#i have mixed feeling about how much i'm choosing to seek out spoilers for this show

[potterandpromises]

Episode 7 is once again the Theo episode! This is not a drill! And he'll be framed as a potential love interest for Mabel, too.

[annbourbon]

🖤 ✨ 🖤 ✨ Rika ✨ 🖤 ✨ 🖤

Let's start with Rika...

⚠️possible spoilers ahead, be warned⚠️

I can't believe I actually didn't realize that. I mean, I did it. Like 7 years ago, but I had no clue on how to explain it.

Besides it needs from Mystic Messenger Timeline *which I'm still working on, and trying to finish* to actually make sense.

Disclaimer: Please take into account that whatever I say here, it's only my opinion after playing the game so many years. I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, or therapist of any kind. I'm just a writer, who loves to spend time analysing characters and stories.

I did asked to my mom to help me with this and the other characters because of how difficult the task ahead of me was. My mom, who is an actual therapist, did her best to help me, but I did most of the analysis here, since I'm the one who knows the in's and outs of this game. Besides, I did my research and I'll make sure to quote it! So give it a chance and keep reading even if you disagree with me. And then, I'd love to read your thoughts on the topic 💕

Narcissus. Also known as daffodil.

Should I talk to you about the dark side of the flowers and tie it to MM characters?? Anyways, Rika is a narcissistic. But also has a profound trauma. One doesn't exclude the other. Here's a quote from Mayo Clinic:

«Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.»

Causes: The cause is likely complex. Narcissistic personality disorder may be linked to:

Environment — parent-child relationships with either too much adoration or too much criticism that don't match the child's actual experiences and achievements.

There are other two, that are genetic, and neurobiology causes, but I'll be focusing more on the environment, which let's be honest, it's what is displayed on the game. If you're interested on reading more about it, there's a link before the quote and, on References, I'll also be leaving every single link.

So let's go back to Rika and please read the next three images while remembering how's her relationship with V, and Saeran. Sometimes even with MC, and Mika.

As you can see...

Attention:

* Creates the RFA. Receives attention.

* Creates Mint Eye. Receives attention.

* Says V is her Sun.

* As soon as she gets tired, says V's killing her and wants to leave

* Wants to mix RFA and Mint Eye. I assume is because despite everything, she feels like she's losing attention on everything she created. And MC is the reason of that too.

They don't choose losers:

V is a millionaire

Jumin is a millionaire

Zen is super sexy and hot

Jaehee and the twins are really smart

Do I need to keep going? Even Elizabeth the 3rd is one of the most beautiful cats ever seen.

Grooming:

Here's the part that keeps bothering me because I realized about it before I could actually explain what it was going on. Seven years ago I decided to play the game, and I finished feeling a bit too weird on how everyone was so infatuated with Rika... it wasn't any other person that just dies and then the group dies too. It was still active two years after losing her (?) Even though they have only know each other for... 4 to 6 years?

Some even less. Like Jaehee. Which randomly brings me to: She's an ENFJ so she does focus on details like Jaehee (Jaehee might be ISFJ, ISTJ or even ESFJ considering how well she manages around people too. But that's another story.) Her enneagram is probably 1.

I can understand Yoosung, but... you know what I mean. It was weird. And once I reached the first VN novel about V and Rika I felt even more weirded out by these two.

I don't think I can pinpoint it but I felt like Rika was manipulating V so I was surprised when I realized some members were tying these two as lovers and a beautiful couple. Do you guys remember V being surprised by Rika quoting "The Sun is the mother of all"?? Yeah... Even back then, for me it was a highlight of how messed up their relationship was. But again, I couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Until, now.

After Cheritz released Another Story, and Rika DLC, many of my theories came true. But still in a disorganized way. Which is why I created The Mystic Messenger Timeline.

I did confirmed one thing:

Rika is a narcissist and V is a people pleaser (that doesn't make him any less villainous of what he is, but I'll explain once we'll reach his profile. I promise.) at least at the very beginning of this story.

