#honestly saber is gorgeous though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gremoria411 · 8 months

Text

Seeing as I’ve recently finished the model kit, let’s discuss the Delta Gundam today.

I’m specifically going to be talking about the design and it’s variants. What I’m not going to be talking about is the Hyaku Shiki, and it’s variants, since those are a whole separate topic I want to cover at some point, though I will be comparing to the base Hyaku Shiki at times.

So, the Delta Gundam is the original prototype design to the Hyaku Shiki (or at least close enough there’s little difference). Had it been built it would have been one of the first transformable mobile suits of the Gryps war. However, the frame suffered from structural issues, so it was instead completed as the Hyaku Shiki, which would be piloted by Quattro Bajeena (Aka Char Aznable) during the Gryps War. It’s one of the few mobile suits that we know for a fact was never built (at least at the moment) and is arguably the closest Char ever got to piloting a Gundam-type mobile suit (discounting the Mk-II heist at the start of the Gryps war).

I think it’s honestly gorgeous, for being the in-universe first crack at third-generation mobile suits. A lot of the design feels very Zeta-esque to me, but it’s got more heft to it comparatively (probably because of the wing binders). I absolutely love the head, it just looks so sinister and it contains the same IDE (Image Directive Encode) system that made the original Hyaku Shiki such a good sniper. The rifle is also very nice, it’s got a very gryps-era design, but it somehow feels fuller and deadlier. The Delta Gundam stores it’s beam sabers in its shield, where they also function as beam guns. Honestly, I forget about this feature a lot simply because that’s something that was more common during the Neo Zeon War, and it makes the Delta Gundam feel overarmed to me. It’s just such a lovely blend of the Zeta, Hyaku Shiki and Mk-II, which were fairly light on integrated weaponry. The design also feels considerably more contemporary - it’s officially part of the Gundam Unicorn MSV, despite it being in-universe from the Gryps War, so it’s possible that this is an in-universe “refined” concept. The comparatively simple design also makes its unique features (the wings, the head, the gold) pop more.

The Delta Plus.

The Delta Plus is a limited production suit built by Anaheim Electronics based no the original Delta Gundam. It’s essentially a mashup of the Delta Gundam and the Zeta Plus series. Compared to its predecessor, it trades the golden Anti-Beam coating for heavier firepower and a transformation system that actually works. It’s also equipped with a simple bio-sensor for use by newtypes.

For Armaments, it retains the Vulcans, Beam Sabers (and thus beam guns) and (now-optional) beam rifle of its predecessor, while it gains a 2-barrel grenade launcher and besm cannon, both built into the shield. Additionally, it was equipped with a Long Mega Buster, first used by the Full Armour Hyaku Shiki Kai, as standard armament. Why is this important? Because the Long Mega Buster is essentially a handheld version of the Original Hyaku Shiki’s Mega Bazooka Launcher, giving the Delta Plus significant firepower compared to its predecessors. It would be piloted by Riddhe Marcenas during the LA+ Incident (or Third Neo Zeon War).

So what do I think about it? Ehhh….. I don’t really dislike the design, but it’s just a little drab. It suffers because I like both the Delta Gundam and the Hyaku Shiki, so despite the armament increase, the Delta Plus just feels like a downgrade. I like the Zeta Plus series, which the Delta Plus takes obvious influence from, but the problem is that I like them because they have a soft, rounded, aerodynamic look compared to the sleek, angular nature of the original Zeta Gundam. The Delta Plus is just more lines and angles, it feels too different from them from a design perspective. There’s also it’s usage in the story, which I want to talk about.

Okay, I understand why Riddhe’s in Unicorn. I understand who he is and what he represents so I don’t really have to like him, per se. I view him getting the Delta Plus as shorthand for “he’s an important character now, pay attention” and because people like the Hyaku Shiki, he gets a suit based on that. Problem is, other than being able to independently enter the atmosphere (*cough* Ballutes *cough*), I don’t really see what the Delta Plus adds that wouldn’t be provided by a ReZel. I’ll admit this is partially because I’ve been coming around to liking the ReZel a lot more lately, but I just don’t think the Delta Plus adds much. The Delta Plus is eventually absolutely mauled by the Banshee, and while it’s a pretty good “death” scene, it’s destroyed functionally so Riddhe can get a new suit. I mentioned it contains a simple bio-sensor before, but despite Riddhe’s newtype potential, I don’t think it ever comes up in-series.

The Gundam Delta Kai

A thoroughly upgraded Delta Plus, designed as a next-gen demonstration machine. It’s essentially chock-full of fancy weaponry and experimental systems.

Honestly, it’s equipped with a lot of optional weaponry that I wasn’t aware of, so I’m just going to be focusing on its “basic” loadout here (IE What’s on the model kit). It’s equipped with Vulcans, Beam Sabers (which again double as beam guns), a Long Mega Buster (as with the Delta Plus), a High Mega Cannon, built into the shield and based on the ZZ (though with the output ratcheted back quite significantly), and finally, some proto fin funnels swiped from the Nu Gundam’s development. It’s also equipped with the n_i_t_r_o system, which temporarily enhances a normal pilot into a cyber Newtype and causes the mobile suit to emit blue flames. It also makes the pilot unusually aggressive and unstable. So, basically an EXAM system in a hat and moustache. Honestly, I tend to forget about it.

So, the Gundam Delta Kai is gorgeous. It’s a fourth-gen mobile suit with a bunch of armaments, I like how the blue and yellow break up the predominantly while colour scheme and it’s got an actual Gundam-style head. Though I wasn’t able to find a good picture of the shield it integrates far better than you’d expect from its design. The funnels are oversized and delightful, since they change its whole silhouette and give the impression of an increased armament (if the high mega cannon didn’t already). I also want to call out that I especially love the thruster design on this thing. 10/10, no further notes.

The Gundam Delta Kai would eventually be upgraded into the Land Combat Gundam Delta Kai. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really have much of an opinion of this one. Or really anything to say about it.

The Delta Gundam II.

An identical, red copy of the original Delta Gundam, its plans were pitched to Karaba in November of UC 0087, in the middle of the Gryps War, but it was rejected due to the fact it would take too much time to be built. Out-of-universe, it’s an excuse to sell the Delta Gundam in Char’s colours, but I find I rather like it. The flat colours allows the design to take on greater definition in some areas (such as the head) and to pleasingly evokes the Zero-Shiki (and thus the Rick Dias) to me.

Finally, we come to the Mega-Shiki. A Gunpla ordered by Team G-Master for the Gunpla Battle Championship, built by Minato Sakai. It’s essentially a purple mash-up of the Delta Gundam and Hyaku-Shiki, with an integrated Mega-Rider from ZZ as its backpack.

Armaments are: Vulcan Guns in the head, a beam rifle identical to that of the Delta Gundam, two beam sabers styled after samurai swords (functioning similarly to Beam Cutlasses from Gundam Crossbone) and the Mega Beam Cannon mounted on the Mega Rider backpack (honestly it’s called a beam cannon, high mega beam cannon, mega launcher, so I just made my best guess. It’s essentially the Hyaku Shiki’s Mega Bazooka Launcher but better integrated). It retains the anti-beam coating of its predecessors, but it’s coloured purple.

The Mega Shiki is another of those rare models I would get to mod and paint. The purple colour scheme doesn’t do it for me, but it could be repainted in a variety of Gryps-war appropriate colour schemes that I’d find quite enjoyable. I like how the Mega Rider’s integrated, but I’d honestly much rather knock it off, replace the backpack with a standard Hyaku-Shiki one, and use it as the Hyaku-Shiki does - a sort-of sub-flight system meets really big gun. I understand the idea behind the beam katana’s but I just don’t really think they add anything to the design. In a nutshell, it’s a nice concept, but the execution feels like it’s going in too many directions at once. It is my understanding that the HG model contains several spare Delta Gundam Parts however, such as the head (but not the backpack), so it does have options as a model.

#I would have made this a Delta Gundam kit review but I couldn’t find any nice pictures #Autocorrect wanted to name them Team G-Nasty #Delta Gundam #Delta Plus #Delta Gundam Kai #Delta Gundam II #Mega-Shiki #UC-MSV #Gryps War #Gundam #Ramblings #Build Fighters

17 notes · View notes

tiredspacedragon · 3 days

Note

For that ask game thing you reblogged:

31 and 32. Three favorite male names and 3 favorite female names. I like hearing people's opinions on this.

Oof, these are both hard but for opposite reasons. There are so many women's names I think are gorgeous, so it's hard to narrow it down to 3 I like the most. Meanwhile men's names are just really, aggressively bland 95% of the time. I can't think up enough for them! Here we go though!

31: a) Conor. I like Conner and Connor as well, but I favour the Irish spelling in particular. I'm fond of the sound of this one in general, but part of why I like it is because it was almost my name. It didn't make the final cut of course (no actual name of mine will be appearing on this list for privacy reasons, but I do quite like my actual name), but in some alternate universe out there, my name is Conor, and I think that's neat.

b) Ambrose. This one has a long, complicated history that I honestly don't particularly want to get into, but suffice to say it's the name of an OC I've been carrying around for more than a few years now :P

c) Cal, or any variation thereupon. So Callum, Calvin, etc. I'm not crazy about this one, but it's one that I keep coming back to as one I solidly like. I'm just a sucker for hard C's I guess.

