#abyssal palace

[the--grin--reaper]

I need more of Lindon with the Dreadgod cults

I need his interactions with the Silent King's cult who see him as a replacement for their god and say that they don't worship him but he knows damn well they still do. Also they just kind of appeared and he doesn't know where they came from.

I need him with Redmoon Hall because they went under his banner because of Yerin promising them safety and now he just has a dreadgod cult with him that he doesn't know what to do with.

Abyssal Palace probably hate him after Sky's Edge 💀💀

The Stormcallers are a wild card but Lindon definitely holds a grudge on the behalf of Ziel/his opinion is influenced by what Ziel went through. I also think the Stormcallers will be wary of him because of it because Ziel was THE Dawnwing and this is his friend so...

Also Lindon canonically distrusts anyone who decides to join a dreadgod cult. Hell, YERIN is more understanding. Thanks to her chat with Yan Shoumei and Calan Archer she understands that for some people it's resources and that not all cultists are bad and that they are just trying to make it in the world and they aren't all so bad actually. Lindon just don't like them.

[thelaithlyworm]

Daomu Biji Watcher’s Guide, May 2024

A few new entries have been popping up lately, and I’m always hopeful new fans will stumble into the pits and never leave so I thought I’d paste up a rough map.

(Obviously the best watching order, like the best reading order of Discworld or the Aubrey-Maturin books, is ‘whatever first comes to your hand’ but for the people who don’t like that…)

tl;dr:

Daomu Biji is a series about tomb raiding. Think Indiana Jones or Lara Croft but much, much longer. The protagonist Wu Xie is deeply in love with BFF1 Zhang Qiling, a hundred-year-old cryptid, and BFF2 Wang Pangzi, who was stolen in a raid from another book series. It’s comic, tragic, horrific, zany, prone to musings on life, love, desire, attachment, and has many, many piss jokes. (‘Journey to the West but modern’ is maybe the other comparison I’d make.)

Notes:

– This guide is not talking about “quality”. All of the adaptations have their own strengths and weaknesses and tone can vary a great deal, which is to say, if one of them doesn’t suit you it’s likely something else will.

– Wacky endings, and plot threads that disappear unfinished and get picked up a long time later, are as inherent to the franchise as the piss jokes.

– It’s common for the dramas to introduce characters and subplots a lot earlier than the books do. Sometimes we’ll see a character introduced ‘for the first time’ on multiple occasions and strangely familiar scenes. I’ll try to point out the biggest continuity clashes as I go.

The Soft Entry:

There are a few movies that are entertaining as standalones but will introduce various characters and background. I would recommend:

Escape from the Monstrous Snake + Mystery/Grave of the Abyss – two monster movies featuring Hei Xiazi, a supporting character. He’s a pragmatical mercenary who’s going blind in kind of a weird way, and goofy as hell when he isn’t tiptoeing over a vast abyss of existential dread. So many fun action scenes.

Time Raiders (2015) – so there are some textual clues that late in his career Wu Xie wrote this story as a memory-jogger for an amnesiac friend. The plot is a freewheeling wild ride which doesn’t directly match any book plot but introduces some major characters and how they relate to each other. It’s colourful and fast-moving. Enjoy, enjoy.

Conjuring Curse and Misty Creed are… theoretically set late in the series even if the actors look about twelve. Both work as stand-alone adventures, though Misty Creed is maybe a little deep in the lore. Again, colourful and fast-moving.

The Chronological Order

You could honestly start with most of these – they tend to come with a ‘what has gone before’ at the start or a newbie character that things get explained to. The only one I wouldn’t start with is Heavenly Palace in the Clouds, which is lovely but also the second half of a set and things won’t make sense if you haven’t seen Lost Tomb 2 first.

Lost Tomb 1 – a highly digestible 10-12 episode version of the Seven Star Lu Palace arc, ie. Baby’s First Adventure. Introduces A-Ning, Xie Yuchen, and Huo Xiuxiu early and a couple of og characters for Wu Xie to talk to instead of monologuing to himself. The restaurant scene at the end was raided from a later arc and you’ll see it again in Ultimate Note. A book character, Da Kui, was cut which is a small problem because how he died is a minor plot point discussed in Lost Tomb 2. 

Lost Tomb 2 – covers Raging Sea, Hidden Sands (underwater tomb) and Qinling God-Tree (weird bronze tree in the mountains) plus a whole lotta side stories and original content exploring the world and foreshadowing later plots. Mooostly in continuity with Lost Tomb 1 (see Da Kui above) and made as a set with Heavenly Palace in the Clouds – they share resources and a lot of actors, and some threads begun here are finished in Heavenly Palace.

Heavenly Palace in the Clouds – covers the Mt Changbai arc, a journey up a mountain to find a very old, very grand tomb. This was made so close to Lost Tomb 2 that LT2 borrows shots from Heavenly Palace and not the other way around, which is fascinating because it pointedly contradicts the last five episodes of LT2. It also brings forward some plotlines originally from the Tamutuo and Zhang Family Old Pavilion arcs (San-shu’s past in the underwater tomb, and the Huo Family videotapes) dragging some characters on-screen and forcing them to talk about their feelings, which they would clearly rather die than do. Given those plot-tweaks and the early, deliberate continuity clash, I’m tempted to call this a Canon Parallel Universe. Got some interestingly chewy character dynamics and luverly, luverly set design.

Mystic Nine – This is a prequel about Zhang Qishan – Fo-ye – and his peers, but later dramas expect us to know who Fo-ye was so I’m sticking it here. Kinda… picaresque? Lots of action scenes and Republican-era flavour and various factions jostling for power – kinda feels like an old-school wuxia story, only set in the 1930s with all that glorious Republican-era styling. Has some unfortunate cut scenes – the details of how Fo-ye recovered at his family’s house don’t make a lot of sense in the aired version, and there are a couple of missing fights in the penultimate episode. Shrug. Still a lot of fun. Comes with four side movies about supporting characters.

Ultimate Note – Covers the Tamutuo arc (a trip through the jungle) and two-thirds of the Zhang Family Old Pavilion arc (investigating Zhang Qiling’s past is like kicking a hornet’s nest). Very, very flirty and has some zippy-zip action choreography. Politely ignores Lost Tomb 1–Heavenly Palace continuity (Xie Yuchen is, once more, introduced for the first time, now with a romantically coded friendship arc) and brings in a lot of cameos from Mystic Nine and Sand Sea, which it was filmed after. Kinda tiptoes around parts of the book plot, which I suspect would be hard for anyone to film, re: Fo-ye’s actions in the 1960s. Fair warning, this ends on a cliffhanger. This is also where the Xinyue Restaurant scene appears again – two cakes!

Tibetan Sea Flower – If Tibetan Sea Flower ever airs, it will go here.

Sand Sea – Based on the Sand Sea novel. After Tibetan Sea Flower, Wu Xie goes into a bit of a decline and makes that the world’s problem. We the audience, plus Li Cu and Liang Wan, EDIT: a lovely doctor, are pretty much dropped in media res into a number of ancient conspiracies and complicated plots coming to a head in the manner of a boil. It’s weird; it’s messy; it’s mad fun. Like Mystic Nine, has a lot of factions jostling for power and colourful jianghu characters. We will, once more, see the Xinyue Restaurant scene. Also has some side movies.

Time Raiders – The textual hints that suggest Wu Xie wrote this, suggest he wrote it around Sand Sea-era, when his life was a bit complicated. I’m putting it after Sand Sea because I believe it caps a conversation that, ah, doesn’t quite make it into the drama. But notionally this is where it should go. Ah…. at one point, someone tells a story about an ancient ruler, King Mu of Zhou, who sought immortality from the Queen of the West in Tamutuo. The longer book conversation suggests that a) King Mu of Zhou engineered a “trap” for someone like Wu Xie to fall into in the future, and b) that Iron Mask Scholar, a villain from Lost Tomb 1, was an alias that King Mu of Zhou used in the Warring States Era. Which makes some of Iron Mask Scholar’s appearances in Time Raiders… interesting.

