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gilly-moon · 4 months

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PERCY JACKSON TV SHOW REVIEW

(SPOILER ALERT! I Did Not Like It)

It has been 16 long years since I first picked up The Lightning Thief, and once again...I am faced with an adaption of one of my favorite books that is so painfully disappointing. And now that the tv show is completely out, it's time to purge the collection of thoughts I compiled on it:

Starting on one of the (few) positives, the cast was incredible. I know for a FACT that they are all wonderfully talented individuals, and I aim all of my gripes with their acting at the directors and writers.

So much telling. So little showing. Stop explaining the plot and the mythology to me. SHOW it to me. Explain later only when necessary.

And yet, some things weren't explained at all! I know, as someone who read the books, what blue food means to Sally and Percy. But the show never explains its significance. To the unknowing watcher, it's just a weird quirk, not a small rebellion between a woman and her kid against the life they're stuck in. It baffles me what the writers chose to over explain versus under explain. There's no clear reason for either behavior, and it permeates the writing in a bad way.

There's also a lot of the kids just being dragged from point A to point B by an outside force, rather than their own actions. They never really felt alone or even in danger on their quest, because gods kept showing up to help them along. I did not like that.

These kids aren't allowed to be kids. I stg you could make them teens or young adults and the dialogue/their actions would be the same. That's not good.

Why do they always have all of the information!!!?? They immediately know it's Medusa. Echidna introduces herself and they immediately know who she is and that it's a Chimera in her bag. They immediately know what the Lotus casino is. Why? It makes the stakes feel so low, rather than the mad dash scramble in the books that happens a lot when characters have to remember the myths and how to beat a monster mid-fight. And it makes all these scenarios so boring!!!

Also so many of the fight/chase scenes were boring or anticlimactic. The only good ones I can think of were in the first two episodes, and then one with Ares. Someone actually slipped in some good choreo in those few fights, but completely forgot to add it in to....the rest of the show....

There's very little about the show that feels magical. CG is used, obviously, but at times it feels like they should've gone further with it, or used it even more, and they just....didn't. The visuals end up feeling clunky and not very cohesive, with zero whimsy. Hate to make this comparison, but the Harry Potter movies were VERY good at showing the lines between the magical world and the muggle world, and the tension that occurs when the two interact. There is....none of that in the PJO series. Zip. Zero. And the mythological CG that is there is more often than not static or boring.

Break for a positive! I actually really liked that Percy was learning mythology from Mythomagic. The show wasn't really consistent on that point - saying it was his mom instead most of the time - but that was such a fun and clever way to work in the card game and make it plot-relevant. As someone with ADHD, I can confirm I would also learn mythology WAY better if it was for my favorite game.

Ok back to the negatives - Wtf is up with the portrayal of the gods? For one, they're boring to look at. Nothing about their designs makes them feel 'godly' and while that's ok with some gods (Hermes for one, tho I have issues with his weird beige sweat suit look) why is Ares just some regular ass biker dude? Where are the flaming eyes?? And radical skin-leather bike?? He couldn't even have a CUSTOM bike with red bloody paint and boar heads and chain link handles or something???

And the gods are way too fucking nice. Sorry. I don't have an issue with Hermes being nice but. Ares having a heart-to-heart with Grover? When his presence is supposed to stir everyone up into a rage? And Hephaestus sees Annabeth refuse to give up on her friend and just goes 'awww, ok, you and Percy can go, and take my rival's shield back to him too cause I'm just so nice.' Sorry, no. I'm fine with gods being helpful - Hephaestus helps (reluctantly) in the later books. But it was at a price! A favor for a favor! Not a 'get out of jail free' card just because he was moved by normal ass human compassion!!

Hades gets his own bullet point because who the fuck was that. As a child of Hades, I'm offended that this sweet fruity guy just wanders up and goes 'hey, how's it going, wanna snack?' like, that is NOT my dad. My dad had skeleton soldiers filling his halls and a garden of jewels and a voice so loud it rattled the whole Underworld. Whoever that was in the show was a pathetic imitation.

The point of the first series is to work up to Percy throwing it in the gods' faces how awful and neglectful they've been of demigods and specifically their own children. Demanding that they do better. But if they're already showing compassion and 'humanity' in the context of the first book/first season of the tv show....Percy starts running out of ammo against the gods. There's no coherent story progression where Percy spends years seeing the worst of the gods and the best of them at very distinct, important times of his life and his story. It no longer feels like a massive change they have to make in the system, something that deserves a godly favor for Percy to demand of them. Luke no longer feels like his fury at the gods is wholly justified. The whole series begins to crumble because the gods already have a good reason for being how they are, rather than being thoroughly selfish assholes who only dote on demigods when they do something really cool. And the exceptions are presented at intelligent moments that prove to Percy when he most needs it that the gods can be better, they just need a forceful push to get there.

That being said, where was Percy getting the info that the other gods were feeling scared and abused by Zeus? I love the balls on this kid, but like...when did he make these assumptions and why? That whole scene felt really unearned.

Also Olympus was BORING. And EMPTY. And DARK. It looked like we were just back in the Underworld. Which. The Underworld was fucking boring too. Some neat visuals, sure, but put that in some high fantasy show. Not this one.

One last positive before my final point - there were some pretty good jokes scattered around. Not nearly enough, but I did really enjoy the Dionysus introduction and a handful of lines from Percy. Also releasing the animals in Vegas - Grover being like 'oh, you were worried about the humans' got me good.

The final word that kept spinning through my head after finishing episode 8 was: Pathetic. Luke's betrayal was pathetic. No deadly scorpion. No commitment to that period of time in the books we were convinced he really was evil. And Gabe just stumbling on the package with Medusa's head in it? PATHETIC. Percy outright asked his mom if she was being abused in the book, and she took fate into her own hands to statue-ify that bastard. But no. The show was through-and-through just a pathetic, watered-down version of an incredibly fun, emotional, brutal, exciting series of books. I know there was a lot of heart behind this production, but I did not feel it at all. But what else should I have expected from modern Disney?

#i could probably go on for years but #i am tired #and already went through this once with the movies so #now i merely wish to expel my thoughts and then let the memory of this show fade from my mind

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getvalentined · 1 month

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What’s your opinions of the various ffvii compilation games?

Oh I am a huge proponent of the Compilation as a whole; I know that opinion is rare for someone who's been in the fandom from the beginning, but I'm an insufferable lore gremlin and I just eat up everything the series has to offer. I have three different copies of Advent Children (the original on DVD, ACC on DVD, and ACC on blu-ray) and even still watch Last Order on occasion.

The series itself is really fascinating and staggeringly consistent (I've talked about how the implied timeline of the Jenova Project as presented in-game is so consistent that it matches up with real-world human gestational science), with the exception of the FF7Re series—which I can deal with, since it's canonically on a different timeline and therefore any retcons there are literal in-universe retcons, which is pretty brilliant.

That said, I'mma put ratings for the pieces of the Compilation individually under a cut!

OG FF7: 9/10. would be 10/10 if the English localization were better. Where it all started, still one of my favorite games of all time.

Advent Children (+Complete): 8/10. Not a game, but part of the Compilation! Anyone who says the plot makes no sense doesn't realize that they're watching a sequel that relies very heavily on people understanding the history and characterization of every single character shown.

Last Order: 6.5/10. Also not a game, also part of the Compilation. Love that this is implied to literally be Tseng's coverup of what happened with Zack, presented in anime form. Makes no sense in multiple places as a result, but if you know that's what it is then you can 100% see why it's portrayed that way! Honestly I really enjoyed it and wish more people would appreciate it for what it is.

Dirge of Cerberus: 7/10. The gameplay kinda sucks but honestly the storyline is super good—or it would be, if the entire fucking prologue hadn't been cut from any release outside Japan, thereby leaving the entire issue with DeepGround completely unexplained to all other audiences. Once you know what is going on, the storyline here is fantastic, and I've never really forgiven SE for not releasing the rest of it. I love that Dirge fills in the lore for Vincent that was cut when he was relegated to "optional" in the OG, and that it also helps to clarify why Midgar could have 9 functional mako reactors while every other reactor in the world is either sputtering to nothing or exploding. (It's Omega. Midgar is built over Omega. It's the place where all lines of the Lifestream converge so that Omega can draw it all in and carry it away at the end of the world, and Shinra never discovered that's why the mako well there is so expansive. I love good worldbuilding, and Dirge is a beautiful example of that.)

Before Crisis: N/A. I want this game so bad man where is it give it to meeeee. Honestly tho I've watched playthroughs and read scripts where available, and while I don't think it looks like much fun from a modern gameplay perspective, I have huge respect for it as far as development goes. This is one of the first really mainstream mobile games ever made, it was made for flip phones, and it's super extensive! Also it gave me Veld, who is one half of my favorite ship ever, which means it automatically gets a 7/10 even if I've never played it.

Crisis Core (+Reunion): 9/10. As fun to play as the OG. When I first played this on PSP over a decade ago, it hit me with such an intense feeling of nostalgia that it almost took me off my feet. In spite of the dramatic difference between game mechanics in CC versus the OG, it felt exactly like playing the OG again, and that feeling never really left. Humanized Sephiroth in a beautiful way that pissed off a bunch of fanboys and made me fall in love with him all over again. Also introduced my second favorite FF7 character ever, Genesis, who is one half of one of my core FF7 ships, so A+ on that too!

FF7 Remake (+InterMISSION): 8/10. Had a lot of fun with this one, and it's beautiful, but it doesn't have a lot of replayability in my experience, which is a shame. Would have been 6 or 7/10 if not for InterMISSION, which was a fucking delight.

FF7 First SOLDIER: 6/10. This applies to both the Battle Royale and the title in Ever Crisis. I am not a fan of Glenn & Co. but I love 14 year old Sephiroth and really appreciate that extension of lore and worldbuilding, so it's a decent balance. I love that the opening cutscene for the battle royale literally filled a 20+ year old plot hole in under two minutes.

FF7 Rebirth: 9.5/10. The only things that could make me like this game more would be if Vincent were playable (although I understand why he's not and, in spite of him being my favorite fictional character ever, I agree with this decision), and fewer required minigames. Just cut like one or two. Or fix the controls, maybe. Glide de Chocobo is even more broken now that it's been patched.

#fandom ramble #ff7

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maleyanderecafe · 1 year

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Colored Gaze (Visual Novel)

Created by: Mr. Ritz 🍇

Genre: Horror

Colored Gaze is a r18 visual novel that's coming out. Like a lot of other demos of this state, there's currently nothing r18 about it and serves to mostly introduce the three characters in the story. As of now, there's also nothing particularly yandere about them either, so I can only really speculate how exactly they will be when they are yandere, or base it off of the answers the creator has given on Twitter. If you are interested you can view more at @mr-ritza for more information.

The game starts out with the MC waking up from bed and deciding to go to work or stay in. Depending on the choices, you can meet up to all three of the characters or only meet one, if you successfully are able to avoid them. Going to work will make the MC text their coworker at the convivence store, Avery and begrudgingly goes over to work. After going to work, Avery shoves all of his tasks on the MC, with them groaning about how much special treatment they get. While waiting at the cashier, the MC sees a customer come in wearing a mask and dressed in all black. The MC is a bit put off by him because of his behavior (essentially not buying anything and wandering around) and gets jumpy when he gets near them to buy some cigarettes'. The MC gets flustered around him after seeing his face. He will ask for the MC's name and depending on how you choose to answer it, he will either gain more interest in the MC or not, and we find out his name is Seth.

