#despite never naming any of it

[pencilofawesomeness]

What is Twisted Wonderland and how would you sell someone on it?

Ohoho. Ohohohoho. Anon. You have activated my trap card >:D

(I'm about to be soooo annoying/unhinged and I'm sorry. I'm not.)

Alright, so:

Twisted Wonderland is a Disney mobile game made in Japan and co-produced by Aniplex. (Yes, that Aniplex.) I'm not here to sell you on the game, so much as the story, but it is a sort of story-book rpg with turned based fights and rhythm games, where you build character units from a gacha pull. As far as gameplay goes, it's very simple, and most of the emphasis lies on the characters and the story. And it's wonderful.

The on-the-box description of this game doesn't do it justice, per se, but that might be because Disney has a little bit of influence on it and they suck at knowing who their target audience is. It is about a high school based on classic Disney villains—but no, not in the way you're thinking, because I once made that mistake too. It is not a villain school. Rather, the world of Twisted Wonderland is its own entity, with characters built as sort of nods or foils to classic Disney characters. The world itself is somewhat built with these films as its past, and history has become so twisted (ha) that modern society views some of these classic villains as the heroes or supporting characters of their stories, and respect them as The Great Seven. (The seven in question being the Queen of Hearts, Scar, Ursula, Jafar, the Evil/Raven Queen, Hades, and Maleficent. None of them are remembered by name, though.)

The game takes place in the modern era, a society with both technology and magic. Specifically, it takes place in a magic high school called Night Raven College, an all-boys dormitory prep school where the only requirement to get in is a magic mirror that peers into your soul and determines whether or not you can a) do magic and b) kin the Great Seven. And, of course, the player character is a regular-ass human who gets isekai'd in and gets stuck with a talking magic cat direbeast named Grim.

Now. That is the general synopsis. I, on the other hand, affectionately call this the Mental Breakdown game.

See, here's the kicker. The magic system is pretty nifty; while it's functions as a standard magic-is-magic sort of soft system, it has ✨consequences✨

Magic has this byproduct called blot. It's this icky stuff that builds up when you a) use too much magic and/or b) are emotionally distressed. But less so in a "I'm panicked right now" sort of way and more so in a "I have chronic depression and/or anxiety" sort of way. And, when a mage is powerful enough, and sad boi enough, and then goes and uses way too much magic and sad boi juice in one sitting, this amazing phenomenon occurs called "overblot"—which is pretty much a super-powered evil form that turns the mage into the darkest form of themselves and then uses magic until they die.

Naturally, this happens in the game. A lot. The formula is pretty much that each "book" of the story, there is an overblot. One for each of the seven dorms, which are based off of the seven villains/the movies they come from. (And "based on" is pretty loose. Yes you can see the similarities, but these are dumb teenage boys with their own hopes and aspirations, and, sometimes, the game completely lies to you about what character they emulate the most. The guy who's Jafar? Well yes but he's actually just a really stressed out Genie stand in. The Hades guy? Whoops that's Meg. Is that a card soldier or the White Rabbit? Doesn't matter, he's got problems.)

The characters are so well written. I could gush about them forever, and they are the driving points of this plot and it means everything to me. They are some of the most traumatized and messed up individuals, but also, they are dumb teenage boys who do dumb teenage boys things. It is all incredibly well balanced and startlingly realistic for a game that amounts to beating the emotional constipation around people. Mostly because it cannot be beat out of them. The blot can, but they have to deal with their emotions with their own two hands, with varying levels of success.

And the shenanigans!!!! Oh, the shenanigans. I call this the Emotional Trauma game but I have once laughed so hard someone heard me through the floor. It's not all doom and gloom for sure. Sometimes you're watching your friend fall apart because his toxic mother instilled debilitating perfectionism and slowly start making enemies of everyone and sometimes you're sending three of the most gremlin students plus one cinnamon roll to infiltrate a gala that a bunch of weather fairies are throwing in the greenhouse because they stole your temperature regulating magestone to be shiny jewelry and you want it to stop snowing inside your dorm room. And sometimes you can have the exact same character who experienced losing his little brother right in front of him gush about a magical girl sledding anime and all of his gacha games. It is the best of both worlds.

