#I know to not even try Sakuya cause the people are obsessed with him and I'd never get his pcs

[moralchampion]

Somebody stop me from collecting the wishies

[wanou-dorm]

HSA- Kyo Sakuya

(@fumikomiyasaki )

Name: Kyo Sakuya

Codename:Sakura / Tarotranger 03 

Based on: Yukiko’s Shadow/ Konohanasakuya

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿: Male 

𝗔𝗴𝗲: 18

𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆: April 29 

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻: Taurus 

𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 193 cm

𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿: pink

𝗛𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿: Black, Pink

.

𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗦

𝗗𝗼𝗿𝗺: Polisionalle

𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿: 2nd Year

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀: 2-C

𝗢𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:  student( May or Not be an Actually be A leader of a Sentai style Group )

𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯: Drama Club

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁: Social Etiquette

Sexuality: Bisexual

Homeland: Onigashima / Unknown Planet

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𝗙𝗨𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦:

𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱: Right

𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱: Sakura Mochi 

𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱: his own Cooking 

Likes: Tokustasu, Acting ,horror movies

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶��𝗲𝘀: his Cooking,

𝗛𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆:  Gymnastics , Posing ,look at Tokusatsu Shows , Practicing Stunts , Documenting the Various Effects of mystery food X

𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: “ Being ( Unknowingly) annoying to Flynn  with his antics “, Acrobatics, Master of Campiness and Cheesiness,  Posing 

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬:

He’s a Rather Eccentric and Foolish Young man seemingly  a social Butterfly on the Surface , In all actuality Kyo is quite Reserved , Elegant and somewhat clusmy if he’s Not on stage he also has a Dark sense of humor . Quite the opposite of the Tokustasu Obsessed young man people sometimes see .

He Tends to Be Scared Of Flynn especially Before , During and after His overblot  which is Probably why he’s been on Egde since I mean He Even made the Right Call for his Group to Sleep in Nextunia and then Attend the Play considering what Flynn did it was Probably for the Best.

Though His Time Spent in Onigashima Introduced him to the art of Tokustatsu , Live action Shows with Guys in spandex like Power Rangers or Ultraman. Which leds to some of his Campiness  when acting he’s sometimes seen practicing the Poses and Moves of Various Sentai/Rider on stage ( Usally Failing  and landing on Flynn ,Rubina or Crashing  into a wall ) but thier Seems to be more to his Tokustasu Obession than meets the Eyes . 

Kyo has not Hidden the Fact that they are From another Planet  that was taken over by Big bad with Special Morphers Like from The Tokustasu shows and thiers a Group of Monsters trying to find them ,Capture them ,steal thier powers and will use Students from RSA,NRC ,HSA and various  citizens of Sage island to bring them out . They just don’t believe Him  cause  it’s so ridiculous  and Nothing has happened yet so. Kyo and others  rolled with it  cause it keeps them Laying low For longer . 

Also Don’t eat anything he and Tomie Cooked without Nanoya , You could end out with random unintended Sideffects and ingestion ( Like getting your hair colors Swapped or Turning into a Balloon these Are Both  things that happened to Flynn and Rubina and for some reason they like the Stuff .  

Unique Magic:

Burning Petals -

It Dose Exactly What You  think It Scatters Sakura petals that ignite and Exploded when touched .

Trivia 

I often compare him to the V tuber Haachaama as that is exactly how he acts while Cooking .

He Kinda Knows he annoys Flynn in His Words “Flynn says I sound too  Cheesy And Campy when I act out Toku  Poses. but that’s the Charm of The Tokustatsu genre.“

His Birthday is The Date You have to Rescue  Yukiko by in P4 otherwise you get a Bad ending saying they Found her body.

From What he’s Said he Group consists of 

Kyo and His guardians twisted from 

Tomeo Gozen and Sukuna-Hikona and Two others( I think one of Kanji’s Persona I might as well take the whole group ) 

You might have Realized That They follow the Signature Sentai Color Red/Pink , Yellow and Blue   . Most Sentai with three Protagonists got with These Colors  the only Sentai  that ,(I remember) breaks this is Ryusoulger who had Red ,pink ,  Blue, Green and Black 

Just like Yukiko his Actaully considered one of the Handsomest Guys  on School it has now Become a Challenge throughout the schools Ask Him out on date. He Kinda worried cause Flynn is Often right by him .

Also like Yukiko he sucks at Cooking but is slowly getting better with the Help of Nanoya.

He says his Big Bad , targets someone whose Previously overblotted or would be prone to overblotting.

He and his Friends have Practiced the Dairanger Roll call I kid you not they can do it Perfectly.

The Saga of Mystery Food X pt 1

Kyo and Tomie have no Idea What Attracts Rubina and Flynn Specifically to their Mysterious food  X they’ve dubbed it . And they don’t remember what they were doing .

It doesn’t cause them ingestion instead just cause random Changes to happened. ( Rubina and Flynn had each other’s hair colors for a Week .. Flynn should consider going fully Red .)

They into an almost like a trance or Drunk  when they eat it or Smell thank god they don’t go after it in the trash .

Tomie , Kyo and Nano just assume that whatever Concoction they make  is just Attracts Featherborns to eat it . Infact it’s harder to keep them away from it for some reason .

Apparently mystery Food X doesn't taste bad to Featherborn ethier . They literally said it tasted like the various Things they should’ve been like pancakes or Hamburgers. 

“ WHAT HECK DO WE DID TO OUR FOOD TO ATTRACT ONLY BIRD PEOPLE TO  EAT IT !? “ Kyo Sakuya  , 2022 , Dragging Flynn . 

Voice Claim

Lucky ( Kyuranger)

Theme Song 

Princess Amagi-ya

[icharchivist]

one thing i really like is the build up to Winter tho (i know i’m reading Autumn and shouldn’t be thinking about Winter but hear me out: i’m obsessed) 

because the first three troupes have this specific set up of always going south very early on. The first three troupes all start on the wrong foot pretty obviously and very early on the Director can feel there’ll be problems with them, because they’re confrontional.

In Spring Masumi immediatly caused trouble and kept antagonizing Sakuya and Tsuzuru, and Tsuzuru and him especially very early got into fights. But, considering the fact Spring is mostly full of agreeable people, and that Tsuzuru tends to try to be the mature person, they ended up dealing with it. But it did start badly.

Summer started VERY badly because of Tenma, and right from the start. Tenma was destroying everyone’s mood and confidence from the very start and took some time to realize how harmful his behavior was. On top of that there was Yuki who would always get back at him and it’ll create a very tense ambiance in general. So it was much worse than with Masumi, because there was no letting fly off Tenma’s behavior and gotta learn the hard way.

so when it escalates again with Autumn, it escalates very badly, with people who are willing to physically fights one another. Banri is the biggest problem obviously, dragging Juza and Sakyo with him in being violent in general. 

On top of that for all those troupes, the time of antagonization was longer in longer. the Masumi issue must last what, ten episode? Tenma must last 15 and Autumn like 20.

so like. There’s this sort of feelings that there’s gonna be an escalation in how the troupes get along, especially since the plot also escalates and become more and more serious each passing troupe.

and then you meet Winter and actually, it’s going pretty okay. 

(it got long i’m cutting it here but- yeah sorry it got long)

Sure Tasuku has anger issues and is cold toward Tsumugi, but when the whole thing starts, there is a willingness to make things works with the troupe.

and i think it drives home a false sense of security, where you are weirded out it’s doing better but you accept it...?

and then you start to realize how much Winter is. not connecting. That there is a massive distance between all of them. That since they’re not people who seek out conflict, they don’t... talk about their problems and therefore do nothing to resolve them. Like... all of them are seeking to connect to some level, but their walls are so up, and they’re too polite to address them, that they’re getting nowhere.

and it’s when it starts to get uncomfortable.

and i love this twist about Winter because you get fooled for a moment into thinking it’s going much better than the others troupes, especially with how bad it was getting... only to realize that because of this lack of conflict, because of how polite they tend to be, they’re not opening up to one another. They keep to themselves. The relationships sound strained.

and while i would argue there was a begining of a bound forming around taking care of Hisoka in particular, and uncovering his mystery, in the end it’s Tasuku “anger issues” Takato that really end up setting up the troupe in motion when he finally lashes out at Tsumugi pushing Tsumugi to have to step out of his comfort zone and reach out - or later, when Tasuku lashes out at Azuma when Azuma lowkey accuses him and it causes the whole strained relationship Homare tries to fix later (first by making it a hundred time worse and then by making it much better by being the one to completely open up to ALL of the troupe (since Tasuku and Tsumugi played it a bit solo at this point), officially opening up his own weakness in order to try to approach everyone’s weaknesses too and first address them.)