32: a) Forsythia, shortened to Thia or Thea. I don't honestly know why I like this name so much. The Forsythia bush is a very pretty plant, but I have no special connection to it outside my fondness for the name. I just really like the sound. If at any point in my life I have a daughter, this is what I would like to name her. I would love a little Thea.

b) Kira. Yet another where I can't articulate exactly why I like, but this one has always stuck with me since I first heard it. It has a good balance of elegance and sharpness to it, I suppose. And yeah, another hard C/K name, big surprise.

c) Any variant of Sab, so Sabrina, Sabine, Sabina, Sabryn, etc. Something about these is just striking to me. Maybe it's that it almost sounds like they were derived from saber, which I'm fairly certain they were not, but the point stands. I feel like they stand out.

#answered asks #tsdtalks #sorry for the wait #had to wrack my brain for these

2 notes · View notes

childofaura · 2 years

Note

Shimomura Watari for the FEH artist

AUGH YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I WANTED TO ANSWER THIS ONE, BUT I WAS AT WORK ;w;

But I have access to a computer now, so we're gonna get into Shimomura's artwork. And I LOVE their artwork.

Shimomura Watari has drawn Haar, Lex, Orson, Rafiel, Rath, Rennac, and Resplendent Saber. This will sound a little mean, but because I didn't have too many strong attachments to most of the characters they drew, I never took a good look at their art. Until they drew Orson, and OH GOODNESS:

Superb lighting, intricate details (especially during crits!), and just the way they drew the details of Orson's face being haggard and worn. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Orson because of how sad I was to see an ally fall into a dark manipulation. That whole story with Monica's corpse always freaked me out.

And they even drew Monica in his damage art!

It's such a thoughtful detail and I couldn't be happier that they were hired for Orson.

OH AND LOOK AT RAFIEL'S CRIT ART:

Such gorgeous flow, his hair, his gown, the flowers and lights and the trees of Serenes forest (assuming it's the trees of Serenes) behind him! Shimomura has pretty much mastered every aspect of a FEH artist that I review: beautiful color work, thoughtful and incredibly detailed criticals (though that depends on the character; Obviously for special characters like Orson and Rafiel they would have more detail. But even in the others, the energy is drawn nicely), immersive posework, a nice variety of facial structures (fair-featured Rafiel, rugged Saber, haunted Orson, cocky Rennac)... And their expressions, holy crap! Their expressions are pretty much on par with Argon's:

Additionally, Saber and Orson have completely unique portraits, I think they like those two.

And uh... I know I like their Saber art:

I think Shimomura actually made his v-neck top even wider o//w\\o And his face is so well chiseled. Top tier.

Honestly, in terms of criticisms... It's hard to say there's any big criticisms, though I will say all they've drawn is men so far, and while they have good diversity, we haven't seen any female characters yet in FEH. Though I DID see them draw Mercedes on their Twitter and she looks lovely, so I think that's not as much of a criticism.

Simping aside (lol), Shimomura Watari's a 10/10 artist. Constant high-quality art with very clear love and attention put into it. Though I hope they get to draw a better character next time than Rennac XD No offense to Rennac fans though.

#Fire Emblem Heroes #FEH #Shimomura Watari #ask game #Seriously though LOVE this artist and I hope they keep getting more art #Give them a Legendary character to draw!#Or an Ascended!#Let them draw Ascended Berkut! Or Legendary M!Corrin! Or maybe another seasonal alt!#Especially because it's clear from the seasonal artwork that they get to go more ham with the critical effects!

14 notes · View notes

asknarashikari · 2 years

Note

https://twitter.com/_Captain_Duck/status/1538686538711994368

I watched episode 1 and believe me... I'm still in disbelief. And I even read the manga (including the X rated parts), so I knew what to expect, and I still couldn't process it.

Though honestly, once I got past the whole "it's Hiiro from Ex-Aid and Touma from Saber" thing, I quite liked how they played the main characters. Yanase is quite different from Touma, he's more assertive and it's actually kinda refreshing to see Shuichiro like that? And Toshiki Seto captures Kanade's awkwardness perfectly, and it isn't anything like his previous role as Hiiro.

That said... I still kinda wish the whole dance sequence in the episode was Shuichiro with Ryo Aoki. Because 1) Ryo would be gorgeous in a tux and 2) KenTouma

(Oh and I'm also watching another BL, Old Fashioned Cupcake which stars Kouhei Takeda, and honestly these two shows lived rent free in my head the whole weekend)

#kamen rider #senpai danjite koidewa #ask #puwaasuru

17 notes · View notes

cloversdreams · 2 years

Text

Why I grailed my servants :3c (spoiler, the answer is love)

ENG companion to my JP list

Ozymandias

MY KING!! MY LOVE!! The number one character I spoil most across both games!! I bought his scale figure before I ever even touched the game. His design is just perfection. He's seriously the reason I'm addicted to this godforsaken game now. I. Love. Him.

Robin Hood

Robin carried my ass through soo much of the early game. I adore him, his personality, and the pretty final art (not this summer one which is also great). He's been through the whole game with me, just like Ozy, and has a special place in my heart because of it. He's currently my only low rarity servant grailed on EN.

Achilles

Ok but like. I loooove him!! His design, his personality, ughhh. Yes, please. They hit me right where it hurt and I thanked them for it. Every time I see him in game I just "!!". And every time he smiles I swear I could fly. Feed me all the Achilles content, I'll gladly slorp it up. I AM READY FOR THAT SUMMER OUTFIT.

Karna

I can't imagine it's possible not to love him like... did you close your eyes during his moments in story/events? Completely ignore his interludes? Please he's just soo good. Whether as a bestie or boyfren, he'd treat me right. 15/10. Immaculate vibes and impeccable fashion sense.

Arthur

The only Arthur for me!! Until he gets an alter... then I'll admit that I have two hands. For now, I use both to hug this goodest boy. I constantly think about how he won that poll for nicest face. Over allll the waifus. It's what he deserves. The goal for next year is to NP5 him, wish me luck!!

Arjuna Alter

I really liked his design and when he finally dropped I went hard on his banner (also because Karna was on the same one and I figured either SSR was a win at the time lol). Fun fact: he's the first limited five star I've gotten to NP5 :0

Zhuge Liang Lord El-Melloi II Waver Velvet

Waaaaaver. Nuff said. No, but really, he's just an exhausted dork with the hots for one of the thiccest men I've ever seen in my life and then he adopts a daughter who ends up taking care of him cause he's a big loser like... What's not to love?? Righttt, there's the whole being one of the best supports in the game I guess. Mostly the other things, though.

Summer Kiara

takes deep breath. WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE WIFE W

She'd kick my ass and I'd thank her. 1000% smitten. First wooman I grailed in EN!!

Ashiya Douman

Newest grail let's gooo!! My poor little meow meow. Such crimes he has committed. I make no excuses for him I'm the first one to call him terrible. Damn if I'm not a sucker for that body though. I want him to lie in my lap so I can pet him like a content cat. He will probably bite me but honestly that's all just foreplay in the end.

On our way to 2k gold Fous as well as bond ten!! I'm actually reading through the story so no final ascension art yet, but you know as soon as that bitch is unlocked I'll equip it!! I AM WEAK.

♧

Since there aren't as many chars as the other list, I will also add thoughts on potential future grail candidates for this account:

Santa Karna

I am positively smitten with the first (and prob only) male Santa. From his incredible design to his animations, I can't get enough. My desire to grail him is impossible to ignore at this point and I've already resigned myself to the fact that it's going to happen.

Saber Astolfo

I don't even know what happened but I suddenly grew a crazy fondness for Astolfo seemingly overnight. Especially his saber unit. He's so stinking cute. I love his animations so much ugh. He's a good boy and deserves love.

Salome

Wife. Honestly she's just so fricken gorgeous. One of my top fav female char designs in game for sure. She deserves at least a silver card. I'll have to decide whether or not to go all the way to gold.

Paracelsus

I have love for him and his pretty final ascension. His interactions with Master once he's summonable are all so precious imo. I don't know... he's got a cute smile and I'm weak, okay??

Mandricardo

MY FRIEND.

Vritra

Assuming I can actually get her at some point... Dragon Wife. Nuff said.

Honorable mention: RIDER KINTOKI. WHO I MISSED OUT ON. BRING HIM BACK DAMMIT.