And, that's not all! No, no. We get amazing character interactions. Not just pre-determined friend group interactions, but also random interactions. Yana Toboso (the writer/artist) really likes to stick names in a jar sometimes and make them interact and it is the best thing ever. Every single one of these characters I hold in my hands. Every single one of them gets to have their moment to shine. You can emotionally invest in all of them and be rewarded for it.

The game itself is free and pretty easy to get into. There's not really a bad power creep so you can get through it with what you got. Of course the fun part of collecting cards is that there are stories attached to them that you can watch, and those are also sources of joy. (And it's well documented, so you can find things online pretty easily to catch up and see more.)

I just think it's neat. (Read: I accidentally became wholly obsessed with this game and its characters and they are all blorbos to me.)

You should definitely fall into this rabbit hole with me :))) It's so worth it :)))

#twisted wonderland #ask #anon #I could gush about the characters individually but #we would be here all day #anyway I love them all #and this game does a surprisingly good job with mental illness and neurodivergency #despite never naming any of it #it's pretty obvious though #even if not to the character themselves all the time #also this game is absolutely gut wrenching in the most positive way #it accidentally made me reconsider my entire life and well being #when I saw a little too much of myself in one of the characters overblotting #like WHOOPS I see the issue #but that's a me thing #anyway its very good and I can easily be enabled into blabbing about it more #this is just a very general overview really #and if that's not enough then know that in the first book #I character once says “no I am not going to put down the shovel I am still DIGGING” #and that's when I knew this was going to be fun #and then the end of the book I hear the VA of Tanjiro have a full cry and I knew this was going to consume me #is a very good story and a fun lil game

[heres-someart]

He said he loved me, and it was like a dream

Click for better detail. ID under cut. Reblogs are better than likes

ID:

A digital drawing of Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev, both in profile. Nureyev has his hand on Juno's face, bringing it up. Their faces are near each other but not quite touching. Peter is seen from the shoulders up and Juno from the neck up. Juno is a black person who wears a dark eyepatch. Peter is an asian man and is wearing a sheer red shirt. He has on dark red lipstick. His mouth is open slightly, making his sharp canine teeth visible

End ID

#the penumbra podcast #tpp #juno steel #peter nureyev #i havent listened to the newest episode yet so no spoilers in the notes please #i can also talk for so long about why i posed them how i did #but basic summary: #juno is looking up at nureyev. he's desperate #all he wants is this man but he just cant bring himself to do more than be in his proximity #then theres nureyev #nureyev is first off keeping his identity hidden #hes hiding his eyes and hair #yet hes still showing more of himself than juno is #because despite hinding his identity so many people know who he is just not by the correct name #hes holding juno both as a way to bring him closer while also keeping them seperate #hes leading juno along a path he knows that juno will follow #but as soon as juno gets close to him he runs again #he never lets them get close enough again #but he knows that juno will try #to any of you who read this i love you #cas.art

[ode2rin]

hi... (runs away)

#HELLO (comes back w better confidence) #i miss all of you :< #will respond soonest #!!! #have you guys seen rin' #s official arts #it's been occupying my mind lately #esp that one where he looks like a knight or sumn #imagine rin as a grumpy yet so damn protective knight??? yeah that (like a grumpy obi...)(I ROOTED FOR OBI) #anw!! i turned 20!!! #aaaaa 20 is like... a scary number #i've never thought i'll made it this far and i haven't planned anything up to this pot #*point #so i've been really anxious abt it lol #but then it happened #and it felt just like another normal day #i ate some pie (bec its pi day lol) and had some wine #watched your name (for the 6th time????) #and just. existed. normally #the world doesn't spin differently when you turn 20 i suppose #or any age actually #so it doesn't have to be scary :> #i'm treating it as a reminder #that i am here #despite it all :> #SO THERES MY LIL UPDATE #i'm alive i swear #mimi rambles ᐢᗜᐢ

[neversetyoufree]

So I finally got around to reading The Vampyre today, and

Apparently Mochizuki pulled more from Polidori's Ruthven than just his name.

