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wordsandrobots · 2 years ago

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IBO reference notes on . . . original(ish) characters

So I’m pretty good at inventing original characters in fanfic. By which I mean, I'm good at creating circumstances where I need to. It's one part mostly writing post-canon to two parts rampant gap-filling world building. I usually end up needing to fill a role for which no canon character works.

With Iron-Blooded Orphans, however, there are a plethora of relatively distinct extras and background character designs that serve as the basis for populating the roles I'd normally make someone up for whole-cloth. Not that I haven't done that too over the course of Wishing on Space Hardware, but I thought – as an end of the year post – I should go through and note down where I've bolted personalities on to existing character models (or retrofitted character models to OCs, because that has happened too). Plus a bonus full-on OC if you reach the end . . .

It's a fun exercise at least, and has bulked out my reference images folder nicely! I hope anyone who follows me for those stories will get a kick out of seeing who I've been talking about this whole time. And if you haven't already read the fics and you're an Iron-Blooded Orphans fan . . . ? Maybe the ideas I jot down here will let you know if you want to take a look.

Spoilers ahead (for the entire series and my fic). Screenshots snipped from Netflix and Youtube for illustrative purposes only. You should go watch this show – it's good! Content warnings (for the series and these notes) for child abuse, child soldiers, and mentions of substance abuse and sexual assault.

Tekkadan

So due to events of the series (SPOILERS, ye gods, I did warn you), my fic bumps everyone up at least one character tier (secondary and tertiary characters have become primary ones, various extras have taken secondary roles). Nowhere is this more apparent than in Ride Mass' roving brigade of junior revolutionaries. The core of this group consists of the surviving members of the background quartet, seen here with Merribit. Clockwise from the left, these are Hirume, Trow, Elgar and Embi. They have minor speaking parts throughout both seasons of the show and what I'd call variable levels of actual personality traits.

Trow is the guy usually seen in a blue cap and scarf. He seems to have quite a serious personality, with his most prominent speaking parts being telling Mr Alesi that 'this is a battle for revenge' while loading up the train in episode 23 and explaining to the new recruits at the start of Season Two that most of Tekkadan have nowhere else to go. Post-canon, I decided he'd developed into a fairly gregarious person, somewhat inverting his previous stoicism and generally taking a Shino-like role in the group. However, his original seriousness re-emerges when there's fighting to do and he probably takes the least pleasure in combat. He is extremely loyal to Ride, who he credits with turning their anger at what happened to Tekkadan into concrete action.

Hirume gets the fewest lines and those he has are largely exposition. As a result, I made him inclined to being quiet and thoughtful, as well as the one who comes closest to sharing Ride's growing consciousness of the systemic problems with the world. He's a smoker where Trow is a drinker – each of these kids has some kind of coping mechanism – and a bit of a player. Has definitely had the most girl/boyfriends out of any of them. Gets much more excitable when fighting breaks out, which is influenced by how he looks in the Tekkadan group shot taken after the Battle of Chryse (he's the happiest-looking person in that picture by a mile).

And then there's Embi. Oh boy, Embi. His twin brother Elgar is killed in the final battle of the series and this event looms largest in my characterisation of him. Aggressive, misanthropic, absolutely haunted by his brother's death – Embi only signs on with Ride for the chance to lash out at the people who hurt him and quickly ditches them when thing turn political.

Side-note: I am taking this guy who shows up during the epilogue to be Embi, sans hat and grown up. It's not a one-to-one match with his original model (he normally has double-pointed eyebrows ala Treize and Dorothy from Gundam Wing) but it's close enough to make sense.

In all this, I'm building off the one clear trait he has throughout his appearances which is that he is a jerk. Both the twins are nuisances but Embi is actively mean to other people, insulting Ride and calling Elgar a coward for not wanting the Alaya-Vijnana surgery again (which Embi does, clearly idealising Mikazuki). His vice of choice is smoking harder drugs than Hirume, specifically those that get him far enough out of his skull that he stops imagining his brother is still at his shoulder, which is honestly when he's the most pleasant to be around.

Also, he actually likes fish, having been in hearing distance of Atra saying how amazing it was during that one meal where everyone else refuses to eat it. This is entirely based on where he's sitting in the scene and the priceless look of indecision he's wearing throughout.

Anyway, he ends up falling under Almiria Bauduin's influence which makes everything better.

(Additional spoiler: that was a lie.)

Pel is the name I gave to the guy on the left here, pictured while severely unimpressed that Eugene went from scolding him for perving on Merribit to basically doing the same thing in the key of 'puppy-dog.' As far as I can tell, this character model doesn't show up ever again but I like it and I needed an extra member of Ride's group for a recurring role. He's their fourth pilot, using a restored Garm Rodi, and is a basically decent guy, doing his best. 'Pel' is short for 'Pellinore' and he will deck you if you call him by the full version.

There is a fifth member of Ride's crew, Saji Watts, for whom I do not have a character model assigned because he's not Tekkadan but rather an ex-member of another mercenary group who got pulled into their orbit. Again, there's not much to him beyond 'can fight, will do so for good cause.'

Moving over to the non-terrorist side of post-Tekkadan life, we have Alessio, who appears to the left of the group shot I mentioned earlier. I really wish I had a better image of the character model but, again, he only shows up here. Alessio is the larger guy on the right and grows into a chill enbee (they/he) who works as an engineer at Kassapa Factory. They favour baby blue overalls, royal blue mohawks, and are generally a nice, calming person to be around. They are also have decent musical taste, being the group's resident DJ.

The guy pictured next to them is John Plant, their old boyfriend, because I refuse to believe Yamagi was the only person to develop feelings for someone they lived with for so long, or that Shino's denseness over how found families work was in any way endemic. Sadly, their story had a similarly tragic conclusion to the main gay romance because John was a pilot and, well . . .

Yeah.

I took John's name from those scratched on to the memorial stone in the epilogue. He's the last in-action casualty Tekkadan suffered before they retreated to Mars.

Finally, we have the back of Ivan's head. I mean, Ivan is the name I gave to the chap seen giving a report to Eugene in the epilogue scenes with Kudelia's office. He's second-in-command of the Admoss Company security team and his primary traits are being intimidatingly large, fiercely loyal, and willing – if not necessarily able – to help Akatsuki with his homework. I've made Ivan a Tekkadan veteran but sadly haven't hunted down a younger character model that quite fits. Just imagine he was there, off-screen somewhere.

[UPDATE: Young Ivan!]

Turbines

Moving on to the other group with tons and tons of interesting-looking background characters, I picked out this lady to play the part of one of Azee's right-hand pilots in a future iteration of the Turbines. Ria is a competent, serious woman and a bit of a bruiser. She fills the role of security chief aboard Azee's ship as well as flying a Hekija in combat. She is also in a relationship with Bilt Turbine and has at least one kid, Barrett 'Barry' Turbine, who is the splitting image of Naze.

Bilt herself is one of the few non-central named Turbines, serving as part of the Hammerhead's bridge crew. I carried that job forward, making her the chief pilot of Azee's ship. I don't think I've really expanded her much beyond what she does in the series, but she's a fairly bright, glamorous presence and a good sounding board for Azee. She and Ria get very soppy over one another. (I'm sorry, was I not supposed to ship aboard the ship of polyamory?)

Chloe is another named Hammerhead crewmember from the show and I include her mainly because I've promoted her to captain of another Teiwaz ship. I don't really have much of an idea for what she's like as a person, but she seemed prominent enough among the Turbines that using her in the story made sense.

Finally, another one I created both name and personality for, Lola is a systems expert and general hacker who will talk your ear off about coding technicalities if you're not careful. I retrofitted her to this character model at the last minute because it's dead-on for how I pictured her (she shows up in episode 10, right before the Brewers arc).

There's one further prominent OC I introduced called Claire, a trainee mobile suit pilot, but she explicitly isn't based on an in-show Turbine as I intended her to have joined Azee's main group from another part of the organisation.

I would be remiss, however, not to include the Turbine kids I invented. Barry I've already mentioned – he's a good boy and a bit of a clutz, who is noted to have inherited Naze's looks but not his brains. Likes nail-painting (it's Lafter's fault) and should not be allowed to work on heavy machinery unsupervised. Gabriela, meanwhile, is merrily following in Amida's footsteps as a pilot and general badass. An absolute terror who will reprogram your simulator at a higher level when you aren't looking. I described her as having frizzy hair, which I will hand-wave as saying she grew into because she is absolutely meant to be the baby Naze was holding in the Turbines' backstory episode.

Civilians

Back to Teiwaz proper, I created a character called Nikolai Critchlow – a pedantic, fussy accountant – to serve as a thorn in Azee's side for several parts of the story. I didn't mean for him to match a character model from the show, but blow me down if this chap from the Teiwaz board scenes early in Season Two isn't bang on the money. I don't know if it quite makes sense with the character for him to have been at a meeting that's clearly for the underbosses the Italian/Japanese fusion space mafia, but I could certainly come up with a reason for this to be him. On Jasley's side of the table too, in case you needed a clue to where his inclinations lie.

I also created a character to be an actual underboss: Grayling Une, head of the 4S Phalanx security company. Sadly, I forgot this scene existed when I made him up, so I missed out on matching him exactly to one of the people here. He could almost fit the very bald gentleman to the right, except that I did emphasise his enormous bushy eyebrows and I'm too enamoured with this image to want to change it. Given his personality, it'd be quite fitting if he wasn't present here, so I'm OK with that.

(Content warnings for the next part: reference to sexual abuse of minors.)

(Also, don’t adjust your sets, this screenshot was taken through a car window.)

At the opposite end of . . . well, one spectrum or another, is the kid who shows up in the limo with Iznario Fareed right after the Dort arc. I named him Asher and there's no way to sugar coat that he's another kid like McGillis who was sexually abused by Lord Fareed. This is, in hindsight, an obvious meaning of this scene and I made Asher the 'spare' to McGillis' 'heir': a second kid who Iznario was in the process of adopting when the whole Edmonton debacle happened. He's definitely the character I am most worried about writing well, given the sensitive subject matter he's wrapped up with. Personality-wise, he comes across as incredibly forgettable and bland to most people, but much of that is obfuscation as he's a very good actor. He joined up with Almiria and plays the part of 'Montag', the face of the terrorist activities that she helps orchestrate. It's unclear, even to him, if he really wants to be involved or if he's just desperate for companionship after being left adrift after the events of the series. A chronic condition results in bouts of extreme muscle pain, which he copes with via both medical and recreational drugs; it was via the latter that he met Embi, to whom he has taken an unaccountable liking. Asher is just about the only person in the solar system who thinks of Embi with any fondness and as to where this or the trifecta they make with Almiria is going . . . you'll just have to read the fics!

Gjallarhorn

This guy isn't someone I needed to do much invention for, since his role in my story is to be killed for doing what he does in Season One. Johannes Gough, the officer in charge of the mission to crush the workers' unions in the Dort Colonies, gets promoted for his dedication to upholding the status quo and takes over as operations director for the Ariadne Network. He is a trusted ally of Rustal Elion and has part to play only insofar as Ride shoots him with a missile during a party at which Azee and the cast of the IBO spin-off manga are guests.

Less loyal to the new order by far are two of the officers who were part of McGillis' crew in the final retreat. The first guy appearing in this scene prior to Mackie's last blaze of glory goes on to become part of a radical group that forms the bulk of the alliance Almiria builds to take on Gjallarhorn. Callum Rai (yes, that's a Gundam mythology gag) appears briefly in The Ares Affair, running an operation on Mars – he's the thin, haggard man Chad and Yamagi encounter. He has somewhat lost his revolutionary fire in the years between the end of the show and the present timeline of my fic, which is going to be important later.

The other one, Reuben Bonnaire, absolutely has not lost his belief in a reformed Gjallarhorn and serves as the brains of the outfit. A clever tactician but less-than charismatic leader, he agrees to work with Almiria because she can provide a figurehead for their efforts (Asher/Montag). This will also be important later and may or may not be a colossal mistake.

And I suppose, while on the subject of Gjallarhorn-adjacent OCs, I may as well include this sketch I did for my main villainous OC. This is Resource Major Almandi Iversion, R&D division commander, obsessive Gundam fan-nb, all-round manipulative bastard, and one of most horrible people I've ever written. Only, you know, in a cathartic way. They're not exactly the main antagonist of the series but they are the vector through which major parts of the plot operates.

Other reference posts include:

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 1)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 2)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (corrigendum) [mainly covering my inability to recognise mythical wolves]

IBO reference notes on … three key Yamagi scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Shino scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Eugene scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Ride scenes

IBO reference notes on … the tone of the setting

IBO reference notes on … character parallels and counterpoints

IBO reference notes on … a perfect villain

IBO reference notes on … Iron-Blooded Orphans: Gekko

IBO reference notes on … an act of unspeakable cruelty

IBO reference notes on … Kudelia’s decisions

#Gundam Iron-blooded Orphans #gundam ibo #Tekketsu no Orphans #g tekketsu #notes #reference #screenshots #original characters #kinda #some of them more than others #giving extras personalities for fun and profit #character development #fanfic #fanart #my art #(my art is right at the end)

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scarfacemarston · 2 years ago

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John & Arthur Meet Albert Mason Part 2

Part 1 of Albert Mason missions here. As requested, all journal entries of side missions with John with Arthur’s versions beneath for comparison: I am doing his first because that is who people wanted to compare first. I can understand why people would want to do the missions with Arthur now, but there is some good insight with John here into his feelings for others and Arthur. There are differences so look carefully between John’s different types.

Unfortunately, you can tell the developers ran out of time/money because a lot of the journal entries are the same between he and Arthur; but at the same time - one could say meta wise that John just doesn’t want to draw everything and prefers writing shorter bits .Mistakes in the writing are kept. Part with the wolves: John’s:

Transcript: Met a Mr. Mason - an old friend of Arthur’s. - I see why he liked him - this time he was taking pictures of wolves. Still doing his hardest to get himself eaten. (My note: Wish John said something about the wolves and his experiences in the journal, but I do believe his dialogue has it. I’ll check my files)

Transcript: Saw Mr. Mason again - this time he was taking pictures of wolves. Still doing his hardest to get himself eaten.

Transcript: Saw Mr Mason again - this time he was taking pictures of wolves. Still doing his hardest to get himself eaten. Part with horses. John CANNOT go on this mission. The wiki says “Because he doesn’t know how to herd yet”. WHAT? I mean, we as the player in rdr 1 learn it in the tutorial. I guess that sticks with canon then. Damn, that makes John 38 when he learns but hey, at least according to canon he becomes a master at it. I wish I had known that earlier, I wouldn’t have searched for so long lol.

Transcript: Helped Mr Mason take another picture - this time of wild horses- and he gave me a beautiful print of one of the wolves that nearly at him. Part with Alligators:

Transcript: Met Albert Mason - an old friend of Arthur’s into taking photographs of large dangerous animals, but apparently no pictures of Arthur. This time, he seemed obsessed by getting eaten by alligators. again he managed to survive much more by luck than by judgement. My note: Interesting, sweet and heartbreaking that he thought about Albert taking a picture of Arthur.

Transcript: This time, Albert Mason seemed obsessed by getting eaten by alligators. Again, he managed to survive much more by luck than by judgement.

Transcript: This time, Albert Mason seemed obssed by getting eaten by alligators Again, he managed to survive much more by luck than by judgement. Dealing with the eagles:

Transcript: Met a fella called Albert Mason- a photographer friend of Arthur’s. Bored of fighting animals, this time he tried to fight gravity. Again, he somehow survived. I hope he will now retire from a life even more idiotic and dangerous than mine.

Transcript: Saw Albert Again. Bored of fighting animals, this time he tried to fight gravity. Again, he somehow survived. I hope he will now retired from a life even more idiotic and dangerous than mine. (My note: John has seen ....4 people fight gravity? Mission with the brothers fighting for the girl, Watching himself and Arthur have to jump, RDR 1 and rdr 2 both have an man jump from his plane and die. (Correct me if it’s just rdr 1.), Then Dutch.

Transcript: Saw Albert again. Bored of fighting animals, he tried to fight gravity. Again, he somehow survived. I hope he will now retire from a life even more idiotic and dangerous than mine.

#rdr 2 #arthur morgan #john marston #albert mason #red dead redemption 2 #van der linde gang #long post #journal entries

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lovebecomeshim · 3 years ago

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hello! your zutara posting today has finally motivated me to ask this question because I came to atla very late(last year, to be specific) and I Love It Very Much but am 1000% out of the loop as far as why what remains of fandom (at least that I've seen among my friends) is so very strongly zutara. I'm not opposed to it per se I just don't really know what has driven it to apparently be such a popular ship? can you help me understand and maybe convert me a little bit?

Hey!! Your ICON! :D I can try but I’m not sure how coherent I’ll be; however I AM sure someone a lot more competent will be willing to add to this. Either way, I’m glad you asked because my plan was to drag down as many people as possible with me.

*smacks the hood of zutara* this baby can fit so much mutual love and support!

This got so long, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to put it under a cut on mobile and it already got deleted once so I’m scared to mess with it lol. Moving on.

