#her name is 'arcana' while i was playing the game and it still is but i shorten it for the sake of fanfic

[bingusbongu]

Julian from the Arcana. With an academic/noble reader

Like they meet at some point in the castle and the reader is in the library or some shit

-🖋

A/N: so sorry this is short, i havent played the Arcana in SUCH a long time, but i remember Julian being my favorite. He was so goofy silly and my favorite route! But, as an fyi, im slowly burning myself out, so if i dont update everyday dont come after me for it. Also, since i havent played this game in a long while, i may have the story wrong, let me know if i do so i can fix it, thanks! Again, supper short, to tired to do a bunch

Readers lines are in pink, but they are Gender neutral!!!!

《Masterlist》

《Rules》

Julian x Noble! Reader

• Julian HAD to have snuck into the castle if he were to meet you for the first time. After all, he is a wanted criminal, depending on when he meets your character

• maybe he was looking for more clues about what happened to the king or left something of his behind in his studies, which brought him to the library. He still had a key that Portia gave him, who he told her he lost it so he could come and go as he pleased, as long as he dosnt get caught that is.

• what he didnt expect was to actually find someone in the library. The library that has been out of use for auch a long time. That someone would actually be in it to begin with. He only thought that he and his sister had the keys... maybe Nadia, too.

• he stopped at the door to study you, just staring at you. How neat and beautiful your clothes were, and how stylish you seemed, with your jewelry and established posture. You must had been an guest at the castle, or a friend of Nadias to be looking so upper class and being allowed in the library.

"Its rude to stare, you know?"

Your voice caught him off gaurd, he must have been staring at you for you to notice. Even with your book in hand, you looked up at him with an unimpressed look as he fumbled over his words for an answer.

"Well.... i uh... didnt expect to find anyone taking of intrest of these old books" he would recover himself, trying to put on his best grin to make him not seem suspicious.

You would roll your eyes at him and continue reading as he stood there awkwardly. Until clearing his throat, picking out a completely random book and pulled up a chair to talk to you, which you responded, despite being intrested in your book, to his questions.

The two pf you chatted, and when he told you his name, you already knew who he was, which astounded him. But, instead of alerting the guards, you just sat there quietly while reading your book. Flipping through it withiut a care in the world as Julian freaked out you were going to call someone.

You just sat there reading, without a care that an alleged and wanted criminal was right next to you, but you liked your book more anyway. Just shrugging at him whem he asked

So, instead, he sat there and talked to you while you responded back to him. Him learning of your nobility abd why you were in the castle to begin with. One of the most engaging talks he ever had that wasnt with his sister that was scolding him.

You had to leave at some point to go help Nadia, leaving Julian alone with his thoughts and old desk.

• now, Julian couldnt stop thinking of you. So, now at the same time every day, he would sneak into the library in hopes to find you, and of course, there you were. Reading the same or a different book in your lap.

Julian would stride in to talk to you. Greeting you with a smile and sitting down to talk to you about lord knows what. Even occasionally throwing flirts at you just to get you to look up at him from youf book.

His visits became frequent, despite them being a secret, he still somehow managed to meet in the library at the same exact time as you

• he definitely tries to get you to laugh by using rich people humor, which hardly gets a crack out of you, unless he actually says something funny or gets flustered

• at first it was just library visits. Then when Julian could go out without hiding, youd have him show you around the town, incase if you are new or just never got out long enough to see it all.

• makes stupid jokes about how he would throw himself in a mud pile to keep you from stepping in it to get you to roll your eyes chuckle at him

• always claims to be your night in shining armor when out and about, declairing he would protect you. Only to jump at the sight of a mouse skittering along the floor

• tries to learn upper class flirting to use on you. If he dosnt flirt enough now, just wait tell he adds in royalty

• you find it stupid, but Julian is stupid enough to make kt work.

• if you buy him anything he us intrested in he would try and decline as he litterly is screaming inside

• alittle bit nervous that he was a citizen and not a royal you shoukd end up with. Makes him paranoid that he is to poor for you to love/like him

• attending jis silly little plays makes him brighten up when he sees you

• def jokes about joining the royal gaurd just so he could spend more tims with you

• he liked it, after all

[tyrantisterror]

Wizard School Mysteries: Book 1 Side Characters

Ok I'm 90% sure I've shared all of these sketches before but for funsies, let's look at some of the minor characters from book 1 of Wizard School Mysteries.

We'll start with the four elemental experts of the AAAM's teaching staff. While I generally use the four humors theory as, like, a surface level detail for my students, I tried to make the four teachers who specialize in the elements really live up to it, witch each teacher sporting the personality traits associated with the humor that corresponds to their elements. Lymf Splenik is a sadsack melancholic, Sulfrous Bladgal is cantankerous as befitting a choleric, Arturiel Haemoglobe is free-spirited and sanguine, and Mewcosa Glycocet is sweet but extremely emotional, as a phlegmatic should be.

Their names, of course, play on this too. Mewcosa is a play on Mucus, Sulfrous's last name, Bladgal, is a corruption of "Gall bladder," which makes yellow bile, Artery = Arturiel and Hemoglobin = Haemoglobe, and Lymf = lymph nodes while spenik is a corruption of "spleen," which makes black bile.

Professor Alys Evelina, teacher of Sorcery Studies, ends up serving as a secondary antagonist for books 1 and 2. Given how wild I went with making a lot of these side wizards explicitly monstrous, I decided to make Alys look excessively normal, even attractive, to not play into the "ugly = evil" trope. Don't read too much into the Alice in Wonderland motiff - while Alys and Alice both share a general disdain for things that are don't make sense to them, Alice Liddel is a much more likable character.

We don't get to see much of Alys's rival, Broomhilda Siegfried, but I still wanted to put some effort into her design anyway. She's meant to visually contrast Alys in the ways that Conjuration contrasts to Sorcery - notably, she's a lot shorter and hides her face, to go with the fact that Conjurers are kind of looked down upon by sorcerers. She's not keen on how her magic is viewed as the "lesser" of the two main ways to be a wizard.

They might not all get named, but we do see a lot of the non-educator staff in the first two books as well. Astrae Bygonn, the bugbear who runs the AAAM's Lost and Found, plays a pretty important role for how little screen time he gets. Esmer the gargoyle is named, while Quasi and Modo go uncredited in their roles as the two gargoyles working the school dance that starts the climax of Book 1. I think Ralda might only have showed up in book 2, but what the hell let's include her here anyway. And of course the janitorial homunculi are always on the fringers, being gloppy, helpful little guys maintaining all the school's functions.

Though they don't feature heavily in the story, both Ambrosio Medina (the alchemy professor) and Curdletongue (the prophecy professor) have named cameos in book 1, and they'll have slightly more important roles later on. Ambrosio is specifically meant to resemble Vincent Price, as I wanted him to have that charming yet slimy quality to him that Price so often brought to his roles.

I wanted the school to feel full, so I had my friends in the writers workshop discord I'm in pitch loose concepts for wizard students so I could have, like, a few dozen to pick from whenever I needed a background extra. Eventually we sorted them all loosely into the minor arcana of Tarot, and then expanded it to include some of the arcana from Minchiate, a card game very similar to Tarot that might be a parody of it? We were having fun making wizard students, what can I say.

Mugre Repellus was pitched by @bugcthulhu while Bartholomew Crawson was pitched by @dragonzzilla, and both of them went the extra mile to do some concept art too, which I adapted into these designs. They were two of the earliest spare wizard students we made, and we grew a bit attached to them - and since they both had claws on their arms, they were unofficially named "the claw gang" despite only having two members. Then, because it was fun, I made Shere Statchell to be their third member, the Jessie to their Team Rocket, and the Claw Gang became a sort of quirky trio who we kept making fun side stories for while working on the rest of the Spare Wizard Kids.

The joke was fun enough to keep going, to the point where I've made them recurring background extras and cameo characters in the series. What can I say, I love the Claw Gang.

Of course, another reason I needed a big ol' bucket of Spare Wizard students is that this is a mystery series, and mysteries need victims. I warned all my friends sending me pitches not to get too attached, because some of these kids were gonna die.

I'm a firm believer that a character's death should serve a purpose, though. You can kill a random one-off character for a gag, but if a character actually has, like, stuff going on, their death should have some weight to it. And book 2 needed at least one death that we felt - a side character who we liked enough to be sad to see go.

I picked Gabriev because his concept pitch - a wizard who also wants to be a chivalric knight - felt easy to make likable very quickly. Possibly a bit of personal bias - I'm a suck for knights in shining armor - but all you really need to do is make him nice and profess his desire to be a hero who goes out and does good, and suddenly that untimely death he's facing seems tragic.

Buuuut, if you do that too hurriedly, it'll be obvious he's set up to die - akin to having an old character say "I'm two days away from retirement" in a monster movie. Gabriev had to be seeded subtly, so audiences think he might have a future ahead of him.

So I put him in book 1, as a nice but not terribly prominent background extra in one of the main classes the kids attend in it, so readers might remember him and assume he's just a recurring extra like the Claw Gang. Ain't I devious?

Gabriev Zelgad's design and name is another Slayers reference. His armor is based on Gourry Gabriev (who is also obviously the source of his first name), and his last name is just another Slayers character, Zelgadis, without the "is." Like Gourry, he's a beautiful blond young man who's a bit of a ditz, and like Zelgadis, he suffers horribly tragedy.

