid away. She used the newly appeared gap to put it on Lance’s wrist. Then, another tap of the bracelet and it slid closed again. A red light blinked on.

“My, that is pretty cool, number five.” Lance held his arm up for Coran as he leaned in to look. 

The weight on his arm felt familiar. And, bonus points for perfectly covering his weird tan lines.

“Any chance we can make it blue?” Pidge glared at him like he’d destroyed her honor, Lance put his hands up, “Yeesh, fine, no blue.” He turned it wrist back and forth, the bracelet really did fit perfectly. “I really like it, Pidge. Thank you.” He gave her a small smile, “And you’re sure it’ll work?”

“Yes, I perfectly calculated it to the chip’s signal, which was crazy hard to say the least. I’ve never seen a signal like that before. It functions like a cell phone call, but both receiving and sending were the same signal. It really shows the advances of alien technology and the push that space travel must have had to be able to communicate over the distance of galaxies. It’s incredible, really!” Pidge smiled in amazement at the technology.

“I’m definitely not as excited as you about this chip. I’m probably gonna melt it to bits the second I get the chance.”

“But what about the tech?! I have to study it!” Pidge pleaded.

“But what about the- no,” He mocked her then dropped his voice at the end, “Fire. Lots of fire. Maybe even a blowtorch. I don’t know. I’ll get creative, have a bit of fun with it.” He gave her a tense smile.

“But the possibilities of-”

“So, bracelet… it works?”

“Yeah, it works,” she grumbled, “All I have to do is turn it on.” Pidge reached over and clicked something on the bracelet. The red light turned green.

“How does it have power? Will it ever run out of charge?” Keith asked as he stepped up to the group.

“Nope, tiny balmeran crystal, right at the heart of it,” Hunk said proudly, “Courtesy of Shay from our last visit.”

“Whoa, when did Shay start giving you gifts? I so don't remember that from last time.” Lance piped in, elbowing Hunk with a smirk. Everyone’s face dropped. “What? What’d I say?”

“Nothing. Just... while you were gone, we had to make a trip to the Balmera. Had to save the whole planet actually. It wasn't easy, especially-.” Hunk looked down, “Especially without the Blue lion.” 

“What? What happened? When did-?” Lance stood straighter. The team looked at each other, wondering if they should tell him, “Guys, I’ll be fine. Just tell me what happened. I need to know.”

“It was still pretty soon after you got.. y’know…” Hunk started wringing his hands together, “And uh, we were looking for you when we got a distress call from Shay’s Balmera.” He looked back at Lance, “We almost didn’t go.”

“But you did go, right?” Lance looked at the others, they avoided his gaze, “You did your job, right?” His tone was harsh, “You saved people, like Voltron is supposed to, right? You didn’t sacrifice a planet just to look for me, right?”

“We did go, Lance-,” Shiro tried to reason.

“But by the time we got there… the beast had already destroyed so much.” Keith still felt guilty about it, mostly because he had voted against going at all. He still didn’t know if that was the right choice. Or if he regretted it.

“The beast? What Beast?”

“The robeast we fought before; the one that got encased in crystal by the Balmera,” Keith explained, “It broke free and used the crystals as power sources.” 

“And flying shields, which has got to be one of the most infuriating things Voltron’s ever fought,” Pidge chimed in from her chair.

“Wait, Voltron? You guys were able to form Votlron without me?” Lance had heard rumors of a full voltron in the cells, but he’d hoped they were false. That he wasn't as easily replaceable as that. That he did contribute to the team, but if Voltron could form without him-.

“Barely,” Keith scoffed, “Blue was more temperamental than Red about Allura flying her. Even when we did form Voltron, we were hardly at full power. And we fell apart seconds after defeating it.”

“It’s true. Though the Blue Lion is the most friendly, I fear we are not as great a match as I had previously believed.” Allura looked saddened by the prospect.

“So the rumors I heard? About Voltron resurfacing?”

“Only a few times,” Pidge climbed out of her chair to sit on the armrest, “It was so draining that none of us could sustain it for long without serious damage.”

“I wish I had been there. We could have stopped it. Voltron wouldn’t have been late.” Lance could only feel useless at the idea of Shay hurting because he couldn't be there when he was supposed to be.

“It’s alright. There’s nothing we can do about it now.” Shiro was the first to get back up, “We have you back and that’s all that matters, right?”

“No, Shiro! That’s not all that matters! An entire planet was hurt because I couldn’t be there. Because I-” Lance’s voice cracked, “I couldn’t-”

“Exactly, you couldn’t. You would have been there if you could. You would have tried to help any way you could. You always do.” Shiro stepped towards Lance, but he stepped away. He glanced around at the others looking at him with worry.

“Yeah, sorry guys, but uh- I think I’m just gonna hit the hay,” His words shook with the devastation in his eyes, “I’m pretty tired and-” Lance cleared his throat to try and steady his voice, “Thanks for telling me though, I’ll see you at breakfast.” He backed out of the room with a weak wave, dutifully ignoring the lump in his throat.

Lance quickly turned towards his room. He hoped the team would be too awkward to follow him. Lance scrubbed at his eyes, trying to wipe away the tears before they could fall. 

Later. Cry later. 

“Dang it, Lance,” He mumbled under his breath, “You don’t have time for this now.” He sniffed and tried to take a deep breath, “Yeah, it’s no big deal. Just an entire planet you abandoned.” He stepped into his room, letting the doors swish close behind him.

“Gah! I knew it!” He swung his fist at the wall. The mental dented, but didn’t crush like drywall. “I knew something would happen! God, I’m so stupid! Thinking everything would be okay for just three months!” He paced around the room, throwing his hands in frustration. “But nooo, the world needs Voltron!” Lance dropped onto his mattress with a sigh, “And you don’t even have the guts to tell your own team that you can't-!” His voice lowered, “that you can't even connect to the Blue Lion anymore. That you haven’t heard her since…,”

Since the druids.

“You really screwed it up this time, Lance.” He put his arm over his eyes as he laid on the bed. It felt squishier than he remembered. He’d nearly thrown a fit at how uncomfortable Altean beds were, but still, it felt too soft. Like he was laying on marshmallows, the stuffing swallowing him up.

“And now,” He sighed again and sat up, “You’re so worked up you can’t sleep. Great job on that one.” He was tired from days without sleep, but his brain wouldn’t let him relax, not yet.

Lance considered his options as his eyes flashed around the room. No one would notice if he didn't go to bed right away. They were probably still on the Bridge with Team Punk.

He poked his head out of his door. The hallway was empty. 

Good.

Lance dropped his jacket next to the pillow he’d knocked to the floor and then closed the doors. A short run, a couple laps maybe. Just to tire him out. Get rid of the small ringing in his ears and then he could sleep.

Finally.

He jogged off towards the abandoned sections of the ship. Not even Coran had bothered to clean up the whole castle.

The deserted corridors worked well for running laps, and he picked up speed with each round.

You can make it to 25 laps.

50’s not that far from 25, you can do that much.

That’s only half of a hundred, you can do three quarters, go 75.

He kept reasoning away more laps. First in groups of 25, then in tens, fives; just one more.

