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flightfoot · 3 years

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I’m really hopeful for Sentibubbler helping to expand on Alya’s character (and hopefully Nino’s too, but I’m less certain on that). The small spoiler we’ve gotten on that front was Alya and Nino hugging, and I got the impression that Alya at least was upset, that it’s a comfort hug. Considering that the episode before this was Optigami, that a sentimonster had impersonated Nino in particular, had fooled Alya into making a grave mistake, I’m guessing that that hug is probably related to that.

With Alya, as with most side characters, we usually see her playing a supporting role, seeing her in the context of helping Marinette with her problems, especially any emotional issues. We rarely see Alya’s own struggles and thoughts on things not directly related to her concerns for Marinette.

This isn’t some unique thing in Alya’s and Marinette’s relationship, to be clear. It’s just more noticeable with her because she’s one of the more fleshed-out and important supporting characters. She DOES have a life outside of being Marinette’s friend, has her own hobbies and even a boyfriend who she loves and cares for very much. And we do see glimpses of her struggles and thoughts, though they’re brief, like in Puppeteer 2 when she looks at the statue of herself as Lady Wifi and thinks how strange it is to see herself like that, as a supervillain, with Nino recontextualizing the experience and comforting her.

Most of the characters get to express their thought processes and insecurities just within episodes where they’re akumatized, but since most of those issues are specific to the episode they take place in, it can be difficult to expand to the character as a whole, to ongoing issues they’re dealing with and their thought process as a whole. (Which does, naturally, differ based on the character in question; it’s pretty easy to infer that Marc is normally anxious and insecure about his talents, for instance).

So we’ve seen more of Alya’s character and personality, and even glimpses into her thought process, than most other characters, but not really much setup for a character arc. Many fans created character arcs for her, where she made grave missteps and only later realized she was wrong, but well... those were mostly Chameleon salt, and I think everyone knows what THOSE devolved into, especially with Alya.

But there’s been little to latch onto that’s actually in keeping with canon.

Gang of Secrets helped with that.

Most fics that came out around Gang of Secrets were based on two main plot threads that it set up: Marinette and Alya talking out the new revelation about Marinette being Ladybug, with Alya freaking out and fitting it in with all her previous knowledge, and trying to help in any way she can, and of course, the looming LadyNoir angst conflict, with Ladybug breaking the identity rule and Chat’s feeling about that.

The stuff with Marinette and Alya’s mostly been relegated to one-shots, as far as Alya’s own perspective goes. The longer fics based around Alya learning Marinette’s identity mostly have Alya helping out in other ways, like hooking up Adrienette. (I’m betting there are also some Lila takedown fics too, but I’m filtering those out as much as possible). There’s just not enough there in the initial premise of “Alya finds out Marinette’s identity” unless Alya’s doing something with it. Alya’s own feelings and revelations about Ladybug aren’t enough to sustain fics for long, not with what the show’s given us so far.

Optigami didn’t really add much to that, not yet. Both because the pressure of the hinted LadyNoir conflict is building and any emotional clash between the two leads is gonna receive more focus than stuff with supporting characters, and because, well... it’s not clear where Alya’s arc builds from here. There’s some potential setup, with Alya feeling bad about having made a call that went wrong, and Marinette trusting her anyway with even more than she did before, but it’s not clear what her thought process is gonna be as a result. We don’t know her as well as we know Adrien or Marinette, after all.

And... okay, this is probably a bigger one. But not as much changes for Marinette emotionally after Optigami, not that is easily inferred anyway. She’s gonna open up to Alya even more than she already was, but confiding in Alya like she did in Gang of Secrets already took most of that pressure off her shoulders. Letting Alya keep her Miraculous and... probably training her in Guardian stuff? Sounded like she might be doing that. Doesn’t change Marinette’s mental or emotional states much, not in a way that needs to be addressed and worked through, that causes conflict.

Most of that would be going on with Alya and Alya alone, rather than with Marinette. And since Alya’s not as major a character (she’s not the main protagonist or deuteragonist after all, despite her increased importance lately), there’s just not as much of a focus on stuff going on with Alya that doesn’t have a direct impact on one of our two main leads.

Sentibubbler looks like it might look at Alya’s feelings in more detail though, explore her emotional reactions to this kind of stress, which I think will prompt a greater understanding of her character, and, hopefully, a character arc, a trajectory that can be expanded on.

I have no illusions that she’d get as much attention as Marinette or Adrien - the story doesn’t revolve around her - but we’ve seen that other, more minor characters can get a lot of attention and have tons of character development and exploration stories thrown at them, if their deeper thoughts and feelings are explored and a clear trajectory for them is present, like with Chloe and all the fics exploring why she is the way she is, and having her grow past it into a better person.

I don’t know what overarching character arc that Alya might have, what the core of her story would be, but I’d love to find out.

#ml spoilers #sentibubbler #alya cesaire #miraculous ladybug #ml analysis

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cc-tinslebee · 3 years

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[steps up to the mic] Listen, this might just be me, but if you’re going to have a large cast of “main” characters, you should probably give those characters opportunities to display their skills and foils instead of handing it off to the “real” main character.

Obviously, this could probably speak to a lot of fandoms, but I’m just gonna talk about The Mighty Ducks for a second because that’s what inspired this train of thought.

A bit of a rant (analysis?) below the cut:

When we look at the movies, I think the original, as well as D2, handled their large cast pretty well. Sure, it was kind of strange not seeing Karp, Peter, Terry, and Tammy/Tommy in the D2 cast, but they seemed to fill their absence decently with the new additions. (Of course, that’s just my own opinion.)

D3’s where my real gripe is, and while I have yet to rewatch it, there are still a few issues about the large cast that come to mind. Going from giving Adam good arcs in 1-2 to side-lining him when there was a perfect opportunity right in front of them, setting up a conflict between Guy and Connie with seemingly little payoff, and completely cutting Jesse (an original and arguably very important Duck) out with, as far as I know, little explanation.

I’d like to clarify before I get into this next part that I actually like Linda as a character; she seemed to have a lot of heart and I really admire that. I don’t, however, appreciate the writers creating a female character for the sole purpose of being the love interest to the lead. I really do believe that they could have made a much more compelling coming-of-age story for Charlie had they not implemented that romance, which didn’t seem to add anything to the plot. It really wasn’t Linda who got Charlie to turn around and realise his kinda self-destructive behaviour, but Fulton and Bombay.

They really would have used their time better focusing on solely telling the story of the Ducks’; Charlie’s refusal to change, actually giving us a vague understanding of Connie and Guy’s lovers quarrel, Adam’s feelings of separation from the Ducks. They really did the Ducks dirty with this one, and, hell, they did Linda dirty too. (And, yes, I do understand that D3 was mainly there to wrap up the story, so naturally things were a little messy.)

Which brings me to Game Changers.

Look, I’m not going to subject you all to me nitpicking this show. I will, however, say this: I hope they give the Don’t Bothers/reclaimed Ducks other than Evan a chance to shine. Even Sofi and Nick, despite them arguably being the “second/third” main (younger) characters. Sam, Logan, Maya, Lauren, Koob — even the Capek brothers! — are listed as main characters, but they’re often not as focused on as Evan. I’ve seen someone argue that Sam was set up to be a really interesting character this first season and they didn’t really do much with him other than in Pond Hockey, which was kind of disappointing, and I think that’s an extremely valid point.

I can only really speak for myself when I talk about things I’d like to see if we get a season 2. Like, if they manage to get Joshua Jackson, I’d be pretty happy with a new-captain-meets-the-old-captain moment, but I would much rather see Charlie bond with Logan over absentee parents over Evan. Logan clearly has some unaddressed issues with his mom, clearly more self-aware that what his mom did was unfair to him, and it just furthers his already established arc (but I’ve spoken about that already). I’d like to see Sam’s character get explored more, and maybe see Bombay help him harness his X-factor! I’d like to see Lauren and Maya’s relationship grow, and the Capeks’ gradual journey learning English! Hey, maybe even see the Reddicks join the new Ducks and bond a bit with Evan like Stephanie and Alex did.

That’s what I, personally, would like to see, not Evan getting handed all the potential arcs. Because he pretty much got everything; absent dad, team captain, love interest, choosing between what's good for him versus the team, getting Bombay back onto his feet, etc, etc. Other than maybe Sofi and Nick, everyone else on the team has 1-2 arcs at most, and I think there’s a pretty good argument out there that some get one to none.

And look, I’m not so naïve that I don’t understand that large casts are hard to juggle. It’s difficult to focus on everyone especially when a particular character speaks more to you and especially with a time limit. But take my Logan and Evan point for example; it’s not hard to assume that a bonding-with-Charlie-over-an-absent-parent moment would go to Evan. That’s probably what the GC writers might assume. But if you take a step back, look at the rest of your cast for a moment, you can see that he’s not the only option. It’s all about sharing the wealth of arcs evenly amongst your characters.

(Also, I wanted to quickly include — I believe — @k-romantic’s idea/joke that Julie should’ve been the one to romance Linda purely because I think it adds to my argument of arcs being forced onto the main character when they could’ve easily been better suited for another character. Obviously, since it was the late 1990s and Disney’s a bunch of cowards, maybe they wouldn’t have used Julie, but I think another Duck dating Linda would have done what the writers were going for just as well, maybe even better.)

#is this mostly incoherent? yeah probably #the amount of analysis I have retaining to TMD in my drafts is astounding-#welcome back to Tim’s Terrible Takes I guess-#the mighty ducks #the mighty ducks game changers

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queerprayers · 3 years

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okay so i recently bought myself a bible!!! it’s very exciting for me hahah and i’m proud of myself because it feels like i’m taking my faith into my own hands, ya know?

anyways, i just wanted to share something that i’ve been feeling guilty/conflicted about.

so i’ve been going through and bookmarking verses that relate to important things in my life that i struggle with (anxiety, depression, loneliness, anger, etc.) in hopes that they would comfort me. but when i read verses like these (“cast all your worries on him” “do not be afraid” etc) that are supposed to help with anxiety i feel irritated. because i just don’t understand them. “cast all your worries on him”? that makes no sense to me. i don’t know how to do that. i don’t know what that means. i can’t just stop being anxious. idk i just wish it brought me comfort but it doesn’t. sometimes i read verses that i know help and comfort a lot of people but they just don’t touch my heart? like i don’t feel anything.

sometimes i feel a bit abnormal because i feel like i experience and feel God and Their truth way more often outside of the bible? like in the beauty of nature, laughing with my friends, hugging my sister, etc.

ughhhh it’s just really difficult to struggle with mental health and be a christian (at least for me) because i feel like some other christians think that God can magically fix all of my problems, and that i shouldn’t be sad because i am loved and saved and stuff, and that if i just pray everything will be fixed, and that i just shouldn’t be afraid or anxious because the bible says so! anyways, sorry for the rant. hope it was somewhat coherent. i just hope i am not alone in feeling like this. (also wow i’m so sorry this is extremely long haha)

Hello! First, this isn't too long and it was more than coherent! New rule: no apologies in my inbox for the vibe of the asks. Come as you are. <3

Second, I'm so excited for you! The Bible is a beautiful manuscript and we're so blessed to have access to it. But—you're definitely not alone in having issues with connecting with it. Here are some thoughts:

We are loved and saved and also, that doesn't fix everything. Maybe it should, and in a better world it would, but it doesn't. Telling someone their faith should fix their depression is just as toxic as telling someone it should fix their cancer. (I'm not saying I don't believe in miracles, but miracles cannot be our expectation— I personally leave my life open to miracles, but do not depend on them.)

You are definitely not alone in being annoyed by the verses that well-meaning people parrot when others struggle. When I was hospitalized after a mental health crisis, I received a card from my mother with one of the "do not be afraid" verses on it— I don't even remember exactly which verse it was, I just remember that it made me so angry. How could anyone say that to me? I was alone and hurting and sick and someone from thousands of years ago telling me to "stop it" wasn't gonna do anything.

I've changed my perspective since then, and now look at the context in the passage when I have reactions like that— who is being told to not be afraid? Is it a comfort? A command? A hope for the future? A desperate statement trying to convince?

We are not the primary audience of the Bible. Each book has a specific context and audience, and if it doesn't feel like it's for us, it's probably just… not. That doesn't mean we shouldn't read it or that it's not meaningful, but that it might take research and empathy across centuries to connect with it. You don't need to feel guilty if that doesn't come naturally—it doesn't for a lot of people.

Everyone is comforted and helped by different things. Something not helping you shouldn't be bringing you guilt, and I'm sorry it is. It isn't your fault that an ancient document isn't curing you.

I think the Bible should be important in all Christians' lives, but it's not the only thing. It doesn't replace doctors or therapists or nature or loved ones or reality TV or music or anything else that helps us survive in this beautiful, broken world. God gave us the Bible, and They also gave us the beauty of nature, laughing with friends, and hugging our siblings.

A note: the people in the Bible also felt God through nature and loved ones more than through documents, and they also weren't "fixed." The Bible is a record of humans failing and hurting and looking for God. You are so not alone.

Check out this ask for some resources when getting into the Bible, and also check out my bible and prayer tags!

Wishing you patience with yourself, the easing of guilt, blessings while you enjoy the experiences that God has given you, and the curiosity and motivation to look further into the Bible, on your own time and from your own perspective.

<3 Johanna

#asks #bible #mental health

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tearblossom · 3 years

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Orbital Station Scene Analysis: Part 3

Lmao here we go again. Ready to fall even deeper down the rabbit hole that is this scene with me!? This one scene functions simultaneously as my source of joy and depression and I watch it more than I would care to admit. So, naturally, I have even more to say about it! It’s going to be long. Sorry.

