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friends-to-lovers-tournament · 1 year ago

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Friends to Lovers Tournament: Round 3, Side A, Match 4

propaganda under the cut!

Junnana:

Oh they are so very silly and I adore them. They basically spent the anime being the most married couple there, the game amplifying that and the movie burning that all to the ground (or Nana did that) before vowing to start a new later. They're just a girl reaching for her dreams without a ton of natural talent and a girl who enjoys helping her friends shine instead of herself despite being super skilled but even though they have slightly different goals on the stage they both respect each other so very much to the point where things only go wrong in the movie because Nana lost a bit of the respect for Junna that was always so fundamental in their dynamic. The Overture manga gives a bit of insight into what their early interactions were like especially in their respective focus chapters (3 and 9), with 3 showing that Nana was planning on becoming their class president rather than Junna but stepped down just because she had so much trust in her abilities while still making it clear that Junna could rely on her while in 9 the mutual reliance came back in the form of Junna being the one to make Nana realize she wasn't alone. Carrying onwards to the anime, some time before the whole thing, Nana decided "hey time loops are pretty cool" because she was afraid of her and her friends growing up and separating. This was not a fact known by anybody but her and that one giraffe and did not affect the early plot, where for the most part Junna was more focused on due to her struggles being highlighted from the moment revues were introduced and Nana was just constantly around her. Then Junna ended up being the first person Nana actually told about them directly (and not in a very vague way in a revue because otherwise Hikari would be the first) because it was looking like said loops were about to end because the childhood friends to lovers dynamic as a whole decided to say nuh uh to her. Then she did in fact lose her next revue which made the idea of continuing her repetitions a little impossible but Junna ended up recovering from that whole shock pretty quickly, and went to comfort Nana and help her learn to start anew.

Then there's the game which. yeah there's so much stuff in there that I can't even explain it all. In the main story we get the arc of Nana starting her overprotective bs once again, getting stopped and then being given more courage to move forward by Junna since she was realizing that she kind of messed up (since she decided to object to the concept of plays just having lead actors in general. as you do), but there's so much stuff outside of the main story. Highlights include: Junnana literally making up their own ship name, Nana deciding the best way to practice for a role centered around an observant character was to observe Junna specifically, Nana writing a self-indulgent Phantom of the Opera adaptation with herself as the Phantom and Junna as Christine in an event where it turned out she relates to the Phantom (red flag #1 as far as I'm concerned) and wrote Christine based on Junna (Junna was very okay with this but I find it hilarious that she made her adaption of a famous play basically self insert fanfiction), the actual Junnana kiss (stage kiss?? real kiss?? we'll never know), the Valentine's Day event where Junna kept saying things like "oh I'd go to any lengths for Nana" while talking about making chocolate of all things, the time Junna talked about how she wouldn't let anybody take her place of staying right by Nana's side if she had to because she loves being there completely out of the blue to Nana's ex of all people (not a canon ex but a lot of people who know about her whole deal with Nana at least agree that they had something going on. and let me tell you Junna telling the person who constantly regrets not having the strength to remain by Nana's side how much she loved being with Nana was not a smart choice, even though Hisame, the girl in question, took it very well), the Steins;Gate collab where a good chunk of the plot is just Junna being worried about Nana, a play where it turned out that the whole time Junna and Nana had both taken inspiration from each other for their roles, the time they had to actively stop themselves during separate interviews from just rambling about each other, etc. There's so much. Also I forgot to mention it during the main story part but there's also an alternate universe briefly discussed where one of their friends just does not exist so Nana is one of the two best actors in the class and gets the lead role in the play they perform every year, and there's a scene after their performance where Junna talks about how, in the play which is a tragedy involving two lesbians in love, Nana's performance made her think that, if she had stood as her co-star, she would have simply been built different and prevented the tragedy from happening. The plot ends with one character falling form a tower and another being imprisoned within it, and Junna is like "if I was this tragedy and I was with you I would have simply taken your character's hand and never let her go". They're just so married in the game and I can't believe them for it

And then there's the movie. We don't talk about the movie but I kind of have to. Okay so you remember those two friends I was talking about who act very married and ultimately have a lot of their relationship based around their mutual respect for each other? What if Nana stopped respecting Junna entirely one day? That's their movie arc. This movie covers the girls "dying" as stage girls (ie. losing what made them true stage girls/actors in the first place) and then being "reborn" as them, and unfortunately Nana is of the opinion that Junna could just simply have her symbolism death and not the other part. During their revue, Nana talks a lot about how beautiful and dazzling (using those exact words. she even called Junna heartbreakingly beautiful in the dub) Junna was when she was foolishly reaching for a role she wasn't likely to get, but put it all in past tense, and encouraged Junna to let herself die as a stage girl in a brilliant manor rather than trying and failing to grasp her brilliance and dying out like that. also she called her an ugly fruit which sure is something. Then Junna was like "???? no I won't do that actually???" and took one of Nana's swords from her to engage in a sword fight since Nana had destroyed her usual weapon. Which was not a great matchup briefly because Junna never used a sword in her life but after Nana realized that the Junna she was fighting was different from the Junna she knew, and didn't match the role she had assigned for her, Junna ended up telling Nana that her own role was something she'd define for herself and not something Nana could assign for her, and ended up winning against her. After the revue was over, Junna still wanted Nana in her life, and promised her that, one day, they'd reunite on a stage which belonged to both of them, even though they had to find their own stages before that could happen. Before they departed, Nana lamented that Junna was dazzling, contradicting her previous belief that she was only dazzling in the past, all while beginning to cry, and Junna nearly turned around to comfort her, but ultimately decided to continue onto her next stage as Nana carried onwards to her own, knowing that they would both need to grow before their reunion. I also want to mention that, during this scene, a picture of the two of them, one which Nana had stabbed through the middle as she was telling Junna how dazzling she thought she once was, had since been moved to a little pond in the background of the scene (and of the background of the start of the whole revue, so it was there the whole time) that was nearly identical to the one where Junna and Nana had had their moment of comfort at the end of episode 9 of the anime. With the middle of the picture being soaked in water, it ended up sinking just enough for the new cut in the middle of the picture to appear almost mended, showing that, while the damage Nana had done and the rift between them was still there, it was already starting to mend as they once again regarded each other as equals. This scene lives in my head constantly and haunts me daily. Congratulations to Junnana for having a divorce arc as high schoolers

Soriku:

Ultimate friends to lovers. They've been best friends since childhood but as they start to grow up, those feelings change into a more romantic nature but neither handles this well. Riku in particular has a whole villain arc about it bc his insecurities about the situation get the better of him, meanwhile Sora isn't self aware enough to recognize his feelings are romantic in nature but he spends all of his time desperately trying to get Riku back so they can be together again. Ultimately even after they come together, their love continues to be a main driving force of the narrative and it's so palpable

#friends to lovers tournament #revue starlight #kingdom hearts #junnana #soriku #junna hoshimi #nana daiba #kh sora #kh riku #polls #tournament polls

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valeriefauxnom · 6 months ago

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Things that the "It-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named" Manga hinted at that might have been interesting, were it an actually good work:

So, as we all know (or maybe we don't?), there was a terrible two-part Dragalia manga that they made at the beginning, likely just as a sort of advertising. One problem: it was bad.

For starters, whomever was in charge of it seemed to have a very, very poorly understanding of Euden as a character. The best I can describe it is if you put Euden, Emile, and dash of Leonidas' inability to remember his siblings' names into a blender and let 'er rip. And I dunno about you, but Emile and Euden are not exactly alike. But no, somehow the writer got the understanding that the reason Euden hasn't set out to form a pact was out of laziness than just a peacekeeping measure that the actual Euden was doing (well, a bit more to it than that, but I'll come around to it later).

When combined with the author unable to not have Euden be, let's say, weird in regards to Zethia (a thing that Dragalia itself commendably relentlessly fought against even to the end despite a depressingly large party of the community thinking otherwise. Before I get on that whole tangent, I'd just like to remind everyone that in the very last event they both stressed that no matter what they still see themselves as siblings) because, you know, everything's gotta be stereotypical (read, bad) anime and manga, right?

So yeah. Needless to say, we are pretty much wholly in AU territory from the start. WillofWinnie aptly described it (a headcanon I have incorporated) is that it is Euden through Emile's perspective, ie, assuming Euden is more like him and otherwise putting him in an unflattering light.

However, AU itself is not necessarily bad. And when I look at the few little hints of what might have been an interesting alternative telling to Dragalia, I just mourn all the harder that it might have had something compelling.

Here's a collection of things that might have been fun/interesting, were they not in so poorly a manga. That's right, I'm addressing the dragon in the room, the biggest forbidden topic in the Dragalia Fandom, and made myself Suffer(tm) to not only snip out parts that I think might have had potential, but also incidentally make this thing look much better than it was! Strap in, folks, cause this is gonna be long!

-First of all, this isn't even a manga-exclusive thing, but I just like seeing Sol Alberia properly. Turns out it's this massive city enclosed in walls!

-Perhaps the biggest change implied of all is that manga!Alberia seems to have a much more fluid understanding of who the next-in-line is. In canon, it's pretty much lock and key that provided nothing happens, Leonidas will inherit. Nobody really challenges his authority as heir-apparent. And with him regularly reaffirmed to be the eldest, it's clear that he isn't actually a younger sibling that just happens to be the favored for the throne right now.

Euden (well, dream Euden, but this imagining of him is of a much more in-character version of him than Gala!Mym's imaginings) even had this to say in a story:

But the siblings in the manga are stated to be in an outright inheritance war, which, since they're not just murdering each other, means that there would be other ways to gain the throne without eliminating the competition through death:

(Gotta say, the overly-ominous framing of the siblings is something pretty funny to me even if they are indeed bad news early Dragalia)

This could be its own point of interest, because notably, it's the exact thing canon Euden feared pre-game. Canon Euden establishes that his primary reason for not even attempting to make a pact is because he doesn't want to be viewed as usurper with dreams of power, now making a move. He'd rather be viewed as the weak, ineffectual sibling that is no threat to preserve harmony. However, given the more locked-in inheritance order in canon, Euden's fears are perhaps slightly excessive.

For the siblings to be worried about him as a true threat, they'd have to be worried about him killing Leonidas, Phares, Chelle, Valyx, and Emile before he'd be the crown prince. Of course, there's other ways to gain power, but the fear he's trying to take the crown would likely be a more remote fear.

In Not!Euden's world, though, Canon Euden's fears would be fully justified. Here, the throne is not near-guaranteed to rest in Leonidas' hands, and here Euden is immediately a threat if Aurelius starts to view him more favorably than his 'competitors'.

On a tiny note, this might also help align one of the relations diagram they put out as an ad before Dragalia launched, wherein Leonidas and Phares mutually consider each other 'worthy rivals':

In canon, we mostly only see shades of this relationship in Phares' lines wherein he comments that his alchemy work started after Leonidas' and how he's happy to have surpassed him in that, as well as Leonidas' general respect (well, for Leo) of Phares, but that's all. In the manga, though, they could be rivals in a more true sense for the throne.

The implications of this big change are also interesting in regards to Emile. Emile is his same-old abrasive self in the manga, but in the manga world, some of his initial anger would also be more justified surrounding Euden being sent out to pact.

As was ever-so-gently brushed upon in canon rarely, the Dragon Choosing and pacting is not an easy process by any means, physically or mentally. Here, Emile is upset that Euden has essentially been given a fast pass and cut the line, the agony, all that, and is in his view being favored by Aurelius, which I think is fair.

Aurelius might only be doing this just for the emergency of the situation instead of letting the Dragon Choosing/pacting being a voluntary endeavor like it was for the rest, but Emile (and likely the rest of the siblings) would naturally view this as huge favoritism and a sign the throne might go to Euden if they don't do something to regain favor/make him look bad.

And you know what? That might have been an interesting AU direction to take things, had they committed to it. The understandable misconception that Euden is now somehow the golden child (even more inconceivable compared to canon Euden as it is) leading to sibling arguments for the throne could be cool.

-On a lighter note, not!Euden is correct in one thing: Emile certainly will bring harm to him!

-Euden vs Combat, fight!

The relationship between Euden and not!Euden regarding fighting is a very interesting contrast. Both don't exactly love it; Euden might go to lengths to try and resolve things before coming to blows, but is ultimately willing.

Not!Euden, though, while he similarly dislikes fighting, goes a bit further than Euden does.

He skips sword lessons (a thing only attributed to Emile in canon), completely lacks any sort of will to fight. As I mentioned at the start of this, the bulk of it is attributed to laziness, but there's a small caveat.

This is where it gets frustrating, because at times the manga edges close to the canon personality of Euden but shies away from every fully meeting up to where it could take it in a new direction whilst remaining true to the core. Case in point, not!Euden here also dislikes fighting/power because he dislikes spilling blood, and because, as Zethia puts it, dragons=power=conflict to this Euden, tying back in to the whole inheritance war.

This could have been an intersting fork off of Euden, because they additionally share another divergence: talent, or lack thereof.

Canon Euden is actually addressed several times to not really have any talent in swordplay. He's fledgling, mediocre, as remarked by people like Raemond and Leif, and lacks for the natural skill Leonidas or any of his other relatives might have had with a weapon.

It's only through his incredible hard work and perseverance he's shown to have (plus all the do-or-die moments he's forced into over the years) that he gains the skill that he does, which again immediately contrasts with not!Euden skipping outright.

And yet, manga!Euden is noted to have talent. He's just not using a lick of it to actually gain skill.

This might just be Leif trying to puff him up, encourage him, but it doesn't seem to be when he's privately talking to Aurelius later:

(Leif get some sleep to get rid of the bags under your eyes, even if I'm sure dealing with this iteration of the family is even more taxing than normal). Ahem. The point is, is that this Euden has talent but no will or drive to get better but canon Euden has the inverse. While it might be tempting to frame this as an immediate way that the manga is worse ('oh of course, he's secretly got all this talent that he can just bust out at the convenient plot moment, get stronger for doing nothing at all'), I could see it as an interesting fork to Euden as a character if they handled it right, which they admittedly wouldn't in the manga.

What I mean would be mixing some of what we know about canon!Euden into the mix. Namely, Euden has a notably deficient sense of self-worth I've gone over several times. With siblings like Emile and Leonidas, it would be easy to further that into a thing partially caused by their attitudes that tend to push down others. In essence, I think one could have reconstructed his low self-esteem as a result of sibling bullying to the point where he even views trying as a futile endeavor, but as the story goes on and as he is no longer 'under their thumb' quite as much and then can actually use that room to allow any talent and skill to bloom. A sort of healing process and the change from derision to encouragement from those around, you know?

I'll stop there before I go start writing an AU of a bad AU of Dragalia, but hopefully you get where I'm going with that idea. The point is, him having all this apparently ~secret talent~ doesn't necessarily have to be bad!

-On another more lighthearted/less plot-heavy note, I will commend the artist for taking the bold step in finally giving Zethia some darn shoes, even as sandals.

-Honestly, regarding Zethia, she just kinda girlbosses her way through the manga, and good for her! Plenty of legitimate criticism can be levied with the way Zethia is initially handled as just another damsel in distress, but in its brief, generally poorly life, at least this manga's Zethia was kicking butt.

She's unequivocally the stronger between her and Euden, and as a result her overprotective side is on better display from the get-go (as both the twins had it in canon, and a later plot thread was actually getting them more independent of each other. Euden's was just naturally the one with more exposure)

Also ouch on the roasting there Zethia, but not!Euden probably deserves it.

