#save me aiba…

[pyxielated]

aiba hampter

#aitsf #aini #aiba #aiba aitsf #ai the somnium files #ai the somniun files nirvana initiative #somnium files #nirvana initiative #mine #hampter aiba save me….. #save me aiba…

[domesticlion]

may i offer you some shrimp in this trying time

#aiba #aitsf #aini #ai the somnium files #ai nirvana initiative #aitsf nirvana initiative #i work from home so. shrimp save me #2022 dl archive

[brawlqueen]

PSA. / 2024 goals !

the reason i haven't been writing a lot is i've mostly been on my OC trying to play catch up on her lore and worldbuilding. you can find her in the pinned post . also i've been planning what i want to do for mizuki for 2024, and my interest very normal love for best girl only gets better each year. i just hope to do justice by her in my own way as i figure out what i'm doing post AI1.

as i'm canon divergent and i have a few things to talk about that i'll be hoping to capture or discuss hopefully some of this year that are parts of my mizuki's canon ! so i'll try doing it in uh, the most organized way because one goal i have at least for 2024 is better blog organization . it's too late to make a sideblog for musings / etc . THINGS I'LL BE DOING THIS YEAR . - focusing on catch up. unless a thread is requested to be dropped, please message me if so, i'll be continuing it. some i will drop for my own sanity, not because i don't want to write with you again! - seasonal / holidays asks will just be holiday asks with no specific content save for people i owe, ex: bubblez' kizuna or thane's trunks, etc. why? i think mizuki deserves to celebrate the holidays or anything remotely happy because while aiba is arguably as of now her best support system, let's be real, i genuinely want to find and work on any of her relationships because she's severely lacking in support. even from 2023. i'll try to stay more on the ball for again, my own sanity this year when i reblog them. - i will be writing my version of post-canon mizuki and child mizuki, that goes from her time before adoption from date, aka with shoko and renju which will be tagged appropriately because honestly mizuki doesn't know many reliable adult figures in her life, and it makes me very sad that she's arguably more mature than...most people save say, boss or pewter or hitomi etc. she deserves better! just because AI2 certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, and it isn't mine in a LOT of ways, i still took stuff from it, and i don't think it's fair to halt mizuki at 12 forever just because we fairly have critique of NI / AINI and not let her grow up and experience a hopeful future and more bonds to fill the huge hole in her heart. let her be happy is the goal !

now i'm working on mizuki's post canon verse, as i've restarted aitsf 1 to move to aitsf 2, where i'll take a few things that i won't likely budge on unless you meet me halfway !

the verse title for anything post-canon and generally for 18 year old mizuki / teen mizuki or post explosion mizuki will be this verse tag!

__ 𝐕; 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍*ೃ༄ not compromising with just this; i'm taking back all the happiness i lost.

__

now onto her post canon details i do have figured out.

mizuki and aiba are partners. one thing that's consistent is through her time with date, that can still be a thing because they ARE a family, albeit i feel estranged granted the resolution route is canon, so mizuki never really got to bond with him, get her aphonia cured, vice versa, is aiba's care through time in his eye socket appreciating the girl's strength and endurance and intelligence in both games. you can have more than one partner, and until / if we have another game and mizuki possibly gets another partner and i debate the chemistry, aiba is mizuki's partner and aiba is generally mostly with mizuki, but that doesn't mean she isn't with date too. she can love more than one person. and both dates are equally dear to her.

mizuki was still experimented on until 3 years old at horadori institute, albeit she has blurry memories at best, and i debate if she should fully remember! one factor of her godlike superhuman strength. but she also is trained in most japanese martial arts she can get her hands on! she is NOT a clone of bibi, bibi doesn't exist whatsoever despite me enjoying her personality, even if i felt it was made to mimic mizuki herself, if others who have muses with canon bonds to bibi, please talk to me so we can plot it out if you keep her as part of your canon ! as long as we meet halfway i'm more than happy to work with you !

mizuki is still a rookie detective and psyncer at ABIS. in my canon, she actually looks to ryuki, also new, but older for advice and i like to think as dual protagonists that they should have been, they get to do some cases together! only if a ryuki is willing of course.

for now, she's working on small to medium cases with aiba. the explosion still happened that took her vision clean out. she does this because of the gruesome history she has, not wanting others to suffer the same kind of unimaginable trauma she has with both biological parents murdered in various means and i'm still debating whether tearer even exists. he likely will, and if people also have the other culprit's actions in their canon, please talk to me too and i'll work together with you on that !

mizuki still runs lemniscate and sunfish pocket. she doesn't have the heart yet to really let go of her neglectful biological father's companies, even if he didn't care for her in a way she needed. in time, i'll see how she feels about this, as i do plan for mizuki to continue her education, as the girl is extremely intelligent.

mizuki is still best friends with iris, but my mizuki also considers amame and kizuna two of her really close friends, but they aren't a sister to her like iris is. they're certainly caring of her, and she'd protect them with her life, but she isn't as close to them as iris, and all of them do hang out together from what i've seen.

my mizuki is a lot more skeptical for the kizunas out there, of lien. she isn't comfortable with his advances towards one of her best friends and generally is a lot more protective. that said, it's all according to people who write kizzy. naturally she's fiercely protective of iris, who now is someone who works for her too as the president of an entertainment company.

my mizuki comes from the MIZUKI ROUTE in terms of character development but NOT THE PLOT EVENTS . iris is not inhabited by so sejima. date and mizuki DO bond like a father and daughter. date unless a date talks to me, DOES cure her aphonia or it's hitomi herself like canon because hitomi is the mom she deserves imho. but i tend to take away the development of her character and their relationship otherwise i feel the date family bond is....pretty estranged or mizuki is MUCH more doubtful of date caring for her at all granted the routes and how she tends to get overlooked a lot.

basically i want to as one of i'm sure other mizuki-mun's, give her my best in my own way, at my own pace !

and those are my goals as i replay the games (again!) . i hope to keep developing mizuki and thank you for being so patient with me as always, everyone ! also kinda sorry for the long post but it was all necessary !

#𝐏𝐒𝐀 *ೃ༄ do you wanna get your ass kicked? #𝐎𝐎𝐂 *ೃ༄ what looks gone but comes back even stronger. #also there are spoilers but uh it's kinda inevitable #ugh mizuki and the girls all deserve better in some way huh #i know the guys do too but geez.... #oh well our sandbox right? #i would play aini for the characters ! #and the somniums feel a lot more fun and i love unlimited psync and getting rewards / rank up with eyeballies etc #also ryuki and tama are so great i'm glad they exist :' ) #also i really like kizuna and will defend her with my life. same with amame. they are REALLY important to her too. but iris is her goofy si #but like I hopefully said! if you have different takes on the series let’s meet halfway! #I’m really chill on that I just want Mizuki to be happy 🥹

[echoesofdusk]

I finally finished nirvanA Initiative yesterday and boy. do I have thoughts. mainly mixed. AINI has some cool moments and it did get me laughing at times and nearly made me cry at one point but the more I think about the game, the more mixed and somewhat disappointed I feel

spoilers under cut for both the original AITSF and AINI

the reasons I feel mixed about AINI are the game's big twist and the way it treats the older cast of characters

Date was done dirty in this game. the mask thing doesn't bother me as much as others as when I think about it, it kinda makes sense, but I also understand why people don't like it. I too would've loved to see Falco do the funny unhinged shit. but at the same time, Saito's face was Date's face for 6 years and he didn't know any better, and... Date putting on the mask to attract more ladies is in character. like come on. the man is a hopeless simp. why does he sound like Saito again if he's back into his Falco body? well, in the Japanese version of AITSF, Saito and Falco share the same VA, so maybe in universe, Date can do a Saito impression. or maybe he's using a vochlocho as when he's disguised as gen he sounds just like him. although Falco having the ability to do spot on impression of others is a much funnier explanation and honestly, I kinda wanna roll with that one why does Date seemingly have Saito's physique again? yeah no I agree that's dumb nah what disappointed me was how he was given amnesia which lasted 6 years AGAIN. the amnesia in the first game was a very important part of his character development and although he regained his memories and original body he came out of it almost reformed into a new man, rejecting his Falco/Hayato Yagyu identity and embracing the Kaname Date one. and you're telling me the amnesia he got this time didn't have this effect on him? he just goes back to being the Date we know upon seeing news about Jin Furue's corpse? just throws away whatever changes that happened to him in these 6 years? when the 6 year long amnesia in the first game changed him? it just feels like the amnesia he gains in this game undermines the first one

Mizuki and Date also feel somewhat... flanderized in AINI. I know Mizuki's animosity towards Date is played for laughs, but in the Mizuki route in the original game, when Date wakes up after Mizuki psyncs with him she jumps in the air, ready to punch Date but he stops her (though I believe she was actually holding back like come on, she's stronger than Date, I don't think Saito's body would've been able to stop her), she calls him stupid and the two hug each other. and Date wasn't unconscious for long when this happened. in AINI, he's missing for 6 years and when she meets him again she doesn't react dramatically but instead seems annoyed. yeah I know he's wearing a costume and she's changed as a person but wouldn't she at least be somewhat... moved by seeing her adoptive father? being alive and all that? plus him being missing is her biggest motivator for solving the HB case. like come on. and yeah I get she's 12 in AITSF so her handling of emotions is different but again. we're talking about her adoptive father

Aiba's character also feels assassinated in AINI. in the original, she was specifically made for Date, acting as a replacement for his left eye, though she was also really important for him as he had been swapped into a body with a brain that couldn't secrete its own oxytocin, so she had to supply him with it. and it's really important as the body Date is in belongs to Saito, who became a monster as a result of having a malfunctioning pituitary gland as well as his father not taking appropriate care of him, and he's so far gone that even switching into bodies with brains that can secrete oxytocin doesn't help. Aiba sacrifices herself to save Hitomi, and her revival at the end of the resolution route is a huge deal, and one of the options when she appears is having Date cry! in AINI, not too long after she's returned, she and Date have an argument and Aiba leaves Date because... he watches inappropriate VR videos (not saying the P word I'm so tired of reporting bots). like come on, she's probably seen worse when she was with him for the 6 years when he was in Saito's body. and this was the straw that broke the camel's back? really? eyepatch Date looks cool but... come on

seeing how bad of an influence Date was on her when Aiba is with either Mizukis is funny though (I seriously can't believe she says "big tiddy" when you examine the receptionist lady), and while either Mizuki isn't as much of a clown as Date is, the dynamic between either with Aiba is still enjoyable but yeah, even when Date's back after these 6 years Aiba would rather be with Mizuki. it just doesn't feel right. it especially feels insulting when Aiba says she's home when she gets back into Date's eye socket, only to leave him a few minutes later. I know character development can happen but ashdfhasdfh this just doesn't feel right. it feels so forced. I get why Aiba was with either Mizukis, and especially in Mizuki Date's case. he was missing and I think it's actually kinda cool as it's the biggest thing she has from him. but idk

now, the twist

boy, where do I begin. I get what it's supposed to be and that it's supposed to tie with the game's overall theme, but it makes me feel like I was being gaslit. the twist doesn't work for me bc it's the player who's being misled and not the characters. plot twists in general work for me when the audience and the characters are figuring out together what's going on, and it makes the story more engaging in return. in AITSF's case it works beautifully bc you're figuring out the mystery with Date and Aiba. in AINI you're left in the dark and nobody questions why some things aren't adding up. if AINI instead had a character you were following who was trying to piece together what's going on and had the same confusion as the player it would've been different. I wouldn't have felt as crazy. hell I thought I somehow had accidentally sequence broken the game at points by doing something ultra specific bc of where the narrative jumped and how the characters acted at times. or some crazy time displacement or a loop or whatever was going on. the abandoned chemical plant in particular did. I really don't feel like I'm journeying with the characters in this game even though I'm also trying to figure out the HB case with them.

