#and just 99 other gacha games

[sixeyesonathiel]

very niche drabble from my drafts but honestly i would die without posting anything new in a day so i hope y'all will like this and see the vision LMAO, will have different parts <3 since lyra have pointed it out, just saying now that the reader is the cashier :D

isekai'd as game protag nerdjo x isekai'd as saintess npc reader, fluff.

the sunlight catches in your hair again.

satoru doesn’t mean to look. really. he doesn’t. but it’s kind of impossible not to when it glows like that—when every strand shimmers gold in the light of the descending sun like threads spun from divinity itself. it’s almost offensive, honestly. like the devs knew exactly what they were doing when they coded your idle animation to lean forward with a hum and tuck a loose wisp behind your ear just so.

he shifts his weight from one boot to the other, arms crossed, mouth tight, trying to look casual and not like he’s completely entranced by the way the snow melts before it even touches you.

he shouldn't be staring. he shouldn't want to.

because he already has a crush.

back home—real home—there’s a girl who works at the little corner store where he always buys his merch and energy drinks and plastic gacha keychains. she wears cute earrings. remembers his name. slips extra digimon stickers into his bag when she thinks he’s not looking.

he can’t seem to recall what she looked like, probably because of this whole isekai thing but he was sure about one thing. he was going to ask for her number, eventually. probably. maybe. someday.

but still he could not peel his gaze away.

you’re kneeling by a bed of bluebells—early bloom, thanks to your passive skill, blessing of spring. soft petals brush against your fingertips as you gently trace the outline of each flower, humming a song he’s pretty sure isn’t in the game’s ost. a small smile plays on your lips. the world around you feels alive in a way it never did when he played this on his old console—birds chirp too realistically, snowflakes glint too sharply, the wind carries your voice just enough to tease at the edge of his hearing.

and he’s just standing there. holy sword at his side. cape slightly crooked. heart lodged firmly in his throat.

“you’re staring again,” their rogue probably says behind him. maybe it’s their archer this time. he doesn’t hear. or rather—he refuses to.

because how the hell is he supposed to focus on defeating the demon king when you smile like that?

he’s the hero now. the chosen one. satoru gojo, level 99 celestial knight. maxed-out stats in everything that mattered: strength, speed, light magic resistance, charisma so broken it’s been nerfed twice since launch. and yet here he is—still taking psychic damage from the way your lashes flutter when you blink at him.

he’s been here for weeks ever since dozing off in a middle of some cutscene. isekai’d straight into his favorite game—celestial hearts: divine war of fate—which was absolutely not supposed to be a dating sim. it was about strategy and honor and battle mechanics. not about feelings or pretty saintess girls in glowing white cloaks and soothing voices who keep patting his head when he looks tired.

“sir gojo?” you say gently, glancing over your shoulder at him, smile soft and patient.

your eyes catch the light and sparkle—sparkle, literally sparkle. like someone turned the shader settings all the way up just for you. “you look flushed. are you feeling alright?”

“y–yeah,” he says, cracking audibly. god. why did his voice do that. he clears his throat. straightens up. resets his face to what he thinks is a neutral, knightly expression. “must be the sun. y’know. too hot.”

you blink. your lips part in polite confusion, and you glance up at the sky.

“but it’s snowing.”

“…right.”

his hands twitch at his sides, fingers flexing restlessly in his gloves. damn this game. damn the developers. damn their incredible, stupid attention to detail. your hands—bare, of course—hover over the flowers again, cupping one like a tiny offering. your sleeves fall past your wrists, white and gold embroidery catching the breeze. he knows your bio by heart: “saintess of the divine spring, miracle maiden of light,” the usual npc flavor text. maxed healing. high affinity scores. probably a tragic backstory somewhere in your questline.

but none of that mentioned how your laugh sounds like windchimes strung across heaven’s gate.

“sir gojo,” you say again, standing now, brushing imaginary dust and flower petals from your skirts. your movements are dainty, practiced, but your brows draw slightly inward with genuine concern. “you’ve been standing still for a while. are you sure you’re not overheating?”

his cape flutters awkwardly in the wind. his fingers go rigid. he can’t even blink.

girl. please.

he opens his mouth. closes it. opens it again, as if maybe this time something normal will come out.

“maybe i’m…” his voice trails off as he wills his brain to function. “overheating from your… divine radiance?”

the words leave him like a spell miscast.

a pregnant pause.

then—your eyes go wide. your lips twitch. and you laugh.

not a dainty giggle this time, but a laugh. soft and delighted and surprised all at once, curling from your throat like a melody no bard could replicate. you lift your sleeve to hide your smile, cheeks faintly pink—not blushing, no, the game probably just coded you to respond to compliments with a heat shader—

he’s going to die.

he’s actually going to drop dead right here in the middle of a flower field over a non-playable character.

somewhere deep in the forest, a bowstring snaps with unnecessary violence. someone—probably the mage—lets out a strangled, exhausted noise of pure despair.

satoru barely notices. he’s busy fighting for his life.

you’re still smiling at him. the wind rustles the bluebells. your hair glows like god’s personal sunbeam. the scene is perfect. it looks like a damn cg cut-in. he expects text to pop up any second with your name and some sappy line like “i’m glad you’re here, brave knight.”

but instead you just say, softly, with an amused little tilt of your head, “you’re strange, sir gojo.”

“i get that a lot,” he mumbles.

and somehow, impossibly, you smile brighter.

he has to beat the demon king. return to his world. back to traffic, vending machines, anime reruns, and microwaved curry. back to a life without hand-drawn skies and snow that melts against your skin and the way you say his name like it’s a blessing.

but you’re looking at him now like he’s the one glowing.

and satoru thinks—maybe. maybe just a little longer.

a few more days of fumbling compliments, of you laughing at his dumb jokes, of trying not to combust every time your hands brush his.

a few more days of your soft voice calling him “sir gojo” like you don’t even realize you’ve already enchanted him more deeply than any demon ever could.

