#i hope he is characterized well orz

[merakiui]

AHHH i knew I'd mess up the request 😭 I would really love to have a flower bouquet from the miscellaneous menu, red velvet cupcakes and red mochi beans from midnight menu for my one and only Malleus 🖤 (I'd appreciate it if reader was an afab female)

yandere!malleus draconia x (female) reader cw: yandere, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, non-con, nsfw, stalking, obsession, slight delusion note - thank you for checking in, dearest guest! enjoy your order! [lunar love hotel]

The beauty of humanity is transient in nature—so fleeting that one of unfathomed age might assume mortals are merely temporary phantasms crocheted into a celestial fiction. Most days it seems as though you are the untouchable human threads woven into a lively tapestry shielded by the toughest, sharpest of brambles. You are the very shape portrayed soft and precious in watercolor portraits, preserved within the haunted corridors of Malleus’s mind. Most days he wakes from poetic rumination and looks at you for who you are: a dear friend. A kind, clever child of man who is unafraid of crossing the threshold that divides humans from those with lengthened lifespans. You are, in every wondrous way, a mortal who continues to fascinate and amaze with your endearing peculiarities. 

Most days Malleus wonders if he could ever flawlessly imitate humanity in the way you do. Perhaps the idea is an impossibility or a childish dream fostered by his inherent need to stitch himself into your tapestry like a loose strand in search of a home. He can sketch your form in his mind every night—can follow your movements with eyes so green you may be smothered in their vibrancy—but he can never quite grasp the meaning of humanity. Although who could, really, when such an inquiry remains one of life’s greatest enigmas? Malleus surmises that is what makes the modern world in which he exists as curious as it is troublesome. 

There is beauty in tragedy. Malleus knows this well because all human life is tragic in some melancholic manner. But nothing can be more devastating than the raw emotions that entwine themselves through you, staining your expression in muted fear. Thankfully, it takes but a moment for the darkness to dispel itself, alight with yellow-green speckles that foretell a familiar presence. He offers you a pleasant smile through the window, not having considered you might still be awake at such an ungodly hour when he appeared for his usual visit to admire you while you lay motionless, wrapped in the sweetest of dreams. The little beast who often accompanies you—Grim—is curled on the bed, his furry frame moving up and down with each peaceful breath he takes.

There is beauty in the sincerity of relief. Malleus knows this well because when your shoulders relax and you slide the window up to greet him, all instances of horror having vanished from your delightful countenance, you look most ravishing. 

“You nearly gave me a heart attack, Horns. Don’t scare me like that!” 

Horns. It’s a cute, casual nickname—an alias that he wouldn’t have received had he not met you. It’s far more meaningful than the princely status draped across his shoulders, a reminder to all who see him of the destiny that awaits him—a destiny that distances him from others grandly. They seem to care about such a thing—as if it’s a thing so ominous—but you never mind it.

There is beauty in the thorns that pierce the heart. Malleus knows this well, for he stands at the edge of a love that just cannot bear any fruit, consumed in a shadow while he watches you enjoy the noisy company of friends and classmates. Malleus is not very partial to this, yet if it made you happy he would willingly melt into the darkness so that you may continue to spread your glorious light. 

“Oh?” His eyebrows raise curiously and he bends down to lean further into the open window, conscious of the sleek, obsidian-colored horns that curl upwards from his head. “I’m far from a medical practitioner, but I have heard that a good shock to the heart is one way to keep it beating. You need only give me a moment. I shall conjure a bolt strong enough to—”

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” you whisper hastily, shaking your head in a manner so wild it sparks amusement deep within his chest. 

“I jest.”

“I would hope so,” you retort, a smile spreading on your lips. “One shock from you and I don’t think I’d be standing in one piece.”

“Nonsense.” He dismisses you with a wave of his hand before pausing to truly consider it. “Well, I suppose in order to test such a theory you would need to incite my wrath first. Would you care to try?” 

“That’s a death wish! Is your sense of humor always so morbid, Horns?”

“Would you prefer otherwise?”

“Nah.” He blinks at you, and a chuckle spills from your lips. “It’s you, Horns. Morbid jests and all. I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

In that moment, Malleus thinks he wants nothing more than to have you, radiant smiles and all. 

There is beauty in trust. This is something Malleus knows well, for when Lilia handed him a cloth the color of a starlit sky and uttered something about acts of trust he understood the implications. Or perhaps the meaning evaded him; Lilia is always so cryptic. And so, once the moon has risen high, Malleus descends upon Ramshackle’s grounds to consult his wise, beautiful child of man.

“Acts of trust? Like trust falls?”

“Trust...falls?” Malleus repeats it with a furrowed brow. 

“It’s when someone falls backwards into the arms of another person, assuming that that person will catch them. It’s supposed to be a trust game.”

“Shall we play?” He withdraws the cloth from his vest pocket, running his fingers over the silky satin. “This game of trust humans are so fond of... It sounds most entertaining.”

“Oh, sure. Uh... I don’t think we need a blindfold for it, though.”

“I have recently learned of this ‘trust game’ from Lilia. One that involves relying on another to replace your sight.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of that one! We can try it.”

“Then allow me to be your eyes.” 

Your nod is immediate, and so Malleus flicks his wrist and the blindfold fastens itself around your eyes. You reach up to touch the fabric and giggle. 

“Make sure to guide me away from any furniture, okay?”

Though you’re unable to see it, Malleus smiles at you, a deceptive flicker in his gaze. The game begins innocently enough. Malleus leads you with honest intent, and even when you stumble he merely levitates furniture out of your way. You nearly take a nasty tumble when your foot catches on the rug, but he’s quick to cast a skillful spell that lifts you up out of harm’s way and lowers you gently upon the bed. Your hands curl into the sheets and you exhale a relieved sigh. 

“That was close. I almost fell.” When Malleus doesn’t respond, you sit up and move to take your blindfold off. Malleus places a hand upon your shoulder, guiding you back down. You flinch, arm stiffening in surprise. “W-Whoa! Seriously, Horns, you can’t keep scaring me like this!”

“There’s nothing to fear,” he assures you. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve kissed the floorboards.”

Malleus nods, as if having expected this answer—it’s unsatisfactory for a reason he cannot list—and traces the path down your stomach, along your hips, to the waistband of your trousers. You seem so fragile in this moment, so vulnerable and so very in need of protection. He’s watched you long enough to know of the dangers you often find yourself in. You move to sit up again, but he looms over you, straddling you, and he thinks you can sense his towering presence. It’s that unique sixth sense he’s heard all humans secretly possess.

“H-Hold on. Wait. What...” You swallow thickly, remaining completely still. “What’re you doing, H-Horns?”

“Do you trust me?” he asks again. “You must trust me. I mean you no harm.”

“No... No, I really don’t right now. Can we stop? I want—” You squirm under him when his fingers curl around the waistband, tugging both your trousers and panties down slowly. He peers at the modest lace trim. Like the rest of you, it is very pretty. “I want to stop. Please. Hey, stop. Seriously—”

You reach blindly for him, your voice rising in panicked pitches. His hand finds yours, fingers intertwining. Though you try to pull away at the next second, his grip remains firm. Not enough to break your hand, but it does cause you a bruising discomfort. Your lips twist into a trembling frown and a meek whine squeezes itself out of you, your chest rising and falling with quick breaths.

“You will trust me in due time,” Malleus murmurs it like it’s a vow, his voice so soothing it’s like muffled rainfall. He notices the silent tear that slips out from under the blindfold, and he swipes it away with his thumb. Out of sight, out of mind. “I only wish to prepare you.”

“P-Prepare...” You shake your head, voice straining. “For... For what? Malleus, stop. I don’t want...this. Please stop.”

No longer Horns. He’s lost that name now, but it’s nothing he can’t retrieve.

He slips his gloves off and, after having coated his digits with enough of his own saliva, works your pussy open with two slender fingers, quietly amazed at how soft and warm it is within. Your body goes rigid under him, your free hand grabbing at the sheets while the other remains imprisoned in his grasp. You could take the blindfold off, but you don’t, instead sniffling through a mantra of stop and take it out. He knows you don’t mean those words, for it isn’t long before you’re tightening around the three fingers curled within you, your labored breathing punctuated with little gasps and groans. It is most adorable.

There is beauty in submission. Malleus knows this well because when you arch your back, dig your nails into his hand, and gush around his fingers with a strangled cry you are the most exquisite portrait he has ever had the blessing of admiring. He could spend lifetimes pondering your angles, considering dainty brushstrokes, wondering about the skillful hands that sculpted you so perfectly. So beautifully. So humanly.

You’re panting when he comes back to his senses, having slipped a fourth finger into your wet warmth without realizing it. There’s a strain in his pants, an ache that had once been so dull and is now so unbearably tight. The insatiable, animalistic part of Malleus wants nothing more than to spear you on his cocks, to feel the stretch as your pussy envelops both in its gummy walls, to hear your wails and kiss your lips puffy, to press his hand against your bloated belly and feel the sinful connection for himself. But there is the rational, sweeter side that knows you would be in a world of pain if he was not given enough time to properly stretch you, and so he decides that, as pressing as his needs may be, yours are far more important. 

He wishes to cherish with you for many years to come, not break you beyond repair.

“We shall spend the night here, my dearest,” he declares, the fondness of a smile in his tone. His hand releases yours momentarily so that he may tug the blindfold up to see your sparkling eyes. Tears of joy, no doubt. “Until I can fit more than just my fingers so that we can truly connect as one.”

He leans in to press his lips upon yours in a chaste kiss; you do not reciprocate. Malleus would have thought he’d put you to sleep with how frozen you’ve become. But you’re merely looking at him with defeated eyes—eyes that are so beautiful even when reflecting the pains of betrayal. Malleus tells himself that this is the teary-eyed ecstasy he has heard of in the stories Lilia would often recall when he was old enough to hear such tales. It is not pain; it is pleasure.

And there is beauty in both.

[krisdreaming]

Okay now where's my Osamu? 😭😤 That drabble was so cute gkdxjy. And cooking is so fun!! It does take a lot of practice tho, but once you get the hang of it, it's super fun. ❤

I know you said you're not writing for Sakusa yet but I'm curious to hear what you think of him, since there isn't much info on him. 🥺 (Also bc I'm in love with him but no you didn't read that jsksj.)

I hope you're doing well tho!! Take care and always eat and rest when you need to 😚 Sending love and support!! 💟 It's almost 5am I need to sleep.

Ahh thank you, I’m really glad you liked it! Idk where my Osamu is either 😔 tho tbh I’ve actually been more into Atsumu lately orz

So tbh I haven’t really even come across Sakusa in the manga yet! I’m so bad with reading it bc I will go for weeks without even looking at it and then read like 20 chapters in one sitting lol. But to be completely honest, at first based on what I saw about him on tumblr and stuff, I didn’t think I would like him much. However I have read some fics featuring him and I think he’s kind of growing on me. Since I haven’t actually “met” him I can’t say for sure but I think he’s going to be really tough for me to characterize!! But we’ll see!

✨ Join the Blogiversary Celebration✨

[flightofaqrow]

@@@@ + 4 for those four ppl uwu

For every @ I get, I have to tag someone I love/look up to! ** accepting

I’m gonna make this the OC special just for u Kay.