After a while, the MC goes to the back to pick up deliveries, only to find a new person handing it to them. The normal guy, Joe seems to have gotten into an accident. After introducing yourself, you find that his name is Simon and he has a rather meek personality. After helping the MC with the boxes, he becomes really flustered after they sign for the package. Soon after, the MC's shift ends and they head out. It's getting late and the MC is lost after sensing someone was following them and running. Turning left will allow them to bump right into a polite looking man. After assuring them that no one is following them, the man introduces himself as Zachary. After a brief conversation, the MC runs home to bed, since they have class the next morning.

Staying and resting will make it so the MC won't meet Seth and turning right completely makes it so they never meet Zachary, so really if you wanted to avoid those two you would only have to deal with Simon.

As of now, there's not much going on in terms of yandere content and it serves mostly to introduce the three characters to the player. The term color gaze probably has something to do with how they are initially perceived versus what they end up to be, and there' s very likely foreshadowing in the intro sequence as well, at least with Zachary holding a rose. Based on what I've gathered, I think Zachery is the most sadistic of the bunch (I remember reading that he enjoys setting up bondage), Seth seems surprisingly chill for the most part ( I think it's stated he and Avery had a date before but maybe it's just something that he's used to) and Simon seems like a shy boy though I have the feeling he probably stalks the MC or has a hidden side to him. Obviously because I love shy boys, Simon is my favorite (Cherry hates his hair which I always think is funny) so I hope in the future I can just completely destroy him (physically, mentally, emotionally etc). I am curious what the end product will be in terms of yandere behavior since there's not too much revealed (at least that I've read) that indicates what kind of yandere they would be.

Overall though, considering that there's not too much to talk about, it is at least a good introduction to the characters. I kind of wish they would display more yandere traits (as I wish a lot of r18 demos are, especially if they say there is a yandere in it), but considering that the creator is currently busy with their job, it may be a while.

#colored gaze #male yandere #yandere #yandere boy #recommendations #ongoing #visual novel

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neoyi · 7 months

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Hoo boy, so how long before we get potential discourse on how this comic contradicts the established Crash Bandicoot timeline?

After all, Crash Purple/Spyro Orange had Ripto and Cortex meeting prior to Rumble ever being a spark in Toys for Bob's eyes.

I would say spin-off games in the series are kind of loose in terms of the canonical narrative, but Crash Bandicoot has kind of been an exception to that rule, in that characters first appearing in the forty billion racing spin-offs seem to return (Oxide) with implication that said spin-off happened, or the rest of the games supported extensive cutscenes and an actual plot that it stands to reason that they could all feasibly have happened canonically.

Rumble seem to follow in that; there's no plot to be found within the game, but these comics have served as nice bits of lore for us to chew on. There's not much to hone on, but would I not be a foolish student of Crashology to leave even the shallowest narrative uninterpreted? Unexamined? Left to rot in the sun like that?

I never bought the idea that Crash Bandicoot 4 was meant to be a thorough reboot of the franchise sans the OG Naughty Dog games, because there really wasn't much to contradict that latter games after Crash 4 still couldn't happen. Dingodile joining up with Crash's team (at the least, pragmatically, he seem to be a neutral force here driven by circumstances more than anything) might be the closest cutting off point since he's working for Cortex come Wrath of Cortex (Crash 4 never explains why he quit the ol' mad doctor's group, he just did for some reason), but now that Rumble's out, particularly with this comic, I'm now beginning to wonder if this is the creators' way of essentially wiping the slate as clean as they could and starting the franchise off from scratch.

And I think it needs it.

Oh, for sure, I'd argue it's yet another reworking of the franchise (Crash of the Titans kind of felt like one, even if, as far as I know since I never played it, they don't technically disown the timeline prior to its release) to revitalize and retool the poor series yet again, but this time, there's been a decade long gap - long enough for fans to lament what could have been, what we wished, and eventually, move on from it (well, some of us anyway.)

I was ready to call the franchise dead in the waters by, like, Year 8, wistful that they didn't get the send-off it deserved. Fact of the matter was, the last few games or so have just been a complicated, hot mess. Nobody seem to know what the hell they wanted to do with Crash the moment it fell out of Naughty Dog's hands. Not from lack of trying (and some developers did try), but it lingered around as either a pastiche of the OG game, a wacky-for-the-sake-of-wacky that varied in tolerance with its humor, or a sea of Dreamworkian pop cultural references - it was a mess. It was a HOT. MESS.

THIS comic, however, seem to signify that yes, come Crash 4: It's About Time, the whole ass franchise, after a decade of nothing, whih came after a decade of identity crisis, meant not only is this semi-reboot expected, but is downright necessary.

You could arguably just make A New Crash game that fittingly continues where it left off without acknowledging any of the past games, but with the assumption that it all happened, but ripping off that loaded, blood-chunked bandage for something visibly new, is probably the best this series, at this time, is going to get and ultimately needs.

Cut off the excess and start from where it was at its most simple, then slowly reintroduce the latter Crash elements. It does suck, if you are a fan of the latter-era Crash fans, to essentially be told after CTR that the rest of the games after is potentially no longer canon (Crash 4's announcer during the end credits certainly lampshades it, too.) This comic pretty heavily cements it, but man, it already does it so much better by introducing Ripto back into the Crashverse in just two pages of a comic versus an entire GBA game where he and Cortex... somehow share a universe and just... team up, I guess???

Of course Ripto crashes the party via a portal. Crash and Spyro's worlds are two vastly different places that sharing it together, while not impossible in the right hands, is tonally contradictory. Spyro's world is fantastical whimsy, Crash is sci-fi madness.

And it isn't like latter Crash characters cannot return. Crash 4's ending showed that absolutely CAN be the case.

Guys. GUYS. Nina's still here. Those two awful chicken announcers are still here.

The OG Crash games never really had the deepest stories, with only literal floating heads occasionally spouting the next motive. Having Crash 4 start from there WITH an elaborate narrative is probably the best starting point. There is no reason why any of the others cannot return in new, interesting roles while paying lip service to their older roles.

Setting aside complicated feelings on reboots notwithstanding, Crash Bandicoot really did needed a reset button, and if it means retooling the established canon in a metaphorical Crisis of Infinite Earths way, then so be it.

So yeah, the comic basically told us Crash Purple/Spyro Orange did not happen. And damn it, I think that's for the best.

On a final note, love this panel. For sake of gameplay, you're allowed to pick whichever character you want, but Rumble's lore seem to imply that villains stay on their end while, presumably, the heroes stay on their side. I guess Ripto serves as a third wheel who decided to muck things even further.

Also, I think Brio is saying Spyro's Japanese translated name, which is amazing cuz' anyone with basic Spyro trivia knowledge knows Ripto's name came from how the Japanese letters look when spelling out the purple dragon's name.

#crash bandicoot #spyro the dragon #neoyi talks #this has been the best Crash Bandicoot has EVER gotten in so long #I don't know how long this train will last but I will be a passenger for as long as they go this route and keep that consistency

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imagineanime2022 · 7 months

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Kianna Coming Back With Nagito

Kianna (@nunezs-stuff's OC) X Nagito

Requested: @nunezs-stuff

Request: Okay could I please ask for another zoldyck family but how would they react to kianna being kidnapped and being put into the killing game just to end up escaping and surviving with nagito

Like say he ends up living and she introduces him to them as her boyfriend

How they react to both of those scenarios

Illumi Zoldyck

📍 Illumi actually hates him, from the moment that he met him to now he hates him and there is only one reason. 📍 Nagito had no concept of fear or a single instinct to preserve his life, so Illumi had no power over him, the only person that he listened to was Kianna. 📍 If they are left in the same room for any amount of time, the room ends up destroyed and Nagito always seems to have come out better. 📍 Illumi has tried on a number of different occasions to get Kianna to break up with Nagito but as we know you can get her to do anything that she doesn’t want to do, so instead he has to endure him. 📍 Illumi avoids him as best he can and hates that he lives under the same roof as him with no sign of leaving. 📍 Honestly, I don't think that they will ever like each other. In fact hating each other is probably the only reason that they both still breathed, being too wary of each other to let their guard down.

Milluki Zoldyck

🦟 Milluki is not much better than Illumi, he hated him a lot less because his luck provided Milluki with a lot of things that he wanted on draws in his games and auctions for all of his figurines. 🦟 Other than that he thinks that he’s a little childish and annoying (hypocritical…) and wants nothing more than for Nagito to get lost. 🦟 That being said he is the one that Nagito is most likely to annoy if only because the man can’t chase him and he’d get the most enjoyment from it. 🦟 Kianna has had to smooth over a few disagreements and take on a few jobs to really get him to forgive. 🦟 Milluki hardly ever left his room so his interactions with Nagito was wildly limited versus the rest of his family so he could deal with him for a lot longer than most. 🦟 They’ll eventually get to an understanding, they will occasionally aggravate each other but all in all not completely destructive.

Killua Zoldyck

⚡ Killua loves Kianna and was happy that she was able to come home but the moment that he met Nagito he didn’t trust him, the only reason that he was still breathing was because he brought Kianna back. ⚡ It honestly didn’t take long for Killua to figure him out, enough to trust him with Kianna and get to know him a little better. ⚡ They are actually chaos together considering how childish they both are and the fact that Killua loved a good prank and Nagito is a mastermind, they might have caused a family war. ⚡ He actually teaches Killua a lot about using his brain when on missions, he could see that Killua was smart but he relied on what was given to him by his family. Nagito gave him something else. ⚡ Killua spent a lot of time with Kianna and therefore a lot of time with Nagito (who hung off her or became her intimidating shadow), it took a while for it to become easily social but they got there. ⚡ They do actually become friends, kind of, Kilua doesn’t trust him to save his life but he knows that he can trust him with Kianna’s and that was good enough, he could look after himself after all he proved that.

Alluka Zoldyck

🎭 Literally found her room by accident, as we’ve established his luck would put him in the right place at the right time. 🎭 Alluka loves anyone that comes to visit her, she showed him all of her toys and even played a few games with him, it took them all ages to realise that he was missing. 🎭 Not going to lie Alluka was the reason that they all realised how dangerous Nagito was because as they all tried to kill him he survived everything and even asked Nanika for help without having to give anything in return. 🎭 Kianna again was the one that stopped the fighting long enough for everyone to realise what happened and then keeping Nagito alive was a strategic move. 🎭 Alluka would seek him out, when hse was given the time she would play with him and want to be with him and Kianna, they stopped trying to keep him away from Alluka in the end, it was pointless after all, he got what he wanted. 🎭 Alluka loved having Nagito around and was the first and quickest to accept him but given her naivety that was to be expected.

