#Magic and Misunderstandings is the new name of the role playing game

[princecharmingtobe]

I find it frustrating that when talking about settings like The Forgotten Realms, a lot of people seem to misunderstand the place, frequency, and power of clerics.

"In a world with clerics and healing magic, why is there even illness, or disability? Why don't the clerics just heal everyone of everything?"

Well, for a multitude of reasons.

Clerics are meant to be rare. I think a lot of people assume that like, all clergy are clerics or seek to become clerics, that every church and temple has a cleric or several clerics on call. They're rare! You don't just read a book, say a few prayers, and get all powerful divine magic. You have to be deemed worthy to wield the divine favor of your god/s in their name, in service to their will.

Powerful clerics able to use the more powerful magic often cited in these arguments are even more rare. "Why would disability even exist in a world with the Regenerate spell?" idk probably because it's a 7th level spell, so you have to be level 13 or higher just to cast it. So in a world where even being a cleric is rare, being a level 13+ cleric is VERY rare.

Such powerful spells are often difficult to cast in succession (spell slots) and often require rare and expensive materials to cast. Clerics aren't just healers, but often warriors as well, and their ability to cast the spells they have may be a limited resource that they have to be careful with for their own sake. I'll give a personal example: In a game I was in as a cleric, we came upon a village stricken with illness (and famine and other things). Their leader was corrupt, and we sought to remove him from power. But in order to do so, we needed the support of the rest of the village, lest they accept a new leader from the same corrupt source. I made a big gamble: I went around and blew ALL of my spell slots curing people of their illness and injuries. This was a gamble because if we ended up in combat, a very real possibility, I would be pretty much useless, especially because my character had a curse (that was resistant to Remove Curse) that reflected all damage he inflicted back onto him, so he played a purely support role. He relied heavily on his magic. The gamble paid off, and we won the day because of it, but there was a moment I was holding my breath waiting to find out if I'd made a fatal mistake by healing all those people instead of conserving my magic.

This rant brought to you by a guy saying it made no sense to even worship the gods when a single cleric has the power to solve most peoples' everyday problems, so why not just worship them. Yeah.

[anthonybialy]

For Beta or Worse

Society’s not improving under the stewardship of unpleasant guys pretending to be swell.  The future isn’t progressive.  Beta brutes embody the most unfortunate of tendencies in these prehistoric modern times while trying feebly to contain their cavemen urges.  Pretending to care is not a new trick.  Civilization is plagued by the toxic lack of masculinity.

I hate to be cynical in the assessment of faux sensitive fellows who express admiration for ladies by wallowing in the worst stereotypes of femininity.  Actually, I revel in it.  Jaded distrust should always remain a characteristic of every gender and especially the one who can rank Jackass movies.  

Prehistoric modern men engage in the worst sort of ulterior motive, namely an attempt to make ladies wrongly believe they’re worth a special hug.  Sucking up may not enable scoring.  The only thing that could be even more repulsive about their alleged game is pretending to be wholesome.  At least be honest about creepiness.

Showing how deeply concerned they are convinces nobody, including their intended conquests.  Enlightened dudes who don’t give in to troglodytical impulses are quite nasty in their rage.

The truly tolerant enjoy targeting anyone who dares not submit to current conventional wisdom, which is unconventional and unwise.  Enervated guys make a show of allegedly being allies, which is now defined as pandering paired with virtue-signaling.  They wish someone would print t-shirts that announce how sensitive they are so they could stop trying to stick out their chests.

Nurturing fellows illustrate the new style of grit by going after the most successful female author ever.  Impugning fictional wizard creator and real-world biology follower J.K. Rowling reflects dedication to adoring women so much that a man can become one just by declaring such.   The audacity to question the science of announcing a gender switcheroo is a far greater offense in these enlightened times than antiquated crimes like shoplifting and mugging.

The expect on spells committed the crime of noticing no magic can alter biology.  Science’s enemies flaunt how courageous they are on behalf of women by proclaiming joining their ranks is a decision.  Assailing those who wonder if the apparent delusion is really happening is one way to be accepting.  Sexist barbarians think men can’t infringe on womanhood by switching sides.

The only group of genetic males worse than embracers of genuinely phony empathy are fake alphas.  Alleged strength without righteous focus was bad enough at Limp Bizkit concerts.

Focusing on winning at all costs isn’t merely a wholesale misunderstanding of how a backbone functions: the lack of a noble guiding principle leads to humiliations like losing to Joe Biden.  It’d be much more amusing if everyone else didn’t have to endure results.

The feebleness of intended imposed changes offers the only consolation.  As with fuming crab Biden failing to implement his ghastly agenda, ineffectiveness is a blessing when it affects twerps.

Craving resolve without displaying it leads to regrettable results like flaccid bully Putin as some sort of vigorous adventurer.  For alpha males, they sure spend lots of time worshiping guys they think are dreamy.

Presidents leave legacies, often unfortunately.  Donald Trump of course typifies role-playing as a virile stud to those who enjoy being suckered.  The former steak salesman and federal executive has spent his lifetime portraying himself as the standard of manliness.

Doing what he thinks you think he should be is undoubtedly virile.  Focus on image like a true independently rugged human.  The perpetual pouter turned the inability to beat Joe freaking Biden into a flaccid riot.  Indignant broheims couldn’t even mount an insurrection properly.

The need to be ranked surely doesn’t mask overcompensation.  Allegedly charming specimens whine like vegans at steakhouses.  Constantly needing to proclaim they’re at the top tier is itself a sign of insecurity.  Players with tells never recognize any of them.

Like Three Stooges shorts, the plot isn’t tricky.  At least the male idiocy when Moe takes his frustration out on Larry’s ineptness is deliberate.  Testosterone lightweights act in a manner they perceive to be feminine, which is the most insulting treatment around.

Women can spot pandering in order to lamely try to seduce them.  Sometimes, the effort applies to convincing them to vote, which is even sleazier.  Presuming all women are cool with aborting the inconvenient is for cloaked predators in multiple senses.

Insincerity has never been truer.  The modern anti-roughhousing guy says whatever he thinks women want to hear.  Like how communism and fascism are alleged opposites that end up with identical tyranny, the false tough and truly delicate guys should form an alliance with a limp handshake.

Illiberal liberal fellows trade in ironic sexism.  Technical males seethe without possessing the physical strength or mental fortitude to act commendably.  They offer the best of both worlds otherwise.  Pretending pushups put to good use causes societal ills has led to anger without moral focus.  Emasculation somehow didn’t create strength.

[dan6085]

BIRD AND MAGIC:

Larry Bird is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was born on December 7, 1956, in West Baden Springs, Indiana. He grew up in French Lick, Indiana, and was a standout basketball player in high school. Bird went on to play college basketball at Indiana State University, where he became a three-time All-American and led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship game in 1979.

After college, Bird was selected sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1978 NBA Draft. He quickly became the face of the franchise and led the Celtics to three NBA championships in the 1980s. Bird was known for his incredible shooting ability, his unselfish play, and his intense competitiveness. He was a ten-time All-Star, a three-time MVP, and a three-time NBA champion.

Bird was one of the most complete players in NBA history. He could score from anywhere on the court, rebound, pass, and play defense. He was also a master of the mental game, using his intelligence and competitiveness to gain an advantage over his opponents. Bird was a great leader on and off the court, and his work ethic and dedication set an example for his teammates.

Bird's most famous rivalry was with Earvin "Magic" Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers. The two players met in the NBA Finals three times in the 1980s, and their battles helped to revive interest in the NBA. Bird and Johnson were both incredibly talented and competitive, and their rivalry brought out the best in each other.

Injuries began to take their toll on Bird in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He missed significant time due to back problems and retired from the NBA in 1992. Bird went on to become a successful coach and executive, leading the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals in 2000 and 2004.

Bird's legacy extends far beyond his playing career. He was a pioneer for white players in the NBA, proving that skin color did not dictate talent or ability. He was also a role model for young players, showing that hard work and dedication could lead to success on and off the court. Bird's impact on the game of basketball is undeniable, and his name will always be synonymous with greatness.

In conclusion, Larry Bird is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was a ten-time All-Star, a three-time MVP, and a three-time NBA champion. Bird's incredible shooting ability, unselfish play, and intense competitiveness made him one of the most complete players in NBA history. His rivalry with Magic Johnson helped to revive interest in the NBA, and his legacy as a pioneer and role model will always be remembered. Larry Bird's impact on the game of basketball will continue to be felt for generations to come.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was born on August 14, 1959, in Lansing, Michigan. Johnson grew up playing basketball and became a star player at Everett High School. He went on to play college basketball at Michigan State University, where he led the Spartans to the NCAA championship in 1979.

After college, Johnson was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1979 NBA Draft. He quickly became one of the most popular and successful players in the league, leading the Lakers to five NBA championships in the 1980s. Johnson was known for his incredible passing ability, his unselfish play, and his infectious personality. He was a 12-time All-Star, a three-time MVP, and a five-time NBA champion.

Johnson was one of the most versatile players in NBA history. He could play any position on the court and was a master of the fast break. He was also a great leader on and off the court, and his charisma and positive attitude helped to make him one of the most popular players in the league.

In 1991, Johnson announced that he had contracted HIV and would retire from the NBA. Many people were shocked and saddened by the news, and there was a great deal of fear and misunderstanding about the disease at the time. Johnson became a spokesperson for HIV/AIDS awareness and worked to educate people about the disease. He also founded the Magic Johnson Foundation, which provides funding for HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs, as well as other charitable causes.

In 1992, Johnson returned to the NBA for the All-Star Game and received a standing ovation from the crowd. He went on to play for the U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" in the 1992 Summer Olympics, helping to lead the team to a gold medal.

After retiring from basketball, Johnson became a successful businessman and entrepreneur. He owns several businesses, including a chain of movie theaters and a stake in the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Johnson is also a philanthropist and has been involved in numerous charitable causes throughout his career.

In conclusion, Magic Johnson is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and a true icon of the sport. He was a 12-time All-Star, a three-time MVP, and a five-time NBA champion. Johnson's incredible passing ability, unselfish play, and infectious personality made him one of the most beloved players in NBA history. His work as a spokesperson for HIV/AIDS awareness and his charitable work have also made him a role model off the court. Magic Johnson's impact on the game of basketball and on society as a whole will continue to be felt for generations to come.

[warau-sun]

Episode 5

This is an episode with no warning.

The girls go on about the day and Tori checks a new character called Paulina.

The show's subtitle in many materials markets WAS as "A story to find where you are."

If we expand on that and take an overtly philosophical angle, this can be taken to mean one's philosophy of life.

Aristotle in Nichomachean ethics describes three common philosophies of life,

Honor.

Simple happiness (pursuit of joy).

Contemplation.

In this interpretation, ethics is the way in which one pursues eudamonia- the end goal of life.

Mel's goal thus is clearly the second! The question of what we should do today-is a hidden inquiry into life, which Mel immediately decides should be about doing something fun.

Picatrix immediately decides her life philosophy is to be closer to her ideal self-virtue or honor.

Tori simply inquires (perhaps this is in tone with Tori's role in episode 1-2) and finds the new character. That one clearly represents the third.

They then form groups and go around the campus. Truly striking.

Paulina's character embodies the Socratic method to such an extent it's clear the writers are aware of this. It's almost a Socrates expy. She expresses common sentiments among learners-that the more you learn the more you realize how much you don't know. Paulina's catchphrase is similar to,

"All I know is that I know nothing." - Socrates

Mel decides it's a good use of time to play hide-and-seek, discusses urban legends (at this point Al thinks an urban legend might be created from a misunderstanding in the previous episode) and finds Abra.

A lot of analysis time was spent on the hide-and-seek game. I looked at this hide-and-seek game exhaustively to make sure I had not missed anything and this post had to be delayed.

You could make a game out of trying to pinpoint where the characters are at which time and that in itself is almost its own hide-and-seek game. You get the idea.

Abra is the only one whose initial plan turns out wrong and then is found by Mel. This may be just because I read it some while back but later it cuts to them meeting at the hall. Then, they agree it was Tori that "found" them. This ends the game. I wondered if there were some similarities to Umineko. It's very similar to the scene when the game ends and it cuts to the Golden Land and they meet a witch behind it all. They then make a few meta-commentaries and point that mystery novels and fantasy might have something in common. Clearly, you might try to see the game through this lens. Maybe Tori is the witch then and Abra had a fake alibi, etc. Let us not get sidetracked, we're not here to analyse Umineko.

WAS and free will

What even is Abra's perspective in this? Abra is not in any group nor does she present a particular worldview.

"The practical magic of Abramelin ... centres around a set of talismans composed of magic word squares."

Abra then is named after a book centered around puzzles.

However, the books Abra cites are important. Abra goes to the library to find two books and if you look it up one of them was an important breakthrough in astrophysics while the other was the precursor to horoscopes.

Why those two books?

Surely, this could be to provide an esoteric perspective on the game, or even put forth some idea of destiny or fantasy to it.

You might even extrapolate it to be an inquiry on free will. The motion of stars is here compared to the life of a human. (I believe this is brought up again in a later episode).

If the motion of the planets can be explained, is it the same for the path taken by each of our protagonists through the game-through which we can see their motion aswell as their philosophies? Are our protagonists stars? Was the entire game set in stone? If the motion of these stars is explained-the entire thing may have been pre-ordained either by physics or some concept of 'destiny'.

#warau arsnotoria sun! #warau arsnotoria sun #abramelin #anime #anime analysis

[kalicofox]

Taako and Angus go component shopping in Angus’ favorite apothecary. Vanishing for months does have consequences, kid.

@fireflymoonfox - you were warned...

---------

Neverwinter was a decently large city. By the standards of Faerun, it was the city; big and bustling and full of places that a small boy could expect to find reasonable amounts of trouble.

Angus McDonald loved Neverwinter.

To be more precise, Angus McDonald loved the city of Neverwinter. The people, on the other hand, he could have happily lived without. It wasn't that they were terrible people or anything, but apparently it was impossible for an adult to see a child competently handling the investigation of a series of grisly murders without thinking that the child was somehow damaged. Or something.

Angus didn't really understand the problem, but going to work for the Bureau of Balance had shown him a completely different world of social interactions.

Not one of his co-workers treated him as anything less than a capable person in his own right. No one tried to keep him away from the realities of what they were dealing with, or tried to stop him from reading the material that was necessary for his research, or kept things from him 'for his own good'. It was so refreshing that Angus had spent the first two weeks of his employment drifting around in a cloud of happiness.

When he was assigned as the Seeker Liaison to the THB, he'd been sworn to do the best job of any Seeker in the history of the Bureau. Taako, Magnus, and Merle had all been really mean to him on the train, but they'd also been really cool. Angus was determined to make himself indispensable to the three.

Unfortunately, they didn't actually seem to need him around. Even flying by the seat of their pants they managed to scrape through any situation they came up against. The one time they actually called on him for help, Angus got them in trouble for cheating and the Stones of Farspeech promptly stopped working.

Angus had been terrified that they'd died, and some small part of his mind had been positive that the Bureau was going to throw him out on his ear. He'd just lost them their only Reclaimers, after all.

But then they'd come back, bickering and biting commentary and just as wonderfully awful as they'd ever been.

Angus had silently resolved to never put them in that position ever again.