Part 1- https://tearblossom.tumblr.com/post/645095661644251136/scene-analysis-this-is-just-what-i-personally-feel

Part 2- https://tearblossom.tumblr.com/post/645776311115186176/i-was-thinking-some-more-about-the-final-scene

In this one, I’ll be going into more detail explaining the emotional mask that I believe Takemura is trying so desperately to keep on during this scene (and undeniably fails at several times, with it coming off entirely upon the scene reaching a certain pivotal moment) and also pointing out the instances that I feel the mask slips occur. Honestly, it’s pretty easy to tell for reasons that I will explain. I’m going to reiterate the fact that I am not a facial expression/body language expert. This is just one human being looking at another human being and trying to figure them out. This is just my personal interpretation of this scene. Prepare yourself for many, many screenshots and gifs. Also, I will be using the same video sources as the other two posts because I don’t have my own footage.

https://youtu.be/ra-Ij1KU8r4

https://youtu.be/PUmQqVOq5oY

I failed to mention before the reason that Takemura even had to put up the cruel facade in the first place because I didn’t want to state the obvious and insult everyone’s intelligence. We all know the reason but I’ll just say it here anyway: Arasaka.

Arasaka is listening to Takemura’s every word so he literally cannot say shit to V that would hint at any sort of affection for him/her and absolutely nothing that would indicate any growing uncertainty in said corporation. Words mean nothing here. He has to speak through his eyes and expressions because that is all he has to offer, the only cards he has to play. That is why the meaning of this scene can be so easily missed and flies over so many people’s heads. I do not fault anyone that may have missed this on a first playthrough or even those that are still unaware of it whatsoever because Takemura is very, very convincing at first (his face becomes an open book once the contract gets brought out but we’ll get into that later) and besides, to truly understand something that involves emotions as complex as these caused by equally as complex reasons or anything involving subtext really, takes multiple viewings to truly appreciate.

In summary, what I believe is happening here is that during the entire scene up until the contract gets brought out, his mental state is constantly teetering on the edge of a cliff so to speak. He is trying so hard to fight his sentimentality and control his emotional responses not only to V’s misery and pain but also his own wavering faith in Arasaka because they are watching, listening, and monitoring. And he succeeds extremely well at first but it gets harder and harder for him to maintain the mask. The closer he physically gets to V, the harder it is to pretend, to hide. His eyes alone betray him on several occasions but eventually the whole facade just crumbles and he falls. And when the contract comes into play is when he truly, honestly looks at V and the communication through his eyes really begins.

Here is the key thing- it is the most important visual clue to understanding when things happen: When Takemura is feeling any doubt or his emotions begin to overwhelm him or he fears that they might, he promptly averts his eyes to get himself under control and readjusts the mask that has slipped.

He looks away from V during these moments!

(Just to clarify, I don’t think that every single moment in the scene that he looks away from V has this deeper meaning behind it. When people talk it’s completely natural for them to turn their heads, avert their eyes to look at other things, etc. These are just some moments that particularly stood out to me as signs pointing to my little theory.)

Okay...let’s start deciphering this conflicted, broken mess of a man.

Scene starts. Takemura is fiddling with the Rubik’s Cube. He puts it down. Expression cold as ice.

mask on full display in all of it’s glory

They talk about Saburo being back in the body of his son and have this exchange of words:

V: “Saw Saburo Arasaka’s back. In Yorinobu’s body.”

Goro: “Yes. Justice has been done.”

And then it happens for the first time...

(Could this be...doubt perhaps? Has justice really been done?)

Moving on- he walks over to stand behind the chair across from V, telling them of their imminent death.

Goro: “I will be blunt - the surgery did not help. You will be dead before winter.”

And then he proceeds to make this face immediately after...

(Lovely, isn’t it? Just full of sympathy. His mask game is strong. But don’t worry though because V wins in the end BIG TIME.)

Understandably, V gets very upset upon hearing this news.

V: “How... how’s that possible? Arasaka’s got the best and the brightest.”

And then something happens again. Whatever could it be, I wonder!

But wait, there’s more!

(He couldn’t even wait until he finished talking before looking away! It’s getting more difficult for him to look at V with a straight face every second! Also, his expression here is the most broken looking yet.) :(

He must not reveal what is hidden behind this emotional wall that he’s worked so hard to build up specifically for this meeting because the room they are speaking in may just as well be made of glass with Arasaka’s unrelenting gaze, an ever-present entity, on the other side of it. He will do so soon though, when he offers V salvation. The contract raises the stakes. The rules change. He feels the wall breaking and there isn’t anything he can do about it and he knows it.

IT’S CHAIR TIME, CHOOMS!

He looks away another 6 TIMES! Leaning more and more over that edge. Feast your eyes...

IT’S CONTRACT TIME, BABY!

Oh, shit!

It’s happening!!

He does look away here but there’s no mask on when he looks back...only despair.

It’s gone.

TO SIGN OR NOT TO SIGN

The disguise is off now. From this point onward, Takemura looks at V with his true feelings on display. This is where the ability to read the emotion portrayed solely through one’s eyes really comes into play because even though he’s not trying to hide anything anymore, he still can’t say what he really wants to say. We have to feel it through his expressions. His thoughts are so loud during these final moments of the scene that we don’t even need words to know what he’s saying.

REFUSE TO SIGN

SIGN

HOLY GRAIL MOMENT!

(I’m literally going to copy and paste what I have in my part 2 analysis about this section because I explained my thoughts on it about as well as I am able to there and have nothing else to add. My apologies for repeating myself but I feel the exact same way about it so it still applies here.)

These reactions make perfect sense because we’ve always known that he cares deeply for V and never stopped. He just couldn’t hide it! But even with this treasure trove of emotional mask slips and unintentional displays of affection, I still wasn’t sure exactly how deeply he cared for V. In other words- if he was actually in love with V or not.

Is he already in love or is he still in the process of falling in love? Is it just a friendly love? (hell no! I knew that was definitely not the case but I still had to ask just so I could cross it off the list!)

And then the two of them walked to the door and said their parting words.

V: “Gonna see each other again?”

Goro: “I believe we will.”

V: “So… see you.”

Goro: “Visit me in Kagawa - I will show you what is real food.”

And then…

he proceeded to make these faces…

HOLY

SHIT!

(The mask isn’t just gone now- it’s burned, splintered, shattered, exploded in a million pieces, disintegrated!)

This man just had the biggest revelation of his entire life: the realization that he is in love with V. These are looks of love and I will not be convinced otherwise. I’m not a facial expression expert or anything, only stating my humble opinions here, but are you seeing this!?

He realizes the truth and it catches him so off guard that he has to look away. He contemplates these newfound feelings and tries to sort them out in the few seconds that he has left with V. And he does. He accepts them. He welcomes them. The gentle, knowing look he gives V when he looks back at them is saying just this.

He also knows that he is now fucked because his love for V is going to complicate things so much more than they already were. Now that he is fully aware that he is in love, these feelings are going to directly conflict with his duties to Arasaka later if a situation arises that places V and Arasaka on opposing sides and I think we all know that is most definitely going to happen at some point.

And now he has to see the love of his life die and just leave this place and go on with his day. Damn. This is turning into one of the saddest love stories I’ve ever seen. Something major is going to happen in the dlc that is going to force his hand one way or another: V or Arasaka? I hope that Arasaka somehow fucks up so bad that it makes his choice easier but my heart breaks imagining the amount of conflict and torment that await him.

The Beginning and The End

#cyberpunk 2077 #goro takemura #takemura #takemura romance

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not-poignant · 3 years

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I hope this question doesn't annoy you, but why is The Ice Plague so difficult to write compared to Falling Falling Stars? I Love Falling Falling Stars a TON, but I miss The Ice Plague too, do you know when you'll start writing it again?

The question doesn’t annoy me at all! And honestly, now that some time has gone by, I feel like I can answer this a bit better anyway.

I’m not gonna lie, I can kind of phone in Falling Falling Stars, I’m not saying I don’t work hard on it when I’m writing it, but at the same time, it’s a tiny cast, it’s a small number of locations, I’m not dealing with plot points I introduced eight years ago, and it’s much easier to write because the narrative tone is so much more conversational.

By comparison, The Ice Plague has a much larger ensemble cast, the core cast alone sits at six characters, with other very well-known characters like Gulvi and Fenwrel, and new characters being introduced all the time, who need to feel like characters and not just two-dimensional stick figures.

Because it’s an epic fantasy quest/road-trip story, there’s always a fuckton of worldbuilding that needs to happen. And sometimes that’s stuff I’ve done and can refer back to, and sometimes I realise I need to describe a road or a path and do a transitional scene and I want it to feel like they’re somewhere, instead of in some nothingy placeholder space. That’s either constant referencing back to documents to get it right, or changing the documents because I’ve come up with more interesting stuff (I think), etc. It’s also writing a lot of transitional scenes in a way that I need to make sure is both grounded, and not boring; or alternatively, skipping those scenes in non-linear narratives in a way that doesn’t feel too jarring.

I think ultimately in The Ice Plague 3 alone, the characters are hitting up some 15-18 different locations, that all have different cultures, different types of architecture, different botany and animals living there, different types of fae living there, present different conflicts or resolutions, and offer different things to the cast. Because Gwyn and Augus are there too, I also need to pay attention to 8 years’ worth of Fae Tales politics.

Those two paragraphs alone are exhausting to think about, and it can be exhausting to write and do it - hopefully - well. Figuring out which fae would live together best (like Gevtivar), and what they would build their homes out of, and if they would then need magic to secure their homes, and what the history of that city is (Esgrettio), and so on. It adds up.

Since this is the final book in a 1.5 million word series, it needs to wrap up around 8 years’ worth of storylines. Like not every single one, but definitely most of them, and it needs to do that in a smooth, integrated, ongoing way, so that there’s like small storyline payoffs all the time. We get them in book 1 (finding out classless fae are a construct of Mages and learning about dragons), we get them in book 2 (finding out Davix is still alive and that the Raven Prince is still around and what really happened with all of that and also giving closure to Augus), and we’re getting them in book 3 (that Gwyn is related to Olphix, which explains his huge concentration of magical power, what Ash’s heartsong is etc.)

But I always have to keep those storylines in mind, and foreshadow for The Ice Plague overall while introducing wrap ups that happen in (hopefully) a fairly smooth and seamless way that feel natural in the story. It also means doing justice to storylines of side characters like the Raven Prince, or Davix, or Julvia and her relationship with Ondine, or Ash and his broken relationship with his own heartsong.

And then finally the prose is just more typical of epic fantasy, and is just a more challenging (and rewarding) style to write. And I think also I’ve been spooked re: this emotional crash irl and how much it’s hit me, which means I’m reluctant to start posting chapters now (I have like 6 more written), until I have more of a buffer.

But then there’s the fact that The Ice Plague demands all of this, and is the least popular thing I’ve written in maybe 8 years. Especially the book 3. And honestly, not gonna lie, it’s really hard to kind of find the energy to put that much love and hard work into a story that demanding for something that I feel like is just ultimately not very good or interesting or engaging compared to something like Falling Falling Stars or even The Nascent Diplomat. And it’s hard honestly thinking ‘this kind of fic is a mistake for me, and I should probably never write anything like it again’ because I love epic fantasy so much, and so I suppose it’s just dealing with the embarrassment of that too, because it’s a pretty public failing, lmao. Everyone gets to watch it in real time!

I will finish The Ice Plague, because - most of all - I really need to finish telling Mosk’s and Eran’s stories and it’s unfair to leave them hanging, and I love those characters so fucking much, and I also need to close Gwyn and Augus’ storyline too. Like, I feel like I’m doing an injustice to the characters by letting it hang, and that doesn’t feel good, and I do want to actually give them what I kind of promised them. Sometimes writing my stories feels like a contract with these character constructs - I put them through hell in exchange for a hopeful ending; I haven’t completed the contract until the story is ended, and so far that’s worked well for me re: longfic completion.

So like, tl;dr - The Ice Plague is a very challenging and technical kind of writing that requires more skillsets and is therefore just harder by default, and it’s the least popular longfic I’ve ever written across two accounts in 8-9 years, and that’s very discouraging. I know some people really love it, and honestly folks like that - and like yourself anon - get me through and keep me thinking I will finish this. And I hope I can get more of The Ice Plague to you sooner rather than later <333

#asks and answers #the ice plague #fae tales #fae tales verse #mosk manytrees #eran iliakambar #the ice plague has been a very humbling journey #to say the least #but that's what you get when you put serials online #and try different things #anyway for those of who you do enjoy the ice plague #i want you to know i do want to finish it #and not in a 'i hate this story' way #but in a genuine 'i can't wait for you to see what's coming' way #and for those who stick it out to the very end #i am endlessly grateful to each and every one of you #for bearing with me #Anonymous

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attack-on-kiwi · 4 years

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Alphabet for floch alphabet for floch??? 😳😳😳

This got kind of lengthy, so I’m putting it under a cut:)

This was open on my computer all day and I just remembered I never clicked post lmfao

Floch Forster:

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Floch loves to go for walks in the districts at night. If they’re not in a town, then he likes to sneak into their barracks and convince them to go on a walk during the late evening. He won’t tell his s/o, but he likes using the cold air as an excuse to latch onto their hand or attempt to have them hug him because he is C O L D and if he freezes, it would have been a preventable death on their part.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

A bit cliche, but Floch truly admires everything about his s/o. He believes them to be the most beautiful person he’s ever laid eyes on, and he’s no stranger to bragging about them to anyone and everyone. Chances are, he’ll even brag about his s/o to his s/o. “You’re so unlucky because you have to live not knowing what it likes to be someone that loves you” He’s a little shit.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Floch’s not that great at comfort. If they’re panicking, his first instinct is to tell them the situation sucks, but they can’’t seriously be freaking out NOW, can they? Honestly, he never grows out of the blunt and borderline arrogant and pragmatic sense of his, but he knows seeing his s/o upset doesn’t make him feel great. If he can get his hands on some tea or take them away from what is triggering them, he’ll do so.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Floch is idealistic about their future. He believes once everything is in control, he can offer his s./o a life of ease and treat them like the royalty they are. He doesn’t care about kids, but would agree if his s/o desired so. He pictures himself living in a nice multiple story home with a large garden where his s/o and he picnic while watching said potential child (or furry companion) make a mess of themselves.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

He tries to be dominant, but he can be cunning when it comes to the relationship. He likes to impose himself and look bigger than he is by having his arms around his s/o and walking straighter. Most of their decisions seem to be based on mutual agreement, but Floch has a way of guiding his s/o into agreeing with his point of view. Call it toxic or call it being persuasive-- he usually gets what he wants.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Being in a relationship with Floch means almost always having a debate. He’s confrontational and speaks his mind. He’s also quite stubborn when it comes to his beliefs, so it’s often that he and his s/o will have a dispute.

