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carmenxjulia · 4 years ago

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I put together a transcript of the 2 hour Q&A Interview the Carmen Sandiego Discord did with Showrunner Duane Capizzi. All of the questions were submitted by server members. You can read everything below the break!

Duane Capizzi:

Hi there!

Am I in? Is this thing on?

PizzaHorse:

Hi, welcome!

Yep, you're in the right place!

Duane Capizzi:

Sorry I'm late, I was wandering around some empty Discord hallways looking for the right room haha

PizzaHorse:

No worries. Let's get started!

Who is your favorite character?

Duane Capizzi:

Moose Boy!

KIDDING!

Alright, how to NOT get myself in trouble if my answer isn't "Carmen" haha.

But really, they are ALL my babies.

So I know it's going to sound like a cop out to some that I can't pick just one. But hmm, some for instances...

I love that she's so morally evolved at such a young age; her ability to always take the high road and never lower herself; her drive and conviction and dedication. Her ability to kick serious booty and look good while doing it. Her progressive values, her fashion sense. I could go on and on. But then there's Shadowsan and his arc; Chase and his. Julia, who's every bit as strong as Carmen but shows it in different ways. The Cleaners don't get enough love.

I'll close that question with an anecdote about The Cleaners ...

I love that all our characters are embraced and that everyone seems to have favorites. Our sound engineer Marcel is a pretty serious guy: he has a serious job that takes high levels of focus and attention. He's always deeply focused and not prone to small talk. Anyway, we were in the middle of our first or second sound mix, and he suddenly stops in the middle and turns around to face us. I'm thinking, "uh oh, we're giving too many notes." That's when I notice he's freeze framed the Cleaners. He says "I really like these guys." Then he turns around, hits play and gets back to work.

PizzaHorse:

What was the biggest challenge for coming up with new stories and plot for the reboot?

Duane Capizzi:

THE biggest? Sigh. I'm not sure I could come up with just one. Plotting is always challenging and we had the brain trust of the room, our trusty white board, and writer assistant to keep the threads of the ongoing storyline together. I think the single biggest ONGOING challenge was tracking which character knew what at any given time.

The caper part was challenging - coming up with new capers and keeping them interesting and fresh. But, it was the characters and their interactions that kept things fresh and interesting. Another museum heist? That's okay - Chase is on the case and he gets to interact with "X" this time (for instance).

There were also some episodes - Duke of Vermeer and Crackle Goes Kiwi come to mind - where there was SO MUCH SET UP needed to get the payoffs to work. I was really worried about too much talk/too much detail. Very "Swiss watch!" It took a lot of work to make sure it all clicked and was clear - hopefully it seems effortless on screen but I can't say there wasn't some sweat and the occasional tear (mostly from me - I'm a big cry baby

But really, what made it fun was that we had so many buckets to draw from: sometimes a story germ initially began with a character idea; sometimes it was inspired by global location; sometimes it was a clever way to update or reimagine an idea from old Carmen lore. Usually, it was some combination of all of the above!

PizzaHorse:

What was your favorite scene to write?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we have a theme here! "How can I pick just one ...?"

As a film buff, I got to indulge in some serious fan nerdery on this show: I got to write spy movies, yakuza movies, spaghetti neo-westerns (though turning it on its head: spaghetti westerns usually involve REVENGE and because of Carmen's character make up, this was sort of anti-revenge).

Is writing coming up with the idea or typing it? Haha. An "if a tree falls in the forest" question. The writing team and I had so many cathartic "that's how it goes" in the room. But on my own, writing the Pilot, was a very inspiring time for me: I remember laughing out loud the moment I thought of Chase falling on his own car (in part because of doing my spin on "that trope" that we've seen in so many hard boiled movies recently). But also how emotional I got when I imagined the simple but potent image of Black Sheep deciding to take her destiny into her own hands and walk that long corridor to the Faculty who we were about to meet for the first time.

I think I've cited this in another interview, but there was a period where I was completely immersed in Chase's arc and the scene where he would crack the location of VILE island ... by listening to Julia in a dream ... was a big one for me. It revealed he was finally open to admitting he needed Julia more than he would ever admit - yet, it was his own subconscious speaking.

The next morning, after cracking that scene, I bumped into Raf Petardi (voice of Chase) ... at the supermarket! It was very strange and hilarious

PizzaHorse:

Did you scrap any lengthy or funny scenes that you would be able to share?

Duane Capizzi:

With few exceptions, most scene cuts are done at the script stage so that the story board team doesn't waste effort over boarding. A variety of trims to any script are common, but they are usually for the better

The easier question to answer might be scenes were part of our "wish list" at writer room stage, but never made it to story or script. I hesitate to go too deep here (in the event that we might ever do more Carmen episodes in this canon - I'm not giving up hope). And there were cases where things we wanted to do earlier in the series wound up getting nixed or not fitting for whatever reason, but we got them in later - USUALLY FOR THE BETTER. So there's sort of a reverse Murphy's Law/rule of good fortune somehow in these things. But some fun things that didn't make it into the show, that leap to mind were: a Bollywood dance sequence (!). A Vegas caper involving Brunt wanting to steal an Elvis jumpsuit against the backdrop of an Elvis impersonator convention. We also thought it would be neat to get Maelstrom imprisoned so that Julia could interrogate him and he would play mind games with her - very Lector/Clarice!

PizzaHorse:

Were there any different treatments of Carmen you pitched before settling on the one we ended up with?

Duane Capizzi:

I was one of several "pitches" that I'm sure HMH heard before running with my version. But I can honestly say I've never pitched anything as fully formed: the take on Carmen felt so right to me, and clearly HMH and by extension Netflix agreed

I'll answer your question with an anecdote: I had the entire Pilot pretty well worked out, and pitched it in the first meeting. But one key thing that changed (much for the better!), simply because it wouldn't have fit without slogging things down ...

In my Pilot pitch, Black Sheep's escape on the boat was off screen: we see Shadowsan corner her, then we cut away. The rest of the Faculty show up to find SS's broken sword on the rocks, and are led to believe BS killed him (!). In the present, Crackle points his weapon at Carmen and prepares to pull the trigger. We know that Chase is on the way and may rescue her. The compartment door opens to reveal - not Chase - but Shadowsan! Big surprise! Then we cut back to BS's escape and find out what really transpired etc etc.

Crazy, right? SS would have been hanging out with the gang in season 1; we might not have gotten to 203 with his back story, since his sword was broken and he couldn't return it. Just one of those magical things where "things work out" the way they are supposed to. THAT SAID, it made for a heckuva pitch

PizzaHorse:

Are there any characters that ended up taking a direction you didn't initially anticipate?

Duane Capizzi:

GRAY.

I didn't know we'd make him amnesiac when I wrote the Pilot, that was something we came up with in our first week Writer Room.

And even then, when it became clear he'd be a key piece of the bigger puzzle, we didn't know how exactly (mostly the Season 4 stuff).

We did get very deep with a version where 404 ended with his protective streak for Carmen kicking into high gear, and they would be fighting off Vile Guards back to back in perfect tandem. Then, having chosen Carmen over VILE, it was Carmen who actually orchestrates Gray going "off grid" so that VILE can never find him again. Funny, I know that is arguably the version of Gray's arc that many fans might have preferred seeing. But in the tradition of spy thrillers and film noir, and for a lone wolf character like Carmen who is focused on her life mission and not romance, we stand behind where we went with him. We felt it was so much more compelling ... and truly more emotional that he totally has a get out of jail free card when he sacrifices everything (including his life, potentially) to save Carmen.

when she needs him most!

I know I made some controversial comments about Gray "not being good enough for Carmen" and I'd like to clarify that I meant, until that final episode. What he did was so selfless and heroic. Is there hope for them in the future? Who knows?! But I do hope we get to explore that one day

I'm sure Gray is living off the grid somewhere now, inspired by Carmen's selfless good and thinking of her from time to time.

PizzaHorse:

You mentioned in the interview with Alicyn that Carmen is a love story, but you were cut off before you could finish discussing. Could you elaborate on your answer now?

Duane Capizzi:

Ugh, yes! Sorry about that. I actually answered that privately for someone so will cut and paste that response here. Let's see if it works.

Something we never said in the show, but something I imparted to the creative team was: Carmen Sandiego is (among other things) a LOVE STORY, where every character in our ensemble is in love with Carmen in one way or another. Even if they don't know it! That love can take different forms: we see how spurned by Carmen Coach Brunt feels and why she retaliates so excessively. Chase eventually comes to realize that he too loves Carmen, even if he wasn't initially aware of it haha. One of the most moving things to me about the series is how all of the different factions come to Carmen's rescue at the end when she's not "in her right mind," without knowing the others are there too. It's a massive group effort to bring back the Carmen they love. But we weren't looking for a fairy tale ending for Carmen with ANYone - Carmen's a classic lone wolf anti-hero, that goes with the territory. At least at this stage in her journey.

PizzaHorse:

Were there other locations that you wanted to feature in the show that didn't make it?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we managed to cover a lot of ground and "cadence" between different countries/cultures/continents was important to us. Many "iconic" locations of course, and it would have been nice to explore some lesser known locations if we had more episodes.

One that we almost did was Niagara Falls, Canada - actually literally going to the Falls and doing a big hydro-electric caper, where Player could actually get into the field with Carmen and the team.

But ultimately, we wound up bringing Player into the fold the way we did and wound up stronger as a result. It made his "first face to face" with Carmen even more impactful, IMO.

PizzaHorse:

Were there any changes in production between the first half and the second half of the series?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there was that Covid thing

But while it was no doubt a colossal undertaking to get the entire staff transitioned to work from home (animators! and their equipment!), we managed to make up for lost time WITHOUT a dip in animation quality. My fedora's off to our amazing team at Wildbrain for pulling it off!

We did lose some staff between orders, but that is a natural part of production unfortunately. Namely, one of our episodic directors Kenny Park, our first storyboard artist Dennis Crawford, and our story editor May Chan were among those who moved on to other shows during the break. But, as hard as their shoes were to fill, fill them we did!

PizzaHorse:

What is your favorite season?

Duane Capizzi:

Easy. Hands down, Season 3.

(crickets)

KIDDING!

Again, another "they're all my babies" answer (and yes, I love Season 3 equally

It's hard, because really when you step back I'm sure you'll agree it's a series, with stand alone capers; but it's really all ONE BIG MOVIE.

Season 3 is like the scherzo of a symphony: the shortest movement of four, and the one that tees up the big finale.

That's my hoity toity answer but I'm going to put to rest all of the various theories on what happened with season 3. It was a combination of two things: Netflix's desire to experiment with different ways of "dropping" seasons, and their desire to do a holiday themed drop (in this case Halloween, naturally). It became our challenge to come up with a theme (easy enough: masks), and the bigger challenge to serve their need while not interrupting our ongoing narrative. A challenge to be sure, but a challenge met. I think the biggest bump was perception: it was a short season and I know that was disappointing to many. But, by design.

So, Season 3 = an essential part of the whole. I don't think there's a wasted episode, and it gets everyone into position for the big finish. I can't pick a favorite season - you can't make me

PizzaHorse:

Were there any characters you had wanted to give more time to but couldn't due to time/plot restraints?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there's the "what was on the white board" answer but hopefully some of those ideas will see the light of day in some way, shape or form some day. I think if we had more episodes, we would have shaken up the internal dynamic of VILE a bit more (as hinted at Brunt's displeasure with Maelstrom for leaving her hanging out to dry at end of 405 - a seed we planted "just in case," as some have noted). And we had more scenes in mind with Chase's partnering with Carmen for the first time that we had to cut to the bone because of what little room we had in that otherwise packed episode (worry not: it's mostly more gags, more embellishment, more twists and turns - but the important stuff is there). Mostly, and I don't think it would have been right for Season 4 but I hope to tell in the future, I think there's an interesting history between Shadowsan and Lady Dokuso - possibly tragic - that I would love to explore one day. (She was a cameo in Duke of Vermeer at the dinner party BTW, I'm not sure if anyone noticed. And we built a bigger role for her out of that)

PizzaHorse:

What are some pre-2000/nostalgic Carmen references you snuck into the show? Do you have a favorite reference that was included?

Duane Capizzi:

Doing that was so much fun! I'd say roughly 60% of the characters were from previous iterations of Carmen, though often in name only. We had fun reimagining most everyone to make them more relevant or updated or giving them a more colorful personality for starters.

"Suhara" was Carmen's Japanese mentor when she worked at the ACME Agency in a flashback episode in the 90's series, for instance. I don't think I need to spell out how we turned that one inside out

And Tigress was also one episode only: she was a "rival thief" to Carmen, but revealed to be an ACME agent in disguise - a persona created solely to bait Carmen. It was really cool of course, but it seemed like untapped potential so we made her an ACTUAL Vile Thief.

My own internal rule was to make sure the references/easter eggs wouldn't confuse anyone - they were there for those who were in the loop and window dressing. The one and only time i broke that rule was Dark Carmen's line from 407: "I do it for the mental gymnastics." It was one of the most absurd lines from the 90's series (IMO) and i was determined to have it come out of Dark Carmen's mouth. I'm sure it left some 7 year olds scratching their heads

aside from that, the key references were the music: I still tingle at how we worked the Rockapella theme into the Interactive Special; and the 90's main title theme (composed by Mozart!), in our Vienna episode ("They're playing my song"). If you wanted Rockapella or Carmen as a bad guy, well ... be careful what you wish for!

PizzaHorse:

Was there any improvised content from recording sessions that made it into any episodes?

Duane Capizzi:

Yes! Not much, because a lot of it would have pushed us into TV-MA haha

Mostly Mary Elizabeth - Coach Brunt has a POTTY MOUTH!

Mikey and Abby usually riffed their banter WAY beyond what was on the written page and had us in stitches. Some bits definitely made it in! But mostly there was too much or it would get off point (hmmm, much like my interview answers maybe? haha)

Sharon Muthu did rise to Pun Goddess status with "Mask and you shall receive." And Raf pitched me "Chasse means hunt in French" after one session and I said: "I'm going to write that in." I don't think he believed me. You can't say I'm not a straight shooter.

PizzaHorse:

If you could get more season, would you do it, and what type of story would you tell?

Duane Capizzi:

Well if that hasn't been clear so far, ABSOLUTELY

There have been discussions of course. It's up to the powers that be at this point. I will say this: the beauty and tradition so far has been that every iteration has been its own thing. I definitely think there are more "different canon" versions of Carmen that can be had and be a part of this wonderful tradition. After all, there were many naysayers for our version when it was first announced.

I will also say that if we don't get to tell any more stories in this canon with these characters, we've left a perfect gem that will stand the test of time. I would rather go out on a high note than overstay our welcome.

All that said, we worked within the allotted episodes given, ended it as we wished, but left the door open for other stories. I'd love to do an expansion and a deepening: pick up where we left off; find out what happened in those two years; and proceed to do the equivalent of Godfather II or Better Call Saul as related to the amazing originals they followed.

Let's hope! Keep putting good vibes out there!

PizzaHorse:

If you could pick a character on Carmen Sandiego who'd you switch places with for a day (you get to control their life and they get to control yours) who would you pick, and why?

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, THIS is difficult. So you're going Freaky Friday on me?

on a Sunday?

Hmmm, I know Ivy would get along with my cat ... but then I'd have to hang out with Zack!

That's the trick: I can't pick my favorites cuz I couldn't hang out with them!

(not that I have favorites - they're all my babies haha)

Okay, I have one: ROUNDABOUT. I could fill Shadowsan's seat - how cool is that? Then, I could enact all my evil fantasies - but still have a get out of jail free card cuz he'd be sitting at my desk!

(cut to Duane being brain wiped - D'oh!)

PizzaHorse:

Who are two characters who don't really interact in the show that you think could be good friends or work really well together?

Duane Capizzi:

Hmmmm. Okay, now I'm going to give you quick and sassy answers. Gray and Julia! They'd be so cute banding together to rescue captive Carmen (for instance). And they could also duke it out and maybe settle things between themselves re: shipping controversies instead of dragging me into it

PizzaHorse:

The FINAL QUESTION. Have you learned anything super impactful while working on the show?

Duane Capizzi:

Aside from Iceland's terrifically low crime rate?

I think I have learned to never underestimate how meaningful characters can be to fans. Social media has obviously brought us a lot closer to our fan base in more immediate ways: it's been really gratifying to hear/see/read feedback and not be writing things in a vacuum. It's been gratifying to see that ideas that were meaningful to myself and the creative team on Carmen that were crafted with care, have also resonated with our fan base. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has traveled on this journey with us - for embracing Carmen's world view, and her friends and foes alike. Take care everyone! Stay safe! This has been fun, thanks for having me!

