Shipping meme - Days 7 & 8
Day 07 - The most heartbreaking scene?
D: ............... practically all my ships have heartbreaking scenes. My shipping capacity runs on heartbreaking scenes! See icon. Okay, here are five scenes, in no order and keeping in mind that I'm forgetting others.
1. Naruto/Sakura looking up at Sasuke + Naruto/Sakura crying after Sasuke leaves. READ RIGHT TO LEFT.
+
This is the reunion Naruto and Sakura have been longing for for two years and a half, and Sasuke blows them aside as if they were nothing. A whim, he says. So why is the frame of that scene on the list, but not the scene itself? Because the scene is a confrontation. It's dramatic, energetic, and the dialogue is fast-paced. The moments surrounding it, though, stretch the time and the emotions of the characters to breaking point. They're what make it obvious how important Sasuke is to Naruto and Sakura.
The image of Sakura staring at Sasuke and Naruto staring at her but not seeing her, in particular, is one of my favourite in the manga; they are together and they fight together, but the most important thing to them, what they're fighting for and practically living for (the 'practically' is here for Sakura, who is not quite as codependent as Naruto), is far and away and inaccessible. I have in it as an icon, with the keywords "narusaku is all about".
It's also an interesting image because as we all know, Sakura is starting to get interested in Naruto. Through all the post-timeskip stuff, we see her seeing Naruto in ways that Naruto, frankly, doesn't return. Except once, when he tells her she still loves Sasuke and to please stop lying. Which is <>still about Sasuke. There are other scenes where Naruto is thinking about Sasuke and someone else, usually Sakura or Kakashi, look at him and know what he's thinking about. They're focused on him, not on Sasuke. Here, both Naruto and Sakura are all about Sasuke.
The second part of the framing scene is there not because of Naruto's epic depression - very effective from a visual point of view, but too common to deserve a place on this list on its own - but because of Sakura. Naruto and Sakura are not facing one another; again, they're facing the place where Sasuke was standing. The images make it clear that they're on the same side because of their respective position toward Sasuke, not because they're together. Naruto is sobbing his heart out, and Sakura tells him to stop. Because it's useless. And she's crying herself, and not looking at him.
We know since Wave Country that Sakura puts much stock in the rule that shinobi don't cry, unlike Naruto (who says heroes don't cry, but who's never looked guilty that he did). To Sakura, crying is a failure - Sakura being angry at herself for being an 'over-emotional girl' is something I come back to again and again. But she's never before told someone else off for it. Naruto failed just as much as she did; they've both been defeated.
There's something very striking in Sakura's insistence that 'together' they'll bring Sasuke back, while the picture shows they're far apart (and emphasizes the difference between Sakura standing and Naruto crumpled on the floor, Naruto's loud sobbing and Sakura's silent tears, Sakura not even turning arounf to look at her teammate). In spite of Sakura's words, the defeat seems complete.
2. Sakura crying in her bed READ RIGHT TO LEFT.
In the middle of Naruto's training, we have this scene. I maintain it's one of the most effective scenes of heartbreak known to mankind. She's alone, and she misses the past so much. It's not defeat against Sasuke's special brand of semi-suicidal stubborness, it's defeat against things that are out of anyone's power to make right. She wants them to be together and children again. (Tangent: Both Naruto and Sakura have this quasi-tragic flaw where they idealize their days as a united Team Seven, conveniently forgetting along the way that Sasuke was already quasi obsessed, Orochimaru has taken an interest in him, Sakura was a horrendous shinobi, and no-one took Naruto seriously. So they miss the time when they were innocent, happy children, forgetting that for Sasuke at least, that time had been over by the time he was eight.)
3. The Bruce/Jason at the end of Under the Hood
Like the Joker says afterwards, this is the 'everyone loses' scene. It's an exercise in masochism on Jason's part, a thoroughly planned drama to prove to himself that Bruce really didn't love him. Because there's no way Jason thought Bruce might actually kill the Joker, even for him. (Why would he be crying, if he thought he was going to persuade Bruce?) This is Bruce at his most powerless. Not that he's helpless or that there's nothing he can do; the end of the scene proves that yeah, he can stop the situation. Except that by doing so, he destroys any chance he might have had of getting Jason back.
