#when i write him as being all lovey dovey it's after some character growth has happened!!! like he's different now to me with me bc

[oscalesoffeeling]

people who make tar.kin out to be too romantic: greatly misinterpreting him

people who make tar.kin too cold: greatly misinterpreting him

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket,Se03, Ep 8 (part 2)

I finally got my answer on how will kyo’s confession of kyoko will be & how tohru will react. I love the writing, the pacing, the monologue, the dialogue, the facial expressions, tohru’s reaction, kyo’s rejection & tohru’s shock. Even yuki & akito’s involvement! All of it was a chef’s kiss!

I went & watched lots of eps of se01 & 2 & I’m loving all the hints they dropped abt kyo & how his trauma was looming over him all. this. damn. time! Unfortunately, it has reminded me of how much tohru’s own character exploration was diminished in favor of her being the angelic mother & the sohma’s fixer! but moving on & focusing on her shining moment now! I’ll explore her character here with regards of her trauma, real hidden character & future development.

Kyo’s rejection is the best thing that has ever happened to tohru:

(don’t hate me before you read!) XD~ just like you, I’m mad at kyo for hurting tohru & I feel her pain. However, the writer didn’t write this with a sadistic desire to hurt us. Kyo’s rejection is the core of the entire story as it is not only connected to kyo’s trauma, but tohru’s growth & yuki’s emotional involvement with the two, as well as akito’s insecurities. I have explained in my review( part 1) how kyo rejecting tohru was a logical progression of kyo’s trauma, the only possible outcome from his perspective, & the themes tied with such decision. Now, I’ll explain why this rejection is good for tohru in the long run:

1. Showing the hidden ugly side: (The timid, shy, self-sacrificing girl is angry!): Tohru’s entire consciously constructed personality is borrowed from elements in her mom & dad’s life:

She mimicked her dad’s overly polite style to prove that she is indeed his daughter, so her mom won’t be called w*ore & to console her mom, so she wont leave her. She has deep low self-worth issues. I gotta become someone else to be loved.

she has inner fear of bringing shame to her mom’s name, wants to always be the good girl so mom’s get praised for raising her. Thus, hiding ugly aspects such as anger, loud voice & frustration.

She wants to prove that her mom chose right by not neglecting her. wishes to be worth needing & loving for her own self.

All she ever wanted since being a 4 year old child is her mom. No other desire for anything else at all. Since her mom’s death, she’s been lost on what to do, who to be, what to want! then it came to her to stick to her mom’s memory & live for her. Living for a dead person is a self-sacrifice decision. Tohru just didn’t see herself outside of her mom’s influence.  

Ever since meeting kyo, he has been encouraging real aspects of her character: be selfish, complain, cry, get mad, yell, look pathetic, expose unflattering thoughts, show undesirable side, ask for things, no, DEMAND things. She has been reluctantly following his advice & only showing that to him. His confession & inability to accept her love has lead her to show the real hidden tohru behind the “ i’m okay” mask:

The timid, always smiling girl is now showing anger, frustration, stubbornness & determination.

screaming her heart out: “ i don’t believe my mom would say that” stating her opinion in firm voice.

 “even if she did, I have to go against her” the real tohru shows her explosive personality that was buried deep down! it is NOT mom’s life anymore. It is MINE. I decide. I choose. I want. My decisions.

“ why can’t you see that?” argues with him. Tohru, who is soft-spoken & tends to get flustered  when others insist, is now questioning his decision with passion & fierceness!

“ I love you no matter what”. Say what toy want. look at yourself as a monster, a murderer, a loser or a coward. I don’t care what your brain or trauma makes you think. I see the real YOU & it is my decision! I love you ugly & pretty, sad & happy, broken or strong, coward or brave. I take it all & no one is fooling me or changing my mind. I’m my own person & I chose YOU. 

 2. Letting go of attachments: Learning to LIVE:

Tohru’s attachment to her mom isn’t healthy. It’s  toxic as it hinders her from being her own person. To be able to love kyo, she lets go of “ listening to mommy’s words” . Apparently, her mom condemned kyo as unforgivable. Tohru knows the real kyo & doesn’t even care for forgiveness despite her mom’s alleged words. Breaking the toxic bond. She formed a healthier bond with kyo. However, if kyo is unable to accept this love. what would tohru do? die?? kill herself?? kyoko wasn't able to continue to love her husband cuz he died. her reaction was neglecting her daughter & roaming away in utter grief. Tohru mustn’t follow her mom’s example. Not all loved ones leave us out of hate. Some leave each other cuz of death (kyoko/tohru), ( kyoko/ katsuya), Others might leave each other out of current traumatic pain, mental health, emotional hindrance despite loving each other so dearly (kyo/tohru). If kyo despite his immense love to tohru, can’t forgive himself, they won’t be together. tohru can cry, scream, yell, but if he doesn't overcome his issues & come back, tohru gotta let go. She gotta learn to let go & not kill herself over what she cant have.

Kyo, on the opposite, gotta learn to hold on to loved ones! Let go of pain but hold on to real ppl not dead ghosts of the past. He must learn to act on his own desire & need for tohru. Only when he forgives himself, he’ll hold on to her. It is then, that tohru will decide again if she’ll have him or not.

3- Wanting things doesn't mean you WILL have them: (You are enough by yourself- moderation)

tohru wants kyo, the first thing she has ever wanted. However, she won’t  automatically get him just because she now learned to demand things. There are obstacles that can stop that. Tohru must accept kyo’s inability to be with her now & live healthily regardless. This ties to akito as well. She wants the zodicas but she cant have them! Emotional distance separate them. What will akito do if she can’t have what she wants? kill kurno? kill tohtru? kill herself? will this bring the zodiacs back? NO. You are enough by yourself. She needs to let go & learn to accept that love means acceptance between the involved parties, emotional connection isn't enough.

-Realistic depiction of romantic relationship progression: (thro better & worse). EPIC writing!

It is indeed fate that brought tohru back in kyo’s path 4 months after her mom’s death & the they do share a mutual past: kyoko. However, fervor grateful to the author for writing them falling in love together isn’t due to fate, coincidence, mutual past or similar personalities. Kyo consciously avoided tohru while tohru herself struggled to understand kyo initially. The author spend valuable time building their romantic relation based on mundane daily life activities. They themselves don’t quite know when exactly that they fell in love. when they recalled falling in love, we see them cooking together, talking, walking, eating, studying & opening up abt small struggles.

It is genius that the writer will add yet another realistic aspect. While kyo was able to read tohru & approach her when she’s down, this doesn't mean he magically understood her & will forever be on the same page & never ever hurt each other at all. If you fell in love, you are bound to be hurt by the person who loves you back as much as be happy together. It is realistic!!! Adding miscommunication & personality differences enrich the relationship. This relationship isn’t just fluffy & lovey dovey. They have realistic issues that they need to work on by communicating. Even communication  wont solve their quarrel if it isn’t done in the right time & with the right desire to connect.

-The weight & future lessons learned from of “ I’m disappointed in you” for both kyo & tohru:

Right now kyo is too emotional to connect & tohru herself is too emotional to understand his response. Tohru understands his pain but her low self-esteem prevents her from seeing that he is rejecting being loved , not rejecting her. He is not rejecting tohru as a person but rejecting kyo as a person deserving love. Thanks to his “ i’m disappointed in you” which really leaves no room for interpretation from tohru’s perspective. I love that!!!! Kyo isn’t good with words. This has been clear from ep 1, his actions has always been his love language, but now he couples bad words “ i’m disappointed in you” with bad actions: running away. This is a perfect opportunity to build their future relationship on a solid foundation: ( off course I’m not belittling their current emotions, I understand why each is very broken now, but I’m talking abt future learning lessons)

Kyo’s current mistake: While him rejecting tohru is justified by the extreme trauma & is logical from his perspective. This doesn’t mean it isnt’t hurtful to her. He chose hurtful words to push her away mimicking how he pushed her in the true form arc. Perfect example of justified mistake yet still a wrong mistake. Thus, kyo needs to learn the effect of his words, he shouldn’t be punished for the past, for tings her cant control, nor for fate. But he should take responsibilities of the present, of what he actually says & does right now.  He must fix this mistake with tohru. This is a mistake that CAN be fixed. someone that he CAN get back. a mistake he CAN stop repeating.He CAN hold on to her with immense desire yet allow room for her to decide for herself.

Tohru’s current mistake: Seeing herself solely thro being loved by kyo. she cant see that he indeed loves her cuz he rejected her. Rejection in tohru’s mind equal lack of love. Her mom left her, thus her mom didnt love her. This respective is very justified due to her trauma, & it is logical that she reached this conclusion. She isnt in his head, she cant know whats in his heart if his words say sth else. However, having a logical perspective doesn't mean it is right. it is still wrong to solely exist thro what you can see & hear. Real emotions run deeper. We must take things with moderate approach. Tohru needs to have higher self-esteem, to allow room for misunderstanding without completely breaking down. In her future life, she’ll be in lots of situations where ppl could hurt her intentionally or unintentionally. She needs to take things with calmer pace & open the door in her mind for doubt & better judgement. As much as loved ones words hurt, to build a healthy relationship, you must leave room for communication & misunderstanding. Hence, you’ll get closer & closer. 

Side Notes:

 I love tohru’s faulty attachment thro only being loved back exactly as she pictures in her mind. it is so human, so real, & so endearing! Very opposite of se01 & 2 image of her being the wise, device-giving mother with right thing to say & do. Screw that unrealistic image! allow tohru to be real! best ep ever! Hopefully, no more of this tohru!

Kyo’s constant repeat of mistakes is the best character trope done right! so realistic. It is genius that the author used this trope to humanize the demonic cat spirit!! what screams human better than the most annoying human trait: repeating mistakes!!!!  Kyo, my son! it’s time to learn! cant wait to see how the author will do that.

young boy/ adult woman friendship? Was that ever made without  disgusting sexualizion? kyoko isnt much of a mom figure to kyo, she tells me abt a husband, child neglect mistakes, custody! he calls her old hag & pushes her! XD. it is friendship!!

i’m mad they didnt focus on tohru’s face when she screamed at kyo confessing her love.. that's tohru moment. Why pan on yuki? you could’ve showed his reaction after she spoke. The same thing was done when tohru confessed to Isuzu!-_-! loved her angry face tho, it was beautifully drawn, so thanks for that. XD

Yuki is forever the best tohru/kyo shipper & the best tohru-happiness defender. I love how he runs after kyo & yet checks on tohru! I’m curious tho, he didnt hear any of kyo/kyoko confession as he was asleep, only the the “ forgive/not forgive line” so, he’ll be wondering forgive what? tohru’s mom knows kyo? I’m excited on how they’ll put things into context. also, I LOVE YUKI.

I’m forever thankful that everything akito is pushed into next ep. The knife wielding action & akito’s dramatic outbursts would’ve stolen from the emotional weight of kyo’s confession. Kyo’s secret is the core of furuba since ep, 1, the entire dynamics of kyo/tohru/yuki /kyoko/ hat is established based on this ep. Shoving akito, too, would create the same annoying train bullet feeling of momiji’s & tohru’s ep (ep 5 & 6). Emotional scenes pushed together with lesser time for the respective characters to have their well-deserved focus.

This is the most I am attached & satisfied with furuba! it scares me since ep 9 continues the climax. My fears of potential dramatic animation since the knife is there! moreover, akito’s own animation is always over the top. I hope they tone it down to portray her as a human more than a maniac.

Also, I hope they dont drag the climax more than that. What more you can shove in the dramatic raining weather. Tohru/kyo scene here matched the true arc scene bringing back parallel. Now akito/tohru raining scene next ep will match se02, ep10 scene. Now, what will the author do to defuse the climax? Often writing the falling action is harder than the climax itself. Falling action doesnt mean happy times & solving issues. It means dealing with the consequences of the climax. Let’s see what the writer has in store.

Based on the flashbacks, Kyoko didnt have ill feelings with kyo!!!! Until the last time he saw her as a child, she was happy with him. Even when he pushed her, she took it as a childlike behavior. at the accident, she didnt have much time to have any ill feelings. No way she thought he pushed her, no way she thought he could’ve saved her. So if she really recognized him, why would she say “ I wont forgive you”? it doesnt make sense at all. Kyoko doesn't hate kyo!!!! So, either he imagined, which is sth that I’ll hate so much! I spent so much emotions attached to a non existant words! NO. plz! NO!! Other possibility, she said sth else closer to the words! but then again how would we know? I NEED to know! ~ as expected, I’m still attached to this damn line! XD. 

Kyo depressed in the mountains after kyoko’s death was very vaguely referenced in (1) se01, ep24 when kyo talked to kazuma! oh shoot! (2) in se02, sp 2 when kazuma thought back to kyo nearly killing himself in depression before meeting the dad, (3) in se02, ep 9 when kyo trampled on the flower! oof! i love this subtle style of writing! connecting the emotional dots! EPIC!

