#Especially with their relationships to the player characters in their respective games.

[spycemel]

I gave you Moth Gabriel, now I shall give you Angel Radiance. (Probably gonna mess around with the design a bit more if I end up drawing her again :P)

I think a spear would fit better than the sword I gave her (Translating nails to swords is much more difficult the other way around, who would’ve guessed.)

Though it doesn’t particularly matter since I imagine her primarily using beams (like the ones the Virtues and Flesh Prisons use) and summoned light weapons (like what Gabriel uses during his first fight).

[hyomaslut]

──★ ˙🌟 ̟ !! gold star redemption program. 18+!

☆⌒(ゝ。∂).ᐟ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ʙʟᴜᴇ ʟᴏᴄᴋ's ғᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴀɢᴇʀ

✿ ─ synopsis: you are the new manager for team blue lock and you have a great idea to make the players get along better. after all, positive reinforcement worked really well on dogs, why not men? ✿ ─ characters: isagi yoichi, bachira meguru, shidou ryusei, itoshi rin, chigiri hyoma + kunigami rensuke referenced ✿ ─ cw: smut, fem!reader, she/her pronouns used, aged-up!characters(18+), pet names, kissing, penetrative sex, oral receiving/giving, semi-public sex, unprotected sex, hair pulling, overstimulation, rough sex, deepthroating/face-fucking, non-exclusive relationships, lots of jealousy, pda, use of foul language, suggestive themes, shidou is an asshole, rin threatens murder, somewhat proofread ✿ ─ notes: okay so every is going to ignore the logistics and mental gymnastics done to put all these guys on the same team and have any of this go on, right? cool. this work was requested by @anastasiablossomlove pls enjoy!

managing team blue lock was no task for a person of average conviction. anyone with less of a spine would be easily trampled and consumed by the members, all with big personalities and even bigger egos. you took to the role with exceptional organizational skills and a positive attitude that didn’t falter, even under the cold glares of the less compliant men of the team (cough cough itoshi rin cough cough barou shouei). before the end of your first week you had drafted up detailed and individualized meal plans, unique to each of them. by the second you had worked with the coach to create special training regimes that works towards their fitness goals while providing challenge and variety. right under their noses you dug your pretty fingers into every part of team blue lock, finding every issue and soothing every conflict, turning a group of somewhat wild animals into a well functioning machine with you at its core.

and not a detail slipped your eye. you could always tell when kunigami had pushed himself too hard in the gym by the stiffness in his shoulders. honestly you doubt you would’ve been able to convince him to let you help him if he wasn’t just as sore as you predicted. but the minute your palms were pressing into his back he was groaning in relief, “you’re an angel” grumbled under his breath. he’s a bit less embarrassed the next time around, blushing while asking you to fix him like you did last time.

you quickly took responsibility for doing chigiri’s hair before every practice and game. after seeing it fall out of its style and flap wildly in his face whenever he reached top speed on the field, you decided he needed something a little more reliable to keep it out the way so his eyes could stay on the ball. though when his hair was this soft, who could blame you for taking a bit longer than necessary, brushing through the knots and gently scratching at his scalp. plus, he didn’t seem to mind all that much, always red faced and all smiles, leaning into your touch. the thank you kiss he plants on your cheek lingers long enough to leave a matching blush on your face as a token of his appreciation.

being the backbone of their system earned you respect, acknowledgement, even affection from the overly friendly members of the team (cough cough bachira meguru cough cough shidou ryusei). no one could deny the benefits of having you around, always offering all kinds of helpful advice and showed not a shred of judgment when listening to their problems. and you weren’t exactly ignorant to the fact that your constant support was causing some of your new friends to become especially attached to you. maybe to someone else it would be a bigger concern, but in your eyes, this was only another opportunity to do more for your team.

that’s why you implemented the gold star redemption program to help motivate them. it was quite simple to follow, you had a chart with all of their names along with cute, slightly wonky doodles of them, and a list of ways to earn gold stars. from goals and assists to being on good behavior, whatever way they earn their stars, team members can then cash them in for certain prizes from you. the list had looked something like this…

2 ☆ = snack or drink of your choice 4 ☆ = a home cooked meal 5 ☆ = a kiss <3 7 ☆ = a massage <33 10 ☆ = private training session <333

the objective was to give incentives towards cooperation. not to mention, it’s always good to strengthen bonds with your team members. it seems, however, that you underestimated how much of your time this new system would take up. or maybe you just overestimated how easy it would be to keep up with the greedy desires of so many egoists at once.

ever since your arrival, anyone with eyes could see that isagi yoichi carried a torch for you. you let him talk your ear off for hours about tactics and players, never tired of his company or too busy for his rambles. it gets his heart thumping obnoxiously loud in his chest. so yoichi makes it his objective to dote on you as much as possible to try to make up for all the time you spend fussing over everybody else. always staying after practice to help you or walking you home. so when you start handing out stars for that kind of stuff, isagi is already making a steady income. he considers himself a gentleman, so at first he spends his stars on meals. and he’s more than happy to eat your cooking, stirring up all kinds of wifey fantasies in his head and enjoying his lunches with you. but at night, when he’s lying in bed, the big ticket item at the bottom of the prize board haunts him. and when he can’t take it anymore, he slips into your tiny little office that you share with the coach, a self-satisfied smile on his face when he lets you know that he just finished the stat sheets you asked him to fill out, earning him his tenth gold star. enough for one private training session.

in all the times you thought about sex with isagi, you’re not sure you ever pictured it to be like this. bent over your own desk, tennis skirt bunched up around your waist, your star player too eager to sink into your pussy to even push down your underwear. they stayed tugged to the side, thoroughly soaked from the way his hips meet yours in sloppy desperate thrusts. “i knew i needed to fuck you when i saw this skirt,” he confesses, eyes fixed to the point where you connect, mesmerized by the way his cock disappears inside you, “you’ve been tempting me all day, so be a good girl and take my cock, okay?” before you can respond he hooks a finger into the elastic of your panties to let it snap back against your skin, drawing a small yelp from you. he changs the angle to fuck you harder, deeper. you wonder if this could be the same sweet yoichi that carries your things and bashfully tells you your outfit looks good.

apparently that yoichi doesn’t exist once he’s balls deep inside you, all that’s left is the side of him you’ve only caught glimpses of when he’s dominating his opponents on the field. and if you thought that it was a chance encounter, you’re sorely mistaken as week after week isagi makes sure he earns his ten stars and you get to know just how mean he can be. his grip is always tight around your hair, whether it’s pulling and steering you into the position he wants or guiding your head down to take more of his dick. god forbid he asks you nicely for something like he always does when you’re not ‘training’. one time you even had the gall to suggest the idea to him and lived to regret it as now if you want anything from him, isagi is only accepting the most convincing of your begs. “c'mon princess, mind your manners, if you wanna cum then you’re gonna have to ask really nicely.” and no teary eyed puppy dog look will get you what you want, even when he makes getting your words out so difficult. truthfully, he never intends to be so hard on you, but having you crying and begging for his cock is the only way to soothe the devil on his shoulder that tries to tell him to take you for himself. in the aftermath, you start to recognize your yoichi again, sheepish in his apologies for how rough he was with you, kissing away the tears that run down your face. he’s lucky you’re too fucked out to charge him for them.

there’s not a world where you offer bachira meguru sexual favors in exchange for playing soccer and he says no. he was already gonna do that anyway, and now not only does he get to make even more of a game out of it, but his reward for winning is the cute little manager he’s had his eyes on for far too long? consider him sold. bachira knows it would be most fun for him to save up and have sex with you as soon as possible, but all of a sudden he has five and he’s itching for a kiss. one he decides to give you right before practice starts… in front of the whole team. but can you blame him? he’s already been waiting forever to feel those pretty glossed lips on his, you couldn’t really expect him to make it through the next few hours when he’s so close to getting what he wants. and you could maybe understand that, but was it really necessary to go for a full open-mouthed wet almost make out that left you panting when everyone’s eyes were already on you? you suspect not, but bachira doubles down, telling you it was of upmost importance that he got it in, else he wouldn’t be able to focus. he neglects to tell you that he overheard reo in the locker room talking about what he was gonna do now that he had five stars. shidou already made it very clear that he would be first to ten, so bachira had to be crafty in order to secure at least one first from you.