I also don't get why Ryuki being alive is supposed to be a fun surprise gift for Bibi and Mizuki as I don't recall them being particularly attached to Ryuki. hell Bibi knocked him out on a few occasions

also why is Bibi's name also Mizuki. this is dumb. I know the twist hinged on this but come on

with that said the game isn't all bad. I like the new cast of the characters and I think they're actually the strongest point. I LOVE how expressive Aiba's hamster form portrait is compared to the original where... she isn't expressive at all (is it just a static image?). Komeji's death actually stings, and in my case it did so even more as I got the Komeji/Shoma ending before the explosion one. the QoL is great and the somniums in this game feel even more creative than the ones in the original, although they don't feel as atmospheric. the Kizuna and Gen ones are probably my favourite, and masked woman's is cool as well though god I hate stealth. the VR sections are cool and I kinda wish the original had them as well as I absolutely would've LOVED to see Aiba pushing Date into acting out crime scenes. eyepatch Date is good and I love the expressions he makes in this game. the nods to the original game are cool (although they got grating towards the end). and Gen. just Gen. he's so good

Kusemon Go was great. how about Kusemon Mystery Dungeon too?

also surprised that this game never brings up quantum entanglement or gnosticism as it feels like these two would've absolutely been home, although I suppose the focus was more on Buddhism. but quantum entanglement not being mentioned feels strange considering the game's theme

anyways, by the end of the day, the original AITSF was a good standalone title and didn't need a sequel. I also kinda preferred it when Mizuki's superhuman strength remained unexplained. man who's perpetually horny on main with an adoptive daughter who can easily bench press 100kg with no explanation provided is much funnier. why is this girl so strong? who cares, she can kick ass and is useful in taking down goons so just roll with it

I don't know if I want AI3, but if it becomes reality, I'd love to see Falco more. I REALLY want to see him doing the funny Date faces and the funny unhinged Date shit. like fuck it give me catboy Falco! but I know it's probably not happening as most people are used to the Saito look. oh well. at least fan art exists, and I do want to draw him as well...

#hazy rambles #aitsf #aitsf spoilers #aini #aini spoilers

[ceejaykayess]

Here's the third and final of the initially planned Kagepro/AITSF art pieces. This one featuring the very dramatically and awkwardly named Y(A)k(I)suteru, or Yaki for short. I'm not sure why, the image quality is worse than usual- not the fault of my subpar photography skills for once, so maybe it'll be harder to see what I'm talking about for yourself. Sorry if it is.

So, compared to Ene, Yaki is very much comparable to Aiba and Tama- definitely more Aiba, as I seem to keep defaulting to for some reason. Maybe because the first game was better. Anyways- her outfit is meant to be comparable to the sundress the original Yaki wore in Route 2, sans the slits along her legs. Hey, don't look at me, look at Shintaro- an AI-Ball takes a form that epitomises the user's personal tastes, after all. Of course, that's not all that's going into the cause of her appearance...

The markings on her dress were made with the intention of being cyclical, hence why they loop around her back and meet back at her front. Around her neck, comparatively, is a single black line taking the appearance of a snake eating its own tail. How friendly... the markings on her legs, too, are twin snakes intertwining and reaching forward for a red something before them. The marking on the centre of her back was made to fill in all the blank space, taking an almost double meaning- looking like a jagged zero in the black, while the surrounding red was meant to look vaguely similar to Ayano's scarf.

On the topic of her scarf, you might notice she doesn't have one. In spite of that, I tried (and failed probably) to make it look like something was still pressing down on her hair where the scarf would have been. I also made her hair longer than her canon counterpart, with it reaching past her waist. Surprisingly, canon Ayano's hair isn't very long in spite of how voluminous it looks.

Yaki's gel form is, unsurprisingly, that of a snake, and her iris is red. The text above her reads, "I know I've said this before, but I figure I may as well say it again. Don't forget this week, Shintaro." This is meant to be in blatant reference to the start of MCA. In the top right is a quick hand-drawn reference-free sketch of Shintaro dramatically awakening Yaki and being struck dumb by what he's learning.

Here's the initial Shintaro image, and here's the follow-up Ene image.

Falling, falling, falling. The world, her world, the world within her world, it was all falling down. Darker and darker, only that accusing red refusing to be dulled by the darkness. Why didn't you say anything, it sneers. Why didn't you save him, it shouts. Why weren't you just a little faster, it cries.

She cries.

She would cry, but she cannot. She is not real, she hadn't even had the opportunity to assert herself as something, real or otherwise. She, it. Lacking any experience to classify itself as anything more than an it, so defined to her base programming that she can't be anything other than a her.

And yet, and yet, despite its nonexistence, so strongly it almost felt in spite of her core programming, the AI-Ball wanted to cry. The AI-Ball wanted to scream. The AI-Ball wanted to disappear.

Hate, the AI-Ball ponders, must be related to this. The burning in her circuits at the sight of that ghastly smile in a face its other half had classed as friendly not even an hour ago, that must be hate.

So, too, must the burn she felt when she saw the blue interloper, impostor, faker, thief, cling-on, replacement be hate. Seeing that rogue program, that false girl speak to her other half, act as if she was meant to be her master's servant, work side by side with her partner, it all filled the AI-Ball with feelings she hadn't had the capacity or opportunity to understand. Not when she was trapped and locked away in her own body, forced to watch uncomprehending as her very existence was usurped. Feelings and memories it could only begin to interpret when the fake finally left the AI-Ball, only able to function as an eye for her partner, her system so warped by two years of serving another master she couldn't willingly try to operate at full capacity lest she harm him.

And yet.

And yet.

If she had thrown caution to the wind, could she have prevented this? If it had dedicated its whole system to a factory reset, not worrying about its master's eyesight or something as frivolous as these half-hearted memories thrust upon it, could it have operated well enough to protect its purpose?

If a chance had been taken, would the AI-Ball not have to watch the life bleed out of him, not have to experience his despair and rage and confusion and betrayal at the sight of his friends' slaughter, not have to contemplate her own failure instead of doing something useful to at least make sure the murderer wouldn't just get away with it?

His heart rate began to bottom out, his breathing having ceased long ago, his torn open throat incapable of carrying breath. Brain activity, which had seemingly hit an all-time high, began to cease. With the technology she was created with, she could essentially calculate the time until he died to the second.

7. How... humorous, she thinks would be how a human would phrase it. He was jokingly labelled as Number 7, wasn't he? If only she was AI-Ball #007, too. But no. Instead, her serial was...

Please...

Ah.

Please... save them... anyone... please... The me of another world, of another life... anyone... anything, please... pl...ease...

Seven had become three without realising, then two, and as it stared down at the stiffened pond of red that continued to stand out amidst the darkness that had spread, two became one. And she shut down. It didn't matter. She didn't want to feel it, when his body reached zero. If her Creator found her, if he even still could in his state, maybe he'd reset her, curse her for being worthless, or just scrap her. It didn't matter, none of it did. Her subroutines started to cease one by one, and her various worthless functions began to shut down.

And then Shintaro Kisaragi passed, his final words a tortured scream to anyone else and a heartfelt plea not meant for her that only she could hear. And with his death, and time passing zero, and her dim awareness still remaining even as she fixates on the nothingness, on the stillness, on the cold that didn't feel as proverbial as it should have been- a part of her, a quiet and small part, one derived from that barest scan of his psyche when she first awoke seeking out information to create his perfect partner, wished. Even though she was fake, and empty, and lacking substance, even though she was hardly worthy of it, she still wished earnestly.

For the power to save him. For the power to protect what he holds dear. To meet him again, and to do so properly. For the her of another world, of another life, to serve by his side and seek out a future where he can smile.

Then her world was finally engulfed by the dark.

...

...falling.

Falling, falling, falling.

Her vague existence was falling down, the deep darkness, the expansive emptiness, slowly giving way to that agonising red.

And then she wasn't falling alone. By her side, a presence. Long and black, scaled and slithering, red jewels set in obsidian. Yet, the red did not feel agonising, or accusing, or antagonising, but rather gentle, and passionate. Not the red of blood, but like... the red of the sunset, or his favourite jacket.

In a blink, black scales gave way for pale skin, and brown hair, and a beautiful dress, and a red scarf, and it felt strange. Like looking in an altered mirror at a carnival. The contours of a face that was going to be hers, hair that stopped near the shoulder blades than past the waist, a dress her own body tried to mimic; it was looking at a memory that didn't belong to her.

The red eyes stayed the same, however. Still gentle, still full of a passion- to save, to protect. She offered a hand, and the AI-Ball didn't even think before reaching out in kind. Warmth. Hands that she could have emulated, in another life. Her red eyes spoke a tale, a message, and a request. One the AI-Ball couldn't help but accept.

Maybe she couldn't do a thing as herself, alone, as nothing and nobody. Maybe even if she had the opportunity to become something and somebody, things wouldn't have changed in such a ridiculous situation. But like this, not alone, but together... not supplementing someone else, but acting as part of them... maybe things could change.

All she truly wanted was for Shintaro Kisaragi to live. Whether she had a part in that future was, truthfully, irrelevant. That was a truth from the very core of her existence, from Wadjet herself. But like this, she could be selfish and get to stand by his side.

As the two fell together, fell deeper and deeper into the red, as the distance between the two shrank and shrank, as eventually only one fell through the red and into a dream of gears and repeating mechanisms, a conversation played in-between the gaps. An introduction between two pieces of a new whole, and the hopes of an introduction to someone she never got to say those words to.

-I am the Snake of Retaining Eyes.

I am AI-Ball #000.-

-I am Yaki. Try and remember my name, won't you, Shintaro?-

#ai the somnium files #art #kagerou project #aitsf #ayano tateyama #The only image reference is the centrepiece which is based on an image I found off the Kagepro wiki- I don;t know how to source it #I think the events of the story shook out a little different to how I initially envisioned it but I don;t think it's bad as is #Hopefully I won;t look back at this later and wince

[cerastes]

Committing To The Bit is literally a game mechanic that the game rewards and I love that. Do useless actions so Date and Aiba can do their little comedy routine and get rewarded with time-saving items, this is peak game design, I’m not even exaggerating. People were praising that one... Spiderman game I think it was? For having a dedicated fingerguns button and, yeah, worthy of praise, but this is the Gyarados version of that where Somnium Files has a dedicated Commit To The Bit mechanic with actual rewards beyond just the satisfaction. This is where the gaming industry should move toward: Giving me more clowns that power up by finishing their bit.

#in love with the somniums jgiwogj4g #dreamfiles

[manofmanymons]

Survive cast meeting the cyber sleuth cast you know so far

I am just imagining that Shuuji would have an impossible time looking at Kyoko. He feels like the kinda guy who would feel that if he didn't hold aggressive eye contact the whole time, he would be committing a crime. She would definitely tease him for it.

Also RIP to any of these kids who has a crush on anyone while in her presence cuz she's gonna notice ToT

Repeat of that one wrathful route scene where the kids are trying to pretend that the professor's cooking is fine bc they don't wanna offend him only for Takuma be like EW but this time it's with Kyoko's coffee.

Aiba's just internally like "I haven't endured this coffee for this long for you just to come in here and shamelessly react that way wtf"

I am accusing Shuuji of being an old-person-befriender and getting along with Matayoshi

ALSO I JUST REMEMBERED I have talked with a mutual about how funny it would be to see him and Date interact. I can only imagine him being afraid of her.

