#i understand shipping and there IS value in it contrary to what im saying but i think my biggest issue is how it proliferates everything

[seoafin]

YES THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT G*NSHIN!!!! dont forget people who call zhongli sensei even tho he's litcherally chinese. and like especially when in universe there is a whole ass other country based on japan, you can tell these people think all asian countries are interchangeable 🙄

not to get too off topic but i also hate the way a lot of people characterize zhongli and how so much content revolves around shipping. like this isnt even just a genshin thing but fandom as a whole where they will ignore the bigger picture in favour of a ship 😐 and dont even get me started on how female characters will often be forgotten or hated for literally no reason 🔪🔪🔪🔪

anyways thanks for letting me vent here, your brain is huge and your ass is fat <3

this message is sexy and so are you 😍😍😍 and my askbox is always open to rants about fandom racism 😁

look. i don’t even play genshin lmao but the amount of buffoonery perpetuated by the western fandom is so gross. for some reason im on genshin tiktok and every couple of scrolls i see some racist bullshit and nobody calling it out in the comments. then you get the weebs talking about how the jpn dub is soooo good and in the same breath they’ll bash the original chinese translation. nice. 💀

SFNJDSKFSDFKS YOU JUST OPENED A CAN OF WORMS because i could literally talk for hours about how looking at everything through shipping lenses is rotting our brains. not everything needs to be about ships. i love satosugu with my whole heart but it’s gone to the point where I can’t talk about gojo and geto as individuals without someone bringing up how they’re soulmates??? and it grinds my gears because gojo and geto are integral to each other’s characters and play such a big role in each other’s respective character arcs/developements that reducing all of that??? to shipping??? when they aren’t even canon??? it’s such a fucking disservice to their characters it honestly makes me mad!!! not everything needs to revolve around ships. there’s nothing wrong with it but there’s a time and place for that, and some ppl just want to critically analyze jjk and its themes and characters without having to hear about ships......

also. it takes away from reading manga in general. how many things will you miss because you’re too busy looking for the slightest indication that your ship may be “canon”? It traps you in a shipping mindset.

in the end some ppl are missing out!!! i promise there is joy/entertainment in consuming (not even anime but all media) outside of ships. manga is so much more fun when you’re able to derive thematic value/motifs/etc from it!!! in the end we’re all here to have fun but i do think it adds a lot to the reading experience, a lot more than ppl think 😁

[gayspock]

i’ve been meaning to watch succession but all i’ve seen of it is the yaoi twink shipping part of the show…. is the show it’s self actailly good/enjoyable what is you humble pitch dear eggs…

omggg hi sam!! :3

I DID- ohhh let me get it omg... i tried to describe it best for an anon at some point here: https://gayspock.tumblr.com/post/674871571387760640/hi-king-what-is-succession-about-i-kinda-wanna if tht helps.

but also as for more of my little opinion<3 well. putting it shortly: i think its SO good, personally, BUT i know its deffo not for everyone.

ik when i myself first watched it, it was a little hard to engage at the very beginning; as GOOD as i found the premise, i felt myself glazing over a bit during a lot of the "business talk" (help<3 sorry ik thats not the most elegant way of putting that). because it was like- there was potential of a really intriguing story, involving a power struggle with the family of the worst ppl imaginable BUT its also, like, you know... over a, megacorporation. and as good of a setting as that is in some respects (like at a baseline level: all of these characters are fundamentally horrible people, and its a world so insanely removed with greg as the only grounding person in this little bastard world) so much of this conflict is therefore set in boardrooms, and its done through talking - and specifically talking business - and theres definitely a point where i did really start to appreciate it actually. but nonetheless i know at FIRST its hard to sink your teeth into it - and for many it just does not appeal to them to do that, which yeah!! thats fair and makes sense.

but also for me personally... whilst tht was big at first, it sort of became a footnote for me. and i think that this video (it's spoiler free, if you want to check it out) says it best in the beginning. i think, for me, the show really GOT GOOD once i started to intimately understand the characters.

