#and keying of course is between the ages (depending on what story i'm trying to tell) of 5-8

[killerandhealerqueen]

Are you fucking telling me that Jiang Yuelou is 24 here?  Motherfucker, I always thought he was older.  Like 29 or something

[lansplaining]

I feel that most people, that includes jc antis and stans btw, kind of forget that wwx is also just a teenager when lotus pier falls, he is but a few days older than jc. A lot of decisions taken by war inflicted teenagers, specially someone who has lost his home twice, do not make sense and have to be taken critically taking into account their mental status. Both jc and wwx at this point are suffering. What happens later, when they are old enough and mature enough is a different matter altogether.

Do we actually know the precise age difference between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian? I know we know their birthdays, but for myself, I'd always imagined there was a year between them. I know that's not your point, I just always mean to check and forget.

Anyway... yeah! Every character in MDZS acts in sub-optimal ways, driven by pain, strong emotion, and their often incorrect assessment of what will prove most helpful for the person or situation at hand. That's what makes it good writing, a good story, and creates the kinds of characters that we all sit around on the internet obsessing over.

I'm assuming from the tone at the end of your comment (and apologies if I'm misreading, tone online is a nightmare) that what you mean to suggest is, 'Wei Wuxian's behavior post-Sunshot was excusable and Jiang Cheng's in the present-day timeline is not.'

I'd say first of all that of course Wei Wuxian's behavior, taking into account his mental state post-war as you say, is completely understandable. That does not, however, change the fact that he really hurt people who loved him while spiraling in this completely understandable way. From the POV of Jiang Cheng, who lacks key information and also has been through a lot of loss and trauma, your brother and best friend has suddenly decided to drink all day and fuck around with ghost floozies (give or take a ghost floozie depending on your canon) instead of helping you rebuild your shared home like he promised to. He will offer no explanation for this, and every time you try (in your admittedly clumsy way) to broach the question of whether he is hurt or suffering (or send your sister and her soup to do it), he brushes you off and insists that nothing is wrong, he's perfectly aware of how he's acting, and he's doing it on purpose. That is hurtful! Wei Wuxian intended it to be, because he needed Jiang Cheng to back off and not notice things that would become very noticeable if Jiang Cheng spent any serious amount of time with him! It also makes perfect sense and I don't think it makes Wei Wuxian a bad person.

Should Jiang Cheng have pushed harder, or tried different tactics? Sure, but a) I'm not sure that anything would have worked, and b) he is also a traumatized teenager, not a therapist or even a parent, so once again, we can understand why he didn't handle the situation in an ideal manner.

So, now it's 13/16/18?/time is fake years later, and Jiang Cheng is old enough and mature enough to know better. Here are the events that have taken place as far as Jiang Cheng is aware: - the aforementioned drinking, slacking, and maybe ghost floozies - Wei Wuxian killed a ton of Jin cultivators (bad) but then sat tight in the Burial Mounds not bothering anyone for ~1/2/time is fake years (good!) - the literal second Wei Wuxian was painstakingly invited to leave the Burial Mounds to temporarily rejoin society, he was so provoked by a random Jin cousin that he murdered a ton of Jin cultivators again, and most importantly, murdered his brother-in-law who very much did not mean him any harm - then, with variations for the canon in question, killed dozens if not hundreds more cultivators and in the process witnessed Yanli's death at the hands of someone who actually wanted revenge on Wei Wuxian

Which part of this should he know better about? What information has he gained in the intervening years that would cause him to re-evaluate? Sure, in a perfect world, we mature into wisdom and perfect serenity and grace, letting go of our resentment, grudges, and grief, especially towards the (maybe) dead. Perfect-world Jiang Cheng would maybe say, 'It's really sad that my bright, brilliant brother inexplicably delved into demonic cultivation and lost control of it in such a catastrophically destructive way, but I will choose to remember him as he was, and forgive him for both directly and indirectly orphaning my nephew and leaving me alone in the world. I'll never know why the hell he did it, so I'll just have to let it go.'

But as you said, when you are dealing with someone who-- for example-- has now been through essentially two wars in as many years (one of them against his brother), lost his entire family, and is left to raise his orphaned nephew-- you have to take into account his mental status. His maturity, like Lan Wangji's, is built on a foundation of trauma and grief, and there are going to be some cracks there.

[poemsforparker]

Stitches n' Patches - Part I | tasm!Peter Parker × fem!Reader

Masterlist

Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Synopsis: Coming home from a party on a certain night, you find Spiderman extremely wounded inside a dumpster at your street. Seeing someone needing your help you don't think twice before bringing him home and patching him up. You built trust. It becomes a regular thing, and you get to know better and fall for the guy behind the mask.

A/N: I'm planning 5/6 episodes but that will depend on the course of the story, maybe I do some more.

Warnings: mention of wounds.

(not my gif)

Peter felt his body get weaker at every second. He couldn't move a finger by the point he felt the cold metal though what was left of his suit and felt a terrible smell invade his nostrils. He blacked out at the same spot.

You were coming back from a party. It was past 2pm when you thanked your Uber driver for leaving you home safe and warned your friend still inside the car to text you when she got home. Between the sound of your keys tingling you stop hearing something coming from the dumpster in front of your building.

Thinking maybe it was a stray cat you got closer carefully not to scare the animal hoping you could take it home and get it some food. While you aproached the sounds coming from the inside were not at all seeming like a cat.

You tought about just getting out of the cold into your house. Whatever that was it was not your problem, but the curiosity spoke louder and you looked inside the dumpster to identify behind a messy blue and red suit there was a very injured man. Spiderman was in your street dumpster.

He looked your age, or close. He was pretty. You tought. "Sir?" you shook him carefully to se if you got any response. Nothing. "Sir, can you hear me? My name is y/n, and I'm going to help you, okay?". You didn't know if he could you hear you but still took a shot.

You opened the door of the building and before taking the man inside, you called Stacy, your neighbour/friend to help you get the stranger in, and also so someone else knew you were bringing him inside. He may be a known figure but you were still a woman bringing a unknown person to your place. It was not exacly a secure idea.

"Want me to stay here and help you with whatever the fuck you're doing?" Stacy asked yawning.

"No need, girly. You've already done enough, you go to sleep, and thank you."

"No prob. Tell me how this" she points between you and spiderman on the couch, still blacked out "went tomorrow, okay? And I want to hear about the party too. Spair no details."

"You got it, Stace, now good night and good luck on your exam tomorrow" you whisper not wanting to wake up anyone else and show her thumbs up, she laughs.

"Thanks. Night, y/n" she shuts your door leaving just you and the man. You knew well enough what you had to do since your mom was a nurse. She taught you a thing or two, and looking at him, he could really use some help.

When you get back with your first aid kit in hands, he wasn't at the couch anymore. "Shit" you mumble. Before you could start looking you hear a loud bump in your floor, close to your bedroom... window? When you get there you see him on the floor, hands on his ribs a hurt look in his face. "You were trying to get away though my window at the state you are? Are you crazy?" You begin to get closer and he tenses up. "Don't worry, I brought you here to help you." You swing the kit above your head where you knew he could see.

"Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter who I am, you need help and I'm gonna give you that."

"No, I don't" He says trying to get up and falling again.

"Doesn't look like that to me" you mock and get him up you bed ignoring his complaints."It's me or the hospital, Spiderman. I'm guessing between a college girl who works in a coffee shop and a whole team or nurses seeing you face you'd rather me. So stay still and let me patch you up." He doesn't say anything but lets you do your job. He seemed airy and was looking at he ceeling the hole time between the hisses he gave you when the cottom touched his skin. "What's on your head, bug boy?"

"They saw my face."

"Who did?"

"The guys that did this. They saw my face."

"oh" was all you could mouth "I'm sorry." he remains silent trying to hold back the whines "Maybe they can get nothing on you, you know, with just your face." you manage to say, trying your best to comfort him.