Kalluto Zoldyck

👘 Kalluto did not deal with Nagito passed a formal introduction, but it was a long and weird introduction. 👘 When Nagito first arrived Kalluto observed him from afar, never approached him, he reminded him of Hisoka in a weird way so he watched him carefully. 👘 Nagito knew he was there as well, they basically played a game of cat and mouse for about 3 days before Kianna took control of the situation. 👘 The introduction was wary, Kalluto doesn’t trust very many people and Nagito didn’t inspire trust, not even a little bit. Kalluto did trust Kianna though so gave it a go. 👘 Kalluto never really cared about having friends or anything past his family so being more than just acquainted with Nagito was never really on the cards but he’d keep him safe since he makes Kianna happy. 👘 Kalluto is indifferent to Nagito and doesn't care if stayed or goes. He was annoying and disruptive but Kalluto was never home so it didn't matter much to him.

Silva Zoldyck

🟣 It’s Silva’s job to be suspicious and he would continue to be suspicious for the rest of his life. 🟣 He listened to Kianna’s story of what happened and how Nagito helped her and then asked the same story of Nagito to make sure that they match but even then he wouldn’t trust him (and when he accidentally broke into Alluka’s room didn’t help). 🟣 Silva realised quickly that his skill for being lucky was useful and after 3 missions without Kianna, he realised that she was the only one that he would listen to so even if he was useless he would not send him out without you. 🟣 He was careful around him, suspicious of him and used him where he could, and he might even believe that he had control over him because he has control of Kianna. 🟣 No one actually knows why he keeps him around, the trouble he causes is not worth what skills he brings but for some reason he can not seem to tear him from Kianna, she seemed far too happy with him to do that. 🟣 Silva is quite literally watching every move that he makes, might even give him his own little house on the edge of the estate to try and stop him from causing anymore chaos.

Kikyo Zoldyck

👒 She is jealous, not of Kianna or of him but of the relationship that they both have, whenever they were together he was always all over Kianna, like he truly loved her. 👒 Like she walked into the living room and found Kianna and Nagito talking but Nagito was laying across Kianna’s lap and listening to her intently, nodding along and never interrupting. 👒 On the flip side when a threat presented itself, the first thing that Nagito did was place himself between Kianna and the threat. Kikyo hated them for that, she didn’t particularly like Kianna anyway but this made it worse. 👒 She had attempted to get Nagito thrown out, she did in some ways fear him, especially when two younger members of the family started to like him. 👒 She hates how smart Nagito is, he sees through most things that she has planned and even planned to expose her at one point. 👒 She doesn’t want anything to do with either one of them to be honest she hates seeing them around and so she avoids them.

Zeno Zoldyck

🐉 Zeno could see it from the moment that Kianna brought him back, he was cunning, manipulative and dangerous. Then he saw the way that his luck worked assuming it was some kind of nen ability, he had to be a specialist. 🐉 Zeno accepts him being there pretty easily, so he decided to try and get to know him, in case he ever needed to kill him. He played games of tactics and tested his mind. 🐉 Zeno often expected to see him around, Nagito was everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. 🐉 Zeno was very aware of the metal hand, especially when he started training him and as smart as Nagito is, he was easy to manipulate where Kianna was concerned. 🐉 Nagito respects Zeno, even if it doesn’t seem like it, he very much understands that he is the strongest of the family. 🐉 There’s a mutual respect between them for the brains and the physical power that they both have given their gifts.

*Part 2*

Request Here!!

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sideshow-cellophane-blog · 1 year

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Goemon is completely unable to take tickles. In a flight versus tickle fight, he chooses flight every time if he can help it. He considers it a serious challenge instead of a game like his partners do, to escape without being tickled. He slowly grew used to how touchy they both were besides that, and tickling became another way of deepening their bond.

But if captured and tickled by an enemy? The idea is suggested by Jigen and poses another, bigger challenge: learning how to take the tickles. He wasn't exactly brought up in an environment where he ever had the chance to. Lupin and Jigen probably introduced him to the very concept. So, he decides that if even Lupin was struggling with the challenge, he would too.

That is how he found himself half naked in an old enemy's tickle machine. He was told that it was meant for Lupin, but Fujiko had fallen victim instead. It was perfect for training sessions in the rare cases where their enemies knew about this certain weakness. Goemon's arms and legs were stretched tightly, and he could hardly squirm.

"You're okay buddy," Lupin assured him. "We have full control and we stop when you say so."

Goemon nodded. He trusted that. "If I say stop then I will have failed training."

"Nah," Jigen shook his head. He was standing on Goemon's other side with a feather in hand, the likes of which made Goemon's stomach physically twitch when it came anywhere near him. "You fail when you don't use it if we go too far. We stop when you say, ah, gun. Say it back."

"You stop when I say gun."

"Good. Now, smile."

Goemon craned his neck when Jigen ran the feather tip up to his ear, a shy grin spreading over his features. He kept moving his head in quiet protest to the feather teases Jigen was administering. "W-wait," He felt the odd bubbly sense that came with tickling, growing into the need to smile. "Wait, Ihi'm…no ears, thahat's not fair!"

"Wait'll you feel this," Lupin pressed two buttons on the back of the chair. There were many more.

Two pairs of the extra arms came out, one set wiggling over Goemon's sides and the other his feet. His eyes widened, and every muscle tensed as he fought the urge to laugh for all of a few seconds before he shut his eyes and allowed the bubbly giggling to commence. It sputtered at first, and stayed at an awkward pace like he hadn't laughed like this before and was learning himself.

"There it is!" Lupin gushed. From the side he was on, he wiggled a single finger over Goemon's stomach.

The reaction was instantaneous. With a real cackle Goemon's entire body moved to the opposite side where Jigen was with the feather.

Jigen moved the feather into an armpit, and Goemon let out a loud giggle and rolled to Lupin's side. "Hey, that's cute!" Jigen exclaimed.

"You're a ticklish rolly-polly, huh?" Lupin added the rest of his fingers and prodded into the softer area around Goemon's navel, so he had no choice but to roll from side to side, caught in a heavy giggle stream. "You gotta laugh, it's the only way to take it! We haven't even gotten to the worst spots yet!"

They had their fun making Goemon squirm for another minute before Lupin decided he could use a break. The hands on Goemon's sides and feet moved back, allowing him a moment to breathe.

"You good?" Jigen asked after Goemon seemed to have himself back under control.

He nodded once, looking significantly more disheveled than when they started from his constant moving. He was still grinning though and refused to comment on his state, only staying prepared for what was to come. "You can do worse."

"Okay bud, we'll leave you alone for this one," Lupin inhaled and hovered his finger over a bigger button. "You're gonna have a lot to deal with, don't forget the safe word. Gun. If you can't say it then hold out a finger and we'll know."

Goemon gulped. "No anticipation. Just do it."

All of the hands popped out. And every last one of them hovered above Goemon's form before descending and sending him into the worst ticklish frenzy yet. Pokes and prods in his armpits, four sets of arms on his ribs and five on his belly, a finger delving into his navel and twirling. The ones on his legs were the worst. They were pinching and scratching and everywhere. Knee caps, knee pits, even the backs of his thighs were not safe as hands kept shooting under there to swipe and grab in the most ticklish ways possible. His feet were covered in fingers and were granted no mercy either.

Goemon's brain was short-circuiting. Ticklish panic overtook him and he was moving every which way he could in these binds, eyes wide and mouth unable to close. The only sounds in the room besides the whirring of the hands were high-pitched giggles, half-choked wails and sobs, a squeal or scream when he wasn't breathless, and Lupin and Jigen's quiet comments to one another as they watched their friend get destroyed.

Lupin was noticeably covering his stomach and grinning nervously. "He's lasted longer than I would have guessed."

"Three minutes?"

"Yeah!"

A squealing scream pierced the air then, followed by, "GUN! GUN! FAHACK! GAHAHAN! NAH! AH! HAAAAAA! Guuu-HWAH! NAH NAH AAAAAAH NAH NAHAHAHA!"

Lupin pressed the off button, and the whirring slowed to a stop. The noises escaping Goemon took longer to slow, even after he was freed and hugged from either side. He massaged his tingling skin and panted hard while his partners praised him.

"Three minutes Goemon!" Lupin nuzzled their cheeks. "You did great!"

"I…I failed…"

"No!" Jigen kept his arm around Goemon's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You can't help it, man. Neither can we. We can keep the machine out of the training if you want though. That was a lot to handle at once."

"No," Goemon shook his head, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "It…wasn't bad when it was just you two…before it got my legs."

"Then we do what we started out doing!" Lupin wiggled his fingers teasingly. "Making you giggle ourselves! You gotta admit that part was fun!" He noted Goemon's inability to make eye contact, but his blush deepened. Lupin's grin grew. "Next time I'll get you to admit it. You like being tickled by us."

"Next time it'll be your turn," Jigen teased. "It's your tickle machine you freak."

"How about you hop in right now while it's still warm?" Goemon hopped on board the tease train. "My record was three minutes. I bet yours will be all of three seconds...or three hours."

"What?! I've lasted all day in one of these things before! Jigen was in that iron maiden!"

"Yeah, because you're the freak with a tickle machine," Jigen pointed out. "You tickle your arresting officer too."

"Quit saying it!"

"What? Tickle? You hate the word tickle? Because that's what I'm going to repeat when you're in here. Tickle tickle."

While the two started bickering, Goemon relaxed in their arms. He would have his revenge.

#tickling #anime #tickle #lupin gang #lupin tickling #lupin iii #lupin the third #lupin #goemon #jigen #boys being boys #tickle machine #what straight man tickles his arresting officer tho #the answer is no straight man tickles his arresting officer #polygang #poly #lupin polygang

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waterlinkedgirl · 1 year

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I'd love to know your thoughts on Versus, if that's okay?

Aaaaaa I'm more than delighted to! Of course!!!! What ends up on here is mostly translations, but aside from translating I like writing meta, as well as writing in general (I finished a 12k historical KogiMika fic the other day! I might post a link to it here if anyone is interested), so more than anything I am THRILLED to get an ask like this and I answer with joy in my heart AAAAAAAA

To begin with, I think live songs hold this interesting place where they may reference back to the events and themes of the myu, but don't *need* to relate back to it in any fashion. The first example that springs to mind is kakumeizenya, TKO live's opening number; picking out two distinct references that aren't quite up to interpretation of what TKO is, they'd be "I haven't experienced it yet, there is no right answer" referencing back to Sui and the girl, and "Straight ahead, faster than a bolt of lightning" referencing back to Masakado's first myu song ("mounted onto a bolt of lightning"), while the song itself is more about reinventing oneself. Of course, there's examples like Real Love and Can you guess what? and S where the content of the song (and even the characterisation present in it) isn't precisely according to what the myu informs, and then there's songs like Timeline (in my opinion, if you or anyone else is interested in the essay I'll gladly, GLADLY write and post it! Just shoot me an ask!) or Illusion of my heart, or even Tears from kousui, where the lyrics are so directly back-referential to events in myu they may have much more value being interpreted from a myu lens than otherwise.

In other words, not all characterisation present in songs is characterisation fully canon to myu characterisation, but since songs may (at times even strongly) back-reference myu, depending on the song, there may be value in looking exactly how it ties back!