(tho also honorable mention to the Azuma relapse incident where he suddenly pushed away everyone and everyone started to really have it sink in that the way they didn’t bound is keeping them at a distance they should be trying to fix - the creation of the fuyugumi was a real team effort in making me, personally, suffer)

And idk i find it fascinating how, with the build up to the others troupes you can kinda get to expect the worse of Winter and brace for it... only for the thing to brace for not to come because they’re all so polite.. and then realize that this is where the problem is because they’re not being honest with one another and it’s damaging the relationship they want to build, and that in esscence, it made their starts much more clumsy than you expect on first glance.

i just. really love the way Winter builds its expectations within the story because their dynamic ends up... so odd and so different from the others troupes that it takes some times to adjust to it. and imo, it makes them getting as close as they finally got even more outstanding, to see how high those walls were to start with, and how much they ended up lowering them for each other.

in short: mind full for fuyu once again.

[akumageist]

I would die for Hitori Uzune. RIP to Kazuaki, but I’m different.

The Hatoful fandom consists of 13 people and a paperclip. It always has. Unfortunately, it probably always will. Where this is cause for some perks, it’s also some of its faults. In example, it’s still an anime game, made by a Japanese woman, and attracts weebs. Weebs tend to like to think of characters 2-Dimensionally, breaking the character down to what they think is their core personality traits. Hitori is no stranger to this, and is beaten down into this heartless, manipulative, selfish bastard. But I believe Moa is saying “anyone, even the best of us, is capable of becoming a monster if driven to it.” Let’s roll.

2162. Hitori was born into a world of war and hate, plopped into an orphanage at just 2 years old. This can be found in Moa’s canon spin-off manga, where Hitori at about ten years old is caring for the other war orphans along with the other older birds. Luckily for him, he was a genius. He was able to go out and get jobs tutoring birds and support his rag-tag family at his young age.

With that, we know Hitori was not originally cold and heartless, despite how the world may have birthed him. Especially when Nageki arrived frail and sickly. Hitori and the other birds were happy to put in overtime in an attempt to pay for the poor dove’s medications, even in his protest.

Then, 2180 happened. Imagine what sort of toll that would take on Hitori. he was absent. He was at work, unaware of the jeopardy that befell his family. What kind of horrible, mind-rattling survivors guilt must rack this bird’s brain, knowing he wasn’t there as his family was massacred one by one?

“What did we do? We had nothing. Our parents and homes had already been stolen by the humans. All we had left were each other.”

We can gather from this same scene Hitori blames himself for not being there. For not being able to protect his family, or even Nageki. Even though had he been there, he would have died alongside everybirdie else, and left Nageki to succumb to his illness alone. Something of this magnitude would create anxieties and trauma unfathomable to those who did not deal with it.

In Hitori, this manifested as full-blown helicopter mom. He can’t help but think of every little nit-pick detail over Nageki, terrified one feather out of place will kill him. The fandom is good about this side of his character! And of course, so is Moa. This may be the Summer Vacation Drama CD: Hitori The Worrywart (which takes place in MIRROR AU), but I love it’s portrayal of the anxious quail.

Hitori continued to care and ache over Nageki’s declining health. He was desperate. Begging doctors, even though deep in his little quail brain he knew Nageki was a lost cause, and that he was dying. But he couldn’t think of a life without Nageki, and did all in his power to try and keep the bird as well as he could. We can see a great example of this love in words you might not think of.

“How about this? From now on, ‘I’m fine’ is not allowed.”

I’ve always imagined Hitori getting mildly heated at Nageki in this conversation.The quail is on his last strands of stability, and the dove he cares endlessly for is trying to hide the very thing he ails himself over. The genuinity in his words shines through- telling Nageki he’d rather hear he’s bad and hurting.

So, in this desperation, Hitori carted Nageki off to some strange doctor in some strange prestigious school. And how couldn’t he? A doctor who claimed to know of the virus eating away at Nageki’s life, and how to cure it. Hitori’s beacon of hope in a sea of darkness. The only bird in the entire universe he had left to love, the one he had arguably always favored and adored, was dying. He would do anything in his power to keep the one thing he loved alive, no matter the irrationality or cost. No matter the very dying bird’s own lips saying “I… don’t want to go.”

Whether or not you ship these birds, I firmly believe Hitori is in love with Nageki in a romantic sense.

“I can no longer love another creature // I think we meant more to each other than anybirdie else in the world... // The love I felt soured into resentment // I should remember the beautiful face I knew, not… a photo covered in scribbles”

Not to mention admitting he can’t bear to live without the dove in BBL. And, in his route, Hiyoko goes as far as to refer to this bird as a female, which means he’s speaking so fondly she’s assuming it was a lover, and therefore a woman. Hitori’s stopped any sort of love at the idea he can only love Nageki post-mortem. That is canon. And well… that’s not very brotherly, no matter how good of a relationship you may have with your sibling (I speak from experience).

Okay, okay, this persuasive essay is NOT for convincing you of this ship, that is another essay for another time. I’ve only mentioned this opinion because I need you to understand his irrationality for the one thing he has left, and the fragility of it. And why it might drive anybirdie to… Hitori-level madness. Moving on.

2183. A mere 3 years after Hitori had lost the majority of his family to human terrorists. Nageki sends a coded letter, and… we can see Hitori’s anxieties outright.

“It’s happening again. Nageki needs me, and I’m not there.”

This is… a very powerful line in the game. We’re seeing just how vulnerable Hitori truly is. This is a traumatized individual in a panic attack- realizing the love of his goddamn life is once again faced with something horrible, and Hitori is once again absent from the scene.

And just like that, he’s gone.

The only thing. The only one Hitori had left in life to love. To live for. Taken from him without so much as a second chance. This is painful to write. This part of Hatoful is, without a doubt, the most agonizing. I know how it is to lose something so dear and feel as though maybe it’s not worth going on without them.

This is the peak of Moa’s tragedy writing ability (and yes, I’m including Holiday Star). But this is my point, is it not? Though his kanji may be “sun bird”, the actual word for his name “Hitori” quite literally means one, alone, solitary. He is now all alone in the universe, no family left. How can anybirdie even remotely remain in charge of their faculties (as Sakuya would put it) by now? You wouldn’t.

Hitori is now a husk of his former self. Anything he’s ever cared for is gone, he has nothing left to live for. He goes- my favorite coined term for him- absolutely batshit. He gets what we call “trauma-induced psychosis”, and begins to hallucinate very vividly, a form that he refers to as “Nageki”. We all know him of course, as Shadow. Shadow, from the little information we’re able to gather from BBL, is tormenting Hitori ruthlessly.

Shadow is easily misunderstood, because Moa made him fathomable, so the reader was able to understand exactly what was happening. What had become of Hitori Uzune. Shadow in all his simplicity- is Hitori. It is an introjection of Nageki, manifested to validate Hitori in his self-hatred. Don’t you get it? He hates himself just as much as you hate him!

Anything Hitori thinks of himself, Shadow is there to back up. He’s taunting him day in and day out, reminding him that he killed Nageki, and every ounce of Nageki’s suffering life was the fruit of Hitori’s inability to protect him. But again, it’s his own brain, telling him exactly what he wants to hear. What he truly believes. Telling himself what he’s done, and how he deserves this. ...And to seek revenge.

Hitori lost his mind. He had nothing else to lose, after all. He became obsessed with Nageki even moreso than he was in life, because there was no level-headed dove to calm him and tell him to stop worrying so much, or keep him at least reasonably held together by simply being there.

He listened to his psychosis, and when he made a friend (Moa gives evidence Hitori and Kazuaki were friends prior to Hitori’s ill-intentions), his psychosis got in the way of that, too. As he travelled down this relationship (which Moa herself says is pretty much romantic), we can assume he realized just how unable to love he was. He had Kazuaki around because, let’s face it. He wanted someone like Nageki who was incompetent so he could nurture and care for them. And for a while, it worked. But it didn’t. Hitori didn’t love Kazuaki. He couldn’t. He was too busy looking for Nageki.

So, you’re reading this in english. You speak english. At least a little, right? So maybe you played the english (and localized) version of the game. Well then you may not know the following. Please pay attention! This gets a bit rocky, and a bit more “Hitori...!”.

In the English version, Hitori disguised as Kazuaki is “tired”. In the Japanese version, he’s “sleepy” or “dreamy”. I’d describe him as ditsy, for sure. He kind of acts like an airhead who knows absolutely nothing, and his students don’t take him seriously. In the Hatomame Sweet Blend Drama CD, there is a track that follows Kazuaki on a little adventure of his narcolepsy, and going to Shuu for help.

In and out of comatose, Hitori, as himself, is there in his dreams as a separate bird.