"Yeah, maybe. Either way I'm gonna have to lay low for some time. If they see me as me or spiderman on the streets I'm screwed"

"Yeah. They did you pretty bad" he hisses once more when you start to work in one of his opened wounds."Sorry. Sorry. I think this one will need stiches, but I don't have any anesthesya here now. It's that okay?"

"Do what you gotta do, I guess"

"Okay, I'm going to get the stuff to sterilize this. Please try not to jump of my window while I do so, won't do you any better, I guarantee." You get up to the kitchen to start boiling the water and get back to the room as fast as you can before he does anything stupid. Lucky for you, he was still there. "That needle is gonna have to boil for at least half an hour before I can use it so I have plenty of time to work on the rest of the wounds. Show me where else is hurting." You instruct.

"Would be easier if I showed you where it doesn't hurt," he tries to joke and you remain serious "C'mon, it was funny."

"Didn't think so. I'm not a fan of nearly-dead guys in my bed, y'know?"

"I'm not going to die. I've been though worse."

"Worst than this?" you use you point finger to circle above him "I doubt it."

"I'm serious. One time, I fought a flying goblin guy."

"wow"

"Who was my childhood bestfriend."

"Damn, you've been though a lot."

"You have no idea..." a comfort silence takes place of your voices and now all you could hear was the sound of the water boiling and sometimes the boys whines. You step away a little once you were done fixing him up, at least you did the best you could, now was giving him the needed stitches and hope they didn't infect.

"So... Spiderman. You have any place to stay for the night? I assume you don't live near here."

"Yeah, I'm pretty far, I could swing home if I wasn't feeling like a bag of shit." this time you laugh. "So you do have a sense of humor"

"Well, duh. But I just asked you this 'cause if you don't' think it's too much, you could stay for the night. I'd really like to keep an eye on these wounds if you don't mind me.”

"Won't that be too much to you?"

"Not at all, Spidey. I live alone, have some of my exe's clothes here you could wear after taking a shower because you are not sleeping on my bed smelling like this and I'm definitely throwing these sheets away. "

"You still keep his clothes?" you can't hold a laugh seeing Spiderman wanting to hear gossip about your love life while bleeding and smelling like trash on your bed. It was comical.

"Not that that's any of your intress, sir. But yeah, I did keep them, he didn't' seem to need them when he was fucking one of my 'friendss' so"

"WOW. He did that?"

"Yup. And tried to get his clothes back, can you believe that? I lied to him saying they weren't here. I didn't even know what I was going to do with it but I was definitely not giving him them back."

"Yeah, you did right. Sorry about that, the guy seems like a jerk."

"He was. But you see that, at least his clothes are going to be usefull for something, unlike him. Everything has a good side, I guess" he laughs with hands on his hurt wribs. He was starting to trust you more after you told him something so personal about yourself.

"Well, if you really don't mind it, I think I'm gonna take you kind offer, m'am. I don't think I can get home like this."

"I'm glad you are. Anyone you should warn you're not coming home to, bug boy? I can land you my phone if you need to text somebody."

"I have my aunt." he smiles seeing your attempt to find out if the had a girlfriend, it was sweet. "If it really isn't a bother, I would like to text her I'm okay."

"I'm gonna head to the kitchen get the needle to start the hard work." before delivering it to him, you check your phone quickly to see if the friend from earlier texted she got safe, thankfully, she did, so you put your phone in his hands, already opened in the message app "Here, text her. While I go you take this top part of yours off, will you? I don't want anything around the wound risking infection, think you can do that?"

"Didn't even pay me dinner, lady." he mocks at your order to take of his top, doing it while you get out of the room.

"Keep on your head I could've left you to die" you yell from the kitchen. "All ready, let's do this." you come back with gloves and the sterilized needle ready to go. He smiles seeing you so concerned about a possible infection even tho that was nearly impossible due to his radioactive blood, tho he liked the idea of not taking that risk. Peter fixed his position in the bed to let you have easier access to his naked chest. You put your legs around one of his legs, almost sitting on his lap and looked at him in the eyes "You good?"

"Yes, Do it."

You put the needle on his skin already apologizing, every time you poke his skin you let out a "Sorry" with the most gentle tone you could have. When it was done, you put the gauze in his freshly stitched skin and stuck it there with the adhesive plaster. "Good as new." you smile at him and you stare at eachother for a long moment before you broke the eye contact. "You really should take a shower, bug boy, you smell awfull." You smile. "Tomorrow I have my day off so I could help you stitching that up too." you point at his suit. "I'm gon' get you a towel." you get up of his lap. Handing him a fresh new towel you kept in mind to throw away later.

When he was getting into your bathroom he stoped by the door to glance at you with a playful grin on his face "I never got your name."

"I'm, y/n y/l/n. I assume I don't get to know yours."

The boy seems to take a second to think before deciding what to answer, and finally tells you. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker."

"It's nice to meet you, Peter Parker." you smile at him and he smiles back before closing your bathroom door behind him.

[x-avavarts-x]

A final fantasy fanfiction for my oc and her family.

Characters: Cor Leonis, Laura lucis caelum (my oc), Dariolus Amicitia(my oc) Noctis lucis Caelum, Ignis scientia, Crystalcrown Leonis ( @yutauke28 oc )

Warning!!

 My national language is not English. I apologize for spelling and grammar mistakes.

I can't find a good name for my story and probably changed its name.

Summary:

When your flesh and blood are mixed with pain and you are nurtured with it, you dedicate your whole being to those who were trying to improve your suffering by touching their love. What's wrong with you? It does hurt to lose these loved ones, even thinking about it bothers you. At that time .. you grab everything to stop the destiny .. like a bird stuck in a cage and trying for freedom, you knock yourself on the door and the wall to find a way ... and if you find it. Nothing can stop you, even if it is a God!

Part: 2

Cor's voice opened my eyes slowly. I saw that it was a bit blurry and I couldn't see his face clearly! I took a deep breath and tried to sit in my place. He put his hand on my shoulder to oppose me, but I was sitting! I put my feet on the ground and rested my hands on the edge of the bed:

"I'm fine!"

He stood for a while and then sat down next to me. His movements were doubtful because he did not know much about socializing with a woman. He did not expect more from a 45-year-old man who had fought or practiced all his life! I lowered my head and broke the silence with myself:

"I ran away!"

I heard a cold, calm voice:

"This is nothing, Lara! You did what your father wanted!"

My voice was calm and my tone was heavier than ever:

"He kept his promise... he was right!"

I turned my gaze slowly to his blue eyes. His face was cold and serious. It didn't make any sense, and that's why our relationship ended. I didn't know why I came back to him! I took a deep breath and got up to leave the camp:

" I'm sorry I won't take your time."

Before I could even walk away from the bed, he grabbed my wrist and prevented me from leaving. I slowly stood up and turned to face him! His eyes were full of words, but his lips weren't moving, he slowly let go of my hand and got up from his place:

"Rest here. You have just arrived, your body is not strong yet!"

This behavior really bothered me. I couldn't stand it, especially through:

" I'm human .. I sow the death of my loved ones .. My father disappeared, I only lost my companion! I took refuge in you! Isn't that enough to show my feelings?

He was standing quietly before reached his work desk. His thoughts were dumb and silent to me. I couldn't read anything from his look or demeanor. He took a deep breath and I could feel it moving his shoulders. I took a deep breath to calm myself down, laughing so much in my mental anguish that no one thought it might be something that bothered me. I had accepted this, but I needed to embrace someone I loved !! Cor's silence was nothing to me except he was unimportant to me, he never said he wanted me. never! While I was trying for years to restore her soul, he ignored me .. and even now .. !! The headache forced me to sit down. I sat on the bed for the second time and held my head in my hands:

" Do you know about Noctis"

"Not yet!"

