#vee is low empathy

[ichorrehabilitationproject]

VEE VERSION 1

She’s a machine. She doesn’t know how to express emotions. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with her. Maybe she could’ve fixed it. All the knowledge in the world couldn’t have taught her how to be human. She sticks to collecting items. There was no purpose in keeping anything, she can’t use them anyway.

[the-meme-monarch]

I’m sharing this take with you because I think you’d enjoy it: Vee is autistic. low empathy & is often accidentally rude. can’t read social cues.

real to me. i think autism is very common in toons to where it’s like. The Normal to them. and that’s how vee’s is :] i’m not sure why i decided to draw delilah here. i think she’s similarly low empathy/unintentionally rude. i also just like her is the thing

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 41, part three

(Masterpost) (Pinboard)  (whole thing on AO3)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Brotherhood of Man

Somehow, after the multi-layered shit sandwich of betrayal that happened in Nightless City, Lan Xichen manages to convince his two besties to swear brotherhood with him and each other. Lan Xichen's Polyamory 101 class apparently didn't tell him that forcing a vee to become a three-for-all is a bad idea. Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao are bonded by only two things: 1. loving Lan Xichen 2. hating each other.

Nie Mingjue is great at letting bygones be bygones, as we can tell as he glares all the way through Jin Guangyao's skull.

Next we jump to Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao playing the song of clarity for Nie Mingjue, with Lan Xichen in a particularly sexy set of ultra-fancy robes.

NMJ keeps his eyes shut so he won't have to see the extreme eye fucking that's going on right in front of his salad.

Check out his cool candle holders, by the way.

I can't help but think...is this how Lan Xichen is spending his time while Lan Wangji is in forced seclusion? Lan Xichen didn't attack any elders, so there's no reason he shouldn't be enjoying himself, but he's gone all in on the fuckboy life while his brother is seriously struggling. The Lan brothers seem a lot less close after Wei Wuxian's death interlude and I wonder if this is part of the reason.

(More behind the cut!)

We take a tiny break from empathy during this section so that Lan Wangji can check Wei Wuxian's qi.

He does, and goes to play healing for him. He does not react like WWX is lacking a core, despite doing the magic wrist check that would tip him off if that were the case, so I add this to the pile of evidence that WWX 2.0 does have a (shitty) core in his new body.

I like this little scene because Lan Wangji is clearly worried, emotional, upset - he's doing his little sour-lemon frown and he's intensely focused on Wei Wuxian while he plays healing - but he's not trying to wake him, and he doesn't say anything about his own concerns once Wei Wuxian is awake.

Grown-up Lan Wangji is still not a fan of these unorthodox cultivation activities, but he respects WWX's choices and focuses on supporting him, not stopping him.

Play Misty For Me

Next, empathy shows us Jin Guangyao playing for Nie Mingjue in a 1-on-1 session in JinLintai. I guess this is like dialysis, where Nie Mingjue has to waste a shit ton of time going back and forth between home and JinLinTai to get cleansed.

It seems like Lan Xichen could have picked a better person to train in playing the song of clarity. I know Nie Huaisang's wussy core might make him a poor candidate, but surely there's someone in Qinghe who could do the job? Or send a series of Lan disciples in an exchange student arrangement? But Lan Xichen would rather force these guys to hang out together.

Lan Xichen may seem like he's being wilfully blind, or plain stupid, but I don't think that's what he's about. He's aware that both of these guys are, from a certain point of view, bad people. Nie Mingjue is driven by rage and a rigid sense of justice and social hierarchy; Jin Guangyao is consumed with self-interest and will use any means to achieve his ends.

Good guys Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji will also use any means to achieve their ends - attacking elders, raising the dead, and whatnot. What all four of these not-Lan Xichen people have in common is that they go to extremes, too high or too low, there ain't no in-betweens.

Out of the darkness, into the light Leaving the scene of the crime Either I'm wrong or I'm perfectly right Every time

Sorry, but Billy Joel is part of my cultural heritage as a Gen X person.

Lan Xichen embodies a combination of Confucian and Buddhist values, I think; he wants the people he cares about to chill the fuck out and find the middle way, and also to be truly brotherly toward each other. He tries to achieve this through gentle nagging and also by modeling the behavior he wants to see, creating opportunities for peace and balance. Unfortunately at the time Empathy is showing us, he's unware how extreme and unbalanced his own feelings for Jin Guangyao really are.

At some point, Jin Guangyao starts playing the altered version of the music, and we have a series of kind of weird cuts where 1. the Song of Fuck You is playing on the soundtrack while Lan Xichen is teaching Jin Guangyao 2. NMJ starts to hork up some blood in the 1-on-1 session but finishes horking in the trio session. I think this is meant to show that it was a progression.

Meet Me Outside

Empathy jumps ahead to Lan Xichen trying to warn Jin Guangyao about Nie Mingjue's declining temperament, saying that if it wasn't for JGY playing for him every day, it would be super bad, or words to that effect. He is interrupted by Nie Mingjue showing up to yell at Jin Guangyao. Was Nie Mingjue eavesdropping so that his head could recall this later in Empathy?

I'm inclined to see the dynamic among the three of them at this point through a lens of domestic violence. Lan Xichen stands by helplessly while Nie Mingjue makes it clear that he's in a rage and wants to take it out on Jin Guangyao; JGY calmly tells Lan Xichen to stay behind while he goes outside to take a beating. That's not just optics; Nie Mingjue attacks him the moment they're alone. The fact that NMJ is drunk on resentment is only partly the fault of Jin Guangyao's musical poison; a lot of it is his own choice to do saber cultivation.

Lan Xichen may remember similar interactions with his parents. He's certainly having a trauma reaction instead of stepping into this situation from a place of strength. He's protected Jin Guangyao from NMJ before without any difficulty, but the changes in NMJ's temperament and possibly the loss of Lan Wangji's companionship have put him in a weaker state of mind, it seems. And he himself may have been the target of Nie Mingjue's anger at times, too.

The Ragening

After dodging the first swing from Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangyao asks him why he's mad. The gist of NMJ's beef is this: Xue Yang escaped from the unclean realm. NMJ (correctly) blames JGY. Now Xue Yang is imprisoned by Jin Guangshan after a trial or something, in which Chang Ping retracted his earlier accusation. So they can't execute Xue Yang because there's no evidence against him. (Why can they imprison him for life with no evidence, then? Seems sketchy).

Nie Mingjue says that Xue Yang has a piece of Yin metal, and that's why Jin Guangshan is keeping him alive. JGY doesn't affirm or deny this, but he has to obey his dad, so he can't kill Xue Yang just to please Nie Mingjue.

Nie Mingjue tells him to stop doing that thing he does.

You Doing that thing you do Breakin' my heart into a million pieces Like you always do And you Don't mean to be cruel You never even knew about the heartache I've been going through

Jin Guangyao has to intuit what Nie Mingjue is talking about, which is apparently that JGY is being calculating and manipulative.

He proceeds to rip NMJ a new one for believing that everyone can be as rigteous as him when he has his noble birth and high cultivation to depend on. JGY points out that he himself doesn't have early cultivation training or a good family background to draw on. He also gives us a little bit of specific info about his position in the clan, saying that Jin Zixuan's death didn't give him a clear path; Jin Guangshan would rather bring back another bastard son than allow Jin Guangyao to succeed him.

Presumably he's talking about Mo Xuanyu. Before you feel sorry for JGY, remember that he caused Jin Zixuan's death specifically so he could claim his place in the line of succession.

Nie Mingjue says, dismissively, that he's only refusing to kill Xue Yang because he doesn't want to risk his position in the clan. Nie Mingjue says this like it's a bad thing: like Jin Guangyao, who he fired quite a while ago and totally doesn't work for him, should go against his father's express orders and kill a guy, without evidence, because Nie Mingjue thinks that would be more righteous. I gotta say, Nie Mingjue is a real piece of work.

Nie Mingjue acknowledges that he himself has killed a fuckton of people, but never for his own advancement. Jin Guangyao challenges him with words that have a little flavor of Wei Wuxian's way of thinking: did everyone you've killed deserve it? Are your standards fair?

Then he heads firmly back into villain territory by saying "sacrifices must be made for greatness" which has Nie Mingjue asking why he doesn't sacrifice himself, instead of killing other people? (Shades of WWX challenging Wen Zhuliu) Jin Guangyao replies with an emphatic nope, which inspires Nie Mingjue to kick him down the stairs and attribute his poor character to his mom's line of work, for not the first time. If I was in charge of Jinlintai, I would put a safety gate up there.

The bottom of these stairs is kind of an important place for Jin Guangyao; he's been kicked down them twice (that we know of) and each time he stood up 100% ready to kill the guy at the top of the stairs. Although he took a super long time to actually do it in the case of his dad, I'm pretty sure JGS's fate was sealed in that moment....just like Nie Mingjue's is sealed here.