She probably has psychopatic tendencies

She definitely has sadistic and abusive tendencies: I have a hard time putting through her whole behavior during Saeran's Route and especially during his AE. But she takes pleasure in hurting others. V, Saeran, MC, Mint Eye associates, etc.

A bit of One on the Enneagram:

It is called The Reformer.

Because Ones have a “sense of mission” that leads them to want to improve the world in various ways, using whatever degree of influence they have. They strive to overcome adversity—particularly moral adversity—so that the human spirit can shine through and make a difference. They strive after “higher values,” even at the cost of great personal sacrifice.

If you think I'm too far off, then please check the levels of healthy and unhealthy Ones can have. They sure ring a bit too much for me on Rika's behavior. From Level 1 to 9, we can see her evolution during the game. But here you have a couple of her worse traits.

Unhealthy Levels

Level 7: Can be highly dogmatic, self-righteous, intolerant, and inflexible. Begin dealing in absolutes: they alone know "The Truth." Everyone else is wrong: very severe in judgments, while rationalizing own actions.

Level 8: Become obsessive about imperfection and the wrongdoing of others, although they may fall into contradictory actions, hypocritically doing the opposite of what they preach.

Level 9: Become condemnatory toward others, punitive and cruel to rid themselves of wrongdoers. Severe depressions, nervous breakdowns, and suicide attempts are likely. Generally corresponds to the Obsessive-Compulsive and Depressive personality disorders

If you want to know more about this, check this.

So, why do you (player) like Rika as character?

Because it's okay, I know people who actually like Rika. I don't, but I definitely don't hate her either...

You don't need to be worried about it as long as you know what she did was wrong. That's it. Now, why do you like her/identify with her?

Things that might, or not, ring a bell:

* Trauma: Rika has a traumatic past. And you might feel like it's a mirror of your past. Hence identifying with it might not be something difficult. Of course this doesn't mean you are leader of some religious cult.

* Her willingness to fight despite having everything at odds. Let's not forget that before she goes nuts and starts brainwashing people, she did a lot of great deeds. Tried to stay positive and all that.

* Her kindness (we can discuss over certain things, but as much as she did terrible things, she also did amazing things, like creating the RFA to help people. Wether she did it with a certain master plan in mind or not, she did helped as much as she hurt and that's the important part.)

* She's just a great villain! It might be hard to understand for some people but you actually just look at her character as what it is, a character, and you're impressed by how many discussions and hot debates she brings onto the table. Understandable!

* Her flower means forgiveness♡

Do you have any other ideas for why you might like Rika? I'd be happy to read them. 💕

Also, this might be one of my last post about her. Might not be the last but I do need to finish with the Mystic Messenger Timeline, and I will but I don't think I have a lot more material to write about. So thank you for sticking with me all this time! I'm linking the main post on MysMe theories I have, I still need to finish tying up all nicely. But we're coming to the end. I'm definitely talking about trauma, coping mechanisms, parenthood, childhood and societal pressures but it'll be in other posts, possibly not even linking them to this one. Who knows? Stay tuned~!

References:

Mayo Clinic - Narcissistic Disorder Personality

Between Narcissistic & People pleaser

Medium - Beware a narcissist with a hero complex

Paired Life - Hero & Narcissist

Enneagram Institute - One

[thebroccolination]

FIC WRITER CONUNDRUM between us vs. hemp rope edition

I've been writing WinTeam fic siiince early 2020, and since Between Us started airing and more chapters of Hemp Rope have been released, we've gotten a whole bunch of new canon to play with. I'm still sorting through it all in my head. There's so much.

One thing I already know for sure is that I’m going to be using a mix of Between Us and Hemp Rope canon in my fics from now on.

[spoilers for Between Us and Hemp Rope]

As an example, I’m mainly going to use the novel when it comes to Team's traumatic background.

In the series, Ton is Team’s cousin and Ta is Ton’s grieving mother and Team’s aunt. Pretty straightforward, easy to digest.