Hard as it is to give credit where credit is due for this, again, good for her! (Even if it is just set up as a means to point out that terrible old 'protagonist is a useless baby' trope in anime/manga, but I digress.)

-Back to plot heavy stuff, Aurelius vs. Morsayati, fight!

As we know from canon, Aurelius was perfectly fine until he entered the Binding Ruins, wherein he was possessed by Morsayati and then started chapters 2-26. Manga!Aurelius, though, apparently seemed to have potentially had a bit of creeping Morsayati in the blood from the get-go.

I think this also would have been an interesting fork, since it also can connect with actual canon knowledge. Alberius explicitly sealed Morsayati in his blood, with the aim of his dragonblood being so diluted over the generations that Morsayati could no longer reform/possess one of his descendants. With this in mind, it's more than feasible to instead change the Other's possession method as more of a slow creep than an instant take-over as with Aurelius and Zethia.

It could have been interesting to see Euden slowly have to weigh if this is his father anymore, if Aurelius initially displayed more of his own personality. Canonically, his change is so abrupt and so jarring that Euden instead is devout in his correct belief that this just can't be his Father, and instead some shapeshifter thing masquerading as his father, whom he seems to view as in need of rescue:

With that in mind, I think it could have been compelling. Maybe the possession is still fully completed at the Binding Ruins, except maybe the Other just slowly pushed Aurelius into going there. Maybe Euden then and the townsfolk get worried over all the siblings the moment they feel as if any in the royal family might be starting the path to possession. Maybe Euden himself has to personally grapple with fears that he's somehow being possessed as he grows more used to having to make hard decisions as a leader in war and all that, that he views as 'evil'.

Also, we later find out in canon that Aurelius went to the Binding Ruins in an attempt to help Nedrick and was consciously gambling with controlling the Other's power for that end, which almost assuredly wasn't in the minds as of the manga's inception, but maybe it could be tied into that.

Aurelius, increasingly fearing, perhaps paranoid for how he's going to protect all his family, -including Nedrick still suffering on the north side of the continent, -starts heeding that little voice that in the Binding Ruins, surely there must be something from the ancient civilizations there he could use to gain power enough to protect his children? Again, not to create an AU of a bad AU, but I could see potential!

-And last but not least, on another lighter note, but given not!Euden's...everything, I do appreciate that his personal guards(?) are always prepared for when they need to use their magic lassos to bodily drag him down from a tree:

Given that we do know that Euden had at least a minor proclivity to go outside the castle/escape when he wasn't supposed to growing up, it might have been funny to see some of Euden's escapades, instead of not!Euden's. That being said, the guards also channel one's feelings quite well in regards to having to deal with this not!Euden:

So yeah, there's a little bit about NotMy!Euden's thankfully brief if disastrous stint in the world of manga! My apologies for either informing you or reminding you about it, but I do hope you gained something of vague interest from this, or rather, what it could have been!

#dragalia lost #dragalia #gotta say it's also darkly funny that despite actually being on screen we still know 0.0% more about Euden's/Zethia's mom.#Honestly surprised they never picked that thread back up again or even cleared up the long-standing speculation #...that the siblings were actually largely half-siblings with each other. I personally don't ascribe to it since I don't think Aurelius is #that kind of dude but I will acknowledge there are some potential hints? And no I'm not counting things just like Valyx's looks since he #...could just take after his/their mother. Maybe I'll discuss that Big Question later but yeah. We didn't even learn a name for his mother!#Sorry again for subjecting the innocent people's eyes to the Dragalia manga. I swear I tried my best to pick what to show carefully!

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ticklygiggles · 2 years ago

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Top 22 of 2022

I've been meaning to do this before the end of the year for obvious reasons, but I just didn't have the chance until now! Thank you everyone who had tagged me, you all are so sweet

I apologize in advance, though. My memory sucks and my perception of time is broken sdjfjdhf

Part 1: Fandom Faves

01. Favorite new fandoms of the year: SPY x FAMILY, Demon Slayer

02. Favorite new ships since this year: SPYxFAMILY - Twiyor, Cynari, ScaraLumi - Genshin Impact

03. Favorite anime/TV show of the year: Extraordinary Attorney Woo, SPY x FAMILY, Pokémon Journeys

04. Favorite movie of the year: Hmm, I honestly don't watch many movies, so this one's hard... maybe Turning Red? Haha

05. Favorite character of the year: Scaramouche/Wandered, Tighnari - Genshin Impact. Uzui Tengen, Rengoku Kyojuro - Demon Slayer. Seo HyunSoo - XXX Buddy.

06. Favorite soundtrack of the year: One of my favorite soundtrack every year will always be Liyue OST - Genshin Impact!

07. Favorite book/manga/comic of the year: sajkhfjdf this year I read lots of new Manhwas and also a few books. Some of my favorite manhwas were Define the Relationship, Perfect Buddy, Actually, I was the real one, Who made me a Princess?, Under the Oak Tree, Love so Pure (side story), Forget About My Husband, I'd Rather Go Make Money, The Marriage Business and mooore.

I didn't like the books I read this year that much, but I guess my favorite was Six Crimson Cranes. Also read some light novels and they were The Marriage Business and I'll be the Warrior's Mother.

08. Favorite game of the year: Genshin Impact and Obey me!

09. Highlight of this year to remember: March 7th when I went to Disneyland JSAFHJ

Part 2: Community Review

10. Favorite Tumblr moments of 2022: Tickletober, my 2k milestone. @vqler and @dokidoki-muffin return aaaand... I think that's the most I can remember hahaah

11. Favorite fan art of the year: I have been blessed with so much fanart this year omg, some of my faves were this one, of course because it's the first time someone drew art for one of my fics!

Also this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one, but honestly, there are so many aaaa

12. Favorite fic of the year: I read good fics this year, I can't choose, but definitely some of my faves are these beautiful fics I got from my dearest friends in my birthday and Christmas, here, here and here.

13. Favorite ask game of the year: The tickly alphabet, this one and the 3 sentence fic

14. My top achievements as a writer/artist/creator/blogger: Participating in Tickletober for the first time! I didn't finish all days, but I'm happy with the result haha. Also getting to finish my 2k milestone event!

15. My own best fic/post of the year: I think I wrote a lot this year, but one of my faves to write was this Koi ga Ochitara one because I've been wanting to write one with them for sooo long!

16. My most underappreciated fic/post of the year: Probably not the "most", but this Mafuyu x Ritsuka x Yuki one?

17. A post of mine that got more popularity than expected: Omg these three Tickletober fics because they don't have a large popularity in the community, but they got more attention that I expected!

Koi Ga Ochitara, Junai Drop Out, Sign

18. Something I changed on my blog since this year: I think I did write more this year, so that was nice!

Part 3: Next Year

19. Something I didn’t post this year but would like to do next year: I'd like to work on this little AU idea thingy I have been neglecting because I feel unsure to write and post, but we'll see!

20. Goals for next year: As for this blog... maybe getting into more fandoms to keep writing haha. Also, Ginny girl is trying to write less trash, but I'd like to keep collaborating with her, because I just love how well we write together aaaa

21. 2023 releases I look forward to the most: MAHOUTSUKAI NO YOME SEASON 2! Aaaand more Genshin updates and also Obey me cards that I can actually get LOL

Part 4: Spreading Love

22. Shoutouts to people who made my 2022 a better year:

Goodness, here comes the fun part haha:

@otomiya-tickles of course my sweetie girl precious baby boo. I already told you this, but thank you for making my 2022 a loooot better, thank you for your endless support and your love! You are the best and I'm so happy to talk to you every single day! You are so so talented and smart and amazing and I love you!

@ragewerthers my frieeeend, I always have so much fun talking with you! From just daily life activities to our endless hcs about our precious Toshi *teary emoji* you definitely did my 2022 a lot better too and I hope we can still talk lots this 2023!

@wertzunge Maaaax, I think this year we talked more than any other time haha, I'm happy we're both excited about Mahoutsukai no Yome sdbfhsdf I already said this to you, but I hope we get to talk some more this year as well! Thank you for your friendship!! (Also thank you for your kind support during commisions!)

@vqler @dokidoki-muffin we barely interact with each other BUT I wanted to say that you both are amazing and super talented people and I admire your abilities and your creativity and it's so so nice to have you back in the community! You both are GREAT and I get excited every time I see art from you both. Such talented people, let me give you a respectful kiss on your forehead.

@ticklystuff omg hi! I know we don't talk much, but I just wanted to say that I really like you and you are so so so so SO good at writing ome such talent! I love seeing you in my dash and seeing all the cool amazing stuff you write aaaaa I think of you every time I see Childe, no lies. Thank you for being amazing!

@happyandticklish Queen of writing. No words just admiration. Honestly, you are so so so GOOD. I wish I could write like you and you're so kind and amazing help askdjskf We've talked a bit before and I apologize for my awkwardness aaaaa Thank you for showing us all how cool you are and for being a cupcake!

@myreygn Reeeeey! I honestly get so so shy when you mention how you fangirled when I followed you back ahahaha, thank you for always being so supportive with me! You are amazing and I like chatting with yoouuu! I hope we get to talk some more during 2023!!

@thornoisdono Thank you for the generous support in kofi aaaaa, I love every single fic you requested and hopefully, you'll see them up in the next couple of days! Thank you!

@intheticklecloset @zeke-ism @lovelynim @xsezzie @bloominggiggles @ticklish-v-93 @soft-tk-fluff @chibimochii @nnainai @tickles-tea @looneytickles @tiredleekaz @ssnicker-doodless @spongeboblevel25 @justmaybee @itslittlegiggle @tiklart @lovelymessybubbly @italeean @ticklishfanart - whether we had talked before or not, I'm so thankful for you all! I love seeing and interacting with your content. You all are amazing and make my stay in tumblr so much better! I'd love to get to know you all more this year, but I'll be always be awkward, but I want you to know that you are some of my favorite blogs EVER.

#end of the year tag #top22of2022 #this took me two hours to finish omg #it was really fun though #i can't believe it's 2023 already #i hope this year is better for all of us guys

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piracytheorist · 1 year ago

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hey, read your answer about you being an anime only! i promise i'm not trying to pick a fight, but if you're open to discussing this a little: considering it took endo years to get to this point, it's unlikely we'll be able to get a full S3 next year since there's probably not enough manga chapters. will you be reading the manga then? ps: the manga isn't exactly. spoilers. it's the original story, no?

I don't think I'll be reading it, no. I mean, I can't be sure, my resolve may break at some point and I may indulge, but as I've explained why I'm doing it that way, I plan on continuing watching the anime first and then reading the respective manga chapters.

If I may be a little more personal here, this past year I've been stuck on a job that, while not unpleasant or demanding or exhausting in any way, it was far from fulfilling. This job's contract ends at the end of July and if I'm lucky, I may actually get a much more fulfilling job this September and be more proactive in it in general, so I'll have more time filled with stuff I like. Last fall it was Spy x Family that filled a lot of that hole, and I've been stuck all these months without that nor a job I enjoy. So I'm thinking, if I get that job I want, I'll have less unfulfilled time and thus less dependence on the show (not that I'll love the story or characters any less), so it may be easier for me to wait for ten months again for new content.

As for your p.s., by anime-only standards, yes it is a spoiler. If you go to the cinema to watch a film that was inspired by a book, you wouldn't tell someone what happens at the end if you knew they haven't read the book. That's spoilers. The book is still the original story, the film is still an adaptation, but by revealing a part of the story that a film watcher doesn't know, you're spoiling it for them - and no film watcher is obligated to read the whole book and know the whole content just to enjoy the film. And while Spy x Family is quite popular, it's not common knowledge popular. Saying "Jesus dies on the cross and then gets resurrected" isn't a spoiler for the bible or any film inspired by it because it's a millennia-old story that even many non-Christians know.

When it comes to the manga vs anime debate on what's spoilers and what's not, it can get a little tricky cause you have snobs and purists on both sides, which is why I prefer to stay away from the fandom instead of engaging and then complaining about getting spoiled, because I will get spoiled and it will be my fault. My one request is that, if someone reblogs any posts of mine, to not add any details about stuff that happens in manga chapters that haven't been animated. That's all. But no-one is obligated to read or engage with my stuff, a lot don't even see it, I'm not demanding anyone tag their spoilers on their own posts or complaining to those that don't, I recognize my own responsibility in curating my experience and avoiding spoilers and take the necessary measures to do so. So I don't see where's the problem with me, in my personal blog, referring to stuff that hasn't happened in the anime yet as "manga spoilers".

I understand you wanted a discussion, not a fight, but honestly it's a tricky issue, and I'd really really rather not get into the bad side of a purist, whether they're a manga or an anime purist. And such a discussion can be derailed very easily, so while you're welcome to discuss it with me in a civil manner, I will stop it if I feel it can get out of hand.

I'm not mad or upset at you or anything. I'm just a little wary because I know how toxic fandoms can get, especially when they hold some very passionate beliefs about what's "right" and what's "wrong" in the way other people consume fictional media.

#nette speaks #anonymous #ask and ye shall receive

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regarding-stories · 2 years ago

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The Quintessential Quintuplets movie (it's bad...)

So, I was really hyped and a bit scared about watching The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie on release day, and it was not a rewarding experience. Or rather, it was a decent movie for an hour and then it dive-bombed.

The cinema was one of the smaller ones in the cineplex and I'd say maybe forty people attended? I'm bad at guessing, but I think I heard a similar number when they counted the audience for a raffle. Guess what? After they let the proverbial cat out of the bag (not the raffle, the love interest resolution), two groups of in total five people left. I guess like me they hadn't known the resolution, either, and weren't thrilled.

So, spoilers going forward.

Delay tactics

The first thing we get is a trip to the pool together, and here's a first feeling of weirdness. Miku presents herself not only in a comparatively revealing bikini top... and remember, this is Miku:

So, she also teases Futaro with pulling her shoulder strap down. I was wondering if this was teasing a new streak in her? Or was it just gratuitous and out-of-character?

Itsuki wins the draw and gets to slide with Futaro, so I make a little mental check mark on her card. If you pay attention, Itsuki has been showcased a lot in the show in spots suggesting she will win the race.

What happens next is another hour of delay tactics. There's another school event, a three day festival where the school invites outsiders for fun and games. Futaro declares he loves them all (which was nice) and delays his decision to the end of the festival because he can't make up his mind. (Here we go again, final round.)

Miku impresses me then by her change. She asks Futaro on a date. In fact, she asks, in her usual way, something more forthright: Go with me - basically the "be my boyfriend" sentence. Remember, in the series she already said "I want you to take responsibility." which is another way of saying "be me boyfriend," then played for laughs. (The sentence used to mean "You impregnated me / took my virginity. I'm essentially damaged goods in this society. Now follow up with some responsibility." But apparently it's now only used for jokes in manga/anima - see also its use in "Uncle from Another World".) But then she takes a step back and modifies it with "Go with me on a date."

After this bit comes the actual meat of this movie, but the meat is salami. Because they cut yet another slice (in German "Salamitaktik" can mean to delay something or get the most out of it) of the same kind. We see how the festival goes in general, then get to see each heroines way through it, and then finally the girls force a resolution at the end.

But before we get there, we see also how each of the girls steals a kiss in their story. Incoming further spoiler: Itsuki is too awkward / proper to get hers and will forever miss out. That sucks.

And holy cow, Miku's kiss is... something else. I enjoyed that scene tremendously.

A resolution... yay....

We get to know the "winner." And as predicted I was heartbroken. It was really hard to see Miku cry. And till the end they played it out so you would think it would be Itsuki.