He had to be better.

He'd meant it, after all, when he'd said that he loved them. It was a strange, twisty love that he wasn't sure how to handle, but he did love them.

Asking Taako to teach him magic had been a weird, wild impulse, but it had paid off almost instantly. Learning from such an accomplished wizard had driven his studies further, faster than he could have dreamed. Sure, he had to do a lot of the theory work on his own, since Taako tended to gloss over theory with overly complicated explanations that didn't actually make sense, or with airy handwaves and "don't worry about it"s, but that was fine. Angus was used to doing bookwork on his own time.

Besides, all of that led him to where he was now, leading Taako through the streets of Neverwinter towards the Merchant's Quarter.

"So what you gotta know about components," Taako was saying, swinging his umbrella idly, "Is that there's the standard components, and then there's the ones that work for you, you dig?" Taako didn't wait for a response, instead continuing the absent minded lecture. "Take Grease. Some books say to use pork rind, some say to use butter. I use butter 'cause I can just transmute that shit out of whatever and it works fine. Also, pork rinds are fucking disgusting. But Sleep is different! Sleep," he said, gesturing grandly and nearly hitting another passerby in the face with his umbrella, "is commonly accepted to have three different possible components. Those are...?"

"Fine sand, rose petals, or a cricket." Angus replied promptly, glancing up just in time to catch the brief flash of pride across his teacher's face.

"Right," Taako agreed, pausing with his hand on Angus' shoulder as a riderless horse bolted down the street. Several shouting men chased after it, and after the entire procession was past he gently shoved Angus forwards again. "But I don't use any of those."

Angus frowned. "You don't? But Sir, I've seen you cast Sleep, what component do you use?"

"Technically it's two components," Taako said smugly, "But the combination makes my sleep spells stronger, so they last longer."

"What are they?" Angus asked again, and Taako grinned at him, then caught sight of a sign half a block away from them and lengthened his stride.

Angus tried to lengthen his stride as well, but ended up having to trot after Taako, dodging around other pedestrians as best he could while trying to keep up.

Ducking into the small, odd smelling storefront was something of a relief, and Angus took a deep breath of the familiar scent, then let it out with a small, happy hum.

"This is the Apothecary you said was the best in Neverwinter?" Taako asked looking around at the barrels and jars and piles of herbs and potions and components that filled the plain wooden room.

"Oh yes, Sir. Teakin always had what I was looking for when I needed something of an experiment, or to help solve a case! If you need to restock your component supply, this is definitely the best place!" Angus hesitated for a moment, torn between wanting to tug Taako further into the store so he could show him the tiny flasks of liquid gold that were cool to the touch, and not wanting to invade Taako's swath of personal space.

"Hmm..." Taako's eyes half shut, and he took a deep, testing breath in through his nose, then let it out slowly through his mouth. When his eyes opened fully again, the expression on his face was oddly considering.

"All right Ango," he said, "Since you know the place so well, then I gue-"

"Angus?"

The voice was just as Angus remembered it. Deep, gravely, and somehow as inviting as a warm fire after a long day out in the rain. Angus didn't even bother to conceal his glee as he turned to greet the speaker.

"Mr. Teakin! Hi! How are you?"

Teakin, huge and grizzled and still wearing the stained leather apron that Angus had never seen him without scowled thunderously at him. "How am I?" he demanded, and leveled one thick finger at him. "How about this, boyo, how about this? How about you tell me why you vanish off the face of Faerun with no word to the wise about any trip or nothing, and then pop up all 'Hi Mr. Teakin, how are you?' ? How about that, huh? Where the hell have you been, boyo?"

Angus flushed and carefully avoided looking up at Taako.

"I, ah... I got a job?" he tried, and Teakin's eyes narrowed, shifting from Angus to Taako.

"Really."

Angus tried to ignore the flatness in Teakin's voice, "Oh yes, it's great! I get to learn all sorts of fascinating things, and meet so many amazing people, I love it a lot!"

"You do, do you?"

Teakin's face had started to turn red, and Angus looked up at Taako. Maybe Mr. Taaco was doing something to antagonize Teakin? It was sort of a thing he did to most people, so-

But no. Taako's face was hard and cold. His arms were crossed, and his fingers were caressing the handle of his umbrella where it hung from his arm with an absently dangerous air.

"Um."

Now Angus was close to panicking. "Um... Oh! This is my teacher, Mr. Taaco! He's teaching me magic!"

Narrowed eyes moved back from Taako back to him, studying his face.

"Magic?"

Angus nodded earnestly, "Oh yes, Mr. Taaco is very good at magic, and at teaching. I can already do two whole first level spells!"

"Barely." Taako said automatically, "Ya still need some work on Sleep, boychik."

But now the two adults were relaxing; Teakin plopping heavily onto the stool behind him and leaning forward to prop his elbows on the counter in front of him and Taako uncrossing his arms and going back to using his umbrella as a cane replacement.

"Magic huh," Teakin said thoughtfully, then, "You'll be wanting components then?"

"That was the idea." Taako agreed lightly, "Ango-Jango said that this place was the best in Neverwinter."

Teakin snorted, "Try the best on the Sword Coast. Me 'n the family grow 'n harvest most of our stock ourselves. Whatever we don't have, we can get."

One of Taako's eyebrows arched skeptically, but he pulled a slip of parchment out of his sleeve and stalked off down one of the aisles of shelves.

"Sorry for forgetting to tell you," Angus offered sheepishly, and Teakin waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, but next time make sure you drop us a line, okay?"

"Yessir!" Angus chirped, then jumped when Taako stomped back out of the shelves and caught him by the collar before dragging him back the way he'd come.

In the split second Angus had before his view was obscured by shelving, he could have sworn that Teakin was trying to smother an amused smile behind his hand.

Angus watched as Taako picked and pulled things out of crates and bins, tested the consistency of salves and oils between his fingers, and sniffed everything as critically as any schoolmarm looking for flaws she might be able to criticize. In the end, however, one thing after the next passed inspection and was thrust unceremoniously into Angus' arms. When they finally made it back up to the front of the store, Angus could barely see over the pile and Taako had to put everything on the counter because if Angus' grip had shifted even minutely it all would have ended up on the ground.

And then.

Then came the haggling.

And Angus was stuck watching in half horrified awe as Taako turned into a monster.

Everything was in question. The spices weren't at peak freshness. The oil was slightly off. The scent in the candles was more rose than magnolia, and did Teakin really expect to be able to get four silvers for an ounce of gryphon blood?

In the end, neither men looked satisfied. But Taako still forked over the amount they'd agreed on, and Teakin still wrapped everything up in thick brown paper and even tossed in a bag for Angus to carry everything in, and somehow, as soon as it was all over, they were smiling at each other.

"Ya got good shit here." Taako said waving airily at the shop, "Nice doin' business with ya."

"You're one hell of a hard ass," Teakin said, shaking his head and trying to hide his grin, "feel free to come back any time, as long as you bring Angus along. I gotta make sure you're taking care of the kid."

"Yeah sure." Taako agreed breezily, and swept out of the store, hooking the curve of his umbrella around Angus's upper arm in passing and pulling him along.

Angus barely managed to get out his farewell before the door slammed shut behind him and Taako's umbrella unhooked from his arm.

Angus managed to hold it back for half a block before he broke.

"Sir, with all due respect what the hell was that!?"

"Hmm?" Taako glanced down at him, eyebrows raised questioningly, "What was what?"

"That!" Angus waved his free hand back toward Teakin's apothecary.

"Oh that." Taako turned back to watching where he was walking, studiously nonchalant. "Honey, when you're on the road as much as I am you learn a few tricks to getting the best out of skinflint merchants."

"But you never do that to Garfield!" Angus protested, and Taako snorted delicately.

"Garfield never implied that I-" He glanced down at Angus again, and his mouth snapped shut. "I don't really care about dealing with Garfield. The dude creeps me the hell out."

"I see." Angus said, carefully filing away the unfinished sentence in the back of his mind so that he could mull it over later, in private. "Could you teach me?"

Taako startled, actually pausing mid stride so that he could look at Angus head on.

"What?"

"Will you teach me to bargain?" Angus said patiently, "Obviously it's a skill I'm going to need in the future, and if you teach me, then I can go and get whatever components that we both need if you can't for some reason, and-"

"Yeah sure." Taako interrupted, "But later. Not now, yeah? We've already got all the shit we need, so we should head back before the idiots manage to walk off the edge of the goddamn moon or something."

"Yes Sir!" Angus agreed happily, and fell in step with Taako, trying not to grin when he noticed that the elf had shortened his stride so that the two of them could walk side by side.

#taz #taz spoilers #Angus McDonald #Taako Taaco #Magic and Misunderstandings is the new name of the role playing game #writing

[opalmaplehibiscus]

Information as to Why Twisted Wonderland is NOT an Otome or Dating Sims Game

Hello Everyone! It’s been a while~ ヾ(•ω•`)o I finally found the courage to write Twisted Wonderland content after what happened a couple months ago, when I literally just came back, and while writing a couple of analysis I thought I would write this as an informative rather than an actual analysis of the game.

DISCLAIMER: This post is NOT by any means demeaning otome games or dating sims whatsoever. This was written to clear the misunderstanding people had on the genre of Twisted Wonderland and that anyone should be allowed to be play without feeling restricted or thinking it’s not something they want to try because of misunderstandings. Do NOT use this post as a source to offend people but please use it to inform others.

It’s no longer old news that Twisted Wonderland frequently gets called an “otome game” or dating sims by people who never played the game before. People on twitter, youtube, and even those that were trying to or supposed to advertise the game have often categorized it as such. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal had people recognize and acknowledge that the game isn’t after being explained to about it, but after hearing their arguments as to why they refuse to change how they think about it, the frustration pent up for nearly a year has finally bubbled over.  Buckle your seats everyone cause today is the day this argument ends once and for all!

First off, let’s start off with what makes an otome/dating-sims an otome/dating sim. Both are very similar, where, according to Japan’s Wikipedia, Nico dictionary, Kotobanks, and many more Japanese dictionary sites, otome games (i.e. 乙女ゲーム)  are games which includes a female MC who has the opportunity to attract the very attractive male characters in the game and enter a love route with each of them separately or harem-like. Dating sims are a bit different. Dating sims (i.e. 恋愛シミュレーションゲーム)  falls into to two definitions with the first one being the exact reversal of otome: MC being male, the love interest characters being very attractive females. The second definition is the one many are familiar with – a romantic visual novel. Believe it or not the first definition is the original definition of what dating-sim games are, the second meaning derived from many attempts of using the term “dating-sim” incorrectly by the English speaking gamers to the point society now believes it’s the actual meaning.

However, this difference doesn’t change that both otome and dating sims are very close. Both genres include gender-specific MC(s) (there’s been games where a player can play either male or female), handsome/beautiful characters with their respective love routes, and a main plot to follow. In addition to this, when the game is in mobage format, there’s going to be showers of fan service in the form of events and gacha-cards, though, arguably, it doesn’t change the fact that the MCs would still be interacting with the characters romantically.

So, from the explanation written above, Twisted Wonderland falls into that category, right? Sorry not sorry, that’s wrong. Sure, Twisted Wonderland has many characters to swoon over since…I mean…they’re drawn and written by Yana Toboso and her staff and…there hasn’t been anyone so far who had the capability of saying no to characters she personally had drawn or created. But! It doesn’t mean that the game is a dating sim or otome.

One of the reasons Twisted Wonderland isn’t one of them is how the game is set up. There are no routes the MC can enter nor can the MC pick and choose which characters to focus on in general. Like FGO and Granblue Fantasy, the MC solely follows the main plot and has to interact with all the characters they’re introduced to whether they like it or not. The same logic is applied when playing events – the MC will be participating and talking to all the characters involved in the event. Not once does the game give the opportunity for the MC to choose who they can talk to and participate in the event with the person they chose. The only time it’ll be one-on-one is, most of the time, getting the desired character’s card through gacha or when the event sets the story where the MC has no choice but to talk to a character one-to-one. For the latter though, the MC isn’t going to be able to wish for the character they want to talk to – it’s completely random and up to the writers who they want the MC to interact with.

For otome and dating-sims alike, especially in mobage format, the MC has the opportunity to choose who they wish to focus on and interact solely with the characters they chose whether it’s the main story, event, and card story. It can even be arguably said that otome and dating sims focus solely on the MC and their love interest interaction more than anything else. As for Twisted Wonderland, again, that does not happen. Twisted Wonderland, in addition to progressing the main story and revealing more about the characters involved, focuses on everyone’s interaction with each other including the NPCs. The game shows the other characters that aren’t interacting with the MC talking to other characters and what role they were playing while the MC was busy with the group the writer had them interact with during that time. Even in the card stories, most of the card stories involve more character-to-character interaction rather than MC-to-character interaction.

Speaking of which, the MC in Twisted Wonderland, the game, is gender ambiguous.  Not once did the game developers and story writers mentions the MC as a specific gender like the other romance games. Heck, most of the characters don’t even use a gender-specific pronoun such as 彼女 (“kanojo” = she) or  彼 (“kare” = he) when referring to the MC. They usually refer to the MC by their given position, 監督生 ( “kantokusei”  = prefect). The only exception is when the game’s mascot and MC’s buddy, Grim (the blue-fire monster), who uses あいつ ( “aitsu”) which is a gender neutral pronoun that holds the vague meaning of “that one” or “that person”. There’s also the fact that the MC’s default name is ユウ (“Yuu”), which is name used by either genders in Japan and how the MC uses gender neutral pronouns when regarding themselves  as 自分 (“jibun”) and others as 貴方/あなた (“anata”).

Even during the official advertisement, official summary, official game archive book ( i.e., Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives), and posts made by the staff on twitter, not once did they specify the gender of the MC. In fact, they never once even specified the gender of the audience they’re targeting the game towards nor say anything about there being romance or any hints of harem-esque situations that involves the MC in any shape or form. The most “direct” statement made by Twisted Wonderland’s staff was from an email a fellow Twisted Wonderland fan had sent to the staff after a magazine had advertised the game as “Disney’s first game for women”. The email from the staff mentions that they wanted the game to be enjoyed by everyone, REGARDLESS OF GENDER. (link to said post here)

If they had any intentions of making the game otome-like or dating sim-like, Aniplex, Disney, and Twisted Wonderland staff would’ve mentioned that the game has romance or the possibility for there being romance when releasing the story summary, game system set up, and their ads. Not only would they have done that to get the audience they wish to target but speaking of it legally, they are required to mention it since there’s liability on their part on informing their customers on anything they need to know in regard to the game they’re playing. Age restrictions, fees, game play, and the like – Twisted Wonderland also had to go through the same process like any other visual novel games to be developed and released.

In a way, Twisted Wonderland can be seen as another Touken Ranbu or KanColle, but with an actual main story plot to progress through. All three games’ MCs are gender ambiguous, great characters to throw-er-spend money on, and have fun game plays. Sure, unlike Touken Ranbu and KanColle, where their MCs continues to be gender ambiguous in their anime and manga adaptation, Twisted Wonderland’s MC in the manga adaptation ended up being male – however, a statement was released by Yana revealed that the MC in the game and the MC for the manga are not the same people. (Link here) Meaning, the “real” or “official” MC’s gender continues to be gender ambiguous for the sake of continuing to attract all genders to play the game.

