#i tried to make this very specifically not about jealousy or being a tsundere or whatever its about being able to voice what you want | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kunikinnie · 3 years

Note

could i ask for a ranpo sfw alphabet? :-] tysm!!!

Edogawa Ranpo SFW Alphabet

a/n: here it is! sorry it suuuper long I tried my best to understand his character D:

BTW the version I used here is different from the Ango one. There's a version by ry0chann using the set I previously used, and I absolutely agree with what she wrote so please check it out if you haven't!

A - Attractive (What do they find most attractive in a person and about you?)

He’s not one for looks, and among the several qualities in a person he treasures honesty and kindness the most.

BUT he honestly loves any part of you that’s soft. Your chest, your arms, your cheeks, your thighs, or all of the above? As long as it’s squishy he likes it a lot.

B - Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why Not? How big?)

I think he doesn’t mind if you have one nor does he mind if you don’t. He doesn’t necessarily have a fondness for children (especially raising them as his own), so the choice of having a family falls on your shoulders. For him he’ll be fine as long as he has you and his friends in the Agency. But if you do want to start a family, just one child will do for him. He’ll also love them with all his heart since he still carries the good memories of his biological parents with him.

C - Cuddle (Do they like to cuddle? How do they like to cuddle most?)

Oh he absolutely loves cuddles. He’d want them as often as possible. And I personally think he prefers being the little spoon, especially when you’re cuddling in bed.

D - Date (Ideal date?)

Doing random things. Nah just kidding he likes taking you to wherever’s fun! but not tiring lol A part of him absolutely loves going to the amusement park, but another part is perfectly content with just lounging about at home while playing some video games.

E - Energetic (How energetic are they?)

Very. Very, very energetic. He’s only really behaved when he’s preoccupied with something like solving a difficult case or playing games. In the relationship that would mean a lot of pestering from him (affectionately) and several spontaneous activities.

F - Fight (How are they in a fight?)

It’s like he’s literally deflated. He hates being on bad terms with you, but whether or not he’s in the right he will not yield. You’ll have to make the first move unless you are even more hard-headed and can keep up the cold shoulder for longer. In that case, he’ll give in and apologize to you (although it will be very quick lol).

G - Gifts (How do they feel about gifts? How do they give them?)

OH he definitely loves receiving gifts, especially things like sweets or games. He has the tastes of a 7 year old. As for giving, he already knows what things you like and is lowkey kind of tsundere about it so he gives them nonchalantly. As in “here’s the thing you were talking about” or sometimes he doesn’t say anything. He just... slides them to you.

H - Honesty (How honest are they? Do they keep secrets?)

Generally speaking he’ll be honest with you, even brutally so. Of course there are certain things involving the Agency that he cannot share with you easily.

I - Injury (How do they react if you get injured?)

He’s not that great at treating people so he gets concerned quite quickly (but usually he doesn’t show it, he just switches to serious mode). But he’ll be majorly mad if it’s because you went ahead with doing something he specifically said you shouldn’t do (or anything reckless for that matter). Things in the ADA are dangerous whether or not you work there, and he’s doing his absolute best to convince you to stay away from fights or other physical things you cannot handle.

J - Jealousy (Are they the jealous type? How do they deal with it?)

Ranpo doesn’t get jealous easily especially when he knows you only have platonic feelings at best for that other person. But if he notices you enjoying a stranger’s company and little compliments a little bit too much, he’ll step in (quite rudely) and bluntly tell them you’re already taken OR he’ll embarrass them (indirectly or directly, depends on how mad he is).

K - Kiss (Their favorite way to kiss you?)

Quick, fleeting, and teasing kisses on the cheek or on your lips. Of course he likes deeper and longer kisses too, but those only come when the mood is appropriate.

L - Love Confession (How did they confess their love?)

80% chance you’ll be the one to confess first and he just responds to your feelings. But if for some reason you just won’t budge even when it’s clear that you like him, he’ll take matters into his own hands.

He’ll either wait for everyone to leave the agency or take you out casually in the guise that you need to accompany him for a mission or something similar. Point is he wants to get you alone. Then he’ll confront you, ask you what the heck is taking you so long to confess properly, complain to you that he’s not patient, bla bla bla, teases you, and finally asks you if you actually want to date him. To which of course, you say yes.

M - Mean (What are they like when they’re mean? Is it common?)

Well, he’s mean all the time HAHA but there’s affectionate mean and “f off” mean. It all depends on his mood. Even if you’re more on the sensitive side, he can’t help but tease you a bit every now and then.

N - Nicknames (Do they have nicknames for you? What are their favorites for them?)

They’ll definitely be variations of your preferred name. Perhaps he’ll take the first few syllables and spice them up to make them sound “cute”, then add -chan or -chi at the end.

O - Open (How long did it take for them to open up to you?)

I think he’ll open up quite quickly except for those things that he wants no one to know at all. Of course eventually he’ll give in and confide in you since you’re his lover, and he wants to at least let you know more about him than most of his friends/coworkers do as soon as possible.

P - Proposal (How would they propose? Would they propose at all?)

This is similar to the confession one imo. He might propose properly, he might not. In fact I think he’ll do it quite casually (if you’re not the type who dislikes it, ofc. If it means a lot to you then he will actually put in the effort). Like,

You two are walking home when you pass a bridge; the sun is setting, the wind is blowing, and there are hardly any other people around. Your conversation may be about anything in the world when he suddenly just asks you:

“Do you want to get married?”

How you’ll respond is up to you, but you would know he’s serious when he opens his eyes and stares at you quite seriously. He just... stands there in earnest, waiting for your reply.

Q - Quiet (What are quiet moments like with them?)

