#story of magus is a working title

[skyderman]

WIP Intro

When Lilya Lamaya, a clever Bright Magic student, teams up with a trespassing Witch apprentice named Felix, they uncover the greatest secret of the floating city of Valerius, and must rescue Lilya's sister Carmen from Valerius’ clutches without bringing the city to the ground.

Genre: Middle grade fantasy

Tropes: witches, enchanted forest, floating island, hard magic system, magical girl (sorta), queer characters

Setting: SoM takes place in a region known as Pelroa, a few centuries after a war between magical factions destroyed most of the world, which has since been largely reclaimed by nature and transformed by residual magic. The City of Valerius was one of the few bastions of society to survive, and its people (Bright Mages) have been isolated on a floating island since that world-shattering event. A lake has formed in the crater Valerius left behind when it rose, and a couple of other surviving groups have made their homes among the enchanted forest there: a coven of Witches and a Shadow Mage city called Camaerahh.

Click the readmore for themes, writing stage, story tags/cw, characters, an excerpt, and tag list!

Themes

Children deserve respect and to have their voices heard as much as any adult does. Adults can fail their children in many ways, and it is the duty of those adults to make reparations and elevate children's voices.

One should not make assumptions about a group of people based on their appearances, first impressions, or one's own preconceptions about those people.

It is imperative to question authority, even and especially authority figures you trust or love. No authority should go unquestioned.

Knowledge is a right that everyone, including children, should have access to. The desire to learn is something that should be preserved, fostered, and encouraged, and doesn’t disappear with age.

In order to truly progress, society must let go of the past and leave behind attitudes adopted during times of war.

In order to truly progress, society must coexist with the natural world and with other societies.

...and so on

Current stage: First draft

tags: #Story of Magus, #som CW: child grooming (ideologically), absent parents, loss of autonomy, drowning, nationalism, magical/fantasy violence

Characters

Lilya Lamaya

POV character. 12, a smart girl: self-righteous, nosy, constantly challenging her teachers. She is a student at the Academy, and is dissatisfied with what the Archmages allow them to learn. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and for that reason is a somewhat controversial personality among her fellow students. She tends to boss people around that let her and butt heads with people that disagree with her.

Felix

11, a firebrand: curious, attention-seeking, fiercely loyal. Felix chases fun and excitement, and has little regard for customs and rules. When she respects someone, she shows it deeply, but when she doesn’t, she will defy them relentlessly. She is quite lonely, with only her familiar (a ginger cat named Matilda) as a companion, who acts more like her guardian than her friend. (also a trans girl!)

Carmen Lamaya

14, a prodigy: responsible, compassionate, fawning. Carmen is Lilya's older sister. She is an incredibly skilled Bright Mage, even outside of her age bracket, and as such is poised to adopt the role of konyenon, which plays an important part in keeping Valerius safe. She works hard, and loves deeply; magic, her sister, and her city all share her heart.

[more to come]

