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mydearlybeloathed · 8 months

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𝐈 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ³

𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞...

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: a ghost from your past makes a surprise appearance, dragging forth all the regrets and wishes you'd spent years trying to drown. and yet, some strange string of Fate keeps you and the future king of the pirates intertwined, for better or for worse.

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: opla!luffy x gn!reader

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.6k

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: use of Y/N, gn reader, ANGST, alcohol, an existential crisis probably

𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬: the 1 (long pond), i want to live, son of nyx

series masterlist

If someone asked you how many years you’d been a marine, your answer would be uhm, well, less than ten, because the actual number was lost to you. But you knew it’d been less than ten. Being with the marines for more than a decade was a thought that shot nausea straight to your gut.

However long it’d been, things had reached a comfortable norm. You rarely saw Koby those days. Back when you were stationed on the same ship, you and he had grown close, finding something familiar in the soul of the other. Now Koby was a captain, you were just under him in rank as a commander, and the two of you were under different commands.

You rarely noticed when a day passed anymore. It was all a numbing cycle of chores, reports, and arrests—repeat. Your cohorts had taken to a game they called Make-Y/N-Crack, in which they did everything in their power to draw any sort of reaction from you.

No one had won so far, your deadpan too seeped into your whole being that you’d near forgotten how to smile.

Your main indicator of a passage of time was the wear and tear of Luffy’s wanted poster, one of his very first, and certainly not his last. It was faded in some places and torn in a corner, but you held it close to you wherever you went, including the island your ship was stopped at for supplies.

Given that the ship would be there for a few days, you and your fellows had one night to yourselves to roam the town and do as you pleased.

“Commander—”

“We’re off duty, Nia. Call me my name,” you said evenly, cutting off the soldier girl. Nia burned bright red, mouth snapping shut. You sighed. “What do you need?”

“Well, I was just wondering why you’re going that way?” she asked, jutting her chin at the side street you’d been headed toward when she called you back. Behind Nia, a rowdy crowd of fellow marines waited for their friend to join, each casting you a contemplative kind of glower. “We’re all headed to the bar, if you wanted to come?”

They all hated you, for reasons you didn't bother to fathom. All except Nia, who was possibly too gentle to be a commissioned marine, in your opinion. “I’m fine. I know where I’m going.”

She nodded once and turned tail, jogging after her friends who nudged her shoulder with a tease you didn’t catch. You stood for a moment and watched them go; you watched their easy smiles and close camaraderie, and you missed that.

Koby flourished in this line of work, setting out everyday to make this world better. You felt you should be doing the same—that you were doing the same—but it all felt so useless. So mundane. Worthless.

You had yet to cross paths with the pirate Monkey D. Luffy. It hadn't yet been a decade, but what if ten years did pass? What then? Would you continue as you are, mindlessly walking a path you’d carved for yourself?

“I need a drink,” you muttered, turning back down the dimly lit street.

You were somewhat familiar with the town, having been here once before around a year ago. Koby had been with you then, that being one of your last weeks together before he was promoted and moved to a different ship.

It was your intention to find the cozy tavern once again to maybe mull over some of your less-bitter memories. That thought had you running a hand over your face. What’s become of me?

Sometimes you forgot why you’d joined the marines, and then the poster tucked into the pocket of your coat burned with the reminder. Other times, you wondered why you stayed after all this time (you hadn't found a decent answer for that yet).

You found it was easier to get drunk than to wonder where your decisions had led you.

The moment you stepped into the tavern a wave of warm air hit you, along with the odor of sweat, alcohol, and bread. Not the most pleasing combination, but you trudged inside and beelined for the bar anyway.

The bartender shot you a tight grin, stress lining her forehead. “What can I get ya?”

“Surprise me,” you muttered, setting some money down on the counter. She swiped it up and made to fetch a drink, but her eyes found your messy uniform first. She hesitated, glancing up at you, before warily continuing on her way.

You threw your head into your hands, heaving a sigh. You really should have changed before leaving the ship. Being a marine didn’t make you popular with a great many people. You liked it when town’s smiled at you even when they saw your uniform, but those occurrences were growing fewer and farther between.

If only you had Koby’s optimism. If only you had the guts to stand up. If only you’d gone with Luffy. If only, if only, if only…

He’d probably forgotten all about you, moved on with the sea in his hair and light in his eyes.

“Here you go.” The bartender placed a drink to your right. You cast it a glance and pulled it closer, peering into the dark liquid. “Strong stuff. Ya look like you need it.”

You nodded through a huffy laugh. “Thanks, miss.”

After cracking your neck you tipped back your drink, grimacing at the sting and just plain awful taste. She chuckled as she walked away. “Told you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you mumbled into the cup, taking another swig and slamming it back down with a cough.

A figure plopped into the seat beside you, the ruffling of their coat meeting your ears. They let free a hefty sigh, and you swore you felt their exhaustion just radiating off their skin.

“Brandy, if you please.”

You choked into your cup, this time not from the rancid burn. Stiff as a board, you stared daggers into the bar, hands tight around the cup. The bartender handed over a glass to the person beside you.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” That voice was gruff with a sly tilt to it. You knew that voice.

You didn’t want to turn, but you did anyway, wide eyes landing on the profile of a one armed, red haired pirate you thought for certain you’d never see again.

Shanks swirled around his liquor before taking a drink, slamming the cup back down a moment later. Really, you should have fled the site and gone to spend a miserable night with the other marines. But your whole body was seized up, eyes locked on Luffy’s idol.

“I—” you squeaked, cupping a hand over your mouth an instant later as Shanks cast you a side eye.

Immediately, he was curious, wondering why exactly this kid looked so familiar. He turned his head, disturbed by how you stared at him like you’d seen a ghost. scrutinizing your face, it hit him like a punch to the gut; in his mind’s eye he shrank you down a few feet, gave you a set of buck teeth, and placed you next to a little curly headed boy.

“Y/N?” He laughed. “What—You’re so big!”

Though he smiled, you couldn’t help but picture his face in a wanted poster. Your uniform felt all too hot and heavy all of a sudden. “Uh…”

“What’re you doing here, kid?” He clapped you on the shoulder and nearly knocked the breath out of you. “Where’s Luffy? I never thought I’d see one without the other.”

You hated to spoil his excitement at the prospect of seeing the boy, so you avoided the question altogether. “I’m here for work.”

He saw right through you, his smile losing some of its genuineness. “And Luffy?” You turned and tipped back the last of your drink, and Shanks finally noticed your attire, particularly the familiar emblem. “Shit—the Marines? Really?”

Annoyance crept up your mind. You held your cup in both hands, gaze hung. “Commander Y/N, at your service.”

“Commander… wow.” He shifted to completely face you, a grin working up his face. “That’s amazing.”

You had expected a shout, maybe the retrieval of his pistol. Not whatever that was. You faced him warily, catching pride flashing in his eyes. “You’re not angry…”

“Why would I be?” He waved for the bartender to bring him another drink, motioning two fingers at her. “You’re successful. Always knew you would be, Worm.”

A childish part of you fluttered at the mention of that old nickname. Bookworm. Hah. You hardly read these days, always too busy. The bartender put down two shot glasses and swept away. “But… My job is to catch pirates like you.”

He scoffed, nudging your glass toward you. “No offense, Commander Bookworm, but you’re not catching me anytime soon.”

“I wasn't going to try. Just saying.” You picked up the glass and watched him reach to clink his to yours. Letting slide a scant smirk, you accepted the cheers and shot back the liquid in sync with Shanks.

You nearly gagged again as you set the glass back down, laughing. “God, I hate liquor.”

Shanks nudged you as he called for yet another drink. “Can’t say the same.” The conversation fell short, and Shanks cast you a glance as you fiddled with the fabric of your coat. “Mind if I ask how you got here? I mean, I figured for sure you’d be with Luffy. You’ve seen his poster, right?”

“Of course,” you snapped back, your hand passing over your pocket. “I, uhm… A while back, Luffy escaped…”

His eyes held a misty sadness. “And you didn’t.”

You found yourself shaking your head, hands closing into fists. “I chose to stay behind.”

Shanks waited for you to elaborate, blinking blankly. And when you didn’t— “Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Excuse me,” you startled.

“Why the fuck,” he enunciated incredulously, “would you stay behind? He’s gotta be beside himself.”

Straightening up, you narrowed your eyes at him. “Even if he was, it’s been years, Red Hair. He’s gotten over it—”

“Have you?” The question was instantaneous, no hesitation behind the dagger-like words.

“What?”

“Gotten over it. I doubt you have.”

You gaped at him. “You know nothing about me. Don’t think you’ve got me all figured out just because you ruined my life by giving Luffy all those stupid dreams—” You choked, huffed, and attempted to make a quick escape.

Shanks’ hand found your shoulder, gentle yet firm, and you plopped back onto your seat, eyes closed tight. “Let me go.”

“I’m sorry,” he said slowly. “Okay? I’ll back off.”

Without asking or saying anything at all, the bartender set another glass of that awful drink in front of you. You took a sip, shaking his hand off and taking a moment to breathe. “It was for the best, all right? I would only hold him back. Look how far he’s come. He couldn’t have done that with me lagging after him.”

“Why would you be lagging?” When you didn’t answer, only turning your face away, he nudged you with his shoulder. “Worm?”

That name made it hard to take anything seriously, but somehow, you managed, hissing out a sigh through your teeth. “It’s much easier to read about other people being brave.” Chewing your lip, “I like to read about heroes, mostly to remind myself why I’m not one.”

“You’re a marine. Surely sometimes you’re a hero.”

“Sometimes.” Throwing caution to the wind, you drank your whole glass in one swig, letting the alcohol simmer through your blood and turn your mind hazy.

“What did you mean,” he asked. “When you said I ruined your life?”

“Oh. It’s nothing.”

“Tell me.”

You tried to slide off the stool again. “Goodbye, Shanks.”

He didn’t stop you this time, only shifting to watch you slowly trudge away. Shanks scoffed. “C’mon, Worm. What’re you so afraid of?”

Lots of things. You were afraid of spiders and falling, though not of heights themselves, and you quite liked the daddy-long-legs. You were afraid of losing, of failing, of being wrong. Of seeing Luffy again and having him be completely disappointed with what he saw. An all consuming fear that you can’t change what you are, that you’re too far down this road to ever think of turning back.

You hardly realized you’d stopped walking until Shanks was at your side, moving to catch your distracted gaze. “Kid?”

You swallowed thickly. “I was always content with my fate. Luffy wasn’t, and a lot of that has to do with you. The rest was his own passion.” That incessant burn resurfaced in your throat. “So I stayed because I wasn’t about to drag him down with me. He’s too good. I…”

Dammit. You’d been doing so well. You hadn’t cried in months. Trying to glare, you spat, “Goodbye.”

