#how r they gonna challenge it as the members of the one and only special talent club?

[aroacettorney]

tbh i wish aup had more reps for characters who achieve greatness purely through hard work and effort. the emphasis on genius/being special is mayhaps way too much to the point that it feels kinda damn depressing for those who aint born as one.

[princess-of-inarizaki]

Hi love, pretty sure you're requests are open (if not just ignore this) n e ways what about Inarizaki with manager who's like intimidating (i've been told i am intimidating lol) and very sarcastic, much Tsukishima Kei vibez cuz that's basically me😃

Just like how would our boys react, very curious and take your time btw don't have to rush it, do it whenever you feel like :D

Oh my gosh Nat, it's literally my honour to write this for you. You can request anything, anytime, and you'll be a top priority (ily<3)

Inarizaki with a tsukkishima-ish manager.

Specially dedicated to @sunasthing <3

So first of all, if you think that's gonna stop the boys from simping over you, you've got it wrong 😖🖐️

The boys would literally take it as a challenge to get your softer nature out, especially Atsumu.

I GENUINELY think he'd find it really hot whenever you snap back at him, or tell him off. (maybe he's like Nishinoya and Tanaka in that sense 🙄)

Constantly pesters you, and although you don't give him a reply often (because he's annoying as fuck), if you ever acknowledge him slightly, he WILL flirt with you.

Beware tho, even if he comes off as flirty and charismatic, he's literally just a dorky small baby and genuinely wants your attention because he thinks you're the coolest person ever.

And if you're ever nice to him, you can best bet he'll replay that moment in his mind before sleeping EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT.

Y/n, earlier that day: don't get hurt. I don't want to have to deal with anyone on this team being injured

Atsumu at 3 a.m: s-she cares about me 🥺🥺

I think Osamu would vibe really well with you. He's not annoying, he's really really chill, and he has a pretty sharp tongue himself.

Judges people as an attempt to make you laugh, and he sees it as a personal victory if he can get you to crack a smile or smirk. He just doesn't make a big deal about it, unlike his twin xD

Osamu: y/n look at that guy. he's totally crushing on his brother's best friend, could he not be more obvious about it??

Y/n: *cracks a smirk* yeah, it does seem so.

Osamu, internally: ✨v i c t o r y i s s w e e t✨

He also cooks for you pretty often, and even if you protest against accepting it, you'll usually find a bento hidden in your locker or bag.

He knows you might not accept it straight, so he finds other ways to get it to you. Osamu actually thinks of you as a cooler sister that he says "he'd trade Atsumu for"

In general, the twins are the life of Inarizaki and although they're sometimes annoying, they mean well and it's plain to see that they love you.

Kita loves how smart and analytical you are. I've said this before, I'll say it again— Kita thinks brains are sexy 😤

Especially when you call the team to give your insights about their opponents, or give them ideas on how to improve their play, Kita is literally there like “I'm so glad she's ours”

Because you would be a dangerous asset to other teams, and Kita is the most thankful that you're with them.

He's also a really good leader and although the two of you don't have heart-to-hearts or conversations like the twins, you know he'll ALWAYS be there for you.

Like once, it was raining and practice was cancelled, so you decided to wait in school until the rain subsided (because you didn't want to get wet), and our sweet Kita searched for you in every single classroom until the finally found you and walked you home. That's just the dynamic you had with him

He also often checks up on you, even when it's unrelated to volleyball. Have you done your homework? have you ate breakfast this morning? although you're usually sarcastic with the twins and most of the other members of the team, you can't bring yourself to do so with Kita.

The respect you guys have for each other is unmatched and that's probably why you're such a golden duo in Inarizaki. The leader and the analytical manager.

And now Suna. I think Suna would be the member you have the deepest bond with. you truly allow him to see who you are inside, and he does the same. You guys really just click.

It started with him complaining about Atsumu, and slowly progressed into you letting Suna be the only member to have physical contact with you, but only when the others aren't looking.

Sometimes, if you guys are the only two people in the gym, he'll nap on your lap or lean on your shoulder.

If you didn't already know, like everyone else in Inarizaki, he has a crush on you 😖🖐️ like damn you thought Atsumu had it bad? nah, Suna has it the worst.

He literally asks his little sister to let him practice braiding her hair, just so he'll be perfect when he someday asks to do yours.

But he always chickens out because he's scared you'll say no 😭😭 he's internally very shy, okay? 🥺🥺

He's literally your best friend. You guys have study sessions together, anime nights, literally anything, he's right there with you. The rest of the team are literally not aware of how close the two of you are.

Until one day, Atsumu tries daring you to kiss Suna on the forehead, and instead of flat-out refusing (like you've done before when he's dared you to kiss him, or Akagi) you shrug and gently kiss Suna on the forehead, causing Suna to smile and ruffle your hair.

The rest of the team is just shocked.

Atsumu: what is this FUCKERY?? is y/n literally WILLINGLY touching someone ??¿¿

Y/n and Suna: *smirks*

Atsumu, close to tears: okay

But the rest of the team soon accept you and Suna have a pretty special bond, and that you're genuinely softer when it comes to him.

You don't snap at him much, and as they've noticed, Suna has started being more brave about leaning on your shoulder or sleeping on your lap.

Of course, the rest of the team (with the exception of Kita) is jealous. But hey, they just don't have Suna's charm, okay? xD

You make Suna want to try harder, and he's way more motivated to give it his all in every single game. Mostly because he wants you to be proud of him.

He definitely has a nickname for you, but he will only use it when he's sure you guys are alone. And in return, you call him "Rin" which makes his heart flutter 🥺🥺

KAHDKSS I TOOK SO LONG WITH THE SUNA ONE PLEASE IM TURNING BOTH OF US INTO EVEN BIGGER SUNA SIMPS (as if we weren't already xD)

Now onto Aran !! Aran is a softie who (like Kita) respects you a great deal. He'll fend Atsumu and Osamu off if he senses you aren't having a great day.

He's also pretty good at giving you your space but he checks up on you every once in a while if anyone is bothering you.

Although he's shy about it, Aran actually comes to you when he doesn't understand a homework question. You're super smart and he knows you won't make him feel bad about not knowing.

And it makes you feel happy to know he trusts you, so you help him as best as you can. It's a little secret of yours that the other members don't know about.

It especially lights your day up when he gets a good grade and whispers a silent "thank you" to you in class.

In return, will help you with anything you ask for. No questions asked.

And now, last but not least, sunshine Akagi!! I think he's a total Hinata Shoyo, so he might annoy you a bit at first because of his bright personality.

But deep down inside, you love how easily he gets people to smile and slowly find yourself warming up to him.

And Akagi is really determined to get you to smile (at least once a day) so he cracks the corniest jokes or makes puns.

It has become a thing between the two of you, where Akagi tells you a joke a day, and you rate it out of ten.

Gone are the days when you found him annoying. And now, even if you won't tell him outright— you really do think he's one of the brightest people in your life.

Additional headcanons

CHEERING YOU UP— whenever you feel quieter than usual, or a bit more sarcastic, the boys immediately know something is wrong and rush over to make you feel okay. Literally, it's almost like they've abandoned practice. And eventhough you tell them to get back to it, they refuse to leave until you're feeling better. Suna usually gives you a hug and kisses your forehead, whilst Akagi cracks jokes. Then, (and eventhough you protest) Atsumu lists off all the things you should love about yourself, whilst Osamu buys you ice cream (food is, after all, the best cure for anything). Aran is literally ready to HUNT the person who affected your mood down, and kill them, whilst Kita is literally just holding him back and making sure things don't go overboard. Even if you aren't fully cheered up by then, you'd have laughed a whole lot and know how much they care for you, so honestly... how could you stay sad?

REACTING TO YOU TELLING THEM OFF— Suna is literally just meh about it. He can't take you seriously because he's a dork who thinks he's not included in the list of "idiots" (but no Suna, u mf, you ARE included -_-). Atsumu thinks it's hot 👀 (as I mentioned above), Akagi is genuinely upset/ready to sob and vows to do better. Kita is proud of you for telling them off before he could do it (Kita is not included in the "idiots". How could he? he's PERFECT 🖐️). Osamu and Aran have similar reactions, because they end up apologizing and try to change tactics and do better.

HOW THEY'D ACT WHEN YOU START DATING SUNA— (because this is honestly inevitable, wbk 😭❤️). Atsumu would be jealous. Petty and would call Suna "pretty boy" every chance he gets. Leave him, im sure he'll get over it 🥺🥺 Osamu is pretty jealous too, but he'll never show it and focuses instead on your happiness. Kita approves, and honestly thinks you're a good influence on Suna. Aran is protective of you, and would literally gun Suna down if he ever hurt you (but he won't. Suna loves you, he'd literally jump down a cliff before ever hurting you 😤🖐️) and Akagi is cheerful as before, but extra glad because you seem to smile a bit more often (and Akagi loves your smile).

I took a lot of effort on this <3 hope you like it, bae !! Taglist— @dai-tsukki-desu @sunasthing @k-sakusa-old @tilli-san

[heezoneie]

Hi, can I request a SKZ and Enhypen legal line reaction to you doing WAP or twerking out of nowhere?

i though this one was fun to write 😆, thank you for the request! <3

group: enhypen & stray kids

member: enhypen legal line & all of stray kids

genre: crack(?), fluff, possibly suggestive at times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enhypen Legal Line

Heeseung:

• you guys had been just chilling on the couch at the dorms, the other boys no where to be found.

• your head rested on heeseung’s lap as he scrolled through his phone. “hee, i’m bored” he looked down at your face upon hearing your statement.

• “well there’s not much we can do right now, maybe when the boys get back.” he stated playing with your hair.

• growing impatient, a mischievous idea popped in your head. sitting up from his lap, you go to set your phone on the tv stand directly in font of the couch.

• you were about to do a challenge that has been going around tiktok for quite a while. you were not one to do tiktok challenges very often, so this would come as a surprise for heeseung.

• seeing you stand up got heeseung curious. he watched your every move as you setup your video.

• when the familiar “WAP” began to play through your phone speakers, heeseung’s eyes widened.

• as soon as you started actually doing the dance, he would be so flustered. face beet red, but bby would not be able to take his eyes off you.

• he thought you did such a good job, even if the dance was a bit “pRoVOcAtIve” so after you finished the dance and walked over you him, he immediately buried his head in your neck.

• “that was so good baby, but try a less inappropriate dance next time? okay?”

Jay:

• you and jay were in the practice room at the company because he decided to stay back to get some extra work in.

• he asked you to come keep him company, since he didn’t want to be alone. ofc you showed up, bc who wouldn’t want to watch their boyfriend dance.

• after a while of practicing, you and jay decided to just listen to music over the speakers, until a rather seductive song came on.

• feeling bold, you decided to dance a little to it. swaying your hips side to side, twerking, anything to match the mood of the song.

• jay’s eyes darkened at the sight of you dancing like that. he didn’t know you could possibly be any sexier.

• jay watched the way your hips moved, your face, your legs. he made sure to take in every little move you were doing.

• after the song ended, he came up behind you and grabbed your hips. he pushed you against the wall and turned you to face him.

• “my pretty baby. that was rather bold to dance like that when anybody could walk in and see you.” he leaned in to your ear, “i think you should dance for me like that back home....but with less clothing.”

Jake:

• jake had just got finished with a long day of practice, and wanted nothing more than to come home to his amazing s/o.

• you however, had been lounging around the house all day. you were scrolling through your phone, when you decided you would past the time by making some tiktoks.

• you had been midway through doing the “WAP” challenge, when your boyfriend (with amazing timing) walked in.

• jake kinda just stood there flustered, not knowing what to do. he really said some “🧍‍♂️”

•getting up from the ground, you grabbed your phone and rewatched the tiktok. seeing jake’s reacting made you laugh.

• you turned around to him, where he still stood just staring at you. (bby malfunctioned)

• “jake? you good?” blinking a couple times, he finally snapped out of his daze, “OH, uh yeah i just- uhm. you were good, i just didn’t know you could dance like that.”

• smiling you went to give him a hug, “i could dance like that more if you want 😉”

•this boy d r a g g e d you back to your room with the biggest smirk on his face.

Sunghoon:

• okay, so this boy is a little 🤏 a w k w a r d

• when you stated twerking in the middle of the kitchen he didn’t know what to do

• it’s not that he didn’t like it, cause he most definitely did (possibly got a little turned on)

• it’s just he didn’t know what to do or what to say, so he kinda just...walked out?

• you followed him into the living room where he just sat on the couch thinking about what to say.

• “ you okay hoon?” he looked up from the couch, “ i need a second to process what happened.”

• after a couple of minutes of silence he grabbed you and pulled you onto his lap, with each of your legs on either side of him.

• “how about you do it again, but this time i want to feel you.”

Stray Kids

Chan:

• you guys were in his studio, while he was working you decided to tease him a little bit ;)

• you got off the couch and slowly walked up behind his chair. you proceeded you slowly turn his chair around to face you.

• you stared to dance/twerk very sensually in front of him. his eyes said “👀”

• he thought you looked so good, like his baby dancing for him? pure bliss.

• he watched you so closely, just admiring the way you moved your body. you put him a whole trance.

• bby chan did not know how to control himself after seeing you dance like that.

• he took of his headphones, and took you to the couch, let’s just say your teasing worked very well ;)

Minho:

• this was actually a dare you had gotten from felix. being the tiktok king he is, he dared you to do the WAP in front of minho.

• you obviously couldn’t turn down a dare, so you agreed. felix helped you plan how to make it seem less forward.

• you were gonna go into the practice room while minho was in there, and ask him if he wanted to do some tiktoks with you (you knew he was gonna say no, cause he was most likely going to be tired)

• minho enjoyed watching you do tiktoks, bc he thought you were the cutest little thing, even if he would never say it.

• he thought you were gonna do some innocent dance like the renegade or another challenge.

• when he saw you start getting on the floor and twerking his mind went completely blank.

• that was until he remembered you were filming. he immediately ran to turn off the camera.

• “that’s only for me to see baby, but could you send that video to me? for research purposes😇”

Changbin:

• changbin had called you to come hang out with him at the dorms, cause why not?

• when you got to dorms you noticed none of the other boys besides changbin himself were there.

• “where are the other boys binnie?” you asked while going to give him a hug. “i think they are all at the company, they still had some work to do.”

• after releasing from the hug, the both of you went to cuddle in bed. curling up into changbins side, you got an idea.

• “hey binnie?” he looked at you, “do you want to see a dance i learned?” surprised, he quickly nodded his head and sat up against the headboard.

• you got off the bed and began to slowly walk up to changbins side of the bed. he looked you up and down while licking his lips.

• you began to dance a special dance you made just for him. he closely watched the way you moved against the floor, and eventually the way you moved against him.

• once you finished he grabbed your hips and pulled you closer, “your lucky we are the only ones home.”

Hyunjin:

• we all know this man would be so vv shocked when you started slowly twerking on him the middle of the dance room.

• ofc he loved it, but he was so surprised he pushed you off 😔

• you kinda just stood there embarrassed, like you took a bold move and failed (r.i.p y/n)

• but he eventually he pulled back by the hips, and started to move against you as well.

• he guided your hips against his, and you both were lowkey just grinding against each other in the private dance room.

• mans got super turned on, and immediately took you home where you both could have some more fun ;)

Jisung:

• bby would hype you up, he’s your personal hype man for sure.

• as soon as you started dancing for him he would be cheering you on, dancing with you, you name it.

• he would be so excited bc he just lives to match your vibe :(((

• would 100% video tape you so he can watch it later when he’s feeling sad.

• would definitely admire the way you move, and be so shocked, like he never knew his bub could dance like this???

• he would ask you to teach him the dance, and probably end up having a dance party with you.

Felix:

• this babe would join you, as soon he saw you setting up the phone. he jumped from his place on the couch.

• “Oooooo, what tiktok are we doing???” he would be so eager to make every tiktok with you, cause he love bonding with you :((

• when y’all started doing the “WAP” he got excited cause he knew the dance already. he was also excited to see you dance to it.

• probably had small naughty thoughts going through his mind while watching you, but for the most part he was happy seeing you enjoy yourself.

• when it came down to actually filming the tiktok, yall would be goofing off so much to the point you had to film it multiple times.

• just saying, the final product? y’all slayed.

Seungmin:

• okay, so i feel seungmin would act like he didn’t care, but hear me out.

• he would definitely be eyeing you the whole time your dancing, and be lowkey jamming in the background.

• but the second you look at him he’s this “😐”

• he doesn’t want you to know how much he’s actually enjoying watching you move your hips in that way.

• he would probably act annoyed, and tell you to hurry up, but would 100% love watching to dance.

• definitely sent himself the video of you dancing when you weren’t looking :)

Jeongin:

• he would, with no doubt, act disgusted. is he actually? no way.

• would absolutely NEVER let you know he really enjoyed watching you dance in a sexy form.

• would probably get embarrassed, and tell you to stop (he doesn’t actually want you to tho, he just doesn’t want anyone else to see you dancing so seductively)

• lowkey possessive, but in a cute pouty way, which is why he used the being disgusted as and excuse to get you to stop.

• would probably end up still getting turned on, and his face would turn so so red when you figured out the effect you were having on him.

[franki-lew-yo]

I really hate 2d purists. No, not 2d animation. Not 2d animators.

2d purists.

The sad thing is it’s gotten to the point that I really cringe hearing any pro-2D sentiment at all. I hate the arguments I agree with because how often they're misused and weaponized by idiots.

Let me make my stance here clear - 2d is NOT appreciated and 3d is used for everything! The layman Karen-mom who doesn’t have an artistic bone in her body looks at stupidsmooth 3D Grubhub ads and assumes quality cause it “looks more real” (aka ‘rendered’). I know as much is true because I literally have a member of my family who told my sister and I that she thinks 3d is better (and also that she “tolerated THOSE movies for us kids”. Touching words. My sister was taking an animation course by the way). Combined that with the studios either using 2D for cheap stuff or finding good 2d animation too “costly”, I get it and I’m not even any animator. I'm just a worm an illustrator.

but holy HELL -

There’s a backlash from the artistic community that's it's own kind of insufferable and deserve to be addressed.

“(insert2Danimatedfilm) is better BECAUSE it's 2D!”

followed by: "Animation is a visual medium and the quality of the art affects how much the story means !!!!”  

Yes. Totally. Animation is a visual medium and the look and style is important. Sadly, people use this excuse to really obnoxious ends, insisting that design being pretty is '' everything ''. When you treat a movie more as a special effects demo I get why you talk about the artistry at hand; but I’m sorry, visuals are not the only thing important and it’s why I’m also getting sick of the sameElsafacesyndrome rants too! There’s this attitude that's reads as "but it LOOKS better fromaproductionimage/teasertrailerwhichapparentlyisindicativeof all themovieactuallyis so it MUST BE better".

-“3D should only be used to make things look realistic!”

I think I know the logic this criticism is made in response to, and that’s the Sony + Illumination films which look just as good in 2D as they do in three dimensions. I know it feels like people are twisting this medium to try and make it like a classic cartoon when by all means people can and would love a classic cartoon being a classic cartoon. That I get- From the unsung 2D animator’s perspective, that’s more than valid !

But it’s a huuuuuuge slap in the face to 3d in saying it should only be used for "realistic animation" because

1: It’s not like realistic animation could age badly or look uncanny in the next few years. It's almost like technology is constantly improving, which I guess 2d animation never did and it was always the same technique and quality as every film that came after it.

2: The industry does treat 3d as a magic-moneymaker for this reason. Just listen to these people call the 2019 LION KING “live action” as if they’re embarrassed to call it animation. It IS animation! It would be impressive if you acknowledged that what it is, but like the CATS, you basically are treating it as just a neato tool to better your live action and not it's own artform - which it is!

3: By this “three-deeonly gud when real liek in da toystories” non-logic I guess 2d should ONLY be for flowyflowy SPACE JAM cartoons and maybe some Disney*. Just that though. You can’t do anything more with 2d. It’s never supposed to be realistic I guess. Good thing Richard Williams only did 'toons' and just toons that’s why we need 3d in the world I guess.

Wait no - that’s stupid.

"I HAVE to see the “Land Before Time 14″ when it comes out! I mean it’s a 2D animated film!"

Lost in the aether that is Youtube comment chains removed from kid's videos is a stream of this very VERY stupid argument supporting the buying of the 14th LAND BEFORE TIME film because it’s supporting 2D. My sister and I can be found on that chain arguing against this stupidity. All you have is my word, but trust me: it really did happen.

I’m sorry but...no.

Unless you have a friend or a family member who worked on these movies there’s no reason to see this and ESPECIALLY no reason to insist it’s a win for the 2D community if you buy up this crap - and I'm not judging if you do like it, but come on! LAND BEFORE TIME 14 isn't where your money should go if you really like this medium.

What’s so infuriating about this argument is you can tell it’s made by nonanimators. Real animators will tell you to support their movies cause they want some respect for their artform which is why there’s such a push from the PRINCESS AND THE FROGcrowd that you SEE and LOVE every 2d thing out there, regardless of how good it is because any recognition for it is k i n d o f what they're after!

Kiddy sequel schlock isn’t even in the same ballpark as KLAUS or WOLFWALKERS; these films DID have very limited theatrical runs (Klaus so it could be nominated; Wolfwalkers in places where theaters opened up after Covid) and should have been supported because they were labors of love made by people who love animation.

As other people have already pointed out, one of the reasons for the lack of interest in 2000sera2D animation is that the only films released alongside critical+financial 3D hits were cheaper 2D films that either coincided with daytime tv shows or should have been just direct-to-video. It’s not to say art couldn’t come out of these flicks, but dayum if it wasn’t abused as much as the texture software that era's CG used... Point being, should the world ever go back to normal: If you hear about an out-of-town showing an acclaimed 2D animated film, make time to trek out and see THAT!

Don’t give your money to see yet another made-for-tv movie on the big screen because all that tells the studio is: “yeah 2d IS cheap and only good for cheap stuff let’s just keep it cheap. Only 3d is important 8D 8D 8D !!!"

“I don’t understand how it works. So it sucks.”

This text is from an ANIMATOR btw.

“I don’t understand how it works” and “it’s just some computer rendering” is the exact same wave of logic the people who prefer cgi use.

The plebian Karen I mentioned earlier? She understands the basics of 2D animation as much as you did from one of those cruddy flash classes you took in middle-school. She 'understands' the basics cuz she watched how it was made on the DVD features or maybe back on the WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY. To her, the illusion is broken and she’s not impressed by 'just some drawings on paper'. You, an animator, know the process is more complicated and is intrigued by knowing how it’s made - not bored or disinterested -

Neither you nor Aunt Karen have really good cg-animation software at your house and unless you ARE a 3D animator you probably DON’T know all the ins-and-outs of how these movies are modeled, rendered, and animated.

Aunt Karen is bedazzled by them cause she doesn’t know how it works and the technical aspect makes her brain hurt so it might as well be magic and she can feel like a cool kid sharing Minion-memes. Aunt Karen is the nonartistic type who just wants to feel safe. You're not. You want to feel challenged.

I get it: you’re pissed off cause you’re in a field no one, including Aunt Karen, appreciates; told to work in cg which it's an artform you didn’t devote your life to and told to learn it cause THIS style sells! 3D is everywhere and is starting to look like 'garbage' even if you don’t animate 3D models yourself you just KNOW, I guess. Besides, you know all there is to know about 2d!! You know all there is to possibly know about this artform and have to fight this 'war' against "r e a l" animation! And I mean even when 3d software is there to use, it's not like you can actually make anything worth while in it, especially not anything that transcends the medium. Right Worthikids?

TL;DR: This argument is basically just " BWAAAAH I’M NOT GONNA USE IT I HAVE STANDARDS (a chip on my shoulder cuz art should be what I deem it to be) "

“PRINCESS AND THE FROG is-”

There’s a reason I can’t say I truly like PRINCESS AND THE FROG even though it's not even a bad movie! Like, stop reading this and watch PATF if you haven't it's good. It's my 'FROZEN', in that; I see a lot of potential in it I just think it needs some serious rewriting and that bugs me. Always have felt that way, tbh.

I dislike this movie because the response from the animation community seems to be it was perfect and the Academy was just Pixar-crazy with UP ((ftr, the Academy IS Pixar’s bitch and I personally advocate a sequel be made to WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY about Mike Eisner’s sabotage of the 2D department at Disney which is still in place now!- but that’s a story for another day)). I’m sorry but UP was just a better story. So was CORALINE. So was FANTASTIC MR. FOX. Honest to god it feels like poor PATF is brought up as just a talking point and never for it's own worth as a labor of love - which it was! I'd like to honestly know: had PRINCESS AND THE FROG come out now and been cg if it would have even half the defenders for it because now it doesn't "look" like how a Disney movie "should" look...

If you like PatF more than the currant Disney lineup because of it's culture, it's music, it's feminism, it's black representation? Awesome. Great. Those things should be appreciated and I never want that taken away from you. But if you seriously think PatF is better just for how it was animated and looks - I lowkey may hate you.

“ALL OF DISNEY’S LATEST MOVIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN 2D! THEY ALL LOOK AWFUL IN 3D!! ALL OF THEM!”

TANGLED, FROZEN, and MOANA? Yeah. Sure. But um, e x c u s e y o u- WRECK IT RALPH sooooo doesn’t work in 2d! It could have used different between the various worlds but it’s about hopping through different video games. I’m also of the opinion that ZOOTOPIA and BIG HERO 6 are fine the way they are. Their 3d is awesome.

The latest fairy tale Disney films are really big on their place alongside the 2D canon esp in marketing. They keep trying to mimic 2D to varying results though I don't think it works as well as the movie's I'd previously mentioned. Me personally, I would love a mix of 3D and 2D technology, like if the backgrounds in FROZEN still got to be 3D but the characters were handdrawn and shaded ala KLAUS ((sweet sigh)). But even then are they truly unwatchable just based on how they're animated to you?

MOANA would have been incredible in 2D but for the record - I don't think it feels out of place in it's style. It reminds me more of a Pixar movie with the heart of a Disney classic which is it's own just as good.

“2D is the oldest form of animation and it’s being replaced.”

Actually, if we’re talking animation in film, stop motion is the earliest form of animation. The stop motion animated THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED and TALE OF THE FOX predate Disney’s SNOW WHITE. And yes: stop-motion IS still a form of animation even if it’s a serious of pictures taken of real life things and not drawings, so don’t you dare come at me with the "but that's not animated"/"Technically it’s LIVE ACTION" crap or I’ll envoke the spirit of Sandman to get you at night.

“Every animated film would look better in 2D! Even PIXAR would look better in 2D!”

Again, Stop Motion.

No, I mean it.

Lemme ask: Would ISLE OF DOGS or FANTASTIC MR. FOX carry any of the same effect if they were generic 90s toons? I know NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS wouldn’t. Christ, don’t even get me started on Svankmajer!

Sometimes the problem is that a movie is envisioned with a specific artform in mind. Pixar started out with toys and bugs for a reason and that’s cuz they were always gonna be a 3d studio and they needed to first overcome the placisity of the models. Over the years they’ve gotten really good at effects and blending unrealistic proportions with real textures (and also not so much- ONWARD and THE GOOD DINOSAUR really needed some different character designs and yeah, I do think would have looked better with a 2d artstyle, but not the ones they had in their films. THE GOOD DINOSAUR needed more realistic-speculative looking dinos and ONWARD needed a grittier HEAVY METAL/BLACK CAULDRON appeal to its designs.) My point being that the problems with these movies aren’t even inherently the animation as much as it is a problem of style. As someone who runs a group speculating different styles and designs for movies and tv shows I’m all for envisioning a 2D ZOOTOPIA or Bluth-inspired FNAF. That’s amazing!

But that’s also the talk of fan artists and nerds and not the professional artists working on visualizing their stories!!

Since I ate, slept, and breathed NIGHTMARE in my youth I’ll use it as an example: All the concept art ever done for TNBC was on paper and 2D was used in the final film. However, even when Tim Burton was thinking of making it just a tv special it was always going to be stop-motion. NIGHTMARE’s puppet cast do work very well in two dimensions, believe me, but the film was made as a love letter to Rankin/Bass and the art form of stop-motion. Skipping to another Henry Selick-helmed project (haha), JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH was also always envisioned as a multimedia film to give it a truly dream-like atmosphere. If you know anything about Henry Selick you’ll know he’s 1) a perfectionist, and 2) loves mixed media and different types of animation and puppetry at once. That’s why he was the perfect pick to direct TNBC at the time, why JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and CORALINE are so beautiful and why MOONGIRL, his only fully 3d film, doesn’t have the same appeal.

As for what films I couldn’t imagine NOT being 3D? Probably; 9, Padak, Next Gen, Soul, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story films, Wreck-it-Ralph (as previously mentioned), Wall.E, Waltz with Bashir, Robots, Inside Out, Arthur Christmas, The Painting, Happy Feet, Shrek, Enter the Spiderverse, Megamind… just naming a few here.

“I want a traditionally animated film [and by that I mean a 90s-Disney/Don Bluth looking movie] of ‘x'-popular live action/stage thing!”

Okay I’m cheating a bit but it’s my blog and so I’m gonna stick this one in because it’s related.

When I see musings about wanting live-action or CGI shiz to be in 2d again a lot of the time this argument actually boils down to " I want this to look like a 90s Didney movie ". Or, if it’s about animals - " I want it to look like a Don Bluth film! "

Like...there ARE other styles of animation out there...you know that right?

Frack, Disney themselves tried different styles throughout the 90s it’s just that the peak of the Disney renaissance films (LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN, THE LION KING) and the many imitators that followed tended to have the same look to them where only film/animation nerds kept watching into the era that was TARZAN, HERCULES, and ATLANTIS along with the kids. Aunt Karen wasn't singing Part of your World in the carride with you every day.

The Don Bluth argument is especially irritating because...what exact feeling do you WANT from a movie if it looked Bluthish? Each of the four ‘quintessential’ Bluth movies (NIMH, AMERICAN TAIL, LBT, and ALL DOGS) have such a different feel to them that’s complimented by that style; SECRET OF NIMH is a drama about wild animals trying to understand humans; LAND BEFORE TIME is even more squarely about an animal’s perspective as there’s literally no humans around; AMERICAN TAIL uses animals stowing away on the ship to tell a story about refugees; and ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN is ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN.

What the frack are you even asking for with that because I think there’s a certain flavor to the Bluth-styled oeuvre as well as the 90s Disney catalogue that would clash too much stylistically with some films.

Also come on! Like some Bluthian-style 2d would really fix THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS or SCOOB!, bite me.

I think this fixation solely on these two hand drawn styles and nothing else is based on nostalgia goggles, refusing to step outside the norm and discover different films and feelings than Disney and Bluth, and just preference. Goin back to NIGHTMARE there will always be a special place in my heart for Henry Selick’s stop motion, but I couldn’t imagine CHICKEN RUN or ANOMALISA in it's unique style.

Also I’m tired of every time there’s a "lets make an animatic to ‘x’ musical theater song" it’s reliably just Disneyesque or realistic. WHY envision an animated version of the show at all if it doesn’t have A STYLE to it??!?! I’m sorry but 90s-Disney does NOT fit CABARET!

“3D is so CHEAP now! Why can’t they just do 2D again?”

I think - on the cusp of the 2020s and the Grubhub hatedom, there ARE changing times ahead for 3d and 2d. The general public are starting to get tired of the same looking 3d films and wanting some 2d back, but they don’t have the best resources or opinions on animation to know what it is they want. Meanwhile, the animation community + industry is trying to figure out what to do and you have a lot of turmoil between the monopoly that is the industry, the high standards of the artists, and the mixed wants of the animation fanbase deciding what art needs to be.

It’s a tough business. And in the spirit of that tough business - maybe DON’T act like the means of a film’s production is solely your control, that you know best, and know definitively what the artists should have done....cuz you don't. Sorry my fellow criticalfanomanalysist-folks we DON'T and in an age of standom where fans and critics think it's okay to hackle indie animation studios about not getting their pitched cartoon out fast enough - we need to reserve these discussions to our circles and not treat them as gospel.

3d animation and 2d animation have to share this world. Stop acting like they’re either interchangeable in terms of budget, means of production, or artistry or that one has to be superior to the other.

The industry already says one art form is better (spoiler: it’s always live-action), we don’t need anymore of this purist garbage. Just stick to what you like while trying new things on the side. Be critical while also being compassionate. And remember:

[missbunnycarrot]

K I S S & T E L L

C H A P T E R O N E

1 new message

from: bestie

y/n~!! good luck! i am so excited for you babe. you are finally living your dream. i hope everything turns out well for you, and i know it will. although.. i am gonna miss you big time.. i love you babe. see you when i see you 😘😘😘

you let out a long sigh after reading your best friend's message. you lowered your phone then glanced back to your plane ticket to check your flight's departure time.

🔔📢🎶

KE flight number 17 bound to incheon, south korean has finally arrived. please proceed to the departure area, thank you.

"this is it y/n," you told yourself "i am finally living my dream as a dancer in south korea!!" you clutched your things close to you then strutted your way to the departure area.

dancing is a huge part of your existence. it is something you love to do and everyone knows it. dancing is your ultimate skill, your art of choice and your mode of therapy. then just after your dance teacher posted your video up on the internet, an email addressed to you changed everything. the email was sent by an agency looking for a specific dancer, well a short dancer that is.

see, you never really thought of hitting it big. yeah you are pretty and very experienced in a lot of style of dances but you lack in the height department. beauty standards nowadays just made you feel not too special to be casted at all. but hey, you certainly enjoyed underground dance battles and backing up local artists at your place.

that's why being contacted by a south korean entertainment industry came as a huge shock to you. the thought of the possibilities of meeting k-pop idols made you giddy as a schoolgirl. it is too soon the name names, isn't? you smiled to yourself getting comfortable in your seat. you looked out the window as the plane is about to take off south korea here i come.

you just need to take in the view, high glass ceiling, the place well lighted by glass walls and the modern architecture which made you realize you don't need to pinch yourself to reality.

you walked past the arrival sign and immediately saw a man holding a paper with your name on it. "안녕하세요 (hello)" you bowed to the man. he bowed back "you must be miss y/n, welcome to south korea. my name is jeon young hwan and i will be your chauffeur. shall i grab your luggages for you miss?" you slightly bowed again "sure young hwan씨. 감사합니다 (thank you)" such a gentleman and he is kinda cute. everything is going quite well for you so far.

it seemed like an hour drive when you finally arrived at the company building. it was huge. it made you even more excited when you saw nu'est and members of after school exit the building "kahi!!" you exclaimed unable to take your eyes off of her. "so, you are a fan of after school miss y/n," young hwan's words snapped you back to reality. "oh. 죄송합니다 (sorry) was i too loud?" your cheeks blushing from embarassment. "아니 (no). i think it is just natural for someone to react like that when they are starstrucked," young hwan smile at you through the rear mirror. "by the way miss y/n, as you can tell the builing on the left is the company building and here on the right will be your accomodation," young hwan swerved the van to the right and entered the parking area of the building.

he slid the door open and help you out of the van "now miss y/n, i will take you to your dorm" after reaching the seventh floor and walking past several doors from the elevator you finally reached your dorm "so this is it miss y/n, inside you will find a planner with your working schedules. as well as names of important people you should know working in the company and room numbers, floors you should be at during you schedule," young hwan stated like a pro. "감사합니다 (thank you)" you bowed then he returned you the gesture.

you open the door, not expecting too much. it was a very tiny room. but it still had its own bathroom, mini kitchen and a space for a small bed so it was still much better than you would have thought. you settled your bags inside, locked the door, went straight to the window and pulled the curtains aside. taking in the warmth of the sun and inhaling the korean air now, the adventure begins.

you cooked yourself ramen for dinner with kimchi at the side and banana milk as your desert. you then remembered to go through you planner for your first day tomorrow:

okay, 7am..

3rd floor room number 13

3hours practice 1hour break

okay..

hmmm.. ceo, han sung soo

stylist, kim nayeon

choreographer, choi youngjun

okay..

oh, what's this? looks some kind of id..

okay..

hmmm.. you took a big bite of ramen

no mention of any artist..

"oh well," you sighed

🍜💳📑📒

the next day you were up very early. too early that you didn't really know how to kill the rest of the time before 7am. "hmmm.. i guess i could walk around a bit to check out new places," so you wore your hoodie over your tanktop, wrapped your waistbag around you sweatpants and slinged your water bottle around your wrist.

as you stepped out of your building you inhaled the chilly korean air once again, which in turn gave you this boost of positive energy, or is it just a placebo effect? there were small hangout places in each corners of the street, a pet grooming shop with the cutest clients you have ever seen, a public park nearby where you saw kids smiling and waving at you before they ran to the slide. you looked at your watch "oh, its already 6am could the building be open by now?" you went back your path direct to the company building. there were workers cleaning the windows and it didn't look like there were anybody else but the cleaning team. you waved your hand at one crew "안녕하세요 (hello)," you bowed "is the building open?" you showed her your id. "안녕하세요 (hello), you may come in, though there is no one around yet. you may stay at the lobby in the meantime." the crew said. "감사합니다 (thank you)" you gave her a smile and bowed.

the place was a masterpiece. no wonder idols here are inspired to be more creative with their craft. you then noticed a narrow hallway with large posters adorning the wall. you looked at the posters and noted that the posters were of the artists of the entertainment agency. you passed by headshots of after school, you stopped at kahi's photo wow, those abs then at nana's photo she is so gorgeous. next you passed by hello venus and while you are on your way to the next group you caught yourself singing "씰룩씰룩 엉덩일 좌우로~ Wiggle, wiggle 더 느낌 있게~ 빙글빙글 조심스럽게~ 흔들어봐 흐흔들어봐~". then you saw ren of nu'est he looks prettier than me, sulking thinking about it. lastly you met the faces of seventeen, one of south korea's international idol groups. you just couldn't close your mouth in awe they are only pictures, what more if i met them in personal?

"ehem, 안녕하세요 (hello), you look new," a voice interupted your daydream. you looked back to see it was choi youngjun, the choreographer. "ah 안녕하세요 youngjun씨, my name is y/n" you politely bowed. "you are the new dancer, welcome to pledis entertaiment miss y/n" youngjun said after he bowed at you. "hey, are you heading to the dance pactice room?" he asked. "네 (yes) actually i am," you answered. "well then, let's go together,"

youngjun reached for the door and opened it for you. wow, this practice room is huge the room was well lit and there were mirrors everywhere. you can't help but smile at the thought that your dream is finally coming into life. next thing you know music blasted from the speakers. you moved your head to look for youngjun. "so y/n, show me what you got," youngjun said as he sat on a chair to observe you. is he challenging me? you smiled then dropped your things aside, tossing your hoodie with it as well.

without hesitation, you faced the mirror and started to move your body to the music. making your movements as fluid as you could possibly get with a few body popping moves to show your versatility. as you were already vibing with the music, youngjun suddenly changed the music to a latin-sultry kind of song. of course you didn't back down. you showed off your ballroom dancing skills with a dash of belly dancing to make your performance a tad bit sexy to impress the choreographer. you glaced at youngjun behind you through the mirror giving you a satisfied nod. he stood up from his seat and applaud "대박 (awesome) y/n. i am very impressed. you are exactly what we need,"

oh geez, stop it 😆

[kingstylesdaily]

Why Harry Styles Just Scored His First No. 1 Song

Like any boy band alumnus, he first had to overcome radio’s bias against teen heartthrobs.

Late summer is a great time for sleeper hits: songs that have been hanging around the charts for months and finally hit their stride. Four years ago, in August 2016, Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” reached No. 1 after knocking around the charts since the prior winter, getting its final boost from a Sean Paul remix. In September 2018, Maroon 5’s year-old “Girls Like You” slipped into the top slot after wafting around the Top 10 for more than four months, with a Cardi B verse putting it over the edge. Last year around Labor Day, Lizzo finally topped the Hot 100 with “Truth Hurts,” a song that was two years old and had been rising gradually on the chart since the spring.

This year’s sleeper hit is “Watermelon Sugar,” a wisp of a song by boy bander–turned–self-styled rock star Harry Styles. With a name inspired by Richard Brautigan’s hippie-era, post-apocalyptic novella In Watermelon Sugar, Styles’ lackadaisical tune is not only a sleeper but a grower, the sort of hit that sneaks up on you—I wasn’t sure it even had a fully written chorus the first time I heard it, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. Indeed, the whole nation took its time deciding that this quirky ditty would give the starriest, most eccentric member of One Direction his first-ever U.S. chart-topper.

“Watermelon Sugar” is the third single promoted from Styles’ second solo album Fine Line, which was released last December. That alone is remarkable, given the challenge in the digital age of generating chart interest in anything other than an album’s first couple of singles. Generally, in an era when all of an album’s songs are available to be consumed the day the album drops, you need a remix or a special guest of some kind to gin up chart action months after the song first hits streaming. “Sugar” has none of those. To be sure, there was some gimmickry fueling the song’s leap to the top, albeit of an old-fashioned kind: The song had its best week of sales ever thanks to an assortment of limited-edition vinyl and cassette singles that came bundled with a digital download. Those sales got “Sugar” the last mile on the charts, but Columbia Records wouldn’t have put the physical goods on sale if the song wasn’t already a radio smash—“Sugar” currently has the second-biggest U.S. airplay audience—and they knew they had an opening between current hits by Taylor Swift and a pair of lascivious female rappers I’ll almost certainly be writing about in this space next week. So, fair play to Team Harry: They took advantage of an open chart window, a tactic as old as the Hot 100 itself.

As “Sugar” leaps from No. 7 to No. 1 on the Hot 100 this week—essentially switching places with his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan,” which falls to No. 8—Styles scores only the second-ever chart-topper by a member of One Direction. That includes all of the hits by 1D itself. In its five years of recording, from 2011 through 2015, the band never scored a Hot 100 No. 1. This despite topping the Billboard 200 album chart with its first four studio albums, the only group in history to launch a career with that haul. So … what was that other 1D-affiliated Hot 100–topper I mentioned? It was by ex-member Zayn Malik, the only member to break from the crew while it was still active. Zayn’s smoldering, Weeknd-esque boudoir jam “Pillowtalk” debuted at No. 1—and spent a solitary week there—in the winter of 2016, fueled by blockbuster streams and downloads ginned up by 1D superfans still mourning his departure the prior year and the group’s resulting, presumably permanent hiatus.

Explaining how the top-selling boy band of the 2010s could shift so many CDs and downloads but generate only two No. 1 singles means briefly recapping the fraught history of boy bands and the charts. Selling albums has never been hard for pinup pop groups, since the days of Meet the Beatles! and More of the Monkees. And in the ’70s and ’80s, such precision sing-and-dance troupes as the Jackson 5, the Osmonds, and New Edition managed to generate both gold albums and chart-conquering singles. In 1989, New Kids on the Block had the year’s second-biggest album and four of the year’s top singles, including a pair of No. 1s. But starting in the ’90s, as U.S. radio networks consolidated (fueled by the 1996 Telecommunications Act) and programmers more narrowly targeted specific demographics, radio stations shied away from maximalist teen-pop that appealed primarily to under-18 audiences. By the end of that decade, even as boy bands were enjoying a new wave of TRL-fueled popularity, radio became a chart handicap for them. The Backstreet Boys and ’N Sync had the top-selling albums of 1999 and 2000, respectively—the diamond-selling Millennium and No Strings Attached—but only scored a solitary Hot 100 topper between them, ’N Sync’s “It’s Gonna Be Me.” (Backstreet never hit No. 1: The deathless “I Want It That Way” peaked at No. 6.)

This radio bias against boy bands has persisted into the 21st century. And ever since the Hot 100 went digital about a decade and a half ago, teen-pop’s chart placements have been the result of a battle between rabid downloaders and radio gatekeepers—massive digital sales compensating for modest radio play. For example, radio was what kept the Jonas Brothers from scoring any chart-topping hits during their original wave of teen idoldom; their biggest hit of the ’00s, the No. 5 hit “Burnin’ Up,” sold 2 million downloads but only ranked 55th at U.S. radio. By the ’10s, the same fate befell one-man boy band Justin Bieber. In this long-running Slate series, I have chronicled the blow-by-blow between Justin Bieber and radio programmers that swung from Justin as hit-starved teen idol in the early ’10s to dominant young-adult chart-dominator in the late ’10s. In the early ’10s period, Bieber was a YouTube and iTunes demigod with not a single radio smash to his name. He could sell a half-million downloads of “Boyfriend” in a week and still fall short of the No. 1 spot, thanks (no thanks) to radio.

For One Direction, the chart patterns were the same. A Frankenstein’s monster that Simon Cowell famously threw together in 2010 on his televised competition The X Factor from five solo competitors—Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson—1D continually found its singles dragged down on the Hot 100 by radio, even as the band sold truckloads of albums. The pattern was set in fall 2012 when “Live While We’re Young” debuted with a staggering 341,000 downloads but could only get to No. 3 on the Hot 100, thanks to its 50th-ranked radio airplay. In the summer of 2013, the slyly Who-interpolating “Best Song Ever” became 1D’s highest-charting hit ever, debuting at No. 2 with record video views and near-record downloads, but at radio it never got past No. 53. “Story of My Life” (No. 6, 2014), “Drag Me Down” (No. 3, 2015)—no matter how many downloads sold or videos viewed, 1D could never top the Hot 100 so long as its radio spins remained limited.

The reason I’m running down all of this granular chart data is it reveals the hurdles both 1D and its post-breakup soloists had to overcome to top the Hot 100. Like Justin Bieber, they had to become credible radio fodder with adults as well as kids. With his early break from the group, Zayn was the first to pull this off. Though “Pillowtalk” debuted at No. 1 largely due to massive sales and streams, the carnal song did eventually become a No. 4–ranked airplay hit. Cleverly, Zayn had chosen a then-current EDM-inflected R&B mode and dropped his debut while the Weeknd was between albums. Other former 1D-ers have had their share of solid radio hits, including Liam Payne’s hip-hop–inflected “Strip That Down” featuring Quavo of Migos (No. 10 on the Hot 100, No. 4 on Radio Songs) and Niall Horan’s softly bopping pop jam “Slow Hands” (No. 11 Hot 100, No. 2 Radio Songs).

And Harry Styles? He decided to make things harder on himself. His 2017 debut album was chockablock with old-school classic rock. This would be like launching a career in 1964 with big-band jazz. While Styles’ fame ensured a big launch for his Bowie-esque single “Sign of the Times”—it opened, and peaked, at No. 4 on the Hot 100, fueled by strong downloads—radio showed only moderate interest. It eventually reached a modest No. 21 on the airplay chart. Later Harry singles like the twangy “Two Ghosts” and the thrashy “Kiwi” missed the Hot 100 and had little radio profile beyond a handful of pure-pop stations that were loyal to Styles from his 1D days. One admired Harry for following his artistic muse—more Joni Mitchell than Justin Bieber—but as a pop star, he arguably squandered his momentum coming out of One Direction.

What has made Fine Line, Styles’ sophomore album, such a clever left turn is he retained the rock flavor he naturally gravitates toward but converted it into mellow California-style surf-pop, and he let his production team—Tyler Johnson and Thomas “Kid Harpoon” Hull—fashion the songs into percolating radio jams. Each single has opened the door a bit wider: “Lights Up,” a No. 17 last October, is lightly strummed beach music with ethereal backing vocals. And “Adore You,” a No. 6 hit in April (for my money, still Styles’ best single), is thumping electropop. “Adore” in particular served as Styles’ entrée onto radio’s A-list—it reached No. 1 on mainstream Top 40 stations and No. 2 on Radio Songs by early summer.

With this beachhead established, Harry was finally free to let his freak flag fly with “Watermelon Sugar,” which is simultaneously his oddest single and his most infectious. The chorus consists of nothing more than the line “Watermelon sugar high” repeated a half-dozen or more times, with emphasis on the “HIGH.” (TikTok users have keyed into this idiosyncrasy, sharing videos in which the “high” gets its own video edit of the user playacting her best stoner face.) Last November, when Styles did double-duty hosting and singing on Saturday Night Live, “Sugar” was one of the songs he performed, and in that indoor setting, it came off as willfully quirky and seasonally incongruous; the song’s first verse line is “Tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin’.” Now, timed for 2020’s beach season—complete with a video filled with beautiful people on the shore, shot just before the pandemic and, according to a title card, “dedicated to touching”—it’s sitting atop the hit parade.

In short, Harry Styles finally has a profile on the radio and on the Hot 100 that matches his profile on magazine covers, and he achieved it on his own schedule and something like his own terms. Like John Lennon in the ’70s—the founder and nominal leader of the Beatles but the last former Fab to reach the toppermost of the poppermost as a solo artist—Styles just had to find his own way. As that onetime teen heartthrob sang, “Whatever gets you to the light, it’s all right.”

source: Slate

[kiegosbby]

Aura

oh god this is gonna be a long story, strap in dabi simps!

Unedited

✁- - - - - - r- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Y/n l/n! Quirk: telekinesis!

They can move things with there mind! There’s no limit to what they can lift, but the heavier it is the slower it moves.

special move: can make themself fly, as long as they want.

setbacks: headaches, vomiting, dizziness.

y/n l/n also known as aura

when your around aura, or when they walk in there is just this certain aura that surrounds them and everyone gets a uneasy feeling, you’ll know it’s them.

when they were little, there father died to unknown causes, being raised by there mother alone. y/n was close with touya todoroki, they spent most there time together, y/n comforting touya because of what his father did to him. From the day you found him crying on the crub of your street, you two were inseparable.

you grew up together, he always came over after he trained with his father. your mother didn’t like touyas family. she took touya in as her own, treating you two as siblings.

she fed both of you, bought you both toys and presents on Christmas, she even gave him his own room in your house- even though it was just the guest room he was greatful for everything your mom gave him, he didn’t say it, but you could tell.

one day when you came home and went to tell your mom how your day was, you couldn’t find her anywhere. you checked her room, the kitchen, the backyard, but when you went to search the living room, you saw a note on the coffee table.

she left you a note telling you she had left, and she wasn’t coming back. she had wrote how she had to leave because of him. much she would miss you, but how this was the best for you.

endeavor had made your mom leave you, he had threatened her and made her leave. he didn’t like how touya would always be at her house, how he slacked off in training because of you. so, he made her go away. making her leave you behind so you could suffer.

after that day, your aura had changed completely. when you walked down the street, people looked at you in fear, disgust, and horror.

even though you could control your aura, why would you? You wanted everyone to know, to know how you felt.

from the day you found out he made her leave, you hated hero’s. How many more hero’s were treating people like this behind social media? they were all the same. the same as him.

after she left, touya stopped showing up, you had went and yelled at the front of his house, begging to see him. before touyas mom had came out, telling you the horrible news.

he had died.

you didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want to know it’s true.

you walked the streets most the time, looking at people reaction to your aura, laughing at them.

you came upon a club, mma. you watched at first, studying there movements and practicing on your own time. you trained all day, until you collapsed

the day they announced they were having sign ups, you were first in line, wanting to release your anger, wanted to let it out on anyone else but yourself.

your first few fights you were out quick, but you learned quickly, using your quirk to your advantage and taking the opposing team quickly.

after a couple years, you made a name for yourself. known as the strongest in the ring, you came night after night taking down anyone who challenged you.

one night when you were walking to the ring, you came across a hero, they were only patrolling and you had bumped into them. you were in a alley and it had happened so fast, you were used to fighting people, so when you actually bumped into them, your fight or flight went off.

you had killed the hero- it was a accident you didn’t mean it.

but when you fled the scene, and went home, you turned on the news hoping that they didn’t find you, but to find that the hero had been beating his wife, he had had her locked up in his apartment.

after that, you knew what you had to do. all the hero’s were corrupt, always had a dark secret.

from that day on everyone knew you. you killed hero’s left and right, becoming more popular than stain.

what the people didn’t see was you made sure the hero’s were bad, you followed them around, watching there every move. when you saw them slip up once, it was over for them.

you were walking around one day, getting groceries for your house while following a hero, when you got a text from one of your close friends. Giran.

giran:

y/n I got something for you, it’s the lov, there looking for new members. Let me know if your up for it.

the league of villains eh?

doesn’t sound to bad.

[living-in-the-state-of-dreaming]

Mary Saotome Dating headcannons? I'm gonna be honest, i've never seen any headcannon about her and i'm just curious 'bout what u write xD

Unfortunately all the Kakegurui characters don’t have much content in terms of head cannon's and scenarios. x_x I w a s going to send the link to this other blog that does or did really good Kakegurui content but it seems that they’ve cleared out their blog. x_x 

Also, I know I may very well sound like a broken record with this, but I. Am. Very. V e r y. Sorry x_x My inspiration to write has been all over the place, but I’m trying to get back on track. 

˚✧₊⁎━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⁎⁺˳✧༚

Dating Mary Saotome: Headcanons.

There’s no beating around the bush here. Given that Mary is the Tsundere of Kakegurui, it is extremely unlikely that she will be the first to confess to you, as we all know, she wears that poker face well, and this is no exception. 

True to her Tsundere demeanor when it comes to romance, it will be entirely up to you to confess to her, as it will take something big to happen for Mary to confess to you; it will also be up to you to notice the reactions that she will give and that goes from you giving her a compliment, are sweet and kind to her, or if you give her a hug or hold her hand. Her initial reaction will be to brush it off, but due to how flustered you have now made her, it will make it very difficult for her, and very noticeable for you. 

In fact, if you hold her hand in public on purpose, she will likely begin to protest against it, but the blush on her cheeks and how she will be unable to meet your gaze will prove that she doesn’t dislike it as much as she claims. 

While Mary will not openly admit to enjoying spending all this time with you like this, the fact she won’t refuse it either will bring it to light in sense, as well as how she is far more open and herself with you, then she is with others; instead of relying on that honeycomb sweet facade. 

As aloof as she may appear to others, that is not the case with you at all and the way she does not wear this facade around you will give away how much she trusts you; but the thing that will give it away the most, is not only the genuine sweetness and kindness that she will show to you, how she will be there for you if you need her, or the genuine and soft smiles that she will give you; how protective she will slowly begin to become over you will be the most prominent thing. 

Before you both had even begun dating, she had made it clear that no one was allowed to pick on you but her and that fact is still valid, but you know she doesn’t mean any harm with her teasing. If someone challenges you to a gamble her reactions can go two different ways. If you are a skilled gambler, then she will trust in your skill and have faith in you, while watching the gamble from the sidelines while knowing that you have this handled if the challenger’s gambling skill is average at best. 

However, if it’s against a highly skilled gambler like one of the Student Council members, the Momobami clan, herself, or the Student Council, then if she can she will suggest playing a game that uses team players and if that is not possible, she will do everything in her power, while asking Yumeko, Ryota, and Itsuki, to help you prepare. Of course, she will try to convince you to change your mind about this gamble if she believes that you are way over your head with accepting the challenge-- she doesn’t want you becoming a house pet and going through the same hell that she went through if you lose and go into debt after all-- but if you are truly set on doing this; she’ll still be entirely against her it; she’ll completely understand and make sure that she does all she can for you to ensure you win. 

She understands your resolve and determination after all, as well as your courage to not back down even if the odds are not with you and it’s one of the things that she admires about you. Your drive mixes with her own, pushing hers on like a match and it only makes her that much more determined to see you attain victory in this gamble. 

In terms of dates and places you both will go on dates, Mary is a young woman who has elegant tastes, as well as quite the sweet tooth; something that you had quickly taken notice of when you had seen what she had been eating as a snack while you both had been enjoying each other's company. With you being the one more honest about your enjoyment of her company.

You both were at one of the cafe’s that she had suggested you go, and one that she also seemed to hold in high regard; you had just got done with the cake slices that you both ordered when you noticed a little bit of cake at the corner of her lips. Having been about to wipe it off herself with the napkin that she had been given with her slice of cake, the blonde had just been seconds away from wiping it off. That is until you told her to wait for a light smile, while gently grabbing her hand that was holding the napkin. 

Naturally, this caused her to look at you confused “ What? I was just wiping it off. “ “ I know, but...Just let me do it instead okay? “ “ Huh? What are you talking- “ noticing you lean a little closer to her, your face suddenly being very close to her own, a faint pink instantly comes to her cheeks, but when you’re finger gently wipes off the small dab of icing and cake, only for it to briefly pass through your lips as you licked off the dab only to give a brief lick of your lips at the flavor had her cheeks turning. Scarlet. “ W-What the hell is wrong with you?? W-We’re in public, you know! A-And who gives you the right to do something like that anyway? “ “ Well, we are dating, aren’t we? “ 

For just a moment, at how blunt your question comes across, her eyes will widen for a brief moment, before shyly averting to the side moments before she gives a “ Well I...I guess so. “

If you let her, Mary will spoil you rotten and the cake and other things that she will happily shout you; at the cafes and such that you both will go to is just one of the things that she will spoil you with. Not too obnoxious degrees of course, but in ways that will prove her affection towards you, since she knows for a fact that she is not the best at expressing hers when it comes to you; however if you insist on paying she’ll let you while secretly appreciating the sweet gesture of you.

If it’s your birthday or a special day like Valentines Day, don’t be surprised if you find one of two presents in your locker, inside both of the presents will be either one of these A) Something you mentioned that you’d been wanting for a while; or B) that she noticed you eyeing up while you both had been out shopping. For Valentine's, a bag full of chocolate-related things that she knows you like and chances are she would’ve likely bought them from the cafe that you had liked the best. She tried to make you something once and it went so bad that it still embarrasses her every time you tease her about it, but you didn’t mind, you were just touched that she would go so far as to try. 

Aside from the cafe’s though, Mary will never admit this out loud to you, but she does enjoy spending time at your house with you, or you at hers, watching a movie, even if it’s one that she’s already seen, or a show that you both like, while your arm rests around her, or her waist. However, her favorite days or nights with you are when you both play a card game like Go Fish or Snap; while making ridiculous bets and dares as ‘ punishments’ if the other loses after the best of three. The dares and punishments being so silly and funny that they’ve made both you and Mary laugh so many times; before pictures and recordings that only the two of you will see are saved onto both of your phones as prized memories.

Do not believe her lies. When everything finally winds down and you both are worn out and ready to sleep; take the initiative and cuddle her, she may blush but a smile, though light, will come to her cheeks while she lets her softer and vulnerable side show more before letting herself and her head rest against you.

[watayaaratamblr]

Chihayafuru chapter 226 [long] impressions:

This is more of "everything that went through my mind while reading every page of the chapter"

naturally, gonna be super ..like SUPER long.

1) Shinobu in her fine Kimono was happy or proud? What are the flowers around her? Who knows, we only know that anything they might symbolize is already clear on her face and pose. She played a very strong opponent, she had “special” fun and she won. Only one remaining win and she will preserve her title for the 4th year in a row. Chihaya on the other hand was lost… She did everything she could “come up with” but she still couldn’t win any of the two matches… maybe “come up with something new” was her mistake? Could it be that it’s impossible to defeat the queen in her world, should Chihaya bring her out instead, Chihaya probably didn’t even thought of this because she is completely lost, she worked very hard and her hard work paid off somehow but it is not enough Chihaya seems unable to have any fun; it’s all about needing to win for some reason, why the passionate Chihaya feels so far away?

2) Arata is shook! He is no longer seeing the Meijin in front of him, he is rather calling Chihaya’s name! On the Meijin board we can see 4 poems, (one was shown clearer behind Hiro who was confused with Arata’s sudden distraction; Sudo also noticed and wondered + the 4 poems seem all on Suo’s side?)

30/Ariake no: the poet expresses his hate for dawns after he had to part from his lover at a dawn with a moon that looked so cold and indifferent. 76/Watanohara-ko: This is the second “Arata” poem (as it starts with the word WATA). The poet describes white waves rolling onward which can be mistaken for the white clouds up in the heavens. 20/ Wabi nureba: a consuming passion poem in which the poet tells the woman he loves that he is willing to sacrifice everything to continue their relationship and that he will go meet her despite the heavy price he knows he will have to pay. 74/ Ukari keru: The poet is in distress because the lady he loves is cold to him and his prayers to be happy with her were futile.

The choice of these poems might be clarified when the cards are read but (because Suo seems shadowed somehow and the focus is on Arata), we can still think that they are about Arata’s feelings and what he wants to do about Chihaya’s state now and how she will treat him after her loss .. She already turned her head away from him after her 1st loss, she avoided him, and now she lost again and Arata who is in love with her is really worried.

3) Arata assesses the situation, Chihaya has 2 losses which will put a great pressure on her for the next games and give Shinobu the chance to be more relaxed. The image of Chihaya’s back when she rushed out with her hand on her face as if she was crying was so strong for Arata, the background intensifies what he felt, he was really worried and repeating her name while sweating (dunno if this was intentional, but he wasn’t sweating before he noticed Chihaya (on ch225)) On the other hand, Suo was still completely focused.

4) 78/Awaji shima: was read and Arata was late. Suo took it

This poem tells about the sleepless nights of a guard at some gate caused by the cries of the plover birds crossing the place known as an exile (the plover is also used to symbolize winter) so this poem might invoke the feelings of loneliness and nostalgia.

65/Urami wabi: was the next one and Arata was also late, the difference is now only 1 card. Sudo was cheering for Suo and wandering if a luck of the draw will be the fate of this game. Arata was taken aback!

The poet of Urami wabi is a lady who is separated from her husband so she felt resentment to him, she cried and her sleeves were always wet but what concerned her more was her reputation tainted because of her failed relationship.

These two poems didn’t appear on the board (because only the upper part was showing) but 78 was on Arata’s side & 65 was on Suo’s. The fact that 78 was the poem read to pull Arata out of his thoughts and keep him focused on his match makes me see it as the plover birds keeping the guard from going to sleep. It can also hint at the distraction itself, if sleep is what we do at night but the plovers prevent it, then Arata should focus on his game but his worry for Chihaya also prevents it, so his feelings or Chihaya’s state is the plovers. As for 65, I can’t think of many possible reasons but it might be the “reputation” part, maybe it’s a hint at Arata’s “name” as the “grandchild of eternal meijin Wataya Hajime” that everyone was eager to see through him which might soon be challenged.

5) Murao & Kuriyama wondered what happened to Arata after he achieved such good result till now. Suo had his eyes glued to the Tatami, his aunt was there, he knew but he didn’t try to look. Arata’s club-mates explained that this was a sign of Suo’s strength: he would use the least of your mistakes like losing your focus for even a sec. Riza specifically was very nervous. Arata started to revise what was read and what wasn’t. he kept good track of all read and unread cards, including the dead cards (Taichi was always praised when he did this but now that Arata is doing it, it feels normal and so like him, I believe we all know that Arata is stronger, Taichi showed us the process to arrive there but Arata was the first to arrive there, he definitely passed by most what Taichi experienced.). With this review, Arata knows what he can use his cross sweep on: Wabi & Wata-ko. Ariake is the 3rd remaining card on Tatami (besides the two above & the thress are drawn earlier on the board) but there are also 3 A cards not read yet (dead cards) which are 58/Arima+ 39/Asaji+ 64/Asaborake-u, Arata expects that Suo will wait to make sure of the 3rd syllable. Arata was worried & his grandpa’s ghost came to support him like Taichi and Harada’s ghost too, Hajime analyzed Suo before and he noticed that he wasn’t good with the cards on the outer edge of his own formation, this is something Hajime noticed back when he was alive and sane, was it like 5 years ago? So is Suo’s condition worse than back then?

6) Hajime’s teachings calmed Arata a bit, he is ready to fight again (he moves so handsomely), those where only words told to him by his mentor, but he is also a real deal, his body is ready, his hands are used to attack, he practiced enough to be able to go under his opponent’s hand to take a card, luckily an ‘A’ card on Suo’s side was read, Arata attacked and he practiced enough to be able to protect that card until the kimariji is decided (also Suo didn’t practice enough to know how to break that defense, it was a card on the edge of his playing field too, but there are only 3 cards left, so he could commit it to his memory as Arata said before on ch 223, the most important thing is memorization, having a card in your sight Then committing it to your memory, you’ll be able to see it even with closed eyes and Arata played like that before when he couldn’t find his glasses)

7) 30/Ariake is the one read, Arata put his hand on it when he made sure and Suo couldn’t find a way to it. Among the 4 poems initially shown on the board, this one was read. Who does it refer to? (if it does). Who is the unpitying moon? who parted with what? who feels longing for what? I can’t really think of an answer and I can’t even tell if there is an answer to begin with. But, it might have something to do with the idea of “committing the card to memory after sight” because when this principle was explained on 223, this card was among the ones shown around Arata & Suo. Arata’s family members where happy contrary to Suo’s family members.. These two panels made me think that in these matches between these two, the families of the players are as involved as the players themselves. (And Akira looks more surprised than happy, maybe he still doesn’t realize how his own words back at the hotel are true: “Arata, you are strong”.) The commentator confirmed the greatness of Arata’s move and there was a suspicious man behind him LOL (why was this man drawn there?)

8) Arata’s cover seems to be a high level one too, this is all Arata’s Karuta because he is the one using his body for it. Suo now seems in danger like Chihaya. Kuriyama & Murao are overjoyed and Arata went out with rather an indifferent face? there are no signs of relief or happiness, he looks rather lost in thoughts.. I was thinking that Suo acknowledged Arata’s strength (that beat him), but for some reason and contrary to Harada sensei, it’s not only “I don’t want to play anyone who is not strong”, he seems like he doesn’t even want to play this strong Arata, even when Kyoko tan who gives him enough motivation to play, he still couldn’t bring himself to use enough strength to defeat Arata…it’s like he is disappointed, he wants something else from him that Arata isn’t showing him… Anyway, Arata now doesn’t even look tired or invested in his win in any way.

9) Now he looks surprised, is it because he can’t see Chihaya anywhere? the half black & half white background was used before and in my case, it represents “Confusion”. In addition to the blush, Arata makes a completely unrelated face with the one he made after he won, it’s like the moment he came outside, he became someone else, or better, he was someone else but the moment he came out, he became himself again (can we then take the blush as an “Arata is himself” sign & its disappearance as a “Hajime mode” sign? XD) The SFX isn’t BAM right? because who is still taking cards? According to Google, it’s rather (バツ/ turn suddenly); And seeing Kana searching for her confirmed that she was nowhere around so he went to look for her right away, even before he reports his win and gives back the cards. (he looked like an old man in the 3rd panel lol) and in the 4th, he looked very concerned for Chihaya suddenly sweating and turning around in a hurry. Kana’s way of searching was by shouting loudly everywhere, while Arata’s reflects more of his personality and I like it, he won’t do random things, he goes to the places where she might be, calmly & silently.. I really love this. So he asks around, the bathroom was a good place to look in but she wasn’t there (and he was so amusing being all shy but asking anyway) These few panels tell me more about Arata’s character; he really is used to take matters into his hands. He didn’t go to ask Kana when was the last time Chihaya was seen and where etc. he didn’t approach those who were already searching for her, he went to do it himself. I already said that, but I guess, his parents & his family conditions made him this way. he couldn’t get support, he was rather the one asked to help so he learnt not to ask for help and to take care of things himself instead. The outside was the last place to look in, is it because Arata was more intuitive that he could find her before Kana who was already searching before he even finished his match? Who knows, but I certainly see Arata as a reliable guy, he always was and he is also now. And there she was, Chihaya was crouching on the cold snow…

10) Arata stuttered like usual before he gets Chihaya’s name out; A whole page just to tell us Arata found Chihaya crying desperately in the snow and her bare feet were red from cold. No special backgrounds, no hinting no indirect messages, it’s all snow and white and they were the only ones there. Arata put his hand on her back casually then lowered his head to see her face (imagining this in slow motion is so warm) and then noticed her freezing toes..

11) As Arata noticed Chihaya’s feet, he held her up on his shoulder, no blushing, no shyness, no hesitation, no clumsiness, his familiar self was buried and Chihaya is what matters now! Arata is strong! He is 177cm and weighs 65kgs while Chihaya is 167 and weighs 54kgs, not much difference right? And this wasn’t the 1st time he carries her, He did before when she fainted in her 1st nationals, he carried her bridal style, now it’s an OTS carry (yep, read about this on TV tropes and they gave it an abbreviation lol “Over The Shoulder carry”) Chihaya was surprised but her focus soon was turned to the box of cards that Arata dropped while carrying her, She started to apologize, she certainly sees the cards as living humans now, Arata wasn’t as concerned, she was 1st for him and everything will come after. When the box fell, 4 poems were revealed:

6/kasassagi no: The misty bridge between distant lovers that will bring them together for sure. 51/Kaku to dani: This is about a fierce love that the poet feels burning inside him but doesn’t know how to express it to the woman he loves. 26/Ogurayama: The poet tries to invite an emperor to visit a certain pretty place that his father visited before and he wished his son would come to see it too. He uses the maple leaves to express the felt desire & longing to see the emperor-son. And half shown, 72/Oto ni kiku: it’s about the known waves of "Takashi beach" that the poet doesn’t want to approach not to wet her sleeve, but it’s actually about her not trusting the invitation she got from a man and fearing a love affair that will end in tears, this poem can be used to express avoiding something not to get hurt by it…

Again, none can say for sure why exactly these poems but I strongly believe that they are a hint. And for me, they are saying something about the relationship between Chihaya & Arata (they are a love story!!).

Looking back on the history of poem 6, we can expect that Suetsugu is going back to the idea of "there is a distance between Chihaya & Arata which is like the distance of the two legendary lovers Orihime & Hikoboshi" but this time, Arata is the one who is preoccupied with this distance more... Kaku to dani: needless to say, this is about Arata’s feelings for Chihaya, they are burning again because Chihaya needs something to cheer her up so he needs to convey them somehow. Ogurayama: I believe this is about the maple leaves carrying Arata’s feelings. Even if he doesn’t try to show it or be vocal about it, even though he used his phone only 3 times to send something to Chihaya (was only a msg through Taichi, then a message to her & Taichi and finally a call-what a progress lol), but he longs for her and wants her to be happy like how the emperor would have felt if he came to see those pretty crimson maple leaves. He wants his feelings to make Chihaya happy somehow. And the half-shown Oto ni kiku is about fear of love and tears. This is about Chihaya who isn’t allowing herself to be involved with love yet! there is something she feels lacking which is necessary before she lets herself love and I believe it’s the thing making her turn her head away from Arata ..

Then Chihaya realized, then looked at Arata’s head, he won his much! he now has 2 wins and one more win and he will achieve the dream he shared with her, the kinda promise: “this weekend, let’s make our 1st dream the reality”

12) Then Chihaya cried, helplessly. She congratulated Arata through her tears but she was rather miserable… It’s so hard to be happy for him right? this is not a win which will be enough to get by either him OR her, whichever happens should be good if they are friends right? but no, this is about her!! I have a feeling that if Chihaya won & Arata not, she wouldn’t be very sad for him.. There is something telling me that Chihaya is only scared of being left behind by Arata, as long as he doesn’t, she will be fine, but if he does, she will feel devastated. this is such a strong word, but I mean it.

13) And she voiced a bit of her concern, she was afraid she can never win, even though she lost only by 3 cards, personally, I’ll think that from 7 cards to 3, I can make it in the next game, but Chihaya seems to think that the strongest she can be is the way she was in this second game, then she can only get close to Shinobu that much, not to lose with more than 3 cards. Arata was surprised; maybe he never thought she could lose hope? or maybe he is confused how she can say so when he believes that she can win against Shinobu.. And ofc, before he says anything Kana & Tamaru finally found Chihaya. Kana is as wary of Arata as ever, the n°1 Taichiha shipper. But apparently, she didn’t see Arata bringing Chihaya from outside, she saw only when he put her down and that looked “too close” for her and “hurry up, let’s go to your waiting room, it’s like she is saving her from Arata.. While our gentleman was putting Chihaya down so carefully while looking at her feet whether they are fine or not.

14) Kana is indeed a typical Taichiha shipper, I have seen it a lot, no matter what Arata does, he is always a target for hate or at least disdain. Approaching Chihaya is a big no for them let alone take caring of her. I tried to laugh at this panel, I thought that sensei really is referring to those fans, she might have wanted it to be a comical moment but it’s not. What I saw is that, again, Kana is putting Taichi & herself before Chihaya & it sucks. Arata didn’t even notice her though, thankfully, all he could see was Chihaya, the painful face she was making & her tears (The background of confusion as I call it).. Arata suddenly took us for another rare moment inside his stubbornly concealed heart, the clumsy guy who seems shallow & insensitive to lot of readers.. Chihaya’s weight alone made him look so deep into her and see so much…She is unfamiliar to him, he didn’t get to learn earlier about her everything, but in every second he is given, we saw him pay a lot of attention and see her with more than his eyes. Chihaya’s tears meant that she worked so hard and that didn’t pay off, she wouldn’t have cried this much otherwise. And he can already learn that much about her by just imagining what he wasn’t there to witness, she worked so so hard. Looking at his hands (Chihaya was there lol), he looked so deep in thought, but he remembered the cards he left on the snow..

15) He rushed to bring them but his thoughts were full of Chihaya and how to cheer for her, Arata acknowledged her strength, she is an amazing strong player who can really defeat Shinobu (he seems to believe he can also defeat Suo).but he is not good at communicating his feelings & thoughts, he is clumsy & he knows it..so will he hide his clumsiness to look cool like Taichi does most of the time? No, that wasn’t what Arata thinking, he was rather wondering about a way to make her know what might save her.. He took the cards getting now wet from the snow, he took 77/SE while he was wondering.. “Se” is about the separated ones who will certainly meet again.. it’s like Arata feels a boulder blocking his thoughts and feelings from reaching her and he wants to find a way to bypass it & reach her. “Se” has always been a special card for Arata and it is because of Chihaya..

16) It was the 1st card Chihaya took from him and he already got it back from her in their match but for Arata, SE is more than that. It’s the card that started Chihaya’s journey in Karuta. and Arata is confident that he is the only one who knows, and he is confident that the level she showed in her match with him is the highest she reached, or the highest anyone can reach, or at least, if she is defeated by Shinobu in 2 matches today and was already defeated by her in ch169 then it’s a level she didn’t go to again after her match with him and she still can do it. Arata’s head was really full of Chihaya, he is so focused on her that he totally forgot he too is where he worked to be for so many years, longer and maybe even harder than Chihaya herself (for almost 12 years, more than half of his life, no it’s 2 thirds of his life!!!), so the Murao twins came to remind him of what he forgot since the match ended, of the Meijin title & his grandpa. Only one other win to be were Hajime Wataya seems to have wanted Arata to be (or at least that’s what Arata thought)

17) Yep, Hajime is telling him to focus, to forget about Chihaya & concentrate on him & his goal. “Se” was shown again with the words “the mejin title”, is that the boulder separating the stream of the river?

18) Arata placed Se back on top of the cards in the box next to another card:

18/Su mi no e no: This poem is about hiding from people’s gaze when going to meet the lover, trying to avoid exposure even in dreams.. Doesn’t it suit the moment perfectly? when the twins came to remind Arata of the Meijin title and his status, he hid “SE” (representing also his feelings for Chihaya) in the box, it’s like how the poet who is an aristocrat from the great Fujiwara family (Fujiwara men are known to choose their wives in the family) is afraid of being exposed.

Arata closed the box, it’s also like “Se” keeps him the real Arata (he said that he lacked love to be himself, so maybe Se is his love poem to Chihaya, his love saves him regardless of whether she reciprocates it or not contrary to Taichi, his love always hurt him, like a curse) The Karuta officials are the happiest for Arata’s win it seems, he pleased them, he revived Wataya Hajime for them again, they are blessed, for them, it’s all about them & Hajime it seems, Arata isn’t really seen for who he is… Arata remembered when that man told him that because Arata’s Karuta is exactly like Hajime’s, he was able to see Wataya sensei again. Back then Arata cried, he said that he really loves Karuta.. Could it now turn into a curse? because it’s too much? Because he is losing himself? because he is not seen? Why was Arata happy back then? and is the reason weaker than any probable desire now to be seen for who he is?

19) Suo was upset! His dear aunt that he didn’t meet for 8 years suddenly came all the way from Kyushu to see him, but he wasn’t happy..He lost two games but he doesn’t seem worried about that... Yukiko was kind and looks like the sweets are a family thing? Sudo is confused (he is amusing when he is like that) & Suo’s cousin is more impressed because Suo had lot of female friends lol Suo was nervous, he wanted to ask how and why they were suddenly there but he stuttered and According to Yukiko chan’s answer, we learn that Suo developed the habit of soft talking after he quit Kyushu.

20) After 8 years of separation, she wanted to touch the boy she loved so much and cared immensely for, maybe it’s because she can’t see him well too, but she failed to reach his face, she couldn’t see well, and Suo felt so hurt, but like anyone else with pride, his reaction was based on his suffering not on hers. And instead of being hurt herself, she rather was worried about him, why would he be cruel to her unless he too is suffering from her same illness.

21) The whole conversation in this page feels weird. Suo raised his voice from frustration and these relatives didn’t try to listen to him before. The cousin rather teased him about his loss as if it’s nothing, (he highlighted the fact that Arata is a youngster too) And Yukiko’s answer was soething I didn’t expect! She doesn’t seem to care much about the Meijin thing, she rather looked hopeful (notice the sudden blush), she thought that if Suo is no longer Meijin then he can go back home. What was even more surprising is that Suo looked agitated but his answer wasn’t what I expected, he asn’t worried that his title doesn’t see precious that his relatives would want him to keep, he was rather worried that what they are offering is impossible because he grew up to become a stranger and going back to his home is impossible.

22) Seems that Suo would consider his home any place Yukiko owns, but he knew that she didn’t own the house she told him to go back to. (isn’t this a reason to work harder in univ then get a job and buy a house to bring Yukiko to live with him instead?) The cousin got angry because things like these aren’t considered in a warm loving family where elderly are respected and considered owners before what papers say.. Suo didn’t seem to want to listen, and he left hurriedly causing his condition to beclearer to his aunt as he bumped with many things in his way out. (BACKGROUND of confusion in the last panel)

23) Still, Suo couldn’t leave before knowing why they suddenly came. and the description was so easy to tell him who, Suo realized it right away, the boy with big eyes who would wish for Suo’s family to come watch him (because he is incredible & wants his family to know that? or bc he pities him?) The boy with big eyes was “Mashima kun” they called him this many times, now they didn’t mention the name, I wonder how Sudou would have felt if he knew? would he realize that Taichi really got the closest to Suo, somewhere he couldn’t go?

24) Chitose left, Chihaya’s mom knew but didn’t understand why, Kana, tsukuba & Nishida stayed out of the room while Chihaya, Tamaru, Namida, Sumire & the last boy from Mizusawa that went to Shiranami were all inside, Kana told the mom it’s better to stay out and those inside were all experiencing the reason lol Ah no, Namida was doing great, he is such positive and hard working boy, he is not wasting his time by being afraid or nervous, he is taking notes instead! Chihaya is the most nervous because she is the reason Harada sensei is furious. Harada never taught Chihaya to send back a card because the opponent will place it again in its original place that they remember well (and we know that Chihaya sent it to provoke Shinobu -see ch222), provocative Karuta based on the knowledge of what Shinobu hates and the cards she won’t place next to each other was Watarai’s teaching.

25) Yep, Shiranami’s way is to target the opponent’s memorization as much as possible, Shiranai members are scared of Harada but can’t deny that he is right, he is a great teacher, has a good experience in Karuta and in teaching, maybe them being present here to hear & learn is the biggest proof. Chihaya also didn’t lift her head, she knew he was totally right, she can’t think that losing was because she was unlucky in front of the strongest queen, it’s because of those small mistakes she allowed herself to make.

26) Harada’s words kept hitting hard for Chihaya. Maybe he didn’t say that she was wrong, she learnt a new way in 2 months but she already had a strong way that she could fortify in these 2 months too.. Chihaya focused on Shinobu’s cards and neglected her own? isn’t this beneficial for an offensive Karuta player? I don’t get it well But Harada didn’t understand much of Chihaya’s new method either and he was honest & fair, he acknowledged what Chihaya still achieved: she got a strong reaction from Shinobu. Did Shinobu’s smile mean that she wasn’t indifferent with Chihaya? that she enjoyed the “strong” opponent? Harada told Chihaya that Shinobu seems to have enjoyed her match with her like she enjoyed her match with Arata which means that Chihaya played at Arata’s level back then and that is an achievement!

27) He smiled to her to make her feel better, because she really did great by learning new strong weapons in 2 months.. And now it’s time for the 3rd game. at this point, we don’t really know if Chihaya was better? if she calmed down? While Arata seems to be still in his grandpa mode, (he looks really like an old man here, calm and silent, he wasn’t like in the 1st break And he was completely the opposite of his father who was so energetic and very satisfied with Yuu’s gift, a design with the word “TOP” inspiring more will to do one’s best to reach the top! Akira seems quite fond of Yuu (I am too), she was admitted to her school of choice & he is happy for her, the Watayas talk so familiarly about her like she is really a close relative except Arata…

28) Akira is really hard to deal with, he does whatever he wants and he is very fond of Yuu. Asking for Arata’s phone to call her & thank her, Arata rejected any try to involve him in this mess (he didn’t even react when Akira said that he will make up a lie and say that Arata was touched because of her gift, Yuu would have probably known it’s a lie because Arata wouldn’t react like that… But it’s IC if he does for Chihaya right?), he was trying his best to focus, he didn’t show any enthusiasm about Yuu; Her, his father, the food or anything of the sort couldn’t break his grandpa mode. And finally, Taichi’s message was discovered, Arata didn’t want to read anything before his game but knowing it’s about Taichi, would that be still the case?

29) Arata stopped! getting a message from Taichi who didn’t come to watch made him really stop, Taichi is really special to Arata. And turning back he found Chihaya there too, she heard what Akira said & her face showed surprise!.

30) Chihaya seemed lost in her desperation, she didn’t say a word she just turned quickly wishing to find something for her too from Taichi, she needed him, when Taichi was around he could somehow find a way to make things better and she needs it now because she is not fine, Harada’s words didn’t seem to heal her fully, she sighed when she didn’t find anything.. Arata was confused (the BACKGROUND), and when Chihaya saw him she blushed & turned her head away in embarrassment, Arata lifted her suddenly earlier and she didn’t have time to do this back then. Why? if it was because Taichi now then what about the 1st time? It wasn’t because of Taichi, it was because she looked weak in front of Arata. Chihaya has always worked hard to reach him, to become someone who can meet his passion, to be worth sitting across him in Karuta.. but she kept losing where he kept winning, he was always ahead and she could never arrive there. Chihaya was embarrassed of her weak self who showed more weakness and dependence of Taichi’s help, it’s like she can’t go anywhere without his support… Arata knew that wasn’t true. Akira asked again if Arata wanted to look at Taichi’s message and Chihaya passed him just now without a word (and Kana still looked at him sideway lol) …so many distractions, Hajime Wataya’s voice was calling him again to focus, just a bit more & he’ll be the Meijin, that’s all he was about after all right?

31) NOT RIGHT!!! That wasn’t all Arata was about, not for those who care to look at him properly! Arata wasn’t worried about being ditched, or about what Taichi’s message might contain, he rather remembered when Chihaya showed him her special bond with Taichi that day when she crushed him.. This was good reason to feel jealous or upset but that’s not who Arata was… He took Chihaya’s hand and disobeyed his grandpa’s words!

32) Arata’s face looks desperate trying to reach Chihaya to make her see the truth he believes about her, she can defeat Shinobu & he means it, he knows her strength too and he could compare, he knows when Chihaya was the strongest and how Taichi is the last piece in what Chihaya fought for and became the strongest… The blush on Arata’s face says how much he wanted to make it through to her, how many times does Arata show emotions? the calm and collected guy, what does it mean when he shows such face? “You shouldn’t go play with Shinobu chan in her arena” Harada sensei pointed out Chihaya’s mistakes but he didn’t show her a way to follow, it’s like he no longer has an advice for her, he gave her everything he got and when she strayed from his path he reminded her, but that’s all, And Arata’s advice was something else, like a Karuta expert, he knew what to tell Chihaya, even though he didn’t watch her matches or maybe he did? because he didn’t seem in a pinch in his own vs Suo, maybe he got time to look sometimes…

33) Arata really had what to say, and Chihaya listened because what she heard was useful. She wanted o go where the lonely Shinobu is but she couldn’t face everything in that world and she came out leaving a still lonely Shinobu inside, Arata tells her to bring Shinobu outside instead, to show her the wonderful things outside that can give Chihaya the same strength as Shinobu, something she might want to come out to get? Chihaya saw an illusion for the calm Queen, the plant in the frame was always used for Shinobu too and it seems (and I’m not sure) that Suetsugu uses it for Shinobu who is Shinobu and not the Queen.

34) Chihaya found Arata’s words interesting, that was some good technical support but she had to think more to find her arena Though, Arata wouldn’t let her, he gives her now the emotional support, he knew Chihaya needed Taichi (not the person, but at least sensing his presence in what he left) so he decided to give her that, anything she needs, he wouldn’t be jealous or needy or immature, he put her 1st and I admire the way he loves even more!

35) Everyone saw what Arata wanted to show, it wasn’t a secret or personal message to Chihaya, and Taichi is the captain of Mizusawa, he pushed that team, and Arata brought it to push it again. Arata persisted bc he knew very well how much Chihaya values Taichi & her team, he didn’t need to be there for 3 years to know, he is very attentive and intuitive too and looks at Chihaya really properly!.

36/37) Arata’s words were moving to all Mizusawa members, they all blushed emotionally, and Chihaya cried, maybe because she missed this or maybe because she somehow betrayed it by forgetting it and not working for her team like she said she would before…(this chapter looks so direct, no BACKGROUNDs, no shoujo effects)

38) Arata held Chihaya’s hand so gently (I wonder why sensei drew this panel, it’s totally unnecessary for anything other than highlighting Arata’s love (romantic love because I can’t imagine him do this to Yuu if she ever goes through something like this)) He mentions his loss to her as something big which is a compliment to Chihaya & an acknowledgement of her strength & level. He says it with no embarrassment because her win was well deserved (I want to see Taichi make a confession like this to Arata). And Mizusawa captain was strong because she played for her team, she used all she had for them… so Chihaya again, only has to play her own Karuta, this is the opposite of what Chihaya told Arata in his match against Harada, she told him to play like someone else.. Amusing!

39) In Shinobu’s waiting room, Shinobu was acting like a child, so carefree; she only has 1 remaining win to keep her title after all. She also seems so close with Kokoro chan now (Kokoro called her Shinobu without “chan” or anything, it implies so much familiarity right?) also Shinobu is a bad example it seems lol. Though Kokoro mentions something that might be a hint to Shinobu’s next loss (a 3rd game is tiresome). And then when Shinobu was about to get up, something was off, she felt something but she didn’t see what it was? Kokoro asked but she didn’t answer? Chihaya was shown right after that still having her tears while Arata kept explaining what he wanted to say, like he himself does, he gave her an image he knows will push her to win, she had to think that she is playing in a team tournament, her team is losing, they have two losses and 0 wins, now the remaining 3 members should all win at all costs and Chihaya will play the role of the three players, it’s like when they played in the finals of last year’s high school team tournament vs Fujisaki where both Tsukuba & Tsukue kun lost and Chihaya, Taichi & Nishida felt the responsibility to win each their game, Taichi was the one who voiced this desire 1st (ch81). (That was the game Chihaya felt upset because Arata told her that he didn’t care for teams and now, he is showing her the opposite of what she feared back then, he treasures "teams" & knows exactly how important one is for any member.)

40) And Arata impersonated Taichi for Chihaya! He should have felt jealous, he already experienced that feeling and wanted to be the one Chihaya sees, but now & for her sake, he accepted Taichi and even revived him in her memory to get as much strength from that as she needs. He wasn't there but he must have known Taichi would say that for Chihaya so he reminded her of it for her sake instead of being selfish & feeling miserable or jealous (reminds me of when Chihaya hid in the closet after she lost, the way Taichi brought up Arata’s name all miserable & helpless, he couldn’t forget about himself for a bit for Chihaya contrary to Arata even though he didn’t have anything to be confident about, Chihaya was closer to Taichi, she cared for him so much, she showed him this care in front of his eyes, he had every reason to feel threatened but he didn’t, Chihaya mattered more than that to him …)

[beatsfortheillperth]

Words with Jetson

Our next interview is with a producer and rapper out of a beautiful place known as Tauranga, in New Zealand, This creative is known as Jetson.

He happens to be one of my cat, Rain's personal favourites for sleep time and regardless of the amount of thumping bass Jetson's music creates and picture frames it knocks over, I understand why he sleeps so sweetly.

Probably a lot to do with the fact that bass has rhythm, just like the sweet sweet words Jetson correlates with his word-plays in tracks such as "Milk" and "SENSEI". Not only impressing cats, Jetson has made moves and connections beyond the long white cloud, proving isolation doesn't always silence brilliance. Jetson brings words any generation can hold some sort of relevance to, words that allow one to notice life moves fast and slow and sometimes you just have to chill and become an observer rather than an instigator.

This is something I feel Jetson has accomplished with his rather low-key approach to releases and interviews.

Jetson is a natural, a true prodigy of sound and a sharer of moods, and to me, is a reminder that with a little bit of passion and persistence, great things can happen, whatever your field.

Jetson’s collective and label - Chill Children is evidence of that, as through it , Jetson is able to work and release with producers and beat-makers all over the globe.

emo the optimist, BACKWHEN, fuyu, eets, and junyii are just some of the diverse talents working with Chill Children and everyone on the catalogue are game-changers that make music that’s anointed in chills. 

Creators that push boundaries and portray emotion through sound in the most soothing way, one must check Chill Children.

So with that I hope you enjoy rare words with the nuance wonder, and in his own words.

Sit back, relax, get baked, create, f**k it.

Enjoy and much love.

Hey man thanks for the opportunity to share words. Let's start with a few random quick questions to get things going. Favourite Beverage: Lemon water. Favourite thing to do in your down-time: Make music/skate. Views on Reincarnation: It will be cool if it is true but I guess it doesn't really change anything if it is 🤷‍♂️ Favourite Food: Sushi. Favourite Album of All Time: Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders A song to break it down to: Ethereal & Playboi Carti - Beef A song to chill to: Durand Jones & The Indications - Cruising to the park Do you prefer Sunrise? or Sunset? Why?: Sunset, because I'm never awake for sunrise. A childhood memory in regards to music: I remember saving up to buy Graduation by Kanye West and listening to that shit front to back for weeks straight. Favourite Place to be: Probably on an island.

Thanks for that, so let's start by asking what inspires you to produce and not only produce but continually produce, what to me is an array of tunes fitting so many genres?

Do you have a set of goals in place when you release a track or do you just hit upload and just hope people are feeling your sound?

What I like to listen to is constantly changing so I like to challenge myself to try and make the things that I'm inspired by.

I like to think that you never know what you're gonna get when you listen to my music but I've still got so much to learn and experiment with. I just try have fun with it and not think about it too much.

How long have you been producing music, and what did you find was hardest to get the hang of when it first came to producing beats?

I had no music theory knowledge or anything when I started making beats (I still don't have much) so there was a lot to learn right away.

Probably the hardest thing that I still battle with is knowing what you should release, what you shouldn't etc. It's hard to balance knowing when something is finished and when it still needs work.

Could you give a quick run-through of the process you follow when it comes to making a beat?

I try to change my process as much as I can to keep things fresh and fun for myself. But I really enjoy hearing a sample somewhere like keys, a quote or a rapper I want to remix, then I start working with that piece and see where it goes.

I'll mess around with the beat for a while and sometimes a track comes out. It can take one day, it can take months. Just depends.

Oldies are always goodies in my books and I have to mention your "bumps from 2014" mixtape, it truly is something special.

What inspired those little bumps? What were you doing back then? Also, can you remember the mood you were in when you made them?

I'm glad you like it haha. That was when I really had no clue what I was doing in terms of making beats, I was making all of those 'off the grid' in Ableton so I was placing drums in random places, I had no idea what bpm the samples were or anything. I really didn't know wtf I was doing, just going off of a vibe. 

My mood was really just being excited about making music, I was living in the basement at my mum's house blasting beats on the speakers all day.

[bumps from 2014] - https://soundcloud.com/sleepgodd/bumps-from-2014

You are also a rapper. My favourite NZ rapper to be more precise so thank you for the vibes you create. How did you find out you had it in you to rap and how old were you?

Damn, I appreciate that ✌️ I started rapping with a friend of mine, Jesse aka j cafe when we were around 20. We'd sit in my room smoking weed, and free-styling over beats on Soundcloud all night. 

Then we decided to make a track, so we found a beat and jumped in the closet to record some vocals on the laptop microphone.

We put it up on Soundcloud and I've been addicted to making music ever since.

Link to j cafe’s Soundcloud here - https://soundcloud.com/j-cafe

Cover art for Jetson’s 2019 rap release - bluntscraps

Album cover art by Takuroh Toyama

When did you first start rapping in front of others? What did it feel like in the beginning compared to now when you perform live?

I was insanely nervous the first time I ever did anything live and that feeling really hasn't left me lol.

Except now I know how to deal with nerves a bit better and actually enjoy the whole experience of doing something live.

I definitely think I'm a lot better now than my first time doing it, but I still kinda suck 😂 Staying on topic with your rapping, material-wise you have mad skills, your music is forever helping me chill out so thank you.

When did you start writing down your words and turning them into structured songs? Do you have any other artists that inspire your writing style?

When I was younger I really liked the flow of rappers rather than what they were actually saying.

Dudes like MF Doom and Earl Sweatshirt really influenced me at the start wanting to come up with lines that were catchy and different.

To form an actual track I usually just mumble over beats to get the flow, then I start placing words in the spots where I think they fit.

Does your family know you make music? If so what do they think of it, any dance parties in the Jetson Family Household? 

My immediate family all know and support my music. My mum used to have one of my tracks as her ringtone for years lol.

No jetson dance parties yet, but seems like every year more people in my extended family know about my music.

You were also a member of NZ Duo, Chill Children of which you rap and produce with yet another kiwi talent, both having low-key approaches when it comes to presenting yourselves through social media. What happened with that?

Me and J Cafe started Chill Children as a rap project in the early days but we moved to different places in the world and started doing our own solo projects so things sort of stopped happening with it.

I still credit those times with really getting me started on music though. He's still making dope shit and we'll probably link up on a track soon.

So then it became a sort of collective community, and through your Chill Children Soundcloud, you allow a platform for other artists to have their music heard.

Much Love on the concept, What inspired you to start sharing other artists music and what keeps you sharing? I'm very grateful btw, too many gems.

I work on music a lot with my friend emo the optimist (aka kodama) and we always wanted to run a label/collective kind of thing so we could release music from artists that we really liked.

After me and Jesse started doing our own thing, Chill Children seemed like the perfect place to start doing that.

It's one of my favorite things to work on as we have a hand in working with the artists on every release. I just love that we're able to share so much music that we really like with the world.

Check Chill Children here -

Bandcamp - https://chillchildren.bandcamp.com/

Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/chillchildren

Instagram - @chillchildren

Any new Chill Children material we should keep an eye out for?

We always have new music from new artists dropping so definitely follow our instagram/twitter if you want to stay updated on it.

We're currently working on a phonk compilation with guys like DJ Yung Vamp, Genshin etc. It's gonna be crazy 🤯

Back to your solo releases through your alias Jetson. What made you want to start putting out your material alone? Also, do you have a favourite Jetson release?

I really felt like I had to release music solo to see what I could do.

I've learned so much about myself through that process, became more confident and a better musician.

Probably my favorite rap track I've made is called 'Escape'.

Not many people have heard it but it's on Spotify and other places.

My favorite beat I've made is probably 'dylan rieder'.

Have to ask, are you working on any new releases we should keep an ear out for? If so, what can we expect with your coming releases?

I just released an album on Bandcamp called THROWED TAPES which was really influenced by DJ screw and other phonk producers.

I'm working on a lofi R&B tape for Bandcamp, a lofi beat tape, and I really want to release a rap EP.

Who knows when those will come out though haha

Taking it back a little to your rapping again I have to mention "Milk". What inspires the words in this track?

Also please share the story behind your track "Melancholy"? The words are somewhat mesmerizing, thank you!

With milk, I just heard the beat from bsd.u and really wanted to make something weird that just followed the flow of the beat.

On melancholy I tried to think about what I was saying a little more. The instrumental is so introspective and smooth I knew I had to come correct on it.

THROWED TAPES By Jetson, released August, 27, 2020

Musical Recommendations?

junyii - emo the optimist - knxwledge - j cafe - jesse james solomon - the smiths - dj yung vamp - shuggie otis - hm surf - alicks - MIKE - baccyard - meraki soul - steve hiett I could go on for days though lol

Creatives to keep an eye out for in music and art? Takuroh Toyama (photography) Moebius (visual art) Steve Hiett (photography/music) Any Last Words?

It really trips me out that people enjoy something I love to do so much.

So just thank you for vibing with me, I have a lot more to share ✌️

Support Jetson here -

Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/highimjetson

Bandcamp - https://jetsonbumps.bandcamp.com/

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2bkf2PmiVyfCqg2uzIFIqJ

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jetsonbumps

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jetsonn/?hl=en

Milk by Jetson (Production by bsd.u)

[blightarts]

Blades of Order & Chaos

Chapter Title: 7 - Lion VS Bear

Previous Chapter: Fated Encounter

Word Count: 5239

Disclaimer: All rights belong to Pixelberry. This is my version for the upcoming sequel of Blades of Light & Shadow. I am not claiming this to be the canon story of the book. This is only written to increase the hype for the actual sequel.

MC/Pairing: Kite (Blue Elf Male MC) / Kite x Nia

Taglist: @princessstellaris​ @mechaspirit​ @brightningstar​ @cal-north​ @lxdy-starfury​ @tyrils-star​ @imturaxamara​ @kelseaaa​

In the empty alleyways of the Vishanti Kingdom, the party follows Bella closer to the castle, with Kade and Threep still staring at her in awe. The self-proclaimed goddess turns to them and rolls her eyes.

Bella: Oh, will you stop starin’ at me like that? It’s creepy.

Kite lightly chuckles while his brother and Threep shake their heads to compose themselves.

Kade: Sorry, it’s just…

Threep: It was difficult for us to comprehend that you are one of the New Gods and you are aiding us in our journey.

Bella: I ain’t aidin’ nobody. I’m just doin’ what I’m paid to do. After I get me sack o’ coins, I’ll be out of yer hair.

Kade grins excitedly.

Kade: I have some questions, though.

Bella rolls her eyes.

Bella: Okay, here we go.

Kade: Did you actually fought with the other New Gods? Did you get to meet them? What is Xaius, the God of Victory like? Or Ellara, the Goddess of Aegis? Or Ittar and Bakshi, the Gods of Love?

Bella stops on her tracks, prompting the party to stop too. She then quickly turns to Kade with a hilarious-looking annoyed face.

Bella: Listen here, kid. This ain’t no twenty questions game. I’m one of the New Gods, that’s it. That’s all you need to know.

Nervously sweating, the bard just nods repeatedly while responding in a stuttering tone.

Kade: R-R-Right… S-S-Sorry…

Bella: Good.

The mercenary turns back and walks ahead while the party follows suit. Kite pats his brother’s head to help him feel better, prompting the latter to smile.

Kade: Thanks.

Kite: You gotta stay calm, Kade. We’re in the presence of a Goddess, after all.

Kade grins and nods before taking a deep breath to compose himself.

Kade: I’m good.

Kite smiles while Threep looks up at the Vishanti Castle.

Threep: We’re close.

Bella suddenly takes a detour, confusing everyone.

Bella: Over here.

Kade: Wait, I thought we’re going to the castle.

Bella: Yer still wanted ‘round town, right? This path will lead you inside the castle without getting’ any attention.

Bella rushes inside a hidden entrance to an underground tunnel. The party members look at each other before reluctantly following the goddess. After a few minutes of trekking in the tunnels, the party eventually reach a large door, guarded by two armored wooly-men.

(Author’s Note: For this fic, average Wooly-Men height is around 8.5 feet and they have bulky builds like orcs.)

Wooly-Man 1: Halt! Who goes there?

Bella: Come on, Erik. It’s me! Yer best pal, Bella!

The guard huffs.

Erik: You still owe me some coin, Bella. No matter how much King Njal pays you, I’ll be taking them all.

Bella grins and gently punches Erik’s arm.

Bella: Nice to see ya too!

Erik notices the party behind the mercenary.

Erik: Are these the wanted criminals that the King specifically wanted you to fetch?

Bella: Yeah, they are.

Kade gulps nervously.

Kade: A-A-Are you gonna execute us?

Threep trembles.

Threep: Can I at least get one delicious feast as my last meal before I get beheaded?

Kite remains unfazed and just asks his question in a calm manner.

Kite: We’re not in trouble, are we?

Erik just opens the door.

Erik: You best ask the King himself.

Bella enters the castle’s crypt as Kite follows suit, holding Kade’s arm to help him calm down. After a few minutes of trekking through the maze-like structure of the Vishanti crypts, they arrive at the throne room, where the largest of all the wooly-men, about nine feet tall, sits upon a gigantic throne.

Bella: Alright, Njal, here are those criminals ya wanted. Now, pay up.

King Njal, the leader of the wooly-men and the king of the mountain, stands from his throne, towering over everyone in the room and immediately intimidating both Kade and Threep, before approaching the party. He then lightly chops Bella’s head with his hand.

Bella: Hey! What gives?!

Njal chuckles.

King Njal: It’s still surprising to me how you, a goddess, stoop so low that you have to perform tasks given by us, the common people, just to sustain your needs.

Annoyed, Bella easily slaps away the King’s hand with her outstanding strength.

Bella: I do what I like. Just give me payment. Besides, you’ve never won a single test of strength against this lowly goddess.

Njal grins.

King Njal: That is true, but you will get your payment later. I shall speak to our guests first.

Bella: I hate you.

Bella puffs her cheeks and steps aside. Njal then turns to the party. Kade and Threep immediately hide behind Kite, who bows before the King.

King Njal: I see that after your memory loss, you still retain your courtesy, Young Nightbloom.

Kade peeks from behind Kite.

Kade: Y-You have heard of us, your Majesty?

King Njal: Yes, I have received letters from the Dunbar tribesmen and the Zaradun dwarves, informing of your arrival.

Kade steps up, beside Kite, while Threep climbs on the elf’s shoulder.

Threep: Then you must know why we are here, your Majesty.

King Njal: Indeed. You are here for the weapon we have kept deep within our mountains that King Brynjar has told you a year ago.

King Njal turns and points to a claymore floating above his throne. The claymore’s blade is completely made of a special crystal, glimmering from the cerulean light emitted by the torches inside the throne room.

Kade: It looks so… elegant, like a rainbow.

Kite: What is it called?

King Njal: The Mirror Claymore, a weapon made of Vishanti’s rarest ore, Prismium. It is capable of deflecting or absorbing almost any type of magic, protecting its wielder while unleashing a counterattack filled with magical energy at their opponent.

Kade: “Any type of magic”? Does that mean…?

King Njal turns to the party with a nod.

King Njal: Yes. It is even capable of countering Sir Laundsellyn’s Relinquish spell.

Kade grins and turns to Kite with an ecstatic expression.

Kade: This is amazing, Kite! We finally have something to match against the Empire.

Threep: It is quite a magnificent weapon to behold. I can now see why King Brynjar wanted us to search for it.

King Njal reaches out his hand as the Mirror Claymore hovers towards it. As the Mountain King grasps the weapon, Kite approaches him. However, two guards get between him and King Njal.

Threep: How dare you?!

Kade: What gives?!

Kite soon realizes the situation as he prepares to draw the Bow of Gal’dariel.

Kite: I don’t suppose you’d want us to just claim that without a fight, huh, your Majesty?

Bella raises her eyebrow, slowly becoming interested with the situation, as King Njal laughs and turns towards Kite.

King Njal: Right, you are, Young Nightbloom. If you want to claim it, you have to earn it through a test of strength.

Kite: Alright, you asked for it. Here I go!

Kite suddenly leaps high, above the two guards, while casting a ball of Cleansing Fire. Caught off-guard, everyone looks upon the elf.

King Njal: Wait! I do not mean now!

But King Njal was too late on informing Kite as the latter quickly hurls a fireball at the former. King Njal immediately swings the Mirror Claymore at the fireball, like playing baseball, launching it towards Kite, who uses the Shield of Castiel to block the counterattack, before landing on his feet. The guards immediately point their spears towards the elf, who laughs like a child.

Kite: Sorry about that. I just wanted to test out the Claymore. I do accept your challenge though. Hehe.

Threep: What do you mean by “Hehe”?!

Kade lightly chops Kite’s head.

Kade: Not funny.

Bella begins to chuckle, surprising everyone. She approaches Kite with a grin.

Bella: Yer an interesting fella, Kite Nightbloom.

She then puts her arm around him, like he’s been her best friend for a long time, and turns to King Njal.

Bella: Let’s make this challenge interesting, Njal. Why not duke it out in a wrestling match? Best three outta five.

King Njal raises an eyebrow.

King Njal: Ooh, that does sound interesting, Bella.

Kite: …EHH?! Wrestling a wooly-man?!

Kade: Are you crazy?!

Threep: His Majesty would flatten Kite!

Bella laughs as she pats Kite’s back.

Bella: You’ll be fine! I’ll be trainin’ ya! I mean you are looking at the only one who can beat Njal in a wrestling match.

Kite looks at his friends, who are paranoid, then to Bella, with her friendly, yet creepy smile, then to King Njal with a smile that hides a sinister wrestling monster within, before sighing.

Kite: Alright, fine. I accept the wrestling match.

King Njal: Then it is settled.

King Njal returns the Mirror Claymore above the throne before sitting.

King Njal: In three days, we shall meet again for the match.

Kade: Three days?!

Threep: Is that even enough for a training?

Bella: Totally!

Kite sighs in defeat.

Kite: Those three days better be worth it.

Bella: Cross me heart!

King Njal dismisses the party and Bella, and have the guards escort them to their rooms.

The next day, the party and Bella meet up at the castle’s barracks, where one of the rooms has a circular wrestling ring at the center.

Bella: Here we are. We’ll practice Vishanti Wrestling here.

Kade: What is Vishanti Wrestling, exactly?

Bella: Oh, it’s just pushin’ yer opponent outta the ring.

(Author’s Note: Vishanti Wrestling is basically sumo wrestling, but it is done with the bulky body structure.)

Threep: …And you suppose Kite would be able to push King Njal, the largest of all the wooly-men, out of the ring?

Bella: Not with that attitude, ya furball.

Threep: How dare you call me a furball?!

Bella shrugs and gets on the ring.

Bella: Besides, I’m not askin’ Kite to push Njal out. The elf’s tinier than him so you gotta use yer agility to outmaneuver the bastard. If he’s chargin’ at ya, get around his ass and use his momentum to push ‘im outta the ring.

Kite: That’s easier said than done.

Bella: Well, not unless you know Kaytar, the martial arts known by the orcs.

Threep: Of course! Imtura did teach Kite how to use it.

Bella: Well, that saves us plenty of time to train.

Bella cracks her knuckles and asks Kite to come into the ring.

Bella: Alright, Kite, show me what ya got!

Two minutes later…

Kite: AACK!!

Kite is suddenly knocked out of a circular wrestling ring by Bella. She crosses her arms and looks at the elf with disappointment.

Bella: Yer kiddin’ me, right? Ya call that Kaytar?

Kite gets up while rubbing his belly from pain.

Kite: Well…

He turns to Kade and Threep, who are worried about him.

Kade: Even if Kite learned how to do Kaytar, his memory loss made him forget about his training with Imtura.

Bella rolls her eyes.

Bella: Yeah, right. Combat isn’t about memory. It’s about instincts. Even if yer mind doesn’t remember, yer body sure as hell does.

She claps her hands, demanding for Kite come back to the ring.

Bella: Come on, let’s keep goin’. I’mma beat the shit outta you till yer body remembers how to Kaytar. Make yer friend proud!

Kite puts on a determined expression and gently smacks his hands against his cheeks before going back in the ring.

Kite: Let’s do this.

As minutes pass, while Kite continues to get kicked out of the ring, the losses become less and less likely to happen as his body begins to instinctively remember how to use the martial arts taught to him by Imtura. Bella smiles proudly at his progress.

Bella: That’s it! Yer getting’ there.

On the last round, Bella charges at Kite and thrusts her palm forward, in an attempt to push him out with her immense strength. However, after polishing his skills, Kite quickly ducks and rushes forward, right below the goddess.

Kite: Missed!

Bella: Don’t get too cocky now.

Bella grins as she goes in for a counterattack, but as soon as she looks down to where Kite supposed to be, her eyes widen, noticing that he just disappeared into thin air. She quickly turns around to see him already behind her.

Kite: Gotcha!

Before Bella could react, Kite tucks his head and braces his arms against his front before launching himself towards the goddess. His shoulder then bashes Bella on her backside, knocking her out of the ring, as she lands on her feet gracefully, finally earning Kite a victory. Kade and Threep celebrate.

Kade: That was awesome!

Threep: Magnificent performance!

Bella: Not bad, Kite. Now, that’s what I call Kaytar.

Kite grins proudly but…

Bella: Still not enough to beat Njal though.

Kade and Threep celebration ends abruptly as Kite huffs and puffs.

Kite: Hey! Don’t lift me up just to shoot me down like that so suddenly!

Bella: Ey, just telling the truth. Ya really don’t stand a chance against him, let alone ANY wooly-men ‘round these parts.

Kite: Harsh.

Bella gets back up on the ring and does some stretches.

Bella: Luckily for you, I’mma bout to teach you a skill that I have developed.

Kite raises an eyebrow, curious.

Kite: Oh yeah?

Bella grins before taking a deep breath. Soon after, she lets out a powerful yell, causing a burst of magical energy around her body. Her muscles begin to swell slightly as Kite and Threep sense an immense growth in her brute strength.

Threep: Amazing! Her physical prowess managed to triple!

Kade: As if her current strength isn’t scary enough!

Kite: So, that’s what the skill can do? Raise one’s physical stats and limitations?

Bella: Exactly! I dubbed it “Lion’s Pride”.

Bella then performs a gentle exhale, maintaining the skill at a balanced state so that it doesn’t let out too much magical energy.

Bella: It lasts about ten minutes and you can only use it once every 24 hours. Goin’ past ten minutes or usin’ it more than once and yer body will slowly tear apart.

Kite: I see.

Bella claps her hands and gets into a squatting stance.

Bella: Alright, now let’s see you try.

Kite follows the same stance before Bella could tell him the instructions.

Bella: First, you gotta take a deep breath. Focus all yer magical energy on yer heart and lungs.

Bella closes her eyes and breathes deeply, followed by Kite.

Bella: Then once ya feel immense magical power buildin’ up inside ya, let it all out like how yer heart pumps out blood all across yer body. Don’t forget to scream.

Kite continues to build up his magical energy until he snaps his eyes open and…

Kite: RAAAAAAAA!!!

Kite unleashes his magical power and spreads it across his entire body, raising his physical stats and limitations, however, because of his gift in magic, his improvements are better than Bella’s.

Threep: Unbelievable! Kite’s physical prowess has increased tenfold!

Kade: That’s so cool!

Bella grins.

Bella: The more potential you have in magic, the better the improvements. I’m more of a warrior who relies on brute strength so I don’t need much magic.

Kite lets out a long exhale, maintaining his magical energy.

Kite: That felt great!

Bella: Let’s have another match. This time, let’s both use Lion’s Pride.

Kite: Yes, Ma’am.

With less than ten minutes left until the skill’s limit, Kite and Bella go for a few more rounds, resulting in equal victories for the both of them. The training goes on for the next two days as Kite’s improvements become more and more apparent.

On the day of the match, Kite, the party and Bella meet up with King Njal at the castle’s courtyard, where a larger wrestling ring is located. Vishanti guards gather around the ring while Njal stands at the center, clad in his combat attire. While Kade, Threep and Bella stand with the rest of the audience, Kite gets up in the ring to come face to face with his opponent.

King Njal: I’ve heard from my guards that your strength has improved these last three days, thanks to Bella.

Kite: You’ve heard right. And today, I’m gonna prove it to you.

King Njal: Let your actions in battle prove your words, Young Nightbloom.

Kite and King Njal crouch and plant each of their fists onto the surface of the ring, like the initial sumo stance. Before the referee could start the match, Kite immediately channels his magical energy and activates Lion’s Pride, increasing his physical strength tenfold and surprising Njal.

King Njal: Oh! I see Bella has taught you her technique.

Kite smirks.

Kite: I mean, I am going against basically the most physically built entity in all of the realm. Might as well go all out.

King Njal: “All out”, you say?

Bella: Uh oh…

Threep: What?

Kade: Is something gonna happen?

King Njal takes a deep breath before exhaling lots of frozen mist from his nose. Cold air begins to gather around the mountain king’s body, infusing him with a tough ice armor and intimidating Kite.

Kite: Wait a minute!

Referee: Begin!

Before Kite could get another word, Njal immediately charges forward and shoulder-bashes him, launching the elf out of the ring. The audience parts themselves as Kite flies past them, crashing onto the wall and making an elf-shaped hole on it.

Referee: Round one goes to his Majesty!

The guards cheer as King Njal crosses his arms and smirks in victory. Kite climbs out of the hole, grinning at the mountain king while his friends look at him with concern.

Kite: You just made this a LOT interesting, your Majesty.

Kade: Kite, are you okay?!

Kite turns to his friends and nods before running back into the ring.

Kite: Never been better.

King Njal scoffs.

King Njal: Ready for another beating?

Kite: Not this time.

Kite grins with determination as he and Njal take their stance for the second round. About nine minutes remain until Lion’s Pride reaches its limit. Kite breathes deeply as his perception begins to slow down.

Referee: Begin!

King Njal goes in for another shoulder-bash, but Kite saw the attack coming. The elf leaps up high, above the mountain king, startling everyone. Unable to stop his current momentum, Njal continues to close in on the edge of the ring.

Kite: Gotcha now!

Kite uses this as an advantage as soon as he lands by charging at and pushing his opponent out of the ring. Kade, Threep and Bella cheer.

Referee: Round two goes to Kite!

King Njal reenters the ring with a proud grin.

King Njal: Impressive, but it won’t be easy from here on out.

Kite nods and does a few stretches.

Kite: Bring it!

The two challengers take their stances once more for the third round. Seven and a half minutes remain until Lion’s Pride reaches its limit.

Referee: Begin!

This time, Kite and Njal lunge at each other, clasping their hands together in an attempt to push the other off the ring. Immediately, Kite struggles to move Njal an inch as the latter doesn’t even break a sweat. As each second passes, little by little, Kite skids closer to the edge of the ring. His friends begin to panic.

Kade: Come on, Kite! You can do it!

Threep: I am afraid he might not succeed this round.

Bella: Yer right. Njal’s specialty in this is pushing.

Indeed, Threep was unfortunately correct as Kite is pushed off of the ring by Njal. The mountain king’s guards cheer for him once more.

Referee: Round three goes for his Majesty!

The party and Bella look in horror as Kite gets up, disappointed at his performance.

Kite: Damn it…

King Njal: Are you still determined to continue?

Without a response, Kite jumps back into the ring. King Njal scoffs and smirks at the elf’s confidence.

Kade: Kite needs to win the next two rounds or else, he won’t be able to claim the Mirror Claymore.

Threep: I doubt it’s even about the Claymore anymore.

Kade: What do you mean?

Threep: Kite is also fighting for the support of the Vishanti Kingdom. If he does not prove himself here, we will not be able to have enough manpower for the war.

Kade: Isn’t the Vishanti Kingdom on our side?

Threep: Not originally. They have always been a neutral faction in our Realm, never siding with either the forces of good or evil. But now, with the Empire’s return, they have no choice but to decide who to side with. This is why, despite of the Empire’s presence in the Realm, this kingdom remains prosperous.

Bella: Furball’s right once again.

Threep: Will you stop calling me that?!

Voice: Yip, yip!

Bella feels something soft bumping against her legs. She and the party look down to see a fox with blue and white fur, and purple eyes, glaring at the goddess.

Furball: Mrrm!

Bella shyly rubs the back of her head.

Bella: Sorry ‘bout that li’l guy.

Furball: Hrrm!

The fox strolls away.

(Author’s Note: Was I really gonna use a segment of a chapter for a Furball cameo? There was not a single doubt in my mind! Anyways, back to the match.)

Kite and Njal take their stances for the fourth round. Five minutes remain until Lion’s Pride reaches its limit.

Referee: Begin!

The two challengers repeat the same situation last round, with the two of them trying to push each other off the ring. Once again, Kite cannot budge Njal while the latter skids the former closer to the edge.

King Njal: This is just humiliating for you, Young Nightbloom. Are you certain that this is all you can do?

As the two are inches from the edge of the ring, Kite looks up at Njal with a devious grin.

King Njal: Wha—

Kite suddenly hops up and plants his feet beneath the icy floor of the ring, surprising Njal and everyone else.

King Njal: What are yo—

Kite then bends his knees, leaning backwards, as he tightens his grip on Njal’s hands and pulls him out the ring, once again using the mountain king’s momentum to his advantage.

Referee: Round four goes to Kite!

Kade, Threep and Bella cheer once more.

Kade: Just one more win!

Threep: There is still hope!

Bella: Yeah, but it’s a 50-50 chance.

Bella glances at the two who just glare at her and her pessimism.

Bella: What?!

King Njal steps into the ring for the last round.

King Njal: You truly are a remarkable being, Young Nightbloom.

Kite smirks while doing a few hops, hyping himself up.

Kite: I might even perform a lot better if I have all my memories back.

Njal chuckles.

King Njal: Combat isn’t about memory.

Kite: It’s about instincts.

The two grin at each other before taking their stances. As two and a half minutes remain until Lion’s Pride reaches its limit, Kite thinks to himself.

Kite’s Thoughts: If I push myself even further, I might be able to actually move Njal this time. I can’t keep repeating the same moves. It makes me predictable. I have to do this.

The elf takes a deep breath, channeling magical energy once more. Bella notices this.

Bella: Oh no…

Kade: What’s wrong?

Bella: Kite is going to use Lion’s Pride once more…

Threep: What? Is he not still under its effects?

Bella: The skill can be used as much as he needs to, however, each use decreases the amount of time before it reaches its limit. In this case, instead of two and half minutes remaining, he’ll be left with half that amount.

Kade: This is bad. Will he even win with that amount of time?

Bella: I doubt it.

Kite’s friends look at him with concern as he casts Lion’s Pride once more, further increasing his physical stats and limitations, but decreasing the time limit.

King Njal: Oh? Are you sure about further powering yourself up? It’s risky and it could result to your loss.

Kite: What’s a victory without a little risk?

Kite smirks, empowered while Njal scoffs.

King Njal: Watch your confidence, Young Nightbloom. It could result to your downfall.

Referee: Begin!

The two once again attempt to push each other off the ring, but this time, as Kite predicted, he starts to move forward, instead of backwards, as Njal skids towards the edge.

Kade: Kite’s plan is working!

Threep: Yes, but he has less than a minute left.

However, Kite’s advantage won’t last long as Njal saw this coming. With just a few feet left near the edge, the mountain king takes a page out of the elf’s book as the former crouches down and swings his arms upwards, using the latter’s momentum against him and lifting him up in the sky. Njal then turns and slams down Kite near the edge of the ring.

Kade: Kite!

Bella: Shit… the time is up…

As Kite winces in pain, the magical aura surrounding him begins to fade away, deactivating Lion’s Pride. Njal stands before him.

King Njal: Such a shame, Young Nightbloom.

As the mountain king prepares to punt Kite off the ring, the elf suddenly bolts out of danger and appears right behind the Njal, shocking everyone.

Bella: No way!

Threep: How?!

Kite’s friends begin to notice magical energy gathering around him once more.

Bella: Is he insane?! His body will break if he keeps using that skill!

Kade: Kite, don’t!

Kite lets out a primal scream as he casts Lion’s Pride once more. Cracking sounds can be heard from his body.

King Njal: Are you sure about this, Kite?

Kite twitches from pain and takes a wrestling stance. Nonetheless, he smiles.

Kite: Match ain’t over yet.

King Njal sighs and smiles back as he takes a stance as well.

King Njal: Well then, let’s finish it.

The two charge at each other and once again try to push each other off the ring. Once more, Kite slowly pushes Njal near the edge but because of the continuous intense pain, he is also slowly losing focus. This gives the mountain king an opening as he tightens his grip on Kite’s hand and slings him off the ring.

Kade: No!

However, as soon as Njal lets go of Kite, the latter quickly reaches for the former’s hand. Since Kite hasn’t touch the ground, the round is technically not yet over. He pulls himself back in by grabbing hold of Njal’s arm, then goes around the wooly-man, catching him by surprise. And before Njal could react, Kite hops and uses both his feet to kick the mountain king off the ring. Njal crashes onto the ground, making Kite the victor of the round and the entire match. Silence fills the courtyard for a while until…

Referee: Our winner! Kite Nightbloom!

Kade and Threep rush towards Kite before pulling him in a proud embrace. As magical energy disperses from Kite, he collapses from exhaustion, but still had the stamina to return the embrace to his friends. Bella and the Vishanti guards stare in awe, amazed at the spectacle that Kite and Njal have brought. The mountain king stands up and joins Kite and his friends at the ring. He reaches his hand out.

King Njal: I admire your conviction, Kite Nightbloom. The Vishanti Kingdom shall join you in defeating the Empire of Ash.

Kite smiles and reaches to shake Njal’s hand while Kade is supporting his brother.

Kite: Much appreciated, your Majesty. I’m glad to have you on our side.

Bella leaps from behind Kite and chops the back of his neck with her hand.

Bella: You idiot!

Kite: AACK!!

Kite collapses once more in Kade’s arms while the goddess crosses her arms, fuming.

Kade: Kite! Wha?! Why?!

Bella: That was reckless of you to go over the skill’s limit.

Kite composes himself and chuckles.

Kite: Hey, it was worth it. I won. That’s what matters.

Bella: Hmph! Well, don’t do it again. Other than that, congrats.

Kite: Well, it’s all thanks to you.

The elf grins gratefully as Bella turns away from the group before proudly giving them a thumbs up. A while later, after Kite has regained his strength, he and his friends gather in the throne room. King Njal stands in front of them, holding the Mirror Claymore in his hands.

King Njal: As a symbol of alliance between the Vishanti Kingdom and the descendant of the great Haldir Nightbloom, I bestow upon thee, Kite Nightbloom, our Sacred Treasure, the Mirror Claymore.

Kite kneels and bows his head while receiving the Sacred Treasure. Everyone inside the throne room claps in celebration. The elf then stands up while everyone around him steps back to let him test the weapon. Kite gives the Claymore a few swings, getting used to its weight.

Kade: How is it?

Kite grins.

Kite: I like it.

He turns to King Njal and bows.

Kite: Thank you once again, your Majesty.

Njal nods.

King Njal: We have done our part to aid you in your growth. Now, we must prepare ourselves for the coming war, as should you. Threep told me that a year ago, your allies have been separated from you.

Kite turns to Kade and Threep with concern.

Kite: Yes, but…

Kite clenches his fists.

Kite: I can’t even recognize them…

King Njal wonders to himself.

King Njal: Memories can be tricky sometimes, but as you continue on your journey, piece by piece, everything will come back to you. What matters now is that you must reunite with your companions.

The mountain king places his hand on Kite’s shoulder, comforting him. The elf nods.

Kite: Understood, your Majesty.

He turns once more to Kade and Threep.

Kite: Who do we find first?

Kade: Nia. She’s the closest to the mountains. The question is; how do we find her under all of the snow?

Threep suddenly remembers something.

Threep: We could use the Orb of Seeking that we stole from the home of the High Priest.

The nesper leaps onto Kite’s satchel and grabs the purple orb inside.

Kite: Good. That’ll make things easier.

King Njal turns to Bella.

King Njal: Bella, you must accompany them.

Bella: Huh?! Why?!

King Njal: Their journey will be perilous. They need your aid. Besides, it is about time you go out there and seek your resolve.

The goddess rolls her eyes.

Bella: Ugh, fine, but ya owe me!

King Njal nods as Bella approaches the party. Kade seems ecstatic.

Kade: Are you really joining us?

Bella: Calm down. I’ll only stick with ya until ya reconnect with yer friends.

Kite: Sounds good enough for me.

Kite and Bella bump their fists in agreement.

The Mercenary: Bella has joined the party.

After some thorough preparations, the party departs from the gates of the Vishanti castle.

King Njal: May the Light be upon you, heroes of the Realm.

Kite and his friends wave goodbye at Njal before heading to the market square to purchase some food for the journey ahead. Luckily for Kite, Kade and Threep, Njal has already ordered for their wanted posters to be taken down throughout the kingdom.

Kade: Alright, all that’s left is bread. The stall should be over there.

Kite: Gotcha. Let’s make this qui—

But before Kite could finish what he’s saying, he accidentally bumps into someone in the crowd.

Kite: Oh, sorry.

While Kite ensures that the person he bumps into is okay, Kade and Threep immediately recognizes that person.

Familiar Person: Quite unlike you to treat me this way, Kite.

Kade: No way!

Instinctively, Kade goes in for a punch but the person catches his fist.

Familiar Person: That won’t catch me by surprise this time, Kade.

Kade grits his teeth while Kite looks at the two, confused.

Kade: What the hell are you doing here?!... Aerin!

————— END OF CHAPTER —————

[gelo-p]

Am I qualified to write this? ^^;;

Also known as just “putting T10 into perspective” because frankly this isn’t any different from just telling someone to “play like hell” XD

First things first: FLAMES (which means... STARS)

You’re going to need a lot of stars, so if you don’t have an ungodly amount of them yet, please support the game buy the premium / happy boxes since they give you the most stars for the lowest price. HOWEVER, you will need to log-in for 25 days to reap the full benefits.

If you don’t have enough time until the event you’re gunning for, you’re gonna have to really support the game buy the standard star packs instead.

Second: BESTDORI IS YOUR FRIEND

Create an account on Bestdori to get specific numbers about your team (EP gain, CP gain, Band power, Max score, etc.), using the Team Builder. Please note that Bestdori assumes you’ll always FC (there’s a setting to account for Perfect-Great, but no setting to account for Good / Bad / Miss), and it’ll give you the maximum numbers possible. We know that’s not the case in real life, so we’re going to account for that later.

Also, familiarize yourself with the various pages (Events, Event Archives, Team Builder) while you’re at it. ^^

Ready? WE CAN DO IT GO GO GO~

I. Setting your Target EP

Okay, so getting into a desired tier (T1, T2, T3, T10, T100, etc...) is all about your final Event Points (EP). Nothing else. Problem is, you don’t actually know how much points you’ll need - the moment you think you’ve figured it out, everyone else goes nyooooom~ *insert Lamborghini sounds here* and raise the bar for you. So, you got no choice but to overestimate right from the start (if you underestimate and find out later on, you won’t have enough time to catch up no matter how hard you try) and just believe that your final EP will be good enough.

I really wish there was a good method for estimating the final EP needed, but the sad reality is, there isn’t. You’re going to have to rely on past data and even then, you’re going to have assume that everyone else trying to do the same thing is going to outcraze you.

Let me give my case as an example.

I wanted to T10 Cycling Seasons, which is a Challenge Live Afterglow event. This being a major event (major just means “all members involved are from the same band”), I knew that I had to check other major events as basis. The last major Challenge Live was My Ideal, so I headed over to Bestdori’s Event Archives page for that event to get a feel of how much EP I’ll need.

From this, I saw the final cutoffs for each tier. We know that the event took 9 days 6 hours (click on the event banner for more info; also an event is always N days + 6 hours), so this page is essentially saying,

“To get T10, you need to play at a pace of 65,320 EP/h continuously for 9 days and 6 hours.”

Now, we know that you can’t actually play 24/7, so we have to translate this to something more reasonable. If you’re only going to play, say, 14 hours a day, then realistically you’re looking at:

9 days x 14 hours/day + 6 hours (you want to be awake for that final 6 hours) = 132 hours

Which means:

14,501,103 EP / 132 hours = 109,857 EP/h. For every hour that you’re awake.

Now, again, this is just for My Ideal. I want to translate this for Cycling Seasons, an event I would later find out to be 8 days 6 hours. So, I actually want to get:

8 days x 14 hours/day + 6 hours = 118 hours

110,000 (rounded up) EP/h x 118 hours = 12,980,000

“Hmmm, that doesn’t sound right, Afterglow fans are crazy AF.”

Let’s recompute that using 16 hours a day instead: 14,740,000

“This is enough I guess..?”

Spoiler alert: the actual T10 cutoff for Cycling Seasons is 18,497,685.

I personally did 19.2M.

This brings us back to:

“you’re going to have assume that everyone else trying to do the same thing is going to outcraze you.”

I would later learn from T1′s post that they originally contemplated if “18M would be enough for T10”. This just goes to show that you’re just gonna have to sell your soul to Babanbo-sama and hope you get to be the highest bidder.

THERE WAS NO POINT TO THIS CHAPTER WAS THERE :’D

You can’t just base your target EP from some past event. Shoot for the moon and go. Go hard, or go home. T10 or bust.

II. Setting your actual Target EP, and then some

TL;DR - use Bestdori to check your team’s power, assume you’ll play 14 hours a day, and do the Math.

I’m not kidding. Unless you can find a friend who will play the remaining 10 hours per day for you, that is the maximum EP you can get. Okay maaaaybe if you play 16, maybe 18 hours a day. But you’ll need to take breaks. Eat food. Take baths. Talk to your Ran Nesoberi and ask them why you’re doing this. Realistically speaking, you’ll really only have 14 hours of gameplay per day. You can play for 7, rest for 5, play for 7, rest for 5 if you want (again: be awake during the final 6 hours). But completing your daily quota is important. It’s easy to think “I’ll just... catch up tomorrow”, which I did once, not gonna lie, but you’ll find out that you’re just waking up earlier than usual and getting tired earlier in the day than you planned to.

And then you’ll find yourself playing juuuuust a little more each day. Which is very good for your score, but bad for your health. But hey. You’re already crazy enough to try T10 solo anyway ^o^

So. Go to Bestdori, and use the Team Builder.

1) Select the event you’re gunning for.

2) Select Multi-Live (never play Free Live for competitive) and set the parameters. Make sure your team is actually good enough to join the Grand Room (any less and you’re fucked), and assume you’ll be playing with reasonably strong players.

This is where having friends/private rooms come in handy: you know exactly what their team is, leaving much of the guesswork out.

3) Select a META SONG you’re comfortable with playing a lot. Meta songs give you the most points for the shortest amount of time, that’s why you see them get picked a lot.

Relax, you’ll rarely encounter players who pick 27+ Meta songs. Most of the time it’s going to be Jumpin’, Home Street, Fuwa Fuwa time, Unite from A to Z... so practice those songs a lot.

(Nyan Poi, Tokimeki Poporon, and Initial also makes that list. Also, if there’s a newly released song, expect it to be played a lot. Looking at you, Kyu~Mai Flower... just glad Fire Bird was released after my event)

FC’ing in Hard is better than getting inconsistent results in Expert. If you’re already tired, pick Hard. No shame in that.

My personal pick is Home Street. ^^ I sometimes pick Tokimeki Poporon though, even though it’s not as good meta-wise, just because my fingers can auto-pilot it even when I’m half-asleep.

Also pick how confident you are in getting Perfects / Greats. There’s no setting for Good / Bad / Miss, so be careful. Realistically you should be able to clear 90 / 95 if you’re aiming for T10.

4) Set your cards and items, although you should have set this already in the Cards section under Profile. This subsection is mostly for cards you’re planning to get, or you just wanna see what a fully-decked team can do.

That reminds me - make sure you have all Area Items for your Band / Attribute maxed out! This will help a lot. Prioritize the items based on the band you’re going to be using.

5) Calculate!

“Park” is there to help you get a very specific number of EP. It’s what people use to get exactly 10,000,000 points / 7,777,777. So for now, choose Maximize Event Points.

Always pick 3 Flames (you won’t have time for anything less), and take note of the EP in the left side (4,380). For Challenge Lives, also note the CP (219).

Now, CP is actually just EP / 20 rounded up, so you can still derive that even if you only note the EP.

IMPORTANT: This is the maximum EP you can gain. I find that -200 (in my case it was 4275 EP, and thus 214 CP) is more realistic. Initially I set it to 4200, but found after Day 4 that I was waaaaay above target, so I set it to 4275 later on.

Also, note the “Afterglow - Powerful” below. This refers to the Area Items you have to use.

As you can see, I cleared 250k Band power, so I’m actually able to use the Grand Room.

6) For Challenge Lives:

Go back to the Live subsection, and pick Challenge Live.

For the song, you have to pick one of the songs that’s actually available for the Challenge Live. Click on the event info, and see what the songs are.

In my example, for Cycling Seasons, it’s best to pick Scarlet Sky (either EX or Special, note the color under R). However, I find that picking the song I can FC consistently is better (for both my hands and for estimation), so I stuck with Brand New Days on Hard. It’s okay if you don’t know which song to pick yet, you can just decide during the event once you’ve tried them. However, for the purpose of planning this early, stick with the first Hard song.

Recalculate for the Challenge Live.

Again, as a safety net, assume you won’t always get 26,380. In my case, I estimated it to be 25k (initially 26k). It’s a little drastic, but I’d really rather assume the worst case. Realistically I was getting 26k most of the time, but when I was really tired it’ll dip down to 25k (I got 24.8k sometimes...).

And that’s from playing in Hard.

For other event types, you’ll find that the same team will give you different scores. Challenge lives just have lower Multi-Live scores because you’re expected to compensate using the Challenge Live.

OKAY~! Now we have the EP and CP / Multi-Live, and EP / Challenge Live. Time to estimate how much points we can actually get from that.

(The calculation is going to be different for other event-types, I’ll provide that later)

Multi-Live Score: 4275

Challenge Points gained: 214

Challenge Live Score: 25000

A Challenge Live is going to require 800 CP (you won’t have time for the 200/400 variants), so...

Number of games to activate CL: 800 / 214 = 3.74

Each Multi-Live game requires, on average, 3.5 minutes (this number drops to 2.8 minutes if you can find friends to consistently quickly pick songs with) to complete, so that’s 3.74 x 3.5 = ~13.1 minutes. Add to that the time required to complete a Challenge Live, which is around 2.37 minutes, and we get 15.47 minutes to complete a “set”. (Again, this is just on average)

In one hour, you can complete 60 / 15.47 = 3.87 sets (round down for safety!).

So how much score can you get per set?

Well, a set is 3.74 Multi-Lives (@ 4275 EP each) + 1 Challenge Live (@ 25000 EP), so:

3.74 x 4275 + 25000 = 40988 EP / set. You have 3.87 of those per hour, so

40,988 x 3.87 = 158,623 EP/h.

That is going to be the final EP/h (at least for every hour playing).

Multiplied by the number of active hours for the entire event (14 x 8 + 6), we get:

18,717,514. But I scored 19.2M, remember? Which means I played some more, and had a good safety net based from my estimates.

That is how you get your final EP target.

To just summarize...

FOR NON-CHALLENGE LIVES (which I didn’t give an example for XD ):

*** for VS lives, assume you’re in 3rd place; safer to assume you’re in 5th

0) Active hours = (num hours per day playing x num days) + 6

1) Get (safe) Multi-Live score from Bestdori

2) Assume each Multi-Live is 3.5 mins long

3) 60 / 3.5 = 17.14 games per hour

4) 17.14 games x Multi-Live score = your EP/h for every hour you’re playing (let’s call it active EP/h)

5) Active EP/h x Active Hours = final EP

6) Number of flames needed = 17.14 games x 3 flames per game x Active Hours

FOR CHALLENGE LIVES:

0) Active hours = (num hours per day playing x num days) + 6

1) Get (safe) Multi-Live score, and CP gained per multi-live

2) Get (safe) Challenge Live score

3) Assume each Multi-Live is 3.5 mins long, assume each Challenge Live is 2.37 mins long (adjust for the actual song)

* note that this is the duration OF THE LIVE, not THE SONG. From when you press the “Live” button to the next time you do.

4) A “set” is an 800-CP Challenge Live + the Multi-Live games required to collect 800 CP

5) A set takes (800 / CP gain x 3.5 mins) + CL song duration to complete

6) A set score is worth (ML score x 800 / CP gain) + CL score

7) 60 / Set duration = sets per hour

8) Set score x sets per hour = your EP/h for every hour you’re playing

9) Active EP/h x Active Hours = final EP

10) Sets played = sets per hour x Active Hours

11) Number of flames needed = 3 flames per ML x 800 / CP gain x Sets played

Probably easier if I just provide a Google Sheets link :))))

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At this point, you’re really just going to have to pray that this is enough to get you to the tier you want.

Whale for cards if you have to. Get the best team possible. All members should belong to the same band (THIS IS REQUIRED); all members should have the same attributes as much as possible. For now, events let you get away with different band members, as long as you get the same attribute:

But some time in the future, events doing the opposite - you’ll need the exact members to maximize your gains.

(this is widely considered a dick move to force players to try and roll for specific characters... but that’s a business for ya’).

Get Level 5 skills. Maximize your area items (I’ve already said that...). Get cards with score-boosting skills (preferably the +90/+110% based on HP, +100%, +115% for Perfecs, etc) - this is very important for Challenge Lives. For Multi-Lives, only your leader’s skill matters. Stay awake for 1 or 2 more hours per day (hahahaha...) The point is, when gunning for T10, you’re going to need every help you can get.

Find private rooms to shorten that 3.5-min-per-live thing. You get to cram more points per hour this way. You can also ensure people only pick Meta songs, to keep your score average higher than the safety net.

If you can find someone to play for you while you sleep so you can maximize 24 hours per day instead of being limited to 14 hours, please do so. You can play for 7 while they play the other 7. This way you’re not as dead. T1 and T2 accounts usually have ~4 to 6 of these people, that’s how they can get crazy high scores.

IF YOU HAPPENED TO CHALLENGE 10x 24/7 ACCOUNTS, YOU HAVE NO HOPE OF GETTING INTO T10. No amount of effort will get you there.

Thankfully most of the time there’s only like, 1 to 3 24/7 accounts. If by the end of Day 2, you see that you’re outside T10 and all of them have crazy high scores (even though you’re on track), cut your losses and play for T100.

“Don’t put in effort for T11.”

III. Some Tactics, I guess?

For non-Challenge Lives, there are no tactics involved: just keep playing. Seriously. If you wake up and you’re outside the tier you want, keep playing and hope the others are sleeping.

For Challenge Lives, it can get a little bit interesting.

See, everyone wants to get as many points as they can, buuuuut nobody wants to put in more effort than they need to (unless they’re making a statement).

And that’s where the Challenge Live mechanic comes in. See, in other event types, what you see is what you get: the EP/h by the other people is consistent. You know that if you sleep for 3 hours, they’ll get ahead with an EP equivalent to 3 hours.

But in Challenge Lives, it’s possible to get your EP to accelerate. To nyooooom~. It’s not a secret that playing a game that’s 2.37 minutes long but gains you 25k points is waaaaaay faster than 3.5 minutes per game but only 4275 points. And that’s why you should hide your CP as much as you can. You’ll still consume some CP per day (it’s not possible to consume all that CP is just 6 hours...), but leave enough to do a final 6-hour sprint.

“Is there a point to this?”

Well... yes and no. If your opponents are reactive, e.g. only puts in effort when they feel like the others might surpass them, then it’s a huge advantage for you, because once you start nyooooming during the final day, they’ll have no time to react anymore. That’s what I did, and went from T11 to T6 in 5 hours 11 minutes. You just want them to “relax” during the first few days, so that they don’t put in too much effort (they’ll all still nyoooom during the last day anyway!). The worst you can have is an opponent that decides midway to be a 24/7 account, because they felt threatened by your score.

HOWEVER, if your opponent thinks the same way as you do, and only believes in the final EP, then chances are they might also do the same thing. Then it’s anybody’s game.

But maaaybe you can catch one or two off guard.

NOTE: Playing the same song over and over again for 5 hours is... tiring. At the end of it you might have broken fingers like I do (my left thumb barely works right now) XD

IV. Some Tips, I guess? Is this different from Tactics...?

Also compute how much effort to get into T100 (basically the exact same process; however, you CAN use the T100 EP tables found in Bestdori. Just double that. That’s still a reasonable estimate). You’ll be able to see how many flames are needed to do so; once you reach that amount of flames (but while going at a T10 pace; so around 2 full days), decide if you can actually keep up or not. If yes, then by all means, keep going; if no, relax a bit, and just try to stay around T50. If you kept up with T10 for 2 days, you’re almost guaranteed to be in T100 with minimum effort during the remaining days.

You should prepare an Excel Sheet to track your progress. One column for “Flames” used, another for “Challenges Played”. Every multi-live, you insert a “3″ into flames. Every Challenge Live, you insert a “1″ into CL’s. Kinda like this:

I personally add an “estimated time of completion” (see the value in E?) just to make it easier to visualize what time I’ll be done for the day. For this screenshot, it shows I’m actually ahead by -0.3 flames and -17.32 challenge lives.

In a separate sheet (but same file), I have the target for the current “iteration” / “day”. This lets me divide the effort into days / half-days.

Again, it’s probably going to be easier to explain if I just provide a Google Sheets for this ^_^ (or an Excel template)

...I’m not sure if “track T10″ scores has any use at this point. THEY WILL TRACK YOU, that’s for sure. However, I did gain confidence that they’ve already used up their CP during the last day, because I was tracking them. I also knew how much their ML and CL scores were. So I knew I still had enough CP to catch up. So maaaaybe it’s useful after all..?

As for the free flames... forget it. Don’t rely on the flame regen. Recover 90 flames every time (which is around 1 hour 45 mins of gameplay to consume) so you don’t break your momentum. “There’s only 10 minutes left until the next flame, maybe I should wait it out?” Nah-ah. Unless you’re in the middle of a major break (e.g. sleeping), don’t wait for the flames to regen. Assume that you’re going to pay for every flame you’re ever going to need. While you’re taking breaks you can probably watch ads, but it’s not going to make much of a dent. You’re gonna get some free flames from leveling up, but don’t account for that.

When playing in the dead of the night, have some Netflix in the background. Or just some TV. Anything that’ll keep you awake.

IF AT ANY POINT YOU FIND THERE’S NO INTERNET, start consuming your challenge points (use mobile data). You’re not allowed any downtime. It’s a sad reality, and it might ruin your pace / surprise, but nothing you can do about it.

During Multi-Lives, join the sticker spam. It’ll at least make you smile. Dooon’t join too much though, sometimes they keep that going and cost you so much time... Xp

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I can’t think of any more tips aside from these ones ^_^; I’ll update this once I have those Excel sheets ready / cleaned up.

Good luck and have fun~ ^o^

EDIT: Here’s a Dropbox link to the T10 Calc. You’re going to need Excel though.

1) Estimate using the EP Estimator sheet. This will give you all sorts of info.

2) Input the current day into the Tracker Meta sheet. (Nothing else to change there) This will give you your flames / challenge live targets for the day.

3) Input your progress in the Tracker sheet. It’ll give you an estimate of when you’ll be able to complete the current iteration. ^^

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*thinks about it*

*really thinks about it*

How is this any different from just “play like hell” ?? @_@ There’s nothing new about this advise at all XD (except maybe put into perspective just how much time and resources it’ll consume)

[joannalannister]

Do you think grrm could have based the targaryens on the aryan race? Their obsession with keeping their Valariyn blood pure, with being exceptional and special (superior = master race anyone ?). Their looks set them apart from the rest of westeros too, they're meant to have white hair (blonde hair) and violet eyes (blue eyes). They seem like a mix of colonizers and arryans the more deeply I think about them, a Targaryen restoration seems like the worst possible idea to me.

Why would you ask me, a Lannister blog? Me, a Lannister blog. Yet here I am hoisting the Targaryen banner; the things this fandom makes me do smh. Nobody’s even gonna read a post this long but I’m not doing this by halves. 

So, GRRM has said that the Targaryens have an “obsession with the purity of their blood”. Let’s look at the text to get more details:

The tradition amongst the Targaryens had always been to marry kin to kin. Wedding brother to sister was thought to be ideal. Failing that, a girl might wed an uncle, a cousin, or a nephew; a boy, a cousin, aunt, or niece. This practice went back to Old Valyria, where it was common amongst many of the ancient families, particularly those who bred and rode dragons. “The blood of the dragon must remain pure,” the wisdom went.

The way the Old Valyrians maintained a “pure bloodline” was by marrying “kin to kin”. Marrying one Valyrian-blooded person to another Valyrian-blooded person was not enough in Old Valyria to keep the blood of the dragon “pure.”

What historical precedents could GRRM have been drawing on when he wrote that Targaryens  “marry kin to kin”? Fortunately we don’t need to speculate, especially when speculation leads to … this anon. GRRM has told us that he based the Targaryens on the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 323BC to 30BC:

The Targaryens have heavily interbred, like the Ptolemys of Egypt. As any horse or dog breeder can tell you, interbreeding accentuates both flaws and virtues, and pushes a lineage toward the extremes. Also, there’s sometimes a fine line between madness and greatness. Daeron I, the boy king who led a war of conquest, and even the saintly Baelor I could also be considered “mad,” if seen in a different light. ((And I must confess, I love grey characters, and those who can be interpreted in many different ways. Both as a reader and a writer, I want complexity and subtlety in my fiction))  [SSM]

The Ptolemaic dynasty included Cleopatra, who married her brothers and whose parents were the products of incestuous unions to keep their Macedonian bloodline pure. Here is an interesting article comparing Daenerys and Cleopatra. Another fun article. (I am throwing this wish out into the void that I would like to see in-depth Dany-Cleopatra comparisons on my dash please.)

It’s interesting to me to read that the doylist reason GRRM chose to include interbreeding among Targaryens to accentuate “both flaws and virtues.” To me, GRRM has written ASOIAF as a story much larger than life, like the Paul Bunyan of fantasy, with impossibly large castles and impossibly vast geography and impossibly long seasons, an oversized place where GRRM’s characters do superhuman feats. GRRM’s characters have glaring flaws, but they also have glorious virtues to which I can only aspire. That’s the point tho. That’s one reason why we read: to see ourselves, only magnified. 

Why do Targaryens have a tendency to interbreed and keep their Valyrian blood pure? GRRM says the Targaryens intermarried to avoid conflict. It’s a matter of  common sense to avoid fights when giant fire-breathing lizards are involved, as the Dance of the Dragons illustrates. 

The Targaryens are the extreme example of that policy [to reinforce the family’s bloodline]: they only marry within the family to keepthe purity of the blood, and that way you avoid the problem of having several candidates for thethrone or the rule of the family. 

If you have a generation of five brothers and each of them hasseveral children (sons?), after two or three generations you could find yourself with thirtypotential heirs: there could be thirty people named Lannister or Frey, and that produces conflict,because all of them are going to get involved in hereditary fights for the throne. 

That’s what originated the War of the Roses; An excess of candidates for the throne, all of themdescendants of Edward III. Laking an heir (like Henry VIII) is just as bad as having too many ofthem. If you have five sons and you want to avoid that kind of problem, maybe it’s not such abad idea to marry the firstborn girl of the oldest son with the third son (or with the firstborn of thethird son?), and that way you avoid fights and the bloodline remains united

Something to note about this SSM entry is that GRRM was discussing all this blood purity stuff in the context of Tywin. The asker was literally asking why Tywin married Joanna, and GRRM answered that it was a love match and to reinforce the Lannister bloodline. Now, why would GRRM jump to discussions of blood purity when Tywin Lannister comes up?? Why ever could that be?? 

I know why. If we’re looking for the family that was inspired by fascist ideology, we don’t need to look far. 

This issue of blood purity is a way to maintain dynastic power in a feudal system. 

Which is bad, in the sense that feudalism is inherently a bad system, especially in comparison to, say, democracy. Even Ned Stark’s benevolent feudalism is bad compared to democracy. Lemme say that again - Even Stark feudalism is bad. 

There should be a populist revolution in Westeros and literally every noble should lose their aristocratic status and wealth and power, and all this wealth and power should be redistributed to the common people, and everyone in Westeros should be given equal rights and there should be free and open elections to choose democratic representatives. 

But I suspect anon isn’t interested in TWOW detailing their fav aristos losing all their fancy jewels and samite, and I don’t think anon is making signs saying “Down with feudalism! Down with monarchy! Down with the aristocracy! Eat the rich!” Somehow I really don’t think that’s what this anon is campaigning for. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

(Note to self: is there a correlation between real-world economic systems and the types of fantasy produced under those systems? In other words, does capitalism motivate medieval fantasyland? And how do real-world levels of income inequality influence income-inequality in fantasyland? These are questions I am interested in.)

*~*~*~*~*~*

 Anyways.

If we accept feudalism as par for the course in medieval fantasyland, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that the nobility wants to maintain their dynastic power in a feudal system. It’s what they do with that power that’s important. 

As the original asker of this SSM question pointed out, marriages are a way of maintaining power and building alliances in a feudal system, but such marriages also raise up the lesser House and make it more powerful

For example, I believe Lord Roger Reyne wanted to marry one of his sons to Genna Lannister to gain more power in the Westerlands, but was thwarted when Tytos betrothed Genna to Emmon Frey instead. Similarly, the previous Lord Reyne, Lord Robert Reyne, arranged a marriage between his daughter Ellyn Reyne and Gerold’s heir Tywald Lannister. The Reynes wanted more power and influence in the west, perhaps even to go so far as to topple House Lannister and become the dominant House in the West. 

The Targaryens face a similar problem, on a much larger scale. Whatever House they marry into, it raises that House up and grants them considerable power, potentially creating a disequilibrium point in the game of thrones and causing more innocents to suffer. (…honestly why do you think Tywin wanted his daughter to be queen?) 

This is why the Targaryens (and all the nobles really) need to consider their marriages (or even mistresses) very carefully. If you choose your partner poorly, without concern for dynastic politics, it could throw the land into chaos. (See: Tytos Lannister, Rhaegar Targaryen, Duncan the Small, etc) 

So, who are the Targaryens marrying? Because anon seems to be making the assumption that the Targs don’t marry outside their bloodline in any significant numbers, and I intend to challenge that assumption. 

The Targaryens certainly do have a tendency to intermarry, as we see in The Sworn Sword:

Egg spoke as if such incest was the most natural thing in the world. For him it is. The Targaryens had been marrying brother to sister for hundreds of years, to keep the blood of the dragon pure. Though the last actual dragon had died before Dunk was born, the dragonkings went on. Maybe the gods don’t mind them marrying their sisters. 

“The Targaryens had been marrying brother to sister for hundreds of years, to keep the blood of the dragon pure.” And yet, despite Dunk’s observation, the Targaryens have been marrying outside of House Targaryen for hundreds of years as well, suggesting to me that dynastic politics rather than blood purity is their greatest concern. 

I will attempt to compile a list of people who are not of Valyrian descent who married a member of House Targaryen. I have not read Fire and Blood yet, so I hope that someone will let me know if I’ve forgotten anyone and I will edit this post to include them (I do not mind spoilers). Any corrections to this list are appreciated. 

Ceryse Hightower 

Elinor Costayne 

Alys Harroway 

Jeyne Westerling

Tyanna of Pentos (Tyanna of the Tower)

Argella Durrandon (who married Targ bastard Orys)

Rodrik Arryn

Rhea Royce

Alicent Hightower

Corwyn Corbray

Garmund Hightower

Rohanne of Tyrosh (who married Daemon Blackfyre)

Michael Manwoody

Ossifer Plumm

Ronnel Penrose

Aelinor Penrose

Betha Blackwood

Dyanna Dayne

Mariah Martell

Maron Martell

Jenna Dondarrion

Kiera of Tyrosh

somebody from House Tarth

Jenny of Oldstones

Lyanna Stark (I believe in R+L=J. I personally do not think R/L got married in the books, but even without a marriage I think this relationship should be included here. When Rhaegar chose someone to have his ice & fire prophecy baby with, he did not choose someone with valyrian blood.)

I think it’s also important to note that there are various Targaryens who wanted relationships outside of House Targaryen, but who couldn’t marry outside their House / couldn’t marry who they wanted, for various reasons. For example, Aerys and Rhaella did not want an incestuous marriage.

And gay marriage is not legal in Westeros but anyways:

Daeron Targaryen, son of Aegon V - in love with Jeremy Norridge

Rhaena Targaryen, daughter of Prince Aenys - idk if she was bisexual or a lesbian or what but Rhaena definitely liked a lotta non-Targ girls, and Westeros is a homophobic, misogynistic place that hates women and hates wlw so it’s not like Rhaena could have married any of these women

I am counting this as (at least) two non-Targ “marriages”. Fight me.

This makes a total of 27 non-Targ relationships. 

There are also instances where a Targ has married someone outside of House Targaryen, but that person has some Valyrian blood. As mentioned above, tho, keeping the blood of the dragon “pure” is defined in the books as marrying “kin to kin” but I will keep this as a distinct subcategory for now. 

Valaena Velaryon

Alyssa Velaryon

Jocelyn Baratheon (valyrian blood through Orys)

Corlys Velaryon

Larra Rogare

Aemma Arryn

Laenor Velaryon

Laena Velaryon

Alyn Velaryon

Daenaera Velaryon

Ormund Baratheon

Elia Martell

This brings us to a total of 39 non-Targ marriages. These 39 marriages do not fit the in-world definition of keeping the blood of the dragon ~pure~. 

So how many Targ*Targ marriages do we know of exactly, so that we can figure out if blood purity was the main concern for House Targaryen?

Gaemon and Daenys

Aegon and Elaena

Aegon and Visenya(+Rhaenys)

Aegon and Rhaenys(+Visenya)

Aegon and Rhaena

Jaehaerys I and Alysanne

Baelon and Alyssa

Rhaenyra and Daemon

Aegon II and Helaena

Aegon III and Jaehaera

Aegon IV and Naerys

Baelor and Daena the Defiant

Aelor and Aelora

Aerion and Daenora

Jaehaerys II and Shiera

Aerys and Rhaella

I’ll list Targ*Targ affairs too to make it fair, since I included potential gay marriages above:

Aegon IV/Daena the Defiant

Brynden/Shiera 

Aemon the Dragonknight/Naerys (this is only speculated and I honestly don’t actually think this was consummated but let’s throw it in here)

This is a total of 19 Targ*Targ relationships. 

It is possible I’ve forgotten someone and I appreciate corrections. 

So I have a total of 58 relationships here in my sample. 

25+12+2+16+3 = 58

Let’s break that down:

~pure dragon blood~ relationships = 19/58 = 32.8%

~impure~ relationships = 39/58 = 67.2%

Roughly two-thirds of known Targaryen relationships do not keep the blood of the dragon “pure” by the book definition of blood purity. 

If you wish to break the ~impure~ relationships down further:

Targ*Valyrian-blooded relationships = 12/58 = 20.7%

Targ*non-Valyrian-blooded relationships = 27/58 = 46.6%

At the very minimum, at least 46% of Targ relationships were not motivated by blood purity reasons. Note, I think this number is too low, because like Queen Victoria “the grandmother of Europe” and her descendants, the nobility tend to intermarry a lot (because of classism). People like Aemma Arryn have valyrian blood because everyone is intermarrying. 

I will say again, roughly two-thirds of known Targaryen relationships do not keep the blood of the dragon “pure” by the book definition. 

Targaryens intermingled with the people of Westeros, they didn’t keep their blood “pure”. This is a very different attitude from, say, the 20th century anti-miscegenation laws that made it illegal for people of different races to have sex. 

I already pointed out above how GRRM has said these incestuous unions were motivated at least in part by dynastic politics. Could there be any other reasons?

Why did the valyrians before the Doom all practice incest? The “blood of the dragon” is not just about valyrians marrying valyrians, although that’s how anon is trying to spin it. The text specifically says that maintaining “the blood of the dragon” is about marrying “kin to kin.”  

We do not yet know why the valyrians practiced incest. Why is it important that “the blood of the dragon must remain pure”? It has not yet been explained. But there are theories. @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly​​ has already addressed this issue, so I will refer you to her posts: 1, 2 and her entire tag for #the blood of the dragon.

Why is it important that “the blood of the dragon must remain pure”?

I don’t know, but we’re definitely not reading books with magic. We’re definitely not reading books with blood magic. We’re definitely not reading books with giant magical fire-breathing lizards. We definitely don’t need easy ways to control those lizards. Definitely not. 

I mean, we still don’t know exactly what “the blood of the dragon” means but I  think what GRRM wrote with House Targaryen’s incestuous ~blood purity~ is something different from Aryanism. 

Which isn’t to say that all this blood purity bullshit GRRM wrote shouldn’t be criticized. Placing importance on the ~purity~ of someone’s blood in any context is … not a good look. GRRM has been kinda playing this trope straight so far, but I am hoping he smashes it in future books; Tyrion is eager to ride a dragon, and A plus J does not equal T.  

To quote what @moonlitgleek​​ said:

I hate it when people start talking about percentage of Valyrian blood as if that’s the measure of who rides a dragon. Whip up your calculators, everyone. We need to figure out how much Valyrian blood it takes to ride a dragon, be the subject of prophecy or be a savior. Anyone below a certain percentage can not measure.

This blood purity bullshit is bad, I actually agree with anon on that. But I’m not sure why that means we should condemn the entirety of House Targaryen. 

Especially when GRRM loves the Targaryens so much he keeps writing history books about them instead of finishing the series…

Like, from Fire and Blood, Jaehaerys I and Alysanne Targaryen are one of those Targ*Targ marriages that I admit help reinforce Targ blood purity. But this marriage was how Alysanne exercised her own bodily autonomy, by marrying who she wanted, because she and Jaehaerys had their dragons and no one was able to stop them. But anon … anon gonna call that Aryanism …

Anyways. I want to move on to anon’s other claims, but first I think it might be useful to define Aryanism, since anon seems to think it is about marrying brother to sister, which it is not. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Aryanism grew out of 19th century fascist ideologies. The term Aryan is related to the root -arya which is related to a Sanskrit word meaning “honorable, respectable, noble.” In the mid- to late-1800s, the term “Aryan race” was coopted by racists to justify their repellant “scientific racism” that claimed that “blond” Germanic / Nordic / Northern European people were a “superior race.” Note that “blond” is specifically mentioned by these ~scientists~ espousing their racist ideology. They claimed that “Aryans” were “natural leaders, destined to rule over” the other races. According to Jackson Spielvogel, Hitler described the Slavic peoples as “a mass of born slaves who feel the need of a master.” Himmler said, “whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only insofar as we need them as slaves for our culture. Otherwise it is of no interest.” 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Anon was correct that racial superiority is a characteristic of Aryanism. 

But do the Targaryens consider themselves to be a superior race to the other peoples of Westeros, or other peoples in general?  

GRRM says he wanted the Targaryens to be “a race apart”:

Speaking of Valyria… right from the start I wanted the Targaryens, and by extension the Valryians from whom they were descended, to be a race apart, with distinctive features that set them apart from the rest of Westeros, and helped explain their obsession with the purity of their blood. To do this, I made a conventional ‘high fantasy’ choice, and gave them silver-gold hair, purple and violet eyes, fine chiseled aristocratic features. That worked well enough, at least in the books (on the show, less so).

But in recent years, it has occured to me from time to time that it might have made for an interesting twist if instead I had made the dragonlords of Valyria… and therefore the Targaryens… black. Maybe I could have kept the silver hair too, though… no, that comes too close to 'dark elf’ territory, but still… if I’d had dark-skinned dragonlords invade and conquer and dominate a largely white Westeros… though that choice would have brought its own perils. The Targaryens have not all been heroic, after all… some of them have been monsters, madmen, so…

Well, it’s all moot. The idea came to me about twenty years too late.

What does it mean to be “a race apart”? Does “apart” automatically mean superior? To me, “apart” here means different or distinct.  But does that mean “superior”?

I’ve already addressed the fact that Targaryens are on average twice as likely to marry someone outside their House than to marry a Targaryen, so I don’t think the incest can be used to say the House as a whole claims superiority. 

There are certainly some Targaryens who view themselves as racially superior. Aerys Targaryen comes to mind; he said of his newborn granddaughter that she “smells dornish.” The Blackfyre cause is certainly racist (for example, Team Blackfyre did not like it that their ~precious white princess~ Daenerys Targaryen, was married to Maron Martell). There are many other Targaryens who were racist. But racism isn’t exclusive to members of House Targaryen. Many nobles in Westeros are racist: Joffrey, Cersei, Tywin - but we were talking about House Targaryen.

What of Daeron Targaryen, who married a Dornish princess, who surrounded himself with Dornishmen and women and artists and intellectuals, and he wanted to include all these people at his court? I don’t know where the textual evidence is that King Daeron adopted an attitude of racial superiority.

What of Maegelle Targaryen? Would you truly accuse her of an attitude of superiority? Maegelle was a septa who nursed children with greyscale, until she herself caught greyscale and died. 

When Aegon the Conqueror became high king, he adopted some Westerosi customs to assimilate. For example, 

Heraldic banners had long been a tradition amongst the lords of Westeros, but such had never been used by the dragonlords of old Valyria. When Aegon’s knights unfurled his great silken battle standard, with a red three-headed dragon breathing fire upon a black field, the lords took it for a sign that he was now truly one of them, a worthy high king for Westeros.

Aegon the Conqueror literally wanted to join with the Westerosi nobles and become one of them. Compare this to Tywin, who disparages nobles from another continent as nothing but "spice soldiers and cheese lords”. So who has the superior attitude? 

And what of Daenerys Targaryen? Dany embraces the Dothraki customs of her husband. (Contrast this with how her brother Viserys belittles the Dothraki.) Daenerys befriends orphans, former prostitutes, former slaves, people of many different races. I don’t think Daenerys adopts an attitude of racial superiority. (It’s true that GRRM does fall into some racist tropes when he writes ASOIAF, but I don’t think this means that Daenerys supports Aryanism, or that GRRM was inspired by white supremacy when he first imagined Daenerys. (Like, srsly, wtf??) Daemon Blackfyre I can definitely see being inspired by white supremacist movements in the real world, but Daenerys?)

Anon accuses the Targaryens of being “exceptional and special”. idk I thought controlling dragons was special.  Kinda like controlling direwolves is special. Controlling magical creatures is special. But I didn’t think controlling magical creatures made you a fascist or a supporter of Aryanism. 

If you want to make the case for a group of white people in ASOIAF posing as ~the master race~, I would actually suggest the valyrians of Old Valyria. The sorcerer-princes of Old Valyria captured and enslaved people and used people to fuel their magical empire. The attitude of Old Valyria actually seems very similar to that Himmler quote I gave you above:  “whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only insofar as we need them as slaves for our culture. Otherwise it is of no interest.” The dragonlords of Old Valyria definitely colonized other places and practiced imperialism. 

But the Targaryens were like the hillbillies of Old Valyria. They weren’t very powerful. Shortly before the Doom they relocated to a rock in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the Valyrian empire, and then the Doom and the Century of Blood meant suddenly the Targs were on top by accident (and a really smart woman). It’s like an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard or The Beverly Hillbillies, and this is why Tywin and his ancestors before him were so fucking pissed, because who the fuck even is this hillbilly targ family with their ~dRAgoNs~ and their ~InCeSt~ that’s ~bEtTeR~ than our ~LAnNiCeSt~ and ~~~We were kings in Casterly Rock for thousands of years, so who the fuck are these hicks~~~

Anon mentions the characteristic silver-gold hair and purple eyes of House Targaryen. GRRM explains that he “made a conventional 'high fantasy’ choice, and gave them silver-gold hair, purple and violet eyes, fine chiseled aristocratic features.” 

Is there racism in conventional high fantasy? Yeah. 

Does ASOIAF have racist writing? Yeah. 

Is GRRM playing some of those racist tropes straight instead of subverting them? Yeah. 

Could GRRM do better? Yeah. GRRM himself thinks he might have made the Targaryens dark-skinned.

Despite GRRM’s racist writing, I don’t think this means that the Targaryens as GRRM wrote them are all, without exception, terrible people. 

I would also like to point out that House Targaryen exhibits a variety of phenotypes. They are not all the same, they’re not all blond and fair and ~Nordic looking~. Here is a partial list of Targaryens without the traditional look. If someone has statistics on the percentage of Targs without Valyrian features, I would appreciate a link, but I’m math’d out right now. 

Speaking broadly, House Targaryen has certainly done some terrible things. For example, I think the Targaryen conquest of Dorne was imperialistic. Many people have already addressed imperialism in ASOIAF in detail, so I will refer you to this tag. 

Was Aegon’s Conquest of Westeros a good thing, or a bad thing? I don’t know. Truly I don’t know - there is good and bad both in what Aegon the Conqueror did. 

GRRM says this about him:

“Aegon finally decided to take over Westeros, and unify the Seven Kingdoms (that existed at the time) under a single rule. There is a lot of speculation that, in some sense, he saw what was coming 300 years later, and wanted to unify the Seven Kingdoms to be better prepared for the threat that he eventually saw coming from the North – the threat that we’re dealing with in A Song of Ice and Fire.” 

Individually, some Targaryens were certainly awful. Others were good and kind. Some of them were mediocre. I think we should evaluate these characters individually, instead of condemning an entire family. I think that is what GRRM is trying to get us to do, judge each character individually based on their crimes and/or their heroism. 

“a Targaryen restoration seems like the worst possible idea“

Anon thinks the worst possible thing that could happen to Westeros is that Dany becomes queen of the Seven Kingdoms. 

That’s “the worst possible idea” of what could happen. 

The Others could win the War for the Dawn and enslave/murder every single living creature on Terros. That’s a distinct possibility. 

But anon would rather have every single person on Terros die than for Dany to become queen of the Seven Kingdoms? 

And people say this fandom isn’t misogynistic. 

I really don’t think it would be a bad thing for a person as compassionate as Daenerys Targaryen to become queen of the Seven Kingdoms. 

Westeros could certainly do worse than Dany. The Lannisters could stay in power, for example. 

Cuz you know which family is repeatedly described as blond and fair and there is a LOT of uniformity in their appearance? Which family didn’t want to marry a Dornish girl? Which family described the Westerlings as “doubtful blood” and wouldn’t marry them? Which family had a common girl gang raped because the heir married her? Cuz it sure wasn’t Aegon V’s family.

Who said Lannisters are “worth more” than other people? Who captured and enslaved people at Harrenhal while burning their lands?

Tywin Lannister did that. GRRM ain’t exactly subtle about pointing out the fascist. It’s Tywin and Randyll and people like them who are the fascist who support Aryanism.

Daenerys is repeatedly in direct opposition to Tywin’s philosophies. Daenerys is one of the heroes. She’s a complex, well-written hero. She flirts with darkness but ultimately rejects it. She’s a grey, complicated hero. 

This fandom doesn’t deserve Dany, but she’s gonna save the world anyway.

[sophiacresta1-blog]

Vermont’s Luxurious Boutique

In the heart of downtown Burlington, Vermont the unique and trendy boutique, Liebling, caters to women looking for a classy wardrobe. The welcoming store sits across from other small businesses, as well as large corporate stores, such as Patagonia. The window displays convey the true luxury and high-end brands that are found inside, catching the eye of any woman. Liebling identifies its style as, “Casual luxury.” While Vermont is known to be more laid back and casual, everyone needs some chic items in their closet as well. Liebling is German for favorite, darling, and love. Perhaps Libeling wanted its customers to think of the store as their favorite.

Katchen McElwain just recently became the owner of Liebling after having a background with an interest in fashion. She says, “Definitely when I was younger I’ve always had a thing for fashion and clothing. I actually used to work at a cafe all throughout high school because I liked to buy my own clothes so it's always been an interest.” Although McElwain did not focus on fashion during her college education, she was interested in learning more about communication and business, as she says, “At UVM I studied public communication and community  entrepreneurship so the community entrepreneurship kinda goes with the business owning thing.”

McElwain previously worked at Ecco, another clothing boutique in Burlington, and Liebling throughout college. She says, “ I really wasn’t sure what I would do afterwards. It's one of those things where you're like, ‘Woah I need a career soon. What am I gonna do with my life?’ So I was already doing what I was meant to be doing.”

There are two other staff members that work alongside McElwain. “Right now I just have two part time staff,” she says. “I feel like I’m there more than anyone else.” She describes her staff:  “Adriana, she has a background in fashion. She went to the New School for design so she really cares about quality and fibers… Marley already loves clothes and was a customer beforehand. She's a friend of mine and she's just really good.”

Adriana 

     Marley

McElwain wants staff who are good with people and will be outgoing, while having a prior interest in fashion. McElwain says, “If you have an eye it's easy to sell to people because it doesn't feel like you're selling to them, it feels like you’re helping them pick stuff out.”

Liebling has been open since 2012 and although it is small, it has created a successful clientele. McElwain says proudly, “ I have customers that are a really strong repeat customer base so it’s nice to kind of know everyone pretty well. I feel like when I do the buying I can be like, “Oh you know like Tracy would love this.” McElwain knows her customers and their style so well that she has added a unique aspect to Liebling that many other boutiques do not offer. McElwain explains, “I definitely have customers that live in other states and they will call me for something and we send people pick boxes sometimes so then they can send back what they don’t want to keep.” These pick boxes allow customers who live far away to still be able to shop at Liebling and the staff will put together a box that includes several pieces that they think the customer will enjoy.

The downtown and involved location of Liebling has helped the success of the store. McElwain says, “I actually think being right around the corner from Church Street like the kind of main drag in Burlington it's kind of a destination you know and I feel like being on College Street, literally 30 seconds away from Church Street, we are right in that little sweet spot. It's actually really beneficial and College Street is really cute too because it's all locally owned businesses. It's definitely grown, we have gotten many customers recently and having Patagonia across the street is really helpful… The size of the store is really nice and we get a lot of nice sunlight too.”

