#honestly he’s become like. one of my fav protags

[articianne]

i am an alear fire emblem defender

[violentlydefending]

genuinely always so shocked to see mirei hate. like literally god forbid women do anything.

[tomyo]

Now that the anime finally released and people made gifs of the opening, can we talk about Okarun and his effeminacy?

I don't want to reduce it down to "boy not masculine, therefore effeminate", I think he definitely embodies masculinity too but subliminal messaging keeps hitting my brain when I see his cuts in the first part of the DandaDan opening. The posing 4 poses he does invokes imagery of girls doing model posing, specifically the one with his hands on his cheeks while being more creeped out still makes me think of a pose a girl would do to show off her nails. Honestly his design in a different Shonen he would've been the fav uke of fujos everywhere.

I would say there's definitely meant to be SOME statement about gender in DandaDan as both Okarun and Momo use less common pronouns for themselves; Jibun instead of Boku/Ore and Uchi instead of Watashi/Atashi. It's also notable that Okarun has a lot of similar facial traits to the girls in the series; short flat eyebrow, large rounded eyes, and a rounder face which I think personally was really effective because the panels of the characters staring into the fourth wall is literally imprinted on my brain. And it's not just the design style of the series since we see Jiji who uses that more traditional Shonen facial type.

While I didn't think too much about this initially since an underdog male protag who isn't as manly (yet) is a pretty common occurrence, those opening scenes really make me think more on his otherness. I think it's a notable fact that he fits into and doesn't look out of place in Momo's clothes. It reflects a lot on how they both present more gender neutral. One of the things I do appreciate about the series is despite recently showing he's made a lot of physical growth, it has not resulted in him being drawn any more traditionally masculine. He is often outpaced by Momo in terms of fighting ability as well and often still needs her to finish a battle while she's more independently capable. He's also more of the worrier in these situations; the one who has to chastise or watch after a battled out Momo.

We also know that to some extent Okarun has a complex about this; he tried to get buff in secret and felt worried for how he compared to Jiji. I don't think these are bad traits necessarily (I liked him pushing his limit in the recent arc) but I do worry how this could possibly lead into Momo's characterization as well, the girl protag getting sanded down so the boy protag can stand in the limelight as a true male hero. While I don't think it would fully go that way, I've been burned by so many strong female characters (Sakura in particular) becoming more muted as a series went on. As far as I can tell (translations can bury some context), he isn't particularly focused on manliness and tends to avoid the two pitfalls of a male hero; The underdog who becomes more stoic/manly as the series goes on or the pathetic dude just normal enough to get a harem. In fact looking at that for a second, this series definitely pulls of the love dodecahedron with basically everyone crushing on one of the two but in the case of Momo's love rivals, it isn't really that they are crushing on Okarun for his traits but due to the narratives they build in their own heads; Aira needed someone to fill the tragic anti hero lover of her heroine story, Vamola believed she had to find someone strong because her adopted family wished that for her, and Sawaki fantasizes over the idea of a vampire ravishing her. (And to avoid derailing further, it could be interesting to examine how on the flip side Okarun's rivals tend to like her more so from bonding with her). But most of all, what made him and Momo work was not magically working for either other but a lot of effort and connection. Their initial bond coming from in a sense the excitement of discovery all the while they're still fighting over dumb shit and nudging each other as friends, they don't try to project (well at least they don't succeed to) an inauthentic persona around the other. He's not above telling her off but never in a way that isn't portraying them as equals and it's sprinkled in throughout the series how consideration for each other is taken (he bought her Golgo 13, he's given food when he brought Sawaki over, etc.) that by the time he is having those stereotypical protection moments, it doesn't feel like it undermines her as a capable person but rather shows off a natural protectiveness that anyone would have for someone they care about.

Which a final thought is again on what the possessions tell us about each person. I keep theorizing in some ways Turbo form represents elements Okarun wants in himself, he's got more muscles, is more traditionally handsome, and refers to Momo and others more casually (chan opposed to San) but strikingly it's rare his two forms are ever compared or commented on. Now with those powers gone, it's possible the idealer him he desired is no longer reachable.

[demonsfate]

i'm loving this blog so far. jin kazama is one of my most important comfort characters ever since my childhood (alongside guts from berserk and nintendo's cute small overpowered pink puffball kirby), he really means a lot to me. i always found him relatable, more relatable than most of the tekken characters - i was born with something i never asked for and had to learn how to accept it (autism), i suffer from trust issues and low self esteem, and i'm a shy introverted person who loves nature as much as he does (some of my hobbies include walking in the forest, gardening, or collecting sea shells on the beach). i'm pretty sure some people who suffer from dysfunctional families would find him relatable too. other fighting game protags like sol badguy are cool too don't get me wrong. but jin kazama is special to me. which makes looking for tekken content on youtube more painful because some one is almost always gonna make the same "haha emo edgelord/ww3 war criminal" joke for the millionth time. i'm so glad i got to see this blog and some tekken fan content on deviantart/tumblr in general because i finally get to see some wonderful fanart/fanon content of my boy without more constant reminders of his character assassination in tekken 6 which should've never happened. hopefully someday namco will just retcon this stuff by saying jin was brainwashed by azazel (or like you said on this blog devil jin brainwashed him). anyways, i hope you have a wonderful day.

thank youuuu! i'm so glad you feel that way!! honestly!! the funny thing is, i feel like a lotta ppl CAN'T relate to jin because "oh, he doesn't social much" (that was a legit praise ppl had for bloodline - that it "improved" jin because he socialized with the other fighters more often) and "oh he never expresses himself." even though... i think jin can be very relatable - just to certain people, really. and like... even if his personality might not be the "most relatable." he still has other things to relate with (not wanting something he was born with, trying to become better than his toxic family, grieving of a loss one, trying to make the right choice even when it's not so clear)

jin kazama is def my favorite fighting game character, actually - one of my fav characters of all time in general. even though kazuya seems to be more popular than jin (hell, even heihachi might be...) it's just that, jin does indeed feel different. like he's just so unique to me - when depicted correctly, that is lol. we don't talk about tekken 6.

honestly, even though this is "primarily" a RP blog, i consider it a FAN BLOG for jin in general. as i tend to write a lotta posts just regarding his character - regardless if it's a headcanon post, analysis post, or discussion post. i consider my blog to be a "safe haven" for jin fans where we can talk about the character, and enjoy content of him WITHOUT having to see those bad jokes or straight up HATERS everywhere. because my goodness, it really feels like you CAN'T go anywhere without seeing a "but jin started war-". so whenever i get frustrated with that - i just come here to talk about & appreciate the character. therefore, i'd want that for other jin fans, too!!

that's why, even though a lotta RP blogs don't like personals / NonRP blogs following them, i HIGHLY ENCOURAGE personals to come interact with this blog! to follow, and talk, and send messages! i really love getting to talk with other jin fans where i don't have to deal with the constant anti jokes or hate.

the only time i bring up tek6 or whateves, is to CRITICIZE it, demonstrate how it could've been executed BETTER, and to prove that jin is SO out of character in that game, he's not even the same jin we all love!

i was hoping bamco would retcon it... but seeing as tekken 8 technically DOUBLED DOWN on it? yeahhh... the only way i'm seeing it being "retconned" is if tekken, as a series itself, gets rebooted. sadly, the whole devil [jin] was in control thing will never be the retcon just because uhhh... it seemed tekken 8 has retconned the devil gene into not actually being a "bad thing" - but instead, just a reflection of how the user decides to wield it. as APPARENTLY devil [jin] has been "protecting" jin all this time. 🙄 so like... if devil jin only lashed out because jin was rejecting himself / his "sins" - then i don't see them making devil [jin] responsible for the war. which is lame, because i really enjoy my own take on that & tek6. oh well...! they still could've gone with azazel brainwashing jin, tho... they SHOULD'VE gone with that. (then again, imo, they shouldn't have made devil [jin] a good guy either... at least, NOT in the way they approached it. not in the "ACTUALLY. he was good all along" )

anyway, enough of my rambling. xD i hope you have a good day too!!

[just-antithings]

Honestly, whenever I think about how antis say that "yaoi" (though they're grouping shounen ai there too? Which isn't the same thing?) is inherently homophobic, I just think back to how one of my fav shounen ai has the protag become a fudanshi because he wanted to find stories about guys like him and how I introduced one of my highschool buddies (a gay guy) to a lot of BL I've enjoyed and he still like the genre, so idfk what antis are all about

Also, I'm a gnc bi woman (?) who likes Girls Love. I don't find it insulting, but then again, antis seem to forget about GL, but I guess that just because they can't bash (primarily) women writing fiction for (primarily) other women if they went after GL :)

Considering how much Rad Fem Juice they’ve drunk, it’s probably because wlw is inherently pure and good and nothing can be wrong with it in their minds, honestly.

[kekisu]

TOP 5 CHARAS AND 5 REASONS WHY YOU LIKE THEM GO GO GO

AHHHH OKAY OKAY. I LITERALLY LIT UP WHEN I SAW THIS IN MY INBOX YOU HAVE NOOOO IDEA THANK YOU SO MUCH ah okay. i hope its ok if i leave it to just one or two of my fav things about them though cause NFHBGDF I DONT WANT THIS TO BE MILES LONG i hope you understand!!!!!

1. LIGHT YAGAMI

now. i dont think anybodys surprised. MFKSKFMFMHNGJN honestly, though i dont care about death note much at all anymore, hes like gum stuck to my shoe and i just cannot get him off no matter what i do. i tell myself that i dont give a fuck about anything in death note until i see him on my dash and i go apeshit. hes completely changed me and how i approach analyzing complex characters. i think hes the first character that ive ever actually cared about in that sense? the sense where i look into every detail about him i mean. its really just so fun...

my absolute favorite thing about him... i really love how funny he is. this isnt to say hes a humorous guy im saying hes funny as in he makes such stupid decisions and its hilarious to see him struggle so hard constantly. the entire ending of death note is fucking insane it sends me into laughing fits every time. theres so many funny moments in death note despite it being considered a psychological horror animanga because of him being a genuine fucking idiot 24/7. hes supposed to be a genius but he truly does lack so much self awareness sometimes.

if you wanna know more of my thoughts in depth, i have an analysis of him here that you can check out :) ID LOVE FEEDBACK ON IT so if you disagree with me or have questions etc feel free to shoot an ask and ill try to answer!!!!!

2. GORO AKECHI

god... hes perfect. he and light are on the same level of favoritism for me, dont let the numbers fool you. hes hands down my absolute favorite in persona 5 and it blows my mind knowing that the majority of the fandom feels the exact opposite or are torn over him ITS ALMOST FRUSTRATING because its mostly due to the amount of misinformation/mischaracterization spread about him!!!! but no he just happens to be the best written character in that piece of shit of a game! MFDKDHNGJJ AND PERSONA FANS CANT COMPREHEND GOOD WRITING

my favorite thing about him.. i love how hes written. and i know this sounds really basic and predictable, but its the truth i just really love his growth as a character, especially in royals third semester when he gets a chance to properly shine and oh my god! did he shine! hes literally so perfect in 3rd sem

theres just something so captivating about an angry teenager who truly thinks of his life as worthless and doesnt bother making bonds with others because of it who suddenly finds himself questioning his choices of self isolation when he finally meets a group of people he can resonate with and feel seen by. a group of people who are willing to reach out and listen to him despite his past mistakes. theres just something so perfect about seeing that same angry teenager want to take his life into his own hands and strive to grow... that same angry teenager who didnt value his own life start to see meaning in things because of bonds...

i love goro so so much he makes me so emotional if it isnt obvious enough NGFHGDGBDFH I THINK ABOUT HIM A LOT. i think about him healing so much.