All of this being said, Twisted Wonderland is a fun, visual novel game and supposed to be enjoyed by everyone – each to their own way and passion. No one shouldn’t be discouraged from playing it solely because of false advertisements or misconceptions made by others who haven't played the game yet.

I hope this clears things up and hopefully helps others persuade people into playing the game! 

#twst #twisted wonderland #game info

[blouisparadise]

Although most of us aren’t able to go on vacation at the moment, we hope this rec list will make everyone feel a bit better than that. Upon request, here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics where Harry, Louis, or both boys go on vacation at some point during the fic. Happy reading!

1) This Is Where I Sleep | Explicit | 3678 words

Harry and Louis go camping while on break and make some memories.

2) Under the Vanilla Sky | Explicit | 8006 words

Who the hell wears a hat like that on a yacht?  That's one of the things Louis thinks when he sees Harry from across the deck of the most expensive, ridiculous boat he's ever been on.  He also thinks he'd like to get closer.  Just to see what's under those aviators.  Just to verify that, yes, in fact, those white swim trunks might be a little see-through when wet.  Just to see if someone could really be that hot in real life.  On a yacht.  In the Caribbean sea just off the coast of St. Barts.  

Here's what really happened on that yacht.

Or, my opinion, at least.

3) Rather This Than Live Without You | Explicit | 10715 words

Harry decides to give it all up. Louis refuses to be left behind.

4) Ready To Run | Explicit | 11940 words

After being left at the alter by his boyfriend of five years, Louis goes on a vacation to try and clear his head and fill the empty spaces in his heart. On the way, he meets a new group of life-long friends, and maybe a little more than that.

5) I Know You Have A Heavy Heart (I Can Feel It When We Kiss) | Explicit | 14489 words | Sequel

In which Louis is spending New Year’s alone in France but he’s definitely not running away, and Harry is a french florist with an ever present smile who cares a lot. They meet a cold night in the outskirts of Paris.

6) Don’t Put Out The Glow | Not Rated | 15007 words

"He fists out a pair of skinny jeans and a plain black tee. Nothing wrong there. Then he sees an atrocious Hawaiian shirt in Zayn’s hand and he starts digging through the bag urgently, pulling out more and more items that don’t belong to him."

7) Pleasure Over Matter | Explicit | 152014 words

Harry is a bit out of his element, and an unsuspecting stranger provides him temporary relief.

8) All I Want Is To Fall With You | Mature | 16254 words

The weekend ski trip where omega Louis discovers that he can’t change a tire and his skiing skills are debatable but still manages to find the alpha who will change his life.

9) Some Flowers In Your Hair | Explicit | 23015 words

A magical camping AU in which Louis is jealous of Harry's magic, Liam's a little too enthusiastic about surviving in the wilderness, and Niall might have misunderstood the rules.

10) Force of Nature | Mature | 25672 words

Louis is a shy, young musician who doesn't want to go to Harvard.

Harry is a confident,  second year athlete who likes to have a good time.

When their paths cross while their families are vacationing at the same lake resort, what begins as a summer of fun becomes a defining journey that might just change everything.

11) A Trail Of Honey Through It All | Explicit | 27085 words

The boy in front of him, well really, the man in front of him, was like something out of a confusing wet dream. Built, tall, tan and muscular, his skin glistened with sweat after a long day of working outdoors with his hands. He was wearing a cut up old American football shirt, the bottom hem was torn and the sleeves were cut off to the point where the t-shirt was really just a loose tank top. The shorts he had on had clearly been full length jeans at one point, and were now just crudely cut off above the knee. His white socks were pulled up too high on his calves, and the brown work boots he had on were old as fuck, the leather peeling along the edges of the soles. Curly brown hair stuck out from the edges of his backwards snapback, and there was a smudge of grease wiped along his brow bone. The smattering of hair along his jaw proved that he hadn’t shaved in a week or two, the hair growing in thicker across his upper lip and around his chin. His sinfully bowed mouth was pink and plump, and Louis was suddenly hyper-focused on the way that he chewed at the toothpick stuck between his lips. He looked like he needed a shower. Louis wanted to lick him.

12) Rivers ‘Til I Reach You | Explicit | 29315 words

AU. Louis studies astronomy; Harry studies Louis. They spend their summers on the water and it shouldn't be complicated (spoiler: it is).

13) The List | Mature | 32094 words

'In the weeks that follow, Harry opens his old journal more than he has in the past two years each time he remembers Venice or thinks about Louis. He always flips to the same random page in the middle of the book, marked by the picture of himself that Louis sent him a few days after they got home. There’s a message on the back that says, ‘Spontaneous looks good on you! See you soon,’ and it makes Harry’s chest warm each time he reads it. He wedges their list out from between the worn pages, and it feels silly staring down at a folded up piece of paper with a strange sense of nostalgia for experiences they’ve yet to have; for places they’ve never even been.'

14) (Your Heartbeat) Rang True Inside My Bones | Explicit | 32945 words

Harry goes as Louis' date for a weekend wedding. He ends up taking the role a bit too seriously.

15) Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat | Explicit | 34572 words

Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.

16) And Touch Me Like You | Explicit | 35971 words

The one where Harry and Louis agree to be each other's New Year's kiss and it ends up being a lot more than they bargained for.

17) A Red-Dusted Planet | Explicit | 38265 words

A one-night stand in a small town in Australia turns into a weekend that Harry could've never predicted with a boy he may never forget.

18) A Rhythm In Rush | Explicit | 40010 words

Harry is a WWF journalist with big dreams and Louis is a glaciologist that flies helicopters for fun. Greenland is an odd place to spend Christmas, but just maybe, the perfect place to fall headfirst into love.

19) Nobody Does It Like You | Not Rated | 58520 words

Louis isn't looking for a home, but he finds one in Harry.

20) Waiting For The Tides To Meet | Explicit | 59873 words

Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.

21) Tug-Of-War | Explicit | 63000

Louis' husband dies suddenly and he is left with nothing. Well, not really nothing. He has Harry. And a St. Bernard puppy named Link, whom his late husband left behind for him. Louis takes care of Link and Harry takes care of Louis. Everything is okay until suddenly, it isn't.

22) This Wicked Game | Explicit | 70010 words

An AU in which The Bachelor is gay, Louis is a contestant, Harry is the bachelor, everyone drinks a lot of champagne, the entire world gets to watch them fall in love, and no one plays by the rules.

23) Don’t Tell the Gods (We Left a Mess) | Explicit | 71556 words

After a misunderstanding with Liam’s mother, Louis agrees to accompany his best friend to a family wedding and pretend to be the world’s best boyfriend. But their simple plan goes awry when he learns that Harry, ex-boyfriend/ex-love of Louis’ life, will also be in attendance. (aka: fake!boyfriends with a twist ft. bromance, romance and cake.)

24) Perfect Storm | Explicit | 80230 words

What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.

Harry and Louis choose the latter.

25) Nothing Worsens, Nothing Grows | Explicit | 102528 words

Another roadtrip au featuring Harry as the misunderstood hipster, Louis as the bitter psych major, Liam as the one with the secret boyfriend, and Niall as the one who just wants everyone to be happy.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#bottom louis #top harry #vacation au #fic recs #blp #blp fic recs #larry

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

Deltarune Chapter 2 Had Out Awesome Undertale

on September 21, 2021 I beat Chapter 2 of Deltarune.

(also possible spoilers in this, so please only read this if you have beaten Chapter 2 of Deltarune.) 

it took me maybe a few days, but I finally got around to beating it. I hope no one take this the wrong way, but I think that Deltarune Chapter 2 has out-awesomed Undertale,

I still love Undertale but Deltarune's Chapter 2 is very....epic. (well I think is, and it's okay that not everyone agrees that it is more epic than Undertale.)

sure I had a little trouble here and there, but it turned out to be really fun and I do plan to play Chapter 2 again.

but starting with Chapter 1 first then working up to Chapter 2.

I'm glad I was able to play it, it seems you have to beat Deltarune-Chapter 1 first before you can play the Deltarune Chapter 1&2.

yes at first because I wasn't able to play the Chapter 2 at first, I decided to watch a walkthrough of it.....which I was only able to watch the next day.

but playing it myself was more fun and it really was awesome, it might take a few years (maybe either two or three.) until Chapter 3 comes out,

but it will be worth the wait.

don't know who Mike is though, unless it's Mike from FNAF lol......

can't be the Mike in the Undertale's Credits....must be a different Mike.  

maybe we will learn more about Mike from Deltarune in the future.

also I can't help but think that Kris might be the Knight, and they have this dark side to them and the one that Susie is truly making friends with

is the Player, who is the new "Kris" and keeping the Old-Kris's dark side in check so they don't do anything too dangerous....maybe?

I believe I know why I am not able to play Undertale Fan Game, Kissy Cutie.

it might have to do with it being how I couldn't play Deltarune Chapter 1&2, until I beat Deltarune Chapter 1 in the original.

it was a new save in the original, so it was good that beat that and then tried to open up the Deltarune Chapter 1&2 again.

and to my surprise the game started to play without that blue pop-up message.

I'm not sure if it is right, that the Kissy Cutie game will start to play normal after you beat the Undertale and get the happy ending.

but I guess I could try to see if that works.

I need to say this about Noelle from Deltarune..........

the whole Yandere-Noelle might be canon.....

just like how the Pie that Kris eats is canon, so must be the Yandere-Noelle.

also I think Catti either loves Noelle as just a friend or she might have a crush on her and sees Susie as a rival.

my headcanon is that Catti has a crush on Noelle and she sees Susie as her rival.

I don't know how many players have scooted Lancer to the table after he got turned to stone....

I do not know if Lancer ate the spaghetti or not, but I know when I did go back to that room (before facing Queen)......

the spaghetti was gone, and the stone Lancer was still at the table too.

there is a reason why I think Yandere-Noelle is canon......but maybe not as deadly.....unless we end up going down a Geno-Route.

I really hope to go down the Weird Route, Weird Route For Life.

Weirdness Is Magic!

I plan to play the Deltarune Chapter 1 & 2 version from the very beginning,

and work my way back to Chapter 2.

also while playing Undertale, I got this theory that pop into my head

that the two figures that Frisk and Alphys see when they are about ready to go face Mettaton.

my theory is that the two shadow figures they first see, aren’t the monsters that Frisk faces....

but it turning out to be Kris and Susie, who’s adventure might be in the Undertale Chapter of Deltarune......I guess that theory might be a bit crazy

and it is not likely to happen.

but I think there could be a possibility of Undertale appearing in Deltarune,

as a future Chapter, and there being a side story within the Undertale Chapter within Deltarune, and in the Undertale Chapter we do not have control of Frisk.

but we still hold some control over Kris, and it could turn out that in the Undertale Chapter, Frisk is on their Geno-Run and this time it isn’t the Player that is making them do it.....because in that Chapter we aren’t in control of Frisk and Chara isn’t either.

I do have a theory that the Red Soul in Frisk, is NOT Chara or even Frisk.

the Red Soul powering the underground that you can find in the True Lab when you are turning on the power on that generator thing.

if you look closely you will see there is a red type heart in the middle,

which might be Chara’s Soul, and if we do a Geno-Run in might be possible that Chara’s Soul will find a way to talk to us by some form of Soul Telepathic Link.

Chara ending up appearing in Frisk’s mind and speaking to us through the dark mind space in Frisk’s mind.

and the Red Soul that is seen in the Undertale game, the one that can be seen in the fights.......was never Frisk’s Soul.

the Red Soul is the Player, this means that the Red Soul in Deltarune

is also the Red Soul from Undertale and they are both the Players.

if this is true that would mean without the players,

Frisk in the canon of Undertale, is Soulless.

if we think about it, Frisk would have their own Soul in the Fanon AU.

it might be possible that Kris, when not having the Red Soul/Player’s Soul in them.

they are not as they appear to be, yes they could come off as a bit mischievous.

like with the whole eating all the pie

but what if there is a more darker side to Kris, and what if it turned out there was another Soul controlling Kris and they are the ones that rip out our Soul out from Kris?

remember what Asriel said before in Undertale,

when both he and Chara shared a body, the control over the body was split between them.   

it’s possible that Kris has more than one soul in them,

one being their own, the second being the one who acts as a villain,

and the third being us the players.

and if we decide to kill any one in the Deltarune Chapters

(or at least try to....)

then that might give the second soul controlling Kris even more control.

or not.....it could be that Kris only has two souls in them,

their soul and the Player’s soul.

I do have a theory that Kris might be the Knight,

well either them or Papyrus or Gaster or Asriel.

anyone of those four could be the Knight.

but the top suspect of being the Knight now, is Kris.

and this is thanks to what I have seen in Chapter 2,

both watching the walkthrough and even playing it myself.

it might be possible when we do take over Kris’s body,

we end up freeing Kris from another soul that might be the Knight.

it be interesting if when the choices pop up,

they come in two different colors to show which ones is what the Player would pick or Kris would pick.

the Player could end up choosing to pick what Kris wants,

or the Player could end up picking the the choice that isn’t the color that shows to be what Kris would want.

the color of the choices would be a Turquoise (Kris)

and Red (Player)

depending on the Player, we could choose to go with just the red color choices

or the turquoise color choices, if we choose the turquoise color choices

it can mean we value Kris’s opinion and want to show that their choices matter.

it be interesting if they add that in a future chapter.

  I'm thinking of changing my tumblr name again, even if it hasn't been that long since I had changed my first tumblr username...

but I still want to put down my original tumblr name on any new drawings I post on tumblr, just to be safe and so there will be no misunderstandings.

I still want my Tumblr to be about a Deltarune-Flowey The Flower,

so even if I do change my tumblr username to something that isn't "Flowey"

I still want to be Flowey The Flower type.....as well as a Crossover.

and if I do decided to change my tumblr username for the second time.

going from floweytheflower-of-deltarune to [redacted]

I will have to edit the last drawing post I had put up that had floweytheflower-of-deltarune on it.

I will keep thinking about it.

but anyway the Chapter 2 of Deltarune was really REALLY awesome.

and it does seem to be a bit more epic than Undertale.

which once again I still love Undertale, but Chapter 2 has out did it.

for some reason Queen reminds me of White Diamond.

I do have a theory about Susie,

that either one she is a orphan or two she comes from a abusive home

and one or both of her parents might treat her badly.

and she let’s out her anger by bullying others

and the reason why she eats chalk and the other stuff she shouldn’t.

is because she isn’t getting enough to eat at home and might be malnourished.

Susie might also not be only child, she might be a older sister or younger sister.

and her bond with Lancer, taking up the Big Sister Role to him.

might show she has a Protective Big Sister side to her.

it might be possible that she gives half of her food to her younger sibling

and Susie doesn’t eat much at home because of how her parents treat both her and her little sibling.

if it is true that Susie has a younger sibling, it might be possible that Susie’s younger sibling is in Toriel’s class.

and given some info in the Chapter 2,

we might know the bio-gender of Susie’s sibling.

which if you read what I wrote on top about not reading this unless you beaten Chapter 2....

I can say now, that it is possible that Susie might have a little sister.

and the little sister might be in Toriel’s class.