Reunion: Sound of Providence – sometimes known as Reboot. Having peaked in badassery in Sand Sea, Wu Xie has to consider what his life is going to be now, and also, he would like to track down a missing family member. So this was tweaked to make it more accessible to new viewers (so some parts of the back-story are not mentioned or conflated for simplicity) and that mostly works but I did find watching this first and then picking up the earlier dramas a bit of a mindscrew. Zhu Yilong is, however, a powerful draw and the rest of the cast sparkles. Probably best to think of Season 1 as two short seasons jammed together, which is to say, once the Warehouse 11 arc starts there are a number of characters who won’t reappear until Season 2. It’s a fun arc even so. Season 2 ends with a badass action scene and then a big party, which I think is a great way to end a story.

Escape from the Monstrous Snake, Mystery/Grave of the Abyss, Conjuring Curse, Misty Creed – these are all theoretically set around or after Reboot-era, though they can certainly be watched as stand-alones.

[glitched-dawn]

from Dentist Office Torture Castle to LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOO

i fucking LOVE this game

[scandalouslamb]

inspired by @persephoneprice's post

(each answer comes with a free lab rat)

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

sin of emptiness akechi goro my beloved

[shivunin]

14 / 38 / 48 for the Florence asks! ✨

Oooh, thank you so much! I will answer one here and do the other(s) in separate posts c: This gave me a push to finally finish fleshing out an idea that's been sitting for over a year, so double thank you for that! 💗

(Florence + the Machine Writing Prompts)

Hold Me Down

Summary: In the aftermath of Here Lies the Abyss, Cullen finds the Inquisitor alone at the edge of the camp.

(Elowen Lavellan/Cullen | 1,206 Words | CW: Blood, descriptions of shock/panic attack)

“Hold me down, I'm so tired now Aim your arrow at the sky Take me down, I'm too tired now Leave me where I lie.” —Florence + the Machine, “Sky Full of Song”

“—foremost priority should be seeking out and destroying any remaining demons who might have escaped the battle,” Cullen was saying to a scout as they walked, “take a group and scour the fortress for any signs, and then relay the information to Commander Rylen. He’s kept a troop in reserve for cleanup duty.”

“Yes, Commander,” the scout said, peeling off. Cullen paused as he saw an odd shape tucked between two tents and a stack of crates. 

He knew the shape of that staff. 

“Inquisitor?” he called, peering over the stack of crates. The shape shifted, turned slightly, and lifted its head. 

Behind the cowl, her face was still spattered with blood; it was almost enough to obscure the pale lines of her vallaslin entirely, and what the blood didn’t smear was peppered with ash and dust. Her hands were set on her lap, just as filthy as her face, half-curled and limp. And her eyes…

“Lavellan?” he said, and she blinked, blood-clogged eyelashes sticking for a moment to her cheek. Her eyes did not come into focus. 

Ah—he’d seen this before. 

Cullen sidestepped the crates and crouched several inches away, leaving her room on the other side to get away from him if necessary. 

“Can you hear me, Inquisitor?” he murmured quietly, and her bitten lips cracked open. 

“I am fine.”

“That isn’t what I asked,” he said quietly, glancing over his shoulder when he heard movement in the camp. Just a pair of sentries wandering past. He returned his attention to the Inquisitor, whose attention remained fixed somewhere over Cullen’s left shoulder. 

“Can you hear me?” he asked. “Do you know what I am saying?”

There was a long pause. He noted the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the way her blood-soaked hands trembled in her lap. 

“...yes,” she said at last, her voice faint and flat. 

“What do you hear?” 

A soft gasp and her hands twitched in her lap. 

“You.” 

“And what else?” 

She was still breathing too quickly. Cullen eased himself down until he was kneeling between her and the rest of the camp. If nothing else, he could shield her from their speculation. A meager enough offering, but it was one he would give her without hesitation.

“The…the tents in the wind.”

“And?” 

“Metal on stone. People talking.”

“Good. What do you see?”

A frown collected between her brows and she slowly glanced at him to frown. That was good, too. 

“Sand. Tents. The stars.”

“And?” 

“Why?”

“Answer the question.”

She sighed, but her breath had slowed slightly. 

“The crates. My…my hands,” her voice shook on the last word. “You.”

“Alright,” he paused, “Are you with me?”

“Yes, I…yes,” she moved to set her face in her hands and flinched when she saw them clearly. “I—it was…The Fade was…”

“We needn’t discuss it,” Cullen murmured, shifting onto his knees to tug the tail end of his cloak loose. “You don’t have to say anything now. May I see your hand?”

Lavellan extended one hand silently and Cullen pulled the cork from his waterskin to wet the crimson fabric of his cloak. He could not properly clean her skin here; he hadn’t carried soap with him, and the cloth of the cloak was not especially absorbent. Maker, he was covered in his fair share of grime after the battle. Even so, he could get the worst of the blood off. He knew all too well what it meant to have to deal with such aftereffects of a fight. 

To be confronted with the concrete proof of what had happened. 

Her hands shook in his grip, and they were cold even through the barrier of leather. Cullen pressed his lips together, trying to decide if he ought to offer his gloves. Would she take them from him? He could not guess either way. 

“Is that any better?” he asked when he was done. Lavellan took her hand from him and peered at it in the flickering torchlight of the camp, curling and uncurling her fingers. 

“Yes, I—thank you,” she said. She lifted the other hand slightly and froze with it there, hung halfway into the air. Cullen carefully reached out to take it, selecting a different section of fabric to clean the skin with. 

Someone ought to be helping her properly. Someone needed to make sure she found a bath, food, somewhere soft to lay her head. After all he had seen of her, all he knew she had done, Cullen knew better than to think she was fragile. Even so—it tugged at him, to see her so shattered now. 

“It had so many legs,” she whispered hoarsely after a moment. “Too many. I—I couldn’t—I should have—”

Her voice broke at the end, and when the Commander glanced at her he saw that tears had begun to clear some of the muck from her cheeks in clear, straight lines. They dripped from her cheeks black and red-brown, leaving tiny, damp circles on her coat. 

“You’re here now,” he told her, holding her hand for a moment longer than necessary once it was clean. “You aren’t there anymore. It is done.”

“I let him die,” she said quietly, searching his eyes. “I—I told him to stay behind. It’s my fault. And the Divine—it’s my fault, Commander. All of it is.”

Cullen waited for her to continue, but she didn’t go on. She bit her lip again, staring at him. Ah—but what could he say to her now? There was nothing to be done about one’s past mistakes. He knew better than most what it meant to live with regret at one’s back. What to say? All he had was the words he gave his own soldiers when they’d made a mistake, and the words seemed ill-fitting here.  

“Whatever has happened,” he told her, “I’ve no doubt that you made the best decision you could with the resources available to you.”

Lavellan withdrew her hand. Cullen let it go without protest. 

“I…” slowly, the Inquisitor pulled her cowl down and away from her face. She ran her hands over the relatively clean plait beneath. “Thank you.”

It was recognition, but a dismissal as well. Not “thank you for thinking so,” but “please go away.”

Cullen tucked the soiled end of the cloak away and stood, careful not to move too close. 

“If there is anything you need, Inquisitor,” he said softly. “Please—do not hesitate to ask.”

Lavellan inclined her head, but she’d turned away to stare out at the vastness of the dunes and stars beyond. Cullen exhaled slowly and moved to step around the crates. He halted when she spoke again. 

“Cullen?” Elowen said; not Commander, for once, but his name. He turned to look at her and found her eyes, full of tears but clear and focused on his. “Thank you. Really.”

 “Of course,” he said, and cleared his throat. “It was…my honor.” 

Her eyes slipped away again, but her hands were clasped softly in her lap. Cullen straightened, gathered himself, and strode back into the camp beyond.

[progenycursed]

Progeny Cursed Chapter 2

Previous | Next

Void Translations  Quick guide:  () is referencing a person and due to the nature of void speak, don’t have direct translations.  [] a void callout. Type of call based on shape of lines. The closer to a circle, the louder the call. Intensity based on how many rings {} memories. Recalling past moments

Pg 6 (Sibling)? (Siblings)? [call/response call?]

Pg 7 (Sibling) not following? Ordered different direction? (Me) ordered (sibling) not ordered {memories}  no no no no nonononono

Pg 8 (You) peaceful or aggressive? (You) void! [hello] (You) seen (sibling)? ? shade!!

Pg 10 (Sibling)? (Siblings)? [Call response cry]

Pg 11 [Call response] (sibling)?

General

In this chapter I first run into recurring enemies: cloth and floors. I don’t know what to do for the floors. Just shading looks boring, but adding textures looks to busy. And here I am left in the middle full of hate. Fabric is always difficult. 