Owning a small business or retail store in such a small town can be challenging to get customers in the door. McElwain is confident that Liebling stands out from other stores around her. She says, “A lot of the stores are more for high school and college students and I’d say we are more like an adult store and we really focus on quality, simplicity, and classy, but very high end. I feel like it's strong because there's not really any other stores like us in town so that's an advantage.”

McElwain contines, “The weaknesses are growing and getting new customers and figuring out how to get people at the door because winter, for all the stores in town, is a bit of a challenge because it's cold and no one wants to be out and about, so learning how to grow.  I think social media definitely helps with that. I have a lot of people come in and say, ‘I have never been here before but I saw you guys online.’ Even just being near Church Street I get people from out of town and they will be like, ‘This is so cute’ and then they will make a point to come back when they are back in Burlington.”

Business can be slow on Sundays in Burlington, especially in the winter, so McElwain incorporated a new aspect to Liebling that is useful for her customers. She says, “I decided in January that we would not be open on Sundays… I would like it to be by appointment so on Sunday the store is technically not open but if someone wanted to call and schedule an appointment with me they would come in and the store would be closed and they could get personal shopping from me. I've done it before and it ends up being really fun because you can have snacks and wine and just like the one on one experience is really nice for a lot of people, especially for those who can’t really get here during the week. I have some clients who live in Montpelier and Stowe and they are busy with their jobs and Sundays are sometimes the best time for them to do their shopping.”

The process of purchasing clothes for a retail store is very extensive and the owner needs to know what the trends will be in the next seasons. McElwain explains, “I go to New York four times a year for the buying. June and December are the smaller buying trips.” Planning ahead is crucial in retail because when going on buying trips, the shopping is for the next seasons to come. So, it is important to know what styles and trends will be popular in the future. McElwain includes, “The December market is for spring, so the stuff that comes in like February and March. However, the February market I was just at is for fall, one of the biggest seasons.” “If you go with a budget it is kind of hard because if you see stuff you like you know you can only bring about a quarter of it into the store”, says McElwain.  Schedules are built for the buyers, allowing them to make appointments with designers to look at their items. McEwlain says, “A lot of times there are models in the showroom so what you decide you like and they will try it on for you… Some stores will do the ordering right there but I always get my notes and then when I'm back in the store I look at the budget and do my buying off of what I saw and what I liked. It’s a fun process going to New York and doing the buying is really fun. Coming back and narrowing it down is the hard part.”

McElwain and her staff focus greatly on customer satisfaction and host events to thank their customers for shopping at Liebling. McElwain describes her events: “I try to do a holiday party and a spring party every year so I’ll send invites and will try to have something going on too like a clothing or jewelry trunk show. We have champagne and snacks and just make it a night of shopping and we always do gift bags.”

There is a wide range of designers that Liebling carries that are trendy, yet luxury. While clothing is the main focus, shoes and accessories are also popular at Liebling. McElwain describes some of her favorite brands in the store. She says, “One of my favorite designers is Nili Lotan, she is Israeli but she lives in New York, and her stuff is perfect for everyday. She does more special stuff like silk and more workwear but her everyday stuff is perfect for our customers. She has really nice sweaters and denim, just stuff that is easy to incorporate into your lifestyle. People can wear it both work and play and her stuff is great.”

“R-13 is another one of my favorite lines and they do beautiful denim that is all made in Italy but they are more of an edgier line so kind of like distressed stuff, but their quality is really good.” McElwain adds, “That's more of my edgier line and it's fun like it's very wearable but it's kind of a fun addition to the store instead of your more classic pieces, you get more of your fun pieces.”

McElwain also discusses the unique accessories that can be found at Liebling. She says, “We sell bags from B May, Barbara May, she is out of Detroit but she buys all the skins and leathers in Italy and we have carried her for a long time. We like how understated and clean her stuff is, so there’s no like heavy branding or anything. It's just really nice high quality bags that you can use everyday. I have a lot of customers that like her so much they will buy a new bag every season so those are great. I really love jewelry so I carry a lot of 14K and 18K, more like fine jewelry and diamonds and precious stones. I really like Sophie Hughes, she's out of Boston and she uses all recycled metals, which is more sustainable and conflict free diamonds, which is also really important to me. I would say we do gold and silver jewelry and then bags and nice scarves and then shoes like boots and sandals too.”  

[someguyscaliforniavoterguide]

Select L.A. County/California Races, March 3, 2020

Hi friends, it’s me again. I am here to offer my opinions on how you should vote. As before I am up front about my biases: I am a Warren supporter, I live in L.A. and I am actively pro-density (Yay SB50, you deserved better) and pro-transit. I live in the east Valley, so I tend to focus more closely on the issues that directly impact my side of town, though I try to keep an ear out on things countywide. 

Last time I did this a couple of folks reached out to give me gifts to say thanks for doing this guide. This year, I would encourage anybody who wants to say thanks to donate $5 to Fair Fight,  a group founded by Stacey Abrams to fight voter suppression in the 2020 election. We’re gonna need all the help we can get in November to defeat the GOP, and Abrams is doing it in a smart way. 

Other voting guides

This is my voting guide and reflects my general opinion on things. However, I am indebeted to many other guides, including the Knock L.A. Voter Guide and the L.A. Podcast Voter Guide for their takes. I don’t always agree with them, but both of these are invaluable resources for the progressive voter in Los Angeles. 

L.A. City Council 

This year the even numbered seats are up for re-election. Half of them are effectively uncontested, a couple are very much contested, and two are free for all because of term limits. 

CD2: Ayinde Jones

Look none of these candidates set my heart afire. I work with Councilmember Krekorian’s office a lot (remember, I live in the east Valley) and he’s a competent politician with a ton of endorsements and community ties, I have no illusion he’s going to win his full term comfortably on March 3. However, I believe it’s good to encourage competition, and Ayinde Jones did a good (not great) job at the candidate forum I attended hitting on themes of how the parts of CD2 north of Victory are being left behind as the area evolves. I wish he were better on S50, but then again all three candidates were opposed, so that’s kind of a wash. I look forward to hearing more from Jones in the future. 

CD4: Sarah Kate Levy

From a paucity of options to a surplus of options next door. CD4 is currently represented by David Ryu, a politician who came out of the Neighborhood Council system and went on to become...a city hall politician. Both his opponents are great. Nithya Raman is the founder of SELAH, a group that does amazing work helping the unhoused in Los Angeles, and recently led Times Up! Hollywood for a year. I’d vote for her in a heartbeat, but I am encouraging people to vote for Sarah Kate Levy for two reasons: first, Levy is unabashedly supportive of SB50 and we need this kind of leadership, and second I am hoping these two excellent women will get so many votes that they overwhelm Ryu and leave him in third place. Fingers crossed. 

CD6: Bill Haller 

This is another shoo-in. Nury Martinez is the City Council president and has the backing of the County party and all the local clubs. I am endorsing Bill Haller because he supports an agenda that includes more public funding for affordable housing, more and better transit, and climate justice.  

CD8: Marqueece Harris-Dawson 

There are no other candidates in this race, so congratulations on your re-election Councilmember Harris-Dawson. 

CD10: Aura Vasquez 

This is an open seat, and the smart money has Mark Ridley-Thomas as the frontrunner. Ridley-Thomas is a current member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors (more on them later) who is termed out of that position. I’m endorsing Aura Vasquez, a progressive activist with ties to Mid-City who has served as a commissioner for LADWP and led fights for renewable energy, banning single use plastics, and housing affordability in her community. 

CD12: Loraine Lundquist 

Dr. Lundquist rules. She takes public transit to debates, she is an honest to goodness scientist, and she nearly beat a Republican in what is the most conservative district in L.A. during a special election. I have donated money to this lady because we need to win this one. Her opponent, John Lee, wasted no time in trying to block housing for the homeless in his district and in attacking a successful safer streets project on Reseda Blvd. The city has a chance - a really great chance thanks to the realigned municipal elections - to toss out the worst possible councilmember in favor of the most progressive voice, don’t mess it up. 

CD14: Cyndi Otteson

This race is Kevin de Léon’s to lose, but he won’t commit to serving a full term since he really wants to be mayor. I say let him have his spare time to run for mayor and select Ms. Otteson, a grassroots activist who has the support of the UTLA and who is the only voice in favor of the Colorado Blvd alignment of the NoHo to Pasadena BRT project. Transit equity matters, and Ms. Otteson deserves your vote this March. 

LAUSD School Board 

Deferring to the teachers’ endorsements on this one. 

Board Seat 1: George McKenna

Board Seat 3: Scott Schmerlson

Board Seat 5: Jackie Goldberg

Board Seat 7: Patricia Castellanos

Glendale City Council: Dan Brotman 

An environmental activist with progresive views, Brotman will be a useful voice in Glendale’s city hall. 

District Attorney: Rachel Rossi 

George Gascón and Rachel Rossi will both be light years better than the current county D.A., Jackie Lacey. Both have promised to make substantial reforms in the office. I am really torn on this one, since I think Gascón’s experience as a Deputy DA in San Francisco is a big deal, and since he has the backing of the County Party. I am endorsing Rossi in a tilt-at-windmills hope that somehow she and Gascón make it to the final ballot in November and give us a thoughtful debate between a career prosecutor bent on reform and a public defender whose goal is reform about methods and ideas. Anyway, don’t vote for Jackie Lacey is all I am saying here. 

Superior Court

Voting for judges is stupid. We shouldn’t be doing this, but since we have to, I’ll make some suggestions. My math is based on other progressive endorsements, Party endorsements, and reverse-engineering some well known conservative voting guides to, if nothing else, make sure I am not voting for their endorsement. 

Office 17: Shannon Kathleen Cooley (the race is uncontested) 

Office 42: Linda Sun

Office 72: Myanna Dellinger

Office 76: Emily Cole (Cole is a prosecutor, but her opponent is a man who literally changed his name to “Judge” after serving as a judge in Stanislaus County) 

Office 80: Klint James McKay

Currently an administrative law judge, he impressed Public Defender Union representatives with his thoughtful and articulate answers to their questioning.

Office 97: Sherry L. Powell (Powell’s opponent ran as a conservative Republican for state assembly in 2018, this is a defensive vote)

Office 129: Kenneth Fuller

Office 131: Michelle Kelley (the race is uncontested)

Office 141: Lana Kim (the race is uncontested)

Office 145: Troy Slaten (Slaten’s opponent has a troubling history of misconduct and should not be elected to a judgeship) 

Office 150: Tom Parsekian

Office 162: David D. Diamond

L.A. County Board of Supervisors

The Supervisors oversee policy for the County, including all unincorporated areas, the LASD, County Health services, etc. For a county of TEN MILLION PEOPLE, there are only five supervisors, so they have a hugely outsized influence. 

Seat 2: Jorge Nuno 

A lot of progressives are endorsing Holly Mitchell in this seat. Me, I just can’t go there when she’s speaking at events for Livable California and when she gave a floor speech opposing SB50. Though he’s the front runner, Herb Wesson doesn’t deserve your vote - he was City Council president when the homelessness crisis exploded and he’s done little to address it. Nuno is a progressive and has an ambitious platform. 

Seat 4: Janice Hahn 

She’s solid, and nobody’s pushing her from the left. 

Seat 5: John Harabedian 

Kathryn Barger, the incumbent, is a Republican who supports Trump’s immigration policies. John Harabedian is a solidly Center Left Democrat who has the backing of the county party and who could, in this presidential election year, win an upset in what is traditionally a Republican stronghold of L.A. County. Vote for him. 

County Ballot Measures

Measure R: YES YES YES 

This will provide crucial tools to the already existing civilian oversight committee for the LASD, including subpoena powers. It also requires the commission to study ways to divert offenders from jail. You need to vote yes on this. 

State Ballot Measures 

Prop 13: Yes

$15B in bonds to invest in public schools and “local control” to allow local school districts to issue larger bonds. The only real opposition is from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a revanchist organization that is singlehandedly responsible for much of our state and local problems in the past few decades. Don’t listen to them. 

Congressional Elections 

Despite some misgivings, I am generally supporting the progressive challengers here to hopefully lead to a Progressive/Center Left election in the fall. 

CD 25: Christy Smith 

She has a good track record in the state assembly and a strong local support network. She’s not a carpetbagger with a YouTube show, and she’s not a Republican. 

CD 28: Adam Schiff 

He’s not the most progressive guy in Congress but he’s been critical to holding Trump accountable. He’s earned this vote. 

CD 29: Angelica Duenas 

Tony Cardenas is a bit of a non-entity on the national stage but he does good local work and he was an early vote in favor of impeachment. The rape allegations against him which troubled me last time were dismissed with prejudice in 2019. Cardenas has a progressive challenger, Angelica Marie Duenas, who has run in the past as a Green Party candidate. I don’t trust her decision to abandon that label and come into the Democrats after getting drubbed in 2018, but overall I like her ideas and I’d be happy to see her and Cardenas in a runoff this year. 

CD 30: CJ Berina 

Brad Sherman is an okay Congressmember. CJ Berina is a young, progressive challenger who’s attracted the attention of the Sunrise Movement. I’d vote for him to try to push the GOP out of the runoff and make this a race between the Center Left and the Progressive Left. 

CD 34: Frances Yasmeen Motiwalla

Jimmy Gomez is solid; let’s push the GOP out of the runoff though by supporting this progressive. 

State House 

District 39: Luz Rivas

District 41: Chris Holden 

District 43: Laura Friedman 

District 44: Jacqui Irwin

District 45: Jesse Gabriel 

District 46: Adrin Nazarian

District 48: Blanca Rubio 

District 49: Edwin Chau 

District 50: Richard Bloom

District 51: Wendy Carillo

District 53: Godfrey Plata

District 54: Tracey Jones

District 55: Andrew Rodriguez

District 58: Margaret Villa

District 59: Reggie Jones-Sawyer

District 62: Autumn Burke

District 63: Anthony Rendon

District 64: Fatima Iqbal-Zubair

District 66: Al Muratsuchi

District 70: Patrick O’Donnell

State Senate

SD 21: Kipp Mueller

SD 23: Abigail Medina

SD 25: No Endorsement - I rarely do this but honestly Anthony Portantino does not deserve your vote. Write in Mickey Mouse. 

SD 27: Henry Stern

SD 29: Josh Newman

SD 31: Richard Roth

SD 33: Lena Gonzalez

SD 35: Steven Bradford

County Committees 

Look this is getting waaaaaaaaaaaaaay into the weeds. What I am going to say is this: I know that a lot of “progressive” slates are out there and I encourage you to try your best to vet them. In my district, one of the candidates is somebody I know personally - she actively campaigned for Jill Stein, she circulated the decades-old “Clinton Death List” to voters, and she pushed Pizzagate theories. I am not voting for this person, but she is endorsed by “Progressive California” so...just be careful. 

[pkmn-downtheline]

Just Numbers

“Wartortle. Poliwrath. Golisopod. Basculin. Slowbro…” Skye’s Rotom Dex listed off the names of each of the Pokemon before him, floating above their heads. He turned to Skye with a grin. “It’s a water Pokemon-palooza!”

“You bet!” Skye proclaimed, puffing out her chest. “These guys are gonna be my special strategy!” All of the Pokemon cheered in agreement.

Lizzie closed the book she had been skimming, raising a brow. “Special strategy? For what?”

Skye spun on her heel to face her, beaming. “For my battle against Mom, of course!”

It had been almost a year since Skye had begun challenging Kanto’s Champion League. In that time she had managed to beat three out of the four Elite: Sabrina, Koga, and Leaf. Her own mother, Misty, was the final challenge she had left before she could face off against the Champion--and she had specifically saved battling her for last.

Now the match was a little over a week away, and Skye had requested that Lizzie join her at Professor Oak’s ranch for some training. However, Lizzie deadpanned upon realizing the implications of Skye’s selected team. “You’re kidding, right?” 

Skye shook her head. “Nope!” She grinned, looking at Wartortle and the others. “We’re gonna go all-out with some tidal wave-packed action!” She punched her fist forward, and Wartortle did the same. “There’s no better way to battle my mom than with water-type Pokemon, after all!”

“Only using water-type Pokemon against a water-type Pokemon Master?” Rotom asked, a question mark popping up on his screen. “Calculating… Calculating…” 

The question mark morphed into a buffering circle. After a moment, an exclamation point took its place. Rotom gasped in horror. “But that brings your chances of winning down to less than 15%!” He hovered around Skye’s head in a panicked frenzy. “It could go as high as 40% if you used Manectric, Chesnaught, or Tangela instead!”

Skye narrowed her eyes, offended. “Only 40%?”

“My calculations are never wrong!” Rotom stated, proudly placing his hands to his sides. “Keep in mind, this is an Elite 4 member you’re going against!”

Skye huffed. “Well, whatever.” She waved Rotom off, flashing her other Pokemon a smile. “Calculations are just numbers. And numbers don’t matter in a Pokemon battle!”

“You say that…” Lizzie started, her eyes scanning all of the Pokemon in front of her. “But have you actually counted how many Pokemon you’re using?”

A question mark appeared on Rotom’s screen once more, and he hovered over the heads of each of Skye’s Pokemon. “One… Two… Three… Four… Five…” He paused, and then let out another horrified gasp. “Lizzie’s right! You only have five water-type Pokemon! Official battles against the Elite 4 require a full team of six!”

Skye perked up. “Ah, right. About that.”

“Hey! Skye!”

The sound of Gary Oak’s voice cut through their conversation. Both Skye and Lizzie looked at the laboratory to see the Professor walking toward them. He had a less than impressed look on his face.

“Oh, Professor!” Skye blinked as he approached. “What’s up?”

Gary stopped when he reached them, sliding his hands into his pockets. “There’s a package for you at the front door,” he explained, annoyed.

Skye lit up. “It’s here!”

Lizzie gave Skye a quizzical look. “You ordered something?”

“Yes, she did,” Gary answered for her, his voice dripping with irritation. “Now can you stop having things delivered to my lab? Have them sent to your own place.”

“Sorry, Professor,” Skye said with an apologetic grin. “But it’s a lot easier to have you sign off on mail for me since you never leave the house anyway.” Gary gawked, and Skye offered him a wave as she began sprinting to the laboratory. “Thanks!”

“Skye’s right, Professor,” Rotom agreed, a check mark popping up on his screen. “According to my calculations, Skye is only home 10% of the time… But your stay at home rate is 95.6%!”

Gary flinched. “Wh… What’s that supposed to mean!?”

Rotom snickered, zooming past the Professor in pursuit of his trainer. Lizzie laughed nervously, following after them. “Sorry, Professor…”

By the time Lizzie made it into the lab, Skye was already well at work ripping apart the large cardboard box at the front door. Rotom zipped around curiously, attempting to get a look at what was inside.

Lizzie peeked over Skye’s shoulder. “So… what is it?”

Stepping to the side, Skye spread out her arms to present her special delivery. “Ta-dah!”

Lizzie paused upon seeing the large, bright device sitting atop the mess of torn cardboard. “Is that… a washing machine?”

“That’s right!”

Lizzie sighed, pressing a palm against her forehead. “How many times do I need to tell you to stop wasting your money on things you don’t need?”

Skye flinched, then rubbed the back of her head. “This time is different, I swear!” Spinning on her heel, she faced Rotom with a confident grin. “So, Rotom, how do you feel about doing some training?”

Lizzie furrowed her brows, looking between Skye, Rotom, and the newly acquired washing machine. That was when she blinked, lightly clapping in realization. “Oh. I get it!”

Several question marks popped up on Rotom’s screen as he processed what Skye was trying to say. “Wait a sec…” he mused, getting a closer look at the washing machine. Realization hit him, and he appeared as if he may short-circuit. “A Roto-Wash?!”

Skye grinned. “That’s right!” she proclaimed, pointing a finger at him. “You’re my sixth water-type Pokemon, Rotom!”

“What!?”

Lizzie watched on as Skye and Rotom began to banter back and forth with each other. She frowned. “But, Skye…” Lizzie started, crossing her arms. “It’s been a long time since Rotom was last in a Pokemon battle. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Truthfully, Lizzie couldn’t even remember the last time she had a battle against the Plasma Pokemon. Once Skye had begun her travels in the Alola region years prior, Rotom had ditched the battle scene in favor of the Pokedex’s plethora of knowledge. Though, a part of her believed Rotom just liked having the ability to talk.

“Lizzie’s right again!” Rotom confirmed, frantically waving his arms. “With the state I’m in, my chances of winning a battle against a Pokemon Master are as low as… Calculating… Calculating….” Rotom’s buffering symbol appeared, and once it changed into an exclamation point, Rotom practically screamed, “0.2%!”

Skye shook her head. “I said it before and I’ll say it again: Numbers are just numbers. They mean nothing in a Pokemon battle,” she said, holding up a finger. “Whether your numbers agree or not, I know you’re a really powerful Pokemon. I’ve seen you score more goals in the past than I can count!”

“But the past is the past!” Rotom reasoned. It then hung its head, a frowning emoji appearing on its screen. “I probably don’t even remember how to have a Pokemon battle…”

“That’s nonsense!” Skye argued. “Forgetting how to battle would be like forgetting how to ride a bike!” 

Rotom continued to mope, hovering lower to the ground. “But…”

Skye frowned, letting out a breath. “I know it’s been a while, Rotom…” she started, crouching down to be on his level, “but you’re still a part of Team Skye! And Team Skye needs all hands on deck if we wanna beat my mom.”

Rotom glanced up at her, and Skye smiled, continuing with, “You’re way stronger than you think, and I know that with a little polishing you’ll be unbeatable!” Pixelated teardrops began to take shape on Rotom’s screen.

Skye gave him a gentle pat on the head. “We need your strength, Rotom--because according to my calculations, you’ll raise our chances of winning to 100%! No… 200%!” Smiling wider, she held out a hand to him. “So, whaddya say?”

Rotom stared up at Skye for a long moment, the pixelated teardrops continuing to fall. Suddenly, the screen began to glitch, and electric shocks were emitted from the Pokedex. Skye yelped and recoiled, falling back onto her rear.

Lizzie inhaled sharply. “Are you okay!?”

The Plasma Pokemon emerged, and the empty Pokedex shell fell to the ground. Rotom began to dash sporadically about the room--knocking out some of the laboratory’s lights in the process.

Lizzie helped Skye to her feet, raising her brows in shock as she watched Rotom zip across the lab. “I-is it trying to run away?”

Brushing herself off, Skye grinned, focusing her gaze on Rotom. “No.”

Rotom charged straight toward Skye and Lizzie, and the two quickly stepped apart as Rotom bolted between them with lightning speed. Shocks were emitted as it collided with the Roto-Wash behind them.

The laboratory’s lights flickered back on, and both Skye and Lizzie focused their attention onto the now shaking Roto-Wash. After a moment, a blue aura began to glow around the appliance and its eyes opened.

The now Wash Rotom jumped into the air, raising its nozzle proudly. “Roto!”

Lizzie’s eyes widened. “It did it!”

Skye’s face lit up, and she laughed, “All right!” she cheered, balling her hand into a fist. “I knew you had it in you!” 

Rotom grinned, hovering around his trainer. “Roto ro!”

Lizzie smiled, approaching Rotom and giving it a gentle stroke on its head. “I guess that means Rotom wants to give the Champion League a shot, after all.”

“Of course it does!” Skye said, placing her hands on her hips. “Rotom has the Team Skye fighting spirit in it!” 

“Roto!” 

Skye looked to Rotom confidently. “Now how about we focus on that training, huh?” she inquired, giving Rotom a slap on the back. “You’ll have Hydro Pump mastered in no time!” 

Rotom recoiled, beginning to sweat profusely. “R-Roto!?”

Skye snickered. Running to the laboratory’s exit, she cheered, “Anchors aweigh!”

Rotom frantically chased after its trainer. “Roooo!!”

Lizzie watched as the two sprinted toward Skye’s other water-type Pokemon back out on the ranch. Letting out a sigh, she smiled.

Before she got the chance to follow after, Gary Oak’s voice came from behind her, “She really is something, huh?”

Lizzie paused, turning around to see the Professor standing in the doorway. She raised a brow, smiling. “No doubt about that.”

Gary huffed, letting out a light laugh. But the amused look was quickly replaced by a heavy stare. “Now can you please tell her to stop having things delivered to my house?” His eyes were shooting daggers through Lizzie, and she felt herself begin to sweat anxiously. “I’ll have you know, I live a very busy life.”

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

End.