#code lyoko love languages

Et voilà! The most difficult one of this whole series, by far, has been Ulrich Stern.

This post is more of an explanation of why I find him hard to pin down rather than a confident declaration of what I think his love languages are.

Receiving: Honestly who tf can say (But I think it's Quality Time?)

Ok. Go with me here. We can rule out Gifts, no problem. Words of Affirmation? Eh. He likes them, but it's not the be all, end all for him since we've seen him brush off Jim and others' compliments.

Acts of Service??? Maybe?? The only example here that comes to mind is Yumi helping him get his diary back? Cute, but not a winner for me.

Now, physical touch??? This was honestly my first thought, but I think that's just him being a teenage boy? @ulrichin put it very nicely, "receiving physical affection from yumi does totally make him melt and his brain go offline for a couple seconds."

Key words here: from Yumi. Not anyone and everyone.

Moving on.

My best guess final answer: Quality Time

This was honestly a surprise to me too but! I think we've got the evidence.

Example 1: Routine

This whole mess started because Yumi turned him down when he wanted to take her out for an ice cream. So what does he do? He finds someone who will hang out with him. That's literally it. All he and Emily seem to do is chat and walk around together. He just wants someone else to want to be around him.

Example 2: Killer Music

This is a great episode where Ulrich learns about "asking for what we want." At the start, Odd is not paying attention to him even though they're both in their room and he gets pissed about it. When Ulrich has some time to cool off though, he voices his feelings and asks Odd to spend time with him studying together.

Example 3:

We don't really have pictures for all of these so I picked my favorite! We know Ulrich likes hanging out and playing video games with Odd. He's also usually the first to volunteer to be a buddy for anyone on a mission - Jeremie's graffiti, all of Yumi's various projects, Odd's band, etc.

There's also this ADORABLE scene where Jeremie calls Yumi, but she just assumes it's Ulrich because apparently he calls her a lot? He really just wants to spend time with the people he loves and I love that for him.

Giving: Also complicated, but I'm going to say probably Acts of Service.

I say "probably" because I think Ulrich might secretly be a Words of Affirmation guy? He's real shy though and we see a lot of examples where his words are not well-received, so I would argue he's learned to be Acts of Service instead.

Example 3.5:

I'll give two quick examples why I think he's naturally a Words-lover. First, his "thank you" to Yumi for getting his diary back is to offer to share what he wrote about her. In his mind, the biggest gift he could give is being honest about how wonderful he thinks she is.

Second, he writes Yumi a poem. Adorable.

Example 4:

Ulrich seems to have a somewhat negative self-image where he wants to use his words or spend time with people, but he feels like he HAS to do Acts of Service for other people to accept his love.

We see this with his parents and soccer. He probably does like soccer, but I think he gets obsessive about it because it's the only way his parents will spend time with him where they're not yelling.

Example 5: End of Take

They are literally always slutting him out! The gang needs someone to babysit the movie director while he's in the factory? Ulrich will do it! Need someone to entertain Sissi? Ulrich will do it!

He doesn't seem to mind, so I guess it's fine? But jeez they're lucky he loves them all so much.

That's all! Let me know what you think!

All right! On to our next loveable LW - Jer-bear!

Receiving: Words of Affirmation

Jeremie being Words of Affirmation was sort of process of elimination for me because he seems to appreciate all of the languages at different points. I went with Words because that's one that he consistently seems to eat up when he gets acknowledged and praised by his friends - whether that's for his skill with the super computer, his planning, or the times he goes out of his way for his friends.

Example 1: Cruel Dilemma

This is an easy one. Aelita is thrilled that he might have found the key to virtualization and she basically calls him a good boy. Aelita or others praising him are really the only time we see him blushing too!

Example 2: Frontier

This episode really did some heavy lifting for me because it's got three separate examples! First picture - this is one of the only times that Aelita is not explicitly delighted with him and she ends their conversation early. He is DEVASTATED. If he's not getting praised, who even is he?

Second picture - Yumi acknowledges how tough the super computer is, and Jeremie feels so validated.

Yumi: Piece of cake?! Hey, this may be easy for you, but it sure isn’t for us! You do all this every time?! Jeremy: Well yeah! What do you think, that I take a nap while you’re on Lyoko?

Last picture - the face of a good boy who just got praised by Aelita

Giving: Acts of Service

This was one I felt pretty confident about! Jeremie just loves so hard but it's easy to miss sometimes because he doesn't verbalize it. Instead, it looks like showing up, using his skills to make his friend's lives easier, and putting himself at risk for them.

Example 3: Also Cruel Dilemma, but this time we see him totally crashing out because he can't do the thing he promised to do.

How will Aelita know I love her if I don't live in front of my computer 24/7 and succeed where no other scientist has succeeded before??

