#born to otome forced to act
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when you wanna be a sakyo yume so badly but you’re a sakyoizu shipper and even though izumi is the MC/player, she has so much personality that to you (me) she’s her own character. therefore you can’t make a new yume bc sakyo’s true love to you is izumi who is irreplaceable <3
they’re so in love, your honour. she was literally his first love from childhood and he’s loved her ever since my gods
#ren speaks#born to otome forced to act#a3!#act! addict! actors!#sakyo furuichi#izumi tachibana#sakyoizu#a3 sakyoizu#i miss you a3en
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Ok so this doesn’t need to be 100% like the request but similar
Can you do a Princess in the Mirror fanfic where MC is tired of people telling her to “act more like a princess?” So she decides “fuck it” and starts to act as much as a princess as she possibly can and pretty much does what Faris does and fakes her entire personality in public. Then when people start commenting on how she isn’t acting herself she’s like “I’m just doing what everyone has been telling me to do 😊”
Heck, even the king is slightly unsettled by this change
You can make this go however you want
Please and thank you ♡
Just What You Wanted
Fandom: Princess In The Mirror (Otome)
Featured Characters: Most of the major characters but focused on the Princess
Genre: Semi-angsty psychology
Rating: occasional language and thematic elements
Description: The Princess is finally ready to admit that being in this new world isn’t a dream - and she’s ready to become the monarch everyone is pushing her to be… And more.
A/N: Ohhh anon, this is so deeply satisfying~ 😈👿 It’s how I had to frame my mc to be able to read through the story. Hopefully the tone conveys the overall feeling of, well, satisfaction. (Also fuck the king very much)
Warnings: | angst | political slavery | mentions of abuse culture |
I lay in bed, exhausted and sobbing at the end of another horrible day from the longest week of my life. The voices of so many people trying to make me do what they want go through my head.
‘Straighten up! You look like a gnarled, hunchbacked old woman.’
‘Come now, Princess, don’t I deserve a smile?’
‘You are expected to produce an heir as soon as possible to prevent the people from being more unsettled.’
‘Don’t look away from the duke like that! You refuse to engage with people now, but you’re going to have to.’
So many voices trying to make me accept that this isn’t a dream, a coma. That this is real.
So many faces in the palace and on the streets looking up to me with fear and hope.
So many people that I desperately disagree with.
…So many ways I can imagine changing things.
My daydreams have turned away from tv shows and hoping for someone at work to ask me out. My every thought has been consumed by politics and psycho-analyzation of strangers in a strange world.
A country that they are forcing me to take care of.
I sit up, all of my rage coalescing into a crystalline-sharp form.
And something snaps inside me.
Looking around this room, the moonlight gently illuminating the space, I take in every detail. Every fold of the fabric, every carved niche in the bedframe, the chill in the air.
I can’t run anymore. I know the truth. This is real.
And the people here are real. Their pain, their fears, their hopes and loves - they are real.
And they are not being properly protected by the people in this god forsaken building.
The emotions of fear and self-pity melt away all at once. I get up and go to the letter writing desk, lighting a candle and pulling out the neglected diary in its drawer.
I’m amazed by how quickly it fills - not with pouting, self centred emotions, but with ideas for action, borne of rage as much as hope.
~~~
When the knock at the door sounds, it is accompanied by a horrible scraping sound.
“Um, Princess? What’s going on?” Simeon calls out.
I rise and walk to the door, moving the chair away from under the handles.
“Ah, there is our lovely Princess’s face…” He trails off when he sees my expression. Behind him, Flora and Mary peek around to meet my eye.
“Things are going to change,” I announce firmly. “Starting today.”
Stepping aside to open the door wider, I begin with the new orders.
“No one is to open my chamber door without explicit, verbal permission. Mr. Simeon, I want to see other quarters that may have a more appropriate layout - namely a reception room before the actual bedroom. Captain Zell, come in as well.”
The four people file into my room, looking apprehensive.
“Captain Zell, security is far too lax. I require a full escort at all times. We will discuss the details later. Simeon, I need to know what my personal budget is, and who do I speak with about it. Flora and Mary, bring me whoever is making all of these clothes. Production stops immediately until I have made my own arrangements with them. I will not have so much work and money go into more dresses that make me feel like a haunted baby doll. I also require self defence lessons and a map of the castle.”
All of them stare at me with shock. It is Zell who finally speaks up.
“Princess… What has come over you?”
I put on a smile - one of the first that I actually mean. “I tried to ignore reality. But no more. Starting now, I make the rules.”
My expression softens into something more remorseful. “I have failed to even ask you about yourselves. I intend to correct the mistakes of my selfishness immediately. But in the meantime, you all have your orders. While I get dressed, please repeat them back to me so I know there have been no miscommunications.”
After a moment of stunned silence, they jump into action. While they list their instructions, a knock comes to the open door.
“You idiot. A note on my door isn’t enough to excuse…” Vincent finally registers all of the people in my room. “What’s going on here?”
I throw a smile his way as Mary hastily finishes my hairdo.
“Ah, master Vincent. We need to talk. Everyone else except Flora and Zell are excused.”
They exchange looks as the crowd thins, and I turn to my tutor. “Mr. Vincent. Starting now, I want every word of communication you make to me to be purposeful, specific, and useful. Together we will learn how to set aside emotion in favour of developing strategy and working to solve problems, rather than just complaining about them.” His eyes are wide as he stares at me. “Have I left any room for misunderstanding?”
“…No, Princess.”
This is actually kind of fun. “Good. Thank you. I spent some time prioritising what I need to learn. We will focus more on those topics for now. I am certain you will agree; there is no reason to delay learning the most critical information and skills. I must attend breakfast, so let us get going.”
“Oh, but first.” I turn to Flora and hold out my notebook. “Ms Flora, are you able to write?”
She nods, looking at me like I’ve been replaced by an alien. “Yes, Princess.”
I offer her a genuine smile. “Excellent! May I ask you to be my note taker? My mind has been going a mile a minute and I can not permit forgetting anything at all.”
“A-as you wish.”
“Thank you so much.”
As we parade out of my quarters, already something comes to mind. “Ah, Flora. Starting a list on page twenty six, add ‘labour laws’ and below it ‘military and essential service labour laws’.”
Beside our footsteps and the scratch of a pencil on paper, my entourage is absolutely silent.
Once out into a grander hall, I remember something. “Say, Mr Vincent, what is this kind of roof called? This rounding at what would be the corners of the walls?”
“I… actually don’t know. I am less versed in architecture.”
“Ah. I remember seeing a t- I mean, a program where they said that shape helps with temperature regulation throughout a space. I’ve always enjoyed architecture, and would like to study it. Can you arrange such lessons in another month or two?”
I hear footsteps coming towards us, and as we found the corner, the four noble sons cross our path.
“A woman wanting to study architecture? Absurd,” Luca scoffs.
I offer him a smile filled with venom. “I disagree. Lord Savini, I will ask of you what I asked of another this morning - You waste your own mental and emotional energy as well as mine with your senseless complaining. Either propose a way to fix the problem and be useful, or be silent. This is an order.”
The men stare at me in the same utter shock as the group before.
He furrows his brow and practically snarls at me. “What do you think you’re doing? You are in no place to scold me when there is so much you can’t do, pajama broad.”
Falco tries to step between us, but I hold up a finger to stop him.
I remain calm, clasping my hands behind my back. “You are trying to deflect by showing aggressive physical behaviour meant to make me submit in fear. I condemn this learned instinct.” His eyes grow wide, and I can see the slightest tilt of his head in confusion.
“Now, there is at least as much that I am ignorant of as you are. I cannot claim omnipotence any more than you can. So, Luca Savini, let us learn and rise up together.”
I smile at him, and the tension in the air snaps when Simeon sighs.
“Look at our Princess! I wonder if it is her red undergarments that have given her such courage today.”
I turn on him, my smile falling. He swallows hard. I let the silence stretch for moment to make him and everyone else focus on this moment.
Just as he takes a breath to speak, I raise a hand to stop him.
“Mr Simeon. You need to understand that your joking enables and reinforces a culture of rampant abuse, violence, and murder.” The blood drains from his face. “You, intentionally or not, embolden people to accept objectification and you subjugate unwilling women to appease your selfish whims. You make it harder for women to say no because ‘it’s just a joke’.”
I take a deep breath. “From this moment onward, you are forbidden from contributing to a culture of fear and selfishness. Do you understand?”
The man looks like he’s about to be sick. He drops to his knees. “…I never thought about it that way. I cannot begin to apologise enough, Princess. Please forgive me.”
I meet his eye. “It is not for me to forgive. Flora? ‘Survivor’s bill of rights. Witness protection program. Safe houses. Prison reform.’”
With a sigh, I turn back to the stunned noblemen. “Let’s get to breakfast, shall we?”
When Farris asks, “What happened to you?” I reply simply this time.
“I woke up.”
We file into the dining hall, and I wait in the doorway until the room turns to look at me. Joseph is the first to catch on. He stands at his place, gesturing to the others to do the same. Slowly, all of the noblemen and the two women in the room slowly get to their feet.
Satisfied, I offer them a smile and incline my head before going to take my place at the king’s side.
“Good morning, uncle.”
He stares at me with surprise and suspicion. “What’s gotten into you this morning?”
I smile at him, hoping it doesn’t come across as menacing. “I know what I need to do to serve this country. No more wasting time.”
As soon as our plates have been brought in, I look down the table and address the Minister of Foodstuffs. I ask for his tutelage, followed by the Minister of Defence and Trade.
The king huffs a quiet sound of approval. “I’m glad to see you taking things seriously.”
This smile I don’t bother to edit much of the sheer loathing from. “You inspired me, uncle.”
His eyes widen at first. “Mm. Well, I’d like to discuss with you then how your search for a husband is going.”
“Oh? Good. There is much to discuss.”
After the room and table have cleared, the king holds me back.
“We will talk here.”
“Very well.” Clasping my hands behind my back again, I stand tall and summon an aura of authority. “Shall I relay to you my current assessment of the four noblemen in question?”
“Yes. Do.”
I smile and go through the list quickly.
“Lord Luca is a dangerously ignorant narcissist. I would not trust him to feed my cat, let alone with a country’s military.
“Lord Farris is unwell. His trauma, whatever it may be, has manifested classic symptoms of self preservation that make me uncertain whether he would ever be trustworthy.
“Lord Falco seems to be, and I say this with full acknowledgement of my own lacking, less intelligent than me. Which is a critical requirement for my co-ruler to possess.
“Lord Joseph is nice, but he lacks persuasion skills, command, and drive. Again, it is a matter of them having the skills that I do not.
“And so, I cannot in good conscience allow control of the country to belong to any of them.”
The king blinks a few times before scowling mightily. “They are all the options you have.”
I reply quickly. “Then we need a greater saturation of people who have the education and skills so that the people are not trapped being governed by someone unsuitable. Do you disagree that they deserve the best?”
He slams his hands on the table. “You don’t know what you are talking about! That is not the way things are!”
I shoot him the most professional death glare possible.
“That is not what I asked.”
This makes him pause, his breath catching visibly. His face is turning red. “You will do what is necessary to follow my orders.”
A smile naturally finds its way to my lips. “I will do what is necessary for the protection of the people’s lives and futures. Please understand, uncle. I am not some bitch on a chain for you to order and tug about - to breed as you please.”
I say the next part slowly.
“You trap me here, offering me a crown and a country. I accept. Know that it is a woman prepared to become a Queen that you are dealing with.”
He stares at me in utter shock, for once speechless.
I put on another smile. “Are you not pleased? You wanted me to accept this life of slavery you forced me into. So I accept a life of service - to the people of Kristein.
I’ve never felt so powerful as I lay down the law for this bastard.
“I accept the responsibility of holding corruption accountable. I accept the responsibility of securing a safe and reliable future - and that is not guaranteed through a system that relies on sexual and child slavery to function. I accept the responsibility to choose a trustworthy and competent co-ruler. Your options are insufficient. Another will have to be chosen. Such is my responsibility.”
He looks at me like I’m some sort of demon. And I chuckle, sighing contentedly.
“Isn’t this just what you wanted?”
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otome game recs please?
i have such a hard time finding an otome game to play because i need a villainous bitch of a man* (see footnote) who's also extremely pathetic. born to cling to MC like the saddest most codependent puppy, forced to commit unspeakable acts of violence. and all the heroes in most games are too normal and put-together. i don't want him to be polite to the MC, i want him to imprison the MC in his dungeon because he'll die without them. if he's in thrall to dark powers forcing him to commit unspeakable acts that's a green flag to me.
any recs? i like asra and lucio from the arcana, astarion from baldur's gate 3, lyris and sebastian from reigning passions lovestruck, envy and The Seer from lost in limbo, and prince kieran from the cursed heart pixelberry
(*footnote: i am also open to nonbinary people and women with this vibe but i acknowledge that overwhelmingly this archetype is written as he/him)
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Espero que esté bien mandar preguntas, si no, siéntete libre de ignorarlas.
¿Karla alguna vez ha viajado al Makai? ¿Qué tan especial es su sangre? ¿Cómo es su ruta Dark Fate? ¿Qué relación tiene ella con Yui?
↻ 𝕷𝖔𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖌…
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Hello there, anon! I can understand a bit of spanish but sadly I don't know how to write so I can't respond to this ask properly. :[
For future asks please send in english hehe. T T
But since I've got this ask I will respond to it in english, if it's fine. And my ask box is always open (even though I'm not that active here lol)! I hope that I've got the translations right XD
•| ⊱🌹⊰ |•
Has Karla ever traveled to Makai?
Karla has never traveled to Makai, at least not in the past she remembers. But in a faraway time, long lost in her memory, she did travel quuuite a lot to Makai though.
•| ⊱🌹⊰ |•
What is special about her blood?
Karla was born with a weird condition and her blood's properties are barely nonexistent (compared to all the other races of Makai), however, her blood had capabilities of mutation. If her blood got mixed with other individuals' blood, it was capable of stealing their properties and create a newly type of blood with all the characteristics it absorbed. Practically a shortcut to outbreeding and without mates kinda thing.
She was listed as an anomalous blood base that is able to maybe create a new type of race. In the past her blood absorbed samples from the strongest individuals of the main races in Makai (I will explain more of her lore in the future maybe), but that only pushed the Demon World in a chaotic mess and after some events most of her blood's properties were completely neutralized.
What remained now is her blood that can act as a powerful drug for vampires and could even drive them mad or force their bodies to destroy themselves if they don't constantly satiate their "new-found addiction".
•| ⊱🌹⊰ |•
How is her Dark Fate route?
Well, Karla doesn't really have a Dark Fate route; she doesn't have any routes at all at this moment. This is because her story is following more a book's structure, rather than an otome game with routes and all. (Since the D.L. AU I created is quite complex and I dont think that a route structure is the best fit because I wont have enough space to add everything) But if I'm going to write something for her I think that I'll try to adapt and create some routes too.
•| ⊱🌹⊰ |•
What relationship she has with Yui?
Karla has quite a good relationship with Yui. I could say that when she first arrived at the mansion Yui was the only person Karla could trust more or less. The vampires were way too sketchy and Karla was highly aware of them.
And generally Karla has a low emotional intelligence, so she sometimes looks up to Yui's gentleness and empathy. But other times she would like to slap out some of Yui's kindness because it would be the death of that poor girl. They kinda complete each other, Karla is more rational and does what she thinks that is right, with a quite unbiased judgement; meanwhile Yui comes with that empathy and softness, that everyone deserves happiness and another chance (even if that comes at the expense of the blonde's happiness).