You made to walk past him and actually leave the building this time, but he caught your wrist. Whirling around, your curses were cut off by a quick and dangerous offer: “Come join my crew.”

Shanks was so sincere, nearly hopeful as he stared into your eyes. You wondered if this is how your father would look at you if he knew how to be kind.

Barely breathing, you shoved every word and every notion down to the pits of your mind, retracting your arm to wrap it around yourself. A singular tear fled your eye and was wiped away in an instant. Shaking your head, you backed away from him, trying not to stumble, and bolted out of the tavern.

The worst of it was Shanks’ sad sigh you caught as you fled, like he’d expected this, like he was wondering why he bothered to ask.

Later, you found Nia and the others waltzing back up to the ship. Your face was dry and your expression a void, and Nia smiled as she raced toward you.

“Commander!” She skidded to a stop, backtracking, “Sorry. Y/N.”

“What is it?” you said a little too harshly.

She wasn’t perturbed, grinning up at you. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Your heart held this odd numbness you had come to equate with acceptance. Luffy’s poster burned like hellfire in your pocket. “I think so.”

Nia invited you to join the rest of them in the ship’s galley, promising good conversation and cheap wine smuggled on board. You told her you’d think about it, and she chased her friends up the gangway and onto the ship.

The sea licked at the wood of the docks and the wind bit at your skin. And you stood solemnly, watching that crumpled wanted poster become saturated by murky water till it sank out of view.

You regretted it instantly, a recurring theme for you, apparently.

How easy would it be to walk away from the marine vessel and find Shanks again? How simple would it be it to ditch this marine’s coat and set off on your own? Your hands started to tremble at the very notion. Not easy and not simple at all.

Casting a glance up at the starry sky, you bit back a sob, and you made a wish on the first star you laid eyes on. Please, please don’t hate me.

Stiffening, you set your jaw and cursed yourself. You had to get a hold of yourself. Being a marine was hell for you, but you’d been doing it for years. Seeing a ghost from your past and having him give you a chance shouldn’t be so crushing. Honestly, you should be cursing Shanks for giving you an offer you didn’t deserve. This was all his fault, all Luffy’s fault—

And you broke, breath seizing as a silent cry fled your lips.

You loved him—of course you still loved him. You would until you died, you think. And that was the problem. With your arms wrapped around yourself, you thought back to the day everything changed.

Luffy’s little broken boat, disappearing on the horizon, Vice Admiral Garp leering at your shoulder. Your first moments entrapped by fear. You’d been proud of that day, once upon a time. Now you weren’t so sure.

Was there any room to turn back, with years of running from your past behind you?

“Oh, Luffy. What have I done?”

A cord in your heartstrings snapped, and your feet scrambled away from the marine vessel. A gasp ripped from your chest, eyes aflame, and your fists tightened desperately around this bout of courage.

Back down the road, back to the little tavern, you burst through the double doors, certain you looked insane as your eyes sweeped the dim room. The bartender’s eyes snapped up from where she was cleaning the many glasses you and Shanks had left behind. A fistfull of beri had been left in his wake.

“Keep going left,” said the bartender. “You might catch him.”

A thank you slipped past your lips as you raced outside, raising your hands in two L’s to pinpoint the right direction, taking off down the street that faded from cobblestone to dirt under your footfalls.

Over twigs and leaves, under trees that grew thick further down the path, your heart thundered against your ribcage. The sloping road grew thin before it gave way to a secluded beach lit only by the moon. Your chest heaved as sand kicked up behind you.

“Wait!” you cried. “Shanks! Wait, please! I'll go with you! Shanks…”

A little lantern illuminated the dingy too far away to hear you as it rowed closer to the ship anchored out in the bay. A whisper of his name fell off your tongue, throat suddenly dry and stomach sick.

You hit your knees, fists grabbing at grains of sand that slipped through your fingertips. “Come back. Please…”

For the second time in your life, you watched a ship sail away carrying with it the chance of freedom, leaving you on the sand empty and helpless.

જ⁀➴

Luffy rarely dreamed when he slept. When he did dream, he never remembered it, the wild scenes fading seconds after he woke.

Which is why he startled awake, hands clawing at his hammock, straw hat falling off his face and into his lap. He clung to the sound of your laughter, of your touch grazing his cheek, of the feel of your skin under his hands—

He didn’t dream often, but when he did, he often dreamt of you.

He rubbed at his sleep crusted eyes and ached for the quickly fading memory. The finer details of the plot were soon lost on him, but he knew in this dream you were happy. Luffy liked those dreams much more than the more common ones where you cried, too far out of his reach to comfort.

“Luffy?” spoke Chopper, his voice hazy with sleep as he yawned. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Confused, Luffy realized he was gasping for air. “O–Oh, I’m fine, Chopper.” He glanced down from his hammock to offer the reindeer a trembling smile. “I’m good, really.”

Not buying it, Chopper huffed and stood from his own hammock, making quick work of climbing up to Luffy’s. He sat across from his captain, worry all over his furry face. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“Nah, don’t worry ‘bout it.” He reached over to ruffle the tuft of fur between Chopper’s antlers. “Sorry for waking you.”

He smiled softly. “It’s okay.” Chopper started to snuggle into the fabric of the hammock, obviously having no intention of climbing back down. “I was having a bad dream too.”

Luffy leaned back, doing his best to calm his nerves enough to go back to sleep. “Yeah?”

“Mhmm. Nami was angry at me. It wasn’t fun.”

The captain laughed, promptly shut up by a voice from the hammock underneath. “Shut up, would ya?”

Chopper squeaked, “Sorry, Zoro.”

The swordsman sighed and rustled in his hammock. “It's fine. Go to bed.”

Soon Zoro’s snores filled the mens’ quarters, and Chopper’s calm breathing soon followed. Sanji and Usopp snored in tandem as well, till only Luffy remained awake, staring at the ceiling, trying desperately to recall his dream.

You couldn’t be happy, wherever you were. How long had it been? Far too long, though he wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed since he last saw you on the beach of Foosha Village.

Would he recognize you? Would you recognize him? Luffy had to hope the answer was yes, and he had to hope one day he’d have the chance to rescue you, to set you free just as you freed him.

“I’ll find you,” he threatened the silence. “You can’t hide forever.”

Miles and miles away, kneeling on the sand, you swore you heard a familiar voice in the wind, but it couldn’t have been. You were halfway near drunk. That must've been it.

Luffy turned his head to look out the window of the cabin, and you tilted your chin to stare at the stars. The stars twinkled down on the both of you, promises and threats hung on the wind and sea that separated you.

Some endings are always meant for tragedy. Some loves are meant for doom. It was how Fate worked.

But Fate favored you and Luffy—forever working to save the other, forever aching for the day that would bring you side by side once again.

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @its-not-too-late-for-coffee @khaleesihavilliard

#luffy #luffy x you #monkey d luffy x reader #luffy x reader #monkey d. luffy #straw hat luffy #opla #opla luffy #opla luffy x reader #opla x reader #one piece x reader #x reader #reader insert #one piece live action #one piece live action luffy #angst #shanks x reader #shanks x platonic!reader #gender neutral reader

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thejujvtsupost · 5 months

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Filming A Sex Scene

Actor!Gojo has to film his first ever sex scene and he’s nervous, good thing his girlfriend is there to encourage him.

Notes: F!reader, established relationship, fluff, healthy communication, anxiety, and humor. So unedited.

Up until now all Satoru’s done is action films and a couple of comedies, romance films weren’t his style.

So other than a few awkward on screen kisses, he’s never had to do anything intimate.

But this movie was a huge deal with hundreds of people running around in the studio, and even though he had modesty garments on, he still felt naked.

“You pinky promise you won’t be jealous or upset about it? Maybe they can get my body double…” Satoru was slumped against you, arms hugging your middle while you stood between his legs.

“Baby this is your job. There’s nothing sexy about doing these scenes, they’re going to be directing you the entire time. But if you feel uncomfortable, then you shouldn’t do it. You have my full support.”

“Will you stay and watch?”

“Do you want me to?”

He nodded against your abdomen, “I’m the only one in the main cast that hasn’t done a sex scene so I wanna do it but I don’t want to do it alone.”

You hum and kiss his head, “Technically you’re not alone, but I understand. I’ll be right off to the side holding your robe, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Hey I’m serious, there’s nothing wrong with not wanting to do this. Your contract says you don’t have to do the intimate scene if you don’t want to. Plenty of actors never need to and it won’t change your skill. If anything, saying no increases your integrity because you’re putting down a boundary.”

“Can you see if Shoko’s out there? I think I should talk about it with her.” He knew Shoko, the assistant director, would have his back. They’ve worked on several projects together, one of them including the current director: Kento Nanami.

“Of course, I’ll flag her down.” You kiss his forehead and leave but you’re met face to face with shoko when you open the door to his dressing room, “Hey Toru, speak of the devil. I was just about to see if you were around, Shoko.”

Her brows furrowed slightly, Gojo rarely needed anything, a big perk of working with him. “Is everything alright, Gojo?”

“I don’t think I want to have fake sex with Yuki on camera anymore.”

You facepalm and sigh, “There’s so many other ways to word it and you went with that?”

“Okay no big deal, we’ll get your double ready but we’ll need your voice for the scene. Sound okay?”

“It’s that easy?”

“Well yeah, your double’s already on set from the jump scene earlier this morning. You can get dressed, we don’t reuse the garments so just toss them. Heads up though, Kento will probably want you to come in a little early on Friday to record the sound bites for the sex scene.”

A heavy breath left Gojo’s body in relief, “No one’s mad or anything?”

Shoko laughed at him a little, “No, no one’s mad. For this sort of thing it honestly doesn’t matter if it’s you or the double physically. Kento doesn’t mind either way, plus your contract has that stipulation for this exact reason.”

“Oh, then I can go home?”

Shoko confirmed and left with a wave of her hand to make arrangements. “You handled that well, baby. I’m proud of you for communicating your needs.”

Gojo’s cheeks went pink, “I don’t understand how people do it, I feel like it’s too much exposure.”

“Everyone just has a different comfort level, nothing wrong with that.”

“I guess so. Just freaks me out.” He stood up and pecked your lips before dropping his robe, “You’re the only one I want to see me naked anyway.”

“Oh my god just go get dressed so we can get dinner!” You shook your head and hung up his robe in a rare moment of silence.

The quiet didn’t last long, though, because Satoru yelled from the connected bathroom: “You know you love me!”

