#my fanfic is equal parts analysis and vibes

[lazuliquetzal]

holy shit I just read lie by omission and wanderer's guide and I SWEAR it's like you ripped Kratos and Mimir straight out of the games. how do you get your characterization so accurate???

YOU ARE SO SWEET THANK YOUUU

this is low-key funny to me because. LBO is the ONLY fic I get the "your characterization is so accurate" comment on. My other fics are like, "your characterization is wack but I see the vision" lmao.

So idk how helpful my characterization advice would be. My personal approach for fic is basically: I'm acting.

There's like ten billion iterations of Hamlet out there. Every actor who has ever been Hamlet has a list of headcanons and nuances they inject into their performance. Sometimes he's a wishy-washy conflicted sad guy, sometimes he's just a quiet dude tapping into a well of repressed anger. There's classic Hamlet portrayals, who share many of the same traditional Hamlet traits. And sometimes the director plops the whole play into a post-apocalyptic grocery store in the underground nuclear bunker, and the Hamlet in that setting is not like other Hamlets, but nonetheless makes sense given what you've done to him.

An "in-character" Hamlet is when someone's interpretation of Hamlet slots in neatly to the plot of Hamlet, and provides believable explanations for everything that Hamlet says and does.

I do admittedly try to write a game-accurate Kratos. I do this by asking myself:

What does Kratos do in canon > Why does Kratos do that in canon > What kind of person has those motivations and is capable of those actions?

And then once I've analyzed that > What would this person do if Loki showed up.

I guess the important part of being #Accurate is referencing the source material. The fact that I'm writing time travel and I've been following the plot of GoW does a LOT of heavy lifting. I'm exploring the same themes as canon, and I'm in the same genre. So there's less work I need to do to make Kratos and Mimir feel familiar.

Normally, I'm like, "what if we were in Comedy Town," or "what if we move the slider between shonen and introspection further to the right" which is probably where that Lazuli Sauce slips in. The only character that got affected by that in LBO was Baldur lmao.

[dearestceciliaa]

I'm reading Ladybug right now and thoroughly enjoying myself. For context, I've never watched Outer Banks in my life, so your fanfic is my official introduction to it after years of wondering what it was.

PART 1: Your descriptions are fantastic, I felt like I was standing beside Angie the whole time. I'm very impressed with how much you seem to know about cars. I'm not a vehicle fanatic, but it's interesting to see how other authors integrate their knowledge into their works.

PART 2: I'm amazed with how consistent your characters are, and how you manage to show different facets of them while keeping to their individual personalities and voices. The way you integrate information about the characters is done skillfully and in a way that remains engaging (and humorous) to the reader. JJ's comments have me howling.

PART 3: The different perspectives and voices of the characters really shine here, somehow even more than in the last two episodes. I'm glad everyone is getting the "puppy dog" vibe from JJ. It's little things like these that make me appreciate characters even more than usual. You've got me doing research into what "kooks" and "pogues" are in this context (this is a good thing). '"I please the fifth"' is making me clean up the tea I just spat all over my desk.

PART 4: Oh crap JJ is getting serious now. Despite being a semi-drastic change, it feels realistic. Well played. Also, VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER- I'M DYING! YOU'VE KILLED ME! I SURRENDER!

Awesome work, I can't wait for updates/to read your other fics!

You doing a full analysis on each part is truly healing my depression I think, if I could hand you over the moon on a lasso I would.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IM YOUR INTRODUCTION TO OUTERBANKS??? WHAT. AN. HONOUR.

I shall make a badge of it.

In all seriousness, I truly do what to underline the fact that JJ is absolutely someone who downplays his trauma by humor, anything overwhelming for the Blondie will immediately turn into a crass joke, and this is wonderful for me because I do that same exact thing lol. But yeah finding a voice for each one of them is difficult in an incredibly exciting way!

[also in my book and pretty much in the series too: kooks= mega rich, Pogues= absolutely not rich, tourons= idiotic tourons aka touron + moron equals touron🥂]

Also, the fact that you think I pull off writing funny stuff is making my ego bigger than it should be???? And most of the dialogue was made by me talking to myself so truly this is wonderful for my ego.

Oh! And I am also HEAVILY implying that JJ is a big fluffy golden retriever in my book, honestly in the series too, because it absolutely clocks out for him to fawn over this cool older girl that lives in a van and loves to travel.

I adore you so so much for this, thank you for brightening my day yet again, my favourite reader!🩷

[also I will be updating VERY soon, toodles!]

[hypnoticgh0st]

I'm just gonna headdive straight into this cuz that seems super fun! Hope ya don't mind ;3

Current/last

Currently reading: Thorne Princess by L. J. Shen. That book is so quoteable and honestly hilarious though it also packs quite the punch.