So without further ado, let me try to take a look at the lyrics, one by one and bit by bit! And improving on my translation a bit compared to kotobuki as I go along, ahahaha, I will probably edit my subs a little to fix minor mistakes like these! I do warn, though, since I'm invested in what toumyu has sketched us of Kogi and Mika's relationship (and yes, I ship them, if they don't think of another as brothers they are not by virtue of them being steel objects), I may make extra references to that.

Under the mask of our smiles, we tame our hatred Everyone is weighing the weight of love

These lines are the very reason I wrote down my little disclaimery thing above, because right off the bat, I don't think either of these lines applies back to tsuwamono in any literal capacity. After all, Kogitsunemaru's concerns towards Mikazuki after their fight rules out any hatred being in play, and if this refers to that regardless, that would mean the following 'love' must apply to it as well. On top of that, I don't think "Taming one's hatred behind the mask of a smile" fits with what's shown of *game* Kogi either, since there doesn't seem to be any negative feelings underlying his politeness at all. However, if you regard this line within just the canon of the song, then I'd say it's very effective at setting up the "He can be your angel or your devil" thing the song has got going on! If I had to interpret these lines, it'd be "Under the mask of our smiles, everyone tames their hatred, no one is telling what they truly think. Yet we make decisions weighing the love we feel against that hatred, because in spite of it, it's present and important."

In a way, this line also immediately introduces the theme of contrasts this song has. With 'smile' as front, 'hate' in the back, and then the second line's 'love' as the back behind the back blurring the ability to make a clear front/back distinction, it makes for a fascinating setup for the rest of the song.

That conflictingness of emotions, rather than the precise emotions involved, Does fit pretty well with the position Kogi was in during tsuwamono. Pretending he wasn't overhearing all kinds of things about Mikazuki doing things behind the scenes, he confronted him first on a good-terms basis, before facing off against him when the evidence is damning and nothing else-- because he believes they as Touken Danshi must fulfil their mission just the way Master tells them to, and any direct interference with history to change things from how they had been, like what Mikazuki is doing, cannot be any different from what the HRA is doing.

It is precisely because it is implied, not just through his faces throughout tsuwa, but also through the choreography of their fight and through the fact the Saniwa pretty much implies Kogi holds a biased eye towards Mikazuki as the Genjis were intended to watch Mikazuki with an unbiased eye over someone who knows Mikazuki better, that Kogitsunemaru thinks of Mikazuki as pretty dear, and that emotionally, he doesn't wish to fight Mikazuki, but Mikazuki's actions against Kogitsunemaru's faithfulness to their mission leaves him with no choice.

"Weighing the weight of his feelings of dearness for Mikazuki against his mission, hiding his conflictedness behind his smile as he talks to him, Kogitsunemaru chooses to fight him in spite of those feelings," is a way of phrasing that situation that unifies the vibe of the song lyric with what actually happens in myu. I think this case, because of its mention of love, it's best interpreted in a 'simple' angel-or-devil kind of way, aimed in a romantic sense at the listener, but this would be the way it relates back to what happened in myu.

Light and shadow, the past and the future, the front and back of man It's an age where it’s difficult to see what's right and what's a mistake

The first line of these strongly emphasizes Kogitsunemaru's relation to omote/ura (literally "front and back", but in this sense "the front you show people" and "the feelings you hide inside or behind you/your true intentions"), even more than the double contrast the previous set of lines struck. Omote/ura is a theme that ever since the start of tsuwamono has been connected to Kogitsunemaru, because he was smithed with the inscription "Munechika" on the front, and "Kogitsune" on the back, and adoutsukoe emphasizes this by repeating it twice. I would also argue tsuwamono itself sets Mikazuki-- "Be as pure as this flower, behind it lies..." as he holds the lotus up and implicitly sketches himself as the "behind" in the form of the muddied water-- up as the ura, to Kogitsunemaru's omote-- emphasized through his devotion to the upfront mission they follow and his ability to encourage Iwatooshi to follow it, in spite of holding doubts in his heart himself. And it's very likely he holds those doubts, after all, there must be a meaning to him singing mamorubeki mono, his second solo from the story part beyond stating what has already been stated, at least from how I see it.

I would say that each of the three contrasts as sketched here is in fact emphasized by tsuwamono itself, with light and dark being highlighted through the metaphor of the light of the crescent moon and the darkness that gives shape to it, as highlighted by Higekiri near the beginning ("Is the part of the moon you can't see also part of it? Or is it true darkness?") and Mikazuki himself near the end ("I am only a crescent moon at best. But, don't you think that is better than no light at all?"). Then, past and future is most strongly set through Mikazuki and Yasuhira's dialogue, and the songs that relate to them; Mikazuki sings of "A lotus pedestal to share the world of yore," and Yasuhira asks how the people will think of Hiraizumi in the world to follow. With Mikazuki sharing his duty with Yasuhira, and sympathising with him as they are both certain shapes, I think there's enough basis to call that a contrast sketched. And lastly, omote/ura, or front and back as it's translated here, which I highlighted in the previous section.

That last one and the context behind it actually connects pretty smoothly to the next line. After all, ascertaining whether Mikazuki's workings are right or wrong is one of the main conflicts driving Kogitsunemaru through tsuwamono. Kogitsunemaru in tsuwamono is in the fun position where he gets relied on to make level judgements of situations, whether that be assessing the enemy's intentions, ascertaining whether the Saniwa has thought adding Higekiri and Hizamaru to the formation through, down to Iwatooshi coming to confide in him that he's thinking about his existence. Kogitsunemaru choosing to fight is another choice he must've weighed whether it was right or a mistake. In the end, Kogitsunemaru comes to the conclusion that he doesn't think Mikazuki's methods are right, but he can't say he's wrong, either. However, the use of 'age' in the line stands out. After all, while Mikazuki emphasizes that it's hard to truly know what happened 1000 years ago, it is not as much the age itself that causes the line between what's right and what's a mistake to blur, but Mikazuki and his choices in this age. Because of that, it's also easy enough to return to the out-of-tsuwamono interpretation, and interpret this age as the modern age. I think the most straightforward interpretation, in that case, would be Kogitsunemaru finding it hard to discern whether him involving himself with the recipient of the song is a mistake, this time because it is him carrying aforementioned set of contrasts within him.

An angel and a demon are whispering to me And my heart shakes vehemently The Jekyll and the Hyde, hidden in our hearts Who we join hands with, ah, all of that is decided by us!

Considering the sets of omote/ura in the previous lyrics, this becomes really fun. After all, the common metaphor of an angel and a demon whispering to someone tends to symbolise one's sense of what's right fighting against one's desires. This is very similar to what actually ended up happening in utaawase! I've always thought utaawase's Kogi skit retroactively makes Kogitsunemaru in tsuwamono more complex, because it essentially denies what Mikazuki had thought of him. Kogitsunemaru isn't so single-minded that he can follow Master's orders without questioning, and he isn't as pure of heart that he can fight for what's right without feeling conflict, that he can draw a simple and clear black and white. Mikazuki keeping his mouth shut about the truth of this timeline is an emotionally motivated decision, since he thinks Kogitsunemaru wouldn't understand, much like Yoritomo each and every time, and since he wishes not even the Saniwa to know protecting history isn't as straightforward as it should be, let alone someone whose single-mindedness he envies. But, the existence of a side that's tempted by desire importantly implies that, while Kogitsunemaru fighting Mikazuki is a decision born out of reason, he doesn't wish to fight Mikazuki. And I would say the fight choreo supports that. Instead, Kogitsunemaru wishes to understand him, but Mikazuki doesn't speak. All they can do is fight. To add to this, upon hearing of the extent what Mikazuki has been doing, the very first thing Kogitsunemaru does is express concern for him; "You did... All alone?!"

I think that emotional conflict is a very nice thing about that scene, and that this is how it comes back in Versus.

Then, continuing with the idea of omote/ura, it's very interesting that the lyrics choose to invoke Jekyll and Hyde here. I'm not sure how great a Japanese lyricist's expected awareness is of the gothic novel, but in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and My Hyde, Hyde is a transformation of the good-mannered Dr Jekyll, acting out all vices Jekyll kept in his heart, evil, self-indulgent, and caring about none but himself. At first, Jekyll controls his transformations with use of a serum, but eventually, Jekyll loses control of when he transforms. This shares some core similarities with what later happens to Kogitsunemaru in utaawase, with the key difference that Kogitsunemaru's transformation, while self-indulgent, is benign. Considering Hyde is outright evil, though, it is hard to relate this back to tsuwamono. There's no "evil" to join hands with, considering Kogitsunemaru comes to the conclusion Mikazuki is neither right nor wrong. While I would love for Kogitsunemaru to eventually come to commit time crimes with Mikazuki, the invocation of the listener (in the form of what I interpret as the general 'oneself' -> 'us' (jibun)) calls the song back to the listener-aimed interpretation, in other words, this comes to show once again he can be your angle OR yuor devil, but which side comes out depends on you.

Hiding our true intents in the deepest of our hearts With a fabricated smile, everyone is desperately feeling one another out

Once more, the song calls back to the concept of omote/ura! This time, it comes with the association of wanting to know what the other is really thinking. One thing I quite like about these lines is how they involve 'everyone'. It gives the sense that the things Kogitsunemaru is singing about are things that pertain to general humanity, and he and the listener both participate in that as well.

Meetings and partings, dreams and setbacks, feelings are contrary The answer I had so long searched for may not even exist

Another row of contrasts, culminating with something ("contrary") implying two sides of a coin. This one, though, is a lot less strongly connected to omote/ura, and a lot less straightforward to connect back to Kogitsunemaru. Yes, Mikazuki has met and parted with Yasuhira countless, countless times, yes, Imanotsurugi and Iwatooshi meet with Hizamaru and Higekiri, and Imanotsurugi parts with Yoshitsune, but that's not something that relates as strongly back to what tsuwamono sketches as its themes (not like musuhaji does), nor does it relate back to Kogitsunemaru. Similarly, while 'the warrior's dreams' is a key concept in tsuwamono, the setbacks experienced are either those personal to the historical figures, Mikazuki's failure of being able to convince Yoritomo, or in the form of Iwa and Ima discovering they don't exist. Kogitsunemaru doesn't have a clear dream or setback! But, as sketched before, contrary feelings are very much a Kogitsunemaru thing, and the second line closely mirrors his resolution at the end of tsuwamono. After all, what Mikazuki is doing is neither right, nor wrong.

Truth and lies are intertwining Even the truth is meaningless by now The love and hate I bear in my heart Which one I'll choose, ah, that is always decided by you, my dear!

It's a bit unfortunate that 'truth' is both the most suitable translation for 'hontou' in this case and 'shinjitsu', because, well, I like mimicking different word choices w But, both in terms of tsuwamono and in terms of Kogitsunemaru, this line is one that fits well! After all, tsuwamono is a myu in which only part of the fictional, being several heroic events from the Tale of the Heike as well as the importance of Benkei, truly happened, and part of what's regarded as fact wouldn't naturally occur if this timeline was allowed to happen without interference. To borrow Suishinshi's words, "History was just written by the victors, isn't that right? No one remembers what truly happened."

The end result of tsuwamono is that it doesn't matter if history isn't followed to the precisest word, just like in Mihotose, as long as the form is correct, the precise details can (and here even need to) be fudged a little.