Thinking about making a request? Check my bio to see if they’re open! <3

#jujutsu kaisen #jujustsu kaisen x reader #reader insert #jjk x reader #no use of y/n #gojo satoru #actor!gojo #established relationship #jjk fluff #f reader #gojo fluff #yuki tsukumo #nanami kento #shoko ieiri

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venomous-qwille · 8 months

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hi qwille!!! I got questions for u! you have lots of characters planned out, and that’s super cool! but how do u usually go about that process? like all your characters are very unique, and I wonder about the design process, as well as how you make their personality distinct! how do you make character dynamics/relationships? because all the scenes I’ve read so far make the characters feel really organic, and mesh really well together! (sorry for all the questions! I’m super curious ^w^)

Hiya! Here is an answer I wrote for this question on discord recently ^^

I will try answer this as thoroughly as possible!

There was a LOT of kill your darlings involved in making characters for gitm. Originally I had a very long list of character ideas that I cut down and down based on the kind of things and themes they would give me the opportunity to write about. I love long ensemble cast stories, thinking back to ones I particularly enjoyed and the ways those characters gelled together helped me a lot. The most important thing when selecting characters was making sure they would give me something interesting to write about! I was also very keen on ones that let me explore the fics main theme of Family from a different angle. I'm not sure how helpful this all is! But yeah, I try to be pretty strict with myself about what I include. The only reason I would include two characters who were very very similar would be to emphasize a difference/divergence between them later on. Characters have to justify themselves by bringing something unique to the table, even if that thing is just a 'very different outlook on life' to the rest of the cast. Over time a lot of those character ideas became more fleshed out in my brain, and characters that were cut from the original shortlist made their way back in. They still have to be able to narratively justify themselves in order to earn a channel in the discord though!

For the gitm guys, while I dont have a literal sheet I fill out I do make sure to answer a couple of basic character work questions: What lie do they believe about themselves/the world? How does it impact the way they interact with others? What central theme do they embody most? What do they want more than anything else? How do they feel about humans? Who are they at their best and who are they at their worst? I found that by answering these sort of questions it helped me discover more about them, which creates more questions- rinse and repeat. The more questions I answered the further away they would get from each other in terms of similarities. The thing that really helped with the gitm boys, especially because their origins are so similar, was leaning in to how different their experiences were post-fazco. They are different people because the world has made them that way. Messing around with foils has been useful too! Characters are no fun in a vacuum, it's how they interact with others that makes them interesting. I like to create ones that will bring out the best and the worst in each other. I think about opposites a lot and I really like narrative symmetry- what lessons can the characters learn from each other? I find that stuff super exciting to read so I really wanted to include it. Some examples of character foils in gitm: Fool & Noon, Sombra & Sunspot, Misuta & Sol

When it comes to finding character voice, I do a lot of test drabbles (a couple of them are on this server), which I use to just fuck around until I find something that feels right. For instance- Sol was very very easy to find the voice of, where as Misuta took weeks of rewrites. Sometimes things take time. Spending this time figuring out their voices at the start really helps fic consistence in the long run, I think. Because of all that prep, I don't really have to do anything to 'get into character' when writing their dialogue (it's fairly second nature now).

In regards to coming up with a character's arc, I look at them and their themes and ask 'what the fuck happened to you, dude?' and then 'how has that entrenched a faulty world view on you?' 'what could you be driven to do because of that world view/misunderstanding?' 'what would it take to fix this world view/misunderstanding?' (the last question is the most important one!). Then voila, you have a very loose framework of a (hopepunk) character arc.

In regards to the actual planning of the fic/character arcs, I have a very big miro board (pic attached) that I use for all this! Most of the major character beats are marked out separately to plot beats etc etc. There are still a bunch of bits that only reside in my brain, but I do try to add them to my plan as soon as they become any kind of concrete. All of the characters also have a background chapter (or rather, a series of chapters that form a short story) attached to their arc, that will recontextualise everything you have learned about them so far! I am so deeply looking forward to dropping these (I already have quite a lot written).

I would say that- for your question on character relationships- the answer does come down to being really specific about what you include. Make sure characters are meaningfully different from eachother, give them goals and experiences that clash and then force them to live/work together in the same space. If you have put time into building your characters before that, then you just need to create opportunities for them to get into conflict and bring out the best/worst in eachother. I really do believe that characters are quite boring in a vacuum- which is why I put so much emphasis on including narrative foils ^^ Tyvm for the ask <3

#gitm au #ghost in the machine au #ghost in the machine #asks answered #fnaf dca #qwillewrites #qwillechatter

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boozoid-13 · 2 months

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Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective; If I Had A Nickle...

An examination of Ghost Trick's use of fridging.

(*Please note that this was originally intended for people who have not played Ghost Trick, so their is a bit of lore-dumping when it comes to characters & the story.)

BUT FIRST!... What is Fridging?

Women in Refrigerator Syndrome, or more commonly, Fridging, is a narrative trope in which a female character is either assaulted or killed as motivation for a more important male character. The term “fridging” was coined in referral to a now infamous Green Lantern comic in which the hero returns home to his apartment, only to find that his nemesis has killed his girlfriend, and stuffed her body in his fridge.

This is obviously bad writing, but why? It's bad because it uses an often major moment for said character to focus on someone else, and it is also just sexist by nature, even if unintentional.

Fridging in Action; Exhibit A: Alma

Who is Alma? She was the wife of Detective Jowd, mother of Kamila, and possibly a detective before supposedly being killed by either her husband or her daughter. It is revealed later that Yomiel, who is a ghost, rigged the surprise-birthday contraption to shoot her as an act of revenge against Jowd.

Notice how I wrote more about her death than who she actually was as a person? That is because the game provides nothing more for me to write about; she is introduced by her death, and though her family are clearly shocked by what happened, we learn nothing new about her through their grief other than that she was kind of like Kamila… Maybe?

After the Fate-Change at the very end of the game, which prevents her death from ever occurring, she gets roughly two lines of dialogue before walking off the screen, never to be seen again, and is not included in her own family photo.

(*Apologies for the poor photo quality.)

Fridging in Action; Exhibit B: Sissel

Who is Sissel? Sissel was the fiance of Yomiel; we know that Yomiel loved her a lot, naming the main protagonist, who is his cat, after her. We also know that she was very fond of him too considering she killed herself right after his death, with Sissel’s suicide note reading: “I’m coming to you, Yomiel.”

Like Alma, she is introduced by her death, though I’d argue that Sissel's death is even more tasteless as she doesn’t even get a cutscene, instead, both her existence and suicide are revealed via a block of text in Yomiel’s sad backstory.

In fact, Sissel is such a miniscule character that she doesn’t even appear after the Fate-Change or in the epilogue, let alone have a sprite I can use to make this segment less boring. Her only purpose is to be one of the many reasons why Yomiel hates the world.

How Does This Affect the Story?

Because Alma and Sissel do not have any personality to them, and we do not learn anything about them through the course of the story, it means that their deaths lack of the gravity that the moment demands due to the player not really caring about either of these characters.

An easy way to fix this, at least in my opinion, would be by having the people closest to Alma and Sissel talk about them more often; maybe when you first reach Lynne’s apartment, there could be a family photo with Jowd, Kamila, and Alma that you (*as Sissel) can knock over to get Kamila to examine and say some extra dialogue?

Maybe have Yomiel mention his literal fiance beyond one block of text? Just a thought.

Defence Against the Fridging Allegations

Point A: Ghost Trick has multiple male characters that are just walking plot-devices or puzzle pieces, for example: in chapter 5, there are two prison-inmates, C38 and C74, whose sole purpose is to get you from the first cell to Detective Jowd.

Point B: Implying that Sissel and Alma are unimportant to the story just because they exist inside another characters’ backstory would be false, both of their deaths have clear impact on the main cast, like in the case of Alma’s muder: of which is a major plot-point, and something that you as Sissel, the protagonist, have to help solve in the present of the game's narrative.

Point C: Ghost Trick plays with death in a comedic way on many occasions, one of the running gags is that Lynne cannot stop dying. Another played-for-laughs moment being when Missile, a tiny pomeranian, gets shot by a sniper rifle at point-blank range.

Arguing that their deaths should be more serious may not fit the tone of the game.

Defence Against the Defence

Counterpoint A: The first argument is true, however, it excludes that both prisoners C38 and C74 have backstories, personalities, and desires of their own (*their shared desire being to escape prison) unlike Alma and Sissel, of whom serve their purpose in the story, and are then promptly axed, disappearing without a trace.

Counterpoint B: I am not saying that Alma and Sissel are unimportant to the story, in fact, both of their deaths are major events in the plot of Ghost Trick, which is why it’s more annoying that they aren’t given more character beyond “Jowd’s wife I think” and “I love Yomiel!!!”

Counterpoint C: Though the game treats death rather lightly, both scenes have the standard dreery music associated with serious scenes, and are treated as tragedies by the main cast, thus, getting to know at least a little bit about these characters would impact the player in the desired way, of which I assume is shock or surprise.

I am not saying that the player needs to know Alma or Sissel inside and out, just that it would be nice to know something.

(...)

Conclusion

Ghost Trick is a spectacular game with a truly unique narrative and distinct style that makes it iconic even after the fourteen years since its debut, however, the game, accidentally or not, uses harmful tropes that worsen the quality of some of its most crucial scenes, and waste what could’ve been two interesting characters.

(*Thank you for reading, I know it's not the best lol)

#ghost trick #ghost trick phantom detective #alma ghost trick #fiansissel #mini essay #repurposed school work?????#hello all 5 ghost trick fans #ghost trick spoilers

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my-pjo-stuff · 2 months

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HEY DID U KNOW THAT THERES GONNA BE A NEW TOTAN ARMY OC IN THE TV SHOW!!?!!!

her name is Alison and the description is

"she went to Camp Half-Blood in her youth, but now lives in the mortal world"

Also the casting call is for actresses 18-22yrs old so how old do you think she's gonna be in cannon? im think in late teenager in her first appearance

Also what are your thoughts on the TV show? i like it so far, and i think that it is taking a much more jaded approach. It's leaning more heavily on the "gods are awful" bit and i think it's gonna be different but still awesome

To be quite honest, I have mixed feelings about the show.

Ireally like what they did with Luke and the changes they made to thale confrontation at the end! That shot of Luke’s face with these watery eyes was GOLDEN. It's my personal favorite scene, really shows he isn't a total villain and actually VERY sympathetic.

I just love the Luke scenes in general.

But I disliked the changes they made with the pearls- mostly because personally I just found it unnecessary yk ?

Another thing I disliked (probably the main thing I disliked) is Percy missing the deadline. Mostly because I just think it makes Poseidon and the gods look to good????

Like, to me a core thing of PJO is how shitty the gods actually are. INCLUDING Poseidon (If you really think about it). I don't think him giving up for Percy was really in-character for him.

I do enjoy the conflict it could bring with Luke though, where Percy only gets to really see the good side of his godly parent and thus can’t really understand Luke and his group. Thus we can have a Percy who has that slow realization over the course of the show.

I’m not sure what to think of how the show did Hermes. That whole talk about him being unable to get to Luke because of his fate or whatever….eh. Personally to me that's just a load of bullcrap and excuses- I really hope the show reveals and treats it like that too and doesn't try to make Hermes innocent.