In the novel, though, things are trickier. Ton is Team’s cousin—but with a twist.

When Team was five years old, his parents were killed in a car accident. No one else in the family wanted to take him in, but Ton told his parents that he wanted Team to come live with them. So they adopted Team, and Ton became a proto-older brother. So when Ton drowns, Team feels guilty for two reasons, one of which isn't present in the series: he feels like it’s his fault Ton died, and he feels like he stole Ton’s parents from him. Even though they raised him since he was five years old, he was only eight when Ton died. He'd only spent three years with them, so he might've still thought of them as his aunt and uncle more than his mother and father.

In the novel, when Team tells Win about Ton, Win encourages Team to seek therapy. Team agrees, and then Win keeps encouraging Team by making sure he knows it's okay to see a number of different therapists to find one who meshes well with his personality. I’m also going to go with that in my fics because exploring how therapy helps characters with trauma is a thing I enjoy. (It's a KiriBaku fic for My Hero Academia. There's therapy in it. It was very cathartic to write.)

I don't know for sure why the series departed from the novel, but I think some of the latest novel chapters were written after Sheep completed the script, and they couldn’t delay things any longer. Writing the script took a lot out of her mentally and physically; I love what she did with it. I appreciate it as its own story. But the fun of being a fic writer is that you can do whatever you like. Pick and choose from canon or just make stuff up wholesale.

So! I might link to this post in some fics as an explanation of my approach to the source material. :D

[kuinliekkienroihu]

I (crysuzumushi, haha) am working on answering your ask game prompts, you picked two of my very favorites, thank you! I'm gonna ask you to do Kaname too! And Byakuya.

Okay, thanks for the ask!! Sorry it took so long to answer, i wrote a novel. Also sorry for all the spelling and grammar mistakes, English isn’t my first language

Kaname:

1. Favorite thing about them

How he always seeks to act according to his sense of justice. Also he's one of the best written characters in the entire series. He's very complex, which makes him feel kinda like an actual person with understandable actions caused by his past. There are a lot more things, but i'm not good at putting things to words so yeah.

2. Least favorite thing about them

How underutilized he was as a character. I'm really glad there's more of him in cfyow, even though i've only read the first part

3. Favorite line

" I follow the path least soaked in blood. The path I walk is justice."

4. BrOTP

I have many, mostly Shuhei, Aizen, Gin and Sajin

5. OTP

-

6. NOTP

hmm, i don't like him and Aizen romantically at all, same goes for Sajin

7. Random headcanon

He has a plant garden in Las Noches in which he grows, among many other things, the ingredients for Aizen's tea, which is Kaname's secret special mix of herbs. Aizen really misses the tea Kaname made for him.

8. Unpopular opinion

He did nothing wrong, or rather, all he did was (more or less) justified

9. Song i associate with them

-

10. Favorite picture of them

This is my favorite too

Byakuya:

1. Favorite thing about them

Yes. I love every single thing about him. Even the things others would consider as flaws are perfect. I really like how calm and collected he is regardless of the situation, he's intelligent and calculating.

A very well written character with, in my opinion, the best character development. Especially his relationship with Rukia from ignoring her out of pain (since she looks almost identical to Hisana), protecting her to keep a promise, letting her be executed to keep another promise to genuinely caring about her and saving her life in many occasions, clearly regretting what he did to her and trying to compensate for his actions.

Kubo wrote his development extremely well, in the end of the series he's objectively a better person than in the beginning, but his personality didn't change much. He's still the same overly serious, stuck up asshole we know and I love him for it.

Another thing I love the most about him is the fact that he's another walking contradiction. But somehow, these contradictions make a paradox or a perfect harmony without cancelling each other. Kubo did an amazing job making him have many layers in his character. There's this line from a book (had to look it up, the book is called "the chrysanthemum and the sword") that the author used to describe Japanese people, I think I read that in someone's ig story and it got stuck in my head since it reminded me of Byakuya so much, and in my honest opinion, describes him rather thoroughly, especially second, third and fourth ones. His zanpakuto, which is one of the infinite reasons I love him, being fully portrayed by the second one "both militaristic and aesthetic" being combined into the beautiful but deadly weapon Senbonzakura is.

"both aggressive and unaggressive, both militaristic and aesthetic, both insolent and polite, rigid and adaptable, submissive and resentful of being pushed around, loyal and treacherous, brave and timid, conservative and hospitable to new ways"

When you think about it, he has the most fitting zanpakuto for his personality compared to the other shinigami and the way he uses it is one of the tiny details which make him, him.

His spot as a captain and the head of the Kuchiki clan is in my opinion fully earned (rest of the nobles (except Yoruichi) can go fuck themselves) (sorry Tara, ignore this please lol). He is hardworking and precise, almost workaholic, has trained hard from a very young age and puts duty above everything. But he still has a hidden "work mode: off" -side which we see occasionally as cracking a dry joke or the wakame taishi fuckery in general. Latter being, in my honest thoughts, hilarious and adorable.

There is a lot more but i literally can't list everything. This is already a hell of an essay.

2. Least favorite thing about them.

My answer is probably as you can expect: none.

There is one thing i don't really like, but it's about the writing.

!!TYBW SPOILERS!!

In the beginning of the arc i think that immediately releasing bankai, especially when he knew it was gonna be sealed, was out of character and i would have been very upset if he stayed dead, since the action which resulted in that was not something he would do.

3. Favorite line

“If it’s for the sake of my pride there’s nothing I won’t destroy.”

I know it’s from a filler but this line just sums his whole character, personality and motivations up so well.

4. BrOTP

I have so many, i want him to have friends lol. But to point out the most significant ones i'd say Rukia, Renji, Kenpachi, Toshiro and Ichigo

5. OTP

The only one i really ship him with is Nanao. Hisana is kind of “it’s canon and i’m fine with it.” I haven’t seen enough of her to form an opinion about the ship, but it’s obvious how much Bya loved her and it’s so sweet.

6. NOTP

Okay, i have never mentioned this before since i know many of my followers/mutuals ship them. Renji. The only ship I. Can't. Stand.

Like, platonically? Yes, they're bros. But romantically or especially sexually? No. Fuck no.

I don't care if you ship them, good for you, but please tag the stuff so it gets filtered.

7. Random headcanon

He sleeptalks a lot. And it's not mumbling, he talks the same way as when he's awake but it's absolute nonsense.

Byakuya, asleep: Do not eat the drawer.

Hisana, awake: *watches him in utter confusion*

Byakuya, still asleep: Give him a pink tricycle.

Hisana: To whom?

Byakuya: Head captain Yamamoto

Hisana: *trying not to laugh*

Another hc that i have is that he is a closet metalhead and likes especially power- and symphonic metal (this might sound very weird if you know nothing about this kind of music lol)

8. Unpopular opinion

His actions in the soul society arc were understandable. He was put between the bark and the tree (i hope you get what i mean) and had to choose from just letting things happen and going against central 46 and all of soul society (or at least that’s what he thought). Also the line he said to Ukitake, which is still easily in top5 most asshole things he has said/done, in my opinion shows what he thought of Rukia’s execution and why he didn’t do anything to prevent it. “Once you’ve let one of your people die.. ...two or three more make no difference.” Both of his parents are dead, Hisana is dead, Ginrei is most likely dead and he thought for 100 years that Yoruichi was dead too. I think Byakuya thought losing one more person he cares about couldn’t hurt more than it already has and therefore didn’t think it was worth breaking the promise he made in his parents’ grave and trying to save her. And that fucking breaks my heart.

9. Song I associate with them

I have a 6h long playlist which I’m not gonna post. Can’t choose just one lol.

10. Favorite picture of them

*digs through nearly infinite pinterest board, tumblr and phone’s gallery*

This is (one of) my favorite manga panel(s) of him. I love how calm but powerful he looks. The lines representing the heavy spiritual pressure. Like an inescapable doom approaching (which indeed was the case). And for some reason i love it. 

