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ardenrabbit · 2 years

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Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

What a fun question! Thank you for asking! I think I already answered an ask about favorite characters, but here's a list of some of my favorite media in no particular order 💜

1. Avatar the Last Airbender: If you didn't grow as a person if/when you watched atla I just don't know what to say to you. Watch it again I guess? Learn self-love and empathy and healthy coping tactics

2. Lord of the Rings, by Jolkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien, especially Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring, Extended Version: Favorite movie. Nostalgia factor. Gandalf. Viggo Mortensen ruining all other men for me. Boromir being a Good Man. The soundtrack of this movie is Home to me.

3. The Goblin Wood, book by Hilari Bell: Friendship, magic, and angry, vengeful witches. Anti-colonialism. Great take on magic. Questioning dogma and learning how not to be a cop. A crotchety goblin named Cogswhallop who is my best friend.

3. Big Fish: Movie with Albert Finney, Ewan Mcgregor, and Marion Cotillard my beloved. Whimsical, heartwarming, and profoundly bittersweet story about people learning to communicate and share in each other's lives. I really just fucking love this movie.

4. ⭐ A Silent Voice: Japanese animated movie about a former bully learning to not hate himself, a deaf girl learning self-worth, and a lot of people learning to be friends. Fucking stunning visuals and music. Another profoundly bittersweet one with a happy ending, and one I wish I'd seen earlier in my life. Content warning: two suicide attempts.

5. Mo Dao Zu Shi, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: Chinese web novel with several adaptations, about a lot of fascinating topics with oceans of nuance because MXTX is a genius tbh, but largely about questioning convention and doing the right thing, the different ways in which people can love, the meanings of bravery, and some zombies. I also love her novel Tian Guan Ci Fu but have to analyze the themes a little more before I can confidently talk about what it means? It's fucking incredible though (and like twice as long lol)

6. No. 6, by Atsuko Asano: Japanese web novel with a manga and anime adaptation (manga is the best): honestly just a fun time about destroying The System with gay love and bees. Deuteragonist is an edgy dumbass who lived in a cave, blows up government vehicles, and quotes too much Shakespeare. To this day I am endlessly entertained by Nezumi.

7. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss: Book series comprising The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear. Someday will include the final book, Doors of Stone. Epic fantasy story about a bard-rogue-wizard with delusions of grandeur giving his memoir after all the damage he's caused. Involves the COOLEST magic systems in one world, does an amazing job of establishing a truly low-fantasy-feeling but simultaneously deeply mystical environment, and has exactly the kind of compelling eccentricity that I love in characters. Beautifully poetic prose.

8. Dragon Age: rpg video game series about a series of Unfortunate World Events. You play a different character in each game, the protagonist at the center of one catastrophe or another, and they all tie in beautifully in the overall world story progression. The characters you meet are multidimensional and SO worth analyzing, because they're all fascinating and flawed people (except Varric Tethras, who is Perfect and The Love of my Life (my wife knows and accepts this)).

9. ⭐ Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield: Okay, FUCK THIS BOOK for being about the battle of Thermopylae where you know EXACTLY how that ended for the defending army and MAKING YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE CHARACTERS ANYWAY. Insanely well-researched historical fiction. Sympathetic to the subject and emotionally and socially insightful to a devastating degree. The best representation of the camaraderie and friendship in warrior culture without all the awful macho bullshit we've come to expect and loathe. They really ask the question "what is the opposite of fear" and come to the answer "love." I have broken down sobbing while reading a story three times in my life, and TWO of those times were from this book. Seriously, fuck this book. I will never write half as well as Steven Pressfield.

10. ⭐ It's Such a Beautiful Day, by Don Hertzfeldt: Remember the animation show on YouTube, that absurdist hand-drawn animation with the robots? Yeah that guy made a whole emotionally gutting, bittersweet movie about the nature of life and coming to terms with the end of it. Intergenerational trauma, chronic illness, and a lot of introspection. Beautifully paced storytelling. This is an Important Movie. It's not immediately stylistically accessible to everyone, but seriously, open your heart and branch out. This movie made me a little more whole.

If I had to pick three of these to shove in people's faces, it would be the starred and red ones lol. Not enough people know about them or have taken the time to appreciate them.

#oh look it talks #trust me i have good taste

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trash-monkey · 1 year

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What The Hell Is This Mess!

Chapter 1

Once again I'm forced awake with freezing water to see the little girl is still floating in the air and I'm still not in my bedroom like I'm supposed to be, only thing to do is to accept this wired situation someone thrusted me into while hoping to survive whatever will be thrown at me and getting back home unless something in world makes me stay.

"What you said your name was?" I said after letting out a defeated sigh and turn my head to the girl but instead of one voice I hear two others speaking at the same time which quickly reminded me of the control I have over three fictional characters as if they're my own body, with the wired triple vision I can the adult versions of Draken, Sanzu, and Hanma sitting on the ground.

"The names Kesor and are you done analyzing your new bodies now? We got things to do! Like me telling everything you need to know before you try to get use to your bodies enough that you can do different task at the same time!"

"Well knowledge is power so what is it?" Once again we all spoken at the same time before turning to each other to glare which caused Kesor to laugh at us which I guess will be happening a lot until I get use to everything but she quickly stopped when we turned the glare to her.

"They sure can be scary when they want to." Her mumbled under her breath before becoming cheery again.

"As I have said before I'm the avatar of your system that Angus the Higher Boss given you to have a higher chance of survival." With a snap of her fingers a HUD appears in my visions to show character sheets for my bodies.

"Before you read everything on these sheets I got a few things to explain! Each one of you have a class which shows you what you're good at and your profession while the background gives you a history along with an extra skill and the equipment you start with as of now." She points to the two things she's explaining on the HUD.

Ken (Draken) Ryuguji

Class: Barbarian

- Archetype: Path of Beast

Features:

- Form of the Beast

- Bestial Soul

- Infectious Fury

- Call the Hunt

Background: Ticklebelly Nomad

Features:

- At Home In The Wild

Equipments:

- Herbalism Kit

- Small article of jewelry that is distinct to your tribe

- Hunting Trap

- Set Of Common Clothes

- Belt Pouch

Skill Proficiencies:

- Nature

- Animal Handling

Tool Proficiencies:

- Herbalism kit

"This world is similar to Dungeons and Dragons?" I asked Kesor.

"Yes like I said earlier this world is massive, the region we're in right now is The High Lands, on the island called Iris but it's separated from the Fly High islands region. The islands there are so far apart that it'll take weeks to get to one and the animes you have watch now exist in this region but I won't tell you which ones. Now back to The High Lands region which is split into two parts The Crown and The Thrown, I'll explain more about them later." With a nod I go back to reading the other two sheets.

Sanzu Haruchiyo

Class: Ranger

- Archetype: Gloom Stalker

Features:

- Gloom Stalker Magic

- Dread Ambusher

- Umbral Sight

- Iron Mind

- Stalker's Flurry

- Shadowy Dodge

Spells:

- Disguise Self

- Rope Trick

- Fear

- Greater Invisibility

- Seeming

- Subtype: Dueling

Features:

- Fighting Style: Dueling

When you are welding a melee weapon in one hand and none in the other, you gain a extra +2 damage with that weapon.

Background: Charlatan

Features:

- False Identify

You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established, acquaintance, and disguise they allow you to assume that persona. Additionally, you can forge documents including official papers and personal letters, as long as you have seen an example of the kind of document it handwriting you're trying to copy.

Equipments:

- set of fine clothes

- disguise kit

- belt pouch

- 1 from bottle filled with color liquid, deck of marked cards, ring of an imaginary duke.

Skill Proficiencies:

- Deception

- sleight of hand

Tool Proficiencies:

- Disguise kit

- forgery kit

"Sorry but Agnus chose his second identity for you." She bounced in the air with a nervous grin while a hand rub the back of her neck so with an eyebrow rise I read the small note attached to the sheet.

Second persona:

Celeste Scarrow

High social class lady of the Scarrow family with Butler (Hanma) Jasper and bodyguard (Draken) Troy.

'Sanzu's second identity is a WOMEN! At least his long pink bubble gum hair will help with that illusion.'

With that thought I continue on to the last character sheet.

Hanma Shuji

Class: Blood Hunter

Archetype: Order of the Lycan

Features:

- Heightened Senses

- Hybrid Transformation

- Stalker's Prowess

- Advanced Transformation

- Brand of the Voracious

- Hybrid Transformation Mastery Effective

Background: Smuggler

Features:

Down Low

You are acquainted with a network of smugglers who are willing to help you out of tight situations. While in a particular town, city, or other similarly sized community, you and your companions can stay for free in safe houses. Safe houses provide a poor lifestyle. While staying at a safe house, you can choose to keep your presence (and that of your companions) a secret

Equipments:

- 1 from Fancy leather vest, Leather boots - Clothes, Common

Skill Proficiencies:

- Athletics, Deception

Tool Proficiencies:

- Water vehicles

"At least I have a few things as my starter pack, clothes and tools." I turn my attention to the clothes we have on our back, Hanma's are fancy containing long sleeves that are rolled up as a vest sitting on top and pants with shoes.

'How am I going to keep this these clean! And without getting all sweaty in all this black and dark red colors!'

Pulling my eyes away from the future disaster even though he....I? look quite handsome I take notice of Draken's (I?) attire which is really simple but I guess it's because of his class, black Hakama pants adore his long thick legs with simple sandals and a simple over size shirt without sleeves. Black buttoned eyelet lace up skinny pants hugs Sanzu's legs as a white tunic lays open across his chest and boots that ends at the knees with armor on top of it's leather.

"To bad we don't don't have weapons." Draken/Sanzu/Hanma mumbled under their/our breath.

"I'm going to get a personality disorder from this." We all mumbled again before our attention is pull to Kesor when she snap her fingers.

"Now that you mentioned it I forgot to show you your weapons but they're just simple ones through, if you want better ones you either buy or find them." She points to the weapons that's been lay behind us the whole time, a longbow, two daggers, and a Great axe.

"Now to continue on explaining this world....." She march through the air like a general speaking to his soldiers.

"Unlike other systems you have read about your system doesn't do the level stuff but instead it givye you certain rewards after completing different tasks or quest whatever you wish to call them also you can be able to deny if you don't wish to do it but be warned you can't do it to some like the important ones! Moving on, you got three categories, Main quests, Side quests and Quests posters but they only reward you in money while Side quests gives you magical items and the Main quests grants skills or spells which I forget to mention that this world has magic but only in The High Lands region. Your system also keeps a record of things like after you kill something it records name weakness, strength, attacks, or a race of someone you have talked to and plants too after eating or touching them. Oh! One more thing before I let you go figure things out the more skilled you become in things and get stronger the more I'll be able help you." There's only one thing that comes out of our mouth at the end of that long exclamation.

"What the hell is this mess!!!"

_______________________________________________

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kingwuko · 3 years

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Wuko in the comics

Welcome to my first post discussing Wuko in the LoK comic books!

This first post will be discussing Turf Wars- which unfortunately does not feature Wu. But there are lots of excellent Mako moments, and there are some major plot points that carry over into the next comic trilogy.

Turf Wars is the first LoK comic trilogy released after the finale. Though it was released two and half years after the finale aired, it picks up right where we left off. While the creators confirmed after the finale aired that Korrasami was canon, the last moments of the animated series were a little ambiguous (on purpose, since this was a time when queer representation was just not considered "acceptable" in children's media-it was truly the only way they could get away with it). The comics definitively remove all ambiguity. Turf Wars features multiple frames of Korra and Asami kissing, holding hands, and coming out to their friends and family.

The overarching plot of Turf Wars is a conflict over the land upon which the new spirit portal sets. There is also conflict between rival Triad gangs, the Triple Threats and the Creeping Crystals, over turf in Republic City following the chaos of Kuvira's invasion. These two sets of turf wars overlap when a business tycoon hires the Triple Threats to secure the spirit portal for him by driving others off. The new Leader of the Triple Threats, Tokuga, is attacked by a spirit defending the portal, causing him to gain a dragon-like appearance and a new agenda-seizing control of all Republic City. In the midst of all this there is a refugee crisis, a presidential election, and Korra and Asami trying to navigate their new relationship once they return to the real world with all their responsibilities.

Notable plot points and character developments:

Korra and Asami canon is confirmed (repeatedly)-They come out to family and their friends

Business owner Wonyong Keum, who owns the land upon which the new portal sits, demands everyone vacate so he can turn it into a tourist attraction for profit-prompting Korra to enter the Avatar state to temporarily drive him away.

An unhappy spirit requests Korra closes the portal to prevent exploitation of the spirit world.

Bolin joins Mako as his rookie detective partner.

Zhu Li is running efforts to care for refugees who lost their homes during Kuvira’s attack and teams up with Asami to begin rebuilding homes for everyone displaced.

Tokuga is introduced as the leader of the Triple Threats, fighting for control of the streets with Jargala, the leader of the Creeping Crystals.

Kya reveals she is queer and gives us a history lesson on the context of LGBTQ+ history in the world.

Tokuga is attacked by the afore-mentioned spirit and his right arm and half his face become dragon-esque.

Raiko is a colossal idiot. He is way too focused on getting reelected and making his decisions based on what his campaign advisor suggests, rather than just, you know, governing his city. He calls the military to occupy the portal, prompting the Airbenders to peacefully protest.

Zhu Li runs against Raiko for the presidency. She rallies more protesters to protect the spirit portal while her husband films her for his newest project- a “docu-mover” which he presumably uses to influence the election.

Asami and Keum are kidnapped by Tokuga and forced to make a poison gas device bring the city under Tokuga’s control.

The Krew manages to save the day of course, thanks to Asami’s wit, Korra’s unstoppable stubbornness, and back-up from Bolin and Mako. Except Mako, bless him, says he’ll “take care of Tokuga”, and then promptly loses him.

Tokuga mysteriously disappears into the spirit world.

Zhu Li wins the presidency.

Korra and Asami share a lovely, romantic moment where they exchange their first “I love you”s at the conclusion of the comic.

Mako scenes

There is no Wu in the Turf Wars comics (Unless you count one line of dialogue where it is mentioned that the Earth Kingdom is sending supplies to help the refugee situation) - however, there is plenty of Mako! Mako’s primary role in this series is as a detective trying to find and stop the Triads from waging their turf war in the city.

Our first scenes with Mako shows him back to being a detective- and his brother is his partner. He doesn’t seem super thrilled to be working with Bolin, but I think it’s just because he knows how his brother is- not that he doesn’t want to spend time with him. They are trying to track down the new leader of the triple threats and control gang activity. Mako’s arm is still in a sling, he’s got his usual brooding grumpy facial expression, and his hair is spiky again! He and Bolin arrest two-toed Ping and try to interrogate him. Two-toed Ping is weirdly proud of Mako and Bolin for rising up from being “nobodies” to a couple of “bigtime cops”.

They catch up with Korra and Asami, and the four of them are alerted by Jinora that the Triple threats are attacking the Airbenders that were meditating at the portal. Asami gets hurt in the battle and she and Korra share a kiss in front of everyone:

Look at Opal’s sweet face. She looks like she’s barely containing her excitement and is maybe squealing a bit, and she’s looking directly at Bolin which I think is a sweet moment to show their relationship. Bolin calls dibs on the first double date.

Mako probably needs time to process the information....

Mako and Bolin do some detective work to try and find Tokuga. There is an interesting scene where they are questioning Scoochy (We saw him in the first season, he’s the kid that told Korra and Mako the Bolin went to do some work for the triple threats before getting captured by equalists) Bolin tells Mako they should do “good cop, bad cop”, with Bolin being the good cop. Mako gets annoyed, and Bolin asks if he’s grumpy because his exes are dating. Mako insists he’s cool with it- though he’s got a distressed look on his face. They catch up to Scoochy and Bolin actually loses his temper and is rather menacing. Mako pulls Bolin back and genuinely connects with Scoochy- relating to his past, pushing him to do the right thing and help others. I really liked this moment because it shows how much character growth he’s had when you compare the way he treated Kai in season 3. (They are ultimately unsuccessful and Scoochy’s tip leads them to a room rigged with explosives- but I don’t think Scoochy knew that, I think he was fed false info).