Because frankly said? Luke was comically easy to prevent had Hermes just not sucked SO MUCH.

Like yeah Poseidon advised him not to go but A)Poseidon broke his how much advice with Percy, so it’s canon that Hermes didn’t HAVE to stay away, and B) how could Hermes genuinely apologizing and showing care for Luke and May have POSSIBLY made it worse?

So yeah, pretty mixed bag for me. I like some, I dislike some- I’ll definitely watch S2 though!

As for Alison, I honestly assume she’ll be around the same age as Luke. Possibly as a love interest for him?

Personally I don’t really care much what she’s gonna be exactly, I’m just excited for more Titan Army content!

I’m hoping we’ll get more focus on them in the show, especially when we throw Alison into the mix. The books sadly had the TA quite underdeveloped, which I hope the show can fix.

But honestly? I’m happy if they keep up the Luke scenes to the same quality they were so far. Real 10/10.

#pjo #luke castellan #percy jackson #pjo fandom #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo show #pjo Alison #titan army pjo

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shina913 · 2 years

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Flowerworks | KNJ

Flowerworks

Pairing: Namjoon x Fem!Reader

Rating: M (SFW)

Genre: Exes; pure angst; fluff

Warnings: a lot of angst; pining; meet-cute; suggestive language; missed opportunities; vague infidelity

Word count: 4,241 words

Summary: “The love you had in your past...unfinished, untested, lost love...seems so easy, so childish to those who chose to settle down. But it’s actually the purest, most concentrated stuff.”

A/N: This story was inspired by an anthology series that I had binged while I had Covid back in January this year. For a while, I've been wanting to do a rendition of that but I wasn't sure which member to 'cast.' But Indigo has such a great inspiration so I've revisited this draft and thought Namjoon would be the perfect angsty main character here. Also, Kelly Price's rendition of As We Lay was a good inspo for this as well, except it's got none of the spicy stuff and you're left with all angst!

A/N2: I've never been to the UK or Europe 🤡 so a lot of this is just talking out of my ass hoping it would make for an interesting backdrop. I apologize for any geographical inaccuracies. This isn't the first time I've mentioned Juan Luna in my fics--I just thought, wouldn't it be cool if Namjoon studied Filipino impressionists🤪. Anyway, hope the story still lands! 💙

“Thank you so much for the presentation, Dr. YLN. It was so refreshing to hear a new take on a subject that’s so rarely…uhm, what’s the word…”

“Discussed? Thought of?” You finish their sentence for them. You smile warmly at a young journalist who was covering your lecture as part of a feature piece they were doing for a magazine. After the program ended, they decided to come up for a side conversation.

“Yes, that’s right,” the journalist says. “Your perspective is so fascinating to me. I mean–when we were in grade school, these lessons were just so repetitive and boring. It’s practically a bird course,” they chuckled.

“Right, because you’re supposed to just fly right through it?” You joked. You, too, had that impression when you were much younger.

“Your research style is so much more interesting. I was elated to find out that you’re the historical consultant on that ‘Ilustrados’ series!”

You tried your best to stay humble but deep down, you were still pinching yourself about getting to work with a major studio and top-tier production team. “I saw it as a great opportunity for us history and literature majors to flex a little, you know?” Then you caught yourself and laughed. “Oh my god, that sounded so nerdy,” you flushed.

“Not at all! Don’t be too modest,” they giggled. “I think it’s great that we get to give stories like this a new angle.”

You smiled and mouthed your thanks.

“I’m curious, do you remember what or who inspired you to pursue history as one of your fields of expertise?”

You grew flustered then blew out a quick breath. “Wow, uhm…nobody’s ever asked me that!”

“I don’t have to include it,” the journalist adds.

Your brows furrowed. “Include what?”

“That story that’s written all over your face,” they say with a knowing look.

“Oh, well…I think I’ve always been on track to study literature in some shape or form. That was my chosen major in college. Pursuing a career in history, however…was a happy accident,” you recall fondly.

They smiled excitedly. “Please tell me more,” they urged.

You stifle a grin. It was one of, if not the most unforgettable time in your life. If you could ever capture lightning in a bottle–that was the moment to do it.

You began, “He was an art history major spending a year in France while I was a language and literature major spending a semester in London. I met him while on holiday at a cafe in Paris–”

“Hang on! I think I’ve heard this story before!” They interject.

You give them a confused look. Up until this moment, you’ve only spoken about him to your former flatmate and a couple of close friends. “Y-you have?” You ask slowly.

They let out a soft chuckle. “I’m sorry, I’m kidding! Is that real?”

You laughed. “Yes, yes it is!”

“You know, most people are like–we met in college, lost touch for a while, then ran into each other on the street years later and had coffee.”

“Well…it does sound like quite the Hallmark movie plot, huh? The place we were at was certainly the perfect backdrop for it,” you smiled at the memory. “But, as unbelievable as it sounds, if it weren’t for him sparking my…” You cleared your throat, “...Enthusiasm in the subject and history in general–I wouldn’t be in this position today.”

It was indeed a serendipitous time in Paris, which began as a casual encounter over drinks, then eventually led to hours of exploring historic art districts with him. The day trips around the city certainly brought your interest in history to a whole different level.

“W-what happened to him?”

You shrug your shoulders. “After my break, I had to return to London. He wanted to come with me but he had some travel commitments with his fellow students. We agreed to meet at my place but–it just…didn’t work out for some reason.”

The journalist listened intently, indulging you in your story.

“I don’t know what happened. I thought we had a great connection. I mean, wasn’t that as perfect an opening to a relationship that you can get? Back then, I would go back and forth trying to think about how different it felt for me than it did for him.”

For a moment, you felt yourself slip again. But as you had done for the past several years, you smiled and shook your head to brush the memory aside to lock it away. Then, at your most vulnerable, you can unpack it again. You wave them off, “Anyway, that was such a long time ago, though!”

“How long?” They ask curiously.

“10 years,” another voice answered.

For that fraction of a second, your heart drops to your stomach, and you’re afraid to look up. This has to be another figment of your imagination. Still, you couldn’t help thinking about the times you wished to hear that voice again.

The journalist steps aside to clear the path. You finally peer up, blinking a few times to assure yourself that this was real.

There he was, standing in front of you–your lightning in a bottle…Namjoon. He had the biggest smile on his face and it was just as warm and bright as you remember it.

Suddenly feeling that they’ve intruded in a special moment, the journalist excuses themself and thanks you for the lovely conversation, promising to send you the initial draft of their feature via email.

As stunned as you were, you managed to string some words together. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”

“Hello, YN,” Namjoon greeted you as he moved closer.

“H-hi.” You were shocked to hear how calm your voice sounded when all you wanted to do was melt into a puddle.

You both stand in front of each other not knowing whether to shake hands or hug. Before you knew it, you were throwing your arms around his neck to embrace him. You feel his warmth envelop you, hearing him sigh faintly into your hair.

“It’s been a long time,” you say after pulling away. “Weren’t we supposed to meet in London?”

//FLASHBACK

When you met in Paris, he was only one of the handful of patrons who spoke English at the cafe. You don’t know how exactly your conversation began, but he started spouting some facts about craft beer as opposed to wine–and tried to convince you that one was better than the other.

After a few spirited arguments, you agreed to settle things…back at his flat, which was a block away from the cafe. Your worked out your differences in opinions in bed, eventually agreeing to disagree after he made you orgasm.

He later confessed that the spontaneous debate was a pickup tactic from him. He thought he was being clever but never expected you to offer up some valid points. But you told him that you thought he was cute so you were all-too-willing to be reeled in anyway.

Though you were on break, he was in the middle of his school term and had to spend time traveling within the city to check out recommended sites to fulfill his course requirements.

He invited you to come with him on a day trip to check out the former studio of an artist who turned out to be instrumental in their home country's rebellion. You were apprehensive but came with an open mind--and you never regretted it.

You spent the evening at his place once more...and a few more times after that. Your favorite thing was waking up next him in the mornings, exchanging innocent kisses in bed that always escalated to the point where one or both of you would end up moaning each other's name.

But when you weren’t in bed, you spent many hours just talking. He was so passionate about his studies as much as you were about yours. The way he spoke about art, its origins, and inspirations was so reverent, it was fascinating to experience a drop of his enthusiasm.

The day you had to return to London was difficult, not just for you but for him, too. He and a few of his fellow students were supposed to travel to Rouen and spend a few days there to check out some impressionist exhibits recommended by their teacher. He planned to take the ferry to visit you right after.

When you arrived at the train station, he noticed that he lost his phone somewhere between the ride from his flat to this point. You dug into your bag and retrieved an old receipt where you wrote your number and address down. He took it and slid it in between his book that he carried with him. Then, on the week that you were supposed to meet, the borders shut down.

//END FLASHBACK

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Mm-hm…you better be,” you respond wryly.

He rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I, uh…missed my alarm then, got caught up in the border lockdown. Before I knew it, I was stranded in Normandy for a bit before the school managed to make arrangements to get us back to Paris then back home.”

You’ll never forget it, since you, too, were stuck in a foreign land so far away from family.

“How come you never called?” It was a question that niggled at you for years.

He chewed at his bottom lip helplessly. “In the midst of all the chaos, I misplaced my book–the one where I kept that receipt where you wrote down your information.”

That all sounded too easy and far-fetched. But in the week that you spent with him, it wasn’t that hard to believe. He nearly left his passport behind at the bar that first night before going back to his flat; Once, he got off at the wrong stop after mixing up north and southbound trains.

You sighed. “Well…you’re here now. That’s all that matters, right? How did you know I’d be here?”

He smiled wistfully. “I saw your picture in one of our e-newsletters I get at work,” he answers. “I normally send those straight to my trash but something told me that I needed to take a look at it and…I’m sure glad that I did.”

That made your heart flutter. You made a mental note to thank the university’s Communications team for convincing you to do a headshot to promote the lecture series.

“Do you live around the area? Are you local?”

He shook his head gently. “No. I made the trip out here because I wanted to come see you.”

Your mouth falls open at his confession. “O-oh.”

“I wondered if I could take you out for dinner? There’s a bistro that I passed not too far from here. U-unless…you’ve already eaten–”

You snorted loudly then interjected, “Oh, please–you know I could always eat!” He laughs hysterically.

******

“Have you ever gone back?”

His eyes flick up at your question but the look he gave told you that you didn’t need to clarify it further.

“Mm-hm,” he answered affirmatively before adding, “Not as often as I’d like, though. And you?”

“Yeah,” you reply. “Actually, a year after travel restrictions eased up, I went back right away.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Really?”

You nod and look at him enigmatically. “I went straight to Villa Dupont.”

Remembering the area so clearly, his lips twitch at the thought. “Luna’s atelier?”