meguru was certainly one of the more needy players, right under nagi that required some form of encouragement every step of the way to get anything done. bachira usually does what you tell him to, but not without whining about deserving a prize for being good. quite frankly, you dread having to ask anything of him, because he is determined to be fully compensated for even the smallest of requests. even a task as easy as grabbing something on a high shelf was met with a cheeky smirk and a request for a kiss. and don’t think he’ll budge either, holding the item hostage if he thinks he can squeeze two out of you. it didn’t make it any easier that bachira didn’t possess a shy bone in his whole body, openly showering you in affection when the others were around, holding your hand and nuzzling his face into your collar. it was enough to make even a professional like you blush. he acted as if he was oblivious to the jealous stares of his friends, but the smug cat-like smirk he sends them and the way he only holds you tighter when you try to shyly brush him off gives him away. it may come as a surprise considering his reputation for being a bit delusional, but bachira tries to root himself in reality for once. he frequently reminds himself of the nature of your relationship and tries his best not let his imagination run wild with anything that would be beyond the boundaries you’ve clearly set. things like picturing himself taking you on dates, coming home to you at night, introducing you to his mom. they were all too dangerous to let his mind settle on them for too long.

and what better distraction than burying his face between your thighs. it’s hard to think of much when he hasn’t bothered to stop lapping at your cunt long enough to take a breath in a couple minutes. suffocating was the least of his concerns when the clench around his fingers lets him know your orgasm is just around the corner. meguru swears that your pathetic little whimpers and the slick dripping down his chin are like a straight hit of dopamine to his brain and he’s at real risk of addiction at this point. lidded amber eyes travel up to watch your expression twist into one of pleasure as you gasp out his name. now that catches his interest. when your vision clears and your brain is functioning again after that intense high, you search for his comfort as if you had done any of the hard work. but all you’re met with is that signature wild look that he gets when he brushing past the enemy team’s defense straight towards his goal. it’s your only warning that he’s far from tired and even farther from sated. “if i can keep going, so can you baby. i know you have more for me. jus’ need t’see you make that face one more time.” you have no room to protest, his tongue already finding your clit and working towards bringing you to the edge once again. by your fourth time cumming, you’re sobbing for a break and debating whether you should charge him four times over or give him a star for each one.

someone who was on board with your system from the second that you explained how it worked, was shidou ryusei. what better way to celebrate another one of his blood pumping, heart stopping performances than racing to the locker room to blow a load in his favorite girl while his teammates debrief with the coach? to him it was simple, you fuck him, you feed him, you take care of him, you spend time with him. shidou is, by all of his definitions, dating you. while some might be turned off by the idea of dating someone who isn’t offering exclusivity, he didn’t see it as much of an obstacle. not when he spent star stickers like a gambler on a slot machine, having you multiple times a week if the economy allowed it. and if he’s short a few, no worries, ryusei is quite the negotiator. it starts one week when he’s only missing a star or two, promising he’ll pay back the difference, you know he’s a good customer. it’s probably not a good idea to give in to him though, as the next time he wants a private training session, he’ll insist they’re only nine stars for him. he has made all kinds of fake coupons from 50% Off! to Buy One Get One Free! to even a homemade punch card in his own terrible handwriting. shidou was the first one to ever get a star taken away when he tried to give you an arby’s gift card in exchange for a blowjob. he didn’t try that tactic again.

the worst is when he tries to haggle in the middle of sex. your legs are thrown over his shoulders and his tip is kissing your cervix when he chooses to whine about not being able to kiss you because he has no stars left. he worked too hard to get good star credit, he can’t go into star debt!! “ and with his lips just hovering over yours, his hot breath fanning across your face, how could you say no? in a moment of weakness, you have unfortunately given an inch to shidou, infamous mile taker, and now it’s hard to get him to pay for any of his kisses, especially while he’s fucking you. you thank god that at the very least no one knows he’s been getting them for free… if only shidou would allow your life to be that easy. even worse than giving him an inch, you expected shidou to keep a secret. and you thought his big mouth was something you liked about him. until he’s using it to brag to everyone that he’s your favorite, practically your boyfriend, all because you let him get away with a smooch here and there. let’s just say you had to give out a lot of free kisses to smooth over the problem his bragging habits created.

honestly ryusei was starting to cause a lot of confusion outside of the team with his antics. what with his always hanging off your arm, giving you as much affection as you’d tolerate, calling you sweet nicknames. the people in your life were actually starting to believe you two were dating. not that shidou does anything to discourage such rumors, only grinning and agreeing every time someone mistakes you as a couple. hell, he was starting to get you confused, saying things during your training sessions that certainly didn’t fit the transactional nature of the act. “holy shit you’re so tight- love this pussy, l-love you so much. say my name. c’mon baby, say you love me and i’ll make you feel so fucking good.” and only because ryusei always makes good on his promises do you allow yourself another moment of weakness.

itoshi rin didn’t have much interest or faith in you upon first introduction. he sized you up as some nobody doing this whole manager thing as a fun extracurricular, so as long as you stayed out of his way he didn’t care what you did. with his luck, he shouldn’t be surprised that you were immediately in his way, extremely often, rambling to him about ideas and strategies that he had no intention on listening to. although even he could admit, he understood why the others were so easily charmed by you. he was wrong about how seriously you took your job. not that it changed anything. at least that’s what rin tells himself, but in reality your relentless efforts and endless dedication to supporting all of them was something that spoke to him, made him a bit soft for you. it didn’t help that you were his type in every sense of the word, your attractiveness doing nothing but make feigning indifference a lot harder for rin. your seemingly endless patience didn’t help either. you always responded in kind to all of rin’s harsh words and cold stares, never let his sour attitude deter your subtle acts of service like getting grass stains out of his uniform and making sure he stays unbothered during his yoga. against his will, he was slowly warming up to you, but you were still caught off guard when rin started cashing in his stars, even if it was just a meal. he had lots of them sitting idle on the chart waiting to be used, so you supposed it was only natural for him to get some free food out of it. but you were even more taken aback when a couple days later he requested a massage from you with insistence that he only asks because he’s been extremely tense as of late. which wasn’t entirely untrue. rin had been very tense. just not from anything soccer related like he’d like you to believe. he was tense from the stress of his budding feelings for you combined with the dread of knowing he probably will never have you all to himself. at least not with this stupid reward system in place.

he despises it. he absolutely hates going about his day knowing there are other guys, his shithead teammates, that are getting your time, attention, and affection for the price of a couple of stupid fucking stickers. he misses the days when shidou’s incessant bragging about how many times he was able to make you cum or bachira’s unnecessary details of what your pussy tastes like didn’t bother him. now his blood boils to hear them talk about you like that. that kind of anger makes it clear to him that being your friend was simply not an option anymore. which is how he settled on getting a massage from you. he would satisfy this overwhelming craving he has for you and go back to normal and be able to focus solely on becoming best in the world again without thoughts of you plaguing his mind. that was his hope going into it, but feeling your warm touch on his bare back, melting away years of untreated knots and neglected aches in his body, he could almost blush at the intimacy he feels. especially when that foreign kindness he loves so much is on display as you reassure him that there’s nothing to be embarrassed about and that you’re proud he finally put his pride aside long enough to let you help him. you’ve got him, hook, line, and sinker now. no use in struggling so hard, he supposes, as some part of him knows he’s doomed to fall sooner or later. perhaps it’s time to surrender. he fought a good fight, but his greed for you was candidly too tough of an opponent.

and to rin, surrender looked like asking you when’s the soonest he could book a private training session. you don’t think you could look any more shocked. rin had a quick turn around from someone you doubted even liked you, to someone reserving as much of your time as his stars could buy. the more often he was with you, the less time you spent giving those lukewarm brats the treatment he wants reserved for him. and he wishes he gave in a lot sooner when he feels the wet heat of your mouth around his cock for the first time. how fast he would’ve folded if he knew how pretty you would look on your knees for him. rin tried to be gentle and let you set the pace, but between hissing out curses and barely biting back moans, that same greed to get more from you has his hand twisting itself in your hair and pushing down on the back of your head. he couldn’t help it. and it was so worth it to watch you choke and sputter around his length but never pull away. he knew you weren’t a quitter. “shit, feels good… don’t stop,” he all but gasps, hips instinctively jumping to reach further down your throat, grip tightening when you try to come up for air. after a long moment of breathing through your nose you relax enough to let him ease himself the rest of the way in. rin sighs in relief when your nose finally presses against his pelvis. the way you look up at him starry-eyed and full of adoration made his chest feel heavy with desire to be the only one you ever look at. it drives him crazy that any guy on the team can see you like this, and that heartache has rin fucking your face to forget it. “fuckkk. don’t look away, eyes on me, g’nna cum in that pretty mouth.”