Floch is really good with his words, but the poetic ring of his voice can quickly turn into venomous jabs at his s/o. He’s relentless-- especially if the conflict involves doubt of fidelity or his morals. He’s also a suspicious person, and without meaning to, he may hurt his s/o by questioning their loyalty.

Forgiveness is difficult for him. He and his s/o will need space, be it a f ew hours or a few days, before he’s ready to clearly discuss.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

He truly is grateful- he just can’t express this in a manner that isn’t him bragging. He loves to be cradled in their hold and eats up any sweet nothings they want to throw at him. Words mean more to him than anything else. His s/o gives him something to believe in, and he’s latched on. He doesn’t tell them how much he appreciates them, sadly.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Floch doesn’t think he keeps secrets,-- he just doesn’t divulge in unnecessary details. He will tell them information relevant to them, but won’t go in detail about his work or other affairs. For example, he won’t care too much about telling them about his missions in specifics, but he will speak to them about Jaegerist ideology and how it makes for a true future.

He prefers to be honest with them, which can be interpreted as rude or blunt.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Floch wouldn’t say they have. If anything, he’s more obnoxious. His s/o truly learns how to be more open minded and patient when dealing with him.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Yes, Floch gets jealous at the drop of a pin. Whenever anyone is giving his s/o attention that’s even the slightest bit suspicious, he’s going to be both on their asses and on his s/o’s ass. He’s quick to intervene and blow a fuse. He won’t blow up at his s/o in particular, but he’ll tell the perpetrator to fuck off and if they need something, they have to get it through him. He deals with it by just having his s/o near him. Whether he shares his concerns or not depends on his mood.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Floch’s kisses are surprisingly gentle and he likes to rest his lips on his s/o’s when he’s out of breath. He won’t pull apart, just catch himself and continue.

Floch’s first kiss was awkward. He noticed his then not-s/o was getting close with another person he didn’t like that. He remembers waiting for his crush outside the barracks. He’d gotten one of the other cadets to call them for him. When they were in his presence he just blurted out “I want to kiss you” and when there was no objection, he did. He remembers missing their mouth, whispering curses right in their face then trying again. Whenever they bring it up, he denies any memory of it.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Well, if his first kiss was anything to gauge from, it’s a bit of a mess. It’s not really on his mind to tell them he loves them. His s/o is the one who has to smack some sense into them and confess to him after a mission. He’s nearly bursting from that really weird warm sensation in his chest, but he’s also taken aback. Do they need to be so embarrassing about it?

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Floch wants to get married for the reason of just fulfilling a desire of having a family. To him, being married signifies that his life is on the right track and that he’s winning. He won’t by any means rush into it, though, waiting for the right person is important. After all, he’s not trying to be miserable.

He’ll propose by the sea side, traditionally, of course. He makes it a point to wear a relaxed outfit and he looks quite dashing in the sunset, waves reflecting in his eyes. He’ll just approach his s/o and mumble something about how he loves them and wants to see the rest of their lives play out before popping the question. The way his brow is furrowed, one would think he’s irritated.

Marriage with Floch is like normal. He’s still just as possessive and relentlessly teasing. Unless something dire happens, there’s no notable change. (He’s the type of guy who gets really upset if you don’t wear your wedding ring but he won’t wear his bc ‘it’s gonna tear off my finger if I’m called to action’).

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Prince/Princess, Majesty, very fantastical names that often allude to royalty and etherealness

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Possessive? Possessive. Easy for him to get in his head. He means well, but he’s not at all skilled in displaying so with his words and actions. He wants to be with them at every waking second and gets extremely protective. It’s easy for others to see that he’s claimed his s/o, what with his constant hovering and making sure he’s got eyes on them. Part of this is due to a fear of losing them at any given moment, which simply magnifies his desire to be in their presence.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Floch doesn’t go out of his way to hide his relationship, and he doesn’t consciously try to flaunt it. He’s going to praise his s/o, and this translates into him bragging about them at any given chance. He’s not going to outright make out with them, but he will have his hand on their back or try to have them attached to his hip when the two are together-- especially if it’s in a group setting.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Due to his paranoid nature when it comes to his s/o, Floch is quite skilled at detecting when they’re not being honest with him. He’s not completely accurate, but he’s well versed enough in their tendencies to predict their next move or how he can help take the edge off. He’s particularly good at detecting any anxieties they might be experiencing.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He’s romantic in the sense that he will get his s/o whatever they want and shower them with more affection than they know what to do with. Once he’s loyal to someone, he puts his all into the relationship, though this can come off quite strong should they not be prepared.

One of his favorite ways to uplift his s/o is by going on evening walks and talking about their future. He won’t bring the topic up himself, but he’ll subtly guide them to the topic. He likes to come up with scenarios, and his s/o will indulge because it’s not often they get to see him with such a hopeful look in his eyes.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

If his s/o’s goals are realistic in his perspective, then he will do whatever he can to help them achieve it. However, if he deems their goal too unrealistic for them or thinks they aren’t suited to it, then he will straight up tell them. He’s not going to humor something he doesn’t believe will turn out well. If they continue to strive for whatever it is, he will watch and comment, but he won’t stop them.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Floch wants a mundane romance. He wants someone to come home to. He wants to cook breakfast together. He wants to know that they’ll be reading at the park at noon. He wants there to be a structure that lets him know what to expect. Part of it due to the uncertainty of life in general, but part of this also stems from his desire to be in control.

That’s not to say that Floch isn’t adventurous or spontaneous. He just likes to know what to expect.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Floch likes to think he knows his s/o more than they know themselves. He’s in tune with their mannerisms and various quirks. He can tell when they’re upset and how to guide them into being more energetic. He likes to use his way with words to keep them as happy and fulfilled as he can.

Floch isn’t empathetic, though. He’s quick to disagree on topics and it’s hard for him to understand why his s/o may be reacting the way they do. He doesn’t mean to upset them, he just can’t fathom viewpoints and opinions that might differ from his. He’s also emotionally guarded and pragmatic, so he will respond to most situations as such.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

As dedicated to the cause he is, Floch would put it in front of his relationship. He loves his s/o, but the eradication of evil in the world holds just a bit higher to him. His reasoning is that the bigger picture is what matters, and the two will be much happier once the world is peaceful. Whatever that means..

His s/o is just a notch less important than the mission he’s convinced himself is top priority, but he never speaks about it. There’s a silent understanding that he’ll do what he must.

Maybe in another life, he wouldn’t have to choose.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Floch is the grumpiest after waking up and will get irritated if people try to talk to him. He refuses to get mad at his s/o first thing in the morning. If they want to tease him, they’ll start asking him questions about a paper they read or an interesting rumor they heard. He literally cannot process that for shit and gets increasingly irritated, but he’ll just sleepily nod and twitchily smile at his s/o.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Floch absolutely loves physical touch. He won’t be all up on his s/o in public, but he’s damn near close. Behind closed doors, he’ll pull them into his lap just to kiss them. Whenever he’s bored, he’ll bury his face in their hair. Sometimes walks up to his s/o just to admire them before hugging them. He’s genuinely sweet when he’s like this. Catch him in a sleepy mood, and it’s even softer.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