It's the climax of an arc that had Jason be always in control of everything, and that ends with him putting himself at Bruce's mercy; it's an arc where Bruce has never had the initiative (maybe because he was unable to snatch it, maybe because he didn't want to have it; maybe simply because he loved Jason too much), and it ends with him being forced to act.
It's a drama of identities within identities and masks above masks, with Jason with his mask half ripped off and Batman who's never been more Bruce.
Look, I've already typed comments and comments and comments of meta about how this scene is PERFECT and heartbreaking and PERFECT for the two of them.
4. A man has been in love with his cousin since they were children.
Unfortunately, he's too shy and too ugly to dare tell her he loves her - she's too witty, vivacious and beautiful to love him back. Arrives a handsome boy with a crush on the girl, but he's no good at the games of wit she so enjoys, so she wouldn't love him back. Both men strike a deal: the ugly one will provide the handsome one with his words, and so, “through you, it'll be as if she'll love me a little”. It works, and the girl marries her handsome soldier. But the handsome man figures out that the other's love for his wife is true - and that his wit is the part of him she loves best now. So he insists that the first man tells his beloved the truth.
And maybe the story would end well. Maybe if they came out clean, maybe she'd love him back? But Christian is killed, and it's too late. Cyrano will never speak.
And there's this scene, fifteen years later, when Cyrano visits Roxanne in the convent where she elected to spend the rest of her days after Christian died, where he finally admits to the truth and she figures it out. “But why keep the secret - such a noble silence, and break it today?” Because he's dying and these are his last moments.
I defy anyone to watch this scene and not have tears in their eyes. There's also all this beautiful, beautiful speech about how Cyrano's spent his life fighting against 'Injustice, Stupidity, Prejudice', and he knows it's a fight he's already lost, but 'one doesn't fight in the hope of winning!'
Favorite play ever.
5. Tales of Symphonia - the scene where Zelos betrays the team and Sheena calls him out on it and he thanks her for it.
Okay, for this one you need a little backstory - I keep meaning to write a private manifesto about the two of them, and somehow I never get round to doing it.
Zelos is his world's Chosen, an aristocrat, a cynic, a complete casanova, and very well versed in political intrigues. Sheena is a tomboyish ninja who fumbles her way across a simple lie, and she's very idealistic. The two of them go way back. Most of their interactions consist of Zelos hitting on Sheena, and Sheena hitting Zelos in return.
They both have extremely traumatic backstories; Zelos knows Sheena's story, and the other part of their interactions is him finding subtle ways to cheer her up when she needs it, or him saving her and then berating her for being reckless and having a death wish. (Irony, thy name is Zelos.) For the duration of the game up to this point, Sheena acts like she can't stand Zelos and generally despises him.
As a result of his childhood, Zelos has extremely low self-esteem, and is in fact convinced that his life is worthless and that his half-sister should get to be the Chosen in his place, but he hides all his depression behind his cheerful/shallow mask. He also wants, or claims to want, to be on the winning side. That leads to his betrayal. Now, depending on your choices during the game, he can either be pretending to betray you and rejoins you later, or he's betraying you for good and you have no choice but to kill him.
The dialogue I'm talking about takes place at the moment where Zelos reveals he's a traitor.
Pronyma: Betray you? How amusing. Zelos was our spy from the very beginning. Isn’t that right, Zelos?
Lloyd: Is that true?
Colette: It’s not true, is it? Please say that she’s lying…
Zelos: I side with the strongest. It was a simple matter of weighing the Renegades, Cruxis, and all of you.
Sheena: You were leaking information to the Renegades, too?! I can’t believe you! You were always a pervert, but I never doubted that you were a good person when it came down to it.
Zelos: Why, thank you, my sweet, voluptuous hunny. But in the end, I choose this side, because Mithos promised to release me from my fate as a Chosen of Mana.
Regal: You hate being the Chosen so much that you would betray your friends?