He’s only quiet when he’s concentrating on something (ex. thinking about a case or playing a game), but when he’s with you he’s usually ONLY quiet when he’s snuggled close to you. The warmth and scent of your body just calms him so much that no words come out of him (or even you for that matter): the love and understanding is all there.

R - Rainy Day (What are they like in the rain?)

I think he generally likes the rain unless it interrupts plans for the day. If he feels like it he’ll go out with a raincoat and boots to bask in all its wet glory. Otherwise, he’ll just make himself cozy inside with warm snacks and drinks, and if possible with you snuggled close to him.

S - Sad (How do they handle their sadness? How do they react to yours?)

I see Ranpo as someone who is quiet about feeling down. If it’s a mixture of anger, annoyance, and sadness, then he’ll be a bit more vocal. Otherwise he silently eats it away and hugs you tighter and longer.

If it were you who were sad, he’ll do his best to cheer you up. He’ll give you the food you like and watch the shows you love with you, etc. He’ll also tell you things he likes about you and other kind words more often. It’s not that he doesn’t have advice nor does he want to help you deal with the source of your sadness, but he believes that if you do want help you’ll open up to him on your own.

T - Time (How long did it take for you to get together?)

It’ll take sometime, but not a lot. Once Ranpo knows that both of you want to be (and can be) in a relationship he will make it happen without delay.

U - Unique (What’s an interesting thing about them that not a lot of people know about?)

He’s actually more sensitive that he lets on. When people talk shit about him, he’ll brush it off and have some witty comeback or pretend not to notice, but when he’s alone he’ll think about it a lot. He might even grumble or complain to you about it.

V - Value (What are some of the things they value most in life? value most about you?)

I think he values honesty the most. Yes, he can see right through people, but that is exactly why it hurts more if someone he cares about lies to him. He appreciates it more if someone simply says they don’t want to or are not ready to talk about it rather than lying to him. Trust is built on honesty, and in a world full of deceit and betrayal it’s a precious rarity to have someone simply be sincere. That’s no different (or perhaps even more exemplified) when it comes to you.

W - Wildcard (random fluff headcanon)

VERY random but:

Whenever you put your hand out (palm open) for whatever reason, he’ll just put his chin on it and smile widely. It’s very cute.

X - XO (Are they affectionate with hugs and kisses? If not, are they in other ways?)

Oh yes he absolutely loves receiving them (but usually only in private). If he’s the one to initiate, although they’re very common they’re very short. He’s a tease like that lol. I also see him as the type to ask you to do something trivial for him just because he’s lazy and have a kiss or something as your “motivation.” (It sometimes works the other way too)

Y - Yearn (How do they deal with yearning?)

Let’s say he has a mission in a different prefecture and needs to stay there for a few days.

He will call you everyday if he can. But if for some reason he can’t, he’ll complain about anything and everything (except about missing you) to his companion. Yes, he’ll bring out his annoying side to the 100th degree like a child throwing a tantrum on a smaller scale but for a longer time. The only thing that can appease him are good snacks. (This applies whether or not you’re dating already lol)

Z - Zen (What makes them calm?)

If Fukuzawa asks him to be calm, he might become calm lol. But generally speaking as long as there’s nothing that could potentially upset him (whatever it may be), then he’ll be relatively calm. Then again he gets upset over the most mundane things (but mostly just for show) so good luck with that.

#bsd #edogawa ranpo #ranpo x reader #ranpo x y/n #ranpo x you

145 notes · View notes

soprone · 5 years

Text

Some notes on my characterisation of Teddie

retreading some old ground from previous blogs but hopefully it’s better than before because i’m always getting better grasps on my muses as time goes on so pwease read with an open mind .✫*ﾟ･ﾟ

So while my characterisation is mostly based on the english localisation of the games and anime because that’s what i’m most familiar with, i feel like teddie comes across differently than may have been intended due to dub changes. i kind of viewed him the way i do when i first played, learning about the dub changes mostly just confirmed some things about my interpretation. like of course i changed my mind about some things but so you know where I’m coming from

So something that didn’t translate very well was Teddie’s humor. He’s constantly making bad jokes that the rest of the Investigation Team doesn’t respond to. This isn’t because they’re uncomfortable with his jokes, even when they’re a bit perverted. He’s not a jerk who keeps making bad jokes that make people uncomfortable, and the Investigation Team aren’t jerks for not explaining to Teddie that it’s not okay or anything, since he’s new to human customs. It’s because he’s looking to bring others into his comedy routine with any kind of reaction, positive or negative, and the only way to discourage him is to not respond. When someone makes a bad pun, groaning and complaining about it is part of the humor they’re going for. It’s like that.

The reason this was translated poorly is because Teddie was specifically mimicking a Japanese comedy style. I kinda always saw it as dad jokes kind of humor, but learning about the original intentions made it click.

