#I won’t tag this as a spoiler since there is zero context and also he’s in the right(?) corner of the trailer

[spineless-lobster]

Thinking about patroclus in the hades 2 trailer and begging to every god out there that he isn’t a placeholder or a glitch please I want my girl back I have to see her please give her back to me

[phoenixtakaramono]

Character Design Thoughts for Shen Yuan & Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky in ‘The Untold Tale’

(This is a Follow Up to This Post)

Hello, @averydrearydiana! Loved reading through your tags! I’m excited that you’re excited! Since I’m also seeing comments on AO3 speculating about how our transmigrators are going to appear as in The Untold Tale, I might as well give my current thoughts and have this archived on tumblr for future reference.

A fun fact about TUT is that a lot of the imagery in the story is inspired by Chinese PVs and popular C-dramas and literature. Since TUT is conceived as a lovestory to SVSSS, one element that I’d wanted to incorporate is playful attempts at satirical genre deconstruction. With that comes with me playfully poking fun at some clichés or things I’ve noticed in Chinese works.

Shen Yuan’s Celestial Design

Before I talk about his mortal appearance, I have to give a lil context about his celestial design in the story. We already know what he looks like as the celestial fortuneteller in TUT’s cover art that I’ve already posted on tumblr. As everyone knows, I was heavily inspired by this Chinese PV:

(TUT ch1 - Excerpt)

Among the things I’ve noticed are the fictional characters with white hair. We have a whole subculture of fans liking male character designs with white hair in anime and animation. Taking that a step further, they’ve even shown up in C-dramas, i.e. Teng She from Love and Redemption (technically more blond than platinum white, but shhhhh, just let me have this), Dong Hua Dijun from Eternal Love of Dream aka Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (rest assured, I’m aware of the source material’s controversy, but let’s not get into that here), etc. One of the tags for TUT is Opposites Attract. Luo Binghe’s color coordination is aligned with black and red mostly. Now, visually speaking, what’s the opposite of that?

The yin yang symbol.

Fun fact, besides black vs white, green (SY) is the complementary color of red (LBG) on the color wheel. Now taking everything I’ve said, to take it even one step further, my thought process at the time was, “why not go the extra mile then and just have SY be albino? Within context of the Heavenly Realm, that character design makes sense.” TUT is me subtly riffing off what I can (for the good ol’ meta humor), but making the content come across as a legitimate story experience. As Protagonist A and Protagonist B, LBG and SY have to look visually striking together. With all that said, let’s talk about....

(In reference to the original tumblr post)

Shen Yuan (Mortal)

I’ll keep some elements of his albinism from his celestial form (light sensitivity and pale skin mostly), but SY’s mortal form is essentially SY pre-transmigration but within context of the xianxia genre.

For his appearance, let’s just keep this Author’s Note^ and TUT’s summary in the back of our brains. This is the fanvid I was originally inspired by for SY’s mortal appearance:

(TUT Summary - Excerpt)

For what he wears, I’m currently feeling very heavily inspired by this PV:

His mortal appearance wouldn’t be considered as “strange” or “otherworldly” compared to the “ethereal fairy-like beauty” SY retains in the Heavenly Realm, but as a side-effect of the 【PROTAGONIST’S HALO】 and his +20 CHARISMA stat, he would still be considered attractive to people even when he takes on a mortal appearance. (Mainly, I like the idea of Bing gē taking large shots of vinegar seeing SY turning heads no matter which appearance SY takes on, and Luo Binghe glaring at these “insects” for even “daring to lay their unworthy eyes on his fated person.” The thought of it just makes me laugh.)

What I mean by how SY’s mortal form being very much based on how SY appeared pre-transmigration but in the xianxia genre context, I mean he’ll have his dark hair (but longer), a “scholarly air” (as a nod to his novelist background), dark eyes, and even his glasses technically (the divine monocle mentioned in ch3, which is also a subtle nod to Sha Po Lang and a riff on men wearing monocles in other Chinese works andit’salsoforeshadowingbutshhhh).

(TUT ch3 - Excerpt)

Shen Yuan originally was an author in his forties pre-transmigration, so I like the idea him having a mature air about him in the Cultivation World as well. So for both our Protagonist B’s celestial and mortal appearances, the idea is that you can look at him and immediately recognize him as a protagonist of the danmei setting. My only two prerequisites are that his appearance screams “hello, I’m Protagonist B” and that he appears in “scholarly” attire.

Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Mortal)

Keeping in mind the original tumblr post where I wrote my thoughts on who I’m transmigrating him as, currently I’m thinking it’s a combination of these two PVs for his mortal form:

As a nod to him being a successful novelist, I wanted him to also appear scholarly. A scholarly crown prince, if you will. For his attire, imagine all the C-drama clothing you’ve seen actors wear in period dramas, and you already have a good idea already of the direction I’m heading down.

As the prince of the cannon fodder emperor, I very much like the idea of Airplane perhaps having a baby face and brown hair (as a small nod to fanon!SQH from SVSSS) but with a great body (a huge source of inspiration are clothing worn by Prince Yu and Prince Jing of the three princes from the C-drama Nirvana in Fire). Since Airplane will also be able to select his Character Creation stats like Shen Yuan had, one thing I’m fairly certain is that he will max out his CONSTITUTION—because “game logic” and not wanting to die. (For those who don’t know, the CON stat in tabletop RPs essentially indicates a person’s overall health, wellbeing, and vigor checks...so him maxing it out is equivalent to him being as invulnerable as a cockroach. A high CON means overall healthiness, which means your character probably is full of energy and vitality, can heal rapidly, and will rarely get sick—if ever. Low CON usually means a higher susceptibility to sickness and disease, wounds that fester and linger, and a general fatigue would haunt you, etc.) Like how SY zeroed in on his CHA, Airplane would have prioritized +20 CON (+5 modifier), especially knowing the fate that’d await him as a prince and the vicious environment that is expected for palace intrigue plots (the harem is a big factor, with concubines and consorts and even the empress sabotaging each other—just to win the favor of one man). Against poison or whatnot which is a cliché in palace intrigue plots, rather than relying on luck, you typically stand a better chance of passing the CON check if you have a high modifier aiding your checks. He’s basically become impervious to illnesses, most poisons (probably being able to spring back quickly), and is considered the healthiest prince in all the mortal imperial line. <- This could be taken both seriously and humorously simultaneously.

Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Deity/ Celestial)

For Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī’s “actual divine body” that is currently asleep and won’t be awakened until Airplane completes his mortal trial to “regain his cultivation powers,” the face should obviously be similar but, as Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī, he would appear regal and dignified as a god of this world:

Imagine something along the lines of mortal Airplane as the man on the right, celestial Shen Yuan in the center, and deity/ celestial Airplane as the man on the left. I envision a respectable appearance that would knock the air out of Mobei jūn and make him recognize Airplane despite any visual dissimilarities, and in a way we have the Four Beauties of China: Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan, Mobei jūn, and Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī.

I will say I currently have an idea of making Airplane have “golden” eyes in both his celestial and mortal forms. (Spoiler alert: in my notes, I’d written down to give Airplane yellow eyes as an Easter egg to Yanxi Palace, I believe, where there was an episode where someone of the imperial harem schemed against the empress and almost had the newborn baby killed because that and the yellow skin was an inauspicious omen. We later find out through a timely intervention that the true reason was due to jaundice—because of the diet/ pregnancy cravings she ate for a period of time which resulted in her son’s symptoms. With Airplane’s high CON and another trope I’m bringing in which’ll have to do with the Medicine King’s Valley/ Valley of the Medicine King, his yellow eyes are the only side effect that lingered from that traumatic event which would have killed him had they gotten away with their scheme. A lot of palace dramas have to do with the vicious harem plots, so this would potentially be one such example.) The reason being that this is the identifying marker for MBJ to clue in that they’re the same man he will have loved. And I think that has romantic potential.

Misc.

Now addressing the other tags, yes, essentially speaking, Mobei jūn might just very well experience his very own Big Damn Reunion trope that Bing mèi had suffered from SVSSS. Poor MBJ. He’s in a tumultuous ride of his own with him considering Airplane as his own fated person, hahaha. But for the Moshang dynamic, I want him—a demon—to find himself taken with Airplane in his mortal guise—and subsequently his true celestial appearance once he finds out. I very much also want SY to jokingly snark to his fellow transmigrator-and-writing-colleague about him getting in a relationship with his own “creation” (MBJ). And Airplane would jokingly snark back about SY “ruining his ‘first son’ as well” (LBG). If you can read between the lines of that, then kudos. I’m glad to hear you’re looking forward to the palace intrigue.

I’m especially very happy to hear you’re looking forward to the descriptions! I personally love worldbuilding in the stories I consume I’m an interior designer and realtor irl, so I’m glad my love of house details and landscape, etc shows in TUT. For the pseudohistorical vibe, in the Mortal Realm, I will be referencing the Forbidden City of our Chinese history and a couple popular period C-dramas. Take the settings of period C-dramas like Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, Yanxi Palace, and Nirvana in Fire as examples for what will be awaiting us when we finally meet Airplane in his mortal body. In the Heavenly Realm, the descriptions will be heavily referencing shows that contain aesthetics such as those of Ashes of Love, Love and Redemption, and Eternal Dream.

Take this with a grain of salt just in case I change my mind later on, but in the chapter when we meet Airplane for the first time, I probably won’t say which character he is in the first scene. I’ll give plenty of hints in the first scene so that you all can make your guesses before the big reveal, but I’m fairly confident you all or most of you will be able to pinpoint who he is among the cannon fodders. We’ll meet the emperor, who is discussing with his sons about the matter regarding the approaching calamity that is Luo Binghe. Then when we transition into the second scene, we’ll know exactly which “royal prince OC” it is that our beloved Airplane has transmigrated into, hahaha.

(*Keep in mind, for everything written above, some details are subject to change. Nothing is official until it appears in the story, or I’ve actually drawn my ideas out and posted online to both my tumblr and twitter. These are just my current thoughts.)

A goal of mine for TUT is to make the story widely accessible, meaning it doesn’t matter if the reader is new to the SVSSS fandom or aren’t familiar with the Easter egg references or meta jokes or subtext or even the Chinese culture, or even if English is not their first language. Having knowledge beforehand might help someone notice more hidden details in TUT, yes, but it is a humble wish of this writer for her esteemed readers to be able to dive into the story and get the enjoyable feeling like they’re reading a genuine danmei novel. It really makes me smile whenever I hear feedback that I am able to emulate that experience.

Very exciting developments indeed are in store!

[fedzkun]

I posted 870 times in 2021

182 posts created (21%)

688 posts reblogged (79%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 3.8 posts.

I added 1,320 tags in 2021

#bnha - 569 posts

#midoriya izuku - 326 posts

#bnha spoilers - 94 posts

#bnha manga spoilers - 82 posts

#shinsou hitoshi - 62 posts

#shindeku - 43 posts

#bnha au - 43 posts

#dadmight - 42 posts

#dfo - 35 posts

#all for one - 24 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#it’s also the perfect time to do so since we’re rapidly hurtling towards the final battle especially that hori has almost gone through his

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

BNHA AU where everything is the same in this Villain Hunt Arc except everything is in the context of a D&D game and actions are decided by rolling a die. Izuku is the OFA Vestiges’ communal player character

First: “we come upon the villain situation that’s been tickling at Deku’s derriere—”

Fourth: (weakly) “please don’t... call Danger Sense that...”

First: “The muscular villain is in the middle of choking a high schooler to death. Roll to attack?”

Sixth: “I got a twenty.”

Yagi: *also a twenty*

Nana: “Twenty as well.”

