#TALKING TO LELOUCH ABOUT EVERYTHING

[neerons]

Some of Clavis Lelouch’s best quotes + Cyran's bonus quotes

"Tell me, Emma, what do you think is the best way to wake someone who's really bad at waking up? (...) That's right, you stab them." (—Clavis talking about Chevalier to Emma)

"Finding such a handsome man in your room is enough to leave anyone breathless. Take your time. I know I'm easy on the eyes. (...) Oh, nice reaction! There's nothing like a good AHHHHH to get me in the mood."

“I didn’t do anything. But next time, don’t be intimidated by these status-crazed nobles. You don’t owe them anything—not even a smile. If someone looks down on you, look down on them in return. Otherwise, your self-worth will start to plummet. Never abandon your self-respect just to calm the situation. I know you’re a wonderful person—I wouldn’t have chosen you as my wife if not.”

"You succumbed to delusion."

"You weren't paying any attention to me at all. I got so lonely, I almost died!"

"...I want to make love to you."

"I'll tell you a secret about Chevalier. You want to know right? I bet you do. (...) He likes romance novels, but the reason for that is... Me. (...) One day, I secretly added to his pile of books... I put a book that boasted its dewy, spicy romance in the pile."

"Haha! When you're as handsome as I am, you look good no matter what state you're in. You just need better understanding of aesthetics." (—Clavis to the "Obsidianite soldier")

"Haha! You don't need to apologize. Who says only kids are allowed to be bouncy? What's wrong with adults being genuine about loving the things they love?"

"Oh, the things you say! Don't you realize you threaten to unleash the beast that hides behind this gentleman's visage?" (—Clavis' thoughts about Emma)

"What a fool I was to think I was done falling in love with you. The depths I could fall for you seem endless."

“We can do it on the table, or by the windowsill again, if you like. Ah, but I don’t recommend the floor—not unless you’re into that.”

"I would never allow my lovely fiancee to live a life of fear. And so I must take it upon myself to indulge her in a life of joy." (—Clavis' thoughts about Emma)

"Wait, wait, wait! (...) Chevalier, you cannot possibly be trying to replace the words 'I love you' with that one kiss. (...) Why else would Emma have dressed up so beautifully? It's all so she can hear you say those three words! (...) Yes, not all things need to be said, but there is a purpose in giving words to feelings. That's how you can bring them into the real world. Chev, you can't let Emma guess how you truly feel forever. Just tell her. (...) The average person can't read minds like you do. Don't assume that Emma knows everything just because you do." (—Clavis to Chevalier, in Chevalier's route)

"I'm charming, aren't I?"

"Here you are, alone in a secret room with a handsome prince. Why are you only interested in those lifeless husks? (...) That's a little offensive, you know."

"Haha! Go to hell." (—Clavis to Chevalier)

"Goodness, I've never visited that bookstore, and to think it was hiding a gem all this time..." (—Clavis' thoughts about Emma)

"Dear me, it looks like they started running the second they spotted me. Haha! That's optimistic of them. " (—Clavis talking about Yves and Licht to Emma)

"You could at least call it artistic. My handwriting conceals talent that would surpass that of a genius artist. (...) It's readable. So long as you take the time to decode it! Haha!" (—Clavis to Jin)

"Ah... Hahaha! I can't believe you headbutted me! You should've slapped me, at least."

"There's no rule that says you have to drink alcohol once you come of age. That said, it might be more romantic to let you get drunk and then take care of you until you sober up. Wait here, I'll just get some—"

"Of course, I'm not trying to criticize your own personal standards for good and evil. But throughout our lives, we're constantly being confronted by our perceptions of good and evil. And there are times when we might regret it later, if we decide to be critical of something simply because 'it's evil'. Our own individual standards for good and evil may not always be aligned with the kingdom's standards for good and evil. And if that happens, wouldn't you want to remain true to your own standards? To what you believe is good and right?"

"So you're comfortable drinking. I'll keep that in mind." (—Clavis' thoughts about Emma)

"(...) I'm well aware that of all the princes, I was the one most loved by his mother. Although I suppose it's not really a surprise, given how adorable and cute I was. (...) Haha! Why are you apologizing? There's no rule that says we can't talk about the deceased. And there's no need to feel guilty, either. I'm not some silly child who gets all worked up just from thinking about her." (—Clavis talking about his mother to Emma)

"I love drawing attention to myself, you know that. I wanted everyone in the palace talking about me, so I made it seem as if I'd gone missing." (—Clavis to Sariel)

"...You're surprisingly sweet on Emma, aren't you?" (—Clavis to Chevalier)

"Well obviously, because I like rabbits. And from what I know of rabbits... They may seem aloof, but they're actually very sweet and loving, and if you're lucky, they'll even let you see that side of them. I think they're adorable. And despite being delicate and easily frightened, they won't run from anything—they'll stand their ground and put on a brave face. I can't think of any other creature that instills in me such an urge to protect them. You see? Everything about them is lovable." (—Clavis talking about Emma secretly)

"But that's why Rhodolite is so well-balanced. If we all agreed with Leon, the kingdom would constantly be in danger from outside. If we all agreed with Chevalier, it would end up a dictatorship."

"You're about the only person who willingly visits the brutal beast's lair."

"Just so we're clear, this doesn't even count as a setback to me. I've tasted defeat countless times at the hands of a brother more beastly than anyone in Obsidian. I've never once made the right choice. I'm a loser, constantly making mistakes, and constantly being laughed at for them. (...) When you fail, it's easy to give up. It's easy to think your ideas are wrong, and yield to the right choice. But this is what I do. Every time I fail, I get up again, and I fight even harder, so that next time, maybe I won't fail. I don't care about what's right for the kingdom. I stay true to what's right for me, and that's the only way I've found any meaning in my life. Even if what I believe to be right and true is actually wrong, and even if I'm called evil and wicked for doing what I do... I'll fight against the brutal beast's methods with everything I have in me. And I'm not going to die until I've made him kneel before me, and accepted that my beliefs are just as righteous as his are. (...) And since I've spent my life tasting nothing but defeat, I think I can declare this with some certainty. So long as you go on living, you'll never really be a loser. Because there is no such thing. Even if you lost this time, you just have to win next time to be the winner. And if nothing else, you'd be able to die a prouder man than you will now. (...) Today's failures will lead you to tomorrow's hope. Always, as long as you don't give up. And that's why I'm going to get up and try again. What about you? Are you going to die a dog's death here?" (—Clavis to the "Obsidianite soldier")

"What a shame... Were my hands not bound right now... I'd already be making love to you."

"Haha! Not a chance. I adore her." (—Clavis denying disliking Emma to Gilbert)

"I've always tried to be a gentleman, and live by the tenet that women are free to come and go as they please. But with you, I find myself wondering whether I should be using handcuffs, rope, or maybe a strong net."

"All right, then, I guess I'll just have to slip a few weapons into your luggage to help celebrate your departure. At the very least, I've already included a shovel." (—Clavis helping Emma escape from Obsidian)

"My brother is an absolute genius when it comes to angering people in just about every way possible. He outclasses us all in that, too." (—Clavis talking about Chevalier)

"Dearie me, don't tell me you're here for a secret tryst with my brother? I never imagined this unsociable beast might finally have his sexual awakening—" (—Clavis talking about Chevalier to Emma)

"(...) It's a water jet device designed to keep you cool in sultry summer evenings. I made it expressly for you. Isn't it brilliant?"

"The only people he could hold a proper conversation with were those who faced him head-on." (—Clavis' thoughts about Chevalier)

"(...) I don't care about me, but I don't think it's appropriate to be pointing guns at a woman, do you?" (—Clavis protecting Emma from 'someone')

"You really are gorgeous... I'm so captivated by you... that I feel I might forget how to be a gentleman for good."

"You could tie me down any day, my lovely fiancee."

"Ah. Hello, insecurity. I had not missed you at all. If I want to make my lovely fiancee happy, I'm going to need to start being more confident." (—Clavis' thoughts)

"You're so beautiful when you're watching something with rapt attention."

"How could you treat your kind little brother like this, when he worked himself to the bone trying to keep your library nice and tidy? I'm going to tell Emma on you." (—Angry Clavis to Chevalier)

"Well, first, I'd love to be able to pamper you in the bathroom. I want to wash your hair and gently exfoliate your skin so it's super soft. (...) Next, I want to hire a famous artist to draw a portrait of you than I can hang on my wall. I want one so big it'll cover the entire thing. Maybe I'll even get a bunch of you drawn. Seeing lots of you while I work would be good for motivation. (...) Also, I would love it if we could change up how we say good night. Every day, before bed, I want us to say 'I love you' instead of just 'good night'. (...) Oh, it's also my dream to go on a trip around the world with you! I just want to explore new sights with you and kiss and cuddle you in new places."

Cyran's bonus quotes:

"(...) Prince Clavis lies incessantly, so feel free to ignore everything he says. (...) Everything. You've no need to be worried about his feelings, or even keep him company. And it might be in your best interests to refuse to eat any of this." (—Cyran talking about Clavis and his cooking to Emma, in front of Clavis)

"You're still half-asleep, aren't you? You're a disgrace." (—Cyran to Clavis)

"When we finally catch up to him, I think we should team up and give him a good scolding!" (—Cyran talking about Clavis to Emma)

"Since you left me behind like that, I've decided to hold a grudge against you forever. (...) Do it again and I'll throttle you, master or no. Just so you know." (—Cyran to Clavis)

"My Lady, I'm afraid that Prince Clavis's plan is truly stupid. A prince in his right mind would never even plan such a thing, and the average person would recoil in shock at the very idea of it."

