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mt-words · 3 years

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Three whole people said they would be interested in an analysis of c!Dream and c!Techno’s relationship, so we’re doing this! All names in this post will refer to the role play characters. As always, if you feel like I overlook or misinterpret anything please feel free to share your opinion!

Follow up post here on how Dream is cautious of Techno and why he is right to be.

This boils down to how Dream and Techno work under normal circumstances, the anomaly that was the bedrock bros, and how Dream pushed the pieces back into place.

When I started watching the Dream SMP I thought Dream and Techno’s relationship was built on three things. Mutual respect, willingness to work together when their goals lined up, and weariness for a day when their goals might not coincide that kept them from trusting each other completely. Even as we started to see how manipulative Dream was capable of being, it seemed like he was too cautious of Techno to try to use him like he did most characters. I didn’t realize there was more to it until the second festival.

First, let’s look at how Dream controls most of the SMP. Threats of violence (the obsidian walls), friendly overtures (befriending Tubbo and recognizing L’manburg’s sovereignty), supplying resources (commissioning Sam for the prison), and straight up emotional abuse (Tommy in exile). None of these would be too effective against Techno, but I think Techno was squarely on Dreams side of the board until the Bedrock Bros team up. Dream doesn’t try to control Techno by trying to change what he wants or by forcing him into compliance. Instead, he understands Techno as a person and knows what he wants, and then manipulates the situation so that acting on those desires puts them on the same side.

Dream sees Techno as his rook. Rooks are straightforward and powerful but take some setup and time before they are at their most useful. After the revolution Dream waited to attack. He could have done it at any time but he waited for Techno to act because he understood his ideals and knew that he would. Techno had to strike first or Dream couldn't guarantee that they would be acting together. He whispered Techno to goad him on not because he wouldn’t have done anything otherwise but to build that trust of “oh look, we have the same goals again. I’m the only one who recognizes your dilemma here and I support you.” And it worked, they acted together through the fight with Dream shadowing and taking hits for Techno as he steamrolled through opponents. When the dust settled Techno barely recognized the other members of “Team Chaos,” but he gave Dream a stack of TNT to help as he continued to deepen the crater.

I mentioned this in another analysis, but Dream knew he wanted to finish L’manburg off way before he outwardly showed it. He knew Techno could be a useful ally to that end, but he had decided to retire to the north and swear off violence. Once again, Dream waited. He let L’manburg’s inevitable attempt to seek retribution pull Techno back in, and Dream was there to help him survive the fallout, setting himself up as someone with the same interests who Techno could rely on. Once again, Dream had his rook set up for a devastating blow when the time came to destroy L’manburg. But then Tommy ran from exile and took refuge with Techno.

For the first time (aside from when Dream fought for Schlatt, which was a fight he intended to lose), Techno was on the other side of the board and Dream couldn’t predict his movements. Techno blatantly lied to a man who had saved his life for someone who (from Techno’s point of view) had betrayed him by starting a government, admitted to wanting to use him to defend L’manburg and fight off Dream, and stolen from him.

Dream saw Techno as his rook. His movements were straightforward, he had his ideology and acted on it. But Techno doesn’t only move on vertical and horizontal lines, he can move diagonally. He’s not a rook, he’s a queen. Techno is incredibly loyal when he decides a person is worthy of his trust, and he shows that through his actions. Dream didn’t factor that into his plans because the only person Techno trusted up to that point would never ask him to compromise his ideals. This was a problem, Techno gave Tommy strength and confidence and Tommy made Techno unpredictable.

Dream resorted to his other methods of manipulation. He made friendly overtures to Techno, reminding him that he had always had his back. He threatened Tommy with the destruction of his disks. Nothing worked, Techno had decided to give his loyalty and Dream couldn’t break it, but he needed to or Tommy was beyond his reach. So, he had to go back to manipulating Techno’s circumstances. To put his chess board back in order, Dream needed Tommy to break Techno’s trust himself.

We’re finally to the second festival. L’manburg may have planned it, but it was Dream’s masterpiece. He used threats to take control from L’manburg immediately, then used the crowd gathered for the event to put pressure on them with the discovery of the destruction of the community house. Tommy was exiled for griefing so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to pin the crime on him. People were attached to the community house, and Dream claimed that by keeping the disk Tubbo was aligning himself with the person who destroyed it, protecting Tommy from consequences. Already, Dream had set himself up to get the disk or turn the rest of the server against L’manburg, but it was safe to assume Tommy and Techno would show up if only to keep tabs on the situation. Of course Tommy wouldn’t be able to take the accusations and threats in silence, one of his character traits is his impulsiveness and brashness.

The second Tommy stepped in he was going to lose Tubbo, the disk, Techno, or some combination of the three. Stepping away from impartiality, I think forgiving Tubbo and recognizing that he didn’t like the direction he was heading was one of the most mature and powerful things Tommy has ever done, on par with giving up the disks for his friends in the first place. I wish he had taken a second to think of Techno in the process though. Techno who had offered his trust having already been burned. Techno who had just jumped into a large group of enemies to defend him. Techno who watched Tommy drop him seconds after he decided he didn’t want the disk. Techno whose first reaction to rejection and betrayal has been to cling to the first person to affirm his beliefs (Wilbur after the festival, Dream after the revolution). Techno who just lost his only reason to hesitate before destroying the country that had promised to destroy him. And, well, “Techno, got any withers?”

Dream played his hand perfectly at the festival, the only thing that could have gone better would have been if Tommy ruined his relationship with Tubbo in the process of everything else. The chess board was back in order. There is a tragic irony to the fact that Dream is one of the only people on the server to understand Techno’s ideals, to really see him as a person, and Dream only bothers with that understanding so he can use him.

#everyone was so busy debating who was right between tommy and techno in the community house #that they overlooked who put them in that position in the first place #I really enjoyed the bedrock bros #can you tell?#tw manipulation #just in case?#technoblade #tommyinnit #dream smp #dream smp analysis #long post #mt's words #dreamwastaken

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filmwuju · 3 years

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[TRANS] Character Introduction: People around Seongyeom & Mijoo

Ki Jeongdo (Male, late 50s) Seongyeom's father / Four-term assemblyman

A politician who was an athlete. Back then, he was renowned as the nation's thief for snatching actress Yook Jiwoo, who was the nation's first love, at the prime of her youth. Rising to fame, he threw his hat into the political ring, as if he was waiting for this. Him moving into his wife's family home as a live-in son-in-law was also for the campaign fund.

Managing a family that can be recognized by citizens during elections was also Jeongdo's long time plan. As a man, Jiwoo was his trophy; and being the father of siblings who are national athletes, he was able to bear national sentiment. Seongyeom's home becoming a show window family was entirely Jeongdo's volition. Family means gathering together when needed and taking a harmonious photo, that's it. Just one is hard enough already, how incredible is it to raise two national representatives of South Korea? He regards fatherly love as an instinct, and thinks what he's doing to his children is true love. Not knowing that for the person receiving the unwanted love, that love can become violence.

He has always been privileged with vested rights, and since he's in the upper class, he always lived with pride. He has never doubted his capability of going higher, higher up. Most politicians are likewise, their final goal is running for the presidential election. And since they're running, naturally, they want to win. But Seongyeom, who used to be an obedient chess piece, keeps causing trouble. So he's contemplating on how to quash him.

Yook Jiwoo (Female, late 50s) Seongyeom's mother / Actress

A top actress hailed as the nation's first love. If there's Suzy in the 2000s, there was Yook Jiwoo in the 1980s. During the early days of her career, she went by the stage name Jiwoo, without the Yook, because her last name comes off as stubborn. This was her agency's policy. Later, Jiwoo saw her name on a movie poster and threw a huge fit. Since then, she goes by her full name that sounds stubborn for a "female" actor.

She's a perfect actress named as the Queen of Cannes; but she's a born actress who, in pursuit of her career, is far from even the letter M in the word "mother", much less be an excellent one.

Ki Eunbi (Female, 30) Seongyeom's sister / Pro golfer

She doesn't know how to love in an ordinary way, because she's never lived an ordinary life. The world's number one female golfer. With that title alone, men—regardless of their skin color—approached her, not knowing how Eunbi is like after falling in love. There are no exceptions—whether they have a strong build, or got a straightforward personality. By the time they realize how scary Ki Eunbi is not as the queen of golf, but as a lover, it's already too late—so accept your fate. Once she takes a bite, she does not let go until she gets sick of it. There's no place to escape unless you go to the edge of the world.

Of course there's an exception. When their love for her dies down, she lets go without hesitation. It was always easier to figure out separation than love. The same goes for her family. The time she spent with them in her whole life wouldn't amount to even one year because of her trips abroad. They always separated the moment they met, and she felt worried at the thought of Seongyeom, who would be alone in the huge house. My poor little brother. Their father, who likes to rank, compares them frequently; the media, who likes to chatter, bashes him regularly. My little brother Seongyeom. Seongyeom, whose sin is getting born as my little brother.

Of course she worked hard, but Eunbi's talent played a bigger part. Her sense of distance is more outstanding than others, and she's exceptional in controlling her strength. They said the only thing left for a first placer to do is to fall downwards, but Eunbi didn't know how to fall. If she didn't have talent, would it be a different story? While having these thoughts, she saw Seongyeom and thought, hmm.. it would be stressful to have no talent.

She's even sick of the first place now. Feeling bored, she was thinking whether she should retire and rest a bit, but her beloved little brother caused big trouble. What can I do? My little brother wants to do it. It's an older sister's duty to act as his shield, and I won't die from doing it for a few years more—so just for a bit longer, I'd have to stay in the first place for him.

Kim Wooshik (Male, 20) National track and field athlete

He lost his parents at a young age and was raised by his grandmother. Unlike someone his age, he believes in superstitions. But rather than saying he believes in them, it's more like he's familiar about life and is treated as a precocious child. His self-sufficient grandmother clothed him in cleanly washed clothes even though they're old, and did everything she can so that Wooshik can grow up as a bright and optimistic person. Wooshik, who grew up just like how she raised him to be, was perfectly kind and honest. He wasn't good at studying but he was smart; his hands were slow but his feet were fast. Naturally, Wooshik chose track and field. It was also a sport that he could do even with no money. He fell in love at first sight after watching Seongyeom's race, ran all the way with Seongyeom as his goal, and became a national athlete. It's his wish to run a relay race in the same competition with Seongyeom before the latter retires. No records or competition, just as Ki Seongyeom and Kim Wooshik.

He once saw a passage that said forgiveness is the biggest revenge. That's like saying the powerless can't do anything but to forgive. Ever since his days in sports high school, he experienced countless assaults and abuse under the force of power. And you say that's the biggest revenge? It was a day when he got beaten by his seniors as usual. He roughly wiped the blood from his nose using his sleeves. The superstitions Wooshik believed in were of no help at all in the face of reality. The one who offered Wooshik practical help was Seongyeom. He told him that forgiving is the victim's right. He told him that he doesn't need to forgive if he doesn't want to. As the only person who told him that, how could Wooshik not admire him.

Kwon Young-il (Male, 29) National track and field athlete

South Korea's track and field record holder. As the best sprinter, he lives up to his reputation of South Korea's No.1 track and field athlete who receives unconditional support from track and field fans. He's a narcissist who cares about nothing but himself, but takes an interest only in Seongyeom. It's because he's jealous. Whenever he's free, he picks a quarrel with the forever runner-up Seongyeom and ends up saying foolish words. I'm the real first placer, but why does it feel like I'm being pushed back by Ki Seongyeom every single time?

