#severalbakuras

[sage-nebula]

Rating: 9,000/10!

Thoughts: Keitor is the ship that we never got to see truly interact in canon, and while once upon a time that crushed me, at this point I’m kind of grateful for it because it means that JDS and LM never had a chance to ruin it like they did with everything else they touched.

Keitor was a ship that had potential for so many reasons right out of the gate. I was intrigued immediately, and not just because Keith was my favorite character and Lotor stole my heart with his very first scene. The parallels between them---and therefore the common ground between them---were vast and numerous. There were the very obvious things like how they were both half-galra and both leaders of their respective teams, but then there were smaller similarities such as how they were both separated from their original teams at the end of season four, how they were both independent thinkers and leaders who had their own visions that they were determined to see through, how they were both so incredibly passionate and determined, brilliant pilots and swordfighters . . . 

Of course there are differences between them, too, but those differences are part of what add to the intrigue of the potential relationship. Where Lotor has a silver tongue and knows how to keep things close to his chest, Keith is blunt and honest. Where Lotor strategizes and shows open frustration when things don’t go according to plan, Keith adapts on the fly and has little qualms about doing so. In this way, they complement each other’s strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Combine that with the fact that they��re both so passionate and incredibly determined to see the mission through to completion, and they’d be an unstoppable team if put together.

Alas, that never happened. Though they saved each other’s lives numerous times in canon (Keith even put his arms around Lotor’s waist to save his life in season five), they never really interacted until it was too late. And again, I’m fine with that. I’m fine with it because it’s not like canon is worth anything at all, and that gives me room to play.

And how do I play?

I have everything mentioned above, and then some. I bring in how AJ said that Keith “brings out the person in Lotor, and grounds him.” I bring in how Lotor truly values Keith, recognizes his strengths and capabilities and sees him as an asset, and values him as a person, not finding fault with aspects of Keith’s personality that others scorn or mock. I bring how Keith judges Lotor based on who he is, as a person rather than caring about his parentage or title, and how Lotor feels to experience that for one of the very rare times in his life. I bring in how they genuinely enjoy one another’s company, appreciate each other’s skills, and yet both understand what sacrifices have to be made for the sake of the mission (but also, when it comes down to it, which ones don’t). I focus on the fact that they are equals, that they are a team, that they understand each other and present the opportunity for each one to show their best. That Lotor can’t lie to Keith because Keith sees through and calls him on the nonsense is a boon to Lotor. That Lotor isn’t willing to let Keith sacrifice himself (or run off on his own / leave the team) when it isn’t necessary is a boon to Keith.

There’s so much potential and so much good, and I love it with my whole heart. It’s the only romantic ship that came out of VLD that I truly care about, and even though I’ve divorced myself from VLD canon wholesale, this (as in all my AUs) is the one thing I’ll keep writing.

[kiango]

hey that police brutality post you reblogged got tagged with the same 'ok thats it im ded', 'fav' and 'torrey' tags as the lotr post just fyi.

oh NO! xkit is really bad sometimes, it takes the tags i reblog from other posts if i reblog it from the same blog. THANK YOU for letting me know!!!

[severalbakuras]

on the off-chance me having an n-s-f-w tag on my blog gets me flagged, my twitter account is @severalbakuras if you wanna follow that and my discord account is severalbakuras#8777 (or however that works idk).

[juskla]

@severalbakuras get on my level

[somefxckingnerd]

@several-bakuras I Dunno If I Would Say Nicer, Definitely More Domesticated Though

[sonofasphinx]

several-bakuras

You know, maybe it is supposed to be sexual ? Or maybe it’s me and people of my kin that can interpret everything as sexual. Humans are sexual beings (there are exceptions) and that sort of interpretation will never die.

[sage-nebula]

uh gorgonize with alan and if you feel like it a /reverse/ version of ultracrepidarian for jou, aka something like 'what does he actually know a lot about despite not thinking he does'. if you don't, biblioclasm for jou!