#clovers fate #tl;dr: i just think theyre neat #also gotdam i need more grails #inspired by all those yt content creators talking about their grailed servants #i wanted to suffer for a few hours and make a post about mine too!!!#long post

1 note · View note

daynadraws · 7 years

Photo

She can kick my ass any day

#saber #saber arturia #arturia pendragon #fate stay night #fate series #fate zero #fate/stay night #fate/apocrypha #fate/zero #honestly saber is gorgeous though

18 notes · View notes

cancankenobi · 3 years

Text

The bigge wait for the Obi-Wan series

Day 49: Here is a list of my very favourite Obi-Wan fics on AO3, which I will very likely reread forever until the show finally drops. Give these stories some love, some kudos, some comments - they're all worth a read, I promise (MIND THE RESPECTIVE TAGS, FOLKS):

Always in motion is the future by arrowupmysleeve: (G) I love Obi-Wan inserting himself in Mandalorian business, you love Obi-Wan inserting himself in Mandalorian business - this is a fixit for the whole Galidraan disaster, featuring Padawan!Obi and bestest space buir!Jaster Mereel. It's eventual jangobi, and also a series, and the second part is in progress.

The Weeds in the Wilderness by ealcynn : (T) This one is a WIP as I publish this post, but I still would recommend you give it a go. It has such great worldbuilding, and such an interesting cast of OCs - it's Obi-Wan who doesn't remember who he is, stuck on a planet full of strangers as he tries to remember himself. No ship, just vibes.

For the Right Price by ShaeTiann: (M) This is the Epic. The long read you should try. If you're on the fence about Sith!Obi or Grey!Obi, then I think this fic will probably do a good job at convincing you of the appeal. This is Obi-Wan toeing the line between Light and Dark, making friends, falling in love, making his own path. It's a jangobi masterpiece, who also happens to be a series in progress.

An Elegant Weapon by RomanMoray: (T) Cody wielding a saber. Must I say more? This is codywan, and very dear to my heart. Featuring a Force-sensitive Cody, the inherent eroticism of training your commander in the arts of lightsaber combat, and Cody picking up Obi-Wan's saber - and his heart.

dark magics by savorvrymoment: (E) Oh, so you like both Maul and spicy times? I have just the fic for you: this is a wonderful work, which happened to be my intro into the Obi/Maul rarepair hell. It's got the perfect amount of angst, the perfect amount of tension. Truly perfect.

Don’t be afraid. by spqr: (T) THE FEELS. It's a burgeoning obikin with all the angst, feat. Padawan!Obi and Master!Anakin. Gorgeous, with the fluffy ending we all deserve. A re-read for sure.

i'll orbit your flickering star by sunskippa: (T) If you're looking for a longer codywan read, look no further! This is a great fic that follows the Clone Wars events through the eyes of our dearest Commander, as he falls in love with Obi-Wan. They way Cody is written is lovely: It has no flaw in my eyes.

diogenes (what makes a man?) by someawkwardprose: (T) Codywan, again, because I am in codywan brainrot, always. Also a very, very lovely portrayal of Cody. Also a retelling of the Clone Wars events through Cody's eyes, including his love for his General. I've recently re-read this, and Gods, it's good.

Binary System by Cimila: (E) You know these Open/Ambiguous endings that are somehow both incredibly satisfying and also leaves you just craving some more? Yeah? This is it - Soulmates AU, jangobi, Obi-Wan in the desert with baby!Anakin in tow. It's great. Also Spicy.

Late Night Bounty Call by eltrut07: (E) a/b/o jangobi, anyone? This is a WIP as I'm making this post, but it's being updated still! It's got Omega!Obi and Alpha!Jango hooking up (and falling in love, probably - eventually) during the Clone Wars, and baby Boba being confused. Lovely, lovely - and also spicy.

Honestly anything by glimmerglanger, though especially:

Make Your Bed (Lie in It): (T) Codywan, featuring Cody ending up in his General's bed and Vice-Versa, through the Clone Wars and beyond Order 66.

Currents and Tides: (E) MERPEOPLE! FORBBIDEN LOVE! THE 1940s! It's a codywan two-parter with plenty of snippets attached, and it is a masterpiece.

A Slow Fall Towards Grace: (E) a/b/o, endgame codywan: the angst, the eventual fluff, Obi and his kids. It's rough sometimes, guys, but it ends well.

Now with a part 2!

Part 1 / Part 2

Anyways these are just a fraction of the enormous amount of great Obi fics out there. Go dig in AO3, find the gems, give kudos. People are so freaking talented out there!

#star wars #clone wars #obi wan kenobi #obi wan series #fic rec #obi wan fic rec #cancount #jangobi #codywan #obimaul #obikin

295 notes · View notes

hadjalterdoneanythingwrong · 3 years

Note

How hot are...Nero...MHX, and....Avenger of Ame-no-Ukihashi?

(I mean I'm sure the last one is hot, but the heat of how many suns are we talking about? I must know more)

I mean she's alri—

Aight listen up tumblypoos I'm 'boutta learn you a thing.

Top 10 reasons why Nero is cute and you guys are just— I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I know no one wants to see that.

Look, I realize everyone's tired to death of her in-game. I am too, honestly! That idol dress is probably the least flattering thing I've ever seen her wear, and I've said that to her face. But I love her. I'd do anything for her. Because unlike most people, I know what lies underneath that ego of hers, and really, isn't that what these blogs are about? Appreciating what lies underneath the surface of your faves?

...Wow. Uh. Okay. Moving on.

(XX is here in place of X because I think I saw somewhere that X is a highschooler? She could very well be in senior year but I'm not taking chances and this is the same girl just older anyway.)

...I've talked about this before, but Aya once wrote an entire, extensive, several-chapter fic about me and XX and I never recovered from it. It was about me getting Isekai'd to a VERY different version of the Servant Universe where XX, Idol Alter, and a few others that I sadly don't remember off the top of my head were actually space pirates who were plotting to kill "the Saber King", who was just Artoria Alter but as a space tyrant (yea, X's thing went from "death to all Saberfaces" to "death to Saber"). And yes, there was a slow burn "will they won't they" romantic subplot that was just... so... yeah.

(The entire reason why this took so long to answer was so I could draw this, my apologies.)

"How many suns", huh? Take a god of fire; not the god of "man-made" or "natural disaster" fire, but a god of the very concept of fire, the of solar flares, of anything in the known universe reaching its breaking point and being pushed further until it has no choice but to burn. ...How many suns do you think it'd take to match up to that? Because I'm thinking somewhere around 94.87360012142472 squared.

...That being said, though:

Yume was a cutie. There's no denying that. From her horns to her short high ponytail to her... weird... floofy... flame-y wing-y thingies. But she was also kind of a badass, I mean... for some reason whenever Fáfnir would see her he'd bow his head real low. ...Same way he does sometimes when he sees Jeanne... And for some reason the Tamamos also never seemed to wanna mess with her. She was weird. But we liked her! ...I hope she comes back someday...

#ask #avenger of ame-no-ukihashi

14 notes · View notes

chokemeanakin · 4 years

Note

Anakin and a super giggly reader? Like laughing gas giggly? Or if youre wanting fun times request, him seeing reader jealous of the way girls look at him and Ani showing her he only had eyes for her?

I did both :) Hope you enjoy <3

Masterlist

Read it on ao3

Anakin with a giggly reader headcanons (gn)

Normally you’re not this giggly. Don’t get me wrong, you love to laugh and have a good time, but something is off about you today. Anakin notices right away.

He walks into your apartment to bring you some lunch to find you poking at R2, who beeps in annoyance while you laugh at him. He rolls around you, poking you back with his metal utility arm which only sends you into more fits of laughter. You chase him around and try to hug him but he wheels away from you as fast as you can.

Anakin watches you for a moment, a smile on his lips before he realizes how weird you’re acting.

”Y/n?” you turn when he calls your name and your face lights up once again. You run towards him and take the food and when you see he’s brought you your favorite drink, you fall backward onto the couch and start sipping it, a content smile on your face. “What’s got you in such a good mood?”

You finish about half of the drink before you decide to answer. “Obi-Wan gave me like 6 pills for my headache. I feel great!”

”He gave you how many pills?”

Anakin has to stop himself from turning around and hunting Obi-Wan down. Shouldn’t he of all people know how to dose someone correctly? And why didn’t he at least stay with you to supervise you if he knew he messed up?

”Stop pouting,” you giggled and poked his cheek. “It’s not really his fault. He was in a rush somewhere so he left R2 with me. R2 where’d you go?”

He beeped warily from the corner.

Anakin got you to tell him which pills exactly Obi-Wan gave you, and figured out that you were only supposed to get 2 pills at the most. Thank god they weren’t lethal, and side-effects of over dosing were… he guessed it… extreme euphoria.

He releases R2 from babysitting duties and takes over. He wrangles you to the couch where he hopes you can watch a show on the tv until the pills work its way through your system, but everything the screen flashes hurls you into fits of ab-aching laughter.

You end up in tears, rolling around on the ground, and even Anakin can’t help but smile and shake his head at your ridiculous state. He turns the tv off when you plop onto him and refuse to get off, just playing with his hair and running your fingers over the planes of his face.

Your face gets serious, and then suddenly breaks out into a huge grin, over and over like a cycle. You laugh, but won’t tell him what’s so funny.

He knows you’re not in the right state of mind, but he thinks you’re beautiful when you smile and takes full advantage of the opportunity to stare at it shamelessly.

Then the second side-effect of overdosing takes place, and you pass out cold right on top of him.