Banjou: “Hell yeah, ditto!”

Fourth: “Before I also roll to attack, may I roll to romance the high schooler?”

First: “Roll to...huh?”

Fourth: “That’s not a ‘no’...” *rolls twice and gets twenty on both*

First: “...Deku launches a powerful and coordinated attack against the muscular villain and fucking kills at it.”

Fourth: “...and...the romance?”

First: *sighs* “He also bridal carries the high schooler, I guess.”

—

First: “Roll charisma.”

Banjou: “Twenty”

First: “Deku arrives in time and successfully de-escalates the situation, saving the mutant woman’s life. I...FOURTH NO—“

Fourth: “Roll to romance the woman—“

First: “Our character’s a kid! You can’t romance every NPC we...”

Nana: “Psst, it doesn’t have to be the grandiose kind, First.”

First: “...Okay, fine. He picks up her umbrella and holds it over her head as she cries her worries out. Then he comforts her, then asks his sidekick All Might to evacuate her to safety.”

—

Third: *stubbornly facing the wall* “Roll for... ‘We won’t share our quirks to an optimist’.”

Second: *also facing the wall* “Yeah! We want to withhold our powers until he shows further resolve against facing our greatest enemy.”

First:

First:

First, holding the die: “I would like to roll to romance.”

—

Lady Nagant: *appears*

Fourth, Banjou, Nana: “Roll to ro—“

First: “NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO ROMANCE HER”

Second: “Roll to run.”

First: “Thank you, my beloved, you’re the only...oh, you got a low roll, shit. Deku gets hit on the arm and his escape is cut off. En and Third, roll to give him advice.”

En: “I got a one.”

Third: “Also a one.”

First: “Great, great. He discards your advice like wet toilet paper and he also loses most of his inventory”

1103 notes • Posted 2021-05-25 13:52:02 GMT

#4

Putting Midoriya Izuku’s Power Levels and Skill into Perspective (as of BNHA 321)

Izuku’s current most powerful move that causes no harm to himself is combining Blackwhip’s Elasticity + OFA 45% + Fa Jin. When flying at an insanely fast speed, he likely adds Float after the Initial Combo Boost.

Pictured is Izuku using the said move to escape Class 1-A.

So to catch up with him…

Class 1-A has to match his speed moves with arguably the most powerful moves from their other members, namely: Sato, Shouji, Kouda, and Dark Shadow’s raw strengths + Todoroki’s Flash Freeze Heatwave (that Sports Fest attack) + Bakugou’s Explosive Speed Turbo (which is supposed to give the most insane of speed boosts) + Uraraka’s Zero Gravity (to cancel the weight) + Iida’s Engine (guy whose main thing is speed.)

Which means that the well-rested Class 1-A took every last big move in their arsenal to even have a shot at keeping up with Izuku, who on the other hand is running on zero food and rest.

That’s how freaking powerful and fast Midoriya Izuku is, holy heck.

1161 notes • Posted 2021-07-30 11:11:59 GMT

#3

Aoyama and Midoriya

Aoyama being Quirkless before adds layers to his and Izuku’s relationship.

During those chapters when Aoyama was trying to befriend Izuku, it’s possible that he thought that the other had also gotten his Quirk from AFO, and was trying to confirm it by leaving cryptic messages to see how Izuku would react. However, once he’d realized that Izuku seemed to be not getting his hints that they may have the same Quirk benefactor, Aoyama withdrew back into his shell, realizing that he truly was alone in his horrible situation. Left to wallow in the guilt of repeatedly betraying his classmates.

Now, on Izuku’s part. I really love that Izuku noticed Aoyama’s sadness. In that moment of the reveal, I’ve no doubt that Izuku is also thinking of his fight with Gentle Criminal. Izuku would look at Aoyama and see what he could’ve been had he never gotten One for All.

Just as he saw himself in Gentle Criminal, Izuku could’ve been desperate enough for a Quirk just to chase his dreams, and would’ve ended up working for All for One.

Next week’s chapter will be exciting. How shall Izuku comfort Aoyama who faces him with a face that looks like it is asking for help?

1548 notes • Posted 2021-12-02 05:41:42 GMT

#2

I don’t know how, but I need a Kung Fu Panda AU for BNHA where, like how Master Shifu trained Po by using dumplings as incentive, Yagi trains a lanky Izuku by dangling All Might merch above him like a carrot on a stick

1619 notes • Posted 2021-11-08 09:16:19 GMT

#1

AU where All Might “dies” and his body went missing (he’s fine, he’s just missing), and there’s only one person he’s listed as his sole heir. Izuku got dumped with the entire All Might estate

Izuku, grieving: “All Might! Hic— How could you leave me a lifetime’s worth of limited merchandise?!” 😭

There’s a plot twist to this AU but I’m curious if anyone could guess it

2237 notes • Posted 2021-11-06 09:41:07 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[kittyprincessofcats]

RWBY Volume 8, Episode 13 (Worthy)

Well, wow. That sure was an episode that happened.

Thoughts under the cut.

Anyone who leaves spoilers for episode 14 on this will get blocked.

- First of all, I want to now talk about the spoiler I saw for this episode last week, to put the anger from my last post into context: After I had just finished watching episodes 8-12 and started writing my post about them, I went into one of the RWBY tags bc I’m dumb and saw a post that said (I don’t remember the exact words, but more or less): “I’m so glad Yang is finally dead, so now her fans can shut up about her and everyone can ship Blacksun instead.”

… Yeah. Imagine seeing that when you haven’t seen the actual episode and have no idea what really happened. I honestly completely panicked for a few minutes, before remembering I don’t actually know anything and this might just be a “Weiss gets impaled in Volume 5, but one episode later it turns out she’ll be fine” situation. So then I had to look up what actually happened to Yang, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to sleep. So, to the person who made that post: Fuck you. Not only did you freak people out for no reason (because come on, there’s no way falling into the void actually kills you – and even if it does, we at least definitely don’t know that for sure after episode 13), but even if Yang had actually died, it’s super shitty that your first reaction to a beloved queer character’s death would be “yay, now people can ship my m/f ship instead”. Like, I don’t care if you personally dislike Yang/ dislike Bumbleby/ prefer Blacksun – show a little bit of decency.

Phew. Sorry, I had to get that off my chest because it really made me angry. Now let’s get into the actual episode:

- “Worthy” as a title pretty much already made me predict that Cinder would succeed in her plan, since “you have to be worthy” was what Watts told her in his speech. She’s gotten the message and is now back to efficient plans – and while I love to see it, it also very much scares me when it comes to our heroes’ survival chances. The last time Cinder was doing well, we lost Pyrrha, so… help.

- And gosh, this whole episode was so intense! I feel like it mostly set up a bunch of very intense situations that are going to escalate in the last episode that I’m very much not ready for.

- I still think the whole central location between the worlds is really beautiful, if dangerous. (They should have specified to Ambrosius that they want handrails or something.)

- Nora using her hammer like a witch’s broom was amazing.

- I also loved the scene with Jaune and the people at the train station; that was really funny.

- The middle of the desert might not have been the best place for the exit. Didn’t the group consider that there might be a sandstorm or something else unpredictable out there? Couldn’t they have picked a better exit point?

- Cinder causing an explosion in the middle of the evacuation that throws multiple people into the void was bad and all – but it was still one hell of an entrance!

- I love that now that Cinder realized that she has to rely on teamwork, she’s suddenly being so nice to everyone. Apologizing to Neo, complimenting Watts on “tearing the kingdom apart with nothing but his intellect”, that soft “You deserve this, Arthur”, complimenting Team RWBY on their plan, thanking them for teaching her “one last lesson”. Yeah, maybe she’s just talking to Neo and Watts like this because she needs their help, and to Team RWBY because she’s confident she’ll win – but it’s still amazing to see the shift in her attitude and how she’s clearly changed her tactic.

- It’s insane to me that some people correctly predicted that Cinder would ask Jinn the last question based JUST on the fact that there’s a part in the opening where everyone else freezes in time while she walks past them. Holy hell! I love trying to guess stuff based on the intro, but I would have never thought that far.

- Cinder’s question to Jinn seems like a waste considering it was Jinn’s last question, but maybe it just seems that way to us as viewers because Jinn didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know. Was it the right thing for Cinder to do? I don’t know, to be honest. Yes, it did give her the chance to ruin the heroes’ plans, but I have a feeling Salem won’t be happy about the question being gone. Pretty sure Salem was going to ask Jinn how to get the Beacon relic, and now she can’t do that. (Cinder ruining Salem’s plans for the beacon relic? Let that be foreshadowing, please.) I mean, maybe it’s worth it from Salem’s POV if it gets them the staff and then she’ll have 2 of the 4 relics – but they could have still gotten the staff later, while I don’t know if Salem has any plan B for the beacon relic. And I’m a little worried about Cinder now. I always thought that Salem wouldn’t kill Cinder no matter what, because she still needs the Fall Maiden for the beacon relic – but if she now has to wait another 100 years for the beacon relic anyway, I’m not sure if she’ll have a reason to keep Cinder alive. (And I’m still worried about that “Some lives will end much too soon” line playing over that scene of Cinder clutching her Grimm arm in the opening.) I also wonder if Cinder even knew that this was Jinn’s last question. Did Jinn even tell her that? Also, when will the 100 years even be up? Do the questions just reset every 100 years regardless of when they were used? So maybe we’re already at year 80 or something and will only have to wait 20 years?

- The cut from everyone at the central command place screaming to them being dead was kinda funny in a “very dark humour” way.

- When Harriet first jumped onto that ship with the bomb, I, like an idiot, thought that she was finally being sensible and trying to get the bomb as far away from Atlas and Mantle as possible, not that she was trying to still drop it on Mantle. She and Ironwood might as well be working for Salem’s team at this point, because they’re doing everything to help the villains’ plan. And the villains are even counting on it! Watts freed Ironwood from his cell and is piloting Harriet’s ship. Those two are just straight up helping Salem’s team in their attempts to… what was it? Save Atlas?

- Ironwood killing Jacques was awful and proves once again that Ironwood has zero morals left. And I didn’t like Jacques, but that was the kind of death that absolutely no one deserves. He had no way to escape or fight back, he was defenseless, locked up in a prison cell with nowhere to run – that’s not just a murder, that’s an execution without a trial. And Jacques wasn’t even a threat, he wasn’t in the way of any of Ironwood’s plans. Ironwood killed him literally just because he could. And no one who thinks they’re the good guy (and Ironwood still thinks he’s the good guy) should go around just killing people who aren’t even a threat.

- And then we have Yang falling into the void. Honestly, as heartbreaking as Blake’s sobs and anger are, I kind of love this from a “supreme angst, let’s see my faves suffer” perspective. That said, Yang better actually be fine or else.

- Actually, my prediction is that the rest of team RWBY will jump into the void to save Yang in the last episode. Because they’re all falling in the opening, and because “Sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall and fight for every life”. That’s pretty much the only prediction I feel somewhat confident about, for the rest I have no idea.

- I wonder if it would have been better if Penny had just gone through the doorway and gotten the staff to Vacuo. I get why she didn’t, because Yang just fell and her other friends were in danger… but at the same time, she was supposed to protect the population and the staff (and she has the maiden powers that I’m sure Cinder still wants). If she had just gotten out of there, at least the group in Vacuo would have had some help against the sandstorm and the Grimm. But then again, it would have also severely weakened Term RWBY’s chances against Cinder and Neo… it’s a tough call, really.

