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arrowhawkart · 3 months ago

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Alright what's up everyone! If you do not follow my personal blog fair warning: I have become very suddenly obsessed with Dragon Age and have been playing thru the games for the first time ever- so expect the next chunk of art from me to be very Dragon Age-centric

So Anyways here's Atlas Hawke, the fun little guy I made for my DA2 playthrough and became incredibly attached to much faster than I expected.

More incoherent rambles and thoughts on my Hawke under the cut- it's very stream of consciousness under there and also very very long you've been warned

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Just like.... wow.... okay so I've now played through Inquisition and finished Trespasser and I've gotta say DA2 really took the cake for me, like by far my favorite of the 3. (Like please don't get me wrong it absolutely had it's issues I'm not saying it was a perfect game or that all the writing choices were amazing) But I just really enjoyed the smaller more personal scale of the conflicts in DA2, I liked that Hawke was even more Just Some Guy, and like yeah the Warden and the Inquisitor aren't like special chosen ones or anything, but they are both tasked with these gigantic world-saving country-spanning quests, and Hawke? Hawke is just a guy trying to do right by his family. Like he doesn't have any world saving mission. He is just trying to Get By and that really made this game hit home more for me than the other two.

I said I was gonna ramble about my Hawke and I just ended up rambling about DA2 itself... whoops. ANYWAYS- Atlas- My Boy Atlas- I recognize that a purple mage Hawke is the most common route people go and I am by no means unique or original, but this game series is very new to me, personally, and I'm having fun anyways. (From here on out I will be talking about my Custom Hawke and not like, Hawke the player character in general)

And gosh I'm such a sucker for complicated and messy family dynamics, and DA2 does that so well. Like the Hawke family is Fucked Up. Bethany gets killed by that ogre while they're fleeing Lothering when she tries to save their mom from said ogre, and Leandra immediately turns and blames Atlas for Bethany's death- and then later in Act 1, Carver, best baby brother Carver, also throws Bethany's death in his face while they're having their own stupid argument which started because Atlas was trying to cheer Carver up and boy did that fail dramatically.

Like Atlas is witty and charming and sarcastic and kind of an asshole sometimes, and comes of as incredibly over confident and cocksure and that's because he's very much been shoved into the role of 'okay you've gotta take care of everything and if you don't everything bad is Your Fault, and since you're in charge of taking care of everything, everything bad is automatically Your Fault No Matter What Anyways.' So he's gotta playact like he has everything all together and under control, because what the fuck is his family gonna do if he doesn't? And underneath all of that he's an incredibly stressed out guy, who does not feel like he can ever let on that he's stressed and making everything up as he goes and just hoping that things work out well.

And like he tries to do the right thing- by god does this man try. He brings Carver with him on the deep roads mission because he and Carver work well together! Carver wants to go! He loves his little brother, there is no one he would rather have by his side than his little brother! There is no one he trusts more than Carver to have his back! Carver and Atlas are incredibly close. Like Carver is the one person who actually recognizes that the way Leandra projects all of her own issues onto them, but like mostly Atlas, is really shitty! He acknowledges that after apologizing for his part in the argument I mentioned above. And then of course Carver ends up getting the Blight during the deep roads mission, because nothing can every go right for them. Thankfully Atlas brought Anders along, so Carver is able to become a Grey Warden instead of DYING, but he has to leave, and Atlas doesn't even find out whether or not Carver survived his joining for months. And of course Leandra blames Atlas for this, she begged him not to bring Carver along with him, and he did anyways and now she's never going to see her youngest son again and it's all Atlas's fault. And that's how Act 1 ends and I just.... Auaghghghghhhh-

And then we've got Act 2, and like mid-way through Act 2 is probably the high point for Atlas. Things peak for him here and then it's all one big snowball downhill from there. So like, Atlas romanced Fenris, because this man is addicted to difficulty, and of course was going to immediately be infatuated with the guy that makes hating mages half his personality. (I mean it wasn't immediate, it was more of a slow build, mutual-trust, to friendship, to lovers thing, especially considering three years pass between Acts 1 and 2) And yeah, Atlas doesn't hide the fact that he's very into Fenris, and Fenris definitely hasn't seemed opposed to this. So after Fenris kills Hadriana and then they get together for one night- Atlas is like, riding the high of what was probably the first positive physical affection he's gotten since Carver let for the Grey Wardens three years ago. And then of course the following morning Fenris immediately breaks things off with Atlas, so what Atlas thought was going to be the start to a romantic relationship, just ends up being an ill-fated one night stand. And like! Atlas does not begrudge Fenris this! He completely understands Fenris's reasons, he is not upset with Fenris at all! He is still just completely crushed though. So yeah, things peaked for Atlas for like one very short night and then start speeding downhill. Because not long after that is when his mom is killed by a fucking serial killer. As if things weren't already fucked enough for Atlas, already having lost his twin younger siblings.

Also side note- I love the fact that DA2 is portrayed as Varric telling the story of Hawke's life to Cassandra, and that we know Varric is an unreliable narrator. Because like Leandra's last words to Hawke being that she's so proud of her strong boy- at least with how Atlas's relationship was with Leandra up to this point- felt so so out of character for Leandra, and I love the headcanon that that's Varric giving his bestie some closure narratively that he never actually got in reality. So like that's canon for Atlas. Because that was Leandra's decapitated head frankensteined onto another woman's body- and magicked into a reanimated corpse that absolutely did not seem like it had any conscious thought- like she was already dead before Atlas showed up. There were no final words. There was no nice narratively satisfying ending to that one. And I like it better that way tbh........

We're just gonna like skip over the whole qunari invasion subplot because I am. Not a fan of how that was handled. Writing wise. Like what the fuck was that. Like I have THOUGHTS about it but they're not gonna go on tumblr. Anyways. Moving on.

Champion of Kirkwall! Yay! Meredith knows he's an apostate mage and is just Waiting for any half-decent excuse to either bring him to the circle, make him tranquil, or kill him? Not yay! Atlas is absolutely good friends with Anders, and has been helping with the mage underground every chance he has. People in the city have been whispering about making him of all people Viscount and he has no idea how to feel about that, like he'd rather not, but who else is gonna do it? And who else would do it and actually give a shit about mages and elves and just like lower class people in general? Like this incredibly stressed out guy does not need more added to his plate, he really doesn't. But he's definitely thinking about it. I mean hey! It's not like he's got any family around to take care of at this point right? Why not just take that eldest daughter syndrome thing he's got going on and use it to fix the city?

The one bright spot for him here is that hey, at least he and Fenris get back together. That one's nice. They both deserve something positive and comforting after all the shit they've been through.

And then Meredith is trying to invoke the right of annulment and Anders blows up the fucking Chantry. And Atlas can't even blame him for it. After 6 or 7 years of painstakingly working to try to find peaceful ways to improve the lives of mages and getting blocked at every turn, with the knowledge that Meredith has been getting worse and worse and worse, and has been actively looking for any excuse to invoke the right of annulment and just kill every single mage in Kirkwall? And Grand Cleric Elthina has been absolutely no help, and has absolutely been subtly on Meredith's side the entire time. Like at a certain point, violence really does feel like the only option left. When you've been backed this far into a corner.

So obviously Atlas takes the side of the mages, doesn't kill Anders, is honestly like 'my dude, my buddy, my guy, my best pal(aside from Varric, and my boyfriend Fenris) why didn't you tell me? I would've helped you on purpose.' He's elated when Carver shows up during that final push to the Gallows, like the whole situation is absolutely shit, and it'd definitely be better if his beloved brother was no where near danger, but he's a Grey Warden now so that's not even an option anyways. So it's just nice to have him around even during such an intensely stressful moment. Honestly everything is so unbelievably fucked at this point that Atlas isn't even stressed anymore. Like things literally cannot get worse. He's kind of riding the high of things not being able to get worse. Or maybe that's just adrenaline. Who knows. Aveline and Sebastian both leave, Atlas is unbothered. Doesn't even try to convince Aveline to side with him later either, like he's never really gotten along with her, and he did not like how she treated Carver. Fenris and everyone else stick around, and that's what matters to Atlas, like all the people he was actually close friends with stick with him in this moment (Fenris, Varric, Isabella, Merrill, Anders, & Carver)

And then yeah, they save the mages, defeat Meredith, leave Kirkwall with the renegade mages. Everyone goes their separate ways due to one reason or another, except Fenris. At least Atlas does get to keep one positive close relationship around.

#artists on tumblr #dragon age #dragon age 2 #custom hawke #mage hawke #purple hawke #purple mage hawke #mage sympathizer #da2 #my ocs #my pcs #also like fair warning #underneath the readmore is so very long #and likely completely incomprehensible if you do not have background knowledge of the game and dragon age lore #oc: atlas hawke #Atlas Hawke

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myfairkatiecat · 4 months ago

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Thinking about getting into kotlc. What specifically do you like and find recommendable about it?

Keeper of the Lost Cities is my all time favorite book series. It's not the objectively best story I've ever read, but it's my favorite. Here are a few reasons you should ABSOLUTELY read KOTLC:

Fantastic adoption plot. The process of Grady and Edaline adopting Sophie and the complicated way Sophie grows to see them as parental figures, the ups and downs, the way it takes years for her to decide to adress one of them as mom or dad, the way those moments are portrayed as special... it really clicks, especially as someone from a foster family.

The main character is super realistic and well developed. She undergoes a lot of non-linear character development. She has strong beliefs that sometimes conflict with what she's expected to stand for. Her journey from book one to book nine with how she learns to be a leader, stand up for herself, and do what she thinks is right all the time is super well portrayed.

The characters and their relationships are very well developed and complex. Yes, certain things are made very clear through the narration because Shannon is in fact writing for kids, but after books one and two a lot of the kids series feel vanishes almost entirely. I mean, no, it's still charming and silly most of the time, but it doesn't feel as young, especially as the characters grow older and a lot of darker and more complicated issues begin to arise.

The portrayal of the dystopia is fascinating. KOTLC is not in the dystopian genre for a reason. The Lost Cities are not presented as a dystopia at all. That just... comes out slowly. Sophie goes there and is told that everything about the world is perfect, and since everything is sparkling and glittering, it must be, right? She has a few early thoughts about how certain things seem wrong, and those thoughts continue to grow as the problems with the Lost cities become clearer and clearer. Their government and social systems are very messed up, and Sophie only sees the surface of it because she's usually interacting with the nobility, but the reason for both rebellions formed is fixing those exact societal issues.

The good guys and bad guys want a lot of the same things. There's a focus in KOTLC on doing the right thing, not just achieving the right goal. Which sometimes means characters mess that up! (cough keefe sencen cough) But again, all this stuff is explored in a super accessible way, because it's a middle grade series. It feels like reading something deeply interesting with good messages without having to take a lot of time to wrap your head around what those messages are.

