#that was a really nice interview actually

[jarofstyles]

Little picture blurb for you guys :) roommate har x roommate y/n

Warnings- none really!

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“Please, for the love of god, do not butcher my hair.”

“I am quite literally a hair stylist.” Y/N huffed, blowing a strand of her own hair out of her fair. It was messy from sleep even still, but Harry had insisted on her shaping his hair up before he went to work.

“Well technically-“ he started, but froze when he felt her tap the scissors against the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I’m still in school. But men’s cuts are a piece of cake for me. So stop fuckin’ whining when you woke me up from my precious sleep to make sure you look presentable for this job interview.” Scowling at the back of his head didn’t last long as he turned his head towards her with his best attempt of a charming smile.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just nervous. I haven’t gotten it cut for a while and it’s… weird to trust you with my prized possession. You could very easily chop it up because I ate the rest of your pizza.” The sheepish look on his face made her narrow his eyes at him, using her thumb and forefinger to thump him. “Oi! The fuckin’ violence of it all. See? I had a right to be worried. My hairdresser is abusin’ me!” He squawked.

“I’ll do worse than that if you don’t shut the hell up.” Grabbing his chin, she manually pushed his head to face forward into the bathroom mirror as she dragged the comb through his slightly wet hair. “I could do that, and I’m glad you know the power I hold. You’d think that would mean you actually behave yourself.” She rolled her eyes, making sure his hair was laid the way she needed it to be.

“When have I ever behaved?” His grumble made her bite back a smile, because the answer was quite simple.

“Never.” She answered for him, moving around him to the counter to grab her sheers. “And stop staring at my ass. Creep.”

“Well you- you didn’t put shorts on!” He stumbled over his words, face flushing. “I didn’t mean to look! I’m not a creep, you’re the creep for showing me your bits.”

Y/N turned to him, brow shooting up. “If I gave you permission right now, you would take a nice handful of said ‘bits’, so I don’t really feel too bad about letting you see the underside of it. In fact, I should be charging you for it. But I’m a phenomenal, amazing and generous roommate, so I’ll let that be a simple bonus for you.” Pinching his warm cheek, she knew he couldn’t refute that. “So sit still and imagine my ass or something so I can cut your hair.”

It was the wrong thing to say by the smirk raising on his lips. “Well if m’imagining your ass my hand will be quite busy, so-“

“Remember who has the scissors.”

[no-144444]

confronting- o.piastri

pairing: oscar piastri x fem! Skyf1interviewer! reader

summary: a confrontation in a hotel room doesn't go so well thanks to Franco's loud mouth...

part one | part two | part three | part four | part five

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Entertaining the idea of dating Oscar when you knew you’d be gone at the end of the season wasn’t fair. He deserved someone who’d be there for every race, be there for him. You weren’t that person. You weren’t the person anyone should want, you just weren’t like that. 

Qatar rolled around and Oscar won the Sprint, and he was P3 in the race. You were meant to do the interviews. He knew that. That’s why he frowned when he was met with Jenson’s face at the end of the race. 

“Where’s Y/n?” he asked, not holding the microphone up to his mouth. 

Jenson smirked. “Missing her?”

Oscar nodded. 

“She’s with Franco, he was pretty upset after the crash.”

“Oh,” he nodded, and the interview began. 

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It’s not like you were trying to avoid him, it was just… easier that way. And Franco really was quite shaken after the crash, so that part wasn’t a lie either. You just didn’t want to deal with all of the shit the media and people online would give the two of you. You just wanted a nice, clean break from the world of F1, and the people online who shipped you and Oscar would never let that happen. It was upsetting, because he really was a good friend to you, and you thought you were a good friend to him. Maybe it could’ve been something else, if things were different. You sat with Franco, calming him down since he was pretty upset that his second last race of the season was fucked by a silly turn-one incident. 

“What’s going on with you and that model?” you asked. He chuckled. 

“Oh my, you saw it too? It’s so embarrassing,” he sighed. “Even my mother has been asking me about it.”

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” you laughed at his reaction. “We can talk about anything you want.”

“What’s going on with you and Oscar?” he smirked and your face fell slightly. 

“Nothing,” you shook your head. “We’re friends.”

“Friends?” he pried. “You two seem like more than ‘friends’ to me.”

You rolled your eyes. “We’re not. We’re just friends,” you assured him. 

Franco sat up, leaning closer to you. He was so close his breath was on your cheek, his eyes staring longingly into yours. You knew what he was doing.  “So he wouldn’t mind it if someone kissed you, no?”

You laughed, pushing him back down to his previous position of lying down. “Stop being weird. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. He shouldn’t care anyway.”

“Let’s test that,” Franco challenged. “Kiss me in front of him, and then we’ll know. I’ll ask Lando to tell me about it, they’re close, right?”

You sighed, something about it felt a little bit… manipulative. And it’s not like you were looking for Oscar to like you back, he didn’t. That’s what he’d said the last time, it was only a joke, a prank, a mistake. Which was fine with you, of course. It made sense. You couldn’t be there for him while you were supposed to be there for someone else. Someone else on his team. 

