#and i know there are a ton more but i havent ventured into their stories yet

[deepwoundsandfadedscars]

Characters with pet crows/crow aesthetic/heavily associated with crows for reasons is so heavily overused but SO GOOD, creators of these characters are so right and should never stop

[andro-dino]

Hey! It’s CureDeity (sorry tumblr makes me ask from my main). I am here, in your inbox today, to rattle my little empty coin can and ask you to list some of your favorite beyblade fanfics! I’m going around asking a lot of people this, so feel free to ignore it if you want, but I thought this might be a good way for people to shout out some of the fanfic they really enjoy! Btw, if you can, I thought it would be helpful to list which site this fic was on so others could find it easier if they wanted to. Also, if you’ve written any fic (or have fic ideas, as we all know, imagining the same scene over and over again is the bread and butter of a writer), please also take this chance to have a massive, amazing ego and tell us which of your fics you're most proud of/is your favorite/etc.

WOOO LETS GO

I don’t read a ton of fics, mostly because I just don’t like reading as a whole and usually don’t have the energy for it, so I apologize if I skip over anyone

All of these are going to be on ao3 because I’ll die before I seriously venture into the wastelands (wattpad and ffnet)

So, starting with my own fics, tbh I tend to hate most of them immediately after I post them, but the two I’m most proud of still are A Confrontation and Hyoma’s Experience in Perpetual Loneliness. Both focus on characters with a lot of angst potential and I still really like how they came out. Confrontation made me genuinely upset while writing it so I was pretty dang confident in it, while Perpetual Loneliness explored a more bittersweet kind of feeling and the complexities of Hyoma’s attachment issues and ways of coping with loneliness in his life that i really like to develop. Also a shameless excuse to write soft domestic kyohyotsu, which is always a plus.

As for you deity, obviously you have a lot of bangers and carry the fanfic side of this fandom on your back, but a couple of my personal favorites from you are the one you made for me with a title too long for me to want to type it out and Ursa Minor. I love the gift fic for the super interesting story, wonderful interactions between starbreaker, emotional scenes that made me sob, and investment I felt in Faust and Zeo’s relationship, AND OBVS YOURE A FUCKING MADLAD FOR WRITING ME A 27K FIC WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU (I still have fanart I need to make of that btw I will get to it eventually I prommy). And Ursa Minor was one that I read early on getting into the fandom and it’s just really gentle and sweet and I liked it a lot. Obviously all your fics are bangers but those are my personal favs.

@lady-lazagna has so many bangers too it’s also hard to choose just a few. The first one that came to mind for me was her mayblade collection, which is just full of absolute bangers all the way through, and then I also remembered Warm Welcome Home because it was cute and made me laugh and I am indeed a sucker for tsujack content

OBVIOUSLY I can’t go without mentioning @heybeyby ‘s fdwdbg because as soon as shekel pitched the idea to me we talked about it for genuinely like 6 hours straight. Every time she brings up a new idea for it I start spinning around at rapid speeds and I am so excited to see how it takes the story in the future because it is gonna be so goddamn good.

One of my favorite fics ever of all time without a doubt is Irisviel101’s Chrysanthemum , which is probably obvious coming from me because it’s a takanosuke and sakyo centric fic, BUT IT IS SO GODDAMN GOOD AND CUTE AND FUNNY AND IT MAKES MY HEART EXPLODE EVERY TIME I READ IT AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH GOD ITS SO GOOD PLS READ IT IF YOU HAVENT

I also can’t go without mentioning Gesso by Arcylic because I absolutely adore how they wrote jack and Zeo together and it’s what made me absolutely fall in love with their friendship dynamic, and what originally inspired me to write Zeo’s Experience in Team Starbreaker

This one. This one goes without saying anything. I just totally adore it and I love the dynamics explored between the characters here.

There’s probably definitely some I’m forgetting here but these are a good couple I wanted to highlight

BUT ALSO.

I FORGOT ABOUT THIS UNTIL RECENTLY. I CANNOT REMEMBER WHEN THIS KYOYA/TSUBASA FIC WAS POSTED BUT I READ IT AGES AGO AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT BUT I CANNOT FIND IT NOW. I HAVE NO IDEA WHO POSTED IT OR WHAT IT WAS CALLED AND ALL I HAVE OF IT IS THIS SCREENSHOT

I fucking loved this fic and I have no idea what happened to it

[imagine-your-way-out]

#5.2 | Reckless (Pt.2) | Alexander x Reader

A/N: She’ll post on Sunday, she said. I’M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING. I KNOW I KNOW I’M A HORRIBLE PERSON.