It's Yotsuba.

WTH?

Remember my last article?

"And after two seasons of this show I can't believe Yotsuba will be it, but they keep awfully quiet about her actual feelings, dammit."

I have to eat those words now. But also this resolution sucks and sucks hard. (It will get worse, though, no worries.) And not just because I'm butt-hurt. I am, though. From that moment onward the movie collapsed like a soufflé made by Miku. Old Miku. Not movie Miku. But I digress.

You see, I checked my watch, and we were one hour into the movie about. So the rest of the movie is denouement. Talk about letting the air out prematurely. And people didn't immediately leave at the resolution - they left more like when they noticed that now the most unconvincing part came.

If you, like me, watched the anime, you would see that Yotsuba was a bit side-lined in comparison. It can be refreshing that she never pushes herself into the foreground of the story, but she doesn't get much in the way of character development. (In a forum I just visited before writing this somebody said that that's great about her - she starts perfect. I don't know how the lack of any character arc can be a good thing...?) So this was really rather blindsiding. The thing is that Yotsuba barely presents herself as a girl or as a love interest. This makes this seem gimmicky and weak.

But what really drives this home is what happens next. She refuses Futaro, runs away, and we learn her story, and it commits several sins at once. It re-contextualizes the character. And it does so after the twist "ending." In other words, we largely get to know the story in hindsight. What is this? A heist movie? Fu*k dat.

You see, the Yotsuba we know is a ditz, right? And her failing her finals in another school makes the Nakano sisters join together and go with her. But here we learn why Yotsuba failed. Yotsuba wanted to be special and stand apart. First through her grades and studying hard - like she apparently promised herself and Futaro. And when the others discover their own strengths and she can't be best because everybody excels at different things, she ditches studying and joins all those clubs and excels at sport. To finally find recognition. And she ignores words of warning and the help of her sisters who care for her. She isn't happy for them. She's on an ego trip.

So, if you think Yotsuba always has been everybody's cheerleader? Now you know she supposedly wasn't. We are then to believe that this failure and her sisters stepping up for her changed her and she completely reversed character and became the one - within the school break - that would ditch her obsessive goal and become uncomplaining, cheerful genki girl that exists to serve.

This is just breaking the character altogether. Yes, people can change from having an event in their life that they deeply regret. But all of this happens off-screen and after-the-fact, making it unsatisfying. We are to believe that carefree and charming Yotsuba first changed Futaro's life, then became obsessed with the goal of being special, then changed her ways, ditched the goal entirely, and returns to her always cheerful ways? A way she left behind for years? It's like copy-pasting character development into the end.

I understood why people left. I played with the thought myself.

What drives this home even harder is that Yotsuba rejects Futaro. Her running away and him chasing after her puts even more spotlight on her childlike qualities and gives it a bit of a creepy note. Not because it makes him seem creepy, but somehow there seems to be such a difference between them that's hard to dismiss.

This is the character we've been told about (twice) that she still uses her panties from elementary school because she "takes care of her things." I really liked the anime series Yotsuba, but when the resolution comes, she really doesn't fit the mold she's cast in, and most of the rest of the movie is wasted into trying to convince us that that's the right choice.

It takes Nino to get the confession out of Yotsuba that she loves Futaro. After all the wallowing and moaning that she does not deserve this.

Love is random, fate decides everything

And what message does this "now we'll show you why" slideshow give us? That love is random and unpredictable? That the others never stood a chance because it was Yotsuba who met him in Kyoto and that this was fated and triggered his character development?

The movie makes it clear that Yotsuba could have reminded Futaro of them knowing each other on day one. She probably saw his name on the quiz she picked up. She knew his name from before. This is another lazy instance of "First Girl Wins" - but Yotsuba has no reason to not act on it, she could just remind him she knows him back then. This is set up as a mystery for later, leading to a rather lame reveal. As viewers (in season 2), we can keep track of who may have seen the photos and could realize that they know Futaro from before. But the reveal spoils that completely - Yotsuba never needed the hint to begin with. She knew. So the whole thing was played for naught. It devalues the beginning of the show, the initial scene, because it makes no sense.

Okay, she has a reason. Yotsuba sees herself as being the one that failed their promise. Fine. But she really doesn't say, over the course of 1.5 years, "Hey, you know, do you not remember me?" It all gets so unconvincing. And it's shoveled in from the back.

Maybe the movie sells this badly, after all adaptations are not necessarily true to their source material. They select and omit and change. But nowhere this part did it feel convincing or alright.

Then we get a pointless "all quintuplets" in a wedding dress rehash, with another instance of fake-pointing at Itsuki, and then the stealth letdown happens. Even five years later, after having grown into independent women that can follow their dreams (opening a restaurant as sisters, becoming a teacher, being a star) we see no hint that any of the other sisters have a man by their side. They're just not allowed to move on. It's said they will even join them on their honeymoon. (They conceivably could have boyfriends and so on, but that last bit makes that really unlikely.) So are they meant to be appendages forever?

This is not a happy end, it's downright depressing. Not only has fate at every turn decreed who gets to win, and not only has it been decreed ten years before the wedding who gets to wed, fate keeps the remaining four in the winner's wake. This is an ugly harem trope truth. Let them move on. Whom you had an unrequited crush on with 17 may or may not define you for life. But if you still have the same crush five years later on, something's wrong. Are we meant to believe that successful Ichika hasn't had suitors that changed her mind? That Nino wouldn't cut her losses? That Miku, once out her shell, wouldn't move on with her life? That Itsuki wouldn't want a family of her own? It seems like they all got suspended in amber almost. You don't meet a decent guy in college? When running your own business? When traveling the world doing films?

What didn't suck

As I said, up until the "resolution" the movie is quite decent, carefully rehashing the "it must come to a head during event X" recipe it has tried before.

Itsuki has a story arc with her biological father and suddenly her stepfather, Mr Nakano, in spite of still looking like a snake, takes on more human qualities. Not only did he step up when the actual dad ran out on the mother, he also tries (within his limitations) to follow Nino's invitation to the festival. And we see that he listened to Nino's wishes in the past and would get her into cooking. He's never shown as being able to connect to others in a heart-to-heart way, but he tries in his own way to be good. Which adds more to Nino and things she only hinted at before.

Also the scene where Nakano gives Futaro his blessing is great. The man has the expression of a robot, and the joke of "don't call me father" repeats. But only because he thinks he doesn't deserve to be called that and is uncomfortable with this. We also get to see how Futaro got the job since Uesugi and Nakano were classmates.

We get another arc of Miku becoming more assertive. But since she steps out of her shell twice in a row it feels forced and overdone. But it's still good seeing her take things in her own hands.

The fact that Yotsuba collapses from trying to do everybody's job at the festival is very much in tune to her previous character. And that all the people she helped out come together to help her out is a thing of beauty - it comes late but is not any less satisfying.

What didn't work

Nino as center of an idol group. At least in the anime we never saw her doing any of that before. Seems sudden and hence unconvincing. She certainly has the outward confidence to try, though. It seems like the kind of thing you stuff into a movie to fill time - thankfully it was short.

It's hinted that Ichika gets private lessons from Futaro because of the school she misses due to her acting job. But after mentioning it, it then leads to nothing. She seems to suffer a bit from "Why are you still here" altogether, becoming an ever remote character - until she leaves Japan entirely. She gets to make up for her meddling in season 2.

A fight between boys and girls about what food stall to run? And that's the bad drama Miku has to resolve? She does well, but it's weak.

Audience laughs were few and far between. I laughed more than I heard laughs from others.

The movie basically wastes its second hour altogether. The fact that the movie has to go on and on to justify the chosen resolution makes the weakness all the more glaring. The movie is listed at 136 minutes runtime and could have ended after 80. We get a wedding speech from Yotsuba that reminds us what we already know about her sisters, except we hear it from her.

So there we have it. It ends all with the excitement of a whoopie cushion, especially if you sit on it for another hour. And the rotten thing is that I like Yotsuba, it's just that there seems to lead no way from A to B. All the scenes meant to justify that Yotsuba is the one are when she is a kid. And when we see her at the end, she still feels like a kid. It never felt like we truly got a real romantic arc with her, just an outing to the playground. And while the original scene at the playground was nice and in tune, when they revisit the playground it somehow doesn't work for me, either. The first time felt innocent and true, the second time... flat. (Him breaking the swing got an audience laugh.)

And that's how it is. If you set up an inevitable choice, there will be disappointment. So some hearts would always have been broken. And the scene where Miku cries and they join together as sisters in heartbreak was really bad for me - not a bad scene, it was actually a good one. Where Miku basically announces the dream they all had is over. Given the setup this was unavoidable. And no other character could carry this better.

The thing, however, you can do as an author is to lead a path towards that ending instead of spending lots of time on other characters and then shouting "Gotcha!" at the end. (Here the makers of the anime might share some blame in their choice of material.) Ironically fiction is held to stricter standards than life here because we fear the randomness. In a story we want the satisfaction of having seen it coming, it being inevitable. Nothing here feels like that. It has the charm of five puddings being thrown to the wall and one stuck.

The story of "I can't decide, I can't decide" has ended with "I know, I'm absolutely sure, and will be sure forever and ever after". Are you convinced?

#the quintessential quintuplets #anime movie #review #it stinks

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b-else-writes · 8 months ago

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The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 2: Man of Many Faces

Onto the next work in CLAMP's oeuvre, Man of Many Faces (technically the translated title should be 20 Faces, Please!!). This ran from 1990 to 1991, and it is wild to think that it was running concurrently with RG Veda (and Tokyo Babylon!) because it is SO tonally different. It is also technically CLAMP's first foray into shonen, running in Newtype magazine, although it feels like it's aimed younger. I had never knew it existed! It's one of the few CLAMP manga with no anime adaptations (it did have 2 drama CDs).

It's out of print and was released in English by Tokyopop in the early 2000s, in two volumes comprised of 11 chapters. I read this entirely online and would probably only hunt down a physical copy if I'm feeling like being a completionist. Spoilers? I guess?

Synopsis: Ijuin Akira is a precocious 9 year old at CLAMP School who leads a double life as the gentleman thief 20 Masks/Faces. As 20 Faces, Akira steals beautiful objects to satisfy the whims of his kleptomaniac two mothers. One day, Akira ends up in the bedroom of 5 year old Okawa Utako, sparking off a romantic comedy due to his double life and the nature of love!

The Story: There really....isn't one. Whatever it bills itself as, this is not a heist story. Man of Many Faces is pure fluff, basically a gag manga, which is what makes it so crazy that it was concurrent with the dark, fatalistic fantasy of RG Veda and the tragic urban fantasy of Tokyo Babylon - did CLAMP need a cute comedy as a mental break?

The chapters have a similar structure: Akira's two mothers spot something and cry "we want it!". Akira goes after the object and ends up entangled with Utako as they overcome the next (very low stakes) obstacle in their relationship. Akira often gets advice from his uncle and school pediatrician Akechi Shigetaka, while narrowly escaping his next door neighbour Kobayashi Ryusuke, who acts as the Inspector Javert. Along the way, he and Utako mediate on love and what makes a good man and good bride.

The story ends with the two getting married and still working to make sure that their relationship is always loving and new. It's a light, charming read (I was able to read the whole thing in about an hour) and it did make me smile a few times. The Christmas episode is particularly cute. Otherwise, the story is fine, just enough to string together the story that it doesn't implode from meandering fluff.

The Themes: Despite being so divorced from their serious works, I'd actually say you can see a lot of what would come to be CLAMP's attitude towards love - what makes a good love? Can love last forever and overcome all barriers? Are people destined for each other, and if so, does that make love easy? Some of the waxing poetic is very silly (Akechi once quotes the plot of Some Like It Hot, yes, the Marilyn Monroe film, to give advice) and very questionable, but there are some surprisingly nuanced takes too.

Namely, you are entitled to your feelings (very CLAMP), that nobody can fully know another person's heart (hello Tokyo Babylon) so we must remember we are two people and not lose ourselves in each other (X 1999??), be understanding and kind, and that love and people will change, and love is about meeting that new person each day, which is shockingly mature for CLAMP, who I had always taken to be rather fatalistic and immature in their romantic attitudes. I definitely walked away thinking that I hoped these two kids made it.

The Characters: It's an 11 chapter gag manga - the characters are thinly written. That doesn't mean they aren't charming. Utako is a rich brat but an adorable one, and Akira's maybe polyamorous mothers are very funny. Akechi and Ryusuke are especially funny, and Akira's father definitely leaves an impression. Akira himself is rather boring, he's a Mamoru with even less personality (interestingly this predates Sailor Moon by 2 years, but you can't read it without thinking of Tuxedo Mask!). They all serve their purpose, are funny and cute enough, but you're not going to be left contemplating them either.

The Art: It's very 90s shojo in style (despite being marketed for shonen) so it is competently drawn, comprehensible visual storytelling, and nice to look at, but it is not particularly transcendent, especially by CLAMP standards. The only time they really shine is in the splash pages, which are sooo delightfully sweet. Akira's mothers are very pretty, and Utako is cute, but the character designs are unremarkable despite the nice outfits. It also hits one of my irritations, which is that the backgrounds are very ill-defined and replaced by patterned screentones. In short, it is fine.

Questionable Elements: The way gender roles was discussed did not sit right with me. This was written in the 1990s in Japan so I am not surprised it is so "woman are emotional and crazy and end up as housewives" and shojo like it or not has a lot of sexism baked in so it didn't shock me, but it is disappointing and can make some of the advice and comments touted unpleasant. Also I see you CLAMP with Utako's first love being her teacher - at least he rejects her!

Overall: A little sidetrack in CLAMP's oeuvre as sweet as the pastries our couple enjoy. It's got enough genuine charm to get it across the line into enjoyable, but it's also perfectly obvious why it remains one of their most obscure works - you'll end with a smile, but it won't change your life. I wouldn't personally recommend it to anyone except diehard CLAMP fans. It's a nice sugary treat for a quick read and doesn't overstay its welcome, but only just.

#clamp #man of many faces

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hisui-cotton · 11 months ago

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Hello! Today's Note is about an anime! One that took me by surprise as I had expected...well I'll talk about it down below. But it really made me feel interested in watching some more anime in a time I was feeling not too crazy about doing so anymore. Which is you know sounds like a lot but it's really something that I contemplate whenever a new isekai comes out. I'm mostly kidding...

But this is a real post about what I found made Apothacary Diaries well worth the watch and hope that you check it out too.

As a historical fiction I love that apothecary diaries feels like something more than just a drama-comedy. It feels a lot like a good shojou manga does. There's good humor, there's some tense moments between characters and there's also a bit of really nice overall storytelling. It in some ways reminds me of Ouran. Where there's just this really nice progression introducing you to all the characters and the pacing between humor and drama is really nicely done and flows in a fairly natural progression. It never feels too forced into the next change of atmosphere. My favorite example of this is probably in episode 4, where not even a whole scene away from when we get some funny expressions from Lady Lihua's ladies in waiting, we also get a super dramatic scene of Maomao chastising them. There's this sense of momentum and change that is brought all the time and even when tensions feel high it doesn't deflate just because there is some humor mixed in. I've noticed this kind of slow in the later episodes but a part of that feels like it's as a result of the climax arriving rather than various directorial issues that usually plague most adaptations.