Ok, so maybe the move to Indycar isn’t just about Sky starting to cover it. Maybe, they need more European fans, and you have to go over there and sell it to them with a relationship with Pato O’Ward. Maybe McLaren is paying you a lot of money to do that. 

Just maybe though. 

“I can’t do that Franco,” you explained. “It’s not fair. And anyways, I’m kind of… seeing someone.”

“Is it Oscar?!” he questioned. You shook your head. “Lando? Lance? Zhou? Yuki? Who?” “He’s not in F1!” you giggled, watching as Franco freaked out. 

“Who is he?! You have to tell me right now!” he begged, taking your hands. 

“He’s in Indycar, that’s all I’ll tell you,” you smirked and his jaw dropped. 

“Is that why you’re leaving?!” he almost shouted. 

“No! Sky really is just branching out, but yes, it is nice that I’ll actually be able to watch his races,” you chuckled. 

“I’ll miss you,” he frowned. 

“I’ll miss you too,” you chuckled, pulling him in for a hug. “Now, I have to go do my post-race duties, so I’ll see you in Abu Dhabi, alright?”

He frowned even deeper. “Alright,” he mumbled. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me!”

You left the Williams garage with a smile on your face, very much amused by your conversation with Franco. 

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You pulled up to the media pen, really to meet with Jenson and Nico, your co-hosts this weekend, but they were nowhere to be seen. Regardless, you prepared yourself with the running order. 

Lance, Lando, Max, Checo, Zhou, and Fernando. That’s all you had to get through before you got on a flight to Abu Dhabi the next morning. After another few minutes of waiting, Nico and Jenson showed up, acting slightly strange. They weren't really speaking to you, only with each other. It’s not like they were excluding you, just… not asking for your input. They seemed guilty too. 

Lance, Lando, Max, and Checo were all fine, polite and out of there quickly. Oscar didn’t show up. Unsurprising, as you had been avoiding him. Zhou and Fernando went by in a flash, and you were back to your hotel by 2am. 

When you walked into your hotel, you were not expecting to see Oscar Piastri standing outside your door. 

Holy shit. You were so astronomically fucked. 

“What are you doing here?” you questioned. He turned to you. 

He cleared his throat. He’d been thinking of a response to that question since the second he’d started waiting outside for you. What was he doing? This was insane. His plan was to make you stay, but he was much too upset to talk rationally when he got the text from Franco about you seeing an Indycar driver. Honestly, it crushed him. He genuinely thought you’d liked him. “I wanted to… talk? Or something, just to gauge what the fuck is going on here,” he was getting heated, and you understood he was probably angry with you, and it’s not like he didn’t have a reason. 

“What do you mean?” you asked, opening your hotel room door and letting him inside. 

“You’re going to Indycar?” he questioned. “What the fuck?”  

You gulped, hard. “Yeah?” 

“Why?” he demanded. “What does Indycar have that F1 doesn’t? F1 is faster cars, faster drivers, more money, more races, more countries, more-”

“Oscar! Did it ever occur to you that this wasn’t my fucking choice?!” you shouted over him. Silence. “Indycar doesn’t have Sky coverage, but Europeans are interested in the sport and they need a known interviewer to go there and make it easier to sell it to people, and I got picked. That’s it.” 

“So it has nothing to do with whatever Indycar driver you’re fucking?” he scoffed. Your face fell. Your eyes fell to the hardwood floor beneath your feet. “Yeah, I know.”

Your face soured and you looked up again, offended. Who did he think he was? He had no say in your life at all. You’d hated him for 2 years, and you had no real reason to, now you had one. “I owe you nothing Oscar. I’m an adult in a consenting relationship, and yes he’s in Indycar, is that a crime?” 

“Is that why you’re going over there?” he asked, stepping closer to you. You could cut the atmosphere in the room with a knife. “Or are you running away from something here?” 

“Fuck you,” you pushed him back. This wasn't the Oscar you knew. He was different, angry, mean, and rude. You owed him nothing. “Get out.” 

He nodded, and left without another word. 

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[gffa]

People shouldn't be too hard on Mon!

I absolutely love and is grateful of Freed's understanding and appreciation of the Jedi, apparent in the book, apparent in the interview he'd given for the book:

"For me, the excitement of the time period here, is that I tend to think of 'Star Wars' as a setting with plenty of room for grey area stories and moral ambiguity, but there are very clear lines of good and evil as well. There's no version of 'Star Wars' in which you look at the Emperor and go, 'Well, maybe he had some good ideas.' No, the Emperor is evil. And the Jedi and Luke at their best are good. Everything else exists somewhere in there. This is a period where the remains true but no one really knows that the Emperor is evil.

"As far as the public is concerned, this guy just won the worst war in living memory. The Clone Wars were this horrendous affair and Palpatine has put an end to it. Yes, he's declared himself Emperor but he's not the embodiment of all evil. There's not even a Death Star out there. On the absolute good side, the Jedi have sort of been tarnished in recent years. War scrapes away at the shining morality of any organization."

