#and this is still way too close to fgo

[hungnitan]

Anniversary Reward

Genshin : 3 Quartz + some unused food

Star Rail : 30 pull + 3x Calx Planar

I don't think it's just a mere coincidence 🤣

PS : but wow HSR anni reveals staff feelings about leaker kinda scary and funny at same time. I'm into half-half since leaker help player to planning our pull but at same time I kinda despise story leaker one (lol)

[gacha-incels]

“Arknights/Limbus Company/etc is obviously very political, why are these incels playing it?” Here’s a longer answer if you’re interested.

If you haven’t been watching gacha communities for the past decade this might be confusing to you, but these guys see the games as just apolitical stories with a majority or all-female cast being there to titillate the male viewer. They are for his consumption. It’s why in both eastern and western “gacha game” communities you can see them talking about how these games are better for having “beautiful” anime women versus the hideous hags of western media. I’ve seen so many people asking “how are incels playing a game with so many strong female characters?” They see them not as “strong female” characters but rather “eyecandy made for me”. tbh when it comes down to it I wouldn’t call any of the designs in these games absolutely groundbreaking for the anime genre they’re aiming for. Arknights even follows the standard “fully animal faced-guy” and the female equivalent “small featured anime animal girl with some fur”. This doesn’t mean the designs are bad or you’re foolish for enjoying them of course, there are a lot of fun ones. Anyway, you can see the same sentiment in the majority of anime communities as well. Like do you think that stereotype of an anime nerd who “loves 2D women but hates 3D women” means he’s a feminist because the 2D girl is still female?

To be frank, after some of the actions taken by these companies (ex. the firing of women for posting anything vaguely feminist) can you honestly say an “apolitical game with anime babes” is not the way the games are often enjoyed? The company Yostar who publishes Arknights in Korea literally wrote a statement saying the game is apolitical and calling feminism a dividing force. If the publisher can say something so flippantly like this just to appease their incel fanbase, how can the game be making any meaningful, hardline progressive political statements? I am of course not saying this renders any positive message you get from these games moot nor am I saying it’s impossible for the writers to be passionate about their work, I’m just relaying the thoughts of the incels/“gacha gamers” playing them because there seems to be confusion. What I’m writing here doesn’t mean the worst interpretation of these games are their defining interpretations. I’m trying to explain how the games that many people see as being antithetical to incel beliefs can have these same men as high-spending fans.

Gacha games are unique in the world of consumer media in their extremely close and constant relationship with the consumer. You have to not only love each character’s design (and sometimes story) but also be willing to drop serious gambling money to “buy” them every single month. It’s like merchandizing on steroids. I think the term “whale” has been watered down since younger kids have started playing, but these people spend thousands per patch. Over the years I’ve heard about multiple games like this being sustained by just a couple of high spenders. In 2018 there was even a western news article about a man who had spent $70k+ on FGO. The publisher can’t rock the boat too much to displease the consumer too many times without risking EoS. Every character design and story of a gacha game is affected by this FIRST while any artistic intent comes second.

A Korean woman who had lost her job due to similar “feminist hunting” tactics wrote an article describing the way these incel men think. I posted it here and part of it summarized: the men that play these games see themselves as buying and “owning” the female characters in gacha games, who are often dressed and presented to them in a highly sexualized manner and will obey their commands. In the same way they “own” these 2D women, they also want to own the thoughts of the real live female illustrators who work on the games. Therefore, if these women have expressed ideas that the male gamers find upsetting, they will be angry she doesn’t conform to what they want like the servile 2D girl and do everything to get her fired (this is where she mentions Limbus Company as the most recent example of this happening).

You can argue for some of these games, maybe the girls aren’t dressed super provocatively and give (you) shit instead of being a simpering doll, but in the end it’s not like they can physically walk away or stop speaking to you. For the “waifu” hunter guy it’s just a different type of anime girl to collect.

The stories in these games are generally not what gets targeted as much by incels. In gacha “gamer” communities, especially the Korean incel ones, their main concerns are: how revealing are the summer swimsuits? How many women work for the company designing characters? and related, Are the male characters designed for women or for men and do they “look gay”? If you search through this blog, you can see them directly speaking about these things in regards to their hatred of Genshin Impact and Star Rail. All of these have also been encapsulated in the original Limbus Company incel attack: they hated that the summer female character looked more “clothed” (wearing a skintight suit instead of a bikini) than the male summer character. They thought the collar necklace and open shirt on the male summer character meant he was “a slave” for the female viewers, so obviously it was designed by a woman. When they learned a man designed and illustrated those characters, they searched to find a female illustrator who worked in the game and went after her instead. These guys WERE FANS that played the game beforehand and didn’t think anything in the story was upsetting enough to attack the company about. They were familiar enough with the works of Project Moon to name their little group after an antagonizing force in one of PM’s previous (non-gacha) videogames. And Project Moon saw them as such a significant part of their gacha fanbase that they wrote an immediate apology and fired the artist. How do these actions in reality inform their fiction and the interpretation of it? Getting this out of the way, they were NOT in any danger, the “fans” were not clamoring to get in their offices or camping outside, they were let in and calmly had a meeting with some employees at the office. You can still find photos of them goofing around, the ridiculous write up they brought with them and a transcript of the conversation. This was not a “guy shows up at Mihoyo’s offices with a knife” situation. In the end it was a financial and moral loss for the studio with many new and longtime fans completely dropping the games and Limbus Company taking one of the biggest financial and D/MAU drops for a gacha I’ve ever seen. You can read more regarding the ramifications of this here, this post is already pretty long for this website anyway.

Again I’m not writing this to shame anyone who plays these games, loves their characters or enjoys their stories. I don’t really care either way, and I obviously find the genre interesting or else I wouldn’t have been monitoring it and the fans for a decade. I just want to shine a light on the thoughts of the more “incel” gamers that play some of these games since I have seen a lot of genuine confusion as to why they would play them. In the future my aim is to write a more in-depth post about these issues, their history and the way antifeminists think.

[kumiaku]

Crossdressing - Kirschtaria Wodime x Reader

Kinktober Day 3 - Crossdressing, Kirschtaria Wodime x Reader FGO

Masterlist

Misc. Tags - Reader is Ritsuka Fujimaru/takes on their role, gn reader, reader is def a degen, praise, blow jobs

WC - 684

Nsfw under cut

“I knew you’d look pretty!” 

Kirschtaria fucking flushed in front of you, cheeks burning red in a way you’ve never seen before. He had stepped out of the bathroom in Chaldea wearing a maid outfit that you somehow - someway - were able to convince him to wear. 

“Give me a twirl!” 