Zelos: Oh, yeah, I do. It’s because of that title that my life has been a total joke. I can’t stand it. I can’t wait for Seles to become the Chosen instead.
Lloyd: …You’re lying! I still trust you, you hear me?! You’re the one that told me I could trust you!
Zelos: What are you, stupid?
If you fight him, after he's killed, Sheena still has this one reaction:
Sheena: …Damned…idiot…
This scene is on this list - and the ship is one of my OTPs rather than something I ship for the duration of the game and then basically forget about - is because of the discrepancy between what Sheena/Zelos looks like and what is really is. At first glance, it's just another bickering couple of Jerk With a Heart of Gold pursues Tsundere Action Girl. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I love this trope dearly. (Takahashi Pairing? I am so there.)
And then you realize that it's a pairing hinging upon so many issues it makes Gotham looks functional, and that the two of them are so screwed up. To be fair, that's something you can say about most of the main characters in ToS, but believe me, Sheena and Zelos take it to another dimension entirely, especially given the fact that unlike the others, you tend ot forget it unless it's explicitly spelled out in the scene, but it's always there.
The most important thing about Sheena and Zelos - and about the betraying scene - is that they fail. They define themselves by their failures, though their friends don't. That's what make them tragic.
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage?
I'm tempted to simply point you at the pairings I talked about just above. Add Neji/Hinata and Itachi/Sasuke, and I think we're set.
I feel like I'm consistently leaving aside the same ships.
the rest of the days:
Day 01 - What is your current favourite ship?
Day 02 - What was your very first ship?
Day 03 - A pairing that needs to happen now?
Day 04 - The pairing with the most chemistry?
Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry?
Day 06 - The best kiss?
Day 07 - The most heartbreaking scene?
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage?
Day 09 - The most believable relationship?
Day 10 - Why aren't these two married in real life?
Day 11 - What is your dream pairing?
Day 12 - Who had the best wedding?
Day 13 - What is your favorite television pairing?
Day 14 - What is your favorite book pairing?
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you've rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The "can't stand the sexual tension anymore" pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever?
D: ............... practically all my ships have heartbreaking scenes. My shipping capacity runs on heartbreaking scenes! See icon. Okay, here are five scenes, in no order and keeping in mind that I'm forgetting others.
1. Naruto/Sakura looking up at Sasuke + Naruto/Sakura crying after Sasuke leaves. READ RIGHT TO LEFT.
+
This is the reunion Naruto and Sakura have been longing for for two years and a half, and Sasuke blows them aside as if they were nothing. A whim, he says. So why is the frame of that scene on the list, but not the scene itself? Because the scene is a confrontation. It's dramatic, energetic, and the dialogue is fast-paced. The moments surrounding it, though, stretch the time and the emotions of the characters to breaking point. They're what make it obvious how important Sasuke is to Naruto and Sakura.
The image of Sakura staring at Sasuke and Naruto staring at her but not seeing her, in particular, is one of my favourite in the manga; they are together and they fight together, but the most important thing to them, what they're fighting for and practically living for (the 'practically' is here for Sakura, who is not quite as codependent as Naruto), is far and away and inaccessible. I have in it as an icon, with the keywords "narusaku is all about".
It's also an interesting image because as we all know, Sakura is starting to get interested in Naruto. Through all the post-timeskip stuff, we see her seeing Naruto in ways that Naruto, frankly, doesn't return. Except once, when he tells her she still loves Sasuke and to please stop lying. Which is <>still about Sasuke. There are other scenes where Naruto is thinking about Sasuke and someone else, usually Sakura or Kakashi, look at him and know what he's thinking about. They're focused on him, not on Sasuke. Here, both Naruto and Sakura are all about Sasuke.
The second part of the framing scene is there not because of Naruto's epic depression - very effective from a visual point of view, but too common to deserve a place on this list on its own - but because of Sakura. Naruto and Sakura are not facing one another; again, they're facing the place where Sasuke was standing. The images make it clear that they're on the same side because of their respective position toward Sasuke, not because they're together. Naruto is sobbing his heart out, and Sakura tells him to stop. Because it's useless. And she's crying herself, and not looking at him.
