#then do you even like stories and funtime and drama?

[oh-wow-im-still-here]

Saw some posts again with something along the lines of saying that "shen yuan didn't earn anything in the story, it was all shen jiu, then in the end he wasn't even remotely grateful to shen jiu. What a privileged, ignorant asshole."

And like, what? What do you mean?? How many times does shen yuan have to die/explode/sacrifice himself/get kidnapped/infested with plants until you're satisfied with his whump stocks??😭😭😭

[symphonic-snapdragon]

William Afton: Mad Engineer AND Psychopathic Killer (a meta i wrote at 1 am because i have THOUGHTS), and Contemplating Sister Location

william afton being a mad engineer and a deranged serial killer aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. he can be ted bundy (“charming” persona who kills bc of psychopathic tendencies & lack of regard for human beings) AND ted kaczynski (manifesto behind his deeds) at the same time. this dude is evil as fuck, why can’t he be portrayed as smart with some kind of master plan AND be plain evil at the same time.

like. his primary goal is to

1) kill (due to the Urges^tm and his rage at losing elizabeth and evan & constant jealousy of henry, when after losing 2 of his kids he kills charlie, the presumed first death)

and his secondary goal is to

2) do whatever it takes to fulfill his murderous urges, even if that means creating robots specifically designed for those purposes

remnant has always confused me and i find the more hardcore scifi elements of fnaf off putting, but not to the point where i disregard sister location bc it’s “too sci-fi.” sister location is arguably my favorite fnaf game!! i LOVE sister location!! i mean, it formally solidified mike as the series protagonist! what’s not to love!

but its placement in the timeline is questionable but overall it works, even if i conveniently ignore the concept of remnant in it. i personally just. don’t pay attention to the remnant stuff and focus more on the afton family drama and the paranormal elements of ghosts rather than “oooh injecting the soul essence of the MCI kids into robots” but that’s just me.

regardless, to make SL somewhat timeline-compliant, while also fitting the initial intended themes of FNAF 1-3 (spooky paranormal story with a serial killer), viewing willam’s genius and his psychopathy as coexisting aspects of his character and not two opposing concepts is vital imo.

sometimes killers don’t need some big motive to kill or do evil deeds. i mean look at jack horner from puss in boots. however, someone with such mechanical prowess and homicidal tendencies such as william would most DEFINITELY squander his technological gifts on making the Funtimes, just huge murderbots so he can continue his killing spree, the only thing that makes him feel alive.

you don’t have to view remnant as a big component to SL in order to enjoy it. you don’t have to ignore william’s engineering genius in order to emphasize the pure-paranormal non scifi side of fnaf. you don’t have to ignore the paranormal just so you can go along with the sci-fi lore additions such as remnant and illusion disks.

TLDR: imo, ignoring remnant as a plot element has no effect on william’s motives because his motive for making crazy advanced robots can solely be his desire to kill as he just becomes more unhinged as he refuses to cope with the deaths of his two favorite children.

More condensed TLDR: let peepaw make murder robots without needing to “harvest immortality”

feel free to discus/disagree or add more to this, i’d love to start a respectful discussion!

[artpharos]

Fe3h ooooor Xenoblade Chronicles

oh no i want to do both 

FE3H 

otp - FERDIBERT because come on seriously this ship has like... all the shit i love. Enemies to Lovers? Check. Bright happy one and gloomy one? Check. Lots of drama? Check. ALSO IT ACTUALLY HAS SO MUCH SUPPORT AND I’M NOT PULLING THINGS OUT OF MY ASS FOR ONCE TO JUSTIFY THIS SHIP AND I’M LIKE... I HAVE FOOD. it’s great, i love this. 

favourite canon pairing - is there even a canon pairing. Uh. I guess Claude’s mom and Claude’s dad? There seems to be a really interesting story there so I’d really like to hear more about it but even then there’s already the whole FORBIDDEN ROMANCE, warrior queen that defied her family and nation to follow her heart, etc etc going on so yeah I guess that’s my favourite pairing now. 

worst pairing ever - Hmmmmmmmm I... guess NemesisxRhea???? wait no I might even be able to ship that idk man

guilty pleasure pairing - Dimileth is my guilty pleasure and I love it a lot because like... as much as I’m a Crimson Flowers person I think Dimileth is pretty much one of the best well-defined and well-written ships for FE3H :( 

a pairing you want to see more - My heart says EdelgardxDorathea. Like the empress of an empire with a closed heart, and a common songstress trying to fall in love in order to secure her future? So much drama, and yet they get along so well... and then they find comfort in one another...

