#but apparently the protag likes char so

[femmesandhoney]

poppy war final thoughts SPOILERS: no way people were crying through this book, just not possible lmao. overly dramatic emotional investment in characters that are not all that. Rin is an acceptable protag, but i found her thought processes random at times and not in line w what we knew of her, it would switch up constantly. her apparently being a speerly is stupid and i hated that plot point. i liked her enough to read the whole book, I felt it wasn't necessarily her fault the author wasn't good at fleshing *any* char out, not just her. favorite chars i wanted to see more of were Nezha and at times Kitay. They were more lively, and Rin became more lively on paper when she had scenes w them. Her scenes w the Cike were all so flat and forced. And did I mention the author has a weird habit of trying to draw humor into the book where it just doesn't fit, it fell flat like 70% of the time, it was odd to me. Likely bc the writing is so plot/story driven that all the chars feel like vessels for the story (duh lmao) and not like very established in my mind as characters I care about in any way. Even when Nezha "died" twice, I felt only like partial disappointment, and he was the one I found most intriguing.

The first 2/3 of the book are very readable and gripping despite all that nitpicky shit I just said. The last third was a bit meh to me, def her just forcing the story along that final hump in order to set up book 2. But it made me sigh a lot and wish I was just reading book 2. Felt almost disconnected to the first sections. Her ability to weave real history in place with her fantasy story was really lovely, I think I enjoyed her world building so much that it overwrote any of my problems w her writing bc I was geninuely admiring her creativity, the complexity, and sheer task she took on to write this. Very much a wonderful fantasy story, but I hope her next books get even a smidge more character driven. I was often forgetting chars descriptions and basic info about them bc she just so rarely details stuff about them that would help affirm them as living, breathing people in the world. I barely could describe how Rin looks. At times my mind conjured a blonde Nezha bc he reminded me of draco malfoy lmao.

Also this is just me complaining, but the way the author constantly tried to make Rin be in love w Altan (such a boring character) and just keep describing him as lovely or beautiful (same w Nezha, those aren't actually descriptions after the nth time). Like plz, some real details maam? And also thats so forced but it's not helped by the lack of any real character connections between anyone. She can write a good story and world, but characters she needs to brush up on fr. Ik this is her debut, so I have some hopes for her future books.

[cabeswaterdrowned]

I had been trying to figure out where some of my issues with Emma's characterization post LM came from you are absolutely right, it definitely feels like CC stopped focusing in Emma's gray morality to focus on Julian's

In theory I think the idea of their arc being Emma starting off the more ruthless and revenge driven character then easing up on that mindset as things unfold with Malcolm (I really like that little moment where she tells Julian about how her conceptions have changed since killing Malcolm didn’t give her closure, but we should have seen more of her introspection on this after it happened before bringing it back up in QoAAD) vs Julian being more of a wolf in sheep’s clothing whose manipulation and ruthlessness becomes more apparent over time, until eventually Emma is willing to do something morally gray (break the parabatai bonds) that in this set of circumstances Julian will not do, is compelling to me but the execution on Emma’s side falls short after LM because there’s not consistent enough exploration of her changing attitudes towards glorified vengeance and violence, more of an occasional check in. Part of this has to do with pacing/structure and although I love TDA and find the ensemble probably the most compelling overall of tsc series it is overstuffed with how many povs their are as much as tlh is. But also Julian clearly took priority to her at some point and his arc is more the focal point of books 2 & 3 despite all the povs, maybe if that was only the case for LoS it could work because then LM is more Emma focused LoS is more Jules focused but even though QoAAD is pretty all over the place Julian’s emotionless + grieving arc feels like it’s at the heart of the book, and I like that arc I mentioned I related to quite a few of the grief manifests as repressed/controlled emotion aspects so subjectively that clicks for me, but it does put Emma in the role of having to be more of a tether morally for most of the book and then there’s not enough of a transition between that and the moment where she goes to break the bonds. So yeah it’s partially cc prioritizing exploration of the male mc’s gray morality as the series goes on and being less interested in the female leads corresponding gray morality (and I know I would be far meaner about this if I didn’t like Julian as much as I clearly do) partly just other pacing and point of view distribution issues towards the back half of TDA that lead to this. Is how I see it. I do also think there’s something to critique about how while I adore blackstairs and enjoy that they flip some gender roles typical of cc’s earlier books couples, if when gender inverting the bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold x good-girl-going-bad trope the male version of the good girl with a dark heart thing gets to have a more centralized arc that is allowed to go further gray morality wise than female chars you’ve written in that vein (I would say that both Clary and Lucie count as this, Lucie in particular has a lot of parallels to Jules imo which is fun family tree wise ) and have the more centralized arc whereas while I do think Emma is a much better written character than Jace who she was clearly originally conceived as the female version of, she doesn’t have the centralized status Jace does narratively.

I do think both modern TSC arcs end up prioritizing Jace / Julian over Clary / Emma in terms of who’s character and dynamics the series eventually revolves around most (although again TDA being so ensemble changes this a little). I’m meaner about it with tmi because I don’t like Jace and Clace doesn’t work for me as a ship, and more just passively critical about it with tda because I do love Julian and Blackstairs really works for me as a ship, so I’m definitely a bit of a hypocrite there but I’ll still critique what’s relevant. I think both historical arcs do better with this I’ve spoken before about how Tessa is my Favorite tsc char as well as protag, and I think her arc and narrative is really really good and that she is central, maybe tied with Will towards the end but definitely her narrative isn’t given less importance than the guys and I’ve disagreed with takes on that to the contrary. Cordelia is an interesting case because again, the overstuffed nature of the cast means she often does not feel like the protagonist in her own story and I found that aspect worse in tlh than for Emma in tda. However I actually really don’t agree with takes that Cordelia’s story went badly because she was turned into ‘just a love interest/got lost in her romance plot’ because imo James is way less of a character in his own right than she is even in the last book where he has more agency than he did with the gracelet. Her emotions and struggles drive the plot of their romance much more than his do, and outside of it she does get to be a more proactive character in the Lilith paladin plot, dealing with her familial relationships etc. So while I did often feel like I would rather tlh focus on Cordelia herself more that really had nothing to do with James who I think was just not a priority for cc a lot of the time. Perhaps there is something to the cursed plots Will / James start out with and that device creating a need for cc to lean on the female protagonist’s characterization more (but also I’ve only read TLH once so maybe my opinion would change if I revisited I do want to say I don’t think I am a TLH or TMI expert).

[negpos-comments]

Another series idea for fantasy/folklore/mythology/etc. Worldbuilding: Literally every belief system/folklore/literally anything you can probably think of exists. Im talking every mythological pantheon, pagan deity, religious theology, hell even the holidays have their own lore behind them that's separate from their origins

Cast of Characters (not fleshed out like at all) MC: some kid in high school who finds out he's got some weird magical shit going on with him and gets dragged into a mess that should not be his Friend: Satyr who wants to get this kid back to somewhere safe, theyre friends :) Friend: this kid named Leo, who's MC's friend. He turns out to be the current version of "IH" (Side Char) "IH": The previous version of "IH" who's dating the Greek God of Apollo. He's also this Immortal Primordial Deity from the earlier iterations of the universe, along with his siblings. He fucked with the timeline a lot so a handful of myths, especially regarding Apollo, get altered or deleted. He also 'died' so Apollo started turning him into a flower, but then he decided dying was for nerds so now he's part flower. His magic is gray for reasons i cant explain rn, so the flower itself is gray with yellow, lime, and chartreuse particles. IH stands for Immortal Human, but he's not Immortal, rather Undying (like Minecraft Totem shtick) (Side Char) Apollo: Much more tame thanks to IH reeling his behavior in there's definitely other characters but i cant think of any ideas for them.

