#not that I have issue with the jp voice it's just interesting to think about o'course ^^

[mewkwota]

They are not in-frame but I hope you are ready to catch those hands.

So I was observing Juno's 1st phase battle for the 69,000th time and noticed he does make a few interesting movements with his arms, and I'm upset that I ran out of room in my current page to draw it out. Well maybe I'll give it a try in some of the tiny corners but until then, this was the only decent shot I managed for the day.

[aotopmha]

One thing that really hasn't changed about the Sonic fandom in the years I've been away from it is the very specific obsession with the most miniscule details.

It used to be the green eyes, now it's Amy being slightly less of a token obsessive love interest or there being a sniff of a continuity/references to previous games in the story.

(I mean, it also used to be voice acting and model wars, and those are actually still alive, so the more things change, the more things also stay the same.)

But that's literally all Amy was by Sonic 06, down to one of her abilities being able to turn invisible to stalk Sonic better and it's so crazy to me how people actually defend that as "having more personality" these days when all Frontiers and Generations did was tone it down just a little bit (which is actually in line with her arc in the original Sonic Adventure).

I think Heroes might've actually been the worst of it, but I think Amy definitely deserves to have more to her character than just her crush on Sonic.

The only bit of that criticism I think is understandable here is her "losing her spunky attitude", but I don't see it with the minor changes with her in Generations in particular. And Frontiers is kind of a more somber story to begin with.

These small changes are always framed as this egregious misstep when it's really something like the character having a mildly less extreme reaction or a reference to a different relevant element to what people want.

The Time Stones are pretty relevent to bring up in a game about time travel considering getting all of them was what lead to the bad/good future at the end of CD, for example.

And Sonic and Tails vaguely alluding instead of referencing locations really doesn't make a difference to me. This is just basic continuity stuff every story does to me.

I think a few ended up strange, like the silly implications of how dialog worked out in that scene with Sonic and Knuckles, but it's just strange instead of deeply offensive to me.

And the outrage I've seen about these details is just so funny to me.

Especially since Generations itself is a nostalgia game to begin with and is the time to make references.

(All of this said, apparently the jp version is pretty much the same outside of some of the added Modern Sonic dialog, so ultimately it's inconsequential as far as true substance goes?

Generations has a really simple story to begin with, so these don't do much to ruin anything, either.

I do understand the game preservation aspect of these changes, though. They definitely should've kept the old cutscenes as a toggle or option to still look at; remasters should include the game in its original form for the sake of preservation.)

As far as criticism of that aspect goes, to bring a different example, I think I really liked the cutscene with Sonic in the Shadow portion of Generations because it clearly was in good fun with the characters taking a jab at each other about those events that happened, in other words, true continuity.

A bunch of moments in Frontiers really felt like stilted "remember this" moments, rather than just a story with these characters and I think this is what some truly take issue with, rather than "the references" themselves.

People just want a fully new story with these characters.

I think this is also why Shadow's portion has a more positive response. It's just continuing his story.

And in my case, actually retroactively somehow making me care about his character after Sonic Adventure 2.

I think the main thing is that I just did not buy any of the turns his story took after Adventure 2.

The clone stuff in Heroes was alright enough, but not enough for me to think he was fine to be brought back.

And Shadow (05) was just a mess with a character conclusion I found zero satisfaction in because just "forgetting" everything you clearly cared for is just as bad as obsessing over it.

Looking into the Shadow The Hedgehog game just to refresh my memory has been a wild journey because while the forced, immature elements are mostly the localisation as I've always known, the story still is the same mess otherwise.

And Shadow Generations somehow, miraculously put all of that insanity together into a simple, but heartfelt package that somehow didn't end up too tryhard and made sense emotionally.

You have to work through trauma to truly move on from it. You can't just say you move on and have it be the end of it, just not how it works in my eyes, unless you want the characters to feel completely alien, which I think Shadow is intended to be the complete opposite of.

I think the fact that Maria remembered stuff from her time on Earth is an issue for some people (and an apparent inconsistency with the animation), but I think there are advantages to both: if she doesn't remember/know anything about Earth, it's a big additional tragedy added to her character of never being able to see a world she grew to love through all she learned about it.

If she does remember good times on Earth, it, in turn, makes more sense why she would love it so much and want everyone on it to be happy. If she has seen the beauty of it and wishes to go back and never can, it is a tragedy all the same.

In my eyes, neither of these really take away or add to her character nor Shadow's because their bond exists regardless of whether she knew what Earth was like for herself or not.

This game actually also made me care about Maria as a character, in fact, I'd posit she became a character because even Shadow's own game didn't really go into what her illness felt like or what her general life was like on the ARK or how she felt about everyone around her.

But to loop back to my point of people liking it, it's just really nice to have a complete, substantial story again.

I don't need it, and I especially like my Sonic stories more cheesy and silly, but if you're going to do a serious story, do it this way.

Be straight to the point and sincere and add some silly elements to not go too far in the indulgently tedious hyper-drama direction.

Revisiting this crazy and wierd, but fun series has been a lot more fun than I ever thought it would be, even if I think this fandom is one I'll probably mostly keep my distance from.

All bigger ones have their issues, but the bad parts of the Sonic fandom are just not anything I even want remotely anything to do with or tolerate.

I'll watch some more of those massive video essays, though.

[yuurei20]

I had been wondering about this since the friend thing was brought up, but Idia says “not all of these people are our friends,” which suggests that he considers at least some or one of the people present to be a friend. Since he follows it up by stating that, “Ramshackle dorm isn’t the prefect’s house,” in response to Ortho declaring they’ve visited a ‘friend’s house’—add in the whole yobiste moment with the prefect in the Glorious Masquerade, which occurs after Book 6–could it be that Idia actually considers the prefect to be a friend?

I could be wrong about these two moments on the EN server, since I don’t think he really uses the word ‘friend’ in the Ceremonial Robes quote and even on EN I can’t be certain about whether or not he’s solely referring to Grim when the Ramshackle duo or added to the Glorious Masquerade trip and he says “AND valuable emotional support,” or if he even mentioned it in JP. But they seem to lend credence to the idea that Idia considers the prefect a friend or at least more than an acquaintance.

Hello hello!! Thank you so much for this question! 

This is a very good point!! When Ortho points out that they have "traveled to the residence of an acquaintance" Idia responds, "not all of these people are our friends," and one interpretation could be that there is at least one person who counts as a friend present at the time! 👀 (another interpretation may be, "It's not like we're all friends.")

(While Ortho does say "we've experienced hanging out at a friend's house" at first, he then corrects himself to call the prefect "an acquaintance." Referring to other students as Idia's friends despite Idia's and/or others' protests is something Ortho has done before!)

Idia himself says that he has no friends at NRC, but the characters having a less-than-accurate understanding of their own interpersonal relationships is a running theme! (Re: Idia and Azul)

As you say, one of the rare interactions between Idia and the prefect involved Idia not using an honorific during Glorious Masquerade, but this was revealed to be a proof-reading error:

The re-release of Glorious Masquerade in 2023 added "-shi" to Idia's dialogue when he is speaking with the prefect ^^ (This was actually on my posting schedule to share today! You have amazing timing!)

You are also very right about Idia's ceremonial robe's voice line! He does not use the word "friend," but he does say that he trusts the prefect as a fellow introvert!

While looking for the best way to describe the word Idia actually uses (仲間) I found an interesting explanation on the One Piece wikipedia!

(It reminded me of these screenshots from the American drama Firefly!)

The person explains, "The word simply means '(part of a) group' you use it to refer to members a group or members of a group of friends just as you would also refer to your coworkers as your 'nakama' in Japanese, even the ones you hate, because they're part of the same group as you," and I agree ^^ (EN translating the word 仲間 as "friend" is not unusual!)

Concerning Idia's comment early in Glorious Masquerade, I think you are right again and he might have been commenting on the emotional support that Grim provides as a cat!*

*We do not yet know whether or not Grim is technically a cat 👀

Overall I am not sure that we have seen enough of Idia and the prefect interacting on-screen together to be able to say that they are objectively, officially and canonically more than acquaintances, and this is likely by design: the game seems to be going to great lengths to leave as much up to interpretation as possible so that it as many different people as possible can enjoy it.

That said, up until now the pattern has largely been "the prefect teams up with the main character of the previous story in order to solve the issue of the current story," re: teaming up with Riddle in Book 2, Leona in Book 3, Azul in Book 4, Jamil (and others) in Book 5 and Vil in Book 6, so it is possible that we may see more of Idia and the prefect moving forward!

And there is of course no harm in someone going in the direction of "maybe the prefect and Idia are friends" for something like fanfic purposes, for example, if they so wish ^^ It is all a part of the fun! But I might not call it canon just yet :>

[spanish-snake]

I just wrote up this little drabble for Chun-Li's birthday, so enjoy.