I did do a drawing of what I think Susie’s little sister might look like.

as well as what Susie’s Mom might look like too.

but I don’t want to post them just yet.

it be cute if Susie’s little sister appeared in a future chapter

and once meeting Noelle, Berdly and Kris.

the little sister tells them “you can’t have my big sis! big sis is mine!”

of course Noelle might find this really precious, maybe it will remind her how much she loved her older sister when she was Susie’s little sister’s age.

speaking of Noelle’s sister, I did draw up a ship drawing between her and Deltarune’s Asriel.

if both the Holiday and Dreemurr families are both Boss Monsters

then I hope they reveal that in a future chapter.

it might be possible that both the Dreemurr and Holiday families

come from a Royal heritage,

if this is true that would make Noelle technically a Princess.  

I’m calling Fan Headcanon on that theory.

also it is pretty obvious that Yandere Noelle is canon.

because of what we see in Chapter 2.

it might be possible that Kris has three souls in them,

one being theirs, the other being the Player and the other being possibly the Knight.

Kris’s true soul might be Turquoise blue type color.

what trait a Turquoise Soul is, well maybe it will be hinted in the game.

I really love Chapter 2 of Deltarune, and I know that Chapter 3 will be worth the wait.

and if Sans was hinting in Chapter 2 about Chapter 3, we might see it in a few years....then again I could be wrong about Sans hinting.

sadly we didn’t get to meet Papyrus in Chapter 2,

but we just have to be patient.   

I think that besides the Players choices mattering in the game,

I think Kris’s choices should matter too.

so when the choices do pop up, they should come in Red for the Player

and Turquoise for Kris.

if we choose the turquoise color choices, it is still gonna be Kris’s choice

as it shows we are picking what Kris wants.

it be interesting if that happens.

also I would still like to know who Mike is that is mention in Chapter 2.

it might not be the one that is in the credits, so it has to be a different Mike all together, but who they are is unknown.

I hope some of you agree that the choices of the Player and Kris,

should be in Red and Turquoise.

we might be the Red Soul in both Undertale and Deltarune,

but we should try to look at it being in a symbiotic relationship.

where we make sure to keep Kris and their friends safe,

and try to fight off the other soul that had control of them before we came into their lives in Chapter 1.

also it might be possible that while both Undertale and Deltarune are two different timelines and AUs of each other.

it could be possible that before the start of those two games,

one could travel between if he machine that allowed it was turned on.

the Sans from Deltarune, might of came from a non-stop Geno Route Timeline

and had no other choice but to take both himself, his brother and other survivors to the Deltarune Timeline where they would be safe from Frisk.

I and a lot of other fans might believe this to be canon, and it would make sense given the evidence of the former Grilby’s turned into convenience store.

like what if in a future Chapter that is called “Undertale: Geno-Route”

it shows the world that Sans and his brother came from

and Sans ends up telling Kris, Susie and the others that he had to leave because it was becoming too dangerous and he didn’t want to watch his brother die again by the hands of the human named Frisk.

the Frisk that we the Players make to be more innocent and being full of love.

might be different from the Frisk that is in the canon of the game

and who knows how Frisk was before we the Player’s taken control of them.

but we do know that the Red Soul in Deltarune, could be the same one in Undertale, which would mean that we the Players are the Red Soul.

and while Kris could of had their own Turquoise Soul before we came into the picture.

and Chara could have the same color Red Soul as the Player,

which is being used to power the underground.

it could turn out that Frisk in the canon of Undertale,

is Soulless and is only given a Soul that belongs to the Player....

so Flowey might be right about Frisk’s Soul not being theirs.

I am glad I finally figured out why I couldn’t seem to play Deltarune Chapter 1&2 at first, it had to do with not beating the new save I had that had to do with the first Deltarune Chapter 1 before the version that had Chapters 1 and 2 came out.

if you beat the first version, then when you click on the new Deltarune Chapters 1&2, the blue popup message wont show up and the game will run normally.

so it’s best to keep the original Deltarune download.

#deltarune chapter 2 #love triangle #yandere noelle is canon #spoilers #undertale theory #deltarune theory #red soul #long post

[wavesmp3]

directors cut: oasis

[doing this entirely for myself, out of pure self indulgence lol] [this will be very messy/poorly organized and there will be spoilers]

okay so where to even begin omg..... we will start with the origins of oasis:

its actually, techinically a spin off of the world from this drabble with dino from svt. which the world in this drabble is what the world from oasis would look like very far in the future. but i changed a lot between writing that drabble and creating oasis. but there should be a scene in the drabble that is very similar to a part in oasis (hint: the first vision they got from saskila was not just a random vision with no meaning.......hehe)

but that drabble (its titled dreamscapes) was inspired by a mix of this post on tumblr about how nuclear waste warning signs sounded very cool and the book that i was reading called the children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi

and then after i had made that drabble i saw dee’s (@/atbzkingdom’s) post about the time capsule collab, and i had a couple ideas of what i could do for it but i ultimately decided on what would eventually become oasis !! so i guess we really have dee and that collab to thank for this piece lol

now for the timeline of me writing:

so i started outlining this piece in the first couple days of january, and normally outlines take me a while to come up with just because i struggle in coming up with plot, but i knew that my spring semester of classes would be starting soon and that I didn’t have a lot of time so i just sort of grinded an outline out as well several paragraphs of pure worldbuilding. 

and then i started writing

and wow i was Really writing!! at my peak productivity i was easily getting down like 2k a day which for me is insane (for reference, i wrote 1k a day for tsiytt and i struggled my way through that) 

but then life happens classes had begun and my writing for oasis slowly become nothing... 

i really only found the time to work on the piece every other weekend, so i was really nervous that i wouldn’t finish in time (which technically i didn’t cause it was supposed to come out march 1st) but luckily i did

and at some point in february, i had lost so much of my momentum and motivation for this piece that i almost gave up on it. (at this point i was writing the scenes after they find the seat of wisdom destroyed) but again luckily i did not, but i personally can definitely see a decline in the quality of my writing towards the end (i mean maybe its in my head, but its sort of like i can see the loss of love for the wip in my writing at the end of it)

but don’t misunderstand, i still love oasis!! and in all honesty, i’m already considering starting a second draft to it, which is way sooner than i thought i would lol

also when i started writing this piece, i began writing it in the order that it would be read, but then halfway i switched to writing chronologically

anyways, something i learned while writing this piece, is that writing is a marathon. whereas, even with my longer pieces, i always viewed writing as a sprint. so as i start venturing into original works and more lengthy pieces of writing, i think this was a very valuable lesson for me to have learned.

okay now to the good stuff lol: [the first word of the bullet about the next chapter (?) is bolded for some crumbs of an organized commentary]

so this is jumping to the first past bit... but when i first wrote farah i had a very different plan for her character than who she ended up being. i had imagined that she’d be a lot more cold and a tough love sort of person. so that’s who i was writing when she’s first introduced in the flashback, but she very quickly become a much kinder full of love sort of person. but anyways i mention this because whenever i read that first part and the introduction of her character, i’m always a bit taken aback by how like mean here character is to crown then lol

also zoar !!!! its a terrible place, but i love that underground city

i also wrote the first flashback after i had written the scene where crown and chanhee are talking at his place in andhor, so the whole “fearless” connection was done very purposefully here since i knew how it’d be referenced in the next scene. someone mentioned this small connection in their reblog but i cant remember who 

also rashi is my favorite character xD

i personally think how crown and chanhee became friends (the running thing) is so cute 

this first bit of conversation between crown and chanhee when it switches back to the present and chanhee is giving them a tour of andhor is actually quite important to me, in the sense that its the first glimpse of how their actual relationship works and how they act together and just like their dynamic despite the fact that they havent seen each other in so long 

and yeah i think kyu mentioned this and a few others, but i love how awkward it is when chanhee and crown are in his home in andhor, cause one: they havent seen each other in years! but also: anyone else find going to someone’s place for the first time oddly intimate, like wow you’re opening up your home to me and now suddenly idk how to sit or stand or what to do with my arms... maybe just me LMAO

DUDE i struggled so hard with making it so that chanhee knew how impossible this whole mission was going to be without actually revealing that he knows about the mirror. it was so hard for me, hopefully it came out alright though. if anyone is reading this, did the twist(s) come as a shock to you? did you see it coming? or did it feel like it came out of absolutely no where and not in a good way?

yes i did name the desert after the department store kohls .....

i was so excited to explain all the mage types, i had so much fun writing this whole chapter 

fun fact: there was originally another sub group of psyche mages called dream mages who had like powers with dreams and stuff, but it ended up being irrelevant and really underdeveloped so it took it out

if anyone else was raised catholic or is catholic then i’d hope you recognize the names of all the relics.... i stole them from a prayer in the rosary whoops

it took me very long time to figure out exactly how the whole soul for the relic business would work, and idk if im a 100% satisfied with what it is/how it works/how it plays into rashi giving chanhee the locket

the note new gives crown.... the first slice of their friendship blooming, bro i eat that shit up 

this part where crown and rashi are talking after the lesson is actually one of my favorites. (like i said i love rashi, but i just really love her interreacting with crown, i think they have such an interesting dynamic and one that i’ve seen irl a lot between students and teachers, where the student adores the teacher... i’ll get more into this later) but moving on, i like it for a number of reasons. one: it’s the first time we as readers get to see rashi talk outside of her role as lesson master. two: i love crown getting this validation from rashi. it’s not really expanded on a lot, but crown’s magic is definitely a bit of an insecurity for them, in the way that they don’t feel like it belongs to them. but here rashi comes, this person that crown looks up to so much, and telling crown that they’re a bit similar when it comes to having magic. and surprising crown by comforting them. and... idk i just really love this moment for crown.

okay this line: “You call your mom Rashi?” is a lowkey reference to game plan,, if anyone knows what i’m talking about then please come clown me for nearly having the entire movie memorized 

oh, i also find the capital really cool. in my head the capital was always one huge building that contains an entire city but i realized while editing that i never really explained that, so idk if i successfully described the capital as cool as it is to me 

also the five friends part.....CUTE

when chanhee says “i know. i remember.” !!! girl i felt that line with my entire chest. idk why

okay wait this part: “But that knowledge seems to fall flat right now. Because despite everything, curiosity won the war.” i love it so much, its that tiny of sliver of hope that gets me personally

i think this part where crown’s pride is so hurt by no one telling them about chanhee’s healing magic is quite important because its a glimpse of how stubborn and prideful and headstrong of a character they can be 

also this : “ ‘and do you believe everything rashi says’ / without hesitation, you answer, ‘yes, of course’ “ this is another example of how highly crown thinks of rashi while growing up, almost to a fault. to the point where crown thought rashi could do no wrong. which i think is so interesting to think about when contrasted with the fight crown and chanhee have in the jungle where crown is the one discussing how rashi was wrong. i just like how much growth crown has had between all these years. and their opinion / perspective on rashi is one of the largest indicators of that growth. 

I also just really like that paragraph where shadow vs healing is explained... I think chanhee’s magic is so sick

oh also the names thing.... I can’t remember where I got the idea to do that from but im so glad I did. its one of my favorite aspects to this world, and it looks like a lot of other people enjoyed it as well. but apart from the intimacy of it, i love how the use of names affects one’s magic. and that paragraph where they go through all that a mage could do with a name. it gives me chills. just cause.... the possibilities

so many people have mentioned this line.... but I must too, so this part: “magic always comes with a price. this is new’s” ..... crazy

saskila scares me omg

again the first vision they see is not a random scene.... the easter eggs I planted with that mwahaha

yeah that scene where they’re outside the tent discussing who should give their name to saskila..... I love that scene chanhee’s “I don’t have anyone but you” and crown deflecting all that tension with the pinky promise and the saskila calling them lovers.... mwah

this random scene about the hot summer and laying with Farah and new in the gardens is another one of my favorite, it’s just so sweet

but this next scene makes me so sad

like I know what happens and I know that everything turns out okay but I get so scared for crown

yeah just that entire part after Rashi gets to them and when they’re going to the infirmary and before crown passes out... I love that whole part. i think i did an effective job of writing the gravity of that whole moment. cause it makes me a little stunned every time I read it. and I was pretty nervous about not being able to do that scene and that moment justice so I’m glad it turned out like it did

and again this line: magic always comes with a price, and in your case, it comes with several.

okay this part after they jump out of the ship and crown is talking to Chanhee but that other dude is talking too... I hope it’s not too confusing. I really wanted to show through the writing that this was all happening at the same time, but idk it came out well. like in my mind I have such a clear picture of this scene, but I have no clue if I did effective job of showing you guys what I’m seeing through the writing

oh yeah, crowns thing about dual wielding and engulfing the blades in flames.... I find that so cool. they’re so sick for that

yeah also the part where crowns hurt and they give Chanhee their name and they use it.... great moment, but I feel like my writing is a bit lacking here. i just know it could be better.

I think at this point of writing my classes had started, and again the disparity in writing quality is so obvious to me 

but the line where chanhee is describing how it all feels, and it says “chanhee feels golden” was inspired by daylight by taylor swift, theres a line in that song that goes “i used to think love would be burning red, but its golden” and like hello the parallels between that and crown’s fire magic.... something to think about 

so this next part where it’s back to the past and crown is getting in trouble (as crown does) but the part where crown is like asking but not directly asking for rashi’s name.... that part is so crazy to me cause it’s feels so out of place. but it was purposeful. i was trying to show that crown’s growing and that they’re at this weird age where they feel invincible. and also i wanted to put more emphasis on how being royal and the heir to the throne kind of effects the relationships crown has

and the last line of this part when rashi says “never abuse it” it gives me chills whew

the next part ... another part that i had high hopes for in the outlining stages of writing, but when it came to actually writing, this scene totally flopped, i’m gonna try not to dwell on this part too much cause i just know most of my comments will be about how much i don’t like it. but just overall, this scene could have been SO MUCH BETTER !

omg this little interaction: ““Look!” Chanhee deadpans, shooting you a glare. “The match is about to begin.” / “Wish me luck.” /  “I hope you lose.”” i think its so funny and cute

“ Your eyes immediately got to Rashi “ another example of how highly crown regards rashi 

“In Wurltan.” hmmmmmm sus.... *laughs in i love mentioning things that won’t make sense to reader until later*

okay this: “Yes, but not just any mage. I…” your voice trails off, pulling at your fingers and looking anywhere but at him. “I wanted you to know.” i cannot stand these two omg 

okay this part: “Chanhee thinks and overthinks the words spoken between you both. His mind drifts off to last night as well, that moment in the tent where you shared your warmth. He doesn’t even realize he’s staring at you until you give him a funny look. He quickly looks away and wonders if you’re overthinking everything as relentlessly as he is.” this part makes me think about what ina said about how chanhee shows his love by keeping you in his thoughts and YEAH chanhee’s love language in this piece is thinking about you and staring LOL

i hate this next part, not cause i don’t like it or anything it just makes me sad 

but this line: “Like if someone shoved you from behind right now, you wouldn’t push back; you’d let yourself fall straight to the ground.” i actually love that line

also this next entire bit i see SO clearly in mind, i hope i wrote it well enough so that you all saw it clearly too

when chanhee wipes the dirt.... girl i’m wiping my tears 

this line : “We’ll lean on each other.” mini love declaration sighhhhhh

yeah that whole part i love so much 

the seat of wisdom :(((( no!!!!!

so about this line: “He stares at his palms, at all the lies buried under each nail and at all the secrets shoved in every crack. He watches as they all blow up in front of his face.” >> i had like ten different versions of it before i settled on this one lol

okay so the first part of the last past flashback with crown realizing their true feelings... so soft 

news gone, rashis’s dead, :((( it makes me so sad

gosh okay this paragraph..... “I’ve always wondered why the gods blessed me and you the way that they have. They entrusted you with such great power. The only person to be both a healing and shadow mage in centuries. And then,” a tear falls from her eye, “they entrusted you to me.” Chanhee thinks this might be the first time he’s seen Rashi cry. “But now I have reason to believe that this was no accident. I’m beginning to think that the gods have always known it would come to this. And I’m starting,” she falters there, “I’m starting to spite them for it.”  it hurts so bad im sorry 

the first confrontation with harlan took me so long to write, and i’m still not sure if i actually like it, so again i will refrain from commenting lol

but the part where crown screams : “YOU LOST THE MIRROR OF JUSTICE!”  I think i told kyu this but this line makes me laugh because in my head its said the same way bella says: “you nicknamed my daughter after the lochness monster” whenever i see that line i smile lol

honestly this argument scene..... one of my absolute faves,,, everything lina said about it in that reblog just yes!yes!yes!! i can’t even comment about a particular part because all of it i love so much. its another part that leaves me slightly speechless.

but my favorite part of it might be how it ends hehe

these next couple parts were a bit diffucult to write because obviously the air between crown and chanhee is not very light right now so it was just hard to navigate their dynamic at these moments until they apologize but hopefully it turned out alright

i really like this line: “But this moment—with the scent of Harlan’s wine under his nose and the chill of Harlan’s blade against his neck—this moment feels nothing like those. It feels empty.” 