But still, as Seongyeom's long-time colleague, and as a sportsman, he's a friend who supports Seongyeom for the path he's going.

Kim Hyunjin (Male, early 40s) Assemblyman Ki Jeongdo's aide

Would there be another expression that puts a limit on Hyunjin as much as the phrase "aide by nature" does? However, he is a capable aide—to the level that everyone would agree in unison—who grasps everything about the Ki family, including Assemblyman Ki himself. He's machine-like, making one wonder if his heart is made of steel; he does not feel things like conscience and warmth.

Park May (Female, 35) CEO of imported film distributor May

Her name was originally Maehwi. Was it her dad's poor hearing, or her mom's poor pronunciation? Her dad, who heard Maehwi as May, registered her birth with the name "May". For a long time, her mom called her Maehwi and her dad called her May. To May, the actual party concerned, it didn't matter whatever they called her by. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

May believed in fundamental things. This was also due to her peaceful and cool nature; is it because of that? Entering a translation and interpreting university at the top of her class and finishing her studies in a graduate school of the same expertise, she was walking the so-called elite course. But then she set aside her career path and went into foreign film translation. The reason was simple. Because films are fun, but film festivals are freaking fun. She was in Busan when she first met Mijoo. At the Busan International Film Festival, which she skipped her class for, their sharing of the same bed at the guesthouse was the beginning of their relationship. After getting to know her, she found out that she's a distant junior of hers under the same department in their university. Mijoo was 21.

There is no bad Mijoo in this world. This is the pet theory of May as the dog owner of Mijoo. Mijoo—rough and clumsy, which makes her cute and pure too—was like a dog sometimes, she had no hesitations in baring her claws at arrogant things. From then on, May took it upon herself to be the dog owner. She was worried. If Mijoo meets a good person, it feels like she'd overcome her struggles and become extremely successful*, and if she meets a bad person, it feels like she'd get stabbed with a knife in the midst of selling drugs in a backstreet. All or nothing—Mijoo, who has no in between, didn't have a lot of things. She said she's never met a nice adult in her 20 years of life. Ah... I'm stuck. No choice, I'd have to be the nice adult for Mijoo, she decided**. Just like that, she spent around 10 years of time with her, as a senior and roommate.

She had more curiosity and energy before compared to now, but she feels no excitement nor interest in whatever she does these days. When she was young, she simply felt that her older seniors were cool, but now that she's at that age, she understood. There's just no fun in doing anything. She's done them all, tasted them all; the energy she used to pour out without reservation had been exhausted since long time ago.

Around that period of ennui in her life, an unsavory incident broke out in the translation industry she's been working in. She left translation behind and set up an imported film distributing company. As a small company that mainly imported independent films and art films, it involved a lot of legwork, so business trips is a norm. Her dream was to be a salaried employee for a lifetime, but why'd she become a CEO? CEOs like salaries too.. she didn't know of this fact until she became one herself. Is this, depressing? May, who was mentally healthy, immediately began her visits to the psychiatrist. Antidepressants help people who help themselves, and May wants to help herself properly. And since she's on it already, it's better to be bright and healthy.

T/N: * The idiom used in the original text is 개천에서 용 난다, which literally means "a dragon rises up from a creek." Often translated as "rags to riches," it is used to refer to someone from a humble background who overcame their hardships and became extremely successful.

** A longer translation that would more properly express the nuance of the original sentence would be: May decided that: I'm not the best choice, but since there's no one else to do it, there's no choice but for me, at least, to be the good adult for Mijoo.

(orig post link from writer Park Shihyun’s DC gallery post)

#run on #run on trans #run on kdrama #run on drama #runon #run on jtbc #jtbc run on #run on icons #jtbc #kdrama #korean drama

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elencelebrindal · 4 years

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What's your ranking for the Bronze Saints?

The very short answer is:

1. Shun

2. Ikki

3. Shiryu

4. Hyoga

5. Seiya

6. All the other ones (aka Jabu, Nachi, Ichi, Ban, Geki, and June).

The long answer is under the cut ‘cause I keep rambling about stuff. Keep in mind: this is a very long post.

1. Andromeda Shun

(Since I already answered for him, I’ll copy-paste the answer here, so I won’t force you to click on a link to a different post if you haven’t seen that post yet. Same image and everything)

Shun is, in my opinion, the strongest of them all. Yes, even stronger than Ikki. I see countless people saying that Shun is weak and/or useless just because he doesn’t want to fight or because he calls Ikki for help, and I have one thing to say about that: kindness does not equal weakness. Shun is not weak, he refuses to fight unless he has to. The most blatant example I can give you of his strength is the fight against Aphrodite, the only battle Shun actively wanted to fight. You can see how dangerous he can be, when he’s willing to put aside his non-belligerent attitude. Shun is merciful, he doesn’t want to resolve everything with violence. This doesn’t mean he’s not one of the deadliest fighters out there, if not the deadliest, given his ability.

Let’s NOT forget Shun was able to hold his ground against Saga, who is said to be one of the most powerful Saints of his generation. He went as far as striking Saga in the Pope’s chamber, he managed to reach him with not that much effort. This is something people often gloss over, but it’s one of the greatest examples out there of Shun’s incredible power. To fight him, Seiya needed all the help he could get from his companions. Shun, instead, fought by himself, didn’t die or get lost in the Another Dimension, and was able to get his chains near Saga without him being unable to stop the boy.

Most importantly, Shun is depicted as “weak” only in works not written by Kurumada. Non-canon episodes are the only ones in which Shun is not capable of keeping up with the other Saints. This is obviously proof of him being weakened by outside people, and not of him being weak by default.

Another point in his favor it’s the Seventh Sense: he awakened it during the Sanctuary batte, right? Well, wrong. According to his teacher, Shun reached the Seventh Sense way before that. Or at least, the potential of the Seventh Sense. Shun cannot be considered weak, and shouldn’t be considered weak, because he’s definitely not. Now, as for why I think he’s more powerful than Ikki, to me it’s obvious that he’s stronger than him. Maybe not physically, in fact I don’t think there’s anyone in the Bronzes that physically stronger than Ikki (no, not even Shiryu), but as far as his cosmo goes… Ikki has the advantage of not dying, Phoenix and whatnot, but Shun has a more powerful cosmo. You can easily see this by taking into consideration the Nebula Storm, a technique so powerful that, if not controlled, reaches a point when it’s impossible to be stopped. This is incredibly destructive, extremely lethal, and Shun uses it without his Cloth. This is something similar to what Shiryu does, because they both can access their full cosmo without wearing a Cloth, but Shun has a clear advantage: he doesn’t have a weak spot. Where Shiryu could be easily killed if hit in the right place, Shun doesn’t have that weakness. Which, at least in my opinion, makes him better than Shiryu.

The last example I want to give you is the immense plot twist of him being Hades’ host. Not necessarily the fact that he can withstand the soul of a god binding with his own, but the fact that he was able to get the upper hand against Hades. If Shun was really as weak as a lot of people want to believe, than explain to me how in the everloving Hell did Shun managed to take back control over his body, keep a hold of Hades to give his brother an opportunity, and accept that he needed to die in order to get rid of the deity. He didn’t last long, sure, but he was fighting Hades. Not only that, but not long after being freed from Hades, Shun took back his Cloth, donned it, and fought again like he wasn’t just possessed by a deity. He managed to burn his cosmo enough to “unlock” the Divine Cloth despite having endured Hades’ control over his body and soul. To this day, I’m still annoyed at how easily Hypnos defeated him, taking into account what happened just a few moment before.

This might not be enough to convince other people of Shun’s true potential, but it’s enough for me to believe he’s absolutely the strongest Bronze Saint, and maybe even one of the strongest Saints in general. Don’t forget that this young man right here can wear the Virgo Cloth. He is the next Virgo Saint, and that’s a given for me. And you know how unbelievably powerful a Saint with that constellation normally is.

2. Phoenix Ikki

Well, he is canonically placed above most Silver Saints in terms of strength. There’s no denying Ikki is one of the most powerful Saints out there, he’s basically unstoppable. Not only that, he had one huge advantage on his side, his inability to actually die. Ikki was already strong as a kid, as the story reminds us more than once, physically being the strongest among the orphans, and we all know how he dethroned Jango and took control of Dead Queen Island with almost no effort. Most notably, he has a unique cosmo; as Kanon stated, when he faced him, it’s full of hatred (which is Guilty’s fault), something weird for a Saint of Athena. This hatred was shown to aid him at first, so much that he used to unleash his cosmo without any second though and with unending rage, so i feel like it’s worth telling. In his favor there’s also the fact he has a pure warrior attitude. Ikki fights and that’s it, no second guesses, no hesitation. The only time he hesitated was against Hades, because he didn’t want to kill his brother. You can imagine what a behavior like that will bring to a battlefield without me telling you.

Though, I don’t consider him to be the strongest. In terms of raw power he is terrifying, no questions asked, but he doesn’t reach that level of pure cosmo power that’s able to completely annihilate everything and anything like Shun. He’s fearsome, of course, and he knows how powerful he is (countless times this self-awareness could be observed). I, on the other hand, consider him to physically be the strongest of them all. Without his cosmo, Ikki would still be able to kick everyone’s ass, I don’t doubt it even for a second. Even though Shun is the strongest overall, Ikki’s physical strength is unprecedented for a Bronze Saint. No one can tell me otherwise. He blasted too many people into oblivion for me to think otherwise.

What makes him even more fearsome is the fact that he becomes stronger each time he dies (like a Phoenix, after all), and the fact that he is extremely intelligent. Ikki is capable of using his enemy’s weakness against them with no effort. On top of everything, his Illusion Demon Fist can easily break his opponent’s mind and gift him a victory without Ikki even moving an inch. It doesn’t work on everyone, of course, but it can be lethal in way more ways than one can imagine. He has a cosmo that’s powerful enough, once he awakened the Seventh Sense, to defeat Shaka in combat. Hell, Shaka was scared of him at that point. He legitimately broke Shaka’s technique. He told him “now you don’t have your senses anymore” and Ikki just went “jokes on you, I don’t care”.

But! Ikki has his weak points. No one is perfect after all. Not even Shun, and he is at the top of this list. His Illusion Demon Fist can be used against him. We saw this particular case in action. When this happens, not even Ikki himself can completely break the illusion before falling prey to it. And, as much as his regenerative ability is useful, I can see why it could be a problem. This is more of my analysis for it, but I don’t think dying and coming back to life again and again doesn’t do a number on Ikki’s mental health.

While Ikki is perfectly capable of dealing both physical damage and psychic damage, I don’t think he should be elevated to strongest Bronze Saint ever. Unlike his brother, whose cosmo can expand infinitely (even if at the cost of his life), Ikki has his limits.

3. Dragon Shiryu

The main reason I don’t see him and Hyoga as equals (I used to, not anymore) it’s the fact that I realized Shiryu can make you explode into space with ease. And the fact that, physically, he’s stronger than Hyoga.

Let’s be objective here. Shiryu is one of the very few Saints that are capable to unleash their full potential without wearing a Cloth. This is a huge advantage he has in battle because, if an enemy tries to strip his armor off, Shiryu can still fight. In fact, he not only can still fight, but he can fight with even more power on his side. He is more vulnerable, but without his Cloth Shiryu remains absolutely lethal and should not be underestimated. This, paired with his intelligence and fast thinking skills, makes an excellent fighter in almost any situation.