PizzaHorse:

HUGE thank you to Duane Capizzi: for being here today.

Thank you everyone for watching and reacting!

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, gotta run - just gotta find the door

Anyway, really: THIS HAS BEEN AMAZING. I speak for everyone involved in the creation and production of Carmen: it has been an amazing and inspiring series and we're elated to see it connect with such a CREATIVE, TALENTED and INTELLIGENT fan base. Take care everyone! Until next crime...

#Carmen Sandiego #Duane Capizzi #CS Crew #Interview #Transcript

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sebastianshaw · 4 years ago

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Someone at one of the boards I write at wanted to know if we had any advice or pointers about RP, and I got to thinking. I’ve been RPing fifteen years so it’s definitely a thing I have thoughts and opinions and tips on. I don’t mean to posit myself as the all-knowing expert whose standards you have to meet, but these are some things I think are genuinely helpful for a RPers to keep in mind no matter how long they’ve been writing. But also, just my opinions! SHARE THE SPOTLIGHT This is the biggest, first and foremost. RP is a two-way street, and I think the bulk of RP sins all trace back to people not understanding this and thinking that their character is the “main” character and everyone else is just an NPC in their story. This takes a ton of variations, with commonly seen ones being insisting that other characters act OOC for their sake (your character should fall in love with mine despite the fact they just met, your character should bully mine so I can be the victim in a hurt/comfort drama even if that’s totally unlike them to do that, your official-head-of-something character should bend the rules for mine because they’re just that special, etc.), needing to be the center of attention (the character who ALWAYS limps into the room having just suffered some terrible tragedy and needing immediate help, the character who always saves the day in such a way that the others weren’t even needed, etc.), or the character whose writer just can’t stop reminding everyone at all times how tragic/beautiful/powerful/helpless/witty/skilled/etc they are. This can go in opposite directions---the helpless character who always needs to be saved vs the all-powerful character who saves the day every time all on their own---but it comes from the same mentality, that their character is the star and everyone must revolve around them. This isn’t to say you can’t have RP arcs that “star” your character and are devoted to their story/development, or that your character can never be the hero, or never need to be saved, or any of that. That’s NOT what I’m saying. I’m talking about the person who does it EVERY time, often to the detriment of the story, derailing the plot, or showing up someone else’s cool moment to get the attention back on their own muse. If you’re gonna do that, just write your own fiction. DON’T DO PASSIVE STARTERS Something I see repeatedly in RP, whether it’s at a board or on Tumblr or on Discord, are starters where the character is just...sitting there. They’re studying in their room, or chilling at a coffee house, or just standing around at a party, or overlooking the ocean from a beachside balcony, or brooding silently in the corner... ...and not making any move to interact with anyone around them. It’s on the shoulders of the person replying to have their character make the first move and find some reason to walk up to them and engage with them. A starter is meant to begin an interaction, so if the second person is starting that interaction, why even bother with the starter you made? Starters where your character is just passively waiting for someone are not usually good starters, and that’s a big reason, in my opinion, why people usually don’t reply to a starter, because they’re stuck looking for a reason WHY their character would just walk up to this person and begin an interaction. My solution to this is, if it’s a planned starter, talk to the person you’re starting it for and try to work something out. For instance, the party starter. Ask them “hey, could it be a costume party?” and ask if their character might be dressed as a character from a show/movie/book that your character really likes---that gives your guy a reason to walk up to theirs and begin a conversation about that thing, and there’s your first post right there! A much more active starter! If it’s an open, it can be a little more difficult, but still doable. For instance, one open I did, I had my girl walk in and speak to whatever person was nearest; she was carrying a basket of Halloween decorations and asking if they’d help her decorate the place. I did not specify who it was, so whoever replied could decide if it was their character or not, but it was “active” in that she gave my partner something to respond and react to, rather than if she had just, say, quietly come in by herself without greeting anyone or doing anything. Obviously this might not work with characters who are shy or antisocial, but if you’re the one who decided to play that kind of character, it’s up to YOU to find ways to get them engaged; it’s not fair to make everyone else do it for you. For instance. Shaw is NOT a friendly person like Laynia, but I had him immediately address another person in one open by creating a situation where he’d have reason to do so, and would be stuck interacting with them. MAKE YOUR CHARACTER REALISTICALLY APPROACHABLE. This often goes hand in hand with passive starters; not only will the character not be engaging anyone around them, they will in fact be in situations giving signals that actively DISCOURAGE engagement. For instance, if someone is sitting in their bedroom, it’s entirely weird for anyone to come in that ISN’T their sibling or roommate. In a Discord college RP, one guy wrote his character going home and walking into his house and had that be an open...no one played any of his family members, so I’m not sure what he expected, that someone from school would just be waiting inside his house? There are also lots of situations where people are around, but realistically are not going to speak to you. Having your character studying in the library, sitting on the subway, or at a table in a restaurant are all common starter types I’ve seen...and all of them are situations where it’s extremely unlikely someone would engage you, unless it was an absolute emergency or they completely lacked any understanding of social norms. And if that’s the case for the character you planned it with, go ahead, you’re good. But if it’s not, or it’s an open, ask yourself---”If someone else made this open, how could my character realistically respond to it?” And if you have a hard time, change things to make it easier for the other player and their muse. This also applies to muses who are hard to approach regardless of the situation. People who are shy, or antisocial, or just for whatever reason do NOT want to engage with others. Those characters are great and I’m not saying not to play them, I play lots of people like that. But you shouldn’t expect other people to have to PRY an interaction out of them, and I see people do that---they write their cool loner or shy wallflower brooding in the corner, and if someone actually DOES walk up and talk to them, the character keeps pushing them away. It relies entirely on the other character just having to be that desperate to talk to them for some reason. And again, some characters will be, like I write a Squirrel Girl at another board who definitely WOULD pull someone out of their corner and into the party...but don’t RELY on other people doing that. Instead, try to find ways to make your character have to be engaged, instead of other people making them. See my Shaw example again. Shaw doesn’t normally like to talk to anyone unless he’s giving an order or has something to gain, but I found a reason he would for him. To use another example, there’s a very grumpy guarded girl that I write at another board, she doesn’t trust people or like them to begin with, and I put her on a subway car, aka one of the examples I gave about places where people realistically aren’t going to talk to you. No one talks to each other on subway cars except mentally ill people or beggars, unless you already know each other. So, how did I make it work? Well, I started the thread with just her and a few other people in the car. One of these people was a large man acting in an extremely threatening manner, pacing the car and muttering hostile things and occasionally shouting at the other passengers. It was in NYC, that shit happens. She kept her head down and ignored it, as most people would do, but when he singled her out and began to get her face, she confronted him back and stood her ground. I got things just to the boiling point, then had the subway doors open to let a new passenger in. Whoever stepped in would be walking immediately into a conflict, in a closed-off situation they couldn’t get out of once the doors shut again, and they would have to react to it in some way. If their character was the type to get involved immediately, great. If their character was the type not to, that’s also fine, because I could have the big scary guy turn his attention to them, basically dragging them into it. Either way, my open created a situation to REACT to, instead of just hoping the other person would do it, and it created a situation where interaction could realistically occur, even though it was in a setting when normally it would not. Btw speaking of that---”my muse bumps into yours on the street/in the hall/etc” is rarely a good idea for this reason. What do you think people normally do when they bump into each other? They say sorry, maybe help the other person pick up something they dropped, and go on their way. It’d be very odd if I bumped into someone and they tried to make an entire conversation out of it. Likewise it’d just be completely bizarre to, say, join someone you DON’T KNOW at their cafe table, etc. You can make these work but, as with the subway situation, you MUST get more creative to make a reason why it would work. “YES, AND” OR “NO, BUT” Okay, you got your interaction started, how do you keep it going? Well, there’s this rule in improv theatre for how to keep a scene going, and it’s that all your responses to your acting partners should be “yes, and” or “no, but” What this means is, whatever reply your character makes, it has to give the other character some hook to continue the interaction. Here are some examples. BAD Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: Yes. GOOD Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: Yes, and can we grab some pizza on the way? Joe doesn’t just agree to do the thing, he gives Sally something to reply to and keep the conversation going. And he could do this even if he DIDN’T want to go to the skating rink! BAD: Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: No. Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: No, but I was thinking, do you like the aquarium, how about that? Basically, whether he’s responding yes or no, he’s not closing the conversation. Of course, you do not ACTUALLY have to use the phrases “yes, and” or “no, but” just do stuff that will give the other person something to answer. Here are more good examples: Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: Yes, I loved skating as a kid, but I haven’t been able to do it in years, so I might make a fool of myself! Promise not to laugh? Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: Yeah, that would be great! It’ll be my first time. Do you skate a lot? Can you help me? Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: Hell yeah, I’m the skatemaster! Prepare to eat my rink-dust! Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: No, I hurt my ankle last Saturday, it’s a...long story. Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: No, and listen, Sally? I think you’ve really misinterpreted our relationship. We’re co-workers, and I think that’s what we should stay. Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: No, I’m sorry, my mom is sick and there’s just...so much shit going on. I don’t know what I’m going to do if this keeps up. Sally: Do you want to go to the skating rink? Joe: Are you serious?! That’s what you’re thinking of at a time like this?! I can’t believe you! Some of these are positive, negative, angry, happy, sad, competitive, but they all keep the conversation going better than a “closed” response does.

#rp tips #rp stuff #roleplay tips #roleplay advice #rp advice #out of shirt

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katewaliss · 4 years ago

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! write with me or fight with me!

you either die by my sword or the most painful head canons imaginable! *merida vc* choose yer fate

just kidding!

hey there gaymers, i am crissy! i am 22, live in pst, go by she/her pronouns and honestly would very much like a distraction from life -- preferably in the form of 1x1 and rp in general. i am currently doing online school plus trying/failing at adulting, being a crazy pink haired college student living on microwave dimsum with my crazy fluffy demon cat, but that still leaves me with a lot of time and what better way to spend that time then crying and dying, am i right, boys?

so without further ado ( adieu? idk gusundheit ) here are a list of discomboblulated plot things that have been floating around in my head that i might be fun to do ( plot fragments, ideas, ocs, fcs i like, settings, genres etc )! i’d prefer a message if u liked any of these in the inbox or dm form, my tumblr ims are open and my discord user is mr. worldwide#2918 ( pitbull supremacy ) but if ur shy i will message u and be annoying!

lastly: i prefer hcing in the dms to replies, however i will do replies/ask memes slowly, i don’t really like making blogs and prefer google docs/discord and i ask ( gently and respectfully ) that minors do not interact.

thank u and happy hunger games! xx

COLLEGE TOTALLY SPIES -- i was really obsessed with this picture right here and i thought that the picture would be a good premise for a little four person group based on totally spies. i was thinking that these three college students/young adults some friends maybe not some enemies or just on completely different ends of the social agenda get bonded together when they accidentally end up roped in a top secret spy organization that is fronted by a record store. the details and flesh of the plot i think would be cute to figure out all together maybe in a google doc or a big discord so we can make the rp to perfect world building specifications. right now i have two spots open!

my friend lexi over at comradc has taken the cool goth asian girl and is using lyrica okano

i am playing the freckly backwards hat lesbian in the red polo named aj mccallis and i think im using diana silvers ( not sure might switch to tati rodriguez )

we also have the cute blond girl w the dyed hair who is giving me kind of like sydney sweeney energies, blonde girl maybe like lalisa manoban/jinsoul,

and we have the rad black girl with the bandids who i would only accept black fcs for for such as diamond white, ryan destiny, salem mitchell,

i’d prefer if this stayed kind of sapphic and female and enby friendly. we can def make make npcs and characters but i’d prefer if the characters looked like they do in the picture ( minus the white girls who can be racebent as long as there are vibes ) mostly bc i want the poc people to stay the correct poc! but yeah! if u like this message me specifically!!!!! seperately and hit me w a role ud like maybe an fc an idea anything < 3 im working on a google doc and discord sever

- i really want to play a himbo skater boy evan mock like its my dream i know nothing abt him other than he probably goes by something like mouth or juice or tris or dex or dante but !!!! he has buzzed hair he buzzes designs into, does stick n pokes, hates cops, will kiss anyone, likes to mosh at house shows, smokes a lot and sounds like crush from finding nemo, probably ur parents worst nightmare if im honest rodrick heffley energy -- adopt him for any plot

- i also really am obsessed with simay barlas who is my mascot rn -- i want to play her in some sort of dark academia setting with like gossip girl blair waldorf energies lu from elite and have her be really mean and cold and pretentious and play the cello and probably have secrets and be uptight idk the name mallory is resonating hard w me ( we could even do a gossip girl the secret history type group if people liked that )

-ok i also really really want to play streak aka silas montgomery who is like very like sidekick best friend to the golden boy main character, does a kick ass goat impression, class clown, relentlessly hits on like the most difficult person in school, does crazy things for laughs and attention, just wants to make people happy, only wears hawaiian shirts, finger guns, is going nowhere in life, his dad is probably the dean at whatever prestigious school also he is very very depressed and drinks often! love u! a I Feel Like Im The Worst So I Always Act Like Im The Best electra heart baby PINTEREST

also yes his hair is pink reg verse he did it on a dare but hp verse he did a potion wrong and it never came out

SOMEONE DO A LADY HANNIBAL WILL GRAHAM RP KILLING EVE RP W ME! i made this will graham adjacent gal for a genderbent hannigram rp her name is bisexual disaster enida johnson and sometimes goes by needy or will bc her middle name is willamena! has basically all the will things wears flannels is a mess but has a bunch of cats instead of dogs in her woods log cabin and im using crystal reed bc it fits perfect in my head idk if u like her hmu hit me w a lady hannibal PINTEREST

other stuff

ok i really want to do a princess and knight plot but with knight zendaya and princess anya taylor joy ???? ALKHALKSHALK LITERALLY HELLO literally modern or like dnd style i do not care but know i love dnd! we could make it like them goin on some skyrim quests like hi

speaking of dnd and skyrim if anyone wants to do like anything based in dnd stuff or skyrim stuff i am DOWN

jennifers body plot!!!! maybe set in college!!!!! sounds spicy i will do a f/f or m/m version leggo leggo

UNTIL DAWN UNTIL DAWN!!!! i wanted to do a little like 6 person or mumu until dawn thing where everyone either makes new characters or characters based on the existing six! i made a girl adjacent josh character named riley PINTEREST who i love very much ( fc might change im thinking maybe medallion rahimi ) pls hmu if ur down

i looooooove breakfast at tiffanys!!!! like i really love breakfast at tiffanys we love a call girl broody author ship and i want to play a mishti rahman holly golightly type character so so bad

pygmalion plot!!! basically like an author and the main character of their book comes to life and the book character is probably from a different period of time or realm so doesnt know how to do modern 2020 stuff like microwaves and the tv! and then maybe they get sucked into the characters book world thats written by the author and have to navigate that! enchanted! w the kdrama! energy!

GOSSIP GIRL PLOT ENERGIES

any sort of the secret history murder society until dawn ahs horror type setting i am on a kick rn

i still really want a deaf sailor and siren plot bc that is so spicy or even like anything involving sirens like maybe one thats like vegetarian and doesnt like to eat humans so it ariel rescues one and keeps it safe!! or like only men are susceptible to the sirens song but aha! i am a woman! Romance!

anything in the realm of percy jackson i love mythology lets go i kind of want a echo narcisuss plot and i want it to hurt me so bad

i will do harry potter stuff but only if its completely removed from the current canon like years in the future no existing families also maybe beauxbatons salem and drumstrang plots bc thats what matters

iiiiiiiii really like anime so i will do anything kakegurui, soul eater, ohshc

i kind of like grew up on the hunger games so i will gladly take any hunger games plots like young effie and haymitch is spicy or like a career tribute and one of the weaker poorer distracts enemies to lovers leggo

i have a kind of oc that had their parents die in a factory gas leak that was the governments fault and it turned them into a vigilante assasin that is slowly picking off bootlicker government people one by one pretending to be one of them until bam! gets attached to the rich asshole son or daughter of the head hauncho or one of the higher ups ... drama

rich little celebrity fussy wussy being held captive by the mafia and the tired stoic mafia guard but they fall in love

i kind of like any plot that involves one person that is really loud or angry or dramatic or whiny and the other one is kind of sweet and gentle or does not talk much idk make brain happy

speaking of!

no nonsense law student studying abroad in a european country and an artist there falls in love w them and is all romantic and gush and is like ur my muse!!! and they are like Go awAy and they explore the city together and themelseves its nice!

i want to be an avan jogia super villain idk why i need to but i do

not to be a disney adult bc i am not but anastasia princesses dont kiss kitchen boys

rival cheer captians? best friends brother? pop princess celebrity singer and like antiestablishment really angry rockstar in a publicity relationship? broody detective and sunshiney diner person that works at the diner they eat at everyday?

idk i will think of more hmu these can all be made f/f or m/m if they arent

#1x1 #1x1 rp #1x1 roleplay #plots #this is so long and messy and weird idk it repeats a lot hit me up im emabrrassed already

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everythingsinred · 3 years ago

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: The Anime (pt. 5)

The anime is a different species than the manga, something that frequently happens during the adaptation from page to screen. Since they’re so different, I’ll analyze them separately.