Excerpt

Lilya and Felix crept down the passage after Carmen and the Archmages. Lilya tried to keep close to the cold stone wall to stay hidden, but the passage was so narrow that it hardly mattered. The group ahead turned the corner, from which an eerie green light sprang, and engulfed in it they looked like ghosts.  “Do your Archmages usually slink around creepy hallways?” Felix whispered. “Of course not,” said Lilya. “At least, they’re not supposed to. Something isn’t right. Carmen is supposed to be in the tower so she can help the city float. I don’t know what good she’d be down here.” “I bet they do this all the time. If I were slinking around I certainly wouldn’t go telling everyone about it.” Lilya threw a smile over her shoulder. “Then let’s do just that and keep quiet.” Felix smiled back and winked.

~~~ tag list: @hd-literature, @mr-orion, and maybe you! :) (if you'd like to be added or removed, just ask!)

[arimiadev]

why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail

I love visual novels. being a long time fate/stay night fan and only having heard of mahoyo from hushed whispers about its cinematography, I was super invested when it was announced to be coming to the west and I could finally play an official version of it.

however, a lot of people interested in type-moon works had never heard of mahoyo, let alone it getting an official english translation. but how? aniplex is publishing the game and they're one of the largest anime distributors in the world.

with the console release of mahoyo being almost exactly a year ago and the steam release being just 10 days away, I want to look over some of aniplex USA's bizarre and nonexistent marketing for one of my favorite visual novels.

let's clear up a few things, first.

mahoyo is the shortened form of mahoutsukai no yoru (not to be confused with mahoutsukai no yome, i.e. the ancient magus bride), which has been localized as witch on the holy night. mahoyo was a linear non-eroge visual novel released by type-moon in 2012, being one of the first scripts kinoko nasu (co-founder of type-moon) wrote back in 1996 and adapted into a VN many, many years later.

in April of 2022, a console remaster (switch, playstation 4) was announced with HD assets and voice acting, to be published by aniplex. notably, this console release would contain an english translation and was later confirmed in June to be sold in the west via online retailers. this was huge news, as this meant mahoyo would be the first type-moon visual novel (not including gameplay-oriented titles like fate/extella or fate/grand order) to be officially released in the west, as despite numerous fan translations, their more recognizable visual novels tsukihime and fate/stay night still had not received a localization.

type-moon is the developer behind mahoyo and aniplex is the publisher, meaning that type-moon made the game and aniplex is in charge of distributing (and marketing) the game worldwide.

timeline:

April 11 2022: Mahoyo rerelease announced for consoles (Switch & PlayStation 4), including English translation

July 4 2022: Aniplex confirms Mahoyo will be available to the West, localized under the name Witch on the Holy Night

October 14 2022: 2nd trailer released, more voice actor info announced

November 3 2022: physical pre-orders launched, demo version available

November 18 2022: Aniplex attends Anime NYC with Mahoyo

December 7 2022: Mahoyo released digitally on Switch / PlayStation 4 (Dec 8th in Japan, Dec 7th in America)

December 12 2022: Mahoyo reaches 110k units sold worldwide

January 27 2023: Mahoyo physicals release

July 5 2023: Mahoyo reaches 150k units sold worldwide

September 10 2023: Mahoyo announced for Steam via a now unlisted Aniplex livestream

December 13 2023: Mahoyo will be released on Steam (Dec 14th in Japan, Dec 13th in America)

some of the dates might be a little fuzzy, especially the release dates, as some sources go by japanese time and some go by american timezones, so just be aware of that.

now, let's talk a bit about mahoyo itself.

mahoyo is a masterpiece. it's a niche game not meant for everyone. its cinematography is top notch among visual novels. its writing style can be off-putting to people who want faster-paced stories. it's one of my most beloved visual novels I've ever played, and I've been in this field for almost a decade and have played well over 100 VNs.

mahoyo is a completely linear visual novel—meaning it has no choices or gameplay—that follows aoko, a high schooler mage trying to balance her perfect school president facade with her secret life as a mage, something she has to keep secret at the risk of death. this is one of the lesser known type-moon works but it's well beloved because of the care put into it.

if you've ever heard someone talk about it, it's almost impossible for them to not mention the visuals. mahoyo is one of the most visually impressive visual novels I've ever seen, with its inspired use of artwork and in-game animations. I cannot recommend this VN enough if you like modern fantasy and don't mind linear VNs.

before we dive into aniplex USA's marketing, I want to clarify a few marketing terms for people who don't market visual novels as a job. marketing is not just advertising—it's everything related to how a product communicates with potential users, including its branding, its packaging, its everything. when marketing a game, you have several different avenues: social media, press & influencers, trailers, store pages, and more.

today I want to show you how, based off what I have researched after a long, manic day, aniplex USA has failed mahoyo on all of these accounts.

so let's go back to its western release.

mahoyo has a few official english channels:

website

twitter

facebook

aniplex also has an official english twitter with almost 500k followers where they shared mahoyo very rarely—only 9 tweets about the game ever.

well, surely their other pages are more maintained right—

both accounts stopped posting July 10th/11th, with their last post being about mahoyo going on sale on consoles. let's look at their posts prior to this, though, starting with the twitter.

we can see that the twitter account was made in december of 2022. if we scroll down far enough (it's not hard, given they only have 33 tweets), we can see that their first tweet was on december 6th 2022:

let's go back to our timeline. can you tell me when mahoyo's remaster released digitally?

yes they made both of the english mahoyo social media accounts the day before the game launched

we can very easily add up the entire social media posts for the game thus far:

mahoyo english twitter - 30 tweets and 3 retweets

mahoyo english facebook - 27 posts

aniplex english twitter - 9 tweets

aniplex english facebook - 2 posts

no other english social media accounts were tied to the website, so these are the only ones I looked at. this means in total, there were only 68 social media posts for the console release of mahoyo by the publisher for english audiences.

but what about the steam release? after the game sold over 150k+ units on consoles, surely aniplex was ready to market it a bit more for pc users—

neither account has made a post about the upcoming steam release.

if we look at the twitter, they have 3 tweets since July that do talk about the upcoming steam release- however, these are retweets from the japanese mahoyo account.

we know that this twitter and this facebook account are the official social media for mahoyo as they're linked on the website, so they're definitely meant to be followed for game updates in the west. well, maybe the english aniplex twitter has posted about it—

none of the english aniplex or mahoyo accounts have made a single post about the steam release

that's right, the social media posts I counted above are the only posts for mahoyo on their english accounts, all dating back before the steam release was announced. since then, they have not made a single original post even mentioning the steam release.

meanwhile, the japanese mahoyo twitter has been hustling hard to promote the upcoming steam release—reposting trailers, character bios, and more almost every day with pretty good numbers.

in fact, the japanese mahoyo twitter did such a good job at marketing it that the aniplex USA twitter never mentioned the english mahoyo twiter, instead only @ ing the japanese one in tweets (despite the english one being linked on the website).

why they even bothered making social media accounts and then not running them despite being one of the largest anime distributors in the world I have no clue.

well, maybe they didn't need to rely on social media presence. maybe they were going for the in-person approach and marketing it at conventions.

mahoyo had basically no anime convention presence

the only reference I can find to aniplex notably promoting mahoyo at any western convention is this tweet of them at anime NYC. from someone who was at anime NYC, I've been told that they pushed the game heavily at their booth with TV screens promoting the game.

however, anime NYC is only one anime convention. you cannot hope to sell a game by just attending one anime convention. mahoyo might have had a presence at other american conventions, but I'm unable to find any images or news about this.

maybe they don't understand type-moon

aniplex is the publisher for fate/grand order, one of the most successful mobile games ever created. they're also the distributor for a majority of type-moon related anime, ranging from fate to garden of sinners to side series. aniplex's marketing team should have lots of experience with type-moon properties.

maybe it was promoted in other aniplex titles

I was also unable to find a news post in fate/grand order related to mahoyo's release, despite news posts for other type-moon series (namely fate but also things like melty blood) getting news posts in fate/grand order. I might've missed the news posts when looking back through FGO but I don't believe there was one.

maybe it sold well in other regions but not western ones

(I'm going to be referring only to the console release for these stats, keep in mind)

mahoyo released December 7th/8th 2022 with an english, japanese, simplified chinese, and traditional chinese translations. at the end of the release week, mahoyo's japanese twitter announced the game had sold 110k copies worldwide and famitsu reported that 66,344 of these units were sold in japan. this means we have around 43k units unaccounted for.

we know the game was available in english, japanese, and chinese languages but we don't know what regions. mainland china has a very large visual novel playerbase (I say this as someone who sells visual novels), which means if it were sold there then it's easy to say that a big chunk of that 43k units could be attributed to them—this also means it would be easy to believe that aniplex saw mahoyo selling worse in western countries and took this as a sign to not promote the game any more there.

but was it ever sold in mainland china? from what I could tell—no.