Chun-Li was able to finally rest after handling all of the Interpol paperwork. Even though Shadaloo was no more, there was still many pressing issues concerning the incident in Nayshall, especially with clearing the name of Ken Masters. Chun-Li was determined to help him out as much as she possibly could, as it was hard to contact him since he went into hiding. She knew that she was far from being done - she had to continue her investigation, and to find out the intentions of man only known as JP, or Johann Petrovich, or whatever other alias with those initials he used. Chun-Li emitted a heavy sigh as she put away the massive pile of paperwork into the neatly sorted folders on her desk.

And to think she had to do all of this on her birthday, of all days. She would've preferred to spend more time with Li-Fen, but duty called. Just about she was able to exit her office, she felt something move around. Chun-Li immediately knew who it was...

No, she thought to herself with a wave of dread washing over her. It couldn't be -

"Buenas noches, dearest Chun-Li." the familiar voice spoke into her ear, evoking disgust even though it was muffled. She turned around to see that Vega was perched by the windowsill.

"Vega!" she exclaimed as she readied herself into her fighting stance. "How did you get in here?!"

The masked matador chuckled as he got up from the window and began to circle her. Upon closer inspection, Chun-Li could see that there was blood on his claws. That, and the nauseating, coppery smell were enough to tell the story.

"Is that a way to greet an old friend?" he mocked as he eyed her, relishing in her reaction. The madness in his gleaming blue eyes was enough to make Chun-Li shudder - no matter how many times she dealt with the man, he always found a way to get under her skin.

"That's not the point!"

"Oh dear, dear me," Vega chuckled as he grabbed her from behind, pressing his deadly claws against her neck. "You must be quite stressed, my dear. You know all too well that stress ages you faster."

"What do you want, Vega?!"

But that only caused him to laugh darkly.

"Ah, ah, ah. You should realize that I came all the way here just for your birthday."

Chun-Li was able to throw the matador off with all her might, which caught him off-guard. However, he was able to gracefully land on his feet, and the madness in his eyes refused to waver.

"Ah, so you still have not lost that fiery willpower about you," the matador complimented, even though the tone in his voice became much more venomous.

"Such beauty, such power, and such grace...there is much to admire about you."

"Kikoken!" Chun-Li shouted as she shot a wave of energy at Vega. He promptly dodge the blast, which hit one of the walls. As he bounced off one of the walls, he leaped at her with his claws. Chun-Li quickly got out of the way, but not before having her shoulder slashed by one the blades.

She proceeded to aim a kick at his face, which she knew all too well to be his weak point. However, Vega blocked the kick with his bare hand, and proceeded to slash her across the chest. Blood oozed from the wounds as one of her nipples poked out from her ruined top.

"You're quite feisty today, aren't you?" Vega said, still amused by her stubbornness. "You've done quite well today, even after all this time."

Chun-Li was not going to have any more of Vega's bullshit, as she quickly recovered.

"However, I do have a gift for you."

Just about Chun-Li was ready to strike him, he quickly grabbed her and pinned her against the wall. Even though she squirmed, Vega was satisfied, now having this window of opportunity. He quickly removed his mask, allowing him to press his lips against hers.

Still as sweet as ever...

With enough force, Chun-Li was able to push him off. She could hear footsteps, and that caused Vega to lose interest. His little bit of "fun" was ruined, thanks to this interference. "This is where I bid you adieu, my dearest Chun-Li." Vega said as he donned his ominous white mask once more.

"Get back here!" Chun-Li shouted, but he quickly leaped out the window before she could do anything else. She quickly wiped her lips - she could still feel the vile aftertaste since he forced that kiss on her. She will hunt him down once more.

[babyilluwu]

I've been thinking deeply about whether or not Hisoka is supposed to be sexy. And after obsessively skipping through the first few arcs of the manga (and also keeping in mind his most recent appearances) I conclude that he was always both hot and a repulsive weirdo.

Hisoka is this odd brand of person who's like very vain and very careful with his appearance/presentation, but in a way that specifically caters to his own preferences and not others'. And he DOES have a sexual energy, but in a way that nearly always comes across as predatory. For instance, in the current arc, I will argue that he was totally flirty with Hinrigh but in a way that's meant to intimidate and test him (also testing in the sense of measuring if he's a worthy toy, and he's sexually excited by the possibility of playing with and destroying those). The sexual tension of whispering words into your enemy's ear during a fight is also SO blatant and that's been there since the Hunter exam!!!

He is soooo careful at applying makeup and doing his hair and all that stuff in a way that both makes him look like a literal clown (not conventionally appealing) and sort of perfect (as in invincible, flawless skin, no scars, no sign of defeat).

I'd say he probably has intimacy issues as he does not let anyone come really close to him and he seems to have a really unhealthy relationship with sex as well as he gets boners from killing lmao.

It's very easy to imagine him not having sex, but rather just committing violence in order to achieve orgasms. He could very well be ace and only interested in that sort of 'sexual' encounter. But it's not totally impossible that he'd have sex either.

And all of that is to say I approve of the jp voice acting and characterization in the 2011 anime. But I'd rather get on the specifics of adaptations and voice acting in a whole new post.

For now have him working those heels in bad bitch pose on heaven's arena

[communist-ojou-sama]

Since I’ve had a few drinks in me and I’m feeling a little talkative, I feel like I’ve finally arrived at an opinion on AI art after a long period of not saying anything.

 Ofc, necessary context is that while I’m someone who spends a lot of time looking at fanart, I’m not a visual artist but also as someone really involved in another fine art (classical music) I think I understand the feelings that go into developing the technique a lot of illustrators have more than some of the other commentators on this site.

Of course the thing to get at right away is that, good news for everyone, most AI art done in the style of popular online illustration is quite bad and I’m not sure it’ll be possible to cajole it into being good, just as I’m not really very worried about LLM translations as a jp-en translator because, having done some work with them I’ve concluded that they’ll never be particularly capable of translating the kind of conversational Japanese I specialize in, and that perhaps the fears of AI art greatly disrupting the sort of twitter/patreon illustration ecosystem were pretty overblown, but that there’s more to the issue than that.

Anyway what I’m getting at here is that while obviously, the moral character of AI art doesn’t matter: it’s here to stay and we’re gonna have to deal with it one way or another, to bemoan backlash from visual artists and accuse them, essentially, of close-mindedness is just as silly as the most extreme anti-AI art positions that I’ve seen given voice.

 I often hear from people trying to give a reasonable perspective on the matter that the vitriol from more traditional illustrators toward these programs is unfounded because all it does is take in images as training data, recombine them via a certain process, and then produce something new based on that data and, when abstracted like that, isn’t that really just what a human learning to draw looks like?

Well, this is the problem with abstraction, isn’t it? “a certain process” here is a phrase doing a very heavy amount of work, equating matrix multiplication with years of admiring, yearning, frustration, breakthrough, sacrifice, self-discovery, that is abstracted away by pretensions toward “reasonability.”

However rational it may be, the vitriol from the community of illustrators who put their blood, sweat, and tears into being able to make art that’s pleasant to look at is better understood as an elemental force, an inevitable result of attempts by these financialized, extractive tech interests to use them as a mineable resource, and I don’t think you have the right to try to get an word in edge-wise about the “rationality” of replacing copy-writers with ChatGPT which does their job 20% shittier, repeated exponentially over some heretofore-unseen period: the anger is here and won’t be reasoned away, it’s the inevitable and unavoidable response to our social and historical moment, and presuming to reason with it is much like presuming to reason with a geyser imo

[daydream-comet]

OH YEAH :3 i'm curious. what are your favorite parts of v-force/2002? i'm personally big on the digital sacred beasts (or atleast, that plotline from yuya onward, the first 15 eps of the season are kind of a blur to me) and.. ok i can't say zeo's plotline was pulled off Well but i love zeo as a character they are SO fascinating to me.

Well my favorite plotline from the season itself would be Zeo's one, while if we're talking about vforce as a whole then the movie's. The movie had a interesting plotline, and revealed a lot of info about the sacred beasts as well, though not everything was fully disclosed, it seemed they were heading somewhere with it but with grev sorta diminishing the presence of the sacred beasts I think it was dropped. Oh, and the cave scene. I....have a lot of talk about that one, I'm a bit too crazy and delusional about that particular scene to the point it'll need a separate post if its own (if I ever overcome my social anxiety and copy paste everything here)

Zeo is definitely one of my favorite characters in vforce (its the hair that started it I swear I want his hairstyle so bad) and surprisingly he was like one of the things I vividly remembered from my childhood when I was rewatching the series (now that I think about it, my fuzzy memories of beyblade as a child were mostly 60% vforce, 30% season 1 and 10% grev. Mainly because i think i missed a lot of grev as a child when it was airing and mostly caught onto the other two seasons). And yea while i do think if like the writers would've been given more time Zeo's arc along with the other arcs wouldn't have been so rushed, but still i think they did a good enough job, because I was definitely hooked during the final arc. Zeo is also an interesting character to analyse, like he was like first character to give the team a sense of normalcy because throughout the entire season everyone they had met was out for their asses and they couldn't catch a break nor could they have a normal beybattle like they used to without significant consequences. Also wished we got more of Zeo's existential crisis, how it affected and changed him and how he recovers from it and accepts himself (we see in that slideshow final ending in grev with Zeo looking through the window holding a violin. So it seems he found comfort in his hobby). Also that Zeo finding out about his true identity also helped him grow and mature in a sense (a person can't grow up without having to endure hardships, can they?). Like when we see him later on he's stronger and smarter.

