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#my favorite sp trope

1moreoffkeyanthem · 5 months

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Oh look it’s another fic excerpt from what I just posted (sot style my loves)

(I’ll be honest the the entire oneshot is just shameless “character tending another’s wounds leads to life confessions” bc I’m the WORST)

Anyway, here’s a chunk of The Motions I’ve Been Going Through Have Failed

“You need to rest, Stan. You’re hurt. You’re sick.”

Thoughts of poison and death flooded his cloudy mind. Would this be what took him out? No. If he was awake, that meant the worst was over. “Your majesty, I’m not, uh, dying, right?”

“Not if I can help it.” A small smile played on Kyle’s mouth. “The healers got you stabilized, and we’ve been administering potions to help with the infection. It’ll be easier now that you’re coming back to yourself.”

Infection. That would explain why he felt so delirious, so fogged. Probably significant blood loss too, if he had to guess.

The king leaned forward, that worried expression still prevalent in his stunning eyes. They were so green up close like this.

“Is it okay if I change your bandages? I didn’t want to try earlier and wake you up by accident, but we should probably check on the stitches.”

Stan just stared, still fixated on his irises. Every imaginable heaven combined couldn’t compare to their color, surely. Like that of the deepest forest. But not one you would get lost in. No, Kyle’s eyes were a forest where he could FIND himself.

“Hey. Stan.”

He forced his thoughts back to reality. “Mhm?”

“Did you hear me?” Kyle pressed a cool hand to his forehead, pursing his lips, displeased. “Gods, you’re still way too warm for my liking. Not as bad as before, though, so that’s something I guess.”

“Sorry.

“No, no, hey, don’t apologize! I’ve just been so worried about you. Fuck, dude, I had to leave the room while Nichole was stitching you up because I couldn’t handle you being in so much pain even while unconscious. I’ve barely left your side. Just in case. I wanted to be here when you woke up.”

And he was glad he was. Hell, he wanted to see Kyle EVERY time he woke up. “Thank you.” He meant it. “I’m so sorry for scaring you like this. I mean, I know you have enough going on with the war and everything-“

“Right now, my focus is getting you better.” Kyle said firmly. “Wendy’s handling the army for now, but even her badassery doesn’t compare to you.”

He gently pulled the blankets from Stan’s torso, revealing gauze spotted in places with rust colored blood. “So, can I clean you up a little?”

Something about the impending intimacy of his king checking his wounds make his heart race. “Do… would you not rather have one of the healers do it?”

“Oh. If you’d prefer that, I can go get someone-“

“It’s fine!” Yeah, that probably sounded a little too eager.

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trashlie · 3 months

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Love and Deepspace Thoughts

I promised some thoughts about Love and Deepspace and we're a week into the game and I think I can finally ramble about it for a while. I've been immensely enjoying myself and screaming daily with my friends lol and I think I've been able to formulate my thoughts pretty well! Idk how many people actually wanna read this, but I always love to have a record of my thoughts - especially something this early in game, because knowing papergames, there's going to be so much angst, so many twists and turns, and I'm already seeing a lot of threads of how things could play out and I like to be able to look back and see how wrong I was lol.

I play on the North American server and have completed chapter 7, so this will be full of spoilers for story content, as well as a lot of spoilers for anecdotes, tender moments, and some of the myth stuff - I'll try to denote where I'll mention certain spoilers in case you're trying avoid certain things, but it'd be impossible to write all of my sincere thoughts and capture all of what I really love and am looking forward to without spoilers, unfortunately.

Below will have a lot of thoughts on the current LIs as well as speculation about the 2 coming LIs, as well as their dynamics, and further speculation on where I think - or maybe just would like to see - the story could be going. To be clear, I have not cleared all anecdotes or myths, as I'm trying to savor things and good lord I cannot pull all those cards; a lot of this is compilation between my experiences as well as @poisonheart and further things I've read and discussed in the server. I will also be approaching this as a longtime player of MLQC, papergames' other otome game, because I cannot help but see the comparisons between the game and sing the praises of where I feel like they've grown and refined, but I don't think you'll need to have played MLQC to read this - you can honestly just ignore those bits lol >A<

What I can outright, sans spoilers, say is that I'm really enjoying Love and Deepspace so much and I think that it's come at a really good time for me, personally, as a MLQC player, because there's so much in game that's been completed and we're basically going through the motions doing our dailies, waiting for our new chapter events or participating in the occasional events (if you aren't hoarding resources for SP wish tree events) so it feels SO refreshing to dive into a new game that takes place in the same universe/world but have so much new stuff to uncover, so much new lore, new characters to meet and get to know. In MLQC I have a very clear favorite, but so far in LADS, I find that while I think I might have a favorite, I really enjoy all three LIs so much and I don't feel bad when I pull someone else's card, because it means I get to gobble all the lore! I don't feel like "UUUGGHH THIS GUY" when we get to X's chapter route. Perhaps it's just that LADS really caters to specific tropes and cliches in a way that I enjoy, but I feel so much like they've done these characters great justice! This goes for the MC, too, who doesn't feel at all like a cookie cutter MC meant to be a stand in for our own self-insert, but rather has a lot of personality of her own, is feisty and discerning.