I think Freed really understands what Lucas meant when he said "The Jedi have been corrupted by this war."

...but I still don't hold it against Mon cause she's going through hell and she spoilerspoilerspoilerspoiler in the later half of the book. I think she's fascinating, wonderful, equally valid character with equally valid viewpoints as Bail within context of their own worlds and experiences in this novel.

The editor of the book said it best:

Bail – knows the truth about Palpatine, the Empire, and the fall of the Jedi. Caught between his commitment to truth and justice at any cost, and the duty he has to the daughter he’s been entrusted to protect.

Mon Mothma – a master politician, who believes – like so many – that opposing Palpatine is part of the regular game of politics. She doesn’t yet realize, Palpatine stood up from the game board years ago, and she’s playing against shadows.

Mon and Bail are allies, but not really friends (at this time). Padme was their link, and now, she’s gone. Where does that leave them?

For Mon and Bail especially, the secrets Bail holds that he cannot reveal leaves a gulf between them. And what does it mean when they find themselves at odds with each other, over truths they cannot speak?

prev anon) I'm talking about their different mindsets and experiences and viewpoints born from those and I'm not excusing Mon's... *spoilers* anyway I hope you enjoy the rest of the book! It's so nice seeing an author like Freed, who usually writes non-force side of sw, handling the jedi with such warmth, understanding and awareness

This was such a reassuring message to get, thank you! I've been avoiding spoilers for the book as best I can, but I'm only a quarter of the way through it and I was wondering how the various themes were going to go, but Freed's interview quotes and your comments have made me glad that I'm picking up what this book is putting down, because that's exactly how I've been reading it. (And why I'm hoping to encourage more people to read it--though, I will give a warning that this book can be uncomfortably prescient about current events in a way that I wouldn't say Alexander Freed Is A Witch, but that can be very hard to read about if you're not in the headspace to deal with a lot of reflections of the dumpster fire we're currently in.) As for Mon, I hope nobody comes down on her for this, because as much as I scream, cry, throw up, etc., over Bail's scenes, in general I lean a bit more towards Mon's way of doing things, because I think her approach is her answer to the question, "But what can actually be truly achieved?" That she is looking at an incredibly shitty situation with only shitty options and asking herself what can she actually get done, what does she have a snowball's chance in hell of success with? And she knows clearing the Jedi's name at this point in time is not on the table, not when there are a million other things that might actually do tangible good for the galaxy. And I don't disagree with that! I love the Jedi more than anyone, but clearing their name isn't more important that, say, trying to stop the Wookiees from being classified as a non-sentient species! Clearing their name isn't important enough to blow all your political capital and having nothing to show for it when there are people who you can help, with a chance that will actually succeed! Bail's idealism isn't stupid, he's incredible and the galaxy needs a shining light like him, it's necessary for the bigger hope for the future, we can't make it through the dark times without bright, shining hope. So even when they don't always think positively of each other, I never get the sense that Bail and Mon don't understand that the other is doing what they think is best. They just disagree on what that is. And it makes sense! Bail knew and was friends with the Jedi! He knows the truth about Palpatine and how important all that Force shit is to what's going on here! Mon is operating with the idea that this is a political battle--and she's not entirely wrong, she's necessary to the recovery of the galaxy, too, just as Luke is necessary to save the day, so too is Leia, and I sort of see that reflected in Bail and Mon's approaches--one is focusing on the mystical and one is focusing on the political and I think both are important here. So, I have nothing but hearts for Mon Mothma and what she's trying to do for the galaxy.

And I don't see them as antagonists here, I see them as two people who look at each other with the understanding that there is deep love and compassion for people in the other, that they want this other person on their side not just for political alliances but because they care, and maybe they want to scream in frustration that the other person can't see what they see, but I don't feel for a second that this is going to end with them anything other than them as friends. Their scene in Rogue One implies she knows about Bail knowing a living Jedi, if not directly knowing about Obi-Wan Kenobi, which isn't something he would tell just anyone. I'm hoping for the same with Saw, there's going to be conflict about their approaches, and I love that that's clearly a theme/why these three characters were chosen as the pillars of this book, that each of them are shown to have their reasons why and that each of them serve a purpose. I scream/cry/throw up more about the Jedi because that's the most fun for me, but I am enthralled with Mon's chapters just as much, the political tightrope she's on, and I would encourage people to read for those aspects just as much as I would encourage them for crying about the Jedi. ANYWAY, EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK FOR YOURSELF, I'm having fun with the snippets I'm posting, but the book is so much more than those things! It's one of the best SW for rounding out the characters and filling in the transitions between the movies and TV shows, but in a way that keeps the tension and emotional gut-punches despite that we know where it's going. ALSO, MON MOTHMA AND BAIL ORGANA ARE THE BEST, I'M WILLING TO FIGHT THE INTERNET OVER THIS