He doesn’t. He’s irritable and masks it by claiming someone fucked up and he’s gotta clean up a mess.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Part of the reason he’s working with the Jaegerists is to secure a better future for him and his s/o (again, whatever the hell that means). He’s willing to 100% kill for his s/o. Post time skip Floch won’t even bat an eye. It’s safe to say he’d do a grand amount of evil deeds just to keep his s/o happy.

~~~

Based off @snk-warriors fluff alphabet prompt

#floch forster #floch forster x reader #fluff alphabet #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin imagines #attack on titan headcanons #shingeki no kyojin headcanons #shingeki no kyoujin x reader #attack on titan #attack on titan imagines #attack on titan x reader

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itsnothingofinterest · 3 years

Text

Hawks’ conflict of interest

So given new confirmation on how Hawks admired Twice, I’d like to take one last crack at the mystery of why he killed him. Especially since, I imagine the next time this’ll get brought up his motives will finally be explained.

To get everyone caught up: Hawks killed the villain Twice in a move that one could politely call controversial. As a result, his actions have been hotly debated; and through those debates, I’ve found several questions plaguing my mind about Hawks’ motives for doing that, which’ve really divorced me from the narrative of “Hawks killed Twice because his quirk was too strong”. Namely:

a) Why did Hawks think to do that when killing is a major taboo for heroes such that no one does it under any circumstances? If no other hero has ever needed to, and we do know other heroes have been in tighter jams, Hawks shouldn’t have felt he had to either. Logically, his mind had no reason to jump to that solution.

b) Why did he feel he needed to do it against Twice when his quirk counters Twice’s so hard that “I couldn’t handle his quirk” would sound more believable from Eraserhead? Twice got a Parade off and Hawks still beat it! Even a 2-on-1 shouldn’t have been an unreasonable task for the no.2, never mind that he could’ve subdued Twice before Dabi even arrived.

c) Why did he seem to come in prepared to kill him unless, & only unless, Twice came willingly and did not resist arrest? Both before Twice rejected coming quietly, and again after he reviewed Twice’s wounds, Hawks planned to take Twice in alive, only to go back to lethal force once Twice resisted. So what’s the deal with that?

(Also, just to quickly talk on some other points of evidence people like to discuss. We know he was going to kill him with or without Dabi being there. He was stabbing a sword into Twice’s head right as Dabi arrived. I know it can be hard to admit that he would kill a guy he has pinned, but we know this is true because we’re working with a form of photographic evidence that comes with actions lines. For this reason, we can surmise that he did, in fact, come prepared to kill Twice. Although additional evidence for this includes him bringing a tape recorder, explaining to Twice he would have to die if he didn’t surrender, letting him get his last words in, and then yeah, going to stab him. We got all that? Great.)

Now previously, I theorized that his reasoning was simply what he said to Twice; when a hero fights a villain who is too determined to give up or stay down, a trait Hawks knows Twice possesses, one party isn’t leaving alive. And while we know this isn’t true, plenty of heroes have beaten villains without the villain necessarily giving up, it’s a believable view for Hawks to have...but you see, the thing is that this comes with the implication that Twice wasn’t exactly Hawks’ only kill. Determination is not exactly a super rare trait for villains. And, well, I kind of learned the hard way that his fans don’t really appreciate this implication. So we’re benching this theory. For now, at least.

So here’s the new theory: What if he couldn’t afford to have a villain he sympathized with out there on the other side?

Basically; we know he liked Twice, even seemed to respect him a great deal. Despite this, he had no sympathy for what he was fighting for, and found his group a danger and natural enemy to his own worldviews and motivations. It’s easy to see the conflict of interest here, yes?

This could explain why he couldn’t just arrest Twice by force; because then his friend still hates him, thinks he’s a traitor, would probably be cursing him all the way to jail (which he’d probably be there for the whole journey to, as villains appear to get hero escorts that can counter them in case of an escape attempt; and Hawks is the only hero we know that can counter a Parade). He would not be able to help his friend, or even visit him in prison without being reminded of how deceitful he is and how much Twice hates him. And what’s more; Hawks may feel sympathy for Twice, and thus be drawn into Twice’s cause, which could lead to Hawks doing something bad. It’s an incredibly selfish motive, but it’s easy to think why Hawks would want to avoid this conflict of interest.

So, what’s an easy way to deal with this conflict of interest? You kill Twice in battle. It’s simple really, if Twice is dead then he can’t hate Hawks, nor can he draw Hawks to his side. With Twice dead, he doesn’t have to deal with their differences or how Twice died hating him; all that’s left of him to Hawks is the admirable & idealized version of him in his head, right next to the idealized Endeavor he has in his head. An extreme solution for sure, but when you realize how easy arresting Twice should’ve been, and how frowned upon killing is for heroes, any reason for why this happened is gonna imply some loose screws. What fixes Hawks’ problems, fixes Hawks’s problems.

This theory even answers one of the most difficult questions to figure out: if Hawks was so prepared and fully intended to kill Twice if he fought, why still arrest him if he didn’t fight? Well, that means abandoning the PLF for Hawks’ point of view, possibly even Hawks himself. No conflict of interest in that case. It’s a standard Fire Embalm situation (as I understand; I’ve never played an FE game you see). You sway the likable enemy lieutenant to your side and that’s it; they’re on your side and not on the enemy side anymore, so you can continue doing what you must to the rest of the enemy without issue. It’s like that, but with jail time because Twice was still a criminal; but that’s okay because it’s Hawks’ viewpoint for it to be okay and Twice was gonna be cool with that. And he was even gonna be cool with how Hawks phrased the whole thing as a threat to Twice’s life. Or I guess that’s what Hawks was hoping for anyway. I know, I’m surprised it didn’t work out that way too.

Anyway, that’s the theory. Not sure if it’s my best work but it’s internally consistent and when you’re trying to figure Hawks out that may be the best you can hope for. And I have been trying to hard to wrap my brain around his actions for so long that now I’m pretty sure it’s either this, he’s a secret serial villain killer, or he’s just really, really bad at his job. So I think I’m gonna stick with this theory until he actually explains his thought process and proves all of us wrong.

#bnha #hawks #jin bubaigawara #twice #hero society #dabi #analysis #quirk analysis

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yukiwrites · 3 years

Text

Mages, Sensitive about their ages

Thanks for the support as always @xpegasusuniverse! This was so much fun to write, I hope you like it!

Summary: Back in their home worlds, Lysithea, Hayato and Ricken all had to deal with similar circumstances regarding their ages. That didn’t stop after they arrived in Askr, but now, perhaps, things could go differently...

Commission info HERE and HERE!

______________________________

The order of Heroes was easily the most diverse part of Askr -- with what amount of Heroes hailing from all sorts of backgrounds who also bore strikingly distinct personalities. There was always something interesting happening; be it new discoveries, friendships or even conflicts.

However, Heroes with similar personalities and circumstances were bound to be summoned and drawn to one another as well, though through different situations that were not always pleasant to witness.

At that very moment, three similar discussions were happening at the training grounds’ vicinity. On one side, Claude was using Lysithea’s head as an armrest, snorting at the girl’s squirms as she tried to push him away.

“How many- ugh, get off me- how many times must I tell you NOT to use my head as an armrest! Could it be that you can’t take this whole situation we’re in seriously?!” Lysithea used all of her strength to push her classmate’s arm off, but he was much stronger than he looked -- and even if he did look the part, physical strength wasn’t Lysithea’s forte.

“C’mon, what’s there to be mad about? I thought you were a mature lady who wouldn’t mind lending a helpful hand -- or head -- to an exhausted ally in need.” The taller boy muffled a laugh as he peeked under his arm to Lysithea’s increasingly red face.

She puffed her cheeks and pointed her index straight to his nose. “Look here, you- I know what you’re trying to pull here and-”

On another side, another pair walked and bickered -- or one should say, one was bickering while the other was laughing.

“You know the BEST part of having been summoned to this strange, strange land, Hayato? I’m free from your magic! You can’t throw anything at me with the intent to hurt or push me away due to the summoning contract.” Azama threw his head back in laughter, enjoying this new freedom of being able to pester Hayato whenever he pleased without worrying about being blown away by a tornado.

The boy covered both ears with his hands, groaning loudly. “Who’s the kid here now, Azama? Between the two of us-”

“AHA, you said it!”

“No, wait-”

Yet on another side, another boy threw a complaint to his ally.

“Robin, I’m telling you stop pestering me!” Ricken stomped across the training grounds, being followed by an amused yet worried tactician. “Yes, I had breakfast, yes I brushed my teeth and- wait, why am I even explaining myself to you? I’m a full fledged Hero and I’m gonna prove to everyone that I can hold my own!”

“Wait, your hat’s all crooked, Ricken. Here you go, let me help.” The tactician patted the young mage’s shoulder before stepping in front of him to adjust the comically large hat as the boy grew increasingly redder.

“For the last time, I’m not a child!” Three different voices resonated at the same time, echoing one another to the point of startling their companions into looking around and noticing the similar situations happening around them.

The first one to react was Azama. “Oh, oh, ohohoho! So you had your little young’un friend and your widdle girlfriend here too, Hayato? Oh, this is a field day.”

“Oh my, that boy really does look like you, Ricken. Look, he even has the same hair colo-”

“BOY? Am I to be insulted by those whom I don’t even know?!” Hayato hissed, much like a kitten being cornered by two bigger animals, as he looked from Robin to Azama.

“What did you just say?! Widd- Girlfri-” Lysithea stuttered, pointing a shaky index at Azama, completely forgetting Claude’s arm on top of her head. “I’m going- I’m going to-” Magical energy started to gather around her, startling her classmate a step away from her.

“Wow, her hair’s floating- her eyes are getting all glowy-” Ricken narrated, enjoying the frankly obscene amount of power coming out of a single girl.

Robin flinched, immediately pulling Ricken back and yelling to Azama. “Duck! If this hits you, you’re toast!”

But the monk was unfazed. “What can she do? The contract is absolute! Believe me, I’ve been in much more dangerous situations than at the other side of a little girl’s wrath, hah!” He sneered, slapping Hayato’s back right after. “You two sure suit each other, don’t you? ‘Magical prodigies’ is what they’re calling these days, right?”

“Oh, buddy, that one wasn’t cool,” Claude muttered as cold sweat ran down his back. Azama had just pressed two very dangerous buttons on Lysithea.

“Prodigy? Don’t mock me!” The girl’s feet floated off the ground as she lifted her hand, entirely able and willing to shoot the strongest of her Dark Spikes magic on that man, if only as a warning. “The contract prevents us from DIRECTLY harming each other, yes, but it says nothing of falling debris, does it now?” She smirked as she looked up to the place Azama was standing under -- a column that held part of the ceiling of the open grounds.

The color left Azama’s face. “Whoops-”

“Hold your staff, priest -- you will need it!” Lysithea moved her hand to release the magic, but something caught her from behind -- from under her armpits -- and lifted her like one does a misbehaving kitten.

“Make a run for it!” Claude held Lysithea back, breaking her concentration as the power swirling around her popped as though a mishandled balloon.

“No need to tell me twice!” Azama held his staff and dashed away with a speed Hayato had only seen a few times.

“Let me- unhand me this instant, Claude!” Lysithea kicked her feet and struggled as Claude simply lifted her up like an infant, though he wore a disapproving frown.

“Alright, I’ll put you down, but I need to be straight with you, Lysithea.” His tone suddenly changed as Lysithea’s feet touched the ground. “I know that guy went overboard and all, but if I hadn’t stepped in, you would’ve destroyed half of the training grounds! If you don’t want to be called a kid, then don’t act like one when someone does something you dislike.”

“What do you know about acting properly?! That man offended me and I am in my entire right to demand reparations!”

“Hey, arguing while your head’s hot will only make you yell nonsense, young lady.” Robin approached beside a bewildered Ricken, taking Claude’s side. “Azama can be a difficult character to handle, but I must agree with Claude on this: you have no right to destroy a facility that not only everyone uses but that also belongs to a completely different kingdom than yours.”

“Well, not that it would’ve been okay if it were back home, either, but the Monastery does get pretty beaten up sometimes from the magical explosions and stuff…” Claude scratched his cheek, shifting his gaze from the tactician to his classmate. “Anyway, food for thought, kiddo. Don’t go exploding anybody here, you hear?” He ruffled Lysithea’s hair before jumping away under her increasingly loud hisses.

“Get away from me!” She took two steps back, panting in rage. “How dare both of you lecture me on something you have no understanding of! I have complete control of my magic and I would have only used it to scare that annoying man! I’m not some stupid child that destroys things in the middle of a tantrum, I’ll have you know!” She shouted, the volume of her voice not really matching her short size. “And you don’t even know me, so refrain from directing your words to me!” She pointed to Robin, who immediately raised both hands in defeat.

“Maybe we’ll be the targets this time. What do you say about a tactical retreat?” Robin snorted under a smirk, stealing a glance at Claude, who nodded while wearing a similar expression.

“Couldn’t have said it better! Bye, children, don’t break anything without adult supervision, alright?” He winked before sprinting out of the place with Robin in tow, their chuckles echoing through the corridors.

“COWARDS! Come back here, you- you- ughh!” Lysithea stomped her foot on the ground to release her frustration, breathing heavily.

“Whoa, that was so cool!” Ricken approached without restraint, his eyes sparkling with respect. “You made all three of those bullies run away with their tails between their legs with only your magical energy! How did you do that? You seem to be the same age as me, but you have so much more magic…”

“If you are about to say that I am a prodigy, I suggest you swallow those words back!” She lashed out at him without missing a breath, her eyes still burning with rage.

“Why would you say that? Being called a magical genius isn’t an insult.” Hayato crossed his arms and lifted his chin.

“It is an insult to all the hard work I put into acquiring my knowledge!” She huffed, shaking her head to put her thoughts in order. “I won’t allow people who only see me for my age to tell me I’m ‘talented’ and call it a day! I worked hard to be where I am and if anyone tries to disregard that, they’ll face the pointy end of my Dark Spikes!”

Hayato scratched his chin, pondered on Lysithea’s words for a beat and nodded. “Well said. I can certainly relate to those feelings, though I am naturally talented on top of a hard worker.”

“Humph, good for you, then.” She looked away from him to the eager Ricken beside her. “What’re you looking at? Are you also ‘naturally gifted’ and snobby?”

“Snob-” Hayato flinched as Ricken shook his head and smiled.

“Uh, not at all! I’m actually fairly ordinary, so knowing that you got that strong by hard work alone is amazing! Especially since I can understand how it feels to be treated like a kid despite being able to hold my own.”

Lysithea let out her breath, finally calming down. “That’s good. I’m sorry for speaking harshly to you just now, I was still a bit on edge.”

“That’s completely okay!” Ricken smiled broadly. “Hey, can I stick with you from now on? I wanna learn more magic to prove myself to everyone, and you’re a shining example I want to follow!”

“As long as you don’t hold me back, I don’t mind helping you here and there, sure.” Lysithea nodded, then looked at Hayato. “Are you gonna keep staring at us or do you have something to say?”

The young diviner frowned deeply, but then shook his head instead. “... No, I was actually going to ask the same thing as Ricken -- since the three of us all share similar circumstances on top of being mages, I figured we could learn from each other.”

“That’s not a bad idea as long as we’re all bettering ourselves.” Lysithea threw her hair back as she started to walk out of the training grounds. “Merric’s magic class is about to begin, so shall we head out?”

Hayato and Ricken exchanged glances before nodding. “Yeah, let’s go!”

#feh #fire emblem heroes #hayato fire emblem #lysithea fire emblem #ricken fire emblem #my writings #yuki's commissions

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rivalsforlife · 4 years

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I DIDNT KNOW YOU WERE DOING COMMENTARY hope it's not too late to ask for The Scene at the end of chapter 5 of the catch up game?? if no one else has asked?

It is never too late to ask!! Genuinely you could probably ask me six months from now and I’ll ramble on about all this, I’m generally down to talk about my writing all the time. (And I’m actually a little surprised nobody asked about The Scene yet... oh well haha)