I failed you all. BUT its better late than nothing. ALSO please read back (if you havent yet) the part one of Reckless cause I added parts. So, here you go guys! Enjoy!

P.S. to @heiloveee: I’ll be working on the anon’s request first then your’s, okay? Love ya!

Part One

~

 It took effort for all the nurses to carry four injured men to camp. One, fortunately and unfortunately, died along the way. You comforted Alessa, assuring that it wasn’t her fault.

You accidentally said that it was better off since they couldn’t carry another guy.

That made Alessa cry harder.

You wondered if Alexander was still alive. Prayers were uttered every other minute or so, pleading the heavens to spare him. Everytime the flap of the medic tent opens, you look up hopefully. It was never Alexander that went in. 

Once it had been a close friend of his, Hercules Mulligan, that entered. You did not dare face him and ask if he knew Alexander’s condition. You didn’t want to get your hopes up.

Strangely enough, he looked unscathed but called Alessa to tend to him. Well, you don’t really know for sure what he asked of her since they were out of your sight. You busied yourself into tending to the soldiers. But everytime you see their abrased skin, you think back to Alexander’s scabs and bruises and worry about him instead.

“(Y/N), a soldier needs your attention,” Theresa called. You look up from the half-bandaged soldier.

“In a minute, Theresa.” You hastily taped down the gauze into the man’s arm. He hissed in pain but you ignored him as you wipe your hands with a rag. Your small heels padded soundlessly as you head to Theresa.

“Yes?” You’re surprised to see Mulligan beside Theresa.

“Soldier Mulligan wants to speak to you.” Theresa left to give you and Mulligan some privacy.

“What is it?” you ask, your voice small.

“It’s Alexander.”

You tense at the mention of his name. “What is it?” you fidgeted in your place. You look at the crestfallen look in his eyes and you understood his message. 

“I’m sorry (Y/N),” Mulligan said softly. You look down, trying not to let your tears fall.

“What happened?” you question. He motioned you to exit the tent, a silent message that it would be a long and private story.

You followed him without question. Instead of staying just outside the tent, Mulligan walked farther away. Nevertheless, you ventured on.

“Soldier Mulligan,” you uttered softly, “Where are we going?” He gave you no reply.

Irritation slightly went through your head and you scowl. Nevertheless, you continued to match the burly man’s pace. A few minutes of walking, a tent was seen in a distance and you heard loud, frantic voices coming from it.

“Zere eez still blood!” A heavily accented voice cried out. “At zis rate, he will die.”

 "I think he’s dead,“ another voice said hysterically. 

“Alexander! Wake up, Alexander!” A distinct slapping sound was heard. There was also faint sobbing in the background. You trembled at the voices, suddenly understanding what was going on.

Mulligan opened the flap of the tent slightly for you. Hesitantly, you took a small step forward. Another step and you peeked in cautiously. It was a strange sight to behold but not worth the gravity of the situation.

If there was not a life on the line, you would have chuckled at the comical wails of two curly haired soldiers and a nurse that frantically waved her arms around in an effort to calm them down. In the center of it all was a bloody body, who practically looked dead. It made you sober up enough. 

“Herc!” The French-accented voice called as the guy behind you entered the tent. He suddenly went on jabbering rapid-fire French that was becoming incoherent by the second. You could only pick up some words.

… Don’t know… Blood… Dead… Crazy… Help…

You stood frozen in your place even as Mulligan moved to comfort the hysterical Frenchman. A cough interrupted the tension.

“Who are you?” The question was pointed to you.

“(Y/N),” you stammer, not meeting the gaze of the freckled man who questioned you. 

“The (Y/N)?” His eyes went wide. “(Y/N)! Alex’s (Y/N)!” He suddenly jumped up and down. You faintly wondered if everyone had lost their minds already. 

“Please, you’ve got to help him! Save Alex, please!” He grabbed your hands and implored.

“I don’t have supplies,” you managed weakly. A bag of medical supplies suddenly dropped in front of you.

