#none of the characters are perverted which I appreciate actually. it makes sense here for them not to be | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xpao-bearx · 3 years

Text

《This story series is also on my AO3 acc @ Paoloca》

SUMMARY: The bachelors of Selphia conjure up a plan to decide who truly deserves the beautiful princess' heart...if Frey can only choose one of them, that is.

PAIRINGS: Frey x Vishnal, Frey x Kiel, Frey x Doug, Frey x Arthur, Frey x Dylas, Frey x Leon (Polyamorous Ships)

RATING: Mature/18+/Romance & Smut. Please bear these in mind if you are uncomfortable and do NOT report!

NOTE: I have been an avid fan and lover of the Rune Factory series for a looong fooken time now and with RF 5 coming up (who else can't wait?!?!) along with my bursting inspiration, I decided to do something a lil special~ 💖

This story is actually one I wrote--or at least TRIED to write as I didn't finish it--many years ago on my old Wattpad acc (I have a new one now). As such, I'm taking the basic plotline from the original idea I had and simply making it a bit better especially now that I'm older + more mature (pfft yeah sure "mAtUrE" xD).

I sincerely and deeply love ALL of the amazing bachelors on RF 4 and as someone who absolutely ✨A D O R E S✨ reverse harems, I really *personally* don't think that Frey has to choose! And so, here's a naughty + sweet story that'll kinda just delve into my--and I'm sure others'--fantasy ;)

I hope ya lovelies will enjoy this story series and your wonderful support is always very much appreciated! 🥺💕💕 Also, feel free to fangirl/fanboy with me anytime~

P.S. Please forgive mah pathetic ass in advance if I ever portray any of the characters wrong, I promise to do my best!!

"The Princess' Harem"

Part 1: The Game

☆ALL CREDIT GOES TO THE TALENTED ARTIST☆

Summer 1, the dawn of a sweltering season. But most of all...

Beach Day!

Ah, yes, a most wonderful holiday to take a dip in the refreshing water and don the most attractive swimsuits that perfectly hugged one's form! And while it was understandable for the gentlemen to gawk and admire the lovely ladies, it seemed that all the bachelors of Selphia were completely ensnared by one warrior princess in particular...

Frey's tinkly laughter carried in the air as she happily swam around in the lake with the other girls. It was certainly a gorgeous day, yet none could quite rival the turquoise haired beauty's radiant smile.

"Haa... The princess is SO beautiful~" Vishnal sighed dreamily, his violet eyes turning into hearts.

"A goddess among mere mortals!" Kiel piped up cutely.

"You guys are so lame! But, uh... Y-Yeah, I agree, I guess." Doug conceded, face flushing as scarlet as his hair.

"I am a man, after all. Therefore, I must say I agree as well." Arthur cleared his throat, propping his glasses.

"You are all perverts..." Dylas grumbled, though he couldn't help but shyly sneak a peek at Frey.

"My, my~ You're such a bad liar, horsie. Calling us perverts when you, yourself, are one~" Leon chuckled, smirking.

"Who're ya calling horsie?!" Dylas snapped, but couldn't start an argument when all of them heard a splash and saw Frey emerge onto shore.

"Princess!" Vishnal beamed, not wasting a single second as he dashed towards her with a towel much like an excited puppy. "Are you done swimming?"

Frey gratefully took the towel, wiping her drenching body with it. "Yes, I am! And once I change into my clothes, I'm going to be checking the requests."

"You're ever so diligent, Frey. I truly admire that about you." Arthur smiled as he and the rest of the boys approached their beloved girlfriend. Arthur's glasses then flashed as the sun reflected on them, and he quickly grabbed that splendid opportunity for his gaze to drop and hyperfocus on Frey's nearly naked body. He barely managed to suppress it as he almost shamelessly licked his lips, fully taking in and very much appreciating her wet and fit physique.

"Oh, it's nothing! I'm only doing my duties." Frey giggled, embarrassed as her cheeks tinted pink. "But other than that, how come you guys aren't in your swimsuits? It's boiling!" She frowned worriedly.

"Why, is milady that eager to see me in all my glory?" Leon purred, standing in front of her in a flash. His teal eyes sparkled mischievously, as one of his hands reached forward to run his fingers through her long hair. "If you want to see me that badly, I'd rather 'perform' a private show for you tonight~"

Frey became as red as a ruby, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly like a fish out of water. She tried to speak, but no words came out as she could only stare up with eyes as wide as dinner plates at an amused Leon who was enjoying this situation far too much.

"Oi, knock it off!" Dylas growled, wrapping a protective arm around Frey as he glared sharply at Leon. "She's gonna go fishing with me after she's done, anyways!"

"WHAT?! No fair, you can't hog her all to yourself! If you guys are going fishing then I'm going, too!" Doug huffed, snatching Frey away from Dylas.

"No way, you dumbass dwarf! You're not invited!"

"Well, I am now, you fucking nag!"

As the two handsome idiots bickered like an old married couple and fought over Frey, she could only release an exasperated sigh. Honestly, she loved them both, but there was really no use trying to talk any sense into them. The best anyone could do was just wait it out until they inevitably get tired.

But as Doug and Dylas were yanking Frey from one side to another like a ragdoll, they suddenly stopped. It seems that everyone else halted, too, and the air blew bitter cold. Frey, oblivious, could only raise a brow before she finally realized--or more like felt--what all the boys were staring at.

She looked down, Doug and Dylas' hands accidentally cupping each one of Frey's breasts. All of the boys were a thousand shades of crimson, and Vishnal even started to have a nosebleed.

"ACK! S-Sorry..!" Doug and Dylas exclaimed in unison, abruptly pulling their hands away as if they were burned.

"O-Oh, uh, it's f-fine..!" Frey stuttered, not being able to meet anyone's gaze. "I-It was just an accident, after all!"

"Are you sure you're alright, Frey?" Kiel asked, holding her hands into his gently as he studied her face in concern. "These lowlifes didn't hurt you, did they?" It was rare for Kiel to be angry let alone badmouthing anyone, but it was clear from his tone how upset he was. Honestly, Doug and Dylas were a little scared...

"Y-Yes, I'm alright!" Frey nodded vigorously, smiling brightly. "Seriously, guys, don't worry about me! I'll see you all later, okay?" She hurriedly gave each one of them a chaste peck on the cheek before making her way back to the castle.

"So..." Leon began, a fake smile plastered on his lips as his eyes held no emotion. "I wonder who the true perverts are now?"

"H-Hey, it was an accident! Besides, it's all this moron's fault!" Dylas retorted, pointing an accusatory finger at Doug.

"MY fault?! If you just invited me in the first place, none of this would've happened!" Doug shouted furiously.

"You guys...touched...the princess' b-b-breasts..." Vishnal muttered, totally lost in his own world as he was slowly deteriorating from existence.

"Oh, my..." Arthur let out a heavy exhale. "I'm sure you two already know this, but as soon as Frey is done with her tasks then you both must apologize to her again. Accident or not, it is completely unacceptable for a man to touch a woman without her consent."

"Hey, y'know, I've been wondering..." Kiel cut in. "Do you guys ever think if Frey is just being strung along by us?"

"What do you mean?" Doug frowned.

"Like, didn't we confess to Frey at different times? And at every confession, she rejected all of us. And later on, it was only then we found out that we all shared the same feelings for her."

"So, what's your point?" Dylas pressed.

Kiel sighed, staring pointedly at the taller man. "Don't you find it a bit weird that now, we're all in a relationship with her? I know that being in a polyamorous relationship with Frey was something we all consented on from the very beginning, but why the sudden change of heart?"

"Isn't it obvious? Being in a polyamorous relationship means that Frey likes all of us at the same time, which is fine. Maybe she was just too shy at first to admit it." Leon shrugged.

"That may be true, or...what if she's only with us out of pity?" A wave of realization washed through everyone, and a certain pang of sadness settled in their hearts. "Frey is such a nice person, it's possible she only agreed to be with us since she felt bad for rejecting us. And now, she doesn't know how to break up with us for fear of hurting us even more."

"There's also one other possibility..." Arthur spoke up. "What if she actually likes one of us, but can't exclusively date that person?"

Dead silence. Only the faint sounds of the lake thrashing and birds chirping, before Vishnal was the one who first woke up back to reality.

"So... What are we supposed to do?" He questioned softly. "I feel so terrible... If what you're saying is true, then I don't want to continue on like this. I love Frey, but I can't ever bear the thought of hurting her!"

"How about a game?" Leon suggested.

"Now's really not the time, foxy." Doug rolled his eyes.

"No, no. You've misunderstood." Leon shook his head. "I'm talking about a game to see who Frey truly likes or doesn't like. And that way, we won't have to be hurting her and suffering like this anymore."