First though: have you seen this art yet? If you haven’t you should. It was going around twitter again lately and I love it a lot so I wanted to advertise it while I had the chance.

Anyways, keeping under a “keep reading” here:

So. The Scene. First I’ll present my notes from the outline when I was trying to figure out this fic:

Miles lets his feelings slip, Phoenix doesn’t take it too well, they part on a kind of awkward note.

Somehow “kind of an awkward note” ended up being uhhh that!

Anyways before we get into this I want to say that I really did not think it would have that much of an emotional impact? I got a much bigger reaction than I thought and that’s around when people really started talking about it on the narumitsu discord and stuff, so I ended up for the rest of the week soooo stressed out that I’d accidentally gone in a completely different direction than I’d planned and set people’s expectations too high and they would be COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED IN THE REST OF THE FIC but uh luckily that didn’t happen! I think. At least if anyone was super disappointed they didn’t tell me about it!

And it was probably partially that I am not very uhh good with emotions and also probably that I got pretty desensitized to my work but I genuinely did not think it was that bad until I saw Ro’s art and then went “ohhh suddenly I am consumed with so much guilt...” (and also doubted how in character this scene was. how can ANYONE say no to that face --)

Most critically though, this scene distracted everyone from whatever the hell was going on with the casefic earlier in the chapter, so overall I think it’s a success.

Sorry it’s taking a while to get to the actual scene, but I wrote a few drafts of this thing beforehand and modified it a lot trying to get it right. I needed it to be sufficiently dramatic but I didn’t want it to seem like... I was just adding it in there for extra conflict? Like you know sometimes you read stuff and you’re like “where the hell did this sudden argument come from” yeah. I wanted to avoid that if I could, so partially this was supported by the weight of chapter 4 to explain Phoenix’s reasons for the rejection and then chapter 6 is supposed to elaborate more, but I still needed this to stand fairly well on its own.

The overall theme of this chapter was “Opposites”, and again, here’s what I had in my fic notes:

I want to contrast how Phoenix sees Miles and how Miles sees Phoenix. Because they both kind of see each other as an amazing person while seeing themselves as failures. Maybe at the end Phoenix is kind of putting himself down and Miles argues about it and then they have a slight argument. Miles lets his feelings slip, Phoenix doesn’t take it too well, they part on a kind of awkward note.

I couldn’t really find a way to integrate this conversation in naturally, so I could only get Phoenix’s perspective in there a little bit. Originally Miles’ confession wasn’t supposed to be planned, just a spur of the moment in the middle of an argument where Phoenix kind of goes “I don’t understand why you keep hanging out with me, why are you spending so much time with me, I’m not struggling, I don’t need you worrying about me” and Miles interrupts with a “Because I love you, you idiot!” ... But I couldn’t get that to work because the buildup into the argument felt too abrupt.

Last little bit of something just before the argument (some of the dialogue here went into the chapter 4 dinner conversation instead):

Miles: (quietly) I’ve spent most of my life trying to climb higher in my career, in order to fight corruption as best I could. And I have, and every day my mission is growing closer to completion, or at least as much as it can. But after that… (staring at some kids’ toy) what’s left for me? I’ve taken a rather unconventional path through life. I’m starting to wonder about opportunities I’ve missed.

Phoenix: (jokingly) Is that some long-winded way of telling me you’re planning on settling down?

Miles: I’d never settle. But in some sense, I suppose so.

Phoenix: (stopping in his tracks) You’re kidding. L-Like, what, in a year or so I’m gonna walk in to your office one day and find you with a wife and kids?

Miles: (rolling his eyes) You do know that I’m gay, don’t you? And why would I keep them in my office? There’s no need to be so melodramatic, Wright.

Again couldn’t fit it in I just found it funny. ANYWAYS FINALLY MOVING AWAY FROM THE DRAFTS AND TO THE ACTUAL THING, I’ll skip ahead a bit to just before the confession:

“How long has it been since I came here?”

“I dunno… since before I got my badge back, probably.”

“That sounds about right.” Edgeworth sighed and leaned against Phoenix’s desk. “I’ve barely gotten the chance to see you, since you got your badge back and I took my new position. I’ve missed going up against you in court.”

“I don’t,” Phoenix teased, slipping his case notes into his desk drawer. “You’re a nightmare.”

“You’re one to talk.” The corners of Edgeworth’s eyes crinkled as he looked over at him. “You can be so infuriating, but I do like working with you. I had fun today.”

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. “Fun? You?”

“I suppose age has softened me up.”

“I didn’t think anything could soften you up.”

“You’d be surprised. I often have fun when I’m with you. I always…” He trailed off, averting his eyes and gripping his elbow. “I’ve been… thinking, a bit. On our earlier conversation.”

So basically... Miles got preeetty close to confessing during their dinner in chapter 4, but kinda backed out at the last moment, and he’s been agonizing over this ever since. Because the way he interpreted their conversation was sort of “We both want to move forward into a relationship but don’t know how to take the steps to do so”, whereas Phoenix interpreted more as a consensus that “We could probably start a relationship and there are feelings there but it wouldn’t really work out so we just won’t ever talk about it”.

And Miles throughout this fic assumed that Phoenix has been in love with him for a while and only holding back for Miles’ own sake, and waiting for Miles to signal that he’s actually ready to move into a romantic relationship. ... Which is very much not the case. What makes today different though is that Miles got to watch Phoenix solve mysteries, and I’m of the opinion that Miles considers Phoenix at his most attractive when he is uncovering the truth!! so Miles pretty much just saw him solve this case and go “I must kiss this man on the lips Right Now” but thought he should clear some things up before he did that.

which is good because if he just walked up to Phoenix and kissed him without preamble I’m pretty sure Phoenix would have died, so.

Something imperceptibly changed in the atmosphere. It made Phoenix’s heart race faster in anticipation. “Oh? Which one?”

“The one we had during the last dinner we shared.”

“O-Oh.” That had been weeks ago. Surely Phoenix had forgotten something.

“Everything has changed so much, over the course of my career, between us.” Edgeworth’s eyes flickered up to him briefly before settling back down on the desk. “I’ve never been afraid of moving forward, but this, I want…” He exhaled, shakily. “Give me a minute. This is… difficult.”

Phoenix kind of... knows, subconsciously, where this is going, but he’s trying to deny it until the last minute because he’s very unprepared and has no idea how to deal with this... which will become very clear by the end of the scene.

Miles is tricky to write in a confession scene because he can be kind of weird with emotions? Sometimes he’ll give these Grand Speeches about how much That Man means to him but at the same time he struggled a lot with talking about his feelings during the trilogy and I think he’d still struggle with it now. Especially something as raw and vulnerable as a love confession.

And Miles is also someone who is, at least by the Investigations duology, determined to pursue what is Right and what is the Truth without any sort of hesitation. However pursuing Wright is different. (insert horrible forced laugh track)

“W-Well, don’t strain yourself,” Phoenix insisted. “We can talk another day. I-It’s getting late, after all, we should —”

“We should stop dancing around the issue.” Edgeworth’s eyes snapped up and locked with Phoenix’s, pinning him in place. “Don’t go easy on me now, of all times.”

oh man I have to admit I got really into Persona 5 Royal for like a few weeks around the time I was writing this and that “don’t go easy on me now of all times” is looosely inspired by a similar line in there that’s like “do you think I’d be happy with being shown mercy now, of all times?” because although it’s a different dynamic than narumitsu I was uh. intrigued.

... sorry it’s so vague I wanted to avoid spoilers anyways, moving on,

Phoenix’s mouth ran dry. Edgeworth couldn’t possibly be planning to —

“Everything has changed between us,” continued Edgeworth. “I want things to — to continue to change, I-I want to be closer, is—” He sucked a breath in through his teeth “— is it not obvious?”

Hadn’t they agreed, in that way they could agree without saying a word, that they were never going to talk about this?

Phoenix broke his gaze. “No. It’s not. I— I don’t want to argue with you. It’s late.”

Pretty much same as previous notes: Phoenix in extreme denial that this is actually happening whereas Miles is just trying to force it all out.

Phoenix is kind of trying to talk Miles down from confessing; Miles is sort of interpreting it as “Wright isn’t going to let me get away with not actually saying this so I need to be more direct.”

I’m sure that later when Miles is curled up on his bed wondering where he went wrong he’ll think of that :)

“Phoenix.”

The use of his first name forced Phoenix to look up again.

Edgeworth stared at him for a long time. There was something impossible swimming just under the surface of his grey eyes.

“Phoenix Wright,” he said. “I am in love with you.”

HE DID IT!! He’s so brave I’m sure that nothing can go wrong!!

Gossip was one thing. Lingering touches and stolen glances, Phoenix could deal with those. The knowledge that Edgeworth was interested in him in a not-so-platonic way… that was more than enough.

This, hearing Edgeworth say the words out loud, was another thing entirely. Even if Phoenix already knew. Nothing could have prepared him for — for whatever this was, for Edgeworth, looking at him all open and vulnerable, and — and saying —

“Wh… What…?”

Edgeworth tilted his head slightly to the side, causing his bangs to fall into his face. “Surely you’ve figured it out already?”

“I-I don’t understand…”

At first there was a line right after “Even if Phoenix already knew” that was “Even if he felt the same”, but then I decided to make it so Phoenix can’t even admit his feelings to himself, so I cut that one out.

Anyways this is shocking to Phoenix partially because of Denial but also because he didn’t expect Miles to actually come out and say something like this. He’s used to Miles being closed off with his emotions and doesn’t think him the type to ever directly acknowledge them, so it’s got him totally off guard, too. It’s unpredictable for someone who is supposed to know Miles so well so it’s very unnerving for him.

“I… I think you are incredible,” said Edgeworth. “Your single-minded dedication to truth and justice. Your compassion. Your mercy. The way you… brought light, brought life, back into my world. You can be so frustrating, and stubborn, but that’s part of why I have always admired you so much.” The corners of his eyes softened. “You saved me a thousand times over, and I want to spend the rest of my life by your side… however you want me.”

Miles generally people go on at least one date before proposing marriage but okay.

One thing I find interesting about Miles as a character is that he’s very much an all-or-nothing kind of person... he doesn’t ever really half-ass things and he doesn’t know how to do things gradually haha. He won’t allow the truth to be covered in darkness for even a moment even if it makes things easier for him in the long run. Saying “I think you’re great, maybe we should go on a few dates and see how things end up?” is probably the SENSIBLE thing to say, but Miles puts 100% of himself into everything that he does post-character development; and he’s secure enough in his relationship with Phoenix that he doesn’t really feel the need to test the waters. Plus Miles is allergic to uncertainty, so by the time he confesses he’d need to be absolutely certain that he loved Phoenix Wright and was prepared to pretty much go all in with him.

after all Phoenix feels the same way right!!

Phoenix stared. His heartbeat was reverberating in his ears. “I don’t know what to say. … Me.”

“Who else?”

“Who — a-anyone else. God, Edgeworth, what even is that shit, about me being i-intelligent, and dedicated, and compassionate, and — and — incredible, geez, I’m a wreck! I—” His voice wavered into a fit of near hysteria. “The only reason I’ve gotten this far is ‘cause I’ve always had amazing people by my side, and — and once they’re gone I’m back to whatever I usually am, I-I only have this one suit, I still haven’t got my freaking driver’s license, I don’t think I’ve eaten anything but instant meals in a month—”

(And he looked to Edgeworth, desperately, but Edgeworth was still gazing at him, expression gentle, gentle yet unyielding, not taking back his words or expressing an ounce of regret — why wasn’t he changing his mind —)

“You’re describing yourself more than me,” said Phoenix weakly. “Really, I’m not — I’m not like that, okay, I’m not…” He forced himself to take a deep breath. “Why are you telling me this?”

This is the one part that stayed consistent throughout all drafts of this scene haha. Some of it is echoes from what Godot told him back in Bridge to the Turnabout about him always needing someone to swoop in at the last minute to the rescue; others are sort of a loose refence to his behaviour during the beginning of RFTA and Reunion and Turnabout where he couldn’t really function without Maya there to look after.

This part sort of ties more into that objective I had with this chapter of contrasting how they see themselves; they both see each other as incredible people, because they don’t really get to see inside each other and see how much of a wreck they feel.

Also the very first sort of script of this confession had Phoenix saying “I thought you knew me better than this!” but that just seemed way too cruel for this haha.

“I know that I… that I have difficulty with these things,” said Edgeworth, fingers gripping the edge of the desk. “I’ve never been the most open of people and we’ve — we’ve always been so distant, for so long. I wasn’t there for you when I should have been, and I want that to change. Because, ever since we met… you’ve been such a major part of my life. I never thought I would live to be older than my father. I never thought I would be happy with myself. But you, you came into my life, and you changed all that.”

(That wasn’t you,) a voice in Phoenix’s heart whispered. (You only started it. The rest was all him.)

“But I don’t want to be satisfied with what I have right now. I still want more. There’s still a part of life I want to explore, and… I want to do it with you.”

(He’s always been fine without you. One day he’s going to realize it too, and then…)

“I’m tired of hiding my emotions and being too afraid to upset the status quo when it comes to relationships. I refuse to be scared of that anymore.”

(Why isn’t he scared, too?)

ugh this was the hardest part to write I think...? Trying to figure out a way to get Phoenix’s internal feelings across where it doesn’t come out of nowhere. I settled with a lot of internal thoughts that are just like... self-loathing, pretty much.

Meanwhile Miles has prepared this whole emotional monologue that Phoenix is only half listening to, basically about what a huge impact Phoenix has had in his life and how he’s sort of... now that he’s presumably made large steps to fixing the justice system he’s turning to more personal goals in life, and one of those goals is spending his life with Phoenix, if he can be brave enough to do it.

Phoenix isn’t paying attention though because he’s too busy panicking...

“Most of all, I… I couldn’t hide anything from you for long. I’d trust you with the world. You’re my equal, and my opposite.” Something resembling a shaky smile crossed Edgeworth’s face. “And I love you.”

me shoving the “theme of the day” in there awkwardly

But he smiles!! This is one of the rare occasions where Miles kind of does smile... there’s a lot of “almost-smile”s or brief smiles and Miles is scared out of his wits here but he’s happy. he finally got that off his chest. he was brave and he told Phoenix how he felt and they’ll be so, so happy together, nothing can possibly go wrong,

The words knocked out any breath Phoenix had managed to regain. His skin suddenly felt cold and clammy, and he was faced with vertigo more intense than standing on rooftops. What was happening to him?

There was something he was supposed to say to this. He should react to this normally. His mouth was drier than a desert. His tongue felt unsightly and awkward in his mouth.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you that if I have somehow misinterpreted, I won’t mention this again.” Unease and uncertainty flickered behind Edgeworth’s eyes. “And I would never be upset, as long as you tell me the truth. I want to take the next steps of my life with you. … Do you feel the same way?”

oh yeah this part was a little tricky too. Pretty much Phoenix is on the verge of a full-blown panic attack and cannot think of a response, even a nice polite rejection... and finally Miles starts realizing that something’s off, because before he was just running on adrenaline to try and get his feelings out that he didn’t stop to examine Phoenix’s reactions, otherwise he would’ve started overthinking and psyched himself out. But now that he got it out and seeing Phoenix pretty much in shock he’s starting to worry he’d made a mistake.

Also “unease and uncertainty” is definitely an “unnecessary feelings” reference because I’m shameless.

Yes, Phoenix wanted to say, yes, I do, and say what he felt, what he wanted. But the words wouldn’t come.

Why couldn’t he say it? It should be easy. If he truly wanted this, it should be as easy as breathing.

His vision swam with pink butterflies, he ran his tongue over the scars in his mouth, his breath caught jagged on the edges of chains —

Aaaand if either one of them had the magatama right now there would be the psyche-locks! I was gonna elaborate on this a lot but this is so far waaay longer than I intended so I’ll spare you and give a brief summary.