“This bird with a face I had never seen spoke to me in a voice I had never heard, and this is what he said.”

“Nanaki-sensei” is clearly denying his own identity.

“I’ll sleep, just a little, and then leave… good… night…”

“But sleeping is my job… You still have a little longer. Tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that…”

This is dream Hitori telling himself that he has to continue his alias until his revenge is fulfilled. The quail that was once Hitori must remain dormant until he is reunited with Nageki again, and can be happy again. As a metaphor for depression… don’t you feel like you’re a shell of your former self?

So, going off this information… I believe Hitori has repressed himself. This is due to my own knowledge on psychology but-- Hitori doesn’t want to be Hitori anymore. It’s too hard. Hitori the war orphan. Hitori the lone survivor. Hitori the murderer and identity thief. It’s him not wanting to deal with his trauma in a healthy way, and instead locking it up and becoming somebirdie new and undamaged.

He killed Hitori.

This falls into the other delusion- that Nageki is somehow not completely dead and gone and ash- but still trapped, somehow, somewhere, and Hitori needs to find and get him. To kill Isa and the researchers who “killed” Nageki, and bring “Nageki” home. Whatever he believes Nageki is. In BBL, we see this quite literally varies! He tried to cut Ryouta open and steal his liver!

“Sir, Nageki would have never wanted this…!”

There is no difference between a serial killer and someone in a court room screaming for the serial killer to be murdered in turn. That mourning mother is then one in the same with that killer, is she not? She sees him, and wants him to die. She wants him to die and suffer. She believes that will bring her a sense of justice. Even though she knows it will not return her son to her. Hitori, is that mourning mother. He sees Isa, and all he can see is the man who murdered his dove.

I know the biggest aspect as to why the fandom hates Hitori is the sole factor that Kazuaki is #relatable. He’s a depressed college student who thinks he’s better off dead. Then, Hitori tricks him. But you’re not reading Kazuaki right. It’s okay, he’s easy to misread from Holiday Star’s plotline. 

Holiday Star was written with Kazuaki as the villain, do you forget? A grey villain as well, but a villain nonetheless. He told his tragic sob story death in such a way, you can’t help but to cry. He’s the victim! I’m not saying he’s not. But he was written specifically to be pitied in Holiday Star, and as you continue on, you begin to see he’s actually just anti-self help. He doesn’t want to face his fears. He doesn’t want to leave his safe egg and take the risk he should have.

Kazuaki is meant to be pitied, yes,  but just on the brink of annoying with his helplessness and self-deprecation. He’s, forgive me, a “sad sack of shit” who does nothing to help himself. Don’t come after me for being “ableist” or whatever- Moa literally wrote him this way.

This is also depicted in “Kazuaki-kun’s Book”. Now, this book takes place in the MIRROR AU, but it tells of how Kazuaki met Hitori. Moa starts the manga off by explaining Kazuaki had a great chickhood, a healthy life, and an easy, happy time. But then, he flunked his college exams and didn’t even get into his safety school. He lazed around, grew depressed, and let his apartment rot. He played video games until his online friends got jobs, and wasted any money he had on them as well. The only thing that scared him out of it is when his next door neighbor was found dead, having rotted into his own futon.

So imagine Hitori, who has worked so hard and lost everything he had done so for. Tirelessly, through his horrible, fucked up existence. Nageki, who had his short and miserable life robbed from him, had to die. Had to kill himself. And this random quail has the audacity to bitch and moan, thinking he’s got it bad? He’s a waste of space that could have been filled with Nageki. This is what Hitori’s brain is thinking. Hitori’s only ~20 years old when Nageki dies, after all.

I’m not saying this is cause for murder and identity theft. Don’t you dare misread me on this. But as I’ve stated prior- Hitori’s completely lost it.�� But you ship him with the chukar that literally ruined his life. Hitori’s a grey villain but holy fuck why would you want him to fuck the partridge that tortured and drove his only loved one to suicide?

It was wrong to trick Kazuaki. It was wrong to insult him as he died. It was wrong to steal his identity. That’s obvious and a given. But you all seem to look at that factoid alone, chalking it up to ‘preying on a poor mentally ill man” but not taking into consideration Hitori is mentally ill himself. ...Just not #relatable enough for you.

Hitori is suicidal as well. He’s been suicidal presumably since Nageki died. Don’t you dare say Hitori isn’t at least a little in the same boat. I don’t care if he’s not as soft and uwu and cuddly as Kazuaki. Mental illness is not rainbows and butterflies and emo hair (though Kazuaki is not portrayed this way).

Holiday star bears all the answers. I raise you important points, so pay close attention. The first key component is Hitori, found upside down in the pudding. He’s crying. Why is he crying? Because he’s lost his name? Oh, but think deeper.

“I’m Nemo”.

“Nemo” is latin for nothing, and his name translates to “nothing” in every language of HoliStar. The King has vomited him up in his kingdom, and robbed him back of what he stole from him. His identity.

But it goes even deeper than that.

“I’ve lost something, and so, I think I might cry.”

From this phrase alone, it’s painful to play this game. Nageki is right in front of his beak. But what did he do? He ate his own eyes. Hitori, in his refusal to identify with himself, has robbed himself of quite literally seeing the very bird he adores and sought after. Then, he is renamed his own identity by that bird (the only identity he accepts). How surreally real.

The second key component is when everybirdie is being rescued, but Leone warns Yuuya the quail is clearly falling more rapidly into a coma, and may not be able to awake. Why is this? Because Hitori wants to die. He’s fine with it, and Kazuaki is more than happy to keep him. When Yuuya finds him, Hitori is not at all alarmed as he should be. He seems passive, and simply wants to fall back to sleep. He’s to the point of trying to strangle Yuuya in attempt to let himself fall into eternal slumber (even if he thinks Yuuya is… Kazuaki..?).

Heed these next words carefully. When Yuuya asks if The King did something to him, Hitori replies-

“...No, all The King did was close the door.”

I am a firm believer this is Hitori indirectly saying “Kazuaki did nothing wrong, and I do not resent him for hating me.” Especially since Hitori shows signs of knowing it’s Kazuaki, and repenting.

“He said I need to be punished. Apparently I did something bad… and I think I know what it was.”

This is confirmed in my next point, so bear with me.

Hitori, in this same conversation, is admitting he wants to die. The only thing that stops him- as morbid as it may be, is remembering this takes place before the events of BBL. He hasn’t fulfilled what he believes is his “something I need to do”. Which is seek revenge, and bring Nageki home, as per Shadow’s orders.

Lastly, at the bitter end of Holiday Star when everybirdie is plummeting through the air from the false star, Hitori is still blind and confused. Suddenly, The King erupts from behind Hitori, and appears to be talking to him.

--

“Oh, is that right?”

--

“...I know, I know. ...but it’s still too soon. That’s right, I’ll be along soon. I’ll catch up with you. Someday…”

This is arguably my most prominent point in the entire essay. This is Hitori, admitting not only does he still plan to kill himself, but that he intends to keep his promise and reunite with Kazuaki in the afterlife. These are not the words of a heartless quail. These are the words of somebirdie who knows they’ve taken advantage of a friend, but is continuing to do their best to keep their promises and make amends. This is Hitori telling Kazuaki he still cares for him.

Hitori is the result of trauma and hardship beyond compare, and his inability to cope. He is not meant to be hated. He is meant to have shock value, yes. What he has done his disgusting, but you want to love him. Because he raised the sweetest bird in the entire game who would rather kill himself than hurt others.

Grey-villains are difficult, and because you can’t love them for being purely evil, you end up hating them for being a good person who’s done bad things. Hitori is a cracked window. Not quite shattered, but no longer whole, with a faulty image. Hitori is not just some heartless, manipulative, selfish bastard. He’s quite literally a bird with a broken wing (or entire ribcage more like), trying to… well, Live, and be happy.

[otome-reviews]

SLBP “The Dark Side of the Moon” Event Review

Confession time: when it’s battle event season in SLBP, I don’t even bother opening the app nowadays 😂 Anyway, here are my thoughts on the latest ninja event, meant to serve as a prequel to the other ninja event (the sex one) we had a few weeks ago!

In Kyoichiro’s story, the ex-ninja has to come to terms with the fact that MC is still an active ninja with ninja-ish obligations. Except he doesn’t really, and instead gets cold and upset when Nobunaga has MC create a specialized poison for ninjas and she follows through (“You aren’t a child. You’ll be fine without me around”). Not a good look, dude. He does redeem himself - kind of - when he saves MC from the ever villainous Sakuya later, I guess, but, still. In the end he “helps” MC realize she wants to negotiate a better position with Nobunaga and he promises to assist, except we never get to see him actually do that because the route ends on an admittedly cute seduction scene instead.