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#if i wasnt shipping Karla with Subaru Karyui wouldve been the OTP!!!#ask blog#anon ask#diabolikloversoc#diabolik lovers#diabolik oc#dialovers#diabolik lovers oc#karla kurayami#oc lore#diahell#admin talks
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Hey you’re writing is really cute and I saw your hcs for a mc with a girlfriend and I really loved it! Do you think you can do a ikevamp suitors react to a transgender mc? One who was born female but identifies as a man? Lgbqt otome fans don’t get enough love so I’d be super awesome if you could write something ❤️
Hello darling!! I’m so sorry this took me a month or so to get to, but I’m glad to be doing it now! I also had an ask for a non-binary!mc but since I feel like all the suitors would treat the two similarly, I’ll be trying my best to fit it into one/accommodate both here :) hope you enjoy, love! Please lmk if anything sounds sketchy/offensive, since I don’t have experience with this myself!
napoleon ; okay. You stare at him dumbstruck bc he’s not taken aback for a moment, he just shrugs and then asks if you want to spar. I feel like he’d treat you v similarly to issac and jean even if you are his lover, bc there’s a v specific respect and care he treats those two with, a way he looks out for them. Would never falter with your pronouns, and if anyone makes a comment he’s like?? Your point?? They’re obv a man/non-binary, idk how you’re seeing a woman. He would also never hesitate to draw out his sword if anyone dared to grow a little too bold/rude.
arthur ; handsome ol’ chap! absolutely slathers you in compliments to validate your identity and make you feel confident, you almost wonder if he likes the way calling you by your pronouns rolls off his tongue. Though he normally was into women, I don’t think he would be opposed to dating you at all, and would grow icy with others who made comments about your relationship. He’s be very vocally supportive, but his teasing compliments will take a softer, more sincere turn if you ever need him to remind you that you’re valid.
mozart ; I see him helping you fix up your appearance ngl? Like not spending a bunch like comte, but silently aiding you in how to appear/act manly/non-binary for the 1800s, such as fixing/trimming your hair into a more “fashionable” look for the times, or nonchalantly informing you that your sleeves should be a little longer. He doesn’t do this to invalidate you at all! He thinks it’s a more subtle way of helping you feel confident navigating their world in your own way. Never hesitates to inform you that you look rather dashing that evening, or to run his finger along your chin with a proud/loving gaze in his eyes.
leonardo ; he’s immortal, he’s heard many a things that haven’t been considered ‘the norm’ for the times. He just kind of nods and takes a step back to admire your face, saying that your features are beautifully androgynous/masculine. If you bind your chest, he’ll frown if you suggest using a kind of corset, and will instead get to work tinkering a more comfortable and safe binding for you to use. Always refers to you as your desires pronouns, and corrects anyone who uses incorrect ones nonchalantly. He likes that he can get away with certain things with you that normal het couples wouldn’t be able to.
vincent ; I think he’d be intrigued and easily adapt to your pronouns; he’d treat you with respect regardless. He’s probably heard of transgender/non-binary before, but I think he, like leo, would spend a lot of time admiring your face and the way you present yourself. Will constantly compliment you, but unlike arthur, it’s not to fluster you or subtly make you feel confident, but bc he keeps finding things about you to be in awe of. You’ll be a very common subject in his sketches and paintings because of the way you hold yourself.
theo ; His brows raise a bit, but they lower just as quickly and he accepts it. You almost think he doesn’t care/remember bc he always calls you a dog instead of your name/pronoun, but he instantly corrects anyone who uses the wrong one, and glares at anyone who gives you shit. If you ever get down on yourself for your appearance not matching your identity, he sternly sits you down and firmly lists everything about you he finds beautiful and fitting to what you want to be. And though it wasn’t his intention, you never fail to grow flustered bc of the little details he’s picked up on, due to the nature of his job rubbing off on his own perceptiveness.
issac ; A little flustered boy. Similar to jean, I think he’d have the right attitude but be a bit clumsy about it. He doesn’t want to offend you! Ofc being trans/a man/non-binary doesn’t matter, he just loves you, but he’s anxious and overthinks how he address you, how he acts around you. Should he not call you petnames? Are those considered feminine? Am I invalidating them by using them?? He just grows stiff and nervous and you have to remind him to breath: just use the correct pronouns and respect you, there’s not much else to it. After a while he relaxes and it comes easier, but he just doesn’t want to lose someone else he loves of his own doing.
dazai ; I will admit he’s a little hard to grasp for me, but I believe that elusiveness is a part of his character anyways lol. Nothing about how he perceives you changes. You’re still you, aren’t you? Doesn’t matter what gender you are, what name you go by, what appearance you have. Maybe his nickname for you will change, but that’s it. I feel like with him you may not even be aware of your gender/it’s impact, bc when you’re with him it doesn’t matter, so you feel light and free from having to think about/act like your identity. You’re just you.
jean ; I think he would be open-minded to it, albeit confused. If you took the time to explain to him what you identify as and what it means, he’ll accept it, not one for many questions. I personally believe he’d be awkward about it a bit?? But would never treat you wrong! I mean in the sense of those clumsy lgbtq+ supporters with the right attitude, if that makes sense lol? So unsurely asking if you’d like to spar...? Or constantly looking to you for confirmation on things you like, what you do, etc etc. Ik jean is supposed to be silent and intimidating, but I imagine him as a clumsy man whose seen too much and doesn’t know how to act bc he was robbed of a childhood, so yeah hopefully this makes sense!
comte ; he’s seen even more than leonardo bc he’s immortal and timetravels; it doesn’t phase him. Tbh he just beckons you to come shopping with him so he can find you the latest male/androgynous fashion, with charming suits and coats and hats. For binding, he’ll try his best to buy you a safe kind, or he may enlist Leonardo’s help or even go to the future to find you one—nothing is too much/expensive when it comes to you. Will always treat you right/like royalty, and remind you that you’re valid and anything you need to feel that way, he will make it so. Gets a v dangerous look in his eye if someone disrespects you.
sebastian ; he’s from the future, so nothing new. Honestly he may even be relieved?? Idk he’s just so formal and polite that I think he’d feel more relaxed with another masculine/non-binary individual from the future, bc he would be able to talk in a certain way he would feel wasn’t as “proper” with a woman, if I’m making sense? He’d have no problem refering to you as your identity, and will always find a way to make you feel comfortable/valid, even if he needs to try and sew his own version of a binder for you.
shakespeare ; okay I’m sorry for those who like shakespeare but I feel like he’d lowkey fetishize it oof. Just like how I think he’d use unrequited love of a lesbian!mc to fuel his plays, he’d think of you as interesting inspiration—at first, at least. He’d run his hand through your hair, down your lapels as he admires you, amused, and it’s only if you grew cross and forced him to see you as your identity/a person, that he may fix his unhealthy perception. After reading Vincent’s route, I’ve come to think that you really need to push against him to reach his actual feelings/past his unstable/dangerous side. Once he’s over that, he would love to cast you as male roles in his plays, bc you have even more conviction than the regular men tbh.
#ikemen vampire#ikevamp#ikemen vampire x reader#ikevamp x reader#ikevamp scenario#ikemen vampire scenario#ikevamp imagine#ikemen vampire imagine#ikemen vampire headcanons#ikevamp headcanons#ikemen vampire fluff#ikevamp fluff#ikevamp fanfic#ikemen vampire fanfic#napoleon x reader#arthur x reader#leonardo x reader#mozart x reader#vincent x reader#theo x reader#issac x reader#dazai x reader#jean x reader#shakespeare x reader#comte x reader#sebastian x reader#request#ikevamp fanfiction#ikemen vampire fanfiction
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Thoughts on Lostbelt 2
Longpost ahead.
So.
Lostbelt 2. Finally played it after so long, and this will contain spoilers.
To make sure everyone knows what they’re getting into, I’ll give the thesis statement right here: Lostbelt 2 is bad.
The entire time I played through the story, I kept waiting for it to pick up. I kept waiting for it to shrug off the poor pacing, the deus ex machinas, the random things just happening for the convenience of the plot. I kept waiting for it to shrug off the poor characterization, the constant telling instead of showing, the moral myopia. It never did.
From nearly the very start to finish, Lostbelt 2 is bad.
We start off fairly fine! A desperate ploy to sneak through the Lostbelt to meet up with the allies we’ve learned about, the Wandering Sea, interrupted by a Lostbelt Servant attacking us with the intent of stealing the Paper Moon that allows us to perform Zero Sails. All of that is a decent setup!
And then we’re told how strong this Saber is. How incredible they are. How their swordplay surpasses anything else they’ve ever seen, how they desperately wish that Musashi was there, how no no, he didn’t use his sword, he only parried! Things that Sherlock Holmes observes, not Mashu, not the one who’s actually been fighting for two years now, so Mashu seems borderline useless. Holmes figures out it’s Sigurd because...he uses a sword in a Scandinavian Lostbelt, and he figured out that Holmes used magic because Holmes fire magic lasers at him. From this, Holmes is able to pinpoint Sigurd’s identity, and that’s just the setup for the rest of the chapter, really.
To be specific, what I mean is that we will constantly be told how incredible someone is with very little evidence, and the plot will bend and warp to make certain things happen.
The scene does exactly one good thing, which is the foreshadowing of Surtr. Coming into it knowing that aspect allowed me to appreciate little bits like Surtr talking about Heroic Spirits like he wasn’t one, and Surtr not being able to kill Mashu because Sigurd resisted it. But that’s about all that was good in the scene, and all it really does is set up a consistent thing of Surtr being one of the only good parts - until he isn’t, of course.
I’m going to shift here from specifics to characters, because otherwise I’d be rehashing the entire story and I don’t have the time or effort required for that. That being said, it is difficult to decide where to start, so I’ll go right to the very building blocks of the story, the themes.
Lostbelt 2 is, very obviously, attempting to have a theme of different kinds of love throughout the story. Part of this is because it’s very much set up like an otome game that the author Hikaru Sakurai would write, with Ophelia in the center, but it’s a more general theme too, with Skadi and the others all building up towards it. Now, love is an absolutely wonderful thing to build your themes around, exploring and examining it can be great for stories. Beasts themselves do that, examining different varieties of genuine, but toxic love that allow them to be well-meaning monsters.
The problem is that Lostbelt 2 does not engage with these themes on anything but a surface level. Skadi represents maternal love, so she constantly talks about how everyone is her children and how she’s their mother. No examination of the desire to see her children grow, the pain she feels when they fight, the struggle of forcing herself to cling so tightly knowing that it’s suffocating them and going to kill them before they reach 26.
Napoleon represents passionate love, so he flirts with every woman he sees. No examination of why he’s so passionate or what drives him to burn so brightly, beyond a token mention that for some reason when he’s summoned he’s driven to seek out a lover, another aspect of things happening to serve the plot.
Sigurd and Brynhildr represent true, romantic love, so they act mushy the entire chapter from the moment the real Sigurd appears. Now, don’t get me wrong, I liked their scenes a lot and I’m happy that they chose that portrayal instead of the one I was afraid of where it was yandere jokes day in day out. But there’s no engagement with the fundamentals of their love, nothing that tests it, even the existing complications with Brynhildr’s tragic summoning are swept away with a single line of “I can resist them better now maybe because my saint graph is broken”, so ultimately there’s no conflict whatsoever. And sure, that’s nice, but it’s not very good if you’re trying to build your story around a theme of love.
Next, Surtr, who represents obsessive, dangerous love. I honestly actually think Surtr’s done well, even if the love he happens to represent is the least positive one. Surtr is capable of only one thing, destruction, and when he fell for Ophelia in that moment where she saw him and he saw her, he decided that if he ever had the chance, he would repay her the only way he knew how: allowing her to watch as he destroyed everything. When he’s summoned, he acts basically like the possessive one in an otome game, constantly talking about how Ophelia is his woman, getting angry when Napoleon flirts with her, spending most of his time pushing things between them as far as they can go etc. etc. I’m not particularly a fan of how his desire to repay Ophelia battling against his singular purpose transformed him into a typical possessive bastard boyfriend, but it’s at least engaged with on a deeper level.
Finally, Ophelia. She’s the otome game protagonist here, born into an controlling family and finally freed, hiding a secret special power, beloved by almost all the men involved in the chapter while she’s harboring feelings for someone else, even has the typical friendship route with Mashu going on. Her love is a love that she doesn’t acknowledge, but that’s all it is. It’s never engaged with beyond the fact that she clearly loves Kirschtaria but insists she doesn’t, and her final scene as she dies is Mashu telling her that yes, she did love Kirschtaria. That’s all.
For a theme of love that’s supposedly woven into the Lostbelt, it’s barely examined at all. It’s not well written, and in comparison to Lostbelt 1′s theme of what it means to live in a world where the strong devour the weak and how deeply it examined and engaged with that, it’s a genuine disappointment.
Now, to move onto the plot, it’s...in the abstract, it’s fine. Chaldea is intercepted and forced to fight in the Lostbelt and ends up dragged into the overarching ploy by Surtr to release himself and burn everything. That’s a perfectly fine story, but the problem is that when you get to the moment-to-moment stuff, it falls apart completely.
Skadi is constantly talked up as this incredibly powerful true goddess, not merely a Divine Spirit, and we know she can see and hear our every move because of her snow. How does the story work around this borderline omniscience within her Lostbelt? Skadi just decides not to do anything about Chaldea with zero rhyme or reason. We need to sneak into the palace and avoid alerting the guards, except Skadi already knows exactly where we are, except that doesn’t matter because we need to sneak in for some reason. We get captured with no plan to escape, and it just so happens that not only was Skadi keeping a Divine Spirit amalgamation locked in the dungeons too, but that she can piggyback on you making a contract with Napoleon (pure dumb luck you hadn’t done it before) and force a connection with you too, and then cast spells to hide you while you escape. Skadi knows we’re trying to free Brynhildr, who is the sole threat to Sigurd and Skadi’s own Valkyries in the entire Lostbelt? She just decides to do nothing at all.
So much of the plot happens because either Skadi makes terrible decisions to do nothing, even though she knows Chaldea is there to destroy her entire world, or it happens because random shit goes on that couldn’t have been planned for like Sitonai. Shit like Surtr suddenly becoming Fafnir and being able to use the Evil Dragon Phenomenon to brainwash Ophelia somehow, like Ophelia’s Mystic Eye being able to do anything the plot demands, even when it explicitly goes against its existing capabilities like rewinding time on Sigurd’s wounds, like Bryn and Surtr somehow being able to resist the effects of her eye with no buildup or explanation. It’s poorly written in terms of the exact events that happen, and that all culminates in Skadi’s one cool moment, where she declares she’s going to kill the seven billion we fight for for the sake of her ten thousand...and then right after, it reveals that Skadi was going easy on us and refused to use her runes of instant death for no reason even though she was fighting for the survival of her entire world. The moment to moment plot is not good, and neither is what comes next, the worldbuilding.
In Skadi’s Lostbelt, half the world is covered in Surtr’s flames, while the other half is blanketed in Skadi’s snow. Where the two areas meet are the only places where life can grow, and so Skadi set up villages there. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough food for everyone, so she enforces strict population control: if you are not the mother or father of a child by 15, you are sent away to be killed by the giants. If you are the mother or father of a child, you are sent away to be killed at 25 instead. Through this tragic method, Skadi enforces a limit of 100 villages with 100 people, a total population of 10000. This is all fine.
But take a closer look at what we actually see, and this falls apart. First, the giants. The giants are immortal and never need to eat. They do nothing but sleep all day and attack any human that comes close to them. Later, it’s revealed that they’ll attack any heat source including Valkyries, except we know that’s not true. Giants never attack each other, they never attack and destroy any of the plant life around them, they never attack the Lostbelt tree seeds, they even fight alongside mass-produced Valkyries before it’s revealed that Skadi and the three originals can mind-control them! They exist only to destroy, but Skadi can control them with her masks and indeed uses them as labour, keeping them chained up in her castle to be brought out and controlled as needed, or using them to guard Brynhildr’s castle.
Worst of all, the first time we meet anyone in the chapter, it’s Gerda, who is sneaking out of her village to go to the massive liveable area close to Village 23. This area happens to be the only place she can go to get medicinal herbs that she needs or one of the people in her village will die in childbirth. This area is also full of giants, who have not destroyed it despite being fertile and full of life and heat, and who are allowed to take this place that could be used to grow more food for humans who need it, and simply stay there doing nothing.
Now, this is where I thought the game would engage with things. How Skadi, in professing her love for all her children, is actually being cruel and unfair. They certainly set it up in the conversations she has, where she casually mentions how humans must die for her coexistence to continue. Skadi chooses to keep the giants alive despite the fact that they are all braindead and can do nothing but kill and destroy the moment their masks are removed. She chooses to keep them alive even though it comes at the expense of the humans who must die when the giants never make that same sacrifice. She chooses to allow them fertile land even though they cannot farm nor do they need food, and in doing so deprive the humans of potentially living longer, having more supplies to do so. She makes these strange choices and then later reveals she can control the giants to do her bidding, and it all seems to fall into place.
What we see from how she’s characterized early on is that the system is unfair and Skadi is unwilling to change, because it benefits her tremendously. Gerda’s village didn’t have enough herbs to save the children forced to breed by 15, and despite Skadi’s omniscience letting her know that Gerda had snuck out and was trying to save a life, she did nothing. There was no system in place to beg a Valkyrie to get these herbs, and no indication whatsoever that Skadi would use her powers to control the giants to save Gerda’s life. The picture painted is someone who cares about humanity not out of true care, but simply out of obligation. Those who disobey her rules, even for good reasons, are left to die by the engines of destruction she keeps alive.
That’s not the story it tells later on, though. Skadi, portrayed from the start as this all-powerful goddess with complete control over everything, is revealed to be far weaker than we thought, and far less monstrous. Ignore all the times she did control the giants, she actually can’t do it all that well. Ignore all the times she declared she would not allow anyone she loved to be killed, but chose not to act to tell her Valkyries or her giants or anything else to save either Chaldea or Gerda. Ignore the evidence we see on screen that there’s more land that’s simply taken over by the giants, Skadi can only make those initial 100 villages and can’t make any more. Skadi is not bad. Skadi did the best she could. Skadi is morally right.
Please love Skadi, there’s no complicated moral quandary here, she’s just Good.
Comparisons to Lostbelt 1 are impossible to avoid. Both have the same basic cause, a calamity that was impossible to predict and impossible to avert. The stagnation that dooms a Lostbelt created by the kings in question in their desperation to survive. Ivan turned humanity into the Yaga and created a world of strength, where progress is impossible because everyone in his new world was too busy devouring each other to work together. Skadi created a world of weakness, where progress is impossible because she limited the population to avoid everyone dying out. There is, however, one crucial difference between the two. Not in terms of story, not in terms of characters, not in terms of themes.
“Your existence itself has already become a grave sin.”
That one line, spoken to Ivan, is the biggest difference between how the story engages things. In both Lostbelts, Ivan and Skadi did horrible things and made horrible choices because they had to, for the sake of survival. Ivan twisted humanity into monsters that lost capacity for mercy or empathy, while Skadi forced brutal population control and careless death on humanity because of her refusal to allow the giants to be destroyed. Both of them did horrible things, but only one is held to account by the story.
What Ivan did was evil, and the story recognises it. It doesn’t accept the excuse that it was all necessary for survival, because that’s irrelevant. It’s evil regardless. This same sentiment should have been expressed with Skadi, but it’s not. Ivan is condemned, but Skadi is absolved. She had no choice. She did the best she could. After building her up as all-powerful, the end of the story instead destroys her agency and power in its haste to prevent any kind of responsibility falling on Skadi’s head. Even to the very end, where she declares that she’ll kill all seven billion lives we fight for for the sake of her ten thousand, she holds back and allows us to win, despite how it butchers her character.
The biggest irony in all this is that Ivan’s world was worse than hers in ways. There was no way for the blizzards to stop, no meat besides for the demonic beasts. Crops couldn’t grow, and instead of living in peace, the Yaga were constantly tormented and killed by the Oprichniki. There were no liveable areas like there are in Lostbelt 2, no merciful ruler that sees all, and controls the greatest threats, no peaceful villages where food can be grown. There’s far more justification for Ivan to claim he had no choice and that he did all he did for survival, because it’s hard to see what his choices were. But Skadi? Skadi intentionally does not act and intentionally allows suffering and pain to come to her children, both actively by not saving Gerda, and passively by allowing the giants to take land they don’t need. Despite this, Skadi is absolved, because the story desperately wants her to be a tragic waifu that you love.
There’s lots more I could talk about. How Sitonai was pointless and existed only for a pathetic FSN reference. How Gerda was a cowardly and manipulative piece of writing compared to Patxi. How Ophelia’s story of always being told what to do is resolved not by her taking the step to freedom herself, but being told to free herself by someone else. The constant repetition that plagues the chapter, the weirdly prevalent sexism that everyone gets in on when it comes to Ophelia’s love life, the nonsense of the final battle itself, the absolute nonsense of Skadi being Scáthach-Skadi. I could even talk about how I’d fix the chapter, because boy howdy there’s a lot there.
There’s lots more I could talk about, but this is already very long, and I think it speaks for itself. Obviously asks are available if anyone wants me to examine them in more detail, but for now, I’ll finish off with one last reminder.
Lostbelt 2 is bad.
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MLQC CMC Layla Yuen
A small introduction to my CMC Layla. I honestly have no clue if I did this right tbh. (Sorry its not too angsty fellas)
Warnings for background - Mentions of depression and anxiety, heavy hints to self induced injuries due to mental illness, cheating, car accident, death
Name: Layla Yuen
Pronouns: She/Her
Birthday: June 14
Age: 23
Hair: Curly, clavicle-length black hair
Eyes: Hazel
Occupation: Producer at Yuen Studios
*no photo/art of her to provide at this time :(
Likes: Sleeping, playing violin, simulation and otome games, music, drawing designs, sweets
Common Wardrobe: Flowy skirts and simple dresses are not uncommon. Mainly wears shorts and a nice tank top/t-shirt with a cardigan to cover up. Has seven piercings in total all in her ears, silver jewelry only.
Personality: She can switch the way she acts and talks to get along with someone. With friends, Layla is more relaxed and more of herself. She’s a bit lively and loves making jokes with a bit of bitterness. It takes a lot for her to open up even to the people closest to her in fear of being a burden.
Background
Born and raised in Loveland City. Her mother is American and her father is Chinese, making an even mix for her. However, Layla was put up for adoption a few months after she was born. She stayed at the orphanage until age six, when she was transferred to a different facility.
It took a few months for a single young man, Lee Yuen, to adopt her at the age of seven. He was the owner of a small company that filmed all sorts of shows. It was a rough start for them, but she came around to him. Layla would join him at work when she could since everything amazed her. At home, there was a hill with a camphor tree further in their backyard where she spent some time. A faint memory recalls meeting an older boy with a name starting with “Lu,” but everything else is blank.
Elementary and middle school was tough. Layla developed depression and anxiety, hating going to school. The feeling of wanting to stay in bed inconsistently fluctuated between days. She was placed in a psych ward 3 times then. High school was better. Layla studied more and made some friends in the music room. All of her relationships were good, except for one. Layla’s boyfriend and high school was cheating on her with someone she was envious of. History repeated itself again with a different boy, forcing Layla to be more guarded when it came to dating.
In college she studied film and business management. Moving out meant a new address, so Layla's biological family were begging they visit her and meet her siblings. She decided to not meet her biological family even, rejecting letters and feeling selfish for doing so. But she felt abandoned by them, she wasn't their first child and they could've easily taken care of her.
Soon after graduation with a bachelor’s degree, her father was killed in a car accident. With a heavy heart from losing the person closest to her, she took over the company to continue her father’s dream. Coworkers become quick friends and support systems on days she felt like giving up. Through inheritance, a black book was given to her containing Lee’s possible guests for shows.
Layla decided to reach out to Lucien Xu, a neuroscientist who was marked uncontacted. A perfect guest for a psychology series. A meeting was set up at his research center during a convenient time for both of them. When Layla first saw him, she was instantly flustered. He was a lot younger and more handsome than she expected. His smile and voice was just as charming. Layla and Lucien hit it off and started to work together for her show.
The two got closer with each note session and times cameras were rolling. Lucien moving in next door made them spend more time together, as more than friends. Within five months, a romantic relationship began to bloom. Excursions now called dates and work lively.
And even before, during and after Black Swan, Layla stayed by his side. He knew he couldn’t stop seeing her if his feeble attempts worked, for they were soulmates since that first meet under the fateful tree.
Relationships
Lucien Xu: A strong bond between the two. He gives Layla a safe and comforting presence even if he’s a tease. Layla is Lucien’s only color in the world, a butterfly that this painter will keep forever. Both try to find time in their busy schedules for each other. Layla respects and admires Lucien.
Victor Li: Investor of Yuen Studios. Layla has a small to medium sized crush on him, but sometimes finds him harsh and critical. He is well respected by her either way. She realized quickly she would be even more insecure around him, being held in the public eyes as the CEO of LFG’s lover. She kept their relationship as friends despite interest. Victor is fine with this relationship, they are still close and keep up their banter.
Gavin Bai: An old classmate who was a year higher above her. Layla had a crush on him back in high school, but would only watch him from afar because of the rumors involving him. She still has a small crush, but nothing much more. Gavin sees Layla as someone he must protect. She’s his school crush that saved him when he was badly beat. She’s always concerned about him returning home with injuries after missions. It's a mutual admiration. Both are friends.
Kiro Zhou: Layla finds Kiro to be a bit boyish and bubbly for her. He has the happiness and energy as an idol should, but she seems not to keep up with that energy. Both are snack buddies and go on snack runs together. They're friends, but they're not too close. Layla respects him for living the hard life of an idol.
Shaw Bai: Layla doesn't like him all too much. She finds Shaw to be a cocky brat, but is amazed by him being so far in college considering his age. Layla respects him and can get along quite well when Layla feels loose. Shaw finds her okay, but she's too much of a rule follower than a rebel like him.
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Moriarty 8 - 11 (FINAL) | HypMic 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Taiso Samurai 7 - 9 | Akudama 9 - 12 (FINAL)
Hopefully I’ll be able to get on to all that backlog soon, because...I don’t want it to keep accumulating and Skate-Leading Stars (first winter 2021 anime) already has an advance 1st ep. up...
Moriarty 8
(Moriarty 8 notes deleted accidentally…)
Moriarty 9
If you want a modern equivalent to the Baker Street Irregulars, then I’d suggest you look this way *jabs finger at Odd Jobs Yamada (from HypMic)*.
These CGI background horse and carriages are…kind of distracting…
I’m guessing back in those days, the Irregulars were better than Google at finding info…because Google didn’t exist until the internet did.
Moriarty 10
Just this ep and one more until the end…at least, until spring 2021.
Wow, the use of colour here is really striking!
White lilies mean…purity/chastity…?
I’ve never heard of “bending someone’s ear” until now. It means to talk to someone, especially to ask a favour or to talk at length.
Probatio diabolica: the devil’s proof. I didn’t even know that was a concept until now…(I never once studied law, as you can tell.)
“William” isn’t normally shortened to “Liam”…It’s normally “Will”…also, notice all the footprints on the floor…
Moriarty 11 (FINAL)
Last ep. before spring 2021.
LOL, kabedon.
The fishy thing about Brits is that they’ve named things across the world names from Britain. I know there’s a Doncaster which isn’t anywhere near Britain, for one thing…
Observe the weird finger-like marking made by one of the bloodstains and the scratches on the suitcase. The latter was probably forced open.
Considering the number of signs the killer left, he was clearly in a hurry…
Well, based on that shoeprint we can find the killer if we can find traces of blood on his shoe.
“Duram” (sic).
Ah! If it was raining in Durham, then there would be traces of mud on the killer’s shoes. I remember early on in Detective Conan Shinichi, then newly shrunk, deduced Agasa was running in the rain based on the mud on his pants…this is similar.
Chloral (hydrate…?).
The “washroom” (apparently a Canadian term, the British term is “water closet”) has privacy and a place to get rid of the evidence, to some extent.
What about the rest of Eddie’s clothes?
Considering there are still 5 minutes of the ep. left…there’s going to be some kind of stinger for the next season. I can feel it.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait���Director Holmes??? Y’mean, Mycroft?! That is a good stinger! See you next time.
HypMic 12
“Ever since I was born, there was never a time I’d felt I’d accomplished something.” – Aw, Doppo, sweetpea (<- this blogger calls people “sweetpea” when they’re feeling lots of moe feels for them). Please don’t say that. You’ve accomplished more than enough in your life!
…Oh, almost didn’t notice it until Hifumi hid behind Doppo and the angle changed to confirm the jacket was on the bed, but Hifumi doesn’t have his jacket on.
I think I saw a tweet that said something about a wall being wrecked (specifically “Wall: Ow…”) but I wasn’t sure of the context, so I saved it in my bookmarks…LOL, so that’s what it means?
Samatoki, I know you don’t like Ichiro…but please stop trying to preach what his 2nd character song says in the title…(i.e. Break the Wall, LOL)
Jyuto’s very much a “I’ll leave this problem to the other guy” guy.
When the Funi subs say “dame”, I think Samatoki is just referring to an “onna” (woman). It’s a bit of an odd choice, really…although I can’t go and interrogate whoever was responsible for it. I don’t have the authority or the contacts that will allow me to.
This is not the time for fighting one another!!!
Notably, in the manga, Jakurai was going to chaffeur Hifumi and Doppo to their place, but then he had to go to work and so they rode the train with their prize money. This “run from Special Forces” ending is better, I think, since people got grumpy at Jakurai for having to abandon them with the money.
“…permission to cover a story.” - Permission from…who?
*screams* I was thinking Tom, Rex and Iris worked for a foreign government! They work for Ichijiku – why didn’t I think of that?!
LOL, I couldn’t even tell what Tom was saying until I played it back…it’s English, just…said in a spot where you don’t expect it.
“…that scares me.” – This may be nitpicky of me, but osoreru is actually a derivative of osore (fear), so “it strikes fear in me”…? “It strikes fear in my heart”? What would sound right…?
Go, host mode Hifumi! (...but does that imply host mode Hifumi is the only “version” of Hifumi able to rap? Certainly, he was able to do Wrap and Rap without his jacket, right…?)
You can tell Tom still respects Jakurai after all this time because he (the former) calls him (the latter) “Sensei”. Also, this’ll be interesting, we haven’t seen many mics and speakers beyond the standard bad guy ones (depicted in both the anime and the manga).
My gosh! All I knew of this song was that m-flo, also responsible for Human Lost’s theme song (and notably they’re a hip hop group with techno influences), was responsible for this song. Man, this s*** slaps! It’s great! (Sorry, I’ve just never really had the chance to capitalise on all the info I gathered on EDM DJs when talking in terms of things from Japan…m-flo is basically the only act I know which does that, so I’m really excited…can’t you tell from how verbose I’m getting in this note?)
That’s interesting that Matenrou won and Tom still took the gold chair symbolism to represent him and the Secret Aliens as the victor instead.
Iris’s parts are awesome. M-flo has a female vocalist and so I’d assume Iris takes on Lisa’s (m-flo’s vocalist’s) parts.
…Hmm, Gentaro’s made a reference to the track “Me Against the World”, has he?...Maybe.
I’m not quite sure, but I think Ramuda said “majo” (witch) when he was referring to Beauty and the Beast in the English subs.
…gosh, what is up with that airhorn…? Still, next time is the last time. See you on Christmas…no, Boxing Day.
HypMic 13 (FINAL)
This is the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning…y’know, considering how stuff trended on Twitter, I’d say this anime’s gonna get a 2nd season, but you can’t really say that until it actually happens. I mean, Boueibu is much less popular than HypMic and that got a 2nd season…
This is the 1st episode where I woke up early enough to watch without spoilers and had no obligations to place over it, so…this is exciting, in its own sense, but in a sense, it could also be called “profoundly disappointing” because this experience is only available to me as of the final episode.
One of the tweets I saw a few weeks back came to mind – someone became interested in sakuga houkai (terrible animation, literally “animation collapse”) because of HypMic…I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing…
…Dude, you probably shouldn’t answer a call from someone who just revealed themselves to be a traitor last episode…*sweatdrops*
(Spoiler for rest of franchise) Hmm…Dice’s face is pretty straight. Assuming at this point we knew Dice was Otome’s son, this is a good poker face from him…!
This thing about gangs was mentioned in their profiles (although the words used implies they “went delinquent”), so it actually doesn’t surprise me.
I wonder if this subway exists in the mainline story…?
According to the next ep. preview I saw on Twitter, TDD will reform to take down the Secret Aliens. I’m not sure if that was a guess or whether that’s true, so I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on it.
Samatoki-san, not -sama. Hmm…
There was definitely the word “team” in Dice’s line, so it’s “what the legendary team was made of”.
…oh gosh…they’re still using that airhorn…?
Again with the play on “lonely thunder”. It’s a really fun pun, but one I’d like to see in the rest of the series more.
Notably, Iris’s rap in English missed the word “charisma” where it could have fit (unless I missed reading it the first time).
Note Samatoki does actually use the word “shinsensa” (freshness), so there’s no lie there.
I still love how much they went in on Rex’s theme, even in his raps.
Huh, that’s new. Never seen a tag team like this before.
It seems Tom’s signature is using a lot of English, which makes it easy for us English/Japanese pair translators.
Saburo didn’t actually say “Ichi-nii”, did he…?
…based on the rock intro, this is Rhyme Anima, the OP, or something that sounds similar. What I’d need to confirm this is the “nautilus” line and the “ends corruption” line, which are the OP’s two biggest tells for AMQ.
“rainmaking” – Hmm, another link from Gentaro to Rei. This might be a different part of Rhyme Anima (OP) that wasn’t used as the OP proper.
“this white light invites and heals” (<- paraphrased) – Sounds like Sensei, alright!
…now that (rainbow bit). That’s sakuga!
*a silhouette appears* - Oh nooooooooooooooo! Now they‘ve done it! They’ve included Rei! That’s more than enough spoilers to last a lifetime for y’all anime-onlys!
I wish someone would work on this collaboration between Saburo and Riou…
Hmm…what is the series endgame? Putting in Dice as the new ruler??? I mean, Dice is the worst possible politician ever. He’s far too lax about things.
*Nemu enters* - No! Nemu!
Not only is Iris a “ramen shop owner”, it’s Tom’s favourite food…No wonder ramen has significance to her.
…ooh! A new song! Update: I don’t know what this song’s name is, although it probably will become clear what its name is on the 13th. I’ll keep my eye on Twitter in case the answer is there.
…I knew it was far too early to say if there was an s2 – the DVD’s live events go until September 5th and the 2nd DRB finishes in March. That almost felt like a stinger right there. Oh well, I’m more than happy to call this anime a success, even if I would call it the worst of the arms of the franchise. All HypMic’s anime had to do was deliver fun, before anything else, and it delivered on that front. See you around!
Taiso Samurai 7
Anime burnout means I’m coming back to the anime after the day it finishes.
This dancing scene is kind of like the one at the start of ep. 2 of IWGP, except it has the owl to represent the setting as well as the dance stage.
Leo doesn’t seem to know kanji or katakana, only hiragana.
Even though this part of the anime is set in London, the characters are still speaking Japanese (lel…?).
LOL, Edward Scissorhands much?
LOL, these background gossips are like the Plastics from Mean Girls…haha.
…LOL, that’s not one of those dismounting moves, is it? It’s just kind of…jumping off the bar.
Lookit how Leo’s sticker is 90 deg. sideways from what it should be, haha.
I don’t think it’s true that Olympic gymnasts have never failed. Like other people at the top of their game, they’re probably failed millions of times, but only outside the view of most of the world. Persistence and passion are what’s key to becoming the best at what you are, no matter what field you’re in.
Now Aragaki’s what I call a “determinator” (see TV Tropes on what that is).
Taiso Samurai 8
Notably, the word used for “clothes” is specifically for Western clothing, like dresses.
Well, now we know why Leo can do those stretches…
They’ve clearly sped up the dance here, but…it’s basically the same sort of movements Yuri on Ice used to suck me in. I’m here for it!
Leo seems to be the type who tries to push away his worries by distracting people (including himself) with other things…I see. I didn’t have much of a grasp of his character beforehand.
Britney! F*** you, Britney!
Ah, that must be the (a?) fabled owl of Ikebukuro. I’ve never actually been to Ikebukuro…the closest I got was Akihabara (to memory) and even then, that was for electronics, not anime…so I’ve never seen the owl statue I’ve been talking about close up.
Rei does kind of look like her mother like this.
Ah! Rei and Kitty have a pair look now! “Twinsies”, they call it.
Amakusa’s head is located right next to Leo’s butt, so I end up staring at it…LOL.
The Hoover mission.
“I <3 Ninja”, LOL.
LOL, “Nyapoo!”
*sighs* The problem with being multi-talented is that you’re going to be told to one day put one passion above the others, even if you don’t want that.
LOL, you can be a ninja with this WikiHow article. (I was looking for Kitty’s quote, but found that instead. It seems to be a quote from one of Tomoyo’s movies.) Update: I was right.
There’s a movie in the back where the title is “Black Rainmaker”. (Tomoyo, I presume) Mifune is the 1st person credited.
Considering this is 2003…you won’t be on Mars in 2013, Kitty.
Wow, a tape! That brings me back to 2003, indeed.
Charlie’s Angels…so that’s what the tape was.
LOL, a shoebill.
“blade in your heart” – That would refer to the character for “ninja”, which has a blade over a heart. Y’know Kiss Shot Acerola Heart-Under-Blade (from Monogatari), yeah? Like that.
…you might think emails were out of place in 2003, but a virus from an email caused me to be an avid reader and that virus was unleashed around the late 90s – early 2000s.
LOL, Kitty’s cat belt buckle.
You said it, Rei. You said it.
Taiso Samurai 9
Lausanne, Switzerland.
I noticed one of the boxes at the start of the OP says “Horizontal Bars”, rather than some random name to make the boxes look like they were discarded.
Someone encoded the video funny…
LOL, BB’s getting possessive of his territory.
Fuku-chan the fukurou (owl) in Ikebukuro…LOL.
LOL, randomly there’s a skeleton with a hat in the background of Britney’s clinic.
Notably, one of the wall hangings says “heart” on it – alternatively, “soul”.
Notably, Atlanta was the 1996 Summer Olympics…there is no 1997 Lausanne Olympics, as far as I know.
Akudama 9
I watched the part where it glitches twice and I can’t quite figure out what that circular symbol is…maybe it’s Hacker’s symbol…?
Ah! Only now they properly confirm Swindler used to work in the Seal centre.
“Life that never dies is defective.” – Doctor
Does that mean Doctor is actually older than she looks, due to plastic surgery…?
Marker? What marker?
Apparently that flower is a cherry blossom…according to Detective Conan.
…I know this anime wasn’t made in America (it wouldn’t be “anime” otherwise), but Anime Feminist is going to have a field day with this one…if they haven’t abandoned it already due to their idea of morals.
…now I can even see parallels between HypMic’s authorities and Akudama’s. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
“Why did this have to happen when I’m chief?” – Sounds like…basically every authority during COVID and BLM, to be honest.
See? Akudama likes the S word. I told you.
I haven’t watched The Shining, but reading the synopsis, you can figure out why Cutthroat is the way he is…sort of.
How does the iconic quote go? “Heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Danny!” (or something…?)
They even copied the iconic eye shot! There you go!
Way to take a guy out (with the door, LOL).
…with all this killing, I can see why Akudama Drive was only in one magazine now. (Then again, HypMic was in basically all of them and that also has a tonne of problems…)
Akudama 10
万死 literally means “10000 deaths”.
Babel.
That police chief is such a mood, LOL.
I can see why people didn’t recognise Swindler, but Courier never changes his look, so…uh…
You can’t become a police chief without a sense of justice, no?
“Since when did you know that I’m not-“ - *facepalms*
Is this what they call an “ass-kickin’ Christmas”? (LOL)
Y’know, Sister, you could just do the whole “wherever you are, I’m also seeing the same sky as you” thing some other anime do.
Notably, there are shide (the paper strips) and a rope over the vault…they really do treat the shinkansen and its immortal children as a single god, huh?
Hmm? They don’t care about Sister anymore? Just Brother? (Somewhere along the way, the priorities must have shifted.)
In the end, the best ship is Brawler and Hoodlum (lel).
Akudama 11
One more ep after this. I’m gonna miss this anime, even if it was crazy over-the-top and I didn’t finish it until after the day it ended.
I think the scariest scene in all of Akudama Drive is the one where the “cleaner” tosses the girl aside.
“This nowhere place!” – Around this time, the bunny and shark’s shirts say “morning”/”afternoon” (shark) and “evening” (bunny).
The blue bird of happiness…literally. That character on the birds is the one for “happy”.
…LOL, that one glitched Courier looks more like Cutthroat.
Hacker’s drone matches Courier’s head angles, LOL.
I guess if you think you’re falling in Kanto, you’re falling in Kanto and if you think you’re floating (like Courier did), you float. I always liked that concept.
War Games. Now the title makes sense!
…but they can be together if they stay here in Kanto as vessels for the citizens? (That sounds mighty antagonistic of me, but…that logic does compute.)
Maybe swindlers play games with the truth…? (What an interesting concept.)
“Just fine.” – I think Hacker needs a “This is fine” meme.
“We can hear your heart talking.” – It means something like “We can hear you spouting your true intentions.”
“…worth every last penny…” – That’s a weird thing to say for someone whose life got changed by 500 yen…Just goes to tell you how American the subbers can be sometimes.
Swindler’s smug face is so good, LOL.
Akudama 12 (FINAL)
This episode isn’t named after a movie. It’s named after the anime itself.
The TV says “Please watch away from the TV”, i.e. stand back from the TV while you watch.
“They came and stole the offerings…” – At this point, bunny’s shirt says “freedom” and shark’s says honpou, meaning “wild, uninhibited, rampant, extravagant”.
…where did Shikoku come from? Is that where Swindler and Sister landed after they tried going to the moon?
Ohh! That Christian imagery! That’s scary!
Is Akudama Drive a tragedy? No, I think…on the contrary, it’s a story of hope.
LOL, “s*** guy”.
I thought the girl had a bomb. Turns out she has a gun, which is…far worse, come to think of it.
Instead of red characters which say things about the situation, now Shark and Bunny have Hacker’s symbol on them.
There’s no way anyone who wasn’t immortal would survive the attack Courier took…
…why is it that falling over represents vulnerability in children in all of these stores where a war has happened and/or there’s a chase? Hmm?
Wow, Sister did everything with heels on…?!
Anyways, that was a fun time. See you next time!
#simulcast commentary#akudama drive#Chesarka watches Akudama Drive#taiso samurai#Gymnastics Samurai#HypMic#Hypnosis Mic#Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle - Rhyme Anima#moriarty the patriot#yuukoku no moriarty#Chesarka watches Yuukoku no Moriarty#Chesarka watches HypMic#Chesarka watches Taiso Samurai
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Can you please, please talk about my one and only, Zelos??? Spill your magical mind tea, Alley. I love every sip.
Oh God, well,,, I wasn’t going to talk about him on this blog, but… if you insist. (Wow, I’m a pushover.) Tales of Symphonia spoilers ahoy, and warning for length and complete irrelevance to anything otome. This is also probably going to be a persuasive essay–style spiel, but don’t worry, I know you already agree.
Now, you all know that I like complex characters, and often characters with complexes, and Zelos is no exception, though not everyone might understand why. When people who know Symphonia think of Zelos, most of them think of the quintessential ladies’ man. Shallow, conceited, and not to be trusted, Zelos enjoys a life of luxury thanks to his status as the Chosen, a divinely ordained hereditary role second only to nobility. Using his good looks and his position of power to his advantage, he is a habitual skirt-chaser who prioritizes himself at all times and cracks jokes at inopportune moments (or, alternatively, ends up the butt of them). On top of all that, he’s a triple agent for the party as well as not one, but two different organizations opposing them. He appears unsympathetic to the plights of all those whom he considers beneath him, including some party members.
Basically, some players like Zelos because he’s a ladies’ man with a goofy side and they have a weakness for that. Some players hate Zelos for the same reasons. On both sides of the argument, not as many really take the time to consider his whole story, because believe me, that’s not even the half of it. See, Tales of Symphonia is one of those early 2000s JRPGs, a very long game where there’s a lot more story than the main plot actually explores, and where implications are more frequent than statements. As a result, most characters are much deeper than people might assume based on what they see from the main plot, and not everyone might choose to explore the specific events that lead to more exposition on each individual backstory. Hell, some people might not even know there is more backstory to explore. The anime goes into some of it, but not all, whereas the sequel… oh, God, what that abomination did to my precious characters is a rant for another time.
What not everyone accounts for is that, like all characters, Zelos’s past shaped who he is, and Zelos’s past qualifies as tragic. In order to groom the Tethe’allan Chosen lineage to produce a Chosen with the right genes for their purposes, the angelic organization Cruxis forced the Chosen at the time to marry another woman rather than his lover at the time. Thus, Zelos was born to be the future Chosen. As a result, from the beginning, he has been treated like a burden, his mother in particular telling him at every opportunity that he never should have been born. In fact, these were her last words to him when he was twelve and his father’s half-elven lover tried to kill him and dealt her a mortal wound instead. The lover was put to death, her daughter [Zelos’s younger half-sister] Seles was also blamed despite her youth and locked up in an abbey, and Zelos developed a prejudice against half-elves as a result. At some point after this, his father killed himself, and Zelos officially became the Chosen.
What a beginning, right? Zelos was quite literally born to assume a title, which he never asked for and consequently hates more than anything else, with the possible exception of himself. His parents loved neither one another nor their son, so he was perpetually undervalued, never given a sense of his own worth beyond the title he would assume someday. Thus, he grew up believing himself useless apart from his future role, longing for some kind of freedom and wishing people would like him for who he was rather than what he was.
So what did he do after he became the Chosen? No one cared enough to befriend him for his own sake, so he used his title, wealth, and looks to his advantage, occupying his time the way most any handsome young man with too much money to spare would. He took to hiding his self-loathing and cynicism behind a cheerfully flirtatious mask, indulging himself and some of his many admirers to distract himself from his perpetual dissatisfaction with his life as a whole. In the meantime, he also cheated his way through university since his female peers were willing to do his homework for him (even though it’s worth noting that Zelos is so sharp he’s actually better at math than Genis Sage, the resident prodigy).
Because of all this, Zelos learned to fight for nothing and no one except himself, because nobody else has ever fought for him as a person. With the exception of Sheena, whom he met and befriended sometime before the events of the game under undisclosed circumstances, he hasn’t grown emotionally close to anyone and is prepared to stay that way. He’ll make just about any deal as long as it means he can escape unscathed. The Renegades approach him and ask him to keep tabs on Cruxis? Sure, he can do that. Cruxis approaches him and asks him to keep tabs on the party? Sure, he can do that. As long as he has some guarantee of his own personal safety, anything goes, up to and including throwing his companions under the first applicable bus.
Or at least, that’s how it starts out. Things start changing for Zelos once he joins the party, even though he shoehorns his way into it based on that deal he made with Cruxis to report on their movements. The others aren’t exactly happy about this turn of events, since he acts incredibly full of himself and he won’t stop flirting with the female members, but they still treat him like a human being rather than just the Chosen. They’re the first people to openly trust Zelos and consider him a part of their group in spite of his quirks, which in turn gradually makes him endeavor to deserve that trust.
Except during the Kratos ending—or as I like to call it, the bad ending—where Lloyd, and by extension everyone else, asks the fatal question: Can I trust you? There’s a turning point where Zelos is responsible for handing the Sylvaranti Chosen, Colette, over to Cruxis. In the normal ending, this is a ploy to gain their trust so he can betray them at the last minute and throw the situation in the party’s favor. In the bad ending, this is not a ruse, and he stays behind to fight the rest of the party himself, forcing them to kill him. And this is after he already made a deal with Cruxis that, in exchange for Colette, they would release him from his fate as Chosen and give his title to Seles instead. Zelos chooses to die at the hands of his so-called friends despite already having a guarantee that the burden of his title as Chosen will be lifted. That’s how badly he hates himself.
Fortunately, that kind of extreme behavior is relegated to the bad ending. In the normal ending, he’s perfectly content to leave Cruxis once and for all and state his position as belonging firmly to the party, because they believed in him and gave him hope that he could change his situation for the better. After this point, kindly ignore everything the anime and sequel tell you, because Zelos is much less obnoxious than usual for the rest of the game, and with every indication of staying that way. This proves that his womanizing is less a fundamental part of his personality and more a learned behavior in response to the above set of reasons.
To conclude: I know Zelos can come across as annoying at times, and you’re still well within your rights to dislike his behavior, but really. Does all that sound like a shallow, self-obsessed philanderer to you?
#zelos wilder#characterization essay#not hakuōki#i used to have a tales blog#maybe i should try to resurrect that#also#magical mind tea???#i love it thanks hahahaha
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(some spoilers ahead, the stuff I mentioned don’t really have that much inpact on the story, but if you want to go into I Favor The Villainess not knowing anything, you shouldn’t read this) taking a break from existing for now but i wanted to say that i love how IFTV treats homophobia and being gay in general. while neither of them is the main focus (surprisingly, since the original idea is mostly Rei being incredibly in love with Claire) they are still a big part of both of their lives, while being accepted by the king and people around them, it’s still somewhere there, they still cannot legally marry and neighbor kids say that a relationship should be between man and woman ect, but it’s not what they struggle a lot with, since they both know that some people will never understand (i’d also like to note how much i loved Rei’s conversation with Lishe where she stated that she doesn’t blame Lishe for not understanding a gay relationship since she never will understand a straight one?? so good). and the Church! oh the Church, i like how neutral it is in the story, with both it’s good and bad aspects pointed out, and how even inside the religion that isn’t very much into approving homosexuality, some people inside of it, even people in power, can be lgbt (Lily, Misha and Yuu).
ok now im gonna get a little bit off the topic but the entire “everything has it’s good and bad sides” aspect of the story is just so appealing to me. the earlier mentioned Church? while claiming that they approve all of the people, some of it’s members believe some people are sinful just because of the way they were born, yet they supported the commoner’s movement and gave people hope in the bad times. Naa Empire? forceful and hungry of power, yet they are good to their people, accepting all minorities, giving them a chance to grow their talents, serve the country and marry on equal with people originally born inside of the empire. and most importantly, i love how Rei grows from being detached from the consequences her actions have on the country to actually caring a little bit more and putting her knowledge to use so she can help. I like her character in general, actually, she often undersells herself when it comes to talking about her good qualities, but overall I like how she’s just in the middle of it all, how she’s on both sides, being just so, so human in a world of an otome game, acting on her desire to be with Claire and protect her daughters. i just really like that story, i really hope the 40 chapters i have left are just as good as the rest, and i really have a feeling that they will.
#kit talks#well that turned into a longer rant than i expected#please read it it's really good i promise
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Risque Rouge pt15
Tagging: @umbralaperture @otome-smut-queen @silver-fox-of-azuchi @tsundere-mitsuhide @jennacat84
General warnings for the whole fic: Angst, some fluff, Mental health issues, emotional things, trauma, blood, death and possible triggers. Please read responsibly.
Darkmindsotome Masterlist
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Chapter 15
As plans went this had been perfect. It was an accident that could have happened at any time and in any part of the city. He was lucky to already know exactly where he could find a coach without its driver, all he needed was the perfect moment. Everything was arranged and it would have been considered simple bad luck that someone should be fatally crushed under the sheer force of the runaway horse dragging its carriage. It would have worked, should have worked.
Latour looked at the failure of what should have been a gloriously devastating demise. His eyes burned with hatred as he watched the female interact with the two men from his hiding place.
“Curses!” He hissed as his fist pounded the wall of the building before, he spun on his heel snarling as he walked away.
---
This had to be an out of the frying pan into the fire moment. Evie watched the two men in a silent standoff feeling completely useless. It was true she had run and she was scared. Yes, Comte had been part of the reason for that but he hadn’t hurt her. She did wonder about his approach when they were at the café but not once in all the times, they had been together, was he anything less than pleasant and kind.
Evie was more than aware he had every right to be upset with her right now. Acting the way she had must have truly hurt him. She saw the pained look in his eyes when she reflexively slapped his hand away. There was more there though, he had a melancholy look that was complete forgiveness. It was as if he would accept anything no matter how much it hurt him as long as it was what she wished. It hurt.
While her chest constricted in the grip of a coiling serpent intent on crushing her the man blocking her spoke.
“What sneaky games are you trying to play with this girl? Are you not entertained enough?” There was a tangible threat from the man shielding her from Comte. He was speaking without formality which could have meant he didn’t care to be polite to a potential menace but the fact Comte called him by name must mean they knew each other.
“I am not playing games, sneaky or otherwise. Genevieve is my charge and in my care.” Comte was smiling that same smile he had on his face when talking to Arthur.
“Then why was she so terrified of you just now?” Napoleon moved slightly and Evie had visions of this entire situation going bad fast. She didn’t know if Comte was aware of the look on his own face or if it was a miscalculation on his part because right now it was more taunting than intimidating. For all the mistakes made so far, she didn’t wish to have one result in a fight in front of her. She broke free of the human barrier, with pain lancing up her leg and placed herself between the two men.
“Please stop.” She gave a quick glance to Comte over her shoulder before turning to Napoleon. “Thank you, Monsieur, you rescued me.”
To say Comte was stunned would have been a very accurate description right now. This woman really did seem to swing on a pendulum to the point where she was hard to predict. He thought he had scared her and she would not go anywhere near him so why was she standing as if to protect him now?
“I only did what anyone would do.” Napoleon seemed to be equally perplexed looking at the sudden change in the woman who was basically a trembling mess only minutes before. His green eyes looked behind her quizzically towards Comte who didn’t know what to say.
He had felt and still did feel terrible for how he handled everything back at the café. Hindsight has a way of making every situation seem like a bad move and he already was well aware even without the help of reflection that his approach was a terrible choice.
“No, you did more because you were the one to risk yourself on my foolishness.” Evie lowered her head the trembling in her body was still very likely to make a repeat appearance but right now she was determined to make sure nothing else happened. “What this man says is true. I am in his care, he is my sponsor. It was true I was careless and running but…”
“Evie.” Comte’s voice was quiet. His eyes fell on the back of her lowered head in awe.
She was hurt she had been scared and still suffering the aftermath of everything that had been said and done. He could feel it, he felt her swirling emotions as strongly as if they were his own, the pain in her taking grip on his own body. Still, she was trying to smooth over a situation that was nowhere near as drastic as she thought it was. A wry smile formed on his face and his expression softened as he watched her. She was stronger than she knew and so beautiful. Napoleon didn’t miss the subtle interaction and looked at the young woman in front of him as if he just remembered something.
“So, you are the Mademoiselle from the mansion?”
“You know me?” Evie looked up her emerald eyes finding his clear jade green ones.
There really was something about this man, it was different from Comte and also different when compared to the other soldier in the mansion. It was a quiet dominance that gave subliminal weight to anything he did, even standing still talking with him projected the idea you were talking to a born leader.
“Of you. Sebastian informed me of a new guest and said that they were a lady.” The air around Napoleon felt much friendlier as it seemed the misunderstanding from before had all but been forgotten. Evie looked back at Comte. He said he would tell the rest of the guests himself, not that she wanted to pry into why Sebastian had been the one to inform this man instead.
There was obviously a little tension between the two men, it wasn’t bad, but it was certainly one that came from a place of respect rather than blind trust. It was very hard to explain and she didn’t even understand how she could feel something so slight from people she had just met.
Uncle had always said she was very sensitive and observant but this was more, it was a feeling that she instinctively didn’t question. People talk about intuition but that had always seemed a little off to her. Even with a strong intuition it was easy to second guess and lose yourself. This was a profound sensation and it was strange because it felt a lot like being more than one person at once in her own body.
“Genevieve this is Napoleon, he is also a guest of mine.” Comte issued the late introduction after the conversation finally seemed to allow for it.
“Is there anyone in Paris who is not a guest of yours?” Evie’s question was out long before her good sense could talk her out of it. Her eyes went saucer round and she clamped her hand over her mouth. “Erm…”
By this point, Comte was used to her little outbursts. Whilst they still had a tendency to catch him off guard, he was inclined to look upon her fondly rather than feel the desire to chastise her. Besides judging by her reaction and the way she was currently looking she was giving herself a much harsher lecture than he could. While Comte and Evie were looking at each other a loud eruption of laughter burst forth from Napoleon.
“Pff -- Bwahaha!”
“I’m sorry.” Evie muttered her apology flinching when Comte placed a hand on her shoulder. Noticing her reaction, he retracted his hand. The brief touch of warmth he felt freezing over as he felt the penalty strike him as he feared it would if he hurt her. He tried to ignore the way that information sat like a steel weight in his chest. Convincing himself he should be content with simply watching her.
“No don’t be I – hahaha – I’m glad to see the shock didn’t do any damage to your body or conviction. Haha pardon. I like how honest you are.” Napoleon was struggling to stop himself from continuing his peel of laughter his shoulders were still shaking as he tried to stifle it and speak.
“If we are finished here, I think it would be best to return home.” Comte interjected which seemed to help Napoleon gather enough power to get his laughter under control.
“Home?” Evie asked curiously before taking an interest in the people around them. The gathering of onlookers was a little smaller but she was very aware that even if they had returned to their previous tasks they were still glancing in her direction.
Still, when Comte said home he meant the mansion and there was a feeling of chilling dread that filled her chest as she thought of that. Could she go back there and cheat what she feared most in her mind? Would she avoid being the source of someone else’s pain or would she fail and have another torment to add to her collection?
“Yes, we need to tend to that ankle of yours.” Comte drew a little closer, sensing of her rising anxiety.
He wanted to take her hand as he had always done but she recoiled at his touch and he did not wish to be an added source of her discomforts. He hoped that his words could be enough reassurance to her and she would choose to come back. He tried to ignore the selfish desire he had to be alone with her once more. He wanted to apologise properly and allow for dialogue to once more be open between them. He knew how detrimental the passage of time could be as it passed by removing the opportunity to speak freely. The only survivor of the situation being the air of extreme awkwardness that hung like a cloud.
“I don’t really…” Evie hesitated and winced again the pain in her ankle silencing her.
Napoleon hadn’t pushed for details and he was not stupid enough to get in the middle of a lover’s quarrel. He could see the concern in Comte’s eyes as he watched the young girl with black hair. He had seen similar looks in the eyes of men on the battlefield. It was a look of understanding your fate is in the hands of another and acceptance that their actions would define the world to come.
The woman was curious, it wasn’t that he was immune to her charms he felt them keenly drawing him in. It made him instinctively wish to help her. It was strange and he had felt something similar when he had experienced meeting Comte for the first time. He took a certain level of pride in being a good judge of character and he found her to be interesting, honest and trustworthy.
“I’ll join you as well as I was on my way back anyway.” Napoleon spoke up in response to the idea of returning. He had been on his way back anyway so it was of little concern to him if he travelled alone or with companionship. If his presence meant that the young lady should feel more settled than if she were to travel with only le Comte for company then he considered it his duty to do at least that much.
“Did you not ride into town?” Comte enquired feeling a deflated sensation taking hold of him.
“Not today.” Napoleon didn’t seem to care or notice the shadows crossing the amber eyes of the pure blood Count. He did, however, slip his arm around the waist of the injured girl. He did it in such a way that it was completely natural, a silent declaration of the fact this is where it should be. Evie could not find the words to protest and found her weight naturally leaning on the strong arm around her as Napoleon guided her towards the carriages.
Comte knew it was to support her and help her. He knew it was a purely platonic motion and there was nothing meaningful about it. Logically he knew all this and still a dark whisper in his mind had him questioning every small glance and muscle twitch between the two now walking in front of him.
“Well isn’t that splendid?”
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“So, it failed.” Amos sat mulling over the ill-fated news as he watched the foam dissolve on the head of beer in his glass.
“Yes. There was interference and the female found protection at the most inconvenient time.” Latour had appeared like a tempest and was working his anger out on a bowl of nuts crushing the shells in his bare hands, placing their contents to the side. He didn’t really like nuts, he didn’t really enjoy any human food anymore. It was all ash in his mouth.
Blood was all he craved to slate his thirst and fill his belly. Alcohol provided a change in pace, whilst providing natural cover from the passing observer. Cigarettes helped keep him busy, it was a throwback to his time as a human. Watching the curling smoke from the lit shredded tobacco, how it filled his lungs. It helped him focus, it helped him think and it blocked out some of the atrocious scents of the cattle around him.
“Not by the Reo’s doing?” Amos asked watching the bowl of mixed nuts grow empty. He was a little pleased that his disciple had learnt to vent his anger in a way that drew less attention to him. He remembered how troublesome it had been in previous years during training when he had been forced to keep a tight leash on him or risk exposure.
“No, it was another. One from the mansion although they are not part of the familia.” Latour reached a particularly stubborn walnut and after squeezing it towards its obliteration he finally seemed to relax.
“Did they suspect foul play?” Amos drank the dregs of his pint and scooped up a handful of the freshly shelled nuts on the table.
“No, My Lord” Latour confirmed what was possibly the only saving grace of the misadventure. Failure was not an option Latour knew it would spell the end of everything for him. His master had no use for tools that could not fulfil a task.
“Good, then there is still a chance we can approach the matter again.” Amos smiled the lamplight caught the very tip of his exposed fangs before he expertly moved his head playing it off as a trick of the light for anyone who might have seen it.
“What would you have me do?”
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talking abt the visual novel characters under the cut <3
mayhart player character. red-haired human commoner, youngest child of her family, last child born of her mother before mother died and father remarried. shorter than average (5′2″ as female, 5′5″ as male) named mayhart because she was born on the fourth of may. wild & uncontrollable, bearing a rage that she herself doesn’t even understand. grew up a commoner alongside her childhood friend yerick. widely rumored in town to be a changeling- she doesn’t act the way a normal human should, never knowing when to leave well enough alone or how to calm down and settle for her lot in life (the number of times when she, accompanied with yerick, has been chased back to town by some beast she provoked in the woods is uncountable). was recently conscripted into the army and adopted by the duchess koballe after her latent magic appeared. one of very few people who can use offensive magic and not purely reconnaissance/traveling magic. finally has an outlet for her rage, and somewhat hates the things she does. wears standard military uniform but badly- doesnt entirely understand how all the straps & bindings work and will not learn :) as the player character, she can be male or female. as a male, his rage turns inward, and as a result he is less open with his own emotions and keeps all his feelings hidden within himself. openly contemptuous of the war, but far more polite than his female counterpart. neither version holds any respect for anyone who hurts the weak. neither can hold their liquor either. 21 in human years
demavieve eldest princess of the draconic realm- as such, the future sovereign. the draconic realm is the only country allied with perine in this war which makes several people very nervous (its like if the us allied with luxembourg in a war against belgium france germany & the uk excep the us was the only country with nukes). demavieve has a very strong sense of honor though so constrains herself to a human form along with swordplay. this is less dangerous than it seems because if demavieves human form dies then she just turns back into her draconic form. her human form also has red hair, but its far more tameable than mayhart’s. she wears it tied back in a ponytail in general. she wears a perine knight’s uniform with vestments from the draconic realm to signify that she is (a) a foreign-lent soldier and (b) a commander. her human form is muscular and about 6′6″. hot and well aware of it.arrogant but also very friendly about it- ‘you love me? haha, of course you are! you seem great too!’. kind of sees this whole thing as a game- dragons live a lot longer than humans, and something like this is just a blip on her radar. very low empathy until someone she cares about is hurt at which point everything goes out the window (and she cares about pretty much all the perine soldiers- not in a very respectful way, but she loves them all and she goes apeshit sometimes). very friendly with serenina. can absolutely hold her liquor. only romanceable as f!mayhart. 23 in human years, ~150 in real time.
serenina the only princess of the former emperor and empress. i spoke about her in more detail in another post so this is gonna mostly be glossed over. wears her hair in afropuffs cause she does her own hair and shes proud of it. temporal (reconnaissance) magic. desperate to please. legally only friends with demavieve, although also friendly with yerick. about 5′0″ although she desperately wants to grow taller (unlikely). her eyes look like theyre black but if you look closely (which she probably wont let you do) theyre actually purple/indigo. is completely out of touch with the rest of the world because shes a princess but she is also very sincere and tries her best to be helpful when she can. very expressionless and sensible. not very well-liked as the former princess of the warmongering emperor and empress. actually very touch starved. does not wear standard military uniform outside of mage’s robes, which she wears over tea dresses (which is another reason some soldiers dislike her) is kept away from alcohol as much as grayson can and as such will get drunk off half a cup of wine. sleepy drunk. 18 in human years.
grayson the bastard son of the former emperor, sereninas older half-brother. grew up as a commoner in the same area as serenina & yerick until he was brought into the royal castle at age 9. fiercely protective of serenina. faux affable- you know the ‘expressionless smile’ princes from otome games/manga always have? thats graysons face pretty much always. legally not eligible to the crown (due to some religious issues with committing patricide & stepmatricide) but like. like hes already doing everything? yk how it is. highest commander of his troops attempting to broker peace with the other countries perine was at war with (most noticeably alloue, nawolem, & farik in order to attack caledonia, which was the puppeteer behind the former reign) but is not above underhanded methods/tactics including attacking noncombatant targets (they dont even have geneva). very intelligent & very calculating- consistently calculates highest reward/lowest risk maneuvers and has them executed flawlessly. his own cunning scares him on occasion, but he mostly locks that away- theres no time for those kinds of feelings in war. a foil to f!mayhart- she is wild, he is restrained; she shows her true feelings regardless, he always acts at a happy neutral; mayhart confronts her uncomfortable feelings, grayson hides them from everyone. about 5′11″, has long dreads that he keeps tied back. dressed in perfect military regalia, including commander’s cape & military crown (basically just a circlet). also cant hold his liquor- hes nearly as bad as serenina. 25 in human years.
izyn the son of count dau claire, the only noble house in perine that has been loyal to grayson since before the deaths of the former emperor and empress. very quiet because he has social anxiety. completely brainless. very friendly but his height (6′4″) and imposing aura (he gets nervous) means that the only people who can easily communicate with him are yerick and grayson. black hair, cropped short, and green eyes. skilled swordsman, mid-commander. will get trapped in an unwinnable situation which yerick needs to save him from. wears his military uniform right but...........not really? he wears the base uniform right but always forgets his commander’s cape. has a dedicated fanbase that came about when he did his training shirtless. literally doesnt think that any of his problems are that deep (honestly doesnt think anything is that deep). suffice to say, theres a reason why count dau claire never shows up and doesnt seem to be involved in any of the decision making of the count’s matters. very protective of yerick (younger brother). is the most visibly affected by the war- as the one who is usually in the center of the violence and doesnt have a survival cheat like demavieve, he has pretty bad ptsd which coupled with his anxiety issues make him a hot mess. his hobbies include hiding in dark rooms that have been reinforced to the point where literally only yerick can get in. despite his size he gets drunk very easily- not as bad as grayson & serenina, but 1-2 mugs of beer puts him out. 26 in human years. only romanceable as m!mayhart
yerick adopted son of count dau clarie. childhood friend of mayhart. born an orphan, an old woman took care of him til he was 4 and she died. stuck around mayharts town cause their family would give him food whenever he stopped by. still ended up fairly malnourished. small but vicious- hes screamed at mayhart lots of times for the stupid shit they would get him into and is not afraid to smack some sense into them. however he is not a good fighter because hes physically very weak- most of his energy in developing went to his magical capabilities, which came to fruition when he was 6. about a year after that (with a great deal more shunning from the townsfolk besides mayhart), he was adopted by count dau claire. was sealed with a subordination seal (used in order to ensure compliance with reasonable requests as long as a reasonable argument is made) for a year to ensure that he wouldnt run away. izyn liked him right away, but it took about 18 months for yerick to not be completely vicious whenever he was approached. as of the modern day of the vn, yerick is as protective over izyn as izyn is him- yerick has seen some of the worst of the world, and in his opinion izyn has not (this is despite the fact that izyn helped overthrow the royal family at age 15 but in fairness to him izyn told yerick none of this) so he wants to make sure his big brother stays happy. yerick holds absolutely no loyalty towards count dau claire or even to grayson- he is loyal to his own needs first, with a decent second being izyn and an even further distant third being mayhart & their family. very prickly & well acquainted with the fact that most people are inherently selfish and would turn away from an orphan on the streets. abandonment issues. his spatial magic is mostly used on rescue ops (mostly mostly getting izyn out of situations where hes surrounded by enemy soldiers but this extends to other perine soldiers). wears his uniform properly, including mage’s robes & commander’s cape over the standard perine uniform. hates to ever appear weak ever, so when he has to go to the medical tent izyn has to either force him there or pretend to be tsundere and throw bandages at him. izyn desperately wants to dote on him but that is one of yericks Hard Boundaries. theres like ONE time when yerick falls asleep because of arcane overexertion and izyn piggybacks him back to camp and yerick acts like its the most shameful secret in the world. foil to m!mayhart- very open with his anger & feelings and shows when he is angry and accepts that part of himself, open with his loyalties and doesnt give a fuck about it, doesnt like the war but does respect it. despite his size, it takes easily 3 barrels of alcohol to even get him tipsy, izyns lack of alcohol tolerance pisses him off cause he has to walk him back to his tent. 5′4″ and wants to grow taller but has accepted his fate. 19 in human years.
eliya legally not a combatant. former princess of caledonia, was discovered at 12 to hold the power of the divine will and so was sent away from her mother and father (who she perceived as loving) to be raised within the church as a holy sacrifice (those who hold the power of the divine will release a huge psychic shockwave when theyre killed, so she was basically raised to be a holy tyke bomb). has a lot of religious obsession, prays 3x a day and has been brainwashed into believing in the power of holy judgement- essentially, her church handler (aka the deacon of the church where she was raised) has raised her to believe that if she commits a sin she’ll be killed so she has a LOT of anxiety over doing the right thing.at the same time shes been brainwashed into believing that doing anything in the service of the throne of caledonia is morally & theologically correct. shes also had occasional contact with her parents (like a yearly dinner or smth) and so still has a lot of loyalty to them due to how they manipulated her and her relationship with her little siblings (7 yrs younger x 2, 2 yrs younger, 13 yrs younger). completely devoted to her church, would gladly martyr herself for them (however this wouldnt trigger the shockwave needed by the army). is loyal to her parents, the deacon, and then the church. is captured by the perine army after a raid on a noncombatant area and spends a lot of time figuring herself out. foil to serenina (esp in terms of loyalty & parents/siblings, emotions (eliya has a lot of them and shows them, serenina is the opposite), their royal treatment, their relationship with trust (serenina doesnt, eliya does and worringly easily). long golden hair, light blue eyes. wears neither a military uniform nor a priests’ uniform, instead wears a one-piece white ‘dress’ (really more a tunic/oversized shirt) & is barefoot. desperate for attention, praise, love, etc. widely disliked due to her POW status but she really thinks shes making all these friends. has quite literally not been able to make her own choices since she was 12 years old. above average alcohol tolerance but nowhere near yerick. 19 in human years.
#.din#.txt#my ocs#im warming up to the title smile⭐smile⭐smile also but it also kind of seems stupid? idk#anyways. eliya was originally a male character but i hate hate hate when one gender has more characters than the other#also yes demavieve & izyn are both gay but all the other characters are bisexual.#also yerick & demavieve are both trans but im allowed to wog that because im also trans.#i also see both mayharts as trans but like it wont come up in the vn again im allowed to do this because im trans#also my favorite characters are yerick & eliya. grayson & serenina are close seconds followed by the mayharts.#after that would be demavieve and then izyn sadly comes in last i still like him but its like i can trust him alone yknow#like leaving a 10 year old home alone while i run errands i dont think izyn would blow up the house. all the others would immediately.
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fe3h blogging 1
spoilers
Sorry blue lions. It was between eagles and deer for me.
ch3: Well OK. The church is now using me as their personal political assassin are they?
Fe3h fav characters so far: Tomas: knowledge grandpa! And one of the few I trust Gatekeeper: my pure boy. On the topic of trust. You know who I don't trust? Claude. He always angling for something. Always digging for secrets never revealing his own
I didn't think I'd like Raphael so much but I do. He's so good natured. He always wants to help and even when the other kids are mean to him. His only response is more kindness. Like oh youre kinda grumpy right now how about a snack. Like a human shaped golden retriever. Full of love and very food motivated. As much as he's a complete musclehead, his emotional/social intelligence is pretty high. He just wants to make friends. Let Raphhael have friends!
Guess who chose golden deerI was considering black eagle. But everyone did black eagle. I can go on youtube later. I haven't gotten it but on youtube is lorenz and sylvain's c and b supports and they are hilarious
I found japanese audio of fe3h and it just really hit me that Sylvain belongs in an otome game. I mean his character design (hair color, hair style etc.) and the way he acts is already... eh. But then his japanese voice actor... and its giving me this mental dissonance. Especially aince I've seen the character artist doing utapri, samflam, and other stuff.
weeho spoiled myself on supports: Everyday I grow less and less convinced of Sylvain's heterosexuality. Does he even like women?? He's just emotionally manipulating them as a self destructive coping mechanism because he has self worth issues. So he presents himself as the superficial stuff like social status and then gets insecure and accuses them of only dating him for status. He's setting himself up for failure. And each tine reinforces his belief that he is nothing but his crest and family. Look at this disaster boy
knowledge grandpa no! I trusted you and I trust so few people. I wonder if it was real Tomas who first joined but an impostor who rejoined a year ago
List of potential immortals: Jeralt, Rhea, Flayn. There are multiple mentions of Jeralt not seeming to age, he looked the same over 30 years ago. Rhea looks suspiciously like Saint Seiros and was archbishop 20 years ago. Flayn act both young and old and won’t give me her age. That said now that its revealed in the paraloge that Seteth is her dad, maybe not secretly an immortal so much as magical bloodline. Also Seiros, Rhea, Sothis, and Flayn are all related somehow. The green hair doesn’t help. And Byleth is somehow involved. I thought byleth might be part of the immortal gang but mom’s grave stone said she died at age 20 so byleth was born at the church like 20-21 years ago
support thoughts: Are all of huberts c supports just him insulting people?? each and every day I fall more in love with Dorothea. her support with Ferdinand where she straight up says she hates him, the voice acting on that! Lorenz and Ferdinand was hilarious. This is why you get bullied. Lorenz and Sylvain was also funny. Not a big fan of Bernadetta.
Ok so update on the green haired tinfoil hatting: Flayn related to the saint cetholynn????? somehow and definitely real old.
end of part 1
Thinking back the crests and church(seiros/saints) are what turn people into demonic beasts. there are beasts with crest stones in their heads, in Remire villiage they tried to turn people using Flayn’s blood, and later succeeded. Flame emperor is using the church’s abilities against it. Also Rhea’s been seeking to replicate... something Seiros maybe?? (or more someone.. someone who was precious to her) by ripping the hearts out of babies and putting in a special one??? Rhea seem desperate, but I’m not sure what (or whom) she is desperate for. turning Byleth into Seiros??? There is a ... tension is her, like she is on the edge of snapping. And what was she trying to achieve there in the tomb before she was interrupted. For being “holy” relics, they sure are ominous looking. and they turn people into monsters. The whole church is sketch honestly. The propaganda and censorship campaigns. The crushing of any that are a threat under the language of sin and justice.
So Edelgard went full supervillian. Wow. And Rhea was the immaculate one huh (still don’t know what that means), here I was theory crafting that she was a reincarnated Seiros or something. Edelgard is like a worse Alm, she wants to rid humanity of dragons ruling over them and install a meritocracy. Her methods though are !!!!! yikes. I mean any reign that starts with “kill all that resist” can’t lead to anything good. Also out of 10 siblings only 1 didn’t die of illness or go mad. hmmmn where have I heard that before.
That said I do agree with her goal. I love it when I can take down a religious institution in a videogame.
At Garreg Mach her whole plan in to brute force it. Like if we just keep throwing enough lives at it we are bound to win. Admittedly I know nothing of military strategy, but that doesn’t sound like the best plan.
Interesting the differences between routes. In Edelgard’s church allied with feargus, while in Claude’s the Church lost significant power and Edelgard successfully incited a coup, but why did the Empire give up Garreg Mach as a strategic position?
My baby deer are all grown up. And yup another mark in the Flayn is some immortal being, her sprite didn’t change at all. Totally in favor of stealing everyone from the other houses.
Who wore it better Part 1 or 2
Edelgard: 2. I mean p1 Edelgard was already best dressed but p2 takes it to a new level
Dimitri: 2. I mean p1′s hair is so goofy looking I just have to choose the edgelord
Claude: both. Claude looks fine so matter the time
Hubert: 2. He really did grow into the goth look
Petra: 1. Both are good but I love the huge braid
Lindhart: 1. p2 isn’t bad but I like the two layers look
Dorothea: 2. but both are good
Caspar: 2. Something about p1 always bothered me
Ferdinand: 2. His character model looks better than his sprite, and his hair is so luscious and flowing!
Bernadetta: 2. its just a mess is p1, v cute in p2
Dudue: 2. what is even going on in p1. where as p2 is like... elegant
Sylvain: 1. as much as I teased about him belonging in an otome game, his p2 haircut is just ugly
Ingrid: 1. mmmm its fluffy?
Felix: 1. What is his p2 hair even doing??? it makes me confused
Mercedes: 1. Fluffy.
Annette: 2. never was a fan of the hair loopies
Ashe: both. p1 is cute but p2 is beautiful. both are sooo good
Hilda: 2. p1 pigtails kinda boring
Raphael: 1. though p2 its a shaggy dog
Leonie: 1. another fluffy head, p2′s low pony tail does not give a flattering shape
Ignatz: 2. a bowl cut is an improvment from whatever p1 is
Lysithea: 2. not sue about the veil but it is more intersting than p1
Marianne: 1. I always did prefer thick bangs
Lorenz: 2. its definitely p2. in p1 he looks like such a clown
Cyril: 2. Honestly he kept the baby face so there’s not much difference.
Claude sees that under Rhea the church enforced a doctrine that locked in the status quo of nobles and crests and he wants to chage the church’s influence to promote tolerance, diversity, and open mindedness. but, hey. Hey. What if we got rid of the church all together.
Why can’t I recruit the old general... hey. Hey!
Aww Claude introduced me to his second mom and dad
So the more people you can recruit the less painful things are. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get to kill Dimitri.
In terms of characters, Ferdinand has surprisingly grown on me. As for Caspar I shocks me occasionally how uncaring he is about killing people. He reminds me of a smt chaos hero with the whole might equals right thing. As long as he decides they are evil its ok to kill them. Now all he needs to do is get possessed by a demon. Eating away at him from the inside out. Ashe as always continues to be an absolute angel. I need somewhere to gush about how cool Claude looks in him final class promotion. So I rather like the group of childhood friends dimitri, felix, sylvain, ingrid. And it always trips me uo to remember that sylvain is like 2 years older than the rest because he really doesn't act like it. I'm getting that they are all traumatized from the death of felix's brother. A lot of the characters have had pretty bad childhoods.I was surprised to find out that Lysithea was tortured as a child like ok wow. I need to spend more time with you. Does Dimitri have PTSD? Golden Deer has had quite a few goofy hijinks. Marianne's character growth really has been a a thing of beauty, I’m so proud of her. But I love my oddball bunch of misfits. How did Dedue not get found out??? He’s very noticeable. and Claude, you’re starting to sound like Edelgard. I love Edelgard’s final promotion. Looks so cool. Like a mix or her Lord and Flame Emperor clothes. I wince every time some mentions the free market or the joys of capitalism. I guess adrestia is imperialism, faergus is religion, and leister is capitalism. I didn’t care about Dimriti’s death, but Edelgard’s got me.
damn ok so dubstep cyberpunk dungeon and Rhea took like 15 missile strikes. wow this really is very smt. maybe persona 2. And fighting zombie Nemesis and the 10 was excellent (Nemesis is still a stupid name). I love it when we fight literal embodiments of the past
its hilarious that in Shamir and Claude's paired ending, he ends up ditching 3 whole times. He turns the opportunity to lead the unified fodland down, then he ditches house reigen, and then he abdicated the throne! I love it! That's so him. And they both wanted to travel the world. Technically Claude is also a descendant of Loog so he also gave up claim to the Faerghus throne too. I swear. This dude. This dude... Next its going to be revealed that secretly Claudr is Edelgard's cousin. Or one of her "dead" sibling. Lysithea tell us that blood experiment to force crests leads to physical and mental damage. Does this have anything to do with what happened to Edelgard’s siblings? As far as I can tell every ending has Fodland under a single party state. Crimson flower, azure moon, and verdant wind all end in monarchies, and silver snow a theocracy.
Hold up. Flayn said that Cethaleann never had any children as rational as to why she's not a descendant. But how did Lindhart get the crest then?? And I might be mixing up the 10 and the saints, but then I thought the crests were designed as tools of war by those who slither in the dark. Thats how the 10 got them, to use as weapons against Sothis. But that then brings the question of why Rhea edited history in favor of them. This is why the holy relics looked so ominous and creepy. The animations are eeeeeeeeuuuuuugggh. My initial though was that the church is secretly evil and this is foreshadowing. I mean rhea's kinda... viscous? Ruthless? Filled with barely contained hatred? I was thinking maybe she's secretly the evil dragon of the game the way Mila kinda was.
But then you dont need consent to make a crest. Only blood. Blood could have been stolen from cihol and cethaleann to make their crests. Alternately they could have chosen to give crests to specific people. The 2 sources of crests is also why there’s multiple weapons for some crests. The crest weapons made by the agartans all have a similar aesthetic, but not all the crest weapons have that aesthetic some look different and probably weren’t made by them. As for why Rhea rewrote the 10 into heroes. It might have been to stop people from questioning the crests and relics and seeking to replicate them. By framing it as sothis's doing, with the power of the church she can control crests, how people view them, and keep a closer eye on the descendants. Its its a gift by the goddess, of course we cant try to replicate them.
Let’s see what Claude achieved before he dipped. anti-discrimination laws (race, religion), and increased foreign relations. Potentially equal treatment under the law.
Edelgard really likes brute forcing solutions
The whole opera thing with Dorothea and Manuela stinks of the idol industry where an idol peaks at like 18. Real opera singers have much longer careers.
Golden Deer is so JRPG in the best way. There’s an evil cult of technologically advanced subterranean people, a zombie army, the power of friendship.
It already caught my attention when missiles appeared and the evil cult's dungeon belonged is a scifi movie like ghost in the shell and I was thinking to myself "hmmm... this all sounds very smt of you" or maybe Persona 2. I mean with names like Shambala and the whole general aesthetic of that dungeon ... yeah. But then someone points out the UN’s symbol is all over the Agarthan stuff. And wow we really are in an smt timeline aren't we. and I remember seeing the missiles thinking hmmm that looks vaguely familiar. Its the UN symbol. Which means in alternate future Earth Sothis comes, we wage a war against the gods and and then Rhea destroys modern civilization along with the planet. that really does sound like the plot of an SMT game. I did wonder at the inclusion of electronica and dubstep into the soundtrack.
THC (Thinking Hard about Claude). Claude let's everyone know he's up to something, and his self portrayal as a schemer is both deliberate and truthful. He's using it part as social armor and part as an excuse to probe. Claude holds genuine cuiosity, wonder, and passion for the world. He is not always scheming so much as he is one of those people who's brain never turn off. He just wants to explore the world, meet different cultures, and discover all the secrets. Given the environment he grew up in, his natural inclinations angled him to thinking in terms of how to best leverage someone or how to sneak around.
Alright so here’s the lore as I know it. Sothis=Goddess came from another world to Fodlan. Through her blood made the goddess’ children (Nabateans) who are the original magical beasts and can talk, and they resided at Zanado. Rhea=Seiros=The Immaculate One, and the 4 Saints (Cihol=Seteth, Cethaleann=Flayn, Indech=The Indomitable, Macuil=The Wind Caller) are Nabateans. Sothis gave knowledge/interacted with the native humans of Fodlan (Agarthans). Eventually the Agarthans waged war against Sothis killing her and many Nabateans. The Agarthans used their bones to make weapons, their hearts to make crest stones, and their blood to make crests. The above is why magical beasts and demonic beasts are connected to crest stones. The crest stones as the hearts of Nabateans transform humans into a distorted version of their magical beast forms. The Sword of the Creator was made from materials taken from Sothis’ body. Using these weapons the humans attacked Zanado killing everyone except Seiros and the 4 Saints. The 10 Heroes Relics were similarly made from Nabatean bodies. Seiros, already obsessed with Sothis thought only of vengeance and bringing back Sothis. She raised an army, killed Nemesis, and drove the Agarthans underground to become Those who Slither in the Dark. Seiros then took control of the continent under the guise of The Church of Seiros. Seiros and the 4 Saints gave their blood to favored individuals granting them the power of their personal crest as well as potentially extending their lifespan/granting extended youth. This is why the 10 Heroes Relics have a visual aesthetic distinct from that of the weapons of the 4 Saints. The 10 Heroes Relics were made by the Agarthans but the other crest weapons like the other Gloucester crest weapon the Axe of Ukonvasara and the Saint’s weapons were not mad by them. The Church the acted as a tool for Seiros/Rhea to control the continent and its course. She then rewrote that part of history. The goddess was just sleeping, crests were a blessings of the goddess, etc.