@banded-muses

Worldbuilding and backstory off the charts. 

Lovable, complex muses. Not afraid to make an older, female OC. 

Always full of ideas and scenes and chatting with you about them is so fun. You love your characters, you love other people’s characters, and it makes it so easy to just write thread after thread and develop things together across the whole spectrum of genres. 

The imagery you put into replies is astounding and beautiful. Never too little and never too much. Always appropriate to the situation and nearly makes some parts feel like poetry. It adds this extra layer of emotion I’m still trying to reach without having to go full metaphor.

@fumusdamnatorum

YOUR PROSE IS SO GOOD. Especially giving a body language and/or metaphorical feel for both your character, and his view of the OTHER character. I feel like we’re on similar levels with addressing both these things and it makes it very easy to play off of your narratives.

So many drabbles!!! and that’s a wonderful thing!! I love watching you dive into backstory, getting a better perspective of Silas for it. Seeing him develop even outside of threads. The imagery in them is always super good and clear, too.

Silas is a really rough and star-crossed character and you’re not afraid to play him that way. Your writing always has a jaded vibe to it, and I mean that in a good way. Like that part of his character comes across. I always just want to like, wrap him up in a warm blanket or a hug idk.

Your action scenes are always a treat!!

@thehopefulones / @lifahakondotter / @themagisterlegacies

Your brain works at a speed I could never reach. I don’t know how you churn out such quality writing so fast. or come up with so many ideas all the time. It’s incredible. 

Your muses are incredibly varied and yet each narrative has its own feel to it. I also don’t know how you jump between headspaces so very easily.

I know I always talk about metaphor, but let’s talk simile for a moment, Because yours are always incredible. They’re small but crystal clear details that add so much flow and aesthetic and emotion to what a character is doing. It’s such a simple touch sometimes, but you utilize it SO WELL. It’s like you just breathe this beautiful prose into existence so naturally and I can only hope I match at least a little bit.

Jackson is going to be the death of Qrow and Qrow is going to kill Lifa, probably. I think this is me saying I really enjoy our plots and dynamics. You’re not afraid to approach a n y t h i n g and it really challenges me to get out of my comfort zone with writing and pushes the limits for figuring out characterization. I’m sorry that makes me so anxious my replies get slow sometimes. I just want to give you the good Qrow content and equally quality writing. orz

@charmedglass

WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE SLEEPING ON WRITING WITH YOU??? YOUR CHRACTERS ARE AMAZING AND YOUR WRITING FLOORS ME!!!

I love plotting with you. It’s so much fun, you have so many good ideas. I love being part of helping your backstories weave together and come to life. 

Avros is a babe. This is pure self-indulgence instead of complimenting you, but it is also a nod to your design and story and concept, and bringing him to life. Sweetheart singer boy faunus, tragic backstory but grows up kind, he hits so many of my favorite things. He’s a total babe and our calamitous harmony ship makes my heart so happy.

Your metaphors and ways of describing environment just freaking end me. I always strive to be as good with imagery as you are in our threads.

[skyhopedango]

Sooo! HizaUe is out, and since this was the anime I looked forward to the most in the winter season, I guess it’s time to stop moping over Double Decker and get on with my life. (BUT I WANT MORE!!! I wish I could draw or write to create fanworks and just create more Double Decker for myself...)

Anyway, I’ve been reading the manga for this for a long time now, and I was really looking forward to the anime! And... normally this is where I’d say that “it was just as great as I hoped it would be” and leave it at that, but I’m afraid I can’t, because... well, I guess this is not going to be another really good adaptation like last year’s How To Keep A Mummy or Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori. 

So watch me write 500 words about an episode of a kitty anime... orz

I mean it’s definitely cute! Haru is adorable! And she totally gave me all the feels. But when it comes to Subaru I can’t help but feel that his characterization is really off. Probably for pacing reasons - the show is likely only 1 cour and can’t afford spending time on building him up like the manga does, but that kind of distorts his character and situation. 

In the show, at least in this first episode, Subaru comes across as just your usual introverted dude who is trying to mind his own business and do his job, but keeps getting interrupted and bothered by his insensitive editor and some cat.

What the show doesn’t manage to get across is just how desperately alone Subaru is. There’s a world of difference between being simply introverted and being literally alone, with no family and no-one you would call a friend, shutting yourself off from the world, escaping into your comfort zone, not reaching out and not allowing anyone to reach you. Subaru is the latter case, and the first volume of the manga does a great job showing this, and showing how this little cat that he picked up on a whim completely disrupts his daily routine and keeps dragging him out of that safe space that he normally retreats into.

I didn’t get this from the anime. I think that by introducing Hiroto so early (in the manga he appears in the end of the first volume) as Subaru’s friend who comes by fairly often, and by speeding through Subaru’s introduction and thus downplaying the way he shuts himself off from the world it kind of ruins his character arc. His character arc being that for the first time in years, he slowly finds himself getting attached to someone (even if she’s only a cat), and basically starts coping with his grief and his defense mechanisms. And through this he realizes that he actually has people who care about him, people he can call friends; and that he can create new relationships, and he doesn’t have to be afraid of being left behind. The manga has a really nice way of handling this aspect and I really hope that after the first episode the anime will do a better job of getting it across.

Oh well, I’m still gonna watch it every week, because KITTY. 

CATS. KITTIES. ANGELS.

Aaaahhh why are they so cute.

[franeridart]

Me: *has notifications on for when you post something* Also me: *checks your blog every day in case I missed something*

Ahhhhhh thank you!!! I’m sorry lately I’ve been less active, haven’t I orz a mixture of being busy and uninspired #rip I’ll try to do better!!

Anon said:I love how you draw kiri in casual clothes he looks so cool and cute! Eventhough it's canon he's a fashion disaster haha

Thank you!!! But actually I base my designs for Kirishima’s casual clothes completely on his official casual clothes (which is to say, his shifuku) and the stuff he’s worn in canon already ( x x x x x ) - people consider him a fashion disaster for the crocs, mostly, and I guess the patterns of his shirts? Ah, personally I don’t dislike either so I guess he doesn’t come off as a disaster in my doodles hahaha

Anon said:Idk why, but theres one panel of that one comic where bakugou and kirishima are little kids in the fantasy au and bakugou takes kirishima home and Mitsui is just like "..... " but her expression says "well shit" just makes me laugh. It brings me great joy. Idk why I'm telling you this, but have a great day! Ily and your art!

Thank you so so much!!!!! Mitsuki was so much fun to draw there, I’m really glad the expression came out right hahaha

Anon said:Dopo aver letto le FAQ, ripeto tutti i complimenti in italiano, visto che meriti decisamente un elogio multilingue :-P E tra parentesi, inglese eccellente! Mai avrei sospettato che non fosse la tua lingua madre.

AHHHHHHHHHH GRAZIE MILLE!!!!!!! Anche per il complimento sull’inglese hahaha scrivere fic in inglese mi ha probabilmente aiutata un bel po’ in quel senso lmao

Anon said:Another abuse of the "ask" function, but boy, your Kiribaku art makes me feel so happy and fluffy and giddy and they are even in-character!! Thank you so much.

THANK YOU !!!!! it always makes me so incredibly happy to know my characterization is okay!!! ;^;

Anon said:i finally got to the bottom of your bakushima tag and lemme tell you: it was totally worth all of the time spent.

MAN that must have taken way longer than it deserved hahaha but I’m glad you enjoyed it!!!! Even if I’m sure the further back you went the worse everything was..... rip lmao

Anon said:THAT RED SHIRT BAKUGOU S L A Y E D ME!!! GOTTA LOVE BAKUGOU IN HIS BF'S COLORS!!!!!

I dunno which one this is about but hell yes the more red Bakugou wears the happier my heart is!!!!!

Anon said:i can’t believe i’ve been following you since haikyuu!! era. like,,,, ily a lot bro

Knowing that you’ve been following me that long I gotta say I love you a whole damn lot too??? thank you so much seriously !!!! ;^;

Anon said:I found the mug from one of your Kiribaku dad comics! (The one that says "Welcome to the Gun Show")

I genuinely hope you didn’t make the ill decision of buying it, anon lmao

Anon said:Todomomobaku gives me life aaakskglh

It was absolutely not meant as romantic but thank you for liking it!!!!!!!!!!! That specific doodle got so much love and I’m so glad for it cause that friend group makes probably little sense by canon but I love it so much? Drawing it made me super happy so I’m happy you liked it!!

Anon said:I just came back from watching the Incredibles and no matter which AU you are, you'll always find politics messing with the job of the heroes. BNHA heroes and TI heroes need a coffee break to chat tohether 9_9.

I still haven’t watched TI2 but hell yes I feel this ask ;-;

Anon said:(Bakushima kids thing) did mako get into UA? If so did she make some new friends right away and/or fall head over heels for a scary/angry looking girl in the new class(fallowing in Pappa’s footsteps)? In either case, what were Bakugou and Kirishima’s first impression on them/her?

Mako’s seven lmao she barely started elementary school, she definitely didn’t get into UA just yet hahaha 

Anon said:Awh Sero looks so lonely in that pic

He isn’t! He’s waiting for Ashido, they’re going on a date he doesn’t know it’s a date but it’s definitely a Date™, Ashido will make sure he realizes by the end of it *thumb up*

Anon said:Do you have any ideas for gender-bend Bakugou and Kirishima? Like what they would look like, how to their personalities would change, stuff like that. Sorry if I’m bothering you

I’d lie if I said I don’t have a couple of doodles saved somewhere in my art folder, but to be fair my gb Baku and Kiri are... exactly like Baku and Kiri, I wouldn’t really change them all that much, so I never find it much worth it to talk about it? I think Bakugou might have been a bit different in backstory since being a girl would have made people less, uh, sure he was destined to beat All Might or whatever, but in general he’d stay the same imho. Kiri too, he wouldn’t change all that much either. Their designs also, their quirks require them to be buff after all. I dunno man I just don’t think them being girls would change all that much about them so my ideas on this specific aus are always a bit eh, sorry!

Anon said:Fran! Don't read if you didn't see episode 11! How do you interpret that Kirishima try to hold the hand of Bakugou aroud the end of the ep? I mean: objectively?

That was actually a small variation of a scene already present in the manga (central panel here) so being as objective as I can be I’d say it was just bones playing on how much fans love the ship - that said, it’s still canon to the manga that Kirishima didn’t trust Bakugou where he couldn’t keep his hands on him and make sure he was there and safe? That’s adorable and I’ve been crying over that for two years now ;^;

Anon said:During a time I've been too depressed to make it to my counseling appointments or to my follow up appointments to get back on my meds, your art, quite especially your doodle comics, makes me smile. It's not really worth much, and I wish I could support you more, your sketches and doodles and full pieces and everything you draw, just really helps. You don't have to respond. Just please don't stop creating.