In the previous section, we discussed how a new element has joined the story: Ruka and Natsume's growing tensions and jealousy over liking the same girl, and the effect it could have on their friendship. This is done a little differently in the anime, and in this part, I'll discuss the ramifications for Natsume's feelings and the consequences it has on his friendship with Ruka as well as the approval of Persona. There is also an equally important aspect of Mikan's feelings, frequently neglected in a narrative sense, and how they are growing stronger for Natsume as well.

Episode 20 vs. Chapter 25 & 26

This carries onto episode twenty, the Dance episode. This episode combines two chapters to accommodate length. In general, the anime doesn’t really explore what it means for Natsume to be a principal student, like sitting on stage with the other principals. There’s a lot unsaid here that is more important in the manga.

Even more, the last episode tied up some loose ends, or at least attempted to, in regards to the tension of the musical. In the manga, those tensions are still an open wound that nobody in the love triangle wants to touch. The anime still has some of them, but to a much lesser extent. They’ve made up and had fun between then and now.

And Mikan is completely uninterested in the Last Dance, seemingly, but spends a lot of time wondering about why others care about it, almost as if she wants to care so she can fit in. Anna and Nonoko have their crushes, the fan club girls are as obsessed with Natsume and Ruka as ever, and even Hotaru has a horde of admirers, even if she’s uninterested in them. Mikan feels left out, just like she always does, just for the sake of being different.

(One of my favorite tropes is when Person A is talking about their love life or lack thereof and the next person that shows up next just so happens to be their soulmate.)

The tensions between Natsume, Ruka, and Mikan are focus in the manga. In the anime, they’re watered down. Mikan is interested in dancing with both of them, unlike in the manga, where she desperately wants to avoid them. Mikan is more oblivious in the anime than in the manga, as a result. Manga!Mikan can feel the tension, and knows things are different now, because they’re weird! She’s a very intuitive and emotional girl and she can sense shifts and changes better than anyone. In the anime, she’s not as uncomfortable; she just wants to have a good time with her friends.

Interestingly, even though it was Ruka he pushed, it’s Mikan who’s watching him leave in the frame…

Just like in the manga, Natsume literally pushes Ruka into dancing with Mikan and they have a lot of fun dancing together before Mikan starts dancing with others. Hotaru’s “blessing” (or whatever that scene is) is a lot more obvious in the anime, with her actually requesting a “Mikan cake”, and neglecting some of the demanding, blackmailing atmosphere of the chapter. In the anime, Mikan actually seeks out Natsume and asks him to dance. In the manga, she is upset with him, but in the anime Mikan doesn’t hold grudges. She’s not tense at all and is willing to be the one to break the coldness between them. He naturally responds in the negative and insults her and they fight again, culminating in the infamous “Mikan” and “don’t care about what I call you anymore; that’s my last wish.”

Natsume: *says 2 syllables* // Mikan: *falls in love with him*

Even the anime has to concede that Natsume won with that one, lol.

Anyway, the anime also includes Ruka meeting up with Natsume and them fighting over who’d get Mikan (“You can have her, bro.” “No, bro, she likes you.” “No, bro--”), even though it’s not their decision. Even if they somehow decided Ruka would win, or Natsume would win, it’s ultimately up to Mikan to figure out who she has feelings for.

And award for best friendship in the history of all media ever goes to--

This is where the tension from the previous episode takes center stage. There’s discord and insecurity here, but not any real malice or resentment. They’re just boys and this is the first girl either of them has ever liked, and it just so happens to be the same girl. They’re best friends and they love each other, but this is a complication neither of them anticipated. Naturally, they don’t know how to communicate it, but they both know how the other feels anyway because they know each other so well they don’t need to be told. They fight that Mikan will pick the other for the Last Dance and then a very cute moment follows when Hotaru reveals she picked Mikan for the Last Dance and both of the boys start laughing. It ends, focusing on Hotaru and Mikan’s friendship and Natsume and Ruka’s friendship. They’re kids after all, and should be focusing on having fun and being children whenever they have the chance. Romance and complicated love triangles can wait. I really like this addition.

Episode 21 vs. Chapter 27

Just like in the manga, Natsume is bad at sticking to his word and he still engages with Mikan in the next episode. He still helps others with studying because of her example, and goes along with the whole class in study mode, even if he is half-assing the actual exams.

Mikan and Sumire have a plot element added, to supplement their new friendship from the Reo Arc. Sumire can’t cook and has given up on exams. Even though Mikan desperately wants the honor student award so she can see her grandpa, she sacrifices her study time to spend the whole night helping Sumire with cooking, even though she herself isn’t so talented either. This further helps showcase that Mikan is helpful, and that she is willing to sacrifice what she wants so that other people can have happiness too. Just like she was willing to leave the school she fought so hard to keep open so she can see her best friend in the first episode, she’s willing to wait a little more to see Jii-chan if it means she can help Sumire.

“Nice girlfriend you have there. Sure would be a shame if something happened to her.”

However, despite all the sweetness of Mikan’s plot, someone is watching Natsume interact with the group and more specifically with Mikan (though in the anime, it’s Persona, not the ESP), and Natsume gets warned by Persona to stay away from Mikan.

Episode 22 & Chapter 28

He does just that in the next episode, staying away from and (as a result) bothering Mikan.

We are introduced to Kaname, Tsubasa’s sickly friend who has the life-shortening alice. He uses his alice anyway, because he likes making people happy, even if it comes at a cost. After all, he grew up lonely until he made Bear, so he wants others to not feel lonely.

But Kaname isn’t the only one with the life-shortening alice. Mikan is so distressed about her revelations that she acts out a little during her chores, hitting Natsume with her duster. He simply walks away, doing as he is told to keep her safe, because that dream he had in the Reo Arc is still relevant and because Persona’s warnings are fresh in his mind. Hanging out with her is bad for both of them. Mikan doesn’t know any of this, but thoughts about poisonous alices are all she can think about, and as he walks away from her, it occurs to her that he might be suffering just like Kaname. But whereas Kaname chooses to use his alice to make others happy, Natsume has no such choice. He is forced to use it, and his life is much shorter as a result.

Sadly, once Mikan starts really liking Natsume, he's always walking away from her.

In the manga, we do get a glance of Natsume’s suffering and reliance on pain meds to get through the night, but it’s a bit different in the anime. We see him lying on his bed, struggling with the pain. But why night? The truth is that Natsume feels like that almost all the time. It’s only when he’s alone in his room that he can be honest and really let himself feel it. He doesn’t have to hide it for someone else’s sake, or to give off the impression that he is totally fine.

Summary

In this section, we discussed the consequences for Natsume's growing feelings for Mikan, and the added complication that Ruka likes her too, as well as the fact that Mikan is starting to develop feelings for Natsume as well. His illness and status as child soldier are sadly all too present, and Natsume is paralleled with Kaname in Episode 22 and then is paralleled with the mistreated lion in the circus arc, which is what I'll be discussing next, in the final part of the anime analysis.

<- Previous Part Next Part ->

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timbertumbr · 4 years ago

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Boneafide Gamer (A Reverse Harem Fic)

Chapter 3, Merchants and Mascots

First chapter

Quotev Link

Thank you to my friend for helping me with the puns.

List of Usernames with Nicknames-

Blue (Underswap Sans): Magnificent Blueberry

Stretch (Underswap Papyrus): Carrot

Edge (Underfell Papyrus): Captain

Red (Underfell Sans): Red

Mal (Swapfell Sans): Maleficent

Rus (Swapfell Papyrus): Rus

Oak (Horrortale Sans): Oak

Willow (Horrortale Papyrus): Willow

Papyrus (OG or Undertale Papyrus): Coolskeleton95

Sans (OG or Undertale Sans): Sansational

-The next day-

Since you didn’t have to go into work today, you decided to properly grind gold and EXP(erience) in Basic so you can explore a bit more without fear of dying and losing everything. You log into the virtual world and see that there were still a lot of people on the server. Shrugging it off, you are navigating the starting town back to the fields when you pass a certain street and a pair of VERY familiar skeletons.

You backtrack and take a proper look at them, they looked practically identical to Blue and Stretch. The tall one was moving around crates while the short one was… snoozing? In a game? You decided not to question it as you looked at their makeshift stand that had a sign reading “Oak and Willow’s Merchant Stand” Huh, that’s their usernames.

“Straight to the point. Nice,” You complimented aloud, the tall skeleton flinched and turned around quicker than you could say “What the fuuuuu-”

“You!” He said excitedly. You look around the street before pointing to yourself.

“Me?” You ask, earning a nod from the skeleton.

“You’re The Game Store Employee That Made Puns With My Cousin And Brother!” He states matter-of-factly. Wait a minute-

“Yeah, that’s me. But how did you know?”

“I Never Forget A Face, Nyeh Heh Heh! Er… Voice, In This Case,” Impressive. He holds out a hand and you take it.

“My Name Is Willow! And This Is My Brother Oak!” He Introduced.

“Sup,” You hear a familiar deep voice say as you jump from surprise, Oak chuckles.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” You calm your racing heart and accept his apology. Wait, they look different from when you saw them at the store. Oak didn’t have his head wound or big red eye… Perks of being able to make customizable avatars.

“Nice to meet you both, I’m Fart!” The brothers snickered before Willow returned to moving crates.

“Likewise! Unfortunately, We Cannot Talk For Long. We Have Much Work To Do!” You nod and look at the small amount of crates.

“Anyway I could help?” You offer, Willow stacks a crate onto another before looking at you.

“I Appreciate The Offer But I Wouldn’t Want To Trouble You,” Willow explains, you shake your head.

“It’s no trouble for me at all. I’m going to the fields anyway. You DO need more supplies right?” You ask, uncertain if your hunch is right or not. Willow tapped his foot with a thoughtful expression before nodding.

“W-Well, If You Insist. But, With One Condition,” You nod, showing you were listening.

“You Be Our Friend! O-Only If You Want To, Of Course,” Awww, how could you say no to such a gentle kind soul?

“You got yourself a deal buddy! I’ll be back with LOADS of stuff!” You exclaim before running off. Willow squeaked after they left and a rush of excited energy rushed through him.

“Sans! Sans! Did you hear that?! They Called Me ‘Buddy!’” Oak smiles at his brother before letting Willow talk his metaphoric ears off while putting that excited energy to good use by stocking their current items.

Meanwhile, you were excitedly picking up any herbs, creature drops, and anything you could find really. Plus, you’d be able to get the EXP and Gold you needed while helping someone else so it was a win-win!

“SAAAAAAANS!” You hear someone yell from within a nearby cave. Confused and concerned, you place the supplies in your hand into your bag before making your way into the cave. You stop when you see a large cavern with two skeletons surrounded by spiders. WHY IS IT ALWAYS SKELETONS?! “SANS, HELP ME WITH THE SPIDERS!”

“Can’t. ‘M stuck,”

“THERE IS ONE WEB ON YOU!”

“I know, how will I weave my way out of this sticky situation?”

“SAAAAAAANS!” AS much as you wanted to keep hearing their amusing banter, they were about to die from low level spiders. So without wasting any more time, you slayed the spiders and collected the drops.

“WOWIE! THAT WAS NEAT!” Complemented the tall skeleton named “Coolskeleton95.” You smile at him.

“Thanks, but please try to be careful next time. You would’ve lost your stuff if you died,” Coolskeleton nods.

“WILL DO! THANK YOU FART!” The short skeleton named “SANSational” started snickering.

“Yeah, glad you caught wind of our situation,” You snort at the pun while Coolskeleton glared at SANSational. Wait- have you seen Coolskeleton95 somewhere? Hmmm…

“Well, it was nice to meet you two but I gotta drop some supplies off to some new merchants,” You explain, about to leave when Coolskeleton speaks up.

"YOU'RE HELPING OAK AND WILLOW?" He asks excitedly, dumbfounded, you nod.

"WOWIE! SO ARE WE! IS IT ALRIGHT IF WE GO TOGETHER?" So many sweet skeletons!

"Of course!" And off you three went when you suddenly remembered where you saw Coolskeleton95 from.

"Wait a minute, are you Papyrus? The monster mascot?" You suddenly ask, He smiles widely.

“INDEED I AM!” Papyrus exclaims, you stare up at the skeleton in awe.

“Oh wow! It’s such an honor to meet you! You’re the coolest!” Papyrus chuckles.

“WHY THANK YOU! IT’S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO MEET A FAN!” You smile widely when you realize something. Didn’t Blue call Carrot “Papy?” And Papyrus looks strangely like Willow, Edge, Stretch and Rus! The heck is going on…

Before you could come up with a possible explanation, you all arrived back at the town and in front of Oak and Willow’s Merchant Stand, huh, that was… quick.

“Wowie, You’re Back Already? And With Sans and Papyrus too!” Willow exclaims. Heh, Sansational…

“Yup, and I got some good stuff!” You say as you hand him the bag full of supplies to him, Papyrus doing the same with a small bag. Willow’s eye lights seem to light up.

“Goodness, This Is Quite The Haul. Thank You All So Much!” Papyrus nods proudly, wait, they all have the same avatar with different clothes? This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute.

“YOU’RE WELCOME WILLOW! BUT I MUST BE OFF! I HAVE TO HELP NEW PLAYERS GET USED TO THE GAME! (THIS GAME COULD HELP FURTHER THE BOND BETWEEN MONSTERS AND HUMANS!)” And off he went towards the hub of the town.

“I’m glad I was able to help, do you guys want my Discord?” You ask, Willow squeaks.

“Y-You Don’t Have To-”

“Well, I insist,” You counter quickly, Willow sighs but smiles.

“If That’s The Case, Yes Please!” You friend each other on Discord while Oak was having a quiet conversation with Sans.

“Oookay! Now we can talk whenever we want! It was nice meeting you all but I gotta go get back to grinding,” You explain, Willow smiles.

“Alright, Good Luck Friend Fart!” Willow says as Oak waves. And off you went to the fields again with a short skeleton in tow, Sans. You raise a brow as you look over your shoulder.

“Do you need something?” You ask confused, the short skeleton shrugs.

“Just want to know who my cousins are interacting with,” He states, ah, that makes sense.

“And with that being said, mind me asking some questions while you ‘grind?’” Oh, he’s being cautious. Understandable.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” You answer as you bring out your multiweapon to attack the nearby slimes. And while you attacked slimes, he asked questions. At first the questions were simple, like “favorite food” or “favorite color.” Then it moved to more specific questions like “What is your view on monsters?” “What do you do for a living” You tried your best to answer the questions as vaguely yet informative as you could since, well, he was a stranger. He seemed content with the answers.

“Welp, that’s all I needed to know. Thanks for letting me rib ya pal. You have fun with your ‘grinding.’ See ya,” Sans says before walking away. Okay… that was odd. You shrugged it off and continued grinding until the crack of dusk.

Right, now onto the fun part. Actual Plot.

Next Chapter

#Not this shit again...#Underswap Papyrus #Underswap Sans #Underfell Papyrus #Underfell Sans #Swapfell Sans #Swapfell Papyrus #Horrortale Papyrus #Horrortale Sans #Undertale Sans #Undertale Papyrus #Sans #Papyrus #X Reader #Reverse Harem

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caspianking · 3 years ago

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Things I like RP Partners to Know

Tagged by: @trishelle <3 <3

Tagging: @liyeraaurel @likazo-tia @astrolevitation @ffxiv-angora @sharlayanwanderer and anyone else!! (Disregard if you've done it already <3 Also, sorry if I missed tagging someone, I'm so awful at remembering @ )

I like to be called: Kudos! For the most part anyways! I also don't mind being called Cas/Caspian if people remember that a little easier~ Honestly, you could call me Dumbass and I'd still respond. I typically say I prefer They/Them, but I'm happy with any pronouns! The joys of genderfluidity~

One thing (or several) you should know about me: I'm scatterbrained and very forgetful! Also generally introverted, so I definitely need to be poked if someone wants something, or for rp usually ^-^ I'm trying to get better at that! But that said, considering I forget to reply to shit and all that jazz, I 100% don't expect immediate replies. I'm on discord basically always, if I'm not passed tf out...