Alan: 

Gorgonize: What distracts them when they're trying to get things done?

The easiest way to distract Alan away from a task is if he sees someone in need of assistance.

This is something that we actually see in canon. In canon, Alan has determination toward his goals that is pretty much unwavering; he knows what his mission is, he knows what needs to be done, and he does it regardless of what obstacles may stand in his way. The only way to stop him is to physically take him out. That being said, however, there are instances when he puts his job on pause; in TSME 1, although he has somewhere to be and is honestly pretty annoyed with her at this point (since she won’t leave him alone no matter how many times he tells her to), he stops to help Manon catch a flabébé when he sees her struggling, because he knows she’s a newbie trainer (and a child, at that) and it’s not in his nature to ignore someone when they’re struggling. Likewise, in the main series, when Team Rocket steals Pikachu in the early morning and Ash is having trouble getting him back, Alan doesn’t hesitate before he and Lizardon interfere and help rescue Pikachu. He didn’t need to do this; it didn’t have anything to do with his goal, and though he was interested in battling Ash’s greninja at the time, Pikachu had nothing to do with that. He could have, if he was so inclined, just let Pikachu be stolen, and approach Ash for a battle later. But he didn’t, because it’s not in his nature to do that. Instead, it’s in his nature to help others when they’re struggling. His first instinct is to help someone in need.

So with that said, the easiest way to distract him when he’s trying to get things done is to call his attention in a way that requires assistance from him. If a pokémon is hurt, or if someone is struggling with something---Alan can’t just ignore that. Regardless of what he’s doing, or even how he feels about the person or pokémon in question, he will stop to help because that’s just who he is. Although Alan’s focus on his goals and determination to see them through is nigh unparalleled (because really, again, we see this in canon; even when it comes to how he decided to participate in the League for some grasp at happiness, he was still collecting mega evolution energy in the process, he did not pause his goal, he just added to it), he will allow himself to be diverted temporarily if it’s to assist someone else. He can’t help himself. He just does it.

Jounouchi:

Ultracrepidarian: What do they actually know a lot about despite not thinking they do?

Everything.

More seriously, as time goes on . . . Duel Monsters, honestly.

Like, it’s almost funny. Jounouchi is seriously really good at Duel Monsters. He’s instinctively good at Duel Monsters. He doesn’t know about a lot of pro duelist strategies, he doesn’t have access to really expensive cards, and yes, he makes a lot of rookie mistakes when he starts out like any rookie would. But despite the fact that he’s a beginner, he makes it to the finals in his very first tournament---and this isn’t just any tournament, either. This is Duelist Kingdom, which was invitation-only, those invitations having been given out by the creator of the game himself. Jounouchi wasn’t even supposed to be there, but after Yuugi helped sneak him in, Jounouchi earned his way to the top. And in the manga, he did this pretty much all on his own merit; he was given a vague clue in his first duel against Mai (the Puzzle riddle), but aside from that? He won every single other duel after that without help, despite most of his opponents being filthy cheaters (the only one who wasn’t was Ryuuzaki, but again, he didn’t have help against Ryuuzaki). Although he doesn’t have access to the best cards, and though he hasn’t been playing professionally for years like most (if not all) of the duelists on that island, Jounouchi wins his way to the finals through his own merit and skill. It’s hard---he struggles a lot---but he does it.

But although he does this, Jounouchi dismisses it. He insists he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. He insists it’s all luck. He calls it a miracle. And this self-deprecation continues through Battle City. Yes, he’s happy when he wins, and he does want to be a True Duelist™, but although he gets angry when Kaiba dismisses him (because just because Jounouchi tears himself down doesn’t mean Kaiba has that right), Jounouchi still thinks he’s winning mostly by luck or pure chance. He doesn’t recognize the fact that he knows more than he thinks he does, that he’s a damn good duelist considering that he once again made it to the finals of his second major tournament, this time without any help at all, and with someone actively trying to kill him twice over (and more cheating opponents). His accomplishments in Battle City were huge, and yet he doesn’t really recognize them. If you asked him to sincerely answer whether or not he knows a lot about Duel Monsters after the tournament, he would probably say no, even though he’s actually damn good at the game and knows more than he realizes.