This is also my first attempts at mimicking the in game assets. I figured since many of the background items will appear multiple times in the comic, why not do what game designers do, and make reusable assets. So I used the game assets as guides for both design and color. I’ll be playing with this style for a bit. 

[dutybcrne]

When Kaeya is upset with someone he loves, truly upset and seriously hurt, he tends to storm off immediately. And completely vanish from their radars. Whether it's two hours or even days.

A trail of ice-laced footprints is all they'd have to track him immediately after the fact, but after a time, not even Mond's best could hope to find him if he doesn't want to be found.

[yusuke-of-valla]

There are two types of Metaverse spaces: Home grown and store bought

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Abyss Palace Fan Art by Jun Dong Li

[fichinescu]

2022: El año de too much anime

Este fue un año raro. La simulación de normalidad post-pandemia me pegó de forma particular, ya que volví a trabajar en oficina y, por primera vez en años, fuera del ambiente nerd/televisivo en el que me siento cómodo. Flotando en lo desconocido, el anime fue mi cable a tierra. Un lugar seguro. Un espejo que refleja 40 años de identidad cambiante.

El anime está de fondo en mis primeros recuerdos conscientes, en los dibujos de Mazinger y Rick Hunter en mis cuadernos de primer grado. En la adolescencia de Big Channel, Magic Kids, y los VHS doblados que compré en B.L. (frente a Camelot, de los mismos dueños). Más tarde, lejos de la burbuja familiar, está en la cola de Fantabaires en la que conocí a mi otakísima mejor amiga y en “Protocultura”, el proyecto de programa de divulgación que presenté en 1999 a Claudio Morgado y que fue mi puerta de entrada a la televisión en una resurrección (trágicamente breve) del querido Cablín.

Gracias a aquel proyecto conocí a Pato Land, editor del legendario fanzine Ran. Un par de años después, Pato fue el primero en publicar mis textos en la revista Nuke, entre verdaderos eruditos del tema. Nuke colapsó post-2001, y aunque mi amor por el periodismo freak ya estaba activado, cada vez me sentía más alejado del fandom. Una palabra que en ese momento ni usábamos, pero que puede definir al círculo cerrado de entusiastas, una colmena de cánones establecidos y opiniones incuestionables sobre artistas, estudios y géneros completos.

Esa incomodidad con la colmena no terminó ahí, y siguió en lo profesional. Me tocó chocar contra el fandom gamer en sitios especializados, el fandom marvelita/snyderesco en publicaciones de cine, y hasta el fandom de mi propio programa durante cuatro años como director de contenidos de un reality show ecuatoriano de continuidad más compleja que cualquier universo de superhéroes.

Nunca dejé de ver anime. Después de los años de Nuke veía alguna que otra serie que me llamaba la atención, en general relacionada con sus directores o guionistas. Ikuhara, Yuasa, Mari Okada, y poco Reddit. En la pandemia me suscribí a Crunchyroll y descubrí un par de series interesantes. Empecé 2022 en la espera de confirmación de un puesto de trabajo, y la distracción perfecta fue ver al menos un capítulo de la treintena de series que se estrenaron en la temporada de “invierno”. Y no paré. Entre novedades y revisiones anoté más de 600 capítulos de anime vistos en el año.

Lo que me costó fue encontrar con quien comentarlos. Mis amigos, freaks maravillosos, no me iban a seguir en mi aventura. Twitter, la red social pavloviana a la que pertenezco, tiene su propia comunidad (“anitwt”) que se comunica casi exclusivamente en base a shitposts que, para este old, parecen encriptados. Reddit es ese mismo fandom de comiquerías multiplicado por 1000 y más facho que nunca, al igual que los foros de sitios como Anime News Networks, más interesados en sus batallas culturales que en hablar de meros dibujitos.

Elegí las series que iba a ver por sinopsis, diseños, temática. Alguna por estudio o por conocer el manga. Y cada vez que volvía a una de estas comunidades 4chanescas me sorprendía de nuevo por las opiniones formadas sobre algo desde antes de que se estrene, la interpretación absolutamente literal de cada historia e ideas rígidas y arbitrarias de lo que es “buena” o “mala” animación. Por lo que entendí, simplemente es buena cuando es mucha. Ah, y cuando no se notan las computadoras. Un ludismo que ya era irritante en 1999 y hoy es inexplicable.

Por supuesto, esta es una generalización. Tampoco es que me metí a buscar en profundidad gente con quién hablar sobre mis series favoritas. Es un buen proyecto para 2023.

Por lo pronto, esta es mi forma larga de aclarar que vi unas 200 horas de anime en 2022. Y como la mayoría de las series que me gustaron no le resultaron interesantes a nadie que conozca, me toca gritar a la nada, en una red social de la que todavía ni sé por qué tengo un perfil.

ESTO ME GUSTÓ BASTANTE

Rumiko Takahashi es mi estrella guía, y las comedias románticas me pueden. Creo que vi todo lo que se estrenó en este año. Mi favorita está en mi top 10, pero quedó afuera por poco Sasaki to Miyano, una de las pocas historias BL que vi en televisión abierta, que aprovecha diseños impecables y dos protagonistas bien delineados para hacer que 12x20 minutos de miradas robadas y monólogos internos sean atrapantes.

El resto, lamentablemente, fueron decepciones. Ninguna tan dolorosa como A Couple of Cuckoos, que empieza muy bien y desbarranca en episodios temáticos trilladísimos, complicaciones forzadas y el típico tonito incestuoso del “harem anime”. Lo peor de todo es que tiene mi opening favorito del año. Tanto que la seguí viendo durante varios capítulos solamente por la inyección de felicidad que me dan estos 90 segundos (por suerte en el capítulo 13 cambiaron la intro y la pude largar).

Otra comedia que desbarrancó fue Heroines Run the Show, un animé original que roba la mayor parte de su historia a un lindísimo manga llamado Skip & Loafer (que tendrá adaptación el año que viene). Esta historia de una chica normal infiltrada en el mundo de los “idols” arranca con un buen meet-cute, grandes canciones de HoneyWorks y un excelente uso de rotoscopia para los shows y coreografías. Pero de repente se vuelve un canto a la pureza y el celibato de los idols que resultará hilarante para cualquiera que lea Oshi no Ko (o haya visto Perfect Blue).

Otro género en el que no pude entrar fue el “slice of life”. No me molesta la lentitud o las historias sin mucho conflicto, pero en general son historias sobre la vida interior de personajes femeninos mezclados con una mirada cosificante “moe” que me termina sacando de la historia. Lo peor es que estas series suelen ser excusas para experimentar con animación un poquito más impresionista, como pasa con Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, que hace cosas maravillosas con la luz y los peinados de las protagonistas. Pero también hay que bancarse a la cámara recorriendo de forma obsesiva cada milímetro de las protagonistas mientras se ponen la ropita del título.

Ningún “slice” está mejor animado que Bocchi The Rock!, uno de los grandes placeres visuales del año. A diferencia del resto de estas series, el foco está puesto de lleno en el humor, pero como los personajes son clichés sin mucho para decir, el equipo creativo decide reírse de ellas con gags profundamente inventivos que bordean la crueldad y mezclan 2D, 3D, y hasta un stop motion improvisado. La música, también, es excelente. Aunque mi interés por Bocchi y su banda sean nulos, me encanta escucharlas tocar.

Me enganché más con la historia de Do It Yourself!, de animación falsamente simple y figuras “cartoony” que me recordaban a las series de la escuela Masterpiece Theater de los ‘70s (¿qué es Akage no Anne, por ejemplo, si no es un slice of life?). En el centro de la serie están dos amigas distanciadas que se vuelven a acercar gracias a un club de carpintería, y todas las escenas con ellas son bellísimas, y ni hablar de los (pocos) momentos en los que trabajan, perfectas coreografías artesanales. Los secundarios son atroces, eso sí, en especial una rubiecita tsundere que dice “good job” con menos caracterización que un NPC de un Dragon Quest de 8-bit.

MUCHAS segundas temporadas/segundas mitades interesantes. Komi Can’t Communicate es más repetitiva que El Chavo del 8, y aunque se pusieron las pilas para animar uno de mis arcos favoritos del manga (el viaje a Kyoto con Y.Y. HANNYA), me parece que funciona mejor cuando potencia la romcom por sobre los momentos “slice of life”. Espero con ansias la tercera temporada y la llegada de Rumiko Manbagi.