“ Chanhee just stares at you.“ -- staring as a love language exhibit b 

this whole part... chills bro 

“Chanhee exhales because for the first time since this afternoon he looks at your face and sees you.” -- exhibit c ....

okay wait another one of my favorite parts here: the spilled glass metaphor!! again please reference lina’s rb on this because everything said there... could not have said better myself. inspired by this writing advice by ocean vuong and yeah i just think the metaphor speaks for itself, one of my favorite lines (well paragraph) from the entire piece, actually from ALL of my works 

it was so hard to think up all of yumi’s different names, i was struggling

them talking about how farah will be happy to see chanhee...... how do i break it to you crown.....she’s dead...... awkward

red streak q! yesss. also i’m so sorry for killing off farah 

also kyunyu bestiessss

tbh this whole paragraph: “I get this overwhelming burst of honesty. As if what you both speak of is more than just a simple truth, as if it’s a commandant you blindly follow. What’s even odder is that I only feel that burst when you speak of each other.” Q stops walking and turns so that he faces Chanhee directly. “You speak of Crown constantly. And last night, when I met Crown, your title never left from the tip of their tongue. Humans are so simple really. We mention what we love.” Q pauses for a moment, bringing a hand under his chin. “Do you love Crown?” --i wrote it for myself no regrets

oh wait this bit too : “Quietly, Chanhee says, “I know.” / “Have you been watching?” / “I’ve been waiting.” / “For what?” / He meets your eyes. “For you.”” -- sometimes i do things that live rent free in my own mind

okay im so sorry for just quoting myself but this too : “ He sits back slightly. Shocked. Not by his love for you, but rather by how easily love walked into his heart and settled between his lungs “

lol the part where they try fooling q... why are crown and chanhee like this

the running !!!

yeah also every part after that... tears okay

yumi’s magic !!! its so cool to me, i love it so much 

i surprisingly don’t have much to say about the end... i mean i like it, but i just don’t have any comments. the last line tho... good one shawna

okay im done for you sake i hope no one read this lmao 

#oasis #mine #not sure what else to tag this lol #oh #directors commentary #this got so long for no reason

[yoificfinder]

Hey love, hope you are doing well ✨ I was wondering if you have any recommendations regarding side characters (personality analysis, friendship etc.) I absolutely adore all the side characters in the YOIverse however there are not many fics revolving around them so if you know any good ones, it'd be great!! Thank you so much in advance 💟

Hey dear nonnie! This took a long time, I hope you're still here. I combed through ao3 to find fics I remember that fit your request and discovered new gems along the way! Many of these are not popular/underrated but I guarantee that they're good reads so I hope you (and anyone else who finds this) enjoy! If only for that reason alone, I really hope this rec list becomes one of the most popular posts in this blog (I would really appreciate a reblog!) so these fics/authors can receive more love! Plus this is the most exhaustive and time-consuming rec list I've made so far (but I still feel that I missed a lot so other recs are welcome!).

Without further ado, here are some great YOI side-characters' stories in canonverse:

(Don't) Give A Damn by @forochel [T, 9K]

Mari, through the years.

an open door by tripcyclone [G, 8K]

Lilia never wanted children of her own, but caring for Victor gives her a glimpse into the life she chose to pass by.

Beautiful In Knowing by @val-creative [T, 1K]

Sara knew she was a girl, even if nobody else did or believed her.

She ordered Michele to call her "Lady Sara" from now on. He would roll his eyes and grumble, but never attempt to misgender her. She liked "Sara" — it meant "lady, princess, noblewoman". And she would never go back to her deadname.

by any other name by iguanastevens [T, 2K]

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Yuri's life as told by the names he's given; or, how Yuri's names direct his life.

Feathers on the Ice by Kiranokira / @kyashin [E, 79K]

After dinner and a bath and quality hamster time, snuggled in bed cocooned within his eight entirely necessary pillows, Phichit indulges himself and investigates Seung-gil's hashtag. There isn’t much from Seung-gil himself, but Seung-gil's fans are many and dedicated. Amid the photos of Seung-gil at competitions or practicing and the few candid shots of Seung-gil in airports or out on the streets of Seoul, there’s a very recent professional video uploaded by user andjoy_studio.

Phichit clicks on it, and his life changes.

fermata by perbe [T, 3K]

When one is patchwork of growth plates and bruises, it is inevitable that one must admire boys with words a size too big, as if they know down to their bones that they are meant for something greater.

I used to burn for you, Otabek thinks.

(A character study on Otabek's reaction to his placement at the Grand Prix Finals.)

Go On Ahead by @kiaronna [G, 2K]

Sour, grouchy Yakov didn’t understand sparkly purple skate outfits or wanting to eat your weight in sweets or having crushes on boys.

But Viktor did.

Gossips, Chinese whispers and misunderstandings by womanroaring [M, 8K]

Series of short stories relating to how certain (often perfectly innocent) scenes in Yuri On Ice would have looked from the outside. And just the gossip and stuff that would have surrounded them.

I am Yuri Plisetsky by rinsled05 / @dreaming-fireflies [M, 1K]

Who is Yuri Plisetsky?

He's not Agape.

Not a “prima donna” ballerina.

And definitely no Russian fairy.

No, Yuri Plisetsky is an angry, loud, in-your-face, Russian tiger who will take to the ice and give you a brilliant gold-worthy performance you will never forget.

... a piece on Yuri's rationale for skating to "Welcome to the Madness". Rated for the actual foul-mouthed language in the story itself, courtesy of one Yuri Plisetsky.

if friends were flowers i'd pick you by windupbirdgirl / @tanpopori [G, 4K]

Yuuko thinks of Yuuri’s skating, beautiful and flawed. She thinks of Yuuri sitting with the girls instead of the other boys at practice. She thinks of Yuuri and Viktor, the posters of him he asks her to buy him for birthdays. The posters he wouldn't ask anyone else to buy.

“Oh, Yuuri.” She bites her nails, ruining the carefully applied polish. She doesn’t care at all.

Sitting in that tiny bedroom, she makes a big decision.

if love is king, who wears the crown by @crollalanzaa [G, 1K]

“Second is seen as nothing,” Christophe had derided.

“But that moment you glide onto the ice, that hush of the audience, and that expectation, isn’t that worth something?”

“You speak as if you know. You used to skate?"

Past tense. It still stung, even if it was expected.

Minako knows exactly what it's like to be at the top of your game, and she remembers the descent just as clearly.

if she wants me by renaissance [G, 6K]

Hiroko and Minako, then and now.

kagura by night by seventhstar / @pencilwalla [T, 1K]

The world around her is like the mountains.

A mortal lifespan is narrow; mortals watch the mountain’s unchanging faces, unravaged by the same measure of time that takes a human from dust to dust, and think them immortal in comparison. But stone erodes, just as flesh decays. It just takes longer.

If she watches long enough, everything changes. Languages drift until all the words she learned before are meaningless. Technology changes until she ceases to believe in magic because human ingenuity is more infinite than the stars. What is beautiful, what is polite, what is wrong, what is right—time, given its way, reshapes all.

But Minako’s body remains as it has always been. That’s why she loves to dance, she supposes; it’s the one thing time cannot take from her.

Katsudon by @azriona [G, 8K]

Hiroko doesn’t need to see to coat pork cutlets in egg and panko. She has made this dish for her family for over thirty years; she’ll make it another thirty, if she’s lucky.

Now she makes it for Yuuri and Victor as they fly home from Barcelona, with silver around their necks and gold around their fingers.

keep me steady as we go by strikinglight [G, 3K]

When Isabella stood and crossed the room to where he sat she saw her notebook open in his lap, turned to the last page of their to-do list, all but three items crossed off with less than a month to the wedding date. License. Ceremony. Everything after. She saw the angle of his gaze, too, not on the words but straight ahead, staring blank and glassy and brittle into some invisible place she still wasn’t sure she could follow him to, yet. And yet she had been the one who’d promised to try—and to keep promising, forever and forever.

Kooks by BoxWineConfessions [G, 3K]

Mari clasps her right hand across her left hand and rests them both atop her growing stomach. “I guess you’re just lucky that your father, I mean your other father, my brother-“ Mari giggles. “God, it all sounds so weird, doesn’t it? Do you care? Do you care that we’re all so fucked up and we don’t care at all?” Mari laughs again. It’s all she can do when she hurts this much, and wants a cigarette this much, but can’t stop smiling despite the fact that her body seems to hate her so much. “Well he means the world to me. That’s why I have you.”

Living in the Maybe by @adrianners [T, 6K]

It wasn’t hard to spot a 180cm platinum blond in Fukuoka International Airport. Especially when he was the only person wearing sunglasses. Indoors. At night.

Mari picks Viktor up at the airport when he returns from Moscow. Without Yuuri there to play his usual role of interpreter, they learn to communicate around their linguistic, cultural, and personal barriers.

post tenebras lux by @alykapediaaa [T, 1K]

“Which skater would you say has inspired your skating the most?”

The question catches him unaware, so much so that he’s rendered speechless. It’s only when he sees Yakov lean towards the microphone to answer in his stead that Yuri blurts out the first name that comes to mind.

“Yuuri Katsuki.”

The Best Men by @kiaronna [Not Rated, 5K]

Just as Viktor lives to surprise, Christophe Giacometti lives to scandalize, to sensationalize. But innocent little Phichit Chulanont is proving to be an impossible victim.

OR: where Christophe tries very hard to get under one Thai skater’s skin, and instead finds himself all over the younger skater’s Instagram feed and wrapped around his finger.

the city of bridges by @stammiviktor [T, 5K]

After three flights, a train ride, and dinner at the Katsukis' table, Yakov finally sees Hasetsu through Viktor's eyes.

The First Cut by BoxWineConfessions [E, 27K]

People made divorce seem like this long drawn out and ugly process, but it really wasn’t. He bought the town home for Isabella as a gift, and so it was hers. The flat down town would go to him, as it was closer to the rink. They paid off her medical school loans last fall, so that was done too. He had a few cars, which she unanimously agreed were his to keep, so long as she could keep her Corvette. She changed her vanity plate from Dr. Leroy to Dr. Yang. He saw it parked out front of the courthouse.

trials of Coach Yakov series by @naraht [T and M, 40K]

Summaries of fics in the series:

1. Forced to share a bed with Victor at the Sochi Grand Prix Final, Yakov learns more than he wants to know.

2. Yakov attempts to prepare Yuri for his transition to Seniors. Yuri doesn't care to listen.

3. No sex while you're competing – this is Yakov's rule. His athletes often have other ideas.

4. In 1980, Yakov Feltsman is the USSR's skating hero. At a dull official reception, he defends his loyalty to the motherland – and makes the acquaintance of a beautiful young dancer from the Bolshoi.

5. In which both Victor and Yakov have to remake themselves – Victor after his first Olympic gold and Yakov after his divorce.

Tz'ror by athoroughlybakedpotato [T, 3K]

Yakov changes much slower than the times do, but steadiness is not always a bad thing.

---

ETA - Other people's rec:

curtain of lies by @mandolinearts

JJ's Bizarre Adventure by Falahime

Landscapes of Spring and Summer by @myyoitrashblog

The Melancholy of Georgi Popovich by Falahime

+ a lot more recs on this reblog!!

Thanks for the rec, @vilchen, @genuine-firefly, @adrianners, and @kaleidodreams! ❤

#yuri on ice #yoi #yoi fic rec #yoi fanfic #side characters

[askaceattorney]

Dear Inferno,

Essay?  You just said the magic word.

Trucy’s a bit of a lengthy character to unpack, but I’ll see what I can pull out of my hat.

Trucy Wright, CEO, magic extraordinaire, and maiden of mystery, formerly Trucy Gramarye, the 8-year-old prodigy magician.  She’s the kind of character who never forgets to smile (that’s part of her creed, in fact), and always has a magic trick up her sleeve.  Or her magic panties, in this case.

This optimism and charm of hers do a lot to make her likable, both as the second non-Maya assistant in the series and as a side character who provides some comedy relief for the agency when morale is low.

But interestingly enough, this isn’t the sort of character she’s introduced as.

Trucy’s first “magic act” is to appear out of nowhere as Apollo is trying to contemplate how his boss suddenly became a murder suspect.  Rather than offering a smile and an encouraging message, she decides to play the role of a mysterious fortuneteller.

If I didn’t know who was saying this, I might think it was a Toad from Super Mario Bros. 3.

So far, all she is to Apollo (and us) is a mysterious messenger trying to help her father...until he realizes just who her father is.

This presents a new mystery for Apollo (and for us): How did a young magician wind up in the custody of an ex-lawyer?  And on top of that, why was a locket with her picture in the possession of a shady drifter...and why did Phoenix feel the need to take it from his dead body?

Unfortunately, Phoenix is just as cryptic as Trucy in her debut game, but it’s far from the end of Apollo’s interaction with them.

After two months of coping with the loss of his first position as an attorney and considering Phoenix’s offer to work at the legendary Wright & Co. Law Offices, Apollo finally shows up there to discover that it not only went through a name chance, but now has it’s own CEO -- the same mysterious girl he ran into before!

Before he knows it, he’s being interviewed for the Wright Talent Agency by a magician whose energetic and professional attitude completely contradicts her father’s calm, laid-back personality.  It isn’t until his misunderstanding is cleared up that she finally introduces herself:

It’s here that we also hear Trucy’s theme, “Child of Magic,” for the first time, which does a great job of conveying the sort of delightful, peppy aura Trucy creates just by being herself.  Speaking of which, Apollo gets to “enjoy” a bunch more of her optimism as she explains her and Phoenix’s current situation.  According to her, the former law office was converted into an agency for acquiring talented individuals.