“There,” he smiled crookedly. The man, John Laurens (as you belatedly figured out), pushed you to Alexander’s dying body. You gave a terrified noise. Bile rose to your throat and pushed it back with effort. He was worse than before. 

“Some British men had caught up on him,” John spoke quietly, answering the unspoken question. "They turned him inside out. His coat was in tatters. We figured they were searching him for something.“ 

 The map, which was still inside in one of your pockets, suddenly weighed a ton. 

 "He didn’t tell you?” you say, mostly to yourself but was heard by most of the occupants in the tent.

“Tell us what, (Y/N)?” You didn’t hear John’s question as you started cleaning out the blood on Alexander. With quick examination, there were two large punctures on his side, from the end of a bayonet most likely, that was causing the blood loss. You quickly worked on that. 

 "Tell us what, (Y/N)?“ John asked loudly. You flinch but didn’t stop working. 

“Alexander was on a special mission from General Washington,” you said prickly, “He stole a British map.“ 

Each of the men cursed loudly, you gave no reaction but the nurse reminded you of her presence with her indignant squeak. 

“Alessa?” you called out quietly. Alessa turned to you rigidly. “Come here.”

She walked stiffly, from fear or something else, you don’t know.

“Can you help me out?” Alessa’s eyes widened and looked down shamefully. You remembered her last encounter with a soldier and now understood what she was feeling.

“Hey,” you say, giving her a comforting squeeze on the arm, “You-we won’t let him die alright? This is your chance to redeem yourself. You can do this.”

Your small speech seemed to inspire Alessa as she gave you a wobbly smile and a determined nod. Both of you ignored the men who were still badmouthing every deity they knew and worked together to make Alexander see another day. 

 ~

“Is this heaven?” Alexander muttered.

“No, this is hell, Alexander,” you retort.

The boys have long stopped screaming and were now at your beck and call if you needed help. Alexander opened his eyes within minutes of the makeshift operation you were doing.

He’s been mumbling incoherent sentences, not being of sound mind. Sarcasm was the only thing that kept you sane talking to him.

“I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory,” he slurs, “Is this where it gets me? On my feet, several feet-”

“Alexander, you are lying in bed, blood gushing out of you. So shut your mouth, I’m trying to stitch you up.”

Another more of his mumblings and you were going to explode.

“You don’t need to, (Y/N). I can catch a glimpse of the other side.” You tightened your grip on the mesh bandage you were wrapping.

“Teach me how to say goodbye.” Alexander raised his head and looked at you. His face was pale and gaunt, those brown eyes that once sparked a lively fire was reduced to dying embers that slipped of life.“What are you saying, Alexander? Don’t entertain such thoughts,” your voice started to crack.

”(Y/N),“ he smiled gently, “My love, take your time. I’ll see you on the other side.” He took your hand and kissed it.

“Raise a glass to freedom.”

His hand suddenly went limp.

And you finally cracked.

“No!”

You shook Alexander’s body with extreme vigor. “You can’t die, you idiot! I love you. You love me too, right? Don’t die in front of me. Dammit!”

John pulled you back in order to not let anyone get hurt. You tried to claw your way out of his grasp while Alessa rushed over to Alexander.

“Alessa!” you cried out, “Make him come back, please! Bring him back!” She gave you a sideways glance and a set of determined eyes met your own. You were trusting Alessa as you had none left to yourself.

She motioned Hercules and Lafayette to her and they talked in hushed voices. John was still on guard with you. Finally, Alessa started on Alexander, carefully checking his vitals.

She gave Mulligan a look and a shake of the head. Her mouth moved but you hear nothing. The two men frowned deeply and circled Alexander, hiding his body from your line of sight.

“He’s not dead. He’s not dead,” yoy repeat over and over.

“(Y/N), let’s go.” John tugged at your arm. You felt helpless as he dragged you outside the tent. You were powerless.

For what seemed like hours, Lafayette exited the tent with an assuring smile sent your way. You had your hopes up.

“He’s alive,” he breathed out. You were ready to send praises up above.

“But he’s barely breathing.”

You hesitated but waved it away. “What matters is that he’s alive.” Without preamble, you marched into the tent and found Alexander, asleep, his chest slowly rising up and down.

“He needs more medical attention,” Alessa reported. “I did all I can and this is as far as my abilities could do.”