Side note: In the show, JGY starts musically poisoning NMJ while they are still ostensibly getting along fine, whereas in the book he waits until NMJ has kicked him down the stairs and insulted his mom. CQL Jin Guangyao is just more forward-thinking, I guess.

After fixing his hat, Jin Guangyao walks up the stairs calmly explaining to Nie Mingjue how he fucked with the song of cleansing. This causes Nie Mingjue to qi deviate while the Department of Questionable Visual Effects messes around with extra copies of Jin Guangyao in AfterFX.

Not to be outdone, the Department of Questionable Practical Effects has loaded up the front of Nie Mingjue's torso with exploding blood squibs, because apparently that is how they interpret "all his meridians were broken." (We won't talk about the various non-cultivation-aware translations that say "all his veins were broken.")

Nie Huaisang shows up - running up all of the steps at Jinlintai. From where? Did he run from Qinghe? How did he know Nie Mingjue was in trouble? If Lan Xichen told him, why isn't he here too? Presumably he is still busy checking the guest list for the next conference, per JGY's request.

Jin Guangyao grabs Nie Huaisang and holds him out of harms way while vigorously pretending to be upset while Nie Mingjue points his saber at them. Nie Huaisang interprets this as NMJ not recognizing him (and if you've seen Fatal Journey, you know this is a fair interpretation) but it might be that he's pointing it at JGY to encourage him to let NHS go.

This Is The End

Next we see NMJ all tied up on a table in Jinlintai, with corpse poisoning marks on his neck. Someday I will learn exactly when these happen, what they mean, and how everyone who has them gets them, but today is not that day. (Remember when Wen Qing got them while WWX was playing angry flute at the rocks behind Qinghe, and then they went away when he stopped playing? And how this was never explained?) Xue Yang is walking around him with Baxia and half of the yin tiger seal. He can't control him without the whole seal so JGY says to kill him.

In case all of Xue Yang's behavior seems super random, it's actually not; his project is turning high-level cultivators into controllable fierce corpses. Where Wei Wuxian controlled his fierce corpse Wen Ning with kindness and turnips, Xue Yang uses fancy brain nails. With Nie Mingjue, he presumably hadn't developed the technique yet, which is why they can't subdue him to use him. And he failed to get the nails into Xiao Xingchen or Wei Wuxian's heads. So basically the entire project was a bust, given that he didn't deploy Wen Ning for anything, and Song Lan just followed him around an empty town. This is what happens when you get too attached to a particular creative vision.

Camera Operator: hey now!

Xue Yang uses Baxia to chop Nie Mingjue's head off, which has to piss Baxia off. Xue Yang says Nie Mingjue is finally obedient, which is only sort of true, since he'll be coming back for revenge in sword-spirit form in the live action, or in naked dismembered corpse form in every other version of the story.

Friendly Neighborhood Paperman

This murder causes Wei Wuxian to snap out of empathy back into his paperman body, and accidentally pull NMJ's head's eye covers off, revealing eyes that don't look a goddamn thing like actor Wang Yizhou's eyes, but this head has had a rough few years.

Jin Guangyao is right there in the storeroom with him; it's a good thing he didn't think to have one of his chats with NMJ's head during the 30 minutes WWX spent communing with it. He chases Paperman around slashing his sword through the furniture and knocking shit over.

Among JGY's many evil traits, perhaps the worst is the way he wastes storage space. Look at all these shelves with 2 or 3 books on them.

Paperman makes his way over to Suibian where it's displayed on a shelf, and hops onto its hilt while JGY watches. He smirks at WWX's failure to draw the sword, but eventually Paper WWX does draw it, surprising JGY. Suibian fights him remotely for a bit while WWX gets away and makes his way back to Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji trade arm clasps while Wei Wuxian gives him a sitrep, and then they run off to find Nie Mingjue's head.

Because there is no limit to Wei Wuxian's sex appeal, Lan Wangji instantly beats up everyone who gets in his sweetie's way. Lan Xichen shows up, a little alarmed at the attacks on the guards but still on board with their plan.

Lan Xichen deploys his most dramatic stair-climbing flourish to show that he means business.

Eventually Jin Guangyao shows up, and they ask to see his secret chamber. Jin Guangyao tries to explain that it's not, like, a secret chamber any more if you let people come in and look at it.

Apparently there IS a limit to Jin Guangyao's sex appeal, because Lan Xichen puts his foot down for the very first time and tells him, not asks him, to open the room.

...while Wei Wuxian smirks like a kid whose sibling is the one getting yelled at for a change.

Before Jin Guangyao can answer, Su She shows up, saying it's not cool to demand entry to a clan leader's bed chamber, as if Lan Xichen didn't have his own embroidered bathrobe alredy hanging on a hook in there.

Lan Wangji and Su She greet each other nastily, and Wei Wuxian calls him out for copying Lan Wangji, which ends the episode.

Soundtrack: I Go To Extremes by Billy Joel, That Thing You Do from the movie That Thing You Do

Bonus: Liu Haikuan's beautiful hand

[dandysworldhcs]

Neither vee nor poppy has very many friends. Vee being considered rude for her cold, low empathy behavior, and Poppy for being just plain Weird. I think they're both weird autistic girls that end up sticking together because they don't really have anyone else who understands them like they do. I also think they're in love but that's beside the point

.

[gorgugplushie]

okay here's what I think brightney Connie shelly and Tisha are all this big girl group of friends. they all don't vibe w Vee for personal reasons or because their personality doesn't mix well or they just react to Vee like oil and water.

Shelly does like vee but also HEAVILY idolizes her and takes vees awkward and off-putting personality as a personal jab. vee really likes Shelly but is just so awkward she cannot manage a social interaction to save her life despite being a big TV show host.

brightney is very understanding w Shelly and is trying to support her friend all the way while she hides her own crush on Vee because she believes someone would never be attracted to her anyway bc her self-esteem is really low.

meanwhile, Connie has the biggest crush on brightney and is always trying to drop hints, etc but they're both oblivious and stupid. Connie is good friends with vee but belives she has a huge stick up her ass and needs to chill.

Tisha absolutely HATES vee and definitely believes shelly can do better and deserves better. She also has a massive crush on Shelly. she extremely close to brightney as brightney is usually the one to cheer her up and help her whenever she has a manic depressive episode.

Vee herself is ultra aware about how everyone doesn't vibe w her and believes everyone hates her etc. she is an extreme people please but constantly fails to meet anyone expectations of her because shes low empathy and not emotive at all like she is in show.

[doostyaudi]

vee is very npd coded (and personally I think autistic coded) and the person she's tragic yuri with is shelly (who is also bpd + autistic coded, just on the opposite side of the spectrum)

vee hosts their own gameshow and is almost always in the spotlight while shelly is constantly forgotten about/left behind a lot of the time. Which thematically fits with vee and shelly being themed on the future and past (robot character and fossil character)

there's little references here and there that point to shelly wanting to talk to vee but vee keeps (accidentally) turning them down. like one convo they have, shelly wants to talk about dinosaurs with them and vee just says "oh I actually know them all already." (which id like to interpret as vee trying to impress shelly, but shelly takes it as "if she knows them all already, then what's the point in telling her about them?") vee is very deadpan/low empathy while shelly is very expressive/high empathy

shelly ends up twisted after she does everything she can to encourage others and is just ignored and forgotten about constantly in return, which vee (unknowingly) DIRECTLY contributes to

twisted vee's attack is so cool .... she puts pop ups on ur screen u have to click out of talking abt "look at me look at me" and she even slows your character down (which I think is to purposely draw out the chase for as long as possible in a way that Makes You pay longer attention to her)

AUGH U WEREN'T KIDDING ABT THE TRAGIC YURI.... AUGH AAA

Aauaughhh they're so tragic oh my god....

Also YEA honestly vee has to be my favorite twisted I've seen... Her "look at me" pop-ups made me go "she probably has npd tbh" and just her general vibes.

Poor Shelly tho... Oh my god..... Areeuuhh... Head in hands

Im gonna think abt vee and Shelly for a while... I AM NOT EVEN IN THE FANDOM!! Cruel as hell /silly

[meeb-motes]

you allowing anti endos to interact with your blog makes me happy. like “yeah we might disagree but we all like and appreciate good art”. idk. its just like. super welcoming and makes your account feel like a safe space for EVERYONE

We are so glad that you feel that way/gen We always try our best to be kind to everyone even those we disagree with !! And even though we struggle a lot of with having low/no sympathy and empathy we try our best to be as welcoming and inclusive as possible !!

-Vee

[tansypawz]

AHhh I think I understand! (ace attorney objection desk slam and finger point) They're incompatible autisms! Sensory-Seeker High Empathy Goob and Sensory-Avoider Low Empathy Vee. Neither are good at their own emotions.

"Vee mean to sister. Sister won trivia, then Vee mean. Vee upset. Help Vee. No upset. No mean to sister. Upset solved with hug. Vee doesn't like hug. ... ...Ask Scraps for help? No, upset. Wouldn't work. Ask Tisha? No, Tisha upset with Vee too. Uhh..." <- All within the infinitely complex confines of his vast, overwhelming mind, running in eternal loop as he runs in circles around Twisteds. <- Goob "good-emotional-sponge-but-bad-at-discussing-his-own" propaganda. <- Very subtle Tisha and Goob strong friendship propaganda as well. <- Projecting.