#Also! as a bonus fun fact: despite Ruthven's first name never coming up in The Vampyre. the name August is also a reference #The Vampyre is largely inspired by an unfinished story fragment by Lord Byron #and the vampire in Byron's Fragment is named Augustus Darvell #There's an unhinged part of my brain that wants to read every story that vnc makes reference to. just to see if there's any fun connections #and I gotta say that this discovery. did not dissuade me from doing that #august ruthven #lord august ruthven #august ruthven my beloved #vnc #vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #comparison #ID in alt text

[brittie-frog]

Watching Day 7 from soulfire pov (Tubbo, Niki, then Tina's)

- "I'm on national TV!!" But not gonna be there for the actual event

- getting an army of 7 little observer guys and naming 4 of them (Rupert, Bertie, Scoob and Caramel)

- completing a scavenger hunt and then running around trying to find another zombie villager

- switch to Niki constantly dying and then for some reason spawning in global and dying to shit tonnes of mobs but being helped by Luffy back to base

- game crashing and not seeing the cinematic then being thrown into the event with an underequipped Pierre and done Bad

- Pierre logging off and constantly dying to Etoiles and Roier until their egg is half dead

- Tina logging on, being told "it's not worth it", their egg just being removed from the game and being switched to red team

- Cellbit still trying to get to the egg and instead killing Bad before understanding

- switch to Tina POV of just taking the event as a fun time running out red's base and getting to talk to more friends again

- sneaking up on Etoiles just to say 'ca va?' And joke pvp fight during inventory shuffle then get killed

- get the final hit on Etoiles to be the one to kill him and then while having a nice chat with Bagi get attacked by Etoiles as "revenge" and Bagi try to defend her

- having another chat with Bagi and Cellbit run up say "sorry" and throw a bomb blowing up his sister to then be chased by Tina

- Foolish try to attack Bagi and Tina defend her and hit Foolish

- "my dead wife!!" - calm down they haven't been on their date yet

- then the museum, Jaiden and Tina meant to be escorting Bagi home but Jaiden has to leave so Bagi takes Tina home the long way to spend more time together while being third wheeled by Luffy (but they gave teaduo the pretty boat and they're just a baby so it's fine)

I hope that red see that Bad is a valuable ally because he put his anger against them (both teams have every right yo be angry at each other) aside for the most part to actually be helpful - he's just a competitive guard dog. With Tina running Soulfire's PR department and crowdfundraising for Bad's therapy hopefully everything will be okay, at least when they get back home and there won't be too much long lasting contempt for him/Blue team.

Edit: I forgot to add the most hilarious moment - Tina sat in the middle of a group of people but zoomed in on the 4halo convo and reading Bad's bubbles where he's basically calling Tina useless and here just sat there like "wtf??" While laughing at how he just kept going on

#qsmp #this day was genuinely so much fun #also when blue got reassigned to red Bad said he would try to fuck over red and then just didnt #despite everything red did to them yesterday #i know that it was so the couples were still not on the same team #but i can still be sad that Tina and Bagi werent on the same team #the glorious return of #teaduo #i need fanart of that photoshoot moment #and buff q!bagi rowing the boat for q!tina to relax #qsmp soulfire #qsmp blue team #qsmp event #i also want to know how many of those little observer guys there will be in total #i saw Bad met another at the end of the day and named it Coco so i want to see if any more will show up #truely i just want tina to be able to name one since shes never been given a companion to name