- “Why didn’t you just learn your lesson?” “Oh, Penny… I did.” Okay, but that’s the thing: She really did! Just not the lesson Penny wanted her to learn. And notice how Cinder called Penny by her first name again? She didn’t use to do that. I still think somewhere down the line Penny has earned her respect.

- I wonder if Penny’s technically weaker now because she’s human (?? is she??). She’s definitely not used to fighting without her robotic parts (as you can see when she tries to reach for her swords and realizes they’re not there anymore). I summoning those swords like she then did her semblance or another maiden power?

- Blake now has to choose between helping Ruby and helping Penny and Weiss – gosh, the suspense…

- I’m glad Vine at least finally tried to stop Harriet now! (Better late than never.) But I really wouldn’t blame Qrow and Robyn for crashing into their ship. It’s not like they had any way of knowing that Vine was trying to talk sense into Harriet. Also, Qrow crashing through Harriet’s windscreen was amazing.

- Winter and Ironwood are going to fight to the death and I’m so scared of it. (I just need Winter to survive, please…)

- When Weiss described the doorway as a “one-way ticket to Vacuo” last episode, I briefly wondered if that meant they wouldn’t be let back through, but then I brushed it aside and didn’t think about it too much anymore. Oh, damn. You really do have to be very specific with Ambrosius.

- I’m not even sure which location is the best to be in right now because they all seem very unsafe: Atlas and Mantle are unsafe because Atlas is falling, because Mantle might still get blown up by Harriet, and because Salem might still come back any time. The place between worlds is unsafe because of the void and because there’s a big fight happening right there. And Vacuo is unsafe because of the Grimm and the sandstorm. So really, they’re all awful for the civilians right now.

- And now I’m thinking the volume might actually end with the protagonists split into three groups as well: Team RWBY in the void (that they’ll spend Volume 9 finding their way back from), one half of the other characters in Vacuo (Oscar, Ren, Emerald, maybe more?), and the other half still in Atlas/Mantle (Qrow, Robyn, Marrow, Winter, maybe more).

- I’m super nervous about the last episode. I haven’t seen any spoilers at all so far, and I plan to keep it that way. I’ll probably completely ignore anything RWBY-related until next week because the anxiety would kill me otherwise. I’m really worried we’ll get a character death or even several. And ironically, my first prediction on who might die this Volume (Penny, Nora, Winter, Cinder) hasn’t changed all that much. I’m worried about Penny because she has the Maiden Powers and the staff, so Cinder will come after her (but I really think it would be an awful writing choice to kill her off after we just went through so much to save her). I’m very worried about Winter because she’s engaged in a duel to the death with a man who has a big canon that he just blew someone up with. I’m worried for Cinder because of the opening and because Salem might be pissed at her for using the last question. I’m worried for everyone who’s still on Atlas and might get blown up by the bomb (Qrow, Robyn, Marrow, Winter again). And I’m very worried for the characters who are in the in-between realm. Not so much Team RWBY, but I’m worried about Nora, Jaune, and Penny. So yeah, I’m pretty much worried about everyone and very much not ready. Now let me ignore RWBY’s existence for a week – or only reblog posts I already have saved as drafts – because it’s the only way I’ll know peace.

[silver-wield]

Do you have the language of flowers body language discovery event analysis? Would like to know your thoughts on it.

Okay, language of flowers discovery, which is something else that's all about Zack.

Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven’t played – do I still need to do this? Eh ok, (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it’s gonna be long.

Also, this is one person’s interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that’s cool and we’ll agree to disagree.

You’re also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I’m grabbing them from Youtube and it’s frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.

Please check my master post to see if I've already covered your question, thanx

Let's mosey!

Recap time!

After completing all the quests in sector 5, which Cloud was not a happy bunny about, he and Aerith head back to her house because her mom made dinner. Before that, though, Aerith heads over to one of the flower beds and calls for Cloud to join her.

Just gonna add that this is completely avoidable if you ignore Aerith and go into the house, same as alone at last is avoidable if you go back to the bar. Because I did this. I checked it out. After some dumdum tried to say you can't skip it. Because you can.

Also, you have Marle in alone at last who stops Cloud for a chat, but here, it's just Cloud and Aerith with no one else for a pre-chat chat.

Yeah, that's Cloud's face the second we see him. I mean, the boi doesn't look impressed. He's like “da fuq?”

And when Cloud asks if Aerith's talking to the flowers, not that he even gets to finish that question, she shushes him. What's really interesting about that moment, is that although Aerith initially gives Cloud a bright smile like she's playing, before she's even brought her finger away from her lips she's giving him a less than pleased expression. Then there's the fact she shushed him at all. For people who say this is romantic, shushing somebody when they're trying to talk to you is rude.

And it's here that the black, white and red butterfly first appears and begins hovering near to Aerith. It stays around for the entire scene. The symbolism of this type of butterfly is drawn from several sources, but the overall implication is that it's a departed soul of a loved one. Since Aerith is obviously talking to Zack and not the actual flowers during this scene, the butterfly symbolises his presence beside her.

Aerith speaks the line about the day she had in a resigned tone, indicating she wasn't having as much fun as she made it seem. Aerith is someone who hides her feelings behind a bright smile – which is often misinterpreted by her fans as something it's not. She likely endured much of Cloud's bad mood just as much as he endured her. The meta knowledge she has says they're friends and she misses her friends because she gives each and every one of them a bright smile when they meet again, but she's also aware that she could hurt Tifa because of Cloud, so she's already making an attempt to keep him at a distance, while also trying to become friends with him again.

This is so obviously her thinking about Zack I shouldn't even have to bring it up. She looks like she's having a conversation with him, tilting her head, smiling and looking more happy than the entire time she's spent with Cloud. We get zero shots of Cloud during this. Instead, we get a shot of the flowers. Surely, if she's trying to engage with Cloud we'd see him? It's like he's been cut from the scene. There's no sounds from him to say he's part of the conversation and there's no reaction from him to show he's even still there. Aerith's focus is totally on that flower bed and Cloud could've left and I doubt she'd notice.

And if the fact she's ignoring Cloud isn't evidence enough, she's blushing here. After tilting her head to listen to something the flowers said and one touched another. So, a language of flowers kiss from Zack to Aerith and she sighs and blushes.

Zack's a bigger dork than Cloud.

And that butterfly is still hovering around Aerith, because one of the meanings of that kind of butterfly is that it shows up to chase away any potential rivals. Cloud isn't even a rival, but it's gonna make sure he doesn't get a chance to become one lol

We can't see Aerith's face exactly here, but her mouth is a straight line and she's looking at the ground with a vacant stare. Seems like she's lost in thought.

We still don't get to see Cloud's face during this. He's basically a totem that the audience is using to sit on so they can watch Aerith. It could literally be anybody standing there and we'd get the same result of that character being detached from what's happening because we don't get to see their reaction.

And then we get a mid range shot of the two of them standing pretty far apart with the butterfly flitting about between them. In the background we can see the house with its triangle windows, which are dark for now indicating the LTD aspect isn't lit up, which means we've not reached any LTD references yet. Which is interesting because in the OG we've had several before we reach Aerith's house.

That line is such a Zack thing to say there's no way she wasn't talking to him and imagining what he'd say to her. He died five days ago and she knows that, so it's actually heartbreaking that she'd choose something he'd say as a reply here. It shows how close they were that she'd know his speech patterns and phrases he'd use. It shows how much she loves him that even when she's hurting from his death she'd choose something he'd say just to try and bring herself closer to him.

And that butterfly is still between her and Cloud.

Cloud offers polite interest because he's been learning lessons and applying them. It's called character development and isn't that special seeing how he already asked Biggs about Jessie and then offered Wedge encouragement when he felt down all the way back in chapter 4. He didn't say anything with the level of importance of “if you wanna talk, I'm listening,” because he doesn't know Aerith, but he's trying to join in the conversation and not be such a closed off asshole to people.

Aerith they didn’t say anything, but she looks depressed as she says that because she wishes she could hear Zack’s voice. It’s in her downed dialogue that she hears his voice calling to her. 

Then we get Aerith looking at us. Because Aerith does that. A lot. Of all the cast who do a 4th wall break and look at the audience, Aerith does it the most and usually it results in her trolling the players. Which is hilarious and I support it!

Aerith shrugs and, still looking at the camera—us—says it's not like we'd believe her. This is so damn funny! She's basically saying even if she outright said to everyone that she loves Zack, she isn't interested in Cloud and actually likes Tifa and doesn't wanna be part of their toxic nightmare LTD that those people still wouldn't listen to her. And the look on her face when she says it is like “We've all tried for 23 years and you still won't listen.”

And Cloud barely gives her enough eye contact to suggest they're talking to each other and then dismisses her. Which feels like it relates to the meta message Aerith just gave about fans not listening to them.

Then he stops. Has another thought about not being an asshole. This is all soldier Cloud btw, I checked and there's none of those real Cloud hints we get around Tifa and and post resolutions.

Aerith seems surprised at this change in him, since she's not done anything to warrant it, but obviously she doesn't know about stuff he's done with Avalanche and anything outside of her general knowledge. She wouldn't know about Marle or the Jessie job or him flirting with Tifa or any of that. She only knows about him from what OG Aerith knows and she'd only know about Cloud from the moment they met.

And again, Aerith's looking at the flowers. Obviously this message is plot related and hints at Aerith's upcoming fate. She says it won't be much longer now, meaning she doesn't have much time left to live. The flowers having an important message to give her is one of those mysteries that we're not gonna get an answer to yet because it's something that's related more to how the flower metaphors unfold and isn’t part of any romantic context.

And when we cut back to where we can see Cloud we see he's not even looking at Aerith. Polite interest, like I said. He's not actually interested. But the butterfly is still flitting around Aerith, so it cares at least.

Then we get a shot of Aerith's right hand, which is a symbol of strength, protection and resolve. Aerith knows what her duty is and she's determined to see it through, even though she's likely very scared about what she has to do.

Cloud looks meh about this. There's literally no reaction happening here and the only reason I'm including it is to show that Cloud has no reaction to what Aerith just said.

But when Aerith speaks of giving up and it's what she does best he gets another big mood face on. If what she did that day was giving up then he probably doesn't want to know what she's like when she's trying lol

He even says he doesn't believe that about her. “Could've fooled me.” People really don't listen to Cloud, do they? He's not meta, doesn't do double speak. He says what's on his mind. He doesn't say everything on his mind at every moment, but when he shares, he's straight with it. If he thinks Aerith isn't like how she thinks she is then that's how he thinks.

Aerith says today is special, Cloud looks away as he asks why and then we get another bit of Aerith trolling the camera. She gives it a long look, laughs and keeps her gaze on it and gives it this knowing little look like she knew people would get all excited by her doing that and that's why she laughs. It's got nothing to do with Cloud. Although we know Cloud doesn't like it when people laugh at him, so she probably accomplished a couple of goals there by alienating him a bit more.

Which, yeah, she did, because his face is not amused. Cloud doesn't like gossip or being made fun of.

Cloud says to the flowers to learn to talk to her, but the flowers are a representation of Zack during this scene, so he's saying to Zack to learn to talk to her, and then we get the butterfly in the frame again, front and centre this time confirming the symbolism.

I might've suggested Cloud's words were about himself with Tifa, but he's very much soldier Cloud during this, so I don't think he'd say anything out loud about her unless real Cloud prompted him to, and since he's absent from this scene I can't see it being anything other than soldier Cloud drawing on real Cloud's dork personality trait and trying to sound cool with it.

Aerith asking if the flowers said anything and Cloud repeats the Zack line. Her answer of “that's the spirit!” has a double meaning. It could mean that's the attitude you need to have towards it. Or, it could mean, that's Zack's spirit.