(And yeah, again, he clearly hasn’t studied a bunch of professional strategies, he doesn’t have the statistical knowledge that Yuugi or Kaiba have. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know a lot about the game. Someone might not be able to tell you the catch rate formulas in Pokémon, or be able to calculate battle damage or rattle Smogon strategies off-hand, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know a lot about the game or how to build a good team, even if they don’t have the language for it. That’s how Jounouchi is. He has very, very good instincts for Duel Monsters, and can adapt his strategy on the fly. He’s a damn good duelist, but he doesn’t recognize or see this potential in himself, even when others (namely Yuugi and Atem) do.)

And though I scratched it out like I was being facetious, I do kind of mean that “everything”, too. Jounouchi, as we see over and over again throughout the manga, has very low self-esteem. He thinks of himself as stupid and disregards any skills or abilities he has. Because of this, it’s highly likely that he doesn’t even recognize areas of expertise that he does have. Even when he does, he mostly thinks of his “area of expertise” as being things that aren’t worth much of anything. For instance, Jounouchi has been working part-time jobs since he was ten in order to support his alcoholic father. He knows, whether he realizes it or not, how to manage an income and budget. He was never formally taught, no, but he taught himself how to do this. And though that’s a very useful life skill, Jounouchi wouldn’t think much of it because he probably wouldn’t be able to put it down into a budget book, and also it’s something that’s tied to a part of his life he doesn’t like sharing (namely, his home life). It’s not something he’s tested on in school, nor is it something that will earn him fans like Duel Monsters. So even though he knows it, he doesn’t think much of it. And since he likely doesn’t keep a budget book, he probably wouldn’t even think he knows that much about it. For him, it’s just something he does.

(And before anyone gets it twisted, no, I’m not saying he’s a secret genius. However, Jounouchi shows over and over again that he’s far from stupid. His low grades are more than likely a result of him having to work part-time jobs, and thus not getting as much sleep or having as much time to work on his homework as he should. Combine that with the fact that his father is abusive (meaning he won’t want to spend a lot of time at home), and his self-esteem is low enough so that he probably feels like he won’t make good grades even if he does try, and he’s not going to put nearly the focus, energy, attention, or effort toward his school as he should, despite the fact that he clearly does care about it on some level, or else he wouldn’t go at all (since high school is optional in Japan). Jounouchi’s poor grades, much like Yuugi’s, aren’t a result of him being stupid; they’re a result of a bunch of different factors that make school difficult for him, even though he does try to some extent. But although Jounouchi is not stupid, he believes that he is, and it’s not as if very many people in canon try to convince him otherwise. So yeah, I do think that “everything” is a viable answer, because Jounouchi has a low opinion of his own intelligence, despite the reality of his situation.)

Biblioclasm: Is there something about themselves they wish fewer people knew about?

His home life.

Again, it’s a bit funny that he feels this way, because so few people know about it to begin with. As we see in canon, this is not something he likes sharing, even with those closest to him. Aside from the fact that Honda was only ever invited over to Jounouchi’s apart “once, a long time ago” (and even then, I wager that it was less that Honda was “invited” and more that Jounouchi had to quickly bring him by for some reason or another), Jounouchi keeps his personal life so private that Honda didn’t even know Shizuka existed prior to Duelist Kingdom, and even that was just because he happend to be there when Jounouchi watched Shizuka’s tape, thinking it was sent by Pegasus instead. Jounouchi doesn’t like others to know his problems; he doesn’t like showing weakness, first of all, and second, any problems he has are his problems. Any emotional burdens he has are his to bear. The fewer people that know about them, the better.