-Whatnot

CORRECT AND REAL

[chroniclyst]

tvc masterpost

the venus cycle, lovingly nicknamed "vgb" (vee gets bitches) is the trilogy my wife @deadhorse77 and i are writing together. it centers on the town of halcyon's hythe where, when new people arrive, they completely forget that they were ever from anywhere else, and their history molds itself to fit the city. it's also about a bunch of trans people who all kinda suck in their own way and end up in the worlds worst polycule, with one shared daughter!

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characters

vee/venus | they/them

one of the two narrating characters, they are the catalyst and the story begins with their arrival to the city. what they don't realize makes them special is that they remember their life beforehand, and instead they focus on situating themself in the lives of everyone they meet. with their arrival, the narrative dominos begin to fall. also, they're a whore and get involved with everyone else.

the chronicler | he/him

immensely private, TC keeps his name hidden from everyone. the other narrating character, he seeks to puzzle out the mystery of the city. while he doesn't have any personal memory of his life before the city, he's aware of the effects it has on its inhabitants memory. additionally, he's prone to stalking the "people of interest" of the city, trying to figure out what their role in the story is. loserly academic vibes, like a jon sims who doesn't even have the archives going for him. he has the looks of a depressed english professor and the soul of a whore for fucking real.

paris | he or she (not simultaneously)

titled the scholar by TC, paris is a nosy bitch who wants to know everything about everything and everyone--and knows pretty damn close to it. part fairy, and takes advantage of that extended lifespan to spend more time studying at the city college and to get into everyone's business. if you want to know something, paris is your fairy. also, he's genderfluid, swapping pronouns accordingly!

the oracle/sybil | fae/it

while the most obvious trait about it is faer gift of prophecy, sybil has many other skills, like being a bitch to basically everyone it meets. fae're the other fairy in our main cast, and sick to death of humans who want to get their futures seen.

jax | they/them

a member of the city police force, the detective is about as corrupt as it gets. they're violent, angry, and use their position of power to get away with everything. as an unfortunate blow to their credibility, they're also convinced that there's demons in the town, and that they'll be the one to catch one. also, they're down bad for the king.

the king | re/rem

like TC, the king keeps rheir name close to rheir chest, as well as a plethora of other secrets. from any surface level perception, the only things re cares about is gaining more money and more power within the city, as well as a certain member of rheir staff. don't look deeper than that, you probably won't like what you find.

the ram | arieself

part of what you'll find when you look deeper, the ram is the king's bodyguard. fully controlled by the king, air is rheir "pet project". immensely volatile and simultaneously a doormat in the face of the king's power. eventually, air will be able to come to terms with aries own power, but that time is far off still.

petra | they/them

said certain member of the king's staff, petra generally does not give a shit about the situations unfolding around them. they view most people on a spectrum of neutrality to dislike, and are deeply apathetic. also they have low empathy autist swag!

mama/eudora | any (written with just they/he/she for convenience)

eudora, fondly nicknamed "mama" by most, is the caretaker of the weeping girl, and a deeply caring person with a tendency to take lost souls under their wing. he's a mom friend to her core, and also? that's a fucking MILF babyyy!

the weeping girl | she/her

the heart of the city, though most don't know it. a very long time ago, she was cursed into becoming a statue, forever crying. the fountain her tears create has healing properties, and her slumbering life force shields the city from outside forces.

-

while none of these characters know it yet, with vee's arrival everything they've known is on the brink of change. lives will be destroyed by their fun and flirty personality (joke + reference)

---

relationships

here's the relationship quilt, because everything is too complicated for a normal chart (it's read in rows, so the first row is how vee feels about the people in each column, second row is tc, etc) ("spade" refers to the concept of kismesis from homestuck)

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asked and answered

on the ram

on paris and tc

on tc

on vee as the catalyst

on tc

on paris and jax

on sybil and loneliness

more veeposting

on vee and guilt

on vee and tc

on tc and some of his struggles

on tc

on jax and vee

on the ram

more tc

sybil

the king

---

art nexus

reference masterpost

tc & vee

tc

vee (color palette style)

tc & the king

---

uquiz

---

anyways please ask the both of us about this. we love to talk about it and we have such a beautiful autism about our ocverse.

[stolasdearest]

Fanon vs Canon (of my Hazbin OCS bc I saw this trend of TikTok)

Linnette 💌

Fanon

uwu "Alastor protect me"

Silly comedic relief with no actual lore

Lucifers insignificant little "sister"

Alastors love interest and nothing else

Cutie patootie who wouldn't hurt a fly

Canon

Knew Alastor and his family far before he died and got in trouble with heaven for meddling with Humans

Knew most of the overlords casually on earth and in hell

Complex character that deals with survivors guilt and general guilt of mindless murder for eons

A high ranked serpah

Keeps secrets from people for her benefit

Low-key Throws her close friends under the bus for a advantage in the future

Complicated relationships with every big figures In hell

The frenemies with Vox and Linnette is so hard Istg

Delwyn ❄️

Fanon

Zestials cutesy wife

Spoiled brat

Gold digger

Annoying

Nagging

Cant defend herself what so ever

Canon

Arrogant

Massive superiority complex

Freezes her enemies as statues in her room

Sneaks herself to the top by stomping on the feet of people willing to help her

Brilliant Noble

Two faced AS FUCK

Very sweet to a very select few

Dolly 🪡

Fanon

Silly gf of Val and Vox

Can't do anything on her own

Needs Val and Vox to protect her

Let's Vox and Val treat her however they want

Innocent lil baby

Cutesy cottagecore seamstress

Canon

On equal footing with the Vees

Insane murderer

Little to no empathy

Almost purely bases your worth on what you can do to benefit her

Constantly uses her connections to get what she wants

She can and will turn you into a jacket

Extremely eerie and creepy

Very violent

Makes her needle pillows the people she hates

Owns her own silly lil tailor

THATS IT

low-key only made this because of @duckling-king because it's inspiring me sm like I love it sm ilysm pookie my handsome sweetie mookie wookie

[simqiy]

Dimiran

Hello everybody! The winner from our last poll has been cast. Today, we are learning more about the magic system!

Dimiran is the low risk, low-medium reward side of magic, however it takes a long time to learn. Translated, Dimiran represents ‘the art of spirit magic’. It is mostly used by the Alkans, as it shapes their ethics and morality.

There are four main spirits, each representing a different element. However, a new spirit is appointed during the books, and I’m thinking of adding more pre-established spirits on top of that.

How does it work?

The spirits, as appointed by a higher power, can control their given elements. However due to having no physical form, they cannot interact with anything in the physical world.

This means that those who are learning under the spirits will act as a medium rather than as a possessor of the spirit’s powers.

To control elements in the physical world, the spirit and their medium must learn to communicate so efficiently that they always know what the other wants to do. In short, they must learn to share a body.

This arrangement also allows both parties to deny the other control over elements.

O’bidya

O’bidya (oh-bid-ee-yah) is the water spirit. She is a glyptir, however her species has sadly been long extinct.

While being taught by her, she will promote self-reflection and empathy. She is often described as soft-hearted, and her magic is mostly used by healers.

However, when threatened she can be cold and destructive, making her element a powerful one if used correctly.

K’rami

K’rami (key-rah-me) is the lightning spirit. As you may guess, he is a zephyr. However, he lived long before the modern ones, and wields power that his species has lost to time and evolution.

While being taught by him, he will teach loyalty and acumen. He is often described as uncaring, making his element used mostly by fighters due to its fast and destructive power.

However, he will be sensitive to the needs of those he respects, and quietly help them in the right direction. Especially during crisis when a friend of his student has fallen, he will guide them to use his power in an attempt to resurrect their friends (much like a defibrillator).

T’kavi

T’kavi (tee-kah-vee) is the fire spirit. He takes the form of a gillzur. His species is extinct, however species descended from his remain.

While being taught by him, he will teach passion and strong-will. He is often described as arrogant, making him mostly used by fighters who refuse to give up in battle.

However, he finds himself inspired often, and encourages his students to become inspired by anything and everything. This allows others to be warmed by their constant inspiration and enthusiasm, literally or figuratively.

Mytirian

Mytirian (my-ti-re-an) is the earth spirit. He is a triglorin, which has sadly been long extinct.

While being taught by him, he will teach patience and confidence. He is often described as calm, making his element used more by tactical fighters.

However, when angered his power is the most destructive of the spirits, making him a formidable foe to even the strongest of elemental users. This helps keep the balance of peace in check, as his presence doesn’t allow the scale to tip too far one way or the other.

How do you reach the spirits?

To reach the spirits initially, one must be in a continual deep sleep. The Alkans create a mixture of plants designed to induce a temporary coma to help with the process.