There were TONS of stupidly cute scenes between Kyoichiro and MC in this ES, but tbh I still found it really frustrating, especially given what he pulls in this event’s sequel. Like...he promises to help MC not have to be a poison ninja, but if we look at his future actions, he then totally sabotages her efforts to find a less shitty boss in the form of Shingen?! Ughhhh. Not to mention how completely awful he was to MC when she was just doing her job as a ninja in this ES. Kyoichiro was way too hot and then cold in this story for my liking, and I personally found his emotional strong-arming of MC to be completely unattractive. If he’s gonna emotionally manipulate his girlfriend into doing what he wants, he should at least try to have the charm to go along with it like Hideyoshi, ffs! Overall I suspect a lot of people will find this story sweet, especially with all the cute and seductive lines, but I really disliked it. ​

Personal enjoyment: 2/10

The ever-dramatic Hanzo has to go back to Hattori village to deal with some political unrest (he’s the future chief) in his ES, and poor MC literally cannot handle his impending absence. Doesn’t help that Hanzo doesn’t seem to know when (or if) he’s coming back, and MC doesn’t have the balls to ask if he’ll miss her or not. Girl please! Anyway, turns out this forced separation was all part of evil Sakuya’s grand plan, and when MC tries to leave Mikawa for her own safety she falls right into the guy’s trap, gets chased around for days, and in the end it’s up to Hanzo to save her and bring her home! Now why MC didn’t just make a big loop back to Mikawa after realizing she was being chased we’ll never know... In any case, Yandere!Hanzo comes out in full force, and it’s, uh, something else. After dragging MC to the room and gifting her with a hickey in the creepiest/sexiest way possible, he leaves her with this lovely Hanzo-ism: “I shall not forgive you for leaving on your own again.” Because of course. 😂

That creepy/sexy ending bugs me way less than one might think (actually I liked it). Hot yet fucked up is Hanzo’s signature style, after all! That said, I didn’t really love the earlier part of this story. For starters, Hanzo was a total ass to my boy Kiyohiro, referring him to as an “it.” Bro. Also, he totally should’ve given MC more clarity regarding how to be safe in Mikawa in his absence! Or, maybe it’s Kiyohiro’s fault for being vague about his orders, who knows. I’m also not hugely fond of how useless MC seemed in this story. In any case, it takes a lot for me to not give a Hanzo route a 10, but this plot was just too annoying to read for me to fully enjoy. Full props to Hanzo for his amazing quotes and off the charts sexiness though! (“Once I might have lived with the thought of you dying somewhere without me knowing, but it is now more than I can bear. I suppose I must at last name this obsession I have formed with you as love.”)

Personal enjoyment: 7/10

Genya’s route is an adventure. Saku’s been tasked with finding and killing an old friend and Iga fugitive, and in the meanwhile, there’s been a weird mental contagion spreading from the pleasure district that Kojuro would like MC to help heal. Both MC and Genya end up doing a fair amount of scouting around the brothels - even though, as Genya rightfully points out, it’s wayyy dangerous for MC, and her poor spying skills almost gets them in trouble at some point! In the end, Genya gets proof that the Iga guy has been responsible for the mental weirdness. He works with MC to set up a trap: he pretends to capture MC and offer her to Iga guy as a test subject, and then surprise cuts the guy down, helping MC get the info she needs to create a remedy while sparing Saku from an unpleasant mission in the process!

I love how action-packed this ES was! ^_^ I’m not usually big on jealousy as a plot device, but one of my favorite parts of the story was definitely when Genya pretended to reassure a madly jealous MC after she crashed his meeting with the Iga guy in order to hide her face (“C’mon, don’t cry. I’m not here ‘cause I’m messin’ around with other women, okay?”)! Lol. Overall, I thought Genya was in fine form in this story: sexy, flirtatious, loving, just the right amount of protective... 😍 Anyways, this ES really highlights the fact that even a “simple” story line that’s well executed can be really enjoyable!

Personal enjoyment: 9/10

What did you all think of this latest event? :)

[mysurveys]

Random Qs

Survey #27 on the Countdown to 2018!

This survey was also done last Tuesday.

What’s the date today?

It's April 4th now.

Are you wearing jeans?

I'm wearing PJs right now.

What comes to mind when I say the word "pink"?

Cherry blossoms and one of my old OFCs named Sakuya Momoka.

Do you believe in finding the good in people?

I've only ever been unable to find good in one person. I didn't get to know them on a personal level nor did I want to so it's not like it really matters that much.

There's obviously both good and bad in everyone, though. Having a black and white mentality about others is just childish.

Has anyone let you down recently?

No, not really.

If you married the last person you rode in a car with, what would your name be?

The last person I rode in a car with is my mother and we share the same surname.

What jewelry are you wearing and where did you get it?

I'm only wearing my fave ring that I got from my maternal grandmother. She bought it at LifeWay.

What was the last thing someone said to you?

I have no idea.

What was the last thing someone asked you?

I really don't remember that either, besides the obvious.

Did you sleep alone last night?

Yes, I did, as per usual.

What will you be doing tomorrow around 2 PM?

I don't know yet.

Was the last person you spent the night with male or female?

I last stayed the night at my maternal grandmother's while our AC was out.

Have you ever kissed that person?

I haven't even kissed her on the cheek.

What're the last four digits of the number of the last person to call you?

I'm not telling you parts of people's phone numbers. It's pointless anyway.

Where was the last place you went today?

Market Basket.

Do you tan?

I don't tan at all. I only ever burn from exposure to the sun.

Have you ever spent the night on a rooftop?

I haven't.

Have you ever played hide and seek in a cornfield?

I haven't and I wouldn't want to either.

What's the nearest big city to you?

DTD makes this difficult to remember since I don't normally pay attention to such. Beaumont? I'm not aware of the population number.

What do you consider your hometown?

I first lived in Beaumont, but that was so brief that Nederland is more so my hometown.

Are you still living there?

I'm still in Nederland, but we want to move out of southeast Texas.

Do you live within twenty minutes of your best friend?

I live with my mother who's been one of my besties since I became an adult, but the rest of them are out-of-state or in Japan.

Are you wearing socks at the moment?

I'm not since I usually take them off as soon as I get home.

Have you ever taken any foreign language classes?

I never had any formal classes for Japanese, but I picked it up fluently from my friends. It was the next best thing to being dropped in Japan and learning out of necessity.

I'm not solid with the written form yet just because it's so complex, though. And I'm not really that dedicated to learning it either. It's not entirely necessary.

Were your parents married when they had you?

Yes, they were and they were trying to have a baby too.

Are they married now?

Yes, they are.

Would you marry someone 30 years older than you if they had millions?

I wouldn't marry someone just for their money since I'm not a gold-digger.

What was the last irresponsible thing you’ve done?

I don't often act irresponsibly of my own volition, but I did use my Zeroes as a crutch last month. There were so many physical pains going on in my body that I noticed how Zeroes alleviated it with an emotional feeling.

That's part of why I'm going to schedule an appointment with a new therapist soon. I need better coping mechanisms.

How long were you employed at your last job?

I've been on disability since I was seventeen so I've never had a paid job. Someone with Bipolar insomnia, dyscalculia, DTD, and long-term memory problems can't really hold a steady paid job. The only "work" I do is for my nonprofit group as a result.

Are you very stressed at the moment?

I'm not really feeling stressed right now, but I am pretty tired.

Who was the last person to make you cry?

It was partly due to my mother's lack of understanding and assistance, I think. That was sometime last year.

At least I'm guessing the last time had something to do with all of my hormonal issues involving endometriosis, hypothyroidism and diabetes. That was before I finally got a hysterectomy to alleviate some of my problems.

Did they apologize for it?

She did multiple times, but I discovered that they were empty words until the point that I had a mini breakdown. And even after that I had to lose my cool again after she was being a bitch about helping me get a non-drowsy pain medication.

Not only did it say it would make me drowsy and dizzy, it was one I was allergic to. She'll be callous like that out of nowhere.

How're things between you and your ex?

Which ex? I only speak to two of them who're my besties. One is moving on and looking for love locally. The other is obsessive and still stuck on me despite my best efforts to dissuade him. I really can't do anything more to help him let go.

How long have you been in your current relationship or been single?

I can't remember exactly when I broke it off with Sasuke M. last year. Or was that this year? Math if I know.

Have you ever fired a gun?

I haven't. I understand the dynamics, though.

Do you come from a town with a population of less than 3K?

No, I don't.

How far is it to the nearest Walmart?

Not very far, but I couldn't tell you in numeric terms due to dyscalculia and DTD.

What was the total of the last check you wrote?