that pairing everyone likes but you’re like “lol no” - Syl/vix I guess? I just don’t really like Felix :/ 

favorite non-romantic pair - ok so crack talk again but. I REALLY WANT TO SEE BYLETH SIBLING INTERACTIONS. ALSO. BYLETH AND JERALT. I LOVE THAT SHIT. GIMME FAMILIAL NONSENSE ALL DAY EVERY DAY.  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Xenoblade Chronicles  I’m gonna guess this is specifically Shulk funtimes and not Rex/Addam funtimes so ok here we go  otp - Recently I played Future Connected and I KNOW THEY WANT US TO SEE THEM AS SIBLINGS BUT ALSO. THEY ARE NOT RELATED BY BLOOD AND HAVE ONLY MET A YEAR AGO WHERE ONE TRIED TO KILL THE OTHER. AND ARE DARK/LIGHT EQUIVALENTS OF ONE ANOTHER. MeliaxTyrea pls don’t kill me 

favourite canon pairing - ShulkxFiora is like. So good guys. I can’t say anything without spoiling people but god. All the drama. All the support. All the love. I love it. Best ship. I cry when I think about it and I started shipping MeliaxShulk ffs. 

worst pairing ever - I’m going out on a limb here and gonna say AlvisxZanza like. Give Alvis his freedom gdi. Free him from the asshole that’s just using him to be god. 

guilty pleasure pairing - MeliaxShulk in an AU where there’s no Fiora getting in the way like I GENUINELY LIKED THIS SHIP AT FIRST OK or maybe MeliaxDunban just because both of them are my favourite characters :/ 

a pairing you want to see more - Going to channel my inner crack and say RikixOka because from what I hear from Future Connected they really are a good loving couple together??? 

that pairing everyone likes but you’re like “lol no” - Uhhhhhhhh what do people even ship in XBC 

favorite non-romantic pair - Riki and Dunban! Like the two of them get along so well even though one is a nopon and the other one is the hero of the Homs, and they respect and listen to one another’s advice and rely on each other and it’s genuinely such a good friendship! 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  Please don’t kill me for my opinions 

[open-fic-night]

Hey you 😘

Are you still looking for ideas for your Open Fic Night prompts?

Or searching for inspiration for a solo OFN entry?

Look no further! Yesterday we asked you guys to send us prompts, and boy did you deliver! We also threw in a couple unused prompts from the last OFN, if you see something familiar!

Please help yourself, and write some fic! You can use these in your prompt section of your exchange entry, or register one as a solo.

Enjoy!

Sometime after 05x14, Patrick decides that the store needs some more advertisements or something and hires a photographer.  Only the photographer in question is the one and only Sebastian Raine. When he shows up, Patrick realizes his mistake and drama happens.

  for fic prompt with open fic night: WWII AU about david and patrick. Can be just a love story or a love story with some angst in it or any other subject line. can have whatever career you think for them that fits well with that timeline i've been waiting for something like this :)

Prompt: College AU with David being an art major and Patrick being the star baseball player and business major. Mutual pining.

Alexis has just gotten engaged to Ted for the third time, but this time a wedding is probably actually going to happen because she has asked David to be her Man of Honor.

David and Patrick dancing at their wedding to Tina Turner

Sleepless in Seattle type scenario. Patrick phones a radio show talking about his break up with Rachel and how lost he is. David a listener can't stop thinking about him. Mutual pining. Slow burn. Friends to lovers. E rated if poss.

Hi! I have a prompt :)) I would love to read a good old fashioned coffee shop AU. Bookshop also good. Why not both? Pining over the barista. Bonding over favourite books and music. Maybe someone makes a mixtape? Much pining and then.. much tender funtimes.  Mature or explicit.. eventually. :)

An AU where Patrick knew either just David or his whole family before they lost all of their money. How do they react when they meet again in Schitts Creek? Did they like each other before, or even date? What motivates Patrick to move to SC?

So here goes: Possessive!Patrick after David comes back up from talking the garbage out after the high school party. Patrick proving to David that the only jealousy he had was in regards to anyone touching HIS boyfriend! Smutty smut smut wild be lovely, but maybe a good, passionate shoving up against the wall (after David washes his hands from taking out the trash) would do too. 

Secret Santa : everyone in Schitt's Creek participates in a Secret Santa. Shenanigans ensue. Extra points if David gets Patrick and thinks very hard about a thoughtful gift.