looking at pricing charts for the nintendo eshop and the playstation store, china is not listed on either. furthermore, searching the game's chinese title on the chinese playstation store does not bring back any results. it looks like the only predominantly chinese-speaking regions that were able to buy it are hong kong, taiwan and possibly singapore (the playstation store page for it doesn't look like it's available for purchase anymore).

so what does this tell us?

without any other numbers it's hard to tell how many of the 43k launch week sales came from english-speaking players, but even if we conservatively say that only around 20k of the 110k launch week units were from western countries, that's still almost a million in revenue (and remember, the physical limited edition of the game was available in english for $60, which is $20 more than the digital base version).

maybe the store page is so good they don't need to market it

here's a little secret: store pages matter a lot more than you'd think. there are entire job positions dedicated to tailoring store pages (like a steam game page) to make it perfect for the game's target audience. there's a science to it that includes the artwork, descriptions, tags, screenshots, and more.

let's see what aniplex did for the steam page of mahoyo.

A tale told with vivid colors and rich sound in a classic TYPE-MOON visual novel.

I don't know how to describe this short description charitably other than to say it sounds like a person who's never heard of a visual novel has been tasked with describing a visual novel.

this tells me nothing about the game other than it's a visual novel. I hope you know what type-moon is, because if you don't then you've learned nothing else from this. alright, well, let's look at the screenshots—

there's only 1.

currently as of writing this, there's 10 images uploaded as screenshots (no trailers, they keep adding and removing the trailers for some reason). 9 of these images are just the full artworks from the game while 1 is an actual screenshot.

I really hate this, as you're not actually shown what the game looks like unless you look at the very last screenshot. this will absolutely lead to some people not understanding what they're getting into. what's worse is that some of these CGs are spoilers, especially one in particular featuring my wife touko.

why are we spoiling people instead of showing them screenshots? why not show people what mahoyo actually looks like??

there's also absolutely no use of the announcements section on steam. each game on steam can post announcements related to the game, including upcoming releases, new updates, and more. it's customary to post a steam announcement when a game has a release date announcement. mahoyo's steam page has none.

well they probably released the trailers in english for hype

I wish I had that much hope.

on mahoyo's english website, all of the videos listed are from the official type-moon youtube, which is their japanese channel. type-moon went through the effort to translate these videos. aniplex didn't upload these to their own youtube, where they already upload everything related to the fateverse and nasuverse.

searching up witch on the holy night brings up no results for the trailer—aniplex never uploaded the trailer to their channel.

maybe they got influencers to play it

according to steamdb, the max amount of viewers mahoyo streams have had on twitch was 71 viewers.

furthermore, if we check twitch and look for vods attached to mahoyo, we only find 4 videos total, all of which were posted in the past week. it looks like they didn't even reach out to streamers to play the console release, much less pay them.

over on the press side, it does look like they reached out to at least a few reviewers. for example, on the review by noisy pixel, they clarify that a review copy was provided by the publisher for review purposes. we can add that to the bare minimum of marketing—reaching out to press.

however, they did get for some other influencers to share the game! ...twitter game sale influencers, that is.

there's actually a lot more of these types of tweets for mahoyo than I was expecting when I searched it on twitter. as a friend pointed out, just because it says "#ad" doesn't necessarily mean these were paid for by aniplex—a lot of these links look to be referrals, which means they're getting a cut of any purchases.

let's recap

mahoyo released over 110k copies in the launch week for it's worldwide console release despite very, very limited marketing efforts from its publisher aniplex. now that the game has proven it can sell very well despite being a lesser known linear visual novel, aniplex has done no marketing for the steam release- no tweets, no influencer outreach, no localization of trailers, no announcements via steam, nothing.

so why?

why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail?

even after all of this, I still do not know why. to me, it's clear that the marketing team at aniplex were (most likely) given no budget for this game and just couldn't do anything with it, deciding to spend what little money they had on press outreach and an anime NYC booth.

but why? why didn't aniplex give them a budget, even a small one? why was their budget so tiny they couldn't even afford to tweet? to RT more posts from the japanese twitter? to share the already translated trailers to their own accounts?

I've heard a few excuses like "type-moon hates western fans and probably caused it" but this doesn't make any sense either. why would you authorize a translation of your game and allow your publisher to sell the game overseas but specifically make them not market the game (and what publisher would agree to that)? I've even heard excuses like "they just forgot it was coming out", to which I ask "how does an entire marketing team (a company the size of aniplex absolutely has a team(s) for marketing and not a singular person) forget a release for a game that's already sold over 150k copies?". the only excuse I've seen that I somewhat buy is that they did not have much faith in the game and relied almost entirely on fans doing word of mouth marketing for the game.

I don't think we'll ever get an answer. while I do believe the marketing team at aniplex was most likely given no budget for mahoyo, it still begs the question of why. why did someone at aniplex not want to give mahoyo a marketing budget? why are the japanese accounts for mahoyo and type-moon the only ones doing the marketing?

I hope the information I've provided here is accurate—if it's not, I'll try to update with corrections. I don't want this piece to cast hate towards the staff at aniplex or anyone involved with this projects, I'm just trying to assemble the pieces on what feels like a game being left to word of mouth. I've tried to include as many links to my sources as I could so you could come to your own judgements about what has happened regarding mahoyo's worldwide release.

mahoyo is a visual novel that's dear to me and will absolutely sell well on steam—with an estimated 50-80k wishlists, it's going to have a solid launch despite the zero marketing for its steam release. if you love other type-moon works or want to see an absolutely visually stunning visual novel, please check it out.

— arimia

[dispatchwithlove]

I'll have you know that I talked with friends ages ago about Shepard resting her cheek in his palm about how much trust you have to have bc god turians could rip you(a human) apart!

Then you put it in writing and I nearly combusted. I have to take some floor time.

I can tell that the fic is gunna destroy me in the best way

Dude, don't get me started on the topic of physical vulnerability in romance/sex! You already have though, so here goes, sorry (I'm not).

As an unashamed monster fucker/monster romancer, this is what it's all about! There is something so moving, so entrancing about a character finding safety, comfort, and pleasure from a character that possesses traits that frighten others, especially physically. Scenes where Belle softened her nerves and touched Beast tenderly shook me as a child! The bravery, vulnerability, and kindness it took is so touching. His huge mits that just swipe wolves away, the sharp claws on his thick fingers...and she just puts her tiny little hand in his, trusting him to be gentle with her! UGH! My heart.

Have you watched or read The Ancient Magus Bride? It's probably my favorite monster themed story. There's this scene where Elias (who looks scary even in his "normal" form) busts out into full scary monster mode and just SHREDS something that hurts Chise, and when it's over he's self conscious and ashamed, not wanting her to see him like that, and her reaction is so beautiful! She accepts him as is, and offers him assurance and kindness. UGH! My heart!

Monster fucking/romancing, to me at least, is all about accepting someone who's different, but it's also about finding comfort and safety in something you're supposed to fear. It's about finding beauty and attraction in features you're supposed to fear, like sharp claws/talons, sharp teeth, etc. It's about a character allowing themself to be vulnerable and trust that the other character is going to be tender. Because that's what love really is, right? Exposing your vulnerabilities to someone and trusting that they'll treat you with tenderness. That you'll open yourself up to someone, letting them see all of your imperfections and insecurities, and they'll still love you, protect you, be gentle with you. Portraying this emotional vulnerability through literal physical vulnerability just works so beautifully. It's a literal "you could hurt me right now, but I'm going to trust you and give myself to you anyway."

Ok, and there's also a lot of great play between pleasure and pain in sex scenes, if you're into that. Talons pinching into thighs, teeth raking across skin, etc.

So yes I will jump at any chance to depict this. Garrus and Shepard fit this so well because turians are apex predators, their teeth and talons are sharp, they look fast and agile, and god damn are they beautiful. And they're tall and have huge hands! They're ripe for monster fucking/romancing themes. In this fic in particular (it was titled Invisible String originally but the rewritten version will be titled and posted as Singularity) vulnerability and trust will play important roles in Shepard and Garrus's relationship, so of course I had to bust out some displays of trust juxtaposed with scary anatomy. Garrus in Archangel mode is a threatening sight (which I effing love), so having Shepard meet him and find comfort and safety in his presence gets my heart beating.

I'm so happy you enjoyed that little bit where she rests her cheek in his palm! There will be lots of Shepard seeking comfort from a dom-leaning Garrus in that fic.

I hope to post soon, but my silly brain is telling me it's not good enough yet so I keep poking at it. Crossing my fingers that the rest of the chapter makes you combust too 😊

Thanks for sending me this! I'll always get up on a podium to talk Shepard/Garrus, romance writing, and monster loving ❤️

[leafdrake-haven]