Caspian is a generally... emotional character, with some anger sprinkled in there for s p i c e. I promise, all IC opinions and actions are just that: IC. I don't generally feel how he does, and if he hates someone, I probably love them!! He's also just got some Issues(tm), so take him with a grain of salt!

I appreciate if people tell me if they don't like something. If you're bored, or you think that something isn't working, let me know! I won't get mad, and if it's kept a secret, chances are I'll pick up on the vibe and just get anxious :P

I love getting approached for new rp and things. As I stated earlier, I'm mostly shy about going to see new people and asking for rp in general, so I super appreciate people taking the step! I'm working on branching out, but it's super nice to not have to psych myself up for talking to New People First LMAO

I sometimes have a hard time writing big posts, so I don't mind getting short ones! No judgement here. If the rp is fun, I really don't care!

One thing (Or several) you should know about my muses: As stated previously, Caspian is a bit of a mess. He's stubborn, loud-mouthed, opinionated and highly protective of his family. He has his issues, related to his trauma, but he is generally charming to most people when meeting them. He likes to flirt and tease, and isn't very reserved. Usually.

Lately, with IC events, he's a little more careful about his outbursts and interactions, but if he's a little shit... weeeeeell... You've been warned! Mostly, he just needs a nap and probably many therapy sessions. Maybe one (1) pat on the head.

I have other muses, if you care to ask about them! I'm a bit of an altoholic, what can I say? But feel free to ask me about them or Cas, I'm super happy to talk about them...

First language: English (I also speak french!)

HIGHLIGHT: Carrd | Also Seli's Carrd and Rin's Carrd

Age range: 22 | 23–25 | 26–29 | 30+ | 70+ (I am 23, so I'd ask that both rp partner and character be over 18 at least, just to avoid any issues <3)

Am I okay with NSFW?: yes | no | some nsfw (It would have to be discussed!)

Darker themes? yes | no | depends

Canon OC friendly?: yes | no | depends

RP blog: does contain ooc posts | doesn’t contain ooc posts | occasionally contains ooc | aesthetic

Final Thoughts: I'm still relatively new to the MMO rp world, but I'm getting comfier! Learning what's cool and what not. As long as people are patient, we good! I'm here for fun times, and for my partners to have fun times, so as long as that's happening then I'm happy! That's generally my only "rule". All this to say, I'm really excited to meet new people :)

#I was late with thiiiiis #mun meme #ffxiv rp #ooc

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royalreef · 4 years ago

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“ 𝐻𝓊𝓏𝓏𝒶𝒽! ” There’s officially 400 of you following my dear fish princess! When I started this blog, I never thought I would’ve gotten this far, but this community has been so welcoming and supportive. It’s truly been a joy to write with everyone, and I never would’ve gotten here if it weren’t for all of you encouraging me and my writing. Writing an underappreciated character, and especially with the amount of my canon divergence, brought me to always assume that I’d have a much smaller audience for it - and I’m glad to say that I’ve been proven wrong!

But really, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near where I am today without the sheer amount of creativity and talent already present in the rpc. Every day I am blown away by the sheer amount of work that is being put into blogs and muses both, and every day I am awestruck at the replies that I read! And you’ve been there through thick and thin, so I think it’s about time I give a little back and show my appreciation.

👑 The Low Royals

For those of you who have been with me the longest, who have seen the growth and fine-tuning, and even potentially helped me shape this blog into what it is now - I raise a glass to you! You’re all my good friends, and I can thank none of you enough. I truly do appreciate and care for all of you, though I might be bad at saying it. You’ve all made me laugh, and cry, and feel ten thousand other emotions, and I can only hope to support all of you the same as you’ve supported me.

Tam / @necrodanger / @ruiincd / @rebeljest : You have been here from the beginning, and for that, you are the first upon this list. Where would I be without your help? When my Miranda first started interacting with your Val, much like the princess not knowing how deeply she’d fall in love with the pauper, I did not know how such a wonderful friendship would grow between us. You have been through Hell together with me, and though I may stumble, I trust you. Your companionship has been crucial to so much here, and I can only hope that I have helped you grow as much as you have helped me. You are irreplaceable in your talent and creativity, and you know I look forward to everything you write, all that you draw, and every day that I get to chat with you over Discord. I can never thank you enough, and I am truly in your debt!

Jeremy / @grave-risen / @lioncovrte / @covenwtch / @amalgaemate : Jerm!!! Gosh, what praises can’t I sing of you and your excellent muses? Your characterization is spot on - there’s just such a warmth that you breathe into all of the characters you handle. They truly take on a life of their own in such a special way, with all the unique pitfalls and challenges that come with them! You have such fine little details that I love to see in each individual personality and your devotion to detail is to be admired. Likewise, you’re someone who I know I can trust, as that warmth truly spreads over into you yourself, and you’re just such a welcoming and genuine friend that I know I can just vibe with without any pressure. I really do love the plots we’ve done so far, and really look forward to seeing how Brian and Miranda handle becoming friends again. I may tease about him being a snack, but you know I’m here for all of the emotional curveballs you can throw at me!

Shorp / @pasttorn : I might be bad at chatting you up recently - but as always, you know I adore your Damien and all of the drama that he can cause! He’s a shit-stirrer of a muse, and you know I love the way you write, which together is just a perfect combination for a great time! You’ve also been around a bit longer in the rpc so you’ve seen some shit, and you’ve seen me reboot this blog and remake my lore. And for that, for sticking through as I went completely off the rails, I think that’s a pretty good summary of you! Chill, supportive, and sweet, a good pal all around to just vibe with and have some fun creative blends with!

Lola / @monstersmashed : AH... Oh, how Miranda loves her Marcus, and how I adore all the OCs you make! What kind of talent is it to be able to make so many unique OCs and have them all be so individual in such a way that really shows the quirks that makes each and every one special, and where can I get some of that? I remember Junie when she was much, much newer in the rpc, and I swear my adoration for what you can do with an interesting concept has only grown!! I sincerely love plotting with you and working out how your darlings can interact with my three disasters, and just absolutely a good friend all around.

Oli / @mindsmelded : OLI! I know you’re inactive right now (and honestly, I don’t blame you) but I GOTTA give you my love too! Every single reply from you just gets me EXCITED to read, with how you handle your muses! There’s just a passion and a flow to your prose that I love, and I truly admire how you can detail out exactly how each muse thinks in such a unique style that, even if you didn’t give a name or pronouns, you know EXACTLY which muse is responding! I admire you for that, and really that’s such a valuable skill that I want to master in my own writing too! You’re overall just such a supportive sweetheart who I can trust to talk to, and expect plenty of wholesome memes in return as a pick-me-up!

👑 The Middle Royals

Here is to all who I roleplay regularly with, but maybe don’t chat up as often as I’d like on Discord or through messages, or maybe just haven’t known as long as others. You have such excellent characters that I love to see interact with my fish princess, and I can’t wait to talk to you more! Some have budding relationships with your muse and Miranda that I can’t wait to see blossom into something complex and special all on their own, but all have just wonderful muses who I highly recommend you give a follow if you haven’t already! There’s a truly special amount of care being put into their writing, and I cannot recommend them enough.

Raz / @superbeaucoupdevisages : Honestly I didn’t expect to start to ship Oz and Miranda, but, WHELP, it happened!!! And I’m glad it did, honestly, because these two? Cute. Very cute!! With a whole lot of potential for angst and lore-exploring too! And really, I’m looking forward to it, because the way you write is simple and concise, which leaves it wonderfully IMPACTFUL. It’s short, sweet, and hits right where it hurts!! Which could honestly be said the same as you, as you know how to make your ideas known in as few words as possible. You know how to be there without the need for pretense, and sometimes you really do need someone to be there to get to the heart of issues, and for that, I thank you!

Hannah / @ciiclops / @bingemuscs : Probably the odd one out here as we have known about each other for quite a while, predating my reboot, but we’ve only recently really gotten around to chatting, which is a SHAME. I love just being able to infodump with you about my lovely, lovely arachnids, and Iris has always been such a charm to interact with!! I can’t wait to see how she might interact more with Miranda and how they might get along, as I’m really just a sucker for nerd and prep friendships (or maybe even something more) !!!

Zac / @collectathon : Can I just say that I’m super excited for your Zoe muse already? There’s so much to get into still, and she’s pretty new in terms of Miranda’s interactions, but I can’t WAIT to see what happens! Especially with all the ties Miranda has to the eldritch... Plus, I know to go to you for a good time, and I don’t think I’ll get over Miranda trying to frame Scooby Doo for arson anytime soon! You’re a wonderful friend with such a passion that I look forward to talking to more!

June / @preparetodie / @fullofschmidt : Is it bad to say I genuinely didn’t think much of Aaravi until I found your blog? Because I kinda did! But you have taught me to appreciate and love this fiesty AND VERY SAD slayer in a way I never have before, with such introspections on her character that I haven’t even thought about before recently! Similarly, your Vicky? STUNNING. She’s special in her own way, and honestly I can’t wait to discover more about her. Likewise, I’m looking forward to both of them learning more of Miranda’s specific secrets, and all of the fun turmoil that comes with that! (Plus, your art? So lovely!!! I might just have to commission you sometime!)

Hari / @warraigoe : I love! Your Damien! He’s honestly really funny, and sometimes even I can forget how lighthearted the actual tone of Monster Prom can be - so I think having something a little lighter is really good! Certainly, Miranda appreciates it, pfft! Your passion for writing really comes through, and I gotta say I really admire you going the extra mile to really get people similarly excited for something too! You’re someone who I really would like to chat and write with more often, if only my energy could pan out, because you’re honestly just that interesting! Good vibes, great times all around!

Josie / @galaxietm : We haven’t gotten the chance to write much together yet, but the amount of excitement I get from being able to write with you in the future is telling as to the quality that I’ve observed so far! You really do have just a smooth, chill demeanor to you that I can’t help but get really excited to be able to plot with you, and from what we’ve been able to do so far, it’s been looking really promising for things-to-come with Vera and Miranda! And from what I’ve seen of your prose? Similarly silky-smooth, flows as easy as a river, and just really something that I can’t wait to see more of, along with getting to know you more!

Nigel / @1-0-1-9 : YOU!!! Us meeting on Twitter was such a lovely chance meeting, and your friendship truly was a great birthday gift! I don’t show near as much love to your muse as I wish I did, because gosh you really do care about him and it shows! You’re someone who I could chat with all night though, and you bring up so many things I haven’t quite thought of yet! I really do appreciate having someone there who I can bounce ideas off of regularly, and you’re just excellent for that. You say you’re a dog in a human’s body, and tbh? I absolutely believe that with just how friendly you are!

Mori / @roskaarotta : Molly is one of those OCs who I can just immediately pick out as one of my favorites, with the amount of care you’ve gone into in making her! Your writing with her is a lot like how I see your art with her - absolutely soaked in a killer atmosphere that you can’t get anywhere else. I love how you took demons/angels and put a bit of yourself into them, and the character drama you write is to die for! I love hearing all of Molly’s backstory and really get a grasp of her personality, and you KNOW Miranda loves her Raccoon Wife!!

Rilli / @empatheticxangel / @marquisxofxlove : Speaking of which - YOU ARE ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SOME OF MY FAVORITE OCs! Liam is such a darling, and you’re another big inspiration in me furthering my own lore! The amount of detail you work with for Liam is awe-inspiring, and I truly love hearing about how his world works and the history it has, alongside his own unique biology! The way you handle his powers is legitimately something I haven’t seen done before, and I think that really just goes to show exactly how much consideration and love is really going into developing him. Not to mention - you DRAW all your icons!! Like, DAMN.

Dani / @candyredmuses / @pxppinmolly / @bluemoonmuses : DANI. NERD. DORK. FELLOW MUN OF A PINK PRINCESS. I cannot say how much I appreciate you! And though we might not chat it up as regularly as some others (basically until I find a meme or song that reminds me of you) - you are on my mind!! Your work on character development CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. I think about Molly and your work on her so often, and she truly inspires me to further work on Miranda and put all the more thought into detailing her out! I might be a cryptid, but you can sight me anyday! (And bonus points for ALSO BEING A FELLOW HORROR-LOVER.)

👑 The High Royals

And here’s to all who I don’t know as well! Who I see on my dash or maybe have a thread or interaction or two with, but don’t chat OOC with that often or that Miranda isn’t totally established with yet! I see you, and I appreciate all that you’re doing and all of the effort that goes into your art and writing, and I look forward to the friendships and further interactions that can come of this!

If you’ve gotten this far and you haven’t been mentioned, then I’m sorry! You’re totally free to leave a comment or somesuch, shaming me for being as forgetful as I am, because you’re really all so wonderful, and I would love to shout everyone out if it weren’t for my bad memory! I love all of you so much, and I’d sincerely like to thank everyone reading this, for getting to this milestone together!

@vibinjustice / @rotaidevxr / @eoleolhan / @prsonatm / @stripedstrigoi / @lovsiik / @anxechoxinxhell / @vnemis / @bigveee / @multiipl / @moonmiissed / @woerended / @chainsxwsmile / @grandtales / @stcries / @yourfuturebcyfriend / @hoopsheartthrob / @xj-nine / @hellishmoth / @soupervillainpotage / @fatedcfied / @muse--menagerie / @hazbinvesta / @pinafcl / @dreamsugargirl / @hollowxport / @canisfuria

#rp promo #follow forever #monster prom rpc #mp rpc #Most secret royal advisor || OOC #Spawning of the Reefs || Promos #(( in case nyall wanted to know what ive been doing all day #(( also dear god i hope all these pings work

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kitsoa · 4 years ago

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A Case In Stubborn Belief

I don’t feel like I’ve reassessed my theories properly since things started going to hell in khux. The benefit to this torturous slog of releases is it allows me to adjust my mindset and theories in real time so as to have a healthy theorist mindset. In other words I use the time between releases to justify my theories and dig my heels in. Hahaaa-- so like, let me preface this by saying that there is plenty of reason to hold onto seemingly jossed theories and evidence because...

1.) Multiple things can be correct at the same time.

2.) Red herrings are frequently employed.

Now. I have, in the past summed up my thoughts in this 3-prong Theory for Khux post which is a little dated but subscribes to three ideas.

The Master of Masters is the Author of Fate

Ava is the Traitor

Ven harbors a split personality.

And while recent events have definitely had me going to the drawing board. I still kinda believe in all three ideas. Let’s work this out.

Ven as the Murderer

In my original Split-Personality Theory, I proposed that the Darkness within Ven was suppressed to the point that it gained sentience and acted with a will of its own. As Re:mind supports, Vanitas refers to existing long before their split.

The primary take away was, regardless of who did the dirty deed of killing Strelitzia, Ventus was innocent because he lacked agency. This is still true.

Now, it seemed as though this theory was disproven in last months flashback of the murder. Ven is clearly coerced by this physical shadowy Darkness to go to the scene of the crime, from which the Darkness strikes Strel down, orders Ven to pick up the Leader Book aaaand physically takes on the appearance of Ava.

All interactions with this force suggested that Darkness was an external force simply using Ven as a pawn in the scene. Darkness had to order Ven to pick up the book. Darkness manifested separate to Ven. This isn’t something coming from within Ven, it’s simply grabbing hold of him.

But then we have to consider the entire context of the scene. Ven was planted in the Leader position by Darkness. Darkness set it up so there was some foundation of legitimacy with Ava being seen with him. It was orchestrated specifically for Ven’s benefit... but to what end? Ven’s a pawn sure, but if the goal is getting a hold of a Union Leader, an external force of Darkness shouldn’t have to go through a very risky murder plot to make room. If the goal is to sow discord among the Leaders then killing someone close and framing one of them is all you need to do. If the goal is BOTH then why Ven? His presumable innocence? Is he just convenient scape goat?

This is where I think this months update comes into play. Darkness, spawns from Ven. Darkness has been hiding inside Ven. Ven is the Trojan Horse. While Ven blames himself for the death of Strel, he asserts that “It’s not me”. Darkness isn’t Ven. But that could be wishful thinking on his part...

That Darkness, no matter how external it behaves, is Ven’s. While not behaving like a split personality in the conventional way, the force is essentially Ven’s darkness given autonomy and sentience while still bound to his heart. That Darkness becomes Vanitas. Same idea different manner of arrival.

Is Darkness Legion?

“You’re finally aware, of us.”

