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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 2 years

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Dangerous Ideas.

Hey...I’m here...

Mondo!

*Mondo enters the Future Foundation Branch Chief room. As soon as he comes in, Taka cups his face and kisses his cheek.

Are you ok!?

Yeah...took a hit, but I needed a bit. I’m fine now though.

Also, I’m grateful, but ain’t we gotta retain professional behavior at work?

A-Ah, right...my apologies.

*After assembling the remaining Foundation members , Chihiro steps up front and addresses his audience.

Thanks for coming on such short notice.

So...how are things looking?

Let me guess. Not good.

What matters most right now is that there were no real casualties. But...yes, things aren’t exactly good.

I worked with the investigating team and discovered some things.

It turns out, just as some of us suspected, the blackout we experienced previously was not a result of Uchui’s machine malfunctioning. He was indeed testing an EMP to deactivate the security in Komaeda’s cell, and free him.

So the package that Zetsubou asked for...was Nagito Komaeda himself...

And the trial really was a big setup to allow Nagito to escape...DAMMIT, that kid REALLY got us!

I don’t get it. Komaeda admitted himself that Zetsubou had chipped him with a suicide chip or...whatever. If they don’t trust him enough to y'know...NOT do that, why do they want him back?

I imagine it’s the same reason why they still kept Seiko and Kanata Inori alive. They aren’t done making Ultimate Hope’s yet.

However, Nagito is their only living sample left, and he is a large part of why they’ve succeeded up until now. There are multiple reasons to want to get him back.

Personally, I’m very nervous now...More nervous than ever before.

Why is that?

This whole situation was clearly an induction for Uchui into the Organization. If he brings Nagito back to Shirogane, then she’ll allow him to join her ranks and enter their base.

At least, that’s what I gathered based on what Uchui was saying.

Which means...Zetsubou now have someone with knowledge of how the Ultimate Hope transformation works and...if Uchui gets his hand on the serum, he might be able to duplicate it...

No, I’m positive he’d be able to duplicate it. He boasted a lot of confidence, which he wouldn’t have done if he didn’t know what he was doing. Zetsubou have a limited amount of that serum left, but if Uchui got his hands on it...

An army of Ultimate Hope’s and superpowered enemies...would be right around the corner.

DAMMIT!

*Mondo slams the desk.

Ow...!

Easy, easy!

How did Uchui Kamukura even achieve this!? He’s not a member of Future Foundation, so how could he have gotten the authority to enter Nagito Komaeda’s cell block!?

He didn’t.

What?

I said he didn’t. Uchui never set foot into Nagito’s cell block. He got the EMP to him a different way. And that way also explains why we never found the EMP on Nagito’s person.

It’s because it was in his stomach.

It was WHAT!?

Uchui got to Nagito’s food supply. The EMP he used was so tiny, he hid it in Nagito’s breakfast for yesterday morning. Nagito ATE the EMP, and then it activated on it’s own, which broke him out.

Jesus! That’s very...! Ngh...clever...!

Taichi, I told you not to be impressed with our enemies schemes!

Sorry, I can’t help it! It’s just a simple fact that Uchui outsmarted every single one of us! We never even SUSPECTED him!

Kegh...!

The mood is at an all time low...What are we to do?

...I don’t think it’s too late just yet.

*Everyone turns to Nekomaru.

This is just my gut talking to me, but if I were the enemy of the Future Foundation, I’d wanna put my secret base as far away as reasonably possible from them.

So, if I'm guessing right, it’ll take a while for Uchui and Nagito to get to wherever Zetsubou’s HQ is. ESPECIALLY if Nagito is still injured from the gunshot.

Nekomaru Nidai...Are you suggesting that we...intercept them?

Yeah! We catch them BEFORE they can go to wherever the hell Zetsubou’s base it!

Why don’t we just go all the way and follow them to Zetsubou’s base?

Even if that works, we’d be walking right into enemy territory. We aren’t in any position to fight Zetsubou given how understaffed we are.

Ain’t it worth a go though!?

Well, ok, be my guest! Go on! Go catch up to them! I’m sure you’d be able to find them all by yourself!

...You don’t gotta be so sarcastic...!

Then don’t be a fucking idiot!

Chihiro! Language.

Sorry, I’m just...stressed...

I can tell...

Oh come on, don’t give me that look. I swear SOMETIMES.

No, you really don’t. We’ve had this discussion before.

Oh, WHATEVER! Point is, tracking those two is going to be easier said than done, much less catching up to them.

And think about it, even if we DID catch up to them...What would we DO!?

Even if he’s injured, Nagito Komaeda has the power to take us ALL out instantaneously! He already took on the Novoselic Army and the King and Queen by himself!

Even if we catch him, what then!? What’s stopping a repeat of what happened yesterday!?

I...Uh...

Sadly, Taichi has a point. Without any reasonable way to stop him...Our options are numbered.

...

???: Um...Excuse me.

???: Hey! Coming through!

Huh?

*Everyone’s attention turns towards the door.

Soldier: Hey, what are you doing!? You can’t just

???: Sorry! Really, please!

*Everyone’s attention turns to the doorway, which suddenly comes flying open.

‘Sup!

Miu, for crying out loud...! You can’t just burst in while they’re having a meeting! AAGH...

This is more important that whatever THEY’VE gotta be talking about!

Um...hello...You’re...Iruma, right?

Yep. That’s me. Pretty infamous by this point I would imagine.

And...K1-B0?

Just call me Keebo sir.

Wait, what are you two doing here!? Aren’t you supposed to be in London?

We just landed. There was an emergency, and we require Miu’s old lab here.

We also have an assignment from Shuichi.

Shuichi Saihara got the message about the traitor then?

That he did. Miu and myself were returning to fix a part of me that’s broken, since we didn’t have the gear required. However, at the same time, we were hoping to speak to Uchui.

We have some questions for him in regards to his involvement in our arrival here. Would it be possible to get an audience with him?

Ah...

Uh...

Well...

Krgh...

Ngh...

Eh...

*sigh*

...

Your timing is very unfortunate young ones. Allow me to catch you up.

*Sakura explains everything to Miu and Keebo.

HE ESCAPED!?

Regrettably...yes...AND he’s got Nagito Komaeda with him.

Uchui set a trap for us and we all fell for it. His trial yesterday was part of that trap.

God dammit! Of all the inconvenient things!

Yeah, I’m struggling to believe this!

We’re sorry. We let you down.

Well, why don’t you just go after him? He can’t have gotten far!

That’s what I was saying!

Yes, but it runs too many risks. We have no way of dealing with Nagito Komaeda, even if he is injured!

Only one person can actually put that miscreant in his place! Izuru! And he’s about as cooperative as a hungry toddler in a cinema!

Plus, we can’t really take Izuru out of hiding...

...!

...

Hm...Miu...

What?

*Keebo taps Miu on the shoulder. She leans in and he whispers something to her.

WHAT!?

!!?

What!? What’s wrong now!?

Forgive me for interjecting in your meeting, but...

Miu and I might have a solution to this problem.

Shut up Keebo, you know we can’t do it!

We don’t have a choice! It’s the only thing that could work right now!

SLOW DOWN, BOTH OF YOU! What are you talking about!?

I...Uh...

Go on. Explain it to them.

...I...

Miu...Any help we can get would be great. If you have a plan to stop Nagito and Uchui, then please, explain it.

...

...Fine...I admit, we might have...something...

After the incident with the tower, I was assigned to parole to basically undo everything I had done there. That included rebuilding and regenerating the reactor, after I used up all the juice to stop Mii-Yu from going haywire.

I admit...When my parole was over I...took some of the reactors energy with me back home. To study it; see if I could use it in any inventions in the future.

Using that energy, I...started developing some upgrades for Keebo, to help us combat Zetsubou. It really would come down to Keebo himself and the decisions he makes, but...well...

Miu calculated that if she attached the upgrades to me, and powered me and them up with the energy from the reactor...

The power that I would receive combatively would put me on par with Hajime Hinata!

What...!?

Hey...Nekomaru...Nagito is the same level of strength as Hajime, right?

Actually, I think Hajime’s stronger. That’s what Izuru said at least.

Even if Keebo doesn’t achieve Hajime’s level of strength, it will get him fairly close! In that case...

It might be enough to take Nagito down!

I’m serious. The energy supply is THAT strong.

Well...Why the fuck didn’t you just say that immediately!?

Because it’s too risky!

I haven’t had time to work out the kinks yet, and it’s not like we’ve had time to run a proper test! I put the project on hold when we went to camp, and then Zetsubou attacked us!

Normally, I’m the kind of person who’ll do it, no balls. Even if I fail, it’s a learning experience, right?

Well, it’s different when people’s lives are on the line! If I don’t apply this exactly right, or if the level of power isn’t as great as I think it is...Keebo...he...

Might die?

...

Yes! I don’t care if it is the best option, I’m not doing it if you don’t come back alive!

In that case...I’m with Miu on this one. We haven��t suffered any casualties with Nagito so far. I am NOT about to start making sacrifices.

But sir-!

But...he’s a robot. Couldn’t you just rebuild-

*CRUNCH!*

GAAAHAAGH!

*Miaya runs over Munakata’s foot with her wheelchair.

We appreciate your honesty Miu. You care about Keebo a lot. If you didn’t, what happened at the Tower wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

So...Your reluctance is reasonable.

Thank you Miaya...

With that said...If you truly wish to show that you care...

Why don’t you consider HIS feelings on the matter?

Huh?

Keebo. Even if it risks your life, would you be willing to fight against Nagito?

He’s the most dangerous opponent the Foundation have ever faced before...and you’ll be fighting him alone for the most part.

...I have absolutely no qualms. If I can do it, I will!

Keebo!

Like Munakata said Miu. You and Mona can just fix me if I break. Miu, I have the power to stop him! I CAN’T NOT use it!

I don’t intend to die...but I am currently the only one who can stop Nagito and Uchui before we lose them forever. And since we have no other option, I’m willing to take the risk.

So after you fix my broken endoskeleton, let’s do it! You have everything you need here at the Foundation, and time is running out!

...

Miu...Forgive me if this sounds rude, but this isn’t all about you!

And we don’t stop Uchui and Nagito now, more lives than mine will be on the line!

Ugh, FINE!

*Miu leans her head into Keebo’s chest.

Fine...! I get it, ok?

...

*Keebo hugs her. After a few moments, Miu stands up straight and looks determinedly at the Future Foundation.

We’re in.

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umbry-fic · 3 years

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Beaches! And Dolphins! (And Arsonists!)

Summary:

Colette: Misella, come play at the beach with me! Misella: I appreciate the invitation, but I must decline. Misella: I have been informed that I am 'not the beach type'. Colette: What? But... the beach is so much fun!

Colette, Lloyd, Arche and Genis spend an afternoon at the beach. Shenanigans ensue.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Crestoria Characters: Colette Brunel, Lloyd Irving, Arche Klein, Genis Sage, Raine Sage, Misella Relationships: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel & Lloyd Irving & Arche Klein & Genis Sage Rating: G Word Count: 4789 Mirror Link: AO3 Original Post Date: 20/07/2021

Notes+Warnings: A fun fic based on Colette's Crestoria summer alt. (Don't take this too seriously!) Arche and Genis are both wearing their Asteria summer alts.