"Prince Clavis, you can't just go casually tossing your head in her lap like that. My Lady, you're more than welcome to slap him awake at this point."

"(...) despite all that, there was one fool prince who stormed into the camp where the prisoners were being held. Yep, I'm talking about the idiot prince currently sleeping like a babe in your lap."

"From the way he acts, it's easy to mistake him for a fool and a scoundrel, but... at heart, he's the kindest, most compassionate man I've ever met." (—Cyran talking about Clavis to Emma)

"...So where is he, this handsome man? (...) ...You're a total mess right now, you realize. You look dreadful. Want me to get you a mirror?" (—Cyran to Clavis)

"My Lady, I truly am sorry, but... I've been ordered to inform you that, and I quote, 'your prince is in grave danger and needs you to rescue him! Ahaha'! (...) ...He insisted I include the 'ahaha' at the end." (—Cyran delivering a message from Clavis to Emma)

"Very well. I'll inform him that you said to die in pain and agony." (—Cyran talking about Clavis to Chevalier)

"Really? Are you sure? Ahh, this is great, it means I can get away from my troublesome master for a while. I look forward to serving you, My Lady, and I'll do my absolute best for you!" (—Cyran replying to Clavis' order to be Emma's personal bodyguard)

"My Lady, you're the sort of person who worries constantly about other people, without ever thinking about yourself. Like at the party, when you tried to protect Prince Gilbert from that guy with the knife. That sort of thing."

"...Farewell, my peaceful days."

"...Stay strong, my lady. I know exactly how you feel, but know that I am cheering you on."

[alicent-vi-britannia]

Lelouch's relentless search for purpose in life

I've previously talked to you about Lelouch's trauma through the enneagram to explain why Lelouch refuses to open up and trust others and insists on doing everything alone to feel self-sufficient and strong. I've also used the enneagram to explain that Lelouch has locked himself into a protective shell and is uncomfortable feeling vulnerable because of his trauma and his upbringing in Darwinian values ​​in Britannia. However, I haven't talked to you directly about one thing that is very important and perhaps because it is so obvious I have overlooked it until I stumbled upon a small thread on Twitter.

In the last conversation Lelouch has with his father, Charles nullifies the meaning and value of his existence by telling him: "But you're dead. You've always been dead, from the moment you were born. Who gave you the fine clothes you wear, a comfortable home, the food you eat, and your own life? I gave you all of that. You are nothing to me because you have never existed." At that moment, Charles kills Lelouch in symbolic terms, causing him enormous psychological and emotional damage from which he never recovers.

We have this flashback in episode 7 of the first season and later Lelouch threatens CC with suicide if she does not let him go to face his sister, Cornelia: "Until I met you, I was dead. A corpse that existed behind a false appearance of life, a life in which I did nothing real. I experienced the emotions of living day to day as if I were a zombie, with the feeling that I was dying little by little. And if I have to go back to that, then I prefer… [And he places his finger on the trigger of the gun]." The series connects those two scenes through a Dutch shot focused on Lelouch's gaze. The Dutch shot is a steep horizontal tilt shot that is used to indicate instability or danger or that something is not right. In this case, it warns us, on a superficial level, that Lelouch has felt dead since his last meeting with his father and that he has been fighting against that (unfounded) belief and these negative feelings and, on a deeper level, that this is a wrong and harmful belief of Lelouch's that has been poisoning his mental health ever since.

(It's sad to compare the two shots. Little Lelouch's eyes show deep pain. As the Bart and Lisa Simpson meme says: it's the exact frame in which his heart broke. Teenage Lelouch's eyes, on the other hand, are empty. A dead look.)

There are several moments in the story that give us an idea of ​​the young prince's struggle. For example, in the first Audio Drama, "The Uninvited Prince," a young Suzaku rescues Lelouch from some children who are beating him and reproaches him for not standing up for himself and disregarding the hospitality his home provides him and his sister, to which the child Lelouch replies, "I am here and I will live. If I live by my own strength, then I will never be dead again." Little Suzaku, of course, finds Lelouch's statement absurd and just thinks he is a strange child. But this response reflects the boy's insane desire to be self-sufficient (to the point of rejecting the help of others) in order to feel that he is alive (remember that Charles told him that he is alive because he has given him everything he has).

We also have a Picture Drama (I'm sorry I don't remember or have the exact number of the PD, but if it's part of the alternate universe, we can ignore it because they are different universes that shouldn't be mixed) with a monologue by a teenage Lelouch: "I've made a vow to use the strength I have to save Nunnally. That will be the proof that I exist in this world."

These words evoke in me a part of Lelouch's song "Back to Zero" (for the fantastic Code Black album in Ashford) in which our hero sings: "Oh! Can you hear me? This fight is how I know I'm alive."

That is, Lelouch tries to prove his father wrong by looking for a purpose to live that reaffirms his existence and, in principle, Lelouch finds it in Zero and the rebellion since they are the means he has to destroy Britannia and create a kind world for Nunnally. And that's why later on he abandons Ashford Academy, the Zero mask and his friends and gives in to depression (in the future, I'll talk about this moment in more depth in another analysis). Then his goals change and his motivations are reconsidered for a series of reasons and events that I won't stop to explain here, but I will point out that I find it interesting and moving how Lelouch goes from clinging to a purpose in life to giving up on it and dying, in order to fulfill his new goals, obtain results and atone for his sins (the magic of a powerful script and a narrative arc, Larry).

Also, all of this explains why Lelouch lost his temper in the season 1 finale when Suzaku yelled at him that his existence was a mistake and that he needed to be wiped off the face of the Earth. Not only did it bring back memories of Vietnam for Lelouch, it was another important person to him who was denying his existence. Suzaku's words hurt him because, as President Snow said in the Hunger Games trilogy, "the people we love the most are the ones who destroy us." I'm not sure if Suzaku knew what Charles told his friend since Lelouch never reveals his secrets to anyone (people around him, including his loved ones, find out on their own), but Suzaku certainly hit a sensitive button that mentally unsettled Lelouch.

Poor Lelouch. He just wanted his existence validated.

[nightghoul381]

Flops in front of you

Hello hi

I was going to request yoshimoto but I’m not gonna make you binge his route for this little thing

Clavis.

Clavis looking after his sick fiancée who can’t sleep or talk and she’s just absolutely miserable and frustrated and emotional because lack of sleep and stuff and 😩 please 🙏

Hi loveyyy!! I hope this kinda sorta helps, it's a lot shorter than I usually write but it seemed like a good stopping point sorta, so lemme know if you need something else or more or better lol

In Sickness~Clavis Lelouch x Reader Genre: Fluffy comfort WC: 711 CW: Descriptions of pain and illness

“My oh my, what sort of emergency are you experiencing my dear? Surely it’s something quite pressing for someone as ill as yourself to be out of bed. Especially after I had just tucked you in so snugly.”

Clavis’ golden eyes were narrowed, belying his troubled smirk, and showing his genuine frustration. You had thought he wouldn’t be back for a short while, so when you found yourself feeling very thirsty but the glass beside your bed drained, you had decided to amble over to the pitcher situated on the far side of the room where a servant had just refilled it.

“I… I was…thirsty…” You squeaked out, your voice little more than a pained, scratchy hiss.

Clavis’ face softened as he pulled you close to him, guiding you gently over to the bed where he sat you down before fetching the pitcher of water and bringing it over to your bedside.

“Here you are my beautiful fiancée. Nice cool water should help ease your throat,” Clavis coos, lifting the glass to your lips.

The cool liquid provides minimal relief, but swallowing just seems to make everything feel so much worse. You clench your eyes tightly, pushing the glass away and curling in on yourself. Focusing on trying to breathe through the pain, you end up feeling a warm hand stroking your hair and your back, providing just enough pressure to soothe you and you are able to relax just enough to open your eyes again.

You let your forehead fall forward, landing roughly against your lover’s shoulder, allowing yourself to be pulled fully into his lap as his strong arms wrap firmly around you.

This illness is miserable, every part of your body aches, breathing is so difficult, and you can’t seem to get enough rest to recover even the slightest bit. But all of that pales in comparison to the stabbing pain in your throat. Breathing makes it feel like needles are pricking you, and swallowing creates the most intense burning sensation. The worst part is when you’re unable to stop coughing. Your throat feels like it’s being torn apart, unable to catch a breath and your chest aches with the force of the cough.

And yet despite all of these awful symptoms, Clavis has remained steadfastly by your side. He only stepped away when you had fallen asleep or if something urgent came up. Although, now that he’d caught you out of bed, you doubt he’d let you out of his sight again until you were feeling completely healthy.

You close your eyes as he holds you, his warm hands move up to hold your head against his chest. The calm steady beating of his heart is soothing, the warmth radiating off his body relaxing you until you’re certain you’ll end up falling asleep if you don’t move.