Various characters throut seasons 1, 2 & 3 noticed the real gentle kyo towards tohru: (1) Isuzu’s “ I hope tohru meets someone like haru, to gently open the door” se02, ep19. (2) Momiji having faith that kyo is the right person for tohru & pushing him, (3) yuki constantly musing over tohru/kyo love & drawing inspiration on wanting “ his own person to love like them” (3) Kisa saying kyo is kind to tohru se3, (4) shigure saying, you are exclusively kind to tohru se02, (5) Airisa saying, when will kyo confess in se01, (6) hana saying, marry my sister in the play & pushing him to not be locked! (7) yuki kicking him for saying “ its not your business” to tohru in kyoto trip, (8) kakeru saying “ kyo’s her boyfriend? “ AA~~~~ the whole cast know & can see his love to her!!! TOHRU! He doesnt hate you! KYO!! the entire cast thinks you DESERVE HER & is KIND! not a monster! Is there an image set of those moments of the cast saying that here in tumblr? kindly mention me to see it! I fear going to the tags & seeing spoilers T_T.

[maariarogers]

Thoughts on True Beauty and Why I’m On Team Suho

Ever since the tv show started, I’ve begin thinking and noticing for a while now that, more than anything, I’m more #TeamSuho than I am #TeamSeojun.

And the thought of “why do I think like that?” kept repeating in my head, because, if I’m honest, the casualness that Seojun and Jugyeong shared early in the series (I’m talking webtoon and, truth be told, a bit of the tv series) really struck me as them having a much easier and playful, therefore fun, relationship. Which makes for an interesting dynamic than what Jugyeong had with Suho.

So, here are my thoughts why I think I prefer Suho with Jugyeong towards the end.

To warn, this is, firstly, have nothing against any of the characters or the ships! I’m merely sharing an in-depth analysis of my thoughts on my own view why I prefer Suho with Jugyeong. Secondly, I’ll be referencing a lot of the webtoon rather than the tv series (although I feel like I’d like to spill my thoughts on that soon, so I don’t know if that long analysis of “why I surprisingly find myself enjoy the adaptation more than I thought I would” is coming soon, buuuut yeah, we’ll see) so, please be aware of spoilers.

As reference, I’m currently at Chapter 124 of the English-translated version of True Beauty as I’m writing this, but I am aware of spoilers ahead of the chapters.

Another Warning: This is so long. Oh my god. How did I manage to write it this long? So. There’s that.

Okay. So. What brought this on?

Honestly, it was just the excitement from knowing that True Beauty was airing soon and I was just so interested to see the dynamics the actors were going to play out rather than just seeing the characters across the a page screen in comic strips as I’ve been following them since I stumbled into the webtoon about, yikes, a year ago?

But – more than anything, I just really wanted to see how Suho played out.

1. So, What’s The Deal With Suho?

If I’m honest, I’ve always thought that Suho is laughably (yikes) boring. Not necessarily in a bad way, no! I actually think it’s one of the things that’s made him quite appealing — in ways that, in other settings, I would have actually found him uninteresting and easily passable as a main lead. But not in this particular world.

To add: the Author also referenced this many, many times throughout the webtoon. Quite brilliantly, in fact — specifically, from Sua’s point of view, as she points out quite a few times that, besides from Suho’s looks, “he’s really got nothing going on for him” or that “he’s boring”. (I frickin’ love Sua in both the webtoon and tv show!)

This was also a really important plot device during the Prince of Princes (Did I get this name right? Omg) competition TV show when the influencer (again, I really can’t be bothered with what’s-his-name) actually called Suho out for basically “not trying his best” when everybody else was clearly giving his all. This triggered Suho to actually act outside of his comfort zone and actually wanted to pose for a sexy photoshoot.

I do also honestly think he’s clinically depressed on top of just having had naturally adapted a much calmer composure to compare with an easily expressive Jugyeong and a very charismatic Seojun. But the thing is, the author really made Suho “boring” on purpose — and the best thing is? It works.

Because as much as Suho is “expressionless” — as in, he doesn’t really emote whatever his feelings as honest or as obvious as the other two leads — he can still carry his character well. Like Jugyeong has learned over time, we start to figure out that, oh, Suho has to put his act together because his father’s famous and he doesn’t want to tarnish that reputation. He’s ruthless to admirers because he’s logical about rejecting unwanted advances. He’s surprisingly rigid and slightly cold, but only because he’s used to only have himself as company.

In all honesty, I’m still trying to wrap my head around Suho. I still don’t quite understand why I’m so fascinated by his personality when, if those sort of “dark brooding” tropes were played in other medias, I would have rolled my eyes and rejected it instantly for how much it’s overplayed.

But I didn’t. Not with Suho. 

Perhaps, an angst-lover at heart, his unrequited relationship with Jugyeong really struck with me. His patience when he’s obviously hurting as Jugyeong dismissed their almost-romance, or when Seojun and her were being lovey-dovey in front of him was really incredible. Suho rarely lost his composure, which was quite a feat considering as readers we know he still has lingering feelings towards Jugyeong, and I felt like that spoke volume about his character.

(Besides that, Suho was always so incredibly respectful — not only towards Jugyeong but also towards Seojun. Seojun obviously learned it much later on, but Suho never once carried any ill-intention when he learned Seojun and Jugyeong were together. In fact, again and again, he congratulated and cheered them on, even when we knew later that he feels awful for the lost chances. Still, Suho never acted violently or aggressively. Not once. It was only Seojun who had easily misunderstood him and thus, reacted badly.)

(Although again, that’s so brilliant on the author — because Seojun’s quick-temper is such a staple and big part of what made Seojun Seojun. I’m happy that he acted that way, because that meant his characteristics are consistent from when we first saw him in the webtoon. Of course, that doesn’t mean the temper in and of itself is always good, but — it’s realistic for him.)

2. So, Why Jugyeong and Suho?

Now, this is the part where it gets tricky.

A lot of the fans — some of which are my own friends, and people I knew — abandoned the webtoon because the drama has gotten “tacky” or Jugyeong’s growth has been “stunted” for a few chapters. I can’t say I totally disagree, because I do see there’s quite a lag in the plot, buuuuuuut.... I do feel like the author adds that in on purpose.

Of course! I might be wrong! But hear me out.

I think it’s on purpose because it wants to show the development of Seojun and Jugyeong’s relationship – and why it didn’t work. (Again, anything can happen; I’m only at Ch124, so things might still change for Team Seojun!) Of course, for all those who are aware of the spoilers, the answer was simple: they didn’t work because the agency asked Jugyeong to stop dating Seojun due to his rising status as an idol.

It’s more than that, though.

I’ve also been reading a few comments and some of them pointed out how they thought that Jugyeong has always seemed more relaxed and more playful when she’s with Suho than she is when she’s with Seojun. But... I do have to slightly disagree. Only slightly. Because, if we review the arc during their high school when Jugyeong liked Suho, she was obviously more comfortable and were able to tease and be more playful with Seojun — but she was a little guarded with Suho, which was understandable. She didn’t want to look bad in front of her crush.

I’ve always felt a little threatened at this point because, man, Seojun and Jugyeong’s chemistry was so, so good during this arc. I love Seojun, I really do. He is such a nice and considerate man in ways that I really didn’t think he could be when we saw him as a teenager — but the author really pulled him off well. And he’s so sweet, too? So loyal? Ugh.

The downside is, though — he doesn’t push Jugyeong.

More than that, their relationship (perhaps because they were each other’s first true, committed relationship) really caused each other massive anxiety. Jugyeong wasn’t really honest all the time due to this — not her feelings and not her concerns, and Seojun became an unnecessarily worry-wart even when he shouldn’t be. This had, several times, led him to become inconsiderably possessive i.e. during the time he fought with Suho when Suho had only wanted to help.

Of course, they sort the issue out in the end and Seojun started to reform himself to be an even better partner. But... you can tell, in a lowkey sort of way, that the good-feeling they had when they were just friends, it isn’t really there anymore. They don’t really have fun together. (Although maybe that’s just because Seojun became busy and/or the author skip most of their dates along, so — I might be biased a bit regarding this!)

But with Suho, even as friends, Suho has always pushed Jugyeong — more than just about her bare face, he pushed her to pursue what she wants to do. Not only that, he encouraged it; he helped her.

Which is why I think the plot became slightly stagnant in the moment: because, like Jugyeong, we’re focusing too much on her relationship with Seojun and what would it mean when Seojun became an idol. We’re carried along with her anxiety, with their upside down, with Jugyeong’s worries. We’re stuck in Jugyeong’s first relationship — and that’s it.

But with Suho, the plot moves: Suho pushes Jugyeong to study, Suho talks to her about her ambitions, Suho makes her confronts her fears, and one of the best parts of the series so far — when Suho was consulting her after Selena scolded Jugyeong for messing up on set — Suho recognised what she wants to do, what she likes to do, and he encourages her for it. He comforts her, and tells her to not give up. So now, we see her wanting to try her best in wanting to help Selena.

With Suho, I feel as if... Jugyeong’s focus grows more than just her being upset about one single relationship. Suho’s calamity and logic straightforwardness probably helps — it doesn’t cause as much anxiety as Suho’s relatively honest, which Jugyeong can depend on and seems to explicitly trust — and Jugyeong’s story, once again, grows to be more than just another love story.

It’s become a story of her trying to find a place in the world again, of her trying to figure out what exactly she can do for herself despite all these obstacles and hurdles.

I’m not saying with Seojun, she doesn’t go through any character development at all, no — but her focus tends to single-handedly narrow towards Seojun directly and their relationship, and it leaves very little for Jugyeong to really consider anything else, specially her own growth, which is equally important.

With Suho, she’s just able to do that a bit better, and we can see she’s slightly more comfortable too.

(And, before anybody comes at me, yes, I do think Jugyeong pushes Suho too. She literally recommends Suho books that he doesn’t seem he was going to read anytime soon, or he could’ve overlooked it easily — but she does that. She pushes him out of his comfort zone and suggested a new author / series. And Suho reads it, and he learns that he likes it. It’s the same when she recommends the music app. Or the hairdo. She’s always been a giant force pushing Suho forward; Suho’s always trying to change and/or improve himself when Jugyeong comes in.)

3. Conclusion

This is sooo long so I thank you if you’ve made it this far! I’m just really, really happy with the TV series and these thoughts about why I adore Suho have been nagging at me.

I hope everyone likes the full analysis of my messy thoughts as much as I enjoyed writing it fully on a whim at 1am.

[warlordgab]

LuNa analysis: “Saving the girl,” when does it matter?

This little analysis and its NaLu version were supposed to be one single post. But, I decided to divde them for there’s a lot to cover, and doing things this way makes it easier to shorten the content

With that out of the way, let us begin!

As explained in the other analysis, when a story develops a bond organically, “saving the girl” doesn’t mean she owes her savior a relationship. True chemistry doesn’t occur because of favors done. That’s like a basic unspoken rule

Going from “saving the girl” to “impregnating the girl” without proper development, or meaningful and engaging moments, is a proof of lazy writing...

But, rescuing a love interest is an legitimate story-telling tool. So when does “saving the girl” matters for the growth of a potent relationship?

First, we have to address why the shipping mindset doesn't work here. To keep things brief, what some readers could find compelling, characters in the story may not find truly moving. Some fans enjoy cool, stylish, and tough characters so much that they end up overhyping every action they take or every interaction the have with others. Even when the story doesn't hype anything at all.

Example, women who would like to have a good-looking man complimenting them 24/7 may find similar actions incredibly thoughtful and meaningful, even if the story doesn't take such behaviors seriously (to the point of using them as jokes/gags) or characters don't see those showings as something significant enough to warrant a serious response.

Readers with this kind of casual mentality are prone to overhyping any and all rescue scene that features their favorite characters despite such instances lacking actual weight or true relevance to any sort of real development

So, some conditions for a moment to be relevant are the characters and the story considering those interactions as impactful, and having those moments pay off. Only the author's works are allowed, as most if not all that comes from directors or writers of the anime adaptation bears no real weight on the source material

Now, such moments have to offer a substantial contribution to the relationship between the characters and leave an impact powerful enough to compel characters in more ways than one

The moment I would like to break down is not one single scene, but rather the context behind the series of events leading us from this...

...to this:

So, Luffy confronts Nami right after she hits her lowest point. At this moment, he stops her from stabbing herself while cursing Arlong, and then Nami does something she hasn't done in years: she decides to open herself to Luffy and rely on him for help.

To understand the true weight of the moments that followed, we have to put everything into context.

After Arlong murdered her adoptive mother and took over her village, Nami made it her mission to save her home...

