other than them being close, my many hcs for things kishimoto failed to address, i had envisioned that hinata would try to research and study sealing jutsu after the war. she would confide in shikamaru about it and he'd use his security clearance to let her into the private libraries to study forbidden techniques and historical documents. maybe she couldn't get rid of the caged bird seal but she could try to develop a new seal to protect the byakugan for all hyuuga members, main and branch. she knew clan elders would never agree to the byakugan not being safeguarded so she had to find an alternative to end the needless self-imposed hierarchy within what is supposed to be the "most powerful clan" in the village. she had to unify the hyuuga somehow. for neji. for herself. for the future of the clan.
hinata has a protector and a shielder's heart and i think a path in sealing mastery would channel that compassionate part of her and would align with her goals and character arc. she grows stronger for the sake of others. personally, i never really liked her being relegated to yet another healer in fanon so. this is my take.
extreme levels of yap under the cut about their tattoos
recap: inoshikacho are a generations old alliance between 3 yakuza clans/families, their alliance is marked by the leaders' wooden ear gauges that are carved with their clan symbols. the yamanaka are spies and poison makers, the akimichi control underground entertainment (fighting/casinos/etc), and the nara are drug traffickers.
ino's tattoos (soushinbori donburi - full body suit)
shibari - i incorporated the use of shibari in 3 ways:
it is the border of the bodysuit
the double bands on her hands and feet are also a nod to the old tattoos that japanese authorities used to mark on criminals to brand them
acts as the web of the jorogumo (woman spider) on her back
shibari symbolism as used in the tattoo and in relation to her character lore in this au:
the yamanaka run brothels and the women/men who work there are trained to spy; the shibari symbolises both the sexual nature of the yamanaka information network
often represented in on-going detective work, red string is used on evidence boards as a web of connections
red string of fate, which also ties people together
the jorogumo (woman spider) and other motifs
ino's main piece on her back is the jorogumo, spider woman which symbolises allure, danger, deception and desire. these encompass everything the yamanaka do in their criminal activities.
namakubi (severed heads) to symbolise the yamanaka triumph over others in getting what they want. the jorogumo has captured a head in her web. and there are other severed heads around her body lying in key spots.
various flowers. i think this is self explanatory. i'm not gonna go into every flower and their meaning.
various yokai women because cool factor, scary factor, feminine factor, and meaning factor (but also not gonna get into it too much)
the gakubori (background) feature sky to ground motifs with wind bars, clouds, stones, and flowing waters. this is to symbolise she is everywhere, searching high and low for what she wants (and she will get)
extra funfact: the back of her neck is in the W shape end of a geisha's white make up. this is not typical of a traditional japanese tattoo border.
choji's tattoos (kame no koh, hikae nagasode - turtle back and chest panels with full sleeves)
choji's main subject is the fudo myo (the wise immovable king)
a symbol of strength, compassion, wrath, and purification
the motifs all complement the deity: fire, ropes, swords, dragons
no representations of earthly subjects, everything is in the sky and clouds
golden dragons to represent value and virtue, one on each arm. one looks up and the other looks down, almost mimicking a yin yang balance.
choji also engages in sumo tradition in this au. so he is very much in control, stoic, yet fierce. he reflects the values and attributes of the fudo myo and the powerful creatures and motifs that all seem dangerous but are in balance with each other
shikamaru's tattoos (munewari hanzubon - half split body suit)
the motifs are simple, hannya and the snake:
hannya is a transformed woman by jealousy and rage and shikamaru's tattoo depicts her in her 3rd and final stage, of complete transformation and loss of self
the snake is a common pairing and the hannya. whilst both can be used as talismans to ward off evil, they can also represent cunning. which is what i attribute to shikamaru
there are also maple leaf motifs (leaves of autumn), these represent the transient, letting go, and reflection. which also is a core part of shikamaru's character both in the au and canon
additionally, i included juzu beads on one arm for extra flavour. the beads usually are to top off the ends of a body suit, typically seen in shichibu (3/4 sleeve) and full sleeves. but shikamaru is a dirty dirty deviant. and also, i think it looks nice and adds a bit of asymmetry.