I am unsure as to why she did so, but I believe it served the 2 purposes. First it allowed Rhea to control the narrative and how people thought about the matter. Second it erases the existence of a rebellion against the Goddess. From the Church, Rhea could control the flow of information, censoring anything that threatened her power. Using the language of religion she could also justify using military force to eliminate her political opponents.
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Vampire! Yui Komori Headcannons
Sorry it took me like three million years to answer you!
Vampire Age: 17
Human Age: 117
Her father is Seiji Komori, the Vampire King
Goes by Christian name in demon realm: Solomon
The youngest of four
Her eldest brother Yusuke, her older sister Yuna, her twin brother (who was born 2 hours earlier) Yuito, then Yui.
Yusuke and Yuna are fully Japanese while Yuito and Yui are half East-European
Yusuke and Yuna had a different mother than Yuito and Yui.
Yui has an orthodox name: Anastasia (Anya) Vasiliev
Yuito is Aleksandr (Alex) Vasiliev
Yusuke and Yuna go by catholic names: Jeremias and Juliette Lazarus
Her mother is Natsia Vasiliev
She was a low-class vampire who was filled with greed, so she decided to become a handmaiden at Seiji’s manor in order to seduce him, have his children, and demand money.
After all of her plans failed, she drugged Seiji and raped him
Once she was pregnant, she threaten Seiji to spread all over the demon realm that he committed adultery with a low class demon, unlike his current wife Hanako (Helena Lazarus) if he didn’t give her enough money so she could be comfortable
She didn’t even want to keep her children once she got the money, so she ditched them with Seiji.
Alas, Seiji still loved Yui and Yuito. So he and Hanako kept them nd treated them like family.
She was born with Yuito on June 21, 1901
The reason why she was made the ‘heiress to the Komori throne’ was because Yusuke fell in love with a werewolf (violation of vampire law) and was banished to the Miasma islands in the demon world (it’s just really hot and everything at some weird black miasma around it he’s immune to, he and his wife Yuri are living happily together), Yuna loathed absolutely everything about Seiji and swore to never associate with him or anything involving the vampire throne, and Yuito just calmly passed the responsibility down to Yui.
She couldn’t say no at that point
She has many nicknames in the demon realm, such as: Anya the Blood Heiress, the Trinity Cross, the Rose, etc.
Yui lives by herself in the Komori Manor, with the exception of a few servants.
For someone who’s loaded, you’d think she wouldn’t have to lift a finger.
Nope, she does all of the cooking, gardening, and sometimes cleaning herself
She needs something to do to pass the night time
That’s why she was so happy when Seiji told her that she was having guest staying with her from now on...Until he explained her situation.
Basically, six people with pure blood are sent to the Komori manor as ‘food banks’, one of them is the true blood Adam and will help make her the Eve of the demon realm
She had to pick wisely on who her Adam would be
Nevertheless, she was still happy about not being alone.
Yui has the complete opposite demeanor of what a vampire should act like/are perceived to act like.
Most vampires are sadistic, cruel, unforgiving, wouldn’t look twice at a human, usually arrogant, thinks everyone around them are weak, etc.
Nah, Yui’s all like: smiling, giving kindness to others, being helpful, friendly, caring, motherly, nurturing, equal to everyone, understanding, etc
So that’s why the Sakamaki brothers brushed her off when they first met her.
But now we get into her Sadistic side.
Yui has a completely different personality in her that sleeps, only wakes up to feed or pretty much take control when she feels like it. Sadistic is very much like the typical aristocrat vampire.
Normal Yui hates talking about or when Sadistic wakes up because it means she’ll lose control and Sadistic will destroy the trust she built with her humans.
When Sadistic wakes up, Yui’s eyes turn blood red.
Yui has to watch everything Sadistic does and she can’t take it.
That’s why she tries so hard to get along, have people’s trust, and make up for Sadistic’s words
Yui has some control over Sadistic, that’s why the boys don’t die after Sadistic feeds on them.
she tries to drain them like a juice box!
Yui is very innocent while Sadistic is very nasty and so not innocent if you catch my drift.
Sadistic is fond of punishments
Yui cries as she watches in horror what Sadistic does to the boys.
Has a fox and an owl familiar
The fox is named Xian and the owl is named Fester
Yui’s favorite colors are dusty rose, lilac velvet, pink ruby, and cream.
She’s quite up to date with what’s happening in the modern world.
switches between old-time clothes and modern clothes if not at school.
will sometime say old-time things by accident
still doesn’t own a phone (and Seiji didn’t put a land line in.)
When the Sakamaki brothers first discovered she was a vampire, Subaru was the one to pull out a trinity cross (gift from mother)
She dead ass pulled her rosary from under clothes and smiled, “You have one too? I figured you weren’t too deeply involve with religion by how you act!”
This confused the brothers and resulted in Ayato smacking Subaru up the head.
When she was little, she couldn’t bare to hurt a creature for blood, so she starved herself until her father make her drink blood via transfusions/cups of blood so she wouldn’t die on him.
She stopped doing that when she was around 13 in vampire years, but it always hurt her on the inside to hurt someone for blood.
She really does care for all of the Sakamaki boys, even if they brush her off because she seemed weak or she terrified them.
She helped Ayato find something around to Manor to do as a past time because there was no internet here...Or a phone line.
Gave Reiji the room with the largest study and always
Showed Subaru where her personal little chapel was so he could pray.
(Even though he would always criticize her about not being right) She would bake sweets when she can for Kanato.
Introduced crossword puzzeles to Laito
Showed Shuu the music room
Yui actually used to play the piano when she was younger, but became rusty
Yuito and Yuna never learned how to play one
Yusuke was an excellent violinist and she always loved to listen to him play
That’s why Yui was happy to hear Shuu knew how to play the violin.
Yui is a hopeless romantic, when she just hit ‘puberty’, she spent all day in the library reading romance novels and dreaming of her ‘one true love’. When she gets the chance to, Yui buys romance novels in town and indulges in them.
Well, she sure gets a selection...
and they’re certainly no prince charming.
For being this old, she’s bound to have at least one lover in the past, right? You’re correct! She used to spend her time with a human artist back in 1981.
His name was Takizawa Hayato
He taught her how to draw, or at least he tried too.
Yui’s still pretty bad at drawing people, but she can draw landscapes pretty well.
It only lasted for a little bit when he found out she was a vampire (and he questioned why she stayed the same age as when she met him while he aged).
Yusuke had to kill him.
Over the years, she learned how to crochet doilies out of pure boredom
And also learned how to sew a bit, you really have nothing to do after years of no internet.
Knows some Russian along with Yuito
Yusuke and Yuna know Italian.
Met Cordelia once
Yui didn’t really like her
Also that one time was when Seiji killed her because of some unknown reason.
If this were formatted like the actual games, then there would be a part in one of the boys’ route where she would lose a lot of her own blood and Seiji would give her a transfusion of Cordelia’s blood. Thus Cordelia becoming one with Yui.
Let’s get into some Otome Game shit :
(We’re going by Haunted Dark Bridal btw)
The best endings:
All: Marriage
maybe kids?
Becoming ‘Adam’
overcoming the shitty parts
Bad endings:
Ayato: Yui gets amnesia and doesn’t remember Ayato, making him crazy.
Kanato: Yui kills Kanato but keeps his corpse as a doll.
Laito: Sadistic becomes the controller of Yui’s body and abuses him for the rest of his days.
Shuu: Yui dies in a fire
Reiji: Yui is killed by Karlheinz
Subaru: Yui locks up Subaru and he is forced to become crazy like his mother.
Routes:
Ayato: Since he is main bae in the original series, there’s gonna be lots of cute things,
Kanato: i feel like there might be a lot of bonding in this route, of course it’s eventual, but when the time comes Kanato just clings onto Yui. This can help out a little bit with his complex about being the ignored child and help him move on. Possibly help him grow up a little? But then again, we love our man-child.
Laito: ear porn This route could go either ways, it either helps Laito rip away the playboy act and get over his problems about his mother (and him being sexually abused) or it helps him become more...Child-like again? Like before Cordelia fucked him over.
For the triplets, there might be a discovery arc about why their mother was involved with a family of vampires for some reason.
Shuu: I feel like Shuu’s route would probably be a healing route for him, from being cold, emotionless, tired, and shut-in, to someone who can get over his past. Even though it still lingers, I think Yui helps him out with his ptsd and depression and he gets better throughout the playthrough.
Reiji: The route that holds most of the actual plot. But there is still memorable moments between Reiji and Yui that satisfy the soul and goes over some of Reiji’s issues.
Subaru: Maybe a mix between a healing and a discovery route. Like Subaru finds out his mother was involved with the Komoris somehow and he’s trying to get the answer some how from Yui, the more time they spend together they fall in love and they have to come over some epic plot I can’t think of while he tries to heal after the ptsd of watching his mother suffer her days in that locked cage his father called her room.
All of them will have the main plot of the story, though.
In each route, Yui’s struggles will be revealed.
Ayato: Her mother, definitely
Kanato: Sadistic’s origins
Laito: Her mother / Struggling with controlling Sadistic
Shuu: Hayato / the depression of being practically immortal.
Watching all of her friends grow old and die while she doesn’t change
being unable to friend humans because of this
generally has been alone her whole childhood besides her family.
etc.
Reiji: being maltreated because of her mother’s intentions
the other servants knew about this and some of them maltreated Yui harshly.
Subaru: Her self-worth / the fear of hurting those weaker than her
Maybe some other alternative bad endings would be either Yui or one of the boys becoming Yandere over the other person???
There has to be saucy stills because is diabolik lovers, you cannot expect less.
Maybe add a rival to the boys were he’s trying to obtain Yui in order for her to love him or just kill her, idk.
The Komori family is filled with pure-blooded vampires that go back for several generations (well, except Yui and Yuito)
Has a summer home and a winter home. The summer home when the bounty hunters get into town and the winter home for when the war was happening in the city the summer home was located at.
Sadistic formed in her when the servants were abusing her, when Yui had enough Sadistic came over and killed the servants and hid them before Yui ‘woke up’.
The only kind of makeup Yui knows how to do is Victorian-styled.
Makes her own perfumes and makeup from flowers and such
Before this whole ‘Adam and Eve’ stuff, Yui was supposed to get married to a high-class vampire family’s eldest son, but he was killed by Yuito
The son wanted to kill Yui and sell her organs and blood to the lower-class vampires and demons for a price.
sleeps in a regular bed
Locks herself in her room when blood moon arrives because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone during that period of time.
Sadistic doesn’t come out, this is a whole new monster Yui doesn’t understand.
2nd year
Considered popular by the students, but not ridiculously popular.
Has her fair share of fans
when some girls were trying to intimidate Yui about staying away from the Sakamaki brothers, she just scoffed and told them she can’t avoid them since they live with her.
And she also told them that they wouldn’t be into girls like them, it shut them up real fast.
Helps Subaru and Ayato study (even though it’s a difficult process)
Favorite foods are: fruit tarts, parfaits, and pancakes
wants to have three children
She’s afraid of turning someone into a vampire after the incident with Yuna and a past lover.
Still can’t swim
Follows her father’s orders without a fail.
Including keeping in 6 human boys for food.
Will occasionally take the boys out to the town next to the school.
Feels bad for the boys since they can’t go out often, so she places in vases of flowers to liven up the dark manor.
Somehow, she has met all of the sakamaki mothers one what or another.
Karlheinz actually tried to kill her once, however he was mistaken by Yuito and got badly injured.
That’s all I got for now~
#anon#request#diabolik lovers#reversed!diaboliklovers#au#headcannons#vampire! yui#dialove#diahell#sakamaki shuu#sakamaki subaru#sakamaki reiji#sakamaki kanato#sakamaki ayato#sakamaki laito#otome
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NIGHTSHADE
Release Date: December 20, 2018 (North America) Developers: Red Entertainment / LANTERN ROOMS Publishers: D3Publisher Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam) ESRB Rating: M (Mature) 17+
Walkthroughs:
Goemon
Chojiro
Hanzo
Kuroyuki
Gekkamaru
Common Route
PROLOGUE (from Nightshade’s official site) During the Sengoku Period the two main factions of ninja clans, Iga and Kōga, warred against each other for decades. In the year 1593, Nobunaga Oda started the Tenshō Iga war, decimating most of the Iga ninjas in the process. The very few that survived were absorbed into the Kōga clan, despite their past rivalries. After 17 years the Sengoku Period finally came to an end, and Japan was unified.
Enju (Protagonist), daughter of Kandō Ueno, the Head of the Kōga clan, spends her days training diligently in hope of becoming a full-fledged ninja like her peers. At long last, she is assigned to her first mission but finds herself caught in a dark conspiracy.
ART AND MUSIC One of Nightshade’s prominent features that’ll easily make an impression among otome fans, is its art style. The game credits non-other than the famous illustrator, Teita who’s fairly popular for her other works such as Norn9, the Juuzaengi Engetsu Sangokuden saga and the recently released visual novel, Charade Maniacs.
I wish I could say the same for the game’s musical score. The OP theme was nice but wasn’t memorable at all. The END theme (Good End) however, “Taezaru Hana” by MIKOTO was pretty soothing that I ended up purchasing the track in iTunes. Listen to the full song below:
Voice Acting Nightshade honestly has the best seiyuu lineup. The voice acting was, in fact, one of the major highlights of the game. The VAs really did an amazing job capturing your emotions. I was already expecting this much from their topnotch VA list, but they did more than stellar performances with this game! Every seiyuu involved were magnificent, even the side character, Ieyasu Tokugawa (voiced by Koki Miyata, who’s famous for his role as Ukyo in Amnesia), did an amazing job portraying his cunning personality.
Hikaru Midorikawa ♥ “Goemon Ishikawa” – Tamahome (Fushigi Yuugi Suzaku Ibun), Zenya (Sweet Pool), Ayato (Diabolik Lovers), Hanate (7’Scarlet), Yutaka Nabari (Nil Admirari)
Wataru Hatano “Gekkemaru” – Asato (Lamento Beyond the Void), Lindo (Dance with the Devils), Kotarou (Hakuoki), Sakiyama Youji (Sweet Pool), Yuuto (Storm Lover)
Hiro Shimono “Kuroyuki“ – Shou Kurusu (Utapri), Senri Ichinose (Norn9), Sou Kiryuu (Harukanaru Toki no Naka De 5), Ricchie (Black Wolves Saga), Ray Blackwell (Ikerev)
Kenjiro Tsuda “Hanzo Hattori” – Chikage Kazama (Hakuoki), Soshi Amazaki (The Charming Empire), Leonardo Da Vinci (Ikevamp), Nathan Seymour (Tiger & Bunny)
Kosuke Toriumi “Chojiro Momochi” – Hajime Saito (Hakuoki), Kagiha (Psychedelica BB), Poyo-Poyo (Period Cube), Hideyoshi (Ikesen), Lawrence (Psychedelica AH), John Watson (Code Realize)
MAIN CHARACTERS (Spoiler Free)
I must say, I love all of the characters and their routes that it was hard for me to pick a favorite. If you’re concerned with plot spoilers in your first playthrough, my recommendation would be to play the routes in the following order (from least to greatest in spoiler content): Goemon – Hanzo – Chojiro – Kuroyuki – Gekkamaru. For enjoyability, I’d recommend playing in the same order. Goemon and Hanzo were the lighter routes, Chojiro was angst from start to finish and the brothers (Kuroyuki and Gekkamaru) had more plot revelations than you’ve expected. I would also strongly recommend saving Gekkamaru’s route for last, trust me when I say, this makes your last playthrough more worthwhile. 😉
GOEMON ISHIKAWA
The Japanese Robin Hood
ladykiller
True to his name in history books, Goemon Ishikawa is the legendary Japanese outlaw who stole gold and other valuables from the rich to give to the poor. He’s very popular among the townspeople due to his ingenious thieving schemes. He is known to send prior notices to his targets before he robs them off their treasures. Goemon is also a highly skilled ninja who has the wit of a brilliant tactician.
Playing Goemon’s route first was a good choice since his story was the lightest among the bachelors in the game, plus I haven’t fallen in love with Midorikawa’s voice in a while, so there’s also that ha! I find Goemon’s story really refreshing due to his carefree personality and charismatic nature. Because of this, it was so easy to like this character from the get-go. Going down his route will let you discover a few revelations regarding Goemon’s past, where he came from and how he ended up as the notorious thief he is now. His route also offers a couple of plot twists and although it was a little predictable towards the end, it was executed really well where it didn’t feel awkward nor forced. As far as the romance goes, Goemon is a straight up, ladykiller. It was fun to see his relationship with Enju develop all throughout his route. His playful teasing and his easy-going personality will have you falling for him in no time.
HANZO HATTORI
Mr. stoic ninja
kuudere
Besides, being Lord Ieyasu Tokugawa’s personal guard, Hanzo is also the Tokugawa clan’s shinobi leader. Because of his resounding title as the strongest ninja history has ever known, he is very popular among all the shinobi clans in Japan. He is normally calm and collected but will not hesitate to become ruthless for the success of his mission.