Slight spoiler warning for a design change in Crestoria chapter 8. No spoilers for Lloyd's side story.

Credits to @likes-words-and-shrimp for inspiring the conversation at the start. Happy summer! ♥

~~~

“Oh god.” Arche spat out a mouthful of pineapple juice, fumbling and nearly dropping the glass she was holding, tiny umbrella and all, into the sand. She coughed into her free hand, desperately trying not to enter a wheezing fit. She had not expected to witness this today.

“Genis already warned me, but… Really, what possessed you to choose this?!” Arche asked in disbelief.

Genis and Colette, in Arche’s humble opinion, both looked adorable - Genis in swimming trunks and a pair of kitten flip-flops; Colette in a swimsuit dress, golden hair tied into a messy ponytail, and equipped with cute accessories that only added to her charm.

Then there was Lloyd. Who was wearing the loudest Hawaiin print shirt she had ever seen, paired with… shorts that were secured with a belt? These were the weirdest clothing choices she had ever seen. Who wore a belt when they were going to the beach?

Lloyd was very red and very noticeable, sticking out like a sore thumb on the beach.

At least he had made a sensible decision when it came to his footwear - he was wearing sandals. If he had chosen to wear covered shoes to the beach, Arche may have needed to bury Lloyd on the spot for his crimes.

Lloyd scowled, clearly not appreciating Arche’s gaping expression or Genis snickering behind her. His childhood friend had a hand on Arche’s shoulder, and it was the only thing keeping him from collapsing in laughter.

“It’s my favourite colour!” Lloyd protested, crossing his arms and glaring away into the distance. “Besides, how much more ridiculous is it than your silly hat, Arche?”

“Excuse me?” Arche retorted, straightening up in indignation. She adjusted the hat in question, which was not a hat at all. “This is a sun visor! Can’t you see it’s made of plastic? It’s a fashion statement. A fashion statement. And a practical one at that, because my sensitive skin needs protection! It’s miles better than your shirt!”

Arche glared back in full force, fire raging in her eyes. Despite her being a full three heads shorter than Lloyd, she appeared threatening enough to make Lloyd take a hurried step back.

“Alright, alright!” Lloyd conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. “Don’t murder me.”

“I told you this was a horrible choice yesterday, Lloyd,” Genis gasped between snickers, bending down with his hands on his knees. His sides were in pain. “Anyone would have known that this was a horrible choice. Anyone except you! You should have been there when he tried it on, Arche.”

Genis had done more than just tell Lloyd. Upon seeing Lloyd step out of the dressing room, Genis had groaned and buried his head in his hands. For an entire hour. Colette had tried to get him to raise his head with wonderful motivational quotes like “You can do it!”, but ultimately failed to knock Genis out of his stupor.

“Honestly, I’m thanking my lucky stars that I already owned mine,” Arche replied drily. And her two-piece swimsuit was cute too! A win. “I was spared seeing this disaster unfold live.”

“I think it looks nice,” Colette spoke up, butting into the conversation with a sunny smile. “Red looks good on Lloyd. It’s like… How do I explain it… His colour?”

“See? All of you just have no sense of taste!” Lloyd said triumphantly, blushing a little as he scratched the back of his head, grinning from Colette’s compliment.

“I’d say love is blind. But you’re both blind,” Arche commented, shaking her head and patting Genis on the back. “Come on, Genis, let’s go get started on a sandcastle before these two idiots derail this whole day.”

Colette stared after the retreating back of her two friends, Arche holding her drink high above her head and Genis still letting out a final few peals of laughter. She turned back to Lloyd, blinking in confusion. “Love…?”

“JUST - Think nothing of it!” Lloyd blurted out, blushing harder until his face resembled his shirt. All in all, too much red. “They don’t mean anything by it! Shall we get going too? We only have until Professor Raine picks us up to enjoy the beach.”

“Alright!”

Colette still wanted to know what was up, but chose to drop the line of questioning in favour of getting started with this day of fun. Neither she, nor Lloyd, nor Genis, had ever been to the beach. How could they, having been confined to the limits of a single village for their whole lives?

This was her chance to experience the sparkling waters and pristine sands that every child was supposed to know and experience at least once. All with shining eyes, a ton of energy, and the company of her friends! Arche had promised to act as their guide to all things beach-related, boasting about her expertise in this rather strange area.

It was going to be great, and she couldn’t wait!

Colette spotted a familiar figure in the corner of her vision, standing some distance away on the golden sands. Was that…?

“I see Misella!” Colette chirped, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement from spotting her new friend. She hoped she could get to know her better - that was a favourite pastime of hers. “I’m going to go say hi!”

“The girl you met last night at the inn? Have fun! I’ll be waiting with...” Lloyd trailed off as he realised that Colette had already taken off, leaving nothing but a cloud of fine sand in her wake. “Ah, she’s gone…” he muttered, smiling fondly. “Just like her.”

Lloyd turned, following the footprints Arche and Genis had left behind. Might as well get started on learning some beach activities! Then he could help Colette ease into them.

He wanted to make this day as amazing for her as possible.

~~~

“Misella!” Colette called out, practically lunging at the other girl’s back in excitement. Misella, rightfully startled, turned around just in time for Colette to grab onto her hands instead of sending Misella face-first into the sand.

Hm? How strange, Colette thought. Misella was still wearing gloves.

Maybe her hands were sensitive to sand…? That was the only reason Colette could think of. Or maybe it was just a fashion thing! Arche would know. She’d ask her later.

“Oh. It’s just you, Colette.” Misella blinked, releasing the tension from her hunched shoulders.

“Sorry for startling you.” Colette giggled. “I’m glad you ended up coming to the beach! You said you wouldn’t last night...”

“Ah, Kanata wanted to come. He said this was a famous beach and it would be a shame if we didn’t visit it,” Misella replied with a gentle smile, her gaze drifting to a boy with blond hair, who was wearing a plain pair of swimming trunks and was busy lugging a bucket from the direction of the waterfront. Kanata’s hand was bandaged - was he injured? Oh, Colette hoped he’d get better soon!

“And… the rest of my acquaintances,” Misella continued, tone shifting from adoring to carefully neutral as her gaze slid further right.

Acquaintances? What a strange way of putting friends!

Colette followed Misella’s gaze... And had to pause to process what she was seeing.

A man with black hair stood next to a lady with light brown hair, both slaving away with shovels in hand. The man wore a Hawaiian shirt over a pair of swimming trunks, the shirt even more eye-catching than Lloyd’s, and unbuttoned to reveal a strange symbol on his stomach. The lady wore a two-piece swimsuit, together with a sun hat made from straw and a pair of dark sunglasses that fully obscured any view of her eyes.

But what Colette was more interested in was where the two were dumping the sand they were so determined to dig up. All of it, weight and all, was going onto a third person who was so obscured by the pile of sand covering them that only their head of silver hair was visible, together with two flailing arms.

And was that screaming?

“Don’t be worried, Colette. This is an activity known as burying someone in sand. It’s a tradition at the beach, and Aegis volunteered,” Misella said in a deadpan tone. “Yuna and Vicious are just helping him.”

“I… I see.”

“Your swimsuit is very cute,” Misella commented, turning so that she blocked the concerning view behind her. She pointed out the white petals nestled securely in Colette’s hair. “And the flower is very beautiful. Is it a lily? I must admit I’m not too knowledgeable on flower species...”

“Oh, thank you so much! Lloyd picked it out for me, and it is a lily! At least, I think so,” Colette replied, any thoughts about the person in the sand already forgotten. Her happy smile only grew wider as she recalled how Lloyd had gifted the lily to her on the way to the beach.

Lloyd had been shifting from foot to foot, unable to look her in the eye as he had offered her the freshly-picked flower, the petals still wet from the morning rain. She hadn’t understood why he had been feeling so nervous, but hadn’t wanted to probe him on it. She had, however, accepted the lily in the blink of an eye, letting him place it in her hair, his fingers brushing against the tip of her ear for a brief moment and making her shiver. Her heart was filled with warm happiness from his actions. She intended to cherish the flower for as long as she could, for it was a gift from Lloyd, and all gifts from Lloyd were precious treasures.

“Like my brightblaze…” Misella muttered to herself, fingers cupping the precious flower that continued to sit in her hair, no matter her outfit or agenda for the day. It would never leave.

“Yours is really pretty as well! So is your swimsuit. It’s elegant,” Colette said eagerly, wanting to return the compliment. Misella’s two-piece swimsuit with a skirt truly fit her!

“Thank you, Colette. And did you get yours from the same place as us? This…” Misella asked, fingers reaching out and brushing the inflatable float that snugly hugged Colette’s arm. The float didn’t resemble any normal ring float - it was shaped like Lloyd, complete with his large smile, spiky hair and red Hawaiian shirt. It was adorable, and Colette absolutely loved it. She would be keeping it forever, even if she never went to the beach again! Lloyd had said much the same about his float, who looked just like her, down to the exact outfit she was wearing right now.

Besides, who said she wasn’t allowed to wear the float even outside of the beach? She wasn’t opposed to proudly wearing it every day, no matter what anyone said to her.

“I see that you have a similar float.” Colette giggled, gently poking the Kanata-shaped float on Misella’s right arm, which complemented the one she could faintly see on Kanata’s arm. “Did the friendly man at the swimwear shop offer to make you a pair as he did with me and Lloyd?”

“The short man with the accent?”

“The very same! He was so nice.”

Colette clasped her hands together, hoping she’d be able to see that friendly man with the bushy beard again. She wanted to thank him one more time for the generous gift - the pair of floats had been completely free of charge, and the details were perfectly done!

She also wanted to just spend some time with him. He seemed like an interesting person, and Lloyd seemed to like him too.

“Ah, Colette,” Misella said, breaking Colette out of her train of thought. “Kanata is calling for me.”

“Oh! Then I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Sorry for cutting our conversation short…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Colette waved Misella’s worries away. “We can always keep talking in the inn tonight. My friends and I aren't going to be leaving till tomorrow. I hope you have a good time! I’ll be joining my friends now.”

“You too, Colette! Have a fun time!” Misella waved goodbye, yelling after Colette’s retreating back.

Colette really was doing a lot of running around today.