There’s another touching scene, after Asami is kidnapped, where Mako notices how upset Korra seems as everyone is trying to form a plan to stop Tokuga. He steps aside to check in and see how she’s feeling. He comforts her’ empathizes with her, and reassures her that they are going to find Asami. At this point he seems to have fully processed that they are together and seems to fully accept it and is very supportive. Not easy considering the awkward position he’s in as both their exes. In this scene, Mako also informs Korra that he can’t firebend with his injured arm.

Mako and Bolin helps Korra to find Asami by requesting help from Jargala- in spite of the fact that Chief Beifong told them not to… They show up for Korra and Asami even if it means risking their jobs. They team up and fight the bad guys together, just like the old days.

We see many examples of how bad the damage is from Mako’s injury in the Colossus. He can’t bend with his left arm, it’s in a sling almost the whole comic, and he really doesn’t seem to be at the top of his game. He told Bolin he would take care of catching Tokuga, but apparently couldn’t and lost him. Mako’s injury is pretty bad and it’s probably really frustrating.

At the end, Bolin decides to quit the force (surprise. The guy loves to hop from calling to calling!). He makes a big dramatic speech to Mako, talking about how it’s time they go their separate ways. Mako is like “Um I’m going to see you at home in like two hours”, so it sounds like they are living together.

What all this might mean for Wuko

So now I’m going to try to tie things back into how all this affects the potential of Wuko- whether that’s for headcanons or fics or whatever- and just try to give you an idea of what this comic means for Wuko shippers.

Wu is governing in the Earth Kingdom right now. It is mentioned by Zhu Li that the Earth Kingdom sent supplies, so one can assume Wu has taken his place on the throne and the Earth Kingdom is in a stable enough position to be sending supplies to aid another nation. Nothing is mentioned about efforts to transform the Earth Kingdom into a democratic nation (we’ll get to that in the Ruins of the Empire comics).

Mako’s primary relationships that are explored are with his brother and with Korra. His relationship with Bolin is just as it always is. He loves his brother even if he is a little exhausted by his upbeat, enthusiastic attitude. We build up on his final interaction with Korra from the animated series and continue to firmly establish them as friends and amicable exes. Interestingly, we don’t get any meaningful Mako and Asami interactions. When he is comforting Korra, he relates to her by remembering how worried he was when Korra was kidnapped by Amon. He doesn't try to say “Yeah I’m really worried about Asami too”, which, to me is bizarre because he and Asami are friends too, right? I don’t know if we should read too much into it though- most likely it was just a writing choice that we aren’t meant to psycho-analyze- but it could also mean he is being careful with his words so that Korra doesn’t wonder if he still has feelings for Asami. The love triangle is completely resolved and Mako is out of the picture romantically with either of them and has no lingering romantic feelings. In other words, he is 100% ready available for a relationship with someone else.

The scene where Kya gives us a history lesson establishes how LGBTQ+ people are viewed in the world of LoK. In short, Korra and Asami are fully supported by their friends and family, and even their enemies acknowledge their relationship without any homophobic tones. The closest we get to homophobia is Korra's father, who, after expressing his happiness at their relationship, warns Korra to be cautious going forward because not everyone will be as understanding. Kya gives us a quick lesson on how same-gender relationships are viewed across the nations: The water tribe, being a patriarchal culture, expects discretion. The Earth Kingdom is not particularly accepting-Kya says that Avatar Kyoshi was bisexual but couldn't affect "real change" and that the earth kingdom is the slowest to accept change and is also militarily repressive (full disclosure I have not read the Kyoshi comics, maybe there is additional insight in those?). And in the fire nation, Sozin made same-gender relationships illegal when he took power (I hope Zuko undid all that when he became Firelord). The air nation is the only one that seems truly accepting-Kya paints a picture of total acceptance and says that Aang was supportive when she herself came out. Korra is worried that maybe her father was right, but Asami points out that a lot has changed over the years and everyone seems accepting, especially in Republic City.

I think what we can take away from this as far as Wuko goes- is that in Republic City, same-gender relationships are not much of an issue, while in the Earth Kingdom it could be viewed negatively. One could make a case that Wu might have cause to be closeted, while Mako might not. (Feel free to reject this history canon and substitute your own. I’d just as soon say that no one in the avatar-verse cares if you aren’t cis or het).

In conclusion. Mako is just a guy trying very hard to be a good, supportive friend to his exes who are now dating each other. He loves them (platonically) he loves his brother, he’s kind and has matured a lot, but he still always has a grumpy look on his face so it’s time for him to move on and get together with Wu.

Well, that’s Turf Wars. I did cram the plot of three comic books into one post, so I certainly did not hit all the details. If you feel I missed something crucial, feel free to reblog with your own takes. Next I’ll discuss Ruins of the Empire, in which we get lots of Wu and potential Wuko moments, a sizable helping of angst and even some Wu & Korra friendship! RotE is a really fun comic trilogy and I’ll be breaking it down into multiple posts. Thanks for reading everyone!

Wuko In RotE part 1

Wuko in RotE part 2

#Wuko #Mako #Turf Wars #Lok #King Wu #Prince Wu

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duchezss · 3 years

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Buckle in folks cause I’m about to put more effort into this than an english assignment Presenting Why Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is actually an amazing show

Now what defines the term amazing you might ask? I’m talking about a show that goes above and beyond in plot, characters, storytelling, and overall experience. Nowadays most adult shows don’t meet my standards much less a kids show so if that gives you an idea how good this show is stop right now and go watch it if you haven’t. Spoilers ahead ofc but as an aspiring film major I will be diving into just about everything I love and this is gonna get long.

For your convince I will start with a simple bullet point list and then extend on them below, so if you only wanna see the big points and not my thoughts behind them this first parts for you.

Black mc

Diverse main cast (4/6 are poc)

Actual plot lines and a lot of suspense

Very dark for a kids show

Complex characters that develop

Fits in with the main Jurassic World series beautifully

Body language and facial expressions are top tier

Have genuine relationships (platonically and/or romantically) between all of the main 6

Phenomenal camera angles and use of special effects

Great with details

Amazing VA’s

Continuity

So the nose dives begins

Black mc: To some people this might not matter that much but holy cow this is so important and such a big step. The people complaining are just weird middle aged white people, like do you know how big of an impact a black mc can have on young black children. It’s so important and it makes them feel happy because someone actually looks like them. Clear evidence of this was Into The Spider Verse (which is also an amazing movie oml). Come to think of it the only black mc I think I’ve ever seen in an animated kids show is probably Static Shock (also an amazing show ily). Somehow representation has got swept under the rug in this day and age which is ironic really, but this show does an amazing job with tackling that and I love it.

Diverse main cast: I can’t think of any recent kids movies/tv shows, live action or animated, that have this much representation. In animation is also very easy for the show runners to make a character poc and then have a white VA, but jwcc is quite the opposite. Honestly the characters look so much like their VA’s that something tells me the animation team based the characters off them and not the other way around. Not only that but their names actually match with their ethnicities. So for reference or just anyone that doesn’t know, Ben and Brooklynn are white, Sammy is hispanic, Darius is black, Kenji is asian, and Yazmina is middle eastern. Sammy’s last name is Gutierrez, Yazmina’s is Fadoula, Kenji’s is Kon and Darius’s Bowman. Gutierrez is a common last name in Mexico and Latin America in general. Fadoula is found throughout upper Africa and the Middle East, Kon is rare name of Japense origin, and Bowman is a common last name among black folks in the US. So not only do they have a poc cast, voiced by poc people, but all the characters have realistic names. Not to mention they are very good on skin tone in the show, personally I think Yaz should’ve been just a bit darker but hey I’ll take it and run.

Actual plot lines: This seem like stating the obvious but work with me here. Most kids and even adult shows have a very episodic format, there’s nothing wrong with that per say but having a plot and conflict build up and having little things matter is much more satisfying in my opinion. Most kids shows have some conflict but its very PG which is also fine that’s what it’s meant for. But every once in a while you’ll find a show that had plot wise beyond it’s years and those are the golden ones. Easily and rightfully the most famous is Avatar the Last Airbender or ATLA. This show to this day is still one my favorites and truly nothing will ever top it, but in my years of watching kids shows after it jwcc might just be second. We can argue all day about what’s the best and it’s truly a matter of opinion, but to me atla and jwcc just achieve such a level of complexity that 99% of kids and even adult shows don’t reach.

Very dark: While this might not be exactly the best for kids it’s great for an olderish audience. Honestly it having a much darker element makes the show enjoyable for all ages while still keeping it chill enough so that children may watch. But come to think of it it’s hard not to make a show about dinosaurs dark, the show runners do a wonderful job at keeping it intense and exciting, but still kid friendly, and to me thats incredibly impressive. Not to mention since the show isn’t afraid to go dark they can do more (such as ben’s “death”, the hunters etc) which makes it go from good to great. Reminds me a lot of atla and I know I keep mentioning atla but know that is the biggest compliment ever. atla is easily the best animated/kids show of all time so the fact that a bring it up so much is huge. There have been shows in the past that have tried to replicate what atla (such as voltron..) and it just hasn’t worked. I think this show nails the boundary between too dark and not dark enough.

Complex characters: Oh yes. If there’s one thing I love more than an ensemble cast it’s a cast that grows and develops as the series progresses. Sure the main 6 might start off as typical character tropes (Darius the super fan, Yaz the loner, Sammy the extrovert, Ben the underdog, Kenji the arrogant, and Brooklynn the influencer.) but they become so much more than that. I’d say at least half of them are completely different people between the 1st episode and the latest one. An easy example being Ben and Kenji. Ben started off as a naive, timid, and terrified person and has become confident, independent, and brave. Kenji started off as arrogant, selfish, and apathetic person and became compassionate, driven, and concerned. All of them have had some sort of change even if it’s not super dramatic and that’s important. It makes the storytelling better because they grow as they go.

Fits in with JP/JW beautifully: In terms of shows connecting to movies this has gotta be some clone wars level s-tier stuff. Personally I have never watched clone wars but my sister has and she always raves about how well this show connects to the movies, and from what I’ve seen I completely agree. A youtube channel by the name of Silverscreen Edits actually put together the scenes from every time they overlap, mainly in S1 but also the cold open from Fallen Kingdom. I’d advise you to watch it because it’s just incredible. The show runners nail ever detail of these scenes and it truly feels like you’re watching the same scene from a different perspective. The set up is beautiful and I cannot rave enough about how amazing it is, my favorite easily being the dome scene because of all the small details. Not to mention this show actually connect JW and FK because it shows us that the cold open was 6 months later while the rest was 3 years later. Quite honestly I had no idea these two scenes were that far apart from each other, I thought the opening was from a years or two later not 6 months, so this show really connected the dots between these two movies and made them flow together much nicer. And I love all the countless references too old and new JP/JW movies. Overall this show is a great addition to the franchise.

Body language and facial expressions: You might be thinking to yourself, hmph that is a really odd point to make, let me tell you it’s not and I’ll explain why. When analyzing films I usually tend to stick to live action because one of my favorite parts of films is how characters react to things, and we animation we really don’t get that. Most of the time even if shows get this complex they won’t use both the way jwcc. What impressed me so much was how amazing they are at this, the animation team seriously needs more praise. Jwcc is great at facial expressions which I will say other animated shows know how to do as well, but they are also so amazing at body language which is rare rare when it comes to animation. It’s because it’s so hard and often times it just doesn’t fit, but they do an amazing job with this and it makes the characters feel so life-like. When a character is sad or closed off their shoulders hunch, when they feel scared they stiffen up and cover their ears (which is another detail I love so much, I never realized till this show that hardly anyone ever covers their ears and it makes a lot of sense because these dinos are very loud) and when they feel hopeless their shoulder sag and their head drops, do you see what I mean? You can quite literally tell what these kids are feeling and thinking without them saying anything that is so impressive and it makes the show that much better. It makes it easy to analyze and if it wasn’t clear around I love to do so.

Genuine relationships between all of main cast: I will not budge at this point at all, gonna say it right now if you disagree argue with the wall. I might have some bias on this but one, if not my favorite, part of any media is an ensemble cast. It’s something I actively seek out, and when I say ensemble cast I don’t mean a trio, I mean a full cast, my favorite being 6 but 4 or 5 will do. So when I found out this show had 6 main characters I was immediately interested. Not only because I love ensemble casts but I also wanted to see how they handled it. Ensemble cast are so rare because they are extremely hard to do and do well. I will even criticize atla on this. At one point they had 6 main characters and they never elaborated on more than a handful of the duos and just focused on the group as whole. But this is typical and easiest to do without giving up individual character development so I get that. But jesus christ jwcc does a phenomenal job with this, and I mean phenomenal. Out of the 15 different duos you can get between 6 characters then have elaborated on 11 of them, and it could easily be more this is just from memory. I might make a post elaborating on this specifically because it’s just amazing. This time they take to flesh out these relationships truly makes them feel like a unit and a family, instead of just a group of people all working towards the same goal. This is easily the most impressive and rewarding of any of the points on this list in my opinion. (coming from #1 squad lover right here)

Camera angles and special effects: This shows downfall for some was that it had strange animation, honestly it never bothered me and since I’ve watched dragon prince and rwby, it’s clear that bad animation never stops me from watching a show. But I think people just won’t give it a chance, because when you do you’ll see it’s actually very good. To me the coolest part of the animation is the dinos. They look incredible and so so similar to the cgi used in JW. That’s hard to do so more claps for the animation team I love y’all. They also have to work around the PG side of this show and do a great job at implying what happens but never actually showing what happens. This is all angles, not to mention they do a great job at showcasing the park and the scenery so that magic from the movies really translates to the show. Finally my favorite scene of the show from an avid slow mo lover has got to me when Ben falls of the monorail (idk why it is cause he’s literally my fav and I was so upset) The scene is just beautiful and the set up before hand makes it that much more heart breaking. The use of slow mo is amazing I literally cannot rave about this scene enough. It builds so much suspense and they used just the right amount, to much and the scene would move to slow, and to little the scene would be to fast. I need more great scenes like this in S4 (idk if I want the angst that comes with it too I’ll get back to you)

Details: To me details, in any show in general, is what makes it go from great to fantastic. An example of this is Harry Potter, something that hooked me into this franchise was how much small details mattered and it’s the same with jwcc. There are so many throw away lines that end up coming back and all us are hitting ourselves for missing it. Such as Ben saying early on he knows where the tracker beam is and when he “dies” and the crew can’t find it it shows how important he was. Those are details I love to see. Or the three dinos, one of which Sammy released, coming back all season. Of course toro as well and he always kept his burns. Not to mention the animation team always kept Ben’s scar in and I think that’s an important detail because he shaped who he is. Keep up the good work animation and writing team because I love what you’re doing with this (also I’m 90% sure the compass is another one of these details I’m calling it rn)

Amazing VA’s: Honestly VA’s in general do not get enough credit and they really should. But these 6 are pretty amazing let me tell you. If I’m not mistaken Ryan Potter (Kenji’s VA) is the only one with a notable history of voice acting as he played the title character in Big Hero 6. (fun fact I had no idea and when I found this out I quite literally screamed). But the others have also done things as well, most of it being live action though, and voice acting is much different. Honestly I just need to make a post about the various roles they’ve had cause looking into this has been an experience. Anyway all of them do such an incredible job with this ahh. I think the times where you can really tell how different they all are is when they lash out. This happens quite often and honestly it’s expected, I mean they’re 6 teenagers in a stressful environment of course they’ll last out. But all of them have such a different way of doing it, Darius is hopeless, Kenji is nervous, Yaz is emotional, Ben is harsh, Brooklynn is stern, and Sammy is level headed. Usually everyone lashes out the same way so the fact that they’re so different in just one aspect shows you how good they are. Each character is so individual and all of them have different goals and morals which is not only realistic but it makes way for conflict which is always interesting.