She also describes what might be her most important role in Phoenix’s life, whether she knows it or not.

And so she did.  She may not have actually cooked for him (or maybe she did, we don’t know), but she did provide Phoenix, a well-respected lawyer who’d just been cheated out of his badge, with exactly what he needed at the time: a reason to keep going.  It’s hard to imagine what his life would’ve been like without her making her entrance into it, so to speak, but because of her, he was compelled to pull himself together, find a job, and begin to move on from one of the darkest moments of his life.  In short, Trucy became a light in his darkness.  Pretty impressive for an 8-year-old, huh?

We’ll get to that in due time, though.  The next thing we learn about Trucy comes from her Daddy, and once again, it’s pretty vague.

What could this “talent” of hers be?  Besides being a talented magician and motivator, that is?  We don’t find that out until after she’s spent some time as Apollo’s investigating assistant.

Thus she officially becomes Apollo’s “Maya,” a role she fills remarkably well, being just as cute, perky, annoying, and naive as Maya ever was.

Every good lawyer needs one of those, after all.

Then, when Apollo finally gets his first *cough* normal case, we get to see what Trucy’s capable of in the courtroom.  ...Well, after a quick diversion.

Has Professor Layton gone rogue and joined the mafia?  Nope, it’s just one of Trucy’s best tricks -- the Amazing Mr. Hat!

Not even going to ask how that works.

After this hilarious sideshow, Trucy reveals what her special “talent” is, and how it can help Apollo.

For the first time in the series, we have a courtroom mechanic that doesn’t involve pressing someone, presenting evidence, or asking the right questions -- instead we get to use a brand-new technique to slow time down and spot witnesses’ nervous habits when they tell lies, and our young magician friend is just the one to introduce it to us (much like Pearl introduced the Psyche-Lock mechanic to Phoenix).

She apparently knows about Apollo’s “perceive” ability from Phoenix, but how does she happen to have the same gift herself?  That remains a mystery until we learn about her past, which doesn’t happen until near the end of the game.

Thankfully, we aren’t playing the game here, so we can just skip ahead to that part.

During the third case, Trucy’s real father, Zak Gramarye, is given a brief mention, but all we learn about him is that he’s a magician who once belonged to Troupe Gramarye.  Who is he today, though?

It turns out his identity is none other than Shadi Smith, the card-playing drifter who was murdered by Kristoph (and the one partly responsible for Phoenix’s disbarment).  We could get into his *ah-HEM* wonderful fathering technique, but the important thing here is what we learn from him about Trucy and Apollo’s gift.

Whatever this strange ability is, it’s apparently hereditary, passed down from Trucy’s mother.  Also, as Phoenix deduces, Apollo shares this ability because, shocker of shockers, the two of them share the same mother, Thalassa Gramarye.

Who’d have thunk it?  Not even Phoenix, even though he’s a good thunker.

Speaking of Phoenix, let’s go back to his first meeting with young Trucy.

When she first entered his life, she was a famous magician’s daughter whose first “performance” was to help him escape a Guilty verdict.  She of course didn’t know at the time how long it would be before she saw him again, or the lawyer she was talking to would soon be replacing him.  It’s here, by the way, that we learn we she gets her charming grin from.

And then...tragedy.

With her father missing and no living relatives to take care of her, Trucy’s future looks even bleaker than Phoenix’s (which is saying a lot).  Thankfully, he offers to let her stay with him until her father comes back, and does his best to help her feel comfortable.  Luckily for both of them, her father already gave her some advice.

Then comes the big switcheroo.  As mentioned before, Trucy provided Phoenix with a reason to keep going after losing his job, but when we see how it actually took place, it becomes clear that she took it a step further than that -- she practically led him forward by the hand.

This makes me wonder something: could her vigorous encouragement have reminded Phoenix of another young woman who came into his life just after a tragedy occurred?

Maybe it’s just speculation, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Maya had crossed his mind.  He even told Trucy she could call him “Nick” if she wanted to.  If nothing else, that provided some serious heartfelt nostalgia.

One other thing I loved about AJ: AA is how it showed Trucy’s more fragile side near the end.  Things worked out pretty well for her after the ordeal with her father, but that doesn’t mean she felt no emotion about it.

We’ll never know how much of her sadness is due to her father’s death and how much is due to his sudden disappearance, but at least we’re given a chance to see her being less magical and more human.

And finally, let us fast-forward past Trucy’s adoption, her accidental reunion with her half-brother, and her antics in the courtroom to the final (and in my opinion, the best) big moment for her: The Magical Turnabout.  Here we get to see, through the magic of animation and voice-overs, how expertly Trucy performs and how confidently she speaks for the first time.

But just when things seem to be going better than ever for her and the new Troupe Gramarye...

What a way to go, huh?

Thankfully, that situation was an imaginary one (and she came out on top, as always), but then a real disaster occurs.

She’s lucky enough to have Apollo and Athena there to help her, but she’s left to wonder if Mr. Reus’s death was due to a fatal accident on her part.  If so, it would be a devastating blow to her magic career, besides destroying Troupe Gramarye’s reputation after it had just made a recovery.  Luckily, there’s one person who doesn’t believe she could make such a mistake, and who can see through her fake smile.

Then we get one more glimpse of Trucy’s human side, but for a completely different reason: Apollo’s faith in her performing ability, even as she struggles to believe in herself.

Unlike her previous crying scene, this one is more bittersweet than sad.  Having faith in your friends might be a cliche, but it’s moments like this when you see just how much it matters.

Things go from bad to worse when she suddenly finds herself in the Accused of Murder Club while her Daddy’s out of the country, but like always, the truth comes out in the end.  But here’s what I love most about this case: Trucy herself gets to play a role in proving her innocence, simply by doing what she does best: performing magic!

Besides giving her defense team new evidence to work with, her trick completely turns the room around.  Even Apollo couldn’t detect the sword switch with his kinetic vision.  Not bad for an impromptu performance, huh?

And if that wasn’t beautiful enough, the judge himself asks Trucy a favor before announcing a verdict:

Looks like she’s officially earned the title, hasn’t she?

So with all this in mind, what’s the best way to describe Trucy?  She’s a great magician, a strong motivator, a bringer of joy and encouragement to those around her, a comedy relief when one is needed, and...  Oh yeah, I forgot -- it turns out she’s also a bit of a sadist.

Sort of a weird character quirk for Capcom to give her, in my opinion, but not too hard to believe, I guess.

But most importantly, she’s a true entertainer, much like her old Daddy, and someone who knows how to smile even in the darkest of times and who has an eye (two, in fact) for the truth, much like her new Daddy.  You could say she represents the best of both worlds.

You’re still a jerk, though, Zak.

-The Co-Mod

#ajanisapprentice #Trucy Wright #Mod Post #Co Mod #Character Essay #Mod Commentary #Hope you didn't think I'd stopped doing these

[atruththatyoudeny]

Happy 28th! Sending out all my love to the authors and artists in this fandom! ♥ Here are all the fics I read and loved this month:

Ferricadooza! | suspendrs | 1960s - historical - boxing - period-typical homophobia - violence - sexuality crisis - identity crisis - hurt/comfort - Polari - 65k Harry can’t even fathom the idea of surrendering; he’d fight ‘til he died, if he had to, anything to keep from surrendering. Or, the year is 1963, homosexuality is illegal in the UK, Louis owns a gay bar, and Harry’s an underground boxing champion with an unfortunate enemy.

The Little Dog Whisperer | lovelarry10 | strangers to lovers - kid fic - fluff - dog walking - 29k Louis lives alone with his dog Clifford. When he spots a sign in the neighbourhood advertising dog walking services, along come Harry and his son Alfie into his life…

Pretty Please (With Sugar On Top) | angelichl | a/b/o - Sugar Baby Harry - strangers to lovers - mutual pining - miscommunication - soul bond - soulmates - angst - 113k Harry is a sugar baby omega who cons rich alphas for a living. Louis is a rich alpha with too much self-control.

Step Into The Light | lovelarry10 | PWP - established relationship - 13k Harry’s filming his music video for his new song in the humid heat of Cancun, Mexico after dark. Louis watches him with hooded eyes from behind the visor of his motorcycle helmet watching it all go down. How far can Harry push his desire?

Take on Me | haztobegood | magical realism - 60k Actor Harry Styles is preparing for his next leading role as Antonius the Gladiator with the help of Louis Tomlinson, Hollywood’s top stunt coordinator. When the demands of Harry’s career get in the way of their training, the pair head to a secluded cabin to complete their training. Then, Louis begins to share senses with Harry. What is causing this mysterious connection and can Louis and Harry figure out how to stop it before they leave the cabin?

Don’t Move In (Don’t Move Out) | 2tiedships2 | a/b/o - friends to lovers - mutual pining - misunderstandings - fluff - 14k Only one more week and Harry would be living under the same roof. Gone would be Liam’s alpha scent, quickly replaced with Harry’s. All Harry. Louis was going to fucking die. You’d think Louis would be used to it by now, that Harry’s scent would simply fade into the background like Liam’s did. But Louis had a feeling he would simultaneously be living in Heaven and Hell once Harry moved in. Louis was pulled out of his thoughts when Niall smacked him on the back of his head. "The fuck was that for?" Louis asked, rubbing his head and looking at the bloody Irishman he called his other best friend. "You were basically drooling, mate,” Niall said. “That was a courtesy smack to keep your daydreaming from seeping into your pheromones."

It's A Never-Ending Helter-Skelter | runaway_train | Circus - Desert Island - strangers to lovers - 8k The one where Harry winds up on a desert island with a bunch of circus performers and it might just be the best thing that's ever happened to him.

So...how's parenting going? vol. i: the case of the imaginary friend | thealmightyavocado | crack - established relationship - fluff - 8k Harry and Louis’ three-year-old son has an imaginary friend that is making their life a living, breathing hell.

Ad arbitrium | star_k ❶  Find what you love | a/b/o - soulmates - one-sided attraction - pining - angst - 26k Harry learns 16 years is a lifetime to be in love with someone else. ❷  And let it kill you | a/b/o - pining - miscommunication - 19k Louis doesn't believe in fate, but rather in choice. There's nothing romantic about being stripped out of his own.

Lambing Season | HelloAmHere | Farm AU - comfort - fluff - 24k “Shut up,” Louis says, an involuntary grin tugging at his mouth. It’s not every boy who will stand in the middle of a cold barn in a suit and play musician trivia. “I’m Louis.” //lambing season brings sleep deprivation, noisy alarms, cold barns, demanding animals, and warm strangers.

Its Mutual We (All) Discussed It | nikogda | a/b/o - polyamory - omega/omega/alpha - slow burn - soul mates - 28k Two omegas in a committed relationship are ready to start a family. In the process, their alpha donor becomes part of the family too. Every part of their relationship may be unconventional but all of them have never been happier

Promise in the Sky | Throwthemflowers | friends to lovers - slow burn - religion - sexual repression - internalized homophobia - homophobic language - angst - suicide attempt - implied conversion therapy - healing - acceptance - 99k AU in which Harry Styles, a naïve, repressed, socially awkward Midwestern highschooler tries to navigate his fundamentalist evangelical parents and radically progressive older sister. He’s doing an okay job of this until the Tomlinson family starts attending Lakeside Baptist Church and a boy named Louis changes everything. Harry is forced to come to grips with his true self when Louis becomes more than just his best friend; but their relationship opens a can of worms and sends them on the most painful, heartbreaking journey of their young lives. They risk everything and nearly lose, and Harry learns that perhaps only one Bible verse is true: that perfect love casteth out fear.

This Glorious Mess | theweightofmywords | mpreg - miscommunication - post-break up - 14k His head lolls to the side, and his eyes float open to focus on what used to be his bedside table. It’s empty now, devoid of the framed photo of the two of them. And Louis knows that he has no right to feel hurt, but somehow, this only confirms what this really is. “This is the last time,” he cries, his voice breaking both from pleasure and pain. “I know, baby,” Harry breathes, burying his face in Louis neck.

(It's New) The Shape of Your Body | FallingLikeThis | mpreg - enemies to friends to lovers - angst - hurt/comfort - fluff - mention of abortion - misunderstandings - mutual pining - 18k Taking a deep breath, Louis tears open the packet and holds the test in his hands. Deep down he already knows what it’s going to say. He can feel the certainty of it in his bones but he needs to see it. He needs confirmation. Movies always make it look like you have to wait a bit to know, like you have to set a timer and give it a few minutes, wringing your hands for an answer. Even the box says it’ll take time, but it actually only takes a second after Louis pees on the strip to see the two pink lines appear that tell him what he already knew. He’s pregnant. “Oh god,” he breathes, staring down at it. And just like he’d known the test would be positive, he knows now that everything about his life is about to change.

If We Have Each Other | ishiplouis | mpreg - One Night Stands - friends to lovers - angst - fluff - miscommunication - 23k AU where Harry is a single father and a one-night stand is going to change his life forever.

Little Miracles | Summertimebutterfliesandhome (RoseDaggerLouisHarryLS_28) | mpreg - IVF - infertility - 9k Harry and Louis have been trying to have a baby for ages but they haven’t been lucky yet. The doctors tell them IVF is the only way but when that doesn’t work either they give up. However, some little miracles happen.

We've got a lifetime to kill | louislovesharry | mpreg - kid fic - minor pregnancy complications - 5k Harry and Louis have a three year old daughter, Evie, who is their whole world, and another little girl on the way. When Harry falls and is put on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy, Louis and Evie must adjust - but it is all worth it for their newest addition to the Tomlinson family.

Lost in Leeds | Open_Direction | mpreg - camping - fluff - 8k After a couple of amazing nights together at Leeds fest, Harry and Louis get separated with no way to contact each other. This might be less of a problem if Harry didn’t end up pregnant.

Dirty Little Secret | Dont_Stop_Larry | mpreg - secrets - 10k The one where Harry and Louis fall in love, but can’t figure out how to tell Gemma. That is, until Harry gets pregnant, and they don’t have much of a choice.

This I Promise You | xDnicki | mpreg - friends to lovers - friends with benefits - 34k A long awaited boys night out leads best friends Harry and Louis go further than they ever have before. It also leaves them with a surprise pregnancy that will help neither of them to forget that night.

Come In and Change My Life | lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes) | mpreg - a/b/o - fluff - 12k Harry and Louis become friends when Harry looks after Louis' cat during away games, until one night at a party changes everything between them. It's just a shame Louis' going to be away for the FIFA World Cup for three months.

My Sun and Stars, Moon of my Life | OhHarold | mpreg - Game Of Thrones Fusion - arranged marriage - 7k Harry was used to the luxuries of Kings Landing and then Pentos but when his brother is desperate for the crown he is entitled to, Harry must be part of an arranged marriage to a ruthless Khal of a Dothraki tribe.

Dancing With Masks | messofgorgeouschaos | mpreg - fake/pretend relationship - One Night Stands - pining - fluff - 18k With awards season coming up and new films on the way for both of them, Harry and Louis' managers decide it's time for them to date for publicity. They don't mind, given that they are best friends and have known each other for ages. Besides, years of sexual tension built into a fake relationship for press, what could possibly go wrong?