Before I started the Spare Wizard Student project, I made a handful of supporting cast wizard students based on alternative names for various Major Arcana cards. Liam O'Sullivan here is based on The Lust, which is what Aleister Crowley renamed The Strength to in his Tarot deck, because of course he would, the horny old bastard. I initially didn't want to use that as a prompt because, like, what the fuck would that character end up being, WSM's take on Mineta? But then one of my friends joked I could just make him another take of the running gag I have in my TTRPG campaigns of introducing side characters who are deeply unflattering caricatures of myself that inexplicably end up in relationships with hot, terrifying goth women, and I smiled wickedly and said, "Oh you dumb bastard, that's canon now."

...which ended up being a godsend, because it gave me a way to introduce The Queen of Night, a minor character who's nonetheless important to book 1's mystery, as romancing her is the goal of the true antagonist. Sometimes torturing a specific part of your audience accidentally leads to a useful story beat.

Mr. Mackers is another minor fairy character who I wanted to use to show that Midgaheim does not work on the "Seelies = good fairies and Unseelies = bad fairies" trope, and also that it doesn't follow the "all fairies are explicitly evil eldritch horrors" trope that's becoming increasingly common as a "more true to the myths" approach. The mythic Nuckelavee is explicitly evil, to be fair, but not all fairies are, and I figured taking a fairy that's popular in internet culture for being so damn creepy and monstrous and having it be a relatively nice guy was a good way to subvert the modern expectations of what fairies should be - and try and stay true to the general mythological approach to fairies, which is that fairies are complex, not just good or evil.

Finally, we have good ol' Lornwig Kayjay, no relation to any children's book authors who decided to be figureheads for hategroups that specifically bully trans people. My rough concept for Lornwig was "that kid you get in at least one college class a semester who deliberately antagonizes the professor and every other student in class," because dear god you always get at least one class with a That Kid in it. The worst I ever endured was my class on Environmental Studies, because we had THREE That Kids in there. My second worst was the graduate class I took on Medieval Literature About Hell, because despite my best efforts, I was the That Kid of that class. It's a weird phenomenon.

As pre-writing chugged along and a certain children's book author became more prominently deranged, I decided Lornwig could get some theming outside of her role as a That Kid. And, you know, she's not the only That Kid I have planned. There's different flavors of That Kid, you know.

While Lornwig's role as a minor antagonist doesn't leave a lot of room for depth, I tried to give her a consistent philosophy behind her douchebaggery. She likes order and categorization, and things fitting into neat and tidy groups that you can sort into "Good" and "Bad" categories. That's a very human mindset - not a good one, but a very human one nonetheless. And she lives in a world of dangerous magical monsters, she does have some reasons to be scared and paranoid.

But mostly, she's That Kid.

Next time: minor characters of book 2!

[crystallizsch]

HI HI!! Welcome to this blog!! Hope you enjoy looking around 💖 |✧| ian (or "crystal" from my user if you prefer!) |✧| she/her |✧| 20yrs

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asks/dms ~☆

Asks/DMs are always OPEN! In both cases, all I ask is to be patient with me (as I can take forever to respond ;;;) and also be respectful/mindful!! Otherwise, I love to chat with people 💖

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💌: Also, I don’t do OC interactions/requests anymore unless we’re friends/mutuals or I specifically asked for it, sorry! 😭🙏 (suggestions/ideas are not the same as requests just to clarify!)

[randomkposts]

How would a female Minato (from persona) be? Do you think she will be recieved well?

Sorry for the wait.

I had a lot of thoughts on self insert protagonists and self inserts  to work through first. It got long, but I hope you enjoy!

Most Persona protagonists, and Megaten protagonists in general, are harder to map out in personality, because of the self insert nature of them. You can infer things about their personality based on the options and dialogue choices given to you, and the comments other people make about them, but with the choice in the players hands, each variant is going to be different. 

You can play the game working to max all the social links, some, or even none, while also boosting your social stats and exploring Tartarus. You can beat the game while characterizing the protagonist as someone who does nothing with their their time but karaoke and exploring Tartarus, and is grouchily dragged to the occasional social event whereupon they act like an asshole. Regardless of how you play the game and spend their year, they are given an opportunity to save the world.  They still choose at the beginning of the game to use the evoker when in danger. 

No player can take that away from them.

They also still have their backstory. 

Their parents died in a fight between Aigis and Ryouji, and an aspect of death was sealed within them. From there they lived with relatives until they were sent to high school. How happy they were with their relatives is up to headcanon, but considering there is no sign of contact to or from them within the game, I will assume that the connection between them is one based on obligation not affection.

Additionally, with portable we do have a female protagonist for Persona 3, FemC. Kotone. Minako. Hamuko. Whichever name for her you prefer, she is the P3 female protagonist, and should not be ignored when considering this question. After all, while they have differences in their personalities, they share the same backstory. I would say, they handled their grief differently, and part of that may be from differences in gender and socialization. 

They have different personalities too. MC/Minito has a quieter nature, where FemC seems to be more comfortable in social situations. Of course, they both seem to do their best socializing during one on one conversations for social links, a part of which is the nature of a self insert, their not exactly going to be starting the latest rumor, and you the player are left to imagine what they would be talking about. 

Still, for them to work in a game like Persona, they can't be all left to the player like a Sim. No. They are a wildcard, someone who is able to switch their social mask to match the situation or person they are interacting with. Their Persona.

Let's backstep a bit to the older games where party members could all summon more than one Persona. Back then, characters had affinities for different types of Masks, based on what they were comfortable showing the world. They could use most types of masks with good affinity, a few with Best Affinity, and a few with Bad or Worst. What tarots they have best and bad affinities with tell you things about their personalities. In fact, I would say that their bad and worst affinities may be in reverse, which have a different meaning from upright readings. 

Back on point, Maki and Yukino share opposite affinities for their best and bad Arcana, with Maki being best at Priestess, and worst at Empress, and Yukino being best at Empress and worst at Priestess. They are also the only two characters in the first game with a good affinity for Death arcana, with everyone else Except Reiji being Bad at it. (Reiji is Best for Death Tarot in the games). They are also driving forces behind their respective game routes, and can never be in the same party.

Reiji, as the hardest character to recruit in game, is also on a journey of his own, unless you get the requirements that allow him to open to the possibility of having a journey as friends. In fact Reiji has different strength and worst affinities to every party member, with the exception of Fortune which every party member has a best affinity for, and Moon which the males in the party have the best affinity for. Must just be that kind of time in their lives for all of them. 90s highschool. 

Between tarots, birthday, initial persona, and blood type, we could look a lot into unsaid but present aspects of each characters personality.(If you want to learn what P3 protagonists blood type says about them, check out my post on Ketsuki-gata , they are bloodtype O.

In later games, they have simplified that by bringing the non player characters down to one arcana, and giving the protagonist nothing, expecting you to fill in the blanks. You are the fool on a journey, and thus filled with infinite potential, unlike everyone else who are more fixed in their presentation.  They too are on their journeys, and perhaps their arcana is a reflection of who they are to the protagonist, and where they are in their personal journey. 

Or maybe, alternatively, who the protagonist is to them. What mask does the Protagonist wear when interacting with them? Is the protagonist being the the face they need in their life to move to the next arcana in their journey, and that's why wearing the arcana mask they have gets more points in an interaction? Or are they being that face for the protagonist, the lesson they need. Perhaps it is both. 

After all, we do have differing characters in our social links between the male and female protagonists in P3. Not a whole cast change, but they come across different people in their journeys, in contrast to P4 protagonist who can get different people for their links based on choices of club.  And then there are party members Akihiko and Shinjiro, who have different Arcanas depending on the gender of the route you take. 

This change is interesting, as none of the other cast members shift in perception. In fact, they are the last characters to have multiple arcana affinities in the series to date. And the original P3 had all of the characters capable of using personas come before 13 (Death) in the tarot. 0 the fool (protag), 1 the magician (Junpai), all the way to 12 the hanged man (Chidori).

In a Male route for Persona 3, Akihiko is the Emperor, and in a female route he is the star. Shinjiro meanwhile represents the Hierophant for a male, and the Moon for a female.

To try to keep this bit short (I have plans to go into more details about them in the future), the Emperor is symbolic of leadership, power, authority, influance, the father card lol. The star is a card of healing. It is a renewal of spirit, calmness, serenity, a positive outlook for the future. Basically one of the most positive cards in the deck.

The Hierophant is a teacher. In contrast to the high priestess who is mystery, intuition, and the unconscious, the Hierophant is traditionally based in education, righteousness, orthodoxy, sacred, and morals. The moon is probably the one of most complicated card in the deck, and holds meanings related to deception, and hidden aspects of life.

This indicates that the protagonists view and interact differently with Akihiko and Shinji based on gender and beliefs or vice versa. Probably a mix of both. For her, or perhaps to her Akihiko and Shinjiro were the star and the moon, even though their tarot journey still otherwise in life has them as Emperor and Hierophant.

That offers interesting things to speculate about. Some other post, or perhaps later in this one, I will get back to it. Lets talk about the Fool card.