“Are you sure this is a popular trend?” Kirschtaria nonetheless complied with your smiling suggestion, lifting his hands up to spin in a circle. The hem of his dress flew up around him, curving down slightly like a balloon. He had put on the kitten themed thigh highs as well. 

You squealed, nodding, yet you hardly paid any mind to his concerns, focusing instead on just how well it fit him. He was already rather feminine for a man, his long hair and attentive clothing choices showed that quite well, but this fit him too much. The black of the stereotypical maid outfit contrasting beautifully with his hair and skin - the lace almost made you want to tear it off of him with your teeth, but you swallowed instead. 

“Absolutely. Do you know how many of the Servants I’ve seen wear maid outfits?” You nodded, not daring to close your eyes even for a second. Who cared about lubricating your eyes when you could lubricate him instead. “Not a small amount. If I had a penny for everytime I saw someone wear one - I’d have...” 

You paused, shit, how many pennies would you have... one... two... five... six... “Like at least ten.” You added a few more in your head for good measure, but you also had seen Romani wear one, once. It was hilarious, but it sadly didn’t fit him as well as it fit Kirsch. 

“I know Maid Alter is one.” Kirschtaria nodded, standing normally now, the flush on his face had died down as he began considering and thinking. Oh, hell no! 

“I’ve seen Gilgamesh in one once.” You commented, a sly smile on your face. 

“Truly?” Kirschtaria looked invested, eyes focusing in on your face. “The King of Heroes wore a maid outfit?” 

You hummed, rolling over on the bed, so you were on your back, “but he didn’t wear it as well as you. C’mere - did you put all of it on, like I asked?” 

Again he flushed, but complied, walking into your grabbing hands. “I did. I don’t see why it was relevant... unless...” 

“Unless I had ulterior motives?” You finished his sentence with a grin, eating his sentence sandwich just as much as you were eating up his appearance with your eyes. You flipped up his skirt, head sticking underneath eagerly drinking in the sight of him confined in the lacy panties you bought. “Kirsch, I always have ulterior motives.” 

“I know.” Kirschtaria replied, the chuckle in his voice surely indicative of the soft smile stained on his face. 

“Good.” You hummed, toying with the fabric of the panties. He made a soft gasp as you pushed them aside and led his soft - hardening in your hands now - cock out of confinement. “So pretty.”

“Hold up your skirt so I can see your face while I do this, Kirsch.” You murmured, back still pressed against the bed as you took the head of the cock into his mouth. 

You could practically hear his Adam's apple bob as you did so. No longer shorn of light, you looked up at him, through the frills lightly obscuring your view, his flushed face looking down at you, watching you run your tongue over the slit at his tip. 

“It’s - weird.” Kirschtaria finally spoke, leaving his lips open to relish in the embrace of your warm mouth, “I can feel the fabric against it.” 

You hummed as you swallowed around him, trying to angle up your chin to take more of him inside of you, seeing you struggle, he lightly thrusted into your mouth - stuttering for a moment. He looked like he would slur his speech soon, his hair falling over his face as his hips stuttered, obviously restraining himself from trying to fuck into your waiting mouth. What a cutie.

[tempenensis]

Good luck in your games! I don't tend to have much luck with the pulls haha, so I'm sending you all good vibes to get some nice event items ^^.

When you have time, I was wondering if you had hints for translation on Gojo's incantation! I loved it a lot, but don't know if it means anything in particular.

As far as I can tell the words are sort of showing the things that surround a space? Kyū tsuna (the translators i've seen either say nine points or ropes) makes me think of the ropes tied at temples, and temples can be both boundary and gateway but I don't have much context for this one...

Henkō I've seen as "polarized light" which seems to reference the blue+red requirements of purple maybe? But also is this image of a wave pulling in two directions, the word making it both divided and still referring to both possible "directions" at once, so it's a concept like his technique rather than a decision of direction.

The crow and shomyo could refer to the voice/message from heaven and the chant to heaven, which is another "conceptual" gap. Also Gojo is sort of answering a prayer while performing a chant, so he is both the messenger and supplicant maybe?

I don't really get "表裏の間" at all. I've seen it translated as "head and tail" "gap between within and without" and "chasm of front and back", google just says "front and back" but the last character translates to something like "interval". It evokes the concept of the end and the beginning being both as far apart from one another as possible, but also as close to on another as possible which seems close to the concept of purple but it feels like reading into it too much...

Either way, I hope that you rest well this weekend anyways!

raindrop anon

Lol, thank you, raindrop anon. I actually pulled FGO's newest servant, who coincidentally shares the same seiyuu as Nobara QuQd. Now I only need to somehow get Enojun into fgo lol

This is the original panel of Gojou's chanting, btw

九綱 (kukou) means "nine ropes". Nine is sort of sacred number here, might be taken from nine virtues of Shakyamuni (whom Gojou have a lot of reference to). And the ropes, just like you said, act as a boundary like in temple to mark sacred place. It could also refer to the state of intertwining as he does to Red and Blue to create Purple 偏光 (henkou), means "light polarization". I agree with your idea here, that it's most likely referring to Red and Blue and the joining of two techniques. 烏と声明 (karasu to shoumyou). means "crow and shoumyou". In opposite to their reputation in the west, crow in Japanese lore is actually thought as the harbinger of good omen. So messenger is right. The 声明 though, it'll read generally as seimei and does mean message. But here, it's read as shoumyou, which actually refer to a style of chanting in Buddhism. It is a style of chanting Buddhist scripture with music. So not ordinary message, but rather special one?? 表裏の間 (hyouri no hazama), translated literally would be "between the front and back". This could be taken literally but also could refer to one's face shown in public and private. So it might means the space between reality and imaginary, as his technique realizes "infinity" from imaginary concept

Hope this helps! Also, sending much luck to you too!

[yinyuedijun]

HEYY i finished tokyo vice pt 2, just wanna say that tokyo vice suo is such a ~freak~ for his behaviour like what‼️‼️ but honestly during the smut there were tears running down my leg but, after the smut part the tears are running down from my eyes, like the part when suo said he’s sorry for joining the yakuza and that the action he chooses, upsets her and probably his master if he’s still alive, and also the fact one of his dearest friend avoids him now a criminal,,, WAILS.

i am reading it in the fact that of course suo knows that reader knows that he joins the yakuza bc of her situation but i don’t think she knows probably how much he’s beating himself over it in private in his hayato suo ways😔, anyways thankyou for writing such a thigh clenching, toe curling, bed writhing smut and then give me a whiplash at the end of it! i love being insane😍🫶🏻‼️

p.s i love that my username gave u a cackle its from my fgo playing days, i was planning to change it but a close friend said she loves my username, so i havent change it since then👍🏻 to love someone is to ruin yourself (image) to make them happy i guess (just like tokyo vice hayato suo)

HI OMG thank you so much for reading and for all the feedback!!!! I appreciate it so much 🫶 I was honestly trying to make him as much of a freak as I reasonably could for this situation and I'm glad I succeeded 😍 I was also worried that people would hate the ending for being so sad, I'm glad that you enjoyed it ♥️

you actually are correct!!! I had to cut this out because it made the ending too clunky, but suo never likes to let the reader know too much what's on his mind (it's the one boundary he enforces between them, so she takes care to respect it and not to pry). as a result, she wasn't sure how cognizant suo was about being so batshit, and if he regretted any of his actions at all.

thank you again for reading!!! I loved reading your commentary, so thank you for taking the time to type it all out. also I'm with your friend, it's SUCH a good username. NOT THE TOKYO VICE HAYATO SUO JOKE THO GLJDJFKDJSK

[the-white-void]

Dearest Humanity

Puppet AU where Darling is Tiamat from FGO headcannons

Soo... Since Tiamat's occupation is being the Mother of all life and a Primordial God so it would make sense if I would base Darling with her, and I'll make Gudako/Gudao

So let's say that when you first arrived you found yourself inside a ball-jointed doll body and you were tasked to summon someone

For the sake of this headcannon, let's say: the way you were tasked to summon her was that you arrived at an old manor where you accidentally activated a contraption that chained your arms and legs and a book appeared, and the only way to free yourself was to do what the book told you to do

You did what the book said and prepared everything, which was fairly simple as everything was in the room, and started the incantation.

Bing bang stage effects happen and you summon a girl.

Not one you were hoping to get

And the chains dissipate, you were free and about to walk out.

Then the girl jumped behind you, holding you tight,and looked you straight in the eyes

You were pretty startled by her and you notice some details of hers now that she's close to you

And before you could say anything she lets go and gets embarrassed

You didn't know what to do so you just asked "uhmm... who... are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just- uhm... Nevermind" a string of silence came and broke again as she reintroduces herself

"I am Mother... No, that is my role. My name is... ARURU. I have come here as you have called me. Are you surprised, humanity? I am here to lend you my strength. Yes. That is my reason. Are you happy, human?"

You were confused about her but from her choice of words, she might be a being higher than humanity, most likely a god, so maybe you should just roll with it

"Well... ARURU, I don't know how to say it but, I didn't really want to summon you, I just got caught in a situation where I was blackmailed to summon you, soo... can you go back?"

She frowned and looked down as tears were forming in her eyes so you tried to comfort her, but you were left with no choice but to just accept her.

"Well ARURU, do you know your way around this place because I'm a little lost here?"

"Yes I do, don't worry human, ARURU won't get you lost"

Very reassuring to put your trust in a childgod you summoned.

As you both go along your journey she tells you many things hidden from what you saw in-game, specifically, the time before the primordial one, and you were starting to think if she was some secret final boss in the game but kept your mouth shut about it

Her time with you allowed her to recollect her strength, and as time moved on, she finds herself drawing closer to you

"[name] I originally left that contraption there for someone to summon me to regain my strength to protect my pride, but now... I'm here for you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner"

"Well it was pretty obvious that you made it, so I don't mind that much, just don't do it again"

As more power she gained, her form changed along with it

I guess she kind of became your mother figure since she took care of you so often towards your journey

"I have grown up. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid at all. I won't grieve anymore"

"You always say you care for me, so I'll keep you safe too"

"You've been protecting me for a long time already"

"Hmm... Well... you're right."

Time went on as she continuously grows to match with her power that even she's starting to get scared of it.

She says that at the height of her prime, her power, is something even she fears more than fate. Even her tone began to sadden

"Even if I keep growing bigger... Even if I lose my human speech... Even if I return to my original form... I'll still keep protecting you. Because I want to keep protecting you."

She was starting to scare you from how she described her original form, from how she would lose her human speech, her form growing bigger, and how she might destroy Teyvat as a whole.

But she wouldn't do that, at least, not to you.

She said she'll protect you, so she'd never do that

Right?

[paranoid-rhythm]

FGO Fes 2023: Bierzelt Chaldea Bar Spiderweb - Charlemagne [Translation]

Setanta Lady Avalon Saitou Hajime Xu Fu Charlemagne Ereshkigal Alter Ashiya Douman Ibuki Douji (Summer)

"Hey, Master! Are you enjoying the festival? What are you doing in this shady bar on the edge of Bierzelt Chaldea?

Oh, me? Well, just a bit earlier, I was with my men who were getting too excited about the festival when I saw Master enter this place. I got curious, so I followed you here.

Since we're already here, let's drink one together, Master! Letting me monopolize your time during chances like this won't incur any punishment for me, right? Hehehe…

Come on! Keep that glass moving! Cheers!"

Cheers!

"Phew! As expected, drinking a glassful with the Master is the best!

By the way Master, I tried wearing this apparel from your home country called a "jinbei". Ta-da~! I look cool, huh?"

You look super cool! As expected of Charlie!

"Right? Right?!

Astolfo made a mask modeled after my face, and while at that, I asked him to make one of everyone! I have one for you as well, Master, so wear it later okay? And of course, you'll wear the one that has my face on it, right?

Putting that aside… The truth is, I haven't been to many bars. It's kind of hard for me to get used to this dim lighting and silent atmosphere… I mean, if it were the other me, he may still have a proud and dignified atmosphere even in a place like this. As for me, I love places under a bright, sunny sky instead!

Oops, I forgot that one shouldn't talk too loudly in places like this…

Don't you think that speaking in a low voice like this makes it feel more cool and mature, and fits the atmosphere?"

Charlie, too close, too close! (Blush…)

"Ah… Whoa there… Sorry about that, I'm not used to speaking in a quiet voice so I got a bit carried away…

Could it be that I made your heart skip a beat? Hahaha! These kinds of things happening while drinking with the Master isn't bad every once in a while.

Oh, right! After this, the Twelve Paladins would assemble in the Oktoberfest venue! Master, do you want to come too? You'll come too, right? Wait, no, since we've already come this far, even if you say no, I'll take you along with me! Come on, let's get going, Master!"

[matt-lifesage]

Ciel’s route continues to restructure and recontextualize all the way to the end by changing how Type-Moon endings work, which kinda threw me for a loop until I figured out what they were going for (spoilers for the ending of A piece of blue glass moon)

So Day 14 of Ciel’s route closely follows the original’s final day and ends on the same cliffhanger. But this time, the following epilogue is completely new. It's a somber ending but still an appropriate and satisfying one that does a great job wrapping up the story and ripping out my heart.

After getting this first ending, you unlock the ability to go back and hit certain flags for an extra ending--leading to an original version of Day 14 which is an insanely indulgent, lengthy action sequence that ends on a far neater and happier note, leading into a tweaked version of the original game’s true ending for a complimentary super happy ending to the super sad one--though it doesn’t resolve most of the dramatic threats too well, only sends the main trio off on a nice note.

I like this structure. Gating you into a 'Normal' ending before giving you the option for the extra stuff is neat. I do have a couple notes, though, because what really threw me off for a minute was that in previous Type-Moon visual novels, this second ending would have been called 'Good.' It’s 'True' this time, despite not feeling like a traditional true ending. In the past, the 'Normal' was a complimentary sadder take on the events, but never mandatory and didn’t necessarily do a good job at wrapping up the loose ends. But 'Normal' this time is mandatory and does a better job at wrapping up parts of the story. What complicates this is the flags to get 'True' in Remake are the choices that led to the original’s 'Good' and original's 'True' lead to Remake's 'Normal' and-- (and at this point, anyone reading this who hasn’t played both games is totally lost……)

TLDR: Ciel's True End works nearly the same way previous game's 'Good' endings did, and I would have called it 'Good' to remove the connotation.

Weird pedantic nonsense that only bugs me aside, I did have some mixed feelings about that ‘True’ Day 14.

The final battle is indulgent in all the best and worst ways. Do you want an all-out brawl with a fully-powered Arcueid? A first half featuring Ciel operating at her total demigod peak, and a second half with Shiki teaming up with Roa and using his full vampire abilities in an apocalyptically bombastic action set piece that invokes Evangelion meets Drakengard meets FGO?? Yeah, it’s some great spectacle--but not to be a traditionalist, it’s really not why I read Tsukihime. As awesome as it was, power-scaling Shiki is actually the opposite of why I find him an interesting protagonist in a fight scene. But hell, this route was the only chance Type-Moon had for justifying something like that--same with showing off Arcueid at full power. I understand the desire to pay off the 20 years of hinting at what her character can do with something totally insane. I’m glad it exists for that reason alone.

Here’s the deal though: It’s a fitting sequence for finally showing off Arcueid’s insane potential as a super boss, but it’s not a fitting climax to the route it's in--hence why they structured the endings for this fight to be ‘extra.’ If they didn’t include the Normal Days 14 and 15, I would absolutely hate this. And I think they knew that which is maybe why they gated it inside an ending you need to work for after getting that first ending.

My annoying #not-my-tsukihime instinct aside and dead where it belongs, my legit criticisms of this sequence come in the form of a recommendation: Maybe take a couple days to read it because it is oppressively long. We’re talking about almost 4 hours, and I know plenty of people with slower reading speeds than mine. It got to the point that I didn’t feel like the characters were going through a gauntlet to get to their happy ending. I felt like I was going through a gauntlet to get to their happy ending.

Also, for what dramatically adds up to be a tweaked version of the first Day 14 you read… I don’t think its dramatic scale matches the insane stakes it suddenly drops you into. Type-Moon has been excellent at aligning drama with spectacle (see Heaven’s Feel’s climax and Mahoyo’s True Magic payoff), but here it feels inflated (see what I did there) far beyond the reach the route can justify. Honestly, both of these criticisms aren’t too big of a deal when seen through the lens that it is something extra. Which is exactly what it is! So the VN manages to get across the tightrope unscathed.

Beyond that, True Day 15 was fantastic. Beautifully done. Invoking the original epilogue as well as Kagetsu Tohya and Hollow Ataraxia. Even if I found the climax on the verge of exhaustively over the top (seriously, maybe spread your read of it across multiple days. DON’T DO WHAT I DID), the epilogue was the perfect note to end the novel on.

Now if you'll excuse me, I’m going to start clawing at the walls in anxious anticipation for The other side of red garden.

[crystalelemental]

"books-are-my-life-stuff: The original Japanese release iirc also has the same release and eos date, so...yeah, not just the global release. It's a shame, Love Live! is I think among the most popular early gacha games back then. Everyone loved it, everyone I knew played it, but when they decided to close the first game while announcing the second that's when it's going downhill. I think you described it well.

Love Live was first released in 2013, I think it's even earlier than FGO, but it crumbled so fast and unfortunately couldn't compete with the market nowadays. Love Live as a franchise is still very big and successful even to this day, with multiple anime series and so many fans, a shame that the game devs didn't even try to fulfill that expectation."

I'm not really sure how they dropped the ball, is the thing. I was never too associated with Love Live, I kept up for a short time with a friend way back when but never touched the games or anything, but it seemed like one of those big, looming fandoms in the background that you know is everywhere. As far as rhythm games go, it was the big name. So it's kinda wild to hear how badly it's cratering now. I guess it's been around long enough it's not surprising to see it on the decline, but if I'm remembering the story about the gacha shifts right, the pivot to a new game and then the backdown to a carry-over sequel all happeend in like a year. Which is a really fast turnaround time to torpedo your entire series.

[hoodiedoodles]

there’s something mildly fucked up in an unintentional way about how FGO treats plot relevant characters

like think of Bedivere; he had this grand quest, he walked the Earth for 1500 years looking for his King, and at the end of his life, when allowed to rest, he forced himself to live so that he could finish his duty as Arthur’s Last and Most Loyal Retainer

and he succeeded! he powered through his pain, beat the Divine Round Table, returned Excalibur to Artoria, and died at peace with the knowledge that he was successful

but now...

now he only ever shows up as a cameo character in events sometimes

i know that you can’t really DO anything with Bedivere, his story is told, there’s no point in him having another journey when all of Camelot was about him finishing the endless one he’s been treading

but there’s a REASON heroes die at the end of their stories. the book closes, the tale ends, everything afterwards is irrelevant because it’s “not real”.

but in FGO, the “afterwards” IS real, yet the story stays the same

people in real life don’t have “character arcs”, there’s a constant growth and change of a person over their entire life until they die. even the most interesting people in the world don’t have “arcs” in the same way fictional characters do, you can’t look at someone’s biography and say “oh this difficult time is a metaphor for their idealism”, that’s not how it works

yet in FGO, the characters have arcs. they grow, develop, and then stop, because there’s no more story left to tell. but despite that the story KEEPS HAPPENING, even while they sit there, trapped in a narrative they are no longer part of, the story continues and leaves these complete people stuck, unable to change, unable to move, inevitably bound to a narrative they’re being dragged along with against their will but at the same time unable to participate and grow any further

it’s not an intentional thing; it’s a side effect of the structure of the game

but it still feels fucked up that characters like Bedivere are trapped in limbo for the rest of their existence because they “finished their story too soon” while the rest of the world moves without them

[doubleddenden]

Time to talk about things I'm excited about again

New Fate/Samurai Remnant trailer! it's only in Japanese for now, and it was quickly privated from the original uploader

HOWEVER, there's still a lot of cool things to look at here.

First of all, i'll be honest, I saw this originally thanks to a twitter user that archived it and looked at the various stuff you can get with it, so a lot of my "official" info that isn't visually made clear in the trailer will be regurgitated from what they've said. here's the thread and another video (just in case this one gets taken down)

Okay, so time for a deep dive under the cut:

first off

Musashi (which that IS Musashi and this is not a Scathatch=Skadi or similar situation) is apparently a Berserker

The MC is most likely Iori- there's a few reasons why this is significant, both in terms of actual history (which plays a role for Fate, obviously) and Fate lore in general

A. Historical relevancy: Iori is one of the children that IRL Miyamoto Musashi bought/adopted from his original parents, and taught them his signature sword style.

B. Lore relevancy: The Musashi we're familiar with in Fate is from another world where she's female- at least in terms of Fate/Grand Order lore. Musashi sort of gets rejected by reality/gets tossed in and out of alternate dimensions here and there, and other than official story canon, she does play a fun and significant role in Summer 4. Here she appears in the Summer Singularity of Las Vegas as a Berserker and also keeps trying (and failing) to convince the group she is actually Iori. It's a fun story but hard to argue as canon due to the nature of event singularities and especially summer ones

3. I'm very sure you can tell if you look closely, but the black haired servant with the white shirt is definitely a Saber face- I think this one actually has Artoria's VA. I posted previously after the last trailer, but they have Artoria's hairstyle and the little ahoge that's pretty much signature to Saber Faces (sans Alters). To me they seem of Chinese origin judging by dress and swords, and it also seems like they have some water ability? Which is strange but cool. If anyone's smart enough to try and figure that one out, go for it. I'd personally look through old Chinese folktales or rulers that have some association to water, or maybe was a man suspected of being a woman/vice versa (which is why Artoria is a woman instead of a man). Maybe a swordsman that traveled or migrated to Japan, too.

4. This is DEFINITELY a Holy Grail War, it's the only way someone like Jalter could show up like this- However the fact that she's even here to begin with must mean there's something wonky going on, since her existence in FGO is pretty much only because of Chaldea's interference. It could also just be a separate instance of fuckery going on, especially considering we have ANOTHER Avenger class here- Angry Mango himself (i can't remember how to spell the name). Maybe another tainted grail?

5. Speaking of Angra, he looks different- like he's not using Shiro as a base body anymore. He has face stubble- Kiritsugu, maybe? It wouldn't be the first time Kiritsugu and Shiro have had similar Servant counterparts. It could also be another of Musashi's kids imo.

6. Speaking of Shiro, or more specifically Fate/Stay Night

This place looks familiar, almost like the shrine where Saber and Assassin fought each other in FSN, aka the shrine Caster was holding out in. Now this might be a stretch, but what if this is Fuyuki from the past? If this is Iori's time, this would be around the 1600s, roughly 400 years prior to Stay Night. The fact that the new Saber Face is also here seems rather significant imo

7. The extra Servants look cool- I'm betting the big guy with the green is maybe another Hercules form or possibly Samson, which would be a first for Fate I think. He does have long hair, anyway.

8. The music used is similar to the Shimousa fighting music from FGO's Shimousa arc

Anyway, the early September release date for Japan is pretty awesome. I doubt it'll release that early for us, and in fact that may be why they retracted the video? unclear. Personally i hope it comes out later so i can actually save and buy it instead of passing it up for a wedding lol

I can't wait for it, it looks fun

[writer-and-artist27]

Hi, idk if you're still taking questions, but I was wondering what inspired you to try tackling writing so many different servants with Passing Days? Most writers usually just stick to their specific favs that they want to write so PD sticks out as one where you write almost everyone!

Hi Anon. I'm still taking questions, so don't worry about it. The day I close my inbox is a far away thing.

What really inspired me in writing so many different Servants in Passing Days was the simple fact that my positive experiences in FGO ultimately originated from the team lineups I made with said Servants. How different combinations (even without meta farming built in) led to different experiences that were both memorable and fun - I wanted to challenge myself as a writer in covering the different sides to those experiences. (Achilles meeting Marie as a front-liner Rider really did reflect how early FGO me did rely on Marie a lot before Achilles arrived for my Rider teams. And once I thought about how they might interact together, it snowballed from there.) Even the sides the player themselves may never see, because the Servants are people too, with their own viewpoints.

Even if FGO is all about the meaning behind humanity and what "saving" it truly entails, I found the Servants we befriend as the player along the way sold the show. And when some Servants weren't as focused on as others (example being the original Arturia Pendragon herself for one), I wanted to change that.

Passing Days is ultimately what the title implies. Snippets of days from my Chaldea. Times between all the Servants I can write for, all the times I want to write for, as respectfully as I can. To show the times the Chaldean Master doesn't get between story mode and events. Because life isn't all about the farming, the endless grind for more Ascension materials and Embers, and saving the world.

Life can also be about the daily naps, the laughs, tears, and everything shared in-between. And those moments I find are more precious than the story mode the game can give.

[hellsvestibule]

I’m thinking about lb6 and it’s directly paralels to the version of the quest for the holy grail I read. the main plot about compassion fatigue, a world full of ailing people trying to pull you off your pedestal because you’re the only one who seems strong enough to save them, bc you were Fated to save them thus to them you exist for that and nothing else, and the resulting callousness, paranoia, despair, and anger that results from a hero put in that position.

In the version I read this was the Lancelot plotline. It’s why I’m so weird about him, guys. I promise. He’s actually well written in other narratives. But also! I love it not being him, bc fgo wants to challenge the notion both that the Arthur adjascent wouldn’t crack, but also, is she going to crack in the same ways as him, no, bc she’s her own character and holds true to her identity as who she is in that moment, and that’s all she can really do, and that’s enough, that tiny thing makes all the difference between which character is going through this and the conclusion you’re meant to take, bc having yourself might be all you’re left with in the end. Bc if you haven’t read that adaptation (I don’t necessarily recommend it, lb6 is better in the messaging it sends) like you maybe wont understand this is really close to an existing plotline, bc you’re kind of conditioned when looking for The Story to focus on the names and events rather than focusing on the emotional through line, the thing that gets neglected. And lb6 wants to fuck this to hell and back. It’s specifically about fucking this up and it Should be. And this is also I think something people ignore when criticizing some aspects of the inaccuracy of fate characters. Well. They’re narratively self aware and trying to fight it. Even in the original narrative. Why would it necessarily always play out the same way even if it plays out the same way? You can have events reflect and repeat while still having it lead towards a meaningful progression where things change. You are going to inflict your perspective onto the story whether you want to or not. Why fight that. Why seek for an accuracy you don’t understand, when fate can be completely wacky and still easily pinpoint the heart of the story better than your average Hollywood adaptation, the part that can resonate with Anyone who feels like they’re inheriting a world too broken to save, and being broken by it? I do not give a fuck if blorbeth from the knight drama finds the cup and scepter, that’s just dressing to the pathos, it’s Sad that people are suffering, and this slowly poisons the happiness of people trying to hold onto joy, until they cave and to misery and despair. It’s sad for everyone involved.

Maybe that’s just the part of me that’s disinterested in accurate adaptation of Arthurian myths and in fact actively finds them boring and awkward. There’s so much self awareness coming from lb6 that feels very similarly to how I feel in regards to frustration to how these things are usually adapted. Fuck the names and places and events. There was once a time when those things were fresh, and had to Earn their place in our lexicon, rather than being taken for granted you could just slap them down and hit the same emotional through lines by invoking a name you don’t really understand. If you’re too much of a stickler for being respectful to ol’ Arthur and all the silly prophecies and battles, if you fear criticism for changing things, or in delivering admirable characters rather than entertaining and compelling ones you might focus on that and little else. when the story wouldn’t have stuck around so long if all it was about is objects which more or less abstractly represent wealth or power. Like who the fuck cares about that! .If you asked me what “important” thing happened in the quest for the holy grail or really any Arthurian story I’ve read. I could not recall a single fucking detail which isn’t more obviously correlated to a character suffering or dying. I just remember the knights constantly getting lost and eating shit, and the particular above plotline in particular bc it was very emotional and relatable and one of the things that sold me on Lancelot as a character, and why I’m so idk. Pissed he hasn’t been treated properly outside vague hints that like, 2 or 3 people in the whole story understand him, even if they’re holding out for another twist ending, idk if that’ll make up for it. But still, lb6 is Good. Fgo is making everyone realize like wow this shit is actually really relatable and sad and tragic. It is! Which is why I was so mad that the message you’re meant to take at the end of the version I read is basically. The one Sakura receives at the end of fate/zero. Galahad existrd basically as nothing but a self sacrificial object representing Lancelot’s lost innocence. He existed entirely to heal the rot and pain in everyone else, and was worthless the moment he could no longer do it. So he, a child possessing Lancelot’s childhood name, dies of heartbreak when he reaches adulthood. It’s tragic, sure, there are parts of it that are genuinely compelling, but it’s specifically bc the indignation you feel on their behalf if you have an ounce of compassion. the message it’s used to sell about purity is rancid. Fgo knows it’s rancid. Part 1 ends with fou being unable to accept Mash’s fated death via her connection to Galahad, and ironically repeating the narrative and sacrificing himself for her. Lb1 ends w a reflection of this playing out a thousand times and Galahad has to leave Mash bc there is no fucking innocence left in that world and that’s all he was allowed to be.

Fgo gets this more than most adaptations of Arthurian myth that would focus too much on the specificity of certain details and maybe miss the tragedy of the story being about an ailing world corrupting the goodness of the very people trying to save it. I don’t really care about preserving the dignity of kings of a bygone era. The surrounding context and details don’t matter. It’s all a dream, everyone’s already dead, embrace chaos. I find so much live action adaptations boring for the lack of this. Arthurian stories are fucking unhinged and hilarious and fucked up and depressing. But they’re that for how the characters can be relatable and pathetic despite all the pomp and circumstance. It’s Boring to translate these tales to our modern Hollywood sensibilities of valor romance or narrative cohesion and disliking being interrupted by nonsense and characters having ugly pathetic reactions to their circumstances. But fgo exists within a format that thrives w this sort of wackiness and also isn’t afraid to go hard w drama. I don’t read these stories bc I care about kings and knights. I read them bc they’re funny fucked up and sad. These people will mow down like 50 people in battle then awkwardly apologize about it after. Women will ride out of the field on a steed of some sort and just start infodumping lore and metaphors that completely fly over your head. This is charming and strange.

Like I said, tho, the only need to read the original is if you want to know how and why fate confronts it. the message about holding tight to your identity and boundaries. Its bullshit that the version I read commits really hard to the idea that personal autonomy is bad, submission is good, and you are only worth as much of yourself you can sacrifice to others. And lb6 is instead like, no, let this bitch go off. One of the most iconic moments in the og was how they try to pull that shit on Gawain and he’s literally like, with all due respect I am arrogant and shameless and will never learn :) and you’re probably supposed to think this is hubris. when compared to the toxicity of the overall message it’s actually a bright ray of sunshine. Like. Where is your rage, bitch. Rage. Rage against the lying of the light! Gawain…i mean…sometimes he could genuinely do with a bit more shame but Someone needed to just be like you know what no thanks I don’t care about salvation I’ll go to hell when I die.

[smokeybrandreviews]

It's Our Anniversary

Do you know what today is? It's been a clean minute since I've checked in about the whole FGO thing and, i must say, sh*t is progressing nicely. Azur Lane has had some events, too, finally got a few new Iron Blood ships, but I'll touch on those later. Right now, I'm mildly obsessed with my Fate situation and i kind of want to gush about it a little bit. Last time i updated, i had just popped my Jaques de Molay on a whim. that was a hell of a run but there have been gains since then. Gains that i feel compelled to gush over.

The Grind

Mordred is another step closer to perfection. Anther step closer to where she was when i lost her the first time. The Seventh Anni event is happening and, if you have thirty pay quarts, you can use them to summon a guaranteed Five-Star from a selection of Servants you choose. I am lousy with Sabers so i just chose Mo on a whim. She popped. A little sad as that meant i missed out on Melusine (she's my white whale now, i guess), Semiramis, and Demon Nobu, but i did add another Noble Phantasm level Mordred, bringing her to level three. I'm one dupe away from where she was last time and two away from perfecting her. I've also maxed out both of her Buster Cards and am about one hundred short on her Quick card. Still a LONG way off from her level growing, i keep getting other Servants worth the Experience cards, but I'll lock into that eventually. I'm so close to finishing Mordred, it's getting me itchy!