You Wouldn't Believe the Dream I Just Had About You & Me | larryatendoftheday | mpreg - college/university - friends to lovers - slow burn - memory loss - 21k After a back-to-school bash and a few too many drinks, Harry finds himself pregnant from a one-night stand he doesn’t remember. His best friend Louis is the only one who knows about the baby. Together they try to find the father of Harry’s baby, but they keep looking in all the wrong places.

#28th appreciation #1d fanworks appreciation #fic rec #my reads #larry fic #completed fics #my fic rec #monthly fic rec #monthly reads

[shy-magpie]

RQG 154

Wherein red stringing occurs. Liveblog under the cut:

 Not much hype this week, just a lot of being quietly thrilled RSB got the beginning of the episode dedicated to us. I hope the rest of the fandom doesn't feel like Bryn plays favorites. Its sweet he back reads and answers questions but its nothing he wouldn't do in official. Last week was such a gift that I think it cut down on hype for this week because even if (Alex forbid) they immediately time skipped to the end of the week, quarantine still got us amazing backstory and character moments. Unless Alex gets truly desperate and has someone attack the inn or infects both the new kids, the characters are safe from physical danger so no fear hype either.

Yes I want follow up on that Hamid & Zolf conversation: I am so proud of him for calling Zolf out on being patronizing (I can't believe I didn't see earlier with his family, of course that's the aspect that got to him) and they need to figure out how to deal with the chain of command. Zolf already seems more willing to get input on his decisions so its mostly losing the attitude when things happen like Hamid casting lights. Yes I also want Cel to talk about themself more, but I am fine with waiting until they aren't locked up with no privacy. Azu's backstory is coming out at a decent pace and Helen spoils us so not even worried about not hearing more about her becoming a paladin. I am curious if Alex thinks its worth bonding with the new kids and this better not be a set up for splitting the party. So enough pre episode babbling, final bets on if they play with the brorb now or wait until they can take it to Cel's? Gotta love that music. Oh they do want to get back to things! Listen to how fast they're talking. That's nice I wouldn't have thought they'd be as excited about the pure RP backstory and character bits as they get about a boss fight. No Alex neither players nor fans want to skip anything. I will concede that further conversation was unlikely to be productive that night so the morning makes sense. There was only one corridor! Barnes is still using the stairs to get some space. Some might see it as a sign he is infected or afraid of infection but honestly not wanting to puppy pile with a group as tight knit as the party especially while they are shaking out their issues is valid. Azu checks on Carter who passed out drunk face down. Zolf is sleeping in. With Hamid's family issues, Bryn being so careful to specify he has a healthy relationship with alcohol every time makes it a lot easier to not tense up listening. Oh My God thanks Bryn! I know he said the beginning of the episode was dedicated to us but I was expecting a throw away line not a proper red stringing scene! I am grinning so big right now. Azu is watching Hamid Cel is sleeping curled up with the sealed bottle of elvish mead. Because Lydia is as much a criminal as Bryn just plays a longer game. Speaking of criminal, Ben really plays up this rivalry from Azu & Zolf covering similar roles and its a really close second to the rank thing between him & Hamid in character arcs I'm interested in. I think both are aiming towards a happy ending but no idea how the middle is going to play out. I don't think it's aiming for a "this party isn't big enough for two of us". Alex is encouraging this. This is great just going to get a clip of this rather than attempt to transcribe on first listen. Bryn/Hamid is laying this out so clearly: The knowns, assumed, and questions are being labeled nicely. (I wonder if our little discord helped him refresh his memory so he'd be able to match how much Hamid would remember in character.) Bryn also goes 3rd person? Hope it isn't a stress tell like Alex. Yes Bryn is obsessed and as a listener its is utterly charming when he shows up in RSB or Official and is unabashedly as big a fan of the show as us. Zolf wakes up to Hamid red stringing. Thank goodness he isn't letting security concerns lead him to putting the brakes on. I know there was some concern that if one of them was infected sharing they could pass on anything they talk about. As long as they don't get too specific about classified info, using the time and frankly just having a project to distract them is a good idea. Plus in my mind Hamid always looks so hurt when Zolf pulls on the reigns. Lilliana is not allowed to be the connecting thread. Oh seed is finally being addressed. Aw Hamid handed Cel a glass of water. It really is the little things I love about this show: 1)told you he has a knack for leadership: anticipating the needs of team members even as they diverge from his own 2)He does see Cel as a team member not just someone he worked with, you don't hear him cooing over Carter 3)does it quickly then moves on, because as a gentleman he thinks it's what anyone would do. 4)speaking of, I wonder that Azu & Zolf haven't done rounds. its not like they have anything to save the spells for and the field is only in the cell.

Svalbard! Do not taunt us, does Ben have any idea how much we want to see the science dwarves of the north? Um hmm, vindi-fing-cation. I know it wasn't exactly a huge insight but the mixture of science and various schools of magic is key to my theory on what “Erasing The Line” refers to. Oh Frankenstein in this world is such a concept. Plus it makes Mary Shelley canon. Aw Alex thought we'd never get to this bit of lore. Thank you Blue Veins info being given as whole instead of bits & pieces.  Ooh and Barnes is taking it. Time to get a sense of who he is when he's not swinging a sword. Navel engagement with Blue Veins? Hive mind! Minimize harm? Not dead. Paladins are complicated, maybe a rumor, maybe transfer of allegiance. Cyborg kraken Cyborg Zolf Oh splitting the kraken to make more Barnes just checks out as the conversation goes over his head Called it I told you it was a sensible test. (ETA Zolf’s fart test) (ETA: Re: people with Blue Veins) No lies, no embarrassment, very literal. Other instances? Riots London->Paris->Europe Not safe to go to London If you're in their presence you are highly likely to be infected, mass infections,  not passed by corpses? Memetic effect? Tick tock. Ben and Alex have one of their friendly tussles as Carter decides its a me may Yes he did! And Helen name dropped us! I know I'm just a little part of the brigade but I'm going to to be smug for at least a week that we are so good at what we do one of the actual players looked to us. Hey Lydia is welcome too. Paperwork time! Yeah yeah I knew security was going to be used to undermine Hamid. At least it isn't Zolf and they aren't trying to make him look rash for the whole idea. Getting new info from the paperwork is a bit different than talking about what they already know. Make the place bigger? Nice spell Zolf. If this leads to Animorphs again... Oh I was thinking more like a big horde somewhere you could check stone in & out of a stone plane of existence ties in with elemental lore right? Seriously "Cure Hangover" isn't a spell? Or do Zolf & Azu just not approve of using their magic that way? Intoxicants have to fall under mild poisoning, right? Do the studying later in the week? That's a fair compromise; even if Zolf is still presenting it as an order he is explaining instead of giving his advice or IDK putting it to a vote. I'm not positive but I think Lydia is suggesting they go over their character sheets in character. Alex is not amused. Lydia sounds pleased with herself. Perception check? Azu hears someone knocking something over upstairs. Azu tries to not wake Carter as she listens at the door. It had to be her foot in his mouth. Multiple people in the inn. Carter tries to pick the lock. Azu & Carter start bickering. Carter is perception penalty. The inn is being searched Zolf suggests they wake Wilde up by making a racket. Cel hears the door being unlocked. Voices speaking muffled Japanese. Cel just shouts "Hey what's going on?". Zolf joins in. Azu uses her armor to make noise. Thump of someone hitting the floor! Wilde's voice! Lots of feet? Yes Helen, what if it is the kobolds? Oh god what if Skraak checked on them and found out they were in cages underground? Poor guy would think Wilde is their Shoin. Bryn clarifies Hamid shouts out to Wilde Zolf forbids them leaving the basement Cel shields themself. Azu goes for her armor Barnes is keeping Carter from going for the lock again. Hamid casts Fear (!oh that’s a new one isn't it) I assume #jail is already full of angst criminals connecting Hamid's bully days and him going from S1!Hamid scared of every fight to now casting fear as a way to control his enemies). Also these better be his enemies because I still don't put it past Alex to set us up for a tragic misunderstanding. Dragon roar and dragon face is how he casts fear Ok Rusty Quill LOTR night sounds awesome Zolf helps Azu put on her armor The other feet flee Zolf cries out for Wilde as loud as he physically can but still won't let them risk infecting Japan by leaving quarantine early. Oh if that ain't a fic and a half. A set of small claws! It is a kobold End the episode with the kobolds?  

#Rusty Quill Gaming #RQG Spoilers #live blog thingy #RQG 154 #RQG season 4 #long post

[mrreindeerface]

Character Info for When The Night Comes

I’ll be honest, this got away from me a bit. I am not entirely sure this is coherent and I had to fight myself to not info-dump because I have so many thoughts on these dorks. For @galleywinter who has been patient with my need to scream about this fantastic game

Les Full Name: Alessa Mylona – also answers to Lessa Age: 27 Height: 5’10”

Les is the Hunter General in Lunaris. She’s headstrong, composed, and very much a stickler for the rules. She can be a bit standoffish at first – but is always willing to take the time and listen if someone needs her. She’s been a bit of an overachiever since she was young, which tends to rub off on the people around her whether they want it to or not. She’ll follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter of it – she’s gotten a fair share of citations in her files from going against orders when she felt it wasn’t the right thing to do. She can be very caring when needed, but tries to hold herself apart from people to help with her work.

She was orphaned at a young age, and was too difficult of a child to find a home anywhere until she was taken in by the Hunters. She puts a great deal of effort into appearing the ‘perfect’ Hunter, mostly out of fear she’ll lose the one family she’s ever really known. Although she worked on her own the first few years, she and Wren partnered on a difficult assignment and have been inseparable ever since. At the academy she specialized in Demonology – she fights with a weighted quarterstaff mostly but also has a few smaller silver daggers (just in case).

Les knew of the Piper Meriman before coming to Lunaris, more as the legend of a Hunter than as a real person. It was a bit of an early blow to find out the Enforcers would cast aside someone with that kind of reputation, though it did give her the chance to get being starstruck out of her system (and somewhere Piper couldn’t see her). There’s never been any hesitation on her part with letting Piper take the lead, not only because Piper is a force of nature but because Les likes having a chance to not be in charge of everything. Piper is one of the few people who can get her to shirk responsibility and just have fun.

Wren Full Name: Florian Laurent Age: 26 Height: 5’7”

Wren is the Hunter General’s right hand. They are very quiet, seeming almost shy, but they can be unyielding as steel. They are fiercely loyal to those they care about, almost to the point of absurdity. Although dedicated to their career as a Hunter, they weren’t prepared for volume of bureaucratic nonsense that came with the territory of trying to help people. Wren will flout any rule necessary to do the right thing, at least the right thing by their standards. They’re much more empathetic than their partner, and don’t bother to maintain a distance from the people in their life.

Wren grew up the oldest of three children – their father was forcibly retired as a Hunter due to a spinal injury. Hoping to carry on the family tradition of being a ‘hero,’ they studied and trained until they could be tested. Although never a truly model student, they were still one of the best. They specialized in Weapons and Combat training and spent their first few years in the field honing their tracking skills. They are unparalleled at laying traps and setting ambush locations – usually with some guidance from Les. They prefer to fight from a distance, using ranged weapons and resorting to daggers only when necessary.

They were wholly unprepared for the Lunarian double-threat of Omen and Alkar. Both of them had a unique charm, and proved to be effortlessly entertaining for the needling-inclined Wren. The two of them served as a good distraction and break from the insanity that was the investigation, and Wren was more than happy to play matchmaker in the early stages of their relationship. It can be a bit tricky for them to not get sucked into teaming up with one or the other to get the third, but in reality that’s part of the fun of their relationship.

 Les and Wren

They started working together three years before coming to Lunaris after teaming up together on a particularly tricky mission. Wren liked the convenience of having what was essentially a battering ram on their side, while Les appreciated knowing there was someone at her back to help out. Although Hunter teams are not common, and are often split up if called for, the two of them fought tooth and nail to be kept together every time they needed to be transferred.

Not only in sync in battle, the two also work well together off the field. Les is much better suited to maneuvering (read: manipulating) the Enforcers to get what they need whereas Wren has been much better at connecting to the Creatures and getting insider information. Although both have their own way of handling civilians, they ultimately have the same goal: to put on a good face for the organization, despite the recent situation.

 Alaric Full Name: Gideon Alaric Fehler Age: 31 Height: 6’2”

Alaric came to Lunaris by chance, as a Hunter on a specialty assignment. Although he holds himself proudly there’s always a mischievous glint in his eyes. He’s a sucker for having a laugh and a round of ales in the tavern, as much as he enjoys the sense of accomplishment that comes with seeing a town that fees safe because of the work the Hunters do. As he operates, to some degree, outside of the standard Hunter/Enforcer system he can come off a bit of a loose cannon, but at the end of the day his interest is protecting the people.

Originally from Thiyrus, Alaric was sent to join the Hunters by his mother who dreamed of having her son grow up to be strong and a protector for their homeland. Although she did get her wish, he always carried a hint of resentment at the pain her choice brought him. Despite this, he dedicated all his time and effort to his training and studies: he specialized in Alchemy and Demonology both. In combat training he favored short swords, enjoying the adrenaline rush that came from being in the middle of a fight and dancing around his opponents.  

Alaric fell hard and he fell fast for August – as comically “love at first sight” as can be imagined. He was immediately drawn in by their grace, composure, and the raw depth of power he could sense under their skin. Due to the nature of their work, he originally decided not to act on his feelings as he felt a workplace relationship was not the best idea. The longer their task kept him in Eskria, and by extension in Lunaris, the more he found himself wishing to court them. The delight he felt when his interest was immediately (and intensely) returned was palpable, and the two have been nigh inseparable since.

 Poppy Full Name: [Redacted] – Also answers to Pippa, Pips, and Pip (only used by Alaric) Age: 24 Height: 5’1” or 5’2”

Poppy is not a Hunter, but a Witch working under the mantle of Enforcer, though their history with the organization can be considered complicated at best. They hold themselves tightly, observing with sharp eyes rather than interacting with the world around them. There’s a sly humor to them if caught at the right moment – they are guilty of playing small tricks just to get a laugh out of a group of children more than once. They are also sharply intolerant of those who would do harm to others out of fear and misunderstanding, leaving them usually opposition with others in their order. Underneath the hard exterior is someone very afraid of being vulnerable – something they spend a lot of time trying to hide.

Protective of their origins, Poppy doesn’t talk much about who they are and where they’re from, not even to those they consider close friends. Although Alaric seems to hold many of their secrets, even he will say he knows almost nothing. They do frequently allude to being from somewhere “far away” and come from a “rather large” family – brothers and sisters of all sorts are mentioned in passing. At some stage they received both magic and combat training: their skill with barriers and forcefields is unmatched and the enchanted blade hanging at their side is not just for show. They are an alchemist on the side, mostly using the skill to brew potions and poultices for their frequently injured Hunter.

As they arrived in Lunaris several months before everything truly went to shit, they were able to catch a glimpse of Finn and Ezra together in their prime. Though instantly intrigued by both of them, Poppy was content to have their relationship stand at “enthusiastic flirting” and nothing more. After Finn’s attempt at distancing and the escalation of Lunaris’ problems, Poppy was unexpectedly caught up in their reunion – quite literally walking in on them shortly after they reconciled. Though it was uncharted territory for them they will grudgingly admit it all worked out in the end, and that they are happier for it.