Continuity: Now this could arguable go with details but it’s slightly different so I’m making this a separate point. Continuity to put it simple it basically not have the show be episodic. Honestly that completely what I expected from this show because that how most kids shows are. In this show the plot not only progress each episode but so do the characters and their trauma. Most of the time the plot will progress but anything bad that has happened to the characters will not show and is hardly talked about (COUGH VOLTRON). To me it’s something that has to be addressed because if the characters don’t grow what was the point of it. And they’ve shown that characters grow based on the events that happen and I love that. Another thing about continuity is when show runners stick a pin in something and actually go back to it (COUGH RWBY). Jwcc is amazing at this and make a point to bring back just about everything that gets sidelined in the first place. It’s so impressive and make the show that much more enjoyable. There have been countless times where I get so caught up with the pins that shows just leave there and it makes me so mad, but jwcc is good at for the most part because of course some things will slip through. But they always get back to the important things.

The conclusion: Overall this show is phenomenal and if my essay hasn’t convinced you I’m not sure what will. The show is amazing at storytelling and plot and the lovable main cast makes it that much better. It is so much better than a good chunk of kids shows and honestly part of me wishes it was rated PG-13 cause I really wanna see that. But they do an amazing job and keep it kid friendly enough while still discussing mature topics. It’s the next atla to me and something that many kids shows now days try to be and fail. It’s impressive and complex and truly one of the best shows I’ve ever watched. Film major mara out, and if you actually read all of this ily mwah.

#jwcc #jurassic world camp cretaceous #jurassic world #jurassic park #jesus why did I write so much lmao #I have issues I spend more than 2 hours on this..#hyperfixations go hard ig

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cottage-babe · 4 years

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Burning Scars part I (zuko x reader)

Chapter 1 | Next

Masterlist

So this idea has been stuck in my head for a while now... I think I've been watching too much Netflix :(

This is gonna be a slow burn I think, but bare with me guys. I've literally planned everything out already and we're gonna have lots of Uncle Iroh moments :) Who wouldn't want to hang out with him?

Summary: Y/n, a werewolf from a hidden village, comes across Zuko and Iroh after being exiled. How has fate intertwined the wolf's life into the avatar's destiny?

***This chapter takes place on Season 2 Episode 8, just after their fight with Azula.

___

Pain.

Pain is all Y/n felt.

It spiked into the soles of her feet, burned through her calves, and crept up into one of her thighs. Oh yeah, her thigh.

She glanced down at it and saw dark red gushing from it. The large animal bite that adorned it spread from her pelvis to her knee. The scar was going to be so very deep.

Despite her bodily pain, she kept running. She stepped on rocks, twigs, anything that layed on her unplanned path. She could feel bruises on her arms and stomach, but absolutely nothing would stop her. She had to leave this forest now.

It's kind of crazy how the place that was once her home could convert to something so terrifying. She used to feel at peace here; comforted by the trees that shielded her from the blind eye. But now, she feared what was lurking behind each branch; paranoid that someone was following her, but why would they? They had no use for her anymore.

A loud crack rumbled through the silent forest.

A storm was coming.

Oh, just my luck.

Fate, however, was on her side. She finally reached the edge of the forest, but stopped before her foot passed the border. She glanced around until she was met with the sight of two men. They seemed to be doing a weird dance; synchronized all the way down to their crouched knees. They wore deep brown clothes and the older one seemed to be injured as his shoulder was wrapped tightly with white bandages.

Y/n gazed down at her body. Spirits....

She forgot that she wasn't wearing any clothes. These human traditions seem to constantly slip her mind.

The old, wooden house a few feet across the sand was going to be her place to rest, but it seemed that the two men were camping there. And she definitely cannot confront them naked.

Maybe she could steal some clothes and find somewhere else to rest?

Yes, that would have to do.

While the boy's backs were turned, Y/n rushed into the cottage and tiptoed on the wooden floors. If they creaked, that'd be it for her. She grabbed the first bag she saw and ruffled through it. There was a pouch of money... a blue mask... Aha! A shirt! It was the same shade of brown that the two men wore and was extremely long.

When she threw the shirt over her head, she didn't notice how crowded her area was. Her foot moved slightly and knocked over a tea cup. It's shrill clinking made Y/n pause in fear. Maybe they didn't hear it...?

She was so so so wrong.

The two men made it inside the house at an astonishing speed. They held their arms at a threatening angle and had fierce looks on their faces. On the left was the old, injured one from earlier. He was chubby and shorter than the other man, and looked as if he was analyzing her whole life.

The one on the right was young and angry. He had a scar etched into the skin around his left eye. Y/n could only picture the pain he had gone through before it healed.

Well, the injury on her leg didn't really leave much of it to the imagination. But still.

Luckily, the shirt was long enough to cover most of her; it ended at around the middle of her thigh. She kept glancing between the two men, waiting for them to say something or attack her. The young one looked like he was going to kill her if she even twitched, so Y/n decided to keep still and wait for their first move.

The older one finally seemed to notice her blood covered leg and lowered his arms.

"You are hurt," he declared as he looked at the boy. "We must help her."

"No! She's trying to steal our stuff." Then the boy looked at the girl straight in the eyes. "Who are you and why are you here?"

"Now now, you never ask a traveler for their story, nephew. It'll come with time." The old man took a step toward Y/n and she flinched, trying to decide if she could make a run for it. "I'm just going to go through my bag to find my bandages, so I can wrap your wounds... and make you some tea!"

His bright, welcoming smile calmed Y/n and she walked backwards until her back hit the wall. The boy was still glaring at her while his uncle put a kettle on the fire.

Wait, was that fire always there? I swear it wasn't...

She didn't have much time to dwell on it as the old man patted the floor next to him; a signal for her to sit.

Y/n slowly walked over and sat down. She tried to bend her legs, but only managed to do so with the non injured one. The boy's uncle hummed as he took in her injuries.

"Lee, can you go and fetch me a bucket of water?"

The boy, Lee, presumably, was still watching the girls every movement. It almost seemed like he never blinked.

"Lee... LEE!"

Finally, he looked at his uncle in confusion.

"What?"

"Can you get me some water? I need to wash all this blood."

It seemed like Lee finally took in the severity of the girl's injury. He looked pale at the sight of the blood dripping onto the floor. He nodded his head and ran out to get his uncle's request.

"I'm terribly sorry for my nephew, he doesn't take too kindly to strangers." The old man smiled again. "I'm Mushi and that was Lee."

Y/n nodded her head in acknowledgement. "I'm Y/n."

"Hmm... I've never heard that name before, but it's beautiful nonetheless!"

Y/n cursed herself silently. How could she forget that her name wasn't... normal here with the humans. She could've made up one on the spot, like Jin or something.

Finally, Lee came back with a bucket of water. He hauled it over to his uncle, who had a cloth ready to be drenched. Mushi started to clean the blood around and on the wound; an action that made Y/n hiss out in pain. She bit tightly onto her hand to make sure no other noises would escape her. Mushi had an apologetic look on his face as he grabbed the white bandages off the floor. Knowing that the worst was over, she took a deep breath to relax.

"I was... bit by an animal." Y/n whispered.

Both of the men looked up in surprise; they probably weren't expecting her to answer a question they hadn't even asked.

"There's no animals around here that would leave a bite that harsh," Lee said with mistrust dripping from his words.

...there actually is. Like a lot.

Before she could correct him, Mushi intervened.

"What my nephew meant to say was: we're terribly sorry you had to go through that. Please, rest here for the night. A storm is coming and it's not best for travel."

Y/n paused. Stay here?

Well, this would give her time to process everything.

"Thank you so much. I hope that I can repay your kindness one day." Y/n bowed her head slightly.

Lee looked like he wanted to protest this, but one look from Mushi shut him up.

"No need. Your company is payment enough!" Mushi laughed as he waved his hand.

Y/n smiled back at the old man gratefully as he finished wrapping her wound. She is fortunate to have come across this pair. Well, one of them at least.

"Mushi, may I talk to you? Outside?" Lee whispered to his uncle.

Mushi and Lee walked out of the cabin and talked quietly. Y/n tried to listen in, but the sound of the pouring rain drowned out their voices. Huh, it's raining.

Y/n crawled to the corner of the room farthest from the fire and supplies. She hadn't realized it, but she was exhausted from today. Soon she found herself drifting slowly off to sleep, but her mind was still restless.

___

Y/n leaned on all four of her legs. Her fur was slicked back from the mud on the ground. The entire pack was surrounding her and her opponent; a tight circle being formed.

She looked at her brothers who were at the edge of the circle. They were equally as wounded as her, covered in mud, blood, and cuts. She met one of their eyes and he looked away; what was he shameful of? He's safe.

Y/n didn't even bother to glance at her parents. She already knew the disappointment and anger that would leak from their expression into her soul. She instead decided to focus on her opponent.

It was her sister. Born from the same litter, carried by the same mother, Ayano was her blood through and through. They grew up together, played together, and broke rules together. They were almost inseparable before this moment.

But oh, this moment had changed everything.

Ayano's eyes were dark. They held murder inside of them and seemed to bleed into the snarl that adorned her mouth. Her gray fur was just as matted as the rest of the fighters, but she was still Y/n's beautiful, compassionate sister. How, oh how, could these traditions put sisters against one another?

Their father howled and it caused the whole pack to follow his lead.

The signal to begin the duel.

Y/n could not fight her sister. She wasn't exactly sure if she could win, but she definitely didn't want to find out. This was her blood.

So instead of jumping at Ayano, she bowed her head. Her front arms bent to show her surrender.

She half expected Ayano to do the same, or show at least a sliver of mercy. But she didn't. Instead, she released a low growl that said: fight me, you coward.

Then, Ayano pounced with her teeth barred and her claws -

"Hey... Hey, wake up."

She opened her eyes and shot up in panic. Unfortunately, Lee was way closer than she thought and her head slammed into his. They both groaned out in pain and Y/n laid back on the floor to sooth her pounding head.

"Sorry, you just scared me," she groaned out.

Lee had a hand to his forehead and one eye was closed. "Whatever, just put these pants on and then come outside. Uncle wants to talk."

He through to trousers at her face then walked out the door, grumbling slightly.

Y/n was still catching her breath from the memory. It seemed like such a long time ago, yet it was only yesterday. Her hand drifted to her bandages; the blood had peeked through slightly, but nothing major. Who would've known that yesterday's Y/n would be so different from today's?

She slipped on the brown pants that Lee gave her and rolled up the bottom of them. It was obviously Lee's clothes and they were far too big for her. Then she saw a clean bucket of water a few feet away with a cloth on the side. They must've left it for her.

Y/n cleaned up her face and arms to her best ability. She didn't feel the best, but she felt better.

Then she walked outside to meet the fresh air and welcoming rays of sun. They beamed down on her skin; warming her flesh and a small part of her soul. Was this going to be the happiest she could be? Hopefully not.

Y/n looked off to the right and saw the two men sitting around a fire. They probably moved it out here so she could sleep better. The ground was still a little soggy as she walked towards the duo, but it still beat the pebbles she walked on before.

Mushi greeted her with a smile and a soft "good morning." Lee, on the other hand, was staring at her very attentively. When she met his gaze, his eyes formed a glare and a light blush spread across his cheeks. He looked away sharply towards the fire.

"I've made some more tea, since you didn't get to drink any last night," Mushi said as he poured her some.

Y/n bowed her head and accepted the cup. She took a seat near Mushi and sipped her tea.

Mmm this is so good!

She just about chugged the rest of her beverage; an action that would been embarrassing if she wasn't so thirsty. Mushi kindly gave her more and watched as she drank it slower.

"So," the uncle started, "Lee and I talked and we decided to offer you a ride to the nearest town."

Y/n's eyes widened as she heard his words.

"No, please, it's fine! You've already done so much for me, I can't accept this."

"Of course you can!" Mushi exclaimed. Then, he leaned close to Y/n to whisper, "and maybe we can think of a way to get Lee to smile on the way there."

She giggled and looked at Lee, who was glaring at the two of them with his tea cup gripped tightly in his hand.

Ok, maybe she'll stay with them just a little bit longer. Just a little.

___

I'm not a furry I'm not a furry I'm not a furry

Things will make more sense in the next chapter!

I'm probably gonna update once a week, so let me know if you wanna be tagged or something <3

Chapter 1 | Next

Masterlist

#zuko x reader #zuko #atla zuko #atla #atla fanfic #sokka x reader #sokka fanfic #x reader #avatar #poor zuko #prince zuko #zuko imagine #avatar gaang #gaang #gaang x reader #gaang kids

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brighthappybird · 4 years

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What if the Angels had Pacts pt. 2

So this has been a thought that I’ve been thinking about. What if the Angels of Obey Me had pacts. What would they be like? So I already answered that question right here - What if the Angels had pacts?

Now let’s look at what if the brothers, as angels, had pacts and what the MCs may have gotten from that. And just for the fun of it, I’m throwing Satan in here.

Like always, if you want your MC, Demon or Angel to be thrown into the mix, don’t be afraid to like throw them my way. I’ll gently catch them and write for their pact, if you wanted!

Let’s start off with what we know what the pacts do. There might be more information that might come out later, but for now, we know that the pacts help the MC control the demon brothers, by either controlling them or by having some form of bond to them. That’s about as much as we know, if anyone else knows more, feel free to add on!

With the brothers, it is a little tricky since you would need to look at what their sins would be the opposite in the Celestial Realm. Additionally, when I talk about their symbolic animals, I’m analyzing them from a totem standpoint since that gave me the most information when analyzing them.

Lucifer, Avatar/Prince/Sin of Pride --> Virtue of Humility

Mammon, Avatar/Prince/Sin of Greed --> Virtue of Generosity

Leviathan, Avatar/Prince/Sin of Envy --> Virtue of Admiration

Satan, Avatar/Prince/Sin of Wrath --> Virtue of Forgiveness

Asmodeus, Avatar/Prince/Sin of Lust --> Virtue of Chasity Love

Beelzebub, Avatar/Prince/Sin of Gluttony --> Virtue of Discipline

Belphegor, Avatar/Prince/Sin of Sloth --> Virtue of Zeal

I hope everyone likes this! I will be posting a Diavolo bonus to this, but I’ll be taking a quick break from this. Also, please send me your MCs/OCs for Obey Me! I would absolutely love to write something like this for them!

Now that we have each of their virtues listed out, we [as the players] know that each of them have shown some form of their former virtues (before they fell) when interacting them. Granted, it is a little warped, but it is still there. The issue is most of their personalities that we know now, are their current demon forms. We don’t know much about how they acted as angels. Though who is to say that isn’t going to be changed in the future!

Lucifer, Virtue of Humility - He was once known as the Morning Star. There are times in the story where multiple characters will say he was the gem of the entire Celestial Realm. The pride and joy of the Celestial Realm. There are instances in the game where Luke has said that he admired Lucifer more than Michael before he fell, which means, he was one that probably had the biggest influence amongst the other angels, even compared to Simeon (from the last post).

Since he is the virtue of humility, we can assume that he was not as prideful as he is now. There was a sense of give and take, where instead of having the burden of the entire world on his shoulders like now, as an angel (even if he had his own fanbase), he would share the burden of what he was thinking. All in all, he was humble or rather, had a much lower view of his own importance.

Lets go a little deeper into this by analyzing his symbolic animal as well. His symbolic animal is a peacock, which we know symbolizes pride, beauty and confidence. Something that he no doubt, he has had follow him through his time of being an angel then his descent in being a demon. The other things that a peacock symbolizes are balance, awareness, leadership and ressurection. In a way, we could say that his rebirth as a demon was foretold in the cards, but let’s skip that. Balance, Awareness and Leadership, what was Lucifer known for in the Celestial Realm? He was someone that the angels would rally around and see him as this great leader. The Morning Star.

If the MC were to make a pact with Lucifer, when he was an angel, one could assume he would be guardian angel++ like Simeon. Though instead of taking more of a passive guardian role, he would take more of a assertive role should the pact holder be in danger. Though getting a pact with him would be much more difficult compared to the other brothers and this is because of how low he views his importance and how his importance is only tied to his title of The Morning Star. So have fun MCs!

Mammon, Virtue of Generosity - Though not much is spoken about Mammon and the others during their time as an angel. All we know is that Mammon was Lucifer’s favorite. That’s about it. Honestly, a part of me likes to think that Demon Mammon and Angel Mammon would have the same issue of being poor. Angel Mammon just giving away every single cent that he has in order to help someone else. Instead of looking for an opportunity to make money, he looks for an opportunity to try and help. Remember that impulsivity that Lucifer has tried to curb with many rules? Well, different realm, same Mammon, just a different reason why he’s out of money.