She hoped she wouldn’t trip and ruin something…

~~~

“Sorry about the sandcastle. I lost us the competition...” Colette sighed. She crouched and dipped her hand down, letting the incoming waves wash away the granules sticking to it. That wouldn’t be enough to rid her of all the sand clinging to her from her plunge through the sandcastle, but nothing was likely to do that except a dip in the ocean.

Neither would the water wash away the frustrated frown on her face.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lloyd said, his gaze drawn to her, as it always was - watching the sea foam part around her hand; the sea flinging droplets into the air around her. “I’m just glad you’re not hurt. And what mattered was that we had a lot of fun, right?”

“Right!” Colette stood up, her frown fading away. Rivulets of water flowed down her arm and dripped from her fingertips. “I had a ton of fun!” She turned to face the azure waves, taking a step closer. Sunlight rippled on their surface, forming diamonds of pure gold that danced in merriment. “The waters here really are beautiful. They might be the most beautiful thing I’ve seen. Apart from Pasca’s clearing, that is. Thanks for suggesting we come here, Lloyd.”

Lloyd walked further out so he was standing next to Colette, feeling the waves lap at his ankles and submerge his bare feet, his sandals having been abandoned in the protection of Arche and Genis.

The sea wasn’t anywhere close to the most beautiful thing here.

“Anything to make that smile return,” he muttered.

No, that title belonged to the girl standing next to him. Her ponytail swayed in the slight breeze that teased his shoulders, her dress fluttering around her thighs, the metal around her neck glinting golden under the sunlight. Her arms were outstretched to feel the sea spray, her head tipped back in bliss. And on her face was the smile he always wanted to put there, bright and happy and content.

He couldn’t tear his gaze away.

“Lloyd? Earth to Lloyd?”

Lloyd snapped out of his daze to find Colette waving her hand in his face, a pout on her face and her hand on her waist.

“You can’t just stare at me and go silent, you know,” Colette grumbled.

“Sorry. I… I was, um...” Lloyd scrambled to return to his senses, wondering what he could even say without exposing just how deeply he had tumbled into love. Just being this close to her made his heart sing, not to mention how her current outfit turned her cuteness up to eleven and made functioning normally for him nigh impossible. All the ribbons…

He’d choked on his spit when Colette had walked out of the dressing room, hardly able to believe his eyes. Genis had spent the entirety of yesterday night reminding him of this, and Lloyd knew Genis would never let him forget.

A sudden clicking sound emanated from near their feet, interrupting his awkward attempt at an explanation. Boy, was he glad for the distraction.

“Oh!” Colette squealed in delight, crouching once again to peer at the snout that now poked out of the waters - one belonging to a grey dolphin with shining, curious eyes. “Hello there! Come to say hi?”

So the clicking sound had been the dolphin’s cry! He’d have to thank the dolphin later for saving his hide.

Colette laughed, the sound as refreshing as the sea spray, as the dolphin bumped its snout into her open palm. “You’re a playful one, aren’t you?” she whispered, patting its rubbery head. “Hm, I think I’ll name you Tim. Do you like the name?”

The dolphin proceeded to swim one rapid round, seemingly expressing its joy. It leapt into the air before diving back into the water, the slap of its tail spraying the both of them with a faceful of salt.

“I think it likes it,” Lloyd said. He couldn’t help but smile - even as he blinked seawater out of his eyes - content to watch Colette play with the dolphin. Naming the dolphins was so inherently... Colette.

That was when a second dolphin appeared, emitting equally enthusiastic cries as it joined the first. The two swam around each other happily, squeaking and clicking, with what appeared to be smiles on both of their faces that revealed rows of teeth.

“I think Tim and Robert are friends!” Colette exclaimed, clapping her hands together. She had come up with a second name on the spot. Impressive. “How sweet.”

“They’re… They’re coming back,” Lloyd noted in surprise, staring at the two rapidly approaching dolphins gliding through the ocean. The two sea creatures came to an abrupt stop before him and Colette, both clicking out an unknown message.

“I wonder what it is they want,” Colette mused, reaching out a gentle hand to stroke Robert’s fin. Only to be met with enthusiastic clicking, Tim bobbing its head up-and-down in what Lloyd interpreted as a nod.

“Huh.” This was probably going to sound dumb, but it was the only thing that came to Lloyd’s mind. “I… I think they want us to ride them?”

As if they could comprehend what Lloyd was saying, the two dolphins burst out into a cacophony of cries, shocking even Colette.

“I think you hit the nail on the head!” Colette kicked off her sandals, the two shoes landing on a haphazard pile on the sand, before grabbing his right hand in both of hers. She did it with no hesitation at all, the warmth of her hands seeping into his. He didn’t know how she did it, but he never wanted her to stop.

“Come on! This will be so much fun!” she cried, tugging him along, the bracelet around her right wrist jangling. She was the brightest thing before him, brighter even than the sun, her smile lighting up his chest with fireworks.

He would follow her anywhere. Anywhere in the whole wide world.

“Let’s not keep Tim and Robert waiting!”

~~~

“I wish you would have told us about the dolphins,” Arche grumbled, sitting up on the beach towel that formed her seat and hugging her knees to her chest. Genis was squatting next to her, continuing to work on the turtle sandcastle that had won the pair the spontaneously-held sandcastle competition. And rightfully so, considering how intricate the design was - complete with grooves on the shell and accurately shaped flippers.

Colette wondered how the turtle continued to stand on such a narrow base, however. Shouldn’t it have collapsed by now? Sand wasn’t this stable, was it? How did Genis do it?

“Sorry,” she apologised, plopping down under the shade of the umbrella that the two half-elves had commandeered. Her legs were still slightly shaky from the thrill of the past half-hour. “I was too engrossed and forgot entirely.”

It had been so much fun to navigate the seas on the back of an energetic dolphin with Lloyd by her side, catching the waves and speeding along the currents, feeling the sea breeze kiss her face. The cries of the dolphins and Lloyd’s laughter had filled her ears, his delighted smile carved into her memory. He’d even challenged her to a race, one that had ended in a draw as both Tim and Robert reached the shore at the same time. She and Lloyd had stumbled back onto the sand at that moment, her head spinning from all the tight turns they’d made. His arms had steadied her, as Lloyd always did, as she had turned and waved goodbye to the dolphins before they sped away.

“I’ll definitely tell you next time!” Colette promised. Arche and Genis should get to know the magical experience as well. And she would love to do it again.

Maybe she’d get to see Tim and Robert again! That would be great.

Genis not-so-discreetly elbowed Arche in the side, raising three fingers into the air and shaking his head.

“Ah, you’re right, Genis. Never mind, Colette, it’s alright. I’m actually somewhat glad.” Arche nodded sagely, having understood Genis’ symbolism perfectly. She flopped back down onto the towel, resting her head on her crossed arms. “I would have died so young from third-wheeling.”

“What does that even mean?” Colette asked, half-ready to place her hands on Arche’s shoulders and shake the answers out of her friend. It was bad enough that Arche and Genis seemed to be sharing an inside joke, but they also kept using these mysterious terms that Colette couldn’t wrap her head around! Even Lloyd seemed to be in on it.

“Don’t mind them!” Lloyd hurriedly interjected, slipping his feet into his sandals. Was he… blushing again?

What was happening?!!

Colette pouted. Fine. She’d drop it for now. But she’d find out one day, she swore.

“So. Shall we play a game of volleyball?” Arche asked. “Our sandcastle competition fell apart from the beginning, and…” Arche reached blindly into a backpack that the half-elf had magically procured out of somewhere, for Colette did not remember her bringing it to the beach. Arche triumphantly pulled out a colourful beach ball, all without budging from her lazy position. “...it’s the perfect use for this!”

“Sure. You’re on,” Lloyd replied, grinning. “I bet me and Colette can beat you any day.”

“And you two are automatically on the same team.” Arche finally sat up, raising one eyebrow before dropping it immediately. “Why am I even surprised? Anyway, you sure you want to make that bet?”

Genis sighed, setting down his shovel. He was not looking forward to all the physical exertion, but he knew he’d get dragged into it whether or not he agreed. Might as well indulge his friends. “Don’t try to be cocky, Arche. Lloyd may be the dumbest idiot in the world, but he is strong.”

“Oh, you’re right…”

“Yeah! See? I’d beat you - Wait, Genis!” Lloyd shouted, having finally processed that his friend had insulted him.

Colette paid no mind to the childish jabs her two childhood friends were busy exchanging. Rather, she was deep in thought about how to make the upcoming volleyball game more fun. Genis would get tired fairly quickly, and she’d rather let him rest instead of forcing himself to continue. But that would make the teams unbalanced, and who knew how long Arche and Lloyd could continue playing for?

The solution…

Ah!

“Can I invite Misella and her friends?” Colette perked up, raising her arm like she was answering one of Professor Raine’s questions. She’d come up with a brilliant idea, and she wanted to share it! “Since they’re here at the beach, they might as well join in the fun!”

“I mean… I don’t see why not?” Arche shrugged.

“The more the merrier!” Lloyd agreed.

“Okay then, I’m off!” Colette scrambled to her feet, quickly brushing down her bare legs. “I’ll bring them back here.”

Colette sprinted towards where she remembered Misella was, becoming nothing more than a blur of yellow and red that zoomed past other people. She spotted a familiar head of pink hair and adjusted her path.

Misella was standing with her back to Colette, her arms crossed across her chest. The person who had been in the process of being buried was now fully covered with a massive mound of sand, arms laying slack as if in resignation.

As Colette neared the group of five, the sound of enraged shouting reached her ears. Oh no, was there some argument going on?

All Colette could make out was the word “bazongas”. She had no clue what that meant, for she had never heard it before. Perhaps it was some mysterious creature, befitting of such a unique name. She’d just ask Professor Raine later!

What Colette did know was the chain of unfortunate events that unfolded within the next few minutes. It was such a short time, and yet it was packed to the brim with frantic activity, seeming to stretch into eternity.

Colette spotted Misella raise her arm, a bird of flame coming to life and rearing its head gloriously. She absent-mindedly registered in a small section of her mind that the phoenix was gorgeous, elegant and regal. A perfect match for someone like Misella.

The rest of her mind was focused on all-consuming worry.

Lloyd, Genis and Arche tended to get into arguments a lot. They were always playful, however, never malicious in nature. And they most certainly did not stray into full-on fights with intent to injure. At most, Genis would hit Lloyd lightly in the shoulder, while Arche hit a little harder by slapping the same spot.

Friends shouldn’t hurt one another! She staunchly believed in that! So whatever disagreement Misella and her friends had gotten into, they should resolve it peacefully. Not with red-hot flames!

“Mise - Ah!” Colette was interrupted mid-shout as her foot caught on… absolutely nothing. There was nothing in the sand - not a pebble, not a fragment of a seashell, not a handle of a stray, forgotten shovel. She had tripped over thin air.

The mystery of how Colette had fallen, while intriguing, was not the most important thing.

Rather, it was the immediate consequence of her fall, as it usually was.

Misella, too wrapped up in yelling at Vicious, didn’t hear Colette’s approach at all. The others took notice of the girl flailing her arms in warning far too late, identical expressions of alarm crossing their faces as they stepped forward in a futile attempt to stop the inevitable collision.

“Now burn - Eek!” Misella let out a surprised squeak of her own as Colette’s outstretched arms slammed into Misella’s back, sending them both careening towards the sand.

Unfortunately, this was also the moment wherein Misella released her scorching flames.

And you can guess how that ended.

~~~

“First of all. Lloyd, what are you wearing?” Raine groaned, dragging a tired hand down her face. As the responsible, and only, adult of the group, it had fallen to her to retrieve the frolicking children from the beach before the day got too late, and shepherd them back to the inn. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be leaving this town on time. Or ever.

If Raine was to be truly responsible, she should have been supervising them the entire time. After all, there was no telling what consequences Arche’s shenanigans would usher in, nor the problems that Lloyd’s stupidity could cause, nor the calamities that Colette could trip her way into. Genis, bless her little brother’s poor soul, would try his best, but he was nowhere near intimidating enough to get a handle on all three of them.

But there was no way anyone was going to convince her to spend her afternoon at the beach, passing each second petrified by terror and staring at the slowly approaching waters, waiting for the ocean to swallow her whole. She still wanted to let Lloyd, Colette and Genis experience the beach, however. Colette, especially, had been deprived of a childhood for far too long.

So Raine had happily traipsed off to the library for a few hours of quality reading, convinced that even these trio of troublemakers (and Genis tagging along) couldn’t get into that much trouble in such a short time.

And she’d come back to this mess.

“Is this really relevant, Professor? And why does everyone feel the need to bring this up?”

“Because it’s appalling! I taught you better than this!”

Genis and Arche, sitting on a nearby stone wall and observing the proceedings with identical deadpan expressions, let out a synchronised snicker. Though they quickly shut up when Raine glared at them. They did value their lives.

“That’s NOT the point, Professor! Don’t we have more pressing issues to deal with?”

"Then to get to the point… Colette," Raine forced through gritted teeth, the last word pointed. These kids were really something…

"Yes, Professor Raine?" Colette laughed in a higher pitch than usual, clasping her hands behind her back as sweat ran down her brow. Both because of nerves, and because of... Well... The situation behind her.

It was really, really hot. Not to mention the group of five arguing close-by, the boy who had finally managed to extricate himself from the sand desperately patting at his originally silver hair, which now had blackened tips. It might also have been… significantly shorter than it used to be, and certainly more jagged.

Raine sighed, brow furrowing in exasperation. She could feel the beginnings of a pounding headache.

"I left the four of you for three hours. Why is the beach on fire?"

#tales of symphonia #fanfiction #one shot #tales of crestoria #colette brunel #lloyd irving #genis sage #raine sage #arche klein #misella #colloyd #colette's crestoria summer alt

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jasxsilva · 3 years

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Current Reads : September

Ascendance Of A Bookworm Manga

I dislike the Isekai genre. However, I'm aware how popular this type of storytelling is and I'm not above giving a manga a chance just because it falls into certain tropes. There has been many times I've been surprised by a take of a genre and that is just this case. So let's talk about Ascendance Of A bookworm.

Originally a Web Novel, by Miya Kazuki, the story follows a certain book obsessed collage student who suddenly dies due an earthquake. She wakes up in a different world, in a different body. She is now Myne, a five year old girl who is sickly, who's family is impoverished, and the majority of the population is illiterate. Worst of all, books are not a commodity! Myne now makes it her goal to use her previous memories to learn how to make books.

What I love about this manga is the limitations the protagonist has to try and overcome. Not just getting to know the world she lives in but the logistics of producing books with literally foreign materials. Myne's previous memories and knowledge of earth's seemingly simple products like shampoo and recipes for food blows everyone away, because products like that just don't existed. Simple items that were taken for granted are monumental improvements for her friends and family.

There are currently 7 manga volumes with more slotted to come. What's cool is that the manga artist Suzuka and the author work very close making a the world very immersive and so interesting! Needless to say, I'm incredibly invested in Myne's journey to make books.

Witch Hat Atelier

From the moment I saw the artwork of Kamome Shirahama I was sold. Story aside, just studying this manga's paneling and creativity is something to marvel at. But this isn't just pretty to look at, it's also such a fascinating read!

Witch Hat Atelier is about Coco, daughter of a seamstress, and a curious dreamer. Although she is not a witch herself, she is obsessed with everything magic and yearns to learn how to cast spells. So when a Wizard visits their shop Coco is observant and is ecstatic to learn she may be able to do magic too. As she tries to conjure up magic in secret, disaster unfolds as her spell backfires and causing harm to her mother and home. With the help of the Wizard, Coco becomes his apprentice and try and set things right.

Again, what I love is the artwork. This manga has created panels I've never seen before. Such as wild transitions from panel to panel and detailed borders reminiscent of religions iconography. So far there are 8 volumes and the story won't be ending soon judging by the pacing of everything. Witch Hat Atelier has created a wonderful magic system and packed with adventure and wonder. It's so damn cheesy but this manga really is magical.

Chi's Sweet Home

I rarely do this, but I picked up this Manga on a whim simply based on the adorable cover art of a cheesy cat. And I am glad I did because by far this manga has been the most enjoyable thing to read this year.

Chi's Sweet Home is about a kitten that gets separated from her family but gains a new one in human form. The Yamadas. They take her in, cautiously, as their apartment has a strict no pet policy. And that's as far as this plot goes, as the rest of the series follows Chi getting used to her new home and the adorable things cats do.

Each chapter follows either something new Chi has discovered or the many quirky situations that occur specific to owning a cat. Cat lovers, you're going to adore this.

Written and created by Kanata Konami, there are 12 volumes, however the version I have is somewhat like an omnibus with multiple volumes into one. It's a very easy read, and I think for animal lovers its a universally good read.

Daytime Shooting Star

I've actually read this series before (through shady website mind you) but I remember really loving it. So I purchased the series to experience it in a better way. A do over. Unfortunately my second time around I have to admit it wasn't as impactful. Perhaps because I've read many manga since or I haven't read a shoujo manga in a while but I have mixed feelings.

On one hand I enjoy Mika Yamamori's distinctive character design. And on the other, I believe the pages were very empty with many spaces and similar perspective in the compositions. There are also some tropes I do not care for such as love triangles and teacher student crushes.

This doesn't take away that I do still enjoy reading this. My rose tinted glasses are just off.

The story is about Suzume moving from the countryside to Tokyo for high school. Her first day in the city she collapses in a park and is helped by a stranger. There seems to be a immediate spark she feels towards him, but eventually they part. This won't be the last she sees him as it turns out he's her homeroom teacher, yikes. While she sorts her feelings about her teacher she makes friends with a classmate who doesn't like to be touched by women. And thus their love triangle begins....

You see what I mean with tired tropes. However I can't say the way this manga handles these trope are bad, in fact I enjoy the way it was presented. Some expectation were diverted and there is some cute looking characters. If you like shoujo and cute art, I'd think you'd enjoy this. Only 12 volumes too.

Anyways those are the manga I read in the month of September. For October I'll be picking up a few new things Like "I am a Cat Butler and "Komi Can't Communicate" and I'll see how that goes.

#manga #comic #reading recs #reading #books #anime #ascendance of a bookworm #daytime shooting star #chi's sweet home #witch hat atelier

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endlesshero1122 · 3 years

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Rewritten Destiny (Part 1)

(this is a Time Travel Fic I wrote as a final for one of my classes. I hope you like it)

@kybacrystal @queenevac @sceptilemasterr @homosexual-haunting

@gayskywalkcrs @venomous-ko @pirate-king-hondo

(let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list)

Change is only easy if it occurs without caution

Pyrrhic victory. After spending generations fighting the relentless Sith Lord the Lost Knights have finally ended Darth Sidious’ reign of terror. In spite of their triumph, the Lost Knights feel no justice or peace after years of despair and loss. As Rey continues on the path set before her by the late Luke and Leia Skywalker, Maz Katana leads the Lost Knights onto another path, one that will change the course of destiny…

The Lost Knights, D-0, and EG-5 stared in awe at the ancient painting before them. It depicted three figures, all whom radiated an overwhelming sense of power of their own: the beautiful woman on the left projected a warm and comforting light that made them feel safe; the dark imposing man on the right sent out a wave of cold darkness that nearly swallowed them whole; the figure in the middle, the Lost Knight sense, held the other two’s power at bay to ensure balance. This, Maz Kanata had told them, was the gateway to the World Between Worlds.

“So, what is the World Between Worlds?” Keith asked aloud.

“I think I read about it in one of the sacred texts from the Jedi Temple,” Tala said softly. “It’s a plane within the force that has access to pathways and doors to moments in space and time. I tried to ask Master Yoda about it, but all he said was that the knowledge came to me for a reason.”

Maz nodded. “And now you know what that reason is.”

The Lost Knights glanced at each other unsurely. Maz sighed. She supposed that there was no easy way to explain this to them; they were still so young in so many ways in spite of their conflicting changes in age. But the task before them was not a simple one, nor the safest. One wrong move, and the threads of destiny that held every reality together would unravel, causing all worlds to plunge into ruin.

“Have any of you ever wished you could undo a moment in the past? Save someone you lost, or prevent an event that destroyed everything you held dear?”

The Knights stiffened. None of them needed to say it out loud, but Evan took the opportunity to finally speak up.

“Order 66.”

Maz gave them a knowing yet gentle look. D-0’s coned head swerved from each of his new friends. While an unliving being and therefore unable to use the force, he could sense the darkened aura that had suddenly surrounded his friends; he didn’t like it.

“W-wh-what is that?”

Evan glanced down at the droid. “It was how Palpatine became the Emperor and killed all the Jedi. He used it to turn their troops against them so he could rise into power…” Keith clenched his fists tightly. His voice was thick with anger as he spoke. “The Empire, the First Order…”

“Han, Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, Padmé,” Tala’s voice was barely above a whisper as she listed their fallen friends. One name became lodged in her throat until she forcefully choked it out. “...Anakin…”

Keith and Evan winced at the name. Anakin… Three different generations, three different wars, and still no amount of suffering that any of them had endured came close to the pain that name inflicted on them.

“All of this, everything that’s happened, was because of Order 66,” Evan finished. His voice was thick as the unpleasant memories came flooding back. How much had he and his friends suffered, how much had they lost, because of that stupid order? Palpatine had finally been defeated, but his death brought no sense of justice or victory. In a way, despite all their efforts, he had still won…

“That may have come to pass in this world,” Maz spoke, startling the Knights out of their thoughts, “but it does not have to in another world.”

Her words caught the Lost Knights off guard. They glanced between each other, their faces conveying the same emotions: disbelief, uncertainty… and hope.

“Are…” Evan hesitated. He was afraid to hope, but still… “Are you saying we can stop Order 66 from happening?”

Maz smiled. It wasn’t exactly the answer he was looking for, but it was enough for the others.

“We can undo everything Palpatine’s done?” Keith was shaking with excitement. “We can stop him from building the Empire? Save the Jedi?”

“And if that never happens, the First Order will never exist,” Evan said in realization. He laughed; he felt lightheaded, but blissful and happy. This was amazing! It was almost too good to be true--

“Yes and no.”

There it was.