You pull your head free, pushing yourself to sit straight and look Clavis in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” you start, a vicious cough ripping through you and causing a pitiful cry to spill out, tears streaming down your face at the unyielding pain.

“Hush now, no apologies necessary. The only thing I want you to focus on right now is resting.”

Clavis turns you to lay you back on the bed, sliding under the covers beside you and keeping you pulled close to him.

“Not to mention, you can rest assured that I shall not get bored, I will talk for the both of us. Allow me to tell you about all of the things I want to do when you’re recovered. And after that I shall regale you with tales of my latest traps. And if you’re still awake you may just be able to catch me going off on a tangent about everything I simply adore about you.”

The depths of love and concern you can hear in your fiance’s voice is like a balm to your illness addled mind. You once again allow your eyes to flutter closed, feeling a soft kiss pressed against your forehead as Clavis begins to tell you of his plans for the two of you to travel and try out a newly invented contraption that some nobleman had come up with.

Peace overcomes you as you finally feel your consciousness drift away.

Taglist: @judejazza @themiscarnival @candied-boys @aquagirl1978 @xbalayage @maries-gallery @randonauticrap @violettduchess

[lazyofficer]

HERE IS WHY SHIRLULU IS LEGITIMATE SHIP -PART 4

Warning: I'm not a writer and English is not my native language. So kindly bare it or DM me about it. Criticism is welcomed not hate.

Continuation

LELOUCH BEING BOYFRIEND CODED -

3. Lelouch's trust in Shirley -

Lelouch trusts Suzaku with Nunnally , He trusts CC with his thoughts (especially dark ones), He trusts Kallen to fight by his side and He trusts Shirley with his feelings.

Instances -

R2 Stage 13

a) Lelouch trust her enough to be vulnerable

" I don't want to lose anyone or anything"

At that point, Lelouch had lost Suzaku, Nunnally and Kallen. He never gotten a chance to deal with it.

He vented out his feelings to Shirley and this almost convinced Shirley that he is alone because, she has never seen Lelouch this way.

This was the first and last time, Lelouch had this vulnerable expression.

R2 Stage 12

b) Lelouch trusts her enough to express his softer side.

Lelouch is always surrounded by girls. It doesn't bother him when he looks at half naked girls. He is not affected when Milly teases him, yet he blushed when Shirley teased him.

Shirley brings out his softer side; he is comfortable to show that side.

P S- Shirley is pretty dense too, because the boy got defensive when accused of lying about his feelings. He talked about how it's not okay to kiss without feelings yet he readily closed his eyes for a kiss.

Girl , what more clues do you want ??

R2 Stage 11

c) Lelouch trusts her enough seek advice.

He knew about the Chinese couple, and he knew why the girls were opposing the political marriage, but what he couldn't understand was why it was so important.

He could have directly asked CC . Honestly, she was the ideal choice; she was his partner and knew the situation yet asked Shirley instead, who was completely unrelated and unaware of the situation.

He didn't worry about what Shirley would think of him if he asked "how to spilt a couple" In fact he nearly spilled the truth.

If Shirley hadn't called him , Lelouch would have struggled alone.

Lelouch does speak his mind with others, especially with CC, but he is not comfortable asking for help or advice.

ShirLulu Crumbs :

d) Lelouch trusts her enough not consider her as a potential threat. ( lol)

He is someone who is always on guard and observes everyone and everything around him.

 Lelouch knew Rivalz was snooping for gossip when Shirley and Lelouch were talking about shopping (date) and he could differentiate between the cops ( following him) from the civilians in mall (R2 Epi 3).

The Same Lelouch couldn't sense when Shirley was following him. ( he was a bit disturbed).

Maybe, this is why Villetta made Shirley follow him instead of directly following Lelouch. (he would lower his guard around her).

Lelouch is a logical person who thinks about all possibilities (he came up with 14 identities for Mao in a minute).  He never thought about the possibility of  Shirley shooting someone (R1 epi 14).

R1 stage 21

Shirley was chasing him for a conversation; he was busy and brushed it off. He never got suspicious about why Amnesia Shirley was so persistent to talk to him or about what she wanted to say.

But Lelouch got alert when Rivalz joked about him maintaining a note for house expenses, which turned out to be true (R2 Epi 3).

Lelouch has postive and high opinion about Shirley - she could never harm him or anyone else. This is why never cautious around her.

R2 stage 13

This might be totally my interpretation.

This one time Lelouch actually suspects Shirley ,but his doubt was more like. "What are you doing with Suzaku when you have feelings for me ?" . It didn't make sense for Shirley and Suzaku to hang out alone and his doubts shifts to Suzaku.

Lelouch really trusts her a lot and there is no doubt on Shirley's trust on Lelouch and trust is key element for a relationship.

[stackslip]

Always embarrassing to like smth people are saying sucks (and scary in case you watch it and end up agreeing with them) so that's why I'm on anon but I strongly disagree with the people saying Code Geass is fun but not good (paraphrased badly). It IS a fantastic show actually. Here's my very long essay about why you should watch it.

I got my brother interested in rgu by comparing it to Code Geass bc it's his favorite show. You'll be disappointed if you're expecting them to be actually similar, bc they're not really, but they have a similar tone in that it switches rapidly between Serious Plot and Touga Punches a Kangaroo. There's an episode where they have to chase a cat and that's what they do that day. The plot isn't all that similar and the comedy isn't all that similar but it's similarly inconsistent in swapping between the two. And I would argue that it doing this is thematically relevant, bc it's a double life show. Lelouch has his alter ego as Zero and when he's Zero everything feels different to when he's Lelouch. School life is just stupid in comparison, and he's constantly frustrated by it. His school life is pretty much just a humiliating liability, but he can't easily abandon it, so he just has to live with the fact that in between fighting in giant robots he has go to pizza parties (sponsored by Pizza Hut tee em) and whoops! It's Valentine's Day so everyone in the school has to wear heart hats and if a girl knocks off his hat they get to kiss him!!! And he's forced to take that seriously even though he knows how dumb it is and would much rather be commanding robots.

Now look. I do have to warn you. There is a part where he says if he wins the revolution he's gonna make the United States of Japan. That part isn't good. I want you to know I know that part is bad. The politics of this show are Not Always Great. HOWEVER. When I was watching, the main thing that compelled me politically about it was the contrast between Suzaku as the person who wants to Change Things From the Inside vs Lelouch who wants to actually just shoot the people who are oppressing you. Suzaku sucks and the show knows it and I like the show knowing it.

I'm not gonna argue this is a show with generally good politics, but it's not a show that actually cares a whole lot about, like, how a country should be run. The bad guys say fascist shit about like the strong ruling over the weak and the natural order, and they're racist against Japanese people, and the good guys want. I dunno, Freedom. Democracy. United States of Japan. They're bad guys and good guys. That's not what the show is about. The show is about the specific motivations of our important characters. Lelouch talks about wanting Japan to be free or whatever but he makes it very clear from the beginning that the Only thing he Actually cares about is creating a world where his little sister can be happy. And later on you find out what the evil emperor guy is trying to do too (although it's kinda more abstract and weird. Arguably another point of comparison between this and rgu, when it cares more about themes than about telling you What's Actually Happening). I guess I shouldn't act like the political positions of the two sides are irrelevant, but I really don't think it's the focus. Lelouch's politics are My Sister and secondarily I suppose Free Japan if I have time. Suzaku's politics are Free Japan but also you have to be niceys to the government and do what they say bc they're in charge :). The freedom fighters' politics are Free Japan. The Brittanian's politics are We Do What We Want. It's not gonna be a realistic depiction of a good revolution bc the writers didn't know anything about those.

And here I suppose I have to say that I last watched it probably years ago when my politics were worse, so maybe the politics are generally worse than I remember. But my point is you should treat the specific politics stuff like you treat the chess stuff. No one in the writers' room knew how to play chess. They probably didn't bother to watch someone play chess before writing it. When Lelouch says you should move your king first bc "how can a king expect his subjects to lead if he stays back and does nothing" laugh at it and take it as a thematic statement about Lelouch's beliefs. When he says United States of Japan laugh at it and. Well I suppose that one isn't even thematic. You see what I mean though.

Another warning is that there's a specific Very Important plot point that doesn't really make sense and feels really dumb and cheap. That specific thing genuinely does undermine a lot of the show, because it happens kinda suddenly and is very serious and the whole rest of the show is majorly impacted by it and it's very difficult to ignore that that Doesn't Make Sense At All. And you're supposed to be really upset and like. It just doesn't make sense. The second time I watched it it didn't feel as egregious as the first time but the first time I think I almost stopped watching. My advice is to do your best to pretend it makes sense bc I think the results of that thing are actually interesting.

Generally, I think that's the important thing to remember actually. Maybe that's my thesis. Of the essay. Yeah, that sounds smart. Code Geass is a show that doesn't always make total sense, and even when it mostly makes sense it's frequently Really Dumb, so like I can see why people might come away with the impression that it's just a silly nothing show where robots fight and he says United States of Japan. But genuinely I think there's a lot to get from it thematically if you can take it just seriously enough to see what it's trying to do.