You smiled widely, “You saved a life, Alessa. You have done great.” She blushed at the praise. “He still had a pulse even after he let go of your hand. You didn’t check the vitals, first. Which made you go in shock, that’s okay though. He was just exhausted. I simply revived his energy,” she said humbly. “It still means a lot to me. Thank you, Alessa,” you said earnestly. “Let’s get him proper medical help.”

Theresa was angry at you and Alessa but commended you both for a job well done.

“General Washington would’ve had our heads if you didn’t succeed.” She walked away without another word.

Alexander was now in a stable state but wouldn’t be awake until tomorrow. You didn’t need to beg to watch over him as you were immediately assigned to him.

Some of his friends visited him, the three soldiers with you in the tent, and delivered you dinner as a thanks for saving Alexander.

It was well into midnight and you were still awake. You were waiting for Alexander to wake up. Subconsciously, you traced his features defined in the moonlight.

At your touch, Alexander weakly cracked his eyes open.

“Hey,” he croaked out.

“Hey,” you breathed out. All your previous anger at him had dissipated long ago. “You’re an idiot, do you know that?” you tease. He chuckled raggedly. The sound was scratchy but you loved hearing his laugh again.

“I go unwilling measures to secure a bright future for you.”

“That future should include both of us,” you mutter lowly, not wanting to raise your voice for the sake of the other sleeping patients.

“A future for both of us then,” agreed Alexander.

“And that starts with you not getting yourself killed,” you scolded.

“I will try.”

“Not just try, do it. Don’t be a reckless idiot. I don’t want to get courted by one.”

“Then marry one.”

You’re startled at his outburst as Alexander smiled cheekily.

“If you don’t appreciate reckless suitors, maybe you’ll like a reckless husband.”

It took you a moment of blinking and supressing an aggravated sigh before you calmed.

“With your eloquency, how can I take such an offer,” you muttered.

“You can start by saying yes,” Alexander suggested.

“To an unspoken question? I rather not.”

“Then, miss (Y/N) (L/N), may I speak so boldly as you require my vocal request of having you as my wife?” Alexander spoke so smoothly, you worried if it was scripted.

“Did you plan this at all?” you blurt out.

“The words seem to fall out of my mouth,” he grinned.

“What happened to you stumbling on your words in front of a girl?” you jested.

“I stumble on my words for a girl. But for the girl, everything falls perfectly.” Even up to now, Alexander was eloquently talking.

“Stop it,” you giggle, “And to answer your question, yes, I would love to be your wife.”

He kissed you with so much passion neither of you had expected.

“My love for you is never in doubt.” Here we go again.

“And as long as I’m alive-”

You laugh, “Shut up and kiss me.”

~

(I added a really short epilogue bc I wasn’t happy of how it turned out.)

“Mrs. Hamilton,” General Washington addressed you.

You and Alexander had married in the short period of peace after the battle. Your marriage was the cause of festivities among the soldiers as it gave them a positive reminder amidst the bleak victory.

Even after your wedding, Alexander continued as Washington’s right-hand man and you as a newly promoted head nurse.

You now personally knew General Washington and his visits to you in the medic tent was a normal occurrence.

“Hello, sir,” you greet warmly. “To what do I owe you the pleasure?” You smile brightly and the stoic General couldn’t help smile back even if he brought news that would make that smile disappear.

“I have some news.” As he expected, your smile drooped.

“What is it? It better not involve Alexander,” you say even if you knew that it was probably about him.

“He was involved in a duel with Charles Lee.” Before Washington could say more, you stormed out of the tent (it had no patients, anyway) and headed to where Alexander was.

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON!”

The venom in your voice was palpable to everyone as you made a beeline for your husband.

The soldiers in your vicinity looked at you then to Alexander, who was talking to John Laurens. John slowly backed away to escape your wrath. Alexander, unfortunately, was frozen in his place.

“WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT RUNNING AROUND AND GETTING KILLED?” you screeched. Everyone winced at your voice.

“I didn’t even fire a gun. I was a second!” he tried to defend himself.

“And you think that validates as an excuse? You still could’ve died.” At least he looked ashamed of himself.

“I should talk to the General to not let you get involved in anything at all.”

Alexander looked horrified, “I need to fight in this war! They need me!”