Bachelor party fic! can include things like karaoke, drunken shenanagins with stevie, patrick and david sneaking away from their parties to see each other, talking about how excited they are to get married/be married. these are just a jumping off point, do with it what you will! extra points for drunkenly fooling around in the bathroom and not being able to keep their hands off of each other.

Canon divergence. I loved The Hike, and I loved how David pulled through when Patrick was injured (the shushing, the hand sanitizer, his apology and appreciation of Patrick) and how he insisted on continuing the hike because Patrick _hadn't_ killed the romance. But sometimes I can't help but wonder what would have happened if they hadn't continued the hike. How would the proposal have gone? How many more proposals would Patrick have attempted? How long would those rings have to burn in his pocket? Would David remain clueless, or would he figure it out? It could be a little cracky, focusing on all of Patrick’s proposal attempts being foiled and him getting increasingly frustrated because he likes to be smooth and in control and ‘take charge’. Or it could be David figuring out what happened and trying to make everything okay again and creating occasions for Patrick to ask. Can be angsty, but please not too much, since this canon is very much my happy comfort place of the moment.

[kalico-to-the-letter]

REVIEW: RWBY – Vol. 5, Ch. 3: “UNFORESEEN COMPLICATIONS”

Complications, certainly. I don’t know about unforeseen, though. Do you mean in contexts of the characters in this episode, show? Because I could understand that. But are you also talking to your audience in relation to last week and thinking you’re slick? Because if that’s the case, you’re not. Welcome to my review of the 3rd Chapter of the 5th Volume, entitled, “Unforeseen Complications”. This week gave us: Belladonna Family Funtime, an old/young man flexing on everyone in the room, and a couple of boss ladies.

If you don’t want spoilers, then:

In “Unforeseen Complications”, RWBY hits some of the notes that were made necessary by the drama of last week. Perhaps they felt that the show needed a dash of humour after everything that happened, but it did not have to be as big a part of the episode as it was.

Last week, the game got turned on its head, as far as the White Fang are concerned. And this episode begins with me thinking, “Sienna’s death should already be public knowledge here”, as Ghira is reading over a statement he is preparing to give the people of Menagerie. But apparently news travels slow across Faunus lines, because an entire scene in Menagerie passes without a hint that people already know of her death. Remember that Adam wanted her death to be seen as martyrdom for the White Fang cause. So why not get the propaganda machine rolling already?

These people don’t know, but we as the audience know and have known for a while now. And while this disconnect can sometimes work, here it’s just a bit awkward. Ghira is telling the people a bunch of stuff which isn’t news to us anymore, and the thing that should be news? People don’t already know about it, for some reason.

And I excuse this if this episode revisited Menagerie and had the news break. But one scene was all we got, and this island is still in a state of not really knowing any current information. This hurts the storyline, because none of what Ghira said felt vital anymore. We already know that Adam’s targeting Haven. We knew all this back at the end of Volume 4. And while the show is hinting at progress in this storyline, it’s not coming quickly enough to justify scenes like this – scenes which seem important, but are pretty inconsequential when you think about it.

It’s a shame that the show is making me say this, because I love Blake. You all know that. But this episode couldn’t even be assed to give her a line of dialogue. It even trolled us into thinking we were going to get a big, emotional speech from her, and then it had Ilia interrupt the press conference before Blake could even begin. Bad form, show. No soup for you.

My gripes don’t end there. If you think the best way to fulfil the organically-created need for dramatic and expositional payoff is to bury it in a couple of mostly-comedic scenes, then you must have thought that the Dance Arc of Volume 2 was the best the series has ever done. Stop it. Stop it right now.

Ozpin’s story for Ruby and co. is a really interesting one. It calls way back into the history of the show, and it’s a good reminder of why people found him such an intriguing character those first three seasons. He’s cursed to keep on living because he failed to stop Salem forever ago. So as much as he’s this enigmatic figure of awe, he’s also tragic, because the consequences of his failure have had such an impact on the world. I like that story a lot. I don’t like it being buried under the comedic tone of the scenes he shares with RNJR, because seeing him flexing and exaggerating his mannerisms in front of the students, while good for a laugh, undercuts much of the gravitas.

Once again, Weiss in the shining light of the episode. Her scenes are so much shorter, but the show does everything it needs to with her and does it well. It sets up expectations of who is in the camp – we meet Vernal for the first time – and gives Weiss a moment to stand up for herself and be cut down – when Vernal swats away her claim that Winter is coming to save her, because Winter and all Atlas personnel have been recalled. (Thanks, show). But the ending of the episode also gives us enough to remind us that Weiss is the boss lady who broke out of her own mansion last season, so of course she can conjure a summoning to cut away her binds. She’s not beaten yet, and that’s a great little story-in-a-story.

