#sometimes there are moments of good writing in this game. many such cases in fact.

[ruushes]

one bit of attention to detail i did really like was the couple of times when characters speaking about spite and lucanis gave spite top billing - if you take him in the lords of fortune arena isabela introduces him as something like ‘the legendary spirit of determination, spite, and his crow friend lucanis dellamorte’, and if he’s in your party for tearstone island elgar’nan refers to him as ‘spite and its host’, which i thought were clever little ways of showing priorities - the importance of and respect for spirits in rivain, and elgar’nan not considering a mortal worth acknowledging

[missshirophantom]

Yandere Alphabet Sebastian Solace

From the author: hello everyone. I apologize for the abrupt disappearance after the first posts. There was a lot of shit going on in real life. And now especially, especially when I almost had a panic attack. This post... a small attempt to somehow cope with all the emotional problems. Ahem, I apologize for the mistakes, because English is not my native language and I used a translator. Yes, and I just got over it now... Tears, that's it. If I feel better (and a positive reaction will be enough), then I will write a small sketch using this post.

Warning: dr#g use without consent, threat of broken bones, threat of bondage, slight isolation, hint of c#nnib#lism. If you are for the fact that yandere Sebastian is gentle or dark, then you are absolutely not here. The author does not approve of the above written in real life.

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

— Due to so many years of literal torture and DNA implantation, Sebastian has forgotten how to show love and affection. At least, that's what many people imagine.

— Thanks to vague memories of his past, he often gives "gifts". These are usually very rare deceased marine life that he found while exploring the complex. Most often, he drags soft objects such as pillows and blankets to another person.

— It is worth considering that he will often be... Biting his beloved is not strong, of course, but deep enough and in prominent places so that the bite mark remains as long as possible.

— In rare moments, Sebastian can clamp his beloved with his tail and hands, preventing them from moving. Such moments last quite a long time — from several hours to even days. But don't be afraid, he will feed you.

— About feeding... Sometimes Sebastian intentionally brings dead marine life and forces the beloved to eat them raw, saying that he did not find a normal meal for you, and that's all he found, and there is no necessary equipment to cook.

— And I. Don't even think about giving up this "meal", because he can get very angry at you the longer and more persistently you refuse.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

— This case can be described as follows: rarely, but aptly.

— Sebastian hates people, especially getting dirty in their blood. But when the threat is directed either at him, or at the beloved, or at his refuge, then... Yes. It's better not to see it. In particular, you don't need to know where that poor guy's body goes next.

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

— Despite his hatred of people, which he skillfully hides by contacting them in his store, especially if you are a person yourself, but in moments of his bad mood, Sebastian can mock you. Especially when you are trying to escape or are somehow stubborn, protesting against his actions and the like.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

— It all depends on how his beloved behaves. If they try to escape more than once, he will give them a "medicine" in order to keep them in a sluggish and weakened state in the shelter.

— Well, he also locks them in a shelter while he goes out to get supplies. For good behavior, they may not even tie you up and tie you to the railing of the stairs.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

— It's not much... It is difficult, especially when Sebastian vaguely remembers his life before his arrest and experiments.

— But if he is in a good mood, he can talk about his past. Especially about his cat, whom he misses.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

— Definitely an annoyance. And the stronger and longer the beloved resists, the stronger his irritation, turning into anger.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

— Sebastian does not consider this a game, even though he finds it funny to watch the escape attempts of the beloved and their plans for this. But still, he is serious that even for the sake of his "fun" he does not allow another to escape.

— So, yes. the DNA of the same white shark, which awakens in him the instincts of pleasure over the attempts of another to escape.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

— Oh, definitely quite strong and a decent dose of "medicine" if the beloved misbehaves for too long. Sebastian rarely uses physical punishments. Except when he is very, very driven. Then he will definitely break a couple of bones in his legs.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

— Sebastian just doesn't know. The arrest and experiments forced him to think about the present, not the future. Especially when there is a looming danger over him because of his mutations. And not only that.

— But somewhere in the tender moments with his beloved, he definitely thought about having a family with them. And also a safe place where they both don't need anything and no one bothers them.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

— As long as the other person does not speak directly and flirt, or God forbid, does not try to touch the other, then Sebastian is ready to be patient. And if any of this happens, he immediately throws this person out of his store and forbids him to come back. Believe me, this is the mildest thing he can do in bouts of jealousy.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

— Believe it or not, but it's pretty good, let it depend on the mood. Sebastian definitely likes to hold his beloved with his tail and sleep in this position, curled up in the "nest". Bite them, thereby marking them. As it was written above, he gives, albeit sometimes gloomy gifts: dead marine life, someone's bones. But it's definitely nice to get the same pillows and blankets from him. On particularly "lucky" days, he may even bring some simple puzzles, blank paper, and writing supplies. Or even the clean clothes of the employees! And also, as it was written, he definitely likes to watch the beloved eat the food he brought.

— However, do not try to annoy him in any way or, God forbid, make him angry. And even if nothing serious happens for the first time, it's better not to push your luck.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

— He will definitely compose a little poetry and read it to you. But mostly his love language, if you can call it that, is gifts, not particularly frequent physical contact, as well as... preening when Sebastian's mood is definitely high. He likes to mess with the hair of his beloved, untangling tangles with his claws and cleaning them from dirt. But it's definitely somehow caused by injected DNA and getting some instincts. Well, Sebastian can also be a good gentleman.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

— Yes. Quite a lot if you continue to test his patience.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

— It varies depending on how much his patience is exhausted. If he speaks from the most harmless to severe punishment, then it goes something like this: stronger and deeper bites that leave a scar; short-term deprivation of food; small doses of "medicine"; medium doses; a large dose; broken bones, usually legs.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

— Freedom, defined. Sebastian will definitely lock the beloved in the shelter while he goes on business. But even without that, he still has no intention of letting them out of his sight, especially when they are not the first to try to escape or behave badly.

— It will also definitely monitor your meals with extreme care and sleep patterns.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

— Surprisingly, he is quite patient. But even such patience has its limits.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

— Sebastian will refuse to believe that their beloved has died. By that time, he will have time to get very attached and it will be a blow to him. So be prepared for the fact that he will simply lose the remnants of his humanity and will babysit your body by locking himself in a shelter.

— Well, if it's an escape... It won't be difficult for him to find you. He knows this place like his own... "Five" fingers. Plus, his senses are highly developed, as are his newfound instincts.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

— Definitely not for both questions. And even if Sebastian hated people and if you are a person yourself, he will not let you go.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

— After the accusation that he did not commit, years of experimentation on him, torture, as well as the loss of some memories, you evoke in him... Something really different and new, amidst all this hatred and irritation. This feeling made him relax a little, feel the warmth in his chest and just made his barely controlled instincts calm down.

— You can say that he is really curious. Plus... Years of loneliness in this cruel situation are making themselves felt.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

— Definitely a confusion. Why do you want to come back at all? There, on the surface, you will find a much more cruel world than here, next to it. Yes, the conditions here are not so good, but it is much better than sitting behind bars in a dirty cell or, God forbid, being a test subject of these disgusting people.

— Despite the confusion, Sebastian understands these feelings. But he definitely didn't want to watch the situation worsen. He will definitely give you "medicines" to let you forget, but he will not work hard with it. After all, Sebastian does not want to be like the people who conducted experiments on him.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

— Not really.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

— It's definitely that Sebastian has become a monster, without a shred of humanity. Despite everything, he still misses the time when he was human, and these words will infuriate him. Plus, the same flashlight or flash in sensitive eyes. This disorients him for a few seconds.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

— Mentally? Not much. Physically? Quite a lot, and it depends on how much you've exhausted his patience.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

— It depends on a lot of things. From the time you are with him, situations have occurred, especially those related to your life. The longer you stay with him and the more situations there are related to your life, the more he will begin to take care of you. But as for the conquest, this is another story and much longer, because Sebastian lost that normal part of himself, acting on the basis of instincts and vague memories.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

— It depends on the situation.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

— Oh, Sebastian, which is a little surprising, will try to prevent this. He doesn't want a man like you to become even a little bit like him.

[powdermelonkeg]

just saw ur gale/mystra analysis post. im new to the game and dnd lore and honestly… ur take on their relationship feels like the most natural/compelling one??? esp since its all too easy to simplify topics that have many facets and nuance….

thanks for sharing i love analysis and reading people’s takes on narratives : D

My pleasure! (Bee from the future here: congrats, you spawned another meta!)

I love complicated characters, WAY more than I like a clear cut-and-dry case. Flaws, to me, are what make a character compelling and lead to interesting stories about them with choices that can get them into situations. I'm both writing a fanfic and running a campaign where I'm playing as Gale, and in the interest of portraying him properly and in-character, I've gone into SUCH a deep dive into all the decisions and facts that make him him.

It helps to, y'know, also be in love with the fictional wizard, but I digress

The thing about Baldur's Gate 3 is that no character in there is perfect. I've seen a couple analyses about the theme of continuing cycles of abuse vs breaking out of them, but in my mind, in terms of the characters themselves, it goes like this:

The origin characters have just come out of the lowest situation of their lives (Lae'zel being the exception; being tadpoled is a gith's worst nightmare. You're seeing that lowest situation in real time).

Not the lowest point, mind. Gale's lowest was probably the day after he got the Orb. Wyll's was probably the day his father cast him out. Karlach's was the day she lost her heart. But the lowest, accepted normal for them is what they've just left.

They're then thrown out of their depth and forced to rely on you to live. That's #1 priority: living. We get the extremes of these characters before we get their nuances, because they're quite literally at their breaking points.