[riqomi]

more than pretend ˖ 박성훈

박성훈 ˖ 𝑓em!r .. g. fake dating. slowburn. romance. fake. relationship. ──── BOOKSHELF (791) tw: kissing

dating park sunghoon was never something you thought would happen.

but when rumors started spreading that he was secretly dating a famous actress, his company needed a distraction. fast. their solution? a fake relationship with someone unexpected—you.

you weren’t famous. you weren’t an idol. you were just an old friend from before his debut, someone the media wouldn’t suspect. that’s why the company thought it would work—no one would see it coming, and the public would buy it. at first, you laughed when his manager suggested it. “you’re joking, right?”

but sunghoon, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke. “it’s not a bad idea. you blinked, turning to him. “wait, you’re actually okay with this?”

he exhaled, leaning back on the couch. “not really. but i don’t want my name attached to that actress forever.” he glanced at you, his expression unreadable. “if you’re uncomfortable, i won’t force you.” you hesitated. the idea of pretending to be his girlfriend, holding hands in public, maybe even… kissing—it was insane.

but sunghoon looked genuinely exhausted. and he was your friend. you sighed. “fine. but just until the rumors die down.” a hint of a smirk played on his lips. “deal.” the first “public date” was awkward.

you sat across from sunghoon at a café, stirring your drink nervously while flashes from cameras outside the window lit up the room. fans whispered. some even pointed, their eyes wide with shock.

you swallowed hard. “they’re really buying this, huh?”

sunghoon stirred his iced americano, looking completely unbothered. “that’s the point.” then, without warning, he reached across the table and took your hand.

your heart nearly stopped.

he didn’t even look at you—just kept sipping his coffee like this was completely normal. but his fingers were warm, his grip firm yet casual, as if he had done this a million times before.

“you—you could’ve warned me,” you muttered, face burning.

his lips twitched in amusement. “you’re my girlfriend, remember?”

you rolled your eyes, but your heart was racing. and the worst part? his hand felt nice.

as the weeks passed, fake dating became second nature.

you got used to sunghoon casually slinging an arm around your shoulders in front of cameras. you got used to the way he’d text you late at night—sometimes to discuss how to make the relationship look real, sometimes just to ask, did you eat?

but sometimes, it felt too real.

like when he pulled you closer in a crowded place, his hand firm on your waist. “just so no one gets suspicious,” he murmured.

or when he draped his jacket over your shoulders on a cold evening, brushing your hair back as he did.

or the way he looked at you during interviews when they asked about you—his gaze softening for just a second before he answered with his usual cool tone.

and then there was the jealousy.

one night, you were out with friends when you got a text.

sunghoon: where are you? you: out with some friends. why? sunghoon: who?

you frowned. why does he care?

later, when he saw a picture of you laughing with another guy, his expression darkened. he didn’t say anything, but that night, when you were supposed to take “fake couple” photos for the media, he pulled you a little too close.

you stared up at him. “sunghoon…?”

he didn’t move. his hand lingered at your waist. his usual cool exterior cracked just a little. and for the first time, it hit you—this wasn’t just pretend anymore. you had planned to end the fake relationship soon. the rumors had died down. everything had worked.

so why did the thought of not being with sunghoon feel… wrong?

one night, after another public appearance, you both sat in his car, the silence heavier than usual. “you know,” you started, gripping your phone tightly, “we don’t have to pretend anymore.” sunghoon’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “yeah.”

silence.

you sighed. “aren’t you… relieved?” he didn’t answer right away. when he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than usual.

“is that what you want?”

your breath caught. his tone wasn’t teasing. it wasn’t his usual nonchalant attitude. it was raw. hesitant. you turned to look at him. “sunghoon… what if—”

before you could finish, he leaned in. slowly. carefully. like he was giving you time to stop him.

but you didn’t.

and when his lips finally brushed against yours, you realized—this had never been fake to him.

and maybe… it had never been fake to you either. the next time you went out in public, sunghoon reached for your hand without hesitation.

this time, there were no cameras around.

and this time, it was real.

remember my requests are open, feel free to send some !! hope u guys liked this one. pls reblog it would help a lot <33

[creatingblackcharacters]

Here's my attempt at a Lenora redesign, taking in mind your and sharonz-arty-corner03's advice. While I had to finish this in a bit of a rush, I tried to take all the time I could to properly depict her Black features. If there is something to improve in that regard I would love your input!

Lenora's original design is infamous due to resembling the mammy stereotype, perhaps more noticeable in her big apron (in fact, that got changed for overseas release, and future apparitions). Even without that, her original design can be a bit confusing, as without context, some have thought she's a chef for example, when in fact Lenora is a museum director and archaeologist! So, I wanted her design to reflect that. She tends to be inside the museum doing director work, so I wanted to go with that.

Turns out, there isn't a rigid consensus on museum uniform etiquette, especially directors. But something formal and cool felt like a must... And I remembered I read somewhere that Lenora's partly based off Pam Grier. And I remembered that scene in Jackie Brown where she's wearing a stunning black office suit with a white shirt with big lapels underneath, and thought it could fit Lenora very well! I did take some liberties and stuck with her canon clothes' pallete for now. Oh and, to me personally, when I think of museum staff attire I think of lanyards with identifications on them, hence I gave her one, too! I don't know if directors need one but it feels very visual.