In line with this speculation, this line could be referring to Darkness and Ven in the plural. Vanitas was very fixated on Ven and himself being the same being. I don’t see why Darkness can’t have that same attachment.

But if he’s NOT referring to himself I guess I have to talk about my Author of Fate theory.

This line would then suggest that Darkness is most likely one of those monsters in human form MoM was talking about wayyyy back in Cornerstones of Rebirth. In my Figurative Language post, I use MoM’s potential as a disillusioned author of the entire KH reality as a means to interpret his words more figuratively.

“Well, if you ask if the darkness they fought was comprised of monsters… maybe so. They looked the same as us, so it’s a bit different from now.”

In my interpretation these beings of Darkness were a summation of the darkness of human nature causing endless conflict. It was MoM’s way of explaining that he is who he is because he’s tired of senseless evil. This is where I think 2 things can be correct at the same time. Darkness can be a manifestation of a pure force of evil similar to the heartless AND be a figurative reflection of MoM’s perspective on humanity. After all, the theory postulates that MoM created everything. It’s a reflection of that “Real Evil” creeping into things. So is this force which I believe born from Ven a part of some kind of new race of Darkness? Yes and No. Yes because I think MoM’s interpreting a realistic evil through the creatures of the series. Whatever impulses formed Darkness inside Ven, is the same tendencies that MoM witnessed in his youth. No-- because the Darkness by virtue of being in this reality gain a form of autonomy that I don’t think MoM’s story is actually depicting. Literal Monsters in human skin basically detach humanity from the consequences of Evil. And while that’s not the case in reality, Mom’s interpretation paved a way for that to be the case in KH cause he’s the author.

Got really meta there. In my speculation, MoM is coping with the helplessness of reality. Poor guy. 2020 sucks.

What about Ava?

That’s the question isn’t it? Most of my Ava speculation is based on her behavior leading up to the end of Khx. The suggestions from that line of thought haven’t changed. I mean, nothings really modified the implications of Ava clashing with Luxu and starting the first war. If we take into account that MoM manipulated the Foretellers into their own destruction and Ava potentially discovered this, then her actions would make sense. Even with recent developments we know that Ava took action to defy MoM’s plan by changing who received the BoP. Ava is the Traitor.

So she is actively trying to circumvent this written fate... and all she succeeded in doing was swapping around a book? Yeah, that’s not enough.

My original theory speculates that Ava is trying to sabotage the entire Data-Daybreak town because it’s a part of MoM’s plan. And while Luxu’s Secret Report in KH3 has wording that suggest that the Data-Daybreak Town is destined to never have the Keyblade War, meaning that the manner needed to sabotage that is to.... cause the Keyblade War. So the way to ‘save’ her Dandelion’s from being MoM’s play things is to trigger the Keyblade War that they wanted to avoid, all so that she can attempt to remove them from MoM’s clutches (I further speculate this is because she doesn’t understand the extent of MoMs ownership over fate and therefore thinks its possible to defy fate enough to escape him).

So this puts her in the perfect motive to do whatever she can to make sure shit hits the fan and war breaks out. It’s an ironic little reversal cause once again Ava is becoming MoM in order to ‘stop’ MoM and she is really the fool here. This desperation might have her joining forces with some unsavory forces and pushing for some... drastic measures (like permitting murder!). It’s all for the greater good of course and she needs to free them from being in MoM’s creation.

This is why I still think, Ava is a benefactor/ accomplice to Darkness. I think she ultimately gave it access to the Dandelion ranks and orchestrated a deal that would ensure the escape of some Dandelions (through the Arc business with Maleficent) while also the assured destruction of the Data-Worlds that imprisoned them. This is because of the Darkness’s actions with Maleficent and paving a way out of the Data World which seems counterintuitive to the actions of Darkness through Ven, sowing discord and killing little sisters. Sure there could be more than one with more than one agenda but this can come together if you’re stubborn enough. So yeah. Ava is still in cohorts with Darkness. I really want her to be a well intentioned extremist don’t I?

---

Anyway. I am not so deluded that I can’t accept my theory being wrong. It’s okay. I’m not like... seriously hung up about it. But, not only do I think these 3 ideas are just insanely compelling, I DO believe that everything is a monthly slow confirmation here. One week seems to destroy an idea and the next resuscitates it. It’s incredible how they don’t just drop every plot twist at once. As someone trying to write a compelling mystery in my KH fic, I am impressed with how this has stretched out over years.

I’ll let you know when I’ve really given up. Until then, I’ll just start digging my plot on this hill. Read my theory master list while I do that.

#kingdom hearts #khux spoilers #kh specualtion #kh theory #kh meta #khux theory #putting this on my masterlist

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resident-of-edgy-evil · 5 years ago

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Leon x reader where you’re both 17. I have no idea what this became but I hope y’all can find some semblance of enjoyment in it.

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You were never one to break rules. You had never been grounded, never had a reason to get your phone taken away, there had never been any reprimanding lectures unless you allowed someone else to take advantage of you. Your parents had more concerned with your pride over safety. All in all, you weren’t a rebellious child, nor were you a rule breaker.

This meant that you were often trusted to be left to your own devices. Once again, your family left you home alone and you had nothing better to do than play video games and check your Discord from time to time. When you saw your boyfriends’ online status, you shot him a quick message, declaring your boredom in the utmost highest form of eloquence.

Leon, I’m boooooorrrrreeeddd

You picked up your controller and continued shooting zombies, hoping for a response soon so you didn’t die from boredom. This was your 3rd time playing the game and you were in dire need of some sort of human interaction. Your hopes were answered no more than 7 minutes later when your phone sounded from a notification. You unlocked the device to see a message from your most recent contact and not to your surprise, it had been Leon.

Okay, I can be over in 30?

You bit your lip, racking your brain for ideas that wouldn’t get you in trouble. The two you rested on were either you can ask your parents if it was okay that he could come over, but you knew it’d be a definite no, or you two could go to the park in which was also against the rules. However, it had been more of an unspoken regulation and you two wouldn’t have as much privacy as your neighbors all knew you and would strike up a conversation if they saw you there. Thus following the topic of their next conversation with your parents.

My parents aren’t home

All the more reason to come over then

A slight wave of panic washed over you as you knew you didn’t want to say no. You had always been the golden child of your family and didn’t want to break your parent’s trust. You really, really didn’t want to say no.

After a brief moment of silence on your end, his message status continued to display he was typing.

I don’t want to get you in trouble, we can do something next week if you want

You set your jaw, not uncaring of the consequences, but you didn’t want to pass up the offer either. Besides, he loved your family and they loved him, but there was a feeling of comfort between the two of you, knowing that he wasn’t so jumpy when they were around.

You were conflicted. Sure, of course you wanted to see Leon. It had been a month and a half since you two had hung out together and your relationship was so innocent. Your relations with each other were virtually the same as they had been before you were dating. He always liked to say that the two of you had been dating before it was formally announced. You couldn’t help but agree with his statement as your friendship had been somewhat unconventional. You guys didn’t do what friends would do.

The two of you hadn’t even kissed. He had tried a few times including a New Year’s Eve get-together you planned before anyone else got there. Even though your relationship was entirely innocent, your parents would never leave the two of you alone without checking in periodically, and you found that to be fair. They didn’t seem to mind the occasional hand holding or him resting his head on your lap while you played with his hair. However, he still jumped whenever one of your family members walked into the room. He didn’t want to lose their trust even though everything you two had done was purity in its truest form.

Please come over

He sent a smiley emoji in reply and you could only imagine the actual look on his face. You really wished you could see it as it was your favorite thing in the world. He was adorable in every sense of the word.

You leaned back into the couch you sat on and continued playing your video game. You completed some check points here and there, found some keys, dodged a few potentially life threatening actions to your character before it got boring again.

Closing the game application, you browsed through the PlayStation store, settling on a zombie game that had been from the same franchise as the previous one you played. The first episode was free so you had no qualms with trying it out. The game had good ratings and, to be quite frank, you were a picky gamer but this looked really good.

Soon enough after downloading the game, you found yourself broken from your reverie as you were reminded of the plans you had made earlier. The horror of what you had done didn’t feel quite real until you heard a knock on your front door, knowing that only Leon would be so polite. Any of your other friends would have barged through the front and it was too late for any other visitors to stop by.

Your second realization was that you had looked like trash. It was a lazy day so you were decked out in your “fanciest” clothing. Your attire consisted of a pair of short shorts and a tank top. You were sure he wouldn’t mind as he was a very respectful boy and would never try anything with you without mutual consensus, but that didn’t make you any less self conscious.

You booked it down the stairs to answer the door, nearly tripping on the other spare pairs of shoes your family had neglected to put back on the rack. You mentally cursed and reminded yourself to put them back in their respective places when he left. You quickly composed yourself before twisting and turning the knob completely, facing the devil himself.

You both smiled at each other, wordlessly, before he muttered a simple “hi” to break the silence. Now, your third realization was that he was not a normal human being. This was Leon Kennedy and he wouldn’t budge from a doorway even if you opened it wider for him unless he was formally invited inside. You shook your head with a chuckle, forgetting his charming nature as well as your forgetfulness. It could also mean that he's a vampire...but that was another thought for another day.

His eyebrows narrowed slightly at your silence.

“What?” He offered a confused grin.

“It’s nothing, love, I’m just glad to see you.” You smiled. “Now get in here. It’s chilly outside,” you guided him by the hand to the top of the stairs.

You two settled in on the couch that was in your parents’ living room as Leon joined you on your escapade throughout the game.

It had been an hour or so into playing the game that he looked over at you, eyes softening with a slight smile. You knew the look had to be something more than what he was letting on since he wouldn’t say a word.

There was no fairytale glint in his eyes. There was no overly romantic gesture. It was just you and Leon playing video games. You hadn’t expected that his face would move towards yours getting closer and closer. He didn’t show any sign of stopping. He was trying to do the thing! You weren’t ready to do the thing!

You didn’t know what to do so you panicked and turned your head away, feigning a look of fatigue. In all honesty, you did feel tired. After so many all-nighters, being in such a relaxed and safe environment made you want to drift right off. You shook the feeling off when you saw his eyes though. You weren’t naïve, you knew what he was trying to do. However, he shrugged it off while commenting he saw a stray eyelash.

There was no doubt in his mind that you loved him and he loved you just the same. It was a comforting feeling even though you believed you didn’t deserve it. He knew that it wasn’t anything personal.

You felt that you didn’t deserve him.

Nothing else was said for the next few minutes. You thought that he was going to place a kiss to your cheek and continue on with whatever it was you guys were doing. Honestly, he distracted you so much that you couldn’t even remember. The last thing you could recall was him asking about the plot of your favorite game before he started playing with your hair. He pulled you closer to him, resting his chin on your shoulder, watching you play your game. All the while, he laughed at your antics and ramblings, sneaking quick glances at you. The game looked interesting enough, it was something that grabbed his attention, but it was primarily directed towards you as you were the most interesting thing in the room.

You two had been dating for more than a few months, longer than any of your friends or family knew, and it was perfectly innocent to share a kiss. He began to close the space between the two of you again as your panic grew. It wasn’t that you didn’t want kiss him. You desperately wanted to, instead, you tilted your head away, resting your forehead on his chin. He placed a kiss to your forehead before pulling away slightly.

"I won't push you if you don't want to." He whispered above you, enjoying your gesture of sentiment.

The two of you didn't want to move from the position you were in, so he placed another kiss, this time to your temple and pulled you closer to him. Neither of you looked at each other. You couldn't see his hint of a smile and he couldn’t see your face of relief.

Your biggest fear was hurting his feelings. You didn't want him to think that you didn’t trust him or you didn’t love him enough. You couldn’t even place what it was that made you so shy about it. It wasn’t as if he was asking for sex! That thought, however, was a whole other can of worms that you didn’t want to open yet.

Time crawled on from that point as you enjoyed each other’s company and reminisced old memories from your early childhood. Your heart would jump a little every time a car would pass by in the cul de sac of your home, praying you two wouldn’t be caught alone. But every time it had only been a neighborhood turning off of the street from yours.

At one of these moments in particular, your gaze fell on a pair of headlights that had shine through your windows. Leon hit the floor with a thud and a laugh in an attempt to hide. The car turned and your heart fell from your throat. You couldn’t really say that you felt all that relieved after that.

“False alarm,” you rubbed the back of your neck, sheepishly.

He didn’t get up as he continued to drum his fingers against your less than comfortable living room floor. Though his smiler never faltered.

“Sneaking around has been fun and all, but it’s getting dark and I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

You nodded and pulled him with your extended hand. For as relaxed as your time together had been, you couldn’t help but feel like it had been the most chaotic night of your life.

“Thanks for spending time with me, it’s been kinda lonely around here.” He dipped his head down, curtly, and slipped through your back door leaving you alone once again.

The fatigue that you felt earlier set in by the moment he slipped out the door. It had always been a part of your introverted personality. Even your favorite people in the world could leave you feel drained. But that was not a reflection on how you felt about him, especially. Right now you just felt...empty. You felt the need to fill the emptiness, like there was something left that you had to do before he left.

Without processing it for another second, your fingers fumbled for your phone on the banister, you had no idea how far he had gone and you needed him back quickly.

“Leon, I need you to come back here for a moment.”

He paused momentarily, fearing the worst.

“What’s wrong?”

Your hands began to tingle and your anxiety tripled. You didn’t really know what was wrong or what you were doing.

For the longest time in your life, everything you had ever done was calculated and well thought out. You always ran through your options methodically, to the point where you’d miss out on important milestones in life because you were busy overthinking. You weren’t sure what you were doing right now, but it felt right.

“Please come back, it’s important.”

You didn’t wait for him to answer in fear that he’d ask you more questions than you’d be able to answer. So the moment you heard his footsteps stop and their rapid recessions, you ended the call.

Your stomach dropped and the overwhelming realization of what you had just done came settling in. You hadn’t planned this far ahead. The self induced crisis was broken at the sound of a hurried set of knocks.

Leon shifted between his legs, waiting for the door to open. Catching you off guard, he didn’t wait for an invitation this time as he looked you over. When he couldn’t find any harm he glanced at the surroundings to make sure there wasn’t a break in or something that would’ve caused your worried voice over the phone.

“Hey,” he took you by the hands, gently. “What’s wrong?”

Your lips parted slightly when you couldn’t think of an intelligent reply. His concern for your wellbeing astounded you and, in your mind, it had been apparent why you called him back here.

You were tired of being a coward.

You brought him into a hug. He wasn’t tense, wasn’t angered, he seemed relieved that you were safe albeit a little confused. When you pulled away, you looked him in the eyes. And his finally found what they were searching for earlier in yours.

“Are we doing this now?”

You nodded as you brought your lips to his in a chaste kiss. Neither of you said anything, for the millionth time that night you were silent.

You hadn’t really expected your first kiss to be on your back porch, hiding away from the wandering eyes of your neighbors, nor had it occurred that it would’ve been so informal. Yet somehow, you noted, that you wouldn’t have it any other way. It was shared with the boy you loved and that’s what mattered most. That’s what made it perfect.

He didn’t try to hide his goofy smile for even a second as he mumbled a quick goodbye before turning around again.

“Have I ever told you that I love you?”

You jokingly shook your head no and he brought you in for another kiss.

“Your smile says it all, beautiful.” He gave you a wink and sprinted away from your place to go home.

It may be odd to anyone else in the world, but this was your dream date and you wouldn’t change a second of it. Leon was that kind of person that made every second of living perfect.

“Your smile is worth more than mine.” You mumbled to yourself as you shut the door and locked it.

“I love you too.”

—————-

Sorry that it’s so messy. I’ve been meaning to post it for a while but I was never too pleased with it.

#capcom #horror games #resident evil #wholesome #resident evil 4 #horror #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #resident evil leon #re2 #leon s kennedy x reader #leon kennedy imagines #dating #relationships #cute #fan fiction #fanfic #resident evil fanfic #fanart

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paragonevil · 4 years ago

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I'm gonna be honest, as far as Aku, evil overlord dictator of an empire that's dedicated to wiping out most if not all of humanity, you write him too mushy. He's supposed to be a sociopath, from what we see in the show, but you have him being shipped with like, a dozen people. You write him waaayy too nice. That being said, I suppose if you didn't, you would have very limited interaction with people, and you've written out "development" for him, but the point still stands that he's way too roman

What do you think about my interpretation? | accepting!

ooc ★ Before I get onto my response, I’d like to thank you for having the audacity to send this. I feel there’s this unhelpful idea in the rpc that people have to agree with everything you post; and to say you disagree with someone’s interpretation is often met with ferocious resistance. But when I reblog memes of this nature asking for opinions, I want the good and the bad. I AM always looking to improve, and to not take criticism when I so freely dish it would be hypocritical of me, I guess. ( For lack of a better word, right off the top of my head. )

I COULD put this under a cut, but I feel this is important enough to just let it sit out in the open. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a while.