Thank you so so so much for this ask, anon ;-; and I’m really sorry you’re going through a hard time right now, but let’s be strong together okay? *holds*

Anon said:I’m so happy to see that you don’t draw noses because I can’t draw them and I never add them to my art and it makes me feel better knowing that I’m not the only one😭😂

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! noses are hard to draw aren’t they? they’re so hard!!! so incredibly hard!!!! I keep on trying to find a way to go about them I’m satisfied with but it just isn’t working!!!! Until I find one it’s noseless art for me hahaha

Anon said:Your art made me realize I’m bisexual so........ thanks bro ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

I don’t know how that happened but this is the best ask I’ve ever gotten ever?? you’re very very welcom my friend !!!!!!!

Anon said:Your art makes me so happy whenever I see it. The style is just so soft and sweet and comforting and I love it a lot. I have no money rn but soon I would love to buy some of the stuff you have for sale 😄💖💖

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much both for the compliments and the nice feeling, anon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lia-nikiforov]

Fall 2017 Anime Watchlist

Blablabla school is kicking my butt blablabla I shouldn’t even be doing this blablabla THERE’S A LOT OF GOOD ANIME THIS SEASON

So naturally I’m gonna go back to my worst to best format for this list. Get the trash out first

Dropped

Dies Irae: Aren’t these villains named after actual historical Nazis who were directly involved with orchestrating the holocaust soooo cooooool , so interesting, such tortured profound souls that--- ugh, I just threw up in my mouth a little. I don’t care if the Nazis are the villains, making them into complex, appealing characters is unacceptable, less so given the times we live in.

(get it, it’s a real nazi getting punched in the face, aren’t you glad you follow me so I can provide you this quality content)

Yuki Yuna wa Yuusha de aru: Yuusha no Sho: Because I wasn’t a big fan of the first season, I thought this might make for decent hate-watch, but it’s just not bad enough to warrant it. It’s also criminally boring. And because part of what made the original so bad was the ending, and this being a prequel we already know how it ends, there’s no point to it imho. I enjoy screaming at the void about shows I find stupid, but this one isn’t even worth the time. Ballroom is all the hatewatch material I’ll ever need

Black Clover: I could say a lot about this show’s egregious lack of uniqueness and originality, or how poorly executed the whole thing is, but really the only thing you need to know about this and why it’s an insufferable watch is:

THE!!!! PROTAGONIST !!!!!NEVER!!!!! STOPS!!!!! YELLING!!!!!! 

Inuyashiki: My first problema with this show is the main dude is supposed to be 58 years old but he looks older than most 65+. It’s a dumb little thing, but it completely breaks my suspense of disbelief. Other than that, the writing is just so viscerally hateful it’s extremely uncomfortable to watch. What I’d understood from the synopsis was that the aliens had accidentally merged the old man and the young dude into a single robot body, but the way it is presented  -with the old guy as the hero and the young guy as the villain- the moral of the story seems to be basically “millennials are killing the diamond industry”, or, in terms of a more well-known -though perhaps too easy- meme:

Urahara: I really wanted to like this show and support these young female creators in an industry that tends to not give them any opportunities. It’s not like it’s bad at all, nor is it offensive, it’s just really boring. The visuals are adorable, but the characters feel completely unreal –three high school girls run their own shop in Harajuku?-, especially pigtail girl who delivers every line like she was trying super hard to sound like an ojousama archetype. The show is completely committed to its Harajuku kawaii culture aesthetic and attitude, which is commendable but also something that honestly make me a little uncomfortable for no particular reason. I also feel extremely robbed off actual transformation sequences in this magical girl show. In a less busy season I might hold on to see where this went, but as it is, I’d rather wait and see how it ends and then decide if I should spend time on it.

Utter trash that I’m still gonna watch because I hate myself or something

Ousama Game: I think it’s important to make a distinction between hate-watch and irony-watch. Hatewatch is something you do with a show that’s terrible and probably offensive, but it never touches so-bad-it’s-good territory.  You can pick the show apart for all of  its flaws, be it an ill-conceived plot, poor characterization, or, you know, being grossly mysoginistic. Examples of shows I’ve hatewatched include KADO, Sailor Moon Crystal and Super Lovers. An Irony-watch is a show that pretty much everyone can agree is a dumpster fire, and it succeeds so much in its terribleness it’s histerical. Hand Shakers and Neo Yokio are prime examples of quality irony-watch material. And so is Ousama Game. It’s not even worth pointing out its flaws because there’s just nowhere to start, there is not a single thing this show does right and it’s hysterical. Of course it has the squick factor of having some gross fetish with people’s tongues lolling out and their faces getting ridiculously contracted in gross fashion when they die, but other than that, it takes itself so seriously and mixed with its 2006 low budget aesthetic the whole thing is madly hilarious.

Welcome to the Ballroom: This is my choice for hatewatch show of the seaon. After the disgusting dung that was episode 15, I’ve lost all hopes of the show ever getting “better” as was repeatedly promised by fans of the manga once the queen lord and savior Chinatsu appeared. Lo and behold, Chinatsu’s character arc is to learn to be more “feminine” and to let herself be “controlled” by Tatara. Throw in some casual homophobia just for good measure. I really have to wonder why the mangaka set out to write a manga about a sport that necessarily requires a man and a woman in partnership if she hates women so much and can’t treat them as anything above second-class citizens-

(srsly show, why do you hate women so much)

Sengoku Night Blood: It’s been a while since we got a dumbass Sengoku bishonen show that wasn’t aggressively boring. This one though, still challenges my tolerance limits for being dumbass ridiculous with its premise of vampire/werewolf Sengoku daimyo. The costumes and character designs are super ridiculous yet strangely non-distinctive. I have a hard time figuring out who is who because most lack their historical counterparts most notable features, and there’s a lot of same-face-iness everywhere. The show is clearly not afraid of embracing its otoge origins, the “love event” moments are terribly transparent. I just wish either the female character was completely erased or that the guys would stop treating her so badly. I know she’s useless, but I don’t understand why the show has dudes saying things such as “it’s really bothersome that you’re here” and frame them as if they were suuuuper romantic.

(lmfao there are no gifs for this one, maybe I’m the only sucker watching it)

Juuni Taisen: To be honest I was ready to drop this one after confirming it was gonna be more Nisio Isin fake philosophical bullshit that is actually just otaku fanservice. Instead I got schlocky ultra violence garbage and it’s actually kinda fun? Look, I’m gonna come clean, I’m just watching it for the necromancer chip’n-dale rabbit with high heels and a huge fluffy tail, but if that’s not a good reason to watch a show, none is.

Not bad, but not quite good

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryoukou: This was another one that wasn’t quite on my radar before the season began, I only checked it out because it got excellent reviews. It’s actually surprisingly charming, although the pacing is slow, the muted color palette can be tiring and nothing really seems to be happening. I honestly struggled to stay awake during episode 2. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with the show, I’m considering dropping it because I’m just watching too much stuff and don’t have time, but I’ll wait for episode 3 to make my final decision (I’ll probably watch it Monday)

Shokoku no Altair: After the really good Sultan arc, apparently we had to go through another speed course on how to acquire new members for the party. I’m pretty much resigned to this not being the epic historical drama Arslan also failed to be, but it’s still sad to see this one getting the crappy production values while Inuyashiki is a lavishly animated production about bitter old men hating youngsters. Anyway, as long as further arcs can replicate the level of excitement and intrigue of the sultanlu arc, I’ll be looking forward to it and how Mahmut’s story unfolds. 

Fate/Apocrypha: You can tell how trashy the summer season was that Fate, which was one of my favorite shows of the season, is barely in the middle of the pack of this crowded Fall season. It’s also worth noting that I’ve lost a lot of the goodwill I’d mustered for the show after the writers remembered Palurdo-kun was supposed to be the protagonist, so now that he’s taken the center stage (and become Astolfo’s Master, which is a travesty, Astolfo deserves so much better than satisfying otaku’s otokonoko fetiches orz) I find myself rolling my eyes more often than not. Still hope to get cool fights out of this one and more Astolfo and Mordred.

GARO Vanishing Line: MAPPA brings us a new iteration of the GARO franchise, this time with a modern setting that throws back to ultra macho 80s anime OVAs aesthetic –I wouldn’t know, never watched those-. The hero is a buff uber muscular dude that literally prays at women’s boobs and Zaruba is a giant motorcycle that thinks women stink. The production values are impressive, both fight scenes are incredibly cinematic and exciting. The hypermasculinity borders on the hilarious, but I wish it could do away with the sexist humor, which luckily hasn’t been abundant enough to be insufferable. It’s a little soon to judge because they’re barely introducing us to the characters, but I’m still hoping this won’t devolve into shit territory like Crimson Moon did.

Kino no Tabi: Full disclosure, I only watched the first season of Kino a few months ago, so I have it very fresh in my memory. Since I didn’t know that this new season was more a soft reboot rather than a sequel, I thought I needed to watch the first one to check this one out. Turns out it wasn’t necessary, but I’m still glad I did it because the first season is fantastic. Which is why I’m a little concerned about this one, because the reinterpretation of the Colisseum story was… not good. It rushed through the story and made Kino look like a psychopath. The first episode was good so I’m crossing my fingers that this won’t turn into a horrible mess, but so far I’m feeling cautious and worried. But even if this one turns out to be a good reboot, I’d 100% recommend you check out the original.

Anime is in Fact Good

Classicaloid: Another show that came back with a different director and that I worry will struggle to replicate what made the first season special. There are some tonal things that make the change very evident, but so far it has overall been pretty great nonetheless, Classicaloid insane business as usual. I must say “New character appears claiming to be X’s relative, X believes it and starts treating N better to the detriment of the established cast” is a trope I’m not too fond of, but I’m willing to give them some time purely because they have a Hippopotamus that can do Musik. Honestly watching anime makes one write the weirdest of sentences.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu. Something comedy shows have in their favor is that if they come back, even after a long time, it feels like they never left. Hoozuki’s the same old Hoozuki and it’s a load of fun. I’ve loved both episodes so far, I can’t even pick a favorite skit of the ones we’ve had so far because all of them were so good. There’s not really a lot to say, if you liked the first season you’ll like this one. As usual it’s only detriment is you may miss some of the jokes if you’re not familiar with Japanese folklore, but there’s a lot of fun to be had nonetheless. 

Recovery of an MMO Junkie: Honestly, I’m very quick to judge a book by its cover, or in this case, an anime by its title. In this case, I promptly dismissed this as yet another otaku oriented harem videogame fantasy or whatever without even reading the synopsis. Then I heard the positive reactions to it and decided to give it a shot and boy was I pleasantly surprised! Not only does it feature a woman in her thirties as a protagonist –which is insanely rare! But it also focuses on delightfully adorable romance that breaches the barriers of gender. And honestly, there’s that scene in episode two in which Moriko sends a text and then horrified realizes it’s 2:00 am and feels super ashamed about it and it was so relatable I was 100% sold.

Best of the season

(don’t mind the order, I’ve loved all of these equally

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau: So I may have misunderstood what this was about. I rarely read plot synopsis, so for some reason –I guess at first I thought the title was Kujira wa Sora- I thought there would be flying whales. There aren’t, but that’s definitely not a detriment to this incredible fantasy dystopian world. The color palette and the watercolor texture of the backgrounds gives it a magical atmosphere that is just a delight to watch. Although there’s a lot of exposition, none has felt like a forced infodump. The pacing is overall fantastic, and although the characters are a mystery for the most part, they’re already very endearing. This season is ripe with enchanting fantasy worlds and I’m really hyped about it. 