...she on her own choose to isolate herself while closing her heart, supressing the feelings and emotions that may get in the way of her goal back then: saving her village from a terrible tyrant

As we analyzed in other posts, becoming fond of Luffy and his crew wasn’t enough for her to break out of that self-imposed isolation.

However, the challange Luffy undertook by himself, and part of the emotional narrative driving this arc, was reaching out to Nami. He knew he won’t leave without her, and he knew she was his companion and navigator no matter what she said.

It was when her oppressor Arlong robbed her of all hope for salvation, when she was finally broken by her own powerlessness and despair.

At this moment Luffy arrives with no knowledge of her current situation nor her backstory with her personal oppresor nor what did Arlong did to leave her in that state... even he admits he doesn’t know what’s going on. But, after Luffy actively sought to break through Nami’s defenses, and Nami herself seeing she had no way out, she took a huge gamble

She finally opened her heart to Luffy, and did what she haven’t done in years: she choose to rely on someone else, to put her faith on Luffy. His response is something we analyzed over and over in this blog:

Answering with a pretty iconic gesture meant to provide the relief and hope she needed, and reaffirming he would help her, Luffy confronted Nami’s oppresor as retaliation for making her suffer, and ended up destroying all the traces of the past that was holding her back both physically and emotionally (after getting a small glimpse of what she went through).

Why is Luffy rescuing Nami relevant to their position as potent relationship?

As noted by some readers, the moment she asked Luffy to save her was the first time she opened her heart to someone else. When she decided to emotionally rely on Luffy...

...she found the courage to stand up to the person who treated her as a slave for many years and threatend her home and family. At the end her faith got rewarded

This experience left an impact on Nami with a power that readers can perceive from time to time if they look closely in the author’s works in other arcs.

Even when giving into fear and despair during Luffy’s first battle against Enel, Nami found the courage to face the big bad after another “pass of the hat.”

A gesture which was reminiscent of the first time Luffy provided her with the emotional comfort that allowed her to confront Arlong, and served a similar purpose here. Luffy reassured Nami that she, as a companion of the future PK, had no reason to be so scared. And that was enough for her to stand up to Enel even during Luffy’s absence.

We know that Nami took this to heart, for she would later declare with confidence, to a high-ranking member of one of the most dangerous pirate crews of the world. how Luffy being the future PK guaranteed their victory

During Water 7, she showed some serious drive and determination to save Robin. But, as soon as she got to Luffy, she poured her heart to Luffy, and freely expressed how she truly felt.

Their experience in Arlong Park, which includes the first time she opened to him, made Luffy her emotional anchor.

Something that we also see in the manga version of the Zou arc. As soon as she hears the rest of the crew arrived, she displays great joy...

...but as soon as she has the chance, she seeks comfort and relief in her captain; she once again openly expresses her anguish to him.

Everything comes back to those moments at Arlong Park. The time when she opened her heart to Luffy. The emotional chemistry that became the foundation of their bond.

So, in the framework of this series, when does “saving the girl” truly matters to any potent relationship? First of all, It has nothing to do with overhyped jokes and gags nor about explicit “romance” nor lovey-dovey stuff based on filler.

It matters when it leaves an impact powerful enough to make a emotional connection grow steadily, and when it spawns dozens of meaningful moments contributing to a consistent bonding. A piece of poetry that writes itself

NaLu version: https://warlordgab.tumblr.com/post/186743458211/nalu-analysis-saving-the-girl-when-does-it

[seyaryminamoto]

May I ask - why Ozai likes Ursa more than Azula? Keep in mind you're not the only author who choose this portrayal and I'm as confused by it as Azula is

Oh, I know I’m not the only author who portrays it that way. These guys

did it too! :’D Though this guy

backtracked on it, to a fault, merely turning Ozai into someone who gives zero shits about anyone ever. Which means he gives the same amount of shits for Azula and Ursa. His Ozai is surprisingly fair on that front!

Alright, all jokes aside, the main reason many of us interpret Ozai’s relationship with Ursa as a little more complex than originally presented, it’s because of this shot: 

(Credit: former Piandao.org screenshots, now turned into a Google Drive folder)

That’s the same fountain-pond-thingy  where Ursa had been sitting in earlier flashbacks of that episode.

(Credit: same as above)

It’s such a small, simple moment that I suppose most Ozai haters would say it amounts to nothing, yet it actually speaks lengths about his character: why would Ozai stand here, melancholically, before a fountain that is no longer functioning (because in his screenshot, it’s not), a place where his wife used to sit, right on the morning after she left? This is a guy who literally just got EVERYTHING he ever wanted. He is Fire Lord now, thanks to the scheming and conniving and wicked plotting that took place over the previous day. He finally overcame his father and brother’s shadows! So… why would our first shot of a man who finally succeeded at everything he wanted be not a shot of said man rejoicing in triumph, but a shot of a man who is, by all effects, in mourning?

This suggests that Ozai may have cared about Ursa. The fact that we don’t see them angry, arguing or bickering through this episode also suggests that their relationship, while far from a lovey-dovey happy mushy thing, is that of two people who at the very least coexist peacefully. We don’t see any direct interactions between them, so yes, it’s possible they were far more troubled than the episode suggests (I, personally, interpret it that way), since everything in Zuko Alone is seen through Zuko’s eyes. But IF Ursa and Ozai were in such a bad place, to the point where he would have even convinced her to leave as he does in the Search… why would he do this? Why would he stand by that fountain as though honoring Ursa somehow?

All this being said, I personally find Ursa a much more interesting and dynamic character if her relationship with Ozai isn’t that of a victim and his abuser, but of a woman with such sharp wit that, even without being a bender, ergo, representing no physical threat to her husband, still wielded such authority that she could keep this fierce, savage man in check, capable of respecting her when she’s around, and even honoring her when she leaves. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: in my very humble opinion and headcanon, if Ozai ever got close to genuinely loving someone, it was Ursa.

As ever, disclaimer necessary: this does NOT mean Ozai was entitled to Ursa’s love in return, this does NOT mean Ursa is to blame for the man Ozai becomes, I’m not implying this is a situation where “love” would have absolutely saved Ozai from being the man we know him to be. While I do believe that if he had chosen her above his ambitions he might have been ~better~, it was Ozai himself who had to make that choice. I don’t blame Ursa for how her relationship with Ozai turns out, whether in canon or comics or Gladiator, NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT. Relationships like theirs are complex, difficult and not straightforward: both characters have faults, and both deserve to be held accountable for them. So Ozai deserves being held accountable for sacrificing everything for power, and that’s that.

But finally, getting into your question… why would Ozai like Ursa better than Azula?

Personally, in the way I want to portray them through flashbacks, it’s because Ursa makes NOTHING easy for Ozai, since day one. She isn’t trying to please him, she isn’t just a doormat waiting for him to stomp all over her: she has demands of her own, the first of them respect, and Ozai finds himself giving it, even if he doesn’t quite reason with why he’s doing it. He wants her to care about him, probably as starved for affection as his daughter is later on too, and whenever he made her happy, even if just a little, he would have felt a sense of accomplishment that was absolutely unprecedented for him.

Zuko canonically has described his family by saying they were “happy”, at some point. While no one can say for sure what time period he refers to (it could be the happy times ended when his mother vanished, or perhaps a little before that), I’ve always assumed he wouldn’t have seen Ozai and Ursa as they were in the Zuko Alone flashback and thought “wow my parents are so happy, look at their poker faces! That’s happiness!” So, I believe they actually were happy once, enough to make each other smile or laugh. There’s a simple scene in the first comic trilogy where they’re at the beach with their children, simply sitting together at the sand while their kids play in the sand and water: who’s to say those aren’t the kinds of moments Zuko refers to as happiness?

Compare that to the Ozai we meet in canon: do we ever see him happy in Book 3 about anything but his advancements and achievements? His smiles are always smirks. Every situation he’s in, he’s merely basking in becoming more powerful and fulfilling more of his often-pointless ambitions. While he seems to respect Azula to a fault (she interrupts Zuko in a war meeting and she gets no Agni Kai as punishment, Ozai is Mr. Hypocrisy Incarnate), did we ever see anything that suggested genuine affection for her? While I write him as directly involved in her training, canonically Azula has been trained by Lo and Li, two non-benders. Even a tiny canonical hint at how Ozai may have been involved in helping Azula reach her full potential as a bender could be, to a fault, interpreted as him caring for her a little more than he originally planned to, being invested in her growth for what it is and not only for what advantages it offers him. But instead, the entire extent of what we know about their relationship is that he sends Azula on missions, basically in the capacity of a military agent or leader: as much as this allows Azula to show she’s a badass, does it show Ozai cares about her? Do we have a single hint that he actually is emotionally invested in his daughter?

AT BEST… the lack of punishment for having lied to him about Aang’s death can be, somewhat, interpreted as unwillingness on Ozai’s part to punish Azula too harshly for a huge mistake. Even then, by the finale he outright yells at her before offering her an important “mission” that he can only entrust to her. And that’s their canon relationship, isn’t it? Missions, missions and missions. He hands her missions, she delivers. The consequences aren’t too steep if she doesn’t, but he might even yell at her if she tests his patience too much.

Basically, my take on Ozai respected Ursa, even though Ursa has no power of her own to threaten him beyond her disapproval and displeasure. Because she earned that respect, she was the only person he NEARLY considered an equal. He was willing to surrender if she was adamant about certain things (this is no spoiler, since chapter 9 we all know that, in Gladiator, Azula never learned swordsmanship with Piandao because Ursa didn’t want her to, and to Azula’s eternal outrage, Ozai gave in to Ursa’s demands, just like that!), he was willing to listen to her opinions on whatever was happening in the world, he would argue with her and they’d have disagreements because they were both stubborn as hell. All of this means Ursa’s opinions, beliefs and decisions mattered to Ozai, enough that he would sometimes back down and let her have her way.

Azula, however, has been his pet project, the perfect child, for as long as she has lived. He raised her to be his heir, to uphold his legacy, molded her after himself (even if the result wasn’t at all like him :’D), and Azula dreamt of following on his footsteps for a long time (until her own equal shows up and his influence serves to change the way she sees the world…). Azula, then, is his most loyal ally, and Ozai takes her for granted because of that. She will always be on her side because he raised her to be, and that’s that. 

Ozai’s first blast of reality that shows him Azula is NOT unbreakable, that she is NOT undefeatable and that he shouldn’t send into danger willy-nilly? It’s in the White Lotus Attack arc, where he finds her terribly sick in her room and she’s mortified that he’d see her that way. That was the first moment an actual surge of fatherly instincts came over Ozai since Azula was a very tiny kid.

Azula’s rebellions against Ozai in Part 1 are relatively small, and she’s constantly terrified to her very bone whenever she opposes him at something, as in her birthday. Ozai was displeased by it, and she was troubled and wondering how to improve things between them again later on. Pleasing her father is a behavior ingrained in her head from an early age. She wanted to make sure she was on his good side, even if she was growing much more aware of his mistakes, his shortcomings and everything wrong about him by then. Not being on good terms with her father was terrifying for her in those days, terrifying in ways it never was for Ursa: in Azula’s case, it’s learned behavior acquired mainly by seeing, through Zuko, what happens to someone Ozai considers unreliable and disposable. She absolutely doesn’t want to be that.

But it’s not until Part 2 that Azula outright starts to take a stand against her father. And yes, she was terrified too in the Festivals, but she went toe-to-toe with him in front of all his military leaders. Then she took his attempt to punish her, by forcing her to give a public speech she wasn’t ready for, and spun it on itself to both present herself as her father’s soooo loyal daughter while providing the entirety of the Fire Nation with new values to abide by in regards of how they treated slaves and honorary citizens. Ozai’s reaction that time was a petty, small revenge… but he actually was amused by what she’d done. And THAT… that was actual respect from Ozai, for once. He saw his daughter could stand up to him, and get away with it safely. Suddenly she wasn’t just his obedient child-soldier, which was what he had taken for granted that she was: she was a potential leader in her own right. At this point, their relationship changes.

That change takes a turn for the worse after she fails to convince him to carry forward her slavery laws project, and then she discovers Seethus’ assassination spree. At this point, the falling out between them is absolutely dreadful. Ozai doesn’t attack Azula physically, however: he argues with her, snaps back and does his best to convince her that he’s in the right, but she’s 100% certain of the opposite. By this point, Azula is behaving a lot more like Ursa than she ever had before: she defies him, stands up to him, and unlike her mother, she does have literal firepower to back her up. 

Point being: AZULA BECOMES A THREAT.

And while they’ve managed to kind of establish a low-key peace after that (though as you may imagine, this new arc is yet more trouble for the relationship between the Princess and her father), Ozai still sees Azula as a threat ever since. He’s willing to trust she won’t do anything too far out of hand, not as long as he makes enough concessions for her, not if he abides by her advice once in a while… but that makes her no less of a threat anyhow. He needs to make her a reliable ally again, and he can’t do that by wielding his authority over her head anymore. Not when she has already shown herself perfectly willing to ignore it.

And that means he respects her in an entirely different way than how he respected Ursa: he didn’t have any reason, Gladiator-wise, to think Ursa wasn’t on his side, they had disagreements but she was his wife and she supported him through thick and thin even in some REALLY shady stuff. Right now, Azula is starting to look like the entire opposite of that: she was the one he raised to be his wholehearted supporter. The one person who would only ever treat HIM as the hero, the winner, the good guy. And now she’s changed her mind about him, he knows it, and he’s worried about what that entails.

It’s ironic that it’s because of Azula’s rebellious bouts, and the cracks in her mask of the perfect daughter, that Ozai’s bottled-up affection for his daughter emerges. I won’t say that somewhere in the depths of his dark heart he loves her… but I will say that every time Azula rises up against him, he sees some of Ursa in her and he automatically takes her more seriously because of it.

Meanwhile, whenever Zuko stands up to him, he basically feels like it’s an ant shouting at the boot that’s ready to crush it. On a REALLY subconscious level, Zuko seems to embody Ozai’s weaknesses, the side of himself he would much rather pretend doesn’t exist. He despises Zuko for it all, because he’s a reminder of his own shortcomings and failures. And even when Zuko tries to rebel, Ozai continues to treat him as a weakling, unworthy of respect, that only warrants being crushed. He’d never be able to act like this with Azula or Ursa.

So, why would I say he cares more about Ursa, or that she’s his actual #1 while Azula is #2? Because Ursa was never a tool, never a source of self-fulfilment: she was someone who he wanted to impress, whose respect he craved and he offered her his own. He valued her, everything she offered him, even if things between them became complicated for an array of reasons. Ursa has always been a sort of blind spot for Ozai, the one person who made him happy in a sense that didn’t involve ambitions and advancement. She was a good influence on him, all around, even if he seldom knew how to react to her influence positively.

That’s not the bond he had with Azula. She was his perfect heir, and that was all he ever expected of her. Canon-wise, that’s all she is. Gladiator-wise, once she stops being ONLY that, Azula doesn’t simply become someone Ozai respects and approves of: she becomes a threat. She is the one and only person in the Fire Nation who can tear down everything he has worked for, and it sure looks like she wants to do exactly that. He has been molding her all her life, only to find she has become his worst possible enemy and now he has to be much more cautious about how he deals with her.

One day, maybe, once his characted develops some more… Ozai might start respecting Azula on the actual same level he respected Ursa. One day, he might realize that, while craving Ursa’s affection and love, he had already earned Azula’s but he threw it to waste. By then, it may be much more difficult to determine who is his #1 indeed… but until that point is reached, he will continue to hold onto the memory of his wife while ignoring that his bond with his daughter is what will determine if he can attain either true salvation or eternal damnation… :’)

[fandomplethora]

Jihyun’s AE & Rika’s Behind Story

and the theme of forgiveness and letting go. 

so, this is strictly my opinion, not meant to upset anyone or start arguments - just where i stand on everything at this moment. this game always has a way of making you reevaluate things and reflect more. also, they have a way of throwing major facts in to really turn the story to a somewhat new direction. so, again, this is my opinion - and...i’m writing this so i can get my thoughts organized after staying up all night completing everything. just a warning - this is going to be a very, v e r y long post. 

SPOILERS AHEAD. 

i saw many people complaining about Jihyun not being in his own AE that much. and, i understand that, because they hyped it up by releasing it on Valentine’s Day making it seem like the AE was going to take place, perhaps, after him and MC reunite at the party. but...i think that the way they did it actually answered a lot more of our questions. 

because the main complaint of Another Story was that it seemed like for whoever you saved, the other would be sacrificed. (Jihyun’s Route - they left us thinking Saeran was dead and on Saeran’s Route, Jihyun disappears with Rika & Saeyoung and Vanderwood are kidnapped by the Prime Minister.) to show everything all romantic and “lovey dovey” (as Zen and Yoosung would say) -  with just showing the fate of the other characters as a passing thought, would have really made audiences/players upset too. at least, it would have for me. this route and AE, and just Another Story as a whole, was not just about romance. (just like in the other routes too.) it is about support and healing and recovery and self acceptance. and then romance.

Saeyoung, Jihyun and Saeran (a n d Rika/Mina) are three/four of the characters most wrapped up in this main storyline. with Jumin and Yoosung right behind them and Hyun and Jaehee and Vanderwood behind them. (this is not me rating the characters or saying how important they are - at the end of the day, they are all equally involved in this story and have equal bearing on it. i’m just saying that Jihyun and Mina were at the center of the RFA as an organization and they are the ones who “adopted” Saeyoung and Saeran. Jumin is Jihyun’s best friend/family and, by proxy, Rika’s friend, and Yoosung is Rika’s adoptive cousin. Zen and Jaehee had no previous connection to the situation before the RFA. Vanderwood kind of did by being Saeyoung’s colleague and, later, good friend but...again, he had no awareness or connection to the situation as a whole. the last three became involved later after becoming friends with everyone and involved in the RFA.) but, by the time we d o reach present day with the RFA and the timeline of their routes and AE’s...everyone, e v e r y o n e, is involved and has equal weight in the situation.

okay, but back to what i was saying, the reason why, i believe, Cheritz created “episodes” for Jihyun’s route is the same reason Saeyoung had secret endings attached to his route. there was so much more to uncover, discover and solve. it’s the same reason we have Rika’s Behind Story. there was a lot more to add to the situation. and, why, i believe (and hope), they will do the same thing for Saeran’s AE too. these four characters are so deeply wrapped up in each other’s past, present and future - it is needed to delve deeper. and, depending on which route’s AE or SE you are doing - it IS going to be from t h e i r perspective and what leads to the best outcome and understanding for t h e m. 

Cheritz gave us the option to “Forgive” or “Judge” because of the controversy surrounding Rika. but, also, because of Jihyun. and what was needed for him and his fate. the “forgiveness” ending seems to be the better of the two because it is what truly lead to closure for him (and everyone else). Jihyun took j u s t as much blame onto himself with how everything went down. it’s why he needed time away. to find himself again but, also, do what he could to make up for his mistakes. and he could only do that, and truly heal himself, by helping Saeran. and, in the end, i think being together with Jihyun helped Saeran heal as well. they were both victims of Rika but also carried so much guilt onto themselves for their actions though it was the product of manipulation and/or brainwashing. they helped each other heal. t h a t is what Jihyun was doing what he was for those two years. (contrary to the previous belief that he was just traveling by himself.)

(let the record show that i have not completed the Judge AE, only the Forgive AE, and don’t plan to, this is going off of what other people have said about it.)

so, forgiveness. i think Hyun said it best. he basically said that forgiveness is something you do for yourself and your happiness. i have always believed that. everyone had mixed feelings about everything because Rika is the one who still brought them all together and did do a lot of good. but then...she also had this other side of her that she hid away that hurt so many. 

i think what is getting lost in translation is that...forgiveness is not excusing. forgiveness is something that helps you let go of the past. they never excused what she did. there is even a line MC says about this. “it doesn’t excuse what she did but...” (something like that.) they are not being selfless by forgiving Rika. it was the only way to move on. because by forgiving Rika...they also all forgave each other. Jihyun, Saeyoung, Saeran and the rest of the RFA. 

i believe in all of this. but i am also a person that believes that people can still be held accountable even though we forgive them. while i never endured the level of abuse that these characters did - i have lived in an emotionally/mentally/verbally abusive and manipulative home with someone at the center of (most of) it. and they a r e a toxic person who has suffered from past trauma and current mental illness who refuses to see the affect of their actions and get help. their actions hurt others. when being around them consistently, it is hard to forgive them. but i believe in forgiveness, at a distance, is necessary at times. just because you forgive, it doesn’t mean you need to let them back in or repeat history. it does not mean you excuse them. you acknowledge it and make them accountable. they need to know what they did. but you forgive them too, for you. because how i chose to handle it is that...i don’t wish them ill will. that anger inside of me i felt for so long actually hurt me more. made me change who i was. i recognize that we are not people we need to have in each others lives. for the sake of our mental health and happiness and future. ...and i’m still, even today, working on the forgiveness part. (i would probably need a couple years away to do so too...and i didn’t go through nearly as much as the MM characters did.) but i do think it is something i need to do...for me. just like they needed to do what they did for them. 

so, i do wish Rika had been held more accountable. b u t, in a sense, she was. e v e r y t h i n g came out. what she did and said. what happened within the RFA. who the Prime Minister really was and who Saeyoung and Saeran really were. and, i thought, at first...all of her guilt was just a lapse and/or manipulation. but she was actually feeling guilty - but, more than that, she turned herself in. she admitted she was wrong. she helped reveal who the Prime Minister was. while she did not serve time or spend time in treatment...she achieved self love as well. self revelation, in a sense. but...i know the question - at what cost? and that’s the part that gets me. 

but i don’t think that things would have turned out the same if other things had not gone the same way. as in, if Saeyoung and Saeran had not been brought back together, if the Prime Minister was still after them, if Jihyun hadn’t done what he was able to...she would not have been able to move on either as she did. i, personally, think that it would have shown even more true growth if she had served time (and been held accountable by the law more) in a mental health facility and then came back the other side still with her new perspective and continued going to therapy even when she was out. (but i have read that she was still held accountable by the public.) (and, side note, w o w - the public really came through for the other situations as well.) 

in reality - i just don’t know if this is because of the lack of awareness of mental health in Korea that i have heard other people mention, but another thing that left me with mixed feelings is that...Rika is not just magically better. (while her actions a r e her choices) she has severe past trauma, abuse and mental illness that is n o t her fault that she needs professional help for. this has not changed. so, i did not like how she just went off on her own, to live her own life, without this being further addressed. going along with the previous paragraph, i think a way to properly approach these facts is to show her accepting treatment as well. not just show a conversation with God and then, bam, that’s it. that is not how it works. if religion or some kind of revelation helps you, that’s great. but it can’t be the only step. Rika...Mina is sure to have relapses, is sure to have moments when those dark thoughts come back. she needs professional help and continued treatment to help her learn how to deal with these facts and separate who she really is from them. that is what having anxiety, depression, PTSD, BPD, personality disorders...whatever you feel she has, is about. her symptoms are not her fault, her actions and reactions to them are what she is to be held accountable for. to show her receiving treatment again, as she even does go live her own life, would have been a healthy message. also, again, to show her having consequences for her actions but then still coming out better on the other side would have been okay too. the discussion with God was very deep but even She said that there are things Rika had to do for the sake of the future still. i just hope that maybe ongoing treatment is mentioned for her in the future.  

also, in terms of legal action, if we are thinking about this in reality - what about all the other hundreds of believers she had with her at Mint Eye. where is their closure as well? i don’t know. i also don’t know if maybe there are other things just left out of the AE or Behind Story that have not been mentioned yet. 

but, as a whole, Mystic Messenger’s (and Cheritz’s) theme of forgiveness is a positive one. because while we can talk all day about “what about justice?”, “what about consequences?”, “what message does this send?”, “what about people being held accountable?” - this all comes down to opinion and interpretation. what Rika did was wrong. it was. that has not changed. i have made previous points and posts about her and those still stand. mental illness and past trauma are not an excuse for abuse. but one thing that has changed is that she did try to truly make up for it, even at the cost of turning herself in. she did. is that enough after everything? well, again, that comes down to your opinion.

because there are many who don’t like Mina. and there are people who don’t like Hyun. there are people who don’t like Yoosung. Jaehee. Jumin, Saeyoung, Jihyun, Saeran. Vanderwood. even people who don’t like MC! don’t like their actions, their personalities and whatever else. 