I’m gonna start this with a disclaimer that im on mobile so formatting is tricky and I’m also really new to atla in that I only completed my first watch through in like 2019??? So some of my info is all just based on what I’ve picked up from Discourse 👀 so anyway the sparknotes version: zutara was wildly popular from the beginning. To the point where the atla crew internally disagreed on which ship should be endgame. (Ex. Bryke [showrunners] asked the writers to rewrite The Southern Raiders to make Zuko seem less ideal for Katara than Aang [which failed, depending on who you ask]; the animation team purposefully created a visual parrallel between Oma and Shu in the Cave of Two Lovers and Zuko and Katara in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se in the Crossroads of Destiny; etc.)

The ship was popular enough that Bryke actually chose to display zk fanart at a con for the sole purpose of mocking the fans, but that’s neither here nor there. The entire episode Ember Island Players, while a love letter to/parody of the whole show, was an opportunity to address zutara’s viability as a canon pairing (while, again, mocking zutaras for romanticizing that catacombs scene). Point is! It’s always been popular but with it not being endgame, there’s got to be something that’s given it staying power.

And that’s honestly got to do with three things: their dynamic, thematic cohesion, and potential.

(You know what... you know what, it’s four things. The fourth is they’re so aesthetically pleasing together and individually. Like, they’re just good looking people [specifically when they’re grown but they’re also cute kids] and that absolutely doesn’t hurt) (but it’s not the Point, it’s just nice to point out sometimes)

The dynamic is hard to get into without also looking at the canon pairings, but I think I can do that without unnecessary bashing. It’s just that part of the magic of zutara is really highlighted by what they give to each other that their other relationships don’t.

First off, it’s classic enemies to (would be) lovers. The absolute truest form of it. It’s not too different from how CS started out: a rogue antagonist with a job to do—but no personal vendetta against the future love interest—who is deeply and emotionally invested in his personal storyline (revenge/redemption) with little regard for how it effects other people after his entire life and genuine good nature are marred by suffering, and a fierce warrior girl with a strong moral compass and her own personal investment in stopping him (protect her family and save the world doing it). Obviously frustration and animosity grew between them by the nature of them being on opposing sides, but that just lends itself to the sweetness of their later reconciliation.

The thing is that while they’re wildly different on the surface (he’s a hot-headed prince of a fascist regime who is trying to capture the Avatar to please his father; she’s a nurturing daughter of the chief who is trying to protect and train the Avatar in order to topple his father’s throne) they find out that they have so much more in common both in their experiences and their personalities.

(What follows is an excessive use of the word “both” and I’m sorry about that)(I can edit it. I can do that. That IS an option............)

They both have an innate sense of justice that they are determined to see done (zuko, at the war meeting, sticking up for the Earth Kingdom kid when the guards torment his family, choosing not to steal from the pregnant couple despite his circumstances, abiding by his word to leave the SWT should Aang come willingly, etc.; katara, literally.... at any point). They both have pretty one-track minds at accomplishing certain goals once they’ve put their mind to it, regardless of a lack of support in that endeavor (it goes without saying I guess, but zuko’s entire hunt; katara’s determination to get the earth benders to fight back, her determination to absolutely destroy Pakku until he agrees to teach her, etc.). They both lost their mothers at young ages. Their worlds are war-torn and traumatizing to them both, if in different ways, but that ultimately forces them to grow up too quickly to be wholly independent individuals. They both have issues with their fathers (for WILDLY different reasons, but). They both hold extreme prejudices that they need to learn to overcome (which ties into thematic cohesion)(bit like Lizzie and Darcy in that way but magnified by a million). They’re both extremely emotional and empathetic—which can and often does result in loud outbursts. Katara’s a bit better adjusted and can temper her anger for longer than S1 Zuko can, but they both feel that anger deeply and have no compunctions expressing it (Katara is, usually, more justified, particularly in S1. Again, S1 Zuko is severely maladjusted but at the point when they could’ve feasibly become a couple, he’s so much better off with the way he carries himself). They both struggle with feelings of inferiority in their bending abilities when confronted with prodigal benders like Aang and Azula, but have the work ethic required to double down and become two of the most powerful benders in the three remaining nations. This is a little more minor but it is a parrallel that appeals to some shippers that they both have these alter egos in the Painted Lady (notably fire nation coded) and the Blue Spirit (water tribe coded) that are pretty different from who they are day-to-day and are useful in accomplishing a purpose that they as themselves cannot.

(I’m.... I just realized that this could potentially get very long. Should I have made a slide show with bullet points??????)

Anyway, similar. I know there’s more but there’s literally so much to love about zutara that I’ll drive myself a little crazy trying to compile all the ways they’re similar. (Just gonna say that at this exact moment I went back to add more similarities.... so okay then)

Once they’ve reconciled, we see how all of these things only lend themselves to a deeper intimacy together than they share with literally anyone else. There’s a steady partnership that positions them as the mom/dad of the gaang, while also providing the support necessary to allow the other to not have to carry so much responsibility. A lot of zutaras will point out how zuko is actually depicted doing the more domestic chores that are normally relegated to Katara once he joins the gaang, since the others in the group are two 12-year-olds and sokka. The one that sticks out the most is how he makes tea for the group and then serves them, while Katara is able to just relax with her friends around the fire. Fanon expands upon this a lot to Zuko helping with the laundry or the cooking or whatever else needs doing since he, as a once-refugee, is used to doing his own domestic tasks. Before Zuko joined, Katara was the one mothering everyone, sewing for them, cooking for them, etc. She’s always tending to the needs of the group, and that includes emotionally. She does the emotional labor for the gaang 99% of the time, but when she’s the one falling apart, she’s usually doing it alone and without the comfort that she normally provides for others. Until Zuko. And that’s before they’re even friends.

Which is WHY people romanticize the catacombs of Ba Sing Se so much. Katara is verbally attacking Zuko out of her own righteous anger but also her own prejudice when Zuko, surprisingly, chooses to be vulnerable with her. He’s been on a journey that’s opened his eyes a bit, but he’s never actively chosen to expose the rawest parts of his past to anyone. But for some reason he chooses to do that with Katara of all people. While she’s yelling at him. He sees her humanity, and for once can look past his prejudice and empathize with her. And this time, when she breaks down, she gets to be comforted. Katara normally talks about her mother when she’s trying to explain to someone else that she sees and understands they’re pain, as a form of comfort to them. Here, Zuko uses the exact same tactic. He sees her and he understands. And for zuko? He’s not being shut down. He’s allowed to articulate his pain regarding his mother without being ignored and made to internalize it, and he’s allowed to process how he feels about his scar out loud without being told that he deserved it. And then he lets her touch his scar, something we’ve seen him actively avoid before. He’s completely open to her and she’s completely open to him and all it took was one five minute conversation. She was about to use the little bit of Spirit water that she had, that she was saving for something Important, to heal the scar that still daily causes him pain just because they had, somehow, connected.

Plus there’s the whole parallel to the star-crossed lovers forbidden from one another, a war divides their people—

And then zuko messes up, he regresses, he gets what he wants and he HATES it. And the sense of justice he had as a child has been restored to him against his will and he can’t think of anything he wants to do more than the Right Thing, so he joins team avatar. Before he does that though, we get to see his relationship with Mai, which is where comparison really comes in. And what we see is Zuko, fresh off of his encounter with Katara in the catacombs, trying to be emotionally honest with Mai... and getting shut down and dismissed. Which is just how Mai is and it’s fine, but not for Zuko. Still, he keeps trying, and he keeps getting ignored or scoffed at or yelled at. Which is really a larger symbol for how he doesn’t fit in his old life anymore, but again that’s about thematic cohesion. He tries to articulate his anxieties about returning home, he tries to make romantic gestures, he tries to explain how morally conflicted he’s feeling—and Mai diverts to some kind of physical affection to shut him up and a parting comment that is pretty much always, in essence, “I don’t wanna talk about this.” So they don’t. On the other hand, once zuko and Katara are friends, we see him again emotionally distraught and caught up in his anxieties about facing Iroh, and it’s Katara who comes to him and listens to him and comforts and encourages him.

Similarly, we have Aang clamming up and getting uncomfortable whenever Katara shows any negative emotion, usually resulting in him making excuses or running away. Or, in the case of the Southern Raiders, lecturing her on how she needs to just let go of her anger about her mother’s murder. People have talked this episode to death and usually better than I ever could, so imma... keep it brief. There’s a serious disconnect between Aang and Katara in his ability to empathize with Katara and her needs that has her tamping down her vulnerability and amping up her anger. He tells her that he was able to forgive his people’s genocide and appa’s kidnapping (petnapping? Theft??), which is blatantly not true but also not an entirely equal parrallel to Katara’s situation, and continues making these little remarks throughout the episode. But it’s Zuko that Katara opens up to. It’s with him that she’s able to talk about the most traumatic day of her life, and it’s with him that she’s able to get the closure she needs, cementing their bond as friends and partners. This disagreement between Aang and Katara is then... never resolved. They just never bring it up and hear what the other is saying.

There’s a fic called The Portraits of Ember Island that has a line that so completely sums up the heart of the matter for why people love their dynamic. For context, zuko has woken up early to help Katara with the cooking and they spend the whole time just letting one another talk, and zuko stops to ask why she always just lets him talk. And so she stops to ask why he’s always helping, and it goes as follows:

There’s just... so much mutual support! Trust! Intimacy!! And it just continues like that from the Southern Raiders on, listening to each other, advising each other, watching each other’s backs! And then! Literally saving each other’s lives!! I will never be over the last Agni kai. Not ever. Zuko may have been willing to jump in front of lightning for anyone, but he actually did it for Katara. And in a show, that’s the thing that really matters. It’s a fulfilled trope usually exclusively applied to romantic pairings, and it ended up applying to Zuko and Katara. And then she ran out into the middle of a fight with tunnel vision just to get to him.

Also!! Also Zuko pushing Katara out of the way of the falling rocks at the Western Air Temple!! And Katara catching him as he fell from the war balloon that he fought Azula on!! Before they’re even getting along, they’re the ones reaching for each other. They come to this place of equal ground, as partners, who watch each other’s backs, call each other out but still listen attentively and understand, and provide the support that the other has been sorely lacking up until they knew each other (whether that be from lack of effort or lack of understanding from others, or an unwillingness to accept it for themselves).

Then, trailing along under the surface of this, we see the themes of the show totally embodied by Zuko and Katara as individuals and in their relationship to one another. There’s a YouTuber, sneezyreviews, who has a, like, 2-hour explanation on why she not only loves zutara but also believes that their endgame would’ve actually elevated the writing of atla to new levels particularly because of thematic cohesion and resolved character arcs. It’s the zutara dissertation I never knew I needed, and it’s funny and eloquent and effective, so I’m just going to sum up her section on thematic cohesion to the best of my abilities and then link it for whenever you have the time. And I HIGHLY recommend it, especially if you want a full understanding of what makes zutara so great and gives it such longevity.

Guru pathik has a line that goes something like this: separation is an illusion; things that seem different are just two parts of the same whole. Iroh also tells Zuko something similar: balance and strength are achieved when the different nations come together and influence one another and celebrate what makes them each unique. And this lesson is a massive central arc that both Zuko and Katara go through, moving past a black-and-white, good guys-vs-bad guys, us-vs-them mentality and into a greyer, more nuanced view of the world. Zuko sees the fire nation from an entirely new perspective and while he still loves and hopes for his nations future, he surrenders his blind loyalty to them in exchange for an unflinching loyalty to peace and love. Katara too had to come to terms with the fact that cruel people exist in the earth kingdom and water tribes, while some fire nation citizens are just regular, kind people who also need and deserve to have someone speak on their behalf. And this is honed in directly on how they view each other. They grow in their individual journeys to be open to the humanity in the other and then, once they’ve found that, they’re able to grow more in compassion for others in a beautiful feedback loop. And this is all matched in the symbolism repeatedly and intentionally associated with them in canon: sun and moon, fire and water, yin and yang, Oma and Shu who found love despite their warring nations. Their individual arcs are completed in each other and complement the themes of atla beautifully.

The canon pairs... just don’t. Which, again, is fine. But the very things that give atla longevity and popularity are anchored in zutara. Kat@ang doesn’t accomplish this. They’re... nice. Sweet. Especially when you erase a good portion of their interactions in S3. It could’ve been just a sweet love story. (Personally, the dynamic between toph and aang accomplish the same thing that zutara does, with complementary personalities that fulfill the theme of opposites blending in harmony) M@iko, on the other hand, is less sweet but I think wasn’t even supposed to last. Zuko’s relationship with Mai seems to represent his relationship with his old life as a whole. He can’t be emotionally vulnerable, he’s goaded into abusing his privileges, his agency and opinions aren’t respected. They just don’t have common ground with which to discuss anything that matters, so they don’t. As far as themes, the relationship doesn’t fit with atla. It’s zuko returning to and sticking with what is (on the surface) like him, what’s expected. Fire nation with fire nation. Fluid water bender with the flexible air bender. Like with like, separated from what is different and challenging and complementary.

And all of these things combined of course lead to the potential for the ship. I don’t know how familiar you are with the post-atla canon but... well, miss “I will never turn my back on people who need me”, miss “I don’t want to heal! I want to fight!” ends up living quietly in the SWT as a designated healer who turns a blind eye to the water tribe civil war happening right outside her front door. Which can be fine! People change! Some people just wanna stay inside. I just wanna stay inside! But the potential future for zutara is so much more satisfying, with Katara becoming the most unconventional Fire Lady the uppity old cads who are stuck on the old ways have ever seen. Fanon has her serving as a voice for the other nations within a kingdom at the point of its biggest political upheaval, as a confidante to Zuko who can actually help him while he’s trying to figure out how to move forward and make reparations. They have the opportunity, together, to accomplish what they both have set on their hearts to fight for: positive change that lends itself to harmony and balance. And the steambabies! A popular headcanon is that their firstborn daughter, the crown princess, is actually a waterbender, which causes such an uproar among the people who are adamantly clinging to the old ways. It’s just a future full of potential to be forces for good together, full of trust, intimacy, joy. The exact era of peace and love and balance that zuko announces that he intends to ring in with the start of his reign as Fire Lord is, again, magnified by the very personal zutara relationship. And we love to see it.

tl;dr zutara isn’t for everyone. Some people just don’t vibe with it. Some are nostalgic. Some love the canon they grew up with. Some have been disappointed for years. Some just see themselves in other characters and want their happiness instead. Whatever the reason, that’s fine. But for me, I love the way these two, from the moment they give each other a fair chance, are able to lower their walls and prejudices to see the other for the kindred spirits they are. They see each other’s humanity, and their response is to pour out love and support and compassion. I love that they’re a power couple in battle. I love the symbolism and, honestly, soulmatism that colors their every interaction. I love that they embody the whole storyline of atla in their relationship and how it develops, which is notably why their seasonal arcs always culminate in each finale with how they relate to one another. I love that zuko adopting a waterbending move is what actually saves his life and then katara’s. I love the chemistry! And I love the future they could’ve had, instead of the ones they were given.

So, in conclusion: I just think they’re neat and I hope you do too, at least a little bit. Even if it’s just respectfully from a disinterested distance cause you do you. And now here is the video I mentioned. I’m sorry this post got so long and then I gave you an even longer homework assignment, but I can’t recommend it enough. She says it all better than I can.

youtube

#zutara #atla #zutara rant #like really the way the canon relationships were written throughout s3 #it would’ve been more believable for zutara to happen #or at least be hinted at #all of the major issues presented in those relationship were dug up extensively and then... never resolved #and then they just slapped some kisses on a screen and said ‘there all better’#and we just kinda had to say ‘oh ok guess it’s all better then’#this got long I’m sorry #I wrote it all out and then tumblr ate 2/3 of it #which is why it took so long #and what I’ve written now doesn’t even match what I had before #because there’s too much to say about why I love zutara #and the stuff I left out the first time is what came out this time #rip to my original thoughts but this post is different #anyway that’s why this took so long #and I should’ve just made a PowerPoint...#I can do that too if you’d rather not read all of this lol #I won’t be offended #this is incoherent #Alia rambles uselessly #also hoping this doesn’t end up in any wrong tags because I don’t wanna step on toes lol #it’s not anti!! it’s just critical #in a compare/contrast way #I can pinpoint the moment when I started trying to rewrite my points from memory #because everything gets shorter and more succinct #like... I really said all that??? sounds fake and I don’t remember it anyway so here’s the condensed version #with no!! smooth!!! transitions!!!!#also why am I so lazy with proper grammar over text

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give-grian-rights · 3 years ago

Text

HERMITCRAFT 8 LIVEBLOGGING

fifteen hermits worth of liveblogging. i am losing my mind. LONG POST AHEAD.

JOE HILLS (First HC8 Video)

Mumbo did the speech. he forgot everything he was supposed to say <3

Pearl and Gemini were just .in a pit . having stuff thrown onto them

Every Hermit is staying on the same continent !!

FIRST DEATHS VERY QUICKLY, Iron Golems took out Tango and Etho (maybe more?)

Joe seems to be the only one looting the chests

Evil Jevin !!

Evil Xisuma appearance on Jevin’s 60 second video!

Pearl has something planned for an “archeticual wonder” for a resupply area upon death?

Stress, Xisuma and Joe are capturing villagers and starting up a resupply debut.

Bdubs is killed by Cleo and is now OUT FOR BLOOD

First death counts- Etho, Tango, Bdubs, Cleo?

Cleo was killed by Keralis

Joe has now supplied Cleo with weapons and food . She left but not before saying “Time to kill BDubs again!”

Gemini was killed by Bdubs! They both died and are now at spawn.

Pearl was killed by Cleo

Pearl is planning a respawn inn !!

Cleo was killed by Iskall

Cleo was killed by Pearl

False, Stress, and Gemini team up??? AA!!! they brought a delivery of supplies to Joe <3

i wish i knew what was happening on that end .

APPARENTLY XISUMA IS ONTO MAKING THE SECOND VILLAGER BREEDER ALREADY ??

Iskall is the first with Diamonds??

Breathe in that ash !

WAIT IS TANGOS EYES LIKE THAT RN BECAUSE HES TEAMED WITH KERALIS AND BDUBS ???

KERALIS, BDUBS, AND TANGO TRIED TO DO A SHAKEDOWN ON JOE. HE TRIED TO DROP LAVA, GOT HIMSELF ONTO TWO HEARTS BECAUSE HE PLACED IT ON HIMSELF, AND IS NOW SWIMMING OUT INTO THE SWAMP

the big eyed trio are now off to shake down Gemini

Joe fell in Lava in the Nether

Joe Death To Lava Two: Electric Boogaloo

Joe drowned trying to kill a glowsquid

WATCH JOE’S VIDEO OH MY GOD SEAN HILLS RECAP RAP??? MY BELOVED????? i am gonna be streaming this unironically later LIKE OH MY GOD THIS SLAPS. ALSO THE CREDITS AT TEH END IS HILARIOUS

Zedaph Episode Recap

Zed gave us a recap of the continent every Hermit will be living on !!

Wouldn’t recommend Zedaph as the first video for the season, he skips the intro/speech but it’s Zedaph and hes making it fun!! Lots of nice editing :)

~SCIENCE TIME !~

Zedaph.. why is your starter base made out of concrete ?

There are no sheeps whatsoever on his mountain

Hes calling his lab an icecream sandwich..yeah i see it

Zed tried to make a portal underater...f

Scar died to a creeper </3

Zedaphs base is gonna be tracking how long hes there/someones loading the chunk!

XISUMA LIVE BLOGGING

A cool cinema scene of him becoming an axolotl!! <3

NOW I CAN SEE IT, GRIAN WAS THE FIRST DEATH!! Death by Iron Golem!!

XIsuma’s baseplans need over 45 THOUSAND BLOCKS TO BE PLACED

He’s also planning on making a shulkershell farm!!

i’m not gonna lie ! talking axolotl X is horrifying ! thanks !

Day one Villager Breeder... chaos.

Xisuma Derp! looked straight at a buncha wool and said how badly he needed beds and then walked away

THE GIRLS CAME OVER AND CONVINCED HIM HE NEEDS TO MOVE THE DESIGN OVER MY FIVE BLOCKS FOR SWAMP VILLAGERS..

THE GIRLS ARE JUST LAUGHING AT HIM AND HIS VILLAGER TROUBLES

day one and Xisuma has got his axolotl!!

Very pretty starterbase!!

XB’s

..I’m not gonna lie theres not much to say!! He’s very calm :) he says hes going into it without a plan, and htat last season was the only time he had any thought of what he was gonna do.

He made a real nice starter house and thats about it!

Cleo’s

Bdubs: “She ain’t gonna hurt me!! i’m invincible, babey!”

Cleo learnt that BDubs will never hurt her even if she deserves it . I am starting to realize why she kills him

SHE DECIDED SHES GONNA BE A PROPER CHAOS GREMLIN THIS SEASON...

AISDJASID CLEO GOT PAID TO KILL BDUBS?? HDUIAIHSI SCAR WHY

“Alright I found my mission for the season! Murder.”

Cleo, Mumbo, Grian, and Scar are all holed up in a cave together!

..Scar died from a skeleton !

Cleo has now split from Grian and Mumbo! Scar is missing in action

CLEO FOUND A GOAT

SHES KILLING THE GOAT???

she got a HORSE <3 and Joe gave her a saddle! I think her name is..Widget?

She LOVES the candles for shamboo n waterbottles and bits n bobs for her armorstands!!

Got her Armorstand stickgod book <3

Geminitay POV

NEW HERMIT NEW HERMIT NEW HERMIT!!

She has a LOVELY voice!!

The pov of her in a hole . being surrrounded . is kinda hilarious

It might’ve been Etho who was first death?? I GENUIENLY CANNOT TELL BECAUSE OF EDITING

All the murder was just for heads!

Seriously her voice is. wow

WE LOVE A QUEEN WHO KNOWS HOW TO CRAFT A SHIELD WITHOUT USING THE GUIDE <3

False, Gemini, and Stress are on the great journey for MOSS !

Gem just blew their minds with the moss.

TANGO KERALIS AND BDUBS ARE BACK Keralis: “Show the diamonds show the diamonds show the diamonds!” Gem: “Keralis. This is not how you make friends.”

The boys suecessfully recieved a diamond each

Etho n Iskall are travelling together!! You dont see those two together often

Etho got a glowsquid head!!

Gem: “Etho doesn’t share, is what i’m learning..?”

Etho hooked her with a fishing rod and said she has to do what he said .

In order to get the diamonds, Tango, Keralis, and BDubs placed down a sign saying “Gem is Great!” and Gem used a glow inksack on it.

Etho: “So..What is this? Do you have an ego, or this a motivational thing, or..?” He said, while laughing

Iskall: “I think its really funny that you have set your base up in the middle of a birch forest.” Gem: “I love birch forests! Do you not like my birch forest? Iskall: “I love it, yeah.” Gem: “This is the best biome in the game, Iskall.” Iskall: “Mmmm..” Etho: “I’m pretty sure I heard Iskall talking earlier that like, of all the biomes in the game, there was one he hated more than anything. Gem: “Oh really? And what was that one?” Iskall: “..Taiga.” Gem: “Taiga.. That’s true, thats a good one, thats a good one.” Iskall: “Don’t like Taiga.” Gem: “Mhm.” Etho: “Which one do you hate more than anyone?” Iskall: “..Diorite fields. Thats a bad one.” Etho: “Yeah thats a bad one.” Gem: “Didn’t know about that one. Well make sure to avoid’em. Birch forests are really good.” Iskall: “I’m a big fan of birch forests.” Gem: “Yeah, me too, me too. I’m glad we’re on the same page :) This is so beautiful! All the white and- and the like zebra stripes! is fantastic.” Iskall: “I..Um.. Yes.”

OH SHE’S CANADIAN,, ETHO HAS A FRIEND /j

She’s still in college :O SHE’S A SCIENTIST?? SHES WORKING AT A HOSPITAL?? POG!!

She accidentally found an enchanted golden apple in a mineshaft!! she thinks its the first she ever found in survival!!

She has a cow, sheep, and a few crop farms set up!! Her starter house has INTERRIOR!

SHE CHANGED HER SKIN AND ITS SO PRETTY AND HAS OVERALL AND I LOVE IT!!

shes doing a cottage core inspired base!

WOAHH!!! SHE MADE HTE MOST GOREGOUS CUSTOM TREE I’VE EVER SEEN ??

BDUBS IS HERE and he is so so so impressed by the tree ?!

also hes carrying a clock.. :(

He’s here with a present!

HE BROUGHT BAMBOO!

she thinks its so funny that he stops conversations to sleep AOIDHFEAUI\

SCARS

WE GOT A TRANSITION SCENE!! the canonical reason for the bed in his old village always being occupied is because underneath it, was his wizard portal!

Bdubs: “It’s a new season! You’re the little guy now!”

They are all very amused by that ^

they’re rubbing the fleece of bdubs jacket .

Bdubs: “Have a nice rub :)” PLEASEAHSIOJDIUASLDHIASDA

His starter base is gonna be a wagon and he wants the end game to be a bioshock esque skyscraper!

he confused a horse for a player . flashback to iskall thinking mumbo was a mob

PEOPLE THINK MUMBO DOESNT HAVE PANTS ON.... </3

Scar, Mumbo, and Grian.. have NO braincells. at all. THey just placed a crafting table with a boat on top with a bed on top with a boat on top .

this is what BROS FOR LIFE looks like.

BOATEM POLE !

SCAR IS STUCK UNDERGROUND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IRL AND HAS NO PICKAXE..

AND HE DIED TO A CREEPER .

it seems like Grian, Mumbo, and Scar are working together !!!! HOLY SHIT !!

THERES SO SO SO MANY FARMS???????

he died several times trying to catch a skeleton with a sword

FIRST CHEST MONSTER OF THE SEASON <3

SCAR JSUT TOLD BDUBS HE LOOKS LIKE OSCAR THE CROUCH... BDUBS CANNOT EVEN ARGUE

OH NO.... GRIAN WENT AFK IN A HOLE . WITHOUT A HELMET .

THEY PUT A GLOWSQUID HEAD ON HIM

OH MY GOD MUMBO MADE A NOTEBLOCK SONG?? AJUDA

SCARS BUILTING IS SO SO SOOS GOREGOUS SERIOUSLY GO WATCH THE VIDEO OH MY GOD ITS HUGE

its a giant ass house boat wagon . its pulled by a llama . that killed him . so now its trapped, pulling hte agon, forever

Grian: “..Thats a very big house, for a very little hat.”

GRIANS SUPER SPECIAL EGG??

SCAR PUNCHED IT..

they really came out here . and killed the egg already.

Scar: “..I touched the thing”

TANGO POV

We see the three big eyed boys forming <3 they interrupted Tangos intro

THEY’RE BULLYING HIM ABOUT HAVING SMALL EYES AHIDUIASUHDWIS

HE TRIED TO CALL THE TRIO TEAM BUG EYE... THE OTHERS ARE VERY OFFENDED

they found an axolotl and Bdubs was TERRIFIED just screaming “WHAT IS THAT YELLOW THING?!”

BDUBS IS ATTACKING IT ???

okay nope Bdubs caught one and Tango lost it

Bdubs is naming his axolotl Idiot

AMAZING HOUSE. WHY IS TANGO SO GOOD AT BUILDING AND REDSTONE??

Impulse POV

MUMBO TRIED TO PLACE DOWN A BERRY BUSH TO HURT IMPULSE . HE FORGOT HOW BUSHES WORK..

I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE THAT IMPULSE WAS IN THE BOATEM POLE

so it looks like those four are hteo nes who grouped up together

PEARL BROKE THE CONSTITUION SHE GOT IN THE WRONG BOAT SMH

THIS IS SEASON EIGHT! FIVE BROS !

So its gonna be about five people in the same area!!

YOO!! Fantasy build for Impulse!!

G gave Impulse a spyglass, they had a fun moment of zooming in on eachothers face and complimenting eachother IHAUDIHAW

Grian and Impulse worked on an xp farm!

ASHDUIWAHISD GRIAN JUST LOGGED ON INFRONT OF HIM

a pillager stole his boat . not just any pillager . the one with a banner. </3

he has to live with Mumbo tuning a song .. </3 haha

Mumbo POV

it took fifteen seconds until Grian ran in during Mumbos intro

CONFIRMED? GRIAN WAS FIRST DEATH?

SECOND PERSON TO THINK MUMBOS PANTS ARE SKIN COLOR. GRIAN..

Grian: “Can you..Briefly explain why you’re just wearing a hawaiian shirt?” Mumbo: “Uh- what do you mean ‘just wearing a hawaiin shirt? I have shorts on as-well, dude”

FOLLOWED BY

Mumbo: “Can you explain why you’re wearing a red jumper?” Grian: “You know- you know i was born with this!”

MUMBO AND GRIAN STOLE THE BOAT LOOT FROM RENDOC

I THINK RENDOC JUST STOLE THE DIAMOND MUMBO THREW??

Grian: “Is that Scar?” Mumbo: “I can’t see past your giant waffle!”

DSFSDFJIOA they did an edit where they placed down a boat, both Mumbo and Grian got in, they made noises and then bopped up on top of the ravine they were in <3

THEY HAVE NO BRAINCELL THEY JUST PLACED DOWN A BENCH AND SAID “THIS IS THE MARK OF OUR VILLAGE!” and then placed a torch and a boat and a bed and aANOTHER BED..

..Mumbo is trying to be a pacifist this season!

Grian’s taunting him with beheaded things

And obviously part of being pacifist means he’s gonna be vegetarian in minecraft!

..he cannot use monster farms because pacifisim..

Mumbo was in the middle of reading the magical Timmy shack that Tango made (did i remember to mention that? who knows) and IN THE MIDDLE OF GETTING TO THE PART ABOUT IF YOU REMOVE STUFF FROM THE CHEST, NOTHING WILL BE ADDED IN IT AGAIN. Grian opened the chest . Mumbo SHOUTED HIAUDHUW Grian jumped man

They renamed it “Cave of Do Not Enter” HIAUEDUH

Mumbo and Scar BOTH did not know- at least Mumbo didn’t, Scar forgot, that podzol spawns from two-by-two spruce..

him and his guitar song to be played underneath his house.. it goes with the aesthetic i suppose

MAN HE NEEDS SO MUCH HAYBALES I FORGOT THATS NEEDED FOR THE TUNE HE WANTS

Mumbo: “What.. On Earth.. Scar, it’s meant to be a starterbase, buddy! What is this? This is many things, many many things, a starterbase is NOT one of them!”

HE LITERALLY DIDNT KNOW THAT THE DRAGON EGG TELEPORTS... WHEN YOU TOUCH IT...

BDUBS

nothing special we havent seen yet!! just him screaming about axolotls.

He was working in the Mesa in his intro, skipping the “speech” from Mumbo

He released Idiot the Axolotl and lost it .

Him SCREAMING “Gemini” is HILARIOUS

While Gemini gave away those three diamonds, Keralis got so excited he won a bet with Tango and Bdubs, that he gave back . two of the diamonds . and none of htem released until well after they left

Bdubs: “That’s why i have my mwoss skin!” PLEASE I LOVE THE WAY HE SAYS IT.. make the moss hood.. REAL..

it took me a while to figure out what his base is but i LOVE IT so so much!!!

Nothing much new to add !!

Stress pov

please i love her . very good !! False seems to have joined her sheerly because Stress sounded like she knew what she was doing. she does not.

False felt peerpressured and asked Stress for permission to fight her because everyone was killing eachother .

It ended up with Stress following False. they found a village!

ISKALL only saw him one other time today!!

JEVIN APPEARS AGAIN !

XISUMA FELL INTO HTE BREEDER AND IT WAS SO FUNN IUAHHYIAUSD

Ren: “Ya look goregous, Stress!” Stress: “Thanks! Don’t murder my dog!”

She’s so proud of herself for caving!! (with False n Gem

Iskall blew up!

..Iskall fell from a high place

Stress has a LOVELY ravine base!!

False

False wants to become pirates with Stress <3

gatekeep gaslight girlboss

BIG OL MUSHROOM HOUSE !!

it looks like a mushroom church and i LOVE IT.

Nothing new we didn’t see from Gem. She does want to come up with a banner design for her base, though!

Grian

..Mumbo just thought Grian had a purpose so decided to follow him <3

ALSO HIS INTRO, AS HE JOKED ABOUT IN THE OTHERS VIDEO, WAS, IN FACT, THE BOATEM POLE

Grian is SO PROUD of the fact taht they got good loot from a treasure map. Ren and Doc are NOT IMPRESSED

Grian: “Lets go, potato boy!”

Mumbo: “I don’t have to replace everything I break! Peace Love and Plants- are these plants..?” He says, mining amethyst

pants

he who controls the egg, controls the server... Grian.. you’re doing great sir

...He decided.. his goal.. is to make his OWN..caves and cliffs update... HELLO..?

Grian was the first one to kill the enderdragon, MAN. Speedrunning career WHEN? /j

Grian: “And now [Mumbo] is flexing on my bed!”

he might not have a base. but he has an egg.

It is now 2am. i cannot do this anymore. This will be continued.. tomorrow!

#long post #SERIOUSLY I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW LONG I WENT #spoilers #hermitcraft 8 #hermitcraft 8 spoilers #hc 8 #hc 8 spoilers #mcyt #mcytblr #hermitblr #hermitcraft #mika-posts

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kevindayscrown · 4 years ago

Note

Ah, I love your series with Kevin and Eric so so much! It's so good. Now that you said about prompts, I kind of would like to see Kevin talking with Jean about Eric (and maybe Jean talking a bit to Kevin about Jeremy). Of course you don't have to if you think it wouldn't belong to the plot/series but, if I'm being honest I would like to see your take on this! :')

Hello! Thank you for taking time to send me your request! For some reason, the most asked prompt both here and on insta was Kevin/Jean and their discussion about Eric! So I'll start with this one (and you were the first to send me it).

The one where Kevin Day falls in love with an ice hockey player.

Extra Content Part 2

Ghosts

Anything included in this head canon takes place the semester after the Foxes won the championship against the Ravens.

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about varsity teams in the United States so excuse any false information. Head over to the directory to find the previous parts, and follow this link for the fan fic version.

Kevin still rarely talks about Jean Moreau and everything cruel that took place in the Nest. He touches very briefly upon that subject, and even when he does, he hardly ever mentions the former Raven backliner.

He knows that Eric won't push it but it becomes clear that, as the final match between the Foxes and the Trojans approaches, Kevin is more jittery and nervous.

Usually, he expresses these emotions through being extra snarky. It's also the match that will declare the champions of the season, which only adds to his demands on court.

The Foxes can hardly stand his behaviour, so they let Eric do damage control. He seems to be the only one able to tame Kevin after a total of seven hours of practice per day.

Eric has managed to find a few of Kevin's buttons that help the other relax and ease off the tension, but it doesn't always work.

It does nothing when the day of the game finally arrives.

This year, it's a home game for the Foxes, so they are saved from the trouble of travelling across the country. They can hardly accommodate the crowd this match will attract, but they know they will still have the support of their loyal fans.

Eric takes a seat fifteen minutes before first serve. He can see from the stands that, even during warm ups, Kevin is unusually silent for someone who can't stop talking about the Trojans or about game tactics.

The game finally starts and it reminds the ice hockey player of a death match. There is violent collision of bodies, curses and fights, but it's apparently all fair game. It surprises Eric, but not enough to make him take his eyes off of Kevin.

The way he moves on court, brings about a wave of pride that overwhelms Eric. He can't help the smile on his face nor the way he cheers every time Kevin scores.

However, much to the Palmetto students' dismay, the Foxes lose 8-10. The 'renovations' the Trojans did to their lineup last year and the addition of perhaps the best Class I bakcliner on their team, is enough to create the small point gap needed to secure them a victory.

Eric can already tell Kevin will not be happy about it. He decides to give the team time to process the loss and waits outside of the Foxhole Court.

Which means that the Foxes have to deal with Kevin taking their ears off about everything that went wrong. Only few of them could tell, however, that Kevin was probably judging himself the harshest for every lost opportunity.

No one wants or has the guts to tell him that many times, Kevin would hesitate simply because his offence was met with Jean's defence.

The only one who decides to do something about it is Neil. Jeremy Knox seems to agree to his plan and the two of them manage to persuade both teams to help.

And that's how Kevin finds himself facing his former teammate as he comes out of the showers, dressed and ready to leave.

The number three on the other's cheek makes Kevin want to reach for his own tattoo, to look in the mirror and see if the '2' is still there.

"Jean," he says and walks over to his locker. "What are you doing here?" His voice comes out somewhat empty and void of emotions, even if there is a whirlwind of them in his head.

"That was a good game. Your hand seems to have almost fully healed," Jean says instead.

Kevin flinches. He remembers the night he left and he is sure Jean does too. He is sure that Riko took all of his rage out on the one left behind.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he finally says.

Jean says nothing at first. He simply stares at the other. They are obviously both still haunted by ghosts of the past. And Kevin is still weighted down by the guilt of thinking only of himself that night, no matter how injured he had been.

"It doesn't matter now. That's in the past. We have both gone our own ways."

Kevin can see that. Jean looks... healthier. He has gained weight and his light skin looks less ashen than it did the last time Kevin saw him.

"The Trojans-"

"The Trojans have taken me in and have helped me stand on my own two feet. It was the best thing you could have done for me."

Kevin nods. He had known that the two of them would never be able to play on the same court together again, exactly because of their shared past.

"And I thank you for it. I know the Foxes are right for you too."

Kevin is not so sure about that sometimes, but he knew that if Wymack had not taken him in, he wouldn't be here now.

"Are you happy?" Jean finally asks. It sounds almost absurd; the two of them, happy. They had never even been allowed to make such thought in the past.

But he thinks of Eric, he thinks of his father, he thinks of all the victories he has shared with the Foxes, and nods.

"I am."

"So they were right. About you and that hockey player."

The last thing Kevin expected out of a conversation between him and Jean was to talk about his love life. But eventually, he nods slowly in confirmation.

"Yes. They were right. We are together. We have been for several months now."

Jean crosses his arms on front of his chest and watches Kevin carefully, as if calculating what to say next.

"If he can tolerate you for months now, then I suppose it does work out."

Kevin could hear the meaning behind those words. 'Don't screw up'. But he has already done so once and he isn't planning on doing it a second time.

"It does. My boyfriend comes to all my games and is there when I need him. That's enough."

Jean nods, and there is a far off look that tells Kevin that he is thinking of something similar.

"Give Jeremy my thanks. Tell him that tonight's game was good enough that it almost doesn't feel like a loss."

The small laugh that comes out of Jean catches Kevin off guard. He supposes that the Trojans have done a lot more for Jean than he had expected.

"I'll tell him. He seems to value what you have to say," he says and Kevin scoffs, grabbing his duffel bag from the locker before closing it.

"And of course you would know." Normally, someone would perceive this as teasing, but Kevin is very clear about the meaning behind his words and is sure that Jean has also understood.

"I spend a lot of quality time with my Captain. I've gotten close with him, as it's expected."

Kevin just nods, walking besides the other towards the exit.

"We will see each other again on court next year," he finally adds once they are a few feet away from their awaiting teams. "You better be prepared."

"Don't worry about that, Day. I'm sure we will get to talk again before that," is the last thing Jean says before leaving.

Kevin watches him until he feels an arm being wrapped around his waist. He turns to look at Eric, with a characteristic scowl.

"It was a good game, if that's any comfort to you," the goaltender says and chuckles as he presses a kiss to Kevin's temple.

Kevin rolls his eyes but despite tonight's loss, he somehow feels lighter in his chest.

#all for the game #aftg #andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #the foxhole court #kevin day #the raven king #the kings men #matt boyd #kevin day x oc #OC: Jiang Eric #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard #dan wilds #renee walker #allison reynolds #aftg fic #aftg headcanon

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justlistenuniverse · 4 years ago

Text

Chad x Ryan Headcanon

So, I rewatched the High School Musical movies, and my brain won't shut up about Ryan and all the possibilities. I mean, the movies don't really show a lot of the characters outside of Troy and maybe Gabriella, but I have a lot of ideas. Since I can't be bothered writing a fanfiction right now, these little plot points should do it. (There's a little Chad/Ryan in there and a lot of me ignoring canon)

Sharpay and Ryan are really close, even though she keeps using him, and he knows it, but he hasn't had friends outside of his sister for a long time, and he kind of profits from her reign of terror, so he lets her do it.

When she ditches him in the summer, Ryan starts realizing how lonely he really is. He loves his school, and his classmates are fine, but thanks to Sharpay's attitude and him tagging along, all he gets from them is a sneer and people calling him Sharpay's lapdog (which is really not fair, she has Boi)

He spends a lot of the time he now has alone, walking around the Lava Springs grounds, maybe booking one of the rooms for a small dance rehearsal.

Then Gabriella invites her along to the game, and Ryan is suspicious, but he also doesn't have anything better to do, so he tags along and lets Taylor and Gabriella tell him all about the game. It's the first one this summer, but there's another one planned, and they are hoping Troy might make it to that one, even though Chad is their best player.

He loves playing Baseball. He forgot how fun it was, ho he used to get so excited for practice, and his games before he decided that Theater would be a more realistic career choice for someone like him and dropped out of the team. Sharpay dragging him along and commanding all his time might have weighted into that decision, too. He tries hard not to think about him leaving Baseball behind, which also meant him leaving his friends behind (but he can't help some memories playing in his head as he watches the boys warming up on the pitch)

Gabriella offering him up as a choreographer, shouldn't feel this good, but he's always loved dancing and coming up with choreographies for his favorite musical numbers. There could be worse things than training the Wildcats for the Star Dazzle Award.

He hadn't been planning on playing, not really, but he does, and the game is the most fun he had in weeks. His muscles apparently remember his Baseball games just fine, and he feels a little bit of hope growing inside of him. Maybe he won't have to be alone all summer long.

When his team loses the game, all that hope is gone. The past hours will probably be the only fun ones he'll have this summer. He won't be training the Wildcats, and he definitely won't make some friends now. But then Chad tells him he will at least try to dance, and everyone gets really excited about the prospect of taking part in the talent show, so Ryan allows the hope back in.

They invite him for post-game fries, and hanging out with all of them makes him realize how starved he really is for social interactions after years of just Sharpay. Gabriella drags him along to her house, where they all watch a movie, but it all feels so unreal that Ryan is sure he'll wake up all alone tomorrow.

Even when Chad and Gabriella and some of the others program their numbers into his phone, that feeling won't leave him.

He does not wake up without friends, though

There are a couple of texts from Gabriella, and a picture of an article about Ryan and his Little League Team Chad dug up on the internet and might be freaking out about (Ryan did remember that article. It had praised him as a rising talent of the Baseball league. His mom still has it framed in her office).

Ryan skips breakfast and instead goes and books his favorite rehearsal room after he steals/consults his new possible friend's working hours to find a convenient time for rehearsal.

He tries out a couple of ideas by himself and then finds Kelsi to ask about the Song she wrote. They make a surprisingly good team once she stops being afraid of him.

Gabriella finds him on her lunch break, and the two of them talk over Sandwiches. Taylor eventually joins them. They find out all of them have the same favorite TV Show and make plans for a joined binging of season one at Gabriella's place since she owns the box set.

Talking with them is so easy, some of the anxiety in Ryan calms down. He even waves at Chad and Zeke when they come in for their afternoon shift, and they smile and wave back.

The anxiety gets even better when all of the Wildcats turn up for their first rehearsal, eager to learn the dance moves Ryan came up with

There's a lot of laughter, something that rarely happened once Sharpay and him started rehearsing for school plays. Ryan loves it.

Chad is a surprisingly good dancer when he puts his mind into it. Jason is a hopeless case, but he's weirdly enthusiastic, and Ryan offers him extra training after work.

He gets a text from Zeke the next morning, inviting him for breakfast in the kitchen. He gets cookies, and Martha shows him that she already memorized most of the chores, which is truly amazing. He relaxes enough around them to make sarcastic comments and tease Chad.

Rehearsing is a lot of fun with them. It's also chaotic and loud, but Ryan really doesn't mind. Even Jason gets into it after a while.

They keep inviting Ryan to hang out with them after work or when they are on break. Eventually, it becomes a common occurrence for him to come walk into the kitchen. Common enough that Mr. Fulton doesn't blink anymore whenever he tries to be awful to them but can't because Ryan will quietly glare at him (He wouldn't need too. Mr. Fulton likes him, but he's slightly scared of Sharpay and follows her every word)

Taylor and Martha join him for his yoga classes.

Gabriella, Taylor, and he have that binging night. The next day, Taylor needs a triple shot espresso to function, and Gabriella nearly falls asleep on the job. Ryan walks into a wall; he's so tired, but it was definitely worth it.

His mom notices the difference in him. Sharpay doesn't. It stings.

Chad asks him once why he doesn't play Baseball at school. "We could use someone like you on the team," Ryan tells him that he wants to concentrate on acting and dancing as much as possible. He doesn't tell him that he never really noticed how much he missed the sport.

Chad nudges him and laughs. They keep throwing a Baseball back and forth.

Ryan does get dragged into the second employee Baseball game as well as a couple of smaller ones. He's always playing against Chad because both are super competitive, and it makes for a good match.

Chad and Zeke try t teach him Basketball, but he doesn't really get it. Jason offers him one on one lessons for his extra dance training.

It takes a while for Ryan to notice how happy he is now that he has so many people to talk too.

He also noticed how hurt everyone is because of Troy's behavior, Chad and Gabi most of all. He tries to apologize to them for his sister, but they wave him off. "You are not your sister, Ryan. You shouldn't be taking the blame on you." (He nearly tears up)

Then, Sharpay manages to exclude them from the talent show, and Ryan feels like his world is crumbling around him. Gabi texts him that she broke up with Troy. Chad calls him later that night, and they talk about how weird this summer is. "But honestly, I am glad we are friends now, Ry. You are kind of awesome."

Hatching a plan to get back at Sharpay is easy once Kelsi comes rushing into the kitchen, telling them how Troy turned Sharpay down. Taylor immediately calls Gabriella, and the four of them come up with a plan. Ryan is an expert on everything Lava Springs and Sharpay, Chad and Gabriella know Troy better than anyone else, and Taylor is a fucking genius. The others love the plan.

He finds himself driving Kelsi over to Gabriella's house for a song rehearsal, and he stays to watch her sing, She looks less perky than usual, more exhausted. But she still has that spirit that keeps pulling everyone in, and when she smiles at him, he knows she'll be okay again. He is happy about that.

Ryan feels guilty about playing Sharpay like this, but he still has her voice in his head, degrading him in every way possible without telling him he sucks. Kelsi tells him it's gonna be okay.

When the big evening ends with Troy and Gabi back together, and the award in Ryan's hand like the exaggerated apology it is, Ryan thinks he's dreaming.

For a short moment, Ryan thinks the team will ditch him now that they got Troy back, but they don't. They introduce him to Troy like he's the second-best thing that ever happened to them, and Troy makes an effort to get to know him. There are no rehearsals anymore, but basketball games, lazy baseball practice, impromptu dance battles with Martha, and more text conversations than Ryan's phone has ever handled.

Sharpay starts making amends, She comes knocking on his door, and they talk. She writes apologies to Troy and Gabriella and Kelsi and delivers them personally. She grumbles all the way through writing them, but she smiles when they accept.

They invite her to hang out with them, too, and she fits the group well. There's a blush on her face when Zeke presents her with cinnamon buns, and she starts holding his hand. Ryan just smiles, glad his sister might admit her crush on the boy now.

Work at Lava Springs becomes more relaxed for the Wildcats after Fulton calms down. They get treated like everyone else, and while he's still strict on their break times, he lets them have more fun now.

The end-of-summer-party Sharpay organizes is a hit. She plans to make it a standing event for employees from now on, no matter who they are.

Then their Senior Year starts. Everything is the same, but also kind of different. Ryan grew a lot over the summer, and his friends helped him be more self-confident in a less arrogant way.

Sharpay mellowed out a bit, too. It's partly because of the Wildcats accepting her into their group, partly due to her affection for Ryan and also because of Zeke spending a lot of time with her. Ryan might have caught them in the Evan's private kitchen once, both of them giggling as Zeke showed her how to make the cookies she loved so much. He didn't tell anyone.

But then, Sharpay starts to fall back into her old ways some weeks into the school year. She snaps at Ryan, ignores Zeke, flirts with Troy, and tries to make Theater all about her again.

Ryan doesn't know what's happening, and neither does anyone else. Zeke is a sad puppy all the time, and Jason spends a lot of time trying to cheer him up.

However, Ryan is still quite settled. He visits all of Chad's games, Basketball and Baseball, and cheers his friends on. He tells Martha to audition for the cheerleaders and is her biggest fan once she gets in. Martha, Taylor, and he still do Yoga together twice a week with an instructor Ryan pays. When his dance class takes part in a competition, he gets cheered on by his friends. He and Gabriella have a standing movie night once a month, with brownies and whatever TV Shows they love. He and Kelsi still work great together, writing and choreographing the graduation musical, and they love to hang out outside of the show, too. There's not one day he doesn't get hundreds of text messages.

His favorite text convos are the late-night ones with Chad and Gabi. They eventually morph into late-night-dinner-visits. Sometimes, Troy or someone else will join them. The Diner staff has a booth for them, and they have usual orders.

Sharpay gets a PA. Ryan doesn't like Tiara. She makes him feel like he's worthless all over again, and there's a cold aura around her despite her playing nice. Gabriella tells him to keep an eye on her if she keeps making him feel that way. Taylor says he's far from worthless.

Chad tells him about how scared he is once it becomes clear that Troy might not be as set on the U of A as everyone thought. They met when they were five, and they did everything together since. The only difference would be Baseball and Golf, and that's why the summer was so hard for Chad. He can't imagine himself without Troy by his side. He doesn't know who he is when he's not Troy Bolton's best friend. Ryan isn't sure what to say, but he holds Chad when he starts to cry, and he promises him to help him figure out who he is.

Ryan is the third person Gabriella tells about the program at Stanford. Her mom and Taylor both think she's acting childish, and she needs someone else to help her make a decision. Ryan holds her hand and carefully tells her that h thinks she needs to talk to Troy. He also tells her not to worry about the show, because that's not a problem she should concern herself with right now. Her future is calling, with an incredible opportunity, and he doesn't want her to regret missing out on it.

Sharpay finds out about the program and tells Troy about it before Gabriella can. Ryan gets so angry, he yells at her. He doesn't understand why she's trying to ruin everyone's Senior Year. She hisses at him to grow up and leaves the house.

Gabriella invites all of her friends to her house and tells them she'll graduate early and leave. She clutches Troy's hand so tightly her knuckles turn white, but he lets her. And then she's the center of a huge group hug. Jason grabs Chad, and they drive off to get them drinks and snacks, turning the whole meeting into a little goodbye party.

At one point, Ryan finds himself standing next to Zeke on the balcony. Zeke confesses that he had been planning on asking Sharpay to be his prom date, but she broke up with him before the first posters popped up. Ryan has seen a lot of heartbreak lately, and Zeke might just be the worst. He can't do anything but listen, though, and Zeke gives him a sad little smile when Ryan drops him off at his house.

Sharpay tries to win him for whatever plan she has, but he refuses. He's busy with school and the show and sad about Gabriella leaving, and he won't betray his friends.

Kelsi tells him she's gay one morning when they sit at the piano in one of the music rooms and figure out the words for a song. She only told her parents and Jason so far. Ryan offers to take her to prom as friends because he hadn't planned on going with a romantic date anyway.

He wonders when he became the person people trusted in, but it feels good to have them trust him, and he knows he can tell them everything, too.

Rehearsals are less fun now. They still want to do the show, and they work their asses off, but Gabriella was more critical for the group dynamic than anyone had realized. They miss her like crazy, and seeing Troy act like a heartbroken puppy gets frustrating. They also have to deal with a sad Zeke, who has to watch Sharpay throw herself at Troy at any possible time. It's not easy.

Late-night-diner-visits are just Ryan and Chad now. They are both comfortable in the presence of each other, but Gabriella is missing even here. When she tells them she won't be coming for prom and the show, they all get even more depressed, even when Gabi says she will be back for the graduation celebration.

Troy leaves to get Gabriella back. He doesn't tell anyone until he's left the state, only sending a group message when there's no way of getting him back. His dad calls Chad and then Troy, ranting about how he should have said something so he could've gotten his parent's car, which would've been much safer for a trip like that. Nobody is surprised at Troy's actions, though.

Prom without Troy and Gabriella is a little weird, but still lots of fun. Ryan dances with Kelsi and Martha and Taylor, and even Chad. Sharpay doesn't show, which makes Ryan worry. When he comes home late at night, he finds her curled up in his bed, fast asleep. He slips under the blanket and pulls her close, falling asleep with his sister in his arms.

Sharpay is already awake when he opens his eyes the next morning, sitting on the bed in an old pair of pink sweatpants and one of Zeke's shirts. She's always well dressed, and the fact that she isn't right now tells Ryan that this is serious. He waits for her to speak first.

She tells him about the Julliard chatroom she's been frequenting nearly every day since the summer. How she chatted with lots of people on there, all of them having the same dream. How she started to panic once she read some of their resumes and realized that her own resume had a lot of leading roles but also that understudy part of the spring musical from a year ago. She doesn't have a plan B, Julliard was always her first choice, and she can't let that go. So she started to push them all away and focused on getting herself a more significant role in the show. Flirting with Troy had already been a habit, Zeke would have held her back. Ryan is her twin, but it's only one scholarship, and while neither of them needs it, this scholarship is tied to the last free spot at Julliard. She tells him how she had never felt so alone, and that she's missing hanging out with them. She even misses Gabriella, and she doesn't like Tiara. "Nobody is that nice all the time, Ryan! Even Gabriella had her bad moments when she was around me."

Ryan hugs her tight and makes her Pancakes and smoothies. Then he texts Zeke.

Zeke turns up on their doorstep twenty minutes later, still in his PJs. Sharpay all but jumps into his arms, crying into his shoulder as he holds her. Ryan leaves them be and retires to his room to text Chad and Gabriella, only coming out when it becomes clear that they have to leave for the show.

He gets to drive Sharpay's car for the first time ever because his sister refuses to let Zeke's hand go. He accepted her apology, and while he told her he would need some time to fully forgive her, he did kiss her softly. The two of them look a bit ridiculous with Zeke in his PJs and Sharpay having changed into a hot pink tracksuit, but Ryan's happy for them.

Gabriella texts him that her mom is driving her and Troy back to East High, and to please get her a ticket. He promises her he'll put her mom on the guestlist.

East High is pretty empty. It's a Saturday, and the show won't be starting until much later. The time before is for making sure everything is okay, going through the whole thing once, warming up their voices and muscles, and trying to get rid of any complications they might get. Sharpay apologizes to all of them and explains her behavior, which leads to Ms. Darbus telling her how she should have just said something, and Kelsi would have written her a different storyline, something more substantial. Chad tells her he'll make her life a living hell if she treats Ryan like that ever again, but then he hugs Sharpay, and she smiles and lets him.

Ryan quietly admits that he send applications for Sharpay to some other schools where she can study acting. Sharpay kisses him on the cheek and says he should've told her.

Troy texts Chad that he isn't sure if he'll make it in time, so Kelsi pulls Rocket aside to help him go over the Song again.

Sharpay finds Tiara in her wardrobe, showing her real face. The conversation unsettles her much after the whole emotional morning, and it takes Ryan a little while to calm her down again.

The show is chaotic but good. Ryan enjoys every single minute of it. To everyone's relief, Troy and Gabriella make it in time for their first Song, which allows Sharpay to kick Tiara of the show, and the rest of them to breathe easy.

He never doubted Kelsi would receive the scholarship, but hearing that they decided to take him on, too, is surreal and incredible, and he doesn't think Sharpay hugged him so hard in years.

They throw an After Party right there in the Auditorium. There are music and drinks, and their parents stay to mingle. His mom tells Ryan that she already got a two-room-flat in New York, and he asks Kelsi to be his roommate so she won't have to worry about housing.

Chad is still a bit upset about Troy's choice, but he tells him he'll be okay as long as Troy keeps in contact with him, and Troy swears Chad'll be annoyed with him by the end of the first term.

Gabriella has to go back to Standford the next day, but this time around, it's okay. Troy still mops about, but now that he choose a University that won't be all that far away from her he's better.

The rest of the school year goes by in a rush of exams and presentations. Ryan spends a lot of time on the living room floor, surrounded by notes and Sharpay, maybe even Zeke.

Graduation day is fantastic and awful at once. Ryan cries. Everyone cries. They take more pictures together than is probably healthy, and Ryan is already picking out frames for his favorite ones mentally.

Most of them still have a few weeks before they'll have to leave, but Taylor has to leave early, and so do Ryan and Kelsi. Gabriella will be staying a bit longer since her Semester won't be starting until Troy's does.

Ryan's last night is spent at the diner with Chad, Gabi, and Sharpay. Sharpay offers Chad to room with her since her parents had gotten her a flat near Campus, and she knows that Chad would just have stayed at the dorms for the first year. It's a surprise, but Chad accepts happily, and Ryan feels they will work well.

All of their friends gather to see Kelsi and Ryan off. Ryan gets hugged so much he starts to believe he won't be able to stand up without a pair of arms around his body. Gabriella makes him promise to text her as often as possible, Sharpay cries and says she'll be visiting him a lot, and Chad hugs him tightly enough to bruise a rip.

Ryan loves Julliard. It's competitive and loud, but it's also passionated and flashy. He's surrounded by people who are just as taken with the showbusiness as he is, and while it's a bit hard to make genuine friends, he manages.

Kelsi gets a girlfriend, and the three of them have movie nights at their apartment.

Sharpay does visit them quite a lot. She brings Chad with her once, and Ryan spends the whole weekend showing his friend the city. Chad absolutely loves New York, and Ryan invites him for an extended stay during their next break.

It's in his second year at Julliard that Ryan finally accepts the fact that he is gay. He thought he might be bisexual, but after a couple of make-out sessions with cute guys and no attraction whatsoever for any girl in his classes, he nods and sighs. There are no tears or break-downs. Instead, Kelsi gets him his favorite Milkshake, and they celebrate.

Telling his family is easy. His parents have never been judgemental about sexuality, and Sharpay just shrugs and tells him not to steal her boyfriend. Ryan laughs and tells her Zeke would never leave her on his own free will. When he calls Gabriella, she says she'll love him anyway, and Troy teases him about crushing on cute actors. (Turns out Troy himself has a crush on Jensen Ackles, which they bond over).

He tells Chad in person when he visits him at Chad's Uni. Chad is silent for a while, and then he nods and admits that he thinks he is bisexual himself. They get drunk and have a long discussion about sexuality.

Ryan visits all the games of Troy and Chad in New York. They always get him tickets, and he will cheer them on loudly.

His third year is so stressful, he nearly misses one of Chad's games. He's landed a leading role in a Julliard production while choreographing a smaller show on the side and is swapped with course work. He barely has time to sleep and eat. Kelsi's the same, their apartment filling with dirty dishes and clothes. But he finds Taylor standing at their door an hour before the game starts, and she presents both of them with tickets.

Despite constantly texting, they have a lot to talk about. Taylor and Chad broke up shortly into their first year of University, but they are still close to each other, and Ryan kind of admires them for it. She tells him all about her new boyfriend and gushes with Kelsi about a movie they had watched recently.

The four decide to go out for Pizza after Chad finds them, freshly showered and grinning brightly from winning the game. He looks incredibly handsome and relaxed, and Ryan finds himself staring at him more than once.

It takes one more visit for Chad and Ryan to finally kiss. It's January, and they are sitting on the roof of Ryan's apartment building. Wrapped in blankets, and with warm cocoa, watching the sky. Later, neither can tell if one of them started it or both leaned in at the same time, but it doesn't really matter. All that matters are their lips meeting softly, Ryan's hands in Chad's hair, and Chad's fingers searching for warm skin. It's slow and sweet, and it goes on forever.

Long-distance is easier for them than they expected. They've been friends for nearly five years at this point, and they spent three of those apart. Now, they call and text more, and visits get a bit more frequent, but both are willing to work hard. Kelsi says it shows.

Telling their friends and families isn't a big deal. Gabriella squeals so loudly, Ryan is sure he'll get tinnitus. Troy calls him to say he'll hurt him if he hurts Chad, but also to call him if Chad's an asshole. Sharpay hugs them both, and threatens Chad with detailed revenge plans should he hurt her brother. Their parents invite the pair for dinner.

Graduating from Julliard feels as unreal as leaving High School, but Ryan has already secured his first job as a choreographer for a dance show, and he's happy.

Sharpay moves to New York and brings Zeke with her, who landed a fancy bakery job and still dreams about opening his own one in the future. He starts a YouTube channel, and Sharpay gets cast for a Broadway production.

The invitations for Troy's and Gabriella's wedding don't surprise anyone. Chad is Troy's best man, and Gabi asks Ryan to be the ring bearer. It's a beautiful wedding. Ryan cries.

Chad moves to New York two years after graduating college, signing with the Knicks and asking Ryan to move in with him. They made it work so far, and while both their schedules are packed, they also make it work when living together.

The ten-years-reunion of their class takes place in Lava Springs. They kept in contact with most of their friends from High School, so nothing is really a surprise. Some of the other people are surprised at seeing Chad and Ryan kiss, but Nobody says anything.

Bonus:

Kelsi wins a Tony for her very first musical. She works with Ryan on another stage production, and both of them get an award.

Chad stays with the knicks, and Ryan keeps cheering him one while wearing his High School Trikot. Tumblr loves them, and they get listed as one of the Top 15 Power-Couples, even though none of them are sure why.

Zeke and Sharpay break up two more times before she proposes to him. He never opens a bakery, because his YouTube channel picks up so much he doesn't need too. They move into a place with a bigger kitchen.

I have no idea what Troy does, but whatever it is, he's happy.

Lava Springs somehow gets to be where their whole group meets up once a year for a weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Evans are glad to welcome them, and Mr. Fulton likes to tease them about the Star Dazzle Award.

Chad proposes to Ryan a year after gay marriage becomes legal in all fifty states.

Ryan loves it when Chad kisses his temple, while Chad practically melts whenever Ryan plays with his hair

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1-lightofjustice · 3 years ago

Note

Hello! I heard that Andy Domyouji actually has a Dad who used to be the old Scepter 4 un Habari's time and I wanted to know of what you thought about what kind of person his Dad was? 🤔💭

What an interesting ask anon!

We have so little contents about old Scepter 4, but one thing we all know is old Scepter 4 is way, waayy, waaaaaaayyyyyyyy bloodier than current Scepter 4. Can’t blame them tho, with Purgatory being absolute walking human bombs who wreck everything that came to their paths. So, save to say that almost all old Scepter 4 members ever killed/decapitated someone(Purgatory) at least once. I don’t know if it’s my biased ‘Our Scepter 4 are all my precious babies’ feeling, but I can’t imagine our Scepter 4 members kill someone (except Munakata to Mikoto, of course). To imagine puppy Hidaka, calm Akiyama, or cheerful Domyouji decapitate someone is quite bizarre for me, although I indeed watched Side Blue movie when Hidaka, Domyouji, and all alphabet squad hunted for Kusuhara’s murderer.

(If that’s their default mode for someone who kill one of their own, lucky them for having less murderous Red clan to control. Vice versa for Homra a.k.a current Red clan.)

So the first thing came to my mind after reading you question is “Our bright Domyouji but in a clan that require you to decapitate someone on daily basis”. But of course when I think about it again, my imagination of him is not that simple. It’s quite fun to imagine how Domyouji’s dad personality, and I agree with this Ridia’s post although I have some headcanons on my own.

Before we dive to headcanon land, let’s we look at some canon information crumbs about Domyouji’s dad :

Canon content 1

His father was a member of the previous Scepter 4, and entrusted 17-year-old Domyoji to the new Scepter 4. His father, who used to work on the previous “Blue King” Habari, is watching from afar with a certain gaze on Munakata, the new “King of Blue”.

Domyouji Andy Profile

I am not sure about the “entrusted” statement here. Did Domyouji’s dad introduce Andy to current Scepter 4? Or did he just support his son’s decision? Because we know that following Munakata Reisi is Andy’s own decision.

K : Days of Blue chapter 8

Then, about the phrase “is watching from afar with a certain gaze on Munakata” remind me of Zenjou’s behavior toward Munakata and current Scepter 4. So save to say that although maybe Domyouji’s dad in his youth is as boisterous our Andy, after Kagutsu incident he’s more settled down and prefer to watch from afar instead of jumping to front line.

(I think all old Scepter 4 members except Minato twin are like that, they’re just.... tired of fighting, especially after their King’s death. Oh my poor old Blue clan T_T)

Canon content 2

“Did you use it, too, Fushimi-san? Luckily, I myself inadvertently avoided it, my use of PDA being limited at the time due to how strict my family is and all that.” “Having grown up in such a strict house, how come you turned out like that…?” Benzai stared at Doumyouji with utter perplexity written all over his face.

K ~ Seven Stories ~ Piece 13: Fushimi Saruhiko

From the content we know that :

- Domyouji’s family is strict

- Still not strict enough to mold Domyouji into more usual “calm stern dedicated Dojo heir” type.

- Domyouji’s dad didn’t tell Andy about King’s world, because Andy used “inadvertently” meaning he was clueless about true nature of Jungle. Domyouji’s dad should know about Jungle because old Scepter 4 is still active (without Habari) when Jungle started to operate.

Kingdom of Red Chapter 6

-Probably he restricted Andy’s phone with ulterior motive to protect Andy from Jungle.

Canon content 3

Having been born as the heir to the “Kouei style fencing dojo”, he displayed a prodigious talent in swordsmanship since childhood. As his father, who was also his master, put it once before, “It’s not like you altogether ignore swordsmanship learned by training, it’s just that your natural talent takes over way too much from the start. If you were weak because of that, I would forcefully correct it, but in such a talent lies the possibility that you can understand and master the way of sword better than I. That’s why you can remain the way you are.”

It was up to a debate whether or not Doumyouji understood the advice his father had given him the way it was meant, but starting that time, his tendency to do as he pleased became even more prominent, including but not limited to sword practice.

Case Files of Blue, chapter 1

From the content we know that :

- Domyouji’s dad is quite lenient to Andy because of Andy’s talent.

- Regarding raw talent, Andy is better than his dad.

- He would forcefully correct Andy’s behavior if that can make his son weak. So he wants Andy to be strong.

- So Andy’s tendencies to do as he pleased is partly his fault XD

Lastly,

Canon content 4

I can’t find the primary source, but wiki says that Andy’s mom is French. So he married foreign person despite the fact that he’s an owner (or maybe an heir) of traditional Japanese dojo. And Domyouji’s mom love Domyouji’s enough to leave her country and stay in Japan at least from Andy’s birth till he entered Scepter 4. I don’t know about you, but an ordinary Asian like me commonly doesn’t know about France’s legal drinking age without research (Andy hate research), so I assume that his mom told him about that.

Also apparently Domyouji’s heritage is well-know to other Scepter 4 members, makes me wonder if alphabet squad ever met Domyouji’s family or dad before. It’s possible that Domyouji is just so open about his family matter (he’s certainly a blabbermouth, like when he told everyone about Kamo’s daughter issue).

Bonus

The names are Azuma Sohei, Bado Ryoichiro, Chidjiiwa Gaku, Daiba Sadamitsu. All of them, who carry extraordinary light on their bodies and run at speeds that surpass ordinary people, are first-rate players who go beyond the level of simple extraordinary combat personnel.

Before Zero chapter 3

It shows that Domyouji’s dad although maybe quite proficient to handle sword and own a dojo, was not King’s elite personnel, unlike Andy. Before we know that regarding talent Andy is better than his dad so it’s understandable if he can’t become King’s elite personnel but his son can. Wonder what he felt about it.

So, based on those fact, my headcanon about Domyouji’s dad is :

- Quite rebellious for a traditional dojo owner, although probably not as social butterfly as Andy

- To get away from his conservative strict family, he ran to France, and met Andy’s mom.

- He fall in love with his France wife and France sweets like cake and macaroons. Andy inherited his sweet tongue.

- He proposed his wife in front of Eiffel tower, but his family urged him to go home. His wife dutifully followed him.

- He met Habari Jin, was fascinated with Blue King’s “whuush ping ping pow”, and followed him to be a Blue clansman

- Named his sword with weird names like Legbiter or Balmung.

- Probably gave Shiotsu headache just like Andy to Fushimi

- He assisted old Scepter 4 on their last fight with Purgatory, but probably evacuated with Shiotsu when the situation was too dire

- "I wish I knew what they were thinking, both Captain and Fushimi-san!" remember when Andy said that on ROK? I imagine Domyouji’s dad also thought the same when Habari and Zenjou dashed to Kagutsu explosion center by themselves (they were thinking about double suicide, Domyoujis...)

- After Kagutsu incident, he went home and mourned his King’s death on his wife’s lap.

- Probably he urged little Andy to be strong so not only he can defend himself on the dangerous world, but also so he can protect those he cares about.

- He still stayed in Scepter 4 after Habari’s death, so he encountered Jungle quite some times, and prevent Andy to access it in disguise of restricting Andy’s phone.

- When Andy met Munakata Reisi, he saw how fascinated Andy was and he knew that his son already met his King.

- For him his Blue King is Habari Jin and Habari Jin only, but he knew how his son’s feeling and gave him permission to enter Scepter 4 at such young age.

- Probably he told Andy stories about his old clan, so Andy can take some lessons from them.

- He was proud that his son was chosen to be Squad leader and later Special Squad member, but he still worried for his son’s well-being, because probably Habari’s elite personnel got wiped out on Kagutsu incident (hope that we will know more about them on Ground Zero novel).

- When Mikoto almost caused Damocles Down, he had PTSD because it reminded him of Kagutsu incident, so when Andy went home after Ashinaka incident, he hugged his son hard and utterly glad that his son is still alive.

- He saw Munakata’s cracked Damocles Sword and hoped that his son didn’t feel the same pain as he did.

- When Andy and current Scepter 4 members assisted Munakata on his fight with Iwa-san, he felt proud for his son, but also worry and little jealous.

- He was so glad that in the end Munakata didn’t die and his son’s clan fully survived, but again he can’t help but feel little envious.

- Overall now he’s like war veteran with calm and melancholic aura.

#k project #domyouji andy #zenjou gouki #habari jin #old Scepter 4 #domyouji's dad #someone : what do you think of-#me : please sit down in this meta I will-#I just love reading and writing meta #in conclusion I think Domyouji's dad is kinda mix Andy and Zenjou #especially since Zenjou before Kagutsu incident more or less similar with Domyouji #regarding do as he pleased and recklessly jumping to frontline thing #but Kagutsu incident changed everything and everyone #damn you Kagutsu #thanks for the ask anon!

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quirklessidiot · 4 years ago

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aoba johsai’s sport’s journalist (h/c’s)

just crack+ fluff + platonic-ish relationship (gn!y/n) (w: language!) a/n: this has been bugging me for awhile now since i havent seen headcanons of this yet (if their are do send them on my ask box) and since im on a slump, i decided to write this down. this is completely fun, easy-going, and self-indulgent, really perfect for someone stuck on a slump ksks. idk if i should make some for the other schools but oh welp enjoy! happy 900 btw werkwerk uwu so weird to reach this when im not even very active.

Now let’s be honest here, it’s no surprise that the volleyball team of aoba johsai has their own sports journalist. Like, c’mon, they’re one of the best in the prefecture.

But let’s start with the basics here, shall we? Let’s start with you, how this all goes through, and how you got into this heaping pile of mess.

Yep, you.

There you were in high hopes to get into journalism for college so what better way was it than to apply for the school paper? It would definitely look good and pretty in those college applications *chef’s kiss* you’re a second year btw idk if that matters but yeah..

Much to your surprise no one was applying for the news section which was kind of sad since you wanted a buddy there.

but-but it turns out though everyone was applying for the sports section completely understandable, next to feature, it was the most exciting thing to write because there was going to be a special section and writer for the volleyball team.

You knew that volleyball was kind of a big thing around your school?? you just didn’t expect it to amass like that much people.

The editor in chief is obviously surprised, you were the first person on that day to come in there and actually apply for something else.

and guess where that led you to?

Yep, the sport’s section, specifically the volleyball team’s personal sports journalist. Your brain goes brrt brrt because you were not a sports writer at all and you were, ironically, scared of ball games.

VOLLEYBALL WAS COMPLETELY NEW TERRITORY FOR YOU.

Your editor in chief laughs it off and says, “you’ll do fine… its like news bUT SPORTS! IT’LL DEFINITELY LOOK GOOD IN YOUR APPLICATIONS!”

You’re not sure if you should be terrified or terrified?

It doesn’t help that on the first day when you enter the gym you look terribly constipated and panicking a lot because of all the stray balls being spiked and tossed around.

It also didn’t help that you crash course the terminologies and the member’s name a night before and you were just running on iced coffee that day.

Yeah, way to make a first impression, huh?

When you approach the coach, you’re not exactly sure what to say and you were this close to chickening out until you saw one of the players come up to you and ask if you were alright and if you wanted to talk to oikawa.

you’re loading for a second there.

and the poor guy who asks you if you were alright, starts looking actually worried because you weren’t responding at all.

“OH, oH IS THAT THE CAPTAIN?”

the guy literally looks very confused?? because what kind of rock were you living under that you didn’t know Oikawa???

so you go ahead and introduce yourself and say that your name was Y/N and you were the new sports journalist for the team.

“....soooo you write?”

“...”

at this point on, you’re also confused too

and idk man, first impressions do indeed last because you ended up (unknowingly) sharing the same brain cell with Matsukawa Issei.

you both were just confused there, straight up looking like two kids who got left behind by their mom in the grocery check-out line.

anyways...

He tells you the team’s pretty chill and you should stop looking like they spiked a ball on your puppy or something.

Basically introduces you to the whole team after,

no questions asked, just go with the flow.

You basically just click and vibe???

Not only because you crash coursed and related to whatever they said,

you literally all shared the same brain cell together.

Kentaro was another story though, kid basically hated your guts at first, it felt like if you were to say one sentence to him that day, he’d literally spike a ball at your direction.

“we’re basically the same year tho :(” -Y/N

“lmao well do i’ve got news for you, y/n-chan.” - Oikawa and basically everyone on the team.

you gradually start to understand the coolness of the sport since you had to incorporate visiting them once or twice a week during practice.

but suddenly it becomes almost a daily routine after a month because they’re just really friendly people??

like wow, they’re all friendly giants.

You’re literally just there to write about them but they’re really patient and kind, they even invite you to practice games so that you could practice out your skills in writing since you mentioned that you’ve never written for sports yet.

they even give you some added key terms that aren’t found in books and online.

you’re def closest to iwaizumi and matsukawa.

iwaizumi because he makes really funny fish jokes about oikawa (yes you arent supposed to be laughing but man theyre funny af, oikawa would usually call you and iwa corny because the jokes aren’t even that funny) and yes its canon that whenever iwaizumi sees an oikawa fish in textbooks, he starts laughing and joking about it.

no explanation needed why you ended up being close to matsukawa.

its obvious after that first meeting ya both would be besties.

same brain cell bros go brrt brrt.

incredibly!! supportive!! I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH

like when you release a new write up about them, Oikawa would usually go, “It’s such an honor to be apart of your first steps, can you sign this?”

dramatic but hella supportive, we stan the gr8 king

“oh, wow, i thought you said you didn’t write before? how come you sound like a professional already?” - Hanamaki

another dramatic best boi.

akira + kindaichi getting shy because they’ve never experienced this yet. So whenever you try to interview them about stats or something for a special issue, they usually end up a stuttering mess

“w-well, L/N-san...”

kentaro slowly warming up to you but still looks like he wants to spike a volleyball at your face 90% of the time but unlike before you’re used to his whole thing already.

“Move, extra.”

“You were great, by the way. That was a powerful spike!”

you may or may not be included in random ramen nights with the team

yes, oikawa buys you your own bowl of ramen

itadakimasu.

he doesn’t mind tho, he really loves how you write them.

so its sort of a thank you for giving the team justice when you write about them.

team says you’re technically part of the team so they make you your own jersey. Now when you watch your games people ask if you’re like the manager or smthng.

“ no :’) “

When they lost against shiratorizawa and karasuno, you were bawling too like you were apart of the team.

this pretty much cheered everyone up despite the loss because your crying face was apparently very funny and memable.

oh right, your article was passed on to the town’s newspaper

it was literally like 7 am on a saturday and your notifs went zoop.

they added you to their group chat and spammed you with pictures of the articles that you wrote.

“...wOW I CAN’T BELIEVE IT?? YOU GOT FRONT PAGE FOR SPORTS???” -Oikawa

“we didn’t even win the tournament but we still get a feature?? thats so cool?? holy shit?? CONGRATS KSKSKS” -matsukawa

lmao idk matsukawa looks like a keyboard smasher tbh idk why

pretty much its normal for you to even start hanging out already outside of the court and after practice to get steam buns.

more chaotic mess and clumsy you running around.

your volleyball sports writing experience wouldn’t be complete until someone accidentally spikes a ball at the back of your head amaright?

ironically, it’s yahaba who does that to you. poor smoll bean.

“wow, you’re dumb.” -kentaro says to you

“ :’)” -you.

“y/N-SAN I SWEAR IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.” -yahaba

overall, you found yourself in a safe haven with the volleyball team and yes, you also cried when the third years graduated.

the third years have a picture with everyone on the team + you with a very red face from all the crying?? once again, you’ve proven yourself to be a meme.

continued to write for them up until graduation.

and its def obvious you kept in touch with all of them after, duh.

#haikyuu!!#haikyū!!#haikyuu imagines #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu aoba johsai #haikyuu scenarios #aoba johsai x reader #haikyu headcanons #haikyu scenarios

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spaceskam · 4 years ago

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anon prompt: Since you write amazing spite fics (and also just true-to-canon-and-therefore-unflattering-to-certain-characters fic), I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in writing something where someone (or let's be real, everyone) overhears Michael tell Alex that "You're the best sex I've ever had"? Possibly in the context of Alex having a bad hook-up or feeling insecure about his leg and Michael getting really outraged and protective on his behalf

“Here to drink your sorrows away?”

“I’m really not in the mood to deal with you right now.”

Isobel was nosy. She wasn’t very quiet about that and her brothers knew that better than anyone. The fact that Michael had willingly walked up to his ex-lover in his girlfriend’s bar when Isobel was right there was genuinely his own fault.

Alex was hunched over his drink like he had been for the last hour. He’d strolled in not long before closing and now the place was virtually empty with the exception of the town’s resident aliens and their select humans. But, still, Alex hadn’t been invited. He’d turned up on his own accord and Isobel couldn’t find it in herself to be surprised when Michael navigated towards him. She was more surprised it took so long.

“Didn’t realize my presence required a specific mood,” Michael said. They were technically speaking in hushed tones, but the bar was quiet aside from the pissing contest Max, Rosa, and Maria were having at the pool table, the medical jargon Kyle and Liz were conversing over, and the quiet Nirvana album playing quietly through the speakers. Isobel found Michael and Alex significantly more interesting than either of those.

“You know it does,” Alex sighed, swishing around the whiskey in his glass before downing it.

“Did something happen?” Michael asked even quieter than before. Alex didn’t respond. “Do I need to go kick someone’s ass? ‘Cause I will.”

Alex huffed a laugh and it was almost sad. Isobel leaned closer.

“So you’ve crossed into big brother territory? Good to know,” he said dryly. Micahel eyed him in a way Isobel had only seen him look at Alex Manes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Mean’s you’ve made yourself loud and clear, Guerin, and so has everyone else,” Alex said, reaching over to steal his drink. Isobel tried to keep her reaction to herself but she’d never actually seen Alex drink so freely. He usually liked to keep on his toes.

“What are you talking about?” Michael prodded. Alex closed his eyes as he took a sip of the whiskey and, honestly, she was impressed it hadn’t been laced with something else.

“About the fact that I’m apparently really bad in bed,” Alex said, pausing, “Or maybe I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it with one leg yet and it’s throwing my off my game.”

Michael snorted a laugh, leaning closer in amusement, “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m serious. Deadly,” Alex said, “You know, I had a date tonight. Super hot, super nice. It was all fun and games until we got back to his place, right? We’re making out, groping, all good.” Isobel had to lean to get a glimpse of Michael’s face. He looked just as shaken by Alex’s blunt honesty as she’d expected. It was hard not to laugh. “But apparently I was so bad that he didn’t have words.”

“Alex, I think I can speak for everyone in saying that being speechless does not equal bad,” Michael laughed, shifting as he tried to make himself less uncomfortable with the prospect of Alex sleeping with someone else just hours before this. A quick look around the bar proved that their close proximity had alerted some of the other patrons, namely Maria who had stopped trying to prove herself as the better pool player in favor of watching the gap between their biceps close.

“No, not speechless. He was like, ‘well, uh, yeah, that was... yeah’ and then basically kicked me out,” Alex huffed. Michael shook his head.

“Well, then he was an ass.”

“I don’t know, I feel like it had to be me ‘cause I thought it was going at least mostly good,” Alex sighed.

“No, look, trust me, it was not you,” Michael said, huffing a laugh, “Trust me.”

Alex looked to him thoughtfully, eyes investigating every single milimeter of his face. Isobel couldn’t help but smile and she looked over to see Maria still staring, but now Rosa was too and Max was trying not to.

“Why should I? How do I know every time with you, you weren’t just faking it?” Alex asked. Michael let out a soft laugh.

“Faking what? Enjoying it? Yeah, I’m not that good of an actor, Manes,” he said, “You’re just really good at what you do.”

“Oh, am I?” Alex challenged. Isobel’s eyes widened and she had to cover her mouth with her hand, trying not to ruin their little dance. Maria, however, seemed to be getting increasingly alarmed and the room had gone virtually silent, only the soft music playing in the background now.

“Any guy who acts like you’re bad in bed just doesn’t know what they’ve got,” Michael told him, voice quieter like he was aware that people might overhear but it wasn’t quiet enough, “’Cause you’re easily the best sex I’ve ever had.”

Maria scoffed and Isobel absolutely expected that to break the trance those two seemed to be in, but it didn’t. Which, honestly, was far more interesting.

“The best?” Alex said doubtfully, enunciating every single letter and seeming to capture Michael’s brain cells to hold them hostage. Isobel had a feeling that they only way he’d get them back is if he did something that really required no audience. “As in worthy of a repeat?”

“Easily,” Michael confirmed.

They stared at each other in silence and everyone in the room stared at them. It was almost weird to see them so close and talking so intimately, but it was only weird because they never did it with so many eyes on them. They really must’ve had a healthy amount of alcohol in their system to be ballsy enough to do that.

Isobel wondered just how obvious they needed to be before Maria got the memo.

They seemed to come out of it when Maria loudly put the pool cue down on the table, both sliding back into normalcy as if they hadn’t just had a whole moment in front of everyone. They were still sort of close, but there was some space between them and they were back to facing the bar rather than each other. Isobel shook her head in amazement.

“Guerin,” Maria said sharply, “Can we talk?”

With a sigh, Michael dragged himself off the bar stool to go have their talk in private. Or as private as it could be. The walls were thin and it didn’t take superhuman hearing to hear her saying how inappropriate that was. Isobel, on the other hand, found it hard to keep her laugh to herself as she slid in the seat beside Alex.

“You are one hell of a force to be reckoned with, Alex Manes,” she said.

“What?” he asked, batting his eyelashes all innocently, “Did I do something wrong?”

“You little minx,” Isobel laughed, shaking her head.

Alex smiled to himself and took another sip of Michael’s drink, sighing all content as Michael and Maria broke up over his public confession.

“Absolutely.”

#anti maria deluca #anti miluca #malex #malex fic #michael guerin #alex manes #roswell new mexico #my fic #prompts

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anotheruserwithnoname · 3 years ago

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What am I looking forward to?

I get asked what I’m looking forward to in terms of entertainment as 2021 trundles along. I thought I’d put together a list of my thoughts of the things I have marked on my calendar (or am prepared to buy, as the case may be!)

Klokkenluider, The Sandman, The War Rooms: Obviously I’d be failing at my duty to not include Jenna Coleman’s trio of upcoming projects! I have a confession - I’ve yet to watch all of The Serpent, too. Hoping for a DVD or (even better) Blu-ray release of that later in the year too. UK has one already. Netflix does release many of its shows to permanent media so hopefully The Serpent will be one of them (ditto Sandman and War Rooms down the line).

Free Guy: the much-delayed video game-based film starring Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer. Reminds me of Ready Player One, which was one of my favourite films of the last few years. And it’s the first leading film role for Jodie Comer from Killing Eve and it looks like she might be playing a nerdy version of Villanelle (without all the murdery sociopathic stuff; at least, I assume!).

No Time to Die: Some aspects of the trailers have me concerned, and whenever I hear people talk about “new directions” I get antsy because that rarely ends well. But this is Bond and while there has been the occasional poor 007 film in the past (A View to a Kill and Quantum of Solace are the only Bond films I dislike and avoid; not a bad ratio out of 25) the odds of me liking it are pretty good (hell, I even consider Spectre to be one of the best Bonds ever, and I know that’s unpopular opinion). I was concerned about Phoebe Waller-Bridge being one of the writers due to my opinion that Fleabag is overrated (I know, another unpopular opinion), but that was before I saw her work on Killing Eve. If she brings some of that spirit to the film, it’ll work. Some of the things people are complaining about don’t bug me, especially regarding the 007 designation which belonged to somebody else before the events of the 2006 Casino Royale film and in all likelihood they’ll reboot continuity with whoever follows Daniel Craig anyway so none of that matters. They could kill Bond off and it wouldn’t make a difference.

Lower Decks Season 2: Speaking of unpopular opinion, Season 1 was one of the most pleasant surprises of last year. I think the backlash against Lower Decks is primarily a case that, for many fans, their dislike and disappointment of the current state of the franchise is so high that even if they do something good, it’s rejected automatically. I’ve given up on Discovery, have little interest in Picard (I had good things to say about it last year but it’s not aged well) and don’t care to see Strange New Worlds. So I was prepared to pooh-pooh on Lower Decks (I could have worded that a bit more elegantly; I dedicate that to Seth McFarlane) but, while it’s obviously a non-canon spoof, it still feels like Trek, which I cannot say for the current live-action shows. Basically that means it’s The Orville done for Star Trek. Which is fine, because it works better than Discovery’s and definitely Short Trek’s attempts at Orvilling (which in my opinion was about as entertaining as gerbilling - did I type that out loud?). And I think Beckett Mariner is the most interesting lead character of a Trek series in years. Speaking of The Orville...

The Orville Season 3: It’s in Red Dwarf territory right now in terms of it taking forever between seasons, and I am worried that being on Hulu might make it too edgy and turn away the many who latched onto it because Discovery was too edgy. But I have faith in Seth McFarlane, so eventually we’ll see it. If not, maybe I’ll give Avenue 5 a shot. Oh, and I am expecting Season 3 to be the end. It feels like getting it made - even taking C19 into account - was very difficult this time around and McFarlane sounds like he has a lot on his plate. If it does end, I hope somebody continues it in novel or comic book form (the comics have been incredible - seriously some of the best tie-ins I’ve read in years, and they’re canon too apparently thanks to being written by the show’s producer).

Magnum PI Season 4: It’s a sweet show and I watch it for the Magnum-Higgins ship (which is currently following the Clara-Danny trajectory). And I keep hoping co-star Perdita Weeks is able to recruit BFF Jenna Coleman to appear someday. So there’s that.

Legends of Tomorrow Season 7 and the conclusion of Supergirl Season 6. Another unpopular take is I happen to really like these two CW shows. Supergirl is calling it a day after 6 seasons, with the final season split into two parts, with the second half airing later this summer. Legends is still midway through S6 but has been renewed for a 7th. Both are fun, with Legends literally being the only show on TV that is legitimately unpredictable (seriously, this past week was a riff on Baby Yoda of all things - and no, Beebo was a riff on Furby. Different merch magnet, pay attention.), plus it’s most likely (IMO) the reason why John Constantine the character is unavailable for The Sandman series (which opened the door for Jenna Coleman to be cast as his ancestor Johanna, which is fine by me!).

Killing Eve Season 4: obviously. It’s only because of Jenna Coleman that you’re not getting wall-to-wall Jodie Comer on this blog. If she and Jenna are ever cast together in anything, I might need to call an ambulance.

Peter Capaldi’s debut album. It’s about time! No it’s not, that would be silly. And I don’t want to thank C19 for creating the circumstances that led to Peter doing a record. But still - a Peter Capaldi album is coming. It just better not be digital-only. I want to see him on the New Release rack at Sunrise Records.

So looks like I have a lot of stuff to occupy my time coming up!

#upcoming entertainment #free guy #no time to die #star trek lower decks #the orville #legends of tomorrow #supergirl #killing eve #new magnum pi #jenna coleman #peter capaldi #lots of fun stuff ahead

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derireo · 4 years ago

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a3! as part-timers

I FINALLY FINISHED IT AGAIN. Thank you all for being patient with me because I really liked these headcanons and Tumblr just decided to delete them all <3

WARNING: rookie Chikage Utsuki will be included! (this means spoilers for Act 5 are present throughout).

It's canon that Sakuya works with Misumi, but I have no clue as to what their jobs are. Let's safely assume that Sakuya works at a cafe! His bright disposition and cheerful smile is bound to put a smile on customer's face, but he's a little clumsy when it comes to making drinks so his co-workers always tell him to stick to the cash register. It suits him anyways, being able to talk to different people of different walks of life. He mostly works in the mornings, only after he manages to get Masumi to school on time. He is a customer favourite no doubt, and he brings in a lot of tips for all of the workers to share! Many of the children that come by love him, and especially teachers who are running late to work deem him the sunshine in their life.

Masumi would work at a music shop. Not to be obvious or anything, but music is possibly one of the only constants in his life and he grew a deep bond with it while staying alone at home for most of his life. So when he manages to get a job at shop in inside Veludo Mall, he's ecstatic. Although he gets to spend less time in the dorm (which means less time with the Director), Masumi absolutely loves perusing the endless aisles of music cds, vinyl records, posters, and so much more. He's also very diligent at his job, organizing things perfectly and on time and even helping out customers even though he doesn't really want to. His coworkers grow so fond of him to the point that they let him listen to his own music while doing his job, headphones on while he reorganizes things on the shelves.

I don't really know what part-time job Citron would have, but I know he hangs around the Veludo markets a lot. He's there all the time, helping out the lovely ladies at their food stalls by actively advertising their products of the day and even charming young couples into buying some trinkets at another stall. His charm is very effective, smile so dazzling and eyes so hypnotizing that you can't help but follow him towards a stall where they're selling handmade mochi or fresh produce. This is all volunteering though, Citron doesn't get paid with money. What he does get paid with is lots of hugs and groceries to bring home to the dorm-- much to the delight of Izumi and Omi! Citron's so popular at the markets that he receives a greeting from every single stall while he passes by. And he never leaves empty handed!

Tsuzuru tends to boast about the countless number of part-time jobs he's had. From gas station worker, to waiter, to library work, he has done a lot of things. I don't really think it's something to brag about because if I had that many jobs I would probably d-word. But working at Mankai as a playwright, that's already his dream come true. I don't think he'd want to work anywhere else when he's writing stories and bringing them to life like he has always wanted and it makes me happy to see that he's living out his dream. If anything, if he does work a part-time job, it's probably to get extra money to spend on his younger and older brothers since he's such a family man. And because his stories bring so much attention to Mankai, Sakyo compensates Tsuzuru very generously.

Gaming is Itaru's part-time job. Taruchi is a mysterious persona who is crazy good at video games and has a soothing voice. The kick is that nobody knows what he looks like and Itaru would like to keep it that way. He's a popular streamer and Let's Player so there's no doubt that he is raking in a lot of cash. How he finds time to juggle an office job, Mankai, and streaming is beyond me, but it is absolutely impressive because despite how lazy he seems to be, he is a diligent worker who is very good at entertaining people. Plus, nobody knowing what his face looks like brings in a lot of intrigue and fans. Itaru always baits his fans that just maybe he'll reveal his face to them, but never does. Everyone loves his teasing and Itaru loves messing with people. One of the top streamers on his platform and he's proud of it. The appearance of Banri's NEO also helps a lot with bringing in viewers. (The extra money he makes is donated to the Mankai fund box)

Not gonna lie, but with Chikage being a spy as well as an office worker, I don't think he has enough time to have another job on top of that. As we saw in Act 5, he worked tirelessly on his computer, rarely sleeping. Being a spy is hard work, and now that he realizes that Hisoka may not have betrayed the organization, he now has to work to keep Hisoka's location hidden from enemies. Can you imagine being an office worker tho.... could never be me. Sry Chikage and Itaru lmfao but that sounds painful. Anyways, if Chikage isn't actively working for the organization and isn't posting on his curry blog, maybe he's doing tech support? He's always sitting at his computer so he might as well you know lmfaoo

"I'm too famous to work a part-time job" he says while at the same time applying to work at a bonsai shop. Who are you kidding, Tenma? Also pretty sure the owners don't really care so he gets the job right away since they're in desperate need of help. Tenma acts kind of bratty as it is his first time having a job that isn't acting, but he gets knocked down a few pegs when he has to carry around heavy bags of soil and nutrients for the bonsai trees. Eventually, he comes to love his job, seeing the owners as part of his family as they take great care of him while he works at their shop. Unfortunately, there will still be those fans who will watch him as he works at the bonsai shop, but Tenma uses it to his advantage, saying that if they want to look a little more, they're going to have to buy a bonsai tree. The owners are like ??? wtf tenma ??? but inevitably, it brings in a lot of business;;;

Yuki would definitely work at a boutique as an apprentice!! Working with different types of fabric and body shapes and frills, god, what a dream come true for him! Sure, making costumes for Mankai is one thing, but those are costumes, not actual clothes you would wear outside on the daily. His skill in clothes is amazing and it amazes his mentor who watches on proudly as Yuki sews something gorgeous every single time he comes to help. And Yuki absolutely loves being there too, getting to work on normal every day people who aren't huge hulking men that manage to ruin their measurements every time Yuki makes something for them. Plus, using this experience from his apprenticeship helps him a lot if he so chooses to go to a school for fashion. I'm rooting for you, Yuki!

Working at a manga store, Muku is absolutely in love. He's already in the Library Committee at school so might as well work somewhere book related, right? The boy was lucky to get the job at his favourite manga shop at the mall, and he doesn't even need to wear a uniform! As long as he wears his employee lanyard and name tag, he is all good to go! Being surrounded with his favourite book series and figurines and posters alike is very exciting for Muku, and he works extremely well with customers who need help looking for recommendations or gifts. His enthusiasm charms everyone he talks to and he becomes a customer and workplace favourite after a couple of days. His avid hobby of reading manga is apparent to everyone he comes across, and when he meets another customer who is just as dedicated to manga as he, they have long talks while Muku convinces them to buy more books.

Kazunari would definitely work at an arts store. Cliche, I know, but he wouldn't want to be anywhere else! Michaels would be a good place to start, but knowing how great he is at aesthetics, I think a paint store would do him well too. Both places would mostly have university students as their workers anyways so Kazunari would fit in right away! Popular with customers due to his enthusiasm with art, Kazunari gets a lot of requests for help when choosing certain pigments and wallpapers for bedrooms and large scale art projects. His knowledge with the subject of art is deep and wide, so he is able to answer any questions thrown his way. He is so loved at his job that when he eventually quits to achieve bigger things, they throw a party for him and all promise to visit and watch his next play!

It's canon that Misumi is a freelancer, which means he works any type of odd job and never sticks to one for too long. The job that he has kept the longest is the cafe one where he's with Sakuya. He actually helped Sakuya get this job at the first place, and when they work together, they're a force to be reckoned with! They bring in a lot of tips together and since Misumi is so quick on his feet and speedy with his hands, there's never a line up for drinks. Everything goes out the door just as fast as they had come in and his co-workers love him for it. He is also very popular for his fanged tooth and eye crinkling smile! Many regulars give him triangles as their tips! And if Misumi isn't working at the cafe, he's helping out as a mover because he's quick and strong (like we saw in HaGT), or he is helping out the local mailman. Because the mailman is growing older in age, Misumi takes it upon himself to help him deliver the rest of the mail so that the sweet old man can go home early. Misumi is always seen running around the neighbourhood with the mailbag!

I know this will sound weird, but I think Banri would fare well as a tutor. Knowing that he can just flip through a textbook once and immediately know what to do, I think it would do everyone good if he helped tutor those who struggle. Although I bash Banri a lot (as a joke) I am still able to see that he cares very much for others. He has rarely struggled in his life and clearly doesn't understand the hardships of the other members when they can't seem to do this or that, so he does his best to put himself in their shoes so he knows what he can do to help others who are struggling much the same. So Tsumugi helps him get a tutoring gig, and he hits it off right away. It's impressive really, how he's able to help students understand concepts they once thought they would never be able to get and it makes Banri happy. Banri is someone who wishes to help others-- he even says that he wants to help Mankai grow by bringing back the knowledge he learns at Veludo Arts. And I don't think he'd need the money, so he donates most of it to the Mankai funds.

Is it cliche of me to put Juza in a bakery? You know, sweets, confectionaries. BREAD. God, knowing how Juza grew up with a loving mom who almost always baked sweets for him and Kumon makes me want to cry. I love them so much. Anyways, he'd be a little clumsy in the back kitchen so I think he would just stick to decorating pastries and mini cakes and all that. It's a very curious thing to watch as a customer, a young, mean looking man scrunching his eyebrows as he puts a smiley face on a cupcake. It's cute. There's also another part of me that wants to see him work as an apprentice for shūji, or traditional Japanese calligraphy. Knowing that Juza studied it when he was younger (and that's why his signature is nice), it would definitely be pretty cool for him to do scrolls and stuff. It's a tough job though, considering the art of Japanese calligraphy is an important thing, and every stroke and word you write counts. It's a beautiful art form though, and Juza could make a pretty penny out of commissions.

After learning about journalling from Izumi, Taichi most definitely applied to work at a stationary shop. He's a bit clumsy with it, but he's got the spirit and that's all that matters! Strangely enough, this is one of the rare times where he isn't actively vying for attention, but for some reason he gets it a lot here. It's not like he minds or anything, but please, ladies, quiet down ^^; He is a favourite in the workplace though since he's so energetic and is always eager to help out customers; especially the old grandmas who are looking for gifts to give their grandchildren. The old ladies love him too, and they pamper him a lot much to his bashful enjoyment. And since his coworkers know that he loves journalling so much, they give him a lot of extra stock to bring home so that he can share it with Izumi and Omi! On a less serious note, he'd probably do public dance battles outside with his friends to get a quick buck.

Man... Omi would work at a bakery too. Most likely he would work with Juza because that would make sense, and both of their presences at the bakery shop would attract a lot of attention. Two, hulking dudes working at a bakery shop? Count me in pls. He'd be the one working at the back kitchen, baking everything and such. I would have also liked to put him in a restaurant, but considering that you can't become a sous chef or even a head chef until years later (due to the hierarchy and training), I don't think I want him to do that. He's already studying to become a business major after all so it would be difficult to juggle two separate things to study for. He would also work great as a photographer, but he doesn't do any taxing jobs unless it's for Mankai or very close friends. His friends always pay him too much, but they insist he keeps the money (which he puts into Mankai funds) and as compensation from Sakyo, the older man lets Omi indulge in buying expensive ingredients for that night's dinner.

Why is Sakyo working so hard? I'm getting worried. He works as Mankai's accountant and is part of the Yakuza; those are already two stressful things to work for. He has so much to do and there's always a lot of plate considering he manages a lot of Mankai with Matsukawa and Izumi, and on top of that he always acts as Mankai's Papa, Accountant, and Grumpy Old Man at the End of the Street. And when he isn't doing anything at Mankai, Patriarch Izumida calls him in for a task to do at Ginsenkai or the area they patrol. He also owns a freakin' diner that is under Ginsenkai's care like?? wtf Sakyo. He works so hard, spends tireless days to help keep Mankai afloat and it makes my heart hurty </3 Sakyo was my first crush so I can't help but worry a little and he's my comfort character whenever I'm way too engrossed at looking at Omi's huge bahonkerz so pls... Sakyo take care of urself I'm begging. Also most of the money he earns goes to his family, and the rest is for Mankai's funds.

Tsumugi on the other hand would stay as a tutor since it's canon! Sure, he has a bit of competition now that he's helped Banri enter the tutoring scene, but he's still got his loyal students to take care of. He is a very diligent worker and is very smart so working out problems is nothing too hard for him. He cares for each and every student he has, writing personalized study outlines for them as well as keeping notes on them with what they're struggling on, what they're excelling at, and even takes notes on their study habits and how long their attention lasts for until they need to take a break. Tsumugi makes sure that he is teaching his students properly and cares for them a lot. If not tutoring, he is helping at the local Veludo flower boutique and is very popular there. He helps create a lot of bouquets with deep meanings, but sometimes those bouquets he makes are gifting to him right after, lmao

Ugh as for Tasuku, knowing how good he is at fixing things, he would be great at an electronics store or a mechanics shop. He has a natural talent at fixing things and I can only assume it's because as a child, he really loved tinkering with items that were laying around the house. Plus, knowing that he has an older brother, he probably had a lot of Gundam sets laying around that sparked his interest in building things. You've seen him fix a lot of things right? To his motorcycle, his car, the television, my heart, omfg he can do it all like wtf. He becomes so skilled at fixing cars that he somehow acquires the skill to soup them up too?? When did those big ass rims get there? Where the hell did those damn hydraulics come from? That sort of thing. God he would look so sexy in a classic Ford Mustang </3 On the other hand, I think he would be great at becoming an acting coach. He might give Yuzo a run for his money.

It's canon that Hisoka has a job, but no one really knows what it is I think. I believe he would be a mattress tester! Remember that backstage story with the All Male Lap Pillow Competition or whatever? Hisoka is basically a connoisseur at all things soft and comfortable because he chose Izumi's lap as the most comfortable. He said it was so soft (god I wish I were him) that he could fall asleep and he did!!! Absolutely amazing. With his picky sleeping choices, Hisoka is able to tell whether this or that mattress prototype is good to go or needs some working on. The benefits to this job is that he gets to sleep a lot too because of course, they need to see if the mattress is good enough to sleep on!! Of course he gets paid in money, but since his managers know that he loves marshmallows, they pay him in that too.

Does Homare really need a part-time job? He's basically a renowned writer, it's just that Mankai seems ignorant to the fact. Tsuzuru and Muku has found a whole bunch of his books in the library for goodness sake so of course he's making mad bank! In HaGT he had a business meeting with a publisher/editor so you can't really tell me that he isn't good at his job because if he's having international meetings?? UHM. Of course he's famous literally what is he at Mankai for? The Found Family??? GOD OF COURSE you can stay Homare I love you so much. But seriously, he is super rich, and because he loves Mankai so much, he helps out and chips in to fill the Mankai funds so that they can stay afloat.

And here we have Azuma. I am not going to lie, but I am very protective over Azuma when it comes to his part-time job. Azuma was lonely for a huge chunk of life, unable to fill the void where his family used to sit in his heart. So he picked up skincare, and then he picked up cuddling/escort. His job in the past was full of false security and fake love that would never seal the cracks in his body, but when he found Mankai, something was different. He felt like he belonged somewhere. Especially after Nocturnality, it's obvious that Azuma has finally found his home. So I don't want him to go back to his cuddling/escort job;;; but if he wants to work again, I think being a skincare consultant would be really good! Since his skin is so flawless, many customers would flock to him for advice and the best products to use. His gentle voice and soothing caress as he rubs cream into his customer's skin is hypnotizing, and he shares his skincare routine with anyone who is willing to spend the time, effort, and money into making their skin look pretty like his.

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hipparelinda · 4 years ago

Photo

I am shooketh that someone made a silhouette mirage iceberg... you are amazing op... and now, I’m gonna talk about it, share my thoughts! Go read op’s comments on it first. I’ll only comment on the points I have thoughts on/know about

Here’s the original post, please check it out!

It’ll be long so I’ll leave a break

Tip: Religious references: Only in the japanese version, mostly names of things that link to christianity and judaism. Shyna Nera Shyna is called Sinner Neutlarva Sinner (sins being a big thing in religion, duh), Bug is Moses, Polly Peepers are called Cupids and Specters are called Devils. A lot of the guardian angels are named after stages of angel hierarchy in judaism. I made a list of all the names in english then japanese

Playable Zohar: They’re playable only in the english version in the credits and the ‘Super Core Fighter 2′ mode (never heard of that one...) perhaps as a bonus for the english version

Censorship: In jp version bunny salesman has a cigarette which was changed to thumbs up and when he wants you to hurry up shows a flaming cross in the background which was changed to a dragon in the localised version

Regional differences: Kinda referenced already with hell bunny and name changes. Also, the reaper and geluve aren’t in the japanese version (which with the latter I was surprised about when I found out)

Delia’s wife is Serah: Before the fight with Deliah, Hal states something like ‘think about Serah’ before he buggers off. I dunno if it’s really implied that they’re married and there’s no other reference of it, even from Delia. Though I believe there is a track in-game called ‘your wife is an angel’ so that could relate to it

Ikaruga: Think I heard about this game while watching a review on sm. Apparently it has the same silhouette and mirage thing with two aspects and facing two different ways when fighting etc etc

The genus of Zohar (their gender): Pfffftt they’re just both, duh, dunno why people get wound up over this... anyways, I just headcanon them as two separate characters..

Shyna and Clod are brothers(means, Clod is Shyna’s brother): I..... always thought Clod was female... -_- after reading up jp stuff about it I think they were male in the og version but changed to female in translation because of the translators not getting their gender. I always thought their voice sounded female in the english version. Nevermind... in the jp version Clod (dumb name) says ‘Goodbye, sister’ before the fight.

Which ending is canon?: Whichever you want... there isn’t a sequel... My chosen one is the restore edo one. I believe everyone is reborn too

Shallows Discarded bosses: Judas, Nebuchadnexxar and Hashmalim04 (+ Geluve in the jp version). Judas was apparently meant to be an ally of Megido. I believe she may have betrayed him though since Judas bible betrayed Jesus bible in the bible tm. Nebu man looks like the stereotypical anime pervert.... I think he’d play a roll in Delia’s tv pad since he looks like a director. Not sad to see you go, sir. Hashmalim04 is, duh, the fourth guardian angel. Looks real cool, probably controlled both silhouette and mirage.

Zohar crying: I’m not aware of this, god, I felt so much for Zohar.... ;-; apparently its during the cypher zohar fight. Went to find it again and it’s kinda barely noticeable.. I must’ve thought it was just flashy particle effects. Though it’s quite sad now looking back on it.

The reaper: English only boss, appears if you haven’t lost all your health at all. Apparently they’re challenging you since you so op. I find them kinda boring... love their horse chariot though..

Merchandise: WHERE CAN I GET IT?! Nowhere probably because they most certainly made barely any

Doujinshi: Damnit these look so cute..! Doujinshi is japanese for fan manga. Not official works

Hal is not that smart: Well it’s more Shyna’s just powerful... I believe that if the angels couldn’t stop her that nothing would’ve stopped her.

The image of adult Shyna: God... I’m not a fan....

The middle bit The age of Shyna and Zohar: I see them as programs/robots so I don’t think they have ages. Op states Shyna is 14 and Zohar is 17 which I think is a good choice.

Ying and Yang: It’s the idea that good and bad must be equal and the other exists a little in the other. I really see this link. Since it’s shown that Silhouette and Mirage need to be in balance - as seen in the ending where Megido goes weird cause Har was killed therefore there was too much mirage. I believe Silhouette and Mirage in the world of the game are perhaps like light and shadow or good and evil.

Geluve’s father is Hal: I believe this one but I don’t think op does. Doesn’t Har distinctively call Geluve ‘daughter’ as she interrupts him...? I do rather believe some of the guardian angels see Har as a father, such as Dynamis calling him ‘daddy’. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Har took the angels in like children after they were abandoned

Pollys and Pumpkins are human: It seems op believes this but I’m not sure if I do. I just don’t see the evidence. Why would the humans be attacking Shyna is she’s going to restore the world for humans??

Bottom of the iceberg Shyna is has (hmm) a bomb: Like, kinda a reset bomb. She isn’t really a bomb as she’s never destroyed - you can see her in the reset ending, alive and well. You could say she was carrying a reset button that turns on automatically once close to Edo, it’s not particularly a bomb.

Shyna needs the player for her to have a purpose: I think that’s a bit deep. Yeah, every game protagonist can only do things if the player controls them. I think this is just thinking a bit too deep.

Hal and Megido are Clod’s personalities: I’m not sure what to think of this. So Clod was an asshole and an asshole? I don’t think Har and Megido are different enough to be ‘separate personalities’. We don’t really know enough about Clod to know this at all.

Depths Was she the messenger of destruction or not?: I think this all comes down to what you believe happens after Edo is restored. If you think everything is reset and all the humans are saved then she’s the messenger of justice. If you believe everyone is killed and new humans are born, perhaps it was destruction after all because everyone died anyway.

Shyna committed human genocide: See above

Silhouette Mirage 2: I wish. Though I think treasure isn’t known for continuing their ips so I don’t think this would ever happen.

The side effects of being subjected to experiments: I suppose this is talking about Clod. I really have no idea what to say about it. As I said before, we really don’t know enough about Clod to tell us what really happened to them during the experimentation.

Geluve represents how Shyna would end up if she turned out to be another failed messenger: Uh, I suppose..? Wouldn’t all the guardian angels be though..?

Bonus! Explaining the images on the iceberg: Tip: Shyna talk sprite Shallows: ‘Adult’ Shyna official(?) art Middle: ? merch perhaps? Bottom: image from a comic about how the Polly Peepers and Specters see Shyna Depths: the real faces of Polly Peepers

#silhouette mirage #iceberg

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hamaon · 4 years ago

Note

JGY or WWX?

I feel like a fair disclaimer to give before getting to Wei Wuxian is that I watched the Untamed despite, not because of, wangxian! I originally checked out the beginning of the animated series because someone I followed was getting into it, but I already had an inkling that the main romantic relationship in this romance wouldn’t be my cup of tea. The Untamed followed, more than half a year later, really only because I had hit the gorgeous soundtrack on youtube.

How I feel about this character Part of the reason I presumed I wouldn’t be into wangxian was because neither of the main players really spoke to me, and on this account I am happy to have been proven wrong! When I finished the show, Wei Wuxian was probably my favorite character. There's something very satisfying about a surface-level heroic main character hitting his absolute lowest points and starting to be actively harmful to himself and others. “This is all I’ve ever wanted for the class clown type of character”, I think I said at some point. Let it all burn.

I go back and forth on whether I find the flightier parts of his personality charming or annoying, but it’s a spectrum. The Untamed version is my favorite, character-wise.

All the people I ship romantically with this character Nie Huaisang, in the sense that, what with their roles in the plot, it would be fascinating to see how things would play out if this was the main romance, instead. Especially because romance would not be Nie Huaisang’s priority. What would the relationship trajectory even be, teenage sweethearts, ending with a definitive breakup by the finale? I've never sat down with the idea long enough to do anything with it, but sometimes it comes back to me. The main reason I'm into it is because hey, it's the main character & the main driving force behind the story! this is an intellectual puzzle to work out!, but they also had nice, easy chemistry when they were young and seemed to enjoy each other's company, which was something that was... not present in the actual main ship as far as I could see, and apparently my only kink is obvious mutual interest and stability in a relationship. I don't think they really had romantic/sexual chemistry in particular, but hey.

Wen Ning. I just think ningxian is cute. Also has lots of potential for difficult and uncomfortable exploration re: consent and autonomy.

But I think at the end of the day, the only relationship he has that just by the actual shape of it would be something I'd be interested in seeing turn into a romantic and/or sexual relationship is with Wen Qing, which, uh. Yeah. The fond push-and-pull, the two leaders, it’s good stuff. Just a physical relationship during their hunkering together time would be fun, too.

My non-romantic OTP for this character Jiang Cheng. I remember originally being pretty peeved about the fact that the romance (censored or not) is treated as the main focus when the Yunmeng duo is, to me, the real heart of the story. Let Lan Wangji be a supporting character.

I'm not sure if I really want a reconciliation between them, personally, but I want to note that it’s not because I think it would be fundamentally impossible, or because one or both of the characters is genuinely better off without the other. I think it would be very good for them if they managed some sort of genuine healing together!

I don’t want a reconciliation because thinking about their complete and total failure to communicate and consequently never making up makes me experience genuine agony in a very satisfying way. I have in the past gone into people's tags for the two of them and managed to work myself into a sobbing mess within five minutes. It is extremely cathartic.

My unpopular opinion about this character That time when he walks into a Jin party and starts throwing threats 3-2-1, part of me is going “fuck yeah” and part of me is looking at all the collateral damage servants trying to stay out of the way in the background, who never asked to be terrorized by this very powerful man. It’s not something that makes me dislike the character in any way or form, as stated before if anything it just makes him more interesting to me, I just don’t think that it was an uncomplicatedly ‘cool’ moment.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon The man should be actually responsible for his own misdeeds. I’ve heard people say that this was a censorship thing, but I have no sources on that.

And A-Yao gets to go under a read more.

How I feel about this character Continuing down the nostalgia lane, my initial reactions were “this man smiles very deliberately” and, towards the end, “man, fuck the gentry, you should get to win”.

I, hm. It feels sometimes like there are two kinds of opinions that fans have, and I don’t connect with either of them! There’s the “this character is an unrepentant asshole and I’m proud of that, you don’t need to make up sympathetic motivations for villains” which, while I agree that he can justify a lot to himself, just doesn’t ring true to me. I think that many of his actions were either forced by the circumstances, or understandable, or sympathetic and made with decent intentions, or not particularly bad compared to shit that other characters and their society as a whole gets to.

Obviously there are all these breakdowns about the specific acts of altruism that he does that in-universe are rare from someone that high up in power, and those are great, but even without all of that, he was a stable, peaceful, competent ruler who wasn’t doing any large-scale nasty shit after a series of complete nightmares on the throne, and upsetting that long-standing balance should bring about repercussions for several social classes that does more harm than anything he was individually doing at any point.

As for the other take, there’s the “oh no he’s so small and so cute and should be pampered so much” which I don’t... get, emotionally, and additionally it is reaaal hard for me to see the character as someone who either wants or would even particularly enjoy being the one being taken care of. Usually my response is-

There’s that part during Nie Mingjue’s capture in Empathy where he’s just, running the whole show? Like, on one hand it is very important that he’s probably the weakest person in the room, and might lose in a direct confrontation against even the random soldiers standing to the sides, and if he plays his cards wrong or even sub-optimally one of the two big strong cultivators in his vicinity is going to pulverize him, and also aware of all of this at all times and living in low-key terror. But also -- he pulled it off.

If I’m working myself toward some emotional response with “A-Yao small” it doesn’t end with “someone should hold him 🥺” but with “and doesn’t that just make it all the sweeter that he sat on that throne”. (I have two kinks, and the other one is power reversal.)

All the people I ship romantically with this character Only Lan Xichen, really, but there are some tentative side paths to take!

Qin Su, in that the initial attraction would be fun to explore, and then it becomes less about the relationship dynamic and more about the underlying horror.

Nie Huaisang, in a not-particularly-serious, one-sided, never-happened-and-now-it-never-will kind of way. The ideal would be Jin Guangyao thinking of Nie Huaisang as a tiring but cute little brother figure (he doesn't have those, all of his family relationships sans mom take a weird turn at some point! this one sure is about to!), while Nie Huaisang has a lil crush, and then it goes all the way to hell. ...And I know that I set “won’t happen” as a precondition, but I guess if there was a character who keeps the (fierce or not) corpse of the late Chief Cultivator close in an effort to feel alive post-canon, Nie Huaisang is the one I’d want for that role.

Jiang Cheng, because that family unit is so under-explored in canon, and because out of a handful of favorite characters these two are usually my number one, so watching them interact with each other can be fun just because of that. But in my heart of hearts I want Jiang Cheng to stay forever single by choice, and really I'm just here for platonic family shenanigans with Jin Ling. (I've written some of this, but out of everything it's probably the least likely to ever see the light of day.)

But really only Lan Xichen. When I was watching the early episodes and didn't remember the characters well and in my head these two were only “the disturbingly handsome older brother” and “a bit part soldier (lol) from some other sect” I really imprinted on that goodbye scene, like damn, look at these characters who are friendly with each other and showing obvious interest. It's only the circumstances that are getting in the way! If I were to ever read fic from this show, it would be these two. (This was all a counter-reaction to early wangxian haha.) But increasingly it goes to show that what I'm really into is people having mutual and mutually recognized affection for each other, the negotiated part in the relationship being less about whether it'll happen and more about how to go about it. More romances that start with getting together instead of ending there.

I am laughing at my past self here though, after actually finishing the show my thoughts on xiyao were that it was nice that it was both there and stable (until, you know) and unknowable, whatever the shape of their relationship in private they are aware of it and have made their peace with it, and that's all I need to know, and now I'm sitting here with several WIPs, wondering if this is what finally pushes me to start publishing fanfiction.

My non-romantic OTP for this character Lan Xichen. No, I’m not interested in a non-romantic* read on their relationship, yes, I just want him here, too.

Also, the only other relationships of note here are with Meng Shi, Jin Ling and Qin Su, and using ‘non-romantic OTP’ for any of those feels off to me. Meng Shi and Jin Ling are at too much of an uneven level, Qin Su doesn’t reach OTP levels even if the romantic filter is off. Su Minshan and Xue Yang might be a better fit, but again, OTP level is too high. Early-canon Nie Huaisang... maybe.

*non-sexual is fine. never officially getting together w/mutual acknowledgement is fine.

My unpopular opinion about this character I think I already went off, so. The hat is fine, and the hate sounds performative and weirdly ignorant at times. I don't love the Untamed version, but it’s fine and the ones in other adaptations are fantastic, even. The warm yellow-brown combination looks really nice. More of the characters should wear hats, actually! Which I realize is an opinion influenced by historical Japanese and Korean dramas, which are of a different genre altogether (also not Chinese, but hats in official settings are a constant in all of these cultures). Nevertheless.

I wish it was used only post-timeskip in the Untamed, too, though, for more variety in costuming and to further differentiate the pre- and post-timeskip versions of the character.

...................................and a specific xiyao pet peeve also: I am becoming increasingly wary of the... either super common or I just happen to keep finding these, take where he’s some sort of unwilling/particularly hesitant participant in this relationship. Like I went back to watch parts of episode 4 (to figure out why it was that I was so sure Meng Yao would be swinging a sword around in future episodes and my conclusion is: because everyone else was swinging theirs) and even the initial interactions in the goodbye scene are like-

Meng Yao literally runs up to a guy waaay out of his league like “Hello I am bringing myself Forth because I have the audacity to assume you might Personally Want to Know that I am leaving and here are some pretty personal reasons why (gosh you really are lovely)”

Reactions I’ve seen to this: look at the little dude running away from his emotions

Me: w h a t

And then the natural conclusion here is that Lan Xichen is there to love him (with his dick and/or sunny personality) until he’s forced to accept it [serene face emoji] and it makes me. Not enjoy it much.

Ofc this doesn’t include normal human hesitations one might have about... anything and everything in life, really, but when it’s treated like this automatic character/relationship hurdle I’m just hhhh

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon I'm pretty satisfied with things as they stand? Just like the relationship between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian makes me feel cathartic agony, Jin Guangyao's fate makes me feel cathartic rage. Look at the low-born bastard child go down the stairs of life, one last time!

......Sometimes I have my weak moments and do wish he had gotten away in the end, though.

#tägäämätön #huaisang gets around in this hm #xiyao-feels

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