“AND I’M PREGNANT, WHICH MEANS I NEED YOU MORE THAN EVER.”

Alexander’s eyes widened and his mouth hung out, awestruck. “I’m going to be a father?”

You tearfully nodded. He hugged you tightly and whispered those words over and over again.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N). I won’t do anything reckless again.” You smiled gratefully. He kissed you softly and ran a finger on your currently flat stomach.

“I’ll be here for you,” he whispered. Whether it was for you or your unborn child, you were happy either way.

Things were going according to plan.

~

“Um, Mrs. Hamilton?”

“Yes?”

“We need your husband in the war.”

“I know.”

“In the frontlines.”

“WHAT?!”

“I’m afraid he has already accepted the position.”

“ALEXANDER!”

[missjackil]

SPN and Subtext

First, let’s establish what subtext is really, for anyone who may not know. It is unspoken, unacted, non-canonical, images a writer wants you to think about. It’s not some hidden secret that the author wants only a select few to know about, its just something to provoke thought. A way to make some people anticipate something that may or may not become canon at some point, and Supernatural has a lot of it.  The very first hints of subtext, were naturallly between Sam and Dean. Supernatural, at its very core is “The epic love story between two brothers” as quoted by Erik Kripke. “Wncest” was the very first, organically grown ships that developed from the show’ subtext, and still continues 12 years later. Canonically however, Sam and Dean are not sexual with each other, and they never will be, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the subtext, like, how they stand/sit so close together, how theyre gorgeous single men in their 30s that insist on living together and still share motel rooms even though they could each get their own. The lengths they’ll go to save each other, the way they look at each other and so on.  This subtext is subtle, nothing that would make anyone think the show promotes incest, but provocative enough to make some people wonder exactly how far they could go for each other. How deep is that love really? In our world, anyone with this level of love, would probably be having sex too, but we don’t know this level of love in our real lives. Sure, we all have people we love deeply, more than our own lives, that we wouldnt think about having sex with, but none of us have sold our soul for that person, condemning ourselves to Hell for eternity, for just 1 more year with that person, and so they wont die yet. None of us have overpowered the Devil himself so he wouldnt kill them (and then of course save the world in the process) and hardly any of us have ever killed to save this one person. So a person who may be intrigued with the idea that Sam and Dean may have, or could have sex at some point, isnt necessarily in favor of incest (for most wincest shippers anyway) but more or less wondering how it hasnt happened yet, considering this level of love. 

Now most WIncest shippers know, and understand, Sam and Dean wont ever have sex on the show, and most of them don’t even want them to, and would rather it be left to their imagination, and fan fic. When the show piles on the subtext though, with the bro hugs, and deep meaningful confessions of feelings, such as “Dont you dare think that theres anything, past or present that I would put in front of you! I need you to see that... Im begging you!” Our little wincest hearts grow 10 sizes even if we dont ship it.  Now there has been subext (homoerotic) put between Sam, Dean and other characters. Also, not to be a secret message that either Sam or Dean are gay or bi, or that either will be in a same sex relationship to anyone, but its put there just to provoke thoughts. Writers have used this since there have been characters to write about. Even in the Bible, there is subtext between King David and his best friend Jonathan that he “loved like a brother”. Its never written that they were in love with each other, or that they had sex, but it does make the reader wonder if it happened.  Subtext between Cas and Dean started early when Cas came to the show, but it also happened between Cas and Sam though less people noticed it, simply because Dean had more interaction with Cas than Sam did, but Sam and Cas always had their own subtext since they met. Sam went a little fan boy upon meeting an angel, and Cas, though pointing out Sam had demon blood, gave him a warm, affectionate, 2 handed hand shake. However, Cas was more active with Dean, and a lot more angry and violent with him, as well as Dean was angry and disrespectful to Cas for most of S4 and 5, which has me wondering how Destiel even became a popular ship, given how brutal they have been with each other.