[goldensunset]

this is what joy looks like to me

#:D #i love the ralts line a totally normal amount i swear #wow and i was about to give up on this kirlia outbreak #(lie) (i was never gonna give up but it’s almost midnight so i would’ve been forced to give up lol) #then at the last minute. another addition to my blue gang!! #i can never have too many lol #pokémon #i committed at last to naming the shiny gallade i transferred in from pla #because despite being mine it still counts as a traded pokémon ig??? so i only get one shot at naming it #his name is now. ICEE Machine. bc he’s blue like a blue raspberry slushie and also i found him in the icelands #also i wanted a food/sweet name to go with my shiny gardevoir who is named Cake Pop #’slushy’ or ‘slurpee’ just sounded dumb and gross. icee machine is silly but in a fun way #but anyway now that i have another shiny kirlia and it’s male i can just evolve him into gallade #and have another one that i can rename any time if i want #like a backup plan

[agentperezbian]

I know a lot of people have said this already but it's really apparent how every TS "era" is more of a rebrand to whatever is culturally relevant than an organic shift in style and growth as an artist, and it's a shame that this has become the blueprint for other artists, mainly female pop artists, who are forced to change themselves into something unrecognizable and inauthentic or be accused of stagnating. And I think the unfortunate thing is how often aesthetically motivated "eras" are mistaken for growth as an artist. For example, I think Guts was a more mature and self-aware album for Olivia Rodrigo that expanded on her first album and showed how much she's grown as an artist and songwriter in the last few years, but because she didn't drastically change her look and made the album purple again everyone piled onto her accusing her of doing the same thing again. Because it isn't actually about the music or the message or you as an artist, it's the product you're selling, a new shiny image for everyone to model themselves after until they get bored of that one again. And then it's onto the next one. Fast fashion as music.

#like sorry the new name for the ts album just seems forced and makes it clear she's going to be doing some #character shift again and like that's FINE. whatever. her fans will eat it up and she'll get richer no one cares what i think #but there's something about this one in particular that just feels so inauthentic to me #and maybe it's because despite claiming to be tormented or whatever she never seems to care about any social issues that don't affect her

[k1rishiki]

oh yeah. the reason why i decided to reread tbhk (and thus it was able to hit me like a truck this time around) was actually not bc of mitsukou going canon but actually bc i maybe accidentally started a tbhk book club w my kids at work and wanted to check the contents of it justttt in case before i put the books in their hands

#tl;dr i have this one 4th grade boy who's a total weeb and knows that i'm the only one in this town who's more into japanese media than him #so he pesters me abt it every time he sees me. and the thing abt this kid is that he gets bored easily and if he does he turns into a #complete menace. now a couple weeks ago. he shows up at the program w one piece volume one and spends the entire time he's there peacefully #reading and not causing any problems on purpose. my coworker owen (the one who climbed onto the roof) and i were shocked and in awe of how #peaceful he was being and came to the conclusion that he NEEDS to have a manga volume in his hands at all times. few minutes later. #he finishes reading and isn't bored yet so he decides to go talk to me abt manga. specifically he starts pestering me abt what shonen i've #read despite the fact that i am a shoujo reader and told him that. but he knows i've read kuroshitsuji bc he previously asked me abt what #the worst anime i've ever watched is and i will never not take an excuse to drag the adaptation. and he figures that if i've read kuro i've #probably read more. and so i mention tbhk and he asks more abt it bc of the name involving toilets and him being a 4th grade boy so i give #brief overview and he wants to read it. and i come up with a scheme to make him peaceful AND to give him something to talk to me abt which #isn't 'i know you've read more shonen manga' 'let me gacha on your phone' or 'i saw an ad for rent a gf. thought it was lame. and now want #you to tell me how it sucks bc i assume you know everything abt every animanga ever' (<does unfortunately know too much abt rent a gf bc i' #a bit of a nosy bastard and watched the mother's basement video). so i offered to bring it in bc i own physicals of the whole series and of #as previously mentioned. gave it a quick reread in advance just in case. and got hit by it. hard. i love you tbhk almost as much as i love #when ppl get into things through me. honestly i think getting to live vicariously through him might be one of the main reasons it got me #this time around and not as much the first time (still loved it the first time though). flash forward a little while. one of the 3rd grade #girls is like. really into reading. and also macabre things. like ghosts. and she has two books from the school library. and has had the #same two books from the school library for over a week. she reads quickly and finished them both in under a day and is now bored out of her #mind rereading them. she asks to read the books i've been letting the other kid read. now there are two of them #romeo.txt