Houseki no Kuni: I was concerned about the CG designs on this one, but they work surprisingly well! The plot is still a bit unclear, but they’ve done a really good job in building the characters through their relationships to one another. Even though we don’t know a lot about them, I felt a lot of empathy for Cinnabar and Diamond and Bort, and Phos is a pretty nice point of view character to follow around. I’m definitely intrigued by the concept, and the execution has been great so far.

Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond: I hadn’t realized how much I missed this show until I watched the first episode of this new season. The loss of Rie Matsumoto’s wonderful directorial vision is very noticeable in the straightforwardness of the storytelling, but otherwise the show is surprisingly still a load of bombastic fun with endearing characters and fascinating world building. I particularly liked the hospital episode. I’m not sure where this story is going, but I’m excited to go along for the ride.

The Ancient Magus Bride: It’s important to note that the first episode has a lot of questionable material (please, can Elias never ever call Chise a puppy ever again), but I have to commend a great production when I see it. Readers of the manga assure that the questionable content will be contextualized later on, so I’m hopeful, because I’m already really sold on this show and I really don’t want it to be gross. It’s hard to explain or describe, but it just has this fantasy magical charm and a beautiful production that got me hooked from start to finish. It has been hyped to hell and back and so far it has lived up to my expectations. I think, apart from the lovely production values, the characters feel very real and deep from start to finish. It’s hard to explain why I feel so drawn to this show that should have so many red alarms ringing in my head, but I can’t help feel completely charmed by it

How am I gonna survive such a busy season with so much homework? Will I die trying? Will Ballroom ever stop hating women and gay people? Stay tuned to find out! And let me know which shows you’re watching this season!

[fuzzyporcupine]

I hope you won't mind if I leave my review here. I found "What's Eating You?" over the summer and it is, honestly, one of the best fics I have ever read. Not only is it well-written, the story is amazing and the characterizations are spot-on. I'm normally turned off by first-P narratives, but it isn't cheesy and Eren's sarcastic thoughts are so fun. I love that he isn't a DID and actually protects Levi too. Even Humanity's Strongest needs a hero every once in a while. (1/2)

(2/2) And, I must say, you're like the Isayama of fanfics because I felt physically sick during a few chapters when certain charas died. It's so gruesome and painful, yet I can't stop! It's just too good! Every chapter is worth the wait and I will wait months to know if my babies will be okay. Thank you for continuing to write and I am so looking forward to the next chapter. LEVIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-Ah sorry for the delay in my response - I totally missed this ask in my inbox orz... but BLESS THNK U SO MUCH! I am so glad you have enjoyed it! I really tried to focus on characterization and plot throughout the fic so I am very happy you have enjoyed everything! I never thought WEY would ever become so loved, and these comments always make me smile! Thanks again! :’)

[xeraeus]

1) god bless you,your art and YOUR WRITING! It's my first time to love someone else's oc's this much 😭😭😭 I really really like the way you characterize haneul and how you tried to let us see the way how his thinking through the years ;; he breaks my heart because you can see that he is trying so so hard to be strong and protect who's important in his life! but boy he's the one who needs someone to protect him :(((((

2) he should've shoved that bottle into that asshole's ass wth 🔪 but at least now he have his sister so I'm glad there's someone he could rely into ;-; What I like about your art is that you really care about your oc's story and their appearance being realistic! the way you try to capture asian's faces is so good ;; you don't see it here that much so I'm glad for that ;;3) sorry for the long ass ask and for my poor grammar, english is not my first language so it's hard to write or describe what I really want to say :( I just wanted to thank for always sharing your stuff here! you make my dash so much better every day ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I hope you have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening! (ps: you should write more jun!! your writing is so so good and I'm not exaggerating at all ;;)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa thank you!!! I’m glad that you love my ocs this much 9v9!! Hahaha its rare for me to find followers that like my original contents so I’m glad that you like Haneul and Taeyeong this much!! I’ll draw them more when I have time orz!! ;; You’re the sweetest I hope your day/ night goes well too!! I ho p e you find money or something for being this s w e e t 

[lunaamatista]

Thanks for answering! Ah, I don't mind if you explain scenes :) I'm not sure , but I think what they meant about Touka is that due to the time restriction they skipped lines or scenes, which made her anger make less sense and be a bit out of nowhere sometimes, unlike in the manga. Like Ken's "I'm not like you monsters" line iirc? (don't trust me on this). And I get what you say, but what I mean is that once you reread there are many clues that make sense with the characterization that you (1)

(2) learn about in future volumes, like for example Hide picking up that there was something fishy about Nishio and Ken’s sudden concern, but according to this person in the movie it seemed Hide didn’t pick up on anything. I’m sorry if I’m bothering, it’s just that these 2 characters are very important to me and I want to know if the movie portrayed them well or at least decently. Thanks.

Hello again! Please don’t worry about bothering me, I love answering questions but I never get them in the first place. ;v; 

Yes, I get what people mean with subtle hints in characterization, but in my opinion Touka and Hide were still well represented. 

Touka’s scene with Kaneki and the “I’m not like you monsters” was pretty much identical to the manga, actually (or I get the same feeling from it), but of course other scenes with them together had to be changed in some form just to make it fit. Training, for instance, has to be severely cut down, with Kaneki not training with Yomo at all and going directly to Touka. However, I still feel the portrayal of it was sufficient to make you understand not only Kaneki’s improvement but them growing closer. 

There were other things too - at some point Yoriko goes into Anteiku to give Touka the stew, and Touka gives the fact that she’s on her shift as an excuse not to eat it. When Yoriko is a bit disheartened, Touka immediately starts eating it and commending her on her cooking and such. ;v; (Kaneki sees this and later stands by the door when Touka is puking in the bathroom, which removes the need for the scene with Yoshimura teaching Kaneki how to eat.) Touka is also the one to step forward to greet Hinami off, when originally it was only Ryouko thanking Yoshimura and Anteiku crew for taking care of them and Hinami quietly watching. And, of course, you can see Touka fiercely defending Hinami after Ryouko has died. Touka is still brash, but I thought this was enough to show she also cared really deeply about people close to her.  

As for Hide, I’m a bit more split on this… For the particular scene you mentioned, the problem might be that there wasn’t really a chance for Kaneki to signal his discomfort, since they were still right in front of Nishiki the whole time (and the scene itself is changed from looking for something to “hey let’s go get luch,” so it’s far quicker). Hide is also taken directly to the hospital instead of Anteiku. But instead, it’s made very obvious that Hide was conscious during Nishiki and Kaneki’s fight. 

Instead, Hide’s notices… ah, let’s say more “human” needs of Kaneki? Whereas in the manga Hide tells him he needed him at school for a subject’s notes, here Hide himself puts notes together for Kaneki during his absence (that’s where the silly drawing is shown, actually). Hide also goes to Kaneki’s apartment while he’s trying to figure if he can eat the meat he’s been given at Anteiku, just to drop off (food) treats for him. ;v; So while the chances to show a more witty Hide were removed, it is still shown he’s a friend who would go to great lengths for Kaneki, so I was satisfied with it. 

I’m sorry my answer went on for so long orz, I hope this can help you any! I would still strongly encourage you to watch the movie if you can! 

[icharchivist]

Why is Timothy considered a Parasyte type and not a Crystallization type ? His father made him swallow that innocence (and I'm still offended by this btw, it could have ended up really badly if Timothy didn't happen to be an accomodator of that particular innocence) and his innocence reappeared in his forehead after that, that sounds a lot like what crystallization type are

Heyo!!

Honestly ye you have a point.

 Timothy is… really a special case. I mean all innocences are somewhat sentient but his own is really pushing it as well, perhaps due to it being this much into his brain?

I suppose it may be the same reasoning as for Krory’s though - that the innocence was injected in them by an external means but remplaced a clear part of their bodies too (Krory was bitten by a plant who carried the innocence, and the innocence spread into his blood until making his teeth fall off and remplacing them.). 

Timothy… He did have to swallow the innocence, but it was in solid form wasn’t it? Lenalee’s and Kanda’s were weird by the fact they were liquid- so i think that might play there. Timothy had to swallow a jewel that happened to have the innocence in it, the same way the plant’s innocence found its way in Krory’s body. 

But unlike Krory or the others parasyte we can think of, the crystal on his head doesn’t really seem to “remplace” anything, unless it has a direct deformation from his own brain that comes out of his skull, which is horrifying to think about. But I guess that would make sense if it was the case? 

The crystalizations are made of blood. From what we know the crystalization is a new form and well- it only happened so far with exorcists who already had used the innocence in an equipment way. (albeit Kanda’s a whole can of worm as well bc his first official syncronization with his innocence was.. odd.), and it happened with the innocence being drunk at its purest form- so without a plant or a jewel. The innocence therefore passed through their blood, and created the stigmas on their arms/legs, that left the innocence’s come out and create a weapon from it, from their blood, hurting for ever.

but… sighs considering how the innocence acts with Krory’s blood in his fight against Jasdebi… I don’t know doesn’t that sound like crystalization too? His innocence is supposed to be in his teeth but when he was crushed by Jasdebi his blood became sentient and became a weapon in itself. And it’s not to mention that his blood itself filter the akuma’s poison when he drinks it so it is extended to his body, to another level than just parasyte type like Allen who can neutralize the poison. The innocence is scary man.

Timothy….. doesn’t exactly sound like any of those cases in term of how his blood remains well in his place- and idk perhaps the thing on his head is part of the jewel, so it means it’s not like the pure innocence is in contact with his blood?

I think even with all that overthinking tho? the most important thing to take into consideration is that “Parasyte/Equipment/Crystalization” is how the Black Order define the innocence when they take a certain shape. While Equipment is rather obvious, they probably used “Parasyte” more freely as just, the opposite, of “extension of the body”. I suspect the reasoning is more how you started to use the innocence- as a part of your body or as an object. They didn’t really have reasons to overthink it (and even what i mention with Krory happened when NO ONE could see so perhaps no one is even questioning Krory’s parasyte type).

Lenalee, and then Kanda, were special cases. They were equipment type for years. Their innocences always behaved like Equipment, unlike Krory and Timothy’s who always behaved as a part of them. It’s later that the Innocence evolved and became a part of them. “Crystalization” would therefore be more about the process of going from equipment to parasyte type, of the innocence still taking the shape of an equipment despite being part of their bodies. So i suppose it’s more a question of process that was completely unseen by the Order before.

(I suppose it’s worth noticing that Lenalee and Kanda were the two characters who rejected the Innocence the most. And both their crystalizations happened after they got problems with their innocences and had to keep them away from them - from Lenalee’s ark arc’s problem and later having to give it back to Hevlaska, and Kanda’s whole Alma’s fight that had Mugen being kept by Zu Chan until he came back to the order months later. It could be therefore a sort of further test by the innocence of basically going “oh you need me now? Prove it. Devote yourself to me.” that the parasyte types don’t even have to bother about. But it enters into a whole new question on Innocence sentience and how therefore each might have a personablity putting the characters through hell and.. boy. And it’s not even touching the “influenced by the Heart” theory that Timothy cannot be focused upon as we know the Heart was retrived by the Order before Timothy’s arc- but then again it’s not like the Order knows that so their characterizations had no basis on that.).