The characters are incredibly well-developed. Their backgrounds and history explain most of their personality and actions in amazing ways. I'm thinking specifically of Sophie, Keefe, Tam, Linh, Fitz, and Dex right now, but I'm sure there are more examples (and I hope it gets explored more with Marella in the future, tbh. We know about her childhood--how does that impact her personality?) It makes it very interesting to rotate these elves around in your head.

There are multi-book arcs, many huge reveals are foreshadowed from the beginning. The books open lots and lots of mystery boxes--there are tons of questions being asked ALWAYS--but in the end, they get answered (some more satisfying than others), really portraying just how much can happen even in a short time frame for these kids. Honestly, the whole three-years-over-nine-books thing feels PERFECT to me. Unlike Harry Potter, each book isn't a school year. Unlike Percy Jackson, each book isn't a summer vacation. All of these things happen one after the other, saturating the characters lives, and I think it's very interesting.

The adults have some crazy lore going on. It's pretty fun to try to piece all of that stuff together because Sophie doesn't take a lot of interest in it.

Everything about KOTLC is interesting to me. I'm not going to say there's no issues with it ever (please followers do not come in my ask box and start telling me there are issues with KOTLC idk why it's so controversial to say that Shannon did a really good job with character and plot complexity) but I hugely recommend giving it a read. Let me know if you read it and what you think!

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities

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mikuni14 · 10 months ago

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The last 2 weeks have provided me with amazing experiences from the BL series fan community. Moments when several series with very active fandoms are aired at the same time are very rare, and with the end of 2 series this week, I'm already mourning this wonderful, one-of-a-kind experience.

I have been camping in the following tags for many days and each one is different and unique: Love For Love's Sake I can't put into words what this show and fandom has given me. The number of absolutely insane analyses, meta, touching declarations of love to this series from moved viewers, and beautiful gifs is staggering. The series is excellent, the audience's reaction is also wonderful, it was such a great experience. Which doesn't surprise me, because it was people's reaction to real ART, which is always something special. The series itself is 10/10 for me in every category: love story, plot, actors, emotions, my investment in the story, quality, execution, even the "heat", because even though there were no love scenes, the guys were able to convey that they are very into each other 🥰

Dead Friend Forever I also enjoy the fandom experience immensely, the tag is full of great analysis and meta. The plot is so interesting and full of surprising twists and turns that there is always something new to discuss and come up with wild theories. The series is still ongoing, but for this moment it's also perfect for me and 10/10: love story (hehe), plot, actors, emotions, my investment in the story, quality, execution, also the "heat" (hehe).

Pit Babe I rate the fandom experience as *chef's kiss*. Tag is also full of interesting analyzes and meta, amazing gifs of Way. The fandom is generally very cheerful and unhinged, which is GREAT ✨ But what's most interesting is that if someone who didn't know Pit Babe checked the tag now, they would never guess who the main character and main couple of the series are (and this doesn't only apply to tumblr!). I find this incredibly funny 🤡 I'm not that interested in the series itself, so I won't rate it. I treat it as pure fun and entertainment, so I have zero expectations for the finale, especially since, of course, I've already stumbled upon possible spoilers. Personally, what I will take away from the entire series is my deepened love for Nut and a fascination with Way, whom I want like little girls want a new Barbie doll.

Last Twilight Another wild fandom experience lol I practically didn't visit the tag of this series at all, but I spent the last two episodes there in full camping mode, in a tent and cooking coffee after coffee over the fire 😄 Fans have once again soared to the heights of perfection, writing amazing analyzes and meta responses to the crap of the last episodes. The criticism was precise, justified, systematized, methodical and accurate 👩‍🎓 As with LFLS, it was an intellectual experience. The fans provided better entertainment than the series itself lol

The Sign hmm, for several weeks the tag has been dominated by BillyBabe, which is not strange because only this couple is responsible for BL aspect in this BL series 😄 I rate my fandom experience with The Sign in two categories: "until episode 7" full of amazing meta, analysis, beautiful gifs and enrichment for me as a fan, overall 10/10 and "after episode 7" which I spent mainly on… liking BillyBabe's photos and videos . Which is ok, because, well, I do like them a lot 😉

Two of the above series have already ended, although fans are still present, two more are ending this week. That's why I would like to take this opportunity and say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all the fans, those who wrote emotional entries, deep and thoughtful meta, funny posts, created beautiful gifs, analyzed endlessly the smallest details and posted photos and videos of their favorite actors. You all made these last few days so interesting and fun. I hope there will be more days like this in 2024! 🥰

And now I'll only have DFF…

#love for love's sake #dead friend forever #pit babe the series #last twlight the series #the sign the series #thai bl #korean bl #bl drama

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namtanlovesfilm · 2 months ago

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so far i got to say the trainee was a cute series very light hearted between off and gun and it was so worth waiting for and watching it. however the story between piploy, sea and kapook just doesnt seem right at all. i would love to hear more of your opinion on it. because i felt like in the end of the day they should all go their separate ways and focus on self love instead

I have SO MANY thoughts about the trainee lol, I almost wanna revive my youtube channel & pump out a video 😆 honestly the trainee had SO MUCH potential. I came into this show with no expectation apart from jane being hot af & offgun having flawless chemistry as always, and for most of it it actually blew me away by having a way deeper meaning than anticipated. the exploration of finding yourself & your career at the edge of entering the workplace was honestly really relatable and probably my favorite aspect of the show. I once said the trainee had some of the best writing I had seen from a gmmtv show... but sadly it didn't stick the landing for me. I feel like from ep 9 or 10 the writing really degraded slowly, although there were still very strong scenes in those eps. I HATED the 5 years timelapse in the finale, I've criticized the trope of sending a character abroad for years before but here I particularly hated it bc it honestly kinda destroyed jane's character imo? he was the greenest green flag ever, absolutely obsessed with ryan... but he's gonna ghost ryan & then come back and tell him he's leaving the day after & still kiss him?? and then not come back for FIVE YEARS and not even contact ryan during that time?? that's insane. jane could've easily went for a master degree in thailand & this whole trope was so bad I hated it, I feel like they just went for the easy way out. however, yes, the whole taebahmeejudy storyline was deffo the biggest flop of this show. I think it was obvious that the audience was gonna root for judy & bahmee more bc same sex couples are almost always more popular in the thai fandom, and also the show built up judy & bahmee's chemistry so much. even once bahmee & tae broke up, I personally thought bahmee should've spent at least six months single to learn to be by herself before jumping onto judy, but the storyline that just bc judy was slightly overbearing 3 times, bahmee decided to ditch her & go back to tae... was insane. also I think tae was a really weak character who benefited from being played by sea who's super beloved, but lowkey the only great tae scene is when he drunkenly scolds jane in the last scene of the show (and that's bc it's OOC & frankly should've been a pah moment.) but the whole situation felt unfair for everyone & I hate that judy's feelings were never explored after she cried once & then she was just shown to be okay like??? I don't think the writers accomplished what they set out to do at all. and also they focused SO MUCH on that love triangle that it robbed janeryan from being much more developed, be it the drama with nine or seeing ryan back with his family & tao-hu in the later eps... at the final ep fanmeet, pompam asked piploy what she would do if she were in bamhee's shoes, and piploy hesitated a lot but mentioned the idea of "what's right" before choosing tae still. so maybe it's a cultural difference bc tbh the whole crowd was cheering when tae proposed to bahmee during the fanmeet while I (a hater) was rolling my eyes lmao. so yeah overall I loved janeryan & pie & pah and there were so many amazing scenes, but... I SO wish I could turn back time, barge into the writers room and hijack the writing process for this show to make it stronger towards the end lol. it's definitely offgun's weakest show so far apart from puppy honey, but I still enjoyed it and, yes, sobbed like a little bitch when it ended 💚

xxx

#answers #the trainee #the trainee the series #offgun #judybahmee #the trainee final ep fanmeet #piploy kanyarat

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yumomia · 1 year ago

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hi i've decided im gonna pioneer this ship and also this fandom.

so here's my mia and me spotify playlist

here's my pinterest board

here's my ao3 account

this ship has a couple different names. miyumo, yumomia, and my personal favorite: the sunrise trio!!

enjoy my rambling :D

(i'm updating this post whenever i get a miyumo hugging picture)

fics i write! i'll try to keep this updated!!

the rewrite:

escape (a mia and me series)

Mia has magic. She’s not sure why, or where it came from. Like every high-schooler, she’s a little bit preoccupied with figuring out her crushes first. Unfortunately, with the attacks on the mystical island of Centopia, she might not have time to focus on that. Mia has to figure out how to use her magic, and fast.

the non-rewrites:

there will come a soldier by oriocookie

A Yuko character study.

love should never be kept a secret by oriocookie

Mia Marconi, a.k.a. Spider-Girl, is Centopia City's fearless protector. She's strong, smart, kind, and brave, putting her life on the line daily to protect her family and her city. And Mo and Yuko, her crushes. But that's not important. She's got a whole city to worry about.

hold on tight to this time, this place (cause everything you know will be erased) by oriocookie

There's someone missing. Mo and Yuko know it, they can feel it when they turn to talk to someone and they're not there, when they try to think back on the specifics of their adventures and are met with a gap in their memories. They just don't know who.

i’ll love every version of you by oriocookie

Since she met them, Mia’s always been drawn to Mo and Yuko. She never could have imagined why. We will be together again. I promise.

absolutely smitten by oriocookie

Mia never, ever expected to see her celebrity crushes in person. And she never, ever, ever expected them to like her back!

but that’s just a theory! by oriocookie

Mia is, frankly, a weird person. She’s cagey about her past and while Mo and Yuko love her, they get curious sometimes! Can’t sue them for it!

enchanted by oriocookie

"You don’t get it!” Mia yelled, holding her arms close to her chest. On one wrist, her treasured bracelet. On the other, the names of her soulmates. Mo Kiev and Yuko Lavigne. “Mia, I do! But you can’t fall in love with the characters from your book!” Paula said. “I know they share the same names with your soulmates. But you said they don’t have names on their wrist, right?” Mia refused to give her the satisfaction of being right. But no, no one in Centopia had a soulmate. Not even her elven self had the names from the real world inked into her arm. “All we’re saying, Mia,” Vincent put in, “is that you should focus on the real world. You could have real soulmates out there.” “I can’t believe this.” Mia fumed. “I’m leaving.”

strongest shape by oriocookie

Mo wound an arm around each of them, thankful for the low light so Yuko couldn’t see the blush spreading across his cheeks. “I’m glad Mia’s our friend,” Yuko muttered sleepily from her spot under Mo’s arm. “She’s nice.” “Yes, she is.” Mo agreed. “Pretty, too.” Yuko said softly, and Mo looked down at her in shock. But Yuko’s eyes were closed and her breathing was light, and Mo resigned himself to talking to the both of them about it tomorrow. Mia and Yuko were both amazing, and Mo didn’t want to choose between the two of them. But with Yuko’s half-asleep admission about Mia, there was now a new possibility: Mo could love them both, the same way.