In conclusion

This is pretty much Aerith and Zack with Cloud as a bystander/third wheel. There's some great meta moments from Aerith where she trolls the players and calls out their bs about LTD stuff and anything else to do with her or the other characters having their own opinions.

On the surface of it, the only reason I can see for people to even think it's something it's not is the fact that Aerith is smiling and perky. Like, someone isn't allowed to be like that unless it's romantically motivated. But, Aerith is like that. She's the girl who hides her pain behind a smile.

Cloud isn't really present for much of this scene when you really notice it. We get his back more than his face and when we do see his face he's not looking at Aerith or he's looking bland af. The most animated expression he makes is right at the start with the one eyebrow lift. After that, his face is in lockdown lol

[magicjesuscup]

*Reads tags of re blog* you not a fan of gil or shirou?

Nope.

My reasons includes spoilers for Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, and Fate/Zero, so I stuck it under the thing (if anyone cares to read it).

Gilgamesh

I feel like I could point to any one of his personality traits and say that's why I don't like him, but I thought I'd list some examples anyway.

Irritable

He only seems to like talking to people he finds interesting; most of the time in Fate/Zero you see Gilgamesh with Kirei. This might just be me, but he seemed exasperated while talking to Tokiomi as if conversing with Tokiomi were a chore or beneath him. And I get the impression most people would fall into the category Tokiomi was in.

No sense of Duty

When caster Gilles turned into a giant tentacle monster in the middle of the lake, Gilgamesh had zero interest in helping to protect Fuyuki or its citizens. Even at his master's request, he does less than the bare minimum of what could be considered helping. I’d be super disappointed if I summoned a heroic spirit and he decided to just watch.

Selfish

He wants Artoria, but she's not a person to Gilgamesh; she's an object. He finds her interesting and decides he wants to own her. He knows she has her own sense of autonomy, but doesn't believe that's as or more important than his own desires. She hates him, but that's not a deterrent because he doesn't care.

Questionable Ethics

When he was watching Kirei indulge himself for the first time (which involved driving a man insane), Gilgamesh wasn't even slightly disturbed; if anything, he seemed a bit bored.

I feel like Gilgamesh is a character you either love or hate, but your reasoning will be the same; "He's a bastard," vs, "He's a glorious bastard." I like a few hot mess characters myself, but they know they're garbage. Honestly, I struggle to find any good traits in Gilgamesh.

Shirou

While I can find some nice things to say about Shirou, I don't like him either; I like him more than Gilgamesh though. Let me throw a disclaimer in here real quick: my critique of Shirou is based on the anime. If Aniplex.exe ever decides to release the visual novel, I might reevaluate how I feel about Shirou.

Fatally Stupid

He insists on continuing to go to school as he always has, but doesn't let Artoria go with him. Instead he promises to use a command seal to summon her if he gets into trouble...And then he fails to do that. Remember when he found himself facing Rider? She had him dangling in a tree by his arm! And that time he decided it would be ok to hang out with Illyasviel (while she was still Heracles's master)? That got him kidnapped. Honestly, I can live with him not being a proper magus and being incapable of powering Artoria so she could fight at her full potential, but I wish he had made up for that by being at least a little smarter or willing to work with/listen to his servant more. This may be my own headcanon, but I think any injury he sustains is a mark against Saber's honor. She is a knight in his service so his survival is her responsibility. Any injury he sustains is, what she may view, as a failing on her part.

Sexist Parading Around as Chivalrous

He doesn't want Saber to fight because she's female. She's a seasoned warrior who's probably spent more time on the battlefield than Shirou's spent on Earth. With the way he insists on her staying on the sidelines, you'd think he wanted to take her place because he's a superior fighter. But, no; I'm not even sure that prior to meeting Artoria he so much as punched somebody. Artoria’s fighting ability aside, she has magic resistant armor and a holy sword. What did Shirou have when he jumped between Saber and Berserker? Jeans and a t-shirt. Dumb luck and (unknowingly) being in possession of Avalon are probably the only reasons he survived the Grail War at all. The reason this gets it's own category is because it's insulting to Saber in a different way than my last point.

Pushes His Ideals/Thoughts on Others

I'm not sure how or why he thought staying in the present would make Artoria happy, but he won't let it go. He has every right to want her to be happy, but the thing he doesn't understand is that he doesn't get to decide what that looks like for her. He figures it out at the very end, so unfortunately we don't get to see how this knowledge would change his interactions with Artoria.

As a bit of a side note, for someone who claims he's in love with her, he doesn't take much of an interest in her past. He may want her to move forward, but everything that she's been through shaped who she is now. Having that context wouldn't hurt. And, to avoid making her uncomfortable, his questions wouldn't even have to be super personal. Something like, "Can you tell me about the round table? There are a couple of designs of what it could've looked like and there's no consensus on how many people it could accommodate. Where there assigned seats?" would've been perfectly fine. I'm sure she could've talked for hours about her code of chivalry or Cavall if he had bothered to ask.

Also, for some reason, Shirou hugging Artoria in the hallway and her telling him to let go is sticking in my mind. Listen. If person A likes something, it doesn't give person B the right to do it, especially if person A says "no" or "stop." Consent is super important.

Fun fact: I don't think I'd mind Shirou so much if he were a side character. But because he's the protagonist, we have to sit through him doing this stuff all the time. It just gets old.

Archer Emiya

My dislike for Shirou is so strong, it even oozes into Archer Emiya a bit. In Unlimited Blade Works, if I were Rin, I would've told Cu Chulainn, "When you go fight Archer, use whatever force you deem necessary to win; I have no use for traitors." I dunno. Instead of deciding on his own to try to get Saber for Rin, I think he should've talked to her about it first. Plus leaving her tied to that chair was dangerously stupid. Maybe he was worried about her interfering with his match with Shirou, but if Shirou's own servant took a seat on the side-lines, I'm sure there would've been a way to convince Rin not to interfere.

If anyone's still reading at this point, I guess it'll come to no surprise that I don't ship Artoria with either Shirou or Gilgamesh (since I did talk a bit about their relationships with her). But, I won't attack anyone who does; my bff ships Artoria with Gilgamesh. I don't get it, but her enjoyment of her ship does not affect my ability to enjoy my ships (Artoria x Bedivere, Artoria x Diarmuid, and Artoria x Guinevere x maybe-Lancelot-sometimes).

[sharkfish]

Ugh, stop tempting me with all your Sterek posts! I don't have time to watch a new show! Do you think I really need to watch in order to read some fic about them? Or can I just skim wiki about the show haha

oh you absolutely do not have to watch the show and in fact i would recommend you do not. i started reading fics kind of randomly a couple weeks ago and had never seen the show – i wasn’t going to bother but it’s streaming free on amazon prime so i watched a few episodes just trying to get an idea of like… their voices and mannerisms? anyway it’s real bad. like, i talk shit on supernatural for not being a good show, but teen wolf is… in another category of not-good tv. and even the fandom seems overall pretty miserable about everything that happened past s3 or so (multiple people have told me specifically to stop watching past s3 if i make it that far) (spoiler: i won’t). watching the main character (scott mccall played by tyler posey) is real painful. i’m cringing thinking about it. 

TEEN WOLF SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR ALL SEASONS PROBABLY

the main thing you’ll probably want to know about teen wolf is re: werewolf lore [link to teen wolf wiki]. even a lot of tw au fics feature werewolves, which i expected to really hate but i am actually pretty into. i’m still relatively confused about what exactly it means to be an alpha, beta, or omega werewolf in tw-land (no relation to a/b/o in an spn fandom-style omegaverse, though those exist too!!!), but as long as you realize it’s unrelated to a/b/o stuff you can generally figure out what it means in the context of whichever fic you are reading. 

otherwise, here’s what you need to know: setting: beacon hills, california (fictional but probably somewhere in nocal). scott mccall got bit by a rogue alpha werewolf, turning him into a werewolf. he is not relevant, but he does accidentally fall in love with a girl (allison argent) from a family of werewolf hunters. his best friend is stiles stilinski (played by dylan o’brien, who you may know from the maze runner), the boy with a polish name so unpronounceable it isn’t even actually said in canon until later in the series (it’s Mieczyslaw, though many older fics use various difficult-for-americans polish names). stiles talks too much and is super bi. they meet derek hale, who is a hottie werewolf. (derek is played by tyler hoechlin, who is currently running around with this beard that is really upsetting to me because i am not generally into beards but i’m actually really into his beard, ugh, god dammit.) he is very broody and really just gives off some alarming edward cullen vibes in his first appearances in the show. very grumpy and mysterious and quiet and shirtless a lot. there’s a scene where he pushes stiles into a wall that is one of the gayer things i’ve ever seen since the last time dean and cas were on screen together. (seriously – there’s a similar scene between scott and stiles a couple episodes prior that is extremely non-gay, and then stiles and derek start staring at each other’s lips and fixing each other’s jackets and shit, WHOA.) 

stiles is in love with lydia martin, who is a super popular pretty redheaded girl who is dating jackson. stiles’s mom died when he was younger (cancer i think but i am not sure) and his dad is the sheriff. 

derek fell in love with kate argent when he was 16-18 (canon never specifies derek’s age and there is confusing info specifically in response to his age during the kate thing) (are we never told his age bc he and stiles’s antics are a little gay and stiles is only 16 at the beginning of the show? idk), not knowing she was a hunter. she used his love for her to trick him and ended up murdering his entire family (mom: talia; dad: idk his name; sisters: laura and cora [one of them may have survived the fire but died later? i am confused about this] [and then i guess cora wasn’t really dead at all?? that all happens later in canon and doesn’t come up in fics very often]) in a house fire. also i’m pretty sure derek killed this other girl he loved when he was younger (paige) – i’m not sure of the details but he’s real fucked up and guilty about it even though it is generally presented like he does not deserve that guilt. 

other notable characters: erica, isaac, and boyd are members of derek’s pack. sometimes in fic isaac is in a poly thing with scott and allison which is p cool! erica and boyd are usually together. ummm there’s also a chick named kira who is a kitsune (i have no idea what that actually means in the tw verse) and might hook up with scott in later seasons. chris argent is allison’s hunter dad but some fics portray him as an ok dude. peter hale is derek’s uncle and is a creepy dick. 

fics!!! k i have read a LOT of sterek fics (like.. hundreds…..) in the last couple of weeks but here are the 3 that have made it on my bookmarks list so far: 

Love Runs Wild by DevilDoll derek and stiles are porn stars who do like softcore werewolf-human porn for a magazine called neckz ‘n throats. stiles shows up to a shoot with a hickey on his neck and this is Bad News cuz werewolves have this whole thing about marking (!!!) and derek is like really upset but trying to pretend it’s fine and he’s not all in love with stiles. this is probably a good intro to general ideas the tw fandom has about werewolf mating rituals. also it’s just in general A+ smutty good times.

Sell Your Body to the Night by Dira Sudis (dsudis) this one is about 16 year old sex worker stiles, hired by rich werewolf derek. so… like… warnings for all the consent implications re: being a 16 year old sex worker, and generally i stray away from underage stuff even if both characters are the same age, but this is a really beautiful sweet love story, and i can’t believe i’m describing something that is tagged with watersports as a “beautiful sweet love story,” but it really is. (i am not into watersports lmao but am glad i read this anyway. it’s one scene at the beginning of ch9 that can be skipped but tbh unless you are super squicked, i would suggest reading it bc the scene manages to come across really intense and intimate and all around great despite, you know, someone getting peed on.) 