Anakin Skywalker x Jealous/Insecure Reader (fem)

You had no issue with keeping your and Anakin’s relationship a secret. You weren’t going to stand in the way of his Jedi career, and honestly sneaking around had a bit of a thrill to it. It was only moments like this when you hated not being about to claim Anakin as yours in front of the entire world.

You were taking a break from your tasks of the day and sat on a bench in the garden, eating your lunch as you watched Anakin and Obi-Wan train before you. It was hot out, so the boys had taken their shirts off long ago-- not that you were complaining.

You tried to observe Anakin as innocently as possible-- the way his muscles moved as he swung his lightsaber, how his hair stuck to his forehead, and beads of sweat dripped down his chest. He was literally glowing in the sunlight. Your heart swelled at the sight of him.

This beautiful man… and he was all yours.

It was then that you heard the giggling. You turned your head to see through the bushes. Senator Padme Amidala was leading a group of three of her friends-- handmaidens, from back when she was Queen-- through the gardens. They had stopped just outside the clearing you were in and were watching, pointing, and giggling at the two boys training. They hadn’t seemed to notice you yet.

Padme walked casually into the clearing, and your heart sunk as the three girls followed behind. They were all beautiful. Not just Padme, with her chocolate brown eyes, endless curls, and soft face. But the girls behind her were all tall, slim, and jaw-droppingly lovely. All four of them seemed to radiate like angels under the afternoon sun.

“Good evening, General Skywalker. Master Kenobi,” Padme greeted with a sweet smile. You knew Padme was an old flame of Anakin’s, but it never really bothered you. He always assured you it was just a little childhood crush, nothing more, and you trusted him. But something about her was making your blood boil now.

“Senator,” Anakin bowed his head in greeting, deactivating his saber. He bent to retrieve his shirt from the ground and wiped the sweat away from his face, giving the girls a full show of his glistening muscles in the process. “What brings you out here?”

“My friends from Naboo are visiting and I thought I’d show them around the gardens. Then I saw you two training and thought I might introduce them to two of the finest Jedi in the galaxy.”

The girls’ laughter tinkled like bells in the air, and Padme kept that same sugary-grin plastered on her face.

Padme is a friend, you had to remind yourself. She means no harm.

She stepped aside and gestured to the girls, introducing them as Samé, Moté, and Rowé. They each bowed in turn, long curtains of hair almost brushing the ground, and returning to a standing position with equally gorgeous, shy smiles.

Anakin crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow playfully. “I don’t know if we’re the two ‘finest’ Jedi in the galaxy, but your input is appreciated. It’s a pleasure to meet you three.”

This made the girls erupt in another fit of giggles. You wanted to gouge your eyes out.

“Well,” he looked from you to Obi-Wan, not really knowing what to do next. Yet, always the charmer, he offered, “Obi-Wan and I are still in the midst of training, if you would like to stay for a bit. You can sit on the bench with Y/n over there. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind sharing.”

You wanted to crawl into a hole when he pointed you out. All eyes were on you, and you forced your scowl into a pained smile.

“Sure,” you forced a kind tone, scooching over to give them all a place to sit. They all glided over to you, their dresses floating behind them in the breeze.

As soon as Padme sat next to you, you were enveloped in the scent of daisies and vanilla. You wanted to cry. Why did they all get to be so beautiful and smell good?

“Hello Y/n,” Padme greeted with that same sweet smile. Her eyes looked golden in the sunlight. “Are you eating lunch?”

Suddenly, being surrounded by girls who were far taller and toned than you were made your stomach stop grumbling. You put the sandwich that you had been gripping too hard back into your bag, and kicked it under the bench.

“I was just finishing,” you told her.

She nodded, kind face still trained on you as the other girls’ attention was solely focused on the two dueling men before you.

“I’m sorry about barging in… I didn’t mean to intrude. My friends have never met a Jedi before, and when I told them about Anakin and Obi-Wan they were so excited to meet them.”

“It’s perfectly fine,” you folded your hands in your lap, nails digging into the skin of your palms. “You weren’t interrupting anything. And I’m sure Anakin and Obi-Wan would love to show off a little bit.”

“Of course they would. They won’t admit it, but they both have a bit of an ego... as I’m sure you already know,” Padme laughed lightly, her smile blinding you. Then she turned her attention to the Jedi.

The five of you watched them train for a while. Samé, Moté, and Rowé oohed and ahhed at different times, gasping when the fighting got intense, and crossing and uncrossing their legs. You managed to quell the anger burning in your chest during this time, reminding yourself of how childish you were being. So what a couple of beautiful women were practically drooling over your boyfriend? It’s not like Anakin was even acknowledging them.

You couldn’t help but listen in on their conversations though. It started with a “He’s very cute, don’t you think?” and continued on to “Look at his muscles,” “Look how fit,” “That is one gorgeous man Padme, how have you never thought about courting him?”

“Ladies,” Padme gently quieted their giggling. “Jedi cannot form attachments. You can observe all you want, but acting on any attraction would be disrespectful.”

You could just about kiss Padme.

But the comments didn’t stop. They kept talking about him-- his eyes, his hair, his mouth. His power, physique, strength, everything. It went on and on.

“What about Obi-Wan?” you spoke up. The girls quieted, and surveyed, and the middle girl spoke.

“He’s also very nice,” she admitted. “I’d take either of them, honestly, but my first choice would have to be the Skywalker guy.”

Your blood started to spike again. They’re not deli meats, you wanted to snap. You can’t own them.

Your jealousy was hypocritical. You knew this. That’s why you stayed rooted to the spot, not a peep coming out of your mouth.

It was only when the girls began shouting requests-- “Anakin, twirl your lightsaber behind your back again! Anakin do a backflip! Anakin, float me that flower with the force!”-- that you had had enough.

He had obliged to their requests. Of course he did. He was a gentleman, after all, and ignoring them would have been rude. But watching that rose-- your favorite flower-- fly through the air and gently tuck into Rowé’s silky smooth hair had you shooting to your feet, grabbing your bag from under the bench, and muttering an excuse to leave to Padme. You were out of the gardens before anyone could question you.

You stormed into your apartment, clenching and unclenching your fists as you paced.

It didn’t mean anything, it didn’t mean anything, it didn’t mean anything, you chanted in your head.

You stopped your pacing when you caught your reflection in the mirror. You stared at yourself, unable to stop comparing yourself to the girls in the garden.

It’s not that you weren’t pretty. You thought you were… at least before today. But you had never been the most confident in your looks to begin with, and seeing those girls interact with Anakin today felt like a punch in the gut.

He could do so much better.

You weren’t as thin as them, you didn’t wear flowy dresses, or float on elegant footsteps, or have miles and miles of silky smooth hair. You suddenly felt too big, too ugly, too disgusting.

All the confidence you had worked up in order to be with Anakin… gone.

Suddenly, the door to your apartment opened. You quickly wiped away the tear that had escaped from your eye and turned away from the mirror, heading to the bookshelf to look busy.

“Y/n?” Anakin asked, peering around the corner for you. You kept your back turned, trying to stop the sudden onslaught of tears as you pretended to organize the bookshelf. “You’re upset. Why are you crying?”

“I’m not--” oh, what was the use? Of course he could tell you were crying. It was that damn force perception of his that made it virtually impossible for you to hide any kind of emotion from him. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” he pressed, walking up behind you. Carefully, he put a hand on your shoulder. “You can talk to me.”

“It’s stupid.”

“If it’s hurting you, it’s not stupid.”

“I’m being immature. I just need to get over it.”

Anakin was quiet for a moment. “Is this about Padme’s friends?”

You squeezed your eyes closed, cheeks burning in embarrassment. Anakin spun you around to face him, but you brought your hands up to cover your face.

“I don’t know why you even like me,” you whispered thickly, tears still choking you up. “I’m disgusting compared to them.”

The words burned your tongue as they left your mouth. You had never been so open about your insecurities with Anakin, not like this at least. You had always put on a brave face before him, tried to exude confidence. He said he liked that about you. But now… he was really seeing you at your worst. And you were fully prepared for his feelings to change due to it.

“Y/n,” Anakin said. His voice was clipped, angry. “Y/n, look at me.”

He took your chin in his hand and forced your face up. You dropped your hands from your face, but kept your eyes cast downward shamefully. You could not bear to look him in his beautiful, angry face or you were pretty sure you would lose it altogether.

Instead of snapping at you, which you were preparing for, you felt the ghost of Anakin’s lips trace the skin of your jaw. He pressed a kiss beneath your ear, then the side of your neck, then the junction between your neck and shoulder. He made his way back up, leaving gentle, scalding kisses all over your face and neck. He kissed away a tear that had escaped, swiping another dry with his thumb. He kissed you until you felt okay enough to look him in the eyes.

“There’s my girl,” he grinned. Perfect. Gorgeous. Totally out of your league.

He held your face between both of his hands so you could not escape the intensity of his gaze. His eyes bore into you like lasers, stripping you completely bare. With your incredibly low self-esteem, he very well might as well have.

“Stop,” you muttered. You didn’t want to hear him try to build your confidence back up. There was no going back after the images of those beautiful girls plagued your mind from today.