This isn’t to say Teddie never does anything perverted. Almost, honestly maybe every, Persona male acts like a pervert, contrives scenarios to provide fanservice to the player/viewer, sexually harrasses female characters for comedy or just because the writers think it’s normal. What I’m saying is, this isn’t a Teddie problem. It’s a Persona problem. I’m not excusing his actions but I don’t think he should be held to a different standard than other characters who do the exact same things. I also really hate when people call Chie (and/or the other girls) an abuser because she physically hurts the boys, because again that’s not a Chie (or other girl) problem, it’s a Persona problem with how the comedy tries to be this slapstick thing on occasion. Like I hope where I’m coming from makes sense when I say that?? No I’m not say it’s okay for Teddie to try to grope Rise, or for Chie to kick Yosuke, and similar moments. I’m acknowledging that these moments are part of the game’s humor, they’re anime characters engaging in anime nonsense in an 11 year old game. It’s bad faith criticism to judge a single piece of media or a single character by ignoring the tone of the work they’re in, holding them to the standards of the real world and also ignoring the same problems exist within similar works (for example w/ persona 4 you need to consider it within the context of other anime, other video games, all forms of media that may have directly influenced it, the state of the world (politically & pop culture wise) at the time (2008), etc., persona 4 does not exist in a vaccumn) and that exist in other characters within the same work. It’s not helpful in explaining why their behaviour and/or why making light of it/normalising it can be harmful because you aren’t examining why it’s written the way it is. Oof this bullet point got long sorry

Teddie’s character arc is not linear. He doesn’t consistently get better, and he is in fact at his most obnoxious in my opinion during the Yasogami High Culture Festival. Since his arc is about maturity, this is like his ‘rebellious stage’ where he’s a brat before growing up more, after having grown up a lot in the months before the festival. However, I can’t accept his characterisation in Persona Q. He’s pushed too far and ‘flanderized’ ike a lot of the Persona characters are in spinoffs. I adore his group date marriage event (&accept him believing he fell for the protag at first sight as a headcanon (it’s just a crush, not ‘true love’/’destiny’, though)), think the love potion quest where he downs some love potion believing it will make girls love him only to fall for Akihiko is hilarious, but that’s about it. I haven’t finished Persona Q2, but his characterization in that game is a lot better from what I’ve seen.

I believe that Teddie went through the events of Persona 4 believing that when the investigation was over, he was ‘supposed’ to go live in the midnight channel permenantly and say goodbye to his friends. A lot of his antics during the year are him pushing for some cliche high school fun experiences in order to make some memories to hold onto (he’s kind of like a player avatar in that way ?? this kind of thing is why the latest 3 Persona games are set during high school over just one year, right??). His perverted antics can be explained with the idea that he doesn’t actually expect any of these girls to fall in love with him, if he wants anything he wants a movie-style ‘summer romance’ so he doesn’t really take them / flirting with them seriously (I’m not justifying it, only providing a possible explanation). He may have just gotten lonely and came back to visit anyway, but his intention really was to leave the human world for good at the end of the game. It’s only when the IT laugh off the suggestion that he realises he was the only one who believed this, that they really think of him as part of the team and weren’t just humoring him this whole time.

I headcanon that his perception of his friends changes and he starts to respect them (+Yosuke’s wallet) better over time after this. It’s gradual (old habits die hard!) but noticable if you pay attention. Naoto notices his maturing during the game, she’d probably be the first to catch on.

He’s bisexual and nonbinary. Though, his feelings on gender maybe can’t be compared to a normal human, he takes on an androgynous male body because he wants to be loved rather than because he feels like a man, dresses as a girl because again he wants to feel pretty and loved rather than because he feels like a woman... In Persona Q2 he volunteers himself and Chie for the power team despite struggling to lift the weights that team needs to, because Chie is insecure about being the only girl on the team and he wants to comfort her. So he’s not exactly bigender or gender fluid, he’s nonbinary and presents whichever way feels right at the time, and what feels right is based less on his own feelings and more what will hopefully make him loved or sometimes help/comfort his friends? He did not grow up like a human in a society of binary gender, it honestly doesn’t mean much to him.

He believes Kanji is attracted to him (which I see as untrue aha I sort of ship it but if he’s got a crush it’s not in the way Teddie thinks), &mimics Yosuke’s attitude about it, not seriously scared of him being predatory or anything (not realising the problem w/ Yosuke’s homophobic comments, which Yosuke quietly gets over later &is probably embarrassed about his own behaviour so he’s not gonna explain), just thinking it’s a funny way of teasing him, seeing Kanji denying him (or not knowing what the fuck Tedd’s talking about) as being tsundere. I feel like this would die down as he gets older

His one-sided rivalry with Akihiko in the Q games (ahh I know they have a hostile relationship in the Arena games but I haven’t played them so don’t know if I wanna make that canon to my Tedd, it seems like they’re too hostile) is because Akihiko is hot, has lots of fangirls, but it’s not just jealousy, he’s swooning too

I think he flirts with Goro in PQ2 because he’s told Goro is a detective prince like Naoto, it’s kinda similar to Akihiko, he follows the crowd and fangirls too. But also, Goro is a Wildcard, he doesn’t know it at this point but he may subconsciously sense it? I’ve always headcanoned him having an attraction to Wildcards, of course the P4 protag is his #1 but he’s pretty flirty with the others in the Q games

that’s it for now because this has gotten SO long, if you made it this far I love you. if you didn’t i still love you because i love humanity as a whole but i’m a little disappointed because i crave attention not gonna lie.

#teddie—isms #headcanon #about

6 notes · View notes

nightfayre · 5 years

Note

hi im the anon ! i dont remember what i said >

and I’m alarmed by the fandom mentality. Maybe HT means good - but how would we know? we don’t have access to his thoughts - but we must judge his actions, and his actions are for the least very troubling. It’s always abt coercing Mo and not respecting his boundaries. I see the trope “when she says no, she means yes” here and once again, the fact the fandom swallows it uncritically (bc HT is a poor, hot tortured boy) is alarming. Forcing Mo to wear his gift stinks of “this is my possession, don’t mess wt him” 2/5

Maybe im pessimistic n its actually to protect him by distance, but once again he totally disregards Mo’s will. What if he doesnt want to be protected ? what if he doesnt want to be an object to be pass around between self-entitled psychos ? The first step to protect and help someone is by listening to them. I hope Mo will react strongly and will tell HT that by saying this, he’s no different from She Li. And i hope that would provoke HT to self-reflect a lot - smth he lacks tremendously. 3/5

