#just man to man. those fights are much more challenging imo

[abrahamvanhelsings]

AUGH the odin boss fight... barnabas tharmr ffxvi babygirl you're so everything and fighting you was spectacular

[kyu-piddy]

Ranking (some more) twst love triangles on how messy they are

(This was for an ask that sadly got eaten by tumblr! )

Anon asked: I just wanna say I love your love triangle headcanons, but it got me thinking. Instead of two boys in the same dorm, what about if it was different dorms. For example, like Trey x reader x Azul, the two glasses boys.

So I was wondering if I could get part two of love triangles but with Trey x reader x Azul and or Leona x reader x Malleus

Please take your time, don't rush and Thank you 🙏

An: Thank you for your request anon. I might have gotten a ton of brainworms and just had to write this asap! Leona and Malleus are so interesting imo. They tickle a funny part of my brain that likes making characters suffer. I’d say they can be pretty challenging to write since they're so layered but it’s also soooo rewarding. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)

Gn reader x Leona, Malleus, Trey, Azul

Trigger warnings: Swearing

1.3k words

Leona vs Malleus

Ahaha, you’re in danger.

No, seriously, this love triangle is dangerous. You could quite literally start a war if this goes unchecked for long enough.

Here you have two princes that already have enough beef with each other to feed a small nation, now fighting over you.

Leona is, of course, emotionally constipated as usual. He’s not gonna try to seduce you with flowers or chocolates or anything of the sort. Instead, he’ll be strangely nice to you, like letting you nap on his usual spot in the greenhouse or offering you help in a specific subject he’s good at.

This is all done with a side dish of “Tsk. Don’t bother me, herbivore.”

But the man does want to be bothered by you. It will be a cold day in hell before he admits it though .

Malleus on the other hand, will be forthcoming about his intentions towards you.

“Isn’t it a lovely night, Tsunotarou? “

“I wish to court you, child of man.”

If Lilia hadn’t told him to slow down he’d just straight up confess to you at that moment.

From that point on you’re getting the whole Malleus attention package. He’s making flowers sprout from the ground when you pass by, making Sebek and Silver escort you everywhere, writing heartfelt letters that read as more terrifying than romantic (he’s trying, ok?).

Leona is not happy about this. He’s stomping those flowers, picking fights with Sebek and Silver and turning those letters into sand. It’s a declaration of war.

If you thought they were bitchy before, now they’re straight up assholes to each other.

All types of insults are on the table, from the bad to the ugly to the straight up vile.

They also have a tendency to physically get you away from the other. Your arms are gonna be so sore and bruised from all the yanking.

And they’re gonna blame the other for your bruises, and start a whole other fight about it.

Leona is getting Ruggie to take pictures of his moments with you to send to Malleus, but Malleus can't use a phone to save his life, so he isn’t really gonna be able to see it.

In the same vein, he does not know how to take pictures with his phone, so he’s going to write descriptive letters, full of flowery details of his encounters with you to send to Leona.

He might even hire someone to create an artistic rendition of the moment to accompany the letter.

Leona is just gonna tell Ruggie to throw it all in the garbage, but just the thought of what could possibly be in there is gonna irk him to high hell.

Everyone, and I mean everyone will know about this love triangle. Leona will frame it as more of a fight with Malleus, to prove he is better than the lizard, but anyone with eyes can see that it’s more than that.

Malleus on the other hand will tell everybody you’re the love of his life, his future spouse and that the date of the wedding is xx/xx/xxxx and everyone is invited.

Even their families will get involved. Neither of them is above inviting you to their homeland just to sightsee, and then you reach there and bam, everyone is calling you their partner, and saying how you make a great couple, while you’re trying to figure when did you even accept a relationship between you both.

You’re not getting a confession from Leona.

You’ll have to figure it out yourself and confront him about it. And the asshole, after all his mixed signals and talk of just doing it to piss off Malleus, will retort “Isn’t it obvious? I thought you’d be smarter than that, herbivore.”

Malleus isn’t too keen on a confession either, but it’s because he already considers you both a couple, and if you confront him about it he'll answer matter of factly “Are we not a couple soon to be wed, child of man?”.

Delulu is not the sululu, but for Malleus, it is.

Your decision is going to impact both of them really hard.

Choosing Malleus is more trauma for Leona’s always second best issues. He’s going to become extremely guarded around you, closing himself off to the world for a long while.

Choosing Leona is more trauma for Malleus’ always forgotten issues. Unlike Leona, who will immediately give up on you and fall into a depression pit, Malleus will get angry at the world and try so hard to bargain with you.

Choosing neither will still feed into these issues, creating more fuel to the cycles of self destruction that these two are stuck in.

If there was a rating higher than S tier, I’d put this love triangle there, but since there isn’t, I’ll give it an S.

Neither of these men should be getting into a relationship. They should be getting into therapy.

Trey vs Azul

Megane vs Megane

Now these two have a peculiar dynamic.

One is the dependable older brother of Heartslabyul while the other one is the scary loan man of Octavinelle with the two shady underlings.

You guess which one you’re more likely to feel safe around.

Azul thinks he is so slick, by finding out Trey's crush on you, but will be immensely taken aback once Trey makes it known that Azul’s crush isn’t exactly a secret either.

Zuzu will try so hard to find dirt on Trey, but Mr. Normal has the most boring secrets that not even an old lady would be scandalized by (at least that Azul can find).

Initially, he’d send Floyd and Jade to spy on Trey, but the eels are not to be trusted, especially with you around.

They’re the type to stop the spying just for funsies and start chatting with you, so Azul has to take matters into his own hands.

He’s peeking out from a window with binoculars if he has to, goddammit!

While Azul is making a fool of himself to woo you, Trey is quietly guiding you along the path to his heart.

He knows Azul will try to use his contracts to get a leg up on him, but neither you nor him are interested in owing something to Azul.

Even if one of the contracts captures your attention, Trey is throwing it out of the window so fast (metaphorically, ofc).

Seeing as contracts and spying on you doesn’t work, Azul is going to try to hit Trey where it hurts.

Feeding you, ofc.

Trey has his desserts, but Azul has the Mostro lounge and he did grow up in a restaurant, so he can cook decently.

He can’t offer you the food directly, so he leaves it to you as a secret admirer (he read about it in a book and though that it would add to his mystique and appeal as a suitor).

When Trey finds out about it, he’s going to start taking it away before you find it, feeding you with one of his pastries instead.

This basically leads to a cook-off, where Azul keeps leaving you more and more food while Trey also increasingly gives you more pastries to get you too full to eat anything else.

I see Azul confessing in a very romantic and by the book sort of way, that leaves you wondering if he followed some sort of guide to the T (he did).

Trey is not taking it lying down.

He is interrupting anything that Azul has planned and throwing hella shade his way, reminding you of how shady Azul can be.

Meanwhile Azul is about to call the twins to make Trey sleep with the fishes in the Lounge aquarium.

I put this love triangle in B tier.

Either way you choose, I don’t see either of them getting too mad.

Trey is pretty chill about it if you choose Azul or neither of them, while Azul might throw a small to medium tantrum if you choose Trey.

He has control issues he really needs to figure out, but seeing as the experience has made him respect Trey as more of an equal, it wouldn’t be as bad as if it was someone like your first year Heartslabyul friends.

[gold-pavilion]

An analysis of Kakucho-related changes in S3E01

So it turns out that the first episode of Tokyo Revenger's 3rd season differs a bit from the manga chapters it covers. Mostly, around Kakucho's introduction.

And I'm all for those changes! Whew! I believe very very strongly that those small choices improved the script, straight up. So, here's a rundown of what's different and why I like it so much.

Firstly,

The anime turns Kakucho's matchup against Smiley into a challenge to Takemichi. As much as Smiley was totally up for it, in this version, Kakucho himself zeroed in on Takemichi and requested to face him.

And, man, I adore Smiley and looked forward to seeing them fighting. But this change eases into the conversation Kakucho and Takemichi have after the fight much more smoothly, doesn't it? 

As a plus, we can perceive Kakucho being more active about what he's interested in here. Not just in his approach, but in the whole following conversation, where he exposes his thought process and strategic stance with a ton more clarity.

Reviewing how that talk goes in the manga:

- Kakucho reconnects with Takemichi, messing with each other amicably.

- After that, having established that Takemichi is Toman's First Division Captain, he asks him to save Izana.

- He explains that Izana is surely being used by Kisaki, for a conflict he doesn't agree with.

And that's kind of it. The conversation is flashbacked (Takemichi reminisces about it afterward, when headed to the next Toman meeting) so we could guess that they talked a bit more, but that's all we get from it.

Now, in the anime version:

- They still reconnect and mess with each other, wiiiiiiiith the addition of this tidbit: 

A nice detail imo, as it always struck me as odd that Takemichi didn't notice it/react to it in the manga. He tends to… not be great at observing things LMAO, he misses a lot of stuff, but this is someone he remembers from his childhood, who showed up now with a HUGE facial scar and a damaged eye (personally, my take is that Kakucho's white eye is from cataracts developed after his accident). It's something that sticks out. Takemichi asking about it gives me the impression that he's more invested in his reunion with Kakucho, displaying care for an old friend and also giving Kakucho the chance to show he doesn't like to talk about the scar, which is nice to add to his character.

- Instead of asking Takemichi to save Izana from Kisaki, Kakucho asks his own questions about the guy. Which makes perfect sense!! Kisaki joined Tenjiku just recently, Kakucho has his doubts about him and found someone he can ask, so he takes the chance. Maybe he does already suspect that Kisaki is using Izana, BUT…

- Takemichi asks for help reaching Kisaki, and Kakucho refuses. Right now, Kisaki is a high-standing officer in the gang. It's Tenjiku's/Izana's internal affairs that Takemichi is trying to disrupt, and Kakucho is too loyal to go with that. Rather, being enemies, what Takemichi should do is fight and achieve his way through; despite the situation, that's the fair and square way Kakucho knows things must be done.

- Kakucho keeps to himself his distaste about the conflict as a whole. Instead of asking for Takemichi's help or telling him more about the situation, he just advises to be wary of a certain traitor he can't name (Mucho, most likely), and leaves it at that.

End of "spot the difference"!

Now, I'm not gonna say "the anime did it better", like a short-sighted dummy. The manga is the original material, the blueprint, the birth of all these delinquent dudes and their story. Manga is also its own medium, inherently different from the audiovisual version. Anything the anime adds starts from that source material.

But what I can and want to say is that the anime did a great job making adjustments to expose Kakucho's character to us sooner. It exposed him efficiently and profoundly.

Thanks to the changes to the script, we got a much bigger window into where Kakucho's standing, what he's wondering right now, and what he's trying to do on his own while everyone else is chasing other objectives. We can see him try to be an active guardian to Izana, making his own moves. However, we can also really really appreciate the depth of his loyalty and sense of honor, as he's respectful and careful even when it comes to someone he doesn't like at all, 'cause that someone is his current staff officer and Tenjiku comes first. Likewise, even though he knows Mucho is about to act traitorously to Toman as he switches over to Tenjiku, it's not in his power to snitch, much less to the enemy. The separation between him, loyal to his king, and the outsider to the gang that Takemichi is, also reflects the same values of loyalty and honor.

As a huge huge fan of Kakucho, I'm super pleased. As a lover of storytelling in general, I'm applauding the smart little changes and how effective they were.

It's not the first time the anime adaptation differs a little or adds something, so it probably won't be the last. Those touches have always been great so far, so I look forward to watching the rest of the season and seeing if any more new content appears!!

[dexdia]

Highly considering doing a Seven Deadly Sins rewrite myself bc man there's so much missed potential and honestly a lot of things that don't make sense or haven't been gone over enough-

My biggest gripe being the Goddess race, we barely know anything about them, the archangels were said to be oh-so-strong but 3 of them died not to long after being introduced- And my biggest gripe is that the author definitely pulled that "Bloody Ellie" thing out of his ass during the fight with Demon King Zeldris.

Like man, even the Demon race feels so lacklustre..

Oh! And don't get me started on Chaos!! Especially since its literally the entity that gets put into Arthur who's the main antagonist and villain of the sequel series!!!

Like, I'm pretty sure we don't know about chaos until it's actually revealed,,

Like in my mind, if I was to add/redo things- One of the things I'd do is make the Supreme Deity into a religious figure, being praised as the "Benevolent Goddess" among humans, setting up basically a religion- And maybe this could stem into the magic, such as human believing that the magic they hold was a blessing of the Supreme Deity.

And maybe also set up a clearer hierarchy system among the Goddess and Demon race.

I just want the Goddess race and Supreme Deity herself to play a bigger role cause man I don't really like how she was defeated within like the final 20 minutes of that one film.

Because I think it'd be so interesting to have humans actively worshiping the Goddess race, specifically dedicated to the Supreme Deity and the archangels.

Also, I'd have Chaos introduced a lot earlier- who knows, maybe I could throw in like a group that are worshippers of Chaos.

Tbh I'm just spit balling but it's mostly bc I'm so frustrated at simply how bad the author is at writing- Cause I feel like a lot of the time, he throws in ideas just because he thinks it's cool and doesn't elaborate and explore said ideas.

As I mentioned earlier, the whole "Bloody Ellie" thing ( a character who was established a pacifist in the Gloxinia + Drole flashbacks thing) as well the thing with Helbram where he talked about how fairies were captured and had their wings torn out (I believe we never hear anything about it again after Helbram tells us it), honestly many things.

Also, I just thought of another thing I'd change- Instead of having Derieri, Tarmiel and Sariel die useless deaths, I feel like we could've had Ludociel fight Esta/Mael when the Mael reveal happened bc I feel that would've been so much more impactful-

Because imagine, Ludociel finally fights the person who he thought "killed" his brother and before he goes for the finishing blow, the spell corrodes away and Ludociel is left with the shock and horror that he nearly killed his own brother.

And one more thing or else I'll be ranting forever, have Meliodas' and Elizabeth's relationship questioned and have them actually have to go through challenges

Have people question as to whether or not it was their relationship that trigger started the holy war, have other characters question the way he acts towards current Elizabeth, have Elizabeth have questions herself and wonder if the war was worth it- Let them have arguments!!

I think the only one they technically had was when Elizabeth wanted to rejoin the adventure at the start of season 2 if my memory serves me right.

But yeah.

It's just those little tweaks and add-ins that really begin to flesh it out to its potential, imo.

Anyway, rant over before I continue ranting up to 30k+ words more.

[lumiambrose]

Blue lock option matchup for @tigreblvnc

Suo x Rin Itoshi

warning: this matchup contains nsfw, minors dni

well damn, this is a matchup i didn’t see coming.

this matchup definitely has is pros and cons but ultimately, i totally see it working out.

focusing on the pros (cause fuck the cons)

also i love matching up rin <3

you two share each other's rationality and decisiveness. from my experiences, rational people thrive best around those alike. they don’t need someone thinking with their gut but rather someone who will dissect a process and plan the best outcome. rin likes that you're direct, he doesn’t like people that sugar-coat their shit and in general you two complement each other nicely with how you’re able to keep up with another thought process.

rin has never been a big fan of romance imo. his family dynamic is very struggled and complicated to say the least, so i can imagine he never really understood the concept of love. so at the beginning of your relationship, there’s a lot of distance and the talking stage took years.

rin aint gonna open up to anyone quickly, nah uh. but that didn’t stop you.

you definitely had to be the person to make most of the moves at the beginning (or at least make the first move). i mentioned this in another matchup but this guy has trust issues, i mean, look at what his brother did to him. that being said though, once he can trust you… oh my god he’s the sweetest, but we’ll get to that later.

i don’t think you would mind rin being so reserved and closed off at the beginning. you mentioned that you enjoy dissecting people's psychology so i can definitely see you having fun. figuring out this man is gonna be your toughest challenge yet but the rewards are endless.

he’s very mean at the start. it’s a mix between him not wanting someone weak and his own fears that produce this behaviour though. once he realises you’re different from everyone else, it’s very small gestures but there’ll be signs.

it would start with something so simple as watching you more intensely, seeing the way your body executes tiny movements, subconsciously taking note of your habits. then stuff that’s a bit more seeable. he’ll leave a book that he thinks you’ll like coincidentally out in the open so you can find it and enjoy it, or if there’s a snack he knows you like, he’ll make sure there’s enough leftover or even another pack for you.

just little things like that y’know.

once he realises he loves you and you two start dating, he’s all for the acts of service. there’s just so much joy he gets from being able to do stuff for you.

you mentioned you like massages? well rin is a top tier masseuse. he learnt how to massage himself for his career (and he doesn’t like other people touching him, except you of course) so you bet he’ll massage you 24/7.