There's more I kinda wanna say but I think I need to text my mom back and I can't save asks as drafts. Um um last two points, first, how much you like the show probably depends at least a little on your tolerance for Anime Geniuses knowing everything and pulling bullshit, I don't think Lelouch is as bad in that department as Light Yagami but smth to consider. And second don't watch the movies. The movies suck.

honestly anon i'm genuinely charmed by your sheer passion for this. it feels like it's mirroring me when i defend my fave flawed media including me with fma 03 tbh. like YES it sucks the politics suck but IT IS compelling. that's the kind of shit i enjoy most, ngl. you've made your case convincingly. i think what i really hate is when people claim something is The Most Perfect Thing Ever and then you watch it and it's dogshit in a number of ways that people absolutely refuse to acknowledge and definitely some code geass fans are Like That but also your talking about it kinda echoes how some friends i trust have been talking about it too. i think i'm still gonna go in with low expectations if/when i do watch it, mostly bc that allows me to be pleasantly surprised by something the series DOES do well.

also i grew up on 2000s shounen and seinen. my tolerance for anime bullshit is extremely high as long as i'm into what it's doing thematically or character wise tbh

[greywitch]

ONLY LOVE CAN HURT LIKE THIS

C.C. idled beneath the tower as Kallen excused herself to use the bathroom. Her words lingered long after her footsteps and silhouette faded into the desert shadows. You sure you haven't made a habit of putting things off after living so long?

As she mulled over the response she never gave, the clanging of a metallic ladder--growing louder--interrupted her thoughts. She glanced over just in time to see Suzaku jump off the last two rungs onto the packed dirt, looking surprised.

"I have to say, C.C., I never thought I'd see you again."

C.C. smiled wryly. "Well, did you get everything off your chest?"

Suzaku had calmed considerably since they'd left the prison. If she had any concerns that he'd continue where he left off, they'd all but disappeared when she saw the softness with which he'd gazed upon Zero's unmasked face. The boy had already forgiven him--but that didn't necessarily extend to herself.

"I think so. Most of it anyway."

Suzaku still wasn't in the best shape, and it showed in the slow sauntering walk as he closed the distance between them. C.C. cast her gaze upward and caught the faint glow of Lelouch's PC as he paced and schemed. Even if she did want to speak to him, it would have to wait.

"What about you?"

C.C. blinked. Suzaku was a few steps away from her now, gazing at her curiously. "You must want to talk to him, after all the trouble you went through."

Assaulted by one and now the other. C.C. suppressed her chagrin as she offered Suzaku the same answer she'd given Kallen--silence. She turned toward the light, the festivities and familiar faces, in a clear gesture of disinterest.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Suzaku continued.

"About what?" C.C. was being difficult on purpose. Her hand came up to twirl her fingers in the ends of her hair as she watched Suzaku shake his head in her periphery.

"Come on. We're past that, aren't we? Shirley knew; so did Anya and Jeremiah, I heard." A pause. Suzaku lifted his head as if to check that Lelouch was still there, hadn't disappeared into the ether as he'd implied he could. "You could have told me."

Should have, seemed to be the unspoken sentiment. Yes, perhaps she should have, but she didn't because C.C. was a selfish creature who wasn't beholden to anyone.

"Could I?" she asked. She swung her head back toward him and held his inquisitive stare. Unlike the anger with which he'd initially greeted Lelouch, all she could see now was confusion and--perhaps--disappointment or something similar. "You thought you killed your best friend. And you did."

Suzaku had come to accept his actions long ago. He had grown; C.C. could see it though she could also see his jaw tighten and his body stiffen. "Lelouch was dead. There was nothing to tell. You could say it was a fool's errand."

Hopeless. C.C. was used to hopelessness and Sisyphean tasks. She had played many roles over the years, chameleon in nature, so it was not the physical demands of being Lelouch's caretaker that had worn on her. It was the fear. Fear only existed where there was hope. C.C. had no guarantees, not even Lelouch's blessing. Lelouch had never asked to live; C.C. had forced it upon him just as she had once bestowed him Geass in the hopes of ending her own meaningless existence. She had to endure this alone; it was her penance.

"You're just like him sometimes, you know. Don't know when to ask for help."

That made C.C. laugh. The light but somber breeze of her chuckle sat on the otherwise still air between them like a question followed by another: "Would you have helped me?"

Suzaku tilted his head to the side, thoughtful. His gaze shifted to the ground, the hint of a frown pulling at his brow. In the state that he was in immediately after the Zero Requiem, C.C. doubted he would have been capable of anything. Had he come to understand himself better in the intervening year?

"I don't know," he finally answered. "But I'm glad he's alive. So--thank you for that."

C.C. could count on one hand how many times she'd been thanked in the past century. Perhaps Suzaku was mocking her, but one look at his face and she could tell he was being genuine. "I didn't do it for you."

"I know. But still." Another beat of silence passed. Suzaku shifted his weight and pointed toward the party. As C.C. followed the direction of his finger, she caught Kallen having returned from her bathroom break now mingling with a crowd of Ohgi and other Black Knight members. "I'm going to get a drink. Want one? Looks like he's going to be up there for a while. And maybe you can tell me more about how he got here in the meantime."

C.C. was quiet as she considered his offer, feeling in his words a familiar strain of loneliness. It was a strange thing to be alone in a crowd. For a while, C.C. had sought solace in the Geass Order, and then Marianne. But everything was ephemeral, nothing lasted. Suzaku had forgiven her, it seemed, but had Lelouch?

Did Lelouch hate her? That question she'd often asked herself in the last moments of Zero Requiem now floated up in her mind again like ocean waste washing ashore. Well, it didn't matter. She had done this for herself, after all, her clinging to a promise he had made to her out of a moment of desperation. No one wanted to be alone, and C.C. was no exception. But Lelouch, at least, wasn't alone. He had returned to where he belonged, his friends and family, and it was time that C.C. did as well. Seeing him alive and happy was enough for her.

She leaned off the steel beam supporting her and walked toward her other once co-conspirator.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, content to pretend for the moment that she belonged in this scene of celebration and reunion.

[teethoftheeditor3]

Fav anime?

A very difficult question my friend, and one that I don't have a definitive answer for. I haven't made my list of things I want to talk about yet because it's gonna be long, but anything I've drawn is from something I love.

I can give you a few of my favourites, and I'm definitely going to both leave out and forget a lot of them. And I don't want to give spoilers either, so the descriptions will be short. For the record, most of these I recommend reading if you can, though if you can only watch them then I understand. Apologies for the sloppy grammar.

In no particular order:

Akudama Drive - a cyberpunk heist plot (anime original)

The Ones Within - a thriller/mystery type thing

The Eminence in Shadow - good goofy fun

Akame Ga Kill - a classic revolution with a twist (I haven't read this but I plan to, the manga is apparently better than the show)

No Game No Life - no war, only war games

Log Horizon - The best isekai ever. really well written and worldbuilt but the author is mildly sexist and was arrested for tax fraud.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (Season 1) - Isekai, I've only seen the first season, but i read the lightnovels

Hellsing - a vampire that hunts other abominations

Hellsing Ultimate - the later adaptation of Hellsing that actually follows the manga because they actually had the manga to follow

Horimiya - cute romcom

Infinite Dendrogram - a very interesting premise, executed slightly above average

Charlotte - by Jun Maeda, if you know that name that's enough to know if you'll like it, very sad

Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion. Do not give the movie and newer stuff the time of day. the story was complete at the end of season two where it was intended to end.

Trigun - a western

Cowboy Bebop - wikipedia calls it a neo-noir space western. and yeah, that's accurate

Yu-yu Hakusho - one of the first shounen

Mirai Nikki/The Future Diary - what if your diary started making entries for tomorrow

Overlord - evil d&d isekai

Yu-Gi-Oh - a card game replaced all other everything

Yu-Gi-Oh GX - card game highschool

Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES

Psycho-Pass - a crime/thriller

Tokyo Ghoul - basically vampires, very edgy

Assassination Classroom - the title kinda says it all

Terror in Resonance/Zankyu no Terror - thriller, difficult material that probably requires a trigger warning. it was removed from my streaming site before i could finish it. Beautiful music, look up the motorcycle scene

B: The Beginning - supernatural crime drama/police procedural, i need to watch season 2

Death Note - you know what that is

Hunter x Hunter - a very fun shounen with a cool power system

Violet Evergarden - very sad

Re:Zero - Return by death isekai

Jujutsu Kaisen - season one is amazing, i read the manga instead of season two so i can't attest to that

Haikyuu - volleyball

Kuroko no Basket/Kuroko's Basketball - What if basketball had naruto eye powers

Tower of God - based on the webtoon, the anime is really good

Mushoku Tensei - isekai with really good worldbuilding, but a main character and plot that are not for the faint of heart

In the Land of Leadale - cozy isekai

Remake Our Life - guy gets the chance to redo his life... but time travel has consequences

This very long list is just for anime which I have seen. if I were to open the field to books that have gotten an anime you'd have things like

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Chillin' in another world with level 2 super cheat powers

Berserk of Gluttony

I'm In Love With the Villainess

The Detective is Already Dead (read this one the anime is apparently terrible)

Solo Leveling

There are probably a whole bunch more too that I can't remember. It's been almost 5 years since I pretty much stopped watching anime altogether in favour of reading the original novels or manga. This list is by no means comprehensive and there are a number of things I left off because I like them but they aren't really... good. Like Seirei Gensouki.