I don't think I've ever done that outside of Home Ec. so I obviously know how, but I prefer not to be involved in writing them since I have dyscalculia.

Mom mixes my finances with theirs all the time because I trust her with it. I only monitor all of my entertainment purchases very closely because that pertains to my personal budget.

Do you ever donate to charities like the Salvation Army?

I think Mom drops them some change sometimes, but I prefer to donate strictly to smaller local charities when I can.

Charity begins at home and should extend to the community around you. Paying into big corporate charity groups is an unnecessary risk.

"The Salvation Army wants people like me (gay, trans, and mentally ill) dead. So no, and I hope everyone who supports them dies an agonizing death and burns in their christian hell." ← Do you believe everything you hear without validating it for yourself?

For everyone's future reference, the verse in question is Romans 1:32 which has nothing to do with physical death.

"They know God’s Law says that anyone who lives like that should die. But they not only continue to do these things themselves but also encourage others who do them." That's the Easy To Read Version.

It's speaking to Christians about various sins and sin itself causing a person to lack eternal life through salvation in Christ. Living in sin without repentance equates to eternal damnation and death. That's not the same thing as physically dying.

Why would Christ die on the cross for people He hates or wants to die physically? That doesn't even make any sense.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

That's inescapably clear about the context of Romans 1:32 and the Bible says that kind of thing quite often. So don't believe everything you hear.

There will never be a deficit of humans who misinterpret God's Word without meaning to be malicious or those who misuse the Bible for their own evil ends. 

If you want to know what the Bible says about anything, open it up and start reading it for yourself. That's what you have to do with literally everything else, right?

What're some lyrics from a song you've recently listened to?

"No magic can make you reappear, but in the song of the whales you are always here." That's a lyric from Return To Me from Winx Club: Beyond Believix and it's about Musa and her mother.

Do you consider yourself flexible?

To some extent, but I ish teh fat. I can surprisingly touch my toes without bending my knees, though. That's pretty good for a fatty.

Have you taken any medicine today?

I haven't taken anything since the clock hit 12 AM.

What were you doing at 5 PM?

Yesterday I was online for a bit, but it's only 2:54 AM right now. (Why am I awake!)

What's a song that reminds you of a friend and can you describe the memory it brings up?

There are only a few that remind me of past romantic relationships. I more often relate music to fictional charries.

How old were you when September 11th occurred?

Ugh, math and timelines. I was born in 1986 on May 27th so you can calculate that yourself.

Does rain make you feel depressed?

It never has that effect on me, but I sometimes want it to end if it goes on for days or if I want to go outside.

How about winter?

I love winter. It's the oppressive heat of the summer that I hate even though that season still has its merits.

What’s the nearest holiday to your birthday?

Easter falls near it just to name a major holiday here, but Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day and Memorial Day are all closer to the date of my birth with the last one being the closest. However, Ramadan is on the actual date.

If you found out you were pregnant, who would you tell first?

That's not even possible as I have no uterus.

Has anyone given you flowers in the last six months?

Definitely not, but I don't want to receive anything that's dying and senselessly killing things to show love is gross.

How did you meet the last person to leave you a comment?

I don't even pay attention to such and I spent a lot of last month away from all social media sites too.

How long have you known the last person to call or text you?

I've known my mother since I was conceived. I was very much alive and growing at the time.

How old's the last person you rode in a car with?

Mom is 66 or 67 right now. Dyscalculia and long-term memory problems mean that I'll never get a fix on that.

What did you do when you hung out with the last person you kissed?

That was well over a decade ago so there's no way I can recall that.

What grade are you in at the moment?

I'm 30 and I never even went to a typical high school. I was in an all-grade Christian school before making an attempt at homeschooling via the web, but I pretty much knew it was useless regarding math and science. They finally let me quit.

Where's your phone right now? Who's your provider?

What was the last chore you did?

Something to do with my cats, I'm sure.

Do you prefer online classes or real classes?

"Online classes are real classes." ← This. I tried homeschooling via the internet, but I just dislike formal classes altogether.

What's the nearest red object to you?

The label on a bottle of Ozarka spring water.

What was the last board game you played?

I'm assuming it was Monopoly since that was the only board game I ever really loved. I'm great with the logical aspects of economics, but I really should've been paying other players to count my money. LOL

What're you doing after this survey?

I might do another survey or try to get some sleep after this, but I really don't feel so tired right now. I'm pretty sure that I've gone into the point of Bipolar insomnia.

I might end up watching some TV after this if I can't find another survey that looks good. Or I'll just migrate all my LJ stuff over to DW instead. Sleep eludes me.

[icharchivist]

Hi same nonny as usual haha! You asked for my thoughts on the spring troupe so now that I've finished the summer troupe debut I'm going to knock out two birds with one stone! I liked summer troupe a lot more then spring troupe. Not that I didn't like spring troupe! I just think that they didn't really communicate with each other?

The only reason why sakuyas issue with swordfighting was resolved was because masumi happened to be eavesdropping on a convo with the director, and why someone knew about itarus injury was because of citron noticing. I'm not saying there was no communication at all these two issues just. Bothered me so much the swordfighting one a lot more then the injury. The thing that bothers me about the injury is that itaru wasn't like. Told off for not telling anyone about his injury. Cause he could have seriously damaged his foot or something. I get that in the future there's probably going to be character development for itaru that lets him open up more to his troupemates. The swordfighting one just felt like a cop out to have a "moment" between sakuya and the director instead of having sakuya discuss that stuff with his troupe (which, bleh do not care for the characters flirting with the director at all. wish it wasn't there but I get why they do it.)

Despite my griping I did really enjoy spring troupe! They were fun! They just felt less trusting of each other then summer troupe at the end of day. And I get that char Dev will prob happen bout that but still haha. That's my thoughts on spring troupe! I could just be horribly misremembering the entire episode but oh well!

I know I said I'd also do summer troupe in this ask but it's already horribly long and I'm writing this on my phone. I'll get to that later. Thanks for reading my rambling that has not been proofread at all or edited. Hopefully it makes some sense hahaha. Thanks for introducing me to a3 it's tons of fun.

aaahh thanks for sharing!!!

honestly i kinda get where you’re coming from. I really love Spring, but it’s especially now in insight of their development. On first read, i think the thing especially was that the chapter was more about setting up some of the most major issues of the universe (the debts, the way  to arrange themselves in that new environment ect..) that therefore the characters issues may be not as focused as the others chapters?

(also for character flirting with MC there will be only 2 in main stories that do that a lot, one of which is Masumi, and the other isn’t much flirting as just hopelessly in love. Not much we can do about it but honestly once you move on from spring if this really holds you down, it will ease off at least, even if there’s a few thingss here and there stil)

Summer was the moment i really fell in love with the game, i really, really adore Summer’s dynamic and it was just. so good to go through.

As for the things you bring up about Spring, on one hand on first read i think i get you, but yeaaaah in insight of all we learn about the characters, it’s really not that far fetched ahah.

For Sakuya imo it’s really just that he freaked out because of his abandon issues and i don’t really see him discussing it with Spring yet at this point? Like. Sakuya is terrified of not being good enough and being abandoned as a result, like all of his relatives ever did. So he tries to compensate. When Masumi just brought up that they’ll just replace him, i don’t find it far fetched that Sakuya freaked out about it and failed to explain it to Masumi at the time. 

Those very same issues also lead Sakuya to hold on everything bad ever to himself. The reason he opens up to Izumi, more than her just coming to him there, is that she already proved before that she wasn’t willing to abandon him, if only by how she took up the theater because of his passion to start with. And, just, timingwise. 

And i think Sakuya wouldn’t have taken reassurances from his others troupesmates who have already made clear they believed in him, because i think Sakuya would be more crushed with the idea that they’re just being polite and kind with him. Because he knows he’s failing and the others’s way to reassure him would probably have made it worse. He needed reassurance 1) from the director who at this point has already started to be giving more constructive critisms, 2) Masumi, who’s the one who caused those insecurities by the fact he doesn’t hold back. But i don’t see him reach of to Masumi with how hostile Masumi has been to everyone up until that point. (i have more thoughts but that’d be me overreading it too but dKJFDLKF a3 makes my brain go brr)

As for Masumi, this kid has serious communication issues (only child with no friends and no parents around? oof) and i don’t think he would have reached out to Sakuya or even figured something was wrong otherwise.

Are those just easy way out for the writers? maybe, but that’s just how writing is isn’t it? if you want to make even some “artificial” conflict, you need to make it believable why this conflict exist even in the first place. 

Honestly the swordfighting issue doesn’t strike like that to me, and those are all about things that are shown in the Spring chapter itself, but i suppose since i also know those things are expended on, it does add a layer of “this was made with depth for their characters in mind” imo.