“While many of the events you have experienced have occurred in other paths within time, each has its own laws that cause them to exist separately,” Maz explained.

“Like Legends vs Clone Wars,” Tala thought out loud. “According to the canon of the Clone Wars, Palpatine had chips installed in the Clone’s brains that forced them to comply with Order 66. But in Legends, the Kamanoias just modified them to be unquestionably loyal and obedient.”

Maz confirmed her theory with a slight incline of her head. “But while these paths exist independently from each other, they are still connected. To cause significant damage to one will endanger them all.”

Evan bit the inside of his cheek. So it wasn’t just a simple matter of going back in time; they needed to find the right strand of reality to alter in a massive web of space and time. Furthermore, if they messed up or failed to alter time correctly in that one realm, they would harm every other multiverse in existence. Talk about no pressure…

“How do we know which one to choose?” Keith asked.

“Listen to the Force. Trust in it, and let it guide you. Now, you best get started on your journey.”

The Knights blinked in surprise as Maz turned on her heel and started back towards her ship.

“You’re not coming with us?”

Maz glanced at Evan from over her shoulder. “This is your path to walk, my only task was to lead you to the door. I added some additional information to your little droid friend that might be useful to you, but from here, you are on your own. I wish to have a word with Tala in private before I leave.”

Tala exchanged a brief glance with her friends before walking over to join Maz. Once they were out of earshot, Maz motioned for the girl to kneel so that they were at eye level.

“How are you feeling?” Maz asked her. Her tone was soft and gentle.

Tala shrugged, though she trembled slightly. “Do you want an in-depth description or a summary?”

Maz took Tala’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She knew the journey had taken a toll on the Lost Knights, though as the one who had been closest to the Skywalkers, Tala carried a particular burden on her shoulders.

“This task is not a simple one; it will challenge you in many ways and push you to your limits, or even beyond that. But neither of you would have been chosen to walk this path if you did not have the strength to endure it.”

She placed two objects in both of Tala’s hands. Long and metallic, though one was more dense than the other. Tala looked down, and felt her chest tighten. In her left hand, she held Leia’s lightsaber; in her right, the one that Anakin had one wielded before it had been passed on to Luke.

“W-what…”

“Rey gave them to me just before she left,” Maz answered before Tala could fully structure the question. “She told me she had a vision when she connected to the Jedi of the past, and that Luke and Leia had the same vision before they passed.”

“What was the vision?”

Maz shook her head. “Rey instructed me not to tell you, but she did say this: these lightsabers carry the legacy of the Skywalkers, and now they are in your hands.”

Tala glanced down at the lightsabers in her hands. “Why me?”

Maz’s eyes softened as her hand lifted up to the japor snippet hanging from Tala’s neck. Anakin had carved it for his wife, Padmé, who then gave it to Tala before she had died. Maz traced the carvings carefully, as if they were a sacred text.

“Keith is your best fighter and serves as the group’s protector, Evan is a great leader and keeps you all grounded, but you were the closest to the Skywalkers. Rey, Luke, Leia, Anakin… they are a part of you, more than you know. Their legacy is your responsibility, and yours alone.”

“But what if we fail?” Tala asked, though she meant, What if I fail?

Maz gave Tala’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. “You won’t.”

Tala wasn’t sure if Maz only meant to answer the question she had asked or if she knew what was truly troubling her, but she accepted her words nonetheless.

“You best join your companions. You all have much to do.”

Tala nodded and rose to her feet. “Thank you, Maz.”

“No, thank you.”

Maz headed towards her ship, and Tala clipped the lightsabers to her belt before rejoining her friends. EG-5 addressed her with a tilt of his head and made a series of low mechanical growls. Anyone else would have interpreted this to be menacing, but Tala just gave the former Jedi Hunter a soft smile.

“I’m okay, EG. Maz just wanted to wish us luck before she left.”

She wasn’t trying to hide the lightsabers, though she didn’t see the need to bring them up. At least not yet. Right now, they had another matter to deal with.

“She didn’t happen to tell you how to open this door, did she?” Keith asked. “Because that would’ve been really helpful.”

Evan turned to Tala. “You were the one who learned about this place, and Master Yoda said that you found the texts about it for a reason. Maybe you’re the one who has to open it?”

Tala shrugged and approached the door. Listen to the Force, Maz had said. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. The world around her faded away as calming warmth flowed through her. She heard a faint whisper. Slowly, it grew louder until she could make out what it had said:

Daughter.

Tala opened her eyes and turned to the woman on the left. The Daughter. She saw that one of her hands was circled, and knew what to do. She placed her own hand on the Daughter’s and positioned it to mirror the painting. The circle around the woman’s hand began to glow and the painting shifted. Keith, Evan, and the droids watched in wonder as the lines moved to connect to each other as the rest of the painting lit up.

“We are the ones who guard the power,” a woman’s voice said softly; the Daughter’s voice, Tala reasoned. “We are the beginning, the middle, and the end.”

The Daughter turned her head towards the figure in the middle. In turn, the figure pointed to the man on the right, specifically at his hand, but the man did not move. Instead the wolves, who had gone unnoticed until that moment, turned their heads towards the small group. They growled softly, then howled and began to walk off the painting. Tala followed them without hesitation, and her friends warily followed as well. The wolves led the group to the far side of the stone wall before lingering there. They started by trotting slowly before breaking into a run as they formed a circle.

“Okay… Now what?” Keith asked Tala.

“Now we go through.”

Keith and Evan blinked at her; if the droids were able to, they would have as well.

“What? We don’t know what’s on the other side! We don’t even know if there’s another side, it just looks like they’re running around a spot of solid rock!”

Evan placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder to pacify him before addressing Tala. “Are you sure?” He understood Keith’s hesitance, but Tala was the one who learned about whatever this door was and where it led. She had never given him any reason not to trust her, and he wasn’t about to let his uncertainty change that.

Tala nodded once, then stepped through the door and disappeared. Keith and Evan shared a glance, then followed after her with D-O and EG-5 in tow. For a moment, they were engulfed in darkness. Voices whispered around them, though they could only hear a few.

“The Force will be with you. Always.”

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

“I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.”

Keith let out a yelp as he and Evan stumbled out through the other side while D-0 and EG-5 landed next to them with a loud metallic clang. The boys took a moment to collect themselves before examining the area around them. From the looks of it, they seemed to be in space; darkness surrounded them save for the clusters of twinkling stars. They could make out a few constellations scattered across the void, but they were all depicted as wolves. Speaking of wolves, the ones who had formed the portal now stood still.

“You guys okay?”

Keith and Evan startled; neither of them had noticed Tala watching them until that moment.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Keith told her. “How about you?”

Tala gave him a slight nod.

Evan quickly checked on the droids to make sure they were all right before turning to Tala. “I’m guessing we’re in the World Between Worlds?”

Tala nodded again.

“Any idea what to do now?”

“Why are you asking me? You’re the leader.”

Evan shrugged. “You’re the one who knows the most about this place.”

“And technically the only one who knows anything about this place,” Keith added. “‘The knowledge chose you for a reason’, remember?” Tala rolled her eyes, but didn’t dispute Keith’s point. “Well, first thing’s first: we need to make sure Order 66 never happens. If we want to do it right, we have to find the right moment in time in the right canon of events. After that, we can deal with stopping Sidious. In other words, we have to find the right door.”

Evan and Keith glanced around. By the looks of things, that part would be easier said than done. There were countless winding pathways leading to a variety of different doorways, none of which were identical to each other. Maz’s warning echoed in their ears: one mistake, and every single reality behind every door would unravel. So far, it looked like there were a thousand mistakes just waiting to happen.

“W-w-which door?” D-0 asked. His head swiveled from one door to the next in a pace that made the Lost Knights worry that it would spin right off. EG-5 seemed to share this concern, as he firmly placed his hand on D-0’s head to halt its movement.

Tala carefully studied each door that she could see, reaching out through the Force to see which pathway would call to her. Silence. Her stomach twisted slightly, and she reached out again. Still nothing. This wouldn’t do. How was she supposed to know which door to go through? She couldn’t just spin around and blindly point at one of the pathways. Too much was at stake to get careless. Aya took a deep breath, then closed her eyes and tried again. Listen to the Force, listen to the Force, listen to--

“Hoot.”

Aya’s eyes flew open. Much to her surprise, an elegant green convor was perched on her outstretched arm. She looked into the convor’s eyes, and felt a powerful yet gentle wave of energy flood through her. It felt similar to the energy she felt radiating off of the Daughter… A sudden realization hit Tala: this convor was the exact same one that was perched on the Daughter’s shoulder! The convor peered at Tala with wise eyes, and another wave of energy flooded through her.

“What’s up with the bird?” she heard Keith.

“How’d it even get in here?” Evan questioned.

“She,” Tala corrected. She felt the convor reach out to her through the Force again. “Her name is Morai, and she’s here to help.”

Morai hooted again, then flew down one of the paths. Tala glanced back at her friends, then followed the convor. She could hear her and her friends’ footsteps echoing softly off the path. The sound mingled with the hushed voices whispering around them, though a select few grew clearer as the group approached one of the doors.

“We’re just clones, sir. We’re meant to be expendable.”

“Without the clones, it would not have been a victory.”

“We’re not programmed. You have to learn to make your own decisions.”

“Good soldiers follow orders, good soldiers follow orders…”

“When the time comes, no one will be able to stop our plan to execute Order 66.”

Tala and the group came to a halt as Morai settled on top of the door’s outline. It was a simple circle, detailed only by a continuous number: 5.

“This is the one.”

“How can you be sure?”

Before Tala could answer Evan’s question, the white outlines of the door began to glow with a pale blue light as an image appeared at its center. The group instinctively backed away, with EG-5 giving a low mechanical growl, as a heavily cloaked figure came into view. None of them needed to see his face to know that he was Sidious; the dark, menacing chill that traveled up their spines was enough of a giveaway. As the image became clearer, they saw that this was not Sidious himself, but a hologram of him. He spoke in a hushed tone as he addressed the two Kaminoans in front of him, but the Lost Knights heard every word.

“Is it ready?”

“Yes, Lord Sidious,,” one of the Kaminoans said. The group instantly recognized the voice of Prime Minister Lama Su. He held up a glass plate containing an organic inhibitor chip. “Nala Se and her scientists have successfully developed the inhibitor chip to your request. Once you provide us with the template, we will begin duplicating the chip and then implant them in the clones.”

“Very good. Remember, no one must discover the purpose of these chips, or about Protocol 66.”

The Kaminoans bowed their heads as the Sith Lord’s hologram flickered, then vanished. Lama Su placed the chip on the table and left the lab along with Nala Se. Once they were gone, Keith released a string of curses that made Tala cover her ears.

“They knew! Those long-necked sleemos knew!”

“Of course they knew,” Evan growled. “But we can deal with them later. Right now, we have to focus on destroying that chip.”

“No.”

Evan and Keith balked at Tala.

“Tala--”

“If we destroy the chip, they’ll just make a new one,” Tala told them. “We need to alter it so that when the Kaminoans duplicate it, there’s a way to prevent Sidious from forcing the clones to obey Order 66.”

“And how do we do that?” Keith snapped. “It’s not like any of us are scientists. None of us can do anything to change that chip.”