you couldn’t deny that your new attempt at encouraging the team had its kinks. while overall the amount of arguments that broke out between players lessened to keep on good star-earning behavior, you could tell that it came with its own set of tension creating problems. you also couldn’t deny that being pulled in every direction by men vying for your attention was both very time consuming and extremely gratifying, but you think you manage it well. save for when they were already pumped up with adrenaline from a game, that is when real issues arise. especially when a player from the enemy team thinks it’s a good idea to try and hit on the cute little lady holding the clipboard. fatal mistake.

it starts with your favorite pot stirrer, bachira, calling out from his position, making everyone else on the team aware of the situation. “no shot dude, she don’t want you! focus on losing!” you’re confident you can diffuse whatever is about to go down before you notice rin leaving the ball alone in centerfield to beeline straight towards you. threats are flying from his lips on approach, quick to get in the guy’s face, planting his hands on his shoulders to shove him back. “what the fuck do you think you’re doing? i’ll kill you if you don’t get the fuck away from her.” you think maybe you have a shot of getting rin under control if you just- your eyes widen in horror as a flash moves in from your peripheral. there are no words, just shidou drop kicking this poor stranger at top speed. you cringe as you watch shidou knocks this guy off his feet, cleats first, taking rin down with him. what a way to earn a red card.

this was a fun project and request tysm!!! i just went about it in the interpretation i found most interesting, i really hope it was to your liking!!!

© 2023 hyomaslut. please do not copy, translate, or repost any of my content onto any other sites.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Always a bit puzzled by people saying that anyone who wanted long-term consequences for TotK Zelda's sacrifice are "edgy".

I'm not even particularly in the camp that she should have remained a dragon forever (I think this should have been Ganondorf's fate, it would have been sooo much more impactful than to explode him and move on but anyway). To be honest, I wish the rules for turning back would have been 1) clear 2) active gameplay on the player so that it feels like it's something we have earned, and 3) not make her have amnesia about it and/or at least having her gain some crucial insight because of the experience.

(also: doesn't she crave knowledge? isn't that insanely mean to have her watch over every civilization and every bit of history ever and then take it away from her? kind of dislike how totk privileges the comfort of the player's feelings over what the characters would actually want or need tbh)

To be perfectly honest, I fully expected us needing to turn her back before engaging Ganondorf so we would fight him together, especially since Zelda as a compagnon exists in the game code already (though in a very subdued state). It feels very very strange to me that all of this mechanic of Sages following us existing and yet we never have the very climactic cool Zelda-staple moment of facing Ganondorf or Ganon together (OoT, WW, TP, ST and probably more that I'm forgetting all did this in some way --even BotW had Zelda more involved than in TotK). I'm not sure Mineru was a compagnon that was needed over Zelda honestly, especially given the kind of non-insight she gives us on the zonai (even if the idea of the mecha is cool, it really could have been Zelda using her zonai + sheikah knowledge to pilot one for us or something).

But anyway: yeah, even if this isn't what I would have wanted personally, I think wanting Zelda to remain a dragon is kind of arguably more respectful of her relationship to Link, in a way, that what the game ended up doing. When she enacted this sacrifice, Zelda decided to trust him to such a extent that she lost herself, reciprocated his trust in her and his devotion to her, and now the future of Hyrule exists beyond her and beyond what Hyrule once was, but she trusts them to follow through and be happy and she will watch over them from the stars moving on. It's fine if we manage to save her from that fate, but even if we don't, honestly this sounds like a beautiful story/tragic romance to me, if you want to read it that way. Tragedy doesn't necesserily involve edginess. Fictional pain isn't always mean, or out to get you.

[a-town-called-hometown]

in regards to deltarune and character agency, i always assumed the darkners' agency being tied to the lightners' will was a direct parallel to the player character's agency (kris) being tied to the *player's* will (us), and that by making this the game's narrative (darkners are on a plane below lightners and are considered, in a way, less 'real', despite several having desires to break away from this hierarchy) the game is trying to call into question our relationship with the game itself, with the world itself. if the relationship between lightners and darkners feels unfair, then our relationship to kris should be in question as well. characters all have roles to play, but isn't that strange? why the prophecy, why the repetition, why do we, ultimately, have so much control? what gives us the right? it's all layers. us, lightners, darkners, imagine your whole world living and dying at the hands of gods that, out of boredom, could easily abandon you one day, or even destroy you? gods you were made to love and serve, and around you everyone says without them you can never be whole. who wouldn't want to rebel? i think if you're an advocate for kris's agency, you have to advocate for the darkners' agency. for ralsei's agency outside of kris or the prophecy or anything he's meant to do. i think kris and ralsei are narrative foils in this regard, one who blindly accepts his fate, and the other who tries to escape it, a character who does whatever he's told and a character who forcefully slips from our grasp. it just feels like set up to me for a lot more than 'escapism.' i'd say the main themes here are fate, agency, choice and control. even the mystery voice at the start of the game has their plans messed with by the other voice choosing to discard our vessel. every character is grasping at something they can't have, even ralsei can't have his narrative go the way he's planned because susie keeps surprising him lol

yes that's true!!! i would also argue that 'identity' is packaged in with these themes - deltarune is written in such a way where characters are not just grappling with fates and choices outside of their control, but also grappling with roles that they seemingly cannot escape.

the darkners are fantastical & metafictional version of this idea, given that they are both objects who need to be useful in order to not be abandoned and also npcs who serve an rpg-genre narrative function. ralsei especially fulfills several rpg archetypes as the friendly healer companion and as the guide npc. every major darkner has some kind of conflict involving the role they were made to play, whether it's lancer as "the bad guy" or spamton as "the spam email." even queen, who is extremely enthusiastic about her role, runs into issues because she is so zealous that she does not grasp what the lightners might actually want and need.

susie and noelle fulfill a more realistic version of this: the labels of bully and nice girl respectively are roles that neither of them exactly chose, but through a mix of environmental & psychosocial factors and a dose of self-fulfilling prophecy, neither of them know how to escape. berdly, while mostly comedic, is also a character who deals a lot with his real-world designation of "smart guy." susie breaks loose somewhat of her role in ch1, and we see noelle start to follow suit by the end of ch2. given that their existence isn't directly tied to their roles the way the darkners' are, it makes sense that they'd start to question and challenge these first.

kris, as befitting of their protagonist role, fulfills both versions of the idea. their role in the light world is an outcast who lives in their brother's shadow, and in the dark world, they're viewed as a prophesized hero. but they don't have full agency in either of these identities at all. they're being controlled by us, and the perceptions of them as an outcast and hero respectively are imposed onto them by other people.

meanwhile, almost all the other lightner npcs are different versions of characters we met in undertale. i would argue that this is another form of imposed identity, albeit one they aren't aware of. WE view them as their identities from undertale. I highly suspect that this will be something played with a lot more as future chapters go on.

the themes of choice & control all interlock with this idea of imposed identity. in a world where nobody can choose who they are, is it possible for people to eventually break out of what they are assumed to be...?

it's a game made to make us heavily question both a lot of rpg conventions and especially how we view characters in games. I'm very excited to see how the game will continue to play with its ideas of agency. it's such a brilliant idea to tell a story about fate by explicitly tying it to the way characters and worlds are written in games, and also by tying it to audience perceptions related to toby fox's last game. it's going to be so interesting to see how the characters deconstruct all those expectations!

[luhvey-duhvey]

I need to speak on this because it’s happened far too many times and seems to be a recurring pattern with Fusebox.

It’s really shameful and disheartening to see how often Fusebox puts black women characters into couples with people that don’t actually like them, and proceeds to villainize them in the eyes of MC/other characters in the game.

We’ve seen it in S2 with Hope being loyal to Noah then getting disrespected by him when he confessed to MC in the end.

We’ve seen it with Grace in S6, sticking with Ozzy although he’s disrespected her and clearly wasted her time by staying with her when he was pining for MC all along. And even when he does tell her he’s not interested anymore, she does everything in her power to “win him over” instead of allowing her to rightfully look elsewhere for love.

And if you’re going the Jin route in S8, it happens with Luna. Jin doesn’t want her but he sticks around to spare her feelings. She embarrasses herself trying to win him over only to get booted off the show.

Next, they love to turn them into the “mean ones” by getting upset with MC/defending their relationship when romance (often initiated by the one they’re coupled up with) strikes.

Then they’re the enemy and everyone is waiting for them to be voted out of their game.