I have seen people comparing her canon headband with mammies' so I took that out in case it could still be in bad taste. I went with a full afro, keeping a young Pam Grier in the back of my mind lol.

Lastly, I looked up Black archaeologists and/or museum directors for inspiration, so I wanted to share some of my finds in case someone is interested: First, the website for the Society of Black Archaeologists. It has a major focus on endorsing the respect of African and African Diaspora material culture, and to of course, highlight the efforts of archaeologists of African descent! They have some articles and even podcasts. I really liked their interview of Dr. Peggy Brunache, a Haitian-American archaeologist. Second, Kinshasha Holman Conwill (her resume is too long to list here, but she's pivotal for some very important Black culture museums in the US) and lastly Kimberly Camp (museum leader and amazing doll artist.)

Nice! It's clear you put a lot of time and research into this design! I actually kind of liked her headband, I wear headbands all the time lmao. It added color. But all right. I do think that she could use a little more color in her palette; maybe an orange and yellow flower, if not the headband.

I'm definitely gonna go look into that website though 👀 IKTR 😤 thank you for introducing me to this!

[asaka-lucy-hl]

Report on the 3rd Online Meeting of the Last Defense Academy School Council (Held on February 28)

The archived video is now available for the School Council members, so I’ve listed the key points and comments from Kodaka and Inou (THL’s producer) that I found particularly important or amusing. Part of the report is written in the form of a conversation, and the person named Miyokawa who appears in it is the editor-in-chief of a Japanese gaming media outlet called Famitsu.

Q: There are now 55 days until release. How are things going? Kodaka: We’re working on some patches, but development itself is basically finished. Until recently, I was making final adjustments to the parts I was responsible for, as well as checking the balance of the SRPG sections. But now that’s all settled, so I’ve been playing through the parts written by other writers—the ones I wasn’t involved in during development—as a player.

Q: So you're playing THL from a player’s perspective? Kodaka: Yes, exactly. There are parts I didn’t oversee at all, so I’m experiencing them for the first time myself.

Q: The demo’s reviews have the status of “Overwhelmingly Positive”… Kodaka: They’re all fake reviews. (Everyone laughs) Kodaka: We paid people 100 yen each to write them. Miyokawa: That’s cheap. (laughs) Inou: I personally wrote about 30 of them. (Everyone laughs) Miyokawa: Let’s not make jokes like that—it could spread in a weird way. It’s not true! (laughs) Right now, there are around 806 reviews. Kodaka: It’s really nice to see so many reviews for just the demo.

Q: Do you feel the impact of the feedback? Kodaka: Yes, I do. With Rain Code, we didn’t release a demo, and while DRV3 had a demo, there wasn’t really a place for people to leave reviews like this. So being able to see this kind of reaction is really valuable. We’ve even used some of the feedback to make adjustments in patches, so in that sense, I’m glad we released a demo. Also, as I mentioned in my Famitsu interview today, seeing the reactions to the demo has been a relief. My worries have eased a bit. Before the demo was released, I was thinking, “What if we only sell 600 copies...?” But now I know we’ll at least sell 800, so I feel a little better. (Everyone laughs) Miyokawa: I don’t think 800 copies is a number you should feel reassured about. (laughs)

Q: The SRPG sections were more challenging than I expected. Kodaka: That’s true. I think that’s one of the aspects that received particularly good feedback. When it comes to the story, a lot of people commented that it felt “Danganronpa-like” and nostalgic, but for the SRPG sections, it seemed like many players only truly understood what they were like after playing them.

The SRPG has a system where, if you get a game over, various relief measures kick in, making it progressively easier. Personally, when I play action games and keep getting game overs, I always think, “Why doesn’t this game have some kind of relief system?!” Since I’m more of a casual gamer, after dying three times, I just want the game to let me clear it already.

Miyokawa: So THL has that kind of relief system? Kodaka: Yes. Since I’m the type of person who wants that kind of feature, I made sure to include it.

Q: Since we have Kodaka here, I’d love for the School Council members to share their thoughts directly with you. But at the same time, many fans are hesitant to say too much because they’re worried about spoilers.

Kodaka: Yeah, but honestly, what’s playable in the demo is really just the tip of the iceberg—actually, more like the tip of the tip of the iceberg. I’ve seen a lot of reviews commenting on how surprisingly large the demo is, saying things like, “I can’t believe they released this much content.” But in reality, it’s just a small fraction of the full game. So many more things are going to happen from here on.

On the other hand, since the development team talks openly about all this stuff among ourselves, I sometimes worry that I might accidentally slip up and drop a keyword or something.

Most SRPGs tend to have a fantasy feel, but I think this demo really conveys just how much of a 'chuunibyou' (edgy, over-the-top) vibe the game has.