I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at its screen. I wanted to call Noctis, but ... what was I told him! I left my phone on the bed and stared at cor again! His gaze was fixed on the map on his desk, and he was looking at it calmly. Sometimes I felt that he had no feelings, but ... I pressed my eyelids tightly and a thick frown settled between my eyebrows:

" I'm tired .. can you calm me down only once ??"

I couldn't believe I asked him to do that. I slowly raised my head to see him, standing right in front of me. A faint smile sat on his lips. Pale and very calm, but the same smile was very unexpected for someone known him. Slowly he sat down on his knees in front of me and hugged me. The touch of his hands gave me a soft feeling, I felt like someone who was addicted to drugs for a long time, and now it has suddenly calmed down using the drug it loves! Cor was an unattainable but lovable drug for me, he was Unattainable, but he has worth it. Slowly, I raised my hands and circled the tension. Hatred of crying puts pressure on my throat and I have no choice but to break it. I put my eyes on his wide, flat shoulders and pressed myself against him. I used to take refuge in it because of the loss of half of my family. Cor always made me happy and I feel like a free girl by him. but now, at the age of 39 ... could I still be happy? While there was almost nothing left of my family ??

"I don't know this confession .. right or not but .. I love you cor..for a long time .. !!

This sudden confession of mine seemed to be very unexpected to him, maybe he thought I wasn't interested in him, but ... his hands sat on my shoulders and he pulled me away from himself. That smile was gone from his face. His face was cold, but his icy eyes injected a certain warmth.

"I didn't think this interest would still exist!"

His words made me laugh. I wiped away my tears and tilted my head to some extent and answered him while my tone was a little warm:

"Can i don't want these eyes ?? You are more bitter than snake venom and more unbearable than a cactus trunk !!

He laughed softly. He laughs a little, but when he laughs, it feeds my heart with calm and love. From his laughter, only a faint smile remained, he lowered his head for a moment and looked at me again. I grabbed his collar and put my face close to his face. I kissed him gently on the lips. I stared into his eyes. The surprise was clearly in his eyes, and I could feel it! I laughed and raised my head, my smile slowly disappeared, my tone was sad:

"There is no other kingdom .. You no longer need to hide your interest because I am a princess!"

He hugged me again and stroked my hair. I couldn't read his thoughts, but I knew it felt good. He was so proud that he didn't say it, but well, I didn't have that pride. And I was at the forefront of expressing interest in him! Nap pressed on my eyelids, and the warm embrace of Cor made my body lighter! I laughed and separated myself from him:

"I am sleepy!"

He laughed softly and got up from his place. He picked up a gray blanket and threw it over my head:

"Sleep, I'll get to work too!"

I took my tone seriously and pulled the blanket down over my head:

"Sit down and do your works! what I have to do with you !! You act kind of like you hate it so much! It's my fault that I kissed you!"

I took off my boots and threw them on the other side, opened the blanket and threw it on my feet. I opened my hair and continued to growl in front of his benevolent gaze:

"I hope you have a fever that you can't do anything! I hope that the gods your enemy's incurable pain. I hope a green wart is the size of an apple on your nose !!"

He laughed softly and stood behind his desk. I lay on the bed and slept while my back against Cor. When I was sure that my face would no longer see, I dropped into myself. I used all that sorrow to empty the heads of the Nif soldiers. To calm me by shedding their dirty blood. Although .. this bleeding did not revive my loved ones.. it calmed my heart!

As Laura fell asleep, Cor's look was drawn at her. He breaths caught softly, and his eyebrows twitched in a sad frown. He had received the news from Monica in all the details, he didn't bring anything to Laura so as not to make her feel bad. However, He saw Laura stronger than talking about the death of her loved ones. Now Cor had lost his friends, his legendary king, as well as his old master! He took a deep breath and lifted his hands from the desk, Slowly he walked towards Laura and stood over her head! He was happy that she was still alive, and this made him thank Cor of his gods for the second time. Now that he knew Laura was still interested in him, he decided not to miss this opportunity to have her! Years ago, not knowing what he was doing, he felt dependent on Lara, and all this distance had not only made him feel weak but more than ever. he didn't know Laura so much while she was trying to cure him as a child. SHe didn't look at Cor like other people, he didn't hate them and he understood them, maybe because she had a difficult childhood, maybe she also understood the meaning of hating others well. He has been with Laura for a long time, he knows how much Laura suffers! Laura, who, in spite of all this mental pain, was called a bastard and humiliated others, was smiling again, and was happy! That's what made those around him ... especially Cor, remember that he was a continuation! He gently raised his hand and stroked her black and gray hair with a delicate hand. He didn't even cut his hair short because of his knowledge of Cor interest, he put his hand on his arm to pull his fingers and he grabbed them between his hands !! Seven-year-old Laura calmed the pain of Cor failure with these hands so that Cor realized how difficult life is for him without Laura's presence !! He pulled the blanket over her shoulders and kissed her head gently and briefly. He didn't do much of it, so he finished it quickly. They had to do their mission and get the key to noct! He went out of the tent to eat something instead of breakfast!

Ignis' green look was on Gladio and the prompto that the wanted them that left Noctis and himself alone. He stood behind Noctis, raised his hand hesitantly, and pushed it into his delicate hair, and caressed it. This brief action by Ignis caused Noctis to turn and look at him with tears in his eyes, the news of the death of his loved ones had greatly disturbed him. So hard that he could hold back his tears, now only his friends are with him. He put his hand over his eyes to wipe away his tears and spoke in a voice that was muffled by crying:

"Everyone dies ..!"

Ignis was silent because he could not find the words that were appropriate for Noctis's pain relief, which, of course, did not last long. Noctis 'voice echoed in Ignis' ear. He cried freely and sobbed:

"I can not believe it..!"

A girl's hands gently grasp Noctis' shoulders. Touching those hands, Noctis turned his back slowly, wiping his ocean eyes from the tears. Crystal's hands wiped Noctis' tears from his face. Her face was sad because she seemed to have lost her family too!

"Do you know that you are not alone?"

It didn't take long for Ignis's voice to be heard. He gently put his hand on his friend's shoulder and continued his words seriously:

"We always hold your back. Only death can separate us from you."

Knowing the strength of Ignis' will, and of course, his perseverance and endurance made Noctis's pain somewhat relieved. The touch of crystal caresses also calmed him. His friends were always by his side and that was enough for Noktis ... and all he wanted to be was for him not to lose them either. Crystal hands wrapped around Noctis's waist and led him to the car. At the same time, all three returned to the car to get to their seats. Noctis thoughts were filled with sweet memories of the past. His father's nightly tales of her travels and adventures, Laura's petty mischief to entertain him .. Halloween celebrations and New Year's Eve together .. Laura's sinister plans and his father's opposition to surprise Cor or Clarus. There was nothing left of that family except Noctis. He thought that Laura was also alive because Cor had not given him any information about Laura. he was no longer crying, but his chest was heavy because of this mental pain !! All this time along the way, Noctis stared sadly and frustratedly at the floor of the car .. Even this car was full of memories .. his father's car .. he took a deep breath and frowned at his hatred ... leaving him all alone .. lying to him, Lying next to him, lying with him, staying with him, lying that everything is under control .. Lying behind lies .. !! All the time Noctis's grief and selfishness locked his friend Prampto's eyes on his eyes. Seeing this, his friend had nothing but torment. He had never been so quiet. Unlike Prampto and Ignis, Gladio was disappointed that King Regis had sacrificed his life to save his worthless son. However, he was respectful and did not tell him anything. This was the only sympathy of Gladio!

She was standing outside the garage, leaning against the wall. Her head was down and her gaze was fixed on the ground from behind the irregular strands of her hair. Cid's words about King Regis break his daughter's heart. Slowly she raised her hand and placed it on her chest, took a deep breath, and walked slowly into the garage. The sound of his strong footsteps broke the silence created by Cid's departure. The first look she turned to the princess was Ignis. The gleam of happiness in his large, green eyes was easily recognizable to Laura. As expected from Ignis, he stood respectfully and straight in front of the princess and bowed:

"Majesty!!"