The subtext doesnt end with these 3 though. There was subtext between Dean and Benny, Crowley and Sam, Crowley and Dean, Crowley and Cas, Sam and Mick, Dean and Mr Ketch, but again, these are not secret messages that any of them are gay or bi or that any will become a romantic couple. In fact, I am beyond sure, none of them ever will.  SPN isnt that kind of show. The lives of the Winchesters are tragic. They can’t have normal relationships with people, even with each other. The show is, and always will be about Sam and Dean, not their significant others, if they ever venture to give them girlfriends again, we can be sure, they wont get married and have children. They certainly wont give them boyfriends, if they were going to establish that either of them were anything besides straight, that would have come out a long time ago. Changing their sexuality this far into the series, would change the series itself to something it never was.  I wont lie and say its not fun to fantasize and read fan fic because it sure is! But if I expect the show to change Sam and Dean’s sexuality, Im going to end up very disappointed. Like so many Destiel fans are going to be when it comes to the end and Sam and Dean end up together, whether living or dead, it will still just be them together.  I havent been on Tumblr very long, less than a year, and Im shocked to see how bad some people are about their ships. I cant believe that a big portion of Destiel shippers believe ludicris things like the show is pushing Sam out to make room for Cas as Dean’s #1, Jensen doesnt know or care about Dean if he doesnt believe Dean is 100% in love with Cas, Sam and Gabriel would make a lovely couple, or maybe even Sam and Lucifer, Dean is bisexual and the paint color on the wall proves it...I could go on forever but Ill make myself sick probably. Theres gonna be some really disappointed people when/if Cas isnt back next season, which is very likely, since Misha’s contract is up this year and he hasnt been acting like someone who is interested in staying on this particular show, has been given billing after Mark Sheppard if they’re in the same episode, and now the show has gone and made Cas so unredeemable to the boys, I wouldnt be shocked if it’s Dean that kills him,  but I am about 90% sure, Cas is done after this season.  So even though there is a ton of homoerotic subtext in this show, none of us should take it as anything more than it is. Just thoughts implanted to make the show more interesting, but not insite of whats to come. Just write and read fan fic, and appreciate the show for what it is, The Epic PLATONIC love story between Sam and Dean and some random monsters, demons, angels, God and Baby :)

[wupassman]

Reviewing SweetStoryBro’s Review of the Shenmue story

https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro/status/831177322803892225

Some first ofs:

I am writing this directly adressing Sweetstorybro because it feels more natural and less impersonal to address him but that doesn’t mean it’s not intended for anybody else. I am one of the big backers (toy capsule set pledge) so I have a lot to say about this game I fought 14 years for to get that Kickstarter.

I am sorry if this may read a lil bit like a scatterbrained person wrote this. I basically take notes as I listen and since I managed to lose my write up for the first half of the podcast I had to rewrite that from memory too.

I really like the effort and research you put into this, while in places I can add something overall this is very sastisfying for a long time fan and definately a pretty goddamn complete rundown of what the story is about and how its executed. That being said generally if there’s agreement there is not a whole lot more to add so if I don’t outright disagree you can assume I agreed.

Let get to it then:

I think you did a really good job at explaining in which way Shenmue surpasses your average gaming experience, while its clearly a game it kinda goes past playing but experiencing. As you pointed out this game can be a very different experience for each player based on how hard they are looking to find connections and generally explore the world (and progress the story at just the right pace as to not miss a single cutscenes XD It’s not too easy to make a 100% run but if you do, things like Nozomi moving isn't as much out of the blue, yes she basically leaves as abrupt as he does but it's foreshadowed during the convos with her). Yu indeed built a very lifelike world with tons of lil details and NPCs that felt real. I really like how you brought up that book explaining what Yu was trying to do with this world. That was a thing I fan haven't heard of before. Indeed it is a very key aspect to differentiate between japanese and chinese, which of course becomes a much bigger deal in part II even, when Ryo is removed from his stomping grounds but in Hongkong. It's actually p interesting how a game about chinese culture was kinda a main idea from the beginning, as he was inspired to be making Shenmue (then Akira RPG/Project Berkley) many years prior, when he travelled China in order to research martial arts for Virtua Fighter.

As this is a perfect segway I’ll be skipping ahead a little bit here and talk about the fighting system.On of the main genres I always played were fighting games so I personally appreciated the super simplified VF fighting system (try VF3TB from the same time and youll know the difference) and being such a player I wouldnt even have thought of wanting to play this with analog stick. Golden rule of fighting games: dpad = accuracy, analog = wishy washy. That being said I am not at all opposed to change it up for Shenmue III and make it feel more like Sleeping Dogs. After all back in the day it was a different controller not quite as handy for 3D games (the lack of a 2nd stick means a lot). As long as the fighting is tight and responsive it works for me either way, iof there is a change that needs to happen it’s the camera. I am not really holding it against the game cuz it’s really old but the camera screw ups during fights could leave you clueless which way youre facing at times.