One more.

One more.

Keep going.

Always keep going!

Go!

He paused against the wall, leaning on it for support. His breath harsh and rough in the silence.

His limbs felt like jelly, his mind focused itself on making it back to his room.

His vision zoomed in and out of focus as he walked. He might have, just maybe pushed himself a bit too far. Again.

When he made it to his room, the doors had barely shut before he collapsed to the floor. He curled up against the wall, pulling his jacket over him and bunching up the pillow as the lights dimmed automatically.

His mind was quiet with exhaustion as he fell asleep to the hum of the castle’s machinery.

The hum morphed into a buzz, growing louder and more familiar until it sounded more like,... 

Cheering?

Lance looked around, seeing Pidge and Shiro on the floor behind him. They were in a Galra control room. He’d been here before. He knew this room. It was the mission when he’d been-

“It’s the Arena.”

Lance turned to Shiro’s voice. They were looking at a screen. It was footage. A recording of the Arena, his mind told him.

He moved closer, trying to make out the figures fighting.

It was him. 

He was there, on the screen. They could see him fighting. No no no no no. 

No! I don’t want them to see me! I don’t want them to see this! I don't want to see this.

He looked back up, he was in the Arena now. He wasn’t just watching it. His team could see him, they would hate him. 

But then he noticed his opponent.

“Lance! What are you doing!?” Hunk screamed at him. His body moved on its own.

He couldn’t stop it.

“Hunk! Hunk, you have to move! Run! Please!” Hunk dodged, stepping behind him. Lance’s body kept moving, kept attacking his best friend-

No, wait.

It was Pidge. Pidge was behind him when he turned around. And she was crying. No, she was screaming. He couldn’t tell, could barely hear her past his own apologies.

She begged him to stop, but he didn't. 

“Why can’t I control myself!? What’s wrong with me?!”

“Nothing’s wrong with you now, Paladin. I fixed you, remember?” Haggar’s voice reached through his mind. He could see her in front of him, standing there. They were in a dark room, she was hurting him. Torturing him-

He swung at her, but his fist hit Coran. He hurt Coran. Coran was trying to help him. He was with the team, not Haggar. 

How did he forget that?

“No, no no no, I’m so sorry Coran, I thought you were-” Lance reached for him, but he flinched away from him in fear. 

“I thought of you like a son, my boy.”

“Wait, Coran, I didn’t mean-”

“What have you done!?” He turned around to see Allura running at him. Her energy whip in hand. “Why would I ever like you!? You’re not worthy of being a paladin!” She attacked him, his skin burned where her whip hit. He screamed, but now he couldn’t move. He was stuck there, chained, frozen to his spot.

Allura brought down her whip again, and then it was Shiro. It was Shiro’s prosthetic, they were training together. He blocked Shiro’s hit. They were fighting on the castle. But no, no. 

Lance was lying to him.

“How could you do that to me, Lance? How could-”

“I didn’t think-!”

“Exactly! You never think! You don't do anything! Voltron doesn’t need you!” Shiro was walking away from him. Leaving him behind.

“Wait, Shiro! I-” He reached for his shoulder, Keith turned around.

“Lance, why are you doing this!?” Keith fell back against the sand of the Arena, his face bloody. Lance did that. He can’t control himself. “Lance! Please stop!”

“You’ll always come back, Paladin.” Lance could hear Haggar, but he couldn’t see her this time, “It always comes back here.” 

“Lance!” Keith screamed again.

“I can’t- I can’t control- I don’t know-I’m sorry, I’m sorry” His mind screamed against his body, but he kept attacking. “I don't know how to stop this! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so-”

“Lance, get up!” Suddenly, Keith had the upper hand. He was losing. No no no. 

I can’t lose! I can’t lose in the Arena! If I lose-

“Lance!” Keith was on top of him, he was going to die. He had to fight, he couldn't lose; not now, “You’ve got to wake up!” Lance flipped Keith off of him, expecting the spray of sand as Keith hit the ground. 

But the light of the Arena disappeared, it was dark. There was no sand. No blood. No jeering crowd. 

Keith was still below him. 

He looked terrified.

Lance scrambled away, his back hitting the wall. The cells, he was back in the cells. Why was he- How was-

Lights flicked on, illuminating the room. 

His room. On the castle. 

Not the cells. 

He wasn’t there, he was rescued, safe back on the castle. Which meant-

“Keith,” Lance paused, “I’m so sorry.” He dared a glance at Keith. A bit of tension eased from his shoulders at Keith’s face. Clean, not bloody. He was worried and scared, sure, but at least he wasn’t hurt. Not that Lance could tell at least, “Are you okay?”

Keith finally sat all the way up from the floor, “I should be asking you that, Lance.” He reached a hand towards him, Lance pushed himself farther against the wall.

“Did I hurt you?” Keith’s face saddened but he recovered quickly, covering up the pity as he pulled his hand back.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve had the wind knocked out of me before. This one’s on me, I shouldn’t have grabbed your arm like that when you were having a nightmare.”

Oh. It was a nightmare. Bits and pieces flashed through his mind. He cringed internally, a bad one too.

“Why were you sleeping on the floor by the way?” Keith motioned to the wrinkled pillow and his jacket laying on the floor.

He glanced at his mattress, “The bed’s uncomfortable.” He looked to Keith, “Why’d you wake me up?”

“What?” 

“Why are you in here?” Lance stood up and brushed off his pants, “Why’d you wake me up?” 

“Because you were having a nightmare???” Keith twisted a bit as Lance walked past him to get to his jacket.

“God! What is with you people barging into my room because you think I’m having nightmares?” 

Keith jumped up angrily, “The hell does that mean!? What; you want us to just let you suffer like that?!”

“YES!” Lance whipped around to face Keith.

“And why would we do that?! You were obviously in a lot of pain, you were screaming!”

“Maybe! But at least I was asleep!” Lance yelled at him, “This is first I’ve slept since I’ve been back, so who cares if I have a nightmare!”

“We care, Lance!”

“But I don't! Feel my heart right now,” Lance yanked Keith’s hand and pressed it against his chest, “My heart is still pounding, and it’s enough to silence the ringing. I literally have to work myself to exhaustion just to sleep at all!”

“We just want to help you!”

“Well you’re not! I had to figure how to deal with this on my own! And I did. I know what works for me and what doesn't!” Lance jammed his finger at Keith, “And you don't.”

“Because you don’t tell us anything, Lance!” Keith shouted, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re not exactly including us right now! You leave without saying anything! You brush off our questions and you train for hours on end!”

“Oh, and since when did you become Mr. Team Player all of a sudden! Huh? High and Mighty Lone Wolf Keith! You wouldn’t know teamwork if it slapped you upside the head! And you don't know me, you don't know my reasons for doing things. I don't have to explain myself to you, Kogane.”

“No, you don't, but it would be nice if you at least tried!”

“If you’re gonna force me to change, just take me prisoner and make it official.” Lance’s tone dropped dangerously.

“That wasn't what I-” 

Lance shoved past him with his shoulder, “Next time, just don't wake me up.” He stepped out into the hallway, leaving Keith behind as the door closed between them.

Next: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/619677648676929536/chips-salsa-chp-6

First: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/613092735756402688/chips-and-salsa-chp-1

#chipsandsalsa #lance #lance mclain #lance mcclain #lance sanchez #keith #keith kogane #shiro #shirogane #takashi shirogane #shiro voltron #lance voltron #BAMF lance #BADASS LANCE #vld lance #voltron lance #voltron keith #keith voltron #voltron shiro #voltron pidge #pidge voltron #hunk voltron #hunk garret #hunk garrett #pidge holt #pidge gunderson #katie holt #matt holt #voltron #vld

[ecoamerica]

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[silkylious]

Hi dear. I’m the anon who requested an istp reader earlier and i’m so sorry I completely missed the requests closed sign. Congrats on 400 followers!! Your event is so cute and I’m here to request a matchup! I’m a straight 5’7 girl whose personality type is istp. I have long brown hair and brown eyes. I’m a figure skater who loves to read, write and watch anime. I also like to bake whenever I have time. I’m rather analytical, with my strengths lying in math and science and history as my weakest. My writing style is more poetic, consisting of long sentences, metaphors and personophication. I’m blunt and my humor is dry and witty. However, even though I usually can keep a cool head, I get flustered easily (it’s one of the things I hate most lmao). I generally don’t take BS and my style is minimalist. I prefer to stay in by myself rather than go out with large groups of people. If I had an SO, I would much rather stay in and enjoy each other’s presence than go out on elaborate dates. I have a really low social battery too. My music taste is all over the place, but I love Chase Atlantic and Arctic Monkeys. I’m more of a cat person, though I do love dogs, and I like nature and spending time outside. Hopefully that’s enough information! Thank you so much! - 🧩 anon

Thank you so much for sending this in!! <3 I hope you like your matchup! :3

I ship you with...

general relationship dynamic: 

A match made in heaven or hell depending on who you ask

Similar enough to maintain stability, but different enough to keep things unpredictable and fun

Katsuki appreciates your rational nature, as he himself is extremely pragmatic. That common denominator relives the stress of having to deal with problems caused by emotional misunderstandings 

I can definitely see this dynamic as a slowly building friendship at first

Your tendency to not let anyone walk all over you and keep a calm aura about you immediately attracted him, but simultaneously frustrated him to no visible end

The blatant contrast between your personalities instantaneously made him want to break that collected demeanor of yours. 

All in the name of competition. At least it started out that way.

Battle after battle, bruise after bruise and trail after trail, the more hardships you faced together, the more teasing your remarks became.

What started out as him hurling every curse word known to man in hopes of shattering that nonchalant exterior of yours (and you ultimately ignoring him), slowly but surely turned into both of you exchanging well-crafted remarks.

Your sardonic humor was such a good match for him. Both knocked him off his high horse and left him in complete awe (and affection. Though he’d never admit it) of your quick, sarcastic wit all packaged in a light-hearted tone that didn’t wound his ego (too much).

More often than not, you’d fluster the hell out of him. Not that it was hard to get a reaction out of Bakugo Katsuki to begin with.

Your sharp responses just made him want to see you lose your cool even more. He never wallowed in his embarrassment too long, always too eager to grasp the next opportunity to turn the tables on you.

You bet your ass the first time he saw your composure slip, the bastard basked in it. Laughing to his heart’s content while you indignantly screeched at him to shut up.

He’d never forget that moment; and he made damn sure you wouldn’t either, not hesitating to bring it up whenever he wanted to put you in your place or just to get a rise out of you for the hell of it.

And from there it just doesn’t stop. He’s a quick learner and oddly observant, and he uses both those traits to his full advantage when picking on you. His relentless teasing never ceasing to give him the satisfaction of seeing your disheveled composure.

He also loved the gentle crease in your brows and that adorable pout on your lips whenever he verbally pushes you into a corner but that’s beside the point-

Not that it mattered anyway, you had plenty blackmail material of his less than dignified moments to spare.

Your friendship was easy going, trustworthy, reliable. But neither of you could admit your feelings to each other to save your lives. Much to the dismay of your friends, who had to watch the absolute clownery of you tip-toeing around your feelings in muted agony.

Cue perpetual pining.

Once you finally confess your feelings for each other, I honestly don’t see the relationship shifting much.

You act like really, really close friends who just happen to be affectionate and completely enamored by one another

I see Katsuki as a high energy person. Regardless of where he chooses to focus that energy, he needs external stimulus. More often than not, he directs his abundant energy into training and sparring. But generally, a lot of his excess energy is expelled through social interaction. Whether or not this social interaction is mirthful doesn’t really matter so long as he’s depleting his excessive energy.

Your low social battery might pose a small issue, dealing with Katsuki alone is like dealing with a dozen other less intense individuals. But you can easily work around it through your common interests and hobbies that can stimulate you both without depriving you into mental exhaustion

trivia:

Katsuki loves going on outdoor dates with you. A picnic in a secluded park, hiking, stargazing, camping- you name it

These dates are perfect for you two, combining your love for nature and privacy all the while giving him an activity to expel his stamina

Though he can’t say no a good at home date with you.

I absolutely adore the one headcanon about him being an amazing cook but a horrible baker

With a bit of coaxing on your part, you somehow manage to get him into baking. His skills are fucking abysmal.

He’s also distracting

Every time you try to bake together it almost always ends with both of you covered in flour with like three batches of burnt cookie dough, and childlike grins on your faces

Katsuki doesn’t really mind what the two of you do on dates, so long as he’s spending alone time with you, and you wouldn’t have it any other way

He’s a lost cause you figure. But he'll secretly practice at home, to his mother's dismay. But he doesn't care, it's all worth it in the end as he catches sight of pride and admiration in your eyes the one time he baked you a simple treat for your birthday

He made sure to learn your favorite baked goods, if only as a back up plan when he fucked up and needed to worm his way back into your arms

His curiosity was peaked when you’d told him that you’re a figure skater. So much so that one day he asks (read: demands) that you take him to an ice rink

As you show him one of your choreographies, he’s in a state of silent admiration

Katsuki is extremely kinesthetic, so he could easily pick up on the countless hours of hardwork you’d spent mastering your form, perfecting your footing, building up astounding flexibility to be able to preform and make it seem so effortless

The way your muscles pulled taut and relaxed again from stance to stance, the way small bruises lay proud on your skin as an indictive of all the effort you’d put into this sport all but made him fall in love with you again

When you strike a final pose, looking at him expectantly, noiselessly, he doesn’t say anything. But the star-eyed gaze and gentle smile he gave you spoke louder than any of his crude words ever could.

The cherry red in his eyes every so often melted so softly, it set your heart ablaze each and every time

He ended up reluctantly swallowing his pride and asking you to teach him a couple moves that day

You have study dates. All. The time.

He’s a jack of all trades so history is a no brainer for him. When you ask him to help you with it he begrudgingly complies.

Now whether or not his teaching actually helped is up to your imagination lmfao

I think one of Katsuki’s main love languages is quality time; you don’t even have to be actively helping each other while studying, just your presence around him sedates his mind exceptionally

Seconds tick by on his digital clock, each thirtieth tick he discreetly glances at you to make sure you’re still there, if he’s in the mood he’ll have to touch you in some way or another. Doesn’t even have to be affectionate, just your skin on his is enough to spur a content sigh out of him

when you’re simply reading a book or watching an anime together, he’ll lay his head on your lap without a word, or he’ll sit behind you with his arms wrapped tightly around your waist. Give it some time and his roughed-up hands will snake their way into your long hair, making a mess out of it, braiding and unbraiding it as he pleases. Tease him and he’ll instantly move

He loves reading your writing! To him, it’s like you’re inviting him into a corner of your mind. A corner very few get to explore, and he takes pride in that privilege

Can be a bit hesitant to give his full interpretations of your works at first, often just replying with one word “encouragements” but he quickly recognizes your discontent and tries to be a bit more open with his thoughts.

Slowly but surely he lets you into a corner of his mind as well, and you couldn’t be happier in those moments

[bus ride home]

The sun lovingly cast its last embers upon his face, framing and sculpting it with sharp shadows and soft reds into a breathtaking portrait as his matching crimson irises look far away, far beyond the sunset. He’s unfairly handsome. You huffed, forcing yourself to look away from what you could only describe as perfection, lest the last remnants of breath elude your lungs.

With your stare finally detached from him, all your senses started bleeding back into reality. The hum of soft rock buzzing through your plugged earbud caught your attention. Ah, this was one of your favorites. Your mind started painting his visage behind your closed lids, the music only added to the vividness of the dozen or so shades of oranges and yellows. You hummed along; the crescendo was steadily approaching.

“… But I crumble completely when you cry…”

The gentle tenor in your voice lulled Katsuki away from his muddled thoughts, instead focusing on your serenity. You’d always being good at keeping your cool, but this was different. With a tiny tug at your lips as they moved with each delicate syllable, you looked truly in your element. Angelic in a sense as the warm rays of dusk embraced you. He couldn’t look away from what he could only describe as perfection. His flushed ears barely picked up on the porcelain notes leaking from the unplugged earbud before his tongue started imitating your own.

“… In my imagination you’re waiting, lying on your side, with your hands between your thighs and a smile.”

One brown eye blinked open, surprised at the gruff bass joining your little jamming session. Katsuki snatched the unused earpiece and put in his own.

“Weren’t you the one that said my music taste is trash?” You raised an eyebrow.

“It is trash.” The glimmer in his gaze told you otherwise. You scoffed and looked away, attempting to hide the smile pulling on your lips.

The next song started playing.

<3

#matchmaker silky #🧩 anon #bnha matchup #mha matchup #505 is the best am song dont @ me

[ezmarie]

She/her, Taurus, INTJ, slytherin

Personality: the first thing people notice about me is that I am less of a feeler and more of a thinker. I do have an IQ of 125, but my emotional intelligence is quite low, so I have trouble sympathizing with others. But I learned through experience, so I don’t SEEM emotionless. I can (and will) help my friends through tough times if they need me. I’m pragmatic, so I always go for the facts instead of the feelings during decision making or tough situations. I hold a lot of perfectionist traits that make it really hard for me to be satisfied with my results if they aren’t higher than the norm. I also have a slight issue with saying no, so sometimes I’ll offer my help or enrol myself in long-term projects while knowing I legit do not have time for more stuff on my schedule. Being a bit smarter than average, I sometimes feel like I’m obligated to help others so that they can do good too (however, I do like helping people with their hw to a certain extent). I’m working on those issues though!! I’m also an introvert, and I can get rlly tired if I have to be interacting for more than four hours straight with people, especially if their persona isn’t rlly compatible with mine.

However, when I’m surrounded by friends (or generally people who aren’t my superiors), I’m very energetic, loud, silly and I have a sharp tongue. My sense of humour goes from absolute nonsense to almost mean spirited sarcasm, but it all depends on who I’m talking to. I’m a MAJOR memer, I have a bunch of files filled with them, and I couldn’t bear be with people who didn’t understand my meme references. When I start liking something, I can get easily obsessed. I’m stubborn, therefore very passionate about the things I care about. I also have a slight case of the Endorphin Junkie, meaning that I really, really like the high you get after sports so I do crossfit training like five to six times a week. I’m unapologetically myself, and I will not ever change who I am to fit within the norm. I’m sometimes told that (that I’m odd, I mean), but I usually thank the people who tell me. I have a really, really big love for music and I have a tendency to break into song sometimes when people say a line from a song I know.

Appearance: I’m around 5’6”, with hazel eyes and brown hair that goes around to my shoulders. It gets curly out of nowhere. I can either wake up with straight hair or wake up with a freakin perm, it’s funny. My body isn’t exactly the lean type, I’m somewhere around the buff area of the scale instead, but as long as I seem visibly strong, I’m satisfied. When I’m not going anywhere significant, I usually just wear sport shirts and sweats, but I have a penchant for Dark Academia so I like /looking/ like I’m smart sometimes. And I have glasses bc apparently my eyes are assholes and they work too hard and it hurts my brain all the time

Likes: music (DavidBowieDavidBowieDavidBow-); I have a really wide range of music that goes from early 2000’s pop to 1700’s requiems. I enjoy studying theoretical fields, reading, and I like talking about Absurd Theories About Reality That Make Little To No Sense. I like sports, and I love joking around with friends in the most exaggerated ways. I also love the colour green and I’m more of a cat person

Dislikes: dogs (they’re cute but keep them away pls), ignorant people, irresponsible people, spiders, things I’m not good at from the beginning, having to deal with strangers being upset, crying (me. I don’t like crying; I mean me, I’m fine if my friends cry)

Other fun facts!!

- my goals for the future are all over the place; I want to work for Disney, I want to get a musical composition degree, I want a biomedical engineering bachelors degree, I want an astrophysics doctorate, I want to study languages, I want to be a foreign English teacher... I can’t ever decide.

- I have a long history with getting crushes on guys who turned out to be gay. It happens so often and I HATE IT, it makes me feel terrible.

- I!!love!!70’s!!music!!so!!much!! I was raised on that stuff, my dad wouldn’t let us listen to anything else

- Lol my favourite playlist name is Drugs Playlist But I Don’t Even Do Drugs it’s just a bunch of Pink Floyd and David Bowie songs

- My favourite movies are 80’s or 90’s comedy classics!! Like Wayne’s World, or Airplane!, or Night at the Roxbury. I keep quoting Wayne’s World and no one understands :(

Oof, im sorry for the Four Page Essay On My Life

ok 1. we. are. so. similar. 2. your taste is 👌 (especially pink floyd, david bowie, wayne’s world, all that) and 3. i ship you with...kenma!!

you guys both seem analytical and you both follow your head instead of your heart. you’re both seen as smart and and many would refer to you guys as the intimidating and “the brains” kinda couple. but when they really get to know y’all they find out your just a bunch of goofballs.

kenma won’t ask much of anything from you so you’ll never feel pressured or obligated to get yourself into something you don’t want to. he also never shows a wide range of emotions (as you are with crying) so that just makes it way easier since both of you struggle when dealing with others emotions.

y’all are both introverts and when you two get tired of hanging out with ppl, you guys will just leave cause you don’t wanna deal with that atm. 😌✌️however, when you guys are alone you perfectly balance. you both know ALL the meme references and use them constantly and your humorous and louder energy will get him out of his shell too.

you both are very passionate and committed in your relationship, as well. kenma only sticks with things that he enjoys, so he’ll never only be sticking around to make you feel better, it’ll always be because he genuinely loves you. he also finds your ambition and stubbornness adorable but attractive at the same time, and just lets you do your thing while supporting you completely.

the fact that you show your genuine self will DEFINITELY help him with his own problems. he doesn’t share his opinions because he’s afraid of what ppl might think of him, so the fact that you won’t change just to fit in will rub off on him, which is what he needs.

i feel like he would lowkey be into talking about absurd ideas and y’all could just go on and on about shit that doesn’t even make sense (but it makes sense to you so that’s all that matters😌😃) at first he would never be into 70s music, but after a while he would become a complete lover of it. he may not admit it, but your constant singing has made him listen to older music and movies all the time now.

scenarios with the two of you:

•you guys just chillin while you read and he plays games on his switch. (bonus points if he gets lost in thought while looking at you and then snaps out of it when he sees he lost his game🥰)

•you just vibin along to “comfortably numb” by pink floyd while he just swoons over you silently bc ur just too cute to him

•you doing a workout with him and trying to build up his muscle and he just like collapses bc he’s not used to it and you guys just end up laughing

i rlly hope this was okay, i apologize for taking a while i was a little busy! you seem so easy to get along with and the funnest person ever ngl🥺 <33

#haikyuu matchups #haikyuu!! #kenma #kenma kozume #Petals ✿

[tu-mint]

WELCOME TO UA!

[OC Jade Lofota/Dome Introduction]

Hey everyone! Hope all is going well and that you’re all staying safe and washing your hands and wearing masks! So I just wanted to write a little piece introducing my OC to UA High and explaining the AU I chose to have My Hero Academia based in. A very special S/O to @gureii and @camurica for allowing me to add their OCs into my story (follow them on Tiktok to learn more about their characters!)

International AU!

Word Count: 4K+

The goodbye felt much too soon from her family, but her father and mother had firmly assured there was nothing she needed to worry about. She sighed. Lies. There was rarely a time where worry wasn't weighing on her shoulders, contemplating her parents' well-being or if her siblings made it home safely or if the house survived another week untouched...she couldn't allow herself to forget why she was doing this. For them.

She was only a few years into elementary when the news came about of new institutions being established in select locations. UA High, only the highest ranked school for hero education in Japan had eventually received this rating internationally and now began putting forth effort in providing the best of their assets around the world. School boards had apparently been planning this concept for years, seeing it as the opportunity for nations to come together and give the world a "brighter future". It made her scoff in amusement. The program was officially named "UA International: Heroes of Tomorrow", and the idea was to input UA institutions on every continent. Hundreds of thousands of students began registration immediately while retired or fellow Pro Heroes displayed interest in supplying staff; it became the hot topic across the globe. Los Angeles was one of lucky bunch to become an official location and it left townsfolk ecstatic. She overheard conversations between her family and schoolmates and neighbors about the wonders of attending such a prestigious named school, but to her, it didn't matter all that much. Yes, UA may live up to the pedestal it sat on, but to have the best of heroes derive from only there? Fat chance. Her father was a prime example of heroism without the grand background.

Lima was his hero name; it translated to 'hand' from Samoan language and was chosen because his hands were where his quirk was strongest when used. He often liked to tell his children deeper reasons for his name so it wouldn't sound boorish, but they never thought such things. It always filled Jade's chest with pride knowing her father had served as a mighty and fearless leader, never relying upon a title or popularity to carry his duties. Her parents never pressured her or her siblings into joining UA, though they all easily could've been considered because of Lima. While she had no intention of going in the first place, it seemed as though fate made the decision for her one early morning.

Being one of the eldest, Jade often carried out all most of her parents requests, and going to the corner store for chips and soda was a common task. A burglary had taken place shortly after she entered. She recalled a masked stranger pointing a gun at the cashier while holding down a woman by her neck using his knee. The woman was visibly shaking and had a growing red spot on her shoulder. It was the first time Jade had experienced a life threatening situation with no one to guide her, but she knew standing around would do nothing to help. She couldn’t be afraid. Fear will get you killed. Her mind shifted into gear, and swiftly she’d gotten her hands around the burglar’s head, manipulating their mind into moving away from the woman while dropping their weapon. Police arrived shortly after, along with her parents, relived to see their daughter unscathed. In the midst of news reporters and flashing cameras, the injured woman approached from the back of an ambulance and revealed herself to be an admin under UA Los Angeles. “I was passing through and stopped by to get a small snack, but a little altercation took place and I found myself on the floor. My quirk doesn’t aid me in combat, so I really was helpless, but,” she paused and peered down at Jade, “this brave little girl had stepped in and stopped the perpetrator. At such a young age with no help at all, she took a huge risk in ensuring the safety of another; that’s an admirable act of heroism.” The admin bent down to the child’s level and grinned. “It's not often I meet people as fearless as you, little one. You have the passion of a hero, to bring justice and light to the world. UALA is going to be looking forward to your attendance in a few years. I hope to see you there.”

And thus, that interaction was what brought Jade to this point. She and roughly a hundred other kids were flown to Japan as representatives from their schools to partake in a trip to the original UA to learn of its origins and meet with some of the world's best acclaimed heroes. When they'd arrived, two double decker buses were present, each driver holding a list designating which schools would be riding with them. Musutafu was said to be at a far distance, so Jade took time to observe the students among her. Some were rather calm and sat quietly, occupying themselves with a book or music. Others showed more bubbly and extroverted nature, introducing themselves to the students behind or in front of them, laughing and telling jokes in a language she couldn't understand. All kids from different UA schools...if I remember correctly, Principal Tomar told me the people on this trip were handpicked by the national school board, meaning that these are the best of the best. I have to be prepared at all times. I won't let my time here be a waste, not while my family depends on me. "Thinkin' a bit hard over there, aren't ya?"

Jade snapped out of her thoughts and turned to the seat across from her. There sat a slender female who looked about her age with horns that stuck out either side of her head and long, thick waves of hair falling past her waist. Her most prominent features were her eyes, two sets with a cat-like shape, one atop the other, with red irises and deep onyx scleras.

"It's a habit," Jade replied sheepishly, flashing a small smile. It wasn't unlike her to be consumed in thought, she couldn't help it. After all, it was an inevitable tendency that began after her brother--

"Happens to best of us," the girl across shrugged. "Can't exactly blame you, we are training to become pro heroes, am I right?" She moved a bit closer to the walkway of the bus and stuck out a hand. "Kou Maeda, or in America it would be Maeda Kou if I'm not mistaken."

It's a different setting, so respect their culture. In Japan, you address by surname, not first lest they say otherwise. "A pleasure to meet you, Kou. I'm Jade Lofota, or vice versa in the Japanese language, but you may refer to me as Jade." She took the girl's hand and gave a firm shake.

The fellow student grinned and leaned against her seat with her shoulder. "I appreciate your courtesy, but Maeda is fine. Which UA institution are you from?"

"UA Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles? I've heard so much about that place, home to Hollywood and some of the best films I've seen. I've been thinkin' about flying out there with my friends for a little getaway after we graduate, ya know? Enjoy our freedom before hittin' the reality of adulthood and dedicating our lives to being heroes."

Jade refrained herself from saying something negative that would ruin the friendly aura. "That sounds nice, but let me just tell you from firsthand experience, LA is not everything it's made to seem like on TV; it does have its ups and downs. Traffic for one is cra-a-a-zy, and most, if not everything, is expensive over there. I would probably suggest Hawaii, at least there you won't have to worry about drivers with road rage." She smiled seeing Maeda laugh. If anything, angry drivers would be the last of her problems when she saw the crime rate level down south -- but she didn't need to know that.

Maeda tapped her chin in thought. "Hm, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea. I've always wanted to visit that pineapple patch I heard about, and ride a few waves while I'm at it. Any who, I'm actually from the original UA and supposed to be your tour guide, but some of you guys looked a bit too worn out to hear me blabbering." She gestured to the back of the bus at everyone who'd fallen asleep. "I figured that whole travelling process must have been a lot to sort through and you guys didn't get much shut eye."

H O N K ! H O N K !

The sound of the bus's horn abruptly going off shocked the students out of their slumber as they began speaking frantically among each other. Jade heard Maeda swear under her breath before standing up and walking to the front. What the hell is going on right now? She peered out her window trying to see what the hold up was but could only make out a large crowd and thousands of flashing lights. As other students on the bus fought to get a look outside, a voice came over the speakers. "Students of UA International, this is your tour guide speaking. I ask that you please remain calm as we are currently experiencing a few difficulties getting to our designated building. In the meantime, please return to your seats and ensure that you have all your carry on items with you. We are not responsible for any lost or stolen items, though as a hero in training, such an act should not be of a concern lest you wish to face consequences." There was a pause before she continued, "Further instructions will be given at the dorms. For now, sit tight and get to know the people around you, you're going to be with them for the next few months. This is your tour guide, Kou Maeda, signing off. Thank you for choosing UA International: Heroes of Tomorrow." About fifteen minutes passed until the bus began moving again and the four eyed female returned.

"You make quite the speaker," Jade commented cleaning up her area.

Maeda smirked and flicked her wrist. "You flatter me too much. It just gets annoying always having to deal with all those news reporters and the media. They made a barrier in front of the other bus and refused to move, so we had to call in some escorts and extra security."

"Ah, I see," said Jade as she looked at the faces the vehicle passed, seeing a Pro Hero holding off the crowd. They were a lot more compliant compared to the crowds in LA, so she was fine having to deal with that for the next few months. Commotion picked up within the students again as the bus stopped before a huge building. The structure stood wide with three stories and a sturdy looking wall surrounding it. What caught Jade's eye, however, was the overwhelming amounts of people that were surrounding the buses and standing at the entrance. It was a jumble of cameras, flashes, confetti, signs, whistles, streamers -- They're really that excited to see UA International students? Huh, well that means I've got eyes and ears from all directions. Gotta be careful of my interactions. She tugged on her gloves and got out of her seat, taking a deep breath before stepping out into the open.

Automatically, strangers fought their way closer to the students, firing questions and pushing mics or recorders into their faces. Jade was thankful for the great amount of Pro Heroes in attendance, otherwise she would've been trampled alive. After retrieving her luggage, she peered around looking for Maeda, frowning when she failed to spot her. "Hmph," Jade grumbled to herself, "I swear she was right by the bus--" A loud and dramatic laugh boomed in the distance, cutting off the girl's thoughts. The sound had apparently excited the crowd even more, but Jade barely had enough time to turn around before other travelling students were running with their luggage. They're rushing down the aisle to the entrance, but for wh--a gasp caught in her throat. At the wall stood a tall and lanky man, fists at either hip. His chest was puffed out proudly and nose high with pride, but there was no denying the striking blonde hair and trademark smile that gleamed from a mile away. Jade looked on in disbelief, realizing the former Symbol of Peace, the great All Might, was merely a few steps away from her. It came as a shock to everyone the news of his retirement and true form, but even in this state confidence and power radiated heavily from him. She snapped out of her starstruck gaze when more students roughly pushed past her, dying to get close to the world known hero. Jade began moving, but her current speed didn't match those around her and resulted in students now stepping on her shoes or ramming into her shoulder. She growled under her breath in irritation. Keep calm Jade, everyone's just a little excited, don't get pissed off and--ack! In that moment, she'd accidentally tripped over her own foot, too focused on trying to not get her toes squashed. Everything felt in slow motion as her carry on bag slipped off her outstretched arm, flying a few feet ahead of her. She swore up and down in her mind as her body lurched forward. This for sure was gonna be the new hot topic, she thought, clumsy girl from UALA makes a fool of herself before even entering the building. Jade shut her eyes and readied herself for collision with the cement ground...

But it never came.

The girl instead found herself leaning against a solid wall, except this wall didn't feel so...brick like, and it apparently boarded around her arms, stopping her fall entirely. She opened her eyes and was face to face with a bulky arm decorated with a few scars. It took her a second to realize her cheek was pressed against someone's chest and she quickly pulled away in embarrassment. "I am so sorry about that!" she spewed out with a nervous laugh, unable to meet her savior's gaze. Jade noticed they too adorned the UA uniform and mentally swore again. This person had to be a UA student, great! Just my damn luck! So much for first impressions, Jade! "I just got so caught up seeing All Might standing at the entrance, and everyone began running--"

"Hey hey, don't sweat it! I know it wasn't your fault" the stranger chuckled. The girl peered up; before her stood a young male who she assumed was older by a year or two. His physique was hulking and towered over her own, which in her eyes was impressive considering the fact that she wasn't petite nor slender. Fair skin, blonde hair, and a grand smile, he could've easily been mistaken as a younger version of All Might, she thought, observing him. Hm, nice voice, pretty face, takes care of his body...not bad, I'll give him that much. "Heh, glad you're enjoying the view there." Crap.

"My bad, I didn't mean to stare," Jade faked another laugh, rubbing her shoulder in embarrassment.

"It's all good, you're quite the sight yourself," replied the boy coolly, handing her the carry on bag she'd dropped. The girl’s face felt hot at his comment as she pursed her lips. "My name's Togata Mirio, I'm a third year student here at the original UA."

"Lofota Jade, but Jade is fine. I'm a second year student from UA Los Angeles."

Togata tapped his chin and cocked his head in thought. "Jade, like the gemstone? Pretty name for a pretty face, eh?" She couldn't hold back her smile that time and let her head down, face now feeling like it was on fire. Kid knows how to spit game—gotta be one of the school flirts. It wasn't often Jade received this kind of playful attention as many feared her appearance or incredible strength, believing they'd get beat to a pulp for any kind of joke. While that technically was an open possibility, she wasn't one to get mad at harmless banter. Still, it was fascinating to watch this stranger do it so openly, not hesitating on his words.