A smile wiped the Cleared her red lip from lipstick. It was as if Ignis's voice had caught Noctis' attention. Because he slowly turned his back and was shocked to see his sister. Perhaps out of joy and perhaps out of surprise, Noctis's inner sense was a positive and joyful one. He took a step away from his place and came to Laura:

"Laura !!"

Laura quickly painted her lips and hugged her brother and squeezed:

"Is my Kitty good?"

Laura's survival was hope for Noctis again. He was not alone !! Her sister was here, by his side! He laughed softly and kissed his sister's cold cheek. This coldness of Laura's body worried her to some extent. Slowly he pulled her away from himself and looked at her with a worried frown:

"Your body is .. cold !!"

As prompto came forward, the sentence that Noctis uttered was forgotten. He stood in front of Laura and happily put his hand behind his head and leaned back a little:

"Wow, Laura, being alive is a miracle !!"

Laura's gentle laughter responded to Prompto's warm, friendly tone:

"I also didn't get well."

The next person was Crystal. She ran happily to Laura and hugged her tightly! It didn't take long for her tongue to open and he began to speak sharply:

" You are alive, Laura, you are alive !! I can not believe it!"

A kind smile sat on Laura's lips. She caressed crystal's red hair gently and kissed her head. The pain was so severe that she did not want to think about the past and the place of that sweet and kind girl!

"No one dares to kill me my strawberry !!!"

Crystal's gaze was fixed on Laura's face and her:

"You are a badass, Laura you know?"

Gladio's gaze was looking for a bigger level than his own. The fact that Dario is not with Laura ... gave him nothing but a negative feeling. He turned to Laura and stared at her smile. If Dario was dead, Laura wouldn't smile !!

" Where is Dario? Is he eating ramen again?

Not to mention that Dariolus took a smile from Laura's lips and made her face look very serious. Laura's silence and her gaze fixed on the unknown corner, made Gladio regret his words. Her guess was correct, Dario was dead! Laura's grief was quickly reflected in her audience. Her deep breath saddened Prompto's kind face. He spoke in a worried tone to find out why Laura was silent:

"He is all right...right?"

A short, faint smile opened Laura's lips, but she couldn't stand it, and the smile went away again. Her emotions erupted subconsciously, and a stubborn drop of tears tried to break the barrier of her eyes, and finally, she quickly dripped and fell on her cheek The slip of that crystal drop made everyone understand what Laura was doing to control herself. However, Laura quickly wiped away the tears and said in a trembling voice:

"He..."

Her hatred of crying prevented her from continuing. Hardly pressing her lips together, and tried to complete the answer:

" He is gone.. with pride!"

Crystal's sad face was sewn as a good friend. Laura was like her mother, but Crystal loved her more than anything, seeing her suffer so much hurts her kind heart. Noctis' sad look stared at the ground for a moment, again in the form of his sister. He pressed the corners of her eyes so that she wouldn't cry, Laura was that. She hated expressing her sorrows so much !! For the second time, he gently hugged her and kissed her hair. A smile came to Laura's lips and with the help of Noctis, she was able to control her emotions again. Slowly he turned his back and separated herself:

"I'm fine!"

She put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him for a moment, then stared at Noctis' friends:

"Cor in the tomb is waiting for you!"

She looked back at Noctis:

" Well, listen to Cor's words! He has a lot of experience."

" Aren't you coming ??"

Noctis's short sentence didn't put Laura's lips on for a few seconds, but that silence disappeared with a soft smile:

"R u sure?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Well, you go, I'll come myself. Because I have to go to Lestallum!"

Noctis stared at his sister's face. He took a deep breath and shook his head once:

"OK!"

Just one word from Noctis' tongue caused Laura to turn back. She slowly distanced himself from him and turned her back on them to go to her car! The brown look of the Gladia was radiant. Like his father, he is jealous of Dario's station. They were both proud to be dead. Calmly breath caught and he walked slowly towards Regalia:

"Let's go."

Ignis's hand calmly sat on Noctis' shoulder and gently led him to the car.

Laura's gaze was fixed on them. Also to the reflect that Regalia had. She smiled softly. The girl was alive because her father loved her. She couldn't even get close to Regalia. She just saw her reap! She slowly put her hands on her car's steering wheel and took a deep breath to control herself as her car window slammed. She turned his head slowly, saw Cindy, lowered the glass, and waited with a warm smile to hear her words:

"Yes?"

Cindy's always warm tone made Laura's smile. She cautiously put her hands on the roof of the car and leaned toward Laura:

"Your car is fixed, your highness! I hope you enjoy it!"

This confirmation of Cindy led Laura to turn on the car. She turned it on, and when she heard a bass voice, her engine was overwhelmed with pleasure:

"Great, Cindy! Like always !!"

She turned her head towards her and blinked at her! Laura's blink made her laughed. Suddenly she stood up straight:

"A trivial thing, my lady!

She put her hand in her waist bag and took out a little packet of envelopes, pausing at Laura's side:

"This is what you wanted!"

Deliver Laura's delicate fingers from Cindy's hands. She slowly opened it and stared at her bank cards. She turned his head towards Cindy and smiled at her again:

"Good job Cindy! Let me know if there is a contest again! I need to rebuild my soul!"

Cindy's reaction was to laugh. She leaned back a little and then locked her hands on her chest and leaned to the side:

" There are always competitions! For example, tonight ... at two o'clock ... the mountain route!"

Laura's gaze was fixed on Regalia, that going away. She took a deep breath and then pointed to Cindy:

"Take your time free for sunset, we have to go and check the track"

Her two-colored gaze was fixed on the ground, touching her brother's pain with all her might! She took a deep breath and turned his head slightly toward the tomb, and the light of Noctis's armiger was even thicker than their father's light! What was expected of the chosen! She took a deep breath and took her baton from the stone wall of the tomb, put her hand on the iron door, opened it with pressure, and went inside. Her gaze was on the ground, and she was slowly walking toward the tomb of King Optimus, where her brother was standing:

"You are persecuting Dad when you call him a liar!"

Noctis was still staring at the ground. He felt that Laura did not understand him, he thought that he was more dependent on his father than his sister and that there was more love between them. At that moment ... he couldn't be kind to Laura, anger, and sadness were two feelings that Noctis had no ability to control, quite unlike Lara !!

"I don't think this not better for you than it was better for me !!"

Cor's gaze sat on Noctis with a week frown, unhappy with his behavior. That's why he frowned and looked at his dear Laura. Contrary to his Cor, Gladio came to the surface from this behavior of Noctis, he saw him as a child who has no supply to raise his nose! he didn't keep quiet so that Laura could answer for herself, and while his voice was full of anger, he hit Noctis whit his word:

" He wasn't only your father, Noctis, understand this!"

Noctis's voice was been loud with anger and trembled with hatred and tears:

"Because of this, his dear girl left him to die ??"

There was a heavy silence between each and everyone present. Noctis 'behavior was so difficult that no one could answer, although it wasn't just because of Noctis' harshness that it was to respect Laura. Everyone's eyes turned to Laura's pause to see her reaction. Pointing to Laura's hand, she went out of the tomb one by one, and she was left alone with Noctis. After a long period of silence, a grin settled on Laura's lips, well she could have united Noctis' pride with the soil at that moment !! She could hit him and tell him everything that came out of his mouth, she could tell Noctis and his mother to take his father's attention away from him, she could tell what pain she suffered in the court from Noctis and his mother! She could have emptied his knots, but ... it wasn't in Laura's presence! Laura wasn't weak enough to grab herself by grabbing others! Noctis loved her, even though she was not happy with her mother, she pressed her lips to suppress that hatred so that Noctis would not hurt her wound and break her tender heart, although Noctis didn't care about Laura and was fine with her feelings. Without even noticing the rest! Finally, she spoke in a calm tone:

"As he kept you away from Insomnia, he also wanted to keep me away!"