#mia and me #miyumo #yumomia

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geode-crystal · 3 months ago

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Writeblr Interview tag game!

Wooo thanks for the tag @tildeathiwillwrite this looks like fun!

Open tag for anybody else who wants to answer these :)

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Yes, yes, and yes lol.

I tend to write novel-length things purely because I just... keep going XD I usually get more ideas than a short story allows. I do need to work on keeping things to the point sometimes!

But I have written short stories and one-shots (mostly as responses to promts) and I am very technically a published poet, since a few of my poems were published in a collection thanks to a writing competition back in high school .

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, full stop. I also love books that play on fairy tales and folklore.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

I usually like to have a general idea of where I'm going, and figure the rest out along the way. Sometimes I make full outlines when projects get Really Big.

What music do you listen to while writing?

I either put on one of my incredibly random playlists or go to youtube and look for "relaxing [insert video game here] music." Pokemon soundtracks are actually really nice to write to.

Favorite books/movies?

Soooo many lol.

I'm a big fan of Disney and Pixar movies (as one of my previous posts made pretty obvious lol), particularly the Disney renaissance. Adore The Princess Bride. Love Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Love Studio Ghibli movies, personal favorite being Castle in the Sky. Of course, we have the classic Muppet Treasure Island as well. And I love every version of Scott Pilgrim out there, the movie, Netflix anime, and graphic novels are all amazing.

And for books... oh my gods there are too many to list here, but shout outs to Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series, the Chrestomanci books by Diana Wynne Jones (as well as Howl's Moving Castle), Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko, and the Hero's Guide series by Christopher Healy. Percy Jackson, too.

A lot of my favorite whump moments come from the good old Deltora Quest series by Emily Rhodda and The Mage of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen.

Any current WIPs?

So many. Too many. I need to escape lol.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

I've based a few characters off of people I know before. Mostly my close friends. One of whom I write with a lot, so we've used each other as inspiration several times lol.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

No no no no no, not at all lolol. It's exactly the opposite. I have so much difficulty permanently killing off characters, to the point that my first novel-length project way back in my first year of high school ended with the villain getting polymorphed into a fish instead of dying. XD

I only do permadeath when it is absolutely necessary for the story. But... well, to quote The Return of Jafar: "You'd be surprised what you could live through."

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Don't usually drink or snack while writing.

Slow or fast writer?

Completely depends on the project, but I would say fairly slow. Especially compared to my writing buddy they're an absolute speed demon lol

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Depends on the fantasy world, really. Definitely some kind of musician and/or storyteller, like a troubador or something. Maybe some kind of minor nobility, with all the "fun" I've had with the burden of expectations. I would love to have some kind of magic, especially if it's music-based. So..... basically a bard!

I'd also be very likely to be something not fully human, be that an elf or fairy or mermaid... or even a changeling.

Most fav book cliche:

There's a long list! But I really like Found Family stuff, and any time magic comes with A Price.

Least favorite cliche:

Characters getting pointlessly killed off just for the sake of Extra Drama.

Favorite scene to write?

Hurt/comfort, both ends! I especially love anything with added Guilt for one or all parties!

Reason for writing?

To paraphrase Brian David Gilbert: stories come to me in my dreams like a prophet receiving visions from an angry god.

I write because I'm always coming up with different ideas. I write because I was basically designed to study and create stories. Even if I don't physically write anything down, I will always find a way to tell some kind of story, be it just piecing together ideas in my head or through singing Broadway-style songs or even just attempting to draw a character. I write because it's just what I do!

#tag game #ask game #writer moments #crystal rambles #this was fun! thanks for the tag!

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serenedash · 1 year ago

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I'm sure a lot of people have. Feelings. to put it lightly, about Xehanort's role in khuxdr. I absolutely do and there's just this thing that really bugs me about it that just rubs me the wrong way. This is gonna get a little long winded before I make my point-- but call this a Xehanort character analysis

So to ignore khuxdr completely for a moment, here we have Xehanort: the main antagonist, a man who has seemingly worked out every possible scenario and prepared for each and every one because just when you think you've defeated him he comes back like a hydra (idk insert a coliseum joke here but it's very literal with the way he uses other people). And one thing I've always loved about kh as a series is that there's this constant message of "you don't need to be special, you can just be you" because there's Sora-- who's not "the chosen one" and he knows that, he says it, and says he's proud to be apart of the people the keyblade did choose. This nobody kid who for all intents and purposes should've just been the side comic relief character and he's THE hero. And there's Xehanort, the big bad he's fighting who seems to be so all powerful that Sora is nothing against him. But kh does this interesting thing where we learn Xehanort is from Destiny Islands, he's just like Sora, Riku and Kairi. He was just a kid wanting more out of life and got more than what he bargained for.

I really enjoyed dark road giving us more insight into his past and motivations and how that shaped him because I think all of that and especially the final face off with Baldr and meeting MoM, 100% was the turning point for who he became. And I think that's really interesting that this kid form an island became so much more. And I enjoyed the kh3 secret reports greatly when we got to see writings by a younger Xehanort comparing himself to Eraqus and it really hammers in that Xehanort, like Sora, was just some kid thrown into this world that was far larger than he expected. And I think there's a lot of great parallels between Sora/Xehanort and Riku/Eraqus, which is interesting given that I feel like initially these parallels are set up to compare Riku to Xehanort when that really isn't the case at all!!! And kh3 definitely hammers it in more when Xehanort passes the x-blade to Sora; there was a lot of great discussion of that moment when the game released and the comparisons between the two.

But. then we get to khux. And don't get me wrong, I love khux I LOVE khux and I also actually really don't like Xehanort. But he's a really interesting and well written character. And it felt like there was all this development for Xehanort that happened and with the end of kh3 you really just, come to terms with it all I guess? and I think we can all agree that extra scene at the end of khux with baby Xehanort felt like a real slap to the face. It just felt really odd to turn around and say Xehanort isn't actually from Destiny Islands; I mean he basically is literally being raised there almost from birth but he's really not ESPECIALLY when it's added that he's a descendant of Ephemera. It was an odd choice, it really was. And it feels weird to know that and then see the kh3 secret reports where Xehanort shares feeling inferior to Eraqus due to Eraqus being a "blue blood." Like you are too???? And it's like I wish I could say Xehanort just didn't know that but we literally see Player 2 telling him this. Xehanort knows, has known, and he's smart so there's no way he got to Scala and heard all about this amazing Master Ephemera and didn't have all these realizations. Of course, I don't think Xehanort told anyone about his connection to Ephemera, but he knew. and We know. and it just kind of takes the wind out of my sails I think that this interesting character was set up and the context of his actions feels changed by the circumstances of his birth/childhood. Like I don't think he needed to be from Scala, to be related to Ephemera. I really don't think that had to be added in order to explain why he was obsessed with the keyblade war. Like Sora, Riku and Kairi knew nothing about any of that but they still wanted to go out into the world. Why does Xehanort need that justification for leaving?

Like. it's fine I guess and it all still makes sense and it's still interesting to see these characters tied together like this, but it was already set up so perfectly I think in relation to Sora and it feels so much lesser now and it's kind of like. oh okay this is what's happening now. But hey, at least khdr made me actually like xehanort a little lmao

#omg I actually go into detail about games that aren't khux?! incredible feat for me #been thinking about this for awhile and finally could put some words to the feelings I had about xehanort #xehanort #kingdom hearts #khux #kh3 #khdr #khml #character analysis #khux essay #im rambling #kh

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crow-raven-crow · 1 year ago

Note

hey first of all i LOVE you’re work

i wanted to ask which fics you’re currently working on ?

𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨, 𝐝𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐲 - tldr at the bottom of the post xx

first of all - thank you🥰 I honestly never knew I would get this far, but posting my work here was the greatest decision I could've made. It feels amazing to post my work and have people enjoy it just like me :)

second - I have six requests in the works right now. I work in order of request and (because I'm traveling a lot these next few months) I'm mostly going to be doing requests and any other one shots that I come up with/want to indulge myself in. I really want to do fics with Brienne (i love her so much) and even some of the lovely Morningstar, so I'll either follow the requests or post something of my own.

This is also going to allow me to build up my next series because it's actually a really cool idea (to me) but I have absolutely no idea how many chapters its going to be.

★ In terms of requests, I have (in order from top to bottom):

Enemies to lovers - hate sex, Larissa x Reader

Lyric Fic to Eat Your Young by Hozier - going the sexual route with this one instead of the real meaning (about capitalism lol), Larissa x Reader

Sex Tape - g!p Larissa x Reader, plot twist, good ending

Lyric Fic to Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray - romantic, full of fluff, Larissa x Reader

Hecate Hardbroom x Reader - I'm currently looking into this character, but she seems really cool. Anon, if you have any specific requests for this, shoot me another message in my inbox please. I wanna know if you want fluff or smut or if you want anything specific to play out <3

Virgin Reader x Larissa Weems - first time, everyone expected otherwise from reader, soft

What's above is what's in the request. When I get there, titles will be posted to my masterlist of what is in the works in sections, but the titles are subject to change. The top request is the one I'm currently working on, so the title is actually already on my masterlist.

★ In terms of series (in the works, not coming out for A WHILE):

Larissa Weems x Professor Reader (title on my masterlist)

Brienne of Tarth x Reader

these are both on the longer side, are still in the works, and are listed VERY vaguely because the ideas I have behind them are ones I haven't seen before (I am and will continue to gatekeep, sorry xoxo)

★ When it comes to my own ideas:

I have around 6-7 one shots, two of which have the potential to become series. HOWEVER, I do prioritize my requests, so I won't mention my ideas for them because I do not know when they will come out. Most are Larissa x Reader, there's one that's Lucifer x Reader, and there's another where I don't know if i should do Brienne, Larissa, or Lucifer (it will probably be Brienne, though).

★ Other Notes:

sections of other characters will be created on my masterlist when a fic with them in it gets posted, but I seem to be a main Larissa Weems blog. If they're one-offs, they'll be posted in an "others" sections.

please remember I'm in college and also work, so things might take longer than some of you may like (I'm getting there, I swear)

look at my masterlist before turning in requests - there are some things I won't write, so if it's requested then I'll skip over that part of the request or the whole request entirely

TLDR: 6 requests, 2 series, 6-7 of my own ideas in the words. I prioritize requests sent to my inbox, and I work in order. Titles of things will be posted on my masterlist in sections and are subject to change. Series are on pause for me due to travel, so don't expect them for quite some time.