[brookheimer]

have never watched a single episode/read a single page of bsd but every month like clockwork i frantically search “chuuya” on twitter to see if he’s alive yet. turns out he is still drowned. see you guys next month

#this has been going on for like two years now #originally i would check to see if he returned from his like four year absence from the story #then vampire guy then oops he drowned #literally don’t know anything about any of tge rest of the plot i just want to know if hes ok. #the grip this man has on me despite my never consuming an ounce of bsd content…. can’t explain it #bungo stray dogs #bsd #bsd spoilers #i guess #chuuya #what’s his full name #chuuya nakahara #also i have no desire to watch/read bsd sorry. i’m perfectly content with the current state of events

[stunfiskz]

you know it's getting bad when you start writing an entire biography for that fictional character.

#anyways i realized ive never actually thought of a name for rouxls's mom despite spinning her around in my brain like shes in a microwave #anyone have any ideas #txt

[wereshrew-admirer]

.txt

#coworkers they/theming me in emails despite my never ever coming out at work feels like a triumph #i just openly wear dresses and a beard at the same time but i tell nobody anything #and certainly don't request any particular pronouns #and it sets me up to be very fond of my coworkers #the wild old scientist i took over my lab from who he/hims me but has never once even blinked at me in a sundress #the lady in material control who thinks i care about fashion and asks me for advice that i can't give #the QA ladies that occasionally compliment an 'outfit' (i cannot stress enough how little i pay attention to how i combine my clothes) #and the three of four (i think one quit? idk) people that 'they/them' me very conspicuously like they're trying real hard #i'm very lucky to have the type of work environment i do #upper management treats me like shit but everyone i work with directly is 100% fine #the QC guy who took me aside to ask if i was trans and scared the crap out of me but it was because his son just came out and he wanted adv #ice <3<3 #<3 #i'm not social and i can't remember most of these folks' names #but i do like people a lot actually #(just added a new “person that has conspicuously and spontaneously decided to they/them me” to my collection) #...for the record they/them are my least favorite pronouns on account that people will default there to avoid using it/its #but from the mouths of the ignorant i like it a lot

[buck-yyyy]

by far my weirdest era was that one summer where i spent hours and hours messaging conservative christians on pinterest to gain an understand of why they believed what they did, how religion tied into that, etc etc

i’ll never forget, one girl messaged me back a few months later and asked me to fill out a google form on abortion for her school project because she wanted a diverse data set 😭

#i was 14 LMAO #it actually was a lot of fun and really interesting #like yeah. it was really weird and really hard to deal with the fact that they only showed me any ounce of respect because they considered #me ‘one of the good ones’ since i was respectful and honest about my intentions #(in that i opened with the fact that i wasn’t trying to change their beliefs and wouldn’t be posting it anywhere) #but nonetheless it was informative and rather fascinating #i’ll never forget this one 50 year old dude named greg #i left lunch with family and friends to hide in the bathroom so that i could message him back in a timely manner 😭 #he was super super christian and was explaining a whole buncha stuff about the bible and what it means to them #anyways. if i were to do that again i might handle certain things slightly different #but it was kinda neat. a lot of them also wanted to know why i believed and supported the things i did #i dunno. despite the fact that i wholeheartedly disagreed with everything they said and believed? it was a really cool experience to have #rational and honestly rather intelligent conversations about why they thought the way they did

[skeletons-in-ur-closet]

ill stop talking about this one day but its so unfair that im expected to do literally everything