So i think honestly it’s just as simple as “The Order decided it was simpler to determinate it like that and the process of Crystalization took them by surprise”. As long as they don’t have any reason to think Timothy would have been an equipment type, they just put him in the parasyte type category and didn’t overthink it. 

Bc tbh at this point except some very precise things we can pinpoint (the liquid, the stigma, ect..) the innocence has already been so damn weird already so  i think anything is fair game. It’s really more how specific the patern of Crystalization is that makes it Crystalization rather than the way it behaves with the body. I think Parasyte Types are a whole other can of worm that can be summarized by “the innocence is so freaking weird”.

…… THIS WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE but this is a complicated subject orz sorry!

Hope it still makes sort of sense?

Take care!

[sage-nebula]

Top 5 Pokemon types (I assume Fire and Dragon will be up there!), top 5 Pokemon locations (from any regions, gameverse or animeverse), top 5 BotW locations, top 5 Zelda characters that aren't Zelda or Link, aaand top 5 Hogwarts classes!

Hmmmm, let’s see!

Top 5 Pokémon Types:

Fire

Ghost

Dark

Dragon

. . . Normal . . . ?

Fire has been my favorite since Gen I, wherein I gleefully set Erika’s entire gym ablaze with my charizard, laughing all the while at the idea of grass-types posing a threat to me. (I’m awful, I know.) I also have two on my One True Team™, so that’s a testament to how much I love them, haha. I loooooove most ghost-types, both in terms of lore and overall design, but I never had one on my OTT™ until Gen VII graced us with the amazing grace that is mimikyu. Dark-types are also great; I love most dark-types, even if the only one I have my OTT™ is my umbreon. When it comes to dragons, I prefer ones that are dragon by species over dragon-type, technically (e.g. I’m always going to prefer charizard and consider charizard to be more of a dragon than, say, Alolan exeggutor, which may be a dragon-type but is not an actual dragon by species), but a lot of dragons by species are also dragon by type, so it still does count. And lastly, I don’t think I have a fifth favorite, but, uh . . . normal types are cute . . . ? Hahaha.

Top 5 Pokémon Locations:

These are practically all going to be in Johto, orz. All the same, not in any particular order:

The Charicific Valley --- It’s literally a wild charizard reserve, what’s not to love? Even if it’s anime only, it’s still a place where charizard can live freely and happily. It’s a dream come true, tbh.

Ilex Forest / Celebi’s Shrine --- This whole area has a very mystical feeling, especially since Celebi’s Shrine is so unassuming, yet so important when it comes to the fact that a time-traveling legendary has an attachment to it. And it makes you wonder, like, did people used to pray here? Is it possible that the people of Azalea Town still do? Johto pays so much more adherence to legends than Kanto does, so it’s possible . . . but it’s also possible that it’s forgotten. Ilex Forest just has a sort of Lost Woods vibe to it, though. I love it.

The Burned Tower / Bell Tower --- Likewise, I love both of these towers for a similar reason. There’s so much history here, and with the Bell Tower especially you know that it still is visited by Ho-Oh in the right circumstances. These are sacred places, even if (or perhaps especially because) one of them was burned to the ground. It just has that sort of feeling to it, that you’re walking somewhere special whenever you go there.

The Ruins of Alph --- THE GREATEST MYSTERY IN THE WORLD, THE GREATEST SOURCE OF LOST POTENTIAL, LIKE---what is this place? Why is this place the way it is? Radio signals don’t work there. The unown haunt it. But why? We know that the Sinjoh Ruins might have something to do with it, given the connection there, and that Arceus and the unown have some kind of connection, but we still don’t know what, precisely, that connection is. There’s so much mystery and I feel that there’s so much more to be done with the Ruins of Alph, more dimensions that can be accessed from them, more that can be uncovered and explored. I want to uncover that, I want to see it!

All of the mystical / legendary islands in Hoenn --- Okay, there are too many to list here, but like . . . Mirage Island, which changes location and really does appear and disappear like a mirage. Faraway Island, which to this day is the only known habitat of Mew. Birth Island, where you find Deoxys in the original Gen III games. Southern Island, where you find one of the Latis. And all of the mystical islands where you find Hoopa’s Rings in ORAS. Like . . . these places, they’re always so remote, the music is usually mystical and fills you with this sense of wonder and legend and myth. God, I crave this sort of thing, these are always my favorite places, and Hoenn was so great for that because they could include so many different little islands scattered throughout the region. (Something you would think Alola would have done as well, but alas . . .)

So yeah, all my favorite places are in, like, Johto or Hoenn, hahaha. But really, I love mystical, legend-infused places. Give me your remote islands with legendaries. Give me your sacred places of ancient worship. Give me your alternate dimensions with your eldritch abominations. I want to see and explore it all.

Top 5 BotW Locations:

My House --- I’m really attached to the idea that Link has a home, haha. I like to keep Keith there a lot, I always go back there to cook, et cetera. I really love that Link has a place to call home amidst all the adventuring and traveling.

The Temple of Time --- I’m mad that the Temple of Time can’t play an actually important role in this game, even if I kind of understand it. Even so, I’m very attached to the Temple of Time and probably always will be. It’s sacred to me even if it’s just a cool place in this game where the Old Man tells you who he really is.

The Lost Woods --- This is the best rendition of the Lost Woods yet. Although I’m not too fond of Korok Village itself (too many framerate drops, the music isn’t great, Koroks are annoying), I love the Lost Woods, how creepy and ethereal they are, and the music is fantastic. A++++, best Lost Woods yet.

The Forgotten Temple --- One of my newest favorite locations. To me, the Forgotten Temple is definitely linked to SS. How much is debatable; that’s clearly the Statue of the Goddess in the very back, but I’m not sure if this temple is supposed to be the Sealed Grounds (maybe built on top of the Sealed Grounds?) or what. But it has a very mystical feel to it all the same, so I love it.

The Mounted Archery Camp --- In truth, I can’t decide on a fifth, so this one will go here because JINI IS WAITING COME WIND OR STORM, AND WANTS LINK TO BE CAREFUL. ;__; JINIIIIIII

I’m really attached to Jini, okay.

Top 5 Zelda Characters (that aren’t Zelda or Link):

Tatl --- Tatl is always going to be best companion, best girl, as far as I’m concerned. I love how she actually had a full personality of her own; she’s incredibly snarky (especially in the N64 original; they toned her down for the 3DS remake and I’m mad), unwilling to help at first, and is extremely focused on protecting her little brother, Tael, regardless of what happens to others. But she develops; she becomes more helpful, more attached to Link as well, and she even continues to develop after you beat the game once, because the first time you go to the moon she doesn’t want to go until Tael says that, fine, he’ll go. Every time after that she jumps at the chance, saying that Link is her partner and if he’s going, she’s going, too. I love how much development, personality, and history she gets. She even gets it in response to other characters, such as how she keeps snarking Kafei as he tells his story. Tatl’s not a perfect person, but I love that. I love her. (And I mean, she’s a wonderfully protective big sis. Give credit where credit is due.)

Urbosa --- QUEEN. Urbosa is everything I ever wanted from the Gerudo and more. She’s clearly a fierce warrior, but she also has a nurturing aspect to her as well with how she looks after Zelda and the others. She’s incredibly badass with the way she calls lightning with finger snaps. And on top of it all, she calls upon Gerudo history and marks her beef with Calamity Ganon as being personal due to the time he was reincarnated as a Gerudo. Fuckin’---I love her. Far and away the best Champion in the game (excluding Link, of course). I love her. 

Marin --- Marin is especially notable because of how much characterization she got despite the fact that Link’s Awakening is a GB game. She could have easily been just another boring maiden, but we see that she, too, takes to calling Link “thief” if he steals from the shop; Link gets to go on a date with her, in which we see more of her personality through the various shenanigans they get up to; and we even learn that she has suspicions about a world outside of Koholint Island, that while everyone else on Koholint believes that there is no world outside of the island, she does. And she’s so desperate to see what’s out there that she daydreams about being a seagull, just so she can fly away. That’s pretty deep for a GB!Zelda character, and I love that she was fleshed out so much. I’m always going to love my girl Marin, and I’ll always headcanon that she, like Link, washed up on Koholint’s shore. I hope that she got to find a life outside of the island one day, as a person or seagull or otherwise.

Kafei --- Not only is Kafei being notable for one of the few (and perhaps the first) instances where you get to play as someone other than Link temporarily, but I love him as a character, too. I think my favorite part of Kafei is how deadpan he is about so many things; he refuses to even acknowledge Tatl’s snarking, much less rise to it, and he insists on calling Link “green-hat boy” for pretty much the entire time they know each other. But he’s also so sincere; if you fail to get the Sun’s Mask back, his despair over losing it is palpable. I do wish he realized that Anju would accept him regardless, but even so, that’s just another fault, and characters who have flaws are good. I love Kafei, he’s great. (And I also still believe that he’s a Terminian Sheikah.)

Fi --- Lastly, Fi. I wish that we saw more development from her over the course of the game, but the connection between the Hero and the Master Sword has always been important to me, and SS just made it even more so. Her goodbye can still bring tears to my eyes. Here’s hoping that the BotW DLC gives us a chance to see her interact with this Link. Please, Nintendo. Please.

Top 5 Hogwarts Classes:

Care of Magical Creatures

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Transfiguration

Charms

Ancient Runes

Those are the ones I’d be most interested in, anyway!

[merakiui]

I've finally managed to catch up to TMDG! I can’t properly express how everything was perfect from the beginning to the end. You singlehandedly raised the bar so high. Your Fic got me kicking my feet into air and giggling like a high school girl in love. I had to take multiple breaks to let the information in. And JADE, omg jade! the balance between his calculativeness, sly personality, and his romantic softness was on point! You nailed it! This is how i imagine he would be like if he genuinely had feelings for someone. All the details and subtle hints that you added were a nice bonus!

In fact, especially because of the details and subtle hints, I have read the fic twice now to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time I read it! I did notice quite a few things that i didn't notice the first time, and i'm surprised no one asked about this yet. But there was this one scene that made me go ":00". It's not about Jade nor floyd. Nope, it's actually Ace! 

This scene in particular: "Giggling, you throw yourself into the booth and wrap your arms around Ace to smother him in friendly affection. He fights it halfheartedly, his cheeks flushed pink." and the fact that Ace was the first to ask if there's something going on with you and Jade?! Am I reading too much into this? But does Ace have a crush on the reader?!

Also, i wondered if you had other endings in mind for TMDG? What if Floyd did, in fact, return the reader's feelings? That would mean all the practising on Jade was worth it in the end, and they'll get their happily ever after, but then would have become of jade? Or what if Jade knocked up the reader in the old Merfolk way with eggs? What will be become of the reader once she realises she's pregnant? or if she knew that Jade was the one in the bedroom with her? Assfgjk@£^&asfhjk@#£^ I'm so invested into this fic! Once again, i absolutely adore TMDG! ♡

-🌸

Hiii, 🌸 anon!!!!! >w< omg thank you so much for the kind compliments!!! I'm happy you enjoyed tmdg as well as Jade's characterization!! I think there's so much romance in subtlety, especially when it comes to Jade. He says so much without speaking sometimes. <3 aaaaa I loved writing him when he's soft and sweet with this underlying calculative edge!!