She walked slowly to the door, feeling the weight of Noctis' gaze:

"Don't think that he was your only father, Noctis .. I touched his pain even more than you ... I realized better than you that he collapsed."

Slowly, stood and turned to Noctis, her gaze tied to Noktis's tear-filled gaze, a kind smile that showed the bitterness of sorrow more than the sweetness of kindness:

"He took me away from Insomnia .. I realized, but I arrived when everything was over! If I stayed, I would die! However .. you are right! It would have been better for me to die. Not ready..!

Embarrassed and hidden in Laura's words, Noctis regretted what he had said. The boy was more emotional than a two- or three-year-old boy, but at that moment he didn't even dare to apologize to his sister! He never understood why Laura suddenly withdrew from the Crown Prince and took refuge in Kingsglaive academy! He never knew exactly why Laura dropped them. Nobody knew that! And that's why Noctis thought Laura didn't want them and her father's death didn't matter to her, but:

"Don't forget the point that I was born of dady. He raised me, he was both a father and a mother to me, unlike you, who had your mother for a few years! Dad, everything was mine and I lost everything. Your thoughts have no truth .. If you can't turn your back on me, I don't want you to see me as your enemy!"

She put his delicate hand on the door to take refuge in the sleeping music in her car, but her arm stopped as she was captured. She turned his head slowly towards Noctis and looked at her! The fact that Noctis lowered his head meant only one thing! He was ashamed of his sister's feelings. But before he could speak, Laura's embrace settled inside her. Laura couldn't bear to see Noctis 'grief. Laura was the second and last person to know Noctis' fate! She hugged her little brother and squeezed herself. Smell his soft hair and kiss his head, this kindness and gentleness of laura calmed Noctis. He was sure he could trust his sister because he regretted what he had said. He didn't know what he would do if he were there !!

"I just..."

"Shush kitty !! Don't think about it, go with your friends and complete your strength, we have a lot of work to do !! Don't forget that Dad is Healthy and fresh now! OK?

A faint smile settled on Noctis' lips as he let his sister's fingers wipe away his tears:

"Don't ruin a king with the word prophecy!"

Laura's reaction to Noctis was this: she punched him in the shoulder and laughed:

"A kitty always is a kitty! Eat your vegetables!"

And again, this was a good laugh. With his gaze, he chased Laura and was alone in the tomb. He took a deep breath and his hands clenched for a moment:

"Never!!"

After the departure of Regalia, Adamentuis finally started. Laura's gaze was still fixed on Regalia's empty place, and she smiled softly and walked away."Do you remember Cor? How much trouble we had in sitting in that car!"

Cor's gaze was fixed on the front, remembering the past, he just pressed his lips together and leaned his head against the back of the chair:

" I just remember that you stood in the trunk to go with your dad !!"

Laura's short laugh was a little loud and open again .. Silence! The squeezed the Car steering wheel in her hand and took a deep breath:

"Apparently, you are the only one who knows how dependent on my Dady!

"Me and cid ..! I guess."

Remembering Cid, it was still a smile that was the guest of Laura's lips, she tilted her head left and right and leaned back in her chair:

" young heart cid! No?

She laughed and cor watched without that laura understood it. Cor's gaze was still fixed on her face, no one was curious about his past, because no one cared about him, but Laura ... He was sure that all the time he left her and didn't want to see her, the worst things happened to her, like Mors's death. ! Cor was the one who knew what a heavy defeat that sudden death was for Laura, and after that ... the suicide of the former queen, means Laura's grandmother. He regretted that he had rejected Laura, he was ashamed of her, as he was still ashamed of his harsh behavior and manliness, he looked at forward, he tried to talk about his feelings once again, he felt ashamed and Sorry:

" Um ... I don't usually talk about these things, but ... I'm sorry!"

At that moment, the only thing that could be seen on Laura's face was a surprise! She turned his head toward Cor for a moment and looked at him, but as she had to watch out for the road, she takes her gaze on him again and stared at the road :

"For what?"

After a thoughtful pause, Cor's cold tone greeted Laura's curiosity:

" I shouldn't have just let you go! You saw me as your trusted friend ... In those circumstances, maybe I wasn't right!"

" I shouldn't let you alone Cor!

Cor's gaze once again focused on Laura to hear the rest of her words, and Laura didn't wait long for him:

"You weren't in a good mood, I shouldn't leave you alone!"

" The one who was released was not me, Laura, it was you!"

"It doesn't matter for me, man! I'm not sad! You wanted to be alone, too !!"

"Don't try to fool me laura!"

" That you left me alone all that time was nothing to hurt me ... did you notice? I had bigger problems. So much so that I never saw my grandfather's death!"

The faint, permanent frown becomes between Cor's. Slowly he leaned back and stared at Laura:

"I want to know what the problem was!"

Laura's deep breath reflected the faint wave that had crept into her being:

"I'm not used to talking about problems that no longer exist!"

"But you have to tell me about them !! However, you have to solve your problems that year !!"

Deep breath again, only Laura's calmness was captured. She kept the car on the side of the road and turned it off, turned completely to Cor, leaned one hand on the car seat, and stared into those eyes that she loved so much:

"Since when has the past of others become so important to you!"

Cor's strong, cool tone was nothing but pleasing to Laura:

"You are not in others, you are the only woman that I have always had in my life and I have and will have!"

Laura's gentle smile caused Cor frown to lose their strength and move away from a little:

"Stop laughing!"

Just one word was enough to break the barrier of Laura's lips and make her laugh! He clenched his fist tightly, hit Cor's arm, and then pulled herself back:

"You have made great progress! I didn't expect it at all! Does Cor know how to talk about this?"

There was nothing but shame in Cor's heart, they had been together for several years, not they want it to be officially, but they fell in love and were in a relationship. But without saying a word about his feelings, Laura, no matter how strong, was a girl anyway! And because she was strong, she didn't burn herself at the feet of someone who didn't feel it !! But at that moment, Cor's face became very empty of feeling, because he felt that Laura was bolded, while Cor's poker face made Laura laugh more. The resistance to self-restraint was useless, and he laughed alone:

"enough! Just tell me what your problem was !! Don't go under it!

"Do you really know my problem?"

"You can don't say it if you don't want!

Laura's laughter was nothing more than a smile, a smile that slowly settled in the corner of her mouth to let her know that Lara was insignificant in the past:

"It's a complicated execution!"

She took a deep breath and continued:

"The many problems of the daughter of the husband and stepmother, that's it!"

"Did she bother you? You were such a great girl!"

" she did a lot of things without looking at my position and age! Anyway, she's dead!"

The fact that the matter was closed secretly made Cor not insist on opening the case! Laura's suffering was not pleasant for her, so he didn't ask anything anymore, but the previous discussion that had taken place in the middle was also against Cor ... Laura didn't allow silence! Although she was not used to talking about her pain, he was Cor. She believed that Cor was the only reliable person she could talk to about her pain and she was sure that no one would understand them, sometimes it was very good to talk! Even the strongest might need to talk:

"When you imprisoned yourself in the academy and you didn't want to see me, I fell silent. I was no longer so passionate and motivated! As my father said, i have been an ashamed girl !!

She laughed softly and ran her finger over a brand that had settled on the car's roll!

" Aulea got married to my dad when I was 14 and 15 years old! Adolescence is a sensitive period for every person, girl, or boy! At that time, maybe I wasn't even strong, I was very emotional!

" I do not accept this! At that time, you were more strong than even me!"

"Right compared to others ... Well, I easily accepted how I was born and why my father is so young!While this can be painful for anyone! No, I had accepted myself, it was not a problem for me until ... Aulea been my father's life!

"Do you mean Queen Aulea?