For keywords" an upright fool is about new beginnings, freedom, innocence, idealism, freedom, adventure, and spontaneity. Its reversed keywords are gullible, reckless, careless, distracted, naive, foolish, stale, and dull. Its the card of infinite potential, a blank slate. Upright, it is a card of optimism, a new journey full of opportunities. The fool walks forward untroubled by the possible dangers ahead. They are willing to take risks off of intuition, expand their horizons, and generally, take that leap of faith. "

The bulk of Persona 3 is aptly called the journey, and it is about the P3 protagonist learning the lessons of the Tarot. There are reasons some social links are locked behind the progression of some other social links, and that is about the protagonist learning the lessons from the other arcana before they are ready to learn the lessons of other arcana. And perhaps ready to give the lesson that particular social link needs too.

I don't think I've seen a fic soley about the different masks of the any of the protagonists. Being a wildcard, they are good with all affinities, but being everything sounds intense. 

"The reversed fool is about living in the moment, not planning for the future and disregarding the consequences of their actions. "

Which is what happens if you pick the bad endings. By giving up their memories in favor of ignorant happiness, you are choosing for them to live in the moment, giving up any potential of a future for their world to have a future, and whats more they give up everyone elses chance with that choice. 

The other post P3 endings carry the themes of reversed fool, but I think it is strongest shown in P3.

In contrast giving up their life to save the world, gives them The World arcana. 

"The world upright is about assured success, immigration, voyage, change of pace, flight. Reversed it is about Inertia, fixidity , stagnation, permanance. It is an ending to a cycle, a pause before the next journey begins with the fool. 

“

To encounter the world in your cards is to encounter great unity and wholeness. It symbolizes the moment when the inner and other worlds, self and other, become a single entity. It is about reaching enlightenment. Nirvana. There is a recognition that the individual self is profoundly linked with all other things, and we are all dancing and sway along the flow of life to one rhythm. Not only do you hear this rhythm, but you participate in it - following the dips and the rises, the joys and the sorrows. 

The meaning of the World card is fulfillment, achievement, and completion. This shows that all the efforts that you have been putting in place are starting to pay off. It reflects that you have completed a major milestone in your life and you have built the resilience to withstand challenges. The World may indicate completion of a long-term project, study or any other major event in your life. It may also mean the birth of a child, marriage, graduation or any other thing that you have accomplished.

The World card shows that you have a desire to give back to the community in various ways. You have a commitment to make the world a better place because you understand that everything is connected. “

Reversed, the world is “You are drawing near to something that marks the end of a journey or an era. You may have many accomplishments that have lined your path, but there is a strange emptiness that fills you when you look backwards upon it, as if you have all the pieces but they are not coming together. What is missing? Do you feel connected to what you're doing? Do you feel connected to others? What alienates you from feeling complete? From feeling whole?”

It's up to you the player to decide which aspect of The World you feel upon ending the game, but for what my opinion is worth, I am inclined to feel that the P3 protagonist is satisfied with their overall journey on the whole. 

The movie took the male protagonist on an interesting journey with that, starting with him being apathetic and blunt. He manifests his trauma over his parents death by shitting out the world, and having little interest in many things including a sense of self preservation. He mostly joined cause, what else is he going to be getting up to at midnight? He breaks out of his aloofness whenever his friends are in danger, as dammit he does not want to witness another tragic ending. He comes to care more about his life and bonds over the course of the movies which impacts his abilities to fight, as “holy shit guys! This is dangrous!” Over the course of the movies, his arc is about learning to live again, instead of just surviving the day to day. 

In game Protagonist is aloof, introverted, cool headed and talented. We know he uses proper grammar and tends to wander around for chats. He has good instincts, a preference for black comedy, and shares some catchphrases with Squall Leonheart. He likes video games, is at least somewhat sporty, and can play the violin, which implies that his caretakers were probably at least decently well off, as thats not a causal instrument to get into, but a pricy one. In game its easier to get social link rank ups by being enthusiastic, upbeat, kind, supportive and agreeable as you go out of your way to engage with them but as mentioned earlier, you can also go for the pessimistic, morbid, and lonely and barely engage at all. 

If we go by the Q incarnation he's blunt, apathetic, and straight to the point. He has a metabolism people would kill for, cool and quick under pressure situations, and somewhat aloof. He cares though. “

In contrast to MC, FemC is “bubbly, upbeat, chearful, and funny. She has a wider range of humor options including sarcasm, joking tones, and dead seriousness. She is outspoken, blunt, and literal when getting her point across. In contrast to MC who is reserved and concise, she is more outspoken, injecting into conversations where he would remain silent. She's also likelier to resort to violence when provoked, particularly in defense of her friends.

She's seen by her friends in SEES as tough and dependable, as a leader should be. She's also a masker in that while she always seems to be in good spirits, she hides her suffering and burdens. She's also sensitive to criticism. The team worries about her.

She lets her cheerful masks down around Ryouji, her dialogue tones shifting to a more subdued to depressed vibe when answering him.

Like MC she has an insane metabolism, and unlike him she seems more possessive of it, getting mad if swiped without asking.”

(Grabbed from wiki mostly, as they put it nicer then I do at late hours)

That all said, is FemC Minato if Minato was born a girl?

In a lot of ways, yes. Their shared circumstances make them more similar then not. She could be a different universes version of Minato who is female. People go for the direction of having them be siblings. But it is equally likely that she was simply in a different car, and the battle in 1999 went slightly differently. 

Are the differences between them purely gender socialization? 

I would say no. I could see female Minato being an introverted, aloof, and cool headed girl, just as I could see Katone (I guess), being a blunt, bubbly, extroverted boy who is masking his doubts. It probably would  not jive with everyone they meet, and might result in some diffhrent social links. You could speculate played a difference in how they delt with grief, and while that might have played a part in it, ultimately I think the big difference between them is that he is an introvert and she is an extrovert, and while that could be in part to expectations, it's more about social energy. 

Even as a girl, I could still see Minato getting socially exhausted fast and shutting down. Even as a guy I could see Katone socially thriving. 

Ultimately though, as a self insert, you shape how the protagonist interacts with the world, as they are meant to be a mirror you project into. And in P3 the characters gender is not super important. In P5 it would be a more loaded issue as the people of Tokyo would treat Joker differently as a girl with a criminal record, and the palace rulers in particular would have been grosser towards her as a woman. 

But Minato would probably be mostly the same as a girl, save maybe not becoming best buds with Junpei, as I think it would take him longer to respect her, nor does she slot as easily into rival, this quiet firm girl, he doesn't quite know what to do with her for awhile. 

Would she be as well received? Well, I can't say I'm an expert on what an audience wants, particularly a Japanese one, which is where the games target audience is, but I'm leaning towards no, or at least not at the games time of release. I can't think of any introverted, aloof, and coolheaded female protagonists off the top of my head, but tell me in the comments if you can think of any, readers! 

As a neat note, its febuary 29th. Not only is it a leap year, its the day P3 was realesed in The EU in 2008!

[the-blossica-fan]

Greetings!

Actors Au Schneider interacting with Schneider (ehhh just have either her be alive miraculously or this is before she disappears).

What are your headcanons for Sonetto and Schneider for actors AU? Either as a pair or individually is up to you!

Whats the tea between Arcana and Constantine?

Ill guess the seasons for the actors au are the patches, and the mysterious narrators are like the mysterious voices that appear in the beginning of eps. Grandpa and Grandma could be old famous actors (maybe the Grandpa was the narrator in Disco Elysium since Ive heard his voice has been compared to that game) or related someone in the cast!

Hello again, Comrade!

Schneider talking to AU Schneider could probably happen after the storm, a surprising apparition of another - less healthy and tired looking - Schneider was quite a surprise, and naturally both wanted to see each other.

AU Schneider is healthier and more active than Canon Schneider due to their difference in pasts, but still maintains that similar personality trait that characterizes them. This didn't last long, as the others, but Schneider was able to leave this alternative universe in peace after knowing her family is safe, even if not in the world she comes from.

Canon Schneider: Is My Lord alright?

AU Schneider: "My Lord"? You mean Vertin? Yeah, she must be spending time with her girlfriend

Canon Schneider: Girlfriend? Is she dating Sonetto?

AU Schneider: Nah, Sonetto is dating me

Canon Schneider: What?

As for Sonetto and Schneider, it's not that long of a story actually.

Sonetto used to study with Vertin and Mesmer Jr in the same class and held nearly the same activities, when it comes to filming, she's quite camera shy.

One of the most extroverted ones is Schneider so she always ended up helping Sonetto during scenes, trying to get her to crack open that shell. One would say they're complete opposites, which is why they somehow attracted each other.

They're not dating per say, it's that stage where they both know but haven't been able to give that step further, either for outside reasons or simple nervousness.

Sonetto is definitely more shy than in the series, though she does develop alongside her character. This is her first time actually acting, unlike some of her classmates (Matilda is pretty experienced in this field due to her family name but ofc, they're just acquaintances) and she's very, very nervous, which prompts her to often make mistakes

Meanwhile Schneider is not necessarily new but she's not been in the filming industry for long, she's slightly older than Sonetto after all. She knows some stuff and decides to help a fellow.

Gotta say, Sonetto did have a crush on Vertin a while back

How do I explain Constantine's and Arcana's relationship... It's complicated.

They're friends and have been for a while, they were one of the first members to be cast and have had enough time to connect. And by friends I mean frenemies who got it for each other but will not admit it.

They're their biggest supporter and hater at the same time. Saying they're enemies is getting rid of every friendly interaction they had, saying they're friends is a bit too little but saying they're lovers is quite the lie.

It's... Complicated.

Smoker grandpa and Sarcastic grandma ate quite a famous couple the directors had to beg for them to give their voices for the series. They're married and have children who are older than half of the cast, who already have children, they are grandparents after all. None of their children actually act on R1999, they truly enjoy the series but only they are a part of it

The narration happens at the start of a chapter or during a change of scene, offering more information on the background of the characters and current situation. The narrators also have a part to play on separate projects (Like Three Doors, for example) but they gain relevance as a storyteller for the series.

[that-house]

hi james! I'm currently putting together the first d&d campaign I'll be dming for, and I was hoping for some advice. Specifically, I'd like to know how much you'd suggest preparing in advance (is there a minimum amount of preparation that helps things run smoothly? is there a level of detail/specificity where it starts hindering your ability to improvise, or just isn't useful? I'm sure this varies some based on personal preference and style but I'd still like to hear your thoughts) but any other advice/suggestions/recommendations would also be much appreciated <3

well, part of it depends on the sort of game you're looking to run. i've run two major high-effort D&D campaigns, and they were both very different structurally.

the first game was very plot-driven, with the players getting missions from the crown. my players were pretty new, and it had been a while since I'd DM'd, so i wanted to do something simple to hold their hands through the introductory period. for that one, i spent a whiiile nailing down what sorta stuff would be happening and what the world was like and all that. i think my main campaign doc wound up being around 90 pages by the time the game went on indefinite hiatus around level 10

for my current game, i wanted to run a proper sandbox campaign, which is a bit more of an undertaking. i started by nailing down a bunch of broad setting details: continents, countries, gods, metaphysics, some major historical events. once i had a broad view of Everything, i focused in on the stuff immediately at hand.

i knew they'd be starting off in the Eviscaran Empire, so i filled out an excessive amount of information about its governing structure, demographics, economy, etc.

once i had that framework, the amount of prep i did trailed off RAPIDLY over time. for the first bits of the game, i was writing soooo much for every location and NPC. i haven't put anything down on paper in like three sessions

my number one tip is to prep NPCs in advance but like. not actually

here's how i do NPC prep:

i have a table full of Name, Race, Appearance, and Personality, with blank spots for Location, Profession, and Notes

when i need an NPC, i grab the next empty spot on the table, come up with the sort of person who fits both the appearance/personality and the job i'm putting them in, and play 'em

it's like a little game! the order in which the players do things effects what the NPCs are gonna be like! rugged, suspicious Vin Muvak wound up as a shady ex-con flower seller (fun contrast), and masked, efficient Immaq Qaim ended up being a crime boss (perfect fit)

but yeah here's an example of my session notes

i do take more in-depth notes for like. dungeon crawls and stuff, but a solid 50% of what happens in a given session is totally pulled out of my ass. i just go with what feels right

"oh the wizard wants to investigate this mirror? sure would be funny if it had a Power Word Kill trap"

one of my players asked me what would have happened if they'd sealed the eternally-tortured princess of the summer fey into a spear and then fed that to the paladin's weapon-eating sword and i said "50% chance it frees her from her torment, 50% chance it lets her loose in the material plane" "you'd flip a coin?" "no i would just pick in the moment based on what felt more narratively satisfying"

part of running a sandbox game is just playing fast and loose with prep. it's impossible to predict everything that's going to happen so i just trust myself to come up with solid stuff on the fly. i looooove getting to spitball treatises on magic and history whenever someone reads a book or casts identify or makes a history/religion/arcana check :)

[soft-girl-musings]

8, 18 & 23 for Tamar & Martín? :)

hey i know this is three years late but i'm feeling nostalgic

8: Did they have pets as a child? do they have pets as an adult? do they like animals?

Tamar did not have pets, her family was semi-nomadic and she had other things to worry about. as an adult, she prefers children to animals, although she appreciates how she's safe from enchanting animals when she speaks

Martín found his dog Ciccio (brown and black terrier) on the street when he was a teenager. He still has him, but he's old and fat after living at the Gioia family bakery

18: What's their favorte genre of: books, music, etc.

Tamar loves poetry. she'd be into shakespeare, rumi, and pablo neruda. when she and muriel visit the palace library, they spend hours curled up in the corner, reading poetry as Tamar's magic makes te words come to life.

Martín plays guitar and loves any kind of lively music. he's also a fan of theater (he won't admit it but the dramatic romances are his favorite). man can't sit still long enough to read a book.

23: Do they have a good memory? Short term or long term? Are they good with names? Or faces?

[cries in Arcana apprentice]

Tamar has a decent short term memory, but long term is still cloudy for her. she asks for patience often as her body still adjusts to regaining and retaining memories. her muscle memory is fantastic, though.

Martín is his mother's son and has the memory of a performer. rehearsing lines and blocking scenes are skills that transferred to his life post-Plague. while he's not an avid reader, he has hundreds of recipes memorized. and having an affinity for faces helps with his glimmer magic.

OC ask game

[arcplaysgames]

lots of cartomancy talk in this one

I feel like the only Confidants I have I can work on are Chariot and Death right now, so I actually pulled up a spoiler-free guide to see what I should be prioritizing and I ASSUME THERE IS A CHARM CHECK EARLY ON BC WOW THIS FAQ IS HAVING ME SPEND SO MUCH TIME IN THE BATHHOUSE

can I be a dumb yank for a second and say communal bathhouses are really fascinating to me. I would never be able to attend one until I'm older because I am a happily fat person, but the concept is still really compelling to me. Is it like a public restroom, is it rude to speak to the people around you? Or is it like a hairdresser where you are expected to speak to the people around you? also this thing with the baths having different medicinal qualities on different days, is that a thing because that's really interesting.

I think it interests me because I am a queer who does not drink alcohol, so like... finding comfortable communal spaces is actually very difficult. You can only go to so many coffee shops, yanno.

Does Japan share the trouble that America does, that the places you can be outside your home are all commercial in some way rather than public spaces you're allowed to just go?

This is the kind of thing I think about playing a game like Persona which is trying to evoke a sense of place. There's this moment that I screencapped but now I lost it, where Morgana talks on the train ride about how they like foreign products (like soda and food) because they always feel more effective than stuff from your country. Which, if that is a shared experience in Japan (and everyone in the world, lets be frank) (okay except the UK, I don't uh expect things from the UK to be better) (no not even the tea) (wait i guess the chocolate, yes)

that to me is very interesting.

goddamn i'm fucking rambling.

Ryuji's confidant arc seems to be pretty spot on for a Chariot. He is good at his drive, his forward momentum, the urge to get shit done without always thinking things through. A Chariot is that friend you call in a crisis who will help you get through something so long as they don't have to make big decisions. He gives that vibe that if Reverie broke his legs and wound up bedridden for a while, Ryuji would be there like "hey what you need done" and would do the cleaning and shopping and helping Reverie limp around. THAT'S him.

But like all Chariots, he doesn't have a grip on the reins, which seems to be his broken relationship with the track team. It was that urge to act (goaded by Kamoshida) that cost everyone the team and the resources. He's carrying that around like an anchor pulling the dirt up behind him.

Also he brought me to a special ramen shop in Ogikubo so I think that's literally Harukiya. I even looked up images of inside the shop and they're super similar!

jfc are those the same bowls

Would love to talk to someone on the dev team about the decision to go from, to my understand, 4 games of fake locations inspired by real places to just straight up real places.

Props to Takemi for being actually pretty goth. The casual morbidity with her never stops, which I find interesting.

lmao I love the body language in this game honestly. The way she slouches to get closer and examine Reverie as he drinks more lighter fluid is in of itself good characterization.

Got some details on her which really elucidate the Death arcana assignment. (Fun fact, the Death card is also sometimes just called The Nameless Arcana/The Arcana With No Name.)

She fucked up something at the hospital and has been thrown out of the Tokyo medical community basically, so she operates her solo practice. Now, I'm not sure what the eventual plot here is, but Death can be a card for going through mourning and coming out stronger for it. I would be into seeing something about letting go of the lingering resentment about her expulsion and gaining peace from being the provider to small community that can learn more about her themselves, outside her reputation.

THAT SAID SO FAR IT'S JUST LIGHTER FLUID COCKTAILS, SO WHO KNOWS IF IT'LL BE THAT DEEP.

Meanwhile, lmao, fucking Sojiro. I am getting the feeling I am supposed to be reading him as just an omnidirectional curmudgeon, all bark and less bite. He's going to teach Reverie to work in the coffee shop.

Which reveals him as the Hierophant.

Now, I don't really know if Atlus knows what the fuck the Hierophant is. In P3, the Hierophant link was atrociously written, both on a technical level and the actual sideplot. It had frankly zero connection to the idea of the Hierophant? (it was the Old Couple and the tree, for those who don't recall, I wouldn't blame you for scrubbing it from your minds.)

And I have been really loud about how Dojima should have been the Hermit and the fucking Shrine Fox should have been the Hierophant.