That being said i love HT and tianshan! And what i love is how realistic and flawed they are. Theyre both hyper violent, distrustful, and severly lacking in communication skills. Im thrilled to see how theyre going to evolve -for the better or the worse, both is good for me. But i’m very disappointed by the fandom reaction like “ooh how cute hes possessive it means love!” or “actually its not bad doing HT doing that bc his intentions are good”. 4/5

And I will be vry, vry disappointed if OX decides to follow this trend and to not show how this kind of actions is detrimental to their reliationship and use the tired and dangerous trope of “being violent means that you care”. I trust them to be more nuanced than that bc until now they are great at drawing grey relationship. So yea i hope next chapter, tianshan plunges (before being better). Anw sry for the rant, and plz continue the good work !! 5/5

phew. there’s a lot to unpack here – but I agree wholeheartedly with you. since this post is already kinda long, I will put my answer/explanation under the cut!

the parts that I bolded in your asks are what I intend to focus on in this answer. strap in, because this is going to be a long one.

before anything, let me put a disclaimer: I love He Tian. I love Guan Shan. I love Old Xian. I love tianshan, and I love where they are headed in the manhua. does that mean I also love where tianshan are right now? no, it doesn’t. and I’m here to explain why I look forward to their potential rather than their current relationship’s dynamics.

one of the hardest parts about being in a fandom is being able to separate fiction, reality, and morality. this is especially hard when a fandom is as old and endearing as 19 Days, and when you fall in love with & are rooting for all the characters. furthermore, 19 Days is not a tragedy. of course, when Jian Yi disappears, it will be tragic. but otherwise the majority of the manhua is a comical, romantic slice-of-life plot. as such, it’s easier for what would usually be seen as blaring issues/problems in tragedies to be disregarded for comedy or, in some cases, romance in a comedic, romantic slice-of-life.

this is exactly the case with tianshan. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: He Tian’s current relationship with Guan Shan is not healthy. he doesn’t listen to Guan Shan. he doesn’t respect his personal space. he doesn’t know where to draw the line. he doesn’t know how to properly communicate with him, and thus resorts to violence or threats. tianshan just have a problem with communication. and, sure, maybe it can be chalked up to the fact that they’re young and stressed and don’t know any better. but that excuse is almost as bad as the “boys will be boys” excuse, and that doesn’t make it any better nor does it justify their actions.

He Tian’s idea of relationships is so twisted, and as I talked about in a previous answer, it can probably be stemmed back to his trauma with the puppy Cheng took away from him. I won’t get too deep into that since I explained it in detail in that answer, but keep this in mind nonetheless: He Tian grew up in a family of violence, distance, miscommunication, and lies. it’s all he’s ever known, and that’s what he’s applying to his relationship with Guan Shan. does that make it right? no, absolutely not. but he’s learning.

when Guan Shan had a panic attack at the restaurant, He Tian learned that people aren’t robots/pawns to use at his disposal and rather have their own strong emotions/backgrounds that shape them. thus, he brought Guan Shan home without a word. when he had his night terror and woke up to Guan Shan holding his hands, He Tian realized that there are parts of Guan Shan he still doesn’t know and, potentially, an aspect of their relationship that they’ve only started to uncover. thus, he thanked him without preamble and with a bowed head.

what I’m trying to say is that He Tian does have good intentions at times, but not always. he’s learning as he goes, because god knows he didn’t have a family to teach him how healthy relationships should be. there probably is a part of He Tian that only wants to protect Guan Shan against She Li, but he certainly doesn’t show it in the right way. he acts possessive because he knows that if he doesn’t, he’ll lose what he loves (*insert flashback to the puppy*). again, does that make it right? hell no. jealousy and possessiveness are not cute and are entirely unhealthy in a relationship. the fandom should view them as such, but should also keep an open mind when considering He Tian’s background.

and honestly, the reason why I’m focusing so much on He Tian right now rather than Guan Shan is because if it were up to Guan Shan, he would’ve dropped He Tian within the first few days (maybe even hours) of meeting him. but because of He Tian’s persistence, Guan Shan has no choice but to be involved with him and retaliate when He Tian verbally/physically/emotionally attacks him. nonetheless, Guan Shan has tried to walk away from He Tian on multiple occasions when He Tian’s teasing became too much, and on those occasions, He Tian has given in. (ex. I can’t find the exact chapter, but there is a chapter in which Guan Shan refuses to use He Tian’s fork to eat He Tian’s leftovers, and he gets up and says, “I’m going home,” to which He Tian replies, “Fine, fine, I’ll buy you new food.”)

so yes – tianshan certainly have flaws. He Tian holds too much power, and Guan Shan can’t catch a break. the fandom romanticizes their interactions, but if you take a moment to think realistically and recognize that character flaws are essentially bad but also critical for character development, then there is an even balance in the readers’ relationship with the manhua. don’t support He Tian’s violent interactions with Guan Shan and claim “omg He Tian loves Guan Shan sooooo much when he forces Guan Shan to do XYZ,” but rather support the fact that he hasn’t physically manhandled/harmed Guan Shan in many chapters. support and celebrate He Tian’s development, not his flaws.

and as for what you said about Guan Shan telling He Tian that he’s “no better than She Li”? while I don’t think He Tian is truly as bad as She Li, I actually think that would be a painful, great, and pivotal moment in their relationship. after all, the most consequential scene in tianshan’s relationship thus far has been the kiss. at that moment, Guan Shan had told He Tian outright that he disgusted him and to leave him alone. since then, I don’t think He Tian has ever looked so… taken aback. unsettled.

and guess what? their relationship has only gotten better since then, and He Tian hasn’t touched him like that again.

I don’t know, anon. it’s a tough call. I think tianshan have a lot more chapters ahead of them, and I don’t think Old Xian will allow them to end on bad terms. actually, I don’t think Old Xian will allow them to end on the terms that they’re on right now. they can only improve from here on out, but how Old Xian will go about showing that improvement is unknown to us. there are many paths this story can take, but rather than worrying about what might happen, let’s focus on the here and now. let’s focus on the problems at hand, and let’s focus on the development the characters are undergoing.

don’t ignore the wrongness/cruelty of characters’ actions, but don’t romanticize them either. if you do, you’re only doing a disservice to the character’s personality, existence, and the author’s intentions.

(and as for this newest chapter specifically: I see why people can get excited about He Tian telling Guan Shan to wear the earrings. He Tian wants to verify to both himself and She Li that Guan Shan is with him now. that Guan Shan is no longer under She Li’s control. who doesn’t love a little verification of their OTP’s relationship, especially when it involves an enemy?

but at the same time, it’s unhealthy. Guan Shan doesn’t have a say. he’s being handed around like an object. I don’t think this is pessimistic thinking; I think it’s the truth that no one wants to acknowledge/hear. but I’m not saying that tianshan is wrong in this chapter; I’m saying that He Tian has good intentions, but he’s not showing them correctly. and there will be a chapter in which he does show them correctly, but we must travel this rocky road before we get to that point. patience is key, and I cannot wait until He Tian and Guan Shan reach that moment of clarity. you can’t have light without the dark.)

#19 days #tianshan #mailbox #anon

24 notes · View notes

shinneth · 5 years

Text

Gem Ascension Tropes (5XF-specific: R - Y)

Primary General Post ✦ Full Article ✦ Primary Peri Post ✦ Primary 5XF Post

Rage Breaking Point: When 5XF winds up trapped in a temple chamber shortly after making the decision to live independently and distance herself from Peridot and Steven as much as possible, this happens after enough time has passed. When 5XF attempts to use the tablet she stole from Peridot to escape or find any useful information, she’s instead assaulted with pictures and videos of Peridot’s newfound happy life that 5XF honestly doesn’t believe Peridot deserves. Add in the fact that 5XF has no idea what to really do with her life, and it’s effectively The Last Straw that finally breaks her… causing her to rant furiously to herself, blaming Peridot and Steven for this mess. It isn’t long after this that she experiences her Face-Heel Turn.

Ready for Lovemaking: The end of This is Who I Am Chapter 6 shows her patiently waiting in the nude for Sphalerite to join her in bed. Even Sphalerite (who’s every bit on board with this as her) is impressed how quickly 5XF decides this is what she really wants, despite 5XF having very minimal knowledge on the subject with the couple only realizing they’re in love with each other just minutes ago.

Red Oni, Blue Oni: As far as This is Who I Am is concerned, she is very much the Blue to Peridot’s Red. She’s also clearly the Blue to Steven’s Red in Chapter 2.

Redemption Quest: 5XF is pretty much required to go with the Crystal Gems to face Gypsum whether or not she committed horrible, unspeakable acts, but since she did, most are seeing her participation in this mission as this.

The Resenter: Much of 5XF’s struggles and inner conflict stems from how wrong it feels that Peridot ended up not only becoming a better gem, but was blessed with so much freedom to find herself, live her life as she wished, gained a loving family as well as a dedicated boyfriend… meaning unlike all other Peridots, she actually got to experience true love. Then there’s also everything that goes into Peridot’s role as a Chosen One/Unwitting Test Subject that makes her distinct and objectively superior to her kind. She’s basically gone from being a sadistic, sociopathic, backstabbing bitch to now becoming the savior of all gemkind who is now inexplicably a loving, caring, and moral role model. She’s learned to forgive herself for her past transgressions, and even seeing Peridot’s Character Development through a Mental Picture Projector isn’t enough to make 5XF believe any of this is just. While 5XF is to some degree jealous of her sister’s success and good fortune, she earnestly believes this is all far more than what Peridot actually deserves considering what she was like for the vast majority of her short life. Unfortunately, This is Who I Am ramps this trope up to entirely new levels as Sphalerite becomes part of 5XF’s life… and she’s basically at Peridot’s mercy to ever have a chance at seeing her again.

Same Surname Means Related: Invoked by Steven who, much to Peridot’s chagrin, continuously calls 5XF her “big sister” since she’s currently the only other Facet-2F5L Cut-5X Peridot they know is still around.

Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Downplayed, at least compared to Peridot.

Sibling Yin-Yang: Zig-Zagged with Peridot. While the two started out having virtually nothing in common, it should be evident in this trope listing alone that 5XF’s new life on Earth has exposed several traits and mannerisms of hers that happen to align with Peridot’s on several occasions. Nearly all of said traits have been revealed with little to no influence from her little sister, so they are genuine shared traits. That being said, 5XF’s core mannerisms consistently contrast with Peridot’s – Garnet even assures 5XF that no Crystal Gem will ever confuse her for Peridot or regard her as a carbon copy. So, while 5XF does have more in common with her sister than she’ll ever care to admit, she easily retains more than enough opposing traits after her Character Development to not only stand out as her own person, but as a Foil to our Hero Protagonist.

Small, Secluded World: While this was also the case with Peridot, this trope is more applicable to 5XF since Peridot did eventually get promoted and moved beyond her initial limited environment on Homeworld. 5XF had no intention of overachieving, so she remained confined to one facet for the majority of her life and seldom met gems that weren’t fellow Peridots. Being so low in the caste system meant her kind had very limited clearance to access areas beyond their workstations.

Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Most apparent in 5XF’s earliest scenes, though it makes a brief comeback in Chapter 4 of This is Who I Am, then returns with a vengeance after Sphalerite defuses in Chapter 7. Generally downplayed, as 5XF does have very prominent Tsundere traits.

Star-Crossed Lovers: With Sphalerite. Being in love with a fusion is by design not meant to last; even a best-case scenario where the two are willing to make the effort to stay together despite that hurdle (which they currently are) is made all the harder to maintain when the fusion 5XF fell in love with is Steven and Peridot’s – two gems she mildly dislikes at best. Since Steven and Peridot are an Official Couple in their own right (and are the protagonists of this continuity), that leaves an unfortunate situation where the two relationships literally can’t coexist. The only chance 5XF has to secure her relationship with Sphalerite would be for Steven and Peridot to forego their individual lives to keep Sphalerite as a perma-fusion similar to Garnet. They not only aren’t willing to make that kind of sacrifice, but the nature of the post-GA state of the world wouldn’t let it happen even if they did concede to trade their individual lives for their fusion. The best 5XF can hope for is for Sphalerite to be formed in the future and pray Steven and Peridot are merciful enough to give the couple any time together. Considering the massive breach of trust caused by 5XF and Sphalerite’s first outing, it’ll be a long time before 5XF can count on seeing her. Unlike most aspects of this continuity, Status Quo is God won’t budge on this.

Starting a New Life: As of This is Who I Am, 5XF’s life as a Homeworld gem is over. She’s the first of millions of refugee gems rescued at the end of GA prior to Homeworld’s destruction to be brought out and face her situation. 5XF is understandably overwhelmed; a completely different planet, the concept of living her own life freely and making her own decisions, and finding out the kind of gem she was truly meant to be; the gem Homeworld tried to keep buried forever. These are all vast improvements to what 5XF had before, but naturally it takes her a while to understand that.

Straight Gem: When paired with Steven or Peridot, 5XF most certainly is.

Street Smart: Exclusive to Homeworld, and yet another shared trait with Peridot. However, this is one area where 5XF outshines her sister; while they had similar strategies for surviving Homeworld life itself, 5XF’s approach was overall a much safer and more sensible way to go. Her curious nature combined with her emphasis on caution (an aspect her sibling largely lacked) made 5XF very knowledgeable about the world around her and just how low that glass ceiling for her kind was. Although Homeworld no longer exists by the time 5XF becomes an active member of the cast, her knowledge still proves to be useful, and can offer the Crystal Gems unique insight on how to approach the rest of the refugee gems when they’re liberated. She overall has the best understanding of how the refugees will perceive the Crystal Gems and could be an invaluable asset as a mediator between the two groups.

Successful Sibling Syndrome: Once 5XF accepts that Peridot and the cruel, sadistic 5XG she knew of are one and the same, it doesn’t take long for 5XF to start reeling from this – especially once it’s made apparent that her once-awful sister is now going to be a figurehead and a role model for their fellow kin. In all fairness, most of 5XF’s anguish in this trope stems from the justified sentiments that Peridot’s past history should automatically disqualify her from earning a position where she is to be looked up to. She also feels Peridot in general has done far too much evil to even deserve the happy life she ended up with – finding true love with Steven is especially a sore spot, since 5XF makes it clear their kind never had the personal rights to ever achieve something like that on Homeworld. There are elements of typical superficial sibling-based jealousy (Gypsum actually exploits that to entice 5XF to inherit her powers), and 5XF is all too aware nothing she could do would ever help her stand out as much as her sister. However, those sentiments are largely secondary to the elder Peridot’s strong feelings of how much of an injustice it is that her sister achieved legitimate success at all, based on the horrible crimes that were committed for the majority of her lifespan.

Too Good to Be True: This is how 5XF interprets Steven and Peridot’s efforts in convincing her that Earth is a great place to live and how she’ll enjoy living life on her terms to find out who she truly was meant to be now that the Diamond Authority is no longer around to suppress it. Steven and Peridot apparently tried a little too hard to sell 5XF on this concept, resulting in an initial backfire.

Took a Level in Kindness: Starting with This is Who I Am Chapter 6, 5XF is actively doing what she can to atone for her malicious actions in the previous two chapters. She takes calls for Steven and Peridot while they’re incapacitated and even makes a point to inform Lapis that she and Peridot are due to have an important conversation after the vacation ends in the interest of preparing Lapis for what Peridot will have to say to her. While Sphalerite was definitely the biggest influence in getting 5XF to better herself, the truth is that her lingering guilt from what she put Steven and Peridot through makes 5XF resolved to properly atone, even if it means she’ll face a harsh punishment for it.

Tsundere: Contrasts with Peridot here, as she’s more of a tsuntsun Type 1 (with a dash of the Type 2), but does share the deredere Type 6 trait.

Uptight Loves Wild: Being very sophisticated and mild-mannered compared to her sister while not living on Earth long enough to really know how to live by her own rules (her one attempt backfired in a very traumatizing way), 5XF was definitely enchanted by Sphalerite’s more casual, free-spirited approach to life and discovering her true identity through exploring the world on her own terms, opposed to the heavy front-loading of exposition that Peridot and Steven fed her.

Vengeance Feels Empty: After taking her frustrations out on Peridot and Steven throughout Chapters 4 and 5 of This is Who I Am, 5XF finds that she isn’t feeling any kind of fulfillment or catharsis while she watches the traumatized pair sob into each other’s arms. If anything, it makes 5XF feel like a monster, and she soon wholeheartedly regrets her actions enough to strive for atonement.