[the-shinysnorlax]

Miguel O’Hara: A comprehensive reading guide

I honestly don’t know if this has been done yet, and considering that there are multiple different main canons for Miguel, it’s even more confusing on where to start.

To clarify, there is 3 different “Mainstream” universes for Miguel. Earth 928 (The main universe for most Miguel media), Earth-2099, and Earth-6375 (The universe where he’s part of the exiles)

I’m gonna be starting with

Earth-928

(Note: I’ll try to put these in order as much as possible, but due to retcons and other things like Spiderverse it may not be 100% accurate)

Important reads are in bold

-Amazing Spider-Man #365 (Not really important, it’s just a preview of the first issue, but it’s counted as Miguel’s very first appearance so.)

-Spiderman 2099 vol 1 #1-10 (VERY important reads, they set up the universe and Miguel’s origin story)

-2099 unlimited #1-3 (Not really important to the lore, but they’re silly little stories that I have to mention them)

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #11-15

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #16, Ravage 2099 #15, X-men 2099 #5, Doom 2099 #14, Punisher 2099 #13 (VERY important reads, highlights the fall of the hammer arc and shows Miguel’s relationships with other 2099 characters, especially Jake Gallows. Read in the exact order listed)

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #17-22

-2099 unlimited #8

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #23-34

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 annual

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #35-38 (Venom 2099 arc, important read as it introduces Kron Stone properly)

-Spider-Man 2099 special

-Spider-Man 2099 meets Spider-Man (First introduction of Miguel to Peter)

-2099 unlimited 9-10

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #39-43

-Symbiote Spider-Man 2099 #1-5

The following issues have been mostly retconned and are no longer canon. I’m listing them still for sake of continuity (Plus they’re interesting) but they are NOT canon to E-928

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #44-46

-2099: World of tomorrow #1-8

-2099: Manifest Destiny

End of retconned comics

-Captain Marvel vol 4 #27-30

-Superior Spider-Man #17-19

-Amazing Spider-Man vol 3 #1

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 2 #1-12

Note during this time is the Spiderverse event and Miguel is featured in multiple comics that tie into it. I will not be listing them all due to time, plus he was mostly featured in his own comic for it anyways

-Secret wars 2099 #1-5

-Amazing Spider-Man vol 4 #1

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 3 #1-10

-Spiderman 2099 vol 3 #11-16 (I list them separately because this takes place during Civil War 2 and that also has a lot of tie in comics that I will not be listing due to time. But yeah. That’s a thing)

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 3 #17-25

-Amazing Spider-Man vol 5 #32-36

Earth 2099

-2099 Alpha

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 4

-2099 Omega (This and vol 4 are E-2099 Miguel’s origin story. I’m not personally a fan of the writing but it is essential to read if you want to understand the universe)

-Spider-Man 2099 Exodus Alpha, #1-5, and Omega

-Spider-Man 2099 Dark Genesis #1-5

-Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man 2099 #1-5 (The best series we’ve gotten so far of this earth, not really important to the Miguel lore. I just like it lol)

Earth-6375

Note that this is optional to read and I’ve heard some very mixed opinions about how Miguel is written here. If you want to read it, be my guest.

-Exiles #72

-Exiles #75-99

-Exiles annual 1

Honorable mention: Timesplitters 2009-2099 #1-4, Spider-Man, and X Men.

These technically take place in a separate continuity to all 3, but they are important enough that I listed them anyways.

Honorable mention 2: Edge of Spiderverse vol 2

Idk what continuity it takes place in. it is currently ongoing.

Other non comic media

The following is a list of media that Miguel is featured in extensively (Not counting all the mobile games because I mean those are just gacha games and aren’t important to the Miguel lore)

-Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse and Spider-Man across the Spiderverse

-Ultimate Spider-Man S3EP9 and 12

-Spider-Man Edge of time (Personal favorite adaptation of Miguel in media)

-Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions

-Araña and Spiderman 2099: Dark Tomorrow (Not confirmed but likely takes place in E-928 5 years after series ends)

And that’s about it! If there’s any appearances I missed, please don’t hesitate to say something and I’ll fix it as soon as possible.

[sout999]

adhd talk

the third truly unsung project alongside my film and dissertation was the weird amount of targeted effort i had to put into Completing Anything Big As A Neurodivergent Person Whose Brain Is A Crazy Off The Rails Train Staffed and Patronised Entirely By Multiple Exact Copies Of The Squirrel From Ice Age

which is a description like 99/100 people reading this can relate to, but i think a sentiment i see less often and therefore feel kind of stupid and stubborn and lonesome about is "adhd is innate but is also exasperated by hectic lifestyle/modern instant gratification machines so if i fix my habits around those i can cure myself forever". which is silly and wrong but also i feel abit disconnected from adhd social media culture and cant cope just relating to it (which is all it seems to be sometimes) but learning to harness or tame it to do the things that are really important to me

i felt really cringe tbh having to look up youtube videos of HARVARD STUDENT REVEALS PRO STUDY TRICK and then narrowing it down to specifically adhd-focused study videos and keeping a planner and setting aside specific time to study studying and practising anti-academic meltdown journaling techniques and reading fucking atomic habits but i really didn't want to contribute to my abhorrent academic record following me all through undergrad. in fact i wish i had done this sooner but i was not self aware enough to consider the fact

probably the best change i made was severely cutting down or being mindful of social media time, i don't backread my tl anymore and have more moments of awareness when i find myself dumbly scrolling and realize i dont want to be doing this, and then wondering what i actually Do want to be doing. i keep a book nearby to read, and have also swapped a lot of social media time to sketching-off-pinterest time. reading about the psychology behind social media apps is also super interesting, although i always feel like a paranoid wacko conspiracy theorist talking about it. stuff like how negativity and judgemental behaviour is good for engagement (and therefore ad revenue), and how if all posts on your tl were interesting you wouldn't be as addicted to social media as you are, therefore microblogging employs a slot machine/gacha system where you "roll" for posts by logging on and hope to get a good one. it's a little full on but the more i think of it as a revolting and evil machine the more incentive i have to do something else with my time ^q^

a harder thing to do was, in the late stages of the project, the real crunch time month, avoid everything that could become a huge hyperfixation, and then eventually even minor distractions or fixations. because i know if i got super obsessed with something i'd just be up posting about it or drawing fanart. i had to bar myself from persona 3 remake and elden ring dlc and all these other shiny new releases, and the mobile games i was playing... i look forward to catching up on them now. i took up reading books a lot more because unfortunately thats just not as exciting. in the last month of film work i stopped listening to music on my computer so i wouldnt get drawing or animation ideas to distract me from film work. as of writing this i havent listened to music in like 40 days guys 😱 at the same time i am the kind of person who needs background noise to work, so i have:

watched novum's four hour hereditary video essay three times

watched novum's seven hour midsomar video essay three times

watched that one five hour bojack horseman retrospective twice

listened to audiobooks of the Britney Spears biography, Jennette McCurdy biography, three Playboy Bunny biographies (i was on some sort of lady bopgraphy kick i guess), and a few fiction books

rewatched all of bojack horseman

started on House MD and got a few seasons in before i finished the project, amazingly the perfect show to look away from bc of all the medical stuff, how many lumbar punctures do you need to show like seriously

honorable mention to the learned skill of communication and being honest and picking your battles and killing your darlings which is a larger part of managing mental illness than i cared to admit but one of the hardest ones because it involved confronting things and making big painful drastic changes and then having to tell the faculty about them. sometimes i'd be stuck on a piece of animation work for weeks/months, then go back and change the underlying idea to one i'm actually passionate about, and do the animation work in one day using newly found magical hyperfocus passion power. it's crazy! but being able to be confident about taking those steps rather than keeping on with what you're "supposed" to do went a long way.

i very much look forward to listening to a music and playing some video games properly now and being pulverized like a small victorian child from the sheer amount of fun i'm having. i'd say it was all worth it and a fun experiment in channeling the magical humours of passion and boredom and i hope it will help me with future projects too. i Am super burnt out though x__ x thanks for reading and for all your support up until now!

[thelazyhermits]

Do you think Twisted Wonderland will end their services after Chapter 7? And how long do you think the game will last? I’ve played other gacha games before and all of them had yet to close their servers yet but I’ve seen some other gacha games close their services after 5 years or so and with Twisted Wonderland already hitting their fourth anniversary it made me sad to think about it 😞

While I'm no gacha expert, I personally don't think TWST is as close to ending as most people might assume. The reason I say that is because I believe we're gonna get a chapter/book 8 that will focus on the Yuu/Grim subplot that main story has only just begun really digging into. Like the game devs can't just throw freakin Mickey Mouse at us and NOT address whatever the hell is up with that plotline 😂

And obviously we need answers about what brought Yuu to TW in the first place, and I highly doubt that will be addressed in chapter/book 7 since that thing is already ridiculously long as it is.

Not to mention the fact that we all know something is gonna happen with Grim thanks to the tutorial battle we all played when we first started the game. That is definitely not something that can just get crammed in at the end of chapter/book 7, although it could be used as a cliffhanger lol

Another thing that hasn't been covered that I think the main story will eventually get to is the interscholastic games - the interschool Spelldrive tournament that was mentioned in Book 3, which RSA has beaten NRC at for the last 99 years. While I'm not necessarily saying it'll be a super important part of the plot, I just think it's something that will be covered since why else bring it up, you know? Plus, it would be something that can be going on while we're learning more about Yuu/Grim.

Honestly, I keep thinking they'll make like a chapter/book 7.1 and chapter/book 7.2 where the first part ends after everyone's dreams have been visited since I don't think the Malleus battle will be a quick one like the other overblot battles cause he's so strong, and chapter/book 7 really doesn't need to get any longer 😂 But more than likely that won't actually happen, which makes me fear chapter/book 8 cause the chapters/books keep getting longer and longer with each new one we get lol

So, even though TWST JPN's 5th anniversary is next month, I don't think we're close to the end with TWST, especially since I'm fully expecting a long break between chapters/books 7 & 8 because of how long 7 was. Plus, in JPN, there was a year break between chapters/books 6 & 7.

Considering all the chapter/book 7 updates that came out on the JPN server in 2024, it's entirely possible that they'll finally wrap things up by the end of this year, but I think TWST will still be around for another two years at least after that.

But yes, it is sad to think that TWST won't last forever since that's just how gacha games are, but I really don't think the end is anywhere in sight because the game has been doing so well and the story doesn't feel like it's almost over. There's still so much we can learn about this crazy world and its fun characters, so I'm gonna remain positive 😊

[allpiesforourown]

Thank you so much for badmouthing ZZZ

I wouldn’t have been able to cut it off when I did if not for you :)))

Anyway imma try out Honkai impact 3rd and see if it fixes me

YIPEE YURI GAME!!!!

Okay the thing about zzz is that it's actually interesting if you ONLY play the main story. But unfortunately the main story only gets about a day of playable content before you have to wait a month and a half for updates. That means the 1% of the game that's actually cool is overshadowed by the 99% that's just annoying events, awful fanservice, repetitive farming, etc...

So at first I did try to play zzz like I would play any other game, like doing all the side quests and limited time events but it was so BORING and time consuming and not fun at all. But then I realized you don't actually need to pull the characters? During the main story you get trial versions, so whether you pull them is completely irrelevant except for side quests

My advice when it comes to playing any gacha game whatsoever: don't do anything that's boring. Only like the main story? It's perfectly understandable to pick up a game to play the update and then forget about it for 6 weeks. Doing this has ironically made my gaming experience way more fun

[housano]

Housano's LIVE-A-HALF-ASSED Summaries Presents Pubraseer and the Infinite Radness Part 2: 🎶Crash Into Me🎶

We start off this part in an open field area where a moderator is announcing the public special exam has begun, we meet a new Oaks character who is nervous, clenching his exam card, and the last to be transformed by the operator. He is determined to become a hero to meet his goal. Before the operator can transform him the terminal begins to act up, so our future playable character closes his eyes to calm himself down and phase out the noise. When the noise stops, he opens his eyes, ready to switch into his hero outfit.

Only to find that the operator is nowhere to be found and gets upset that if he can't transform, he won't be able to take the exam.

Jumping to the Tycoons tower, we have a Virtual Festa reuinion with our beloved Pubra-Chan, Writer Subaru and Scaly Tsundere Hydoor. It's been a while since they worked together though they wished Ryekie could be with them. The operator explains that they will be evaluating the heroes. Subaru and Hydoor will play the role of villains and Pubraseer will get to be a civilian that needs to be rescued by the Heroes. The operator says there's a Locker room where Pubraseer can get changed while the others go an take position. Before we get to the fanservice, Pubraseer notices a person sized UFO flying through the air and decides to alert the operator outside the locker room, only to find them gone.

We then circle back to MC being ported to the field from earlier to immediately be bombarded by the future character from earlier desperate to transform. He said they he prepared for this exam only to trip on the steps and be attacked by animals on his way here and when he was ready the operator disappeared. MC realized that they were transported into the exam area and we find out (after thrusting their admission ticket) that this is Denebora. He states he has a lot on the line with this examination and we agree to transform him since this is an emergency situation.

Only to be transformed into an unconscious state by Orbiter falling on him. Orbiter is shocked as he thought no one was there and will apologize to Denebora when he wakes up. He said he tried to leave by a small space ship he build but apparently there's a ceiling that he hit, causing his space ship to fall apart and hands us a part, asking us if we've seen something similar. Before we can anwer our terminal starts beeping and we are yeeted off to Broker knows where.

Denebora wakes up and Orbiter profusely apologizes. He asks where MC is and Orbiter says they just disappeared. It's then that Denebora and Orbiter realize MC has both their admission ticket and ship parts respectively. They agree, since this is isn't a horror movie, to split up to cover more ground and exchange contact information.

This time we are transported to my happy place: right into Pubra-chan's embrace, which, thank you Lifewonders is giving the fans exactly what we want. Unfortunately, Pubra-chan requests for us to move so he can get changed and apologizes for us seeing something unsightly. Love, unsightly are 99% of my gacha pulls in this game. We have gazed upon perfection. Back to the story, we say that we were transported without warning and Pubra said his ooperator disappeared as well. Since he is an examiner, it would be best to report this to the management office and suggest to go to the warp point near his meetup point.

Elsewhere, Gaisei is itching for a fight and the is reminding him of the purpose is for him to take the hero exam so they can get him a license which Gaisei ran off to us. Pubra asks if we managed to get in contact with Huckle but to no avail. Gaisei finds us and immediately wants to engage in a fight with Pubraseer, which perplexes him. Though he is a self-proclaimed villain, he isn't causing trouble for the exam thus far so he can't really do much but oblige.

Unfortunatley we are interrupted by Hydoor and Subaru as villains with Hydoor being in his old pirate outfit. He is flattered if we compliment his outfit, but says he's at work right now and will show it off to us later. Pubraseer tries to get them to stop and explain our predicament, but they are not listening because as Rupaul once said "You're going off script, darling." So Pubra relents and says we have to finish the battle to complete the scenario with Gaisei giddily joining us for battle.

Pubraseer and the Infinite Radness Part 2: Crash into me- END

[caffeineandsociety]

I wonder if we would be better off if we separated chemical addictions from recognized behavioral addictions like gambling.

For one, a lot of chemical addictions ALSO have behavioral/habitual aspects, and most of the people I know who have tried to break one (which, to be fair, is a small [but >1] sample size) have had pretty meaningful breakthroughs for recognizing that the chemical dependence and the behavioral habit are interlinked yet still different, and "itemizing" and categorizing their reactions to the process granted a pretty helpful sense of control.

For two, the ableist framework attached to addiction being the only one we have to describe unhealthy excessive engagement with something is absolutely shit for literally everyone, because consider "softcore" gambling like lootboxes and gacha: on the one hand, you have companies that actively admit they're trying to get people "addicted", and there have been a small but significant number of cases of people doing things from selling or eschewing necessities to embezzling money in service of getting them their next top-up, and you CAN, in fact, find examples of this surrounding basically anything that plays with tension/release and fast-but-not-quite-instant gratification like that-

But on the other hand if you hear someone talking about "gaming addiction" or "social media addiction" you can be 99% positive that what they're actually doing is going full Chicken Little mode about everything from new things having drawbacks and risks (as all things do) to people just happening to be really into stuff they don't get, and on some really vile victim blaming shit with the actual extreme cases.

But, clinically speaking, what's the difference between someone who compulsively spends money they don't have on casino games vs. someone who compulsively spends money they don't have on Fortnite skins? Someone who ends up on the streets because they can't stop spending their money at card rooms, vs. someone who ends up on the streets because they can't convince themselves to go to work instead of playing Call of Duty? I have seen zero convincing evidence that there is one. Both constitute a TINY minority of people who engage in their vice, both end up hurting because of it, but one is recognized as someone with a clinical addiction, with all the ableist stigma that entails, BUT they've got sparse yet extant resources to help them if they want to quit, while the other...gets all the ableism leveraged at addicts AND a lot of neophobic derision toward their particular vice, but no support whatsoever.

So I wonder if, along with destigmatizing addiction as a whole, we could partially cut off the neophobic claims of "[INSERT NEW FUN THING] addiction" that boil down to "my kid likes video games more than homework this is a CRISIS!!!" by creating a new framework for unhealthy compulsive engagement with a behavior that has a Venn diagram relationship with chemical addiction.

[exandr0th-0f-viscera]

HEHEHHEE YOUVE ASKED ABOUT COOKIE RUN KINGDOM AND NOW IM IN UR INBOX

anyways i have a multitude of characters that i love and hold near and dear to my heart. espresso cookie is up there bc hIS DESIGN AND HIS VOICE UGHHHH HES SO COOL IVE LOVED HIM SINCE THE DAY HE WAS RELEASED but also WHITE LILLY COOKIE HELLO???? HAVE YOU SEEN HER???? HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT HER LORE ADN JUST EVERYTHING??? the day i found out she was in game i literally jumped for joy. I also really like rockstar cookie but im 99% sure thats only bc he's the crk equivalent of kian stone and since that fucker lives in my head rent free already i kinda just swooped him up like a little animal on the street. do u mind me asking what ur friend code is perchance (if ur on hollyberry) /nf

(I'LL BE HONEST I AM NOT SOMEONE WHO KNOWS OR UNDERSTANDS LORE BECAUSE I FIND IT VERY HARD TO GET ATTACHED TO CHARACTERS, BUT GETTING TO HEAR ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S PICKS IS ENTERTAINING!) (EXPRESSO COOKIE SEEMS COOL - I'M VERY OBVIOUSLY A CREAM UNICORN COOKIE FAN MYSELF)

(WHITE LILY COOKIE IS STELLAR THOUGH!!) (I THINK I SKIPPED OUT ON PICKING HER AS MY FIRST ANCIENT COOKIE BECAUSE OF THE GAME'S META, BUT THAT WAS INCREDIBLY TOUGH BECAUSE SHE IS SO PRETTY AND I'M SAD I DON'T HAVE HER COSTUMES YET) (..SOON THOUGH)

(ROCKSTAR COOKIE IS INTERESTING BECAUSE I JUST THINK, "WHY IS KIAN STONE IN THIS GAME?") ("HOW DID JRWI GET IN ON THIS GACHA GAME?") (ALSO, "WHY WON'T SOMEONE DRAW KIAN STONE IN ROCKSTAR COOKIE'S ALT OUTFIT?") (IF I COULD MOD COOKIE RUN I WOULD REPLACE ALL OF ROCKSTAR COOKIE'S DIALOGUE WITH KIAN STONE'S- WHICH I REALISE WOULD BE HILARIOUS SINCE I PLAY WITH THE GAME WITH THE KOREAN VOICELINES INSTEAD OF THE ENGLISH VERSION)

(BUT THE SAD NEWS IS THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN ACCOUNT ON A DIFFERENT SERVER..) (BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE'RE PRETTY MUCH IN END GAME SO AS SOON AS WE FINISH ALL THE REMAINING GRINDING THEN I CAN MAKE ANOTHER ACCOUNT!)

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

Hi:) I made a post with the same questions I'm about to put in here, but then deleted it since I thought I'll be guaranteed to get an answer if I just ask you.

I've been playing MLQC since its launch. To be honest, haven't kept up with the story in years and only continue playing and logging in to get Shaw's cards, but I do know how the game works like the back of my hand.

A few days ago I saw Sylus for the first time on X, and the minute I did I began to debate whether or not I should install Love and Deepspace. Just so I can see what he's like. He's very attractive, and he seems charismatic and mysterious too lol

However, before I decide to download and make a potential commitment, I want to know a few things first. 99% of my questions are general questions, while the other 1% isn't :P

What's the game like? (gameplay, mechanics, options, daily tasks(?), currencies, gacha, etc.)

Are there similarities to MLQC? (gameplay-wise, content, dailies, wish tree, events, etc.)

The cards come with stories, right? I honestly feel stupid asking this, but I'm just that clueless about the game and how it works lolol

Is the game F2P-friendly? (tolerable grinding, fairness in stocking up on required materials, cost of cards, etc.) Is it at least similar to MLQC in terms of abundance in materials and currency?

Do limited cards get re-runs? Or is it that once a card is launched and its event ends, the chance to get it is forever gone?

Can cards only be pulled, or can they also be run in MLQC-style shoot/birthday events and bought using in-game currency (i.e. like the gems in MLQC)?

There's probably a grade to the cards, correct? (SR, SSR, UR, etc.)

I saw on the store that Sylus's 'Wish' event is ongoing at the moment; will his card be added permanently after the event ends, or is this a one-time thing (like the time ltd. Wish Tree events in MLQC)?

Taking into consideration the fact that I'll be a noob with barely any resources, if at all: do I have a chance of getting Sylus's card before the event end if I begin playing soon?

Sorry for all the questions, and thank you for your response in advance :D

hello! firstly i’m sorry but my answers will only have necessary info b/c i’m not in the physical or mental state to go at lengths rn.

(1) it's an otome with action elements i.e. different styles of combats. there's also main story, dates, socmed, mini games, photo booth etc.

(2) idk whether to laugh or cry here tbh. in all fairness, PG really just took every feature of lovepro/ MLQC and upgraded them in LaDS (the combats aside LOL). although personally i don’t have anything positive to say on their writing quality, so you’ll have to figure out your feelings on that yourself ahah.

the dailies are quick once you've been there long enough as it is with most games. the wish tree has pity carry over system. they have two types of gacha pools: permanent and limited. and the two pools have different ticket currencies. there is no exchange system for event cards like MLQC.

leveling up the cards is an extremely tricky business here by the way. it's gonna become an essay if i try to explain, but know that you can never have enough stamina here LOL.

(3) yes. the 5 and 4 stars.

(4) nope lmfao. even if you tunnel vision one bias, it'd be difficult have all his cards without spending. they do have free 5 and 4 star card events though and those give rewards + the limited events often offer some rewards (in-game), but still it'd be hard if you have crappy gacha luck plus their stupid 50/50 choice in the pool almost never works lol and since the game is a simulpub, you won't have the advantage you have with MLQC to plan out your spending.

a friend of mine has done an overview, so please go through that to get an idea: ♡

(5) give it some time 😂 the game is only six months old. eventually all limited cards are re-run in these sort of games.

(6) no, there's no currency only card like MLQC in the game (at least not as of now). all cards are to be obtained through gacha (free ones aside).

(7) yes.

(8) QinChe/ Sylus has multiple events going on at the moment. there's a limited pool that ends on august 1 and you won't be able to get that one after the event until further notice. and the permanent pool also has a limited mechanism right now that will end after the event. but every other card except for event limited card will be added to the permanent pool afterwards.

(9) the permanent cards can be obtained later too (though definitely will be way harder b/c the limited mechanism for the permanent pool will gone then). as for the limited banner, it depends on your luck 😂 70x is the pity for 5-stars. i can't remember if there was any newbie pity, but since there's no guarantee or exchange, it might prove hard to obtain the card without spending if you have bad gacha luck. :/

hope these answer your questions~

—

[reccyls]

Do you have any ideas for why ikepri changed the suitors birthday specials from story sales to party events? Is the latter more profitable for them?

I don't know for sure, but I imagine so.

The past birthday stories + CG go for around 2k-3k diamonds, and party events give a chance for people to get the CG and the story for free. On the face of it, it seems like it would be counterintuitive if Cybird wanted to make money.

However, consider: you will likely need a 5* card of the birthday character to be able to get that for free in the first place. If you have been unlucky with the gacha, it's a pretty strong incentive to:

buy the 10k diamond pack that comes with a special birthday 5* card (the idea of spending 10k yen to get 3k yen worth of stuff for free is questionable, but at least now the special birthday card does have a tangible actual benefit in-game aside from just looking pretty)

pull more on the gacha, or

try to get +99 4* cards from events

All of which will necessitate spending.

Additionally, events naturally add a ranking element in. For events centered focused on certain characters. People get competitive, and when people get competitive, they spend. A lot.

For reference, as of this writing, the #1 position for Silvio's event has ~2 million party points. I have no idea what their point gain is like though they do have a bunch of +99 cards and some +15ish Silvio 5* cards. Making some generous assumptions (250 points per salon, everything done during triple lucky time, and buying only the most efficient sets), that is around 25k diamonds, at a minimum, worth of buying sets & stamina refreshes. For a single person.

The top 1000 (which is as far as the game really tracks) is at 44k points right now. That could be 1-2k diamonds worth of spending, but that will rise tomorrow as that's when the final 3x will start and ooh boy that will likely be a bloodbath. Competition for the top 100 (cutoff for the epilogue story) is also probably going to be very intense (right now the border is hovering at around 270k points)

And that's just people who are trying to get in the rankings. There are probably also a lot of people who aren't, and just want to get Silvio's CG and birthday story, but they don't have a 5* Silvio card so they need to refresh some in order to get it.

Maybe there are also people who are sort of interested in Silvio, but like other characters way more. They would have balked at the 3k price tag for a CG + story, but in this system, maybe they're just a few salons away from getting everything almost for free. Surely, 300 or so diamonds of stamina is worth it then, right?

The party event is really good at incentivizing the really dedicated whale fans, as well as incentivizing more casual fans to spend just a little bit. I imagine that adds up.

[shatcey]

Hello! I'm that same anon! Sorry to hear it has happened to you too. I'm still blaming myself ;-;

I am also a very practical person, so I really thought it well before starting to send hearts, as I wanted to enter the top 100. I also thought of sending hearts to Liam, but since after 3 days I determined that I could manage to make it into the ranking of my favorite character, I sent him all my hearts (to get his card and attire too).

Elbert is my fave! And I don't really have many cards of him, so it really worked for me. What frustrates me the most is that I am F2P, so this was my only chance till now to ever get a 99+ card in this game. Also, since I'm a resource hoarder (cause I'm F2P) I had more than enough like to make another full escort, but I last minute decided I had spent enough (terrible decision TT)

That's why I would also like to ask, with your great knowledge of both the Ikemen Series and the JP version of IkeVil, do you think there will ever be another similar event, where ranking in the top 100 of a character will give you a 99+ card of him?

Also, thanks for listening to my ramble. I'm still very much frustrated and blaming myself, but at the end of the day it's just a game. I'll probably get over it by tomorrow or something (I hope °^°)

Hope you have a great day! (or night!) (or whatever time it is where you live!) :D

I'm in the same position as you. I can only buy for IkeVil… through the online shop (there is a barcode option). But I can't buy anything in other games. At least when I was set up for it, I did not find such an option. So I tried to get free diamonds. Only one game gave me pretty descent amount, but I spend a lot of time in it.

Elbie… yes… he doesn't like me on the EN server either. But today he decided to come for a free ticket to the 1st anniversary gacha. I see it as Ally pushed him at the last moment. Like. I won't come by myself because I'm mad at you, but I won't let the doctor come either. He's so predictable…

I wouldn't call it a lot of knowledge. But thanks. I don't pay much attention to the cards in The Princes. Almost all of the boys have at least one 5⭐ card. That's all I need. I'm very calm about this game.

But I can say for sure that last year in the Villains there were 2 events where you could get +99 4⭐ cards for getting into the rating.

Wedding event. If the EN team doesn't change anything significant, then in June, maybe in early July.

And a Halloween event. Yet again… if nothing changes… October, maybe early November.

I only remember those two. Maybe there were more of them…

Don't beat yourself up too much, it's already happened. There's no point in regretting. You make a decision because you are you. You couldn't have made any other decision. Perhaps Elbie will come to you of his own volition. Who knows… I firmly believe that characters have free will. I'm delusional, I know…

And I don't consider this to be a ramble. You're just sharing your thoughts and emotions. It's a healthy way to deal with frustration. So everything is perfectly fine.

It's already evening… but after a sleepless night, this day is so very weird… So I'll probably go to bed early. And tomorrow the story event in Villains will begin. And I'm sooooo looking forward to it.

And have a good day/evening/night to you too. Feel free to write to me any time. I'm a pretty chatty, as you've probably noticed.

[lewnareclips]

FUN FACT: 99% of ZZZ haters haven't even opened the game and judge it based on a couple of trailers (or rather, only the ones that are popular on social media. do they know about Nicole's teaser? or other old teasers?) and they just fan the flames because of the physics and character designs (I saw someone who defended adding physics to Genshin (a game with a 12+ rating) but hated ZZZ for exactly the same thing) and only 1% could explain their hatred properly. everyone keeps repeating the same thoughts about how they hate Jane/Burnice/another character, how they hate TV mode, and how the plot of ZZZ is "bad" (it's not bad. It's just slightly different in structure from what Hoyo did before. YES, it's a "slice of life" in a way, but hey, the plot is still good!!!) and other reasons, half of which are exaggerations to understate the game.

i will NOT shut up about this for a second. i LOVE ZZZ, there aren't many gachas that i genuinely don't want to quit. and i say that with confidence. picture "Yes, you are all wrong"_

[kuyadevotee]

hi! I'm lucky (he/him, 25+) and this is my blog for sexy gay feelings and gacha games~

18+ only please! there will be suggestive/adult themes on this blog (all tagged), so interact at your own risk

i don't really have a strict dni beyond don't be an asshole/bigot, but considering this blog's content i will say this: if you consider yourself a fujoshi/are a straight person that fetishizes gay people/relationships, go away

if you haven't interacted directly with me but find yourself blocked, it's just because i heavily curate my online experience and 99% of the time it's nothing you've done wrong. :) (its usually minors in circles adjacent to mine that i some want stumbling across this blog!)

lasty, if you consider yourself fandom police or whatever and get tilted over fictional media that you can't help but take too seriously, leave me alone. i'm too old and jaded for that shit.

anyway, expect:

gay anime boys

gacha games

gay anime gacha games

other things, maybe

i'm hoping to get back into writing fanfic soon!

not gonna lie, this is mostly gonna be a nu: carnival blog lol. my friend code is FHEZU2, feel free to use it!

important info below the cut so this post doesn't get too long!

this blog may contain

suggestive content

canon-typical violence (for whatever media involved)

mild kink/fetish content

mild nudity

this blog will NOT contain:

explicit sexual content

full nudity

extreme violence/gore

abuse/rape/noncon content

i do my best to make sure everyone i reblog from is 18+, but if i miss something or i reblogged something from you and you'd like me to take it down, just let me know!

more about me:

he/him

late 20s

proDx autistic

proDx DID system

i like rocks, dragons, and godzilla

i have tons of favorite games and anime, so who knows what'll show up here

[ecargmura]

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Episode 23 Review - Dungeon Raid

The second exam is about getting to the bottom of an unexplored dungeon! In all honesty, I love roaming around dungeons, so seeing these mages explore them like how one would in RPGs got the gamer in me excited! I relate so much to Himmel when it comes to dungeons because it’s always more exciting to see what a floor has before going down to the next floor! Sometimes, I can find extremely helpful items if I explore every unlooked corner!

Because the requirement is for the participant to reach the dungeon, it doesn’t matter if someone goes in alone or with others as long as they reach the bottom. Some people go in on their own while others are grouped up. Frieren and Fern go in together with Sense, the proctor, tagging along. Wirbel’s group go in together. It’s implied that Land and Ubel go in together. Kanne and Lawine go in together. This leaves Denken with his group and two more people. Methode and Lange group together with them and tread the dungeon. I do like seeing everyone’s different approach when it comes to a dangerous dungeon. Frieren likes to see what it has to offer. Some are pragmatic and prefer less risk while others want to group with familiar faces. The only way to fail the exam, other than dying, is to use the golem Sense provides

I do like the different approaches to dungeon raiding. Denken and a few others are pragmatic and try to be as cautious as possible. Then, there’s Frieren who walks around as if she’s the most seasoned dungeon explorer (which she is) and still gets caught up in mimic traps. I think the funniest part about all of this is that before Frieren gets caught in the mimic trap, Richter and Denken talk about how there wouldn’t be anyone foolish or stupid to fall for simple tricks like mimics, and then Frieren, the main character and the most OP mage in the story, falls for it. Why does she do this? It’s because mimic detection spells are 99% accurate, but she seeks out the 1% in hopes that it contains a rare grimoire. She’d be a gacha whale if she lived in the modern era.

As an RPG enthusiast, I love seeing people explore every nook and cranny and fight all sorts of monsters. Seeing that there are replicas of the participants make the dungeon raid even more difficult. I loved the scene of Denken’s group fighting Replica Laufen. The way the real and the copy go at it with their staffs was really good animation. Also, I feel bad for Denken’s group because they legit ran into the most OP replica of them all: Replica Frieren; his group is already down one person due to Lange using the golem to escape a spike trap.

Oh and two new voice actors were revealed for two characters. Methode is voiced by Reina Ueda. I’m familiar with her role as Miyo from My Happy Marriage and Mayu from Wonderful Precure. I didn’t expect to hear her voice a hot older lady and be good at it; she should do more. There’s also Taito Ban as Ton, the guy who went in by himself. He’s the voice actor for Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling. I guess there’s a reason why he went in by himself in a dungeon; let’s just hope he doesn’t run into any statues with creepy smiles.

Watching all of this just makes me want to play an RPG. Man, I haven’t played games in a long while. Frieren gives off that RPG vibe that I miss playing at times. What RPG franchise is your favorite? I love the Tales series, but their dungeons in recent installments have been very subpar… What are your thoughts on this episode?

[kitsunebishake]

I'm so amazed at how honkai star rail for once got me hooked into a gacha game story

this rarely ever happens to me in gacha games, I usually go on for like a week and then lose interest (since it tends to get boring)

like, for example, with genshin I only started to catch interest in sumeru, yet I never got there because the gameplay being overwhelming + how much text I had to skip on inazuma lol (no hate if others liked it, I just didn't find it that interesting so I'd skim through it waiting for it to pick up,,, at some point I was only reading whatever ayaka and thoma said and ignoring everyone else, never even reached ayato)

MY POINT IS THAT THIS GAME HAS GOT ME ACTUALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO READING MORE AND THINKING ABOUT THE STORY EVEN 2 WEEKS AFTER I FINISHED WHAT WAS AVAILABLE OF MAIN STORY

this game? hooked from the start

here's a screenshot of my best friend realising I was actually reading the story and not just skipping dialogues (something I am very famous for doing in my friend circle, it's a meme that I only have 2 modes: "I read this 3 times and didn't understand anyways" and "I read the entirety of this in 3 hours let me make an entire dissertation about it for you", and me going into the second one is a COMPLIMENT to the writer)

it's amazing

on that topic though, I think so much of that stupid coffin of luocha's... like genuinely, I'm like 99% sure I know what is inside of that shit and I am so fucking looking forward to seeing it happen

but also I've been also thinking of the relation between the xianzhou's history and fu hua's "no mercy for the corrupted" era

she's clearly the marshal, there's no way they're teasing a "marshal hua" (it's in one of the assignments), saying BARELY ANYTHING about the marshal on the xianzhou story video, and NOT making it the hua that is famous for destroying that of which she believes is corrupted without exception

the hunt's relationship with the abundance is exactly what was happening back in that plotline

plus we have jing yuan here who had to kill his own master, who imo looks like fu hua, and since he looks like jingliu there's that relation there for me, no one can convince me I'm wrong ok

his job as the general in the luofu feels as if fu hua and zhongli were mashed into a single character

(which worries me seeing the little twerp that is his disciple but I'll give the little shit the benefit of the doubt, I'm gonna enjoy avenging my goddess in the boss battle anyways)

WHICH

TAKES ME TO THE COFFIN

THAT'S TOTALLY JINGLIU

whether jing yuan requested it or if it's some sort of twisted "gift" from the abundance themselves I still can't tell from the clues we've got

these clues being:

luocha having a much stronger connection to his path, to even heal cyborgs with magic, carrying that shit everywhere, saying it's "a favor" from someone, saying he only met the person in the coffin once, his "it's a secret. (smiles)" as a response to being asked what his thoughts were on jing yuan in a JAPANESE MAGAZINE THEY REALLY DROPPED LORE IN A PART ONLY JP WOMEN AND POSSIBLY QUEERS WOULD READ

there's still nothing about whether this is also part of jing yuan's calculations or if this will throw him off guard,,,

AAAA I NEED ANSWERS HOYOVERSE WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME

[rev-feaw]

My Short Review of Honkai: Star Rail after ~2 Weeks

Hi!! This is gonna be my first post here.

If you’re a gacha games observer, Genshin/HI3 player or general Mihoyo enjoyer you are most likely already know that they just released a new game, that is Honkai: Star Rail. I prereg this game and made my account on the first day, and this is my loose review about the game so far. Please note other gacha games I’m currently play daily are Fate/Grand Order and Genshin Impact. I also tried Arknights for some months so maybe there will be comparison to them.

Combat: 7.5/10

I don’t like turn-based system for the God’s sake (looking at you, FGO) but the way they have AUTO really escalated the rate for me. The turn-based here honestly more fun than I thought!

Art: 8/10

OK. As expected

Music: 8/10

What should I critic from Hoyo-Mix

Exploration: 7/10

Please keep in mind this isn’t an exploration-focused game like Genshin. It does, however has funni descriptions about items, reminds me of 2D exploration games (something like Undertale).

Story: 7/10

I’ll be honest I play this just as a ‘gacha addict’ outlet and don’t really pay attention to the story, but imo this one’s harder to digest than Genshin, maybe HI3 player can understand better though.

Characters: 7/10

Not very much attachment too, heheh;; Unlike Genshin where I was very attached to Venti after 3 seconds in the game. But the MC is a menace of society, real rate is THE RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN/10.

Also they have “chatrooms”!! This is very cool, because I think they can keep any character relevant with this.

P. S. They REALLY need to add more battle voicelines. You’ll go crazy listen to “the rules--” everytime you turn up the volume.

Worldbuilding: 7/10

I’m not much a fan of their worldbuilding concept tbh, I think “planet” as a chapter’s setting is too massive, so many aspects about it left unpolished (one nation/planet isn’t very believable to me). But maybe I just don’t understand well.

Grinding: 9/10

AUTO mode is gamechanger. You also can change a relic’s main stat once/patch. Honestly this is the one that can make me linger around longer in this game. GI and FGO both aren’t this forgiving in time spent on farming :’D

Also unlike Arknights, u don’t need three stars or something to start AUTO your way out.

Endgame: 9/10

NGL, this game has better endgame content than Genshin. A LOT. It has something called “Stimulation Universe”. I think it’s similar to Arknights’ Annihilation that reset every week and earn rewards based on points. So rejoice if you’re strategy games enjoyer and like to play around with character builds, this game is good for you.

Gacha: 5/10

Why even bother. Just go with your starter characters.

UI/UX: 7/10

Dear Mihoyo: SKIP and LOG button WHEN??!!

Overall enjoyment: 7.8/10

Yeah weird numbers, but this is my overall, subjective rate. This won’t be my main game but since they’re not as grindy as my other games I think I can keep up by just playing casually. The minimal amount of grind also helped in increasing enjoyment in the overall strategy gameplay.

Unlike when u play Arknights where you have to massively build so many characters with so limited items and pretty hard stages (even for farming for early player) or Genshin with their chaotic artifacts farming..or FGO with their horrendous amount of doing the same 3-turns farming manually. If I had to go through things like that again here, I’ll drop the game immediately.

End Note (if still want to read, or just skip, lol)

If Star Rail was published before Genshin I doubt I’ll ever try it. Back then the only gacha game that can keep me for so long was only FGO (Since 2017, dear God) because I was soooo invested with their story and characters despite I have a massive hatred with their gameplay (lol). 

I often got HI3 ads on Youtube and I thought their visual is cool. But the game itself never interest me, because the playable characters are like 99% waifu so no, I prefer to have pretty balanced amount of dudes and chicks. Then in late 2020 Genshin was released, and I’m like... this is the one... the one I’ve been waiting for!!!!

I may write other long essays about why I was drawn to Genshin very much. And I was right, it was the only game that can pull me out from my FGO exclusivity, and made me realize that HI3 was not just a mere “waifu” game, and they give faith for me about HSR that was still in the beta back then.

Tl;dr Honkai: Star Rail is good. Don’t worry.