Also i think if Masumi hadn’t eardropped, Izumi would have talked to him about it, being the mediator and all of that, and i think Masumi would have understood then. I don’t think Masumi was unwilling to understand, but that he lacked the groundwork to understand it. and we mostly were spared from having to repeat the scene with Izumi telling him about it.

Idk if i see Sakuya managing to tell it to Masumi even after this talk? I think Sakuya is the kind to take all of his pain in silence and assume responsibilities for everything that goes wrong, and i don’t think he would have felt comfortable opening up with that, especially since, as he tells Izumi, he genuinely feels like *he’s* the failure about it (and as Izumi tells him, it’s not his fault if others people don’t try either. Sakuya was made to believe that he had to take full responsibility when a relationship doesn’t work because of his relatives, and i think he was set on doing the same with this Massu’s situation, and the reason he could share it with Izumi is because she’s not the person he’s taking responsibility for). On top of that, Sakuya remains Masumi’s elder, and Sakuya does want to be someone people rely on - he wants to be a big brother figure, and i think he wouldn’t have wanted or known how much of this responsibility he could share with Masumi knowing that. And i don’t think it’s healthy! but it’s perfectly understandable from Sakuya’s perspective and the specific way he shoulders responsibilities because i will fistfight his family his family sucked.

As for Itaru, on this one we only got the reveals about how deep this lack of trust Itaru had for people ran only recently, so imo early on you just need to take it at face value and hope when you get to know more, it’ll click. Realizing he doesn’t want to be alone anymore and wants to be more with Spring is a turning point from this set up about him, so he can only develop from here.

For why no one really told him off about it, i guess i can understand the grip ahah. imo i think everyone worried already enough that he was talking about leaving the company this was the priority to discuss and i do think talking about his ankle at that point may have not worked with the pacing of the emotional moment. I wouldn’t have minded seeing some of them being more worried about it in general though.

In the end the thing with Spring is that aside from Tsuzuru, they are all people who come from background where communication isn’t their forte. Sakuya fears he’s never good enough, Masumi never even had to face how lonely his life had made him until now (and i think he specifically lashes on the director because it’s the first time he feels like he wants a connection with anyone in his life and he doesn’t know what to do with it. I find his obsession creepy imo but i also see where it’s coming from), Itaru has severe trust issues and rather be solo in general, and Citron hides a lot about himself.

and i think, we have Tsuzuru has never been really alone ever, and he takes a lot of responsibility, (though there’s a few things about his background we learn later that shows he still has similar struggles than the rest of his troupe regarding some.. broken connection, which he vagues at in the Spring chapter (... which is something i only noticed on my reread knowing that so i wouldn’t blame you for not catching it))  but he’s also trying to do things for himself for once in his life. Ultimately he knows how to communicate more in general but he has that going on for him, and especially, i think his way to communicate or connect may be too foreign for the rest of the troupe for a smooth connection off the bat.

All of them are trying to connect in their own ways coming from those complicated feelings they have about connection imo... and i do find it fascinating. 

I see Spring a lot like, the kids who had to grow up too fast and the adults who are unhappy with where their adult lives have taken them and the expectations pushed upon them who yet are trying to cope on their own mostly because they have reasons to feel unsafe otherwise. (Tsuzuru is a bit in between imo bc he’s not “unsafe” yet and he’s already taking himself back in hands with the expectations things, but anyway, i am. trying to keep it short, believe it or not) And they’re still navigating where that leaves them as people, and where that leaves them in their connection with others, and especially with each other because in the end they’re all yearning to connect especially with one another, and just don’t know how to reconcile this desire with who they have been all this time to cope through all of this.

All of this is present in the Spring intro chapter but ^^” i could imagine that without having the full picture those aren’t things that may be easily picked up as important for their characterizations. But honestly there’s a throve of details in the writing to flesh them out when you know where to look and i find it fascinating. (but also i like. relived this chapter 5 times, 4 of which after i’ve seen most of their development, and my first read is so long ago i think i just overthink everything DLKJFDLKF and like, Spring was one of my least favorite at first read bc i struggled to connect with them, so it’s not like i don’t get you, it’s just. nowadays, spring is care spring is love and i cry over their intro chap a lot.)

Anyway i guess i get what you felt still, but, idk maybe i feel strongly about it ahah, i like the way the characters stand out from one another even in the moments that are probably just.. stupid, but in a “they wouldn’t know how to do better because of what’s holding them back” way.

i feel like “lack of communication” is a problem every troupe have to various degree and for different reasons, but the whole thing is about trying to figure out how to fix that and work it with them. Some are more forward than others (like, Summer, mostly because Tenma and Yuki are stubborn and loud and straightforward in their own way)(”than others” i have so much to say about this i’m holding back dLKFJD) but i think it depends also a lot on some thematic it wants to tackle and the spirit of the characters in each troupe. It changes as the story progresses but yeah after all, they are all strangers. And while the game mentions they have a few months to prepare for their play, it was reckoned that every play takes one month to prepare, so it doesn’t really give a lot of time on their first play to really figure out everything they need to work on.

Spring, in essence, as a season, is about blooming back after Winter, after sadness and hardship, and learning how to slowly open up again. So imo their intro chap have to reflect that slow progress for them. While Summer can afford to be more loud, straight to the point (and even there it’s not always easy), Summer is full of learning from their mistake, living in the Now, in the Moment. So their season thematic reflects a bit in their intro chap at least. (ofc they all grow from there though but that’s still interesting imo).

anyway i rambled LDFJDLKFJFDLK

I didn’t mean it in a way to say your reading is invalid though!! sorry if it feels that way, i’ve tried rewriting it a few times DLKFJDLFK i just have a lot of emotions about Spring and the points you mentioned made me think about some stuff about it. 

ANYWAY

if you want to share your thoughts about summer too and the rest you’re always welcomed o7 i’m glad you’re still enjoying your stay, and i hope you’ll keep enjoying the ride!

And Take care!

[otome-reviews]

SLBP "Somewhere Beneath the Moon” Event Review

Ninja stories with CG’s and a Street Fair, right on the heels of another event that had CG’s and and a full-sized Kenshin doll?! No matter what you might think of the event stories themselves, Voltage sure is spoiling us with loot! In any case, my thoughts on the current event:

Sakuya displays a truly unique brand of douchebaggery in his ES after he and MC are assigned to work together on a mission: “Just so you know, you and I are nothing but ninjas for the duration of this mission. All other emotions need to go.” ...ffs if Gen’s able to say cute things and Hanzo’s able to seduce MC while they’re on missions together, surely Saku can spare a hug or something. Especially considering he and MC are supposed to pretend to be MARRIED! 🙄 Saku is also super charming when MC questions him about enemy intel: “This is my mission. It has nothing to do with you.” Basically, he’s a cold robot in this ES, and it even almost screws over Nobunaga because Saku’s more concerned with carrying out a mission like a good little ninja than saving his boss’s life. I did think it was interesting how it was Nobunaga of all people who helps pull the stick out of Sakuya’s ass in the end (“Whether you follow me as a ninja or as a samurai matters not to me”).

In case you haven’t inferred, no, I didn’t like Sakuya at all in this ES. He didn’t even apologize for being a douche! I’m not too surprised given what I’ve heard about his MS, but honestly I’d been hoping the writers would gloss over his more negative traits, since that’s what they did in Saku’s two previous ES’s. Anyway, to be fair, this route had its good points. Inuchiyo attempting to dress Saku’s wound with sake was a highlight. Sakuya looked utterly delectable in his war armor. And finally, I LOVED how clearly this story’s time frame was defined relative to history (with Oichi’s husband’s betrayal)! But alas, the guy’s “winning” personality in this ES really made it a shitty read for me. ^_^

Personal enjoyment: 3.5/10

Holy crap where do I even begin with Hotaru... Every time I read an ES about this kid I learn so much, lmao. This time’s no exception. When MC gets taken in by Kenshin as an apothecary after Hotaru vouches for her, he’s as innocent, dango-obsessed, and easily charmed as he typically is, albeit a little more talkative. And then Kenshin gets into a war, and Hotaru goes on an unsanctioned killing spree, painting the forest red with the blood of their enemies. Then there’s this doozy of a quote: “Hey, Hotaru? What do you think life is?” “Something that breaks.” 😬 ​I’m not 100% convinced that MC and Kenshin successfully explained to this kid why killing is bad, but at least he’s calmed down for now...?! (“I don’t want to make them red any more.”)