(Everyone laughs)

One thing that’s always bothered me about SRPGs is how, toward the end, the gameplay often turns into just surrounding the last enemies and bullying them. At a certain point, you realize, “Oh, I can’t lose anymore,” and the tension disappears. I wanted to reduce that as much as possible.

So, I designed the game around "comeback victories." The more allies you lose, the stronger you become.

I set it up so that, near the end, you might think, “Only two of us are left... but if we risk everything, we might just pull this off... We did it!!!” That kind of dramatic, high-stakes moment. I feel like that also adds to the game’s chuunibyou spirit.

---

<Kodaka's Comments During the Fan Q&A Session>

Darumi is the kind of character that seems like they could fit into Danganronpa but actually can't. If you have a character like that, they’d basically have to be killed off early on. So, while they might seem like a Danganronpa character, they actually wouldn’t work.

Maruko wouldn’t fit either. Someone that much of a coward would be hard to use in the story. Ginzaki as well—if he keeps sinking into self-loathing every time he speaks, the Class Trial wouldn’t progress at all. Surprisingly, there are a lot of characters that seem like they could appear in Danganronpa but actually wouldn’t.

For the first nine characters (except for Takumi), I wanted them to feel a little more relatable, a bit more grounded compared to the ones in Danganronpa or Rain Code. Maruko, Kawana, Shizuhara—they don’t have over-the-top appearances. Since this game has war as a theme, I wanted to include somewhat realistic reactions to that. So, at first, I aimed to depict real high school students with these nine characters. ...But I couldn't really do it. laughs In the end, I just kept adding more and more, and it turned out the same as always—intense characters all over again.

(Everyone laughs)

Kodaka: Still, I think the designs are slightly more relatable than those in Danganronpa, don’t you? Miyokawa: Darumi might be a bit extreme, though. Kodaka: Yeah, that’s true. But then all the characters that got added later ended up being way too intense, which made for a really unbalanced mix. laughs

Q: Are you participating in the 100-day login campaign? Kodaka: I haven’t logged in once. (Everyone laughs)

Q. The controls with the keyboard are difficult. Can they be improved before release? Kodaka: To be honest, I strongly recommend using a gamepad. Well... making adjustments for keyboard controls costs money, you know. Inou: Yeah, it’s not like we didn’t consider it, but given the budget, we decided it was better to just ask players to use a gamepad.

Q: Will there be any shocking announcements before the release? Kodaka: Honestly, we’re still debating how much to reveal. From a marketing perspective, it would be better to make an honest announcement that "This and that happen," people would go, "Whoa, this game is insane!" But at the same time, I want players to experience those surprises firsthand. So I’m thinking maybe it’s best to hold back and rely on post-release word-of-mouth instead. I don’t want to ruin those moments of shock for the players.

That said, I was looking at the demo reviews, and it seems like a lot of people were really reacting to Aotsuki’s event CG from Tokyo Game Show. Maybe that’s because, after playing the demo, they understood the characters better?

Inou: Yeah, that one definitely got people buzzing and stirred up a lot of "What!?!" reactions. Kodaka: At TGS, we had a bunch of event CGs on display at the booth. And we figured, "Hey, let’s throw in something fun at the edge of the lineup!" So we deliberately included one of the more intense event CGs. But I think it’s still hard to understand why things turned out that way.

There are over 600 event CGs in the game, so I doubt many people will see all of this.

---

On the development process

Kodaka: Today, various sections of the team were interviewed, and while reminiscing about the road to release, our staff kept saying things like: "I never thought we’d finish this game." "There’s no way this is possible."

Honestly, for the past two years, I’ve been hearing nothing but people saying, “It’s impossible! We can’t finish it!”

Miyokawa: Sounds like the whole Tookyo Games team was in despair. Kodaka: Yeah, Tookyo Games was in despair. Even Media.Vision (the company handling the SRPG sections) was in despair. Inou: Right. And since I was managing the project, I was in despair too. (Everyone laughs) Inou: So, at some point, I thought we had to force ourselves to finish it. Speaking of which, someone started saying scary things like, "If we had another year, we could have done even better..." Kodaka: It would never be finished at that rate. laughs Miyokawa: That just shows how ambitious the game was. Kodaka: Yeah, and I think the quality turned out really high. The character sprites and music are really abundant, too.

Plus, in the ADV sections, the scripting was all handled by the actual scenario writers. For the sections I wrote, I also did all the scripting myself. In fact, the entire ADV section of the demo—I handled all the scripting for it.

That’s probably why people kept saying in reviews that it feels like Danganronpa—because everything, from the way sound effects are used to the way music changes, was all done in my style.

While working on this, I realized that I’m actually really good at scripting. Maybe even better than writing scenarios. I genuinely feel like my directing makes things more engaging.

Miyokawa: Do different writers have their own distinct styles? Kodaka: Yeah, you can really tell, especially with Uchikoshi—his writing stands out a lot. There are some sections where you just know it’s him. But I think that’s part of the game’s charm—there are so many different routes, and multiple writers contributed to them.