Since he is the virtue of Generosity, we can assume that he is still actively seeking money, but also seeking opportunities to help others. There is a sense of “give” “give” “give” and it is almost uncontrollable. He is just as soft in his angelic form as he is in his demon form, but he does not actively hide it. If anything, it is one of the reasons why humans and other angels find him more approachable.

Let’s also talk about his symbolic animal. I know, I’m like dissecting each of the attributes that each of the brothers have, but it is just so interesting. So for Mammon, his symbolic animal is a crow which is known for being a bringer of prophecy and good luck. Other attributes denoted to the crow is intelligence, adaptability, insight, and being fearless. Now, Mammon is not that fearless, but he does have his moments where he will disregard Lucifer’s warning and do what he wants, despite the consequences. Though there is something deeper, Mammon shows much more emotional intelligence compared to most of his brothers, he is able to tell how the MC is feeling (despite disregarding it a little) and there are times where he shows high levels of intelligence when it is something he cares about.

If the MC were to make a pact with Mammon, when he was an angel, one could assume that he would be a guardian angel. Not a guardian angel++ like Lucifer or Simeon, but he is the guardian angel that would have quite a few pacts. Instead of being indebted to witches, he would be constantly fretting over the state of his human. With the pact, Mammon would know the state of his human and how they are doing financially or emotionally. He would be the angel to search the ends of the earth to find exactly what they need to make them happy and feel secure. Even if it means, spending some time with him.

Leviathan, Virtue of Admiration - Going to be a little honest, Levi was a little hard thinking of. Since his Envy and his admiration are rather similar. Though the one thing that does change is that he respects himself a little more. He appreciates his own interests instead of putting himself down. He still enjoys consuming media, video games and using netspeak as he usually does. He is still interested in anime/manga/books, but he is a lot more social able.

As the virtue of admiration, he admires other individuals collections and instead of comparing himself to them and putting himself down, he takes an interest in their interests and actively asks them questions. If anything, he feels embarrassed and shuts down when he feels like he has crossed a boundary or forgot the MC’s interests.

As interesting as it is, Leviathan’s symbolic animal is the serpent, which symbolizes fertility, life and healing. They are also the symbols of rebirth, transformation and immortality. There are various aspects of this that almost seem like it opposes Levi as a character as a whole, but he does go through his own form of rebirth. Instead of being a recluse in the game, he ends up opening up more and talking to his brothers as well as the MC more. The healing aspect would be something that he does as well as has his charges do, if he were to have multiple pacts at once. Helping them heal from their social awkwardness, at least bring them to a bearable amount, where they could make friends/allies.

If the MC is able to get a pact with him, they should feed into his admiration aspect. Since keeping him hooked on their interests and keeping him interested. Which is a downfall for him, but I digress. Though he falls into the same category as Mammon, he is a guardian angel. He is able to sense when his human is excited or if someone hurt their feelings regarding their interests or just hurting their feelings in general. That is enough to bring him to their side and comfort them. Just reminding them why they liked what they like. Though if he needs to, like in the game, he is not afraid to snap at those making his human feel bad.

Satan, Virtue of Forgiveness - Now humor me for a little bit, we know it is canon that he was not originally an angel. Just humor me. Though not much of his personality changes. He is still the sensible, quick witted and the voice of reason. Though instead of his voice just being reserved for his brothers, he is used to settle arguments between all angels that may have a spat.

Satan was still born from Lucifer, but instead of blaming Lucifer, as much as it annoys him, he ends up forgiving Lucifer a little more. With how well read he is, he understands that there are certain causes that he can argue for since he would know why the individual acted the way they did. Though unfortunately, this would cause some tension, since even as an angel, there might be some ridged that may come from him going from what the book said or going with a solution he had ended up seeing that worked. The MC would need to actually show him not all problems are cut and dry, but also there are other paths to forgiveness and that sometimes, individuals cannot forgive if someone truly wronged them.

Lets quickly look at his symbolic animal. In the Devildom, his animal is the unicorn. This mythical animal is generally tied to both strength and fierceness. Though delving deeper the unicorn also represents a wisdom that is far beyond their years, reason, innocence. Which is true in a way, there were times in the game where despite having all this knowledge at his fingertips, Satan was caught offguard by something simple and it embarrasses him, but despite that he probably has more information in his brain compared to your average demon. This does not change as an angel, if anything, he is able to use the information that he has stored in his brain to help him better understand problems and work through it.

Since he is a newer angel, it takes a bit of time for him to fully grasp everything. Though that does not mean that he is not a strong angel to have a pact with. Like Lucifer, he needs to be convinced since his entire value is based around whether or not he is well read but also his worry that he is not worth much because of his connection to Lucifer and only being compared to the Morning Star himself. The MC would need to pull him out of his shell a little bit. Though getting a pact with him would be like an guardian angel, not on the same level as some of his other brothers, but he would be the inner voice of the MC. Though there are times where he has talked MC down from doing something rash, or talked through the pros and cons of their actions, but ultimately leaves them to pick what they do.

Asmodeus, Virtue of Chastity Love - You know, this one is a bit tricky considering what the word Chastity means. So I’ll be going with a more broader definition. So, let’s change it to Love. Virtue of Love. Since in the game, I feel like Asmo’s role in the Celestial Realm was not representing Chastity. That is just my opinion. Once known as the Jewel of the Heavens, there is a time where Simeon tells the MC that despite falling, he still views Asmodeus as the beautiful angel that he once was. Since there was one line that always stuck with me, despite being a demon for a millennia (or longer), he still tries to be the angel that he once was. Someone who was loved and adored, which means, he knows the feeling of love and the feeling it gives when one is in love.

As an angel, he would have been an expert when it came to feelings like love, ecstasy, compassion, and sometimes even the more negative emotions like anxiety, anger and jealousy. All of it driving from a single point - passion. Unlike the other brothers, I want to focus on his symbolic animal, which is a scorpion. As stated it symbolizes both passion and dominance, which we see quite a bit, but what if it had a deeper meaning when he was an angel. With a little bit of research, you can find that scorpions also represent transformation, rebirth, defense and a sense of devotion. Which are aspects that one could find in love as well. Where love can bloom as friendship, where it slowly kindles and grows into a strong flame for one another. A requited love.Then if you look at the rebirth aspect, you can think of it as someone going through a broken heart, finding a sense of love and belonging in another, when their time comes, and so on so forth, but there is always a level of devotion between all of those.

Asmodeus as a demon is quite passionate, in our case - as an angel, he was passionate about humans and finding their love or helping them work through their love if they were scorned. If an MC were to enter a pact with him, one could expect him to be a guardian angel++ and some form of a cupid. He is the one that would be there to lend his ear to his human, help them heal through a broken heart, but if the other person in the relationship/friendship truly wronged his human, like Lucifer, there is a chance he might take on a more assertive role versus a more passive role when dealing with it.

Beelzebub, Virtue of Discipline - there are aspects of Beel’s virtue or his former angelic status in him, the more you play through the game. There are often times where he shows restraint (despite the inner battle he keeps fighting) when looking at delicious food or looking at something he wants. He shows quite a bit of discipline compared to his Sin of Gluttony. His discipline shows when he focuses on the sports he plays, his work out routine, but also

Alright, now this is a little bit of a tricky one considering his symbolic animal is a fly. Since it is generally symbolic of illness, disease and war, but what if as an angel, he had a different symbolic animal? Something similar to a fly, but when he fell, it ended up becoming a fly. How about a dragonfly? Since if you look at the symbolism of a dragonfly, it is almost the opposite of what the fly represents. A dragonfly represents joy, adaptability, understanding and self realization. Now, the reason why I’m focusing on these four traits is because these are traits that we have seen Beel exhibiting in the game. There are numerous Devilgram cards that talk about how Beel has a deeper understanding of his and his brothers emotional states and how he holds family above food. Which, for someone who is always assumed that he holds food above everything, having a meal or something, this is a big turn of events. He seems to be the one who tries to adapt compared to the rest of his brothers, tries to understand, and generally, he realizes what he needs before most of his brothers realize what he needs.

The type of angel is wrapped up in how he is even as a demon. I feel like, compared to the other brothers, he hasn’t lost most of his angelic charms compared to them. It hasn’t been warped as much. Though all in all, as an angel and with his pact, you’re going to find yourself well loved. He’s more like a companion angel, ones that you may see walking beside humans in human form or protecting their charge without a second thought. This goes back to his level of love and respect for his family, and while having a pact with him, you’re like family.

Belphegor, Virtue of Zeal - A part of me thinks that zeal really does not match Belphie if you ask me. This is one of the virtues that make me go “hmm...maybe not,” but you know, we’re going to work with it. As a demon, he is a trickster and usually goes after his own goals, no matter the repercussions. This is seen when the MC is interacting with him in the first season. Don’t worry, not doing to spoil anything. Though he does show some form of mellowness and some level of playfulness that is harmless mischief.

Belphie has the cow representing them. These animals generally symbolizes positivity, and fertility. We are ignoring fertility for this, it does not exist. Other aspects that the cow represents are selflessness, generosity, calming, grounding and new beginnings. There are a bunch of things that demon Belphie has here that works for his demon counterpart as the angel counterpart.

If one were to get into a pact with the angel Belphegor, there is a level of harmless mischief that still tags along with him. Though he is a guardian angel in training. Being the youngest when it comes to power, there is sense of playful rebellion, always trying to find a way to have Lucifer to break character. Honestly, not much changes? Though compared to his brothers, he finds this strong sense of need to protect his human that’s holding a pact with him. Though if something deeply troubling happens to his human, he’s there as a comfort. He is there to comfort them and make sure they’re alright, generally taking on a more mellow tone and being the voice of reason - much like Satan.

Like I said, Zeal does not fit Belphie all that much, but trust me - when I say MC will be protected with him.

#obey me #obey-me!#obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me levi #obey me angels #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me asmo #obey me beelzebub #obey me beel #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie #someone should stop my brain #daddydemus help me chro too powerful #the one thing Obey Me taught me was how to spell Beel's name properly #Obey Me also taught me how to spell Belphie's name properly too #Obey Me could be an educational game for names

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noctepythonissam · 3 years

Text

Deep bonds...

It's been almost four and a half months since the beginning of the exchange program, today was a day when there were no classes and Bella was in her room playing in her D.D.D while thinking about everything that happened even with so little time Bella was already a little more comfortable and used to her life in Devildom, which in parts did not differ much from her life in the human world...

Mainly the daily chaos caused by the brothers and the personalities of said demons...

Bella also enjoys the company of the two angels, the natural comforting aura they both possess is a calming retreat. She likes Luke's dedication and honesty as well as how much he cherishes his loved ones. Not to mention how funny she finds him denying his admiration and how much he esteems demons.

Even now she felt more comfortable even in face-to-face classes and befriended the other exchange students, even laughing at Solomon's futile attempts to convince the Castillo family housekeeper to make a pact with him.

She also sympathizes with being teased, she has lived with something much worse from her family's conservationists and during other times in her life; but other than that Bella thinks if she had a younger brother she would definitely love it to be someone like Luke.

With Simeon she can't quite indescribable the feeling of comfort and she doesn't deny how funny the angel is dealing with technology, at least as she is in this world of technology and she has vast technological knowledge offered to help Simeon and recently he is able to use decently his D.D.D.

Tje young Castillo and Barbatos have something of a neutral yet mutually respectful relationship and even if she doesn't say the butler knows she feels comfortable. As for Diavolo he is friendly and kind to her regardless of his status, but still Bella can't deny feeling anxious around the prince especially when Lucifer is around.

Again in relation to the brothers, she befriended them, never treating them like other people as they were almost identical in personality to her sisters.

She respects Lucifer a lot because she doesn't want to see the worst side of him, who would want an enraged demon that's scary like her overbearing sister? Nope! Not interested!

She is terrified of saying this and offending the pride avatar, but in comparison he is not as unreachable as her sister. Even all the problems his brothers cause for him, the first born doesn't take away from them even their commitments and loyalty to Diavolo while Cleo always distances herself seems to care about the well being of her sisters she emotionally distances herself and only intervenes in matters that can hurt the honor of the Castillo family.

While with the greedy Mammon is a love-hate friendship, she sympathizes with how much the brothers tease him even though it's sometimes justifiable when he gets in trouble and everyone gets dragged into cleaning up his mess.

He's funny, especially when he pretends to dislike the human who clearly knows that's not the case and in a nutshell he's a tsundere.

But there's something she hates a lot about him, when he tries to steal her items about anime, manga and games to sell them for a quick cash.

His bad luck is being caught in the act by Miriel and being punished severely by the housekeeper who personally hung him in the chandelier before selling his most precious belongings hiding the money where no one would find it. The brothers had never laughed so much in millennia as Mammon cried like a child after getting a taste of his own medicine.

Even when Mammon pisses her off like that and feels the tsundere stereotype on him, she knows he likes it when she doesn't degrade him like his brothers. She went through similar situations for being born the “scum” of the family and suffering the hatred of the members of the clan who are conservationists yearning for the restoration of the glory of the Castillos and the secondary family that did not accept a person from the main family not possessing any magical remnants.

As for Leviathan? Pfft! These two are like a glove in hand: Two shut in otaku who have the same hobbies, when they both use netspeak causing problems for everyone to understand this otaku combo.

They spend hours of anime marathons, discussing TSL and even created a Deviltuber channel where they analyze anime, technology and various types of games especially MOBA RPG and reaching more than twenty million subscribers making the duo the biggest and most successful Deviltubers throughout Devildom besides being earning for the content they produce.

The duo turned Devildom upside down as several tech companies, video game or app companies and animation studios are eager to make sponsorship deals with them to the point where Bella hires her sister Ligiya as their manager and manages the negotiations.

It is also necessary to mention that she realized how comfortable she is around him, probably because he has some snake characteristics and being around him she does not suffer from the symptoms of her schizophrenia.

With Satan the two are in different worlds but still have a feeling of mutual understanding and regardless of his avatar title, Bella feels relaxed with him around. He has become one of the helpers with her studies and someone to be trusted when Miriel is busy taking orders from the other members of the main family.

Is not like she got him wrapped it around her little finger after showing him one of his new favorite places in the human world as Cat Café and it took a while to get him back without him sneaking any of the cats with him.

As for Asmodeus is the most surprising relationship of all, even with his blatant flirting he respects Bella's limits and has never made her uncomfortable. But that doesn't mean he's already dragged her into self-care routines or shopping in Majolish.

The relationship between her and Beelzebub in the beginning was strange, apart from the fact that he was constantly hungry his personality was nothing like any of her sisters as he didn't talk much. Bella never judged him because of his appetite, in fact it was nothing new as one of her sisters had an appetite to rival Beelzebub's.

Although at first it seemed like them being indifferent she kind of sympathized with the snide criticism and comments about the only thing he thinks and does is about eating.

After the first time she witnessed Beelzebub go into a rampage because of his insatiable hunger and with the help of one of her sisters she always stocks up on goodies or lunchboxes when they are in the RAD or another place where they don't have easy access to food.

Needless to say, Beelzebub follows her closely like a puppy after that knowing that she always has some food on her thanks to a miraculous bag that was bewitched with a little help from her sisters who put the spell to materialize into reality what the wearer thinks. This bag became the salvation for the other siblings who can now deal with the rampages of the fifth born and without any more nightly raids on the fridge.

But as they spend time together, Beelzebu enjoyed hanging out with Bella, always being honest and kind to her who knew how genuine his zeal for her was.

Well... To make matters worse it looks like she was hit by an arrow from Eros, because she realized she had a crush on the avatar of gluttony and it makes her very anxious and frustrated, she already had crushes but they were all for 2D characters because of her secluded life as a shut in.

Her sisters have also noticed the adorable little sister's change when she tells about her daily life via text messages or video calls. They are having fun teasing her by saying how cute it is to be in love with a real person.

As if that wasn't enough, it seems Beelzebub's brothers have noticed, she has to deal with the provocative comments from Satan and Asmodeus. Even her best friends betrayed her!

Her demon best friend can't help but tease her with anime references... But Levi can't get very far when Bella retaliates with the fact that he has a huge crush on her best friend who has visited her a few times.