and its like- gosh at the risk of sounding sooo pretentious, its like... there is a genuine complexity to the main cast of them that im obsessed with. theyre all SUCH horrible fucking people, and you dont fucking empathise with any of them (or at least, i know i dont). but, it manages to walk that fine line where they are all still so... real, and as extreme as they all are, theyre not caricatures at all. nor are they unfeeling monsters that operate purely on cutthroatedness- quite the contrary, its their own desires or insecurity so plainly motivate a lot of their action.

and like what i was saying before: i, at first, did not care so much for the business-focussed parts of the show... but over time i grew a little obsessed. i am like a kid fascinated with BUGS. bc so much of that culture REALLY IS riddled with contradiction- likeee okayyy besties, its all about the bottom line, about efficiency, about the literal numerical values and what yields the most profit and yet THROUGHOUT so many decisions are based on fucking pissing contests and big dick competitions, shows of strength and weakness and the absolutely loopy minutiae of conversation, and its all so inherently fleighty and fucking going off the rails just bc of one fucking thing thats enough to piss away EVERYTHING, this pervasive desperation to be the richest when you arent, LIKE GIRLS..............

and this family really is a microcosm of that bullshit and so even in that regard, they are inherently flawed and often are motivated by their own feelings and such and theres just this. extremely realistic, believable absolute selfishness to all of them- that i find refreshing (and initially i was abt to rant abt that, abt how rn theres such a weirdass culture with morally bankrupt characters who cant just be morally fucking bankrupt and how feelings and suffering doesnt a good person make, but omg. i got on too many tangetnsafiadpjdsg) which is kinda HILARIOUS to say but its true.

and its so funny. bc literally none of that is reallll, just like business.... NONE OF IT IS REAL GIRLIES... theres all this fucking drama between them all, every single conversation seems to be some insane power play with hidden meaning behind it and its like LITERALLY YOURE CULTIVATING THIS FUCKING ENVIRONMENT FOR YOURSELVES THESE PROBLEMS WOULD BE SO EASY TO FIX IF YOU HAD THE CAPABILITY OF JUST STEPPING OUTSIDE OF YOUR OWN LITTLE BUBBLES OF INSANITY BUT NAURRRR

which i think- literally, i think AGAIN is why this might just not fucking appeal to some ppl. bc its like youre actively just watching these bitches rip each other apart under the thin veneer of frustrating whatever the fuck. and i mean- god theres so many other points where its, like. I KNOW IM PERSONALLY OBSESSED, but i also get why others dont like it. something else i havent mentioned, for example, which i think is another point of contention is the humour?! LIKE- is sth i see a lotof ppl not gel with. and like literally in some ways i get it, i get why it might not be funny for you, which nod nods understandable.......... but also uh ehrm (at the RISK of sounding a bit assholeish, which i dont intend to be...) in some ways im like oh bestie (sighs softly) bc i know there are. a few people tht just kinda. dont actually GET it in a bit of a silly goose way (which oh jeez tht makes me sound like such a cunt </3) bc ??? i see some people jokingly say "Wow. Succession is a Comedy. /end joke" when it like- no but it... it is!? it is ultimately described as a "comedy drama". HELP. its just not, like, funny punchline quips but is very much this fucking. horrible and uncomfortable fucking irony a lot of the time

AND LIKE... im going to stop myself... bc like- I LITERALLY THINK. WHATS BEST IS GIVE IT A SHOT. SIT WITH IT PAST JUST A LITTLE PAST THE POINT U THINK YOU'D STOP. and if it still just doesnt work for you- as i know MANY ppl, it doesnt for- then just let it be and allow it to go down the stream. makes sense bc i KNOW its like- even, hell... even if its NOT just a case of it appealing to you, i know its also sth you gotta be in the mood for . BUT theres definitely an opportunity ro succumb to a madness if youre primed just right and ready for it SO LITERALLY. (NODS AT YOU) SO LITERALLYLITERALLY HELP. DOES THIS HELP?!