(me, well, if you follow me or look at my blog...i love all eight characters with all of my heart and i have always had mixed feelings about Rika too. i also really like MC as a character too. (but i also have the opinion of, as long as you are not being abusive about it or taking an unhealthy stance on it, you can have whatever opinion you want.)

i don’t think the AE and the Behind Story was to make us like Rika. it was just explanations, more answers, another perspective to truly allow us to come to our own conclusions. we can still think what we think, keep our stances and have your favorite or not-so-favorite characters. this entire update was just granting us more insight into Mystic Messenger’s storyline. and about finding closure in a way that works for the characters and how they are written. 

this game and story is different because they have very serious and deep themes that truly affect players and audiences. that could, hopefully, help us. 

themes of mental illness, emotional/mental/verbal/physical/sexual abuse, forgiveness, friendship, family, trust, recovery/healing, letting go and love. 

so, i will say this...one thing i greatly, greatly enjoyed...was how the RFA really came together and worked together. there were no secrets, there was open communication. they were physically all together at times even, apart from the party. they were there for each other. a l l o f t h e m. the only “secret” in this was the fact that Saeran truly was alive and saved by Jihyun. but they already suspected him to be alive at least, though i wish he would have came forward sooner. but i think it worked out in the end because it showed Saeran able to come forward (more) comfortably and reunite with his brother. Jihyun helped him recover in those two years. granting Saeran the time he needed along with Jihyun, away from everything. 

as Jumin or Jaehee said...“we promised no more secrets” and everyone kept their end of the bargain. 

this update showed so many different sides to all of the characters. Hyun and Jaehee continually trying to be understanding while also incredibly real with the situation, Yoosung’s reevaluation of everything and confrontation of the cousin he so admired, Jumin’s conversations with Saeyoung and how much he helped him. while he cares about his company it came second to the RFA, his family and Saeyoung’s situation. Vanderwood even talking Saeyoung down and being there for him, choosing to protect Saeyoung and, in the end, the RFA as well. Jihyun and Saeran’s recovery process. and, of course, even Mina’s transformation. 

could some things have been done better? yes. should they have taken a different approach to the subject of mental health? yes. should they have left trigger warnings for the AE’s and Behind Story? hell yes. (the one thing i a m genuinely upset about.) 

but, this update brought new things to the table. it is good writing to write such deep and flawed and human characters. because we are all deep, flawed and imperfect. it is what makes us human. again, yes, how some things were handled could have been better. i am not in denial about that. but, overall, i was happy to see all of our characters happy. 

t h a t is the point. how you may handle things in your real life is your choice. and, so, how this AE ended is what brought these characters happiness and closure after everything.

i wanted to see them all together, helping one another. i wanted them all alive and healthy and happy and i got that. and i was overjoyed to see that after everything that happened. 

i know many have their opinions on why Cheritz did this how they did. i know and i get it. but...this is just where i stand. many different emotions/feelings but, overall, grateful. 

my only wishes left are; that the same respect is granted for Saeran’s After Ending. some are thinking there might still be a Rika Route and are still wanting to see a Vanderwood Route. i just hope, if there is a Rika Route, it is handled well and with respect and healthily. and i am one of those hopeful for a Vanderwood Route too with how much he has become involved, especially in Another Story. and, also, that their AE’s, if they get a route, end well. 

i also wish that the other characters’ routes’ After Endings could have happened without any sacrifice as well. 

and, i am just saying this for kicks, but if we get nine Routes, nine After Endings, the Secret Endings, the DLC’s...i would be satisfied. i also am still a believer in releasing a finale. a “Final Story”, on top of this, where everyone is equally involved and there is no one character to be pursued and it is just trying to solve the mystery that is the RFA, helping each character and helping them reach an ending where all of them are together and happy.

but that is still just my thing. and maybe they’ll save t h a t plot for the tv show. ;-)

no matter what...say Cheritz no longer updates after the release of Saeran’s AE, i will still be forever grateful to them and this game. this game has taught me a lot and the lessons i have taken from the story have truly begun reflecting in my own life. and this update was no different.

i love Mystic Messenger. 

it is truly a game so much deeper than it’s surface appearance and genre. it is a bigger story than we thought...and may not always like, depending. but that comes with, no matter what, such wonderfully written characters that have taught me so much and i love with all my heart. 

so thank you, again, to Cheritz and their staff. and for the kind and inspirational words that their VA’s left us as well. 

and thank you to - 

Hyun

Yoosung

Jaehee

Jumin

Saeyoung

Jihyun

Saeran

Vanderwood

and even Mina

and to MC

i can’t wait to see what is released next. what new additions to the story will come. and what new updates and events there will be in store. but, first...take care of yourselves, Cheritz! you deserve it. <3

[isaackuo]

Starco Week5 Wrap-up!

This week was really fun! It was nice for someone to actually see the silly comics I draw! Normally, hardly anyone even notices so I rarely put in the effort of a multi-panel comic.

Here are links and explanations to my Starco Week 5 comics:

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185176588866/awkward

The one that started it all for me! I actually didn’t even notice there was a Wedding prompt later in the week. I just saw a post about “Awkward Dating Moments” and the Kellco shipper in me thought of a cute little comic that MAXIMIZED STARCO AWKWARDNESS.

So I thought, why not? It was only 3 little panels, and it mostly involved me drawing Kelly - who I find easy to draw. And I thought it was freaking hilarious.

EXPLANATION:

This comic refers to Booth Buddies, a “memorable” episode among us Starco shippers. In it, Kelly and Marco are on a wedding date, until Star Butterfly yoinks Marco away to the infamous photo booth. Then things get a little weird. In this comic, Kelly gets back by yoinking Marco to be her breakup buddy “booth buddy”, when Marco and Star are on a “wedding date” ...

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185223809716/yeah-im-a-bad-boy-princess

This one was the toughest for me, and also the weakest. I don’t follow AUs and I’m not used to thinking in terms of AUs. I tried to study the Bad Boy AU a bit, but I couldn’t think of any funny jokes for it. Honestly, I just went with the first idea I finally thought of which was vaguely funny.

EXPLANATION:

This comic references a few of the “bad” things canon Star actually did:

1) Trash a cop car in Star vs Echo Creek

2) Shoot a cop chopper out of the sky in Sad Teen Hotline

3) Murder the MHC in Cleaved

But “nice” AU Star wouldn’t do that stuff, right? So Bad Boy Marco picks up the slack for her. So ... it’s funny? I dunno, I think my sense of humor is too obtuse a lot of the time. You really need to be in deep with the show to even remember the stuff I’m referencing and make the connections?

I guess either you “get it” or ... oh well.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185220760531/starco-snugs

Haha, this one was “controversial”. I mean ... if you read my stuff then you know I think Star was addicted to the thrill of having both Marco and Tom, the same way Marco was addicted to the thrill of two timing with Star and Hekapoo (in Night Life). I think this was cute and tragi-comic, and it’s one of my favorite parts of Star Butterfly’s character. Let her have her distinctive flaws, okay?

But apparently this also cuts a bit too close to home, since it’s one of the things hardcore Tom stans criticize Star for (both the character and the show).

Anyways ... while everyone else was going sweet lovey-dovey, I went a bit freaky. I mean ... I think of this as romantic, but maybe I’m just weird that way. Like ... just imagine. Marco Diaz consoling Star every night for breaking up with Tom, and then he gets hit by “Mind Eraser” so he gets to do it again tomorrow. Isn’t that romantic?

EXPLANATION:

This comic is based on the “Mind Eraser” spell Eclipsa teaches Moon in Total Eclipsa the Moon. It’s one of my favorite spells to make jokes around, because it’s basically the flashy thing from Men in Black.

So I ponder ... what if Star really went all out using “Mind Eraser” and she went completely nuts taking advantage of it on Marco Diaz? Okay, in Here to Help, Star rushed to skip the awkward talky talky stuff and went straight for a kiss first. Maybe she’s used to it because she’s had the confession talk with Marco dozens of times already?

Oh, I also snuck in a joke referring to how Tom didn’t let Star kiss him on the lips after they broke up. As such, the only actual Tomstar kiss shown was the Lava Lake Beach kiss Marco saw from a distance. A bit mean to the Tomstar shippers, don’t you think?

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185256268271/when-is-this-state-going-to-end-starco-road

Road Trip was a challenge for me. I wanted to minimize drawing effort since my arm was sore, but I also wanted to depict a long amount of time. So I was thinking of them taking turns driving, but I switched to a bicycle based on Honey and Clover. Using a bicycle also allowed posing them in cute ways not available with a car, so it all worked out!

I was also thinking to try and cram in a joke about Star not being able to just use magic - using the Thor reaction gif to Steve Rogers not having the internet to look up the weather meme ... but ultimately it just didn’t fit. Also, I wanted to minimize drawing effort.

EXPLANATION:

Not much going on here - there’s really only one joke. But the cuteness of Star slumping on Marco really sells this one. Apparently, everyone else also thought so, since this ended up being pretty popular.

Oh, I suppose the sheer absurdity of doing an interstate bicycle trip eastward from the California coast is also a bit funny.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185303660951/isaackuo-sword-fight-club-xover-double-fight

I initially struggled with this prompt. I mean ... crossover double date? It’s just weird to me. How do they even know each other? How did they meet? It makes no sense?

Well, a classic Douglas Adams writing trick is to take what you’re stuck on and turn it around. And so I did. How do they even know each other? THEY DON’T. It’s just some random “Fight Club App” meetup. Once I had that epiphany, it was a matter of figuring out what couple would be the funniest to fight ...

EXPLANATION:

I’m proud of all the jokes I packed in here. Of course, we start off with the fact that this “date” is a random “Fight Club App” thing. Not only that, but it’s a Sword Fight Club. Like that’s a thing. You’re just going to randomly fight some strangers with swords. Like you’re in freaking Highlander except there’s no Prize or whatever.

But it’s funny because getting into some random fights is indeed the sort of thing Star and Marco would do for a fun date! Same with Steven and Connie, really (although this is more along the lines of Steven and Amethyst wrt Tiger Millionaire).

Then there’s the fact that Marco Diaz wore baby Mariposa to a sword fight. Who even does that? Oh right ... Queen Solaria and Queen Eclipsa. Which fandom didn’t question at all ... we just thought it was cute.

Star’s “We’re fighting kids?” is a reference to Alone Together, when Kevin freaks out that Stevonnie is actually two kids.

Marco is okay with fighting a kid, since his Season 1 karate nemesis was 8 year old Jeremy Birnbaum (remember him?).

The slit eyes Mariposa give Steven are based on the way baby Meteora looks at Marco.

Connie’s right - Star and Marco are 15 ... not all that much older than she is. But Star has been through a lot of serious stuff making her grow up young. She has lost touch with what teenagers even do (as she noted in Cornonation).

Star’s shocked at Steven’s age the same way Connie was shocked when she learned Steven’s age.

Even though Steven’s age disconnect is caused by wibbly wobbly gem hybrid growth rates, Marco assumes it’s because he “Did time in the Neverzone”. I had fun rewording that phrase until it implied something like doing a prison sentence.

The final kicker is baby Mariposa revealing she’s almost as old as Connie. This calls up fandom mixed feelings about Neverzone age ambiguity and what the heck this implies after Gone Baby Gone. And I mean ... you all saw it coming, right? You knew baby Mariposa had to be there for a reason, right? It’s funny because you see it coming a mile away.

Needless to say, this one is the one I’m most proud of. I had so much fun writing and rewriting it in my head until it was perfect! The only bad thing is that you need to be pretty familiar with both Star vs the Forces of Evil and Steven Universe to get all the jokes. But hey ... my sense of humor is obtuse like that.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185295564211/the-honey-moon-ball-starco-wedding-prompt

This was another tough one. I already blew my best wedding joke on Day 1, and I didn’t even notice there was a Wedding Day prompt at the time!

I struggled and struggled to come up with anything. So I just latched onto the first joke I came up with. In lieu of good jokes, I tried to sell this one with sweet cute character art showing Tom being dashing and Starco being lovey dovey. Still ... this is one of my weaker ones.

EXPLANATION:

Obviously this is based on the Blood Moon Ball/Curse, but this time Tom’s hitting them with a different curse - the Honey Moon Curse.

As we find out in Curse of the Blood Moon, Star didn’t pay attention to the MC and she thought the Blood Moon light was just a fun party light. So in this comic, she’s just obliviously caressing Marco while he questions what Tom means.

I initially thought of Tom explaining that he was confused about what Marco had previously meant when he said he wanted a “honeymoon”. But then, I thought it would be funnier if it’s simply ambiguous whether or not Tom is being spiteful or a silly practical joker or what. Sometimes it’s funnier when there’s a psychological tension - you don’t know what Tom’s thinking/feeling.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185313724836/toy-star-starco-week-5-prompt-au-of-choice

Another one which was initially tough for me. I’m just not familiar with AUs, so I knew I’d have to make up my own. But what? Nothing clicked until ... TOY STORY! After that stroke of brilliance, there were too many ideas. The hard part was paring things down into a manageable short comic.

I’m most proud of the INSANE look of Princess Star tapping her Wand at Diaz. And also the Pony Head box for Princess Star.

Anyway, the great thing about Toy Star is that I didn’t need to fill in much detail in order for the reader to imagine a whole world around it. I mean ... we all know and love Toy Story. It’s part of our cultural consciousness. So it’s really easy to imagine some fun enemies-to-buddies story just from a few suggestions.

EXPLANATION:

The boxed Princess Star bonking Diaz off the bed is actually not quite how it happened in Toy Story. But close enough! (We don’t actually get to see the majesty of a boxed Buzz Lightyear until Toy Story 2.)