In terms of Kogitsunemaru, he himself also walks the border of being real and fictional. More specifically, while Kogitsunemaru himself is clearly and decidedly the Noh play, his line in Touken Ranbu the song ("If the golden beast dances, hear, peals of thunder resound!") implies he is in some way connected to the real Kogitsunemaru swords that have existed (since the most famous of those, the one owned by the Kujou Fujiwara, is said to have repelled a lightning storm), and Kogitsunemaru's crest incorporating the Fujiwara crest lightly supports that. In Kogitsunemaru's own case, he regards it as "A difficult question," all the while knowing of his Noh background: in the trial performance, Mikazuki quotes the "Fuujinkaden" treatises by Zeami, the founder of Noh, and Kogitsunemaru identifies it as such, in one of the srs22 higawari Kogitsunemaru quotes those same treatises saying he "hasn't forgotten his [newcomer's] heart." And in his kiwame, too, while it is highly curious he managed to go down to Munechika in Ichijo's reign considering Mikazuki says he himself was smithed in the late 11th century, his resolution essentially boils down to 'something has happened'. While it is certainly up to interpretation how Kogitsunemaru sees himself in myu, I like to see it as that Kogitsunemaru can't deny his own existence, even while identifying more with his story than with his real blades, precisely because he has experienced being smithed in that story. If he in his experience has been smithed by the hands of Munechika and Inari, and has now obtained a physical shape reflecting that, how is that truly different from being real?

The latter two lines are just about literally the core of the song. Depending on what you do, he can be your angle or yuor devil, or more metaphorically, depending on Mikazuki's actions, he can resolve to fight him or accept him.

I picked something more akin to the 'lover-level familiar' interpretation for 'anata' here to contrast with the earlier 'jibun'-- while Kogitsunemaru normally addresses Mikazuki as 'anata', I think this is part of his normal polite speech rather than an expression of intimate familiarity. However, this song doesn't use Kogitsunemaru's polite speech patterns, hence my choice to emphasize it.

For all the times we repeat mistakes, we come to know what's right

This, too, is a close reference back to tsuwamono! Iwatooshi told Mikazuki "It is through making mistakes and taking detours, over and over again, that we grow," and after Iwatooshi left, Mikazuki echoed him as "Over and over... Over and over, huh?"

If there's any 'mistake' that you could say Kogitsunemaru himself repeated, that would eventually lead to him coming to learn what's 'right', it would be his fight against Mikazuki. As a sidenote, it also reflects Kogitsunemaru's attitude from atsuibun that some things are better learned through experience and one's own thinking, rather than being handed an answer.

I don't think this line applies as strongly to Kogitsunemaru accepting Mikazuki's chagashi, by the way. After all, right before that happens Kogitsunemaru tells Mikazuki he thinks his methods are neither right nor wrong, and essentially says he will condone but not join Mikazuki's time crimes. If anything, Kogitsunemaru, by as readily accepting Mikazuki's chagashi as he does, says it's no mistake for him to stay by Mikazuki's side.

But we mustn't forget that, even so, humans are greedy and mutually desiring living beings

And this is what makes the song so nicely foreshadowing of utaawase! At its heart, utaawase is about Kogitsunemaru's struggle between what's right and where his desires lay, told through the lighthearted medium of his desire to eat aburage. These lines say that, in pursuit of greed and through desire for one another, because we are human and living beings, we will willingly make mistakes even if we've come to know what's right. The contrast, or rather, question, whether the toudan are human or objects is one that has been alluded to since srs16, while the subject was introduced in atsuibun. I highlight this bit in particular not just because utaawase repeats it, but because I believe it's an important motif in tsuwamono and the broader plot of myu. Tsuwamono is a musical that humanises Mikazuki, while kishou is a musical that renders Mikazuki closer to an object-- a function. TKO essentially deifies Mikazuki, but that's a sidetangent I won't go into at the moment, haha.

Both myus each have their lines that showcase this; tsuwamono has "No one truly knows what goes on in a [human: hito]'s mind, not even oneself," and kishou aside from calling him a function has Mikazuki calling the humans he's approached the "Mononobe", 'servants of objects'. In tsuwamono, this contrast between 'object' and 'human' finds itself in the contrast between Kogitsunemaru, who is intent on following the Saniwa's orders without questioning, single-mindedly, and Mikazuki, whose humanity drives him to make complicated decisions out of kindness.

While Kogitsunemaru is the 'object' between the two in tsuwamono until their confrontation, these lines (and utaawase) re-emphasise Kogitsunemaru's humanity. It's that same humanity that makes Kogitsunemaru want to understand Mikazuki before actually laying a hand on him, and that same humanity that drives Kogitsunemaru to worry for him, and in the end, to ask him to dance with him in battle.

While I do think Kogitsunemaru being the object of Mikazuki's desires and Mikazuki being the object of Kogitsunemaru's desires, in the name of which he wilfully makes mistakes, is very sexy, I don't think it applies to Kogitsunemaru and Mikazuki's resolution in the end of tsuwamono, as I wrote in the analysis of the previous lyrics. Though, interpreting his initial unwillingness to go full force against Mikazuki as a mistake he makes out of a desire not to slay the person he is closest to is pretty readily done. It is also easy enough to regard Mikazuki keeping his mouth shut to Kogitsunemaru as a mistake he makes out of caring for him and the Saniwa, and the mistakes he makes in the form of telling Yasuhira about his duty over and over again instead of simply controlling him is another mistake made out of kindness. But all of those are different from greed and desiring one another.

What I could see happen, in a further future, hopefully it's still somewhere on the table after Goumyu (my extremely worried/depressed What Goumyu May Have Done To Kogitsunemaru Through Evoking His Themes essay is also on request), is Kogitsunemaru making the 'mistake' of covering for Mikazuki in his want to stay by his side. This could be either in the form of Kogitsunemaru fending off the swords of the Citadel as they try to pursue Mikazuki when he's gone too far, aiding Mikazuki in ways that don't directly interfere with the flow of history (for example by becoming a bridge like the Gous), or even eventually coming to commit minor time offences himself.

Once again, because of the implication of a relationship more desireful than myu is likely to intend for KogiMika, I think interpreting these in a listener-aimed romantic light is the more straightforward thing to do. In these lines, Kogitsunemaru says it's human nature to wilfully make mistakes in the name of love and desire. This turns the song from "he can be your angle or yuor devil (kinda dangerous)" to "he can be your angle or yuor devil (sexy)." He may have conflicting sides as a lover, but he is always weighing its weight, and will make mistakes in name of love and desire because that, as well as being two-sided, is human nature. And I think that that change of angles (actual angles in this case) is neat, precisely because Kogitsunemaru holds the cusp between various things in myu, either within himself or together with Mikazuki.

Ah!

To close off, if you can, please listen to kotobuki (senshuuraku) Kogizono's 'Ah!' it is so powerful I had to include it as text when I subbed kotobuki. He's grown from a nice to a pretty dang amazing singer, even if not as conventional as the likes of Tsuru, Hori, or Tonbo. Please Recognise His Power 🥺 For me 🥺

And as tl;dr; While I think Versus is most straightforwardly interpreted as a song aimed romantically towards a listener, it builds strongly off of the events and themes introduced in Tsuwamono, and so, as extension of that, it calls back to Mikazuki and Kogitsunemaru's relationship in a less direct way. I also think it leads up to Kogitsunemaru's utaawase skit really well! Though not everything fits either myu!Kogi or game!Kogi, it's a fun "I can be your angle or yuor devil" song that solidifies Kogitsunemaru's connection to the omote/ura theme utaawase and kotobuki come back on, which is fun to see. Overall, especially in post-srs18 Versus performances, it showcases Kitazono's vocal ability, topped off by him adding the Wham Note AAAA after the bridge.

This was fun to write! It may have ended up a bit big, but I hope it's nonetheless a fun read! This goes to everyone who came up to here (thank you so much for reading!), but let me know if there's anything toumyu you'd like my thoughts on! I have plenty of them, especially about kogi/mika/kogimika, so little essays about those would tend to be a bit more longer and elaborate, like this one 😌

#touken ranbu #toumyu #Kogitsunemaru #Water's meta #tsuwamono #KogiMika #probably good to tag that too haha #Mikazuki Munechika #who lives rent-free in the theming of myu but especially Kogitsunemaru's plotline in tsuwamono #the super short tl;dr is 'it's probably standalone yume but it strongly relates back to tsuwa so highlighting the mika relation has value'#also I love getting and answering asks like this aaaaa!#I can't promise anything near this level of elaborateness if it's something other than kogi/mika/kogimika but on the other hand #that also means I likely can if it is!#so just shoot me an ask and I'll more than gladly give my thoughts!

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memo14g · 10 months

Text

UMC Shadowing Day 1 (7/3) || Mathew Wong (USC)

Our first “real” day of the mission trip! I was woken up by by my team leader bright and early to get ready for breakfast! After breakfast we met in the lobby to then head to UMC. The sun was blazing as the humid air made our professional attire stick to our skin. Our first impression of the hospital was the hundreds of people waiting at the outpatient clinic. It was nothing I have ever seen before and it allowed me to see the brutal reality of Vietnam’s health situation.

We met in the conference room to introduce all of the sponsors and health care professionals that made the trip and surgeries possible. After the formalities, we got to my favorite part. We got to see some of the children that were receiving the heart surgery! The long introduction had us getting tired, but when the children arrived, the whole room brightened up! They were incredibly adorable and made me feel grateful for all the work everyone put in to provide opportunities to these children. Additionally, we got to learn more about the hospital and some even got to tour it! But there was only a limit of 20 people, so the other half stayed in the conference room to practice with the manual blood pressure pump for the upcoming clinic days! Once lunch was complete, we headed back to the UMC to start shadowing!

My group was on orthopedic rotation and I was super excited to see a surgery! However, due to events out of our control, we were unable to see any surgery and was only limited to seeing a few patients. Despite the limited access, the resident doctor was super nice and friendly in answering any questions we had. We saw different patients and he described what was going on in a simple and easy to understand manner. With some extra time left, I was able to speak with the plastic surgeon that came with us. He gave us a great macro view of the USA medical practices versus Vietnam medical practices. It was incredibly eye opening hearing all the differences! Most groups I heard was not able to see surgeries as they were all scheduled for the morning. However, I did hear later that one guy was able to scrub in! How lucky!

After shadowing we went back to the hotel to debrief on the pros and cons of every rotation. Once that was complete, we were able to rest up until it was time for dinner! Some of us slept and some people played card games to pass the time! Dinner was great! It seemed very authentic. It was funny when our guide gave us some of his food to share with the group as everyone was hesitant to try it.

After a long day, we came back to the hotel to relax and head to bed! A group of people decided to hit up da Maccas (McDonald’s) after the BOD meeting! Despite the long day, I felt obligated to go as it’s my mission to try all the McDonald’s and every country I visit! I’m glad I went. They had a matcha Oreo McFlurry and fried chicken! Both were delicious and a must have if I ever come back!

Overall, it was a successful day learning more about the hospital and seeing the heart surgery recipients!

Above: Rakesh giving out a certificate to one of the heart surgery recipient.

Above: Outside UMC

Above: Late night Mcdonalds run!