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

I am curious: what are your favorite scenes from your main ships (date, dair, derena...)?

scenes involving milo don't count, sorry!

for me, it's really not just scenes, but body language & just in general, how they are with each other, you know? dan and serena grin at each other and hug SO much, you can tell that being around each other in s1 made them both so happy, and even after that glow fades the way they look for comfort in each other... top level stuff. the way blair looks at dan... we never see her as radiant at any other point. she was not looking at anyone else like this. and gosh, dan and nate. they're both so comfortable around each other that there's absolutely nothing weird about like. discussing that one ex girlfriend whom they both share AND both were in love with. there is literally no other duo who trusts/enjoys each other's company so much that they're comfortable in a love triangle. (probably because they're more in love with each other than with the girl, but that is not the point. or is it?)

anyway, more specific answers. under the cut. this is one of the longest answers i've ever written on this blog possibly but you KNEW that would happen when you sent this ask, didn't you? (affectionate)

derena: i tagged one of my ds reblogs as 'the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one' and like. look at them! this hug from 1x10 kills me in the best way. they are both the literal embodiment of :D when they see each other! i love 1x10 as a whole moment, their entire thing at cotillion is so sweet and they're both so happy. the fact that he is talking about his chemistry teacher during this kiss in 1x07. that bit at the end of 1x05 when they talk about their siblings (being there for their sibling because of fallible parents being a derena parallel makes me simultaneously really sad and really soft, tbh). 1x05 gives me SO MUCH SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT but the way they walk off together arms around each other does something to me - these are two people who are still getting to know each other but who really like what they see, and who trust each other and. are just having a good time together! back when derena was my OTP, the 1x11 "your story's about me?" was absolutely a fave, too, and i still adore it, albeit in a different, more nostalgic way. i like a dan who writes cute stories about serena. no empty shell sabrina van skoneker bullshit. she is so much like you, daniel! you'd be shattered if she did this to you. don't do this to her. tbh, most derena moments from s1 are just A+ romance. the bit in 2x02 in the jitney is so funny, they're SO bad at being exes. the bit in... 3x03 i think?? i don't remember... on the contrary. when they're talking about dan's fling w/ georgina and serena's relationship with carter, the ease with which they talk and how happy/supportive they are of each other's new relationships... yeah. love to see it.

i also really like any instance of them having honest/open conversations. 1x13, talking about how serena is concerned about blair. 1x08, serena talking to dan about feeling jealous of vanessa. this bit from the touch of eva or whatever that episode is. 4x04 i think. this is the conversation everyone is trying to get dan to have and he's avoiding EVERYONE else. derena interactions in 3x21 (can't find a gif right now) - the fact that dan is with serena when her dad abandons them, the fact that he goes all the way there with her. 2x07, "i'm really glad you're nate's friend. he really needs someone like you right now" (though i'm cheating, that's technically a d/n moment too klhdflkgf). there's a bit in s4 where he's advising her against having an affair w/ colin, i don't remember the ep number, but the way he takes her side so easily and naturally and puts due blame/responsibility solely on her professor... yeah. 4x10 i think this ep is?? idk. but like my tags say, im sentimental about this moment because while what dan was doing was irresponsible, sneaking her out of the ostroff, he was the only person in this episode who was actually talking to her and listening to her and taking her seriously. nobody else was doing that!!

i probably have more moments i'm not remembering, but we're only 1/3 into this answer and LOOK AT THE WORDS, good lord, i'm sorry.

dair: my favourite dair episode is hands down despicable b (5x21) which i have heard is an uncommon answer. i just love the conflict resolution of it all, okay!!! 1x04 & 2x08 are like. standard answers any dair shipper will give, and i'm no different. i love dan being able to give blair advice and blair actually taking his advice even though they're not friends yet!!! be right back, yelling at the intimacy of it all!! 5x16, with their getting together (this little kiss and dan being so startled by it), blair admitting a flaw she genuinely does have and dan saying it's not awful because it's her, which is just. romance at its finest. those vows, good lord. 5x18.... they're having fun! blair showing up at the loft in lingerie for dan... the delight on her face.... (i know this moment blows up in their face but when she's there she looks so happy and proud of herself and this was like THE moment when i was like. oh. dair is really the heart of this garbage show huh).

i think for me, the thing that really sells dan & blair together is the serena of it all. both of them love serena more fiercely than anyone else, and that is what brings them together. (fwiw i definitely think nate loved serena this much and this deeply, too; the writers just wanted to pop the serenate balloon, which even i think was extremely unnecessary and ooc.) but (& i have so much meta about this) their relationship grows beyond serena. their entire s4 arc is SO good. i love how comfortable around each other they are, in such an adult way, in the sense of like. they both bring so much stability to each other? morgan tagged this edit "the marrieds" and like. yeah. b offers to help him shave. they're having breakfast & reading the paper together.