Last Song: The Milk Carton by Madilyn Mei

Last Film: I think it was Venom: The Last Dance, not super sure tho

Last Series: Fallout 4, while pretty gorey at times it was suuuper cool and post/semi apocalyptic settings are amongst my favourites. Also Ghoul cowboy is just amazing.

Sweet or Savory: Uh rather sweet,but I like both almost equally!

Tea or Coffe: Neither actually, just don't like them. Coffee is way too bitter and tea is too inbetween water and flavoured stuff, I just. No. Bleh

Working on: A comic and several chapters for different stories. Oh and overworking an old wc fanfic of mine... ;-;'''

Favourite Things Game!

Favourite Cold drink: Cherry Cola and Berries Fanta. I love those flavours a lot! Too bad that the latter isn't produced in germany T^T

Favourite Hot drink: Hot cocoa, it's the best imo

Favourite sweet: Chocolate filled peppermints, they are sooo good and I love them so much. I just crunch on them whenever I can! Also Schoko Tatzen, they're a very yummy biscuit ^^

Favourite actor: Neil Newbon and Tom Hiddleston! Yes, no explanation needed

Favourite move atm: Deadpool 2, gotta love the found family trope

Favourite song atm: Raphael's Final Act by Borislav Slavov, yeah sure it's like a video game song but it's an absolute vibe, been listening to it on repeat for a while lol.

Favourite Singer: Will Wood! Looove his songs and fun fact drew him in charcoal once for school :3 the best part of that drawing may have been the rat on his shoulder but still!

Favourite game atm: Baldur's Gate 3 obv, this game as me OBSESSED, the character writing and story? ON POINT. Game aesthetic and just design? BEAUTIFULL, STUNNING, BREATH TAKING. Mechanics and fights? COULDN'T WISH FOR MORE. Also Astarion my baby boiii

Favourite season: autumn! I love how colorful it is and it's just cooling down but it's not suuuper cold ya know?

Favourite weather: mist and light rain. It's just really pretty and calming to me, plus mist ist cool and mysterious so I get to pretend I'm in like a zombie survival game for a lil bit lol.

Favourite flower: Lavender! It's calming and I love the scent of it, also I just adore any and all things that help me actually fall asleep. Also Mountain Laurel, really pretty flower. I could mention a lot of interesting (too me) flowers cuz they kinda fascinate me but that's probably boring. I do recommend looking up Skull Flower tho, they cool af.

Favourite scent: oh definitely like a brand new book/manga as well as fire. They're very pleasing to my nose :D

Favourite Animal: Cats- I own one after all, owls- they're so cool and look sooo fluffy, crows- I wrote a 8+ page analysis on them for philosophy learning all those things about them only made them MORE interesting too me! Foxes- i just love them same with sharks, they silly and I adore them. Vampire Ground Finches- they're awesome little freaks and I adore them so much. They exist solely on like two islands and no where else, look them up, they silly.

Favourite tree: Willow and Wisteria trees! Look at them, they're so stunning and look straight out of a fairy tale.

Favourite book: The Kiss Thief by L. J. Shen. Amazing, unforgettable book, literally couldn't put it down. It had like so many tropes I love reading, it's an arranged marriage, mafia, enemies to lovers story with a happy end. Just chefs kiss all around except Francesca's dad, f that guy

(and why wasn't this here, my add isss) favourite band: Måneskin and Fish in a Birdcage

This was really fun! I love these kinds of game :D

Tagging but not forcing:

@deadandwalking @sh3s4k1ll3rqu33n @uactlikeicare3000 go fam <3

CURRENT/LAST ...and... FAVORITE THINGS Tag Games

Forgive me for combining the two games! And thanks for the tags @astarions-world and @saucy-scribbler!

CURRENT/LAST

Currently reading: Running to the Rescue by Dianne Oren (book 3 of 4/5?)

Last song: A Shot In The Dark by Within Temptation

Last film: I loved the live-action “How To Train Your Dragon.” That was my most recent movie I watched in theaters and LOVED IT, but last night I also watched “Kraven: The Hunter” on Netflix.

Last series: Midnight at the Pera Palace – it’s a Turkish series on Netflix and their time-travel to the early 20th century REALLY sucked me in and I can’t stop watching it! (Dubbed in English for anyone who wants to look it up. Season one was KILLER, OMG!)

Sweet or savory: Sweet … chocolate is my weakness.

Tea or coffee: I shouldn’t have either, but I like my mocha coffee!