I was assuming Sojiro was Hermit from his early remarks but now I realize that doesn't work with the frequent references to him being a social gadfly with his Hitting The Open Bar On The Lido Deck look. So...

A coffee shop owner for the Hierophant is frankly an interesting concept. He demands exacting behavior from Reverie but also brings him into the fold. A patriarch not of religion but of the cult of coffee, where the secret rituals and knowledge are about beans and tending to customers, that's a humorously apt take on the Hierophant.

When people talk about the Majors, I feel like Emperor and Hierophant get confused/conflated a lot. But the Hierophant is often what people are thinking of. They exert an outsized amount of control, they accept and excommunicate people to keep that control, and they are the keeper of the spiritual rulebook that allows them to have that power. They are the material gatekeeper in contrast to the spiritual gatekeeper of the Priestess. And while the Priestess is motivated to protect people by controlling knowledge, the Hierophant is not only motivated to protect themselves, but they are motivated to protect The Order, The Cult, The Religion, which also protects them.

All this to say: Hierophant of Coffee? Hilarious.

(Also retroactively explains why he's been such a Huge Bitch to Reverie, Hierophants hate everyone who threatens the social order.)

I don't know what it is about Reverie's face but it makes literally every needy dorky statement he says so much better.

ALSO? I WOULD HAVE LOVED MORE VOICE ACTING FOR HIM. Just gimme someone to say the chosen lines. I want some DELIVERY on these absolute bangers.

okay this one has been Hella Long so I'll make a new post for the enxt plot development

[silverott-chevalier]

So at the behest of a couple of friends, I've made this thing for what it's worth.

My name is Cooper Chevalier, and let's just get this out of the way now-- yes, I am, in fact, a Samurott. If you've heard about a Pokemon becoming a Trainer somewhere in the Johto region, that would be me. If you're wondering how or why this is even possible, then I guess I don't mind answering questions, but for now just know that the League had to make a few accommodations for me when I was first starting out and I've managed to take that all the way to the top and become one of the region's champions. Lance is still the guy running the Indigo Plateau, though--I mostly get called on to resolve issues in Kanto-Johto that he'd normally need to step away for. It's a nice little arrangement.

Anyway. I was convinced to make this by a friend in Galar, so I'm hoping this place is as good as they've made it out to be.

I'm also hoping that not having a Rotom won't bite me on the tail later... how the heck did those things become mainstream anyway--

EDIT: Saw a lot of people putting their Pokemon on these, too, and I'm finally sitting down and doing it. I could probably tell you about Shia and Pallas while I'm here but this should show up in the post they reblogged too so I can be lazy.

Anyway, here's my five mainstays-- they've been with me since near the start of my journey.

Mason (Gengar, M): Kind of a shy fella, but he's really loyal. Easily the partner I trust the most, and though I'm a bit sad to admit it, he's definitely gotten me out of a lot of sticky scenarios the painful way... I've been a lot more careful not to let that sort of thing happen since.

Sypha (Ampharos, F): Serious to a fault and speaks to the point. Proud of her power, but aware of her limits, though that doesn't mean she can't throw a mean Thunderbolt.

Juste (Togekiss, M): I raised him from an egg, and he's easily the most optimistic member of my team. He's also my ride around the two regions, usually, so props to him for carrying around a ~220 lb Samurott through the sky, ehehe...

Nora (Umbreon, F): Strong and steadfast, and fiercely devoted to her friends. She's usually serious, but she's got her playful side. Took a bit to warm up to me, though.

Katsuko (Dragonite, F): Hilariously, though I doubt she played any part in her upbringing, Katsuko is like if you took Clair's competitive spirit and put it in a dragon. Most eager to fight out of everyone, and was easily my second ace once she fully evolved.

Feel free to ask about them--I can ask them questions on your behalf if you want me to.

-- OOC BENEATH THE READMORE --

Hey! This is a rotomblr I made using my pokesona after a friend of mine held me at rotarypoint convinced me to try making one. I'm pretty new to this stuff in general, but we'll see how this pans out in the end. I'll be figuring things out as I go for the most part. I'll probably just label my ooc stuff with (ooc) or something of the like. Lemme know if you have any tips, tricks, or whatever that you'd like to share! I'll probably follow you from @kupkastdashboard since I don't have the patience to manually switch over to Cooper's dash anytime I wanna like or rb something--

Also! Any ask memes I rb are technically open forever, since I don't think they deserve to happen just once and then never again. Just be sure to post the question associated with whatever you're referencing so I know what I'm answering! Links to my specific RBs of my favorites are below. I've answered some of these with Cooper, but with Pallas and Shia on the board, they're also open to be asked things. Just specify who you're looking for, otherwise I'll default to Cooper being the subject or pick one of my muses at random if he's already answered something.

Pelipper Mail! (Malice Coming Soon)

Memory Meme (#cooper's memories)

Legendary/Mythical

Thought Bubbles (#cooper's thoughts)

Fossil Ask Game

Headcanon Asks (Answered OOC)

Major Arcana Reversed

Muse In The News

Posts that look directly into Cooper's headspace at any given moment are labeled [#cooper's thoughts], and posts that describe a memory of his that's already happened will be labeled [#cooper's memories]. Neither of these are canonically posted by him, so keep that in mind if you want to make reference to them or leverage them for better or worse!

[takofukkatsumi]

So, a cool story about me and my desperate romantic attempts in Baldur's Gate 3

Warning: this may include spoilers but only for Act 1

Another warning: to say I'm a pro at the whole "romancing game characters" thing is like to say the water is dry. My datesim experience narrows down to The Arcana, and my RPG experience - to The Wild Hunt, so...

My crush initially started to play BG3 like we usually play our games: one of us (mostly him, but not always) plays it and streams it in Discord, and the other watches, comments, has a vote in making choices and so on. But with so many content on the web and watching him play I decided I also want a copy. So I got one, created a character - Veulu, a drow druid - and joined the party about mid-Act 1. Here she is btw (I love her):

While my crush - I'll be saying Tellur, that's what he called his character, cause I don't wanna let out his real name - was trying to romance Lae'zel at first (and then Karlach after we met her), I got into this specifically for Astarion. After learning mild spoilers about his personality and backstory I decided that I NEED this silly sad rat for myself.

But since I've joined too late, I think that some bugs happened. E.g., Tellur (without me yet) found the boar and discovered that Astarion is a vampire; then Veulu discovered it when we met the monster hunter - but neither of us got the bite scene (which I have learned about from a friend, specifically @nadiasna7). The party progressed, I was trying to win approves and do at least something, but nevertheless this was Veulu's rating earlier tonight: neutral, and even a bit lower than Tellur.

It's very strange, but nevermind, said Nadia, I think you should still be able to start a relationship at the tiefling party?

So here comes the tiefling party. I try to talk to Astarion, carefully treading through the dialog... and he slaps me in the face with "Not you, I have standarts".

What the fuck, I say out loud.

I ask Tellur to try - maybe it's gonna be better for the game host who spent more time with him. He chooses other options and fails too.

I'm angry now. I angrily walk around the camp. I angrily flirt with Halsin and angrily kiss Wyll because there's nothing left to lose, right? Then the last of my patience runs out and I ask Tellur to reload. He obliges.

I initiate the dialog again. Tellur mentions that I have more options than he had? Thinking I have nothing to lose, I choose a silly answer.

He flirts back?

I tell him to ask for it??

He says pwease???

Good boy, says Veulu. What the fuck, say I out loud once again.

Did I have to act a prude this whole time or what? What's going on in his silly traumatized pointy-eared head?!

So I got myself a man but I still don't understand how.

Hopefully now it would at least be easier to get his approvals???????

[houndfaker]

I absolutely adore your phantom thief kikuno!!! I'd love to hear more about it, anything you want to share :] (especially the persona I really love the design 👉👈)

uhm well uhm hiiii 😊 THANK U hiii i love being the talker. got a lot to say so it’ll go under da cut

being really frank a lot of it is a heavy wip but the concepts in my brain were clear enough that i wanted to start drawing for it right away. it’s very loose structurally

it’s essentially me pulling shit from the drama cds to do something ultra self indulgent.

she becomes a phantom thief kinda late in the game as my hypothetical palace concept that would get her involved with the thieves in the first place is one that has to do with the kirijo group, placing it just after haru joins the thieves on the timeline; this follows the implicit canon timeline where p5 takes place sometime after p4au. the kirijo group announces it is taking a different direction that has bad consequences and the thieves gotta Stop It (still trying to work the specifics of this out) and they initially think they’ll be happening upon a palace belonging to mitsuru.

surprise, it’s not mitsuru, its takadera (for those who might not recall, he’s the one-off antagonist character in the drama cd kikuno is introduced in, who attempted to take control of the group while mitsuru was grieving) who is back with a vengeance and has something planned that corners mitsuru into working with his demands. they don’t figure out as much until they find him in the palace since he’s not acting as a public figure at the time.

amidst their snooping, ever-observant kikuno catches sight of the thieves and tails them, which of course leads her straight into the metaverse as they get their hits on the new palace that’s sprung up.

kikuno adjusts almost immediately to the absurdity of the situation because it feels just like the dark hour, which she’d experienced nightly for 6 years of her life up until the dark hour disappeared. the metaverse comes off to her as essentially that with a few extra quirks, which isn’t accurate to anyone but herself. upon coming face to face with shadow takadera, much like many of the past thieves, his spiteful raw feelings, especially in reference to mitsuru, trigger kikuno’s awakening.

she takes it like a champ, she’s expected for a long time to eventually awaken, even if after 10 or so years going without one and getting by on her prowess alone had her convinced it might never need to happen. she slots easily into at least temporarily aiding the thieves. kikuno by now has mellowed out a reasonable amount and become more of an individual, but her loyalties haven’t changed. she’ll do anything in the name of protecting her lady, and the shadow operatives by extension.

with the bulk of the lore happenings out of the way, ill leave bullet points for the other stuff

when initially asked what arcana i would assign to kikuno if she were a social link in p3, i proposed hermit because i felt that it well-encapsulated her at the time in her life it would have played out. but for this particular au where she has grown considerably, I think justice would suit her somewhat better.

for designing pierrot i felt something reflecting her role as a personal servant but with a touch of like…jester/clown vibes would be fun, just because i feel it reflects her personality well.

reginald is of course based on reginald jeeves, the quintessential butler character originating from pg wodehouse’s early 1900s literary works. maybe not the perfect choice for a ‘rebellious’ figure, but i couldn’t glean a better fit from my searches, and as soon as i did a little reading i had a very clear image in my head for the persona design and had to go with it. i used inspo from various depictions (the bowler hat and tie in particular), as well as just what Felt Right (the bushy brows and monocle)

i have to do a lot of the work in the way of designing a palace for takadera (hell i have to design takadera in general because he was never given an actual design LOL) but my singular important thought is that there’s a cognitive mitsuru who’s still a child running around, because takadera never stopped viewing her as too immature. kikuno is very protective of her even knowing she’s personified through takaderas mind and spends much of the palace trying to keep her out of the grasp of the shadows.

pierrot is a bit of a silly goofster but with great capacity to be ruthless. this is good enrichment for her because there are a handful of moments in canon that lead me to believe she wants to commit unspeakable violence.

as a member of the thieves despite being in her 20s and the oldest member she doesn’t step out of line Too often but as with anything, if she finds that there is a more beneficial method to something than playing it safe, she’ll go off and decide to do it on her own. unfortunately when it comes to the metaverse, this isn’t always the best option so she’s probably gotten the thieves into hot water before as a result. but she promises to take more heed next time, joker-san. her sincerest apologies.

this is Most of what i have ironed out so far. id like to think more about her dynamics with the individual thieves, as that’s the fun part. thanks for showing so much interest though :]!!

[celestine-witch]

Gonna post this while I'm still proud of it bc the longer I look at anything I draw the less I like it-

Anyway

Meet Sathona the Witch, an OC I’ve made to play as through The Arcana. Yes, her name is a Destiny reference because honestly, I have an unhealthy relationship with that game too.

But… just who is Sathona? Well, as any good “The Arcana” protagonist, she had no idea– memory loss will do that to you.

Perhaps, as she investigates the mysterious death of Count Lucio, masters her magic with Asra, and grows closer to Countess Nadia… well, perhaps the truth will be revealed.

Then again, with so many questions it’s hard to know who you can trust…

[mino-diabolik]

My OC’s from other fandoms and their races

Thanks for the tag @redflower001!

[Admin!Danny: Some of the drawings are very old so sorry for the cringe— (There was no need for the drawings but I added it for fun lmao)

Mystic Tsukinami

(Demon) Founder

Mystic is from the Diabolik Lovers universe, born as a Founder from Shin Tsukinami and another OC, known as DJ. (I have a quite a few OC’s in this fandom, such as Kazuha, Elle, members of the Owl Clan, etc. In fact, this is the fandom in which I have the most OC’s in.)

Deth

(Demon) Sinner

Now we have Deth! (Read his name as the word “death”). He is from the Hazbin Hotel fandom, so of course he’s a demon lmao I’ve shown him in this blog before, but have updated his design since (the image shown; drew that one a few days ago). He died in the late 1700’s and is a mildly famous performer, as it seems his voice is quite hypnotic. I love his character and design very much, specially since he’s very easy to draw lol

Edgar

(Human) Witch

Edgar is my giving-a-face-to-the-player OC for The Arcana. Which means he is Asra’s apprentice—however, I did add certain traits to make him a lone character in the story. While I haven’t done much with him in quite a while, I still very much like him a lot.

Cain

Human

Cain is another giving-a-face-to-the-player OC. From the app “Fictif”, there is a story called Last Legacy. I absolutely loved Sage, which sort of inspired me to make a character for the story. (I really recommend you all to play it. The story is not completed, but the plot is very interesting imo)

Adam

Human

Yet another giving-a-face-to-the-player OC ^^; Adam comes from the Obey Me! universe! He follows mostly the same backstory given to the MC of the game, which is being a descent of Lilith (if you know the Obey Me! lore, you’ll get it lol). One of my favorite details that I added to his character are the fallen angel birthmarks on his shoulder blades.

Ash/Asher

Human

Haha… another giving-a-face-to-the-player OC ^^; Ash is from the Mystic Messenger universe! She’s not all that developed, but she came to be after I played Seven’s route. Her latest pairing is Saeran tho—

[lonely-shine]

Alnair 🌂🧠 Atlas 🍎🎯 Shell 🎓🍀 Ebis ✨🥊🎯 Marcus 🌂

Thanks for all the questions!! :D Let's see...

*Alnair

🌂 - What genre do they belong in? Fantasy! She's an Arcana game OC, so fantasy all the way in.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC? They're the perfect mashup of self-insert to project into and character of its own to explore paths I myself would personally not walk through. I also love how she lets me rewrite canon events however I want xD

*Atlas

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like? In short, pretty good! Atlas has two moms, Naith (they/them) and Irdred (she/her) (and the auntcle/biological father, Laith (she/he/they)) and loves them very much. Atlas picked many interests from them (art, gardening, etc), specially from Naith. And athough he travels far and often (he picked that from Laith), he still keeps in touch regularly and visits home once in a while.

...wow, me giving a character a perfectly healthy background/family. This is rare to happen. Quick, make a wish!

🎯 -What do they do best? All things plants. In magic? That means potions, charms, etc. In daily life? You got him gardening, cooking, brewing tea... If it involves working with plants one way or another, he has you covered.

*Shell

🎓 - How long have you had the OC? I wanna say May 2021? *goes check* Yeah, I posted about her in June 2021 for the first time, so maybe I had her for like. maybe a month before that. Which means I had her for almost three years already? And she's still so little developed? Gods. In my defence I don't choose what my brain fixates on and also my life went to shit in late 2021 and kept like that for two years, so yeah. I want to take better care of my OCs and stories now tho ^^

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC? At first I just needed someone to comfortably play Asra's and Julian's routes with because it didn't quite work with either Alnair nor Atlas. Then I started wondering if it was possible to have one character that fitted all six Arcana routes. So I gave her an angsty backstory by which her identity was stripped and to be reshaped by the route she takes, gave her the name 'Shell' solely so I could have the play on words "Shell is your name and that's what you shall become" as part of her 'curse', and ta-daa! Yet another OC for the collection was born xD

*Ebis

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name? Okay, bear with me. Ebis is a Submachine OC, loosely based on the Player. And I say 'loosely' because there isn't really any information about Player to base Ebis on. Anyway, in one of the games you get out a padded room and there's the patient number 2183. Which, in digital clock numbers, if mirrored, kinda read like 'Ebis' if you squint hard enough. That's the logic Ebis follows to choose her name, since she wakes up without memories and it's easier to think of herself as 'Ebis' than a 4 digit number anyway.

Maybe it's a dumb way to decide for a name but if it works it works.

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do? She loves tinkering away with computer software, which is good for her because she makes a job out of it post-canon (I have not written about that, but it exists in my head), and also numeric games for when she wants to scratch that brain itch without dealing with the inevitable bugs. She also loves gardening and not only that but needs to get her hands into the dirt and feel the sun on her face regularly for optimal mental stability. As for hating... I can only think of anything that would involve her going underground? Trauma related thing, after Submachine she's had enough underground for the rest of her life. Otherwise I don't know, I haven't given much thought to it. Oh! But she's incapable of sitting still and doing nothing, if that counts.

🎯 -What do they do best? She's very good at computers and programming... and the less socially accepted side of it as well (by which I mean she knows how to hack stuff, but she doesn't do that post-canon, and in-canon she does by necessity).

*Marcus

🌂 - What genre do they belong in? As the other Submachine OC I guess sci-fi/fantasy? Adventure? There's some post-apocalypse vibes to much of the game as well. Post-canon this would turn to the fluffy slice-of-life this poor tired man (and Ebis as well) deserves.

And that's all!! I believe I have talked enough for the day, thank you so much for the questions, they made my day :D

[637lemonbelle637]

Asra and my character (Short idea I had)

So as some people may know. I'm entering my "The Arcana" phase again and I was thinking of stories that I could write for fun. I thought of this idea. So I'm still using an oc of mine but it isn't the main oc that I use for when I play the actual game. In this world the apprentice for Asra and already dead and he is grieving very sadly.

I also just found out that Asra is my birthday twin!!! So yay!

(Read this while imagining sad piano music and rain in the background. Or just listen to some. It makes it better.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Asra was complacent with many things, always living in the present, fearing the future. But how he desired the passed. To remind his first and only love who they were but knowing the consequence, one he could not bare to go through again.

The bleeding of both his fingers and heart, the pain, the sorrow. Everything would have been for nothing. So selfishly, he coveted their warmth and affections. But in the end, it was unrequited. His love torn apart for the second time. It hurt, half his heart hurt.

Deep violet eyes glazed over the one large wooden bookshelf filled with potions, books, and spells. Each one more grand than the last. Each one with deep value and memory. Some of the items he sold were trinkets he found while in journey's with his first love.

Some were items he found on his own and gifted to them but that were left behind and he couldn't bare to look at them. Everything in the shop reminded him of them. Everything he had done was gone.

Asra stared at the shelf, broken. He heard a sudden jingle of the front door bell as someone entered, snapping him out of his grief. His eyes followed a tall figure of dark complexion. Their skin shimmered like diamond and their hair stretched down to their thighs in long, tight dark brown curls.

A feeling of both power and admiration that radiated off of them. Asra stared in curiosity. It didn't seem like the person was from around the area, since the way they dressed was far different from that of others in Vesuvia. The most apparent item of clothing however was their hat. It was a classical witch hat, dark fabric with what looked like squirrel skulls surrounding the brim.

A long veil cleanly sliced down the front made of red mesh fabric. It covered their face quite well. It added a layer of mystery to them. Clashing with the dark reds and black of their formal attire and heeled boots was a beautiful hummingbird, blues, pinks, reds, and browns covered her feathers.

The customer stared at the shelf of items, intrigued by each one. Admiring the colors, shapes, and sizes of them. Asra watched at how they scanned the merchandise with a blatant fascination for their history. The hat the customer was wearing was not one Asra was accustomed with.

Those kinds of hats never really found themselves on that side of the city. Asra approached them with measured footsteps, his eyes on the hummingbird perched on their shoulder. He didn't bother to hide his own intrigue.

The sun had gone fully down by this point, the air beginning to chill. "Hello traveler. I'm Asra. It's rare to see shoppers at night." Asra smiled, tilting his head down as he waited for the other to speak. The traveler turned their head towards the magician. Their stare was cold and their grin as a touch of evil in it. "Well, I am an owl."

The hummingbird on their should began to flap her wings rapidly, flying around the shop seeming just as fascinated in the items on the shelves as the traveler was. "Your creature. She's beautiful. Is she a familiar?" Asra asked, intrigued by the tiny creature.

"Yes. She's my familiar. Her name is Amarante but for short, Amia."

Their voice was deep with the slight hint of an accent. Soothing yet chilling to the bone. Asra admired Amia once more, though this time with more caution. The hummingbird had a sense of regality about her, but combined with the figures sinister smile, he couldn't help but wonder if it was something deeper or perhaps, darker.

His curiosity peeked again when he asked another question. "What's her role as your familiar?" Asra asked, leaning on the wall directly next to the shelf of goods being sold. The other seemed pleased by being asked questions. "Well, she's like my sister. A forever tie between us, like soulmates." They answered, Amia perched herself on their hat enjoying the feeling of being tall.

"And yours?" They pointed to the front counter of the shop. On it was a beautiful light blue and lavender snake, large and resting peacefully. Asra turned his head over to her and folded his arms. "Oh. That is Faust. She's like...My lifeline. Having her with me saved me from many things." Asra stared at her. She coiled up with her head smooshed in the middle of her long body.

"She's a beautiful snake." They nodded and walked over, tilting their head and holding out their finger. Faust's eyes opened and she lifted her head. Her tongue flicked around their finger and after a few seconds, she booped the tip of their finger with her nose.

Amia looked at Faust, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. Faust nosed the travelers finger again before wrapping around their arm playfully. Amia flew over to Faust and stood directly on top of her head.

The two familiars stared at each other, seeming like they were sizing each other up. Faust lunged upwards attempting to grab Amia in her mouth. "Faust, no!" Asra shouted as he ran over to the three, the traveler having no reaction to the situation at all.

Amia was locked in Faust's jaws. Her tiny bird food slammed against Faust's face sending her halfway across the shop. Only then did the traveler react. They grabbed Amia and scolded her for not watching her strength. Asra picked up Faust who slithered into his shirt. He was astonished by the sheer strength of such a tiny bird.

Asra rubbed Faust's head before looking back at Amia and her companion. The traveler opened his mouth and shoved her whole body inside, swallowing her whole and then sighed. Asra stared in disbelief. Such a tiny graceful creature being the familiar of such a tall masculine figure was quite the sight to see. Especially after the tiny bird was swallowed by them.

"I apologize for her. She can be quite the hassle." The bird didn't move beyond that point. Asra wondered what had happened to her. Had she just died? Asra sighed and tilted his head. "Uhm. If I may know. What is your name?"

The traveler smile and then bowed their head, "Volta Eostrothis. Nice to meet your acquaintance." Asra watched them bow in front of him seeming a bit surprised by the level of curtesy. "Eostrothis? I've never heard a last name quite like that before. Where is it from?"

Volta was a bit surprised by the question. "I'm not sure. I never knew where my name came from." Asra nodded. "I see." Asra thought back to the hummingbird companion of Volta. "How long have you and Amia been with each other?" Asra asked, walked over to his circular table with a clean table cloth on top of it, the booths creating a U shape against the wall.

"Well, me and Amia have been together since we were born. We're twins. Born same day, place, and time. I suppose that was what drew us together." Asra sat down on one side of the table as he listened, the fact that the two were twins would explain how their bond was strong enough to be called soulmates.

"You have an intriguing bond with Amia. You must cherish it at all costs. Have you ever been separated from her." Asra asked another question, leaning back against the booth he sat in. "Alas, I have not. Not unwillingly that is. We separate sometimes for errands but that never happens without each other knowing where the other is at all times. We see the other through each others eyes."

Volta explained their bond further and Asra was surprised. He hadn't yet had this thought cross his mind. Having such a close connection with another being that you could see through the eyes of the other and even share thoughts.

The magician looked at Volta with newfound awe but could not stop a tinge of sadness from forming, a stark contrast to the curiosity in his eyes. Asra thought and wondered for a single moment. Has he ever had a bond like that? Or did he have one and lose it? Or maybe worse. Did he have one and never even realize it was there until it was too late?

Asra couldn't bare his own thoughts. His lips trembled as his gaze locked on the floor. Volta looked at him in a sympathetic way. "Something is on your mind Asra. Speak." Volta urged him and sat themselves down on the other side of the table directly across from Asra himself.

Asra hesitated, his mind was a complete mess of his mixed emotions. "I...I had a person whom I was very close to. I believed we were connected in a way words could not explain. It was like they truly knew me. Perhaps like you know Amia."

Asra sighed before continuing. "I lost them one day. For the second time. The first time hurt more than anything I've ever felt. I did everything I could and when I did get them back it felt like the connection we had was severed. The second time, I could do nothing. And it felt like a piece of me died with them."

Asra set his hands on the table, running his thumbs over themselves. "It's difficult, feeling like you lost a piece of your heart rather physically or emotionally or perhaps both. It makes you regret. Hate. Many negative feelings." Volta nodded in understanding. They stared at Asra, their brows furrowing as they watched his lip quiver and heard his voice grow shakier.

"Yes. They often filled my mind after they left. Yet, what I always think about is if I could have done something differently. If I could have tried harder, or if I was too foolish. Too careless." Asra rubbed his eyes and made a deep sigh. it was difficult to speak of such feelings openly; he had always kept his worries to himself. It was a hassle on its own to even get him to say he was uncomfortable.

It made him feel foolish that he had bottled up to much reoccurring pain that he had to confide in a stranger. But he didn't know what to do or feel, feeling that lovely blue snake of his snuggling up in his lap.

"Was this person, a friend? A lover perhaps?" Volta asked in a quiet voice. Not too demanding but not to careless. They held their hands just inches away from Asra's own. Asra took in another breath before speaking again.

"They were like my twin flame. We were more than friends. We shared the same soul, our thoughts always intertwined, yet we experienced our own individual feelings and lives." Asra paused before starting again.

"Some would call it a romantic connection. But to me it was so much more than that. They helped me grow as a person and helped me learn to love and thrive. They taught me magic and emotion. Warmth and taught me what it was like to have a home. But when I lost them, it felt like everything had become tainted again."

Asra thought of the many memories he had with his first love. The days he would come back to the shop tired out of his mind and a warm cup of coco would already be made for him. The time's they would stay up late into the night and Asra would tell them endless stories of his travels. The look in their eyes as they listened to his tales always brought him pure joy every morning and every night.

"They sound lovely. Connections are a hard thing to both have and loose. In fact, saying their hard is an understatement really. If this person was as close to you as you say then I'm sure that a piece of them is still close to your heart. Rather it's a memory or an item, or merely just a feeling. They're always there. Untainted and pure love is the strongest kind of magic that exists." Volta spoke in a tone that was understanding and sweet. It was as if they truly understood the emotions Asra felt.

Asra sat speechless for a small moment as he let Volta's words sink in. He wanted to believe their words, for their statement carried a kind of wisdom that could only come through experience. Anybody could say the words but he could here the emotion in Volta's voice that spoke words of its own.