I wouldnt worry too much about the thing with the chapters. The games don’t equal chapters. It’s more like arcs/themes (as you later said when talking about the PostMortem). From basically the very start Shenmue was supposed to be split into 5 games and as of yet the plan/hope is that the final game will be Shenmue V. Shenmue I was only 1 chapter but Shenmue II was 3.

At the risk of completly blowing any kind of credibility I might have and just come off as a crazed fanboy: The pacing of Shenmue I had purpose. It very much corresponds with the mental state of Ryo. Feeling of grief and feeling lost. Shenmue I basically is about running into a brickwall and trying a different path until at the end he finally finds a way to get his passage to China. Until then his plans were shattered and ruined a couple of times and it weighs on him. And it should weigh on the player too. It’s part of how you manage to get this deep connection to the character because you as a player are forced to live out the day as is (or just go for the blocking out that your dad was killed and spend all day in the You Arcade). this is further emphasiszed that in Shenmue I theres rarely ever good weather and most of the soundtrack is depressing too. The days getting long is absolutely intentional. I can see how this might not be the most fun kind of gaming for a lot of people, but this is why different games exist. Shenmue’s job is not to appeal to players who can’t enjoy a game where shit doesn’t explode every 5 seconds. It is important to tell people who are interested so they know what theyre in for but its not actually a negative for the game itself because it actually perfectly fullfills what was required for this part of the story.

There is no way to talk about this without explaining how this correlates with the 4 themes Yu brought up and why Shenmue II is such a change of tone. It’s not just the fact that Hongkong is a bustling metropolis. It is very much the fact that due to the unseen part on the ferry and much more so because of all the masters and other freaks he meets in Hongkong that he opens up more. Again the change in tone of Shenmue II is also accompanied by visual and audio cues. THe soundtrack of Shenmue II is overall more upbeat, depressing themes do play in the more run down quarters but overall the game sounds cheerier. Likewise its not just that Hongkong of course is a much more colorful place than the suburban area he grew up in. It’s also basically always sunny in SHenmue II. Granted it makes a lot of sense due to the different seasons the game takes place in but of course with a highly artistic work like this, this is not a coincidence.

Let’s move right into the next part here. Yes Ryo behaves like a jerkass towards a lot of his peers. While there is a chance that the Voice Acting has some to do with it (No dissing Corey Marshall, the man is a hero!) it is still fully intended for him to be as cold and brooding as he is. You can tell by the face animation, which is p goddamn good for a game that old. Every Shenmue player made jokes about how Ryo’s happy face looks the same as his angry face. His moments where he is at least not totally miserable are rare and special. He is consumed with grief in Shenmue I. Shenmue II is about moving forward from that. HENCE DEPARTURE. not just locally but mentally. I really need to compare the interactions he had with the 2 most important females in his personal life.

The first one is obviously Nozomi: These conversations are awkward for more reasons than just them sucking at talking about their feelings (which btw isnt just them being teens but really very much them being japanese in this era too). Keep in mind both are aware of the feelings the other one has so they have a very close relationship. You’d think close enough for him to actually tell Nozomi what hes on and about to do in order to find the killer of his father. He doesn’t He’s very sparse with the information he shares which is entirely rooted in the fact that revenge is highly egoistical (heres a theme that gets such importance placed upon in Shenmue II). That doesn’t even mean hes an egoist, cuz he is not. He is just super preoccupied with his grief and aparently nobody really knows how to help him finding a better way to deal with it (given his age that makes sense too, no complaints there). As I mentioned earlier tho it depends on your play how many scenes with Nozomi you’re going to see (the Shenmue Passport cd is a good reference). Also since it wasn’t actually out of the blue that she would be going to Canada soon it is quite understandable she has a hard time telling him about her feelings too. This is not only a well known story beat but IRL youd think whether you wanna tell someone you love them when you know for a fact you’ll be moving overseas anytime soon. Especially when you consider the circumstance that if Ryo wasn’t on his revenge trip he’d assume his role as patriarch of the Hazuki Dojo.