D-0 glanced between the Knights before shyly rolling up to Evan. “I-I-I can.”

The Knights looked down at the little droid in shock. Did D-0, the skittish little droid they had found on Ochi’s abandoned ship, just tell them he could prevent Order 66?

“How?” Keith demanded. He felt a pang of guilt when D-0 recoiled at the tone of his voice, but it subsided when the little droid displayed a holographic diagram of the inhibitor chip’s structure.

“Maz did say she gave D-0 some extra information to help us,” Tala said as a smile tugged at her lips.

Evan grinned as he read over the schematics. “D-0, this is perfect!”

D-0 perked up at the positive praise.

“Okay, so all we have to do is find the chip and then--” “Actually, I’m going to wait here,” Tala spoke. She wrapped her arms around herself as she began to tremble. “I mean, I-I want to help, b-but…” She trailed off. Evan and Keith exchanged a brief glance before the oldest of the team placed a comforting hand on Tala’s shoulder.

“It’s all right, Tala,” Evan assured her. “We understand. Besides, one of us should probably wait here anyways so we can get back in.”

Tala gave her friend a grateful smile and nodded. Evan gave her shoulder a slight squeeze, then turned to address the rest of the team.

“The rest of us will go in and alter the chip so that the clones will never carry out Order 66. This is purely stealth and sabotage; we go in and we get out. No fighting. I’m looking at you, EG.”

The former Jedi Hunter growled in disappointment, but made no other argument as he followed his companions through the portal. Tala watched as their images faded away. Her shoulders sank as a sense of guilt twisted in her stomach. She wanted to go with her friends to help them, she should have. But setting foot in the very place where they had been created…

She shook her head. No, she thought to herself. Don’t think like that. It wasn’t their fault. They didn’t mean to. They didn’t want to. They would have never tried to hurt her, much less kill her, of their own free will. Still, with or against their free will, the clone had tried to kill her, and killed thousands of her friends without the slightest hesitation. She didn’t hate the clones or blame them for what happened that day, but she could never forget the horror she had felt when they turned their weapons on her. No, she could never forget that, no matter how much she wished she could. It was difficult to forgive something you couldn’t forget, and the opposite was just as true.

Tala was startled out of her thoughts when Morai hooted at her. The convor waited, as if to make sure she had Tala’s attention, before swooping behind her. The girl turned to follow Morai and found herself face to face with another door.

“Morai, why are you--”

A chorus of voices filled her ears as an image began to form in the entrance of the door:

“Who was the original host?”

“A bounty hunter called Jango Fett.”

“Boba was on Geonosis when his father died. He watched as I killed him.”

“You murdered my father! I’ll never forgive you!”

Tala could now clearly see the scene playing before her: Mace Windu advancing towards a man clad in Mandalorian armor. She knew who he was at a glance: Jango Fett, the clone template. Jango was trying to fend off the Jedi Master with shots from his blaster, but to no avail. Mace effortly deflected the lazer bolts as he drew closer to the bounty hunter. He was now only a foot away from Jango, and seemed intent on killing him. At the very moment Mace raised his violet saber, Tala reached through the portal and wrapped her arms around Jango’s torso. She pulled him back just as the Jedi swung his lightsaber, and their eyes met before he vanished from view. Tala was sent flying backwards along with the bounty hunter. Her head hit the invisible surface of the path, disorienting her slightly. She shook her head, trying to clear her senses, when she heard a gun’s safety switch off.

“Don’t move, Jedi.”

***

Evan and Keith cautiously peaked out into the hallway to make sure no one else was heading towards the lab. When they felt assured that they were not in danger of being discovered, they ducked back into the lab and sealed the door.

“EG, guard the door,” Evan ordered the former Jedi Hunter. EG-5 gave a low growl and nodded in acknowledgement before positioning himself in front of the door. Satisfied with the larger droid’s cooperation, Evan turned his attention to Keith as he plugged D-0 into one of the scanners.

“All right, D-0,” Keith said as he inserted the chip into the analysis chamber. “Show me what to do.”

The diagram of the inhibitor chip popped onto the screen along with the schema D-0 had shown them earlier.

“Do you know what to do?” Evan asked his friend.

Keith nodded. “Yeah. This schema is showing me how to implant my own protocol into the inhibitor chip, one that can override Order 66.” He smirked. “I’m pretty much pulling a Galen Erso over Sidious before Galen Erso did.”

“How long will it take?”

“Not too long. Maybe about fifteen minutes, tops.”

While they were discussing this, neither of them were aware of the elegant ship that had landed on the east docking bay, or who had stepped out of it.

***

Jango kept his blaster trained on Tala. Above them, Morai watched the two closely with keen interest.

“Where am I?” he barked at Tala. “Why did you bring me here? Who are you?”

Tala hesitated, then slowly stood. She kept her hands above her head and open to show the bounty hunter that she posed no threat. He watched her carefully, keeping his blaster leveled at her chest, but did not attempt to stop her.

“My name is Tala Iyulores, and this is the World Between Worlds. I… I saw Master Windu try to kill you so I just grabbed you and…”

Tala let herself trail off. Jango seemed to consider her words, then lowered his blaster. Tala allowed her hands to come to her side as Jango continued to study her.

“Why did you save me?”

Tala took a moment to debate this. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t really know what had caused her to intervene. Perhaps a moment of panic, or because of her bleeding heart as Keith would put it. Still, even if she didn’t know the reason for doing so, she felt no regret for saving him. Finally, she shrugged.

“I’ve never needed a reason to help someone. You were in trouble, and I was able to help, so I did.”

A silence fell between them, but it was cut short when a voice called out from the doorway.

“Dad? Dad, where are you?”

The center of the door shifted to reveal a young boy searching the Petranaki area, which was clustered with destroyed droids and the corpses of Jedi. Jango started towards the door.

“Boba!”

He started towards the door, then glanced back at Tala. His gaze lingered on the Japor snippet hanging from her neck.

“I won’t forget this.”

Tala didn’t have time to decide whether or not she should be concerned by his words before the bounty hunter stepped through the doorway. She watched him disappear, then turned her attention back to the door which Evan and Keith had stepped through. At the very same moment, the center of the doorway began to shift.

***

“And… done!” Keith declared as he added the final touches to the chip. “Protocol 99 is ready to go!”

Evan whooped while D-0 twittered excitedly. Even EG-5 gave a low growl in acknowledgement of their victory. Their celebration was cut short when they heard voices from outside the lab, one of which sent a particular chill up their spines.

“So, we are in agreement,” Count Dooku was saying to whom they could only assume were the prime minister and Nala Se. “Twenty million credits in exchange for Jago Fett’s genetic template.”

“Of course,” they heard Lama Su say. “As I stated earlier, the bounty hunter’s fee is of no concern to us. We should began as soon as--”

“Just a moment.”

Keith and Evan tensed. They had heard that voice before from a million different men with the same face. However, since the clones still had yet to be created, that could only mean…

“I have another condition in exchange for my genetic template,” Jango said. By the tone of his voice, it was clear that he would not take no for an answer. “I want the first clone you create to be given to me, completely unaltered.”

There was a long pause at this request. Evan took this opportunity to call D-0 and EG-5 back to him while Keith frantically looked around the lab.

“C’mon, Tala,” he whispered, as if expecting the youngest member of their team to hear him. “We could use a way out of here right about now.”

“A rather curious request,” Lama Su finally said. “But one we shall fulfill, nonetheless. Now come, we will start our analysis so that we may begin the production of this army.”

“Any time, Tala!”

No sooner had the words left Keith’s mouth, a hand reached out of the wall and pulled him through. It reached out to grab Evan, who took hold of D-0 and EG-5, and pulled him through just a split second before the doors to the lab opened. He landed in a heap along with the droids and Keith.

As they steadied themselves, Keith shot Tala a stony glance.

“Cutting it a bit close, don’t you think?” he snapped.

Tala ignored him as she helped Evan up. “Did you do it?” Evan shot her a mile-wide grin. “Oh, yeah. Man, it feels good to beat Sidious at his own game.”

“We haven’t won yet,” Tala reminded him. “We still need to get to the right reality at the right moment.”

“Well, in that case…” Evan turned to Morai and gave the convor a mock salute. “Morai, lead the-- where’d she go?”

Tala frowned and glanced up at the outline of the door where Morai had been perched. Sure enough, the convor was nowhere in sight.

“Oh, well that’s just great!” Keith growled sarcastically. “What now? That green pigeon was our guide through this maze!”

Evan let out a long-suffering sigh. Morai’s disappearance was an unneeded disadvantage, but they couldn’t let that stop them now. Besides, Morai wasn’t their true guide through the World Between Worlds…

He turned to Tala. “All right, Chosen One, lead us through.”

Tala sighed and closed her eyes. The first time she had tried to use the Force to guide her to the right door, nothing had happened. Well, nothing aside from Morai appearing to help them. Perhaps she could summon another guide to help them, or wait for Morai to come back and--

Something tugged at her, like a magnet trying to pull her closer. She followed it and felt the pull grow stronger. She could hear her friends following close behind her, but the sound of their footsteps was drowned out by the frantic shouting emanating from a strange door at the end of the path.

“...breaking a whole unit.”

“Fire at will.”

“Squad 2, pick your target.”

“There’s too many of them, Captain!”

“Watch your stabilizer, Gold 6.”

“Anybody, cover me. I’ve got two vultures on my tail.”

“We gotta hold them here.”

“Watch your left!”

“I can’t shake them! I’m hit! I’m hit!”

“Where’s our reinforcements?!”

Unlike the other doors that had a circular outline, this one was framed by two long lines that created a small diamond in the middle. Just above the lines, right before the formation of the diamond, were a pair of Jaig eyes.

A scene came into focus within the diamond. The Lost Knights tensed as they watched both their old deceased friend and their sworn enemy.

“Please, my dear,” Palpatine was saying to Padmé. “Reconsider this.”

The young Senator brushed off what the Knight knew to be false concern. “Don’t worry, Chancellor, I’ve dealt with far worse than the Hutts.”

“Understatement of the century,” Keith muttered; Tala swatted his arm in reply.

“Do take care, Senator,” Palpatine said as Padmé turned to leave. The darkness of his tone was subtle enough for Padmé to miss, but clear enough for the Knights to hear. “The Hutts are vile gangsters.”

An ugly smile twisted Palpatine’s lips as he exited the room a moment after. Once the disguised Sith Lord was gone, the Lost Knights and their droid companions stepped through the door and into the Chancellor’s office. A strange sensation passed through the Knights’ bodies,as if they were both warm and cold at the same time. It faded after a moment, but D-0 stammered in alarm while EG-5 released a series of frantic mechanical growls. The Knights looked to each other to ask what had their friends so concerned and saw the answer for themselves: they had deaged once again.

“Oh, great,” Keith complained as his voice cracked. Tala tried to muffle her laughter behind her hand. “We have to go through puberty again!”

“Least we’re teenagers,” Evan stated. “Going from twelve to twenty-six sucked. Besides, we have more important matters to deal with. D-0, get over here.”

While the boys and D-0 went over to the Chancellor's hologram projector, Tala gazed out of the wide window behind his desk. Even from here, she could see the Jedi Temple, pristine and glittering in the light of Coruscant’s sun. Her heart twisted in her chest. The last time she had laid eyes on the temple, it had been burning. EG-5 approached her and produced a concerned growl.

“The last time I was here, Sidious took control of the senate and destroyed the Jedi,” Tala told her friend. Her hand unconsciously lifted to the Japor snippet. “It’s just hard being here again.”

EG-5 growled again and placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. Tala gave him a small smile in return before gazing back out towards the Jedi Temple.