Thank you for the ask, lovely anon. This is the first one I've gotten that was just a question, and it was a nice excuse to update everyone else as well. Any questions like these will be under the same tag on my profile (second tag down below).

~ 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐯𝐲𝐧

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

#crowravencrow #crowvyn answered #crowvyn updates #masterlist #oneshot #one shot #in the works #wip #larissa weems #principal larissa weems #larissa weems x reader #principal weems x reader #brienne of tarth #brienne of tarth x reader #brienne x reader #lady brienne #lucifer morningstar #lucifer x reader #lucifer morningstar x reader

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sassy-ahsoka-tano · 2 years ago

Text

DADDY ISSUES - Part Four: Vegas

Character/Fandom: Elvis - Elvis (2022)

Prompt: Your new life is amazing, without Elvis. Well, at least until you get a mysterious package in the mail that's about to change your life. [ Fem!Reader ]

TW: a friend fight with some harsh words that were painful to write but i don't think anything else!

Rating: Pg-13 || Word Count: 5058

A/N: ahhh it's been AGES i know but i've been working hard so expect lots of updates!! i have several parts already queued. i'll be posting a chapter every tuesday + thursday until the fic is completed!

also just a reminder that there's a playlist if you're interested and i've put the link to the taglist below!

Song Rec: vegas - doja cat

This is Part 4 of Daddy Issues. Find the rest of the series here!

[ masterlist | taglist ]

🦋 mila

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

A year later, you find yourself living in a brand new apartment with Trixie, the girl whom you stood next to during the chaotic filming of the 68 Comeback Special. Apparently, her family is extremely well-off and has absolutely no issue sending her money without question. Although you’ve tried to assure Trixie about a thousand times that you don’t want nor need the money she continues to shovel into your pocket, she insists on supporting you. At first, it was easier to give in because you actually really did need the money, since you were unemployed with no prospects and a scant resume. But now, you’re just starting to feel selfish.

Fortunately, with Steve’s help you’ve managed to secure a job working at KNBC, California’s NBC television station. You might still just be a secretarial worker, but a job is a job. Surprisingly, you find yourself with an unprecedented amount of free time compared to what you had when you were constantly picking up night and weekend shifts every other week at the diner. Not to mention that you make a lot more, too. It’s nothing to brag about by any means, but far more than enough to get you back on your feet. Slowly but surely, your debts dwindle little by little every day.

So far, living with Trixie has been pure bliss. She’s incredibly sweet and very neat and tidy. She doesn’t leave her laundry on the floor, always takes the trash out, and is usually cheerful in the morning. Some days, she even meets you in the kitchen with a carafe of steaming hot coffee already brewed. She never brings home creepy guys who hang around past their welcome and she’s nothing but respectful of your space. She works similar hours to you as a designer at a fashion magazine conveniently located only a couple of blocks down the road from KNBC.

You honestly couldn’t have asked for a better situation and, for the first time in a very long time, you feel safe, happy, and healthy. Little do you know what’s to come when a surprise package shows up on your doorstep.

You’re in the bathroom, elbows deep in water and soap as you wash your face first thing in the morning. Trixie, the early morning bird she is, has been awake for several hours already and is in the kitchen making breakfast. With the bathroom door closed, you can hardly hear anything going on down the hall so it takes you a moment to process Trixie’s shout that you’ve received a delivery. Squinting your eyes to protect them from the soap sliding down your face, you turn toward the door and yell back.

“Who’s it from?”

A few seconds of silence pass before Trixie replies.

“Uh…Y/N, why are you getting a package from E…ley?”

You shake your head. You can barely hear her over the sound of the water and the closed door. Your fingers quickly scramble to turn off the faucet and you grasp for a towel to hurriedly dry your face before rushing out of the bathroom. Sticking your head around the corner, you glance at Trixie with furrowed eyebrows.

“What did you say?” you ask.

“The package,” she responds, holding it up, “it’s from Elvis Presley.”

“I…from who?”

“Can you hear me, honey? Elvis. Elvis Presley? Famous musician and actor? We're both huge fans? We were in the audience while he filmed his comeback special on NBC? Ringing any bells here?” Trixie gestures wildly, her eyes big and wide.

You shake your head and approach her, holding out your hands so she can pass the package along to you. As soon as it touches your fingers, you snatch it up and sit down on the couch in the living room. Sure enough, as you look at the address label on the package, there it is. Elvis Presley.

To be perfectly honest, you’ve all but forgotten about him. With everything going on in your life, you’ve been too busy to pay attention to celebrity gossip or keep track of the music charts. You also have to admit that you might have been more inclined to forget him after suffering the embarrassment of turning down his…offer.

Glancing up at Trixie, you see her biting the nail of her thumb anxiously, a big grin breaking through her face. You shake your head again and sigh a deep breath before your fingers start digging into the wrapping of the package. Once you’ve torn through the wrapping paper and flipped open the cardboard box, your fingers catch onto something soft and silky. Shooting a confused expression at Trixie, you pull out the object and stand to let it unfold. Your breath catches in your throat as it drops down into its full form. Trixie shares the expression, her gasp accompanying yours.

“Oh my god…” she says in awe.

You hold it up to your body and wander over to the floor-length mirror hanging in the entryway. As you press the fabric against your figure, your eyebrows raise. It’s almost the same blue color as your horrible dress from Chadney’s Restaurant, the one you’d been wearing when you officially met Elvis for the first time. Although the color is comparable, the quality is nowhere near the same. This dress is made of silk, softer than any fabric you’ve ever felt before, and definitely a major upgrade from the scratchy cotton of your old work uniform. The dress has a sweetheart neckline with a cut out of the side and a leg slit that rides higher than you’d normally be comfortable with. As you run your fingers over the seams, you feel a few hand-cut jewels. They look like diamonds, although your brain is incapable of believing that.

“Hey, there’s a note with it,” Trixie’s voice knocks you out of your disbelief and you turn toward her.

She hands it over to you and, as you unfold it, two long green strips of paper fall out. Trixie bends to pick them up and examines them as you read the handwritten script of the letter out loud, although the handwriting is atrociously difficult to decipher.

“Cinderella,” you pause and gulp as your brain flashes back to the moment when Elvis had first called you that. When he’d invited you into his dressing room after the special. When he’d pulled your panties from his robe pocket…

“Cinderella,” you clear your throat and continue, “I figured I oughta replace that blue dress you ruined on account of me. I hope you like this one better and that you find the rest of the contents of this package to your taste.”

You pause, your eyes wandering over toward the package which, apparently, has more to give. You reach for it, digging underneath the wrapping paper until your fingers curl onto something lacy. You pull it out and heat immediately floods your face and neck. Trixie’s hand flies onto her mouth as you both stare in silence at an expensive-looking lingerie set hanging from your fingertip. You immediately drop it back into the package and shiver.

“What does the rest of the letter say?” Trixie asks, leaning forward to glance at the note over your shoulder.

“Uh…replace that blue dress, blah, blah, blah…contents of this package…Don’t make me wait until midnight. And don’t forget who-”

You stop abruptly as your brain circles around the last few words of the letter.

“What?” Trixie asks, peering more intensely over your shoulder. “What does it say, Foxie? I can barely read his chicken scratch.”

Foxie is the nickname Trixie had started calling you. Until this point, you’ve never understood why. But as your eyes roam over the contents of the package Elvis sent you, you start to understand that maybe you’re more of a fox than you realized.

“Don’t forget who owns you, princess.”

Trixie’s mouth pops open and she stares at you with wide eyes. You collapse further onto the couch and cover your eyes with your palms. Your heart pounds in your chest as you run through everything you just discovered.

“Wait, I’m sorry…did I miss something?” Trixie asks. “What the hell is all of this, Y/N?”

“It’s nothing,” you reply a little too quickly. “It must be some kind of a joke or something. I don’t know.”

“Some joke! Some expensive joke. These fell out of the letter,” she says, handing over the two green strips of paper.

Your eyes widen as you scan the printed text on the paper. Two tickets to one of Elvis’ concerts at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. You run a hand over your face and toss the tickets back into the cardboard box they came in. With a building rage, you grab onto the other contents of the package and shove them back in, tucking the wrapping paper back over them like a blanket.

“No, no this is insane. I don’t know what kind of sick joke this is. But no,” you mutter to yourself.

“Y/N, honey…I really don’t think this is a joke. I mean, two front row tickets to an Elvis Presley concert in Las Vegas? Do you know how expensive these are? Who would blow that much money just to get a laugh? I can’t even think of anyone else you know and I certainly didn’t pull this stunt.”

“Look, I don’t know, but I can’t believe that…well, he wouldn’t have any reason to send this to me. I mean, I told him no the last time he offered, so he should-”

“What? What do you mean you ‘told him no?’ Y/N what is going on here that I don’t know about? I’m completely lost.”

Shit. You slipped.

“Oh, no. It’s nothing,” you stutter, waving your hands frantically. “It was…nothing.”

“Well, it was obviously something?” Trixie gestures to the package. You sigh and she places a hand on your shoulder. “Foxie, I’m your best friend in the world. You can tell me anything.”

Your gaze drops down to her brightly painted purple nails and you heave a deep breath before lifting your gaze to hers. Her eyebrows are furrowed in concern and you know that she genuinely does care about your well-being.

“You’re technically my only friend in the world, Trix. But yes, I guess something did happen that I never told you about.”

“Well, what is honey? Now, I really have to know,” she gestures to the package again and you chuckle.

“Well, to start off, the 68 special wasn’t the first time I saw Elvis. I saw him in 1956 at Russwood Park, too.”

“Right. I remember. We’ve talked about it plenty of times. What does that concert have to do with this?”

“Well, I maybe…kind of, sort of…did an embarrassing thing.”

“Like…what?” she quirks an eyebrow and you squeeze your eyes shut to counter the embarrassment you feel rising in your chest.

“I slid my underwear across the stage at that concert,” you blurt, wincing at the memory of your own actions. “And apparently I made an impression because he, Elvis I mean, sent his producer to bring me to the dressing room after we filmed the special. It was several hours after, so you were probably long gone by then. I was staying with my cousin, Steve, you remember him. Anyway, so I wound up in Elvis’ dressing room and it was just the two of us and he just…he just pulled my panties out of his pocket! The ones I’d given him, you know, years and years ago. I mean, I never in my wildest dreams would have expected…do you think he washed them? I mean, ew!”

“Calm, Foxie! Calm and focus. Slow words.”

“Right, sorry,” you laugh painfully and gulp before continuing. “Uh, after he pulled my panties out he sort of asked me if I…like, if I wanted to be his…sugar baby?”

Trixie’s eyes close and reopen wider and she leans forward as if she hasn’t heard you correctly. She blinks in shock.