"Mirio!" Both heads snapped in the direction of a woman attempting to run towards them. She was dressed in all black and held a camera in her hands. Jade noticed how the woman wasn't stopped by any of the Pro Heroes or policemen, and the blonde guy didn't seemed bothered by her, so she remained put. "Thank goodness you were able to get a hold of one of the international students! Many of them zipped past me to see All Might down there," she heaved, moving some locks out of her face. The shades she wore were pushed atop her head as she smiled at Jade. "Sorry if I scared you, hon, I'm Exposure. I work here at the original UA as their photographer, and I'm supposed to be taking pictures of the students coming from overseas. Is it alright if I could snap a few photos?"

"Oh! Well I don't exactly look my best right--"

"Nonsense! You look great, Jade!" All heads turned to find Maeda and two other students walking towards them. A male and a female with young faces. "Sorry for leaving you, I wanted you to meet my friends. We're all second year students, so we'll be seeing each other pretty often while you're here." The two students stepped forward with warm expressions.

"Ishikawa Ren, at your service," said the female student; her voice was light and feathery. She had short silver locks pulled back into a low ponytail, and eyes of the same color. Her snowy white skin gave her complexion that of a porcelain doll's.

"Arata Kubo, nice to meet you." Jade nodded at the male when he introduced himself. While he also had the snowy skin complexion, his hair was a deep umber hue. She was unable to see his eyes as his bangs draped just above his nose, but she swore an electric blue eye peeked out at her. He stood a few inches above her, not necessarily Togata's height, but enough to where she looked upwards.

"Lofota Jade, but please call me Jade. It's nice to meet you both as well." Just before she could continue speaking, she heard clicking and snapping. Jade turned to find Exposure getting to work with her camera, holding it at different angles and pausing momentarily to look back over her images. She smiled at the students.

"Please, go on ahead! This is what I was hoping to capture, our local and travelling students conversing freely and getting to know one another. It really helps people to see visuals of any and everything involving this program."

Jade nodded, then got an idea. "Is it possible if I can take a group picture with these students, miss? I really need to be heading inside the building to check into my dorm soon, but I do wish to remember those who welcomed me first upon my arrival."

Exposure nodded excitedly. "That's a clever and kind idea, Jade. I totally forgot about the sign in procedures, but we can make this quick, I promise!" She used her hand to gesture to the four other students. "C'mon now everyone! We can't have an international student late on her first day here. Quick quick!" Maeda and Ishikawa stood closest to Jade on either side while Arata squatted in front of her. Mirio stood behind at a respectful distance and held peace signs behind her head, a goofy smile stretched on his face. Exposure leveled the camera with her eye and stood immobile, her finger moving at a rapid pace. She suddenly stopped and the grin she initially wore fell; she slowly pulled the device away from her face. Jade saw her eyes were focused on the image she'd just snapped, but she looked concerned, like she'd seen something she wasn't expecting to. The international student's expression also became that of concern. Did something happen while she was taking our picture?

"Everything okay, Miss Exposure?"

Immediately, the woman's look changed into one of relief. She chuckled softly while shaking her head, "Yeah, my screen just went blank for a sec, thought my battery died just now. I would've been dead had that happened, though I probably could've had you help me, Kubo." He and the two female students laughed then chatted among themselves, but Jade kept her gaze focused on Exposure. I don't know if they could tell, but that was definitely a cover up. Her laugh was nervous, and I saw clear as day that she took the picture, no black screen or nothin'! She must’ve seen something caused by her camera, but she played it off saying there was a malfunction. Her eyes briefly met Jade's before she glanced around at the other students. "Well kids, thank you for your time. Maeda, Ren, Kubo, if you'd be kind enough to walk this young lady to her designated room that'd be great. Mirio, I'm gonna need some help trying to snap photos of the crowd." She waved before turning on her heel and walking away, heels clicking on the pavement.

The blonde haired student looked at the second year kids and gave a cheeky grin before following suit. "See ya later, gemstone," he called over his shoulder as he strutted away. Jade rolled her eyes at the nickname and gripped her luggage tighter. Annoying boy. A hand lightly fell on her shoulder; she turned to see it was Maeda.

"C'mon newbie," she said, "we gotta get you in and settled, then we can show you around to some cool places." Jade nodded and began walking towards the entrance. She conversed with the three students, learning about them and their quirks: Maeda could manipulate glass, Arata could possess electronic devices and Ishikawa had blood that could heal whoever consumed it. She shared about her quirk of mind manipulation, being sure not to touch on too many details, and further explained how wearing gloves was in connection to it. Jade couldn't deny how pleasing it was to see the trio and their genuine efforts in getting to know her. It put her mind at ease and for once since arriving she'd felt sedate.

After getting some help from the girls into her dorm room, the ringing of a cellphone went off. Ishikawa pulled out her phone and held it to her ear after tapping it; she smiled and slipped into the hallway, giggling and cracking bird related jokes. Jade raised a brow and looked to the four eyed girl. "It’s probably her boyfriend,” she shrugged in response, moving closer to the door. “Anyways, Ren, Kubo and I are gonna go back to our dorms to freshen up, then we'll meet you at the entrance in two hours. You got my number, so call me if anything happens, okay?"

"Gotcha," Jade replied with a smile. "Thank you for the welcome, I seriously appreciate it from you and your friends."

"Oh, we're not done with our version of welcoming," Maeda winked. "There's a lot we have planned, so get some shut eye, you're gonna need your energy fully restored."

"Heh, okay bet!" Maeda tilted her head to the side with a confused expression. Forgot they probably wouldn't understand US slang. "It's an informal way of speaking, I'm not actually making a bet." She nodded, her lips forming an O shape, then made her exit out of the room.

Jade let out a huge sigh and fell back on her bed. This was where she'd be for the next few months, alone in a completely new environment. She'd almost felt as though she'd returned to that corner store, to the seven year old version of her watching and making heavy decisions with nobody to direct her. Though her life wasn't in danger (at least not yet) in this moment, Jade knew that she could not afford to have her guard down, even with her newfound friends. She would not let her parents or her siblings down. You can't let them down, they look up to you. Mom and Dad are watching you, anything you do can and will affect them. The girl sighed again and stared at a family photo she'd packed with her clothes. Her thumb ran over all the faces, then stopped at a male that stood beside her. They both wore wide smiles and ridiculous poses; she smiled at the picture before a tear escaped her eye and dropped onto the male's face. Don't you worry, Manu, I didn't forget you. This is especially for you, and I know you meant well with everything you did. I'm gonna give my absolute best to take care of Mom and Dad and the little ones. Your spirit resides within the family crest, and I will always honor you with the ancestors. I hope to see you again someday. I love you, brother. Jade wiped her eyes with her sleeve and placed the photo down. She would be strong, she had to be. It was now her who had to take on the leadership role. She would carry on the mantle of her bloodline and stand tall for her family. She would fight to her last breath for them. Anything for them.

~

For further information on Jade, click HERE to read more (: Hope you guys enjoyed this! School starts up again soon, so updates may slow down, but I hope my character can keep you entertained during quarantine!