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petersthree · 1 year

Note

Favorite Marvel ship and least favorite DC ship for the ask game?

idk how i missed this one but!!

Peter/MJ:

What made you ship it? This is hard - much like Batcat it was a childhood ship so I don't have an exact thing, I just knew I always loved them.

What are your favorite things about the ship? So it comes from the comics mainly, but they just get each other so much. There's a scene I particularly love from the, I think 2001 comics? Peter and MJ are separated or going through a rough time in that comic, but there's a moment where Pete is staring at this building and MJ comes up next to him and they have a moment, silent there, and Peter says he misses her so much, and MJ says she does too, and we see the plaque is for Gwen. It was just such a beautiful, sweet thing, on how they both loved Gwen so much and miss her so deeply, and how even in this stressful time in their relationship they can have this shared moment of grief and understanding between each other, and idk I just!! Loved it so so so much

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I guess that I don't mind the Zendaya MJ version, if we're going with comics canon? She's obviously a very different MJ than we've seen before, but I remember watching a video that put what I think into words - MJ was introduced as kind of an outcast or differing person to society in her first introduction. She partied, she went out, but that wasn't what was seen for other female characters in comics during that time, and I like that we adapted that theme for MJ in the MCU movies (and this is besides the point of Peter/MJ, but updated a lot of themes in general for these characters and what they would represent in a 2023 kid's life versus what we'd be used to from like the say, 90s. Like Flash being a bully is the same regardless, but we see how he's well, a Gen Z bully and not a stereotypical 90s bully we're used to seeing physically beating people up lmao. And I just love it, I like that this is one that takes the idea of these characters and tries to update it but a;lfjal anyway that's a tangent).

Snowbarry - this one was so hard bc I feel like I've blocked most of the Arrowverse ships from my head and I could only think of the incest batman ships so a;lskdjfa;lkj let's go with this one!

Why don’t you ship it? The way the fandom was created basically right after Danielle and Candice's casting reeeeally did not help, as well as the intense racism - sure, from a minority of the fandom, but it just asjdfkl didn't give me a great taste. That and they just didn't seem like they had any actual real chemistry? A lot of the time they felt like siblings at best and colleagues the rest of the time.

What would have made you like it? If Grant and Danielle had romantic chemistry lol

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? The ship name is nice!

#janie gets asks #kyber infinitygems

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vorthosthewillis · 1 year

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Sorry for the delay, but welcome back to my Pokemon Legends Arceus nuzlocke run! With all 5 regions and nobles beaten, we've reached the endgame. Can I beat it?

Part 6: The Shattered Sky

The morning after I finished the Icelands, I and everyone else in the village woke up to find the sky… not right. Naturally, bossman Kamado blames me, and I get kicked out. Volo decides to help me out, and I meet Cogita. If you know the story of Legends, you know how this all goes, and frankly I don't have much interesting to report when it comes all this. I did go back to the Icelands for a hot minute to catch some pokemons, and picked up Dinah, an Alpha Froslass, and then my team solidly trashed the alpha pokemon at the lakes with ease, so making the Red Chain was painless. From here though, I have to go back to the Mountain. The Icelands may have taken the most from me, but that Mountain wanted blood, and I have to go back.

I head up there, and my first test is Beni. Beni has a Mismagius, a Sneasler, Gardevoir… and a Gallade. The Mountain, and a Gallade? The death flags are piling up, and I don't like it.

Mismagius is his first pokemon, and its a little tricky, as my easy answers to it (Azure and Adapt) will die rather easily to the rest of his team, and LadyRidge will die to it. I can go Goop, Dinah, or Batgirl, and I decide to go Goop due to his defensive capabilities, and the fact that the next pokemon on his team will be Gardevoir. Goop finishes it, but then something I didn't expect happened. See, I assumed Beni will throw out his pokemon in order, like a decent chunk of trainers in pokemon games do. Oh no. He sends out Sneasler, who is so fast compared to Goop it gets off two Quick Attacks and then a Strong style Close Combat. Goop… is gone.

Batgirl comes in and takes out the Sneasler, but I'm devastated. It's not been that long since I lost Kodiak and Lilith, and while Goop hadn't been around as long as them, he left an impression (1 person on twitter even replied to the tweet saying Goop was dead with a emoji screaming "no", so I'm not the only person who loved him). What's more, Goop was essential to my battle plan versus the next fight, Kamado. But I pushed that aside and kept the attack on. Batgirl finished off Beni's Gardevoir, and then the Gallade came out, and immediately Agile styles a Psychic, than a normal one, and Batgirl falls as well. I send out Dinah, and she finishes off the Gallade, but I leave that battle once again down a third of my team.

Congrats Mountain, you got 2 more kills. And I can safely say I've developed a burning hatred of Gallades.

At this point I took another break and time to train, and Twitter didn't hear from me for almost a solid month (for comparison sake, everything before this happened roughly in 1.5, 2 weeks). I looked at all my potential options, trained several, did some research, and then put together this team for Kamado:

Azure (Samurott), lvl 74

Adapt (Umbreon), lvl 74

LadyRidge (Lilligant), lvl 75

Dinah (Alpha Froslass), lvl 78

Underdog (Garchomp), lvl 61

Chaucer (Arcanine), lvl 63

Chaucer made his return to the front lines (he had shown up once or twice for random fights in the Icelands, but this was his first return to consist teammate), and I introduced Underdog to the group. That Gible, when I caught him, had been a measly lvl 30-something, so it took AWHILE to get him ready, but I valued a ground attacker, and no one can argue a Garchomp is a strong asset to any team. I would have preferred to get the two of them to 70 like the rest of the team, but to be honest, I was tired, and in the process of training Underdog the others had naturally grown 7 or 8 levels since the Beni fight, meaning Chaucer and Underdog were actually pretty close to where the team had been when I last progressed the story. So with that determined, I went after Kamado.

So Kamado has 4 pokemon: Golem, Braviary, Snorlax, and Celfable. Azure takes down the Braviary, and the combination of Dinah and LadyRidge take out the Clefable. Kamado sends out his Snorlax, and I take a second to determine my next move. LadyRidge is currently out, and while the Snorlax is weak to fighting, it also knows Zen Headbutt. Leaving out LadyRidge is a risk, but I decide to take it. Sure enough, that headbutt hurt bad, but Lady's Drain Punch heals her up and takes out the Snorlax. One weak Golem later, Kamado is finished. The training paid off, and everyone survived. Didn't even use the new mates.

A bunch of story stuff happens now, as you know, and long story short Adapt holds the line until I can acquire a Palkia now affectionately named… Frank. Dialga (aka the soon to be Bob) pops out, and with the mcguffin (aka Red Cord) gone, we retreat. We need to build a special ball to catch it, so LadyRidge and Chaucer take down the thieves one last time and we acquire the ore we need. We get back to home base, where I'm reminded I have to take Frank with me to fight future-Bob, so Underdog stays behind (don't worry, I wasn't planning on keeping Frank on the team, Underdog would return). Time for another boss fight.

Either I've gotten good, or this boss battle is different, cause as I ducked, dodged, and threw balms, I got future-Bob's bar significantly down before I had to throw out a pokemon. LadyRidge comes out, I have her do a Victory Dance first, and future-Bob tries to take the opportunity to gut punch her out of time. She survives the hit though, and double Drain Punched future-Bob down to oblivion. I begin to throw the balms again, and somehow… I finished it. The easiest boss fight yet. I catch myself a Bob, and with a Frank and a Bob in my possession, the sky returns to normal.

While everyone celebrates, and the "Thank you for Adventuring" card pops up, I almost consider this nuzlocke a success. But no. I have one more fight left to do. The real villain needs to be brought to justice, no matter the price.

Shattered Sky completed

Current Team:

Azure, Adapt, LadyRidge, Dinah, Chaucer, Underdog

Teammates lost: 2

Goop, Batgirl

Total Teammates lost: 12

Diorite, Nutmeg, Cordyceps, Lily, Gari, Timelord, Lilith, Kodiak, Justice, Cranky, Goop, Batgirl

Retired Teammates: 1

Mom Shipton

Annoying Legendaries: 2

Frank, Bob

Next time... well, either way, it's the end.

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mikeykun-11900 · 3 years

Text

Laser tag double date with Ran & Rindou

Ran x reader (special request from a friend)

It was a normal and sunny day when you were heading towards Tenjiku’s hideout. You were gonna visit your friend Nat who was the administrator of Tenjiku.

You felt a little uncomfortable the closer you got to the entrance since the place was surrounded by men in uniform staring at you. So you just looked down to avoid any eye. contact with any of them.

– The f*ck are ya’ll looking at? Got nothing else to do? – you heard a boy say that, so you looked up – They have no manners, ignore them – you could notice a guy in a different uniform than the rest, everyone was wearing dark red and he was wearing black in contrast, it made him stand out

– Oh.. thank you.. – you looked at his appearance: tall, beautiful eyes, black and blonde sectioned hair, and of course, braids

– What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this? – he bent down to reach your height – Did you come here to see someone?

– I..

– Y/N!! – your friend Nat jumped to you and gave you a warm hug

– Hi Nat!! – you hugged her back

– Administrator, you didn’t tell us we’d have such a pleasant visit today.. – said Ran, which made you blush

– Oh, let me introduce you to her, she’s my friend Y/N – Nat said while wrapping her arm around your shoulder – and Y/N, this is one of the executives who taught me how to fight, his name is Ran

– Nice to meet you Y/N – Ran said while examining your features and getting closer for a handshake

– Nice to meet you too.. – you said shyly while grabbing his hand for the handshake, it was hard for you to keep the eye contact with him, his eyes were way too seductive

– She came to wait for me, we’ll play laser tag – Nat said

– Laser tag? – Ran tilted his hair

– Yeah! The place you go and put on some special vests that light up and you have to shoot your opponent’s vest three times with your laser weapon to win! – you explained

– Sounds competitive.. I like it, may I go with you two?

– Laser tag was your idea Y/N, can Ran come with us? – Nat asked

– Of course but.. it’ll be two against one?

– In that case.. I’ll ask Rindou to come as well, two versus two would be fair, right?

You could see how Nat blushed as soon as Ran mentioned Rindou. He went to look for his brother who initially refused, but then changed his mind when he found out Nat was going since he liked her.

So, the four of you were heading to the game center to play laser tag. When you arrived you put on the vests, grabbed your weapons and headed to a room similar to the one in the pic.

The duos were: Y/N & Nat vs. Ran & Rindou

The room had many strategic places to hide so you took the advantage to plan with Nat.

– I can take the right path and you take the left one to ambush both of them at once – you whispered

– If we corner them.. they won’t be able to escape! – Nat said

– Perfect

You both nodded and took opposite paths, you were walking carefully to not make any sound, you could easily find Ran hiding so you started sneaking towards him.

He suddenly looked at your direction which made you crouch down to hide for a few seconds, then you peeked to see if he was still there, but he was gone.

“What the.. where did he go?” you thought, then you felt shiver down your spine when you felt a hand on your shoulder from behind.

– Who are you looking for? – Ran whispered on your ear

– I.. I.. – you couldn’t move, and your heart started beating fast

– Shh.. – he gave a gentle nibble on your ear while pressing the tip of his weapon against your back to shoot your vest three times from behind, the nibbling made you bite your lower lip to hold any sound or moan that wanted to leave your mouth – it looks like you’ve lost..

– That’s cheating! – you said while turning around facing him

– Let me make it up for you.. would you go out with me some other day? – he said while placing his hand on your jawline and caressing your lips with his thumb – just the two of us..

You nodded while noticing how closer he was getting. He placed his free hand on your hip and pressed you against the pillar you were previously using for hiding.

– You’re beautiful.. Y/N.. – he whispered before pressing his lips softly against yours, you placed both hands on his neck to pull him and inviting him to kiss you deeper.

You started feeling warmer as he pressed you against the pillar with his body. Then he pulled your lower lip with his teeth gently and let out a deep sigh before breaking the kiss to get some air. After that, he grabbed your shoulder with one hand and your nape with the other one as he slid his tongue between your lips to caress yours with his.

You started breathing heavily as soon as you felt him grabbing your thighs and lifting you, pressing his knee against the pillar to hold you up and prevent you from falling so he could reach your neck and fill it with kisses. That pleasant moment made you close your eyes and throw your head back while wrapping your legs around him.

At that point you were desperate for more, right there. He was definitely getting warmer too, you could see how hungry he was by looking at his seductive eyes while having a grin on his lips.

– Let’s continue this somewhere else.. – he whispered on your ear before giving a quick but warm lick, then he let you get down and grabbed your hand to make you follow him – But first.. let’s look for my brother and the admin, I’m sure he won

You were holding hands while walking around the room until you saw Rindou sitting on the floor leaning against the wall with Nat sitting on his lap, they were kissing passionately.

– N-Nat? – you said while looking at them

– Please don’t tell me you lost Rindou.. you should be ashamed of yourself – Ran said

– But she’s so fast.. I couldn’t stand a chance – Rindou excused himself

– Whatever, I’ll take care of it myself – Ran said while placing his hands on his pockets – Huh? Where’s my weapon?

– I think.. you left it behind the pillar.. – you said while pointing at the spot you both came from

– Die! Haitani! – Nat said while lifting her weapon and pointing it at him to shoot his vest three times – I eliminated both of them so we won Y/N!!

– Cheater! I was unarmed!

– Who cares? What were the two of you doing so quiet? – Nat said while looking at both of you

– I’m afraid that’s none of your business administrator – Ran scoffed – What were you and my brother doing?

– We were about to make a mini me~ – Rindou laughed and then Nat slapped him

Thank you for reading and let me know if you’d like to see more!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My wattpad: kazu_tiger

Picture cr: pinterest

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froggysoup · 3 years

Text

wowee

Alrighty I’m just gonna ramble on about my thoughts on the new quest (and things in general because I talk too much) and pray that at least some of it ends up coherent. Spoilers, by the way.

I’ve had this first theory since the last archon quest but got nervous and didn’t share, so here it is now. Maybe it’s an obvious thing that I’m just in the dark about, but I’m fairly sure that Dainsleif’s “Boughkeeper” title has a large part in explaining why he knows so much about things he really shouldn’t. From the newest quest, we learn that he is actually cursed with immortality, which could explain some it, but the guy still knows too much for it to simply be chalked up to his age. He’s literally the designated narrator for half of the official videos and knows a lot about what and who he talks about.

I suspect that the ley lines serve as an information network of some sort, and that Dainsleif’s position as Boughkeeper allows him access to it in one way or another. The only other places we really see the whole tree/branch thing is with the ley line branches, Irminsul trees, the Frostbearing Tree, and the tree who once had roots that spanned the whole continent (which we know the ley line branches were once directly a part of), all of which are connected in a way that I haven’t quite figured out yet.

Now, from those screens that come up while the game is loading, we know that supposedly, the intertwined roots of the Irminsul trees far beneath the earth determine the pattern of the ley lines above, and we also know that ley lines are a “mysterious network that links the whole world together” and that they are said to remember everything that happens in the world. From this, I don’t think it’d be that much of a reach to say that Dainsleif can access that somehow.

Next. I do think there’s a pretty good chance that the Archons were involved in the destruction of Khaenri’ah. The Viridescent Venerer set actually tells us how the former Dendro Archon died during the cataclysm while in Khaenri’ah, which. Uh. That’s kind of really incriminating.

However! Obviously, we’ve only heard this from Dainsleif’s point of view and he’s pretty biased considering his whole thing. We don’t know how much control Celestia has over the Archons’ actions, either, and I’m about 98% sure that some of them weren’t into it, and likely didn't even have a choice. Like, look at the Tsaritsa. Her whole thing is that sometime during the cataclysm, she witnessed something so view-shattering and unjust that her whole thing now is to “burn away the old world” and overthrow Celestia.

I also can’t see Venti and Zhongli going along with the destruction of an entire nation with no hesitation. Like, obviously, again, Dainsleif is going to be biased, but from what we’ve been told Khaenri’ah didn’t even do anything divine-retribution-worthy. Celestia just seems be into dropping skyscraper-sized pillars and other things onto nations who get too good at being independent, for whatever reason. The new quest is definitely supposed to make us question the current systems of this world but I don’t think we’re meant to hate Venti or Zhongli, at least yet. I think they’re even kind of meant to be seen as the “best” out of the Archons, so to speak. (Not that I think they’re perfect, by any means.)

Like, just look at the way they’ve been presented to us, versus how some of the other Archons have been introduced (Storyline Trailer, my beloved).

Raiden Shogun is made out to be some self-absorbed divine ass-kisser who doesn’t have humanity’s best interests at heart (which we know is supposed to be a thing you do as an Archon). She’s doing her whole confiscating visions and oppressive rule thing in an effort to be seen as more divine, but, as Dainsleif puts it, “what do mortals see of the eternity chased after by their god?”

The Dendro Archon/God of Wisdom is implied to not actually be as smart as somebody with that title is supposed to be, one way or another, and either has turned a blind eye to or blatantly encourages the “push for folly” in Sumeru. Can’t tell exactly what that would mean or entail (thanks, Dainsleif), but obviously. Doesn’t sound good.

Dainsleif says of the Hydro Archon that she “lives for the spectacle of the courtroom, seeking to judge all other gods. But even she knows not to make an enemy of the divine.” While the not making an enemy of the divine thing I get (I guess, coward), the whole “seeking to judge all other gods” bit seems very “remove the log from your own eye”-y. Like, you’re an Archon, too, what are you trying to prove here?

The Tsaritsa is- well, the Tsaritsa, as we know. While I do think we are meant to sympathize and agree with at least part of her core ideals and motives, she still is the one behind the Fatui and is, by extension, a war criminal. She also apparently has “no love left for her people”. It’s a bit of a complicated relationship that we have with her.

The only ones who Dainsleif does not directly slander in the trailer are Venti, Zhongli, and Murata. While I don’t think we have enough on her to come to any conclusions about her character yet, Venti does say of her that she is a “wayward, war-mongering wretch”. Now, he does also jab at Rex Lapis during this voiceline, but unlike with Murata we know that those two are buddy-buddy and it was very likely that it was “buffoon (affectionate)”.

Venti and Zhongli are also the first two Archons we encounter, which is important for multiple reasons.

Gonna derail for a bit because I don’t know where to start. But. The game very likely will (or at least should) end with no Archons.

Obviously, especially in light of the new quest (although this stuff has been floating around since the Dragonspine update and even before that), Celestia Bad. Like, cataclysmically bad (lmao). In fact, I’m highly certain that you could trace basically every problem in this game back to them, some way or another.

Even our main “villain” groups all seem to be gunning for Celestia. The Fatui obviously work for the Tsaritsa, who’s made it very clear that she plans to rebel against the divine. The Abyss Order, too, has their Deeply Upsetting plan of creating a mechanized god with the power to “topple the divine thrones of Celestia”.

Evidence points to an overthrow of Celestia at some point in the game, and considering how being an Archon or even a god is directly tied to Celestia, yeah. No more Celestia means no more Archons.

But even besides that, there’s a lot there to suggest that that’s where things are going.

I find it interesting how Mondstadt’s our prologue chapter, or that there’s even a prologue chapter of the game at all. Prologues are meant to set up ideas that will be present throughout the rest of the story, and Mondstadt does exactly that. Venti’s let the people of Mondstadt govern themselves and has almost completely been out of the equation for millennia, even if that means he is significantly weaker than his godly peers. When asked why he chose to do that instead of remain in charge and just give them freedom, Venti responds that “freedom, if demanded of you by an archon, is really no freedom at all.” This sentiment is also brought up in the Mondstadt portion of the storyline trailer, and the traveler even has a whole voiceline debating what Venti really meant when he said that.

This idea of freedom and that humanity is capable on its own is further reinforced in Chapter 1, in which Liyue learns to move on from the death of its Archon. Zhongli set up his plan with the intention of testing if his people could stand on their own legs without him there to guide them, and they do. He even expresses how pleasantly surprised he is that the Qixing were able to take advantage of the situation and seize control like they did. Keqing gives us this whole speech when we first meet her about how the adepti and gods underestimate humanity’s capability and how Liyue’s future is meant to be a godless one. This, in a way, extends to the rest of the continent as well.

In the storyline trailer (which I quote too often, I’m sorry. My favorite and only party trick is that I got bored one day and memorized the whole thing), Dainsleif spends the entire Khaenri’ah section musing about something similar.

“In the perpetual meantime of a sheltered eternity, most are content to live and not to dream. But in the hidden corner where the gods’ gaze does not fall, there are those who dream of dreaming,” is obviously about the people of Teyvat vs. those in Khaenri’ah. While a future under the care of the Archons is a safe and reliable one, is it one that allows humanity to chase its potential to the fullest? Khaenri’ah was destroyed for flourishing like it did without gods, both as a punishment and a warning to everybody else.

“Some say a few are chosen and the rest are dregs, but I say we humans have our humanity.” This is in reference to visions. Throughout the game, this idea that, at least in the eyes of the gods, vision holders are more important than those without them, is constantly brought up.

In the commission “Leaves on the Wind”, Dr. Edith expresses how it often seems as if vision holders are the main characters of this world. From the notebooks we receive during the “Time and Wind” world quest, we learn that the Sumeru Academia actually discourages non-vision holders from conducting outdoor surveys, and how “these days... trying to be an academic when you don't have a Vision, it's really restricting...” Dainsleif even just straight up asks us what we think the gods think of vision holders and people in general during question time in that one quest.

In Lisa’s stories, we learn that the reason for her laziness is that a part of her is afraid of learning or doing too much, after witnessing what “uninhibited erudition” can do to people during her time in Sumeru. She also senses that something beneath the surface is happening regarding the distribution of visions. “For whatever reasons, the gods gave humans the key to changing everything, but they did not explain the cost involved. Lisa grew fearful of the truth.”

I forgot exactly where I was going with that last paragraph, but yeah. There’s definitely sketchy shit going on behind the scenes in regards to visions, possibly to keep people either quiet or complacent. I suspect it may even be to restrict access to certain knowledges or even the elements themselves. Anyways.

I lose track of my thoughts too often. Fuck. Right. Mondstadt and Liyue served as good examples of society under the rule of the Archons, and in Chapter 2 we will encounter our first bad example, showing us the pros and cons of the current situation. However, despite Zhongli and Venti seeming to genuinely care for their people, humanity’s wellbeing shouldn’t be reliant on how their god is feeling that day, and they shouldn’t have to look to the gods for a chance to become something greater than themselves, either.

Um. All that’s to say I’m just very excited to see where the story will go, and if Zhongli’s contract with the Tsaritsa is any indication then it’s gonna go somewhere good. Celestia bad, Archons bad but also not bad but also bad, I don’t know if what I just wrote actually even counts as understandable, thank you and good night.

#i talk too much without saying anything substantial i'm so sorry #genshin impact #genshin impact theory #does this count as dainsleifposting?#i'll tag it anyway #dainsleifposting

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hex-obsession · 3 years

Text

Silver Lining - Two

word count- 2,259

content warning- language, angst, indirect s**cidal thought

____________________________________________

Crows cawing, your eyes open just enough to hazily make out the all too familiar color of your room.

“Early bird gets the worm, you know,” a familiar voice murmurs. Pushing off the wall to your right, your body slides diagonally over your bed, your head dangling off the side. Upside down, Cheryl is slumped against your door frame, arms and legs crossed. Brazen as usual, just the way you loved her. You held your own in most regards but Cheryl was always there when you least expected it and needed her most. You swear there were a halo atop that adorable shaggy blonde head of hers. And not one of those tacky event items either.

“Like I’d get anything any time of day with all the birds around here.” A tickling squeeze builds in your abdomen, branching up your neck to your cheeks which now had a telling pink glow.

“So you gonna talk to old lover boy yet or what?”

You jolt forward and whip around fast enough to make any killer miss a swing. Your response is unnecessary as she’s already smirking devilishly, aware of what she’s doing. She might have been your closest friend but that did not stop her from tormenting you, or anyone else that crossed her path. All in good fun and love, of course. It went without saying that you enjoyed it and she knew when it was, rarely, time to pack it up.

Raising her eyebrows, she leans back and throws her hands up. “I’m just saying, if you don’t, you might lose your chance. That’s all I’m saying,” quieter now.

You sighed. She was right. You weren’t the only one who took a liking to Leon. But, unlike you, Yun-Jin did not hide her feelings, from anyone for any reason, ever. Of course, everyone thought he was charismatic and most, undeniably handsome. That was common knowledge. You ran out of things to talk about in a place like this, and secrets were few and far between. There was no reason to hide here. This was your foreseeable future, together. There was no getting out, no changing things. Being open and sharing everything together made your day to day bearable. The connections you lost in your old lives left gaping holes, but together as one tightly knit, weird, fucked up family, you helped fill the voids. Some took longer than others to accept that fate, and there were some inevitable hiccups, but everyone came around eventually.

Anyone who wasn’t blind could see the attraction Yun-Jin had for the newest addition to your group. Placing her hands on him in conversation whenever she got the chance, laughing a little too hard at the things he said, biting her bottom lip and smiling at him when he talked. You’d even caught her pecking his cheek playfully here and there. He’d always smile and look away, as if it were a game. Leon always had a sultry attitude to him, a ladies' man no doubt. Subtly flirting with everyone was just commonplace for him. That was part of the reason you held back. Fearing you missed your chance and someone else had filled the role you longed to be in. Maybe it was your fear of rejection or abandonment, or not wanting to lose something this important in a world as cruel and bare this. You were subconsciously working hard to convince him you were only a friend. Which you were, definitely friends. Close even, given the circumstances. Trauma bonding does one hell of a number to the timeline of friendship. Still, you sensed zero difference in his behavior toward you versus the others. Which, admittedly, was quite the letdown. Nonetheless, you had nothing to lose by casually admitting your feelings for him. Keep it light and airy and there would be no reason for things to change on the chance he didn’t feel the same. After all, you surely weren’t the only one with a harmless little crush. That’s all it was. Right? So what if you constantly day-dream about him holding you so close he might consume you, kissing you with four times the passion the Notebook tried to capture, never leaving your side regardless of what the future held. His taste, his smell… what his cock would feel like ramming into your cervix. Your brain was one giant knot, constantly distracting you and there wasn’t a single thing you could do about it. Except tell him, but keep it simple.

By your calculations, it was November 18th. You’d been keeping track, not sure if it made things better or worse. Your third anniversary in this place was not far off. Despite being a literal nightmare, it had its perks. Your need for food was no more, as well as your other bodily needs. Sickness was a quickly forgotten annoyance of the past. You stayed in this eerily perfect state. Makeup never crusty, hair never oily and always smelling of your favorite fruit. The dirt and blood you’d acquire during trials magically disappeared upon return. You had a handful of outfits to rotate but there was no real need. Another upside, there were no severe temperatures here. Jackets, shorts, sandals, snow boots if you were Nea. You were always mostly comfortable. Even on Ormond where snow blanketed the ground, those gusts of wind should have sent chills right through you, but they didn’t. It felt like living in a dream or a, simulation. Just, where you’re hunted all day and night for the rest of your existence. At least death wasn’t permanent. Sometimes you’d wish it was, just to escape.

Several months have passed since Leon and Jill were introduced to your world. You had inside jokes and more close calls than you could both count. You were a damn good team and got along smoother than melted butter. What were you waiting for? You inhaled sharply and broke your stare out the window.

“I’m gonna do it.”

To no avail, your deep breaths failed to remedy the painful pounding in your chest, or the heat radiating from your face. Nevertheless, you marched out to the campfire to seek out Yun-Jin. As selfish as you wanted to be with Leon, she was your friend, and you held that in high regard. She was easy to spot in a crowd given her loud attire, but wasn’t around the fire. Which lead to your next realization; neither was Leon. Your throat tightened, heart still pounding. You set off a little too quickly to find her, or them. First stop was Ace’s shack. Judging based on appearances, you figured he would be one of the last people she associated with. Quite the opposite, they were dear friends. Not connected at the hip per se, like her and Claudette, but they related to one another's childhoods. Trauma bonding, can't beat it. To your dismay, the shack was empty, a seed of despair planting in your stomach. Maintaining the most convincing composure you could, you continue your search. Heading left down the line of shacks, robust laughter grows closer. You’d know that laugh anywhere. Cutting through the row, David and Felix are reclined under a tree. They were one of the few monogamous couples among you. The others being Nancy and Steve, and Adam and Zarina. You understood the allure of being romantically involved with more than one person, especially given your less-than-ideal situation, but it wasn’t for you.

“Hi y/n!” Felix shouted toward you.

Not wanting to stop and chat given your current objective, you flashed a cheeky smile and waved to them. Before they could get another word out, you dipped back behind the row of houses. Nerves getting the best of you, you parted your lips to breathe through your mouth. Every breath burned your lungs, realizing now all the times you brushed off your feelings have come back to haunt you. You should never have waited this long. At this point you would be more than willing, desperate, to share Leon. Refusing to let your anxiety get the best of you, you ball your fists and dig your nails into your palms to get a grip on yourself. There was one more place they could possibly be. A sliver of premature acceptance wedged itself into your train of thought as you trudged toward your own shack. Leon’s was adjacent to yours. Feeling foolish for not checking earlier, you round the corner to the opening. As much as you wish you could close your eyes, they were pinned open with anticipation. Looking up from your feet you were shocked to see an empty room before you. Relief and confusion replace your foreboding. Too much time had already been wasted, so you return to the campfire.

“Hey, have you seen Leon or Yun-Jin anywhere?” you, as calmly as possible, ask Élodie.

“They got pulled a little bit ago babe.” She was intently focused on Jane, her concentration not broken. “Which do you like more, up or down?” her gaze still fixated on Jane.

You have to either keep the courage you finally mustered until they get back or give yourself emotional whiplash by releasing until they do. You hesitate for a moment, but to hide your disappointment you quickly retort, “Up, definitely up. Gotta distract the killer with that beautiful face you know?”

“Like they're looking at her face and not that dumptruck ass!” Élodie howls. Jane facetiously puts her fingertips to her chin and looks upward, a façade of innocence no one here would ever buy. You can't help but giggle despite your inner turmoil.

“Well hey,” you add through chuckles, “when they're back can you please send her my way?”

“Sure thing babe,” Élodie assures, finally turning to meet your gaze.

A horrible nauseating mix of dismal, relieving, lewd thoughts of Leon swirl in your mind as you wait for Yun-Jin to step into the doorway. You knew you liked him but holy shit, where did this come from? The realization slapped you in the face. Try to blame infatuation all you want, not that you did, but it was so painfully evident now you were dumbfounded.

A soft knock jerked you out of your thoughts. “Hiya y/n, what's going on?”

Her delicate eyes effortlessly comforted you from across the room.

“I...” your eyes now glued to the floor beneath your feet, a reservoir of tears barely being held back, “I need to know how you feel about Leon.” Your nerves went haywire just uttering his name to her. An icy splash of chills surged from your head to your feet as your chest panged with dread.

“Well of course I like him,” her brow furrowed ever so slightly.

All that could escape your mouth was, “Oh.” Emptiness, despair replacing the jealous unease you felt before. Tears streamed down your cheeks uncontrollably, feelings that danced around menacingly finally coming to a head.

At the sight of your distress, she rushed to sit next to you. “Honey, what’s going on?” her voice barely above a whisper.

You were ashamed for breaking down in front of her, afraid of guilting her for something that was not her fault, and now terrified Leon might follow her here, only to find you undone over him. You jerk your head up to face her and blurt out, “Jinny I think I love him,” face sopping wet with untouched tears.

She raises her eyebrows and smiles at you. “Honey I have fun toying with him all in good nature but there’s no connection there.” Your heart thuds against your ribcage. “Sure, I’ll admit he’s attractive, who wouldn’t, but I have nowhere near the same feelings for him that you evidently do.” She uses both hands to cup your face and pushes as much wetness as she can aside with her thumbs. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? Not only to me but to him!” Despite being similar in age, she feels like a mother to you. Caring for a child, your own or not, will do that to you. That’s not a trait you lose over time.

“I’m so afraid,” you softly whimper, “of what he would say, what you would say.” You're picking at your cuticles, a habit you acquired during puberty as an outlet for your overwhelming feelings.

She wraps her arms around you, carefully as to not tarnish her jacket with tears, which would definitely stain the material. “I was just having a little fun, and from what I’ve gathered, he was more so allowing it than participating. You know I love you all to death but I’m not looking for anything like that, definitely not here.” She gives you a squeeze, and suddenly you can breathe again, the air around you no longer dense and difficult to swallow. “Honey, go get him.”

“Oh Jesus, let me fix myself a little first at least,” the sudden relief causing you to laugh involuntarily.

You were grateful disease and ailments didn’t exist outside of the trials, if they had you're sure you would've had an aneurysm from the stress you went through in a matter of an hour. Yun-Jin left you to your thoughts, which were now solely you and Leon together, doing anything and everything you could think of. The rest of the day you contemplated telling him, more so, how to. Thankfully you didn’t have any trials together, you were far too disorganized for that right now. “Tomorrow,” you promise yourself. Nothing like a clear head and a night’s rest to help you be your most collected, confident self.

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