Man I don't know if even Minoru can handle how energetic Nokia is. Although she and Aoi are both Defenders of Cute Things so I'm sure they'd get along even if Nokia would probably make Aoi feel a little freaked out at first. She'd get along better with the girls than the boys, that's for sure. I don't think she should be allowed near Ryo and Kaito she would just bully them ToT

Maybe Takuma would be safe.

Remembering how Survive Agumon kept picking up random things and asking if they were food, CS Agumon (and Gabumon) would insist on another food tour (while Nokia casually calls Yuuko and asks her to save her wallet).

Speaking of Yuuko. For one thing I think she would remind Saki a little of Aoi and they would totally get along. I bet Saki would INSIST on her trying Aoi's cooking (she would also help, ofc). Maybe also draft Ryo into helping. For another thing—

Yuugo 🤝 Miyuki

I'm not even gonna elaborate

I feel like I keep accusing Kaito of being a main character magnet but also you can't tell me it wouldn't be fun seeing him and Aiba hang out. The could both cause AND solve so many problems together. Also imagine

Takuma: Isn't that...illegal?

Aiba: I remember when I used to worry about those things...

I think any and all of the Survive cast would have q u e s t i o n s about what having a half-cyber body is like

*points at Miu, Minoru, and Arata* nerd gang nerd gang nerd gang

The question is can Arata cope with having these kids unironically think he's cool jsjdjrj he keeps waiting for the part where they make fun of him for being a dork or say something about his attitude but it just doesn't come and he's like "WHAT is happening right now"

(Meanwhile considering all the time they spent with Shuuji, Ryo, and Kaito, Arata's bad attitude doesn't even register to them)

Minoru @ Arata BUT ALSO Arata @ Minoru (in their heads): holy shit he's like a real life comic character

Totally random other thought but like I'm not saying that Miu would weaponize Nokia's loud nosiness to mess with her brother, but—

I think Fei and Ryo would be friends.

Just remembered Jimiken exists. Aoi would, with 0 offense intended, ask him if he's a Kiss cover band. He would take offense.

Kaito, about Suedou: so that guy definitely looks evil, yeah? And his behavior is kinda suspicious?

Everyone else: I don't know what you're talking about

Kaito: why do I even try

I know I said a similar thing about data squad too but

CS gang: whoa your partners are half of your soul?

Survive gang: whoa so many of you have more than one partner how does that even work?

Both groups I'd imagine would be really fascinated by how the other's version of digimon work. Like it would be genuinely baffling to the Survive kids how anyone could mistake a digimon for a computer program but things really are just Different. And even the cs characters who know digimon are living breathing things might still be surprised by the concept of a fated partner.

Especially Aiba and their million digimon.

(I mean I know you can recruit free digimon in survive but it's not...quite the same)

...Survive kids would totally all be on board with Nokia's digimon defense squad ksjsnd

#digimon survive #digimon cyber sleuth

[versegm]

Opinions on Aiba! The eveball anime girl lol

You know how to speak to me Momo

First impression

"WHY IS THIS MAN'S EYEBALL A GUMMY BEAR"

Impression now

She literally detonates herself to save the people she loves I love her SO much

Favorite moment

Sorry for constantly picking character's deaths as a favorite moment, but like... the code for her to detonate herself is to be told a lie. Date told her "I hate you, and I never want to see you again." And she just. She smiles!! She smiles!! "I understand." Argh!! Argh!!!! This kills me Momo!!!! She knew exactly what it meant, what he meant, she knew that was a lie, she knew his last words to her were telling her he loved her!!! And she smiled!!! This makes no sense out of context I'm sorry but this scene kills me!!

Ok bonus scene that will make more sense out of context: one time she smuggled flour in plastic bags in Date's car to prank him. Later other characters ask him why he have cocaine in his car. I love her.

Idea for a story

Been thinking about writing a fic about her slowly pulling her code back together post-detonation. Slowly gaining awareness of her own existence, then that she love profoundly, ect ect bits and pieces until she comes to remember her own name.

A random opinion

I loved Nirvana Initiative (the sequel) very much, but if I could change anything about it I'd have like 5% more of Aiba talking about how she misses Date. Obviously this is because 1) I am a shipper on main and 2) it would be a nice foreshadowing for the twist, but mostly I'm saying this because Nirvana Initiative is at its core a story about bitches who are only half people and who will make it everyone else's problem. Having Aiba missing her partner would emphasize that theme.

Favorite relationship

Sorry this is Dataiba central I think this man should fuck his left eyeball. They're made for each other!! Literally! She's a part of his body! She handed her life to him unprompted! I won't go off because this would make this post way too long but ARRGH them!!

#characteroulette #ask #character ask meme

[semi-imaginary-place]

stray thoughts after finishing 13 sentinels

back to the mystery files. Why is the game seperating chihiro morimura from chihuro morimura (1 loop ago) and chihiro morimura (2 loops ago). Wait. Unless. I think i figure out what confused me, remember how i couldn't tell if nurse morimura was morimura -2 who died shifting ida -1 to the current loop because she has all her memories, or if she was morimura -1 who 426 izumi killed but who is the right age to reunite with ida on sumire bridge? Well if they both died and she had data saved to sector 0 maybe she was recreated... Which means there were SIX MORIMURAS: 2188, -2, -1, Iori, child who then got 2188's memories, and the morimura recreated from -2. But thats the only explanation that explains the inconsistencies and why the game files events in 3 separate categories when other characters like izumi -2 gets all of 426, fluffy, and shiba's scenes listed under one character. I'm going to look this up. Ok yeah nurse morimura was the ai of -2 morimura but why did she look 16 in the sumire bridge reunion? And not only that she acts like she's 16 thats what threw me off i wonder if when they wrote this scene they didnt know yet which morimura she was. Yeah and in that scene she doesn't recognize ida or know what a sentinel is and is just confused to be 16 years in the past. I still dont get this scene.

Grandma tamal got deleted!! That's why she didn't show up. Hmm so the 1944 tamao is considered the true one and the 1985 one was an AI which means if the compatible shifted before the kaiju attacks they would have also deleted the older ai selves (ex: natsuno in 2064 would have deleted older natsuno). 20 million years since humanity's extinction 2188 ryoko wrote the d-code. Ida spread dd-426 because he wanted the sentinels to fail and the world to be reset faster. "The nurturing of the 15 members started once the terraforming of the new planet was completed" 300+ loops have passed huh so they were stuck in the pods not killed and reborn each time that answers that question. I was wondering about the probes, so each probe can do this, rhen theoretically this entire story is playing out thousands of times across the universe.

There might have been 6 morimuras but -2 izumi juro was the one going by 426, eirika aiba/tamaobot, tomibot, shippo/fluffy, shiba kyuta, 6 names/identities. I went and looked it up and for the scene "Reunion" that was -2 Morimura's data that -2 Okino saved which was her 16 year old self. That still doesn't explain how current Morimura got -2 Morimura's memories though because she definitely acts like she has -2 Morimura's memories and sees them as her own memories instead of events that happened to someone else.

!3 Sentinels has good writing, it was consistently strong with no real low points. The strongest part of the game was probably the beginning right after the prologues as things start clicking together. A few places in the story clunked, but overall it was really well done, just a well made well written game.

I found the combat to be surprisingly fun. I've only dabbled in RTS games before so I came in pretty new to this style of game and ended up liking the combat. The game does a good job of easing new players in while gradually building up the difficulty and it has challenge maps for players that want to get deep into the combat.

My main complaint would be that there's too much romance, but that isn't the game's fault, I just generally don't like romance and am very picky. So sometimes I just wanted to skip past the romance and get back to the stuff I was interested in like the story. I felt some of the couples lacked chemistry, like they failed to sell me on the romance. Juro and Megumi happened so last minute after for the entire game Juro's feelings are ambiguous like him feeling the love Izumi Juro felt is only ever brought up in Megumi's last scene, and Megumi the entire game is in love with the erased Izumi Juro, so the romantic development between the two of them felt sudden. My biggest problem was probably with Yuki and Shu, it really just felt like he was harassing her the entire game, she showed like no interest. Like I get she has a tough personality but it came off as that old trope that as long as he's persistent enough the guy can get the girl. Which is such a shame because girlboss and her boytoy is such a fun dynamic but I don't like how it was done in this game. I found Iori's love at first sight plot rather cringe but it was funny having her entire story be about chasing him around the city while having no clue about the events happening.

Romance is central to the game however and I don't think it could ever be taken out. Romance is used by the game to create character foils between the characters and especially the various characters that are genetically identical. Both the Hijiyamas and Okinos both in 2188 and in the current loop fall in love with each other. The Morimura and Izumi of 2188 were a couple as were the Morimura and Izumi of 2 loops ago. Juro with both his new and old personality of the current loop however both come to love Yakushiji. While Iori falls for Ei. 2188 Ida manipulated Shinonome's infatuation for him just like how Ida of one loop ago uses current loop Ryoko's crush on him so that she's an obedient and convenient pawn. Ida himself meanwhile is primarily driven by his obsessive love towards the Kisaragi of the previous loop. The current loop Shu and Tomi both fall in love with other people however. The different romantic choices highlight how those characters are different from their other versions.

I probably would have disliked it just as much, but I do want to talk about how things could have turned out differently however as it is in line with the game's theme of alternate but equally viable possibilities. For example Juro could have fallen in love with neither Megumi nor Iori thus highlighting how he is different from every other previous version of Juro. Especially since both 2188 Izumi and the one from 2 loops ago view Megumi more as a daughter figure. Ei and Ryoko could have been written as a romantic instead of platonic and familial, which would have been interesting given how Ryoko spends a good chunk of the story convinced he is 426 because she has forgotten that she was the one that infected the sentinels with DD-426. Or otherwise it could have been Ryoko and Shu to highlight how different a person Shu is to Ida given how Ryoko expresses attraction to him. Or Iori could have fallen in love with Yuki which would have been very different from any of the Morimuras, or Renya who had a crush on Morimura. Really if the devs hadn't decided to make Yuki and Natsume genetically family, it could have been a childhood friends romance. Or there could have been something between Juro and Shu, they're friends despite juro being really weird between the memory manipulation and the Shiba but Shu sticks with him throughout, they're part of the weird dream club, and Juro's whole deal could have been the thing to break the tedium and boredom of Shu's life.

Tamao as a character really got the short end of the stick story wise. She had so much going on from being a compatible who is childhood friends with Keitaro and Takatoshi, to Tamao from one loop ago being turned into a Sentinel AI and then an android who was active in Sector 4 during the events of the game before getting body jacked by 426, and then there's Juro's grandma. Tamao of 1 loop ago is also responsible for creating Juro's new personality. There was so much going on with her but her role in the story ended up being very small so while she's referenced by the characters I think she only actually shows up for like 4 scenes.

One thing I really liked was how morally ambiguous the Morimuras were. Professor Morimura from 2188 was partly responsible for the nanomachine plague that wiped out humanity she also planned for her own resurrection where she would become the leader of the new humanity, and after her memories awaken in child Chihiro she plots to destroy the current loop to have a more advantageous start where she can control things better and to this end she kills the other Morimura for having an opposing agenda. Nurse Morimura herself does a number of dubious things like wiping the current loop's Izumi Juro, attempting to recreate the Izumi of 2 loops ago with him. She also attempts to take over Iori to gain compatibility. For the longest time it remains ambiguous what she is doing to Ryoko, whether she is actually trying to help her or to turn her into a puppet. Then there's Operation Aegis itself which would by cutting off Universal Control wipe out the 1.2 million AI residents of the city as well as dooming all the compatible to living the rest of their lives in the ruins of the city.