I do have a few unresolved questions about the plot. MC was traveling with her village in the beginning of the story - where did they end up? Kenshin’s referred to the God of War for a reason - what makes the deaths he causes so fundamentally different from Hotaru’s? What makes Hotaru’s ninja jobs that Kenshin sends him on different? Also, from a romantic perspective, I am now horrified by MC’s “romance” with Hotaru, on top of being disturbed by how childish the kid appears. He’s like a cute little killer bunny. You’re not supposed to date killer bunnies, lol. Anyways, flaws aside, I did thoroughly enjoy reading this disturbing ES. ...Just not from a romantic perspective.  😂

Personal enjoyment: 7/10

Speaking of horrifying romantic plots, Hanzo’s story should have any sane reader running the other way, but, well, I’m more than a little biased! Here, Hanzo’s usual program of teasing MC seductively and trolling Ieyasu is interrupted when he, MC, and Ieyasu visit a hostile village only for the local mayor to get murdered in the dead of night. Naturally, MC suspects him, but her information gathering technique kind of sucks and Hanzo ends up having to save her from a group of ninjas. Then he legit threatens her life with a kunai!! (“If you wish to throw your life away as well, I should be happy to take it from you, you know.”) ...Only to save her life from the main ninja dude once again, lmao. Nobody ever said Hanzo was consistent. ^_^

Ngl, I thought the plot was bizarre at times. Why did Momochi the head ninja suddenly stop trying to kill Hanzo? Why was he talking with a Shakespearean accent?! But Hanzo was ridiculously hot in his ES, and for that I can personally forgive a LOT, lmao. Some highlights:

When Hanzo seduces MC while they’re hiding from Momochi (“We must not make even the slightest noise. Closer, little mouse.”) 🐁

“You do not understand in the slightest, Your Lordship. ...The richness of having someone in your life you would gladly die to protect.”

Hanzo confirming @rubyleeray’s theory that he’s got some sort of injury kink by sucking MC’s damaged fingertips (!!!!) asdfkjasdfjdsafl

“You are so very lovely I dare say I could devour you whole.” ​😳

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

At the end of the day, no matter what you thought about this batch of stories, can we all agree that those are some A+ CG’s? Voltage’s artist definitely deserves a raise!

What did you all think about these ninja stories? :)

[emilycollins00]

Hiiii! I'm aware I'm practically stepping into the conversation but the ask was really interesting and Icha's answer as always felt so nice to read that I wanted to share my thoughts! It's always nice to talk about a3.

To me, the only moment I noticed there was some kind of resentment against one of the characters was towards Chikage and the whole kidnapping, revenge and not apologizing and so on. Still, I don't know, at the end of the day even if I love them all to death I am conscious this is a game, so I didn't really pay that much attention. At some point, comments about him became less and less and well- yeah, that's it as far as I know. Didn't know about others commenting badly about other characters (which absolutely doesn't mean I don't believe there must have been!) but I get it. While a3 fandom is not that big, clashes and fights happen in every fandom whether we like it or not.

Now, about Banban? while I've never, and I mean it, disliked any character (which is why A3 is always so refreshing), I admit that Banri was one of the few that I tilted my head sometimes at the beginning. I believe it was because similar to what Icha said, I compared him with Juza and because we had already two prior stories of people at least trying to make peace with one another, and then you have Banri that keeps "attacking"? for the lack of a better word to a quiet Juza who only wishes is to enjoy theater and honestly the need to support the sweet-lover came to me first because while Tenma or Masumi were blunt, I never felt it caused so much tension in the long term as Banri responses and actions did. Still, he is one of my favorite characters approach (?) Like, he has grown SO incredibly much and I love him so much.

I've also never really been good at ranking so I didn't really even try to get those cards. Still wholeheartedly agree that autumn troupe has always been per definition the one that aaaaalways broke the game due to the power of each of its individuals, along with Itaru- this last one may be because that's usually the one beginners in the game come in contact with (meaning, knowing about his backstory and his playful side)? Misumi was in my opinion EXTREMELY well-liked.

I also believe Tasuku, and in general the winter troupe is more difficult to find stans (again, that can be said because I also don't move much outside my bubble). Give it because they are adults, maybe? and many players are young? I don't know, that's how I always thought about it. The way they had to resolve their issues in contrast to the other 3 troupes was also in my opinion much more... mmm weird? I personally hoped that given they were adults we would get to see how as one grows is more difficult to create real connections but it also helps because you have life experience... and yet we get the dorm mysteries, and the mirror, and the door, and while they were fun I sometimes felt inattentive at times.

As for the others, maybe the youngest could be said to be less popular but generally well-liked. Sakuya I might be making it up but I remember people saying how they liked the character but felt it empty at the same time. I think the new acts (that weren't translated due to the ending of the server) do help much much more to add layers to all of them, much I do believe the majority of us are stuck with act II.

Citron is also a beautiful character that has sadly been glued in the same place by Liber which is why I feel many don't lean that much towards him. (he's been in japan for how many years already and he can't/doesn't want to talk correctly?? a miss. Just like Masumi's obsession, Muku's self-loathing... anyway).

As for popularity I do think Banri is actually quite high along with Itaru, Misumi, Juza, Homare?, Omi, Tenma and a few others. I was never good at ranking so I can count on one hand the times I've tried to and have barely gotten the R card, so I can't really remember if given or taken there were others that we more difficult to reach.

In any case, the only thing I tend to think is that everyone's favorability would have become more and more equal had the eng server continued because there are so many stories left unsaid for us to read. But yeah, thinking about what was it like and how is it now, who knows.

was having banri thoughts lately just bc like. why not right. and then i suddenly remember u mentioning that some ppl... did not like banri at the start? which is wild to me bc in my mind ive always been ride or die for him. like i love juza so much but i feel like. that doesnt rly oppose liking banris character as well? banri is such fun character drama at the beginning of autumn and then his and itarus dynamic is fun from the start... gosh and the acting in the final bits of the autumn troupe between him and juza! suchhh fun tension. like. idk. it just started making me think like wow. digging thru a3 on my own with mostly the influence of like, just you has probably skewed my opinion of what the common perception of a3 is like. for example in my head winter is the most popular troupe which... it maybe isnt? i feel like recently i saw u mention summer might be the most popular(? this couldve been a dream) and i didnt realize itaru was super popular until like. last month. i mean if i had to pick a character i thought was the most popular i'd pick. misumi.

LKFJDLKFJD god what an ask

yeah i doubt i'm exactly the "common a3 experience" but to be perfectly honest i haven’t really kept tabs on the fandom per se since hh mid-2020 when i started to dig into some tags and saw so much negativity i was just :/ and stopped doing so (the curse to liking rascals </3).

Nowadays my knowledge of the a3 fandom is mostly the people interreacting with me, which already generally means that they vibe with what i post, so it gives me a skewed vision of the fandom like, are we all like that? or are the loud voices that made me go avoid the tag still here yaknow?

More stuff under cut

For Banri, i'll admit i wasn't too hot about him when i started the game, which now i regret so bad because he's my precious little meow meow hands down. He has such a good arc!!!! I know in my case i just had a hard time because i cared for Juza right away and i was still so high on Summer's development i kept comparing Banri to Tenma and going "here's why Tenma is amazing and Banri is cringefail". But it lasted me until a bit before Banri sees the portraits, when he starts to be conflicted, after that i was all, oh wait i like that guy. And then the more content i saw of him the more i loved him and he became my fav Autumn Chara. (so if you want to ramble about him more you’re free to do so because i’m team i adore this guy. please do. you’re so right in what you say of him.)

But so i did expect people to have my experience - hard time in the beginning, then mellowing on him before the end of the Autumn Chapter. And it wasn't the case 😭😭😭😭 At least at the time, the Banri's takes were rancid. Like it was genuinely annoying at a point, you couldn't go anywhere without some Banri bashing fuckery, even after his initial arc, people just. really hated him. My most hated takes were that i saw so many people say Banri would bully Yuki or stuff implying they would have an antagonistic relationship and it's probably why i cling to Into the Night so much, like HELL you're going to twist one of my fav crosstroupe dynamic!!! I legit saw so many things reducing Banri to a menace and a bully, and if not that, talking about how much everyone in the dorm hated him, and it was really driving me insane then.

I remember once making a post about how i was so close to blacklist "Banri" because people didn't filter this bashing with tags so i was just ready to just, not see Banri anymore, but it was breaking my heart. But somehow after this post i got a few people coming back at me about how it annoyed them too and i saw some of those people make their own posts in a more. direct way. and after that i never saw Banri bashing again. My power (< absolutely not, coincidence at best i'm sure).

A lot of Banri bashing i saw back then were from "newcomers" in the sense that it was after the anime aired, and a lot of people were just coming in without knowing about the events. imo i think the events do help giving a better feel to Banri in general so the fact people were fresh from the anime might have skewed things. I remember a friend who was in that case, newcomer and all, only read the main story, didn't like Banri after reading the main story. Then, Main story act 2 came out and while they didn't read the events, they read the main story and they started liking Banri there (because he did develop so much since then)

And as a whole i'd say, by act 2 it must have died out a bit.