So to that end, the number of people who know about his home life are very small. Hirutani knows, because what the fuck doesn’t Hirutani know about Jounouchi whether Jounouchi told him or not. Honda knows, and because of Honda, Yuugi and Anzu know as well. But outside of people who are related to him by blood, that’s . . . probably it, as far as knowing about his abusive, alcoholic father go. As far as people who know he’s poor, I imagine that pool is a little wider. Suguroku and Bakura know, since they know that Yuugi gave the Duelist Kingdom prize money to Jounouchi so he could pay for Shizuka’s operation (although thinking about it, that doesn’t necessarily mean they know he’s poor; that operation was expensive, and even someone with an average income likely couldn’t afford it). Mai learned about Shizuka thanks to Anzu, though I highly doubt Anzu told her that Jounouchi is poor, since I can’t see Anzu being that tactless. I did write that fic where Yuugi’s mother kind of learned about Jounouchi’s situation with his parents (very vaguely, since again, Anzu isn’t one to gossip about someone else’s business), but that’s not canon.

Oh, and I guess the game show he went on did tell everyone watching that he wanted to pay off his father’s debts, haha. But that was sort of a desperate situation---Jounouchi really wanted that prize money so that he could pay off said debts and maybe “earn” his father’s love---so I can see why Jounouchi would be a bit more willing to be forthcoming with his story in that situation.

Either way, that one exceptional circumstance aside, the pool of people who know about his home life / family situation are very small, and he prefers it that way. I think he’d even prefer it if his friends didn’t know. Any time we see them learn something about him in canon, it’s because the information is out of his hands; we don’t know how Honda found out about Jounouchi’s home life in middle school, but considering he straight up says Jounouchi doesn’t like bringing people home and he was only there “once, a long time ago,” again, we can reasonably assume Jounouchi didn’t bring Honda there willingly. Yuugi and Anzu only found out about his father because of Honda, and likewise, the squad only found out about Shizuka because they happened to be there to see the videotape. Mai only found out about Shizuka because of Anzu, and so on and so forth. Jounouchi doesn’t volunteer this information, and I think if he had his way, far fewer people would know about it.

So yeah, his home life. He’d keep it as more of a secret if he could.

[sage-nebula]

top 5 yugioh chapters ;D

Okay, so, for everyone’s reference, I’m going to be using the Japanese numbering system here, rather than the utter nonsense VIZ gave us. So with that noted---

Obviously the entire pier duel arc is my favorite and could fill all five of these slots by itself, but the most most important chapter in the pier duel arc would have to be Chapter 198, because that’s when Yuugi confesses how much Jounouchi means to him and straight up says that he loves him and sajfkdsla;fdsafdsafdsakl. It’s definitely The Best™.

Next up would have to be Chapters 11 & 12, and yeah, I’m cheating by including both, but I don’t care. I looooooove Hirutani’s introductory chapters for so many reasons, and I mean, I probably don’t even need to say that considering I wrote a 100k canon divergence based off chapter eleven, but still. (And I still think that Whispers in the Dark was basically my peak as far as writing goes. I need to get back on that level. I also need to write the epilogue. I should do that . . .) But I love learning so much more about Jounouchi’s history, I love seeing Hirutani and his interactions with Jounouchi, I love seeing that small glimpse of Jounouchi’s home life . . . Jounouchi is my boy, so yeah, give me all the Jounouchi-centric chapters, please and thanks.

Once again, Death-T as a whole is amazing, but special mention goes to Chapters 32, 33, & 34. Chapter 32 is fantastic because it’s Jounouchi’s fight against Chopperman, and honestly, the fact that he was able to survive that fight while holding a baby is just amazing. I loved the tension in that chapter. 33 is fantastic because it has Jounouchi explaining how and why he used to hate himself, and how Yuugi changed that (flipped his world upside down), and gave me the fantastic quote I use for my ship tag. And finally, chapter 34 is great because it not only shows us exactly what Seto and Mokuba’s relationship has been like for the longest time (i.e. Seto is emotionally abusive to Mokuba in the extreme), but we also get yet another display of how much unwavering support and care Jounouchi has for Yuugi, as well as how much that means to Yuugi. We see Yuugi telling Anzu and Jounouchi about Atem, too, and we see him accepting that part of himself now that he knows his friends will still accept and like him no matter what. And yes, Anzu supports him as well, but there is far more emphasis on Jounouchi and Yuugi in that chapter. Anzu gets a tiny panel; both Jounouchi and Yuugi get huge close-ups. It’s significant. But yeah, all three of those chapters are a++++, they’re great.