Yeah, sure, they’re just characters. It’s just a game. But it blows my mind, especially seeing this as a black player, that time and time again they’ve done this with the black women characters in the exact SAME way:

1. Couple with someone that’s not interested

2. argue/be a jerk to MC/refuse to take hints that their love interest doesn’t like them

3. do acrobatics to win said love interest over

4. get heartbroken, kicked off

If you’re going to put black women in your show, is it too much to ask them to be respected? To be deserving of a happy ending too? Reflect on how you’ve been representing black women, Fusebox.

Then do better.

[blues824]

Would it be possible to ask for the Housewardens from Twisted Wonderland having an s/o who's a lot like Kozume Kenma from Haikyuu? I didn't see Haikyuu in the fandoms you write for but I saw a request for Hinata Shoyo!Reader so I'm a little confused.

I don’t write for the Fandom Haikyuu!, but I will write about a reader/OC based on a character from that Fandom. This goes for any Fandom not on my Fandom list.

Gender neutral reader who is not Yuu, but is from Yuu’s world.

Riddle Rosehearts 

You were quiet and more reserved, much like the King of Hearts. He didn’t care for the video games that took your attention away from him, but there were worse hobbies (i.e. causing trouble with the ADeuce duo). As long as you showed respect for him and the rules, all is well.

When you told the first years that they didn’t need to show you any formalities as their upperclassman, your boyfriend nearly lost it. In his mind, the first years were of the lowest rank and needed to show their respect, especially if it was his significant other. As his ‘co-ruler’, you needed to be held in the highest regard.

He thought you were very shy at first, and it wasn’t until you played in the Spelldrove tournament where he saw your more competitive side. It threw him in for a loop, to say the least. You later admitted that you didn’t care at all for the sport even though you carried the team. You said that you wanted to win because of your friends, and the young Rosehearts boy thought it was admirable.

If you continued to play volleyball, Riddle would support you to the fullest degree. He would be at each and every practice and game, cheering the loudest. He would force the entire dorm to support you as well, and volleyball has now become a huge sport at NRC thanks to you.

Leona Kingscholar

He hated the fact that you played video games constantly, as it stole your attention all the time. He’s touch starved, don’t you know? Plus, you were his herbivore. He was losing to a freaking device. This jealousy came from a place of insecurity, because how could he compete with a game?

Leona doesn’t really care if you wish to skip formalities with the First Years. Hell, it might actually be a benefit to Savanaclaw, since they would be more comfortable with you. But, now that he thinks more about it, the more he dislikes the idea. Not only were you an unofficial member of royalty by being his significant other, but he doesn’t want you getting close to anyone besides himself.

The first time he saw your more competitive side was in-game. You were definitely fast and agile, and you definitely carried the entire freaking team. Savanaclaw still got 2nd, but y’all lost only by 1 point to Diasomnia. Leona wasn’t even mad about it, he was mad at how his team just relied on you to do everything.

If you decide to introduce volleyball to NRC, the young prince would support you both financially and practically. He might even take up the sport, as long as you were his teacher. He wouldn’t mind some ‘personal lessons’ either~. 

Azul Ashengrotto

He doesn’t care that you play video games until you are pretty far into your relationship with each other. He gets kind of clingy, especially after a rough day, and all he wants is your undivided attention and affection as a reward. How cruel you must be to deny him of a simple request such as this.

Azul doesn’t mind you ditching formalities with the First Years, as it’s very likely that you both have special nicknames for each other. It might be a bit weird for him to get used to at first, though. In addition to that, you are very close to the FY’s, adopting them as your ‘younger brothers’. 

In the Spelldrive tournament, you were on Octavinelle’s team, and you were a beast. Your beloved cecaelia was watching from the bleachers, and he noticed that  you were quick on your feet and good at making quick strategies on the field. One of the other players got a bloody nose because you shoved them face-first into the grass. Needless to say, you were the MVP.

When you voiced your desire to bring volleyball to NRC, he was worried about you getting hurt. However, he’s not going to stop you from playing. He will blackmail Crowley so that he establishes a volleyball club next year, and you start making plans for the next year. Azul helps you, and he becomes a sponsor for your beloved sport.

Kalim Al-Asim

He doesn’t know much about video games, but he’s definitely willing to learn about them! In addition to that, he’s the kind of guy who would get you the newest video game and keep track of when certain updates or sequels come out just so you don’t have to. He puts it all in his calendar that’s shared with you.

Kalim also doesn’t use any formalities with the First Years, so it would be hypocritical of him to judge you for doing the same thing. Any students going into Scarabia are put at ease because of you, and grow excited and eager because of your boyfriend.

You most definitely carried the dorm’s Spelldrive team, and it upset your lover because he was worried that either you or Jamil would get hurt. You did great, and he made sure to tell you that, but he knew that his dorm members would have to train harder so that they didn’t rely on you or his Vice Housewarden.

I think this man remembers small things about you, like how you mentioned that you liked to play volleyball. He had never heard of that sport, so he will ask you a bunch of questions about it. He even wants to learn, and that’s the start of your little club.

Vil Schoenheit

This man simply does not have the time for such frivolous things like video games. He has done some voice acting for some, though, to get some more experience with being a VA. Your obsession with video games is something he doesn’t understand, but he does feel a swell of pride in his chest whenever he hears a character that he voiced.

You not forcing formalities upon the First Years is a very foreign concept to him. He definitely makes them use the proper honorifics when addressing himself, as it is a sign of respect and superiority. However, if you don’t want that, he won’t make them use them for you. 

He had never gotten to experience your competitive side until the Spelldrive tournament. Vil was glad that you were playing for Pomefiore, considering you destroyed almost everyone. You placed the dorm in 3rd place behind Diasomnia and Savanaclaw. You later explained that you had no interest in the sport, and only tried because you loved him. You truly were a flatterer.

If you wanted to bring volleyball into Twisted Wonderland, your best bet is to get Vil into it as well. He has a shit-ton of followers on Magicam, and he will have you make instructional videos with him so that the sport gets tons of popularity. He enjoys it a lot, too.

Idia Shroud

A literal match made in Olympus. You both bond over gaming, and probably met each other online through a lobby. You both simp over the same characters, you main the same characters, you help each other out, and Idia just loves you so much because you understand him.

No one ever really sees him, but when they do they use the proper formalities that come with him being the Ignihyde Housewarden as well as an upperclassman. He might just wear a sign that says that they don’t have to, since the honorifics freak him out. You often have to be there to calm him down and explain to the younger students that you both can be called just by your first names.

The first time he got to see your really fierce side was when you were playing for Ignihyde in the Spelldrive tournament. You carried the team, but your strategy was pristine and your boyfriend definitely noticed. Mans was jotting down notes quicker than Usain Bolt can run.

If you tell him that you wanted to start playing volleyball again, he would build a court simulation that could allow you to get practice in. Then, it could be used to teach other students how to play. Idia tried it once, and found that he absolutely did not like it. The only good thing was how you played with his ponytail as you tried to comfort him.

Malleus Draconia

He does not understand video games at all, nor does he understand your obsession over them. He often finds it frustrating that he has to constantly compete against a device he knows nothing about for your attention. Finally, a worthy adversary.

Malleus wishes to have a close connection with the younger students, but his retainers refuse and say that it could disrupt his image as the Crowned Prince and Rightful Heir to the Throne of Briar Valley. He is often jealous when you tell the First Years that they can throw away the honorifics when talking to and about you. 

When he found out that you made it onto the Diasomnia Spelldrive team, he was angry. You could get hurt was all that was going through his mind. However, he was surprised at how fast you were and how quickly you were able to make decisions on the spot. You both ruled over the field, to say the least. Diasomnia won by a large margin.

The second that you tell him that you want to teach people to play volleyball, he is all in for it. Training for his dorm starts the next day, and he will use his power to make sure that Crowley supports your dream. He is a very quick learner, but he will make sure that he gets something wrong in his stance so that you could touch him in order to fix it.