Also, I gotta give a lot of props to the character customization features. I understand why people are upset that you can only change your hair and hair color in the photobooth function, but we rarely see MC out of that feature - so much of the game is in first person POV - and the times that we do see her, she's seen from the back, so maintaining the same hair for all characters allows them to keep something they can use for her stand in in such scenarios. But the customization is legit nuts! You can do so much with it, I spent so long tweaking mine the day before the game launched! I want to make side accounts I will never play just to play with that function lol

But let's get into the good stuff!

I really cannot sing the praises for the LIs enough, and that's going to be the bulk of what I'll talk about, because even this early in game, there's so much nuance to the LIs in both their characters as well as their dynamics with MC. Everyone brings a little something different to the table, and with what little we know of the upcoming LIs, I think even if for some reason the current LIs don't work for people, maybe the new ones might? But personally, I am so invested in all three of them! While I think I have a definite ranking in favor forming, it's not like it means I dislike any of them at all, and I'm always so eager to learn more!

One thing I'd like to mention before getting into it is that I love the inclusion of the myth cards, and though they are treated as alternate universes, I think it's more like they are previous or parallel timelines, but I'll try to get into that a little more as I talk about the characters!

From what I can see so far, I think Rafayel is one of the more popular fans with the North American/English-speaking fanbase - and it's not hard to see why! He's sassy, provides good comedy, he's fun to bully, and he's really pouty. I had a feeling he would be my favorite from the get go, just because I tend to have a thing for really pathetic men lmao and I have SUCH a fondness for him. I said I think I have a ranking forming, but it feels WRONG to rank them because that's how much I really like them, but if I had to, Rafayel's #2 position is really, REALLY close to #1! But the thing is, it's not just because of all of those traits above. I'd argue that he's one of the characters who has a lot of iceberg depth, as in there's a lot of depth to him that may get ignored or glossed over because of the sass and brattiness that accompanies, or even masks, it. As poisonheart puts it, the comedy hides the pain - and Rafayel comes with a LOT of pain! There's a delicious complexity to him where he is one part needy and clingy, but also one part resentful and hurt. MC made a promise that she doesn't recall - whether it was in this life or another - and you really get the sense that Rafayel wants to settle the score, but at the same time his feelings get in the way of those bitter, hurt feelings, and I really enjoy this complexity a lot! I think it elevates all of the sassiness, gives it a purpose and meaning.

Take his Nightly Stroll Bond: on the one hand it comes across as comedic and even manipulative -and it is! But when you get into it, you understand why. That's not to say if I think there's justification for manipulation because that's not what I'm here for; I'm just here for a good time and a good time I'm having. But when Rafayel says "It's been 800 years!" I don't think that's an exaggeration - he just isn't talking about just the day that he waited. Is faking an injury/illness and checking himself into a hospital overkill? Sure lol but that's what makes him so delightful to me. There's all of this hurt and unaddressed resentment, but as much as that, there's all of these feelings! Because even though he's hurt, he CARES about MC, SO MUCH. That's the problem! It would be easier if he didn't care, but he does. He's so needy, so clingy, he wants her attention because he's waited for so long while she was off, having forgotten him, living a life that abandoned and left him behind while he waited and waited and listen ;~; my stinky fish man I'm so sorry I cannot wait for her to learn the truth. I want to know SO BADLY what happened! When did they meet, anyway? He makes a comment on the homescreen when he's sulking lol about "See you in three months... three minutes, landlubber"

HOW LONG DID HE WAIT FOR HER IF ONE MINUTE IS ONE MONTH TO HIM?!

And listen, idk what anyone else thinks, but the end of chapter 7 had me in my FEELINGS, with the way he tried to leave her at the bottom of the ocean - but he couldn't, because of their promise, because he's unable to go back on it, because even though she forgot all about him and their promise and went about her life without a memory of him, he can't do that. It's the hurt! It's the resentment! It's the confliction between his feelings, because it seems like they take up equal space - his hunger for her attention, for what feels like she was so fickle to give and take away, the way she meant so much to him and he feels like it wasn't the same ;A;

(I've contemplated how possible it is that they met when she was younger, before she was attacked in the Wanderer incident 14 years ago, and if that could somehow have affected her memory, but I feel like it must be something greater, because seeing the fish glow in his heart means the vow they made was binding, so something strong must've caused her to forget. But that's also why I've contemplated if this was in another life? I'm less sure about this, because in Rafayel's second anecdote, he crosses paths with MC at university, though of course she doesn't recognize or recall him, and he specifically recognizes her voice. "Though her voice has matured, her pronunciation, enunciation, the rhythm of her speech, and even the emphasis in her sentences... Every word strikes like a drumbeat, awakening long-buried memories in his mind" It feels more likely that it happened while they were younger. Also I feel like this passage really encompasses her significance, that he can recall these details, to recognize them after so much time ;~; stinky fish you make my heart ache ;~;)

I appreciate so much that they've given Rafayel so much depth, that under the comedy of his pathetic, sulky exterior is so much reason for it, that there's an undercurrent of resentment and something dark - after all, we haven't actually uncovered what happened with the painting and Raymond. We saw the mermaid skeleton in his house - was Rafayel seeking revenge for his people?