all the love declarations we got that weren't a simple 'i love you.' be your charming wonderful self (how could she not love you/ tell me what would make you happy, dan) i told chuck he doesn't have my heart anymore (you spent your life earning the keys to set you free when you were free all along!!!!) dan's pep talk to blair in 5x21 (already linked a gifset earlier, here's another one if you want i guess). there's definitely more... but honestly, the way the dair arc was executed was so good - while i do have my complaints, i also think keeping those aside, it was SO close to perfect. i love dan & blair's banter and gradually becoming closer and closer and closer. it felt very organic and real and GOSH. the way penn & leighton looked at each other while playing dan and blair...... it's just SO MUCH.

date: this is the hardest, because it's. *screams*. maybe you saw me losing my mind over those 2 seconds of nate handing dan a waffle? i love almost every scene with these two, even the hellish s6 breakup scene. my favourite episode for d/n (& also favourite gg episode in general) is 2x06 - i love the homoerotic subtext of it all. nate pretending to be dan because dan's name is the first name that came to his head. dan flirting w/ nate while tied to that thing, in his underwear. them becoming friends. and 2x07 as a follow-up to that! dan getting nate to live in the loft with the humphreys for a while. i am so soft.

4x09 is a terrible episode in general, especially for serena my beloved, but the d/n moments in that one? off the CHARTS. this weird overly macho flirting, in some ways THE most iconic d/n line. this entire finish each other's sentences nonsense. someone (i think it was ana but im not sure?) compared the energy of those scenes i just linked to the book blairenate love triangle resolution, blairena choosing each other over nate in the books, date choosing each other over serena in the show (if only! RIP.) after the saints & sinners ball, this cute little moment of 'youre the only one who understands me. please tell me they went home together. i mean. how could they not have.

3x07, them watching vampire porn together. a tag i used on ao3 (& also on here, once) is 'nate brings out the himbo in dan'. here is a prime example. 'is she levitating?' i don't fucking know, dan, what do you think?? (i was telling my partner that that's what i love abt dair vs date. around blair dan is an intellectual, a librarian, an art historian, a museum curator. around nate it's like dan is competing to be #1 himbo on the show. can my girlfriend actually fly? i don't know, dan. i can't believe you're seriously asking such a question.)

3x12 pep talk. (sorry about the shitty quality!) essentially nate telling dan that he (dan) is hot and that he shouldn't talk himself down so much.

dan making nate gay in his book. you know. his book from which blair found out he was in love with her. nads (who i will not tag in this billion word long gushy meta, because i value her sanity) once called inside "wish fulfilment' and. i mean. yeah

nate checking dan out at the derena wedding continues to be hilarious. hilarious in the same way as dan sexually fantasising about nate. canon really went 'let's give ivy some special easter eggs' and i appreciate them a lot!

i love the way they are around each other - so quietly attuned to each other. i showed my sister my date!husbands gifset, and she was like. yeah they're so married. and it's just stuff like how dan looks for nate over his shoulder, it's not even an active action, it's as easy and natural and intuitive as breathing, checking to see if nate is still there.

oh, that wasn't as hard as it could've been! okay. cool. im SURE there's more things i could scream about, because it's DN, the fact that they're non-canon makes me THAT much fiercer about them than dair/derena, to be honest. so many dots to connect!! anyway.

[letusmeetagain]

First i wanna say i really like all your analysis and theories because you put so much effort into them and im really gratful we have someone like you who like i said again have wonderful theories that make so much sense so please i have a question for you regarding a certain well...very dragged topic so if you wouldnt like to awswer i will totally understand it just i wanted to hear YOUR opinion because i really do appreciate your analysis of snk anyway my question is regarding erehisu...not i dislike it but its just im so tired can isayama make em or eh canon already so this clownery end...BUT i really do believe eremika will be the endgame because of all the proof that we have in the manga but people tend to make it as if its a crack ship ugh...what do you think hisu's final role will be? What do you think eren awswered her? Though i dont believe hisu's question meant any romantic undertones what do you make out of her question to eren?

Hi anon!!

Thank you for your kind words T.T

Well... the question focuses on my opinion on which ship has more chances to become canon, right?

I’ve spent some time thinking about my answer to this question, how I could go direct to the point while giving enough arguments to defend my opinion. Prepare yourself because I couldn’t and this will be very long. Sorry...

1. Eren’s characterization + romance

First of all, there is a very important point about Eren that shipers (even me sometimes) forget. A friend that loves and understand Eren the most pointed this many times when I was starting to forget about it... I dare to say that nobody surpasses her understanding of his characterization.

Eren isn’t a romantic person. We all have to keep in mind that his priorities aren’t the priorities a normal person would have. He is like Rick from Casablanca. There’s the duty and then dreams and then, maybe, romantic love (If we take for granted that he knows what it is). Erwin loved Marie but he had a priority. (There’s me finding more similarities between Erwin and Eren). Eren’s current development is more about his mission than a romantic one. Although he plays with romance, he does it while being blatantly blind about it.

Eren got caught in the middle of his normal development from a child that gets annoyed by romance and has some kind of allergy against cheesy moments (for ex. in ch. 3 with Franz and Hannah) to a teenager that blooms to feel romantic love as something important and unavoidable. It’s normal for kids. But Eren hasn’t a normal life. There was always something more important than learning how to love, be loved and express it openly. It’s not that he isn’t able to love, more likely the opposite. He knows how to love and he has his own ways to do it... but the way the world is restricted his possibilities to live a different life. Even in the way EMA never got to communicate properly most of the times. Communication runs sometimes as a question, a statement and no back question (for ex. ch. 3). Eren asked about Mikasa’s reasons to follow him, about Armin’s reasons, where he threw that line about his death being meaningless. Nobody said anything, neither Mikasa nor Eren reacted stating the opposite. They usually don’t have the time nor oportunity to talk or even think about essential topics as feelings of love or labeling their feelings.

Given Eren’s lack of experience and maturity that we could see until Marley arc. Is it even possible that he developed a carnal relationship with Historia before going to Marley? No. No, because it would contradict somehow his characterization. Eren is depicted exactly as someone that took this decision because he lost every single deep bond that would have stopped him. This lack of understanding brought him to this point. The lack of value he places on life and a comfortable life with friends and family.

2. The baby

The whole baby plot point is from my perspective just about the curse and a new generation (maybe) free from being SoY but just normal human beings.

Historia choosing this way was also the safest way to oppose her destiny... strategically speaking. She could trick everyone without being called openly a traitor. So I’m agree with you. Her question wasn’t romantic.

3. The father and his meaning

The father is, as I pointed out once in my Twitter acc., the farmer. My reasons are that there is a meaning behind his existence. He was a boy that dared Historia to break the rules and stop being submissive. He is aligned with Historia’s current role as someone who stopped being the good girl that follows stupid and detrimental rules in disregard of her own life. He is also a man that decided to redeem himself by helping her with the orphanage without trying to get her attention at all. Being a normal person who enjoys a normal life and also redemption. I’m not saying necessarily that it’s about love, but he isn’t just a nobody. He holds a deep, positive meaning for the story. Isayama pairs usually a sinner and an “innocent”: Annie and Armin, Eren and Mikasa, Erwin and Levi, Ymir and Krista, Historia and the Farmer. Eren and Historia are the current sinners on the matter that both chose the rumbling... let’s say.

Why this kind of pairing? Because one has to contribute to the improvement of the other. Two sinners (with the same crime and perspective) can’t help each other. It’s opposition what will bring them to overcome their weaknesses.

4. Development of the couples

That being said, Eren and Mikasa as pair are in the focus. Isayama went through 10 years of development of most of the pairs to build up a support for EreMika. He build parallels with YumiHisu and Falbi and gave us hints to understand EM better. The vow he made to her was probably one of those moments when he started to be romantic without noticing.

5. Eren and Historia: their moments

EH interactions are, conversely, of other nature. Both feel related about the point of carrying a big burden. While Eren has to save humanity fighting, Historia has the role of a founder who has to assure humanity’s survival by having children and keeping the royal family alive. Both want to be free from that burden and end up being “partners in crime” by betraying everyone. I’m missing the romantic interactions to be very honest. It’s because Eren is so self-focused that he anchors here when someone who is alone and having the same problems and feelings appears. But... where did the fandom start to see something between them?