You nodded again. He sat back on his chair then interlocked his fingers behind his neck before he tilted his head against them. “Wow. That’s…amazing!”

“What can I say? That’s where my career started,” you quipped.

“And here I was, thinking that I was such an idiot for taking this beautiful girl on the most boring, mind-numbing walking tour of Asian impressionist artists.”

You both laughed, but those walks with him were one of the best memories of your time there.

“Anyway, I came back a few more times after that for my doctoral dissertation. And now here I am, giving lectures on it.”

The look on his face showed pride and admiration. All those hours you spent talking, you both shared your dreams and hopes for the future. You both had your head in the clouds…just two kids trying to justify the relevance of your respective liberal arts programs.

“That’s amazing. Consider me envious,” he says in jest. “You’re traveling around the world…and living your dream.”

You wave him off. “It’s not so glamorous. These days, I’m happy if I get to squeeze in some personal time. Usually, I get to a place, spend most of my time working and…” Your eyes drift down to your left hand, picking up your drink, “...then I have to get back to my family.”

He follows your line of vision. It wasn’t the first time he’s clocked in the piece of jewelry you’ve worn for a number of years now. He noticed it when you took the menu from the host after they sat you down at your table.

He hadn’t asked about it then, nor did you ask him about the ring that he wore on his finger when he moved his wine glass to the edge of the table when the server returned to pour him a glass of red wine.

You cleared your throat. “So, what else have you been up to these days? Are you just calling up former lovers?” You teased him.

A low laugh rumbled within his chest. “I’ve only ever had one former lover,” he held up one finger and stared. It was so unnerving, you had to break eye contact first. “Then, I got married. Really quickly…to the first girl that I met a year after I got back from France.”

You couldn’t hide the shock written all over your face. “Wow,” you managed to say. “That’s…” You try to think of a word that didn’t sound too reproachful.

“Crazy? Impulsive? Yes. I was really young and I thought the world was ending. I just didn’t want to lose anybody again.” he trailed off.

You and your husband were together for five years before you even thought about getting married. Maybe you were unconsciously holding out hope that you’d run into Namjoon again.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and smiled sadly at the thought, but that was quickly interrupted by the server bringing your dinner to the table.

******

You go through the rest of dinner talking about your most recent work and him sharing some of his more recent projects. When the server returns to dish out your plates, they ask about dessert. Namjoon declined but immediately looked at you.

“Oh, no thank you,” you declined politely.

Namjoon’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Who are you? I could have sworn that moelleux au chocolat was calling your name,” he teases, remembering your favorite treat that you indulged in while you were together.

“Shut up,” you laughed. “We’re not 21 anymore. You can’t…eat chocolate cake just like that.”

“Not even in bed?” The soft crinkle in his eyes deepened as he smiled cheekily.

You try to put aside those memories of chocolate and him. You cock a serious eyebrow at him, his expression unchanging. “Nope, not even in bed.”

You fall silent for a bit. Then he asks, “How many kids do you have?”

“Two girls. You?”

“I have a son,” he answers.

“Must be blissful to just have one,” you commented, polishing off your wine.

“Oh, trust me,” he says, picking up the bottle to pour you another glass but you hold your hand up, feeling like you’ve had more than enough for the night. “He’s still a handful, though.” he laughs, proceeding to empty out the rest of the bottle’s contents into his glass.

“But he’s my handful, so…” he trailed off, setting the empty wine bottle on the table.

“Are you and your wife still together?” You thought maybe the question was out of line but curiosity was getting the best of you.

His expression turns wistful. “We live under the same roof, let’s put it that way. She’s a great woman, a good mother. And I don’t deserve her.”

You smiled sadly at him, then stared at him silently. You begin to question why you even decided to come with him. Perhaps it was all a big mistake.

And yet, even though it's been so long, your memories of him were so incredibly vivid that you could just reach your hand out and you'd feel them. Feel him.

“What are we doing here, Namjoon? Why did you show up at my lecture? What did you hope to achieve?”

“Honestly?” His eyes flicked downward and he began to fidget with a loose thread on the table cloth.

“When I found out that you’d be in town, I booked a room within five minutes.” He chuckled. “I didn’t even care if the rate was ridiculous…”

Then, his gaze lifted back to your face. “I was hoping that we could pick up where we left off."

Your hand instinctively clutches at your chest. Your heart was beating so fast, you were afraid that it would just burst out of it.

"For 10 years, I imagined what our life would have been like. And if I ever saw you again, would I feel the same way about you? Would you feel the same way about me?”

You purse your lips and lean in closer. “You didn’t need to book a hotel room to find out if we still love each other…” You paused, then gave him a small smile. “Because clearly, we still do.”

His lips curved into a smile and the dimples in his cheeks grew deeper.

“For 10 years…Just the idea of you, knowing that you existed and that you were in my life…I held onto those memories and they got me through some tough times.” Your throat tightens but right before your tears fall, he reaches across the table, holding his hand out, beckoning you to put your hand in it.

After some hesitation, you acquiesce. He gives it a gentle squeeze, then brings it up to his lips to kiss it. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

******

You took a leisurely walk by the avenue and into a small pub a few blocks away. You shared a few more drinks and stories. For hours, you caught up with each other’s lives.

You excitedly talk to him about your new television project while he enthusiastically describes recently studying works by the late Yun Hyong Keun, even developing a friendship with his family.

Art was Namjoon’s pride and joy. His eyes, though the corners were now wrinkled with laugh lines several years later, still lit up the same way when he talked about his passions and the things that he loves.

When one pub closed, you moved into another. And when that closed, you moved your conversation to a park bench, right outside of your hotel by the waterfront.

It was a little after 5:30AM and daylight was breaking through the horizon. Most of the town’s commercial avenue was still asleep, save for the cafes that were gearing up for a new day for early-morning patrons.

When you sat down next to him, he lifted his arm up, inviting you to sidle up closer to him. And you did. You basked in his warmth and rested your head against his chest. You caught a whiff of him…cinnamon and coffee mixed in with faint traces of lavender-scented fabric softener. Even though you felt fatigue set in, you couldn’t close your eyes. You crane your neck up to find him sitting still with eyes closed while the sunrise kisses his face. Now, how could you possibly miss that?

******

You head back into the hotel and go up to your respective rooms only to retrieve your things so you could check out and head to the train station.

“You don’t have to take me, really–”

“I know I don’t have to but I want to,” he insisted.

You laugh at him. “You’ve gone and rented out a room that you didn’t even sleep in. Now you’re saying that you’re going to take the train with me, see me off at my stop, then transfer at a station that’s completely out of the way for you?”

He laughed in return. “It sounds so crazy when you put it that way but…yes, I want to do all that.”

You shook your head at how ridiculous that was. “Joon…”

“Please? Just let me do this,” he all but pleads.

You wanted to protest again but instead, when you open your mouth, a yawn escapes you.

“Look at you…that’s like, the fifth time in a row you’ve yawned,” he snickered.

“Spare me,” you chuckled with a slight eyeroll. “I know we barely slept when we were together. Now I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“Dawn is for lovers…and bakers,” he adds with a grin while his eyes peered up at a bakery that had just turned over its ‘open’ sign on the front door.

Your cheeks flushed with warmth. “You always had a way with words.”

“Things haven’t changed much,” he replied as you made your way out of the hotel to catch a cab together.

******

Hours later, the train approaches your stop, and you begin to gather your things.

“Thank you,” you say to him.

He smiled wordlessly then dipped his head down. You didn’t stop him and instead, met his kiss halfway. Warmth bloomed within your chest when your lips brushed against each other’s. In an instant, you had traveled back in time…back into his embrace. It was like coming home.

The train comes to a halt, making you bump against each other. Pulling away, you stare at each other with half-lidded eyes. Both your pulses raced but ironically, there was a calm that washed over you.

Neither of you said anything for a few beats until a smile broke through his lips. It’s so infectious that you do the same. He leans in again and plants a soft, lingering kiss on your forehead. You find yourself squeezing your eyes shut.

When he lets go of you, he looks into your eyes again. “We should do this again.”

His invitation was so unexpected that it knocked the wind out of you. You give him a small smile and a nod. “Sure, just call me.”

“I definitely will. You know, since I have my phone with me now instead of an old receipt,” he says.

You gather your things and off-board the train hand-in-hand. You put your luggage down then faced each other on the platform.

“So…have a good life!”

Your comment tickles him. “‘Have a good life’?” he echoed. “That sounds like something people say when they won’t see each other again.”

You didn’t really mean anything by it. You thought it sounded better than saying, ‘That was fun,’ or ‘Take care.’

You chuckled at him and shrugged. “You never know what could happen between now and the next time we see each other again. I could die; you could hit your head and fall into a coma; another border lockdown could happen, or…maybe one of us decides that they want something else,” you reply casually.

He took a step to narrow the gap between you. “I’ve always loved your wild imagination,” he says, tucking a few strands of your hair behind your ear.

You grinned at him. “So you’ve told me.”

His expression turned serious. “Well, none of those things will happen. We’ll see each other again.” he promises, keeping his eyes locked with yours.

You nodded softly and gave him a small smile. “Alright.”

His smile grew wider and you tilt your chin up to kiss his lips again before his train home arrives on the other side of the platform. You watched him board and saw that he sat by the window seat, his eyes still on you.

True love in its absolute form has many purposes in life. It’s not just about bringing children into the world; or romance or soulmates or even lifelong companionship. The love you had in your past...unfinished, untested, lost love...seems so easy, so childish to those who chose to settle down. But it’s actually the purest, most concentrated stuff.

For years, you imagined what it would be like to see him again. To learn that things hadn’t changed and that spark between you was just as bright and electric as when you first made eye contact.

And while you were happy to learn that he still felt the same way, just like any spark, there’s a brightness for a few seconds…before the wind blows it out. Like a firework that shoots up into the sky, bursting into different colors, only to fall back down as smoke and ash. Like a bolt of lightning, crackling through the storm clouds, followed by a loud thunderclap and a burst of rain.

Up until the last few hours, you realized that something this good can only last for so long.

You had your beautiful moment with him. And that’s how it will always stay in your heart.

When the train rain pulls away from the station, you feel a twinge in your chest. You blew him a kiss and stood there silently until he was far enough away from you.

He waved at you through the window then turned to look straight ahead.

“Have a good life, YN,” he whispered to himself.

Crossposted on AO3 | Main Fic Masterlist

You’ve reached the end! Thank you so much for reading!

If you loved it, please comment, reblog, or send me feedback! 📩. I love hearing from readers! If you didn’t like it so much, I would still like to hear about it. Help me become a better writer! 💜

Tagging: @internetjunkdrawer @deepseavibez @itdoesntmatterwhy @joonschocochip @yu-justme @e-cm

#bts fanfiction #namjoon x reader #namjoon angst #namjoon fanfiction

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ace-robot-has-matcha · 8 months

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Things I like and didn’t like about hazbin hotel

I watched it last night with my friends. My basic thoughts are that it’s pretty good.