That said, two things for you.

Firstly, I LOVE writing violence! In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s in my top two favorite things to write, right beside slow-burn romance ( and particularly one-sided yearning ). However, while I used to jump at every opportunity to write violence, I can admit I’ve since slowed down a bit. Not only because I’ve gotten progressively less and less people coming to Aku trying to pick a fight with him, but also because I’ve come to feel that fight threads without a purpose to further the plot are repetitive and somewhat boring. It tends to be a lot of the same-old same-old; repetitive actions, repetitive imagery. And yes, while this is a significant piece of his character in the show, and I love exploring it even further and particularly pushing the bounds of his abilities, if it doesn’t serve a purpose in the greater scheme of a plot or an arc then... Why waste your time with it? And frankly this goes for all repetitive actions, like gratuitous sex and slice-of-life. If it doesn’t serve a purpose to write, such as say to kill an important enemy or fight a significant battle or even to maim a loved one when he’s not himself and bring down the angst hammer, then? Why.

Secondly, despite not wanting to write violence just for the sake of violence... I can admit I want some conflict over here. But that’s just the thing. In Aku’s main verse he’s samurai-less. I did this simply because the NUMEROUS Jack blogs there used to be have since become inactive, and if my initial intention with Aku’s blog almost from the very start was for him to kill a Jack and switch over to my Bad End universe, I can’t very well have Aku always worried about a ghostly, intangible threat that he can’t confront. And of all the Jack’s on this hellsite, of which I’ve written with and followed more than a few along the way, I can only name ONE which is still active. ( And another which followed me today, on that note, but they don’t have a rules nor an about page, so. ) ...But that first Jack I mentioned, @sonxflight, we don’t really write anymore. Nowadays Dari’s been more focused on fluff / romance threads, and I’ve been more interested in developing Aku’s mental health. Aku isn’t gonna go out of his way to confront a Jack that he views as not being his problem. Dari’s Jack isn’t the one from my Aku’s universe. Dari and I just kinda tag each other in dash memes and comment on one another’s posts once in a while; and that’s about the extent I see action from a Jack nowadays.

I would LOVE some more conflict on this blog! But I’m not going out of my way to find it if it doesn’t particularly serve to further my current plot— which is Aku’s eventual ascension to Godhood at the end of this year. And that’s another thing, if Aku himself doesn’t stand to gain anything from talking to someone, inciting a conflict, or being a dick to somebody, he’s pretty much going to keep his distance. He finds most people to be a waste of his time; and this is nothing against other RPers whom I love seeing on dash! Because lord knows I’d love to push him to interact with folks. But if Aku himself looks down his nose at most people and finds them not only boring but also boorishly stupid, then there’s not much else for it. He sees others that come to him for money, freedom, and other boons in exchange for their services as nothing more than cattle; and frequently this is how his meetings with new people go. Meeting others out in the field is the best way to get a truly organic and not copy-and-pasted interaction out of him. And even then, there’s still numerous factors which would predicate how such an encounter might go.

Because there’s not too much conflict on this blog for now, I’ve decided to take greater liberties with exploring shipping and platonic relationships also. But for those of you who have followed me for a while, who have seen me mention on more than one occasion that slice-of-life threads aren’t really my schtick, I can understand why you might be a bit confused. Well, allow me to explain: the reason I’ve chosen to place greater emphasis on these kinds of relationships lately is to preclude a little RP / character bleed mishap which happened recently and which impacted my enjoyment when writing as him and even just simply being on this blog. And by ‘recently’ I mean slowly, over a period of the past several months.

Aku’s entire arc with Rick demonstrated to both of us that he’s in an incredibly bad kind of headspace in regards to healthy relationships on this blog. In his universe with Rick, basically all his ties are a result of his relationship with Rick. Bill ( wildgcd, whose blog has since been deleted ) and Ashi ( @tigersteeth ) are both inactive, and have been for months +. They’re the only ones with whom Aku has a healthy relationship that isn’t directly tied to Rick in that universe, and as a result he tends to rely quite heavily on Rick for his social needs. So when Rick left him too, Aku’s abandonment issues reared their head. Unhelpfully, mun has a problem with abandonment amongst a slew of emotional / psychological problems quite similar in nature to the one’s Aku suffers from— albeit with a fun little mortal twist. 🤗 So I knew I needed to take action so I could comfortably be on his blog in the inevitability that Stephanie goes on hiatus again. Which is why I’m trying to focus a bit more on building more platonic and romantic relationships besides the ones with Rick and co. that way Aku has more people with whom to spend his time when Rick is away.

Furthermore, now that Jack’s out of the picture regardless of verse, Aku’s allowed himself to focus more on making friendships and forming attachments just in general. One of the reasons he tended not to do such before is because he felt that Jack would kill whomever he felt close to in an effort to get to him. In fact, he even shouted at Rick for daring to mention that he and Jack could possibly work together to build a future which would be brighter and better for everyone; because he felt certain that Rick would wind up being targeted by Jack to get to Aku.

He’s started going to therapy, also, to address long-held mistaken beliefs in himself, too. Beliefs which interfered with the relationships he had tried to foster with others; it was enough to frustrate him, when he let himself acknowledge such, and he knew he needed to sit down and talk with someone professionally if he didn’t exactly have friends around per se with whom he could talk. Also, I personally believe he chose not to do such before, because his very existence was hinged on destroying Jack so he could conquer the universe in peace without meeting resistance. While he knew he was unhappy and knew furthermore that he had some problems that needed addressing— and had even made a thin attempt to talk about such with himself in show canon as you recall— ultimately his mental well-being took second banana to making sure Jack was DEAD.

The therapy, coupled with his own slow internal journey, some perspective which was afforded to him during Rick’s absence, and some 4th wall Discord conversations has lent him valuable insight on the way he functions—and how Nightmare works too. Who, in many ways is just himself but with unchecked mental delusions and mistaken beliefs that had grown unchecked. He saw what had happened to Nightmare mentally, and didn’t want such a fate for himself. Hence the therapy and greater, braver attempts to let himself be closer to others.

Finally in the case of Bill and Nightmare... both of them take place in different universes, of course. Universes which in themselves were split just after the break up between Aku and Rick. Aku is still thoroughly alone in those universes, because again. He doesn't have Rick and all the people who were brought into his life as a result of his relationship with him. He’s at that point in his immortal life where he’d like to try his courage and test out the things he’d discovered about himself in therapy and in his personal self-explorations, and see about developing a relationship with someone with a fresh perspective with his recent failure as Rick’s partner in mind. Which is why he’s so amicable with them and trying to get to know them better. He wants to see what a healthy relationship, platonic or otherwise, developed on his own might be like.

However. I WILL acknowledge that Aku trying to make friends with people is ooc. It’s ALSO ooc for Aku to try fucking / romancing someone. There, I said it.

But you know why that is? It’s because that facet of his character was never explored in canon, even in all the comics, games, and the addition of the 5th season in 2017. So I suppose you could say that if I were to play him absolutely true to his canon material he’d only ever be a fucking mauling, mutilating, destroying, force of nature. Which yes, he still is despite my writing him how I do with a greater emphasis here lately on developing relationships with other characters. I ask you: isn’t the whole point of RP to develop dynamics and explore facets of a character that canon neglected? I could do fight threads all day, boy; but please ask yourself: how much would that really serve to further my interpretation and understanding of him, if at that point I’m just rehashing canon fights with a fresh coat of paint and different enemies? Whereas platonic and romantic relationships are a thoroughly headcanon and character-development heavy area for a character like Aku, who hasn’t had a single friendship or romantic relationship in his canon media.

And if you’d like cliff notes, rp examples of him being fucking EVIL, and links to evil headcanons I have you’re more than welcome to send a second ask asking for said information. But I think I’ve already given you plenty to think about and read, unless you’re some kind of masochist and want to torture yourself more with reading my self-absorbed and self-assured opinion. Thanks for making it this far, here’s your consolation prize.

TL;DR: Canon already gives me fights for days, boy. And while I thoroughly enjoy writing fight threads, they tend to be repetitive and exhausting if they’re not serving a purpose in a plot arc. Whereas things like interpersonal relationships for a character like Aku, who did not see such development in his canon media, is full of things to explore. And ultimately that’s what RP is about, exploring facets of a character which canon doesn’t explore for you. Once again, thank you for asking, and I hope this answers your question. I can provide examples for everything cited above, as well as fight threads and evil moments abound if you’d like. Furthermore, if there’s anything I do in RP which confuses you or which you feel is ooc, I invite you to jump in my askbox again with further questions. I’d be happy to explain my reasoning for ANYTHING I write!

P.S. I INVITE you to form your own opinions and compare me to my duplicates, 90-100% of whom are inactive. <:) Here they are, for your browsing convenience: @unspeakablyevil @akunoakuma @onibred @aku-blogs @shogundad Take a gander, consider what I just told you, and then see if you can hit me with this same anon again, yes? 😏💕

#◜♚◞#cobalt's talking shit #◜testimony◞#anonymous #long post

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shadowsong26fic · 4 years ago

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Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, which means Coming Attractions Post!

(Especially since I skipped last month, whoops…)

Before we get into it, as I always do in these things, plug for my Discord server--it’s pretty quiet, but basically a slightly more interactive version of this tumblr. Sometimes I talk a little more about origfic or other stuff than I do here, too.

Also, this is not my only hobby! As some of you may know, one of my others is lacework, and I now have a sideblog for that. I have pictures of my completed projects up there, and will probably have more stuff as I start…well…making more stuff.

Anyway. On to the actual writing stuff aka why most of you are here (also a few requests for feedback/Opinions behind the cut).

So, I didn’t get much done over the month until, like…the last few days. In part because work got super bonkers for reasons I’m still Cranky at but that is a vent for my personal blog, lol.

Precipice:

I have threeish scenes left, which I’m probably going to do as one more chapter (unless they end up Super Long, then I might split it into two). That’ll close out Arc Seven, and the first big chunk of this fic. As I’ve said before, I’ll split off into a sequel fic (working title Protectors) at that point, along with doing a sort of…interquel, working title Preludes, that mostly deals with integrating Rebels content. Also probably Maul.

Right now, I’m tentatively planning six installments to Preludes? Mostly because six feels like a nice number to work with, lol. These will be one-shots that aren’t super interconnected, all taking place during the six-year timeskip. These are the ones I’m thinking about doing as of right now (subject to change, and I welcome suggestions!):

one involving Kallus on Coruscant, shortly before he gets reassigned to Lothal;

one involving Hera and whoever her contact is in this AU (since Ahsoka’s doing something different from the Fulcrum stuff);

one where Kanan and Ezra connect with Obi-Wan et al. (probably through Hondo);

one with Luke, probably similar to that one episode where Leia turns up in Rebels canon;

I really do need to figure out what the heck is going on with Maul, don’t I.

…something else????

The only ones I’m 100% sure about including are the one with Kallus and the one where the various Jedi link up because those are necessary and/or plot-relevant, though I’m still working out specifics (especially on the Jedi one). I may also include something with Thrawn, since I’m doing something different with him than canon did. Like I said, I welcome thoughts/suggestions/etc.

Protectors will then pick up six years after the end of Arc Seven, with Arc Eight. And, as a treat, the working titles for Arcs Eight and Nine are Escalation and Watershed. In theory, I’m planning to post Preludes alongside arcs eight and nine, but we’ll see.

…anyway, uh, what I forgot to mention earlier is that my plan is to wrap up arc seven/the first fic in this series this month. Hopefully I will actually pull that off XD. And then we move on to the other stuff.

Other SW Fic Projects:

Big Bang is coming up again! I think signups will be next month? I’m considering three different plotlines as of right now, though that’s assuming I don’t come up with something new and exciting and/or another ObiAniDala plotline, which is what I seem to do every year…which one I end up doing probably depends at least partly on how S2 of the Mandalorian goes, since two of the three ideas heavily feature Bo-Katan. Of course, one of those lacks a plot and the other is pretty episodic/involves a lot of blank space I still need to fill in…

Anyway, we’ll see how that goes after the show airs and I get more event information, especially since it’s going to be structured differently/teaming up writers and betas much earlier in the process, which will be nice and possibly help chronically-undecided me actually pick something so I’m not scrambling to finish at the last minute but given that it’s me I probably will be anyway XD

As for other SW projects…I still owe a few meme fills from, like, April…but otherwise, extant projects are mostly back-burnered for now.

AtLA Projects:

Aka, the reason why SW projects other than Precipice and SWBB (and any one-shots/prompt fills that occur to me) are back-burnered, lol.

I am working on an AU outline, set to come out this month. There’s a couple of fulltext fics I’m playing with. I haven’t gotten any actual text written down yet, but I know where I’m going with them, at least to start.

The AU outline will be a canon-divergent thing set during the Ba Sing Se arc, and will be hopefully out Soon.

Fulltext fic #1 is…basically, the premise is, Lu Ten had a lover during the Siege, the soundtrack to this fic involves a lot of West Side Story, he left her with someone to remember him by, and then there’s some mindbending and complicated politics after his death. I think I talked a little more about this in a previous post? Anyway, one of the things I’m considering is whether to just tell this story linearly, or to start several years later, and go into the whole star-crossed lovers backstory as she regains her memories of what actually happened. The advantage to the first option is that it’s easier to work with shifting POV, which I prefer; and also involves more canon characters more quickly. The advantage to the second is that I think it would work really well for this particular storyline? Assuming I could get people invested in her and/or Ba Sing Se Politics/Worldbuilding that fast …y’know, when I think about it like that, maybe linear is the best option, lol…

Fulltext fic #2 is an Avatar Zuko AU, where he figures it out at age thirteen, and at that point decides he has roughly three and a half years until the comet, aka three and a half years to figure out how to make all this work (not to mention at least starting to learn air, water, and earth), and hopefully by then he’ll know what he should be doing with it? Whether it’s to resurface and Prove His Worth by defending the Fire Nation during the leadup to the comet, or something else (though Something Else doesn’t quite occur to him until he starts doing the other stuff). This will heavily feature at least one of my old OCs, and probably a few others (and likely one or two new ones), especially during the first two years. I’ve got things more or less worked out up until Aang resurfaces and Zuko’s plans have to shift/he has to cut his earthbending year short (much to Toph’s annoyance). Because once Aang is awake, everyone thinks he’s the Avatar (he’s not; there’s another explanation for how he iceberg’d for a century), and that fact just escalates All Of The Things.

((I’ve mentioned before that I am Pathologically Incapable of not creating a bunch of OCs and AtLA is a particularly strong example of that, so...yeah, that’ll be a Thing in pretty much anything I write in this fandom))

…anyway, this should be fun, once I actually get actual text down XD

Original Fic:

I did write one thing last month! Which was nice. Hopefully, I’ll get a bit done this month, too. For those of you who don’t know, most of my original stuff is posted on rainbowfic, which is a great community and if you guys do original stuff you post online, you should come join.

I’ve also started poking at a couple of new concepts, because that is how my brain do. Including one Arthuriana story despite the fact that I’m not super into Arthuriana but then my brain was like “what if Mordred was a girl?” and welp. Here I am.

NaNo:

I’m proooooooobably going to do a similar setup to what I had the past couple years--set myself a wordcount goal, but not bind myself to any single project. Depending on how things go this month, either with Precipice!verse or SWBB or my AtLA stuff, or if that Mordred thing catches on, I might try to prioritize one or more things (like, have my goal be 20k on X project, and 30k on other stuff), but I’ll decide that closer to the date.

…I think that’s everything! What are you guys up to lately? Does anyone have NaNo plans? Any thoughts on stuff I mentioned on my docket, so to speak? What’s on your mind?

#miscellania #coming attractions #feedback greatly appreciated #shadowsong26fic #shadowsong writes star wars #shadowsong writes atla #shadowsong writes original fic

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bleachintothemultiverse · 4 years ago

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THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME. First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all have witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat Mun Name: Phoenix (Pho) (can also be called blaze-bc of my discord username. though i use that name for a oc) Age: 17 (18 in august) Contact: Discord, ims

Character(s) I rp: Aizen,grimmjow, Uryuu, renji, Byakuya, Kusaka, Hanataro Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM): Aizen, Grimmjow, Byakuya and Uryuu Current Fandom(s): Bleach, fullmetal alchemist, Yugioh Fandom(s) you have an AU for: Fullmetal alchemist : Brother hood, Yugioh My language(s): English, spanish //Kinda- im learning it// Themes I’m interested in for rp: Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: Modern.