Now lets fast forward to disc 4 of Shenmue II (THIS GEM!) and inspect the interactions Ryo has with Shenhua. These are amazing. They’re literally the best conversations Ryo has in all of the 2 games. Shenhua’s cheery and innocent, good natured personality makes it exceedingly hard for him to be the brooding jerkass anymore. A lot of that has to do with all the people he met who became his friends/mentors in Hongkong/Kowloon. He grew because of them. But Shenhua’s personality helped a great deal too. All of the sudden there are no distractions. Just the environment and her. What else would he do but chat with her? If you havent played Shenmue II I implore you to just youtube the conversations he has with Shenhua and compare with Nozomi yourself. It’s like night and day and p much the ultimate signifier for his growth throughout the progress of the game. Now this is venturing a into fan theory territory: the fan base is p much split down the middle of what kind of romantic role Nozomi is going to play in Ryo’s future. To me shes the child hood love interest that never became more due to him being preoccupied and her frankly not actually being available either. It would seem sensible to accept this as a chance missed as a part of moving on. I am positive he is going to end up with Shenhua as she resumes transforming him from this brooding dude preoccupied with revenge to a guy who truly internalises the lessons he learnt in Hongkong and adds a big helping of humanity to it. 

Not to excuse his behavior towards Ine-san and Fukuhara-san (because you rightly identify them as cold) part of that is also rooted in japanese culture. With Iwao’s death Ryo became the patriarch of the family. Ine-san may scold him but in the end it is not her place to deny him. Likewise Fukuhara-san was Iwao’s student so that kind of transferred to Ryo now. The bigger point here is that he abandons his responsibilities for them. I don’t think it’ll have actual negative impact for him in story, but there is likely going to be a moment of awakening that it is high time he returns home and takes care of the martial arts school.

I am sorry this actually took a 2nd day to finish but I got busy watching Collisions 2017. I only listened to it once but in seghments. Since I am such a huge fan of the game I wanted to be fair and not overanalyze your review and find nitpicks where there arent any.

While the individual play style is entirely up to each player it is my recommendation for everyone playing this, it to give it time. Let it breathe. Just waste your time away doing fun stuff. You’re going to miss out on a lot if you’re playing it in the way youd play most linear games where you just resume with the next goal in the main quest like crossing of a check list. You are not supposed to leave this early. During my fast plays I still never finished before christmas. At best I managed a jan 15 arrival in Hongkong just to see if I manage to arrive on my own birthday lol. But in all seriousness the time limit for this game is so goddamn long because you arent really suppoed to rush through this too fast. Leaving by the middle of January or even by the end of it makes for an overall better experience IMO (lol I just heard the 10 hours thing and I damn near lost it haha. look as I said it’s ok to play it any way you see fit, but seriously 10 hours literally means just the main quest. no goofing off. You’re missing out on stuff and an overall more majestic experience is all I am saying) To me the harbor segment was super fun cuz it was cool figuring out how you get the most out of each day, incl at least some good toy collecting and maybe training (usually didnt need that anymore at this point). By no means I am trying to tell you to like an aspect you didn’t, but to me this very much comes down to how deep you immerse yourself in the world. If you let the time go by slowly (dont run basically😉) such things as working have a deeper impact on how you experience it - then 2h lunch break still feels like 15 minutes. It was literally the opposite for me in that the harbor is when I am p much forced to move the plot forward instead of just goofing off so much. I know people who share this kinda play style feel the same way that the harbor is - to us - where it really picks up.

Before my review of this is over I’d also like to personally recommend the japanese dub over the english dub. Yeah the english dub feels weird at times but this is also intentional. A good comparision to that would be the lines in the Spartacus TV show. Just like that one was speaking latin in english the Shenmue dub was speaking japanese in english if you get my meaning. The VAs talked about this on the SEGANerds podcast during the kickstarter. Of course due to having played it so much it works for me but it’s easy to tell the difference. At the same time I can not praise the english VAs enough for being incredible heroes who promoted the Kickstarter hard, it was amazing. I love all of you guys. Thank you for your passion. Will def play Shenmue III in both japanese and english to honor all of you!

I warned ya it’s prolly a lil bit all over the place. Anyway thanks for the review. give the man a follow: https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro