rayplaysotomes

[rayplaysotomes]

ok!! noritsune route post!! my silly! i have GOT to draw this guy. idk when ill get around to it but. i love his design sm.

as usual, spoiler warnings for noritsune’s route in birushana under the cut!

okokok!! first off, i wanted to talk about how much hes matured as a person and how his character develops throughout his route because i feel like thats the thing i thought of the most. like, he started out only seeing things through the lense of the heike, the towards the end he has a much broader perspective of the world and really considers his place in it. and like, he grew up being compared to shanao a lot because they were the same age and in similar positions in their respective clans, and bc he is very competitive, he was determined to fight her and sorta prove his worth in a way. atleast thats how i read that bit. 

then when he DOES fight her for a moment, and later gets to talk with her for a minute, he really sees their similarities and grows to like her, even if he still wants to duel with her. then of course theres how once he hears shanao talk about wanting to be seen as herself, and not only under the guise of genji or heike, he understands how she feels, and later accepts being disowned very easily and just leaves. then after seeing shanao again in hiraizumi and she saves him, he returns to the heike and takes care of his responsibilities. 

plus!!! when they met again in battle he wanted to fight her and there was that whole scene where he says shes running away from fighting him. interesting i think. and after that, when they were in kyoto trying to help the villagers while yoshinakas army was looting everything, and he said he wouldnt let her die until he could properly duel her. im sobbing. or in that same scene how he was explaining how hes ever felt so close and so similar to another person????? it really seems like at this point, he cant admit to himself that he actually just really cares about her, so he justifies the duel as a way to stay near her. 

then of course theres the last fight on the boats, he was fully ready to die during his fight with shanao before they had left. 

idk, i feel like his whole dynamic with shanao is super interesting where he originally didnt like her because of how often they were compared to each other, then he realized how similar they actually were, how much he could relate to her, and how she was actually a very good person and he cared for her a lot. i feel like this especially helped him mature and develop. 

and not only was noritsunes dynamic with shanao super interesting, the romance aspects of the route were really sweet. like!!! when the children wanted to dress up shanao like a princess!!! and noristune comes back and gets all jealous cause other people got to see her like that before he did!!! and he asks her to stay and live with him after the war!!

also!! shanao has become one of my favourite mcs idc if ive only finished one route so far she means everything to me. like she starts off only sorta seeing things from a black and white perspective, then once she sees yoshinakas army looting kyoto, and the heike children, and grows to really care about noritsune, she sees that there are bad people who are part of the genji clan, and that there are good people within the heike. and she comes to realize that all she really wants is to help people. she really just wants everyone to be okay. idk this is just such a well written aspect of her character imo, and i really respect this. 

[rayplaysotomes]

these next posts are about to get muuucch less consistent hdhfsdha i apologize in advance,,,,, 

its mostly just a couple posts about random routes and only two!!!!! of them are from the same game. trying to make my way through my backlog i promise. 

really wish i had made posts for the routes ive played in collar x malice bc. i am NOT going to remember all of that. def going to make posts for yanagi and shiraishis routes when i get around to playing them.

maybe once im through my backlog ill go through and replay routes i havent posted about so i can complete certain game reviews lmao. the impey post will get here eventually (<- i am insane about him and the post will be longer than the bible) but god help me. when i get to the okazaki post. no one will be safe. i love him more than life itself i am incapable of being normal about him. 

[rayplaysotomes]

and finally, the lupin post. as usual, this is reformatted from my picsart otome route posts that i make whenever i finish a route. 

spoiler warning for lupin’s route in code: realize guardian of rebirth under the cut!

first of all, not a lot of otome games (at least ones ive played) leave one route to be the final and wont even let you unlock it until youve completed the others but with that being said. i think lupins route is absolutely worth it and definetely fitting as the final route. its very rewarding, especially in how it wraps up the story iin  satisfying manner, while still leaving you curious and wanting to play more. 

also. lupin is such a charismatic character with so much personality and charm. hes very entertaining to watch. i do wish we had gotten a little more on his backstory or something to give him just a biiiittt more depth other than one monologue but regardless, hes still a very likeable character overall. 

one of the things i noticed right off the bat (and something i almost always mention in these posts) was the romantic aspects. phenomenal. him and cardia just have so much chemistry and it works so well. that whole scene with cardia confiding in him about how she was a monster and he assured her that she was huma. and then they said they loved each other. dude. or on the airship when he kisses her hat??????? they just work so well together.

i also loved how his route like? combines certain aspects and endings from other routes. like we get to see the antagonists from other routes and each character dealing with them on the nautilus. very fitting for the final route. 

also throughout this whole route, i really liked impey and victors dynamic. like i had first sorta noticed it in ch 8 right before the route starts when they go off talking together about science and engineering, then later in lupins route they seem to have gotten closer and often fight together during battles, for example, the fight with nemo on the nautilus. idk. i just really enjoy their dynamic. 

also finis. good lord. there was. so much interesting information about him in this route. you can sorta pick up on this from other routes, but in this one you really start to see just how bad his inferiority complex is. and its extremely well written imo. like hes done so much for his father, yet isaac still likes cardia more, and obviously thats hard for him to understand. so he takes it out on cardia as if its her fault. and he does whatever hes told in hopes that when isaac’s plan is finally put into action, his father will love him. i also really like the way they build up and leave hints towards him being immortal in the other routes (esp vans), but you dont really understand how it works until this route when he finally explains it and its just. literally terrifying. like that scene is INSANE.

i also really liked the monologue talking about isaac, his wife, and cardia and finis as kids. its just. very interesting. 

and quick bonus from the picsart post i made when i had finished everything including extra scenarios since i had saved them for the end:

just fully finished guardian of rebirth including extra scenarios and i will never emotionally recover from this. this game is seriously. so beautiful. like theres no other word to describe it. its just so beautiful through and through. like. there has only been one other otome game that ive been so thoroughly invested in. its taken me a long time to finish it purely because ive grown so extremely attatched to these characters. (so long infact, that theres no impey route post because i played his before i even started to do these posts) i am. beyond excited to play future blessings and wintertide miracles. 

this is so cringefail but. i simply love this game and these characters and this story. also, floatable is. absolutely one of the best otome ops imo. iconic. and code realize has got to have one of my favourite ensembles out of any media imo. like lupin gang is up there with the rfa. their dynamic is just so perfect. these characters are so complex and beautifully written and just so so entertaining to watch. this game is so perfect. 

[rayplaysotomes]

Very slowly getting through all my otome posts from picsart!! Anyways! Van Helsing route post lets go!!

As usual, spoiler warning for van helsing’s route in code: realize guardian of rebirth under the cut!

honestly, going into it i didnt think i would enjoy his route that much just because i wasnt that drawn to him as a character?? idk theres nothing wrong with him i just didnt like him as much as i liked the other LIs so i thought id be kinda bored during his route. i was very pleasantly surprised though! it was. an emotional rollercoaster near the end for sure but, yknow. 

alright right off the bat i was absolutely living for the lore and story surrounding the vampire war. like i was already super interested in it based off of things from impeys route and the common route so his was super nice. also like?? delly. holy shit. he went through so much character development. like around the end when he realized he didnt want to kill van and just wanted peace??? omg. 

i also?? really liked finis’s whole deal in this route. like tbh i feel like i had even more questions about him as a character than i did before i played vans route (most of which were answered in lupin’s route, as i was hoping they would be) but thats a good thing for a writer to do in certain cases imo. like im intrigued! i want to learn more about this character! also super interesting how up until after finis dies, we believe he was the one to kill van helsings family. which i think just adds more to aleisters manipulation and how far it went. 

i feel like this post is a lot less in-depth than my other c:r posts (and other otome game posts from my picsart) and i really do not know why. anyways. working on the lupin post! it should be up shortly after this one.

[rayplaysotomes]

I think the things Pie says about Gondwana and the 'Tokyo Gondwana Renaissance' can give us a good idea of how long ago the alien race formed, and when they started to leave earth, as well as a vague idea of where their society lived on earth.