“Well, what did you say? Did you tell him no?”

“Yeah, I said it was wrong. That I’m not the kind of person who sleeps with married men. Apparently, he didn’t take the hint because…” you gesture again to the infamous package.

“Yeah, I’d say not. What did he offer you? That’s how it works, right? You take care of him and he does something for you?”

“He offered to pay my debts and buy me gifts and stuff. The usual things, I imagine?”

“And he hasn’t contacted you since then until now?”

“Not one time.”

A few moments of silence pass. Trixie settles back into the couch, tapping her finger on her leg, obviously deep in thought. Your eyes just lazily drag around the scattered contents of the package as you contemplate what to do.

“Maybe…” Trixie starts, “you should go see what he wants?”

Your head snaps toward her.

“What?”

“I don’t know, maybe…maybe he has a different offer for you. Or maybe you can finagle your way into an even better arrangement.”

You throw your hands up, motioning for her to stop.

“Trixie, what are you talking about? I can’t do this. It’s wrong.”

“Yeah, I know, but you could use the extra cash and, after all, it is Elvis Presley.”

You just stare at her for a moment, your eyes flicking around her face to see whether she’s joking. Based on what you gather from her expression, she’s being completely serious. You scoff and stand up, grabbing harshly onto the box to take it right to the trash can.

“I can’t believe you would even say that, Trix. I expected better from you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Trixie asks, standing and propping her hands on her hips.

“For God’s sake, Trixie! The man is married with a baby. What would I do to all of that if I said yes? I’m not a homewrecker. All he wants to do is use me anyway. He’ll probably drop me in three days for another woman. No thanks, not gonna happen. I’m not doing this.”

“Well, give it all to me, then,” Trixie shouts back, stalking over toward you and grabbing ahold of the package. You pull back firmly, preventing her from snatching it out of your fingers.

“Excuse me? What are you gonna do? You’re gonna go see him?”

“Maybe I will.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but he doesn’t want you. He wants me!” you shout, ripping the package away from her.

“Oh, that’s very nice of you. If you’re not gonna take him up on it, someone should!” she yells back, reaching for the package again.

“If you didn’t want to support me financially any more you could have just said it!”

“Don’t even!” she holds up her pointer finger. “You know very well that’s not what this is about. I have no problem helping you. You’re the one who’s always complaining about how pathetic it is that you have to mooch off me.”

“And not everyone has the luxury to just leave their lives, you know!” you yell. “I have to work, Trixie. To pay my bills, to keep my car, to avoid going to prison. Not everyone’s mommy and daddy are around to bail them out when they make stupid decisions!”

Right after the words escape your lips, your eyebrows unfurl and grief settles quickly in the depths of your stomach. When you notice a few glinting tears gathering in Trixie’s eyes, the reality of what you’ve said and its consequences are all too clear. Trixie huffs and stares at you for a moment before spinning on her heel and stalking down the hallway to her room. You drop the box on the counter and thrust your face into your hands, jumping at the rigid sound of her bedroom door slamming shut.

“Why don’t you just leave me alone?” you whisper to Elvis’ nonexistent frame as you toy with a piece of the wrapping paper.

You’d lied to Trixie, which you now feel increasingly bad about. You had heard from Elvis. Just a few letters here and there for the first couple of months after you rejected him the first time. You threw them all away without opening a single one. After a while, they just stopped coming and you thought you were in the clear. You were obviously wrong.

You glance around the apartment, thinking about how lucky you are to even be living here in the first place. Guilt racks through your body painfully and you sniff back a couple of tears before reaching across the table to grab the two tickets. As your eyes circle around the words, you sigh and then shuffle down the hall toward Trixie’s room. With a deep breath, you knock quietly on the door and lean against it.

“Trixie? I’m so sorry, Trix. I’m just overwhelmed and frustrated. I didn’t mean to call you stupid or…shame you for your upbringing. And I really shouldn’t dare considering how much you’ve done for me,” you say quietly, resting your forehead against the door. “It just feels so…unreal. This whole Elvis situation. Don’t get me wrong, of course I’m interested but it just…feels so wrong. He’s married with a kid and I…I’m scared.”

You wait a few seconds but hear nothing on the other side of the door. You turn with a dejected sigh and retreat to hide in your room. But as soon as you turn your back, the door clicks open. You whirl back around to see Trixie peeking her head out.

“I’m sorry,” you say but she holds up a hand.

“Don’t apologize. I’m the one who should be doing that. I have no right telling you what to do with your life. I certainly shouldn’t be mad at you for not accepting. This situation is very…unusual. I guess I just got jealous at the idea that the Elvis Presley wants you so badly that he went to all this trouble. And I hate to see you struggling. I know the money would reduce a lot of stress so I just think you should…I don’t know, consider it.”

“I know, Trix. I could use the money, of course. But I’m scared and embarrassed. What’ll happen if I eventually get old or uninteresting? If he gets bored of me and drops me for someone else? I barely know the man but he feels dangerous to me. Steve said something about him being unfaithful to his wife and…it’s just all so much.”

Trixie nods, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms over her chest. You sigh loudly.

“At the same time, though…” you offer a small smile and pull the two tickets from your back pocket. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take him up on this? It’d be a shame to waste two front row tickets, especially with how expensive they are nowadays. And it would give me the opportunity to tell him off once and for all. What do you think? Another roomie adventure?”

You wiggle the tickets in the air with a suggestive shrug. Trixie laughs and nudges the door open with her hip. She throws her arms around your shoulders and you lean into her touch, closing your eyes and squeezing tightly. When she releases you, you’re greeted by a massive smile on her beautiful face.

“I guess we should get packing, then,” you say, gesturing at the tickets which have tomorrow’s date printed all over them.

“I’ll call the hotel and make reservations!” Trixie shouts, clapping her hands together.

With that, she disappears into her room to start packing. You trudge back into the kitchen to retrieve the package and then disappear into your own room. A few minutes later, you hear Trixie’s favorite Elvis record playing from her room.

You spend most of the day packing and preparing to leave since you’ll need to depart first thing in the morning to make the concert on time. At least one full hour is spent on the phone with your boss at KNBC as you try to explain why you can’t come in tomorrow. Another hour is wasted when you spend it calling everyone you know at the office to see if they’ll fill in for you. Luckily, the last person on your contact list agrees to take your shift. You thank them endlessly and accidentally promise an autograph from Elvis, although you aren’t sure if you plan on being that close to him.

You pass out as soon as your head hits the pillow that night and, even though you’ve both slept in, you and Trixie are groggy as ever in the morning.

As you lift your suitcase from the bed, your eyes land on the package from Elvis, half-unopened and not packed in your case. You pause in the doorway for a moment, staring at it. Last night, it was all too clear why you shouldn’t bring it. The answer to his proposal was and always would be a firm no. But this morning, as your gaze falls frozen on the beautiful things he’d sent you and the haunting words he’d written, your heart thumps with anticipation. Sighing frustratedly, you click open the suitcase and shove both the dress and the lingerie inside.

You and Trixie leave LA around 11 a.m., piled into her blue Jeep Wagoneer. Two hours into the four hour trip, you switch off and take the wheel so Trixie can get some extra rest. She was awake until two in the morning pairing up the perfect outfits. To your surprise, the drive is over in a flash and, the next thing you know, you’re inching through the Vegas Strip, stuck in horrific traffic.

You check your wristwatch as you get caught by yet another red light. You have roughly four hours to get ready for the show. After parking and checking in at the front desk, you take your bags upstairs to get unpacked. Even with exploring the hotel, grabbing dinner, and getting changed for the concert (which includes the forty minutes you spent debating whether or not you should wear the blue dress Elvis sent you), you find yourselves with time to spare. You decide to head down early and see if you can get seated before the rush.

When you arrive outside of the showroom, you’re shocked to see the area relatively deserted. You check the ticket twice to make sure before approaching the security guard standing in front of the doors.

“Hi,” you say cheerily. “We’re here for the Elvis show and were just wondering if it’d be possible for us to be seated a little early? If not, that’s alright, but we figured we’d check.”

“Well,” the guard starts, his eyes tracking not-so-sneakily up and down yours and Trixie’s figures. “We normally don’t allow people in before the scheduled time, but I might be able to make an exception for two ladies as lovely as yourselves.”

He winks and you press your lips together to keep from laughing. You glance at Trixie out of the corner of your eye and see her holding a finger to her mouth to mask her amusement.

“Oh, that’d be awfully sweet of you…Henry,” Trixie says, flashing him her most charming smile.

Your eyes drop down to see his nametag which reads Henry. You bite your tongue as you watch Henry flash Trixie a smile. He glances around the surrounding casino floor to see if anyone else is watching before pushing open the big black door behind him. He gestures with his hand.

“Please come on in, ladies. Will you need help finding your seats today?”

“Oh, you’re too generous, Henry,” you say as you both glide past him into the showroom. “But I think we’ll be alright. If we get lost, we’ll be sure to find you.”

You throw in a wink for good measure and spin on your heel, dragging Trixie into the room. Only a few steps inside and you’re both laughing so hard that you can barely breathe. Your laughs dry up in a couple of seconds, however, when you start to take in the space. You mutter in awe and point around the room, admiring details like the golden curtains pulled over the stage and the ornate statues adorning each column. You pull out the tickets and use them to direct you both toward your seats in the front row.

“Damn, we’re literally right here,” you muse, glancing straight ahead of you onto the front of the stage.

You’re seated at a round table that’s clad with a very fanciful tablecloth, dishes, and wine glasses. A candle, unlit, rests in the middle of the table and there’s a note propped up against the glass. You tilt your head as you reach out to grab it.

“Oh my god,” you mutter as you read the writing on the outside. Princess.

“Ooh, what’s that?” Trixie asks, plopping into one of the chairs next to you. You open the note as you join her.

“Princess, I’m so glad you made it. When you get here, come see me backstage. I have a present for you,” you read, your eyebrows furrowing.

You glance at Trixie but she just raises her eyebrows and shrugs. With a deep breath, you grab onto your purse, still clutching the note in your fingers.

“Alright, well I guess now’s as good a time as any to break the hard news. I’ll be back, I hope. If anything happens to me back there, you get everything in the apartment,” you say with a goofy smile.

Trixie laughs and shoos you away just in time for the showroom doors to open and release a line of audience members into the area. You hurry toward a door on the left side of the stage which you assume leads to the backstage area, considering the security guard who stands in front of it. You clear your throat before announcing yourself.

“Uh, hi! I’m here to see Elvis. Well, everyone is here to do that, I guess, but I have this note and uh…well, here,” you say nervously and hand over the letter. He examines it as you wait and anxiously wring out your fingers.

“Y/N?”