Let’s also not forget how he was able to learn Dohko’s technique, the Rozan Hyaku Ryū Ha, while being blind. He was showed that technique only once, and he couldn’t even witness it, but he was able to learn it and use it perfectly.

He has an incredible determination and this, alongside his cosmo and physical strength, helps him fight without giving up. Shiryu managed to defeat a Silver Saint that was basically impossible to defeat by enduring the psychological weight of blinding himself, more that the physical pain associated with such an act. Don’t forget this. He defeated a Silver Saint while being blind and in horrific pain. He did the same against Krishna. In this case, we’re talking about a Marina General. A warrior as strong as a Gold Saint. Shiryu not only managed to master Excalibur while fighting against him, but got rid of Krishna while enduring the pain of being blinded – again – by a technique that was definitely more painful than it looked.

And can we talk about Deathmask? Because Shiryu was powerful enough to make a Gold Cloth finally take the decision of yeeting away from Deathmask’s unworthy body. His anger terrified a Gold Saint, and he awakened his Seventh Sense so hard that he regained his vision. He was helped with that, yeah, but can we recognize how powerful Shiryu was during that particular scene? To me, that thing was more impressive than what he did against Shura. It was raw power fueled by anger, a power he could unleash without effort. A power he can survive, opposite to the Rozan Kō Ryū Ha.

Obviously, being able to just shoot yourself in space while bringing someone else with you is equally impressive, but Shiryu has enough raw power in him cosmo to destroy a Gold Saint without having to sacrifice himself. If this is not a proof of his power, I don’t know what would be.

The honorable mention of him being able to don the Libra Gold Cloth at a very early stage has to be said.

He has, however, a significant weakness. A weak point, really. Even though he’s able to fight in any condition, with and without his Cloth, Shiryu has an unfortunate weakness that can be lethal to him with little to no effort. Obviously, I’m talking about his literal weak point, the claw of the dragon. His heart. A simple blow there could kill him almost instantly. Just a punch, really, and he kicks the bucket. Unless, of course, he has the extreme luck of being punched there by someone who’s not his enemy and can bring him back to life with a similar hit. Which, for extremely obvious reasons, is not likely to happen during a real battle. His Cloth provides him enough protection to fight without worrying about it, but as we know Shiryu mostly fights while not wearing it. And, even if he’s careful in hiding his weak point, it’s not that difficult to hit him there at any point, all the enemy needs is a minor distraction.

4. Cygnus Hyoga

Here we have a man that, canonically speaking, surpassed his own master. A Gold Saint, to be precise. Is a matter of fact that Hyoga is powerful, this is not something you can glide on. This man mastered the absolute zero by using a technique he never used before, while being presumably as weak as he could be and in agonizing pain, seeing the fight he just had.

Impressive, to say the least.

What makes me put Hyoga after Shiryu, besides what I already told you above, is the same weakness Camus always brings up when confronting him. The same weakness Isaac brought up when confronting him. Something that makes Hyoga reckless and way too emotional during a fight. Despite this being a positive trait, because caring about family and loved ones is not something negative, it’s still a problem that presented itself in Hyoga’s case. Being too emotional is dangerous, and we saw this danger in action when Hyoga ended up being frozen by Camus because he couldn’t fight with a lucid state of mind. Opposite to Shiryu, who used his emotions to actually be more efficient, Hyoga couldn’t control them and ultimately lost.

This particular thing, even if not directly linked to his cosmo or to his physical strength, is a variable that should not be ignored.

Of course, Hyoga became more and more powerful, but we only got to see his true power when he finally left behind all his emotions. Well, the ones that were limiting him, at least.

And this gave us the Saint that, with ease, reached the level of his master and then surpassed it.

Hyoga is able to use his cosmo with efficiency, and can withstand the psychological weight of having to fight his loved ones over and over. This, as awful as it sounds, is useful in battle and gave him an incredible victory over Isaac. And let’s not forget, he could wear the Aquarius Gold Cloth and endure its power. Much like Shiryu and Seiya, Hyoga had no problem wearing that and using it to fight. His cosmo was powerful enough for him to be comfortable with it.

He also had enough power to face a Judge without too many repercussions. Sure, he got beaten up, but how many Bronze Saints can say to have fought a Judge of the Underworld, have slowed him down, and have survived to tell the tale?

At the end of the day, Hyoga got rid of most of his weakness. He still cares about his loved ones, but it’s not as much of a hindrance as it was before. But, and this is important, he still fails sometimes because of it. The best example is him falling for Kaysa’s trick, despite Hyoga fully knowing Camus was dead. His loving personality can get in the way, and it’s something more dangerous than having a physical weak point, because the mind can be manipulated easily in this world. Just look at how difficult was for him, in one of the movies, when he had to confront the illusion of his mother. He succeeded, but still almost failed.

Hyoga is powerful, but had an easily influenceable mind.

5. Pegasus Seiya

(Since I already answered for him, I’ll copy-paste the answer here, so I won’t force you to click on a link to a different post if you haven’t seen that post yet. Same image and everything)

Seiya is… not as powerful as his protagonist status wants us to believe. I’m not doubting his abilities, because he is a Saint after all and he is skilled, but he’s by far the weakest as far as cosmo and physical strength go. Most of his exploits are made because of his “immense determination” and “good heart”. It’s almost never a believable (believable in Saint Seiya) reason that leads him to victory. He’s not necessarily weak, because he’s not, but he’s the least powerful of all the main Bronze Saints. Obviously he’s better than the secondary ones, because plot and everything, but he’s not on the same level as his companions. Most of his victories were attained because he had help, either from Athena or from his fellow Bronzes. Like I said before, Seiya couldn’t face Saga on his own. He needed the help of four other Saints in order to be on his level. I will be fair, and say that he was able to endure a lot on his own, but what he by himself still wasn’t enough to win.

He had his fair share of deserved victories, of course, but some of those were so heavily helped by other people’s intervention it doesn’t even feel like Seiya actually did something on his own. I’m not counting in this the fights he won fair and square, like the one against Aldebaran (sure, he had his annoying moment of “let’s daydream”, but he did win by himself), or the one against Thor. Hell, I’m perfectly okay with him winning against Thanatos. But there’s countless other moments in which he needed someone’s help or something to his advantage. For example, the first fight against Shiryu: Seiya won because he was able to spot and hit Shiryu’s weak spot, but he was being devastated before that. Even after tricking Shiryu in shattering his own shield (brilliant move, Marin taught him well), Seiya didn’t have the upper hand. Against Ikki, Seiya needed the help from all his companions to actually defeat him. When he reached the stairs leading to the Pope’s chamber, Seiya got easily overwhelmed by Aphrodite’s roses, while Marin (who gave him her mask) didn’t suffer as much from that poison. Against Saga, Seiya was able to use his protagonist bullshit to win because “a Saint fight with his heart!”, but when being faced with the real fight he needed some help. I’m not saying Seiya didn’t have the potential to resist Saga’s technique, like Ikki did when facing Shaka, but it was used in such a way it didn’t look like something coming from his own strength.

This happens way more in the series, from classic to Hades, and in the movies as well. Seiya is celebrated as this powerful Saint capable of defeating even the gods, but in reality he mostly relied on someone else’s help to achieve victory.

Physically, it’s painfully obvious that he’s not strong. He is as strong as a normal Saint would be, but not more than the average warrior. He easily prevails only on opponents that are visibly weaker than him, like Cassios (who didn’t have the slightest trace of cosmo), and has a hard time against opponents that are on his level. It also took a long time for him to understand how to fight Aiolia, but he only managed a couple good hits before being overwhelmed again. He has it even worse in the CGI movie, where Aiolia literally brushes off his attacks like they’re nothing.

Some might argue that his cosmo his not that weak, because he’s able to wear not only a Gold Cloth, but a Divine Cloth as well. And I say to you: I’m not saying he’s that weak. What I’m saying is: Seiya has potential, but not as much as we’re led to believe. Seiya heavily relies on the Gold Cloth when he wears it, instead of relying more on his own cosmo. He does the same with the Divine Cloth.

Compared to his companions, Seiya is relatively weak. Where Hyoga managed to become more powerful than his own teacher (a Gold Saint) and learned both of his techniques, Seiya relied on the Cloth itself to help him with his cosmo. Where Shiryu is able to fight effortlessly without wearing his Cloth, Seiya seems to be unable to do anything if he’s not wearing it. Where Ikki seems to have mastered his cosmo, Seiya still doesn’t know how to fully use it.

He always needs protection, he needs Athena to use her cosmo for him or to reassure him, he always ends up being the only one last standing because other people put their lives on the line for him. The Hades arc is what described him best: a kid that doesn’t know how to face people bigger than him. Even the fight against Valentine wasn’t his own victory, because Athena helped him from afar. It’s so easy to defeat him, like we saw when Rhadamanthys effortlessly got rid of Seiya. Which, in retrospect, completely erased what Seiya managed to do when fighting him for the first time.

I’m aware I’m known for my… well, not hate but strong dislike for Seiya. I won’t blame you if you think I put him so low because I’m biased. But this is my opinion for that, and I’m keeping it.

#saint seiya #i cavalieri dello zodiaco #los caballeros del zodiaco #os cavaleiros do zodiaco #knights of the zodiac #bronze saints #andromeda shun #phoenix ikki #dragon shiryu #cygnus hyoga #pegasus seiya

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wri0thesley · 4 years

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what are your headcanons for sorlato's backstory? you talk a lot about prosciutto's so i was curious!

dfnvjfnbf i’ve got a lot of them

warnings for: sexual abuse, violence, murder, crime, suicide, homophobia

long and short of it: gelato as a former military man turned rogue hitman for hire and then eventually for passione. sorbet is a former priest who was embittered by something he saw and turned vigilante serial killer. two meet, have mutual interests and attraction, and become a couple. by that time gelato is working under a handler in passione and he demands his boyfriend also become a worker to the Powers That Be.

slightly more in depth:

Conscripted to the army at nineteen, Gelato was quickly noted as a good shot and moved up ranks fairly quickly. He is a natural with a weapon in his hands and eventually he garnered rather a reputation for it. He fell in love with a fellow private, but as he was moved around and shifted around and worked up the ranks (his work also becoming more secretive by default), it was harder and harder for him to remain in contact - and there came a point where the only information he could find was that his lover had died. He became unstable in his work - but, unwilling to lose a fine shot and someone so suited for the work as Gelato, his commanding officers ordered him to forget about his lost love. Gelato ensured that this was not to be.

With the blood on his hands of military men in a country that deeply valued them, Gelato fled and lived as a fugitive for a while, until he was approached with the shady offer to do a few murders in return for some money. The way he had dispatched those commanding officers had been impressive, after all, and considering how wanted he was he was flying under the radar remarkably well … Things escalated until he was head-hunted by Passione - and it’s on one his hits for Passione that he met Sorbet.

Gelato had a loving family and a fairly privileged upbringing - and was promptly villified and disowned from his family (who were thoroughly nationalistic and had been utterly proud of their only child) after what he did. Especially when it became clear, from whispers and rumours, why else he did it. They were not exactly the most accepting of families. He was lucky to be able to empty a healthy bank account before they caught up with him and could cut them off, and though he pawned most of his possessions to unscrupulous places who would not recognise him and who kept their mouths shut, he keeps the dainty gold earrings that his mother had given him despite his father insisting it would not be the Done Thing.