---

[Closing Segment]

Miyokawa: Now then, does anyone know what day it is today, February 28th? Kodaka: Monster Hunter release day! Miyokawa: (laughs) Oh, the team members know what I mean. That’s right—it’s Ginzaki’s birthday! So, we have prepared a cake for him!

What do you think? Kodaka: That’s impressive. It does look a bit like his ears are melting though. Miyokawa: Well, is he really that beloved? Inou: I believe a lot of people will end up loving him. He’s already popular at ANIPLEX, and he’s one of my favorites too. Kodaka: He does have a great range of expressions. A lot of them are annoying, though. (Everyone laughs) Miyokawa: Even the expression on the cake is a little irritating, right? He doesn't seem to be aware that he is being celebrated. ---

Miyokawa: Lastly, do you have any message for the School Council members? Kodaka: Well, after the release, I’d love to have a meeting where we can share our thoughts without worrying about spoilers. I think a lot of different impressions will come up. Probably, about a month after the release, people who have played it will have completely different opinions, so I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts at a good time. I think this is a work where sharing impressions will be a lot of fun, so please look forward to it and wait until the release.

---

That’s all for now. Please note that this post only highlights the parts of their statements that I found interesting, and some sections have been edited for flow, as they were not originally consecutive.

I hope you find some parts of it enjoyable to read. Thanks for reading! 🌟

[peanutjinan]

One thing I love about Veinfei is how much it subverted my expectations.

Before Yingdu eps 3 and 4, the initial vibes one might have gotten from them was that they would have a very unhealthy power dynamic and a toxic/exploitative relationship where Vein puts on a facade and manipulates and uses a naive Xia Fei.

But what we actually got was so extremely refreshing.

And while there is the power dynamic of boss/employee, Xia Fei never seems afraid or reluctant to speak his mind (and Vein seems to appreciate this about him, considering what he said to LX). Vein also doesn't really put on a facade, he doesn't hide how weird he is. And XF just accepts him as he is - even if he sometimes seems to be annoyed at Vein scaring off other people. 😅

And while XF does seem to have an idealised view of Vein, this doesn't seem to stem from any sort of manipulation (and I don't believe that the guy telling people that they look tasty during job interviews is some kind of master manipulator, tbh).

Vein also never approached XF with an ulterior motive, he just likes him and finds him "fun" (This was confirmed in an interview).

Idk, I just find this such a nice subversion of expectations so far from what we know of their dynamic right now.

[howfrightening]

Would you talk some more about examples of Pete’s sexism? I binged watched the show pretty fast and I don’t remember seeing it, so I’m worried I might’ve missed some things and wanted to hear your perspective if you’re willing!

sorry i missed this! but yes omg, i love pete and one of the things i love most about his character is that a lot of his flaws are seen through rose colored glasses because he’s a nice guy which honestly i should talk more about sometime when it’s not 4 am.

but i’m speaking mainly about the plot pete shares with flower in 1x14 “Ghostwriter”. pete spends the entire episode blatantly dismissing flower’s interest and knowledge of basketball because it’s something for his “bros” (i’m paraphrasing the plot here) and barely acknowledges flower. it’s directly implied, not really implied it’s right there just not explicitly said as a piece of dialogue, it’s because pete actually carries some period typical sexism of his era based on flower and hetty’s conversation where hetty references staying quiet for the men in her life and they shouldn’t have to put up with it in this one, and also it is said by flower’s actress in an interview that if i remember i will reblog with.

i would say another thing that i count toward this is pete’s persistence with reminding alberta of his crush on her despite her very clearly stating that she is not interested many times, but i would like to make *that* a longer post.

[reapersmarch]

Hi! I'm helping Cigs out and posting some asks on his behalf because of how many people signed up, see as follows 💖:

Hello! Thank you for signing up for my little fandom project. Like I mentioned in my post, these will be once a month character building/exploration questions. I don't expect immediate answers. Feel free to take the whole month, if you need! If you have more than one Step, pick your favorite or whichever you think needs more love.

We're going to start with the basics this month: Where did your Sidestep get your name? Do they know what it means? Do they feel any particular way about their name?

-Cigs

HIII AURRIE AND CIGS ty for doing this it's really kind of u and fun!!

so initially this was a fucking joke answer but now it's basically canon lol but he saw an interview with one direction in a magazine once and of all the names of the members, decided he liked niall the best LMAOFNJSFJWJ he doesn't know shit about fuck re: his name, guy who learned a lot of his mannerisms from watching media which, I mean, aided in his ability to act a part. valentine he picked because it sounded nice and also because lil homie gay ass is obsessed with the idea of love. doesn't think it can happen to him in any capacity, but still loves the very idea.

he doesn't really think much about his name these days anymore, honestly. it so rarely gets used. he's called any and everything under the sun - bel, red, babybel, valentine - BUT niall. he doesn't really think of himself as that anymore. he doesn't really think of himself period, but because no one actually USES his chosen name, he doesn't think of himself as niall anymore.

in some ways, it's another method of dehumanization - stripping of your chosen identity and instead becoming all the identities that others have assigned to you. bel isn't really His name. it was given to him by someone else while the name that he chose for himself fades into obscurity. makes u think...