Two moments. The moment when he said “she is admirable” and the moment when he insisted to spare her life. That obsession that is so tricky to even be explained.

The first one made a difference between how Eren acknowledges Historia’s attributes and disregards Mikasa’s. The fandom uses this to point out that Eren likes Historia more. Well, no. His relationship towards Mikasa was characterized by jealousy. He won’t admit anything.

Regarding his “obsession” to save her... this started when he knew the existence of Eren Krüger, his thoughts and the whole story about Dina. It wasn’t before that. We must also admit that Historia’s safety was related to more characters than just Eren. Since the very beginning, her safety was conveniently displayed by Frieda, Ymir and Reiner, what makes me believe that her destiny was to give birth to this baby (aka. plot armor). Her role is to avoid becoming a titan by her own choice, that’s her arc. With Krüger we also knew the importance of a royal: they can give birth to more convenient instruments for war. Knowing that he was devoted to the mission, I believe that Eren is being influenced by him (I want to highlight the word “influenced” as something different to manipulated). So this is all related to the mission and the final outcome about Ymir, the curse, the power and the baby. Eren partly wants to grant her the chance to choose, but he also pushes her to do so based on part of her desires because of the mission as he did with Grisha.

Add here the fact that Historia was prepared to sacrifice his life at the cave if it was needed. That shows her priorities.

A lot of EH shippers claim that she saved him. Regarding her role as savior, I’m more objective and skeptical. She spared his life, but emotionally speaking, she didn’t really save him. The proof is that he was still low, thinking that he was a nobody. Carla’s words were the message with enough impact to relieve him and make him open himself to Armin and Mikasa and tell them about his sorrows. This shows the difference on the impact on him when it comes to Historia and when it comes to Carla... this happens again in ch. 131. He thinks about his mother instead of Historia who was the one reproving his plan. To me, Historia is his friend and inspired him to fight just for his sake against the system and rebel those who are over him and oppressing him. But his soft side is related to Carla, Armin and Mikasa: his family and those, who appreciate his life over his fate and urge of freedom and to be acknowledged.

Bonus: when Eren told Historia that she saved him was more like “You chose this path once and I’m sorry. I’ll be starting the rumbling and you contributed”. Historia’s face to that looks like this: “Oh no...I fucked up”. It doesn’t look like “Oh no... I don’t regret saving you because I love you and I can’t live without you”. On the contrary, that’s when she realizes that she was part of this since the beginning and that by saving him, she chose to let the rumbling happen once in the past. Then she goes along with the plan for her own reasons and because she hasn’t better options to choose either.

Summary:

Eren didn’t develop as a romantic person yet nor prioritized romantic love over his mission. It goes against a previous explicit development of EH before the trip to Marley. The farmer has a positive meaning as the father. EM is more developed and shows romantic undertones and common tropes. EH hasn’t romantic undertones and it’s more related to the mission to save the eldians.

So... that was it. Sorry again for the length and thank you for the ask!

[takerfoxx]

“Fires of the Sun, Part 3″ Thoughts

Here is where things really came together, with Rin and Yuuka finally confronting each other face to face. Now that it's been months since this chapter went up, it is interesting to look back and remember what a wild rollercoaster it was to write. I don't know if I ever mentioned this before, though I'm pretty sure I have, but to me, writing my stories is a lot like going on a long road trip. You know where you're starting from, you know where you want to end up, and you have a good idea of the various stops you want to hit along the way, maybe even some hotel reservations if you're particularly organized. But a lot of the stuff in between is made up on the fly: what routes you take, the places you stop to eat, the sights you see, some detours and delays due to a road being out, bad weather you couldn't have prepared for, but then you end up taking a wrong turn, find a beautiful meadow on a side road and decide to spend the afternoon there, and then meet a nice family by the river and end up making some new friends that you're still in contact with.

This chapter had a lot of that. Like I mentioned yesterday, the fight between Rin and Yuuka was this whole shebang's centerpiece, and this was when they finally started kicking each other's asses. Naturally, since they're two of the easiest characters to write for and don't hold back when it comes to violence, their battles were as smooth as melted butter, with only one or two easily fixed hiccups. However, the scenes in between had a lot of making stuff up as I went along.

