#its the gacha game writing i think as well

[prettyboykatsuki]

OKAY SO I know this is so incredibly stupid because as a romance game lads is supposed to present something of an ideal. like I know that’s the point and this is keeping me from just enjoying it for what it is.

BUT

maybe it’s just because of bad experiences or my complete and utter lack of faith in most men, but I just can’t get into the fantasy because I keep thinking that no man will ever be this perfect 😭 not necessarily perfect as in without personality flaws, but perfect in a boyfriend sense you know. like it’s just incredibly obvious to me that they’re really idealized guys and it makes me kind of sad in a sense

like I know it’s supposed to be a fun dreamy boyfriend simulator!! I want to enjoy it as such!! but for whatever reason I just can’t because it’s so glaring to me that part of the wish fulfillment fantasy is for things that men irl should be more than capable of doing already and often just don’t do. Does That Make Sense

I’m not necessarily asking for advice, so feel free to roast me because like I said I know this is super dumb and totally a me thing lmao. it was just rattling around in my brain and I wanted to get bonked a little I think. but thanks for letting me ramble <3

i dont think this is stupid!!!! like truly at all

i actually think ive been like. kind of outright critical about this before KJSDHFKJSD. but i think our reasoning is just slightly different.

to be clear and before any anons get in my inbox: im aware that love and deepspace is ultimately a dating sim and a game intended to make money. i Know.

that being said, i think part of this specific cognitive dissonance happens specifically because each of the characters has such strong writing. of course the game is a dating sim, and its a gacha - so naturally there's nothing wrong with the boys being the perfect boyfriend. like its The Point. of course.

but each of the characters is very well-written, and additionally - writing with a lot of depth and lore that would warrant flaws. and they do have flaws individually - but the game kind of intentionally does not acknowledge these flaws in any of the content very directly. and these flaws are all mysteriously not applicable to their love lives.

ultimately its always going to be in service of the dating sim aspect, but i think sometimes this is to the detriment of story and character writing itself. like the game will always prioritize the guys doing something boyfriend like even if it isnt necessarily in line with their usual writing.

i think though we are both experiencing the same thing where the guys are too perfect In A Way. and it can really break the immersion - especially if you play OTHER otomes - because the guys in those otomes often do still have some flaws. it brings balance and depth to them imo, things that are much needed.

like the lads fandom likes writing angst and i think a lot of this stems from the games intentional lack of interpersonal conflict.

in short i know what you mean and i dont think its stupid. i actually think there are a fair number of otome players (especially old school ones) that would completely agree lol

[masqueradeoftheguilty]

mmm. more penacony thoughts.

i like the main story idea and its had some good parts but. i feel like im just not seeing the peak writing others are. the pov jumping makes it all a bit messy, the long character backstory jumpcuts are frustrating, theres sO muCH standing around and talking and dont even get me started on the filler!

but on the other hand it has gotten me back into playing. i doubt itll stick but i have been wanting to actually get through the story (only to be reminded of it being a slog)

[maplefield]

honestly, that fact that they essentially found a pendrive and just plucked it into a supercomputer.......

[cherriibombfics]

You know something folks don't often talk about with Self Aware AUs that I really think more people should discuss when writing about it? Sequence breaking. Specifically the inherent sequence breaking that comes with Gacha games allowing you to meet characters that you haven't met yet in the story if you haven't played that far ahead.

For example, I actually just started playing CRK nearly 2 weeks ago after watching a bunch of animations and cutscenes about the latest Beast Yeast episode online, right? And as a result, I got enough F2P currency from being a new user to get, in this exact order: Pure Vanilla Cookie, then Black Sapphire Cookie, then the soul jams to awaken PV, then Shadow Milk Cookie. All of this happened before GingerBrave canonically met any of them.

So basically Shmilk woke up one day, was out of the tree he was trapped in for what felt like an eternity, appeared in some random small kingdom, sees PV who was now all glowy and angelic and hanging out with his minion for some reason, who immediately walks up to him and says something like, "Hey man. I experienced enlightenment and I have no idea how. But through context clues from The Baker, I think I just ruined your entire corruption arc you had planned for me? Sorry about that. You wanna beat up some cake monsters as these children learn the dark lore of our existences?"

I don't think PV talks like that, but you get the picture. I like the idea of accidentally ruining the entire plotline by having some lucky gacha pulls~

"ɢᴇᴛ ꜱ��ᴍᴍᴏɴᴇᴅ ɪᴅɪᴏᴛ!"

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 540

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: ɴᴏɴᴇ

ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

ᴀ/ɴ: ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏᴏ ꜱᴜʀᴇ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ꜰᴏʀ. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴀ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡ-ᴜᴘ ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡ.

ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ᴍɪʟᴋ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ x ʙᴀᴋᴇʀ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

✧ SHADOW MILK COOKIE would be ecstatic about finally being released from the Silver Tree, and with a physical form no less? All so far ahead of schedule? Oh, he was over the moon! But where was he? This wasn't that silly faerie kingdom. As a matter of fact, was he even still on Beast-Yeast?

✧ In the context of the story the existence of the Cookie Kingdom is, well, horrifying. New cookies being summoned were a common occurrence within its walls, from different regions, time periods, and even ones that had crumbled long ago. After a certain point the ruler of the kingdom started finding ways to allow cookies to adjust to their new life, but of course that system didn't work for everyone.

"For the last time, I do not want to join your silly kingdom! Where are my minions? And where on Earthbread am I?"

✧ He'd be livid that his powers don't work here for some reason, safe for a couple of things like summoning a plush rabbit of all things. Why was he being reduced to this mockery? Who was turning a former almighty cookie into an equal to the foolish cookies who lived here? Seriously, is that mask-wearing buffoon always lifting something?

✧ He'd eventually comply, albeit reluctantly, because after a while he'd realize there's no point in resisting the inevitable. You held the power here, over everyone, and for the first time in years there he felt completely powerless.

“Do you enjoy seeing me kneel before you? Do you find pleasure in watching me be reduced to this?! I’m the one holding the strings, I AM NO PUPPET!”

“Why are you yelling at the sky?”

✧ At some point you’re forced to talk to him directly since he was causing troubles for the other cookies with his ramblings and general abrasion.

“You, YOU! You’re the one who did this to me! I was happier inside of that stupid tree than I am here! Why me? Why not one of the others? Why did you decide to torture me like this?”

“I dunno, the gacha just picked you I guess.”

“What are you talking about?!”

✧ He’d become even more upset when you explain the gacha to him and, by extension, the fact that their entire world was technically a game. So his current situation was entirely chance. You sent him away after that, promising that you’d build a few structures for him in return for good behavior.

“Wow, this is humiliating. Why am I being stuck cutting wood? I’m a jester not a lumberjack…”

“Shadow Milk Cookie!”

✧ Being reunited with his minions was nice, for a short while, it gave him some sense of normalcy throughout the newfound confusion. Because at least he wasn't alone during this. That Distorted Tower you promised seemed that nice, and you weren't that bad he supposed. It could've been worse…wait. Was that Pure Vanilla Cookie? Why was he glowing?

“Oh, hello again! I believe I experienced enlightenment during your absence. I’m not too sure on the details, outside of that spire, but I’m grateful we’re meeting in better circumstances. It’s nice to see you be given a chance at redemption.”

“You what?”

✧ Nevermind. This sucks.

[violenteconomics]

I suddenly remembered your 7 man band au when you appeared on my dash, The concept reminded me of kpop idol debut shows, like imagine they only went because the company offered money for getting pass screening but after that you can get booted off so they join, they pass, they get money, theyre ready to hop of this show but plot twist, their made to join the first ep, sure why not more money and it doesn't sacrifice much school time but now they keep winning in the show to the point they fear they might actually be forced to debut as a boyband/Kpop group

i'm gonna be honest, the way u phrased this was h i l a r i o u s.

like imagine there's a popular tv show in twisted wonderland (let's call it "powerline's power stars", based off of that one pop star from "a goofy movie") that's famous for launching the careers of its contestants into the mainstream once they debut. neige and vil both were on it, so of course all of pomefiore knows about it.

epel hears that you can get 500 thaumarks just for signing up to audition, and ANOTHER 500 for actually making it past screening. they all think "why not, money's money" (jack and sebek are just glad they're not going through with ortho's suggestion of making a visual novel gacha game with hot boy characters to attract the "whales", whatever THAT means), and they take a weekend off to shoot their audition tape.

at first they just want to send in their audition, take the money, and leave -- but apparently they're actually pretty good, because one of the producers calls them and says they made it onto "powerline's power stars". they try to back out of it, but as soon as they're promised 1000 thaumarks just for showing up for the shooting, they zoom out of night raven college at record speed.

(well, okay, they do actually write their housewarden some notes explaining why they're not there. the notes themselves are in varying quality, ranging from epel's "money" written in purple glitter pen on a piece of notebook paper and left on vil's doorstep, to sebek's tearful, 10-page long apology in squid ink and delivered via raven.)

when they get on "powerline's power stars", the audience falls in love with them. their chemistry is so good to watch -- a little bullying, incredibly affectionate, and most importantly, surprisingly in-sync despite how much they argue. and their performances are top-notch, always following some kind of theme based on one of the great seven (they are nrc students after all, might as well represent them while they're at it). their creativity and group dynamics easily make them among the the most popular contestants on the show.

the show takes this and markets them in advertisements BRILLIANTLY. sebek and jack are the straight-laced, tsundere-like yet very passionate and protective types. ace and epel are the mischevious, pranking, little shit types, except epel hides it under a delicate facade and a quiet voice. deuce and ortho are the chlidish, overly-excited types who are just there to support their friends and do their best. and yuu is the glue that keeps them together, the ever-present cheerleader, always cheering them on and keeping their spirits up no matter what.

AND EVERYONE EATS THIS SHIT UPPPPPP THE VIEWERSHIP AND RATINGS FOR "POWERLINE'S POWER STARS" GO THROUGH THE FUCKING ROOF AFTER THE FIRST ADVERTISEMENT FEATURING THE FIRST-YEARS, AND THEY PASS THROUGH EVERY ROUND WITHOUT FAIL.

the first-years, on the other hand, are more concerned with the amount of money they're raking in for every round they pass. they're so invested in their new capital, they don't realize how good they're doing until it's announced in the final round that they won the whole thing, and will now signing on with the official "powerline" music brand.

when they're told that they're now actually expected to write an album and make more music videos, instead of being excited, they're like "F U C K we actually have to do WORK now UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

(obviously, they give in and do it, because money is money.)

(...ykw, i'm actually fucking with this idea pretty hard lol. i might make it part of the "seven-man band" canon. like this is the random contest that they joined and that's why their famous now.)

[novas-corner]

Gang I saw someone make a post about being isekaid (???) into LaDS and I think it would be really funny to write my own version (heavy inspiration taken from them but I saw this months ago and cannot remember who they are, if it was you homie you cool asf.)

Um anyway, I think it’s funny so here is basically just… me??? But written as something anyone can read. Being isekai’d (?????) into LaDS (I’m only there to collect cards and stare at pretty men, I genuinely know little to nothing about their lore, this will be painful to read if you’re deep into their lore😍)

This has been read once over, just to make sure I didn’t add my own name in anywhere, but that’s about it

I DIDNT ASSIGN COLOURS TO THEM AND IM ON MY PHONE SO ITS LIMITED (oh yeah hi this is me weeks later writing more of this, you wouldn’t know that though, this all came out at once) ANYWAYS COLOURS ARE HERE.

Xavier. Zayne. Rafayel. Sylus. Caleb.

PART 2 IS HERE 🤩

Ok anyways back to whatever this mess is 🤩

Oh fuck! An isekai!!

One day you’d be just playing your silly little gacha game, staring at the screen as you debate if you wanna swipe the card or not. You decide ‘the gods will give me a sign if I should or not’ knowing damn well you probably will anyways (This if for my gambling addicted freaks… you spend too much money on pixels, put the card dOWN)

You decide to sleep on it instead of spending the twelve dollars left in your account on a few pixels. The decision will be slept on and if you roll over in your sleep an accidentally send yourself into debt… oopsies!!! Y’know? God forbid someone have their hobbies!

What you did not expect however was waking up on solid ground in someone’s house… did you drink before going to bed and forget..? Whose house is this???? Why does it look so… familiar? You swear you’ve seen this place before, maybe you met an old friend and passed out on their floor? But you swear you didn’t go out last night, so how in the hell…

While you’re sitting on the floor pondering what in the hell is going on a knock at the door snaps you out of this trace of yours.

You pause.

More knocking.

Well fuck… someone should answer that… and you seem to be the only person home.

You reluctantly pull yourself off the floor and over to the door, the person knocks again as you open the door. He’s mid knock and you recognize this very familiar face.

“XAVIER..?”

You can’t help the shocked call of his name that tumbles out of your mouth, you’re staring at him wide eyed and he’s just looking at you confused.

“…yes? We had a date for today, did you sleep in again?”

He’d say with a small chuckle, letting himself in and ruffling your hair.

“You look a mess, not in a bad way though!”

He says backtracking his words slightly. You’re still stood at the door slack-jawed when you notice a mirror and move over to it… damn you really do look a mess.

But not just that, you look eerily like your character from LaDS… oh dear.

“I WAS ISEKAID?????”

You’re freaking out a bit right now, you never play the game for the story, you don’t know their personalities, they’re going to act so much different than you’d expect and you won’t be able to stop it.

You pause, thinking for a moment. Ain’t they all in different timelines or something..? FUCK YOU GOT THE XAVIER ONE. Whatever he’s still cute as all hell and a FREAK so you could get used to it. (I’m a Caleb person, so sue me, this is me if I was isekaid not you)

He’s standing behind you now, confused.

“Did I do something wrong? Are you okay?”

You don’t know how to answer, lucky for you, you don’t need to due to another goddamn knock at your door.

“Oh did you plan something with Tara at the same time again..? We can go out later if you need”

He’s smiling as he opens the door, sweet as sugar he is. His smile however, fades pretty quickly seeing another man at your door.

Your face drops, you feel faint, why you??? Give the isekai to someone else!!

It’s Zayne!!! Yaaaaayyy…

Alright well you could maybe talk your way out of this… or well… you thought you could. One by one more of them show up until five men are surrounding you as you sit on the couch, head in your hands as you try and figure this mess out.

Rafayel and sylus are doing most of the talking, arguing with each other about who’s dating who and whatnot.

Eventually you get sick of the lot of them, standing up and shouting at them to shUT THE FUCKUP-

“Okay please for the love of gods just shut up! Gods!! Your bickering is driving me insane I’m just trying to think!!”

“Think about what, the fact you’ve been cheating on all of us?”

Your head snaps to Rafayel.

“Listen to me and listen good mister man. I ain’t the me you know, I hardly know all of y’all in general!! Is an isekai a thing here?? Do y’all know what that is?”

The five are clearly confused, you don’t let them speak.

“Well it’s what happened to me, I’ve been brought from a different reality into whatever the hell this one is, and somehow I wasn’t put in the main story but eACH OF THE DIFFERENT TIMELINES.”

You’re frustrated, flopping back down on the couch with your head in your hands.

“I don’t know how I got here I just know I’m not supposed to be here. None of this is right and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Sylus smacks Rafayel on the back of the head and tells him to apologize, which he walks over to your side and places a hand on your shoulder and looks at you with gentle eyes.

“Hey… I’m sorry…”

This does not however stop (man I gotta assign personalities to all these mfs hold on I’m googling it… okay I’m back five minutes later, I’ve got it kinda right for the OG three, luckily the only two I’ve paid any attention to are Sylus and Caleb 😭‼️) Xavier from looking at you confused.

“So we’re all… from a video game..?”

Euuuhhggh… maybe you shouldn’t have let that slip… gods now you’re gonna deal with a mid-life crisis from these idiots-

“So you would know… things about us we haven’t told you then… right?”

You’re confused but nod.

“I mean yeah kinda? My issue here is that I don’t… play the story that much, I’m bad at focusing on something for a while”

“Oh? Interesting sweetie… what are we like then?”

An excuse to yap about the game??? SAY LESS.

“Well… hmmm… Sylus you’re a mafia boss troupe I guess, mean, cold, scary, tough… I’m running out of words here… regardless, you’re like an angry kitten, which is ironic since that what you call ME. When we meet you’re so mean, you try and kill me kinda, whatever… and then in the alternate universe where we date you’re literally the sweetest ever??? It’s kinda confusing. ALSO. YOU HAVE SUCH A BACKSTORY WITH US??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOURE A DRAGON WHO SAVED US AND THEN WE KILLED YOU AND FATED YOU TO SEARCH FOR US FOREVER??? THATS SO DEPRESSING??? Ooooh sorry I ramble a bit sometimes.”

You add that last part in with a small laugh, he’s staring at you absolutely dumbfounded.

“Oh right I guess your version of me didn’t know that… oops??”

You look around the room, asking if anyone else wants to hear your opinions on their story, they all do (I just want to write it, I find it funny) so you turn to Caleb, who is your personal favorite (but you won’t say that out loud, it could end in a death.)

“You’re like my adopted brother, which is a bit weird when you think too hard about it but whatever you’re hot so I can look past it. You’re colonel of the fleet or something, you were only recently added to the game and unfortunately I didn’t get your extra story because I’m a broke bitch who will not pay for it. OH ALSO YOU TRICKED US INTO THINKING YOU DIED???? I WAS SO INVESTED IN THE STORY AT ONE POUNT AND WAS ENTIRELY SHOCKED THAT THE HOUSE BLEW UP WITH YOU INSIDE IT.”

He just chuckles and ruffles your hair. You push his hand away with a small glare and fix said hair (so sorry to anyone that’s not got hair reading this, just pretend for the sake of it being me and not you 🤩) now looking to Rafayel.

“You mister, you’re a pain in the butt. You’re annoying, you talk back, AND I THINK YOU KILLED ME IN A PAST LIFE??? I don’t know, mister mermaid boy and whatever else. You’re fun though I guess, and usually really funny, also impatient as all hell… which is ironic since I’m pretty sure we act the exact same. Or well- you act like how I act, not the MC, but ME.”

“Well that’s something”

“Yeah yeah whatever… Zayne you’re like… a cutie patootie who can do no wrong in my eyes. You’re my doctor but also my childhood friend, free healthcare for LIIIFE. You’ve probably managed to die like twice??? I’ll be so real I have not paid much attention to your lore, you’re just super sweet and rather quiet… which is probably why you have not spoken yet…”

He just nods, not really paying much attention… jackass…

“And Xavier!!! You’re mysterious as fuck, my guy I’ve played this game for months now and I still do not understand anything about you. You show up out of nowhere as my mysterious work partner and then in all of our alternate universe stuff you’re sleepy as heck and a FREAK. OH MY GODS YOURE SO FREAKY. I EXPECTED SYLUS TO BE THE SLUT BUT NO, SIR YOU’RE INSANE.”

He shrugs

“I know what I want”

“Right well anyways, now that introductions are out of the way… what’s uh… what’s the plan here?”

You’re looking around at the group, who are mostly still not over the things they have learned they’re video game characters.

“Well… we had a date planned… so I vote everyone else leaves and we go on said date”

Which okay fair enough, but here comes the loud ones again arguing against it. You groan, moving over to Zayne, who has literally been silent this whole time, he’s like the calm amidst the storm for you right now.

“I’m glad you’re at least chill about all this… pun not intended”

He laughs a bit at your words, patting you on the head.

“Well you don’t know what’s going on and if what you’re saying is to be believed, you had a life outside this. I’m sure us fighting like this is only adding to your stress.”

“Sir I could marry you right now, why are you such a sweetie??”

You blurt out like an idiot. He just chuckles again, wrapping an arm around you. He’s surprisingly warm for his evol being y’know… ICE??

You both just kinda watch the rest of them (mostly raf let’s be real) bicker, looking back up at him.

“Should I step in befor- SYLUS DO NOT KILL RAFAYEL-“

That mf got FED UP with that fish, and unfortunately fish are prey to birds. Sylus was about to use his evol on Rafayel and Rafayel was about to retaliate. The two look over to you as you shout at Sylus.

“As sweet as it is that you’re still willing to fight over me knowing I’m not the person you’ve grown to care for or whatever, I ain’t letting you kill each other. I’m very bad around blood, I will puke and never forgive you.”

You say with a glare, walking over to the two. Rafayel hold hind hands up in surrender. Sylus just shrugs, Xavier and Caleb didn’t attack but Caleb definitely seemed ready to.

“For now until we figure out how to get me back to my universe… can we all just… chill?”

You feel yourself being lifted off the ground, a noise of surprise (it can be as loud as Tom from Tom and Jerry, or a cute kawaii lil noise, idc make it up, have some whimsy) comes out of your mouth as you find dAMN CALEB WITH HIS FLOATY POWERS-

He just hugs you, fall in back onto the couch.

“Yeah we can make that work pipsqueak, let’s all just relax m’kay?”

He’s patting your head all sweet while giving the others a shit eating grin, they want to fight but remember you literally JUST told them not to, and so they reluctantly gather on the couch with the two of you.

“Well… not how I expected my night to go.”

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

HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA SO SORRY THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE FOR NO REASON. ITS SO SILLY??? Also this was almost purely just a me yapping to myself one day and then I went “lol what if I wrote this down?”

Anyways I might make separate one shots of like dates with each boy separate or together. We’ll see if I want to or if people want me to. Idk, I just got here man 🤩

[not-too-many-eyes]

A Study on Mesmer Jr.

(Also Known As: Nott is obsessed with the bigot autistic girl from the time travel gacha game and its her birthday tommorow so lets talk about her.)

(CWs: Ableism, racism, child abuse) I Love Mesmer Jr. Which isn't a secret to any of my friends who have had to listen to me talk about her at length. I cannot get her out of my head. I think she's fantastically written, fun to read about, and just an all around interesting character.

As such, I want to take a moment to pull apart Mesmer Jr, and consider her place in this story. To contemplate why she acts the way she does, and to connect to the themes relating to her character. I hope you enjoy reading this.

A Curious Impression

Mesmer Jr makes an interesting impression when you first meet her. For one, she immediately causes alarm bells to rings when she talks to Sonneto, one of her earliest conversations, who she says she enjoys talking to because of their "shared values" she feels the need to say that she would have liked talking to her more if she were a "full-blooded human."

Which is something that you see a lot whenever she's complimenting an arcanist, or considering arcanists in any positive light. Even if it's inappropriate in the context, she feels the need to assert her beliefs, to say that:

Mesmer Jr, Praise: As an arcanist, your performance really amazes me. Wish you were a pure-blood human.

Of course, as we know, Mesmer Jr is an arcanist. She's a full-blooded arcanist. Being noted to be from a very Important family, and even being implied to be more talented than most of her family in their line of work: (The Fallacy of Idealism)

Nobody is more talented in this than Mesmer Jr. Her bloodline gives her outstanding ability and keen senses, which makes everything clear and intelligible to her.

She's also startlingly obedient. She has no noticeable outward negativity towards what Constantine has ordered her to do to Vertin, despite it seeming to cause pain or stress. Insisting that this is the normal treatment given to patients despite Madam Z's opinion, and we learn Much Later that her boss had an ulterior motive to all this.

She's even noted before we meet her to seem like a:

(Open Sandwich)

???: It is the other one- the one with indifferent outlines that makes her look like a refined machine.

Evoking images of perfectly programmed robots and droids that do what they are ordered to perfectly without question.

Of course, in the same part this line is from, the game is already nudging us to be open-minded when it comes to interacting with her. As the first thing we learn about her isn't her personality, isn't her appearance, isn't even her Voice.

It's her abuse.

Dirtied Hands

Open Sandwich is one of my favorite bits of writing in this game. It creates this incredible tension where you just waiting for the bad thing to happen, the line about how the child labor laws were turned into paper to wrap the sandwich is wonderful, and I love it.

But it's also the first time we ever actually hear about her. It depicts her having a Sensory Meltdown. Caused by her family's uh- blatant disregard for children's rights, and exposing her to a patient at age 12 because her skill was useful for the treatment. The trauma of the event marking the start of her "nightmare."

Of course this isn't the Only Thing she has gone through at the age of 12. The entire events of Nouvelles et Textes pour Rien happened during when she was 12. She might of had even more traumatic experience before that, considering she went to SPDM, a school that we know Very Well for their child abuse, and she Certainly had traumatic experiences afterwards.

She Is a 16 year old therapist taking care of The Foundation's most "unstable" patients, after all:

Mesmer Jr, Suitcase Climate: Those insane people screamed and rushed out of the guardroom. They kept meaninglessly and repeatedly roaring. Then, their blood shed on the snowy ground. I've seen that a lot.

The Rights of Children Don't Matter when there is Scarcity. Her needs are secondary to The Company's. Her welfare simply isn't important for the Foundation's Beautiful Future. Only the skills and infromation she can provide.

Constantine even manipulated Mesmer Jr into telling her the plan. Purposefully traumatizing her so that she would become scared and anxious. She Asked her to help them, trusting that Constantine, an adult she trusted, would be able to help. Constantine just lied, and made her continue to treat these people even when the experience mind numbingly traumatic for even fully-grown adults.

As a result, Mesmer Jr has developed multiple mental illnesses. Most notable OCD, but she seems to hallucinate in her Monologue.

She's not exactly a healthy person, which really compounds how much you Don't want her to be a therapist.

Of course, it's not like she would ever seek actual proper treatment for it.

For many reasons.

For one, Reverse 1999 is not exactly a kind world to the mentally ill, and she herself is a good example as to why.

Proper Treatment

Let's go back to the first thing I mentioned about Mesmer Jr. She's a bigot, she's a certified racist to every arcanist she ever talks to. She thinks humans are the superior race that will overtake arcanists.

She's also ableist. Just horrible ableist. These two bigotries are intertwined in Very important ways. Her hatred of arcanists is informed by her hatred of the mentally ill, and is further informed by what she has been taught about arcanists.

Reverse has established that the way arcanists and humans are generally viewed is that arcanists are the more emotional, unstable, immature ones and humans are the more logical, stable, and mature ones.

Now, this is a stereotype, one that has been proven wrong time and time again. There is nothing logical, stable, or mature about being so upset at a 12 year old you think killing her friends is a good idea.

And similarly, there is nothing actually inherently wrong about being a weirdo, or mentally ill. For one, uh, everyone is a bit of a freak sometimes, and two, Mesmer Jr treats it as if for the world to get better arcanists need to fully disappear and be replaced with human rationality, but Madam Hoffman says it best:

(Chapter 6 Part 15: With Hope Rekindled)

Hofmann: We have all heard it, humans are more rational and arcanists are more emotional. Hofmann: Their sensitive to the darkness of the world, so they can easily become absorbed in their own emotions and ignore reality Hofmann: But, if we put a human child in the position of an arcanist, who always takes on the world because of his uniqueness, who is never understood for his talents... Hoffmann: Maybe he too will become impulsive, sensitive immature and unstable Hoffmann: And that's why it sometimes dawns on me that if we put an arcanist child in the position of a human being who receives enough love, education, and positive feedback... Hoffmann: These 'instabilities' might be controllable. At least enough to keep them from hurting themselves or others.

But Mesmer Jr really does believe wholeheartedly that being a "freak" is bad, and that being an arcanist is to blame for why she is one.

Mesmer Jr, Hat and Hair: Thanks to it, we are all freaks now. Haven't you ever blamed your brain? Haven't you for once vomited due to the sound or whisper in your brain? How naive and ignorant.

That being an arcanist is something inherently wrong, and as a result of that inherent wrongness, that inherent "insanity," they need to be controlled by humanity.

Mesmer Jr, Chitchat II: I can only stand those arcanists from the Foundation and the Laplace. After all, their insanity is contained by humans.

She believes that humans are destined to overtake arcanists like it's natural selection. That it's only inevitable that arcanists will be overtaken by a species that in her eyes, is logical and understandable.

Mesmer Jr, To the Future: Just like Homo sapiens wiped out Neanderthals, arcanists will be eliminated as well. This is not a prediction, but a predestined fate.

This is, of course, due to the systemic part of Reverse's world constantly pushing this idea that arcanists are Inherently more immature and chaotic.

Constantine and her family deeply traumatized Mesmer Jr and then told her it wasn't actually their fault but this Other Group that She is also apart of but Don't Worry it can Be Controlled.

Mesmer Jr: It's not just about age. It was never going to be suitable for me. Mesmer Jr: Unless one day all the arcanists are gone. Pandora Wilson: Then you and I will be gone, too. Mesmer Jr: Exactly, along with the source of my pain

However, Mesmer Jr's own mental illnesses and susceptibility towards being overwhelmed by others emotions does really mean that she finds being around highly emotional people Taxing. She also finds that the unpredictable of life and other people Tiresome.

She was friends with Vertin in the rest when she was younger sure, but even then she did find arcanists overwhelming and "scary," even when she wasn't in the full thick of it, she saw them being treated and found it unpleasant and painful.

(Nouvelles et Textes pour Rien)

Mesmer Jr: But I'm not interested in arcanists. They are all mad people, and we had to treat them after all...They looked scary.

Now, usually, you grow out of this. She's not Born To Be Racist Forever.

In a better world she very much could have, I dunno-

Be able to actually internalize that arcanists aren't actually inherently a harmful thing, but that her needs sometimes conflict with the needs of others and grew up with the tools necessary to understand that this is a fixable problem that doesn't actually need a whole group of people including herself to die to be solved.

Or, something like that.

However, this isn't that world, this world thinks Mesmer Jr is a good therapist, and that her treatment is humane.

So she's seeks to create stability in the world as a result of that lack of support.

Mesmer Jr, Hobby: What you see is the alignment and tidiness. What I adore is this orderly state.

As much as she understands that it's a sign of her own "franticness" that she does this, it gives her comfort knowing that she has things that she Can Control. That her life isn't actually dictated fully by things out of her understanding. That she has the ability to direct her life in a small, maybe even insignificant way.

Cause, she really just doesn't have much control over her life.

Press the Button

Mesmer Jr, Clothing and Torso: ...Achieve the function.

A lot of Mesmer Jr's idolization of humanity comes from this idea of efficiency and simplicity. She talks so much about rationality and "tidiness," but as I've already established Reverse is full of so many instances of "human insanity" so it's plain ignorant to ascribe this trait to humans.

Which, well one she is ignorant, and also racism isn't rational and Mesmer Jr was taught human supremacy of course it's not going to be aligned with actual reality.

Which is true.

However, I do think it's interesting these traits that she idolizes are not from humans but from:

Mesmer Jr, Clothing and Torso: Humans are like machinery, simple and efficient. Arcanists are quite the opposite.

That's who she's actually idolizing here, isn't it? She's not really idolizing humans, that's just the framework she was given. She's idolizing machines and going "Wow humans are so cool."

Her Udimo is a machine.

Not just any machine, but a machine invented in part By Her Workplace, and even when she was 12 the narrator describes her as a "refined machine." Indifferent and rigid.

This is the beautiful controlled being that she is seeking! The beautiful tidy, orderly, calm being that just proceeds with whatever order is given to it. One that has...completely no control over it's life, and what to do with it.

Because, traditionally speaking, Machines do not have the ability to self-determine. They don't exist as people with conscious thought and emotion, but as Things and Tools that can Achieve Functions.

I noted way back in the start that Mesmer Jr is startlingly obedient. She does what she is told, and encourages others to do the same.

She's glad that Vertin:

Mesmer Jr, 100% Bond Conversation: ...Anyway, I'm glad you gave up on those insane plans.

Before saying that she doesn't want to be forced to Lobotomize Her, and that she doesn't actually want anyone to end up in Artificial Somnambulism.

But she doesn't say she won't do it. Just that she's happy Vertin did "give up" because it means that she probably won't have to. This seems to be her general approach. Even if she's not happy, she'll do it, her wants don't matter.

She assumes that she has no other option and that her only path forward is following orders from her boss. That the only path forward is the one set for her. There's no point in fighting it so she's just gonna continue on that path, and others should do the same or else they'll get Hurt. Learned Helplessness.

Sonetto is similar to her in this sense (Mesmer Jr says so herself,) and Sonetto is shown to hold quite a lot of repressed emotions, and to deviate from the rules or what is logical when she feels something is at stake.

After all: (Is ABA Really “Dog Training for Children”? A Professional Dog Trainer Weighs In.)

We all know that we can feel angry without expressing anger. That we can smile when inside we are crying. You can stop someone from expressing an emotion, but that doesn’t make the emotion go away. A dog who has been trained not to growl is considered by trainers to be a “time bomb dog.” When you read about a dog attack that came “out of nowhere” and “without warning,” it is because this sort of method was used to handle “problem behaviours.” Studies show that dogs trained with these sorts of methods actually have an increased rate of aggression, because punishing aggressive behaviour doesn’t deal with the underlying fear and anxiety that caused the aggression in the first place.

But Mesmer Jr, in contrast to Sonetto, who has an interest in poetry and curiosity in the outside world and has the aforementioned repressed emotions. Has no real distinct personal identity. She does not own anything that shows her interests, unlike her other coworkers who usually have at least Something on them. All of her items are stuff made by Laplace and exist unaltered. Even her cute little headband is a EM amplifier is part of the uniform.

She holds no control, no identity, no agency. She exists as a machine that someone can press the buttons of and achieve whatever function she needs to achieve at the given moment.

This is her current state of existence, and it's not something that's exactly sustainable. The cracks in this machine-living have been showing since she was 12. How many more do you think have been created now that she's 16?

The Foundation

Now, this is really depressing, but that's because Mesmer Jr is just a bit of a depressing character. She can't really get away from her job. For one, her parents are horrible, two The Storm means that the world is always on the verge of ending. Where else will she go?

But, as said previously:

A dog who has been trained not to growl is considered by trainers to be a “time bomb dog.”

Similarly, a girl trained to not develop any sort of identity will crack Someday.

I have no knowledge of what could happen next in her story, nor am I interested in theorizing about it. But I do find it interesting to think about.

[bittersweetorpheus]

I’ve been getting into otome game lately, and finally had some free time, so… why not integrate the mechanics with Bungou Stray Dogs? I think there’s some huge potential for fanfics! Might turn into a series depending on the response I get ^^

An isekai: a Japanese term translating to ‘other word’. Always following the same plot— the protagonist who is transported to a fantasy world, game world, or parallel universe after dying in this boring normal one (usually via truck).

Yours had been your own fault, but death wasn’t as distressing as realizing bitterly that anime worlds were, in fact, real, and you were stuck in some random anime/manga you’d hyperfixated (curse your autistic tendencies) on for years but never actually watched or read. Bungou Stray Dogs, was its name. A world where ability users, those granted a single power based on classical literature and named after real life authors, prowled the streets.

You ate, slept, worked, rinse and repeat.

Or you did. Until you accidentally changed the whole damn genre of the manga! And the title, as well. Ahem, let us present… I Got Isekaied and Accidentally Caught the Eye of Fucked Up Criminals Because of Plot Convenience?!

Ah, the classic trope of the title spoiling the entire premise. But, we’ll need a little more context then that, won’t we?

—————

[REWIND TIME TO INTERLUDE?]

*YES* | NO

—————

You, fresh out from another shift of ‘standing around the warehouse and doing nothing at all’, had been mindlessly making your way home when— distracted by some shitty gacha game on your phone— stumbled right into an active crime scene. Active as in: the murder was currently being committed.

Dead police officers, a jester in a fully white outfit, portals opening up behind you…

Shit. You’d totally interrupted Nikolai’s introduction scene, hadn’t you? Your first thought was to curse yourself for your own stupidity at being so distracted by shitty, addicting mobile games that you failed to notice a crime scene going on in broad daylight.

Nikolai, still in that creepy clown getup, slowly turned his head towards you. His eyes narrowed, as though assessing you, before a smile slid onto his face.* “Looks like we have a little mouse who’s wandered into a tiger’s den! Hehe, you’re so cute, I might play around with you for a bit!”

You cringed. Who was in charge of writing dialogue for out-of-script scenes? Nikolai’s words were along the lines of what one would expect from an awkward bedroom partner who’d only ever stuck to the more vanilla side of things. Then again, it fit his happy-go-lucky-serial-killer persona, you supposed. Characters couldn’t be fleshed out in their very first scene, that was just rushed writing.

Pretending you had dialogue options to help ease her stress, you went with the safest one. “Wow. What a horrible crime scene. Please don’t stab me.” Ok, new issue: you absolutely sucked at acting when under pressure! It didn’t sound genuine at all!

Nikolai let out a small, low ‘pfft’ at your words, his shoulders shaking with the effort of containing his laughter. “Hey, hey, hey! It’s no fun when you’re so scared and shaky like that! You’re too cute!” Did Nikolai just… break character? This wasn’t supposed to happen, was it? That smile of his widened into a full blown grin. Shit. Were they self aware?

“Say, mousey, I’m curious about something,” he practically purred out, leaning down to get in your face, “How is it that you haven’t panicked and run away yet? I just slaughtered four whole policemen, after all.” His eyes narrowed, and he scrutinized you closely, searching for something that you couldn’t see.

> Punch him! Kick him!

> Run off now that he mentioned it—

> Confuse him by going from blunt to philosophical…

Those were the three options your frazzled mind presented you with. Mentally, you clicked on the third. Perhaps impulse-decision making was better left up to other people.

“Glue trap.” You said, fucking yourself over further. “You know, ‘cause you compared me to a mouse. But, like, aren’t we all mice? Stuck in glue traps, that is. Ugh, whatever. Look, it’s a perfectly natural reaction: fight, flee, or freeze.“

—————

*➳ NIKOLAI AFFECTION +5 -> TOTAL NIKOLAI AFFECTION: 5/120 ♡*

—————

“Glue trap?” Nikolai repeated, his expression briefly baffled. Clearly he hadn’t expected *that* from you.

He seemed to ponder something, then he abruptly stepped even closer, still towering over you. Nikolai put his gloved hand on your forehead, almost a bit like he was checking for a fever. With the difference being that he was way too close now. You could practically feel his breath brush against your skin, and it sent shivers down your spine.

This guy was way too damn close. The hell was he doing?

Nikolai finally pulled away, a thoughtful expression on his face. He began to circle you slowly, and his fingers drummed against his chin, as though deep in thought. “…Mousey,” he finally said, his voice quieter than before, more contemplative. Uh, what? “Have we… met before? Your voice… sounds familiar.”

You, the rizz god (maybe now wasn’t the time to use stupid internet terms), couldn’t help but ignore all the red flags that had popped up from that very same statement you’d heard far too many times before in otome games, so you could… make it into an inappropriate-for-the-situation pick up line. Well, ya missed 100% of the shots you didn’t take, though you weren’t quite sure you wanted this one in the first place. “No. But we *could* meet again, as a cute couple. Not a serial killer and unwilling witness. Only if you don’t murder me. Dating a corpse would be boring. I think.”

—————

*➳ NIKOLAI AFFECTION +10 -> TOTAL NIKOLAI AFFECTION: 15/120 ♡*

—————

Nikolai froze, wide-eyed and a strange expression on his face. Then he began to laugh. For once, his laugh wasn’t crazed or unhinged. It was a normal laugh, one full of genuine amusement.

He continued to chortle for a few more seconds, before he finally stopped and tried to compose himself again. Nikolai shook his head, but there was still a wide smile on his face. “Damn, do you have a death wish? Or do you make a habit of flirting with serial killers?” He paused, stepping even closer as if he just realized something. “Hold on, can you say something for me?”

“If it’s something along the lines of ‘I love you’, then it’s too early for the plot. And out of character, I have commitment issues. Just to be clear.” You made sure to word that a very particular way, praying Nikolai wouldn’t inadvertently confirm your suspicions that you’d ended up in one of those ‘self aware/third wall breaking’ alternate universes.

—————

*➳ NIKOLAI AFFECTION -5 -> TOTAL NIKOLAI AFFECTION: 10/120 ♡*

—————

*Nikolai chuckled, the amusement never leaving his face. He crossed his arms over his chest, still towering over you. Nikolai’s smile was just a tad bit unsettling.* “No no, mousey, not that. I was thinking something a bit less cliche.”

He paused, and that thoughtful look returned to his face. Nikolai tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at you, almost like he was trying to figure out a complex puzzle. “Say something. Anything. And don’t try to act. Just speak,” he insisted.

How the hell were you supposed to gauge whether he was self aware or not from that answer? Today just wasn’t your day. You not only messed with the plot line, but the character dynamics as well, by introducing herself into it. Damn! Why couldn’t this position have been given to some die-hard fangirl, instead of some office worker who’d only fixated on the franchise for a year or so.

“…I wish this was a shoujo instead of a seinen?” You blurted out. Even a shounen would’ve been better, with a power scaling system and hardworking main character. But, nope! Bungou Stray Dogs just had to fall into the seinen category because of heavy themes you in no way wanted to deal with.

A game over screen flashed before your eyes, at the very same time Nikolai’s portals did. Let’s hope you quick-saved, as this would be a rather humiliating end for you.

[blueskittlesart]

pleeease give a review for infinity nikki ive been thinking about downloading it but i dont know if i have the space and if its worth it to clear some up for it !!!

as someone who spent HOURS on flash-based dollmakers as a kid, i absolutely love it. the gameplay hits somewhere between dressup game and open-world RPG, in that there's a large botw-like open map to explore, but the express purpose of exploring it is to unlock new clothes for your character. The exploration itself feels very calm and cozy most of the time, with the emphasis being on small collection tasks like fishing, bug-catching, and foraging. again, all of this is specifically to craft new outfits for nikki which you can both coordinate with no limitations to wear in the open world and use in scored styling contests with npcs, some of which reward you with game currency and some of which help you progress the story quests. the only place where i feel the gameplay truly suffers is in combat. you have one attack, and it's a ranged shooter, but there's no aim-assist whatsoever, and the mobile joystick isn't NEARLY sensitive enough to justify this. aiming in combat is one of the most difficult parts of the game, and nikki can only take 5 hits before she dies and has to respawn, making combat decently frustrating. However, there are very few places where combat is strictly necessary in-game, and both of the boss battles i've done so far had hitboxes large enough that it wasn't an issue; it's really in the open world against hordes of smaller enemies that the lack of targeting becomes really frustrating. other than that, though, the controls are fairly well-designed and intuitive, especially if you've played similar games before.

The clothes themselves are the star of the show, of course. I've yet to see a single clothing item in the game that I don't want. there's a good mix of fancy intricate outfit pieces and basics to obtain early-on, and without even touching the gacha you can coordinate some really cute outfits via in-universe boutiques and quests that reward you with clothes. Even the very obviously themed ability outfit sets that you craft early on almost always have a few pieces that are easy to mix and match with, so there's a TON of styling potential even for free players! As for the gacha, it's actually one of the more generous games i've played in terms of rewards and pity systems. My one complaint so far is that the 5-star gacha outfits especially seem to be very accessory-heavy, meaning it's possible to pull shoes, multiple necklaces, gloves, socks, and hairpieces before ever pulling the dress they're very obviously designed around. there is a pity mechanic to prevent this, but it requires you to pull a few too many times before your guarantee imo.

The story is ridiculous in a good way. It kind of reads like a 2000s-era barbie movie to me right now, in the best way possible. there's an amazingly predictable sexy villain, cute little flying creatures that follow you around, and every conflict is, of course, solved via clothes in one way or another. My absolute favorite thing about the writing, though, is how blatantly earnest it all is. at no point does the game poke fun at its own wacky concept or even attempt to make some self-aware joke about it to the player--it plays everything completely straight, and in this aspect it almost feels MORE self-aware. it knows that the kind of person who wants to play a dressup rpg is also the kind of person who does not, under any circumstances whatsoever, want to be questioned or made fun of for their love of fashion or their engagement with that game. It very much feels like the devs know that they're working with primarily girls and young women and a subject matter that those girls and young women are often looked down upon or made fun of for seriously engaging with, and so it promises to engage EXTRA-seriously to make up for that. (side note: there's one point in a story quest where, when asked to make a wish, nikki wishes that all girls never get cramps again. that was when i knew this was a game that knew its audience.) If I wanted to nitpick, i might say that every quest so far has sort of felt like an increasingly ridiculous trading sequence--you learn what you need to do very early on, but you'll always spend several hours of gameplay encountering obstacles and doing other smaller tasks to circumvent those obstacles so you can reach your original goal. this might annoy me more if the game was trying to market itself as a serious RPG, but it seems very self-aware to me, and despite how i'm describing it none of the quests ive played have actually FELT tedious. I think the fact that it's such a wild concept to begin with gives the writers a bit of leeway in how they handle the story quests, and because I as the player am aware i'm playing a dressup game I don't really expect quests to immediately get to the point and let me fight something. I will say that there are certain things that aren't super intuitive especially if you aren't a seasoned gacha rpg player, particularly the features relating to advancing your skills and the styling points of your clothing. though the game does technically explain what you need to do, it doesn't explain the RELEVANCE of the feature, just that it exists, so I had to lose multiple styling contests before I realized i could upgrade my clothing to get higher scores.

The final thing I'll talk about is performance. I'm playing the game on my iphone 13, and the performance is.... not great, i'm ngl. Off the bat, if you play the game on a mobile device, you're going to be getting a HEAVILY scaled-down version of the terrain graphics. all of those screenshots you see online of beautiful terrain full of flowers and particle effects are from ps5s or custom pcs. truthfully, the mobile app looks like a game from 2012 and it will still turn your phone into an incinerator. I've also encountered multiple graphics bugs, some during pivotal scenes, and I get consistent lags when playing for longer than a few hours, likely due to the strain on my phone's hardware. it's also an INSANE battery drain, so i only play when my phone is plugged in. All that being said, the game has been out for less than a week, so visual bugs are inevitable, and the developers have stated that mobile optimization is a priority, so hopefully we'll at the very least no longer have to overheat our devices to play it soon. Also worth noting, from what I've seen the rendering of the CLOTHING doesn't suffer AT ALL on mobile devices. presumably they sacrificed terrain rendering to allow for such beautiful texturing on the clothing itself, which, given that the clothing is the main focus of the game, I can't fault them for. Basically, if you're going to try to run an unreal engine game on your iphone, be aware that it will run like an unreal engine game on an iphone. and prepare yourself to have to let your device cool down every few hours.

tldr: i love the game so far. i'm really excited to keep playing and see where the story goes, and I think they should make more games for girls <3

[scorching-earth]

Limbus characters as Yuu’s

Spoilers for twisted wonderland, Spoilers for Limbus company. Please Limbus company is a free game. it may also be a gacha game, but it's a very free to play friendly game. 

I’ve only finished part 2 and a bit of part 3 of the game, and watched all the intro videos. so all of the Yuu’s are from canto 3 of the story. So only character development for Gregor and Rodion, a little of Sinclair as well. All of the characters use gender neutral pronouns and have the name Yuu. If anything is from the future canto, it is pure speculation on my part! And I will stress that each sinner is BASED off the office character. So each character may not be the same as the in-game sinners. That's intentional on my part so I can have more fun writing for them.

Trigger warnings: self deprecating thoughts, stalking, self harm, minor body horror, manipulation, family issues, the effects of war, swearing, mentions of criminal records, death.

Yi sang sinner #1:

“...” “I’m not quiet, I just have nothing to say.” “what?” “A mirror bright me here, I’ve finally passed through the window I’ve only watched.”

Yuu is a very quiet person. not because they don't want to talk, they just don't have anything to say. So Yuu mostly listens to what other people say instead. When they do talk it can come as a surprise considering how they talk when they do.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a dagger. The dagger is a weapon people use in secret. They hide the blade to quickly go in for the killing blow. It shows That Yuu doesn't want to stand out either with its small size. Yuu’s weapon is black in color and has no stand out features on it. Yuu’s weapon wasn't found out for a long time for how easy it was to conceal. 

Yuu’s poetics. When Yuu does talk you can hear them wax poetics, saying some of the most thought provoking sentences possible. Yuu will sometimes just say some flowery language relating to the subject of conversation. After they say something people tend to quiet down since it gets awkward after Yuu says something

Ace and Deuce’s relationship: the two drag Yuu around. Ace tried to pull Yuu into all sorts of trouble with him. All in attempts to get Yuu to do something other than sit around, and think the whole day. Deuce tried to keep Yuu out of the trouble Ace pulled them into. So it's a consistent tug of war situation with Yuu being in all sorts of trouble to them being in none. 

Favorite students: Ace, Deuce, Malleus. Ace and Deuce since Yuu does appreciate them being around Yuu. Malleus because it’s fun to listen to him talk about Gargoyles.

Least favorite students: You wax poetics ONCE to ONE person, and now you have a stalker. Yup Yuu’s least favorite student is one Rook hunt. Yuu can often find Rook quickly. When found out Rook will leave to go watch someone else, or the one Yuu hates more. Rook will jump down from his hiding spot, and try to chat up Yuu. Yuu HATES this, why can't Rook just take the hint that Yuu not interested in talking poetics.

Faust sinner #2:

“You're not very smart are you?” “don't worry, Yuu Knows everything.” “all as I predicted.” “I am Yuu and I am the smartest person in this world.” 

Yuu’s had an almost supernatural knowledge. Yuu claims to know all, and has yet to be disproved. Ace even asked Yuu what color his underwear was… Ace still hasn't recovered from the embarrassment of that moment. Yet Yuu’s intelligence is very ignored by everyone after that incident. Since no one else wants to face the same embarrassment if they ask the wrong question

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a Zweihander. A long two handed double edged sword. Yuu’s is special since it has two guards, one of the two is under there first hand and has a skull on it. The other is where you'd expect it under the blade and over the grip. This weapon shows off Yuu’s confidence in their own skills. Yuu also sometimes uses their weapon with one hand. Showing off how strong Yuu actually is. Yuu’s skills with their weapon are top notch, so Yuu isn't just a brain but has brawn to back them up. 

Yuu is very egotistical. Ofton stating that they are “the smartest.” Several students dislike this, counting Yuu as an arrogant prick. These students tend to not know how smart Yuu actually is. Yuu doesn't bother correcting them. Since Yuu is smart enough to know it’s not worth the effort. Still some of Yuu’s own friends do find it annoying sometimes how superior Yuu thinks of themself sometimes. 

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. Mother and their dumbass sons. Yuu pulls Ace and Deuce out of trouble and scolds them. It was humiliating at first, but the two ended up getting used to it. Yuu scolds Ace the most, since Ace gets into a lot of trouble. Deuce gets less scolding from Yuu, not to say he doesn't get any. Since Deuce gets into plenty of trouble by himself. Yet every time one of these two troublemakers get into trouble you know Yuu’s soon to follow.

Favorite students: it would be a shock to many saying Yuu’s favorit students are Sebek Zigvolt, and Lilia Vanrouge. The first of these two shocks are Sebek Zigvolt, why would Sebek associate himself with a Human who’s too full of themself. Well after challenging Yuu to a sword duel, and even with others trying to stop this from happening Yuu accepted. Sebek was confident he would win. Only to be shocked when Yuu had him on the floor after thirty seconds. After that Sebek demanded Yuu teach him. Yuu agreed to Sebek’s request, and the two became friends. Yuu came to value Sebek’s companion ship. As did Zigvolt with Yuu’s friendship

The second Lilia Vanrouge, yes that Lilia Vanrouge. So Yuu is strange, so strange in fact that Lilia had picked up on this all the way back in the entrance carmony. Lilia had kept an eye on Yuu after that, anytime Yuu passed him Lilia’s eyes would just linger on Yuu for a second longer than normal. Yuu knew this, after all Yuu knows all. So Yuu had confronted Lilia about this as early as book 2. Asking If Lilia had any questions for them. Lilia did, and got answers for every single one. All in detail, horrible detail, Lilia had chosen to make Yuu’s stay at Night Raven as enjoyable as possible from that moment onwards.

Least favorite students: Yuu diskles Floyd, he’s hard to be around since he’ll just roll his eyes as Yuu scolds him for any wrong doing he’s done, and will to Yuu’s face complain about how Yuu naggs him too much. That's not stating how he’s just unlikeable to be around. Yuu knows how self serving the students are, yet at least the others have tact. Floyed just throws a tantrum when things don't go his way. These things just make Yuu avoid the second Tweel since he’s just a hassle to deal with.

Don Quixote sinner #3:

“I Don Quixote am a just and noble…. Fixer!” “unjust? Worry not! I, Don Quixote will fix this!” “Someone broke a rule? Worry not, I'll punish them!” “... what do you mean I’m too violent?” 

Yuu wants to be a fixer. Not a knight, a FIXER F I X E R! A fixer is a noble profession (to Yuu). There are champions of justice who help the downtrodden (once more Yuu that's not true).I digress though, Yuu loves talking about fixers. The red mist, the purple drop, the black silence, and the red gaze. All the fixers! Not just the colored ones, the colored ones are the fixers Yuu talks about the most though. Students are sick of Yuu’s ramblings.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a lance. One that towers over Yuu, it’s a wonder how they hid it for so long. The size is actually nearly twice Yuu’s size. It shows just how strong Yuu really is. Yuu also swings it around with more finesse than expected. Some students wonder what would happen if they used a normal sized weapon. Sebek knows he demanded Yuu use a normal sword for there dule. Sebek’s ego still hasn't recovered. Yuu’s weapon shows confidence, fitness, as well as speed. A lance is a weapon normally used when horseback riding. Knights used it a lot as well.

Yuu’s sense of Justice is skewed. Yuu is a hero of justice for the downtrodden and powerless. Yet Yuu’s sense of right and wrong is all messed up. They Are willing to jump to violence very easily, if not that then straight up murder. Yuu’s “justice” can be manipulated as well. Ace does this a lot, pretending to be powerless sometimes to get Yuu on his side.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. Ace, as said previously. tends to manipulate Yuu in order to help himself. Ace does care about Yuu, yet recognizes that Yuu is very capable, and can stick up for both of them. Most of the first chapter is Ace realizing how easy it is to manipulate Yuu, and does take advantage of this. Ace will pull back when something he thinks Yuu can't handle whatever Ace got into. So it’s a “I’m the only one allowed to take advantage of Yuu.” situation. Deuce on the other hand pulls Yuu out of trouble. You see, Yuu makes plenty of trouble for themself even without Ace’s help. So the role of responsible one is taken up by Deuce, something totally new to Deuce. Yet this new experience shows him just how much his mother went through raising him, so Deuce is ok with this. It lets him relate a bit more with his mom.

Favorite students: Yuu likes Kalim, his parties are cool and he is super fun to be around. He’s also one of the few students who listen to Yuu talk about fixers without complaining. Making him one of the few students to know how COOL fixers actually are. The only other student who listens to Yuu talk about fixers is Idia! Yuu talks exclusively about Fixers, so Yuu’s world sounds like a shonen anime to Idia. also seeing Yuu fight, Idia is convince Yuu is form a shonen anime.

least favorite student: Riddle WAS the student Yuu hated the most in the beginning for using his power to lord over people, it’s changed after you know Riddle’s character development. Yet I’m sorry to say this, while the two are good friends. And Yuu knows their internal distaste is wrong. Malleus, you can't use your power when something doesn't go your way. Using your power to force what you want on other people is wrong. Malleus has no clue but if he were to use his power, once again (see chapter 7) to force his ideas on another less powerful person. Yuu would be the first to stand up to him.

Ryōshū sinner #4

“What is it now?” “*sigh* stop bothering me OIWKY.” “You're all pathetic to look at.” “geez you do you really need me to do everything for you?”

Yuu is an ungovernable person. You can't tell Yuu to not beat that guy up. It’s like asking a fish to start breathing air. It can't happen. The only reason why Yuu isn't sitting on a mountain of corpses is because they dont kill kids. It doesn't stop them from threatening it, when bothered too much. Crowley walks on a tightrope every time the two talk, and Crowley walks it like he’s in the circus. Ace and Deuce are the only two people who KNOW that Yuu isn't joking. After all they were there when Yuu killed the blot monster. 

Yuu’s weapon of choice is an ōdachi. It’s a long sword that was used by strong samurai. It can be a work of art in the hands of the right swordsman. Yuu is one such person who wields the ōdachi with such grace. It’s almost mesmerizing to watch. So Yuu’s weapon fits Yuu perfectly since it falls in line with what they think is art.

Yuu speaks in abbreviations. Something several other students do, except for Yuu it isn't something as silly as social media that started this… if you were to ask Yuu about it they would in all honesty tell you to screw off. they just do, and only a few students understand what they are saying. So better go ask them to translate for you then get your head cut off

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. Terrified children trying to keep Yuu from killing someone. Ace and deuce have to hold Yuu back. Ace wonders how Yuu become so murderous like how does someone see death as an artform in the first place? Deuce sees his time as a delinquent in a different light now. Because at least he wasn't KILLING PEOPLE. Deuce can look fondly at his past memories. See that he had friends and a community around him. since you know it took an actual murderer to show him that while he was flawed at least he was human, and not killing people.

Favorite student: Yuu thinks it nice to have Cater around, since Cater translates Yuu’s abbreviations for them. “Yuu please don't kill us sorry for bothering you!” Yuu loves messing with Cater. Sometimes killing his clones since there the closest thing Yuu can kill to human, Yuu makes sure to ask if a clone is a clone. Reminder Yuu doesn't want to kill the real Cater, but killing his clones is just fine. Cater is everything Yuu need in this soft mushy world to keep their skills sharp. Cater has taken up the practice of sword fighting as well, to try and define himself from Yuu. Yuu sees cater as the only positive in this school, and cater sees Yuu as a horror movie monster.

least favorite students: Yuu hates a lot of students. Rook is creepy and Vil is too self centerd for Yuu’s liking. Leona requires Yuu to threaten his life before doing anything for Yuu, since Leona is an adult he is on thin ice just like Crowley! Idia why don't you come out of your room? Is it because of the scary sword person? Well all they want is to get to know you, yet you turn them down every time they ask. Lillia is no fun, always serious and keeping an eye on Yuu. the look on his face when Yuu told him about how they’ve already died was priceless though.

Meursault sinner #5

“It's not mine.” “Do you have business with me?” “I have no orders to help you.” “I don't understand why you're so mad at me.”

Yuu is emotionally distant. Yuu doesn't express feelings well. They rarely ever talk about themself or talk to others. Yuu doesn't understand other people's feelings either. It makes Yuu a bit socially isolated since they don't talk unless spoken to. Ace and Deuce have to introduce Yuu everytime the two have started to make a game out of it. Whoever can give the better introduction will talk for yuu. Right Yuu doesn't talk unless they are told to talk. 

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a pair of gauntlets. Gauntlets show strength and confidence in one’s own ability to fight in hand to hand combat. Yuu themself is well built and is extremely strong. It also shows how Yuu is willing to take things into their own hands when ordered to. Being in the frontlines shows how Yuu is someone who is willing to protect people. 

Yuu doesn't do anything there not ordered to. Since Crowley had employed Yuu in the prologue. Crowley actually never stopped paying Yuu, since it means that Yuu is willing to do almost anything Crowley asks them. So for every book Yuu was very willing to do all the things Crowley asked him to. Meaning that book 4 almost never happened. If it wasn't for Jamil’s magic Yuu would have never even cooked with the students of scarabia dorm. This also means that Yuu doesn't engage with conversion unless told to by Crowly, and has to be dragged into conversation by Ace and Deuce. 

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. These two are single handedly carrying Yuu’s friendships and social image. The two even made a magicam account for Yuu in an attempt to bolster Yuu’s social reputation. Yuu have a small detected following form this. Ace is the one who comes up with most of the ideas in this duo. Though the magicam account was Cater’s idea. Everything else is made up by Ace. Deuce on the other hand is the support of these operations. Deuce makes Ace’s ideas happen. The two have been frustrated by Yuu’s apathy towards everything that isn't there orders. Sometimes it feels like teaching a brick wall how to feel. Other the two can look back and see how far Yuu has come.

Favorite students: after crowley order Yuu to tell him who his favorite student was Yuu told Crowley that it was Jamil. Him and Jamil have similar jobs in concept so Yuu thinks that he respect Jamil, Yuu just doesn't understand were his contempt towards Kailm comes from. Since Kailm is Jamil’s employer. Sebek had Yuu’s respect as well. Since Sebek works hard and does anything he’s asked to by Malleus and Lilia 

least favorite students: has to be Sliver and Ruggie. Sliver to Yuu is just not respected. He knows his sleeping habits aren't because sliver wants to, yet still Yuu can't overlook them. Yuu had found sliver sleeping in a hallway before. Yuu doesn't even try to wake him up since Yuu wasn't ordered to. Ruggie just isn't Yuu’s kind of person, Ruggle does what he’s told yet doesn't do it to his best ability. So Yuu doesn't respect Ruggie either. 

Hong Lu sinner #6

“Oh! Is this some sort of fashion statement?” “Help you, sure!” “hm that glass reminds me of one I used to use… what did i say something odd?”

Rich boy sindrom. Yuu doesn't understand half the things around them. Yuu can get dressed in the morning, unlike another rich boy we know. And he can do a lot of basic tasks other rich people struggle with. Yuu isn't helpless, it’s just Yuu doesn’t understand what it’s like to be poor. Sometimes Yuu makes insensitive remarks. Asking if holes in clothing is a fashion statement when someone doesn't have enough money to buy a new uniform. So Yuu has gained some ire from the less fortunate students.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a long guandao. The guandao is a polearm used in some chinese martial arts. This shows that Yuu has been trained in using this form of martial arts. It shows that Yuu has more finesse than the normal comabant. Yuu is a mid rage fighter, a guandao's shaft can be 3 to 5 feet in length. Showing that Yuu is normally a protected fighter.

Yuu is very adept at reading people. Yes I know how weird it sounds, but Yuu’s family look to stab each other in the back at any turn possible inorder to keep their wealth. Yuu merely learned how to keep themself safe from such family members. So Yuu knew Jamil had no good will towards Kalim the moment book four started. 

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. These two are a lot like how they are in the game, just two friends to admittedly a more air headed and oblivious Yuu. Yet Ace and Deuce are just Yuu good friends. The two sometimes have to talk down students who are about to hit Yuu for their insensitive remarks. Yet their friendship is mostly the same as before.

Favorite student: Kailm by a long shot. The two can relate to each other better. They can share their struggles. It’s unfortunate for Yuu that Kailm doesn't share Yuu’s struggles for power amidst their family, yet the two get along so well. And share so many more struggles. 

least favorite student: hm Yuu doesn't hate anyone too much, but Jamil and him just can't get along. Jamil’s backstabbing nature just doesn't sit well with Yuu, so while Yuu and Kalim are together Jamil receives several side eyes. Nothing outright, but Jamill knows about Yuu distrust towards him.

Heathcliff sinner #7

“The hell you want?” “you say shit like that again to me I’m going to crack your skull open.” “I’m fine just leave me alone!” “I will see you again.”

Yuu has anger issues. Like if you say even the slightest of snarky lines be prepared to brawl since Yuu will NOT take any of that. Most of their students hold their tongues when around Yuu. especially the overblot victims. Since those guys got to experience Yuu’s wrath themselves. Yet when someone slips uo Yuu is ready and waiting to get in a brawl. Yuu nearly killed another student.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a bat. A bat with the word revenge written in big white letters. The bat is normally used for baseball. A pass time that families use to get closer and build bonds. Something Yuu never got to do. If there was any indicator. So Yuu twisted this tool for sports into a weapon. Using it to enact their revenge. Using the blunt weapon to splatter brains across the floor.

Yuu isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. They struggle with even going to classes, often skipping. The other students try to help. Yet it just doesn't work. Yuu has resigned themself to being a dumbass. Not like they have anything else other than their anger. Their hatred burns bright and that's all that they need. They don't need to be smart if they can just smash all their problems. 

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. children trying to keep Yuu from killing another student. Except it's a bit different. Unlike sinner 4 this Yuu is a lot easier to stop. Since Yuu is more like a wild beast instead of a practiced killer. Ace has a hard time stopping Yuu. he was the first person to insult Yuu, and the first person to receive Yuu’s death glare. Deuce on the other hand, could stop Yuu single handedly. Deuce hates to admit it but he sees a bit of his past self in Yuu. Yuu talked to Deuce. Admitting that they know that they are not a good person. Knowing that their wrath has, and will continue to hurt people. Deuce tried to rebuke this. Saying that if Yuu just tried-. Yuu stopped him there. There was no use in trying, not after they lost the one person who saw good in them.

Favorite students: shocker here Vil. Yah Yuu will call Vil a pompous douche. Yet at the end of the day Vil has decided to at least try to help Yuu in Vil’s own way. Trying to take care and keep Yuu’s skin clean. It’s not lost on Yuu. Yuu hasn't had someone put this much time into them since- Yuu stopped that train of thought. Vil does complain about Yuu’s scars. Something that does get on Yuu’s nerves. You try living in the city for a day, scars are the least of Yuu’s worries. Also talking to Epel helps Yuu. Epel looks up to Yuu because Yuu just so freakin strong! Yuu has thought about telling Epel that it wasn't just training that makes him strong… It was body augmentation as well. Also Epel is shocked how complacent Yuu is with Vil’s torchouse routine.

least favorite students: leona and Yuu in a room is a recipe for disaster. Each one keeps fighting for the “top dog” spot. (yes I get the ironicism of that statement.) yet these two just CAN'T get along. Yuu hates that “above everyone else” attitude Leona has. Leona just hates Yuu for everything. So you lost something so what Leona has lost more. don't tell leona about Yuu’s ring. He’ll realize near immediately that Yuu did lose something way more important than anything leona’s lost. Ruggie isn't safe either. Ruggie is more rat than hyena to Yuu. That damm rat keeps taking Leona’s side in everything! Yuu has nearly beat Ruggie over this. 

Ishmal sinner #8

“How could two people be so dumb.” “hey hey hey! Don't go getting into trouble now!” “It's like herding fish in the sea.” “Let's not talk about my past please.”

Yuu is a very sensible person. Taking and following rules. Yet knows when rules need to be broken. Since this world has so many more rules then there old one. It is a wonder how they reel both Ace and deuce in. Riddle has half a mind to tell the two to act more like Yuu. Yet Riddle has seen some of the stuff that makes him question things about Yuu themself.

Yuu’s weapon is a mace and shield. The shield, a weapon for the defensive and closed off. A shield is more protection than a weapon, especially Yuu's. It's completely round so there's no sharp edges to stab people with. (yes this was how shields were intended to be used as both weapon and protection.) It's an extra layer of protection that yuu gets while in the front lines. Yuu does sometimes bash people with their shield though. Yuu’s second weapon is a Kalich mace. The Kalich mace is a very blunt weapon since there are no points to this mace. It shows how brutal Yuu can be, caving in a skull is very easy with a weapon like this. The mace is a close range weapon. Showing how Yuu’s shield mace combo is very effective in close combat.

Yuu is very secretive about their past. Withholding any and all details they can. There are only a handful of things the students have gathered. Yuu was out at sea for most of their life. Yuu clearly has some sort of trauma from back then since they never talk about their time out at sea freely. The last, and exclusive to Octavinelle Dorm. Yuu was a part of a crew, so not the captain. Searching for something called the white whale. Octavinelle has kept this information close to their chest. Since they know it's something only they have.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. Ah yes Yuu pulls Ace and Deuce out of all of their bs once more. Not much more to say other like hong lu their relationship is very similar to how it is in game. With the exception of sometimes other students think Yuu and Ace are siblings with them both being red heads.

Favorite students: Riddle after book 1 is Yuu’s favorite. The two get along just fine. Yuu is the more relaxed on rules since they are willing to break them if it’s for the greater good, opposed to Riddle’s stricter compliance to them. Yet they two can settle their differences and have tea together. Though Riddle dose wince when Yuu scolds someone. There's a lot of pent up anger that Yuu holds, and Riddle can see it since he was Like yuu once.

least favorite students: the Octavinelle three. Those three fish folk keep prying into Yuu’s past and life. Those there even used magic agenst Yuu in order to pry more information from their lips. You can't blame them! Yuu is like the closest Humans normally get to the sea. Just what is it like to be looking down seeing the merfolk? They only get informatoms that hurts their relationship with Yuu though. 

Rodion sinner #9

“Hm sure I’ll do it, as long as I get paid.” “Grim dear, you can't be serious, that was on the ground.” “hm need something there?” “I got paid, let's have a feast!”

Yuu will do a lot if paid. Like the only way Crowley was able to get them to do anything is to pay Yuu. even in book 3 when Crowley threatened Yuu with cutting their food budget Yuu just laughed. Since Yuu used to live in extreme poverty, neighbors would drop dead because of hunger everyday. Crowly could cut their budget all he’d like. Yuu knows exactly how to survive with little to no food. If money isn't involved Yuu can be described as lazy not putting effort into anything 

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a battle axe. A versatile weapon that can be used with one or two hands. You can throw axes, you can swing axes. Yuu weapons can even be used as a tool. Such a versatile weapon when in the right, and special hands can turn tides for battle. Unfortunately Yuu isn't special.

Yuu is a laid back person. Their laid back personality makes them very easy to get along with. Yuu tends to talk about food as well. When they do get paid by Crowley they tend to splurge on good food, inviting people over when they do. There's a secret to why Yuu is so laid back. Yuu doesn't care about others' opinions. In Yuu’s own words “I just think. I’m the absolute best and whatever other people think is shit!”

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. These two are best friends with Yuu! Though both get teased to absolute hell and back by Yuu. with Yuu calling them dear or darling (platonically) the two sometimes get embarrassed by this little habit. Like in completely normal conversation Yuu will just drop: “Ace dear that can't be healthy.” or “Deuce dear I don't think that will work.”. Yet the three are inseparable. Ace and Deuce actually don't want Yuu to go home. Wherever Yuu talks about there “home” it’s always full of misery and suffering.

Favorite students: other than Ace and Deuce. Ruggie is often seen around Yuu. Ruggie and Yuu know the pain of poverty. There are three people you’ll find at Yuu’s food parties and they are Ace, Deuce, and Ruggie. Ruggie is also on the bandwagon of Keep Yuu in twisted wonderland. Ruggie if he has extra leftovers, and is not going home anytime soon he will give them to Yuu. The two talk about their pasts, Ruggie was flabbergasted when Yuu told him that they killed the tax collector who was sapping their community of their money. Then they told him about how that wasn't the end and the story didn't have a good ending. Ruggie said he didn't want to hear more, so that Yuu can have a happy ending at least in his eyes. 

least favorite students: rich boys. Yes, any of the rich boys. Look Yuu doesn't have anything against rich people… ok they dont love rich people. But you know Yuu has worked with a rich boy. But these guys. They take everything for granted. Leona is the worst offender. All he does is complain. Who cares if you're second. Yuu was never in the running. Yuu never had a chance Yuu had to take their fate in their own hands and look where it got them! 

extra: Yuu’s gambling habit. Yuu has a habit of gambling the money they earn as well. Wherever is left after their dinner parties. So Yuu’s savings don’t last long. 

Sinclair sinner #10

“Uh don't say that please.” “why don't we all just calm down.” “Please stop fighting, it will get us nowhere!” “uh you stupid fuckin basterd, I should have let you die a long time ago!”

Yuu is incredibly shy and timid. Yuu can be extremely adverse to confrontation as well. They have a hard time standing up for themself as well. Many students take advantage of their timid nature. You can sometimes see Yuu getting drinks for a student who intimidated them. Crowley has Yuu worked to the bone as well. They just can't catch a break.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a halberd. A polearm so we have another mid rager. It's evidence of their timid nature. So it’s natural that Yuu is not in the front line. But don't let that fool you. Yuu has a lot of strength. So much so they have actually thrown bigger people with their weapon before. They’ve been underestimated one too many times.

Yuu when at their breaking point will spout the most foul words possible. The first time it happened shocked so many people, and We're not just talking about calling someone a swear word once. Yuu makes a whole string of them work perfectly together. You have to blink before realizing what you've been called. Yuu will also say it with the most pissed face if you get them to their breaking point.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship. These two have to stand up for Yuu. yet when the two ask why Yuu doesn't stand up for themself they just brush it off. “I just don't like the looks they give me.” or “it’s hard to say no.” yet after seeing Yuu after their breaking point. The two understand as to why. Yuu admits they cave to peer pressure too easily. So the two take it on themself to help Yuu. Deuce actually dips into his delinquent past to help Yuu. teaching Yuu how to look tougher and how to ignore others commnet. Ace helps with getting Yuu some thicker skin. You can't let words get to you. So Ace will be there to give backhanded comments. What do you mean it isn't helpful? Yah after a while Yuu kinda blew up at Ace. so Ace realized that Yuu didn't like his help very much. The two do truly care for Yuu though.

Favorite students: Idia and Yuu are too similar in some aspects. Both come from rich families that get money from technology. and lost family members…. Ok so Yuu lost their entire family but pont still stands Yuu and idia understand the pain of losing family. Both have guilt way down on them thinking that they were the reason that their families were dead. Idia sometimes think Yuu is a little too relatable sometimes. 

least favorite students: Sebek. Yuu generally doesn't get how someone can be so loud, dedicated to someone, And how annoying… Yuu could list off many reasons. Yuu has one of the shortest fuses with this guy around. He demands respect while not earning any. Ugh! Yuu has blown up at him more than once, and each time leaves Sebek stunned on how creative Yuu uses those swear words. The two just don't get along, leaving the two alone will start a fight between them for one reason or another.

Outis sinner #11

“Don't start slacking now!” “I have no respect for any of you, I only respect the executive manager.” “you all really can't do anything without me.” “scoring high on the test wasn't my goal, though it looks like I did well.”

Yuu has no respect for anyone, but who they call “executive manager Dante.”. Yuu almost acts as a drill sergeant when around other people yelling out their mistakes. When people do challenge Yuu. Yuu somehow miraculously is able to do the thing. Yet since this world has a lot of things Yuu can't do Yuu doesn't know how to do Yuu tends to miss some things themself. you can expect if you're doing something wrong, that can be feasibly done by a normal person Yuu will be watching over your shoulder. 

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a kopis. It's a less common weapon. It can be described as a curved blade. While being perfect for hacking and dismemberment Yuu uses the weapon to pearce. Yuu has the know-how, and skill to use it this way. Yuu’s movements are precise and have no openings. You could consider Yuu a true warrior watching them fight, but Yuu would only claim. “This is normal to live, you must know how to fight properly.

Yuu is a wealth of battle tactics. Ofton taking charge of combat and telling other students how to act. There was one barking out orders at the students. Several students hate this. All to make it worse they're fighting in the front. So they are in the most danger. Yuu has even died once because of others incompetence, how they came back is still a mystery to others.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship: Ace and Deuce get yelled at by Yuu way too often. Yuu clearly has high standards. Yet Ace and Deuce were the first two people to see the cracks in Yuus persona. Deuce once made the mistake of asking about Yuu’s world. Deuce then informed Ace about it. The two  understood why Yuu’s always so serious. You see when Yuu died Ace and Deuce were in so much grief. Yuu should have had time to relax in this world, not die! Their world was so hard on them so why did they have to die here? The two hugged Yuu when they came back. 

Favorite students: Lilia, by a long shot Lilia. The former general is the only one who understands what Yuu acts the way they do. It took him taking care of silver to soften up, this “manger Dante” could be the key to making Yuu more friendly. So Lilia is patient with Yuu. even when he’s being yelled at for some slight error he nods and goes along with the scolding. After words he asks if you can show him how they do it. It's all about making Yuu feel comfortable. Yuu dying shook him. He was the first person to get to them. Yuu was never meant to die here. Yuu was meant to become a normal person, that's what Lilia was trying to accomplish. He saw too much of his past self in them. After they came back Lilia started to walk on eggshells around them, Yuu had to be on edge. Lilia’s past self would be. Yet when nothing seemingly changed it made Lilia think about why that would happen. Soon he learns about Yuu world, Lilia wants to keep helping Yuu.

least favorite students: Idia, oh boy Idia has been yelled at too many times to count. Yuu Yells at him in his nightmares. Normally he doesn't care much about nobodies, but Yuu is scary. They have skill, talent and came back from the dead! No one's meant to come back from the dead! So Idia cowers in his room locking doors the moment he gets any sign that Yuu is coming to his room.

Gregor sinner #12

“I know you're looking at my arm, just ask already.” “Rude, just because I'm different doesn't mean you can spout that shit off.” “Come on, why so serious all the time? Take it easy once in a while.”

Yuu is a unserious joker. they tend to brush things off that others would hold grudges for. Often cracking jokes here and there. they don't want others to have to worry so much about everything. After what happened to them these kids have a better future for themselves. So they're here to be a friend to talk to with troubles.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is their bug arm. Yuu’s weapon is a part of them. It wasn't even Yuu’s choice to have it. It was forced on them! Even so they have it don't they? Might as well use it. Whenever asked about it Yuu just says “one day my arm had changed”. Yuu is very proficient with it. Yet since it’s a part of their body Yuu has to fight in the front line, nothing new about any of it anyways.

Yuu gets a lot of hate for their arm. Look Yuu could only conceal it for so long. It would spread like wildfire since Yuu has a “creepy bug arm”. Yuu hates when anyone calls them a nickname relating to their arm. Well it's nothing new to them anyways. They will get hate wherever they go. So they won't let anyone get to them.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship: These two try to keep everything light with Yuu. they know something is wrong with Yuu, and that Yuu doesn't touch on any of it. Yet there's a clear wrongness whenever Yuu is talking to one of them. Yuu stumbles with their words when caught off guard. Yuu is a horrible liar, while not uncommon Yuu tends to cover up anything about before they came to twisted wonderland. So Ace and Deuce are playing detective trying to uncover Yuu’s past

Favorite students: Trey and Yuu get along just fine. The two have their odd moments yet are clearly friends. Trey is the only one who knows about Yuu’s past. Trey will go to his grave with the knowledge of Yuu’s past. How could a mother experiment on their own son! Even worse, the reason why Yuu was experimented on was because of a war they was forced to participate in. one they was basically the poster child for! Something they didn't want either. Being forced into that position. Trey is a bit more sensitive around Yuu from learning about all that. Ace and Deuce asked on a number of occasions about if he knew Yuu’s past, the answer is always a simple no.

least favorite students: Rook. Having a bug arm fascinates Rook. it looks dangerous, how dose Yuu live normally? Yuu is in fact human Rook checked with the dark mirror. Si how did Yuu even get a bug arm? Yuu feels Rook’s eyes on him all the time. Rook freaks Yuu out!

Vergilius/The red gaze.

“You want to run that by me again?” “That sounds like the last of my patience burning out. One more misstep and I’ll have that person begging for death.” “rule one no bickering. Rule two If I hear fighting I will get involved, and trust me you don't Want me involved.” “What are you bothering me for now?”

Yuu is scary. Yuu is extremely menacing. The way Yuu hold them self, the way they look is scary, even how extremely calm they are in every situation. Even the beast men cower when under Yuu’s gaze for too long. Everything about Yuu horrifies the students. The fay even avoid Yuu. Nothing about Yuu seems right. Almost no one will approach Yuu. It took two students to nearly be expelled for anyone to even talk to them.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is a gladius. A short sword used by the romans. Yuu clearly has confidence in their close combat if they use something so short. Then when they had to fight the blot monster Ace and Deuce had realized it’s not just some short sword. Yuu’s gladius is heated. It will cut through nearly everything and cut through that blot monster like it was nothing. 

Yuu will not tolerate any rule breaking. Just the threat of Yuu being in the room makes even the worst delinquent a good student. Yuu tends to mostly use cleaning as a punishment, but when a bigger rule is about to be broken Yuu leans over the student and asks “are you sure you want to do this?” something so simple yet so ominous. Yuu is ok with lying, Yuu is ok with swearing, Yuus ok with you eating anywhere. Just don't break Yuu’s two personal rules. 

Rule 1 do not let me see or hear you fighting.

Rule 2 do not litter the floor with cigarettes.

No one has broken these and no one whats to know what happens when you do.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship: these two can be seen walking and talking around Yuu. Yuu doesn't talk to them much but ace and deuce talk to Yuu plenty. Yuu doesn't tell them to leave so the consensus is the three are friends. Ace and Deuce were asked by Yuu why people have been avoiding them. Yuu genuinely didn't know. I mean Yuu is very aware they are scary, and look unnatural. Yet that has never been a problem before. Deuce caved and told Yuu that they are just a bit too scary. Yuu reflected on this for a few moments then asked if Ace and Deuce found them scary. Ace said they don't, like a liar. Yuu then asked if the two could talk to them more. So after that day the two could be seen around Yuu. Yuu isn't the kind to hate everyone, Yuu is a human like any other, so Yuu appreciates good company.

Favorite students: Riddle, Yuu likes riddle the most for following all the rules Yuu has. Riddle never even yells at Yuu even before the first book. While Yuu has absolutely no respect for the queen of hearts rules, like everyone else Riddle was afraid of Yuu. so when two first years from his dorm started to talk to Yuu. Riddle nearly had a heart attack, who would willingly talk to someone so horrifying.

least favorite students: there are very few repeat offenders of rule breaking, yet few doesn't mean none. Floyd is very aware of how terrifying Yuu is. So much so Floyed nickname for Yuu is abyss monster, because that's what it’s like to stare at Yuu’s glowing red eyes. Floyd has yet to break any big rules while around Yuu. he’s been given quite a bit of cleanup duty. Yet on one unfortunate day, Floyd just so happened to have littered while Yuu was pissed. Yuu remembers Floyed for being a repeat offender. That day Yuu touched floyds shoulder, and leaned down to whisper in his ear “are you sure you don't want to pick that up. I’m not having a good day.” Floyd b-lined it for the trash. Floyd never threw it out. Instead of throwing it out, it ended up in his hand for the rest of the day. So now there's a crushed paper cup on the desk in his room.

Yuu’s job: Yuu is not a teen so Yuu works as a member of the staff. What's his job? Good question. He’s really just a security guard who roams around the campus. Yet Crowley main reason for hiring Yuu was to scare students into following rules, it just gets too hard sometimes dealing with them. So Yuu’s terrifying presence is well appreciated.

Charon 

“Vroom Vroom.” “Mephi is working very well.” “permission to vroom vroom?” “Charon knows Mephi’s back, front, and north east.

Yuu is very childish, often talking as if objects are alive. Using nicknames when referring to people. Ignoring people when mad at them. Humming songs randomly. Yuu can only be described as childish when acting like this. Some students forget they are a member of staff. It also doesn't help that yuu is short. Some students have mistaken Yuu for a student wandering around campus.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is an oar, an odd choice at first glance. Since an ore is used for bots aren't they? Yet Yuu has proven it’s a very effective weapon, you’d be shocked by how quick Yuu is with their oar. Yet there is an issue with using an oar as a weapon. That is an oar was never meant to be used as a weapon, it has no sharp edges nor any proper way to weld it. Yet Yuu show how manages to kick ass anyways. Well you don't work with the red gaze without picking up on a few tricks.

Yuu has both the beast and worst sense of direction. You see Yuu can get to any place, and will get to it. It’s just Yuu has no sense of direction making turners when they aren't meant to or go past turns that others would normally go through. Yuu only knows the back, front, and north east of their bus. Hell Yuu doesn't even use a map. Yet in the end, against all odds. Yuu get everywhere exactly on time. So I guess that's the reason why Yuu hasn’t been fired.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship: these two stick around Yuu like big brothers. Giving nasty glares to people who dare insult Yuu, or helping yuu when there's an obstacle they can't overcome. Like high shelfs. Ace and Deuce are always willing to lend a hand. The two were sent to get the mage stone Yuu was there to help them. Beating the blot monster was easter because Yuu had fight with them. Ace cant see Yuu as anything but a little sister. Ace has never had a sister. So being able to help and protect Yuu feels good. Sometimes Ace forgets Yuu is older than him. Yet at the end of the day the two are still friends. Deuce on the other hand looks up to Yuu. Yuu is so calm all the time, never getting mad. So Deuce often asks Yuu for advice. like how to pay attention better, or how to stay calm in stressful situations. Yuu’s advice isn't always the best, yet at the end of the day Deuce always takes it to heart.

Favorite students: Yuu likes Malleus, Malleus reminds Yuu of Vergilius. The two seem intimidating to other people and other people don't approach them often. Yet Yuu has always judged people on how they act, not how they look nor on how strong they are. Malleus was just happy when someone finally talked to him of their own volition. The fay was shocked to learn his friend wasn't a student but a member of staff. Even the staff somewhat avoided him. They wouldn't spare more than needed when talking to him. So at least Malleus had a friend on Yuu.

least favorite students: Yuu doesn't trust these two twins. The leech Twins are off putting to Yuu. Jade is creepy, always smiling and being too nice. Yuu can tell Jade is not being honest with Yuu. he often stares too much. Witch off puts Yuu even more. So Yuu tends to ignore or outwrite avoid him. Floyd on the other hand. He’s as much trouble as some of the sinners. So Yuu keeps an eye on him. Often reporting everything and all things to whomever they can. Yuu sometimes wishes that Vergilius was still with them, Floyed tries to get all sorts of rectons out of Yuu. only for you to try and ignore him. Yuu hit Floyd with their oar once. It stopped him for the rest of the day, but he just got more annoying after that.

Yuu’s job: Yuu is a lot older than they look so they aren't even a student. Yuu is unsurprisingly, a bus driver. Yah the mirror can get them anywhere, but where's the fun in that? So for the least Yuu brings students all around the island. Scarring a few in the process with their horrible driving. 

Dante

“...” “*clock sounds*”

Yuu cant talk normally they have no mouth, actually scratch that Yuu doesn’t even have a normal face. If you count a clock as a face in the first place that is. Yet Yuu is unforgivingly human, often getting mad when accused of not being human.. Grimm seems to understand Yuu just fine. As well as all of the main cast as well.

Yuu’s weapon of choice is to have others fight for them. I will tell you all that Limbus is very diegetic, so I’ll let that bleed in here as well. Yuu has made contracts with all of the main cast of twisted wonderland. All have the ability to come back from the dead with Yuu’s help. As long as Yuu is alive, so is all of the main cast. Not only that but Yuu has the ability to, with the help of the dark mirror. dip into parts of the main cast's life and pull out their true potential and power.

Yuu is a bit cowardly. Even submissive at times letting many people do as they please since Yuu is very easily intimidated. Yet Yuu isn't like Sincler in that they'll let people walk all over them. Yuu has proven time and time again that their cowardice has a limit and if other people are in any danger they have to do something to help. Yu claims that not helping people in dangerous situations would keep them up at night.

Ace and Deuce’s relationship: man… Yuu is basically exactly the same as they are in the game. Other then Ace and Deuce having to talk for Yuu occasionally nothing changed, at all.

Favorite students: the most shocking answer is! Ortho! Yes, that Ortho. The robot is the only one who even tries to help Yuu with their memory problems. The robot is also extremely interested in the world Yuu comes from since if people have made prosthetics for their head could there be full body prosthetics? When Yuu reveals that AI isn't actually allowed in their world because the rulers put a ban on making AI, Ortho was shocked. Yuu then explained that they don't have the same news but aren't smart enough or bold enough to even try making an AI

least favorite students: everyone except Ortho. Don't get Yuu wrong there friends, but god the sinners are easier to work with. There's always the “what does it have to do with me” or “what do I get out of it.” crap. The sinners worked for Yuu so at least they allowed orders yet the NRC students always want something out of the deal. They also constantly complain about having to fight for Yuu. IT WAS YOUR DEAL! You could have just gone “no” and had been done with it. But nooooo! You want to come back from the dead without the strings attached. You know how much PAIN it causes Yuu to bring you back! “It can't be that bad.” IT CAN AND IT IS!

[youhavethewrong]

Yuiview: A Eulogy for Tribe Nine

On March 25th, I posted a review for the game Tribe Nine, a gacha Action RPG created by Too Kyo Games. In it, I mostly focused on the fact that as good as it was, I was nervous about its future. I ended my review with this statement:

Fast forward to May, 76 hours into Tribe Nine later, I started writing "Tribe Nine - Why Some Gachas Are Worth Your Time". I was gonna use the same title as a neat little callback and to cheekily acknowledge the fact that the game was so good it had proven me wrong.

But last night, the official Tribe Nine twitter account posted this

So now, what was meant to be a heartily recommendation of a fantastic game, has become a eulogy. I'd like to reflect on why Tribe Nine didn't succeed, why it hurts me so, and what we can do going forward.

On the original version of this Yuiview, I was gonna make a lengthy list of all the things Tribe Nine did well. How it allowed you to play the game completely for free, how its fast-paced reaction-based gameplay let you beat it with the free units, how in unlike other games the story was leading towards a specific conclusion. Now, looking back, I realize that all these things that made Tribe Nine great as a game, are what made it bad as a gacha.

Each character is unique, all of them bringing a different approach to the action RPG gameplay - meaning there's only 16 playable characters, and not the hundreds that gachas usually have, disincentivizing constant rolling.

The game is very kind in giving you free currency and rolls for just playing the game - so players aren't forced to spend money on it.

The default characters that you get for free, rather than being stuck at being clunky and weak (like a lot of other gachas do), are fast and reactive, meaning that being good at the game lets you play without performing a single gacha roll - ...yeah, you can see where I'm going with this.

Every aspect that made Tribe Nine a good, non-predatory game made it a bad gacha game. Gacha games depend on forcing players to continue spending money by way of halting their progress, putting up difficulty walls, and overall mechanics that go against players having a smooth experience. Therefore, a game that's more focused on fun and quality of player experience can't survive as a gacha, as it goes against the idea of constantly squeezing people for money.

So why is it even a gacha?

Well, the thing about gacha games is that if they're profitable, they give the company that developed them a loooot of money. After all, why develop a game that people pay for once and get a full experience out of, when for the same development time you can make something people sink hundreds of dollars into, and will continue spending money on indefinitely as long as you keep jangling keys in front of them?

I'm not here to make fun of the people in the above screenshot. If anything, I think they're victims. But think about it from a developer's perspective: these sort of numbers make publishers salivate. A gacha game that does well can take a company out of the red.

Right, I should mention that. Too Kyo Games is in the red.

I've tried to leave that out of my other reviews of their games because I don't want people to play these games out of a sense of pity. I want them to play them because the people at Too Kyo are brilliant creators who have delivered nothing but unique, meaningful experiences since their first game. But it is undeniably a looming dark cloud that has been hovering over the whole topic for a long time. And you can see why a company in this situation would be tempted to make one of their biggest projects a gacha game.

And in spite of the fact that i despise gacha games, I still decided to give Tribe Nine a try, based on the fact that Too Kyo haven't disappointed me yet, and I've known them to prioritize player experience over money making for a long time now. So I trusted them.

And I was right. They did. And that was Tribe Nine's downfall, that it wasn't scummy.

So now that we understand what happened and why, one question remains: What's in the future for Tribe Nine? As of now, its development stopped cold turkey, including the cancellation of already-announced characters, story chapters, and even game fixes. The way the game is right now will remain as its current state until November 2025, when it finally becomes unplayable. This means that the next chapters won't release, the story will not conclude, and we won't be able to meet these characters again. The tragedy of it all is... difficult to put into words.

As much as this breaks my heart though, the one who seems to be taking it the most harshly is the man himself, writer Kazutaka Kodaka. Today, he posted this to his bluesky account:

TL: "It's annoying that this is being spread so much, but even though I wasn't involved in the development, it's frustrating to see everyone's sadness! If I was a super popular person, I could have done more. Thinking about it, I guess it's because of my lack of ability. And even after it ended, I could have done more if I had the financial means. I guess you can't do anything without making money. That being said, there are definitely things that can be done. I make games to entertain everyone. I'll keep trying and not give up. Also, please forgive me for advertising other games in this situation. You need funds to try."

Sadly, he seems to be blaming himself and his lack of popularity/money for being unable to rescue the game. As someone not in the industry, it's hard to imagine what it feels like to put time and resources into coming up with an idea and developing a story, only to see it be dashed when it's not even halfway done.

However, to me it also seems that there's a tinge of hope in his words. The line "There are definitely things that can be done" sounds like there are some resources at his disposal to continue telling the story. Me personally, I'd be happy with a light novel. I just want to know what happens to these characters. Also, I really appreciate and admire the fact that he refuses to give up, in spite of the company's current financial situation and the failure of this project.

I would also like to bring up this post from May 3rd, regarding Too Kyo Games's financial situation

At the end of the day, his main goal is still for people to enjoy playing his games, and that's something that I'll never stop finding commendable. Even in dire financial straits, his sole focus is people having fun with his art, without worrying about the company itself.

You can probably tell that I really admire him as a creator, which is why it breaks my heart to see him not have the recognition and success that him and his team deserve. But he wouldn't want me to be worrying about that, just about the quality of his games. So that's what I'll do. I'll keep playing Tribe Nine to see if I can finish it 100% before it goes out of service. And instead of focusing on its inevitable demise, I'll focus on enjoying the characters, tight gameplay, and silly dialogue until the last possible moment.

I'm sure most everyone who works in a creative field is doing so because they enjoy it, and they love making things. But I'd encourage everyone to remember Kodaka's words: "You need funds to try". If it is within your means, try supporting your favorite artists financially, so that they can keep making things you love. And if it's not, just talking about their projects with your friends or leaving positive comments that remind them people enjoy what they make can make a huge difference. Don't take the art you enjoy for granted, it takes someone an incredible amount of effort to deliver it to you.

[stelladess]

I find it odd when people frame lore revelations as being some sort of opposite to character development as they often are pretty heavily connected.

There are tons of examples like the mechanics of how the seaborne works being actively thematically important for multiple of the stories with them for example.

Kal´tsit being a synthetic being created by a now gone precursor civilization isn't just random lore fluff, it informs her character. Why she feels isolated and set apart from people and it makes her strong love for the people of Terra more meaningful because it would be easier for her to justify that she does not have to care about them because she is not one of them. But she does care about them! She considers herself part of Terra and responsible for helping people, something which clearly makes her feel very guilty for "failing".

spoilers for Babel event and chapter 14 below:

The doctor´s entire motives for betraying Theresa only make sense from their past and the goals of the precursor civilization. Those reveals do not undermine the character drama but enhance it, the contrast between the doctor wanting to be able to help people like Kal´tsit, Amiya or Theresa clashing with their mission to ensure originium absorbs everything. They know what they are doing is wrong but they feel like all choices are wrong and the one they have a duty to fulfill is the one that required betraying Theresa. I also think a nice detail is after the doctor made up their mind to betray Theresa they start referring to Kal´tsit as AMa-10 in their inner monologues and stop trying to think about Amiya at all. Pressumably sort of trying to dehumanise or ignore the people they know they will hurt because it makes it psychologically easier for them to go through with it, this is especially notable since the doctor gave Kal´tsit her name in the first place.

And when we get a bunch of weird reveals about originium and the past civilization in chapter 14... its mainly used to get some interesting character interactions between Kal´tsit and other characters and to facilitate the situation that allows for the confrontation with Theresa, also the stuff relating to the sarkaz souls stuck there is to explain why Theresa would willingly work with Theresis despite his uhm... evil aspirations, furthermore it is also to finally reveal a bit more about what Priestess was actually like as a character.

Heck back in Lone trail while the stronger character stuff was elsewhere (I especially love the Ifrit and Rosmontis focused stuff) the sarcophagi and Friston stuff is mostly to give some more insight into characters like Ho´oleyhak, Kal´tstit and doctor, introducing us to Mark Max and giving an actually believable reason for Kal´tsit having to burn her bridges with the Tin Man, causing Rhodes to be in pretty hot water with the Columbian government.

I find the idea that the story is deciding to "stop doing character focus to do lore" absurd quite frankly.

World building is important! What makes Arknights unique compared to a lot of other popular gacha games is in large part the world and history. Arknights characters are well written, but in particular they are well written in the sense that Arknights is good at showing how the world they live in shape people into who they are. Learning more about that world to explore it in greater depth is not contradictory to the goal of interesting character writing, it helps it.

[istoleodilesjordans]

2 am isat ramblings

SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE GAME (except twohats ending)

Okay so uh just a heads up im writing thus at 1 2 am (idk the hour really) so its gonna be a bit wonky but this game gas been keeping me up for the past two days so i need to ramble. about it.

Okay so DAMN. ACT 5 HIT LIKE A TRUCK.

So act 5 stars right before siffrin talks to the head housemaiden, except now instead of glitching and repeating the same things over and over the head just finally finishes her sentence and makes a coherent explanation of why siffrin will never go back and suffer for eternity. Well THAT HIT SO HARD. like siffrin was used to all that glitching and breaking down, but deep down he was sure there must be another way to escape the timeloops. But now that he actually gets a confirmation that he will NOT escape his loops, that just. Fucks him up.

But then comes the wish of the vaguardians. Upon them being mentioned he tries to think abd make a very tangled explanation as of why this wish didn't work and howhes gonna fix it. And what really broke me is how manic he acted, because in reality he was just trying to find out a reason as to why hes trapped. Like he tried to nitpick every single word from the wish and what the head told him for he just could not accept being stuck. At all. And he goes in this rabbit hole of thinking and thinking and thinking and he just comes to the conclusion that because HE is the CHOSEN ONE (instead of mirabelle), he needs to deal the last strike when killing the king. Now this sounds very specific and complicated, but he is not gonna let go. Nuh uh.

Now what gets me is how he acts towards his friends from act 5 onward. He literally doesn't see them as real people anymore. He is SO fixated on dealing the last strike and escaping the loop that he just expects everyone to act like some robots, some actors saying their lines. Thats because thats how theyve always been. Since he got stuck, he only hears the same blinding things from them; he even memorised eveyrones lines! But unfortunately having a half blacked out gacha life depressed emo kid face on isn't gonna go unnoticed by his fellow actors.

So he snaps at them. Points out every mistake in their personality and way of being. Because he got time to see every single thing about them, repeating over and over. Its like he actually expects them to know, to have noticed, just as he has, because he really cant think of how life was before the loops. He expects them to act normally when he tries to shorten the friendquests, he expects them to know the result, the aftermath, what theyre gonna say, cause siffrin is just trying to shorten the scene. But no. The others don't know, and never will.

Okay onto the next scene-

THE FIGHT WITH THE KING. oh. My god. Okay so first of all, the music. It was like hearing a song in your head. In a very small space. It was so damn awful, its like i could FEEL siffrins anxiety and tiredness. It was. An experience. Oh and how the king strated to actually get worried for him and suggest to stop the fight. Even though he was just trying to fool siffrin into getting beaten, it shows just how visibly exhausted the loops got siffrin to be. And whoah, just how raw the experience was when he was slowly getting frozen in time, unlike simply dying and looping back. I could really feel his exhaustion through the screen. It was, again, awful. 10/10

Okay last scene

THE VS FRIENDS SCENE OHHH MY GOD. Main character with group of friends who has deep problems and doesn't wanna tell anyone and reaches a breaking point and becomes a weird version of themselves representing their emotions while their friends are trying to get them back to normal? YES PLEASE. this moment got me so so so emotional i even shed a tear. Its just. my kind of emotional. I fricking loved it. 100/10

Okay im done w the scenes now ill talk about random stuff

Euphrasie scares me. She is just so... weird? Barely human like? I mean, yes the parts where she kept breaking down were really good, but seeing her so normal and unphased after everything that happened is just so... off? Okay thats all about her that I've got to say

MUSIC IN ACT 5

oh my god. I shit my pants when i heard the changed dormont town thingy place theme. Hearing something so similar yet SO DIFFERENT made me feel so strange. Its like the whole landscape changed. It didnt even FEEL like dormont anymore it was just - a place full of tension and tireness. Absolutely awful.

Oh and there comes the house theme. THOSE GLITCHING SOUNDS WERE MAKING ME SCREAM IN FEAR HELP. Everything was so sudden, and then boom its gone, then all the sounds are overlapping, it was like a quiet panic attack put into music. Awful. Amazing. Definitely delivers the point.

Oh and did i mention the pauses in the music. That felt so weird, sometimes i even thought either my game was broken or i had just gone deaf. And they were so random, thats what made it worse.

And also the points where you just get teloported into random rooms in the house? And some of them are even flipped, or just full of barrels? It legit reminded me of those glitches in old Minecraft, where youd get part of the overworld brushed into a plain or random objects spawning. Scary. Unnerving.

And the last thing i forgot to mention: how everybody started noticing everything siffrin did in the last loop: burnt sugar smell, the weird rooms in the house, the housemaiden glitching. Just shows how they arent some npcs, some actors, but are, too, living in the moment. Incredible, loved it.

Okay so thats all for now , might add smth later if my brain will keep me awake again lmao

Anyways 100/10 game.

Ps i cant wait to see what happens in the twohats ending. I hope loop isnt mad at us for forgetting about them :(

[shayminlucario07]

Content warning: Genshin Impact

Yes I know shut up I need to rant about this

Spoiler Warning for the end of the Natlan Archon Quests, if you care.

People are really out here saying that they should've fridged Mavuika so that they could compromise Capitano's entire story just to keep him around? Fandom is going to be true to its extremely sexist nature, I know, and truly my expectations for the Genshin fandom could not be lower, but WOW the lack of critical analysis skills is truly abysmal and somehow I'm disappointed. I didn't even know that was possible at this point.

Capitano's story was literally entirely about bringing peace to his dead soldiers in Natlan. This ending was set up well in advance, to the point where I literally saw it coming months ago. Just because it's a gacha game and Capitano had a unique design doesn't mean he was going to be playable, Signora proved that. And on the subject of Signora- yeah, I get it, Capitano is a hot guy with a sad backstory, ambiguous morals, and a badass design. People are going to like him. But I've never seen that same energy for Signora, and I wonder why that is? (Answer: It's sexism.) It was not "wasted potential" to kill of Capitano, it was not bad writing, it was literally basic setup and payoff.

And of course they're not going to kill of Mavuika, she's an Archon for fuck's sake. Yes, they killed of Focalors, and that was probably the most well-written storyline they've ever done, but it was good because of the misdirection. We thought Furina was the archon, but she wasn't, and they didn't kill off Furina at all- for narrative reasons, yes, but also because she's the main character of Fontaine and the center of all of the region's marketing. It would be an extremely dumb decision from a financial standpoint to invest the majority of the marketing budget for the entire region into one character and then kill them off, which is why they didn't do that, and you're an idiot if you think they should've. For multiple reasons.

I understand that people may not like Mavuika- that's fine, you're not obligated to; the idealistic, self-sacrificing leader woman has never exactly been an uncontroversial character archetype, I'm a Horizon: Zero Dawn fan and I know that from experience. (GET BEHIND ME ALOY I WILL DEFEND YOU UNTIL THE DAY I DIE.) Hell, I'm a Xenoblade Chronicles fan. (If you don't know about the widespread dislike (read: Hatred) of Melia Antiqua, god I wish I was you.) But whitewashing aside (Which is not a Mavuika issue but an issue with Genshin as a whole, and no I'm not ignoring it), Mavuika is not a bad character. Even the motorcycle isn't bad design. If you can believe that Xilonen can be a Roller Skating DJ, you can believe Mavuika has a motorcycle. If you can believe that the Fontaine Research Institute made a pair of extremely advanced Mek ice-dancer combat units and a gravity-manipulating ring-thing (seriously what is that boss), you can believe Mavuika has a motorcycle. If you can believe that Ayato drinks boba tea in his idle animations, you have no excuse for Mavuika's motorcycle breaking your suspension of disbelief. Boba tea was invented AFTER THE INVENTION OF THE MOTORCYCLE. (Boba tea was invented in the 1980s, the concept of the motorized bicycle dates back to the 1880s at least and what we would recognize as the modern motorcycle was in standard production during the First World War to be used by soldiers.) Just because it's fantasy doesn't mean it doesn't have technology. Historical context is important, and also, it's fiction and is not analogous to any specific real-world time setting, as evidenced by the outfits even in Mondstadt.

TL;DR, fandoms are sexist, Genshin fans are dumb and lack basic critical analysis skills, Capitano's death is a World of Warcraft reference (Bolvar Fordragon at the end of Icecrown Citadel, if you know you know), and Mavuika is hot as fuck. Fire Bayonetta can run me over with that dragon motorcycle any day.

[hoesoflamentation]

depressed about obey me at 2pm on a workday, bc all i keep thinking is how while the fans are screaming that solmare abandoned us, the same fans genuinely abandoned obey me long before they announced no new updates…

‼️ by failing to appreciate all the detail paid to the art & music & rhythm gameplay in nightbringer, simply because it wasn’t obey me og and we didn’t want anything new (seriously, go back and play og if you don’t believe me… the audio is crunchy, the animations aren’t nearly as fluid, the art isn’t rendered half as well)

‼️ by complaining about the price of vip subs, when those of us who played og from the beginning remember the days when there was no sub option and your only choice to beat the events was to play every level and hope your cards; your only way to get that ur card was to pay microtransaction after microtransaction, close your eyes, and pray. in og, i could never finish an event bc i couldn’t level up my cards enough. in nb, i have ranked in the top 500-1000 without a single microtransaction. not to mention how HARD it used to be to level up your cards in og… to this fucking day i still don’t have a single devil flower on a ur card in og. not a single one.

‼️ by moaning that they would have to pay for fully-voiced dates after the devs released 2 full seasons of anime, monthly events, cards with special voiced dialogue, FOR YEARS all for free. like, do we realize how much creative work goes into all of this? do we realize how good we had it? the gameplay system awards so much ap that you could easily play for 2 hours straight as a f2p player. idk how many om! fans play other gacha/otome games but do you know how rare that is? no waiting for tickets or story keys. and never needing to pay “diamonds” for a choice in the main story. we had it so good, and yet the fandom never stopped complaining abt it.

when you look at it this way, it’s no wonder the company rushed the holiday events and is bolting the doors asap. forgive them if they don’t feel bad for those of us crying about obey me after we’ve spent the last 1.5yrs since nb came out doing nothing but talking shit about how bad it was compared to the og, when that WASN’T EVEN TRUE. the way i see it, the fandom has been dying a slow death since nb not because they tanked the franchise, but bc so much of the fandom started to become entitled and whiny at that point.

nb was never actually a bad product. it just wasn’t og. so many ppl resisted the change for the sake of it, meanwhile the gameplay experience, the graphics, the audio, the f2p experience, even the vip experience was so much better in nb than in om. if you’re out here calling it a cash grab, i can only assume you don’t believe in paying artists for their work or paying for the media you consume. i have been here since 2020. i have seen this fandom in all its iterations, gone from 1000 likes on every fic i write to 50-100 likes on a good day.

now that the love we used to have in this fandom is gone for so many of you, we can only HOPE that solmare DOES see the financial value in om and wants to keep making money off us enough to keep the franchise around. at this point, i am dying for them to release another limited edition plushie or some other kind of merch as a cash grab; at least then i’d believe this fandom wasn’t dying.

if you wanted them to keep going simply for the love of the game, any hope of that ended the minute we became an ungrateful and toxic fandom... tumblr is one of the only pure places left for om fans and even here i see the toxicity. i am so fed up with the twitter and reddit bitching & whining of it all, truly. i never missed om og but every day i miss the way the fandom used to be before nb.

[odysseys-blood]

the world if whb writing had any sort of consistency in quality between the main story, event stories, and card stories

ill just ramble under the cut instead of sticking everything in tags as i usually do bc its a lot but-

my long standing issues with how the mc is written aside (because that'd take a long time and honestly im used to otome mcs being like wet paper bags and kind of annoying if they have any kind of personality at all, ive played maybe 3 games where i enjoyed the mc), im glad it feels like there's so much care put into the main story like it feels like whoever is doing it is having fun. which is as it should be! but theres a long. loooong pause in between them (which i also understand and support 100% please dont rush one of the good things you have going on) so what we mainly rely on in terms of content is side stories and cards.

and it feels like most of the time they're just kinda ass even with how long it takes between those too.

i'll be real atp i kinda just skip through the card stories if i open them at all bc aside from small moments or the introductory segment it really does just feel like the same thing over and over and the writing isnt really of any quality for me to sweat over not knowing whats in them like i might with nu carnival. and part of the problem is likely just bc theyre so mc centric and i cant bear it for long enough to really care about reading them. but otherwise it just feels akin to bad wattpad smut you'd read as a teenager because you hadn't discovered any good quality writing yet.

and then with the event/side stories (cant really call them all events atp since only some come with a new unit honestly and events in gachas r kinda synonymous with new characters) theyre like. theres such a range honestly. some ARE pretty good (loved niflheim and lucifer intro) but most are so super bland and kind of a drag to get through. and all of them stop so abruptly especially this one theres never just a well written ending or it feels super rushed. and oftentimes it feels like the events past the first couple are only *somewhat* about how theyre marketed. like with the current valentines one you'd think we'd be seeing WAY MORE of ronove and dantalian but it didn't really feel centered on them at all even with most of it being backstory. like as much as i like amon and nabs it felt way more about them than the two it was supposed to be for (and there is already a avisos centric event and funny enough that one was an intro for andrealphus who barely showed up) and this happened also with the early satan/sitri one (which also felt drawn out bc there was JUST a sitri centric one). its just. annoying a bit is the best way to put it. theres SO MANY characters which might be part of the issue but all of them don't have to be featured at a time. it gives the actual focus chars less time to shine and if you were looking forward to meeting them ut just leaves you disappointed