Then once we get to know them, we see their wants, their hopes, their fears, as they open up to us. Every companion's story is at their own pace, but they all have a moment where they ping-pong between despondency and desire. Sometimes that desire is what we know isn't good for them, like Shadowheart wanting to be a Dark Justiciar. Sometimes that despondency is only for a flicker, like Astarion's realization that he's condemned 7000 people to a half-life of tortured spawnhood for as long as he's been a vampire.

Romance lets us crack all that open more, because if you pursue a romantic partner, they see you as their closest confidant. They WANT to trust you, so they're more willing to explain how they see the world and what decisions they want to chase.

And then their endings. Those often get simplified as good/bad, continuing the cycle vs breaking away from it. But how is Duke Wyll on the same platform as Ascended Astarion? He's not evil, he's not even entirely unhappy. He might even have broken out of his abusive cycle with Mizora, if you played your cards right. And Ascended Astarion is overjoyed, even if he is remarkably more cold.

I think that the endings are less a dichotomy of "this is good for them" vs "this is bad for them," and more one of "bringing out their best traits" vs "bringing out their worst."

Wyll's worst trait is being willing to sacrifice his own wants for whatever people desire of him. His best is standing for what he believes in and ensuring people are safe. Duke Wyll leans into that necessity to turn the other cheek in the name of people who count on him, while the Blade of Avernus has seized that moral compass of his and forged it out of mithral.

Shadowheart's worst trait is blind obedience at the cost of her individuality, while her best is her desire to be kind to things that don't deserve to be hurt. Mother Superior Shadowheart's whole life is defined by Shar. Selûnite Shadowheart's life is defined by her hospitality, especially towards animals.

Karlach's worst trait is how willing she is to accept that things are (to quote her) fucked, letting despair override hope. Her best is her durability in the face of horror. Exploded Karlach would rather die than try to work out a solution in the Hells, because she's terrified of facing Zariel alone. Mindflayer Karlach has accepted her fate and decides to give up her heart and soul to go out a hero, losing who she is. Fury of Avernus Karlach is willing to keep fighting for a solution, and by the time the epilogue happens, she's got her sights set on one.

Astarion's worst trait is his desire for power over people. His best trait is using the tools he has to his advantage. Ascended Astarion has let his powerhungry nature and paranoia lead all of his decisions, with his sights set on dominating mankind. Spawn Astarion has embraced what he is, and carved out a life for himself where he can do as he pleases.

Lae'zel's worst trait is her blind fanaticism, while her best trait is her individual dedication, making her loyalty a marriage of the two. Ascended Lae'zel is a meal for the lich queen, turning a blind eye to all Vlaakith's tried to do to her and literally being consumed by her fervor. Champion of Orpheus Lae'zel has turned her loyalty into something productive for diplomacy. Faerûnian Lae'zel has seized her individuality by the throat and decided her own future.

And then Gale. Gale's worst traits are his hubris and, paradoxically, his low self worth. His best traits are his creativity and wonder for the world. God Gale is the embodiment of ambition, having burned away all but that in pursuit of perfection. Exploded Gale has let his remorse blot out all hope for a redemption in which he does not die, because he thinks he's earned it. Professor Gale leads his life by embracing the school of Illusion and letting his creativity thrive, teaching others to do the same. House Husband Gale has multiple creative projects he's working on, and Adventurer Gale is always finding new sights to see and wanting to share them with you.

There are arguments to be made on which ending the origins are happiest in, certainly, or which one benefits them the most, but each ending represents the extreme of a facet they possess.

So with all that, there's a sort of malleable method to figuring out the ins and outs of a character.

You take their endings—all of them, all variables they can have—and reverse-engineer the flaws and details they carry. Then you start to notice how those work into their approvals for minor things: Astarion approving of your taking of the Blood of Lathander, or Shadowheart approving of standing up for Arabella. Getting a list of approvals and disapprovals is helpful, but having those endings on hand tells you why they react like that to a majority of their decisions.

You take their romance-route explanations of how they act, and apply those to earlier decisions. Astarion's confession to manipulating you and Araj-prompted admittance to using himself as a tool brings to light how he reacts to your decisions, regardless of his actual opinions on them. Wyll's fairytale romance and love of poetic adages speaks to his idealistic nature, and why he takes a sometimes-blinded approach to decisions in which the "right" answer isn't always the smart one.

You take their beginning reactions to stress and use that to measure how future decisions impact them. Lae'zel locks down and gets snappy when she's scared, while Gale immediately turns to diplomacy. Shadowheart has gallows humor, while Wyll turns to quiet acceptance. If they break from these and seem even worse, you know the situation is more dire in their minds than having seven days to live.

And then you factor in all their fun facts and dialogue choices and backstories.

A wizard falls in love with a goddess and her magic, attempts to retrieve a piece of her power for her, is scorned for his attempt and is cursed to die.

Give that backstory to a Tav. Look at how it changes.

A chaotic good wizard fell in love with a goddess, thought retrieving a piece of power for her would be a showy bouquet of love, and was punished for not thinking things through.

A lawful evil wizard fell in love with a goddess's power, snatched the most precious thing she owned, tried to use it to barter his way through to the secrets she kept, and was given a swift retribution.

Same backstory. Same class, same act, same goddess. Wildly different connotations. Wildly different conclusions as to who is in the wrong.

If you take all there is to Gale, all that the game shows us makes up his character, and apply it to this backstory, you get what really happened:

A wizard, enamored with magic, fell in love with a goddess. His desires led him to want more than she was willing to give. In his well-buried fear of inadequacy, he concluded that the reason she wouldn't indulge his ambitions was because he just hadn't proven himself worthy enough. So he tried to prove himself, but he lacked the context for what he was proving himself with. And the goddess, seeing a weapon that had killed her predecessor, saw this ambitious wizard as losing his way and coming for her just like the weapon's creator had. She was angry, she withdrew his link to her, and he didn't know why. So he drew the conclusion that she took his powers to punish him, and let that encompass his fall from grace.

Was he wrong to reach for what was out there?

If you knew that the answers to everything you cared about were not only known, but kept by someone you loved—someone who adored you—what would you do to ask to see them? What if your curiosities were if there were other planets with life out there, or how dark matter worked, or whether or not we could one day travel in the stars? What if it was the potential cure to an illness that's little-understood, or the way to make a program you dreamt up, or the scope of the true limits of your artistic talents? Would your answer change?

Was she wrong to cut him off?

If you were once hurt, and the person you loved—the person who adored you—brought the thing that caused it to your door, believing you'd want it, how would you react to seeing it? What if that thing was someone you thought you'd broken contact with, like a friend or family member you'd been trying to avoid? Would your answer change?

That's the sort of scope that needs to be applied to this, on both sides. You have to take the perspectives of each party, and apply two analogies instead of one.

Gale saw the vastness of the universe, untold wonders, the solution to every question he could ever dream up, and saw Mystra as withholding this from him because she thought he just wasn't worthy enough. To claim Mystra knew his perspective does her a disservice.

Mystra saw a cruel weapon she thought long gone, in the hands of someone who could use it, brought right to her, and thought Gale was willingly following the path of Karsus. To claim Gale knew her perspective does him a disservice.

Should Gale have researched his prize more, so he knew just what he was obtaining? Should he have kept his hands off a cursed book that would devour him? Of course he should have.

Should he have given up on chasing his dreams?

Should Mystra have understood that Gale's pursuit of power was nothing like Karsus'? Should she have communicated when she was angry instead of giving the cold shoulder? Of course she should have.

Should she have given him the benefit of the doubt?

That's the root of their falling out. That's what leads to hurt being inflicted. Understandable, human reactions to the situations they perceive. Unhealthy, unwise choices made afterwards.

You work backwards from this to figure out their dynamic as Chosen and goddess. You work forward from this to understand more of where Gale and Mystra are during the events of Baldur's Gate 3. Gale reached too high, and understands this. His goddess hates him, and he regrets this. Mystra isolated Gale, and understands this. Her Chosen wants redemption, and she wants to make it happen.

Just like we took Gale's character into account, we also have to take Mystra's.

A goddess is faced with a problem. She uses someone who's desperate for approval to solve it, by telling him to kill himself.

An evil goddess is faced with a threat to her reign. She sees someone who's unfailingly loyal and hates himself, and elects to have him tear himself apart rather than do anything about it.

A good goddess is terrified of the future. She sees someone who tried to hurt her, who's going to die anyways, and tells him to use it to save the world.

Same story. Same act, same power, same pawn. Different character. Different perspective. Different outlook on whether or not this is the right thing to do.

Mystra has died, multiple times, to people trying to stake claim to her domain. Someone appears with the very thing that could do it again, right as she's regained her stability.

She does not see mortals the way mortals do. She is timeless. She is eternal. She has a duty to protect billions of people, and one person lost to protect that number is more than worth the sacrifice.

People like to bring up the Seven Sisters as proof of Mystra's cruelty. For those unaware, Mystra asked permission to, then possessed, a woman, used her to court a man (with dubious consent from the woman), and bore seven children, all of whom were capable of bearing Mystra's power as Chosen without dying. The woman she possessed was killed in the process (reduced to no more than a husk, then slain by her now-husband, hoping to end her suffering), and the husband was horrified by the whole story.

Mystra needed Chosen in order to restore herself in the event that she was killed again, to prevent magic as a whole from collapsing and wreaking havoc on the mortal realm, like it had in the few seconds Mystryl had been dead. Elminster, Khelben Blackstaff, and the Seven Sisters contributed to this. The more Chosen she has, the better; what happens if Elminster dies? She can't afford to have all her eggs in one basket.