Your head spins as a vaguely familiar voice sounds from behind you. A smile immediately spreads across your face as you recognize Elvis’ producer, Jerry. You give him a wave and a shrug as heat creeps into your face.

“Hi…” you greet him quietly.

“It’s nice to see you again,” he says, approaching you. He waves off the guard dismissively. “She’s good to go. He’s been expecting her for a long time. Here, I’ll show you back.”

The guard shimmies out of the way so Jerry can open the door. He gestures for you to enter with a smile and you thank him as you step through.

“Changed your mind, huh?” Jerry asks as you follow him through the backstage area.

“Uh, no actually. Not really. I’m just here to tell him to save his postage,” you say, feeling the need to justify yourself although you can’t explain why.

“Can’t blame you. These kinds of situations don’t work for everyone, although this will be a first for him.”

“Do you think he’ll be disappointed?” you ask jokingly.

“Oh I’d bet on it.” Apparently Jerry didn’t take your question as a joke. “Like I said before he’s been waiting for you, specifically, for a long time. I’m sure he’ll be very disappointed, but don’t let that stop you. It is your decision, after all. Good luck.”

Jerry points toward a dressing room door with big black letters which read ELVIS. You clear your throat and thank Jerry. He nods curtly and then spins on his heel to return to the work he probably needs to get done before the show starts. You straighten the hem of the blue dress he’d sent you and clutch firmly onto the strap of your purse, into which you’d also stuffed the lingerie at the last minute. It suddenly occurs to you that perhaps you were supposed to wear the lingerie under the dress…

Oh well, you think to yourself. Too late now.

You take a few deep breaths and smile awkwardly at the cast and crew who pass through the area on their way to get ready for the show. You know it’s ridiculous to think that everyone knows why you’re here but, despite the sheer unlikeliness of it all, you still feel embarrassed and shameful that you actually came. A few times, you debate backing away and returning to your table with Trixie to just enjoy the show. But something stops you every time. Eventually, your desire and curiosity move you forward and your knuckles knock on the door three times.

Ignoring the fight or flight mechanism that triggers in your chest, you wait for the door to open. In a matter of seconds, your wish is granted and he stands before you. He’s wearing an incredibly detailed white jumpsuit with flared pants and a popped collar. It’s unbuttoned all the way down to his waist and you gulp as your eyes immediately fly to the bare skin of his chest. As your gaze flicks back up to his face, you find him smirking down at you, his eyes already hungrily digesting your figure which stands in front of him. His body is elongated and pulled taut as he leans against the doorframe. He still looks good, as healthy and as sexy as ever, although his sideburns and hair are much longer than they had been almost a year ago.

“Princess,” he says in a voice even deeper than you remember. You begin to notice the painful thudding of your heart against your chest as his eyes take you in. “I figured you weren’t comin.”

This is it, the perfect opportunity for you to reject him and explain why you can’t take him up on his offer. But your brain stalls. It’s completely blank as you stare up at him with helpless doe eyes. He examines your figure once more before pushing the door open to create a space underneath his armpit for you to enter. You glance up at him, waiting for further instructions as if you need a translation. He flips his head toward the room.

“Inside.”

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

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megafreak400 · 2 months ago

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Watching all of One Piece - The Baroque Works Saga

I've been making slow but steady progress and it's now time to take a look at the next saga in One Piece. As of writing this I'm about 150 episodes through the series so still a long ways to go but i've been enjoying my time with it so far. This saga was overall fun even if it took a bit longer to watch it then I would have liked. Part of that stems from having stalled on watching the Alabasta arc itself due to it being the first really long arc (like 40 episodes or so) but once I got through the early bit I binge the ending. This blog should be a lot shorter than the last one overall, but i'm saying this as I type it up so if this ends up being a novel again my bad.

Music

This section will be a lot shorter this time, not because the music got bad or anything but there wasn't a ton of new songs that really stood out. Stuff like Chopper's theme and Nico Robin's theme are good but most of the new songs didn't stick in my head like the songs introduced in the first saga. All of those songs are still here mind you, so what I liked before I still like now. Special shout out for them using We Are (OP1) as an in show song at points, kind of just becoming one piece's main theme. It's a pretty cool moment at the end of the Alabasta Arc and I'm always here for those kind of moments. As for Openings, OP2 sticks around for most of this saga and it's just fine. It did grow on me a bit but again visually it's unappealing and musically it's just ok.

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We do get a new OP midway through the Alabasta Arc and.....uh well It's very very good but, we get it midway through the Alabasta Arc. Spoilers just a bit don't you think? It also spoils Nami's new weapon which is also silly. It doesn't bother me too much because I knew about this character already but imagine watching this when it aired, you would be like "WTF this villain joins the crew?"

But ignoring that aspect this OP is super sick, probably my favorite so far. We Are is a classic but not only is this one a bop, it's easily the most interesting visually. Also chopper is great in this OP so 10/10.

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And for endings, nothing really stood out too much but special shout out to this one that features Chopper because best boy best boy best boy!

Arcs

Same as last time I'm not gonna be explaining what happens so if you haven't watched One Piece why are you reading this blog (hi Nina) sorry but I don't have the time to recap everything. I'm gonna try to not talk characters too much here except when applicable

Reverse Mountain Arc

Clocking in at around two episodes, this is barely an arc but at the same time it absolutely deserves mention here because a lot of important stuff is in the Straw Hats entry to the Grand Line. Laboon is great and his entire back story (I hope we get a follow up on this in the future but I wouldn't push my luck) was the saddest back story ever told. Luffy's promise to come back and spar with him holds weight because if there is one thing you can say about Luffy, hes and idiot. But if there is two things you can say about Luffy he'll never give up on his dreams or promises. Crocus building an entire living space inside Laboon is silly fun that i've come to expect of One Piece, but I really hope he stops hitting his head, the poor boy doesn't need more scars. The Log Pose is a super interesting element that gets added here, as it explains why no one has found the one piece due to how weird navigation is in the Grand Line. Island hoping also explains why they need to stick around on islands so I really like this concept being added. I think the stuff with the agents is kind of weird, like I legit don't get why they were even introduced here, but I guess it was more to foreshadow that was coming up.

Whisky Peak Arc

Zoro finally gets to cut loose and it's amazing. Most of East Blue he spent injured or lacking swords but here? He gets to just clown on a bunch of lame bounty hunters and it's a delight to watch. Sadly what could have been a fun introduction to Baroque Works ends on a sour note, and it's all the editors fault. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY did you think having Luffy fight Zoro for literally no reason was a good idea? This one moment literally knocked Luffy down multiple points in my book because the guy who said "NAMI IS MY FRIEND" decided to instead be like "ZORO IS MY FRIEND.....Unless food." Like I get it to some extent, having two strong guys fight, fun idea but not at the expense of their characters. The editors demanding these two fight is easily the worst part of this arc, and while Zoro and Luffy ignoring the tough agents and their fighting accidentally knocking them out is funny, it's not worth the damage it does to Luffy's character. I know a lot of people cry "out of Character" at times when it's not deserved, but in this case it really is because Luffy wouldn't fight his friends like this. Beyond that, this arc is mostly a way to introduce the main villains of the saga, Baroque Works, a shady bounty hunting organization with weird names and weird people involved. As i'll get into during the character section, Vivi's introduction through this is a little weird and makes the whole thing feel a bit whip lashing in how fast it goes from just fighting bounty hunters trying to rob them to becoming an escort mission for a princess. It's not a big problem, just a little weird. Also Whisky Peak's cactus 'needles' being gravestones is pretty metal. It also literally has no impact on anything in this arc, nor does it really matter at all...but I thought it was cool.

Little Garden Arc

YAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA This arc is weird. It starts as just exploring a prehistoric island with funny Zoro and Sanji moments (I don't think Dinosaur Meat is good for you, and meeting with silly giants who have been fighting for a long long long long long time. But sadly the ending just ends up a bit drawn out. While Zoro's reaction to becoming a wax figure is hilarious, Mr. 3 gets old fast and him and the other guys stopping Luffy from saving his friends through delay tactics (Like the weird color mind control trick or the annoying explosion guy) just goes on for too long. I love Ussop getting a moment to save the crew, and Sanji tricking Mr. Zero into giving him information and him getting a eternal pose is pretty great. Mostly just the villians in this arc just go on too long. If Exploding snot man and Ground Pound Down girl weren't here I would have enjoyed it more, they really had no reason to come back. I guess because silly wax man wasn't that strong but IDK I don't think we needed to extend this arc as much as we did. The giants are great and this arc leading into the next is also great as well. I also like the VIvi starts to enjoy the crew more in this arc, since by the next one she already trusted the crew where as here she's still getting used to these guys who have decided to help her out. Also GOLD FISH REAL

BEST ARC BEST ARC BEST ARC Drum Island Arc

My Favorite arc of the Saga easily. As said in the first blog of this series, this is actually the first arc I watched. Having watched the stuff leading up and after it, it's interesting how this arc really leaves almost all of the Baroque works stuff out and just focused on the Drum Kingdom and Chopper's Back story. And Chopper's backstory, Saddest backstory ever told.

This arc is really just Chopper the arc, since most of the main cast doesn't do much this arc? Nami despite being sick arguably has the most relevance here due to being the one to learn about Chopper, and obviously Luffy defeats the main villain. But beyond that this arc is really all about Chopper and the kingdom he live in an I love that. Not Wario is a horrible person but he makes for a good villain in this arc. Luffy punching horrible people will never not be satisfying and seeing Not Waluigi fly off to hopefully never return is super satisfying. This arc also has some of the best side characters in the show so far with Dalton and Doctorine. It's not like I didn't care about Nami's home town or Ussop's rich friend but I really care about the Drum Kingdom and I really hope it improves in the future cause it's probably my favorite location thus far. The ending scene with the cherry blossom snow is also a fantastic way to end an arc. Also D is real and I really want to know what that's about.

The only things I don't really like is Luffy and Sanji wanting to eat chopper but that's like my only real nitpick. Other than that just a solid story and a nice breather before diving into the next big arc.