Willing Channeler: Albeit her decision was made while under duress in a very fragile emotional state, 5XF nonetheless agreed to a binding contract with Gypsum, despite the latter being nothing more than a voice in 5XF’s head. She did this in order to have the ability to ward away Steven and Peridot, but the surge of power twisted her mind and compelled her to go much further than that. 5XF has since acknowledged her consent to this power was a mistake and is resolved to atone for what she did as Gypsum’s power vessel. However, now that 5XF is bound to a Clingy MacGuffin that happens to contain Gypsum’s consciousness, it’s very likely 5XF’s consent will be irrelevant when Gypsum is revisited in the future.

Worth Living For: 5XF was very cynical about the concept of “living for herself” on an alien planet she knew nothing about primarily because she lacked this trope. When she met Sphalerite, that finally changed. After getting to know her, 5XF has been much more receptive to embracing Earth as her new home and looks forward to building her new life on her own terms.

You Are Number Six: Called 5XF for short, but played with in that as of This is Who I Am, Steven intends to think up a more legitimate name for her (as he plans to do for all the other refugees). He’s even willing to let 5XF choose her own if she doesn’t like any of his ideas.

You Can’t Go Home Again: Since 5XF doesn’t have much inherent love for Homeworld and didn’t spare a tear upon learning of its fate, this is generally downplayed. However, by Chapters 4 & 5 of This is Who I Am, when 5XF attempts to split away from Steven and Peridot to live solely on her own terms, she’s finding little reason to actually want to live on Earth – at the same time, she’s now aware the Homeworld colonies won’t be safe for her, and the fact that Homeworld isn’t even an option for her does cause her distress, as it leaves 5XF completely clueless as to where she belongs. By Chapter 6, however, 5XF has completely moved past this trope; with Sphalerite in her life at this point, she’s already decided home is wherever the fusion will be. 5XF has also gotten a positive touring experience on Earth, with certain memorable features further enticing her to embrace this planet as her new home.

#gem ascension #gem ascension tropes #gem re:ascension #tv tropes #this is who i am #steven universe #steven universe oc #5xf #stevidot #peridot #su peridot #garnet #su garnet #su ruby #jasper #su jasper #gypsum #sphalerite #headcanon

1 note · View note

game-meak · 6 years

Text

A Proper Postmortem

Maybe?! Heck if I know how to actually format a good post but let’s try. As game development went on for almost four years, this is probably gonna be long... and also give away basically the whole game oops! Read on with caution.

Sometime around July 2014, a month after the initial release of my first game, my room was being remodeled and I was stuck with nothing for free time but a garbage laptop I could do anything on, an old flip phone, my sketchbook, and my 3DS. So beyond playing an obscene amount of Animal Crossing and Tomodachi Life, I at some point went “hey, what if I made a second game starring the kids.” So I started trying to plan it out! And it went

absolutely nowhere that I intended it to go!!!

For instance, this is the very first page of sketches. This squirrel was supposed to be really important. It’s not. I don’t even KNOW what’s up with that duck.

A thing I like to think about before I set off making any of the story, assets, or scripts for my games tend to be themes and motifs. And I kept circling back to a very important, very personal “theme.” Without using the internet at large as my therapy couch, I was emotionally abused and taken advantage of multiple times in my life and it greatly impacts how I interact with people to this very day, as you’d expect events of such a degree would. Particularly, I kept thinking that the RPG Maker fan crowd tends to skew young and be in the teenage range and at ages 14-16, I could’ve used something to help.

Of course, my entire thought process isn’t necessarily one of charity and selflessness. It was also a way of me expressing what I’d dealt with in ways I’ve only ever communicated with my friends who were also victims of the same circumstances, the closest I would let myself come to personal stories and retellings with a cover of plastic children and wild adventures. It was also in some ways a way of me verifying to myself that something ongoing was, in fact, bananas and should not have been happening, but that might be another story for another time.

As you can probably guess, Haze and Seal came into the picture since I needed to make two characters who would have this struggle. A lot of decisions came about because of my personal experience. They’re 15/16 because I was at the time of the incidents that primarily inspired me to make this game. They’re both nonbinary because I am. They love anime because I did (and do...?!) One of their friends is even directly modeled off how one of my friends looked in high school. To that degree, I guess someone, somewhere can call them self inserts. But they’re also not, since I didn’t want to just do a personal retelling with fictional characters. I’d just write a memoir or something at that point.

Haze’s design came first, and then Seal’s was sort of made as a foil to them. Haze’s “colors” are pink, black, grey, and red. Seal’s are teal and light purple... and also black. Haze had a rabbit motif (which got toned down as I went on), Seal had an owl motif (which is now just a single mention in their list of likes...), etc.

Though in the beginning, the story was entirely different. Initially, everything took place in the neon-ish areas with black sky and reflective, celestial water (that I, very eloquently, call “spacewater”). The idea was that Haze and Seal were beings from another dimension and that their “fighting” was causing a rip in the universe that the kids stumbled into and therefore got wrapped up in this mess. I had an entire script written and started making assets and when I went to sum up the game’s plot in a neat paragraph, I realized... I hated it!!!

So I chucked all I had done by that point writing-wise and started again.