"Hmm... An interesting proposition." Arthur hummed thoughtfully. "I don't quite like referring to this as a 'game', but colour me intrigued. What's your idea, then?"

"Alright. So, we each get one whole day to spend with Frey. Completely alone, and no one is allowed to bother anyone else. As long as Frey is okay with it, then we can do whatever we want with her. Going on dates, exploring...you get the idea. Finally, by the end of the week, we'll all ask her how she feels and who she had the most fun with. Her answer will then determine what will happen afterwards."

"Hmph. Okay, that sounds good." Dylas nodded, agreeing for once. "How can we settle who goes first and last, though?"

"I think it would only be fair if we go in the order that Frey met us. So it's Vishnal, me, Doug, Arthur, Dylas, and then Leon." Kiel offered.

"All in favour?" Arthur asked, and everyone collectively voiced out their approval. "Good. It's settled, then. May the best man win!"

"Speaking of, I forgot that the castle is undergoing construction! So please excuse me, I'll have to get going now!" Vishnal grinned, disappearing in a blink of an eye.

"Wait... I just visited Ventuswill earlier with Granny Blossom." Doug furrowed his brows before gasping. "That bastard..! He went to go have a headstart with Frey!" He immediately chased after the conniving butler, but not before his shoulder got bumped hard by Dylas.

"If anyone's gonna get a headstart, it's me!"

"Oh, shut the hell up, HORSIE!"

Arthur sighed deeply, rubbing his temples stressfully as Kiel only chuckled sheepishly. Leon simply watched the scene, his fan hiding his smirk.

'There is a saying: Save the best for last~' Leon thought satisfyingly to himself.

22 notes · View notes

elizabeatrice · 4 years

Text

Feeling Blue, Seeing Red (Chapter 69)

Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga #5

Updated: 19/8/2020 (more thoughts)

Bea is back with the lame punny titles~

Warning: !!! MANGA SPOILERS UP TO CHAPTER 69 !!! Duh.

Soooo I opened the raws this morning. Saw the spicy and went 'ohh shoot'. Then some of y'all say that some folks are hating Akane bc of this chap. I proceeded to panic, because fandom war is scary af. So I translated the chap for myself. And I just gotta say:

Aoi, Nene, your boyfriends are idiots. Y'all gonna be punching and headbutting the idiocy out of them for the rest of your lives and I'll be willing to pay for your karate classes.

The teen drama made me laugh so hard ahahahaha I guess this is what you get for hoping sensei will drop a bomb this month lmaoooo.

P.S. Teru you little shit

Man I don’t even know where to begin. This chapter is oozing doraaaaama and I can’t take it seriously no matter how much I try. I remember thinking, “Shoot, this is the ‘I hate you, I hate you too, proceed to make out’ trope in JSHK’s classic ‘oooh serious moment, eh? PSYCHE!’ style,” before bursting into laughter.

I swear I’m not making fun of it.

Because it’s already fun to begin with. Ahahahaha.

I do however, take seriously the long-awaited insight into Aoi’s mind. I hollered in joy, y’all.��‘Cause like ... finally!

(Also like ... ngl the development of Aoi and akaoi in this arc might come into play in my Shrek AU. Pls don’t ask. Yet. That’s not the official AU name I swear I just wanna confuse my readers ahahaha)

Back when chapter 64 came out I wrote something that was supposed to be the first of the Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga series but I ended up not posting it because I wasn’t sure about a bunch of things. Here’s an excerpt from that post, titled ‘Aoi and Her Blues’:

I mean, what did the minions do to her? ‘Remove unnecessary things’. Someone said they removed her inhibitions (I’m terribly sorry I forgot who said this because it’s been so long so I can’t put the link here, but if you know, feel free to send me the link).

But she has to be brainwashed, right?

She remembered enough about Nene. Enough to call her out on her feelings (that she still denies btw lol) and recognize Hanako from Nene’s wonderful description (or because Aoi could see him all this time and never said anything, who knows?).

Most importantly, she remembered Akane.

So apparently they weren’t unnecessary enough to be erased from her memory. Which I’d beg to differ if I were going to make this girl willingly sacrifice herself.

Would she let her best friend fall down into a pit full of giant insects, or let her childhood friend get impaled? I mean this is the same girl that cried when Akane and Yamabuki got together (by accident) and when Nene started talking to herself like a madwoman.

So yeah. Definitely brainwashed. Pretty sure now.

The one thing that bugged me is what she said though.

“I’ve always wanted to go somewhere far away.”

“Nothing will stop me from getting my wish.”

Btw these aren’t accurate word for word I’m just drawing from memory.

Is that a wish forced upon her by the brainwashing, or has Aoi been depressed all this time and ... y’know, therefore thought about ‘going far away’? I’m personally leaning more towards the first, but it still got me thinking.

Remember back in The Clock Keeper arc when she said there was something she wanted to tell Nene?

Can some creepy hands showing up in the gardening club’s album photos really warrant that kind of expression? Is it just me who got disappointed when the thing she wanted to tell Nene ended up being just that?

But if she did have such thoughts, why?

Maybe she was lonely? I mean Nene got so busy with supernatural shenanigans. Akane’s busy with student council stuff (and school wonder stuff). Though I don’t doubt for a second that he’d drop everything for Aoi, but Aoi’s not the kind of person to do that. And to be honest, I feel like so far Aoi hasn’t been shown having genuine interaction with anyone aside from Nene and Yamabuki without the other person being completely enamored by her. And even with Yamabuki that was just in that After School chapter.

So I guess my hunch wasn’t that far off. Still though. Still though. Is she or is she not brainwashed? Because as much as Aoi likes-but hates-but actually kinda likes Akane, I still don’t think she’s the type of person to stab her childhood friend until he’s got a hole through his fucking torso.

Throwing Nene into the bug pit I guess makes more sense if Aoi knew all along that the pit won’t lead anywhere too dangerous, and that Hanako wouldn’t leave Nene’s side. Nene’s perfectly safe with him. Sorta. She did get kidnapped and were about to be sacrificed after all. But heeey Hanako still showed up to save her in the end.

Stabbing Akane like that tho? Even if she knows he wouldn’t die in a boundary especially in his school wonder form? It just doesn’t feel like Aoi, man.

Then again she did say no one really knows her, and that anyone who does would end up being disappointed in her.

I’m really happy to know that she does not, in fact, appreciate all the attention given to her. Comedy framing aside, constantly having some random guy approach you to ask you out presumably every day is ... annoying at best. Kid deserves better.

So ya girl got some extreme trust issues. Strangers, even Akane and Nene, I could understand. But her dad tho? Is something going on in the Akane household? Bruh ....

How long has Aoi not been able to trust anyone enough to let them get close to her? Because if she’s been feeling like that about Nene all this time, Imma be super sad bruh. Nene is one of the most genuine kids ever (perhaps only second to Kou).

I understand that Aoi’s disappointed because Nene’s been keeping secrets, but honestly, who would believe you if you come up to them and say, “Hey so I summoned a toilet ghost and now I’m stuck as his assistant. The rumors about supernaturals are like, totally real, and can endanger everyone in this school for real, too. Also I turn into fish when I come in contact with water.”

Sensible best friends would either a) not believe you, or b) try to get you as far away from supernatural shit as possible ‘cause hello? Ya ain’t Miles Morales ya can’t just blast What’s Up Danger when monster of the week shows up.

Even if Aoi does let it continue, wouldn’t she wanna get involved? Would Nene let her get involved when Tsukasa’s still around? Ya girl got cursed, thrown off the top of a boundary, sent to literally nowhere and everywhere, almost got her body stolen by mirror monsters, kidnapped and taken into a fake world, and now trapped in literal Grim Reaper’s realm. Honestly, who would involve their best friend in this sort of shit?

It just makes me sad to think that all this time Akane and Nene have genuinely cared about her but she didn’t think they were. Aoi, my girl Nene literally threaded hell boundaries and high shallow water to save you!!!

Unrequited platonic love hurts just as much as romantic ones, y’all ....

Speaking of romantic love.

Hey, uh, Akane. For claiming to despise Hanako and calling him a slimy pervert, y’all kinda act the same way with your respective girlfriends when things get a bit heated up, huh? Even the teasing part.

Boy, you’re dumb af. You deserve that.

There it is y’all, it’s official. We got punches for akaoi and headbutts for hananene.

You deserve this too. But Teru’s face here is really annoying, I’ll give you that. Teru you little shit.

At least you’re finally gonna be useful. Let’s just see.

Hmm I guess I have to address the thing now.

Ahem. The thing. The pushing (pulling?) Aoi down, grabbing her neck thing.

Yeah I don’t get it either. Whether it was a creative choice taken in consideration to the actual character’s state or to just pander to the trope that seems to be marketable in Japan or both, I don’t really know.