Number four would probably be Chapter 107, because that’s the chapter where---after Yuugi forfeited the rooftop duel to Kaiba---Mai offers Yuugi her spare star chips, he says no, and then Jounouchi gives that amazing monologue about how being a duelist is worth nothing, and winning games is worth nothing, if it means placing your pride above what truly matters. I love this speech for a few reasons, one of which is because he’s honestly correct. Both Kaiba and Atem share the same flaw, which is their pride. That they so easily fall to pieces after a defeat---or at the prospect of possible defeat---is part of what makes them weak people. For Jounouchi to point that out in no-nonsense terms is extremely important, particularly because he ascertains what (or rather, who) is important to him in the process. And that’s another reason why I love it. We see, in visual representation, just how much Shizuka means to Jounouchi (well, we already knew, but we get that again), but we also see that he definitively prefers and chooses Yuugi over Atem, both in the speech he gives and the way he says he will actually fight Atem if Atem makes Yuugi feel bad for losing / forfeiting that match / taking the star chips. All it takes is Atem maybe hurting Yuugi’s feelings for Jounouchi to be ready to fight him, so for people who say that Jounouchi prefers Atem . . . you’re confusing him with Kaiba (and Anzu), friends. Also, you need better reading comprehension. And lastly, back to the original point, I like how this chapter does point out how much weaker Atem is in terms of being a person, how the fact that Yuugi---once he stops caring so much about what Atem wants / seeing himself as inferior---can pick himself up and try again is actually a stronger person. It’s a good chapter all around.

Finally, Chapter 343, which is the final chapter of the series. Yuugi finally defeats Atem, we get that heart-wrenching line from Atem once the match is over (“The champion shouldn’t be on his knees”), Atem gets to move onto the afterlife, and Yuugi---once and for all---gets the confidence that he is going to be okay, that he is himself, that he’s fantastic the way he is, et cetera. It was a wonderful way to end the series and is the definitive end to YGO. There is nothing that came after. Darkside of Dimensions? I don’t know her.

Honorable mention goes to Chapters 48 & 49, because those are Hirutani’s comeback chapters. There are a lot of things I love about those chapters (Hirutani’s new outfit, how absolutely yandere he is for Jounouchi, the really hardcore scene of him having Yuugi hung by the Millennium Puzzle, the prospect that he potentially told Nezumi to bring Yuugi to use as blackmail since he knows how much Jounouchi cares for Yuugi, et cetera. However . . . I really wish that the yo-yo aspect wasn’t there, as it really ruins the mood, haha. I get the feeling that was executive meddling (that perhaps Takahashi’s editors thought the stun guns from before were too hardcore), but it still feels really out of place and ruins the mood, alas.

[sage-nebula]

@ryttu3k, @tofukitten, @immuration, @brooklynhype, @severalbakuras, @yume-x-hanabi --- 

Thank you all for your feedback on that piece of old writing I posted last night. My writing spirit has recovered since that incident with that professor all those years ago, but it still feels . . . validating, in a way? To know that it wasn’t complete garbage, that the first advanced fiction professor I had really wasn’t a good professor (at least for me), and that I was right to keep pushing ahead and keep writing instead of just, you know, giving up on my dream wholesale, haha. So really, thank you. ♥ A few specific responses:

Tofu --- I didn’t have any notes or drafts explaining how it went down, haha. I kind of just had the first idea of the zombie roommate getting hit with the bat + rolling on the carpet, and then just ran with it from there. I don’t know if I did have some ideas for what was going on back then, but if I did I’ve forgotten them . . . so if I rewrote / continued this now, the overall plot would probably end up very different. :)

SB --- Haha, nope. I know for a fact that professor doesn’t feel bad, because he doesn’t even remember me. I had to see him in person a couple months ago to give him a laptop our techs had worked on, and he didn’t show any recognition whatsoever. Granted, it has been six years, but still. Knowing his personality, even if it had been six months ago, I’m sure he wouldn’t feel bad about it. Thanks, though. Your support means a lot. ♥

[sage-nebula]

if yugioh's not been sent in already, voltron?

YGO was answered here, so I’ll go ahead and answer for Voltron. =)

The first character I first fell in love with:

KEITH. It was pretty much love at first sight. Literally, from the second he showed up on his hoverbike, I knew. I knew he was The Boy™. Everything I saw after that point only further convinced me that my intuition was exactly on the mark.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Hmmm, I’m honestly not sure. I didn’t go into this show with any expectations, so I don’t think I can really answer this question, haha.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t:

LANCE. It’s not that I hate him, or even that I strongly dislike him, but I can’t stand fanon!Lance and, more specifically, the way his stans treat him / other characters (especially Keith and Shiro) / other fans. God damn jesus fuck, his stanbase has all but ruined him for me. It’s sad.

The character I love that everyone else hates:

It breaks my heart to say this, but KEITH. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Keith has his fans, but goddamn does fandom at large love to bash and treat him terribly. ;_; Keith, sweetie, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry this ugly ass fandom treats you this way. You deserve better.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer:

Lance once again. I mean, I didn’t love him, but I liked him, and then … then I encountered the fandom …

The character I would totally smooch:

I want to give Shiro a kiss on the cheek and then a hug.

The character I’d want to be like:

Allura. She knows how to have fun and have her soft moments, but she’s also very intelligent and capable as well as headstrong. Girl is a role model for sure.

The character I’d slap:

Lance deserves a smack upside the head for how he sexually harasses Allura (because yes, constantly and aggressively hitting on someone when they make it clear they do not want that DOES in fact count as sexual harassment, even if it’s PG-rated harassment), as well as how he tries to pick fights with Keith regardless of how serious the situation is at the moment. Boy needs to get clue, and maybe a clap upside the head would give him one. (Then again, he’s a teenager, so … might ask Pidge to do it for me instead. >_>)

A pairing that I love:

Keith/Allura and Pidge/Lance are the two romantic ships I care about. I think they’re both great. However, platonic Keith & Shiro is my favorite relationship in the show.

A pairing that I despise:

Keith/Lance. I didn’t mind it when I had only watched the show itself, despite not actually shipping it, but once again, the Lance stanbase and rabid shippers have ruined it for me. I absolutely, positively cannot stand it now. I know that there are perfectly nice people who ship it, and I mean no offense to them, but … yeah. It’s been ruined for me. Sorry, guys. =/

That said, although I am not an anti, I also NOTP romantic Keith/Shiro because trying to view their interactions as romantic squicks me out. Like, I even tried to give it a shot. I loaded up my favorite episode, 2x08 “The Blade of Marmora” to see if perhaps I could see it as romantic … and by the time we hit the part where they’re going to the Blades’ base in the Red Lion I felt my skin getting the creepy crawlies at the idea of the two of them being romantically involved, because their interactions just feel intensely familial to me, particularly in the sense that Shiro feels like a guardian figure for Keith. (Whether it’s big brother or a sort of blend of big brother / promoted to parent, like Guy and Luke in Tales of the Abyss, given that there’s only a four year* age difference there but Guy still absolutely, canonically did raise Luke, and Luke’s own father says that Guy is “[Luke’s] brother, his father, and irreplaceable friend” as a result of how he “looked after and cared for Luke”. It’s like that.) I also get a lot of Sycamore and Alan vibes from them (to the point of joking that their relationship is a Sycamore & Alan space AU), and since Sycamore is Alan’s (unofficially adoptive) father … yeah … I really cannot see Keith and Shiro’s relationship as being remotely romantic. It’s a squick.

Though, again, to reiterate: I am not an anti, and I’ve honestly never had a negative interaction with someone who romantically ships them / don’t want to Discourse™ with anyone over anything. You do you. It squicks me, but that’s why I use Tumblr Savior and stay in my own lane. I’m not here to harass anyone, shame anyone, or anything like that. You do you, I’ll do me, and we can all peacefully coexist and be friends. ♥ (I hope, anyway. If not, uh, block and move on? Easiest way to handle it, tbh.)

(Note to Everyone: Do not start Discourse™ over this or I will block you immediately. Also, DO NOT reblog, thanks. I do not want the Discourse™, I want no part in that whatsoever. Thanks!)

[sage-nebula]

idk what's been picked already but 91, 66, 29 and 10!

All of them have except for 66, so I’ll do that one!

66.) Celebi or Jirachi?

MMMMMM, this one’s really difficult!

I think if Celebi wins, it’s only by a slight hair, just because I love the concept of time travel, and also the beautiful shrine in Ilex Forest. It has such a hallowed feeling, such a feeling of awe and wonder, and Jirachi doesn’t really have anything similar to that in Hoenn that I can think of. While I do love the fact that Jirachi is based around tanabata (and while I’ll always love tanabata and everything surrounding it), Celebi has a greater feeling of awe and allure to me than Jirachi does.

So Celebi wins, but it’s very close. Very close, indeed.

[sage-nebula]

a g j s and y?

A:

Gee, I wonder …

Alan! 

(As if my answer could ever be anything different asjdfklsafas he’s the light of my life istg.)

And as for the rest …

Growlithe!

Jounouchi!

Yuugi!

Seven! Zero! Seven! (See also: Choi Saeyoung)

(Put a letter from A-Z in my ask and I’ll tell you 1 thing I love which starts with that letter.)

[sage-nebula]

severalbakuras replied to your post: PKMN - Validation

of course the first person she suggests is steven lel

Well, the three have them did go through some things together in TSME, after all. It’s only natural that she might #ShipIt at least a little, or that she perhaps did back then, back before she found out about Wallace. ;) Particularly given how much Manon values ambition / strength / power / et cetera, she’d probably view them as a potential Power Couple™ (despite the fact that Alan was fifteen and Steven was twenty-five when they all met; I don’t think that’s something Manon, especially back when she was ten, would have cared about or noticed very much). They’re all still good friends besides, so it makes sense that her mind might jump to Steven first, especially if she #ShippedIt back when they first met.

Actually, on the note of Wallace---the dialogue didn’t end up making it into the fic, but when I was first outlining this fic in my head, I imagined an exchange like:

“[Steven’s] married.”

“So?”

“We were guests at his wedding.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t have a crush!”

Manon, pls.

[sage-nebula]

severalbakuras replied to your post: Hmm … I’m not on the autism spectrum myself and so...

i’m on the spectrum and that seems like pretty standard autistic behaviour, at least as far as most media is willing to go to depict it. social difficulties are way easier to show than things like flapping or Bad Textures or sensory overload or things even further along. so a little cliche and safe but i’m personally totally fine with you interpreting him as on the spectrum.

Yeah---and as far as this game in specific goes something like flapping or stimming would be hard to show anyway, because the bulk of the game takes place in a chat room, and even the VNM segments just have still images rather than anything animated. As far as sensory overload or bad textures go, that could also be present elsewhere in the game, but I’ve only ever played Seven’s route + the Secret Endings + Christmas DLC (in which I went after Seven again), so I’m not entirely sure. That might be something Jumin divulges in his route, but I don’t know.

I will add, though, that when I mentioned his special interest could be cats, I wasn’t exaggerating. Like, the cat businesses aside, this happened once in a chat:

JUMIN: “I couldn’t sleep either so I counted how many strands of hair Elizabeth loses per second. I also found the average length . . . I’m glad I had a micro ruler I got from the owner of Office Depop.”

MC: “How long was it on average?”

JUMIN: “Her inside hair was 2.10485 on average, and her outside fur was about 3.71572cm. I rounded it up on the sixth decimal point.”

Like . . . bruh. (Elizabeth the 3rd is the name of his cat, btw, if that wasn’t obvious.) I feel like that goes a bit beyond “I like cats lol.” Like that is some serious focus and dedication. So yeah, I do feel like he could be coded that way, though I’m not sure if Cheritz intended it / I doubt it’s ever explicitly stated. It’d be neat, though, particularly since he’s one of the heroic characters / potential love interests.

[sage-nebula]

severalbakuras replied to your post: The one good thing that came out of the Pokémon...

everyone i know who likes pokemon absolutely adored mega evolutions. the hype at wondering who got one per generation, what they’d look like, if they’d break the game and change something useless into a monster (eg lopunny) etc was a real draw in. z-moves are basically just a fancy hyper-beam with a longer animation. there’s nothing exciting about that.

YES, exactly! While we were talking about J did express some dislike toward mega evolutions, mainly in the sense that he feels they can be overpowered in some instances and can unbalance the game, but I mean, that same exact argument can be made for legendaries. If you go onto online matches, you’ll find people with teams comprised of nothing but legendaries. And yeah, that’s super cheap, but that doesn’t mean that legendaries shouldn’t exist. (And mega evolutions are not even nearly on the same scale, since you’re only allowed to use it once per battle---it’s not nearly as overpowered or game breaking as some people make it out to be if you know what you’re doing, especially because if you don’t know what you’re doing you won’t be able to use it effectively.) But even he had to admit that it was cool to speculate about what new mega evolutions we would get with each gen, to see if something random like dunsparce would get one, or if it would be another somewhat expected like Mega Hydreigon or something. But now since mega evolutions seem to be a thing of the past, we’ll never get those, and yeah, z-moves are nowhere near as exciting. Even if they create new z-moves, those are just new attacks. And even if they have flashy new cutscenes, that’s still not nearly as fun to think about, still doesn’t require the same amount of strategy.

(Also, I’m miffed that they took away the trainer animation for mega evolution in Gen VII, too. Like, in Gen VI, you’d sometimes get this really neat animation of your trainer actually touching their Key Stone, while giving this super determined look as they did so. Like, it was serious business. In Gen VII? We don’t get that. There’s just a super quick mega evolution. Like, they took time to program in all those damn dances, and you have to sit through that BS each and every time, but you can’t let us see our trainer activate that Key Stone? I mean, I know the Gen VII protag doesn’t have varying facial expressions like the Gen VI protag, so it wouldn’t feel as badass, but still. It just goes to show how much they shafted mega evolution in Gen VII and I’m still salty about it.)

[sage-nebula]

lapis, gladion and jou! and alan! and that pretty red head boy, yes i'm cheating. (and also sonic for some reason???? i understand the first ones but idk where this one came from when the only sonic stuff i've seen is X and the knuckles episodes of boom and that one cute intro for the newest thing, and the only games i've played are heroes and shadow) (idk, works for me regardless)

Those are all great characters!! Lapis surprises me a bit (though I am pleased), and I actually laughed at “that pretty red head boy”, hahaha. ♥ He has many names, but you can call him

707!!!

… or just “Seven��. 

(Sorry, I couldn’t resist. He does that sometimes, and I just … wanted to do it myself at least once. >_>;; )

Sonic is actually very touching (if also a little surprising) because he was my hero when I was a child. Like, I had Sonic everything as a kid before Pokémon took over my life, and I still think that there are certain things about him / his series that shaped my tastes / feelings / views to varying degrees. Like, I always tend to favor speed over raw strength, and I’m 100% sure that’s because of Sonic. Sonic was also a freedom fighter, which is something I consider important, et cetera. So it’s fitting you’d think of Sonic, even if you don’t know why; he was a very important part of my life once!

Anyway, thanks!!