Shadows House perdió un poco del empuje narrativo de la primera temporada, pero quizás expandir el elenco sea lo mejor a futuro. Princess Connect siguió siendo una delicia, una parodia del isekai con grandes guiones, animación ultra creativa y un elenco que solamente se puede pagar cuando seguís juntándola con pala en uno de los gachas más exitosos de todos los tiempos.

No voy a simular que entiendo el 20% de lo que pasa en Pop Team Epic, pero pude disfrutar varios ejemplos de mi estilo de comedia japonesa favorita, con esa estructura “manzai” de personajes profundamente idiotas acompañados de sufridos partenaires y los remates sin remate de los peores 4-koma.

Nada estuvo a la altura de mi rey del humor tonto Keiichi Arai (Nichijou, CITY), pero hubo cosas lindas. Mi favorita fue The Little Lies we all Tell, la demostración de que si no tenés una buena idea para hacer una serie, ¿por ahí sale algo interesante si mezclas cuatro malas ideas? Cuatro amigas de secundaria normales que guardan secretos. Una es una ninja. Otra es telépata. La más “moe” es una invasora alienígena con rasgos de pulpo. La chica masculina es un chabón. Esta última podría ser una red flag, pero por suerte no cae en la usual transfobia casual del animé. La amé porque la premisa parece pensada en joda, los guiones tienen cero esfuerzo, y la animación es nivel South Park. No importa nada.

Teppen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (no los cuentes, son quince) fue un paso más allá al tratarse específicamente sobre chicas practicando ese estilo de comedia. Una ametralladora de chistes pésimos que disfruté como el sol de la mañana.

Aparte de Princess Connect, gran año para las parodias de isekai. Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout agota el concepto muy rápido pero mientras dura, se disfruta. My Uncle From Another World fue LA gran pesadilla de la temporada en términos de condiciones laborales (empezó en julio y lanza capítulos con cuentagotas), y es una pena que opaque su sentido del humor deliciosamente reiterativo (en especial si los chistes sobre Sega te hacen reir mucho).

También salieron muchas parodias de tokusatsu, un género que conozco poco, pero lo suficiente como para morir de amor con Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department, Love After World Domination y Fuuto Tantei (que no es una parodia pero suma elementos de 55 géneros distintos).

Tiendo a gravitar más hacia la comedia o el misterio. Entre las series de ciencia ficción me sorprendí con Sabikui Bisco, una adaptación de light novels que mezcla cyberpunk y fantasía oscura que empieza con tres capítulos excelentes y diluye sus ideas casi de inmediato. Otras decepciones: Yurei Deco, Tatami Time Machine y The Eminence in Shadow, y My Master has no Tail, que me hizo rezar aún más fuerte por un anime de Akane-banashi.

No vi muchos de los tanques de la temporada. Estoy atrasado en los shonen y seinen grandes, y por mucho que quisiera ver lo que hacen con mangas que leí como Mob Psycho 100 o Golden Kamuy, no me da para empezar a ver las series desde los arcos actuales.

Sí vi SPY X FAMILY, por supuesto. Amé el primer “cour”, amé un poco menos el segundo, pero es difícil procesar del todo una adaptación tan literal cuando un manga está entre lo mejor que jamás se hizo en el género. Tatsuya Endo es un mangaka de talento sobrenatural para la arquitectura, la narración cuadro a cuadro, anatomía. Un mix imposible de Hugo Pratt, Neal Adams y Naoki Urasawa. Cualquier anime, aún uno técnicamente impecable como este, tendría problemas para estar a la altura.

La serie adapta 42 capítulos de manga en 25 episodios de anime. En los mejores episodios (la partida de quemados) resulta ser una gran decisión, pero los arcos más extensos (la aparición de Bond, el torneo de tenis) pierden empuje mucho antes de llegar al final. También, como otra serie de la que voy a hablar un poco más adelante, está obligada a adaptar los arcos menos interesantes de un manga que eleva su calidad poco después. La tercera temporada debería empezar con el arco del crucero, que le dará merecido protagonismo a Yor Forger.

La nueva Urusei Yatsura es inexplicable. Primero, porque el anime original sigue siendo perfecto. Segundo, porque esta adaptación superficialmente más fiel al manga pierde el frenesí y la inventiva infinita de la joven Rumiko. Tercero, porque va a durar 4 temporadas y por lo tanto anular por un año el bloque “noitamina” de Fuji TV, donde se suele estrenar el anime más original. Un desperdicio.

Otro que me dolió fue Love of Kill, un excelente manga convertido en un animé medio pelo que censura la violencia brutal del original y no logra transmitir un miligramo de la química de los protagonistas. Requiem of the Rose King no busca más que ilustrar el manga, pero a pesar de que le dieron una temporada larga para explayarse, no es el medio correcto para contar una historia que depende de sutilezas psicológicas, alianzas frágiles, y mucho background sobre el período histórico en el que está ambientada.

Número uno en la lista de “animes que quise amar” está Lycoris Recoil, que tiene dos protagonistas ultra carismáticas, interesante construcción de mundo, y escenas de acción estilo Noir-Black Lagoon muy superiores a la media… pero que sufre la extraña maldición de ser demasiado corta. Quizás soy yo que vengo de la época en la que un anime duraba un mínimo de 26 capítulos, pero en este caso sentí que la historia de Chisato y Takina necesitaba respirar un poco más. Los giros y revelaciones del último capítulo resultan chatos cuando no logramos generar lazos con el extenso elenco.

Y de ahí, lo que no se donde poner por cuestiones de formato. Boku to Roboko es una maravilla. Cortitos de cinco minutos repletos de humor que adaptan la genial parodia de Doraemon de Shonen Jump. Lo mismo I'm Kodama Kawashiri, capítulos de solo un minuto sobre la vida cotidiana de una freelancer. Slice-of-life sin un miligramo de adorabilidad, que me hicieron pensar lo lindo que sería un anime de Kabi Nagata.

Ah, y mi media hora favorita del año de anime sin duda es “Él toca nuestra canción”, el capítulo de Naoko Yamada de Modern Love: Tokyo (se puede ver en Primer Video), una peliculita que parece una relectura de Only Yesterday, con momentos inolvidables y una gran protagonista.

Pasé años escribiendo sobre lo que amo, así que leer puntos de vista estimulantes y perspectivas originales me causa tanto placer como ver anime. Atesoro los sitios imprescindibles que descubrí estos años: Animation Obsessive, Full Frontal, el blog de Matteo “Animetudes” Watzky, y cuentas de Twitter como Manga Mogura y el argentino Dastier92.

ESTO ES LO QUE MÁS ME GUSTÓ

10. Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

Entre los lugares comunes del fandom noventero estaba la idea de que Gundam Wing era una serie “menor” porque mezclaba los elementos de ciencia ficción bélica de Gundam con adolescentes mala onda a lo shonen jump. Wing no era perfecta, pero sabía lo que quería ser, y en la balanza siempre pesaba más el drama shonen que los robots. Witch From Mercury hace algo parecido, con la primera protagonista de la serie y una ambientación escolar… con la que el equipo creativo no parece saber muy bien qué hacer.

Todavía falta el final de temporada, pero queda claro que Witch está lejos de ser Rebelde Way con robots. En estos 11 capítulos no creo que hayan ido a clase más de tres veces, y el grueso de la serie consiste de duelos de robots basados en conflictos más cercanos a la energía adolescente de Final Fantasy VIII que a cualquier otro Gundam. Ah, y los duelos son impresionantes. Demuestran la precisión para narrar combate de un equipo entrenado durante décadas en dibujar estos robots.

Narrativamente parece una serie distinta en cada capítulo, una historia reescrita, comprimida, caótica, que resuelve conflictos en cuestión de un episodio, sugiere secretos que revela de golpe, y pierde constantemente el foco de quién es la verdadera protagonista… hasta los últimos tres episodios de la temporada en los que todo funciona: los robots, la geopolítica, el suspenso y la relación entre las dos protagonistas.