Preferred Thread length: one-liner / 1 para / 2 para / 3+ / novella. Asks can be send by: Mutuals / Non-Mutuals / Personals / Anons. Can Asks be continued?: YES / NO only by Mutuals?: YES / NO. Preferred thread type: crack / casual nothing too deep / serious / deep as heck. Is realism / research important for you in certain themes?: YES / NO. Are you atm open for new plots?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. Do you handle your draft / ask - count well?: YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. How long do you usually take to reply?: 24h / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3+ / months / years. I’m okay with interacting: original characters / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / my fandom / crossovers / multi-muses / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / canon-divergent portrayals / au-versions (as main or only verse). Do you post more ic or ooc?: IC / OOC. Are you selective with following others?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting: message me either on ims or discord. ^^ I am open up to any idea that you may have What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner: Uh knowing what muse they want to interact ahead of time. Normally I can create a plot if they already know what Muse they want to rp with. How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?: I say it kinda 50/50 I tried to build the plot equally with the rp partner.

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: I know some things happen- so its okay if you don’t want to tell me if you are- I normally figure it out after weeks of not responding. (Unless you are a low activity blog- then i figure you are just busy ^^) - Will you tell your partner?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you? YES / NO. - And why?: Because communication is important, especially for plots we are winging mostly. and if they have any questions about how i portray a certain character. - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?: I wanna say Yes. It really depends- If its about me. I want to know why you say that especially if you don’t know me well and we could possibly clear up a misunderstanding or something. But if it for a character Yea sure. As long as it done explaining what they don’t like on it or if there is something I could improve. - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way? YES / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?: to explore my muses and expand on the more complex ones. (Like Aizen for example) Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios: TYBW stuff. more Pendulum arc stuff for Aizen. Muken Aizen related things. What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?: I can work with basically any type of starters? As long as it has a clear way to make interaction happen.

What type of characters catch your interest the most?: Characters i’m familiar with. Characters that is well done (Especially Oc’s). What type of characters catch your interest the least?: Characters that seem way to Mary or gary sue. (More Oc related things). Characters who are just- evil because they can be.

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?: willing to learn about different fandoms. Open to literally anything. gets invested in ships easily. What are your weak aspects as rp partner?: Being to anxious to communicate. Forgetfulness. Loosing track of threads (Because threadtracker hates me-) Do you rp smut?: YES / NO. Do you prefer to go into detail?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. Are you okay with black curtain?: YES / NO. - When do you rp smut? More out of fun or character development?: I don’t rp smut. - Anything you would not want to rp there?: N/A Are ships important to you?: YES / NO.

Would you say your blog is ship-focused?: YES / NO

.Do you use read more?: YES / NO / SOMETIMES.

Are you: Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship — Multiverse / Singleverse.

- What do you love to explore the most in your ships?: Relationship building. Having moments that can be expanded on between the characters. Having relationship conflict. Even know i don’t rp smut- There is so much that can explored with ships that is more then just sex related things.

- What is your smut tag?: N/A

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?: Familial, Friendship.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

//you said to pick my favorite muse- so here we go xD// - What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?: Oh jeez- he is the main villian of the series. One of the most unpredictable muses that I have. Possible plots- depends on the time line. If its in the pendulum era. Literally anything can happen. There is a large gap of time (9 years) of things that could of happen but the anime or manga didn’t show. The same goes with his Captain era. We don’t really see much then or anything relating to his time in Muken. There is a lot of different situations that could happen with the right other muse.

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?: muses who are hopelessely romantics. muses who don’t have much to work with in a plot. - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?: muses who has similar mind set as him or could be as unpredictable. . Characters that could possibly catch him off guard or catch his interest because of the way they act.

- What interests your Muse(s) in general: evolution, Science related things. hollowification experimenting. becoming a god. - What do they desire, is their goal?: Their goal . It depends most verses its to gain access to the royal realm and become the one true god, and change the soul society. - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?: The way that they handle them selves, there intentional personally. - What do they value in a person?: Loyalty. Hard working. - What themes do they like talking about?: he likes when people talk about themselves. He can learn more about them. But he also likes talking philsophical debates about existence and morals. Or anything that would relate to his mindset about life. - Which themes bore them?: anything to romantic. He does not like that. like full on fliriting. He doesn’t do at all.

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?: Yes //though it can be debated what is consider traumatic to a adult who causes there own trauma mostly// //But like- he had to have seen some stuff in his childhood that would make him more desensitize to murder and killing fellow Shinigami// - What could possibly trigger them?: Experiencing the feeling of dying. Sensory deprivation. //after his 20,000 years in Muken. Which is underground. away from most sounds and sights and feeling// - What could set them off, enrage them?: Making him question his motives. Making him actually feel something. making him loose his goals.

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?: Urahara, Shinji. - Is there someone /-thing they love?: //Romantically- in most verses no// Platonically : Hiyori (only in pendulum arc). Hougyoku. his self.

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?: catch their attention. Literally just talk to him. don’t go trying to challenge or question his ego. Literally just talk to him with any amount of respect . depending on the verse- his responses may very. but other then that- He is rather easy to approach depending on your intentions to be approaching him. - Where are they usually to find?: His office in division five, hueco mondo, (Specifically in Los Noches), Muken. The forest near rukongai (only really applies to pendulum verse).

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?: he is nerd with a god complex. he deserves a more flesh out back story then what the Manga gave him. I try to keep him as close to the manga, keeping all of the things that happen in the manga and anime as canon. Only changing his child hood and early divisions days- as that isn’t really shown and expanding his relationships with some of the visoreds. I also portray him as Aro/ace in most verses so its very Awkward if you try to ship with him in most verses unless discussed in ims or discord. tagged by @skyvar //thank you for the tag snow uwu// tagging @rukia-kuchiki-divided @redeyeschaosdragon @kaibacorpbros (any bro) @viciousvizard @hirako5hinji @bookofaion @gentleshinigami @goofyshinigami @windstormwielding @cxb3r @nightbeat-cat @world-duelists / @loyal-to-chaos (if you want ^^) and you! if you want to do this uwu.

#dash games #about mun #about muse #//wow this was a long one :D but i had fun uwu//#Long post

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goldenkamuyhunting · 5 years ago

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Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 226 “Sacred Ground”

So we start the new year discovering more info about one of the recurring characters of the cast, and I start the year with a retcon.

Yeah, in the Discord I’m in, we compared Usami to the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog but apparently we were a tad too optimist.

But let’s go with order.

We start with Asirpa’s group, currently in another Ainu village, watching an Ainu dog that looks like Ryu to the point Sugimoto, who still has his broken arm in a sling, thinks it’s him. Vasily is also there being… basically background.

Really, sometimes I wonder if Noda regrets including him in the plot because Vasily… basically does nothing and Noda sometimes even forget to show he’s present (see the past chapter). He and Asirpa’s group hardly interact to the point if I were to compare him to Ogata, Ogata would result like an extremely companionable, buddy-buddy type and that’s saying a lot as Ogata was mostly completely asocial, talking to the group only when needed, strongly disliked and occasionally ostracized by Sugimoto.

Is there a purpose for Vasily to be so… transparent, unnoticeable, lacking in interaction or in action to the point if we cut him out we won’t notice it?

We’re meant to be lulled into ignoring him to discover he was really important for surprise value? Is he maybe drawing the whole cast as we don’t look at him? Working as a Russian spy? Doing in other words something that’s relevant plotwise?

I don’t know. We’ll see. So far he’s just there.

And note I’m not blaming solely Vasily for this.

While he’s not doing any effort to integrate with the group beyond closely following them (he didn’t help panning the gold nor, apart from his attempt to kill the white bear, hunted with or for them) the others are also not doing anything to integrate him. Sugimoto defines themselves a rabble when ‘Noriko’ (well, actually Heita pretending to be Noriko) asks about their relation and was okay with him going with them solely because Vasily provided a horse for them to escape and an additional shield against Ogata. Shiraishi, the real most companionable guy in the group, turned to him solely when he wanted him to shoot someone and is likely behind Vasily’s nickname but he’s clearly not making efforts to figure out his real name. Asirpa saved his life and talked to him twice… but it’s unclear how much Vasily could understand and it was, as usual, of Ainu related stuffs.

We don’t see her trying to have him sample Ainu cuisine as she did with whoever were to join their group. Sure Vasily can’t possibly say ‘citatap’ or ‘hinna’ but she could have still try to have him eat something and instead… nothing.

Really, I assume Noda wants Vasily and Ogata fight together but, beyond this, it feels as if he doesn’t know what to do with him. We’ll see if the volume versions will fix things… or remove him for good. Pity because as a Russian character and as a sniper he could have been an interesting character to explore.

But well, let’s go back to the plot.

Shiraishi claims they left Nihei’s gun in Karafuto so Ryu won’t follow them and Sugimoto comments he hopes Ryu will get so much love to ‘forget that gun’.

Actually the one Ryu has to forget is Nihei, but in a way it’s interesting they’re talking about a ‘gun’.

The ‘gun’ becomes representative of Ryu’s loss and the fact he couldn’t let go on the idea his master died, he clung to it when he couldn’t clung to his long dead master… even though it was a maladaptive behavior that stopped him from moving on.

In a way this parallel Sugimoto who’s a war veteran and has developed maladaptive behaviours which, during the war, allowed him to survive and to which he clings, but that stops him to go back home and have the normal life he longs for. In Sugimoto’s sentence there could be the hidden wish he also could go back home and be treated with so much love that he forget about war and the maladaptive behaviours it caused him to pick.

We’ll see though.

Asirpa goes and explain how Ainu dogs have some very good qualities, as they’re brave and loyal… but they can also become very jealous and violent. To drive this home she narrates of how a Wajin hunter took one of them and was very loving with him, but after the man scolded the dog and left it home as he went to hunt, he returned home to discover the dog slaughtered all the chickens the man has raised.

Now… while it’s clear the guy in question was a poor hunter nowhere near as good as Nihei clearly wasn’t overly doting on Ryu even if he was very appreciative of him and therefore wouldn’t have done this mistake the story is interesting because it remarks some relevant things.

Asirpa doesn’t say just ‘a hunter’ but a ‘Wajin (和人) hunter’ where ‘wajin’ refers to the Yamato people, the ethnic group to which Sugimoto belongs and therefore doesn’t include minorities like AINU or Ryukyuans.

The implication can be that Wajin don’t understand how Ainu dogs work and take them carelessly without knowing how to properly handle them… OPPOSED TO AINU.

Now while I’m sure at the time there was plenty of Wajin who didn’t know how to handle them, while Ainu very likely had at least a basic idea of how to handle them, there were probably also some Ainu who messed up because that’s how the world works.

In a large group of people who dealt with the same matter for a long time, there’s always someone who mess up, even when he should know better. People make mistakes, if they didn’t they wouldn’t be normal people.

In short the fact that the hunter is a ‘Wajin’ is not a relevant detail for the story, which is very likely an Ainu cautionary tale usually narrated from Ainu to Ainu against undervaluing those dogs.

So why was it added or why, instead than a cautionary tale about an Ainu messing up, we’ve one about a Wajin messing up?

Of course it can be a mere coincidence but, more likely, it’s due to Ainu and Wajin being two different cultures, each one regarding the other as different and ‘less good’ merely due to prejudice, so that it’s easier for Ainu to talk about how the Wajin messed up and how people shouldn’t be like them.

When Asirpa and Sugimoto first met, Asirpa said he was brave and knew his way around a fight, a most capable warrior, IMPRESSIVE FOR A SISAM.

The implication is that Sisam are not brave, don’t know their way around a fight and aren’t capable warrior, otherwise Asirpa wouldn’t find it ‘impressive FOR A SISAM’ but just ‘impressive’… and it’s not the only time she remarked things like that.

In her long travel to Karafuto Asirpa had known other minorities, learnt about their cultures and struggles and how they’re all a little similar yet different but, so far, she had learnt next to nothing about Japanese culture, even though she had been travelling with a lot of Japanese men.

In a way this fits well with Kiroranke’s cause, as he wanted her to feel group spirit with other minorities and see Japanese and Russians as enemies (she also wasn’t taught anything about Russians) but is in itself detrimental to Asirpa’s cause.

If she wants to find a way for Ainu and Wajin to pacifically and respectfully co-exist, she has to understand Wajin and how they work as well, she has to find contact points with them, she can’t merely see them as ‘the others’, nor she can undervalue them and assume a priori they’re always less competent or less capable or less brave.

I wonder if Noda will dig into this… or if he’s just presenting this anecdote as it is, leaving up to the reader to draw conclusions. It’s possible as, in a way, digging into Japanese culture would probably be boring for Japanese readers so Noda might not feel like representing Asirpa learning about it… or maybe he’s lulling the readers into the belief Asirpa already knows ‘everything’ about the Japanese culture because they know everything and think normal to do so when actually, for a person raised in another culture it’s not normal at all, and it’s planning to use this to smack this concept in our faces.

It’s difficult to say as Golden Kamuy is a lot about Ainu culture and the struggles minorities face to keep their culture alive so it might seem weird to discuss Japanese culture… but ironically it would be very relevant to talk about Japanese culture, despite being the culture of the majority in Japan because we are in Meiji era.

Many of us see it as an era of modernization for Japan, but it was actually also an era of WESTERNIZATION in which Japanese people forced themselves to discharge part of their culture (to name a few, among the things banned there were Ohaguro, Shunga, Onmyōdō and Nanshoku) and adopt or partially adopt the western one in order not to look weak to the western powers and risk they would try to conquer them. A huge part of Japan’s efforts into erasing Ainu culture were due to the same motive, the country has to look modern and western like to appease foreign powers and appear strong enough they wouldn’t try to conquer it.

In short, ironically, if Ainu were a minority in Japan, Japanese were a minority among the major powers.

Honestly I would be interested in seeing Noda raising the topic and the parallels between the Japanese situation versus major powers and the Ainu situation versus Japan… although I don’t know if he’ll do it.

We’ll see.

Anyway, at the end of the story Shiraishi, looking down, comments that humans can act like Ainu dogs due to love.

Shiraishi… is the voice of personal experience talking or you’re just making a random comment?

Now you’re worrying me, do you have behind yourself a serious backstory opposed to the silly one we were told about your love for sister Miyazawa?

Is this connected to why you ended up in juvenile detention and didn’t seem to cling to nothing when we first met you? Did you first hand witnessed a possessive love to the point of murderous?

We’ll see.

Anyway I’d like to say this is not ‘love’ this is selfishness, rage, a bruised ego and violence but whatever, let’s go on.

On a tiny, personal note I hope the group will end up in Nayoro.

Why?

Because that was where real life Kitakaze Isokichi (北風磯吉), an Ainu decorated for bravery in the Russo-Japanese war, lived, his exploits appearing inwidely read youth magazines.

I'd like to hear his voice on the whole matter. We need more Ainu voices in this story.

Really, I'd like them to meet up with Benkai Takojirou (辨開凧次郎), Ainu name Ikasuba (エカシバ) as well, as he was the Ainu who lead the Hakkoda expedition at which Ariko took part but worked to give the Ainu public recognition... however the guy lives in Yakumo, which is on the opposite side of Hokkaido compared to where Asirpa's group is.

Anyway we jump back to the past and back to Shibata, in the Niigata prefecture, back to Tsurumi and Usami’s encounter when Usami was just 14.

Tsurumi and Usami exchange some small talk.

Although in the previous chapter Tsurumi seemed friendly when he greeted Usami, now he looks at him in a speculative way when he comments Usami doesn’t look like he came to the dojo to train.

Usami explains he always comes there even when he doesn’t have to train, even if the dojo is at 2 hours to walk from his home and the place have nothing remarkable. His face is completely dark as he says so, which doesn’t promise well.

Then Usami turns to look at the place and says that this is ‘their sacred ground’.

Another flashback starts, likely meant to explain what Usami is saying. This flashback is placed two years prior to the flashback we were seeing, in short in 1893, when Usami was 12.

The flashback starts showing us two houses behind some three but from the way the trees are placed they seems as if they were a fence, or even, better, bars enclosing the houses as if they were inside a prison of some sort.

The houses are one kind of big and a smaller one which seems to have the walls made with … straws? I’m not sure, I can’t really tell but it seems not to have windows or doors, while the big one has them.

Anyway inside one of the houses we’re introduced with Usami’s family.