But Rafayel also shows tremendous emotional sensitivity, in ways that sometimes catch me off guard. I distinctly remember lol sitting in shock after 4-3, and the text from Rafayel that pops up asking MC if she got the thing, telling her about how he asked a seagull to send a white seallshell why hasn't it arrived yet lol and I remember going "NOT NOW RAFAYEL READ THE ROOM ;~;" and then he goes on, telling her "if you draw on it and put it into the ocean the sea will carry the feelings you poured into the drawing to the soul you yearn for" and I just started SOBBING lol ;~; It was just so.... poignant but so simple. He didn't say I'm sorry for your loss or my condolences or anything like that - it was his own chaotic, weird method, but it was sincere. Likewise, he shows that similar sincerity in Ocean At Night, despite initially dismissing paper lanterns as silly human traditions - a lantern will be blown out why would you put all your hope in something so fleeting - coming around to using his own flame, that will never go out, to light a lantern for MC with the prayer that her hopes will never go out. ;~; Listen, I cried. I was TENDER my heart was soggy ;~;

And while I know people love a good pathetic man and enjoy chaotic sass and the fact that we really, truly NEVER know where his plots are going to go lmao - always an adventure with him - I hope they appreciate that depth and don't disavow the darker elements of him that give reason to those core elements of him. Rafayel is a character that carries his hurt and bitterness on his sleeve, rather than hiding it or shoving it away, and I really look forward to exploring it and all the messiness it has to offer, and how it will play out for MC.

On the very far end of the spectrum is Zayne. He's the character I expected to not be too fond of, so I was so pleasantly surprised as we got to know him to find myself proven wrong! I expected him to be... hm... I guess colder? More prickly? Than he turns out to be? And, admittedly, he is still rather aloof and cold on the surface, but I think it helps that he and MC have that history and that we are introduced very early to them through the A Frozen Promise Bond. It made it readily apparent that Zayne was not a cold and aloof person because he was too lofty or something but rather... it just seemed like maybe he'd been someone more awkward when he was younger, someone who didn't know how to connect very well with the daughter of this family friend, but he still tried. The snow seal took me out, you guys ;~; I never moved on from that!!!!!!

Despite seeming so cold, there's a certain kind of warmth to Zayne, just under the surface. He shows his care and concern in the ways he knows best, as MC's PCP, caring about her well being and health, but their Tender Moments are a collection of wonderful moments showing them growing closer, getting to know each other better as people, as friends and equals. For the record, Starry Nocturne hurt me so much, but it did two things I thought were so important. a. It showed that he was not infallible, which I think is very important, because often characters are written in their roles as geniuses who never fail, or else accomplish the impossible, and to see him lose a patient, while painful to read, made him so human but also b. It gave him that moment of vulnerability with MC where he could lean on her. It's so, SO important! for a MI to be able to lean on the MC, I feel, for them to be those equals, for him to be able to be vulnerable with her, but especially so for a character like Zayne who feels very reserved and closed off.

MC makes statements about feeling like there's distance between her and Zayne, especially when they first come back into each others' lives for the first time, so getting to indulge in these little Tender Moments of them taking little steps towards each other, closing that gap between them, is so satisfying! Having that history gives them a dynamic unlike Rafayel or Xavier's with her, because she has her memories of their childhood, of who he was when they were younger, and who they are now, and can compare the warmth of him opening up, of the chuckles and laughter she elicits from him. They also have this kind of flirtship I really enjoy - something very coy, not in an uwu so shy way just.... very coy, both dancing around the bush, before one of them calls it what it is - I thought the A Heartfelt Paradise Tender Moment a really good example of this!

It's so easy to read Zayne as being cold and aloof, but he really does have so much warmth, he just isn't good at showing it. He doesn't wear things on his sleeves like Rafayel or MC. But good LORD when he's in private....!!!!!!! The Business Trip Memoria TOOK. ME. OUT!!!!!! This is the game launch and they're already throwing this at us?! It was, to me, such a mature kind of date to give us? Two people who have had to grow used to each other's absence in their lives, and continue having to make space for those absences, as both are busy people - Zayne, a dedicated cardiac surgeon and MC a hunter - and what it means to grow used to the absence and to miss each other. But listen - when MC got in his lap?! She was touching his mouth? His face?! "What did you want me to do, in front of all those people?" he asked her? SIR?!