My favorite fanart, which i obviously can’t post since you can’t post others art so here’s the link: https://www.deviantart.com/keelerleah/art/Bleach-Byakuya-Looking-Back-127254804

and then one which I think is official art or at least an edit of it, if I’m wrong please lmk

[watchinglikeafangirl]

So, I went back to rewatch the very much talked about last scene of KinnPorsche ep 4. First, I won't really talk about the fact that it's basically rape because I've already covered that in another post and this one is about something else. In fact I will only talk about the beginning of the scene and the dialogue because many things happen on an emotional level. They kind of break the ice there and the scene goes deeper than just lust or desire or something. So, I'm gonna break the scene down bit by bit.

PS: this turned into a more detailed analysis of Kinn's feelings and emotions than I wanted lmao

Kinn wants Porsche to shower

The overall idea behind this scene is surprisingly pure-hearted of Kinn because in the end, he has a soft heart but tends to hide it behind a mask.

But the scene spoilers itself. The intention was right and Kinn wanted to stay with Porsche in case something would happen. He wanted to wait until Porsche was sober again and stayed save during the process. So far, so good. But the bathroom is lit with some candles and nothing else. It's really dark in there. A dark-green shadow mixing with the orange light. This scene screams for a romantic interaction between those two. Dark-green is Kinn's color and the fact that the yellow/orange blends in smoothly, symbolizing Porsche, already shows something is about to happen.

Porsche is really high

Kinn tries to lecture Porsche, telling him to focus but Porsche is way too much out of it.

"Oh, you wanna see me nacked?"

Porsche seeks physical contact, leaning against Kinn's chest but we're still at a point when Kinn cares but is annoyed because Porsche doesn't seem to appreciate him doing all of this. Demanding "go take a shower" doesn't work because Porsche finds it even funnier when Kinn is pissed.

Yeah well, Porsche then pokes the window, so Kinn now fully understands and sees how high Porsche really is, but he's still annoyed.

Kinn seeks intimacy

Porsche's legs stop working and he falls down. Kinn is there to help him up. His hands rest on Porsche's hips a little too long which Porsche teasingly points out.

"Whoa! Here we go again."

At this point, you can just see Kinn is angry. His hands are fists and he takes a deep breath to tell himself that Porsche is just intoxicated. It's not the real person in front of him. It's not someone balanced. It's someone else. And it's annoying and frustrating. I think to a certain level, Kinn is even a bit unsure of himself. If it was even the right decision to go there or if it would've been better to send Porsche to sleep right away. So Kinn chooses to talk Porsche off.

"My type is nice, not like you."

Porsche gets touchy

This is where the scene gets uncomfortable but at the same time, the most interesting afterwards.

But right now, it's just uncomfortable because Porsche is obviously invading private space and it would count as harrasment in a different context. He just straight up touches Kinn's crotch and Kinn is now really pissed. He even slaps Porsche's hand away but still, Porsche continues to flick his chest. Kinn is really not amused and tries to hold it together and not say something stupid but his fists are relaxed. The second Porsche touches him, he's only angry verbally. His body language is still tense but something changed and it looks like he just chose to let it happen. Like he thought "he is high, let him have his five minutes".

Don't get me wrong here, Kinn is still annoyed. Porsche grabs his hand to touch him but Kinn pulls his hand away and his jaw is very tight.

Focus

Kinn tells Porsche to focus but then something happens. Porsche half-hugs him. His head rests against Kinn's chest and he calms down. Kinn supports his head, obviously in relief because he takes a deep breath. Porsche is half asleep at this point or at least his eyes are closed. Before, he always looked at Kinn but now his eyelids are too heavy. Like he used all of his last energy.

First kiss

Instead of continuing with his plan to wash Porsche, Kinn leans in for a kiss I'm still not sure has a reason. Maybe it was out of the relief that the "worst part" is finally over. People do all kinds of things when their tension falls off. But I don't think that's it. Sorry, I'm lost, can't tell you what he thinks right there because his eyes turn into a soft gaze but his body language is still tense.