Cornerstone by Vendelin derek is a marine vet and stiles is blind. derek makes a dick out of himself and stiles kind of forcibly befriends him anyway and it’s sweet and fluffy and all-around wonderful as fuck. this was the first sterek fic i ever loved and i hope i don’t forget that feeling (i was just lamenting last night that i have zero memory of when i went from someone who was real scared of the spn fandom in general bc wincest was the only ship anyone ever talked about to dedicating 90% of my available brainpower to destiel – how did i even hear about it?? when did i start reading fics??? what kind of fics did i read??? how did i feel about them??? i have no idea!!!). 

also i went through most of @bleep0bleep‘s fic rec list [link] and enjoyed the vast majority of them so i would definitely suggest checking that out for some good fics!!! (i read a bunch of bleep0bleep’s fics, too, and they are also great [link to their ao3]) 

keep me updated!! send me the good fic links!!!! 

ps i am vaguely working on my first sterek fic. destiel is the first fandom i’ve ever completed fics for (i do have one (1) unfinished merlin fic that predates any of my spn writing, but that’s it) and the only thing i’ve written in years so it’s super weird/fun to play in another sandbox! 

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Grimoire of Zero 10 - 11 | Royal Tutor 11 - 12 (FINAL) | Kado 10 | Boku no Hero Academia 25 | Tsukigakirei 10 - 11...plus summer 2017 anticipated anime.

Just gonna put this here so it gets more attention while it’s open.-> http://www.strawpoll.me/13311671

Grimoire of Zero 10

Geez, the staff pulled a Kado 0 - 1 on us here…i.e. the ending of one ep is the same as the opening of the next ep. It’s just to a lesser extent than Kado did.

Seriously, who is Him??? They still haven’t told us!

Welp, there’s my answer. It was too obvious to centre a 12 episode series around, I would’ve given a plot point like that about…3 or 4 eps, tops.

Grimoire of Zero 11

The thing about this show is that you can just turn your brain off and watch along. It’s a tad slow, but enjoyable and that’s why I’ve stuck with it.

LOL, I understand what it’s like to have “messy, wormlike handwriting”…

I don’t believe a wisp of that karate chop, Holdem. The hand was at the wrong angle.

Finally, the show gets funny again. There’s the Zero we know.

I love the sense of scale the animators have demonstrated with the spells. Just saying that before I have no more chances to.

Ooh! Oh, that man. I actually side with Holdem on this one, he deserved that punch.

“I-“ – Ooh, at that moment I got completely engrossed in the cliffhanger. Normally shows don’t cut off in the middle of a sentence, do they?

Royal Tutor 11

I can’t believe they forcibly took Gregor. Isn’t there some kind of legal offence for-oh wait. That’s called kidnapping. (partially sarcastic)

I’ve always found it interesting that the princes have to refer to the king as such, rather than “dad”. That seems to be a problem in every single piece of media you get about royalty, although these guys have a conscious sort of “I am no longer the king, but your father” (and vice versa) switch which is controlled by Viktor.

Oh, so it’s basically all the Dickensian stuff you get in Oliver Twist…(I haven’t read it, but you know how it is with classics *rolls eyes*).

Heine’s movements are believable, but there’s some suspension of belief needed for Viktor’s (because he faints a little too fast, I think).

Welp, this ain’t quite crying material, but I can tell there was a “climax” where the audience was expected to cry. Knowing this is anime-only material keeps my eyes dry, I guess. However, knowing that Heine’s resigned as Royal Tutor really made my heart drop…after all, this is the second last episode, and I’ve really had fun watching these princes and their diminuitive tutor.

Royal Tutor 12

Bruno really likes Gendo poses, doesn’t he?

Heine’s voice is great for a noob VA. It really sells the character.

I always thought “hai-neh” was a weird pronunciation, but that’s what it says in the katakana.

Seeing Heine tell others their strengths really makes me feel like I’m missing them already, in a good way. I’m not tearing up yet, but it’s real heartwarming and I know if I were in the same situation, I’d cry too.

“Goodbye” isn’t quite “excuse me”, but I guess it works context-wise.

This is one of those shows where “show, don’t tell” works well and I think the show’s nailed it for the most part.

University degrees don’t necessrily make good tutors. Any student knows that, especially in uni.

I can see why even the author cried at this now, even though I’m still not crying.

W-Who’s that? With the dark hair? Eins???

Ah, there’s my answer. It was indeed Eins. Why does he have dark hair???

Welp, there’s one finale for the spring season over. The anime staff really couldn’t have done too much about Eins, though, which sucks. Come back another time for a different show, ‘kay?

Kado 10

I’m in that weird stage where I want to like Kado, but because everyone’s jumped ship, I won’t want to like it either…what a weird thing peer pressure is. *feels like crying*

I feel like I’m in Superhero Project (one of my stories) where protag Keisuke wakes up in a white expansive room to be trained in his powers. Only this time, they gave the room fractals.

Interesting. It’s like an alien LINE convo.

Sarasouju tree…apparently, it’s this thing. Commonly known as “sal”. I’ve never heard of it, though.

“Humans are ephermeal creatures.” – You remind me of Haibara (Detective Conan).

“There’re guns everywhere in America!” – LOL, that sure ain’t the truth, as much as America has gun problems.

Let’s play another common anime game. It’s called “Spot the Main Character from their Hair Colour”.

(SPOILERS for White Parasite from now on!) zaShunina’s still teetering on “cuckoo” from his facial expressions here. It’s sad, because I wanted him to be mysterious and beautiful like La Luna forever...that’s why I killed La Luna off!

*sigh* Okay, evil mastermind pretender, put your hands back on and please just negotiate like you wanted to in the beginning. (*on the brink of tears* Hey, I realised something. I keep making comparisons to White Parasite, but people find it confusing. By making those comparisons, I seem to have almost jinxed Kado to be this way.)

*crying because Shindo* La Luna’s force of living was the goodwill that it used to create its powers. Does that mean the anisotropic run off trust in the same way? (By the way, please don’t resurrect Shindo. That would break the laws of reality as we know it – even anisotropic laws.) (end spoilers)

Welp, I guess not. B-But, my dreams just got ruined by Saraka kissing Shindo (although the Kado tag spoilered it for me anyway)…

Pffffft. Okkkkkkay, Captain Shang, hold up!

Shindo’s angry face at Saraka wearing his shirt had me dying. He really is Captain Shang.

Kado. You were so beautiful at first. I placed my faith in you. B-But you changed, and now all I can do is see you through as you become a cliché fest I could have easily created with my own hands. In fact, I did create a Kado with my own hands - White Parasite. So I am the one to blame…I will have to see this through as I have seen through White Parasite.

Boku no Hero Academia 25

Well, that certainly threw me for a loop. Between two forces of roughly even power, it’s unpredictable who’ll win, but the ability to humanise a character comes with weaknesses. I know that already, as a writer and reader of hero stories.

All Might is such a fatherly type. I don’t think I could write a character like him – both OP yet grounded at the same time.

Plus Ultra!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, the woman with red streaks is his…aunty? Sister? I’m not sure at all.

Aw, this Shouto segment was just too good. I’m worried about Iida though, because from the Stain stuff I’ve seen floating around, he will not take the defeat of his bro lightly. Also, amazarashi is coming in the next part of BnHA! I loved Speed to Masatsu, so it’s good to meet him again here.

Tsukigakirei 10

“An Encouragement of Learning” is a Fukuzawa work.

From Kawagoe to Chiba it really is about 2 hrs. Look.

Oh great. Bad CGI people strike again…

Monzenyokocho.

Did Hira have kawaii eyes just as the other people thrust trash at him?

Imokoi is a Kawagoe specialty involving…wait for it…sweet potatoes. That’s why the sweet potato mascot makes sense.

My eyes!!!!!!!! Bad CGI people stand out more in night scenes (compared to day scenes, of course).

Toki no Kane, apparently also known as the Bell of Time.

The “game” in question, that rock paper scissors, was probably a batsu (penalty) game.

I guess I should’ve guessed Kotarou would’ve gotten angry at Hira eventually. I just didn’t think it would be now.

That shot of Kotarou walking down the street looked a little awkward because it looked like he was walking on a flat surface when it’s actually slanted.

It’s not just my video, is it? Akane’s crying got sped up and that pulled me out of what was meant to be an immersive scene.

Chotto matte means “wait a bit”, but I feel like “I’ll be right there” is warping the meaning a lil’ too much.

Well, I never expected this show to portray anger. It pulled Kotarou’s anger off really well.

I never thought I’d see the day where Kotarou would rely on the potato mascot, either. I like a show that goes out of its way to be unpredictable like this. Too bad it came a little too late in the game.

Tsukigakirei is all about following the heart and not necessarily the mind, so this is a pefect way to show it.

Oh! That was another good unexpected thing, but then they’ve been teasing that since the fireworks. Too bad they kept part of Kotarou’s face hidden right after it.

This end of ep LINE convo is about a couple that can’t sleep, so one of them starts talking about their part time job…then it gets cut off.

Oh, so that’s how Sakura is related to the main events…okay.

Tsukigakirei 11

“To decide that I’m hopeless before I even begin is nothing but laziness.” - Wise words, Dazai.

Were there always two potato mascots at the top of 13.70? I think one appeared there when Kotarou first received his, actually, although I’m not bothered to look…

The people aren’t CGI now…or I’ve somehow gotten used to them…? Either way, they’ve stepped up their animation game (in exchange for ep 12 being late, according to a note on the CR page).

That’s a cute jumper, Akane.

The fact Kotarou changes his message is something I can relate with. Even one forum post can take hours to type, even though time is always never on my side.

What’s that purple thing on the onigiri plate? A pickled plum? No, those are red…

A “root for the underdog” story is a classic, so I can see why Roman’s rooting for Kotarou.

Hahaha…yeah, let’s just sat I can’t understand the science for the life of me and leave it at that. That stuff’s chemistry, I haven’t touched it since I was 14 or 15.

The stuff about circles appears to be on segments, equal angles and so on (you know how you find the angle of a triangle based on where it is in a circle? Yeah, stuff like that).

Oh yeah, I never thought this but…Kawagoe Seminar. It’s named like Sailor Moon’s Crystal Seminar, and for good reason – both are cram schools.

There’s a grade score near Kotarou’s wrist, so understandably he got an A in Japanese.

Parents aren’t like that, Kotarou. They don’t always hope for your failure, they just hope you’ll do well in life…says someone whose parents have aways supported them.

Instead of having CGI people moving, they’ve finally done 2D people. However, the tradeoff is that now the people are not moving, which is just as weird if not even weirder.

“PoPo” is such a weird name for a shop, LOL.

No wait, I take part of my comment about 2D people back. There is still CGI, it’s just less prononced now they’ve bothered to put in 2D background people as well.

That scarf goes well with his outfit…says someone who sucks at coordinating outfits.

Why not just talk with her when you’re ready, Kotarou? If The Royal Tutor taught me anything, it’s that it’s always good to talk things over if you can’t understand each other.

Aitai can mean “want to meet”(like you’re meant to do to make the fish a heart), but the ai is in hiragana (so it doesn’t mean anything) and the kanji for tai used means “red snapper”. As in, the fish.

There’s a lot of ganbaru (try your hardest) used in this ep, and Kotarou says benkyouganbaresou in this “Sorry it didn’t turn out so great” convo. The nuance is therefore lost in the translated version, “I feel like I’m ready to study again starting tomorrow”, although I can’t suggest a better alternative.

Yeah, Kotarou’s mother is right. If you have a normal sleep schedule, you’re able to work better, despite how great it may be to sleep in.

I get easily lost on public transport, so I understand the vibe Kotarou’s parents are giving off.