[lucky-clover-gazette]

Obligatory Volo romantic/🥰 hc?

well if you INSIST (assuming the romance is with the player character here. also keeping these pretty positive and healthy, even though obviously there are plenty of uhhhh messier hcs to be made for this character specifically. i think tumblr will auto-shorten this post but please let me know if it doesn't and i'll add a cut)

in general, any iteration of volo wishes to demonstrate his devotion and usefulness to his partner through action. while he imagines a lot of grand gestures, it usually ends up being pretty mundane in practice. like getting things off tall shelves and tidying up a living space (he's a total neat freak). the exception is volo in a canon divergence where he actually becomes a god, in which case every gesture would be a grand gesture, and it probably gets out of hand

it's extremely important to him that togepi/togetic/togekiss loves his partner. he is genuinely so concerned about this, and fears what would happen if she didn't, despite togepi/tic/kiss being the literal embodiment of joy and love. this insecurity almost certainly stems from the fact that he still can't believe that togepi/tic/kiss loves him

he has read a lot of books and he loves to hear himself talk. also, he's been method acting for like five straight years and makes a living selling people things. the man has a way with words, take that as you will

he's a strict vegetarian (also doesn't eat eggs) for ethical reasons and knows how to cook extremely well to fit his dietary needs. one might expect him to be an "i'll eat a chicken because a chicken would eat me" kind of guy, but because humans have higher intelligence and the capacity for morality, volo holds them to higher standards than animals. therefore, it wouldn't be wrong for a chicken to eat him, but it would be wrong for him to eat a chicken. anyway this is a romantic headcanon because he really really loves to share his cooking, especially if it's a traditional recipe he found while researching history

he has a naturally pleasant singing voice and near-perfect pitch. the volo i write grew up on the mainland and came to hisui as a young adult, so i like to think that he grew up playing the piano and is very skilled, although out of practice. he occasionally hums or sings in front of his partner and it's very nice to hear

he knows how to sew and offers to help the player character make some modern clothing garments they miss from the future. also makes some clothing for them based on his own ideas, because he thinks they would look nice dressed up to his tastes :)

doesn't half-ass anything, especially not in terms of relationships. if he says it's casual, it's because his partner asked to keep it casual and he wants to respect their boundaries and honor their wishes, which is within itself something he does with intention and care

he is simultaneously very aware of the fact that he's beautiful in situations where it benefits him, and completely blindsided by his partner's unprompted acknowledgements of his beauty

loves going on hours-long walks with his partner and sharing/listening to enthusiastic diatribes about niche interests. bonus if the interest is totally unfamiliar to the other person. basically, ancient sinnoh video essays

he likes having regularly-occuring shared activities to look forward to. like, weekly game nights with his partner or taking their pokemon to battle at the training grounds as a team when they know some highly-skilled opponents are going to be there

likewise, he just really likes battling as a team. like if he and his partner run into the bandits in the wild, it's a genuine pleasure, because it means he gets to wield train his pokemon alongside someone on his level (also he likes being the hero sometimes, especially if he's upstaging arceus's chosen hero)

volo loves pda for several reasons: he's touch-starved, he's possessive, and he's a performer at heart

some fourth wall breakage, as a treat: he'd absolutely read romantic fanfiction about himself and leave multi-paragraph comments making corrections and highlighting lines he particularly appreciated

[blood-choke]

Oh my God wait I have more to say on that. If you need the full scene I'm quoting: https://youtu.be/63708PykTcg?si=Bws3wyRs_TkyxPaH prepare for a lot of yapping

Hear me out. It's the "I don't like to share." Val has made it v clear she doesn't like the thought of sharing mc with Hana and clear bc of her own fears and anxiety surrounding her relationship with mc who remembers nothing about their life together.

and the "what about antionette?" "It's different I don't have feelings for her." Hana feels like the antionette to val bc, and these are just my thoughts from reading, we can see that val does care for Hana to some degree but never to the degree that she does with mc. Or maybe she does and just hides it to keep from getting attached like she was with mc and keeping Hana safe from being another one of the councils victims 🤔

And lastly the "that's bc you TOOK my life" is really getting my brain going. Especially since we see mc begin to question whether or not she wanted this life. Like, the potential behind it is putting me through the wall rn

Anyways you don't have to respond to any of this I just wanted to yap and share these thoughts bc BOY does blood choke get me thinking

hehehe yes i do think Valentina can be quite similar to Lestat in some aspects, particularly with her relationship with mc.

and you're right, she does care about Hana... in her own fucked up way. she keeps her more at a distance than she ever did mc because of that loss, which she is still mourning (even now with the mc back. she's not the mc she remembers) and she just was never able to open herself up completely to Hana. Valentina has treated both Hana and the mc terribly in the past (and the mc, at least, treated her just as bad, too, while Hana more or less just took it silently). she does care about Hana, but with the mc-shaped hole in her chest, she isn't sure how to express it, and now that the mc is back, she feels conflicted about her feelings & wants to show her devotion solely to the mc. and obviously she will get jealous of Hana (or Clear) because unless the mc brings it up, she won't share. exactly because of her anxieties (the loss of memories and how that may lead to mc choosing someone else completely) and she's actually fearful that the mc may judge her or be angry herself about Valentina's relationship with Hana (the mc was a jealous person in her past life). obviously their relationship was never Perfect, but Valentina is definitely being crueler to Hana than she ever has been before, almost like she's "showing off" for the mc, and even trying to drive Hana away. (you can potentially call her out on this in the next chapter)

and because of this Hana is realizing that even though she took the abuse and was always there for Valentina, it doesn't matter; mc is back and that's all Valentina cares about. (even if it's not necessarily 100% true-- to Hana, all she feels is that she's being discarded). that's what prompts her confrontation/conversation with the mc in ch3.

going forward there's a chance for this to change, depending on how the mc approaches the two. even if you're not romancing Hana in the poly there are still opportunities to include her (or exclude her, if you want. you can explore that route, too) and with the mc back, Valentina can potentially open herself up more to Hana than she was able to before, platonically or romantically, with mc's urging.

honestly i feel that Hana was more directly inspired by aspects of Claudia's character than Valentina with Lestat (they just happen to be similarly obsessed with mc/Louis respectively). and while i don't necessarily like to say one choice is "bad" i will say being cruel to Hana does have consequences. but i'm still writing it because i want that to be an option to explore specifically with Hana's character, and i don't necessarily want it to feel like a punishment to the player, but this game isn't exactly a feel-good game, and i do plan to make it hurt. lol

and as for your last point... yes it IS interesting. we'll probably never know if the mc was really consenting at that time (can any human really consent when eternal life is beyond their scope of understanding?) and it just adds another fuzzy layer to the messy onion that is her relationship with Valentina.

[akimojo]

So many people hate on ff13 and I'm baffled every time there's mentions of terrible writing and awful characters. I see those complaints parroted very often, yet I genuinely cannot comprehend what goes behind those opinions. It's so frustrating. I mean, everyone says the same thing; I can't help but think that maybe I'm the one that's missing something, that maybe the writing is indeed not good or that the characters aren't great either. I genuinely find the story really well crafted, especially when taking into account the depth that the datalogs hold, and the character arcs and relationships that are devoloped throughout the game are personally some of the best I've seen in gaming. I don't mind if ff13 isn't most people's cup of tea, that's fine. I just wish I could find someone that at the very least could explain their point of view in a respectful way instead of just calling the game trash.

I know right 😭 it's one thing if someone were to dislike the characters/story for how they're actually written, but the vast majority of people who I've seen complain are so insanely off the mark that it makes me wonder if they're deliberately missing the point just to have something to bitch about

Like it genuinely irks me just how much ff13 is shat on TO THIS DAY when so many of the complaints are just plain wrong to anyone who actually payed attention to the game!!! Again, personal opinion is fine and all, but the fact that the western ff fanbase has all but ruined 13's reputation over nothing is beyond frustrating to me

The only explanation I have for it is that the people who whine about 13 to that extent either didn't finish the game or didn't bother to pay attention to how the story developed, but even then I'm lost because why wouldn't they give 13 the same chance as any other ff game? Did they not expect much because of its reputation? Was the linearity really that blasphemous to them? Is it because of how differently it handles female characters compared to earlier games? Is it because the game doesn't spoonfeed information to the player outside of the datalogs? Would be great if someone could actually explain it properly for once lol

[cosmic-metanoia]

Femininity Concepts in FFXVI

***Spoilers for Final Fantasy XVI***

Well, here I am again, now focusing on the female characters.

Like I did in the previous post, I will focus on the female Dominants first then highlight some secondary characters that really stood out.

*Jill - Come on, we gotta start with our beloved gal. She demonstrates this silent but strong (and even fearsome) spirit. She's very supportive of Clive but is not afraid to voice her opinions. She possesses a natural elegance and grace but demonstrates her fierce capabilities on the battlefield. She has a knack for negotiation and relating to others. We really see her unveil her dark side when she confronts her past head on in the Iron Kingdom. What's fantastic is that she asked for Clive's support and understanding but made it clear that she would be the one to face off against the Crystalline Orthodoxy's head priest (his name escapes me). Jill may not always make background commentary but her words are carefully selected and measured.