I do however, have to remind you that none of these kids are in their right mind. One is possibly still recovering from the effects of brainwashing and dealing with not only extreme trust issues and insecurities, but also the sight of a gaping hole on her childhood friend and perhaps crush’s torso, not to mention having to deal with this in the middle of nowhere. The other one is the said person with a gaping hole on his torso, who almost lost his life-long crush, and even got stabbed by her in the first place.

They’re lost. They’re tired. They’re emotional. They’re frustrated. They’re two hormonal teens.

I think Akane thought Aoi wouldn’t listen to him unless he makes her. Which is why he went with exposing her by saying he hated her. Which is still a dumb move in my opinion. But Aoi rightfully got back at him. And honestly I didn’t think he really hurt her. I mean, it’s Akane after all. *shrugs*

The way I see it, the entire thing was a result from not only their current condition but also the uh ... not telling each other how they really feel all this time. Aoi with her issues, Akane with his secrets. They’re a ticking bomb. It’s horrible that they ended up hurting each other because of this (physically and emotionally), but I could see why it went like this. These two are flawed. Most importantly, they’re teenagers. They’re bound to fuck up in this equation.

Heck, I’ve fucked up worse in less endangering situations before.

But heeey once things get cleared between them they fall right back to each other. Sure things aren’t entirely resolved. But they’re gonna be okay. Teru’s there. Should be fine. Probably.

The thing is we as the audience who come into the story with a clear head can easily figure out the best, most sensible way to deal with the characters’ problems. But these problems affect the characters in (physical, physiological, psychological, emotional) ways most of us can’t immediately empathize with, which can make their bad decisions frustrating for us to see. We know it’s wrong. And when these characters have calmed down and healed, they’ll know that it’s wrong, too. If they’re not dicks, that is.

You know how it feels when you’re fighting with someone, and you know the best thing to do is to talk it out, but you just can’t bring yourself to? It makes things worse, right? And you’re frustrated, right? Unfortunately that’s just how humans are.

Even I let my emotions get the best of me when I judged the villagers’ actions back in chapter 68 hahaha (but I still think they’re awful).

It’s just my opinion tho.

And whooo everyone is officially here but Yamabuki (and Sakura and Tsukasa, but they’re bound to show up)! Catch up soon, my citrus child.

Lastly, I have the moral obligation to remind you that if akaoi’s confrontation ended up like this, imagine how hananene’s would be.

I’ll leave you to your deductions.

As always, feel free to discuss. Just ... don’t fight, onegaishimasu.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk manga spoilers #tbhk manga spoilers #aoi akane #akane aoi #minamoto teru #yashiro nene #let's talk about jshk manga #bea rambles #just in case it's not clear i'm not supporting physical abuse okay #i have really morbid sense of humor #and i still love my sons no matter how idiotic they are #i do tho pity my daughters #(this is about the karate class comment at the beginning btw)

19 notes · View notes

allimariexf · 4 years

Text

crisis on infinite earths

so I haven’t been able to face tumblr for months, for a lot of reasons including the fact that Arrow after 8x05 sucked SO HARD that even the idea of looking at gifsets from 8x06 and 8x07 was really painful to me.

And then I refused to watch the first three episodes of Crisis until yesterday. Regarding those first 3 episodes, I have two lines of thought.

The first one is what everyone already knows: I HATE IT ON PRINCIPLE because it RUINED Oliver's rightful conclusion, it RUINED Arrow's direction and rightful conclusion.

I HATE that Crisis is the reason they made Elseworlds, and that preparing/justifying Elseworlds and Crisis basically took over and ruined season 7 and 8.

I HATE that Crisis is the reason Oliver left his family, that they're giving us tragedy porn as Oliver's ending rather than the culmination of his humanity.

I HATE that they repeatedly subverted and perverted Oliver's own show, his own story, to prop up the other shows, the Arrowverse, and the crossovers - to expand the franchise and appeal to a fanbase that was never going to be happy unless they turned their back on everything that made Arrow what it was in the first place.

So I HATE IT ON PRINCIPLE because it is the culmination of that subversion of Oliver's show and story, and the culmination of appealing to that audience.

That being said, the second line of thought is that as a story it's somewhat entertaining, and so far the plot mostly makes sense. Which is WAY more than I could say for the shitfest that was Elseworlds.

And then here are my thoughts on the ending of Crisis:

(TL;DR: FUCK THAT SHIT)

1. Though the Arrow portion was the most interesting and I appreciated the “walk down memory lane” (especially the Oliver/Ray scene about Felicity’s trust in Oliver, from 3x17), nothing can make up for the fact that the wrong people were there for Oliver's death. And nothing can make up for the fact that the wrong people were shown grieving for him.

I appreciate that Sara, as the one main hero with a connection to Oliver, at least did the heavy grief lifting (way more than Barry and Kara), and it was truly meaningful. But it was unforgivable that Diggle and Mia (AND FELICITY) were not involved.

I appreciate that Lyla and Dig got to mourn, but again it was unforgivable that they didn't show OR EVEN MENTION Felicity. Like. THEY NEEDED TO MENTION FELICITY MOURNING. THEY NEEDED TO MENTION HER GRIEF. EVERYONE NEEDED TO MENTION HER. THEY ALL GRIEVED OLIVER SO SELFISHLY (with the exception of John); THEY BARELY KNEW HIM RELATIVE TO FELICITY. GODDAMMIT SO MAD. Also THEA!? GAHHHH. I NEEDED TO SEE A SHOT OF FELICITY AND THEA AND BABY MIA TOGETHER MOURNING among those shots of the randos mourning. I don’t care that it’s “impossible” because they’re not on the show; they should have made it possible.

2. While I appreciate the return of Sara Diggle, I HATE the "EARTH PRIME" solution.

the Arrowverse spent YEARS selling us on this multiverse idea, making us care for multiple versions of characters as entirely different people

which ones of those people are "real" now, and which never existed (or are dead - depending on ... what actually happened)??

For example Harrison Wells, Harry Wells, H.R. Wells...which one is real? Also LAUREL!? Is she dead? Is she alive? Which one is she?

they spent YEARS building events in our heroes' lives based on the existence of multiple earths

and so many of the events in "our" heroes' lives were shaped by the existence of the multiverse:

for example, Oliver and Felicity's wedding happened at the end of Crisis on Earth-X; in this reality, when did they get married?

Similarly, I think the entire plot of all the seasons of the Flash depend on the existence of multiple earths?

they spent YEARS selling the idea that things turned out majorly different on different earths due to major and minor changes in each reality. Of everything, I think this is the most egregious issue with “Prime Earth”

if we bought into the idea that each earth, each doppelganger, was uniquely defined by the circumstances of their lives, then literally NONE of our characters survived.

Because as we knew them, they were all heavily shaped by the existence of the multiverse (either firsthand or by proxy), and if suddenly there never was a multiverse, then it doesn't make sense that they'd turn out the same.

Like, even if we say Earth-1 people are defaults (which there’s no reason to say that at all other than “because that’s how we want it to be,” but anyway) then maybe most of Arrow characters that originated in the first 3 seasons will be unchanged. But everyone else is basically fucked.

3. All things considered this isn’t even a big deal, but GOD the combat is just so fucking stupid, like it makes no fucking sense.

wtf are "shadow demons"? they were never properly explained.

why did the anti-monitor come back?

why were they trying to fight him, like, in human form? (seriously, the comic book need to put problems into human shape so that they can be dealt with through one-on-one "combat" is so stupidly unforgivable. I get the appeal of one-on-one combat; it's why I liked Arrow to begin with. No fucking magic or metahumans, just mostly-realistic problems that manifested in realistic ways...and it made sense for humans to fight them when fighting was the appropriate solution).

Speaking of: wtf did the paragons actually *do*?? "Beam of pure love/hope/truth/courage" etc. (which itself is so cheeesy and ridiculous and I only allow it on Legends) but...okay, what?? Where? When? How? Like, I didn't need a carebear stare or laserbeams, but at least showing Oliver being affected in some way would have been nice.

4. And of course, the whole fucking utter terribleness that Oliver had to die.

Oliver Queen spent the majority of Arrow learning the lesson that SELF SACRIFICE IS THE EASY ANSWER.

He spent years learning TO FIGHT TO LIVE.

He spent years learning that he has a responsibility to the people who love him.

It was a betrayal of his character, his growth, his story for him to leave his family to go die.

ALSO narratively speaking, Oliver’s story began in tragedy and the narrative demanded that it end happily

Essentially, the Crossovers (and the last few seasons, since they completely revolved around the crossovers) UTTERLY BETRAYED Arrow and the character of Oliver Queen

Oliver Queen did not deserve to die

The “living as a hero is the hard part” is utter fucking BS

Arrow began as a “grounded” show, and began to slide into comic book nonsense (where rules of the universe are inconsistent, and consequences for actions lose their sense of meaning) in season 4; after that it just got worse with each crossover and each show added to the Arrowverse. Arrow became a workhorse, subservient to the expansion of a franchise. It was adding insult to injury that he died in support of such a fucking ridiculous, ungrounded story that would have been unrecognizable to the audience that first fell in love with Arrow.

So basically I’m devastated. But also not. Because though I did cry, I was also not nearly as moved as I should have been. The travesty of it all is what I grieve the most.

Those were just my jotted down thoughts. Probably will have more later. Love you all so much. 💗😘💗😘💗

#allimariexf meta #my thoughts #arrow spoilers #arrow meta #crisis on infinite earths #my meta

103 notes · View notes

penprp · 5 years

Text

On P5/DCMK...

I saw a very interesting post earlier that compared P5 and Detective Conan/Magic Kaito, drawing parallels between Hakuba and Kasumi, and between Akechi and Shinichi. (Not reblogging because the OP does not need my word vomit clogging up their dash.) I’m going to have to say that honestly, I see it the other way around-- Akechi is Hakuba and Kasumi is Shinichi. I suspect the OP has seen a bit more of the Royal trailers than I have, of course… but I’m gonna do a bit of a deep dive into Hakuba and Shinichi’s character evolutions first, and then explain the way I see the correspondence. I know the OP was focusing almost totally on their relationships to Joker... but I’m going to nerd out a bit further.

Okay, so it all starts back in the late 80’s with the manga Magic Kaito. Aoyama’s first manga series, if you can believe that. Magic Kaito introduces us to Kuroba Kaito, teenage magician, prankster, and occasional pervert. (It was manga in ‘87, that was practically required.) He slapsticks his way through a school day, and then discovers that his father, long dead in an accident, was the legendary thief Kaitou Kid! But Kaitou Kid is holding a heist tonight! Kaito crashes, dressed in his dad’s old costume and learns that his father’s accident was actually murder, and swears to bring the culprits to justice. So right away, we’ve got the tone set-- a lot of slapstick and silly humor, with the occasional dramatic suckerpunch hitting when you don’t so much expect it.

That goes on for two volumes, with mostly silly stories about Kid escaping an army of robot surveillance cameras, Kid helping a little boy deal with bullies, Kid dealing with an honest-to-god witch who’s attempting to put him under her spell, Kaito and Aoko hunting ghosts that turn out to be a teacher trying to hide his research into hair growth formula… you get the idea. Then in 88, Kid went on hiatus, as Aoyama had moved onto his next manga, Yaiba!

Then we hit 1994. Yaiba has just ended, as has a short baseball-themed series called Yoban Saado, and so Aoyama comes back to Kid. His drawing style has evolved and so has his storytelling-- seven years of continuous work will do that to you. There’s still a lot of slapstick and silliness, but the drama has tightened up its act and is now setting snares for you instead of just punching you and running off laughing. It’s in this period of time that we meet Hakuba Saguru.

I should pause at this moment to say that Aoyama Gosho has some of the strongest special interests I have ever seen in a mangaka. The man loves Sherlock Holmes, Arsene Lupin, stage magic, and baseball, not necessarily in that order. He also loves working in a semi-unified world. Yaiba ended with a character announcing that “Kuroba and Nakamori,” IE, Kaito and his best friend Aoko, were finally going out. The new volume has a chapter in which Kid goes up against Yaiba in one of the most ridiculously slapstick things the series has done at this point. Remember this for later.

So into this mess comes Hakuba Saguru, transfer student. Hakuba’s role, as suits the slightly more focused and dramatic tone of the series in this volume, is to be an antagonist slightly more competent than Nakamori. His initals make him a reference to Herlock Sholmes, but as he’s half-British, reading his name in the Western fashion does evoke Sherlock Holmes. Really, at this point, Saguru is not narratively one particular reference as he is The Detective-As-Antagonist. He’s handsome, smug, confident, charming, brilliant, and basically a rival to Kaito in every arena, from school to romance to their nightly activities. His very first appearance has him ignoring the trick that the rest of the police fall for, forcing Kid to step up his game. Not long after that, he actually manages to realize that Kuroba Kaito is Kaitou Kid, and comes up with a clever plan to prove it. Unfortunately, he’s still in the Magic Kaito manga, and thus is thwarted by a witch riding in on her broom. (It makes sense in context.)

It’s towards the end of this volume that Kid learns of the gem Pandora, the reason his father was murdered, and vows to find the gem himself and destroy it. At this point, Kid switches from stealing various interesting baubles to targeting gems and only gems.

… And cue Detective Conan, which has been running for, as of this writing, twenty-five years. (Dear God.) This introduces us to Kudou Shinichi, detective and Sherlock Holmes otaku extraordinaire. One of the first things we learn about Shinichi is that he is incredibly privileged. (He’s also a huge dork, but I digress.) He’s handsome. He’s rich. His parents love him, but they’re out of the country, leaving him to live on his own with a ridiculous degree of freedom. He has cases to stimulate him. He’s a brilliant detective whom the police and media adore. The kids at school love him, though none can really be considered his friends except Mouri Ran, his best friend. Shinichi’s biggest problem in life is that Ran has a nasty habit of cracking concrete with her fists when he says something insensitive. Later flashbacks and retcons tell us that Shinichi, while he can be hugely thoughtless, is nevertheless instantly ready to throw all of that power and privilege behind protecting the weak and the innocent. He’s just… better with victims and witnesses than he is with normal social interaction.

Contrast this with Hakuba, who while, yes, he’s rich and charming and his father has enormous social and political pull as the Superintendent of the police... he’s still half-white. And thus will always be, on some level, an outsider. Neither manga does a lot with this, but it is still there.

Then he witnesses a drug deal, gets shrunk into an elementary-schooler, and it all goes down the tubes. Shinichi starts off as being very much like Hakuba-- or rather, Hakuba was a sort of proto-Shinichi. But Shinichi has twenty-five years of appearances and is the protagonist, so he gets the kind of character development Hakuba could only dream of. Shinichi loses almost everything and has to build it anew, without the privilege he had to begin with. In the process, he grows and changes, becoming more thoughtful and more appreciative, with less smugness and ego.

Into this world, Gosho decides to do one of his usual things, and drop Kaitou Kid in for a story. Holmes vs. Lupin, it’ll be fun, right? The fans ate it up, and so Kid became a regular guest star. After that, when doing Sunset Mansion, a story loosely based on Young Kindaichi’s “House of Wax” story, which involves a detective gathering, Hakuba Saguru was a natural choice. And here we come to one of Hakuba’s issues as a character.

It’s now the year 2000. Detective Conan, always more serious in tone than Magic Kaito, given the rampant murders, has progressed in the past six years. The art is better, the storytelling is more dramatic… And Hakuba’s previous narrative slot has been filled by Shinichi. What does Gosho do with him? I think a lot of the characterization that follows was Gosho trying to get a handle on who Hakuba IS, in a world where all the characters he played off of have changed so dramatically. In Sunset Mansion, he acts more like James Bond than either Herlock Sholmes or Sherlock Holmes. He’s handsome, charming, and dangerous, and while he’s not convinced of Kid’s essential benevolence, he is adamant that Kid is no killer.

Fast-forward to 2006. Hakuba shows up again for the Tantei Koshien, a detective competition that seems designed to play up the differences between Hakuba and Hattori Heiji, Conan’s best friend and fellow detective. This is quite possibly the most characterization Hakuba gets, and he’s… not shown in a great light. He’s scornful of Heiji’s impulsive nature and rash action, and lets his focus on thefts and frauds mislead him into identifying the wrong culprit. He takes his correction rather graciously, but hasn’t appeared in Detective Conan since.

And now it’s 2007. Kid is rabidly popular, enough that Gosho puts out another volume’s worth of Kaitou Kid chapters. Now that we’re back behind Kaito’s eyes, we see a combination of the goofy prankster in the earliest chapters and the smooth gentleman thief we’ve come to know in Conan’s tales. These stories are more tightly plotted, with more danger and escapes, the magic tricks used to set up a central “howdunit” for the chapter, and there’s a bit more character development. Kid also evinces more detective skills, as there’s often a mystery for him to get to the bottom of, as well as his own tricks for others to decipher. Hakuba makes a guest appearance, calling Kaito to give him information when he’s going head to head with another kaitou over a rare gem, and then shows up when Kid is threatened by a murderous thief named Nightmare. At the end of this case, he agrees with Kid in deliberately hiding the truth of Nightmare’s identity, as the man is dead and the truth would only hurt his family now.

Hakuba is still charming, flirty, and confident, and to be honest, still kind of smug. But now he’s being shown as someone capable of empathy, not a detective concerned only with the law, or even the truth. He’s come to understand that justice requires mercy. But we don’t get to see any of this happen, and he’s still only in a few pages in two stories out of five.

Hakuba and Shinichi both have complicated relationships with Kid that can’t be boiled down to “rival” and “enemy” quite so easily. The biggest difference, in my opinion, is that Hakuba is chasing Kid to catch and stop him, while Shinichi really sees Kid heists as a chance to match wits with an intellectual equal. Hakuba is concerned with Kid’s breaking the law, while Shinichi seems to consider that mostly a non-issue, being focused more on beating Kid as almost a matter of pride. He’ll give it back and nobody died, no big deal. … That said, Hakuba’s characterization in spinoffs such as the Magic Kaito specials is leaning a bit more towards actual rivalry, but that’s because in that continuity, he has bigger spiders to fry.

So why did I go into all that? We don’t know much about Kasumi, but we know a lot about Akechi, so I’m going to start with him. Visually, he resembles Hakuba much more than Shinichi, with the perfectly pressed appearance, light hair, and visually adult fashion choices. He’s a media darling, and is incredibly charming. Beyond that, in all his interactions with the Phantom Thieves before his reveal, he is apart from them, even when assisting them. His outfit is brilliant white and gold, rather than the blacks and reds of most of the team. He even tells them that while he will help them clear their name of murder, they have to stop thieving. This is all very Hakuba. Of course, it’s all a mask, but even so… he wants to stop the Phantom Thieves. He’s tied into the forces of law and order, both in his mask persona and as Yaldabaoth’s pawn. (Law and Order being two different forces here… although maybe not so different as they seem.) He’s strongly drawn to Joker and winds up helping him, despite what his position and duties would suggest.

Kasumi is… well, we don’t really know. Visually, however, as a thief, she strongly resembles Joker. We’ve seen that she seems to act as a Phantom Thief, even if she’s quoted as saying that she doesn’t believe in their justice. (“Thieves are boring,” Conan scoffs, right before meeting a nutter in a white top hat.) A lot of her visual shots are set up to suggest a strong parallel between her and Joker, and there’s a possibility of her being yet another Wild Card. Kaito and Shinichi are canonically said to resemble each other strongly, and while this is probably partially Gosho making fun of the fact that all his hot teenage boys look alike… he’s said there is a deeper reason for it.

This is all speculation, of course. We won’t really know until the game comes out. (Can we get a Switch port Atlus? Please?)

8 notes · View notes

joyandeggs · 5 years

Note

For the Character ask: Shoot, Kastro, Kite, Illumi, Knuckle (HxH) and Sonic, Metal Bat, Genos, and Iaian (OPM)! (I have no apologies, you requested lots 😂)

Here is the first half of Meve's original ask, if anyone would like to see. Now here is the second half with the One Punch Man boys. ❤

Sonic

Favorite thing about them: The biggest thing I love about Sonic is how complex of a character he is. Maybe deep would be the better word to use for him. Either way, he's much more than the "Rival of Saitama", something that I never really thought more about until I read the webcomic in the summer.

Least favorite thing about them: He is just so...smug.

Favorite line: I can't think of any good ones off the top of my head. It's so funny whenever he talks to Saitama and Genos though. Always a good exchange.

brOTP: Him and...Flashy Flash. 💔 Honestly, I could see Sonic becoming acquainted in Saitama's friend group.

OTP: I don't ship him with anyone.

nOTP: None that I'm aware of.

Random headcanon: He really enjoys fashion! In a sense. He likes to try wearing different things, but he always ends up in a baggy t-shirt or crop top with his usual tights and skin suit.

Unpopular opinion: None that I can think of.

Song I associate with them: His One Punch March song! Which I would link if I could find it anywhere. 💔

Favorite picture of them: I actually love the cover on Vol 3 more than anything. ❤

Metal Bat

Favorite thing about them: Oh my goodness, everytime I get this question about Metal Bat I answer with everything. 😌❤ I really do love everything about him. I'll just say one thing this time. My most favorite thing about him, other than how strong and hard headed he is, is how good of a person he really is. He loves Zenko so much. He takes care of his sister and his cat with his life. He wanted to become a hero in order to help the good and beat the bad! He even tries to make sure no empty sushi plates are put back on the belt in the restaurant. No one's getting away with anything on his watch. He's a good boy.

Least favorite thing about them: We don't know much about him.

Favorite line: There's so many I could say! Oh, I love it in the OVA when he's telling the others how he hates mornings. Or when he told Child Emperor how he didn't drink. The best.

brOTP: I feel like him and Genos would make good friends.

OTP: I don't ship him with anyone.

nOTP: I'm not the biggest fan of Badd and Garou together.

Random headcanon: I already talk so much about how he would be such a great singer, so I'll just say that one of my big headcanons is that he actually gets bashful that he has fans, let alone a possible fanclub. He doesn't care at all about being well known or famous or anything, but he is nothing but kind towards anyone who wants to come say hi or snap a photo with him while he's in the city.

Unpopular opinion: He should have more merch like the rest of the characters! 💔 Could you imagine if they made figures of the heroes like they're made in the series? I want a little Badd so bad!!

Song I associate with them: Any song by Wataru Hatano always makes me think of him. ❤ I'll link you this one.

Favorite picture of them: Oh Meve, I don't know, there's so many.

He is so cute. 💓

Genos

Favorite thing about them: I honestly don't know. Whenever I first got into One Punch Man, I already liked him just from looking him up and seeing what he looked like. Then my love for him was instant as soon as he was on screen. There's just something about him. He's so naturally charming and funny, even when he's never trying to be. I think my favorite thing about him is just...his voice. He's always so blunt and serious. The way that he says things either makes me laugh or makes me scream, either way I love his voice.

Least favorite thing about them: He seems to not...care. He can be very uncaring and cruel sometimes.

Favorite line: There are so many. I like it when he keeps telling off Sonic. Especially when he's like "Oh so you're the pervert." LOL

brOTP: Genos and Saitama! Of course! 💓 I also can see him and Metal Bat being good friends since they're in the same age group, of course.

OTP: I don't mind Genosai at all! They do look quite cute together.

nOTP: None that I can think of.

Random headcanon: I see him as really loving domesticality. Cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, everything. Something about the human nature of it, it warms him. If he has a significant other, that skyrockets for him.

Unpopular opinion: I want to say that he really shouldn't focus on getting as strong as Saitama so much.

Song I associate with them: His version of the One Punch March. 💓💓💓

Favorite picture of them: Too many.

💞

Iaian

Favorite thing about them: He seems like he is very headstrong! He goes into a fight and keeps going...until Atomic Samurai steps in at last minute. But even when he lost his arm, Iaian kept going. He didn't let a serious injury stop him, not even when he fights with the rest of his team throughout the story. He is very strong.

Least favorite thing about them: We barely know a thing about him.

Favorite line: When he's trying to tell Metal Bat and the others to not just...go at the monster and think of a plan. "They're not the type to listen." And it's more of a scene than a line, but when he starts sulking a bit after Atomic Samurai tells him to basically stay put when he tries to go fight... That was so cute.

brOTP: I feel like him and the team are friends since they work together all the time! Also can I just say that Iaian and Shoot McMahon from Hunter x Hunter would be friends if they met? At least Iaian could relate to Shoot. 💔

OTP: I don't ship him with anyone.

nOTP: None that I'm aware of.

Random headcanon: After his injury, he is surprisingly amazing at handling a sword with only one arm. It took some getting use to, but he is good. I feel like it takes him no time at all to get back up on his feet.

Unpopular opinion: Another underrated character. Very under appreciated.

Song I associate with them: Hm... I don't know. What would be a good song that reminds me of him? He gives me hard rock vibes... Oh!!! This is going to sound ridiculous but Knight Of The Wind by Crush 40 is his style.

Favorite picture of them:

I love how everyone is enjoying themselves together. ❤

#askbox #m3v3 #joy #💓

2 notes · View notes

arkus-rhapsode · 5 years

Note

I was wondering if you were planning on doing EZ reviews. I personally think if you get past the Erza clone and the similarities in looks with some characters that the story is very well and actually has a better plot than FT did.

So I’m going to give my surface level response on this and I will be fair on my stance like I usually try to. In the most general term, I don’t really review a series I don’t care about. If you notice I haven’t done a review of Black Clover in a while, its mainly cause this current arc is something I don’t really care about and it would feel like a drain on both me and my audience to here that each week. I’m sure my audience and EZ fans probably don’t wanna hear me belly ache about the series week to week.

This series really does show me that its made for people who like Hiro Mashima’s work. And if you do, more power to you, but your probably not going to enjoy my usually dissecting review style.

So right here I’m going to give my thoughts on the series to this point, and I wanna start positively. I do agree that the plot to Eden’s Zero is much better structured than FT’s once you get past the Elsie stuff. The four star shine robots plot to get to Mother actually seems like a good plotting out of how to take this story. It really reminds me of finding the four rave’s.

I also think I’ve mentioned this back in my former reviews, but the setting to is also interesting too, and forces world building. Though, I’d like them to experience the world rather than Witch just read of a synopsis of the world. Yeah having an internet in the world does kinda kill the sense of adventure.

And I will also say that I’m happy that most the cast has motivation unlike most of FT.

And with that we lead into my problems with the story. First as I mentioned, the the plot does have better structure once you get past the Elsie stuff, the problem is that before that the pacing and plot seems really really slow, very confused, and then introduces such a high concept like time being eaten and going to other worlds in the past. While I do appreciate Hiro trying for a slower pace in the beginning, he’s doesn’t use it interestingly. He could take this time to explain the government or how these cosmos work? Is there king of space? Could the cosmos be cut up like the blues in One Piece? Or how about my biggest question, WHAT THE FUCK IS ETHER GEAR?! No we need more time travel and friendship!

Then there’s the first arc with this whole sister stuff. I will give credit that Rogue Out as villains aren’t too bad. Jin is obviously the best because he might heel turn, the sumo looking guy isn’t overtly evil, which was nice, and I could kinda get into Sister’s whole thing of just doing what she is paid to do as a motivation. But all villains except them are the usual Hiro Mashima bland weirdos with no characterization.

This Illega guy, I was expecting maybe a twist with him and why he has a collection of girls was maybe something subversive. Maybe he is trying to bring back tourism to his planet and by kidnapping B-cubers he was going to make them make the planet more entertaining, I mean Rebecca had a whole chapter praising them as coming up with fun things to do. Maybe he has a child who has an ether gear that made them look human and left him after the planet got closed off saying they’ll become a B-cuber, so he’s kid napping B-cubers to see if that one is her and that stuff that makes them stone should make his child reveal her true form.

No, he’s just a creep who likes turning women into furniture. Because… And that guy Wise’s intro arc who is just a common thug with his leg fetish brothers.

So I can’t call that story well done. If it takes till the Elsie arc to actually get to the plot actually moving forward and that this current arc is this bland and boring arc with everything being in the morally black, its not interesting.

How about the characters? Well, Shiki I’ll at least be fair, is actually gotten better than Natsu mainly cause he’s trying to be proactive. I’ll even give his gravity power at least seems to have more creativity than the generic fire dragon magic. But he’s such a confused and bland character. I mentioned this in my review chapter 1, Shiki’s strongest aspect is his social awkwardness and how that related to being raised around machines in a fantasy park. But he wants Shiki to be like your usual big damn hero whenever the time comes for him to look cool.

I recently watched an interesting piece on how My Hero’s Deku and Black Clover’s Asta represented two different types of shounen protagonists and ways to take a story. With Deku being a representation of the protagonist who needs to grow physically and emotionally into the pillar of his world that can inspire and fufil his dream, while Asta already is the pillar of his world who already can inspire and needs to earn recognition. Both of these types of protagonist are fine, but Shiki is trying to be both of them and it results in none of them. He seemingly needs to grow into a person who can actually get a ton of friends, but he also is apparently the kid who will rock the universe. It just results in a confused character, why does he act like such an idiot when he’s completely competent in action scenes?

And what makes him endearing? Say robots have a heart? Dude all the robots in this series have shown the ability to make expression and have emotion. We saw an android walk the street in chapter 2! Why do machines act like Shiki just told them the word of god after he says they have a heart, they all emote. Look at Pino and especially Witch, they’re displaying a range of emotion. Its not like they look like a cyberman who talks mechanically.

He’s just confused and unfortunately falls always back into that friendship shit as his only motivator instead of possibly addressing the trauma or adding a layer on how he won’t lose other people and what that feels like for him. The only time it really felt like he was living up to that emotionally stunned guy, was when he was beating the shit out of Illega to the point that Pino needed to shut him off, because I’m sure this kid can’t handle the emotion of anger quite yet in this situation.

Rebecca I think is worse though. I don’t know why people like her other than her design. Her personality is essentially jelly that can be morphed into whatever you want to fit the situation. She’s perverted in some scenes, but then doesn’t like perversion? I mean, she gets two guns in her hands and looks like a moron shooting randomly. Like is that badass? Is this what a female character has to do to be considered cool now?

I don’t consider her a rip off of Lucy, because Lucy actually had a character. Had a personality. No she is more a rip off of Elie from Rave, right down to the shooting shit up part. Only Elie made sense cause she was actually really unhinged thanks to the fact that she had no memories. But she got over it! She developed. Outside of her one past flashback with Happy, nothing about her is that interesting. I’ll also give her that she now just gets ether gear and its something she clearly can’t control yet, so there is room for improvement.

Wise, is actually an okay character. He’s got a cool concept of a guy from the past who is an inventor living in the future. I think his only weakness is that his ether gear is stupidly OP.

Pino is… Just and ornament that looks cute. You want your daughteru character to latch onto Shiki, here. Hell, I have bet going with a friend of mine that Pino will get some upgrade and she’ll have the body of a hot teenage girl. Its not that I hate here idea of having her memory erased, but the more I see of her and to more I hear about this robots have a heart makes me wish Michael came along.

Yeah, missed opportunity, cause Michael is not only a foil to Shiki and his adoptive brother, but he also doesn’t have a humanoid face. Meaning he doesn’t get convey true emotion so he actually seems like a robot. He actually seems like he’d have a character arc about discovering wanting to be more and more human. People would call Shiki weird calling a robot his “brother” and Michael never thought about it and we know there are multiple models of Michael. Imagine how fucking devastating it would be to see yourself mass produced. Imagine he actually gets to the point that he wants a humanoid face, because he wants to emote.

No we get Pino, who basically is Carla, but lacks any of thee enjoyable sass. Because we didn’t have enough sidekicks on this cast. Also we learn EMP is how to shut off ether gear, great, this is like if Usopp just had sea-prism stone on him at all times.

Then there’s Homura, she’s awful too. I’ll at least give Rebecca that she’s likable, but Homura she is personalitiy-less and has the worse character gimmick I think I’ve seen. Its not funny, its dumb. She can also use this ether gear too, and its a sword that was apparently passed down-its fucking 10 commandments. She also just walked into this story, like wha…? I’d be fine if she was like hunting the Eden’s Zero ship and watched it take off on Bluegarden, but no, Homura just came along cause she conveniently met Wise.

I’ll give her credit that the sword fighting looks cool, and I understand why people might like her cause that actually seems like something badass, but as a character she just feels tacked on.

Then there’s witch who is basically just the older sister character.

Elsie is not awful actually. She actually is a lot different from Erza and I actually would like to follow the space pirates more than I would want these random travelers. Also quick question, why do they still have the Eden’s Zero looking like a pirate ship? I mean, it looks cool, but these fuckers are not pirates, not even close. Oh wait, I know! We needed to rip off captain Harlock some more.

I’m not going to even talk about the potential love square with Shiki, Rebecca and Lavilla/Labilla, possibly Esie and Homura (?) cause one credit to FT was it wasn’t a harem, and Rave used a character like Celia and Beruka to more add an extra layer to the relationship of Elie and Haru. SO hoping Hiro avoids that.

So yeah if this rant has probably showed you, I don’t think EZ is all that great. But if you like it, fine I get that. I just have no interest in really talking about it week to week as even though I got down on FT, the beginning of the series was still something I enjoyed and I wanted to talk about how the current stuff had turned out. But EZ has no, beginning I liked. So I just don’t feel like I should be talking about it week to week.

#ezero #edens zero

7 notes · View notes

shirtysleeves · 6 years

Text

Constellation No. 35

There is a third consideration we have to deal with in connection with the general character of lyric poetry. It is the nature of the general stage of human development and culture from which the isolated poem originates.

In this respect, too, the Lyric occupies a position which is to be contrasted with Epic poetry. In other words, while we regarded as necessary for the full bloom of the true Epos a phase in the nation's growth which was, speaking generally, undeveloped, at least in the sense that it had not ripened in the prosaic acceptance of its actual life, the times which favour most of all lyrical composition are those which already are in possession of a more or less fixed organization of social condition. It is in such a period that the individual seeks a reflection of his intimate personal life in contrast to this outer world, creating from it and within its limits an independent whole of emotion and idea. For in the Lyric it is not, we repeat, the objective solidarity and individual action, but the individual person as self-conscious life which supplies both content and form. This, however, must not be understood in such a way as though the individual, in order to express himself in lyrical form, must perforce disjoin himself from every connection with national interests and the opinions, and with rigid and exclusive severity remain as he stands.

On the contrary, with such an abstract self-subsistency we should only have left us for content the wholly contingent and particular passion, the mere caprice of concupiscence and affection, false idiosyncrasies and distorted originality would have unlimited opportunities. Genuine lyrical poetry, like all other poetry, has no doubt to express the content of the human heart in its truth. Yet none the less, regarded as the content of the Lyric, what is most a matter of fact and substantial must appear absorbed in personal feeling, vision, imagination, and thought. And, in the second place, the question here is not so much simply expression of the personal inner life, is not so much concerned with a primary and direct statement in the epic fashion, what the facts are, as with an expression of the poetical nature in a manner both artistically fruitful and wholly different from chance and ordinary modes. It follows that the Lyric requires, precisely on account of the fact that the concentrated life of the heart unfolds itself in manifold feelings and comprehensive views, and the individual is conscious of the poetry of his most intimate life as nested in a world that is already more prosaically organized—an artistic culture already secured, which must assert itself as the flower and independent product of the individual's natural endowment thus trained to a perfect result. For these reasons the Lyric is not limited to particular epochs of the spiritual development of a people, but is the rich blossom of the most varied. To an exceptional degree is it favoured in more recent times, in which everybody is entitled to have and express his own views and emotions.

G.W.F. Hegel, Vorlesungen über die Ästhetik [The Philosophy of Fine Art] (1820-1829), translated by F.P.B. Osmaston (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920), Vol. IV, pp. 206-207.

What rock does preach, and what its detractors refer to as narcissism, is more properly called solipsism. Rock asserts that everything the senses apprehend is properly part of self, and the object of selfhood is to reach full growth, when self becomes synonymous with the universe. This solipsism is the opposite of Freud's or [Christopher] Lasch's narcissism. Narcissus at poolside is locked forever in annihilating self-admiration-"bang bang." The rocker's cry, on the other hand, is the solipsistic motto, "You Gotta Move." Solipsism is the invariable mental disposition of the vulgar pantheist, because in solipsism there is no transcendent anything, only infinite me.

Solipsism has always annoyed philosophers because it is irrefutable. Each time you produce evidence of an objective reality exterior to me, I reply that the evidence only exists as my own sensation. The universe is only what I feel. The philosophers have objected that if solipsism were true, then language itself would be meaningless, because language assumes objective, durable relationships transcending the mere selfhood of any one speaker, whereas solipsism implies that all language is just another way of saying "me me me," or as Whitman has it, language is just another symbol in the "universal hieroglyphic" each of whose symbols translates as "I." If every statement is just another expression of one thing-that is, myself-then language for the solipsist is infinite but pointless because it has no objective validity. But, the philosopher points out, even as it makes this contention, solipsism assumes the objective validity of language, for otherwise solipsism's own argument would be meaningless, and therefore solipsism refutes itself.

Solipsism's reply to this is obvious, and the rocker makes it:

Sha dada da / Sha da da da da / Yip yip yip yip/Yip yip yip yip / Mum mum mum mum /Mum mum mum mum.

The Silhouettes' 1958 hit "Get a Job" is the classic example of rock's love of nonsense syllables. The vulgar rocker takes his solipsism to its limit and rejoices in the conclusion that language is meaningless. He doesn't care if his words make objective sense and in fact is pleased when they don't. Words, say the Police in the song where they explicate the Silhouettes' lyric, "De Do Do Do, De DaDa Da"-words are

only chits I've left unsigned / From the banks of chaos in my mind.

The primal chaos of the brain is infinite, but as soon as this chaos is reduced to verbal order, it loses its wholeness and becomes a tool for tyrants:

Poets, priests, and politicians / Have words to thank for their positions-- / Words that scream for your submission.

The tyrants of language use words to create refined, transcendent laws which they impose on the wholesome chaos of the mind:

When their eloquence escapes you, / Their logic ties you up and rapes you.

Rock in its vulgarity wants no part of eloquence or logic, both of which are devices used by transcendence to limit the pantheist's infinite universe. In "Eskimo Blue Day" the Jefferson Airplane make the same point:

Redwoods talk to me, / Say it plainly, the human name / Doesn't mean shit to a tree.

Names themselves are meaningless impositions on the wholeness of nature and to be rid of them, the Airplane says, is "animal gain for me.” Mark E. Smith of the Fall, whose lyrics dispense with the logic of ordinary speech, calls one of their albums Perverted by Language.

"Do de de de, do da da da," say the Police. Because they are incapable of making any transcendent sense, nonsense syllables are the most honest form of language. They cannot be pressed into the service of logical systems, religious hierarchies, or totalitarian platforms. All they can do is express the wholesome feeling that is the "chaos of my mind":

Their innocence may pull me through / They're meaningless, all that's true.

That is, because they're meaningless, nonsense syllables stand for all that can be said with truth. Rock's critics often condemn it for being inarticulate. Rock itself esteems inarticulation as a virtue. The rocker acts on Wittgenstein’s observation that what the solipsist means is quite correct; only it cannot be said, but makes itself manifest."

Critics like Lasch blame narcissism for what they perceive to be the cultural poverty of modern culture. According to Lasch, the narcissist, "lacking any real intellectual engagement with the world," has little capacity to appreciate the blessings of culture. What this charge amounts to is the objection that popular culture in its vulgar solipsism has no time for the transcendent logic by which refined culture used to sustain itself. Pop culture denies any transcendent values outside of self by which we can make sense of the universe, and this denial is the essence of vulgarity and the not-too-latent reason why critics of the old order are anxious to label solipsism as narcissistic neurosis and ship it off to Bedlam.

In rock, the solipsism of the Romantic German philosopher Fichte acquires vulgar life, and the world has as much or as little to fear from rock as it would from the adoption of the morality outlined in The Science of Knowledge. In that book, Fichte asserted a completely subjective pantheism in which the self alone constitutes the universe, and yet Fichte stresses the moral propriety of his self-centered universe. Whitman's critics accuse him of advocating a pantheism of moral disorder but Whitman in word and deed is a model of kindness, decency, and toleration. There is no reason to think that rock's vulgar solipsism lacks the moral rectitude of its Romantic predecessors, and every reason to suspect that the charges of immorality made against it arise from the threat rock poses to the systems of transcendent objectivity espoused by its accusers.

Robert Pattison, The Triumph of Vulgarity: Rock Music in the Mirror of Romanticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp. 180-183.

#G.W.F. Hegel #Robert Pattison #The Triumph of Vulgarity #Solipsism #The Philosophy of Fine Art #History of Subjectivity #Rock Music #J.G. Fichte #Romanticism #Idealism #Walt Whitman #Mark E. Smith #Ludwig Wittgenstein

9 notes · View notes

derangedsilence · 5 years

Text

Laito Sakamaki

Permissions

Shipping? Yes, but extremely difficult if you’re aiming for something more than physical. I will not count “physical relationships” as a genuine ship, so Laito will wander around and be with whomever he wishes until/unless he settles on a particular person, Yui or otherwise. Singleship per verse with limited verses. Please note - as stated on the rules page, orientation is typically listed as what the muses think they are.

Duplicates? Multiple ‘Yuis’? What about character that aren’t on the dedicated castmates list? Yes. You can thrust Laito at Laito. There’s also no issue with duplicates of canon, crossover, etc. characters that Laito is already interacting with. You want it, you got it. To prevent destroying the validity of duplicate muses, I will sometimes think of things as ‘A Kanato did this’ instead of ‘Kanato did this’, which is a very subtle difference but prevents another muse from having to deal with the blame of an event they were not responsible for. This will only be differentiated as necessary within writing. I repeat: all duplicate muses will be treated with respect, not as ‘fakes’. Any Sakamaki brother is a brother of his, regardless of how many Kanatos there are (for example). We’re just going to, uh, slide past that as often as possible (and occasionally make jokes).

Multiple Laitos will be treated as though they’d somehow wandered into one’s world or the other via some enchanted, strange object or doorway in the Sakamaki household. This allows them to interact, but prevents the concept that one is a ‘true’ Laito over the other. I do not necessarily recommend having two of them meet if there’s a Yui present. Ideas may arise. You have been warned.

Fighting? A-Okay, but Laito will probably run away, avoid, escape, etc. unless there’s a real need. He prefers nonviolent confrontations. I’ve done a lot of fighting roleplay but it was in the past and I’m way more interested in the storytelling of it. It’s better that we discuss the end result beforehand for smoother sailing, but we can improv it as well.

Harming? A-Okay! Just be aware that this muse may harm or kill yours in turn!

Killing? A-Okay! Please be aware, however, that should the need or desire to continue the verse arise, the death scene will be considered a what-if. In addition, it is very difficult to kill this muse due to the pureblood resurrection abilities.

Can we send shippy memes / etc.? Sure, we can still explore what-ifs, drabbles and oneshot threads, but the main focus will be on the storyline here!