His eyes widened when Volta spoke of untainted a pure love being the strongest form of magic. Asra couldn't help but wonder if that was where he made his mistake. Making that god awful deal. That god awful deal that was his last resort. If he hadn't done it he would have lost them the first time but because of that deal he was able to spend at least a little more time with his first love.

"But can love exist without them...without their presence?" He spoke in a soft and sad tone. Feeling lost in his own emotions. Drowning in a pool he had thrown his own body into. "I have tried to hold onto their memory, but time has a way of twisting things." Asra stared at his hands.

Volta tilted their head and sighed. They owned a feeling like that once. The feeling of being helpless and alone in the world after losing someone. Volta let the silence between the two settle before they spoke again. "If you love someone and they leave, pass on, or anything else I know it can feel like you could never let love in your heart again. But when you feel yourself smiling rather it's at a person, joke or item. That is loves first blossom."

Volta sat their back straight against the booth. "The love you feel after you've lost someone only grows stronger. Love after loss only grows stronger. Some people don't allow themselves to love after they've lost and therefore it can seem impossible. But that's what taking a leap of faith is. It's not a jump to another side. It's letting go of the edge, falling, and letting yourself free."

They tilted their head and watched Asra's face closely. Asra's gaze was fixed on the table and Volta could tell he wasn't yet convinced. "But what is I'm scared of that fall? Or of what comes after? "Of the love not being enough to heal the wound?" Asra wondered allowed in the form of questions he asked Volta. One after another, curiosity and fear building up inside him.

He found that he couldn't help but gaze at Volta's face, as they looked at the magician concerned, trying hard to understand his thoughts the best way they could. When Asra finally found his words, he continued to speak.

"Is it not easier to shut out that feeling and lock it away? To be safe? To be protected? Why love once more when you can simply remain the way you are, unchanged?" Asra asked many questions again, needing, wanting, yearning for answers he did not know.

Volta nodded, "That fall is called a leap because it's a big step. It's okay to be afraid, in fact you should be afraid. There will be days where you feel scared, where you hurt, where you cry, and that wound will never truly heal. But when you take that fall and hit the bottom, though the wound won't be gone, it will be faded. It will be painless, and you can look back on it with fond memories."

"Shutting those feelings out will change you. And it wont be for the better. Saying that you'd remain unchanging isn't true. Change happens every second of every day. You cannot ignore that change but you can choose whether that change will be positive or negative. Hiding away never helps anyone thrive. By taking that fall, your letting yourself love again."

Asra was silent as Volta spoke. The words had resonated with him and he could the doubt seeping out of every fiber of his being. He understood but he didn't want to believe. The first small step was admitting it. "I think...I think I've been running away from the edge. Too afraid to let go. But if it means that I'll be able to love again and make them proud, then perhaps it's something I'm willing to do."

Asra looked up at Volta and smiled weakly. His lips still quivered but his smile was genuine. Volta gave a him sweet and comforting look as they saw Asra slowly loosening up. "There it is. The first blossom." Volta gestured to Asra's weak smile.

Asra nodded he head and looked down at Faust who was still cuddled up in his lap. "Thank you for...helping me understand." Asra let out a small yawn and stretched. He felt like he had just finished a therapy session but he had one last question he wanted to ask before he closed up the shop for the rest of the night.

"Volta. Is there anyone you love? Anyone who loves you?" Asra was curious as to how the other knew so much about the situation. Volta had let him ramble about his problems, so he wanted to know if Volta had any of their own.

Volta was a bit surprised by the question, not expecting that to be what Asra wanted to know. Volta then looked down at their hands still pressed on the table and let out a sad sigh. "I'm afraid not. My wounds have not yet faded and my fall has yet to come." They lifted their head to look at Asra. Asra wasn't entirely surprised by this, half expecting it.

He had a feeling Volta was too introspective not to be able to relate to what he'd gone through. Asra stood from his seat and stretched once more once Faust slithered off his lap and into his shirt. He stood in front of Volta with a smile on his face. "Well, then perhaps we will take that fall together? I know I will." Asra glanced down, hoping Volta wasn't offended by the gesture.

Volta simply smiled a warm and delighted smile. One they hadn't done in a long while. "I would like that actually..." They answered. Asra felt a small spark of joy ignite in his half heart within him. He had been alone for quite a while. Wondering when he would be able to move on. Holding to hard onto the past and not letting himself be free of grievance.

But having someone who understood brought him comfort. Asra held his hand out to the other and spoke in a soft voice. "I'm Asra Alnazar. I think we are going to be good friends, Volta."

[coffeeandjournaling]

5 Act Play

A solo journaling RPG  by Kaden Ramstack

Materials

game manual

a journal or other recording method

deck of tarot cards or playing cards

(if you use playing cards) 1d6 and 1d20

Premise

Channel your inner Shakespeare! Using a five-act structure, create your very own tragedy or comedy in the vein of the Bard of Avon: populate your play with colourful characters, give them motives and let them loose on each other. Whether you write a modern love story for the ages or a funny entertaining romp is all up to you.

Mechanics

This game is all about prompts inspiring and guiding you through the writing process of a five-act play (or more precisely: a summary of the same). Prompts are generated by drawing cards from your tarot deck or using the alternative playing cards and dice method. With the tarot deck, you alternate between drawing from the major arcana and suits. While the suits are tied to different motives and prompts depending on your progress throughout the play, the major arcana stand for themselves and need to be interpreted to inspire character creation, key parts of the narrative and ultimately the ending of your play. Sounds complicated? Don’t fret: with each step of the process comes a short but precise explanation of each part of the play as well as an example from a tragedy and a comedy each (”Much ado about nothing” and “Romeo and Juliet” respectively).

Thoughts and Examples from my Playthrough

5 Act Play is a clever little game that can entertain you for a lot of playthroughs. All the instructions are clearly worded and each step carefully thought out to enable you to write an actual play summary in under an hour. The prompts are inspired by Shakespeare’s plays and can serve both tragedies and comedies well, still requiring you to put some effort into interpreting and implementing them into your play. This can be a bit of a challenge sometimes: how do you put a death into your light-hearted comedy? Here, the examples come in extremely handy, as they feel carefully chosen to help you solve this exact problem (a death doesn’t always mean someone has to actually die - nothing is more fun than a fake death and a surprise return at just the right moment).

I hate to say this, but as a teacher I absolutely love the idea of mixing literary knowledge with a fun exercise in writing - this can be as much of a learning tool as it is a genuinely fun game. The layout, the explanations, the examples, the prompts all work together to give you a framework for your play and, almost as if it’s magic, you know what a five-act play is at the end, how it’s structured and how the plot usually progresses. I can also see this being a fun group activity with everyone creating plays individually and then reading them to each other or even crowning the Shakespeare of the day/evening. Basically, the role playing aspect is you being a writer writing a play, and there’s no better way to learn something than to try it out yourself.

Additionally, if you enjoy reading cards this is a great way to practice it: interpreting the cards based on the traditional meaning or using bits and pieces of their names and illustrations to build elements for your play, both approaches work just as well. I’m not too versed in tarot despite having had a deck since 6th grade, but it does feel like there was some thought put into which elements of the deck are used at each point in the game.

I played two times so far, the first playthrough to create a tragedy (”The Queen’s Right Hand”) and the second one to create a comedy (”The Dressmaker’s Happiness” - look, titles are hard). Now, I’m not a strong writer, so it takes me a bit to get into it and connect separate elements into a coherent story. But by the time I reached Act II the prompts simply fell into place, almost entirely on their own. The tragedy is about a Queen’s most valuable advisor, a reserved and controlled woman with the only goal to protect her ruler. When I created the antagonist, I didn’t quite know what to do with them, but drawing the motive card for “jealousy” made it clear that this is a tale of bitter and unrequited love on pretty much all sides - and then it almost wrote itself.

Is it an actually good play, though? Probably not. But games aren’t meant to produce a perfectly polished piece of writing (although they certainly can), they’re first and foremost meant to be fun. And I did have a lot of fun. So, goal accomplished. As always, you should try and make yourself comfortable in what you do. No one has to see what you write - indulge, be cringey, be cliché. I think that would even be on point for Shakespeare. Certainly by your second round you’ll feel more at ease: the comedy was a cute little romantic tale of deception, accidental kidnappings and a dressmaker who vowed to never marry falling in love with a socialite who lived under the thumb of her seemingly strict and gloomy uncle (with a duel in the middle - that one was a surprise even for me).

If you have trouble thinking of names for characters and places, I suggest having a few online name generators ready to help you out. It also works to use the cards as a guide: I drew “Strength” for one character and named him “Peter the Lion” because there’s a lion on the card...I mean. Do what you must.

I’d like to think Shakespeare would approve of this game. I very much do.

This might be your cup of coffee if...

you like telling stories and creating characters.

you want a relatively short writing challenge or exercise to flex your creative muscles.

you feel better having more of a framework to guide you in your writing.

you want to learn some literary theory on the side.

you are familiar with/want to get familiar with reading cards, specifically tarot.

You can get Kaden Ramstack’s 5 Act Play HERE on itch.io! Make sure to check out his other games as well (I for one really want to get to “Un-navigatable” soon).