I've heard people speculate that they were around during the time when Pangea was present, however, due to Pies lines about the 'Tokyo Gondwana Renaissance', I'd thought for a while it was possible that they were around a little while after that. Specifically, around 150 million years ago, during the break of Pangea. When the supercontinent, Gondwana, began to drift from Laurasia.

And judging by the frame shown early in episode 22 when Pie is speaking about their plans, I believe this theory is correct.

And thinking about the way he phrases this as 'he will restore the continents to as they were when our ancestors called this planet their own' leads me to believe that they left the planet around 100 million years ago, when Gondwana and Laurasia began to split up to form the continents we know today.

Madeline and Chiffon probably lived at around this time, and the aliens were forced to evacuate.

When tectonic plates shift, it can cause violent earthquakes and volcano explosions. Much like what we see in Lettuce's visions from season 1

It was probably very dangerous to live on earth as Gondwana and Laurasia began to split, causing the aliens to split up into groups and leave, as we see in episode 16 with Lettuce, Madeline, and Chiffon.

Credits to Encyclopædia Britannica for the diagrams of the landmasses!

[rayplaysotomes]

Hello! I have a lot of fun researching flower language and thought I'd do an analysis on the flower symbolism throughout the game Mystic Messenger since it's one of my favourite games and I havent seen anyone else point these out.

  All throughout Another Story, V talks about daffodils at various moments. For example, theres one part where he talks about daffodils that bloomed in his garden that looked withered. He said that he thought the smaller flowers beside them might be taking energy from the daffodils which is why they looked so withered. He knew if he didnt do something about it, his whole garden would be ruined, but he couldnt decide whether he should just get rid of the daffodils or not, because it seemed unfair. Then after he left Jumin said the daffodils were already dead and V either genuinely didnt know or he was in denial. Even in the opening song for his route the lyrics talk about daffodils: https://youtu.be/e_bTKNImcGM

  Since daffodils are the first to bloom in the spring, they're symbols of rebirth and hope. They signify new life and resilience, which seems to tie in a lot with Rika's goals and visions for Mint Eye's future. She talks a lot about how she wants to make a paradise for people who weren't able to fit in or survive in the outside world, to get stronger.

  What I found even more interesting, was that in the context of a relationship, daffodils signify unrequited or broken love and are to be given to someone as a form of condolence or a farewell to someone you once loved. What I found interesting about that was how often Rika talked about how unconditional love wasn't the correct way in her eyes, and that you should love someone conditionally so that they can grow stronger.  This is often shown with how she'd try to cleanse Saeran with elixir if he started doubting Mint Eye or did something she didnt like, but then when the drugs kicked in she'd shower him with praise. This also ties in with how Rika had talked about V showing her the wrong love. She says he doesn't know how to love her correctly, which was part of her motivation with Mint Eye, and how she wanted to bring the RFA to Mint Eye to make them stronger and show them the right path. 

  As for blue roses, which are very prevalent in Saeran's route, they symbolize hope or attaining the impossible, along with beauty.

I feel like this could've had something to do with the fact that Ray often talked about wanting something better but didnt feel like he deserved it. For example, when MC mentions wanting to leave Mint Eye with him because of how terribly hes being treated there. He genuinely believed that Rika was doing what was best and didnt want to betray her. Even if she was manipulating him, from his perspective it seemed like she was showing him love and helping him grow stronger, unlike how he had been treated during his childhood by his mother, and how he thinks Saeyoung abandoned him to escape from their mother.

  This part I'm a little bit uncertain about just because it doesnt match quite as well and doesnt have as much significance as the blue roses, much less the daffodils. However, I still had fun researching this and thinking of possible connections so I thought I'd include it anyways. As a little bonus, theres those wilting flowers that Rika showed MC, that she said Ray gave to her before he died - that meaning before he became saeran - the type of flower they are was never actually stated so this is just going off how they look, but I believe they're red geraniums.

  Red geraniums symbolize happiness, good health, good wishes, and friendship, and are used to ward off illness. However in the victorian era, they symbolized foolishness or stupidity. Judging based on chatrooms and conversations with Ray, he definetely puts a lot of thought into what flowers he gives someone and doesnt base it purely off of how they look. For example, he said in a phone call that anemone flowers were beautiful but didnt want to give them to MC because the meaning was sad. I believe he could've given these to her knowing both meanings.

  The first few meanings could've been about how he wanted to trust her and how she showed him love he hadn't experienced before. Because of the way that Rika worded it, I'm led to believe this was fairly close to when Rika cleansed him and Saeran took over. Meaning Ray wouldve started doubting Rika a bit more and realizing she was manipulating him, so I feel like the foolishness or stupidity could've had to do with that. It was possibly either him calling her stupid, or calling himself stupid because he wants to trust her but doesnt.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my little rant!  It's very possible that I'm overthinking it but I enjoy learning about flowers and their meanings so this was a lot of fun for me to write.

[rayplaysotomes]

Some quick notes + opinions on Victor's route in code realize!! Once again taken from my picsart. Huuuge spoiler warning under the cut!!

Right off the bat I noticed that there were a lot of really charming moments leaning into the romance aspect rather than focusing 100% on the plot, which was nice. Like for example, when he needed to check up on the horologium and they were both all embarrassed and blaming each other for it. screaming and crying rn.

I also really really loved how much they could relate to each other - like with how cardia felt guilty over killing elaine, and how victor felt guilty because he created zicterium, resulting in many peoples deaths. idk i loved this aspect.

Also like???? the victoria character development was actually amazing. Like before this, in most of the other routes, shes mostly pretty mysterious but then you get to learn about her past, and her present motives and plans and its all just so. interesting. very well written imo. And when she tried to kill leonhardt and then broke down when he was carrying her out???? or how she was showing actual, raw emotions when her plan was failing, instead of being all composed like she normally is. literally perfect idc. Like it's such a stark contrast with how shes normally so calm and composed and it just??? Works really well.

Also the reveal that she was behind everything and blaming victor for the attacks was absolute peak writing. like shes definitely one of my favourite otoge antagonists after this.

ANYWAYS!!!! when everyones going to die and victor puts his hands on cardias cheeks and leans his forehead against hers. that was so everything to me. ALSO!! the whole thing with how he created the poison that was used in her body and how he feels all guilty about it????? sobbing

Anyways I generally just?? Really liked this route. I feel like the characters were all written really well, and the plot aspects were well balanced out with the romance.

[rayplaysotomes]

Real quick general thoughts on saint germains route in code realize. Trying my best to make this coherent its stolen from an old post on my picsart 👍

Spoilers under the cut!!!

Anyways uhhh the whole thing with how he loved cardia but omnibus was going to make him kill her and he was all angsty abt it. And how he felt like super guilty because the one other time he failed at a mission from omnibus millions of people died. But it was literally cause he didnt want to kill this one kid. This is literally everything to me idcidc.

ALSO!!! when he puts cardias bare hand on his face. I'm crying. Or cardia being like???? 100% okay with dying as long as he got to live. Screaming crying. And then he stopped her from dying???? And she realized that he wouldnt be happy without her and all she wants is his happiness?!?!?!?! This is peak writing I'm not sorry.

Or when he legit said "If you aren't alive then neither am i" and "if your life isnt worth anything then neither is mine" !?!?!? IM CRYING!!!!!

Also. During the ending when he kisses her and he gets all smug cause hes the only one who can actually touch her without her poison effecting him. !!

I love. This silly old man. So dearly.

[rayplaysotomes]

Hello! I have alot of fun researching flower language and thought I'd do an analysis on the flower symbolism throughout mystic messenger since I havent seen anyone else point these out.

(Spoilers for v and saerans routes!)

Since daffodils are the first to bloom in the spring, they're symbols of rebirth and hope, they signify new life and resilience, which seems to tie in a lot with rikas goals and visions for mint eyes future.

