#i'm gonna use the tags here to basically list out the entire series list for quick reference

[over-the-time-flow]

Hey! I’m Hanbei, and this is the start of Over the Time Flow, my Super Robot Wars R screenshot let’s play!

I’ve always wanted to do a SRW screenshot let’s play, having read the LPArchive Alpha Gaiden let’s play during my formative years, and the more i’ve thought about it, the more i think Tumblr’s format might actually be conducive for an attempt!

With SRW R being untranslated, I will be translating the plot. For the most part though, this won’t be an exhaustive line by line translation except for particularly impactful lines or exchanges. Think less Tobias Grant’s Alpha Gaiden Let’s Play, and more Brunom1’s LPs.

Much like the LPs I'm taking inspiration from, I'll also be doing pilot and unit analysis as I acquire them, where I’ll briefly cover their lore/backstory, and then appraise them in the context of SRW R itself.

On my blog’s sidebar, you can click START to read the whole blog in chronological order so you can follow along from the beginning, and ABOUT to hear some more about my reasons for doing this.

On update days, I'll schedule my posts to start from 1PM PST and post once every 10 minutes until i’m out of content for that day. I can’t promise anything as consistent as posting every day, especially not once my summer break from uni is through, but I'll do my best to at least not go longer than a full week without an update day. I’ll do my best to make announcement posts in advance to let people know when an update day is coming up!

Posts that have translated content in them will be tagged with “#translation”, so if you’re only here for the plot translation/summary, you can filter for that specifically. Posts dedicated to analyzing pilots/units will have the “#rollcall” tag; posts where i explain SRW R’s (or the SRW franchise’s) system mechanics in-depth will be tagged “#mechanics”; if i have any thoughts i’d like to share on a plot point that deviates from its source, or how they adapted a scene or episode, i might make a post that’s just my thoughts on it, and it’ll be tagged “#srwramblings” so you can filter it out if you don’t want to see them. Finally, if i need to make any sort of announcement, be it to say in advance that such and such day will be an update day, or that i’ll need to take a break, or anything of the sort, i’ll tag it with “#announcements”.

Of course, the funnest part of doing a screenshot LP (and of doing it on Tumblr!) is the prospect of audience participation! And here’s the first of many opportunities to participate, and perhaps the most fun one:

The final stage of this game allows you to deploy 14 units (besides the main character, who will be deployed by default). As such, I'd like to leave it up to the audience as to who will be in our endgame squad!

Simply follow along and send in a request for someone when we meet a character who you really like (be it because you like them from their source material, or because you like what you see of them in-game), alongside their machine, if applicable (the characters who can switch machines are, as a general rule, Universal Century pilots, After War pilots, and Mazinger pilots, plus two specific characters from Nadesico who arrive fairly late) by clicking the ASK button on the sidebar. If you’re a very impatient person, you can also just send in a request ahead of time if you know the character is in the game or if you just happen to like a character like Amuro, Kamille or Koji, who you just know will likely be in any given SRW game without even asking, but if you do so, put a spoiler on the character you’re requesting somehow (such as by running it through rot13) so that i can respond to it, confirm to you the character will be in the roster, and then unscramble the character’s name on the list when they get formally introduced.

Do note that some characters won’t stick with you the whole way through, but if they truly don’t stick with you to the end in any shape or form, I'll point it out when I do their character analysis, so that nobody gets TOO excited about them.

If you send a character request through the ASK button, make sure not to do it anonymously, as I don't want to risk anybody double dipping. One character per person, please!

I don’t know how much (if any!) attention this LP will get, so i have no clue if i’ll have a full 14-character roster loaded by like chapter 5 or if i’ll get to the final stage with like 3 units in tow, but if against all odds this blows up and our roster caps out, you can still ask for a specific unit you want to see more of and i’ll do my best to show them off if only for a stage or two!

With all that out of the way, here’s the roster as it stands:

1. Judau - Full Armor ZZ Gundam (by @shoudesuka-mechadork)

2. Kamille - Mass-Produced v Gundam (by @tearsoftime0086)

3. Nxvgb - Uvtu Zbovyvgl Oynpx Fnenan (by @baldiosenjoyer) (spoilered)

4. Qbzba - Tbq Thaqnz (by @silentally) (spoilered)

5. Urreb - Thaqnz Jvat Mreb Phfgbz (by @mattman324) (spoilered)

6. Tnv Qnvtbhwv - Nrfgvinyvf (by @xgameoverx) (spoilered)

7. Garrod - Thaqnz Qbhoyr K (by @fire-bomber) (spoilered)

8. Arb Trggre Grnz - Fuva Trggre Ebob (by @accept-the-multiverse) (spoilered)

9. Sbhe - Mrgn Thaqnz (by @dayswhenibelieved) (spoilered)

10. Xvat fvoyvatf - Grknf Znpx (by anonymous) ��(spoilered)

11.

12.

13.

14.

And i think that just about covers everything! I hope you’ll follow along and enjoy the LP! I should set up the MC gender decision poll roughly half an hour after this post goes live, so i hope people join in! Who knows, if this somehow takes off maybe i’ll do other games in the future. I’d love to be able to help other SRW fans understand games despite the language barrier.

[thegrimreaperisanerd]

hi :) binge read your de fic that you have posted on ao3 last night and really enjoyed all of it! excited to see any updates. was wondering if you have any rec for other fic youve read and enjoyed-- i am not god's bravest soldier and do not enjoy trudging through tags and was wondering if you had read anything yourself that you really enjoyed lolol

Hey, thanks so much!!! Sorry it's taken a couple days to answer this, I'm poor as shit and have two jobs now wah... capitilism...

I'm working on the next 46' chapter, It's about 70% complete and I generally let it sit for an evening once it's done then re-read it the next day to catch the vast majority of mistakes (I edit everything myself) so I'd say expect that in the coming days.

I have some thoughts! I... Have never been asked for fic recs before so I'm gonna list a bunch in no particular order that I enjoyed, and reasons why. I will note that I tend to enjoy meaty plot-based works over fluff, so that's what I'll be recommending. Anyway!

Paddling Out (THE REPEATER CORPSE CONUNDRUM) - @transhitman - So this is the first DE fic I read and it set the bar pretty fucking high. YOU'VE GOT: a very cool and insular setting (don't get me wrong I like fics where they travel around Revachol too, but there's something to be said for building a set and living in it for a while) YOU'VE GOT: extremely harrowing tension and pale-fuckery YOU'VE GOT: some genuinely beautiful, heartfelt moments (I don't want to spoil anything but "people don't need your permission to care about you" kinda undid me) YOU'VE ALSO GOT: Amazing art?! Always a bonus, I wish I could draw people lol

Have You Heard The News That You're Dead? - Wizardlover - Time Loop shenanigans hell yeah! Basic premise: Kim is *unable* to save Harry's life after he's shot at the tribunal, each time he dies he Reawakens in Martinaise on the first day and desperately has to try and find a way to either prevent the Tribunal entirely, or survive it. I think the major draw to this one is how well it's characterised and how well that lends to the major source of tension: trying to convince THE WORLD'S BIGGEST SKEPTIC that you *a man he 'has only just met'* is actually stuck in a time loop. Juicy shit.

The Case Of The Man Who Two-Thirds Wasn't There - @glisteningceruleaneyes - We got another case fic here, gang. This is one of those "they travel around Revachol" numbers I previously mentioned. A lot to love about this fic; the minor OCs are all loveable (or at least well-written, looking at you Mr. Bigot-All-Rounder), the elements of writing in the game's style (particularly use of Harry's 'to do' list that you find in the ledger, you don't see that as often!) are all fantastic. Also without spoiling too much I'm a sucker for hurt/ comfort :) I like when bad things happen to our specialist guy :) ALSO! alternating chapters, Kim vs Harry's perspectives contrast REALLY well! Just a super enjoyable read. - On that note I also wanna include a special mention: there's a podfic for this one and since I mentioned my two jobs, I've been listening to audiobooks at work (I'm a cleaner. It's very boring) and that was a fun change of pace!