Mystra has Volo (yeah, that Volo) as a Weave Anchor, imparted with a portion of her power to prevent the Weave from shredding itself to pieces in her absence. All Chosen of Mystra are Weave Anchors by nature. The creation of Weave Anchors was mandated by Ao, the Overgod, and Chosen are the best way to make sure those anchors aren't drained by ambitious people hoping for godlike power. Chosen can, and will, defend themselves, unlike static locations (which Mystra also has). The anchors are why the Weave wasn't completely obliterated during Mystra's last death, when the Spellplague rose up, because they stabilized the Weave around them.

Everything Mystra does is in the name of the big picture, to prevent a catastrophe like the fall of Netheril from happening again. Her restriction of magic, her numerous Chosen, her creation of Weave Anchors, her destruction of those who would claim her power, it's all in the name of the stability she's been charged with. Dornal Silverhand's grief and Elué Silverhand's death, while regrettable, were worth it to bring seven more anchors into existence to save all of the Material.

So someone appears with the Crown of Karsus, potentially powerful enough to try to kill the other gods in the name of the Dead Three. She can't risk being a target of them. She can't risk the destruction of magic again.

Gale is going to die. He lives in fear. He begs for forgiveness.

In Mystra's eyes, she's offering him the best outcome. She'll let him die in service to her, to save Faerûn, and she'll forgive him. He's going to die anyways, and if he does this, she'll give him everything (she thinks) he could ever want in her realm. She's asking him to do what (she thinks) is the right thing.

"She would consider what she considers to be forgiveness."

Notably, she leaves the decision in his hands. She doesn't have Elminster lead him to the Nether Brain. She doesn't activate him as soon as he's there. When he lives yet, she doesn't revoke the charm that keeps him stable. And when he declines, when he lets it go and starts pursuing Karsus' path, she doesn't smite him on the spot.

She is (she thinks) being incredibly patient. If Gale is going to try to be Karsus II, she's ready for him. If he decides to walk off and keep the Orb, he's dug his own grave in the Fugue Plane (those who don't have a god to claim them roam endlessly as husks and form a wall of bodies around the City of Judgement).

From her perspective, she's not being unreasonable. But from the perspective of a mortal, she absolutely is.

"Now, I have a question for thee: what is the worth of a single mortal's life?"

This is a question she cannot answer properly.

I think a lot of characterization is lost whenever someone paints one of them as being totally in the right. But I also think you have to be invested in them as characters to want to see that characterization. If you want to write about Mystra, you have to try to get into her head, analyze the decisions she made, figure out why she thinks she was right, and follow the pattern.

Gale's sacrifice is a very predictable thing for her to ask for.

[bahrtofane]

dialogue 7 trope 8 with tchouameni pls. so happy that ppl are finally writing for him 🥹❤️

- "ooohh you wanna kiss me sooo bad." - Bodyguard au

happy to write for him! he needs more love enjooyyyy

word count - 800+

watch it - flirty tch and weapon mentioned like once enjoyy

You know you're not a very stereotypical bodyguard. Shorter than most, no rippling muscles that tear shirts apart. It does give you the advantage of surprise. No one expects you. Even more so for the man you've been tasked to protect. 

You know they hired you specifically to blend in and so you do. Still keeping close but you look like you could be anything from a part of the crowd to a friend and whatever more. You've seen yourself on a few gossip pages and on news articles here and there. 

They have yet to put the pieces together and you want to keep it that way. You have a job to do and a man to protect. A man that for the life of you you can't understand. 

He's an enigma on a good day. Aurélien keeps a curious eye on you, eager to watch you. But yet so hesitant. 

He doesn't talk to you all that much, but when he does he manages to squeeze playful words in between each sentence. Always catching you off guard. He goes from being honed in and focused to letting his shoulders loose in a laugh. 

Today seems like no exception. You wait in the wings backstage of an event. It's just a rehearsal for the actual thing yet you're here. Its empty save for stage screws running about with wires and microphones tangled on the floor. 

You stand arms crossed a few feet away from where Aurélien is being fitted with different wires and what not. He speaks, arms waving lazily and nodding along to whatever his agent is saying. You haven't talked to him today yet. 

He spots you soon enough, giving you a wave while you respond with a curt nod. He gets shown to where you stand, told to “hang out” here for a second while they adjust the lighting. 

“Didn't know they dragged you here too?” he says, hands resting inside the pockets of his jacket. 

“I have a job to do.” you shrug. 

“Does it even get boring? Being around the same person all the time. I know I get tired.”

Your expression remains neutral, though a spark of amusement flickers in your eyes. "Perhaps," you hum, "But that doesn't change the fact that I'm here to protect you, whether you like it or not."

He grins, gaze lingering on you for a moment longer before turning back to watch the lights cycle through the different settings. "Well, in that case, I suppose I'll just have to make your job as interesting as possible," he says with a lazy shrug. 

You roll your eyes, but cant help the small smile that tugs at your lips. "I have no doubt you will," you reply dryly 

Aurélien gives you a playful smirk before leaning in slightly, his voice dropping to a teasing whisper. "You know," he says, amusement dancing in his eyes, "sometimes I wonder if all this protection is just an excuse to be close to me."

You raise an eyebrow, unimpressed by his attempt at flirting. "Don't flatter yourself," you retort, though you can't stop the smile that seems between your words. He's bold today. 

Leave it to Aurélien to find a way to wiggle into your personal space and under your skin with his words so early in the day. And you have so many more hours left with him. How thrilling. 

He chuckles softly, leaning even closer until his breath brushes against your ear. "Oh, come on," he murmurs, "we both know deep down, you wanna kiss me sooo bad."

You can't help but laugh, shaking your head at his shameless antics. "You wish," you reply, giving him a playful shove before straightening up, feeling the waistband of your pants for your weapon. Old habits die hard you suppose. 

Aurélien grins, the playful glint returning to his eyes as he steps back, resuming his role in the rehearsal.

You don't know what game he really plays. If his words really hold any meaning. If you should listen. So you choose the safe route and brush them off and try to do your job. Even if he insists on making it near impossible. 

He sends you knowing looks from the other side of the backstage area. Ones you know would easily strike up talk. But you can't talk your eyes off him. Partly because of your job and partly due to him being so- what's the word- dazzling. 

You do want to kiss him, but he doesn't need to know that. Not now at least.

For now you watch him do his thing while you try to do your job and push away his voice from ringing in your ears over and over. 

we both know deep down

[bscully]

Why Zagreus is such a good character

*Obligatory Hades spoiler ahead* Zagreus is so so so interesting from a meta perspective. While his design certainly went into the "attractive bad boy" direction, he is not your usual hyper-masculine protagonist.

Definitely not!

It starts off with his physique, which is not that of a tall, beefy body builder, but more of an ancient greek athlete. He is also shorter than most other Gods, of average size by mortal standards, and doesn’t take kindly to people making fun of his height. I find that a fascinating character design choice to make. From there, let's continue with his character.

His temperament is sanguine; he is a ray of sunshine and loves to share all the warmth that rests in his heart. Which is a fascinating trait to have as Prince of the Underworld, who is veiled in Darkness by Mother Night, Nyx, herself. The following Berserk quote comes to mind: "He who bears light exists in the deepest shadow".

(There is a big conceptual overlap between Hades and Berserk, but I’ll just leave it at that for this post)

Zagreus is a sociable, extroverted type who values family and bonds over everything, is respectful, polite, charming. From someone like him, genuine kindness and honesty are a guarantee. Together with his capacity to empathize, it allows him to form meaningful relationships. His noble spirit and attitude are befitting of a prince. He does not mind stepping out of his comfort zone and challenge himself, either.

When you first beat Hades, he asks Zagreus to tell Persephone that Cerberus is doing well. Zagreus instead demanded an answer for a question in exchange of telling her. However, this question was left unanswered as Hades was taken by the Styx before he could reply. Later on, because Zagreus is a good-natured person and knows his priorities, picking his mother’s needs over the grudge he could hold against his father, he tells Persephone anyways.

There are moments in the game where he is sensitive, observant and catches up on social cues very quickly. He listens to others and apologizes to them when he feels like he may have overstepped a boundary, such was the case when Thanatos berated him for allowing Orpheus visiting his muse Eurodyce and meddled into their affairs without their consent.

Sometimes he appears to have troubles expressing what he feels, or is perhaps insecure or anxious to express it (particularly when interacting with Meg, who is rather intimidating). But despite his hesitations and fears I think he is still doing a good job at it.

Judging from a brief conversation with Alecto, he appears to know how to form healthy habits and deal with difficult situations in a productive, nurturing manner (the fact that 1. Alecto doesn’t take kindly to his attempts at getting along and 2. Zag doesn’t like her for it, is kinda funny to me). He is capable to mediate and settle conflicts between people, this is literally one of the game's primary goals.

Judging by what happened between him and Megaera, it appears he also wasn't always this mature and went a long way learning from his mistakes. His sometimes boastful confidence and his running mouth probably were one of them. Regardless, I'm deeply impressed with Zagreus' emotional intelligence and maturity.

Considering how so many other protagonists typically are characterized, this such an unusual way to write a male one, and as such he really stands out.

I believe it is absolutely necessary that protagonists like him exist and we honestly do need more like him: as these shine a different light on nurturing masculinity and what it can be.

Zagreus is not less of a man because of the radiant and kind person he is. Quite the opposite so, I personally find him extremely attractive (he’s doing things to me oml). He is just being himself: unfiltered, optimistic, with a good sense of humor. He is not even trying to fulfill any gender roles in any shape or form, simply embracing the bonds he has for what they are, living the moment. He does whatever it takes to make the world around him a better place and make the people around him happier. And he started doing that once he stopped running away from his problems.