Can we know Yui has Cordelia’s heart, is possibly turning into a vampire, is surrounded by vampires, etc. and reference this to Laito? On a case-by-case basis. It should be discovered organically if it’s not something your character would be able to know already. There’s plenty of situations where this would make sense.

Can we know about Laito’s past before interacting? No, not unless you have genuine reasons for it like being one of his brothers.

Can we have characters comment on the events of the timeline? Yes, if they “catch sight of”, “overhear a rumor”, “a familiar saw X”, or any other sensible reason, then characters can be aware of and comment on events. I wholly encourage characters participate in Laito’s life! Please tell the story with me!

Can we rescue Yui Komori from the Sakamaki household? Unlikely. At best, if you succeed in the first place, it’s entirely likely that they will find you, they will take Yui back, and they will kill one or both of you for this. Or the Mukamis might take advantage of the situation! Obviously, the exception here is the Mukamis, who are entirely expected to attempt this from time to time.

Can we reference interactions we’ve had with your Kanato, etc. to Laito? I mean...sure? If you want? I’m fine with using my muses for plot and timeline advancements for myself and those I interact with (within limits) but I’d also prefer to not be my Kanato’s Laito and vice versa, so this would probably be limited. You can still act like what’s happened has happened, though.

Biography / Stats

FULL NAME. Laito Sakamaki ALIAS. Pervert (Ayato), Laito-kun (Yui) AGE. Appears 17-18 || Actually significantly older BIRTHDAY. March 20 GENDER & PRONOUNS. Male, he/him ORIENTATION. Yes SPECIES. Vampire OCCUPATION. High school student of the night school known as Ryoutei Academy. 2nd year in HDB, 3rd year if assuming time has passed. RESIDENCE. Sakamaki residence, Japan

HAIR. Red EYES. Green BUILD. Fit HEIGHT. 5'8'' (174cm) TATTOOS. None PIERCINGS. Two, both in his left ear. ADDITIONAL MARKINGS. Mole on the right side of his chin. OTHER. Right-handed

ZODIAC. Pisces (Pisces/Aries cusp) ALIGNMENT. Chaotic horny POSITIVE TRAITS. cheerful, playful, friendly NEGATIVE TRAITS. sadistic, masochistic, controlling

BIRTH PLACE. Japan NATIONALITY. Japanese PARENTS. Karlheinz (Alive?), Cordelia (Deceased / Haunting) SIBLINGS. Full Siblings - Ayato, Kanato. Half-siblings (shared father): Shuu, Reiji, and Subaru EXTENDED FAMILY. Karlheinz's other wives, Beatrix and Christa. Richter (Uncle). EDUCATION. High school (likely several times over) SPECIES. Vampire NOTABLE SKILLS. Piano, singing, crossword puzzles, reach, flexibility. LANGUAGES. Japanese, JSL, English, French, Russian FAVORITE FOOD. Macaron

PUREBLOOD. Inhuman strength, increased speed, vision, hearing, and smell. Fast healing & healing saliva. TELEPORTATION. Can teleport instantaneously. FLYING. He can fly, but only during a full moon. SWORDSMANSHIP. C OTHER. Can control and summon familiars. Notably, turns the souls of failed sacrificial brides into familiars. WEAKNESSES. Truly holy objects weaken him, but not by much. DISLIKES. Bugs, creepy crawlies

Appearance

[*Credit: Appearance section pulled directly from the Dialovers Wiki.]

Laito has shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, with lighter blondish color to the tips, a mole on the right side of his chin and green eyes just like his triplet brother Ayato. He has fair skin and is usually seen in a pose where he holds the tip of his hat as it looks like he is trying to pull it down. He has a slender figure and is often seen smirking. He has two piercings on his left ear.

In HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL, Laito’s casual wear is usually an unzipped blue hoodie with white cuffed sleeves over a striped sweater with sleeves that almost cover his hands and a white dress shirt with a red tie. He wears it with brown pants along with his hat that has a red ribbon around it.

In MORE, BLOOD, Laito wears a dress shirt with a grey vest and two scarves, one white and one black. He wears this with black pants and his signature fedora hat.

His uniform consists of the black uniform jacket over a red jacket that has fur bordering the hood. Under that is a white dress shirt with a skinny black tie. He wears black pants that go only to his knees and his signature hat.

Personality

Infamously, Laito is perverted. He’s been suspended from school multiple times over his perverse behavior. Despite his masochistic-seeming tendencies, Laito is a ‘Do-S’ and extreme sadist like all his brothers. Though his methods may, at a glance, seem far softer than some of his brothers, he is extremely sexually aggressive and manipulates the mindset of others’ based on his whims. If he distresses someone too much and picks up on it, he may either fully break the individual or turn soft for their next engagement, ensuring the person is clinging to the nicer, lovelier moments together.

Cheerful, playful and friendly, Laito adores teasing and messing with others, especially Yui. He enjoys others watching him tease an individual. He enjoys watching other people bite and mess with Yui, but ultimately turns possessive and jealous over it.

History

CHILDHOOD. The oldest triplet by birth order, the triplets consider each others’ ages via an old tradition where the last one to be born in a multiple birth is the oldest. Thus, Laito is treated as the youngest triplet and, in addition, the fifth son of the Sakamakis. When Laito was a child, Cordelia had no purpose for him and ignored him even more than Kanato, whose voice she at least appreciated. Though he tended to be a softer, more sensitive boy, he would often play with the louder Ayato and the temperamental Kanato when the opportunity arose. More often than not, he was left to his own devices and felt truly unloved and neglected.

Once he was “old enough” (by Cordelia’s standards apparently), Cordelia began an incestuous relationship between them. This went on for quite some time until Karlheinz found out about it and tossed Laito into the dungeon. When Cordelia went to see him, Laito thought he was someone precious to her and that she wanted to rescue him. Instead, she showed him her “love” for Richter while he watched, forcing Laito to see that he was never special to her among all the other men in her life. Unfortunately, their “relationship” continued even after he was freed and Laito was unable to see her actions as anything but cheating on him. He frequently murdered her lovers but was forced to promise that he would not kill Richter. The ongoing stress of being forced into sexual situations (witnessing his mother’s acts with others, etc.) that he did not necessarily desire and his mother’s inconsistent behavior towards him led to Laito growing into a pervert with a very warped understanding of “love”.

Eventually, Cordelia was attacked by Ayato and came to Laito for help. Rather than harm Ayato or allow Cordelia her wish to be killed “by the only man she loved” (his father), he pushed her off the balcony so that he could keep her to himself for eternity.

NEAR CURRENT. Karlheinz manipulated circumstances to keep tossing experimental sacrificial brides at his children. None could endure the blood loss, physical and emotional torment. The sacrificial brides were too fragile and the Sakamakis broke their toys.

CURRENT. A single sacrificial bride is surviving and enduring: Yui Komori. Whichever brother obtains her will become the Sakamaki heir. Without directly entering into a “relationship” with any of the Sakamakis, she endures her stay there.

Verses

Brief summaries of the verses for Laito along with potential links for those less familiar with Diabolik Lovers but still want to interact with him. For the sake of keeping things clean, encouraging community-wide and cooperative storytelling in roleplay, and not letting things get too crazy, verses will be limited. More may be made over time as needed.

Summaries:

VERSE - HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

*This verse will be typically be the default, 'main verse'. In this, it is assumed that Yui Komori is staying at the Sakamaki household with some version of the first game having taken place. If the second game is included, it's with the idea that Yui stayed with the Sakamakis. Whether Laito or one of his brothers winds up obtaining the Sacrificial Bride, Laito’s life continues.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; LAITO; HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

VERSE - MORE BLOOD

If for some reason it's absolutely necessary to differentiate between the verse above and a verse where More Blood has certainly occured, but Yui did not (at least initially) stay with the Sakamakis and instead is currently living with the Mukamis or was, until recently, still living with the Mukamis. Rivalry abounds and attempts to procure Yui are likely.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; LAITO; MORE BLOOD

VERSE - MISC.

Posts that could take place in the Sakamaki or Mukami verses but involve duplicates (whether Yui or others) in the same scene in a manner that would be hard to pass off as typical flow for those verses. Also includes nearly ANY time fellow characters are staying at the mansion, otherwise we’d end up with verses of 20+ additional characters hanging out in the Sakamaki villa.

Verse Details | Tag:#V; LAITO; MISC

SITUATIONAL VERSE TAGS

#V; LAITO; UNIVERSAL

Posts that can easily be assumed to have occured in either the Sakamaki or Mukami verses, typically answering asks, etc. that aren’t directly related to events unique to their timelines.

#V; LAITO; WHAT IFS & #V; LAITO; ONESHOTS

Likely reserved for one-off threads exploring a “what if”, a romantic meme that would otherwise be inappropriate, etc. If a meme doesn’t quite fit with one of the existing timelines, it’ll get one of these.