Essentially there are three locks. I wrote them as sort of representing each issue that Phoenix needs to acknowledge for them to break -- not necessarily fix, because that would be a super tricky thing, but acknowledging they’re there is a start. They’re pretty much “Trust”, “Abandonment”, and “Vulnerability”. Later I realized those issues are pretty much tied up in each other so instead I just made it so that each one is set by a traumatic event, and then acknowledging those events is what breaks them.

The first is an obvious “Dahlia and Iris really screwed up Phoenix’s ability to trust a partner romantically”. I love Iris but she really did mess him up as well. Phoenix kind of convinced himself he’s over this issue now since Iris was a good person! but really he’s still messed up about it. (And that’s where the butterflies + scars in his mouth sort of come from). Talking to Iris and acknowledging that he’s still hurting over it is what breaks this one.

The second is more directly related to all the times Miles himself has abandoned him particularly throughout the series. Some of the hurt when Miles prosecuted him in Turnabout Sisters, and definitely a lot regarding “Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth Chooses Death”, it’s pretty much him being scared to get /too/ attached to Miles because he fears Miles might abandon him again. This one breaks in chapter 7 when he has the whole realization that Miles might die and leave him regardless, and acknowledges how afraid he is of Miles leaving again.

And the last is more of acknowledging his need to be needed by people and help people but they move on without him and not don’t really him in their lives. This built up more gradually... with littler things like Apollo leaving the Agency and Maya not being around as much and Trucy moving out. Neither of these are Big Bad Traumatic Events like the other two but it’s still an issue Phoenix has that he needs to acknowledge. Trucy’s letter breaks this one by telling him he’s never going to be alone and they all love him and are there for him. And that’s why right after reading the letter he can tell Miles that he loves him.

So that’s that. Moving back to the actual story now...

“Phoenix?”

Edgeworth still stood so close, too close, and when Phoenix breathed his senses were assaulted by the scent of his cologne and — and he was too close, and his words were too much, Edgeworth couldn’t be in love with him. Attracted, sure, but love — how could he so easily say love?

This wasn’t like Edgeworth. This wasn’t how things were before, this wasn’t how things had always been, every time things changed too fast something would go wrong, every time things changed too fast Edgeworth would leave again —

(— and right now Edgeworth’s body was coiled tight with tension, like a spring, ready to take off at any sudden movement —)

— and Phoenix couldn’t say a word.

Fairly self-explanatory I think: basically acknowledging that fear that Miles is going to leave again.

Phoenix was standing on the edge of a turnabout. Somewhere he’d have to take the plunge for victory, for the truth. He’d never shied from them before. He’d always accepted the risks. And they’d (almost always) paid off.

But something had Phoenix in a vice. Dark chains that wrapped around his chest and constricted his lungs. Something that would drown him if he took the plunge. Something that whispered that he could not risk this, his heart and his life in one. There was too much to lose. It was all too much.

That little (almost always) there is referencing that one time he presented the critical case-changing evidence and got disbarred for it; his disbarment messed him up pretty bad too, I guess it’d fit in the category of the third psyche-lock.

And of course the second paragraph references the psyche-locks more directly before they actually show up.

The words came. They weren’t the ones he wanted.

“No,” said Phoenix. “No, I don’t.”

The rattling in Phoenix’s head cut out. Silence fell over the room.

Pretty much once Phoenix stops pressing the issue the psyche-locks stop shaking. I imagine they’re a pretty terrible thing to break directly; he can’t do it on his own like this.

“... I see,” said Edgeworth, and something snapped shut, drew tight, rigid, back to a statue. “I thought… nevermind.”

Miles kind of draws back into himself all tightly-controlled, less open than before, because that really hurt him a lot. He’d probably prefer it than Phoenix being all evasive and sort of reassuring because he prefers people just cut straight to the facts, but that was direct even for him.

And of course he thought that Phoenix did feel that way about him. He was certain of it. So hearing Phoenix didn’t and he was completely wrong is... not good.

He’d gone so still. At the sight of it, whatever spell was holding Phoenix in its grasp broke, and he came back to reality — this wasn’t right, this wasn’t good, he had to fix this, somehow, bring things back to the way they were, “Edgeworth—”

And the sight of Miles completely freezing up and closing himself off is enough to break Phoenix free of the initial panic, because he does care a lot about Miles, and seeing him withdraw worries him.

“It’s getting late,” said Edgeworth, and only someone as experienced as Phoenix could detect the waver in his voice. “Thank you for being honest with me, Wright. I’ll talk to you later.”

The remark stung worse than a knife would, he couldn’t let it end like this. “I—”

The office door shut, none too gently. Phoenix was alone.

“... I’m sorry.”

That “thank you for being honest with me” wasn’t SUPPOSED to be a jab, of course, because Miles would prefer that Phoenix was honest than lie to him. But Phoenix did lie and that’s what bothers Phoenix the most throughout the next couple of chapters; they both value the truth so highly that lying to each other is inconceivable.

And Miles probably should have stuck around for a bit and heard Phoenix out and maybe Phoenix could have managed a half-decent explanation of “okay I don’t know what that was but this was very sudden and I’m panicking, can you give me time to process?” but if Miles stayed for much longer he probably would have started breaking down and that’s the last thing he wants to do right now, especially in front of Phoenix, so he left as soon as possible.

I think he managed to repress enough that he could get home safely, but the moment he crossed the threshold into privacy he probably had himself a good cry... curled up on the couch and watched some Steel Samurai with a tub of ice cream... but he was pretty emotionally devastated by this. It took a lot of effort for him to open up and be honest about his feelings so just being shut down like that... hurt a lot. He’d never admit it though.

anyways I also have this short bit of writing I posted a while back about Miles actually getting a hug after all this, because he really needs one.

And that’s the scene!! I think I said more than enough so I’ll end it here haha.

#dvd commentary meme #the catch-up game #this one got SUPER long I'm SO sorry #asks

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cowtale-utau · 4 years

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I have this character I am making for Cowtale, and it's just really disappointing how their life has set them up(which is amusing because I created their backstory)? They are extremely intelligent and driven to help and inspire change but are basically handicapped and illiterate because of the time period and circumstance, lol. So I was wondering how likely would it be for Viridis or someone else to take on an apprentice? I am already attached to this OC, RIP. Much appreciation, Garbage Bruh.

Being attached to your OCs is so valid. We put time and energy, and often parts of ourselves into them.

As for your actual question, it depends very much on the skele. Some are probably gonna say no outright, although given the time and effort most could probably be convinced. Then its a matter of whether or not OC wants to stick it out with them. Viridis is gonna be one who is very likely to take OC on. Especially if he’s seen your efforts and natural intelligence. That you want to help people is a big draw. He’s a doctor and researcher and is always looking for new things to benefit both monster society and humanity. With Vir you pretty much automatically get Aurum as well, but he’d say yes as well if OC approached him. He respects people trying to better themselves and push beyond their “station”. He isn’t exactly harsher as a teacher, but definitely pushes more and tends to set higher expectations. He doesn’t demand perfection, but he is recklessly driven, and can be a bit unreasonable at times. This is why the pair works so well, Aurum pushes, and Vir keeps everyone alive.

The literacy issue could be relatively easily solved by any of them, though some will be less pleasant to deal with. You didn’t elaborate on any other handicaps, but if it were something medical/physical, its very likely they’d at least start some side research (or get someone else too) on how to fix it either medically or magically. If OC told them not to (for reasons other than “don’t waste your time/I’m not worth it”, they will not accept that) they’d stop, but anything that is a difficulty for someone they care about or is in their care is something they will try to fix.

I’d say Vir and Aur are gonna be your best bet, and would be choice number one for me in that position. Calico is a good choice, but leans into the esoteric more, and Shine can be kinda a dick. Cal is patient and intuitive and would be an excellent teacher in general, but Shine doesn’t form bonds easily and doesn’t really like people sticking around. It wouldn’t stop Cal by any means, but it would create potential tension in general. Haze would be a good choice if OC didn’t mind being potentially completely dehumanized. OC would be less a mentee and more of an investment, and Haze would expect returns. He’s also going to guide you down a much less altruistic path, Haze doesn’t do good for the sake of good. With a little more work Piper’d be a decent choice. OC would need to prove themselves worth the effort, but it wouldn’t be as difficult as with Haze. However that would end up tying OC to the whole camp which has it’s pros and cons. The main con being, OC would have a lot less freedom. Moving everyone takes work and coordination and they all have tasks to do. It would take much longer to get to the point OC wants, and there would be more expectations placed on them they wouldn’t have with the pairs of brothers or are on their own or travel freely.

It’s cool that you’ve used the setting to create difficulty for the character, even if the magic handwave fixit method is available and acceptable. You’ve created potential for a very cool narrative. Everything is perfect can be fun, but so can struggle and conflict. Hope that answered you adequately, feel free to ask for more if you need it.

#asks #world and character building #oc/si/sona #Cowtale #Cowtale OC

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statusquoergo · 5 years

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would really like to hear your thoughts on pja/mike coming back cause honestly, i’m not sure how i feel about it. it will be nice to have him back that’s for sure but with the turns this show’s took i’m slightly worried what they are gonna do with it. somehow i just can’t bring myself to be excited anymore.

Hm…Well, let me start off by saying I think it’ll be nice to see Mike again. I’mnot saying the episode will do him right, but I think the moment that heappears, assuming they don’t completely fuck it up, will have that sweetnostalgia factor that comes with favorite characters who’ve gone their own wayreturning for a guest spot. Remember when Jessica came back for Mike’scharacter and fitness hearing? She hadn’t even been gone long, but it was so coolto see her show up! “Hey, I know that person!”

Ofcourse, Mike will most certainly play a bigger role in this coming episode thanJessica did in “Character and Fitness” (s06e16)…although I don’t think it’smuch of a reach to say that whatever this case is that requires Mike, a lawyerwho is based in Seattle, to trek all the way to New York, which is on literallythe opposite side of the country and has plenty of locally practicingattorneys, will be at best a flimsy pretense. But based on the fact that Season8 went out of its way to demonstrate how far apart Harvey and Mike have grownand how much Harvey has adopted Mike’s values and habits as a means of dealingwith his absence (e.g., Harvey taking on Mike’s former client Max as he triedto prove his best friend and business partner hadn’t betrayed him [s08e02],helping Anna the cleaning woman whose mother needed an operation she couldn’tafford [s08e03], calling Mike’s voicemail after the Pavonotti case[s08e13]), two possible outcomes occur to me:

One,those adaptations will be dialed back or ignored outright and Harvey will fightlike hell to win the case no matter what, regardless of the fact that Mike isback, because he hasn’t spent the past year or whatever trying and failing tofill the hole Mike’s absence has created in his heart, what the hell are youtalking about, get out of here with your “evidence-based reasoning.” Two factorswhich might come into play here are Harvey treating Mike as his equal as a signof respect (the student has become the master), and the erasure of Harvey’sMike-related grief by way of his new relationship with Donna.

Two,those adaptations will be magnified, and Harvey and Mike, having become muchmore similar in terms of their values systems than they were at the start ofthe show, will ultimately work toward the same end of finding justice for themore morally upstanding party, regardless of which of them is defending him (orher, or them, or it; I have no idea what kind of case this is going to be).Based on Korsh’scomment that “They are on opposite sides but it doesn’t gettoo testy for the first chunk of it, and then as it ratchets up, things get alittle bit more heated,” this seems unlikely, but I suppose one never does knowwith this show.

One small caveat to the above: in light of the events of the Season 8 finale,Harvey might start the case off as his old hard-hearted self, defending hisclient regardless of moral and ethical shortcomings, only for Donna to pop inat the last moment to remind him to “do the right thing.” Maybe with a fivecents extra side helping of Guilt, if Mike’s abrupt return has somehow put himon the defensive. I hope this doesn’t happen, I really do, but it did cross mymind, so I feel like I have to put it out there.

Now, as I mentioned, I have no idea what the nature of this case willbe, nor what this episode will be about in full, but if you’ll permit me onemore moment of idealism, Korshalso said of the story: “There is more than meets the eye going on.”While I don’t trust Korsh as far as I can throw him, this does make me wonderif Mike and/or Harvey is lying about or otherwise hiding something, becausethat has the potential to be a very interesting narrative.

I would argue, based on his depiction in the first half of Season 8,that Harvey was essentially in mourning after Mike’s departure, and I’m beinggenerous when I call their farewells at the end of Season 7 unsatisfying, so ifHarvey and Mike suddenly meet up again, especially if it’s a surprise(it won’t be, Korsh said that Mike knows Harvey is involved when he signs on,but imagine the possibilities), an erosion of trust between them could play outin quite a captivating way. The foundation is already there; Mike didn’t tellHarvey about moving his and Rachel’s wedding date until the last possiblemoment, nor did he tell him that they were moving to Seattle, and as far as weknow, he didn’t return Harvey’s phone call about the Pavonotti case. He’s goingabout it terribly, but Mike is “outgrowing” Harvey, whereas for Harvey, Mike’sdeparture is death by a thousand cuts, some of them self-inflicted. They’ve gota lot to talk about.

Yeah, let’s be real, if this even sort of happens, it’ll take at leasta three-episode arc to play out properly. Nice to think about, though.

Puttingaside my wild conjecture, from a business perspective, Mike’s return does kindof make sense. I mean narratively it’s almost guaranteed to be a disaster—Korshasserts that they tried “to put some fun scenes and some emotionalscenes with Mike and the old gang,” as if they can all get right back to theirold dynamics and everyone will conveniently forget that Mike left withoutwarning and kind of really fucked them over—but speaking logistically, it hasall the hallmarks of a ratings grab.

For one thing, the show’s ratings are tanking,down from an average of 4.28M viewers in Season 1 to 1.02M in Season 8. For another, Season 8 is spent laying the foundation for the exactopposite of this happening. Harvey is shown to be, as I said, in a form ofmourning; Donna spends the first four episodes reminding Harvey that Mike isgone and not coming back; Mike goes from as many as 10 mentions per episode (episode3) to as few as zero (episode 5, 7, 10, 12). Harvey has moved on (ostensibly), theshow has moved on, and suddenly he’s coming back for…reasons? In its advertising, USAis trying to maximize the momentum of this being Suits’ final season,and publicizing now that Mike is coming back in episode 5 means thatthey can tease it until then to keep people invested until at least theseason’s halfway point.

Actually, there’s one more thing I want to bring up, speaking of Mikein Season 8. The first four episodes focus emphatically on the fact that Mikeis gone and Harvey misses him (e.g., “Is there a chance that you’reoverreacting to Mike having just left?” [s08e01]; “You meant a lot to Mike,which means you mean a lot to me” [s08e02]; “I just thought, ‘What would Mikedo?’” [s08e03]; “Donna, I might be missing Mike, but I’m not Mike” [s08e04]). Episode5 is a Mike dead zone, episode 6 gives us “Everyone leaves: Mike, Rachel,Jessica, my sister-in-law,” and then a funny thing starts to happen: Mike stopsbeing a person people miss, and starts being a point of reference. Aside fromthe phone call at the end of episode 13, most mentions of Mike in the secondhalf of the season are either about Mike’s prison sentence, and how hard it wason Harvey, or Mike’s secret, and how difficult it made life for everyone else.(Point of order, that was at least as much Harvey’s secret as it was Mike’s.)

Thereason this makes me nervous for Mike’s return in s09e05 is that, while we theaudience became invested in Mike as a character during his tenure on the show, he’sonly going to be back for a single episode (as far as we know), and not onlythat but one in which “there is more than meets the eye going on.” If this showhas any tact left at all, the conflict will be a multifaceted one, but it wouldbe jarring, to say the least, to see much of the narrative from Mike’s perspective—he’sa guest star, after all, a mere interloper in someone else’s territory—which meanswe’re probably going to see the majority of the action play out from Harvey’spoint of view. My fear is thus that Mike will be little more than an object, aconvenient shiny thing to throw our way to keep us engaged; we’ll be investedin him because we used to be, because we remember him as he was, even though henow deserves more criticism for his actions (or lack thereof) than support forwhat he might be thinking.

Of course, this is pure speculation on mypart; who knows, maybe Mike will come back and tie up all the loose ends heleft behind and we’ll all have a great time! (Well, we can hope…)

#marvey #suits usa #season 8 #season 9 #analysis #Anonymous

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lia-nikiforov · 6 years

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Spring 2018 Anime Final Review

So, uh, this is six months late. I’ve had half of this post in my drafts forever. To make it short, as I’ve mentioned previously, mom lost her job, which has not only been a heavy hit to my sense of stability for the last six months, but also means my time to watch anime was seriously reduced and even now a slight change of plans fucks up my whole schedule and sets me back for a full week. Anyway, nobody cares about any of these shows anymore so let’s get straight to it? I’m gonna ommit the two-cours that continued into the Summer - hopefully I’ll be able to make that post soonish? idk. Worst to best, same as usual

The crappy gender politics pit of shame

Darling in the FRANXX: I think everyone has ripped this show to threads at this point and there isn’t much I could add to that. It is quite funny to me to see how many people flipped out when the show went completely bananas in its last few episodes. Feels a bit like KADO, I’ve been telling y’all this was a ton of empty crap since episode 2, it just took the writing to completely self-destruct for everyone else to notice. A part of me feels tempted to do a long post breaking down just how badly the show collapsed in its final shebang, specifically how every single twist and turn completely nulled any remote kind of message or central thesis the show may have had, but at the same time it doesn’t seem worth the time. In the end, I may have given What is Internal Consistency, The anime way too much credit. It’s not hateful antigay propaganda, it’s just dumb as shits, with a writer and creators who didn’t think for half a second of the implications of what they were doing, and who were so incompetent they couldn’t even conserve the minimal plot and character coherency within a single episode, let alone 24. In other words, Darling isn’t saying “gays shouldn’t exist” but “I have no idea of anything regarding gay people”. What makes it egregious is that the show spent so much time acting like it was “meaningful” and “important” and yet it ended saying absolutely fucking nothing. Except mayb “have babies”. Down to oblivion you go, along with the likes of KADO, to the void of shows that couldn’t even be offensively bad and no one will remember a year from now. Bonus garbage points for the half-assed “bury your gays”.

Nil of Libra Admirari or whatever this show was called: I’m not trying to diss on the show, I just genuinely never remember the title because I have the JP and EN all mixed up. Not that it matters much, as far as I could tell, the show could call Shalabalabatuna and it would have the same significance in regard to the content. But the title isn’t important. In fact, it may be a bit unfair to have this show in this section. For the most part, Main Girl is very self-determined and has an active role in the story.... but then the last two episodes heavily featured a lot of rape threats or rape themes and forced pregnancy (real and threat) and I don’t really understand why they’d go there all of a sudden. One of them was treated relatively well, even empowering the victim in the process, but when the ikemen bad guy was rambling endlessly about how he wanted to impregnate the protagonist it really turned me off :/ I’m also not a fan of “main boy was her secret fiancé all along”, but at least they also handled that somewhat decently. It’s a very disposable series, but since I watched all of Amnesia, I think I owe every otoge adaptation at least the smallest chance to clear that very low bar, and Libra of Nil does it, more competently than most other stuff in the same genre.

Hisone to Masotan: I really, really wanted to love this show. Even now, as I put it in the pit of shame category, I’m pained. There was a good show in this, and a lot of it made it to the screen: an adorable, charming little story about a woman finding her place in the world, making new friends, finding her calling and bonding with an adorable dragon. Unfortunately, it got buried down under this opressing, horrendous gender politics that tried to do something with bringing attention to sexism in the military only to cancel it out making the one dude that embodied that sexism getting rewarded with the affections of a girl he explicitly tried to crush. It also called back on the virgin or whore fallacy and even managed to shove in a “bury your gays” trope. Even though Hisone challenges the ritual bullshit, it’s too little, too late, and she does end up carrying it out anyway, so the defiance to the status quo is of little importance in terms of problematizing the ritual itself. Sorry BONES, it wasn’t meant to be this time.

The ni fu ni fa section

Ni fu ni fa is a Mexican colloquialism for “It was okay but it didn’t change my life.”

Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu HAPPY KISS: This soft reboot of the franchise had some really great episodes and did an actually good job of developping its characters. For the most part, it achieved what its predecessor did in terms of satirical comedy and I enjoyed it quite a bit. However, what bunked it down so low in the list was the final episode. At some point, the writers forgot they were doing a parody and made the show somewhat self-serious, way closer in tone to the magical girl anime it was supposed to be making fun of, rather than the satire its predecessor was. Whereas S1 ended with the whole Magical boy stuff being revealed as a crappy space reality TV show, this one ended with a real cheesy conflict about happiness and family and blablabla. Which is not bad by itself if this were a Precure show, but that kind of self-serious plot development just didn’t work for this series. I still enjoyed it, and the fanservice episode is one of the best of the whole franchise, but I’m a bit sad the finale missed the mark so badly.

Hinamatsuri: Hinamatsuri was very hit-or-miss for me. There were some truly brilliant episodes, a lot of funny vignettes and heart-warming stories, and then there was some stuff that made me uncomfortable -like every single Hitomi story- or felt unnecessary and dry. It also threw me off that the superpower dynamic completely disappeared in the second half of the show, especially in Anzu’s part of the story. It was okay but I feel like I needed something that felt like a closing, and choosing to end it with Mao who featured very minimally in the show overall didn’t cut it. It’s a fun show, I’d reccommend people check it out, but it felt a bit too disjointed for me

Persona 5: The Animation: This is a hard show to place because I love the looks of it and I think the concept is interesting and pretty cool, but there is something that’s keeping me from connecting emotionally to the story. The part where changing the villains’ heart makes them repent from their sins and become “good” feels very artificial and very tasteless when you’re dealing with rapists and abusers. I ended dropping it at episode 16, I just couldn’t find the motivation to catch up with the 6 episodes i’d fallen behind on because my schedule is a tragedy

Tokyo Ghoul: Re: I guess it’s fair to say I’ve kind of outgrown Tokyo Ghoul. There’s something messy and confusing about how this season panned out, and there comes a point in which misery porn just doesn’t cut it anymore. I still watch because Ishida has a way to make every single goddamn character extremely sympathetic, which makes for an emotionally engaging viewing even when you’re not sure of what the plot is supposed to be or who you should be rooting for. I tried picking up the new season that just started airing and immediately found I had no idea of what was going on, who was on who’s side and in general, who the fuck were 90% of the characters, so I dropped it.

Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu: I’ve mentioned it before, this second season had the opposite problem than the first one: the pace was too slow. It took more than half of it to get to Escanor, and then the season ends at a kind of random spot. I really thought we’d get further along on the story, since Gowther’s backstory was hinted at in the openings, but no such thing happened. They did manage to give us a variety of cool moments and fights, and I love Ban so his scenes with Zhivago and Elaine made me quite happy, though I really wish the romance between Elizabeth and Meliodas wasn’t su dubious and cringy. In light of some revelations that take place further along the manga, going out of their way to emphasize that Meliodas was a sort of mentor figure for Elizabeth when she was a toddler seems unncessary and just very squeamish. I do hope we get a third season though, and an OVA of the Vampires of whatever side story would be great too.

Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori: I was pleasantly surprised by this show, and it’s closer to being one of my top of the season than it is to “meh”. It had some weaker, cheesier segments, but it also managed great whacky moments and a genuine soothing atmosphere. What surprised me most is that the vanilla looking cast of moderately handsome dudes managed to develop into interesting, funny individuals with a dynamic that made every episode enjoyable. A solid reccommendation for anyone wanting to see delicious looking food and moderately handsome dudes being ridiculous. Also, the cat episode is the best episode of anime ever produced.

The I’m probably the only person alive who enjoys these shows

Mahou Shoujo Ore: This is a difficult show to place because it wasn’t quite as great as I wanted it to be and its parodic nature took me by surprise, but somehow I was still seriously entertained more often than not. The twists in the final quarter and the absolutely bonkers finale was a total riot, but I definitely advise caution before going in, given that some of the jokes may seem insensitive or in poor taste in regards to gender presentation, sexuality and there are even some mild harrassment jokes that certainly made me roll my eyes.

Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line: I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but I think through half of the show’s 25 episode run, I was convinced the title was actually Glory Road. It’s kind of anticlimactic that it’s called Glory Line if they don’t actually reach the final Goal btw. Anyway, I feel I say this a lot, but really, if you didn’t like the previous Yowapeda seasons, there’s nothing here for you, and if you did, you’re probably not gonna hop off this late in the game. This season does suffer from the same dragging than its predecessors, with the added issue of being quite pessimistic for no reason in about half the episodes, and a diminished presence for Onoda. I really wish they hadn’t dragged the Day 2 goal so long, I really hoped we’d see the end of the race, but no such luck I guess. Still love most of it and hope we get one more season or a movie to complete the story.

The favorites of the season

Golden Kamuy: In spite of its pacing issues, terrible animation and general clunkiness, I can’t help but love this show. When season 1 ended my feelings for it had mellowed quite a bit, but as soon as I picked up season 2 this Fall I just fell in love all over again. It’s fun, unique, over-the-top in some ways, incredibly grounded in others, and the dynamics between the characters are incredibly charming.

Hozuki no Reitetsu: It’s hard to talk about this one because it feels repetitive, given how tonally the show remains just the same across its three seasons. It could’ve very well been a one-season, 36 episode show, for how little it changes in spite of the time that transpired between the first season and the second. But in short, the comedy continues to be as spot on as always, the Zashikiwarashi twins are the best addition to the cast. It’s definitely a show I could watch endless episodes off, and the rare case of an episodic series with no overarching plot that I can enjoy wholeheartedly.

Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card arc: Over the course of the series, I’ve expressed a few concerns and misgivings about how the story of this 20th anniversary sequel was playing out. The final episode was particularly troublesome in that it left the story unfinished in spite of deviating from the manga. In spite of this, more than anything I’m very happy that this continuation still retains what made the original so special, that they captured the magic behind Sakura’s “everything will be alright” spell and gave us the chance to spend more time with these beloved characters and see their stories continue. The slow but sweet development of Sakura and Syaoran’s puppy love is a definite highlight. Needs more Touya/Yukito and Yue in general.

Piano no Mori: This show got heavily overlooked because it was kidnapped by Netflix (pls stop immediately), and then when it was finally unceremoniously dumped a month or two ago, it came under fire for the wonky CGI during the piano scenes -and it is indeed very wonky-. But beyond that, I found the story very engaging, especially because Kai is such a fascinating protagonist, his intense rivalry-friendship with Megane-kun (sorry, it’s been six months, i can’t remember names) is exactly the type I can’t help but root for. Kai’s participation in the final episode gave me goosebumps. I’m very happy we’re getting a continuation, can’t wait to see how the Chopin competition develops.

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii: Sweet, funny and absolutely delightful from start to finish, Wotakoi was easily one of the highlights of the season. Although there were some aspects about Cosplayer-senpai and Yuri Otaku-senpai’s (I’m really trying to remember the names, I’m sorry!! ;---;) that didn’t work for me -namely the izakaya segment- Narumi and Hirotaka more than made up for it with their clumsy yet adorable romance. I spent the entirety of the amusement park episode screeching. I really hope we get a continuation -and get a chance to see more of Hirotaka’s brother and his gamer friend too- and that in general we can get more anime about adult stories

Megalobox: Who would’ve thought that a show that wasn’t even in my radar before the season started would’ve end as one of my favorites, possibly of the year? Even as someone who’s only marginally acquainted with Ashita no Joe and has no interst in the sport of boxing, I was completely enthralled by the style and passion of this production. As I said a bit above, intense rivalries are very appealing to me, and the build up in the tension between Joe and Yuri was almost palpable, their mutual respect gave me chills. Definitely the surprise of the season, made even better by its optimistic happy ending to contrast with its predecessor’s tragedy. Megalobox is a unique anniversary project that is closer to an homage and it works perfectly. Definitely check it out.

That’s it for the Spring season! I hope i can do the summer season this weekend and maaaybe even my watchlist for the Fall season. Fingers crossed i won’t get swallowed up in other stuff :’D

#anime final impressions #spring anime #god i've forgotten 95% of my tags #darling in the franxx #megalobox #wotaku ni koi wa muzukashii #piano no mori #card captor sakura clear card arc #hozuki no reitetsu #golden kamuy #yowapeda #mahou shoujo ore #rokuhoudou yotsuiro biyori #nanatsu no taizai #persona 5 #tokyo ghoul: re #hinamatsuri #hisone to masotan #binan koukou chikyuu boueibu

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salvatoreschool · 5 years

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Kaylee Bryant on ‘Legacies’ and Her Favorite Monster So Far

On Episode 11 of The CW series Legacies, entitled “We’re Gonna Need a Spotlight,” the Salvatore School’s annual talent show turns into something straight out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers when a creature shows up that lowers everyone’s inhibitions. And while Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis), headmaster of the school for the young and supernaturally gifted, decides to play hooky, Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) is determined to make sure the show will go on, as her twin Josie (Kaylee Bryant) decides that she’s more than ready to step into the spotlight.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress Kaylee Bryant talked about how she ended up singing on the show, working on the song with a vocal coach, the most fun and most challenges aspects of the episode, the Saltzman twins 2.0, Josie’s journey to find her own voice and stand up for herself more, the Josie-Penelope (Lulu Antariksa) dynamic, forming her own sister bond with co-star Jenny Boyd, her favorite monster so far, why she journals for her character, what it means to be a Gemini twin, and what she’d like to see in Season 2, which has already been picked up by the network.

Collider: I very much enjoyed this episode. It’s so much fun!

KAYLEE BRYANT: Thank you!

I’m definitely a sucker for talent shows, and I’m also a big Invasion of the Body Snatchers fan, and it’s a combination of those two amazing things.

BRYANT: Wow, so this is the perfect episode for you.

When you first got and read “We’re Gonna Need a Spotlight,” what was your reaction to the episode?

BRYANT: It’s funny, they walked around the set a couple weeks before we had gotten the script for this episode and said, “If we had a talent show, what would your talent be?” And me, as Kaylee, said, “Ooh, I’d sing!” And then, I looked at them and went, “Wait, are you talking about Josie or Kaylee?,” and they refused to say. So, when I got the script, I got so nervous ‘cause I haven’t really trained vocally, professionally, in years. I got a little bit scared, if we’re being honest.