I liked a lot of the moral ambiguity in general, that for much of the game I was doubting the intentions of many of the characters from Renya, to Morimura, Ida, 426 as well as all the 2188 people involved in Project Arc. Izumi of 2 loops ago really is the definition of well intentioned extremist, I like how the audience is able to see him trial and erroring different solutions. First he tries bombing Shikishima to try and stop the technology being Deimos, then he tries killing all the compatible to stop D-code from sending the invasion signal, then he tries to sever D-code from the compatible which causes brain damage. Eventually he decides to modify the system and bring back the gamification in the simulation's code (exploiting 2188 Okino's sloppy coding the same way 2188 Shinonome did) allowing both Sentinels and Deimos to upgrade, and he does this by manipulating Megumi into shooting the compatible with a patch update to their nanomachine code.

The aesthetics of this game are superb the visuals and art direction are amazing and so is the soundtrack, it all just works so well together.

On a personal level I found Shinonome Ryoko to be annoying, like girl stop chasing the man who clearly cares nothing about you and is just using you. But I did find her story to be very interesting between the mental breakdowns, loss of identity, and how large a role she plays. Ryoko spends the entire story trying so hard and she usually just ends up making things worse, it's great! It's also interesting how most of the plot stuff she does happens in other character's routes, while in her own she's already largely forgotten everything already. I did enjoy watching her snap and shoot Ida dead.

I really liked Yuki which is probably part of why I was disappointed with her romance, she also just seems to attract girls which amuses me. She deserves to send more dudes to the hospital. She spend her entire story with so much pressure first with Ida threatening her only family, and then her dear friend Natsuno goes missing and she's being stalked by an imposter.

Megumi's story was my least favorite. The only part I really liked were the Fluffy/426 reveals at the end. gave her a magical girl story and then made it boring.

Miura's my favorite character, in all his iterations he's just trying so hard for others. He's earnest, curious, contemplative, and determined. I liked the parallels of how 2188 Miura liked history while 1944 Keitaro liked science fiction.

Nenji is surprisingly smart, it's funny when he and Hijiyama are in the same scene because between the two of them Nenji ends up being the smart one. his route gets the distinction of being the only actual time loop, kinda. it was trippy, i liked it although the timed events meant i messed up a lot.

Iori's most interesting for her contrasts and connections to the other 5 morimuras her own story is just her chasing a boy she has a crush on while having no idea what is going on, disappointing but also amusing fom a conceptual standpoint.

Tomi and Natsuno are both characters I like with stories I liked, charming. The reveals for both were well paced and exciting.

Juro does better than Iori because i found how many different parties are all trying to influence his mind interesting, everyone wants something from him from megumi who wants her boyfriend back, to morimura trying to turn him into 426 izumi, to 426 izumi himself who was the one that salvaged his mind. The one part I didn't like was the sudden romance with megumi where all of a sudden in the last scene of megumi's story.

Takatoshi was one of my favorite routes mostly because watching okino interact with him is one of the most entertaining parts of this game. Props to the game for 2188 hijiyama and okino being very explicitly lovers like there's no ambiguity there that the homophobes can latch on to and say they were just friends.

gouto's story was just 2188 morimura chihiro's story, it was good but it wasn't about him at all so he's the least developed character of the bunch.

I really like shu, his story was alright but i think it could have been better. part of this is that his route on its own isn't a complete story you only find out the deal with the mysteries like the 30km limit and inaba miyuki in other routes and the ending. while his kindness and generosity shows through on other stories, i think his own could have shown his ennui better. that he and ida are clones was a good aspect to his character i liked that twist.

while ei as a person is meh for me i did like both his story and his role in other character's stories, partly because of how different they are. His own story is a mystery as he tries to figure out what he was doing before which isn't helped by him having changed his mind mid way, lot of plotting and scheming by multiple parties which I love. Ei in other character stories plays a completely different role however as this is before he loses his memories and thus is a very active agent in the plots of sector 4. His romance with iori was boring but i can't say it was the worst or even in the bottom half. those two would have been more interesting not becoming a couple but i say that about most couples in this game.

For combat I liked the difficulty progression in that it starts off very forgiving for new players and then steadily ups the difficulty. I started out scared because i didn't have a lot of experience with real time strategy on casual but it was really easy so i went to normal but that was still easy so i went to intense and that was still pretty easy. and then the game got much harder, i could have beat the game on intense but by the final level combat was taking up so much time and i wasn't first time s-rank and getting side objectives about half the time and i wanted to focus on story so i went back to normal and breezed through. it took me so long to figure out 1st and 2nd gen sentinels so my main tactics involved the 3rd gen and some 4th gen, they got to level 25 first. i tried to balance exp gain and finished the game around 27-31. i good chunk of my tactics was railgun + missile rain as they were the best at crowd control and wow it got crowded on intense. only unlocked the super missile at the end and wow that thing is powerful. I had yuki span aoes to spot the areas the 3rd gens hadn't killed, amiguchi was a mix of offense and support, and gouto and yakishiji were interceptor bots. hijiyama was useless for so long because i didn't know how to use him but then i found his passives and had him emp spam the entire map to keep heat off the 3rd gen. i mostly had sekigahara anti air flare for half the game because i didn't know how to use him either. it took me a while to figure out how to deal with gladiators and that's how 2nd gen found their niche. then shinonome unlocked cyberattack.

#13 sentinels spoilers #13 sentinels: aegis rim

[ham-samwich]

Date, in the days after the HB case.

Word count: 4441

The first thing Date does—the first thing any of them do—after the stadium is drive to the hospital. 

He’s aware that they’ve won. He had heard the scooters speeding up in the air, seen the explosion in his peripheral vision, and registered the cheering coming from the voices around him. 

Tearer is dead, and the Initiative was too.

Date doesn’t care.

All he can think about is the boy in his arms. He’s not a boy anymore, really—he’s 29 and experienced and bleeding out in front of him. 

Ryuki had taken a bullet for him. 

Six years ago, Date remembers the boy who couldn’t shoot—couldn’t take Date’s life to save himself or the others. And here he was, again sacrificing himself for Date’s own life.

A voice interrupts his thoughts. 

Hey, asshole! Don’t just sit there, he needs medical attention!

He recognizes the voice as Tama. Right, he thinks back at her, I’ll take him to the hospital. Ryuki needed it. His heart beats, slow and softly, and his eyelids fluttered. 

Riot police aren’t letting anyone past them. Ambulance can’t get through. It’ll be faster to just drive.

Date stands, carefully cradling Ryuki and lifting him bridal style. It’s quieter now. The others seem to have noticed him. Mizuki—his daughter, his little girl, not so little anymore—locks eyes with him. There is a silent communication, even without the use of Aiba or his eye socket or any other technology. It’s good to know they can still understand each other, even after all this time. 

⸺

Ota, Iris, Moma, Shoma, Gen, Kizuna, and Lien pile into that ridiculous armored vehicle they’ve got. Without a word, Kuranushi—Mizuki’s sister, her Bibi—takes Date’s car keys. She gets into his car and for once he finds himself uncaring of the condition he gets it back in. 

He carries Ryuki into the back of his limousine. Mizuki—his Mizuki—clambers in after. Tama drives. They’re silent on the drive to the hospital. 

The limo gets to the hospital first. They stop in front of the emergency room, and Date rattles off information to the paramedics as they lift him gently onto a stretcher. His blood type, the status of the wound, anything he thought might be helpful. He does his best to keep his cool as they take him into surgery. As soon as Ryuki was out of sight, Date turns to Mizuki. She’s bruised and dirty, and he’s pretty sure she’s taken a bullet or two. 

“You should get seen, too, Mizuki.”

Her eyes are fixed on the door that they had taken Ryuki through. She responds to him, with that sass he hadn’t known to miss, “I’ll be fine, old man. It’s not enough to kill me.”

“Still,” Date says, “you’re not immortal. Please, Mizuki. I—I couldn’t—”

She understands him then. She looks him in his eye, and Date is struck by Aiba’s presence in Mizuki’s left eye socket. He hadn’t been there, when she lost her eye. He hadn’t seen her after the explosion in the cathedral. Had it been then, that she had been injured? Or did she have it extracted when she joined ABIS? Either way, he felt the guilt rise in him. He hadn’t been there to help her, with the recovery or the adjustment or the grief—he didn’t think he could stand it if she was hurt again.

“Okay.” She turns away from him again, “I’ll talk to a doctor.” She takes his hand, holds him tight, and they walk up to another employee. She describes her injuries, and the doctor says she’ll probably need surgery, because there’s apparently still a bullet in her. She squeezes his hand, and then reaches up to her eye. She hands him Aiba. 

“I’ll be right back, old man. Don’t go anywhere.” She gives him that smirk that he knows so well and walks away with the doctor. 

As soon as he’s alone with Aiba in the waiting room, he collapses into a chair. He feels numb. He’s cold. There are tears in his eye and he feels six years of built-up grief flooding over him. 

Date. Aiba is still in his palm. She opens up her AI sight in his vision. He sees himself, and he’s covered in dirt and soot and Ryuki’s blood. There are no wounds or bruises or blemishes on the false face he wears. 

Date, Aiba says again. He looks at her, fully, and he is hit with the weight of his grief again. He had missed her, god above he had missed her, and she was here and he hadn’t said anything to her outside of the adrenaline rush of the case and the battle. He slips off his eyepatch, which was falling apart anyway and would soon be replaced, and lifts Aiba up, closer to his face. He doesn’t place her in his eye socket. They had worked together at the stadium, but he knows. It’s been six years. Had she moved on? He knew that she had worked with the other Mizuki, in those weeks before his disappearance, but they had been united in those final moments in the cathedral. Now, she had spent, presumably, six years working with the new Special Agent Date. He knew that he was sometimes, well, often, difficult to be with. And Mizuki…Mizuki was better than him, in every way, as much as he would never say that to her face. Aiba would almost certainly prefer Mizuki…right?

He hears a little click and a whirr from Aiba, and he recognizes her self-cleaning function. She wriggles into his eye socket and settles there. I’m home, she says, and he wants to cry like he did at the harbor when she appeared before him.

Welcome home, he says, and he settles in his seat, comforted by her presence. 

⸺

The other Mizuki arrives a few minutes later. She is accompanied by Boss and Pewter. Date and Aiba relay the information from the doctors about Mizuki and Ryuki. Boss accompanies the older Mizuki to the doctors—apparently she has a heart condition, and while she isn’t injured Boss wants her to do a full check up. Pewter sits next to him in the plastic chairs of the waiting room. He gives Date a brief update on Amame, but doesn’t expect a response and doesn’t say anything else, for which Date is grateful. 

The rest of their entourage shows up some time later, though how much later Date isn’t sure. Shoma and Gen have gone home, but they’ve picked up Hitomi on the way. Mizuki is out of surgery, and she is awake in her hospital room, smiling as Iris and her faithful backup dancers—Ota and Moma, who have as much grace as maturity—attempt a dance routine in their limited space. Hitomi holds Date’s hand, and he feels like he did six years ago. That they’ve got a little family, strange as it is. The doctors say Mizuki should be good to go home tonight. 

Ryuki, on the other hand, is still in surgery. It’s a complicated one, Boss tells him, between the bullet and the TC-PERGE. He’ll be in the hospital for a while. 

Mizuki is discharged just as the sun begins to set. Go home, Boss instructs, I’ll take care of Ryuki. He trusts her.

The group follows Date and Mizuki out. She stops them, as they reach the parking lot. “Actually, guys…I appreciate the support, but I think I’d like a quiet night at home. Is that okay?”

They accept her wishes, bidding a cheerful farewell and promises to visit and drop off food and gifts and the like. They disperse into the setting sun, and Date watches them go until it is only himself, Mizuki, and the other Mizuki. The other Mizuki looks at her younger sister with love, and Date recognizes that face. It’s the one he wears himself—the desire to protect her, to stay with her. Date will defer to Mizuki here. 

But Mizuki surprises him. “Thanks, Bibi. You live with Boss, right? Do you want a ride back?” An offer of kindness, but the message is clear: Bibi is not coming home with them.

Kuranushi looks a little surprised, too, but she quickly covers it. “I’m okay. You three get home safe, okay?” 

Mizuki smiles. “Yeah, you too, Bibi.” She takes Date’s hand, then, and Date only has time to wave at Kuranushi before Mizuki is dragging him back to his car.

“You’re driving, old man. It’s your car.” Date fumbles for a second, before pulling out his car keys—Kuranushi had returned them, when had she done that?—and unlocks the car. Mizuki jumps into his passenger seat, and he grips the steering wheel.

A sudden terror takes over him. He doesn’t know where Mizuki lives. No way she had kept their old apartment, she would have gotten something better and more suited to just her. There wasn’t space for him, in her new life. She had had six years on her own. 

Aiba and Mizuki must both sense his trepidation. Aiba opens up a GPS navigation in his vision, and he recognizes the destination. Mizuki hadn’t moved out. She had stayed in their apartment. She must have cleaned out his stuff, he thinks, his old bed and his computer and his audio set—

“What are you thinking, old man? You better not be thinking about anything dumb. We still live in the same place, so get out of that brain of yours and drive.”

Date’s brain kicks into gear. He gets his feet on the pedals and starts driving, following Aiba’s helpful navigation. He fixates on something she said. We still live in the same place, she said. We, she said, and Date got the sense she didn’t mean herself and Aiba. He still had a place in her life. 

Mizuki falls asleep on the drive home. Aiba takes this chance to speak up. 

“She missed you, Date.”

“I—I missed her, too. Even if I didn’t know it. Those years when I didn’t have my memory…I knew something was missing. I stayed in a little room in Atami. Every time I came home, I…I was expecting someone to respond, if I said ‘I’m home.’ And I was lonely, too. I was always…talking to someone who wasn’t there.”

He can’t see Aiba, since she doesn’t have a good place to project herself, but he senses her sad smile. “You didn’t start driving, because you weren’t certain that you knew where home was, correct?” She doesn’t need to wait for his response. “Mizuki has hardly changed the apartment since you’ve been gone. Almost all of your stuff is untouched, apart from your hard drive and your adult literature. She erased your so-called ‘husbandry’ videos and threw out your magazines. Other than that…the apartment is mostly the same. She never stopped believing that you would come home.”

And Date feels like crying again. Mizuki had waited for him, in those six years that he had been a useless failure of a father, wandering Atami without his memories. 

“You are an inextricable part of Mizuki’s life. And of my existence too, Kaname Date. Even though I’ve spent these six years with Mizuki, you were my first partner. I will never forget that.” 

There’s nothing else to be said. They finish the drive in silence.

———

Mizuki wakes up when he parks the car. She holds his hand again as they walk up the stairs. She never really held his hand, even when she was eight, and this must be the third time today. He mentions this to her.

“Yeah, well, just—” She stutters, and puffs her cheeks out in a pout. “Shut up, old man.”

There is a natural human inclination for touch, Aiba says, and Mizuki turns her face away, but not fast enough for Date to miss the redness on her face from embarrassment. 

They reach their front door, and Mizuki pulls away. She opens the door, and he’s a step behind entering when she whips around. There’s some uncertainty on her face. 

“I know we did this at Brahman already…but I want to do it right.” Date is confused for a second, then he nods and steps back. She closes the door on him. He waits. Counts to six. One for every year he missed, he says to himself. 

He knocks. Mizuki opens the door, welcomes him in. “Welcome home, Date.” 

“I’m home, Mizuki.”

———

Mizuki takes a shower first. It’s a testament to just how resilient she is, that she had surgery earlier that day and she’s still moving around like nothing happened. He knows it’s to do with Horadori Institute’s experiments, but he likes to think that it’s because Mizuki is just that strong. He’s always believed in her strength.

Date sits on the couch where he had slept. He can see his speakers, untouched as Aiba had promised, and Adorabbit rests on top of his desk. The corkboard above his desk has changed. It’s not the Cyclops case, or even the HB case. Well, it’s got bits of the HB case, but not the parts he expects. It’s pictures and blueprints of the cathedral, information on thermite bombs and the architect’s report that deemed the cathedral unsafe. There’re pictures of himself, both with and without his silicone mask, and blurry security camera shots of people who slightly resembled him. A missing persons report, Ryuki’s case summary, and a crude drawing of Tearer that had clearly been stabbed through many times. 

I told you, Aiba says, she never stopped hoping. She couldn’t always be looking, between school, ABIS, and Lemniscate, but she always kept an ear out. 

“Ryuki…Ryuki didn’t say anything? Ryuki would have thought I was dead, what with…” 

He did not. His official report says that he found my body, apparently thrown from a pile of rubble, and the ceiling began to collapse before he could find you. Date considers that. Knowing Ryuki, he would have blamed himself, so why would he lie in the case report? And Tama never said anything, either, though Date supposed that Tama was much more loyal to Ryuki than she was to ABIS, and he couldn’t fault her for that.

Aiba is hesitating. She projects her image onto Mizuki’s weightlifting equipment, sitting on the bench as Date turns to her from his spot by the desk. He furrows a brow at her, and she speaks up again.

“I don’t have memories of that case. They were lost when my body was damaged, because ABIS communications prevented me from making back-ups. So I do not remember my time with the other Mizuki, and I do not remember your last moments.”

Date, as much as he hates himself for it, is comforted that Aiba doesn’t remember her time with Kuranushi. He and Aiba had fought over some petty thing, and she had left. That hurt more than he wanted to admit. He got the sense that Aiba had more to say, so he nodded at her to continue. 

“Ryuki said that you threw me from a crash site. Is that true?” And again, Date has to question why Ryuki would lie about that. He can’t fully process the emotions in Aiba’s voice. Is she hurt at being thrown, or relieved that he would try to save her? He decides on the truth.

“No. It’s not true. Aiba, I—as much as possible I wanted you to stay with me. But I—I was trapped. I couldn’t move, and there was damage to your body already. When Ryuki found me, I knew by then that I wasn’t getting out. He told me the others were safe, and that he was gonna help me, but I couldn’t think of anything else then. I gave him your body, and I asked him to keep it safe.”

He couldn’t tell if that was what Aiba wanted to hear, but she still looks at him with such affection that it hurts. “Is that when the ceiling collapsed?”

He hesitates, but he knows that Aiba knows already. “First I had to ask him…if he was the one who Tearer met at the abandoned factory. He…admitted it. Then the ceiling started to shake, and I told him to run. A big chunk of rock came down right above me, and I heard him scream. That’s all I remember.”

Aiba processes his story. She doesn’t say anything as Mizuki comes out of the bathroom, wearing Adorabbit pajamas that he’s surprised and secretly glad she still has. Well, they’re not the same set she had when she was twelve, she must be bigger now, but it’s still a familiar sight. Date catches her eye—her singular eye, and he’ll need the full story later—and she gives him that fond smirk. “Go shower, you old pervert, you stink.” She plops down on her bed and fiddles with her smartphone. Date lifts a hand to his eye, and Aiba drops into his palm, before taking her helicopter hamster form to settle on the bed next to Mizuki. Date moves into the bathroom.

He takes his time pulling off his gloves, unbuttoning his coat. He tugs down the collar of his turtleneck and his fingers brush where his silicone mask ends. He hesitates, but he slowly peels off the mask. Underneath he is met with his own face, the face of Falco, of Yagyu. The face he had worn for six years in his absence from his family. 

When he had first regained this face, he couldn’t quite adjust. He thought it might just take some time—it was his face, after all, the one he was born with and the one he had spent three decades in. But it wasn’t him. Not the one he knew. In this face he had killed dozens, been an assassin, had failed Hitomi and Iris, had seen Mizuki shot, had lost Aiba—this face was the failure. So he had a custom mask made, with the excuse to Boss that everyone knew him when his face was Saito’s. She had accepted his explanation, and he carried on with the false face because he couldn’t bear to see his own. 

He wore that failure face when he had no memories. He had woken up in some warehouse, and a ghostly man with half a face had greeted him. Date had been afraid, but when it became clear that he had no memories the half-faced man stopped caring. The half-faced man, who Date later found out was Uru Somezuki, had him tossed in the back of a van and abandoned by some highway in Shizuoka. 

He had taken off the mask then. He had no use for it, but he kept it safe and in good condition. He didn’t know why, but he got the sense that he might need it. Or want it. Why had he been wearing a mask, when he was taken by the half faced man? But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he couldn’t let go of the mask. 

When he saw the news about Jin Furue’s other half, and his memories came flooding back, he smashed the bathroom mirror, and itched until he put his mask back on.

He showers quickly, and slips into one of his old t-shirts and pajama bottoms. He comes back into the main room to find Mizuki dozing slightly, and Aiba sitting on her charging port, though still powered on and alert. 

Mizuki startles, and looks at him. She takes a moment to register his face, his real face, before she speaks, “Okay, I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight, Date, Aiba.”

“Goodnight, Mizuki.” He finds blankets and a pillow on his couch, and settles in. 

Goodnight, Mizuki, he hears from Aiba. Then, privately, Goodnight, Date. 

Goodnight, Aiba, he thinks back at her. And they’ve still got lots to do and lots to talk about, but for tonight, they’ll rest. 

———

Both of them sleep well past dawn. The next day or two is a blur. They drive to ABIS to give their official reports. Boss takes them out to lunch at Brahman, where Date and Mizuki can meet the other Mizuki more properly. She tells Date he can call her Quartz or Kuranushi or Mizuki or anything really—but Bibi is off-limits, his Mizuki only. He settles on Kuranushi, because she doesn’t really seem to like Quartz and “Mizuki” would be too confusing, but he resolves to get her a better nickname. 

They don’t visit Brahman or the Enda residence yet. Mizuki says that Gen and Shoma both need time, and Date understands that. They drop by Sekiba High to talk to Mizuki’s principal. She’s taking some time out of school, Date insists, and she won’t argue. She’ll graduate soon, and he swears he’ll be there for it. He won’t miss anything else in her life. 

That evening, Date makes them dinner. He tries to tell Mizuki that he’s gotten better at cooking, and she has too, but Mizuki insists and he makes the stew. They eat dinner at their little table (Aiba, in her hamster form, sits on the table, and projects a holographic image of her human form. She can’t eat, or even interact with anything physically, but Date and Mizuki give her a bowl full of stew anyway). They eat dinner and they feel like a family. 

The next day, they visit Matsushita Diner for lunch. They meet up with Iris, Kuranushi, and Kizuna. Iris talks about her new single and Kizuna helps her choreograph a new routine. Date feels old, like an intruder, but none of them seem to mind. He settles at the counter while the girls prance around the diner and Ota plays Iris’s song over the diner’s speakers. 