As for the youngest of the brothers she hasn't met him yet, but from what she's heard of him from the brothers he looks a lot like one of her sisters. Only she knows of the resentment the avatar of sloth has against humans due to the story about the deceased sister of brothers who once lived in the Celestial Realm.

Little does she know how crucial her relationship with them will affect their lives depending on how deep their bonds become.

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sokkabaddiebender2021 · 4 years

Text

Why I don’t think Azula should have a redemption arc

Ok so I know for a lot of people, this is probably going to be something you disagree with, and since it’s a TV show, that’s 100% valid. This is just how I personally feel.

So as an avid fan of avatar the last air bender, I see more then enough content and commentary related to the show. I absolutely love seeing what everyone has to say and I’m all for over analyzing the show because honestly it’s super fun.

The only side of the avatar fandom I really cannot seem to side with are the Azula stans. Don’t get me wrong, Azula was an absolutely incredible villain, and is most certainly one of a kind. Especially for animation, even outside of that, she is a marvel we may never get again.

I actually do like Azula as a villain. She was very entertaining and got more shit done then any other bad guy in the show.

HOWEVER, that does not mean that I like Azula as a person. This is where the water gets murky when it comes to those who defend Azula. This is where I start getting concerned about those who actually defend Azula’s psychopathic behavior.

There is no doubt in my mind that Azula needs serious help. She has a host of mental illnesses (most likely related to bi polar disorder or schizophrenia). Considering Ozai was an absolute shit head, he most definitely put pressure on her that no child should ever have. He pitted her against her own brother and it is quite obvious he actively taught her that being kind was being a weak. I am not saying she should be kicked to the curb to fend for herself. But I am also saying she shouldn’t get a redemption arc as Zuko did.

What makes Azula special is that she is a villain. She is a terrible person who is cruel and uncaring for others unless they can make her feel powerful. For a lot of people who defend Azula, they do not want to admit her cruelty. But actively throughout the series, even as a child, we see Azula’s cruelty.

Example 1

Azula is what, like eleven here and is very clearly happy that her thirteen year old brother is having half is face burnt off. The others in the background have more apathetic expressions, because there’s nothing enjoyable about the situation. The only other person who is joyful at a fucking child getting abused is Zhao, which just goes to show what a degenerate this guy is. If anything this draws a parallel between the two villains, and trust me, being compared to that dude isn’t great.

I am not an expert on mental health and illness related to it, but from what I have learned, I do believe Azula is a psychopath. Yes, she is heavily influenced by her father and culture to believe in wanting power and showing limited mercy and kindness, but the fact that here she actually takes pleasure in someone screaming in pain, is extremely disturbing and telling.

Example 2

As an even younger child, Azula still shows psychopathic traits. After her cousin dies, her grandfather dies, and her mother leaves, all Azula does is smile. It is a chilling moment, and it allows the audience to understand this girl’s emotions and connections to others is not the same as a regular person. Yes, Ozai taught her to not care for others and how to manipulate other people, but you can’t teach someone to enjoy the suffering of others. That is exactly what she does throughout the series (mostly with Zuko).

Now since many people say how Azula should get a redemption arc like Zuko, I’ll have to briefly touch on him as well.

Now there are many hints and more obvious examples in the first season, when Zuko is supposed to be the main villain, that he is not a cruel or evil person. He clearly cares for his uncle, as shown by when he chooses to save him for earthbenders in the Winter Solstice Part 1 rather then pursue the avatar. In the 3rd episode of the show with Zhao and Zuko’s Agni kai, we very clearly see that Zuko is not inherently bad.

Ex:

I distinctly remember this shot because Zuko has this very intense look of utter hatred in his eyes, because Zhao had almost done the same exact move that his father has done to him when he got his scar (something that traumatized him). But what does he do, he doesn’t burn Zhao. He doesn’t burn the man that has done nothing but belittle him and had no problem doing the same to him. Because Zuko doesn’t take pleasure in causing pain to other people. Azula does.

I could go on and on about how the series shows from the start that Zuko is not the real villain of the series, but I’ll save that for another time. Azula is set up from the very start, even before she is formerly introduced, as a viciously cruel person.

Having a redemption arc for Azula would almost be unfair compared to the perfectly crafted series long arc they have Zuko. She wasn’t established by the start like Zuko was to be a character that could earn redemption. It wouldn’t make sense in the context of her character.

Yes Azula is a fourteen year old. But using that as an excuse for her behaviors and actions isn’t right. By that age people should understand what is right and wrong, especially as something as basic as treating people with human decency. I know for myself I was raised in a close knit, homeschooled family who taught me that our family was somehow superior to a lot of people. When I started public school at 14, I began to learn that no, I wasn’t somehow superior to someone because of my last name, I was just a normal kid like everyone else.

Azula doesn’t seem to care to learn differently. She uses the people around her, and eventually, loses them all.

Perhaps, perhaps if she had a less shitty father you could say she would come out better. But you can use that excuse for any person out there who has been abused and continues that cycle. They never should have been abused, but that fact doesn’t matter if they perpetuate the same abuse they once received.

Because they are no longer the victim, but the abuser.

#atla azula #atla zuko #avatar the last airbender #redemption arc #avatar zuko #loserlord ozai #commander zhao #azula #azula avatar #these are actually rlly fun #i wanna do another part to this because i have several other points to make #azula & ozai #fuck ozai #all the homies hate ozai #anti azula #i’m prob biased cuz zuko is my favorite character

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dongiovannaswife · 4 years

Note

Would it be overkill if I asked for all of them?

How about 1, 3 through 8, and 11, 12 and 13? Oh wait, is that too much? Sorry if that's too much! ( > w < ') (I just love you and GioGio together❤)

It’d be a shame if I answered them all right here right now, during my break *eyes emoji* *eyes emoji* *eyes emoji*

Thank you so much for sending this in! ily friend. ♥♥♥

@star-birthmark said: Alright so I'm gonna pull a Lena and just ask for all the questions. Is that good? Great. Love ya

I was just thinking about you doing the same to me so HA I read your mind. ASAsask. Thank you so much <3

Under the cut for those not interested :D i did not proofread bc my head hurts ;w;

1. Does your F/O have a birthmark? (or any type of freckles or beauty marks?)

Beside the glorious star birthmark (which I know I have a spicy hc about uwu) Gio has this super curious and small birthmark on his back, it’s not that noticeable unless you see him closely uwuwuwu.

2. Is your F/O the type to volunteer to their community?

I mean, he’s,,, literally a mafia boss. His posture on Passione and his work is far from honest, but I feel like he’d actually would open shelters or donate to good causes, and since I hc him as a lawyer, perhaps he volunteers from time to time so he can help people with cases, obviously he doesn’t accept any money from them, as he knows what it’s like.

3. Does your F/O the type to be giving or to take?

Younger Giorno (I’m not talking from a romantic aspect, calm down please), is the one to always give and get surprised when he gets something in return —the adult Gio from my ship knows how to give and receive equally.

What I’m trying to say is yes, but I don’t know where yet, haven’t thought a lot about that.

4. Does your F/O have any battle scars?

Better yet —is GER able to regenerate cells fully? That would make him like a super cell, you know. No but seriously, say GER is able to do so, and Giorno wouldn’t have any scares from the events of VA; but what if his moral called for him to do so, to let his skin carry some of them. Say, a scar from Narancia’s last moments on his chest, unnoticeable now due to the tattoo on his chest.

5. Does your F/O wear make up? (Do you think they would be open to wearing makeup if they don’t wear it daily?)

I feel like he’d wear the casual lipstick from time to time, but not really always. Unlesss someone *wink wink* convines him to do his makeup one day so he can try it.

6. Has your F/O ever dye their hair or worn a wig?

Nah.

7. What is your F/O fashion taste?

ignore the boob window and think about luke Hemmings or this. Exquisite, would give him kith.

8. How tall is your F/O?

1.98 cm uwuwuwuwuw

10. When if your F/O birthday?

9. What is your F/O’s blood type?

AB.

April 16. ♥

11. Does your F/O know how to cook? If so are they good at it?

He knows how to cook, yes, but he’s not that good —somehow I feel like his coffee would taste LIKE HEAVEN.

12. What is your F/O favorite flavor? (sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (savory))

Sweet, definitely. When he’s a bit tired from it, though, he goes for bitter things.

13. If your F/O could be a fan of any video game what do you think it would be?

Metal Gear Solid 4.

14. What type of aesthetic does you F/O have?

The sense of freedom when you glance at the sunrise. If that makes sense of course.

15. What color if your F/O eyes?

Turquoise! So pretty aaaaa uwu.

17. If you could matching tattoos what would it be?

16. Does your F/O have any tattoos? If not do they like or hate the concept of tattoos?

An owl on his chest, a vine on his index from his left hand and a sunflower on his ring finer; he’s thinking of getting something for the twins, but he’s not sure about what yet.

A small Aloe Vera potted plant on our necks (based off an ask I remember getting a while ago —if that person is still around, your idea might come true buddy).

18. Does your F/O have any piercings?

I die for the thought of him with a lip ring. But I don’t really think he has any of them, the lip ring is a matter of,,,, other impulses akdjslkd.

19. Is your F/O a cake or pie person?

Both. Both is good. Has a leaning to pie, but loves both.

20. Is your F/O a morning or night person?

Night person.

21. Is your F/O a coffee or tea person?

Coffee, I don’t think he likes tea *that* much.

22. Is your F/O half empty or half full type of person?

I’m not sure, tbh.

23. Does your F/O have a pet? If not in canon what do you think they would have if given the chance?

Listen, a panther would make the best pet for him. But I think he’s a cat person. Not like he doesn’t like dogs, but a cat is probably something he enjoys most.

24. Is your F/O the type to want to live in the city or live out in the country?

City.

25. Does your F/O like to swim?

Yes.

26. What harry potter house would your F/O be in? (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin)

Nah fam, I’m not really interested on HP, sorry.

27. If your F/O was in “avatar: the last air bender” what type of bender would they be? (air, water, earth, and fire)

Some of you will kill me for this but I haven’t watched it, ever. :D

28. Is your F/O LGBT+?

Nope, at least not for me. You are free to headcanon him as you wish. Pleadon’tstartdramathisisnotmeanttooffendanyone.

29. Does your F/O have any artistic hobbies? (Knitting, drawing, painting, etc)

Drawing, but it’s most for stress relief.

30. What’s a piece of clothing your F/O is never seen without? (glasses, a necklace, hat, etc)

The arrow he hangs around his neck or just carries around hidden.

31. What type of scent does your F/O remind you of?

There’s this perfume I absolutely love and I can’t really describe it, but it’s WildCountry.

32. What’s something you see often that has little to no relation to your F/O but always reminds you of them?

Flowers and vines :,)

33. Do you have any silly nicknames or pet names for your F/O?

A LOT.

34. What does your F/O house/apartment look like? (or what do you think it looks like)

If we talk about his years of “I live alone yeee” then pretty much no decoration, excepts for the plants or books he keeps —overall, what you could call monochromatic. Once we get married, we pick a style, with classical sculptures and roman like architecture

35. What season reminds you of your F/O? (winter, spring, summer, fall)

Fall.

36. Have you ever had a dream with your F/O in it?

Yes uwu.

37. Does your F/O play any musical instruments?

No really.

38. What’s a song that reminds you of your F/O when you hear?

Gold by Prince.

39. What is your relationship like with your F/O?

We,,, in love,,,, yes.

40. How long have you been with your F/O? (or at least been interested in them?)

Interested in him,,,,,, I’m not sure if one or two years?? But in the “”””storyline”””” seven years.

41. Where is your F/O from? (as in born)

Japan.

42. Is your F/O the type to read reviews, or just go with their gut

Better yet, contacts.

43. What does your F/O’s Saturdays usually look like?

Some paperwork at home studio, comfy causal clothes (black jeans and white tee, barefoot).

44. What is your F/O’s most valuable possession?

The arrow lmao.

45. What’s a fad you can see your F/O taking part of?

Analyzing music together!! :D

46. does your F/O prefer to work alone or with a team?

Team.

47. How well does your F/O know tech? (such as computers, smart phones)

I feel like he knows a lot asdkad.

48. What’s some advice your F/O would tell you?

“Stop thinking you are not enough, stop thinking no one loves you, stop thinking you are worthless; stop with all your self-destruction.”

49. What animal reminds you of your F/O?

Lion!! :D

51. What’s the most interesting fact you know about your F/O?

50. What color reminds you of your F/O?

Gold AND turquoise

Canon or made by me?? The first would be his favorite musician, because OH I like that musician too, even before knowing him. The second it’s about his scars.

#shiningdoradiamond #star-birthmark #GioLena

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system-of-a-feather · 4 years

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That ask game you rbed, how bout 3 lol

“3. Rant. Just do it.“ - The Other Anon

(tw; positive cursing, bloodborne images so moderate gore)

OKAY HERE WE GO. I GOT ANOTHER THING TO RANT ABOUT. It took me time to get the topic and info dumping / rambling urges for something that I was comfortable posting here. So anyways

Our system has a bit of a thing with gaming and between our system, we have a pretty wide taste that includes a lot of things other than MMORPGs and those multiplayer stuff (Battlefield and COD); so we have like everything from Stardew and Harvest Moon, to Souls-borne, to Management Simulators, to Stealth Games, to Casual Garden / Plant / Animal Sims to Visual Novels to RPGs to some Horror to Minecraft and all that.

Me, Ray, and another part we don’t talk about here really take an affinity to gaming. I typically prefer more story-driven, management games, and more casual farming games. Ray on prefers a lot more AAA action titles. You know those games you bank hours and hours into and BARELY finish the main story - yeah those, I can’t play those for the life of me XD

But anyways, I usually REALLY love me some Bugsnax (lowkey a slight obsession lately), Stardew Valley, Pokemon, Harvest Moon, Hakuoki, Amnesia: Memories (even though they have a problematic “DID character”, its a guilty nostalgic like), and all that but like....

My absolute favorite is probably Bloodborne. A lot of the other ones have a nostalgic pull and/or I REALLY like them, but I think at this point Bloodborne and similar games have become my genuine favorite genre even though it stands out because firstly, they tend to have legit music, secondly, they tend to have legit aesthetic, and thirdly, they are so frustrating and well managed in combat that it is so much fun to just analyze it all and try to figure out the best way to go about doing things.

So like, lets start with Bloodborne in this - because believe it or not the original intent of this rant was not it, but I really do have to establish this.

Reason Bloodborne is Awesome, lets go

One, the story - if you can follow it - is really interesting and well scattered, but I very very much particularly love the theme / question / moral of “Would you rather return to a world blissfully unaware of all the horrors you have seen and learned and live innocently unaware” or “Live in the horrors and be aware of the rest of eternity but at least you know the truth” cause honest to god, if that aint a fucking mood I don’t know what is.

Secondly, GOD do they have the aesthetic down on point. Theres another ask below this asking about my aesthetic, and part of that answer is just fucking Bloodborne now. Like at one point I went “Man I would look cool in Bloodborne aesthetic clothing and shit” and I guess I accidentally ended up with bloodborne armor in the inner world and at first I didn’t know how to revert back to whatever I was wearing (I don’t even remember at this point) and I was like “Uhhh” but HONESTLY I don’t want to change it? I have not found something that is such a solid aesthetic that I love that makes me feel cooler when I’m running around in the inner world so why drop it? And also lowkey now I want to actually adopt that into my IRL life if I ever get the time and money so..??? I mean I’ll go more into that on the aesthetics post but dude look

Are you really going to tell me that isn’t a solid dark aesthetic? And then the bosses are legit af?

And then the clothing and Lady Maria???

Okay and then say all of that is just average or not selling you. Okay okay thats fine.

Like there is also how absolutely frustrating, meticulous and well planned the game is yeah yeah we all know that its Souls-borne genre, but sure - give that number three as a reason.

But number four, oh god NUMBER FOUR. I don’t know how much this has been made apparent on our blog, but our system is VERY in love with music as an art. We were raised with musical instruments (both older siblings played instruments from elementary to highschool, we still continue into college), growing up we were exposed to a lot of instrumental music, and we developed an EXTREME reliance on music to deal with both our abusive family / trauma, to help regulate our own mind, emotions and all, and to also deal with how uncomfortable silence is for us.