 Alaric and Poppy

Having originally met on a special assignment in Aclea, the two of them complimented each other perfectly as both fighters and scholars. As both of them specialized in locating, identifying, and containing magical phenomena they were quickly organized into a specialist unit. Though this meant they were forced to travel in excess, it gave them both the opportunity they wanted to forge their own roles within their respective organizations.

Being sent to investigate the sudden spike in supernatural events across Eskria, and in Lunaris in particular, this assignment is their first “long-term” arrangement somewhere. It has provided Alaric the opportunity to train and fight beside one of his personal heroes, and has given Poppy the space to experiment with new recipes and spells. Though certainly one of their more challenging assignments, it is proving to be one of the most rewarding as well.

#galleywinter #writing #wtnc game

[lovemesomesurveys]

Have you ever known anyone who was homeless? Yes.

Do you watch movies with the subtitles on?   Usually. I always do if I’m watching something on Netflix cause I just keep that setting on. I’m not hard of hearing, but I feel like I just...absorb it more? *shrug* I don’t know. Sometimes I’ll misunderstand what is said or miss it entirely, but subtitles keep that from happening. Plus, when watching certain things for whatever reason certain parts are quieter even with the volume turned up. 

Did you have a treehouse when you were younger? Nope.

Would you rather watch them or play them?   Uh, I’m going to assume you’re talking about sports, in which case neither.

If you were a journalist, what types of stories would you want to cover? Entertainment news. I actually took an entertainment journalism course in college. It was my last semester and I just needed a few more units (the courses for my major were all done) and that was one of courses I took. 

Do you think American Idol is rigged? I’ve heard that, but *shrug*

Have you ever participated in any type of medical study? No.

Have you ever taken a road trip with no destination in mind? I wouldn’t say a “road trip,” but I’ve gone on aimless drives before. <<<<

Do you give good directions? Nooo. I’m the worst, don’t ask me.

What do you think of when I say the word ‘lumberjack’? Plaid and axes lol.

Have you ever lied about your weight? Why? No. I’ve had no reason to.

Do you know how to do the Macarena? Yeah.

Have you ever tripped over one of your pets?   No.

Have you ever been stuffed into your locker? No, but that’s something I thought happened all the time cause of teen movies I saw growing up. 

Can you make another person blush easily? Uhh. I don’t think so? I don’t try to. I’m not a flirtatious person.

What would you change about the way your parents raised you? Nothing. I have the best parents, I can’t blame them for the mess I turned out to be. That’s 100% all on me. 

Do you have to look perfect before you go out to the store? Ha, no. I stopped caring years ago. I used to care about what I wore and attempted to look decent with makeup and do my hair, but I don’t have the motivation or energy for that anymore.

What is your state’s motto? So, I had to look it up and apparently California’s is, “Eureka.” Ah, upon further research it makes sense. We’re the golden state cause of the gold rush and “eureka”, which means, “I’ve found it”, was a common phrase used when someone found gold.

Are there any holidays that you feel are completely pointless? Yeah.

Have you ever gone to work with one or both of your parents? Yeah. My mom worked at Borders years ago and I used go with her sometimes. My dad worked in the mall growing up and I went with him a lot, especially as a teenager.

What is the funnest sport that you got to play in P.E. class? I didn’t enjoy any of them.

Have you mastered the plastic guitar yet (Rock Band, Guitar Hero)? I rock out hard on easy mode. haha. I haven’t played in yearsss, but I’ve actually been really wanting to.

What is one cause you know you’ll ALWAYS support? Ones like ASPCA.

What animals creep you out? ALL bugs/insects and reptiles. Also, a lot of sea life. I have an irrational fear of killer whales.

Have you ever done a walk/run for a charity or similar cause? No.

Do you like the smell of gasoline?   I actually do.

When was the last time you had a piggyback ride? Not since I was a kid.

Have you ever owned or used a telescope? Only the kind for science classes.

Do you have to see or witness certain phenomenons to believe them? Certain things.

Do you know/remember what Shrinky-Dinks are? Whoa, yeah. There’s a memory I forgot I had. I loved doing those as a kid.

Do you talk to store clerks like you know them? No. I’m not the chatty customer. I don’t say anything unless they do, which is usually just them asking me if I’ve found what I needed and/or how I’m doing. 

In your town, are a lot of stores closed on Sundays? No, but a lot close early.

Do you dislike song remixes? Not always. There’s a lot I do like.

When was the last time you hula-hooped? Never.

Have you ever played Magic: The Gathering? No.

What are your thoughts on role playing games? Never had an interest in them. Do you get an adrenaline rush just from watching videos of roller coasters? I probably would if I actually watched videos like that. I’m sure I’d feel anxious just watching.

Do you like watching shows that deal with forensics? Yeah.

Do you want to have a bachelor/bachelorette party before you get married? I don’t even plan on getting married. I just don’t see it ever happening.

Ever been texted by mistake and played along & acted like you knew them? No. I wouldn’t even respond.

Would you ever get a name tattooed on you?   I would maybe do something that reminds me of a loved one (I’m referring to family, like my mom) rather than their name. I don’t see myself getting a tattoo at all, though.

If you could have unnatural colored eyes, what color(s) would you choose? Hmm. Rose gold would be cool.

Do you always remember your dreams?   No, I rarely do. I typically forget them soon after I wake up.

Who is your favorite late night talk show host? I don’t watch any anymore, but I used to watch Conan and Jay Leno back in the day. I was there for the big Tonight Show drama of 2010.

Do your parents dress like they’re years younger? Does it gross you out? No. 

Do you know who Seth MacFarlane is?   Yeah.

Do you try on clothes in dressing rooms and take pictures? No, I never try on clothes at the store.

What is a band you can’t stop listening to right now? There isn’t one in particular, currently.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

[it-will-not-last-the-night]

Blegh

In terms of Persona 5 I’d been riding high mostly since P5D. I’d been positive mostly over it because P5D and fan-generated content had been lovely overall and really engaging and enjoyable. It had helped me forget that the main game itself seriously does upset me at times and I have a less than ideal opinion of it.

*Sigh*

Now I’m starting to feel like that again. Both announcements of today have left brought back to mind some of my biggest problems with Persona 5 and the way Atlus writes in general. What are they? A bit of a lesson then in me;

For myself there are three events in Persona 5 that I really REALLY just consider outright despicable. In no order they are; 1) Two homosexual adult males being negatively stereotyped as child molesters targeting Ryuji 2) Ryuji’s friends responding to one of the greatest acts of selflessness in the entire story by physically abusing Ryuji and 3) The Valentine’s Day event making Canon that Akira/Ren is horrible, Sojiro is horrible and that Atlus thinks all the girls are vapid idiots. 

‘Magical Valentine’ raises an issue I’ve always had but makes it even more forceful. You see in the game the Valentine’s Event is only ‘optionally’ canon. You can play a canonical run-through and not have it occur. So you can, legitimately, without needing headcanon or fanon, just have your own canon playthrough in which the girls are not vapid idiots. The anime however, now, makes it that, for the Animation, it is canon that Akira/Ren is an awful person and that the girls are vapid idiots. Oh and that Sojiro is just literally the worst like...like he is scum in this event. As bas as Akira/Ren is (and he’s bad in this version!) the bigger problem I think a LOT of people forget about the Valentine’s Harem Route is that it literally casts Sojiro as a Guardian of Futaba who would lie to conceal her boyfriend’s infidelities...even when said infidelities LITERALLY CAUSE FUTABA TO CRY! 

So the animation is now making it canon that; 1) Akira/Ren sees no reason he has to be honest or forthright with any females in his life 2) Sojiro holds such low regard for his daughter he will aide Akira/Ren in an ongoing deception and emotional manipulation of her RIGHT AFTER SHE OVERCAME A SUICIDAL PHASE OF HER LIFE and 3) That Ann, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, Takemi, Kawakami, Ohya, Hifumi and Chihaya all fall in love with the exact same person and are literally when confronted with incontervertible evidence of his infedilities not only tricked into instantly accepting that them all bringing him chocolate on Valentine’s Day was a ‘misunderstanding’ but, in the case of the Phantom Thieves members, this has so little impact on them that mere days later they have no reaction.

AKA the ending Valentine’s Harem Route basically says: “Akira/Ren successfully cheated on all the girls in his life, and is free to continue to do so since they are so stupid that they could be convinced to assume it was a ‘misunderstanding’ even under the most blatantly false of pretext,” the ending basically gives carte blanche to say that Akira/Ren will probably keep cheating on the women in his life because, well, they’re so stupid that even if they all end up right in front of him, confessing their love for him to each other’s faces...they somehow think this was a ‘misunderstanding’?

That’s gonna be canon now for the animation. Not ‘optional’ canon, just...just outright canon. Literally everything in the Canon is soured now. Did you like Ren’s bond with Ann in the foregoing episodes? Well bad news; Ren literally is willing to commit to an intimate relationship with her and then emotionally cheat on her with several different women at once. Did you like how Ren played a pivotal role in building Futaba’s character and helping her grow out of her emotional turmoil? Well sucks for you cause Ren is literally willing to lie to this girl’s face and tell her he loves her whilst carrying on behind her back with numerous other women.

It sort of goes without saying that this kinda wrecks P5A completely since, canonically, Akira/Ren is now just an irredeemable asshole and the female characters are reduced to stock harem-style idiot love interests with basically 0 individuality because everyone has to love the Protagonist (self-insert!).

But when you think about it even in the original game...this was a problem. Sure you could choose not to do it...but you could also choose to do it. This means, technically, as far as Atlus’ writing is concerned, canonically Akira/Ren has it in him to be a complete asshole with no respect for women or his friends...and the females in the game are all vapid idiots. That’s technically canon since that’s required for the Valentine’s Route to work.

Oh, also, that Sojiro is the worst. The worst.

The Valentine’s Harem Event, like the Ryuji abusing event post Shido’s Palace. does irrevocable damage to the characters and the content itself, kinda ruining it since for it to be canon...well it means the characters are terrible people or stupid. Why I sort of have to choose to ignore them to actually like the story.

Of course what does all this writing have in common? It’s a JOKE! Haha! Ryuji’s being abused, isn’t this funny? Haha! The girls are all vapid idiots and Joker’s such a chick magnet they have no varying tastes in partner at all! Haha! Gay men want to force Ryuji to undress for them! 

Isn’t this funny? I mean, no, of course not. In almost all these cases the ‘humour’ is...someone suffering. A common retort I then see is; it’s not canon, its just for a joke.

But the problem is it is, all, strictly canon. I could definitely understand if these things were packaged as clear ‘not canon’ events. 

Here’s an example; the Blazblue game series has ‘joke’ endings which are explicitly not canon but usually feature bizarre or ‘funny’ scenes. One of said scenes is a reoccuring bit in which the protagonist Ragna is made to wear glasses that causes the female cast to all fall in love with him. Putting aside the fact for the moment that, to me, this still isn’t funny since its treating the Mind Rape of the entire female cast as a ‘joke’ the fact remains that it is, however, not canon. The creators make sure that nothing that happens here technically infringes on or diminished the canon character content by making it explicitly non-canon.

Persona 5, both the game and now the Animation, take no such efforts. There are no efforts to make clear that Ryuji being beaten up is a ‘comedic non-canon overreaction’ or that Akira/Ren being a womanizing prick and Sojiro being the WORST are just ‘comedic non-canon skits’ all these are played as explicitly, irrefutably, canon. That is how the characters are, as far as Atlus is concerned. That is their opinions, their beliefs etc.

Is it weird that P5 Dancing has the best, most wholesome, most healthy characterization of the entire Persona 5 Franchise? I suppose maybe the mangas are good to, I must admit I’ve never read any of them since from what I can tell Ryuji is basically ignored in all of them in favour of focus on the girls.

Atlus has a writing problem and that problem is centered I fear on a simple fact; the protagonist is a self-insert who is assumed to be a self-insert for a very specific formula; a young male who sees female characters as things he wishes to collect for himself and wants to feel adored by. Almost all of the major writing problems stem from this; Girls seem exploited or turned into vapid haremettes? Well, obviously, gotta appeal to that ‘chick magnet’ fantasy. Homosexuality is cast as negative or frightning? Well, obviously, the fantasy being appealed to is explicitly heterosexual in nature, everything else is ‘icky’. Other males seem to constantly be the butt of a joke or consistently shown up compared to the protagonist? Naturally since the fantasy is about making the player feel like ‘the man’ and all other men are simply lame by comparison so that the girls will only love the protagonist (the self-insert).

What really bums me out about all of this is that Atlus can write such amazing scenes as Ryuji’s ‘the place I belong is next to you,’ but then in that same game or anime have the Valentine’s Event and the Ship scene. I imagine in part this is due to it being a game first, story second, so they feel there are ‘beats’ that need to be there (the loser must be made fun of, the protagonist must get all the girls) even if, from a storyboarding point of view...it just makes the characters look A) Very inconsistent in personality and attitude (Ren’s infamous standing up for a stranger being assaulted but then instantly refusing to step in to help Ryuji in Shinjuku) or B) Like massive asshats (The entire Valentine’s Event from Ren and Sojiro’s perspectives.

It is just...its sad. I want to like this story because there is legitimately good characters and writing but...in the name of appealing to the lowest common denominator it gets weighted down by stuff which is explicitly canon and makes the characters awful. 

It really makes it tough to like it at times.

*Sigh*

At the end of the day I don’t know how to handle this. Accepting its canon makes a lot of people awful or stupid. Headcanoning it away is fine but...then I gotta accept I don’t like Persona 5 per say, I like what I, or other fans, create from Persona 5.

Also can we please just be able to date Ryuji. Please Atlus. We don’t need another female character to be another fangirl for Joker, to be another vapid idiot who can be duped by the WORST Sojiro, please Atlus, please. Please. There are ENOUGH love interests Atlus, please try perhaps instead stop treating women like little toys for a protagonist to effortlessly collect and dupe. 

Watching all the Persona 5 Girls (sans Sae) in the Valentine’s Event is painful. They are characters I like, many of them have good writing...and then they are reduced to props to make a player feel “Oh yeah! Such a chick magnet! They all want me! Women are simply a commodity by which I inflate my own sense of self-worth since having multiple of them attracted to me and betrayed by me makes me feel as if this is a positive development and not a negative one!”

And I do mean that seriously. Look at most content or statements around the Valentine’s Event. They frame it positively. The ‘harem’ ending, Joker is such a ‘chick magnet’ and so ‘alpha’ etc. etc. 

Terrible emotional betrayal? Deep seated trust issues? Sojiro treating his own daughter like garbage? Ignored because ‘Joker is a PLAYER! WOOO!” And this is overall seen as a positive development. 

By now I’ve rambled on ridiculously long but if I must have a conclusion it is thus; Please give us a Female Protagonist who can date the other boys and stop selling this sexist approach where non-protagonist males and all females serve the same purpose; inflating the ego of the player character. 

#persona 5 #p5 #persona 5 the animation #p5a #akira kusuru #kusuru akira #ren amamiya #amamiya ren #joker #phantom thieves of heart #phantom thieves #sojiro sakura #sakura sojiro #sojiro