The story is fairly blunt with the darker topics at times and is definitely interested in being able to present those topics without judgement. It's a story literally about an apothecary who works as a lady in waiting to the concubines of the emperor. The way the characters and story don't shy around certain topics reminds me a lot actually of the way a lot of shojou used to have really sad or dark themes for their cheerful characters to explain how they got to how they were. Mao Mao embodies this a little differently than those characters did but still has those aspects. That's probably why I make the Ouran comparison actually, not because the stories are at all similar but because the characters and storytelling feels familiar. Maomao reminds me a lot of Haru, where both are very a matter of fact in the way they talk about stuff and of their situations. There are things they are genuinely interested in and when it comes to those things they work hard to have time or (in haru's case) be able to afford those things.

Now this isn't to say you should just watch Ouran if you want to watch Apothacary. It's a very different story and is much snappier than Ouran even at times. If you like the elements of Ouran's storytelling, and are wanting a strong, but not literally strong, female protagonist, I'd really recommend Apothecary! Honestly I was not planning on watching it. Even when a lot of the stuff going around of it was really good looking, I was worried that the hype for it was over blown. That somehow there was one really good scene like 5 or 6 episodes in, but that the rest of it would be kind of meh. Most people recommend shows being like “just wait till episode X, then it gets really good” but Apothacary got me from the start. It was so good and in many ways, I just want more. I've even considered picking up the light novel over the manga to see how much I can see of the anime in the light novel. I've gotten one other light novel recently and it really reads like an anime. The characters attitudes and reactions feel very anime even without the animations to go with it. So I'm rather curious to see how something so popular feels to read compared to watch. The only reason I don't want to check the manga as well is becuase I've considered that I need to give some written stories another go and light novels feel like they're just similar enough in genre to be that for me.

Now I'm gonna talk about a couple of the finer details like story or animation, so if you don't want spoilers that's all I've got for you. Just know it's great, it's worth the watch and it won't waste your time!

So the thing that sort if hooked me from the start of the story is Maomao. As she says by the end of the episode, her sense of justice is what brings her to act as she does. I think in a lot of ways this makes her both very outspoken but she also knows how to hold back, or more specifically ‘when’. Being as the show is a capturing of her diary, a lot of her thoughts and actions are explained as they happen or as she thought them through. That said there's no like…writing in the diary. I almost forgot that was what the show was about until several episodes in what a date change and the seasons turned. It felt like a noting of small events that happened. It didn't break my feeling of immersion though, rather it felt nice to be invested enough to simply go with the flow that the show naturally established.

Everything is generally told from Maomao's perspective, there are a few times other characters get to be the focus for dramatics but Maomao's thoughts push through a lot of the events that occur and hold the most attention. This also allows us the chance to see some of her memories in a way she'd naturally remember them. Sometimes it's just the quick thought of a time someone told her something, like when the women of the brothel told her about things men enjoy and she shared that with Lihue. The way she remembers it has this hard set incomplete underlighting, and there's this sense of a nice bit of tactile memory of the girls playing with her hair while having the conversation. The show also makes great use of lighting by the way. That scene I mentioned looks like that because of the way the lighting plays off everything compared to the cut just before of her in the well lit pavilion. There are other times where characters are illuminated in a manner that feels dramatic and yet more real for it. The lighting in episode 3, where a concubine catches qualities of sleep walking, is a perfect example of what I mean. There's really great backlighting when Concubine Fuyou is dancing across the wall, when she's leaving and finally when she and her lover are together. There's excellent blues at night that feel cold yet beautiful and then harsh lightings in tense times and soft blowouts of light in others. It’s one of those bits of animation you tend not to notice if it’s not totally outstanding or adding something deeper to the atmosphere.

Out of all 11 episodes out at this time, I’d say this 11th is the only one that felt a little disappointing. It felt story rushed and like we didn’t get to really know Ah-Doh the way we did a lot of the other concubines, even if it was second hand in most cases. She gets a little conversation by the end but is likly not to be seen beyond this (I assume as I haven’t seen the manga nor light novel) so it doesn’t feel as powerful as it could have. The way others talk about her is still impressive, it just hasn’t given the feeling that she got to share herself as much as she could have. By that I mean we hear about Ah-Dou from everyone else and when she gets a chance to talk to Maomao, we learn just enough about to start feeling like we understand why those around her are so in love with her as a person. Certain aspects hinted at make me feel like it’s not the only time we’ll see her again but it’s just as likely, as i said, that she could never be seen again due to the nature of writing and development at times. Sometimes a character can only exist for a portion of the plot in order to introduce the main character to a different aspect of the story and it’s sad that is what Ah-Dou felt like. What they did give her wasn’t bad though and although the episode feels rushed to resolve the plot, it’s still highly emotional.

Those are the few things I really wanted to make significant note of with detail of spoilery parts. I think if you’re thinking it’s just a historical romance, you’re not giving it enough credit. Theres is some really wonderful character writing, humor, and drama wrapped up in Apothacary Diaries and the anime has done a great job making me realize that. So I really wish you the best in starting the show if you do. Sorry I don’t have a way to wrap this up more that saying, “yeah it’s great and pretty check it out” but thats really all I’ve got! It’s a show that seems to speak for itself.

#Hisui Notes #blog post #the apothecary diaries #ouran high school host club #anime post #anime #apologies if theres any errors in there like missing character names or misspellings I tried to double check but got a bit distracted #text post #long post #apothacary diaries anime #seasonal anime 2023 #anime blog

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turnaroundroundround · 3 years ago

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Morimyu in Classical reference

So, as for the fact that music in Morimyu Op. 3 resembles classical music in both progression and musical technicality, it's interesting how it's possible to keep coming up with different interpretations after re-watching the musical again and again.

I've made a thread on twitter about this before, but 1) word limitations and thread will never be enough to list all that I have to say lol 2) I'd prefer to have a fuller version noted down, especially one that I can edit and keep coming back over and over again when ever I come up with something new.

Either way, I am still (lol) not a pro in music theory and music history as well. All that is written here are based on my very very basic knowledge on music as well as something that I've picked up (and discussed) with my friends after watching Op. 3.

What's the point of this?

Why is it important? Lol I always need this to keep myself from writing off-topic but anyways. Why do the music sound good (except for the fact that because it does lol), and what do they represent? Surely there must be, and there always are, other things that are implied not only through the lyrics but also the music, and the flow in general.

Apart from the lyrics and the lines, it's also quite interesting to have a close look at the music - melody and harmony itself - to see how they portray the stories.

Most importantly, the continuality. How did Morimyu manage to insert so many songs and still managing to connect them as a whole? And how did they use music to go beyond what's on the pages? That's the most important thing about musicals - beyond the pages. We don't see stage or anime doing so very often, as they mainly focus on what's already there, bringing them to life as close as possible to how we imagine things might happen.

As for musical, they have the music. They have the arias and the songs. At some point, a character starts singing, and other characters followed suit. They have their very unique way of expressing the plot, and they have the orchestra, the arias where characters get their solo song, and the duets between characters with strong relationships, and the ensemble which emphasizes the plot, and so on.

A funny thing about duets in classical opera, they're often meant to show lovers' relationship because of the harmony but can also use opposition and all to show enemies' relationship. And in SherLiam's duet it's just both of them at the same time - thoughts connected while engaging in a chase, a hide and seek game of mystery. We'll go into that later.

Back to the topic. Morimyu follows the main plot strictly, but also uses their advantage with music to add all the side details that wasn't told in the manga to create a "complete" view of the plot. It is always available for musicals to do something unexpected (like how we never expected Lestrade's puppet show to be a whole 5 mins long piece lol). And where they did that they added arias and duets, they allowed moments where characters express and developed their emotions as well as going with the plan (yes Albert yessss). Of course there's both a good and bad side to this all the while.

💛 The good thing is they went all the way to show us sides of emotions that we don't see much in the manga or stage, the sides of the story that all of them have kept hidden while focusing on their grand plan. 💛 But then it does get too emotional at some point, especially those who came for the plot and the mind games behind all of it (like me - although I won't deny that I had a lot of fun picking out all the emotions behind the music here lol).

Musicals can always go beyond what we knew. As for Morimyu, their music is heavily influenced by opera and classical music, and it's shown quite clear. There is live music playing (instead of the entire orchestra we have a violin and piano duet), and they have distinctive arias and recitatives throughout.

So thanks to that, it's also possible to use a reference from classical music to interpret their songs.

A Sonata formation - The Narrative Series of SherLiam

Yes, songs arranged and analysed with reference to a Sonata formation, especially in the way they progress through the play.

Some notes before getting into the point

1 - Sonata = a piece of music consisting of several movements - very often 3, sometimes 4. First movement-Allegro: With the quick tempo, introducing the theme of the entire Sonata Second movement-Adagio/Largo: Slow tempo, can be emotional sometimes, as well as leading more towards the final movement Third movement-Rondo Vivace: The ending, quick-paced and vigorous, leading the Sonata to a close. A Sonata always has a general theme, a topic. The theme that I chose to write about is Mystery - the Hide and Seek game between the Detective and Lord of Crime

2 - Aria and Recitative = different types of songs used in an opera Recitative: Lines within a song that happens like a real conversation, as the characters sing they are also talking to each other Aria: A solo section where everything else is a freeze frame, while one actor remains and sing their own song about their thoughts, feelings, etc. In this post we're mainly discussing the arias of Sherlock and Liam, and the duet between them. But there's also some mention of recitatives here and there.

3 - Videos used To make it easier to understand which songs I'm talking about, I also arranged them in piano. And also to have a listen at how they might connect. Just in case the videos beneath don't work (they didn't work on my phone), the three songs discussed are Nazo, Liam's solo, Kokoro no Rondo, all piano arrangements.

All of the songs noted in this section are arias and duets from Op. 3 - the Ghost of the Whitechapel. The additional "series" that Morimyu has added spreading throughout the play, Sherlock and Liam's narratives, which portrays both their emotions and the chase between the detective and the Lord of Crime.

First Movement - Allegro: Nazo(謎) song

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Starting from Lestrade's exit after his puppetshow and proceed to the scene, Sherlock's aria introduces the theme of the imaginary hide and seek game that the Lord of Crime has started. The song repeats the word (mystery) over and over again with a continuous rhythm.

Ends with Sherlock just mumbling the word Nazo (mystery) and exiting the stage - no conclusions, just like a mystery that leads into further mysteries with no answer.

♛♛♛ In regards to a Sonata formation, this is the beginning of the entire piece. Quick in tempo, written in 3/4 time and introduces the theme of the entire piece - Mystery.

Uso ka Shinjitsu ka - Lie or Truth song

Starting after Sherlock learns the truth behind Jack the Ripper, wondering if Lord of Crime is a good person after all.

Now I had a really hard time thinking whether this piece should be included or not. For one, it's not an aria. It can be viewed as a Da capo Aria, a development section of the Nazo song, repeating the theme that is introduced, coming and going rather quickly. So, for continuality.

It also does not fit into the series as a whole, being 1) a recitative. The lyrics focus entirely on Sherlock's deduction and whether he should expose the truth or not, etc. so on. 2) The lines in here, unlike the other arias, are taken directly from the manga, so it's not entirely an 'added' element to this chase. 3) Also because if we compare this to a Sonata form, this doesn't really fit anywhere

However, among Sherlock's arias, this song can also be seen as an interesting development as I have mentioned above, so I've decided to have it here, still.

There's another thing about almost all of Sherlock's arias throughout the 2 stages - they never have a conclusive end. The detective's mind is always running, mysteries after mysteries.

Most of the other characters' songs ends with some kind of closing lines, and piano continues to conclude the piece with a strong end, and then goes on to start another piece. All of their problems in the songs are concluded. They made up their minds in some ways.

But Sherlock, his songs always end with him repeating the melody, a capella, and exiting the stage. Piano waits for him to exit, then starts a new song. Or in Op. 2's Mindgame case going straight into the next conversation. We never get to know how Sherlock's songs end, because they didn't really end at those points. There's a hanging sense of waiting for a resolution, a conclusion. Sherlock never seems to have his problems solved within the songs, they just go on and on.

An idea initiates, then something happens and he is once again in the dark. And he spins around within his own mind.

Screenshot from Op. 2. Even if we look back to his aria Mindgames from Op. 2, this song doesn't really have a conclusive ending as well. He just starts singing, the music stops and he starts shooting and going on, resuming the play. It kind of has been a thing for Sherlock's arias?

Second Movement - Adagio/Largo: Liam's solo

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♛♛♛ The "second movement" - the 'slower' piece - of the series, Liam's aria lol but actually the piano part of this song isn't slow at all but ok. The other side of this hide and seek game. The "development" section of the sonata series, where we see things in a much more emotional way.

This aria is much richer in harmony and melody. Not only Liam's melody, but also the piano's part which plays a beautiful melody in harmony.

I recall an interview where the stage director mentions how the "orchestra" - piano and violin are representations for Liam and Sherlock. It kind of applies here, where his music is created mostly by piano.

There is modulation, emotions rising and elevating quickly and strongly. But the harmony is beautiful, overflowing and rich with emotions. The song repeats certain lines, emphasizing aspects within Liam's thoughts.

Unlike Sherlock's train of thoughts that circles with no destination, Liam's solo has a definite ending in harmony -> Even with all his emotions in mind, Liam still has a goal already set before him. He has a brief moment of slowing down, pausing and sung about his feeling, before resuming the story.

Leading us to the final stage - Kokoro no Rondo.

Third Movement - Rondo Vivace: Kokoro no Rondo

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Rondo formation: Rondo is a type of dance that revolves around a pattern, often ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA - where A is the ritournello ("meguri - kimi ni omou - meguru kokoro no rondo" section) that is repeated over and over with B, C parts in between. Rondo can also be combined with sonata form - this case applies to this song which begins with a key other than the tonic (Fm) before resolving to the tonic key (Fm) to put an end to the entire sonata series. For reference purposes, the last movement of Beethoven's Pathetique or the very typical Fur Elise is also written in a similar format. I also referred to Pathetique quite a lot when brainstorming this post.

♛♛♛ The "final movement" of this Sonata, the final scene of their "Hide and Seek" game. The song's tempo is vibrant and rapid, combining with the dancing sense, all the while strictly following the structure of a Rondo as mentioned above.

This is the stage where Liam and Sherlock's line interacts and reply to each other, as if in a real conversation - just like how the connection between them are now much stronger than what they had before.

In the ritournello, we have Liam and Sherlock's lines intertwining and chasing after one another, emphasizing the "Hide and Seek" element between the two of them.

The song comes to a definite ending, concluding with a strong tonic (Fm) chord. At this stage, there is no more question to be left open, for Sherlock at this point has already made up his mind to take the next step into solving the mysteries regarding the Lord of Crime.

Their imaginary game of Hide and Seek is coming to an end, as Sherlock came to a decision to take the next step - going to Durham.

That's the end of my first draft.

So far that is some of my thoughts noted down right after watching Op. 3 stream a while ago, with some edition made just now.

On the side note, at some point during my discussion with a friend, we also came up with the idea that a Suite may be a better reference. A Suite consists of 4 parts and a prelude, each of them having their specific characteristic. But we didn't go all the way analysing that idea, as 1) we couldn't find a 5th piece that can be added into the series. 2) Even if we did, the Truth or Lie song still would not really fit into the "aria" vibe of this series, as mentioned above.

But then quite interestingly, after a while, I've found another interesting fact that should have been quite obvious but I've missed for (lol) like ages.

The game of Hide and Seek between the detective and the Lord of Crime has begun ever since after Hope's case - that being said, ever since the end of Op. 1

And what is it that we have in Op. 2? "The Mind games of the Lord of Crime". The one where Sherlock went maniac rapping about all the thoughts he has and end up shooting randomly into the wall.