Despite his manic manner and insistent eyes, he is very clever. He has turned most of his cleverness to murder, of course, and takes great pleasure in it - but he has picked up plenty of other cleverness from his time on the streets and in the army. He’s also incredibly soft for Sorbet, with whom he sees a kindred spirit. I headcanon both of them as bisexual; Gelato can appreciate beauty whether femme or masculine (he’s got an affinity for classical art pieces and gothic literature); but in his line of work, he meets few people, and fewer people still who interest him.

Sorbet, at eighteen, was clever and eloquent and good with words and utterly devoted to becoming a priest. He was a ward of the church’s school, having been orphaned at a young age, and thanking God he had the good fortune to be taken in and cared for and wishing to give back to the community. He was well-liked by the younger boys, especially those who found him a comforting presence (being low-voiced and soothing and knowing what it is like to be alone). He idolised the priests. Of course, at twenty, as he began to be given over to more and more duties, truths are bound to come out - and upon witnessing three of the boys in the choir being corralled into one of the other priest’s private rooms by three of those whomst he had idolised, Sorbet saw red and didn’t realise he’d done anything until he was washing blood off of his hands and tuning out the cries of panic from the boys. Sorbet, too, fled.

As a whole, he cannot stand organised religion of any kind. He garnered rather a reputation for himself, moving among the small country parishes of Italy. They gave him a serial killer name, even (for Sorbet has always been clever and methodical and his murders, after the first, were neat and orderly), though Sorbet prefers to forget it. He has an affinity for children. He taught himself, after the first murder, to take people apart slowly with a medical kit from the church school’s first aid room, looking for where the rot must be setting in inside them.

He met Gelato in one of these little towns. The two sized each other up; Sorbet could see a similar frustration and anger in Gelato’s eyes, and Gelato could see there were dried bloodstains on Sorbet’s shoes and that Sorbet’s fingers had cuts on he recognised as being from a scalpel and a callous in the same place one who often held such an instrument would. They bought one another a drink and sat in a quaint family pub. Upon parting, they expected to never see one another again-

Imagine their surprise, then, to find that Sorbet’s passion project and Gelato’s employment had overlapped. A drug racketeering ring being held under the guise of a church - and Sorbet, who had long since hated anyone in the institution of religion but hated terrible things being done under it even more, was only too happy to show Gelato exactly how to hurt someone in a more restrained and even more painful way.

They travelled together. Gelato was only too happy to entertain Sorbet’s predilections (finding the rush of murder filled him in a way few things since his army days had). And when Gelato was back in Naples, he got in contact with his Passione handler - the one who subleased his services - and renegotiated terms as a couple.

They then murdered the handler, of course, and demanded they be handed jobs directly. After a test of loyalty for Passione to ensure that they could be trusted (both of them were agitated to be tested separately; Gelato went first, but upon immediately closing the lighter and shrugging that Polpo had no way to tell, told Sorbet exactly what happened and to simply allow the creature to pierce him). And, with their Stand powers activated, they were even more dangerous, and Passione were glad to have the hit men on their side instead of any others.

Like Gelato, I headcanon Sorbet as bisexual in Theory although in practice Gelato is his only lover ever. He finds people who are exuberant and bright exciting and interesting and beautiful because it’s always been in his nature to be taciturn, and quietness and studiousness was rewarded at the church school. He is amazed that Gelato’s cleverness comes so easily and naturally. .

Sorbet’s stand is JUDAS PRIEST. It essentially breaks people up into neat jigsaw puzzles; Sorbet can pull them apart looking for the rot inside them as much as he wants. If he’s feeling cruel, he can rearrange them entirely - up to and including their organs, and watch as their body struggled to pump blood around where a heart should be but is actually a lung and where intestines have clogged up a throat.

Gelato’s stand is MOTORHEAD. Arguably, it’s a defensive stand more than a combative stand - Gelato is perfectly capable of doing the actual killing himself. Fundamentally, it fills the senses of whoever is in a certain square footage of Gelato with a buzzing, frustrating, ‘motor-like’ sensation. Revving in your ears. Buzzing in your tongue. Static in your vision. Gelato can’t control who it affects, but if he and another person are touching he can ‘share’ the immunity. If he leaves it activated for too long, the person can begin to hallucinate horrible, horrible things - the hallucinations and the revving of the motors has, in the past, drove people to suicide when Gelato is feeling particularly sadistic.

#nat.txt #sorbet #gelato #Anonymous

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ai-adler-blog · 5 years

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Game of Thrones’ problem with female characters and why Daenerys’ twist failed

This is something that has been bothering me for a while, but it became too evident to ignore in the last couple of seasons.

The show tends to suggest (since season 6 or so) that the only way a woman can be "strong" is through embracing violence, or showing how much better they are at things than the male characters. Think about it: Sansa was portrayed as a victim and almost unable to make her own strong decisions until she escaped Ramsay after enduring his torture and later killed him. Then she started to be portrayed as an amazingly intelligent and capable character able to put everyone in their place. Daenerys began embracing violence and using her dragons with the dothraki (although, to be fair, that has always been a part of her plotline and the issues with her "madness" are not strictly related to that). Cersei as well, but this has always fit with her character. Lyanna Mormont was great but she was never allowed a moment of insecurity or a second to remind the audience that, despite her "badass" estatus and how much she was liked, she is still a child. Arya... Arya deserves her own paragraph entirely.

I think one of the main problems with Arya is that, as they merged her plotline with Lady Stoneheart's, they ended up having a character with two opposite roles in the story. Arya's storyline has always been about the pain the smallfolk have to deal with in war and loss of identity as she abandons who she was, finding herself and her home again and how revenge can only lead her to more suffering. Arya is a character that needs to see that embracing that dark side will only make her lose herself even more, and coming back to Winterfell should have proven that she is willing to try to heal even if all wounds will never heal completely and find herself again as Arya Stark of Winterfell. She said so herself when she left the House of Black and White in the show; however, the person that came back didn't change from who she became in Braavos, and kept on embracing violence. They should have had her be conflicted over all she had to endure and all she did now that she is finally home and in touch with the little girl she used to be. By adding Lady Stoneheart (the literal embodiement of inhumanity)'s plotline to her own, her character was not allowed to feel any sort of remorse or insecurity over her own actions, because that is not part of Lady Stoneheart's direction nor character. Merging a character whose story is about regaining identity and finding herself and her home to the embodiement of violence and inhumanity creates a character whose personality by the start of the series doesn't fit with the one she has by the end of it, because Arya by the end has taken on a personality that was never her own. There have been plenty of moments when they could have humanized her and shown that she still has some flaws or insecurities, or that she is willing to open up to someone without keeping the "badass" facade: when she flirts and sleeps with Gendry (something that ended up serving no other purpose to the story or her character development than fanservice), when she is with Sansa, when she meets again with Jon...

The other main problem that not only affects Arya but that becomes incredibly evident with her is that, if the character is a hero, they are not allowed to be wrong or make mistakes. They are always right and they know it and everything they do, they do perfectly well. Compare this to Jon who was completely shat on this past season, to Jaime who got his character development thrown out the window as foreshadowed by the first episode, and to Tyrion who has literally not made a single good decision since season 5. Arya suddenly becomes this incredible assassin despite not really doing all that much assassin training in Braavos, defeating even Brienne who has way more training than her and would be on a completely different level just based on size and strength alone, somehow being able to run on snow without being heard, surviving the destruction of King's Landing. She is always portrayed as a badass and edgy in the way she talks and carries herself even though it's not even human-like. Sansa kills Ramsay and suddenly becomes the smartest person in Winterfell just by making basic logical statements with a serious face, and talking down to Tyrion. Daenerys, at least in seasons 6-7, was almost always portrayed as being right and ready and her mistakes during those seasons were because of someone else (Euron's fleet, the Night King killing Viserion because she was saving the Fellowship of the Wight). Even Cersei has somehow been right in every decision she's made. They are hardly ever allowed a moment when they are not expressionless and show hints of humanity, like affection, insecurities, flaws or just putting down their walls. Hell, one of the most intimate moments of season 8, Brienne sleeping with Jaime, was done solely for the same reasons Arya and Gendry hooked up: for fanservice, and to indicate that a woman is somehow not "complete" if she hasn't slept with anyone. At least, that's what I thought it meant, given Arya's reasoning of wanting to do it in case they didn't survive and Tyrion shaming Brienne for being a virgin despite the fact that she is a highborn lady and it's probably not that easy to find birth control while on the road. It didn't serve to advance any plotline of character. Jaime even regressed as a character entirely.

And speaking of Cersei, her character is another one that got a personality change for no particular reason except to indicate that her caring about her children shows that she is actually a good person and misanderstood and loving all along. She doesn't kill Tyrion when she has the chance in season 7 or 8 for no reason, and her baby didn't serve any purpose to the story except to remind the audience that being a mother means that you are capable of love and loving those who you seemingly don't... and Catelyn Stark and Selyse Florent should have been an indicator that this was going to happen.

Catelyn got that scene back in season 2 or 3 talking about how Jon got the pox and she prayed for him not to die, but was unable to love him. Despite the fact that that scene proves that, when faced with death, she did care about Jon as she did for her other children. Maybe not as much, but she still cared for someone she was supposed to hate, because somehow motherhood solves all flaws related to love. Selyse, who was a complete fanatic of the Lord of Light and took pleasure in watching people burn alive, and didn't care at all about her daughter, somehow became caring after watching her be executed and killed herself, showing that her love was above her fanatism. So what do they do to Cersei to have her be in a scene with Tyrion and not kill him right away? Remind the audience that she, as a mother, cared about her children, and Tyrion saying she is not a monster. That obviously must mean that she is capable of love and therefore even loves Tyrion deep down. This is such a disservice to who Cersei used to be. And it angers me even more because Cersei being a mother and caring about her children doesn't make her less of a monster and an unredeemable person. But suddenly, now that she is pregnant and "able to love again" she gets humanized and gets to have a tragic ending à la Romeo and Juliet with Jaime.

Which leads to what, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with Dany's sudden descent into madness. If all female characters are "strong" and "empowered" by the use of violence, and a character like Cersei can be redeemed, why is Daenerys own use of violence prior to episode 5 so unnaceptable? The show started going for the "good guys" vs "bad guys" route and making everything much more black and white with the characters, especially the Starks vs Cersei. So whenever Arya or Sansa used extremely violent methods, like feeding Ramsay to his dogs or the genocide of House Frey (which is a plot point that will probably be a part of Lady Stoneheart's plot in the next books, not Arya's) which would probably have made things even worse for the Riverlands, it is because we had the clear "good guys" vs "bad guys". And the audience cheered because we all wanted those who made the heroes suffer to suffer as well. I mean, I smiled when Joffrey died, although it's quite fucked up because he is, at the end of the day, a child dying in the arms of his mother. Cersei blowing up the Sept and killing the Tyrells solidified her as a villain even more. But then suddenly everyone was concerned about Daenerys' own use of violence. It is understandable, because the dragons are massive weapons of destruction, but as far as everyone could tell Daenerys kept them under control. The only moment that hinted at her "madness" this past season was when she burned the Tarlys, which only served to create more conflict between Jon and her. And then comes episode 5. Daenerys has lost a lot of people she cares about and learns Varys and Tyrion are plotting against her for no reason. And suddenly she hears the bells and goes crazy. And d&d go "oh, she was always mad, she burned people and didn't react when Viserys died". But Sansa smiled when Ramsay died and Viserys was also incredibly abusive towards Dany, and Arya killed and cooked people into pies and slaughtered an entire house with no consequences. Her violent actions which made her "strong" in the first few seasons are supposedly an indicator that she will go mad when they are in par with other violent actions by characters the season wants to portray as heroes. And then Cersei, whose actions have portrayed her as a villain, gets a sudden change of personality and is humanized when she did probably the worst, most violent act among all female characters (blowing up the Sept of Baelor), and Daenerys gets dehumanized despite most of her violence being used for what she believed was doing the right thing. When the heroes commit the same atrocities as the surprise villain and only her gets punished for it, and the main villain of the story commits horrible acts of violence as well but is humanized because she is now a mother and to make the surprise villain look even worse, the twist is not going to work because the reasoning behind it isn't particularly noteworthy.