Like here Zeo knew exactly what to say to get under Takao's skin (and Takao's emotional attachment to Zeo amplified the impact, along with Takao still trying to grasp as to why Zeo is doing this) and that Zeo is right here in a sense. They didnt interfere due to multiple justified reasons (they wanted to, but couldn't. And even if they did, not much would've changed), but it didn't change the fact that they didn't do anything, and Zeo just rubs some salt on the fresh wound. And in the jp voice acting, while it was faint, Zeo kind of sounded sad when saying "no one will come to help you". If we think about the situation Zeo is in, its....true. no one really can help Zeo even if they wanted to, all they could do was offer words of consolation and comfort. And Zeo was doing all this for self preservation (and I guess daddy issues, Dr. Zagart is....incredibly questionable), but deep down i guess he knew that there really wasn't much he could do to become human, become the 'real' Zeo who died long ago. He just didn't wanted to live his life as a phony, it was all just an act of desperation (just look at him breaking his arm and still going on, isn't that a good example?). And like at the finale while Takao does offer closure to Zeo, the fact remains the same that Zeo can't become someone else and must learn to accept who he is, which he slowly starts to embark on (and if Takao, or anyone really, would've said that earlier it wouldn't have had the same impact, Zeo needed to find his way on his own terms)

And as to the impact Zeo had with his words on Takao, he's literally repeating Zeo's words here and musing over the complicated and conflicting scenario for the majority of the episode while everyone is rightfully shocked to see it coming out of his mouth, not really aware of that little exchange he had with Zeo previously.

All in all I love Zeo, I love the small moments where vforce really gets to shine, I just wished they got more time to expand and explore the entire storyline they were working upon into like two seasons instead of dumping it all into one season. I am, uh, understandably kinda crazy over this show and won't stop overanalysing it. This post is pretty much word vomit and probably doesn't make much sense. Uh. Bye.

[kyogre-blue]

OK, onto SS choice and the timeskip!

Due to when they let you save, I've actually played into the very start of the war phase, so I'll just say it here. I was kind of disappointed by how limp-wristed the whole Edelgard situation is? I expected some more "join me and we shall rule Fodlan" kind of thing, but Edelgard is very neutral and almost disinterested about it. Oh, you're not joining her? Oh well.

The Byleth relationship with Claude is rather detached because he has so little stakes in Fodlan and keeps hiding his actual background and motives for so long, but like the tradeoff is that they have no actual beef or conflict and just cooperate well. I kind of thought Edelgard would be more emotionally charged in some way and she... isn't really? Post timeskip, they go through the motions of starting a sword fight, but then just kinda... stop and... part ways... Not sure if Edelgard's rather under-played delivery is part of the issue. I'm not saying her voice actress is bad, but she doesn't really sell the character imo.

Anyway, I am as ever unimpressed by Edelgard.

Live blogging notes:

Edelgard going to Enbarr to be crowned is a secret.

Man, her dad looks very ill. The implication of her dialogue is that it's because of the "burden of the throne" but eeeeeh

Normally, the archbishop should act as a witness to the ceremony, though iirc the original JP script just had "bishop"...?

"By the covenant between the red blood and the white sword"

Man... Both Hubert in their support and Ionius IX here frame it as Edelgard being "stolen away to the Kingdom" but like, no, her mom took her there? And from what I understand, Edelgard was perfectly fine there. The real issue was when Thales posing as Arundel brought her back. But it seems that Edelgard doesn't actually remember that stuff, so are they purposefully lying to her?

It seems like Ionius IX saw his children experimented on. Edelgard mentions seeing him clench his fists until they bled.

Edelgard's first act: putting Duke Aegir in his place and basically imprisoning him in the palace (?)

Ionius IX and Edelgard both keep referring to how the fate of Fodlan is in her hands now, which is kind of lol given that she's technically only taking over one of three countries in Fodlan.

Oh, interesting. In GD (and I believe BL), you fight the Flame Emperor in the Tomb and then break their mask, revealing Edelgard. But here, Edelgard walks in as herself from the beginning and willingly reveals her identity.

Her wehehe evil henchguy states clearly that they're here to take the Crest Stones, and also the bones. Oh boy!

It's interesting that Edelgard can't just order her classmates to stand down. She's their Emperor, so by disobeying her, they're functionally all traitors. In general, I'm surprised we do battle with her initially and only choose whether to side with her after being ordered to kill her directly.

Despite what I kind of expected, Edelgard never really tries to recruit you and isn't at all surprised that you stand against her. Ngl, I expected a "join me and we can rule the galaxy together" pitch. Kinda disappointed...

Yeah, all the BE kids are like "so what if she's the Emperor, we're just gonna do our own thing" but without actually confronting what they're doing. (Update: Hubert at least obliquely threatens Ferdinand if you attack him, with "you have people you care about in the empire, right? think about what'll happen to them if you stand with the Church")

Edelgard's big speech is like "Church wants to rule Fodlan!" and "Church split up the empire to make kingdom and alliance, all to set us against each other" which, I cannot emphasize enough, doesn't really come across as an issue when there's no major history of conflict between the nations. The only actual post-independence conflict was the Hrym-Ordelia business which barely gets mentioned and is also the Empire's own fault... The gold and extravagance thing is just nonsense too.

Oh, lmao. Seteth says that Edelgard "demanded her own father relinquish the throne" but like... I was at her coronation. They either got lazy copy-pasting dialogue from other routes or assumed you'd totes side with her if you saw that scene.

The tone Rhea and Seteth take in regard to the "progenitor god" is a bit weird because Rhea in particular fluctuates between clearly considering Sothis her mother and her loss as a very personal one, and speaking of Sothis as her goddess and a much more detached authority figure.

Ferdinand says that half of the six big noble families declared support for Edelgard. Hubert's dad was assassinated, Bernie's dad is under house arrest and his wife is siding with Edelgard in his stead, and Ferdie's dad his been stripped of his PM position, his rank, and his lands.

Huh, a bunch of the church units auto-recruited.

You can recruit Hilda here, though I don't have enough of... probably axe ranks.

Dimitri has mysteriously come to the conclusion that Edelgard is responsible for Duscur. The month before, his explore dialogue was about how he hasn't been sleeping.

Anyway, time to kill off some children. I want no one coming to the promise day.

It is unexpectedly hard. Normal mode is so easy you have to be trying to lose on purpose, and even then it's hard to do.

The battle starts with the enemy already within the walls (Outer Wall on the map location). The Church is holding out for reinforcements that come in through the left and right entrances, but they are first taken by Imperial forces (Death Knight on the left, Hubert on the right), which have to be cleared out.

There are "Onagers" (basically catapults) that archers can use to fire in the town and "Fire Orbs" that mages can use next to the monastery inner walls.

There are two Winged Demonic Beasts with the Imperial forces. They have creepy masks and hold "Pointy Art(ificial) Crest Stones" which are "artificial Crest Stones with a distorted shape, produced in the Empire." They have enormous wings that are even a barrier ability (lol) and are noted as being very swift.

Rhea's class is Archbishop, she's using the Sword of Seiros (which is also mentioned in the class description lol) and Seiros Shield (interesting point: halves monster damage). She's got A in sword, reason, faith, and leadership, B in fists, but nothing in axes or bows, and only a D in lances. Her abilities include Sacred Power (gives boost to allies and lowers damage taken) and Charm. Walking buff point, I see.

After we repel them, Edelgard sends in the reserve troops and signals Arundel (Thales). (He comes in with more Demonic Beasts and also attacks Byleth and Rhea with dark magic... in his real form lmao, wonder if anyone noticed how their commander changed out for another dude somewhere along the line.)

I saw this before, but why does Claude fight with a sword in cutscenes? Sword here and sword in the Fort Mercius scene against Nader too. Also, funny that he and Dimitri are hanging out together for some reason.

Note that Byleth swings and extends the Sword of the Creator with enough force to shatter a Demonic Beast's mask and bodily throw it off the Immaculate One. Like, dang... those things are big and heavy??

[amisbro]

Let's Discuss: Broccoli's new app

So if you haven't heard then allow me to give you the skinny

This is an article that was posted a few days ago and it was about a "Game App" that Broccoli was working on...yes you heard that part right because this one ISN'T under the control (to the best we know) of KLab whom currently still runs the JP server for Shining Live. Now what is fascinating about this is we have only the one screenshot in the post (which is also on Broccoli's Press Release) with STARISH standing on a stage. I THINK (and I could be wrong) but I think these costumes come out of "Maji Love 2000%" which is INTERESTING if you know anything about "Start Dates" for the Anime seasons See the Date for "Maji Love 2000%" was April 8th of 2013 and this image was posted on April 14th of 2023...yes friends this is literally around the 10th Anniversary of that season! I find it fascinating that they are actively doing a callback to that season in their own way but then again when you also think about the fact that they are also going to be incorporation "Raging Entertainment" now its gonna be a lot of fun! Yes kids...HEAVENS makes their official game debut! Now we have to ask some questions 1. Visual Novel or Rhythm game? If you ask me I think this will be another Rhythm Game BUT I think they will take the approach that Happy Elements does when it comes to EnStars in that they are going to do long chapters with segments voice acted per usual. I also think however that the story will actually lead to something (The UtaPri Awards Showdown. SSS ,or maybe a new contest) so that the game doesn't feel "Aimless" which was a big criticism of mine 2. How would songs unlock? If this is a Rhythm game I think we are going to see more of the Happy Elements approach in that songs will be unlocked after events and that there maybe be other ways too (like the equivalent of a "Live Fes" from EnStars). so there is that also. 3. If It's not a Rhythm Game at first could we see "Idol Training game"? Oh sure! Like since we have Shining and Raging Entertainment its not out of the possibility to see that happen. Like literally in EnStars (Basic and Music) there is "Yumenosaki Academy" and "Reimei" so if we go the route of a game like "ES Basic"...sign me up! If you notice that I am using the "Happy Elements" approach its because of the fact that they OWN their games so they don't have to ask for permission to get songs from someone. I think that might have been a problem for Shining Live a little bit because KLab never owned the content for it. I imagine having to ask for permission a lot is quite the tab Now the big thing is this When does it release? We just really heard about this a few days ago so I suspect that we'll not hear about it again (at least in terms of a title) in June when the 13th Anniversary happens. At that time (if we do hear about it then) I suspect the name and game format to be explained and (POSSIBLY) the "Sunset" of SL for the JP server. I only say "Possible" because it still has a lot of players but again this is all speculation on my part. If you ask me about Dolce Vita...I still think that game could be announced also but then Broccoli would have to think about this: If you announce Dolce Vita that HAS to be the only game announcement for the year. You CAN announce the name of the new Game App but I wouldn't announce a release date because people might be more interested in Dolce Vita honestly. I also think that if they do announce that this new game is a Rhythm game and people don't get a proper update on Dolce Vita then there is gonna be a problem. We know about the "BackPri" issue and how that didn't go well with people so I could see that being a real PR issue if something isn't said about DV Anywho fam that is all I have for right now but I am curious to what you think about this because I am really hyped no matter WHAT it turns out to be...not gonna lie I'll be happy as hell if we get a new rhythm game but sad if that means getting rid of Shining Live altogether. Take care fam and talk to you again soon

[ninas-gf]

reaction dump because i just started fe engage and i need to put my thoughts down in one place now that i’ve finished a few chapters

(spoilers below)

yeah… i saw the mother’s death coming from a mile away. the moment she started talking about all of the memories she was looking forward to making with the mc, i knew she was done 😭 the voice acting in this scene absolutely blew me away though (i’m playing in JP btw)

and don’t ask me why, but i have a bad feeling about this alfred guy… maybe it’s just bc i have trust issues with suspiciously nice blond princes in general though. i will say that i absolutely love his whole design, horse, and weapon attack animations

AND THIS GUY!! he is peak knight DILF aesthetics!! if the game was *exclusively* about him just riding his horse around and killing enemies with his giant battle axe, i would still play

on the other hand, i’m conflicted about the mc’s design… why does he look like a personified version of a switch console… half of me loves how striking his design is, but it still looks a bit ridiculous

my favorite aspects of the game so far are the soundtrack, character designs, and attack animations i think… the gameplay is very new to me; i’m assuming it will become much more complex and interesting as the game progresses

[dojae-huh]

you watched lastart newest episode hehe, i was dying to talk to you about it. we have feelings in common about many trainees/smrookies but i have differences too. here's what i think about them now

sion - he's a bit bland for me too in his performance but i can see that he's hardworking and has leadership. that's what sm wanna highlight i guess but he does looks hardworking and seems levelheaded too? if i may add about his performance, yushi impresses me more overall but sion has potential to grow. 4 years look longer than the time most older srxxb trained but sion has potential as visual, center, main or lead dancer and lead vocalist in sm's eye methinks. guess he was more nervous in u than lucifer because of equipment issue and rehearsal mistakes. jae's visual and manner hidden agenda is another quality sm is trying to use but jae is one of a kind with everything he has got. uri clumsy eloquent peach puppy prince all-rounder with a bit of lewserness and cute weirdness 🥺🫳 i can see sion growing into an all-rounder with eloquent prince aura but the other parts of his personality will be different and revealed later. it'd be nice if fans see jae and sion for who they are

yushi - boy am i impressed with his stage presence and expression on top of his dancing that the judges keep pointing out! he's got a fierce look in his eye when hes on stage but ig he can pull off other concepts too. his voice is not my style but it's the unique youthful dreamies type that fans like and he sings pretty stably in live so far. now sion does most of the leading and talking but it's a jp unit so yushi might end up the leader or sm may go with co-leader system like few other groups. i saw merch from yushi's edamame bean era and he opened up more he looks like a funny individual and someone who can lead too.

riku - the no. 1 trainee for me. his visual looks like a cute wolf but he seems to be a fiercely determined person too. he mentioned pain twice in his profile. back to his skills, fire rap and dance and expression even in a pretty short training period. he isn't a singer but when he sang in u, he didnt crack. it's just one line but i have a thought if he can sing sometimes like mark after he debuts. sm must debut him.

jungmin - another one we agree sm will debut. gritty unique voice and i like it too. his personality is super interesting. he wrote his nickname is dog poop and he said he's wacky 😆 his smile is cute and if he weren't so tense on his first stage, i think he can do cheerful concepts. twt vocal people say he doesn't support but he's technically better than nct dream vocal line already. pls i wanna see him get better because he sings live well but techniques will help him in the long term.

==============================

minjae - his performance doesn't match the rest but as the show goes on, it's clear now that he's the most skilled and stable vocalist. he isn't clearly there yet like riku and jungmin but ig sm won't debut a group without strong vocals. except dreamies which were supposed to be rotational. i'm sorry if i offended any dreamies fan but boa and taemin know about technical and stylistic singing based on their comments for jungmin and minjae. i'm sure sm singing coaches and team want both technical and stylistic in sm groups. daeyoung is added but what daeyoung said about high notes made me assume minjae is still the best lastart vocalist. minjae seems to have some confidence in his skills. he knows the importance of emotional singing and even biases doie. imho if he gains confidence when dancing and singing and makes more facial expression, he will do well. his visual is flower boy and offstage he looks like a calmer extrovert, not as awkward as on stage. do you think wearing braces affect his expression when singing or his confidence on stage tho? i notice he doesn't smile widely and saw his braces.

sakuya - moving up my ranking. good rap and dance. his performance in u surprised me! he seems more versatile and stable than ryo but because both are still so young, sm might keep them as trainees until next group debut.

anderson - i like his energy on stage and he's a good dancer in a short training period too but i can see him in both future group and nct tokyo lol the jp market might not need a foreigner but if sm wants someone to speak english and have some plans for the global market like wayv, anderson is necessary. he's also very friendly, outgoing and energetic offstage. the other extroverts in lastart are somewhere between shy and outgoing.

ryu - he is consistently good and sings stably. u shows his dancing is better than minjae and ryu looks more confident than minjae too but ryu is more of a lead vocalist so far. i like his parts a lot in u but he's midranked in the judges' eye. i have a feeling sm will keep ryu for future group to train him more since he's already impressive after two weeks but still not outstanding than others. even tho it will be a jp unit without a japanese vocalist unless sm pushes yushi 😅

ryo - he did well but likely will be kept for future group too. his voice and yushi's seem similar to me but ryo is going thru voice change phase. ryo looks like he has less confidence than sakuya and more limited in difference concepts.

haruta, kassho and heitetsu - them 😢 haruta is one of the best dancers on the show but he seemed less confident in u cos he had to sing? kassho is a unique face but he seems so quiet and not confident yet. in a way i think of hansol but hansol was already a confident and skilled dancer even if he was super quiet in smrookies content. let's see if daeyoung changes the atmosphere. heitetsu is a good moodmaker, has good jp style visual, and seems confident but deep down he's not and affects his performance. if he loosens up and upskills in dancing, sm might debut him in the future group.

daeyoung - sweet visual with mature voice. yet another korean vocalist for jp unit 😅 most trainees seem to know him tho. do you think sm planned to add daeyoung from the beginning and the trainees knew but they weren't able to add him until weeks later?

i wrote too much lol but your blog is the only place to read watchers' long and honest thoughts after watching. thank you!

Sion. I have seen the thirst trap that was posted recently. Sion and Yuushi are visuals, they will attract their share of fans. SM generally tries to debut the trainees it invested a lot in, and Sion falls into a type fans like. He will be made the leader (despite Riku already playing the part, heh). I don't know about the centre. At first - yes. He needs to progress with his dance to hold the position though, he doesn't really have stage precence right now.

I liked Yuushi's vocal part more than Sion's. For a non-vocal he did well. Seems like SM already found a style/image for him. He seems to really like dancing, so he will progress.

"uri clumsy eloquent peach puppy prince all-rounder with a bit of lewserness and cute weirdness"

I like this description, heh.

Where can I see translated to English profiles? I've come across only JP/KR versions.

I agree that SM wants and needs a main vocalist for the unit. Ryo was casted in March of 2023, a few weeks before the show. It reminds me how Baekhyun was added to Exo last minute (didn't he train for like 6 months before debut?). I suspect the late addition of Daeyoung was planned. It brings a twist to the show.

I don't think braces affect Minjae, I think it's just his character. It's a show that determines his fate, therefore he should be more tense than his usual self, still, he hasn't shown any charm yet.

Keep in mind that the show is pre-recorded. The members were selected already in Spring, probably. There should be at least 6 months of additional training before debut. Idol agencies look not only at the current level, but the speed of improvement as well. There is usually a big break between the first song and the first comeback.

You have a point about the lack of Japanese vocals. I think this fact rises Ryu's chances to debut.

[drifting-starlight]

[Just some thoughts about what's going on on the other side of the vtuber fence]

Many of these company/CEO-parasocial holobros really need to accept the fact that vtuber corpos will eventually make questionable decisions, including their beloved cover. Always using niji as a scapegoat for the problem of the other company will do nothing to improve the situation.

They need to shatter their illusions that the company always have the livers & fans best interest at heart because there will be times the company will prioritize its own self-interest over everything else.

Refusing to acknowledge that there are internal problems within cover and thinking that only niji is capable of making questionable decisions honestly makes me worry for the livers and other workers within the cover company. Because to me, the voice of the fandom is crucial in getting the livers' voices heard by the management.

When the whole selen situation went down, I know many niji fans called out enkr for their poor treatment of her and other livers because of the eyebrow raising statement enkr made when selen released info about litigation.

It always comes across as weird to me how these holobros keep on egging nijifans when many of us saw the situation for what it actually was. Bad mismanagement and PR from enkr. Many of us criticized how the company handled things and voiced out our opinions. Heck, I even wrote a long litany of complaint to niji on their website. I believe many fans did the same thing.

Being vocal about your support towards the livers and not covering up the bad decisions of the company can help make a positive change within it. Right now, it is evident that more care and effort is placed towards the growth of the niji EN branch. They've been releasing more projects and are included in more events. I do believe the concerns and criticisms strongly aired out by many people in the niji fandom played a part in cultivating this good change.

These company/CEO-parasocial holobros need to face the fact that cover has its own issues. I'm not familiar with what's going on in the company but I've seen some fans point out a handful of issues that have been happening for some time (i.e. perms taking too long, overworking livers, disregarding their health, artists left unpaid for 2 years).

You cannot blame that on niji because what's happening is on your side of the fence. The one's who made those calls are cover's management. Instead of using your misplaced anger and frustration on nijifans and livers, direct it towards the cover company.

Also, it's been eyebrow-raising to me how cover uses the "good/friendly CEO" parasocial tactic to strengthen its hold on the EN fandom because it has cultivated a group of parasocial fans who have strong loyalty towards the company. These people are more likely to brush off bad decisions made by cover and say "at least were not as bad as xyz company" and claim what cover has done is less concerning, even when the company's actions have been ethically questionable and have at one point breached JP laws.

[nanjokei]

oh god a project moon tier meta post, how bad was it

shockingly pretentious post going "i love how the characters don't have extreme speech patterns" then doesn't elaborate but only states facts at you with no bearing on WHY they like this, and describes the following, parenthesis is my own commentary when needed:

the character who uses -dono for everyone doesn't go full ninja (he uses -dono and gozaru because he's a geek. it's not rocket science)

the cult leader.....speaks like a cult leader (wow)

the protagonist is very polite but still has no issues cussing people out (yes... because he's kind of a detached bitch for many reasons.. i don't think this is rocket science either)

the annoying guy who does things to annoy the protagonist is annoying and speaks in a frivolous way but not too much because he's cunning and is faking it (no shit sherlock...)

now its pretty catty of me to describe the post to you like this especially considering anyone who takes one look at my blog will realize exactly what tag i was visiting and if OP stumbles across this— maybe just block me or something, but i also found it a little amusing there was a lot of highlighting of how they read the text on their own or whatever. (who cares. you are not special. i will go on as usual)

i personally read the fan tl for the main game (cc subs, so i can see the jp dialogue underneath, so im still aware of how ppl talk in the original text) because im lazy and there's too many hawd wowds fow widdle old me, read parts of the dlc (beginning and end, read the fan tl in the middle) on my own and then the subsequent game in the series, so i can weigh in on the labored upon "speech patterns" in their post— it is utterly mundane. i don't think anything special about the way most of the characters speak for the most part— the dialogue has very strong character voice present (something to lament about the existing fan translation.. i mean no disrespect bc they do fine for the bulk of it but the tone is so Neutral). and had i made that post, i would use literally any other set of characters. not exaggerating at all. at the end of the day it is just a fandom meta post and nothing serious, but this "stating objective facts without elaborating and acting smart for it" brand of meta post TRULY gets under my skin. you asked me about "projmoon fan tier" in particular so you must know exactly what i mean for it to pique your interest.

my entire point here is "WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THIS" and "WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS GOOD". none of which the post communicates. it just feels like posturing for the sake of it. if they said "i like the dialogue like that" or "i think the character voice is strong" (as i said on my own just now) it'd be FINE. but the fact that i just had objective facts spit up at me with no thoroughline to the thesis of the post. and like, i don't think i'm very smart. i guarantee i may have said something dumb in this ask or contradicted myself and i acknowledge i am being PETTY. however... it really is an issue i have with "analysis" on here. also, this series has a strong presence of projmoon fans so like.

thank you for letting me rant about this a bit btw nonnie

[fair-fae]

Very funny to me that neither of these people replied to me. I even held off on blocking them right away because I thought it was fair to wait and let them say their piece first. Having played through the entirety of the MSQ in English, I wanted to give my (not-so) quick final thoughts and it's pretty interesting that the scene shown in the video is the ONLY scene where I thought Sena Bryer's delivery was 100% objectively bad, and even then it seems to clearly be an issue of direction. It's not a failed attempt to sound strained/angry/distraught, there just straight up is no attempt. There are scenes prior to this where she sounded convincingly angry and emotional. There is the lovely little strained "RGGHH!" growl she does in battle. Knowing that she is entirely capable, and knowing that presumably no one would give such a calm delivery of lines if they were told "pretend you're in the middle of an emotional confrontation that turns to a fight and you're trying to lift up something heavy to stop it from crushing you alive," I have to believe she wasn't properly told that? I mean I'm gonna be real, I think if the voice direction in Dawntrail wasn't at least a little off, those takes wouldn't have been chosen to be used for such a climactic moment to begin with. They're not the only times during the expansion I thought, "How did this recording making it into the finished game?" and the others were not Sena's doing, but I'm not going to dogpile those actors the way people are with Sena. Thancred's English VA sounded legitimately sick in some scenes, which happens, people get ill and maybe there was no time to re-record. Some of the North American voices made me cringe, but FFXIV primarily uses a EU voice talent studio afaik and god knows there are Hollywood actors who can't even do a convincing southern accent, so it's not really the end of the world when it's random NPC's who less experienced actors were probably asked to read a few quick lines for with little direction. There are times where Wuk Lamat's lines could have been delivered with more intensity, sure--almost exclusively ones where she could have sounded angrier. I don't really know or care what the JP voice actress did in those scenes, and it also doesn't really bother me in general. Nothing takes me out of something more than when a voice actor is acting their heart out, meanwhile the character is just standing there with a totally flat expression and no body language lol. It's just a different take on the character/scene. It was never ill-fitting and it never came off as underacting or emotionless, it just wasn't as over the top as it could have been, and that's fine. Some people will like it less, some people will like it more. I think it still suited the character and the context of the story well enough, especially since it usually fit her reasonably as a would-be leader trying to keep her cool and reach peaceful resolutions. You can prefer a more dramatic delivery and that's fine! But that's not always an issue of "good" or "bad." It's also maybe not a bad idea to examine why you think Wuk Lamat, a pretty happy-go-lucky character who is all about peace and love and friendship, needs to sound aggressive all the time. Maybe it's just an innocent case of personal preference, or maybe some more harmful stereotypes about the kinds of people society thinks should be angry and loud are being ~*mysteriously*~ projected onto a character like Wuk Lamat. Anyway I was a little hesitant to add to this and give this post a boost so I WANT TO SAY please I'm begging you, this is not an invitation for random strangers to give me your fucking yelp review about why you still think Sena Bryer's performance was bad. You're either exactly the person I'm talking about in the OP and I'm already aware of your "arguments" and you already know my opinion on them, or this post is obviously not about you and we can respectfully agree to disagree but you can go make your own post about your opinion because it has nothing to do with mine lol

I've seen transphobes all over the place on other social media huffing copium about how they don't hate Wuk Lamat's English VA (and the entire character by extension) because she's trans but because her delivery is "flat and emotionless" and like objectively, no it's fucking not lmao

[diodellet]

i think i've found a place for us (jamil viper x gn!reader)

lovingly strapping jamil into a rollercoaster ride along the full emotional spectrum😇😇 fic title is from this song content warnings: -reader is yuu/ramshackle prefect -mix of jp and en terms -post-Book 4 OB (references to master-servant relationships, assassinations) -self-deprecating thoughts (references to symptoms of depression) ++this fic is hurt/comfort, whatever issues kalim and jamil have, it's probably mentioned here word count: 3.4k words

This was now Jamil's... fourth day of staying at the Ramshackle dorm. And even though he spent most of the time drifting in and out of sleep, he could make a list of all the inconveniences that came with temporarily living in the once-abandoned dorm. Mold, dust, cobwebs—those were only the first of many entries on his list.