*Benedikta - She is your classic femme fatale that plays with men to further advance her position. Yet the one who she is in a love/hate relationship with is the one she can't have. She is ferocious yet what makes her different is that she contains this hidden sorrow and just wants to be genuinely loved. The way she frantically panicked when she lost her Eikon honestly brought tears to my eyes. She ended up with the wrong crowd and played this game of political chess in a room full of powerful men yet she instantly realized how useless she was to them in that moment of losing her most valuable piece.

*Side note: Let's hope that Leviathan the Lost is another female Eikon when the DLC hits in the next few months!! <3

*Jote - Okay, this awesome woman is HIGHLY underrated! She is incredibly enigmatic and we learn so much about her from the thoughts of other characters but never from her own lips! Initially players may brush her off as some unimportant maid servant but we see that she is so much more - a shield, a formidable fighter (though never witnessed!), a healer, a scout, etc. She's basically doing the jobs of Tarja, Clive, and Gav wrapped up in one! Yet her eyes give away her feelings towards Joshua and especially when she frets over his health. Yes, she longs for him but what makes it unique is that she loves him for who he is, not for what benefits his Eikon brings to the Undying that worships him.

*Mid - A freakin' prodigy. I mean, she is the head of the hideaway engineers! An occupation that is stereotypically masculine. She is 100% focused on her tasks and is not your typical 16 year old gal for sure. Her genius inventions, zest for life, and fast-talking mannerisms has all of the hideaway family wrapped around her finger (true, also because she is Cid's daughter). That whole scene with Joshua kneeling to kiss her hand upon meeting her cracked me up - she's the last woman who requires a chivalrous display but what I love is how she laughed and pulled him up and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

*Charon - What can I say, this woman does not take s--- from ANYONE. She's even intimidating to some of the men at the hideaway which is absolutely hilarious. She is a hardened woman that commands respect but has her softer side which takes time to reveal. Money is on her mind but eventually she learns that there should be more to life - using her abilities as a cunning merchant to help a cause greater than herself.

*Tarja - Like Charon, she also does not accept any B.S. and takes her job as the non-magical physicker very seriously. What's great is that she isn't a nurse but the actual (and only) doctor of the hideaway. Her extensive knowledge is incredibly valuable and the hideaway would definitely not have survived without her.

*Vivian - A woman held in high-esteem who is so focused on the garnering of knowledge that she even gets targeted by assassins. Her intelligence certainly tips the scales in favor of the Cursebreakers to gain the upper hand.

*Anabella - I have a huge post written about her but I figure it's worth mentioning a particular aspect. She possesses quite the evil ambitions and is able to persuade not just the theocratic Sanbrequois emperor but powerful men from other nations - NOT just through her looks but through her conniving strategies. She longs for a powerful legacy forged by the greatest possible noble blood and even views herself as the prized breeding cow.

Some other examples of different aspects of female characters include: Eloise who is an astute businesswoman who conducted deals and contracts while her brother Theodore (sob) became her trusted porter; Martha who is the tough protector of Martha's Rest - the Rosarians put their trust and faith in her; the same with the Northreach residents when it came to Isabelle. What's great about her is that she is a courtesan but we see her blossom into a strong and trustworthy leader that many held in high esteem.

Even the stoic Dorys is the commander of a Cursebreakers squad.

I love how the story had female characters each with their own drives and ambitions whether they were motivated by a just cause or for evil reasons.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

Hello! I really like your analysis on Kaveh & Alhaitham as characters (and adore how you write them too). So it got me thinking, is there any type of character interaction between Alhaitham and Kaveh that hasn't happened yet or explored that you woukd like to see? Or, if you are willing to answer this, what other character would you like to see bounce of of Alhaitham and/or Kaveh individually? Like I always thought Faruzan or Collei interacting with Alhaitham directly could be an interesting insight to his character and perspective.

Hiya!! Ahhh I’m super glad to hear you enjoy both my analyses and fics!?? That means a lot to me so thank you for letting me know :,)

This is a really interesting question!! In terms of Alhaitham and Kaveh’s character progression in future Sumeru events I’m curious to see where their reconciliation is headed and whether we’ll get to see any glimpses into their relationship. Cyno’s story quest 2 showed that Alhaitham and Kaveh had progressed since the events of a parade of providence and it seems that there is an understanding between them now, in that their communication has improved significantly and Kaveh is no longer misinterpreting Alhaitham, but since this story quest didn’t focus on their relationship (which made sense considering it was Cyno focussed and had a story to tell outside of haikaveh) I think deliberate questions are posed that can be explored in the future

Personally I’m curious whether certain things will be addressed in the game: will the two work together again like they did in cyno’s story quest? will alhaitham and kaveh’s improved relationship be commented upon? If it is, will a parade of providence by explicitly mentioned? And will kaveh and alhaitham’s philosophy be discussed in relation to if they’ve changed/reached a compromise? To what extent will their improved relationship be shown to the player? will the subject of rent be brought up? will kaveh discuss his mother again? — there are a lot of open ended details from kaveh’s hangout and a parade of providence so i would love to see some expansion on these types of things!!

as for character interactions i would love to see, i fully agree with you!! I think a faruzan and alhaitham and a collei and alhaitham interaction is long overdue!! faruzan and alhaitham are both from haravatat so i would be interested in how their respective views correlate/disagree, and also just their general dialogue, with faruzan calling herself everyone’s senior i’d love to see how this goes down with alhaitham lmaoooo also alhaitham and collei need to have an interaction considering that he showed up to tighnari’s gathering in kaveh’s hangout just to help out in structuring collei’s studies, i’m interested in what he would personally say to collei and how collei would interpret it!

Other interactions would be more nilou and kaveh, i feel they would get along spectacularly!! And also wanderer interaction with alhaitham or kaveh, but especially kaveh, because,,, comedy gold i think. Also kaveh with dehya and candace!! Basically i want everyone in sumeru to have a one on one interaction it seems hehehe

I hope this answered your question?? Two really interesting questions, thank you so much for asking!!! Here’s to more Sumeru content in 4.8 and hopefully more serious expansion for haikaveh in the future!! <3333333

[nihilnovisubsole]

i think i followed you Back In The Day, seven years and seven blogs ago, for something related to mass effect (zaeed? maybe? who could say) and it's wild to come back to this site years later and find you thriving, surviving, growing-- playing ffxiv! love that game. curious how you'll feel about some side characters in shadowbringers, but i won't spoil which ones.

i do have real questions, though; writing tools. not pens or software, but personal structure tools and/or guidance. what does a beat sheet look like, for you? do you have a favored way of outlining or note-taking on your own thoughts when putting a story together?

and... i'm really curious how you hold a big story together in your head while you work on it in pieces, especially for something like dangerous crowns. there's this larger story i've been chasing around for a while, and I can't quite wrap my head around how to write the political/espionage plot for it without feeling like i've actually written a children's pantomime. the best i've got so far is "research real life events and use those as my outline" but after a point it becomes hard to keep track of all the variables of who knows what about whom, who is planning x when y, etc, etc. the characters don't need to know all that-- and may never know some things-- but i feel like /I/ need to understand what's happening on the macro level so i can move the world around them appropriately.

short version: how do YOU wrap your head around writing complex plots?

hey, anon! i started endwalker this week after a long... uh... glamour detour, so don't worry about spoiling things. i spoil myself for a lot of stories on purpose anyway. let's just say i've been attached to one too many characters who got killed.

anyway. writing. i've always handled plots the same way: clear documentation. if i don't note it down, i'm not going to remember it. i've used the same table outline since around 2014. it varies in detail for different projects, but the core format stays. i know it's kicking around in my blog archive somewhere, but it's worth reposting once in a while because people like to ask about it. here's what it looks like, featuring plot points cribbed from an endeavour episode:

i used this format for an outline at work a while back, and the team found it easy to follow, which was a big day for my ego. keeping track of plot structure is even more chaotic at work because we have multiple writers who all need to stay on the same page. we have very meticulous notes on what the player should know at which point, when we're introducing new information, and what we know, but shouldn't tell. we're also not above leaving notes like "this character has to convey X," "this character has to learn Y here," or "this is a clue that they're planning Z." it can be super on-the-nose. all that matters is that it makes sense to you. because you're right - if you get too lost, you can write yourself into logic holes of tremendous proportions. ask me how i know!