One must also keep their mind fixed on their intent when sleeping. However, the spirits will usually know the intention either way.

Once contacted, the spirit will set them a trial, designed to see if they are ready to be taught magic. If passed, the spirit will converse with the being for a while until they wake up. After this, the spirit must be reached through meditation.

That’s all for now. As always, feel free to ask questions and I’ll answer them to the best of my ability. Good day/night everyone, and happy writing!

[lynnvaelthehalfbreed]

Lynnvael Half-Blood

Character Name:

First Name: Lynnvael

Last Name: Half-Blood

Nickname (if any): Lynn, Vee

Basic Information:

Age: Adult (Looks to be about 20)

Gender: Male (He/Him/His)

Place of Birth: Alteraci Highlands

Nationality: Human/Sin'dorei

Physical Appearance:

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 182 lbs

Build: Athletic, Slender

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue-Grey (tinges of faintly glowing green can be seen when in low light, or looked at in close proximity)

Scars or distinguishing marks: He has a scar on his right cheek from being struck hard by a Farstrider

Personality Traits:

Positive Traits: He is unrelenting in his pursuits, he is careful and precise when it comes to business and tasks, he is thoughtful and largely non-judgemental

Negative Traits: He can be construed as callous, he is incredibly distrusting of new faces, his temper can be volatile, his tactics can oftentimes be viewed as selfish, if sensing the beginnings of a betrayal, he will cut ties and turn upon allies, even if such was never the case

Background and History:

Family Background: He was born to viscerally complicated circumstances, and is wary of his position in both factions, and both aspects of his race.

Parents: He holds that information tight to his chest

Siblings (if any): 2, that he knows of

Childhood: Awful

Education: Partially tutored, Mostly Self-Taught

Career/Profession: Ranger

Current Occupation: Ranger

Previous Jobs (if any): Aspired to be a Farstrider, was viscerally denied

Hobbies and Interests:

Hobbies: Sketching, Compiling survival guides, Leatherworking

Interests: Military History,

Relationships:

Marital Status: Single

Romantic Relationships (if any): None

Friendships: None

Closest Friends: None

Relationship dynamics: N/A

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths: Tracking, Hunting, Archery, Survivalism

Weaknesses: Selfishness, Distrust of People, Apathy

Goals and Ambitions:

Short-term Goals: Survival

Long-term Goals: Establish himself as something worthwhile, rather than judged on the matter of his blood

Fears and Insecurities:

Common Fears: Betrayal, Heartbreak

Insecurities: He weighs himself harshly on his status as half-breed, oftentimes more than those who meet him.

Quirks and Habits:

Quirks: He taps the claws of his gauntlets against a hard surface when deep in thought, even when he has no need to speak. This can sometimes be annoying.

Habits: He keeps himself uncannily well-kept and immaculately groomed, as if it would lessen the self-hatred he feels.

Beliefs and Values:

Religious or Spiritual Beliefs: A melding between homeopathic, forest based spiritualism, and secular ideals

Moral Code: "I must survive- I can not trust others to have my back, therefore, I will not have theirs."

Political Views: Largely hateful of authoritarian, royal-based figures. Nobility, etc...

Pet Peeves: Ignorance, coddling and hand-holding, self-serving empathy from others

Miscellaneous:

Talents or Skills: Archery, Hunting/Tracking, Survivalism

Secrets (if any): Many (Find out IC)

Motivations:

What drives the character forward? Spite, alone

What are their ultimate aspirations? Carving a name for themselves against what they had been confined to.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Drabble suggestion: Luz discovers that the resources necessary to make a working portal just aren’t around anymore and has to use what little Titan Blood she has left to tell her Mom she won’t be making it home.

(...What the f**k did I ever do to you?)

(YOU'RE THE SAME SON OF A WITCH WHO MADE ME WRITE ABOUT VEE'S PTSD, TOO!)

Goodbye

Luz stared at the oak door. She held the last scrap of Amity's glove in a death grip, not wanting to let it go.

"Luz," Eda said, empathy clear in her voice, "It's time."

"Wha-what if there's something we're missing?" Luz asked, voice shaking, "Like a hidden book or-or an ingredient that can act as a possible substitute?"

"Kid," Eda walked over and put a tentative hand on Luz's shoulder, "We've searched high and low. Tested this and tested that. And we found nothing."

"But...but this is the last of the Titan's blood!" Luz shrieked, waving the scrap of glove around, "If we find something after this, then I won't be able to return home!"

"Luz, I'm sorry. I really am," Eda said, looking as apologetic as she sounded, "But there's nothing left we can do. We can't send you back to your mom. The least we can do is...is to let you say goodbye."

Luz wanted to cry. She even felt the tears eeking away at the corner of her eyes. But she choked them back for now.

For now.

"You're right," she said reluctantly, "You're right. Let's do this."

***

Camila was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at her phone. More specifically, she was looking at pictures she saved long ago on this phone, each of them adding another crack to her broken heart.

One was of her and Luz at the zoo, looking at the giraffes.

Another was Luz eating a chimichurri sandwich, its sauces getting all over what was her new white shirt.

And the third downright shattered Camila's heart. Because it was a picture of Luz when she was eight and had fallen asleep in the back seat of the car. Camila could still see the drool dripping down Luz's chin.

It was a moment of innocence. Of adorableness.

A moment where Camila knew that she would stop at nothing to protect her beautiful baby girl.

And then she remembered where that baby was right now.

That very knowledge is what then caused Camila to shut off her phone completely, setting it onto the table. Fresh tears started to form at the corner of Camila's eyes, and she had to focus on her breathing to stop herself from sobbing.

She's a grown woman. She shouldn't cry. Just like Mamá always said.

"Mom?"

"Vee, I told you," Camila sighed, pressing her palms to her eyes, "I'm not ready to hear you call me mom yet. Especially in that voice. It hurts too much..."

"Mom, it's me."

Camila peaked between her fingers and looked around the kitchen.

"On your phone."

She looked down, and what she saw made her heart all but stop.

"Luz!" Camila exclaimed. She snatched back up the phone, staring at it to see her daughter--her real-live daughter--staring back at her. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you! Are you here? Are you on your way home?"

It was then that Camila noticed the look of pain and sorrow on Luz's face.

"That's..." Luz looked like she was ready to cry any second. "That's what I'm here to tell you about."

"Luz, you promised--"

"I know! I know, Mamá. But you need to understand. I have looked for so long, worked so hard. And...and...and..."

'Oh, no,' Camila thought, 'Please, God, no.'

"I'm sorry, Mom," Luz said through a sob, tears streaming down her face, "But I can't come back home."

It was then that Camila decided to forget what her own mother said. She broke out a sob, tears falling from her eyes like a waterfall.

"Th-there ha-has to be so-something!" Camila got out, despite her sadness.

"There isn't," Luz shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"S-so this is it?! This is the last time I'll see my baby?! I-I don't even g-get a chance to hold you!?"

"It's not like I want it like this! I don't! I-I want to come back! I want to live with you again! I want to give you the tightest, biggest bear hug in the world, just like the old days. But I can't, Mom! I just can't!"

Camila let loose a shaky breath and wiped as much of her tears away as she could. If this was the last time she'd see Luz, she'd do it with her vision as clear as possible.

"Then this is goodbye," Camila said with hallow acceptance.

"It is," Luz nodded, "I'm so sorry."

"Mija, no, it's...it's ok."

It was a lie.

They both knew it.

But Camila needed to be strong.

"You tried your best," she faked a smile, "That's all I could ever ask from you."

"But my best wasn't good enough..."

"It's good enough for me."

Luz sniffed, looking up at Camila.

"I-if it makes you feel better, I'll have someone looking out for me," Luz explained, "Eda promised that she'd treat me as if I was her own daughter. Not that she'd replace you! No one ever could do that. Not even her."

"Who's Eda?"

"My mentor. She's the one who took care of me these last few months."

"Is she nice?"

"As nice as one can be."

"Is she responsible?"

"Uh, most of the time."

Camila sighed. She decided to ignore that.

"I also have friends here," Luz continued, "There's King. He's basically a little brother to me. There's Willow and Gus. They're the best friends I could have ever asked for. They get me and support anything I'd do through thick and thin. And then...and then there's Amity."

"And Amity is..." Camila prompted.

"Amity...is my girlfriend."

Despite being in shards, Camila's heart warmed at that fact.

"You have a girlfriend," she cooed, her smile genuine this time.

"I do," Luz nodded, smiling as well, "She's everything I could have ever wanted. Smart, caring, and just...downright awesome! You would have loved her."

"If she made you this happy, I already do. I am so happy for you, Mija."

"Gracias, Mami."

But then Luz's eyes widen, her image beginning to fade.

"No, NO!" she shrieked, "Not now!"

"What's happening?" Camila asked, "Luz? Luz!"

"Mom, I'm being pulled back!"

"WHAT?!"

"The scrap of Titan's blood was too small! I couldn't stay here long!"

"Wha-What does that even mean?!"

"Forget what it means! Just listen!" Luz gripped tightly to...something. Whatever it was, it kept her tear-stricken face on Camila's phone, "You were the best mom I could have ever asked for! I wouldn't have traded you away for anything! Not even all the friends and family I've made in the Boiling Isles!"

"And you were the best daughter I could have ever asked for!" Camila said as best as she could, vision blurry from the tears, "My life was blessed the moment you came into this world! I should have never sent you away! You were perfect just the way you are!"

"I love you, Mom!"

"And I--"

But before she could get the words out, Luz was gone. And all Camila could see was her own reflection.

"Luz...LUZ!" She wailed, "Luz, I love you! I love you, do you hear me! Please...please tell me you heard me! Please...p-p-pl--"

Camila broke.

She slumped onto the table, phone clenched in her hands as she cried her eyes out, screaming out Luz's name every so often.

Camila didn't know how long she was crying. But at one point, she felt a hand gently lay upon Camila's shoulder.

When she looked up, she saw Vee, thankfully in basilisk form. Vee opened her mouth, looking like she wanted to say something, but then closed it. Instead of speaking, she held out her arms, the unspoken question clear.

And Camila answered by yanking Vee into a hug, crying into her shoulder.

***

"I'm sorry, Luz," Eda said, rubbing comforting patterns on Luz's back as they hugged, with Luz wailing louder than a banshee.

"Sh-sh-she-she didn't e-e-e-even s-say I-I-I love y-you in t-t-t-time!"

"She does love you, Luz," Was all Eda could say, "Even if you're worlds apart, she'll always love you. Never forget that."

And Luz just continued to cry, letting herself be held as she shed the first of many tears in her life.

[jippy-kandi]

Digimon Adventure tri. – Complete Series Review (English Dub)

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna revitalised my waning interest in Digimon. So much so that I felt like rewatching tri. – but, seeing as I’ve never seen the English dub of it, I decided that would be my “rewatch”! I grew up with the English dub of Digimon, so I have a very soft spot for it. I still think the original Japanese version is far superior, but the English dub really was my childhood.

Under the cut are brief thoughts on the English voice actors, and then a lot more thoughts on the series – or, rather, just what came to mind as I was rewatching the movies. As it turns out . . . most of that was just my intense dislike for certain parts of Matt and Tai’s characterisation.

Note: I do mention Kizuna quite a bit in comparison to tri., but I don’t spoil anything (except for two lines that don’t impact the plot). I don’t think my Kizuna mentions will spoil your enjoyment of the film if you haven’t seen it.

English Voice Actors

Joshua Seth as Tai: PERFECT. He’s definitive Tai to me and he was amazing from the first movie to the last. All my dreams came true, etc. I was disappointed he didn’t return in Revenge of Diaboromon (where his replacement sounded like Joe . . .), but was happy at least Michael Reisz returned for that movie as Matt. But for tri. it was the opposite: Seth returned, but Reisz didn’t. :(

Vic Mignogna as Matt: MY EARS, THEY BLEED. He’s the actual reason I put off watching the English dub of tri. for years. I was so excited about the English dub, but then the very first promo clip of it with Matt speaking was released and I . . . it was truly horrific. He turned me off completely. And as soon as he spoke in Reunion, I had to stop the movie. BUT I EVENTUALLY SOLDIERED ON. OMG. He’s so terrible as Matt. There are a few lines he delivers that are . . . OK . . . but, mostly, he was a major miscast. I really hope Michael Reisz comes back for the probable Kizuna dub. I don’t care if they think he doesn’t have a low enough voice for adult Matt – he IS Matt to most Digimon fans worldwide. BRING HIM BACK.

Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Sora: PERFECT. Absolutely loved her, definitive Sora right here. Well, OK, I might love original Japanese kid Sora just a tiny bit more, lol. But she’s almost as great! I really wish I could’ve heard her conversing with Michael Reisz. :(

Philece Sampler as Mimi: PERFECT. It’s Mimi grown up, I’ve got no complaints, it doesn’t get better than this.

Mona Marshall as Izzy: PERFECT. Though isn’t it odd that a woman still voices him? Lol. I really appreciated that four of the old voice actors reprised their roles. I think it really helped with the nostalgia. I just wish all of them had returned.

Robbie Daymond as Joe: He was really good as Joe, but . . . he would’ve made an excellent Matt. Seriously. Every time he spoke, I kept thinking, “WHY DID THEY NOT CAST YOU AS MATT?” He just had to lose a bit of the “pathetic, nerd” effect in his voice and he would’ve made an AMAZING Matt. The voice director had no idea what he was doing.

Johnny Yong Bosch as T.K.: He made an excellent T.K., so I definitely approve. However . . . he also would’ve made an excellent Matt, if he aged his voice up a bit more. The English dub literally had TWO voice actors (T.K. and Joe’s) who could’ve voiced Matt better, but instead went for Vic Mignogna!? Seriously, what a fail. The only positive is that Matt and T.K. did sound like brothers . . . with T.K. having the far better voice.

Tara Sands as Kari: She was . . . OK. Sometimes she sounded way too old, though. She was decent enough . . . but her old voice actress was a lot better. Still, she wasn’t nearly as bad as Matt. *cough*

Cristina Vee as Meiko: Wow, her voice really annoyed me in the first two movies. But I think that’s because she was being all shy and wet blanket-y. She’s . . . OK in the end, I guess. Nothing special.

Cherami Leigh as Maki (“Hime”): I actually thought she was the most talented voice actor in the series. Her voice suited the character the most as well. I was super impressed with her. A+

Doug Erholtz as Daigo: He . . . sounds like an older version of 02 T.K., because that’s who he used to voice. It was odd when Daigo would talk with Matt, because I kept thinking Matt was talking to future T.K.. But he was fine as Daigo, I guess. (Off-topic: Japanese Daigo is voicing Japanese reboot Yamato . . . what is with Daigo and the Takaishidas!?)

Digimon Adventure tri.

I watched the tri. movies over a week. I wrote down my initial thoughts after each viewing, and then came back and expanded on them later. Because I didn’t want this post to be TOO long (even though . . . it is), I kept it mostly to my issues with the series instead of listing the things I liked. If you want, you can read my initial thoughts (including positive things) on each movie as they were originally released here. Below are my most “pressing” thoughts on a rewatch.

Chapter 1: Reunion

I still have major issues with Matt and Tai’s role-reversal in tri.. I think what annoys me the most is when a show asserts something that is simply not true. Tai saying Matt hasn’t changed at all (YES HE HAS, HE CHANGED INTO YOU AND YOU CHANGED INTO HIM). It’s one thing to just have that happen – but for a show to be obnoxious enough to SAY A LINE that is asserting something ridiculous just to put it into existence is irritating. “Matt hasn’t changed one bit.” = “Matt’s in-character because we say so, all right?” Annoying.

Matt was super aggressive and it really annoyed me. If you want to be very black and white, you’d say, “well he was pretty aggressive in Adventure”. But you’d be ignoring that he was only aggressive in Adventure in REACTION to someone else. Someone else HAD to set him off – usually Tai was pissing him off in some way, making an insensitive remark, etc.. But Tai ACTS first. Matt REACTS. But in tri., Tai does nothing and Matt just goes at him. That’s a loose cannon – and yes, there is a difference between having someone push your buttons and exploding, and . . . just . . . exploding.

Consider this example from Adventure: Matt puts up with Joe’s shit (really DemiDevimon) in the diner for a LONG time before exploding at him. Because that’s Matt. He’s an introvert who holds shit in before exploding, giving people a lot of chances and hoping it’ll work out. He doesn’t just explode unnaturally and often like in tri., as though it’s second nature to him (when it really isn’t). I really disliked how tri. devolved his character to that of the typical “brute” of the group (JUST to be Tai’s foil too, which made it even more annoying).

And, even though I haven’t seen the first season in YEARS, I still remember the “digimon graves” scene very clearly and how it characterised Matt and Tai perfectly (it summed up their ENTIRE characterisation – how their characters operated differently – in the first season). There are other scenes that present the same thing, but I think it’s THE definitive scene you need to know to have an issue with the “wrong” parts of Tai and Matt’s characterisation in tri..

They role-reversed that shit and it annoys me so much because Matt is so much more empathetic than Tai, but tri. turns him into an aggressive frat boy in Reunion and makes him lose all his perspective and observational skills -- which Adventure showed us he had a TONNE of (one of the things about him that made him my favourite character, and thus why it annoyed me SO much that they ignored this aspect of him completely to make him a “tsundere brute 9000”).

Basically, tri. got rid of the layers that made Matt and Tai who they were, and instead added “new layers” to them that MADE THEM INTO EACH OTHER. And then had the balls to ACT LIKE THEY’VE ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY – for Matt, anyway, where they had Tai explicitly state that he never changed (WTF? Not only is that obviously A LIE, but it’s also asserting that MATT DIDN’T GROW AT ALL). For Tai, he was “growing” . . . into Matt – where Matt himself had an issue with his friend being like him in the past. Yeah, seriously. What a mess.

I don’t often think characters are “out of character” (in any series – writers usually have a good grasp on their characters) – but I definitely did here.

As I once joked to a friend:

Adventure told me all the ways Taichi was going to top Yamato.

And tri. told me all the ways Yamato was going to top Taichi.

Score: 5/10.

Chapter 2: Determimation

So . . . let’s talk about the “meeting scene” where Matt gets angry that Joe never turned up because studying is more important to him, and Tai shuts him down and defends Joe by saying he has his reasons . . .

I disliked this scene a lot because I felt like, as in the first episode, their roles were 100% reversed. TAI would’ve gotten angry at Joe for not turning up (Tai prioritizes ACTION over inaction/emotions/everything else) and MATT would have defended Joe for not turning up to a digimon meeting, because he has more empathy for people and is more understanding than Tai.

I strongly felt this way the very first time I saw Determination – and I still strongly feel this way about it now. The scene was a COMPLETE role-reversal and thus why I had issues with it.

Well, guess what?

In KIZUNA a similar scene happens. After a digimon fight in the movie, TAICHI says something like “only four of us showed up!?” (read: HE HAS THE ISSUE) and YAMATO defends everyone who didn’t show up (saying something like they all have their own lives).

Oh shit, was that Tai prioritisng ACTION over inaction and personal responsibilities (EXACTLY like how he was in season one)?

Oh shit, was that Yamato BEING EMPATHETIC AND UNDERSTANDING to others (EXACTLY like how he was in season one)?

THIS EXCHANGE IN KIZUNA WAS SO IN-CHARACTER THAT I NEVER THOUGHT ANYTHING OF IT.

I only remembered it when confronted again with the “meeting scene” in Determination – BECAUSE IT WAS THE REVERSE OF THE SCENE IN KIZUNA.

The Kizuna scene is just how the characters are in Adventure/02. Tai expects people to just fight, while Matt is empathetic. (HELLO AS WELL, DIGIMON GRAVES SCENE IN SEASON ONE.)

Seriously, tri. is really annoying with the Matt and Tai role-reversal. It’s my personal biggest criticism of the series because the characters are what I care about the most in Digimon, so if you’re going to switch them up – that shit is going to annoy me. No matter how bad a story is, at least do right by the characters and keep them in-character.

And I know the (very few) people who loved Matt and Tai’s role-reversal in tri. use the excuse of “tri. showing the characters growing” . . . But, man, I really can’t get behind that. Like, no, tri. just decided to switch Matt and Tai’s roles to serve their chosen plot (which is Tai growing up and becoming more ~mature – and I get it, it’s a GREAT theme to explore . . . but it shouldn’t have happened at the expense of BOTH their characterisations).

What “growth” is it when Matt is empathetic at 11, a frat boy arsehole at 17, and back to being empathetic at 22? What “growth” is it when Tai has always been a capable leader at 11 (because he KNOWS his priorities – which is WHY HE’S THE LEADER), suddenly frozen at 17 to an exhausting extent that even Matt never reached, and back to being the same capable leader with the SAME priorities at 22 that he had at 11? Yeah, that’s not growth. That’s mischaracterisation in one series.

Why do I have such an issue with this? Because it’s something that is FUNDAMENTAL to a person. You switch this ONE thing up and, suddenly, the person is operating as an entirely different person. Matt isn’t being Matt. Tai isn’t being Tai. It’s fundamental to WHO THEY ARE, and when you fuck with it, you’re essentially presenting an entirely different person. Matt doesn’t operate like that. Tai doesn’t operate like that. And it’s so obvious that the issue is with the WRITERS either not fully grasping their characters and/or just deliberately forcing it to fit their chosen plot (at the expense of the characters).

Anyway, I just feel really justified that tri. did Matt and Tai so wrong. Kizuna is BRILLIANT for any Taichi and Yamato fan who love the characters as they are in Adventure/02. I highly recommend it if you actually want to see the characters represented as they are in Adventure/02. Kizuna does NOT come across as fanfiction, which I think tri. really, really does (especially in the first two movies). I never once thought, watching Kizuna, that the characters were reinterpretations by a fanfiction author with Toei Animation funding – which is what I regularly thought in tri..

Score: 6/10.

Chapter 3: Confession

OK, this is a very slight thing (a brief line that was meant for laughs), but I’m on a roll regarding this issue, so why not? I’ll take another opportunity to get my point across.

T.K. says that fighting is Matt’s thing . . . yeah, no. Again, I dislike how tri. took ONE aspect of Matt’s character (how he fights with Tai a lot in Adventure) and EXAGGERATED THE HELL OUT OF IT. (The exaggeration here is that the line is supposed to summarise Matt as super aggressive in the entire series.) In tri., he is a tsundere brute with a capital T. And it reduces him to such a simple person, taking no considerations for his entire character. Matt in tri. seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, like he was always grumpy. Chill, tri., Matt actually isn’t all that grumpy.

Go back and watch Adventure and 02. Matt is actually pretty laid-back – until someone ticks him off. But it has always been about EMOTIONS with Matt, NOT random acts of aggression. I wish the tri. writers knew the subtleties and nuances of Matt’s character better and didn’t just TURN HIM INTO TAI to be “new” Tai (OLD MATT’S) foil. Thank god Kizuna put things back to the way they were. Seriously, when you watch Kizuna, you REALLY feel like Toei went from:

Adventure -> 02 -> JUMPED STRAIGHT OVER TRI. WITH MATT AND TAI’S JARRING CHARACTERISATION -> Kizuna.

Anyway, that line was in a scene meant for laughs, so . . . it’s fine I guess. (I still judge the writers.) The only real con of the movie is that Meiko comes across as a wet blanket who doesn’t deserve the sympathy from the other characters (but somehow . . . just gets it). This is the writing in the previous movies being terrible, because they never showed us convincingly why the Chosen Children would actually accept and care about Meiko so much.

On a positive . . . this is the movie that made me fall in love with T.K.. It’s also – by far – the best written movie in the series and, personally, my favourite Digimon movie ever. So thanks, tri..

Score: 8.5/10.

Chapter 4: Loss

Yokomon being a bitch to Sora and no one else is still so incredibly forced and defies logic. I don’t think anyone can argue with this. But, other than this major bad writing flaw . . . the film was surprisingly pretty good. It probably has the best pacing of all the tri. films, too. I don’t think I even looked at how much time I had left of the movie to go (which I constantly did for Reunion and Determination, because . . . zzzzzzz).

I’m pretty torn about whether it was as good as Kizuna. I think . . . it was? But only because ALL of the characters were in it.

Let me put it another way: I think Kizuna is actually the slightly better film, but because Kizuna only really had TWO main characters, it makes its score go down a bit -- to match Loss’ score, which actually is slightly “worse”. But the fact that Loss has ALL the characters in it, lifts it up a bit to be pretty on par with Kizuna to me.

But Kizuna has more of an emotional punch, so, I would say Kizuna edges it out . . . just. Loss also has more flaws than Kizuna. But, overall, Loss was a pretty good film. Well done, tri., you’re on a roll! (And then . . . you stopped abruptly, lol.)

My favourite exchange:

Izzy: “Matt and Tai are best friends.” Matt: “No we’re not!”

Score: 7/10.

Chapter 5: Coexistence

Lots of Meichi . . . and Meiko being the best she’s ever been (or ever going to be). This is the only movie she didn’t come across as a useless wet blanket. And I did really like the Meichi heart-to-heart because it was actually well written. Do I ship Meichi though? No, I don’t think so. Even though they “connected” in this movie, it still seems a bit too forced and abrupt to me and it just wasn’t enough. Plus, I really don’t know why Tai would be attracted to her . . . I think he’d be attracted to girls like Mimi.

There’s a quick scene where Matt refuses to talk to his mum on the phone. My heart, it aches. Why couldn’t tri. show him ACCEPTING the phone call? That would’ve been a neat personal growth thing for Matt, coming off of Adventure, you know? I guess they just prefer him being closed off to his mum for life . . . it’s realistic, but still sad.

I really liked Matt yelling in emotional frustration because Meicoomon needs to be sacrificed (at Tai’s insistence). That’s the first time tri. got the Matt/Tai roles right so far? Oh . . . it’s because Tai’s storyline (his “character growth”) is FINALLY starting to get resolved. You know, him reverting back to the way he always was and being the capable leader who can call shots like that? Yeah. So when their roles go back to normal, everything MAKES SENSE again.

Wow, isn’t that incredible, tri.? That the characters now seem authentic and “right” now that you’ve decided to SWITCH THEIR ROLES BACK? Amazing.

But Matt putting Tai’s goggles around his neck = ICONIC.

That’s his brief consolation prize for being the ACTUAL leader for four and a half movies. Fuck you, tri..

But my issue with Tai’s storyline – other than the effects it had on Matt and Tai’s characterisation – also has to do with bad writing from more of a writer’s perspective (in that perhaps the average viewer wouldn’t have a problem with it).