Main Base/Home: Pocket dimension that's literally just a building and some surrounding stuff. It's run by this organization that aims to protect the magical people that got roped into this nonsense (yknow, like the MC). This is where the satyr friend takes MC and Leo after a brief stop at Apollo and IH's house.

Handful of story ideas:

Regarding IH and Apollo; on multiple occasions throughout history IH almost gets killed, and IH pieces together that it's a time traveller because the perp is using a literal goddamn gun several millennia too early. The time traveller is from the future and is in love with Apollo and so tries to get rid of IH

Questgoing leads to the main protag. group meeting the keepers of the seasons in their respective temples. The keepers are just previous iterations of IH just chilling out in the current universe. The group needs their help or smth idk

To stop the defrosting from taking over the world on Xmas, the group must get the help of Halloween. Plot twist: the defrosting takes place in antarctica instead of the arctic

While visiting Greece/Turkey/Levant, IH sees the gray flower fields that are apparently his offspring cuz of the whole flower thing

[zundely]

10 things about me

(Oh my this took me so long to post)

Tagged by lovely @midnight-coffee94- thank you! I will also try to keep it fantasy/DA adjecent since that’s what I do on tumblr most of the time.

1. My favourite book series of all time is Discworld and I can be a bit over-enthusisatic about recommending it to anyone and everyone who would listen.

2. Favourite fantasy-race to play as is a dwarf, although I am also big on all kind of reptile folk (waiting for Dragon age to do a followup on the lizardfolk dwarves apparently had a war with at one point.)

3. My favourite TTRPG system as of now is the Witcher.

4. I haven't finished either Lord of the Rings or Potter saga (and I do not regret missing out on the latter).

5. When I first played DAII I didn't know there were romance options- and since I was 13, ace and dense as a rock when it comes to flirting I though the heart dialogue options were just showing that you care to that character. I was only prove wrong when my Hawke started to make out with Anders and I was like "Oh...OH"

6. Leading from the last one my favourite Dragon Age romance of all time is Isabela. And not only because inexplicably a majority of my fantasy crushes were pirates.

7. One of bigger fantasy pet peeves of mine is "dark edgy magic TM". I am greatly annoyed by a world building that tries to give moral value to what is supposed to be akin to force of nature and asserts that using the thing (blood magic, fire magic, bloodbending etc.) is bad no matter of the purpose or what it used.

8. Out of all of my DA protags I most indetify with my Hawke- the oldest sibling energy is strong with this one.

9. I always give my OC's pets because I am a crazy cat lad myself and can't imagine someone not wanting at least one animal companion on their journey. (It doesn't have to be a cat. My Witcher char has a chicken. Her name is Frania)

10. I physically can't watch Witcher Netflix series because I cannot live through what they've done to my boy Cahir.

[oakgreenoak]

general ship questions 1, 2 and 3 and umm 42 (haha) and 46 forthur (ik you've given arthur a pokemon but not ford)

1. List 3 shipping tropes you love.

enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers!!

generally when characters bicker and argue and dont seem to get along at times but theyre so important to each other

characters having to work together towards an end and learning to respect each other

2. List 3 shipping tropes you don’t love.

satellite love interests! bls have SOMETHING going for you that isnt just being char as love interest

Strangled By The Red String - when characters are together because... they like each other i guess and theres no buildup or interesting dynamic or anything and theyre just paired off to be paired

love at first sight

3. One emotional aspect of a ship that always gets you

When theyre just. So Important To Each Other. I mean, thats a really obvious part of any ship but yknow I mean like

Like Ford Prefect dropping everything and stealing helicopters and robots and everything to go straight to Earth when he knows Arthur's there even though they havent seen each other properly in a long time. Or Green in pokemon, after Red disappeared, constantly talking about him and reminiscing and comparing the sequel protag to Red even though he apparently hated the guy 3 years prior. Any time the characters have their differences and argue and all that but at the end of the day theyre still always on each others minds. Oaugh

For forthur:

42. Would they get married? If so, describe their wedding.

I feel like theyd get married on accident. Like they fell ass backwards into it and suddenly theres paperwork saying theyre married. I have however also been rotating your space vegas idea in my mind

46. Give each character a pokemon.

I've went on record that Arthur would have a Yamper, but I think the rest of his team if he has anything else would be normal types. Ford has a Magnemite (named Colin), a Gogoat (stolen from the Lumoise City gogoat transport), an Elgyem (bonded with him over being aliens), a Ditto (good for disguises) and at least a couple others i havent decided

edit: sorry my post fuckin broke horribly!!!

[mikanrulz]

[kiramartini]

"remember when skye was amazing” 

yeah!! too bad she went on to become:

mcu's first female protagonist

mcu’s first female superhero

mcu’s first female superhero with superpowers

mcu’s first and one of two woc protagonists

mcu’s first and one of two woc superheroes

mcu’s first and one of two superheroes with superpowers

one of the few asian characters in the mcu treated with respect

one of the few EAST asian characters in the mcu treated with respect

one of the few east asian female superheroes out there

one of the few east asian female protagonists out there

one of the few east asian female LEADS out there

yes

such a shame mcu had to turn her into all of that

[luminisvii]

Are you planning on doing a ranking for the main gundam pilots? 👀

well, since now there is a demand, i will! let's do a little ranking of some main characters, as best we can!

unfortunately limiting this to shows i have watched bc its kinda hard to form an opinion on these characters based on appearance unlike the char clones. so many good boys so little time </3

Amuro

we always stand up for the classic. personally, i fucking love the guy. he's one of those characters who may seem really boring at first but i ended up being thoroughly charmed. i especially love him in zeta. and he's quite relatable! i too want to take a nap for 50 years and hope none of this shit is a problem when i wake up. my boy is pretty moody and depressed and i stan a king. i could go off really hard but im stopping here for time so 15/10 for milf lover amuro

Kamille

im a huge fan of the feral teenager energy here. kamille will kick anyone's ass, including his own. of course i think he has every right to kick jerid's ass, that bitch was standing next to a guy named kacrikon mccooler or whatever and had the balls to be like "oh Kamille is a weird name" shut the fuck up. kamille is the personification of the creature within me that wants to bite people and the general rage that comes with being a teenager. can't get better than that! 10/10 bc i loved the multiple times he punches char

Judau

my foray into ZZ is rather short at the moment. consider me charmed, though! judau seems like a funney guy who would be cool to chill with and also probably the most emotionally well adjusted main pilot of the entire lot. i've actually seen him more in SRW and he's basically a little therapy dog. i rank 10/10 for being just a good boy

Kou

i feel like i would dislike him more if he were a consistent character or something. can't say i like kou, but can't say i dislike him either. i lack the energy to muster up any real hatred for him. nina is way out of his league, too. 4/10 perfectly meh

Domon

I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF THIS GUY!!!! domon had my spot as #1 protag for a very long time (we'll get to who dethroned him later) bc this dude is an absolute fucking madlad. you knew that though this is G we're talking about!!! i'm a filthy G stan and a domon simp!!! dude punches all of his problems and it WORKS! every time! 20/10 GO OFF KING I LOVE U SO MUCH NEVER STOP

Heero

this kid is hilarious. in the melodrama that is WING, heero is gunning for that #1 spot of "dramatic bitch" and that's a spot with competition. i think it's great that he didn't know how to talk to a girl so he tried to blow himself up. 8/10 being a terrible friend to duo deducts points like why would u do that to my boy duo

Shiro

i have no respect for this guy. my hatred of him is largely theatrical, but i simply cannot give that much credit to a guy who betrayed his ideals almost instantly over the hint of pussy. okay, aina is pretty good and i like her, but come ON, shiro! get it together! im aware that hes supposed to be a genius and a good pilot or whatever but honestly all i remember his him being all like ohh zeons are people too after meeting a hot one. 3/10 get outta here!!!

Loran

LOVE HE!!! 100% GOOD DUDE!!! i haven't gotten far into turn A but i love this poor little accident prone boy. loran is the kind of person who struggles with basic tasks but so do i so i forgive him. we love a GNC king! 10/10 gives him kiss on forehead and some of keith's bread

Kira

i watched three eps of SEED i apparently already ranked this guy in a mecha power point im never gonna finish

Setsun(y)a

if i'm gonna be real here, i think setsuna was really let down like most characters were in 00. however, i also think he's funny and has cat vibes, at least that's how i cope with it in my own head! he's clearly supposed to be a heero archetype except he just. lacks the pure insanity that heero had. 6/10 i wish they did better for u bby

Banagher

also gonna be real, i hated unicorn, and in no small part because of banagher! i feel like he's what a lot of weird people think amuro is when they complain about amuro being a whiny baby. the entire plot revolved around telling me that banagher was the most special boy but like. was he? wishy washy bitch. i would knock him for betraying his ideals for pussy if he had any ideals to betray. basically the best scene with banagher was the one where he was all "oh i cant kill the zeon mass murderer to stop her from murdering more bc she has feelings too :(" and riddhe was like "well i can!" and does it. that's the most worth i got out of banagher as a character! 1/10 come on stop making shiro look better

Mikazuki

LETS GIVE IT UP FOR MY SWEET LITTLE GUN DEMON!!!!! i love this kid bc he gives zero shits its so funny. most of these other pilots have a little thing called "strategy" when they attack and mika basically goes UNGA BUNGA like a caveman and smashes enemies with his giant stick. everyone else thinks they're traumatized and messed up and mika is like well i don't know what a 'trauma' is but hold my juice box. i struggle to be coherent about mikazuki bc hes just, so much, in a tiny little package. 21/10 BABY BOY YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE WEIRD SPACE PRUNES YOU WANT

Honorable Mentions Time!

Bernie (BEST BOY)

he doesn't really qualify as a main pilot but i love him dearly. my man bernie will rise to the occasion and 0080 is maybe my favorite UC entry in gundam? all around good. 12/10 burger joke here

Sei & Reiji

i have a lot of love for build fighters and these two are so good. it's hard to rank them separately bc they're a package deal. since pilot is kind of a different thing in BF, i decided to put them here, and it's to say i love them so much they're an excellent team 10/10

Fumina

she's the closest thing we get to "female character" and "main pilot" when it comes to gundam so she goes here (G WITCH PLEASE BE GOOD) and she was a severely underutilized character. for being the real out of the box thinker of the try team, it's absolutely wild that yuuma and sekai get all the credit of being like. good builder and weird tactician when fumina is RIGHT HERE!!!! the show is obsessed with humiliating her. 8/10 bby girl you deserved more

Hathaway

i mean i guess he's basically a regular main pilot, but idk. vibes are different and this is a very vibe-y based ranking. hes a little bit bland as main characters go but there are worse crimes for him to commit. like being a fuckign terrorist. i do like the part where he doesn't seem to think things through much. 7/10 here's hoping the other movies come out sometime this century!

and that is all for now, all in all, they need therapy

[hirazuki]

Ooo I'm curious about your hot takes on the Inuyasha reboot after reading your tags 👀

Ahaha, where to start XD Idk if they are hot takes, but here are my thoughts in bullet point form for coherency, I couldn’t figure out how else to organize them. Under a cut, as usual, because it got lengthy... as usual :D

We are 13 episodes in, and I still have no idea wtf is going on or what the series is actually about. And yes, I’m aware that we didn’t know of Naraku’s existence or of the overarching plot until at least episode 16 of that series either and Inuyasha was still very episodic in nature at that early point too, but here’s the thing: Inuyasha did not build upon a pre-existing series. For better or for worse, Yashahime has certain expectations to live up to that the original anime didn’t, by virtue of its being a sequel. Unfair? Maybe, but tough; that’s what happens when you make a sequel. Additionally, despite us not knowing The Main Plot™ of Inuyasha until later, the basic framework for it was laid out clearly by... episode 2? I think? Find and collect the Shikon Jewel shards. Boom, done. Were there distractions or fillers? Sure, but you never got the sense that the characters simply up and forgot about the shards. Even in fillers, the shards often made some kind of appearance. With Yashahime, there’s like three potential storylines going on: 1. The most obvious: most of our main cast from the OG is missing; where are they? Apparently no one in-story cares! :D Inuyasha, who’s that lol. I’m all for a sequel focusing on the new generation with cameos of the old crew; after all, they already had their own series. But this is like... no one cares about them? No one talks about them? And the more characters go about not mentioning them, the stronger their absence is felt. Like, for instance, Kaede knows Moroha is InuKag’s daughter. Moroha grew up on her own, doesn’t know her parents. Kaede doesn’t mention them to Moroha, doesn’t even spare a passing thought about them for the audience’s benefit, Moroha doesn’t ask. Kagome’s family in the present day meet Moroha, recognize her as Kagome’s daughter and... say nothing??? Souta shows Towa Kagome and Inuyasha’s old photos, but doesn’t say a word to Moroha?! Like. It makes no sense. By people not even acknowledging their existence, it makes the fact that they are nowhere to be found even weirder. Also the new gen girls don’t care about their parents or finding out who they were/are... like, okay, it would maybe be in character for one or two of them, but all three don’t give a fuck??? 2. Kirinmaru/the rainbow pearls: Idk how familiar you are with the story, but similar deal with Naraku and the shards here. Kirinmaru is being set up as the villain, still a mysterious figure; our new gen trio is supposed to collect the rainbow pearls that... some of his henchmen have? Or he is after them? Or is that Riku? Unclear. ANYWAY the new gen girls often forget all about the pearls’ existence :D 3. Setsuna’s memories: Setsuna’s dreams have been stolen by the dream butterfly and they need to get them back, because without her dreams she has no memories and is unable to sleep. Cool! Finally a solid, easy-to-follow plot line! Except wait! Towa, who supposedly made it her goal to get Setsuna’s sleep back, forgets all about it! All the time! Like, none of them make an effort to look into this other than being like “oh yeah, know anything about the dream butterfly?” to random folks every now and then. The Inugang back in the day was putting some grad school level research towards their goals, just saying. It just feels like everything’s all wishy-washy and there’s nothing really solid tying the series together. People just remember shit exists when it’s convenient.

.

Character development is MIA. I’m not expecting ground-breaking char dev in 13 episodes (though I do know 12 episode series that were phenomenal in that regard), but like... I do expect the series to focus on building the dynamics between the main three characters. So far, the series is more focused on teasing the audience with glimpses and promises of the OG cast instead. The creators are using nostalgia and bait (esp of a certain pairing) to drive interest in the series, rather than developing the new characters as fully-fledged characters for their own sakes. 

.

Moroha is was the only thing I actually liked about the series. She is a little spitfire and you can somehow instantly see both Inuyasha and Kagome in her, while she also remains very uniquely herself; I have never seen such a successfully developed main pairing child in any series. She featured quite prominently in the first few episodes -- and unlike both her parents, she’s got a great memory and knowledge of lore -- where she balanced funny moments with badass fighting moments and being the token supernatural encyclopedia. It was great! And then... they’ve like... forgotten her. She’s been left behind so many times by the twins. She’s the butt of every joke. She’s become the type of comic relief that’s, well, insulting. More like a buffoon than anything else. And it’s basically all for the sake of giving the floor to Towa :/

.

Setsuna is okay. Not offensive, but unremarkable. She’s got her dad’s personality but like way toned down due to her different growing up circumstances, which is nice, but like... I feel she isn’t given any room to grow or breathe or anything. She’s also basically there as a device to enhance Towa’s development.

.

Towa... oy. I tried to like her, I really did, but she just doesn’t work for me. They set her up having a very Kurosaki Ichigo type deal with beating up bullies and getting into trouble at school and shit -- I’m fine with that. That’s cool. Esp if it’s linked to not feeling like she fits in bc she’s a hanyou? Awesome. Except once she travels back in time to the feudal era it’s all “Oh killing is bad you shouldn’t kill people” and “even though they attacked me I can’t possibly hurt them” and “you need to empathize and talk things out” and “friendship is magic” and shit. It feels like she had a personality transplant, it literally makes no sense. Her design is totally nonsensical too -- out of everyone at her school, she’s the only one dressed in a bright white suit? Do protags not wear the school uniform? Someone should tell Kagome lmao. She’s a pro at hand to hand, and she can absorb demons’ powers and fling them back at them like a personified Tessaiga, and she has a lightsaber sword, and she’s immune to miasma, and -- like... you get it. It’s too much. It’s way too OP for the type of universe that Inuyasha/Yashahime is set in. She’s hanyou for fuck’s sake; remember all the training Inuyasha had to go through? When he couldn’t lift his sword? When his sword attacked him? Sango, Miroku, Kagome, even Sesshomaru all had trouble with their weapons and had to work to become stronger. But Towa? Nope. Towa is straight out of the Yas Queen/Girl Boss manual, so she gets a free pass on everything.

.

UGH they are doing the VLD/bad writing thing where things happen (like, BIG THINGS) and none of the characters actually react to them. Or stuff happens and there are no consequences. No one ever talks about anything. It’s wild.

.

Everyone has amnesia!! :D People either don’t know or don’t remember anything or anyone. People who absolutely should know things all of a sudden magically don’t know them. Like, Kohaku -- traveled with an undead priestess, spent years in the company of demons, traveled with Sesshomaru... and yet had NO CLUE that Setsuna is Sesshomaru’s daughter or that she is hanyou, despite her living and working with his team of demon slayers all this time. Like... how, man. How. And Kaede! Don’t get me started. Since when does she perpetuate random demon-boogeyman type stories as facts? Demon children will kill each other in the nest so that only the strongest one will survive, therefore Setsuna must have killed Towa when they were infants. O_O What are they, sharks? Has she been hanging out with Kisame? Wtf?? And she’s speaking about Sess’s kids as though she doesn’t know him or anything about him, when she has had Rin under her roof all these years. It just makes. no. sense.

.

Things that happened in the original series are happening again now! Because that’s the best we’ve got, recycled plot elements wooo! No, but really, characters that died or things that were resolved in Inuyasha keep coming back. Why? What was the purpose of bringing back Kinka and Ginka? To have a foil for Towa and Setsuna as twins? Someone please tell Sunrise they can just create new characters. Like, it’s one thing to have call backs to the original or cameos, references, whatever. But like... this is entire (dead) characters and interactions.

.

No one knows how long it’s been since the original series ended. Fans initially heard 20 years from promo material, then “over 15″ and “10 years since” in-series regarding two different events, and now in a future episode summary we’ve gotten 18 years since Hosenki II gave Inuyasha the black pearl. But like, which black pearl? Because the one in Inuyasha’s eye doesn’t exist anymore, but Hosenki II had told Inuyasha that it would take 100 years for him to produce one. So, are we retconning that or where the fuck did it come from? Also, this doesn’t help one bit, it just confuses things even more. Back to the point, though, we have no coherent timeline or real frame of reference whatsoever, and I’m betting it’s in large part to keep the mystery of who is Sesshomaru’s wife going, as it keeps Rin’s age very vague. Everything is vague and mysterious in Yashahime, to the point where no one knows what’s going on, in fandom or in-story even. It’s kinda like how too much plot twist/shock reveal ruins a story, too much mystery does the same. It’s insane that both shippers and antis of that ship can lay equal claim that the “18 years since” announcement works in their favor.

tl;dr: Idk man, Yashahime is a clusterfuck of a series. Even if the mother of Sess’s twins is either of the characters I ship him with, I will still not like the series. There’s no saving this writing. Every episode feels like this:

[squidproquoclarice]

What we expected of Arthur Morgan from the trailers: A cold, ruthless, violent, bloodthirsty killer. What we got: A good man buried underneath a thuggish facade and a deep self loathing. Seriously, when I saw the trailers I never expected Arthur to be who he is in the game.

AsJhdkjfhkasdfhjsdfhksdfhjadskf YEAH JUST ABOUT.Like–I cannot believe it.  Those of us who played RDR1 were all “And how are they going to follow this great and poignantly tragic story about Dad And Husband Of The Year John Marston trying to save his family, and having the sins of his past catch up with him in such a Godawful way?  Rockstar, seriously, having your protagonist die tragically rather than depicting violence as a triumph?  That’s bold.  But you say RDR2 is a prequel?  Man, everyone knows prequels are hard because we all know what’s going to happen, and this Arthur dude wasn’t mentioned in RDR1 at all, so–does he even matter?  Is he going to be the Jar Jar Binks?  Please don’t make him be the Jar Jar.”Then we started seeing the trailers.  And those are action packed and a definite feint, because we get some of Arthur Morgan’s most overtly stone cold-but-dickish moments (several from the debt collection, including what I think is one of his most performatively dickish lines, the notorious “Maybe when your mother’s finished mourning your father, I’ll keep her in black on your behalf.”)  Overall, the trailers are almost a celebration of easily wielded violence, as so many video games are.  Threatening language, gunfights, etc.  And so much of the promo material seemed to supported that.  Arthur’s Dutch’s strong right arm, one of the most senior men in the gang, his most trusted enforcer.  So we all went “Oh shit, this guy’s kind of a coldhearted SOB, can we have John Marston back please.”  Not to mention that playing the gang during the last of its “glory days” didn’t seem like it would play all that well because it’s going to glorify the outlaw life, right?  (And hey, look, it’s another middle aged white dude protagonist who kills people with ease but can’t express himself except through anger and violence, yay.)  Not to mention the numerous delays seemed troubling.Look, I’ll be straight up.  Of the two major games coming out around then, I actually expected to like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey rather more than RDR2, particularly since Ubisoft was giving us our first opportunity there for a full-length major game female protagonist rather than a brief feature (Aya), insisting on giving her half the game at best (Evie) or burying that in a minor DLC (Angelique).  I still sighed a bit that they wouldn’t fully lean into a female protagonist as the default option because dude, didn’t Lara Croft and Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn prove that a female protag can very much carry an A-level game?  And don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed AC: O, because it’s gorgeous, and tells a fun story, and Kassandra’s a great character.  But shit, it didn’t emotionally gut me the way RDR2 did, and that wasn’t only because of Arthur by any means.  So many beautifully written characters throughout the game.

And RDR2 is a slow starter as a game.  The detailed controls are really fucking frustrating to learn, and the char maintenance/cores are A Lot.  The story pace is slow, and Arthur’s a slow burn as a character too.  We see mostly the “snarky ruthless hardass” facade in Chapter 1 and a lot of Chapter 2, and it’s only when we read the journal, and start to see more of him in different situations, that the layers start to become apparent, and we start to see flickers of the awkwardness, the self-doubt, the natural desire to be kind that he lets slip.  By Chapter 6, seriously, what a Glow Up, and it’s something I would never have expected from that the man we first met on the way to Adler Ranch, let alone the man we thought we were expecting from the trailers.So yeah, did we misjudge.  We should have remembered what Rockstar did with RDR1 in deconstructing the glorification of the Western outlaw narrative, and seen those trailers for the deliberate feint that they were.  We should had some GoDdaMN fAiTH.

[zhaoly]

x

HMMMM i'm not sure how i feel about da2 i've finished act 1 and a tiny bit of act 2 i have a lot of mixed feelings and i know im like 10+ YEARS too late but whatever

first of all.... where are the companion interactions?! huh??? why don't we get to talk to our buds? you get sooo few dialogue options with them i'm kinda shocked i feel like you had so many in comparison in dao and that was a huge draw of the game

and the maps are so... repetitive and boring? they're recycled copies of each other and it's just dull and not an exciting environment to be in. especially considering you can only go to the various layers of kirkwall and just a couple of areas in the wilderness. i have to say that i'm really disappointed by the environment variety and (lack of) design

the lack of armor customization for companions is very weird. i don't mind it that much because it makes it easier to manage party members and this way i can actually swap more easily between each companion since i dont have to keep up with gearing all of them. so that aspect im mostly fine with but it's also kind of weird

also i didnt realize this until i did seb's personal quest (at least the one where you go to harriman estate) but the side stories aren't that compelling or interesting to me? i guess this is also a bit unfair considering dao was about darkspawn and the blight and da2 is about mages vs templars and is also less about the MC having to be a hero

but when i did seb's quest it hit me like whoa, this actually has that "dao vibe" that i havent been getting from other da2 quests. like dark and sort of mysterious and ominous. the stories in da2 are very straightforward with what's going on which is fine i guess but they dont leave you with a sense of curiosity or desire to find out more about what's going on because they just put everything out there.

like in dao, every single major story had some mysteries that you had to uncover yourself. what's going on w redcliffe + connor + eamon, where tf is branka and what is she going + what is the anvil for, what the hell is going on in haven with the cultists, wtf is happening in the chaos at the circle tower, what's the real story behind the werewolves and the dalish. so many things!!!

... whereas da2 so far has kinda just been life as a mercenary. yep. go do this task. let's raise some gold to go on this deep roads expedition. cool we have a manor now! and i KNOW that's basically like... the point, that you're not some hero or anything, you're just trying to make a life after leaving lothering and you just get caught up in this mages vs templars thing. but god all the mystery and joy of discovery really isn't there. even the final part in the deep roads was disappointingly short and uneventful?

i dont hate the game so far even though i probably sound like i do but i'm starting to understand why da2 is generally viewed less favorably out of all of the games in the series. and it makes me appreciate more just how damn good dao was in terms of story.

i do think the personality thing is actually pretty cool and that you get certain options based on your personality and that hawke will respond to certain situations differently based on her personality. now that's neato.

i do think the mages vs templar story is actually decently interesting because it actually is a choice that i've been torn between in all three games. i think the fact that i struggle with the decisions is good. it's a more interesting conflict than, say, skyrim's nords vs imperials thing.

it's all subjective but ig i just way prefer the story of dao as well as the want it's presented. i would absolutely kill for dao to have a voiced protagonist because i actually love having a voiced protag even though apparently a lot of people don't. i think it actually gives the char life instead of just being a mute MC the entire time. anyway i need to go to bed

[syncogon]

Some Chinese Cartoons

[Disclaimer: this was addressed to one specific person. I’ll make a better post one day.]

One day I’ll add pics and make this actually formal and stuff. But for now...

我为歌狂/Music Up:

Summary: Two musically talented, insanely popular high school guys - but that’s about all they have in common. In fact, they hate each other’s guts. And yet, through complicated circumstances, they and two others join to form a four-man band, “OPEN.” Both individually and as a band, they face a variety of problems: financial, academic, familial, romantic, and everything in between, in order to pursue their dreams. (52 eps)

Commentary: This is set in modern(ish) day, real world. Made in 2001, so keep that mind when considering the animation quality. They do have a lot of good songs, since this IS a show about singers and pop bands. Overall the tone is pretty light. Some things are a lot more dramatic than they need to be but that’s fantastic. And a lot of the problems are highly relatable. Development of characters and relationships is def one of the selling points. HUGELY nostalgic for me and a lot of Chinese people it seems haha

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLkMLYnt73g the second opening.

战龙四驱/Go For Speed:

Summary: Two years ago, the genius high schooler Fei won the minicar (4WD) racing Nationals. But only shortly afterward, he disappeared, with only a short note hinting at why. Now, his younger brother Dragon follows in his footsteps, designing and creating his own minicars to compete in the tournaments and steadily working his way up through the rankings. Along the way, he meets many people, makes friends and enemies, and struggles to find Fei and his reason for leaving. (64 eps)

Commentary: Modern/slightly future-day, real world (Shanghai!!). Okay so this show is based around like the gimmick of “minicar racing” - not sure what to really call it. The races are surprisingly fun to watch actually imo, with the technological abilities of the minicars, interactions between players, and obstacles to pass... but you’d probably have to decide that for yourself. For me, the biggest draw was probably the surprising number of subplots, which explore the complex relationships between all the characters - literally every single side character is well established and developed. Family and familial relationships play a pretty big role. Revenge and forgiveness are there too. I got hooked into this show when it was airing on TV solely because of one character haha. Caveat that it starts slow, I don’t know how much you’d actually like this, there needs to be some suspension of disbelief, and the animation quality isn’t fantastic… rip

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0tHRbyaek&index=30&list=PLQukwpGC9a0wfDv0ymEgGX-LydTKbZY_s (a trailer, in english for some reason even though i’ve never found an english dubbed version of this and don’t want to. It mostly focuses on the racing aspect, but as before, don’t let that fool you, it’s surprisingly deep. Come for the races, stay for the chars)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQukwpGC9a0zqrmIGCXOW1QVlfh6svY7y since when was this on youtube?? :o WAIT HOLY SHIT SINCE WHEN DOES THIS HAVE ENGLISH SUBS THIS IS A GAME CHANGER AAAAA NOW LIKE I MIGHT GO REWATCH THIS - just kidding, only the first episode. Man what a letdown

弹珠传说/Danzhu Legend:

Summary: This is a world where people have Danzhu battles: competitions involving channeling your magic energy into Shooters to launch marble-like Danzhu at targets. These objects have great power, but, so far, no one has decided to take advantage of it… until now. One day, a young boy who has always dreamed of becoming a Danzhu battler is chosen by one of the five Legendary Shooters. He journeys into the mountains to seek training from the Danzhu Master, where he meets the other four Legendary wielders and learns that their job is to stop the evil threatening to take over their world. (52 eps)

Commentary: Fantasy world. So this is like your pretty standard “boy discovers power and works to save the world” story, but still enjoyable in its own right. The gimmick of this are the aforementioned Danzhu. The Guardians are also very important; all Shooters are linked to a spiritual animal/creature/something that’s the basis of power. The battles are all very cool! Quick disclaimer: for various reasons I am more familiar with this show than maybe any other of the ones here. This fact made me appreciate how much potential this story had, but also made me realize all of its flaws. There are a lot of things it could have done better - character development jumps to mind, because aside from the MC and one of the antagonists, most of them don’t change all that much. Also there’s lots of recycled animation. Just keep these caveats in mind. However, I still found the adventure/plot/magic very exciting to watch, a healthy dose of idealism and humor as well as tension/smarts/raw courage, so if you’re interested in that aspect more, I’d recommend this!

Links: ALL THE EPISODES ARE ON YOUTUBE ONCE MORE PRAISE this is very helpful for me because when i needed them to be on youtube, someone had like taken all of them down, which was very upsetting, but now they are back again, glorious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvQUvsPwKA0&list=PLZKi4aAqJS8dbVOUrKnDqNU4F4rnm8Ott playlist isn’t in order but you should watch the opening theme to get a feel for it - if you want even more of a feel, watch to 4:50, which is kinda like a prologue and a better summary of what I said above lol

开心宝贝/Happy Heroes:

Summary: Just read what’s on tvtropes tbh haha (link below) (Ongoing, 10 seasons, 52 eps each (except season 8 which was 40 eps) )

Commentary: Imo the best seasons were 3, 5, 6, and 8. After 8 the animation style changed a bit and the humor quality kinda went down…well, that might just be me, though. Either way, though, there are so many amazing earlier episodes, and I’ve gotten really attached to all the characters. It being a kids show, there’s no super deep plot or lasting impact of anything (aside from the last arc of season 7, heh. I remember watching when it came out in 2014 and flipping out bc I did NOT expect that, knowing HH) but it’s still thoroughly enjoyable. There are also two movies: the second movie is kinda confusing and meh but the first movie is pretty good and I think you can find it on youtube. In fact I believe all the episodes are on youtube, but I imagine you have those links already

Links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKA3CuHXUxHflv9KAgEJyKQ is the channel with everything. Watch the trailer for season 8! It’s v epic and got me hyped when it released.

Tvtropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Animation/HappyHeroes

Movie 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUiA3nue22Y. (there are english subs too! haha)

Movie 2 isn’t worth watching trust me

星游记/Rainbow Sea:

Summary: Years ago, a man dressed in all red made a declaration to the universe: behind the largest black hole was a mysterious place called Rainbow Sea, a place where any dream could be fulfilled. Enchanted by the stories, people from across the universe joined the man in red in his journey. Unfortunately, no one ever returned. Rainbow Sea was scoffed at as a myth and a lie. The man in red was cursed, nicknamed by people as the Red Demon. The sinister organization known as the Galactic Eyes quietly gained control of the Solar System and numerous other star systems, sealing off the planet where the Red Demon had come from, Earth, and forbidding any ships from entering or leaving. Now, ten years later, the Red Demon's son Maidang has reached adolescence and is determined to fulfill the pinky promise made to his father before he left: to reunite with him at Rainbow Sea.

Commentary: Quality stuff right here. Best part is the backstories of all these characters, there’s some really moving stuff. The characters are p great - Maidang is so inspiring, Gudong is highly relatable, Diya is awesome... The art style (esp for their eyes) is really nice. ...Not much else to say off the top of my head, esp since the story is far from over, but even if it starts off slow, this is definitely worth your time!

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiB_oZBdi7k&list=PLF068DA90359EDE0D all the episodes. The opening theme/sequence was what got me hooked, you should def watch it (up to like 1:20 or whatever, then if you want like a prologue watch to like 3:07)

26 eps so far. Season 2 and after are apparently going to be “web movies” instead of episodes, something like 60 minutes each, and will cost money (rip) but I’m sure they’ll show up for free somewhere eventually. Fingers crossed this’ll be soon. Wanna join me in hiatus hell :DD

神魄/Zinba:

Summary: Kan is happily chatting with his closest friend on an ordinary school day when, all of a sudden, he finds himself pulled into an alternate fantasy world. This world is filled with Zinba, large and powerful creatures that may form bonds with select humans, called Linkers, for immense battle power. After becoming a Linker with one of the strongest Zinba ever to exist, Kan joins the peacekeeping Dux force of the kingdom of Toria and fights against the various evils threatening the land, all while trying to find his way back to his own world. (52 eps)

Commentary: Okay, so you know, I wouldn’t recommend this as much as some of the others on this list, esp since it’s the most recent Chinese show I actually watched, but it made enough of an impact on me to have it worth talking about. I started watching bc a) it showed up as recommended for me on youtube, b) the opening is SICK as HECK, and c) the protag of this is voiced by the same person as the protag of DZL, and generally looks/acts kinda similar haha. Anyway, overall thoughts: basically, it had a lot of unrealized potential. The world and the character designs are AMAZING. I liked the animation. The plot is interesting, with a surprising number of plot twists as to who’s the real ultimate villain. But there could have been So Much More development – we could’ve gotten more thorough backstories for the main crew, for example, or seen more of the world/magic/tech, but instead a lot of the people as well as Zinba just… exist, as static and boring entities. There were like two interesting characters total (Kan’s aforementioned “normal” friend being one of them heh). Kan himself was suuuuper annoying, esp at the beginning. (can you tell I really appreciate/prioritize the characters of a show?) However, some moments were quite well done and epic, and I wrote some fanfiction and commentary on basically every episode, so it holds a place in my heart. Also, there is a full English dub lmaooo (the voices suck but the translations for names/places/etc are interesting) (episode 1 has 318k views??? That’s a TON for a chinese cartoon)

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G83STZ9xcc the opening which is good and worth watching, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQukwpGC9a0xatMI-KGO9SILZ5sSWfWXX full playlist, syncogon.tumblr.com/tagged/zinba lol

[cviperfan]

E3 2017: Microsoft Conference

-we get it microsoft you wanna fuck the Hank Scorpio -at this moment i have never wanted a console to bomb harder than the Scorpio lmao -it's got a pretty good design tho -"...but all we had was Halo 1" -"there's no power greater than x" omg that's kind of adorable haha -Xbox One X -.....X.B.O.X. -....cute -wow y'all really got hyped for that huh -OH MY GOD THESE PEOPLE ACTUALLY GETTING HYPED FOR SPECS CALM THE FUCK DOWN LMAO -*explains processor specs in detail* "...." *it's really fast.* "YEA" -christ okay these people HAVE to be like 50 percent plants calm down Forza Motorsport 7 -that driver lady looks fuckin cool -oh my god are they gonna OH MY FUCKING GOD THEY DID IT AGAIN ANOTHER FUCKING CAR ON STAGE AssCreed Origins -Awful name you should be ashamed -...it does look cool but i don't trust it -new protag is nice! -also is this Fake Ass Ubisoft Canned Chat but applied to a single player game???? -Like it sounds like they got the VA to do some lines that probably don't happen in game unless this is like a super early mission or smthng Metro Exodus -OOOH A NEW METRO GAME -so now the outside world is okay and the tunnels are fucked?  Interesting lore-wise -gotta say while it going more (apparently?) open-world is cool at the same time.....the tunnel-heavy focus was pretty unique and with that downplayed now it's just Fallout? idk -probably still gonna check it out Player Unknown's Battlegrounds -hey nice a console release! -but it sounds like it's XboneX exclusive so fuck it State of Decay 2 -ehh another zombie game The Darwin Project -....?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! -WHAT -thanks for not saying anything about it actually Minecraft Update -????? they're setting up crossplay across consoles? That's pretty cool actually -including community mods across all systems -Like I don't fuck with Minecraft but that's pretty impressive stuff -rounded edges? -so dynamic lighting and stuff? that's cool -"and then its creator became a creepy hermit asshole" -an appropriately tepid response to 'preorder now!' Dragonball FighterZ -A Dragonballz game? huh that's not something i would have expected to be at the Microsoft presser of all things -It's Arksys???? Okay i might have to fuck with this -omg....is goku's japanese voice that bizarrely high???? omg Black Desert -DARK SOULSMAN? -....OH IS THIS BLACK DESERT FINALLY???? -nice The Last Night -Looks nice aesthetically!  Too bad the creators a GG fuckboy The Artful Escape -Annapurna??? the film production company? -ooh interesting a real papercraft art direction -Is this the No Man's Sky for Music are we finally getting a Cool Games Inc. production?????? Code:Vein -Yea I hope this is good i can dig Anime!Souls Sea of Thieves -cool we got a launch date this time? -oooh nice underwater stuff :o -hauling stuff underwater sounds like a Bad Time -"everyones discoveries will be different" doubt.jpg -ZOMBIE SHARK FROM THE SHITTY NEW PIRATES MOVIE!?!?!? -Like.... god i really hope this game is good -OH MY GOD cannonballing people that's pretty fuckin good lmao -that lantern looks....bad? like it's barely lighting up anything Tacoma -wtf is this a console launch exclusive what part of that art direction benefits from 4K TERAFLOP SUPER JESUS FIDELITY Super Lucky's Tale -Awwwwwwwww :D -I'm all for a cute mascot platformer tbh!  Looks like a Conker throwback in the non-Bad Fur Day sense Cuphead -WOW ARE U FINALLY GONNA GIVE IT A HARD RELEASE DATE?????? -God this game looks so fucking lovely -SEPTEMBER 29 Crackdown 3 -TERRY FUCKIN CREWS -LIKE I WANTED CRACKDOWN 3 BEFORE BUT NOW ITS JUST CONFIRMED

-FUCKIN -LADY -AGENTS -FUCKING -FINALLY

-Also fully expecting this to go to 'lol whoops now its a XboneX exclusive! :D' ID@Xbox Sizzle Reel -Unruly Heroes looks nice -Fables Fortune WOW HOW SAD THIS IS ALL THATS LEFT OF FABLE LMAO -Brawlout nice! -Ooblets looks cute -Hello Neighbor and Shift! nice Ashen -Annapurna again have they been doing this a while and I just never saw it? -ooh some sorta dungeon crawler?  It looks cool I can dig it -interesting that the chars have no faces haha Life is Strange: Before The Storm -Echoing shortazn97 here 100 percent everything nice in LiS is here (art direction, music, character design) and I wanna see what Rachel's like but god after the ending of LiS I don't trust it Middle-Earth: Shadow of War -Like.... the first game was p good and the Nemesis system was cool and some of these expansions to the idea are really cool! -But it looks like there's a huge emphasis on strategy elements and I don't fuck with that -"Hold B to dominate Bruz" ;) -I'm curious if this big expanded cutscene is reflective of everyone you can collect or if he's story-specific Ori and the Will of the Wisps -Is this tied to Ori and the Blind Forest somehow? -Sad Owl Adventures :( -OH IT IS OK -"games should be celebrated just like books and movies" FINALLY SOMETHING I AGREE WITH -YEA WOO ALL 2 GOOD XBOX ORIGINAL GAMES WILL BE COMPATIBLE -Hey nice Crimson Skies tho -4K updates for Forza/Gears 4/Halo Wars 2 and a few others -More from 3rd parties -well maybe after the XboneX has a price drop lmao -I love people CHEERING for the price point thats exactly the same as it was when the first Xbone launched Anthem (throw all your hands up) -TALLNECKS?!?!?! -is this first person???? -....okay i refuse to believe this is real someone in a bioware game ACTUALLY DID GOOD MOCAP -OH GOD THAT ENTRANCE LOOKS SO FUCKIN TINY FOR THAT POWER ARMOR LMAO -hmm this looks way more like an action game than a usual Bioware RPG but again genre-blending makes it hard to say -U know what this reminds me a little of Xenoblade Chronicles X -mannnn that Iron Man suit looks so cool i don't believe it's taht good out the box -That sounds like Fake-Ass Ubisoft Canned Chat -Okay this is straight up an Action-Shooter with RPG elements AND FUCKING LOOT BOO -Not a bad thing overall but honestly unexpected for Bioware -I can't believe Halo was at E3 after all :o

[arcelian]

Tales of the Abyss Hogwarts Houses

Here's something I've been working on for... almost two years apparently??  Some friends and I started an Abyss Harry Potter AU a while back, and sortinghatchats was brought up, and I ended up trying to sort all the main characters using their system.  So here it finally is!

Obvious disclaimer: while I've had feedback from said friends while making this it's still ultimately subjective; I've written explanations for all the main chars (protags and villains) but if you disagree with any of these that's okay! (and you should tell me because I will be interested!!)  There's also some bonus major npcs at the end that I didn't write explanations for bc they're.... bonus....

Also disclaimer: this uses sortinghatchats' two-house sorting system, so if you've never heard of it before you might want to look at this post first so you don't get confused by my references to primaries and secondaries and other stuff!

Full thing under the cut bc Long.

Heroes

Luke: Hufflepuff/Gryffindor

Luke is definitely Hufflepuff primary, even before his character development; he was so isolated that he didn’t really have much understanding of or attachment to anyone outside of the manor, but even then he was quick to empathize with others.  Even pre-development he shows concern for others’ wellbeing, shown most explicitly with Ion and with his reluctance to kill.  Most of his role models as a child are very discriminatory, so he tends towards that at first, but by the endgame he’s trying to save everyone, up to and including his enemies who are actively trying to kill him.

For secondary, he’s the most ridiculously stubborn Gryffindor I’ve ever seen, to the point that the rest of the party yelling at him about how he’s making incredibly stupid, impulsive decisions is a fairly regular occurrence, even post-development.  He almost has to be physically dragged out of Sheridan during the disaster, he chases Spinoza halfway across the world to prove a point to Asch, etc.

Tear: Gryffindor/Gryffindor

Tear is the sort of person who prioritizes justice and morality above anything else.  She is kind and apologetic to Luke when they first meet, then treats him coldly when she starts seeing him as rude and selfish, then is the first person to support his efforts to become a better person.  She’s also willing to turn against anyone, even her own family or the Order of Lorelei itself, if she feels their actions are unjust, and will do whatever it takes to correct that injustice.  She is capable of performing Slytherin when necessary, but she feels most at home in Gryffindor.

Guy: Slytherin/Hufflepuff (models/adopts Hufflepuff primary & Slytherin secondary)

Guy’s a bit hard to get a handle on at first, but if you look close he’s actually Slytherin primary; he’s just very warm and friendly in his regular interactions.  However, there’s really only a few people he’s very attached to; before and during the beginning of the game, that includes his family, but that expands to include Luke, and the rest of the core party to a lesser extent.  He also adopts Luke’s Hufflepuff mindset as a moral code for the part of the world he’s not emotionally invested in, which is what causes the confusion.

He is Hufflepuff secondary though, perfectly happy to spend years on his revenge plan, or sit in Aramis Spring for hours, or devote himself to helping Luke grow.  He can model Slytherin as a secondary as well, but in the end his more favoured tactic is calm, stubborn persistence.

Natalia: Gryffindor/Gryffindor (models Hufflepuff primary)

Natalia has Hufflepuff leanings as well, but ultimately she’s actually Gryffindor.  She values her people, yes, but that’s because she believes that it’s her duty as a princess, so she models Hufflepuff.  However, in the end, she puts that duty above all else, as she does when she chooses to fight Largo for the sake of her people, for example.  She does slip towards burning for a short time during the heritage plot, but manages to pull herself back up.  By the time of the peace conference, she’s returned to doing what Gryff/Gryffs do best: seeing injustice and marching straight in to right it.

Jade: Slytherin/Ravenclaw (models Ravenclaw primary)

Jade is almost always the smartest person in the room, and he takes pleasure in knowing that (and lording it over everyone else).  He’s also incredibly logical and methodical, trying to study a situation from every angle before deciding on a course of action - he just happens to have enough experience to do this incredibly quickly.  Overall Jade is a good example of a hypercompetent Ravenclaw secondary - his ability to draw on an extensive knowledge base is what makes him such an effective threat.

Despite that, when push comes to shove he really wants to protect his people over all else, and when he’s sufficiently stressed he begins to fall back on this instinct, which is why he’s a Slytherin primary with a Ravenclaw model, and not a Ravenclaw ignoring his gut feelings to do what’s logical to him.  For example, his pre-Rem conversation: “I would ask you to die, yes. If I were an Emperor, with a country to consider.  But as your friend, I feel compelled to stop you.”  Jade’s desire to follow his Ravenclaw-model idea of what is correct is ultimately secondary to his Slytherin instinct to protect his own.

This is also shown during his backstory: Nebilim was part of his inner circle, and her death and Jade’s failure at properly replicating her causes him to begin to Petrify.  His Ravenclaw model was built primarily as a way of coping with this loss and preventing it from happening again.

Interestingly enough, by the end of the game Jade’s added Luke to his inner circle, to the point of adopting some of Luke’s Hufflepuff primary tendencies, shown with his plans to resume his fomicry studies for the sake of the remaining replicas.

Anise: Slytherin/Slytherin

Anise is incredibly Slytherin!  Her major motivation is protecting Ion and her parents, and she will do anything to further that goal, including lying, spying, and sucking up to every rich person she meets.  Most of Anise’s struggles during the game are a result of her guilt over being forced to act against her inner circle (her parents, Ion, and eventually the rest of the party).  This comes to a head during her traitor subplot, when she’s forced to choose between her parents and Ion, shows off her Slytherin secondary with her plan to save both, and is heartbroken when her attempts ultimately fail.

Asch: Burned Slytherin/Gryffindor

Asch started off as a Slytherin primary, with his family, Natalia, and Van among his inner circle, but was Burned after the kidnapping incident and stopped trusting anyone.  During the events of the game, the group, especially Natalia, started to pull him out of the burned state, but he wasn’t able to do so entirely before the endgame.

On the other hand, Asch is, like Luke, a Gryffindor secondary.  He’s stubborn and hardheaded, refusing to follow any path but his own, especially when Luke is involved.  He’s also surprisingly blunt and honest, choosing to explain things to Luke at the beginning of the second act despite his personal feelings towards him.  Unfortunately, the combination of this secondary and his burnt Primary lead him to ignore the party’s suggestions and offers to help, which ultimately lead to his downfall.

Villains

Van: Burned Gryffindor/Hufflepuff

Van is a good example of a villainous Gryffindor.  When he was young he was likely an idealist, believing in the Score, or at least his family’s duty as descendants of Yulia - but when Hod was destroyed, he lost his faith in those duties and Burned his primary.  He chose to destroy the Score that betrayed him, and by extension the world that allowed it to exist, and refuses to be swayed by any outside arguments because he is no longer capable of seeing any other solution.  And he chooses to sacrifice anything that could get in the way of his goal, even his sister or the lord he was sworn to protect.

To reach that goal, Van spends years working his way up to the position of Commandant in the Order, charming and manipulating everyone around him, and just generally being a very effective Hufflepuff secondary.  Van’s most dangerous attribute is his relentlessness, with his ability to gain people’s trust as a close second.  Using it, he manages to draw the God-Generals and Mohs to his side, and several others including Luke only oppose him once they’re far enough from him to break free from his influence.

Interestingly enough, Van’s sorting is an inversion of Luke’s, with his Gryff/Puff opposing Luke’s Puff/Gryff.

Legretta: Burned Slytherin/Ravenclaw

Legretta is another Burned Slytherin primary, with her brother’s death and her confrontation with Van as the catalyst for her primary burning.  By the time the game happens she’s stopped being able to trust her heart, because she’s no longer sure whether her feelings are actually hers or if they’re being caused by the Score.  In the meantime, she’s adopted a rather Ravenclaw-like mindset in order to cope with her loss of trust: her reason for destroying the Score is to find out whether or not it’s manipulating her feelings.  The Score is the greatest threat to both her and her loved ones, and until she can confirm that she’s safe from it she refuses to let herself care about anyone.

She is, however, a true Ravenclaw in her secondary, with her gambit to follow Van to restore her primary showing that off best.  She is careful and methodical, following the plan to the best of her abilities, thorough in everything she does.  This even shows in the flashback to her assassination attempt, as she apparently did enough research beforehand into the Closed Score and Van’s actions to know that her brother’s death was foretold there.

Dist: Slytherin/Gryffindor

As a Slytherin primary, Dist is an extreme example of the ‘selfish ambition’ Slytherin stereotype.  His ultimate goal is to win back Jade’s approval, to make Jade happy; it’s the driving force behind all his actions.  Unfortunately for him, he fundamentally misunderstands who Jade is and what he wants, which is why he’s so unsuccessful in reaching that goal, but that is his goal regardless.

Dist also tries to emulate Jade’s Ravenclaw secondary, playing the part of the scheming mad scientist, but unfortunately for him he’s actually a Gryffindor secondary.  During most of his interactions with the party, he ends up resorting to stubborn tenaciousness to try and get what he wants.  He brags and taunts, throws robots around liberally, and absolutely refuses to consider any other options, no matter how many times Jade brushes him off.

Largo: Burned Gryffindor/Gryffindor

Like Natalia, Largo is both Gryffindor primary and secondary, but unlike her, his primary is Burned, caused by the loss of his wife and child.  He could no longer believe the Score was just, and he couldn’t trust his king to do what he believes is right.  Largo doesn’t follow Van because he believes Van’s plan is any better than the Score, though; it’s because he can no longer see a path that’s truly ‘right,’ so he latched onto Van’s convictions in an attempt to find stability.  He became the muscle of Van’s faction, preferring to use brute force and implacability over his allies’ less straightforward methods.

However, Largo still holds onto the shreds of his Gryffindor ideals.  He may not know for himself what is right, but he still places value on the idea of justice, and respects anyone who can wholeheartedly believe in something, even if he can’t agree with it.  It’s what convinced him to side with Van, but it also shows in his conversations around his final battle, as he praises Luke, Natalia, and the rest of the party for standing up for their own beliefs.

Sync: Burned Slytherin/Slytherin

Sync is a Burned Slytherin at its most extreme, caring for nothing and nobody, including himself.  Van comes the closest to being part of Sync’s circle, but in the end Sync follows him more because of their shared goal than out of any significant emotional attachment.  Sync’s Slytherin primary is also what makes it easy for him to follow Van’s plans - he has no loyalty or attachment to the world in general, and thus feels no guilt over destroying it.

Sync’s secondary is also Slytherin, as his preferred method is manipulating and toying with others instead of meeting them straight on.  He uses the curse slot he put on Guy to attack the party several times, sneaks onto the Tartarus during the planet core mission to wreak havoc, and after Ion’s death he uses their similar appearance to mess with Anise.

Arietta: Hufflepuff/Gryffindor

Arrietta as a Hufflepuff primary sounds odd at first, but that’s because her Puff loyalty is very different from the stereotype.  Like most Puffs, she cares about people - but Arietta’s definition of ‘people’ is almost exclusively her monster family and friends.  With a few exceptions, she doesn’t seem to see humans as worthy of her time or respect; it’s arguable that she doesn’t even perceive herself as ‘human,’ identifying with her monsters more.  Ion, of course, is the rare human exception, with the other God-Generals counting only through Van’s connection with Ion.  However, the rest of humanity is beneath her notice, and she treats the party with active malice.  They killed her family, after all - to Arietta it’s the humans that are the real monsters.

She also shows a Gryffindor-secondary tendency to run into things headfirst, trusting her gut to do what seems right in the moment instead of doing any complicated planning.  Arrietta fights the party mainly because of her grudge over her liger mother’s death, with Van’s plans being secondary.  She also gives the party information on a whim when Ion is threatened, and just as impulsively challenges Anise to a duel after Ion’s death.

Mohs: Hufflepuff/Slytherin

Mohs is the type of Hufflepuff that prioritizes loyalty to a community or group over loyalty to the people in it.  For him, his priority is the Order of Lorelei, and all its religious ideals and traditions - he is the only major faction leader who is unable to let go of the Score when everyone else chooses to abandon it, and he resorts to increasingly desperate measures to cling to his duty.  The Score is an intrinsic part of his identity, and he just can’t cope with the knowledge that it might not be the perfect promise he believed it was.  He spends the second half of the game trying desperately not to Burn, because if the Score is destroyed, his entire identity will go with it.

Meanwhile, his tendency to use whatever means possible - even if it’s underhanded or deceitful - to ensure the Score is carried out proves his Slytherin secondary.  Even beyond his following the Order’s rules of controlling information access for the Score’s sake, he manipulates King Ingobert to try and get rid of Luke, and even goes as far as allying with the God-Generals when he thinks it’ll help him succeed.

Other

Ion - Hufflepuff/Slytherin

Mieu - Slytherin/Hufflepuff

Peony - Hufflepuff/Slytherin

Ingobert - Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw

Duke Fabre - Gryffindor/Hufflepuff

Ginji & Noelle - Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw

Nephry - Gryffindor/Hufflepuff

Cecille - Slytherin/Hufflepuff

Frings - Gryffindor/Gryffindor

(also shoutout to jeredu lyra slip rei for Making Hogwarts AU and thus This Post Happen)