[as a sidenote, researching real-life events as a starting point has really grown on me in the past few years. my lead on coh3 had me do it. he said we were dealing with real people's history, so we couldn't be cheap or play fastball - we had to be accurate to pay it respect. even if you're not writing historical fiction, it just gives you insight into how people behave.]

i would argue that the plot of dangerous crowns is actually not that complicated, maybe to its detriment. there's kind of a genre struggle going on. at voltage, we were taught romance fans came for the relationship beats and valued them above all else. in fact, leadership told us players got irritated - which meant less sales - when the plot was too complex and took time away from the making out. political thriller fans, by contrast, expect relentless twists, high stakes, and harsh consequences, and sometimes see the relationships as superfluous.

but whatever. the point is, when you look at dangerous crowns' structure, it's a pearl necklace: a chain of anchoring events. the "pearl" scenes are where Big Plot happens. they're the reason you want to write the story, and probably the ones you have the most vivid daydreams about. the scenes in between are the string. not flashy, but important because they connect the pearls. they build tension and add logic, cohesion, and context. take the opera and hector's failed assassination. those are pearl scenes. that's a burst of drama i really wanted the story to build up to. i also had other flashbulb visions. livia by the fountain questioning herself, marcus' macbeth moment, the temple riot, things like that. so the question was, how could i believably travel between these pearl scenes? how could i make these big showcase moments connect smoothly?

if you're having trouble holding the story together in your head, i would ask, "what are your pearls?" what are the anchor points? outline those. it might not look like a necklace yet, but you'll sort of see it taking shape. and then, once you can see where your heart's-desire milestones are, you'll have a clearer idea of what can't fire until you set it up first. two other neat things can happen here. you could find the rhythm of your pacing, or realize you have a lot more plot meat than you thought you did. even if you don't, you have some road. and if you can't think of the string, sometimes you just have to start writing the pearls and see what comes to you.

good luck!!

[brightest-stars-if]

Hello! Just played the new chapter and had to come here to say how much I loved it!!! I got so invested that I just had to replay it trying the different Lux-MC combos, since the changes in dynamic are so interesting! Not only between them, but also with the family. Reading Lux's POV at the end was also great, and I couldn't help but notice and feel sorry for the difference in f and m versions of Lux- the f version being much more acquainted with shame and so. Also the scene with Isolde made me feel so sorry for her! It's just outright awful.

Talking about the family though, I must say I loved their scenes more than I thought I would! Each of them feels distinct, and in the brief interactions we've had so far you can already tell the core aspects of their personality and their relationship with the MC. I particularly liked the scene where a parent comforts MC after a nightmare. Thank you for making family dynamics that are not black or white- they feel complex, just like in real life. MC deliberating whether to be honest bc they know their parents' personality but still wanting comfort was way too real.

As a last note, I like how from so early on our relationship to our "faith" is already being calibrated. There were some options back at the ceremony last chapter, but with the prophecy ritual in this one we really get to mold how devoted (or not) our MC is. It felt immersive.

Thank you for the update and I'm so looking forward to play more!

I'm so glad you liked Chapter 2, anon! And I'm even more glad that you played with multiple Lux-MC combos. I totally get that not everyone is interested in playing with an MC who doesn't match their own gender, or playing with an RO who doesn't fit their sexuality, but I think the variety is worth giving those things a shot.

Good catch with male and female Lux's differing familiarity with shame! I slipped that in as a little tidbit, but it says so much about them as characters, and I'm glad it's being noticed ;). As for Isolde, yeah, she's... absolutely awful. Both to f!Lux, in ways you've seen in the demo so far, and to m!Lux, in ways that haven't been shown yet in the game. She sees far too much of herself in f!Lux especially, and she hates her for it. Which is going to be really fun -- for me, not for poor Lux -- to dig into to as the story goes on.

As for the MC's family, I love writing them a lot! They're such an important part of the MC's life and will continue to be, and so I'm taking extra care to flesh them out as much as possible. Alaric and Eulia are certainly complex people, and their respective traumas can make it difficult to connect with their children. But they are loving, as is seen if the MC decides to confide in them. Complexity for the win!

And lastly in terms of piety, that's a really difficult thing for me to balance in terms of both realism and giving the players breath to calibrate their own level of faith. Because the prophecies are unquestionably real, making the MC a complete atheist isn't possible. But I do try to give the players some leeway in how their MCs view the faith as a whole.

Thanks for playing, and I'm looking forward to writing more 😁

[mskinkyafro]

The Natasha switch up is CRAZY.

I feel like I need it to be explained to me like I’m stupid bc I’m having a hard time with understanding how she’s snakey for chatting and pursuing Stefan.

Especially, if 👏🏾you 👏🏾don’t 👏🏾want 👏🏾him. 👏🏾

*And this RANT is for people who didn’t even choose Stefan or want him. Bc I’m seeing most of this take with them. Vs someone who is on her route. Natasha Stan’s I feel for you. It sucks.

I keep seeing three big reasons why she’s the “worst.”

1) She’s obsess with Mc and Stefan. And gladly is second best to Mc/wants Mc’s leftovers.

Okay, in order to relate it and make common ground with Mc is to tell us that “hey, we were both the same season. Except I was a casa girl. And oop, we might have similar taste, I tried grafting/dating your ex but he was so into you.”

“And overall, y’all appeared so perfect and cute. I admired your relationship and want to have a relationship like yours or have someone be that interested in me.”

(if we go off appearances. Bc Mc can say that everything isn’t what it seems. )

Like clearly she is our exposition/lore character to help us understand what is the status quo BUT narratively, you can infer the questioning especially as we get to Casa is to make sure Mc FOR SURE is done with Stefan. Bc let’s be honest. Ppl be seeing their ex’s and old feelings be coming up.

And they all here for a second shot at love. Plus she has history with Stefan, whether you believe it’s as strong as Mc and his, is beside the point. It’s Casa and she’s single, and he is too. She has the right to explore that.

2. If you’re on a Stefan route, she pulls him for chats knowing I’m interested.

Once again it’s love island. Step your pussy game up if you’re scared of competition. Like it’s chats, BFFR why are we acting like she’s stealing your man, being so vicious and talking bad and sabotaging you behind your back.

I feel like there’s nothing wrong with having chats and still exploring ALL available options.

I get the argument of “if we been spending most of the time with one li, why should she step in and talk to him.”

But at that point it’s the final chats before recoupling, I see no harm in getting final graft time or check in with all casa boys and villa girls to make sure you didn’t overlook anyone. It’s no different than the casa boys, trying to sell Mc about themselves before recoupling. Is that them moving snakey? (to Marshall in my game) And either way, Mc always chooses before Nat so you can still choose him. She can’t fuck you over.

3. It’s just shady behavior how she’s moving bc shes’s been pressuring us about him and saying we are couple goals. But she turns around and grafts and brings him back. Why not just say you want him from the jump?

We as in-game characters didn’t know he was coming back. I mean I feel like it goes without saying she was interested in him from their season. But it was pointless. So fast forward now, idk about others but her talking with him before and after our own clear the air chat. That was clear she is going for him. Go for it girl, I can’t be mad. I don’t want him. And it’s no girl code rule break bc she didn’t even know Mc before this show.

I ain’t gonna hold her to some dumbass standard when we all signed up for a show where we are literally sharing men. I just fail to really see the snake behavior.

To me it differs from Kat who takes your li unprovoked for a chat and heavily tries to flirt and make moves just because. Knowing damn well she’s full of hell and just wants to make her partner jealous, and she chooses yours because she respects Mc the least. 😭

Now if Nat was moving like that with Stefan or your li you actually wanted. We could talk, but girlie literally did what she’s supposed to do on the show.

Make a connection, lock it in and is bring him back. Idk I just find more and more of these overreactions in the fandom so annoying and exhausting from players.

Like damn no one can be competition no more. No one wants to work for their Li affection. They all should worship the ground Mc walks on and never acknowledge any other girl ever. It’s boring af.

Final thing, which just speaks to her overall personality or character traits. Some are holding on to her “shit talking” from the PDA Awards.

But was she wrong?! No! Kat IS and ALWAYS will be ANNOYING and a whiny ass bitch.

Calling Kelly basic was shots fired and Kelly def caught a stray but I mean…Kelly does have more of simple vibe compared to everyone else who embodies the *That bitch* energy. Still all love for Kelly though.

Like y’all please. The “shit talking” was some of the most tamest shit ever. And let’s be for real, if Mc said this shit or has options to be even more bitchy or cuntier, we call them all kinds of Queens, Savages, and Icons. But with Natasha she’s shady.

I’m sorry I REFUSE to let y’all slander Natasha. She be riding for Mc. Remember she was one of the only ones on our side during the PDA debacle with Finn. Whether you did mess with him or not. Like Natasha is a rider.

Even with the drama that Melissa brought, that was Melissa twisting things to be messy. Not Natasha trying to be hurtful. Idc this rant was for her bc I hate how yall switching up on my girl. It’s WILD!