So music has been a HUGE developmental factor in our life and we REALLY love and appreciate it and its sometimes painful. But the composition of Bloodborne music - it is BEYOND words for me. I could probably write pages and pages of appreciation for how masterly crafted, perfect and well put together almost EVERY SINGLE piece of the game is and how - after years of listening to them on repeat - I can still find new aspects of it and a new technique or aspect I hadn’t noticed or thought much about to still adore.

I legitamently have screamed over how certain parts just click together perfectly. I can get so much positive overflowing joy and excitement from how well the parts interact and how perfectly dramatic the music flows and how active and physical the experience is that I feel the need to SCREAM internally and sometimes externally.

I obsess over orchestral music and OSTS and film music and trailer music and video game music and all of that and I have to say with almost complete confidence that I’m pretty sure Bloodborne is - in my opinion - one of the best crafted orchestrated units.

Even from my own source, one that I love, have they only recently been able to produce a SINGLE track that echoes similarly in the intensity and amazement that I would consider it around par.

I will DIE internally everytime I hear it and sometimes I have actually had to turn it off because it was TOO overstimulating to listen to because of how much UGH it brings me.

More than it is fun to play, Bloodborne is AMAZING to listen to and I can’t state that enough ugh XD

But anyways, before I go on THAT too much, I love Bloodborne. Joke is that as a fictive it is my “second source” even though it makes no sense. I have adopted it, I have claimed it. I love it and I will die for Bloodborne

So LATELY I’ve started a new game I just bought called Code: Vein and its apparently Anime Bloodborne or something like that and so far its really legit and while the music will never compare to Bloodborne - at least from what I’ve seen - I’ve REALLY been enjoying it and its music isn’t half bad itself

It also hilariously talks about “hearts” and loosing them and also memory issues and I’m dying cause they legitamently took Bloodborne’s Aesthetic, put anime on it, gave it a dark story with memories and indepth characters and served it on a platter for me?

And like dude I love games that comment on memory and emotions and stuff like that and I love the aesthetic and that I can kind of look like myself AND wear cool clothes like?

Man I’m enjoying it and I’m realizing that Souls-borne is probably my favorite genre officially and I’m embracing it. Good game play, good aesthetics, good fighting, and good stories. I love it.

Anyways to finish this rant, here is the first photo I took of my avatar.

-Riku (Host)

#alter: riku #bloodborne #bloodborne tw #gore tw #cursing tw #code: vein #video gaming #ask #asks #system asks #system ask #rant #ramble

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velociraptoraddict · 4 years

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So, I've been sitting on this thought for a while now and I finally decided to just sit down and try to put it into words to see if anyone else experiences this too?

I see a LOT of people here on Tumblr are about to watch a show or movie and analyze it and point out subtle stuff that I never would have noticed (example: different fighting types used in Avatar the last Airbender, people are able to point out times that a firebender uses water like moves for lighting, or when a waterbender uses Earth like moves for ice)

and they'll also point out just really in-depth stuff about character motivation or the subtle swish of an eyebrow means "X really does love so-and-so!" And...that's just stuff I don't or can't see? (Seriously, unless a ship is canon, I cannot see it?? Like, How can you guys see two people standing next to each other and be like "yup they're in love"?) Maybe in animation I can recognize some of the subtle stuff better...but in live action, I seem to miss a lot of those subtle cues that everyone else loves to makes gifs from. And more often than not I completely miss anything in the background unless the camera is focused and we're meant to notice it (ie, a character slipping on ice to lighten an otherwise serious moment)

Same thing with comics, I read a strip and feel I understood it, then in the comments someone will point out something subtle that I completely missed but with a second look i can see it's clearly there (mostly a lot of background stuff like a water stain in the shape of a broken heart, or the gradual shift in colors to show mood) a lot of it seems to go right over my head for some reason?

And yet

And yet when it comes to reading? I am amazing at picking up all the subtle clues and analyzing the characters behaviors and motives!? I've known for a while now that I've been pretty good with character analysis when it comes to reading, but recently I was reading a fic that was amazingly well foreshadowed on who the hidden true villain was; and I started piecing it all together and ended up guessing correctly almost 10 chapters before the reveal!? (It was about 200k words into a 300k fic, so plenty of time for the foreshadowing and build up to the reveal) And the author said I was the only person to ever guess it, and looking at the comments in the chapter where the villain was revealed everyone else appeared to be completely flabbergasted!? But, all the clues were there? Sure, it was a tough mystery to solve, but all the clues were there, and fit so nicely together and pointed so clearly to who the villain was. I was actually confused that I was the only one to guess it (I can understand being the first to guess so soon, but to be the first ever??)

It's...it's such a weird experience for me, cause I'm so used to taking things at face value in shows and such and not being able to see past the surface of what's on screen. I'm so used to having other people point out the hidden secrets, that when I found something where I was actually the one able to see below the surface and root out all the hidden secrets that others have missed? I was a little stunned to say the least

I think I finally understands where people get all these wild ideas about "I think when the characters do this, the creater meant this", because I now know what it feels like to spot those things for myself. I don't think I'll ever be able to see it in a show or movie or comic...but I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to see all the hidden meanings in books going forward, and that helps me understand where/how a lot of people here are able to pick out and dissect all the little things in these different medias, so I can respect that ability more now too

#personal rant #not really sure what else to tag this as?#meta musings #sometimes typing stuff out helps get it out of my mind so i can stop thinking about it and focus on stuff i want to focus on #like editing chapter 14 or watching Legend of Kora. since i finished avatar the last Airbender ive been making my way through kora

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mysterylover123 · 5 years

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BNHA Rewatch: Episode 27 “Bizarre! Gran Torino Appears!”

mysterylover123

The Internship arc starts off with a bang! Let’s see that Full Cowl, Deku!

SORA NI UTAEBA! While the song in this intro is kinda meh to me, the visuals are amazing. I love the symbolism for all the events of the ep - tho not gonna lie, this core’s ED is better than the OP. Anyway tho, go punch that wall Deku!

We start with Gran Torino pretending to be crazy. I’ll admit, I’m kinda eh on this bit, though I love Gran. It’s probably because I found it annoying when Yoda did it, so I find it annoying here as well. (It’s really just my inner fangirl talking. Nobody makes Deku unhappy except Kacchan. Who can get away with it.)

But actually, this sets up an interesting difference between Deku and Luke, though admittedly situation isn’t the same because Deku knows Gran is Gran. But Deku’s response to this is to call All Might to tell him Gran’s gone senile. He’s so empathetic Deku why aren’t you real? (no shade at Luke there,e I love him too. Just not as much).

“I don’t have time to mess around.” Deku did not come to play.

New costume! It’s incredible how much better it is than the old one. Like, not even funny how much better. Day-um, Deku.

Pfh Gran knows exactly how to piss off Deku: Insult All Might. You clever little scoundrel.

So onto Deku’s character flaws: 1. He’s overly analytical. Deku doesn’t know how to act quickly, partially due to circumstance, but partially that’s just how he is. Hesitant. Over-cautious, over-thinks things. He needs to learn how to take action - and in this arc, he does indeed do so without hesitation, and saves Iida’s life by so-doing. Box 1 checked off.

2. Deku admires All Might too much. Like every MC in BNHA, his Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Tragedy (insert me telling you to read that essay again). It’s a problem because he doesn’t believe in himself. So he needs to learn not to imitate All Might and be his own hero. That one doesn’t really sink in until the PLE arc. But check.

3. Deku is insecure. He has a massive inferiority complex (which fits nicely into his foil’s inf-sup complex, wouldn’t-cha-know) and doesn’t believe in himself. So he needs to learn to be more confident. (Is it wrong that I want this to end with him breaking through Instrumentality to a chorus of his friends saying ‘Congratulations’?)

Gran is my favorite Teacher, as a teacher, in BNHA. I’m a teaching-major, and I kinda aspire to his techniques. What I love the most is helping students figure it out themselves. Just telling someone the answer doesn’t help them. It’s so satisfying seeing a student make that breakthrough thanks to your guidance.

Now we’re cutting away to Iida’s internship to remind you Iida Wants Revenge. This is a little exposition-y, let’s cut somewhere else.

OK good, the villains! Right off the bat, we’ve got some great Parallels with the Heroes, as Tomura decides to basically Intern with a Pro-Villain. He even calls Stain a pro. Tho Tomura really needs to work on his recruitment strategy. “Stain join us. Cause.” “Bakugou. Join us. Cause”.

I want Deku and Tomura to build a grand Hero-Villain rivalry. Tomura basically hates him for no real reason right now, and I want there to be a good reason. Other than “He’s All Might’s successor”. I want them to be the Joker and Batman of BNHA with a real complex hero-villain rivalry, where one reflects the other. They’re getting there but I want more.

“Bloodlust without conviction is meaningless.” Ooh I love me some Stain. He really elevated this series’ philosophical side with his ramblings on heroism and villainy.

OK am I creeped out by the fact that All for One just said the same thing I did about learning? A little.

Deku is so brilliant and such a fast learner tho. It doesn’t take him long to put it all together. And Gran actually really admires him for that - I enjoy their mentor dynamic a lot, since Gran has some real respect for Midoriya in a different way from All Might.

Bakugou with Best Jeanist! OMG the comedy gold of this. Though I just want to take a sec to gripe about a change from the manga to the anime: Manga! Bakugou does not charge at Best Jeanist and yell at him. He’s not dumb enough to try that on the #4 Pro Hero and his teacher. He sits still and listens to Jeanist’s lecture. The only Bakugo line here that’s from the manga is “Didn’t you make an offer for me?” This completely changes the way we perceive Bakugo in this scene, and in general. Bad change.

But in Good Storytelling-ville, I like the continuing parallels between the Wonder duo this creates: Izuku interns in a rundown neighborhood with an unlisted hero, Bakugo in Tokyo with a top pro. Izuku needs to learn to control his power and believe in himself. Katsuki needs to learn to be kinder and more humble. Izuku learns his lesson her, Katsuki doesn’t. Parallels!

Kirishima and Tetsutetsu again! 4th kind is ok. He’s probably the least memorable of the internship pros, since his gimmick is simple and his design kinda dull.

Uraraka and Gunhead! I love how well they get along. He’s kawaii and she’s a hardcore badass. Don’t you forget it!

Now for more of Momo’s arc. The Uwabami internship is usually dismissed by fans as Just Fanservice, but think about it in context, and it becomes really interesting. One, the Hero Killer arc is about Stain protesting the commercialization of heroism, so we do need to have a Pro-Hero demonstrate the problematic nature of that commercialism. Uwabami does just that. Two, we need to have Momo’s internship be unfulfilling to her, to complete her downward trajectory (before the Final Exam arc can bring her back up), so it’s useful for further embarrassing and developing her character. 3, it sets up Momo and Kendo’s future rivalry.

I’ll take more about it in future eps where it appears.

Izuku practicing and constantly hitting his face on the wall is one of those things that makes me wonder if either a) he has a secret endurance quirk or b) OFA just naturally ups your durability. How does he still have a face after that.

Here’s a hot take: Izuku with his face smashed up from spending a night with no sleep training in garbage all night is still prettier than any other guy in this series.

One of the reviewers I follow made the comparison between All Might vs Deku’s using of OFA and Korra vs Aang’s role as the Avatar. You know, All Might and Korra, both master the power pretty quickly so they get to be strong fast but lose out on the spiritual connection a bit, while Deku and Aang take their time learning ofa/the four elements, but get as a tradeoff more of the spirit-y side...(ATLA & BNHA. My 2 favorite shows, alongside FMA. I swear these are like, three sides of the same show).

While I’m watching in the Sub this time around, i wanted to note a dub-ism in this scene: it’s localized to ‘hot pastries’ instead of taiyaki. There’s a lot of bits like that, where they take Japanese food and translate it for us dumb Americans. But well, maybe that made sense in the 90s, when there maybe wasn’t as much cultural crossover, but...even I knew what mochi were before watching BNHA (Uraraka’s fave, and the dub always localizes it to ‘sweets’) and everyone has google if they’re confused so why not just say ‘Taiyaki?’ Ah well, it’s a stupid nitpick but still.

Gran’s metaphor here is so great. As a teacher I aspire to learn from this man. Teach me your teaching ways.

“THIS TAIYAKI IS ME!!!!!” Another dub-ism has him say “I’m not really a dessert” I saw a reactor once comment on this ‘Yeah, but you are a snacc, Deku.’ I wholeheartedly agree.

FULL COWLLLLLLL!!!!!!! FYEAH!!!!!

OK so there are a lot of reasons I love Full Cowl. it’s one of the series’ finest moments, emblematic of what makes it cool. And what makes Deku cool. He’s smart, and has to work his way around problems, and this solution was just...it was there, for us and Izuku the whole time, to finally sit up and take notice of. It’s about applying power in a different way. About taking what you can do and doing the best you can with what you’ve got. A big central theme for the series.

Also dayum that slow pan up Deku’s entire body as he activates it...he just looks good in this arc. Actually, post-cavalry battle Deku in the sports festival arc always looks weird and odd (because he’s beat up and in pain, duh) and prior to that he was mainly just adorable...this arc, however, is his official transition into Best Boy for Reals. He’s just...swoony. and also really cool, smart, and all sorts of great fangirl-y things.

We end on a confident Deku smile and Daiki’s adorable ‘hai.’ Basically, i really enjoy this episode. A little slow at the beginning, maybe. But that conclusion is amazing and so worth the payoff. It’s even got this amazing rhyme and rhythm to it, cutting back and forth between the different students and teachers and just having themes echo between each other like poetry. It love it.

To close off: ED4, AKA BEST ED EVER!!!! This is seriously, no sarcasm, best ED. So for those of you who don’t know, the story behind ED4 Datte Atashi no Hero is, 1: The Fantasy AU theme comes from the second popularity poll, which came out around Chapter 120/Episode 61 (yes, THAT one) and for which Horikoshi drew the top 10 in fantasy garb. 2: The Song was written by LiSa and was explicitly stated by her to be effectively about Izuku’s feelings towards Kacchan. I wrote a post analyzing it. It is, basically, the anthem for...

BKDK CORNER

“Loose…” Guess who the first person Deku thinks of to create Full Cowling is? If you sad Kacchan, ding-ding-ding!

On an analytical note, I think it’s very, very significant that the first real breakthrough Deku makes in handling his power comes by observing Kacchan and imitating him. This is one of my Top 20 Favorite BKDK moments, even though it’s completely indirect, because of how important that is in the long-run. But what about the Imitation theme? Why is it OK for Izuku to imitate Katsuki, but not All Might? Well, first of all, he does use Gran Torino’s moves as well, but mainly, I think the series is saying with this distinction that it’s OK to imitate someone if you see their flaws and acknowledge them, but if you hero-worship them and see them as perfect, you’re only going to screw yourself over. This is why Iida imitating Ingenium, Shoto imitating his mom, Deku and Kacchan imitating All Might, and yes, Uraraka imitating Deku, are all so bad for them. If you see someone as perfect, and want to imitate them, you’ll never achieve that in your mind, because you already view yourself as imperfect. So Deku can imitate Katsuki because he thinks he’s a jerk, but also an amazing fighter, and Gran because he thinks he’s weird, but tough.

Also Deku just automatically thinking of Kacchan first is so damn shippy.

BEST GIRL OF THE EPISODE: Uwabami!

RANKER: Ranking the Internship Pros, least helpful to most.

10. Uwabami

9. Mt. Lady

8. 4th Kind

7. Endeavor

6. Death Arms

5. Manual

4. Selkie and Sirius (anime only)

3. Gunhead

2. Best Jeanist

1. Gran Torino! (Deku lucked out)

#my hero academia #episode 27 #season 2 episode 14 #bizarre gran torino appears #midoriya izuku #gran torino #katsuki bakugou #momo yaoyorozu #katsudeku #bakudeku #be prepared for lots of gushing #my deku bias is strong with this one #everyone has their fave #i'm glad mine's the mc #sometimes anyway #come s5 he's gonna be like #barely around for a whole damn season #anyway so glad to be at the Hero Killer arc #let's go!