The Drought is Over

In literally the last two months since i last updated, i find myself swimming in Five-Star Servants AND they're not f*cking Sabers! I wouldn't complaining if they were but, f*ck, is it hard to diversify in this game in terms of Gold Servants. I ended up throwing a ton of Grails at Four-Stars to kind of shore up the ranks but then the flood gates opened and i ended up with enough Five-Stars to build several Support teams. Sh*t was cash, man. I now have eighteen of these elusive f*ckers, a far cry from the measly nine (four of which were Sabers) when i first started. I have at least one Five-Star for every Main Class except Berserker, two Rulers, a Moon Cancer, and my lone Foreigner. Wish i had an Avenger but I'm good with what is on deck.

Four Star General

I actually have two Avengers, Gorgon and Lobo, they're just Four-Stars. I am absolutely LOUSY with Four-Star Servants. I have thirty-five of the f*cking things and around sixty or so total. I tend to burn anything less than Four-Stars because those cards are generally useless, especially in the late game. That said, the bulk of my army are bolstered Fours. Thirteen of them have been leveled up to ninety, i have Grails to spare, strictly because i needed more firepower and like those characters. Obviously, Barghest and Grey got that treatment the second i added them to my ranks, but so did Yu Meiren and Daikouten. Both of them are underrated as f*ck for their Class. Also, Frankenstein's Monster (her name is actually Eve but cool) because i don't still don't have a Five-Star Berserker yet!

Crimson Moon

I rarely speak on this because i generally enjoy the Fate franchise much more, but i got into the Throne of Heroes through Tsukihime. I was aware of Type-Moon because of Shiki and his doomed romance with Type-Moon, herself. Arcueid is one of my favorite characters in all of the Nasuverse so having an opportunity to add her to my my roster was a no-brainer for me. Obviously, i made a run at that banner, which was dope because i had just been gifted something like two hundred Saint Quartz or some sh*t. It took two thirty-pulls but she popped and i an stoked. Already got her to the third Ascension and currently grinding for Experience cards. I'm tempted to try a dupe run at her banner but i kind of don't want to waste anymore Quartz at the moment. Still, two rolls for a Five-Star off a banner is pretty dope.

Picnic Panic

I was also able to Max Limit my Chaldea Lunchtime Craft Essence. This anniversary celebration just showered me with sh*t i could use to bolster my entire situation. I ended up with a couple extra thousand Mana Prisms and immediately cashed those out. I only had two Lunchtimes left to get and had been putting it off because i wouldn't justify the expense. Well, today that cost was worth it because i realized i didn't need to actually level the Craft Essences up AND limit Break them in order to get the bonus. I completely forgot it's just the latter which matters. All five of those f*ckers fused to give me a beautiful ten percent bonus to my Bond Points at the end of battle and i love it. Should put a much needed dent into the slow crawl to Bond level Fifteen. I wish we could do multiple, though. Five max level Lunchtimes would be dope as sh*t!

Back to One

Years ago, way back when FGO first released in the NA territory, those that signed up were gifted Saber Lily on top of your free Four-Star roll. I pulled Lancer Eli but that has nothing to do with anything. Anyway, when i lost my account, it became relatively clear to me that reclaiming Lily was going to be a problem. I only ever saw her on Banners and i wasn't abut to waste Quartz on arguably the weakest Saberface in the game. Still, nostalgia called and i just kind of went about my life, lamenting how stupid it is we still can't link accounts to our Goggle accounts or an email somewhere. That is until i popped her on a Friends Point Summon. I didn't even know you could get Gold Servants out of that welfare dump! It was an unexpected surprise and something else i can cross off my list, even though i had no intentions of earnestly pursuing.

Somebody Save Me

Interestingly enough, the same day i rolled Lily, i was able to get Ruler Jeanne. First and oldest Ruler in the game! Useless to my style of play but still appreciated, nonetheless. Obviously, if i had to choose a Jeanne, I'd want JAlter but, way back when i was a youngin' in the world of Grand Orders, the advertisements did a great job of selling me on the "new" Class. Saber Artoria, Mash, and Ruler Jeanne, were the cover girls of this new game and they were everywhere. Jeanne took a strong position as kind of the selling point for longtime Nasu fans. I think it was the first time we got extended time with the character and Class. Apocrypha was a few weeks from release and, unless you were a total weeb, you had no idea the Apocrypha novels existed. Ruler was brand new and super dope looking. Everyone wanted to have a spin with her. And then Apocrypha came out. I don't remember her reception back then because Mordred existed and i didn't care anymore.

[smokeybrand]

It's Our Anniversary

Do you know what today is? It's been a clean minute since I've checked in about the whole FGO thing and, i must say, sh*t is progressing nicely. Azur Lane has had some events, too, finally got a few new Iron Blood ships, but I'll touch on those later. Right now, I'm mildly obsessed with my Fate situation and i kind of want to gush about it a little bit. Last time i updated, i had just popped my Jaques de Molay on a whim. that was a hell of a run but there have been gains since then. Gains that i feel compelled to gush over.

The Grind

Mordred is another step closer to perfection. Anther step closer to where she was when i lost her the first time. The Seventh Anni event is happening and, if you have thirty pay quarts, you can use them to summon a guaranteed Five-Star from a selection of Servants you choose. I am lousy with Sabers so i just chose Mo on a whim. She popped. A little sad as that meant i missed out on Melusine (she's my white whale now, i guess), Semiramis, and Demon Nobu, but i did add another Noble Phantasm level Mordred, bringing her to level three. I'm one dupe away from where she was last time and two away from perfecting her. I've also maxed out both of her Buster Cards and am about one hundred short on her Quick card. Still a LONG way off from her level growing, i keep getting other Servants worth the Experience cards, but I'll lock into that eventually. I'm so close to finishing Mordred, it's getting me itchy!

The Drought is Over

In literally the last two months since i last updated, i find myself swimming in Five-Star Servants AND they're not f*cking Sabers! I wouldn't complaining if they were but, f*ck, is it hard to diversify in this game in terms of Gold Servants. I ended up throwing a ton of Grails at Four-Stars to kind of shore up the ranks but then the flood gates opened and i ended up with enough Five-Stars to build several Support teams. Sh*t was cash, man. I now have eighteen of these elusive f*ckers, a far cry from the measly nine (four of which were Sabers) when i first started. I have at least one Five-Star for every Main Class except Berserker, two Rulers, a Moon Cancer, and my lone Foreigner. Wish i had an Avenger but I'm good with what is on deck.