[gawankeundco]

jussi olkinuora giving insight on his new team’s city: frankfurt is really hot. the rink is very hot, too. i sweat a lot.

[bogkeep]

[at the gender clinic trying to get diagnosed as a trans man] me: ... and i unironically think that fictional characters who wear leather longcoats and wide brimmed hats that are like, edgy loners and stuff are cool. i think this is pretty conclusive evidence that i'm a man

the doctor i'm talking to: mmm actually several of our patients that are currently detransitioning like leather longcoats, so this is worrisome

[sapphicsnzs]

camping with allergies is so adorable especially with a significant other. being outside all day kicking off their allergies. then holding them close by the campfire and having the smoke tickle their nose more. and then finally exhausted after a day of sneezing cuddling into their partner in the tent only to realize there’s so much dust in there. also the idea of not having tissues because you can’t throw them out so having to use a bandana, a shirt, or your partner…

[romicat]

No worries I ramble a lot as you can see my my multiple overlay long responses. It's perfectly normal to criticize things you like or wished you liked something more than you. The thing with comics is that really anything and nothing could happen.

Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy were originally part of a Betty/Veronica love triangle with Spider-Man until the Betty got fridged and then he married MJ until their marriage was undone by a demon and all that nonsense.

Cyclops and Jean have been on and off, married, divorced, Cyclops dated Emma for many years there, and then marries again.

Originally Destiny and Mystique were supposed to be Nightcrawler's original biological parents until they changed it in part to erase their relationship. For the longest time they were basically just "very good friends, they would burn the world for each other" types. Until more recently where it was finally retconned back that Nightcrawler is their kid and they officially got married.

Kitty and Illyana were literal magically bounded soul mates and one if not the most popular sapphic ship in the X-Men comics fandom since pretty much ever. There was later a writer who wanted to write Rachel as her soul mate and that ship also got a ton of traction in the fanbase before the writer left. More recently both Rachel and Kitty were revealed to be actually textually queer. . . And both of them are dating completely different people with as I said Rachel basically becoming Betsy's cheerleader.

What I'm trying to say is that this stuff is extremely fluid. Comics is the type of industry where little kids who grow up with these characters often grow up to write them. And it shows.

It's what literally happened with both Iman and Samira Ahmed (the writer of the Beyond Limits miniseries.) I can't remember where but years ago I remember listening to this podcast interview where Ahmed talks about being a fan of Wilson's Ms Marvel and how exciting it was to be able to write her.

And like, yeah. This is a series that's already a decade old, makes sense that it's happening now. And similar to how there's now a lot of X-Men writers who got into the characters from the Fox Movies, I think we'll see more future Ms Marvel writers who saw the MCU show first. If Bruno and Kamala ever end dating anytime in the future (whether it's 2 or 5 or 10 years from bow) I guarantee you it'll be because that writer specific writer was a Bruno shipper. At least that's more likely than it being an editorial company thing honestly.

Also, also, as nice as it'll be to get some kind of send off to those ships, more than likely they'll just die off silently with the change in writers. As all these things tend to do.

Side note, the Samira Ahmed thing is really funny too because before Ms Marvel she'd only written contemporary and alt-history books. So the fact that she loved the character so much that she jumped to write a silly little superhero comic book is kind of neat. Speaking of which one of her books is being made into a movie(s?) by the production company who made the Maze Runner movies. . . So huh, we'll see how that goes.

So, Medusa might be the best heroic mentor Kamala's had? Like, she's kinda the only one that didn't disappoint her or tried to force anything on her, or was too stubborn to listen to her. Medusa's entire approach to inhumans outside of their city is to treat them like her subjects but doesn't expect them to treat her like their queen.

She opens Attilan's borders, allowing non-inhumans to live and work there if they want. She offers Kamala assistance when she needs it but never tries to push her towards her "side", and if anything during IvX listens to her and her friends.

When her powers started to literally melt her body it wasn't the X-Men who showed up to help, (actually it was kind of their fault that it happened in the first place) it was Medusa. And even though the chances of saving her aren't certain, she has such faith in Kamala's strength that she doesn't doubt that she'll pull through.

And I don't know, that's just kind of neat?

[cel-aerion]

Me in a post two days ago: "It seems to me that [X character] was the programming guy, and [Y character] was the robotics guy."

RE in a YouTube interview that streamed yesterday: "We liked to say that like one of them was, like, the tech guy who did all, like, the hardware, and one of them was more of the software kind of guy who, like, did all the coding and stuff."

Me watching this interview: *nearly chokes on my drink because VALIDATED*

[thewhizzyhead]

I know that this brainfart is like a "well fucking duh" moment given that Barrett wilbert weed originated both musical Veronica and Janis, but like,,,auli'i cravalho could make for a good musical movie veronica and I mean that genuinely

[seonghwasblr]

Head hurts, so time to sleep. Goodnight friends! You've done great today. ♥