I'm sorry for the rant, I just had so much to say and didn't word it very well (English is not my first language), but I'll try to edit a bit tomorrow.

EDIT: I forgot to mention one of my early "wtf" moments related to the treatment of women in the show. After Jaime loses his hand and Brienne scolds him for whining because she thinks this is the first time he's suffered, she says "you sound like a bloody woman". It feels a bit insulting considering that Brienne herself is a woman and that this, coming from another character, in this world, could make sense, but given the respect both Brienne and Jaime have for women, it feels out of character. In the books, iirc, she says something like "are you so vain?". In this show this line feels like it was added just for the sake of being edgy.

tl;dr: the show tries to imply that a woman is complete when she is no longer a virgin, that she only becomes a strong character when she embraces violence and has no flaws, and that being a mother can redeem any bad actions and make you a good person despite everything else proving otherwise. The reason why Daenerys's madness does not work is because her use of violence is condemned when characters who are labeled as heroes have done the same or worse without punishment, and the villain is humanized despite her own terrible violent crimes to make Dany "the surprise villain" look even worse.

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monochromaticinsignias · 6 years

Text

Jung Hoseok | Hero

Medieval au

Knighthood

Royalty

Violence !

Blood !

Words : 1.2k

Summary : Jung Hoseok had always been considered the weakest out of all the trainees who are under the process of becoming Knights, so he was often looked down upon and bad mouthed when he was chosen as personal Knight of the Princess herself—despite not needing one. One thing led to another, and the female royal had mentioned to him that even if he’s weak, frail, and scared; there’s that ‘something’ lurking inside. An incredible will, a courageous heart, a sleeping ..

Hero

“What is it that you are afraid of?”

Hoseok jumps, his head whipping to the side to stare at the approaching female royal who wore her usual teasing grin.

“Ah, Princess.” he mumbles, stepping to the side to let the woman step farther into the balcony. Her eyes closed gingerly, a sigh leaving her pretty pink lips. “I told you that you are allowed to call me by my name whenever we’re alone.” she whispers softly, earning a small apology from the knight beside her.

Giggling, she shakes her head, “Now tell me, what has you shaking?” she leans against the railing.

Hoseok averts his look towards the sky, marveling across the blue painted canvas. “It’s nothing, your Hi—[Y/n]..” he replies, a smile appearing across his lips.

In spite of the reassuring smile he had shown her, it has no effects to the female.

"You can't lie to me." She says simply, her smile softening in the process. Alas, her Knight replied no more. He knows he can't lie in front of her, she knew him as if he's a coin. It was one of her sides that no one dared to face, she can easily tell whether someone is lying or not.

When he didn't utter a word nor part his lips in order to give a proper reply, [Y/n] gently places her hand upon his shoulder, causing him to look at the royal in bafflement.

He was only met with a sweet gaze.

"I didn't choose you because I pitied you, Hoseok," she gives him a close eyed smile, "You have something more that your fellow trainees aren't able to see with their eyes." The princess raises her finger and taps his chest, "It’s just there," her eyes remained fixed against his wide ones. "Hidden within you." She didn't say anything after that, she stepped away and gave him a ladylike bow. Casting him one last eye smile, she retreated back to the hall.

Hoseok didn't know how to react, he knew how to feel as of the moment; troubled, lost, flustered.

It was the talk of the inhabitants in the castle and the Academy when it was rumored that the Princess was to assign a Knight to her side by orders of the King before he had passed away due to his severe wounds a day after the war.

Which happened a year ago.

Hoseok clung onto the railings of the balcony, heaving another heavy sigh. He can still remember it freshly, it remained new to the mind.

It was just another day in the Academy, the trainees are sparring against the Knights and those who pass will tackle on the next test before proceeding on.

It was that certain day when the Princess, accompanied by viceroys, stroll around the training grounds. Scanning the trainees in hopes of finding the Knight suitable for the young female royal, who that day, looked unimpressed despite the men giving in their best efforts.

It was her presence that led to their success, perfectly passing the first test.

In spite of the achievement, she had hung her head low and shook it.

That is until the sound of a sword falling to the ground disrupt the silence.

The princess was quick to move on her feet, politely weaving through the crowd just in time to witness a fallen trainee. His sword down on the ground with one of the Knight standing as victor.

She smiled brightly, and held her hand out for him to take. The man, who introduced himself as Hoseok, respectfully bowed down.. Before..

"This man; Jung Hoseok, will be assigned to the Knights of the Kyrèa and as my Knight."

For sure, the gasps that lingered around the room still remained in his mind even if a year had passed.

Everyone was shocked -him the most- for someone who had miserably failed the first test was chosen as personal Knight and as a member of the Kyrèa—a group of six Knights who are special, they excel differently, they have mastered different ways individually and are chosen by the King himself. As an individual, one is called according to their order of being chosen.

For him to be a member of the elite group themselves.. is both a blessing and a curse, a burden to carry.

He doesn't have the right to be one, and everyone knew it. But her.

[Y/n].

Had chosen him.

That night, dressed just like the Kyrès, he had approached her.

Desperately asking why him, out of everyone who had passed, he had failed. Yet he was chosen.

It was absurd! Everyone knew that. It became the talk ever since, and he was belittled because of it in spite of his high position.

Her answer remained the same up to this day.

"I didn't choose you because of pity. There's something in you that they can't see—and it’s there. Hidden within you."

He's positive, very positive.

He's not blind, there's no need for him.

[Y/n] is a princess capable of fighting, her elegance and skill of using the sword is used to perfection, and no one dares fight her accuracy with the bow and arrow.

She's a female royal who stands in the front lines of the war, the First Knight by her side along with Hoseok.

Although the viceroys and the villagers themselves are against the idea of the last [L/n] royalty fighting against the enemy, they knew better that she should fight. Her level is equal to those of the Knights of the Kyrèa, and she knew the landscape better than anyone else.

So when a messenger came running inside the balcony with a look of panic in his face, Hoseok can only reciprocate the feeling when the man told him the shocking news.

Footsteps thundered down the hallway, the Fifth and the Fourth Knight desperately searching for the royal.

"Princess—Princess!" The Fourth exclaims, not so politely barging inside the woman's room. The latter looking at the pair in surprise as she tightened the arsenal around her waist.

"Knock next time, idiot," the Fifth sighs, "What if we barged into something else, ah?" He scolds.

You laugh lightly, taking your sword from the wall as you give them a smile. They were known to worry so much they'd often come to you and keep you guarded twenty four seven.

"Jimin, Taehyung," you smile. "Prepare your groups and head to point L4 to the east." the two seemed surprised at your command as you pointed at a specific spot at the map showing the landscape surrounding the kingdom and the following districts.

Jimin, the Fifth Knight, frowns at you.

"You knew?” you nod.

“But you're unguarded—"

Taehyung grins as he slung his arm around the older man, "Nah. Seventh Hobi hyung has it all under control." He gave a thumbs up as you nod with a chuckle.

It's true. Hoseok can handle it, he's perfectly skilled, he just doesn't know it because he's too blinded by his insecurities.

"The enemy has done an abrupt strike without our knowledge, so I trust you two to go to L4 and evacuate the villagers safely. Am I understood?" They nodded at you before saluting, all traces of bliss discarded that very instant. "What about the others..?" You hear Jimin mumble silently.

You took the map from the desk and spread it wide enough so they can see.

"The others along with you will be coming in with their elite group. We don't know if they have reinforcements in their rear, so just in case of urgency, we need to keep a Kyrè behind; Seokjin, will be the one." You move your finger to the land just outside the walls of your kingdom. "I will be in the frontline with Jungkook and Hoseok. Tell both Yoongi and Namjoon that they are to lead separate battalions as secondary offense if ever the front line collapses." You rolled the map up again before placing it on the desk top once more.

"Clear?" You gave them an arched eyebrow.

Jimin still looked concerned than ever, but Taehyung seems confident in your plan.

"[Y/n]." Jimin carefully drawls out your name with anxiousness. "This is the same kingdom that defeated us once—your brother." He didn't stop even when you tensed up. "You should stay here and let the viceroys escort you to safety."

You shook your head, indicating your stubbornness. You need to be there.

You will shed blood for the sake of your murdered family.

"That won't happen," you stated to him. "Here, after you and Taehyung are done evacuating the villagers, come fight. Alright?"

Both men weren't able to reply to your statements for the sudden blow of a horn invaded all tension. Alerting everyone of the sudden urgency.

"Move, now." You command, moving past them as you began walking down the halls. Just in time to see Hoseok coming your way, a panicked look in his eyes.

The same look he gave you when he was pulling you along the hidden passage way leading to a different exit route from your father's palace.

It was similar today, an ambush.

Your father was killed instantly, and you are unable to fight due to being garbed in a long dress. Hoseok had to guide you as quick as he could to the hidden routes as you were forced to retreat to your older brother's castle on your Knight's trusty steed.

"[Y/n]—" Hoseok was cut off when he realized that you are fully armoured now. Geared up with your arsenal. Immediately, he began shaking his head and waving his hands frantically. "—No, you have to leave. I can't have you dying out there." He demands. Sighing in exasperation, you tapped his hand.

“That’s why you’re there, hm?” you smile lopsidedly before hurrying off.

Leaving behind a helpless Knight whose stare followed your disappearing form.

Masterlist

#bts jhope #jhope #jung hoseok #x reader #fanfiction #bts #romance #medieval au #knight #princess #some angst #non idol au

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Undoing Finale Ending Explained: Nicole Kidman Drama Closes With a Bang

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HBO’s glossy six part drama The Undoing has come to a close providing answers to some burning questions, not least of which is who killed Elena Alves (Matilda De Angelis). The show closed with quite the bang though, raising other issues that had been playing out in the background throughout the series.

The Undoing was created by David E Kelley and is loosely based on the 2014 novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz – Susanne Bier is the series director. Nicole Kidman plays Grace Fraser, a wealthy and accomplished clinical psychologist, married to charming Oncologist Jonathan (Hugh Grant). But one night after a lavish fundraiser a beautiful young woman whose child attends the same school as Grace and Jonathan’s son Henry (Noah Jupe) is found murdered. Jonathan had claimed to be away on a work trip but suddenly he’s not contactable – Grace’s world seems to be falling apart around her rapidly.

Revelations are drip-fed throughout the show. Jonathan is no longer working at the hospital he had been employed by after reports of an incident with a patient – which turns out to be Elena’s son Miguel. Jonathan was having an affair with Elena, and it turns out her baby daughter is his and not her husband’s.

When Jonathan was a teenager he accidentally left a door open when he was supposed to be tending to his four year old sister. She wandered into the road and was killed, and according to Jonathan’s mum Jonathan showed no guilt, remorse or grief over the incident.

Episode five ended on the biggest cliffhanger yet – the discovery of a mallet – the probable murder weapon – inside Henry’s violin case.