There's another chara who gets bashed a lot but. Act 2 stuff 😔. Unfortunately a chara i like a lot so this was my breaking point of "i'm not checking the tags anymore none of you know how to behave". I think it mellowed since then? and i know the chara is popular in the JPN fandom meanwhile.

else i've seen like, Tasuku having very little content from fans and a few people being mean to him when they talked about him, but it was a long time ago and i sure hope it died out. I don't think i'd say he's bashed, more that most folks don't have strong feelings about him and stopped just with a bitter taste over his anger toward Tsumugi in the first winter chap.

Now. About popularity, Winter is DEF NOT the most popular troupe. Pretty sure it plays between Autumn and Summer in term of popularity. That said it's not like any of the troupes are unpopular so any ramblings about each Troupe would be meet with pleased reactions from the fandom, so it is harder to gauge that but yeah.

Troupewise something i noticed is that i think Summer is the most popular in term of GROUP, while Autumn is the most popular in term of Individuals. So a lot of people liked Summer specifically for their dynamic and how each of those charas played out each other more than individually liking each of them, while for Autumn it was, they liked all of them strongly! not specifically for their dynamic, though of course it plays a part, but as individuals. I mention it because i think it was the key difference in rank up in why i think Summer plays were okay to rank up to while Autumn were a nightmare. (that said that can also be "blamed" on "fans gravitate around characters that have elements they have as well" or something which means Autumn fans were more likely to be competitive and stubborn in a way Summer were more mellow.)

Itaru is definitely the most popular character of the whole game, period. It's not even a competition at this point it's so funny. when the EN server was live, anytime Itaru had a rank up card was a bloodbath (< survivor of Kniroun ranking up at 0.2%. Didn't sleep normally for the whole duration of the event it was so much.).

By the end of the server things were dying out a bit but still in general you could get a vague idea of popularity by how wild the rankings could be. For instance the fact Tasuku's ranking was a breeze without even trying was indicative of how he's not that popular.

In general i've noticed, at the time at least, that Winter ranks up were rather easy. I've ranked up for a few of Summer and i didn't see much of a problem otherwise*. Spring was really chill unless Itaru was in rank up. Autumn was THE Bloodbath. There were Autumn Stans organziation all over, the appp SYSTEMATICALLY broke EVERYTIME Autumn was around, it was always much more challenging, so yeah man.

Misumi* is probably the one i'd consider the second most popular character of the game, pretty much.

(*The funny thing is that Misumi got his lead play very early in the server's history, and i know i ranked up for him then and i didn't think it was too hard. In retrospect i'm sure it has more to do with the fact the game didn't have as many people playing it, than it had to do with popularity, so my word on Summer not being a problem is based on weird stats)

A while ago, for the Taiwanese server, there was a special set of cards in term of popularity on this server. Itaru got a SSR, Masumi got a SR, and Misumi got a R.

Masumi is in a weird position because i'd say he's fairly unpopular in the EN server, while he's popular in the JPN and Taiwanese server. Honestly i'm assuming he's especially popular with the teen audience.

AND THE MOST TELLING PART:

The first Cross-troupe's play was involving the most popular character of each troupe, by a poll being made by the JPN server. The leads were Itaru and Banri, then Misumi as a secondary character and Tsumugi as a more support character.

Meaning at the time, this was the order of the 4 most popular characters of the game.

When the mixed troupe event came to the English server, i remember a poll circulating on tumblr and likely twitter as well, trying to see if the EN Server had different favorites. Itaru still came on top, Misumi followed closely afterward. For Autumn, it was Juza and Taichi that were on the top of the Autumn poll, not Banri, and for Winter, i think it was still Tsumugi but Homare was very close behind.

So that was the popularity at least back then, god knows opinions now.

I've seen Homare be extremely popular on tumblr for sure. I have no doubt in Juza's popularity as well.

I saw a lot of Taichi fan going "Taichi is underappreciated" but i saw so many of them i was kinda just thinking "bro i'm pretty sure Taichi is in the popular character squad by now" But i'm also on the other hand as i've once seen a post saying Hisoka was popular and it stunned me a moment going ????? because as a huge Hisoka stan i don't see it???? There's a few devoted fans, and he has a better fanbase in JPN server, but in EN server??? (I'm comparing the last rank up for Hisoka VS the last rank up for Taichi in my mind and i genuinely don't see it for instance) so i also think it's likely i have a "fav blindspot" where i just don't think people are vibing with the charas the way i'm vibing, just. exactly like what i'm talking about with the Taichi stans so.... (that said i also once was tagged in a post that was going "i don't think i've ever seen a Hisoka or Tasuku stan" and a friend just went @ icha come here. Schrodinger Hisoka who's both popular and unpopular depending on who you're asking. And Tasuku IS MY UNDERRATED MEOW MEOW)

I think i recall Tenma being popular for a time, and Yuki is well appreciated by everyone around here. Kazunari has a loud fanbase but i'm pretty sure the seiyuu thing was a huge blow to them and a lot of them got more quiet at the time.

And for what it's worth i do think there's a sizeable portion of the fandom that really like Tsuzuru, but i think it's just, something you get to see a lot when a huge part of the fandom is creatives. And to be completely fair, Clockwork Heart is the one event i had a massive burn out at and didn't pay attention to the rankings at all, so i can't tell if people went really wild about it. And the next Tsuzuru rank up event was literally the last event of the EN server and i'm sure it's not indicative of anything since a lot of folks just didn't want to bother. So unlike the others were i'm using rank up as a gauge of popularity i can't tell how Tsuzuru's might influence his.

SO YEAH that's for what i could pick up BACK THEN, as i remind, i didn't really look deeply into the fandom itself. I'm really good in my corner so it might not actually be indicative of the fandom trends and i'm maybe completely off base.

Then about how, i, personally, don't represent the fandom, unless the fandom changed since then: When i first liveblogged a3, it was when the server was new and no one was on tumblr about it, so i was a little unfiltered from people's opinions. when i came back about a year later to comment on act 2, getting all worked up, and running then into the growing fanbase on this website, is when i started to run into fan takes and everything.

And, let's be clear, i came back because i was crying very hard over Hisoka and Azuma and the full Winter Troupe, and Chikage, so i really came here with my Big Winter Boots only talking about Winter and then Spring.

I ended up getting a feel of what people were talking about a lot at that time, and kinda ended up talking more about what i considered my Underrated Gems.

For instance, i absolutely adore Itaru. I ranked up for him, i've bleed for him, i love the dude. But he's so popular i figured i legit had nothing to say about him that a hundred people wouldn't have been able to say before. So i've mostly didn't really talk about him much despite loving him a LOT because i just didn't think i had anything to say. (now in my current reread i'm doing it so disconnected from what i know of the fandom that i indulged in talking more about how much i like him LMAO)

Meanwhile, there's characters i love that i know the fandom don't talk about much so i end up talking about them more, and it's the case of Tasuku. I wouldn't be surprised Tasuku is really low on most people's popular list. I'm just Not Most People and you're going to hear me ramble about that hunk of a man every few days or so.

I've made my niche in the Winter Troupe appreciation gang and i'm pretty sure by now a lot of other Winter people follow me as a result because i couldn't shut the fuck up, so then my perception of the fanbase gets skewed because i just think of Them ahah.

And there is the fact i adore the rookies, mainly Chikage and Guy, but don't talk about them so much mostly because they came out later in the main story and i've been rereading act 1 so many times instead,,, and didn't talk much about act 2 in case some people managed to save themselves from being spoiled (like you!!)

So my personal perception of a3 is probably not reflecting the whole a3 fanbase really much. God the amount of times i talked my friends's ears off about Winter, that they kinda just humored me without thinking much about it, until they found out one of the More Popular Chara (Itaru, Tenma and the whole Autumn Troupe mostly) and suddenly they're like *twirls hair* heeyy Icha tell us more about a3. It's genuinely so funny to me.

and again i don't know perhaps i'm full of shit, and it's not like i've kept tabs on the fandom recently either!

But that is at least a bit of what i remember in term of popularity and what i can say is that i shouldn't be taken as an example of the fanbase's views in general.

I'm vibing in my corner, and by experience, it usually meant i ended up talking about more niche things, but since i'm disconnected from the fandom i'm pretty sure i still have opinions that are popular opinions. So who knows! not me!

So yeah that's all i can say about the popularity of the a3 fandom. Def not an indication of it by me.

and it must be funny for you since you only really have me as your fandom gateaway because well. *waves at post* yeah.

The more you know!