In fact, I rewrote a lot. After the first it was mostly small tweaks and adjustments, but the biggest ones (and the ones that still present a challenge to me!) usually involved trying to make Seal feel like a believable character. I had shown an early draft to someone who said that Seal felt too much like trying to get back at someone, so I scrapped a ton of their lines and tried again. I still worry whether or not they come across too Strawman-y, but I’ve done the best I can and whatever criticism people have can apply to my next writing attempts. It’s very hard to separate yourself from subject matter you feel really personally attached to. I don’t want to write them in a way that you immediately hate them, or hate me for writing such a blatant “villain” character, but in a way that you can formulate your own thoughts. That said, though, I am violently allergic to people who call Seal a “tsundere,” even in jest. So I guess I want people to have their own thoughts as long as it’s not that specific one...! (;;;;)

You may be thinking “heck, this is a lot of paragraphs in and you haven’t even brought up gameplay thoughts” and yes... that’s very true. Shamefully, for a game where I thought “I should definitely, absolutely focus more on making it a Fun Game than a walking visual novel” I might’ve actually dropped the ball in that area. I’d like to think I was more adventurous than I had been with my first game. Some parts do kind of fall into the “walk to the next cutscene, find a key to unlock the next cutscene” pit, but I did put effort into figuring out what I could do with RMXP. My obligatory “please don’t use this engine here, people thinking of using RPG Maker” statements here. In the final product, though they’re very simple, I’m most proud of the chalkboard puzzle and the paint sorting puzzle.

Even if, y’know... I somehow neglected to include the letter “k”

Speaking of, I’m not sure if this is a general RPG Maker thing, a “man I hate RMXP” thing, or a “meaka cannot gamemake” thing, but I had several event/puzzles just up and quit on me a few times. Like they would work fine for months and months, but one day I’d go to them and just nope, suddenly they’re not working, sorry. Copy+pasting the event to a new map wouldn’t work, so I’d have to manually redo the event. One of them was the chalkboard puzzle. The other was the sliding puzzle when Tony is by herself. Which I’m also aware slows the game down a ton, but I have legitimately no idea how to fix that... I tried and I could never get to to not lag like crazy.

Like I said, I started in July 2014. I’d shipped the game off to my beta testers in March 2018. A vast majority of that time was spent creating the visual assets since everything you see in the game is custom. All the sprites, all the tilesets, every little pixel of it. All me! Needless to say... it was very exhausting and very time consuming. I grossly underestimated how much time I thought it’d take. I never accounted for the very real possibility of burnout, which is incredibly silly considering I was making something entirely by myself that was also an occasionally difficult subject matter...! There were quite a few weeks where I touched nothing because I couldn’t bring myself to and even a few times where I just considered deleting everything and cancelling the project. I knew I’d be mad at myself if I quit, especially as I got later into production, so I just tried my best to make sure I didn’t turn it into a huge chore. Obviously, there were parts that were more tedious than others, but this game really is a very large labor of love that I put a lot of my heart into.

Part of that time is also a little bit of indecision. Did you know I went through 3 possible title screens? I sure did! I’ve also publicly posted about redoing both Haze and Seal’s bust sprites before. I almost redid all of the kids’, too, but I didn’t wanna get caught in the loop of remaking everything, so I opted to just leave them as they are. Most of them don’t bug me as much. M...most of them!

I’m hopping back on the Story train since obviously that was my main focus, but the decision to have Seal sort of “reveal” their true nature (or at least have a jealousy-related anger burst) to Octavio as an animated cutscene was one I’d decided pretty early. Which is also why, unsurprisingly, I was debating getting voice actors for a hot minute. But I wouldn’t have used it anywhere else in the game, so I opted not to. I also wanted to keep the file size low, but that wound up not happening so much, h-haha... For someone who uses the only engine without native support for videos, I sure do like making animated cutscenes, huh.

Anyway. This scene originally bridged Octavio’s section of the game to Pablo’s, which would’ve been (for some reason) in an abandoned hospital. But that didn’t pan out because it didn’t fit what I wanted the game to be and also by switching the order of the two, it builds up more tension(?) on the kind of character you expect Seal to be. I hope their very first “fuck off, maybe” took someone out there by surprise!

This also was the point when I decided I wanted to commission an original soundtrack, since nothing quite got across what I wanted at the time. Which is when I put out my silly ad post and somehow managed to get the amazing ProjectTrinity to compose for me...! I’m still amazed by the sheer quality of music he made for my little RPGMaker game.

Having the teen characters curse was also something I waffled on for a bit. Clearly, I dwell on the important things as a writer. I wanted it to contrast the cutesy, kidlike way the siblings talk and also the sort of squeaky-clean image the witches (particularly Seal) present to the kids by contrasting how they talk to each other, most importantly how Seal talks to Haze and their other friends. I did have the same issue with the Mother in my first game, but I opted to not have her curse at all either since she’s childish in her own way, too. But that’s not for THIS game’s postmortem, get otta here!!!

I also very much was set on a “battle” with words being the final event of the game. Though I had a hard time imagining what that would be initially, but eventually arrived at a sort of fake battle system that was introduced in the mine. The setting for this battle changed with time (everywhere from the park to the academy and in between) was considered...! The dirty secret is that while I did like the decision to make it take place in the voids between worlds, I also sort of did not want to draw the staircase in the witch academy. Originally, the kids would’ve also helped Haze “reach” Seal (who was putting actual obstacles in the way), but I guess in my own way, I wanted to give Haze the ability to confront Seal on their own, one-on-one. Or something like that...! I also didn’t want to add too much needless backtracking.

I’m... unsure what other point I really want to make, so I guess I’ll end this here unless anyone has anything in particular that interests them they’d want me to answer!

All in all, this game means a lot to me and took a chunk of my life to make and I really hope it’s able to reach at least one person who might need it, even if it’s only a little.

To all of you who gave it a try, thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.

A shameless link to the game: [itch.io] & [RMN]

#living playground #the witch's puppets #rpg maker #postmortem

17 notes · View notes