!!THIS IS ALL 100% MY SUBJECTIVE OPINION ON ASPECTS OF THIS SHOW!!

Stuff I liked:

Most of the songs were pretty good, and of course the singing as well. The visuals for the songs are also very cool a lot of the time as well. Visual standouts included the vox song and the husk song

I’m still sad about the loss of the original cast, but I will admit that the new cast is also good. RIP Michael though. I still miss him in this show but he’s In everything now so whatever.

Vaggie was cool. She really felt expanded from the pilot version, even though I kinnnda miss her old design. The other new designs I got used to, but hers still strikes me as weird.

Niffty was epic. Honestly just like me fr.

This show made me come around to Alastor. Liked him in the pilot, but he was never my favorite (probably overexposure). But he ended up being a very goofy character, which I liked. The mystery element of what he was doing for seven years is also interesting.

I actually ended up liking the Vees. I didn't expect to like them lol. Vox is funny and has a cool voice, Val is cartoonishly evil (and scary at times so that's neat), and I never cared about Velvette before, but she turned out to be my favorite of the three.

One thing I really like about vivziepop shows is that she puts all those hidden text stuff in that you can actually pause to read. She does this in helluva boss, and she keeps up the tradition here. I like when shows do that.

So for years I've been calling him Anthony as a joke to lovingly bully him, and then it ended up being shown in canon lol. For some reason this made me lose my shit. Oh and also the angel dust stuff was really good too yeah yeah

My absolute favorite part was unironically Sir Pentious. This is mostly due to the surprise that he actually ended up in the main cast. I had no idea that was going to happen. I thought he'd be a sort of villain-of-the-week guy who sort of joins the party, but nope this goofy idiot hangs out at the hotel for the rest of the show lol. That was awesome. I never knew how much of his character I needed until now.

I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to television. I'm willing to excuse a lot of things, which is probably why I'm one of the like ten people who still thinks Helluva Boss S2 is okay. Therefore, there were only a few problems with these episodes that I actually didn't like enough to put here.

I really really didn't like Adam. His voice is good, his song is good but that's pretty much it. I don't even really like his design. He was just so irritating and unfunny. I know he was supposed to be annoying and unlikeable, but usually I still find enjoyment in those characters, and I just couldn't here. Case in point: Mammon is basically the same character but actually funny.

This is the only nitpick that really bothered me. Zestial is a cool character. BUT HOLY SHIT THEY COMPLETELY FUCKED UP HIS DIALECT. It happens a lot and it's so irritating because it does not take very long to look up the difference between thee, thou and thy. They didn't even change it to make it rhyme, it's just legitimately fucked up. This annoyed me way too much admittedly but it made me cringe in like every scene he was in, even though I liked everything else about him.

Yeah episode one isn't great. It's not very focused. This is kind of par for the course for vivzie shows though.

Spoilers I guess? I did not like the reveal of who killed the angel. It turned out to be some lady we just met five minutes ago?? It felt very underwhelming and made me angry. However, this one I'm willing to make my peace with because it's episode three, there will probably be a better payoff later. Hopium.

Write me an essay in the comments about why I'm wrong about everything or whatever. I'll read it and maybe adopt it into my perspective. There's probably other things I wanted to talk about that I forgot, but I don't care. Anyway I like this show give it like a 7.6 out of 10.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel hbo #vivziepop #hellaverse #my thoughts #tv review #long post

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eri-blogs-life · 1 year

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The Souls Are Always Darkest

So since I have been on a FromSoft kick again (my gf and I started playing the Bloodborne board game, and that made me go back and finish Elden Ring), I decided I’d go back and replay some FromSoft games and write down some of my thoughts on them.

So, here’s my thoughts from this playthrough of Dark Souls

Obviously, generally speaking, the game’s a god-damn masterpiece. Amazing combat systems, tons of exploration and discovery, beautiful fantasy world to explore, and... there’s some kind of story there too. Something about killing Gwyn so you can become the new king or something? I don’t know. Story’s never been what I focus on in the Souls games

One of the first notes I have in my little notebook is “Poise. So nice. Also broken. Easy mode?” Which like... seems like a reasonable place to start. DS1 definitely makes the difference in light and heavy armor feel like it matters. I don’t know that I ever felt as much like it mattered in later games, but in DS1 wow what a difference light and heavy armor makes. Not just better armor reduction, but the ability to continue your own attacks or estus drinks while an enemy hits you if your poise is high enough. But you absolutely CAN’T dodge. It does actually make it feel like your choice in loadout matters.

Now, for what it’s worth, a person’s build is definitely going to impact their experience in a FromSoft game to some degree. I went with a “quality” build this time - close to evenly leveling vitality, endurance, resistance, strength, and dexterity. But the strength didn’t end up mattering a ton, cause the weapon I ended up maining was the Uchigatana. I got it early on and used it almost exclusively for most of the game. One hand was the Uchigatana, the other was a caestus I used for parrying, and it was excellent.

So, comparing the combat of DS1 to my recent experiences with, for example, Elden Ring, the combat feels so slow and deliberate. Like, in Elden Ring I felt like I was scrambling to dodge or attack or block or whatever. In Dark Souls I felt a lot more like I was in control. Attacks were slower for both sides, but that gives a little more time to process. At least, it feels that way to me. I’m not really sure if that’s actually true. That’s part of why I’m doing this series of FromSoft replays, so I can see if there really IS such a difference.

But also I might feel that difference because of what I was doing during my playthrough. Like I said, build might make a difference. In my Elden Ring playthrough I was a Faith-based character, casting a lot of spells and not being able to take many hits. But in Dark Souls, with my quality build, I was mostly parrying enemy attacks. Parries provide a nice opportunity to hit with a high-damage riposte and/or heal back up. It definitely gave me more of a sense that I was in control of each fight I was able to parry the enemies. Including the final boss. I got Gwyn in a parry-loop and killed him SO quickly and easily. Wow what a difference being good at parrying makes.

(not the best pic, but me just tanking one of Artorias’s hits while I hit him at the same time)

Let’s see. The world. Dark Souls certainly has a really cool world. The environments spread throughout are beautiful, from the dark forests to the huge castles to the towns to the lava ruins to the dark abysses where there’s nothing to see. However, the huge world also kind of sucks. Walking back and forth everywhere for everything feels bad. Sometimes.

The big interconnected world takes a long and annoying time to walk back and forth through every time you have to do that. But, finding shortcuts did make me feel very clever, which was much appreciated. I don’t know if that was worth the trade-off of the annoyingly long travel times for everything else all the time, but it did provide quite a nice feeling.

The bonfire placements, though... Dang, they suck. Like, they could certainly be worse, sure. But there are so many bosses that don’t have nearby bonfires so you have to walk all the way through a big long gauntlet of enemies, which slowly drain your resources before you even reach the boss. However, with bosses balanced around that being the case, it kind of works. Plus, it makes finding shortcuts or alternate paths even more enticing, as you might find a path that takes less of your estus in the run-up to each boss.

(these guys in lost izalith are such a cool weird lovecraftian monsters that don’t feel like they fit in but also they fit in so well with everything else in the world of Dark Souls)

And my final note: Bed of Chaos FUCKING SUCKS as a boss fight still. I hate it

------------------

Dark Souls is still one of the best games of all time. I don’t really even know what else to say. Unfortunately, it’ll be a bit before I can play through DS2 and write up my thoughts on it, but I will like to do that at some point. I always love returning to Dark Souls 2. It is, after all, one of my favorite games of all time.

#eri blogs games #dark souls

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another-lost-mc · 1 year

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Hi, Jes!

I saw that you haven't been feeling well lately and I wanted to say that I hope you start feeling better soon! I hope you're resting and taking care of yourself!

I also wanted to let you know that I've officially joined the Karasu Fan Club lol. I haven't finished reading all your content about him yet, but so far I am fascinated by him! I love the concept of him talking to MC through the AI. He's such an interesting character and I am quite fond of him.

You inspired me to include my own OC in the longer story I've started posting. I wasn't going to originally, but when I realized how much I enjoyed reading about your OC, I thought maybe I would do it after all. Your advice about how to write a generic MC when writing a longer story really helped me out, too.

So I wanted to say thank you! For posting your writing and for being an inspiration! I hope you have a lovely day/night! <3

Thank you so much! 💙💙💙 I think I’m on the mend but I’m being careful and taking it easy!

I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying Karasu, too. He filled a very specific craving I had when it came to the game’s LI cast and his connection to the AI is definitely a fun aspect I like exploring. (My masterlists are a bit outdated but his character tag should have everything!)

I think OCs can be so much fun. It’s nice having conflict (or friendship or romance) with characters that aren’t strictly from canon. It adds a new dynamic to the typical “the cast are all jealous of each other because of MC again” situation that gets played out a lot in the game. Besides, there’s gotta be other demons in the Devildom MC might befriend—classmates at RAD, other nobles, maybe other demons Solomon has pacts with?

(I loosely refer to Michael as an OC because we still haven’t met him properly and I fleshed out his character for myself long before NB existed.)

I really enjoy world building and fleshing out OC characters. One of my WIP Mephisto fics got derailed because the demon OC I wrote for it was “too likable.” People that read the original outline wanted MC to end up with him instead of Mephisto. LOL

I also like that OCs can have new/different conflict for their own stories too. Karasu has some tension with a few specific characters but gets along with the rest. A lot of his issues are related to his own personal growth as his life changes in unexpected ways. Azra barely gets along with any of the canon cast (literally, his story gets a little violent later on). Zekhan’s conflict is mostly with the angels and his own traumatic past. Metatron’s main issues stem from his own personal issues/insecurities. They’re all unique and honestly, they’re just fun to write about.

I’m happy to hear you’re exploring your own OCs too, and I can’t wait to read more about them!

#jes.replies #my oc: karasu #my oc: azra #my oc: zekhan #my oc: metatron

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natlacentral · 6 months

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STYLISED EXTREMES

RARE IS IT TO FIND A YOUNG ACTOR WHO ALIGNS SO PERFECTLY WITH THE ROLE HE’S BEEN CAST TO PLAY, THOUGH SUCH IS THE CASE WITH IAN OUSLEY. THE YOUNG TALENT, KNOWN TO FANS OF THE NEW LIVE-ACTION VERSION OF AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER AS MASTER STRATEGIST SOKKA, HAS TURNED HIS CHILDHOOD FANTASIES INTO ADULTHOOD ACTING DREAMS. HE TALKS TO US ABOUT HOW MARTIAL ARTS SHOWCASED HIS ACTING TALENTS AND FINDING LOVE WITHIN.