Meanwhile, Keith and Evan had finally managed to contact every Clone commander in the Republic Army. They were met with suspicious glares, particularly from the one with blue armor. Much to the curiosity of the boys, his helmet bore the same Jaig eyes inscribed on the doorway they had passed through.

“This frequency is from Chancellor Palpatine’s private transmitter,” a clone in orange armor said. His voice came out as a low growl. “Who are you, and how did you gain access to it?”

“We’re… uh…” Keith turned to Evan for help.

“We’re representatives from the Senate,” Evan said smoothly. Unlike Keith, subterfuge had always been one of his strong points. “Chancellor Palpatine requested that we pass on a message of the highest priority to you.”

“What message?” Evan grinned. “Enable Protocol 99.”

A blank look flashed over the commanders’ faces. Once it had passed, they shook their heads as if trying to fight off a minor headache.

“What the hell was that?” the clone in the blue armor demanded once he had recovered from the chip's effects. “What did you do to us?!”

“Thank you for your time, have a nice day, and goodbye!” Keith said quickly as he shut off the hologram.

“That went well,” Evan said with a slight chuckle as Tala came over to join them. “Now we just need to expose Sidious.”

D-0 bumped against Evan’s leg to get his attention before projecting a hologram of Palpatine. He was clothed in clean white robes with intricate gold details, and had a kind look upon his face. In an instant, the kindly old man before them was replaced by a face the Lost Knights were more familiar with: a menacing figure concealed by a dark cloak barely showing his scarred face and gleaming yellow eyes.

“Well, that’s terrifying,” Evan commented. “Let’s do it.”

“Maz has so much weird stuff,” Keith muttered to Tala as Evan plugged D-0 into the transmitter. She nodded in agreement as they watched Evan press a few controls on the transmitter.

“Okay, I’ve got it set to play on every communication device in the Republic and Separatists systems and the Jedi Council Chambers,” Evan informed them. “Ready to take down Sidious once and for all?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Keith quipped.

“On three,” Tala said as she placed her hand on the main control. “One…”

Keith placed his hand on top of hers. “Two…”

Evan laid his hand on top of theirs. “Three.”

No sooner had they pressed the control, the doors slid open to reveal Chancellor Palpatine. His eyes flickered from the Lost Knights to his personal transmitter, then out towards the window. The Knights could hear the faint cries of shock and fear from the streets below them, though they hardly paid much attention to it as they slowly backed away from the menacing Sith Lord before them.

“Well,” Sidious snarled as his eyes flickered from icy blue to sinister yellow, “you children have made the gravest mistake of your short lives!”

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x0401x · 4 years

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Have you watched Tsurune, by an chance? If yes, what do you think about it?

Finally managed to write down a reply for this! (Told y’all I was gonna do it and I did not give up, lmao.)

So this ask caught me off-guard for two reasons: one is that I never see it coming when people send me Tsurune asks now that the anime is long over and the fandom is inactive, and the other is that nobody has ever asked me this question so straightforwardly. Whenever I got asks about Tsurune, people would question me about the differences between anime and novel, the anime versions versus the canon versions of the characters, fanservice and ship tease, alterations in character relationships and my opinions on specific episodes, chapters or scenes. As far as I remember, no one has ever asked me what I think of the anime (or the novel) in general.

I won’t go into the novel since this ask is just about the anime (I can do that in another one if you like), but I’ll end up mentioning it every now and then because it’s pretty impossible to discuss about an adaptation without talking about its source material. Still, I promise this review won’t be centered on that.

This is actually a very condensed version of my thoughts, because the real thing would be a bible. It’s still a lot, though. Here comes a long-ass ride.

I guess I should start by making clear that I usually follow the history of KyoAni’s productions very closely as I’m a big fan of the studio. This includes reading the novels and mangas they adapt into anime as well. I had read volume 1 by the time the Tsurune anime came out, so I already knew what the canon was like. I must add that I was also familiar with Japanese archery to some degree and I was reading Zen in the Art of Archery when the anime was airing (it’s referenced early in the novel, so I decided to give it a try).

With all of this being said, when it was announced that Tsurune would get an anime, my first reaction was to worry. This surprised even me, because I usually have high hopes for any KyoAni adaptation, even the ones I end up not liking. I mean, it’s a studio filled with brilliant stars and holds the golden standards of the whole industry, so even when the content isn’t good, the quality of the animation itself is enough to make their shows worth anyone’s time. But the choice of director had me very concerned.

Now, this is Kyoto Animation that we’re talking about. In no moment did I fear for the animation’s quality. Most of Tsurune’s staff members, if not all, already had previous experience working on Violet Evergarden. And we all know that even newcomers freshly graduated from KyoAni’s preparatory school can make a stunning visual masterpiece. Yes, I am talking about Kyoukai no Kanata. And yes, I said visual masterpiece, because we also know that what these productions normally lack is the most essential part: the content.

In those cases, the one who actually makes a difference is the director. I’m a firm believer that the more inexperienced the staff is, the more competent a director they should be placed under. If not a senior animator, at least let it be a rising talent with the best prospects possible. But the schedules usually don’t help with that, so these hatchlings ended up under Yamamura Takuya’s wings.

To elaborate a bit further on why I think brighter animators should be the ones leading new packs (no, it’s not discrimination against the less accomplished, because you gotta start from somewhere), it’s because they usually have this knack for bringing the most out of the stories they’re working on. When the story is great by itself, that’s a different thing, but when it doesn’t quite reach its full potential with just the text, then the one to give it life has to be a person with more vision.

Am I saying that Tsurune is one of those stories? Absolutely. Tsurune is about archery, which is an art that is best appreciated when observed. You can’t get everything out of it just with words, and there are many things in it that people who don’t know much or know nothing about Japanese archery wouldn’t understand without actually seeing them, so the series obviously needed an anime in order to reach its full potential. But other than that, I’ll be honest: I love the Tsurune novel for its cultural baggage, the handling of its characters and its fairly innovative views in the repetitive and boring scene that sports animanga are nowadays, but I don’t consider it a well-written novel. Because it isn’t.

This might seem controvesial coming from someone who defends the canon with claws and teeth, but I’m aware of its flaws. I think Ayano Kotoko has a lot of room for improvement, and she’s evolved remarkably from volume 1 to volume 2. But volume 1 is what the anime was based off, so there was a deep need for a clinical eye in that production. One that could measure the original work’s strengths and weaknesses and balance them out by powering one up and overcoming the other. And also a certain level of knowledge about Japanese archery. Sadly, Yamamura Takuya didn’t have any of it.

As much as I admire Yamamura as a key animator and in-betweener, I believe he has a long way to go before he can be considered a good director, and I certainly don’t think he was ready for his debut when he was put in charge of Tsurune. I would rather, and I mean this in a good way, have seen him work as anything else for the rest of his career. Being a series director was too much for him. I say this taking into consideration not only the fiasco that the Tsurune anime was in sales but also Yamamura’s history in the studio before becoming a director.

This might sound funny, but Yamamura had no idea how big Animation Do and KyoAni were before he decided to join. He also was never very skilled. His in-betweening was actually not approved at first when he was trying to enter the company. He even once admitted that his knowledge of animation was extremely limited at the time, and what a time that was, because the studio was busy up to the neck with the making of Lucky Star back then. He didn’t know left and right, basically, and he recalled in an interview from last year that he is still surprised the studio actually hired him.

Despite all of this, Yamamura joined the company with the intention of becoming a director. While he did manage the feat in the end, it took him +10 years and a few frustrated attempts. Animators usually start out at in-betweening and earn other positions through passing exams. Yamamura failed his first exam to be key animator, only managing to pass half a year later. He also failed his first exam to become a director. At his second attempt, one of their colleagues even suggested that maybe he should stay a bit longer as a key animator, and I couldn’t agree more. While he did pass the test, I can only bring myself to think that he did so with an average score.

Now, I did say that this info came from a 2019 interview, when the Tsurune anime was already over. But they weren’t really what shaped my opinion on Yamamura regarding his direction. It was the anime itself. But this interview served to confirm something I had already noticed from his tragectory to series direction: with him being in the studio for so long and having worked on so many titles, it was weird to me that he was rarely an episode director in comparison to key animation and in-betweening. Episode direction is a step that I consider crucial for one to become either series director, animation supervisor or series composer. I do know that quite a few directors take just as long as he did or even longer to debut and actually do thrive in the end, but observing Yamamura’s work always gave me the impression that he was better off following decisions made by someone else rather than making his own.

Yamamura also loses points with me in that he’s backed up within the company by Kawanami Eisaku, another director who doesn’t get rave reviews on his works. He’s the one who replaced Utsumi Hiroko after she migrated to Mappa, and ever since he took over the Free! franchise, its sales decreased to less than 1/3 of each of the first two seasons separately. I personally don’t like that he seems to look down on Utsumi despite his lack of success in inheriting her legacy, but leaving this aside and focusing only on his skills, I’m not fond of directors who opt for simplistic approaches in general. I think animation is a medium that should be used to amplify the appeal of the source material, not water it down. It also feels like these kinds of directors are always trying to play safe, which (they don’t seem to realize) goes against the audience’s expectations and kills the hype. It strikes me as cowardly, to be frank. I also don’t like when they ignore what the characters had been building up and simply retool them to their own tastes. I was praying that Yamamura would be different from this bad example, but turns out he was actually worse.

I got a really bad feeling when the anime PVs of Tsurune were released. My very first impression was that Yamamura was still too much of a beginner and he wouldn’t be able to make Tsurune into a successful anime. I know this might seem like an exaggeration, but here’s the thing: ever since KyoAni started making its own titles, I’d never seen lack of hype for their upcoming works. Ever.

Until Tsurune.

Every time a PV of a KyoAni show comes out, people go crazy. It’s not always a frenzy like it was with Free! in its heyday or Violet Evergarden when the novel commercials were the only pieces of animation we had of it, but there’s usually lots of debate and speculations going on. With Tsurune, almost no one cared. You’d see next to nobody talking about it save from a few people on Reddit. And honestly, why should they bother? It didn’t seem promising at all. Didn’t show much of the characters or the story’s premise, didn’t highlight any particularly interest aspect of the plot and didn’t leave any impression animation-wise. It was very bland, to say the least. Unfortunately, so was the anime series.

It might be blunt of me, but my overall evaluation of Tsurune is that it was a really boring show. Nearly all elements that made the story and characters interesting were either taken out or squeezed into a cookie cutter mold, cliche version of what they looked like they were going to be at first but turned out not to be in the novel. And I say this because one of the things that make Tsurune a good novel is how it turns stereotypes upside-down. It introduces the readers into what seems like is going to be a typical sports shounen and starts out describing the character archetypes in the most common ways possible and puts them in the most common situations possible, then it reverses them all. That’s what’s most charismatic about the books. It’s what incites actual character development and gives us different sides of each relationship, yet the anime makes no use of it.