This ep’s ED LINE convo is two people (one’s a guy, the other I don’t know the gender of) talking about studying and, at the start of the convo, the guy’s mother being angry. At the end of the convo it turns out the guy’s notebook was blank (and that’s the punchline to the convo).

Well, I’ll confirm my lineup for summer here and now. Licensing’s already being doled out as we speak so some of the lineup’s set in stone already. In order of hype:

Definite hype:

Boku no Hero Academia 2* (carryover)

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu*

Reflection*

Nana Maru San Batsu

Kaito x Ansa (already binged Nazotokine to prepare)

Nobunaga no Shinobi ~ Ise to Kanegasaki-hen ~* (see below, carryover)

Medium - low hype:

Vatican Kiseki Chousakan

Princess Principal 

Jikan no Shihaisha (seen the first chapter or so of the manga)

Isekai Shokudou* 

18if

Youkai Apato

Clione no Akari

Konbini Kareshi

Zannen Onna

Asterisks mean licensing’s been confirmed already for me as of this post - I’ve asterisked anything confirmed to be by CR this season, because that’s likely to be worldwide bar Asia. Katsugeki is the only known show out of the asterisks that isn’t a CR stream. 

Funi’s opened up its services to my region (due to the CR x Funi merger), I could probably watch 18if there, but 1) I feel like Funi doesn’t have a good enough player, and 2) I feel like it’ll show up on a service that has a better player.

You’ll notice Nobunaga no Shinobi, a carryover from the last season I previously didn’t care for, is on the list. I was looking at YouTube videos of people’s favourite OPs and I fell in love with Shirayuki (by Renka, it’s the OP for the current season) recently, so I binged the existing content in one day. However, it being a short series means it’s not eligible for simulcast commentary and I’ll have to make a separate ranking for short series once I make my year-end rankings (to include ~ Ise to Kanegasaki-hen ~, and because watching Kenka Bancho Otome has screwed my rankings over enough as it is). After all, my 2016 ranking policy was “a show I saw at least once over in 2016 and had at least one seasonal entry in 2016″, which if applied to this year would make Nobunaga no Shinobi eligible, but it would be unfair to pit it against any shows with standard 24 min eps.

[anditjustmadeherkind]

Deep, soothing breaths, everyone, or, 'how I learned to stop worrying and love Rob Thomas'.

Comment to the author of meta on the following link: 

http://cadhla.livejournal.com/?skip=50&tag=veronica%20mars

Deep, soothing breaths, everyone, or, 'how I learned to stop worrying and love Rob Thomas'.

Mar. 14th, 2005 at 3:28 PM

All right: there's a lot of kerfuffle in 'Veronica Mars' fandom right now, over some spoilers that have managed to get leaked to the general public. There's always a chance that they're actually foilers*, but since that's difficult to count on, there's been an understandable amount of consternation. I will now weigh in. Because I am a very pushy blonde who does this sort of thing, especially when she can't put everyone involved into a hot bathtub with lots of lovely bubbles until they feel better.

(*For the fandom-impaired, 'spoilers' are leaked bits of information about the show -- things like 'Smurfette was actually created by Gargamel, gasp!' or 'Doctor Who regenerates in this episode!'. 'Foilers' are bits of false information leaked intentionally to confuse the issue; 'Buffy decides to kill everyone and stay in happy la la psychosis land' or 'Megan and Firefly finally get married in a simple, tasteful, trans-species ceremony'. Simple, universal terms.)

( Collapse )

So here's the basic skinny: Logan turns out to have been involved in Veronica's rape, in that he a) supplied the drugs used on her (although they weren't intended for her, and nothing says he would have agreed had he known she was the target), and b) did body-shots off her while she was out cold, for which he winds up apologizing, and for which she apparently forgives him, as they appear to be dating, and are, in fact, caught making out at a surprise party for Logan. He winds up defending her in front of all his friends and family, and takes her back to his room. Veronica is waiting on the bed, alone, when she catches sight of a camera on the ceiling, and flees. The next shot is of her riding away with Weevil.

The actual spoilers are more detailed than this (as

ohimesamamama

will doubtless point out, when she sees this post), but that's the general gist of it. The item causing the most furor is, obviously, the camera. 'How DARE they?!' shriek the fans. 'How can Logan DO that to her?! How can Veronica run out without telling him?! How...' And then there is wailing and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, and then comes the lamentation of the women, especially those women who like the Logan/Veronica pairing. There has been, unsurprisingly, a

lot

of lamentation. Nothing laments like a 'shipper who fears their cruise has been cancelled.

But worry not, lamenters! Worry not, because there are a few facts we're tending to overlook in the general wail-gnash-rending. Most notably, these are:

1. Rob Thomas is not Joss Whedon. Say it with me, folks: Rob Thomas is

not

Joss Whedon. More importantly,

Rob Thomas is not Marti Noxon

. Look. Joss was a great guy; he created great characters and a great universe; he poured his heart and soul into making something we could care deeply and passionately about; then he went away and left it all with a half-crazed Romanian au pair who thought the original 'Dark Shadows' was the height of thematic subtlety. Rob? Rob has not done this thing to us. Rob has not said 'wow, I think I'll go play in another sandbox, here, Angst Queen, use your super angst powers to keep the viewers coming back while I enjoy myself elsewhere'. Rob is, in fact, right there, every day, working his butt off to make the show as good as it can possibly be. If he has a Romanian au pair, she's chained up in the closet, being used as a script-checker -- whenever she gets excited, they drop that plotline.

2. Logan is not Spike. Veronica is not Buffy. Logan and Veronica are not Buffy and Spike. Logan? Is not so sick and crazy with denied love that he's going to throw her down on the bathroom floor and try to claim his territory. Veronica? Is not so self-centered and neurotic that she's going to wind up him up with disgust and lust and need and loneliness, then dance a happy contra on the shattered wreckage of his heart. They are, in short, not making each other cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. They annoy each other. They irritate each other. They brace each other up. But they don't cause raw insanity to come into the picture. For which I am very thankful. Also, Veronica, while she can be both careless and heartless, is not self-centered -- if anything, she's self-

sacrificing

. She's giving up what she wants in favour of what she thinks is right: she's throwing away her chances at going back to a happy obliviousness in favour of finding the answers about what happened to Lilly. If Veronica were the Chosen One, she wouldn't whine, she'd just go kick some undead ass.

3. Just because you get hurt once, that doesn't mean you're going to get hurt every single time. Joss Whedon comes up a lot in discussions of the current spoilers, and the basic theory seems to be 'Joss wouldn't have let them be happy, so Rob won't either'. Folks, it doesn't work that way. Seriously. One girl saying something mean about your hair doesn't mean all girls hate it; one show creator whose outlook on romance seems to make the relationships on 'Swan's Crossing' look stable doesn't mean all show creators are going to rip away the happiness of their characters just for fun. Let 'Veronica Mars' rise or fall on its own merits -- and so far, those merits lead me to trust in Rob.

This is also where the topic of tropes has to come in. Every creator, from the rawest writer of fanfic to the most well-established and famous producer, has tropes. Wes Craven loves him some unexpectedly evil boyfriend who was totally supportive right up until he tells you that he's the one who boiled your bunny. Stephen King adores putting beautiful girls with men who do some form of physical labour, and destroying writers with the products of their own imaginations. Michael Swanwick likes modern pageantry as a means of showing you the corruption that underpins society. Tropes are unavoidable. What does Rob Thomas believe in?

Well, if we go by his own work, he believes that opposites attract. He believes that love is fundamentally broken but just as fundamentally necessary, and that if you work for it, it will happen. He believes that the snarky guy gets the girl. He believes in true love, lasting love, love that is forever, love that redeems your sins, love that sees you home. He believes that the surface is only one layer, and that there's a lot more out there worth looking at.

Rob Thomas believes in happy endings. And Rob Thomas believes in redemption. Two things Joss never really showed us he had any faith in.

That message is there in his fiction -- most specifically in 'Rats Saw God', although most of the stories in 'Doing Time' are redemption stories, one way or the other -- and in his television work; I mean, 'Cupid' is one long story about redemption

through

true love, and if

that

isn't support for calling those his tropes, I don't know what

is

. He doesn't believe that these things come easy, but he does believe that they will come, given time and sufficient effort on the parts of the people involved.

That's another thing. Rob Thomas doesn't waste effort. Especially in a show as crammed with symbolism and meaning as 'Veronica Mars', there just isn't

time

to spend this much screen time and energy making the audience fall in love with Logan, a statement that becomes even more concrete when you consider the fact that he's extremely unlikely to have been Lilly's killer -- there won't be a zero-hour unmasking of the Luna Ghost in which we find out that it was Logan all along, and he calls Veronica a 'meddling kid'. Logan has had a

huge

redemption arc this season, and there's simply no point to that if you're going to turn around and throw it all away doing something that most of your audience is guaranteed to hate. Can he be villified next season? Sure. But this season? The timing is off. If Rob wanted Logan to be a bad guy in season one, he'd have just left him that way. As it stands, he's used Logan to prove one of the essential concepts of noir. Namely:

Your narrator is wrong.

Veronica starts out by lying to us: she tells us Logan is a psychotic jackass. She doesn't tell us until later how close they were, how good a friend he was to her and to Lilly, or that she used to enjoy his company. Just that he's a jerk. We get the details on Duncan right away, but on Logan, her glass is clearly clouded. Logan, meanwhile, targets her a lot, but never actually hurts her. Now, he does hurt her car -- which

ohimesamamama

has symbolically explained better than I could -- but he never lays a hand on her, never strikes her in anger, and isn't even seen being particularly active in spreading the nasty stories about her. There's old love there, and old love gone sour hurts more than almost anything else.

Logan is, oddly, a very honest person; he doesn't like to lie, he doesn't like to act, and when you push him far enough to make him hurt you, it's either calculated, distant and remote, or it's immediate and in your face. Planting a camera to catch Veronica, who he's publically called his girlfriend, having sex? Doesn't fit either of those categories. Also, frankly...okay, great. You now have a tape of yourself having sex with someone largely regarded as the town slut. How does this hurt her? Other than the betrayal -- and she's nearly numb to those -- what does this get you? You could hand the tape to her father, but he'd kill you. And as high school students on their age and social level, and little boyfriend-girlfriend sex? Sort of expected. It's not

surprising

. Doing that to Meg would be calculated and mean. Doing it to Veronica? Is pointless. It's not Logan's style.

Something is missing. The spoilers don't include dialogue; they don't include context; they don't include Veronica's voiceover. There is, in short, something very large missing from the scene -- we're panicking over a picture without words, and those can mean

anything

. If you step back, and take a moment to trust in Rob's already-proven ability to be true to character, genre, situation and plot? We have to have it wrong, because right now, as stated, the scene makes no sense. Rob has always been very true to his characters. This? Is not true to his characters. And that means something we don't see yet will put it all into focus -- another major trait of noir.

Veronica is the detective; Logan, in a way, is thus the gangster's moll. And since Veronica's real enemy is the town of Neptune -- the 'gangster' Logan belongs to, whether he likes it or not -- her winning him away from it, bit by bit, stumble by stumble, is part of the long-term observance of the genre. In noir, in the end, the hero walks away. Sometimes with the dame, sometimes without, but always having made the choice. That dame may betray him, reject him, stab him in the back, but they always find each other again, until the sun is going down and the gumshoe rolls out of town. Veronica has a long way to go before she sees the city limits. That means, by genre, that she and Logan can't be finished yet.

Trust Rob. Just because Joss let Marti take us into a dark alley and beat us up until we handed over our lunch money, that doesn't mean Rob's going to. Trust the man who gave us Trevor and Claire. Trust the man who introduced us to Dub. He's a good guy. He's never handled me wrong, and that's saying something.

Also, breathe.

[daesungindistress]

Carnivores - Additional Notes & Thoughts

Alright, I said I’ve been wanting to write a blog post expanding on a few things in the Carnivores series (with a heavy focus on Dream Likes Ashes Float Away), so here it is! Most of this is stuff I’ve waited to get off my chest since DLAFA.

Warning: SPOILERS for the entire series. Also it’s long (of course it is), so it’s under the “keep reading” below. Also cross-posted at AFF.

FYI: DLAFA = Dreams Like Ashes Float Away, BLTS = Bright Like the Sun

1.) Some of you might be wondering, when the heck does this fic series take place, anyway? Well, here’s your answer: I don’t know! It’s not meant to be a modern-day setting, I can tell you that much. I imagine it taking place somewhere in the early 1800’s, perhaps. It could even be a modern setting and they are just that isolated.

Look, all I know is the guys have zero exposure to modern machinery like cars, trains, planes, etc. They’ve never encountered electricity (outside of bolts of lightning during thunderstorms, lol). So certainly no electronics like phones or computers or TVs. In the city in DLAFA a man takes them to their new home in a cart pulled by a horse, and I took care to make no mention of things like running water or even in-home appliances. Nothin’. That’s not to say that they didn’t have something to work with, I just didn’t feel like doing the research to figure out exactly what...

2.) The details of the land they lived on aren’t actually super important, so you’re free to imagine the landscape in whatever way comes easiest to you. But if anyone is curious, it’s based on the Texas Hill Country (south-central Texas, United States).

3.) The beginnings of Carnivores can be seen in this entry at Tumblr from March 2016. Ultimately, it was all inspired by a single black & white photo from the MADE series collection, the one that I used as the title pic for Carnivores.

It’s funny, in the tags at the bottom of that post I said, “I wish I could write fanfic. I want to.”

4.) As I was writing Carnivores I sort of jokingly called it "watered down werewolves" since, contrary to what you would expect from werewolf fic, the guys don't actually have the ability to transform fully into wolves. Their ability to morph at all is severely restricted, limited to just teeth and claws. Meanwhile, their one other physical feature that identifies them as not-quite-human-- the wolf tail-- is always with them, unable to be hidden away (more on that later). Some of you might have wondered why I opted to take away this transformation ability. Especially considering that I LOVE that aspect of werewolf lore-- the idea of people taking on the physical form of animals. Shapeshifting, if you will. That was the "superpower" I always wanted as a kid; the ability to become whatever animal I desired for however long I wanted. Because animals are so much cooler than humans, duh (says my inner 8-year-old self).

Well, as it so happens... the primary reason I took away their "wolf form" is because I didn't want to risk venturing anywhere near the idea of animal-on-animal sex. "But you could have just avoided writing about that," you might be thinking. And yes, you'd be right, but even displays of affection from one wolf to another I just did not even want to touch. Not even cute, innocent things like wolf!Seunghyun licking all over wolf!Daesung's face in excitement, etc etc. I just thought that if I was not meticulously careful about it, the potential to squick readers beyond repair was far too high.

Because let's face it, Seunghyun in this series is going to give Daesung some lovin’ no matter what "form" he's in (same goes for Daesung regarding his attraction to Seunghyun), and given the, hmm... intensity of his devotion... I'm not confident I would have been able to steer completely, 100% clear of all types of physical intimacy between them while they were in the shape of... well, wolves. Look, when it comes to fanfic (especially this series) I'm not one to pull my punches, sugarcoat things, tone it down, etc... but even I have to draw the line somewhere!

That said, I almost didn't even give them tails. Thought it seemed a little silly, maybe a tad gimmicky. I wrestled with that one for a long time, and in the end said, "Oh, whatever," and went with it. And I'm glad I did, because the presence of their tails became something of an important plot point later on in DLAFA.

5.) Y’all might not realize how much of what happens in this series is based on or influenced by events that took place IRL, considering that it is an alternate universe. It began as a series of observations on Tumblr, various posts of mine that accumulated over time as things relating to Daesung or ToDae came up. Here are some examples below:

Hair pulling in Carnivores? That’s from the video clip of TOP pulling on Daesung’s hair until he made a pained face during the MADE tour in Japan. (1, 2, 3)

Seunghyun putting his head down and chasing Daesung around like a bull (or like a buck using his antlers to herd a doe) in BLTS? Also from a video clip from MADE tour in Japan. TOP chased Daesung around the stage like that.

Daesung’s fear of dogs and water? Based on his comments in the MADE the Movie pamphlet.

Seunghyun saying to Daesung in New Heights, “If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it so many times by now.” This comes from TOP telling Daesung at the MADE: The Movie premier, “You know I could kill you if I wanted to.” (1, 2)

Discussions of Seungri possibly leaving the pack to form his own in DLAFA? That’s based on a debate I was having with some disgruntled Seungri fans on Tumblr, fans who were upset about Seungris’ alleged mistreatment by the rest of BB and wanted him to leave the group to go somewhere he might be better appreciated. It was around that time that I wrote that bit into the fic.

Seungri’s role as the pack omega? This one should be obvious. Replace “omega” with “maknae” and there you go.

I’m sure there’s more that I just can’t remember off the top of my head anymore. Anyway, none of this should come as a surprise. It’s fanfiction, of course it’s based on what the guys do IRL…

6.) There were a lot of idiomatic expressions I couldn’t use while writing this series. It felt at times like my language options were very limited. Was an interesting challenge, for sure, but not always one I enjoyed. For example, I could never say anything that related to electronics or machinery. There was a time I wanted to describe Daesung’s body as operating on autopilot, until I suddenly realized that word wouldn’t make any sense to him in the context of his world. Keep in mind the story was always told from the perspectives of Seunghyun and Daesung, never an omniscient narrator.

So, autopilot? No way, not in their world. Cars, planes, trains… none of that existed at that time. Or if it did, the guys of BB as they appeared here didn’t know about it. That also meant I couldn’t say things like “train of thought” or “thoughts derailing”. Nothing about lightbulbs going off over one’s head, and certainly never anything “like a switch has been flipped.” I think there was even a time in Carnivores when they were weak and starving and I wanted to describe them as "running on empty"... but that's a reference to cars and fuel! It was challenging, y’all!

What I did instead was try to use a lot of nature metaphors, imagery relating to the natural world, things they would know well. I know I could have done more, especially in BLTS given that they were living fully out in the thick of it at the time... but by the end of it, trying to keep up with what imagery I had already used was honestly just starting to make me feel wiped out.

7.) Some lines that appeared in DLAFA were mirrored versions of lines from Carnivores. For example:

In DLAFA Daesung said, “Does it matter who it came from when it costs us nothing? It's good meat, and it was free.” You might have wondered why, exactly, Seunghyun was so upset that he walked out. It’s because Daesung was, without realizing it, throwing Seunghyun’s words back at him. In Carnivores Seunghyun said, as he was begging Daesung to eat, “Does it matter where the meat came from when you're dying? It’s good meat.”

Oh jeez, I just realized that all this time I thought I had written something into Carnivores but I never did… In DLAFA Seunghyun says to Daesung, “How can I help you if you won’t let me know that you’re hurting?” I thought that was mirroring a line in Carnivores where he said, “How can I provide for you when you won’t let me know that you’re hungry?” But I’ve just looked and apparently I never wrote that. Darn! Even after the fic is finished I’m still adding lines to it, even if only in my head...

8.) I feel like there are not too many good quotable lines of dialogue in this series. The best lines are not in the dialogue but in the narrative, which reflects their thoughts. The reason for this is I have always intended for them to be, hmm... simpler creatures. Their thoughts are deeper than their words. That’s partly because of what they are (part human, part animal, living very simple lives) but it’s also because I feel like that’s what’s real (especially when it comes to guys, haha). You know, we don’t always speak as eloquently as we’d like when we don’t have the time to perfectly compose our thoughts. Flowery speech is nice to read and all, but I didn’t think it would be quite right for the guys, especially as they appear here.

9.) Tags & warnings. This applies more to AO3 since AFF’s tagging system is so limited. I try to tag my fics as thoroughly as I can without getting excessive. However, there were a few important warnings I chose not to use, much as I hated to do that, because I couldn’t bear to ruin the surprise of it. In Carnivores it was cannibalism. In DLAFA it was forced sex with an animal. Honestly, I didn't want to warn for rape in Carnivores either, but I will always warn / tag accordingly for rape.

10.) DLAFA is meant to highlight the contrast between Seunghyun’s and Daesung’s personalities and unique approaches to life more than ever before. They both enter the same environment but adapt to it in vastly different ways. Daesung embraces their new lifestyle, not because he loves it but because he feels like it’s what he needs to do, and loses sight of himself along the way. Seunghyun rejects it, and though his inability to fit in keeps him feeling extremely unhappy, he refuses to give up his identity for the sake of anyone else. Both of them think they are doing the right thing. And in the process they slowly grow apart.

11.) The DLAFA soundtrack. I know most of you probably haven’t listened to the soundtrack, and that’s okay! Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have either, lol. But I would still like to talk about parts of it because, in my mind, it’s actually an important accompaniment to the fic. And up ‘til now all I’ve done is list the songs out and explain whose perspective they’re from. I’d like to take a few moments to do a little more than that.

Shadows, Feed the Machine, Faceless, Let It Burn These do not correspond to any particular scene. They’re kind of general songs that describe the guys’ mindsets as they’re developing throughout the first 4 chapters of the fic.

Take It All Away This is connected to Daesung’s rape scene toward the end of Chapter 5. It starts out slow and very subdued. In its initial stages I imagine him addressing Seunghyun, singing quietly about his internal struggles, saying, “you watched me while I slowly disappeared” and pleading with him to “take it all away.” But then he sings, very softly,

I’m breaking, I can’t do this on my own

Can you hear me screaming out, am I all alone?

After that is when he is attacked on the streets. He does “scream out,” but he is silenced before anyone who might help him can hear. And he realizes at that point that this time he is on his own. Unlike in Carnivores, the others won’t be running to his aid; this time he’ll have to save himself. From that point the music plays-- no vocals, just music that builds and swells, becoming bigger and bolder and more painful the longer it goes on.

This is… this is as it’s happening. This is as they are taking from him-- his dignity, his stability, his sense of self, his hope for an untroubled life in this new world he and his packmates have entered. By the end of it the singer is crying out, his voice growing in strength and pain the more he says it, “You take away, you take away, you take away.” By that point I don’t see Daesung speaking to Seunghyun; I see him speaking instead to his attackers after they’ve left him, shifting focus. There is a line in the fic that reflects this. It’s as they are about to take his tail:

They have taken too much from him already. They will not take this from him too.

Lie To Me This is Seunghyun all throughout Chapter 6 after Daesung has been hurt but refuses to share with him what happened and pulls away sharply. This one’s pretty good. Lines like, “All your secrets crawled inside, you keep them safe, you let them hide.” And “Lie to me, watch me bleed, but I’ll still be here when you see you’re not alone. You don’t have to run.” Because even through it all, though it hurts Seunghyun that Daesung doesn’t trust him with the truth of whatever it is that happened to him, he tries to be there for him for as long as he can stand it…

Nothing And Everything This one is important. This song is the moment Daesung finally breaks at the end of Chapter 6, and his suicide attempt that follows. The suffering throughout is subtle (unlike Take It All Away which gets very harsh at the end), and even eerie in places... it sounds not quite right. It's also as beautiful to hear as it is painful. Let me break it down:

00:00-02:32 Daesung struggling to cope through Chapter 6

Still the same, pursuing pain isn’t worth the lie I’ve gained

We both know how it will end… but I do it again

And it finds me, the fight inside is coursing through my veins

And it’s raging, the fight inside is hurting me again

02:33-03:08 The moment when he realizes Seunghyun has been unfaithful and feels like that’s it-- he’s finally lost the last thing he had left. His everything. That high-pitched squealing sound in the background? That’s something vital in him crying out one final time.