rin doesn’t really know how to show his love all that well so once he sees the way you smile or light up when he cooks for you or comes home with your favourite snacks… it has him in a chokehold.

once he gets more confident around you, he’s very clingy. he’ll try his best to hide it but once it’s just the two of you he’s all over you.

imagine this man and his cold stare as he just clings onto you like a koala as you two watch a movie together.

very clingy. need i say more?

i actually think you and rin share a lot of traits. “Analytical and in my own world. I am sometimes told I’m too direct, lacking in tact and empathy.” and “I have a strong need for solitude. I dream big. I am hard on myself.” really speak out to me here.

it’s no surprise that rin has spent the most of his life fighting on his own and in my eyes, seems to prefer it that way after his brother left. considering you yourself need solitude, i can see you two using each other for closure, but also giving each other plenty of space to survive on your own.

of course, he’ll help you if you ask or vice versa. but he trusts you to be able to handle yourself.

rin isn’t the most goofy person so don’t expect that much from him. you guys are the trademark grumpy x sunshine trope (im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous).

while he doesn’t let himself loose or crack jokes that often, he does his best to resonate with your humour. he learnt what makes you smile and giggle simply because the sight of it drives him absolutely wild. once in a blue moon you’ll hear him let out a small joke and then it becomes your mission to keep them coming for the rest of the night.

he tries his best to resist but ultimately fails.

HE HAS THE SOFTEST LITTLE GIGGLE. NOBODY CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE.

how do i know this? well i may or may not have been snooping around one night where i saw the two of you at an empty football field. you were trying oh so hard to keep up with rin teaching you football, you really were, but he’s just too good.

so when he passed the ball to you for you to score at the empty goal, and you missed completely, even losing your balance a little bit, he couldn’t help himself.

frankly anyone that could see that sight would be in shock (i was). his eyes squint together ever so slightly and his smile widens in a way nobody even knew it could and it  just makes anyone's heart warm and fuzzy. 

it’s addictive seeing him laugh but sadly to disappoint all of us, you’re the only one who will ever get to see that sight again.

you like teasing people, rin is no exception. most of the time it’ll go either one of two ways:

he’ll give you a disappointed look and carry on with his day.

he becomes a blushing mess

number 2 will only ever happen in private though. he’ll always tell you to stop but he loves it honestly.

he loves that you’re the only person that can make him react like that.

on a more public side… if your relationship is hard launched, rin will be very protective of you. he doesn’t want the paparazzi invading your life simply because you’re dating him but god can it get funny.

ever since you two got together, he’s started flipping off paparazzi if they get too close and personal (his manager hates it)

will also always have an arm wrapped around you. don’t even think of trying to abandon him in the storm of the media (partially because he’s worried for you, partially cause he’s worried for himself lol)

definitely comes off as the more dominant one to the public eye.

you’d know otherwise though ;)

literally the biggest brat in private.

you know how i mentioned he’s clingy earlier? he’s just as needy. he breathes your attention in like it’s his oxygen and god forbid you neglect him.

if you do though, he’ll start off tame. maybe just being a bit more aggressive with his touches, making you look at him ect. but if you keep ignoring him, he’ll get very bratty. will start off with the whole “i get it, i’m sure your [whatever you’re doing] is more interesting than me.”, then he lays the attitude on harder until you finally cave and give him attention, to which he’ll be all pouty and ignore you.

you see where i’m leading this right?

good.

content warning: nsfw headcanons below

as i mentioned earlier, rin typically comes off as the more dominant one in your relation, to the public eye of course. 

and don’t get me wrong, rin could definitely top, but deep down this man just wants someone to take care of him.

very bratty about it though.

power bottom? 100%

the most bratty out there. will not let you top him without a fight (not that you mind ;) ).

rin could definitely top, don’t get me wrong. but deep down the man just wants to let go and let someone take care of him.

typically i’d say you’re the top/dom in the bedroom, there’s not really much room for discussion about it anyways.

rin will pretend he hates it but i’m sure you can make him take back his words once he’s cumming all over your hands.

if you do ever let rin top you, it’ll be short lived. he’ll either give up or you’ll pin him down and take over.

i mean, he’s fine with it at the end of the day. he just wants to be pampered and spoiled. 🥹

i can’t really imagine rin being all that verbal during sex but he is very vocal. moaning, whining, grunts, the whole package. he tends to grunt the most, simply because he gets embarrassed when he ends up moaning. of course, you don’t give him any choice but to moan. and god does he get loud with his moans.

hope your neighbours are deaf :p

i think both of you are very open to trying new things, in my eyes you’re both very easy at adapting to situations so i can see this also being the case in bed.

but there are a few staples that the two of you enjoy.

rin likes praise, he likes praise a lot. he didn’t know this until you praised how well he was taking you for the first time.

“you’re doing so well rin, my sweet boy is taking me so well.”

yeah that lit something in him. will whore himself out for your praise.

frankly he’s not too keen on degradation, unless it's mixed with praise. considering the fact you’re a good speaker, i cannot see this going wrong in literally any way.

“be a good slut and take me again, ok? you can handle it darling.”

“greedy bitch. you’re so tight, so perfect for me.”

you get the gist.

definitely into being restricted. blindfolds, cuffs, ropes, gags, anything that allows you to do more with him. his personal favourite is probably cuffs. being able to watch you pleasure him while he’s lying there at your disposal turns him on so much.

when he’s not tied up though, his hands are everywhere on your back. he loves it. there’s just something about it that makes him feral. obviously he paints your back red with scratch marks.

it’s like the perfect amount of possessiveness and secrecy for him that just leaves him with no other option but to scratch it up.

you both use pet names in bed. rin likes being called pretty much anything that paises him in some way: “sweet boy”, “good boy”, “angel”.

he’s definitely called you daddy a few times in bed. it started off accidentally, but god the sex was good, so he’s made it a habit of using that pet name to egg you on ;)

all in all, 10/10 sex life (i could never with my crusty ex boyfriends)

sfw honourable mention: i think i remember seeing from our old matchup that you’re an entp. WELL HE’S AN INTJ!!!! YAYAYAYA

i know nowhere near as much about mbti as you but i do know that i’ve never seen an entp x intj duo that hasn’t served cunt

anyways

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT SUO <333

it took me a hot minute with my current workload but i finally finished it!!

that being said i really enjoyed writing this once i got round to it

never really done an nsfw matchup before but god i loved this

i am a horny menace to society

[coolseabird]

What about you? Tell everything about the evil women you love!

Oooooh baby.

Lady Macbeth:

She's the template. She’s horrible truly. Has no issues with murder (until she does but mostly out of paranoia not moral issues with the act itself) and she drives Macbeth (and herself) to tragedy with her ambition. She sees herself as helping Macbeth to reach his full potential and that's she's doing it for THEM! Very nuanced character. I adore her. Girl boss 😌 I also loveeee this poster from the National Theater of Korea's production of Macbeth, this is her canon appearance to me now. Don't you want to do just a little murder for her? 🥺

Tamora (from Titus Andronicus):

She honestly is entirely justified in her desire for revenge at first. (Her son is brutally murdered and she's kidnapped by the Romans.) However, as she gains power and manipulates people and events more for her goals, her motives shift from vengeance to outright cruelty, and she becomes irredeemable. (Good for her) Also she (unintentionally) becomes a cannibal.

Edelgard von Hresvelg:

She's the villain to everyone else but she sees it as doing what is necessary. She's prepared to betray Dimitri brutally, she's the one who orchestrated an ambush on the others, and she's willing to drag countless others into her war to achieve her goal of dethroning the church. Ultimately though I'm still behind her 100%

Helga Sinclair:

She's a ruthless femme fatale, unapologetically in it for herself. I love her she never changes who she is even when she "helps" the others at the end it's just out of revenge. Also this scene changed my brain chemistry as a kid:

Brigid O'Shaughnessy:

Brigid O'Shaughnessy is the quintessential femme fatale. She lies, manipulates, and uses everyone around her, dragging the detective main guy into her dangerous schemes without remorse. She is so hot. (I love all golden age detective movie femme fatales... and she's the mascot for all of them)

Minthara:

Minthy...... my beloved. I love her more than words can express. She was an inquisitor who murdered unbelievers for TWO DIFFERENT GODS. (though one was a, uh, rather large brain borg cube thing but you know what I'm saying 🌀woooo you want to raid the grove so bad wooo🌀) She has a cut throat philosophy about life and has ZERO QUALMS about subjugating everyone else through brain parasites and conquering the world. At the same time though she loves those she cares about so deeply. She's a woman of extreme kindness and cruelty (when it's needed) and she will make you worse.

Lady Jessica:

I adore her. She raises her son to dominate others and she is totally chill with manipulating a whole people through religion to function as a weapon on her family's behalf. Not much else to say she's iconic.

Kreia:

Kreia's ultimate goal is challenging and hopefully destroying the Force itself (metal) and she will do anything to accomplish that. (murder) Beneath her objectively awful actions though, Kreia’s philosophy is good imo, it's that true freedom comes from relying on your own strength and rejecting breaking things down into black or white, good vs evil. So I wouldn't say she inherently is "evil" and she would probably laugh at anyone characterizing her as such. She's an anti-villain and you should side with her.

Olivier Armstrong:

She is an authoritarian power hungry general. She murders a man and buries him in concrete. (He deserved it though) She would 100% be a dictator if she could. I love her so much though because she has her own code of morality. She sees taking action on behalf of what you believe in as being honorable no matter what your beliefs are. If you want to not genocide people then you better damn well fight against those carrying it our rather than running away. Otherwise you're just a coward. What a queen.

Homura

What if Lucifer became the devil to save God from sacrificing himself for the sins of others? That’s Homura. (and the show isn't subtle about this haha, it's the actual metaphor) Her love for Madoka is so powerful that she’d burn the whole world to achieve her goal. She’s willing to kill, to doom humanity itself, all to protect the one she loves. Homura and Madoka are complete opposed as Homura would sacrifice everyone for Madoka, while Madoka would sacrifice herself for everyone. Selfish love vs Selfless love. Homura will happily become the villain if she has to. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MOVIE NEXT YEAR. HOW WILL IT END? I've been waiting a decade to see the conclusion.

Anyways, thank you for letting me yap about my favorite type of character <3

[theguywithaoriginalname]

Terraria has got to be the most funniest and chaotic game i have played (also spolier warning ig!!!), you start the game, make a character, create a world and then you're just plopped in there. No tutorial, nothing. You see some dude with brown (i think) hair and just press right-click, see a dialogue option labelled 'help' and think "oh! this gotta be how to go to the tutorial!" and NOPE! Think again fucker 'cause you better chop some wood and build a house because the night is dangerous (OoOoOoOh very spooky). So, you look up "Terraria Beginner Guide" (or something along the lines of that) and y'know you just get going, build houses, explore the underground, maybe built a hellevator, and you even built an arena (im so proud)! Then suddenly the text "You feel an evil Presence watching you" pops up and you know that you better get to your arena 'cause its very spooky big eyeball time (hooray).

So after you beat the very big Eye of Cthulu you get some loot, fast forward to The Wall of Flesh. This is it. The final challenge in Pre-Hardmode. The Gate to see if you have what it takes to go to Hardmode. And now, it begins. After you throw the doll of the person who pranked you out of a Tutorial into the lava below, you hear a roar, before a wall made out of flesh with two huge Eyeballs and a gaping wide Mouth comes at you. It was a great battle, with you seemingly being at equal with the giant fleshy wall. You threw everything you got at it: Bullets, Fire, Ice, even that Imp you found on the street. Ater a long Battle with many Hardships, you won. But only now....

The Fun really begins.

Oh, you thought that you could go out at night? Think again fucker, mf-ing Werewolves. You thought that Molten Armor/ Meteorite Armor was gonna protect you? Dont make me laugh. "Atleast I have my NPCs?" Wrong! You feel vibrations from deep below. Hardmode is the game's most challenging part imo, because not only is everything new, but also beefier, stronger, and more annoying to deal with. Oh, there's also a new Biome where, you guessed it! Everything kills you! It isnt as bad if you're more experienced and prepared alot of stuff, but unfortunately, most newer Players dont do that, and I've even seen some leave permanently because dying constantly wasnt fun anymore. But we dont quit, do we? No. Because our Mamas didnt raise us to be quitters! Uhh motivational quote, yadda yadda yadda etc. So. you actually persist, get better gear, and even kill a mechanical boss! So you get better weapons and gear, kill another Mechanical Boss and the last one is now dead. So you get clorophyte (No i will not look up how it's spelt and i really couldnt care less), get better-er gear and fight Plantera. This pink plant bitch is probably one of the best bosses in the game, and i am sad that it has some of the worst loot in the game imo. anyways, you unlock the temple, kill golem (Man Re-logic really need to buff this dude) get better-er-er gear and fight the lunatic cultist. Kill him, get the only drop (Man Re-logic really need to buff this dude's loot) and fight the celestial pillars. cool, you can now make weapons from SpAaAaAaaAAaace. Each of which correspond to a class (Solar=Melee, Vortex=Ranged,Nebula=Mage,Stardust=Summoner). but suddenly, the screen gets darker and more wonky, the music is gone and then,

The Moon Lord has Awoken!

Out of bloody nowhere, the final boss is here. The Final Challenge. The Wall between you and the End. After having improved so much and died so much, like, WOW those are alot of deaths, you are at the final blockade. And after a battle you will remember forever, you come out on top, victorious. You are at the top of the 2d Mountain. You have beaten everything. You have beaten

Terraria.

[brandongamesall]

Okay, I hope I can rank the rest, because I feel like the rest are in deserving of their placements! Here we go!

6. King Dice - The man himself. He is just too easy. After all the Mini Bosses (some of them BS), It's like you get to him and it's so easy... OH WAIT! But you probably only ended up with 2 lives left like I did! And then you missed one parry and dashed the wrong way and died... 20 times reaching to this point. Yeah, not a big fan of this "patience game" then make it here just to die more and more. But, over time, I started to love this phase because parrying the cards became so much easier (if you're not Ms. Chalice). Overall, now knowing how to do the maneuvers, I actually love this fight and think it's a break from the BS.

5. The Devil - Kind of ironic to put him next, but he is the best final boss in the game. This is the longest lasting boss, his first phase and third phase will ALWAYS SUCK A**. But, you can get good RNG with the first phase... The hand claps can get to you if you don't have double jump or aren't careful enough. I have always died most on the first phase or resented because of the bubbles, the spinning fire, or the hand claps. The second phase is my favorite because the parries are easy, but if you miss, run the heck away. And the last phase... you mainly need round about or chaser IMO. Though, without a doubt, the most challenging and a good one to end on.

4. Cala Maria - um... never can get mad at this one because I love the attacks all around! First phase is the most annoying, but I love dodging mechanics, the parrying, and it's easy to get a super in the first phase in like 30 seconds. Second phase has to be my favorite and the third phase is a piece of cake. Talking about cake 🫣💗 jkjk Cala Maria, she can call me at anytime though... she herself probably brought her to be up here.

3. Werner Werman - it's like taking a break from the hard bosses to go into an easy boss. After dying 500 times into the game, you finally get a boss that helps you relax and experience new attacks. I love every phase and every aspect of this boss. The only two annoying things about this is, it's hard to get supers until the end of the fight though AND the second phases bottle caps can be very bad RNG. Other than that, I enjoy this boss almost to a tee!

2. Phantom Express - BEST BOSS LAYOUT THIS WHOLE GAME! 🤚✋️ No lie, I love going from the first phase with the roundabouts, to the second phase with lobber and roundabout switch ups on each head, the maneuvers for the third phase, and make it to the front of the train to unlock the heart in the cage. Overall, it's a nice experience. Sure you die a lot, but this one is always fun to always come back to! It's not like you're panicking every single second like so many others.

1. Beppi the Clown - Only recently I've had so many issues with this boss. Without Invisible Dash, first phase is hard. Second stage can suck so much with the yellow horse and roller coaster. But nothing compares to the last phase. OH MY GOD, RIP THOSE PENGUINS TO SHREDS! But... he's the easiest of the first three on isle two. I guess I love the aesthetic of the boss and the theme, not much the later phases. Plus, it's fun to die on that level because you can scream "Beppi the B**ch". LOL!

0. Cagney Carnation - I truly love and respect this boss! The reason why this is second to last is because his fight is just... in your control. Not once in any phase (non-S Rank) did I feel it was his fault I lost any lives. Do I think it gets overwhelming? YES! But, I know it's my own mistakes that make this boss harder. Especially the last phase when you get greedy for the pink flowers... made that mistake too many times. And this was the first boss I fought that made me feel like I earned my win. Not like airplane lady who had UFOs and was being a pansy about it. Or like the frog dudes who would spawn three tiger platforms in a row. No. I earned this win through plain strategy and mechanics. This is my ultimate favorite boss gameplay wise.

-1. Which brings me to my last boss, Chef Saltbaker - I ranked this boss the ultimate boss of Cuphead for one reason... Story. This boss literally tells you a story through each phase. And the fact you can tell he's just pure evil making the strawberries cry, makes me hate him more. But, towards the end, he breaks down showing he only cares for himself in the second to last phase. And as a soul floating around towars the end of the fight, his last resort was to give a weak attack, making us realize he's giving up, and this was our moment to set everyone and everything free. It is truly one of the best masterpieces of a boss. Not to include it takes a lot of skill and precision to go through each phase. But notice how each phase kind of gets easier? That's what I think makes it more beautiful in the end. Because it wasn't until the third phase that it actually got pretty easy. Though, many people, including myself just kept dying on the first phase, rage quitting a lot just because we couldn't handle the pain of the first phase or the beginning of the second phase. But perseverance and hope kept us fighting, and realizing the third and final stage was that easy made it the most challenging, relaxing, and rewarding boss of the whole game. The End.

There's my ranking of all characters. I hope you all enjoyed my explanations for them all 💜🙂

[spinningbuster98]

Castlevania (NES) Part 2: Old school sclerosis

Is Classic Castlevania gameplay outdated?

I think that many newcomers might immediately say yes. How can it not be outdated? It controls super stiff and it’s bullshit hard!

Not to play the part of an old school elitist telling others to git gud, but those stiff controls? They’re not the product of their time, they’re intentionally made that way, they are largely the point of this gameplay

First off: this game was made in 1986, the first Super Mario Bros came out a year earlier and allowed you to control your jumps in mid air. Mega Man would come out just a year after and it also has mid air jump controls, so this can’t be a case of “old NES era limitations”. Even if it were then how would you explain the games keeping these controls well after Super Castlevania 4?

The reason the Belmonts can’t change the direction of their jumps mid air and can’t whip in more than a single direction is the same reason why Mega Man can’t aim in multiple directions or why Sonic can’t stop on a dime in the Genesis games: these are intentional limitations that work in-tandem with the level design and enemy placement in order to provide the player with a specific challenge. You can’t aim in multiple directions in Mega Man so you have to aim very carefully and make use of your other weapons. You can’t stop on a dime in Sonic because the focus is learning how to make the physics-based gameplay work to your advantage.

The reason why the jump is so stiff in these games is because the games want the players to be really precise and meticulous with their jumps, while also being very precise in regards to how you deal with enemies: you’ll notice that your whip attacks aren’t instantaneous, there’s a brief wind up before it hits which not only makes each hit have more punch imo but it also serves to test the player’s timing in a subtle way: if you just spam the attack button you’ll get inconsistent hit rates, you have to time your button presses precisely in order to execute attacks at a fast rate, following a sort of rythm. Keep in mind: this idea of purposefully delaying the player’s attack in order to force them to find a rythm of sorts is still used in games today, like Dark Souls

The Classic Castlevania gameplay is not outdated, it’s about tough as nails platforming and combat that requires precision, quick reflexes and for the player to find ways to circumvent the limited movement. Make no mistake: everything can be avoided and defeated with this control scheme. That’s not to say that if you don’t like it you’re a disgrace to the series’ name or “not a real gamer” or anything like that, I’m just saying that not every design decision of old retro games was due to an “outdated mentality”

... that said however the original Castlevania is indeed pretty janky at times by virtue of still being a mid 80s game

Sometimes the enemy placement is just straight up unfair, especially whenever stairs are involved: these are another intentional design element, with the fact that you can’t jump or off of them thus having to carefully maneouver on them while dealing with enemies...but when you’re dealing with enemies that have pretty much random patterns like those bone throwing skeletons and with the fact that sub weapons will often refuse to activate while you’re climbing some stairs since the command to activate your sub weapon requires you to hold up on the D Pad and that’s also what you do to climb them

Then there’s the bosses

I must give credit where it’s due: these guys have lots of personality for the time. NES bosses back then were usually not very special: Mario just had you throw Bowser in lava about 8 times. Zelda just had you fight random monsters before you finally reach Ganon. Castlevania actually features completely unique and memorable bosses for each stage a whole year before Mega Man and the fact that they’re all iconic horror monsters definitely helps out

But the actual quality of the fights leaves a lot to be desired: the giant Bat is a joke but ok it’s the first boss. Medusa won’t even know what hit her since she’s the only boss vulnerable to the Stop Watch

The Mummies of Stage 3 are where shit starts hitting the fan: these guys have no real pattern that I know of, they just lumber back and forth randomly and throw bandages at you making the process of dodging them almost impossible. Frankenstein’s monster is even worse: the Creature itself will just go back and forth like a moron but its little helper will start hopping all over the place at complete random and its invincible! This is where the tried and true Classicvania strategy starts shining through: when in doubt douse it with Holy Water

Holy Water, in these games especially, can be disgustingly OP, thus making it the best weapon against the bosses. However using it against them will often require you to do a no-death run of the stage since you usually only find it at the start of the stage (and for the love of God don’t accidentaly pick up another weapon in the process, ESPECIALLY the knife), which can...certainly be an experience though to be fair here: the stages of Castlevania 1 are pretty short and there’s only 6 of them in total

Also Wicked Child is my favorite track in the game, more than even Vampire Killer, come at me!

[smilesrobotlover]

phantom hourglass >:3

Ok y’all know that this is like, one of my top three fav Zelda games. I ADORE phantom hourglass. I’m gonna talk about it more in detail.

This game is incredibly flawed, but my gosh the good stuff stick out for me. The story is really good to me and very unique compared to other Zelda stories. Taking the ghost ship idea was so neat and I find Bellum a very cool villain despite not having much of a personality. Oshus is an underrated and neat character, and seems to be one of the only characters to do not ask you to defeat the evil villain cuz it’s too dangerous and he doesn’t want you to be responsible for his own problems. And Ciela and Link going to try to head to the ocean king temple despite his protests makes it feel like Link wanted to willingly do it himself is just, very unique to me. I’m not against characters asking Link to fight the battles despite being so young because he’s the main character and you want to be able to play as him so 🤷‍♀️ however having Oshus not act this way really makes me a benevolent kind man and I really like his character a lot. I think Ciela is cute at times and is the best fairy companion to me. Linebeck is my wife like do I even need to talk about him any further? I’m obsessed with this man, his theme song is amazing, his character development is amazing, and he’s just amazing.

The story to me is very cool and natural, and when you’re not in the ocean king temple, the dungeons are very fun! Phantom hourglass has some of the most unique and fun puzzles ever, and it utilizes the DS in such a creative way! The ocean king temple, imo, is more fun second time around with no guide, and the bosses are SO cool and so different from other bosses! And then the ghost ship part, man not enough people talk about that dungeon! The sisters are so obviously suspicious and evil and it’s cool going through the ship seeing terrifying reaper monsters and different traps. It’s a very unique dungeon and I wish the other dungeons were just as unique. The progression through the storyline at this part is good and after the ghost ship, the game just gets better. The temples are far more unique and creative with amazing items. I love the whole thing with the Anouki and the Yook, and having to find the imposter is challenging but so fun. The Goron Chief’s son is yet another underrated character to me and I love how you can control him in the Goron temple! And the different mini dungeons before the main one with the cobble kingdom was so cool! It’s very good that this game may have a very big temple that seems overwhelming, but it’s linear enough that as long as you move forward, you’ll be fine and be able to get to everything! And then heading to the last levels of the ocean king temple are so amazing. You have the phantom sword and you kill phantoms, the guys that you couldn’t kill before!! And the Bellum battles are so awesome with GOOD music. Any song involving Bellum is good. And y’all know my thoughts on bellumbeck, it’s truly one of the best final bosses to me. It’s so desperate and stressful to do such a thing to such a character, and it was also Bellum’s last desperate attempt to defeat Link. It’s just SOOOOO good and this game is underrated and I love it

Now it’s definitely flawed 💀💀 the world is pretty empty with boring islands before the ghost ship. The npcs on these islands aren’t super interesting and the music makes the dungeons feel too samey to me. Like, this game has GOOD songs, but the mid songs take up too much of the game where it’s kinda lame :/ and I cannot stress this enough, Tetra deserved better. She always deserved better. She has been done dirty in every game she’s been in. Always reduced to a damsel in distress, which there’s nothing wrong with those characters, but did it need to be done with Tetra’s character? It sucks the life out of her for me and I just, hate how she’s always needing to be saved. Like come ON Bellum got her TWICE. And lastly, I wish Neri and Leaf got more attention 😔 I have fun playing with three fairies bullying Linebeck.

All in all, I love this game. I really really love it

[gmaxmeltdown]

Yippee I finished the indigo disk

Indigo Disk none spoiler review and personal opinions:

Please remember these are just my personal thoughts and opinions on the game, if you disagree that’s perfectly fine and I’d love to hear your opinions in the notes, although if you’re rude or try to argue I will block you.

Final none spoiler review:

Story: 6/10, it was good I enjoyed it though it felt lacking, could’ve had more to it but overall enjoyable and fun, took itself seriously and it was pretty interesting for the most part I really do feel like there should’ve been more to it.

Region: 5/10, it was fun to explore although a bit too small in my opinion kitakami felt bigger and felt like had more diversity, it wasn’t bad though.

Characters: 8/10, I liked the characters a lot tbh I know there wasn’t exactly to much to them but I thought they actually had a lot of personality despite that, i definitely need to draw them at some point. Drayton I think was definitely a favorite although Kieran comes a close second, cringefall boy was surprisingly an enjoyable character imo.

Pokémon: 7/10, both new and returning Pokémon I felt like they were good choices and I think the old ones fit into their new models and the new ones look very nice of course some look better than others but that just goes for all of them.

Battles: 8/10, not to hard and not to easy! It really made me think especially the double battles! It was a nice change of pace from just spamming crit moves and honestly all of them were super fun, despite the fact I favor two types and usually use those exclusively (psychic and dark) I was actually able to beat the bosses pretty well with just those few and like three that weren’t either of those typings, I genuinely think these battles may have been the most fun I’ve had in any of the games.

Graphics: 6/10 basically the same graphics from the base game, could be better but I’m not exactly a graphics guy I will literally play a game with the graphics being like four pixels if the story is engaging enough.

Soundtrack: 10/10 per usual as expected from a Pokémon game, really not much more to say about that other than I will definitely have some of the songs on loop for awhile.

So do I think the DLC was worth the price after finishing both the Teal Mask and the Indigo Disk?

Yes! In my opinion it was money well spent, I enjoyed it but if you’re expecting like a 10/10 amazing story with twist and turns and super amazing writing with like the hardest competitive battles you’ve ever faced, probably not for you, if your just wanting to have fun and enjoy a nice game with a decent story and a bit of a challenge in terms of battles, you might enjoy this!

Spoiler review (also me just going on a giant rant you can get the idea from above.)

THIS RANT/REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE INDIGO DISK IF YOU ARE AVOIDING SPOILERS DO NOT READ BELOW THIS, IF YOU GET SPOILED DO NOT BLAME IT ON ME THIS IS YOUR WARNING AND CHANCE TO COME BACK LATER WHEN YOUR READY

I said this but I’m gonna go a bit deeper on it, the story was lacking. I was a little disappointed on it to be honest I really thought it was gonna lead up to one huge finale where you, Carmine, Kieran, Arven, Penny, and Nemona we’re gonna all have to team up in one final fight to save Paldea and ultimately catch the final form of Teratopagose, (excuse me if I spelled that wrong I don’t feel like googling it),

In reality it was literally just “Hey guys wanna go down DEEPER into Area Zero and catch a turtle cuz I’m hyperfixated on teralization?”

And then you go down there with Carmine and Kieran and Kieran has self esteem issues (I feel you, man) and looses his shit and then you catch a turtle. It was just such a huge build up to this all powerful thing that was sounded like it was gonna be a huge threat to just turn out like that, it was super unwhelming but o that than that it was decent and fun.

Of course there’s loads more to it than just that buuuut that more or less sums it up or at least the end part, the beginning part is just the basic “defeat the elite four and then fight the champion (except this time give him a mental breakdown:3)” which was good and fun and I have nothing more to say on it other than I enjoyed it a lot.

My major disappointment is that Penny Arven and Nemona didn’t return especially with the file leaks it really seemed like they were going to, I was really looking forward to going back to Area Zero with them to finish things only for it to just be Carmine Kieran and Briar who really needs to chill on her hyperfixation because she almost just led three children to their deaths.

Why on God’s green earth was she the only adult why did Greta and Rika decide this woman is a suitable chaperone my incineroar and honchkrow are the only reason we’re not dead.

I do think the story is a step in the right direction both for the base game and the dlc but despite my slanders I really did enjoy it and it was fun.

Anyway end of my review have this:

[qzwrites]

I was thinking about RPG protagonists and their families, and also war widows, and I thought...damn, I sure set Taryn's mom up for a depressing couple of decades. Her husband goes off to fight the Demon Lord and just never returns. Their child follows in his footsteps as soon as she's old enough.

Like, I'm sure you don't marry an adventurer without knowing this is a possibility, but...damn.

Taryn's family situation owes a lot to Dragon Quest III, and honestly, thinking about that poor woman who married Ortega and then raised Loto and then was cut off from her child by the worlds separating again...it's rough!

This is in second person because I didn't want to think of a name but also it works well imo.

*

You were pregnant but not far enough along to know it when the ground shook. Over the next week, magic storms washed over the castle town where you lived. No one was too surprised when the news finally arrived from the north that the Hell Gate had been forced open.

You had married an adventurer, knowing he would spend a great deal of time traveling. But you had married an adventurer in ordinary times, when he would still come home between quests. You didn't expect your husband to go haring off halfway around the world shortly after your child was born.

But you'd known who he was when you married him. He was not only an adventurer, he was a hero who had made a name for himself always going where he was needed. Helping people, fighting monsters, breaking curses. He would have been a different person entirely if he could have heard the news of the man who broke open the Hell Gate calling himself the Demon Lord and not set off to stop him.

Your daughter favors you physically, but there can be no doubt she is your husband's child. She takes an interest in swordsmanship and playing adventurer early, and she's so proud when she talks about her father.

You get letters, infrequently. Packages even more rarely. He sends anniversary gifts and birthday presents at first, but those taper off as he goes further afield. You don't even recognize the village the last note comes from. Your daughter asks everyone in the town, and eventually finds it in an old atlas in the castle library; it's on a continent you barely knew existed. Not the one the Hell Gate is on. Your daughter wonders why he would be there, but you know how your husband is, even if it's been years since you've seen him, and you don't wonder at all.

There is a long gap between that last note and the next you hear of your husband. In old stories, people can tell the moment their loved ones die, no matter how far apart they are, but the reality is much worse. The certainty creeps up on you as the silence drags out. There is no day where you know he is still alive followed by a day you know he is dead; there is only the gnawing sense that no news is not good news when it comes to quests of this magnitude.

You stare up at the sky instead of watching your daughter drill with the castle guards, and think about how the earth shook and those magic storms swept across the sky when the Hell Gate was opened. Even on the other side of the world, you knew something important had happened. Would killing the Demon Lord and closing the Hell Gate not have equal effects? Would your husband give up and return home when it became apparent this challenge was too much for even him?

When you receive the royal summons, you pull your mourning clothes out of storage. You don't put them on for the visit to the king, but you lay them out for your return. You hope, pointlessly, that you are wrong about this meeting with the king, but you cannot make yourself believe it.

Your daughter is old enough now that she is angry at her father for doing this to you. You try not to be comforted by the pre-pubescent indignation of your child, but being a quest widow was never as nice as being a hero's wife. Your own parents died, victims of the increased monster activity in outlying areas, and your husband's father forgot who you were, the way some old people forgot everything. You have been effectively alone for so long, having your child upset on your behalf feels like the only kind thought anyone has had for you in years.

The king tells you solemnly that the Eastern Outpost sent word west, asking if your husband was still on his way, months after he left the nearest city. Somewhere between Domla and the Eastern Outpost, your husband disappeared, like so many other travelers. The king tries to tell you your husband might still be alive, and you shake your head.

Your daughter never tells you she is going to finish what her father started, but you know it. You manage to convince her to wait until she's old enough to join the Adventurer's Guild properly, for what support that will offer on her journey. You successfully guilt the king into giving her an allowance for equipment.

Then you watch your baby girl set aside the rest of her childhood in favor of training to follow in her doomed father's footsteps.

The king feels guilty enough for suggesting your husband track down the Demon Lord to grant you an income. A widow's pension, really. It means you are comfortable, and don't have to take as many tapestry commissions anymore. It means you will have a place to live when your daughter also leaves you on the mad quest to repair the hole in the world.

When your daughter turns nineteen and sets out on her journey, you pull your mourning clothes out of storage once again. You are not going to wait until the letters stop coming this time. Even if she survives--even if she succeeds--you need to mourn the childhood she didn't get to have, because you know she will not, and she would not understand why she should.

She didn't go alone, at least. You managed to impress upon her how stupid an idea that was. Even before the Demon Lord wrenched open the Hell Gate, solo adventurers were the exception. Smart adventurers traveled in at least pairs. Your daughter left with two companions, neither of whom were local, but the Adventurer's Guild representative assured you they were in good standing with the Guild, and you have to hope these two strangers will protect your baby. Protect your baby, or at least ensure she doesn't die alone.

You open up the windows of your workroom to let in the light, and watch the sky instead of weaving your tapestries.

[a-crimson-dawn]

Merilliam May 2023 - Day 26 - Marriage Headcanons

Mereoleona was the one that proposed. William was planning on doing so himself, but insecure as he is, he feared rejection for so long, Mereoleona just got tired of waiting for the proposal and did it herself. (She expected a proposal, William didn't, so safe to say he was quite caught off guard with that one.)

Despite being a wedding between a nobleman and a woman of royal birth, the wedding was relatively small. A royal wedding might have a few thousand people invited to the church ceremony itself, but this one only really featured William's squad (which mind you has been reduced during the Spade Arc), the Vermillions and a few friends from other places on both sides. So only around 50 guests.

It takes place after the Spade Arc a) because knowing the upcoming threat makes it a bad idea to set up a wedding between the Reincarnation Arc and Spade Arc. b) At this point, relations are tense between Mereoleona and William because of the whole... elf thing... and c) before the reincarnation, neither of them even knew they liked each other. (In fact, Mereoleona was fairly neutral on William since she barely saw him before that).

Mereoleona's outfit is white, but her flower bouquet - as well as the rooms the event takes in - is full of reds. She doesn't hate white, but red's definitely a favourite of hers, so it had to feature. William's also in white with a red flower tucked into the breast pocket on his vest, and a blue bow tie. (There is no mask though, it just seemed more sincere to go without the mask for once.) Also, both outfits are agreed to be worn beyond the wedding occasion. Nothing worse than a wasteful item of clothing.

Mereoleona made sure plenty of meat was served... mostly for the sake of her side of the family (all meat lovers).

Also, they wrote their own vows. Well, actually, Mereoleona just improvised, but still. William rambled with his for so long, Mereoleona cut him off with a kiss before it was even the time for that.

Mimosa and Noelle were picked as bridesmaids for the occasion, being related to Mereoleona. They got to wear whatever they wished, which ended up being a flowery red dress for Mimosa and a flowery blue one for Noelle.

Julius filled in for the "father of the groom" role, Langris was the best man and Yuno was the ring bearer.

And speaking of the rings, those are platinum, with each other's names engraved on the inside, and engraved patterns on the outside. For practical purposes, they don't have gemstones or jutting out decorations so as to not get tangled up in anything.

Dorothy ended up being the maid of honor. Dorothy imo has the most style of the three female captains, so she helped plan the wedding.

One Mereoleona's insistence, the wedding dances are a bit faster paced than the guests might have expected, but William wasn't as easily caught off guard by the one. He was just as entertained as she was, much to the chagrin of the exhausted guests.

Somehow the wedding and it's details still manages to get out of the public, which naturally causes a bit of a stir, since this is technically a royal wedding, so...

The two lovebirds escape to Elysia to avoid attention and share the news with Patri, who has a hard time understanding the union, but accepts it anyway. Rhya's very casual about it... maybe too casual, since he tries to flirt with the newlywed woman, only for her to challenge him to a fight instead, which promptly shut him up. (And of course Elysia makes such a pretty place for a honeymoon, so why not?)

Mereoleona made sure to warn the Golden Dawn not to disrupt their honeymoon in her own way - the message went over pretty quickly without much fuss.

You can bet there wasn't a boring moment on the honeymoon for the couple either - Mereoleona's need for action kept the two on their feet... and especially William who couldn't really tell the difference some days between a day spent working and Mereoleona's idea of "honeymooning"... but was glad to spend it with her anyway. (Even though he basically face-planted against the bed on numerous occasions after their newly married adventures.) Besides, he got plenty of cuddles afterwards, so it was a win-win.

[valentinesweetheartspecial]

hii vinciie im listening to more bands lately n since i play bandori but arent too well versed in music,, do u rec any argonavis bands for me to listen to? also what r some comments on said band if u want to give em?

i generally like pop / pop rock so my taste isnt anything super special but i do like songs that r melancholic n sad!!

HELLO LAB! I’m sorry for being so late to answering this , I was fighting demons and eating my homework . I DO have many Aaside recs heheh, I have a entire Aaside playlist but it’s on apple music which I don’t think you have (? Maybe you do I can send it if so) so I will simply write a list here. I’ll put some bands and songs and a brief description of their styles!!!

For your Main Band, Standard Mobage Music, I’d recommend Argonavis! At times I like their music and at times I don’t. They actually use a large variety of instruments in their songs despite being a 5 man band, so I don’t know where they’re getting these strings and all that but I’ll suspend my belief for the tunes. Their music is like, upbeat inspirational pop rock tunes with an odd amount of strings if you pay close attention. There’s also a heavy focus on piano in their songs! Some specific songs I would recommend are Hey! Argonavis, AASIDE (only listen to the argonavis version. If you listen to the all leaders version your ears will bleed), JUNCTION, Starry Line, VOICE, and my personal favorite of all their songs, Root of Love….Root of Love is not at all like any of their usual music, it’s much more subdued and a bit more…..tender…..? Well, it’s really great anyways, so if I had to choose one of their songs to listen to forever, it would be that one. Their covers of Melissa and Kuchizuke Diamond are also really good! Imo the second one is better than the original

For METAL ROCK GRAHHHH HEAVY DRUMS HEAVY GUITAR HEAVY VOCALS GAAHHGRAHHH I HATE MY DAD music, listen to GYROAXIA! No, I do not know what their name means nor will I ever know. Their music is extremely heavy on the guitar and drums, it’s fast paced, Nayuta is screaming mid song, sometimes he’s rapping, it’s a good time. Occasionally, Ryo is forced to look God in the eyes as he’s forced to play the synth and the bass at the exact same time, and despite the challenge, it always sounds good. Couldn’t they just have one of the guitarists do that? Guess not. Anyways, some of my favorites of their songs are MANIFESTO, SCATTER, BREAK IT DOWN, GET MYSELF, EGOIST, GETTING HIGH, and WORLD IS MINE. And, yes— all of those titles are officially in all caps, and in English. I also really like their cover of Kyoran Hey Kids!!, it’s pretty cool. I kind of hyped them up too much but if you listen I hope you enjoy

I was hesitant to add Fantôme Iris since you said you like more pop rock BUT they do have some melancholy bangers. Their music is vkei! They have a lot of strings in their songs , but in a more…goth way than argonavis. Felix’s va, Arthur Conant Lounsberry, is seriously amazing and I love everything he’s done, in and out of AAside. Yeah I….I don’t know how else to describe their music other than It is Vkei. They also have two guitarists, and sometimes one of them plays the piano. So…here’s some songs: Gin no Yuri, Hitsugi no Naka no C’est la vie, XX in Wonderland, Rhapsodia, and historie. I think rhapsodia is a masterpiece. Also , based on what you’ve told me I think you’d like historie most out of all of these? If you’d wanna hear some of their covers, I recommend 1/3 no Junjou na Kanojo. Um. And only that one. I’ve only listened to the one cover it’s really good I promise.

Next up is HAPPY FUN TIMES MUSIC: Fujin RIZING! They have only had one sad song so far, there’s some crazy lore behind that one….Fujin Rizing is apparently Ska, but I’m a fucking loser and I don’t know what that is or if Fujin Rizing really is Ska. So don’t take my word for that one. What I CAN say is that they have trombone and saxophone in their songs! The focus of the band is to have fun, and that’s exactly what their songs do tbh. You just need to listen to it I like their stuff a lot actually. Some favorites: Banzai RIZING!!!, SWORD!, Run Gun Run, Furareta Otoko No Love Letter, and Jokyou Jokyou Ittekimasu! They also have a cover of HOT LIMIT that goes so unbelievably hard.

Lastly. Epsilon! They are the electronic group yay.….they have the largest amount of songs per band in the playlist, so very sorry if this song list gets long. I was a super big fan of their music even before I got obsessed with Shu so….Yeah….Their music is the darkest out of all the bands, Shu is a emo little fuck and makes sure everyone knows it. They’re the only consistently dual vocal band pre-Kimisute, which is super cool, I love how Shu and Haruka’s voices sound together…Uh, not much else to say honestly , Stream epsilon phi 👍👍👍👍👍 So here’s some songs so you can do that. (Clears throat), Hikari No Akuma, Cynicaltic Fakestar, End of Reason, Play with You, Sake it LOVE!, YUMENOATO, re:play, and finally The song thag gives me diseases: Orthros. They also have a Shu Self Realization song, Raison d’etre. I also wanted to say, Haruka has two solos that are honestly some of my favorite all time AAside songs: Egoistic Sai Phi and Heroic. They both do a really lovely job of capturing Haruka’s most important points as a character….Kanata also canonically wrote a song for epsilon Um. It’s trash. It’s called I’m picking glory, it’s really bad, if you want to listen to a really terrible song listen to that one. Some really good epsilon covers are Enigmatic Feeling, Roki and WATASHIGA MOTENAINOWA DOU KANGAETEMO OMAERAGA WARUI 🫡🫡. Epsilon also has a YouTube channel where they did some vocaloid covers, most of them are bad, but you should check them out anyways. I’m picking glory is on that channel

ONCE AGAIN DEAREST LAB I AM SORRY THIS TOOK ME 40 MILLION YEARS. I do hope you check these songs out and let me know what you think……Love you..!!!!!🫶🫶🫶❤️❤️❤️❤️

[heliotism]

DARK CHOCO COOKIE GENERAL YANDERE HEADCANNONS.

requested by: @t4m0raluvsme !! ty for requesting !!

reader is gender-neutral!!

tbh imo, for dark choco cookie to fall in love w you, he'd have to trust you like. a lot

my man went through some shit and needs therapy okay

when you first interact with him, dark choco cookie is cold and distant. don't forget about his terribly low self-esteem!! he thinks he simply doesn't deserve the friendship you're offering him.

however!! with each attempt to befriend him, he'll slowly start to trust you. and after a while, he falls in love with you.

your smiles, your determination, your... your everything! it's so charming to him, and he loves it so much.

for the first time in ages, dark choco cookie felt genuinely happy with another cookie. it's a feeling he never got to experience again after everything that happened to him, and he'll do his best to keep it with him, forever.

dark choco will be completely enamored with you, and since you're low-key the only person he trusts, the only person he wants to be with forever, you're definitely not gonna leave his side for a lil' while!!

you can't leave him. it's not a challenge or whatever, you just can't leave him. dark choco will, just like hollyberry, follow you around! either that or he'll just drag you with him.

which is why dark choco cookie doesn't stalk you. after all, you're almost always together!!!!

if he's in a good mood and you ask him nicely, you might get to go on his shoulders!!

dark choco cookie doesn't like it when you're talking to any cookie that isn't him. he feels as if you will leave him forever.

if you're not a cookie of darkness [meaning you live in the cookie kingdom], fighting against you will be the most painful thing ever. he hates hurting you, but dark enchantress cookie's influence on him is too powerful,,,

for the moment.

his love for you quickly becomes stronger than dark enchantress, and ultimately, he leaves her side to join you guys.

everybody's kinda surprised when they see this really tall, really dark-looking cookie just appearing in the kingdom

and everybody's even more surprised when they see you and dark choco hanging out together almost all of the time.

they're just “??????? why is that emo dude hanging out with [y/n]????”

would dark choco cookie kill for you? definitely.

this world is worthless,, you're the only thing that truly matters. he trusts no one but you, therefore he wouldn't feel remorseful after killing a cookie that was bothering him.

kidnapping??? kidnapping yes.

it doesn't matter if you also have feelings for him or not— at some point, if he feels like it'd be unsafe to stay in the cookie kingdom, he'd run away with you, whether you like it or not.

perhaps he'll go hide in the cookies of darkness' headquarters, begging dark enchantress to let you stay here.

or maybe he'll go back to the decrepit ruins of what once was the dark cacao kingdom, in the old castle that once truly felt like his home.

overall, dark choco cookie is very dangerous. you'll never leave him, and he won't hesitate to hurt anyone that would try to take you away. he doesn't care about anyone else; so long you're here, it's okay.

aaaaaaa we are done finally!!!!! man this was pretty hard to write but also p fun </3 i hope you liked those hcs!!!

want to request? click here before requesting please!

[bthump]

I was wondering if you could help me understand this scene where the king tortures Griffith in volume 9. I really don't want to draw a parallel between Griffith and Guts and incest. But is there a parallel here? Do you think Griffith by asking "don't you want her to have you?" is implying that he understands the king? if so, in what way? He then tells him "how worthless…" and pages later he is talking to himself saying "this is worthless". What does this scene imply? Does this have to do with Guts?

btw I love your blog :)

Thank you!

I actually have a pretty thorough interpretation of this near the end of this post, but since it's long and also the third part of a 4 part essay lol I'll give you a shorter version of my interpretation here too.

So basically I do think Griffith is comparing himself to the King and his incestuous feelings, but I think that parallel exists only in Griffith's own self-loathing mind, not as an objective statement from the narrative.

Guts has just left, which, to Griffith, feels like a very personal rejection - he trusted Guts to see the real him underneath the image he projects to others, and, to Griffith, Guts left him because of it. Griffith also tried and failed to keep Guts at his side through force, with the second duel, and then Griffith functionally threw his dream away over Guts by sleeping with Charlotte in a fit of despair and getting caught.

So what Griffith calls the King out on in the dungeon also applies to himself.

He calls the King a lonely miserable man with no reason to live beyond his daughter, derisively pointing out that he has the power of the throne but has failed to harness it for anything - “How worthless.” And that applies perfectly to himself - he threw his chance at the throne away because of Guts, because ultimately Guts, rather than his dream, is what Griffith has found himself living for, and he - wrongly - considers that to be pathetic. (I would love to be able to link you to a short explanation for that assertion lol but it’s basically the thesis statement of my 18k monster up there.)

And when it comes to the King's fucked up feelings for Charlotte, the parallel is with Griffith's falsely negative perception of his relationship with Guts, imo.

It's very easy to apply Griffith's "wouldn't you rather she have you?" line onto his attempt to force Guts to stay with him through a duel. The concept Griffith’s getting at there is the difference between forcing someone to be with you vs that person actively choosing you, as is thoroughly demonstrated when the King tries to rape Charlotte, then abandons the attempt and flees when she fights (rejects) him. And I think it makes a lot of sense for Griffith to feel a ton of self-loathing for the second duel, because he sees it as Guts rejecting him, and he sees his own attempt to keep him at his side by force as more of the “cruelty” that drove Guts away in the first place, in his incorrect opinion.

We know that Guts admired Griffith, that he actually left because he wanted to be better friends with him, and that he was actually reassured by Griffith’s challenge, because it meant that he was still important to him. But from Griffith’s perspective he tried to force Guts to stay by his side to prevent him from rejecting him and failed, and that false perception is paralleled in the King’s attempt to rape Charlotte. And yeah the parallel is made pretty clear through the repetition of “worthless,” as what Griffith calls the King and what he calls himself.

Idk how much sense this makes lol, it’s kind of hard to discuss without a thorough explanation of my take on Griffith and the story overall to accompany it, but yeah, basically I think there is a deliberate parallel there between Griffith and the King, but it’s not a commentary on Griffith’s feelings for Guts, but rather on Griffith’s biased, negative perception of those feelings.

It’s good that Griffith came to rely on Guts more than his dream as something to live for, to derive a sense of worth from, but Griffith doesn’t see it that way. He sees it as a betrayal of his ideals, and the fact that he threw the dream away over Guts, because he cared too much about Guts, makes him feel worthless. And then add some guilt for trying to demand that Guts stay with him, and you have a pretty thorough parallel that illustrates Griffith’s self-loathing quite well.

Thanks for asking! lmk if you have any follow up questions since yeah I’m not sure this is super coherent lol.