I hate “undeserving” leaders in fiction (see: Luther from The Umbrella Academy).

Let me explain.

My favourite leaders in fiction (the best leaders I’ve ever seen) are Taichi from Adventure, Leonardo from Nickelodeon’s TMNT, and Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead. Why?

Because the writing showed you through actions why those characters were the most capable at being the leader. It doesn’t just point a finger at one character and go, “There! Leader! Always!”

Good writing shows you why a character is a good leader through their actions.

Bad writing just “designates” one character as the leader (just because the title “belongs” to them), and no matter their actions, they will always be regarded as the leader simply because the writer wanted that character to be the leader.

And tri. unfortunately does the latter. For most of the series, tri. shows Matt as the most capable leader – but because Tai is simply DESIGNATED the leader (that is, no matter what happens, Tai IS THE CHOSEN LEADER just because he’s the main character) – the series needed to get Tai back to his leadership mantle that has his name permanently etched on it.

I hate that.

And this isn’t a “Matt should’ve been the leader because he’s my favourite character” thing. It really isn’t. I personally never cared about Matt being the leader, because Adventure showed me that Matt was too emotional to be the leader. And he is. In fact, someone tagged me in a post a few months back where they quoted something I’d never seen before: it was Koushirou in the Digimon Adventure novels POINT BLANK telling Yamato that he was too emotional to be the leader. I laughed, because I love it when the series justifies my opinions in actual dialogue.

Anyway, I've always thought that Matt is too emotional to be the leader and never cared that he isn’t the leader. However . . . tri. told me in the first four and a half movies that Matt is NOT too emotional to be the leader. In fact, tri. told me that Matt’s perfectly capable of being the leader – and MORE capable of it than Tai was in those first four movies.

So, my issue is, if you’re going to show me that Matt is the better leader, then . . . MAKE HIM THE LEADER? You don’t “need” Tai to be the leader; he was utterly useless for the first four and a half movies.

But oh, that’s right; because Tai is the DESIGNATED LEADER, no matter what is shown (ie. Matt being the better leader), tri. has to revert back to Tai being the capable leader.

That’s bad, forced writing.

You should NEVER give the audience the impression that someone is the leader “just because” that title belongs to them in the series. Remember, SHOW ME the actual leader through their actions (ie. that is Matt in tri.) instead of just shoving it down my throat that there is “one true leader” that the writing must get back to, regardless of how incapable that person was.

Matt constantly tries to wake Tai the fuck up to lead in tri., but . . . Why? Matt is doing a perfectly good job of being the leader. There is NO need for Tai to step up and be the leader if he isn’t capable of it. If you can’t lead, STEP DOWN. The leader should never come across as being “designated” – they should always come across as the leader through their actions. And in tri.’s case, that was Matt.

Of course, we can’t have Matt be the leader when Tai is the main character of Digimon, can we?

But my stance is, if that is the case, tri. never should have showed us Matt was better at leading than Tai in the first place. Because it comes across to viewers as Tai just being the “designated leader” simply because the writing said so . . . and that, as stated, is bad writing.

My point is: the role-reversal never should have happened.

(And it’s only when Tai disappears that we suddenly get shown that Matt wouldn’t lead as well, so that we now think -- at the end of the series -- that Tai needs to make a heroic return and be the leader, despite it being shown earlier that he was useless . . . Yeah, fuck you, tri..)

Score: 6.5/10.

Chapter 6: Future

I’m still not here for Matt “learning a lesson” from Tai. Again, the writing for this is extremely bad and contradictory.

So, basically, Matt “realises” what Tai’s perspective is (his entire issue in the first movie) and NOW understands it . . .

Except, you know, the perspective Tai had was ALWAYS Matt’s perspective BEFORE tri. started. They just role-reversed their perspectives, so you have a REALLY BAD situation where Matt realises HIS OWN PAST PERSPECTIVE . . . is the lesson he “finally” learnt at the end of tri..

Matt changed into Tai (although tri. insists that MATT NEVER CHANGED AT ALL), but throughout the course of the series – THROUGH TAI’S EXAMPLE OF BEING MORE LIKE MATT HIMSELF – Matt realises his old views (Tai’s CURRENT views) made sense, and . . . acknowledges that Tai has a point/understands what Tai means now.

That’s Matt’s “character growth” by being Tai’s foil – being taught a lesson from Tai that Matt himself has always known.

Seriously, tri.?

It’s so incredibly lame and contradictory and just incredibly bad writing.

My biggest issue with tri. (if you hadn’t noticed) was the role-reversal of Matt and Tai. Other people can justify it all they want, but it was close to character assassination to me. Matt was 80% Matt, and Tai was . . . like, 50% Tai. Yeah, I disliked Tai for half the series.

An easy “litmus test”: If tri. had simply reversed Matt and Tai’s roles – so Matt is the one super concerned about collateral damage to the point where he freezes up, and Tai is the one being aggressive and insists Matt stops acting like a pussy – no one would’ve batted an eyelid. Because that would’ve been 100% in-character and make the most sense of what those two characters would’ve done in that predicament.

But, of course, because Tai’s the actual main character of Digimon, and this collateral damage dilemma (which is a good idea to explore, mind you) was their chosen issue, they forced it onto Tai – which also affected Matt as his foil. And thus, a lot of people had issues with what it did to Tai and Matt’s characterisation. Again, thank god Kizuna righted tri.’s wrong.

Also, I have to bring this up even though I’m sure everyone and their pet fish has complained about this: The whole 02 thing is insanely bad writing. They “went missing a long time ago” and Tai and co. DIDN’T NOTICE OR CARE? Like, seriously tri., it’s not that hard to come up with a better way to get them out of the series. It’s incredibly stupid that Tai was having issues with collateral damage potentially killing strangers, while his OLD FRIENDS were missing the entire time and they had no idea where they were, but then to suddenly CARE that they were finally found in the last movie?

Just, the logic, there is none. “Oh, we forgot about them completely . . . but, now that you mention it, we’re super glad they’re safe!” Seriously. You’re asking too much of the audience to make up excuses for you. I personally don’t care about the 02 kids at all, but the handling of it was definitely one of the biggest fails in tri.. They could have written them out A LOT better.

It’s also jarring when, in Kizuna, the 02 kids are back in the fold like they’ve never left. Tri. makes it seem as though they lost touch/aren’t close friends, because they hardly care and their reactions to “Ken” makes it seem as though he’s almost a stranger to them. But Kizuna feels as thought it comes STRAIGHT after 02, because it feels like they’ve always been a tight group (read: it really feels like Kizuna ignored tri. completely).

Score: 5.5/10.

Final Thoughts

I did it! I finished rewatching tri. (technically my first viewing of the English dub)! YAY!

I mostly still feel the same way about the series on a rewatch that I originally did. I think the biggest change of opinion for me was that I liked Maki a lot more than I did when I was just watching it in the instalments with months between films. I’m pretty sure it’s because I didn’t know her character at all as I was seeing it all for the first time, so it’s easy to be quick to judge -- but now that I knew her entire character arc, I actually got to appreciate her. But her storyline still could’ve ended A LOT better – but that’s really my only criticism of it. She was a great character.

I think it would’ve been a lot better to configure Maki into “Meiko” and have her infiltrate the Chosen Children and be a villain “from the inside”. I don’t think Meiko should have existed at all, and I think the reason tri. didn’t “hit” for most fans stems from the existence of such a poor character as Meiko being central to the plot (and thus having all of the terribly written things that happen in tri., happen in tri. . . .)

I think tri. was going to get a sequel but, because it wasn’t as well-received as they’d hoped (lots of criticisms of it . . .), they dropped it and made Kizuna instead. I really think that’s what happened.

I’m glad though because I LOVED Yamato in Kizuna. He was straight from Adventure/02. He was completely in-character in Kizuna and STILL managed to show the audience that HE HAD GROWN. See tri., it’s really not that hard to do.

Sometimes, it’s hard to put into words what exactly is “wrong” with a character. (Though I tried to explain it . . .) Sometimes, you just have to “see” a character and the “vibe” they give off isn’t quite that of the character you know.

That’s what happened with Tai and Matt’s characters in tri. for me. But the “vibe” of their characters in Kizuna came across as 100% authentically them, straight from Adventure/02, BUT GROWN UP.

You just “know” the characters when you see them. It’s the little nuances in their characterisations, lines of dialogue, their actions and reactions, and you just recognise the characters as them. And that’s from knowing who they are from past series (Adventure/02). Kizuna got Yamato and Taichi 100% right.

I’m going to put 17-year-old tri. Matt down to teenage hormones. Sora was withholding sex from him and so he had a huge amount of pent-up aggression. Yeah. *cough*

I am glad tri. exists though, because I got to see Matt at 11, 14, 17 and 22. And that’s amazing.

Best Characters

Matt (despite having issues with 20% of him, he still ultimately came across as the “star” of tri. to me), T.K. and . . . *gasp* Maki. Yeah. Seriously, she was actually one of the best written characters. Such a shame about how tri. chose to close her story.

Honourable Mentions

Mimi and Sora. Izzy and Joe. (Everyone but the Yagami siblings? Lmao)

Worst Character

Meiko. By a long shot. I honestly have no idea how anyone could like her (and are not just indifferent to her) . . . but I think, like, three people do.

Scores / Ranking

Chapter 1: Reunion – 5/10. Terrible. Chapter 2: Determination – 6/10. OK. Chapter 3: Confession – 8.5/10. Excellent. Chapter 4: Loss – 7/10. Good. Chapter 5: Coexistence – 6.5/10. Good-ish. Chapter 6: Future – 5.5/10. Terrible.

I had more issues with the bad writing decisions in Future than Reunion, but a lot more happens in Future, while Reunion is just boring. So . . . I guess Future is better than Reunion – but just. My ranking of the films now (best to worst):

Chapter 3: Confession Chapter 4: Loss Chapter 5: Coexistence Chapter 2: Determination Chapter 6: Future Chapter 1: Reunion

Conclusion

Overall, Digimon Adventure tri. is a pretty average series. I liked it enough, but there were giant leaps in logic and small, sometimes huge, bad writing decisions that could’ve been avoided or done a lot better with very little effort. The quality of a series depends on ALL the parts working: having good characters, good storytelling, stellar attention to detail, great adherence to logic so that the audience aren’t taken out of the experience. This is where tri. fails, because if you have a lot of those moments, it really does lower the quality of your story to your audience, who will get tired of constantly having to suspend their disbelief.

But, despite all of its flaws, tri. did give us the best Digimon movie ever made (Confession), so . . . Yay? I’ll take it.

If you were to directly compare Adventure and tri., I think you would say that tri. had better writing overall. And I would agree. But comparing them directly isn’t fair. Why? Because Adventure was made for kids, and tri. was made for adults. And here’s the thing:

Digimon Adventure is an excellent children’s series.

Digimon Adventure tri. is an average adult series.

Sure, a lot of dumb things happen in Adventure, but you can give it a pass because it’s a “kids show”. Overall, it was still an excellent series for kids, so much so that parts of it still holds up even when you view it as an adult with better critical thinking. That’s amazing.

Tri. is the better written series when directly compared but, well, it had to be. Its writing was better because it was aimed at adults, which naturally just lifts the ceiling that Adventure had to be aware of from being aimed at kids. But tri.’s many instances of bad writing isn’t as easily forgivable, as it is aimed at adults, so when it’s dumb . . . it’s just really dumb.

So, even though tri. is technically better written overall, I still think Adventure is actually the better series. How is that possible? Well, if someone asked you to recommend a good children’s show, you’d definitely say, “Digimon Adventure”. But if someone asked you to recommend a good series, you would NOT say, “Digimon Adventure tri.” At least, I wouldn’t.

And that’s it! Well done if you’ve made it to the end. I don’t think I will ever write about tri. again. See you in the next post about the Digimon Adventure: 2020 reboot series. :)

[rosesisupposes]

Someone New

I tried something I’ve never written before: a first-person POV from my favorite son. 

I love and relate very strongly to the Hozier’s Someone New. And I love Roman with all my heart. 

[[There was a tumblr post many moons ago that lodged in my brain and inspired this in some part, but I can’t find it again for the life of me. If you remember it too and can find it, I will be in your debt <3]]

read on ao3

word count: 800

pairing: Roman-centric DELAMPS [Deceit, Emile, Logan, Virgil, Patton, Remy, Roman]

warnings: Deceit; disaster gays;

reader tags: @residentanchor @royally-anxious @bewarethegrammarpolice @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt @astral-eclipse​ @thelowlysatsuma @adorably-angsty 

thank you to @potestessemagishomosexualitatis for beta-ing 💖💖💖

~~~~~~~~~~

Would things be easier if there was a right way? Honey, there is no ‘right’ way

Haven’t you seen how wonderful people can be? And you haven’t gone head over heels for them? 

I do. Over and over. 

I watch the way that one man on the subway bites his lip as he reads his book, forehead furrowed in concentration. His long hair is tied back into a neat bun that is falling apart more and more each time he runs a hand through it. Tiny flyaway hairs are fanning out around his face, a brunette halo around my subway angel’s head. I ache to smooth the wrinkles out of his face as I listen to everything Book Man has been reading and learning. I imagine his voice, low and rich, twining through sedate evenings lit by candles and hearthfire. 

I see a man light up and slow his gait as he passes a dog park, his mouth moving in silent greetings to each and every animal behind the fence. Dog Man smothers a giggle watching a dalmation trip over a chihuahua, and the sound is like silver bells ringing in my heart. I want to hear about every dog that greeted Dog Man on his walk today while I trace my fingers down those dalmatian-like freckles that cover his face. I want to hear his giggle over and over again, dancing through dappled sunlight of lazy afternoons.

A man in a hoodie and headphones doesn’t dance to the music in his ears, but the little twitches in his smile and the tiny bops of his head show just how much he's lost himself in the song. I want more than anything to see what happens when he lets loose. I want to see that small smirk bloom and grow into a brilliant grin, to see those tiny movements stretch into carefree twirls and twists. I hope there’s an audience for when Hoodie Man loses his self-consciousness and serenades his apartment at midnight, singing every part and the guitar solos too.

It’s not always instantaneous, though. Sometimes, it takes time. 

I’ve been passing the rude, scowling punk near my theatre for weeks before the day a frog gets stranded on the sidewalk and I see the leather-clad man kneeling, talking so quietly I can barely hear it. When I finally walk close enough, I hear a steady stream of calm reassurance.  "It's okay, little one, this is just water for you, okay? I don't want you to dehydrate. just hop on in- that's right, there you go! Okay, I'm going to carry you to the woods, there's a pond there, is that where you came from? I hope it's your true home, I'll get you back, I promise."  The midday sun glints off the man’s metal spikes and studs and catches in dyed-yellow locks. For once, I can see both eyes, revealed from behind the bangs and hat the man always wears. I wonder what else makes Frog Punk go so tender and soft.

The person at the coffee shop is almost too cheerful each morning. It grates on my night-owl tendencies - it’s unnatural to be that awake when the sun is barely awake! I’m all for disney and cartoons but greeting the whole shop with "Good MORNING Krusty Krew!" every day is a little much. Then, today, it doesn't come. The pastels enter as normal, but the smile above them looks forced and strained. I catch myself staring until I recognize the hum of tension in the other's bones and frame. A new necklace is nestled in the vee of the perpetual cardigan. And today it holds a bright purple tag that reads "xe/xir." My heart swells with empathy and admiration for xir bravery, and I make sure to catch xir eyes with a warm smile as we wait for our drinks. The smile I get back is far more grateful than I deserve, but warms me more than any latte ever could.

And, sometimes, it comes on faster than I ever thought was possible.

I walk down the street, listening to some new music a friend recommended. I look down for just a moment, to check the song name, and immediately run into a warm body. I almost trip, but my gaze from the ground up to single raised eyebrow takes in beautiful ankle boots, an asymmetrical skirt, and a crop top so short it makes me want to cry. By the time I meet the startling green eyes peering at me from behind heart-shaped sunglasses, I’m utterly speechless.  "You Gucci, babes?" "...’m gay. I mean great!"

I fall in love with strangers’ eyes, and quirks, and smiles. It doesn’t always last - I might never even meet them properly. But why should that mean these affections and infatuations are any less real?

[demonicfrustration]

The inquisitive expression shifted to something cold and dismissive the moment he heard the android speak, though it returned just briefly as he got a good look at it. What use was such a rude deviant? And a damaged one at that. Without answering Four, Vergil glanced to his son and cocked a brow. "Hm. While I do certainly agree an android would be more than beneficial to you and your medical state, you could gave just asked me, Vitale." he said, still petting the cat in his arms. "Did you buy him second hand? I know your empathy is tremendous, but you shouldn't sacrifice your wellbeing for a unit that looks like it barely functions." The man clicked his tongue, "Let me buy you a better model."

Vee was completely flabbergasted, his face lighting up red as he tried to find the words to respond. "I.. didn't buy him. He's my boyfriend." he managed, his brows pinching together. "This is Gabriel, he-- No, we're dating. I-I love him."

Vergil blinked and let out a laugh. "That's quite humorous. Are you into comedy now?" he asked, "Your standards can't be that low. It's not even human, Vitale!" Shaking his head, he set Nightmare down and put his hands on his hips. "I know you're more than decent at landing dates, but you're going to settle for.. that?" he said, his eyes flicking to Four. "What's so remarkable about you?"

Four watched him pick up the cat, a pet dad in his natural habitat. He just smiled, watching him him kiss both the animals before turning to him and making a face. “Only if I get called a good puppy,” he purred, teasing, and stepped close to peck his lips before giving a cheeky slap on the butt. “Come on, we have a cat to clean.”