Princess Star has ball jointed arms similar to Buzz Lightyear while Diaz is a flexible stuffed doll like Woody. I left off “Butterfly” because “Princess Star” feels more self centered and self important.

Diaz is named “Diaz” just to make Jackie’s line sound more intimate and personal.

Mermaid Jackie is, of course, a reference to the popular fan theory that Jackie was a mermaid. This “Sunny Atlantis” mermaid is a reference to the Pixar short Knick Knack. She’s an aquarium decoration, rather than a toy. This is a reference to how Woody’s girlfriend Bo Peep was also not a toy (she was a lamp).

The mermaid in Knick Knack has shades rather than eyes. So that’s why mermaid Jackie is lifting up shades to look down toward Diaz.

The panel where Diaz is getting out from under Adam’s bed is directly based on a Toy Story screenshot. The original does have a cactus pictured on the bedspread. I thought it would be kinda funny if it’s ambiguous what sort of “cactuses” broke Diaz’s fall.

The “must be some mistake” panel is also directly based on a Toy Story screenshot.

Princess Star immediately trying to Narwhal Blast Diaz indicates she’s even crazier than Buzz Lightyear. Buzz merely shifted around pointing his laser arm at Woody. Oh - the “psycho” look in her face really sells this, I think.

The fact that Princess Star is somehow aware she has to tap the button on her wand to activate it is ... well I think it’s funny. (The button placement, of course, is plainly designed for human use.)

Princess Star requesting a nearby Quest Buy is a reference to Quest Buy, the episode where they go to Quest Buy to buy a wand charger. “Or do you still use Plutonium” is a reference to Buzz’s technobabble “distolic fusion” ... but I thought the use of real world “Plutonium” would give the joke a bit more kick (sort of a Back to the Future reference also).

Diaz answering “we’ve got double-A’s” is a reference to Toy Story where Woody says the same thing.

“Look, new friend,” is something Star Butterfly would say, but with a flat attitude more like Buzz Lightyear. This indicates Princess Star has a bit different personality than canon Star Butterfly. It fits in more with Toy Story, helping the reader imagine how this Starco relationship will play out.

“Multiverse High Command” is a mashup of “Magical High Commission” and “Star Command”. The threat of the multiverse being destroyed is something Queen Moon warns Star in Star Comes to Earth. The spiel where Princess Star explains her mission is similar to Buzz Lightyear explaining his mission. Presumably, it’s written on her Ponyhead box. Again, all this stuff helps the reader imagine how this Starco relationship will play out.

Diaz’s “You’re a toy” is, of course, a reference to Woody trying to explain to Buzz Lightyear that he’s just a toy.

“I believe the term you’re looking for is ‘Magical Princess from Another Dimension’“ refers to a similar Buzz Lightyear line, as well as how canon Star introduces herself to Marco Diaz in Star Comes to Earth.

But really ... there are SO many memorable Toy Story lines that cramming in references is like shooting fish in a barrel. Too easy! But still fun!

Of all the silly ideas I put out there for Starco Week 5, Toy Star is perhaps the one which has gotten some interest. It’s begging to be fleshed out. I welcome anyone to do whatever they want with it!

And again, a big thanks to everyone who read my stuff, followed, reblogged, and such! Especially, of course, @starco-week

[ilovetuds]

So I'd like to write my opinion towards the so waited last movie of the loved franchise How to Train your Dragon, the post will contain Spoilers so if you didn't watch it yet I recommend not reading this post. I was quite disappointed with the movie but there were also parts I really enjoyed, like I said at the beginning its my opinion and I just want to share the cons and pros of that animated movie (AGAIN IN MY PERSPECTIVE), I just felt like it had more potential than what we got and it left a lot of unsweared things about the plot of the whole dragon universe created by them and felt a little lazy.

CONS:

1- This one made me feel uncomfortable, the whole snoutloud and valka ( Hiccup's mother) kinda romance, he was clearly into her and fighting to get her attention. Common if that's not at least a little bit disturbing? It's like one of your friends start to hit on your mom, its just weird. In the end of the movie we are not sure if they will have something or not, she praises him and he gets all lovey dovey. (FOR THOR NO, PLEASE NO) 2- OKAY THIS ONE IS THE THING THAT I WAS PASEKAEOSAKOEA (really annoyed), for me the last villain, the so called 'Night Fury' killer, the one who everyone was afraid of and said he was some master of the hunt, he was pretty shallow and dumb. His character was not really detailed and his reason to kill all Night Furys was even worse. He tells Hiccup when he killed his first Night Fury his whole tribe cheered because of that, so he just decided he wanted to kill all of them, I mean that's a good reason for a villain, pride or whatever you want to call it but not for the "ultimate villain", it's just really weak and lazy plot. Maybe I should put topics here about him, I watched the whole series and read the books so I might get a little into them now:

a. He doesn't look scary at all! I mean common when we had villains like Drago who had a really cool concept, a tough looking guy who called himself Dragon God or Dargo Bloody Fist, and the guy is 50 old! The guy enslaved dragons, controlled na Alpha dragon and he even rode Toothless. He was a hell of a villain he was really a madman. Now let's talk about Krogan, if you watched the netflix series you know him. The man is fucking awesome and you can actually fear him, he has a hell of a dragon as a 'partner', has a cool scar and a tough face, he's brave and fiercefoul, you don't want to mess with that dude. He ran to every fight with his dragon or without, let's not forget he captured a titan dragon! And his plans were smart too, it was a character that had knowledge and was a really amazing. We shall not forget about Viggo Grimborn, for me one of the best character in the series, you never know if you can trust him or not, he is the Crime Lord his whole appearence on the series was amazing, you saw him grow as a character and he had a lot of good plans and traps agaisnt the raiders. And we shall not forget about Johann, the man used the vikings for years and never revealed his true intentions, he was a master mind really good villain and a big plot twist in the whole universe. I could mention some other small villains here and there but my point is, all of them were really smart and were challanging for the gang to beat, with the so called "Night Fury Killer" was really dumb and he felt not so special, he had no good plan or a good reason for you to like, hate or fear him, he was just there because they needed to show the guy almost wiped all the little toothless off the earth. His character was really dissapointing to me.

b. We wanted to see new dragons, and especially new 'bad dragons' and we got some cool scorpion like dragons, nothing super creative and new, because we had the Triple Stryke already, (which is na awesome dragon). He had to drug those dragons to obbey him, which doesnt explain how they would listen to just him it made no sense at all. They were strong yea, but they were also dumb. Toothless got rid of 5 or 6 of them so easily it felt stupid. Like no challange whatsoever. 

c. His poison darts were na idea we seen in the whole franchise a lot, so nothing new, I know it is a movie for kids but his darts could be deadly, like when he shot the dragon who charged after him, it would add a lot more to his character as evil and na asshole if he killed the dragon instead of putting it to sleep, just looked really overused to me. d. Overrall it was a really wasted character, the movie felt way too rushed and we didn't have time to see and develop anything for him. It was just a waste of animation and plot. 3- The light fury, I know a lot of people must be loving her concept, desing and etc etc, after all she is Toothless's mate, but her character at least for me wasn't much likeable. It seemed like she was just put there to end the story and to show the whole thing about growing up, because you will start to get distant of a lot of your friends and things change, because it is real life, that's true and we get it, but she as a character, she has no story, no explanation and we don't even get to know more about her. Again it felt really rushed. Don't get me wrong, I know it would be a lot of things to cover in a movie, but the whole franchise was always about giving and learning about dragons and how they react and their characteristics, so when we get nothing explained or the whole let's study this dragon or Fishleg's thirst for knowledge ( I do know he tried to draw her but he gave up too easily and didn't really seemed that interested) is dissapointing... It was finally someone Toothless could relate to and not be the end of his species, the way they should've dealt with it should've been different. There was more promo than plot. FISHLEGS DIDN’T EVEN CARE TO NAME HER, THATS HOW SPECIAL SHE WAS.

4- Hiccup's friends, his friends weren't really that important and funny, I get this whole movie is supposed to be more grown up, but we grew up with them, it felt like they were more like background characters than secondary. I think there were less dialogs and interactions between all of them, kinda sad.

5- Again the movie felt really rushed I don't think they covered things that were important for the end of the plot and focused on shallow and stupid things.

6- The hidden world, I wanted to learn and to see more of the hidden world, how it worked, the new species there, something, anything. Instead we just got a grumpy toothless going back to the new Berk with Hiccup and a stupid chase. I found something really strange too, with that many dragons, there should've been an Alpha, another dragon other than Toothless, but it's too convenient that we learn that Toothless is also Alpha in the Hidden World, and not just that suddenly all the dragons see him as a superior. AGAIN RUSHED and lazy, IT WAS THE FUCKING HIDDEN WORLD OF THE LEGENDS....

7- If you watched the trailer you watched the movie. I dont know whats going on with some trailers nowadays, but they are showing too much and basically you can tell everything that it's going to happen. I think it's really dumb and disrespectful to the watchers. 

8- I know maybe you guys don't care but I really wanted to buy a new Toothless toy to put as a display on my computer, but the toys that were created for this movie, were really terrible looking and bad quality. And the new toothless (The huge one) is just the same as the other one from 2014, disapointing. 

9- They said all the dragons disappeared and bla bla, but we seen that there were dragons in the sea, in some islands really far far away and hidden caves all around the world. Maybe the dragons near Berk were gone, near the vikings but not all the dragons in the world. 

10- Where in the hell is Heather? Just that lol Where is Heather. Her dragon is sound and safe and didn't go to the hidden world. Neither did her brother's. Again a big flaw in the plot.

PROS 1- Okay I really liked the cinematography of this movie, you can tell how much they invested in it and how much they evolved, the animations, landscapes the dragons, the reflection on Toothless eyes were breathtaking. Amazing.

2- Toothless and Hiccup friendship, it is beautiful till the end, we love their friendship and how they interact with each other, theres no complain. Maybe we hate to see them getting apart because we realize that its what we are going to experience in some point of our lives, I thought I'd always see my friends from school and my friends that I had for more than 19 years, but time and life get in the way, friends will still be friends but you will likely see them less, which somehow make us sad. 

3- Astrid and Hiccup marriage, it was touching and cute, I did feel like it was more for fan service but it's alright, it was cute and they deserved each other. 4- Astrid Growth, she had na amazing develop as a character and being always there to help Hiccup was really a big plus for her. 

5- 'Mini meatlug' IT WAS ADORABLE ENOUGH SAID.

6- Hiccup realizing he had potential and with or without Toothless he would be a great leader, that is a really special moment in the movie and it's touching too, learning to believe in yourself and being independent.

7- Hiccup mother's appeared a lot during the movie, she had no super special scene but it was nice to see her and her adorable dragon. 

8- The new 'elk dragon' I'm sorry I don't know his name in english yet and I just wanted to write this fast cuz I mainly don't really have anyone who's a fan to talk about and I'm excited! Anyways, he is just so cuteee! 

9- The riders armors, it was a really cool idea and cool looking I approve that.

10- Toothless Babies, I really thought they would look cuter lol but I guess that's alright and we can't complain we got to see a nightlight fury babies for the first time so cuteee! Okaaaay if you guys want to add more points to my list or disccus about some feeel free! I want to talk about the moviee lol

[valeriemperez]

Tbh, I’m not feeling optimistic in Todd’s direction for the show. If we assume he’s been in charge since 4x15, then he’s really only given us two good episodes and a whole bunch of flops. Everything that sounds promising is all in the future (reporter arc, Dawn Allen) which is exciting until you remember this show has never been good at follow-through, especially season to season. (1/2)

So far his AJK-free episodes have just been compounding on the things that made this season a drag (Ralph, Harry, Caitlin’s split personality) and reducing/erasing the things that made it bearable (Westallen, Devoe/Marlize’s evil mutual partnership). I understand he has to wrap this story up somehow, but what he’s still choosing to focus on in order to do it doesn’t say great things about what he considers important. (2/2)

I’m not feeling particularly generous towards him at the moment, and yet I am compelled to defend him now. First, your opinions of flops is different from mine because I quite liked 19 & 20, and even the back half of 18. The main problems with the recent eps for me have been that Ralph lingered, we didn’t know the Thinker’s plan, and WA didn’t get to be lovey-dovey. Two of those were gone this week, and it was enjoyable to me.

In my humble opinion, the Harry and Caitlin stories are consistent and thematically connected to both the villain arc and Iris’ role as leader, so I’m not about to say they’re terrible just because those aren’t my favorite characters. Iris being the leader proves that scientific knowledge isn’t the only kind that matters, while emotional intelligence is actually very useful. Harry being ‘punished’ by the narrative for trying to defeat Devoe alone just as Caitlin is rejecting the team and Iris’ help to get her powers/alter ego back is also clearly going to circle back to “we’re a family / we’re the Flash,” which Iris has been the champion of all season. It’s also a dark parallel to Devoe, who pushed his wife away in favor of his own skills so much that he’s just lost her - which will probably be his downfall.