#my hero academia #mha oc #mha dome #bnha oc #my hero academia oc #anime oc #anime #mha au #international au #international student #mha #bnha #quarantine #i havent gotten any sleep 😀

[ahsterism-a]

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑬𝑻.

repost,  don’t reblog

BASICS.

full name.   steven quartz cutie-pie demayo diamond universe ( it’s on his medical papers )  pronunciation.   stee-ven uni-verse ( im not doing that whole thing ) nickname.  schtu-ball, steve-o ( and various other versions with “steve” ), rose, pink gender.  male (he/him) height.  5′6″ age.  16/17 ( suf confuses me and i’m too lazy to make an actual decision whoops ) zodiac.   leo spoken languages.  english

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair color.   dark brown eye color.   black skin tone.     pale  body type.   thicker, stocky build-- has the ability to shapeshift/alter his form, which has recently manifested in magic swelling that is uncontrollably triggered   accent.  american  voice.   has grown deeper than before as he has physically aged, still tends to reach a higher pitch sometimes, or can grow even deeper typically with anger/shapeshifting. amazing singing voice.  dominant hand.  right ( i think most recently shown when he draws in In Dreams ), however can work with both posture.   typically upright/mostly straight, grows slouchier depending on emotions scars.   no visible external scars due to his abilities healing all of his injuries. however, there is a visible history of numerous fractures/breaks across his skeleton, which manifest in jagged lines where the injuries took place.  tattoos.   NA birthmarks.  NA most noticeable feature(s).   gem embedded in his naval, pink glow

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth.  beach city, delmarva hometown.    beach city birth weight.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ birth height.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ manner of birth.  steven was mostly born naturally, given his organic half. however, upon giving birth to him, his mother died when she passed her gem half onto him. he acquired her gem and powers as a result.  first words.   definitely something to do with greg (dad/dada/etc) siblings.  none parents.  greg universe, rose quartz/pink diamond  parental involvement.  rose died when steven was created, which obviously resulted in her absence for his entire life. greg primarily raised steven from his birth until he moved in with garnet, amethyst, and pearl. throughout his younger years, steven lived in the van with greg, and did not go to school, see a doctor, or live the typical life of a human child, however greg was very involved in raising steven, only backing out when things had to do with “gem stuff.” garnet, amethyst, and pearl also served as steven’s guardians, and were protective of him/involved in his life, but also when he was younger, frequently left him behind while going on missions because he was not ready.  

ADULT LIFE.

occupation.   crystal gem, became the “savior of the universe” following change your mind. spent two years back and forth from earth, homeworld, and various planets helping to liberate colonies and bring upon era 3. also involved in the making of little homeworld, and ran little homeschool up until dropping the position after the off colors’ graduation. while running the school, he was in charge of introducing the new, uncorrupted gems to it, healing any cracked gems, managing various lessons/schedules, etc.  close friends / family.  greg universe, rose quartz, garnet, amethyst, pearl, connie maheswaran, lapis, peridot, other crystal gems ( has befriended many gems and people in beach city, but is drifting away from most of these relationships ) relationship status.   single, with a big very obvious crush on connie financial status.  following mr. greg, where his dad was granted a large sum of money, they have had a stable, high financial status driver’s license.  he drives frequently, however he does not have a license due to being undocumented criminal record.  was previously believed to be rose quartz by all of homeworld, which led to an official accusation of shattering pink diamond, and getting put on trial before blue and yellow diamond. he managed to escape, but maintained this record. once the truth was revealed that rose and pink were the same person, he was absolved of this charge. other than that, while not recorded ( and reversed ), he shattered jasper.  vices.   steven tends to constantly look for others’ problems to solve, as a result of constantly having to fix things for everyone else and not knowing who he is without something to fix, which can lead towards him being incredibly pushy with it and ultimately negatively affecting the situation. after countless traumatic experiences that he repressed for years, he struggles with controlling his anger, and has grown more prone to outbursts-- this has led to endangering himself or others with his newfound destructive powers. he frequently refuses help and pushes himself away from people, now believing that he will end up hurting them. 

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song.    i can’t choose just take my whole playlist hobbies to pass time.   music ( singing/playing various instruments ), video games, tv, movies mental illnesses.   C-PTSD due to ongoing childhood trauma, depression, anxiety  physical illnesses.   aforementioned cracks in his skeleton, other than that, none left or right-brained.  right-brained fears.   hurting others, abandonment/being left behind, lingering fears triggered by past experiences ( ex. getting his gem pulled out by white diamond ), no longer being needed, himself self-confidence level.  varies quite a lot throughout the series. is outwardly shown to be quite positive and optimistic throughout most of SU, however early on he doubts his abilities frequently, and especially through the diamond days arc, he questions and doubts about his own identity. during change your mind, he solidifies a strong sense of self love and confidence, however this has wavered throughout the events of SUF. his confidence in himself has depleted to the point where he is scared of his own abilities and destructive powers, and thinks very negatively of himself.  vulnerabilities. he doesn’t know how to exist without having something to fix. he constantly offers help, however doesn’t seek or accept help from others due to both a belief that he is only supposed to help others, and an unwillingness to open up to that sort of change. his mother is a very sensitive topic, considering his very complicated feelings towards her. his mental state is extremely vulnerable at the moment as he finally grapples with his past. 

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation.   romantic orientation.  panromantic preferred emotional role.   submissive  |  dominant  |  switch ; steven has a hard time accepting comfort and support, often closing himself off and claiming he’s fine, twisting the situation so he can try and help the other person. he is constantly offering comfort and emotional help. and although it is difficult for him to accept the same, once he does, he appreciates the comfort and support.  preferred sexual role. submissive  |  dominant | switch libido. turn on’s.  kindness, a genuine want to spend time with him, someone he really clicks with, a meaningful friendship, the ability to joke around and laugh with someone, feeling happy with them even when things aren’t going great  turn off’s.  cruelty, targeting someone he loves love language.   super affectionate-- lots of physical contact. hugs, all kinds of kisses, cuddles, the whole deal, he loves love and loves showing people that he loves them. he tends to be quite “extra” when planning special things, either picking out meaningful gifts or setting up grander, impulsive gestures ( ex. the proposal to connie ).  relationship tendencies.        steven has never been in an official romantic relationship-- the closest is his bond with connie ( however he believes he likely ruined that after together forever/growing pains ). however, in a romantic relationship, he would as said before be very affectionate and caring. he would always make time for the other, write them songs, set up fun things for them whether it’s a lot smaller or holds more weight. however, he also does not know how romance works at all, which would result in him being quite clueless, and making decisions that might seem questionable to someone else. he’ll get very red and flustered upon receiving the same affection he tries to give back, though.  as for other types of relationships, he tends to make friends quite easily, and fervently cares for everyone around him. he feels as if a lot of his relationships are drifting away from him, though, and has taken to isolating himself/lashing out instead of properly dealing with his problems. 

tagged by:  @pristinette​ !! tagging: steal it from me uwu

#steven universe. headcanons / i thought i was ready to move on and not have her hanging over my head anymore #(oof this be LONG) #(i lov memes like this tho thank u !!) #long post #long post tw