Hanzo is the oldest among the bachelors (and I absolutely love him!) He is, I believe 33 years old, making quite an age gap between him and the heroine Enju, but LOL this is Toyotomi-Tokugawa (Edo 1600’s – 1800’s) period we’re talking about, where huge age gaps among couples are very common… But age aside, let me tell you… Hanzo’s route completely took me by surprise! I have no words! *Breaths heavily* I guess, I was already eyeing this character from the start since Kenjiro Tsuda voiced him. But I wasn’t expecting his arc to be this good that it literally caught me off guard. He ended up becoming my favorite of the entire game!
At first, he started as the very straightforward stoic kind, who’s only doing his master, Lord Tokugawa’s bidding. But after a few encounters where he teams up with the heroine and helps her survive, he begins to slightly soften up, giving us a glimpse of his true adorable fluffy nature. Both Hanzo and Enju go through tremendous character development in this route, especially the heroine. I just love seeing Enju prove herself time and again how much she wanted to make it as a true shinobi while she constantly faces hardships every step of the way (she’s freakin’ cool!) I also love seeing Hanzo unexpectedly supporting her through her struggles. It’s as if, rather than saving her all the time, he wants her to learn to depend on herself instead; and to me, this relationship was truly very refreshing, not to mention absolutely heartwarming. Expect a lot of badass back to back action scenes in this route, where Hanzo and Enju kick some ninja ass!
CHOJIRO MOMOCHI
Big Brother
Angst! Angst! Angst!
Chojiro is the son of the late leader of Iga, Tanba Momochi . After losing his family and clan in the Tensho Iga War at the age of five, he joined the Koga clan along with the other Iga survivors. Chojiro is also the heroine’s cousin as well as her mentor/trainer. He is a man of a few words and he completely devotes himself to his missions without questions.
I made a mistake playing Chojiro’s route earlier in the game as I wasn’t ready for a sudden whirlwind of angst! At the start, Chojiro’s personality was very closed off, its almost as if he has built a wall before him to keep others away. Because of his tragic past, he doesn’t want to get attached to anyone, afraid he’d lose them at the blink of an eye just like how he lost his parents when he was young. This makes his relationship with Enju a little less intimate from the beginning. As the heroine tries her best to get a closer reach of him, he waves his feelings off because he’s conflicted between succeeding his missions as a shinobi versus his own desire to help Enju and stay by her side.
Chojiro’s route was also the most tragic in the game!😭 Ya’ll better prepare those tissues! Romantic wise, his story was not my favorite. The drama just out-weights the romance on this one. I do love the writing in his route though. It seriously gave me an emotional breakdown I wasn’t prepared for. 😅I suggest playing his route in the middle to get the angst out of the way. This, also kinda gives you more room to recuperate from the heavy drama before jumping into an even more dramatic finish as you do Gekka’s route last.
KUROYUKI
clever, cunning
soft yand
Kuroyuki is Gekkamaru’s younger brother. Right after he was born, both boys became orphans and were taken in by Enju’s family. He was sent away on an extended mission when he was eight, by the heroine’s father Kando Ueno, who’s also the leader and head chief of the Koga clan. Kuroyuki is also the same age as Enju (16).
Not much is revealed about this character other than he is Gekkamaru’s brother who was sent on a secret mission when he was eight years old. Where did he go? What was he doing for the last eight years he was gone? It was rather questionable how his character (in other routes) always comes and goes sporadically in the plot.
I couldn’t really expound more on Kuroyuki’s arc without entering spoiler territory but going down his route will let you discover one interesting revelation about him and the game’s overarching plot. It was quite satisfying to play Yuki’s route because finally! we get to fill in some plot holes. I fell in love with his story for the same reasons some people are calling it out for. It wasn’t light nor easy-going as Goemon’s or Hanzo’s, it wasn’t tragic as Chojiro’s or Gekkamaru’s. It was dark and I probably wouldn’t have it in any other way. Kudos to Hiro Shimono for breathing extra life to this character!
GEKKAMARU
best boi
puppy eyes
true route ish?
After losing his family at the age of three, Gekkamaru was adopted by the heroine’s parents along with his younger brother Kuroyuki. Gekkamaru was assigned to be Enju’s trusted bodyguard when they were young and has proven his loyalty and devotion through time by sticking to his role as Enju’s protector. He is wholeheartedly committed to his master (Enju) to a point where he becomes too overprotective of her.
So after going through all kinds of heaps and hooplas of playing and suffering each of the character routes in the game, I was finally on my last one, Gekkamaru. I know you can just play his route whenever but I chose to do his story last for the experience. ohoho!
…and I have no regrets!😭 Gekkamaru’s route started with pure dramatic fluff as expected. It was just so precious and endearing to see how far this man would go for the sake of the heroine. His loyalty and dedication for Enju was such a pure bliss that it even pains me to see him doing too much😭. His route was a combination of action, romance, a side of humor and a whole lot of drama as he and the heroine struggled to survive by each other’s side. I thought to myself, “This story couldn’t get any better or worse, could it?” but then angst hits the fan through plot twists after plot twists (during the last chapters) and this was where the story really picked up. I was at lost for words. I felt really sad, angry and confused. His route put me through a tidal wave of emotions, I had to pause the game for a while, sit in a corner to get my head straight and my breathing in check! lmao! Gekkamaru’s route is like a slow burn, heart-rending gut punch and I absolutely loved it.
ENJU UENO (Main Heroine)
Enju is a strong heroine and I adore her to bits. Unfortunately, her potentiality to become an even better shinobi was wasted in some routes because of the whole damsel in distress scenarios, with the exception on Hanzo’s and Gekkamaru’s route ~ these were the only story arcs where the heroine was able to hone her skills as a ninja and show us her true strengths.
Enju Ueno was literally, thrown to the wolves when she got caught up into this despicable game of survival, out of the blue. Not only that, but the ordeal she went through of betrayal, loss, and sorrow was absolutely too much to handle for someone her age. Still, despite all the hardships, she chose to live and survive. I was thoroughly impressed by her determination which I believe was one of her strongest points. YES, this is one badass heroine right here folks!
Side Characters
Ennosuke (Left) – The fastest ninja in the Koga clan. He’s not romanceable, and I don’t think I’d want him as a dateable character either, heh. I ship him with Kyara though. I love the chemistry with both of their characters.
Kyara (Right) – Proud, graceful, responsible, and badass on the battlefield. Her weapon of choice is a “chigirigi” which is similar to the “morning star” in medieval age weaponry. I ship her with Ennosuke. Also, Saori Hayami voices her, so this to me was a plus!
Kasumi (Center) – the cutest, most adorable ninja…ever! She’s the youngest of Chojiro’s disciples. Looks up to Enju and Kyara as her older sisters. I love her so much! *must protecc*
SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION I purchased the physical copy of Nightshade (proxy shipped) which lets you choose three language options to start the game with (English, Chinese, Japanese). I can say, that the localization was fairly decent. I didn’t play the PC version, but I asked a few people who owned both PC and Switch copy and as far as their answers go, D3Publisher did not change the English translations for Nightshade on the Switch. They changed the fonts though! D3Publisher is known to deliver decent game localizations. They’re not the best but they’re not disappointing either. I’ve spotted a couple of minor typos in the game, but it’s NOT something that would ruin the whole experience for you.
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The Switch system was very comfortable and very easy to navigate from the jump. They even offer a “rewind” option for you to backtrack scenarios, which to me, was a saving grace. This way, making the correct save files became a piece of cake. The Nintendo Switch version also contains the game’s DLC “Special Content”. These are extra fluff episodes that happened in the middle of a character’s story. They also come with a special CG (one for each story).
TRAILER
youtube
OVERALL THOUGHTS? (ノ´ヮ`)ノ*: ・ It took me a total of 30 hours to finish the game, and none of these 1800 minutes spent were wasted. Yes, I loved every bit of it.
Although the story was set in the Sengoku “Warring” period of Japan. Instead of the usual cliche battleground premise that’s normally used in Sengoku themed animes and VNs. Nightshade’s story focused more on the darker side of politics during the said period. The indirect “battle royale” theme, I admit, was quite bracing and very well paced. It was something I never expected to actually work in an otome game.
Besides the Nightshade’s gorgeous artwork, I wanted to compliment the game’s stunning special effects, such as the leaves falling in the BG, flower petals scattering about (whenever Enju uses her ninjitsu), and the moving sprites (which played exceptionally well during fight scenes). The voice acting for Nightshade blew me away and I couldn’t have wished for a better seiyuu lineup. I guess my only gripe here was Enju’s inconsistency as the heroine. In some routes, she’s badass while in others, she’s weak and very dependent. Her characteristics as a whole seem to vary depending on who’s the guy she’s with. I still love her as the main protagonist though!
While I’ve enjoyed playing all the routes in Nightshade and their respective stories, the ones that made an impression on me were Hanzo’s, Goemon’s and Gekkamaru’s. Chojiro’s was good but it was too angsty for my taste and while Kuroyuki’s story drove me to the edge of my seat, this is the route where Enju is at her weakest.
Do I recommend this game? YES This is the first ever english otome game in the Switch that I would no doubt recommend to everyone at the drop of a hat. I’m so glad I’ve waited for this port, despite all the STEAM sales that have gone by the previous years 😂 (laughs). To be honest, I was even quite sad when I finished it 😅 and wished there was more content for me to delve into. If you’re having second thoughts whether or not it’s worth shelling out 48 bux to get this game in your Nintendo Switch Library. Here’s my advice: GET IT! This one’s definitely a gem and imo, almost up to par with the big titles (like Code Realize, Hakuoki, CxM). If you want an impressive storyline and characters you can’t ever get enough of, I can’t recommend Nightshade enough!
CHLO’S RATING: 8/10
Nightshade Review (Nintendo Switch) NIGHTSHADE Release Date: December 20, 2018 (North America) Developers: Red Entertainment / LANTERN ROOMS Publishers: D3Publisher…
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10 Favourite Females Tag
So I was tagged by @mythicamagic this was really hard to narrow down but I tried!!!
Rules: Name your top ten female characters from different fandoms. Then tag ten people
1) Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club)
Ouran is an anime that will always have a special place in my heart and Haruhi was an amazing protagonist. Not only was she funny and half the time pretty relatable but she was kind and caring and tried to help those that came to her when they had a problem. Haruhi's not perfect she can be pretty reckless at times but she knew when she was in the wrong and apologised for it. Additionally, anyone is pretty amazing to have to put up with half the crap they do at the host club.
2) Yona (Akatsuki no Yona)
At the beginning of Akatsuki no Yona, Yona was a sheltered and spoiled princess who was then forced to leave her home after her father was murdered by the man she loved. After leaving home, Yona was forced to face the reality that not everybody benefited from her father's reign as King. However, instead of running away from this reality Yona wanted to atone for being blind to the truth, she learnt to use a weapon against her later father's wishes and chose to protect her country as she was still it's princess. As you can see I love Yona's character development going from a spoiled and sheltered princess to a badass warrior.
3) Ochaco Uraraka/ Uravity (Boku no Hero Academia)
What can I say about Uraraka? She's funny and adorable (plus I wanted an excuse to use a funny gif) however I love how she also wanted to be a hero for her parents' sake in order to make their lives a little bit easier. She knows she has weaknesses and during her internship she learned to compensate for those weaknesses. I love how she doesn't stray from her goal of being a hero even when she starts to get feelings for Midoriya (I love these two and I ship them so bad)
4) Mikoto Kuga (Norn9)
I love how all three of Norn9's heroines are their own person with their own unique quirks and personalities. For the sake of this post, I'll just write about Mikoto. I mean Mikoto isn't perfect she can be very stubborn and reckless putting her own health at risk to fufill her duty. However, I feel sorry for Mikoto in the sense that her family thrust the duty of protecting others onto her because of her ability saying it was a gift from the gods and put her on this pedestal in which she feels she can't afford to show any weaknesses. However, her love interest provides her with the support she needs and allows her to be weak. However, I also love how Mikoto acts like an older sister towards Nanami and Koharu and tries to provide them with advice and emotional support when she can. Part of Mikoto's character development meant she started to show weakness and rely on others more but I also love how she maintains her strength and courage to protect those she cares about.
5) Cardia Beckford (Code Realize)
In the beginning of Code Realize, Cardia was in a sense like a doll she didn't display or truly understand emotion and had a low opinion of herself calling herself a "monster". However, as the game goes on Cardia goes from being this "emotionless doll" to a ordinary and very kindhearted young girl whose one simple wish is to touch another person. I love how in all routes of the game, whilst learning and still trying to understand emotions Cardia becomes an emotional support for her love interest. Additionally, do you realise how much of a badass Cardia becomes in the game and anime?!
6) Ani Inako (Dame x Prince)
Ani is probably one of the best characters of 2018 for me. She is a kind princess who was raised to be very pragmatic however given the cast of Damepri the contrast between them and her personality could not be more hilarious. I love Ani's commentary both mentally and out loud, as well as how doesn't take any sort of crap from anyone! Plus I also really love her design, she's so cute!
7) Chizuru Yukimura (Hakuouki)
Anyone who says Chizuru is weak can shut up now! You have to remember Chizuru lives in a time where women were just basically expected to cook, clean and be childbearers. Therefore, she had to dress up as a man so she wouldn't be hassled as she travelled from Edo to Kyoto in search of her missing father. Chizuru can use a sword and has received some training however in comparison to the members of the Shinsengumi and rogue samurai out there her skills are a lot weaker by comparison which of course means she does need to be saved sometimes. However, what I love about Chizuru is her loyalty and bravery. Chizuru is fully aware she cannot fight as well as the men in the Shinsengumi but her loyalty means she wants to help in the one way she knows how by being a medic during the war. Which does require Chizuru to be out by the front lines. What I love is Chizuru is aware of her limitations but she doesn't want that from preventing her helping those she cares about. Additionally, no matter the route Chizuru wants to support her love interest in any way she can whether that means she has to take up arms as well or give her blood or just being their emotional support.
8) Hinako Nakayama (Kenka Bancho Otome)
First things first this game needs to be localised!!! But I really love Hinako, she is forced by her long lost twin brother to attend his school in his place, what he fails to tell her is that the school basically trains future gangsters and that the only way to make it to the top is to beat people up...thankfully Hinako can defend herself thanks to training she received at the orphanage. Although, thanks to her fighting skills this has left Hinako leading an isolated life as she struggled to make friends and also caused her to worry about her femininity. Don't worry Hinako your cute in my eyes >o<. Additionally, like the older brother figure she had at the orphanage Hinako stands up for the weak and is willing to do anything to protect her friends.
9) Tsugumi Kuze (Nil Admirari no Tenbin)
Yes! Someone from the last season of anime not like I've been waiting two years for this anime adaptation. The anime only touches the surface of Tsugumi's character development, in the beginning she is a sheltered young woman born into nobility however due to her family struggling her father has arranged for her to marry into the Yashiro family however after discovering his sister's engagement her brother attempts to commit suicide. Tsugumi later learns that a book known as a cursed tome caused her brother's suicide attempt and that due to the emotional stress of seeing the event Tsugumi gained the ability to see auras which eminate from cursed tome. After moving away from home to Fukuro, Tsugumi does face some harsh realities and learns how narrow the world she saw was. During the first game, Tsugumi becomes a strong and independent young woman who is capable of defending herself *cough* like stabbing Nabari in Hayato's route to escape with her brother *cough*. Additionally, Tsugumi is very caring and kind, she does her best to support her love interest overcome their dark past and anyone whose watched or played or knows the game knows that every character's past in the game is dark. Sunshine and rainbows is a foreign concept in Nil Admirari. Also, can we appreciate Tsugumi preaching women's right to work in Shougo's route. This game needs to be localised as well, just so people can appreciate Tsugumi's character development plus I really want to play the game *weeps*
10) Ritsuka Tachibana (Dance with Devils)
How can you not love Ritsuka?! She is brave, kind and determined. Her mother was kidnapped by vampires and to top it off the school's devil council have taken an interest in her. Both groups are hoping to use her to find the grimoire and Ritsuka refuses to accept that, she refuses to be seen and used as a pawn by anyone. Furthermore, she takes no crap from anyone not even the vampire king, like trying to stab him with a pair of scissors. Need I say more!
I spent way too long on this and most of them are otome/reverse harem heroines...What does that say about me?! I'm sorry for those I didn't include ToT know I still love you!!!
Anyways I will tag: @otome-is-heaven, @psycho-alchemist, @kah0hinata, @alicethefatflounder, @feelingeclectic, @cleaetpauline60 and anyone else who wants to have a go!
#tag game#ouran high school host club#haruhi fujioka#akatsuki no yona#yona#boku no hero academia#ochaco uraraka#norn9#mikoto kuga#code realize#cardia beckford#dame x prince anime caravan#ani inako#hakuouki#chizuru yukimura#kenka banchou otome#hinako nakayama#nil admirari no tenbin#tsugumi kuze#dance with devils#ritsuka tachibana
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