As for your observations regarding Ace, you're correct!! It's implied he has feelings for Reader. >:D Jade suspects it as well, evidenced by these instances where it looks like he's almost trying to expose Ace's crush to you (or at least make you aware of it):

I'm sorry, Ace. Jade isn't going to let you have Reader. >_< your chances of having anything more than a friendship with her are nonexistent. orz

Oooo alternative endings!!!! I actually did consider going the eggs route. I was going to write Jade with two dicks in his mer form, but I disregarded the idea after some thought. Although a route with eggs would have been fun to write about! I like to imagine in the unofficial sequel Jade will continue to be his charming, sly self and you'll continue to enjoy your fwb relationship. Jade's goal would be to slowly but surely snuff your affections for Floyd so that he can inhabit the empty space in your heart. And if you start to fall for him, perhaps you won't be so upset when you finally learn he's the one responsible for getting you pregnant. By then, he hopes you'll be happy. You won't have to know about that day in the dorm room. After all, what you don't know can't hurt you. :)

[itsthechangingoftheseasons]

Hello. I have recently completed the knb manga and I read a fiction piece you wrote. About both the akashi's. I think its very poetic and beautiful. But the eye gouging scene in the manga.. Do you not think it makes him a fucking psycho? Makes me wonder about his self harm tendencies and destructive behaviour. Your thoughts?

omg lol this is such an old topic, beaut. i hope u liked knb, weLCOME TO THE BASKETBALL JUNGLE

ehh we’ve all wondered at some point what he meant by the eye-gouging, and with akashi’s characterization being all over the place i guess u can interpret it however you want lol. we will never know if he would have gouged his eyes out for real after all hHAHA

personally i think akashi at that time perfectly knew how to motivate his team to do better and used it to his advantage. i dont think he was planning to actually do that, but thats the point: he was so unable to imagine himself losing that he might as well have made such a wild promise.

whats more interesting to me was the fact that his team went with it so steadfastly LOL makes me wonder what impression akashi gives off at rakuzan. i mean, i think that at that moment its the difference between akashi and team’s thoughts that is relevant: akashi says that and means “its not like i would ever lose” and rakuzan thinks “for akashi winning is EVERYTHING so what if he WERE to lose”

about destructive tendencies, well its not too rare to find fics where akashi punishes himself to some small degree for losing control over smth, or even commits suicide for similar reasons. i think its a valid headcanon you can have, although imagining bokushi destructive on a regular basis is impossible to me. i’ve always imagined bokushi(?) as sb who either keeps it together through all or just snaps.

this said tho, again, i think the eye-gouging scene specifically was not about self harm at all. i hope i explained it clearly enough lol orz

[jyushimatsu-falls-in-love]

So the new Osomatsu Party cards are absolutely adorable and as sweet as chocolate ♥ All six of them are really, but one of the cards that really caught my eye was Ichi’s. Look at this tsundere :P And Jyushi smiling in the background while he watches his best brother get chocolates from the viewer someone who we can assume to be a very sweet special person. Everything about the Ichi card is cute, period.

Jyushi’s card is no slouch, either. Look at that smile!! He’s so happy to have received chocolates from the viewer that certain very special person; I think his irises may actually grown bigger and shinier than usual in his card lol. To me he even looks like he’s offering to share some of his sweetheart’s sweets with them! (Meanwhile Totty looks upset that someone beat him to getting chocolates from an admirer lol) Basically Suujimatsu + Valentines’ chocolate is a cute combo.

...And because I’m me, my mind went to a certain place. Those who know me will probably see where this is going.

Enter a certain beloved homerun girl.

Neither Jyushi nor Ichi get left out or heartbroken in this one, however, because this is set in an AU where polyamorous!IchiHomuJyushi is a thing!! So don’t worry, both boys and Homura are gonna be okay in this one :’D I wanted fluffy three-way Valentines’ cuteness today okay don’t judge me orz  Also please tell me if this is too OOC or not I still care about characterization even in silly idea posts orz orz orz

Okay so in Japan, the tradition goes that women give chocolates to the men in their lives on Valentines’ Day (and not the other way around). Homura’s all set; she prepared all sorts of chocolates to give to any and all friends she has. These include the Matsuno boys; Oso, Kara, Choro and Totty all get lovely giri-choco ("obligation chocolate”, for non-romantic relationships) gifts from her.

Aside from the giri-choco, Homura’s also prepared two very special boxes of chocolate for two very special boys. These two special honmei-choco (chocolate for romantic relationships) gifts were homemade by herself, taking into consideration the kinds of chocolate each boy likes and decorated/personalized for each as well. Homura hopes that she’s made the chocolates good enough for her boys (even though we all know they’d love anything she makes them haha).

The first boy she gives her first honmei-choco to is Jyushi; after all he’s the first one she met, the one who saved her life, the one who helped her smile again. Jyushi’s excited when Homura hands him the neatly-wrapped chocolate box. Wow, he’s never gotten chocolates from a girl before!! Especially a girl as as cute and sweet and kind as Homura-chan!! He’s so excited that he immediately opens the box and starts eating the homemade chocolates out of the box. And they’re good chocolates!! Sweet milk chocolate with hazelnuts shaped like hearts and decorated with little baseballs. They’re so good, Homura-chan should have some!! He offers her some of her own chocolates, but he’s so happy and earnest offering them to her that she just can’t say no. 

There’s a chocolate smear on Jyushi’s cheek after he’s eaten some, and seeing as they’re alone Homura surprises him by cleaning it off with a kiss. 

(Meanwhile Totty comes across them and spies on them from behind the corner of a nearby house. Don’t get him wrong, he’s happy for Jyushi-niisan and Homura-chan, but at the same time he can’t help but feel upset - how does Jyushi-niisan get a box of homemade honmei-choco from a cute girl, when all the chocolates he received from girls so far are store-bought giri-choco that didn’t even come in cute boxes or even wrapping paper?! Also Jyushi-niisan gets a kiss today, while he doesn’t?! It’s not fair!!)

Next Homura goes to look for Ichi. Perhaps she asks Jyushi if he knows where he is, and he points her in the right direction. Anyway, she finds Ichi and gives him a smaller box of chocolates, also neatly-wrapped - it’s smaller because she knows that while Ichi likes sweets, he isn’t as fond of them as Jyushi is, so he wouldn’t want as much. Ichi is taken aback by the present at first - this box of chocolates is for him? Lover’s chocolate, of all things, for a piece of trash like him? Surely Homura-chan must be joking. But no she isn’t, these are indeed for him and she loves him just as much as she loves his brother. Ichi scoffs and pretends not to be interested, but his face is red and his heart is racing and he takes the box anyway. The chocolates he received are shaped like fish and decorated with tiny pawprints and hearts, made of bitter chocolate without any nuts. Ichi decides not to eat them until he gets home.

Amused by how tsundere Ichi’s making himself to be, Homura leans in close and surprises him with a kiss on the cheek. Ichi stammers and hides his face inside his hoodie, grumbling, while Homura giggles.

Unknown to them, Jyushi followed Homura to wherever Ichi was and is now spying on them from behind the corner of a nearby house. However, he’s not at all upset that Homura’s giving Ichi the same affection she gave him earlier - Jyushi knows that she’s in love with both of them, and all three agreed to have a relationship where he and Ichi would both be Homura’s lovers. He has no problem with that. Watching them from the corner, Jyushi notices how hard Ichi’s trying to hide his face and act all aloof despite Homura’s affections; but he knows that in reality Ichi’s very happy that she loves him too. He’s probably hiding a smile inside his hoodie; the thought makes Jyushi smile too.

When both Ichi and Jyushi get home, they show each other the gifts they got from their girlfriend. Perhaps they even share the chocolates. They both agree that Homura-chan makes the best honmei-choco and she’s the best and they love her and they really should make her something special come White Day. (”Let’s team up to make her something, niisan!” “Heh, sure.”)

...meanwhile Oso, Kara, Choro and Totty cast weary glances at the happy brothers and sigh in defeat. When will they get their own girlfriends and honmei-choco?! It’s not fair~!!

[ciathyzareposts]

Star Control II: Summary and Rating

For the box art, the developers seem to be paying homage to L. Ron Hubbard.

           Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters

United States

Toys for Bob (developer); Accolade (publisher)

Released in 1992 for DOS, 1994 for the 3DO console; later fan ports to other platforms

Date Started: 23 March 2019

Date Finished: 14 May 2019

Total Hours: 47 Difficulty: Moderate (3/5) Final Rating: (to come later) Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

       Summary:

Star Control II takes the ship-by-ship action combat of the original Star Control and places it solidly within an adventure game of epic proportions. In a galaxy of more than 500 stars and 3,000 planets, a captain must build alliances, find artifacts, mine minerals, and coerce information from alien races so that he can ultimately throw off the yoke of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy and free Earth and its allies from slavery. Gameplay comes with a lot of lore and plot-twists, but every so often it reveals its origins and requires the player to defeat enemy ships with selects from his own armada, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities. Although the sense of an open world and a nonlinear plot both end up being somewhat illusory, the game is still fun and memorable.

****

         In the comments for my winning entry, several readers have offered descriptions and text that occurs when you try some of the game’s alternate strategies, such as surrendering to the Ur-Quan, provoking the Orz, or selling your own crewmembers to the Druuge. Most of them are either dead-ends or offer such harsh consequences that you’d best not do them in the first place.

One thing I was curious to check out is what happens if you wait out the game’s time limit. The Melnorme originally told me that the Earth would be destroyed in January or February of 2159, but my actions in the game managed to delay the apocalypse by almost two years. As I sat in hyperspace and watched, nothing much happened until November 2159, when the Supox and Utwig returned to their original systems, much diminished. 

           No one remains but the Ur-Quan.

          Around the end of 2159, the Kor-Ah won the civil war and started to circle the galaxy, destroying each sentient race in turn. Some of their ships reached Earth in April, but they weren’t here to destroy Earth just yet. I fought a few dreadnoughts and the horde moved on. The Arilou, Umgah, and Zoq-Fot-Pik were all gone by June 2160, the Supox and Utwig a month later. By October 2160, the Ur-Quan fleet had reached the “southern” end of the galaxy and destroyed the Yehat. Finally, in November, I received a broadcast from the Ur-Quan notifying me of Earth’s destruction, and the game was over. My ship was parked right next to Earth at the time, and I was hoping I’d see a bunch of dreadnoughts approaching it, but alas, it wasn’t quite that detailed.

              The “bad” ending, unless you’re a big Ur-Quan fan.

           If I hadn’t cheated a bit during the game by reloading when an expedition proved a waste of time, I probably would have run into issues with the time limit. Watching the slow destruction of every race, along with the intelligence that they possessed, would have been mildly horrifying. But apparently you can still win the game at any time during this process, with nothing altered in the endgame sequence.

I confess that the last bit bothers me a little because it’s indicative of the approach taken by the game as a whole. When I started playing Star Control II, it gave the impression of an open-world game with multiple narrative possibilities. But it turns out you have to follow a few paths in a relatively specific order, and most of the choices turn out to be illusory. Oh, it certainly does better than the typical RPG of the period, I hasten to add. It was just a bit disappointing to find that open exploration isn’t really rewarded. If you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a key location amidst all the planets in the vast galaxy, you probably won’t be able to do anything because you haven’t bought an important piece of information from the Melnorme first.

I have similarly mixed feelings about the game’s approach to the alien races and racial characterizations. On the one hand, I enjoyed the variety. When you’re making a game (as opposed to shooting a film or television show), you have the freedom to make some interesting races without worrying about the CGI budget. I appreciated that there were no “bumpy forehead” aliens except perhaps for the Syreen.

            I could have done with less of this.

          I also don’t fault the game for broad characterizations. It’s a longstanding trope of science fiction and fantasy to paint races with a broad brush: the wise elves, the logical Vulcans, the proud Klingons, the evil orcs, and so forth. You rarely have time to explore the detailed characteristics of an entire culture. It’s perfectly acceptable that Star Control II decided to highlight one major attribute of each race, such as cowardice, depression, loneliness, and greed. When it did go into more detail, such as in the case of the Ur-Quan and the Syreen, the detail was generally good, and it was rewarding to unlock those stories. I also appreciated the consistency of characterization. The Spathi locking themselves under their own slave shield amused me to no end because it was perfectly in keeping with the Spathi personality–and, in hindsight, 100% foreseeable. 

But I also felt there were too many moments of outright goofiness and parody among the racial interactions. The Orz, the Pkunk, the VUX, the Umgah, and the Utwig mostly just exhausted my patience. I couldn’t help but think how the same races with similar characteristics might be handled with less silliness. We don’t have to look very far to find an example. Starflight and Starflight II had some of the same broad racial characterizations, but rarely crossed the line into outright slapstick. I felt the stories and plot twists of those games were much better, too.

Nonetheless, I understand why Star Control II is regarded as the better game: it’s all about the combat. I wasn’t any good at it, but I can see why people like it. Until I played it, I wouldn’t have thought that a single choice–what ship to pilot–could have so many tactical implications. There are 14 ships that can join the New Alliance and 13 potential enemy ships, resulting in 182 potential battle combinations, and each has completely different tactical considerations. (With the Super Melee application, you can fight any of the ships against any of the others, for 625 possible combinations.) Slowly mastering the strengths of your ships and learning the weaknesses of the enemy ships is a huge and rewarding part of gameplay. Later in the game, when you have to fight multiple ships in a row, there are strategic implications for what ships you send into combat first and which you reserve for later in the battle.

             The typical outcome of my combats.

           Still, the nature of combat, plus the lack of “character development,” really makes this a non-RPG, which means it might not do so well on the GIMLET as an RPG. I played it as an exception. I don’t want to hear any future comments along the lines of, “Well, you played Star Control II, so to be consistent, you should also play This Game.” The point of exceptions is that I don’t have to be consistent with them.

As to the GIMLET:

1. Game World. Star Control II manages to check most of the boxes in this category. It has a rich, detailed backstory, an open world, a clear place for the character and his quest, and an evolving game state that responds to the player’s actions. (I particularly like how the starmap continually updates to show the dispositions of the various races.) The plot and its twists are original and interesting. The only fault I can find is that there isn’t much to see or do in the open universe. I wish the creators had seeded more planets with optional encounters and finds, perhaps replacing the system but which you purchase all your technology upgrades from the Melnorme. Score: 8.

2. Character Creation and Development. Alas, there is none of either except for the ability to name your own captain. Even if you regard the ship as a “character,” it doesn’t get innately better so much as it gains better equipment. Score: 0.

3. NPC Interaction. Another strong point. I’ve given my thoughts about the NPC personalities, but I should add that even goofy personalities are better than we get from the typical RPG of the period, which is no personality (or even NPCs) at all. I wish there had been more honest variety in dialogue options instead of one that’s obvious, two that are stupid, and one that’s evil. The Starflight games did a better job giving the player real “options” when talking to different alien races even though they came in the form of “stances” rather than specific dialogue choices. 

I should also note that most NPCs aren’t individuals but rather representatives of their races who somehow know the previous conversations the player has had with other representatives. But the game otherwise hits most of the criteria for a high score hear, including a plot that advances based on NPC interaction. Score: 7.

             My thoughts exactly.

              4. Encounters and Foes. The game has an original slate of foes (ships) that require you to learn their individual strengths and weaknesses. There are otherwise no real “encounters” in the game that aren’t also NPC dialogues. Score: 6.

5. Magic and Combat. I can’t give a high score here because my scale is about RPG-style combat and the various tactics and strategies that draw from attributes, skills, and the player’s intelligence rather than his dexterity. Still, as I discussed above, the choice of ship and the way you plot long combats create some important tactical and strategic decisions. I just wish combat has always been about ship versus ship. The planets, which show up suddenly as you switch screens, were unwelcome guests. Score: 3.

           The asteroids, on the other hand, I didn’t mind so much.

         6. Equipment. All of the “equipment” in the game is ship-related rather than character-related, and it all applies to the flagship, which a good player arguably does not rely on. I wish there had been opportunities to upgrade the other ships in the fleet. It would have been tough to offer meaningful options with so many of them, but even just generic attack or defense improvements would have been nice. Beyond that, it’s fun to figure out how to best make use of the limited modular space on the flagship, particularly as new options come along regularly. Score: 3.

7. Economy. There are really two economies in the game: the “resource unit” economy that lets you build a fleet and equip your flagship, and the Melnorme “information” economy that depends on bio data and Rainbow World identifications. I found both rewarding enough for about two-thirds of the game. Score: 7.

8. Quests. The game has one main quest with a few options (though, as I mentioned before, a lot of the options are illusory) and side-quests. There’s only one ending. Score: 4.

9. Graphics, Sound, and Inputs. I don’t have many complaints in this category. The graphics are perfectly fine for the scope and nature of the game; the sound effects are fun and evocative throughout; and it’s hard to complain about the interface of a game that supports both joystick and keyboard inputs and lets you customize the keyboard. I had problems in combat despite these advantages, but I don’t think I can blame the game.

I do have one major issue, or several related issues, that fits into this category. The dialogue is delivered one line at a time in a huge font. You can hit the SPACE bar after each bit of dialogue to see a transcription in a smaller font that you can barely read. Either way, if you don’t make your own transcriptions or screen shots (which must have been tough for an era player), the dialogue is lost once you leave the screen. In most cases, you can’t prompt the NPC to speak the same lines again, and there’s no databank in which to retrieve it as there was in Star Control II. Thankfully, I took copious screenshots, but they’re a cumbersome way to review previous dialogue and I think the game should have offered a better system. Score: 6.

             This text is better than nothing, but it’s still not very easy to read.

          10. Gameplay. I give half-credit for non-linearity. The game is more linear than it seems when you start, but you still have a lot of choices about the order of your activities. I also give half-credit for replayability. As I mentioned earlier, many of the “options” seem illusory, and a replaying player might find himself swiftly on familiar paths, but there is at least some variety for a replay. The hourly total is just about right for this content, and while I had difficulty in combat, I still managed to win with an acceptable number of reloads, so I can’t fault the difficulty. Score: 7.

That gives us a final score of 51, surprisingly close to the 53 I gave both Starflight and Starflight II, which had actual characters and character development. But reviewing those games, I’m reminded how awful combat was, and how many issues I had with the interface. I’m thus comfortable with the rating. 

              The ad makes it seem like the game’s enemies are the Umgah.

          There are plenty of players, however, who would consider a 51 an insult. Star Control II still continues to make “best games ever” lists compiled by various publications. In a March 1993 preview in Computer Gaming World, Stanley Trevena liked the game enough to put it on his “top ten list of all time.” “It is not often,” he says, “that such a perfect balance is struck between role-playing, adventure, and action/arcade.” In the November 1993 issue, they gave it “Game of the Year” in the adventure category (or, at least, it tied with Eric the Unready). Dragon gave it 5 out of 5 stars. It’s rare to find an English review out of the 90s, though for some reason European reviews tended to put it lower, in the 70s.

The 3DO version from 1994 has some significant differences from the DOS version. It has an animated, narrated introduction and cut scenes plus voiced dialogue for the conversations. (My understanding is that the open-source Ur-Quan Masters would use some of this voiced dialogue but re-record others.) Some readers encouraged me to play this version specifically because of the voices. I’m not sure I would have liked it better. There’s really just too much dialogue overall. Some of the voices are good: I appreciate the Vaderesque bass of the Ur-Quan, the lispy enthusiasm of the Pik, and the weird Scottish accent the creators gave to the Yehat. For some reason, they decided the Shofixti was a bad English translator of a 1970s Japanese kung-fu movie; the Orz, Spathi, and Utwig are just annoying; and the Umgah is the stuff of nightmares. The Talking Pet is the worst, with some ridiculous southern “Joe Sixpack” accent. I was also disappointed by the Syreen, who sounds like Doris Day rather than . . . well, honestly, I’m not sure what would have done justice to the Syreen. How do you blend a fierce Amazonian and a seductive vixen in a single voice?

Star Control II left a satisfying number of mysteries, such as the fate of the Precursors and why they seemed (to the Slylandro) to be nervously searching for something. We never learned about the Rainbow Worlds or why they (apparently) form an arrow pointing to the “northeast” of the galaxy. We never learned what the Orz did to the Androsynth, what the Orz really are, and how they relate to the Arilou. I was disappointed that we never found out why the Ur-Quan destroyed historical structures of humanity, including some places we weren’t even aware of. I was disappointed to find that most of these questions are unanswered in Star Control 3 (1996), although we do apparently learn that the Precursors genetically modified themselves so they would have the intelligence of cows, thus protecting themselves from a race that periodically harvests the energies of sentient races. I think the creators missed an opportunity by not making the Precursors actual cows. There could have been a Gary Larson tie-in and everything.

           The creepy cover to the game’s sequel.

          The direction of Star Control 3 reveals some of the background drama between developer Toys for Bob (authors Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford) and publisher Accolade. According to Reiche and Ford, Accolade gave the developer such a limited budget that they had to essentially work for free for half a year to create a quality game. Accolade would not increase the budget for the sequel, so the original creators refused to develop it, and the job went to Legend Entertainment instead.

In 2002, authors Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford made the source code available for free, and some fans used it to create The Ur-Quan Masters for Windows, with multiple releases starting in 2005. It has since been ported to multiple additional platforms. The effort also led to the creation of the Ultronomicon, a Star Control II wiki.

The Star Control trademark passed to Infogrames when it purchased Accolade in 1999; Infogrames soon rebranded itself as Atari. When Atari filed for bankruptcy in 2013, its assets were sold. Stardock Corporation managed to acquire the Star Control license and produce Star Control: Origins (2018). Set 26 years before the original Star Control, the game would seem to retcon when Earth first encountered alien life. During development, Stardock claimed to be in contact with Reiche and Ford, and were developing the game along their vision, although they couldn’t technically participate because of their Activation contract. If this relationship was ever friendly and cooperative, it soon became otherwise when Reiche and Ford announced they would be creating Star Control: Ghosts of the Precursors and Stardock started selling the first three Star Control games on Steam. Both parties counter-sued each other for copyright and intellectual property violations, and Steam removed the Star Control titles (including Origins, at least temporarily) after receiving DCMA takedown notices from Reiche and Ford. As far as I can tell, the litigation is still ongoing.

            Combat in Origins has improved graphics but seems to adhere to original principles.

        Toys for Bob still lives as a subsidiary of Activision, and Reiche and Ford still continue to direct the development of its games. I don’t think we’ll see them again, however, as none of their titles are RPGs. (For more on Reiche and Ford, see Jimmy Maher’s excellent coverage of Star Control II from this past December. My favorite part is when Reiche gets fired from TSR for questioning the purchase of a Porsche as an executive’s company car.)

I am often dismissive of calls for remakes, usually considering them to be the products of dull, dilettante gamers who can’t handle any graphics more than 5 years old. But I would like to see, if not a remake, a modern game that has the basic approach of Star Control II (and, for that matter, Starflight)–perhaps even one that realizes it better by offering truly alternate plot paths. We have plenty of games (although, in my opinion, not enough) that allow us to explore open worlds; have any so far allowed us to explore an open universe? Perhaps that’s what we’ll get from Bethesda’s forthcoming Starfield.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/star-control-ii-summary-and-rating/

[franeridart]

WHOA BLACK CLOVER HAS AN ANIME NOW I GOTTA GO WATCH IT

Well, only the first episode for now but yeah!!! I can’t wait for my favs to show up aaahhhhhh!!!!!! 

Anon said:Omg, Kirishima, please teach me how to put on eyeliner, your eyeliner game is on point! (Seriously, tho, I love how you draw their eyes and how you draw Kiri in general. He seems so soft. Damn, Bakugou, I'm jealous that you can cuddle him)

THANK YOU!!!! And Kiri has really really pretty lashes in the manga too, doesn’t he? Bakugou too! They have seriously pretty eyes I spend a lot of time trying to get that right when drawing haha still not as good at Horikoshi tho after all, but what can we do~

Anon said:Every time I get a notification you posted something I get extremely happy! That's what your drawings did to me. How can one be so talented.

SOB thank you so much!! You being happy makes me happy so it’s happiness all around!!! What a good!!!

Anon said:Heey!! So I've been wondering... if Aizawa used his quirk on Hagakure would she become visible?? (Btw love your art)

Oh my what a question, I was actually talking about this not too long ago with a friend! And the conclusion ended up being that if her invisibility is a permanent mutation he can’t, but if she can turn it off at will then probably he can too! Right now we still don’t know how exactly Tooru’s quirk tho, so we can’t be sure which is the truth! (I like to think she can turn visible if she wants, but that’s just an headcanon with very little basis haha)

Anon said:Your erasermic art has blessed me 4ever thank u

NAH thank you for liking it and letting me know, man!!!

Anon said:I DIDNT KNOW YOU SHIP ERASERMIC OH MY GOD but seriously you're one of my favourite artists and the fact you like pretty much all the same things as I do is so amazing to me and it makes me so happy because I know that you may draw more of it in the future and I'll get to see more beautiful art if that makes sense lmao thanks for creating stuff 👌👌

Hahahaha yeah it’s one of my top ships in the fandom! Also the only one I read fics for aside from krbk I love them A LOT (and it’s all thanks to my sister who directed my attention towards them a long time ago now, thank you sis) so yeah I’ll definitely draw more of them in the future!!!! And thank you so much for liking my stuff!!!!!

Anon said:Hi! I just want to say I love your headcanon of Aizawa becoming a mentor/role model to Bakugou! Thank you for introducing me to that idea!

YOU’RE MOST WELCOME I’m just a huge huge huge fan of the Aizawa&Bakugou interactions and how much Aizawa cares for him and how much Bakugou respects and trusts him in return, so!!! I’m mostly just pushing on that canon stuff hahaha

Anon said:HORY SHEET BOYO THAT ERASERMIC SHIT IS GOOD SHIT

THANK YOU FRIEND!!!

Anon said:i came to love erasermic thru kiribaku tbh. like i saw erasermic fic in the kiribaku tag on ao3 and i read it for the bg kiribaku (kirishima was such a good boi in that fic ngl) and i was like hey erasermic isnt bad. then i saw your art of them comparing them and i was like hey this is good shit 😁👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌 keep it up pal

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll t r y !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O

Anon said:Do you think Kyoka and Katsuki could get along? Over their like for punkrock maybe, and their gayness. Kinda like Todoroki and Momo's talks about their tiny crushes.

WHY YES ANON I think they could be the bestest of pals, I’ve actually drawn them together now and again cause I like the idea of them being friends so much - a list of some of the things Bakugou and Jirou do together:

make fun of Kaminari (Kaminari feels attacked and liked it better when Jirou was convinced she didn’t like Bakugou)

share music recs and go to concerts together (when it’s big ones they particularly care for they stand in line The Whole Day and at first it used to be sorta awkward but now being together makes the hours fly)

mutter sass and snark under their breaths to themselves in class and without meaning make the other snort or have to hide an actual laugh (they sit next to each other in class did you know that that’s my fav thing tbh)

say “god, I’m so fucking gay” and answer “mood” whenever Kirishima and Momo, like, exist or do anything equally outrageous

sit next to each other with their phones in hand in silence and at the same time look up with an intense/bored/obviously-judging-sero-come-on-look-at-them expression whenever anyone walks past them (they’re actually playing bullshit app games)

play bullshit app games in co-op or having each other as friends to earn more rewards cause they have a No-Judging policy going on between them that makes sharing this sort of otherwise embarrassing stuff with each other okay

Anon said:Hi!!! I love your art and I just wanted to ask....what band were you referring to when you said Mic named him after the band "eraserhead"? Could you possibly be talking about the filipino band "Eraserheads"?

Yeah!!!!! Tho I’m sorry to let you down anon, but I haven’t actually ever heard much from them (justttt one song two days ago cause I got curious) - I found out about them while looking up the movie!

Anon said:I love how you draw mic with his hair in a bun. It's super cute

THANK YOU!!!! But I can’t really take the merit for that, since that’s how he actually wears his hair (more or less) when he doesn’t gel it up for his hero costume!

Anon said:What is your favorite kiribaku au? :D

Oh boy, I sort of love everything and anything I’ve ever seen/read tbh, I’m a HUGE AU lover!! At the moment to anything with the fantasy AU (and dragon!Kiri is always a super welcome plus) is gonna make me go :O !!!!!!!! hahaha so maybe that, who knows! It’s for sure the one I think about the most!

Anon said:Hellooooo i love your art so much? Especially the bakushimas oh my god (also do you plan on drawing more soul eater *coughs*-deathstar-*coughs* in the future?) Have a good day!!

THANK YOU! And I dunno, maybe! If inspiration strikes, why not!

Anon said:hey guess what i just did... went through your ENTIRE art tag (all the way back to the knb and one piece), i found it really cool to see how your art has developed and see what your fav ship is at a certain time (and how you always come back to bokuroo)

Ah man thank you for spending all that time on my blog hahaha I wouldn’t say I always go back to bokuro though? It’s more like... whenever the manga brings the bokuros back I’m ready to start hyping all over them again hahaha my bokuro periods always happened while they were doing things in the manga, after all~

Anon said:u said u couldnt draw iida, lie of the century. i lvoe u

AHHHHH I’m glad you liked him!!!! I spent lotsa time on him in the past month or so trying to get a grasp on him, so I’m really seriously happy it seems to have paid off!! to quote Todoroki

Anon said:where’s ur faq i’m on mobile

SORRY maybe you already noticed but I added the link in the description! 

Anon said:have you ever thought about if eri-chan can... erase her own quirk?? and would how they might handle it

Actually that’s the first thing I thought when Mirio got his own erased... well, it still depends on what exactly Eri’s quirk does? We sorta assumed she had the same quirk as Chisaki, but they aren’t actually related so who knows? I sure hope she can fix the damage done on Mirio, tho!

Anon said:I ADORE YOUR ART SO MUCH OH GOD HAVE A NICE DAY FRAN

OH MY GOD THANK YOU I HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY TOO!!!

Anon said:Usjeiwiwj oh man, i love cats, my cat relates to urs big time ajsjehej

Cats are such a mess and I love them with all of my heart to be honest hahaha

Anon said:Do u have any, idk idea about traitor!Kaminari? I just imagine how would others react? I think it's hella sad, and still Denki never wanted this, something just go wrong in his life and it's breakin my heart... ARGH, sorry for interrupt you with something like that...

It’s okay, don’t worry about that haha but I can’t say I find the theory possible in the least, so I haven’t really spent time thinking about it at all? I mean, I can imagine it would be full of angst and regrets and a lot of tears and anger mostly from his close friends, but since I just can’t believe this theory I can’t say I have anything specific I can give you on this orz sorry!

Anon said:Who's get jealous and possessive between bakugou and kirishima?

Actually I dunno man, are they possessive and jealous? I feel like they both would like it when the other told them stuff like “I’m yours” or “you’re mine”, but being there complete and utter trust between them they wouldn’t actually be jealous or act in a possessive way... does that make sense? At most I think they’d be insecure in the beginning of their relationship, but once they managed to make it clear that yes, you’re the one I want, no one else, just you then they would have little to no problems in that sense haha

Anon said:So many people seem to misunderstand bakugou and I just really like how you portray him. Good characterization and good art! 💖✨

SOB THANK YOU !!!!! this means the universe to me oh g o d s!!!!

Anon said:Wait!! This isn't your main blog? Omg how did I not know this. What is your main blog (if you're willing to let people from this blog follow it haha)?

AHHHH yeah I have a main one this one is just for my doods!!! the main is @franeridan, if you wanna follow it! I’m mostly just crying over bakugou and kirishima and complaining a whole damn lot about... everything, tho hahaha

Anon said:I'm not the anon but u know the concept that kiri n Baku would meet when they were younger and when Baku was more... violent? (i know that's not the right word, I'm not a native speaker sorry!) Like I think kiri could actually make Baku less of a bully? Considering how much positive impact he had on his personality AFTER it already developed (like idk if this ask makes sense? What do u think?) ◇ (btw putting smth like ◇ was a genious idea ty, idk if u remember that ask tho?)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah!!!!! Actually I’ve been thinking about this A LOT in the past couple of days and my conclusion ended up being that the key would be either for Kirishima to know Bakugou since they were really young OR for him to not attend Bakugou’s same middle school? Like, if they developed their personalities together, having someone like Kirishima around since they were kids could have made Bakugou develop differently, but if we go with the “they met in middle school” scenario then I think Kirishima would have had the same sort of...soothing? Effect on Bakugou only if Bakugou didn’t see him as a threat to his dream of being the only kid from that middle school to enter UA. Well, a scenario in which they had known each other since they were small young babies and Bakugou reached middle school going “the only one from this middle school to enter UA is gonna be me and Eijirou”, that would have been hella cute wouldn’t it hahaha growing up with a notion of us instead of just me would have changed Bakugou a lot, I’m pretty sure :D