Four Star General

I actually have two Avengers, Gorgon and Lobo, they're just Four-Stars. I am absolutely LOUSY with Four-Star Servants. I have thirty-five of the f*cking things and around sixty or so total. I tend to burn anything less than Four-Stars because those cards are generally useless, especially in the late game. That said, the bulk of my army are bolstered Fours. Thirteen of them have been leveled up to ninety, i have Grails to spare, strictly because i needed more firepower and like those characters. Obviously, Barghest and Grey got that treatment the second i added them to my ranks, but so did Yu Meiren and Daikouten. Both of them are underrated as f*ck for their Class. Also, Frankenstein's Monster (her name is actually Eve but cool) because i don't still don't have a Five-Star Berserker yet!

Crimson Moon

I rarely speak on this because i generally enjoy the Fate franchise much more, but i got into the Throne of Heroes through Tsukihime. I was aware of Type-Moon because of Shiki and his doomed romance with Type-Moon, herself. Arcueid is one of my favorite characters in all of the Nasuverse so having an opportunity to add her to my my roster was a no-brainer for me. Obviously, i made a run at that banner, which was dope because i had just been gifted something like two hundred Saint Quartz or some sh*t. It took two thirty-pulls but she popped and i an stoked. Already got her to the third Ascension and currently grinding for Experience cards. I'm tempted to try a dupe run at her banner but i kind of don't want to waste anymore Quartz at the moment. Still, two rolls for a Five-Star off a banner is pretty dope.

Picnic Panic

I was also able to Max Limit my Chaldea Lunchtime Craft Essence. This anniversary celebration just showered me with sh*t i could use to bolster my entire situation. I ended up with a couple extra thousand Mana Prisms and immediately cashed those out. I only had two Lunchtimes left to get and had been putting it off because i wouldn't justify the expense. Well, today that cost was worth it because i realized i didn't need to actually level the Craft Essences up AND limit Break them in order to get the bonus. I completely forgot it's just the latter which matters. All five of those f*ckers fused to give me a beautiful ten percent bonus to my Bond Points at the end of battle and i love it. Should put a much needed dent into the slow crawl to Bond level Fifteen. I wish we could do multiple, though. Five max level Lunchtimes would be dope as sh*t!

Back to One

Years ago, way back when FGO first released in the NA territory, those that signed up were gifted Saber Lily on top of your free Four-Star roll. I pulled Lancer Eli but that has nothing to do with anything. Anyway, when i lost my account, it became relatively clear to me that reclaiming Lily was going to be a problem. I only ever saw her on Banners and i wasn't abut to waste Quartz on arguably the weakest Saberface in the game. Still, nostalgia called and i just kind of went about my life, lamenting how stupid it is we still can't link accounts to our Goggle accounts or an email somewhere. That is until i popped her on a Friends Point Summon. I didn't even know you could get Gold Servants out of that welfare dump! It was an unexpected surprise and something else i can cross off my list, even though i had no intentions of earnestly pursuing.

Somebody Save Me

Interestingly enough, the same day i rolled Lily, i was able to get Ruler Jeanne. First and oldest Ruler in the game! Useless to my style of play but still appreciated, nonetheless. Obviously, if i had to choose a Jeanne, I'd want JAlter but, way back when i was a youngin' in the world of Grand Orders, the advertisements did a great job of selling me on the "new" Class. Saber Artoria, Mash, and Ruler Jeanne, were the cover girls of this new game and they were everywhere. Jeanne took a strong position as kind of the selling point for longtime Nasu fans. I think it was the first time we got extended time with the character and Class. Apocrypha was a few weeks from release and, unless you were a total weeb, you had no idea the Apocrypha novels existed. Ruler was brand new and super dope looking. Everyone wanted to have a spin with her. And then Apocrypha came out. I don't remember her reception back then because Mordred existed and i didn't care anymore.

[ombrellica]

Hello! I've had an exciting month. A lot of good things happened to me. For finishing the set of drawings in the last post I treated myself to a pink dsi xl. This colour was never sold in my country so I took a risk and ordered one from overseas. In my memory the dsi xl was the best way to experience ds games. I kind of wish I was able to keep the one I had when I was younger, but that is life. I really love the colour of this dsi xl so maybe it was for the best. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the zelda game in the list of dsi ware redownloads. It's a little shame that this was in fact the only game downloaded onto the ds during the lifetime of the dsi shop. But hey if you only get one game to choose from, zelda is many people's top picks! I may soft mod the console in future to get my hands on nostalgic dsi ware games. I've had a huge blast playing Pokemon Heartgold. I caught a shiny metapod:

It's name is Red Moon! Also this month has been a very big month for me with gacha. I've been saving on and off over the last six months for these banners.

First up is Tears of Themis.

I got the anniversary Atrem! I am currently working to get Vyn too. We're on hard pity. Aw. I am waiting for the sharing returner code to refresh so I can save 180 s chips. At this point I might as well hey? I was also lucky enough to win a copy of the thank you letter from the twitter raffle. It hasn't arrived yet, but I am watching that letter box closely.

In a surprising turn of events, Oberon dropped on Fate Grand Order on the same day as ToT anniversary!

People were debating online when this servant would be available. Many people thought the banner would start a week after the release of the story. As you can see I earned this servant for free. While not always diligently, I have been working towards saving for this character since January.

I've never announced it on tumblr before but I am actually quitting this game. Now that I am becoming serious about my art stuff I don't really have the time for a game that requires a looooot of commitment and investment. Also the magic is pretty much over for me with this game. Since last year, I've been skipping a lot of dialogue and doing the bare minimum. I think the last time I enjoyed a fgo event story was the summer camp one. That was so mysterious and filled with thrills! I was one of the players who thought my game was playing up because of the gender swap shenanigans. I think fondly of that memory.

I've been looking forward to Oberon ever since I first heard about him years ago from the jp fans. Np 3 is really a nice way wrap it all up. I sort of want to get revenge on the Douman banner from last year. As far as activities are concerned that's over, but I may for a time passively collect login bonuses. But honestly if I stop feeling like doing that halfway, no hard feelings.

Finally we have Genshin!

Wanderer was guaranteed so the more exciting thing here is the r2 weapon! I wasn't sure if I'd get the weapon at all so I didn't prep for it to avoid disappointment. I'll get onto leveling it up soon! The other exciting news is this patch was truly made to celebrate Kaeya! Not just the costume: I also got my final constellation for him as well as a weapon!

I am so happy with how July unfolded. I ended up taking a break from art to emotionally process a recently resolved issue from my past. How do I say this... It's finally over now but it had affected the way I lived my life for a decade. I am going to live more peacefully for now on. Be less afraid and be apologetically like myself. That kind of thing.

To finish things off today, here's a picture of a little dog that passed away nearly a year ago. I still think about him. Stay safe stay well.