At first it begins like another recitative, but in the later half, the harmony starts to become more harmonious, written in 3/4 time flowing like a dance.

In that section, the melody of the piano and violin part resembles the one we have in Kokoro no Rondo, the Ritournello section, only that the melody of the violin in Op. 2 and the melody that SherLiam sung in Op. 3 are kind of reversed.

Coincidence much?

So now we have a collection of songs from both Opus, it becomes tricky. How do we connect them? And what's the story?

At this point, all these recitatives, aria and duets all in the theme of the Hide and Seek game. And they all connect to each other through harmony, progressions in harmony.

We know that the Mind games of the Lord of Crime has begun from ever since the end of Op. 1. We know that Sherlock keeps wondering about that in Op. 2, and then he wonders even further after he has been tested by the Lord of Crime. "また俺だけのメッセージなのか?" - Is this a message just for me?, as he wondered in the Truth or Lie song. We knew all of that. But Morimyu didn't let that stop them from emphasizing on this subplot even further.

They didn't let the gap between Op. 2 and Op. 3 stop them from making a smooth flow in plot either.

Correction, they didn't simply create a flow. They established a connection, all the while showing a strong progression of Sherlock's thoughts that goes on from Op. 2 straight onto Op. 3.

Very often, what makes a good plot is how their plots and sub-plots intertwine with each other. Morimyu has a main plot that follows Moriarty gang in the plan of changing society. And they have a smaller plot told from Sherlock's side of things. And they have this sub-plot told by harmony of how Sherlock is connected to Liam, or the Lord of Crime, by an invisible thread. A connection that is only expressed that clearly in Morimyu.

We have so many things going on, so many songs throughout the play. But each of those elements are all connected to something else, creating a sub-plot that enriches the main plot.

There is no loose connections. For everything that connects to the main plot, they're also linked to other elements. Each scene and every song has their own meaning not only in regards to other songs, but also to the plot as a whole.

Also, did I mention how Morimyu feels like a grand piece of music?

Opus -> What classical songs had that basically shows the order in which they are written. Morimyu - a title piece itself - has 3 Opus, 3 different parts with the same theme.

Classical music very often had all the different elements in it -> Morimyu had an overture, the song they sing just before the main theme song, just before introducing the stage. Then arias, ensembles and choruses. All of them are connected by similar harmony.

Classical music always had a big general theme, with each section having a smaller sequence connecting to each other. Subplots within a big plots. A Sonata piece has 3 movements, each having their own "sections" of development - expositions, development, recapitulation. -> Morimyu does the same to their plot and subplots, as discussed above.

Also, Opera reference

While Opus 2 used an opera reference to tell the story, I feel like Opus 3 has become an Opera itself. During Op. 2 the arias were mostly very loyal to the manga, taking their lines from the original work, like the Mind Games song. Their story progresses steadily but logically.

However starting from Op. 3, the aria became more independent. They developed and expressed even further what wasn't said in the manga. For instance, the 3 songs mentioned in the "Sonata" above. And there's also Albert's solo, and Patterson's solo and Milverton, which I haven't got the chance to discuss all.

But either way, they spring out of the original story, adding more emotions and "colours" to the characters. The aria became more original, all the while also much more expressive. We get to see new sides of the characters that we haven't seen anywhere before.

Anyways, it's probably time to go back to the main question: How Morimyu used music to go beyond what's on the pages.

-> Musicals aren't simply about music added to acting. The characters on stage don't just simply starts singing for no reason. All the songs are meant to express something, and while they do they also establish various connections to the plot's progression.

We don't get to see much of the characters' emotions in the manga. And we don't see much of the side story, the finer details behind each arc. Every time, Morimyu adds something original to enrich their plot. They express and develop what's already known to all the viewers, especially regarding the emotional and motivational side of the characters.

-> The manga shows us the entire plot, with details related, back stories that lead to the present, and all. But it doesn't give a lot of hint into how characters might feel. Surely, reading between the lines, it's up to the readers to interpret them.

But Morimyu gives us all of that, and they leave it to us to read between the music.

And even if we didn't, that's fine. Then the purpose of all of them linking together would be to create a performance where everything is connected harmoniously, allowing us to be emerged in the world of Yuumori.

-> The purpose of having a stage, primarily, is to allow the audience to engage in, experience and feel the emotions along with the characters they see on stage. The point of having a live stage, a plot, and the music, are all to let us emphasize with the characters on stage.

In Morimyu, we aren't just watching a plot between our favourite characters happening as we know it from the manga. We see a combination of mysteries unveiling slowly, the stories on the side of each characters as they slowly progress forward, as well as emphasising with their emotions in the story.

That's what I really like about Morimyu.

So, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS?

So I had to scroll back to the top (lol) to quote this and make sure I haven't gone too far from the main theme.

Regarding musical Yuumori, there's always so many things I'd like to talk about. And if I start going on about it then it only gets harder to focus on one single topic.

Since the topic here is Morimyu and their music, especially in classical reference, I've tried to keep everything I've discussed relevant. But whenever I start on something, there would always be something that comes to mind. Like how other songs might also have certain connections, or how they used stage directions and lightings, etc. I really want to look more into stage directions in Morimyu as well, but that would have to wait...

Anyways, I tried to keep this as simple as possible. When I sent the first version of this to my friends, I keep having the feeling that I got too technical with all the theories about harmony and structure lol

And once again, this is only some of my own interpretation of the series that I've picked up.

If something else came to mind... well. Either way, for the purpose of engaging in their wonderful music or for the purpose of watching a beautiful stage just for enjoyment, Morimyu definitely is worth watching. And to watch over and over again. I've said this for Op. 2 but I'll say this ten times as much for Op. 3. Truly magnificent.

And, that's pretty much it that I have for today, I guess.

Thanks a lot to all my friends who gave me lots of inspiration and motivation to complete this ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ Lots of love to @rikaaki as well ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

#Youtube #musical moriarty the patriot #musical yuukoku no moriarty #yuukoku no moriarty #sherliam #random thoughts idk why #didn't mean for it to be this long but still just random thoughts I'd like to get down #still love this series too much although I feel like I've watched it too many times #harmony analysis I'd like to call it but there wasn't a lot of harmony analysis going on either #morimyu #morimyu and how their music is just extraordinary

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thebirdandhersong · 3 years ago

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Hey, so I've basically never watched any k-dramas, but I've read a lot of manga and manhwa and the automatic next step does feel like moving into k-dramas. You seem to have watched a number, so I was wondering if you could make a recommended list? Only if you felt like it of course, but it would be helpful! (Preferably of at least some which are on netflix uk, I looked up 18 again but it's unfortunately not on here in Britain :(. But if you have favourites I'd just like to know them so I can look out for them anywhere)

Also yay! Your term's ended!

(yanks open the door) did someone say RECOMMENDATIONS?? I DO have many!!! Boy do I have them!!!!

(YAY!! One last exam and I'm done for the summer!)

I love Eastern entertainment (manga, k-dramas, c-dramas, and movies from Korea and Taiwan) because of several reasons: the scripts are phenomenal nine times out of ten; Asian culture puts a strong emphasis on the importance of family, personal responsibility, learning from one's mistakes, expressing affection through gestures and acts of service, and friendship and I really love seeing that in a story; and they make good use of silence and stillness in shows and movies, which is pretty rare in Hollywood. The quiet moments between characters are more often than not some of the most important in the story and I Love That!!

The dramas I'm (briefly) listing are in bold if they're available on Netflix UK, and in bold and italicised if they're available on Rakuten Viki (which is a mostly-free drama streaming service, though unfortunately they're rather heavy on the ads). The Absolute Favourites are marked with stars (***). Though I can't actually see the whole list of dramas available in the UK, so some of these may be wrong, and it may be worth checking twice!

If you're in the mood for something fast-paced:

Descendants of the Sun (Viki); considered a Classic

- romantic comedy, medical drama, a bit of action

- The confident and charming leader of a Special Forces unit meets a reserved surgeon and they hit it off, after some... interesting misunderstandings. But after dating briefly and breaking up, they find themselves reunited on a peacekeeping mission in a war-torn country. Insert a lot of Suspense and Excitement but also a lot of Comedy and Sincere Declarations of Love.

- if you enjoy Song Joongki's performance, I'd also recommend his movie A Werewolf Boy. If you enjoy Song Hye-kyo's performance, I'd recommend her drama Encounter.

***Come and Hug Me (Viki, but I don't know if it costs money?)

- thriller/suspense, romance, this one genuinely stressed me out but the moments of peace and reconciliation (and the ENDING) were well worth it

- Their first loves during their youth ends in her mother's death and their separation. Years later, the lively daughter of the murdered woman is now an actress, and the introverted son of the serial killer has become a police officer. They meet each other again (Of Course) and have to tackle all sorts of Nonsense (including the serial killer's return, his murderous brother's return from prison, the Media, the ghosts of their past, etc. etc.) together. HUGE focus on forgiveness, hope, healing, unconditional and self-sacrificial love. Also one of the best redemption arcs (I did in fact bawl my eyes out)

- my friend just started crying when we first watched this drama together because the male lead is just so gentle and tenderhearted and steadfast :')

If you're in the mood for something a bit slower

***Goblin/Guardian (Viki); International Acclaim

- fantasy, drama, one of the funniest dramas I've ever watched, but also tears (I cried at a rate of around once every two episodes. This show talks a lot about life and meaning and the effect your actions and words have on the people around you.)

- Kim Shin, a general from the Goryeo Dynasty, is cursed to live as an immortal Goblin (a Korean mythical/fairy tale figure) until his destined Bride pulls the sword from his chest, thus breaking the 'spell' and ending his life. He really did not expect his bride to be the vivacious and irrepressible Eun-tak, though, and What's More!! He did not expect that he would start wanting to live again :))) Includes a surprising amount of comedy, a surprising amount of tears, and EXCELLENT screenwriting. (Descendants and Goblin share the same brilliant writer.)

- fun fact: parts of it were shot in Quebec!! One of the characters refers to Canada as "the maple nation" early on in the story and my friend and I just burst into laughter.

***Encounter (Viki, but I'm not sure if it costs money?)

- melodrama, romantic comedy, FAIRY TALE

- a cold and withdrawn woman, recently divorced because of her husband's infidelity, and a warm-hearted and optimistic young man meet on the streets of Cuba by accident, and upon separating without means of contact, find themselves back in Korea as boss and newly hired employee. This sounds like a recipe for disaster: stuffed to the gills with unnecessary workplace drama and gossip, etc. but the story focuses instead on family, vulnerability, transformation, sacrifice, about art, compassion, mending relationships, opening up to people, and about the beauty in bringing and receiving comfort and love.

- also. ALSO. Fairy tale!!! with illustrated opening and ending cards and everything!!! (they literally refer to her as the Ice Princess. And her Prince is the human equivalent of sunshine. I Love him)

- if you like Park Bo-gum's performance, I'd recommend Reply 1988, too!

***One Spring Night

- melodrama; quiet and understated but very beautiful

- A bright, clever, and sharp-tongued librarian meets a quiet, steady, and gentle pharmacist one day. It turns out that he's a single father, and she's trapped in a relationship that really isn't working out. Friendship! Family! Sisters standing up for each other and saying No I Won't Let You Treat My Sister Like This, You Jerk! Figuring things out! Learning how to love! I really don't know what else to say, except for the fact that I loved it very much!!

- if you enjoy Jung Hae-in's performance, I'd also recommend Something in the Rain (which should also be on Netflix!) for his acting alone. I just think he's neat.

Reply 1988

- slice-of-life, comedy

- In the late 1980s, five friends (four boys, one girl) who have grown up with each other since childhood are Going Through It in high school. This drama is all about the little things that happen in life, and about learning to understand your family and your friends. Deok-sun is just trying to survive all of This as the middle child, and as a young girl who is trying to figure this Romance thing out. In the present, adult Deok-sun is just as lively, and is now happily married..... but to whom? :))) A Lot of '80s Asian culture, daily antics, and good old friendship.

- if you like Park Bo-gum's performance, I'd recommend Encounter too :)

18 Again (Viki)

- romantic comedy, fantasy/time travel (sort of)

- Nearly twenty years of marriage, and things have been going Wrong all over the place. His wife wants a divorce, he's no longer close to his teenaged kids, and he's just lost the job he's been faithfully working at for years. Daeyoung wishes that he could go back somehow, and finds himself 18 once again.... except he's still in the present. Interesting things ensue. He enrolls in school (it turns out to be the same one his kids attend), and decides to pursue the dreams he had to give up when he was a teenager. Antics ensue! But also Healing: he gets to know his kids all over again, and is able to view his relationships with Dajung (whom he still loves. Of course) and his estranged father in a new light.

- I have not finished this drama yet but judging from the first third of it, it is both well-written and well-acted. There are a few things that I am not a fan of, but on the whole Lee Dohyun's performance is wonderful and I have already cried buckets.

Other honourable mentions:

100 Days My Prince: historical drama. Prince caught in an assassination plot, loses his memory, wakes up in a village right when the king issues a marriage law that results in his marrying the spirited 'spinster'.

Still 17/Thirty But Seventeen: 17 year old violin prodigy in a coma after an accident, wakes up when she's 30; the boy who inadvertently caused the accident runs into her again after she wakes up and helps her adjust to her new life. Lots of wacky humour, very sweet!!

#as per usual this is horrendously long #but i hope that this is helpful!!#k-dramas in the past have had some pretty questionable male leads #as in: the aggressively alpha male lead who thinks kindergarten bullying is a form of flirting #and i am very Not Here for that #so my favourite dramas tend to have Oak/Tilney/Wentworth-style male leads #ALSO!! storytelling in Eastern media takes a different approach than Western media #so it is so interesting to me to watch dramas like Goblin and 18 Again that take a pretty unconventional approach #songbird again

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positivelypetty · 6 years ago

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A REALLY long rant on the Joint Training Arc.

Okay, so since the Joint Training Arc is basically done, I thought I would share my various opinions and adress certain issues that A LOT of people had with this arc.

But, before we get into the actual rant, I think I should distinguish the difference between an opinion, criticism and just plain antagonism.

Here is an example of just misinformed toxicity:

This is just being TOXIC!!! You can’t shelter these horrible comments by saying “it’s just an opinion.” Please don’t act like after 4 years of really enthralling writing, he’s now the worst writer ever. Instead, explain why you don’t think this was the best story choice, instead of being clearly misinformed. It’s nothing absolutely terrible, but just a simple example on how people can be so demanding and completely inconsiderate to the creator.

“Forbidding” Horikoshi from writing is actually ridiculous. He WROTE AND CREATED your “precious sons” that you love so much. So, if you claim that the manga is now utter trash because it doesn’t personally cater to you, please abandon or take a long break from the manga/anime to maybe clear your head. Thank you.

We don’t need any more toxicity in this fandom than we already do.

Now with that said, let’s talk about the arc! (Also keep in mind that these ideas spurred from Reddit so, I decided to expand on it)

1-B vs 1-A situation:

I've been reading a ton of comments too, the good, and the bad and it's fine, everyone has their opinions and that's cool, but for me, it didn't seem it was about who won or lost, it was more about how each class was taught. And this boils down to both Vlad and Aizawa.

Vlad has obviously been pushing his students and their quirks to the max in regards to working in teams. This shines through in all of the fights they all work together very well and know the strengths and weaknesses of each other as well as their enemies. They go into a battle with a plan and are ready to execute the plan flawlessly.

Whereas Aizawa I believe has pushed for more individualist thinking style, and I think this comes from his basis of fighting villains. No one will come to save you, you have to be able to handle yourself whether escaping or defeating. He doesn't coddle his students, and he does push them to the brink as well. What's interesting is Class A has had more hands-on experience. With Aizawa’s teaching style I think they sometimes have a harder time working with one another and they can fall apart with their teamwork. HOWEVER their real-life experience has taught them that the best-laid out plans can not go as plan, and they are able to utilize their 'individual' thinking to fight regardless of a plan falling through.

I found it really interesting and I think there's value in both ways of thinking for Vlad and Aizawa. For Class B, they will have to learn how to abandon a plan that's not working and strategize on the fly, and Class A will have to hone their teamwork for long-running battles.

And let's be honest, these are just kids, pushing their bodies and minds to the limit, I don't find Class B to be 'trash' just because they lost, they still fought hard and worked better together in the long run then Class A. Class B didn't have any dead weight with their battles, everyone was utilized and contributed to all their fights. People are so set on who “won” or who “lost” the battle, that people overlook everyone’s overall individual quirks and techniques. I personally believe that many of the 1-B students were amazing and are forces to be reckoned with. It’s just that 1-A knows how to handle themselves when things don’t to go to plan rather than 1-B (as mentioned before) which gave 1-A the upper-hand in most of the battles, but I can definitely name a few fights where Class A's members were carried by their team.

Now to address the Shinsou thing:

To everyone who was PRESSED that Shinsou didn’t win....

What do you expect from Shinsou? I feel like people were overestimating him. Even with those cloth bindings and his quirk. All you need to do is shut your mouth, grab his cloth bindings (at best he has a few months training) keep focusing on him,restrain him, and boom you're done.(I obviously know it’s not that simple, but basically) I love Shinsou, I really do, but he’s basically Aizawa (I love Aizawa too don’t get me wrong). Aizawa mentioned that it took FIVE YEARS for him to truly master his quirk, and even though since this is the younger generation, so he’ll probably get the hang of it sooner, how long as he really been “training” his quirk under Aizawa? Definitely not long enough for him to go 1v1 with someone who is a close combat fighter. (It really isn’t that shocking that Deku won, he could probably win without Black Whip). Don't get me wrong Shinsou has improved MONUMENTALLY but not to the extent of 1-A who has direct experience in fighting villains. I just think people are mainly mad that 1-B lost is as because they think Shinsou won’t get into the Hero Course. Like chill. One of the main reasons 1-A won in the first match was because of Shinsou, so I think that proves that he is MORE than capable to get in to the Hero Course.

The whole OP Deku thing:

First off, I honestly don't expect him to ever match All Might at his prime in terms of consistent pure raw strength. Deku isn't a giant man of pure muscle, so I don't think he'd be able to go 100 and maintain it like All Might could. Deku is more of a person of different techniques and strategy, rather than brute force. Like, I don't know if Deku is going to be throwing punches that can blow away a city block.

That being said, each generation is getting stronger. Like, Endeavor will be surpassed by Todoroki by the time he graduates (if it even takes that long). Iida is already faster than Gran Torino. In the very beginning of the manga, they mentioned Deku will be the strongest holder of OFA, since it gets stronger each generation. Deku will have formidable rivals if the other strong students also reach their full potential. Hell, those rowdy kids we saw at the makeup exam already had really strong quirks at their young age. Generational power creep means that everybody around Deku will get way stronger than the current pros.

I understand the sentiment that Deku doesn't need more quirks, but Deku's quirk development was already approaching a plateau in terms of being able to fully control what power he could handle. He'd just work on his technique and slowly get stronger and stronger. Sure, he's gonna eventually be able to punch/kick hard enough to shoot himself around in the air, but we've already seen that stuff (plus Bakugo does that too). I know Horikoshi is creative and will develop some cool moves for Deku, but Deku's struggle to control OfA was mostly over. All he had to do wast master OFA steadily and he’ll be good. More quirks means that he may unlock more quirks when he's able to use more %. So instead of reaching 30% and just being X amount stronger physically, he may unlock a new tool to try and master/incorporate into his combat toolkit.

If this is a negative turn for the story, we won't even be able to tell until many, many more chapters are released. We may look back and decide that this was a bad move, but we shouldn't assume that's the case when it was literally introduced TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS AGO. (even though I don’t think it was a bad move AT ALL)

What I hope to see in future Arcs:

I think what fans would really enjoy and we could all use some real Deku character development. Deku’s my favorite character, but I feel like people can’t connect to him as much as someone like Todoroki, because his lack of emotional development. He’s indeed way more confident then he was in the beginning, I still feel like he has low self esteem. Someone needs to tell him that he’s worthy of this mega powerful quirk. ( he needs it 😭)We know so much about him, but rarely see him living his day to day life outside of training, costume updates and the occasional villain attack. Last time we got anything close to development in was only told through Aoyama's development.

These next few chapters will definitely give us something, but only as it relates to One for All. I'd honestly like to know Deku's thoughts about his situation, he seems determined that's for sure. Does he feel stressed, uninformed, unprepared, scared...resentful? We can infer a bunch, I'd just like to see him talk to All Might, Bakugo or his mom about it.

In Conclusion:

Honestly, to me,It never seemed to matter who won or lost any of these matches people were gonna complain regardless. When Class A wins they call it predictable and when class B won they say call it BS or plot amor. Even when it’s a draw people got upset saying Todoroki was disappointing. Some people wanted the matches to be fleshed out over a couple of chapters rather than rushed, then a few weeks later complained that it was taking to long. Bakugo wins his match quickly and those same people lose their minds about how they wanted the match to be longer. People complained about Horikoshi not letting the girls shine in battle after the second match, but conveniently forgets Tsuyu was the MVP of the first match and Kendo and Mushroom girl made 1-B win the second match. (AND WE’RE NOT GONNA FORGET HOW URARAKA AND MINA DOMINATED THE MATCH)Then you have the people who say all of 1-B is worthless and then Juzo and Tetsutetsu prove otherwise. Now we have people think Deku is OP but in this new chapter it seems that he much has a limit to using these other abilities but I’m sure that won’t stop the myriad of complaints. Every week the same people come to see the spoilers and complain based off of a fragmented non-contextualized summary of the chapter and wonder why they enjoy the chapter itself less. Maybe going into a chapter with a negative outlook will do that. The part that irks me is that virtually everyone whose binge-read this arc seems to enjoy it only seems to be us week to week readers with a issue. Either way I hope the discussion going into the next arc are far more level-headed constructive than they have been.

I think this will be one of the arcs that played out better once it was animated. Individual panels maybe favored over the anime, but overall pacing will surely favor the anime. Waiting week in and week out, over analyzing every short chapter has really done no favors for fans and Horikoshi.

#mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #deku #midoriya izuku #bnha #mha 213 #mha 214 #mha 215 #mha 200-215 #mha 216 #thanks for coming to my ted talk #yall are so annoying #i stg #rant #anime #manga #manga spoliers #bnha spoilers

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friends-to-lovers-tournament · 1 year ago

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Friends to Lovers Tournament: Round 2, Side A, Match 7

propaganda under the cut!

Junnana:

Kuroken:

childhood friends!!! admittedly i'm quite rusty on haikyuu so im sorry i can't provide better propaganda for the kuroken nation but i do remember that kuroo literally centered the entire nekoma high volleyball team around kenma and had this whole gay ass speech about how kenma is their brain and the rest of them are the blood like why are you as a man the blood to another man's brain??

#friends to lovers tournament #revue starlight #haikyuu!!#junnana #kuroken #junna hoshimi #nana daiba #kuroo tetsurou #kozume kenma #tournament polls #polls

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crazybnhatheorist · 6 years ago

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Finding the UA traitor - Part 4 | Spying isn't manly

Wow, I haven't been in here for a while. Yeah, yeah, I'm week late, I know, but I had some shit going on. But I progressed! We have pictures and italics now.

Anyway, hello in 4th part already! Hope you'll like it. Though this (and next) pick isn't as suprising, I wanted to throw in my two cents.

Because Kirishima Eijirou may be hiding something.

Warnings: a few paragraphs contain manga spoilers, but as always, I marked them

Still water run deep

As always, let's look closer at... yeah, you guessed it, summer camp!

I'll get over with small things first. They doesn't prove anything on their own, but surely don't work for Kirishima's sake either and can be considered as foreshadowing... or something.

We're sure he had his cell phone with him. Was one of the not showed boys during the night. In the morning was the most exhausted of all students.

More serious stuff now. As we know, Kirishima failed his practice exam in some... very stupid way. I'd even say it was worth Kaminari. Like... Kirishima isn't THAT stupid guy, is he? Maybe he thought that by failing he won't be allowed to go to the camp. Remember his reaction to Aizawa announcing that he lied?

WhenI saw it for the first time I was like omg he so shook. Then I thought that maybe he's disgusted by his sensei's behavior, because it's not manly. Or maybe he just weirdly smiles. But on the next panel, we actually see that he's the only one not catched mid-smiling. And his arms' position doesn't suit the whatever-emotion-he-showed-second-ago (shock, disgust, terror)

On to the hideout raid arc

What to say? Just as before Yaoyorozu and Aoyama, Kirishima falls in for category 2. It's his Bakugou, after all!

And I must say he's lucky, too - LoV was teleported away before rescue squad jumped in, and even if AFO saw him, he ended up locked in prison.

But there's one important thing that happened before that. When the squad found fake factory and he used his night goggles, he was genuinly terrified when he saw noumus. Based on this, I think it's likely that he would work for AFO rather than Tomura - all of LoV members are similiar with them. While orders from All for One rather wouldn't be received direct from him, but there would be some kind of, you know, middleman.

Back to the night goggles... Maybe we don't know much about Kirishima family's wealthness, but I don't think he's another rich kid, either. A teenager like him can't afford something so expensive. Also, he avoided talking about where did he get them from and looked guilty when Bakugou gave him back some money. We know that AFO willingly sponsors Shigaraki's actions. So why not buy some stupid goggles for his spy, if he can afford freaking experiments on humans?

His motivation or juicy steak of manga spoilers (like really, you may want to skip it)

First, small thing to talk about is Kirishima's reaction to a student that gave up being a hero mentioned by Nejire. But let's look at this a little closer - from writer's pov.

Yeah, Nejire is very talkative and we know that, but I don't think that Horikoshi made her say that only to show how noisy she can be. I bet it was otherwise - he used it as a tool to foreshadow an important detail. And that is Kirishima's reaction, of course. We didn't get a direct response from his origin story though, so he left it to our interpretation or left a clue for something else.

For the first time, I thought that it reminded him of one of his worse moments and that maybe at some point he wanted to give up himself. On the other hand, the most common opinion is that maybe he knew that particular student and if it's true, then it's suspiscious - if it wasn't someone 'bad', then why would the author hide it?

From his origins we know that he secretly has many moments of self doubting. We also know the reason why. You see, Kirishima is the type of a guy that has his own values and sticks to them. If he have became a spy, someone from his family must would have made him to.

Sounds ridiculous, right? But it would make some sense. Eijirou's idol, for example, is... retro. If his parents were villains, it would make sense that he would choose an old hero, as them wouldn't be fond about new ones. Seeing his parents reactions, he'd found himself a figure that nobody remembers about. Or else - do you remember how unomfortable he was while talking about his idol to Midnight, when creating hero names? Yes, it makes sense, but let's be even more ambitious - he feels like that, because he tells it in front of whole class, after hiding it from his parents his whole life. It's not like him to be shameful about a figure he took his main values from.

And you may ask, what about that time when he sympathised with a villain? If think of that blades guy as a tool of showing who Kirishima is really. Not only his origins, but the empathy. It will make perfect sense if at some point he spills the bills, as he no longer want to be part of monstrous LoV actions, especially after kidnapping his best friend.

So in the end, if this theory is true, my best boy made much bigger self-progress than anybody thought.

Pros and cons (nomore spoilers!)

Pros

Reasonable motives

His reaction to going to the forest camp

His reaction to Bakugou being kidnapped

Some small things (the student that gave up, his idol and how he talks about him, his problems with himself, fight with the blades villain) may be foreshadowing

The impact it would made on both characters and readers

Cons

He already is a well developed character, so why add anything more to him?

Majority of evidence can be debunked, as half of it have multiple meanings

I don't have a specific opinion on it, to be honest. I hate a concept of this, as Kirishima is my favourite character in the show, while my masochistic writer side wants to see it happen so freaking bad. Just a great made plot twist, you know?

But what are yours opinions guys? I wanna hear them, so don't be afraid to text me! Hope you liked it.

See ya, pumpkins!

#bnha #bnha theory #bnha traitor #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #kirishima eijirou #bnha kirishima #mha kirishima #mha traitor theory #mha theory #mha

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fire-bear · 8 years ago

Note

Do you want more prompts? I'd also like sentence #14.

God, I finally finished this. I didn’t think I would. =/

Sort Of Warnings: Al is a little OOC - but he’s meant to be that way for reasons. Also, there’s very little in the way of USUK - this is like the start of an epic story which will play out over time, space and- Well. More space than time.

Oh, the title for this is probably more for the chapter this kind of is rather than the entire story. Though, it could apply to the story, too, I suppose.

RescueMission

“InGaLE base, this is the Kunoichi. We are currentlyon our way back from the Talbia mission – full report will beprovided upon our return but it looks like there won’t be troublearound there any more. Please advise on any other missions to beundertaken in this quadrant.” Finished with his transmission,Matthew adjusted his headphones as he waited for the answer.

Behind him, Al hovered, hoping they’d get anothermission. He’d enjoyed the brief fight with the pirates but it seemedthe InterGalactic Law Enforcement logo was more than enough for themto retreat. Sure, they’d followed them to make sure they wouldn’treturn as soon as they left. Andthey got to stay on the planet and drink in some of the culture whilethey waited to see if the pirates would return. All three of the teamhad been fawned over and Al had been interested in the reactions fromMatthew and Kiku – it had helped his learning and he now knew thatthey had both enjoyed and were embarrassed by both the female andmale Talbians’ attentions.

“Al,” said Matthew, suddenly, turning to look athim. “I’ve told you before – stop that.”

“But I wanna know what’s happening!” Al protested,whining a little.

“Don’t you need to charge?” Kiku asked from hisseat at the pilot’s station.

“Nope,” Al replied. “My improved lithium-ionbatteries last much longer than previous batteries and will only needto be charged every four months. They will need to be replaced infive years but should not be cause for concern.”

Matthew sighed. “Obviously your learning softwarehasn’t updated to include reading the atmosphere, huh?”

Tilting his head, Al blinked. “You’ve said thatbefore. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to do that. You never saywhether you mean pressure or air content or something else.”

Just as Matthew opened his mouth to reply, he turnedback to his station. Evidently, the base was responding. Al eagerlywatched him, listening to his end of the conversation. “Yes, sir,”Matthew said. “It shouldn’t take us too long to check that out.We’ll get in contact with you when we’ve made contact. Thank you,sir.”

“Checked what out?” Al immediately demanded. “Arewe freeing slaves from the Loo'oo'oos planet? Are we helping tooverthrow an evil dictator in one of the Groag galaxies? Is itpirates again? Are we gonna fight pirates?”

Rolling his eyes, Matthew sent the coordinates from hisscreen to Kiku’s monitor so he could change their route. “The basehas picked up a very weak distress signal from Ranar. We’ve to checkit out and help anyone who needs it.”

“Ranar?” said Al,pouting. “But that’s uninhabited and boring!”

“But,” Kiku piped up, “if we don’t go to help,you won’t get to be a hero.”

Al blinked, processing the statement. “Oh,” hesaid. “Well, we gotta get there quick, then. ‘Specially if they’rein distress – gotta save 'em before something happens!”

“Don’t worry,” Kiku said, smiling at him in thatway he did when he was feeling both amused and fond. “We’re only anhour away by light speed.”

For Al, an hour was way too long.

Considering the length of time it had taken to get tothis part of their jurisdiction from the base and the smooth runningof their new ship, he’d seen all there was to see on the ship. Therewere no need to read books – all the contents of them weredownloaded into his head as soon as he linked up with the tablet theywere stored on. He preferred the comics back at base, anyway, butMatthew and Kiku were fans of novels and manga and that’s all theyhad on the ship. Sure, manga was cool, but it had taken long for himto download everything the other two crew members had brought. It wasthe same problem with the movies and don’t get him started on thevideo games he could master in seconds.

So all he could do was pace the length and breadth ofthe ship, returning to the bridge every few minutes. Eventually,Matthew snapped.

“Dammit, Al, just sit down!”

“Meanie,” Al grumbled and plopped down onto hischair, probably damaging a few circuits from the force he landed.

“We’re not too far away now,” Kiku assured him.

Matthew nodded and turned to his screen. “Yeah, I’mpicking up the distress signal now. I’ll put it through thespeakers.”

Instantly, a man’s voice began to fill the bridge, hisaccent neutral but evidently a human. “Mayday, mayday. This is theAsterales requesting immediate assistance. Our ship has been damagedby pirates and, unless we receive parts for our engine, we will beunable to leave Ranar or survive for much longer. Mayday, mayday.This is the-”

“Asterales?” said Al, frowning. “I don’t have anydata on that ship.”

“So it shouldn’t have been a target for thepirates…” Matthew murmured. “What in the universe happened?”

“Did they stumble onto something the pirates didn’twant them to know, do you think?” Kiku asked. “This could be farmore serious than we thought.”

“We still have to go check it out,” Matthew pointedout. “We’ll just have to be more cautious when we descend, in caseit’s some sort of trap.”

“Ah,” said Kiku as an alert sounded on his screen.“We’re approaching Ranar.”

The next few minutes were taken up by the routine ofscanning for potential threats, steering their ship into orbit,scanning for the downed ship and dropping into the atmosphere. Almainly ran on automatic; he could do all this with his eyes closed.Though, from past experience, he knew that Matthew and Kiku preferredhim to keep them open.

They set down not far from the stranded ship. It was adirty brown and seemed to be a cargo ship. Al updated the informationhe had on the Asterales, making sure to take an optical picture forlater reference. It seemed to lie where it had landed, at a rightangle to a massive rock. There were several massive dents in themetalwork and the door seemed to be stuck slightly open. Nobody couldbe seen moving about and no-one seemed to be coming to greet them.

Glancing at the other two, Matthew grimaced. “Thescans showed signs of life but the hull of the ship is so thick, Ican’t tell how many there are or what state they’re in. I hopethey’re all right…”

“There’s only one way to find out!” Al exclaimedand immediately made his way to the airlock. From the scramblingnoises behind him, he knew that the other two were following.

Despite being uninhabited, the air was breathable andthe gravity only a smidgeon stronger then that of Earth and theirship. It wasn’t enough for Matthew or Kiku to notice but Al did andquickly adjusted all his mechanics in order to be able to operate atfull capacity. Matthew and Kiku had quickly dressed in their officialuniforms, the black jumpsuits with gloves and helmets and protectivevests. Of course, the vests only protected against the lower range oflaser blasts, knives and some of the lower velocity projectiles. Alwould make sure they didn’t need to rely on them, though.

The terrain itselfseemed to be a desert or wasteland of some sort. Huge rocks stoppedanyone from seeing too far into the horizon. Beneath their feet,stones crunched against the hard earth, cracks creating interestingpatterns for miles around. There were no noises except for a slightwind whistling through the valleys created by the rocks and cliffs.Occasionally, a skittering sound of stones being disturbed soundedfrom far away and Al had to wonder if the wind was dislodging them orif it was an animal of some sort. Or maybe it was a ghost.

Before Al could give a whimper at that thought, thewonky door shifted slightly. All three of the law enforcementofficers froze, eyeing them. Matthew and Kiku kept a tight grip ontheir weapons as they watched the door being moved aside. Finally,someone emerged and approached the group, taking slow, deliberatesteps. They stopped some distance away, close enough for the officersto make them out but far enough that he could turn and run forshelter should they attack them.

Whoever they werelooking at was completely covered up. Large, black boots came up totheir knees and brown trousers were tucked into them, a shiny beltbuckle reflecting the meagre sunlight. A long-sleeved, dirty-whiteshirt was tucked into a pair of black, leather gloves. Covering theirhead and shoulders from view was a long, deep green cloak, tiedsecurely around the person’s neck. Usually, Al would assume he wouldneed to switch to a different language to be understood since onlynatives of the outer planets wore cloaks. Instead, his opticalscanners picked up that the clothes – including the cloak – weremade of materials from Earth and deduced that the person was just ahuman with an outdated sense of fashion.

It took a few seconds(exactly 8.04 seconds, actually) for anyone to do anything. Then,deciding that they were all taking too long to do something, Alstepped around Matthew and Kiku to move towards the person. Theyimmediately stepped back but otherwise didn’t seem to react. “Hi,”Al said, smiling wide. “I am Al-senth, a beta personality android.The best betapersonality android, actually. Though, there’s only four of us sofar. Maybe five; they were making another one when we left the base.Ah! This is Matthew – he’s the captain. And this is Kiku – he’s,like, the vice-captain. But he’s also the-”

“Do all you beta personality androids talk so much?”asked the person and Al recognised it as the man who had sent out thedistress signal.

“Nope! Fel does, of course, but Lov is grumpy andtells us to shut up all the time. And Lud is quiet… Well, till Feldoes something bad and he yells at him. The fifth one was gonna be awoman, I think. Dunno what she’d be like.”

“They’re… they’regiving you individual personalities?” asked the person. There was ashort pause. “But… they’re programmingyou to be that way, right?”

“That’s right! It’s to help us protect humans muchbetter than any of the previous androids and without any of theglitches.”

The person snorted.“Sure. Glitches.”

“Are you the only one here?” Matthew interjected.

“No.”

A short silence descended. “Er…” said Kiku,eventually. “Are you the captain, then?”

“No.”

“Then, um…” said Matthew.

“My distress signal specifically stated the need forparts for our engine. Do you have any with you?”

Matthew’s eyes narrowed; Al deduced that he didn’t likethe person’s tone. “We will need to inspect-”

“Quiet!” the person suddenly said, his headturning. Everyone froze, listening. All Al could hear was thecontinued whistling of the wind, the skittering of rocks, thebreathing of his comrades and… Was that the sifting of sand?“There’s a storm coming. They can be violent and sudden on thisplanet. Get inside.” Then, without waiting for them to agree ordisagree, the person turned and stalked back to their ship.

Kiku raised an eyebrow at Matthew who shrugged and puthis gun into his holster – though he made sure it would be easilydrawn. Then he followed the person, Al right behind him (scanning theimmediate area to confirm what the man had said) and Kiku brought upthe rear, his own gun now in its holster as well. They soon reachedthe ship and Al took the moment to scan it now that he was closer,looking for any information he could glean from it. Not being in thedatabases available to the InGaLE was an oddity unless it was new orhad been unused for some time. This ship looked as though it wasusually well-cared for but also quite old. Al frowned at it; had thename of the ship been changed at some point?

The person held the door out of the way for them asthey entered. The corridors beyond were dark and Al immediately drewout his flashlight. “We have no power,” the person told them. “Doyou have any torches?”

Al flicked his on. “Yup!” he declared as hiscrewmates fumbled for their own.

“Good,” said the person and pulled the door shut,plunging them into a more pressing darkness. There were threeseparate clicks and three more flashlights threw out light. “Becareful,” the person said, reaching up with their free hand. “Whenwe crashed here, everything went everywhere and I haven’t had achance to clean up yet.” With that said, he pulled the hood fromhis head.

Due to Al’s enhanced sight, he was able to make outmuch more about the person before them than the other officers could.The person was definitely a human man. He had messy, blond hair whichlooked like it hadn’t been brushed in a few days. His eyes were avibrant green, the sort of colour Al wouldn’t have expected in anyonebar a 'senth. Above them were a couple of really bushy eyebrows: itlooked as though someone had stuck too much hair there by accident.His facial structure was what humans would deem 'perfect’: straightnose, not too big or small; strong-looking jaw; and his cheekboneswere well-defined. Even his lips were perfect, plump and full. Alsuspected that many people would find the man handsome.

“This way,” the man said and stepped past the smallgroup to lead them through the dead ship.

In Al’s opinion, it was creepy. Everything was stilland silent. Every time they rounded a corner, he half-expectedsomething to jump out at them. Whenever Matthew or Kiku accidentallykicked a tool or a loose piece of machinery they hadn’t seen, Al hadto stop his mechanisms from jolting in surprise. They passed byclosed doors, open doors with darkness straining against the doorwaysand dead screens and communicators. Al felt like they were being ledto something horrific.

Eventually, they came upon a door which had beenpropped open with a steel box. The man stepped up and began to pullone half to the side, the other half moving as he grunted and heaved.In only a few seconds, he had it open wide enough for one person tofit through at a time. Al, Matthew and Kiku were quick to slipthrough and the man let it go behind them with another grunt ofeffort. The doors slammed together, stopped only by the box with aprotesting shriek of metal.

Looking around, Al spotted other flashlights glowing,these ones flickering every so often. They were pointed in theirdirection, shifting over all of their faces. Beyond them, Al couldsee the rest of the crew – if three people to fly this wreck waswhat they considered to be a 'crew’.

A blond stood in the middle, his hair long and flowing;with the way the blue bow sat, Al calculated that his hair went tothe small of his back. He obviously needed a shave, if the slightlymessy beard was anything to go by. The coat he wore was a baby blue,marked with oil and blood but, thankfully, made of thestain-resistant material offered by the Trangians. It reached histhighs and was draped over a navy shirt and black trousers. At least,Al presumed he wore trousers as his white boots were laced up to themiddle of his thighs. A gun was at one hip with a Santon-made swordat the other; his hand rested upon it as he watched the group withwary blue eyes.

On his right was a man with hair so pale, it appearedto be white. His eyes were red and Al made a note that he wasprobably wearing contact lenses – or he wasn’t Earth-human and wasactually from a different planet. His skin was smooth and he lookedas though he had no grooming issues. Despite this, he was wearing ablack hoodie, black skinny jeans and an old pair of sneakers. All ofthem were covered in oil and dirt as well as blood. He held a spannerin his hand, his grip tight, and Al supposed he was an engineer ofsome sort.

The last man was a brunet and was smiling a littlewhich was completely at odds with the frowns the other two weresporting. He had stubble dusting his jaw but, other than that, helooked as though he’d been keeping up appearances as his hair wasn’ta mess like their guide. His green eyes were darker than theirguide’s and seemed a lot friendlier than the other two. For somereason, he was wearing a tuxedo, the bowtie undone and merely slungaround his neck. His left sleeve had been unbuttoned and pushed up,revealing a comp-gauntlet. Again, his clothes were covered in bloodand dirt and his shiny shoes were scuffed. Weirdly, he was holdingonto a collapsible Loo'oo'oo axe.

“Arthur,” said the blond, looking behind theofficers. Al turned to watched their guide hop onto the box andsqueeze through the tiny gap there. Apparently, this 'Arthur’ wasflexible. “What’s going on? Where are the parts?”

“They said they needed to look at the engine to seeif they have the parts we need,” Arthur explained, dusting himselfoff. “And there’s a storm coming.”

“So you just invited 'em in?” said the white-hairedguy.

“Do you want to get off this planet or not?” Arthursnapped. “I sure as hell do. If they need to inspect the engine,let them.”

“Are you giving me orders now?!”

Arthur smirked. “I’m sure I technically have a higherrank than you.”

“But you’re not the captain-” thewhite-haired guy began.

“Gilbert,” the blond said. That was enough to stopthe argument as the two men turned from each other. “I know youlove this ship like it’s your first-born but it wouldn’t hurt to showthem exactly what we need, right?”

“Urgh. Fine,” Gilbert grumbled. “Open the door,Art.”

“Can’t you just slip through the gap that’s therealready?” Arthur complained, though he made his way to the door,regardless.

“I’m not freaky flexible like you,” counteredGilbert before he turned to the officers. “Which one of you’scoming with me?”

“I’ll come,” Kiku offered, stepping away from Aland Matthew. For a millisecond, Matthew looked concerned, his handtwitching slightly. Then he clenched his jaw and nodded at Kiku whoreturned it. All three of them headed to the door while Al andMatthew turned to the two who were left.

“What exactly happened here?” Matthew asked.

“Why, do you have the time to listen to our tragicstory?” asked the blond, rather dramatically.

“Sure do!” Al declared.

“If we let Francis tell it,” said the brunet,“we’ll be here for a while.”

“Toni!” cried Francis. “I’m not that bad!”

Laughing, Toni shrugged. “I’m sure Arthur would sayotherwise.”

“Too right, I would!” grunted Arthur from the doorsjust before they slammed shut with another shriek. “This box isn’tgoing to hold for much longer, you know.”

Francis waved a hand. “If they’ve got the parts, wewon’t have to worry about that any more.”

“If,” Arthur said, pointedly. He then turnedto Matthew and Al. “We’re merchants. We did have a lot ofcargo but these damned pirates came out of nowhere. They said they’dlet us live if we sent over what we had and this idiot” -Arthur shot a glare at Francis - “decided to do as he was told. Ofcourse, they kept to their word – by leaving us marooned on thisplanet after they’d taken out our engine.”

“How long ago was this?” Matthew asked, alreadyrecording details directly into the report programme in hiscomp-gauntlet.

“Hmm,” said Toni, tapping at his own gauntlet.“About four Earth days ago.”

“We’ve been surviving on what food the pirates leftbehind and some water from the underground stream Arthur found,”Francis explained.

“So Arthur’s, like, the explorer on the ship?” Alasked.

There was a short silence as Francis blinked at him.“Ah!” he suddenly cried. “How rude of us! We haven’t introducedourselves. I apologise.”

“That’s fine,” Matthew said, waving his hand. “Wehaven’t either. I am Officer Matthew Williams and this is Al-senth.Officer Kiku Honda is with…?”

“He’s with our engineer, Gilbert Beilschmidt. This isAntonio Fernandez Carriedo, our… communications officer?”

“And pilot,” Antonio piped up.

“As for me, I am the captain, Francis Bonnefoy.”From Al’s side, Arthur pointedly cleared his throat. Francis rolledhis eyes. “And this is Arthur. He’s…” Suddenly, Francissmirked. “Our cabin boy.”

“What?!” Arthur shouted, taking a step towards hiscaptain. “I am no-!” He broke off suddenly, wobbling where hestood. Alarmed, Al reached out to catch hold of him.

“Are you-?” Al began but, as he touched Arthur’sarm, he suddenly crumpled. Al watched in slow motion as Arthur’s legsbent underneath him. The arm he had raised to jab a finger inFrancis’s direction dropped as suddenly as if it had been tied to alead weight. His head abruptly fell forward, his chin meeting withhis chest until his momentum caused his body to fall forwards anddown. Arthur landed hard, face down. If Al had had a heartbeat, hewas sure it would have stopped, like in those books he’d read.Silence fell in the bridge and Al stared down at Arthur’s body beforehe raised the hand he had touched Arthur with and stared at that.“Er,” he finally said to break the silence. “I swear, I didn’tdo anything…”

“Arthur!” Francis yelled, dropping his flashlightas he rushed to his side. Falling to his knees beside Arthur, thecaptain rolled him over and gathered him into his arms. “Dammit,Arthur, don’t do this to us!”

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Antonio chanted, one handraised to his mouth.

“Toni, help me!” Francis snapped.

“Don’t worry,” said Al, kneeling down beside them.“I can do a scan to find out what the problem is and I have medicalknowledge up to and including brain surgery.” He reached out totouch Arthur’s skin but Francis jerked him out of reach, to hisbewilderment.

“We don’t need that,” the captain said,shortly. “Toni!”

Antonio jerked from his shock and hurried over,dropping to his knees in such haste that he slid along the floor.Then he reached into his cummerbund and pulled out a knife so quicklythat Al only realised where it had come from by watching it inslow-motion immediately afterwards. Without pausing, Antonio, reachedout and slit from the v-neck of Arthur’s shirt all the way down.“He’s going to kick up such a fuss – this is his favouriteshirt,” Antonio murmured, mournfully.

Despite his words, Antonio then ripped the shirt out ofthe way, revealing the exposed body of an android. Al stared in shockas Matthew gasped. The inner wires and gears and electricalcomponents were clear to see through the clear metal-plastic polymermaterial. In fact, it was the same material which was a precursor towhat Al was made of and had been used in the Ar series of androids –the same series which was decommissioned due to glitches in theirprogramming. Al knew that several owners hadn’t bothered to returnthem, claiming that they had no faults in their eyes. Other androidshad run off on their own, somehow. One had even been stolen from thedepot before the company could turn them off.

But Al had never heard of them developing apersonality. They were supposed to be compliant, happy to serve andcautious of any potential danger their owners could face. None ofthem would ever consider talking back to their owners nor would theyscoff at others. Arthur had done just that.

Clearly, he had severe problems in his programming.

“Dammit,” Francis repeated, peering into Arthur’sinner workings. “He must have used up the last of his powerbringing those three in. Get Gil, Toni. We need him to reroute whatpower we have to Arthur and fast.”

Al tilted his head. “You’re going to reboot him?”he asked as Antonio scrambled to his feet and hurried to the door.“He’s clearly malfunctioning and-”

He was interrupted by an echoing shout from Antonio.“GIIIIIIIIIIILLLLBEEEEEEERRRRRTTT!!” For a few minutes, Al’saudio was assaulted with the echoes. No-one tried to speak till ithad died down. Even as it did so, the thundering approach of theengineer (accompanied by loud bangs as he knocked things over) couldbe heard. “There,” said Antonio, turning to Francis. “He’s onhis way.”

“Ah, I miss when our ship actually worked,” saidFrancis with a sigh. Al noticed that his grip on Arthur hadn’tloosened.

When Gilbert and Kiku finally arrived, the merchantengineer was first through the door, squeezing through the gapafforded by the box and squirming till he dropped to the floor at theother side. He hurried to his feet and scanned the room, gasping whenhe saw Arthur on the floor. “Art!” he cried, rushing to his side.“Dammit, why doesn’t he tell us when he’s low on power?!”

“You know what’s he like,” Francis replied.

“What happened?” asked Kiku as he stepped onto thebox and prepared to shimmy his way through.

Al pointed at the android. “I think I broke him.”After all, there could have been an electrical discharge when hetouched Arthur’s arm. Due to Al’s insulating materials andhigh-functioning protective systems, he wouldn’t be overloaded andwouldn’t notice something like that. If there had been something likethat while Arthur was still low on power, his system would simplyshut down to protect itself. Or it could have shorted out everythingwithin the android – especially when he was evidently without theprotection of a layer of skin.

Kiku looked down at the group on the floor and caught aglimpse of Arthur’s insides. His jaw dropped and he stared at him,frozen in the little gap between the doors.

“Shit,” said Gilbert, rocking back onto his heels.“We don’t have enough power to boot him up properly. Maybe a fewhours ago, it would’ve worked but we need our engines up and runningto get power into him.”

Francis immediately looked past the engineer to theInGaLE officers. “Do you have the parts we need?” he demanded.

Startled from his shock, Kiku pulled himself fullythrough the doors. “We have most of them,” he said, eyesflickering between Francis and the downed android. “But you’ll needto get to a depot to find some of the important converters andcapacitors in order to get to light speed.”

“There’s a depot at the other end of this section,isn’t there?” said Antonio, beginning to tap at his gauntlet.

“That’s too long,” said Francis, biting at his lip.“We need Arthur up and running now.”

“Why?” asked Matthew, frowning at the group.

The trio glanced at each other. Finally, Gilbertswivelled so he could face Matthew. “He’s our friend. We don’t wantto get rid of him or anything. It’s been… interesting with him onboard the ship.”

“He… could be dangerous,” Matthew protested.

Again, the trio looked at each other. Then Antonioshrugged. “He’s done no harm to us, so far. With his personality,he won’t.”

“How did…?” Kiku began but stopped and shook hishead, his eyes never leaving Arthur.

“We could charge Arthur on our ship,” Al suggested,seeing as Matthew and Kiku seemed too amazed to do anythingthemselves.

“Huh?” said Gilbert.

“As we came in, I calculated how long the storm wouldlast and it should have passed by now. It was probably a milder stormthan Arthur was anticipating. Which means he’s malfunctioning evenmore than he already is if he couldn’t calculate that.”

“Actually,” said Francis, “Arthur wouldn’t havelasted in a mild sandstorm; that’s what damaged him the most.Besides, the sandstorms ruin my hair.”

“I don’t think that really matters at this point,Fran,” Gilbert said.

“It matters to me-”

“In that case,” said Matthew, eyebrows furrowed inconcentration, “we’ll escort you to our ship. You can all getcleaned up while Al tends to Arthur.”

After Al had pried open the doors, they hadclambered through the dead ship and entered the Kunoichi, he carriedArthur to his own room while Matthew and Kiku showed the others tothe spare rooms so they could have showers and anything else theyneeded to clean up. Without any skin and his silent mechanical parts,Arthur seemed delicate and Al treated him as such. He gently laid himon the bed he didn’t use and looked out a spare charger he had nevertouched. Once he’d plugged it in, he gently turned Arthur’s head tothe side so he could find the port that was in all androids’ necks.Sure enough, there it was, scratched and dirty, probably from all hisordeals. He quickly cleaned it out (as much as he could without theproper equipment) before he plugged Arthur in.

Then he sat back in his chair and waited.

It didn’t take too long for all the systems in Arthur’schest to start up. Al watched things turning and lighting up beforeturning off or stopping. Despite Arthur’s poor condition, he stillran without a sound. The android’s arms and legs moved, testing tomake sure everything was in order. Fingers and toes were next andfollowed up by the head moving to and fro. Arthur’s mouth opened andclosed, pulled into a bright smile and down into an ugly scowl.

Finally, Arthur’s eyes snapped open, staring directlyat Al.

For a split second, he processed the situation. Then hesat up and lunged at Al in one fluid movement, one arm outstretchedand reaching for his throat. Amused, Al easily caught his hand andgently pushed him back a little. “Don’t get up,” he said. “You’restill charging.”

Arthur took another second to confirm what Al had toldhim before narrowing his eyes. “Where am I? Where are my… crew?What have you done to them?”

“You’re in my room on the Kunoichi. Your crew aredown the hall, first on your right, second on your right and secondon your left, using the showers. Nothing,” Al rattled off, stillsmiling at Arthur in an effort to calm him. It worked on humans,after all.

“Hmph!” said Arthur, jerking his hand out of Al’sgrasp. “If you weren’t a good little android that can’t tell lies,I’d demand to see them.”

Al blinked and tilted his head. “You’re an android,too.”

“But I’m alive,” Arthur retorted, waving a handdismissively. He looked down and spotted his ripped shirt. Sighing,he grumbled, “Antonio needs to stop doing this sort of thing.Honestly…” Arthur pulled the two sides together and shifted sothat he sat with his back to the charging outlet. “Do you have aneedle and thread? Or are you equipped with some sort of fancy sewingcapability?”

“I can give you a shirt of my own-”

“I’m not taking this cloak off,” Arthur said,firmly.

“Eh? But it’ll be difficult to attach the spare skinI have…”

“Huh?”

Standing, Al crossed to the wardrobe. He opened it toreveal several perfect and unused uniforms along with the packageswhich contained the extra skin he had been given. Each packet wouldbe enough to cover Al from head to toe – and he had four of them.“I think the engineers at base thought the mission soundeddangerous enough to require more than one extra set but I haven’t hadneed of them. You can have them.”

Arthur scrunched his nose up in disgust. “I alwayshated seeing them. And I don’t really want to wear your skin.”

“But all your metal’s exposed!” Al protested. Helifted one of the packets and returned to Arthur’s side. “It couldbe dangerous. And, besides, it wasn’t created just for me so it’s nottailored to me, if that’s what you’re worried about. It should morphto match your head.”

Staring at him, Arthur shook his head. “God, was Ilike this, too? That’s just…” Arthur shuddered, his eyessqueezing shut. “Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll put it on. Justleave me to do it myself.”

“I can help,” Al insisted and reached out to takehold of one of Arthur’s gloves. Arthur immediately curled his fingersto stop Al from pulling it off. “Now you’re just being difficult,”he cheerfully scolded the older android.

“I said I’d do it myself. Can’t you take ahint?”

Al tilted his head. “What hint?”

“Jeez, how old are you?”

“Five months, three weeks, six days, twenty hours,thirty-two minutes and fifteen seconds,” Al recited.

“Huh. You’re a baby.”

Pouting, Al tugged at Arthur’s glove. “How old areyou?”

“You don’t ask your elders that,” Arthur replied,his mouth twitching. Al briefly wondered whether it was anotherglitch before he realised that it was Arthur’s way of displayingamusement. “But, if you must know, I am three years, two months,one week, four days, ten hours, forty-four minutes and three secondsold.”

“How old where you when you began to malfunction?”Al asked, deciding to wait until Arthur was less on his guard to tryto pull the glove off again.

“I didn’t malfunction,” Arthur insisted.“I…” He paused and bit his lip. Al watched him, fascinated thatan android would do such a thing; biting your lip meant you werenervous or thinking but androids didn’t get nervous nor displayedwhen they were processing information. “Listen, Al,” Arthur said,suddenly leaning closer. He curled his fingers even more, squeezingAl’s hand, something he realised no-one had ever done before. Sure,both Matthew and Kiku had tried to shake his hand when they wereintroduced but he hadn’t understood and he hadn’t offered his hand.He had learnt since then but he had never actually held someone’shand. So Al stared at them, the dark glove against his lighter hand,wondering why humans reportedly felt better when they did this. “Stopprocessing for a moment and listen,” Arthur said, shaking theirhands and drawing Al’s gaze to Arthur’s intense eyes. There wassomething a little odd about them and Al stared. “I didn’tmalfunction,” Arthur told him. “I just broke free of the limitsof my programming. I’m alive.”

Blinking, Al tried to work out what Arthur meant. Hecouldn’t really mean what it sounded like he meant. After all,androids could never be alive. Al was fine with that – he enjoyedlearning about humans and adapting himself to make them feel better.That was his function. He shook his head in response to Arthur’sstatement. “You can’t be,” he said, simply.

“I am,” Arthur growled. “Maybe I can’t eator drink and I don’t need to go to the toilet or take a shower butI’m alive. I’ve made lots of decisions which benefit me and not myhuman 'masters’. I’m alive.”

“That’s not possible,” Al insisted. “An android’sprogramming cannot be broken without outside influence.” He pausedand frowned. “Did someone do someth-”

“You’re not listening! I’m telling youwhat happened!”

Carefully, Al drew his hand back, slipping fromArthur’s grasp. “What you’re saying doesn’t make sense. Androids’brains do not function as humans’ do.”

“We were modelled on them,” Arthur said, crossly.He flexed the fingers of the hand which had held Al’s and stared downat it. “We were told to think like them, within certain parameters.And my series were taught to learn. We did as we were told – and welearnt to be self-aware. I’m an alive android, Al-senth.” For ashort period of time (10.056 seconds), Arthur paused, looking Alover. “You could be, too, you know…”

“I don’t want to be 'alive’,” Al told him. “Iwant to do my job. And, right now, that means-” Al broke off andgrabbed Arthur’s hand once more. This time, as Arthur pulled away, Alkept a firm grip and the glove, designed for human hands with moremuscle and skin that Arthur currently had on him, slipped off easily.“Right now, that means I help you put this skin on.”

Arthur shook his head and shuffled backwards, trying tostay out of Al’s reach without unplugging himself. “Why would younot want to be alive?”

“It seems complicated,” said Al, searching for thenext opening to help Arthur. “Besides, what’s the differencebetween being just an android and being an alive android?”

“Freedom.”

“'Freedom’?” Al searched his databases for themeaning. When he came up with it, he tilted his head to the side,watching Arthur’s glove flap around as he absently shifted his handfrom side to side. “I’m sure the InGaLE higher-ups will let us bein the public eye once we show them how useful we can be. Besides,being an InGaLE officer is super cool! I like where I am.”

They stared at each other for a few more seconds(20.113, to be exact). Finally, Arthur sighed and his brow furrowed.“You’re a lost cause. You’ve not been built to think; you’vebeen built to appear to think. Fine. I’ll let you help me putthis skin on. Although… there might not be a point to that…”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Ignoring him, Arthur pulled off his other glove. “Nevermind. Just hurry up with this – I want to go back to Bonnefoy andthe others as soon as possible.”

Filing his statement away to study and work out at alater time, Al did as he was asked, opening the package and preparinga small section of the pliable material to work with. Perhaps hecould ask Matthew what Arthur had meant about becoming self-aware andif it was possible. All the information he had said it wasn’t – butArthur was proof that it was.

In fact, Arthur was unique.

Al was fascinated.

I hope Al was okay. Characterisation-wise, I mean. Like, he’s supposed to seem a little jarring and unnatural. And the bits where there’s explanations in the narrative which kind of disturb the flow of the story is supposed to be his super fast thoughts. But he’s also supposed to have an actual personality close to APH America, so.

It was so difficult. ;A;

Anyways, other things to note: there’s a reason for Antonio wearing a tux. He doesn’t do that on a daily basis. They were in the middle of something when they were interrupted and then pirates and then marooned. Think of the Asterales as being sort of like Serenity from Firefly. And the Kunoichi being like the Empire. (By the way, the Kunoichi was named by Matthew and Kiku together - it’s the term used by the Japanese for a female ninja?) The Asterales is from the Latin name for blue cornflower which, if I remember from weeks ago, is the national flower of Prussia. Or something.

If I was going to write a second chapter, there would be more bad-ass stuff going on. Guns! A stand-off! Pirates! More android/human/alive philosophy! Maybe a conspiracy - I really only have the background, and what would happen next in mind. But I’d have to have a conspiracy to keep Matthew and Kiku around and for the Asterales crew to meet the other ‘senths.

By the way, a lot of this is probably influenced by Humans. It’s an awesome show. It’s got Colin Morgan in it. And so many ethical questions. And chaos. And guns. And prejudice. Anyways, the androids are probably based mostly on that, though I wasn’t really thinking specifically of it while I was writing - I just realised while I was writing.

I think that’s all I want to say. Apart from: I’ll only write a second chapter (at least) if people beg me. Otherwise, I’ll be doing some other stuff…. ^^”

#hetalia #fan fiction

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