9. Hakozume - Kouban Joshi no Gyakushuu

Un gran ejemplo de la diferencia entre comedia costumbrista y “slice-of-life”. Hakozume es la historia de dos mujeres policía. Una experimentada que ha sido obligada a bajar de rango por su comportamiento incontrolable, y una novata que está profundamente arrepentida de haber elegido esta posición.

Cada capítulo cuenta dos historias completas de 10 minutos que se sienten como una serie con gente de los años ‘70. Cada una toca un conflicto social con humor, personajes originales, y observaciones sobre la relación de los japoneses con la autoridad que nunca había visto en un anime. Nadie está en peligro de muerte ni hay giros dramáticos sorpresivos, pero cada historia tiene algo que decir, y avanza de cierta forma la psicología de dos protagonistas que (espero) tengan una temporada más, ya que el manga tiene como 20 volúmenes.

8. My Dress-up Darling!

Tardé en conectar con lo que al principio parece una rom-com formulaica, la típica historia de amor entre la chica popular y el nerd que se sienta en la última fila de la clase. En este caso, ella es cosplayer y él es un descendiente de artesanos de muñecas tradicionales con manos mágicas para la costura. Pero capítulo a capítulo se van notando las diferencias con otras series. El protagonista, Gojo-kun, no es un perdedor ni un antisocial sino un artista que no sabe cuán valioso es su don. Y ella, Kitagawa-san, es una presencia intensamente positiva en su vida sin sentirse como la fantasía del autor.

Tiene sentido, ya que la mangaka es mujer, y a los pocos capítulos la perspectiva narrativa pasa a ser la de Kitagawa y el amor que ella empieza a sentir por él. Por la mitad de la serie entran otros personajes que enriquecen las cosas realmente interesantes que la serie tiene para decir sobre la relación de un adolescente y su cuerpo, o la diferencia entre aficiones y obsesiones. Es admirable el nivel de detalle que pone tanto en el meticuloso fan service como en los mangas, animes y juegos ficticios de este universo, tan bien realizados que uno querría que fuesen reales.

7. Deaimon: A Recipe for Happiness

Como Hakozume, esta es una comedia dramática tradicional disfrazada de slice-of-life. Un treintañero abandona sus sueños de rockstar para volver a trabajar a la dulcería familiar en Kioto. Al llegar, descubre que sus padres han adoptado a una melancólica chica de 10 años que hace su trabajo mejor que él. De a poco, otros personajes se suman a la historia, igual de perdidos que el protagonista, procesando cada uno la angustia a su manera.

Como el “wagashi” tradicional que está en el centro de la historia, Deaimon es una serie delicada sobre la posibilidad de reconstruir algo que creías que estaba roto. En lo técnico, es un ejemplo de compresión narrativa, que hace sentir que pasamos un año junto a tus personajes a pesar de que la temporada tenga solamente 13 capítulos. La cereza en la torta: un tema de apertura absolutamente perfecto de la gran Maaya Sakamoto.

6. Chainsaw Man

Además de anime, en este año vi varias adaptaciones de manga a doramas live action. Y me suele sorprender la libertad con la que se toman una adaptación, comparado con el cuadro a cuadro que se ve en aún los mejores saltos de manga a anime.

Chainsaw Man es la excepción. El manga es sublime, lo mejor que Shonen Jump publicó en la última década. Y la adaptación respeta las líneas narrativas pero busca formas estrictamente cinematográficas de llevar las ideas visuales del maestro Tatsuki Fujimoto a la animación.

Lo “cinematográfico” es clave. En la página, Fujimoto juega con planos apaisados que simulan pantallas de cine, planos repetidos para sugerir una cámara fija, manchas de tinta que rompen la cuarta pared entre lector y autor. Estos recursos se espejan en el anime con secuencias de acción que incluyen desplazamientos del plano que simulan travelings, un punto de vista inquieto tipo cámara-en-mano, puntos de vista subjetivos y composiciones sobrias, despojadas. Hasta las actuaciones de voz abandonan la exageración típica del anime, como hacía la brillante adaptación de Aku no Hana.

Seguramente haya una referencia más actual, pero Chainsaw Man me recuerda muchísimo a los ‘90s de Madhouse, una época en la que el estudio quería romper con la narrativa previsible del anime televisivo. La era de Yoshiaki Kawajiri y especialmente de Satoshi Kon, otro cinéfilo que tenía más respeto por Hitchcock que por Miyazaki. Kon está por todas partes. La tragicomedia de Tokyo Godfathers en la unidad familiar de Aki, Denji y Power, el surrealismo de Paprika en la prisión del hotel, y por supuesto, la violencia sorpresiva y catártica de Paranoia Agent.

A simple vista, entonces, el anime no se “parece” al manga. Esta pesadez cinematográfica se traslada al tono, bastante más pesado que la contrastante ligereza de los primeros tomos de Fujimoto. Los personajes más cómicos, como Power o el mismo Denji en sus momentos más relajados, pierden protagonismo, pero la historia de Himeno cobra mayor densidad dramática y opaca la original. O mejor dicho, la complementa. Hay una conversación entre los dos medios. Lo mejor que uno puede esperar de una adaptación.

5. Akiba Maid War

El chiste debería haberse agotado en el capítulo uno. Akiba Maid War imagina una versión alternativa de 1999 en la que los “maid cafés” del barrio otaku de Akihabara están organizados como una versión adorable de la Yakuza. Alternar comedia costumbrista y fan service con violencia salvaje digna de Takashi Miike, en especial los primeros cinco minutos de su obra maestra Dead or Alive (casualmente, de 1999)... ¿pero qué se puede contar después de revelar este muy, muy gracioso remate?

Mucho. El primer toque genial es dar personalidades definidas a las “maids” del café en el que se centra la historia. El deseo de una vida kawaii de la protagonista Nagomi contrasta con la escalada de violencia, y va tomando tintes patológicos de negación capítulo a capítulo. La administradora del café está dispuesta a traicionar a cualquiera y rogar perdón después de (indefectiblemente) ser descubierta. Hasta el panda que parece ser un gag visual resulta tener su propia, desgarradora, historia.

Pero el corazón de Akiba Maid War es Ranko, una maid de 36 años de voz grave y temperamento severo, el opuesto absoluto de la cultura “moe” de las maids. Lo que podría ser un chiste cruel resulta ser conmovedor cuando entendemos las razones por las que actúa así.

Lo que es milagroso de Akiba Maid War es que logra romperte el corazón sin nunca abandonar la comedia. Un giro dramático en la mitad de la temporada podría haber llevado el tono en otra dirección, pero para ser una serie en la que mueren unos 20 personajes por episodio, nunca se trivializa la violencia y su impacto en las protagonistas.

Y todo culmina en un final perfecto, absurdo y emotivo, con una escena post-créditos que logra un equilibrio casi imposible entre sentimentalismo y humor. Pocas veces se ve tanta confianza de un equipo creativo en su material y en que la audiencia va a acompañar cada volantazo. La verdadera joya inesperada de esta temporada.

4. Raven of the Inner Palace

El mejor capítulo del nuevo podcast de Hideo Kojima consiste en una larga conversación con el director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), que habla de forma cándida de los trucos con los que se estira el presupuesto en anime, y el placer de descubrir nuevos recursos narrativos que nacen de esa austeridad. La imagen clásica de Oshii es un plano abierto, quieto, casi detenido. El sonido ambiente invade los oídos. La anticipación se eleva. Y finalmente algo ocurre, más rápido de lo que el ojo puede detectar.

El espíritu de Oshii se percibe en cada plano de Raven of the Inner Palace, un anime que parece resistir cualquier moda o tropo de la industria.

El “cuervo” del título es Shouxue, una de las muchas concubinas del emperador de lo que parece ser, al menos al principio, un país inspirado por la antigua China. Shouxue vive bajo ciertas reglas. Es una concubina dotada de poderes sobrenaturales, y no tiene deberes maritales hacia el joven emperador, y se permite tratarlo con una displicencia a la que nadie en la corte se atreve. Esto, por supuesto, fascina al impulsivo pero inseguro gobernante, que busca una y otra vez el consejo del “cuervo” para lidiar con fantasmas irritantes.

Los primeros episodios mantienen una estructura del “fantasma de la semana”. Casos que se investigan y resuelven en uno, a lo sumo dos, capítulos. Pero de a poco se van plantando elementos de una mitología más compleja. 

La economía de recursos se adapta a la perfección a una historia en la que los personajes no quieren revelar más de lo absolutamente necesario. Planos abiertos, largas conversaciones, dos o tres locaciones repetidas en cada capítulo. Raven of the Inner Palace compensa esta carencia con detalladísimos diseños de personaje, cuidado meticuloso en la escenografía y vestuario, y un uso del color audaz, saturado, pero nunca excesivo. Las actuaciones de voz complementan el ritmo. Se sienten casi como la lectura de un libreto, un poema hipnotizante que hace que cada variación sea un milagro.

Hay mil cosas para destacar de este extraño anime. Mi parte favorita son los flashbacks narrados como ilustraciones de antiguos libros chinos, animados casi como si fueran recortes en papel. De a poco los finales de capítulo dejan de ser ganchos y pasan a ser cortes abruptos, delatando su origen en una serie de “light novels”. Una estructura literaria que la hace ideal para maratonear. El final, por suerte, cierra suficientes hilos como para no dejarnos añorando una segunda temporada que quizás nunca llegue.

3. Dance Dance Danseur

En los años oscuros en los que el anime no iluminaba mi existencia, alguna que otra serie entraba por la ventana. Y ninguna resultó más disfrutable que el “sports anime” de patinaje artístico Yuri!!! On Ice, uno de esos éxitos que trascienden el fandom y encuentran nuevas audiencias, en especial en una comunidad LGBT que está muy poco representada por el anime en general.

Dance Dance Danseur comparte estudio con Yuri, y al girar alrededor del ballet parecía tener algún punto de contacto con ese nuevo clásico. Nada más lejos de la realidad. Danseur empieza como una variante japonesa de Billy Elliot. Junpei se enamora del ballet de niño pero lo rechaza por prácticas más masculinas en la adolescencia, hasta que un encuentro con una familia de artistas lo hace retomar su camino.

Desde el principio, Danseur te captura por su belleza. Las secuencias de ballet usan una variedad de técnicas y estilos (3D, rotoscopia, expresionismo) para transmitir el impacto emocional de cada movimiento. Pero donde Danseur destaca (un poco como Yuri) es en que los personajes se siguen moviendo como bailarines aparte de las escenas de ballet. Es un placer ver a Junpei correr a un compañero o a su rival tener una rabieta con la delicadeza de Rudolf Nureyev.

La historia tarda en empezar, pero al tercer capítulo se vuelve menos predecible, única. Con el tiempo Junpei empieza a relacionarse con la familia de artistas que incluye a Miyako y Luou, primos que parecen tener una relación casi sobrenatural. De a poco va descubriendo secretos dignos de una novela gótica, entre espectaculares presentaciones de ballet, amores adolescentes y una rivalidad memorable.

Ah, y tiene el mejor capítulo final del año. Estallido emocional nivel Evangelion.

2. Made in Abyss S2

No había visto la primera temporada de Made in Abyss en su momento, confundiendo los diseños infantiles por una versión descolorida y televisiva de las películas de aventuras de Studio Ghibli de los ‘80. Por supuesto, nada más lejos de la realidad. El poder de la serie está en el choque de la estética clásica infantil con horrores salidos de la peor pesadilla de David Cronenberg. La primera temporada se toma su tiempo para construir una realidad relativamente segura antes de desatar un tsunami de dolor sobre los personajes. Luego de la película (espectacular, pero que repite muchos de los mismos giros) mi sensación era de que la historia se podía agotar muy rápido.

No fue así. La segunda temporada es mucho más ambiciosa que la primera, una película de 4 horas cortada en capítulos que toma lugar casi por completo en una única locación, una ciudad que se parece más a la ciencia ficción de Jeff Vandermeer o China Mieville que a los yokai y hechiceros de Miyazaki. La historia de esta ciudad, sus secretos y su destino final se desenvuelven a lo largo de episodios brutales, que parecen estar desafiando constantemente el lugar del espectador con respecto a los hechos. No hay víctimas ni villanos fáciles en esta temporada, y la violencia casi insoportable de los episodios finales no tiene valor catártico.

Pero ojo, a pesar de lo que he leído en análisis relativamente superficiales, no hay crueldad en la construcción narrativa de la serie. Amo las series “para llorar” como Anohana o Your Lie in April, pero Made in Abyss no busca tanto la empatía como la compasión. Es difícil identificarse con los personajes de la serie, en especial en una temporada en la que los protagonistas son casi espectadores de lo que ocurre, pero siempre aprecié la manera en que los guiones, la dirección, y las actuaciones de voz obligan a considerar la motivación de cada acción, sin importar lo inhumana que parezca.

En lo visual no hay nada que se acerque en esta lista. Con excepciones históricas como Cowboy Bebop o Conan el Niño del Futuro, nunca vi un anime como este, al menos en televisión. No me entra en la cabeza el nivel de inversión y trabajo que hay en la serie.

1. Call of The Night

Los primeros seis capítulos de esta serie fueron lo que más disfruté en el año. Más que cualquier película, libro, manga, serie, juego. No es que esos 120 minutos de anime hagan algo muy original o complejo, sino lo contrario. Son seis episodios despojados casi de historia. Simples conversaciones entre dos, tres, cuatro personajes que viven fuera de los parámetros de la gente “normal”. Ah, y uno de esos personajes es un vampiro.

En cualquier historia de vampiros están los primeros 10 minutos antes de la conversión. La seducción, el peligro, las razones por las que nuestro protagonista es vulnerable al hechizo de la vida eterna. La noche de Jonathan Harker en el castillo. La caminata de Louis y Lestat por las calles oscuras de Nueva Orleans. El acercamiento entre animalitos heridos de Let The Right One In.

Call of the Night tiene algo de cada una de estas historias, pero la clave está en el nombre. La gente normal vive de día. Estos personajes prefieren la noche. No entienden muy bien por qué, no están buscando algo particular, pero ese “click” los hace cuestionar cada uno de los lazos con las experiencias cotidianas ¿saben lo que es la amistad, por ejemplo? ¿quieren un trabajo, un título, una profesión? ¿y el amor? ¿y el sexo?

Un anime sobre un puñado de solitarios que charla en la noche infinita de Tokio parece un gran proyecto para un estudio que tiene bastante más creatividad que presupuesto. El énfasis está puesto en las líneas punk incompletas de los diseños de personaje, los audaces planos subjetivos, y un uso del color que hace que la noche desierta nos parezca tan atractiva como a los protagonistas. Los planos abiertos con cielos violetas y naranjas, el reflejo de la luna a través de las ventanas, el brillo de las luces como piletas de calor en la calle. Un uso evocativo, ecléctico de los pocos recursos técnicos.

Entre las muchas decisiones geniales de esos primeros seis capítulos está la franqueza en el tratamiento del sexo. Las escenas de intimidad entre el protagonista Kou y la vampiresa Nazuna incluyen algún que otro mordisco, claro, pero son acercamientos entre dos personas que no están muy seguras de lo que quieren, y agradecen un lugar (relativamente) seguro para empezar a definir la idea del placer en sus propios términos. 

Y si insisto con seis capítulos, es porque en el séptimo el hechizo se rompe. El mundo se expande, la burbuja perfecta de Kou y Nazuna se pincha, y entran nuevos personajes, antagonistas, e historias con moralejas más simples que las observaciones ambiguas del inicio. Los capítulos siguientes no son necesariamente malos, pero las limitaciones de presupuestos hacen que la acción se sienta chata y la necesidad de cerrar pequeños cuentos en 20 minutos conspira contra una mitología de la que terminamos sabiendo bastante poco.

Los últimos dos capítulos, por suerte, encuentran un equilibrio natural entre el modo melancólico del inicio y las complicaciones vampíricas de la segunda mitad. La segunda temporada puede ser interesante. Y voy a estar ahí para verla. El anime ya no lo suelto.

[spainkitty]

Tranquility and Free Will: After the Shrine of Dumat

tw: death, neither pro nor anti Tranquility, Cullen's PTSD

Lanil's Pieces Masterlist

It was... a much less easy journey back to Skyhold. Harder to joke. Harder to smile. Maddox had shaken Lavellan to the core. It made her remember that conversation with Cullen weeks ago, the lyrium scattered on the ground, templars and mages and Meredith. Seeing Maddox, his Tranquility, his emotionless yet fervent suicide, his faithfulness to a man who had shown him kindness and wanted to destroy the world.

It was... horrifying.

Heartbreaking.

It made her fucking furious.

She sat on the edge of camp a few days out from Skyhold. She could hear Dorian and Cassandra bickering over spices for the stew, Varric humming softly as he cleaned and calibrated Bianca, Cullen whispering to the horses. The usual sounds of each night. She stared up at the stars, watched her breath fog in the air, and told herself not to scream.

To breathe.

Which was made harder when Cullen's whispering ended and his footsteps approached her. He stood next to her shoulder for a long minute. Silent, too. Maybe staring at the stars, too. Maybe trying not to scream, too.

"Sit or leave."

"I didn't want to impose."

"Looming over me isn't imposing?" Lavellan asked dryly.

"Right, I apologize, I'll go--"

"I wasn't angry about Fairbanks. I wasn't even angry about the blasted halla comment, though it was out of line and you should apologize to the halla."

"Apologize... to the halla."

"Yes. There's a ritual for it. You have to find a temple of Ghilan'nain."

"I could... do that."

"And then weave a blanket of spindleweed and fresh spring grass."

"And if it's autumn?"

"You'll have to go to a country that always has spring grass. Or suffer the terrible, crushing disappointment of halla everywhere."

"So, I find a temple, weave some grass and weeds?"

"And then sing to Ghilan'nain a special Elvish prayer while wearing only the grass blanket."

"So I have to be naked."

"Ask Dorian. He knows all about elves singing flowers into bloom while naked."

Cullen huffed and slowly sat down next to her. "You're teasing me, so I guess you're not upset?"

"Of course I'm upset. I'm mad. I've never been so mad in my life." She said it quietly, voice shaking, arms wrapped around her shins. "I'm mad at Samson for dragging Maddox into it. I'm mad at Meredith for... for punishing him like that. I'm mad at you for saying templars serve a purpose. I'm mad at the Circles for existing. I'm mad at the Chantry for what they put mages through, for what they put templars through, for what they allow and keep secret and destroy, with this facade of doing what Andraste wanted. I'm mad at the whole fucking world."

"I... I get that."

"Thank you." She braced her chin on her knees. "More than anything, I'm... I'm sad. He shouldn't have died like that. He deserved so much better than that. But I'm also... I don't pity him. I'm in awe of him. His faith. His determination. His loyalty. He wasn't a puppet, Cullen. He wasn't an empty shell. He shouldn't have died, but I can't pity him. He doesn't deserve that, either."

"In the end, he made a choice of his own free will. I wish it could've ended better. I wish we could've stopped him. But I won't pity him either." Cullen spoke so softly and firmly. Lavellan was filled with rage, with fear, but Cullen. Cullen was hurting for Maddox. It laced through every word, that empathetic pain.

"That could be me."

"What?" The word ripped out of him with so much shock, so much offense. It made her smile.

"Whoever the new Divine is, they could be like all the others. They'll put mages in the Circles. The templars will get their purpose back. They'll remember everything that happened and they're not all you, Cullen. They might not grow out of the resentment or the fear. Mages will die. I could die. I could be made Tranquil. They'll catch me and throw me in. And when they do, will templars be serving their purpose?"

"Lavellan, it's not the same, it'll be different, it'll have to be different--"

"No. It doesn't have to. You've met Vivienne, right? She's a mage that thinks like you do--"

"That is not how I think."

She startled and slowly turned to face him.

"I don't want that to be a templar's purpose. Why do you think I left?" Cullen said. "Everything was about fear. It made me more afraid, more angry, and I had good reason for it. Kirkwall was...  Kirkwall was worse than the Void. But in the end, it was just fear. Fear feeding fear, going in this violent, murderous circle. Mages pushing at limits, templars hurting them for trying, mages becoming blood mages to hurt templars back, templars pouring lyrium down their throats and losing their minds, and mages summoning demons and losing theirs. Everyone trying to hurt everyone else because they were hurting."

"Explains the explosion. It sounds like everything was a bomb waiting to happen."

"I haven't even told you about the Qunari."

"Don't worry, I read Varric's book."

Cullen laughed softly, so softly it shredded into nothing the moment it left his mouth.

"I knew a young woman, a mage, and elf, like you. She was... I thought I'd never met or seen a girl like her. You remind me so much of her that it was hard to separate you in the beginning."

"Su...rano?"

"Surana."

"Ah."

"She passed her Harrowing at 18. I was there, I held a sword ready to cut her down if she failed." Lavellan's fingers clenched into fists. "I'd been to Harrowings before, I never had to, every time it was over was a relief. I never had to use my blade on these people I swore to protect. After hers... she asked... would I have done it? I told her it was my duty, I had to, but I didn't want to. And she laughed and told me it was okay, she knew all along she'd be fine. She was... so bright." He forced the word out, and it sounded like it tore his heart in two.

"Was?" she asked, had to ask, even as she shook and desperately didn't want to know.

"She was supposed to be made Tranquil and I helped her escape."

Lavellan finally moved, finally broke from her curled and defensive position, turned her whole body toward him to stare at his profile.

"What?"

"There were blood mages in the Circle. Everyone was fighting, and dying, and I watched the Tranquils... they were some of the first," Cullen swallowed hard and sweat glistened across his forehead. She should tell him to stop. She didn't have to know. But she wanted to know. "I watched them become abominations at the hands of people that called them colleagues, maybe even called them friends. One of them said, this is uncomfortable. That's it. This is uncomfortable."

"Oh... Mythal..." Lavellan breathed out, filled with horror and disgust.

"The thought of her, that laughing, confident girl, waiting to be become something like that, like them... I let her out. Forced her through a door and used a Templar rune to lock it. She was safe and... and the blood mages tried to use her, my memory and my... my infatuation with her, against me. To break me."

"And so you feared mages."

"I hated them. For a time, I even blamed her. For making me weak. It took me years to realize that of all the sorry bastards they tortured, I was the only one that didn't break. I don't know how much of that was me, and how much was her," Cullen whispered it, stared at his gloved palms, shoulders bowed under the weight despite sharing it.

"It could be both." She hesitantly raised a hand. Let it drop. "But I think it was you." Cullen met her eyes and they sat side by side, everything they've seen and been through and what they could have become lying heavy between them. "People say I'm... indomitable. I have a strong will. But I've got nothing on you. Me? I'm an asshole, I bludgeon my way through problems." Cullen chuckled. "But you? You're kind. After all that, you're so kind. You're... you're the indomitable one."

"I didn't tell you about this for praise, Lavellan."

"Call me Lane, remember?" She knocked her shoulder against his arm. Froze, held her breath; had she pushed too soon?

"Lane."

She released a slow breath of relief. "So why did you tell me? Just... draw it out for me. Pretend I'm stupid."

He laughed at last and she smiled.

"Because I don't want that to be someone's future, forced on them against their will. I want there to be a better way. But I need you to understand why I defend the templars, why they're important. Everyone in Kinloch Hold was at fault, everyone was a monster... even me. But we can't pretend like taking away all protections makes us more free, or absolves legitimate reasons for fear. There will always be abuses of power, and they make people like Uldred and Samson."

"But they also make Maddox."

"Yeah. They also make Maddox."

"It's... not an easy fix," Lavellan scowled. "Which is the understatement of the damn century. Millennium."

"No, it won't be easy," Cullen agreed.

"Do you think I could find it? A fix?"

"You're the one person I believe who can."

"You know... I'm not so angry at you anymore."

"What a relief." His whole body sagged as his sigh gusted from him. "I don't still have to dance naked for the halla, do I?"

"Ass." She bumped his shoulder with her fist, grimacing at the metal she hit. "Double ass. Why are you always wearing armor?!"

He got to his feet, and she moved to follow, taking a brief moment to stretch out her legs. He reached out his hand, and... she glanced up. Carefully, she set her hand in his and let him gently pull to her to feet. He was so damn tall, it hurt a little to crane her neck, but she couldn't look away from his face. From that shy, private smile.

Her hand tightened around his when he tried to pull away. His eyes widened slightly, then something happened to his expression. His eyes grew darker, his smile slipped away, but it wasn't anger. It had her heart thudding.

She remembered, out of nowhere, that moment in Halamshiral. The ground shifting under her feet. It was happening again. When his hand moved to interlace their fingers, their hands hidden by their cloaks and his eyes intent on her face, the ground shifted under her, her knees quaking.

"Do you still confuse me with her?" Lavellan asked, wondering where it came from. Wondering why it mattered.

"No. You are..." He searched for a word and Lavellan shook her head.

"I wasn't asking for praise, either. I just wanted to know I... that I'm just me to you. No one else."

"Lane..."

"I'm sure your conversation is riveting!" Dorian called.

Lavellan and Cullen jerked slightly apart, but not far enough to need to drop their hands. In fact, she couldn't help but hold on tighter. Her heart pounded when his thumb brushed the back of her glove. It felt as intimate as if it had been skin to skin.

"However, this stew is long done and you need to eat it before it overcooks."

"You can't overcook stew," Cassandra said incredulously.

"My dear, you can overcook anything."

"C'mon Shortie, Curly, stop being so serious. We've got a long way to Skyhold yet. Your faces will get stuck like that."

"As opposed to what, looking like yours?" Lavellan asked. Varric scoffed.

"You wish you were as pretty as me."

She grinned up at Cullen. "I think we've got good faces. What do you think?"

"I definitely like yours more than his."

"Good answer."

Just a moment longer, they held on tight. Then, slowly, their hands slipped apart, finger by finger, inch by inch, until they could walk towards the fire without a single bit touching the other. For the rest of the night, she couldn't help staring at his hands.

Wishing she could've held on longer. Wishing that after the maraas-lok, she had managed to get to Cullen's office. Wishing she knew what it was like to wake up next to him with his hand holding hers.

Part I / Part II

[hardcoregamer]

Every Game in the 2024 Women-Led Games Showcase

This past weekend's Women-Led Games Showcase, sponsored by Disobey and Stray Fawn Studio, included a total of twenty-one covered games. While these titles range from early development to just released, there's a little bit of everything thrown in the mix. The stream featured various genres, including beat 'em ups, life simulators, puzzlers and RPGs.

Check them out!

[redfirefox-55]

That speed running achievement was so close to being mine… oh well. That’s what I get for not following a guide, and hoping my vague memory was enough.

[star-whatevers]

AU where Shen Yuan gets transmigrated into a younger brother of Mobei-Jun. He manages to avoid getting axed in the inheritance struggle by being a slippery little bugger and a catty bitch that the warring siblings keep around for entertainment purposes. There's a pact that he has to be the last to go when their numbers are finally down to two and everything. He has teleportation powers, but since he doesn't actively cultivate they're not as powerful as Mobei-Jun's.

He's built like a bean pole, but somehow inherited a similar teleportation ability to Mobei-Jun. He spends 75% of his free time holed up in the library and puttering around any markets for books that by all appearances he hates, but won't stop buying. The other 25% he spends actively pissing people off for shits and giggles. His brothers find this hilarious and defend him from the foreign dignitaries he ends up trolling straight to rage.

He only gets in trouble with Mobei-Jun when he finds out that Shang Qinghua is Airplane and beats him with his own scrolls. Mobei-Jun walks in on this scene and is like 'my little brother, finally showing a shred of interest in something other than books, and it has to be with MY situationship'. He's like 3 seconds away from beating the snot out of Shen Yuan for trying to take HIS boy toy. Shen Yuan senses the murderous aura behind him before he's basically throwing in the towel and posturing to his brother like "he's one of the terrible authors, his crimes against words are numerous. I'm not trying to take your man."

Shen Yuan is trying so hard not to piss off the brother that will actually win the fight for inheritance that he ends up wingmaning him after that conflict. He also gets dragged into spars, and he can't tell if this is actually for his benefit or for Mobei-Jun to blow off steam with the added benefit of plausible deniability if he ends up dead at the end. Meanwhile Mobei-Jun is like 'ah, yes, another ally in my struggle to become king. I must make sure he is able to hold his own. He can live.'

Immortal Alliance Conference happens and Mobei-Jun goes there like in the novel to try to catch a couple minutes with Shang Qinghua, breaks Luo Binghe's seal and dips, but Shen Yuan appears and tries to usher him into the Endless Abyss. He gives Binghe some supplies and a weapon before having to try and distract Shen Qingqiu so Binghe can make an escape. He can only transport himself with his weak shadow powers, but he can buy time for Binghe to go down on his own.

Binghe's eventual escape from the Abyss means he comes straight to the Northern Palace and challenges Mobei-Jun in a fit of rage, coincidentally running into his savior - the only person who had been kind to him since his mother died. Shen Yuan becomes a quasi advisor, helping Luo Binghe's adventures and conquest. It's surprising that Luo Binghe doesn't seem to be interested in all the demon women he meets, but at least he doesn't have to endure being the third wheel to all the papapa.

[momxian]

AU where Shen Yuan gets transmigrated as an Original Character into the Demon Realm a few years before Bingge gets there. But even though he's not SQQ, he LOOKS like a near exact copy. So he figures that if he wants to survive he needs to make himself useful. First things first, he needs to know what the hell is going on, so he starts working with lower level demons setting himself up as someone necessary, and relatively important so he can figure out when in the plot they are. It's pretty easy, there's not much in the way of organization down here and despite everything he's not that bad an actor. It helps that SQJ's face is beautiful in every setting and he will quickly create a reputation of the stubborn beauty amongst the demon realm. It's around this time he starts wearing a veil to mask his resemblance to SQJ, but really it just adds to the mysterious allure aspect.

He utilizes his plot knowledge to get things ready for Binghe's arrival, tidying up the palace, setting up good staff, getting rid of some of the smaller villains that kidnap Ning Yingying and Liu Mingyan etc later. Actually a lot of smaller villains who kidnap, harass or belittle Bingge's harem. It's like every time he's running an errand he meets another piece of cannon fodder that will inevitably lead Bingge to another papapa scene. It's fine, by the time he's done with them (thank god this body doesn't have the same limitations as his old one) they follow him around with big demon puppy eyes and scramble to do chores and tasks for him.

By the time the Endless Abyss moment is set to happen, SY has thorough knowledge of the abyss and all of the special items tucked away in various locations across it. You can't be mad and murder someone who helped you through the torture torment evil maze of plot relevant trauma, right?

He finds Bingge post fall and does his best to act callous and only vaguely helpful, leading Bingge in the right direction and away from the biggest threats. His goal is to be a helpful and forgettable NPC. Someone who, if he runs into him again, Bingge will have mercy for and be left alone. Despite his resemblance to SQJ. But what he doesn't take into account is A) in no version of this story is he capable of being that hands off and B) Bingge was just shown kindness for the first time in years by a mysterious and elusive beauty with brilliant eyes and an obvious intelligence.

Since this is Bingge and not Binghe, he doesn't immediately fall for SY, and is in fact wildly paranoid, terrified and angry about things in general. But every time something seems to go wrong in the abyss, instead of taking the hits and becoming the stallion protagonist, SY shows up to give him a magic item, or rushes in to protect him from fatal blows and on two separate occasions thoughtlessly petted Bingge's hair when he was injured, which rattled Bingge so bad that he almost died again fighting the next monster.

Shen Yuan is gone often enough that he still makes his way to the Demon Palace, collects Xin Mo and builds his harem, though it's smaller than it was originally. Mostly because SY had taken out the smaller villains and then because SY had interfered with Bingge's quests so often.

Obviously Shen Yuan has a soft spot for Bingge now but doesn't admit it. But he's satisfied he can slip away now without too much consequence, except no he can't. Bingge asks for him, to collect something for him. To ask him something about another demon. To just stare at him for a half hour with a vein about to pop in his forehead as he tried to see through the veil before huffing and sending him away again.

Since Bingge is obviously not going to let him slip away, and SY isn't sure if Bingge is going to kill him or not he desperately makes himself useful again. He takes care of Bingge's harem. That's a lot of housing and food and clothes to take care of! The girls fight often! He'll just slip into the mix and keep the peace until Bingge forgets about him. And in the meantime sometimes he tends to Bingge and he and Bingge have dinner together. And isn't it so cute how the stallion protagonist can blush when he compliments the dish? And once or twice he combs out Bingge's hair. And sometimes Bingge rubs the scowl from between Shen Yuan's brows and lets his finger outline his jaw over the silk of his veil when SY is tending to tedious business.

Yeah, I'm sure one of these days Bingge will let you slip away SY.

Anyway Bingge is just relieved that Shen Yuan has accepted that he's part of the harem now.