The Emergent Causeway - hal_incandenza - Now you KNOW this one is good because it's the only *unfinished* fic I'm recommending. Again, We've got art! We've got a brand new (non-Revachol!) setting that still feels excellently Elysium! We got that excellent balance of humour and misery from the get go! EXCELLENT murder mystery so far, I am intrigued AND also there's a fucking puppy. Hell yeah. This one's from Kim's perspective and does a really good job of it, nothing like a man being begrudgingly sent on holiday and being somewhat relieved to have a corpse to deal with.

A Spilled Kaleidoscope - @spilledkaleidoscope - I'm actually recommending a series here. Real definition of "came for the art, stayed for the writing" I mostly have a soft spot because I got to watch a few "haha, what if-?" musing text posts become a series of written chapters and INCREDIBLE DRAWINGS HOLY SHIT. Like, you really just draw hands for fun, huh? This person made a pact with some sort of devil beasts to draw hands very good, at the bare minimum we can read their fiction.

Nothing To Lose But Our Chains - Lepak - I almost forgot this one and I honestly can't believe it because this is one of these ones that you need a cigarette afterwards. Good fucking god. This is probably the best fic I've ever read in terms of not shying away from the heavy themes that make Disco Elysium such a beautiful, moving game. It tackles a racism in many forms, particularly how people like Kim (in working for the RCM) and immigration laws do their part in upholding racist systems, despite the way it hurts him too. Of course, it's also excellently written with tense scenes and some real funny moments. A real good'un here.

The Catacomb Killer - SupposedToBeWriting - Give Harry more memory loss. Make him convinced he killed a kid. Make *Kim* convinced he killed a kid... Then the plot thickens. I won't lie I can't remember fuck all about this one because I was mostly drunk when I read it, but if it was good enough that I kept reading instead of smoking a spliff or something then it must have been excellent... I will re-read it when I have the time, lmao.

MURDER ON THE AIRWAVES - @randomisedmongoose - I'm just a really big fan of murder mysteries and gore. You show me somebody with brain matter pouring from their earholes and I'm like "yum yum, more of that please." I am a sucker for curious methods of murder and this one's good for that. Lots of trekking back and forth like in the game again. More ACAB - always good.

I did not mean to include this many...........................

Oh well. Here's my list, there are plenty of others I've enjoyed but these are just the ones that came to mind! Thanks again for reading my fic! Always makes me happy when people let me know they enjoy my writing :3

[twinkubus]

got tagged by @librarycards for a book rec list. ærs covered Q2'23; i'm just gonna do my faves from the first half of the year!

i've been reading a different crop of books since i made last year's list--i've taken a big dive back into sf, especially books by cj cherryh, as well as indie horror (that's... well, you'll find out when you look at the list).

again, they're ordered by when i read them. here we go!!!

Shmutz, Felicia Berliner (contemporary fiction, young hasidic woman comes of age, tries to find a husband, and gets obsessed with porn)

Father of Lies, Brian Evenson (psychological horror centering on a mormon religious leader. if you like books that make you feel gross and bad, this one's for you)

Any Other City, Hazel Jane Plante (fictional memoir of a trans musician. the book is split between her life right before she comes out, and then decades later when she's an established musician)

Camp Concentration, Thomas M. Disch (not even sure how to describe this one. fat, lapsed catholic, conscientous objector Louis Sachetti is imprisoned for refusing to become a US soldier and is sent to a prison where the (mostly black) inmates are being injected with experimental drugs. the author is gay and there's a lot of parallels to hiv/aids despite this being written in '68)

The World Cannot Give, Tara Isabella Burton (what if the secret history was catholic lesbians)

Amygdalatropolis, B.R. Yeager (another "if you like gross books" rec. i don't even know if i liked this one, but it was certainly interesting. chronicles the existence of a 4chan NEET)

Jealousy, Alain Robbe-Grillet (1957 french experientalism, i read this bc dennis cooper referenced it in an interview. believing his wife to be cheating on him, the narrator spies on her through a jalousie window, recording everything in his frame of vision that he can see. v interesting stylistically and could also rly benefit from a postcolonial reading)

The Pride of Chanur, CJ Cherryh (i read the entire trilogy pictured above, plus the first two books of her Foreigner series. it's basically a courtly fantasy/first contact mashup in space, really well developed alien cultures with lots of factions among them. tons of fun)

Frisk, Dennis Cooper (third "if you like gross extremist fiction" on here. this is my fave cooper after The Sluts and the most thematically resonant. if you haven't read the sluts i'd rec starting there. if i was a prof i would assign them together or even do this in a short course if there wasn't time for a longer book)

tagging @thebestestbat @tsubakiscarlet @danishprince @dovebeast @stackslip @eraserheadcrybaby @interstellarhitchhiker @kollapstradixionales @papika & would be happy to see book rec lists of anyone else!! fiction or non fiction or anything else idc whatever you're into ^_^

[red-riding-wood]

Writing Plans for 2022

I'm gonna slap a read more tag on this because it's gonna be a long one. Basically just an overview of what I will (probably) be writing this year.

My New Years resolution was to absolutely crack down on my writing and pump out more pages than Stephen King but we'll see if that actually becomes a thing.

My priorities, kind of in order but also not really because I am a very indecisive person:

Also, requests are not featured on here because I intend to do those sort of in between my actual fics. But I swear they are on my mind and definitely on "the list"!

My Peaky Blinders fic (White Ribbon). This will be a two part novel series so I think the majority of my efforts will be going towards this. I at least need the first written this year but will hopefully power through into Book 2.

A bunch of other things for Adrien Brody characters because I am down bad and nobody can stop me. Confirmed (in my mind) so far includes: - The Grand Budapest Hotel - bringing Alice back for a multichapter AU of her and Dmitri rather than Jopling - The Darjeeling Limited - have a lil multichapter fic planned for this - King Kong (2005) - Look, hear me out. It's a really cool world that I want to write in. Also, Adrien. - Chapelwaite - Main reason is again Adrien but also I really want to write horror and love the gothic sort of setting. Probably will wait for season 2 to come out first though. Also may use Charlotte (my Peaky character) for it.

I'm probably not finishing that Willem challenge... but I still have a lot of his stories that I intend to follow through on because they will haunt me otherwise. These include: - World on Fire (Light Sleeper) - A two part novella? novel? that uses my character Kelly from my old Far Cry 5 fic and it keeps calling to me, especially the ending scene, so I know I need to finish writing it. - a currently unnamed fic for Murder on the Orient Express - I also have so much inspiration for this and I can't wait til it's written but I have some things in the storyline and character to fine tune first. This will probably come when White Ribbon and World on Fire are finished. - Finish Verum Vindictae (John Wick). I can't let this one fall into the abyss of abandoned WIPs but I also don't really have the inspiration for it right now. - I do have to finish LEOMB though can make no promises when - Potentiallyyyyyy an Aquaman fic that I didn't have a full storyboard for but some ideas for. I love the world of this film and what I had in mind would be very dark, almost horror-esque. - Also potentially a fic for Roadhouse 66. I have the first chapter written, a character, and nearly an entire storyboard. I just don't know if I care enough about it to invest the time. - also potentially (but less likely) a Beyond Two Souls one

A Modern Warfare fic because the nostalgia for COD is hitting me hard again and I think I actually sort of have a couple ideas for it. And I had no idea that so many people were horny for Ghost now so it's actually a thing.

Finish my Far Cry 5 fic. The sequel will probably be in 2023 realistically.

Potentially more Wes Anderson stuff even if it doesn't involve Adrien because I just love his worlds; they're huge comforts to me. But this is only if I can think of good ideas.

A couple original works. Short stories and some poetry. I don't know yet if I will be posting them, though.

If I'm feeling ready for it, and have written enough of my long to-do list, then I may start on my dark western novel that I intend to publish. Won't be posting here because if my real name was ever associated with this I would probably become a hermit. But of course whenever I do end up writing it I can keep anyone interested updated.

Monster sequel in um... 2023? 2050, more like it.

Also let me know if you'd like to be on the tag list for any of these specifically or in general and if you'd like details on any of them since most currently exist in my head.

[luxeavenger]

hi evie! i hope that life is treating you well and that you’re having a great November, I have a few questions about blog organization in general, do you think maybe you have the time/energy to help me out? (If not it’s totally okay)

I’m trying to make a masterlist and organize my blog better, do you have any tips on how to do that?

so far I’m going through all of my posts and tagging them in a more organized way (gonna be very time consuming, do you know if there’s a better way of doing that?)

after that I was gonna try and make a masterlist with all those tags, plus a few others, as well as maybe a separate masterlist and/or sideblog for my poems. i think the most confusing thing for me is links and adding those, do you have any advice or tips about that?

I’m kinda going with the guess and check method here because I have basically zero clue how tumblr works, I was just hoping maybe you could help me out 😭

(again if you don’t have the time/energy thats totally okay, and if not, I’m sending you lots of love and wishing you a great holiday season 🫶🏼)

hey sweetie! i hope you're feeling well! i'm sending tons of love right back your way!

i don't know if i'll be a HUGE help with this, but i'll give it a shot. maybe something will help?

as far as tagging posts go, there are only 2 things that i try to be consistent with my # tags: my fics, and (to a point) my inbox

fics:

i find i do much better if things are the same every time. which is why i organize my tags the way i do (my neurodivergent ass can't handle that kind of chaos)

i try to do - PAIRING x reader (if more than one character), CHARACTER x reader, CHARACTER, CHARACTER smut, OTHER CHARACTER x reader, OTHER CHARACTER, OTHER CHARACTER smut, etc

i use three different "reader" tags, and do a set for each of these: "x reader", "x you", and "x female!reader"

on the word doc i have my @ taglist on, i have a list of all the # tags I use most commonly, so i don't have to pull them out of the ether every single time i post a fic. i have a list of backstage pass tags, then a list of stucky only tags, and bucky only, steve only, etc

i believe tumblr maxes you out at around 30 tags (although that may have changed), so use ALL of those. tag characters, tag parings, tag reader, tag reader gender, tag fic theme. anything you can thinks of - TAG IT. it helps you show up in the tag search, which helps readers find your fics. don't obsess over checking that your work shows up under each tag though. tumblr is famous for screwing the pooch with the tag searches (my kinktober fics from this year have done universally poorly because not a single tag i used during the entire month of october showed up in the tag search)

inbox:

i have an inbox tag, so if i ever need to go back and find something i can

i'll tag things with series as well

people that inbox frequently get their own special tag because i love them the mostest, and it's the closest thing i can do to giving them hot chocolate and boops through the internet

i have seen some BEAUTIFUL masterlists here. i highly recommend cruising through and looking at masterlists. it will help you get an idea of what you think looks nice, and what you think might work for you. i did mine the easiest way possible when i set it up, because it seemed confusing with separate masterlists for separate characters, but i'm getting closer and closer to the point where i'm going to HAVE to do separate masterlists, because tumblr only allows 100 links in a post, and both my main and backstage pass masterlists are getting up there. just find what works for you, but expect to have to modify it as your masterlist grows

I'm not 100% sure what you mean about "links and adding those"? adding links is super easy. just type out the text you want to use to lead people to your linked content. (ex: "backstage pass masterlist", or "here there be kittens", or "bat huggers anonymous", or "zaphod beeblebrox"). then copy your link, highlight the text, find the little chain symbol in the pop-up menu, click it, paste your link, click done, and you've made a link!

if you're one of those people who changes their username frequently, once you go through all the work of creating your beautiful masterlist, you are going to want to give very very thoughtful consideration to changing your username. because if you do, you've gotta go through and change every single one of those links. ones in your masterlist, ones in your bio, basically if it links to any of YOUR tumblr content, you'll have to change it. otherwise, they'll just lead... nowhere. so just... yanno, be aware of that

and a cautionary tale when it comes to tumblr. they do not give a single fuck about you, or your links, or your content, or your carefully curated posts. i've seen writers devastated when tumblr just unceremoniously deletes all their fics. if you don't already have an archive of our own account, i recommend getting one. it will help you find new readers, which is great, but it will also serve as an archive of your fics, should something catastrophic happen to your blog. it'll make things MUCH easier to repost everything again. you have to be invited in order to join, but it's super easy to request an invite, and it doesn't take very long to get the invite once it's requested

this is probably way more than you wanted, so i apologize if you've been sitting here reading all this, just wishing i'd shut up like 3 minutes ago

i hope something here was helpful. ily babe! take care of yourself, especially with the holidays coming up

[extorchic]

TOP 5 SK8 Episodes

So I got tagged by @akira-cr to make this list, it took some time but I think I've sorted out my mind, thank you for considering me 😊. Now here comes the list, sorry if it's supposd to be objective, but I'm gonna let my heart out over here (It's gonna be a long post and I'm not gonna cut it ):

NUMBER 5 - Episode 6 - Steamy Mystery Skating?! (A.K.A. The beach episode 🏊‍♂️)

Well this is supposed to be "breather" episode, and it's basically the one that sold the series to me. I like how fun and chill this episode is, although it does (further) foreshadow Reki's insecurity issues. The music is of course SUBLIME! "Seize the Moment" is probably my favorite insert song of all time! (it's been present in Reki's beefs as well, but here it really reflects the fun nature of his character and the show overall). And of coruse, FANSERVICE, not so much in how the boys were in swimsuits (though I gotta admit Reki does look good in them), but on the RENGA interactions!

That hug gave me life! How Langa was worried 24/7 about Reki being injured, at the end when they skated together to escape from the Bantu! I gotta admit that I have some mixed feelings about the implications of Reki being attracted to the faceless girl (I mean, Bi rep is very important too), but I guess my shipping side was just as jelaous as Langa was supposed to be (according to the fans LOL).

NUMBER 4 - Episode 11 - King vs. Nobody (A.K.A. Reki rising! ✨🌺🌞⚙️)

Reki is, without a doubt, my favorite character. He doesn't need to win, he doesn't need to be super flashy while skating, he just needs to be himself. He's been through a lot, many people (including me) have felt tremendously related to him, and seeing him in this episode is just satisfying. With his issues behind, with a promise to skate with Langa after he wins and no longer fearful, Reki rematches against Adam; and the way he does is fantastic! Taking advantage of his creativity, observative skills and mechanical knowledge on skateboarding, he faces up against the main boss and manages to not only endure his violent ways (which were gruelling to see, TBH), but also SOUNDLY HUMILIATE HIM in front of the whole S Community!

Yes, Adam, the "God of S", in the ground covered in mud by a boy almost everyone dissmissed! It was really sunshine through rainfall! I must also add how much I liked to see his renewed relationship with Langa, how much they treasure their company after patching up. I want to elaborate on this in its own post but I personally see that their interactions from this point on are more, I don't know, tender, caring, still playful but not in an entirely comedic way. The way they see each other is also deeper, anyway, it's just what I see.

NUMBER 3 - A DRAW: Episode 8 - The Fated Tournament! and Episode 9 - We Were Special Back Then (A.K.A. The month in which I was in an emotional crisis because of anime sk8t3r b0is 🍎🐍😭🛹❄🍵🌸 )

This is the point in which I got into the show, and the fandom (Yeah, haven't been around for too long). At this point the show wasn't the same, and I realized it when I caught up. Though there were some cool skating scenes in these episodes, the events that caught my attention were outside the road (Yeah, this was no longer just a skateboard anime, it's a whole lot more). Though I had been mainly focusing on Reki and Langa, I really liked having more backstory related to Joe, Cherry, Adam and Tadashi. Seeing how Adam went through a terrible childhood, convoluted teeange years to culminate in an adult with too much power for his own good and a twisted sense of "love", along with some extremely serious psychological issues was very interesting.

I acknowldge him as a complex villain, but that DOES NOT justify what he did to Cherry. This only proves that just because we know his backstory, we don't have to sympathize with him (Adam's just such a terrible person). On the RENGA side, we see Reki avoiding Langa after their rift, and how this affected both. We have Langa's sadness increase scene after scene, as well as his passion for skating dwindling as progressively. Reki on the other hand, just falls deeper and deeper in his depression, but also being unable to stop thinking about Langa, and he ends up going to S to see the latter's match against Joe. It's hard to see whether there's envy, jelaousness, frustration, admiration, pining or fear of being left behind in his mind. It must have been hard for a 17 y/o.

Reki also defends Langa from people speaking behind his back and shouting his name during the race boosts Langa's performance tremendously. This culminates on Reki realizing that the thing he actually wanted was to skate alongside Langa, not on the side, not as support, but together, he just couldn't. There's also the scene which may or may not confirm that Langa's feelings for Reki are more than just friendship! (Felt represented, for reals).

NUMBER 2 - Episode 7 - We Don't Balance Out (A.K.A. This was supposed to be a fun show!😭⛈️💔️)

I wrote a lot about the episodes in the previous spot, but this is the one that flipped the tables, the game-changer, and the one that hit closer home. It is a sad episode, no races there, it's just here for us to see how the circumstances affect the characters. It was hard to see how Reki, who at this point had been nothing but supportive and proud of Langa, starts to see him flying farther from him. Is it jealousness? Dissatisfaction? Is it fear of loneliness? Adbandoment issues? Is it feeling inferior? Frustration? Not being able to improve? Admiration? Care?

And on top of that a broken promise. I just can't imagine how hard is it for a 17 y/o to deal with all of those conflicting issues in his head, as well as the toxic competitive environment on the "S Community". This just came to show that he wasn't just the excitable, goofy sidekick character, he goes deeper than that, and makes him relatable. We also see a deconstruction of the cool, aloof prodigious character in Langa, as he just can't comprehend what's going on with Reki, and he's hurt by it, but still needs to figure out his own ambitions and desries. This leads to the emotional conclusion of the episode (which in turn left me in the aforementioned 4-week-long emotional crisis, thank you)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Episode 12 - Our Infinity! - The race was cool, the Renga hug gave me life and everyone had a happy ending

Episode 5 - Passionate Dancing Night! - Despite the beef between Langa and Adam being cool, we start to see Reki worrying about Langa and opening up to him, further deepening their bond.

Episode 2 - Awesome for the First Time! - There's just something special about sharing something you're passionate about with someone else. Watching Reki teaching Langa the basics of skateboarding was heartwarming

NUMBER 1 - Episode 10 - DAP Not Needing Words

After 4 weeks waiting, the anticipation for this episode was gargantuan. Reki's depression was hitting its lowest point, bordering in self-harm, and hurting others as well. Langa continues to look for Reki after seeing him briefly at the hospital while visiting Shadow and we get to see this loving scene where he watches videos of Reki learining how to skate. After confronting Tadashi and realizing that he loves skating because it's fun, he returns home to find out that Langa had been waiting for him but left shortly before he arrived.

This leads to a heartful reunion, where words can't express their feelings, so they resort to do their thing, to skate, and that's where the feelings flow. This is when Langa tells Reki how he admires him tremendously and Reki understands that Langa'll be there by his side, and leaves his fears behind. With a mutual desire to skate together infinetely and a new dap, they rekindle their bond. People watched this show for different reasons, and though I like the skateboarding aspect because it looks cool, my interest leans more on the relationship aspect, and Reki and Langa's is so deep and intimate, and I liked seeing it grow from zero through different hardships (in other words, in all of the years I've been in a fandom, I had never shipped any other pair like these two, I needed to say that).

So I guess it's time to tag some people:

@pico-sour, @sleebycryptid, @elizabethslee, @itsamole, @kaorucherry, @blueflame97, @trieizieme, @tardiskitten, @lady-pendragon-9

So, if you've read until this point, thank you very much (I know it's not supposed to, but this post is yet again a very long "I love Renga" one, but it's what my heart wanted me to write 😅). I'd love to see people other than the ones I tagged showing their lists 😃

[lycheesodas]

Different anon but I'm interested in that list 👀

aaaaa ok!! here we go

from the / tag:

Beneath a Young Sun and in the Eagle's Shadow by Strigimorphaes, G, 5.2k words

Beleg has been away for some time, guarding the border, killing orcs and generally living the rough life. Meanwhile, Mablung has been staying at Doriath's court. Once reunited, they are sent away to the Mereth Aderthad, but despite being headed for a joyful feast, Beleg still sees danger everywhere. Mablung tries to convince him that for once, there is some hope for this strange, changed world - and a chance for a peaceful moment or two in the wilderness.

We’re starting off with my favourite!! The entire atmosphere here is just so dreamy, so whimsical.. I love it. Pretty serious but also fluffy! And optimistic ; w ;

Hurry with the swift current by LiveOakWithMoss, T, 1k words

Beleg is foolish, Mablung is furious, both are wet.

Short! Cute! Really funny aljsdfk this is so,, in character for them imo. The last line always fckin HITS

The Black Sword by elfscribe for tehta, M, 12.4k words

Mablung sees a strange portent that causes him to fear that his beloved friend Beleg's affection for Túrin, the self-exiled young warrior, could bring grief to them all.

One of two (2) fics on this list with a rating higher than T. Missing scene, canon-compliant so.. a lot of angst. I normally don’t read first person POV but this is really quite good! It’s one of the longer fics that take on their last parting ; ~ ; and I think the author did an excellent job of exploring their feelings and how they each came to their decision on what to do. Also, just putting it out there, the M rating is for a short smut scene in mid chapter 2.

(Uhh there was another one but I think the author has it set on private now 😭)

Moving on to the & tag!! Because friendship fics also slap

All The King's Horses by Nauthril, M, 44.3k words

Beleg felt, more than saw the projectile that struck with a sickening thuck sound into the larger part of his thigh. Someone cried out in pain and surprise, and he vaguely realized it may have been him.

The Elf went to yank the dart from his leg, only to find that it was barbed, designed to let its venom overwhelm the victim before it could be quickly removed. The more subtle effects of the spike were nearly immediate, effecting his fine motor skills.

His right thigh burned fiercely with every pulse of his heart.

Fighting the urge to keep his own two feet from tangling with his steps, the Beleg made every effort to at least stand upright.

Or:

Beleg fails to return to Menegroth for Túrin’s birthday celebration. Mablung and Túrin set out to find him and bring him home.

A LONG FIC.. A LONG, CHAPTERED FIC!!!!! I felt like I won the lottery when I saw this hrhfsldfjk It’s an action adventure with multiple POV’s and it’s just really freakin good ok, I am absolutely living for that resolution in chapter 7. The relationship between all three main characters are handled really well! I think it’s gonna be part of a series too so HYPE!!! I wish there was like a follow or subscribe button on ao3 so I’ll know when the author would upload next ; 0 ; (EDIT: THERE IS ONE BUT I JUST NEVER FUCKING SAW IT LMFAO) Also, mind the warning tags here! Slight spoiler: it was an original side character so it wasn’t very front and centre but it could still bother some people

A Quiet Moment by Nauthril, G, 1.6k words

A Yuletide fic for the season. Beleg returns from the Northern Marches and shares some quiet moments with Mablung.

I know tis not the season but it’s so cute.. And honestly it’s immersive enough to make you feel like it’s actually Christmas! The banter, the gift exchange, the way they’re so comfortable with each other ; w ; This warms my heart <3

Parting by @glowingmechanicalheart right here on tumbler dot com

It’s literally six sentences but they’re such efficient sentences. It’s so clear and so sad because we know what happened in the end ; ~ ; it’s really what I was trying to convey with this piece!

The next two are by the same author on AO3!

Battle Worn But Going Home by GlowingMechanicalHeart, T, 1k words

The battle rages, hard and brutal. And it’s going to end badly, Mablung can tell already. Something feels off, like Belegûr is holding back, mocking their armies and their dead. Beleg stands side to side with him, and that is a comforting thought for him.

And then it happens, a betrayal from their own side and the battle grows worse.

Everything about the Fifth Battle is just pain...... I always wondered how those two handled it, though :0 And this fic gives us a glimpse of that. I really like how this author handles Mablung’s POV!

Mourning a Friend by GlowingMechanicalHeart, T, ~700 words

Mablung does his best to not to worry, if anyone can take care of himself, it’s Beleg. But his thoughts and emotions betray him, his whole being is screaming at him that Beleg is in danger, to run forth, find his friend and bring him to the safety of Doriath.

THIS FIC. I’M- I HAVE NO WORDS JUST READ IT 😭 Incredibly sad but well-written take on how Mablung finds out about Beleg’s death. Absolutely heartbreaking, I love it.

Now for some stuff outside the relationship tags because I'm literally that desperate.

Within a Dark Wood by Marchwriter, T, 7.7k words

"The tale of Túrin is known to many of this company… but…tonight is not the night to tell it. So I will tell you another tale. One that, perhaps, not even the eldest amongst our little company has yet heard." So the storyteller began…

Story within a story, which is always cool imo! Follows Beleg and Mablung from their first meeting to their last parting and a little bit after Beleg’s death ; w ; THE YEARNING..... it’s palpable. This one really tugs at my heartstrings because it made me think of what could have been (within the scope of the fic) if they’d just been honest with their feelings

The Two Hunters by theeventualwinner for Lunarium, G, 1.3k words, no summary ;;

Cute friendship fic!! Somehow full of hope in a time when the dark forces are growing. I like how it captures the difference in their personalities and approach towards life(?) but how they’re still close friends

And that’s basically my full reading list of my favourite marchwardens! They’re such an underrated pair (as best friends?? boyfriends? either way they’re soulmates 😤) that there’s not a lot of fics about them. I do my best with creating my own content but I’m more of an artist than a writer XD But they’re really starting to force my hand here. 

I hope you guys enjoy my recs! Also, thanks anon and previous anon for reminding me to log back in to my AO3 account so I can leave a proper review soon 💀

[skzshinyy]

Truth or Dare /// the series (pt.2)

This is my first series and it’s going to be an interactive story. you can choose which members ending you want to read. Of course you can read all of them, I would highly appreciate that. I’ll also upload a version with all of them. I hope you like part two. I’ll try my best to write all the endings by sunday. ALSO, my requests are still open and I’m also working in some little drabbles of my own! If you have any questions, don’t be shy and ask, I don’t bite!

pairings: skz x reader

genre: smut, tiny weeny bit of fluff

warnings oral (receiving and giving)

also, huge thank you to @namnessa for playing this entire part with me as a type of roleplay, it was a lot of fun and really inspiring. Thank you Kitten

—————————————————————————

“Sit next to me y/n” Jisung screeched. You still didn’t know what to expect, it’s your first playing with them, you usually just watch movies together and then leave afterwards. But you knew this time was gonna be different. “So, should we start?”, Chan said, reassuring you with a smile. Changbin shrugs “why not? Y’all got the drinks ready?” You hold up the bag, the bottles dangling together. “Let’s go then, I’m so excited!”, Jisung said, almost jumping up from excitement.

Chan looked around, seeing as he is the oldest, he decided to start by picking truth. “pfft truth, start off strong” Seungmin said annoyed, rolling his eyes. Felix on the other hand already knew what to ask; “Have you ever thought about fucking someone in this room?” “duh, it‘s not like y‘all aren���t attractive..”, Chan scoffed, brushing it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Jeongin couldn’t believe what he just heard, eyes opening wide “really?”

But Changbin couldn’t resist a sneaky comment; “I don’t know, Minho is kind of busted”, he laughs and so does everyone else, except Minho. “Fuck you, you can?t even reach the top shelf-“ Changbin fumed, about to get up and beat up Minho as Chan said calmly. “wowowow calm down... let‘s keeping going. Felix you asked, what do you pick?”

“Well since i’m not a bitch, dare.” Jisung bursted out laughing. Jeongin giggled and suggested: “Make out with Changbin..”

And so they did, Felix crawled over to Changbin and kissed his lips softly. Changbin grabbed his head and leaned in, deepening the kiss. After a good thirty seconds, Changbin finally let’s go and Felix turns to you. “Easy, y/n, truth or dare?”

“uhm that was hot first of all, second of all i pick truth”-“have you fucked any of us?”, Minho instantly blurted out, smirking smugishly. Felix turned a deep shade of red and the other watched you intently.

“No i haven‘t”, you said calmly. “Really?”, Minho said, being surprised. “Well, she hasn’t fucked me..”, Chan said looking around, seeing the others nod in agreement. “See I don’t lie Minho, now you Changbin, what do you pick?”-“dare..”

“Give Jisung a hickey right on his neck”, Hyunjin said, leaning against the sofa.

Changbin blushed and leaned over to suck on Jisung’s neck. “Look at Jisung, he‘s really enjoying it huh?” Minho chuckled. “Of course, he‘s a bottom how would he not enjoy this”, Hyunjin added. Felix moved to put a pillow on his lap as he watched the two next to him.

“pfft look at Felix, already getting hard...” Minho said, laughing. “Shut up! You like it too..”-“ n-no i-i don‘t... are y‘all finished? Seungmin your turn”-“Truth...”, he said silently. “Weren‘t you the one judging in the first place?”, Chan added. “I‘m trying to switch it up..”

“How do you feel about y/n?”, Jisung basically yelped out. Everyone in the circle turned their head towards you. You looked away, pretending to not see all the hungry looks laid on you. “i- uhmm I like her, she‘s a really good friend and I trust her..” Chan couldn’t hold back his chuckle, “yea sure mate. y/N, Truth or Dare?”

Being unsure of what to say, you mustered the courage to pick truth. “Jerk me off”, Chan said bluntly. You couldn’t believe what he said and as you we’re about to cop out, Minho said; “Do it, i wanna see how good you are..” You couldn’t say no to that challenge, crawling over to Chan, unbuttoning his pants. Felix licked his lips as he watched closely.

“Are you sure?”, you look up at Chan. He nodded and started palming him through his boxers. the others yawned, getting bored.”Y‘all are lame..”, Hyunjin scoffed. Jisung added; ”Can you guys hurry up? I want a show”

Having had enough, you take out Chan’s cock and lick a long strip from the base to his tip, making him moan uncontrollably. After giving him a few kitten licks to his tip, you took your hands of him and went back to your spot. You quickly continued;”Innie, what do you pick?”-“I pick dare..”

Changbin not wasting a second, he patted his lap and cleared his throat and said; “Come sit in my lap baby boy” Jeongin practically jumping up and down, he ran over to Changbin and made himself comfortable. You and Minho couldn’t help but die of cuteness “That is absolutely adorable”-“it really is... Jeongin you stay there and pick who gets to go next.”-“ I‘ll pick Chan”

“I’ll pick dare, why not” Jisung, trying to be smug said; “7 minutes in heaven with the person across from you.” Chan only laughed, looking him in the eyes; “that‘s you dumbass...”-“o-oh. I mean, I'm still down” clearly flustered, he tried to laugh it off. “Here or somewhere else?” Minho thought for a second then added; “Do it here”

Jisung stood up and walked over to Chan; ”Start the clock boys!” Chan hungrily kissed Jisung. Minho being unbothered, kemp going, ignoring the dirty sounds coming from next to him; “Who wants to continue?”-“Me”, Jeongin said, “I pick truth”

Changbin wrapped the arms around the younger, still seated on top of him and asked; “Do you like this baby boy?”-“yes i do..”, Innie said shyly, blushing right away. Minho swooned for the younger, not being able to contain his uwu’s, he asked softly; “Who should pick next?”-“Hyunjin should, he’s been quiet...”-“ i pick dare”

Felix smirked, not hesitating; “Why dont you take care of y/n, she has been fidgeting since the handjob”You looked at Felix, shocked, but before you could say anything, Hyunjin was already stroking your pussy over your panties. “She’s so wet already”, Hyunjin groaned. But soon enough the timer went off and he took his hand away

Jisung moaned as Chan finally let go off him, completely marked up. You sighed, wanting to have continued, but you couldn’t have guessed in a million years what happened next:

Hyunjin sat back and asked; “y/n, what do you choose?” You hesitated, but in the you picked dare. The room went quiet, everybody searching for ideas, as suddenly Minho turned to Chan and whispered something in his ear. Chan seemingly nodding in approval, Minho said:

“Fuck _______”

Now it’s your turn, who do you want to fuck, it’s your decision...

Tag list: @yooniversalstudios @mikoto-ica-fics @b-a-b-y-s-t-a-y @skkzuwu if you want to be added or removed comment down below

[rakuraiwielder]

I'm working on your ask, but here's some for you: I, A, M, S, P, O, T

Ask prompt here: x

thanks puffin!! this is gonna be long and nostalgic eyy

I - HasTumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why? 

I wouldn’t say “actively dislike” butthe toxicity of fandom on this website has sucked away most of my passion for Voltron lol. I used to really dig itthe first month or so after getting really into it when S2 aired. I still havean unfinished draft for a 7-parter rarepair fic //ey guess my fav duo ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)// sitting in my folders. don’t think I’llbe touching it any time soon though. im rather burnt out from this fandom, evenif I do still enjoy watching all the new seasons thereafter.

another is StevenUniverse ah a. (but in its and my defence, I wasn’t really into it anywaysas compared to other fandoms. the songs are still good, but I haven’t beenkeeping up with the newer Steven bombs, one part because of motivation, andanother because the thought of going into the tags to reblog contentintimidates the heck out of me pffft)

A - Ships that youcurrently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone hasOTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

(puffin this question is gonnatake up half the ask oh god)oh bOY where do I start hahahaha. there’s so many aph and fe callbacks hahaha few otps aside I really have too manycrackpairs and platonic friendship ride-or-die squads I would die for. theseare only a few really relevant ones from the top of my head-

OTPS:

Norway/Vietnam (Hetalia) – alWAYS. i dont talk about and reblog much aph anymore but i still think about these two frequently. they were my first and closestthing ever to an actual otp in all my years of knowing what an otp was gosh Ihope to write about them again soon. their dynamics are the peak of mypreferences.

MU(avatar unit)/Silas (FE Fates) – thechildhood friends + loyal knight and liege trope + a pinch of memory loss wasnever really my thing, but guess there’s a first for everything ha h a ah a….silas is too pure for the angst I put him through im so sorry ಸ ل͜ ಸ

Berkut/Rinea (FE: SOV) – the second that one cutscene of these two played I got1000% more invested in the story pffft. anyways rinea may be top tier fav andberkut shit tier fav, and their story tragic as heck (and I would also arguethat he doesn’t deserve her), but their genuine and honest love for each otheramidst the incoming death flags gets me every time

707/MC (Mystic messenger) – honestly they can either be a really good platonicdynamic duo or a solid otp. purely from the perspective of my own MC, theycomplement each other well; perfect balance of light-hearted teasing and asolid wall of comfort for each other.

Ray-Saeran/MC (Mystic messenger) – ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ

(Other) Ships:

Seychelles/Iceland/HK (Hetalia) – they are good togetherromantically or platonically hahahaha. a good golden trio of kids

Russia/Vietnam (Hetalia) – their potential relationship and clashof character due to conflicting personalities fascinate me. a totally differentnoir vibe from norviet and one I hope to explore if I ever come back to aph

Nyx/Leo (FE Fates) – nyx ships are reallyrare but half of them are surprisingly sweet and poignant. Odin and Laslow tooare really sweet candidates to woo this jaded grandma’s heart.

MU/Laslow (FE Fates) – got to thank a wacky7-11 employee au dream I had for this one. but in the games their supportconversations are surprisingly thoughtful and low-key flirting which was notwhat I expected at all. wholesome.

Ham/Kai (MUxMU, FE) – remember when I said protag/protagships are the good stuff? yea h thatprincess tutu au is coming along swell

Alm/Celica (FE: SOV) – the rare main canon couple I love whodon’t die and get their happy ending (LOL this sounds really pathetic now thatI’ve said it)

Leon/Valbar (FE: SOV) – no one is surprised LOL. romantic orno, as long as leon is happy with where he stands with valbar and valbar ishappy with where he is im happy for them both

Conrad/Rinea (FE: SOV) – I know there are a couple of youreading this whos gonna give me that look but liste n; they could have met, and there is potential for them.(honestly this is just like another norviet situation where I put my 2 topfaves together for crackpair experimentation bUT IT WORKS I ASSURE YOU)

Zen/MC (Mystic messenger) – zen is so earnest that I can’t refute himhahaha. he also has a special seat in my mysme heart, since he was the firstroute I played and made me create content for the fandom proper

707/Jaehee (Mystic messenger) – they are rapidly gaining OTP status ꉂ (´∀｀)ʱªʱªʱª aaaa nightmare flashbacks because justlike norviet they really are the rarest of crackpairs and have almost to no content(gonna get down to business and churn fic out one day). these two are moresimilar than they’d think too.

Cecil/Haruka (Utapri) – ahahaha a good ship from a guiltypleasure fandom

(Purely) Platonic:

Izuku/Iida/Ochako (BNHA) – the first golden trio of thisseries. I love them so much.

Vanderwood/MC (Mystic messenger) – they parallel each other. truly thebiggest ride-or-die duo I will support to the end of time

Zen/Yoosung (Mystic messenger) – zen is such a mother hen to yoosungwwwww truly wholesome

Chise/Ruth (Ancient Magus Bride) – platonic master/familiar-partner relationships where both of them care for each other so much to the point where they would die for the other are my one weakness. its the reason i love writing more fleshed-out pokemon aus and loyal dogs/animals in longer fics. anyways these two are good

M - Name acharacter that you’d like to have for a friend.

707. It would be a trip justknowing him. (apart from the memes. but my life is already 80% meme, honestlywhats the difference ahahaha aaa-) Just, I feel like it would be really fun tohang out with him and revel in his wackiness (even if that personality is afront, maybe one day when i finally get into his inner-circle of friends, I hopeto be privy and be a good listening ear to his truer, more sombre personality.)

On the other hand, myself-confidence and 2nd hand embarrassment will be directlyproportional to each other (And im 100% sure Seven is the kind of person whowill exploit that hAH)

S - Show us anexample of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

Every relevant character inMysmes is either a type of asexual (greysexual etc.), or on various points ofthe bi-spectrum. Yeah; even self-proclaimed, “straight-laced” Zen lol.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (wealways need more ideas)

Vampire/Selkie AU ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

a selkie whose skin gets stolen and hidden from a human man is forced to become his bride and taken back to his village. there, to escape the stares of bigoted villagers and the clutches of her overbearing and possessive husband, she takes refuge in the only place he would not go; the old holy church.

only, she finds she isn’t the first to occupy this place of solitude. the master of the church notices her soon enough, and when vampire recognises the ancient weave of magic that flows within her, he appears; intrigued for something other than a fresh meal.

(basically a deviation from the standard vampire (romance-ish) novels lolol plot bunny hit me pre-Christmas eve dinner/yesterday and sofar im digging it. still planning the ship and fandom though; it might very easily be OC-based)

O - Choose a songat random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

since 1 is never enough, hereare 4 songs I was listening to recently:

Little Knights, Nem feat.Noire : Zen/MC(a zen-ish song through and through)

over and over, Yanagi Nagi : Saeran Choi + 707&MC(more saeran-centric with interpretative lyrics and referencing to both ray andunknown personas)

Finding something to do, HelloGoodbye : 707/Jaehee(fits their “don’t go where I can’t follow” dynamic haha ow.)

Life will Change, Shoji Meguro + Benjamin Franklin feat. Lyn Inaizumi : Kai(mui) or Ham(let)(honestly the entire persona 5 ost is massive fe fates protag feels)

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons thatyou will die defending?

Not really. I’m a very flexible person when it comes tointerpretable lore and content, especially if it���s the type of HCs that thefandom collectively comes up with. Unless it’s a canon fact, I like to dabble orjust stay away from HCs in general. If I have to come up with some in my fics,then so be it. But most of the time these HCs are either super vague or onlyapply to the context in this particular piece or series of writing. Basically Idon’t mind switching HCs for charas frequently as long as it does notfundamentally change their own character. (HCs for hobbies and loves and habitsand relationships apart from their inner circle, etc. are all fine)

Honestly it just boils down to expectations lol I know myown limits, and I know not to be disappointed when canon updates end updebunking (popular) fandom HCs or my own.

[seilahsacress]

I've seen the original post and your reblog while searching the appropriate anti tags. I guess it's ok if I respond to your arguments?

Note: I mean no personal insult to you whatsoever, you can have any opinion you want on the series. You don't even have to read this if you don't want to debate. It's ok.

1-) What to do with the tradition of Shinobi would be too long of a debate, let's drop it for now. I have two major concerns with the 'peace between 5 nations'.

How did they manage to create peace after decades worth of wars? What makes the peace permanent? (Note: One can argue peace can never be permanent but that's another debate)

Why is it peace between only 5 nations? Why is it not peace between the entire Shinobi world?

Now... Let's look at both of those concerns of mine seperately.

Shinobi Alliance of 5 nations was founded for the 4th World War against a common enemy: Akatsuki, Madara, Tobi, Zetsu, whatever you call it. This alliance, by nature, is temporary. We can expect the nations to go back to what they used to be once this common threat disappears.

In order not to have repeats of the first 3 wars, nations should address what caused those wars and what their parts in those causes were.

And as far as we know, the sense of blind nationalism is still there. The notion that soldiers are expected to give up their loved ones, freedom, human rights and even lives for the village hasn't been officially debunked yet. Also, nations used to look out only for their own interests. Example: Kumo's attempts to steal bloodline limits. I don't think any nation admitted their past wrong-doings. Those selfish parties cannot achieve peace, especially not when their foundation relies on lies.

And my other concern, smaller nations... Yeah, why don't they still have the right to represent themselves at Kage Gatherings? And if a war was to break out, what stops the Big 5 from using their territories as war zones?

2-) ---

3-) So? Why should we be happy with this off-screen cop-out?

Besides, the Branch Members still have the curse seal. What stops the Main House from activating them again?

4-) Neji's death was completely stupid, both from a meta and in story perspective.

Anyway, that's not what I'm gonna say.

Neji was like "yeeey, I'm free!" at death. How is this message ok? He was a slave. Slaves are freed when they reclaim their basic human human rights and live, not when they die or "choose" to do what was expected of them. They're free when they have the right not to do what their owners tell them to do.

Neji loved his cousin Hinata and friend Naruto, good. He was ok with sacrificing his life for them, good again. However, he absolutely was not free. His death wasn't a resolution to the Hyuga slavery at all.

5-) The Third Hokage failed to stop a genocide. Then, he swept this government ordered crime under the rug and didn't appropriately punish the advocaters. I personally blame him quite a lot.

6-) He pointed that out because a 12 years old child dying in a war is fucked up. And the OP didn't claim that all what Obito did were just, he meant to say that it was Shinobi system's fault that a 12 years old went insane.

7-) ---

8-) Xenophobia against bloodline limit owners wasn't a one arc thing, it was one of the biggest flaws of the Shinobi system. And at top of Mizukage's orders to wipe out clans with bloodline limits, we also see similar fears and objectifyings over the course of the series too. For example: Kumo's attempts to kidnap Kushina and Hinata, Uchiha Massacre etc.

9-) Yeah, you're right but that wasn't what OP was talking about at all?

10-) Sasuke still doesn't have any political power to change the fucked up system that caused suffering to him, to his family and to many others.

And here comes the number 11, the most important part of OP's post...

"Naruto didn't change anything"

The OP listed reasons as to why the Shinobi system was wrong and how it's responsible for the sufferings of many.

Then he added... None of those issues were solved by the end of the series.

When he said Naruto didn't change anything, he meant the Hokage Naruto and the Shinobi system.

He did some inspiring talks and gave hope to people. Yes. Did he make radical political reforms so that no one would suffer as much as they did again? No.

That was OP's problem with the ending.

But my dude my friend my pal you see my problem, my biggest problem, with the Naruto ending is the complete lack of change in regards to the shinobi system and the way Sasuke was treated there after.

-Children are still being trained as child soldiers, which means this is not a time of peace. I know it’s unreasonable to think that every village would have no ninja but at least raise the age level requirement for admittance to the ninja academy? Like instead of tossing practically toddlers together and teaching them how to murder each other raise the age limit to 16? 18? Make them old enough so that they at least get a childhood and are old enough to be able to form coherent opinions on things for themselves instead of swallowing whatever “will of fire” bullshit is fed to them.

-Smaller villages still lack representation in things such as the Kage meetings and the Chuunin exams which is one of the main reasons the Akatsuki was formed in the first place.

-There was never any indication as to whether or not the Hyuga stopped using the forehead seals that enslaved the side branch. In fact clan oppression was never addressed at all. The people who spoke out against it and actively worked to change it were Neji Hyuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Haku, Pein, Obito Uchiha, Madara Uchiha, and Konan. Six of the seven listed above were murdered. Three of them are Uchihas. Six were all, at some point, viewed as villains by the narrative.

-Neji, who had been bitter about his destiny to die for the main branch just as his father was forced to do before finally beginning to believe that destiny and fate could change and that he didn’t have to throw his life at the feet of his cousins, ended up not only accepting the fact that his destiny would be to die for the main branch but died protecting Hinata as she tried to protect Naruto. This could have been avoided if Hinata had, I don’t know, used her clan’s technique of protective tri palms. Or at least summoned clones to take the blows.

-Sasuke wanted justice for his clan’s genocide at the hands of the Third. The Third threatened Itachi with emotional blackmail, saying that Sasuke would die if he didn’t do this. Itachi was already mentally traumatized and could see no other option. Sasuke wanted vengeance for the death of his family. First he was going solely after Itachi, but Konoha ninja had to chase him anyway even when he said his mission had nothing to do with them. Then he turned his sights on the village and the five kages, wanting to try them for war crimes that they very truly committed. But after being forced to give up on his desire for justice by Naruto and forced into silence by Kakashi he left and never looked back. Thank god for that.

-Obito was thought to have been murdered as a twelve year old child. Let that sink in. Obito Uchiha was thought to have been murdered as a child. He lived with the desire to create a dream world where nothing like what happened to him or Rin would ever happen again.

-Madara was initial supposed to be the Hokage but because Hashirama turned into a chicken shit and let Tobirama, who would later go on to oppress the Uchiha to the point where they were isolated and hated by the village, convince him to hold an election that Tobirama knew Hashirama would win. After Madara tried to warn his remaining clan members only to be ignored he left on his own and was seen as a villain for it.

-Haku was abandoned and abused by his village because of his bloodline ability, something that is never addressed again.

-Pein and Konan were children that, once again, were forced into war and suffered for it.

-Sasuke is supposedly treated as another Kage but there is a very big difference; he doesn’t hold the political power of one. Sasuke can’t change the system that failed his family and left him to grow up abandoned and alone as a child. Sasuke can’t fix the system that oppress clans like his everyday. Sasuke can’t put systems in place to protect people with bloodline abilities. Sasuke can’t stop things like what Danzo did with his family’s eyes and Root from ever happening again. All of these problems fell to Naruto to fix.

-And Naruto failed to change a single thing.

So listen friend I have problems with the ships but I have much bigger problems with the fact that nothing is ever addressed beyond “And now there’s peace.”

[hawthornewhisperer]

Hi! I'm new(ish) to the 100 fandom, and I was wondering if you know of metas on Bellamy and his journey of where he began and how far he's come? Thanks!

You know, I’m sure there are other metas out there, but I saw this and was like…man, that would be fun to write.  So you did not ask for this, but here, let’s have a Bellamy Blake Retrospective.  (Also hi, and welcome to the fandom!  If you’re interested you can search my blog for bellarke meta, bellamy meta, and the 100 meta because I write a lot about Bellamy and I’m bad at tagging consistently but those are the tags I most likely used.  And if anyone knows of other overarching Bellamy metas about his character so far, let me know!)

In a lot of respects, Bellamy Blake in 101 is nothing like he is as of 403.  For one thing, his hair is a lot better now, and for another thing they seem to have settled on some consistent character beats instead of “idk, reckless bad guy?”  Overall, I’d say there’s two facets of his personality that the show is interested in exploring, one internal and one external, and they touch on each theme in each season although they tend to switch back and forth between which one gets the main spotlight.  Internally, it’s guilt: how does he cope with the things he’s done?  How does he reconcile his sins with who he wants to be?  Externally, it’s protecting those he loves: how far is too far?  Does that limit exist?

There’s also a character trait that has existed since the pilot but that went dormant for a bit before resurfacing in season four: unflinching acceptance of the end.  The line of his from the pilot that I am finding myself remembering a lot now that s4 is airing is if the air is toxic, we’re all dead anyway.  Clarke wants to come up with a plan, but Bellamy surveys the options– open the door and die quickly, stay inside and die slowly– and chooses immediate death.  It’s a dark moment, but it tells us a lot about him right off the bat.  

If I go episode by episode we will be here all damn day, so I’m going to talk about him in terms of season-long arcs.  Season One Bellamy was about his external “protective” quality and learning to expand his mission from “protect Octavia” to “protect the delinquents” with a couple of side quests into “forgiveness, is it for you?” and “wow Clarke’s hair is really pretty.” 

The moment I want to bring your attention to is when Bellamy offered himself in place of Jasper, because not only was that our official confirmation that Bellamy has decided he’ll die for any of those kids (not just Octavia), but because it highlights something @metastation made me think about recently, which is that Bellamy sees his own life as a tool.  He will do whatever it takes to keep them alive, and if that means dying, he’ll fucking do it.  He was willing to die for Jasper in season one, just like he was willing to go on a suicide mission for the remaining delinquents in season two.  He was originally ready to die for Octavia by getting on the dropship (remember: no one but Abby believed the ground was actually survivable) and by the end of the season, he’s ready to die for Jasper-- someone he suggested mercy killing at the start of it.

We also examine Bellamy’s guilt, mostly in relation to the culling, although that is not the prominent focus of the season.  We learn that Bellamy sees himself as someone who hurts people and doesn’t deserve peace, and we see that the rebel in the first few episodes was really a facade.  We find out that he feels each death deeply, and that he regrets the monster he thinks he has to be in order to protect people.  (Notably, however, he regrets being that monster but he doesn’t reject being that monster outright, a character beat that they bring back in season three).

Season two is mostly an internal/guilt season for Bellamy, although you could argue that he tried to include the Mount Weather Resistance under his protection but ultimately he failed.  It is treated as a given in season two that he will protect his people, and having to choose to sacrifice the Mount Weather Resistance is framed as sad but understandable (and directly linked to Octavia).  But what Bellamy’s season two arc is really about is him trying to atone for the sins he committed during season one (the culling) by saving as many damn people as possible.  He’s again willing to use his life as a bargaining chip, but it’s more than just the Mount Weather suicide mission– it’s going after Finn when he’s tied up by Tristan, it’s going against Kane to try and find the rest of the delinquents, it’s going down the mountain to save Mel, it’s trying to save Finn from the grounders, and it’s the Mount Weather suicide mission.  Season two takes a thread that was established in season one– Bellamy will die for his people– and tries to tease it out as far as it will go, but it’s not really about broadening the definition of “people.”  It’s about exploring the extent to which he is willing to risk his life in order to atone for what he’s done.

And then, season three shows up.  And look, I suspect once this series is complete season three is basically gonna be my gasleak season where I pretend it doesn’t exist, because the show attempted to do some things with Bellamy’s character but for various reasons (mostly: editing choices and what I suspect was a hastily redone storyline to account for various behind-the-scenes things) none of it landed.  However, we can say that while season two was a deep exploration of Bellamy’s guilt and the extent to which he’ll take it, season three was an exploration of his protective nature and the extent to which he would take that.  And apparently: he’ll take that as far as it fucking goes.  

Season three was also about the limits to his protective nature and his inability to broaden his definition of “my people” to include the grounders as a whole.  At the end of season three we see this shifting, but it’s mostly left for season four to do the heavy lifting on that front.  Season three also saw Bellamy resuming the mantle of monster that he tried so hard to shed in season one.  He never wanted to hurt anyone-- not Jaha, not the people in the culling, not even Lincoln-- but he did because he thought he had to.  The massacre in season three was, I suspect, a continuation of that; Bellamy kills people because he thinks it’s necessary, not because he enjoys it.  It ties back to who we are and who we need to survive are two very different things, because who he is is actually someone who loves his people deeply and regrets every violent thing he’s ever done, but who he needs to be is a monster who will kill the army at their doorstep to keep his people safe.  Not all of this really came through in the text, but I’m confident that this was roughly what they were going for with Bellamy’s character.

So now we’re into season four, and I think we’re going to be doing a reprise of his season two character beats where the internal focus takes precedence.   We’ve had Kane straight out tell Bellamy how to handle his guilt, and when Jaha asked how many do you have to save to satisfy your guilt you could practically see Bellamy thinking “literally all of them.”  We’re on another atonement journey, I suspect, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of his regret.

We also had him sacrificing the lives of possibly 400 of his own people in order to save 25 slaves, most of whom were grounders. I suspect they’re expanding his definition of “my people” to “literally everyone left on the planet,” but we’re also only three episodes in so it’s hard to judge an entire season’s arc based on that.  Still, I’m guessing that while this thread will be important it will be secondary to his guilt and quest for redemption.  (You could probably also argue that season four is going to be about both those elements of his personality, but again, we’re only three episodes in so it’s tough to say at this point.)

However, I want to bring this back around full circle and remind you guys of his line in the pilot: if the air is toxic, we’re all dead anyway.  While he’s changed in so many ways (and got rid of that hair gel, thank god), Bellamy is still the man he was in the pilot– if death is coming, he sees no point in messing around and trying to delay it by a few hours.  And you guys, Bellamy doesn’t think they can survive this.  That’s why he was willing to blow up the hydrogenerator; none of those people are going to survive anyway, so he might as well get a few home to their families while he still can.  Death is coming; why fight it?

But you know what’s different?  In the pilot, Clarke wanted to come up with a plan because any plan, no matter how ridiculous, is better than just opening the doors and dying because that’s how she handles uncertainty– with charts and graphs and maps and strategy.  Bellamy overrules her in that episode and opens the door because fuck it, what’s the difference between dying now and dying of dehydration in three days?  But now, he’s going along with her plan.  He’s taking a trip to Farm Station to get a hydrogenerator he secretly believes they won’t ever need to use and he’s agreeing to let Clarke put him on a list of people she wants to save.  He still thinks death is inevitable, but he’s no longer the callous guard from the pilot, opening the dropship door against her advice.  He knows that in order to keep going, Clarke needs a plan.  He knows that if she stops and just accepts that the end is coming she’ll crumple, and he doesn’t want that for her.  (I’d say this applies to all his people in general because he doesn’t want to see anyone hurt, but it is particularly painful for him to see Clarke in any sort of distress so she’s the main focus for his “yeah, we’re definitely gonna live yep yep yep this is totally survivable” charade.)

So when you shove everything else his character has gone through aside– the grounder attack in season one, pulling the lever at Mount Weather in season two, losing Gina and being estranged from his sister in season three– this is what his character boils down to, and this is how he’s changed.  When he arrived on the ground he was ready to die and he didn’t really care about anyone who wasn’t Octavia.  He was kind of a dick to the woman who wanted a plan to save everyone because he saw no point in a charade and also those other lives weren’t his problem.  He’s still ready to die, but now his love stretches to encompass hundreds of people.  And when it comes the woman who wants a plan to save everyone, no matter how desperate it is, he’s willing to go to whatever length it takes to keep her going– even if in the end, he still believes they’re all going to die.