You’re playing the character of Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe in this new Live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender and you’re trying to restore peace and save the world with Katara and Aang. How was it to play such an iconic character?

It was such a blessing to play the role of Sokka. I grew up on the show and it was one of my main inspirations for starting to do martial arts, so it was surreal to get the opportunity to join this project. Sokka to me has always been the voice to the audience in a way and was obviously so funny in the animated show that trying to capture the essence of the character is something I took very seriously… by not taking myself too seriously. It was a balance of being free in that space while still making it fit the live-action tone of our show.

How has being Cherokee played into how you shaped Sokka and approached portraying the character?

Building the world of the water tribe, which is based on indigenous culture, is something that was obviously crucial for us to capture accurately. Sokka is a proud member and leader of the Southern Water tribe and as a show, everything from the set designers, costume department, to props team created the physical world for us to live in, which made it easy to melt into the story we’re telling. I’m incredibly grateful to be on Team Water tribe with such a beautiful cast of amazing indigenous actors and actresses.

It’s never easy to come into a well-established franchise. How does this live-action version remain true to the original spirit of the animated series, will there be any easter eggs in this show that fans of the original series will recognise?

There are more than a handful of easter eggs in our show that the fans will be excited to see. They’ve already found so many of them just in the teaser, which is so fun to watch. Part of what makes this project so special is that everyone working on it has such a deep emotional connection to the show and wants to make it as good as possible, which means keeping that same breath from the show we’re basing ours on. Everyone was working their hardest to bring to life their side of the world whether that be an actor with the character they were playing or the writers' room bringing the scripts to life. For me, that meant trying to fight for as much comedy as I could every day, which is such an important part of the original show.

Did you have to learn any new skills for the role and what were they?

We did a six-week boot camp before we started shooting, which included stunt training every day, with all four of us together for most of it. That meant that I learned how to bend all four elements, and as we all know, my character can’t bend any of the four elements. In fact, when we meet him, he really doesn’t like bending at all because it was the main cause of his trauma in the past. Most of my stunt training consisted of learning how to look “untrained” as a fighter. We worked on throwing wide punches and improper hand placements for the forms with Suki and stuff like that.

Talk to me about the costumes. Do you remember when you did your first fitting, how did it feel transforming into Sokka?

It was one of my favourite parts of our show, getting to put on such intricate, detailed costumes daily, the costume designers really did such a fantastic job. The first time at the fitting with my wolf tail freshly cut and everything, was the first time any of it truly felt real. When I put on those clothes, especially my “warrior” look, it felt like I was living the real-life version of playing pretend in my room as a kid! Of course, when I was a kid, I was pretending to be Zuko, but still.

So, how did acting come about for you?

I got into acting through my martial arts competitions and being in the local paper for winning a state or district title. A talent scout from my hometown reached out to my mom to invite me to come audition, and being 13 years old, I’m sure I was terrible, but I was shameless. I think she saw something in me because she invited me into the class, and then I moved to Los Angeles when I was 14, (where I’m still based), and took acting classes out here.

You’re still working on learning your craft being so young and ready for what’s to come. Do you see yourself becoming more of a transformational or character actor? What are the dream roles for you?

What a fun question! You’re right, I’m still working on my craft, and as an actor I don’t think you ever stop getting to do that honestly. What excites me right now is material that is going to stretch me equally as an actor and as a person. I love the research part of taking on a character, so a role where I could totally transform sounds really intriguing to me. I have always been drawn to extremes, so I love stylised films and then also, very realistic films. Tim Burton and Yorgos Lanthimos have been such inspirations to me on the stylised end of things, so the opportunity to jump into something otherworldly would be very enticing. A dream role for me right now would be to do something completely different from Sokka and play the villain of a story whether that be in a superhero context or otherwise.

Would you be open to playing romantic leads too, given your Instagram bio: ‘I was made for love’?

That’s so awesome. Yes, I totally would be open to playing a romantic lead, but as for my bio, it’s meant to be more of a mission statement in a way. I think we were all made to love and truly be loved. I’ve found that sense of identity in loving God with my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Speaking of love, fashion is a passion of yours I see. There must be plenty of designers falling over themselves to dress you and make you their muse. Any favourites?

Some of the brands that are really catching my attention right now are Maison Margiela and Acne Studios, but my personal favourite has been Hedi Slimane’s Celine as you can probably tell!

You have a clothing line called KALÓ SOIL. Tell us about that and how it came to be as well as your passion for repurposing clothing and vintage items.

Kaló Soil is a project I joined in on with a couple of my friends. We were selling a collection of curated vintage items from the 1940s-1990s. We eventually added our own in-house collection to our brand to learn how to cut, sew, pattern, and creatively direct a brand. Some of our styles include taking patterns from our favourite vintage pieces such as a fencing jacket from the 1940s made with brand new materials with our own twist on the detailing.

What are you wearing right now just in case your style icon is reading this?

Well, Denis Rodman, if you're reading this right now, I’m wearing some Hedi-era YSL boots, baggy raw denim Kaló Soil jeans that have some real gnarly heel drag on them, an old 3/4 sleeve French chore jacket and a Tiffany chain from the ‘70s that used to be my grandma’s.

What about music, a fash-influencer must pay homage to the tunes too. What’s your ear porn?

I really love music. I had a scary number of minutes racked up on my Spotify wrapped this year honestly. I’ve been listening to a lot of Blaze Foley these days. I grew up in a very musical family, so I’ve played drums my whole life. I sing every day, everywhere I go, and my friends wanna kill me for it, I’m sure!

Ok, choose one song that sums up your wish for the future.

Let It Be by The Beatles

#natla #atla #avatar the last airbender #netflix avatar #netflix atla #avatar netflix #atla netflix #ian ousley #behind the blinds #interview #photoshoot

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dimensionslip · 2 years

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Fire Emblem Engage Thoughts

I finished the main story recently and thought I would note down my thoughts on the game.

TL;DR: Definitely buy the game if you enjoy Fire Emblem’s battle system. If you’re looking for a deep story or something that involves the supporting cast more, this isn’t the game for you. But if you can tolerate the weak plot, I think it’s generally a fun time.

Story spoilers for the whole game are included, so tread carefully under the cut!

Things I liked:

The battle system!! The engage system adds a really interesting dimension to the base tactical RPG system and I like how it makes things quite more flexible (you can either use it to make the game easier or try out some interesting matchups to see what happens).

I also enjoyed the maps in general! They make me think, especially the later maps but not to the extent where I find it unfun to try and strategize/figure things out there.

The rewind mechanic for when you mess up. I love tactical JRPGs but one thing I’ve hated about them is having to restart a whole ass 30-min battle from the very beginning when I mess something up. So for me this is a really nice qol thing because I do not have so much time in the world to keep restarting battles that I fuck up.

The Japanese voice acting is really great. It allowed me to tolerate one of the biggest issues I had with the game (the story) and factored in to my enjoyment.

The character models and animations. They are so fluid and also good. I like that you can see them animated too before you commit to an action.

Them making the Somniel as your base (similar to what they did for Garreg Mach Monastery in 3H, though with a caveat–see stuff in “Things I wish this game had”)

Things I didn’t like:

The story in general, but I think it’s more an issue of, it’s not what I’m looking for in a plot. I could see why the simpler storytelling might appeal to some people, but I prefer a lot more morally grey characters and while one can argue that they do exist in this story, I’m not sure I like the execution of said characters. Specific bones I have to pick with:

Lumerra’s introduction and death. At first I was a bit suspicious of her because, wow, isn’t it convenient to have a very kind mother?? And apparently she IS a kind mother all along indeed, BUT THEN. She’s killed off really early and honestly while the voice-acting in that scene was really great, the way it hits you out of nowhere is just… jarring? In the sense of it’s hard to feel anything about it because you barely knew Lumerra.

In general, everyone’s acceptance that you are the Divine Dragon and having zero doubts about it. Like a little more suspicion would have been neat to play into, even if it’s easy to prove that you are who you say you are.

The game’s habit of telling you ALL about an antagonist’s backstory and motivations before they get killed (either by your hand or someone else’s). They repeat this formula so much, even for the big bad and it’s just. One heck of a text vomit without any creativity to it, and we’re just supposed to accept how it is. It doesn’t make the characters very redeemable to me though, but I wish they exercised more creativity in getting people’s motivations across.

Sombron is such a bad offender, maybe I just don’t pay attention to his lines very well but there was little to no indication that he was doing everything just so he could reunite with an Emblem. The whole time it’s really just postured as “this guy wants to take over the world(s)”

I understand this is typical of older games in the series and large casts, but the lack of relevance of most characters after the chapter you acquire them is kinda meh in my opinion.

The minigame controls. Coupled with my controller drift issues, my poor A button is just never gonna be the same way again, huh. I think the wyvern ride one is quite fun, but the reliance of spamming the A button isn’t the best way to handle some stuff I feel, especially with the way the Switch controller is designed. I know I can just get a controller or something. But still.

Gold being so scarce in the game. I never had a gold issue in the past games I’ve played as I would earn it passively by not spending on things so much, but in Engage you can’t even do that. It seems like a ploy to get you to buy the DLC as it has some stuff there that will make your life easier, so that kind of adds to the mixed feelings I have regarding the situation.

Most characters being very one note, and it reflecting in their supports. Like if you have a character who was an antagonist turned into an ally, half/most of their supports will end up with them being eager to make amends. If someone likes muscles/training, that’s also gonna be most of their lines and their supports. But it’s a very taste-based thing, and granted I haven’t looked at everyone’s supports yet, so I might change this bullet point in the future.

Things I wish this game had:

More unique dialogue in the Somniel based on what point of the story you’re in. There are some unique dialogue for plot-relevant characters but it would have been interesting to see what the others thought too instead of their dialogues changing depending on where they were located. I think this would also solve the problem where the characters don’t feel relevant to the story anymore after you acquire them.

Lengthier support conversations. Wishful thinking, but the supports in general felt really abrupt, though this is nothing new in FE. Some were pretty deep/thoughtful, but most didn’t really leave much space for characterization.

Please let us change people’s clothes in battle. It was a little disappointing since you spend more time in battle than in the Somniel. The clothes customization in this game is pretty nice, but I guess they just left it to the Somniel because rigging those properly for battle was probably extra work they didn’t have time to properly test/implement.

My rating in numbers: 6/10 if I had to account for the plot, 8/10 if we’re just focusing on gameplay/how fun I found it.

To end this more positively, Diamant, Ivy, and Seadall are my favorite characters. Ivy (with Celica) and Alcryst (with Lyn) are my MVPs, with a special mention to Seadall and Emblem Byleth for letting me do some crazy stuff in one turn. Chloe was also really fun both in and out of battle (okay, I also like Saori Hayami) and training Anna to be my gold farmer eventually paid off lmao. Praise be to Anna.