Example 4: Killer Music

This is a two-fer because not only does Jeremie let Ulrich stay with him no questions asked, he's also thinking about Odd and his exam first thing in the morning! He's such a babysitter for these boys.

Jeremie: We can’t let him miss his exam! Ulrich: Yes, we can!

Example 5:

We give Jeremie a hard time for sitting in front of his computer and not being a "real" LW, but he's really out here doing the most! He's brave and always willing to go the extra mile for his friends. I'll just leave these screenshots here to prove this point for me:

Time for the princess herself! I think she's pretty clear? I'm curious to hear if people have other thoughts though.

Receiving: Quality Time

Example 1:

Obviously, this is probably because she's spent most of her life alone in a digital world, but I think she seems to enjoy Jeremie's company more than anything! She also loves having the LWs in Lyoko, even if it's a bad situation.

Example 2: Uncharted Territory

We can also tell what her love language is by how she reacts when she isn't getting it. We see her so upset that she runs away when she feels alone - Ulrich and Odd leave her after she's tricked about the showers, and she can't sit with Yumi at lunch.

Giving: Words of Affirmation

She is so kind! She's always complimenting Jeremie... Part of this might be that she only had her voice for so long, the other languages weren't really available to her. But she's very quick to acknowledge when Jeremie or the others are doing a good job!

Example 3:

Here she is praising Jeremie, Odd, Yumi, etc.

All right! First one, let's go. (Please argue with me! I'd love to chat about these if you're interested)

Receiving: Acts of Service

Yumi, to me, is one of the most straightforward of the group. She's very clear that she is a practical girl - she's doesn't need flowery words, she doesn't need gifts, she doesn't need you hanging around for no reason, and she DEFINITELY does not want you to touch her without permission first.

Instead, be a team player and work with her. Do what you say you're going to do.

Example 1:

In Laughing Fit, Ulrich tries talking, he tries a gift (and they help!) but the real winner for Yumi is when he actually goes with her to talk to her Dad! He gets her a role in a play and performs himself - this makes her life easier and we can see that this is the attempt that she is most receptive to.

Example 2:

Ulrich again, but he's just so helpful! Yumi is just so pleased with him helping her so she can talk about her heritage, it's adorable.

Example 3:

This is sort of a two-fer because it relates to my second point as well. At the end of season 1, Jim really shows up for the group! He keeps their secret, he fights with them, he's just a real pal. Yumi really respects that because it appeals to her overall sense of justice and loyalty.

And we can tell she appreciates it, because she demonstrates her giving love language!

Giving: Physical Touch

Yumi is such a physical communicator. I could make a whole 'nother post about that (and maybe I will) but, for now, I would just like use her kissing Jim as an example of how she expresses love and affection.

She also compliments him! But her instinct in most situations seems to be reaching out physically over anything else.

Example 4:

When Ulrich is upset about Odd going to the hospital in Killer Music, the first thing she does is squeeze his shoulders and snuggle up to him. He's clearly not in the mood right now, but he'll have his own post later so this isn't about him.

Example 5:

I'm not saying Yumi is ALWAYS touching people, but she's definitely the first one to put her arm around someone or initiate a snuggle. I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves.

Ok. I kind of put this one off because I realized what I thought Odd's love language was, and it's the one everyone shits on. Gifts is the most misunderstood love language! (if you believe in love languages)

When I say I think Odd's love language is gifts, I do not mean that I think he is shallow or materialistic. I think that he enjoys new possessions and uses his gift-giving skills to show that he is thinking of someone or knows what sorts of things they would like.

I'm happy to hear arguments and other ideas! Just not "Odd's love language wouldn't be gifts because gifts is a selfish, materialistic love language."

Let's get into it.

Receiving: Gifts

Example 1:

Odd is always into the newest trends and toys! He loves his music player and he loves expressing himself through his clothing.

He also has a whole episode dedicated to his love for gadgets!

RIP Jean-Pierre

Example 2:

He LOVES food. You could argue that food falls under Acts of Service, but I really think he's just as happy with a snack from a vending machine as he would be with a tiny pastry that took 4 hours to make. Rosa is one of his favorite people on campus because she is the food giver! We know it's not fancy food, but he sees it as a kindness anyway.

Giving: Gifts

Example 3:

I really only have one main example here, but I think it's a good one! We have a whole episode focused on Ulrich forgetting Yumi's birthday... You know who remembered Yumi's birthday though?

ODD

Because he's a thoughtful gift-giver. He even offers to use his skills to help Ulrich get a gift that Yumi will actually like! Yeah, the packages got mixed up but that doesn't change the fact that a little silver/red goth necklace is ABSOLUTELY something Yumi would LOVE to get, especially from Ulrich! Odd absolutely nailed it!

And Kiwi probably would have loved the dog bone, but oh well. I guess that's Yumi's now.