HELLO?! Girl. Listen.

I had to fan myself alfjkkfkjafjkafkjaf lmao

I looooooove them for that element of normalcy - for the people who have important careers and lives that they have to attend to, but still find the room for each other in their lives. The implication that Zayne rushed his way through school, took on grueling workloads and lacked a social life amongst classmates much older than him, not because he loved learning or even because he was so dedicated to his career - but because it was his way back to MC, so that he could return to stand in front of her? GOD. HOW DO YOU MOVE ON FROM THAT? HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT? Knowing that he did it all so that he could stand in front of you again? HOWLING pls LISTEN.

Zayne may feel cold on the surface, but he is SO warm, he cares so much. And not just about MC, either. Thank God, too, because I'm not huge on the "Cold man only cares about the woman he loves" type, but Zayne cares so much about his patients, and making sure they feel seen, cared about? His first anecdote had me crying about seniors in hospitals with no relatives to accompany them to their examinations ;~; What a man.

I haven't had a chance to dig into his myth yet, which is a shame, but his third anecdote DID destroy me. I'm not even exaggerating, I was sobbing in my bedroom - and the worst part is I knew it would be painful going in and I still wasn't braced for impact enough! I mean, frankly, both his second and third hurt but nothing like the third! Parallel universe Zayne in a grim reaper role where he must kill humans turning into Wanderers - so very opposite the surgeon version of him who does everything he can to save people, both of them living parallel lives to each other, experiencing each others' lives through their dreams/nightmares. THIS HAS ME SCREAMING!!!!!

So much of MLQC has a lot to do with timelines - parallel worlds, some alternate universes, a whole timeline that's technically the same timeline reset but also still moving forward...... lol I can't help but think about where all of this fits in to LADS. Even though the Myth storylines are taken as alternate universes.... I think they're part of everyone's stories. We see echos of them. I haven't finished Rafayel's but even little moments, like making a break for it and having to run to escape attention echos a scene of Rafayel and the Princess MC making a mad dash in the market alley to escape the palace guards. It feels especially true for Xavier and MC, which I'll get to. But especially with Zayne - whose myth, again, I haven't been able to dig into, but seems to pose him as a sort of god, a forseer - we have two very different timelines/events now: his myth/Philos story and his parallel Grim Reaper self. How many timelines/parallel universes are we playing with, I wonder....?

I really want to revisit this in the future when I do get to dig into his myth, because I can see how Rafayel and Xavier's myths tie into their identities and their dynamics with MC, but I don't know yet how any of that works for Zayne and MC! I'm so intrigued, I can't wait!!!!

And finally, Xavier. God, I should have known lol in retrospect I should have realized Xavier would be my weak spot but listen..... sometimes I gotta lie to myself lol I love everything about him, the seemingly gentle eepy man who is also simultaneously a walking weapon of mass destruction but also so easily stumped by a UFO machine lol. Much like Rafayel, I'm especially fond of him because of the depth and dynamics, but also, honestly, much like Rafayel, he just checks all the boxes. Poisonheart puts it best when she says Xavier is the perfect middle-ground of the two - he's not as sassy as Rafayel is, but he'll still roast MC, he's very grounded and comes off a little aloof sometimes, but he doesn't seem nearly as aloof as Zayne, and he's also really unintentionally funny! He plays the middle-ground of them SO well. And where Zayne was working hard in order to show up in front of MC again and Rafayel has a score to settle but also so much neediness, it feels like Xavier has a LOT of karma to make up for.

Now, I personally don't have his myth cards, but poisonheart does, so everything I know I've experienced via her and all of our hours of screaming lol and the thing that really gets me the most about Xavier and MC is like..... okay it's the way he's clearly this really incredibly strong guy, but he plays the submissive prey role so well? lol He begs if she tells her to, he doesn't resist, he indulges her, he plays along - but when the mood strikes, he'll pull the dominant switch and flip the table and alkfjlFKJKAFJ ALKJFAF LAKJFAKFKJFAJ AFLKJD GODDDDDDDD IT GETS TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Xavier has that sense of like.... everything for MC, right? Like he's making up for a lifetime. There's implications that maybe he's been searching through space and time for her, trying to find her, that they've lost and each other countless times before - or rather, she's lost him - and his Shooting Stars myth supports this. Sometimes it's really subtle, sometimes it stands out so much I'm in agony. She remarks so often how he feels so distant, like he's as out of reach and mysterious as a star. She has nightmares about him disappearing and he is incredibly reassuring about staying, about not leaving. And maybe I'm reading into it, but he even talks about her hanging on tight, like maybe if she's strong enough, she can keep him from ever being taken away, keep them from being separated this time.

He's also the one who feels like he's actually endured all the years. Rather than separate timelines or parallel worlds it feels like Xavier has actually traveled through space and time, like he's the same Xavier from the myth himself, which makes him talking about the loneliness of stars so much worse. How long has he been alone, searching for her? ;~;

But their dynamic just really gets to me - it's those echos, the way MC subconsciously acts on them, and how indulgent Xavier is towards her. It's the playful teasing and the gentleness and how he plays so submissive and docile but when the mood strikes he can switch it up and catch her (and me!!!) off guard. It's the way he texts LMAO never writing out you or one lmao (which is marginally better than Rafayel's COMPLETE LACK OF PUNCTUATION LMAO ALFKAJFKJAFKJAFKJAFJK) It's the way he has that innocent baby face and could absolutely get away with murder.

Initially I had contemplated if it was possible he is actually a star and while maybe that isn't true I am still not certain he's human - at least he's not from our world (especially if he really is the very Xavier from the myth) but I still like to think of him as one, because he wears the star motif so well and likens himself to one so often. Also, look, I am a SUCKER for a star motif. I was doomed from the start lol.

There's just something about the agony and TRAGEDY in their past, in the echos, the subconscious fears, and the sheer indulgence!!!!! It's MC telling Xavier he might be her enemy later and the distress it caused him, prompting him to share his access privileges with her to earn her trust ;A; It's the way he's apparently spent DECADES, at the VERY LEAST, on our earth AND HE'S A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE COOK lmaoooooooo it's the stupid little lines he says because he's not as overtly clingy and pouty as Rafayel but an armful of plushies is a dreadful thing because then he doesn't have a free hand to hold MC's hand !!!!!!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS?! WHINES

I could write a whole essay about Xavier and I'm restraining myself and attempting to be really, really normal about him okay?

But yeah for him it's that depth of like... the guilt and agony he carries - because not only does leaving her hurt him, but it hurts himself, too. That unbearable loneliness, the endless wait, hoping, wondering, unsure of when, or if, he'll find her again, but refusing to give up - and when he does, endeavoring to make up for it. Like, as it is, there's something about strong men being submissive that is so lakkjfkafkjfkjaf alfjakfaf but it's the way Xavier does it with MC that is soooooo INDULGENT, so VERY "for you, because it's you" that makes me want to chew my keyboard and howl at the moon and every time he reassures her he won't leave I feel dread but also I want it to be true.

I know how papergames operates. I know Xavier may mean it, but I also know.... ;A;

And to think, this is all JUST THE LAUNCH STUFF! We haven't even passed chapter 8 yet lmao We don't even have all our LIs! We've (maybe?) yet to meet our antagonist? WHICH I'M EXCITED ABOUT BTW

Listen.

I have some thoughts and I'll try to keep them short (yknow, for me) because this is already long and rambly and maybe I can just expand on this later but: Sylus and Caleb are confirmed as LIs right? But are they the same person or not??????

If Sylus = Caleb it gives us a LOT of potential for exploring some really complex, grey morality. I mean, no matter what, Sylus is going to bring grey morality lol but especially if it turns out Caleb is actually secretly the leader of Onychinus, because it brings that whole "Who is this person I thought I knew?" and more so because Onychinus is poised as an enemy to the Hunter's Association.

But something Papergames has done in MLQC and I fully expect them to do here is explore grey morality, not only in Onychinus, but the Hunter's Association. Xavier's Tender Moments Garden of Secrets brings up the implication that some Wanderers are, in fact, intelligent, and while it's rare, it can occur. And with parallel world Grim Reaper Zayne having to kill people before they turn into Wanderers it begs the question of this world: can that happen here, too? And it gets into the moral conundrums. That's not to say the Hunter's Association are bad for killing Wanderers and protecting people but it starts to bring up questions, because in Grim Reaper Zayne's world, this is being covered up. What about this world? There's also the question of what is Onychinus even doing? I fully expect to find that whatever their objective is, it will be a question of the greater good and if the ends justify the means and the such.

Ultimately, an antagonist LI has to be sympathetic in some fashion, because how else are they going to write the story for them lol. Like they can certainly have Bond/Memoria/Tender Moments that are more about the combative element of their relationship meeting the chemistry that draws them to each other, but at any rate, there has to be something that draws them to each other and makes them care, right? So therefore, he can't be entirely bad, or at least MC has to be able to empathize with him and his objective, or the cause of it or something like that.

If Caleb = Sylus, that might be more achievable because of their history, but obviously that isn't a requirement, and that can also make it more complex, because again, that whole "this person I thought I knew".

I think there's a possibility for that overlap partly because we already have a LI with a history with MC - but to be fair, Zayne's history with MC is very different than Caleb's and has a different dynamic, so even if they didn't give him the villain route, it would still play out very differently and give them a significantly different enough dynamic that I don't think it would be a big issue.

If he's not Sylus, then there's still a lot of avenues to explore with Caleb. They've already implied that Caleb wants to take care of MC, wants her to lean on him and let him play that role for him, to stop being so strong in front of him, and I think that could very well affect his story and what has lead to his "death". Being in the airforce makes me wonder if it's possible that the military is associated in any way with Onychinus - after all, didn't he say that he does top secret work involving the deepspace tunnel, and isn't Onychinus interested in that? It wouldn't be the first time a government agency was written as being corrupt lol (and again there could be a lot gray morality here where Onychinus isn't necessarily inherently bad). Caleb could have gotten involved simply by his job.

There's the revenge angle, if he, too, was an experiment subject (which would make sense because why did Granny take him in as well?) and wanting to get back at? the people who experimented on them. Or wanting to be more involved? A spy case? SO many possibilities and I'm really excited to see where it all goes!

I think regardless of how Caleb is reintroduced to the story, I imagine there's going to be some kind of conflict - his "death" and then reappearance.... did he know that was going to happen? was it planned? was he involved? I don't think they'll bring him back and yay! now she has a family member back but I think there will be some kind of strife to work through, some good ol angst that really plays with the dynamic of feeling hurt and betrayed but wanting to return to the old times that can never be returned to, wanting to seek refuge in someone who maybe doesn't exist anymore, being drawn to someone you cared so much about and feeling so conflicted about it alfkjkfjkjafjkaf kj

I JUST HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS!!!!!!!!!!

This is such a rambling mess so kudos to anyone who made it this far. Maybe I'll manage to write some more bitesized thoughts later @___@

#Love and Deepspace #LADS Brainrot #LADS Rafayel #LADS Zayne #LADS Xavier #LADS Caleb #LADS Sylus

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shuttershocky · 11 months

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Shutters, in your opinion what are some of the best designed operators? (as in their kit and playstyle)

Gladiia - I've already said in another post that Gladiia is the perfect unit, and I stand by it. She's extremely effective with only minimal investment (E1L1 with skill level 7 will have her do most pulling jobs) but then somehow just gets stronger and stronger AND STRONGER the more you invest into her. Gladiia never learned what 'Diminishing Returns' meant, the economics student that tried to teach it to her got shoved into a locker when he tried. She's a viable M9 unit, wielding utility, damage, tank, and even heal support for some fucking reason. She even keeps getting stronger when you raise other units (Abyssal Hunters). She's fun, she's strong, all of her skills do something unique, she enables strategies absolutely no one else can do, and best of all: she's free.

Saria - Saria is the best case study of how to make a powerful—even overpowered—kit in a genre that mostly cares about DPS without any DPS. Like Gladiia, all of her skills are good and provide unique utility, but unlike Gladiia nothing about her module upgrades or talents or skill numbers is immediately going to tip you off that Saria's incredibly powerful; she just is. You just use her and you realize this is one of the best units in the game, hard carrying your lineups from her sheer versatility and healing power, with some SP utility or debuffs to boot.

Stainless - I would put him on this list for the sheer versatility, fun, strategic potential, and truly clever design his S3 has, but his S1 and S2 are also really fucking good too and stand on their own merits. Like Saria, Stainless is another operator who impresses me by standing out via sheer utility in a DPS-focused game, but unlike Saria, Stainless doesn't bring sustain or bulk, he simply has an array of gadgets that expand your possible map solutions AND operator picks to a wild degree. I finished most of Il Siracusano's EX stages by using Stainless clears—the way this guy enables bad operators with bad skills like Tachanka S1 cannot be matched by anyone. This is my single favorite operator gameplay wise to have come out in the last 2 years, insane how he and Dorothy are the least popular 6 stars when they're both so much more fun than their competition.

Gravel - You know what Gravel does. I think Gravel's kit was a marvel of its time, some truly inspired game design. You see, when Arknights first came out the primary faces of Tower Defense was Plants vs Zombies and Bloons. Gravel's low redeployment time and usage of throwing herself at the enemy team to constantly delay them simulated the feeling of having a mobile character in a genre about putting down towers that don't move, while Gravel also took advantage of enemy targeting priority being based on last deployed unit to act as bait for ranged enemies. She was the best unit to show off how Arknights differed from its competition, by taking advantage of all the design decisions that made Arknights a different beast of tower defense. Simple, effective, and unforgettable.

Hellagur - Hellagur's another example of an operator that does just one job just like Gravel, but approaches it in a way that emphasizes Arknights' unique approach to tower defense: Hellagur holds one spot, often right in front of the enemy gate and without support from his team. As the first Musha, he introduced a highly aggressive playstyle that was all about risk evaluation. You ask "Can Hellagur handle this?" and then see if he can. if he can't, you either buff him or try another approach. If he can, he often solves a big section of the map by himself by simply blocking a whole gate, freeing up the rest of your squad. High risk high reward is a common trope of game design because of how engaging that feeling of ramping tension can be; when Hellagur gets brought down to 1/3rd HP as he's dueling a particularly strong enemy, time slows down a little as you nervously watch him to see if he can handle it, and if he does and reaches back to full health before the next enemy comes, that release of tension and anticipation is its own special high.

I love this ask! Really fun question!

#Arknights

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asteria7fics · 3 months

Text

Me: Man, I love Style. It's got to be my favorite SP ship, no question. I love exploring their dynamic and think friends to lovers is my favorite trope. So so good. Such a big fan.

Also me: I'm gonna write a massive Bunny centric fic with only smatterings of Style. Because fuck me the story has to be told.

#wip rant #its already 80k how did I get here #no shade to bunny I love them too #just love playing jokes on myself #southpark #fanfiction #style #bunny #stan marsh #kyle broflovski #kenny mccormick #butters stotch

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kenonade · 28 days

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ask game 👀 damien 5, 7, and 15?

!!!!!!! damien!!!!!!! my favorite antichrist

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

angels (radio edit) - viceton/kat nestel. when i think of damien i think of consequences to the grave, and when i think consequences to the grave i think of this song. ah, the good days of rereading that fic with this song on loop. “in the end i learned that it rains in hell / and angels could be bad” it just works… it just works…

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

tough question… as my sp followers will have noticed, i rarely interact w the fandom. i guess i like when fanart gives him pointy ears and red eyes. i enjoy the sort of ‘bad boy’ characterization from older fanon (?) i think the modern fandom’s subversive tropes are fun, damien being a shy weirdo freak is cute, but the idea of the antichrist being a typical teen baddie just appeals to my soul

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

absolutely has to be damien/christophe/gregory. gregstophien my beloved. its like throwing three rats with very distinct personalities into a cage and watching as they establish a fragile yet operable social order through violence.

#kenon.answers #south park #damien thorn #thank you for the ask!!!!!!

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shhh-secret-time · 3 months

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Writer! I got a question for you!

Do you ship any of the characters in SP? Or do you just write reader inserts?

Like can we request Style stuff?

Oh! Yeah I do have a few ships I like! Most of them are with Stan lmao! I just want my boy to be happy!

Obviously Style is one of my favorites, I got a soft spot for best friends to lovers trope! Plus the way people have written and drawn them 🤌 it just works!

Like everyone else in the Fandom Creek is a powerful force. Them bitches gay good for them!

》 that being said I also like Staig. Can't really tell you why on that one?

A guilty pleasure is Stan/Wendy/Kyle I don't really know the ship name for that one. But God gave Stan two hands for a reason! And we love our Poly people! 🫶

Stan and Tolkien, Wendy and Bebe, Clyde and Bebe, Kyle and Heidi! Nichole and Tolkein, Nichole and Kyle. Shit, dude, Red with literally any of the girls.

I think the easier question is what I don't like.

It's Kyman. I'm not a fan of shipping Eric with anyone to be fair. I think there are a few people out there who have written Eric well and I give them major props! It's got to be hard to write for that guy!

But reaaaaally long answer, short. I can try my hand at writing ships. Just send in a request and I'll work on it! I mean I'm even alright with doing Canon/OC but I need a lot of detail to make it right!

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yorshie · 2 months

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My beloved raccoon! I have. So many questions. Feel free to skip any of them. But I must know your Bayverse Raph thoughts for 21, 19, 12, 8, 7, and 6 for the aak game please?

-spoon❤️

I will not skip ANY of them thank you dear friend, and thank you for asking! hehehe big red a la bayverse style coming right up! @justalotoffanfiction

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

I am terrified of falling. Heights are also a no go, but I suffer from vertigo and so I totally understand why Raph doesn't want to jump from the plane. *shudder*

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I really like when the fandom shows how soft Raph can be if he's given the opportunity, and how he's always looking out for others. When they let him be the cuddly teddy bear.

8. What's sp,something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I wouldn't say despise, but I get tired of the trope where Raph is Always looking for a fight, whether it be with his brothers or with random people they run into. I don't really have interest in seeing him portrayed as someone that speaks in a mean manner to everyone that crosses his path and you just have to tolerate it.

12. What's a head canon you have for this character?

I head canon that Raph is terrified of bugs and creepy crawlies. He can pull hair from the shower drain all day long but if he catches a glimpse of something with more than four legs he turns into a big baby.

19 How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

Hm.... I'm not really a fan of Raph's relationship with Casey and how it left off in the films, but I have a Fic idea that builds on it and "fixes" it so it doesn't bother me as nearly as much as it did when I first saw the movie.

21. if you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Hm... My favorite thing to do with Raph is to put him in domestic situations, but I guess that's what I like with every turtle. I'm pretty predictable lol. The thing I don't like doing however, is making him scary to reader. I fully live by the "big scary character is not scary to you" mindset when it comes to Raph. If he were scary to reader, then that would just hurt Ra......... oh..... (well. shit.)

#ask away!#don't... don't worry about that last one #just. don't look at the raccoon behind the curtain

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1moreoffkeyanthem · 7 months

Text

On a certain Kyle trope:

Y’all know what I find intriguing as hell? Just how many people write Kyle Broflovski with an ED.

When I first got in to the South Park fandom a few months ago, I had absolutely no idea it was so common to give our boi a yeeting disorder or at least a questionable relationship with food, and yet,

The first fic I ever wrote, I wrote him with an ED.

I was new to the fandom, new to writing fanfiction in general, and wasn’t familiar with popular headcanons, but I still subconsciously knew that of all the kids, Kyle fit the bill for problems with food.

And why is that? Is it because he’s ocd coded? Is it because of his canonical health issues? Is it because of his people pleasing nature? Is it the savior complex? A little of all of that, I think.

For me personally, I’ve written Kyle with an eating disorder fairly often, even if I don’t say it explicitly, aspects of it are still present. As a (few years recovered, thank god) former anorexic myself, I project onto our favorite redhead (also Tweek but that’s a whole other can of worms) because in my (admittedly pretty sadistic fanfic writer) mind, it just makes sense, and I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on why it’s such a common trope.

I could probably write a massive, rambling, incoherent essay about the common thread of fic writers consistently torturing (mentally and physically) Kyle, but I’ll reign it in and say this: I will fucking eat it up every time

Am I unhinged? Absolutely. Do I adore Kyle at all times? Uh, fuck yeah and he’s my favorite to write.

If you frequent SP fanspaces, I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this subject matter, because I’m not exactly the best at organizing my own, but hopefully it ain’t too discombobulated.

#ope she’s rambling #my thots #no one cares #south park #fandom #kyle broflovski #headcanon #ed tw #sp kyle #my son #fanfiction #btw my ao3 is PastorCraigEnjoyer #if u wanna read my garbage #fanon #common tropes #food for thought #sorry #text post #ignore me

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shortkingkenny · 10 months

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Why do you think k2 isn't popular anymore?

hi anon! I love to talk so I'll answer this but I'll preface it by saying that although I'm not new to South Park, I'm newer to its fandom. I joined in like 2021 and by that point k2 had already fallen out of favor! before that I just observed it peripherally.

I think it's probably for a few reasons.

of the three main 4 ships for Kyle, it's obvious why k2 is the least popular of the lot. the other two have popular shipping tropes built in (best friends and rivals). there's also not a lot of canon moments to point to, you know, k2 doesn't have a "Guitar Queer-O" or a "Crack Baby Athletic Association" or whatever, really, whereas style and kyman have several such episodes. like I guess you have "Jewbilee" but a lot of people write off those early seasons. (and you have the Mysterion trilogy... to ME. pivotal k2 moments)

and I could end it there because that explains it for the most part but you're right. I think there was a time k2 was more popular than kyman at least (style was always reigning champ until creek took the crown!!!).

I personally believe that fandom (in general, not specifically SP) in recent* years has developed this sort of obsession with Ships Becoming Canon and that some ships are More Canon and therefore More Correct than others which has throttled both crackshipping and multishipping.

like idk there were obviously ship wars (nasty ones!) and OTPs in the 00s and 2010s, but it felt like people were more open to imagining the possibilities and potential between characters who may not have had much (or any) interaction, based solely on their personalities. there's a lot to say about the evolution of fandom as a whole but that's not your question.

so people have kind of settled on their one ship per character and that's it. most Kenny ships have been snuffed out by something or other (fitting) except for one. and that's bunny. and because it's got that one episode, it's now the Most Correct choice for him.

sorry you asked about k2 and I turned this into another complaint about the loss of Kenny biking :''( anyway, I think the appeal of k2 is the potential. you also can't approach it the same way you do style or kyman which I do think has stifled its popularity. this post, despite the broken links, is one of my favorite explanations of their fandom potential that also keeps in mind that we're working within the confines of what we're given. that is to say, South Park doesn't exactly lend itself to this sort of overwrought thinking but we all do it anyway.

it's not dead tho. plenty of people do still ship it and love it!! and I hope you support the @k2-fanzine when it comes out. but yeah you're right, it's lost steam and there's more reasons than what I've listed but I talk too fucking much.

*and by recent, I mean recent! I reblogged this list of character and ship weeks from the far off year of 2019 that @6ftkyle found while deep diving his old SP blog. look at all that!

anyway you should ask my bestie @6ftkyle these questions. he's the k2 guy. I'm actually a kyman truther but I think Kenny's gonna catch his mans Kyle in his fall from grace from their inevitable divorce.

and shout out to @deny-the-bird who asked for a shout out.

#there's also a lot I could say about kenny as a character both in the show and in fandom #and that people aren't exactly sure what to Do with him #and people includes Matt and Trey #he was created for a bit that's no longer utilized #and compared to the other three and even Butters there is significantly less development for him as a character #so you have to fill in a lot of blanks #which in ye olde fandom made him extremely easy to ship and imo still does #but what do i know #askskk

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