Episode six entitled ‘The Bloody Truth’ attempts to tie up these loose ends. Henry found the bloody mallet in a bag at the beach house, he says. He hid it to protect his father. Because Henry ran it through the dishwasher twice it’s now unlikely to have any meaningful DNA.

Could the mallet have exonerated Jonathan and contained DNA which might have pointed to Fernando Alves (Ismael Cruz Cordova)? And are we quite sure that Henry, who had observed Jonathan and Elena together, couldn’t have done it himself?

Jonathan certainly brings up the suggestion to an enraged Grace (more on this later).

After consulting with their lawyer Haley Fitzgerald (Noma Dumezweni) the family makes the dubious decision not to reveal the mallet to the police. Jonathan is mid trial and the revelation of the murder weapon being discoverd at the beach house can only harm his case, meanwhile it will potentially make Henry an accessory to murder.

The Undoing plays with ideas of how well you know another person. Grace is a psychologist and so in theory should be a better judge of character than most. She’s also the wronged wife who has stood by her cheating husband even after the revelation that Elena’s daughter is Jonathan’s. She is the very image of beauty, dignity and sympathy.

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Grace asks Haley to allow her to take the stand – she will act as a character witness for Jonathan.

Under oath and during cross examination, Grace tells Haley that Jonathan is a kind man, an empathetic man and a man not capable of violence – not ever, not once. He couldn’t possibly have killed Elena, he isn’t capable of such an act, and she should know, she’s a professional.

The thing is, he is capable of such things, and she knows it. Jonathan grabbed Grace by the throat when he broke into the beach house. Grace was afraid for her life and called the police. And course, there’s the story about Jonathan’s little sister and how he never seemed to exhibit any kind of sadness or suffering over her loss. That doesn’t sound like the man Grace described.

Grace has tipped off her best friend Sylvia (Lily Rabe) who has fed this evidence to the prosecution who completely destroys Grace as a witness and allows a lot of evidence to be presented and referred to which is not in any way relevant to the case. Because Grace is a witness for the defence the judge won’t throw her testimony out.

As Jonathan says, she has “fucked him”.

It’s a wonderful twist that benefits from the truly terrific performances from all the main cast, but Kidman and Grant in particular. He is charming, funny but there’s a callousness, a psychopathy under the surface that perhaps Grace can finally see. Whether Grace knows it for sure or not, Jonathan did kill Elena. What Grace never doubted was that Henry did not. That Jonathan would point the finger at his own son (knowing he’d committed the crime) indicates what kind of man he really is.

But Grace’s decision to seal the deal on Jonathan’s fate feels less to do with justice than for the good of her own family. She asks Henry whether he wants the family to return to normal after the trial – but he turns the question back on her. She says she just wants whats best for him. Meanwhile Grace’s father Franklin Reinhardt (Donald Sutherland) reminds Grace that if Jonathan is acquitted he will remain in Grace and Henry’s lives forever.

Jonathan is a killer – a brutal, psychopath who beat his young lover to a pulp. But the ending of The Undoing isn’t about Elena getting justice, as much as it is the incredible control exerted over the legal system by the wealthy and powerful.

Jonathan is guilty. His DNA was in Elena’s studio, his semen was in her body, just after her death he bolts and when he returns he breaks into the property where Grace is staying – the place where the murder weapon is found. Elena’s husband has an alibi and no one else really has a motive. It’s pretty conclusive.

Yet without Grace’s manipulation it is possible Jonathan would have been acquitted. The family, thanks to Franklin, has the best lawyer money can buy. Jonathan is a rich white doctor who cures sick children, Fernando Alves is not white or rich and is prone to outbursts.

Grace is smart – smarter than Jonathan – who isn’t able to predict that the prosecution might have access to the terrified 911 call that Grace made when Jonathan broke in.

Jonathan is a monster, who murders Elena when she gets too close to his family and dares to suggest she has any control over him.

Grace is a benevolent but equally powerful woman who is able to affect the course of justice because of her credibility, her beauty and her authority (even if that means deliberately flipping that on its head).

The series finishes not with the jury’s verdict but with Jonathan making one last play for power. He takes Henry and makes a run for it – an incredibly uncomfortable journey with Jonathan flicking between faux jovial and bubbling fury. When it is clear police cars are closing in he makes one last attempt at keeping control. Driving across a high bridge he pulls over and climbs the railing threatening to jump, while his 12-year-old son pleads with him not to. Grace arrives and runs to the two screaming Jonathan’s name. But when she reaches her child she takes him and turns away. Jonathan asks for a cuddle but she refuses.

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Jonathan is going to prison, Grace has her son, but the ending is bitter sweet. Vulnerable, trusting Elena is still dead, her son Miguel had to find her body, and her husband Fernando is left dealing with the trauma having been insinuated into a crime he didn’t commit. Jonathan may have been brought to justice but wealth and privilege has still proven its power.

The post The Undoing Finale Ending Explained: Nicole Kidman Drama Closes With a Bang appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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thejokervaleska · 7 years

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psycho lovers

Pairing: The Joker (Ledger) x Reader Rating: M (mentions of violence and sex) Words: 1830 Summary: Watching the Joker find himself is just as unsettling as you might imagine.

I've got his violence in my dreams I've got his makeup on my teeth We're all hysterical for love

It’s late, it’s winter. The world is cold and dark.

With hands like ice, I smoke my last cigarette as I wait for him. It seems I’m always waiting, wishing, hoping. If I were a religious person, I’d probably be praying too but as it is, I’m not sure anyone would be listening.

Headlights sweep across my face and I stand up straighter just in case it’s him. But the sensible sedan continues past me without a second glance.

I sigh and the frosty air burns my lungs as much as the acrid smoke. Exhaling both, I watch as the smoke swirls in the yellow light from the streetlamps before fading away into the ether.

“Waiting for someone?”

I never saw him arrive, never heard his footsteps approaching me, but suddenly he’s here. Suddenly he’s backing me up against the wall and pinning me in place with his hips, stealing the cigarette from between my fingers and taking a deep drag before tossing it away into the dry, dead grass behind him.

“That’ll start a fire,” I warn him as the orange embers smolder in the darkness.

He doesn’t care. He kisses me hard, stealing my words and my worries all at once. It’s too much, too soon, but that’s how it always is with him. Too much and then never enough.

As his cold, chapped lips move against mine, his tongue arrogantly demands entry into my mouth and I give it freely, knowing he won’t accept anything less than total submission. His nearness overwhelms me – the width of his shoulders, the hardness of his arms, the heat of his body, the smell of his skin – and I melt into him like warm honey. It always happens so quickly, this invasion, this conquering. I moan softly against his lips and feel them turn up in a satisfied grin.

Winding my fingers into his hair, I feel it’s still damp and crunchy now with ice. It never ceases to amaze me how he can be so impervious to the cold. It’s like he doesn’t even feel it.

I tug sharply at one of his curls and he’s so close to me that I can feel the resulting shudder in my bones as it rolls through him. He nips at my bottom lip in response then pulls away. Though I wish he would take my hand instead, he grabs me by the wrist and drags me through the front door, across the small lobby, up the stairs, and into my small apartment.

It’s dark, of course. I wasn’t expecting him to come up. Usually on these nights, he steals my keys and drives us through the streets of Gotham in my beat-up old car. With the windows down and smoke in the air, he tells me his half-true stories and half-baked plans while I try my best to keep up. It fascinates me that his brain is capable of holding onto a dozen different thoughts and concepts at once but it often makes conversation difficult.

Sometimes we just talk until the sun comes up but sometimes he drives us to one of the rundown housing projects in the Narrows where people don’t call the cops and leaves me sitting alone while he disappears into the darkness. Sometimes he’s gone for ten minutes, sometimes it’s closer to an hour. Sometimes he returns smiling and waving a small plastic baggie, sometimes he comes back covered in blood.

Shedding my coat, I stop to flip on the small lamp in my living room and feel him there behind me. I know a reasonable person would be terrified to find themselves wrapped tightly in the arms of a known serial killer but I feel only relief. Pride. Pleasure. I lean into him as he presses his front against my back, absently nuzzling his rough, scarred cheek against my neck.

Oh, the scars. They never fail to tug at something in the vicinity of my heart. I can’t imagine what he went through to get them and foolishly, I long to be able to take that pain away or at least help him carry the burden of it. I would never admit that to him though. He doesn’t like it when I stare at them or touch them or even mention them. The last thing he wants from me is sympathy.

His hand clamps down painfully on my shoulder and a moment later, he spins me around like a ragdoll to face him. Looking up, I notice his eyes are gleaming bright in the dim light. When he speaks, his voice is low and dangerous. “I have something to show you.”

“Okay,” I breathe as goosebumps emerge on my skin. “What is it?”

Tracing his fingers lightly down my arms, he hums, pleased by my reaction. I’m so focused on the tip of his pink tongue snaking out to touch the scar on his bottom lip that I barely notice him shoving me down onto the couch.

“Wait here. Oh, and uh, close your eyes.”

It’s a testament either to our bond or my own stupidity that I obey him without a second thought. Listening to his heavy footsteps moving away from me and down the hall, I know without a doubt that my boundless trust of a remorseless, sadistic murderer will someday be the death of me.

Of course, thanks to him, I suppose I’m no better.

On one of these nights, not so very long ago, he broke tradition and asked me to accompany him on one of his mysterious adventures into the seediest part of the Narrow’s underbelly. I jumped at the chance even when he pressed the handle of his long, wicked knife into my palm and told me I would be using it very soon.

We didn’t go inside. We lurked in the shadows of the hulking building, waiting in silence for some sign only he could see. It came quickly, too quickly, and then suddenly I was kneeling over someone and cutting. The memory comes to me in hazy flashes but I can perfectly recall how it felt to have him there behind me the whole time, his arm too-tight around my waist and his gloved hands sweeping my hair back from my face. He murmured in my ear as I drew blood and watched the light fade from a stranger’s eyes.

And afterwards, when he told me I did a good job, I felt nothing but pride.

We fucked in the backseat of the car that night, parked right there at the curb less than a hundred feet away from the body that was rapidly growing cold. My hands smeared blood on his face and his fingers traced it into my skin, spread it through my hair. We fogged up the windows and he bit down hard on my neck when he came, groaning like it hurt. And maybe it did; it always pains him to let himself go.

It's strange to me how a man can relish chaos and abhor rules but still demand complete control. Control over me, control over the world around him, and most importantly, control over himself.

Back in the present, I feel only the slightest displacement of the air in front of me but I know he’s there because I can smell him – smoke, blood, and something earthy.

“Open your eyes,” he purrs.

And when I do, something strange and ghostly looms in front of them. He cackles as I shrink away, trying to process what I’m seeing. He’s painted his face stark white and blacked out the eyes to resemble a skull. Paired with that evil smile and the ever-present insanity in his eyes, the effect is truly eerie.

“What do you think?” he asks, raising his eyebrows and turning his face from side to side to give me a better look. “Hm? Is it me or what?”

“It’s terrifying,” I tell him honestly, “but I’m guessing that’s the point.”

His smile turns predatory, his head dropping low on his shoulders so he can peer at me from under the ridge of his brows.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of little ol’ me,” he rasps, stalking closer.

In the blink of an eye, he’s crawling into my lap and straddling me, his knees planted into the cushion on either side of my hips. Trying and failing to hide my uncertainty, I lean back and he follows, trapping me against the back of the couch as his face hovers over mine. His fingers snake up to press against the pulse in my neck.