Anakin pursed his lips and sighed. “Baby,” he smoothed his hand over your hair soothingly, eyes following his movements. “You don’t see what I see.”

“I don’t need to,” you argued. “Not when there’s people like them walking around.”

“But they’re not you,” Anakin’s voice was fierce. “There are so many beautiful people walking around in this galaxy, billions probably, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. But I am attracted to you, Y/n. I love you. And no one else.”

“Why, though?” you couldn’t help but ask. The memory of the flower tucking itself into Rowé’s hair came flashing back into your mind. Her glittering smile. The fluttering eyelashes. The rosy blush painting her cheeks.

Anakin released your face and grabbed your hand instead. “Come here,” he ordered, leading you to the mirror you had been looking at. He positioned you in front of him and stood behind you, arms wrapped around you and chin resting on your shoulder. A king draped over a peasant.

“Let me tell you what I see,” his deep voice murmured in your ear. He started with your arms, running his hands lightly from your shoulders, dipping into the curves of your elbows, tracing a line down your forearm, and entwining his fingers with yours. “These are beautiful,” his eyes were focused on your reflection.

He brought his hands back up, then began trailing them down your sides, holding your waist between his large hands and pressing his palms flat against your stomach. “This is beautiful.”

His hands made their way down to your hips, where you had to stop yourself from squirming. You were ticklish there. His hands fit perfectly over your curves, and he breathed, “This is beautiful.”

He got on his knees suddenly, shifting so that he was in front of you. Your face was on fire as his hands continued their journey down, over the tops of your thighs, to your knees, fitting over your calves and holding your ankles. “These are beautiful,” he looked up at you.

He got up, and caught your chin in his hand again. “And this,” he whispered, breath fanning over your lips. He raked his eyes up and down your face, shamelessly admiring it. “This is the most beautiful of all.”

He captured your lips in his after saying this, feeling the heat pool in your cheeks with his hands. The kiss was soft, and short, and sweet. But it turned you into a pool of jelly under his ministrations, your knees going weak and eyes brimming with tears for a different reason than earlier.

“There is no need to be self-conscious,” he spoke when he broke away. “There’s no need to compare yourself to other girls. You are mine, and I am yours, and nothing is ever going to change that.”

No words would ever be good enough to show your gratitude toward Anakin. Your solution-- press your lips to his again, and show him how good he made you feel.

#take a shot every time someone says ‘beautiful’#anakinskywalker x reader #star wars prequals #soft anakin #anakin skywalker #jealous reader #insecure reader #anakin fluff

402 notes · View notes

gremoria411 · 6 months

Text

So hey, after that big Full Armour Gundam post a while back, I wanted to try a few smaller posts, so I figured it’d be fun to talk about one of my favourite weird and obscure design series:

All the weird little mobile suits that the SD Gundam G Generation series added in. I’m not going to be talking about the units unique to each game (like the Phoenix Gundam, Halphas Gundam or GGV-000 Barbatos), mainly because I don’t really care for them design wise, since the sd series is honestly just doing its own thing there. But anyway onto the actual new stuff to each universe. Some of them are fun, some of them are weird, so let’s just get right on into it.

Starting with the very first suit from the series that I became aware of, the MS-50A Zaku 50, from the Universal Century. Built by Anaheim Electronics in U.C. 0130, it was basically the ailing Anaheim Electronics’ last gasp in the field of mobile suit development at the time (though it does appear they had a reversal of fortunes some 20ish years after). It was supposed to have a nostalgic feel, being patterned after the old Principality of Zeon Zaku from the One Year War, but the realities of mobile suit combat at the time stymied it considerably. For reference, this is around the time of Crossbone Gundam, when the Jupiter Empire attempts to invade the Earth. The Zaku 50 is hopelessly outdated in an age of beam shields and shot lancers, being armed with two beam sabers (one in each leg), a large mega particle cannon in the chest, and an I-field, which while effective, wouldn’t be enough when projectile weapons were coming back into vogue. It’s also incredibly large, closer to a mobile armour, when miniaturised mobile suits were the standard. EDIT: it’s possible this also led to high material costs, which was one of the main selling points of miniaturised mobile suits.

The art of it is gorgeous though, but it’s such a delightfully odd design to me, being legless, armless and yet having so many zakuesque features.

#gundam #ramblings #SD Gundam G Generation Design Series #SD Gundam #Zaku 50 #mobile suit Gundam

7 notes · View notes

crispyjenkins · 4 years

Note

Skysolo prompt: Han wont stop bragging about how brilliant, talent, gorgeous, etc. his boyfriend is. Luke wont stop blushing and Leia is absolutely fed up.

(thank you for the prompt!! i put this in the nebulous time between a new hope and empire strikes back, so sometime pre-hoth. i hope you like it! now with a part 2 here!)

It doesn't get any easier when one of them gets captured, no matter how many times the Empire manages to get their claws on them. Most of the Resistance agrees that it's always worst when it's Luke, because Darth Vader has a strange obsession with him and they never know if a rescue mission means trying to sneak around the Emperor's right hand.

With Leia, they mostly have to worry about the body count when they finally reach her, because Force knows she doesn't go, or stay, quietly.

Han, though, they worry because they don't know if Jabba is somehow behind the hit, if they'll even find him alive when they track him down. Luke worries enough for the whole Resistance, of course, because Han might think he can talk his way out of anything, but Luke knows better, and knows his man is one misplaced eye roll from a Spacer's Funeral.

So when Han misses a second check-in on what was supposed to be a routine reconnaissance on a planet they’re considering for a Resistance base, Luke groans and sets himself up to be unable to sleep for the next few days.

On the way to the unnamed moon Han’s signal had gone dark on, Leia tries to tell him that Han had probably just forgotten to check in, and that they’re probably worrying for nothing.

“Chewie wouldn’t forget,” he reminds her softly and flicks a few switches to get the Falcon ready for descent.

Leia purses her lips and says nothing else until they’re planetside.

It takes all of ten minutes to find the Imperial outpost, the black building standing out rather dramatically against the light blue sand covering the surface of the moon, and it takes even less to slip into the base. Through the Force, Luke senses five signatures and several droids, and —thank Keplar and Ghomrassen— Han, who doesn’t feel hurt so much as confused. Leia nods in agreement with his silent question, and they head quickly deeper into the tiny outpost.

They hear Han before they see him.

“And he flies the Falcon better’n even Chewie, y’know?” Han’s voice drawls from the only open doorway in the rather short hallway. “Well, not better, but prettier. Kark, have you even seen how pretty his hands are?”

There’s a long-suffering sigh from the room, and one from Leia as she aims her blaster at the ground. “Well, it’s certainly Han, alright,” she mutters, as if Luke hadn’t frozen against the wall in absolute embarrassment.

Because Han isn’t shy about his affection, he’ll tell just about anyone who’ll listen that he’d somehow managed to snag “The Saviour of the Known Universe”, but he usually keeps it under wraps around anyone not in the Resistance; what if someone used them against each other? Against Leia? This is the first time Luke has heard him slip-up around an Imperial.

“Just tell me where your base is so I can kill you,” a new voice pleads, one of two Force signatures in the room that aren’t Han, and even to Luke, it sounds like an empty threat.

“Base... Base...” Han slurs, and oh kark, had they drugged him?

Luke looks wildly back at Leia, who has come to the same conclusion and swears under her breath. “Can you take them?” She jerks her head towards the open door.

Nodding, Luke unhooks his ‘saber from his belt and leads the way down the hall, hoping against hope that Han hasn't said anything the Empire can use.

“‘Don’t know anything about a base,” Han says slowly, “but the last time me’n the kid went to ground– it was this desert planet out in Wild Space, and he grew up in a desert, y’know, so he knew how to keep us alive, and he made this soup-stuff out of this lizard and some sort of bush, I think it was scrag I don’t know, and kark, it tasted awful but it kept us alive, and how smart is that? And he built a fire like it was nothing, and knew how to read the dunes before a sandstorm, and have you seen how blue his eyes are? Probably not the best for bein’ in the sun all the time, but kark, are they pretty.”

If nothing else than to save himself from the mortification, Luke ignites his ‘saber and steps into the room quickly.

Han is strapped to a table with one end raised, and Corellia knows where his vest has gone. Two Imperial officers sit behind a desk on the other side of him, the younger one halfway to his feet at Luke’s sudden entrance, but the older officer looks up tiredly from where his chin leans into his fingers.

He looks Luke up and down before sighing. “You must be the boyfriend, then.”

Luke would honestly rather face Vader right now, especially when Han rolls his head towards the door and notices him. “Kid!”

“I’ll be taking him off your hands,” Luke tells the Imperials, the older one sighing again as the younger looks like he wants to argue, but thinks better of it.

“It was just a truth serum,” the younger grumbles, dropping stiffly back into his seat as Leia pushes in behind Luke and heads straight for the terminal against the wall. “But he won’t shut the kark up.”

“Sound like Han,” Leia says with mock cheer, slicing into the terminal to release the cuffs around Han’s wrists and ankles. Han gets himself upright just fine, grinning loopily, but the moment he tries to take a step, he tips forward and Luke has to move quickly to catch him. He turns off his ‘saber so he doesn’t accidentally stab either of them: he trusts Leia and her blaster.

“Hey, beautiful,” Han slurs as Luke slings one of his arms around his shoulder and gets a grip on his belt.

Despite the situation, Luke finds himself fond, and sighs even as he offers Han a small smile. “Leia’s still going to have your dick for getting captured again.”

“Damn straight,” she agrees, snapping binders around the Imperial officers’ wrists before shooting the terminal so they can’t send out any communications. “C’mon, ‘beautiful’, we need to get Chewie.”

They head back towards the stairs to the surface together, but Luke doesn’t follow her when she turns sharply down another hall purposefully; she’s more than capable of sensing and rescuing Chewie on her own, and with Luke supporting more than half of Han’s weight, it’s not like he’d be of any use anyway.

“You look good in black,” Han says apropos of nothing, head flopping against Luke’s shoulder before he seems to remember how to hold it upright.

“It’d be so much easier if you were gross about it,” Luke grumbles, hauling him up the stairs and thanking Old Ben’s ghost that he can supplement his strength with the Force.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Han scrunches his face cutely, an expression he would never have allowed had he been sober.

“I could hate you if you were gross about it,” he says, though he isn’t sure what he hopes to accomplish with Han drugged to Corellian Hells and back. “And that won’t work on Leia.”

“Mm,” Han grunts in agreement, going slightly cross-eyed in an attempt to focus on the steps underneath his feet. “S’fine, she’s not as pretty as you.”

Luke has to close his eyes and beg the Force for patience, because nobody calls Luke Skywalker, a farmboy from Tatooine pretty, or beautiful, or talented, or at least they hadn’t before Han Solo. He’s almost grateful Han had latched onto Leia first, because it means that by the time that ship had flown, Han already knew Luke almost as well as he knew himself.

“You’re the worst,” he sighs, shouldering open the last door out into the desert night, and drags Han towards the Falcon.

“He’s finally asleep,” Leia says as she drops into the copilot’s seat, settling in to help get them out of atmo. “Chewie’s fine, only needed a little bacta.”

Luke shoots her a smile, and hopes she knows how dead they’d all be without her. “Has Han begged for forgiveness yet?”

She snorts, inputting the coordinates for their first hyperspace jump. “The Imp was right: he wouldn’t shut the fuck up, at least not until I knocked him out. If I have to hear him wax poetic about your flying skills even one more time, I’m throwing him out the airlock.”

Wincing, Luke fiddles with a few settings to avoid looking at her. “He didn’t used to do this with you?”

“Kark no,” she grumbles. “We were too busy arguing to get soft for each other. Luckily he didn’t spill anything more important while with the Imps, and Admiral Ackbar is sending a nearby team to finish taking down the outpost.”

Luke nods slowly, just thankful they hadn’t had to kill anybody in their rescue attempt. Leia seems disappointed for just that reason, and that’s definitely something they’ll have to talk about someday, but for now, Luke lets himself slump into the pilot’s seat and tiredly guide them all back home.

#star wars #ask fill #crispy writes #skysolo #hanluke #han solo/luke skywalker #star wars a new hope #star wars original trilogy #fanfiction #anon #luke skywalker #leia organa #han solo #prompt fill #climb towards the sky

199 notes · View notes

tsuki-sennin · 3 years

Text

Mina-san, bonne lecture~! (Tsuki recaps his feelings about Kamen Rider Saber, a personal essay.)

So, Saber... what a wild ride it's been, huh? Just a quick heads up, this is very long and rambling, and also contains spoilers for everything in Saber. It's fine if you don't wanna read all this, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.

TL:DR, Kamen Rider Saber's an undercooked hot mess I absolutely adore, warts and all.

Speaking as objectively as possible, it's a 6/10. Probably closer to a 5 than a 7... it's not great: All the different plot elements are cluttered and weirdly paced; character focus is disjointed and clearly biased toward certain characters, leaving great ones like Kento and Ogami, interesting ones like Kamijo and Hayato, and underdeveloped ones like Sophia and especially the Shindais in the dust; not to mention its balance of comedy and drama is off, and while both are very effective, there's a lot of mood whiplash that can take you out of the story. I also feel like a lot of the easily avoidable character conflict could've been easily resolved, even in universe, by simple conversations. Be careful Fukuda, I think Inoue might sue you if he finds out you've been biting his style and doing it worse.

Rider shows have a very frustrating tendency to drop cool form ideas and not do anything with them, and I don't think it's ever been more the case than with Saber. There's a similar argument to be made with the majority of Heisei Phase 2 after Gaim, but wow. The suits are expensive to make without just straight up recycling everything, I get that, but man, I really wanted to see more Wonder Rider forms. How come Touma got all the fun, eh? Of note are the Blades King of Arthur forms (which look amazing by the way), Espada's Jaaku Dragon forms (one of which I even drew last night), even the non-elemental random Wonder Ride Books all have awesome design elements that go tragically unused. Even if the other Swordsmen just kinda have the ones they do get to use slapped onto them, that's at least something. Touma also just straight up only uses Diago Speedy twice and never again. You have cool props guys, don't waste them like that!

Speaking of waste, Espada, goddamn. Since most of the Wonder Ride Books are Story Type and he needs one very specific Story Book to transform, he doesn't get much of... anything, really! No Wonder Rider forms like Blades, Lamp Do Cerberus being exclusive to Ganbarizing, only getting to use the Ride Gatriker like once, he even spends the second and third arcs as a completely different Rider, then once he comes back he doesn't get a King of Arthur-granted upgrade or even a Necrom Espada form. ...at least, not yet anyway. I'm holding out hope for Espada x Necrom and the eventual Saber V-Cinemas. Extra Rider stans, we will be well respected someday.

The Unreal Engine CGI used for fights in early Chapters was pretty good but wow it feels disconnected and they really drop it quick. I feel like if the animators had more freedom to use as many forms as they want, we'd have gotten a lot more mileage out of the books beyond... decoration basically. I actually really liked the CGI sequences, they felt creative and were fun to follow along with.

The soundtrack is pretty great on its own and conveys what it needs to, but they seriously overplay the orchestral themes. It honestly feels kind of... stock at times. I think my favorite parts of the score are when it winds down, since it feels a lot more natural and lets the cinematographers and actors speak for themselves.

As awesome as I think Falchion's design and the Mumeiken Kyomu are, The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin comes up short as its own standalone thing. You'd think 30 or so minutes of non-stop action would be awesome, and it almost is? It's as good as a typical episode of the series with a higher action budget, but it kinda drags on a bit too long; and although I think Emotional Dragon looks cool, it feels a bit tacked on. Coming off of the incredible Zero-One REAL×TIME, it doesn't give you much room to breathe, which Rider films are typically great at handling. I also thought the resolution for the kid's subplot was kinda forced. He does an okay job at acting considering his age and doesn't overstay his welcome, but I really don't see how 20 minutes of violence and action is enough to convince him to be brave enough to go play with the other kids. 5/10, it's closer to a 4 than a 6 and I think that maybe Zero-One should've stood on its own if they really had to push back Kiramager Bee-Bop Dream because of the pandemic.

Alright, with all that said... As imperfect and undercooked Saber was, like Ghost I can consider it a personal favorite, 10/10. Call it a guilty pleasure if you want, but holy hell it's just the show I needed. Takuro Fukuda has a talent for creating fun, wonderful characters and utterly fascinating worldbuilding and concepts. It's a shame he doesn't utilize them fully, but hey!

The action and fight choreography are pretty top notch as usual. Lots of beautiful shot composition and set pieces, and plenty of great angles to help keep up with the extra busy action. I love watching the suit actors perform and they deserve all the respect in the world for their hard work in those hot, sweaty, and heavy costumes. Their visual design is also top notch, with lots of unique and fascinating forms and cool weapons I desperately want to play with despite being broke, all with spectacular finishers and hype jingles with the voice of Akio motherfucking Ohtsuka calling them out. A real feast for the eyes. Not a single bad suit among them, yeah I said it, fight me.

The crossover specials are soooo good too.

-I went over my feelings on the Zenkaiger crossover episodes in a separate post (good luck finding that btw), but to sum it up, they were great character moments for Zox and the Shindai siblings with lots of great screwball comedy and some good old fashioned meta humor.

-The Ghost crossovers are great little side stories all about how Daitenku Temple somehow had the Ghost Ijunroku Wonder Ride Book? I genuinely have no idea why it was there, or how Makoto had the Specter Gekikou Senki, and as far as I remember neither of their origins are explained. Did Luna or Tassel hand them off to them and told them to wait for a sword guy? And why do these generic French Revolution Gamma villains working for Danton get their asses handed to them so easily by Kanon, who literally just became a Rider? I thought that Makoto deciding to adopt all the Kanon clones into his family was both hilarious and adorable though; considering all the crap they went through, I think it was a good ending to this plot. Gimme Espada x Necrom already Toei/Bandai/Fukuda/whoever I need to yell at, give Kento things to do, I beg you.

-I haven't actually seen Super Hero Senki since it's not available for subbing yet, but apparently there's a Journey to the West plot starring the Taros and Ohma Zi-O and I want to see that so badly.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra? Yoohei Kawakami? A match made in heaven, that's what they are. All of their themes are absolute bangers. All of them. Almighty, Kamen Rider Saber, Sparks, Taju Rokou, all excellent and empowering pieces. Rewrite the Story, Will Save Us, and The Story Never Ends are all amazing inserts done by the cast, and it makes me wish we had even more of them to help break up the monotony of the score.

The characters are what easily make this show such a great watch though. For the most part, they have great personalities and chemistry, consistently fun and interesting scenes, well acted and... sometimes well-written development, and deeply investing personal stakes.

Narrating it all is the delightfully eccentric Tassel/Viktor, portrayed by Romanesque Ishitobi "TOBI" of the Paris-based Les Romanesques. I was utterly confused by his presence at first, wondering why there needed to be a narrator when the story would've been perfectly fine without it. He even got a special spot in the opening despite having no stake in the plot despite seeming to live in Wonderworld, who the hell is this guy? But then I thought "OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD". I thought it'd be some subversion of expectations, true form, "That Was His Mistake!" shit. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in my head. I'm very happy that they didn't do that, as I grew to love having male Yuuka Kazami as my narrator, and when he was shown to be actually important by being friends with Yuri my mind was blown. And doubly so when I realized just how deeply necessary to the plot he really is.

Rintaro/Blades is up there as one of my all time favorite secondary Riders, since his curiosity is always consistently funny and adorable, his forms are all gorgeous and impressively designed, his relationships with Mei and Touma are absolutely sweet and compelling to see unfold, and his arcs about becoming willing to call out those he views as family and coming to terms with his feelings of inadequacy and both moving past and using them to strengthen himself are always great lessons to pass on to kids. ...even if they took like 10 goddamn episodes to be conveyed in what could've been 5, but hey, Takaya Yamaguchi does a stand-up job all throughout. Rider veteran Eitoku's refined, almost logical movements with the Suiseiken Nagare absolutely beautiful to see in action, and his final form having the same white and blue color scheme as Zooous's base form is an amazing touch I don't see appreciated enough.

Mei Sudo's also absolutely wonderful, serving as the perfect emotional core of the story, responsible for most of the funniest lines, sweetest character moments, and some of the most deceptively compelling drama. Asuka Kawazu brings the perfect energy for such a dynamic and well rounded character, and absolutely nails her scenes of quiet turmoil. As much as I would've loved her to become a Rider, I don't think she really needed to. She's already done so much to help, and as cool as it would've been to see her pick up a sword and fight alongside them as Espada, Calibur, or Falchion she's already endeared herself to me as one of my favorite supporting characters in the whole franchise.

I can't get enough of my homeboy Kento Fukamiya/Espada. Like Rintaro and everyone else for that matter, he also suffers from Saber's pacing issues; and like his predecessor Valkyrie from Zero-One, he doesn't get a proper upgrade aside from his Wonder Combo, instead becoming an anti-villain using a completely different powerset and shifting the Raimeiken Ikazuchi out of focus for the Ankokuken Kurayami, and I feel there's a serious missed opportunity to see him use Jaaku Dragon with Alangina. However, Ryo Aoki's performance is probably among the most easily praiseworthy in the whole cast, managing to convey both Kento's kind and knightly stoicism as Espada and his emotionally unstable despair as Calibur perfectly, in conjunction with Yuji Nakata's experienced and expressive stuntwork.

Ren Akamichi/Kenzan's a dark horse favorite for sure. I remember back when Saber was first picking up, people hated this breezy mad lad for being such a simple character at first. Overly concerned with strength? Black and white world view? Annoyingly energetic? Agh, real-feeling character flaws, I hate them, get him away from me! But then y'all came crawling back. Eiji Togashi's apparently a bit of a rookie actor, and it really shows with some stilted delivery and the way he sometimes bobs his head when giving his lines, but man he improves dramatically as the series goes on. His inexperience ironically ends up really selling his character development, and his unexpectedly beautiful relationship with Desast is special evidence of that. The Fuusouken Hayate's three modes and Satoshi Fujita putting them to excellent use through his stellar acrobatic movements are also really cool.

Why did Luna have to be a child for so long? Does Wonderworld not age whoever inherits its power? Well since Luna randomly becomes an adult in Super Hero Senki and some of the final episodes, I guess so? Miku Okamoto does a fine job for a kid actor, but she's basically done all the heavy lifting for the whole series and doesn't give Mayuu Yokota enough time to get a feel for her character as an adult. How did she choose Touma to inherit the power anyway? Does she just subconsciously decide to trust him with it upon seeing how kind and passionate about storytelling he is? Well if that's the case, why didn't Kento get at least some of that power too? He's just as important to the merchan- I mean Luna-chan, isn't he? Why did Tassel pick her over someone who isn't a literal child who'd be understandably terrified about basically becoming an embodiment of storytelling?

Sophia also kinda suffers from the same problems. Rina Chinen's voice is very pleasant to listen to, but she doesn't really do much beyond serving as a source of exposition and support. I think her dynamic with Mei's adorable, and given her kindness I can certainly understand the respect Northern Base has for her, but she doesn't really contribute a whole lot. If she could use the Kurayami and become Calibur all this time, then why didn't she take it from Kento and Yuri and do so earlier when Kento decided to go back to being Espada? I know she's not much of a fighter and as the closet thing the Sword of Logos has to a leader after Isaac's death I'd understand not wanting to put her at risk, but considering Storious is destroying the world, and she's very evidently kicking a lot of ass in the first part of the final battle even in the basic Jaaku Dragon form, I think it would've helped a lot, just sayin'. Tassel at least has the excuse of being unable to interact with the real world, but Sophia obviously didn't just be put in charge of Northern Base just because she's a pawn in Isaac's plans right?

Ryou Ogami/Buster is also a victim of the disjointed character focus. I have no problem believing he's an excellent father and fighter thanks to Yuki Ikushima and Jiro Okamoto, respectively, but he feels a bit flat and simple in comparison. His rivalry with Desast is randomly dropped, his wife doesn't even show up until the final episodes, he's kinda sidelined in terms of action a whole lot. I imagine that must've sucked for the Rider Dads out there. He does get to star in his own manga, and that was pretty good, so I guess I can't be too mad.

Tetsuo Daishinji/Slash fares better though. Hiroaki Oka, being a Kamen Rider fanboy himself, manages to make him among the most relatable characters in the series. Not only are his hyperfixation on swordsmithing and anxiety played surprisingly believably, Hirotsugu Mori letting him cut loose is extremely cathartic and hilarious, and you really feel for him when the Onjuuken Suzune becomes the first victim of Calibur!Kento's sword sealing.

Yuri/Saikou's another dark horse favorite, for me at least. "Oh great, Avalon guy's got even more merchandise to sell, I wonder what his Sword of Light is- it's himself. Well... that's different." I admit, I didn't like him at first. He felt like he was there to fill out character dynamics in the absence of both Rintaro and Kento, I thought his gimmick was too silly even if his design and jingles were bangers, I didn't particularly care for his power set. But then XSwordman came around I totally got it. He's an endearing, hard-working man trying his best to catch up on all the cool shit he missed, unafraid of experimentation, ready to throw down at a moment's notice, serving as a wonderful bit of consistent support for our heroes, a truly knightly individual, an absolute Chad. and goddamn does he make me worry. Tomohiro Ichikawa, I salute you good sir.

Even if they fall short compared to the rest of the cast, the Shindai siblings are at least cool enough to not wanna write out entirely. They kinda devolve into comic relief after they become allies, something that villainous Riders from Chase onwards are very prone to doing, and it's especially awkward in their case because I think that they kinda get off scot-free for obeying the obviously sinister and crazy Isaac for so long, as well as driving a wedge between a lot of people and threatening children in Reika's case. I think their sibling dynamic is nice though, even if Fukuda recycled it from Makoto and Kanon and has some... questionable possessive undertones as a result. It's cool how they're basically foils to Touma and Rintaro though. The dispassionate and methodical Reika/Sabela is beautifully played by Angela Mei and her moments of emotional depth are fascinating to watch. Her Rider form is a thing of beauty, and its use of literal the Eneiken Noroshi's smokescreens and Yuki Miyazawa's precise and deadly stinging strikes are a joy to watch. And while Ken Shonozaki's not given the best direction as the undercooked plate of 7-Eleven fried fish that is Ryoga/Durendal, he manages to sell him as an experienced and hardened warrior with an awkward side that's especially evident in the Zenkaiger specials. His goddamn RWBY weapon that is the Jikokuken Kaiji is absolutely sick, I'm a sucker for transforming weapons and its combination of time and water powers is really cool, especially with Yasuhiko Amai's deliberate and forceful acting in the suit.

Daichi Kamijo/the Second Calibur, for as brief as his story was, was a pretty cool starter villain. Hiroyuki Hirayama brings this poor bastard to life in a genuinely touching way. I love how as Calibur he goes full force on his creative use of Wonder Ride Books for attacks, and his debut as Jaou Dragon got my blood pumping. His end is also deeply tragic, and I really felt for him when he realized just how badly he fucked up. Hayato Fukamiya also does wonders for the backstory, and while he also doesn't get much to work with, Mitsuru Karahashi makes his regrets and love for Kento feel genuine.

Legeiel and Zooous are both very intimidating and entertaining villains. On top of being just the right balance of goofy and threatening, Kairu Takano and Koji Saikawa's stage presences are both very strong, and their mixture of camaraderie and in-fighting is extremely believable. Zooous's rivalry with Rintaro feels incredible to see through to the end, and although Legeiel doesn't get quite the same treatment, Elemental Dragon had such a cool debut that it more than makes up for it. Their final fights are also absolute spectacles. I don't think their sympathetic angle works even close to as well as it does with MetsubouJinrai or even the Gamma, but I get it, power corrupts, and you probably feel a lot of sadness and regret for things you've done when you die unless you're a right bastard.

Isaac/Master Logos/Solomon is kinda generic. As wonderful as Keisuke Soma is, he doesn't get much dimension to work with. The result of that is while he nails being as smug and punchable as possible, he feels almost... comically generic. Genta Umemori from Shinkenger was full of personality! He was also basically some guy, but he was fun, he felt connected to the rest of the cast! Meanwhile the only real time we get to see Isaac's depth is when we see him crying over his failures. I almost appreciate him being unapologetically evil though, since I've seen way too many shows where redeemed villains get off scot free for way worse things, and some where they outright demand you to sympathize with them despite them doing nothing to warrant it.

Bahato/Falchion surprises me by not just being a movie villain whose actions affect the main plot, but also being a movie villain who actually gets to appear in series as a recurring threat! ...and it's not a particularly great showing on his part, sadly. Masashi Taniguchi does a wonderful job with what he's given, but his character feels like a retread of Eternal without any of what made Katsumi Daido a compelling and frightening villain. I'd like to believe Yuri when he says that he used to be a good person and a hero to the people, but I can only hear so many anime villain monologues about the pointlessness of life and the beauty of destruction before I can never take them seriously again. ...I think that's his biggest problem, actually. I thought he was an overall uninteresting and generic villain in the movie, and the cartoon nihilist he's shown to be in series is only a small step up. He still feels like filler. If only there were a far better written and much cooler villain who takes on the Mumeiken Kyomu after his de--

Desast is probably one of the finest anti-villains I've ever seen in recent years. On top of an absolutely badass character design and the excellent combination of Kazuya Okada/Danki Sakae's suit work and Koki Uchiyama's stellar voice acting, his story being so thoroughly intertwined with Ren's makes their shared journey and bromance a borderline Shakespearean tragedy. His struggle for identity despite Storious treating him as nothing more than a failed experiment and the Sword of Logos treating him as a mere monster really gripped me, and the way he uses what little time he has left to encourage Ren into blossoming on his own is absolutely beautiful. I think his enmity with Ogami is criminally underexplored in series, considering he killed several of the previous Riders and how Ogami's in desperate need of screentime.

Then there's our main villain, Kamen Rider Storious. Robin Furuya brings an incredible amount of charisma to this character, expertly portrayed as both a sinister, manipulative bastard , and as a lonely, tragic figure that arguably makes him feel even more villainous. Speaking as a struggling writer myself, it's easy to feel stuck in the idea of "fuck it, who cares, maybe everything is predestined", but I can't imagine what it's like to know that as the truth and carry it with you for all that time. All of your grand ideas have roots from your experiences, and you're not the only one who even could have those experiences. It's easy to just fall into despair and give up trying, but would that make you happy? Sure, Storious is sadistic, he may be fulfilling his goals, he may be ungodly powerful... but it's not enough for him, is it? All of his friends are gone, one of them even at his own hand, he probably doesn't have any idea what to do after he destroys all the world's stories, Touma even reached his full power before he did, and his downfall is so predictable that even a blind person could see it. He even seems to welcome it, what's up with that? But then I realized... OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD. He's so far gone, he's so desperate to stick it to the Almighty Book, he's willing to twist the archetype of the Hero's Journey so hard, it snaps in two. What I think is interesting is that he's ironically trying to chase the trend of "edgy superhero story" that became super popular in the 21st century. The Boys, Brightburn, Kamen Rider Amazons, The Sentry, No More Heroes, Magical Girl Site, even mainstream comics from DC and Marvel... Surely Storious must've seen the cruelty and tragedy these stories are filled with, but he chooses to go through with trying to force the world into this direction anyway. Did they, along with seeing the ever-popular tragedies of legendary playwrights and bleak satire of the twentieth century fuel his despair?

And yet... there's one who stands in determination against his ideals.

Our hero, Touma Kamiyama, the titular Kamen Rider portrayed by Syuichiro Naito and Kousuke Asai, he speaks to me on a personal level. There're plenty of jokes to be made about his procrastination in early chapters, his godless fashion sense, and him doing the funny run up the slope, that's all fine and dandy, but I rarely feel so connected to a character the way I did Touma. The struggle to create, find companionship, live your life, reach out to others... these're things a lot of people struggle with, and of course you see them depicted a lot in media about creators, but Saber gets to the root of what the greatest thing about storytelling really is. Giving people hope, while using the pain of the past as fuel for the future. Sure, Storious may be right about how every story has been done as far back as human civilization gets, he may even be right about how any spin or creativity humanity has is outright predestined. It should be pointless to even try, right? That's where Touma Kamiyama disagrees. He didn't spend all that time fighting and creating just to give up at the idea of predestination. His novel writing-fueled creativity in his early training, his devotion to his friends that let him surpass Kamijo as Dragonic Knight, his compassion for the Primitive Dragon that let him combine their powers to destroy Legeiel as Elemental Dragon, his resolve that let Xross Saber dethrone Solomon, and his passion for the craft of storytelling that let our heroes channel their wishes into Wonder Almighty... all stemming from the belief imparted onto him by his predecessor that "Hope lies beyond your resolution." And that you decide how your story ends. He may not be the greatest Rider to some, he may be as lame as others think he is, he may not even be my favorite, but I have no issue calling Touma Kamiyama... Kamen Rider Saber, one of the all time greatest carriers of the Kamen Rider name.

The final chapter's definitely not as great as some other Rider finales, but goddamn. Primitive Dragon consciously choosing to save Touma is so sweet and such a great emotional payoff, I loved jamming out to the opening theme while our boys lay the smackdown on Storious. Wonder Almighty's a fitting final bit to close the main series out with, if not exactly a great one. I think the cover is great, and the book's body is a lovely shade of candy apple red, but I really don't like how its pages are just the covers of the other books copy-pasted onto onto the pages, that feels lazy. Maybe if it were a panorama of all the books' characters, I'd like it a lot more as a symbol of how unified the Swordsmen are, but eh, what can you do? On a related note, does this mean all the "last episode extra final forms" of the Reiwa Era are gonna be named after their series's opening? That's a neat idea.

I felt a lot of feelings seeing all those video messages of Rider fans all across Japan talking about their favorite stories, and how their passion and fond memories help reshape the world. Mei's monologue at the ceremony about is also really touching and- IS THAT A HUMAGEAR!? :O

Y-yeah dude, it is! Wow, where have you guys been for the past 48 episodes?! Are you guys doing okay? How come you're like... the only one here? Is the technology of Hiden Intelligence only really that prevalent in that very specific metropolitan part of Japan and they're just not coming around much over here? Is it like Dragon Ball where anthropomorphic animals are just vibin' with humans while the heroes are off kicking ass? Apparently he's played by Hasegawa Keiichi, who wrote this episode and had the award ceremony named after him. ...is Hasegawa Keiichi a HumaGear in this universe then? Did he set up this award ceremony in Touma's honor? If so, why is it named after him? Did reading one of Touma's books lead to his Singularity? I know this is just a cameo, but... god, I have so many questions that probably will never be satisfactorily answered.

Overall, if I had to compare Saber to anything, it'd probably be Sam Reimi's Spider-Man trilogy. It's awkward, stupid, overwrought, undercooked, illogically written, scattershot, cheesy as fuck, and has a tendency to squander its otherwise fine execution; but the sheer passion for storytelling, sense of spectacle, deeply fascinating characters, and belief in the ideals set forth by the cast, crew, and fans are absolutely admirable. Improvements would certainly make it an overall better experience, to be sure, but there's something deeply captivating about how wonky this series is. Seeing everybody get their happy ending after all they've been through felt extremely gratifying though, and I may have to wait another for the epilogue to and then wait for Revice, but... man. I'm hella proud of our awkwardly-emoting, fashion disaster novelist and all of his heavily flawed friends for carrying the Kamen Rider name on to the future. Here's hoping Revice will keep it going.

Alright, that's everything I wanted to talk about. Sorry this was so long and ramble-y, I had a lot to say. I'll probably be liveblogging Revice as episodes of that come out, so... look forward to that, I guess. See ya.

#kamen rider saber #long post #tsuki talks #personal #kamen rider #whew #ok bye have a nice day

2 notes · View notes