For example: Meiling. I didn't really have a clear picture of what I wanted her to do when I first start FotS, and pretty much had her killed, revived, and sent back home early to get her off the board. But of course she was going to come back, so I started thinking, "Okay, how can we do this in a way that'll matter?" Well, I needed someone to eventually save Sakuya from those asteroids, so I was all, "Well, Meiling making the last second save would be cool, and wouldn't distract from anything that went on before. That would wrap up Mima's little asteroid bombardment plot as well. But how would she pull it off? Well, those rent-a-guards are hanging around the SDM, and it's already been established that they carry futuristic guns, so…Oh, wait. Yeah, this is gonna be good." And away she went!

The PoES gang was a little more problematic, but then, they always are. I think at that point I was still undecided of whether to kill Orin or not, so I sent her along with that mob so that when she did arrive, it would be in the midst of chaos and violence. One idea I was toying with was to have the mob literally pop out in the middle of the Rin and Yuuka fight and throw it into complete disarray, with Orin flying at Yuuka and getting blown to pieces then or…something like that. Obviously that's not what ended up happening, but it was another example of getting a piece moving ahead of time so that if I needed it later it would already be in place.

That being said, this chapter did introduce two major problems that I had to keep dealing with. The first was freaking Seija. She was a natural candidate for one of Yuuka's prisoners, sure, but she's a pain in the ass in canon and she's a pain in the ass here too. Her issue is that her contrary personality is so out of step from everyone else that every exchange with her immediately requires that the action focus on her to get things moving. After a couple bits of dialogue I was already going, "Oh man, this girl is gonna be a royal pain to write for." That's why I knocked her out quickly and kept her knocked out, as with everything that was going on I wanted to keep the distractions down to a minimum.

Another was the bit with Yuuka's prisoners in general. I wanted to make sure they all got out all right. I had already built them up as poor innocent victims and didn't really feel like taking any of them out just for shock value. Though I did eventually end up barbecuing that mob, so I don't know what that says about me. Regardless, that did have the issues of them being pretty much useless and slowing down everyone. I worked with that by making that part of Sakuya's development (and boy, she got a lot in these chapters) and helped build her resentment toward Rin. Still, I didn't want to make them one of those annoying escort missions and have people rooting for them to get killed, but in the end, I think I may have given them too much focus anyway. Oh well, lessons for the future.

Now in regards to Rin and Flandre's scenes together, you can tell how much I like a character by how often they get turned into Woobies. And Flandre is and always has been my favorite Touhou character. Hell, her creepy grin in that Bad Apple video was what convinced me to really check the series out. And let me tell you: I was thrilled by how much chemistry she and Rin had together. It's one of those delightful surprises that come from unexpected detours I was talking about earlier. I think originally I had planned for Yuuka to successfully corrupt her and have Elly steal both her and Yuuka away when she made her escape. But then Rin happened, and everything ended up getting rewritten in my head to compensate for the new direction. I love every scene they have together. Despite being a fraction of her age, Rin is the big sister figure Flandre always needed: someone who understands perfectly what she's going through and is able to withstand her violent moments. And Rin needed someone like Flandre in her life: someone she could look after and protect without feeling guilty obligation toward, like she does with Rumia. Hell, if IM was an original work with a larger fanbase, there'd probably be ship wars between the Rin/Rumia fans and the Rin/Flandre fans. And man oh man, that last scene where Rin fully absorbs Flandre and beats the holy hell out of Yuuka felt so damned good!

In regards to that last scene, I admit that with Mima I was going through something similar that I did with Yuuka, in which I felt like I needed to drive home the fact that she's evil and a liar as bluntly as possible. Even after her heel turn, there were still people wondering why she was telling Patchouli that Marisa was incredibly powerful after it had been established that she has no natural talent for magic and asking if I had made a mistake. So as cruel as it was, this scene was to fully establish that Mima really is as evil as everyone's always been calling her, and with Marisa no longer around, she is fully off the leash. Plus, given what's been established about Mima's preferences and how Patchouli behaves in canon, it makes perfect sense that Mima would be holding her in contempt.