We know since Wave Country that Sakura puts much stock in the rule that shinobi don't cry, unlike Naruto (who says heroes don't cry, but who's never looked guilty that he did). To Sakura, crying is a failure - Sakura being angry at herself for being an 'over-emotional girl' is something I come back to again and again. But she's never before told someone else off for it. Naruto failed just as much as she did; they've both been defeated.
There's something very striking in Sakura's insistence that 'together' they'll bring Sasuke back, while the picture shows they're far apart (and emphasizes the difference between Sakura standing and Naruto crumpled on the floor, Naruto's loud sobbing and Sakura's silent tears, Sakura not even turning arounf to look at her teammate). In spite of Sakura's words, the defeat seems complete.
2. Sakura crying in her bed READ RIGHT TO LEFT.
In the middle of Naruto's training, we have this scene. I maintain it's one of the most effective scenes of heartbreak known to mankind. She's alone, and she misses the past so much. It's not defeat against Sasuke's special brand of semi-suicidal stubborness, it's defeat against things that are out of anyone's power to make right. She wants them to be together and children again. (Tangent: Both Naruto and Sakura have this quasi-tragic flaw where they idealize their days as a united Team Seven, conveniently forgetting along the way that Sasuke was already quasi obsessed, Orochimaru has taken an interest in him, Sakura was a horrendous shinobi, and no-one took Naruto seriously. So they miss the time when they were innocent, happy children, forgetting that for Sasuke at least, that time had been over by the time he was eight.)
3. The Bruce/Jason at the end of Under the Hood
Like the Joker says afterwards, this is the 'everyone loses' scene. It's an exercise in masochism on Jason's part, a thoroughly planned drama to prove to himself that Bruce really didn't love him. Because there's no way Jason thought Bruce might actually kill the Joker, even for him. (Why would he be crying, if he thought he was going to persuade Bruce?) This is Bruce at his most powerless. Not that he's helpless or that there's nothing he can do; the end of the scene proves that yeah, he can stop the situation. Except that by doing so, he destroys any chance he might have had of getting Jason back.
It's the climax of an arc that had Jason be always in control of everything, and that ends with him putting himself at Bruce's mercy; it's an arc where Bruce has never had the initiative (maybe because he was unable to snatch it, maybe because he didn't want to have it; maybe simply because he loved Jason too much), and it ends with him being forced to act.
It's a drama of identities within identities and masks above masks, with Jason with his mask half ripped off and Batman who's never been more Bruce.
Look, I've already typed comments and comments and comments of meta about how this scene is PERFECT and heartbreaking and PERFECT for the two of them.
4. A man has been in love with his cousin since they were children.
Unfortunately, he's too shy and too ugly to dare tell her he loves her - she's too witty, vivacious and beautiful to love him back. Arrives a handsome boy with a crush on the girl, but he's no good at the games of wit she so enjoys, so she wouldn't love him back. Both men strike a deal: the ugly one will provide the handsome one with his words, and so, “through you, it'll be as if she'll love me a little”. It works, and the girl marries her handsome soldier. But the handsome man figures out that the other's love for his wife is true - and that his wit is the part of him she loves best now. So he insists that the first man tells his beloved the truth.
And maybe the story would end well. Maybe if they came out clean, maybe she'd love him back? But Christian is killed, and it's too late. Cyrano will never speak.
And there's this scene, fifteen years later, when Cyrano visits Roxanne in the convent where she elected to spend the rest of her days after Christian died, where he finally admits to the truth and she figures it out. “But why keep the secret - such a noble silence, and break it today?” Because he's dying and these are his last moments.
I defy anyone to watch this scene and not have tears in their eyes. There's also all this beautiful, beautiful speech about how Cyrano's spent his life fighting against 'Injustice, Stupidity, Prejudice', and he knows it's a fight he's already lost, but 'one doesn't fight in the hope of winning!'
Favorite play ever.