The anime also hardly makes any use of all the mystic, Zen and lowkey folklore-ish veils of the novel, which are supposed to add up to the archery elements. The Zen part is actually essential since Japanese archery is fundamentally a Zen form of art. Yes, art. Japanese archery is, in fact, not a sport. This is one of the aspects that elevate Tsurune above other works of the sports genre: it’s only categorized as such because it can’t fit anywhere else, but it’s not really a sports novel. That could have elevated the anime to the same status too, if only the studio hadn’t treated it like a sports one. But they made that mistake.

Still, I think the biggest sin in this adaptation was to try to cling to tropes that are considered successful and ignoring the characters’ personalities, which didn’t match these tropes at all, resulting in both characters and bonds being utterly destroyed and the flow of the story slowing down to a slug pace. By the second half of the anime, literally either nothing interesting happens or the things that were supposed to be interesting don’t hold the audience’s attention enough, which the animators attempt to cover up with queerbait. Everything is so tediously predictable that I’ve seen countless comments from the Japanese side of the fandom about how similar the Tsurune anime was to Free! and how “KyoAni only ever makes male characters like that, don’t they”. They were referring to Seiya and his weird jealousy, by the way. Even first-timers could tell that the characterization was a disaster.

The sad thing is, they were right. The Tsurune anime really did feel highkey like a Free! copycat in the characterization department. The main character is always getting swung about by everyone around him. The best friend is very clearly co-dependent. The deuteragonist is revealed to be bitter because of a deceased relative and is an asshole to the rest of the main cast for a good portion of the series. The rival from the other school is rude as hell for no reason and he’s got annoying groupies on his team who don’t exist outside of idolizing him. There are only four female characters and they have almost no screen time. And the list goes on.

As for the animation itself, I would like to say that it was perfect, but what really rang the alarm in my head was the many beginner mistakes so evident here and there, such as missing frames, the opening theme starting out of nowhere, the colors of the background often being too bland, lack of movement or scenes where the characters are too static, etc. I shit you not that when I saw the title splashing onto the screen all of a sudden in the initial ten seconds of episode one, the first thing I thought was, “This won’t sell well”. Sure enough, it didn’t.

So there you have it. I didn’t like the show. The only things I enjoyed were the archery scenes and the soundtrack. The rest simply didn’t do justice to the original work. I hope this summary has explained why, but if you want more info on it, maybe visit my Tsurune tag. You’ll find me elaborating more on particular topics in response to similar asks. Or you can send me other questions if you feel like.

That’s it!

#tsurune #how cool is it that i finished just in time for the anime's anniversary lol

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astralechoes · 6 years

Note

(for the terrible boys kohaku and kanata lol) 'New Look'

Kanata Natsumi:

Character: Lelouch Vi Brittania

Uhh, I mean… Lelouch gives me Kanata vibes sometimes lmao. Also his character was drawn by CLAMP so… *shot*. Also Kanata would totally take over the world if given the chance too :/.

Kohaku Natsumi:

Character: Izaya Orihara

It’s the smirk that does it… Also they’re both terrible lmao. And also Kohaku is used to having things thrown at them when they’ve pissed someone off, I mean my knowledge of the anime is limited but I am definitely familiar with the whole “IZAYAAAA!” *object gets thrown* thing XD.

@askharukakujo

#askharukakujo #[family: The Terrible Twins Kanata & Kohaku]#I can definitely see it XD #thanks for sending this too XD

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thelightningawardsofficial · 4 years

Text

Review | Evanescence

Judged by Lyn (SoarLikeTheWind)

Category: I'm Not A Mary Sue

[ Author: Snowwhitewolf09 ]

Title (5/5): Titles comprised of a single, fanciful word like "Evanescence" are to be employed with caution--and you certainly do. It's meaning quickly becomes clear and of relevance to the themes of the story as the book progresses. I appreciate how you stick strongly to the word you have chosen to represent your novel. Additional props for the carefully chosen chapter titles.

Summary (10/10): I'll elaborate more on your tone and pacing later, but for now, I'm going to say simply that your summary does its job spectacularly at drawing the reader in. As soon as I read the first four lines, I knew I would like your summary because it follows an hourglass structure. The hourglass structure opens with something unspecific--"A mysterious grey-haired stranger who knows him."--and cuts to the core--"The Kurogane family." The hourglass then broadens once again at the end when you address, "But just like ash blown into the wind, what one believes can evanesce as soon as the truth comes to blow it away, and the remnants may not be as pleasant as one hopes it would be." What I think you can improve is to clarify a little more of the mystery. I do not mean that you should necessarily include spoilers, and rest assured that your summary does not read as confusing, but a better balance of mystery and exposition may be easier for a new reader to consume.

Plot (21/25) -> [16.8/20]: In all honesty, I really enjoy reading Evanescence. Although the initial similarity to Glass Coffin concerned me (which I noticed was mentioned by a commenter as well), it is so interesting to see how a very different character would fare in the same situation. The differences quickly multiply, especially the circumstances that put them in the hospital in the first place, and I found myself eager to follow Suabara around some more. I always enjoy a good character-driven story. Unfortunately, I am only able to access the plot of the contents published thus far, which have not developed the full range of tones to constitute a proper narrative arc. I will cover a little more of the plot in Originality.

Characterization (17/20) -> [12.75/15]: I appreciate how this story has a fully fleshed-out cast of original characters beside the canon characters. The diversity in age, from young, naive Shun to old, wise Shimozuru helps distinguish your original characters from each other conceptually. Age diversity is something that writers often forget, yet makes a huge difference in creating contrast and variation. You rely on actions for characterization, which is an indicator of sophisticated writing. However, the speaking patterns of your characters could use a little more differentiation through the consideration of ticks, vocabulary level, jargon, and the presence or lack of filler words. I believe you can still improve your cast by adding more dynamic characters, since it seems that everyone beside Suabara at the moment is a static characer. I do acknowledge that this interpretation may simply be because there are no significantly developed character arcs yet due to the current state of the work, like with Plot.

Grammar and Writing Style (14/15): Fast-faced sentences carry the plot forward and the occasional technical mistakes do not detract from my reading experience. I felt like there was too much past perfect tense in the beginning, but it was nice to see the flow of your writing improve subtly throughout the chapters as your distinct style begins to solidify. Although "telling" (versus "showing") may be acceptable in first person point of view (cited example: "I was confused and depressed beyond what I felt before"), be careful not to fall back on this tactic too often, as it can give the impression of lazy writing. Instead, you can try tackling these emotions by narrating Suabara's thoughts instead. Good job "showing" when its Suabara observing another person's behavior rather than describing himself which I also addressed in Characterization. Sometimes the way you describe character appearances can be a bit awkward (cited examples: my blonde hair would already have string-like strands peeking out like old couch springs; bearer of a pair of emerald irises) but they are not overwhelming so I overlooked them.

Originality (8/10) -> [4/5]: Although Evanescence follows the original timeline, detailed insight into canon such as Kageyama Tougo's fall incorporated expertly within the narrative through the clever use of Shimozuru Kakashi, Haruna's cameo through Kanata's perspective, and an allusion to how Kariya was orphaned in GO keep the story feeling fresh. The choice you made to gloss over certain plot points also helps disguise the repetitive nature of the sections that align too similarly to canon. Your original antagonists, the Hunters, sound interesting. I can see the unique plot budding, but the score would probably be higher if I saw more of it.

Feels Factor (15/15): You demonstrate great control over words by preserving reading engagement in even the simplest scenes. The imagery you create with language is just saturated with suspense. These smooth transitions allow for a dynamic composition that builds upon it's own voice to produce strong mood. It is ironic that I almost like the regular scenes more than climactic ones because they are so well done, and just as dramatic. But only almost. The execution of the crucial scenes must be commended for their effective immersion.

🅞🅒 🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦 -> [➊➍.➍/➊➎]

Name (5/5): Kurogane Suabara is a unique name that allows readers to remember him easily and distinctly. Although I'm not aware of any common kanji combinations that form Suabara, the phonetics are probable in Japanese with rarer characters, which are not uncommon for names especially given his heritage.

Appearance (8/8): At a glance, Suabara's appearance is basic. However, you make it unique by relating to his personality. What comes to mind when I picture him is his nonconformist hair and dark, brooding eyes.

Personality (9/10): The fact that Suabara has an inner voice is quite interesting, and not cringy at all, compared to the abundance of less well-executed examples in the fanfiction community. There's a likeable quality about his voice and mannerism, which imparts a quirky genuinity. Suabara's personality is notably consistent for someone with holes in his memories. I think his character could be woven more intricately into the narrative if you emphasize the psychological effects of his traumatic circumstances more, like you do with his physical development.

Strengths and Weaknesses (11/12): Although Suabara's internal struggles are substantial, I believe his flaws and assets can be emphasized more. The reader's visualization of Suabara will be more vivid if a wider spectrum of depth is represented. Real people have material fears in addition to deep-rooted insecurities, and useless talents on top of core virtues. Since the bulk of this novel has been through Suabara's own perspective, perhaps consider how others in his life value him, and how these views are reflected in their actions toward him. His current strengths are introduced naturally with constancy, such as his attentiveness to body language due to his brother's condition. Your attention to detail in regards to Suabara and his perspective is the strongest point of this work. Refer to the end of Grammar and Writing Style.

Interaction with Canon (10/10): As of what is currently revealed, Suabara does not appear to interfere with canon establishments in any sort of disruptive manner. Evanescence is one of those stories that is heavily immersed in canonical world-building and mood. The themes of this book are slightly more mature, which is to be expected, but they do not contradict the canon discourse which contributes to a seamless reading experience--until the dark surprise you've planted in chapter twelve (but don't worry, it jarred me in a good way). I'm looking forward to discovering how his character arc will overlap with the canon plotline.

Relationships with Canon Characters (5/5): Suabara's most interesting relationship with a canon character is his relationship with Kira Hiroto, who you have taken creative liberties with but preserved his essence (in Ares, as far as my limited Ares knowledge goes). Despite little impactful interaction with the canon cast so far and the exception of Kira, I'm confident that you have prepared some tricks up your sleeves. Sorry that this review was so delayed, but I hope the thoroughness makes up for it!

[Raw]

90/100 + 48/50

[Scaled]

91.95/100

[Final]

91.95%

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#review #evancescence #i'm not a mary sue #original character #inazuma eleven #action #mystery #oc fic #kageyama reiji #raimon #kira hiroto #on going

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nextstepelectric · 5 years

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