“Mmm, like a little bird,” he mutters, closing the distance between our faces. My mouth opens but instead of kissing me, he touches his tongue to my bottom lip. I breathe in sharply, confused, as he traces it along, tasting me but stopping just short of letting his lips touch mine. When he sits up to look at me, he shrugs a shoulder. “Don’t want to ah, smear my masterpiece just yet, do we?”

“You’re such a weirdo,” I whisper, just to hear him snort out that strange, closed-mouth laugh.

“Takes one to know one,” he says in a sing-song voice. I wince as he settles his weight back onto my thighs. “Now, I need something for my mouth.”

It takes a few tries but after crowding into my small bathroom together, I finally find the right blood red lipstick. He slouches down, watching my face intently as I glide it over his lips and color them in. As we both stare at his reflection, I know it’s close but it’s not quite right.

Taking the tube from my hand, he leans closer to the mirror, squinting as he traces the red up from the corner of his mouth and out over the knotted flesh on his cheeks. He’s pressing down so hard that the tip of the lipstick breaks off and falls into the sink.

I can’t look away from the monster in the mirror in front of me. The red emphasizes the lack of symmetry in his scars and the awful texture. Overall, the effect is gruesome and he knows it.

Our eyes meet in the mirror and suddenly it clicks. Suddenly it all makes sense, these insane plans he’s been muttering in my ear. As he grins madly, reading my mind, I’m torn between being incredibly terrified and incredibly proud of him. Awed, I understand now what he wants and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to get it.

Someday soon, he’ll bring Gotham to its knees. Someday soon, he’ll be holding this city in the palm of his hand and like any vengeful god, he’ll crush it until it breaks, until it crumbles into dust.

The thought makes me want to run away and hide but instead, I smile. Instead, I let him kiss me until I’m wearing nearly as much of his paint as he is.

Maybe if I’m lucky, he’ll have mercy on me.

(Tagging: @nicolesyneah25)

#the joker x reader #ledger joker x reader #ledger joker #joker imagine #ledger joker imagine #tdk imagine #fanfiction #rating: m #just a weird oneshot stream of consciousness sort of thing that came out of nowhere idk #lyrics from psycho lovers by local natives #changed ''her'' to ''him'' though #because it's too perfect

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operationrainfall · 5 years

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Title Wargroove Developer Chucklefish LTD Publisher Chucklefish Release Date February 1st, 2019 Genre Strategy Platform PC, PS4, Switch, XBox One Age Rating E for Everyone 10+ – Fantasy Violence Official Website

In some ways, I’ve been waiting on Wargroove for over a decade. After Intelligent Systems gave up on Advance Wars in 2008, I was ready to write that style of tactical series off. But then a new company decided to pick up the torch and start running with it. That group was Chucklefish, one I admit I was not that familiar with. But after seeing all the Wargroove coverage for the past year and change, I suspected I had reason to be excited. After buying the game, I wanted to spend sufficient time engaged in order to offer a deep analysis of the experience. The question then, was Chucklefish able to do justice to the legacy of Advance Wars? The answer is mostly yes, with some provisos.

One of the biggest differences between Wargroove and Advance Wars is stylistic. While Advance Wars was set in a sort of fictional modern military scenario, Wargroove is set in a medieval fantasy realm. So we traded our tanks and bombers for dragons and golems. I personally didn’t mind that change at all, since I love fantasy, and with any tactical game my primary focus is the gameplay. Having said that, there was another hoop that Wargroove needed to leap through if it wanted to prove itself the successor to Advance Wars, and that was the storytelling. Thankfully, Chucklefish proved they understood the need for levity in their series, much like in the one they patterned themselves after. Just enough to keep things light and fun. Some of my favorite examples are how the canine Commander, Caesar, does doggy things like roll over and scratch himself during battle, or how infuriated the energetic patchwork valkyrie, Ragna, becomes. There is a lot of humor and chuckle-worthy moments in the game, but not enough to remove any sense of drama.

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As with any strategy game, it’s important that Wargroove is tight and well-balanced. Thankfully, that is very much the case. Each faction, from Cherrystone to Floran to Heavensong to Fellheim, has access to the exact same units, so nobody is inherently overpowered. This is actually a step up from Advance Wars, where the choice of Commander could drastically change the inherent utility of certain units. While it’s true that the names for units varies from faction to faction, they are completely the same. For example, the Cherrystone dragon units are red hued Emberwings, while the Fellheim variant are the insidious Fellbats. Both play the same and are equally strong, they just have very different designs. Another thing that’s nice is the sense of balance between various units. You will find ground, aerial and sea units in the game. There is nothing in the game that’s unstoppable, so long as you have the right unit to counter it. Take the dragons for example. While they are powerful and capable of annihilating weaker units, they are also incredibly susceptible to anti-air units, such as Alchemists and Ballistae. Furthermore, each unit in the game has their own conditions under which they deal critical damage. For example, the Spearmen do extra damage when arranged in a phalanx adjacent to other Spearmen, while Alchemists do extra damage when their defense is boosted by terrain. There’s a lot of interaction and complexity to keep note of, and though the game does a good job of explaining it, it’s easy to forget some of the smaller details. While you can see a display showing which units are powerful and weak to other units, currently it’s a bit hard to read, mostly because they show tiny pixelated headshots of the units. Keeping in mind the visual differences between factions, this is a bit hard to decipher. Thankfully, Chucklefish have announced they are aware of this problem and intend to fix it with a more clear visual display.

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Since there are no tanks or planes, there is also no need to worry about depleting amounts of gasoline powering them in Wargroove, so you can always move a unit without worrying about it being stranded due to not having enough fuel. Though there is one element in the game that is completely absent from Advance Wars – Commander units. While it’s true the AW series did have Commanders who could use their powers to save the day, they were never physically on the field. That is not the case in Wargroove. While you won’t have a Commander unit in every mission of Campaign mode, they will be there for most of them, which is important for a couple reasons. For one, if your Commander dies, you lose the mission. For another, they have access to powerful Grooves that can change the tide of battle. I really like how tactics are dictated by the Commanders in the game. Their Grooves charge up as they battle, and once full, Commanders can unleash them at will. Thankfully, though the Grooves are powerful, they aren’t overpowered. They all have an area of effect, and the more powerful ones take longer to charge. Some examples are Mercia’s Healing Aura, which heals units around her, or Ragna’s Shield Bash, which lets her jump into foes, damaging them. It still takes good tactical strategy to win, and though the Commanders are sturdier than most units, they’re far from invincible. If they get surrounded, they will usually fall to a wall of steel and sorcery. To help balance things out, Commanders do heal a small amount of health each turn, around 10% of their max HP.

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One thing I really liked about Wargroove is how you’re constantly unlocking things. As you beat stages, you’ll unlock lore about Commanders, and by beating optional side missions you’ll unlock Commanders in other modes. Additionally, whenever you beat a mission in Campaign mode, you’ll be rewarded with up to 3 stars depending on how efficiently you played. These aren’t just for show. You’ll need 100 of them to unlock the true final mission in Campaign mode. While I managed to beat that mode in about 25 hours, it took at least that long again to get all those required stars for the best ending. This is because you can’t get enough stars by perfectly beating each mission in Campaign mode. You’ll also need to get them by playing the other two main modes in the game – Arcade and Puzzle.

Get Groovy on Page 2 ->

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Arcade mode has you pick a Commander and then succeed in a series of 5 maps against other Commanders. You can choose from different difficulties, and the harder you pick, the more stars you get. It’s a pretty basic mode, but it’s a fun time waster. To keep things fresh, the maps you play will be randomly shuffled each game, and there’s a pretty good variety. The only downside is some of the maps are more frustrating than others, so don’t feel badly about giving up and trying again, hoping for a better set. Puzzle mode is far simpler, but also more tricky. You’re presented with a map and a single turn to accomplish a set objective. Typically, this is beating the enemy Commander or destroying their Stronghold, but some will also involve tasks like getting a certain unit to safety. I enjoyed the mental exercise here, since Puzzle mode lives up to its moniker and requires some careful thinking to succeed. You won’t be able to overpower your foe, you instead need to carefully use the limited tools at your disposal. The only downside to this mode is that beating any map only rewards you with one star, whereas in both Campaign and Arcade, you’ll get at least a couple stars each time. But there’s one more mode we need to discuss – the Create mode.

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I remember loving the user created content in Advance Wars, and not only is that back here, but it’s more involved. You can create and share a variety of maps from scratch, customizing the terrain and setting units and decorations where you please. You can also play with toggles like weather and fog of war. Hell, you can even decide how much money you get from allied buildings, which is typically set to 100 per turn. I enjoyed the wealth of options here, and only really had a couple complaints. One, I wanted an in-game FAQ or tutorial to explain the nuances of this mode. Though making a map was mostly intuitive, setting up things like win conditions was less so. For example, I was unable to set my opponent as an AI, meaning that when I tried to test my stage, I was forced to alternate between playing as both Commanders. I also wish this mode was built with styluses in mind. It’s a bit irritating to have to move the cursor around an entire map to select things. I know the Switch wasn’t made with stylus play in mind, and I know Wargroove isn’t only available on that console, but I fervently wish Chucklefish would bring innovative solutions to issues like this for each version of the game. While it’s not life or death, the whole point of user created content is making it approachable, easy to use and understandable. Hopefully they will fix some of these complaints in a future update. Until they do, I likely won’t be creating many stages, and certainly won’t be monkeying around with the Campaign creator, mostly cause I like fully understanding such things before I get drawn deep into them.

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So now that we’ve established the basics, I feel I should spend a little time on the story of the game. The very first mission has you controlling the vampire Sigrid as she murders her way through Cherrystone Castle, ending with the death of the King. This sets the kingdoms of Fellheim and Cherrystone at war, and the young Queen-to-be Mercia is utterly overwhelmed. She is quickly ousted from her own kingdom and sets out to find allies to fight the Fellheim hordes, along with her trusty companions – the wizard Emeric and her armor clad canine, Caesar. Along the way they will meet many colorful people and nations, and will learn the dire truth behind the actions that precipitate the game. Though it’s not all that complex, it was interesting enough to hold my attention. This was because the world of the game is compelling, and especially the Commanders that populate it. My only real complaint is that I wanted to know more, more about the Commanders and their past, more about the kingdoms, and more about the lore. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great start, but it also felt a bit underdeveloped at times. But hopefully the success of Wargroove means we’ll get sequels that allow the world to be fleshed out even further.

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A mark of success for any tactical game is how intuitive and streamlined it is, and I’m happy to say Wargroove does a pretty good job of it. There are nice touches such as pressing the L trigger to switch between active units or holding B to skip past battle animations and unit movement. It’s relatively effortless to bring up a display of all the units, check their status or just look at the map. However, there are also a couple areas that the game fell short. Namely, a few glitches I encountered in my playthrough, most revolving around the save feature. One time I beat a level, it auto saved, and when I returned to the game I was in the previous level. Another time, in the final stage, I saved at the very start of the battle, exited, and when I came back my units had moved and somehow the boss, who was supposed to be at the opposite side of the map, was right next to me. Lastly, one time, I had a glitch force me back to the home screen. Thankfully, when I went to play the game again, I hadn’t lost any progress. On the irritating side of the spectrum, I wish the game would let you skip the credits that play every time you beat Arcade mode. I also wish the AI was a bit smarter. It’s not idiotic, but it’s pretty easy to fake out. For example, I quickly found that AI units inexplicably fixate on Wagons, even when they’re empty, which I used to my advantage to distract them. The worst example of AI is how the Commander named Greenfinger is completely unable to use his own Groove effectively. But, assuming Chucklefish can resolve those save issues, they can ignore most of my other complaints.