[natsuki208]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Happy Birthday to the suicidal maniac Man of Freedom! 🗝 🦅

-

This makes this the greatest opportunity to talk about how much I despise him in S4, and how this version of Eren (the one in this art) is whom I would fully prefer.

First, I was never the type of person who disliked Eren from the start: it’s understandable for him to be so hot tempered because he literally watched his mom get eaten right in front of him. I admired his determination to become a scout and fur fill his dream to see the outside world with his closest friends.

Surely he’s not perfect either, for he does come off as whiny and naive in the beginning, but in the next two seasons I can really feel his growth especially after Historia knocked some sense back into him. I was really rooting for him and the others to achieve their goals in the end…

But that’s when everything went downhill as soon as he found out about Marley. It’s like he became a completely different person, like unrecognisable, and does things I thought he would never do!

Greatest anime protagonist of all time?! Please. What’s there to like about an emotionless, cold-hearted and unwatchable piece of sh*t who’s a shell of his former self? Yes, I wanted to see Eren’s character develops further, but not like this. He’s not Light Yagami and he’s not Lelouch Vi Britannia either.

(btw I’m guessing Isayama wanted to do a Code Geass like ending only not nearly as good)

Finally, if he saw memories of his actions in the future, than why didn’t he… I don’t know, TELL ANY OF HIS FRIENDS ABOUT IT?! Surely he trusts Mikasa and Armin enough to understand him, he’s known them for years and they’d do anything to help him. Right? Or did kissing Historia’s hand really messed up his way of thinking? And don’t even get me STARTED on the whole truth behind his mother’s death ‘cause it was the stupidest ‘plot twist’ in the whole story!

(I’m not a fan of ‘set in stone’ time travel stories)

In conclusion, this birthday art is dedicated to the old Eren who was determined in his dream and kind to his friends and what things could’ve been if kept those qualities of himself and still stayed motivated to free the world from their enemies.

The S4 Eren we know can go rot in hell just like Armin said.

[draceempressa]

People claimed Aspros is merely cheap copy of Saga.

nah, they are different fundamentally, despite some elements . Degel also have events that mirror Hyoga but no one says he^s hyoga copy( even in writing) how I respect fate fandom for never mistaking nero claudius for altria pendragon, coomers they are. the amount aspros got mistaken for saga? disgusting.

Saga defines himself as a public/athena's servant, and his mental issues from his insecurity of his inability to kill his emotions to be a dutiful knight and NOT be his own person,.as if for him, to be himself is a sin, and we know it is imposible to un-person yourself, so he breaks. And he didn't learn better from that, considering what we see in both episode g and saintia sho.

Aspros defines himself as " big brother" , that is, both the good and the bad of being firstborn coded, at first, he was the knightly kind of big brother, think of ichigo kurosaki's quote " big brothers born first to protect the younger ones who born later" which is what base Aspros live for, he lived to protect Defteros. He already has his doubts before Youma corrupted him, that is, once Defteros grow stronger, he ask himself , " if Defteros become stronger, that he can protect himself, will I still be needed? what would become of my identity? " Then after Youma corrupted him he become the negative kind of big brother, that is, the entitled/ bully one, who thinks " i am born first so it's natural if I own you/ stronger than you" .but point is, no matter how Youma tried to corrupt him, from "good" to "evil", Aspros will continue to identify himself as the "big brother". Youma couldn't take out the firstborn identity from Aspros, led him to think he's only child coded, nope, he is firstborn coded first before anything else, even before he' the Gemini Saint, before he's human even.

Even if he's not corrupted , Aspros will want power not for the heck of it, but as means to protect Defteros, that he even spelled it " I will be strong for both of us so no one can mistreat you ever again" .

Defteros may not be some kind of little sister younger than 17 and smaller than 160 cm,( he's 27 yo who is 190 cm instead) but it doesn't change the idea he has vibe similar to those little girls, that is, adored big brother, and with cunning big brothers who is willing to get their hands dirty, or even destroy the ugly world so little sister can stay " pure" in a gilded cage, isolated from the ugliness of the world. ( think lelouch or ayato) . while Shun is " damsel little sibling" , Defteros is " ISOLATED damsel little sibling " ( think rapunzel). Think Akio Ohtori or Kaname Kuran. Aspros is THOSE kind of big brothers, yes, THAT implication included.

Sure, later he learned power is not what he, or Defteros wanted, Defteros reminded him what they truly wanted, isolated from the world, away from prejudiced people.

Just like Aspros strongly identify himself as the firstborn, Defteros also strongly identify himself as the secondborn, even after Aspros's death, along with the obedience of the secondborn to the older one.

To be fair, he strongly believed they will be reunited so he prepare everything for Aspros's return, ( ironically of all people he parallels Hypnos here, but that's another discussion for later) Lost in translation, but Defteros only refer to the corrupted Aspros by name, he consistently talked about the original Aspros whom he loved and loved him back by brother, not by name. It also goes both ways with Aspros, once he got corrupted, he refer to Defteros by name, not calling him brother.

If he want to, Defteros could've claimed the Gemini seat proper, let him be known for it. If he want to. The thing is, he does not want to, continue to identify himself as the second, continue to pretend as the demon of kanon island, not letting people know he's the gemini saint, even developing memory erasing skill because he wanted to return the Gemini seat/cloth to Aspros.

Kanon is an afterthought, as Kurumada meant to display the duality of gemini with Saga alone, with his split personality, when Aspros is written with Defteros as complementing contrast. Academical intelligence and emotional intelligence. The beautiful snow white' evil queen who did not get what she wants and the dirty cinderella who got the respect she deserved at the end, despite the initial short time to be princess . the metaphorical rose thorns who is looking for the best soil to support it and the literal lava who cools down into fertile soil for the rose to grow on, knight who have seen the world vs isolated damsel, the explicitly sexy shirtless defteros and aspros's sensual, lowkey effeminate body language, etc..

To further emphasize the way they are mutually influenced by each other, they both met another set of siblings in their gaidens. Power hungry Ursula who killed her own father, and the brainwashed but once loving Kokkalo are both parallels to Aspros, when the timid, yet surprisingly powerful Chris, who refused the call, rejecting everything she could get had she accepted her role as the Cetus Specter-immortality, power of both combat and social influence, that all she wanted is to get along with Ursula, to forgive her and loved her always, and the insanely devoted Ema, who would throw away his own life for Kokkalo, yearning for the Kokkalo in his memory, is another parallel to Defteros. The way Chris says she wants nothing but to mend her relationship with Ursula? Aspros know Defteros have the same sentiment. And in his eyes, Defteros is as small , frail and timid as Chris. In turn, Defteros always know Ema's insane devotion is what himself would've done , but like Ema, Defteros knows better it's not the real Aspros, that there is another force that controlled his brother that he could destory, to save his big brother from. The parallels are to let them say what they would say to each other with all the projection, without actually saying it to the real person.

Saga and Kanon both mind their own business, when aspros and defteros actively stalks each other,

manipulates others in order to reach each other (other than entirety of defteros gaiden happens because of Aspros, remember that Defteros did this to Dohko in mainline LC) Defteros ultimately is the better one on one manipulator, and selfish he was, unlike kanon, his goal is much less destructive and grandiose , that he would minimize damage if he can.

and are defined by each other, molded, defined, and motivated by each other, and they are happy by that, to stick with each other, that ant the end, they are together and that's what they wanted. Saga and Kanon both wanted to change the world and that's exactly why they don't get it, Aspros/Defteros only want each other and that's why they get it, even if after they're both dead.

Both are also showing disdain to Sisyphus' decision to fight for the people of the future. Aspros calling Sisyphus useless to his face, when Defteros backtalks him at his very death . Like saying "this is what you get for fighting for the insignifact weaklings instead of your family, you fool! not even goldies can save everyone, so focus to your inner circle!". Sisyphus was once greatly adored Ilias like Defteros did, the difference is that eventually Sisyphus let gof of Ilias when Defteros continue to cling to Aspros. And that's unfathomable to the twins, with how mutually obsessed they are to each other, the idea of giving up your brother is incomprehensible to them . It's as if Sisyphus had hanahaki for Ilias, the twins would rather see him die because of it, not because they hate him they wanted him to die, but they wanted him to cling to Ilias they way they did to each other. The way Sisyphus isn't as obsessed as them, the way Sisyphus is willing to let go of Ilias, is seen as a form of stupidity or something repulsive to the twins.

Hasgard and Sisyphus both consider Aspros their inner circle, but Aspros was the one who rejects them. He refuse to understand the strength of the bond between Hasgard and his kids are genuine without blood ties, as much he refuses to accept why Sisyphus let Ilias go.

They're already that apathetic even as children, mind you.

Aspros make it clear he'd throw people under the bus for Defteros, he HAS to be a gold saint proper to get the power he needs to protecr Defteros and willing to do so at the cost of innocent lives since he's prepubescent boy. He expects Sisyphus to have the same obedience and passiveness Defteros had, and it pisses him so Sisyphus doesn't have it.