This reassurance is something boys and men (including those who identify as such) urgently need nowadays.

PS: I’m still not over the fact he canonically likes plushies, the lil dork

[theonlyendersgamefan]

I hate that it takes 4 books for the bean saga to go from “guys it’s he’s just like ender I promise. Remember ender? You liked him right? He’s just like ender” to genuinely good well written political thriller.

Orson Scott card developed this chronic illness sometime in the early 1990s which rendered him unable to write more than one compelling story line in a book at a time. There were experimental treatments done while he was writting shadow of the giant but they had to stop due to funding issues. His books weren’t selling very well.

Best example of this is actually outside of the bean saga entirely. Children of the mind, universally considered to be the worst of the original quartet and I would argue that it’s one of his weakest books of all time. Children of the mind actually has several compelling premises. 4 to be exact. Way to many for any to be well developed enough as to be compelling. You have Jane trying to find a new body, and peter and wang-wu planet hoping to influence government, and ender trying to get back with novinha, and everyone else trying to find thé descoladorians.

Only the intergalactic odyssey feels like it was given any real care. The other story lines feel thrown together like they exist purely to finish up the series and put a bow on top and say “here publishing house I did the thing” which ofcourse, is the case. In the post script of the children of the mind audiobook there is an extra from orson Scott card, he says that xenocide and children of the mind were originally going to be one book but it ended up being too long. He offered his publishers to make it into two books and the publishing house seeing an opportunity to sell twice Samantha books, readily agreed. Now this is immediately visible in the actual book. For one children of the mind does not have a large time skip like the other two sequels do. The story takes place immediately after the end of the xenocide. For another thing, after a certain point about half way through the book you notice and realize that this is the end of the series, even if you haven’t already known, and your think to yourself “why is this still going on”. And the answer is because Scott card hasint bothered making this one story. He thought “what haven’t I wrapped up” and tossed it all together.

I liked all the “moments” in children of the mind. I don’t think there are any chapters you can point to and say “this was poorly written”. I cried at some parts there was no lack of passion and emotion in the moments problem is there’s no narrative for the moments to hang on to and so unlike Enders game and speaker for the dead and yes to some extent xenocide the moments don’t blend together to form a story but rather the story has to hold the moments up to cover all of its holes.

What was a talking about? Oh right SHADOW OF THE GIANT IS SO PEAK. The bean saga had the same issues children of the mind had. Yes, bean growing up and his experience with battle school is an interesting idea but so much of the book left me thinking “so what?” Too much of it exists purely to retroactively justify beans position in Enders game. Then the next two books consist of the characters just doing incredible things without any explanation. Peter keeps talking about “his contacts” and graffs resources are seemingly endless unless of course it deals with anything plot related in which case “minister of colonization” is an empty title.

I would much rather read the bean saga from Achilles or alai or hot soups perspective. Why? Because orson Scott car abuses the fact that they are not POV characters to totally disregard any semblance of plausibility. Sure s story of a bunch of child geniuses ruling the world won’t be realistic but Jesus he just pulls whatever to get Achilles out of trouble until suddenly he’s stupid enough to trust one guy, who has known been ten times longer than he has know Achilles, to actually be loyal. Achilles de flandre, the most paranoid boy on planet earth, shot dead because he invited bean to come in with a gun. I would pay good money for a book on Achilles but it would have the same issues as Enders shadow there’d be to much shifting as Orson Scott card tries to fit Achilles where he is supposed to be in Enders shadow. But still it would be worth it just to hear his internal monologue, we really only get 4-5 moments where Achilles is interacting with Petra and I need to know what he was thinking every time. Why did he bring her to the India Pakistan meeting? Why open the plane door? Ajirodndej

This problem goes away entirely in shadow of the giant even a bit before. In shadow puppets we actually get important internal monologue from a character which is not bean or Petra. It’s hot soup, navigating Chinese bureaucracy. It’s boring and clever and I love it. It’s the kind of stuff you saw in Enders game small but totally reasonable conclusion based on real relevant information that existed before this very moment. In the actual book shadow of the giant, we see that alai hadn’t actually maneuvered his way into ruling the entire Islamic world, he was being used as a figure head, presumably by one of the high rankers who had formed the original caliphate. We are shown that the Islamic countries had a loose alliance and that alai, when brought back from Russia, was a mediator between these countries, eventually his prestige as one of Enders gishe and also having proved his unbiasedness, was pronounced caliph. This back tracks on the vague insinuation that alai had done what Peter did but just in a couple of years. We also get to see the bridge goddess thing with virlomi play out and the people that hot soup rule over as emperor act differently than the people that virlomi rules over as goddess of India and they act differently than the people alai rules over as caliph. The fact that we get to seem more of other people help’s this book out so much. We get a wider view of the world and so it doesn’t feel out of nowhere when they world Changes. It feels like an intelligent move made by competent people and not characters who exist purely to get the last page as quickly as possible. It’s genuinely like a different person wrote this book. Or like orson Scott card sent the bean saga back in time 2 decades and let his 40yo self write it.

[the-crow-binary]

Alright, it's time.

As someone who is pro-"adaptations should differ in some ways from the original material" because that's basically the definition of "adaptation", NFCV is a good example of the limit it has to have. Or, at least, the limits I have.

When one wants to adapt a story from one media to another, sacrifices are bound to be made. Changes are meant to happen. You cannot put, in your adaptation, every single detail the original material had. It would be too long, you need to choose the most important parts of the original media in order to make it shine properly. Wich means some characters will have to be erased, some plots too, all in order for the adaptation to offer a fluent and enjoyable experience for everyone. Even those who already know the original material. Of course, those people will sometimes feel sad about a part or a character they really liked but didn't see in the adaptation... but that doesn't make the adaptation bad.

In my opinion, what makes an adaptation good, is when it respects the core of the original work. It can be many things (and it's multifactorial). The message it wants to pass on, it's universe, it's characters, it's lore... it varies from work to work (you can have work focusing on a main character's story, in this case making an adaptation without this character doesn't make sense. It can be a work telling the stories of a world, in this case, with no main protagonist, an adaptation can change the characters...). You can add many changes to a work you are adapting to a new media (or new audience), but it stops being a faithful or "good" adaptation the moment you erase the core of the original work.

And that's why Netflixvania is not a good adaptation.

Ignoring the questionable writing, the "CHURCH BAD" theme, the overdose of curses and gross dialogues (and so many other nasty writing stuff)... Netflixvania misses the point of the franchise it's adapting entirely. And the few easter eggs here and there are not enough to make up for it.

You can make Alucard bisexual. You can make the Belmont clan a noble family in Trevor's era. You can make Isaac black. Those are details that does not affect the core of the franchise. It might make a few grind their teeth, but that's all. No, the problems go way deeper than that.

Castlevania's core is it's themes. It's lore. Castlevania is the story of a seemingly endless cycle of revenge, tragedy and wars. Of generational trauma, with the Belmonts fated to hunt the night and kill Dracula centuries after centuries with no escape. It's this theme of having to fight evil all the time because it will never truly go away, with or without the Belmont clan. Dracula is not just a vampire king ruling over vampires, he's the Demon King. He's the Dark Lord. He's Chaos personified, with Death as his servant and confidant. He rules over so much more than just vampires (and there is more than two humans who swore their lives to him). And he brought this fate upon himself.

The Belmonts are not just a clan. They are humanity's symbol of hopes, dreams and strenghth. They are total opposites to and complete Dracula. The Belmont-Dracula duality is essential to the Castlevania franchise. They are the pillars of Castlevania.

What themes does NFCV has? Church bad. Humans bad. Christianity dumb. A bit of father-son tragedy.

The only common theme is this father-son tragedy, but it is barely touched (we don't even have the time to fully appreciate Dracula and Alucard's relationship before and after they first fought.) and it became one of the main themes of the cartoon. And it would've been fine... if the adaptation didn't threw out the window what made Castlevania Castlevania in the same breath.

Trevor doesn't have any duality with Dracula here. We barely mention the fact Leon went to Transylvania to hunt Dracula down. We don't feel any deep connection, when in the games, Leon was literally Dracula's friend. They worked together, fought together, they were unstoppable together, and when Mathias turned, he offered Leon eternity by his side. He cared deeply. And Leon decided... no. His own morals, his dead betrothed's wishes, they came first. And so came these lines from Leon:

"You have become a cursed being and I will never forgive you. This whip and my kinsmen will destroy you someday. From this day on, the Belmont Clan will hunt the night."

And this is why Trevor had to be the one to kill Dracula. Alucard still could've had his tragic moment, seeing his father dying by the hands of his friend is really messed up, and it would've make a potential SoTN adaptation where he would have to kill Dracula by himself this time more powerful (we'll get to Nocturne in due time.). But it isn't what happened. Trevor barely participated in the fight. It was a Dracula VS Alucard starring Trevor and Sypha.

Trevor isn't Dracula's friend, but this promise, this curse Leon put on his own family so long ago, it created a kind of bond beetween Dracula and Belmonts that would last for centuries. I talked about them, about how deep it goes, here and here. Dracula created the Belmonts as they are now. The Belmonts created Dracula as he is now, too.

NFCV doesn't care about that. NFCV turned Dracula into a vampire lord not even capabe of keeping his own generals in line. NFCV belittled the Belmont clan's importance (one brief scene where the court (mostly Carmilla) is like "oh, what, a Belmont? one of those vampire hunters? alive? wtf" is not enough). NFCV belittled Trevor himself (a few nice-looking fight scenes is not enough). It belittled the Vampire Killer (the most powerful Castlevania weapon, created with alchemy and infused with the soul of Leon's betrothed. there is so much tragic story potential around this weapon alone). It belittled EVERYTHING it took from the games. And I haven't even touch Isaac and Hector (they deserve their own post), who have been done so, so dirty.

NFCV ignored so many things that gave Castlevania his identity that it just became it's own thing, wich butcher the franchise's name. So many NFCV fans don't know the games even exist, or mix it up with the cartoon when they have little to nothing in common (Lords of Shadow had more in common than NFCV. And it was not insulting to the OG universe). And let's not get started on people praising the show for being "better" and how some character got "improved" when in reality, it's written by people who don't get said characters or games and stop at the surface. Just like they stop at NFCV's surface. That's why they think it's good. (loving a show doesn't mean said show is good, sorry)

I used to think "it's okay if the adaptation is not faithful, as long as it's good/enjoyable". And you know what? This kind of mentality is what lead to NFCV. I no longer stand by it. (maybe I should thank NFCV for making me see my limits)

And that's not because I'm a purist. As I said earlier, I'm all for adaptations making changes. But I am also all for respecting the source material as well ("respecting" just doesn't mean "doing everything exactly the way it was originally" to me, unlike... way too much people). And NFCV is not.

And as a show itself, ignoring the "adaptation" part? It's not that great either. If you get critical and think deeper about things, you'll start to see everything that is wrong. It's easier to ignore the problems and enjoy the parts you do like when you don't know the games. It's almost impossible to do when you do know and love the games. When you need to turn off your brain to truly enjoy a show, it's not the proof of a great writing.

But oh... That is only the first Netflixvania. :) This far, you can actually call it faithful to the games, compared to the soon to air Nocturne. :) (it actually hurts me to say)

You cannot look at the trailer and pretend it's even trying to be Castlevania. It's an original work who stole Castlevania's name and characters. With the first serie, you could've use the first, maybe the second season to pretend it was trying but "oh, the games don't have enough story to adapt" (shitty excuse btw). But here? Oh, no. No no no. It is NOT trying anything.

It happens during the french revolution, it seems it's gonna tackle racism and slavery (I do NOT trust the show to portray the french revolution correctly. nor racism. nor anything). Richter's tragedy is apparently going to revolve around the death of his mother, so you can say bye bye to the whole generational trauma and the weight of centuries of his family hunting Dracula (since it's not where NFCV went to begin with) and protecting the world now being on his shoulder and how it affects his psyche and- I mean DAMN. That is such a DOWNGRADE. But it's only the trailer. We'll have to wait for the whole season to air to see how bad it truly is. But I do not trust them to make Richter, one of the most beloved Castlevania characters, shine the way he deserves. I do not trust them to make Castlevania shine at all. Nothing this far can make a games' fan think of said games (probably because it's not for the games' fans.)

But we know it won't be about Richter anyway. Just like NFCV, it will be about everyone but the Belmont of the show. I mean it's logic, since it's the way NFCV went. At least that's coherent.

And everyone knows the sole reason why they went from ""CV3"" to ""RoB/SotN"" directly is because of Alucard, the true main character of NFCV. The trailer just dropped and you already have people asking where Alucard is.

There is so much details I could rant about. But this isn't about details (nor ranting, really). This isn't about every little thing that only makes the cartoon even more of an insult to the games (even if those details, piling up, ARE important). This is about the bigger picture. This is about Castlevania's heart getting crippled and shat on in favor of a pseudo-mature show getting off to his pseudo-deepness.

Games and shows are different medias and thus, are bound to have different ways to tell their stories. One is not lesser than the other. The Castlevania games have a story. It has a lore. It has themes. It's character have personnalities. But it's not a cartoon. It cannot show it by literally making the characters talking about how deep they are. They can't make cutscenes just to tell "I have a tragic backstory". It has to be shown in more subtle ways. It uses the decors. It uses the way the characters stand, or walk, or attack. It exploits the few cutscenes and dialogues to tell the most important informations. And yes, sometimes, it has to use the manual to give infos about the lore or characters. That is not a lesser way to do so. It's a way to adapt to the games' limits in order to tell their story. (also, CoD literally have two mangas to it's name. make your choice on wich version you like most)

There is so, so much potential in Castlevania. And if you get into the games, if you play them, if you just read the wiki or look at the posts of people talking about the lore, the characters, the games and analyzing them, you'll know... NFCV is a waste of an adaptation.

[chambersandfogg]

December 4th, 1924

My dear Mr. Chambers,

Where in the world are you today? Have you fled Europe yet? Not that the continent is a place that needs to be fled from these days, but if the papers are anything to go by, this year hasn’t exactly been uneventful over there. What a mess we all made of things. I still can’t claim to understand why you wanted to go back there in the first place, but I have been enjoying the postcards. And I will admit some envy over getting to see the Games of the Olympiad. Your letter about it only just arrived, postmarked from Czechoslovakia of all places. I can’t tell if you just failed to send it from France over the summer, or if you didn’t write it until well after.

You’re usually good about dating your letters. You’re usually very good about writing them. But you’ve been across the sea for a year now and I have a paltry stack of missives on my desk. Then again, you haven’t received many from me, though I refuse to take full responsibility for that. You’re a hard man to track down, Charles Chambers, and you haven’t left me an address to write back to in four months. Three whole letters, two postcards, and, I imagine, several countries ago. Which means this, like many others, will most likely go unsent by me and unread by you.

I suppose that provides me a venue in which to be more honest than I typically am. Not that I’ve ever held back my mind in your presence. One of us has to say what he’s truly thinking and it’s never going to be you. I’m not sure why I’m bothering with the ritual of writing to you at all, but I'm about to open a new show and usually I’d be sending you an invitation. That’s never been a guarantee that you’d come, but the hand would be outstretched as it always is.

I think I’m quite miffed with you. You left the country with hardly any word. Simply a letter from London, three weeks after you’d already vacated the city, saying that you were going wandering for an unknown amount of time. Not a particularly typical move of Charles Chambers. And even less characteristic is the lack of plan you seem to have. I don’t think you’d keep your next destination from me on purpose—or, at least, I can’t think of a reason why you wouldn’t want me to know where you’re going, to give me some indication of where to send correspondence—which means that you have little idea of your next stop on your Grand Tour. Why the aimless traveling, Charles? For what purpose are you circling the globe with no map?

It isn’t that I don’t have plenty to entertain me. The theater is booming and bustling, the money and interest pouring in faster than I can mount new productions. And I can hardly keep up with every new musical act that’s playing in the jazz clubs. The talent is astounding. I’ve even taken myself to a moving picture twice this year and still find the whole thing as charming as I did when we saw that one picture last year. My parties have gone from delightful affairs to gatherings of legend and sometimes I wonder if this is what we fought the war for. So that life could be only this from now on—art and music and laughter and sparkling champagne poured by bold women in sparkling dresses. I’m not sure if it’s a fair bargain, all told, but it is one of which I’m happy to be on the other side.

I won’t say that I miss your company. We both know that you’re hardly wonderful company on the best of days and I know you don’t hold the same joie de vivre for the frivolity of our present moment. But I don’t enjoy not knowing where you are. I feel off balance hearing from you so infrequently. I find myself wondering what it is you’re doing at random times throughout the day and wishing I could tell you how I’m spending my days.

The harsh reality is, Charles, that you are the person on this earth who knows me best. And that’s been the case for some years, but in your absence that fact has begun to sink into my mind in new and terrifying ways. I don’t want to be reliant on your understanding.

There isn’t any point to finishing this letter in its usual manner. It’s simply going to be shoved into a drawer along with the rest.

[a letter never sent by J.S. Fogg]

[to read the pre-1917 entries, join Atypical Artists and get access to the archive of 24 entries (5,000+ words), as well as ad-free episodes of Atypical's whole catalogue. to receive future monthly missives straight to your inbox, sign up for free here]

[asmallmoon333]

Near for the ask game 👁️👁️ And also Lawlight ✨

Hi Grim!! :3

Near! :D

How I feel about this character: Like him, but tbh no real deep or passionate feelings. I haven't poked his brain enough to get interested. I will say I started liking him more in the A-Kira one-shot, and not only cause his long hair was awesome, but cause I wanted to know more about WHY he was like that, what he felt all those years later about the Kira Case, how his life had gone as the new 'L'.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Mello in a childhood rival-turned-enemy-turned-lover way; Light a very messed-up 'mutual substitutes' way; and Minoru Tanaka cause I think they should have at least met and picked each others' brains!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Also Mello actually, sometimes I just want them to understand each other and come to like...not a moment of peace, so much as a moment of actually talking about what their childhood at Wammys did to them and their relationship as a consequence of it.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Anime Near really was boring and I had no interest in watching him. Manga Near is more interesting, but they still needed to make him more goofy. (I saw two alternate panel translations of 'Serious Near' vs 'Goofy Near' and I loved the second one.)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Near meeting Minoru Tanaka!!! What a freaking loss of opportunity. Also, I'm a fan of the "Near wrote Mikami's Name" theory and I'd like that confirmed or denied in canon.

My OTP: I don't have one, I don't know him well enough tbh, even the ones I do ship, it's kinda with ambivalent feelings.

My cross over ship: Dont have one, sorry :3

A headcanon fact: He didn't grow his hair out cause he's too lazy to cut it or too depressed to bother, he just genuinely likes the way it looks and feels.

Lawlight! :D

When I started shipping it if I did: In December 2022 when I started writing for them! Altho tbh I'm not sure if I so much as shipped them, or if I just really liked the challenge of writing about them getting and being together.

My thoughts: Love them when they're just eternally messed with and messing with each other. I like them both individually as characters so having them together is really fun.

What makes me happy about them: Their symmetry. They just GET each other. And I love picking at their brains and poking them with a stick, and putting them in Situations together. I think their reactions are really fun.

What makes me sad about them: That in canon they were (or maybe mostly just Light, cause we never got to pick L's brain about it) too dumb to see what they'd be bored as hell without the other. That they never got the chance to actually be honest with each other before it was too late. (Altho in the anime L did try.)

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: For L, my pet peeve is the idea that his whole personality was an 'act.' I've never heard a good argument for why he'd bother. From a character standpoint, this would mean we never knew anything about him, which makes me sad. As for Light, when someone gives him too many "good" or too many "bad" traits, for whatever reason. It no longer feels like Light at some point.

Things I look for in fanfic: Mind Games :3

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I don't think they're capable of it lol, sometimes I don't even think they're capable of ending up with each other. But for the sake of it, I wanted to see more of Light and Kiyomi. and as for L, Matsuda could take care of him.

My happily ever after for them: Mind Games, but forever! :D

Who is the big spoon/little spoon: Light is usually the little spoon cause L clings like an octopus, and Light needs to breathe so he faces the other way. L becomes the little spoon if Light wakes up in the middle of the night and L's asleep but not clinging to him.

What is their favorite non-sexual activity: Dang, I can't say Mind Games again. Or arguing. Or discussing a book cause it would be to one-up each other. So I think--sharing a meal. Just the two of them quietly enjoying their food together, and even giving little bits off their plates that they think (hope) the other might enjoy. A small sign that they want the other to live, and be happy.

[adamsvanrhijn]

13, 19, 36 for the writing ask game :3c

date of origin in my drafts august 21 2022... i didn't have answers so doing that now

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

this is soo vague. idk man. genre wise i'm pretty bad at scifi & fantasy because i get caught up in worldbuilding (many such cases) but Subject Matter... idk, a lot of the things i know a lot about and am interested in are not the things the characters i write do a lot of the time, which can be tough, so i try to leverage historical research & knowledge to compensate for that

idk, i feel like i'm an I Can Do Anything If I Put My Mind To It person sometimes and i can't think of anything specific here! certainly like types of stories or narratives or Tropes i sometimes prefer more than others but not sure that applies here :-)

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

i was that weirdo writing stories in kindergarten... very young age. then i ended up on a single fandom fansite that had fanfic and that sparked that particular kind of writing which i never stopped doing... i was very prolific in middle school on ffn unfortunately. i also had opportunities to like, go to writing camp and stuff as a kid/young teen and then i took a bit of creative writing in college so i had a solid background of Form by the time i was Seriously writing fanfic for people that actually cared. original stuff has come and gone but i'm really not interested in ~going pro or even self-published pro, despite a conceit that i probably could be successful at it if i really put my mind to it. i don't tend to be very interested in things that are easy to make commercial in fiction unfortunately so that would be the issue there... expecting to just focus on fic for the rest of my life :-)

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

it's notttt terrible advice it's valuable for beginner authors who do not link what they know to be true about the way, for example, people behave and speak, in the case of having human characters who behave and speak, and what they are familiar with enough to describe intimately, to the stuff they are writing - leveraging the things you are already aware of about yourself and your surroundings because for most people starting out that tends to be easier and result in a higher quality work. "well i don't care about if it's easy" then you should look somewhere else than beginner writer advice!

for example i know a lot about language itself (functionally), and dialogue tends to come pretty easily to me but i am not a very visual person and don't really have interests or past education that require me to pay attention in detail to & be able to name specific elements of things like, idk, trees or cars to use a twitter case - so it's harder for me to write visual descriptions in a way that is accurate, good, and distinctive

[tinyreviews]

Writing Tips: Redemption

Redemption arcs are not just about turning villains into heroes. In fact, redemption arcs can apply to any character, including the protagonist. 

Change: To create a compelling redemption arc, consider what needs to change within the character:

Change in Worldview: They may begin by seeing the world as cruel and unforgiving, but as the arc progresses, they discover that there are people who care about them and are willing to forgive their past actions. This shift in worldview can be a powerful motivator for change.

Change in Self-Perception: They may, at the start, believe they are irredeemable or fundamentally flawed but gradually come to realize their capacity for good. This shift in self-perception is a crucial aspect of their character development.

Change in Wants: At the heart of a redemption arc lies a transformation in the character's stakes and desires. Take the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast," for example. Initially resigned to his cursed fate and desiring solitude, he gradually shifts his wants toward a deep desire for Belle's love. This change in what a character values can be a powerful driver of redemption.

Character Growth: To make a redemption arc authentic and engaging, confront the character with a series of decisions that challenge their perceptions, worldview, and wants.

Conflict: Characters should be continually confronted by conflicting ideals, both old and new. This internal conflict adds depth to their journey and shows the struggle they face in changing.

Failure: Characters should make mistakes along the way. These failures not only create tension but also make their eventual triumph more satisfying. It's through these failures that they learn and grow.

Success: Ultimately, the character should succeed in their decisions. Their evolution should be marked by moments of triumph where they act on their newfound desires and beliefs.

Common Redemption Threads: While redemption arcs can take many forms, some common threads can help guide the storytelling.

Confronting Reality: Characters should be confronted with the harsh reality of their past actions. For instance, Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe realizes the violent consequences of his weapons, which drives his desire for redemption.

Radical Change in Circumstances: Sometimes, a radical change in circumstances can propel a character toward redemption. Stark's captivity and forced weapon-making in the cave is a stark example of this.

Positive Influences: Characters often benefit from the presence of positive influences in their lives. In Stark's case, meeting Yinsen, who encourages him not to waste his life, plays a pivotal role in his transformation.

Atonement: To be fully redeemed, a character needs to atone for their past transgressions, regardless of whether the other characters forgive them. Examples of atonement:

Severus Snape (Harry Potter series): Snape, initially morally ambiguous, is revealed to be motivated by his love for Lily Potter. His ultimate act of atonement is sacrificing himself to protect Harry, proving his loyalty and redeeming his past mistakes.

Jean Valjean (Les Misérables): Valjean, an ex-convict, dedicates his life to helping others, demonstrates compassion and selflessness, and actively seeks to atone for his past actions. His redemption journey culminates in saving Marius at the barricades.

Jamie Lannister (Game of Thrones): Initially morally conflicted, Jamie questions his actions and seeks redemption. He protects Brienne of Tarth and fights against the Night King, showcasing the power of atonement in his character transformation.

This is part of my Writing Tips series. Everyday I publish a writing tip to this blog.

[miyakuli]

Triangle Strategy

My obsession since a month. I finished all the routes and played so many hours, I'm finally ready to present it to you and I hope my review will pique your interest and that you'll join me in this then xD (because I LOVE IT TOO MUCH).

Triangle Strategy is a tactical rpg that also flirts with the narrative genre, in which you juggle between fights, cut scenes and choice phases that will influence the fate of Lord Serenor and the future of the continent of Norzelia. Let's say it right away, I devoured the game; I haven't enjoyed a tactical game this much since Fire Emblem 3H! The game has a lot going for it, both in terms of gameplay and narrative, but there are a few disappointing points that could have been better executed by Square Enix.

❤ The story is excellent, very well written and very engaging. The geopolitical conflict is coherent, and we don't just see everything through the eyes of the MC, there are also side moments to follow the plot from other points of view. It's easy to see that the game isn't at all Manichean; each character has their own vision of the continent's prosperity, and as a result, nobody really embodies evil or good. There's a real maturity of writing here, making TS not at all predictable or cliché. ❤ This feeling is reinforced by the choice system, since in wartime, no choice is fair to all, and concessions have to be made. This makes it almost heartbreaking to decide. The game offers us 2 forms of choice. First, dialogue choices to reinforce your character's convictions, revolving around 3 main themes: Morality, Liberty, and Utility. Then, scenario choices that will influence your game, based on a debate with your group; in fact, the convictions you've strengthened will help you win debates. It's an essential part of the story, and adds a lot of spice, if I may say so, as well as replayability (4 endings, including a "true end"). ❤ Let's talk about combat. The tactical aspect is fairly basic and easy to learn. On the other hand, it offers real diversity in terms of combinations. Each recruit has their own combat specialities (2 archers will not have the same attack and defense characteristics, and will have very different skills too). As a result, you really get caught up in studying the field, weather and enemies to come up with the best possible strategy. What's more, the game offers a fair amount of challenge in certain battles, so you'll sometimes have to start them all over again, which really pushes you to persevere and find the best possible combinations; it was extremely addictive for me. ❤ In terms of artistic direction, the 2d-hd pixel art is really beautiful, with superb lighting effects and depth of field. ❤ For the audio, the game is already fully dubbed (Japanese or English), which greatly strengthens our attachment to the characters and our immersion in the story. I played it in Japanese and recognized some big names in dubbing, so it really is a top-quality cast. Now I'd like to turn to the thing that most amazed me about this game: the music. Composed by Akira Senju, whose music for FMA Brotherhood I already greatly admire, he created here an absolutely incredible soundtrack! All the themes are memorable and effectively accompany the atmosphere of every moment in the game. I can say without hesitation that this soundtrack has immediately become one of my must-haves <3

+/- The group's main characters are very likeable and pretty well developed over the course of the game. It's a pity that this is not the case for the other units in our group. Their recruitment is done in a very expeditious way (the characters are accessible as soon as you've increased your convictions enough) based on a short scene like, "Hi, I've come to fight by your side". And then you unlock 2 extra stages if you raise their stats enough, and that's it…at least in Fire Emblem, the appearance of secondary units was done through combat, which allowed us to learn and test their skills, it was much more useful. +/- NG+ is really cool if you want to keep playing and unlock new characters or scenarios. On the other hand, why doesn't the option just appear in the menu, it's pretty confusing to launch (because yes, I relaunched another day and had forgotten about the little explanatory window, but come on!).

✖ Some combat animations are quite slow, and you can't really get past them even when speeding up. ✖ The exploration phases are not very interesting (only 2 phases have a real impact on the scenario, otherwise it's just to recover items). ✖ The game's OST is neither sold on Steam, nor accessible on Spotify or anything else, I want to tear my hair out in frustration. PLEASE SQUARE ENIX, LET ME OWN THIS MUSIC!!!! (;;)

As you can see, after 80 hours of play, Triangle Strategy is for me an excellent game in its genre, thanks to its narrative and strategic qualities, and I can say that I felt a great sadness to have finished it x') However, I'd recommend it to those who like to read, because yes, the dialogues are rich and abundant, and I think that might put off a lot of people expecting more combat and less blah-blah.

As far as I'm concerned, it's this balance between narrative and combat that gives this game its charm and strength, and which I'm sure will convince other lovers of the genre. I'm convinced of it.

➡ My Steam page

[kafkaoftherubble]

Hello friend!

11, 12, 21, 23 for the ask game :3

A rare moment when I, Lyndis, reblogs an ask game and don't say shit like DON'T ASK ME I HAVE NO TIME TO WRITE A RAMBLE and THIS IS FOR MY MUTUALS TO REBLOG SO I CAN ASK YOU.

12- What do you want to be remembered for when you die?

Honestly, I don't mind not being remembered for anything, since I'm more interested in my actions than other people's memories of me.

I favor people remembering me in occasional snippets, flashes of memories simply because some actions or experiences reminded them of me than everyone trying to make sense of who I was only after I died.

I remember people this way, too; plenty of stuff that happens now will remind me of someone—no matter how distant they were. They could be my friend for those few hours while we were in that children's park, or a stranger I just happened to be staring at as something happened, or a person who had wanted to befriend me but didn't know how to bridge the gap because I was so weird.

I will remember the event(s) that involved them. And then the current me will have new appraisals and understandings of that person in this memory. Many of these random people are still alive (I guess through statistics! Ahahah!), but they are already remembered because their actions meant something—for good or ill, and sometimes, both—to the me of that time.

So I prefer that. I don't want to be remembered as the person I am at the time of death. I want to be remembered as the person I was at a snippet of time because of a deed I've done. Good or bad, it's fine.

---

Wow, I am already writing a loooooong one. BUT YOU EXPECTED THAT, DIDN'T YOU?

MORE UNDER THE CUT.

21- How would you dispose of a body?

Hey, wait a second. What makes you think I will ever need to do this?! I need to read up on the literature, put out a Microsoft Excel sheet on bibliography and citations, and then write a thesis to come up with a good way of disposal. You can't just spring this one on me!

I think I will dismember it and store the parts in vacuum bags separately to throw them away (without the bags because they don't decompose). Feeding it to wildlife at the bottom of a canyon or high in the mountain is great, but I don't have that sort of place nearby.

If I have the money, I will do it the normal way. Funeral homes and cremation.

Hmm... If I live in Scandinavian countries, body disposal might be an easier feat given the vast forests. At least, that's what Nordic noir films and drama say. Also, if I were to live in those countries, I don't think I'd resort to murder to solve my problems, cause' I kinda think violence is the means of the incompetent (and sometimes, the choiceless). Yea, I don't think I'm the type to kill for pleasure.

---

23- Would you rather be burned at the stake but die a saint beloved by all, or die peacefully but have nobody remember you?

Oh! Hmm. Again, since I don't mind not being remembered the way most people conceptualized "being remembered" (see my answer for Q12)... the latter isn't bad at all.

This is particularly because this question didn't preclude the latter from also being helpful and benevolent to the people who live around them or even performing deeds that go a long way toward helping a lotta people. They just don't get burned at a stake. Or be recognized as a saint for their work. Aye, that's not bad at all!

In the case where the sorta things I want to do—or the deeds worth doing—deadass ensures a fate at the stake as a beloved saint, and there's absolutely no way out of this?

Urgh, fine. But I will definitely be complaining. Even my AAHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUCKKKK will have tonal inflections so you know I died complaining. I will go out noisily.

It's kinda funny, but I'm now wondering which feels more embarrassing to me. The fact that I'm tied to a stake for this fiery punishment, or the fact that I'm somehow a saint and everyone loves me. Bruh?

I'm telling ya, both make my cheeks burn. The former does that literally once the pyre starts, though.

---

11- When’s the last time you cried?

The last time I cried was Monday night.

Now, you might wonder why. I will tell you because I don't want you to be worried. But there's a reason why this is the last one. I won't be graphic, and it's ultimately—objectively—very ridiculously trivial, but it may be triggering to people with OCD. Which Future Lyns are.

I tried to be Bob the Builder but ended up hurting both of my thumbs because it turned out, I am Blud the Bozo ("Can we fix it? Yes, with BLOOD!"). One of them was a stab wound, and the other was a cut on the print.

I... I have problems with gashes and cuts. Let's just leave it at that.

This wound didn't even bleed; it was just a dermal cut. Anyway, I got it wrapped with a normal plaster.

When it got to the evening, the plaster came off because I was doing the dishes. I heal quickly, so I thought it must have healed. I didn't look very carefully because I can't stand looking at cuts.

While watching a show with my sister and cousin, my thumb suddenly became itchier and itchier. It became painful, but the itch-pain ratio kept changing. I tried to ignore it, and then I couldn't. It became so overwhelming that I was clutching my hand with another as though I was Kakashi Hatake about to do a Chidori.

My sister was like, "BRO, JUST GET IT DRESSED UP, JESUS."

So I told them to continue watching while I went upstairs to my room, where the first-aid bag was.

Then, suddenly, I fell to the floor and started bursting into tears. Legit just sobbing so hard. It wasn't the most painful shit in the world; brutha I have menstrual cramps that can knock me out in public to the diners' horror. This was just itch-pain.

But it's the imageries, yea? That it will be torn open because I would do that. The pain was me tearing it apart! Even though I did no such thing. I pulled my thumb as far away from my other hand because I was afraid that it was true, but it was still itchy and painful and enticing me to rip it, but I didn't want to do that at all, ya know?

I realized that I couldn't even control my body well. It was shaking. My fingers were trembling uncontrollably. The floor was wet with my damn tears. I was just whimpering, man.

Now, the one thing I'm proud of is that my brain has its autonomous zones. The metacognition regions of my brain are fucking ripped, bro. They can operate even when I'm about to black out or close to being compromised (unless I got knocked out by anesthetics). So yea, these regions weren't overwhelmed, so I still remembered what to do. I struggled to get the bag and dropped it instead of putting it down. I did my best to open the zip and pulled out the antiseptic cream tube. Unscrewing it was so hard but finally, I got it!

My fingers were trembling so much, just squeezing a peanut-sized cream was tough. It was hard to aim the cream on my other hand because the target kept moving around uncontrollably. Then spreading it on the gash almost made my hands weak, because I was touching it, and the compulsions...

The last thing to do was to wrap it with a new bandage. Tearing it was easier because my tears had wetted the paper so much. Finally, I got the gash covered.

The itch-pain subsided almost immediately. And the tears just stopped. Control had returned to me like a snap. I wiped my tears and quietly stored the bag. I waited until my throat didn't sound thick with tears and washed my face. I went downstairs and asked, "The fuck did I miss?"

It felt so long. But it was only 10 minutes at most.

Even now, talking about it made my thumb itch a little. Man, the only thing I'm proud of is that I did manage to dress the wound despite all that weird shit over a non-bleeding gash. Nani the fuck?!

THE END! Hope you enjoyed this long read!

P.S. I'm fine now, yea? Don't worry! It's all healed up! See? I can be pathetic too!

[cha-melodius]

hi! ⭐️ for love is a losing game pretty please?

HELLO I didn't mean to leave this for an entire day lol, but I've barely had a moment to breathe today and I wanted to be able to sit and think about this one.

Ok, Love is a Losing Game! So as I mention in the fic notes, I decided to write this fic after @eavos posted something in the tmfu discord server about The Queen's Gambit and how it'd make a good setting for a napollya AU. At first I didn't really think that much of it, but then I WATCHED The Queen's Gambit and the idea took hold of me like woah. Before this fic I'd written one long-form AU, and I certainly didn't expect this to become my longest ever fic, nor how MUCH I'd end up putting into it.

I've never done more research for a fic than I did for this fic. I planned it out using actual chess tournaments in the 1960s (whereupon I quickly learned just how fictional The Queen's Gambit was lol), getting into the nitty gritty of how many players and from what countries actually played them. Most of the chess games in the fic are real—I read an absurd number of tournament recaps in old archived issues of Chess Life magazine. I also got some information about grandmasters' lives and careers from various articles in there, as well as other stories online.

Illya's career wasn't really patterned off of any one player, but Napoleon's is roughly based on that of Bobby Fischer (this is one of the big reasons why, every time I think about 'filing off the serial numbers' of this fic, I reject the idea—I fear it would be written off as 'what if Bobby Fischer was gay', even when there's nothing of Fischer's personality in this). And don't get me started on the research/planning I did for the World Chess Championship at the end; I had spreadsheets to figure out the points and how to make it work out like I wanted it to.

Since this was the early days of me planning fics, I didn't have a great sense of chapters, nor did I have a very detailed outline. I'll post it here, in fact (behind a cut for spoilers, just in case).

Before I drop the rest, if anyone who's not a TMFU fan ends up reading this far, here's my tiny plea: If you love my fics, give this one a chance. You don't need to know anything about the fandom, I promise; consider it an original novel lol. But I still think this is among my best works, and it deserves to be read more than it is.

Ok, the outline. This was it—the championship, the date, very brief note about what was happening, and who won the tournament (tournaments in parentheses happened offscreen). I do not now recall what the asterisks mean lmao.

(US National Championship & Zonal, New York 1965 – Napoleon)

Hastings International Chess Congress 1966 (Jan) – Meet for the first time (Illya, Ch)*

Mar del Plata, Argentina 1966 (March) – Begin off-book games (draw, Co)

(World Chess Championship, Moscow 1966 – Illya)

Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica 1966 (July) – Affair begins (1–1, Illya Ch)*

Chess Olympiad, Havana 1966 (Oct) – Discovery (Soviets)

Palma de Mallorca, Spain 1966 (Nov) – Napoleon absent (Illya loses)

US Championship, New York 1966 (Dec) – Illya shows up looking for Napoleon*

Monte Carlo Tournament, Monaco 1967 (March) – Napoleon returns (Napoleon, Co)

Canadian Centennial Grand Masters Chess Tournament, Winnipeg 1967 (Oct) – Illya misses (Napoleon)*

Sousse Interzonal, Tunisia 1967 (Nov) – Napoleon wins

(Hoogovens 1968; Monte Carlo 1968; Chess Olympiad, Lugano 1968; Palma 1968)

World Chess Championship, Reykjavík 1969 (June) – Illya v. Napoleon (Napoleon)*

San Juan International Tournament, Puerto Rico 1969 (Oct) – Defection

Some of the early ones really ballooned, like Mar del Plata and the Piatigorsky Cup, because I really needed to give their relationship space to develop. And I'm so glad I did, I love all those moments and conversations they have. Sometimes I feel like I'm rushing through fics more these days, and this one was one I just allowed to grow, which is part of what makes it so delightful.

Anyway if you ever have questions about this fic please feel free to ask, I will never not want to talk about it. I love it so so much. Thank you for asking!!

[darkangelsofthedarknight]

PLEASE like meatsleep/sewnkin is such an overlooked arg with many quirks hidden underneath.

Maybe I'm just a little schizo gremlin (good thing) that likes to go over mostly dead series more than one time to see all the details or maybe people just don't know how to appreciate things /hj

I'm gonna give a screenshot the list of some fun things I've noticed:

Reminder that "one character" means Meat or Sewnkin as its not specified who records which video cannonically.

I couldn't remember anything else about the story itself but i can provide some behind the scenes fun facts taken directly from the AMA. I'll probably post it separately sometime.

And now onto another thing.

When people say that you can't squeeze out a proper character out of these two guys, they are lying.

Not only is there the traditional way (letting your imagination run wild because YOU are the writer of the series) but there's also diving in deep, takin note of certain behaviours, taking in how they interact on twitter etc..

Just because they aren't like traditional characters, doesn't mean they don't exist.

They are more what I like to call "blank canvas characters". Where it's up for interpretation who they are. And I think it's a great creative outlet! /pos

I've always known human psychology well even if I'm not interested in it. I observe and take mental notes of humans. I could be a therapist, speaking honestly. But I just don't want to.

So yeah, that's why I am like this.

I like writing and am creative so that's why I have some meat AUs as well.

Now, I don't know what to exactly write about the two guys..

I have already mentioned that Sewnkin probably likes hanging around abandoned places, scaring people and just being a cryptid. Backed up by the tweet "Silent hill new Brunswick please find Sewnkin again"

Now, I don't know anything about silent hill (Both the games and the real life case, it could be referring to either but Dan Bell has a video about the irl one) so Meat could be comparing Sewnkin to a character/person or saying that Sewnkin is gone again and needs to be found. One of the rare moments where the uploader is known (in this case the tweet uploader is Meatsleep).

On a quick side note I want to say that the phrase "Meatsleep is Sewnkin and Sewkin is Meatsleep" refers to the non story wise fact that the same people are behind those channels (I say those because those two channels aren't, maybe 'weren't' because I'm not sure if they still exist, the only ones that exist/existed, I can't find how many but owlwithmoth and neuaryfirst are suspected to be by the creators as well, for the love of me I can't remember how the latter one is spelt). They have been known to say things about themselves but in a mysterious way like usual.

What puzzles me is the "prove the disciple" tweet cause as you saw in the screenshot I thought it was about how Meat is a disciple of Sewnkin but in the AMA they (creators) also say something about a kidney being sufficient. Makes me think maybe Meat gave Sewnkin a part of his body (kidney) to be taught by Sewnkin. Going great lengths. Or maybe it was a requirement (for those who don't know what sufficient means, it means "enough" or "adequate", aka a conversation I would imagine between them "What do I need Todo to be your disciple? What do I need to give?" "A kidney is adequate enough.")

And that's all I have for now. I'll edit in anything I forgot.

If anyone wants to talk to me personally about ARGs and analogue horrors please ask me for my discord account in the comment section.

Edit: yup I had to edit in seconds after uploading. I just wanna make a comparison and similarity- imagine FNaF. A developers last resort. But it accidentally blew up. It even made the horror game community have a reset. Having games trying to replicate it in order to achieve similar success. It has ups but its ultimate demise was when the series caused the creator to be cancelled and 'retired' from the series (not really imo lol), but it did bring great memories. Sounds familiar? Yep, same phenomenon with the meatsleep series. New concept in the arg community, original idea, amateur creators, last resort, cultural reset in the arg community, tons of copycats and unintentional copycats, harassment, giving up.. Both are different franchises but both had a similar outcome. Another instance of "humans destroy whats different and/or original".

[one0p1nk]

// Ehhhh dumping some silly Horrocalist HCs made out of self-indulgence <333 {+ silly doodles}

Like what I said before, they’re both autists (probably even different types of autists individually/ih) it’s sometimes funny to imagine autists interact sometimes. It can be either wholesome or a secret recipe to disaster./lh

Even if Horropedia categorizes Philocalist as the sweet empathetic Asian girl, he also wonder if her Hispanic side of her roots might say otherwise or just a different kind of charm. In reality, Philocalist is just a sweetheart who for some reasons thinks romance and horror can go hand in hand as her favorites. No matter how cheesy romance is, and no matter how disturbing and spine chilling the thrills of horror can be;;;

Philocalist is a good girl!!! She loves kids, and finds beauty in many things. Just like what her alias means. Sometimes, Horropedia kinda is a bad influence to her like encouraging her to go all nighters watching horror movies or play horror games with him/ih. Ofc, the gal doesn’t let it slide at times. Even if she doesn’t even sleep.

Joshua would tease her when he finds out Philocalist’s drew him a couple of times before- When she quietly explains that she tends to draw whatever she cherishes on her drawing pad, that’s when brunette felt some butterflies on his stomach/ih

“Wait a minute, who’s this man?” *points at a blonde guy with glasses, Journo(my nonfandom OC)

“He’s my friend, Journo.”

“…”

“Horropedia…?”

*scrolls the drawing away before taking out his journal entry with an empty page shown* “Draw something here instead-“/ih/j

Horropedia wouldn’t be the jealous type, I’m sure he’s quite observant and tries to analyze things before assuming. But of course, it sometimes wouldn’t stop making him feel this small bitter feeling on his chest;;; (why his babe has so many male and female friendssss??? <//3/ih/pos)

I can imagine Horropedia being a strange but sweet boyfriend… he gifts Philocalist dream catcher earrings, a ghost hunting pistol, and even a crucifix and talismans for some reasons.

“Is to keep you safe, Boo.” He would always answer to Philocalist’s light skepticism with those single words.

I’m going silly and having Horropedia calling Philocalist her name in general is just good enough. And when he’s so happy and just has this emotional moment, he would call her “Boo” or even “Babe”…-

Even before they established their relationship, he still calls her “Wife” as a joke. Since Philocalist kinda first resembles him as a cute 90s anime girl/waifu by the moment he first heard her speak Japanese- finds it quite fascinating that she’s programmed to learn multiple languages.

Horropedia still tends to sound pretty strange and insensitive with his humor. Philocalist sometimes can’t take his words lightly. But tolerates a decent amount because she can tell that half of the things he say may be just for funny shows/ih

If Horropedia calls her baby girl, what if Philocalist calls him babyboy (cues Horropedia spilling his coffee HAHA-)

He’s quite happy the fact that Philocalist doesn’t get easily scared with horror stories, as she’s more fascinated than disturbed,..-

Joshua first wondered what’s behind Philocalist’s mask. But it turns out there is no secret behind it, she just happens to have this pandemic experience crisis from the 2020’s that she tries to prevent herself from getting contact to smelly, stinky, and yucky germs and it kinda benefits her that it keeps her face warm at cold maps. Horropedia, on the other hand, probably would find it interesting that Philocalist has a special case when it comes to belonging in a specific timeline.. when she doesn’t even belong to anywhere. She’s out of this world!

Horropedia often gives Philocalist forehead kisses, and even cheeks. Sometimes on the lips indirectly or directly either because he may be in a hurry that Philocalist can’t remove her masks quickly or when he really wants to feel her lips/ih/gets bonked.

I will write soon about how they both have first met in my writing blog! It’s still in progress atm.

Mawan(Klai’s oc) is like a father-figure to Philocalist. According to Klai, Mawan would be calm about the pair’s bond (but also would lightly threaten Horropedia to not break her heart is funny djjddjjd-) Meanwhile Philocalist is just standing there not certain about what’s going on in front of her.