#fire emblem engage #fe17 #fe17 spoilers #fire emblem #just my two cents

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littlefanthings · 2 years

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Let’s be honest Pedro was not in the suit probably at all this season because he chose a different role, which yeah sure good for him. But season two, when he spent more time in the suit it felt different. The vocals matched the performance so much better

I’m starting to understand why Branden keeps referring to himself at the Mandalorian seeing as he does most of the work

I agree that that when Pedro is actually in the suit the voice and movements are more cohesive, though to be fair I think a lot of Mando’s lines (if not all) wind up having to be ADRed anyway since that helmet can’t be helpful in terms of getting quality sound recordings. I don’t know 100% on that, I’m too lazy to try and look it up, frankly. But yes, the performance is better when the person speaking is the one also making the decisions on physicality. It all connects. However, for the most part, even if it would be better to have one guy doing the whole thing - they still do a great job working together to make the different performances mesh together into one believable character. That’s a lot harder to do than it looks.

Pedro also may have spent some time in the suit during breaks from TLoU’s year-long filming schedule, but yeah, he’s likely not physically playing Mando much in S3.

But look, I’m not going to begrudge an actor work, especially an actor who got their big break later in the game than most. Hollywood is ageist as fuck and there’s a ticking clock on being able to do certain types of roles.

The options here would have been:

• Pedro doesn’t do The Last of Us and is physically involved as Mando more often, which is great for Mando fans but sad for Pedro and TLoU because he’s doing an incredible, possibly Emmy-worthy job as Joel and it sounds like it was an amazing and unique experience.

• Pedro leaves Mando entirely to do TLoU, very sad for Mando fans because we love Pedro and it would leave the entire show in jeopardy - they’d have to recast and/or drastically change the whole framework of the show. Not easy or preferable for anyone.

• Pedro is physically there for both Mando and TLoU, but that would mean we probably wouldn’t get more Mando for at least another year since TLoU took an entire year to film in Alberta.

• They work things out the best they can so that he can do both roles without massively delaying anything, which is what they did, and I think it was the best option for everyone.

When they cast Pedro for Mando they knew up front that availability was going to be an issue and agreed to work around it. They would likely have the same issue with any popular actor. The show is uniquely positioned to easily use doubles and stunt performers since the main character is literally forbidden to show his face. Any actor worth their salt would be insane to not take advantage of the amount of flexibility that offers. And even if Pedro was in the suit all the time, Brendan and Lateef would still be stepping in a lot for stunt work.

What’s fascinating and wonderful to me is how The Mandalorian cast and crew is being so straightforward about the fact that stunt performers are doing a lot of the heavy lifting and bringing them into the limelight. A lot of shows would - and do - try to completely obfuscate and distract their audience from the fact that stunt performers and doubles are used. That really sucks for stunt performers who will literally risk their bodies and lives for this work without getting the credit they deserve. They don’t even get included in the major award shows despite the fact that a lot of film and TV would be impossible without them.

So yeah, Brendan IS the Mandalorian. And so is Pedro and so is Lateef. And if more shows and movies were honest about it, we’d get to see that a lot of these kind of superhero and crazy action shows are really an amalgamation of multiple people working together to create one character. And the fact that they can make it work and keep us all immersed and feeling like it’s one person is actually extremely cool.

In conclusion: Teamwork makes the dream work. And means we get a lot more really great films and shows than we would without it.

#the mandalorian #pedro pascal #brendan wayne #lateef crowder #din djarin #stunt actors #stunt performers #TLoU

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crystalelemental · 2 years

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Pokemon Team Analysis - Geeta

Alright, time for something that’s stupid and ill-advised. I’m gonna talk about Geeta’s team. Because general consensus is “It’s a bad fight,” and while I don’t disagree, I think that, like usual, it’s kind of just a blanket statement of “Too easy” rather than something discussed and dissected as to why it’s not working.

Also I think there are legitimately great aspects of her team that deserve some recognition as fairly solid game design for a challenge, that maybe people miss because overleveling is basically the norm.

I’ll start with the big thing: “Geeta should’ve led with Glimmora” is a bad take. “But the Toxic Spikes!” Are borderline irrelevant. Players have no significant issues getting around them. And to make matters substantially worse. Glimmora is setup fodder. It’s slow. While it’s strong statistically, it’s weak with offensive types (Rock and Poison is a bad combo). It would be exactly like Cynthia’s fight: super weak to setup. Seriously, if you replay Platinum, try a Calm Mind sweeper with decent speed, and see how much of her team just drops. Cynthia’s fight is not especially challenging when you can set up, it’s why they locked the boosting TMs to Battle Frontier in post-game. To prevent you from doing that.

In the situation where Geeta leads Glimmora, Geeta is now significantly easier to beat. Because Glimmora cannot threaten a good booster. But you know what threatens a good booster? Opportunist Espathra.

This is my favorite aspect of her fight. Espathra is a fantastic lead for the game. Because this isn’t competitive, it’s main game, where the AI won’t switch ever. Where the goal of the AI now is to stop your tactics from just running train on them. Opportunist copies your boosts, which means anything short of Swords Dance benefits her as well, and Espathra is notably fast. And, most significantly, has Lumina Crash. Anything not Dark-type gets hit with -2 special defense. So if you’re boosting but you’re slower, you are guaranteed to be dead. That’s...actually a good lead. That’s a smart tactic for the main game. It’s very Emerald-esque. In Emerald, where boosting moves started to take off, nearly every major fight has something in their lead slot that can obliterate yours, be it paralysis, accuracy drops, Perish Song, or outright Toxic in Steven’s cast. Espathra feels reminiscent of that, and is, in fact, a pretty strong lead because of it. I just think maybe they could’ve done more than Reflect to bypass Sucker Punch strats, you know? Like maybe ditch Quick Attack for Hypnosis or Confuse Ray. Otherwise, great pick.

Glimmora’s the other I like, but more for thematic reasons. I think it’s really interesting how much conversation has been generated around the simple fact that Geeta even has this thing. For the story, I think it’s a great inclusion as her ace...I just also think Glimmora should’ve had a better speed stat, or Tera shifted into a completely different type. Personally, I’d say Grass, because you know what blows up four of Grass-types weaknesses? Rock. Though admittedly, I think Glimmora needs to go Fire. It’s got a solid defensive profile, and notably means Tera Blast can cut through Steel that otherwise hard walls its STAB combo. I think the big problem is that it’s just a bit too slow to ever be threatening with its offenses, but its typing, including Tera, is just too defensively poor. Poison would’ve been more valuable as a Tera type, with only two weaknesses, than Rock with like five.

The other aspect I do like is that Geeta’s team is representative of the region. Espathra from the west, Gogoat from the east, Veluza from the lake, Avalugg from the mountain, Kingambit from the north, and Glimmora from the crater. It’s a cool idea! But also, when you know that? You can...probably build a better team yourself. And you may also notice, Geeta has a battle focus. She’s bulky offense. All of these options, barring Espathra, are fairly slow but also reasonably bulky.

AND BULK DOESN’T WORK

The player has natural advantage, thanks to EVs, and Pokemon is a game that works entirely on hitting each other with supereffective hits. As coverage has expanded to insane degrees, virtually every offensive threat packs ideal coverage. It is not had to clean sweep someone with one Pokemon when you have four fantastic coverage moves and a solid offense and speed stat. Because of this, bulky offense cannot work in favor of the AI, which doesn’t switch out to avoid supereffective hits or leverage resistances. Moreover, it especially doesn’t work when your heavy defenders are (1) Grass type, (2) Ice type, and (3) quad-weak to Fighting, one of the most common coverage options.

Geeta’s team is poorly balanced for the type of playstyle she’s trying to run, and we’re going to talk about better options from around the region to keep that focus, while also playing a lot better.

Espathra stays. It’s a good lead. I also keep Glimmora. It’s a very cool ace.

From the east, instead of Gogoat, I would recommend Cyclizar. How is this not considered an integral aspect of the region? Cyclizar is such a hugely important thing. Also, for bulky offense, the substitute is ideal. While you could argue the idea of leading with Cyclizar, and I don’t strictly disagree, I think you’d want to program the AI to cheat a little. If the foe boosts, switch to Espathra. If they attack, switch to a resist. It’s a pretty clean solution.

The lake is the most obvious solution. Dondozo. Curse setup, Liquidation, Earthquake, Avalanche. Dondozo fits perfectly in bulky offense, but unlike Avalugg and Gogoat, Dondozo is blessed with a wonderful defensive typing in Water. Dondozo would be perfect.

For the mountain, I’m going to say all of them are bad. Most of what could fit is already a staple on someone else’s team, and I assume they were avoiding a lot of overlap. So instead? Gholdengo. We need to talk about this: how in god’s name does she not have Gholdengo? I don’t even like the thing, but a bulky offensive Pokemon with fantastic defensive typing and absurd offensive capabilities, backed by potential for either Nasty Plot or Recover? That feels like the most obvious pick. I feel like this has to happen.

Which means dropping Kingambit. I don’t dislike Kingambit specifically, but I also feel like it’s pretty easy to take advantage of, especially when she doesn’t let it learn Sucker Punch. It’s just so slow as to be laughable, and its typing isn’t super weakness-laden, but it’s not as powerful as Gholdengo’s. If you wanted to keep Kingambit, then I’d probably say take Drifblim as the mountain Pokemon. Make it more utility-focused, maybe taking Tailwind or something to buff the speed of Glimmora or something. But instead, I’d say give her Lurantis with Contrary. It has Leech Life, an ideal recovery tool. Also give it Close Combat, since you think it’s so funny to take away Superpower as like the only useful thing it could have. Bastards.

I think these shifts would largely improve on what she’s got going on. But also, I think it doesn’t matter. Again, bulky offense on AI doesn’t strictly work. Especially without items. It’s probably worth noting that the easiest BDSP fight, despite how hard that game cheats, is Bertha. Because it is not hard to beat bulky offense. I just...think a major problem is that Geeta’s approach effectively stands no chance of being particularly tough for a player. Especially not in the era of forced EXP All and infinite coverage. It’s just...not going to be difficult to stop her. At all. And I think we have to acknowledge that, with the way Pokemon is...that’s going to be the case forever. They literally cannot design a challenging fight. The system doesn’t allow it. The reason older games felt harder is because it was super hard to keep on pace with the opponent’s level, so you were statistically under-prepared. There’s a reason the only modern game to be considered difficult was Gen 7, which comprised entirely garbage mechanics to massively inflate enemy stats and force stupid 1v2 matchups. It’s because they can’t design a fair fight that’s fun. Because your solution is to just set levels way higher, and when you do that, the only solution is grinding, but they’ve spent four generations changing the gameplay flow to no longer require grinding, so they’re out of options. At this point, only a major overhaul to the battle system would be successful. And I’m...not sure they’ll know what to do with it.

#pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #geeta

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