Here And Now 1x02

Trowa, Lady Une's favorite boy.

Nichole : Isn't that damn kid a Gundam pilot!?

Lady Une : Shut up!!

Trowa : .....

Without a doubt my favorite part of the opening. I love how she looks up into the light, then to the side with her hair billowing behind her. I don’t know what it is about the animation, but I adore it. My fondness for elaborate uniforms may also factor in.

On a more meta level, this part with Relena and Heero also gives us a glimpse of the upcoming Cinq arc. Relena takes up the Peacecraft name to promote Total Pacifism and Quatre and Heero join her to protect Cinq. The above displays Relena’s duality as a Peacecraft and Darlian beautifully with her wearing her Cinq uniform, but sporting her “Relena Darlian” hairdo. She is still Relena, as the hair shows, but she will begin using the Peacecraft name from now on and act as the kingdom’s monarch, as we see from the uniform.

With Mrs. Noventa’s plea in her letter to build a better future in mind, Relena will take center stage in this arc and become a new hope for peace for many people, which is reflected in the animation by her facing upward in a hopeful manner while bathing in light.

Contrasting that is Heero, who is sitting in the shadows, almost brooding, facing the other way and having a blue Cinq uniform draped over his shoulders.

We learn in the final episodes from Relena herself that Heero was the one who gave her the strength to carry on, and even during the Cinq arc we see Relena ask his advice and try to understand his reasoning for fighting. So it makes sense that Relena, while facing the sky first, turns her head and glances at him. Heero doesn’t, reflecting his initial rejection of the Peacecraft’s ideals.

Heero facing the other way also makes sense because where Relena is promoting Total Pacifism, he is fighting on the battlefield. I take him sitting down and being somewhat slumped as a nod to him being down in the dumps during this arc, too. The colonies betrayed him and he is fighting petty battles as a mercenary to get back at Romefeller, knowing full well that his resistance is futile and that he is just too sore to let it go. In contrast, Relena is standing tall and confidently, reflecting her approach in this arc.

This is also reflected by the background. The ground is full of rubble from the destruction from previous battles, which is why Heero is sitting, being on that lower part of the frame, too. Relena stands, just like the ornate, intact structures that rise from the rubble.

Last thing is Heero’s blue Cinq uniform. Noin has a blue uniform and she is an Imperial Guard, protecting the country. Heero takes a similar position to Noin’s fighting for Cinq on various occasions, but unlike Noin or Quatre he is not as devoted. Hence why the uniform is only draped over his shoulders as opposed to him wearing it.

…Man, even I never noticed how much thought went into this short part of the opening until I sat down and typed this. Gundam Wing does subtlety amazingly well and this is just another instance of it. The whole arc is explained in 13 seconds! Hats off.

I am laughing so hard oh my god clickhole

How to make a character's death sadder

 Don’t have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people don’t even think of this as sad (note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors).

 Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing the goal, the sadder.

 Give them strong relationships with other characters.

 Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.

 Kill them in the middle of their character arc.

 Don’t describe their funeral in detail. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that long descriptions of funerals kill the sadness.

Teehee. Gundam memery.

Relena: I want to hear those three little words.

Heero: I love you.

Relena: That’s sweet, but try again.

Heero: Fine. I will behave.

You may be verified on Twitter, but are you verified in the eyes of God?

Duo as a priest

What an instigator. Not to mention subtle relationship hinting. 

Common Phrases Correctly

Description: Kissing and Smiling

Anonymous asked: I’m having a problem when it comes to describing kisses and smiles without using the word lips and still sound natural. Usually, I don’t mind the word, but it seems like I’ve been using it far too often in my writing, especially when it comes to smiles or smirks. Do you have anything to help with that?

Writing smiles and kisses without using the word “lips” is pretty tricky, but it can be done. Just don’t go overboard in trying to avoid using the word. Lips are crucial to both of those actions, so you can’t avoid them entirely. One thing to keep in mind with describing kisses is that lips touching lips or skin isn’t the only thing going on. Hands are roaming, hearts are speed-thumping, and hormones are going crazy–so just spending a little time on what else is going on will both flesh out and lengthen the scene without having to keep describing what the lips are doing. Smiling, at least, gives us a little more to work with. For one thing, there are multiple ways to indicate that someone is smiling:

grinning

beaming

laughing

giggling

chuckling

simpering

sneering

There are also many ways to describe the face of someone who is smiling:

face brightened

face glowing

eyes lit up/sparkled/twinkled

looking delighted/happy/amused/pleased/satisfied

cheeks dimpled

upturned face

And there are ways to describe what the mouth is doing when someone smiles:

mouth upturned

mouth twitched (quick smile)

mouth quirked/quirked up/quirked at the corners

mouth twists with [emotion]

And, instead of smiling, you could describe other visible aspects of the emotion causing them to smile:

doing things with enthusiasm

a bounce in their step, skipping, dancing

swinging arms, tapping feet

showing interest

happy tears

fist-pump, clapping, moving excited

Also, internal aspects that the person smiling might be feeling:

radiating joy

lighthearted

feeling good

being content

(with thanks to The Emotion Thesaurus for help here…) Here are some additional resources for you: Kissing Scenes How to Write a Kissing Scene via letsvvrite Pucker Up! via WriteWorld 5 Steps to Writing the Perfect Kissing Scene via Miss Literati Describing Character Reactions And Emotions: She Smiled, He Frowned