(i added the snake bite piercings on shikamaru as an after thought (it might not be obvious the way i drew it lawl) i'm usually a crazy hater of these piercings but i think...they kinda fit here..still thinking about it tho....)
if you got through all my geeking out have a BIG SLOPPY SMOOCH ON YOUR LIPS
ok i finished requiem and first of all the love letter portion of my review:
to the women at capcom,
you are loved, you are cherished. may the heavens smile upon you every day and may you go forward with your lives with the knowledge that many of us are forever indebted and grateful to your efforts in delivering the most handsome most beautiful male specimen to us in these most desperate and trying of times.
bless you, women of capcom. bless. you.
so anyway, grace's VA fucking KILLLLLLLLLLLLEDDDDD ITTT oh my god any other person might not have made me so emotional in some scenes like she put her whole heart into the role. she got me emotional when alyssa got killed, when emily went down, when leon "died" just. what a fantastic performance.
the stuttering tho was kind of excessive and unnatural but i think that's a product of japanese to english direction.
but also grace as a character, she's so instantly loveable and i really enjoyed her addition to the cast and her parts were great and super fucking tense. the breaks with leon were kind of nice but i think the leon parts leaned wayyy to hard on the action. the fucking motorcycle scene was just ???? LMAO that was the part that took me out the fucking MOST
i felt like the raccoon city part could have been done better as well. it felt toooooo barren, which yeah, i get it, it's after it's been hit by a nuclear missile but it still felt like they could have done more with it.
and it felt super videogame-y with the fucking box bruh i hated that mechanic ? oh, here's a bracelet to record your kills like ??? and you can fully upgrade and get all your weapons just a few rounds of killing in, i swear it felt so unnecessary.
like i get that to maintain the suspenseful aspect they have to reintroduce rookies into the scene because by now leon/jill/chr*s are seasoned veterans but i feel like they could dial it back on being fully decked out and reinforce the survivor elements even more to be able to keep the same feeling across both horror and action elements.
but yeah i just wish raccoon city was given a bit more something.
the RPD section just ahhhggghhghgh my home, my residence...my..palace. leon i love you, you are precious ;_;
i liked how much we saw of re2 leon in those sections and further along in the game that even though all his experiences have shaped him to be more stoic on the outside, he still has a heart of gold and his desire to change, protect and save people hasn't changed. oh, i love him, i love him so bad.
the hospital was fucking gorrrrgeeeoeoeoeoeususususoussss, i hate that you always explore the most beautiful place first and then move on to shitty ass grimed up facilities and clinical hallways but I GUESS WHATEVER. with ARK they at least tried to have bit more art direction, they should do that more. i'm so sick of white hallways and steel accented labs mang.
the elephant in the room... CLAIRE ??? NO CLAIRE MENTION ?? NOT EVEN WHEN LEON ENTERED RPD AND SHERRY WAS REMINISING ABOUT THE WHOLE AFFAIR AND WITH THE ORPHANAGE SECTION LIKE ??????? HELLO ??? CLAIRE WAS THE ONE THAT WAS WITH YOU THE WHOLE TIME, YOU ONLY MET LEON IN THE END !? GRRRRRRRR !!!!!
also, at first during the my playthrough i thought it was a seriously missed opportunity to not have claire as a main in some capacity to mirror alyssa. since she's old enough and then we could have a mother/daughter dynamic with grace. she's been slept on so hard in the series like.... chris being mentioned in the end.. SNOOOOOOREEE.
if they're setting him up to have his own new arc bro good luck idk how you're gonna make that meat head interesting.
having said so, when i look at the recent games as a whole (remakes 2 and 4 and now requiem) it makes sense to look at it as a reboot of leon's arc rather than just a remake of the games.
leon, as a character, feels better and more fleshed out across the titles and way more consistent than he did in the OG games + 6, which felt like different dudes that fit a persona that would sell at the time. it felt like a good closer to his storyline (if they don't chris-ify him and keep bringing him back lmao).
so in that sense, i get not having claire involved in any meaningful capacity but it still would have been nice to not act like she didn't exist considering the setting.
lord have mercy though, i haven't even talked about how gorgeous and unfathomably hot and beautiful and unreal he is. never has a man had me GAGGED in my entire fucking life. what an absolute W for women across the globe. but i can go on forever about that, i'm sure everyone feels the same. ifykyk type shit.
anyway, i also felt like victor also was under-utilised and the hunk boss fight actually pissed me off bc i DO NOT give a shit about him. we could have had an additional section with victor to flesh him out more (since he was kinda interesting) instead of wasting resources on nostalgiaslop with a boring ass character that adds nothing to the plot. the nostalgia trip should have ended with raccoon city.
all in all, even though the extended leon parts were a bit empty, i think it was a great game. but it felt like it doesn't have replay value like 2 and 4 remakes do.
i like that they leaned back into the RE2 style of gameplay because it's infinitely more engaging than the 5 and 6 (tho 5 is still fun as a coop) but lmao, they still had to go a bit overboard on the action with leon (LOOKING AT THE MOTORCYCLE SCENE AGAIN). despite saying so, it also felt much more linear and not much room to veer off path too much. not like you can do so drastically usually but this one felt tighter in its pathing.
anyway, i like the gameplay and atmospheric mix and i hope they lean into this game design going forward but just a bit more dynamic :)
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