#i gotta handle more shit related to my dad when i thought i was finished #i did 90% of the work but i left the financial shit to my brother bc his name is beneficiary to most of it #well he never bothered to take care of any of it over the past 2 months (DESPITE SAYING HE DID!!!) so now i gotta do it #now i have a bunch of fucking phone calls and paper work to fill out. all for my brother to get the fucking money. #anyone have a spare bullet i can put in my brain? #when im finished handling my dads affairs im moving tf out i cant deal with him or my mother anymore #i dont wanna deal with anyone

[sovonight]

,

#ohhhhhhh i really do dislike the tonal shift in bg2/tob so much........ and by that i mean mostly in xan's mod 😭 #i mean maybe the sense of betrayal and disappointment is immersive but it really leaves me with No idea what to do with him #in my version of radri's story. like. do i do my best even with all the parts i find ooc? do i cherry pick what i want and forget the rest? #and even after all my complaints i keep thinking back to his author. the fact that somehow this is the *intended* experience #currently feeling like the necromancer who resurrected their wife and is convinced she came back wrong but who just never truly knew her #i keep going back to 'estel'amin'. the fact that xan named charname his hope--and then quickly stopped using that name for her #once her bhaalspawn nature continued to affect her life after the conclusion of bg1 #so--basically--i'm to assume that he changed his mind? she's no longer his hope; his light; and if she is it's rare #he just calls her beautiful now; something far more shallow #and the fact that in tob he vacillates between subtly criticizing her for her nature which she has no control over #(and which in radri's case she has never even willingly given in to)-- #and attempting to comfort her after her nature makes bad things happen to her & around her #--but then his comfort is once again undermined by the aforementioned shallow compliments #it's coming across as 'i love your body despite what you are in spirit' and really isn't a great look at all #look maybe i'm crazy but in bg1 i got the impression that he was able to accept and move past it fairly quickly #like 'ok you're a bhaalspawn so now let's move into problem solving. obviously i have to quit my job and travel with you full time' #but in bg2 he spends most of his time lamenting about how hard it must be for her to live like this #while also pointing it out as a personal flaw of hers. as if she'd had any say in who her father was #like there are npcs literally shouting 'i hate all bhaalspawn!' and here he is--supposedly her closest supporter-- #also subtly saying 'i hate bhaalspawn' right to her face #when literally as a neutral alignment and as a companion of 1-2 years-- he should actually have THE most nuanced take on her??? #in bg1 he says murder is unavoidable in the life of an adventurer. then in tob he comments that charname kills everyone haphazardly-- #--as though in another jab to her nature. meanwhile as a constant companion he should know better than anyone that it wasn't so simple #idk. i'm almost feeling gaslighted by the narrative in a sense #because when everyone else talks about xan in bg2/tob--including charname via the dialogue options/written internal dialogue-- #they say that he's ~gray~ and calm and collected and emotionless etc #meanwhile he's literally the most emotional guy in the game. like. he's freaked out SO many times #so?? how am i supposed to take anything here genuinely?? how am i supposed to engage??? SIGH #anyway today's my first day at my new job and i have to wake up in 2 hours & im certain that i'll be too nervous to eat today #my goal for today is just to not be fired 👍 12 hours from now it will be over...

[kwxnnxn]

That video essay post reminded me of a xmen fan casting video by a popular YouTube were he fan casted Kwannon. For each character he talks about an important book to explain the character to the audience, for Kwannon he chose Uncanny X-Force… A book Kwannon does not appear in once.

#pissed me off #and also pissed me off when he named a bunch of characters that k dated…despite her never interacting with any of those character

[stupid-sloot-headcanons]

If you're ever feeling down and like you can't do anything, just remember: there will always be someone more incompetent than you, and his name is YandereDev. You can wake up and brush your teeth and do nothing else for the day, and you'll still have accomplished more than he has in over a decade 💖

#.sillyshit #and before you ask lol no Im never doing any content for yandere simulator #despite the name and despite me being a stupid sloot i still have standards #sloot's essays