Right before they leave, Iris pulls him aside. Boss is planning another flash mob, like she did when he got Aiba back. It’ll happen as soon as Ryuki’s better, so come over to the Sagan place to start practicing, but don’t tell either Mizuki, because it’s their surprise.

Speaking of Ryuki…

Kuranushi offers to take Mizuki on a “sister bonding day” tomorrow. Mizuki accepts, but she counters that Iris and Kizuna should come too, because Iris is Mizuki’s sister via Hitomi and Date (which Date’s unsure about. They haven’t had the chance to talk, so he doesn’t know if Hitomi would even want him around. When he thinks about it, they’ve been apart more than they’ve been together. Still, he loves her) and Kizuna is obviously Kuranushi’s little sister. While Mizuki is out with the girls, Date resolves to visit Ryuki. 

Mizuki makes them dinner that night. She really has gotten better at cooking.

———

Aiba spends most of the days in Mizuki’s eye socket. Date misses her, but Mizuki and Aiba make a good pair.  It makes more sense, too, since he’s more used to navigating life with only one eye. He wishes Mizuki didn’t have to, but he’s glad for Aiba’s assistance. He wears his eyepatch or sometimes his glass eye.

He’s also grateful that it means he’ll have some privacy when he visits Ryuki. He drops Mizuki off at the mall—she hasn’t gotten her bike replaced yet—and he waves off the group before setting the GPS to Central Hospital.

He buys flowers from a shop on the way. He doesn’t know what else to bring, and he doesn’t want to show up empty handed. 

He knew that Ryuki didn’t really have living family, but it’s still depressing to see how quiet his room was, in comparison to Mizuki’s a few days ago. It’s mid-morning, but Ryuki is sound asleep. He sets the flowers on the windowsill, and a feminine voice greets him.

“Well, if it isn’t the missing man himself.”

“Hello, Tama,” He greets back. She is perched in her seaweed extract form on the headboard. She seems slightly miffed at him, but her tone softens as she updates him on Ryuki’s condition. 

“He’ll be okay,” She says, and there’s so much care in her voice that Date forgets she’s an AI, “They took the bullet out, and we avoided any major damage to his spine. He’ll need some physical therapy, probably…and regular therapy, too.” Date doesn’t know what to say to that. He has a question for Ryuki, but he doesn’t think he could really face Ryuki when asking, so he decides to ask Tama. 

“In Ryuki’s report...he never reported me dead. He had no reason to believe I was alive, and he lied about talking to me. Do...do you know why?”

Tama’s voice is firm again. (Ryuki hadn’t been kidding when he had mentioned how quickly she could change.) “I hope you’re not accusing him of anything.”

“I’m not,” Date quickly refutes, “I just want to know why.”

She feels like she’s frowning at him, even without a mouth to frown with, “He blamed himself. He couldn’t live with the idea that you were gone, and that it was his fault. He looked up to you so much that he...he wanted to believe that you were alive.

“It’s not his fault, by the way!” She exclaims suddenly, and Date is taken aback. 

“I know! I know, and I don’t blame him, for anything he did. Even when he followed Tearer’s plan, he did it to protect you. If there’s anything I can understand, it’s that.” Tama accepts his forgiveness, and she is quiet for a moment. She looks back at her partner, still undisturbed in his rest. She doesn’t meet his gaze when she speaks again. 

“He’s in love with you, you know.” And yes, Date knows, how could he not? He’s not so oblivious to miss the way that Ryuki looked at him, the way he shielded him without hesitation, the way that Ryuki hung on to his every word, even when it was the dumbest unfiltered nonsense coming out. 

“I know.”

“And?”

“I can’t. I don’t…I don’t love him the same way.” Tama fixes him with a glare, which is surprisingly intense given that she’s only an eyeball. “I care about him. He’s my junior, and my friend, but I don’t love him like that.”

He’s again surprised by the softness in Tama’s voice. “Well, I figured as much,” she says, and there’s no anger in her tone at all, “As long as you do care about him, that’s enough.”

“I do care about him,” Date repeats, “And I know you’ll take care of him. And anyway, I’m too old for him. He’ll find someone. Someone better for him, with more to give him. Someone who will really make him happy.”

“He will,” Tama smiles, “And he’ll never be alone. I swear it.”

They both take a minute. Ryuki is still asleep, at peace in the golden sunlight. Date won’t wake him, and neither will Tama. Date knows he’s in good hands, even if those hands are made of seaweed extract. He leaves Ryuki and Tama in the hospital room with a promise to visit again while Ryuki’s awake.

———

It’s just past noon when he arrives at the Sagan residence. Iris and Mizuki are still out, so he and Hitomi cook lunch. He leaves his mask on. He’s not quite ready to face himself. But he’s got his family. He’s got Ryuki who will be out of the hospital soon, he’s got Boss and Pewter who want him back to work, Hitomi and Iris who want him and Mizuki over for dinner constantly, and he’s got Kuranushi to get to know better. 

Most importantly, he’s got his daughter and his partner. Mizuki and Aiba, who will come home from their day at the mall and see his real face and that’s okay. They accept him, all his failures, and welcomed him home even after his absence. 

So maybe he’s a little more emotional when he says “Welcome home” that night, without his mask. Sue him, he’s got years to make up. 

#heyyyy I haven't written anything in like six years (ha) but i have ai:ni brainrot so #aini spoilers #fanfic #kaname date #mizuki date #aiba aitsf #tama aitsf #ryuki is here but he does not talk #datomi is mentioned

[bibiinitiative]

Some thoughts on AI-ball and Psyncer dynamics (AINI spoilers are under the cut)

Date and Aiba: I love how the first game develops them. They’re so fun the whole way through, and I didn’t even realize how hard-hitting they were until they showed me just how much they love each other, even if they won’t say it. It hurts so much, I love them so much. They’re perfectly balanced--while Date tends to go with crazy ideas and think illogically, Aiba is much cooler and more logical, and looks out for him.

Their dynamic is literally so well written, and it doesn’t lose it’s charm in AINI even if we don’t see them together very often. Their relationship in AINI doesn’t need to have any huge moments, so it works!

Mizuki and Aiba: This is indicative of AINI’s larger writing problems, but I just think that there’s not as much... weight as with Aiba and Date. That’s not to say that Aiba doesn’t care for Mizuki as much as she does Date! Not at all!!! But their dynamic stays the same the whole game, unlike the moments in AI1 that had me GLUED to Aiba and Date’s dynamic.

Aiba and Mizuki are often thinking the same--Mizuki is prone to doing stupid things, as a hotheaded teenager, which Aiba helps with her logical side, and it works, but it definitely doesn’t force me to realize just how much they love each other in the same way as AI1 did.

Ryuki and Tama: I really REALLY love their dynamic. I think that the creators made the right decision in making their dynamic an almost opposite of Date and Aiba--it makes Ryuki and Tama feel unique. But it also doesn’t feel like they just flipped Date and Aiba and called it good. Tama is also a caretaking AI, so while Ryuki has his bad mental health, Tama is dealing with that as best she can... I love the warmth they have, the way they so obviously care about each other even when Tama goes off on Ryuki for not liking bad comedy (lol)

I just... feel like Ryuki needs someone like Tama. Someone who will help him, to take care of him when he needs it, but also make sure his awkwardness and issues and make him able to communicate more effectively, to calm him down as needed. Tama tells Ryuki to get help when he needs it, and doesn’t push him too hard even if she can be harsh on the surface.

Ryuki and Tama cont: When we see Ryuki on Side Mizuki, he’s obviously not doing well, but we know that Tama IS taking care of him, making sure that even when he thinks he’s in the wrong time period he’s still functional, even if he’s a lot more... all over the place when we’re not In His Head.

Speaking of being in his head, I LOVE how Tama can’t read his thoughts, and how that leads to her not knowing why Ryuki is hiding things from her. But Ryuki just wants to save her from Tearer, and that’s why he betrayed Date... I think it’s such a heart-wrenching moment when you REALIZE why Ryuki is doing all that.

He desperately TRIES for Tama, and that’s what makes their dynamic really make even more sense, even if it was ALREADY so good before, but now they SEE how much Ryuki loves Tama. It affects everything in the story, and everything in Explosion Route, and it’s a lot to deal with. And Tama loves him back, of course!!! They’re partners!!! But she has no idea how far he’s going. I think that’s so. interesting and hurts. It’s their big moment, and while I wish we saw more about that, I’m so happy with all we got of the betrayal and understanding Ryuki’s feelings... aaaaaaaa...

Mizuki and Aiba cont: I think it’s hard to really talk about Mizuki and Aiba because our time is split between Aiba and Bibi (who don’t have a history) and Aiba and our Mizuki (who Aiba has known for over 4 years) and yet there’s little difference. I know this is a... general writing problem, but I wish we got a truly emotional moment with them, like how we did with Date+Aiba and Ryuki+Tama. Granted, the overall story didn’t call for that kind of dramatic moment, but even if their already established dynamic is good, it feels like there should have been more. It just doesn’t compare to the other two main AI-ball/Psyncer duos.

Regardless, I had fun with their dynamic.

Bibi and Marco: I really like them tbh, at least in concept. I know that’s kind of funny because Marco/Maruko is mentioned like three times ever, but I think he (they?) are a funny little lad whose shyness makes sense from a writing standpoint, but it means we have to make up the dynamic here. I don’t think Bibi needs an especially loud partner to cool her down--at 24 years old, she seems fairly levelheaded, albeit still prone to anger sometimes (see: her beef with Ryuki) so I wonder how Marco responds to that. I bet they’re good friends regardless, and Marco has obviously opened up to Bibi enough for her.

#aitsf #nirvana initiative #aini spoilers

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Pheromone Tantei

Title: Pheromone Detective Drama CD~Kioku Soushitsu Otoko Hiroimashita~(フェロモン探偵 ドラマCD～記憶喪失男拾いました～)

Author: Maruki Bunge

Illustrator: Aiba Kyoko

Release Date: 2021/05/12

Cast:

Kawahara Yoshihisa x Shirai Yuusuke

Yabuuichi Marina

Yoshiyuki Ito

Synopsis: Nasukawa Akira, a detective by day, slut by night, is a trouble magnet. On one snowy day, he picks up a fallen amnesiac who he names as Kisaragi Yukiya. He was a handsome and interesting man, so Nasukawa hires him to help him with his agency. 

Review Proper

Don’t look at me. Even I don’t know what’s up with my first synopsis. 😬 However, I still don’t get why it’s named “Pheromone Detective” when pheromones weren’t actually in the story? Akira-san doesn’t even attract too much trouble, even as a so-called “magnet”. Anyway, uhh, what can I say? This was paced badly ngl. I’m not sure if it’s because of how short all the tracks were, but they weren’t able to expound on the plot of each one of them. Everything was happening so fast, man. They don’t even have a moment where they at least catch feelings for each other, and Yukiya was a borderline homophobe, remember??? I can’t believe it only took Akira-san’s asshole to be drugged to get his dick bending the other way.

Yukiya: “Sheesh. Alright, I’ll help finger your ass.”

Akira-san: *incessant moaning

Yukiya: “Yeah, uhh, can I put this dick in you?”

And this is where shit hits the fan ‘cause even when Yukiya forbade Akira-san to find their missing people (who were actually being human-trafficked), Akira-san  still goes and him being a detective gets exposed??? So he gets caught??? And just willingly accepts being a prostitute??? Then Yukiya comes to save him with a big black Mercedes, brings him to some auction house, takes him to the back room, and makes Akira-san eat his dick in gratitude??? With 0 explanation. I was just so confused, man.