Working on: a novel that I’ve wanted to write for some time and a true labor of love….. I will consider posting snippets much later on. I am also considering continuing my FTav/SpAstarion fanfic into a part 2. IDK if I have the patience or brain power for both atm, lol!

For this game I tag @irondeficienttav, @oonalovesastarionssimpleplan, @foxandfangs, @anacdoce, @amoremagnificentbastard, @litsenn, and @blitzy-arts

NEXT.....

FAVORITE THINGS GAME

Favorite cold drink: Peach-pear smoothie! YUMMM. I used to get it all the time at Books-A-Million while book shopping. Second favorite is a frozen or iced mocha!

Favorite hot drink: Peppermint hot chocolate

Favorite sweet: CHOCOLATE!!! Have I said chocolate enough yet?!

Favorite actor: Jensen Ackles. I’ve been keeping an eye on that eye candy since he was a younger man!

Favorite movie at the moment: Austenland. (I can hear my husband now… “You’re watching THAT movie?! A-GAIN?!”)

Favorite song at the moment: Numb by Linkin Park (I have it on repeat on the drive to work currently. I think my job is an issue right now…. SOoooo… this is telling, lmao!)

Favorite singer: I honestly don’t have one. I like all different types of music from classical to new age to heavy metal. And tastes change! (I grew up on country music and have to say I avoid it when I can as an adult.) Right now, I’m favoring rock music.

Favorite video game at the moment: Kingdom Come Deliverance (the first, the second is in my queue), and BG3, of course!

Favorite season: Winter – it’s the only time of year my allergies aren’t driving me nuts!

Favorite weather: Rainy ! Although, not the days-long rain, because it makes the mold grow more and irritates my allergies. But a good short burst of rain – my husband and I love to open the door and just listen to it outside.

Favorite flower: English Tea Rose, particularly one that has peachy-yellow petals with pink-tinged tips and center. Yellow/peach colored roses are my favorite!

Favorite scent: Clean/cotton. Think any “Cotton” fragrance ever made from BBW, or my fave to find dupes for: “Dolce” by Dolce and Gabbana, and “J’adore” by Dior. (FYI, Dollar Tree had some MAJOR AWESOME Dupes for them by EAD. They didn’t last nearly as long, but I bought up every single one I could find a decade ago.)

Favorite animal: Domestic? Dog! Wild? Dolphins. I shall add to this: Favorite fantasy creature? MERMAID! Of course!

Favorite tree: Christmas trees!!

(and why wasn’t this in here? I’m adding it…) Favorite book: I have 2…..“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. And “The Winter Sea” by Susanna Kearsley.

For this game, I shall tag @amoremagnificentbastard, @anacdoce, @oonalovesastarionssimpleplan, @foxandfangs, @litsenn, @a-tangled-mermaid, and @blitzy-arts,

[jadethest0ne]

35! Go for it! ✨

Oh right, for this ask game! I had nearly forgotten about it XD

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want! 

If there was one fic-related thing I’d want to ramble about it’d be specifically being a comic artist, and the different things I experienced going from the Pokemon fandom to the RotTMNT fandom as a comic artist.

I spent 5 years creating a Pokemon comic called “Liberty”, based on a nuzlocke playthrough of Pokemon Soul Silver (basically pokemon on hard-mode with permadeath involved for those of you who don’t know what a nuzlocke is). Meanwhile, it’s been just over a year since my first foray into creating comics for the Rise fandom.

The Similarities

The Disparity between Fanart and Fanfiction

Being a comic artist is odd sometimes because I basically do both fanart and fanficiton at the same time. I can understand and vibe with what a lot of both fanartists and fanfiction writers go through and deal with. This is why I feel like I can answer a lot of these fanfiction questions despite a good chunk of my story-telling being visual.

I am also aware of the disparity between fanart often getting a lot more eyes and attention than fanfiction. Deciding to write a piece of fanfiction instead of draw it out in comic format is often a calculated choice on my part, because writing prose takes more energy from me and often gets less rewards via views and interaction from readers. But despite it taking more energy, it takes less overall time for me to write something out than draw the same story, so I often factor that in when deciding which medium to create a story in.

I feel bad that a lot of fanfiction writers don’t get the attention that they deserve because of this disparity, so may I remind readers to please please PLEASE support your fanfiction creators and interact with their work! It seriously means a lot to them! Even a little message or a reblog will do! The main similarity between these two fandoms is this disparity, and I think it’d be awesome if we could get the number of interactions between fanart/fancomics and fanfiction to be more equal.

The Differences

I’m more popular as a Rise artist?

So, as I said, I spent 5 years making a Pokemon comic and 1 year creating a bunch of Rise comics. And yet I think I got more (or at least the same number of) viewers on my Rise comics in that one year than on my Pokemon comics in 5 years. I certainly got a similar number of followers, despite the differences in time. One of the main reasons for this is likely due to the social media platforms I posted on. I posted “Liberty” on deviantart and on the Pokemon Nuzlocke forums, the latter being particularly niche. As for my Rise comics and artwork, I branched out to other sites including here on Tumblr, Instagram, AO3, and Twitter (though insta got fewer comics due to the image size restrictions). The number and popularity of the sites I posted Rise artwork to are more than deviantart and that is likely a big reason. The other reasons for my increase in popularity may be for some of the other differences...

There aren’t that many comic artists in the TMNT fandom

I could probably name only a handful of consistent comic creators in, not only the Rise fandom, but in the TMNT fandom. And I mean the long-running, over-arching story type of comic creators. There aren’t that many of us. There are tons of artists and fanfic writers out there, yes, but very few that combine the two.

Meanwhile the Pokemon community has TONS. Especially the nuzlocke community. Heck, the Pokemon nuzlocke community started and was named because of a popular comic detailing the events of the creator’s nuzlocke challenge playthrough of Pokemon Emerald. You get a little bit more lost in the crowd amongst so many other comic artists in the Pokemon community, but at the same time have more people to learn from and relate to in that way.

My involvement with the Fandoms has been different

There’s been a lot of collaboration and working together among creators within each respective fandom. I feel like personally, a lot of my collabs with Rise creators has been a lot more direct and more personal than the kind of things I did in the Pokemon fandom.

For example, in the Pokemon comic fandom, it was really common to cameo each others’ characters in your comic, or include each others’ comics or characters in memes. This wasn’t always a planned thing, though we would ask each other for permission. I joined a Pokemon comic discord, but most of my interactions there and on other platforms involved brainstorming help. Not only that, but sometimes the community was a bit more competitive as well. For instance the Nuzlocke Forums would hold an “extravaganza” every year where folks voted on various categories to vote for the best nuzlocke (I won “Best Pokemon” and “Most improved” in 2018 :3 ).

Meanwhile with the Rise fandom, I did more things like art trades, collaborative art pieces, and zine work. These were a lot more direct and planned out and involved a bit more trust and interaction with other artists. I also became close friends with the folks in the discords that I joined as part of a Rise server, beyond just “fellow creator”.

As a result, I found myself doing a lot more serious artwork and even created other fics for the Rise fandom beyond just my comics, while when it came to Pokemon I stuck mainly to my “Liberty” art/comics.

More eyes, less interaction and visa versa

Again, this could be mainly a differences in what social media I’m using, but a big difference I found between readers of my work is that I got A LOT more people commenting on my Pokemon comic than on my Rise comics. I may be getting more views on my TMNT comics, but boy did I get more interaction with my Pokemon comics. I would get at least 5 people leaving these in-depth analysis or guesses of what would happen on each page for my Pokemon comic, not to mention the dozens of other reactions I would get in the comments. And despite that comic being on hiatus for a year, I still get some comments on it!

So, unless I know the commenter personally, I feel a little less involved with my readership with my Rise comics than my Pokemon one. Which is a little sad. I do appreciate you all who appreciate my work, but I feel like I appreciate you from afar and can only go “awww” at the things y’all leave in the notes or on the anonymous asks I get, instead of being able to thank you more directly.

Rise readers are a bit less patient

I get lots more people asking me “when the next page is coming” on my Rise comics and fics much more often than on my Pokemon comic. This virtually never happened with my Pokemon comic. Granted, I was way more consistent with “Liberty” and it had a set schedule, whereas my Rise comics/fanfics never have. But still.

I really DO NOT like those kinds of asks/comments. Please do not ask me when the next one is coming out. It makes me feel stressed and ashamed and pressured, which can create negative feelings around my work and make me less likely to finish them. I get that you’re excited, and that’s cool. But literally no one likes those kinds of comments.

For perspective, “Liberty”, my Pokemon comic, has been on hiatus for nearly a year and I’ve gotten maybe two comments to that effect, and they were newer readers who weren’t around at the time that I announced my hiatus and the reasons thereof. My “Liberty” readers have been so patient with me (bless them), and I feel a real loyalty to that kind of readership. I don’t know when, yet, but I really want to get back to “Liberty” someday, not just for myself or that story that I lovingly crafted, but also for them.

Pokemon was a hobby, Rise is a passion

Likely due to the fact that I have made a lot of close friends within the Rise community, and the fact that it has helped me immensely through this really tough year, I feel so much closer with the Rise creator community. Pokemon was a thing that I did for fun as a side hobby. My TMNT related comics and art have pushed me so much further in my art, gotten me involved in various projects, gotten me into creating animations, holy heck was I sucked into this fandom in such a short amount of time, and I love it so much.

I have been a fan of Pokemon since I was a kid, and I never thought I’d find a piece of media that would capture my attention and adoration as much. I think at a point when I was shifting from the Pokemon to the Rise fandom I said something along the lines of “I feel like I’m cheating on Pokemon with Rise”/j but it’s kinda true, haha!

In the end, both fandoms and the people in them mean a lot to me, and I’ve grown a lot from them as an artist and a person. I will be forever grateful to the other creators, readers, artists, writers, friends, collaborators, etc in both.

Thank you all very much!

[zevzevarainai]

Hey! You ever end up doing essay on the kazumaji gifs? (I'm highly interested because it's always majima o' clock where I live)

it’s always majima o’clock here too; maybe we live in the same area... but lmao i didnt write the essay on my kazumaji gifs because i didnt think anyone would want to hear it so i meant it more as a per request kind of deal. and you’re requesting. I want you to know you did this to yourself, my friend

below the read more for everyone’s well being. welcome to my first official majima analysis essay

ok so in those tags i said something like majima is softest with kiryu because it is absolutely the truth (unless you count makoto, which i love them too, but majima has moved on or at least is making an effort to. and that was pre-tacky snake skin jacket and pre-mad dog persona.) 

the prompt for the gifset was “maybe something about majima being stupid and unhinged but like, in a sweet way” and the whole point of this rambling is that kiryu is really the only one we see who causes the mad-dog persona to slip. kiryu says he can never get a read on majima but just because he is unpredictable doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand that he isn’t just batshit crazy. he trusts majima, and finds comfort in his lack of predictability, keeping kiryu’s life exciting and providing distraction from the insane amount of tragic shit that happens to kiryu. and majima has a similar experience of idolizing the yakuza lifestyle as teens/young adults only to have the yakuza drag them through hell. But this is supposed to be about Majima.

ANYWAY what GETS ME is again that mad-dog vibe slipping around kiryu. the only time we really only see it again is with Saejima when he comes back from jail. i’m gonna talk about that later too. LET’s GET TO THE GIFS i’m going in chronological order not the order i put them in

1)

Ok so as an audience, we don’t really know what happened between Kiryu and Majima between Yakuza Zero and Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami. Yes, we get that tiny ending scene of Majima going KIRYU-CHAN for the first time and Kiryu smiling at him. But we are given nothing as to how they met or why Majima started calling him Kiryu-chan. It is left completely to the audience’s interpretation. Because then it goes straight to the first scene with Majima in Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami after Kiryu gets out of jail. It implies that they already knew each other, and arguably that they were somewhat close -- close enough for Majima to “miss him.” (What was majima doing for those 10 years, i don’t know, but he clearly wasn’t in a great place, missing both kiryu, makoto, and saejima, we ignore y5 lore in this household or make up shit to fill in the giant gaps) You could argue that Majima missing Kiryu is just Majima being “crazy haha woah” but his character is so much deeper than that, and it’s proven in this gif’s scene. Yes he is fighting Kiryu with all his men. But if you are reading this you understand that them fighting physically all the time is a secret love language. They never intend to severely hurt each other. Fighting is how they know that they have an equal, someone else who was modeled into a weapon because of the Tojo Clan.

And yes, “He belongs to me!” is an extremely gay thing to say. He doesn’t even need to say that, though. One of his men didn’t understand that he doesn’t actually want to hurt Kiryu. The guy picked up Majima’s knife and tried to actually hurt Kiryu. Majima willingly gets stabbed so Kiryu doesn’t get hurt. That’s a handful of gay subtext right there. Majima’s first scene in y1 is about how the world is a horrible, shitty place that will chew you up and spit you out if you care. Then he goes and gets stabbed. Self-sacrificially. He cares about Kiryu, even if it hurts. 

2)

This one isn’t as deep. It stems of the same concept of them fighting each other as equals. Majima explicitly says more than once that strength is the most admirable trait, Goromi says that it only matters that a man is strong. Kiryu is the only person who presents a challenge to him. He admires him. 

3)

(As a disclaimer, I know a lot of people are uncomfortable with Goromi. I’ve also seen a lot of non-binary, gender-fluid, etc. people project on Goromi and Majima, and I feel like that can only be a good thing. Obviously they deserve more and more quality representation. I think the people who dislike Goromi are valid as well, but for the sake of this argument we are going to see Goromi as the people who project on her do and I’m going to use she/her pronouns when talking about Goromi.)

Regardless on your stance on this whole little side quest, the player has the choice to go along with Goromi which creates actually a lot of subtle connecting between the two of them. Even in just talking to her, we see the mad-dog mask slip. She talks about how much she cared about the girls at Club Shine and wonders how they’re doing. Literally says “all part of my tragic-ass backstory.” And Kiryu sympathizes with it. Says he sees through the “i hated it” bullshit and sees Majima/Goromi’s true self, which is that the cabaret job was hard for Majima because he cared about the women and didn’t like using them as a source of income and knew it would be his fault if they got hurt. 

Also, Goromi says that "When I’m with a guy, it’s all about if I’m having enough fun. That’s why he’s gotta be strong.” Sound like someone we know? Someone who we are talking about in the last gif with i-just-got-the-shit-beat-out-of-me-and-it-was-awesome bliss on his face?

Anyway, the scene in the gif is near the end of the session. Kiryu is talking about how he’s been in prison for 10 years, and Goromi says that now that he’s out he should try to relax and and a little fun. Arguably, “since you’re so lonely right now, I’m gonna give ya a hand!” is most of Majima’s role in YK1. Kiryu gets out of prison. Majima wants to fight him all the time and says it’s because he’s gone soft and needs to train. Majima Everywhere presents excitement in his life when everything else is hard and shitty and traumatizing. Yes, Majima kidnapped Haruka. But there isn’t a lot of info on that. Majima says he did it so they could fight but it very likely could have been an order from the Tojo Clan or even Nishiki. Until he develops a bond with Haruka, Majima is, in a way, all he has. Nishiki is mean now. Yumi is ???. Kazama is i don’t even remember but he certainly isn’t any emotional support. He’s lonely. Majima is the only person he has from before prison, and quite possibly the only person who understands what he is going through. 

4)

YK2, Kiryu has yeeted out of Majima’s life as Kiryu does, but he’s trying to protect haruka so I’ll let it slide. And what does Majima do now that Kiryu’s not there? Leaves the Tojo Clan. Yes it’s because he doesn’t like the 5th chairman’s style and to make up for Kawamura, but the point is he’s bored. The use of “MY Kiryu-chan” is obviously written there because “haha majima he’s crazyyy” but come on. Majima left the Tojo Clan after Kiryu stepped down as the 4th chairman. Because he was bored. Because he couldn’t trust his own men. The only person he considered an equal just wasn’t there anymore and he found it difficult to adjust. (That’s YEARNING, fellas)

So yes, HIS Kiryu-chan came home, but what is home in this context? It clearly isn’t the tojo clan, so I guess it could be Kamurocho in general. But if the clan doesn’t make it home, what does make it home? Perhaps a certain triangle shaped man??

5)

Oh boy silly Majima wants to fight Kiryu again hahaha weeeeeeeee NO listen, LISTEN, he does want to fight kiryu again, because 1) the man has been bored for a year 2) FIGHTING IS THEIR LOVE LANGUAGE 3) Majima is once again surprising Kiryu in a world where nothing surprises him anymore, where kiryu expects people to be vile and only want him for gain. Every single goddamn game it’s “Kiryu plz save the Tojo Clan plz” and Kiryu NEVER gets anything in return unless you count, i don’t know, Daigo and Haruka’s safety? But Majima doesn’t give a shit about any of that. Majima is one of the only people who consistently does things for Kiryu (even if they’re presented in an abnormal way). Majima is really the only one who makes sacrifices for Kiryu. But this fight, it kicks off YK2 of “hey, i missed you but i won’t admit it because we’re manly yakuza, please let me try to make you smile.”

6)

THE kazumaji scene. Going off of Majima being the only one to make sacrifices for Kiryu, here’s a perfect example. Majima first aids the Tojo Clan which he swore to leave literally only because Kiryu asked him to. Then, here, he get beaten within an inch of his life because he promised Kiryu he would protect Kamurocho from Ryuji. Majima does not give a shit about the Tojo Clan at this point. Yes, Majima LOVEEESSSS beating people up, but he’s fatally wounded. This is not a Majima who would die for the Tojo Clan. This is a Majima willing to die for Kiryu. After warning Kiryu about being to trusting, too.

And of course, we get the Majima collapsing on the pavement and Kiryu rushing in to CRADLE him in his arms like a damn fanfic. You’ve even got the “I did it for you” which everyone knows is basically an “I love you.” Look at Majima’s face in the gif. Bless the Kiwami 2 graphics, first of all. He’s looking at Kiryu like he wants him to be the last thing he sees, like he wants him to know that he’s going out for Kiryu, that despite the fact that he’s about to cough up blood he needs Kiryu to have the information he needs to save the clan and Kamurocho. He’s telling Kiryu all this with labored breath because he promised. Kiryu “One-Expression” Kazuma is viably worried as hell, the little nod in the gif kills me because Kiryu needs him to know he’s touched and he’s so grateful. The only reason Kiryu left him was because there was danger elsewhere and he trusts Kaoru enough to take care of him. (Side note: I love Kaoru Sayama, but I still feel like she’s good enough a character on her own and doesn’t need to be a romantic interest for Kiryu. Like it was like oh... she’s Girl so she needs to fall for the Big Strong Male Protag.... If Majima was a cis girl they would have made out in this game, maybe even y1.) 

7) Speaking of sacrifices, Yakuza 3, the game where Majima literally joined the Tojo Clan again because Kiryu wanted him to protect Daigo. That’s a huge lifestyle change, Majima.

Yes, this scene is funny because Majima is riding in a Barbie-ass truck like a 15 year old driving on a learner’s permit in a downpour (yet proves he can drive stick seconds later) and thinks he hit Kiryu while he purposely hit everyone else. Look, Majima needs this ok y3 he looks like he’s been crying since kiryu left no one No One is going to hurt Kiryu now

That truck is likely stolen, he’s driving erratically as fast as he can because Kiryu is in danger, how did he even know that Kiryu was in danger is it like some kind of 6th sense... If you didn’t already know, I would take a bullet for Majima’s voice actor; his delivery of “Kiryu-chan! Where are you?!” could have just been like haha oops kiryu did i hit you ;3 but instead it’s this raw cry of genuine panic, like did his actions get kiryu hurt, Majima could not live with himself if he was the reason Kiryu got fatally hurt

8) Ok I’ve hinted at the fact that I have beef with the Hot Mess that is yakuza 5, wasn’t huge on Y4 and Y6 was fine but it was heavily based on the events of Y5. In my head I’ve got an entire fix-it fanfic in which Majima yeets out to Okinawa with Kiryu after Y3 I could write that upon request too ANYWAY here’s another sacrificial majima...

Despite not caring for Y5, THIS SCENE is RAW. Maybe he’s not super “unhinged” in this scene but it’s just so much. Majima, who Kiryu brokedown in his taxi bc he thought he got killed (because Kiryu made him stay in the tojo clan haha we’re out here crying), chooses Kiryu over Saejima. Saejima, Majima’s oath brother, Saejima. We love Saejima, Majima loves Saejima, but 25 years is a long ass time. Majima changed. Saejima changed. For awhile he had Makoto, but then Kiryu was all Majima had for a good chunk of Saejima’s time in prison. This is the man Majima got his eye stabbed out for defending. But the BaD GuYs that arent memorable enough for me to even look up the names of are like look, we want to watch the world burn because we are Bad Guys, so either you are going to fight your brother to the death or we are going to snipe Kiryu’s daughter in the fucking head. Obviously he doesn’t know that Baba is going to betray them, so he has to pick between Saejima and Haruka. He chooses to potentially kill Saejima for Kiryu’s happiness. I’m sure if things didn’t change, Majima would have held back and let Saejima kill him. Majima would rather die than see Kiryu in pain. Majima would rather kill Saejima/let Saejima kill him than let Haruka die. If that’s not a giant declaration of unconditional love and devotion, I don’t know what else to tell you.

Anyway, thanks so much for indulging me and listening to my yakuza opinions if you made it this far you the mvp :’’’’)

[statusquoergo]

(1/2) Loved your 901 recap! Thank you for keeping up with those. Is anyone else getting Paula+Harvey (intentionally dysfunctional) vibes from current Darvey? Likely because it’s the same writers, but this episode was kinda (sad) Marvey too. Harvey’s spiralling to a point where he doesn’t even care about the most important rule he’s had for his personal life since before 101. Holding on to Mike’s apartment (I think I’ve read this fanfic before!) and his comment relating to that. And…

(2/2) …I can see s1 Mike (before he started trusting Harvey) dealing with loss by hiding from his problems and not even looking at the lease. But could Mike coming back be a way to reset and establish them as equals (as opposed to boss and employee) so they can be in a place by the series finale where the show could end with them founding their own firm? Realistically there is no hope for a romantic Marvey ending, but what do you think, could a professional Marvey ending still be possible?

I sent you two messages (starting (½) (2/2)) earlier about your 901 recap(s) and now see you added a special Marvey recap. I’d felt it was a very Marvey ep, but once again you were able to articulate WHY. Your recaps are AWESOME! Please continue them. Of course now I’m really nervous about that expression on Harvey’s face in that clip (07.02 / 108). My question still stands though, do you see any hope for some lovely Marvey-ness in the series finale? Or do we need to rely on fix-it fics?

Hi! Thank you so much, I’m glad you liked it! Considering the previews, I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say about the next episode as well.

To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it in terms of Paula/Harvey vibes, but yeah, there are some similar notes. I mean on the one hand, theoretically Harvey should have been more open with Paula than with anyone else in his life; she was his therapist, after all. In fact, it seems that getting him to open up was like pulling teeth, and his keeping secrets from her was probably what ultimately broke them up. Then on the other hand, you have Donna claiming to know Harvey better than anyone (paging Mike Ross), so there’s a bilateral split between them there.

The place where I find the most similarity between the two pairs, though, is Harvey’s…need to please, let’s say. He gives Paula a key to his apartment after they’ve been dating for two months because he forgot it was their anniversary (two months, some anniversary) and she gave him a present he felt he needed to reciprocate on the spot (”100″ [s07e08]), and I’ve talked before about his habit of relinquishing any sense of self whenever Donna tells him what to do. (There are a million examples, but the only one I have a source for off the top of my head is making her a senior partner because she wanted it real bad and then making her COO instead when she boxed him into it [s07e02]; see my summaries [I, II] of s09e01 for more analysis on examples from that episode.) And it’s not just a desire to please, or to be a good boyfriend; it’s complete capitulation. He’ll do anything to keep them from leaving him. (Oh goodness, what a subtle callback to his deep-seated abandonment issues.)

I can imagine Mike not looking at the lease for a couple of reasons; one, maybe he legitimately doesn’t care, but in that case, why bother having Harvey rent it out at all if they don’t plan on coming back someday? Two, yeah, maybe he thinks the best way to get over Harvey is to cut him completely out of his life; rejecting his phone calls, not returning any of his messages, ignoring the lease agreement. This option doesn’t really make sense with him coming back in episode five, already knowing he’ll be going up against Harvey…unless you think he’s trying to use the opportunity to make amends, in which case all you have to do is remember that between the two of them, Mike and Harvey have all the emotional awareness of a rusty teaspoon, and suddenly it all falls into place.

(For real though, I think the writers threw in the apartment as a convenient plot device to showcase how compatible Harvey and Donna are; they probably didn’t put nearly as much thought into it as we are.)

Will Mike and Harvey reunite to open their own firm at the end of Season 9. Keeping in mind that we’re only one episode in, and that the planning on this show is, uh, not good, which make it difficult to predict things…I’m gonna say no, they’re probably not. Partly because I don’t really see Harvey branching off to open his own firm, considering how much time and energy he’s dedicated to saving the one he already has (even though it should have disbanded multiple times over), and partly because I have a hard time imagining Mike coming back to New York for good, especially since there’s a 99.999% chance Meghan will not make an appearance and that would just make it weird.

And I know I go on about not taking Korsh at his word because he’s a lying liar, but I also have to point to this interview because it’s colored a lot of my thinking on the subject. First of all, Korsh says he’s had an ending in mind for Season 9 since the end of Season 6, and they have a “vague arc” planned out already with Patrick’s participation in the final episode still somewhat up in the air. That doesn’t sound to me like they intend to open Specter Ross LLC anytime soon. Second, consider Korsh’s assertion that they want to give with one hand and take with the other; certainly a new firm could be the positive part of a bittersweet finale, but what would be the negative? It would have to be something that would impact Harvey dearly (or Mike, I suppose, but that wouldn’t make as much narrative sense), but what could that be? Some kind of loss, probably, but they wouldn’t spend the entire season building up Darvey only to get rid of Donna in the last episode, and they couldn’t get rid of Mike if the whole point was the two of them starting their own firm. (I mean, they could, if the plans were all in place and then Mike was crushed by a falling airplane and Harvey had to run it by himself, but that seems…excessive.) Getting rid of Louis would be sad, I guess, but I don’t think Harvey would take it personally, and Jessica’s been gone for several years already, so killing her offscreen would come out of nowhere (not to mention seriously fuck things up for Pearson). I guess they could get rid of Rachel? But that seems pretty hollow, especially if she’s not appearing in person. Oh, Harvey's mother, maybe, or his brother; they seem to be trying to cram as many returning guest stars into this season as possible, so I guess that's an option too, although they always bring such conflict and drama with them whenever they appear, that might strike the wrong tone...

We might get some lovely Marvey-ness in the finale; even if Mike doesn’t come back for good, he might make a brief return for whatever the ultimate battle is, à laJessica in “Character and Fitness” (s06e16). But as for them going in for the long haul, I’m afraid my vote is “not likely.” (Although in fairness, Korsh did also say in that interview that they drastically changed the end of s08e16 at the last possible moment, so nothing is impossible...)

As it always is, though, fanfiction to the rescue!