So all throughout another story v talks about daffodils at various moments, like theres one part where he talks about daffodils that bloomed in his garden that looked withered. He said that he thought the smaller flowers beside them might be taking energy from the daffodils which is why they looked so withered, and he knew if he didnt do something his whole garden would be ruined but he couldnt decide whether he should just get rid of the daffodils or whatever because it seemed unfair. Then after he left jumin said the daffodils were already dead and v either genuinely didnt know or he was in denial. Like even in the opening song for his route the lyrics talk about daffodils 

She talks a lot about how she wants to make a paradise for people who weren't able to fit in or survive in the outside world, to get stronger.

What I found even more interesting, was that in the context of a relationship, daffodils signify unrequited or broken love and are to be given to someone as a form of condolence or a farewell to someone you once loved. What I found interesting about that was how often rika talked about how unconditional love wasn't the correct way in her eyes, and that you should love someone conditionally so that they can grow stronger (this is often showed with how shed try to cleanse saeran with elixir if he started doubting mint eye or did something she didnt like, but then when the drugs kicked in shed shower him with praise) and how she had talked about v showing her the wrong love or not knowing how to love her correctly which was part of her motivation with mint eye and how she wanted to bring the rfa to mint eye to make them stronger and show them the right path. 

As for blue roses, they symbolize hope or attaining the impossible, along with beauty. I feel like this could've had something to do with the fact that ray often talked about wanting something better but didnt feel like he deserved it, like for example, when mc mentions wanting to leave mint eye with him because of how terribly hes being treated there. He genuinely believed that rika was doing what was best and didnt want to betray her because even if she was manipulating him, from his perspective it seemed like she was showing him love and helping him grow stronger unlike how he had been treated earlier in life.

This one I'm a little iffy about just because it doesnt match quite as well and doesnt have asmuch ssignificance as the blue roses, much less the daffodils. However, I still had fun researching this and thinking of possible connections so I thought I'd include it anyways.

As a little bonus, theres those wilting flowers rika showed mc that she said ray gave to her before he died (that meaning before he became saeran), the type of flower they are was never actually stated so this is just going off how they look, but I believe they're red geraniums. Red geraniums symbolize happiness, good health, good wishes, and friendship, and are used to ward off illness. However in the victorian era, they symbolized foolishness or stupidity. Judging based on chatrooms and conversations with ray, he definetely puts alot of thought into what flowers he gives someone and doesnt base it purely off of how they look (for example when he said in a phone call that anemone flowers were beautiful but didnt want to give them to mc because the meaning was sad) and I believe he could've given these to her knowing both meanings. The first little bit could've been about how he wanted to trust her and how she showed him love he hadn't experienced before. Because of the way rika worded it, I'm led to believe this was fairly close to when rika cleansed him and saeran took over. Meaning ray wouldve started doubting rika a bit more and realizing she was manipulating him, so I feel like the foolishness or stupidity could've had to do with that, either him calling her stupid or calling himself stupid because he wants to trust her but doesnt.

Idk hope you enjoyed my little rant lol it's very very possible that I'm overthinking it but I enjoy learning about flowers and their meanings so this was alot of fun for me to write.

[rayplaysotomes]

Hello!! My name is Ray, but I also go by Kai and Ciel. I use he/they pronouns. I made this blog to use for me to ramble about otome games I like. My main blog is @kaihasnobones and my art blog is @kaihsnobns

Normally I'd post about them on my picsart (@/raybonez) but I've been doing that A LOT recently and I feel like it's gotten kinda annoying for my followers who arent familiar with otome games, so I decided to move a fair amount of my posts to here.

I also find tumblr easier to use as an archive than picsart, and with the tagging system, it's pretty easy to find specific posts of mine, which is nice.

Anyways yeah that's about it! I'll probably start out by formatting some of my older picsart posts into quick posts for this blog so for the next couple of days I'll have quite a bit to post.

As with my main blog, posts where I'm actually talking will be tagged as #rambles!! I'll make some more serious posts along with ones where I'm just sorta being silly and ranting about characters and stories I like