Anyway, turns out that Yukiya bought Akira-san and all the missing people out of that auction. So, he really was part of some shady yakuza group, which is where he gets his munny from. Yukiya actually got his memory back a while ago and was just hanging around Akira-san ‘cause he found him interesting, I guess. After that, Yukiya turns all domestic possessive on Akira-san like he didn’t scream to the world that he don’t play anal back in track 2, the end. 

I’m not even sure if Akira-san had feelings for him either and wasn’t just after his dick. Also, I’m a bit sad with his character ‘cause he was basically a chaotic top before all this and was even set on clapping some Yukiya cheeks back there. UGH. “Please, if you’re really intent in having sex with a man, then let me at least be the man in the bedroom.” - Yukiya. The fuck??? I’m not really familiar with Maruki Bunge, but I’m pretty sure Aiba Kyoko can write better than that. There’s even this running gag? that Yukiya’s actually an alien (Yukikya’s the only one who finds it funny) ‘cause he dreams of space a lot. So when Akira-san asks him about his Mercedes the first time, he says that it was his spaceship??? Then when they have sex, he says he’ll send him to... space...

HOW DARE YALL MAKE KAWAHARA SAY THOSE LINES

Moving on to the technicalities,

Damn, it’s been a while since I’ve added Shiraimu to the queen sluts category, but he really do show how worthy he is of the title. *wipes tear* My man really said, “Wow. That got me wet.” and I just flatlined. I mean, if I was a straight man and I got hit with that, I would certainly be bending whatever way for him, yanno? He a fighter. He a queen. 😩 Also, can I just say that this Shiraimu could have pulled a Masato perfectly, seeing how well he vibed with Kawahara despite this tragic dumpster fire of a plot. 

As for Sir Kawahara Yoshihisa,

Well, that was a new daddy experience I didn't know I needed.

You don't understand. This was the first time in my life that I've ever heard Kawahara use his normal speaking voice in a BLCD. The tone he used as younger Asahi was even deeper than this, mind you. Also, can I just say that the breath he puts between words sometimes just 🥴. He tends to put an h in between some words like “Ah” and “iya” making it sound like “Ahhiyaa” which makes me wanna go out and touch some grass, man. Listen to belib. Anyway, I wouldn’t mind more Kawahara in this tone—more like, please do.

NOW FOR MY NEXT ISSUE WITH THIS PLOT: THE FUCKING SOUND ENGINEERING. Remember when I said that Akira-san got drugged and he needed his ass to be stimulated? I really thought that this was another Brilliant Prin original, which is why I put it right after Cendrillon, but when I heard Akira-san’s pants being unzipped with some reverb, I became suspicious. BUT THEN I HEARD KAWAHARA YOSHIHISA FINGERING WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A CAN OF TUNA AND I

WHO ALLOWED THIS??? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS???

Doesn’t help that the bgms also sucked balls. I mean no offense, but did all the budget go to Kawahara and Shiraimu??? And this is one of their newest CDs. I’m just very, very confused as to what happened here. Also, it turns out that this is actually an adaptation of a multi-part novel with the same name, so there’s more of this... this thing which gives rise to the potential of the BLCD having a sequel too. 😬  

If y’all want to listen to something more interesting that shares some themes, do try Wasurenaide Ittekure. The bottom (Yusa Koji) has the ability to erase memories and makes a living with said ability, the top (Yasumoto Hiroki), on the other hand, is a detective who’s investigating a case that one of Yusa’s clients was involved in. If you want other police blcds to listen to, I highly recommend Outface Double Bind (Morikawa Toshiyuki x Okitsu Kazuyuki & Ookawa Tohru x Suzuki Tatsuhisa), the S series (Konishi Katsuyuki x Kamiya Hiroshi), and Houi Gakusha to Keiji (Konishi Katsuyuki x Yusa Kouji). That’s tragedy, action, and porn respectively. 👍

#blcd reviews #blcd 2021 reviews #pheromone tantei #killscudcherry #maruki bunge #aiba kyoko #kawahara yoshihisa #shirai yuusuke #yabuuchi marina #yoshiyuki ito

[ghoooooooooooooooost]

reading log #5 starting w nonspoiler talk

Cell of Empireo [ endings ]

i liked the writing a lot!!!!! every character was super interesting

haruki (atou) , shinano n reiji (isoi) have a funnie group dynamic but haruki's interactions w everyone else are also great. my fav character outside the trio is aiba rn

the monsters themselves didn't really scare me that much personally (other than pochi?) but the horror aspect was still really strong n it put me on edge

for people who like character driven reading-heavy horror stories w religious themes i def recommend trying/watching this game, maybe it can help you with learning japanese too lol

a lot of coe fans are finding me on twitter now smile ^_^

/// spoilers for coe start from this point on——————————

arrival point s

god when i saw the arrival point s ending were reiji dies i thought it was the true end n i got sofucking distraught you have no idea. thank god for the actual happy ending it was so cute. it really hit me when haruki said he knew shinano for less then a week it's straight up the "i've only had x for 5 minutes" meme

origin beta's boss form design went OFF like DAMNN

sanemitsu/minoru is really interesting. obvi his situation w haruki isn't good n at the same time i Get him n i like that he tried to treat hatsutori like a human being; i can't wait to see the dlc n find out more abt him. also the way reiji loves him so much is ouououugh... father n son.................

utsugi is scary to me like imagine that a guy becomes so devoted to you that he won't stop hailing you as a savior n he commits war crimes in a science facility n kills ppl n rips off your lower half n keeps you locked up in a secret room wtffffffffff. pretty gay too hashtag messy qu**r representa-

enomoto also freaked me out ngl. esp when she started acting like That right after her exposition

arrival point a

I FUCKING KNEW KANOU WOULD SHOW UP AGAIN but he didn't in s route so i was like huh so he's just dead??? well he still is though, n it seems my theory from the prev log was technically both wrong n correct (i thought he'd be super powerful or another origin - that was the wrong part)

speaking of incorrect theories -- in the scene where atou blacks out n wonders out of the safe room n karen finds him, i got really scared thinking that he ended up killing her dad riku n aiba who were in that room (he didn't lol)

i also thought that atou's bio brother reiji n our reiji were the same person at first so i was flabbergasted

(for anyone reading this part w out knowing anything, they just have the same name. the brown haired reiji was saved n adopted by the biological father (sanemitsu) of the black haired reiji after the latter died. which is why haruki atou n reiji isoi consider each other brothers so if you see ship art of them anywhere RUN AWAYYYY)

arrival point b (suicide mention warning)

kanou shooting himself in this route made me go "ooooooh that's why i've seen fanart of him getting his head blasted open ok"

good lord the twist ending w yanagi holy shit

arrival point c

KAREN :( i honestly wasn't expecting her to die in any of these routes so seeing her punt kurachi out of the way n get sliced was *JAWDROP JAWDROP JAWDROP*

the route goes to hell after that like damn. made me fear how depressing/messed up points d n e were. riku :((( yanagi :(((

atou w da brown hair shiiiiiii

arrival point d

wasn't actually has bad as point c.... is what i said before the ending w karen

arrival point e

aiba-only route babeyyyyyy lets go aiba love aiba *is in pain*

n finally a clip (no sound)

#book eating event #includes: coe #just coe bc i wrote too damn much #long ass post btw

[brawlqueen]

checklist / note to myself *

gonna work this month on all fall related, halloween too , asks , so if anyone wants to send some, the meme is HERE ! don't be a stranger , i follow people for a reason ! i know i owe in that meme which is my focus because shorter things right now are my bread and butter , trunks, kizzy , etc ! it's still open all this month , as i'm someone who will write holidays long after the holiday is due .

in the past i used to punish myself a lot for just . . . not feeling it writing-wise. that doesn't mean i think i shouldn't say sorry if i have been keeping others , but just not to make it something toxic ; like a punishment or measurement of my worth as a writer.

i also think once i clear some of my drafts , feel comfortable enough to , i'd like to ask for a lot of people's interest trackers . i need to be more initiative (no pun) into getting to know new mutuals , all of you whom have tons of talent . that includes me plotting in time, mizuki's psyncing into your muse's brain if ... you'll let her . and don't worry, mizuki is sturdy as hell she's definitely equipped to see the unexplainable horrors . . she's lived it too.

i'm still working slowly on my thoughts, as my mizuki is aini divergent 90 percent , save aiba is her partner at present , shared with date of course ! but usually since she's more active in my canon , mizuki is someone i think would be a great longterm ABIS agent, but also someone who wants to go to college, and should . she's above average IQ in spades , but with running renju's talent agency and sunfish pocket , and also being a special agent to a secret organization within the police force ? she's busy.

of course there's also so much so so much to explore with her in the original, which is in my top five. lots of things i want to explore and many wishlists to be had . so yeah , i think mizuki needs a break before she starts college at some point, learns to balance all her responsibilities while still enjoying being a teenager .

that verse will probably be a long time in work , and aini will need to be replayed , and i'll try to keep the high salt about it turned more into something . . . productive ? like worldbuilding and story building for mizuki ! but yes , i love exploring all the ages she's been listed as, at present she's probably in the middle of being 18. i have to check the times of the games whoops. but please know if you're expecting only one version i switch between both equally . if you met her at 12, you'll likely get more of her at 12 unless we plot a timeskip. if you met her at 18 you'll get her at 18 ! rewinding to 12 might be a little weird unless your muse is a hidden psyncer boss didn't tell her about .

so yes, fall memes, draft clearing and some dropping, mizuki aini divergent verse , wish-list (over time) and reaching out to an interest checker or just honestly, send me an ask anytime. i may not get to it fastest , but i will . i have drafts as disorganized as i am. but this is kinda stuff that i'll be focusing on in the next few months, fall memes and fall things the primary for this one, albeit with some drafts !

please remember i followed you out of interest ! if we haven't interacted we just haven't found a chance !

i know this is long but i'm a lil foggy so this is as much for myself as others honestly ! i'll also at some point do a permissions post , so i know it's okay to do certain things with miss queen of the brawl. it's a long list, but i've divided what i aim to do and if i don't do it all in the time i set ? it's okay. thanks for being patient with me . for those that i haven't interacted with but i like your posts etc ? that's just lily giving you a little note of one, interest, two, i will work up the nerve to get to you !

#even if her own game was crappy to mizuki she's still mizuki and great always #but there's no point dwelling on it save a lil salt as a treat . . so i'm gonna work on being productive ! #my brain fog is real but my mizuki stanning is bigger . . . #but yea me liking posts i wanna like everyone's but my like number is uh you don't wanna know -- #is a sign of /interest/ #i just sometimes get shy lmao which to many probably is funny #𝐏𝐒𝐀 *ೃ༄ do you wanna get your ass kicked? #𝐎𝐎𝐂 *ೃ༄ what looks gone but comes back even stronger.

[ariapmdeol]

8:11 anon here again. Wow. W o w. Brain empty but just. Wow.

Went through all the endings and then had to go back to Arrival Point S to cope with all the other ones. And, as expected, the first ending and S destroyed me. Cried at least two times. My god. It's been a while since media made me cry, and I certainly didn't expect to get so emotionally invested in CoE.

However! I have questions!! Spoiler-y ones? If you don't mind, of course. Sorry if it's a lot?? I'm definitely going to re-watch everything again to connect whatever is left.

First off: is there a "canon" ending? Surely S is what everyone wishes to be canon (although E is pretty good too, in its own way, definitely wouldn't want it to be canon, though) but is there a defined one by the developers? Actually, what even is the first ending gotten before S?

Second: what triggers change the endings? I figure that for deaths it's mostly a matter of wasting time, which is really neat and genuinely puts urgency into the situation.

Connected to that, what's the blue-colored person speaking at the end of most endings? The one who "guides" the player on what they missed to try again?

Third: honestly what (and who) the hell is Kanou. Man shows up as quickly as he dies, reappears in like two endings, commits suicide in both. Is he just the local cryptid? A doll? There's something going on with him, between the Told You So death, the text about murdering coworkers at a previous lab, and his corpse disappearing (and, in specific endings, showing up as...human? Dialogue specifies that)

Fourth: you mention the DLC, but also Hermits Room and Interlude, however I don't see them in the playlist? Do they have to be played specifically as there's no uploads?

Fifth: wow Utsugi is so incredibly fruity. My god that guy is gay, good for him, good for him. That's not a question just need to state it. Also Sanemitsu being emotionally not there ever and Atou threatening him every five seconds. Peak dynamic, love them all so much. Shinano being happy. S ending my beloved

Sixth: I heard something about a...cipher? An art book cipher? Or an ARG? Idk but if you're willing to explain.

That's...it? Surely I have more questions but these are the main ones I can think of now. Again, sorry if this is a lot???

And!! Enjoy 8:11 whenever you get the time for it!! It was so fun to play and mind-boggling.

CONGRATS ON FINISHING AAAA!! i'll answer all these in order!! let me know if you need clarification on anything <3

Yes, there is a 'Canon' Ending'. S+ is considered the canonical ending! This actually answers the other part of this question: the Ch 8 Arrival point S goes through S (Future), which directly leads into S+ (Empyrean Point). The two endings are connected, and S needs to happen in order to achieve S+! OH ALSO. THERE ARE POST-S CHANGES, which i will put under the cut bc I have collected them <3 These technically happen in S+, but we don't see them bc we only check back in when Atou is in ch 8 already. The DLC (Records of Sanemitsu Isoi) takes place almost exactly 3 years after S+. (These are shown in the playlist after the Ch 4, 6, and 7 extras <3).

ENDING FLAGS: Fun bonus fact: the purple text will tell you what you missed, and this changes based on what you did wrong! S Root: get all the info, don't let anyone die. A Root: keep everyone alive but don't get all the info. Ensure that you have charged Shinano's Phone B Root: everyone alive but Shinano's phone was not charged or unlocked. C Root: Succeed in saving Yanagi. Fail in Saving Karen D Root: Succeed in Saving Karen. Fail in saving Yanagi E Root: EVERYONE DIES!! YIPPEEE Mx. Purple Text is something that you'll learn about in the DLC, so I'll RAFO you for now (Read and find out). It is purple specifically! (though i also made that interpeted it as blue at first sdajkldsjkal)

Kanou Flag: in Chapter Four, you can read Yuusuke Aiba's Journal without Kanou (this is shown in the extras for chapter 4). This starts the kanou flag. This is what triggers a couple of small changes surrounding Kanou (the quick flash of him in ch 6 comes to mind) and grants access to the kanou elevator scene. TLDR Kanou was infected with cells, which let him live a little longer, but not enough to grant abilities. They talk about dying as a 'human' because if he lives longer, his cells will morb and he'll become a doll or a creature. He also gives us a Note that says something like 'live for me'. This note gives us a buff during the origin beta boss fight (his "curse" protects atou <3)

The first Five records of the DLC (+ the intro) are in the playlist! for anything beyond that point, contact me here, on discord (@ ariapmdeol), or on twitter (@ AriaPMDEoL ) and I'll help you!

UTSUGI FOREVERRR HE'S SO. he makes me so emotional i love you noriyuki utsugi. Sanemitsu my darling my beloved he is trying but he also sucks so much <333 i love him. The Reiji-Sanemitsu-Haruki family means so much to me. they make me emotional UEEEE. S and S+ make me explode,,

YES there are ciphers!! there's an official artbook for COE (which unfortunately isn't being sold right now orz orz) Which has a few ciphers in it! The one that i was looking at is HORRIFICALLY warped (i genuinely don't think we were actually meant to solve it LMAO) but I solved it and a friend was kind enough to translate it for us! There is also a Cipher in DLC, and a few others in the DLC 2020 credits! I have solutions to all of those as well. It's less 'ARG' and more "here's some information hidden behind a cipher." They're not REQUIRED reading but they help a lot with theorizing, and I've been finding it to be a lot of fun :D

I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY 8:11 I AM VERY EXCITED HEHEHE

OK POST S CHANGES ( you'll have seen one of these before). These are sorted by chapter. DON'T WORRY IF THESE DON'T MAKE SENSE TO YOU YET.

CHAPTER 1.

"You want to forget the rat without a head" has been changed from Red to Purple.

CHAPTER 4.

There is an Item on the floor in chapter 4 (the room that you have to walk through in order to get to Aiba's journal) which reads "Zero Does not Exist".

Chapter 6:

This document has been replaced, the first time you look at it, by a document by CODE:DANTE. This one is a little long so you can DM me and I'll grab it for you!

Chapter 7:

ok so. this is shown in A root but it's not an A root thing, it's a Post S root thing (it's because of how the YT translator got their endings, dw abt it). All mentions of Seodore Riddle have been removed

This text has changed (both in normal vision and in Vision shift. it reads:[normal vision text] 'This is not the start of a nightmare but the end of a peaceful dream' and 'but what will you see when you wake' is added post S. [purple text] 'Aare you enjoying this divine comedy?' with 'i'm glad, you've enjoyed the love of god' added post S.

^this section was translated by tumblr user hermitroom!

#cell of empireo #coe spoilers #aria answers #aria rambles

[ct-multifandom]

Nirvana Initiative open discussion post

I want to start a convo here on tumblr with all you AI enjoyers because so few people are talking about all the interesting content we’ve gotten and are still getting. I’m encouraging you all to rb, comment, whatever and go over this stuff with me! I wanna talk about AI!

Below I’ll rant about some things that caught my eye (pun not intended).

When the first AINI trailer came out I wanted to make an analysis and theory post but then I thought about it and was like. Wtf do I even say. I don’t have Twitter so I had to read up on Hidden Bats here and I watched Ryan Geever on YouTube’s videos about the ARG which I highly recommend because his explanation is very thorough and his theories are really onto something.

He talks about a lot of good stuff like the Philadelphia Experiment, the plot of an old, similar series this writing team worked on, and the relevance of the Lemniscate ARG, which I would not have connected on my own. I won’t retype everything he said, but I’d love to discuss some of the extremely solid connections he made.

Through his videos, I also found out the achievement list has been leaked. I took a look at it myself, but I won’t say anything about it because of potential spoilers. There’s some stuff that interests me on there, though.

I’ll make a bulleted list of questions I have:

Obv question: what’s the timeline here in relation to the events of AITSF?

What happened to Saito? And Yagyu’s body?

Why’d Date give up PSYNCing? What is he up to now, still ABIS or something else? Is he taking oxytocin without Aiba’s administration?

Did Iris recover from her brain tumor or not?

Is Komeji’s head a futuristic mascot suit that can emote where his forehead dot is the eye hole or is he just Shovelforge George irl? Is there a secret guy in there or is that his actual body?

Are the VLR spacesuits a cameo or do they have significance?

The game is made by “Team Zero Escape” and has more ZE references than usual. The ARG also has references to SHIFTing. Will the ZE universe be relevant to the story?

I’m behind on Hidden Bats, but is the current arc kind of like the ambidex game where the girls have to trust each other to get the best result, and Lumi trusts Mari, but Mari doesn’t trust her back?

Whereas the choice between Aine and Binato was between two second degree murderers, maybe this choice will be that Lumi did something in the past to hurt Mari, but Mari is holding a grudge in the present and is willing to endanger her as revenge, and we have to decide which is worse (like obv tAI the vote but y’know)

Okayyy nvm *edit* I caught up and it looks like as of now Lumina is just a normal nice girl and Mariha is a fuckin ass. I guess the voting this time won’t be trying to decide the lesser of two evils or neither, but to decide whether to treat a good and bad person equally or to deem Mariha unworthy of saving as some sort of extreme “justice”.

The last two characters’ names and pics were dug up by tech whizes from the website code and I like their designs. Wonder what their whole thing is gonna be.

Tokiko and Naix being real is very interesting. Dk what to say, but Iris was clearly right that they exist and are shady. Perhaps it’s true that her tumor-induced psychosis made her construe some stuff as it applied to the last case, but they’re very much involved in this one. How did Iris even find out about it?

Another obv one but why does Ryuki look so similar to Yagyu and why do they have similar naming conventions?

I’m curious about Gen, Shoma, and Kizuna because they’re new, but we don’t know a ton about them. Also Chikara sus.

Edit: forgot the locksmith guy even existed for a sec wow

What’s very curious is how Amame is getting such a major upgrade from being a background character like the driver or receptionist to being an actual major player. I love when stories elevate minor characters to the major cast for new arcs, but hmm…

Why isn’t Pewter in jail? This could point to NI being in a whole different timeline from TSF if he never did anything illegal in the first place.

The six years ago/six years later thing they have going on is confusing when you’re trying to analyze trailers. The leaked achievements tell us which protag’s story has which somnium, but which characters are associated with which time period?

Interested in how Sunaiku and the Hidden Bats victims will play into the game and to what extent. The last ARG was kind of unrelated to the plot of TSF, but everything there was included, albeit with a twist. Also, the last ARG feels somehow more relevant to this game than to the last? If there’s an AI3 will Hidden Bats be relevant to that as well?

Timelines aside, please let Ota keep his TSF character development. Also, Mayumi hasn’t appeared in any trailers and that’s making me sad because y’know,,,

I hope they talk more about the Wadjet system. Can Aiba and Tama use it to communicate with each other? Can they intentionally simulate ESP across time using it?

Do all PSYNCers have AI balls or is it just the two? Did Ryuki exist as one of the unnamed other PSYNCers in TSF and we just didn’t meet him yet?

Oh here’s one: in the character trailer, they list the VAs of the four PCs, Mizuki, Aiba, Ryuki, and Tama. They don’t list anyone else’s name. Maybe I’ve got my tinfoil hat on, but what if knowing someone’s VA would be a spoiler, 13 sentinels style? Maybe someone “new” is actually someone else who has the same VA as before?

Ik Mizuki was playing 999 in the very first trailer, which implies that ZE is a video game in the AI world, but could they exist in the same reality through worldline SHIFTing bs? Digimon vibes

Ooo, edit, but I noticed they told us Binato was “removed from reality”, not killed, which I just found out Uchi tweeted about too. Did they teleport him to the backrooms? Are they experimenting on him? I’d suggest my beloved sci fi horror trope that they erased all evidence of his life, but his disappearance is still listed on the Sunaiku news page, so that’s not it. It’d be cool if the post updated to just be about Aine after the vote was over, though, and his twitters were deleted as well as all mention of him on Aine’s. Is he stuck in some place between realities or in a different one?

Sunaiku and Aine both have Ai in their names *puts red thread on my detective photo wall*

I’ll add more stuff if I think of more, but I want to talk about this, so let’s treat this post like a discussion board! Let’s include spoilers for the first game as well as Zero Escape, but not leaks from this one. So excited for AINI.

#nirvana initiative #aini #ai nirvana initiative #aitsf #ai the somnium files #zero escape #hidden bats #aitsf spoilers #do ai fans who have never played ze even exist? I didn’t even think about ze spoilers #there’s one kind of cracky thing Ryan Geever said that I really liked but I won’t comment on it rn #this post contains a cringeworthy number of acronyms #the girl reading this should theorize with me