03:09-03:30 This is when he’s walking the city streets at night, on his way to the river. It’s beautiful-- just like the night sky above him-- but he’s blind to it and everything else around him.

03:31-03:50 Standing on the shore, reflecting.

The war within me pulls me under

Without you, the fight inside is breaking me again

03:51- end Daesung entering the water. It’s everything, it’s everything, oh…

Hymn For The Missing This is Seunghyun standing on the river bank as he holds Daesung’s coat and wonders what, exactly, went so wrong. He thinks, Daesung survived, Daesung is alive, but after everything, if he was so far gone as to do something like this, has he really come back to him? Will he ever be the same? Seunghyun wonders, has he lost him forever?

Where are you now? Are you lost? Will I find you again?

Are you alone? Are you afraid? Are you searching for me?

Why did you go? I had to stay. Now I'm reaching for you.

Will you wait? Will you wait? Will I see you again?

Pieces, Hold Me Now, Yours Again are all part of Daesung’s path to recovery.

The Outside This is while Seunghyun is tearing into Daesung’s attackers toward the end of the fic, taking revenge in Daesung’s stead. However, the song is sung from Daesung’s perspective.

I'm not you.

I'm not you.

I will never be you.

Best Is Yet To Come This one is really good, y’all. It’s exactly what its title implies. This is as the five of them are leaving the city at last, once again in search of a better home for themselves. It’s so hopeful yet bittersweet, as they call on memories of all they left behind.

After all that we’ve been through, after all we left in pieces

I still believe our lives have just begun

And now the past can be outrun, and I know you are the reason

I still believe the best is yet to come

Who We Are An empowering song that I imagine would play in the credits if this fic was a movie (lol)

We can be who we are, now we are alive

We can fight, they cannot contain us

Won’t hide our faces from the light, eliminate the space between us

It’s who we are, we are forever

12.) Daesung’s suicide attempt… Look, normally I would not go anywhere near attempted suicide in fanfic, if only because I think it can be a tricky thing to portray believably. Or maybe that’s just me being overly critical. The last thing I wanted was for it to feel like it came at the readers out of nowhere. I only hope that I provided enough buildup in the chapters leading up to it-- tens of thousands of words showing how Daesung was slowly breaking down, all of which accelerated very quickly after his rape-- that it didn’t feel carelessly handled.

For the record, I also normally am not fond of that trope where a character loses their significant other for some reason or another and, deciding that they literally cannot live without, decides to end it all. But you have to understand that Daesung was already in a very fragile state of mind. Also, within the context of this AU, for Seunghyun and Daesung, given how much of their identities are found in each other… I didn’t think it would be too far-fetched that this would be the final blow for Daesung, who had already withstood so much. Their lives are not our lives. Their existence is far simpler and I would argue that they have considerably less to live for than we do. (I decided to explore this a bit in BLTS, their life-and-death attachment to each other.)

13.) In the 2015 criminal case of People v. Turner, the young woman who was sexually assaulted wrote a detailed letter to the judge about her experience, which was made public, and I took a peek at it. In it she said, after she had been given back her things and was showering at the hospital, "I wanted to take off my body like a jacket and leave it there at the hospital with everything else." While I'm still not sure I feel 100% okay about it, I drew inspiration from her account. I changed her words to 1) avoid plagiarizing her and 2) reflect the world of nature that Daesung knows so intimately and finds himself suddenly yearning for again. What I ended up with was, "He wants to shed his body like a snake sheds its skin and leave it there in the river." This is, of course, also foreshadowing, as he does return to the river later.

14.) Some of you might have wondered why Seungri didn’t suffer quite as Daesung did in DLAFA, given that he also was, to an extent, enjoying his time among humans and putting himself out there in a risky way (enough that he had his own little fanclub, lol). Shouldn’t he have been just as open to attack as Daesung?

Well, the way they presented themselves as individuals to the townsfolk in DLAFA was based on how I see them portrayed in their solo work (away from the group/pack, if you will). Seungri’s solo image is a bit strong (Strong Baby, anyone?), a bit aggressive– a man who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to pursue it. In DLAFA, any time he was persecuted, he fought back and made sure that anyone who bothered him knew it was in their best interest to leave him alone.

On the other hand, with a few notable exceptions like Look at me Gwisoon (not meant to be taken seriously at all…) and perhaps Shut Up (not as strong as it initially sounds), Daesung’s solo image is practically harmless. It’s soft and sweet and sincere. It’s even vulnerable at times (hence why the whole "Yabai Kang" thing cracks me up). “Don’t let them lose their fear of you,” Seunghyun warned him. But that’s exactly what Daesung did. He thought he could get through to the people who picked on him through kindness alone. I don't mean to say that what happened to him was in any way his fault, only that it made him an “easier” target for hate than, say, Seungri.

At one point Daesung mused to himself that Seungri would break if he were to be assaulted in the same way. Seungri wouldn't be able to handle it, he thought. Keep in mind that those were simply Daesung's troubled thoughts, not necessarily truth. Just because he was thinking it didn't mean it was fact, especially not at that point in the story. Daesung was only trying to justify what had happened to him-- was desperately searching for that silver lining. He was attempting to make himself feel better by essentially telling himself, "It's better that it happened to me instead of him." In this way he also sought to convince himself that he was handling it just fine-- "bending" under the pressure instead of breaking-- when in fact, he really wasn't.

15.) In DLAFA, when Seunghyun went after Daesung’s attackers a part of me wanted Daesung to go with him. I wrestled with that part for awhile. I envisioned Seunghyun encouraging Daesung to-- what, give in to violence? Take his revenge for himself?

Think of it like the feeding scene in Carnivores, wherein Seunghyun took Daesung by the head and pushed his face into the animal’s carcass, practically forcing him to eat. And then there was that one force-feeding scene. Seunghyun forced a lot on Daesung in Carnivores, all in the interest of keeping him alive. Here I saw Seunghyun taking Daesung by the hand and pushing it inside the man’s ruined body, forcing him to feel just how weak and powerless he’d become. E.g., “He can’t hurt you anymore.” Seunghyun would think that a necessary part of the healing process. He would believe it’s the best thing for Daesung in that moment.

But that has never been Daesung’s character. That might be what Seunghyun would need were he in his place; it wasn’t what Daesung needed. I honestly felt like him reaching down, reaching in and wringing the life from that man, though he had wounded and scarred him badly, would do nothing but hurt him in the end. It’s just who Daesung is-- werewolf or not. Too kind, too gentle to take pleasure in that. Inflicting pain for any reason other than self-defense (or to hunt and feed himself, of course) would not bring him healing, only more pain. And in the end I decided Seunghyun would acknowledge that by not forcing him to join him. Daesung had been forced into enough by that point.

(Someone pointed out that Seunghyun on the floor, tearing out the man’s innards, with Jiyong standing by watching, seemed like a nod to the Zutter M/V. That was pure coincidence-- or subconscious influence! I had only seen the Zutter vid once, long ago, and had completely forgotten about that part.)

16.) In each long fic in the series (Carnivores, DLAFA, BLTS) the words “I love you” are spoken only once. This stems partly from my own aversion to the phrase; I just feel like it’s overused and there are better ways to show one’s love than speaking the words all the time, especially for these two. In Carnivores and DLAFA it’s Seunghyun who says it to Daesung. In BLTS it’s Daesung who says it (although it comes out more like “I love you” as in, “It’s you I love, not him.”)

17.) In Laying Claim it was mentioned that Daesung’s neck isn’t all that marked up. Certainly not as badly as in Carnivores. Daesung’s attacker points out that he sees a “few marks here and there, nothing much.” Then, “Your so-called mate must not be too concerned about holding onto you.” Of course, in Carnivores the scars up and down Daesung’s neck and across his back and shoulders are given much attention. The implication here is that Seunghyun started marking Daesung more heavily after the events of this fic. I know it’s subtle, but eh.

18.) I hope the events of BLTS will make it clearer why Seungri was so affected by Daesung’s suicide attempt in DLAFA. When I wrote DLAFA I thought it was enough to show that he and Daesung were quite close, through the numerous scenes of the two of them out and about together. Of course, it also hurt him badly because he saw it happen firsthand, and he was the one to pull him from the water. He was there in the moment, even if he didn’t realize what he was seeing right away. And I wanted to show how when one person tries to take his life, the impact of it is never limited to just that person; it affects all their loved ones.

What made it worse for Seungri was how easily he could have missed it, how easily Daesung could have succeeded. He had trailed Daesung only “because he was bored,” he confessed later. Nothing more. He was just bored and so was curious about where Daesung was going, had nothing better to do and followed him out the door on a whim. I imagine that many times throughout the walk to the river Seungri thought about turning back. ‘This is boring too,’ he must have thought. ‘There’s nothing interesting happening here. I should just go. I should leave him alone.’ How easily things could have ended differently. How easily.

However, now, after writing BLTS, I’ve added the element of Seungri’s pre-existing abandonment issues-- issues that Daesung (and the rest of the pack, yes, but Daesung more than the rest) helped him work through in their first year together. It must have felt to him like Daesung had been aiming to leave them behind-- to leave him. In DLAFA, after pulling Daesung from the water, Seungri says, “Don’t leave us."

So yes, in BLTS Daesung saved Seungri’s life... and in doing so proved to Seungri his strength (and finally earned his respect). I think it’s appropriate that years later, in a moment when Daesung’s strength failed him, Seungri was able to return the favor.

19.) Honestly, the way I see it, the city and its human occupants in DLAFA were, objectively, not as terrible as they might have seemed. Most of the humans there were tolerant enough. Many were even kind. But it just wasn't right for BB. Their reasons for staying as long as they did were pretty simple, nothing elaborate. First being that it served as a place for them to rest and recover from the toll their travels had taken on their bodies.

Another reason for their extended stay was simply this: carrying through with the decision to pick up and leave one's current life is always much easier said than done. Too often we find ourselves in an 'okay' place with an 'okay' job, maybe in an 'okay' relationship. It's not really what we want but we convince ourselves that we're content to settle, to live an overall 'okay' existence because the fear of leaving it all and ending up somewhere worse is too great to overcome. That's what you see in DLAFA. Daesung did his best to embrace his new life there. Seunghyun hated every second of it. The other three were mostly okay with it, barring a few important drawbacks. Keep in mind that half the story was told from the perspective of Seunghyun, who with his wild nature was the worst possible candidate for adapting to a lifestyle of such restriction. His loathing for the city and everything it represented was greater than that of all his packmates' combined, and his narrative is thickly colored by that.

But when it comes down to it, their main reason for staying at length was simply... hope. Hope that they had perhaps found this wondrous place they'd only ever heard about in tales told them by others of their kind. The question is, did they find it after all? Was it indeed the city of legend that they sought, or was it another city altogether that just so happened to have a similar policy of accepting wolves inside its walls? That's up to the reader to decide.

20.) At this time I can’t imagine writing about their lives after leaving the city. Not beyond that tragically short epilogue, anyway. I just can’t imagine following up that closing line with anything. In my mind it’s the perfect end for this story of survival and, through it all, enduring love:

Life, the melody that carries them, goes on.