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echodrops · 6 years

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Why Do Certain Ships Become So Popular? (And Why Should Writers Rethink When They Do?) - Part 2

<- Start back at part 1 or you’re going to be very confused!

This time my victim of choice example is Klance (and Allurance and Lotura too).

In a previous post, I established the premise that shippers focus their efforts and attention on ships between characters who exhibit the most compelling dynamism, the greatest amount of emotional energy--good feelings or bad--that directly relates to one or more of the characters’ growth arcs... or the two characters whose emotional interactions most significantly affect a story’s main plot.

This idea (that shippers are looking for strong, dynamic emotional interactions that are directly tied to plot) feeds directly into my second premise: part of the popularity of slash ships comes from the fact that, very often, the strongest and most plot-relevant emotional events don’t occur between male characters and female characters, but between male protagonists and other male characters--due to a combination of 1) a much smaller number of female characters, 2) a majority of writers for anime/manga and American shows being male; 3) under-developed or poorly written female characters, and 4) the tendency to situate males in the hero, sidekick, and villain positions, increasing the chance that their actions will have greater importance in the story’s main plot.

In short, writers can unintentionally cause fans to prefer non-canon slash ships by writing more dynamic, better developed, and more plot-relevant interactions between their male leads than between the main character and his designated female love interest.

Now hang on. Before you get all up in arms, yes, I’m perfectly aware there are plenty of other reasons slash ships are popular, including:

A huge desire among LGBT+ fans for positive representation

The fact that m/m interactions appeal to straight women/others the same way w/w interactions are sexy to straight men/others

The tendency of shows, particularly from Japan, to deliberately queer-bait

The fact that many women vicariously ship male characters together because it allows them to imagine a relationship of “genuine equals,” particularly in areas where women feel they are still not treated equally to men

The tendency for “pair the spares” to result in m/m ships simply due to a lower number of available female characters

And so on

This isn’t written to negate any of those reasons or to imply that they aren’t major factors in the popularity of slash ships, not at all, but it has always, always struck me as reductive when I hear things like “Slash ships are only popular because girls think two dudes together is hot” (the fetish argument) or “Girls will ship any two good-looking male characters together regardless of canon. They just hate het ships” (the fetish argument with a side dish of misogyny).

In particular, this last one--an argument I’ve heard from a lot of male fandom members (but of course not all)--has always gotten under my skin, because it implies that girls who ship aren’t capable of critically analyzing the media we consume and identifying characters who have meaningful interactions and interesting potential. That we, unlike those viewers who adhere to the canon (typically heterosexual) relationships, are somehow reading these stories wrong, blind to “real” romance (namely the one between the male hero and his best girl/waifu), and/or misusing male characters with zero regard for their personalities--worse, this argument also implies that female fans deliberately hate or under-appreciate oh-so-perfectly written female characters whose romantic subplots are totally natural and not at all an unfortunate side effect of their position as the token chick on the team...

At its best, the statement: “Girls will ship any two good-looking male characters” is demeaning in its dismissal of a majority of slash shippers and their ability to read characters. At its worse, it’s this exact dismissal that continues to allow so many (primarily male) authors to write under-developed, unimportant, token female love interests: “It’s the girls [or the slash shippers] who are weird; there’s nothing wrong with the way we’re doing things.”

But guess what happens when well-written female characters whose actions are central to a story’s main plot are introduced and highlighted? Guess what happens when the emotional energy between a female lead and her male counterpart is the most compelling and dynamic in the series?

The (often canon) het ship suddenly--somehow--magically becomes well-liked by fans!

Zutara and Kataang vastly out-strip any slash Avatar pairings in popularity. Noragami’s Yatori commands a staggering following in the fandom. Is there anyone in their right mind who thinks Alucard/Integra wasn’t the best pairing to end Hellsing with? No one debates whether or not Ahiru and Fakir from Princess Tutu are true love. In Doctor Who, Rose and the Doctor reign so far supreme in the fandom that none of the other ships even need to exist though I actually prefer River. Terra and Aqua from Kingdom Hearts beat out every other Terra or Aqua ship by a mile (and this is in a series notorious for hating and under-shipping its female characters). Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun has no problem juggling three very well-accepted het ships--even while having a scene in which two male characters sit down and draw a gay manga together. Ain’t nobody suggesting Mr. Bates and Anna from Downton Abbey should be with anyone else, right? And this is just in the handful of shows I personally have time to watch. Anyone who reads or watches a series with well-written female characters can play this exact same game!

The obvious conclusion? Female fans are perfectly willing to ship heterosexual pairings--if they’re well-written.

It’s the same story all over again: when the real emotional energy, the dynamic core, the most plot-relevant interactions occur between a male and female character, they too can become the fan-preferred couple. (Shocking!)

Yes, yes, I hear you saying “B-But wait, sometimes the m/m ship is more popular even though the het love interest is well-written!” or “Sometimes girls ship guy characters who have never even met!” or “So what you’re saying is female fans wouldn’t ship slash if there were better het options available?”

1) Don’t get me wrong--there are certainly always exceptions. I’m pointing out a trend, not a rule. Sometimes a fandom has a separate, specific reason for elevating a non-canon slash ship above a well-written canon het ship. (Someone who is actually in the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom might be able to explain why Ed/Roy is more popular than Roy/Riza, probably?) And in situations where a slash ship and a het ship in a series both have equally strong emotional energy, my bet is that the slash ship will always come out on top because it gets the added benefit of people liking LGBT+ rep and straight girls (and anyone else) who just think m/m is hot.

2) Crack ships definitely do exist. But usually when a crack ship actually manages to become popular, it’s because fans have recognized the potential for a strong emotional energy between two characters. If the two characters could reasonably have strong tension because of similarities, differences, or other elements of their characters, then crack ships are still following the trend of aligning with emotional energy, even if that energy is only anticipated at the moment.

3) I definitely don’t mean to suggest that slash ships are shoddy seconds to fans who would “naturally” prefer het ships if good het ships were available. What I’m suggesting is only that it’s no surprise slash ships are so extremely and consistently popular across so many fandoms, because in terms of plot relevance, depth of writing, and meaningful interactions with each other, male characters so rarely have any real competition. A desire for LGBT+ representation and people living out power or equality fantasies through slash are certainly motivating factors and good and worthy reasons to write slash. But one unfortunate contributor to the popularity of slash ships is that male characters continue to occupy a place of privilege in modern narratives. Our heroes remain overwhelmingly male. Our sidekick/lancer/buddy characters remain overwhelmingly male. Our villain characters remain overwhelmingly male. That is to say: male characters continue to dominate all the most “plot relevant” roles in our narratives, and so long as male leads continue to be placed in roles where their most compelling emotional interactions and greatest sources of character growth are other male characters, slash ships will continue to dominate fandoms’ online presences.

(Hilarious: the dude bros who complain about the number of slash ships in their favorite series are often the very same ones supporting and becoming the writers whose shallow portrayals of female characters further bolster the popularity of said slash ships in the first place...)

Okay, I’ve made you wait long enough.

What does all of this have to do with Voltron?

Well, you’ve probably figured that part out already, actually.

If we consider the “emotional energy” and tension among Voltron’s main characters, there’s absolutely no question who is at the core, where the most plot relevant and meaningful emotional interactions have occurred, where the “heart” of the story is, in essence...

Hint: It’s Keith.

(Just a heads up: I’m going to use Klance as the example because it’s the most popular Voltron pairing according to the numbers, but any Sheith fan worth their salt could obviously very, very easily apply these ideas one-for-one to that ship, because clearly Shiro’s interactions with Keith are some of the most emotionally tense and compelling in the entire Voltron series--they are a consistent core of feeling energy for the show which naturally leads many people to support this ship. A large part of the reason that this post is tagged Sheith is because I am absolutely inviting Sheith shippers to use the theory and lens in this essay to analyze Sheith--using this idea to analyze Sheith will reveal a lot of intense emotional energy to discuss and validate that ship. I’m very tempted to put this paragraph in all caps or something so the Sheith shippers will actually read it and stop badgering me...)

Keith (and his relation with other characters) is the core of Voltron’s main plot, both in that he is positioned as the leader/the hero/the protagonist, and because, obviously, almost all of the series’ emotional high points (with the exception of “Crystal Venom” and Pidge’s search for Matt) somehow feature him.

Keith isn’t just central in the main plot though; he’s also central in the individual arcs of two other characters: Lance and Shiro. He’s a motivating and driving factor in both of these characters’ stories and change throughout the series, affecting their actions, attitudes, and self-worth, and so it should come as absolutely no surprise that Sheith and Klance are the series’ most popular ships.

But since Klance is the most popular pairing, the person I really want to talk about is Lance.

You can say a lot of things about Lance and the raging debates that occurred over whether or not Lance is a straight loverboy trope or not, but I don’t think any viewer of Voltron would deny that, if we consider the main cast members (Team Voltron plus Lotor), the core of Lance’s emotional energy and tension is Keith. His interactions with Keith--not even in a romantic sense, simply in a storytelling sense--are more important and dynamic than his on-screen interactions with any other main character.

From his laser focus on Keith at Garrison that caused him to invent a rivalry (this word is basically just a synonym for “emotional energy” at this point):

To comedic banter:

To the infamous bonding moment:

To a fledgling “right hand man” partnership:

To Lance’s insecurities:

The story of Voltron itself continuously reiterates that Lance’s interactions with Keith are more dynamic, more intense (even if we’re talking about “Rawr, I hate you, we’re rivals!” emotions instead of lovey-dovey stuff), and more plot relevant than Lance’s interactions with other characters in the series. Lance’s emotional arc is irrevocably centered on Keith until very, very late in the series.

More importantly: Lance’s motivation and personal plot line as a whole are centered on Keith. At it’s most basic, Lance’s character arc seems like it was supposed to center on Lance’s sense of self-worth--despite acting confident, Lance was actually insecure about his ability to help save the universe. Theoretically, his narrative should have focused on him becoming confident about his place on the team and his value as both a friend and fellow paladin to the other main characters. His arc should have been (and I guess theoretically still is? It’s just not... ever given much attention?) about him overcoming his insecurity by learning to recognize his own unique talents and discovering the things that only he can do to help Team Voltron succeed. (Hell, the entire Allurance thing could have been framed as “She’s completely out of my league” ---> “Whoa, originally I was putting Allura on a pedestal but actually she’s as much a member of this team as me--we’re in this together, side-by-side.”)

Whether or not the semi-incoherent narrative of Voltron actually delivered on this promise is iffy, but the set up in season 1-3ish is all there and all Keith:

At Garrison, Lance viewed Keith as a road block in his quest to becoming a fighter class student. Keith’s achievements and talent became a measuring stick for Lance’s own capabilities. He imagined a rivalry to make himself feel better/less insecure. His drive not to lose out to Keith is what dragged Hunk and Pidge along to Shiro’s rescue and ultimately led to the discovery of the Blue Lion. Lance comparing himself unfavorably to Keith as a paladin and pilot contributed to (mostly) one-sided animosity throughout the early seasons that gave way to a scene of Lance attempting to step down from the team because he didn’t see himself worthy of the position in comparison to Keith:

The logical conclusion that I think most fans would draw from these many scenes is that, as part of Lance’s overall character growth across the whole series, he needed to have a moment in which he recognized that he isn’t--and has never been--inferior to Keith.

Ultimately, the first five seasons continually reiterate the idea that, in terms of interactions, energy, and dynamic character growth, the most important main character in Lance’s story (other than Lance) is Keith.

Keith’s interactions with Lance are directly and immediately tied to Lance’s individual character arc/growth, and Keith is definitely the focus of Lance’s most meaningful emotional tension throughout seasons 1-5 at least.

Which means it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Klance is the most popular Lance ship, particularly when you set it side-by-side with the (increasingly canon) Allurance.

I just want to make this abundantly clear before I begin: I have absolutely nothing against Allurance shippers and, until it was done so poorly in season 5-6 (and potentially 7, I still haven’t even finished that one), I actually was okay with the possibility of Allurance being endgame because I thought there was potential for it to be done well. After what we’ve been given, I actually feel the Allurance shippers have been horribly shortchanged by the show’s real writing, and that I can’t personally support the ship the way it’s being written, but that’s not the fault of the characters themselves or anything inherently “wrong” with the ship. So please don’t take the rest of what I say here as ship hate--this is just observations from a literary analysis standpoint.

What has prevented Lance and Allura from gaining significant traction with the fans despite the fact that it’s edging close to canon territory if it isn’t canon already?

Well, one problem might be that Lance’s emotional energy has no bearing on Allura’s individual character development--and Allura’s emotional peaks have no bearing on Lance’s personal arc either (at least as far as it was established in early seasons and then left essentially unresolved).

Allura’s arc has, throughout the course of the show, centered on her ability to defeat her family’s foes, her grief for her lost people and planet, and her desire to follow in her father’s footsteps as a leader and in the Altean traditions as well. None of this has much of anything to do with Lance. Her growth as a character occurs--with the exception of the single shining scene on Naxela--completely independently of Lance. She lets her father’s memory go on her own in “Crystal Venom.” She faces Zarkon head-to-head by herself after rescuing Shiro. It’s Shiro who stops her from over-working herself to aid the coalition, not Lance. It’s Keith’s whose Galra blood forces her to re-examine and overcome some of her universal hatred for the Galra. It’s Lotor who helps her reach Oriande, and her own ingenuity that allows her to tame the White Lion and learn the secrets of Altean alchemy.

With the exception of the scene on Naxela where it was specifically Lance’s speech that motivated Allura to save the day, virtually all of her most charged emotions occurred elsewhere and with other characters, and there’s nothing in her personal goals--to be a strong leader, to revive her culture, to save the universe--that is intrinsically tied with Lance. He can encourage and aid her in those pursuits, but so can Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran. The role of fellow paladin and supporting ally isn’t unique to Lance. His interactions with her don’t fill a niche that drives her personal plot lines outside of the romance subplot.

And the same thing is true in reverse.

We get this nice scene of Allura encouraging Lance and helping him work on his insecurity... And then it is promptly never mentioned again. (Where did the sword go, guys? Where???) Lance gives up Blue to Allura and she’s almost immediately gifted at piloting the Blue Lion, while Lance is shown struggling with Red (once more in Keith’s shadow) and still hadn’t, as of the end of season 6, seemed to have mastered it to the same extent as Keith. It’s Keith, Laika (an alien dog--not Allura guys, an alien dog) and the SPACE MICE that Lance expresses his insecurities to, and it’s Coran who is there for Lance’s touching scene expressing his longing to return to Earth. Lance’s personal arc about growing into the paladin role and becoming a selfless person who puts the team before his own desire for glory once again occurs independently of Allura, with little to no interaction, and even fewer emotional high points between them, in the entire first half of the show.

For both of these characters, their “real emotional energy”--their tension both positive and negative--occurs with other characters. The “believability” and energy of this ship is diminished by the fact that it simply isn’t the most well-written of character pairs in the series. The romance subplot isn’t organically tied to either of their personal plot lines, and the depth of their one-on-one interactions pales in comparison to their, particularly Lance’s, interactions with other characters.

But huh... would you look at that... When a potential romantic interest came along whose interactions with Allura were both directly tied to her personal arc, her central character motivations, and her emotional high points...

Isn’t it amazing how well it was received by the fandom--despite the fact that no one was really sure whether Lotor was evil or not? Now of course, I’m not going to ignore the fact that Lotura was probably helped along by leaving Keith, Lance, and Shiro free to ship elsewhere, but I don’t think the actual chemistry in the series’ writing itself should be ignored.

There was significantly, significantly more tension and nuance to Allura and Lotor’s interactions that any of Allura’s interactions with any of the other main cast, and their interactions operated not just in a romantic capacity, but also as a vehicle for Allura’s personal character growth:

The push and pull of these two characters and their scenes together sparked change in both of them, which augmented and increased the quality of their romantic arc while also furthering both of their own individual goals as characters.

The story painted them as equals with mutual interests, a shared interest in Altean culture, both victims (at least initially) of their parents’ war, both distrusting but ultimately lonely people who were longing for connection to, in Allura’s case, what had been lost, and in Lotor’s case, what he theoretically had never been able to have (except the writers did him dirty so jk).