WIP game! I was tagged by @shardssystem ! Thanks for the tag! I’ve been wanting to get back into writing fanwalker stuff, maybe this will help motivate me 😅 There are two that I’ve been working on for awhile, that I’d love to actually work on again and finish.

First is from the second chapter of A Breeze Through the Multiverse. First chapter is up here on tumblr and on AO3. Here’s a snippet from the end of where I’m at:

There was a mountain of clouds nearby but none seemed to be storm clouds, still she looked in their direction with alarm. She could see an enormous shadow dancing behind the clouds, but it must have been a trick of the light. Nothing in the air was that large, not even dragons. He heart still fluttered in her chest as she convinced herself of her own safety but then sank as the face of an enormous flying serpent peaked out from the clouds. A leviathan in the air?! Those are only a danger in the deepest of seas! How could one fly?!

I’ve also been working on continuing the story of my two characters Rhynn and Helis meeting each other. Here’s a snippet post danger >:3

“Well we actually lucked out, she was exhausted,” Helis jerked his head to look at her. She was pulling a large notebook out of her pack and was writing in it as she spoke. “She just laid a clutch of eggs, so she might be there awhile. Oh! We might want to make a sign further up the road before we continue on our way, you think?” She looked at him like they were having a regular, everyday conversation. Not like they had just almost died.

“How,” he began, “Pray tell, do you know that?” He asked her incredulously. She looked up from her note taking.

“Oh, uh. She told me?” She offered sheepishly. Helis just stared at her until she began to fidget. “What? I mean not told me told me,” she said waving her hands as she spoke, “But I’m good at communicating and bonding with reptilian and avian creatures. It’s not talking per se, but it’s an empathic communication. I shared what I was feeling with her and she shared what she was feeling with me.” Helis sighed and put his hands over his face again.

Looking back that second one is really cute. I should work on that some more. The first part of that story is on tumblr, I believe I titled it Perenian Hospitality. (All my stories are under ‘Tabby Writes’ for the curious 😜)

Thanks again for the tag! No pressure just fun, I will tag @connoissuer-of-fine-vines @little-red-rabbit @niuttuc and @magus-of-the-color-pizza

[red-dyed-sarumane]

ok ok but actually i want to know ur thoughts on the en titles like even with my limited understanding of japanese im????? on half these titles and worse i gotta memorize them bc youtube forces u to read them that way. nooo its not testament its kyuuyaku hankagai nooo its not blade its shuuen touhikou....

okay i actually have my yt set to jpn so all i see of the eng titles is actually second hand but from what i know

last i checked aru sekai shoushitsu was left untranslated. i dont know how i feel about that.

problem for me starts with kyuuyaku hankagai. kyuuyaku IS old testament yes thats where the eng testament comes from. hankagai is actually a bit of word play on magus part bc there IS a word hankagai meaning like a business district or busy downtown area but the hanka magu uses in the title is actually for scientific generalizations with the suffix of town at the end. so u end up with something like town of the old testament's generalizations which. right away u can see how much extra context ur getting from that alone. reducing it to JUST testament leaves out a lot of detail & makes it more open to interpretation. if i didnt know the og title id see testament & go "oh its called testament bc its a testament of her will to work so hard and go thru all this horror time after time after time" but thats not it. look im not a religious person at all but it goes beyond word choice here the opening text is reminiscent (at the very least) of dante's inferno, 2 songs later we get more church imagery & a whole angel, this isnt a one time thing its also a part of the story & to leave it as just testament makes it so easy to ignore or overlook that part. and then there's the fact its one of the songs tied directly to a certain world's disappearance. disappearance has its main lines distributed under specific headers of sorts, each being a single 2 syllable kanji. the first of which is kyuu which is literally "past". translating both to reflect this in eng is. difficult esp when it gets to other songs but even if u leave it as old testament the "old" is Still There & its a lot more possible to catch onto the connection (hard maybe but not impossible)

shuuen touhikou makes me need to talk a walk and im not joking. fucking "blade" sounds like ur trying to appeal to edgy middle schoolers. aside from that when i hear blade im thinking its going to be a fighting song - maybe not a physical fight, but theres going to be conflict- and yes! there IS conflict in this song! its not what i would expect from seeing blade tho! she is fighting & yes the lyrics are like. using her sword to try and forge her own path out when the others let her down, but blade makes it seem like idk some noble fight or something. but u read demise escape & u KNOW shit's serious. it IS a fight but its that kind of "god i dont want to die like this" type of primal fight and not some cool miku swordfighting action. this girl's been told to sit tight and it will work out & she knows thats wrong & the only thing left is for her try whatever she can so that maybe MAYBE she can make it out alive. demise escape as a title hits the type of fear & heaviness thats in the series and gets across and entirely different picture than what blade could ever do. and. again. as one of the main songs blade completely lacks anyway to tie back to the og song. the lines in shoushitsu are shuu which becomes the shuu in shuuen. end & demise are harder to accurately translate in both songs so even with the more accurate eng title its not that easy to tie back into shoushitsu but like. at the very least u can add it as a fun fact or something somewhere.

oumen mokushiroku i just have to sit here & accept that it actually works much to my own dissatisfaction. the direct translation is concave revelation BUT mokushiroku is part of the lyrics in shoushitsu & it has an alternate reading of being pronounced "apocalypse" so a series accurate title here is concave apocalypse & concave is for the most part just tying back to the ou/concave lines in shoushitsu. for as much as i think about this song i actually dont have anything deep to say about the concave part of the title beyond that so like. fine. reduce it to just apocalypse fine whatever i hate it but [throws my hands up] u win this time magu

unplanned apoptosis is accurate the only problem is in jpn u can catch the a-a alliteration in the title but thats not a problem with the translation thats a problem with the english language itself. the alliteration thing is in fact series context btw it keeps in with that repeating fractal theme they emphasized in shoushitsu and kyuuyaku. same with marshall maximizer but there u can actually see it. kanons fine.

kugutsu ashura is. hm. im nitpicking here. literally its puppet ashura. this isnt connected to a shoushitsu heading so ur not losing anything in that regard. however. from what ive been told about ashura (thank u my friend emimin) they arent very.... in control of things. per se. so when u compound that with puppet in the title it just really drives home what she's doing is not her own will. she cannot affect anything beyond how shes supposed to (i guess thats an okay way of putting it) which saying this is also why the motif isnt in this song either but thats off topic. ashura by itself doesnt bother me as much as the others but theres just that little extra context u get from knowing the first part is puppet that adds to it from a series standpoint.

laboratory is fine the only thing is in jpn it has the separation (labo-ratory) so its obvious its on of the songs with the alliteration theme going on. more of a fun fact than actually being wrong. its fine.

as far as i know yamete kudasai and kannagi dont have the official eng titles?? even if they did idk what to say about them bc these titles are already weird from a series standpoint anyway. they dont fit into the 5 kanji title songs category they dont fit into the alliteration category theyre just kind of here. if there IS thematic importance to them we're only going to know when more songs get posted. they dont have any keywords or kanji that tie into any other specific song either. theyre just here.

[strawsoldier]

Spring 2023 Anime Round-Up

Lot's of good shows this season; Both sequels and new ones. It's also the first season in a while where I didn't drop any shows. That's more praise than I can give previous seasons to be honest.

Anime of the Season: Vinland Saga Season 2

Drops: N/A

Plans to Watch at a later date: Skip to Loafer

Completed:

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc - (7.5/10)

Despite the still lavish productions, (and a season where I didn't have to listen to Zenitsu's annoying wails) this was a letdown of season. Especially given how The Entertainment District ended off. This arc getting the movie treatment would've benefited it a lot better. Episode 8 was the highlight by a mile.

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage - (7/10)

Boji and Kage best partners. Not much to say about this season since it was mostly side stories getting animated. Last episode left a lot of excitement for future installments of the series and I hope Wit continues to give it the same love and care.

Vinland Saga Season Two - (10/10)

Calling Vinland Saga S2 a masterpiece of anime would be underselling it greatly. It's been a while since I've seen a cast of well written character go through so much growth and development over an arc. Anything more I could say would just be reiterating what other's have been saying for the past 6 months. Vinland Saga is good y'all.

The Ancient Magus Bride Season 2 - (7/10)

Mahoyome came back with a new director, new studio and many many, many new characters. While there wasn't much plot this season, the world-building and new relationships were explored and developed very well. Good thing the second part of this is already confirmed for later this year, otherwise this score would be a lower. Here's hoping the animation also improves. I know were not at Wit anymore but..

Magical Destroyers - (5/10)

Wathced this because the OP & ED were really good. Turns out it was the only good thing about it.

Also Pink-chan. Pink-chan was good.

Heavenly Delusion - (8/10)

One of the best animated seasonal show's since Mob Psycho. Dystopian settings are some of my favorite in the media so I was always excited to watch this every Saturday. Unfortunately, time and time again, it left me with more questions and rarely gave answers. And the last two episodes were...enough for me to drop this down from a 9 to an 8. Another Spring show with a strong contender for Opening of the Year.

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 - (9/10)

I've been craving a good romcom and this one delivered and then some. Morio Asaka is a talented director and his vision and directorial quirks really helped elevate this source material greatly. Akane is a disaster child and I will protect her from any harm (and alcohol). Really considering picking up the manga if a season 2 isn't gonna be announced.

Dead Mount Death Play - (7.5/10)

Narita is back and doing what he does best; Balancing a dozen or so characters in a convoluted plot that revolves around a mysterious prefecture. This time, with a reverse isekai twist involved. Excited for the second cour of this.

Oshi no Ko - (9/10)

I don't know how to describe my feelings on this show other than I loved every bit of it. Very excited for the second season and I hope the returning staff continue what they've been doing so far.

Next arc looks very very fun

MASHLE - (7/10)

The adaption played it very safe and didn't go far beyond what was given to them which- for the most part -worked well enough for them. Obviously not gonna have the same staying power surrounding it like OPM and Black Clover, but it was entertaining and that's good enough.

Jigokuraku - (Hell's Paradise) - 5.5/10

I was very disappointed with this adaption, if the score wasn't an enough of an indicator. MAPPA taking on so much titles is a bit of meme at this point but it sucks that an adaption I was greatly looking forward to came out this chopped and poorly-animated. Kaori Makita is a talented director so it's a shame that she was saddled to a show with an unreasonable deadline and limited staff to help her out. I wanna cope and say s2 will be better but I know better..

Only consolation I have is that this show was sacrificed so JJK and AOT will look good.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury S2 - (8/10)

Didn't agree with everything that happened this season. And I think the writers just didn't know what to with Miorine after she was separated from Suletta. That being said, the last few episodes (when they finally did get reunited) were very very good. Also a fantastic finale episode. Glad this was the first Gundam anime I watched to completion. Now I patiently wait for the Sulemio wedding OVA.

[maaichen]

A small love letter for @aspaceformbf

[disclaimer: This letter was written in German and translated in google, only to be edited into a less weird version. I do not take responsibility for deaths caused by cringe or laughter. In addition, by reading this letter, you confirm that your Magus will not follow me to hell should one of these happen to you. Amen.]

Soooo… ehem.

First things first - Do you want to know how I came across your blog and your twitter and stuck to them? It wasn't the sheer volume of great edits (okay, those too) or all the head canons. Or your general activity. It was a wonderful mix thrown into all these posts and your personal version of this man, which breathed a little more life into him. It made him more tangible, gave him something more to see on or in him. And your Magus? A great guy. Yes, he is somewhat peculiar in his way, but DAMN if he isn't so fucking adorable! Also, if you don't laugh at the thought of an over 6'5 tall man with fiery red hair doing some kind of wild mating dance in front of his beloved, then what? (BTW, I'm waiting for a head canon to be written where you buy him a new wig at his trusted wig shop.)

What is also wonderful about you and your work here: you leave him in a great, balanced state.

Many people paint him as violent, insane, or a complete '100 shades of gray'-pervert. He's also not the soft baby we've all come to know and love on Tumblr, BUT he comes very close. Your Magus or your head canons gave him some well-sorted levels in the character itself, which I think is perfect. Magus would give anything to live a domestic life with you. Mundane things like holding you in your arms, shopping with you, or eating your both home-cooked meals at the same table. But he would also, out of sheer jealousy and hopeless obsession with you, try to get those around you away from you if they get in yours and his way to eternal happiness. The variety is there and that is what I love about it!

I… used to read a book I can't remember the title of, but it was something similar. It was a male being that was once human. Maybe a ghost? He met the woman of his dreams, but she couldn't see him. He almost went insane and in despair that he couldn't even touch her or her smile was meant for him but some other guy, so he decided to break into his former work lab and… Unfortunately, I don't remember the rest. But goodness gracious, what I would give for a story like that just to be able to read it again! In any case. Magus has the potential to be used for similar interesting/paranormal stories, in my opinion!

I have to mention again how great I think the sprite edits are. They kinda lure you to them as a fan, because you wouldn't get those in the game itself, but they're close enough to be the real deal? Does that make sense? And before I get away from the sprite edits (or I just forget, my brain only works on three gray cells atm, and they usually only play UNO when I'm down with a cold), from where do you get these great ideas for his outfits? AND may I also mention how AMAZING it is that you dress him in those?! I always imagine that before that, he only wore his generally everyday clothes we all know. BUT because of YOU, he got experimental with his styles. And I mean… Hello? A daring, see through top? Hot cropped outfits, A happy trail?? Ugh, kill me, that shit is hot…

Heh, imagine - Your love and attention alone was enough for him to try it out for you (or secretly for himself, who knows) only then to wear it with pride. Just for your reactions, compliments and because he finds himself more attractive and desirable for you in those.

Also, an interesting point about your blog is that you continue to present him as an entity from another world. "I love this man, and he loves me, even though we exist in completely different realities. We found each other under the strangest of circumstances and can no longer live without each other" I mean… SUPER romantic??? You can also spin it into interesting stories. "He joins you in games. You have absolutely no idea how, and he just playfully jumps and ducks around in front of you in game, if you should ask him." I bet you already have that somewhere similar in your sea of ​​ideas.

Damn, it's fun to flip through this work of yours and inspire myself for ideas in the form of pictures, posts, simple answers or entire chapters in Word pad.

What I'm trying to say with the text wall here is… Thanks. A very simple, thank you. Because of people like you letting your ideas and creativity flow freely AND sharing them with the world, people like me can get joy, ideas and general energy for the pent-up creativity to participate in the fandom. We don't know each other, but who cares. I think you're great and admire your work here. I'm your fan, that's it.

In poorly translated love, Maaichen.

[haru-sen]

Writing Update

Finished up revisions on book two. The working title is The Wolfsbane Trail. Passed it on to my second round beta readers; also have an optional smut chapter for it and a 23k novella that takes place two weeks afterward. I’m 34k into book 3, considering a 2.6 novella from a kid character’s perspective, and debating the merits of starting a new YA or MG fantasy after this.

So as a lot of you know, I’m querying for The Foxglove Pact right now. It feels like a mash-up of job-hunting and online dating: you need to find the right candidate with mutual interest, who you can work well with. They also need to be really into you, because they need to turn around and sell you to a publishing house. So you, as the queri-er have to deal with a lot of rejection from the quer-ee (the agent). Everyone’s heard the stories of well-known authors receiving tons of rejections, so I figured I was pretty prepared for it. (Insert joke about my dating life/job hunting experiences.) And you know, compared to ten years ago, it’s a lot nicer. I have a friend (published and an excellent writer) who received a letter from an agent who told her to stop writing. Very rude. Most form responses now include a line about how the rejection is a matter of personal taste, the agent does not feel like they are the best representative for this work at this time, and that the writer should not give up. Honestly, on its own, it’s not too bad.

And then you get several form rejections in one week. Oof, real cumulative DOT with a mood debuff. I’ve since made rules about not checking that email box first thing in the morning. I also have a couple full manuscripts requested, which helps with the salt.

A majority of agents use Querymanager for submissions, though a significant number still use email. As the writer, I use the sister system Querytracker to check for updates from other people on the site. (Agent A switched genres. Agent B is active again! Agent C went on hiatus.) It can be very helpful. (Agent D doesn’t actually want more of this genre. Agent E is notorious for ghosting people. Agent F is really nice, but might not get back to you for a year.) It can get obsessive. (Agent G normally rejects people after 14 days, but asks for a manuscript after 20. It’s been 30 days. Oh shit, they’ve responded to someone after me. WTF. I need to check my submission confirmation! Maybe they didn’t get it! Oh, here’s the confirmation…) I’m considering a premium membership just so I can better use filters, i.e. hide the rejections. I don’t need updates on the agents who passed on my work. No hard feelings, I’m just focusing on the people who are still options for me.

Unsurprisingly, my most useful feedback was from agents who read the full manuscripts. They liked the voice, they enjoy the story, but… Here’s the weird little nugget that I’ve learned over this process, and I get it. “I already represent something too close to what you have.” Obviously, you should be approaching agents who wishlist the genre you’re writing, but keep an eye on their author list, because most seem to have an (understandable) issue with splitting resources between too-similar clients.

After a couple months of submission, I think my base query letter is solid. I am improving it, as well as my comps and other meta additions. (biography, comparisons i.e. like Skulduggery Pleasant meets Monstress or Sandman Slim meets the Ancient Magus’ Bride), My one-line pitch could use some work. But not everyone asks for one. What do you mean “tell me about yourself?” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Ahem.

Anyway, need to get back to book 3.

[dragonknightofsummerset]

Firesong Thoughts !!Spoilers Below!!

Okay, so I had to like do the Firesong DLC in 2 days because of the event that started yesterday, and I want to make a small post about it before I post vids & screenshots next week when I get my days off.

I really enjoyed the Firesong dlc, a lot more than the High Isle chapter. I liked the characters we were working with, the side quests and main story were far more engaging & memorable, (although fighting alongside the alliance leaders is still 1 of my favorite things), and the soundtrack is so good!!! & let's not forget about the quest with Raz that let's us earn the title "Eye of the Queen"

I will say though, that last part of the story did not feel as great as the first 6 parts of the main quest. I feel like too much time was spent around Lady Arabelle & trying to procure an antidote for her when instead, the time should have been given to let our character (& others) learn who the Ascendant Lord was. As players, it was very obvious who he was, but storywise, there wasn't much build up to the discovery. I get Lady Arabelle was a favorite, and usually the 2nd part of the main quest in the dlc, brings back characters from the chapter, but it could have been handled better.

Personally, I found the fight with the Ascendant Magus much more fun than the fight against the Ascendant Lord, it didn't help that the fight glitched for me, but regardless, my opinion would be the same. And as much as it sucked that Frii had to sacrifice themselves, the gesture didn't have any emotional impact on me. The scene at the cathedral did, and a lot had to do with the voice acting of Sir Stefan's character, it was so good, and my Vestige has more guilt now too :')

Moving on, I enjoyed the banter between the alliance leaders and I found it funny how they had Sir Stefan mentioning the "legacy of the bretons" so much at the very end of the quest, kind of like zos barely remembered they were supposed to be the focus.

But yeah, I had a lot of fun with the Firesong dlc and I can definitely see myself playing again with my other characters

[booksandwords]

Magus of the Library, Vol. 4 by Mitsu Izumi. Translated by Stephen Kohler

Read time: <1 Day Rating: 5/5

The quote: Libraries amassers of memory galleries dedicated to history's thread and monuments to all life across time.

I finally got my hands on this volume of Magus of the Library, I was so excited when I saw that it was being transferred from the previous reader. This volume gets serious and by the end, everything changes. Essentially, no one is what you think. It's an intriguing ending that I guess I didn't see coming but I should have. The plot of this volume is fairly simple it is Theo trying to find his place in the system he is now in. And realising what he has to do excel and work in the library. The art is still lovely and the plot moves along and a decent place. It does start with a seemingly unrelated side story in which we meet the rather funny Kaz Blak. I'm not going to say while I like him that would ruin the fun. One thing that I do see in it is a great explanation of one underrated aspect of librarianship.

As with the previous volume the intervals between the chapters are all linked. They introduce Theo's classmates. These people, primarily women, are introduced in groups. These groups are done under titles The Banded Few, The Seaborn Souls, The Power of Smile, The Unyielding Majesty, The Harried Handlers, The Ends of the Spectrum, The Markedly Conspicuous and The Guiding Hands. Theo is in the The Banded Few with the only other two male trainees. Each one of these pages has a picture of the trainee and a brief rundown of them. The basic traits of them I mean. It will be very useful later I think. While the characters are distinct on the page, at least individual enough, there are a lot of them and their traits are going to be important.

Among these classmates are some familiar faces and plenty of new ones. I'm so happy that Alv is back. I really like him. He is so easily underestimated and I like his attitude. There is one classmate we haven't met yet "The 27th trainee of this incoming class. A girl yet to bet revealed for reasons that will eventually become clear." I can't think of any obvious reasons why we wouldn't have met her yet. Reasons that she would remain hidden. There is one very, very familiar name among the trainees and it wasn't until I was writing this review that I remembered why. The name is Sophie Schwimm, at 35 and she is the oldest of the trainees. The reason the name is familiar... Sophie Schwimm wrote Kafna of the Wind, the text Magnus of the Library is based on. That is just really interesting to me, this is lore within lore. Sophie survives the trials, training and exams being faced by the class now. I think it gives an idea of where she ends up after graduation too, either Archives or Personnel. I Sophie, I like her attitude and what she represents. Libraries are often a second career for their staff.

[skyderman]

Writblr Intro

hello everyone! i've just recently started interacting with writblr and it's time for an intro :)

feel free to interact with me! tag me, send me asks, etc. i'm friendly! i'll follow back if your writing looks interesting or it seems like we have a lot in common ♥

Who the heck are you? My name is Skye and I use they/them! I'm in my 20s and I'm going back to school this semester for English. I've always wanted to write books and I'm finally starting to realize those goals!

What do you like? For writing, I love fantasy. I love wonder and magic and beauty, especially in nature. I want people engaging with my work to feel like they are small things in a big, mysterious, beautiful, dangerous, impossible world. I'm also an optimist, and I hope those things come through in my work. I tend to have a lot of younger protagonists in my long form work. A lot of it comes from looking back on my childhood and not wanting young people to feel powerless the way I did. However, I can't resist some gritty dark fantasy every once in a while >:) Some of my influences include Neil Gaiman, Studio Ghibli, His Dark Materials, Ursula K. Le Guin, Into the Spider-Verse, Toby Fox, and my lovely D&D buddies. I might expand on this as I think of more! Beyond writing, I also enjoy video games (lots of em), drawing (@astrophysician), D&D of course, and chess (mutuals are welcome to challenge me! i'm not high rated in any capacity but i'm learning!) i also make music sometimes

Show me the WIPs! I have two main projects right now: Mothwing and Story of Magus (working title). More info in my pinned. Tag lists will be recorded on their intro posts. Going forward I will also be tagging all my writing and poetry with #skyewriting Mothwing is a graphic novel. Upon fleeing her mother’s home, a girl has a brush with Death, who gifts her a cursed cloak made of moth wings. In order to break the curse, she must travel to the Land of the Fae to seek the mysterious Silver Door, which is fabled to heal any and all curses and wounds. | Short intro (have to write a real one) Story of Magus is a middle grade novel. When a clever magic student and a trespassing Witch uncover the greatest secret of the floating city of Valerius, they must rescue the student's sister from Valerius’ clutches without bringing the city to the ground. | WIP Intro

thanks for reading this far! ur a real one ;) i'm excited to meet more people!

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

WIP Ask Game

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

Thanks to @swtorpadawan for the tag!

Tagging @ftmshepard, @davidoodles, @starknstarwars​ - I suspect my WIP list may be a little excessive (I have more open tabs, technically, but these are the ones substantial enough, and/or of enough long-term importance, to really be called “works” in “progress”).

Agents of Yesterday All Alone in the Night An Unquenchable Flame As I Went Down to Helgen Town Children of Necessity Columbia Effect Confessions and Lamentations DAWN Will Come Dust and Magic Echoes and Reflections Grand Moff Kilran’s Last Mistake Heaven’s Gate Hope Unleashed Indefinite Splendor Far Beyond the Stars Fate/Strange Magus Lapis and Juniper Live and Let Die Lord of Shadows Mother of Invention Promise of Destruction Remnant Honor Shadows of Kaleth Snow on the Breeze Someone Tell the Story Sparks Liner Reforged Telling Wicked Lies The Lights in Shadow The Lost Jedi The Name of the Star The Rhododendron Society The Spirit Bender The Taurean Affair The Wrong Airbender Through Fire and Flood Traditions of Injustice War of Unending Revolution Wolf and Lynx

[radellama]

3, 4, 7 & 11 for both “Men of Mystics” and “For All Our Ends Will Shine Like Stars”

Men of Mystics

3: What's your favorite line of narration?

Harland hadn’t even noticed that The Fiendlord himself was in the room, his seat obscured in the shadows. The early morning light caught part of him as he took a few steps forward, highlighting the lower half of his face. His eyes were still in the shadows, hiding his expression, but looking down on him all the same. 

4: What's your favorite line of dialogue?

“He is very yes!” One of the imps called out, and Harland smiled a little. The larger mystic - who Harland thought looked similar to an Ogan, but not quite - laughed at the imp. “Very yes indeed…”

7: Where did the title come from?

Originally, this was going to be called ‘The Men of the Mystics’ - but I got tired of that mouthful and shortened it to ‘Men of Mystics.’ Simpler, and more to the point.

The title is also pretty self explanatory, it’s about the two men amongst the mystics, and their relationship to both each other and the mystics. I like to think it’s the name of their tale as it’d get passed down the generations and recorded in history in-universe as well, with story tellers and historians referring to Magus and Harland as the ‘Men of Mystics.’

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I like that this fic just feels familiar… I’ve been working on it for just over 2 years, (which isn’t that long compared to some other au’s I’ve had in my mind) but because it’s meant to slip in as canon compliant or canon adjacent, it just feels like home! I like that I get to build up my boy Harland, and explore Magus in the depth he deserves. I’m sooooo tired of seeing frankly shit and shallow takes on Magus - his love life in particular - and just didn’t feel that anyone in the main party could explore the other facets of his life and personality well enough for the depth I was yearning for, hence why Harland came to be >:)

I also really like that this is the perfect place to fit in some my hc and world building ideas for the mystics (along with making some mystic ocs!!)- I just hope that the ways these concepts are revealed are easy enough to follow along haha. I’ve got some hc that are interpreted one way in universe, but I have a better way of explaining them as an observer out of universe lol. Harland works so well for this with his love of sciencey shit because he can get to know the folklore and general understanding and superstition of how things like magic and culture and medicine work, but also demonstrate the understanding of those concepts that I have built as someone not in the universe- if that makes sense. 

This fic is just such a warm and familiar one, and even though it’ll have it’s fair share of angst and drama in the late stages, it’s still a love letter to Magus and 600ad and everyone important in that era on this side of the war.

~~~

For All Our Ends Will Shine Like Stars

3: What's your favorite line of narration?

No longer was he able to hide behind his visions of the future, as his foresight ended when that red headed man disappeared with the Princess.

4: What's your favorite line of dialogue?

This whole scene… I can’t pick just one line lol

.

“Ah, Glenn! We need your opinion.” Lucca called out to him as soon as he walked into the room.

“Is something wrong?” 

“Yes, there is something wrong! Look at her raktajino.” Ayla motioned towards Lucca’s cup in disgust. Glenn looked at it, the Klingon coffee saturated with what appeared to be cream.

“What is wrong with it? I just added a little cream to my coffee.” Lucca was defensive, giving Glenn a moment longer to look at it before taking a sip herself. Ayla cried out in disgust.

“I am not sure I understand…”

“You cannot put cream in a raktajino! It’s disgusting, ruins everything!” Ayla sounded so worked up over this, yet Lucca kept taking sips from her creamed raktajino and exaggerating her expression of pleasure. “It’s so delicious Ayla, you really must try it!”

“I will not! You dishonour the drink. See Glenn, try some of mine and you’ll know that is how it’s supposed to be.” She passed her cup over to Glenn, and he took a sip. 

He winced with how bitter it was, needing a moment to process it. Ayla had always drank this since she came on board, but he never got around to trying it himself until now. Ayla banged her fist on the console and laughed, taking the cup back and drinking the rest of it in one swig. She gasped in satisfaction, firmly patting Glenn on the back as he winced watching her drink something that bitter. 

“Glenn, you’ve gotta try mine then! The cream sweetens it and it's absolutely delightful!”

The two women watched impatiently as he tried some of Lucca’s cup, still squinting his eyes at the bitterness, but appreciating that it had been sweetened somewhat. “See, he liked mine better!”

“Hey, I never said that!” 

“Then which one did you like?” Ayla asked in a tone way too serious for the matter at hand. 

“Too be honest, they are both too bitter for me-”

“Gahh, another neutral!” Ayla looked utterly defeated. 

“That’s still one in my favour, that proves raktajino is better with cream!” Lucca pulled a triumphant pose, finishing the rest of her cup.

“You have asked the others?”

“Yup, conducted a mini survey. Robo was neutral like you, but Marle-”

“Is a traitor with no honour!”

“Ok ok, I think you have both made your point. Can I have my brief for the day?” Glenn smiled as he spoke, enjoying how ridiculous this argument over coffee was.

7: Where did the title come from?

Here is the screenshot of my shortlist when I was making it lmao, I wasn’t sure which one would work the best so I passed the idea around to some friends and they pointed out that the one that sounds the most like space works haha. I agree, though was indecisive, which is why I asked for a few second opinions to confirm- but the rest are relevant to major plot points and overall themes, so they may pop up in some form or other. 

I wanted to title the st au with something nice, cause if you look at some of the episode titles in star trek- ESP in the original series, they’re quite poetic sometimes. I rarely do fancy titles, usually I opt for things that are straight to the point, but wanted to try something different here to reflect that nice insp of cool fancy names for this au (which is also why I named all the chapters too! Usually I just number them lol)

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I really like how cinematic this fic feels. I just hope it feels cinematic reading, cause while I’m planning and writing, I can see the scenes unfolding in front of me as though I were watching my very own episode of star trek. So far it’s just the pilot episode to set up their motives and adventure- but I have SO MUCH planned for this and I’m soooo eager to keep writing the future chapters. 

This has got to be one of my longest fics, both in literal length and how long I’ve spent planning it- 4+ years in the making!! I’m really putting everything into this niche combo, and have spent so long trying to break down and rebuild both star trek and chrono trigger so that it can work well for this au. I’ve made my own version of a star trek universe to fit in with this story, my own versions of the characters that I can’t wait to share more of… The cinematic feel and the character are the parts I work the hardest on. I just want this crew to feel like people! And for you readers to have a real strong sense of who they are, so I can play on subtleties in their character to indicate what’s going on with plot points and interpersonal relationships and the like… just AHHHH I COULD TALK FOREVER ABOUT THIS FIC.. I’VE BEEN TALKING TO MYSELF ABOUT IT FOR OVER 4 YEARS AND I’M JUST VIBRATING WITH EAGERNESS TO GET MORE OUT!!

~~

Send some asks about my fics~

You can read Men of Mystics here || You can read For All Our Ends Will Shine Like Stars here

[sunnyapollonjabrigidotter]

Gaius Iulius Hyginus ...

"Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20. It is not clear whether Hyginus was a native of the Iberian Peninsula or of Alexandria." Wikipedia

"Under the name of Hyginus there are extant what are probably two sets of school notes abbreviating his treatises on mythology; one is a collection of Fabulae ("stories"), the other a "Poetical Astronomy"."

He's got many lost writings... (hate when this happens, but nah...)

More on the Fabulae..

"The Fabulae consists of some three hundred very brief and plainly, even crudely, told myths (such as Agnodice) and celestial genealogies,[3] made by an author who was characterized by the modern editor, H. J. Rose, as adulescentem imperitum, semidoctum, stultum—"an ignorant youth, semi-learned, stupid"—but valuable for the use made of works of Greek writers of tragedy that are now lost. Arthur L. Keith, reviewing H. J. Rose's edition (1934) of Hygini Fabulae,[4] wondered "at the caprices of Fortune who has allowed many of the plays of an Aeschylus, the larger portion of Livy's histories, and other priceless treasures to perish, while this school-boy's exercise has survived to become the pabulum of scholarly effort." Hyginus' compilation represents in primitive form what every educated Roman in the age of the Antonines was expected to know of Greek myth, at the simplest level. The Fabulae are a mine of information today, when so many more nuanced versions of the myths have been lost.

In fact the text of the Fabulae was all but lost: a single surviving manuscript from the abbey of Freising,[5] in a Beneventan script datable c. 900, formed the material for the first printed edition, negligently and uncritically[6] transcribed by Jacob Micyllus, 1535, who may have supplied it with the title we know it by.[7] In the course of printing, following the usual practice, by which the manuscripts printed in the 15th and 16th centuries have rarely survived their treatment at the printshop, the manuscript was pulled apart: only two small fragments of it have turned up, significantly as stiffening in book bindings.[8] Another fragmentary text, dating from the 5th century is in the Vatican Library.[9]

Among Hyginus' sources are the scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, which were dated to about the time of Tiberius by Apollonius' editor R. Merkel, in the preface to his edition of Apollonius (Leipzig, 1854)."

Yeah, seems.. idk... im confused...

Gotta appreciate the ones who can work a nice way out w too little infos, really want to know what he had to say on the godess he & probably a select group of ppl envisioned as a primordial, was it instead of another primordial as we learn in Hesiod's Theogony... or was an addition, did i read right? Appeared b4 Chaos?? Or im already confusing w sth else... my bad, cs taken a mlp pause to work on a ship edits, of which two i lost cs picsart got bugs agn...

But here's the one that didnt (cs didnt forget to save)... the pony on the right is the oc, ik, i placed cheese sandwich too much in center, so it looks like its abt him, but no, he's just a pal... the name of the blue one w what i envisioned as brown curly mane w blue highlights, is Swirling Magus - & he's oc kid of wizwinds (wiz & winds) gay ship from mlp equestria girls... he's a nice guy, an ambivert, likes both to study like twillight, & hangout w friends, hold magical performances, & he can be so silly... pronouns: he/they

Yeah, just explained my dizzy mind 😆😁

Now ill back to Higynus ...

Found it on topostext.org 😍

"§ 0.2 Preface: From Caligine (Mist) (was born) Chaos; from Chaos and Caligine: Night, Day, Erebus, Aether. From Night and Erebus: Fate, Old Age, Death, Dissolution, Continence, Sleep, Dreams, Love — that is, Lysimeles, Epiphron, dumiles [?} Porphyrion, Epaphus, Discord, Wretchedness, Wantonness, Nemesis, Euphrosyne, Friendship, Compassion, Styx; the three Fates, namely, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos; the Hesperides, Aegle, Hesperie, aerica." ...

Here

[red-dyed-sarumane]

kyuuyakus so good not only bc its like the only song heavy enough i can tolerate at loud volumes that can Almost drown out my coworker who never shuts up but ALSO for the points ive said 74times & will continue to,

aru sekai shoushitsu set us up for something super sci-fi, which. yes. the series very much is. but it was so technical and almost coldly indifferent. and then we're given the whole "old testament" in the title & the whole intro reading that isnt far from dantes inferno type content as my good friend emimin pointed out. we've got this new aspect added in and at the same time the lyrics let you know this character's still dealing with the complex technical stuff, from the terms down to the second kanji in ashita being incomplete as though because of a program error or interruption or some other similar reason.

and it feels even more different because theres just so much emotion in this one compared to shoushitsu. all the "bye-bye"s written in ways that express deep pain, the fact that the "see you tomorrow"s are cut off in the way they are the first time, and so drawn out the second time. the genre's not the spacey, distant trance type that shoushitsu is; its heavy, its intense, its got as much to it musically as there are details in the story. it's not just to sound cool, it's getting her state of mind across just as much as the spoken words. the world's being destroyed physically & metaphorically, everyone's suffered this over and over, they've parted ways so many times and its just never something they can get used to, especially not if they want to keep trying to end this whole loop, she's stressed past imagination trying to keep everything in check when its just not possible, & the intensity of the music just emphasizes all of that. there's less intense parts too, sort of like a forced focus on what she's doing that all too quickly builds to a panic. or the in the second part where everything gets so dire, the bell's tolling and she's running out of time, the piano over top of it giving such an uneasy feeling, and then right back to that heavy panic. theres so much emotional charge in it you know the long notes aren't just magu having fun with it; you just know they're meant as screams. i dont even think i can say screams for help, i think she knows shes past the point of help or at least that she's supposed to be everyone else's source of help that it's just stressed lamentation. she's doing everything she possibly can and its not working so all thats left is to cry out about it.

and then u have the rute furute wo a motif in here that's added in under the "fractal wa/kurikaeshita" parts that really hits harder now with kannagi for extra context. knowing that this is in the past & can't be changed and everyone else is using this as a point of reference. then u of course have the nami no ne wo motif, & the longest & clearest instance of it aside from maybe oumen mokushiroku so u know she's herself & gets to live, gets to keep doing this & watching other people die. (although i have absolutely no frame of reference for how long she lives given this is a past event & she doesn't seem to be present in the more current time songs. we dont really have that context yet) & then we're back to the rute motif on top of what still sounds like a jumble of nothing. but i also thought the rute line was nothing and here its a big deal so i cant wait to realize what this other jumble is, considering its also under the last ima kizanda parts.

theres just so so much to it, so many little intricacies that build such a full picture from whats otherwise one of the more simple series songs & i cant love it more.

[lets-make-a-thing]

worldbuilding poll

Magic technology is one of the main features of our world. There are multiple different races in our world who can operate magic technology or route magic, such as humans, beastkin, vampires, aliens, and more.

Vote your opinion of the definitions in this post below!

Please read the full post before answering!

Note that all of these names are drafts. We can vote on official names later if you want!

DEFINITIONS

Magi-tech

a short form of "magic" and "technology" for ease of writing.

Magineer

someone who finds electronic parts and creates the hardware for magi-tech. A combination of "magic" and "engineer". For example, someone who builds computers, but magic.

Magician

someone who channels the flow of magic into the physical hardware in a specific way, to make the magi-tech work. A combination of "magic" and "technician". For example, someone who codes computers, but magic.

Alchemist

The magicians of olde. They were the ones who could channel magic into unrefined hardware or objects, such as melting steel with their bare hands, or turning an apple into a small carbon block. The legends and myths say stories of alchemists rearranging carbon matter using magic, like turning water to wine, or worthless sand into gold, but there seems to be no true evidence for those happenings. Who knows if Alchemists still exist today...?

Archmagus

Someone who is licensed to teach in magic-direction.

Wizard

A magic theorist. Most Wizards are also Archmagus, though Wizard is a higher rank. They are those who vigorously study and meditate on magic theory, dedicating their life as case-study researchers to discover more attributes about magic and the infinite ways of channeling it. They are the closest thing to a modern Alchemist.

Mage

Someone who operates magi-tech in registered recreational use. This is a simple license, similar in our world to saying "Yeah, I'm a driver" or "I have a driver's license".

Magus

Someone who operates magi-tech in registered professional use. This is a simple license, similar in our world to saying "Yeah, I'm a baker" or "I work as the Head Baker at John Doe's Bakery".

Cleric

Clerics are people who operates magitech and manages magic to inspect injuries, ailments, living beings, and corpses. While doctors and veterinarians exist, Clerics are a larger and more advanced area of study, to operate on various races. While Doctors and Vets are for the common populace and work in hospitals, clerics are typically for special cases or for emergency services. Clerics are typically from races with a high longevity, as it takes a long time for Clerics to finish their studies.

Warlocke

A person who uses/manages magic in illegal or immoral ways

Peacekeeper Type A - Police

They could be considered a type of police. They are the ones who help to make sure it is peaceful and non-magic related crimes are not being comitted. They typically wear something inconspicuous, like a pin or a small badge so that people recognize them but don't feel self-conscious of their presence.

Peacekeeper Type B - Assistant

They could be considered a type of police. They are the ones who help to make sure magic is being used responsibly. Similar to their Type A counterpart, they also typically wear something inconspicuous like a pin or a small badge so that people recognize them but don't feel self-conscious of their presence.

Peacekeeper Type C - Attorney

They could be considered a type of attorney lawyer (if I am using the term correctly?). They are the ones who know the law and practice it in court to help defend the offender. They are regular people outside of their job, and need not wear anything that reveals their job title.

Sorcerer

Any combat magus.

Peacekeeper Type D - Sorcerer

They could be considered a type of military soldier. They are an organization with strong ties to the government. They are the ones who are backup in case of emergency, or deployed to as guards or armed soldiers in defense of their country or client. Being a specialized fusion between a mercenary and government-employed sorcerer, they typically wear something very conspicuous, like a bright white uniform so that people recognize them instantly.

Sentient Magitech

A magitech robot is imbued with magic and fashioned into different shapes. Humanoid shape is most popular, but many other shapes exist. Their logic (essentially, the way they process things in a manner similar to human emotion or thinking) takes after the race of their creator(s), from the quality of magic that is channeled into their hardware to the quality of the hardware items themselves. Marionettes are considered a lesser race (lesser meaning smaller or lower, not weaker. As in the fact that they are technically an extension of their creators.) and like all other races, must be registered to participate in society legally, as in to have a job or to help in community service.

Have something you think should be added? Feel free to put something in the comments or tags!