He has a sister and two smaller brothers (one is a toddler the other can sit on his lap). His mother (who shares with Usami her eyebrows) is sewing, Usami’s smaller brother on her back, his father (who shares with Usami the same eyes) is seated near to the fireplace and inquiring about how things are going for Usami at the dojo.

Usami, who was pinching his brother’s cheeks and now has his own pinched in retaliation, comments ‘Tokushiro-san’, aka Tsurumi, said he’s the most talented child he has ever seen.

It’s worth to note that there’s light in Usami’s eyes… but his irises are coloured in black.

Usami’s sister recognizes ‘Tokushiro-san’ for Tsurumi and is very impressed by how Usami was praised by him, the ‘wonderful officer’… while Usami’s father had no idea who the guy was, a hint Usami’s family wasn’t working for Tsurumi.

Usami’s mother comments it’s natural Usami is being praised as Usami is talented and his father was talented as well. Usami’s father blushes and gets closer to her, apparently pleased (there might be a double meaning in her words) and then massages her back. They seems to be loving parents who love each other and their kids.

Usami and his younger brother laugh.

Now… Sei Kobiyama pointed out how Usami (and the other kids we see in this flashback) wears Hakama, which were a symbol of Samurai’s pride.

Hakama were, back then, used as school uniforms (and later replaced with the Gakuran and sailor uniforms we see nowadays in anime) but the interesting thing is we don’t see Sugimoto, Tsukishima or Ogata wearing them, which, always Sei Kobiyama suggests, could be a sign they were poor.

Now… in Japan elementary school or better ‘Jinjō shōgakkō’ (尋常小学校 “ordinary elementary school”) was made compulsory from 1872 but it was extended to six years only in 1907. Before it only lasted 4 years… meaning at 12 Usami should have finished compulsory school and has enrolled in what was called ‘Kōtō shōgakkō’ (高等小学校 “High Elementary School”) which could last from 2 to 4 years and required paying a tuition.

So yes, the fact Usami’s family could pay for him to continue his study is a hint they weren’t poor even if they clearly aren’t as rich as Koito.

Sugimoto, Tsukishima and Ogata likely didn’t have that luxury.

It’s also possible that maybe Usami’s family belonged to the Shizoku class, which was composed by former samurai and that held no privileges, their recognition limited to the government register, effectively making them commoners. This would explain why his father and him were such talented warriors.

Going on.

We see Tsurumi doing some labour work, as he’s making a foot-powered water wheel spin.

Apparently the wheel belongs to Usami’s family and Tsurumi asked him permission to use it because it would make his legs stronger. As he and Usami are talking a kid who shares Usami’s age joins them, interrupting Usami as he talks.

The kid is Takagi Tomoharu who’s clearly Usami’s friend and came there to search for him, although he knows Tsurumi too and calls him ‘Tokushiro-san’, same as Usami. Tomoharu’s ballons have a cloud shape opposed to the oval ones Tsurumi and Usami use. He also uses a loud tone to talk with Tsurumi, as the kanji are written in bold. He also calls Usami just ‘Tokishige’ (トキシゲ) all written in Katakana while he uses Kanji for Tsurumi’s name.

I think the idea is he’s sort of a bubbly character, enthusiastic and cheerful.

Tsurumi greets him and asks him if his father is fine, which the boy confirms, always in a loud tone. Usami just smiles at the exchange.

We then see Tomoharu and Usami at school, Tomoharu inviting Usami to sleep at his house after they finished training so they can go to school together the morning after.

As they leave school Tomoharu also informs Usami Tsurumi is coming to the Dojo and hurries him to go there.

We see the two at the dojo, among many kids all fighting. They both demands Tsurumi to do Randori (free-style practice) with them, each of them pulling one of Tsurumi’s arms. Tsurumi laughs and so do the two kids.

It’s… a nice picture.

I wonder which sort of person Tsurumi would have been if he could have just kept on living like that, without taking part to the Sino-Japanese war or the Russo-Japanese war and without considering taking part to the gold hunt.

Sure, his eyes have no light in, so he’s already a damaged person, likely due to the loss of Fina and Olga but… well, it’s a nice though.

This in a way reminds me also of Sugimoto’s words. The kids love Tsurumi, it would be nice if their love could heal his wounds and make him forget about his loss like Sugimoto hopes Ryu will do thanks to Cikapasi and Enonoka’s love.

Now... when Tsurumi made the water wheel spin it was spring of 1893.

The new scene though presents Usami walking with a heavy coat, his breath making small puffs and Usami too is heavily dressed. Is a sign time is passing by and we’re already in winter, likely the winter of the following year as Tsurumi comments Usami is graduating that year (graduation was in spring) so we’re probably in January or February of 1894 already.

Tsurumi asks if Usami will keep on going to the Dojo and Usami replies he doesn’t know about it as he should help his father in the fields. Tsurumi encourages him to continue going to the Dojo as he claims Usami has the potential to surpass him then admits it will become difficult for him to keep on visiting the Dojo as something has come up in a place called the Korean peninsula.

EverydayHeroes scanlators suggest Tsurumi might refer to the Donghak Peasant revolution (11 January 1894 – 29 March 1895) which was the casus belli for the first Sino-Japanese war (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895). They’re, very likely, right on the mark (and I love how GK digs into history!... though this might be just me).

Usami is saddened by the news but he has no time to say anything as Tomoharu come running, asking him to go home together.

And so we reach spring of 1894. In the Dojo we see Usami beating Tomoharu as usual before the teacher declares they should all go home. Tomoharu though doesn’t want to and insists for Usami to keep on fighting him, which Usami refuses.

As the dojo empties itself and sun starts to set we see that Tomoharu though is still there, seated on the ground, still in his martial arts uniform, curled on himself. Tsurumi joins him, asking him what’s wrong, pointing out he and Takeda can’t go home if he keeps on remaining inside as they’ve to close the Dojo.

Tomoharu admits that’s the last day he will be able to come to the Dojo and that up till then he was never able to beat Usami.

The scene moves and we see Usami standing outside, likely waiting for either Tomoharu or Tsurumi. Do your pick.

By the way ‘outside’ is the Dojo yard, the one Usami prior to the start of the flashback called ‘his sacred place’.

Do you start feeling the vibes of doom? You should.

Tomoharu calls him, causing him to turn in surprise. His balloon speeches are oval shaped now, and not cloudy shaped. Tomoharu admits that after he’ll graduate he’ll go to school in Tokyo, leave his house and live alone in a dorm, so that was the last day they could fight together.

It’s clear Tsurumi encouraged him to reveal Usami the truth.

Sei Kobiyama remarked how this was a big luck for a boy in that time period.

In fact, as said before, in that time school was compulsory only for the first 4 years. Usami and Tomoharu were already lucky they managed to continue studies up to ‘Kōtō shōgakkō’ for which they had to pay for tuition. Going to Tokyo to study and live though would likely be even more expensive and it would probably harder for families to pay for it.

Tsurumi, who’s behind Tomoharu, points out how it seems that Tomoharu couldn’t bring himself to tell Usami.

Usami replies he already knew about it. There are stress lines under his eyes and his expression is a little... flat. Maybe he’s troubled as well.

Tomoharu is surprised, me I’m just curious to know how Usami found out. Did he figure out by himself? Did someone told him? Did, this someone, use the wrong words to tell him? Who knows.

Anyway Usami agrees to fight Tomoharu again since Tomoharu wants to beat him before he leaves… although Usami doesn’t really want to do it because he doesn’t want to lose on purpose out of worry for Tomoharu’s feelings.

Tomoharu SCOLDS HIM claiming he’ll better not lose on purpose as no friend would do something like this and this would be the end of their friendship.

Now… remember what the Ainu dog of Asirpa’s story did when his master scolded him and then left to hunt? Yeah, this promises so bad already…

To make matter worse master Takeda won’t be present as he locked the Dojo and went home, leaving just Tsurumi (the guy who’ll later nickname himself a Shinigami) to watch over the two boys as they fight on the yard outside the dojo, Usami’s future sacred place.

Usami gives the boy the signal to start fighting. Tomoharu does so telling himself that if he beats Tokishige he’ll manage to live in Tokyo on his own.

Ironically this sounds like how Ogata and Tsurumi said one ‘has to kill their parents to spread his wings and venture out in the world’. Basically Tomoharu thinks if he manages to win Tokishige and therefore dethatch himself from him (we saw how he kept calling him and clinging to him), he’ll be ready to face the outside world.

But merely by thinking this, he proves he doesn’t have what it takes to make it.

It’s not because you win a duel that you can stand on your own, but because you’ve the determination to do so. In a way beating Usami is Tomoharu’s sidequest like how Tanigaki busied himself in sidequests thinking they would at the same time keep him from returning home and giving him the courage to return home.

The story confirms this further because, as Tomoharu tells himself so he thinks back at all the time he spent with Usami, at how he was happy with him and he starts crying.

He doesn’t have what it takes to depart from him. Still, as Usami tosses him on the ground, he insists he’s not done yet… but at this point Usami loses it, slamming his foot as hard as he can on Tomoharu’s throat, his face a mask of rage to the point it’s deformed, the veins are prominent, the teeth are clenched, saliva is coming out from his mouth and, and this is the most important thing, HIS EYES ARE VOID OF LIGHT AND HIS IRISES CLEAR… as they are in present time.

Now… a hit to the throat can be very lethal. Crushing the windpipe can lead to the death of a person… and from the way Noda draws it, I thinks that’s exactly what Usami did and unless someone will manage to perform an emergency tracheotomy on Tomoharu the boy is as good as dead.

Tsurumi himself seemed shocked by this development… although sadly in real life it’s not unprecedented.

Real life boys, getting into fights, had occasionally ended up crushing the windpipe of their opponent in the heat of the fight or in rage (usually with a hand blow though), without really meaning to kill, just as a result of the adrenaline rush obscuring their ability to think clearly to consequences.

It’s not necessarily a sign they’re evil or psychopath as humans aren’t born evil or saint and, in order to be diagnosed with psychopathy, it’s not enough to murder a person in a fight.

Usami is young and clearly enraged.

It’s hard to say if he’s furious because Tomoharu will get the chance to go to Tokyo, because Tomoharu is leaving him, because Tsurumi is leaving him, because everyone is leaving him, because he’s jealous of how Tsurumi backed up Tomoharu, because enraged Tomoharu wanted to beat him so much, because angry due to Tomoharu scolding him, because he wanted Tomoharu to stop asking for another fight, because he can’t stand to Tomoharu’s lack of determination or because someone said something to him that actually upset him and he ended up venting it on Tomoharu.

Did he go into the fight with the premeditated idea to kill him or the adrenaline rush just blinded him to the consequences of his actions?

Hitting the throat in such way is clearly not something sparring boys were allowed to make due to its deadliness so Usami should have known better. The action though, makes me think he wanted to silence Tomoharu more than kill him, although it would have been better if he had gone for the mouth, opposed to the throat. Broken teeth aren’t as lethal as a crushed windpipe.

Maybe it’s a bit of both, as Usami could have been so angry he wanted to seriously hurt him, but it was merely a wish dictated by anger and loss of control, not something he planned aware of consequences.

A 13 years old boy is starting to be aware of the consequences of his actions, but he’s still a minor who can make mistakes and isn’t fully responsible for his actions.

Usami apparently came from a normal family and didn’t have episodes of violence prior to this one (unless Noda will reveal the domestic scene we saw was an illusion, like Heita’s happy family). He was a normal boy before this moment, but I think this will become a defining moment in his life, the moment that will define an Usami prior to it and a different Usami after it.

We’ve seen he’s still free a year after it. It makes me think Usami never paid for the consequences of his actions but also was never helped to positively cope with them which, I think, could have had disastrous effects on his psyche.

Adult Usami now is very murder prone, thinking that murder is the best solution to everything.

He’s not just like Sugimoto or the other veterans who think murder is the best way to deal with an enemy, he’ll murder effortlessly an innocent old grandmother just to get what he wants.

So, long story short, maybe Usami wasn’t deranged at the beginning, maybe if this hadn’t happened he would have grown up as a normal person, maybe murdering Tomoharu was just what Japanese calls ‘a passing demon’, something that possesses a normal person abruptly, pushing him or her to do something terrible to then leave them equally abruptly or an incident, something he did without realizing he would end up on killing him. We’ll need to see the next chapter to know his motivations.

However very likely this single moment is the trauma that will lead Usami down to a path of mental instability, that will shape his as a person obsessed with Tsurumi’s approbation and willing to do EVERYTHING to get it… which, in a way, it’s much sadder than if Usami had been born evil or psychopath as, if that had been the case, Usami would have had no hope to grow up normal… instead he had the possibility to do so… and due to what happened in this fateful day he tossed it away.

And, in a way, I think this is the beauty in Noda’s characters.

They aren’t black and white creatures, born demons or born angels like in child fairytales where there’s the EVIL witch and the PURE princess, but just humans, humans, humans who’re partly good and partly bad, who can do good but can also do evil, humans who, due to wrong decision or wrong experiences or traumas, can end up ruining themselves

I like to hope that, at the end of this long story, we’ll also have more humans who, like Shiraishi, will end up saving themselves but maybe it’s just me.

Anyway the chapter ends here, with Tomoharu agonizing due to how his crushed windpipe doesn’t allow him to breathe. We’ll see in the next chapter how the whole terrible happening will be dealt. Honestly I wonder if they’ll bury him in that spot and hid his death. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they were to do so… and afterward were to recycle his bones and use them to pretend Igogusa was buried under Tsukishima’s house. We’ll see though. Sadly not next week as Weekly Young Jump is on a break but well, I can’t wait to see more… and discover the connection between Usami’s past and Jack the Ripper.

Did Tomoharu actually survive and became the Ripper? Or is he the weird policeman we met in the past chapter and who’s investigating on him related to Usami?

Or is a member of Usami’s family who became either the Ripper or the policeman? Or it’s something else altogether?

The policeman had a square face and a nose similar to Tomoharu although the eyes don’t match at all, so maybe he could be related to him… or maybe it’s just a coincidence. Hard to say.

While the ending image of the chapter seems to imply Tomoharu will die, the possibility he survived exist. Being hit in such spot is paralysingly painful, so much so that one might pass out from the pain, even from minor damage… but is the windpipe isn’t completely crushed a 2 mm hole will be enough to breathe sufficiently well to support life, even though both the victim and the observers can get the impression the windpipe was completely crushed and the victim is agonizing.

So yes, there’s also the possibility that Tomoharu wasn’t buried in the garden but survived and that’s why Usami wasn’t put into juvenile prison. The whole thing was ruled as a not fatal accident during a fight and no penal consequences took place… although I stand my case, the incident ruined Usami psychologically. We’ll see.

For now I think chances Tomoharu died are higher than the chances Tomoharu survived and actually I was rather surprised to discover chances he survived existed when I researched on the effect of a crushed windpipe. But well, only the next chapter will tell.

There’s something else I wanted to point out and it’s how Usami’s past vaguely resembles Sugimoto’s past as the both of them were strong in martial arts and had a friend they always beat and who desperately wanted to beat them, Tomoharu’s fight with Usami kind of resembling Toraji’s fight with Sugimoto.

Of course, although Toraji got Umeko, Sugimoto never tried to crush his windpipe (he was also older and knew better) but the parallel is interesting. If in that moment Sugimoto had lost it… he might have ended up as Usami is now. Sugimoto resisted temptation even if Toraji was a complete jerk with him when he attacked him after Sugimoto had returned to his town and managed to remain a kind person.

Usami likely didn’t have the same luck and ended up growing more deranged… but Usami’s backstory can also be placed there to introduce more of Sugimoto’s backstory… or to set up a future confrontation as the two of them are basically two amazing strongest fighters.

We’ll see if they’ll be like two Ainu dogs of the prologue, Sugimoto being the equivalent to Ryu, a dog who managed to stay well balanced while Usami the equivalent of the dog who killed all the chickens.

Although I’m interested in more of Usami’s past, Noda digging further in Sugimoto’s past would really delight me so I’ll keep my fingers crossed in hope Noda will give to his main character more space for his personal story.

Really Noda, it’s been a lot of time from the last time we digged a bit into Sugimoto, give us some more about him!

On an extra sidenote... will other characters appear in the Usami backstory? Tsukishima? Ogata? So far we never saw Tsurumi’s 2 Superior Privates interact...

We’ll see...

#Golden Kamuy #Usami Tokishige #Tsurumi Tokushirou #Takeda #Takagi Tomoharu #Sugimoto Saichi #Asirpa #Shiraishi Yoshitake #Ryu #Vasily Pavlichenko #Cikapasi #Enonoka #Golden Kamuy Ramblings and Theories #Michael Ostrog

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