Visually, Wargroove is fantastic. Not only does it ape the style from Advance Wars, it also adds many of its own bells and whistles. The pixelated artwork for each unit and character is fluid and colorful, and that goes double for the Commanders. I especially like the 2D portraits that display their reactions during battle, ranging from gleeful to dismayed. It’s also nice how each faction’s units are totally different looking, and have unique looking animations. The Floran infantry scuttle low to the ground, while the Heavensong charge fearlessly into battle, swords at a jaunty angle. My absolute favorite animation is probably how Greenfinger scatters seeds that quickly grow into his flora steed before he rides it into combat. But the game doesn’t just have great art, it also has catchy music. Each Commander has their own theme, and though I don’t love them all equally, there are several earworms. Having said that, I do feel that the music here is a bit inferior to that in Advance Wars. I can still hear songs from that game when I think about it, and it was just blissful rock and roll. But there is one area the sound design eclipses Advance Wars, and that’s how there’s a small bit of voice acting for the Commanders. It’s just a nice touch that adds even more personality to the eclectic cast of characters.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with Wargroove. Not only did it satisfy my nostalgia for Advance Wars, it expanded my expectations in wonderful ways. Best of all, it’s a super affordable package, only costing $19.99 for at least 20+ hours of content (though far more if you want to see everything). Yes, there are still some important kinks to iron out, but I can’t help but recommend this to fans of Advance Wars and tactical games in general. And if you find it too easy, you can always challenge yourself by trying your luck against other players. If you need a new strategy obsession on every major console, do yourself a favor and pick this up.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

Review Copy Purchased by Author

REVIEW: Wargroove Title Wargroove

#Advance Wars #Chucklefish #Chucklefish LTD #oprainfall #Review #spiritual successor #strategy #Tactical #Wargroove

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vercnas-blog · 6 years

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◤°░｡ ✕ STAR SIGN ; TAURUS ! ’ 〉

taurus is the one who has immense perseverance, even when others have given up, the taurus rages on. they have a well known reputation for being stubborn, which is not necessarily a bad thing. the stubborn streak can cause them to butt heads and conflict with other strong character types. they are not fond of change. they like the familiar and routine comfort of life. they are easy going and not one to pick a fight but should some poor souls attempt to provoke them, the wrath will be known, for they have a temper underneath the calm surface. they are very responsive to their surroundings. they like decorations, color, anything that appeals to all the senses. they are down to earth, they do not like gaudy, flashy or over the top things. they prefer comfortable and creative settings and objects. they like security, in every aspect of their lives from home, to love, to career. they can be secretive, opinionated and stingy. they are the one that will follow the leader and strengthen and build upon the discovered, in other words they are the one that will dot the i's and cross the t's.

◤°░｡ ✕ MBTI ; INTJ ! ’ 〉

the architect. a paradox to most observers, architects are able to live by glaring contradictions that nonetheless make perfect sense – at least from a purely rational perspective. for example, architects are simultaneously the most starry-eyed idealists and the bitterest of cynics, a seemingly impossible conflict. but this is because architect personalities tend to believe that with effort, intelligence and consideration, nothing is impossible, while at the same time they believe that people are too lazy, short-sighted or self-serving to actually achieve those fantastic results. yet that cynical view of reality is unlikely to stop an interested architect from achieving a result they believe to be relevant. white lies and small talk are hard enough as it is for a type that craves truth and depth, but architects may go so far as to see many social conventions as downright stupid. ironically, it is often best for them to remain where they are comfortable – out of the spotlight – where the natural confidence prevalent in architects as they work with the familiar can serve as its own beacon, attracting people, romantically or otherwise, of similar temperament and interests.

◤°░｡ ✕ ENNEAGRAM ; TYPE 5 !’ 〉

the investigator. fives are alert, insightful, and curious. they are able to concentrate and focus on developing complex ideas and skills. independent, innovative, and inventive, they can also become preoccupied with their thoughts and imaginary constructs. they become detached, yet high-strung and intense. they typically have problems with eccentricity, nihilism, and isolation. they do not accept received opinions and doctrines, feeling a strong need to test the truth of most assumptions for themselves. fives feel that they do not have an ability to do things as well as others. but rather than engage directly with activities that might bolster their confidence, fives “take a step back” into their minds where they feel more capable. their belief is that from the safety of their minds they will eventually figure out how to do things—and one day rejoin the world. fives spend a lot of time observing and contemplating—listening to the sounds of wind or of a synthesizer, or taking notes on the activities in an anthill in their back yard.

◤°░｡ ✕ MORAL ALIGNMENT ; NEUTRAL GOOD ! ’ 〉

creatures of neutral good alignment believe that there must be some regulation in combination with freedoms if the best is to be brought to the world–the most beneficial conditions for living things in general and intelligent creatures in particular. creatures of this alignments see the cosmos as a place where law and chaos are merely tools to use in bringing life, happiness, and prosperity to all deserving creatures. order is not good unless it brings this to all; neither is randomness and total freedom desirable if it does not bring such good. neutral goods value both personal freedom and adherence to laws. they feel that too many laws may unnecessarily restrict the freedom of good beings. they also believe that too much freedom may not protect society as a whole and encourage counterproductive divisions and in-fighting. they promote governments which hold broad powers, but do not interfere in the day-to-day lives of their citizens. these characters value life and freedom above all else, and despise those who would deprive others of them.

◤°░｡ ✕ TEMPERAMENT ; MELANCHOLIC ! ’ 〉

your temperament is melancholic. the melancholic temperament is fundamentally introverted and thoughtful. melancholic people often were perceived as very ( or overly ) pondering and considerate, getting rather worried when they could not be on time for events. melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art - and can become preoccupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. often they are perfectionists. they are self-reliant and independent; one negative part of being a melancholic is that they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of others.

◤°░｡ ✕ SIN ; WRATH ! ’ 〉

extreme anger ( chiefly used for humorous or rhetorical effect ). strong vengeful anger or indignation. can be defined as uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage, and even hatred. wrath often reveals itself in the wish to seek vengeance. in its purest form, wrath presents with injury, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. wrath may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. feelings of wrath can manifest in different ways, including impatience, hateful misanthropy, revenge, and self-destructive behavior, such as drug abuse or suicide.

◤°░｡ ✕ VIRTUE ; HUMILITY ! ’ 〉

a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness. freedom from pride or arrogance : the quality or state of being humble. dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. in a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity or deities, and self-debasement with subsequent submission to said deity as a member of that religion. outside of a religious context, humility is defined as being "unselved" a liberation from consciousness of self, a form of temperance that is neither having pride ( or haughtiness ) nor indulging in self-deprecation. the materialistic view characterizes humility as self-restraint that frees oneself from vanity.

◤°░｡ ✕ DATING PERSONA ; THE NYMPH ! ’ 〉

sly. sensual. guarded. different somehow. you are the nymph. it appears like you're looking for a fling or a casual sexual relationship, but it's not that simple. you're a hungry but also very careful person, and this generates a certain amount of sexual tension within you and in your relationships. in other aspects of life, you get what you want. in relationships, that's not always the case. it's possible you intimidate potential lovers. most likely, though, you're a little closed off--therefore mysterious--and, naturally, people find that difficult to get with. maybe it's just part of your selection process, though. you've been in enough relationships to know to expose yourself slowly. when you do feel comfortable with someone, though, your torrid sexual appetite will make him very happy. your cautious nature is also a big asset in a long-term relationship. it might take longer for love to establish itself, but when it does, it's all the stronger.

◤°░｡ ✕ BRAIN LATERALIZATION ; RIGHT & LEFT ! ’ 〉

both your right and left hemisphere seem to have reached a level of perfect harmony - rather than trying to dominant each other, they work together to create a unique and well-balanced “you”. your spontaneous, impulsive, and free-flowing right brain creates an exciting and adventurous world, while your left brain helps you make sense of it and keep track of everything. when faced with a problem or a tough decision, you’re not only able to break things down and make an informed and sensible choice, but you’re also not afraid to go with your gut when necessary. you tend to express your individuality both in words and actions, and although you’re perfectly comfortable running on a schedule or planning things ahead of time, there are occasions when you love to throw in a little spontaneity.

◤°░｡ ✕ HARRY POTTER HOUSE ; HUFFLEPUFF ! ’ 〉

hufflepuffs are known for being trustworthy, loyal and hardworking. hufflepuffs are associated with trustworthiness, loyalty and a strong work ethic. their pottermore welcome letter describes hufflepuff as the friendliest, most decent and most tenacious house of them all.

◤°░｡ ✕ WESTEROS HOUSE ; TYRELL ! ’ 〉

outwardly you’re all about charm and grace, but on the inside you’re all grit. you know the power of a true smile and a spiraling network of allies– real success doesn’t need to be taken by force. you prefer to get what you want the smart way.

◤°░｡ ✕ AUSTEN HEROINE ; ANNE ELLIOT ! ’ 〉

kind-hearted and smart, you enjoy helping others and thrive under pressure. you can appear reserved, but aren’t afraid to speak your mind. you’re incredibly loyal to the people you love and are just an all-round awesome person.

◤°░｡ ✕ TAROT CARD ; THE CHARIOT ! ’ 〉

you're the chariot. you like to be in control of things, and hate to see things stagnate. you need to be constantly moving, constantly planning how to get ahead. when things start to slow down, you'll find a way to motivate them and get them moving and shaking again. you're very goal oriented, and you'll reach them, too-as long as you stay focused. like everyone else, you have your faults, and there are times when your life seems to spin out of control. in an effort to find some kind of balance again, sometimes you take too much control, coming across as aggressive and bossy. you cannot control everything and at times like this you have to prioritize and pick your battles wisely. you don't have to be in control of everything, and often it's best not to be. it gives others a chance to stretch themselves, and to learn things that will enhance their own lives.

◤°░｡ ✕ AURA ; YELLOW BROWN ! ’ 〉

yellow-browns mainly process life through their minds. they don't use their body and emotions nearly as much as most other color personalities. a yellow-browns primary difficulty is making contact with their own emotions and feelings. their personality will not allow them to feel something which cannot be analyzed and figured out completely. yellow-browns are afraid of their own emotions and feelings because they justify that the universe cannot be reduced to mind, logic and intellect. this extremely deep rooted fear and insecurity goes so far that they solve most of their problems with known, safe and tried patterns. because they don't really know how to handle their emotions, yellow-brown personalities often suppress them and tell themselves these emotions do not exist. they create ways to eliminate emotion in their lives. if they can't accept and therefore express their feelings, they tend to become even more uninvolved, withdrawn and cold toward others. many yellow-browns turn their rage, anger or sadness inside, leaving them painfully in a depressed, hopeless, discouraged state of mind.

◤°░｡ ✕ SHAKESPEARE PLAY ; THE TAMING OF THE SHREW ! ’ 〉

you are a calm, organized, and rational person who doesn't get swept off their feet by either love or crazy schemes. you value tradition and can be relied upon to make reasoned decisions that will conform with the expectations of your friends, family, and society. because of this, you have an accurate long-term vision and are able to make a practical plan for your life that will lead you slowly and steadily to success.

#░▓╳┊: HER MIND'S LIKE A DIAMOND ── IN DEPTH ! ┘

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