Kinn pulls away really quickly and his face is really something. It's anger against himself. He looks like he's about to cry because he did something bad. Porsche looks at him, all innocent and I think Kinn is like "how could I do this to such a lost person". He is confused, still frustrated but with himself and angry for letting his desire take over.

Change of power

Kinn is all ashamed, looks away because he can't bear Porsche's innocent look. It reminds him too much of what he'd done. Despite other people out here saying, I think Kinn still has a concience and I even think it's a strong one, hating his life and what he does to other people in order to please his father. He turned cold but he doesn't like it and he can still destinguish between right and wrong. Here, he knows it was wrong.

And then Porsche grabs his neck which he tries to fight but he no longer has the power. Porsche has power over him. It's very symbolic because Porsche only got involved in his life so much because Kinn thought he was interesting and Kinn took the first step. But then it's Porsche giving him what he wants not the other way around. The show may seem like "Kinn shows Porsche what he truly wants" but it's the other way around with these two. Instead of ignoring happened events, Porsche acts on it. Kinn looks away here, trying to ignore what happened but Porsche grabs him to force a look into his eyes.

The second Kinn looks into Porsche's eyes again, he doesn't fight against his grab any more.

"I'll show you the real deal"

Porsche pulls him in into an aggressive kiss of want. Kinn is just surprised, doesn't really move but his hand wanders up to Porsche's cheek. Still, Kinn is not high, he knows what he's doing and pulls away. I can only say, right here, he has the choice to break the tension or embrace it. He can run off, tell Porsche to take his shower and put him to sleep, or he gives into desire and love which would be VERY queationable.

Even if he pulled away, he's not moving an inch. Their faces aren't touching but Kinn is too overwhelmed to take a step back. His face shows confusion and frustration about himself and surprise.

Rubbing the spit off his lips is a move with which he tries to remind himself of the situation he's in. To get out of a dizzy headspace, you move your body. It helps you get back, so Kinn whipes his lips. He tries to remind himself to think before actions can make this even worse. He blinks and his eyes changed. He's more aware now, more in reality. The foggy mind is gone, like he splashed cold water into his face. Porsche continues to tease.

"He's awake now."

Kinn's foggy state of mind was clearly not very helpful in that matter and his body felt arousal even if he shouldn't have. But the body doesn't have a concience and if your brain stops thinking, then what should it do?

Clear mind

Porsche touches him again and Kinn looks out of the window. It looks like he really doesn't want to be in this situation any more. Like it's a bad dream and he is angry at himself. He never stopped being angry here and his body definetely didn't help him, only made things worse. He again, presses his teeth togther.

"Just admit it that you like me".

Porsche knows, he still has all the power in his hands. Kinn's head is weak right now, so of he says the rights things, maybe stuff will happen.

Porsche knows about the pier

It looks like all of Kinn's feared ghosts returned because the way he looks at Porsche is full surprise and I feel some sort of panic. But this changes everything. Porsche remembers, Porsche knows and he's smiling at him widely, head against the cold window, just looking at him. Kinn can't help it but find out if the kiss still feels right and if it changed after they both know it.

With kissing Porsche in such a slow and tender way, Kinn admits to it all. I think the fact that Porsche is not in any way sober, gives him some courage the judgement wouldn't exist. No resentment or fear but that's just stupid, naïve to think and fucked up. Kinn uses the opportunity to get what he wants so much because Porsche is too high to be anything different but what he wants him to be like. Porsche has no sense of justice in his head. Only want to feel some skin on his skin, so he opens Kinn's trousers. You can see, it's more Kinn doing all the things and Porsche is just there, overwhelmed by all these touches and explosions in his head.

Kinn had the choice. He was angry at himself for going to far but that didn't help and he wanted to go the easiest way for himself and numb all of it. Zooning it out and giving in to what he surpresses.

The rest is history, hope you liked this.