Anyway, here are things that 100% did happen once AJK left and Todd was in charge: Iris is going back to journalism next season (and actually mentioned using her skills this week!), Iris was literally called Barry’s lightning rod, and Iris had a physical showdown with Marlize in which she gained the upper hand using her quick thinking.

Yes, I want more domestic WA moments. Yes, I want to see Iris’ journalism onscreen and see an arc of career growth for her. But I do not believe 4.14 - 4.20 has been as awful of a stretch as some others have. 

The Flash season finale description indicates that team flash gets help to defeat DeVoe from an unexpected person, do you think it will be Marlize or Mystery Girl?

At the risk of upsetting people, I think it means Ralph in the mindscape. My guess is Dawn will only show up after Devoe is defeated, while Marlize will hopefully have defected to Team Flash before then. I think they’ll both be important, though!

do you think quentin will be the only fatality/exit from Error this season or should we brace ourselves for some killing? I don’t mind quentin dying, his story’s been over for years but im more worried about curtis/rene/dinah? any ideas if the actors signed for s7?

I feel like someone else will be in danger, but I can’t imagine them losing another series regular.

Do you think Jessica and Candice would like your pic to throw us off? They wouldn’t do that, right?!? I just want her to be revealed as Dawn or a gender bent Bart! I wouldn’t be okay with Jenni since Jenni is supposed to be darker skinned per the comics.

I do not, lol. I think they retweeted/liked because it was obvious after this week’s episode and they’re excited. Not to mention Candice followed JPK, which is a great sign. I’m with you in hoping she’s not Jenni, but she is for sure a descendant of Barry and Iris.

Why are people getting their hopes up that it’s “dawn” helping them in the finale when all know it’s marlize since candice and kim filmed a lot in star labs together in the finale

Yeah, I agree it’s not Dawn - although she will of course be in the episode. I definitely think Marlize will help, but we can’t forget that Barry picks Ralph up in Devoe’s mind, too.

CS complained last year on not wanting KF. Then she suddenly wants her back all because they exchanged Post It Notes. Also, did you peep her saying “No, I will” when Iris said “We will get her back”. She’s always been “Me, Myself And I”. So for those that say she could have lead Team Flash, she’s abandoned the team countless times before. She could very well do it again.

Abandoning the team when the going gets tough is 100% Caitlin’s motto, which is why I think Dawn had never met her before.

I think the fact all the shows dropped in the ratings is more just a reality CW knew was a long time coming. Listen I love Fl@sh but there was no way it was going to escape the disaster of live ratings in general dropping. I think if anyone has a better understanding of the new ratings reality it be CW. The president more or less predicted it would happen years ago. I just don’t think people need to freak out imo

Agreed. CW doesn’t care and Flash is safe. I’m just saying the producers might care about the negative feedback and try to write a stronger/more balanced season now.

Anon, I would love for your dream (CW doing a PSA) to become a reality, too. But as usual, us fans have to do everything around here. IWDS was born because fanboys AND the media was harassing CP and her character. She didn’t deserve that.

It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.

“What pisses me off is the very people that harass her thinking she’s out of line for defending herself. I wanna drag them all.” I wish I could do that myself, but I’d lose more braincells and eventually stoop to their level. Let’s just be thankful that CP is getting more love from people nowadays.

Absolutely! She’s getting more recognition, and hopefully one day that’ll turn into meaty roles.

ACK! I was (not stalking) your Twitter and saw you ship Pepperony too?! I love them!! I love that somehow Tony of all people ended up in the most stable relationship in the MCU universe, if you ignore a certain movie that will remain nameless. I don’t need or want another Iron Man movie, but not gonna lie, I would totally watch one if it gave us more of them.

YES! Pepperony are wonderful, and I love the crap out of Tony. He always wants to help people despite his myriad of issues, and he spends time to fix his mistakes. And of course, he’d be nowhere without Pepper.

[echodrops]

My first thought on this is to tell you not to worry too much about Yatori and the possibility of Yato ending up tragically alone forever. From what I’ve seen of Adachitoka’s writing, if Noragami ever returns shit no one heard me say that whoever is doing the writing (I think it’s Adachi?) has a clear sense of narrative purpose and a keen understanding not only of relationships but also what events will ultimately tell the best story with their characters. Honestly, in terms of the plot events of Noragami, the growth of the characters, balance of romantic comedy with action, and the sheer amount of emotional baggage they’re able to parse through, I would not be worried about Yato’s fate. Whoever he ends up—or whatever happens by the end of the manga if we ever get there—will definitely be what is best for Yato. Adachitoka love their character, you can tell. They won’t leave him with a bad end. Even if the ending of the manga doesn’t involve Yato and Hiyori ending up together, happily ever after thanks to their tied plaques, whatever ending we do get, however sad, will be well-written and emotionally fulfilling. I definitely believe in that—have faith in the authors that the end-game they have planned is going to be the best one for Yato!

The rest is under a read more.

Before going on to the other pairings, it is my personal opinion that, at this point, the ending of Noragami can only go one of two ways for Hiyori: either she becomes immortal or she doesn’t. If she doesn’t become immortal, then the ultimate moral of the story is about how much impact a single human can have on the heavens and what it means to have touched the lives of people in need to help them grow and become so much better. It would be a bittersweet but meaningful ending. Alternatively, Adachitoka makes Hiyori somehow immortal, the hijinks never end and the moral of the story is that good people get good endings and true love can triumph even over something like death. There are a nigh infinite number of ways Hiyori could become immortal in Noragami, from becoming a shinki (still bittersweet) to dying and being deified, becoming a young, upstart god herself. Let’s not forget that the title involves strays, and no one resembles a wandering cat more than Hiyori… At this point, just as a fan personally, I’m in the camp that Adachitoka have some sort of long-term plan for Hiyori. Maybe the plan is for her to just grow old and die, but the longer she’s with Yato and the closer she grows to all the other gods out there, the less I feel like that’s going to be a sufficient end for her.

BUT, if we do have to look for alternate pairings, I have long been a supporter of Yato/Bishamon! I agree that, especially in light of the extreme amount of KazuBisha service the manga has provided, Yato and Bishamon can come off as bash brothers/platonic bros more than an actual pairing, but I think that’s more our conditioned response, rather than anything wrong with the pairing itself. The romantic overtones from Yatori and KazuBisha are so strong that they tend to (in a weird way) warp our views for what other pairings should look like: Yato is lovey-dovey with Hiyori, so we start thinking that other Yato pairings should be lovey-dovey; Kazuma and Bishamon are loyal and supportive, so we start to think that other Bishamon pairings should be the same way, etc. But of course this isn’t the case, and every pairing can have totally unique dynamics and still be just as good!

As I’ve written about Yato and Bishamon before, to me their actions are often coded in a way that “toes the line” between strictly platonic and teasing something more. There’s always been a bit of an edge to their actions—from Bishamon’s first introduction as an aggressive, overpowering female presence (in obvious comparison to the “good girl” Hiyori) who virtually dominates Yato in battle, to Yato’s role as her savior both physically (by defeating her corrupted shinki) and mentally (by allowing her to use her hatred as motivation to recover), to even their recent scenes together, with Bishamon leaping into hell and risking all her shinki’s lives for him to Yato literally being willing to go to war with heaven for her… The plot events that surround these two are definitely more intense and important than you would expect from two characters fated to end up as nothing more than drinking buddies/battle friends.

As I’ve written before, I find these two to be great foils for each other. They each have exactly what the other most deeply desires: Bishamon is the famous god of fortune with the huge number of followers and all the esteem—but what she wants is to be able to connect to her “family,” the shinki she deeply cares for but struggles vainly to understand. Meanwhile, Yato is desperate for the fame and glory Bishamon barely notices she has, while failing to notice that he already possesses what she lacks: the ability to relate to others in an almost human way, with close-knit, trusting bonds that protect his relationships from the same failings that plague Bishamon’s.

In other ways, they are also coded as two-of-a-kind: the only two gods we’ve seen in action with their hafuri, both of them attacked and badly affected by Yato’s father, both of them combat gods skilled in war, both of them painfully oblivious, both of them dear friends to Ebisu, they both have a dark history together, etc. Out of all the characters in Noragami, where miscommunication is rife and people never know how to explain their thoughts or feelings, Yato and Bishamon are actually the LEAST likely to have this problem, because the plot has shown us again and again that they both act and think alike.

And I mean… she did literally jump into hell for him. And he got his first “real” god-name cutting the heavens while fighting for her…

Of course you could argue that all of this is “platonic life partners” zone, and I’d willing to bet in the end that’s how it will play out, but I think it’s really impossible to totally negate the tinge of sexual tension that underlines many of their interactions. I mean, Kazuma has been buying dirty doujinshi about Bishamon from Yato for years; Yato clearly has to be thinking about her naked sometimes! Yato wanted Bishamon to spend time with him at the gods’ party even though he already had Yukine and Hiyori with him! And Bishamon gets all ruffled and angry faced when people bring Yato up, but then what is their battle banter about? Whether or not there will ever be a “romance flag” on their relationship!

Yato/Bishamon is a perfectly fine pairing to ship and in some ways is more balanced than Yato/Hiyori!

Worried that they’re just going to turn out to be “drinking buddies”? Don’t forget that this is how their last on-screen drinking party ended:

And let me just also remind you that even Yato and Hiyori haven’t gotten that close to a kiss.

  But if YatoBisha still isn’t doing it for you and if you’re open to m/m ships, might I also suggest Yato/Kazuma?

Now, I might be the only person in the entire fandom who’s into this or even reads their interactions this way, but I have definitely had a lot of thoughts about Yato and Kazuma, and some of them are that they would actually make a pretty respectable ship!

If you read my Yato and Kazuma essay with shipping goggles on, a lot of what’s written there could be taken in a very romantic light. There are many reasons why Kazuma and Yato probably have the healthiest relationship of any two characters in Noragami! I don’t really have the time to go through every potential reason again (since I already wrote them before XD), but of all the characters in Noragami, they have shown each other the most consistent care and respect with the least amount of strife or drama. Yato is the one Kazuma keeps running back to, over and over, any time he is in trouble or need, and Yato’s dependency on Kazuma is so intense that one of Yato’s life goals became to find “his own Kazuma”! Yato’s trust in Kazuma is unshakeable, and Kazuma (for centuries!) risked everything he treasured to keep Yato safe and well. Kazuma became a hafuri only after his bravery in contacting Yato, and even when Kazuma attacked Yukine, Yato still insisted that they weren’t enemies. They’re true bros at the least, but very fun to think about in terms of potential shipmates.

 Even the manga likes to make jokes about their “relationship”:

And I mean, #RelationshipGoals??? Get you a man that looks at you like Yato looks at Kazuma:

Or even better, get you a man who looks at you like Kazuma looks at Yato:

I’M JUST SAYING GUYS!!  

[operationrainfall]

Title Knight Bewitched Developer Joshua Keith Publisher Joshua Keith Original Release Date April 18, 2018 Genre Fantasy RPG Platform PC (Steam)

I always appreciate it when development tools and engines are made available to newcomer game designers. They allow beginners and amateurs to make reality a vision of a game they may have, and they also allow for as much customization and creativity as the designer desires. Knight Bewitched is one such vision, allowing a newcomer game designer to share with us his unique and immersive story.

Knight Bewitched tells the epic tale of Ruth, a well-respected knight from the kingdom of Halonia. When we first join her, she is tasked to slay a dragon, the spawn of Typhus the World-Breaker. After a successful mission, an image of Typhus appears, vowing to fully return and end humanity as he once attempted in the past. Back then, Typhus set humanity against the race of dragons in a bloody war and a repeat of these events would doom the world. In the meantime though, Ruth is soon tasked to eliminate a lone witch, Gwen. However during the mission, Ruth falls deathly ill and is, in turn, rescued by Gwen. Not able to harm her benefactor, Ruth returns to Halonia and is assumed bewitched and arrested. After escaping her arrest with the help of her squire, Stray, and the assassin, Uno, the three reunite with Gwen to set off into the world to prevent the return of Typhus.

The story elements of Knight Bewitched are the game’s greatest strength. Although the overall plot, defeat a big boss and save the world, is a touch on the dry side, the narrative and character development are outstanding. Starting with the narrative, the writing of Knight Bewitched is fantastic, as I found myself immersed and my attention held throughout the game. The banter between the main characters, the plentiful humor, and our heroes’ reactions to enemies and NPCs is all brilliant. While the game is set in a fantasy setting, there are many references to modern and internet culture, yet these seemingly out of place jokes and references don’t break immersion and only add to the fun and light-hearted nature of the game. The writing overall is incredibly fun and charming. Not once did I find it drag on or become stale. Rather, I was pleasantly entertained throughout.