[edenprime]

if u haven't read it a lot of liara's more action-oriented shift was told in the comics. the shadow broker DLC didn't quite capture how much effort she went thru to secure shep's body and how big feron's role. i personally welcome the change and while i like archeologist liara i think her ME1 characterization is so superficial. she's mostly just a fan girl. the shift is abrupt but it's nice that in ME2 she has her own thing going on outside shepard cos i believe the writers wrote her as the canon love interest in mind so her character often suffers from the fangirl disease. i think a lot of people in the fandom dislike how the game shove her to us so much. which is funny since another famous shepard ship is garrus, who's equally as pushed as liara and is just as much of a shep fan. it's just that he's a guy so he doesn't suffer sexist hate.

I haven't read/seen anything outside the games, no! I've been thinking of getting into that, but first I'd like to sort out all of my feelings wrt the main event - the games. I feel like if I got into the "peripheric" media, it could maybe influence how I view the games and i want to analyze those by themselves (i'm thinking i'll finish this playthrough + another one in which i might or might not play as mshep) and then see about everything else. Thank you for the rec, though! I knew there was extra stuff about tali and garrus but this is the first i'm hearing about liara <3

And well... let's be real, most of the squad is part of the Shepard fan club, even those that can't be romanced, like Grunt and Wrex. The fact that Shepard gets a breeding request in Tuchanka after completing grunt's loyalty mission is like the most Mary Sue thing ever (and I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way). The asari, sex symbols of the galaxy, are throwing themselves at them left and right (Liara, Shiala, arguably Sha'ira, Morinth...). Shepard is the main character, everyone wants a piece of them. It's one of the entertaining parts of the games (or at least I have a lot of fun with it, if maybe a little bit ironically).

I suppose people might single out Liara because she's the one whose actions are the most extreme, and thus it crosses the line from "cute" to "creepy", but she's not the only one. Legion literally wears the armor off their dead body. As I said in my post, maybe her actions and/or attitude aren't 100% justifiable, but they are understandable.

I'm not sure about the game pushing Garrus as a love interest (I think the game itself is skeptical of the player making this choice, like when Shepard says she "can't believe she finds comfort in the arms of a turian" or something like that), but I do think he's definitely meant to be one of the characters that's most influenced by Shepard, regardless of gender.

Personally, I think him being so popular a choice (at least on Tumblr, which has a mostly female userbase compared to other social media) is due to him being a man, yes, but not necessarily because of sexism (or not always), but because het ships are farrrr more popular than femslash. Also, it's very clear how much he respects Shepard in basically every aspect, and it's incredibly fucking rare to see a het relationship in such equal ground, especially with a """bad guy""" lmao. (though ME in general does quite good in that regard I think, the romances in general are not toxic™️ or unequal) (mostly... ignoring that Shepard is basically everyone's boss... lol).

I completely agree that there's a double standard in how female characters are expected to behave vs male ones, and from what i've seen Liara is 100% a victim of this (I had the very bad idea of reading some threads on reddit...yikes). I don't know the fandom enough to know how it compares in relation to Garrus in particular, though, or if there's a correlation between Shakarian fans and Liara haters.

[toushindai]

Do you have any thoughts on the relationships between characters so far in Hades II? Any predictions? How would you say they compare to those of Hades 1? Btw, love your megzag fic. You were The Author I went to for them back when 1.0 just came out.

Hello anon, and thank you!! I miss megzag so much, they are my everything. I will say that no one in Hades II so far is seizing me quite the way they do, especially not ship-wise—but let’s put the rest of this under a cut.

Below the readmore is an absolute free-for-all of spoilers so please be careful!

Overall the impression I get—especially from how Mel talks to and about Aphrodite—is that Mel thinks of love as something she’ll get around to once she has a chance to sit down and study how it works, which obviously comes after her task in importance. Now this is not how matters of the heart work, which presumably is why it’s immediately obvious that she and Icarus are BIG into each other. Which is cute, undeniably. I wish them happiness. Though that’s not really quite shipping, is it.

I’m still waiting for melnem to seize me like it has everyone else; I’m not opposed, but as of yet I’m not quite seeing what they have to offer each other. They are both striving for each other, that’s something; I just don’t yet see how that pulls them into bed with each other. It seems like the last thing on either of their minds. Except they do keep talking about taking each other’s clothes off. Are they flirting? They may be. At the very least I think SGG is sending deliberate “don’t worry, we ARE going there” signs. So far I am not drawn in by Mel/Moros as a ship, either. I’d much rather that shit-stirring suggestion of Eris’s (that the Fates are trying to set him up) be something that he finds kind of perturbing, that his sisters would try to set him up with someone just because she’s been nice to him. I would ship Moros/Dora. I think that would be cute and funny.

No despite all odds what I am 4k words into so far is some meleris. Well. I mean, that’s what the file name is called, and there’s some making out involved, but I don’t know if this is going to become a romantic or even physical relationship by the time I get wherever I’m going with it. Listen… I just love Eris. This horrible little gremlin whose ideals absolutely no one around her respects, so in response she doubles down on her gremlinhood. She’s at odds with Mel by their very natures and yet Mel keeps coming over to her little corner to give her the same gift over and over. I think they find each other frustrating but in the way a pet finds a puzzle treat toy frustrating, and I don’t think they know what kind of relationship they’re building with each other, but certainly one is building. I don’t think Eris really knows what a friend feels like and I don’t think she knows how to behave to keep a friend. I don’t think Mel knows why she is extending kindness to Gal Who Keeps Shooting Her And Littering. I, the player, am absolutely approaching this from the perspective of “someone in Eris’s entire life needs to be stubbornly kind to her as opposed to every authority figure in her life treating her like a problem child” but I don’t know if Mel feels the same way, consciously or un-.

Eris is just all around a deeply interesting presence in the game—the Unseen seem to me to be a cult (neutral use of the word) to Nyx and Eris is absolutely a dissenting voice against that. And everything else. The game has done the opposite of selling me on either “Chronos should rule” OR “the Olympians should continue unopposed” so I think we should hear Eris out. Did you know that “strife” and “strive” come from the same root. Something something the importance of dissent. Let her cook. Explosives. And drink bath water I guess.

Other things of interest.

The “your family may be vain idiots you hate being around but it’s still an inherent good to interact with them” tone of the epilogue of Hades I never pleased me greatly; so far, Hades II seems to be going “got it, just because someone is related to you by blood doesn’t mean you inherently have to feel anything for them” which I—I—I agree with that. Fundamentally. BUT THAT’S MY FAMILYYYY AND I LOVE THEMMMM TToTT… Supergiant is doing a fascinating thing where the majority of their players know Mel’s family better than she does, where Mel questions how strongly she even wants revenge for the family she’s never known while we, clutching our keyboards or controllers, are snarling Let Me At Him Let Me At Him I Love Those People. The “what do I care? I don’t even know them” is so deeply upsetting and I think that once there is an actual endgame that will get addressed but I a little bit wish we had not been given that line until we were ready to deal with it because it currently gives me an emotion.

Hecate is so interesting as a contrast to Hades—in some ways she is encouraging Mel towards much better emotional health but also. but also. Putting tremendous pressure on her, and telling her she must not think of Hecate as her mother or the Crossroads as her home. Asking Mel to leave these gaping holes in her heart so that her blood family and original home can fill them someday. I have to wonder if there’s a part of Melinoë that feels like Hecate is withholding these things because Mel isn’t good enough yet, and—deeper still—a part of her that fears that if she cannot become good enough, she will be subject to the same impatient disdain that Hecate aims at Nemesis and Eris. I don’t think Hecate is evil but I think she maybe doesn’t see the effect her single-mindedness might have.

And lastly, Chaos. Chaos!! Last night Chaos asked me, “Do you tolerate my gates stabbing you and my mark making your life difficult just because you want to look at me” and you know what. Yeah. Their new design is everything in this whole world to me. Chaos I am going to change how I dye my undercut to be more like you. But also I absolutely love what they’re going through emotionally in this game. Listen, if they had turned the Fates over to Chronos just because they like thwarting the Fates, I would have winced but forgiven them. This is a known! I don’t require them to operate under human morality! But the fact that they feel they were deceived and the indications that this troubles them, that they are not USED to feeling troubled, that they look at the way things are currently and say I would like things to be different actually, that they ask Mel for a response when they confess their part in the current goings-on (despite there not really being a question there IIRC!) but wait until so deep into the game to do so—Chaos I Love You. Would You Like A Hug. We stan an alexithymic primordial originator. Also “perhaps he shall release them if you use sufficient violence” is the funniest sentence in the world and I will continue to do my best 🫡