Alabasta Arc

So I'm conflicted when it comes to this arc. The arc is basically divided in half, the first half being the introduction to the area and trying to prevent civil war and the second half is all of the big fights. The first half...is rough at points. Part of that is anime only additions extending the time it takes to get to the oasis town. I don't mind that to some extent because it makes Luffy's insistence to just got to Crocodile make even more sense. That said, it drags on a bit and everyone is fighting with each other because they hate sand. We do get more Ace which is nice but everything before Rain Dinners is ok but just a bit too long and drawn out. When we get to Crocodile's casino, stuff starts to get more interesting. Mr. 3 coming back is so stupid and I love it and everything about how they escape the casino. I like that Sanji being an unknown to Baroque actually pays off here, and Smoker continues to be the only good marine. The second half is much better. Luffy losing a fight is a good thing and makes his eventual victory much sweeter. Nami's fight is great but Ussop making it for parties kind of makes Ussop seem kind of like he doesn't get Nami's want to fight. Coupled that with how he acts during his an Chopper's fight with Moley Christmas and FOUR, Yea Ussop isn't going up in my favor yet. I do like the Chopper's fight overall, but mostly for how it ends and for chopper trying his best and wanting to do what he can. It's also probably the most interesting fight in terms of what actually happens. Zoro's fight with 1 is fine but not really for the fight itself and more for zoro's resolve in learning to cut steel (which he def already could do but I assumed that was in an anime only arc.) The actual fight is pretty straight forward. When your leader can zip around and do crazy rubber shenanigans, it makes a lot of other fights look more boring in comparison sadly. Sanji's fight....is whatever. Mr. 2 is great but the fight just consists of them kicking each other and then Sanji getting Brocked as 2 keeps using Nami's Face. Again like Ussop Sanji isn't really improving my opinion on him so far. Poor Vivi though. She tries her best here and it's heart breaking that no one is listening to her. Crocodile is up there with Arlong in how ruthless he is and when Luffy comes back it's a nice breather for the despair VIvi has been thrown into. The climb to the clock tower is fun, even if the ends result is a tragedy....or would be if ANYONE DIED IN THIS SHOW. Look IDK if I find this a major issue yet or not but if you think someone is dead, assume they will show back up. So many people should have died and then they just don't because.......yea. Also just a note, holy hell these mooks need a raise. Random guys with a Baroque works tattoo did way more to further the civil war than anything the number agents did. Make Generic grunt #105 a Number agent, he deserves it. But yea the ending to Alabasta is great, I love how the Marine's factor in and am curious how Sword Girl and Smoker will factor in to future story lines. Robin joining the crew is a little odd but I'm sure it won't be that odd the more we get to know her. Overall I enjoyed this arc but i do think it was a bit to long. Everyone getting their own fight a the end was awesome, but it just took a bit too long to get to the fighting.

Post Alabasta Arc

This is basically just a series of stand alone episodes revolving around one of the characters usually. I believe this is Anime only but I liked these a lot. A nice breather after the long arc that was Alabasta and a good way to further develop these characters. One issue I had with the Dragon Anime only arc in the last blog was that things happened but none of the characters were growing or effecting the plot really they were rather static. Here in these little vignettes you get each character to show what is good about each of them and also play off of each other is a delightful way. The Chopper episode is great cause we get to see more of him and his adoptive mother, as well as get more introduced to Robin. Robin at this point is kind of anomaly in the cast since she's the only crew member to invite herself. Getting to see her interact with Chopper was a good way to ease the viewer into accepting her as a crew member, so it was a good choice on the Anime's part. The next one I like but it's also weird. Rice Rice (he ate the Rice Rice Fruit) is weird, but really the odd salesman is only here as the preamble for a Nami map episode. I love when characters are in their element, and Nami getting to finally draw some maps is nice. Case and point, when Sanji gets to cook and not be weird around woman, he's very likable. His interaction with the young cook and subtly helping him make cury is again nice. Same deal with Ussop and the fire works people. It's also just a cute standalone story. Ussop is at his best when he's inventing or helping people not fighting, and this episode is the perfect one to highlight him at his best. And the Zoro episode is a flash back, to when he met the bounty hunting duo. Which is honestly pretty sick and you know me, I love me some more zoro. Luffy and Robin don't get episodes but they do get moments in the other characters episodes. Like I said, just a nice breather arc with good character moments. Unlike with the lead up to Alabasta that just drags because your anticipating a big fight, having these kind of slice of life episodes after a big fight is the best way to handle these anime only additions I feel.

Episodes not in Arcs

So I think the only thing to episode here is the two episodes about Koby and Helmeppo. They're fine, we get a look at Garp who I assume will be important later but who knows. These little vignette episodes of past characters are canon from my understanding, but after this one they dropped them because people didn't like them in the anime. But I think the issue is where they're used, and also because Buggy's episodes added nothing to the story. I would argue at least here I could see some of this stuff being important later but at the same time, watching them getting stronger and better at being marines is just whatever. But it's better than buggy at least.

Characters

So my plan here is to go over the new major recurring characters in their own section, give my thoughts on other character I really liked in small snippets and then also a general thought on the already existing cast and how my opinion on them has changed if it has.

BEST BOY BEST BOY BEST BOY Tony Tony Chopper

Chopper is my favorite bar none. Not only cause he's cute but he also has the saddest backstory ever. I also think he's the crew member at the moment who is the best at their job. Most of the crew didn't really join because of their skills, besides Nami and Sanji. Nami hasn't gotten a lot of time to shine as a navigator this arc due to the crazy nature of the Grand Line and getting used to it. Sanji goes out of his way to fuck with the male crew members food and that annoys me to no end. But Chopper will doctor anyone and is damn good at it. Some people apparently find chopper annoying, but he's a little kid who wants to be treated as an equal and not a monster and I sympathize with the little dude. He's one of the best parts of Alabasta cause he really wants to try his best to help his new crew. I love the little brother relationship he has with a lot of the crew and I look forward to seeing more of that as we go on.

Nefertari Vivi

Vivi's introduction is weird. She's introduced as a weird agent named Mrs. Wednesday trying to eat Laboon. It's because she's undercover as a Baroque Works agent but IDK everything with Baroque works at this point just feels silly and over the top, it's not until after Whisky Peak that they start to feel like a threat. And because of this her posing as a silly agent before being revealed as a princess, just feels a little off at the time? Again it's a minor nit pick but like compared to Robin, who seems like the same person both as miss all Sunday and as Nico Robin, Vivi having two personalities just doesn't work for me. I guess you could argue that her and her body guard were doing it on purpose either because he thought you had to be that way to be a secret agent or because they were trying to hide their identities better but from the viewers perspective it just comes across as an odd reset. Regardless once we meet Vivi proper, she's nice. I like how in a lot of ways she's very much like Luffy in that she never gives up, but she also doesn't want anyone to get hurt except herself. I think this part of her character gets lost a little sadly due to the fact that the characters that are important in one piece are allergic to death. Like Luffy says people die and you can't protect everyone but....I mean who has died so far? Background characters that could be either dead or knocked out. It never really hits home that death is a real threat so Luffy making that be something she needs to come to terms with and that she needs to rely on others who are also willing to risk anything just loses a bit of it's punch. But I like her a lot, she kind of helped ground the crew for a bit, and I can't imagine we'll never see her again. As for when, who knows.

BEST DUCK BEST DUCK BEST DUCK Karoo

For what could just be a silly animal friend, Karoo is like my favorite part of Alabasta. This Duck really cares about Vivi and despite never talking you get exactly his state of mind when it comes to respecting the straw hats. His entire episode of protecting VIvi from Mr 2 is peak and is arguably the best 'fight' in that section. Also he's apart of the Super Sonic Duck Squad and that's just awesome. He's also a chocobo, you can't hate chocobos.

Portgas D. Ace

We don't get a lot of Ace (arguably more than in the Manga at this point) but I really like him a lot so far. He's a bit more grounded than Luffy but also he's absolutely Twoffy. The entire scene in the bar in the first town in Alabasta is hilarious. With him leaving Luffy that paper I'm sure we'll see him again.

Nico Robin

So uh, I'm probably gonna just need to do a new character section for her next time as well cause there really isn't much to say yet. She doesn't do much as Miss All Sunday besides having a mysterious backstory. From what i've seen of robin I like her but I also can't read her. I need to see more of her before being able to really get a read. In a lot of ways she's kind of similar to early Nami in that respect. Other Saga Characters

Ok gonna rapid fire this a bit. These are also only gonna be my favorite side characters or very notable villains. It doesn't mean I didn't like other characters they just didn't stand out as much as these guys. Also if I really hate someone they can also show up here. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine suck so hard. They're such nothing characters but the way their portrayed is so obnoxious. I wanted to punch their faces so hard during the little garden arc. Mr. 3 like ways is a doof but unlike the other two, he's at least funny to watch and how they bring him back in Albasta is funny. Both of the giants are good fun, I love their silly laughs and look forward to eventually getting to Elbaf.

Dalton is such a good guy and I really hope he helps lead the former Drum Kingdom back to glory. His reaction to Hiriluk's death remains a highlight to me.

Dr. Kureha is amazing and I love her so much. She's hilarious in every scene she's in and she's a very good mother to chopper. Like wise ditto for Dr. Hiriluk, even if you have to add an element of sadness to his appearance due to obvious reasons.

Pell should have died. I like him but also he SHOULD HAVE DIED. Also he's a bird. King Cobra I like a lot, he's silly at points but I like his conversation with Robin in the tomb, he seems like a wise ruler overall. Mr. 2 is silly and I love them and really look forward to them not dying and coming back later in the show. The entire part at the end with them helping the Straw hats escape was great. FOUR HA HA HA HA

Guns can't eat Crocodile is Arlong 2. He's way more of a threat and takes Luffy way longer to deal with but he's sadistic as fuck. He's a good Saga villain and a good introduction to the kind of assholes we'll meet on the grand line. His over the top plan with like a billion back up plans was a bit much at points, it was almost like I was watching a Danganronpa Villain with how much despair her put Vivi through. Luffy punching him through layers of earth out into the sky to classical music is one of the best moments of that arc, his defeat was very cathartic.

The Old Guys Luffy sadly just does a lot of dumb shit and out of character shit this saga. He's great in drum kingdom and at the end of Albasta but i'm sorry the Whisky Peak moment really fucking sucks.

Zoro is more Zoro. He keeps being Zoro and that's awesome. Nami continues to become more and more one of my favorites. Her greed can be annoying at times but her relationship with Vivi, her part during the Drum Kingdom Arc and her fight with the Clima tech (weird weapon, but still cool) were all highlights and I hope she continues to use her smarts to win fights. Ussop was barely in this saga. He slept through whisky peak, got his moment in little garden and got to gush about giants, was barely relevant in Drum Kingdom, and then wasn't really important in Alabasta til his fight with Four and Mole. And he spent most of that fight running away. Overall Ussop will get good I'm sure, but his faults just keep popping out too often. Sanji needs to stop obsessing over women. He gets his cool moment with rescuing the crew from Crocodile but other then that most of his screen time this arc is spent being unfunny and girl crazy. SMOKER!!! We don't have many recurring side characters yet but Smoker comes back and he's so good. I really love this dude and how despite hating pirates he's also willing to change. He also doesn't put up with the World Government's bullshit so I've very excited to see more of him.