The character development is also impressive, as we see personal struggles and satisfying growth amongst the individual characters. Gwen is a wonderful character. She’s funny, charming, witty, and sarcastic at the perfect moments. Stray is a character easy to sympathize with, given his background, and just as easy to root for. Despite his troubles, he still manages to show his jovial and cheerful sides. Ruth and Uno tend to fit common molds a bit more than the other two, but they are no less likable. Ruth is a straightforward and determined woman, capable of handling anything in her way. And yet despite her upright personality, the ease at being ruffled by Gwen’s banter is incredibly cute. It’s another level to her character that makes her special and enjoyable. Uno, the brooding silent type, does get plenty of meaningful development that lets any player grow to like him on a personal level. He even has his own moments of humor too, which makes him even more memorable.

The only complaint I have in terms of story is the relationship between Ruth and Gwen, as I found its development lacking in depth. Early on, we are made aware of Gwen’s attraction to Ruth, as Gwen’s dialogue, inner thoughts, and behaviors all demonstrate her care and growing feelings for Ruth. However, Ruth never properly nor convincingly reciprocates this attraction at all. She is distinctly passive or nonreactive to the point of indifference. Finally, when it’s revealed that Ruth shares Gwen’s feelings, it comes off as such a rushed response, as again, Ruth hadn’t shown any attraction towards Gwen up to that point. In fact, it could very well had been assumed that Ruth had only been concerned for Gwen simply as any other friend or companion. It also could have been assumed that Ruth was straight, bi, or even asexual because of how little the relationship dynamic was actually developed. One-sided until close to endgame and boom, they’re lovey-dovey. This is especially disappointing because all other story aspects like the narrative, individual character development, and humor are all admirably written. It is clear the developer has the talent, but the ball was dropped when it came to the one major relationship in the game. It’s a dishearteningly missed opportunity, as pacing and balanced buildup between both Ruth and Gwen would have made their relationship worlds more intriguing.

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The story elements are what make this game remarkable, but unfortunately, the same level of quality failed to be maintained in its gameplay. Knight Bewitched does nothing special with its gameplay, relying solely on the cookie-cutter RPG Maker mechanics. It’s not broken. On the contrary, gameplay all works well, yet nothing unique was changed or added to make the experience more memorable. Gameplay is split between combat and overworld mechanics, with battles occurring at random and utilizing the engine-provided turn-based setup. I will say that I found encounter rates and challenge level to be acceptable, never requiring any serious grinding nor ever feeling like your team is over leveled. I did come across one bug, having to do with how status effect turn counts are handled. Turn counters only turn over or refresh when someone takes damage. My team was once sleep-locked by an enemy that could no longer attack, due to it running out of MP. So, no one could attack and adjust the sleep stat counter, resulting in my having to reset the game.

I do like that turn order and action icons are visible in battle.

Outside of combat, the world is made of various towns filled with NPCs to interact with and plenty of dungeons to explore. However, exploration is limited to acquiring uninspired items, many of which are unnecessary or fail to give a reasonable advantage upon acquisition. I will say that I do like the variety of obtainable equipment, as they require some strategy to use. They are not your typical “boost everything” kind of equips, so deciding how you wish to utilize your characters and what stats to heighten all comes into play. The ability to change equipment during a fight is also a nice touch. Finally, I found it disappointing that there is only the main campaign to play through, as there are no subquests to be had.

Further issues include the complete lack of a quest log. Many times during play, players will be completely on their own to discover where to go next. Only sometimes do teammates or NPCs guide players to the next area. Even when you do receive hints, most often they are vague compass directions. A quest log, especially after spending significant time in a village or dungeon, would have helped remind players on what to do or where to go next. Speaking of being on your own, the first segments of the game provide zero guides or tutorials as to how to actually play the game. Those familiar with RPG Maker games will undoubtedly figure things out quickly and will regard this as a non-issue. Yet, not everyone has played RPG Maker games and may not be familiar with its standard use of the Z, X, and C buttons, or its alternate configurations. (I prefer using Enter, Shift, and Num 0.) Only after your first boss fight does a gameplay guide become available. Overall, gameplay is uninspired, its lack of quest logs hurts, and the potential struggles for newcomers as to how to play may take away from their experience.

As I stated, I really do like the idea of mechanisms and tools that allow anyone to create a game on their own. RPG Maker, Unity, Ren’py, you name it. Having said that, I do take issue when developers completely rely on the tools and assets available with zero effort to leave their own marks. This is exactly the case here in regards to the aesthetics of Knight Bewitched. There are no custom pieces of art, nor are there any original pieces of music. Most of the assets are taken from RPG Maker Fes and some from other RPG Maker and free asset sets.

Now I fully understand that not everyone is an artist and even fewer are musical composers, so much so that I forgive the use of pre-made music, but there are options available to leave a unique visual mark, whether it’s through commissions or teaming up with volunteers willing to help. It’s disheartening to see a complete dependence on pre-made visual assets, as I believe any custom artwork would have brought more life and impact to these characters. Instead, the reliance on stock artwork, which is someone else’s vision, is unfortunate. I will say this. I suppose it is impressive that the developer managed to use Fes assets for a PC game, as Fes is only available for the 3DS. I haven’t figured out how this was done, since I don’t believe Fes assets are available to download for any of the PC-based RPG Maker engines. Regardless, I would have preferred custom artwork, especially if the game is being sold for profit. Instead we get stock portraits, stock sprites and tilesets, and zero in-game CGs.

Knight Bewitched is a marvelous story trapped in a less than stellar game. The game overall is painfully average with a few hiccups too, which is disappointing given the impressive writing waiting to be discovered. With unremarkable gameplay and a full dependency on engine assets, it is difficult to rate this any higher than our average score of 2.5. Again, nothing here can be considered awful, but its many bright spots are just as soon cancelled out by its flaws and the end result is a game few would consider a gem. I would perhaps argue that this story would have been more outstanding in another media form, rather than an RPG. My thoughts aside, Knight Bewitched has its charm and points of brilliance, and for about $5 for this roughly 10-hour campaign, I can still easily recommend this to those looking for an RPG with terrific immersion, strong narrative and a very easy group of characters to root for. I hope we see a continuation of the Knight Bewitched saga in the future.

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[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”2.5″]

Review Copy Purchased by Author

TBT REVIEW: Knight Bewitched Title Knight Bewitched

[abunchoffandomsmushedtogether]

Paladin Pickup Lines!

Before you say anything it took me 20 mins to come up with that title so you stfu about cheesiness, aight? A headcannon of all of the paladins (And the Alteans) best pickup lines. Also language warning. I apologize in advance for anyone who wanted serious pickup lines from Pidge, but yknow.

Lance

-Of course he’s first, why not? -This boi.

-Every damn cheesy pickup line ever.

-It’s so sweet and dirty and the same time. You’ll be torn between blushing and slapping him.

-Every

-Damn

-Time

-Most notable three pickup lines?

-”Do you need a glass of water? Cause baby, that ass is on fire!” He tried it on Keith. Things happened. No more explanation needed.

- “Those clothes are nice, but they’d look better on my bedroom floor.” Keith: I don’t get it. Lance: ¯\_ಠ╭╮ಠ_/¯ Bro.

- “Who stole the stars and put them in your eye(s)?” This one made Keith blush. A lot.

-He sometimes has troubles figuring out who isn’t taken, but that never stops him. He has an incredible radar for age and sexuality though, it’s scary~

Keith

-He tried. Not really, but you get the gist of it. 

-Purposely fucks them up, probably.

-It’s canon that he’s a genius, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

-Honestly, he just changes them to more mothman-ified or gory version every damn time to scare off whoever Lance made Keith’s target that day.

-He succeeded(s) every time.

-Until the fateful Coran incident, that is.

-Somehow he always knows who’s old enough for him to be flirting with and who’s taken. It’s scary. 

-He tends to use more goofy ones, less cheesy, more funny?

-Most notably uses, “Do you need a glass of blood? wonk wonk”, “I love you almost as a much as mothman. Like a three out of a possible five.” and “Hey Lance.” Yeah, I ship it fite me  

-Another funny one is when Lance tried to help him ‘learn’ to properly flirt. Keith: “Hey, cutie, are you a tall glass of-” looks at Lance over the shoulder of potential date, to see him gesticulating wildly, like so. (づಠ╭╮ಠ)づ “-vinaigrette?” Lance: ლ(ಠᨎಠლ)

-Honestly, Keith just thinks it’s cute when Lance tries to help him. That’s all.

Allura

-Dis chick.

-You think she’d be outta the loop after ten thousand years

-But nope.

-Pickup lines are FIRE.

-They are the reason pickup lines are still worth using.

-Her pickup lines are that good.

-Like she’ll tie someone’s shoes and tell them “I don’t want you falling for anyone but me.”

-”Wow, and here I was thinking I had already seen the most beautiful sights in the galaxy.” 

-Or “Wow, I thought I had seen every star in our galaxy, but I guess I missed you the first time around” Just a romantic little suave cornball. Lance would be weeping in his grave if he were dead.

-She will use these pickup lines on anyone she finds attractive that is confirmed to be single and old enough to be legal. Our girl aint a pedophile.(Actually that rule applies to everyone, just keep that in mind for the rest, alright?) BI AF, tbh. Alteans would just form relationships with whomever they found attractive, gender aside, probably.

-This girl is good at pickup lines. Not much else to add.

Pidge/Katie Holt

-Oh. Every bad Kabe Don meme ever. Including the one below, that’s been used multiple times. Always on Keith, because HEIGHT IS A THING YO.

-Actual pickup lines are questionable at best. “I’m underage, Fuckass.”, “I’m not legal, but you are kind of cute.”, and “Stop shipping me with an adult fuckheads.” “My love for Harambe is better than this shit. And he’s a dead meme.” “I am ten years younger than Shiro whaT ThE HELL?!” “Your face is slightly less annoying than Lance’s.” “My older brother and dad are in the military, fuck off.”

-Honestly, their game is weak.

-Most people actually think they’re cute when they do this though, kind of a Gap Moe because of their language and appearance? Space Dad has had some incidents where he had to intervene with someone a little too insistent about Pidge really being legal, which they aren’t... in the end things were fine and Shiro and Pidge ended up bonding over it, so it wasn’t so bad.

-A meme in life, a meme in death, a meme in love. Matt would be proud.

Hunk

-The puns. They are disgusting. Mostly baker-food themed, disgusting lovey dovey puns. All the time. 

-”Is your dad a baker? Because you are pretty sweet!~,<3″ How’d he say <3? The world will never know...

-He finds all the food themed pickup lines he can and changes them to be nicer. All the time.

-A giant fluffbutt. Just super nice. Refuses to swear at all in them. And never uses pickup lines on anyone who looks remotely young or like they could be taken. Almost never uses his lines tbh

-”Are you a magician? Because everyone else disappears when I see you!”

-This man will bake you anything if he likes you. ANYTHING.

Shiro

-T H I S MAN Forgive me father, for I have sinned.

-He usually doesn’t use pickup lines, but when he does, it puts Allura to shame.

-He is a pro at having a good pickup line for any damn situation.

-It’s fucking s c a r y

-Oh your care broke down? -Insert mechanic pickup line?-

-And the transition is always flawless too. 

-If he thinks you’re attractive and knows you’re legal, he will not stop until you are a stuttering, blushing mess.

-”I used to think my favorite constellation was Orion, but I think I just found my new favorite in your eyes.”

-”I used to think beauty wasn’t real. Then I saw you.” -These, but like 10x smoother. Seriously. And he doesn’t discriminate. He will use pickup lines like that on anyone he thinks has a nice personality. Haggar’s just jealous of Allura, obvi

-He and Matt used to practice together all the time, Shiro really didn’t need the practice, not that Matt would have told him.

Coran

-Wtf

-This man is literally space Nigel Thornberry

-What do you think he’s gonna do?

-In all honesty, he never uses pickup lines

-He’ll just offer to share his weird hair growth products or whatever. 

-That’s all.

-Seriously.

-Okay, I lied.

-He will call you smashing. 

-But that’s it. 

-He has absolutely no flirtation ability at all.

-Whatsoever.

Kaltenecker

-Yeah. I made my fav character the special guest. Don’t judge.

-”Are you my weird hovering platform thing? Because you MOOO-ve me in a way like no other.” -That’s it.

-He is a literal cow.

-What more did you want.

Notes

So, first off, credits to my friend for helping me, sort of even though her help was just making me procrastinate. Second off, I stayed up way too late to write this, woooo~ As a little update, I’ll be working on the food one tomorrow/this morning when I’m not tired and cranky. Cause I really just want to sleep now. -Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this monstrosity! -Mun Fyre