To confirm Cor, Laura only raised and lowered her head once and leaned her head back against the leather seat of her car. She raised her hand a little and shook her wrist, and then continued:

"Every woman wants to have power! It was the same! In good looks and intimate, but in secret. The bite of her tongue was more painful than the bite of any snake! These problems are not obvious! Until she became pregnant noctis!!

She took a deep breath, stared at Cor, and continued with the same faint smile:

"Threat behind the threat. She was pulling dad towards her and she was staging it in such a way that it would take me out of my father's eyes! That person was of no value to me! I didn't count on her !! But when Dad believed her words ...

Cor's gaze was still staring at Laura, listening intently! He hears what is happening in the court, big and small. He had even heard from Clarus many times that Laura's behavior was weird, or even annoyed by the queen. But hearing these words from Laura's tongue showed that she wasn't too involved in a joke with the queen, and all this was to make Laura look inferior to the others! Laura's words continued in a colder tone, her gaze still fixed on an unknown point:

" I have slowly lost our supporters, and you know that if one of the royal families does not have a faction behind it ... its power will be reduced! Well, at that time, almost all the people who were my allies fell apart. Every day, the wounds of my tongue and words and the fact that I did not have the authority to be a crown Princess ...for this reason I travel alone you completed my power, even without Dario !! It was just to prove myself .. remember?"

Cor's gaze was still fixed on Laura, and his eyes shone with surprise. She remembered, but he didn't know she had traveled alone !! This was impossible for almost any monarchy:

"I just remember that you were lost for a while, so at that time ... it didn't matter much to me!"

" I wasn't lost .. I was traveling! I was 20 years old, so I managed to join 25 of the weapons of the kings in my armiger ... This trip is dangerous in itself, but it was not the only danger ..!

Laura's pause was long! Long and long! She turned the opposite side to Cor and slowly loosened the edge of her black shirt. She was sitting with her back was toward Cor! He raised her shirt to her shoulders and tilted her head slightly so that she could see Cor:

"This is the souvenir that the woman gave me! She sent many men to kill me !!"

Cor's look was on the wound that was still visible after even 19 years, the wound that had covered Lara's entire back. Her hand was clenched into a palm and her jaw was clenched:

"Why didn't you say anything!"

Laura's wound was hidden under her shirt again. She turned slowly and leaned back in her chair:

"Noctis had just been born .. I loved that little one in front of the hatred I had for his mother, I didn't want Noctis to grow up without matters kindness. That woman also had the right to want her son to be the Crown Prince!"

"That's why you gave the Crown Prince to Noctis?"

Laura's head moved slowly to the sides. She slowly put his hands on the steering wheel and squeezed it a little:

" When Noctis was born, I wanted to visit him! But when I got to his room, I heard Gentiana's voice. She was talking to my father. Noctis was the king of light, and I was his servant. How could I be the crown princess when he was the true king! I wanted to do this at the same time, but my father objected. He told me to wait until he was five years old.

Finally, Cor's blue eyes parted from Laura and he stared ahead, breath caught Slowly and he opened his fists:

"This is the real king's point, but you shouldn't have kept quiet that day! You should have said what the queen did! You were reprimanded by your father!

"My father had the worst suffering on his chest in those years! Telling the queen of what betrayals only made him even angrier ... It was enough for him to hear the fate of Noctis!"

"fate.. of... Noctis?"

" He is supposed to sacrifice his life for light !!

They both stared at each other. Cor's gaze was startled by the frown, and Laura could feel no emotion on her face!

"next, going to die ??"

" By my father! With my father's sword! But you don't have to talk to anyone about it, Got it?"

Cor shook head up and down. When he accepted something, there was no need to worry! After a short silence, the start-up sound of Adamantoise (herwas the only one that could be broke silence!

"Camp?"

"Camp!"

"Yes, sir immortal sir!

A half-smiling smile sat on Cor's lips:

"When you call me IMMORTAL, I hate my nickname!

A deep smile sat on Laura's lips:

"Immortal? Immortal! Immortal Immortal !!

And she laughed, the laughter that warmed Cor's heart, of course, secretly! A military man was not used to expressing his feelings!

[scripttorture]

(1/2) Hi - Thanks a lot for your alternative scenario to my Widowmaker question. :) I'm going to be working on a story involving intelligence/black-ops agencies, and one recurring theme I'm emphasizing is that the tortures done by multiple characters are inefficient, pointless and counter-intuitive. The protagonists' cruelty backfires horribly by hardening the resolve of their victims (and the victims' loved ones); guilty members 'betray' their team by reporting the atrocities to the public...

(2/2) Any useful info gathered by agencies (American, Japanese, Russian & Turkish) is done nonviolently, so torture's done for sadism or to INTENTIONALLY demoralize. Any other ways could you suggest to portray 'enhanced interrogation' as needless and unconstructive? Don't wanna accidentally veer into apologia i.e. implying that torture fails and a time-bomb goes off because 'we didn't torture suspect hard enough'; and I fear that in pop-culture, 'moral appeals' alone won't be convincing enough.

You're right that popculture tends to dismiss moral appeals (usually by buying into apologistarguments) but I think whether they work in a piece of fiction depends on howthey’re written.

 A purely moral argumentis a lot less likely to have an emotional impact when the character it comesfrom is: privileged, unlikely to ever be in danger, has no experience with victims,has no family background connected to atrocities. Anyone who comes across asunconnected can be tarred by the narrative.

 The usual ways that isdone are either by showing the character as a desk jockey with no realpractical experience of the world, showing them as flighty with their head inthe clouds or showing them as using atrocities to score political points.

 Moral arguments comeacross more powerfully when they come from people who have seen and experiencedatrocities, whether it’s in the past or present.

 My English education isprobably gonna show a little here but I’m reminded of Sassoon’s war poetry andhow angrily some of it was directed against the British public and politics-

 ‘You smug faced crowds with kindling eyes,

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you’ll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.’

 Moral arguments can beincredibly powerful things in fiction and art. I don’t think we should dismissthem.

 The problem withwriting effective moral arguments infiction is well essentially it’s about how you write.

 In order for somethingto have an emotional pay off it needs to be appropriately built up in the storyand supported by the narrative. And there’s no one simple way to do thateffectively.

 A ‘Big Speech’ can makepeople lose interest but only if it’spoorly written.

 I suppose the way Ithink about successful moral arguments is that you’re trying to write what TVtropes would call a ‘Crowning Moment of Awesome’ (I’d link to that but I’mafraid my readers may become stuck in an internet black hole from which theymay never escape.)

 Doing that effectivelytakes work. It means carefully balancing everything that happens in the storyup until that moment. It means judging howyou’re manipulating your readers’ emotions.

 Any big speech is goingto fall flat if it isn’t backed up by actions and by what happens more widelyin the story.

 The way I’ve tended todo that is by having characters take big personal risks to do what they thinkis right. Because I write a lot of pacifists and because pacifists seem to beparticularly prone to this sort of dismissal in fiction (that their beliefsaren’t practical, that it’ll all get better if they just kill the baddies,etc-) I made a deliberate choice to avoid ‘Big Speeches’ and instead show thesecharacters backing up their words to the hilt.

 Getting the emotionaltone right is key and it’s also one of the hardest parts of writing.

 There seem to a fewmain approaches with torture in particularly. There’s a very stark,minimalistic statement of what happened, similar to an Amnesty internationalreport. In a rich, descriptive narrative that can be incredibly shocking andhorrifying. It’s a sudden shift in how the story comes across and that createsan impact.

 Another strategy is to writealmost the way Alleg does. Keeping the pov very firmly with the victim andputting the reader as firmly as possible in their shoes. That means a lot moredescription but not purely of things like pain. It means appreciating thedetails people notice when they’re stressed and scared.

 Alleg picked up onthings like the cleanliness of the board he was strapped to, the general senseof the crowd around him, the fact some of them were drinking beers while theywatched. That his shirt was used as a gag. The incredibly young age of some ofhis torturers and the way they talked to him (as if it was all a sportingevent). The way Algerian prisoners responded to him, a Frenchmen, who had takentheir side and was suffering for it.

 Pulling back from realworld accounts there are a few other approaches I found particularly effective.They’re more to do with focus thandescription.

 Babylon 5 and Farscapeare two sci fis that have a lot of flaws (and I haven’t re-watched themrecently so I can’t swear that totally accurate portrayals of torture isn’toccasionally one of them-) but they’re all very good at giving the audience anemotional impact from atrocities they show.

 Babylon 5 is set on thetitular space station, a sort of diplomatic way point designed to be neutralground used to navigate political crisis’s. A central plot point is theon-going conflict between the Narn and the Centauri. At the beginning of thestory this is pretty much purely political, Centauri used to occupy Narn butNarn broke free and has since become much more powerful. Over the course of thestory this shifts drastically. The Centauri take over Narn again and begin apolicy of widespread slavery and genocide.

 We rarely see any of this. We do not generallymeet the victims.

 But the consequenceshit the narrative like a hammer.

 We see the Narnambassador go from being one of the most powerful individuals on the station toa refugee there. We see the Centauri ambassador become a pariah. We see attemptafter attempt to help the Narn people from all sorts of sides. It affects everything that happens in the story,warping it.

 Farscape is much morefocused on individuals.

 In Farscape the leadcharacter, Crichton, is tortured repeatedly (and unsuccessfully) by peopletrying to get information on wormhole technology from him. And the narrativetakes the time to show the ways it’s affected him. It does this in privatemoments, when he’s alone or interacting with the people he trusts. Graduallyover the course of several seasons he changes. To the point that going from anepisode in the first season to one in the last makes him almost seem like adifferent character.

 Like Babylon 5 it’sabout consequences. But it’s consequences on a very personal level.

 Unlike Alleg’s accountit’s not, necessarily, from Crichton’s point of view. Some of it is. Some of itisn’t. The audience watches the character deteriorate. But we don’t see himgive up and his responses to a large degree aren’t judged. Just presented.

 You’re showing torturefailing in multiple ways.

 Not resulting in usefulinformation. Negatively affecting torturers/bad guys and causing them to changesides. Making victims more strongly opposed to their enemies (and presumablyacting as a recruitment too and propaganda victory for their own side).

 I think the rest of itcomes down to how you construct the narrative and the emotional tone you put inthe story. I think I’ve covered emotional tone.

 With a story on thekind of scale you’re telling there are going to be characters who support andargue for torture. But you can use the story itself to show that they’re wrong.

 The easiest way to dothat is to show them as…well as delusional as torturers tend to be. Show themclaiming they were responsible forthings the reader knows other people(and non-torture methods) achieved. Show them coming out of a session where allthey ‘got’ was inarticulate noises and claim it was useful. Show their‘information’ being wrong and show that costing their side, in time and lives.

 You’re already doing anawful lot more in your story than most fiction bothers to. I don’t think you’reat risk of accidentally writing apologia.

 This kind of writingadvice is difficult for me because I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-allapproach to writing, narrative style or building emotional depth in a story.

 I think there are veryvery few things that writers should ‘never’ do and I’m very aware that myapproach to writing wouldn’t work for everyone. I spent years strugglingbecause I’d read all these writing ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ telling me things I‘shouldn’t’ do that were key to someone else’s style and absolutely uselesswhen it came to mine.

 Figuring out what worksbest for the way you write is something only you can do. As is figuring outwhat would work best in the story you want to tell.

 I hope this helps. :)

Disclaimer

[shigetsugu]

hi i'm just curious! what flaws do you think kojuro has? i'm doing his ms noww but as far as i can tell his only flaw is being bad at cleaning ): but he's so attractive lmaooo i can't decide whether i like him or not

Hi there, anon! Glad you are doing his Main Story, even though I’m certainly biased, Kojuro’s is one of my favorite and one of the reason why I fell for him! Anyway, it is quite a tough question, isn’t it? I mean, he is seen as a flawless person much by players but also by in-game characters, so, does Kojuro have any flaw? Yes, of course he does, and I’m not just talking about his bad cleaning behavior either. I played all Kojuro’s events so far so I think I do know enough about the man but maybe I’ll miss some informations and I know there are new stuff that got introduced in KoiRan. I’ll try to explain everything the best I can, it’s certainly a bit longer than I intended to write first but I thought that context is always an important part on how I see things. I might have forgotten some informations and apologize in advance if so but I think it should show pretty much that Kojuro has flaws, like anyone else.

To begin with, Kojuro is one of the “oldest” main love interest in the game and he’s written to be seen as the wise older man type. It’s true at first that Kojuro gives off the vibes that he is perfect because that’s how he wants to be seen. I mean, he is thoughtful, loyal and caring, it’s true but he says so himself: it’s a facade he build up. In reality, he is more than the man you see at work, serious and hardworking and he worked himself hard to be the one called the “Dragon’s Claw”. This was explained (in Passionate Devotion event) that when he started working for the Date clan as a teenager, all the other retainers weren’t taking him seriously because of his age and appearance (remember everyone say that Kojuro looks younger than he is supposed to be and so started wearing his hair up) but also because of his background (he isn’t from a samurai family; he comes from a family of priests). 

It has been mentioned as well but Kojuro wasn’t the man we know today when he was still a young adult; Shigezane and Masamune said that he was hardly holding himself back and was able to throw savage tantrum and he could be even more terrifying since he is the kind to dig in and find some juicy stuff to get back at you and literally destroy you. (Mentionned and proved in Our Sultry Night of Passion event and also shown in Noble Heart Exposed event). Kita even said once that Kojuro was a “rebel” and didn’t actually wanted to work for the Date clan (and Kojuro low key confirmed it actually happened).

Kojuro explained himself that he basically compartmentalizing with his private and public persona. I don’t know if we can say that he is really a lazy person, or depends on what I suppose, but it’s certain that he sucks at tidying up his room, he tends to buy more than one copy of a book, barely fold his own clothes, is really clumsy when it comes to cooking (he even asked for Shigezane to bring him so food once since he was too lazy to even try) and don’t bother to eat sometimes because of that or he isn’t a morning person and can sleep in his study without sleeping in his bedding… He is actually ashamed of these (which he label them as things that aren’t his “strong points”) but can’t help himself; it’s part of him whatever happens, even though he tries his best to change.

It’s interesting as well because in the AU events in KoiRan where Kojuro is there being younger, Kojuro was really the kind not to care much for people, giving him the attitude of a very detached and not very altruistic person. (I can’t give much examples but if I’m not saying something wrong, in one event, Kojuro was asked by Shigetsugu to help the MC find where she was supposed to be working at the new place she was assigned in the city but he didn’t even bothered to do it correctly.)

I’m going to talk about how he behave with his closest relationships because it’s really interesting. When he started serving Masamune, it was “Kojuro’s mistake” that Masamune’s eyesight got worse (it is still unconfirmed but that’s what Kojuro believes) because he failed to found out about the poisoned manju (as told in Claim Me at Last event). Although at first it says that it’s because of this guilt that Kojuro became even more loyal to Masamune (and thus making sure he wouldn’t allow himself to make anymore grave mistake), but Kojuro explains that it isn’t really why it made him even more protective of Masamune (I’m sure it was during one of Masamune’s event but I can’t remember which one but I don’t remember his exact reason, I’m sorry). Kojuro, as much as he loves Masamune, still puts a barrier between the two of them and don’t even dare to call him a friend (I wonder if it was during Masamune’s Unspoken Ties event but I don’t have it so I can’t be sure) which bother Masamune a lot since not only he sees him as his most loyal retainer, but also a dear friend and big brother figure. Kojuro has always put some distance with his peers even though he is very friendly and easy to talk to and I’m going to explain why I think he does that now. 

We hardly talk about it but it’s important to remember that Kojuro, even though got taken care of by Kita and he himself says that he sees her as a motherly figure, still lost his parents at a young age and even waited for them to return (it’s never been mentionned how they died though). It’s implied that he missed some of this parental love and he wishes for his children not to know the same fate as he had with his own. He had actually a difficulut childhood (mentionned in the special ending of his second Main Story in KoiRan) and felt very lonely, I believe he lacked love for a long time so that’s why I’m going to talk about the way he was behaving with his preivous romatic relationships now.

Kojuro said that he had numerous lovers before the MC (The Bonds of Love Kojuro’s epilogue and Blossoming Lies events) but he never really fell in love with them. I believe that, since Kojuro always had a hole in his heart, he tried to fill this gap but never found someone to fit there (until the MC came in his life of course, he changed a lot after realizing his genuine love for her). He was going out with them for a while until they broke up (it’s not really told but it’s implied that he is the one who decided to) and I believe it was only because he never truly loved them and just wanted to feel some kind of strong affection even though it wasn’t shared (and certainly because he just wanted to relieved himself of his own earthly desire as he said so himself).

The latest event shows another side of him I would love to talk about because it could be confirming even more about the fact that Kojuro might have some kind of trust issues. Kojuro always took upon himself to serve not only Masamune personally but the Date clan and Oshu itself and thus, taking care for the problems was a normal thing to do. So when he realized that some of his retainers had difficulties to solve some problems in Shiroishi, he wanted to care of them himself like he always did. I think that the reason that it’s difficult Kojuro to let people do their job is only because he was in this position before and is probably to used to solve them but also because he has perfectionist tendencies. But not only this, it’s been shown that Kojuro can very stubborn, like REALLY when he wants to but can also thing that bothering for himself. We’re all used to have a Kojuro being able to commune his thoughts and feeling pretty easily and yet, sometimes he keeps stuff for himself even thought he knows he should be talking about them for different reasons and been mostly seen again in his second Main Story in KoiRan. It can be even more frustrating coming from someone you know that can, and more importantly want to make sure he is listened and understood.

All of these might not really be seen as evident flaws like it’d be with Saizo’s uncommunicativeness or Ieyasu’s trust issues but they really are stuff that are overlooked and overshadowed by his qualities and it’s actually normal. It doesn’t make him any less human; Kojuro is just working his butt to better himself in the eyes of other but more importantly in his own. He is just a perfecionnist and really don’t like to be seen as someone who can’t control his own emotions (he said a couple times that he always make sure to control his anger or even his lust, for example) and trust me, that’s the behavior of someone who don’t allow themselves to make any mistake or accepting failure and are even harder on themseleves than on others (such as the exemple of his lastest event, Diary of a Samurai Wife); he wants everything to be done nicely and quickly and so want to do it himself but realize that it was wrong to do this in the end. 

[animaechan]

MADE IN ABYSS (Thoughts)

Before I begin saying my piece, specifically in response to a comment I received, I'd just like to say that I have watched up to episode 10 of Made in Abyss and I will only be finishing it next week. So, no spoilers, please. I also would like to highlight my scores for each episode of the show so far.

Episode 1: 8.9/10

Episode 2: 8.9/10

Episode 3: 8.3/10

Episode 4: 8.1/10

Episode 5: 7.8/10

Episode 6: 7.7/10

Episode 7: 8.2/10

Episode 8: 7.9/10

Episode 9: 6/10 (I found out afterwards that this episode is mostly filler and that all the things that bothered me about the episode, did not happen in the manga, so that was great to hear)

Episode 10: 9/10

What I have said in my reactions so far that I love most about the show is the world building, visuals and soundtrack. If I were to score the show as a whole at this point, based only on these three categories, it would be a 9/10 overall (at least).

I got the following comment today and I'm sharing it so that I can discuss why I don't like these kinds of comments:

"What makes [Made in Abyss] different, is the fact that the MC is a child. To a child, a world can still seem wondrous, even though it is full of darkness. So, rather than being like other run-of-the-mill Shonen type anime, it is actually interesting. I think one of the key points of this show, is to depict scenarios where (one) MC is trying to deal with a situation that is beyond their ability. Not like some cliched Shonen, where MC has hidden/special powers, makes grand virtuous speeches and other character troupes."

I find myself to be very apprehensive to have a discussion with this kind of person. Their comment solely focuses on bringing down an entire genre in an attempt to highlight why this anime is good. It's not even something they needed to prove to me, since my scores reflect that I do think this anime is good. They continued to say:

"Average shonen means something like Naruto. A great shonen would be something like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon slayer, FMAB. Although they have some cliched themes as well, that is offset by other great qualities.

The whole point of that statement, is that Made in Abyss is a dark fantasy, so judging it by standards of a typical anime does not help. Like trying to imagine the story having an adult (or older) MC kind of takes away the whole point of this story."

I find it interesting how they talk about what is an average shonen VS what is a great shonen, as if it's factual, and they use those "facts" to illustrate their point. Not only that, but they assume that I judge Made in Abyss by the standards of shonen for some reason, which makes no sense to me, as I never mentioned another shonen while watching Made in Abyss. I only ever said that I don't think it's necessary to have an MC which is as young as Riko. She is 12, but the character designs (in my opinion) make all the children look even younger. I mean, there is barely a difference between the features of Riko and Kiwi, who must be around the age of 4.

I'm not sure on Kiwi's age exactly, but there is probably an 8 year difference between these two and yet it barely shows. This is obviously not an objective fact, I am just responding (and expanding on my reasoning) to their argument about "...trying to imagine the story having [an older] MC kind of takes away the whole point of this story."

I don't agree that the "point of the story" needs Riko to look as young as she does. Sure, it will add to the shock value, but if the story solely depends on the shock value of the mutilation of a 12 year old, I don't think that says a lot about the anime... "Dark fantasy is defined as a fantasy sub-genre that is typified by a deliberately ominous tone, reinforcing what is commonly perceived as a gloomy atmosphere. Standard features of fantasy are deliberately intertwined with a sense of terror and dread to create this sinister subcategory of fantasy."

Nothing in the definition of dark fantasy presupposes that the characters must be children. It is definitely not something that is against any rules, by any means, but saying "...trying to imagine the story having [an older] MC kind of takes away the whole point of this story" just because it's a dark fantasy, makes no sense. Berserk is also a dark fantasy, but doesn't rely (solely) on the shock value of harming children to make the story development and characters interesting or unique. The same can be said about Attack on Titan.

Before I finish up, I wanted to respond to one more thought in particular, which was that Riko is unique, because she is "not like some cliched shonen, where the MC has hidden/special powers, makes grand virtuous speeches and other character troupes." Once again, this person relies on bringing down something else in order to make their point about why something in this show is good. I think this is very unfair, however, because although Riko does not have special powers herself, her super strong robot companion comes down to the same thing. There is no way that she would have made it this far into the journey without the special powers of a secondary character. How is that really so much different from shows like Naruto, One Piece or Bleach in which the main character is granted special powers and actually develops their powers themselves over the course of many episodes? This is a shorter show, and it's fine that the main character is given a strong sidekick instead of developing their own power, but I think it is unfair for this person to say that Riko is any less cliched, just because her "special power" (that helps her to make it as far as she does) is not her own.

I just want to emphasise that I don't think Riko is a bad character. My average score for the character category has been a solid 8/10. I am just responding to this set of comments and trying to challenge their view of what it is that makes Made in Abyss good. I never said otherwise (with the exception of episode 9, but that has been explained).

In summary, I think Made in Abyss so far is very good, because of it's beautiful world building and visuals, as well as a unique and stand-out soundtrack. The characters are good too. I like the mystery surrounding Reg's character and Riko is special, because of her inquisitive mind and excitable nature. I still do not think that it is necessary for them to be and appear as young as they do, in fact, I think it actually holds the story back. That, however, is only my opinion before seeing the last three episodes and the movie. Once I finish, I will revisit this opinion and give more in-depth thoughts on it.