It was far from the quiet, secluded place he initially pegged it as. The building would creak and groan as its living residents moved from room to room. At the peak of midnight, bits and pieces of the ghosts' conversations would travel through the walls, up the floorboards, mix with the sound of the wind outside.

That didn't mean it was completely unbearable.

Whenever you thought that you were alone, you would fill the silence with song. More humming and mumbled syllables than audible lyrics, but still melodious and pleasant to listen to.

"I didn't know you sang." Jamil's voice is rough with sleep.

You spin around to see him, eyes widening in surprise. “You! Should be sleeping!”

"I… think I've had enough." 

If anything, he’s spent too much time asleep for the past few days, dealing with more lingering headaches instead of feeling rested and energized. He sits up, turns his gaze to an interesting patch of clawed up wood on the bedframe left uncovered by your mattress. Grim's doing.

"...did I—do you want anything? I could run over to Sam's or the cafeteria?"

"No, no thank you." It wasn’t that he couldn’t stomach the thought of food, but it was along the lines of not really feeling up to it.

He’s been feeling an awful lot of nothing lately. It was as if everything—all the rage, the resentment, everything that had festered within his being—disappeared with the Blot.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” All that remained now was the shadow of his Overblot. The lingering discomfort, the hushed whispers from the students, the vision of ink coating his fingers.

“Just…” He shakes his head. “...Go back to what you were doing.” The words spill out. Clipped, taut. A demand—no, a plea for you to leave it at that.

He doesn’t miss the way you flinch. “Okay.” You nod, and slowly turn back to your textbook. Slip the other earphone back on and spin your pen in between your fingers.

(The reflexive ‘sorry’ catches in his throat, a few seconds too late for it to be used.)

Jamil lies back down, staring up at the ceiling. The hour ticks by, rays of the afternoon light slowly dimming. He shuts his eyes again, but doesn’t let himself doze off.

The scratch of your pen stops. “...hello?” Jamil turns to rest on his other side so that he’s not looking at you or your work desk. “He’s still here, yes… what about Kalim?”

Even if you lower your voice, it doesn’t stop his ears from picking up on the conversation. The same way that his sleep never tips too far into deep unconsciousness.

“I see… I’ll try asking him about that later.” You fall silent again, listening to the person on the other end. “...Are you guys holding up alright? On top of your…usual stuff?”

He suspects it might be someone from Octavinelle, maybe Jade or Azul. 

The chair legs squeak against the floor. “...If it does get to be too much, please tell me. I’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll visit Scarabia tomorrow or—” The sentence dies in your throat.

Another pause elapses before you give a resigned sigh. “Alright, sorry, I-I’ll leave it to you…thank you.” Something clatters on your desk, probably your phone.

“...Okay, dinner. What to make…” You mutter to yourself, clicking on the desk lamp. Your footsteps travel to the other side of the room to undo the curtains.

He continues to feign sleep, remaining still as you switch on the lamp at the bedside table. The mattress dips with your weight as you lean over to pull up the blanket so that it covers his shoulder.

The first day that he arrived at Ramshackle was in the middle of a snowy night. An otherwise normal interaction with Kalim escalated into a heated argument. And then the dorm leader insisted on doing something by himself, which steered the conversation into doing away with their opposing statuses and then…like his Overblot, Jamil couldn’t remember the exact specifics of what happened.

Only a persistent gnawing at his temples, red-hot flashes obscuring his vision, his hands haphazardly gathering his things. Not a single one of his dormmates stopped him, quickly moving out of his way or fearfully standing to the side. Kalim's voice calling out for him was the last thing Jamil heard before he stepped through the mirror.

Somehow, his feet brought him to the once-abandoned dormitory. His shoulder was protesting under the weight of his gym bag. The wind bit into the exposed parts of his face, his hoodie did little to protect him from the cold. The gate was locked, of course. But just before he turned on his heel to return to Scarabia, one of the Ramshackle ghosts appeared and unlocked the gate for him.

Everything else was a blur after that. He was just…numb. And tired. Pliant to letting you peel off his snow-covered outerwear and replacing it with a thick blanket. Another ghost pushed a warm mug of tea into his hands. He couldn’t fall asleep though, not with Grim sitting next to him by the fireplace and whining about being woken up. 

“—just let me call back in the morning, he’s…no, he’s not hurt, he’s fine.” You were on the phone, cradling it against your shoulder as you laid his hoodie on the back of a chair. “Okay, bye.”

Jamil didn’t feel alright. If he didn’t upend his family’s carefully-built legacy with his betrayal and Overblot, then he single-handedly sent it to its downfall by running away from Scarabia, away from his charge.

“I…should go back…” he mumbled, moving to stand up. He set the tea aside, the drink was untouched. His fingers had warmed enough at this point. The blanket fell to the floor. “Kalim…”

“Will be fine,” you cut him off, gripping him by his shoulders. “He’s got the rest of Scarabia with him. You’re…not okay.”

Those words stung. He shrugged off your hold. “It doesn’t matter, I have to go.” He needed to stop acting like a child. Go back to what he was meant to do.

“Jamil, I’m not letting you walk in the snow. If you really want to go back, then at least…” Your expression, pained with concern, then softened with your voice. “...at least wait for the weather to calm down by next morning. Please.”

“...Next morning. I’m leaving,” he conceded.

He didn’t leave when morning arrived. When he awoke, it was already afternoon. He was covered in two new blankets and Grim was curled up against his legs.

At the foot of your bed, resting beside his gym bag, were two overstuffed suitcases. Kalim’s handiwork.

Save for the light emanating from the desk lamps, the rest of your room is shrouded in darkness. Shadows stretch across the walls, the floorboards, the edge of your bed, seemingly dripping with ink.

He scrubs a palm over his face. The room returns to normal—no, it's always been normal. He's the one with problems. To solve and to shoulder, those were the only courses of action he could take. And to say that he was merely shouldering all these burdens would discount the resourcefulness he honed from a young age. 

But then to be denied both options with your interference—you, Kalim, and that Octavinelle trio—to have you all meddle a second time, it should have sent him into a rage again. Maybe it would have warranted a second Overblot, but he was. Just. So.

Tired.

He pulls himself out of your bed and goes down to the kitchen.

You were at the stove, finishing up a batch of pasta and serving it on a plate. One of the Ramshackle ghosts was carrying Grim in its arms. Maybe to keep him from jumping onto the countertop and sneaking a few bites. Atop the small dining table, an upbeat tune played from your phone, it sounded like something from a musical. The scene in front of him was nice, but dinner was tuna carbonara. And for the past four days, his meals consisted of fish. Not even shellfish, just some iteration of canned fish. Tuna, sardines, mackerel, salmon, maybe shrimp if Grim was up for the "variety."

Jamil can’t complain, he won’t complain. He’s not a picky eater by any means, but even he had his limits when it came to eating processed food. In his mind, he decided that he would have to take over kitchen duties. Tomorrow. He can only manage helping with cleanup.

(For now, even as an outsider, he can enjoy the shred of normalcy that the shared meal brings.)

You spend one more hour at your desk, going through your winter break homework. Steadily and methodically finishing one subject at a time. Your foot taps against the floor, in time with the music playing through your earphones.

“...Done!” You sigh in relief, stretching your arms above your head. “Will you still need the lights, Jamil?” You turn to look at him.

One of his own textbooks laid open on the bed, little lecture notes and annotations neatly written along the margins. His homework was already completed a day before the holidays started. But, he decided he could redo some of them, make an attempt to earn a higher grade.

“We can stop holding back on account of our social status.”

Jamil feels a twinge at his left temple. He closes the book, leaving a pencil in between the pages as a makeshift bookmark, then sets it at the foot of the bed. “No, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Mhm.” There’s an urge to make himself small, invisible to your concern. Which he knows is just basic courtesy as a host—as the head of the Ramshackle Dormitory. 

“Alright. Good night, Jamil.” A click, then darkness. 

That would make this the fourth night spent away from Scarabia. Another night of resting in two hour intervals. Of waiting for sleep to claim him before his racing thoughts consumed him. He calls your name. 

It’s surprisingly easy to, now that the lights are off. “You should be sleeping in your own bed.” 

“...But I can’t just let you sleep on the sofa. It’ll be a killer on your back.” The sound of your footsteps slows to a stop, floorboards creaking with the motion. “The both of us are fine sleeping downstairs.”

“Isn’t he a restless sleeper?” 

“Nope, he sleeps like a baby.”

At that remark, somewhere from the first floor, the sound of rapid footfalls could faintly be heard. Coupled with the fire-monster’s trademark cackle.

“Well, that is, when he gets tired enough.”

The both of you lapse into silence, listening to Grim tear through the first floor hallways. The sound of the ghosts playfully taunting him.

You mutter quietly to yourself, “yeah, he’ll tire himself out in a bit. Hopefully.” The floorboards creak again, you’re probably leaning against the doorframe. “Does the noise bother you?’

“No, not really…” The Scarabia dorm was unnervingly quiet in the days after his Overblot. It was as if there were eyes on him, breaths held in anticipation. Watching and waiting for his next misstep. Nighttime wasn’t any easier. Whenever he'd jolt awake, he would stifle any screams or cries with his pillow, wait for the terror to run its course, count the hours until sunrise. “It’s just—”

There’s a faraway crash and the sound of Grim cursing, a chorus of ghostly laughter in response.

“Never mind, I misspoke. It’s…” Stupid. Jamil quickly dismisses your concern. “You should go check on him.” He turns his back to the doorway.

But you don’t leave. The sound of your footsteps approaches your bed. “Grim’ll be fine. I’m… more worried about you. Could you scoot over?”

“It’s your bed.” He tamps the embarrassment down, forces irritation into his words. Nonetheless letting you climb into the spot next to him. The mattress dips with your weight added to it.

Your own response was bashful. “I know, but…” you pause, thinking of your next words. “Grim and the ghosts… noticed that you were having… nightmares.”

“They’ll pass.” He’s dealt with worse.

“...You’re not wrong for feeling these things,” you say, voice low. As if speaking any louder would disturb the other residents of the dorm.

"How could you still say that…” A lump forms in his throat.  “...after…"

"After everything?” 

It doesn’t feel right to hear you cut to the heart of it. His words spill into the darkness of your bedroom. "After throwing you and Grim into the desert, keeping you against your will—"

"Hey, we were glad to get out of the cold for a little bit."

At his silence, you let out a quiet laugh.

"...I mean it though. It wasn't all bad." Your fingertips press against the side of his arm, apologetic.

He doesn’t… shy away from the contact, but he remains still. Staring up at the ceiling. “You could’ve died.”

Your touch withdraws. “I can say the same to you."

"Wouldn't that have been better? What use is there for an insubordinate servant?” Jamil thinks back to the attempts made on Kalim’s life. Investigations were made into the other staff. Into esteemed guests, renowned politicians, prospective and longtime business partners. Through it all, only the Viper household remained clean.

And it just had to be him, the person closest to Kalim, who tarnished that steadfast loyalty. He’s seen what happened to assassins who were caught. 

(There’s a certain irony in having to spill blood for the protection of another.)

"Don't…don't say that. Kalim doesn’t think of you like that…"

But he still treats Jamil like one. “He thinks the world of everyone he meets. Even those who’ve wronged him.”

“...sure, maybe he’s a bit naive—” That was an understatement, Jamil thinks to himself. Dense, ignorant, stupid were more fitting. “—but he really does see you as one of his closest friends.”

“What do you know?” he counters. What could you say that he hasn't already heard?

“Kalim’s not stupid. He genuinely trusted—he still trusts you in spite of what happened.”

And wasn’t that the most irritating part? That he was still being showered in empty kindness and praise by Kalim? That in the end, he would have to be held accountable for something as careless as losing control of himself?

“It isn’t that simple.” Frustration laces the way he says your name. “Put yourself in my shoes for a second—”

“I am…I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s my duty, to Kalim’s family and my own.” God, he was sick of hearing the dorm leader’s drivel about friendship, but to hear himself repeating his parents’ own words to you was painful.

“That’s true, but you’re not…”

There’s a familiar heat building at the base of Jamil’s throat, an ugly mix of shame, embarrassment. “His title and status as the Asim heir takes priority, and I have to make sure that he doesn’t die before that happens—”

“But you were just a kid!” Your voice rises to a furious whisper before falling, quiet and trembling. “...you were just…a kid… and you shouldn’t have had to bear that on your own for so long…And then to be expected to carry on as if nothing happened…”

Jamil should be angry at hearing another shed tears for him. Expressing the emotions that should’ve been his. Only one other person has done that in front of him, and that misplaced kindness sent him further along the route to his eventual Overblot.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t but—” Despite your apology, the thickness in your voice doesn’t let up. "Still…! Who just tells their own child to ‘lose thrice’?"

The anger that he has carefully nursed doesn’t rear its head. Maybe it really did disappear with the dispelling of his Overblot. Or maybe it’s because you didn’t face him with the fear that his dormmates held.

“How do you know that?” His question is met with your silence. With the curtains drawn closed, only faint slivers of moonlight creep into your bedroom, scarcely enough to reveal the shape of your figure beside him. Jamil’s hand reaches out tentatively—the back of your hand is damp—before withdrawing altogether. 

“...When I fell into the Blot ink, I could hear them…and I saw you. When you were younger.” 

He could remember the ink pouring into every orifice. “Then you…” If it went on for any longer, it would have drowned him, then consumed his magic, then his body and then—

“Yeah, then I managed to pull you out.” 

“But you weren’t in the infirmary.” 

“...Fourth time’s the charm, I guess.”

“Did…that happen with the others?”

“Yeah. With Riddle. And Leona, and Azul. I don’t know why it happens." You shift, the sound of your clothes rustling against the bed covers as you move closer to him. Your shoulder lightly nudges his. “The first time it happened, no one else knew what I was talking about.”

“Tell that to the livestream of my conversation with Azul.”

“But they didn’t broadcast it… it was just a speaker call. For the rest of the dorm to hear.”

Jamil sits up. “What.” He was supposed to know about this? Those Octavinelle fuckers.

“I…I thought—oh, I guess they didn’t tell you, I’m sorry—”

His stunned silence is broken with a laugh, bubbling from his throat and building into sharp, hysterical laughter. He feels warm, burns with embarrassment, because of course it wasn’t a livestream. And why was he feeling a hint of relief at that revelation?

His palms press against his eye sockets. To his ears, the sound is foreign, but he can feel the exertion in his throat. Feel his breathing quicken, the start of a sob which he chokes down.

It takes him a few more moments to register the tears flowing down his cheeks. His outburst dies as quickly as it erupted. His chest hurts at the feeling of stifling his cries, to keep them from escaping.

God, he feels dumb.

You sit up, pull him into your arms. Let him cry against your shoulder, rub a soothing hand against his back. You don’t say anything, but the tender gesture speaks enough.

By the time his emotions have calmed down, his head aches with a dull pain. The all-too familiar sensation of exhaustion seeps into him. 

“Will… you ever talk to Kalim?” you ask. Your own expression was stricken with tear tracks, from sharing in a fraction of his pain.

“Of course I have to eventually.” He sighs, lying back down and you follow. “...I have no choice.”

“You don’t have to…force yourself to though.” You reach forwards, gently wiping away his tears with your thumbs. And he lets you. “If you still need time, you can stay here… To rest and recuperate.”

Paradoxically, it’s in the words of a stranger—(did you count as an acquaintance though? Acquaintances didn’t just spoon each other though, they didn’t just tangle their legs together while sharing the same bed)—that he finds a pinprick of solace.

And sure, you could call it that. ‘Rest.’

But to Jamil, this was stagnation. He couldn’t just keep mooching off your hospitality, blindly trusting in Kalim’s resolve to change. He couldn’t let himself stay indebted for this long. 

“I can’t just stay here for the holidays.  But…thank you.” 

Once winter break ends, what would he do? How should he go about repairing his social standing in the dorm? With the rest of the student body? 

What’s the next move?

He doesn’t even realize that he’s fallen asleep. Rest comes to him, gentle and peaceful.

When early morning arrives, Jamil gives himself five minutes. Five minutes of sitting in the rare calmness of his mind, of listening to your slow even breathing, of being encased in between the warmth of the blankets and your body heat. Comfortable, protected, safe in your arms.

Then he extricates himself from your hold. At the motion, you make a weak sound of protest, blindly reaching after him. Your fingers brush against the hem of Jamil’s shirt. He catches your wrist, gently sets your arm down on the mattress. Then he pulls the edge of the blanket over you to keep you warm and goes to get ready for the day.

Since he was planning on making breakfast, he’d first have to check if the school store had anything available.

(A part of him is grateful that Kalim packed a scarf.)

A/N: originally this started as a scene of jamil being the lazy one for once and trying to keep u in bed with him. i just wanted to write cuddles (read: the intended kissies were somehow lost along the way. i am still sobbing crying weeping and calling for them to come back home) but aaa its finally done, one of my persistent brainworms is freed!! and more have taken its place help id like to credit @jessamine-rose for betaing this fic, thank u ms maam twst veteran💕💕 wcidfy ch3 will take a bit more time to be written. so im gonna chip away at other wips (shorter oneshots) as i try to get the main beats down. it would take a miracle for it to be posted soon, so id probably expect chapter 3 in (late) june. anyway, i hope u enjoyed reading this, don't be afraid to rb and holler in the tags!! i treasure each and every comment!! taglist (ig i have one of these now?): @merotwst

[arknights-imagines]

What’s your opinion on Silverash & Gnosis?

Hi there anon 💕!! Ty for your ask~

As for your question aaa 🤔!! I do hope you don't mind if I ramble a little sbsjs, I enjoy talking about Operators v v much 👉👈...! (Please take caution as I'll be mentioning some minor spoilers from both of their Operator Files and from the story of the 'Break the Ice' event 😯!!)

I'll talk about my thoughts towards SilverAsh first!

(Summer-Pirate SilverAsh says 'hello' to everyone and to you anon!)

SilverAsh is one of my most favourite Operators and he has been for quite a long time svshs!! I love using him in-game and writing for him here on the blog v v much 🥰!

Firstly, I like his design lots aaa; mostly because of the refined-type of attire he wears and his fluffy snow leopard ears and tail 🥺~ Along with that, his EN voice is awesome and I feel it sounds just like his original JP voice omg, his EN voice actor did him lots of justice ✨!!!

Secondly, his skill set is v v cool and I feel that he's super versatile sbsjs 👍!!!

He can be left on his own to defend when equipped with his second skill, or he can output lots of burst damage with his third skill! Along with that, I feel that his 'Eagle Eyes' talent that removes the invisibility of certain enemies is super useful 🤔✨!

I've had my SilverAsh for a long time now and I've invested lots of LMD and resources into him with no regrets, I like to bring him along on Operators often!!

(Here he is aaa! I'm also thinking about putting resources towards the Mastery for his second skill hmm 🤔)

Thirdly, as for his story and character, I find him to be an interesting person that's not as cold-hearted as he may seem svshs!!

The general perception of SilverAsh by those around him is that he's v shrewd, constantly has hidden motive, and is v v prideful perhaps so much so that it's not-so-good 🤔

However, I've always believed that he's able to be a compassionate person! I feel that, considering that he unfortunately had to mature v fast following the death of his parents, he simply had to become a more hardened person 🤔

This means SilverAsh grew up to become v v strong-willed and never lets anything cause him to falter, even when others are expecting him to collapse; however this also caused him to lose his faith in love or warmth svshs 😔 As he states in one of his voicelines, he believes:

"Compassion saves no one on the battlefield."

But even so, it's clear he cares for others if you take a closer look! He shows some warmth towards the Doctor and to those close to him from Kjerag 👉👈 It's just that it's v likely he dislikes being seen as vulnerable so he has troubles when conveying his care 😭 One of Cliffheart's voicelines regarding her brother communicates this rather perfectly:

"My brother sent Matterhorn to look after me, didn't he…? Ugh, why can't he just come out and tell me what he's thinking? It drives me mad."

And also sbsjs, I do want to add in a small SilverAsh relationship headcanon considering that my blog is for x reader content after all lolol ✨!

So fourthly, I feel that SilverAsh would definitely be the kind of person who spoils his s/o a lot 😭💞!!! If you express wanting something, he'll get it for you without a second thought - even if you'd only made the slightest mention about it lololsbjs!!

Okay sgshs, I'll talk about what I think about Gnosis next!

(Gnosis says 'hello' to everyone and to you anon, however he hopes this won't take too much time away from his researching work lolol 😭)

I happen to like Gnosis lots as well sbsjs 👍!! I was v v hyped for the 'Break the Ice' event and had saved up for him! Fortunately, he came home to me with no issue aaa 🥳!!! I haven't got any requests for him yet, however I am hoping to receive some that interest me so I can have the chance to write for him sbsjs sometime 👉👈

Firstly, I like his design svshs 🤔! It's quite simple and perhaps not-so ostentatious, but I think that suits him! And I like the red bits in his hair lots svshs ✨ His EN voice also suits him well and I happen to prefer it over his JP voice aaa...!

(I'm also super hyped for his skin to release to the EN server aaa, he looks v v cool in it ✨😮!!!)

Secondly, I think his skills are super fun aaa!! I love his ability to apply Cold and Freeze to enemies as I think it's v v cool ❄️!!! Maybe his damage output is not as much as other Operators, but I still think his damage amounts and his crowd-control capabilities are super awesome aaa 🥳👍!!

I haven't had my Gnosis for too long, however I've already gladly put a good amount of LMD and resources into him sbsjs ✨ I take him along on Operators often, sometimes in the place of a Caster Operator 🤔!

(Here's my Gnosis sbsjs!! I finally got his trust level to 200% recently which I'm v happy about 🥳~)

Thirdly, in regards to his story and character, though he seems to be generally viewed as a bit of a ill-mannered jerk, I actually feel that he's a rather tragic and sad character svshs 😔

When he was v young, Gnosis and his family were forced to leave their home nation and were treated awful by the people of Kjerag because they accused of being the ones behind the deaths of SilverAsh's parents sbjss so Gnosis unfortunately had a not-so-good childhood to say the least 😔...

And even now, as he's older, most of Kjerag rejects him angrily and there isn't much of a place for him in his own home nation 😭

Considering so, I feel it's v v understandable that Gnosis has become to be extremely apathetic towards just about everything, only caring for his research sbsjs 🤔

He doesn't have even the slightest interest at all in compassion, relationships with others, or such; his voicelines v clearly show his uncaring attitude towards most things:

"SilverAsh's sisters? Yes, I've met them several times... Hm...? What more do you want me to say? I know nothing about those frolicsome, ever-changing creatures, and I certainly am not interested in them."

"The best way you can earn my trust is by showing me your true academic strengths, and it seems you've already realized as much, Doctor. I am not like SilverAsh. I am not interested in deeper emotional exchanges."

"Much like SilverAsh's, your endeavors require the help of countless supporters. However, the more supporters you have, the more you have to worry about. Since you cannot disregard them, you should avoid getting entangled. That is my one and only piece of advice for you, Doctor."

This all makes me rather sad aaa 😭 Unlike SilverAsh, I feel that Gnosis has much less of capacity for warmth because he has never been able to trust or find safe comfort in anyone, so now he shuts his heart away from anything and anyone v v firmly 😔...he simply finds it easier to care about nothing outside the progress of his research sbsjs

But sgshs 😶 before I get too sad I want to mention the small relationship headcanon I thought of for him 👉👈!!!

Fourthly, I imagine that Gnosis would remember everything about what his s/o likes and dislikes svshsv 💕 then, when the time comes for gifts or dates, he'll apply what he's taken note of to ensure whatever he's giving to you is perfect~

As for the relationship between SilverAsh and Gnosis 🤔

They were childhood friends 🥺!! I feel that, even if both of them are much colder than they were when they were children, they're still close friends svshs! They seem to understand one another acutely and have a certain respect for eachother!!

SilverAsh cares for his friend, but again svshs SilverAsh has a funny way of showing people that he cares lololsjks 😭😶 Though it may not seem like it, he's looking out for Gnosis when he sends him to Rhodes Island! It's clear to SilverAsh that: at Rhodes Island Gnosis won't experience the harsh and angry treatment of the people of Kjerag, and Rhodes Island's advanced technology and such will assist him in better progressing his research, which SilverAsh knows is Gnosis' highest priority svshs 🤔!!

And as for Gnosis, SilverAsh seems to be the only thing outside his research that he's willing to dedicate his time and his effort to! I feel that this is because SilverAsh never once blamed the death of his parents on Gnosis and even said that he would've forgiven him had he been responsible...! Along with that, SilverAsh is one of the few people to not abandon Gnosis 😭 So I feel that Gnosis holds SilverAsh as maybe one of his only friends 🤔

I definitely feel that SilverAsh and Gnosis would need similar s/o's: someone who can make them believe in warmth and compassion once again, someone who they can allow themselves to be vulnerable around aaa 😭👉👈

(They both need someone to warm their hearts if you will lolololsjsks 😭💕)

Anywho sgshs!!! Please excuse me, I feel like I may have rambled lots there omg 😶😭...!

I always get rather excited when given the chance to talk on how I feel about certain Operators 👉👈!!! I hope you guys don't mind svshsb

Ty for your ask again anon, and the opportunity to talk about two Operators I like lots 🥰!!! Everyone is most certainly welcome to send in asks regarding my thoughts on certain Operators ✨! I do tend to ramble when I answer asks like these aaa but I enjoy answering them v v much (as I of course love Arknights and its characters lots svshs) 🥺💕!!

Anon, I hope you'll stick around and please have a great day 🌸!!!

The official art of chibi SilverAsh and chibi Gnosis is from the Arknights weibo HERE!! 👍