(btw im working on an analysis for him atm thats similar to lights so! stay tuned for that dropping when its done in like a million years NFHFBGFHDBGHF)

3. AKIRA KURUSU

DAMN 2 PERSONA 5 CHARACTERS IN A ROW

OKAY SO i know Technically akira is supposed to be a blank slate silent protagonist but let me tell you THATS SO FAR FROM WHAT HE ACTUALLY IS. IM NEVER FORGIVING ATLUS FOR TRYING TO SHOVE HIM INTO THE SILENT PROTAG BOX AND NOT LETTING HIM BE HIS OWN CHARACTER! BECAUSE HE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AMAZINGGGGG ugh sorryfor caps im so fuckng mad MKDFKMGMHMGMG

it really does get on my nerves how because of atlus trying to make him a silent protag, the majority of the p5 fandom sees him as that. blank slate. nothing. when in reality he very much has a ton of spunk and id argue that hes his own character entirely if you just look a little deeper past the surface Like... its not even that hard to see personality in him. beneath the mask is literally his theme song, have you Not seen the lyrics to that? HAVE YOU NOT SEEN THE ENTIRE THEME OF THE GAME? this little dude is so traumatized and angry at those who wronged him (aka the justice system! shitty adults!) and people have the nerve to say hes the worst persona protagonist? lmfao

my favorite thing about akira is how he looks like a cat and how cocky and annoying he can be.. he is such a jokester hes the absolute dumbest. i enjoy this silly guy. *holds him under the armpits like a longcat*

4. SHIGEO KAGEYAMA

ahhh mob. he makes me do this -> :)

mp100, of course, changed my fucking life. mp100 is the reason i am the way i am and though all the characters are incredibly relatable and memorable and i cherish them so dearly, i, like most people, cherish mob the absolute most. seriously his strength really is incredible and though hes just a fictional character he is so inspiring and i wish to carry as much gentleness in my heart as he does.

im so so proud of him on his development he started off so.. i wouldnt say he was weak, but i would say that he lacked experience. he lived in his own little bubble not knowing what the world was like and throughout the story he grew to learn so much.. he learned to make such. mature decisions at such a young age. hes so so wise. hes so powerful not only because of his psychic powers but because of his compassion for others. he can befriend even the worst of people...

my favorite thing about him is his determination to become the best version of himself he can be. and also his relationship with ritsu (not me, i mean ritsu kageyama <3) i always gravitate towards siblings in fiction because im an only child and well <3 i dont experience that. so i like projecting onto them GHBFBBHFG they care so much for each other.. sniffle sniffle

5. RYO ASUKA

ok im going to be real even though im into devilman i dont have much of a reason to enjoy him this much. i just think hes hilarious and really cool and his satan form gives me gender envy. i love it when he commits random easily avoidable acts of violence for no reason at all its just because he wants to. and thats just fine. i think he can kill people and get away with it because hes ryo asuka. gay rights

[fullhalalalchemist]

LITERALLY i am so close to just dropping bnha at this point. like i just fucking might

honestly as an overhaul stan it’s just.....it’s annoying. it’s annoying as hell. if mirio comes back and gains his quirk after what, 3 months? then what the hell was the point of the overhaul arc? what was the point of quirk singularity theory? what was the point of all that character development? mirio trained his ass off every single day to become powerful and then lost his quirk after saving just one person. and it was one of the most tragic aspects of the show, really. and he just what, gains it back like none of that meant anything? like it didn’t add on to his character? it didn’t give this sense of doom to readers and izuku and everyone involved? what the fuck is the point of quirk bullets then if they can just be undone? it was the first loss from heros and now horikoshi is like "haha nvm all that!!! heros never lose :)”

and on top of all that, bnha is like. the heros never lose. you know what makes shonen like bleach good? (i’d say naruto too and more modern ones but bleach is my fav example) the fact that the protagonists/”good” characters LOST. A LOT. they were outwitted, outsmarted, and had their worlds turn upside down with horrible consequences on the line. some of them died. the buildup to the biggest fight of the main protag and antag was satisfying because you saw the protag repeatedly beaten down, and he built himself back up and EARNED his power ups. there is no such thing in bnha, they just win by chance. by some last minute help - i.e. best jeanist somehow being alive, mirio, etc. the LOV and PLF literally have an entire ARMY and yet no relevent pro-heros/students are ever harmed, they are never killed, and apparently they wont face consequences since it looks like the biggest opportunity for that to happen - hawks losing his wings - is apparently not gonna happen. no, instead all the LOV are gonna either die and go to jail and the heros are gonna be redeemed and the main characters are not gonna learn anything.  hori is literally ruining the build up of what is the best arc of the entire series because of his american superhero kink or whatever the fuck and his shitty writing. 

[charmspoint]

What do you think about the rest of the second year students?

If I tell you my fav jjk characters in no particular order are nobara maki inumaki yuuta gojo geto and choso and that i love them all so much that they are constantly shifting places in that line up to the point where im hardly ever able to tell who i love the most would that answer your question?

I love first years but second years are my fav squad by far i wish we got more of them and im looking forward to the movie so! much! More under cut cuz this bitch got stupid long

I love Maki so much, it’s actually her story line with Mai that got me actually invested into jjk. Like before that i was liking it but when i read that i was like OWO I NEED MORE NOW. I just love like....normal siblings storylines, like legit ask me about Choso i love Choso so much for this exact reason but we are talking about Maki now. I love how her background with Mai is very complicated and you can’t really call one or the other right. Like of course Maki has every right to leave an abusive household on her own terms and Mai has no excuses in wanting her to stay in said abusive household just so they can be together but you can also understand how abandoned and thrown away Mai would have felt at that moment. Like sure theyd probs treat her a little better then Maki because she can actually see curses but they also still clearly treated her badly and as a servant because her technique is weak. You can understand how she would have felt betrayed by being left behind by the only person who should have been on her side in this horrible situation. I just really love Maki and Mai and by god i hope they get to met again and talk and work together MAKI AND MAI TEAM UP PLEASE. I’m not sure can their relationship ever be really good i feel like there's a lot there to work through but i also really want them to start working through it. Aside from that I just love her cuz shes Maki and she’s a badass. I love women who are so fucking driven and ready to fight their way to the top when the world has given them crappy cards. She’s a fighter and she’s a survivor. She’s made from tough stuff, she has survived being fuckin set on fire. I LOVE her redesign its so fuckin good like holy shit i already thought she was cool but now she looks like 10 times cooler the cape the fuckin cape. Anyway i like her a whole bunch i hope her and megumi work something out about the zenin clan and id also like to see more of her thoughts from her about that whole situation. Because she’s not able to prove herself and win over the clan like she wanted to :(. But i guess that doesnt really matter anymore with the whole situation going on. She has already proven herself to be tougher then Naobito and by god i hope she puts Naoya into the ground, actually i hope this is where her and Mai will team up and put him into the ground together.

I also really love Yuuta, like he has the same soft boy protag vibes as Yuji but he also looks fucking depressed and anxious 90% of the time which just makes it all the better??? Like i love Yuji, but Yuuta has been through so much shit, he’s been terrorized by a curse of his own making for years, Rika had probably hurt a bunch of people because of him and like you can see it in his face, that dudes a wreck, have you see his fucking eyebags he hasnt slept in 25927 years and i love him so much. He’s so kind and caring and god if i dont love characters who go absolutely stupid feral for their friends. When the fanbook came out and it was like his biggest stress atm is not being with his friends i was like ;-;. I’m just a sap, I love him, I love how much he has progressed from this anxious stressed out kid to someone who can act calmly and tactically and even offer valuable advice to his underclassmen, he has grown so much! It’s just nice to see him coming into his own and becoming more confident into himself and his power. I’m really fucking sad hes gonna be separated from the squad again after JUST saying he doesnt want to be away from everyone again. Anyway his oscar worthy performance in Shibuya really fuckin got me like, the whole time i was thinking ‘noooo Yuuta wouldnt do this nooo its gojos student they are basically step brothers by teacher he wouldnt do this’ BUT i wasnt sure! I still felt like him becoming all fuckin feral for his friend was perfectly in character and also like really thematically interesting from the stand point of two protagonists clashing together. But honestly im glad he was just putting on an act, idk would my heart be able to handle villain Yuuta for long ;-; Another thing I like about Yuuta is Rika, like man I LOVE Rika, half of my upcoming curse!Gojo au is based on what Yuuta and Rika are. I was SO fuckin hyped to see her return like I was as hyped for Rika’s return as I was for Yuutas. Sure we don’t know if that’s ACTUALLY Rika or something else but god I hope we find out soon. Anyway I absolutely LOVE Yuuta’s n Rika’s dynamic like im feral for this shit. 1. Big monster girlfriend and smol human boyfriend 2. Master and servant allusions 3. THEY ARE AN ACTUAL PARTNERSHIP. Like sure Yuuta is in control but Rika is the one lending him her power and basically agreeing to play along, he needs to earn the strength to wield her. Like they aren’t on completely equal terms and boy would I love if they were cuz completely equal curse sorcerer partnership would be so! Cool! But they are the closest thing to that. Like she isn’t a shikigami like Megumi has or anything like that, her and Yuuta feel like actual partners who depend on each other’s strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses and I DIG THAT SHIT SO MUCH. Would I have loved if they developed a truly equal partnership and that Rika didn’t have to go? Yes. Am I happy with what I got? Also yes. Yuuta monsterfucker king. That whole ‘This is true love’ bit, amazing I love him.

 Panda is the only second year I don’t passionately love ajkkjbj sorry Panda but you’re just Panda. Like I like him, I like the concept of him, I like how he obviously sees himself as not the same as the humans and doesn’t really understand them and I would love to see him explored more, his third core, his relationship with Yaga who’s basically his dad, his relationship with other sorcerers, but I’m not feral about him like I’m about Maki and Yuuta. I think he’s a neat character and a funny joke and I love when he and Toge interact they are prank bros its cute. But that’s p much all I feel about him hjvbjhbj sorry Panda

[honhonluigi]

Hinanami is basically the bland, white-bread version of Naegiri... and so much worse. They really tried to do the whole "put the protagonist with the emotionless stoic girl" but did a terrible job

They didn’t even try to do that, though. The fans did. Chiaki and Hajime don’t have a single real conversation the entire game. He’s not her friend. He doesn’t care about her. Aside from trials and investigations, where they’re focused on solving a murder and they talk to everyone in equal measure, they never speak to each other. Nekomaru spends more time with Hajime than Chiaki does. Hinanami is not canon. Never once in the game is Chiaki implied to mean anything to Hajime at all. He never talks to her. They’re not even friends. It’s the fans who started shipping them and acting like they were best friends. Because Chiaki was a fan-favorite, and fan-favs always get shipped with protags (Ex: Rantaro and Shuichi, who haven’t had a single conversation). Chiaki was supposed to be a fan-fav. She was supposed to be Waifu-bait. But then the cash-grab shitty spinoff anime happened, and they saw how much the fans like Chiaki, so they shipped her with Hajime in the anime. But in the games? Hinanami isn’t even close to canon. Hajime spends more time with literally everyone else except maybe Peko and Hiyoko? He and Chiaki do not have a single authentic conversation. 

I made a whole thesis about this. I wrote a whole god damn paper about how Hinanami isn’t canon. It’s somewhere on this blog if you dig. It’s NOT canon. People only assume that it’s canon because of the anime, which came after the games. And if you think the anime is canon? Well, I’ve got a surprise for you. The anime completely goes against the game canon of everything to do with Despair’s founding, the Kamukura Project, and Junko/Mukuro in general. The anime says Chiaki was a real student at Hope’s Peak, but the game? In the game, both Chiaki and Alter Ego say straight up that she never existed outside the Neo World Program. She wasn’t a real person. The anime isn’t canon. The anime was nothing but fan-service. A cash grab. Completely and utter shit. Would you say the How To Train Your Dragon TV show is more canon than the movies? Fuck no! Same with the anime. The games are canon, not the anime. If Hinanami happened in the animes, it doesn’t fucking matter, because Chiaki didn’t even actually exist in the games. 

Point is, people only assume Hinanami is canon because of the anime. But in the game, there’s nothing to imply that they’re a couple, or even friends. Let’s take a look at DR couples, shall we? There’s three types of DR relationships. We’ll take a brief look into each. 

1. Chapter One Love Interest (AKA: The Red Herring)

You’re probably familiar with this one. It’s the ‘tutorial girl’. You meet them first. They become the protag’s best friend. The MC trusts them. They show the MC around, they get introduced to everyone together, and basically you spend the whole prologue and Chapter 1 getting close to them. You’re supposed to think ‘Oh, they’ll escape with the MC and be their love interest in the end’ even though it’s totally predictable that they end up dying. They end up dying in the first trial because they betrayed the MC by getting involved with a, unsuccessful murder somehow. This was Sayaka and Kaede. (I already went over on this blog why Kaede was a red herring, not a protag. She was only ‘protag’ to avoid people predicting that she would die in chapter 1 like all the other ch 1 friends.) Sayaka is friends with Makoto but ends up trying to kill Leon and getting murdered. Kaede is friends with Shuichi but ends up being executed for trying to kill Rantaro. 

What about Chiaki? Does she fit any of that? Fucking no she doesn’t. After her introduction, Hajime ignores her for all of Chapter 1. And ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, etc etc... But anyway. She’s not his best friend in Ch 1. They don’t talk. She doesn’t get involved in an unsuccessful murder in Ch 1. Who’s Hajime’s friend then? Who shows him around? Who does he trust who ends up betraying him by getting involved in unsuccessful murder during the first trial? Oh yeah-- Nagito. He would’ve died if it wasn’t for his luck saving him. He was supposed to die in his murder, or be executed. But his luck got in the way. Nagito was the chapter 1 love interest. He literally follows the same exact beats as Kaede and Sayaka. But uhhh...Sayaka and Kaede are totally valid love interests, but Nagito isn’t! Why? (Hint: It’s because he’s gay and has a mental illness.) 

2. Plot Twist Love Interest (AKA: The Shady One) 

This love interest comes on after the Red Herring love interest dies in chapter 1. This love interest starts off as being someone that you don’t trust, who avoids you, who acts super shady and suspicious the whole time. They hide things, act cryptic in trials, and know way more than they let on. They act rude sometimes, but also nice and helpful sometimes, to the protag so that MC has no idea how this person feels about them. The MC is curious, but also wary of them. This person ends up disappearing towards the end of the game so that MC doesn’t have access to them anymore. We lose the option for their free-time events at some point. This person disappears because they’re hell-bent on figuring out the mystery behind the killing game. They end up getting involved in some kind of plot to reveal the truth/mastermind/traitor and then it fails, resulting in their death or the death of someone else. This person gets falsely accused of being the mastermind by the rest of the cast. This describes, to a tee, Kyoko. People acknowledge Kyoko as Makoto’s love interest (because she’s a girl!). But this describes Kokichi too. The role that Kokichi and Kyoko play is the exact same in the story. Now, I don’t think that Shuichi was at all in love with Kokichi, but I think Kokichi had a crush on him. (This is why I make a case that Byakuya shouldn’t be in the ‘unholy trinity’. Kyoko should. Byakuya hits none of the plot requirements for that. He’s just a dick. Also, by all rights, Shuichi’s second love interest probably should’ve been Maki. She was shady enough, and he actually had a chance to like her. But fuck that. They did NOT go that route. Abusive comphet KaiMaki all the way, right?)

Anyway, let’s look at Chiaki for this one, shall we? Suspicious? Well, I knew from Ch 1 investigation that she was the traitor, but no one else did. No one in the cast suspects her of a thing the entire time. They’re completely flabbergasted when she hints that she’s the traitor. They all think she’s perfect. No one ever suspects her of a thing. She doesn’t disappear mysteriously. We don’t lose access to her free-time events. She doesn’t look into the mysteries behind the killing game (because she already knew them). She may help in trials, but she’s not cryptic or mysterious about it. She acts super mega ultra fucking rude the MC, but he doesn’t care, and he’s never torn up in puzzlement over “how she really feels about him” the way that Makoto and Shuichi get frustrated with Kyoko and Kokichi. She doesn’t hatch any plot to try and expose the truth. She does everything she can to cover up the truth until Nagito forces it. Which brings me to my next point. Who does this actually describe? Oh-- Wait! It’s Nagito again!! He follows, line for line, the exact same plot that Kyoko does, and so does Kokichi. So...Why is Kyoko the only one who gets to be a love interest instead of a villain? (Hint: Because Nagito and Kokichi are gay and you could argue that both have mental illnesses.) 

The only part of this that Chiaki actually fits is the “knows more than everyone else”. But she doesn’t actually. She doesn’t figure it out because she’s smart, like the other three characters. She knows already because she’s the traitor. She knows more in the way that Sakura, Tsumugi, and Mukuro “knew more”. They were given that information. They are not love interests. And yeah, Chiaki uh...’gets involved’ in a scheme to find out the truth. But not of her own plotting or fruition. It’s Nagito’s plan, and she gets involved because he planned it. In the same way that Makoto ended up taking the fall for Kyoko’s botched first attempt at revealing the truth, too. Makoto, Chiaki, and Kaito took the fall for those plans. They weren’t the cause of them. Makoto only didn’t die because his luck (+ Alter Ego) saved him, just like Nagito’s saved him in ch1. 

3. Side-Character Relationships 

This is the last and third type of DR relationship. The love between side characters, like Taka & Mondo, Tenko towards Himiko, K1-B0 & Miu, Sakura & Aoi, Kaito & Maki. Honestly, you can’t even compare Hinanami to this logic, because Hajime is an MC. But let’s be generous and do it anyway. 

These couples are always super obvious. Since you can’t see them through the eyes of the MC all the time, they’re even more obvious than MC ships. Side-characters in love spend tons of time together outside of trials and investigations. They’re with each other in their free time. They talk about each other all the time. They’re always together. They talk openly about their ‘friendship’ and how much they mean to each other. We get cutscenes showing the love between the two. Even in KaiMaki, which I hate, all of this is present. 

What about Chiaki? Nah. She never talks about Hajime, and Hajime never talks about her. He never even thinks about her at all. He never seeks her out. They never ever have a single conversation in their free time. Unless you, the player, chose to do her free time events, they never talk outside of trials. They don’t seek each other out. They don’t spend any of their free time together. They don’t talk about how much they’re friends or lovers. They’re never together. They only get 2 cutscenes when they’re alone together: one of which is investigating Nagito’s room and revealing a major hint that Chiaki is a robot; the second of which is after she dies, wrapping up the plot that she is, in fact, a robot. These cutscenes don’t serve to show how much they care about each other. These cutscenes aren’t about Hajime at all. He might as well not even be there. It’s not like they have meaningful conversations. It’s just about finishing off Chiaki’s boring story, because it’s required. Compare: Taka & Mondo, whose cutscene is them fucking in the sauna. K1-B0 and Miu, whose cutscene is them fucking in Miu’s lab. Hina and Sakura, whose cutscene is Sakura telling Hina that she loves her. Kaito and Maki, whose cutscenes are them hugging and spending time together bonding over mutual interests. Chiaki’s seem pretty fucking stale compared to those, right? Yeah, because her only cutscenes are about bare-bones investigation and trial shit. Lots of people get investigation cutscenes. Doesn’t make them love interests. Chiaki and Hajime never spend free time together. They never seek each other out, have real conversations, or bond over mutual interests. They only talk during trials and investigations. Let me say this again, because I cannot emphasize it enough: HAJIME DOES NOT EVEN EVER THINK ABOUT HER. 

4. Elements of Any and All DR Relationships 

Now, there are elements of relationships that all DR ships have, regardless of if they involve the MC or not. The two characters spend free time together, outside of investigations and trials. The two characters have plot-related interactions outside of trials and investigations. (This is especially true in cases with the MC. Think how many plot-related scenes we got with Kaede + Shuichi, Sayaka + Makoto, Kyoko + Makoto that happened outside of trials and investigations?) These two characters have at least one heartfelt cutscene alone together. Like I mentioned above, they talk all the time. They think about each other. They talk about each other. Someone always makes a joke about the MC being in love with them. 

Like I already pointed out, Chiaki has none of this. She and Hajime spend exactly 0 free-time together, unless the player forces it to happen themselves. They don’t talk. They don’t have plot-related cutscenes, discussions, storylines, etc outside of trials/investigations. They never speak to each other outside of trials/investigations. They don’t spend time together. They don’t have plots involving each other. They don’t seek each other out. They don’t talk to each other. They don’t even think about each other. And absolutely no one in the cast makes a joke about Hajime and Chiaki getting together. Fun fact: Kazuichi makes more moves toward/thinks more about getting with Chiaki in one scene than Hajime does in the entire game. Another Fun Fact: Nekomaru spends more one-on-one time with Hajime than Chiaki does. Where’s my die-hard fans insisting that Nekomaru x Hajime is indisputably canon?

Who has all of the above criteria? Mikan. Mikan does. She’s infinitely more of a love-interest to Hajime than Chiaki. 

Now I’m gonna go over some popular arguments I see for why Chiaki is a love interest, and I’m gonna destroy them. 

“She’s The Helper Character.” That character doesn’t exist. That’s a fucking lie. Literally everyone talks in trials. Everyone helps in trials. Everyone helps in investigations. There is no singular ‘helper’ character. There’s no assistant. There’s no side-kick. Kaito helps Shuichi in trials. Maki does too. Are they his love interests? Byakuya helps in trials. He’s not Makoto’s love interest. Nagito helps in trials and people are pretty fucking insistent that he’s not Hajime’s love interest. Everyone helps in trials. In a trial/investigation, the MC has to talk to literally everyone. They have no choice. The fact that Hajime talks to Chiaki in an investigation, or listens to her in a trial, is not evidence of him favoring her. Chiaki talking so much in trials and investigations is supposed to be dropping hints at her being the traitor. Not her being a “helper” to Hajime. 

“What About The Swimsuit Scene?” “Hajime was totally drooling over Chiaki in that scene!” Yeah, he was. Because he’s a teenage boy and she was wearing a super slutty bikini. Literally everyone, boy and girl, in that scene looked at Chiaki and went “Jeez Chiaki...That’s a...bold swimsuit.” She wore a skimpy swimsuit and Hajime thought it was hot. So did Kazuichi. Kazuichi drooled over her WAY more than Hajime. Is Kazuichi automatically Chiaki’s love interest? Hajime also drooled over Peko when she walked in. Because he’s a teenage boy, and there’s hot girls in skimpy bathing suits. Also, Hajime talks nonstop through the entire fucking game about how hot and beautiful and amazing Sonia is. And he never once even has a thought about Chiaki. But uh...Nah, Sonia’s not his love interest. It’s totally Chiaki, right? 

“The ‘I’m Taking My Top Off’ Comment.” Yeah, Chiaki said that to Hajime. And Hajime freaked the fuck out. He didn’t want it to happen. He was like “WAIT WHAT!?” He wasn’t “oh fuck yeah, let me see those gamer titties!” Maybe Chiaki was flirting with him, but Hajime definitely didn’t flirt back. At the very least, it shows that he wasn’t expecting it, because he never thinks of her that way. Hajime didn’t respond to that line at all. Also, the only reason Chiaki even said that in the first place is because she was made to be fap-material for Otaku Gamer Bros. So of course they’re going to make her talk about her boobs, give her a slutty swimsuit, and make her boobs three sizes bigger when she wears it. (It’s true! I checked! Also, does this mean that Chiaki is a closet sex freak? Yikes...Well, it’s more interesting than everything else she’s got going on.) Point being, when she brought it up (and she was joking, for a reminder. She wasn’t serious.), Hajime didn’t want anything to do with it.

“Junko blackmails them about ‘The Girl You Love’.” Yeah, okay, I’ve never actually seen people make this argument. And I better never fucking see that. Because it’s so god damn obvious, and stupid. Junko’s lines are basically “you need to hurry up and make a decision, because the bodies of the girl you love and the boy you hate are in the real world wasting away.” She is talking to everyone, but specifically, she’d just been goading Fuyuhiko on about Peko. This line. Is clearly. About Peko. It’s about Peko. It’s not fucking about Chiaki. And I better never see anyone claim this. Why not? Why can’t it be about Chiaki? SHE’S NOT FUCKING REAL!!! She doesn’t have a body! She’s not wasting away! She has no body outside the Neo World Program! This line literally cannot be about her. Even if you go by the anime and say she did exist, she’s still fucking dead, and still doesn’t have a body to waste away in the first place. Chiaki and Alter Ego BOTH say that she doesn’t exist outside the Neo World Program!!!

“Then Why Did She Appear to Hajime in the Last Trial?” Because of plot convenience. That’s all. See, we’re not supposed to know she’s an AI. (Even though it’s incredibly obvious). When she is executed, we’re not supposed to know that she’s an AI programmed by the Future Foundation. We’re supposed to be like “Why did she do that? Why did she say all those weird things? Why was she the traitor?” We’re supposed to have all these unanswered questions. (I mean, I already knew all of that from ch 1, but the game clearly tries to keep you from suspecting Chiaki at all.) So, if she’s dead and executed, how can we finish her story? How are we going to get a chance to wrap up all those unanswered questions? She appears to Hajime and tells him. She reveals it all to him, answers all the viewer’s questions, and finishes her story. That’s it. She appears to him out of convenience to finishing her own plot. Why him? Why him specifically? Is it because they’re in love? Nah bitch, it’s because he’s the main character and the only way the audience could see their questions answered at all is if she appeared to him. She also appeared to Sonia, as Sonia specifically states. Is Sonia her canonical, definite, not-possibly-arguable love interest? No. Sonia’s love interest is Gundham. If seeing Chiaki had something to do with love, then why did she see her too? 

“But Her Free Time Events End With Them In Love.” Yeah, so does everyone else’s. Nagito’s, Akane’s, Kazuichi’s, Mikan’s...Sayaka’s, Toko’s, Kyoko’s...Kokichi’s, Kaito’s...Everyone’s free time events end with them falling in love with the MC. That’s the point of FTEs. That’s the reason why no actual ships are explicitly canon in any DR games. Because they want the player to have the chance to get close to, and pursue a relationship with, whatever characters they choose. That can’t work if that character is dating someone. So they make all FTEs end in love confessions, and they let no ships become canon. You can choose literally any character, go through their free time events, and have them fall in love with you. It’s for the player. It’s not canon. And sure, those FTEs might not specifically end in an outright love confession (like Nagito’s does), but it’s pretty fucking obvious in every single one that you win them over and fall in love. Why do you think you get their underwear? Even Toko, canonically smitten with Byakuya, goes “I’m already in love with master, but...” Sideways glance, smile, “You can think of me if you want...” It exists for the player, and can be done with ANY character. It doesn’t speak to any special privilege for Chiaki. 

And just a couple more things I have to say on this topic:

Hajime didn’t like her. Hajime doesn’t fucking like Chiaki. I’m not gonna say that he hates her, but he definitely doesn’t like her. Whenever he has to talk to her, he’s always thinking about how weird she is, how childish she’s being, and how rude she is for talking over him/falling asleep when he talks. He doesn’t enjoy talking to her. I did Chiaki’s first two FTES, and Hajime hated every god damn second of them. He thinks she’s rude, boring, weird, and childish. He thinks about that stuff any time he’s forced to talk to her. When he finds her diary, he goes “God, this is awful, it’s like a five-year-old wrote it.” Why would you think that he likes her??? (You know who Hajime really fucking despises? Gundham. God, talk to Gundham and read Hajime’s thoughts. He’s fucking brutal. This guy has a huge beef...)

So Who’s Hajime’s Actual Love Interest?  

Everybody!!! This is actually a theory I cooked up. I think each MC gets a ch 1 love interest (Sayaka, Nagito, Kaede), and then a second plot-twist love interest, but it happens in different ways each time. Kyoko and Makoto get together all nice and neat. Shuichi has a second love-interest who likes him, but Shuichi absolutely does not like him back. Hajime’s second love interest? Everyone. Hajime has this kind of curse where the second someone captures his interest/gets interested in him, they die. I noticed in the game that they’d push characters on Hajime hardcore, and then kill them the next chapter. Now, this happens in every game. But in Hajime’s case, they weren’t just pushed on him as characters. They all flirted with him. One of the reasons why I think almost everyone in the class had a crush on Hajime. First, it’s Nagito, and Impostor confides in Hajime and Teruteru flirt with him too. Then, they either get killed or get taken away (and chained up for three days without food, water, or bathroom access). Next, Mahiru starts flirting with Hajime by bossing him around and always seeking him out. I don’t think Hajime liked her back, but she liked him. And then she dies. After that, Mikan flirts with Hajime, spends time with him, gets cutscenes cuddling with him, hits on him, and other people even make jokes about them fucking. Then she dies. Hajime becomes closer friends with Ibuki, then she dies. Hajime starts to get close to Nagito again. Then he goes crazy and dies. Hajime showed a ton of interest in Sonia, but then she goes for Gundham. Hajime gets close to Kazuichi, but then he goes for Sonia. Hajime is cursed. I think everyone in the game got an inkling of being Hajime’s love-interest before they died/got taken away. With the exceptions of Peko, Hiyoko, Gundham, Akane, Fuyuhiko, and Nekomaru. I think they give Hajime a person who he likes/likes him, and then immediately take them away before any relationship can be formed. 

Now, I guess this is the time where you could make a case that Chiaki fits. “Well, he gets close to her, and then he loses her!” But actually, that kind of doesn’t fit. He gets close to her only after she’s already dead. And he’s only ‘close to her’ for one conversation, after she’s already dead. He doesn’t get to spend any quality time with her before she dies. Even if you wanted to make that claim, it still wouldn’t make Chiaki any more of a love interest than Mahiru or Teruteru or Impostor. She wouldn’t be the one-and-only, indisputable, only option for Hajime. Based on evidence in the game, I don’t think Hajime actually had a crush on Teruteru, Impostor, or Mahiru. I think they liked him, but I don’t think he ever would’ve liked them back. And that’s the only way I can see Chiaki being even a little bit his love interest. In this world, where pretty much everyone gets to be his love-interest at some point. In a world where she crushes on him but he doesn’t like her back. Because he doesn’t. That’s obvious in his thoughts and actions. (He reacts worse to Peko and Fuyuhiko’s execution than he does to Chiaki’s, btw.) 

But I really don’t think she’s his love interest. She’s definitely not “the” love interest. She’s not the only one. She’s not the “canon” one. She’s not his canon love interest at all. That’s not at all what the evidence in the game points to. 

If my crackpot theory isn’t true, then I’d say Hajime’s love interests are Nagito and/or Mikan. Maybe Sonia. They’re the ones that he actually spends time with, and have all of the criteria that are set by literally every other DR couple. He has none of that with Chiaki. Honestly, I think Nagito is the more prominent love interest. I think Mikan and Sonia definitely had their spots too, but Nagito fills the role of both first and second love-interest. He hits literally every single beat of Kaede and Sayaka, but also of Kyoko. Whether or not Hajime loved him by the end is debatable. Sometimes I doubt it. But he loved him at first, and Nagito loved Hajime the whole time. And Hajime was destroyed after Nagito’s death. But even though Nagito hits every single point of being a love interest compared to Sayaka, Kaede, and Kyoko...He’s still not allowed to be a valid love interest for Hajime. If you think Komahina is canon, then you’re just “biased”. You’re just looking “through your shipping goggles.” Even though Nagito’s story is literally both kinds of love interest mixed together. Nah, nah, nah. Who cares about evidence? Clearly I’m just biased. Clearly I’m just “using shipping goggles” to see what I want to see. Because... *looks at smudged writing on hand* Hinanami, the ship with no evidence at all, it definitely 100% canon and Komahina, the ship with all the evidence you could ask for, could never be canon at all. I’m just stupid. Right? Right. And why? Because Nagito is a gay guy with a mental illness!!!!!

I despise KaiMaki, but I still acknowledge that it’s at least partially canon because it was in the game. But I don’t acknowledged Hinanami, because it was never canon. It was never even hinted at. Nobody better come onto my blog arguing that Hinanami is canon in the fucking slightest. I can’t deal with that bullshit. It’s not canon. This is my second essay on the subject. (I wrote a huge essay listing all the reasons they weren’t canon, and yet I was still able to find MORE evidence against them for this one? Wow, that’s a lot of proof that they aren’t indisputably canon.) I’m fine if you want to ship them. You can be like “they had a lot of potential for a relationship!” You can be like “I think Chiaki had a crush on him!” or “I think Hajime would’ve liked her!” That’s fine. You can do that all you want. Like any other DR ship. But don’t go around being like “NO, it’s DEFINITELY canon!!! No other ship is canon because Hinanami is canon and it’s completely indisputable! You’re wrong and stupid!!” It’s not canon. No DR ship is canon. You can ship them but please, do it like any other DR ship. Ship them because you saw potential, but don’t cram it down everyone’s throat as ‘must be canon’. 

Hinanami is the only ship that does that. It’s the only ship that is insisted to be 100% canon with no disputing evidence whatsoever. People dispute Kaede and Shuichi. People dispute Kaito and Maki. People dispute Kyoko and Makoto all the fucking time. Every other ship is flexible, except that one. “Hinanami is the only canon ship and no other ship is valid or matters, you can’t ship Hajime with anyone else, all the other ships pale in comparison because Hinanami is so canon, and you’re just a biased delusional idiot if you ever dare to imply otherwise!!!” Stop it. It’s not canon. I should be able to make a valid case for another ship without being immediately shot down because of Hinanami. No other DR ship does that. Quit. I hate seeing everyone insisting that it’s canon. Acting like it’s just “common sense” that it’s canon. It’s not. There’s no fucking evidence for it AT ALL. But it makes me feel like a crazy person whenever I see people insisting that, as if I’m the only one who missed the scene where they fucked without protection or something. If everyone is allowed to dispute literally every other ship, then it should be the same for Hinanami. The “canon” ship with absolutely -67% evidence towards it. 

[neoncat666]

Reminder: I love you and you are the best. I love your babysitter! Sapnap au. Thank you for the free serotonin. Spare me a little more about your aus or the au 👉👈

I had to get onto my laptop for this So I don’t make all the aus myself so under the read more ill have name of the au then names of who worked on it (both of my friends are only on twitter)

Also if you want more info on a specific au feel free to send another ask about that au on anything you wanna know cause i just ramble unless i have a certain thing to go off of

Babysitter au - Blurry, Tal, and I Sapnap is a highschooler who needed a job that worked with his school schedule and honestly didn’t require a lot of work. He finds an ad by a single father to babysit his two sons, both 8 years old at the time. This is how he starts babysitting Tubbo and Tommy. He doesn’t really like get attached to them at first but after a bit of babysitting them and actually hanging out and learning about the kids, he finds himself actually enjoying his job and is always really excited for it out of school. I can do a post on everyone’s role in this au but there’s just.. so many. Think dreamsmp amount of people. There’s a lot. The main people tho are Sapnap, Tubbo, and Tommy though. Also Fundy is a piano teacher

Zombie apoc au - Blurry, Tal, and I Self explainatory except we said fuck usual main protag rights and it follows Sapnap, Tubbo, and Tommy again. Basically they’re all their actual ages and have to make it through the world. Sapnap ends up taking a really protective big brother role and it’s mostly just their adventures until they find other survivors. This au does kinda stand on the edge of what’s kinda ok so we’re lowkey making it not as bad cause in the end these are real people.

Clay friends au (storebought friends are fine) - Tal, Blurry, and I Sapnap is a college student who has trouble making friends and generally be social. He ends up messing around and makes these little clay figures which end up coming to life. They become his best friends and help him do stuff like cheat on tests, talk to other people, ect. Eventually Sapnap ends up making real life friends and doesn’t need the clay figures that maybe were a part of his imagination the whole time. Well Dream and George don’t really like being shoved into a bag to never be seen again. Yeah this ended up as a horror au

Flipside au - Tal and I Dream, Sapnap, and George are all irl friends who go to school together. One day they each find themselves in a completely new dimension that seems to be everything they could possibly ask for. The only way they can communicate with each other is a handheld mirror they all have. This mirror and bracelets they made as a symbol of their friendship is important. Well the dimensions end up shifting, changing into each person’s nightmare. It turns out these dimensions are actually alive and feed off the desperation and despair of others, I can go more in depth about this au if asked cause it’s genuinely one of our more complex aus

Brothers au - Tal! and I So Tubbo and Eret are brothers and when Tubbo was a tiny baby, a witch had tried to curse him but Eret ended up taking the attack instead. This ended up with Eret leaving Tubbo when he was young and Tubbo growing up to become a farmer. Years later there is talk of an evil king who is threatening to take over lands and resides in a castle not to far from where Tubbo lives. He signs up to be apart of the soldiers that are storming this castle to take down this king. Tubbo ends up being the only one to even make it to the ruler and is praised by this person for making it this far. The lighting only allowing Tubbo to see the glowing white eyes of this person, they end up fighting with the king using powers to throw chunks of earth at them. During the battle, the stained glass behind the throne shatters which allows light to enter the room and show the face of this evil queen. Tubbo feels like this person is familiar and ends up calling out for their brother. Eret, taken aback, kicks Tubbo out of her castle and moves his entire base far away as an attempt to get away from them. Tubbo, not one to give up, now finds himself on a quest to get their brother back and makes friends along the way.

Angels n Demons au - Me! Sapnap and Eret are angels while Bad (and maybe someone else) is a demon. This is honestly just me fucking around with the concept of angels and demons and I’ve only developed it slightly by yelling at my partner about it. I’m writing something about it rn but i’m always open to talking about it in asks and stuff like that lmao.

But yeah those are the aus ive worked/working on! My fav is maybe like... babysitter and brothers au but im biased on found family. Please talk to me about them i’ll tag each post with the au tag so we can get that shit organized!

[skittymon]

Finally finished Tales of Eternia!! 

And that makes 11th tales games finished and 15th overall played in some degree (Phantasia, Legendia, Innocence, and DotNW being the ones I havent finished yet).

Once I started again in December I decided that instead of liveblogging I’d make a review at the end instead.

So here we go! I will keep this spoiler free as possible!

I’m pretty scatterbrained but I’ll try to divide this into: combat, story, characters, and other game mechanics.

Combat: So obviously, the combat is above Phantasia and Destiny’s, being made after them. I honestly have grown fond of the 2d linear style format. There’s so many different boss fights in this game that can only work in a 2d field rather than 3d. 

On the flip side, that’s not always a good thing. I count bosses like the wild dog thing in Vesperia, and Fodra Queen of Graces to be among the hardest mandatory boss fights in tales. Welp, Eternia added one to the ranks. Rem (aka Aska the light spirit) is one of the most frustrating boss fights I’ve done. Apart from constantly slowing healing itself, on the field it brings a shiny ball with it. You cannot destoy the orb, it’s there all fight, and if you touch it it hurts you. And of course it blocks the way to Rem. There is a way past it, it moves up and down so you just have to wait until its up to move past. BUT GUESS WHAT THE AI DOESNT DO. So your party will probably either be dying or constantly in pain. AND REM CAN MOVE THE ORD ANYWHERE. Also you cant physically hit Rem while its casting a spell only far away skills. So if you ever play this game just cheese it and spam variations of Sonic Blade.

Of course, on the flip side it’s every easy for you to cheese boss fights and just back them up into a corner unable to move or do anything until they die, so it evens out.

The sprite animations for the artes are gorgeous. Reid moves so fluidly in his artes, he’s honestly my third favorite protag to play as behind Yuri and Ludger because of this. The caster animations are great as well, granted it can become cluttered and hard to see in when artes like blizzard and earth shaker are used. BUT GOD DAMN I CAN WATCH MEREDY USE METEOR ALL DAY IT LOOKS SO COOL.

Nitpicks about the combat system are, Life, the reviving spell Farah has, takes to long to charge, and for Meredy and Keele to use healing artes you have to mix and match who has what craymel (spirit). There might be a guide but I didnt look beyond reddit so Life was the only resurrection spell I had. 

Last nitpick comes from the Aurora Artes. Aurora Artes are skills only Reid can use, but in order to use them you have to have health below 15% and press circle, square, and x at the same time, so it’s very easy to mess up and die. Then to use more Aurora Artes you press the same buttons repeatedly, and after you use them Reid is left with 1 hp. AND the final boss has an automatic kill skill, you have to press the buttons at the right time to activate it and keep everyone alive, or you can cheese it like I did and have Farah hold a reverse doll to revive her after she dies. Did I also mention this skill happens in phase 2 of the fight when the bosses health is less than 20,000 after starting from 300,000? If you fuck up thats like 10mins of redoing.

But to end on a better note for this section, I love the way artes are learned. You have to use certain artes a number of times before you can unlock it (I THINK abyss and vesperia and many others are like this but this is the first time I found it rewarding). I grinded like hell to get the best artes for Reid AND YOU BET IT WAS WORTH IT. Omega Demon Chaos I love you,,,,

Story: Like countless other Tales titles, the conflict comes from two worlds being at odds with each other. However this game does something that none of the other games have done with this story beat. Language barriers! It’s super cool in the first couple of hours theyre just trying to figure out how to talk with Meredy. Of course by the end this point is nearly dropped entirely, everyone else just getting the special ear ring I spent 3 hours to get so the plot can move on.

Like most tales, theres a moment you thought the story would end but BOOM the twist. I wasn’t shocked by it, but that’s because I knew who the final antagonist of the game was prior to playing it, but still it was executed well. 

Something that makes this Tales stand out is how they deal with backstory. So the main fours backstory is vital to the story and their characters but they don’t show it till like 20 hours in. It’s like if Graces you start off in main arc and learn about the childhood arc 2/3 of the way through and went “ohhhh that’s why they were distant with each other.” And other stuff about it but I won’t spoil it.

Overall a good story, though I do feel like I’m missing things either from missing some side quests, or because of no skits.

Characters: The main ones to shine are the four main characters (Reid, Farah, Keele, and Meredy), everyone else literally is either one dungeon and/or optionable. Chat does still feel like a character being the owner of the Van Elita aka means of transportation for half the game. Max and Ras tho rip. ESPECIALLY MAX. Ya know how every tales there’s the mandatory Talk Before The Final Battle? Yea well they all get one except Max. You see him, but he doesnt talk, YET THEY CRAYMELS DO.

Another odd, yet charming, thing is that there’s no big moment of character development for anyone like Luke cutting his hair, Magilou keeping the portal open, or punch in the face like Alvin. They just. Slowly change. And its really weird cause for all of disc 1 Keele is basically an unbearable asshole and he just? Learns to be a better person from everything he sees? There’s no callout or moment of realization, he just slowly learns and it’s super refreshing. 

Reid is probably one of the most relatable protagonists up there with Jude. I’m sure most of you know the “he doesn’t want to do shit lol” persona he has BUT GOD WHY HE’S LIKE THAT BABY I LOVE YOU. Farah’s personality is also explained in the backstory, so for any of you crestoria players that Farah’s backstory is really different like how Emil’s is, but the sentiment of why she’s like that is the same and stem for a similar event.

Meredy’s also great. I thought I’d get annoyed of her and her “You bet!” but god when she says it the last time at the end of the game, I was pretty moved. I wish I knew more about her backstory but I’m pretty sure a certain section of her life info was left to skits and ya know we didn’t get those till Symphonia :)))

As antagonists go, besides the Craymels who are there to test you before you get their power, there’s just two. Main boss and their lackey. The lackey is eh. You see him once at the beginning of the game, then see him destroy a  city, then one last time where you kill him. You do get his backstory and stuff but eh I’m usually not fond of tales mini villains minus Chimerad, God Generals, and Artorius’s lackeys

The main antagonist tho, I really don’t wanna spoil it but it’s hard to talk about why I’m conflicted on it without spoiling. So it’s like Destiny’s final boss but written better in some part and worse in others. So at one point it’s super emotional and pretty powerful with the message eternia wants to send but at the same points its a jrpg where you gotta kill god cause he doesn’t think humans are worth it. 

Oh one more thing thats honestly hilarious, there’s literally SINGLE animated cutscene by Production I.G in this entire game minus the op. 

Other things: the amount of mini games in this game is insane, but the amount you have to do IN JUST THE SECOND DISC to continue the plot is more than any other tales game I can recall. Some of them are fun like the card game, others like the bomb one I want to throw in a fire. 

There’s also so much Destiny pandering in this game. There’s portraits of the characters, you can collect lens, I’m 95% sure the way a certain character is done is because they wanted another Leon, you can SUMMON THE SWORDIAN USERS ARE AS AN ACTUAL SUMMON. While all Phantasia gets is the cameo battle and the Eternal Sword. I mean I didn’t mind cause I’ve finished Destiny and it’s one of my fav tales games but damn it was pretty obvious. 

EXPLORATION IS SO FUN IN THIS GAME. Mainly near the end when you have free reigns. YOU CAN DIVE UNDERWAY AND EXPLORE THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA WHAT OTHER TALES GAME LETS YOU DO THAT??? 

In conclusion: A fun game! I don’t think it was worth 133 dollars tho consider my play file was 35 hours and thats with a good chuck of side quests and ex bosses. Probably in my top 5 combat systems of tales and final villains, but not in terms of story or characters. A really hope it gets remastered soon I’d love for more people to play it.

[whrrlwind-a]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; mun & muse.

fill out & repost !

tagged by:  no one! i stole it from ren <3 tagging:  anyone who wants to do it!!

my muse is:  canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK and im too afraid to find out Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK Are they underrated?  YES / NO / IDK Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL How strictly do you follow canon?  —  pretty strictly! it’s really only towards the end of SA2 and after it where i start taking creative liberties! as whirl nearly dies himself trying (and failing) to save his shadow, and then starts going into rider’s time instead of jumping into heroes.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  you like the adventure era sonic? you hate how he sometimes handles really serious scenarios or brushes them off like nothing, as if they aren’t traumatic as shit in any way? wanna see a pretty mentally and emotionally fucked up lad struggle with handling his troubles and keep up the dark/serious theme SA2 set that sega is too cowardly to go back to in modern day? well bOY DO I HAVE THE HEDGEHOG FOR YOU. this bad boy ACTUALLY has emotions and struggles with handling them and many other things due to the position he has put himself in over the course of his life, but also doesn’t completely wear him down and stop him from being who he is! as well as dealing with the fact he and his timeline are MUCH further behind than other alternates of himself and friends. sonic “ whirl ” hedgehog is a young hero still running his way through life the way he wants like the rebellious, free-spirited teenager he is, while learning that not only is he a hero, but he’s also a person.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  — quite frankly, he’s sonic. there’s a lot of them out there. he can probably be too energetic, positive, etc, or perhaps this blog focuses a little too much on his trauma and internal struggles or even the general dark theme to the point it’s a turnoff or just hard to really read. he’s also an annoying idiot to the point it’s frustrating.

What inspired you to rp your muse? — yo sonic was my fucking LIFEBLOOD as a kid. lived and breathed this franchise. sa2 was my first game ever, sonic was my fav character (and still is), so my absolute love for this specific version of him became too much to internalize sooooo here we are ; w ;

What keeps your inspiration going? —  straight up, sonic is probably my biggest comfort character to exist ever. always makes me happy, always makes me feel better when im down, etc. there’s nothing he can’t do that doesn’t make me smile, regardless of how sega treats him. being able to pour my ideas into a character i love so much to the point he becomes really personalized (and personal for me), and it’s actually something people enjoy seeing and interacting with? it gives me so much goddamn sertonin.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / I SINCERELY HOPE I DO? Do you frequently write headcanons?  YESSSSS I CANNOT SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT WHIRL ask anyone i Do Not Shut The Fuck Up even if i don’t post abt it on tumblr Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO just bc im bad at writing them abndhjbfd Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO Are you a sensitive person? YES / NO / SORTA. Do you accept criticism about your portrayal?  —  always!! i’m always willing to learn and improve on things, especially with the canon of some events from games and such, as i’m not 100% with everything besides SA2. all i really ask is that when receiving criticism, people are as nice as they can be with it! thanks adhd and personal trauma

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —  ABSOFUCKINLUTELY I DO

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  mmmmm? mm. kind of? but also not really? like. everyone’s entitled to their own opinion ofc, i’m not gonna rip anyone apart for disagreeing with something, but like. i have adhd. i’m v hypersensitive to some things, so it can really be processed in my head the wrong way and it makes me feel bad. so i guess just....... be careful about it if you ever wanna tell me why?

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it? — i’d probably just kinda be like “ damn that sucks bro, but thats literally not my problem, there’s a whole ton of other sonics out there bye ” bc like. i dont care? don’t even really tell me bc honestly ur just wasting ur time lmao

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it? — ill be the first to admit im. v attached to sonic as a whole. he means a lot to me! so going off abt how you may (generally) hate him really....... is just upsetting to me. but thats just bc im v attached to him, and there’s nothing wrong with having that opinion on him!! we all get upset when someone talks bad about something we love. all i ever ask is that try to keep it away from me, especially if it’s abt whirl in particular, bc it can really upset me and thats just not fun for anyone <:3c

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors? — absolutely!! i make them all the time and i even have a friend proofread some of my stuff bc of how common it is aBJDBHBJC, again i just ask if people are nice about it when pointing that stuff out to me!!

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  oh fuckin yes absolutely, im tooting my own horn and i dont even care, im one of the chillest people on this fuckin planet

[starredfishing]

24, 25, 30?

You wanna put me on blast??? You wanna put me on fuckin blast kian???

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Id wanna meet these kids

Astros one of my older ocs whos been thru like 3 or 4 retcons and his story is one of my biggest although its unnamed :/

Yoruko i just like. theyve become one of my favs

25. The OC that resembles you the most

Sapphire (saph for short) is a rlly old rwby self insert from like 2014 but now her universe is really big and not rwby (although its Extremely rwby adjacent) and i share it w my brother so i gotta put him on blast bc the protags were just Us. My brother actually made me a doll of saph and its one of my favorite things Ever

Hibiki is from Last One Down, a non existent manga/anime about competitive skiing bc there wasnt a skiing sports anime and both my brother and i ski (you guessed it. The protags were Us) eventually i made a whole team and then some and we got attached so we had to, in turn, detach ourselves from the characters. I love them all a lot tho

30. Which one of your OCs would likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

Honestly idk but i wanna say kazuo (LOD) bc he rlly likes cats and i can see him owning a bunch of cat plushies

[the-nysh]

Who are your favourite manga/anime protagonists of all time and why?

Of…of ALL TIME!? *mind goes blank* Whew, that’s a difficult + huge pool to choose from, but ‘protagonists’ actually narrows it down, as not all my fav characters are the protags either. Usually I go for the Vegeta + Raphael archetypes instead, cause their character arcs (growth that’s often emotion-based) are more interesting/appealing to me. Protags in general are often nice and likeable by default (in the sense that if I didn’t like them, I wouldn’t force myself to continue the story where they’re the main focus), but they’re also often portrayed with average traits to make them most relatable to the target demographic. Many of them are similarly structured this way with comparable traits/behaviors, so I tend to prefer the ones who can still stand out (in their own unique way) from the rest in general. I also tend to prefer those who aren’t ‘chosen ones’ or who don’t have special hereditary gifts. Instead I prefer them being special through the merits of their own character and the choices they make. So with that criteria said, some names definitely came to mind.

Nausicaa: probably the one I most looked up to and was inspired by as a kid. She did everything I liked and thought was cool, from her free flying/piloting abilities, exploring nature on her own, running her own lab, easily befriending animals, and often finding interesting/different solutions to things that her people wouldn’t conceive of (often in a pacifist way). She could still lead and take charge & responsibility of things as a princess, but still believed in freely doing what she wants (and could still be girly about it too). However, the defining scene that most stuck with me all these years, was her reaction upon finding her father assassinated. The one where she wordlessly gaped in horror and flew into a blind rage (even Teto, her critter, sensed it and got scared), and murdered every assailant in the room with a blunt weapon. Before she picks up the nearest sword and her uncle stops her with his own body, accidentally harming him in the process, and shocking her to her senses, where she then becomes so petrified and guilty at what she’s done that she passes out. She confessed she became that afraid of herself when her emotions and anger ran out of control. And I thought, wow that’s powerful, especially unprecedented and rare for a female (mostly pacifist!) character to suddenly do as well, because that was the strength of her heart, her love for her family, that shone and drove her with the instinct to react so brutally that way. It always made me take pause and ponder, that if I witnessed anything like that happen to my own family or those I cared about, just what form would my anger manifest in response? It’s chilling and ugly to think about, because I’d never want that to happen, but I honestly don’t know if I could hold back either. So I could understand her fear. It’s quite humbling. It’s always this scene I remember and gauge in comparison to when I see other characters strongly react with that same righteous anger/instinctual drive to protect who they care about. And it’s always a fav when I see that happen.

Edward Elric: oh he’s definitely a keeper. Probably one of the most well-rounded and human I’ve seen, with the full spectrum of emotion, badass feats, and quirky + dorky character traits of his own too. A standard I feel, when it comes to well-written and memorable shonen protags. Probably one of my first legit anime crushes obsessions back in the day (even way before Brotherhood existed). I got all the merch, shirts, wall scrolls and everything (got a bunch of craft models for Nausicaa too for that matter). I remember back when my sister asked me who my fav character of the series was, and I answered him without hesitation, but she said ‘oh that’s boring’ just because he’s the protag, (://) so preferring him is apparently expected I guess, oh well. I didn’t go back on my answer then, and I don’t think I could ever go back on it now either. I still faithfully wear an old chibi keychain of him on my bag. My fav scene is probably that really touching moment when he convinced Winry not to kill with a gun, because her hands were better for healing, including how she created and continually fixes/heals his arm & leg. :’) Just ahhh, keeper. 

Guts: hoooo boy. The one and only. The most badass determinator around, continually struggling against all the absolute shit dealt to his life. Just ugh, it’s amazing he hasn’t keeled over yet, after surviving through so much literal hell. His life is just eternal suffering and tragedy, and he’s accepted going down that path. He almost submits to the despair sometimes, but he’s strong. Strong to keep going and not give in no matter how bad it gets. Because he has a mission he absolutely must see through and commit to the end. It’s both painful and awesome to watch him, and I honestly have no idea how he can win (vs Griffith) on his own eventually, but I can only hope he survives to achieve some form of happiness someday, because damn, it’s been so unfair to him. Please just give him a break. I’ll be in that long haul of a ride just to see how he’s doing.  

For more recent protags (and I wish I could choose more girls), ONE is definitely onto something though with his massively relatable yet genuinely hard-working characters, where even if they’re strong in ways, they’re also very humble, and their own merits shine through even stronger. Saitama probably fits my fav protag criteria, along with being an interesting commentary on what happens once you reach the peak of your craft. Is it really worth all the hard work and effort if there’s no one else to share it with? Most interesting food for thought. However, I’m still waiting for him to do something more…where he becomes a bit less passive (and oblivious) to things happening around him, and a bit more engaged and emotionally receptive. For example, if he’s physically invulnerable, then that leaves his mental/emotional vulnerability as a possible target. If it ever comes to that, and he can feel something that makes him react, reflect, and feel alive again, then that’ll be something worth waiting for. He’d really enter my all-time favs that way.

Another recent one who’s caught my eye is Senku (Dr. Stone). Sometimes you’d think he’d be a scheming sneaky bastard (mad scientist) but he’s actually a very standup and compassionate guy. Trustworthy, persistent, and dependable. He’s quirky, he’s unique, and he’s not your typical shonen protag. (He’s also immune to all advances; not interested in the slightest cause his priorities are much stronger.) And I like that. It’s like if Hiruma (es21) got the chance to be the protag, but more down to earth and less threatening/imposing. So far the story’s still pretty new but he’s already pretty memorable. Just gotta see now how his persistence and faith in science will change and save the post-apocalyptic world.

[krokonoko]

Doin one of my play by plays of the Pokemon movies.

It’s been a while since the last one! That’s cuz chronologically, we should do the 3rd one next, but the 3rd one is my fav and I’d rant for hours about how good it is and ain’t nobody got time for that, so we gonna skip straight to the fourth one.

I always remembered the fourth movie decidedly unfavorably. It’s categorized in my head as “the one that started the era of Pokemon movies that suck.”

And yeah it’s. Not as good as its predecessors. It was the movie that started the formula of “cute helpless legendary Pokemon needs to be saved from evul ppl.” It was the first one starring Ash’s new German voice actress, which was a big reason for me to stop watching the anime back in the day cuz WOW that new voice was the most grating thing in existence.

But looking back, I feel like I did the movie injustice. I think it’s got a lot of neat moments, and some that I honestly love, if only for their silliness. So let’s do this.

We start with music rehashed from the first movie. Not a good look, though that’s probably 4Kids fault.

GOD that cgi is ugly. And even worse, it was already back in the day!! There was never a time when this looked good.

wow thanks lady that looks gross af

those are some big ass nidoran

Oh no, the evil guy is weakening Celebi in order to catch it...! ...Wait that’s what we’re doin all day long in the games.

Honestly, it never made sense to my why the plot of the anime was so often revolving around keeping people from catching wild Pokemon? I mean I guess Team Rocket wants to use them for bad things, but Ash & Co. usually justified them keeping Team Rocket from catching wild Pokemon with accusations like “These Pokemon don’t belong to you!” ...bitch, yeah, they don’t belong to you either, they don’t belong to anyone, that’s why we’re catching them, that’s the entire purpose of the goddamn franchise?

And if the problem here is that this guy wants to catch a legendary Pokemon, then why am I required to catch legendaries to advance the plot in the games?

The cutest fucking Tyranitar.

What IS this guy’s outfit. Also will you believe me if I tell you it took me over 15 years to figure out this dude is a Team Rocket member?

“The Pokemon I catch with these balls become evil, and their powers are immediately maximized.”

Ah sure that sounds scientific and only slightly OP.

The title screen doesn’t exactly help the impression that this movie is severely half-assed, even if it’s made by 4Kids.

I also think it’s really funny that the English name of the movie is this run of the mill punny 4Kids bs. I mean. 4Kids. 4Ever. Wow. What ingenuity. And the German translation team took a look at that and went “NOPE, not doin it”, and called it “The timeless encounter”.

We’re about to see a Croconaw!!! :DDD

Will I ever be over the fact that Brock’s cute tiny Zubat evolved into a badass Crobat while I wasn’t looking? Nah.

Ah there it is, Ash’s new voice... You gotta understand, I had this huge crush on Ash when I was ~10yo, and his voice was a big part of that. So when it got replaced, I didn’t exactly take it well. Also the new one was doin its best to be even more grating than the English one. THEN AGAIN, the voice actress actually isn’t that bad in this movie and Mewtwo Returns.

HE.

No one knows how to actually pronounce Suicune until you hear someone else say it in a certain way and you go “NO that’s NOT how you say it!!”

I love how the old lady with the green hair is revealed to be the guardian of the entry to the forest since she was young. It’s just so funny how we just saw her jump about 30 foot off a tree as a teenager when Sammy was about to enter the forest, and go like “/game grumps zelda voice/ heeey kid, s’just a legend or whatever, but timetravel, it’s a thihiiing! Here, have some bread! byeee!” And then the kid vanished, and now she’s this grumpy old hag who waves her staff at everyone coming past her house like “DON’T EVEN FUCKING DARE GETTING CLOSE TO THAT FUCKING FOREST OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL KICK YUR ASS!!”

babies babies bABIES

That Stantler is fucking legendary. Idk how it is in the English version, but in the German dub, it’s just got the most normal voice. Like, often the ppl voicing Pokemon will kind of talk in a hissing tone, or make their voice sound deeper or whatever, but this Stantler sounds like a completely normal dude just matter-of-factly stating: “Damhir. Plex.”

And instead of, idk, holding Celebi into the water at the edge, Sammy walks into the lake, clothes and backpack and everything, and squats there like a tool. I mean I get it, the imagery is much stronger like this, but couldn’t he at least taken off the shoes? The backpack? THAT’S GOT HIS NOTEBOOK IN IT???

I love them. Every single one of them is so valid.

Nothing to see here, just a pretty shot.

I really like these old anime glow effects~

The best part about Celebi healing Misty’s knee is how she doesn’t just slowly try to put weight on it or something, but straight up jumps around on it. Ride or die, man.

This is one of my fav moments in the entire movie, cuz you got Celebi cruisin around in the foreground, and the boys sitting there, looking at the viewer with this exact vacant stare for multiple seconds without making a noise or moving.

You know, I mean... the first two Pokemon movies were some pretty basic stuff. Esp. The second one was really just a McGuffin hunt. But this one is just such a poster child for the plot that would be recycled in Pokemon movies like no other. The entire narrative has completely halted. All we are doing is watching Ash, Sammy and Celebi bond. There are no stakes and no tension, except for the fact that the Pokemon hunter is still on the lose but he’s so forgettable, who honestly even still cares about him?

And the thing is, this bonding between Ash, Sammy and Celebi is important so they can save Celebi from turning evil later, but it still rings kinda hollow what with the montage they’re getting of all the fun times they had for the last, say two hours?

The much more important thing, which puts this movie a bit ahead of most other Pokemon movies with this structure, is that Ash isn’t just bonding with the legendary of the week, but also with Sammy.

And Sammy isn’t just a bff of the week, but an established core cast character. Imho, that’s what makes the movie worthwhile.

The dumb thing about this is that Celebi didn’t even get corrupted for any good reason. It was literally just “yeah it was in that weird pokeball for a sec now it’s evil.” ^^°

cgicune

I remember first watching this movie and this was the point where I honestly started hating it because I was so disgusted by how unimaginative everything about this... ball? is...

yeah no, this is just. really really bad.

OKAY here’s another thing. WHY did Suicune turn up now?

On the one hand I do realize I like this movie more than I thought I did. On the other hand I’m starting to see why it was such a problem for me back then. This movie is just trying to copy formulas from the prior ones without really. Working for it. Remember Lugia and Ash working together? Lugia saving Ash and all that? Wasn’t that cool?

Yeah but there was also a reason for WHY Lugia stepped in and WHY they helped Ash. It was Lugia’s task to step in in case the three birds started fighting. And Ash was the chosen one. It’s flimsy as fuck, but it worked.

What’s Suicune’s connection to all of this? They’re... sorta like... another guardian of the forest. Cool. Then why didn’t they step in the moment the hunter attacked Celebi? There’s no real reason for them to save Ash and Sammy, except for the fact that they’re protags and they need plot shield.

Everything about the writing in this movie makes it so obvious even to a young teenager that this is just ticking boxes.

The thing is, the first three movies had at least one character developing. It took a human’s sacrifice for Mewtwo to learn the value of life, both of the life of others and their own. In the second movie, Ash had to live up to the responsibility of being the chosen one. And the third movie is just amazing and Molly is a really interesting character, she overcomes a deep grief and learns that escapism is not the answer to her problems and it’s just all around the best Pokemon movie of all time it’s got so much emotional depth idek where to start.

But here... Who learned anything? Who developed? And I think that’s where later Pokemon movies fall short. There’s not a lot of character development, and even if there is any, it just rehashes of the old movies. And while I couldn’t have put it into words like that when I was a young teen, I think that’s part of what bothered me so much about this one. 

Also what’s with this bs talk about the lake being polluted or the forest dying? A couple of trees got uprooted and there’s a bit of dirt, honest to god nothing but soil and stuff, in the lake. Give it a couple of months and it’s gonna be fine. It’s not like there’s toxic waste in the water or anything.

I mean you could say the forest is dying cuz Celebi is dying, but by the logic of the movie, it was the other way around! And honestly, nothing in the background even looks like its wilting at ALL. So this really doesn’t leave much of an impression.

Fuck this, this is not earned.

At this point, the hunter guy is just bullying Celebi.

And this little overpowered dingdong can’t even free itself from some dude grabbing it. Okay sure so Ash needs to save it againnnn what are the emotional stakes hereee

ANYWAY. It was all worth it for the only actual plot twist in the history of Pokemon movies:

And I actually really, really like this one. It’s not just an awesome twist but also a super sweet moment between Ash and Prof. Oak that deepens their bond.

So yeah, I think I already said everything I had to say about this one. Kind of the beginning of the end for Pokemon movies. Not saying there aren’t some winners in between, but man did they get formulaic. And the recent attempts to break up said formula are. Questionable at best. It seems like Pokemon can’t really escape itself, though I’m sure if they wanted they could create meaningful stories like the first or third movies or just solid, fun action movies like the second one again.

[houseofgriffons]

Ok, so it was quick to review and comment on all Kdramas I’ve watched because I’ve only fully watched 10. I have hover watched 22 in total, but the remaining 12 I’ve only watched halfway or a 3rd of the way.

This can be explained by my very low attention span and also by the fact that I’m a boring person who only likes romance and uses Kdrama to rub my itch for cheesiness. As such I usually stop after the romance gets resolved and at the first signs of the final Drama™. Or the romance wasn’t interesting enough so I just lost interest.

I will then be reviewing the 10 dramas I’ve watched completely, which are all good and that I like otherwise I wouldn’t have watched ‘til the end. Then I’ll give a quick look on the ones I haven’t watched ‘til the end cause you might like them. I’ll also tell which ones I want to watch, and give you some nimes of popular dramas that look kinda cool but probably won’t retain my interest. Also tell you about the 4 korean movies I’ve actually watched rofl

All of that under the cut !

Part 1 : The good (aka. Things I could watch all the way)

Loosely ranked, but the last 5 are my absolute favourites and I wouldn’t really be able to rank them from 1st to 5th. Chief Kim isn’t in there although I love it because it’s not as deep.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

About a collegiate weightlifting student (Kim Bok Joo, played by Lee Sung Kyung who is ♥ ♥ ♥) and a collegiate swimmer (I only remember two names in that drama, not his lol. The actor is Nam Joo Hyuk and he’s also bae). It’s kind of a slice-of-life show, but it follows their struggle both as athletes and as people. Deals with eating disorders in a pretty underwhelming manner. There’s also my wife in it, Lee Joo Young who plays Bok Joo’s best friend, Sun Ok (the only other name I remember). While it was funny and heartwarming, and the characters were interesting, it was lot of drama on top of drama, and miscommunication and lies are often used as plot devices (it is VERY often the case in kdramas I’ve noticed) and that’s just annoying to me. I basically sped through the last 4 episodes cause I just wanted to be done with it. It was very popular though, and it’sstill a good watch.

Love in the Moonlight

It starts with my favourite plot: a girl who has to dress up as a man. It also has my least favourite plot point: main guy has a gay scare because he thinks girl he likes is a man. But that’s just me. The heroine dresses up as a guy and finds herself enrolled as a eunuch in the palace, where she starts serving the prince. Shit happens and there’s stuff about rebels and all. I wasn’t really paying attention. I think it’s visually lovely, there lots of beautiful scenes. It also has Kwak Dong Yeon who’s one of my fav. I mean. Get a load of this :

How was he not the protag ? Anyway, it’s a nice watch but like a lot of other dramas I think it suffers from unbalanced pacing. The change of tone from the last arc compared to the beginning of the show is also kind of disturbing. The thing is, when you start watching a sweet romance thing with light themes you’re not really in the mood for a heavy political/action plotline by the end, you know ? I rushed through the last episodes cause I just didn’t give a crap lol

Witch’s Court

We’re getting to the good stuff. I didn’t even have to take a break before watching the end of that one !

Yi-Deum is a prosecutor. She’s a selfish and ambitious woman who would do anything to get ahead. But one day she does like one good moral choice and it leads to her being demoted to a new unit which deals in sex crime. As such the show is pretty heavy, but I thought it handled the themes pretty well. She becomes partnered with a newbie who’s a former psychologist. Her mom also disappeared when she was like 16 so that’s something.

Although there are overarching plots, it’s usually a one cas per episode/2 episodes type of deal, which I think helps to keep a balanced pace, while not undermining character developpment.

Character development is HUGE in this show by the way. Cause Yi Deum is a BITCH. And when I say that I don’t mean “Booohoooo she’s mean to the cute guy :’(” no I mean she’s a heartless money grabber with no morals and no empathy AT ALL. Even when she does something good, she does it in a “bad” way. So it’s really enjoyable to see her slooow progress towards being a worthy protagonist. Love her.

W

You know, Take On Me’s music video ? Yeah.

Oh Yeon Joo is an intern in surgery, and the daughter of the famous author of the webcomic W, which tells the story of Kang Chul, a prodigy olympic shooter who was wrongly accused of the murder of his family and turned a new leaf after being proven innocent. He then became a millionaire by creating a crime solving network channel and he catches bad guys yada yada yada. Anyway, he’s not the real star of the show, Yeon Joo is. One day, the two world start overlapping as the forces of two different creative minds collide.

I have found that Korean Dramas are really good with mind bending concepts, and they make for very smart and thought provoking plot points. I watched this with my best friend who got me into Kdramas (it was the secon drama I watched). My friend and I thought the ending was very disappointing though, but I’d say the journey is worth the mediocre destination, and well, opinions might differ.

Yeon Joo carries the show. She’s one of the greatest heroine I’ve ever seen. She’s smart, brave, resourceful. She’s not a ditz but she still retains a girly charm, and she’s got such a strong spirit. It’s a delight to see her and Kang Chul interact, mainly because they’re on equal grounds most of the time. She doesn’t let herself be intimidated by him at all, and she saves his ass as much (if not more) as he saves hers.

Also her and Lee Jong Suk are so fucking hot like omg what a power couple. The good thing is that they are always honest with each other. Because of the fact that the comic is a thing, there is no reason to lie, and even when it’s not because of the comics they remain truthful with each other and I don’t remember miscommunication ever being used as a plot device.

Chief Kim

This one is not about romance at all, it’s about accounting and frauds. It’s hilarious. Kim Sung Ryung is a small time accountants, expert swindler, who works for small town mafiosos. He manages, somehow, to get hired as the director of the accounting department of a large company after the former attempted suicide and ended up in a coma. At the same time, former prosecutor Seo Yool (played by my ABSOLUTE FAVE OF ALL TIMES LEE JUNHO), specialising in frauds, start working as a director at the company, ready to cover all the dark dealings of the company, despite accountant Yoon Ha-Kyung’s effort to uncover the truth behind the suicide attempt. 

How does something about accounting manages to be so funny and still full of suspence ? This got me on the edge of my seat all the way through, and still managed to make me laugh my ass off. The acting can be a bit over the top sometimes, as it is still a comedy show, but Junho and Namgung Min are incredible as a duo. It’s very rare to see a friendship or rivalry take the center of a show instead of a romantic one but their interactions are always so fun to watch. 

I really liked it, I don’t know... I like office stories. The female lead is super cool. She’s smart, level headed, soft hearted, empathetic, and her friendship with Sung Ryung is the kind you rarely see in dramas. 

Page Turner

The shortest drama on the list. It’s only 3 episodes long and IT SHOULD BE LONGER. 

Yoon Yoo Seul is the daughter of a piano teacher, and attends a musical high school. She’s a prodigy pianist rivaled only by her mother’s former student Seo Jin Mok, a rich spoiled brat who hates Yoo Seul bc she’s just that good. Because of an accident, Yoo Seul may have to give up on her mother’s dream of her becoming a famous pianist. Meanwhile, promising athlete Cha Sik faces the same situation and gives up on ever becoming a professional athlete, but he starts considering the piano instead, although he’s never touched a piano ever in his life.

It’s heartwarming, it’s beautiful, it’s raw and soft and it’s hopeful. It’s short so I can’t say much without spoiling stuff but if you need to watch something, watch this. 

While You Were Sleeping

Lee Jong Suk always has good romances. 

Nam Hong Joo (Suzy the Bae ♥) has always had dreams where she foresaw the future. She lives with her mom, who runs a pork restaurant. One day, they get new neighboors; Jae Chan, a newly appointed prosecutor, and his younger brother. AAND honestly I won’t say much more than that because the first episode alone is such a RIDE that it would be spoiling it.

The three main characters are AMAZING. They are funny, resourceful, quirky in unexpected ways, honest and good. And because premonition is a thing, lying and miscommunication is rarely used as well ! The characters are honest with each other, and their relationships develops naturally and “organically” without stealing the thunder of the main plot.

As I said in W, they use the concept perfectly and intelligently. It keeps you on edge and you’re excited to see what will happen next. Also, Jae Chan being a prosecutor, there’s a bit of that case-by-case element going on that I like which helps balancing the pace. I watched it in one go and did not even take a break at some point !

Goblin

If you have ever looked at the Kdrama scene, you’ve probably heard of Goblin. That show’s been a huge phenomenon. I’ve seen it referenced in other dramas a lot, and it’s basically become a cult. And it deserves the praise.

When General Kim Shin was slain by the king he was serving, he became Dokkaebi, a powerful and immortal entity which can only be killed by the goblin’s bride.

900 years later, Ji Eun-Tak is a high school student (she’s 19-20, the age at which korean usually finish high school !) with the ability to see ghosts. Her mother died when she was 10. On that night, she met the Grim Reaper.

And as you can expect from me presenting this to you in such a way, Eun Tak is the Goblin’s bride, though she does not know of the duty that comes with that role. 

The show is funny, beautiful, heartwrenching. The characters are PHENOMENAL, and not just the main protagonists, but you’ll see what I mean. The concepts presented in the show are so interesting ! Especially their vison of death, reincarnation, redemption... It’s an incredible and emotional journey all the way. It doesn’t shy away from sadness and tragedy when it is needed or expected (unlike W *cough*)  and yet manages to leave you elated and smiling (through the tears). A classic that you NEED to watch. And that I wanna rewatch too.

Scarlet Heart : Ryeo

I’ve just noticed that my top dramas are all super sad. 

It’s based on a chinese Drama. After a terrible break up that left her in a ditch, emotionally and financially, the heroine almost drowns during an eclipse. She wakes up in the Josen period as Hae Soo, a young lady in waiting to the wife of one of the 8 princes of the kingdom. As she gets accustomed to this new and strange setting, she gets to know the princes, the schemings of the court, the rivalries and the dangers of that period.

Lee Ji Eun (aka IU) is phenomenal. I think this was her second or third role ever, and her first big role and holy crap she is incredible. Her character is just perfect and it’s really great to see her evolve, grow and try to keep up against this cruel time.  I don’t want to say much about it because i really don’t want to spoil anything.

The story spans over like 15 years if I remember correctly. And what might seem like a cutesy quirky romance period drama turns into something darker and heavier while never losing its spark. It will make you cry, but like, in a good way. That was the first drama I watched with my best friend and it’s awesome and now I kind wanna rewatch it.

Just Between Lovers/Rain or Shine

Rain or Shine never pretended to be cute or happy. It deals with trauma and survivor’s guilt, and it also involve disabled characters. Lee Gang Doo (JUNHO!!!!!) and Ha Moon Soo were both involved in the collapse of a shopping center as teenagers. Now grown up, the experience still haunts them and those around them. Now the site of the incident is going to get rebuilt again, and they will have to face their past.

 I binge-watched this so hard I barely slept. The characters are incredibly human and vulnerable. They bare their soul to the viewer in a way that leaves you completely shaken. And yet amidst all that, what I remember from it is softness (and tears, lots of tears). I think Gang Doo is the most outstanding male protagonist of all the dramas I’ve seen. He’s vulnerable, like. SO VULNERABLE. He’s a coward, he cries, he runs away from his problems, he keeps everything to himself. Moon Soo seems like she’s just a quirky shy girl but she turns out to be so strong, she’s the exact opposite of Gang Doo in a way, but somehow they work together so well. 

As a sidenote, I’d like to add something that striked me when I watched it, pleasantly so. The disabled characters are mentionned retain their agency. One of them is an autistic man, although he might seem like he’s infantilized during the series, in the end he still retains his agency as a person and as an adult and I thought that was really great to see, especially in a Korean drama. The other is a paraplegic woman, and she’s incredible. Despite her situation, she isn’t completely desexualised, she still retains romantic and sexual agency and she is also completely independant, as a successful webcomic artist.

I had a hard time deciding between that one, Scarlet Heart and Goblin for my favourite, but I think that one is closer to my heart. It really touched me in a way I didn’t expect, and I felt so close to the characters, because they were so well written.

Part 2: The Bad (aka Not really, I probably just got bored bc of the aformentioned reasons)

A Korean Odyssey (AKA discount Goblin): it’s an interesting take on the tale of the Monkey King. woman sees ghosts, woman meets weird magical entity. There’s someone killing someone else involved. It’s a bit cheesy, it’s kinda funny. I stopped because it was just drama atop drama and quiproquos and “I’m not gonna tell him/her because I wanna protect her/him but that’s just gonna make it worse !!!!” and that sort of stuff. In my mind it was kind of cheap plot devices. Interesting concepts though, and you could definitely make a nice mash-up with Goblin.

Radio Romance: It’s a cute romance, the cast is good, the heroine is cool, the male lead is cute. I was watching it weekly and at some point I just lost interest. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it. Girl wants to be a writer for the radio, famous actor agrees to hos her show. Drama happens. It’s cute you should watch it if you have a longer attention span than me.

Temperature of Love: Woman meets a guy. She wants to be a writer, he wants to be a chef. One day he disappears, she becomes a writer, he becomes a chef. They meet again. It’s very cheesy, BUT it’s super hot. Yang Se Jong is super cute and he’s really popular atm. I just didn’t care enough to watch completely but I don’t have any real complaint.

Hospital Ship : I ALMOST watched til the end, until there was like a ridiculous plot point because we can’t just let the protags be happy, it needs DRAMA. I love medical dramas. My favourite show is actually Grey’s Anatomy. I love when there are different cases every episode and having the characters try to figure things out. Like, the medical is my favourite part of Medical Dramas, the drama not so much. So I bailed when it was TOO MUCH drama for me. The heroine is cool. It’s a bit on the cheap side, but it has a nice feeling to it.

Doctors : The heroine is a kick ass (litterally), but I didn’t like the romance, and it focused more on the drama than the medical imo. Lots of people like it though, and Park Shin Hye is a phenomenal actress.

School 2017: SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER. Apparently School 20-- are a popular series and each season as nothing to do with the other. This one was great imo, it adressed the pressure in the korean educational system, the corruption, the privilege of rich students, adult indifference, abuse, bullying... And the main protags are great. The heroine is cute and hilarious and strong willed, the male lead is hot, awkward... I didn’t finish it because ... I don’t know, I just interest. Also... Yeah ok spoiler ! So I learned that there wasn’t actually a kiss between the main couple in the show (which has probably to do with the fact that the actress is an idol. Ugh) and so I was like “UHM WHAT’S THE POINT THEN ???” I’m shallow like that

My Secret Romance: Girl has a one night stand on the beach, leaves the guy naked in a car and bails. 3 years later he’s her boss. It’s hot, but SUPER cheesy and SUPER cheap. Like honestly the only reason I watched it was for the romanc but DAMN BANG SUNG HOON IS SUPER HOOOOOT. But hotness can only keep you going for so long and when the plot devices you would expect in a cinderella story happen you’re just like “ugh bye”.

Ms Perfect: I need to finish it. A mom of 2 gets fired, she learns her husband is cheating on her, the mistress dies mysteriously, and also a weird psycho offers to live in her house. I need to finish it but I guess it just got a little too much for me. There’s Sung Joon in it, he’s really cute, i like him a lot. He’s also in the two next dramas.

Madame Antoine: A woman pretends to be a medium channelling the spirit of Marie-Antoinette and teams up with a psychologist (Sung Joon) who’s also conducting an experiment on her. Cheesy. Not that interesting, but the case they study are interesting sometimes. There’s Hwang Seung Eon in it, she’s super hot.

High Society: Basically about the korean Jet Set. Watched for Sung Joon initially. It’s an older one, and I think it’s a bit tacky. It’s also a lot of clichés, and I don’t like the heroine. I love her best friend though, and her relationship with Sung Joon’s best friend in the show, played by Park Hyung Sik. But yeah, it’s not a high IQ show.

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon: this also has Park Hyung Sik in it. I think he’s really cute. Bong Soon was born with super strength and she wants to work in the video game industry. She meets video game company CEO whatshisname (Park Hyung Sik) and he hires her as his bodyguard and huh stuff happens. It’s cheesy, but somehow super creepy as well cause there’s a serial killer who kidnaps women in it and he’s soooooooooooooooo creepy. But it’s also infuriating cause it’s like “Oh no, a young woman got kidnapped for the fourth time in that area ! *cut to another young woman not giving a shit and walking around that area at night also the police doesn’t patrol the area for some reason*”. It was really popular, but I didn’t really like it.

Tomorrow with you : guys can travel in a few years in time by using the metro, and he tries to set things right using this power. It’s a bit of a mindfuck and it’s kidna complicated to follow. I need to finish it !!!

Hwarang : There is no use watching this. Don’t. The cast is great but that’s just not enough. Terrible pacing, terrible romance, the side characters are way more interesting than the main ones but they get easily sidelined. The pacing is terrible. It has the dumbest death I’ve ever seen, and it was used for shock value.

Shopping King Louie: Fashionista and heir Ji Sung/Louis loses his memory in a failed assassination attempts, and ends up living with country bumpkin Bok Sil, come to Seoul to find her missing brother. I stopped watching in the last lap, basically the final obstacle was showing its head and I was like “yeah that’s enough for me”. It’s really cute. 

I almsot forgot

Hit the top: artist from the early 90s travels in time to 2017 and starts living with a young man who dreams of becoming an idol who is actually his son. Didn’t like the way the romance went. Like. I really was against it. The male lead is annoying. Minjae is better.

Hip Hop Teacher: it got cancelled but FUCK IT WAS USPER GAY IT HAD LEE JOO YOUNG IN IT AS A TERRIBLE MUSIC TEACHER WHO RAPS AT NIGHT AND YURA WAS LIKE jdsiughergegreg there’s only 2 parts but watch them if you can cause it makes my wlw soul live

Part 3: The pretties, aka things I wanna watch

My Mister: just because IUs in it. She looks incredible.

Mr Sunshine: it has Kim Tae Ri !!!! Aka the handmaiden from The Handmaiden !!! It takes place in 19th century Joseon ! It adresses japanese ccupation !!!! Rebel princess !!! Korean victorian drama !!! The hot dad from Memories of the Word is there !!!!

The Great Seducer: Minjae just looks super hot in it idk but I bet he doesn’t get the girl and I’m gonna be mad.

Memory and Wok Of Love cause Junho’s in it lol.

The Ghost Detective, Something in The Rain, cause it jas Lee Joo Young in them

Part 4: Things you might want to watch

These are pretty popular, but I’m not that interested myself, you might like them.

Juggles; office romance, looks kinda steamy, the male lead is super hot

The Bride of Habaek; based on the comic Bride of The Water-god. Reallyyyyyy hot. Has Nam Joo Hyuk in it. IDDK I heard it’s good

Fight for my way: i have no idea what it’s about, but the main characters’ relationship looks cute

Legend of the Blue Sea: modern take on the Little Mermaid. The male lead is a swindler who uses hypnosis, the heroine is funny because she looks very mature and hot but she’s a mess of derp

Descendants of the Sun: it’s about a female doctor who gets sent to Afghanistan I think ?????? Everyone always praises it

Part 5: the movie

Royal Tailor: the tailor of the royal family seeks the help of an innovative tailor who usually works for prostitutes. It’s not a happy movie. Beautiful

Pirates: You wanna see kickass women kick asses ? This is for you. Your more typical martial arts movie

Memories of the sword: If you like women kicking ass too, but you also want to cry. It has Kim Go Eun, and also Junho !!!!! And the guy from Mr. Sunshine. Loved it. But super sad. Not a happy movie at all. But very cool and visually pretty.

The Handmaiden: I mean I don’t even need to explain it. If you haven’t watched it, just know that, as Park Chan Wook movies tend to, it is VERY WEIRD and unsettling. 

The Last Train to Busan: ZOMBIE MOVIES !!!! It has the main actor from Goblin in it !!!! It is super cool because it’s not just “UGH zombiiiies ! Smash heads ! Violence ! Scary ooooh !” it is also a critic on greed and selfishness (and not as something stupid like “yeah zombies are actually a metaphor for consumerism”) it makes you think, it keeps you on edge, it’s not overly scary but it’s still manages to give you good scares and has some very tense moments. LOVE IT.

WOOOOOOOOOH I AM DONE. This took me 3 HOURS TO WRITE can you believe it ??? I hope this was helpful. Don’t take some of my critics to heart, I’m harsh when it comes to that sort of stuff, and very particular. If you need to watch somehting. Go for my top 5 ! Thank you for trusting my opinion that much <3