#fun fact: I had a heck of a time formatting this

[kinopio-writes]

Hi! Would you be willing to write something for Adam with a sensitive reader?

Everyone knows that he is loud-mouthed jerk, even reader, and she loves him regardless, but one day he crosses the line and says something particularly mean that makes her cry. Like REAL mean. To the point that he pauses because he did not think before speaking (or, well, less than usual lol)

I'm happy with whatever format you feel like using! Thank you!

A/N: I will be more than delighted to write that for you. But would you excuse me for a moment? AHHHHHHDISJDIOEOFJSKXJND—I’m sorry; I love this idea so much. Reading ‘Adam with a sensitive reader’ got me hooked instantly. But I’ll go over that in the headcanons, along with the general stuff. And I’ll add a oneshot at the end that plays the exact scenario of Adam taking it too far.

Holy sh!t. I made it so that the reader being sensitive is their greatest but also weakest point and it turned out pretty angsty. Has a bit of hurt/comfort, though. Did I go overboard? Maybe. That’s why it took so long. Sorry, anon.

Words: 2,328 (edited)

Warnings: Sex is mentioned (only a bit, surprisingly), Angst, Adam being Adam

———

Adam w/ a Sensitive!Reader

• ha, this man is also sensitive himself

• well, sensitive about himself

• he feels his own emotions strongly, so he’s not the caring, easily able to pick up on other’s feelings and empathize type of sensitive

• you, on the other hand, are on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Adam

• so you experience other people’s emotions just as strongly as yours

• you easily know what makes someone tick

• you’re selfless

• you’re able to admit your mistakes and apologize

• you’re respectful and actively listen to people when they talk about themselves

• you don’t push people down to make yourself seem better

• you try to make everyone feel good and comfortable

• you’re everything he isn’t

• because you fit in Heaven perfectly

• you deserve to be there

• and Adam knows that he doesn’t belong (subconsciously at least)

• you’re able to draw people in just for being yourself

• and he’s envious of it

• so he demeans you and is snarky about everything you do, and every time people give you praise or affection, he tries to divert the attention to himself or just stares at you with utter hatred from afar

• although all of that is just when he hasn’t even had a conversation with you

• after a while of being around you, he’ll cling to you because you give him the reassurance and validation he oh-so craves (he acts as if he didn’t hate you before. What do you mean? You two were always buddy-buddy!)

• you acknowledge all of the things he puts his worth to

• heck, you hang out with him—you sometimes even initiate it—willingly, and you’re genuinely interested in everything he has to say

• but he‘ll only hang out with you where no one recognizes you (so you don’t get all the attention)

• terrible transition here, but he notices that you mimic people’s expressions often

• he definitely makes fun of you for it

• and also mocks you

• up until he realizes that you do the same thing to him, too

• which is fine and all, if only you didn’t do that when he’s upset

• well, you mimic him when he’s joyous as well, but he (already subconsciously) expects you to. I mean, why wouldn’t you? He’s fucking hilarious!

• so you copying his negative emotions just stands out more

• and he…doesn’t like it

• that’s only really what he doesn’t like about you

• and the fact that you hog all the attention

• and the fact that people see you as perfect…

• buuut what happens when he gets to see a new side of you that isn’t exactly upholding that image?

———

Your phone lit up from your bedside table, brightening your otherwise dark room along with the soft glow of your halo. You only moved your eyes to the light, not wanting your tears to spill and dampen your pillows.

You had an inkling as to who was texting you this late—if the fact that your phone lighting up several times in the span of 5 minutes had anything to say.

When the texts stopped pouring in after a few seconds, you heavily sighed, wings ruffling. You resisted the urge to rub your face as you went to grab your phone.

HEY (2:34) HEY (2:34) HEY (2:34) ARE YOU UP? (2:35) I’M BORED (2:35) GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE (2:36) IF YOU’RE UP (2:37) ARE YOU? (2:38) DID I TELL YOU THAT BITCH WITH THE HUGE TITS GOT FIRED TODAY? (2:39)

Figured. Of course, it was Adam. He was the only person you knew who’d be awake at this ungodly hour. And the only person you knew who’d disturb your peace if it meant curing anything that ailed him. Which was now about boredom, it seemed.

You read a few of his texts displayed on your lock screen before tapping one of the notifications and opening the app, scanning the rest of the unread messages.

Adam was going on about ‘that bitch with the huge tits’—her name was Tiffany, you were sure—and how she was rumored to have slept with an archangel to assume higher authority. He also went on to complain about how he didn’t have the chance to bed her anymore since she was basically deemed an outcast and that he couldn’t be seen with someone like her.

You frowned, not believing any of it, but you didn’t have time to think about it enough when he began typing again.

SO YOU’RE AWAKE (2:43)

You barely finished reading the new message when another one popped up.

DON’T IGNORE ME BITCH (2:43)

You frowned deeper, quick to type out a reply.

i’m not (2:43) i was just reading your texts (2:43) don’t worry (2:43) i’ll be there soon (2:44)

When he stopped typing, you placed your phone back on the nightstand, sitting up on your bed as you carefully wiped away your teary eyes. You hugged yourself for a moment, wings functioning as a cocoon while a hand tugged on your hair.

Today had been draining—both mentally and emotionally. Just like the day before, and the day before that. But you didn’t want to think about it, lest you start to cry some more and smear your face with tears this time. What mattered was that everyone was back on their feet again.

Since you didn’t bother changing into your sleepwear when you got home, you only checked your face in the mirror to see if your eyes were puffy or not. You then took in deep breaths, holding up your drooping wings before putting up a charming smile.

You couldn’t stay in the bathroom for long, quickly leaving to tread the path to Adam’s.

•••

“BOO!” Adam’s masked face suddenly peeked from the corner of his hallway, earning an indescribable scream from you as you jerked back. He burst out laughing, brows creased in confusion but also amusement. He couldn’t even make fun of you for getting scared. “What the—what the fuck was that scream?”

Recovering rather quickly as you blinked, you only smiled at him. You were expecting him to wait for you on his couch as his front door was left unlocked, but you weren’t complaining; his action took away any drowsiness you just had.

When Adam didn’t hear you laugh with him, his laughter subsided as he opened his eyes to look at your face. He raised his brows and placed the back of his hands on his hips. “What’s up with you?”

Shit. There was no way Adam was seeing through you.

“Nothing; I just love hearing you laugh.” You heard a tiny squeak in response. “Anyway, what did you make me come over for? Surely not just to scare me.” You moved past Adam and tightly crossed your arms, entering his spacious living room.

“Pshh, fuck no. You’re so easy to spook. Though that was a first. Didn’t know you could hit high notes, (Name).”

You didn’t know what to say to his…compliment? And sort of insult? Was it really either of them? Should you thank him? But in a sarcastic way? No, you weren’t known for being sarcastic, so he might think you were being genuine and look at you weirdly. And it would also seem highly egotistical.

Not as if Adam had much to say about that…

You tugged at your hair when you caught yourself with those thoughts. Shit, that’s so rude! You can’t think that! You shouldn’t think that!

You settled on an awkward chuckle, making yourself appear smaller as you averted your eyes to his TV space.

It was different, certainly. The modular couch pieces were rearranged into a pit sectional. And it looked as though he had chucked a bunch of pillows and one large blanket as an afterthought. It appeared messy, but at least it looked cozy.

“What’s this?”

“Hm? Oh, well, since you were taking your sweet ass time coming here, I thought to switch things up a bit.” You flinched when his head appeared right on your shoulder. “What’d ya think?”

“It looks super comfy.” Adam wore a goofy grin behind you as you walked closer to the area and noticed that he already prepared snacks on the low table. “Is this a way to say you wanna do a movie marathon?”

“You know it, baby.” He flew past you and landed on the sofa, patting the space beside him with a smile you just couldn’t reject.

•••

Heaven’s natural light beginning to peek through the open windows indicated that it was already dawn. Thank goodness you didn’t have work today.

You two—or rather, Adam—had settled on watching the film series, Die Hard. Every single one. You didn’t mind, but you didn’t understand why Adam invited you over if you two were just going to rewatch the film series for the eighth time.

He had also been pretty immersed in the large screen in front of him, so he hadn’t attempted to converse with you ever since the first movie started. In all honesty, he could have just watched them all by himself.

But you didn’t question it. This time was the same as the last seven, after all. You always concluded that maybe he just wanted someone to watch movies with, no talking necessary. Even if the no-talking part sounded a bit out of character.

Was it though? Because he did that quite often. For instance, he constantly brought you along to whatever mundane errands he had to do during the weekdays and never really talked with you unless he found something cool and pointed it out.

Although, the earlier times you tagged along with him on his errands, he kept yapping his mouth off about the ‘totally awesome’ things he does. He talked about music, his own albums, his band, women, sex, and himself as the first-ever man.

As time went on, however, the talking was replaced with silence. You wondered if he just ran out of things to say or if he found it unnecessary to talk anymore.

You also sometimes wondered what was going through his head when he thought you didn’t see him glancing at you while he was doing something he believed was boring.

The sound of Adam’s stomach rumbling broke you out of your train of thought.

You both looked at each other blankly as if either of you were to blame.

He blinked to break the eye contact between you. “(Name), I’m hungry.”

You snorted, facing ahead. “You ate all of our snacks before the first movie even finished.”

“Don’t blame me.” He hugged the pillow he held tighter. “I’m still fuckin’ hungry, though.”

You hummed as you reached for your pocket. “Do you want me to—oh. I…I forgot my phone.” You frowned. You never forget to bring your belongings.

Adam merely stared at you, unblinking.

You averted your eyes and held your legs tighter. “Uhm, We could get delivery if you want. Can you lend me your phone?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” He casually tossed you the device before laying on his back and looking up at you. “I’m down for anything.”

His phone hit your knee before you could catch it, silently landing on the cushions. “Are you sure?” You picked it up, opened his unlocked phone, and stared at his basic home screen.

He didn’t really use his phone that often to know that it could be changed. He only really used it to fetch one-night stands or occasional dates, text, play music aloud, look at outdated memes, take random blurry photos, and right now, order delivery.

“Totally.” His crow’s feet displayed on his mask as he puffed out his cheeks.

“Because last time you said that, you didn’t like what I had to pick.”

“That’s because the 5 ʼn 2 is so fucking overrated!” he suddenly started to complain. Your wings ruffled. “Jeez, I swear, every fuckin’ time I take a chick out and ask her what her favorite eatery is, basic bitches always go, ‘Oh, bREaD & fIsH, ceRTAinLy’ or ‘bReAD & FiSh’S a cLAsSIC’” He used his hand as a puppet to imitate their words before waving it. “Like, helloooo? Can’t you see the joint that’s literally on the other side of the street’s a hundred times superior? It’s cheaper, too, unlike Bread & Fish. Overpriced ass. You get me, right—?”

“Then you pick!” Adam jumped at your volume, and your eyes widened upon noticing yourself. You quickly gave back his phone as you turned your face away from him, and he slowly took it with a weird look.

“Shit, chill, (Name). The fuck’s up your ass?” He kept his gaze on you before turning to his phone.

While he was serious about his opinions of your bland tastes, he didn’t think it was that personal. Your preferences were the same as everyone else and that was boring. He was just being honest. And you usually didn’t take the things he said that seriously.

“Adam, I’m sorry,” you spoke up after a moment of silence and ran a hand through your hair. “I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“ʼs not a problem.” He was still a bit weirded out, but he was willing to shrug it off.

You insisted, however, “I mean it. I’m not mad at you.”

“Okay…?” he muttered when he saw a notification pop up from Lute. Her message consisted of how some of the exterminators got into a quarrel during roll call and the ones involved got injured in the process. She said she was going to discipline them.

Adam did not want to know what she meant by that and was most likely not going to stop by their place today.

“Really. I’m not. Sorry. It’s just that yesterday’s been…”

“Uh-huh…” At this point, Adam was not listening to anything you were saying. But when he still heard the static noise that was your words, he groaned. “Look, sweetie, I really don’t give a fuckin’ shit about your fuckin’ apology, ʼkay? I don’t fuckin’ care. Now what do you want?”

You saw Adam’s confused yet concerned expression after he looked up from his phone and immediately noticed that you were starting to cry. You instantly turned your face away as you carefully wiped your eyes.

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m not crying because of you.” You didn’t know if that was true. You didn’t know if you were crying because of his words or were crying because of everything else.

That was the first time he ever used a sweet petname for you in a long time. He only ever used that to demean or mock other people.

Shit. Stop thinking—you were going to cry more. But even after carefully wiping your eyes away, new tears kept flowing. You couldn’t stop. This was humiliating. You wanted to disappear. You didn’t want anyone to witness you in this state. It was mortifying.

“Shit.” Adam’s voice came out panicky as he held his hands out towards you, but he hesitated. Hesitated in what, he didn’t even know.

He…didn’t think you could cry.

Adam didn’t know what to do; this emotional shit wasn’t his thing. He couldn’t ask you to leave, he knew that much, but he didn’t want to leave himself. This was his place. Why should he leave?

So, he did the only thing he could do in this situation.

You suddenly felt something warm envelop you.

You didn’t look up, but you knew it was Adam. You could feel the texture of his robe on your hands and the side of your face. You could feel his hands on your shoulder blade, but you couldn’t quite feel his arms on you.

You stopped wiping your eyes for a moment.

No one had ever hugged you before when you were sad.

No one had ever let you be sad.

Adam heard you sob.

Fucking great. He made it worse. What the fuck was he supposed to do then?

But when he went to unwrap his arms, he felt yours slip around his midsection, pulling him closer than before as he grunted from your firm hold.

So you wanted to be hugged? Alright. Whatever.

Adam slowly hugged you back after you muttered a ‘sorry’ and loosened your grip.

The next seconds were silent, so when he heard muffled words coming from you, he looked down. You also looked up moments later when he didn’t respond, realizing he must’ve not heard you.

Your gaze softened as you two held eye contact, and with teary eyes, you smiled. “Thank you, Adam.”

Something about his expression changed, but before you could stare any longer, you felt a hand behind your head push you back to his chest as the arm on your back held you tight.

“Yeah, whatever…”

[the-way-astray]

im sure youre bored with asks about your rant, sorry. but i can't wait to see you tear into unlocked, HIS POV

he sucks so much and the fact that people read his thoughts and still like and love him is crazyy to me

i'm not bored at all, anon! i like it when people talk to me about my rant.

i actually started my unlocked novella rant! fun fact: that's actually the reason i posted only the first eight books separately. i was originally going to wait and post the entire thing after unraveled's release, and i got through the first eight books at a reasonable pace, so i started the unlocked novella thinking i'd get through it even faster because it's only sixteen chapters, right? but no. i was so wrong. it was just so. much. too much. like i'm not kidding when i say i had something to say about keefe like every paragraph of that novella. it was overwhelming as shit and slowing me way down because i couldn't even get through a page of his pov without writing down like a page of rant material.

eventually i stopped because i decided i needed to lay some ground rules about what not to include to make sure that i wasn't just saying effectively the same thing over and over again and running it into the ground. but then, i was also like, but isn't the point of this format of rant to include all of keefe's worst moments and aren't i taking away from that by cutting stuff out, even if it's repetitive? and i didn't know how to resolve that, so my solution was just. do it later. and then i put it down and never got back to it. so that's how much stuff i have to say about keefe in unlocked, lmfao.

he does suck indeed (in my opinion)! it's insane to me, too. i can honestly say i have no clue how people manage to still like him, but then again, he is a fictional character, not a real person, and sometimes likable qualities or a well-written character arc aren't as important to people as relatability, and i'm sure there are many people that relate to him or his trauma.

anyway because you seem eager, have a few excerpts from my unlocked novella rant. just for you, anon:

“[ . . . ] Keefe could feel Fitz’s sour guilt swirling through the air.” (555) Not only was Fitz actively trying to help Keefe feel better, but he also felt bad about reading Keefe’s mind to do it. Keefe had no good intentions with his comment about Sophie and Fitz’s breakup (he literally just did it to rile Fitz up), and didn’t even feel sorry about it afterward. So why do I never see people talking about that, whereas Fitz is questioned for his actions here?

“‘[ . . . ] because you end up making the damage permanent.’ ‘I’m not damaged—’ ‘You’re right. That was the wrong word.’” (556) What the heck??? This always pisses me off so much every time I read it. Keefe purposefully twists Fitz’s words to make it seem like he said something he wasn’t. He made it seem as if Fitz was launching a personal attack on him for his new abilities, where Fitz was simply stating that Keefe would end up with permanent physical damage if he didn’t take his medicine and rest. Just for reference, Sophie said the exact same thing to Keefe in Nightfall and he didn’t immediately accuse her of personally attacking him. So there are some double standards there. But then. Fitz actually coddles Keefe and says that he was right, and claims that he used the “wrong word”. Wow. I- The way everyone in this series just bends to Keefe’s will however little or much sense it makes infuriates me. What the heck, Keefe. Grow a fucking spine. It’s just a word. Why does he have to complain and whine about everything all the time???

“[ . . . ] until Fitz had to go and prove that he was the worst best friend in the history of best friends by asking, ‘Okay, but . . . what about the mimicking?’” (560) He’s the worst best friend because he brought all the information to the table? Wow. And no, Fitz isn’t the worst best friend ever. Keefe is. He takes pleasure in seeing Fitz angry and sad. I can’t imagine a more subtly degrading and manipulative friend to have than Keefe.

“[ . . . ] Fitz told her—because he was begging for a face-punch. And if the world hasn’t gotten so spinny, Keefe might’ve given it to him [ . . . ]” (561) Fun fact, Keefe had an entire moral dilemma in Flashback over the fact that he feels like violence comes easier to him than most other elves. Sophie had to spend an entire forced consolation scene basically lathering him up because he has no fucking spine. So here’s an inconsistency with Keefe’s character right here. He should’ve felt really freaked out by this thought right here because it’s an example of his “violent tendencies” coming out. But he doesn’t. He moves past it like it’s nothing. More proof that Keefe never actually worried about that and Shannon just needed something for Sophie to comfort Keefe over. It never actually amounts to anything of actual value with regards to his arc or story. 

“‘Uh, for the record, most of the emotions are coming from you, Fitzy. You wouldn’t happen to have some unresolved feelings for anyone in this room, would you?’” (561) Keefe continues to purposefully try to provoke Fitz and hurt him for no other reason than that he enjoys seeing his best friend in pain. Why can’t he keep his nose out of other people’s business? Why does he have to be so cruel? Why is Fitz still best friends with this pond scum? All he does is annoy, embarrass, and act cruel toward his supposed “friends”. Why do people like this guy??? He is so toxic, so subtly degrading, so deceptively manipulative, it blows my mind. Does he have something against treating people nicely or something?

“If Fitz’s grumpy resentment had been the only emotion churning around the room, Keefe would’ve let him stand there and stew in it—maybe even made another joke to amp it up. But Foster’s feelings were such a brutal mix of hurt, heartache, and humiliation that he had to mumble, 'Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just meant—’” (562) What an upstanding guy. What an awesome best friend. When I purposefully say something cruel to make my best friend feel bad, he can take it. But when my crush feels bad? However will she like me if I’m mean to her? It’s just another example of Keefe’s tendency to be cruel for no reason, as well as his obsession with Sophie. He knew he made Fitz feel bad, but he actually considered making it worse. Wow. And “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded” is just a straight-up lie. He meant it to be cruel, and that’s what it came out as. So in case you think Sophie and Keefe’s relationship is built on any sort of trust or mutual comfort, think again. He just tried to gaslight her. Again.

[novantinuum]

heya! :D I'm so happy I found your blog, I just did a su rewatch this summer and I'm obsessed again! I was wondering if you had some fic recs to share? especially any and all that deal with steven's trauma (whether that be corruption aftermath, his abandonment issues, any of the traumatic experiences he had), anything really, just some nice and thorough hurt/comfort and healing <3 definitely up to any other recs you might have, even if they're about something completely different haha. thank you in advance!!

Ooooh heck yeah I can rec some of my favs! Admittedly, these days I haven't been reading that much new fic, so I'm not sure what new stuff is out there that's gone unnoticed, but I went through my bookmarks and found a few fics that still stand out to me today as ones I remember really vibing with when I read them-

First off, some fics that I remember delving into Steven's trauma (along other things)-

Aid to Navigation, by Ppleater (or @infriga here on tumblr)

Honest to god, this is my favorite Steven Universe fic on the whole goddamn internet. Post I Am My Monster hurt/comfort content galore. Emotional catharsis out the wazoo. Fascinating theorization about how Steven works as a hybrid. Sometimes there's even chapter artwork. ALSO NANEFUA AS AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER, WHICH I RARELY SEE LET'S GO NANEFUA

a world for the birds, by @fanfoolishness

Do you like Uncle Andy? Do you vibe with the idea of bird watching? Do you wanna read about Andy's outsider observations of the trajectory of his nephew's bizarre life as he shares his hobby of bird watching with Steven as a bonding activity over the years moving into the events of Steven Universe: Future??

Go read this fic, it destroys me. In fact, just do yourself a favor and check out this author's whole catalogue, because my next fic rec is from her, too.

Comminuted, by @fanfoolishness

Post Growing Pains hurt/comfort focused on Steven and his dad's relationship. I remember this one dropping pretty damn soon after the episode aired and it w r e c k e d my emotions and gave me all the catharsis my sappy little heart desired at the time.

WELCOME BACK TO THE VLOG, steven universe here! by waddlesthejoghog (or @thisisnotacreativeusername here on tumblr)

Here's a story with a COMPLETELY different format than all the others- this one chronicles Steven's life through a variety of videos he posts to his TubeTube channel over the years. (Which, if you watch the SU shorts, is a canonical fun fact about him! He posts unboxing videos and reactions and stuff online, ahah.)

Each chapter sorta like, "transcribes" what's happening in the video, and there's even a little views/likes/dislikes/subscriber count + mock comments section at the end of every one! I found it a very charming and fun read- but also it punched me in the face by the end because it's like a whole microcosm of Steven's character development throughout the entire show mashed into one 59 chapter story.

This one is not wholly focused on Steven's trauma, as it spans the events of the entire show, but that does play a decently big role later on in the fic.

__

As a quick little self-plug, I've also written a good deal of fics focused on various shades of Steven's traumatic experiences, and the following is (probably) my favorite of those:

A Memoir of the Marks Unseen (uhh... by me lol)

This one is focused on the topic of Steven + the headcanon of him having corruption scars like the other healed Gems, and picks up pretty soon after I Am My Monster. It spans months (and later Years) after that, detailing his journey towards accepting these remnants as a neutral part of him. I'm still very proud of finishing it, as I was pulling from some raw personal experience with this one.

__

Lastly, here's two Connie focused fics I remember slapping ass in their own various ways:

Xenopology, by CompletelyDifferent

Some Connie + all the Gems character study pieces!

The Stranger in Me, by Cyberwraith9

Connie accidentally gets perma-bonded with a poofed gemstone retrieved from a corrupted Gem. Hijinks ensue. I remember this one having a legendary level of character development for Connie and her whole family especially ;w;

[lajosbringa]

Ivan's life story

So, me, the creator of the Sea Knight, Ivan Berilov, came up with this short story that tells his tale. Enjoy:

The Story of My Life

Welcome, readers! I got your messages that I should write my whole life story down for you to enjoy, and as I say, what’s a writer without his audience, so let’s get into it! First of all, to all new readers who found me through this story, my name is Ivan Berilov, your fellow knight, whose biggest contribution to knight society (along with my actions later), are his stories, which knights enjoy all around this world and Gallantia. But now, let the show begin! 

I was born 21 years ago, in the bedroom of my mother. I was instantly put into my own cradle, and that’s where my first memory came from. I felt something paper-like under me. I looked down, and it was a ton of paper money. My parents were quite humorous with that move. But a little about them. They were (and still are) insanely rich spice traders, with a whole fleet of ships, some even armed to the teeth, and a whole estate with a huge mansion, gardens with extremely rare fruits and flowers, and a whole wellness area in the basement. I loved life there, until it suddenly felt boring. My parents weren’t really workaholics, they mostly automated every process through a chain of clerks and even a whole printing house built into the main office, but still, they had to work 8 hours a day, and when that time came, there was no fun to be had for little me, as with most of the maids and servants being old and trusted workers of the household, but they didn’t have the nerves to endure a child breathing down on them. When I was 6, one day, my parents came to me.

-Ivan, we had an idea on how to make you less bored-my father said.

-We’re going to send you to school-my mother chimed in.

-School? I can read and write and count, what is school for? And as long as I know from one of the maids, school is a children’s prison where the teachers are paid to torture kids-I argued.

-School is what you make it to be-my father assured me.

-You will have fun there, take my word for it. So, Ivan, will you be a good boy and go to school?-my mother asked.

-I will, mom and dad, I will-I hugged them both.

I think most of you expect the rich sheltered kid that I was to go to a fancy boarding school, but heck no, I was sent into the public school in the city where I was living. Little fact about the city: most of it was working for my parents, and well, they could cause a lot of economic downturn if they wanted to. But that wasn’t really important for me, as I stepped into the school for the first time on that sunny September day. I met my new classmates, and as some weeks passed, the cliques appeared. The girls, the boys who are good at football, and those who weren’t. And you could understand what happens when this kind of formation makes up a class. The boys declared war on each other after the first P.E class, but it seemed that no one dared to even talk to me. I was dumbfounded back then about the situation, and decided to stay out of it. Until one fateful November day, the 6 jocks who conspired against the 3 nerds decided to use the good and proven method for them to show their dominance: beat them up. The girls just watched as the jocks closed down on the nerds who were running for their lives in the hall, and one even pulled out a bag of candy, and sat down to enjoy the spectacle. I just came out of the toilet when I saw the nerds running into the room, closing the door. And as the jocks got there, they suddenly ran away at my sight.

-You scared them away? Who are you, our savior?-a boy looked out the door.

-Ivan Berilov, your classmate, if you didn’t notice it-I said, a bit disappointed in him.

-Oh, sorry. My name is Peter Wilinsky. But how did you manage to drive them off?-he asked.

-I don’t know. Maybe I’m too scary-I said.

-Or they are just children of your workers. Like most of the school. And I think they were told to not even touch you, like my dad told me not to do it-Peter told me.

-Wait, you’re the son of Joshua Wilinsky? The one who survived Scylla? He taught me how to play chess when I was brought into the office-I said.

-Yeah, I am. But you won’t fire my dad because I talked to you?-Peter asked innocently.

-Do I look like some kind of monster? I won’t fire your dad. I can’t even do it!-I became a bit angry.

-Oh, I didn’t mean to anger you with that!-Peter said.

-Nothing. Now, if they fear me, maybe they’ll fear me enough to make amends with you-I lead the nerds out of the bathroom.

Upon arriving back to the class, the jocks were on their knees.

-We are deeply sorry for what we did! We didn’t know they were under your protection!-their leader pleaded.

-Fine, this will be forgiven. But let’s make up and live in peace-I said.

-Yes, we will! Peace?-the leader reached out for Peter’s hand.

-Peace-Peter shook on it.

-Okay, now everyone can stop licking Ivan’s butt, there is a math class to be held here!-our teacher walked in.

From that day on, no conflict rose up in our class. We had some rivalries with other classes, but those always ended in overwhelming victories, like the football championship of the school, where we even beat the 8th graders as 1st graders 4-1. My presence was basically enough to be used as an instant victory card, and this even applied to the teachers. They were the strictest, but best teachers in the curriculum, as the ones in higher classes told us, but they always went soft on us. Those 8 years were the most fun I ever had. I developed into a fine young man, the perfect heir to the mountains of money and possessions that my parents built. Everything seemed perfect. Until the last class field trip. As the last time this class was together, we went on a ship tour of the nearby sea. But when we arrived at the port, my eyes wouldn’t believe what they were seeing.

-Are we going with this cockleboat? Really?-I looked the principal dead in the eye, who was with us.

-This is no cockleboat, it has been serving our school for 70 years-the principal’s voice was stern.

-Do we really have to go with this piece of crap? It would only cost me a word to get one of our luxury ships from the fleet. There is one right there!-I pointed at the ship right next to the thing that could be hardly called a ship.

-I think your parents wouldn’t be happy if you just used their prized ship to tour your classmates. And don’t worry, it won’t sink-the principal held his ground.

-Fine…-I growled, and got on the ship.

We went out of the port, and started the tour. There were 21 of us on the ship. The teacher, Peter’s dad, who manages these tours, and everyone except Peter, who sadly got sick. I missed him, as he became one of my only true friends. But as we were sailing the high seas, a crack was heard from under the ship.

-We got a leak, everyone! To the lifeboat! Women and children first!-Captain Wilinsky shouted.

-We should’ve got life jackets…-the teacher fumed.

We were put into the lifeboat, but the captain didn’t come in. 

-Why aren’t you coming?-I asked as he started lowering the lifeboat.

-That boat is only for 20 people. And I shall sink with this ship-Captain Wilinsky answered.

But at that moment, I jumped out of the boat, onto the deck, and pushed the captain in. The lifeboat landed with a splash, and a wave instantly pushed it away.

-Warn the principal that my parents are gonna sue the shit out of the school!-shouted towards the lifeboat as it got further away.

I found the first-aid kit which had sleeping pills. I took a dose which was enough to put me to sleep as I sank into the ocean with the ship. But why did I let myself die this young? I don’t know to this day. Maybe I wanted to prove a point, or I wanted to save Peter from losing his dad, I’ll never know. It was an impulse decision. But back to the story. I woke up on the seafloor. My first thought was: How the fuck am I alive? Then, I felt something in my hand. When I lifted it, I saw it was armored. I looked down to my legs and torso. Armored too. And I have a tail grown out of my asshole. I looked at the book which I felt in my hand. It had two waves on it. I opened it, and started reading it. It was about something called knighthood, and people who sacrifice themselves for others can earn this second chance. It also explained that I am now a supernatural being, and I should have a Mortal Wound, where I could pull out my weapon. But I drowned! So, I started grabbing myself, and on my neck, where I felt openings, I grabbed into something metallic. And I pulled a whole trident out of my neck. I tried putting it back, and it worked. I read that I should serve humanity with this power, and I have a human form where I should hide my Mortal Wound. I felt really confused. Am I some kind of ancient hero, or did someone save me and I am in a coma? Suddenly, a whale approached me.

-Oh, I didn’t see around before. What is your name, fishman?-the whale said.

I really thought I was in a coma.

-My name is Ivan, and I am something that is called a “knight”-I said.

-A knight? You are one of those shiny, armored immortal folks? But you look different…-the whale looked me through and through.

-You know about them?-I asked.

-All of the sea knows about them. We helped them one too many times not to know about them. So, when did you become one?-the whale asked.

-Just now. I drowned because I was left on a sinking ship-I answered.

-Well, Ivan. Good to meet you. My name is whale noises. So, do you want to stay with us sea creatures in the sea? A long time ago, the knights protected us, but they all went to help the humans-the whale said.

-You know what? I’ll protect this place. So, what would be my job?-I asked.

-You can start with defeating that anglerfish demon that’s charging right towards us-the whale said, calmly.

I pulled out my trident, but it came with a shield this time. I charged at the demon, and it seems this whole knight thing was kind of powerful, as I impaled the demon just by swimming towards him. It evaporated like hot water, but a helmet was left there. I stuffed it into my neck, and it worked. 

-Congratulations! Now, let’s tackle another problem. The fishermen… They need to go-the whale said.

-No can do. This book said that I am not allowed to harm humans-I said.

-You can try to persuade them to leave. I don’t want to lose any more of my comrades-the whale said.

-Fine, fine, I’ll look into it-I said.

-Excellent! Now, I have to go. Bye!-the whale swam away.

I was left there to my thoughts. I decided on going back to my hometown to check up on everything. I jumped out of the water, and transformed back into myself, with the same sailor clothes I drowned in. I put a cape on my head to hide my face, and went into the city center. I saw that the doors were open to the public court, and the people were trying to get in. I wanted to check it out, so, I wriggled through the folk to the first row. And in the room, there were my parents, against the school.

-What is happening here?-I asked the person next to me.

-The Berilov kid died at sea, and now, his parents are obliterating the school. But be quiet now. The verdict is going to be announced-the person answered.

-I shall declare that the school has to take all responsibility for the accident, and the principal will be fired, with compensation paid to the deceased’s parents!-the judge smashed down the gravel.

The court erupted in cheer as the verdict was reached, but I left the room. Now, I couldn’t return as Ivan. My parents’ and my name would be scrutinized if I were to be alive. So, I jumped back into the sea, and searched for a new home. I found a suitable cave near the beach of my former home. A few days later, after I was introduced to all the residents of the sea, and was declared “protector and ruler of this sea”, I spotted a ship which belonged to Eresen Fishing and Transporting, a rival company to my parents’, and notorious for breaking fishing regulations. So, I swam up to them.

-Hey there, people. Can you please stop fishing here?-I jumped onto the deck, where guns were instantly pointed at me.

-Who do you think you are, that you can tell us what to do, fishman?-a fat man, presumably the captain, laughed.

-Well, if you didn’t go while I was asking, let the weapons speak for themselves-I pulled out my equipment.

Some of the crew shat themselves as I was doing it.

-Attack!-the captain shouted.

Bullets started flying towards me, but they were like pebbles to an iron wall. I started to attack, but they always dodged by an inch or two. In the sea, I am an unbeatable fighter, but on dry surfaces… As I was trying my best to use my still inhuman speed to catch them, something boiled in me with the increasing amount of anger. And when I had enough, I suddenly lost control of myself. Anger took over, and made me much faster, and much stronger, and it even transformed me. My tail got a stinger on the end, my armor glowed, and my hands had claws now, along with my mouth being filled with fangs. And then, the carnage started.

-I said that I won’t be arsing around here. So, one last chance, captain. Will you go?-I spoke.

-No, you monster!-the captain shouted.

-Who are you calling a monster? Cancer should eat your heart out!-I said.

(Little stop here for those who don’t understand, this is a swear from my old language.)

-What did you say?-the captain’s eyes gleamed with anger.

-Well, maybe, what I said should hurt less than what I am going to do-I answered.

The captain was in the water at the next moment. In pieces. Suddenly, my urges told me to reach for the water. I did it. And the water bent to my will, enveloping and pulling down the ship, and drowning the rest of the goons. In the next moment, I calmed down, and I was back in my standard form. What happened to me? I became a force of nature, an unstoppable beast that kills for fun, and nothing human can stop him, an Apex Predator. So, I naturally decided to continue my duty as the guardian, and destroyed more and more ships which wanted to fish here. Only some were spared. Those little barges, where the men fished for their survival. I looted a lot of money from those ships which I destroyed, and decided to sneak the bags on with a letter signed by the Guardian of the Sea. None of them came back ever again. As the days went on, and fishing boats are less and less common, I felt some emptiness in my stomach. I don’t need to eat, but it seems that my stomach didn’t realize it. I asked the fish where to find food, and they showed me a field full of algae. I tried eating it, and it’s quite bland, but it does the job. But I couldn’t just be some sea cow who eats seagrass, I need real food, like meat. So, I hatched a plan. A rather cheeky one, to say the least. I flooded the docks of my hometown, and the mayor instantly evacuated most of the town. And I could just walk in there, take all the good food, and get out, with the sea following me on the way back. But back to the flow of the story. One day, after another fisherman's ship was destroyed by my hands, I decided to take a trip back on shore to check on humanity. Upon arriving at the now rebuilt docks, I spotted a poster about the prohibition of fishing and other activities that would hurt the sea, not to anger its guardian. But as I was reading it, I was knocked out by something. When I woke up, I was strapped to a chair, with five knights surrounding me.

-Where am I?-I asked.

-In Gallantia-one of them said.

-That realm you teleport in and out of?-I asked.

-Yes, that’s it. But enough of your silly questions. You were taken here to be questioned-another one replied.

-About what?-I asked.

-About your crimes against humanity. 56 ships worth of crews, dead. How can you plead?-a third one asked.

-I am under oath to protect the creatures of the sea, and those massacres were necessary-I told them.

-And do you have any remorse for them?-a fourth one asked.

-They deserved what they got-I answered.

-Then, with these circumstances… You’re going to be locked up for 10 human lifetimes, or about 800 years!-the fifth spelled my fate. 

-What? You can’t do this to me!-I shouted as I was taken away. 

But while I was dragged through the lands of Gallantia, suddenly, a message appeared in all our handbooks: Scylla broke out of her cave, and all knights should search for her.

-Can you please stay here until we defeat her again?-the knight escorting me asked.

-Yes, I can-I said, and the knight teleported out.

I could stay there, but that didn’t mean that I would. And yes, I teleported back to my home sea, and started searching for Scylla. It didn’t take long until I met her at the opening of the sea.

-Well, well, well… What a sea creature. Where did you came from, cutie?-Scylla asked.

She was towering over me, as her head was just as big as my whole body. And we didn’t even talk about the six dog heads growing out of her thigh.

-I am a sea creature, yes, but secondly, I am a knight, and I hereby declare that I’ll put you back where you came from!-I put on my equipment.

-A knight… What pathetic creatures you are. And you really think you can defeat me? How laughable-Scylla initiated the fight.

It was a huge stalemate. I could easily dodge her attacks and even counterattack, but she always stopped me. The Apex Predator needs to come out. But I wasn’t angry enough. But when I remembered I had an 800 year prison sentence ahead of me, I transformed.

-You called upon some ancient power to help you? You are more of a loser than any knight I met-Scylla mocked me.

-We’ll see who laughs last, sea god fucker-I attacked.

(Graphic scene incoming!) 

One of the dog heads stopped me. But I sank my fangs into the head, and tore it off the snake-like body.

-What have you done?-Scylla cried out in pain.

-What you deserve, for all those sailors you ate. And maybe, I’ll tear off all the heads before I kill you, monster!-I looked her dead in the eye.

Scylla’s eyes were full of terror, as all her heads were torn off by me. And when I finished, I dug my claws into her neck, and pried it open, killing her. But when I looked at her remains and calmed down, it dawned on me: I am a monster in that form. The unstoppable force that is the Apex Predator form makes me as much of a monster that the captain or Scylla was. So, to honor her, I picked up all her heads and her body, and threw it into a volcano, while praying for her soul to be saved. Suddenly, a knight approached me.

-You killed Scylla?-she asked.

-I did. And maybe, I shouldn’t have-my voice was filled with remorse.

-Aren’t you Ivan Berilov, the one who slain all those fishermen?-the knight asked.

-I am. Now, bring me back into custody, and let me have my punishment-I gave her my hands.

-Why should I put a hero in prison? And even if you technically committed genocide, you had an understandable reason, and it seems you even regretted it-she said.

-It’s your duty to imprison rouge knights. You can’t just give me a royal pardon for my crimes-I countered.

-What if I can?-her voice was dripping with innocent teasing.

-Wait… You’re the queen!-my mouth dropped along with my head and torso.

-Yes, I am. I searched for Scylla, like all the others, and stumbled upon you giving her a proper cremation. You are one heck of a knight, Ivan. And you’re worthy of my pardon. But with two caveats-the queen laid out her offer.

-What are they?-I asked.

-First, if humans attack your domain, you should consult with me about the situation, and second, you have to write down the tale of your fight. You have a week’s time to send it to my handbook. I am interested-the queen gave me her hand.

-You have a deal, ma’am-I shook her hand.

It didn’t even take me a day to finish my epic. And when I wanted to go home, I had an unexpected visitor.

-I read it. It was amazing, more than worthy. Can you write more? Anything. Your adventures, or even some fiction… I can’t get enough!-the queen absolutely geeked out upon seeing me.

-But am I pardoned?-I asked.

-You’re not just pardoned. You’ll be given the title of the Sea Knight-the queen said.

-I’ll gladly take it. Do you have anything else to say?-I asked.

-Nothing! Have a nice day!-the queen teleported. 

So, that’s how my life went. Most of you know that the Scylla accident was years ago, so, what have I done since? I wrote a ton of stories, defeated a lot of sea demons, and found a new way to satisfy my meat craving. So, one day, I was swimming through the algae field, and I spotted an old ship. I swam into it, and found a ton of historical treasure. I decided not to deprive humanity of these wonders, I dropped them off at a valley near my home. Archeologists quickly found it, and left a package to the “mysterious donor”. When I opened it, it was full of food and other things. Seeing the profitability in this venture, I still look out for shipwrecks or underwater ruins to get some stuff to “trade” for food. But I always keep the best for myself, and when an important day for the family comes, I put some on shore at the beach of my former estate, my former home. So, life couldn't be more wonderful. I am right now writing a new story, about two girls fighting for the same crown, and the shenanigans that come with it, with the queen being a huge fan of the idea, so, stay tuned for that! Now, thanks for reading this, Ivan out!

[anarchic-miscellany]

Gundam SEED: A Dubbing Journey

More fun physical media tales! "Gundam SEED"

It's not the best Gundam series, but it's good fun and the first iteration of "Gundam" which I watched. Hence I have a sense of nostalgia for it, despite its flaws (looking at you 48 episode length...).

Anime is already a fairly niche field, despite the hilarious jokes and mainstream creep us filthy degenerates are making into modern society. The age old "debate" I guess, between those of us who have never seen the sun, seems to be between watching in the original language with subtitles, or watching it dubbed.

My personal thoughts go towards the dub. Aside from the fact that there are dozens and dozens of brilliant actors in this field who make the material fantastic and more accessible (Tara Platt, Yuri Lowenthal, Colleen Clinkenbeard, my homie Kirk Thornton, Steve Blum, Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee, Kari Wahlgren, Todd Haberkon, Joel McDonald, so, so, so, so many others) to simply ignore the dub through snobbery is to disregard the hours and hours of effort and work put in by hard working, under-appreciated actors across the field. Voice actors are my jam.

So, "Gundam SEED" came out in 2002/2003 but was dubbed by the Ocean Group with Bandai in 2004, released by Beez on DVD. It's a good dub: No "Baccano!" or "Cowboy Bebop" but then again, what is? There are some great actors in this (Andrew Drummond's brother Brian plays the best character: Andrew Waltfeld THE DESERT TIGER, Lisa Ann Beley is the ship's captain, Trevor Devall from "Cowboy Bebop" and "Team America" as Mu La Flaga, Samuel Vincent as one of the two leads and, for some god-damned reason Brad "Light Yagami" Swaile as one of the best characters) as well as some lesser known names in the industry but also great in their parts. Chantal Strand is a standout as Lacus Clyne.

The dub was an excellent work, and my first exposure to the series, it's great.

The series was released on DVD, but had a rather short run: the always excellent Beez released it in the ever delightful format of five episodes per disc and one disc per box, their usual M.O.

I am going somewhere with this, bear with me.

So far so good.

In 2014 the series was re-released in HD, fine. Excellent! More of Beez's back catalogue coming out again and to the forefront is always a good thing.

However.

The dub was redone.

The actors, for the most part, were completely replaced from the top down. Gone were Matt Hill and Samuel Vincent as Kira and Athrun, gone were Drummond and Swaile. Everybody has been changed, right down to the lesser known actors playing some major parts in the series.

And they are the people who I want to talk about.

Bill Switzer, Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley are not ever going to be household names, nor ever known truly amongst the clique-like cult who follow weaboo shit. But I am going to focus on these three people for a moment.

Respectively, in the Ocean Dub, they play Sai Argyle, Lt. Badgiruel and Captain Murrue Ramius, all fairly major characters in the series.

And they were replaced.

Bye, so long, farewell, hope that you got something out of the experience.

This isn't about rambling about how "the new dub sucks" or "Grrrr, change is bad" (well, maybe the latter a little) because, in all honesty, I haven't watched it. Heck, maybe it's fantastic!

But on a more philosophical level, I guess, consider this:

Mr Switzer, Ms Johns and Ms Beley have put a lot of work, time and effort into those parts, they're actors underappreciated, underpaid and glossed over in an already niche field, and then the one big piece of art they get to do, the one big part they have to be remembered and loved, is forgotten, soon to be washed away by the new dub. Sounds dramatic, sure, but now in future should Gundam SEED be sought out by people hoping to catch up on Gundam (though, why you'd start with "Gundam SEED" like a moron when the fantabulously gay "Gundam Wing" exists I shall never know) or just picked up and watched it's more likely that one will watch the remastered dub, and Mr Switzer and co will be banished and forgotten by history.

I guess what I wanted to say was simple:

Remember forgotten art, remember obscure actors, writers, producers and the like. All art has meaning, be it terrible, great or forgotten. Every piece of art has effort and love put into it by some people.

Don't let Bill Switzer and Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley be mere forgotten footnotes.

Buy a DVD of something obscure and forgotten. Remember the effort put into it.

[sandybrett]

Before I had even heard about Dracula Daily, I had the idea to publish my current WIP, Diary of an Oracle, in real time. In fact, a big part of the reason I subscribed to Dracula Daily was to experience reading something in real time and see what I could learn from it.

Here's what I learned:

Mood whiplash is good. In the original text, Jonathan's diary while he stayed at Castle Dracula was its own three chapters, and in the following chapter we jumped back in time a bit to read about all the proposals Lucy received. I think the contrast between those two threads in Dracula Daily was much more engaging than it would have been to be exclusively reading those very fluffy letters while waiting to find out if Jonathan was still alive.

Sometimes, however, it's helpful to have things in chronological order of when the primary POV characters become aware of them, not in the order they were actually written. When the nurse wrote to Mina to say that Jonathan was alive, I understood that the letter would not reach Mina immediately, but somehow it felt awkward to be waiting for Mina's knowledge to catch up with mine. I was also confused as heck by the telegrams, and I wonder if they would have made more sense in a different context.

I personally have a slightly higher tolerance for slow pacing in a serial format. I quite enjoy slice-of-life type stuff with characters I'm attached to, but if it's part of an entire book I have in front of me, I may start getting impatient for the plot to progress. With Dracula Daily, though, the little bit that was in my inbox each day was all I had easy access to. So you can bet I was going to read every bit of it and savor it. (Technically I could easily have found the rest of the text if I wanted to read ahead, so it was more of a psychological thing.)

Unusually short entries are fun when they happen occasionally. (At least when they make sense--see above note about the telegrams.)

Unusually long entries are frustrating when they come at a time when I'm extremely busy. I should consider not putting the climax of an arc at a time when my target audience is likely to have finals. (If I'm sending emails, I could also consider making multiple short updates on a particularly text-heavy day, as opposed to one long update.)

[broomballkraken]

Happy Anniversary Octopath Traveler 2! This game is incredibly special to me, as it broke me out of a rather nasty, year-long case of writer’s block, and gave a brand new rare pair OTP in Osvald/Partitio.

I ended up writing a 15 chapter, 65k word fic about them that has become my favorite one that I’ve ever written, The Scholar and The Merchant! (ao3 link)

Someone on twitter asked writers to brag about their fics and what inspired us to write, so I copy-pasted my rant about The Scholar and The Merchant under the cut below, which kinda turned into a little Osvitio manifesto of sorts lmao

I've written *checks notes* a lot of OT2 fics lmao But buckle up lads, 'cause I'm gonna rant about my magnum opus, The Scholar and The Merchant!

Our tale begins way back when the Octopath Traveler 2 announcement trailer dropped (I was on a family vacation at the time and shrieked so loud that I startled my sister, sorry Viking Steve akdhfkjd) From the get-go, I was looking at Osvald and Partitio like 🤔🏳️‍🌈🤔🏳️‍🌈

When the trailer that revealed their crossed paths art dropped, I immediately opened a blank doc and wrote 3-4 paragraphs of the confession scene, effectively yeeting myself into another corner of rare pair hell before the goddamn game even came out because I am Very Normal.

I wrote two longfics for the first game, so TSaTM followed the same format, including the lazy-ass title scheme, because I am nothing if not committed to the bit djkslfh Those first two fics only had 12 chapters each, and this one capped at 15, likely due to the addition of the crossed paths and the final chapter.

The game comes out and from that first unique dialogue between them when recruiting Partitio with Osvald I was completely invested in these two as a pair already. I just really liked how Osvald seemed to gain valuable insight from his conversations with Partitio (see Clarissa and Ethan, Osvald the Sober) which highlights their differences, but they also have had similar experiences with being poor (see A Poor Student's Woes) and that serves to tie them together.

At this point, my outline is quickly getting out of hand and I know this is going to be an ever bigger undertaking than my OT1 longfics, so I had to mentally prepare myself for that lmao

So my play through goes on and then we get to my favorite banter in the game, A Waste of Time Part III. The fact that they picked Partitio instead of any of the other travelers for this particular conversation, the last one of Osvald's journey (and not just because they were crossed paths pairs because the other travelers' stories don't follow that pattern) speaks to me, because Osvald states multiple times in banters with other travelers that he hates banal chatter, yet here he is thanking Partitio for that very thing, for talking him through a lot of things and being there to support him. After I stopped bawling my eyes out, I really stopped to think that the writers were really onto something here, and it makes me so sad that these two are such a rare pair wehhh

Anywho, then we get to the final chapter, and my second favorite banter, Ori's Fate. This banter is really the first time Partitio is visibly distressed, after his mostly low-stakes journey. Osvald takes the time to reassure him that Ori is okay and then, after Partitio expresses that he's glad Osvald is around to cheer him up (cue Kraken waterworks again aklsjdfh), Osvald actually suggests that they change the subject to that banal conversation that he supposedly hates so much, just to keep Partitio's mind off of Ori, and gosh dang it to heck that really just drives home how far Osvald has come from that angry revenge-fueled man, and how very close that he and Partitio have become.

That kinda went off topic lol Anyway, this fic is very special to me because it was the most fun that I've had writing a fic, ever. Even though these two ended up being a rare pair, the wonderful people that commented on the fic and even multiple chapters just made this project so much more fun, and gave me the drive to finish a 65k fic in only four months, which is crazy to me because it took me a hell of a lot longer to finish my shorter OT1 longfics ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There are a lot of moments in this fic that were fun to fit into Osvald and Partitio's respective stories, some favorites being Partitio providing comfort for Osvald after the events of his Chapter 4, Osvald carrying a drunk Partitio back to the inn in the latter's Chapter 2, Partitio taking Osvald to Oresrush to meet Papp, and the confession scene happening under the stars during part 2 of their crossed paths, just to name a few hehe

Oh boy this got long and kinda turned into a manifesto, I'll wrap it up sajkfh Uh yeah The Scholar and The Merchant is my favorite fic and it helped yeet Osvald/Partitio to the top of my OTP list, thanks for coming to my TED talk lmao

[inventors-fair]

Down to Dance: Downside Commentary

Not sure what to put for this preamble other than well done to all! You remind me why running contests is so fun in the first place.

Here ya go!

Brawl Lightning by @fractured-infinity - **JUDGE PICK**

Clever pun? Check. Mechanical twist on a classic card inspired by said pun? Double check. This card is pretty clever, tacking on an extra mana to Ball Lightning in exchange for the option to use it either as an attacker or as creature removal. If you’re smart enough to protect the lightning, you can even do both! It’s definitely a neat little card, and it’s for sure well-designed. I just wish I saw more of you in the card, y’know? This is strong as a design, but 90% of this card is something that already exists. Sometimes that’s fine! A single ability can totally recontextualize an existing card and make it wonderfully original! And this does do that to some degree, but I’m just not feeling the originality here. However, that does not impact my feelings about the design itself, which is why something this sleek deserves a judge pick.

Callous Corsair by @railway-covidae

This card is a classic case of the name, the mechanics, and the flavour text all trying to tell me the same thing three times over. I want to hear more about Balshan Bay! I already know this guy is thoughtless and cruel from the name, don’t tell me that again in the flavour text; instead, tell me why! Tell me what exactly happened to this guy, give me a story! The downside is one we haven't’ seen for a while, but it’s definitely a fun one to play around with. What I don’t love is that this is just a french vanilla creature with a downside tacked onto it. I want to see cards where the downside contributes to the card, where it informs the rest of the design. You could swap this downside out with a dozen other different effects and not have to change the card at all. I do love that as a downside to play around with, but consider how the rest of the card can really have fun with a downside like that.

Chronoscopy by @halfsilveredmirror - **JUDGE PICK**

This is one that was really hard for me to evaluate, so much so that I had to turn to my fellow judges. A Future Sight is definitely no small power boost, but having to work your way through your entire hand one at a time before getting the real benefit from it? That’s pretty rough. Of course, if you have few or no cards in hand, this card gets a heck of a lot better, so it’s something to consider for the buildaround effect. I think what really pushed this over the edge for me was the fact that you have to put the cards back on top in a random order. If you got to choose the order, that would be punishing but livable, and require you to plan things in advance, which plays nicely with the flavor of the card. Randomly, though? That’s just too hard of a pill to swallow, considering you might have some truly dead cards in your hand that might lose you a turn or two. Still a brilliant card, but easing up on that downside would take it the last few steps to perfection. 

Magic Trick by @stupidstupidratcreatures

We all know how scary free counterspells are, but this one definitely pulls back on the scary factor by a huge margin. The life and Island aren’t a negligible cost, but they’re cheap enough that this could definitely be a bit too strong. However, that downside is MASSIVE. Sure, you can counter their big scary spell, but in exchange, they can just tutor the exact same thing in most formats- or more likely, an even bigger threat, or an answer to your board. It’s a bit reminiscent of Remand, where they can get their spell back, but in this case they can exchange it for something better. That being said, it is still a free* counterspell, so it could be the perfect answer in the right situation, like protecting your combo that wins this turn. It’s honestly impossible to evaluate, but letting your opponent tutor for something after you pissed them off by countering their thing? I’m not sure it’s worth it.

Bloodless Abomination by @grornt

Okay, so I don’t know if I’m reading too much into this, but the cost of combat damage is discarding a card, which is also the cost of sacrificing a blood token... was that intentional? That you’re giving this creature blood, but they’re drinking it, not you, so you don’t get the card? If so, that’s hilariously brilliant. Apart from that, it’s a pretty classic spin on the “Above-rate attacker that makes you pay for every hit”, which is clearly a solid design space to play in. I do also like how you gave it an out, where you can decide that the remaining cards in your hand are more valuable than the abomination, but you just really want to get that last 3 damage in. Very fun card, I think she deserves some flavor text for sure, because what in the heck is going on with a bloodless vampire zombie??? Terrifying combination of types. 

Trilateral Banner by @hypexion

art: A battlefield banner except made of magic, in the form of endless fractal triangle.

Ah, good ol’ Xerex. The plane I am CERTAIN we will never have a dedicated set for, which saddens me deeply. The internal tension of this card is fairly clever- it’s an anthem, which encourages go-wide strategies, while at the same time directly hamstringing those go-wide strategies. However, I wonder if it’s a bit too clever for its own good- obviously the abilities play nice with each other, but the downside means that the buff always has a very strict hard limit. Obviously there are other benefits to having creatures with greater power, but this card wants to scream “Attack with everything!!!” while not letting you do that very thing. I wonder if the downside could have kept the intent of “don’t attack with too many things”, but with a softer limit? Maybe at end of combat, choose three attackers and sacrifice the rest? I dunno, worth workshopping. 

Rulers’ Wars by @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes

Art direction: A giant chessboard is visible and the focus of the scene. All the pieces, dressed differently to distinguish the two factions, are real people, of various species. The two kings are giving orders to the other pieces. In the background, two giants, both dressed as kings too, are looking at the chessboard. One of them has an arm stretched, ready to move one of the pieces.

Location: we're in a room of a castle. We can see a window and, from the window, we can see knights battling.

Ye olde classic “it’s chess but the people are real”. Gotta love it. This card is doing a LOT. I love granting the monarch as a downside, and I understand the timing restriction to ensure you can’t just steal it for yourself right away. But the goad and the tokens? Both feel like they want to be the main impact of this card, and they’re kinda competing for attention. I think either alone would have been a great punch for this card- you either get extra creatures to take back and keep the monarch, or you give yourself an opening to get the monarch while maybe your other opponents suffer for it. Both together just seems like a grab bag of good stuff, enough so that the monarch isn’t much of a downside anymore, because you’re all but guaranteed to take it, and you’re likely to keep it.

Debtonate by @nine-effing-hells

Compensation effects, where you destroy/steal/screw over something while giving your opponent something else nice, are some of my favourite things. Lots of fun to politic about, and make big doe eyes while saying “But I gave you a treasure!!!” in a very innocent voice. Admittedly, I had never thought of them as a downside until this contest, but you’ve successfully opened my eyes to the fact that they most definitely are. The removal spell is simple enough, blowing someone’s thing up but paying them for it. I am curious as to where this life is coming from? I know that lifedrain is a very Orzhov (the faction) thing, but it feels a bit off on this card specifically. However, the card is very fun, and the name is great.

Entrancing Vision by @just--a--penguin - **JUDGE PICK**

Art Direction: Taranika, eyes glowing and sword clattering to the ground, is suddenly having an unexpected vision of her army's upcoming battle, which her soldiers, nearby, are taking close heed of.

I am a little sad we didn’t see more Auras in this contest, because they have such a unique ability to do things like this. Is the -4/-0 a downside when you enchant your own creature? Or is the scry a downside when you enchant your opponent’s? The answer is both, and that’s a beautiful thing. Although there are technically two downsides on this card, the fact that you have the flexibility to use it for card selection or soft removal makes it a very fun card, while still retaining the low complexity that allows it to be a common. I will say the art and the flavor text are a bit too matchy-matchy for me, but I think that might just be because the art directions is in a text medium, meaning a lot of the same notes are hit. If it was actual art, it would compliment the flavor text nicely, so consider that the minor-est of minor quibbles.

Short-Circuit Orrery by @deg99

This card... seems neat? I think? I’m gonna be honest with you, this took several reads to grok properly, and I’m actually not sure I’ve got it. So unless I’m wrong, folks can cast anything at instant speed, but unless it was already an instant-speed thing, you can only do it once per round? If that’s true, what’s the purpose of the second line? It looks like it covers everything in the first paragraph, which already only lets you cast one of those spells per round? This definitely is having fun playing around with the idea of a symmetrical downside, and I do love that, but if the effect results in wording like this, it’s time to review the effect and see what can be done to help clarify it a little.

Embercleave, Mourning Blade by @curiooftheheart

I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t pay too much attention to the story of the legendary artifacts from Eldraine. Were they established to be alive, or is that a bit of creative liberty? Either way, it’s very fun, and I love how the flavour text forced me to recontextualize what I thought the name meant- I didn’t realize the blade itself was mourning, and I love that. In terms of the mechanics, I think it’s very fun- trample and a nasty wiping damage effect, but you likely have to have a very big creature to equip it to in the first place. I do think to downside balances out those effects, but I’m not sure the mana/equip cost is appropriate. That’s a very cheap cost for something that allows you to have repeatable one-sided boardwipes. I would make it a bit more expensive, and then I think the abilities would play off of each other very nicely.

Ashen Doppelganger by @arixordragc

Bit of an opposite Altered Ego? I like it, it’s quite fun! The effect is simple, and the counter adds a lot more consideration of trying to copy those value creatures that tend to be on the smaller side. The numbers I think are a little off, though. The going rate for a clone that can get your opponent’s stuff is 4 mana- with upside, of course, but they tend to not go lower than that. For 3 mana, you can get one that copies any of your creatures, but not your opponent’s. The question then is, is a single -1/-1 counter worth a 2 mana discount? Unfortunately, my gut says no. I could see it as a 3 mana clone, or even as a two mana clone that enters with two counters! I love the way the downside changes the decision-making of what to clone, but I think this downside needs to be a bit more of a downside.

Dubious Tactics // Severed Supply Lines by @yourrightfulking

Okay, so up front I am going to say that I haven’t played with battles enough to be able to properly judge either the flavor or the power level of them. That being said, I have questions about both. The front side is legitimately very cool- a battle that makes itself harder to win, and makes you question if it’s worth it. On the flip side, though, that is a BRUTAL effect. The only time we’ve seen something close to this is Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that’s only lands. This is everything, and it hurts. However, because it’s so hard to get to, and because the front side offers nothing in terms of value, it’s very much an all-or-nothing card, meaning either you or your opponent is going to have a big feelsbad moment. I just don’t see this being fun to play with or against. Also, our current roster of battles is obviously limited to “Invasion of...”, but that does make me think that Battles are meant to occupy the flavor of specific, monumental fights, rather than tactics or strategies that are used during those fights. That’s definitely a smaller point, but if you gave me the name “Dubious Tactics”, my mind would go to an Instant or Enchantment before I would think of it as a Battle.

Starved Specter by @an-anarchist-shapeshifter

I always forget about the Specter creature type. What a fun one. Maybe we’ll get tribal someday. This one has a fun mirrored effect, with both the combat damage ability and the downside related to discarding cards. What I think makes this design feel a bit disjointed is how those two abilities don’t really line up. One is discarding a single card at random, and the other is discarding a scaling number of cards, but not at random. If the effects were more lined up (“Whenever ~ is dealt damage, discard a card at random” or something like that?), then I think the design would feel a bit more cohesive. I do like the flavor that it has to feed on something, and if you don’t let it feed on your opponent, it’ll start feeding on you. It’s quite a fun card, I just wish the parallels were more... well, parallel.

Hostile Terraforming by @real-aspen-hours

This is a very interesting take on a Blood Moon-style effect, and it plays into the same space as the Aura I mentioned above. Namely, since this is a universal effect with an upside and a downside, it can be looked at from two different angles. Is the losing abilities part the downside, or is giving your opponent mana fixing the downside? It depends how you use it, and a clever deckbuilder can use both halves to their advantage. The flavor is a bit all over the place- the text seems like it wants to be a quote, but there’s no quotation marks or attribution, and the art seems to be telling a slightly different story. Otherwise, it’s a neat one, and I... think it’s in pie? I’m not totally sure where “lands lose abilities” falls in the pie but this doesn’t feel like a break so I’m sure it’s fine.

Et voila! Even though it's the end of this contest, don't feel too down! I'll see you soon for the next one!

~judge @naban-dean-of-irritation

[wisteria-lodge]

lion primary (badger morality) + badger secondary (un-Burning) (bird model)

I really liked your sort me submission wish list so if it's okay I'm going to submit my answers! When I was a kid I resolved a bullying incident by pretending to not notice I was being teased. I would be silly/make jokes to cheer up friends who were sad. If teachers picked on my friends, I'd be the mouthy rude one (and they'd kick me out of class). I knew all the material so they'd make me tutor other kids, I'd come up with jokes/mnemonics to help them remember the material. 

Okay, I've definitely got some hints here. First thing is we've got some loyalist-sounding motivations, and a lot of collective nouns "friends" "my friends" "other kids." We've got you protecting the community - from bully teachers, from bad grades, from being sad. It's more Badger primary (Snake primary would be more laser-focused on a couple of people, although it's still possible that you have a really *expansive* Snake primary.)

As for problem solving strategies... you like that multi-player for sure. You're probably a prep-work secondary (or model one) constructing mnemonics like that. I could see Courtier Badger, I could see Actor Bird. Need more data.

One time I ended up causing two people to get into a nasty fight. So I went to each of them separately and engaged them in conversation with stuff they were concerned about, and then once their mood had softened I said you know I think the other person feels bad about what happened but is embarrassed to apologize. And then they made up!

Now that sounds super Courtier Badger.

When I played D&D (something I don't do that much) my weakness is that I have a strong tendency to munchkin, I will look up optimal skill point allocation

*Definitely* prep-work secondary.

and then have to zipper my lips about teammates allocating skill points blindly and ending up being less combat effective.

Because you do in fact want to *help the group.* That's a fairly consistent though-line, and heck - we know that Badger primaries often run the risk of going authoritarian (which you seem to know... enough to actively combat.)

I enjoy coming up with somewhat more silly improv stuff, in D&D it feels more fun to solve things sideways than straight on.

Because you know the *real* way to help the group at a D&D table is contribute too and boost the overall mood.

I tried doing some interview prep for job interviews, but it was boring/too much/I ran out of time. I just went in being confident that I know my stuff, that they'd be lucky to have me, that as long as I can explain my thinking process it would be fine. And indeed it was fine and I got several offers.

This also feels Badger secondary in that 'build-yourself-into-the-correct-tool-for-the-job' + 'let go' sort of way.'

At work I generally speaking struggle with pre-planning. It's much, much easier for me to do rough draft working concept followed by many refinements in later stages -

The way you've phrased this sounds Badger secondary. I can't really picture a Bird saying "I struggle with pre-planning" - Birds LOVE pre planning, they love understanding every piece of the puzzle individually, and then just snapping everything in place. It's very Badger to say 'I'm doing to start with something, and then improve it in tiny increments, over time."

I'm very good at seeing how to make things refined later, once I've actually gotten my hands dirty and have a good overall vision of the problem (very hard for me to do in advance). (People also used to ask me to edit their papers - line edits are boring but I'm very good at structural edits).

Structural edits are *fun*

(this ask was originally structured in an ask/answer format, as per my wish list. And I reformatted it into what I thought would be the best order. It was great.)

I don't know exactly why I attribute "Loving Structural Edits" to Badger secondary. But I do know that the Bird secondaries I know are brilliant at line edits, better than me, but don't enjoy turning a whole work around in their heads the way I do.

When I have a difficult decision to make I do too much research, talk to too many people, agonize endlessly. Finally snap and choose something. Leaving things up in the air exacerbates my anxiety so I'll reach for a conclusion just to make that tension go away. I've also found it helpful to reduce the scope of the question as much as possible - I don't need to decide a ten year plan, I can focus on deciding a one year plan. 

Good problem solving solutions. I would normally attribute "do too much research" - especially with an adjective like "agonize" to a Bird secondary model that you're a little conflicted about, and "talk to too many people" as a Badger secondary model that you're kind of conflicted about. Unless that's angst that's coming more from your primary? Like "talking to too many people" = "trying to please all my different communities [when that isn't actually possible.]"

To whatever extent I can keep my options open, I'll do that also. This is how I ended up doing essentially four degrees at once - to avoid having to commit to any of them in advance. And then I was able to choose based on which one had work I enjoyed best.

That is a... very Badger secondary solution. "I know! I'll just do a TON of work, and then decide which KIND of work I like doing best."

And I had you pegged for a Badger primary... but I'm starting to get more Internal primary energy. There's a conflict between what the community wants and what you want, and the way you choose is really going inward, and seeing how you feel about things. Feeling good about making a snap decision - any decision - is a Lion primary thing, *feeling* out your ideal major is Lion primary, and getting stressed out by talking to too many people is also Lion Primary.

But often it's a lot of vacillating until I'm sort of pushed into it. The decision to quit my job, I tentatively mentioned being open to job offers, immediately got several, realized I was excited about the newness of it all, and had to basically bite the bullet and tell my boss (quickly, because having it hanging over my head as this unspoken thing between us was killing me). The decision to move in with my partner was basically me agonizing about it (including in therapy) up until and including moving day and then once I'd actually moved just being totally fine with it. 

I'm actually going more Lion primary for you. Like, a Lion primary that *feels* Badger and *has* Badger morality a lot of the time. But when it really comes down to it, you make decisions based on what feels right, and all the other considerations come in second and third.

My fantasy would be to have the money and free time and lack of obligations to travel the world. Not just one day tourist blitzes, I want to do month-long stays and volunteer locally. I want to get to know people in depth, do interviews, and just experience new places and sensations and experiences, and the common underlying themes of humanity. I have done one or two travels abroad but I want so much more, and ideally, again, paired with a human element-- a personal relationship with a tour guide, hearing history from someone affected by it... And also seeing a fuckton of beautiful nature and eating so many types of fruit that aren't sold globally and you can only eat locally. That and setting up a giant seven story library for people to borrow physical copies of books.

I'm absolutely fascinated by this fantasy, because on one hand, it is ABSOLUTELY group focused. You like groups, you're interested in groups, you want to be in and around groups. But... you're talking about lots of different groups. Travel to new places, meet new people. Have people come to your library wizard-tower, but then leave. You love being part of communities, but in your fantasy *you* remain solo, free, independent. And that is absolutely a Lion primary fantasy.

It makes me fell powerful when someone comes to me with a problem and walks away with a solution.

The "wizard in their tower" fantasy.

Occasionally, I will take inspiration from a character in a "what would X do", if X deals with problems with dignity, poise, compassion, self-respect, and confidence.

Usually this is an Actor Bird thing. Maybe you model it? (especially with that qualifier "occasionally.")

The most difficult time in my life was a period of clinical depression, so I had to just force myself through every single day. Exercise, good for depression, so I'd have to fucking drag myself off to do some. Therapy, thing you're supposed to do, so I'd drag myself to that also. Just trying to get through the motions of being a functional human being day after day after day after day and looking into a future where every single day was just going to be that endlessly exhausting grey grind, forever. And I knew the whole thing was in my head, that my life was actually fine except for the part where everything *felt* miserable and I couldn't remember what happiness felt like, and that part drove me nuts.

Brutal. Just Burnt secondary (everything is a chore, a grind.) I'm glad you made it out.

My therapist kept telling me I had to accept my feelings and I kept arguing with her that the entire problem was that my feelings were, demonstrably, bullshit. Just totally disconnected from reality. Anyway I spent years avoiding medication because I was too scared and also thought my problems weren't real enough and that I wasn't trying hard enough with all the exercise and the therapy,

That Badger secondary curse "I could just work harder." Yeah. Also, if you're a Lion primary... obviously you were clinically depressed, but in the terms of this system, this is a description of burning. Burning though a chemical imbalance, but - you need your feeling, but you don't have your feelings. Very possibly you did the Burnt Lion thing and tried your best to model something else (likely Badger primary.)

but eventually things got bad enough I tried it, and I was very lucky and it was a magical pill that literally made all my problems go away (unless I forget to take it) which made me feel very vindicated that I was right and the therapist was wrong, the problem WAS that my feelings were broken and once they were fixed everything was better again.

I am so, so, so happy for you. And I am doubling down on Lion primary, because I don't think another primary would have described this process in quite this way: 'my feelings got fixed.'

I'm very different from my mother, but I adore and respect her. She's very patient, very compassionate, very wise, very logical and very grounded. As i got older I realized how much my value system was just absorbed from her.

Ah, that makes sense why you read as so Badger primary. Your mom sounds like either a Double Badger, or a Badger Bird.

My dad is more similar to me (more creative, more emotional, more sentimental) and our relationship is more tumultuous - sometimes close, sometimes it's too much, I don't have patience for him always.

... and I'd bet that your dad is a Lion primary, like you. That's a pretty good description of the type of relationship two intense Lions tend to have.

I adore my partner. I feel lucky every day for them. They are a significantly better person than me, so I just try to keep up as best I can and remember to not be too selfish and make space for them to have their needs and wants addressed, because for me that's a conscious effort whereas for them, addressing my needs and wants is kind of automatic. Also they're the kind of person to have a savior complex where if someone needs help they can't say no,

Your partner is a REALLY loud Badger primary.

and I'm the kind of person to say "no, fuck that", and I sort of have to balance giving them free reign to follow their nice impulses vs setting boundaries over what we can reasonably handle.

I hope you know how important that is, and how important you are to your partner's well being. Expansive Badger primaries really, really struggle with "fuck that" and "sounds like a Them Problem." Healthy Lion primaries bring that energy.

Thank you very much! Super curious to hear the conclusion.

You're a Lion primary who *loves* Badgers, and is surrounded by some very loud ones. So most of the time, you probably look Badger yourself. But when it really comes down to a big decision, it really is all about how you feel about it - and that's not selfish, that's necessary and strong. You're a Badger secondary, who occasionally models Bird, and who had a period when they burnt their secondary pretty badly, which made the Badger problem solving that you usually like feel anxious and agonizing. But luckily, you're doing well now.

[jjungkookislife]

Okay. I need to gather my thoughts cause that was one heck of a chapter 😮‍💨 Finally finished the new update of Butterfly Tattoo Studio and my feelings are all over the place 🫠 I had to pace myself while reading it cause I both didn’t want it to end but also had to read more 😫 It was the much awaited date and I felt butterflies on my stomach from how adorable both of them were the entire time. The nervous jitters and the overthinking, it was very realistic and quite endearing to see. I loved how you portrayed both of them. And I also loved how you showed both of their wariness regarding Hobi and his other boyfriends. The way he explained their relationship was also great and I love how he was so reassuring and made her comfort his priority. Like come on, he was the sweetest and made sure she understood that they will go at her own pace and only do what she is comfortable with. With him being in a poly relationship, i liked how it showed that it really does require a lot of trust, honesty, and communication for all the parties involved in order to make it work. I am honestly excited to see her interactions with the others now that she knows their dynamic. And also, that smut? 👀 you did it again with making it both hot yet still heartwarming. It always makes me go from 😳 to 🥺 and I just love it ☺️ and Jimin, that dude needs to chill cause 🥵 I’m really looking forward on what happens next but ofcourse, as always, please take your time in writing.

Thank you for this amazing update, I loved every bit of it. I hope that you are doing well and not overworking. Please take care of yourself and stay healthy and happy 😊

I had to pace myself while reading it cause I both didn’t want it to end but also had to read more

THIS IS THE SWEETEST THING ANYONE HAS EVER SAID TO ME!!! I AM MELTING! THANK YOU SO MUCH <333

i feel like my greatest talent in life is overthinking and i was worried the overthinking was too much but that's how my brain works lol I'm glad you liked seeing both sides of them. i had fun writing their date, i think after dinner dates Hoseok was more inclined to it

thank you so much, i was nervous to post bc it wasn't supposed to be a series originally just a hobi birthday one shot but now i feel like i jumped the gun a bit so i guess the guys weren't looking to add to their relationship when oc showed up but the fact that it happened and they all heard about it from Jimin and Hoseok, they were on board to befriend oc and possibly consider dating her if she liked them and they liked her on a case by case situation. i might have to include that somewhere lol

ah the smut is the reason this took so long and I'm not super happy with it lol i tried to write it a sentence at a time and i struggled up to a certain point. but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

There will be a little more Jimin soon! 🥵 he's a total menace and he says what he's thinking without a care lmao i adore his character so much! i have a drabble coming this week maybe Wednesday if not on the weekend because I go back to work tonight and it needs editing and a banner and formatting :( bleh i hate doing those bits lol

Thank you so much! <3 take care as well and thank you for such a lovely message, it made my day <3

[only-lonely-stars]

The Future is Bright, Chapter 6

[Chapter 1 (Beginning)] // [Chapter 5] // [Chapter 6 - you are here!] // [Chapter 7] // [Chapter 10 (End)] (FFN)

Cole now knows what he’s seen, but he still doesn’t know what it means. There’s still so much to know, and the mystery is centered in Shintaro. Good thing he has an ally who can help him find answers!

Summary: What would happen if Cole had indeed had a reflection in the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master? How would that have changed his life later? What would it have been? This story follows what might have happened if he had seen something, and what it was; who he would have become. What if his future was already decided?... (Rated T for safety. Alternate title: the Cosmic Spoilers AU.)

Chapter 6: Drawing Conclusions

With the drawing from the First Master's tomb in tow, Cole hadn't wasted much time in going back to Shintaro, and had left a couple of days later. If he had any luck– assuming luck was real, like destiny apparently was– it would be enough to help him find whoever he was meant to find. Then it was just a matter of dealing with whatever that was.

When he at last arrived back in Shintaro, Vania greeted Cole with an enthusiastic hug, almost knocking him over. "Cole! It's good to see you!"

Cole laughed and hugged back, grinning. "Good to see you too, Queenie! I missed you!"

She beamed at him just as widely, almost vibrating in her excitement. "What's going on? I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon!"

He nodded, brushing his hair back. "I had something I needed to talk to you about, and I figured in-person was better than a letter."

Immediately, her brow creased with worry. "Something to talk about? Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all!" He put up his hands defensively. "It's okay– everything's completely okay. I just wanted to talk to you about something that happened, and maybe get your opinions on it? If it's not a problem, that is."

"Oh! No, it's not a problem! I love talking to you." She turned her head questioning. "Did you want to talk somewhere private, or just anywhere?"

"Somewhere private, I think." He smiled awkwardly. "It's kind of... personal."

"I can do that!" She clapped her hands. "Follow me!"

Cole did as she asked, and she led him into the palace. They followed a few hallways, going deep into the palace, until they at last stopped in a private room with a fireplace. She shut the doors behind them, and together they sat on a couch before the fireplace.

When they were at last comfortable, she smiled at him. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

He sighed. "Okay, so I have to explain a little bit before I can get to it, but I'm kind of wondering if you can help me figure something out. It has to do with Shintaro."

"Okay." She nodded. "What do you need to know?"

"Well…" He shrugged. "I guess I kind of need to know about Shintaro customs, and stuff. There's a bit of a backstory to why I need to know."

"Go ahead and tell it," she urged him enthusiastically. "I have plenty of time, don't skimp on the details."

"Okay." He sighed, relaxing a little and managing a smile. He was just talking to Vania. There was nothing scary about that: she wouldn't judge him. "So, you probably heard about what happened a few years ago in Stiix, right?"

"Of course. All those ghosts!" She laughed. "That's one of the stories we heard about the soonest, I think."

"Probably, it was a big deal." He found himself talking with his hands as well as his voice, waving them around a bit. "Anyway, right before that, we were dealing with Morro. He wanted to get the Realm Crystal to summon the Preeminent. Still sound familiar?"

"Yeah, completely!" She leaned forward, invested. "What about it? Did you stop him?"

"We had to find it before he did– not that we succeeded, but it was okay." He thought back to the events. "It was hidden in the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb, and he made it only accessible to Spinjitzu Masters like him. Morro had possessed Lloyd so he could get in."

"That's terrible!" She frowned. "Is he okay after that?"

"He's okay." Cole smiled at her concern. "This was years ago, remember?"

"If you say so. I just wanted to make sure." She smiled back.

Cole chuckled. "Well, that's sweet of you."

She smiled a little more. "I try."

He grinned back. "Okay. When we got there, we found a bunch of traps that only Spinjitzu Masters could survive. One was this huge maze of ice– and when I say huge, I mean huge. Gigantic."

"A maze of ice? Wouldn't that melt?" She frowned in confusion. "Unless it was enchanted…"

"Maybe, I don't know. Whatever it was, it wasn't just normal ice." He paused, attempting to describe it. "When you look at your reflection in the ice wall, it shows you a reflection of your future self, and when we made our way through, I saw mine."

She gasped, staring at him in rapt attention. "You're kidding. It shows the future?"

"Yup."

That's– that's incredible! It must have been fascinating!" She grinned brightly. "Future vision sounds incredible!"

"It's really cool- no pun intended. It kind of showed me that I was going to be human again, which was really nice. Made it easier to deal with being a ghost."

"I can imagine." She leaned in a little closer. "Speaking of which, what was it like being a ghost?"

He chuckled. "Numb, really. You don't feel anything, just kind of cold. Not on my list of top ten recommended experiences."

"Probably not." She sat back, trying to control her excitement, but still clearly enamored with the story. "So… did you just see yourself as human? How does that connect to Shintaro?"

"I'm getting there." He pulled out his sketchbook as he spoke. "When we saw our reflections, Kai, Zane, and Jay saw themselves dressed like senseis. Jay even saw Nya with him, which was just proof that they've always been meant to be. Thing is, I didn't see the same thing." He flipped to the right page and handed it over. "Jay, Nya and I went back last week to take another look, and I drew what mine looked like."

She took the sketchbook gently and examined the drawing, tracing the lines with a light touch. A soft smile bloomed on her face. "You're an incredible artist," she commented.

"Thanks. I'm okay." He smiled, watching her look at it with that sweet look on her face. "So… what do you think?"

She hummed. "Well, it looks like Shintaran robes, obviously."

"Yeah, it does." He shrugged. "I don't know what the heck I saw, but I've kind of been on edge about it since we first visited. Do you know anything about what it means?"

"Hm…" She looked at him, and then back at the drawing, and held it up to compare. "Well… I can kind of tell some things." She examined it a little more closely. "In this, you're wearing white and blue. That's something not many Shintarans wear, because it's the royal colors, but it's not unheard of for non-royals if they want to emulate the royals. Plus, you're wearing your own crest, not the royal one."

"Wait, there's a royal crest?" He looked at her quizzically. "I've never seen it."

"Oh, absolutely!" She smiled at him, brushing her bangs out of the way. "It's a spear and some clouds. You might've seen it around the palace somewhere if you looked close enough."

"I don't know." He laughed. "Last time I was here, I spent most of my time underground."

"That's fair." She laughed too and looked back down, pointing at the sketch to direct him. "See your belt? That's where you might wear your crest in Shintaran formal wear."

"Huh! It's still my dragon..."

"Yep. Either that's the crest you stuck with for just yourself if you came here, or that's the crest your family would take on. Either way, it's not unheard of either." Her brow furrowed. "That said, the style of robes is pretty impractical for everyday wear. This is formal clothing, like I said, so I think it's probably likely that it's royal clothing. That explains the colors better."

His heart caught in his chest. "Royal clothing? Are you saying I become part of the royal family?"

"If you got married and your yin was a Shintaran royal, yes." She smiled up at him again. "Sounds like you'll be moving up in the world."

"Huh." He smiled faintly, head spinning with the possible meanings and making him feel a little dizzy. He had thoughts about how little he knew of Shintaro, yet it was clear how much this meant here… was there extended royalty in the Shintaran royal family?

Eventually, he found his voice. "That's… that's a thought."

"I bet it is." Her smile formed into yet another infectious grin. "That said, it would be awesome!"

That threw him for a loop. "Huh? How come?"

"Because then you'd live here! Then we could see each other all the time!" she chirped. "I mean, it's obviously not great to leave Ninjago, because that's your home and you love it and you've always protected it, but it would be amazing to have you around! You'd love to live here in Shintaro, I guarantee it."

He shrugged. "Oh, I wouldn't know... I haven't put much thought into that part of it."

"Maybe you should."

"Maybe…" He reached over and pointed at a gold smudge on the paper next to the sketch of himself. "Okay, see that?"

"Yeah. Is that supposed to be there?"

"Yep. The ice walls sometimes show other people, too, but all I saw was a blur. It's my one clue to whoever my yin is supposed to be. She's got really bright blonde hair– just like yours, actually." He shrugged. "I don't know how common that color of hair is here, but either way it narrows it down."

"It's not that common," she noted. "I haven't met many other people with the same color. Most people here are brunette."

"Then it's even easier."

The conversation fell quiet, and a familiar anxiety crept back into his mind. His mind spun tales of the possibilities, some of which he dared not even think... but he was snapped from his thoughts when he felt Vania's hand on his arm. "Cole? Are you okay?"

He laughed humorlessly and nodded, shaking himself. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I'm just– it's a lot to think about."

"I can imagine." She smiled compassionately. "I know you haven't really liked the idea of a relationship– just about everyone knows that. It must be pretty hard, knowing in the future you've got that, despite how much you don't want it yet."

He nodded. "Yeah, uh, you hit the nail on the head." He brushed his hair back anxiously. "I don't do relationships; never have, actually. Now the creator of entire realms has given me cosmic spoilers and told me I'm marrying someone from another country. It's hard to process."

"I'd bet it is." She nodded along with his story. "Having your future set for you before you get to it isn't fun."

"You must know about that, right?"

She let her hand rest on his arm comfortingly. "I do. I didn't really ever get told I could be anything but the queen in the future. It made some things easier, but others harder." She laughed quietly. "I can't imagine what it must be like to be told that, but about whoever you're going to end up marrying."

"Yeah, that's it. I don't know what to do, if I'm honest."

"Well, you could do a couple things." She shrugged, letting go of his arm.

"What do you mean?" He leaned in, listening intently.

Vania giggled at his blatant interest, and then began counting on her fingers. "One: you ignore it. Not the best idea, in my opinion, but it would work for a little bit. The future comes to pass whether we want it to or not."

"Yeah, definitely can't just expect it not to happen. Already tried that." He smiled.

"Yeah, exactly." She smiled back. "Two: you wait. You can let it happen in its own due time and do other things now, instead. Instead of pushing it and trying to find her, you can let her find you."

"But that'd leave it hanging over my head," he dismissed. "That's happened for long enough already, too."

"I figured you'd say that." She laughed quietly. "Three: you start looking for her now with what you know. She's got to be a noble or royal, and since she's blonde, you've got plenty of clues." She shrugged absently. "Of course, you could be wrong about part of it, and get mixed up, but you could try at least."

He nodded, thinking it over. Would it be worth it to look for her? Of course, there was always the possibility that he, Jay and Nya had been wrong. What if he was wrong? Or… what if she was right under his nose? What if they were right?

He sighed. "I guess I should figure out who it is, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm right about what I actually saw."

"Well…" She paused. "You drew it while looking at it, didn't you?"

"I did." He shook his head. "I just– my mind's playing tricks on me. I kind of wish I could see it again, but a third visit, and going alone at that, doesn't sound like much fun."

She hummed. "You have a point… I must admit, I'm extremely curious. It sounds fascinating to see the future!"

"It really is." Would it be worth it to go alone?...

She closed the sketchbook and handed it back. "Well… what if I come with you? We can look at it together and figure out what we're doing to find your yin."

"Really?" He took the book back. "You'd want to see it? I thought you wouldn't want to."

"Sure! It sounds fascinating, and I'd love to know a little more about my future, even though it's already mostly laid out for me. It would be another adventure!" She grinned. "That is, if you don't mind me coming along?"

"No, I'd be happy to bring you!" He grinned back. "That place is a little creepy when you're alone, seeing as it's a tomb."

"Well then, let's make it not creepy!" She got to her feet gracefully, seemingly energetic. "Let me just change and talk to Hailmar, and then I'm ready to go. We can make a day of it."

"Okay. It's a bit of a trip, dress warmly." He pocketed the sketchbook.

"Will do!" she chirped. "Make yourself at home! I'll come find you when I'm ready."

"Okay." Instinctively he wanted to come with her, but he kept himself back. There wasn't a reason to follow her, just that... well, she was the one he came to visit, but it would only be a little wait. There wasn't a need to miss her already.

Having gotten his thoughts in order, Cole stayed in the room and took the book out. As he looked at the sketch, his thoughts swirled in confusion. Who was this blonde royal he was supposed to be marrying? His suspicions fit too perfectly… but was it what he suspected?

[steebucks]

— I don’t think this is what love is supposed to become | a.h

[silver-alter]

Oh I came to the world at the right time for pirated content to be popular in CD/DVD format.

Now... I had no idea at the time (because I was like… 5?), but my general understanding is that legit media and games were also kinda very expensive back then (some things never change. If the original price tag was in dollars, that's how it was and is to this day), so it wasn't uncommon for small stores to sell pirated games and movies. Heck, cybercafés were REALLY popular. Dad would take me to one close to home to play PS2 games at midnight, and I remember rows and rows of PCs with a decently big library of games. All cracked, of course. And an open room with four big couches and 4 huge screens to play PS2 or Xbox 360 games. And it was this dark atmosphere lit only by black lights that made it look like some underground/party club

I don't know WHY he insisted we go that late (I guess he knew I was a sucker for black lights and nighttime?), but it was a sort of fun Friday quality time I got to spend with him for a good couple of years. Also child me thought it was funny to come back home at 3am smelling like I had smoked a full pack of cigarettes (That place always had people smoking inside, I swear to god, I don't know why). It wasn't until I think 10-15 years ago(?) there was a crackdown on these places, and so now they're unable to host games unless they have a license for each and every copy (which is prohibitively expensive nowadays and not worth it in an age where EVERYONE has "easy" access to internet). By the time it happened my family already had access to internet and we were well educated on piracy, so it didn't hit as hard. I still kinda miss it, though.

Fun fact: I was born in the offline era. Molded by it. I did not see an internet connection at home until I was 12.

I learned how to and where to find pirated movies and games from my parents, and how to burn them on DVD's as well. I also probably bricked my PCs (plural) a fair couple of times during the learning process. If I search my bedroom I'm sure I can still find some folders filled with old PS2 discs.

In any case, it was really normalized for me since an early age that media was not something I had access to limited to the money in my pocket. Which is funny bc that was the same period of time where the "You wouldn't download a car..." ads were RAMPANT. Even in movie theaters. And yes, they were as funny and ridiculous then as they appear to be now.

Did your parents watch pirated media with you as a child ?

[tons-of-vball-huns]

could u maybe do a post thats kenma x male reader (or gender neutral, whatever you’re comfortable with !!) where the reader and kenma are hanging out together at kenmas house, and the reader realizes they like him bc he asks to hold their face bc their eyes are so pretty <3 idk just rlly wholesome cutsey affectionate non sexual face holding

like hand on ur cheeks <3 and like kenma asks to hug the reader bc they get really uncomfortable w hugs but they feel okay to get hugged that day

i hope youre having a good day, and if you’re not, hopefully you find time to do something u enjoy :)

sorry my brain is scattered 😭/gen

[a/n: wait that sounds so cute! i have to do this asap because Y E S. thanks for the request, anon! also, i’m making it a gn!reader because that’s kinda like how it usually go about it and i changed it a tiny bit. btw, sorry for being late! love you, keep being you <3]

requests are open! i might be a bit late with the posting because my sat is coming up this saturday.

request is below the cut!

starring: k. kenma

type: fluff. fluffy fluffy fluff

warnings/others: unhealthy sleeping habits. weird formatting. commas galore. intended lowercase. use of “heck” and “hell”.

wc: 793 words

fun fact: kenma gets clingy and weirdly cuddly when he’s feeling tired or sleepy and even sleeps while cuddling a large dog plushie. he also takes the brain filter out and just says what he says without a thought and, in his opinion, acted like a drunk person.

fun fact: he would rather die miserably than let other people know about this. he hides the dog inside a suitcase whenever he leaves his room and has even made an elaborate plan to escape to brazil and start his life over if anyone gets even a single clue.

and if we extrapolate this data and think with common sense? you didn’t know either.

after a long day of school, you decided the best course of action was to just follow kenma home and hang out. it was a friday, and your family went out of town for the weekend, so you didn’t have to worry about returning home on time. besides, you’ve been hanging out forever, you knew no one would even bat an eye.

the two of you decided to play some video games to pass the time.

and that is how you ended up staying up until 7:37am.

one thing about kenma is that although he can easily get up at 2am to play, he has almost zero experience of staying up that long in at least 5 years. and coupled with the day before being an extra-long day — you had to write over 3 pages of notes for one class, had to run 5 laps for pe, and volleyball practice was extended until 5:30pm. he even woke up at 3am the night before to play on his console. he was rightfully more exhausted than usual.

kenma seemed to be weirder than usual to you now. he could barely keep his eyes open now, but neither could you, not after staying up for longer than 24 hours, so that definitely wasn’t it. was it the way he-

kenma placed his controller down and moved a bit closer to you, “wanna hug. can i hug you, (name)?”

you stared at him for a second. yeah, he was definitely acting strange, but he looked absolutely adorable in your opinion. his hands were outstretched, his eyes bleary and barely open, slightly furrowed brows, the tiniest hint of a pout on his cute, pink, kissable li- huh? no. where was your mind going to? you shook your head, “sure? i don’t really mind.”

“i’m happy you said you didn’t mind,” kenma muttered, nuzzling into your neck. “you always said you didn’t really like them so i was a bit worried you wouldn’t wanna.”

you awkwardly patted his back once, twice. this felt like a hallucination, what the heck was even happening? kenma never seemed to be the type to ask for hugs — usually, it was kuroo who was the one who asked for hugs. and you usually weren’t entirely comfortable with hugs, so why the hell did you say you “didn’t really mind”? and why was your cheek a little… warm? the ac was on full-blast, it doesn’t make sense! staying up for 24+ hours does some things to you.

beside you, kenma had stopped snuggling into your neck and moved a tiny bit farther, “hey hey (name)? is it alright if i… hold your face?” he noticed the puzzled look on your face, “it’s just that… your eyes look pretty, like super pretty. i wanna take a closer look. so can i?”

you tentatively nodded your head a little, still super confused. kenma’s face broke into a cute little smile as he shuffled closer to you and put his hands on your cheeks and pulled your face closer, his hands squishing your cheeks in the process. his hands felt incredibly cold against your warm, warm cheeks. you let out an involuntary shiver at the different temperatures.

“woahhh. so pretty, (name). your eyes look really pretty. i wanna keep looking at them forever,” he said, transfixed by your eyes.

you honestly thought your eyes weren’t all that special — you saw them daily so they kinda lost their appeal to you. maybe that was why you felt that feeling in your chest and stomach — fluttering, fluttering, fluttering like pretty little butterflies —, you never thought they looked pretty so maybe that’s why felt so flustered, your cheeks turning warmer, warmer, warmer? or maybe — you looked into kenma’s warm, excited eyes as he was squishing your cheeks and giggling and rambling about your “beautiful eyes” and how much he loved them — was it because it was him?

three months later, you still loved to tease him about that moment, watching his cheeks turn scarlet in an instant. but however embarrassing it was for him, he was glad it happened.

[superdrawer11]

Chapter 1 Rouxls Kaard is Suspicious - A theory

(NOTE: This was written before Deltarune chapter 2 came out! I had this theory for about a year, but due to switching fandoms before writing the theory in this format I never got around to posting it or showing it in my ask blog. Also this is somewhat rushed since by the time of finishing this post there’s only 30 minutes left.)

A charming aristocrat, a terrible puzzle maker, a shopkeeper.

Rouxls Kaard is definitely an interesting character with lots of contradictions. His opinion on a topic can change in an instant. What are his true intentions? What was he, before he was a duke of puzzles? His face resembles Gaster, does he have anything to do with him? And is he connected to Jevil?

All of these questions will be ー at least partially ー answered here. If the theory ends up being correct

To get to the bottom of this, we need to look at an area none other than the Great Board. Take a look at these screenshots:

--

_

You see, I think Rouxls Kaard may have been the boss of the Great Board.

In order to make this theory more likely, we need more evidence. So, let's do exactly that!

Before we meet Mr. Society and elegance (the two NPC's at the board), we had a puzzle that stated

There are tiles that glow white that, when stepped on, make your screen turn white and teleport you back to the start.

It is well-known that Rouxls can teleport using white light and possesses over a control crown

If Rouxls owns a control crown, he must be able to place such crown on the checker.

As you can see, white light on the checkerboard caused Rouxls’ control crown to fall towards the checker. Furthermore, there are these ponmen who Mr. Society mentions

These ponmen are also used as weapons against Lighteners

And the only time these ponmen appear in the castle at the floor before you meet Rouxls (Rouxls’ first encounter is to the right)

Mr. Elegance and the Puzzlemaster also appear next to each other. The Puzzlemaster uses “We”, and that could imply that they know each other

Now, let us move onto the more mysterious section of this theory, still building off of the screenshots shown above. __

The worm seems to be eating the tree from the mysterious man behind the tree who gives an egg. Presumably the Knight/Gaster (Someone else figured out that EGG in wingdings is ☜︎ ☝︎ ☝︎, which in chess is a move a Knight can make). Rouxls calls the team worms. Heck, he has Rouxlsroux which has worms in it and keeps worms as pets! Having the way of the worm be eating the leaves of the tree of the mysterious man is intriguing.

Now, let us move to this puzzle.

If you try to skip the puzzle, this specific tree will block your path, and it disappears when you solve the puzzle.

Here, you see a ponman in the center. You have to rotate around the ponman

And when you circle around it enough, it seems the leaves of this tree formed some sort of entity, looking at you, and the tree blocking the path disappears.

Let us move to another puzzle

Now, how is this puzzle connected to this theory? Well, in three ways, really. (There is a fourth, but that is at the very end of this theory)

“Only eyes blinded by darkness can see the way” and “The darker it gets, the more you can see” both mean the same thing, just worded differently. Another, stronger evidence, is the fact the same eerie music played at cliffs (Where the eye puzzle is located) as the great board. A third one is that both of these puzzles are perhaps implied to do with Jevil in some way The eyes at the eye puzzle look similar to Jevil’s, and notice the word usage at the later puzzle “Revolve around the center”. Jevil’s theme is The World Revolving. By the way, literally everyone involved in this is suspicious. Mr. Society (helped off-screen), Mr. Elegance, and the Puzzlemaster worked on this door. Very similar to UNDERTALE’s door.

Rouxls’ speech style appeared in the recent UNDERTALE update

The ponmen literally break the fourth wall??

Heck, Rouxls’ teleportation sound is outside the sound folders!

There are two of these in the game’s files

There is one more section to the core of this theory I have to talk about, since time is admittedly running out until chapter 2 is released. I am not sure whether any of this will be true or not, but it’s fun to share! You see, Rouxls is also connected to these forest NPC’s. If you walk around them, these sparkles seem to form around them.

In the game files, these are called Scissor dancers. They make this bell sound (ignore the title of the video) when you interact with them.

I found it quite mysterious that there was a bell sound in this specific place. So I dug a bit deeper and found out that National Geographic has an article about Scissor Dancers!

There wasn’t much on Andean divinities that I could find except they also worshiped the earth. Now, does this connect to Deltarune? Maybe. Here is what it could be about:

The sun are the Lightners, the moon are the Darkners, and while it doesn’t say what the Earth is supposed to represent, it seems important.

These Scissor Dancers seem to be praying for the Lightners, Darkners, and Earth if my conjecture is correct. The thing is, there are also some other mysterious things about these Scissor Dancers. Back in the day, they were called Sons of the Devil, and there was a belief that this dance was a manifestation of Dark Magic. (Could this be a connection to Jevil due to them having a Devilsknife?) Furthermore, they seem to hide their eyes. A big theme in Deltarune.

So, how does this connect to the theory? You see, not only do these Scissor Dancers appear next to Rouxls’ second encounter.

these sparkles are the same.

If you look in the files, you can see these are called Light Fairies (Don’t mind the game looking strange, this is how it’s supposed to look)

If you look at the code when you encounter Rouxls, you see the exact same sprite, but it’s not moving and it’s the original size (The ones around the Scissor Dancers seem to be bigger)

That’s the base of my theory. There may be more intricate details I didn't put here, but writing this was somewhat rushed since the countdown timer is literally shaking and I only got like thirty minutes left lmao. I really want to get this theory on the web before Chapter 2 comes out; I spent too many hours on this theory to let it go to waste-

[opalmaplehibiscus]

Information as to Why Twisted Wonderland is NOT an Otome or Dating Sims Game

Hello Everyone! It’s been a while~ ヾ(•ω•`)o I finally found the courage to write Twisted Wonderland content after what happened a couple months ago, when I literally just came back, and while writing a couple of analysis I thought I would write this as an informative rather than an actual analysis of the game.

DISCLAIMER: This post is NOT by any means demeaning otome games or dating sims whatsoever. This was written to clear the misunderstanding people had on the genre of Twisted Wonderland and that anyone should be allowed to be play without feeling restricted or thinking it’s not something they want to try because of misunderstandings. Do NOT use this post as a source to offend people but please use it to inform others.

It’s no longer old news that Twisted Wonderland frequently gets called an “otome game” or dating sims by people who never played the game before. People on twitter, youtube, and even those that were trying to or supposed to advertise the game have often categorized it as such. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal had people recognize and acknowledge that the game isn’t after being explained to about it, but after hearing their arguments as to why they refuse to change how they think about it, the frustration pent up for nearly a year has finally bubbled over.  Buckle your seats everyone cause today is the day this argument ends once and for all!

First off, let’s start off with what makes an otome/dating-sims an otome/dating sim. Both are very similar, where, according to Japan’s Wikipedia, Nico dictionary, Kotobanks, and many more Japanese dictionary sites, otome games (i.e. 乙女ゲーム)  are games which includes a female MC who has the opportunity to attract the very attractive male characters in the game and enter a love route with each of them separately or harem-like. Dating sims are a bit different. Dating sims (i.e. 恋愛シミュレーションゲーム)  falls into to two definitions with the first one being the exact reversal of otome: MC being male, the love interest characters being very attractive females. The second definition is the one many are familiar with – a romantic visual novel. Believe it or not the first definition is the original definition of what dating-sim games are, the second meaning derived from many attempts of using the term “dating-sim” incorrectly by the English speaking gamers to the point society now believes it’s the actual meaning.

However, this difference doesn’t change that both otome and dating sims are very close. Both genres include gender-specific MC(s) (there’s been games where a player can play either male or female), handsome/beautiful characters with their respective love routes, and a main plot to follow. In addition to this, when the game is in mobage format, there’s going to be showers of fan service in the form of events and gacha-cards, though, arguably, it doesn’t change the fact that the MCs would still be interacting with the characters romantically.

So, from the explanation written above, Twisted Wonderland falls into that category, right? Sorry not sorry, that’s wrong. Sure, Twisted Wonderland has many characters to swoon over since…I mean…they’re drawn and written by Yana Toboso and her staff and…there hasn’t been anyone so far who had the capability of saying no to characters she personally had drawn or created. But! It doesn’t mean that the game is a dating sim or otome.

One of the reasons Twisted Wonderland isn’t one of them is how the game is set up. There are no routes the MC can enter nor can the MC pick and choose which characters to focus on in general. Like FGO and Granblue Fantasy, the MC solely follows the main plot and has to interact with all the characters they’re introduced to whether they like it or not. The same logic is applied when playing events – the MC will be participating and talking to all the characters involved in the event. Not once does the game give the opportunity for the MC to choose who they can talk to and participate in the event with the person they chose. The only time it’ll be one-on-one is, most of the time, getting the desired character’s card through gacha or when the event sets the story where the MC has no choice but to talk to a character one-to-one. For the latter though, the MC isn’t going to be able to wish for the character they want to talk to – it’s completely random and up to the writers who they want the MC to interact with.

For otome and dating-sims alike, especially in mobage format, the MC has the opportunity to choose who they wish to focus on and interact solely with the characters they chose whether it’s the main story, event, and card story. It can even be arguably said that otome and dating sims focus solely on the MC and their love interest interaction more than anything else. As for Twisted Wonderland, again, that does not happen. Twisted Wonderland, in addition to progressing the main story and revealing more about the characters involved, focuses on everyone’s interaction with each other including the NPCs. The game shows the other characters that aren’t interacting with the MC talking to other characters and what role they were playing while the MC was busy with the group the writer had them interact with during that time. Even in the card stories, most of the card stories involve more character-to-character interaction rather than MC-to-character interaction.

Speaking of which, the MC in Twisted Wonderland, the game, is gender ambiguous.  Not once did the game developers and story writers mentions the MC as a specific gender like the other romance games. Heck, most of the characters don’t even use a gender-specific pronoun such as 彼女 (“kanojo” = she) or  彼 (“kare” = he) when referring to the MC. They usually refer to the MC by their given position, 監督生 ( “kantokusei”  = prefect). The only exception is when the game’s mascot and MC’s buddy, Grim (the blue-fire monster), who uses あいつ ( “aitsu”) which is a gender neutral pronoun that holds the vague meaning of “that one” or “that person”. There’s also the fact that the MC’s default name is ユウ (“Yuu”), which is name used by either genders in Japan and how the MC uses gender neutral pronouns when regarding themselves  as 自分 (“jibun”) and others as 貴方/あなた (“anata”).

Even during the official advertisement, official summary, official game archive book ( i.e., Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives), and posts made by the staff on twitter, not once did they specify the gender of the MC. In fact, they never once even specified the gender of the audience they’re targeting the game towards nor say anything about there being romance or any hints of harem-esque situations that involves the MC in any shape or form. The most “direct” statement made by Twisted Wonderland’s staff was from an email a fellow Twisted Wonderland fan had sent to the staff after a magazine had advertised the game as “Disney’s first game for women”. The email from the staff mentions that they wanted the game to be enjoyed by everyone, REGARDLESS OF GENDER. (link to said post here)

If they had any intentions of making the game otome-like or dating sim-like, Aniplex, Disney, and Twisted Wonderland staff would’ve mentioned that the game has romance or the possibility for there being romance when releasing the story summary, game system set up, and their ads. Not only would they have done that to get the audience they wish to target but speaking of it legally, they are required to mention it since there’s liability on their part on informing their customers on anything they need to know in regard to the game they’re playing. Age restrictions, fees, game play, and the like – Twisted Wonderland also had to go through the same process like any other visual novel games to be developed and released.

In a way, Twisted Wonderland can be seen as another Touken Ranbu or KanColle, but with an actual main story plot to progress through. All three games’ MCs are gender ambiguous, great characters to throw-er-spend money on, and have fun game plays. Sure, unlike Touken Ranbu and KanColle, where their MCs continues to be gender ambiguous in their anime and manga adaptation, Twisted Wonderland’s MC in the manga adaptation ended up being male – however, a statement was released by Yana revealed that the MC in the game and the MC for the manga are not the same people. (Link here) Meaning, the “real” or “official” MC’s gender continues to be gender ambiguous for the sake of continuing to attract all genders to play the game.

All of this being said, Twisted Wonderland is a fun, visual novel game and supposed to be enjoyed by everyone – each to their own way and passion. No one shouldn’t be discouraged from playing it solely because of false advertisements or misconceptions made by others who haven't played the game yet.

I hope this clears things up and hopefully helps others persuade people into playing the game!