What was it like to do that whole scene, where Josie gets her big moment, especially knowing that people have been rooting for her to step into the spotlight for a long time?

BRYANT: Yeah, it was really interesting. It was a long process. I got the song a couple of weeks before we started working on the episode, so I started working with a vocal coach. And then, after that, I ended up going through dance rehearsals with the other dancers. And then, we ended up getting to the final day of actually filming. It was a long process. By the time we were actually there, filming it felt like second nature. It was very easy.

When you do an episode that has a unicorn and mind-controlling parasites, there’s kissing, and there’s singing and dancing, what was the most fun day on set, and what was the most challenging day on set?

BRYANT: I have to say that the most fun was the day that we shot on the stage, just ‘cause it made me feel like I was back in my musical theater days. It felt very second nature. And I think the most difficult day was when we were doing all of the things in the mill, ‘cause when the weather starts to change, it actually gets quite cold, and if you’ve seen Josie’s outfits, she never really wears too much. So, I was freezing my butt off while trying to have these intimate moments. That was difficult, but I feel like it turned out well, so I’m pretty proud of it

In this episode, Josie and Lizzie talk about being the Saltzman twins 2.0. What does that mean for them and everybody else around them?

BRYANT: For Lizzie, I think it means trying her best to not be as mean and as open about her opinions on things. And for Josie, it means trying to be more open about her own opinions, in her own way. She clearly has just as much difficulty as Lizzie does.

It seems like there’s an equal balance where, as hard as it is for Lizzie to try to be nice, it’s equally as hard for Josie to be a bitch. Was it fun to have a little bit of that role reversal this time, and to have Josie stand up to Lizzie a little bit?

BRYANT: I thought that was so much fun. Anytime that I get to have those moments with Jenny [Boyd] are so much fun to me. Especially with this specific episode, it almost felt like I was playing more myself than anything ‘cause I feel similar to Josie, except that I’m maybe a little bit more light-hearted and have a little bit of an easier time voicing my opinion. So, the scene where Josie is walking around the stage, talking to Lizzie and all the dancers, was so much fun to shoot ‘cause this is what’s actually going on in Josie’s head, when she’s not worrying about something.

Do you hope that now that she’s found her voice a little bit that it will stick with her for a little while? What you like to see her stand up for herself more?

BRYANT: It’s a long journey for Josie. This episode happened ‘cause of the slugs. Plus, she has a conversation with her dad, at the end of the episode, where she basically decides that she likes not saying things ‘cause it creates less conflict. She’s okay with herself. But the reality is that there’s so much that she doesn’t say that she’s gonna have to burst, at some point. So, it’s still a journey. It’s not an easy thing for her to say, “Oh, I said my sister was terrible, so I’m just gonna say some stuff and walk away.” It’s something that she’s trying to figure out a good balance for.

We’ve seen enough of an evolution in the relationship between Josie and Penelope (Lulu Antariksa) that we’re actually starting to maybe not hate Penelope so much. What have you enjoyed about exploring that relationship?

BRYANT: It’s a really interesting dynamic ‘cause Penelope and Josie both want the same thing for Josie. Josie would like to be able to voice her opinions and would like to be her own person, outside of her sister, but she’ doesn’t quite know how to do that. That’s what Penelope wants, too, but Penelope is going about it in a way that Josie just doesn’t like, so it creates a huge conflict between them. It’s interesting to watch it unfold ‘cause you clearly can tell that they both want the same thing, but they’re just so incompatible in their thought process that it creates mass chaos between the two.

What can you say to tease what’s to come for them, beyond this episode?

BRYANT: I think that Penelope and Josie are just trying to figure out a level of communication between the two of them. Penelope is so set in who she wants Josie to be, and Josie is so set in who she wants to be. Penelope is constantly manipulating the people that Josie loves to create this person, and Josie just doesn’t feel ready to be that person yet. So, it’s gonna be a journey of them really being able to discuss things together ‘cause they’re just not having very honest discussions with each other.

Josie is a twin, which means that sister bond is crucial to their relationship. What was it like the first time that you and Jenny Boyd met, and how has your own relationship grown, throughout the season?

BRYANT: It’s so funny, Jenny and I met at the final callback for the show, and we were both reading for both Josie and Lizzie. We didn’t know who was gonna play who. And then, we both got our roles, but they didn’t tell us who was playing who, so we ended up actually meeting for coffee, a couple times, when we were both still in Los Angeles, and we both joked around about who would be who, and who would have to go blonde, and it morphed into this really great thing. We didn’t read any scenes together, during the audition process, so the first time we ever acted together was on set, in our bedroom. It’s been really, really great. I love her so much, as a friend and basically a sister, at this point. Because we have so many scenes together, it’s really, really easy to jump into that dialogue with her.

There’s so much that’s really cool about this show, with the different fun monsters, every week, and the family and relationship drama. When you originally auditioned for this series, what was it that drew you to the show?

BRYANT: When I got the audition, I was a fan of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, so I had this very specific imagery in my head of how the show would look and the style of acting that it would be. But if you watch the show, it’s so different, so it was definitely a learning curve, figuring out the more light-hearted dialogue between the characters. It was very interesting to make a different show. That was really exciting to me.

With the different monsters of the week, have you had a personal favorite monster, and are there any fun ones coming up?

BRYANT: Definitely, the unicorn is my favorite, easily. I have a lot of affection for unicorns. There is a unicorn hat that I’m constantly wearing, and people give me unicorn pens, as gifts. So, I was very excited when the unicorn came up. And there are a lot of really exciting monsters, coming up. I don’t know what I can say about which ones, so I’m just gonna say that there’s a lot to look out for.

You’ve previously talked about how you do journal entries for your character, and that you even do that on set. Is that something that you still do, and is that something you think you’ll do, throughout the run of the series?

BRYANT: Oh, yeah, absolutely! It’s something that I’ve been thinking about, now that I’m on hiatus, as far as whether or not I’m gonna continue in the same journal, or start a completely new one. It’s really, really integral to how I go about Josie. Because she doesn’t say so much, a lot of it does needs to be written down, for her to really process anything. So, I still have my journal and I’m just trying to decide, if I want to start a completely new one. I don’t wanna waste paper.

We know that Josie and Lizzie have a few years before they have to deal with the merge that comes with being Gemini twins, but that’s still a really horrible ticking clock over their heads. Have you thought about or had any conversations about that, and how that might eventually play out?

BRYANT: Jenny and I are constantly joking about it. Depending on whether we’re having a really good day or really bad day, it’ll be like, “You’ll win the merge,” or “You’re gonna have to kill me ‘cause I’m tired.” It’s an ongoing joke on set, as far as who’s gonna die, just based off of who’s the most tired. Nobody has told me anything specific about the merge ‘cause it is so far out, but it’s definitely something that we’re all constantly discussing, more as a joke than anything. I’m sure it eventually won’t be a joke, but until then, it is.

As someone who was a fan of The Vampire Diaries, what’s it been like to have some of those cast members make guest appearances on the show, or direct episodes of the show?

BRYANT: It’s been really, really interesting. We had Paul Wesley on our set, directing an episode, and I was like, “That’s Stefan, not Paul.” It was definitely interesting, getting past that. Everybody that was on that show is so talented. To actually see their talent at work, especially in different lights, like seeing Paul as a director instead of an actor, it was interesting to see him work.

What has being a part of this show and getting to work with this cast taught you about acting and about yourself, as an actor?

BRYANT: I feel like I’ve learned a lot, in the past seven months, just ‘cause I’ve never had the opportunity to play one character for this long. You have to learn how to pace yourself. The hours that we work are very long, and it’s constantly a highly emotional show. You can’t kill yourself over something in one episode ‘cause you’re gonna have to do something really crazy in the next episode. It was about learning to pace yourself, as a human being, and as Kaylee and Josie, if that makes any sense.

Congratulations on the Season 2 pick-up! Have you had any conversations yet about where things will go next, especially now that it’s official?

BRYANT: Yeah, (executive producer) Brett Matthews and (showrunner) Julie Plec actually sat down with every single one of us cast members, at the end of the season, to talk with us and discuss what we wanted for our characters. They asked me what I wanted for Josie, and I just looked at them like, “What?! That’s not my job!” But a big part of what I did discuss with them was just that I really loved seeing Josie’s growth, and I’d love to see that continue.

#Legacies #JosieSaltzman #HopeMikaelson #LizzieSaltzman #SalvatoreSchool #MysticFalls #JuliePlec

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lentaska · 5 years

Text

Height Difference - Part Two

Note: First person POV, OFC from non-wrestling background English is my second language, I apologize for any grammar/wording mistake. This is a work of fan fiction using characters from wrestling, I do not claim any ownership over them.

@thecristsandcallihancult @monstersmaid

Part Two “I wanna talk to you about something.”

Road trip usually made me sleepy, but I was too nervous to even think properly now. We would arrive at the stadium within one hour, and for the first I’d meet Fulton’s friends.

It might sound weird that we finally got chance to meet each other’s friends after five-months dating. The schedule conflict had been the issue, we had friends who must travel around to work, and both of us agreed to meet them when they were gathered together. Which meant, I was about to meet not only one or two wrestlers, but whole group of them.

“Are you sweating?” Fulton eyed me, joked. “They’re not gonna interview you, lil’ bird. They just wanna know what kinda person you are.”

“What if they don’t like me?”

“They will like you. Take it easy, they’re all nice people.”

As a wrestling newbie - I only knew how it looked like - my subconscious reply was “no they are not nice, they hit you with chairs”. And it made Fulton laugh hard.

“My bad, I should teach you the basic. Those scenes you saw is part of the story plot, we all have plots at some level. It may be easier for you to consider it as TV show.”

“But you got hurt... I don’t wanna see you get hurt.”

No matter how many times I told myself that wrestling was his passion and job, and he could handle it well, seeing him got injures still scared me. The biggest worry I ever had while dating an artist was “my boyfriend cut his finger when sharpening pencil”, to date a wrestler was something way different. I was very frustrated during the first month of the dating when he returned with bandage wrapped his arm or bruises on back

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” He gave me his hand and waited for my response, “Trust me.”

Nodded, I put my hand on his, he grasped it and rubbed carefully. He might not be good at comforting people by words, but he had his way to show consolation and support.

I looked outside of the window, we were getting close to the destination. Wondering what a real wrestling match would be like, I heard Fulton’s voice, “I wanna talk to you about something.”

The serious tone gave me bad feelings.

“When we were with your friends, you said you don’t wanna move in together now.”

Swallowed hard and told myself to act cool, I replied, “well, it’s only five months and we never talked about financial stuff.” The latter part was a lie, I was hoping to use it to make the statement more cogent. The thing was, I had never been through this stage, it’s a totally new concept to me.

“We discussed the financial stuff weeks ago, it was the day I got my contract with Impact, remember?”

You had no idea how much I hated his good memory sometimes.

“Right...” I coughed embarrassingly. Wording was an art that I wasn’t equipped with, especially when I panicked, I didn’t even gave second thought to what I said, “you know it can end up in bad way right?”

“What do you mean by ‘bad’?”

My voice faltered, “moving in can be different from what we think... W-what if we break up?”

Fulton’s face clouded over, brows knitted together in exactly the same way when he faced a difficult opponent in match. “So you think it will somehow ruin everything. I kinda start to wonder if you have enough faith in our relationship.”

I screwed up.

Having the thought that he might refuse to talk to me, I turned away, couldn’t help feeling despondent. The abnormal aura between us did not vanish after we arrived the destination, although Fulton acted like nothing happened and introduced me to his friends - he even grinned like usual, but I could sense his displeasure.

The meeting with his friends was short since they were in hurry of preparing for the match, but they were all friendly and considerate people. They knew it’s my first time watching wrestling show with almost zero knowledge, and were willing to answer every question I had, even the stupidest ones. After a short chat with the Sami Callihan - whom I learned that actually had easy-going nature in real life rather than the malicious personality in rings - about what the main event was tonight, I looked up and found Fulton was gone. I didn’t even have the chance to say “good luck”.

A hand patted my shoulder, it’s Jake Crist, “looking for Fulton? He already went to the ring. Aren’t you going to watch the match?”

“I’ll just stay here.” I forced a smile.

The younger Crist stared at me for a while, said, “I don’t wanna be gossipy but did you two have argument?”

“It’s my fault.” I replied, eyes downcast, “I said stupid things and upset him.”

“This is how relationship works. Couple always argues about small things.”

“But today is the first time he brought me to meet you guys, it’s so special for him and I ruined it.”

“Don’t say that. Whatever the argument is, I believe there’s a reason.” Jake gave me a comforting smile. “Fulton talks about you a lot. Every time he mentions ‘Birdie’, we know the topic is about you.”

I blushed. He liked to give me pet names.

“You two are deeply connected, things will work out.”

I nodded, feeling much better, “thank you.”

“By the way, you can also watch the match here.” Jake turned on the TV.

The first scene I saw was Fulton leaning at the corner of the ring, face covered in blood.

“Hey are you alright?” Jake asked me.

Slightly shaking my head, I bit my lips in disquietude. It didn’t take long to know that Fulton lost the match, he looked like a beast in trap, wounded and dispirited, I wanted to hug him so badly, hence the first thing I did when he walked into the room was to grab his hand.

But he gestured stop, “Don’t touch.”

My arm froze in an awkward posture. Everyone in the locker room turned their sights to us, the confusion in air suffocated me. I didn’t want to act like grouch in front of his friends, it would embarrass him, so I mumbled “sorry” and left quickly.

Wandering in the hallway, I tried to figure the reason that he said those words: was it because the argument we had in car? Or was he displeased that I didn’t go to the auditorium but stayed in backstage? I made mistake too and I wanted to fix it. Maybe we could try cohabiting first? It sounds fine for me...

With no attention paid to signs and turning, I somehow got lost in the building. Guided by intuition, I took another turn and was immediately stunned by the person appeared in front of me. It’s Fulton. He looked better than when he was locker room minutes ago, all the blood and mess was cleaned up.

“Where have you been?” he asked in worries.

“I got lost.”

Fulton let out a sigh, “like always...”

Before he went further, I cut him off, “I want to apologize.”

He looked puzzled, “what is it for?”

“I’m sorry for what I said. I have faith in our relationship with no doubt, but I never went so far in the previous ones and didn’t know what to do...”

Fulton dragged me into his arms, I was relieved a little in his bear hug. “I’m sorry too, Birdie.”

I looked up at him for an answer.

“You’re gonna think it’s stupid... I was covered in blood and I don’t wanna ruin your dress. I know how much you like this dress, you only wear it on special occasion.”

I wasn’t sure which one surprised me more: the reason why he didn’t want me to touch him after match, or how much attention he put on the details. But this was not what I needed to consider now.

“Listen, I have been thinking about what you said. I shouldn’t push you, if you’re not comfortable with moving in now, I’ll wait.”

Grasped Fulton’s fingers, I asked, “what’s about we start with cohabiting?”

“Are you sure?” his eyes widened. “I don’t want you to force yourself...”

“I’m sure.” I threw my arm around his waist, “by the way, can you take me to another wrestling show, I’ll definitely be out there to support you.”

With little strength, Fulton scooped me up and let me sit on his shoulder, “whatever you want.”

#Madman Fulton #Fulton #dreadlocks bear #Wrestling Fanfic #fanfic #wrestling #wrestler #as promised I wrote more #I love writing Fulton so much #oc #romantic fic is so difficult #for some reason I think Jake is the brother figure

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