Another good thing that other than he's determined, that forget losing limbs, even death won't stop him, unlike saga who is suicidal and give in to his weakest moment and have a lot of angsting . Aspros also is a hard worker , a perfectionist, and looking down on those who are not.

Aspros/Defteros are the Gemini twins with the most blatant physical differences, not only there's the skin tone, but also, Defteros is larger (190 cm/90kg when Aspros is 188 cm/83 kg)

yet, they are the one who keep saying they are each other's mirror images, other halves of one full being. Aspros did think so at first, saying they are one,

but then after being corrupted, his mind was thinking he's the "original" when Defteros is his "replica", two separate beings, made separately, when Defteros thinks they're two halves of one entity instead. Clearly, the narrative shows Defteros is the one proved right with that. Aspros literally means white. And Defteros' technique literally is BLACK eruption. I was thinking of Pokemon Black White here, but inverted. Aspros is the ideal that with enough hard work, they can finally be together undisturbed, Defteros is the bitter truth that only beyond the grave they can be together.

When zodiacs is compared/ connected with tarot, Gemini corresponds with The Lovers. Aspros/ Defteros are written with this fact in mind, that they display both upright and reversed meaning of the card. The upright meaning is mutual love, harmony, correct choices, trials overcomed, values aligned, soulmates/unions, deep trust. reversed meanings is disharmony, misaligned values, bad choices resulted from recklessness and indecisiveness alike, conflict, detachment, distrust,

At first, they truly care about each other, trusting each other, with mutual goal of overcoming the idea of gemini cannot be together. Then Aspros is corrupted and changed his values, his views, and growing more detached . Defteros knows something is wrong , he keeps distrusting Aspros even if lowkey. As Asmita puts it, things happened not only because Aspros is too impatient and reckless , but also because Defteros is too indecisive to stop him. After Asmita's calls out, Defteros realizes that he is Aspros' demsel no longer and it's time for him to act, that is, to be the one who saved Aspros after Aspros saved him in the years before. he's literally that "i can fix him " character stereotype towards Aspros. Except he actually succeed. Then after their fight they literally become one, and Aspros gloating they really are soulmates.

Look at these images to see how suggestive they are/how bad they desire each other. ( in case it's not clear, Aspros is stepping on Defteros's head here, effectively pegging him, as you can see Awakening repeat the scene without the sitting part but you get it )

tldr: Saga would die for the world itself. Aspros , even in his best day, would destroy the world so that people can not shittalk defteros anymore. alternatively, you can talk about saga without kanon but you can't talk about aspros without defteros

here's some more if u wanna read more about aspros defteros https://at.tumblr.com/draceempressa/we-know-in-universe-aspros-treat-defteros-as-if/arj2fjdghkwn

also you when reading this essay probably:

[wanderersrest]

Wanderer's Rest Presents: An Abbreviated History of Mecha

So... I decided today that I'm going to start writing a series of posts based on the history of mecha. Not just mecha anime, but mecha as a concept in fiction. See, it should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I love mecha. I am also aware that there are a lot of misinformed takes fueled by halfwits like Gigguk that the genre is "dead," and while I am aware that mecha as a genre is not the biggest genre in 2024 as it was in the 80's or the 90's, I do know that the idea that the genre is "dead" is, like Gigguk's podcast and Gigguk himself, trash.

What I aim to do with this series is highlight the rather long history of the genre, as mecha is about as old as modern manga. This is inspired by the fact that the mecha genre is both really old and really massive. And in case you're wondering, this is inspired by Professor Otaku's complete history of mecha series. There are just a couple of differences:

Unlike Professor Otaku, I like G Gundam. That means that I'm a cool person and definitely not petty.

Also unlike Professor Otaku, I want to give the series that I mention in these posts a fair shake, even if I don't like them. I'm not going to watch every series mention here (as even watching every series I plan on listing would be insanity), but I do want people to be aware that they exist.

As hinted at above, I don't plan on covering every single series out there. The sheer amount of just mecha anime is already too much for one person to watch through.

Okay That's Cool, Wanderer. But What's a Mecha?

Good question, actually. Pop culture often defines mecha as being giant robots that are usually piloted by someone. And while that is correct, it is still a narrow definition. It cuts out a lot of influential works that don't quite fit the mold. Things like Astro Boy, Space Battleship Yamato, and Magic Knight Rayearth are series that are worth talking about when it comes to mecha even if they don't quite fit right in with the rest of the canon (and from here on out, I will be saying canon as opposed to genre due to the fact that canon can mean "a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine"). And to me, those series are just as worth mentioning as things like Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and Mobile Suit Gundam. And in case you're wondering, yes, I will venture a little bit into video games and tabletop games. So sit tight Battletech fans, I'll eventually get to you.

Some Transparency Required

I do think, before I start working on this series proper, I should be transparent about things. After all, I am human. I have my own preferences and biases, and I feel it would be disingenuous of me to not disclose this before I started running through all of these shows. For transparency's sake, I will disclose the biases I know that I have. I don't know if I will cover every single one, but I will certainly try to.

My favorite mecha series are Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Patlabor, The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Gun x Sword among others.

My least favorite mecha series are New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (both the TV series and Endless Waltz), 86: Eighty Six (no 86 fans, your series isn't special because it's gritty. Iron-Blooded Orphans did everything you were doing but better IMO), and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Mostly thanks to the second season).

Due to how fans often use the series as a means of talking down Japanese-styled mecha, I may have a tendency to be a bit more dismissive towards Battletech.

I actually prefer Prince of Darkness over the original Martian Successor Nadesico. As for GaoGaiGar, I prefer the original series over GaoGaiGar FINAL. I do like regular Nadesico and GGG FINAL as well though, just not as much. This shouldn't be surprising if people remember that this is similar to my tastes relating to Patlabor.

I have not watched Gundam SEED. So if you're expecting me to dunk on it, I probably won't. Likewise, if you're expecting me to say that it's underrated... I also won't say that.

Likewise, I haven't watched a single Ryousuke Takahashi mecha series, nor have I watched either Macross or Giant Robo. I'll get to it one day though, I promise.

I love the idea that Attack on Titan and Ratatouille are mecha shows.

Due to my past of being a contrarian teenager as well as dipshits on Reddit constantly overhyping everything, I tend to be averse to the more popular shows.

I'm also more skeptical of the "Not Like the Other Girl" shows like Evangelion, Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, and 86.

There is a non-zero chance that I will sneak Gintama into this somehow.

But those should be most of my biases out of the way. I hope you'll join me on this long journey. If you're worried about my Gintama post, don't be. I'm still working on it, but I do think it's going to be a bit different from the rest of my posts.

[marxism-lelouchism]

Can I ask something from Code Geass? What do you think are Lelouch and Suzaku’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Sorry if you've answered these questions before.....

i'm delighted you asked! always love talking about these guys :) full response under the read more because i ended up writing an essay lol

i think what makes lelouch and suzaku such compelling characters to me are their contradictions and complexity. i resonated immediately and especially with lelouch's character so i'm obviously biased towards many of his traits but i like how his aloof, intellectual front masks someone who cares deeply, emotionally about the people he loves. he's thoughtful, kind, and has a strong sense of justice (or perhaps more accurately revenge), and yet he's also capable of cold, calculated cruelty. he does everything in the name of a better world for his sister but he never once asks nunnally if she wanted him to lie, deceive, and kill for her. he claims to be a "knight of justice" but his desire to destroy britannia is not rooted in anti-imperialist values but rather the personal injustices he, his sister, and his best friend experienced. (i do think he has some genuine principles, they're just not his primary motivation.) in a story about resisting imperialism and colonialism, he is a white ex-prince whose power is the ability to force people to bend to his will. in many ways, lelouch is still the 10 year old boy whose world was ripped from under him, first with his mother's assassination and his sister's disabling, then with the invasion of japan, and he never grew past that, desperate for a sense of control over his life. his greatest strength is his love for his friends and family, and his greatest weakness is that he forces that love, his own concept of love, onto them. that he recognizes he must die for his loved ones to see a better world—and that he will not see that world with them—speaks to the strength of his resolve and is an incredibly satisfying, and tragic, ending to his character arc.

suzaku, similarly, is a hypocrite. i never disliked his character (unlike many fans who hate him for all the wrong reasons), but it did take me a while to really warm up to him and appreciate his role in the story and as a foil to lelouch. as the son of japan's last prime minister who became a soldier in the force occupying his own country, suzaku's biggest weakness is his stubbornness in clinging onto liberal, reformist ideals of change. it's easy to dismiss this as naivety or ignorance (he is the 17 year old son of a politician, born into an upper class family after all), but i think it's much more interesting to think of suzaku's liberalism as a deeply repressed recognition of how destructive and irredeemable the system he's trying to "change from within" is. i think, deep down, he must know that being a cog in the machine means that the machine will tear him apart—and he wants that. he says he wants the fighting to stop, the war to end (and yes, i also do believe that is a genuine desire to a degree), but what he really wants is to die, a punishment for killing his father and thereby surrendering a whole country to exploitation and degradation. suzaku, too, has a good heart (in any other story he would be the protagonist!), but it's often buried by a tremendous amount of guilt and self-hatred. his character development especially in season 2 is really interesting to watch. he turns some of that hatred outward, onto zero, and in the process he grapples with the question of if he's really much different from that which he hates. whenever i want to be harsh to suzaku i remember he was just a boy when his country was destroyed overnight and that he spent seven, very lonely years growing up in the jaws of a system that certainly did not show him much mercy.

as for what i love about their dynamic...short answer is probably everything LOL. the long answer is that they are really excellent narrative foils to the extent that their relationship, its ups and downs, is the primarily driving force of code geass. i've already mentioned how their contradictions mirror each other and i personally love how their conflict draws out a deeper political question of reform vs revolution. but despite all their differences, they work really well together. they complement each other's strengths, cover for each other's weaknesses, "there's nothing lelouch and i can't do together". there is a deep amount of respect and implicit trust they have for each other. they have their own secret codes and signs! their relationship and its development feels very real, intense, and fleshed out to a degree i don't feel like many other fictional relationships achieve. they go through/put each other through a lot in those 50 episodes. the miscommunication, betrayals, backstabbing, selling out, deception, and yet also genuine friendship, understanding, and reconciliation. it works and feels very believable. they start on opposite sides at the beginning of the story and you can see how they slowly come to understand each other and eventually meet in the middle. taking over the britannian empire to destroy it from within is their final compromise. it's a harebrained (politically implausible in the real world) scheme that only worked because they worked together.

i love how they are the one person who truly understands the other, who has seen the good, bad, and downright reprehensible. there are so many sides to lelouch, and suzaku is the one character who has seen them all. lelouch who thinks of suzaku as "my first friend and worst enemy", and suzaku who thinks of lelouch as "my worst friend and first enemy". there are many reasons why their relationship should be unequal, marred by the obvious power differences between a white colonizer and japanese colonial subject (an imbalance they're quick to recognize in their first meeting when suzaku beats up the trespasser in his home), and yet in their personal relationship, they are equals. lelouch goes through great pains to respect suzaku's free will and avoid using his geass on him, and even when he does geass him, the order isn't to force suzaku to listen to him but instead to live. when they become emperor and knight, it's clear that their relationship isn't one of lord and servant but instead of co-conspirators. "emperor" and "knight" are just roles they're playing. suzaku kneels before lelouch not because he's the emperor's knight but to pay respect to lelouch's resolve. they play many roles throughout the story, classmates, civilian and pilot, terrorist and soldier, emperor and knight, but at the end of the day they are just lelouch and suzaku to each other. despite, or because of, everything they've been through, lelouch still leans on suzaku as he dies and suzaku still sheds tears for him.

[dont-look-up-at-the-sky]

Something I find amusing about C.C. & Lelouch's relationship (spoiler: it's not amusing at all) As a premise, despite everything I'm going to say, CluClu is my otp and will ever be, so this is not intended as a hate shitpost, even if who doesn't like them as a couple is also absolutely welcome to give their take. Furthermore, the topic of my discourse is just their relationship regardless you see it as romantic or not.

Now, to get to the matter, let's take a look first at the other two girls. I've always felt that Lelouch relationship with Shirley and Kallen were somewhat unbalanced, since they clearly had deep, sincere feelings towards him, but as much as he reciprocated them (as friends or almost-lover it doesn't matter here), it's always been them to give the strongest evidence of these feelings. He obviously cared a lot about both, and if I'm being honest I think that Shirley could have been his first love, but he only shows how much important they are to him under dramatic circumstances or if solicited, in response to some showing of "affection" from their part.

In Shirley's case, when he kisses her back after her father's death, when he wipes off her memories, when he blushes because he was expecting her to kiss him and then, sadly, when she dies. As for Kallen, the strongest example that comes to mind to me is when he says "you have to live" after he lied so that she didn't sacrifice her life for him. (I won't take into consideration when he made a move on her, for the following reasons: because he was at his lowest point and was only looking for something to numb himself, sex was the same as drugs at that time, no less self-destructive, and definitely not an act of love; moreover, because he didn't show her any affection AT ALL—what he said to her was straight up insulting and degrading (I state this as a matter of fact, but I'm not judging him here, I could talk about this another time), not something I would proudly bring as a proof of his feelings for her. Lastly, because my point now it's not to demonstrate which girl he had ROMANTIC feelings for.)

Then we have C.C. The only one among the three whose feelings for him were ambiguous to say the least. For the most part of the story, she manipulated and used him for her purposes by encouraging him towards the path that was most convenient for her. She knew from the start the truth about his mother, she watched him struggle and never said a word because that could have made him falter in his determination. She was aware of Charles plans, which she had been complicit with in the past, and also that he had a geass, but never shared these informations with Lelouch, again because that could damage her aim. She was the person who more than anyone else saw how much he was suffering, and I believe she started to care about him even early on the story, but still this wasn't enough to stop her.

Obviously she was conflicted, she often looks torn between what she wants to gain from him and a genuine feeling that she can't allow herself to have. Also, we could argue that, had she really wanted to go all the way with her plan, she could have done so already by trying to kill him, in order to push him to accept the code as the nun did with her (we know from Charles and V.V. that's not necessary to wait for the geass to evolve in both eyes). But she never does this. Deep inside she's not as selfish as she pretends and would like to be, and at a closer look it's lecit to wonder if at some point her decision to stay at his side wasn't for her purposes anymore, even if that was what she kept telling herself—but this doesn't make her actions towards Lelouch any less wrong, any less selfish and manipulative.

As I stated before, among the three C.C. is the only one who, even if she truly had feelings for him, never prioritised them over herself. Even the scene where she comforts him after Euphemia's death is ambiguous, since those words and that gesture came from a person who was taking advantage of him all along.

What about Lelouch though? To me it's always been even shocking how open his feelings for her were (whether you intend them as romantic or not, again, it doesn't matter!). We know him as a person who always acts quite cold (even if he's not), but then we have "I don't know why snow is white, but I think it's beautiful", "If you're a witch then I shall become a warlock", "I promise you the smile you never had", even that snarky "I cannot be friends with a goddess, I've made a contract with the devil". He worries that she could get hurt or die even if he knows she's immortal. To not speak about how he allows himself to be vulnerable in front of her and just her.

So, to refer to the title, what I find "amusing" is how the girl he shows most openly his feelings for is exactly the one who apparently reciprocate less and, for a fact, the one whose reasons for being at his side have always been not totally genuine.

That could open another matter of analisys which I find interesting about Lelouch, namely how his relationship with Suzaku is an ulteriore example of how he clings the most to the people who somewhat reject him and don't give him any assurance that they won't leave him. From a psychological point of view, it seems in line with a young man who in his childhood has suffered from severe trauma bounded to loss and abandonment. It's common in these cases to have the strongest reactions to real or imaginary threats of abandonment, while unconsciously re-enacting the trauma by being emotionally driven towards those who show they could leave at any moment unless you make efforts to hold them back. But this could be the subject of another topic one day, a topic that I would probably call "why I think that Lelouch shows many symptoms of borderline personality disorder, despite the more popular fan-diagnosis that I feel are sometimes dued to a general misunderstanding of personality disorders". Well, that's it! I'm curious to read your opinions, if you like to share :)

[alicent-vi-britannia]

This beautiful drawing was a gift from a dear friend and a reader of my fanfic, @kireikoami. I think it's a great way to celebrate that today I finally finished writing my Code Geass fanfic. Code Geass: Bloodlines.

It took me tears, sweat, blood and several headaches, but I did it! You cannot have the slightest idea of the immense satisfaction I felt when I wrote the word "end." Not even I can describe it. It's an extraordinary feeling that can't be compared to anything (well, I like to compare the creative process with labor, although I think that the creative process is more enjoyable despite everything; I don't know, I'm not a mother). Some authors don't like to use that word. I suppose because it will seem childish to them or the story of the characters doesn't conclude after the final point. I do it more than anything because of the meaning it carries for me. It's the end of a project that I have spent several years of my life working on with love and dedication. It's my farewell to some characters that I became attached to after giving them a fair ending. It's my break and theirs.

I must say that I cried a couple of times writing the ending and if I start to remember the final scene, I would start crying (I was already crying when I wasn't writing it yet, because I knew it was going to move me at the time). I suppose it will be inevitable that I will cry again when it is time to edit the epilogue to publish it. So it's not the "final goodbye" for now, it's the "see you soon."

I loved writing to Lelouch and accompanying him on his journey. I trust that I won't disappoint readers or the source material. They will read it in a few months and tell me about it. The fanfic has a total of 45 chapters, including the epilogue, and I have uploaded chapter 39 so far. With this, I'll be able to be more constant with updates.

I'm a little sad that I can't continue updating the English version of my work, but I wasn't the one who translated it. It was my friend who since she started her new job months ago she doesn't even have time to talk to me for a few minutes about the weather. A shame.

Now that I've freed up a bit, I hope to bring back this week an analysis that I wanted to do. Expect it soon.

[bluesylveon2]

AOT Season 4 The Final Chapters Thoughts:

Crunchyroll won't let me screenshot so I will write out my thoughts instead:

I like how this part of Season 4 is Armin-centric. The first part was dedicated to Eren and then the second part was dedicated to Mikasa

Yall I lowkey forgot Armin gets kidnapped by the okapi titan

The cgi continues to improve for aot. However, you can tell MAPPA's budget went to jjk because of the amount of fanservice they are giving 😂

The Survey Corps vs past titans shifters fight was so good!!! I liked watching it more than reading it because you could see what happens in the action. Also the scene with Pieck running toward the Warhammer titan was hilarious

I like the detail of the gray people and the colored baby. The baby represents the future and it being colored represents the hope of getting through the Rumbling. I like how everything became colored once the titans stopped moving.

Levi finally killing Zeke was satisfying. Now Zeke can be reborn as Toji in jjk because we know stuff is going down there too lol

Can I just say that I love the aruani scenes? Like Annie immediately asks where's Armin but tries to play it off and Mikasa was not buying it! Then there was the other part where Annie saves Armin and AHHHH I loved it!! Her dad better be impressed if Annie got with Armin cause he is so cool

Okay that hallucigenia thing needed to go. We don't even know where it went after Eren died. We assume it died with him because everyone turned back to normal. Also, I guess every titan had a piece of hallucigenia in them, specifically in their spine that connects their CNS and their PNS. It turning others into titans was it's way to "multiply" and keep it alive

The eremika kiss was not as creepy as I remember in the manga. The lighting helped it a lot. I remember reading that part and questioning what was Isayama thinking when he wrote that

I like to think of Eren as Lelouch from Code Geass, except Lelouch lived to see the effects of what he did. Eren had no choice but to die after wiping out 80% of humanity.

On that thought, there was one part where Armin was like "we can't have conflict if we destroy the outside world." Well, we already saw at the beginning of S4 that is not the case. There will always be conflict in the world. We even see it today. Sure, Eren could have killed everyone, but you still have conflict within Paradis. We saw it already with the Jaegerists. Eren helped his friends have a peaceful life but that would end eventually once they passed.

I sobbed at the part with everyone reuniting. It was sweet in the manga, it was sweet now

Historia's daughter is so cute!!!!

I like the ending even if it is slightly different from the manga. Of course you get the 104 + Pieck coming to Paradis (Jean looking great as always lol), Mikasa seeing birb Eren, Onyakopon and Yelena (finally) helping out, Levi with the kids, and Falco/Gabi planting a tree to signify new beginnings

Now...my only complaint about this episode was the credits. WHY DID THEY MAKE IT SMALL??? i WANTED TO KNOW WHO MIKASA MARRIED!!!! I liked the detail with the other kid tho. The boy sees the tree with a hole and walks in. I think this is Isayama's way of showing that titans can return and Eren would be the new Ymir. I'm not too certain, but it would suck for Eren because he would not be free. Maybe the kid could be the new Ymir? Who knows? My question would be how would titans survive modern day. Obviously they would evolve, but can they survive modern technology. We may not use swords much anymore but there is nuclear technology.

(Edit: it is possible Mikasa married Jean based on what we see in the anime/manga. I feel like that's not a good ending for either one of them because a) Mikasa's heart belongs to Eren. It's like Rose from the Titanic. Basically, Mikasa won't love Jean or whoever she married fully. b) Jean seems to be busy conducting the peace talks with the others. Idk if he would have time for Mikasa unless they were both cool with it. c) I think it's just not a good ending for either of them. I felt bad for Mikasa throughout the whole episode and that as her ending is...idk...I would feel even bad for her)

I know Isayama is done with the series but i have questions I want answered!!! 😭 Still, I got into this fandom back in 2013 and it has been a good 10 years. I met a lot of great people from the fandom who I still talk to today. Aot is my favorite anime and I plan on rewatching the anime or buy the manga in the future. Now it is time for me to go to the next fandom aka twst lol

[fragmentofmemories]

Since you reblogged that post about how it's ok to send you questions & statements 👀 I'll try asking a few!

a) do you draw traditionally ? if yes what's your favourite medium ?

b) do you have a favourite Touhou-related track/song ? or any recommendations ?

c) is there any voice actor you especially like ? (from any country)

d) is there a specific character or media you really like but don't make fancontent of (for whatever reason) ?

Feel free to only answer to the questions that interests you btw~

I feel like most of these answers are going to be boring because I'm somewhat neutral on these (lol), but I'll try anyway--

a) The answer is... Not really! I spent my earliest drawing years (2019-2020) using a sketchbook and whatever stationery I had. Nothing really professional or creative, just me practicing for the first time.

Which is to say I haven't drawn traditionally in a long while. As soon as I got my first and current tablet, I switched fully to Digital.

Although, that's part of the reason why I want to buy a new tablet with a screen (I don't really know what those are called).

It's not traditional, obviously, but I feel like it'd help me improve my drawing skills further. Also I need to switch my old tablet.

Don't ask me for any pre-2021 drawings btw. Besides being very low quality, I just don't feel like talking about them.

---

b) If you haven't listened to the Cafe de Touhou albums before, I'd definitely recommend those! There's 8 of them, each one themed after a different game, but they're all great.

As for official tracks, I can't say I have many favorites, but if I were to pick a few:

This might be a hot take of sorts, but music is probably the aspect that interests me the least about Touhou. By no means I'm saying it's bad, obviously. I'm just saying that, compared to the characters, gameplay, worldbuilding and everything else the series offers, the music never interested me as much.

---

c) VAs are something I haven't payed much attention to, unless it's someone very prominent in the field and you can immediately tell "Oh they hired X again for this character".

I'm guessing Johnny Yong Bosch comes to mind first when it comes to VAs, just because he tends to voice my favorites (lol). He's the current voice of Zero (Mega Man), and he also voiced P4 Hero (Persona 4), and Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass, also my favorite performance of his).

Meme answer, but I'd also like to add Carlos Villega for being the Latin American voice for Hisoka in 1999 Hunter X Hunter. I say it's a meme because, for some reason, he was given a French accent in that version and I can't think of him without it as a result.

1999 HxH's Latin American dub didn't age very well, but it's nostalgic to me nonetheless.

---

d)

Since I'm pretty much in a Castlevania mood rn, I have to wonder why haven't I drawn Shanoa yet?

She's one of my favorite protagonists ever (if not my favorite), her character is tragic and incredibly well written, and her design is just plain elegant.

Yet, I never stopped to think "I should draw her next", for some unknown reason. Perhaps in my spare time, while I'm taking a break off ODG, maybe?

Besides her, there are other characters I really like yet never drew before, which is to say Leif and Shanna (Fire Emblem), Kasumi Todoh (Art of Fighting) and Rei Reiho (Devil Summoner)

Lastly there's my non EO/CoH DRPG parties (I.E currently Labyrinth of Zangetsu and Stranger of Sword City). Drawing six characters at once takes a long time...

[episodeoftv]

Round 1 of 8, Group 1 of 8

propaganda and summaries are under the cut (May include spoilers)

Code Geass: 2.25 Re;

Lelouch tries to persuade Nunnally into giving him the key of Damocles as the battle concludes.

Word of Honor: 1.34 Ep 34

Ye Bai Yi instructs Lao Wen to close down Ghost Valley forever and the crowd disperses peacefully. The victors have drinks where Lao Wen reveals how he had managed to convince everyone around him to get along with the plan. Zhou Zi Shu is happy for him, but in pain that he only had a few more days left to survive. Scorpion King has a talk with the now disabled Zhao Jing in which he reveals his true intentions and feelings about what he thought about him. A drunk Lao Wen elatedly describes that meeting Ah' Xu had changed him. He asks him to accompany him to his parents' old hometown for a proper burial and Ah' Xu tearfully agrees. At Ghost Valley, preparations for Ah' Xiang's wedding takes place. Aunt Luo tells her plan to stay at the valley forever with Qian Qiao, who had decided to drink the Water of Lethe and forget Yu Qiu Feng. Cao Wei Ning is increasingly nervous and confesses that he had always hoped that his wedding would be attended by his seniors and Masters. The Gentle Wind Sword Sect arrives and Mount Qingya and they are let in. Master Mo Huai Yang openly disrespects Ah' Xiang. (Source: MyDramaList)

(Spoilers) Look the emotional rollercoaster this episode is like Wen Kexing finally got his revenge and Ye Bayi is like just close down the ghost valley and we'll call it even and it's like yes!!!! No more bloodshed!!!! And everyone is having dinner together and Wen Kexing is literally having the best day of his life!!! But then Zhou Zishu is like dealing with all the turmoil and angst that WKX's little stunt put him through and that he's going to die in a few days but nobody knows and he doesn't want to bring down the mood and then there's heartbreaking scene where WKX is drunk and is so happy and cuddling ZZS and is like I'm so happy you're my soulmate and everything is great and we'll travel the world together this is amazing!!! And you can see the pain on ZZS's face because WKX doesn't KNOW!!!! And then there's the confrontation between Scorpion King and Zhao Jing which is !!!!!!!!!!!! And then they're preparing for Gu Xiang and Cao Weining's wedding!!!!! And it's so sweet because everyone is just so happy!!!! And like WKX is in full dad mode which is great. But it's just like an episode where the characters can just all love each other because there's no sign of immediate danger (well besides ZZS' stuff) but like it's so heartwarming and sad and tragic when you know what happens right after like !!!!!!!!!!!! It's also one of the highest rated episodes (on mydramalist) with a 9.3 so there's that too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9zRSFzOfTc&t=1230s