Crew Ranking

Chopper > Zoro > Nami > Robin > Luffy > Ussop > Sanji Luffy went way down due to how annoying he was in the desert and of course Whisky Peak. I'm sure he'll recover but he really only went under Nami for me. Robin is just in the middle right now because I don't really have an opinion on her yet, nor should I since she hasn't really done anything yet.

Final Thoughts

This saga is mostly good. The less interesting arcs are at least shorter than some of the East Blue arcs, and while early Alabasta is a bit much, it ends on a high note. Drum Kingdom is peak, and seeing the crew grow is very nice. I'm excited to see where the show goes from here, cause it can see it going up.

#one piece #Youtube

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skymagpie · 6 months ago

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What about Top 5 games/books/series/movies/etc you would call "underappreciated" for what they do?

Hm, my view of things might be skewed because I do feel like these things are popular only because I am in the circles that talk about them and I think they are generally not that popular, or at least not as popular as stuff like League, Arcane, WoW, TES etc. This also excludes niche things like old books, plays and films that I picked up from uni as I don't feel like having people quiz me why I like the works of some "problematic" guy from 50-100 years ago.

Subnautica - this is literally one of the best game series I've ever played. It has a very simple, but amazing story, a lot of heart and soul, the aesthetic and the feeling of the game are unmatched and the gameplay is very fun. If you are scared of the depths, its a terror game, but the fact that the story is so heartfelt makes up for you being terrified of the world. In fact, the fact that it can be very scary sometimes just adds to the story. It's a perfect sync of gameplay and storytelling. It's a cheap game too with no micro-transactions and such, so it's a little jewel in a sea of crap they've been releasing lately.

Dishonored - Yes, I think Dishonored is not as popular as it should be. Dishonored is amazing, from aesthetics to writing (especially in the first game), to world building and gameplay. The first game is a masterpiece despite the fact that the story it tells is very simple and straightforward, so much so that sometimes it's even funny. The 2nd game threw the ball when it comes to story, but the characters, the aesthetic and world it built is still unmatched. It's absolutely beautiful and it awakens something in me whenever I think about it. For me Dishonored (and Subnautica above) are like a vacation by the seaside that cures depression.

Pirates of the Caribbean - These films might feel like they are popular because you see them plastered on children's notebooks and backpacks, but they are soooo underground because they were popular some 15 years ago and now most people forgot they existed aside from Jack Sparrow and his pop culture influence. However the first film is a masterpiece and the two other that follow are excellent and bring so many new things to this type of storytelling. They made the Pirate genre so good and it's sad that the genre itself died out with them. The 2 last films are not so good, but I think the culture already shifted away from pirates and that probably just added to the lack of quality and passion put into them (Disney just thought they can ride off the success of the first three, not realizing what actually made them so successful). However, much like the three things above, the feelings the first three films bring is so beautiful that I do recommend for people to give them a watch (or a re-watch) and experience some of that joy for themselves. The following two are very much a subtype or parts of bigger fandoms and not things on their own~

The Warcraft novels - this is a more of a "subtype" of something being popular, but I don't think the Warcraft novels get enough attention within the Warcraft community. While a lot of games tend to release books to up sales and often put key story elements in them, however the books are not as good and they do feel like they were made just because every game needed to have a book from 2016 and onward. The Warcraft books on the other hand feel like they are an essential part of the story and not just a cashgrab. While they are not all good, sometimes the writing is lacking, they are absolutely fun to read and people who like the Warcraft lore should not overlook them. For me they give me the vibe of the cheap little fantasy booklets I used to read on vacation when I was a child. And some deal with pretty heavy topics and themes you would not expect in a "video game book".

The Zed comic - obviously and the most expected response, while League doesn't have a lot of lore (even if people pretend it does, it doesn't, play TES or WoW to see what capital L-ore is), people know Arcane is like the peak of League's story. I however think that the Zed comic is good enough to make it at least in the runner ups to Arcane's 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize. It's a good comic, yes the style is in that ugly Marvel fashion which is 90% of the visual charm for me, and despite the League community moaning that it's not a good story, it's in fact a good story. The plot works, the characters work, the story build upon century old premises of brothers fighting for the love of their father and it offers these characters so much more than what we see in the rest of the content for them. This comic made these characters actual characters, and the community either ignores or straight up dislikes it out of reasons only understandable to them.

BONUS: Greymoor was a great ESO DLC and received a lot of flack from the ESO community. The criticism that it killed gay characters is the only valid criticism. Pretty much everything else boiled down to "It has a weak plot :///" that was never elaborated by anyone in any capacity. It was a great Chapter, it had beautiful aesthetic and a unique feeling even if bringing back a zone from Skyrim and it had one of the best TES villains in general. For me it was the last true ESO expansion that just really captivated me even though I like the ones that came after.

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dreamtuna · 1 year ago

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1 week on and it's still all I can think about but the void inside of me is starting to soften around the edges thanks to all the amazing conversations I've had, thanks to the fanworks I've seen, thanks to the kindness and love.

This is a long(ish) post about my feelings, stretching back to 2014 and some bad memories (tw: shitty partner) and talking about compassion, love and healing. If you read this, thank you. ♥

More than anything I just wanted to be able to have my feelings out there somewhere in the world and not just trapped inside me.

I haven't read the manga (yet). I decided to finish my journey with the anime since the end was near and that was how I started my journey. This meant dodging spoilers, which I mostly achieved! Apart from one. People just couldn't stop posting the manga page of Levi's last salute. But since I'd not been enlarging it, just scrolling past asap every time... I wasn't sure what I'd seen. And my brain began to think "oh my god, is he dead? is that what this is?" and I spent 50 days just trying to process those emotions in preparation all while avoiding as much of the fandom as possible because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it any other way, I couldn't risk seeing any other spoilers or the context for that one. And so I processed it, I got myself to the point where all I wanted for him was to find peace before his death. I went into the finale so anxious and when we finally got to that scene everything just burst in me. I'd been crying throughout anyway, but that scene just destroyed me in the best way. Not only did I have the relief of it not being what I thought I'd seen, but it was the conclusion I'd been hoping so badly for. Following on from the previous special, that was all I could ever want for him. That moment when all the weight of the world, the weight of all his comrades that he carried with him - that we saw right from his introductory scenes - finally lifted off his shoulders. I've watched it so many times this past week and I can't get through it without crying. I just feel so much for him. I'm just so proud of him.

To combine that with his final post-war scene giving candy to the kids in the refugee camp, oh my god, my heart couldn't take it. So much pride and happiness seeing him, seeing how far he's come from the days in the underground. Seeing his peace. I've always said his compassion is what makes him humanity's strongest, and to see that reflected in his final scene just filled me with so much love and joy. It was absolute perfection. I honestly could not have asked for a more perfect conclusion for not just my favourite character in the series, but my favourite character period.

I originally wanted to write a long post the day after, reflecting on what Levi means to me to help me process things and get everything out of my head so I have room to breath and think again. My head was just thick with Levi and the meaning of the conclusion and series as a whole. But reading everyone else's content - the analysis, the fanfics, the thirsting (oh god we really did get the prettiest boy that ever did exist, huh?), EVERYTHING - has helped so much more than I expected. It's been really healing and helped turn that loss into love.

I watched the s1 dub back when it came out-ish. It would've been like 2014? I remember where I was, who I was with and who I was at the time. It was not a good time in my life. My relationship with my partner, who I watched the series with, was not good. It was very unhealthy and stifling and I was not good to him either but he was really fucking awful to me. It tainted the series a little bit for me, because I always remembered how badly it felt at the time. I wanted to be in fandoms again so badly at that time and I felt like I couldn't because of him and his expectations of me and the other people in my life at the time. And yet, the series still took root in my heart, Levi especially. Over the years I never forgot them and I craved the knowledge of the rest of their stories. But whenever I thought about returning I felt sick with remembering everything else from that time.

Fast-forward to this year, 6 months (to the day) before the finale airs. I'm looking for an anime to start. I'm a different person. I'm much older, much wiser, much more hurt and much more healed. My outlook on the world is entirely different and finally reflects the way I've always felt in my core. I'm not in a great place, but I'm doing my damn best to get there one day.

Fuck it, I'm going to start Attack on Titan.

I rewatched season 1. I remember asking my friend "why is this so easy to watch?". I'm the type of person who really struggles sometimes to sit through a single episode, but here I was watching 4-5 in one sitting. Then I hit s2 and I watch the entire thing in a single sitting. It continues and I binge so hard that by partway through s3 part 2 I'm starting to get too attached, too upset. I take a breather. But I can't even breathe for more than a few days before I'm back. I finish the series and look back on my journey completely stunned that I was able to overcome my wandering mind and watch something so fast.

I realise I'm completely in love with the series, and with Levi's character especially. The things he represents... I always had been in love, I think, but now, with all the development the series undergoes, it had consumed me. And I loved the feeling.

I convinced my current partner - an extremely loving and attentive partner despite our long distance situation who respects me and my interests and makes me want to be a better me every day until I'm the best me I can be - to watch it with me. And we devoured it together. Later I watched the series for a third time in preparation for the finale. And on each watch I got more and more out of it. I saw more. I felt more. My hatred towards some characters for their actions simmered out as I started to really understand some of their stories and the themes. Not knowing how the ending would tie it all together, I had no idea that some parts of the series, some of the themes and whatnot, really resonated with me and my worldview. I just instinctively felt it, I guess, from the information I had at hand.

But most of all I started to heal. A lot of things from back in 2014 and around that time had never healed. They have now. I owe this series so much. It gave me back a part of me I thought I had permanently lost. I owe it so much.

Loving AoT, loving Levi, has given me so much warmth and joy. The things I could never speak of no longer need to be spoken of, except to say "I overcame them".

And of course, I cannot and will not go into details of those things. Because like I said, they no longer need to be spoken of. I know what happened. And I know who I am now. Someone who is bigger, better and wiser for the things I have gone through. Someone who, thanks to a "stupid anime", thanks to a "dumb fictional character" as some people might think, someone who can walk a little more securely and proudly.

This fandom has been a part of that healing process too. I'll forever be grateful for every post I read and everyone who read and interacts with mine. I'll be here, even if I'm not always active or writing. I'll always be here in this fandom now. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this, whether you interact or not. I hope, even when a lot of people have moved on to other things, that we can still be here never truly letting our happiness end. I may not have had the years with you, but I'm sure looking forward to the years we will spend in the future.

Now please resume your thirstposting for Levi. Please, I need more unhinged comments that feel like they've been ripped directly from my brain they FUEL me. I love you all so much

Let us always channel our inner Levi and show the world the love and compassion he would've.

#yumemi fucking rambles holy shit #this is emotional and i cried writing this but i'm glad it's out there #tl;dr is i love aot i love levi ackerman and i love this fandom #i really really do #levi ackerman #attack on titan

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