5. Tales of Symphonia - the scene where Zelos betrays the team and Sheena calls him out on it and he thanks her for it.
Okay, for this one you need a little backstory - I keep meaning to write a private manifesto about the two of them, and somehow I never get round to doing it.
Zelos is his world's Chosen, an aristocrat, a cynic, a complete casanova, and very well versed in political intrigues. Sheena is a tomboyish ninja who fumbles her way across a simple lie, and she's very idealistic. The two of them go way back. Most of their interactions consist of Zelos hitting on Sheena, and Sheena hitting Zelos in return.
They both have extremely traumatic backstories; Zelos knows Sheena's story, and the other part of their interactions is him finding subtle ways to cheer her up when she needs it, or him saving her and then berating her for being reckless and having a death wish. (Irony, thy name is Zelos.) For the duration of the game up to this point, Sheena acts like she can't stand Zelos and generally despises him.
As a result of his childhood, Zelos has extremely low self-esteem, and is in fact convinced that his life is worthless and that his half-sister should get to be the Chosen in his place, but he hides all his depression behind his cheerful/shallow mask. He also wants, or claims to want, to be on the winning side. That leads to his betrayal. Now, depending on your choices during the game, he can either be pretending to betray you and rejoins you later, or he's betraying you for good and you have no choice but to kill him.
The dialogue I'm talking about takes place at the moment where Zelos reveals he's a traitor.
Pronyma: Betray you? How amusing. Zelos was our spy from the very beginning. Isn’t that right, Zelos?
Lloyd: Is that true?
Colette: It’s not true, is it? Please say that she’s lying…
Zelos: I side with the strongest. It was a simple matter of weighing the Renegades, Cruxis, and all of you.
Sheena: You were leaking information to the Renegades, too?! I can’t believe you! You were always a pervert, but I never doubted that you were a good person when it came down to it.
Zelos: Why, thank you, my sweet, voluptuous hunny. But in the end, I choose this side, because Mithos promised to release me from my fate as a Chosen of Mana.
Regal: You hate being the Chosen so much that you would betray your friends?
Zelos: Oh, yeah, I do. It’s because of that title that my life has been a total joke. I can’t stand it. I can’t wait for Seles to become the Chosen instead.
Lloyd: …You’re lying! I still trust you, you hear me?! You’re the one that told me I could trust you!
Zelos: What are you, stupid?
If you fight him, after he's killed, Sheena still has this one reaction:
Sheena: …Damned…idiot…
This scene is on this list - and the ship is one of my OTPs rather than something I ship for the duration of the game and then basically forget about - is because of the discrepancy between what Sheena/Zelos looks like and what is really is. At first glance, it's just another bickering couple of Jerk With a Heart of Gold pursues Tsundere Action Girl. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I love this trope dearly. (Takahashi Pairing? I am so there.)
And then you realize that it's a pairing hinging upon so many issues it makes Gotham looks functional, and that the two of them are so screwed up. To be fair, that's something you can say about most of the main characters in ToS, but believe me, Sheena and Zelos take it to another dimension entirely, especially given the fact that unlike the others, you tend ot forget it unless it's explicitly spelled out in the scene, but it's always there.
The most important thing about Sheena and Zelos - and about the betraying scene - is that they fail. They define themselves by their failures, though their friends don't. That's what make them tragic.
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage?
I'm tempted to simply point you at the pairings I talked about just above. Add Neji/Hinata and Itachi/Sasuke, and I think we're set.
I feel like I'm consistently leaving aside the same ships.
the rest of the days:
Day 01 - What is your current favourite ship?
Day 02 - What was your very first ship?
Day 03 - A pairing that needs to happen now?
Day 04 - The pairing with the most chemistry?
Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry?
Day 06 - The best kiss?
Day 07 - The most heartbreaking scene?
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage?
Day 09 - The most believable relationship?
Day 10 - Why aren't these two married in real life?
Day 11 - What is your dream pairing?
Day 12 - Who had the best wedding?
Day 13 - What is your favorite television pairing?
Day 14 - What is your favorite book pairing?
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you've rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The "can't stand the sexual tension anymore" pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever?