“ There are five stages of grief, but I’d like to add one more. Revenge.”
Asra Alnazar x GN!Reader!Blurb. Reader is referenced, but not included. TW: Blood, Gore.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------Asra’s hand gripped the seat next to him. Where you should be. Lucio stood at the head of the table, smiling proudly and talking some non-sense about how hard beating the plague was. Him and anyone else who’d actually known him knew that it was a dog - walk for Lucio. Lucio’s hearty laugh rang in his ears. That awful laugh. A laugh should’ve been yours, instead.
He didn’t sabotage the ritual like him and Julian had planned. For whatever reason, Lucio double - checked everything. It was unbearable, really. To see Lucio, happy and smiling instead of you. You were nothing but dirt now. Julian stared at Asra. He was concerned for the magician, if looks could kill, Lucio would be dead on the floor.
Lucio’s agonizing speech finally seemed to be coming to a close, thank god. Asra would’ve broken the wood in the chair next to him if not. His anger was so thick, it felt like it was festering. Moving, writhing, contorting every single minute that Lucio spoke. But instead of finally being quiet, Lucio sneered, looking Asra right in the eye.
“ .. I’m so fortunate to have been resilient enough to persevere the plague. It’s such a shame that some members of our vesuvian community couldn’t do so..”
Asra knew exactly who Lucio was referencing. You. The air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. He would’ve gotten himself in a bad situation if he wasn’t as controlled as he was. All he had to do was wait, and then he could shut Lucio up. All he could think about was his plan for the night. And the count’s cherry red blood spilled out on the floor.
This was just an idea / concept I had for everyone's favorite magician, because I feel that in the entire cast of the arcana ( excluding the courtiers ) is most likely to have obsessive love for you. Let me know if I should turn this into a full on fic.
I wrote this out in the comments on another post, but I think it's worth posting on its own. One of the nice aspects of the Arcana and Fictif was they were USA-based companies, and their stories had Western feminist sensibilities. No judgement on East Asian media, but there are some super common tropes which irk me personally. If you're wondering where to go for USA-based mobile game novels that have queer characters, here are recs:
Chapters - romance novels adapted into VNs. Both mlm and wlw!
Choices - original VNs with scattered mlm and wlw options
Lovelink - chatroom/messenger app with VN sections. The MC's gender is never revealed. Male, Female, Enby LIs
Heart's Choice - interactive romance novels. All the genders: mlm, wlw, nblm, nblw, nblnb!
Hosted Games - CYOA novels with a variety of genres. Sometimes have romance, sometimes not. My sapphic werewolf game Moonrise is on there! ;D
Choice of Games - ditto!
Infinite Blue (upcoming) - an otome chatroom/messenger app with VN sections. MC can have she/her, he/him, or they/them pronouns. All LIs are men
All links go to Google Play except for Infinite Blue, which goes to the developer's website.
If you want recommendations for specific titles, my inbox is open! Tell me what you like to read, and I'll have a VN for you!
I love your game, I have for several years now. I spent days collecting keys and coins to complete each story and unlock each ending. I watched as these characters grew and changed and bettered themselves (at least in the upright endings) and yet, after all of that, each new story that is released has the characters back at square one, without any of the growth I shared in.
Are there any future plans to have stories that feature post game content?
I want to see the Asra who learned to be open with others, to not hide behind half truths and to share their real thoughts and feelings. I want to see the Portia who found her strength and courage, the Nadia who discovered she is not alone and that she has so many who love her and want to see her succeed. I want to see the Lucio who finally took accountability and felt remorse and even offered his own version of an apology while proving he is fiercely loyal to those he truly cares for. I want to see the Julian who realized that it's okay to be vulnerable and that he's worthy of love and affection. I want to see the Muriel who discovered his history, who learned that it's okay to defend those you love, who realized his worth and found his self-confidence and his voice and showed that he is strong in heart and mind, not just body.
I am so saddened that in each story that is released, the characters are just as they were before their routes; Muriel is still in his hut, in chains and rags, and doesn't have any of the confidence he found in his route. Lucio still has his red eyes and doesn't have any of the humility or morality he found in his route, still very much the nightmarish Count, still living with Nadia (which also doesn't make sense)...and so on.
It's disappointing and heartbreaking: I and so many others spent a lot of time, in game resources, and actual money to see these characters grow and fall in love and yet none of the new content reflects any of that growth. It just feels like I wasted time, that my reward for everything was the endings only and the stories coming out are more a lure for new players who haven't finished everything.
So please, in the future, consider those of us who watched all these characters grow, who became attached and invested and fell for them just as much as they fell for our Apprentices.
I love that I've been on the internet to recognize a good amount of Kevin MacLeod music because I often watch longform video essays and frequently get to have a "Hey! It's Kevin MacLeod! There he is!" moment while doing that