I just don’t think there are many people who would argue that Allurance--or Allura’s interactions with any other male character--have been written with near as much depth, engagement, and integration with her motivations as Lotor and Allura’s were. Their plot literally got more screen time one-on-one in a single seven episode season than Allura and Lance did in the 43+ other episodes...

And for the the short time that it lasted, this pairing was embraced by many fans. I might be biased because I immediately went out and followed every Lotura blog I could find, but to me it seems like it was well-liked and generally well-regarded among shippers until the colony reveal (and by many still after). I was very excited by the writing of this ship and definitely wanted something meaningful to come out of it. Part of the fandom’s immense outrage at Lotor’s reveal was, I think, linked to the fact that this ship had been so convincingly written into the series before it.

This, to me, is a perfect example of a situation in which the emotional exchange between two characters exceeds the strength and depth of their interactions with others, leading to immediate adoption and approval as a ship by the fandom. Where the real energy is, there are the shippers.

PHEW! Let me take a deep breath and come up for air. There’s a lot going on here, but boiling it down to the basic point I’m trying to make, and which I’ll address in a lot more depth in the third and final part of this: the way that a story is written profoundly affects what ships will or will not become popular with fans. Shipping isn’t an unpredictable beast that grows completely independently of its source material. The ways writers craft interactions between their characters--and the places where they invest the most and infuse the most life--are powerful tools that impact how fans view and come to love seeing characters both separately and in romantic relationships.

To that end, while there are numerous reasons slash ships are popular and continue to grow in popularity, one reason that should be considered seriously by all creative writers--fanfiction authors or aspiring original novelists--is the notion that shipping often aligns with the core of a story’s or character’s emotional energy, the pairs with the highest tension, the electric pulse of the story’s most meaningful moments. Non-canon ships of any sexuality swell to mega-popularity when fans perceive more depth and significance in the interactions of characters outside the canon pair, when the emotional work of the story is happening somewhere outside the intentional romantic plot line. Sometimes this is fine. But more often, this is a bad sign for creators--a sign that you’ve fumbled in the writing of your main romantic leads.

As writers, questions we rarely ask ourselves but often should are: “Where is the core of the tension in my story? Whose interactions are deepest and most central to the development of my main character?”

In other words: Where is the real emotional energy in my story?

In part 3 I’m going to provide one more excellent case-in-point, and then close out with a discussion of some take-aways for writers from all this that might help strengthen your romantic subplots, whatever your genre or whoever your characters.

Go on to Part 3 ->

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wingsfreedom · 6 years

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Small analysis about Fire fam

Ursa and Azula’s relationship is complex issue.

In regards of Azula, I think Ursa’s disapproval had two results:

The first, she actually did love her daughter and did teach her right from wrong through all the scolding, despite she didn’t do it in the best way.

The second, because of the scolding and badmouthing, Azula KNOWS which of her actions are wrong and chooses to do the wrong thing either way because that was the only way to get both her mother’s attention and her father’s approval.

Ursa went a long better with Zuko because he was more receptive to her personality and teachings than Azula was. (though, Ursa's teachings are still always there in the back of Azula's mind as that come to light in the mirror scene.)

But for me, the worst part in this story is that Ursa sometimes unconsciously encouraging Azula’s behaviour. Ursa, despite complaining a lot about Azula’s odd behaviours, often causes and/or reinforce them, (e. g such as in the 'rose' scene in The Search), she comes to loathe them and punish Azula for them without understanding the core of her actions; that was getting attention from her mother who was focusing on Zuko (most of the time, her favorite).

Taking Azula's behaviour in the 'rose' scene in consideration, this is propbaly equal to her behaviour when throwing rocks at the turtleducks as well while Ursa's around with her and Zuko. It's her way to rebel against Ursa and everything she stands for, for focusing on her brother on her expanses and/or wanting her attention.

EDIT: "Azula throwing rocks on the turtleducks" was a misconception, what she really was throwing is bread, and she wasn't throwing it on the turtleducks but in the water. Zuko's bread hit the turtleduck by accident likely to foreshadowing Ursa's sacrifice. So Azula was NOT cruel to animals to get back to her mother, she was trying to feed them because this was something she saw mother do.

For most Ursa's intercations with her children:

When she wanted her children to play together and get along, (which was great -and contradict for Ozai- but), Ursa only shown speaking to Zuko, calling him "darling" and encouraging him to play, then said "go for a little while", means 'go and comes back to me again when you're finished,' which implies he was always under her wing by her side most of her time, without addressing that Azula appearntly was behaving better than Zuko at that point. Where Azula is asking her mom for something that WOULD yield approval from her, which is why Azula is doing it.

This "evidence" also does not convince anyone that Ursa ever made any efforts to correct Azula's bad behavior in a positive and proactive way. She never teaches Azula not to behave destructively in any such proactive ways. We've seen her scolds, seen her glares, seen her asking what's wrong with her. If her relationship with Zuko was remotely similar, she'd be caught talking just as poorly about her beloved son, but she isn't.

Second, when they perform Firebending, Ursa only addressed Zuko's performance and encouraged him without spare a word for Azula whom performance was better, because she got her Father's praise, she doesn't need her, but Zuko does. Which suggest that the parents' reaction toward the children's Firebending achievements includes their school achievements as well. Azula has her Father's praise, Zuko gets his father's disdain, Ursa has to be always by Zuko's side to make up for Ozai's disdain, neglecting her daughter in the progress. (which, I think, made Azula open for terrible influence watching this mother-son bonding, for all we know Ozai wasn't a loving parent even though she was his favorite)

It's common behavior for mothers in abusive household to protect the abused child from their abusive father by giving them her love and support, and that child--in her eyes--was mainly Zuko, BUT this is also where Ursa's grave mistake lies as well. For her giving more attention and affection to Zuko than she does to his sister.

While I don't like to use the comics as evidence for bad writing, this aspect of Ursa's favoritism still stand.

Ursa’s inability to empathize with Azula, to understand her wishes and desires or even emotions, and Azula’s reluctance to mend their relationship, only drives them further apart. And I believe Ozai may play a good hand in this too.

He match up with Azula's competitive, perfectionist nature 'I must be the best at anything I do (the world values winners. I'm what I do to earn my place)' with his 'only the strong survives in this world' influence, which eventually shaped up her cruelty (toward herself and everyone) and (especially) spiteful reaction against her brother, and believed the hard life Zuko endures is a well-deserved punishment for being a weak and a failure while still motives by feelings of jealousy, abandonment and insufficiency that her mother left. Which of course doesn't make her any less of abusive sibling but this is only to analyze her mindset not justify it.

But the siblings' damaged relationship, I believe, is largely both parents' fault first of all, with Ursa's good-bad influence and Ozai's all-terrible influence.

From Avatar wiki:

[The 'rose' scene in The Search mention]

That's it, Azula got no "darlings", got no encouragements, got no smiles. Just confronting Ursa's love for Zuko daily, with bad attempts to gain her mother attention.

TL;DR Regardless of how Ursa feels about her daughter: Azula has zero solid evidence that her mother loves her.

Now from how I see it, due to unhealthy relationship with both parents, Azula finds it hard to trust the people around her. So she started to use power and fear tactics to basically force Mai and Ty Lee to become her friends as this drive come to shine obviously at the Boiling Rock famous betrayal intercation (though Azula may does that on subconscious level).

Which, of course, doesn't make her any less of abusive freind (I don't think she was abusive to Zuko their relationship was mutually toxic) because at the end of the day these were the choices she made, but this is what make her well-written character to me: understandable in drive, bad in choices.

PS: Anything's possible, Azula's complex character as it is but make her the sole culprit for 'not feeling loved' (that is a main drive in her actions) just so Ursa can appear flawless, ("she never hurt her daughter in any way", "she's not responsible for anything wrong happened in the family"...est) Just no.

#azula #ursa #fire fam #analysis #avatar the last airbender

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historyoftheemblem · 6 years

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Three Houses Feb. Direct analysis

Admin Zebra here, with some of my observations from the new footage from the latest Nintendo Direct. I wrote some stuff about the first trailer, like commentary on Byleth’s sleeve inspiration from medieval fashion and the (maybe) symbolism behind the Japanese title, but this time I’ll be going all the way through.

First things first: We got an official logo. I kinda like the typeface on the old one (pictured below) more, to be honest.

Obviously this was a rough working title, given they didn’t even have the classic Fire Emblem logo on it, but the new logo’s typeface for Three Houses feels a bit too much. The capitalized T and H, sure, but having the everything like that, and with that kerning? Not feeling it.

Well, I got a degree in design so it’s my sworn duty to nitpick about these things, but this isn’t analysis, so let’s move on.

Lore

We’re introduced to the continent’s major powers and how they convene at the Monastery in Garreg Mach: the Adrestian Empire (Red Black Eagles, Edelgard), Faerghus (Blue Lions, Dimitri), and the Leicester Alliance (Golden Deer, Claude).

Each country has its own house at the monastery a la Harry Potter, and those houses are led by each country’s first-in-line for succession, whom we were introduced to in the first trailer.

Edelgard, as seen by the above picture, is the first-in-line for succession in the Adrestian Empire. Interestingly, they seem to use “Emperor” as a gender-neutral term for the ruler, as the narration calls her the future emperor rather than the future empress.

In the background, we can make out a few characters seen elsewhere in the video (from left-to-right): Dorothea, Ferdinand, Linhardt, Caspar, and Petra. (Edelgard’s the one with the red magic glyph.) Bernadetta is seen hiding under a book a few seconds later, so she’s in the Black Eagles as well.

We unfortunately don’t get a group shot of the Blue Lions, so the members of this house are largely unknown. I don’t think we see anyone aside from Dimitri in the background video in any other scene, either. There are a few kids whose affiliation we don’t see, like Annette, Mercedes (whom Annette calls Mercie), and Sylvain, so they might be in his group.

Lastly, Claude’s group. Pink-haired Hilda, who was seen as one of Byleth’s opponents in the first trailer, is in his group. Later in the video, we get the names for the large blonde man and the orange-haired girl: Raphael and Leonie.

The Church of Seiros is also headquartered in Garreg Mach as the predominant religion on the continent, and it has its own military force, the Knights of Seiros. The seem to be led by this woman, whom we get a better shot of towards the end of the trailer.

She resembles the woman depicted throughout the first trailer, but it’s hard to tell whether she got an updated look over the past few months, is another character entirely, or changed into another outfit.

We also get to meet the probably-manakete girl seen at the end of the first trailer and get a name for her: Sothis.

A cursory search on her name brings me to the Egyptian goddess/constellation name Sopdet, which translated into Greek as Sothis. (More info on that in the link.) Here, Sothis can communicate with Byleth, the main character, through their mind. How or why this happens won’t be clear until we see the game proper, but the narration suggests that it’s tied to the “unexpected incident” that revealed a “hidden power within” that leads to Byleth traveling to Garreg at the start of the story.

Speaking of which...

Assuming that the first image, with Byleth traveling with the three house leaders and his father Jeralt, takes place at the beginning, it seems that the two images in a scene towards the end of the trailer are set before that -- the aforementioned unexpected incident.

In the second image, that clearly would’ve been a fatal blow on Byleth; his back is turned to the bandit, but then it rewinds to the point where the bandit lunges. Instead of having his back towards the bandit to shield Edelgard, Byleth knocks the axe out of the bandit’s hand with the power of weapon triangle advantage.

This likely indicates two things: 1) a return of the Mila’s Turnwheel function from SoV, and 2) Byleth has some sort of power to either see a bit into the future, or rewind time.

Gameplay

Byleth seems to be something of an avatar unit, which was already known from the first trailer when all the official material called them “Your character” instead of the name shown in the trailer. You get to pick between a male and female form, with no known option for further customization -- fair in that there seem to be quite a number of rendered cutscenes a la SoV (and the cutscene animations are by the same team), which would make customizations tough.

I'm more or less neutral about F!Byleth’s design, simply because I disagree with the avatar option to begin with. I prefer set-in-stone characters, and having an avatar whom we don’t have control over personality-wise makes me wonder why they’re even an avatar to begin with. (For example, I love Dragalia’s MC Euden, but I do not at all understand why we label him with a name of our choosing. I respect his personality and his reasoning, but he is not an avatar of me.)

Three Houses boasts greater interaction between not only the player characters, but as well as between characters as well. As depicted in the first trailer, there’s a semi open-world function that allows you to explore Garreg Mach and interact with characters there. I’m looking forward to it, though I do have my reservations depending on how it plays out.

Combat, First Trailer:

Combat, Second Trailer:

The action select screen seems to have changed, but aside from Attack to Atk, it’s hard to tell whether these are complete changes, or simply caused by having different functions unlocked, having different classes, or because Edelgard is a main character where Bernadetta is not (i.e. Formation and Equip). Combat Arts are now also selected on the attack screen, as seen a few seconds later.

Comparing the weapon selection screens, it seems to have been restructured to show values more clearly. Bernadetta also has the three green triangles next to her HP, which is shown throughout several battle screens in this trailer, but I’m not quite sure what that’s for yet.

The new level-up screen. As will be analyzed later, class options in Three Houses seems to be much freer than previous titles, hence the Class Mastery section in the level-up screen. Professor Level seems to be related to Training, which will be covered later. Battalion is, naturally, the troops following each character’s lead; it seems that battalions can be switched out.

Given the Withdraw and Confirm selections at the bottom-right corner, this seems to be an alternative to the Arena. I assume units can’t die here, because that would be pretty difficult to explain to parents. “Hey uhh your son died during a sparring session, whoops.”

Ah, studying. I’m so glad I’m out of school now. You can tutor students individually, as a batch (I assume that’s what Auto-Tutor and Group Task are), or change an individual student’s studying goals.

We get a look at Dorothea’s tutoring as an example. People have gotten fidgety about that heart on the completion screen as a sign of some sort of affection system with the main character, BUT.

Immediately afterwards, we see Linhardt’s goals screen. Looking at that top-right gauge, we see the >w< meter on Linhardt’s has 4 (full) gauges. Meanwhile, Dorothea had 3 maximum gauges, and the 1 gauge left is consumed during training. IF my deductions are correct (pleasebecorrectpleasebecorrect), the heart gauge may build up the training meter when you get good results from training.

Also notable from this screen is that Linhardt’s class is Noble, the same as Bernadetta’s earlier. (Edelgard’s class shown in the first trailer is Aristocrat, which is... similar?) It seems that most students will start off with a similar class and then progress through different ones based on player preference and their own particular strengths. As seen with Dorothea, it seems that Swords and Reason are two of her strengths, while Faith is a weakness.

We are also shown various skills that can be trained:

Weapons: Swords, Lances, Axes, Bows, and Fighting(?)

Character (unofficial term): Reason, Faith, Authority

Unit: Heavy Armor, Riding (Cavalry), Flying

I assume Fighting is a weapon-type skill because Caspar is shown using claws right afterwards.

If you look closely throughout the video, you’ll see female generic soldiers, which is a nice touch, personally. While this is more story-related, it’s interesting that the enemy is labeled “Western Church”. This either suggests that there are different branches of the Church of Seiros, or that this is a split faction (perhaps the “rebellions” the narrator speaks about earlier in the video as one of the enemies you must fight).

This is the customized class screen mentioned earlier. As is apparently from the side list, it seems that characters can access all of those classes, and aren’t limited to just a few. Obviously, characters will probably lean towards certain classes, but it opens a lot of possibilities. Also, Edelgard can now lawfully pillage villages now with the Brigand certification exam. All this time we thought they were just brutes, but apparently it’s a meritorious profession!

This seems to be how supports will play out in Three Houses, which is fine by me. Having stronger bonds between characters provides a so-called “Gambit Boost”, which seems to provide a boost to combat arts. (Edelgard, in some unknown class, uses Coordinated Gambit.)

The rest of the trailer is mostly just cutscenes, one part which I already addressed earlier. The other shots are too vague to really comment on. If there’s one thing I didn’t really like about the trailer, it’s that it didn’t really give us a sense of an overarching conflict. All we know is that there’s a delicate balance between the three nations, it’s probably getting broken, goddesses/dragons are involved, and the crests are to blame.

#fire emblem: three houses #FE16 #fodlan #admin: zebra

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