But all the good in this episode can only carry it so far in the face of the stuff that doesn’t make sense. When you have an episode as bold and daring as last week’s, you owe it to yourself to follow that up with the appropriate aftershocks in the next episode. This could have been a great way to do it. But Menagerie’s storyline is out of place here, and the Ozpin/RNJR scenes needed to be more concise than they were, and not buried by needless humour. 

This would be okay in another world, but it’s just not enough when you’ve been setting the bar so high for so long.

Additional observations

- Again, Blake says nothing this entire episode, and I even watched the scene again to make sure of that fact. Her moment with her family was nice, though brief, and of course Sun had to ruin it. I hope she can get on the move soon, so she doesn’t have to be weighed down by the Menagerie storyline any longer. And Sun. Get them away from each other, please, because just like last season, he is once again a charismatic black hole who ruins what should be great scenes between Blake and her parents.

- So Vernal is the Spring Maiden, right? She matches the story told to RJNR in the premiere, and what other reason would there be to have her so prominently in the opening credits?

- This episode does tick a lot of boxes, but they’re not always the right ones. See extending the RNJR scenes with a lot of pointless humour, when that time could have been given to something else. To what I don’t know – maybe a brief Yang storyline.

- To be honest though, it looks like Weiss is going to bust out of the bandit camp before Yang even gets there. I see you, show. You ain’t slick.

Grade: C+

Final thoughts: If the humour is enough for you, then you can ignore just how unnecessary much of “Unforeseen Complications” is. On its own, this episode might intrigue you or make you smile, but context cannot be ignored – this was not the best way for RWBY to follow up last week’s huge angle. The continuation of Weiss’s storyline and Ozpin’s revelation, though both well-done, can only carry the episode so far. – Kallie

[spyroid101]

The Traitor (Part 3)

I HAVE SURVIVED THE STORM! HUZZAH!

In celibration, let us have the next installment of Happy Chiss Family Drama Funtimes!

with an extra serving of SEVERE DADDY ISSUES~

@jedicreed-fr

With all Kurdo'hith'rauste’s intellect, and years to study and profile all who worked under Emperor Janto, he knew he would be able to find just the right buttons to push to unsuspiciously separate himself form his group.

What Dohithra didn’t expect, was exactly how depressingly easy it was.

All he had to do was offer to do all the outside patrols while the other two surveyed the classroom, and thus, make it so they could leave work and hit the bar early.

That was all that was needed. No farther pushing.

Their weak resolve in defending this great Empire internally made Dohithra’s blood boil, clearly, he was going to have to make a report to Janto about this...

...But that could wait. For now, it was convenient for him, and his much more important mission:

To track down the Seer child.

Sure. The thought of bringing some men along with him danced around his head a few times, and, admittedly, would probably have been a smarter choice...

But this was going to be HIS glory.

HIS show of undying loyalty to Emperor Janto.

HIS proof that he was worthy of a much higher title.

And so, Dohithra was doing the one thing he’d normally never consider in all of his time as a military strategist:

He was flying into this blind, and alone. Himself.

Even as the magic-tracking pendent lead him beyond The Shifting Expanse, beyond the Sunbeam Ruins, even beyond The Viridian Labyrinth...

Beyond the end of Sornieth.

He spent hours flying over the dark, seemly lifeless ocean, no speck of land in sight, but still, the thought of ever giving up and turning back never once crossed his mind.

The pendent was amendment, somewhere, across this Godless sea, the Seer child was hiding.

And so, Dohithra would go on, fueled by his ambition, and loyalty to Emperor Janto.

Finally, finally, after what felt like forever, Dohithra spotted land.

He landed with a heavy THUD, his wings feeling as heavy as bricks after all his flying.

But still, his pendent urged him forward.

Dohithra decided it might be best to simply go on foot, at least for awhile...

For miles, this Godless, dead looking land stretched on. It was hard for Dohithra to pinpoint how far he’d gone, as everything tended to look the same; dark clouds covering the sky, no sun in sight, dead looking plants, no signs of other life...

...Except, maybe, for the few times Dohithra had sworn he’d seen shadows lurking from out of the corners of his eyes...

Thoughts of The Shade crossed his mind... but surely, that couldn’t be the case.

If it were The Shade, it would have attacked him already, and, whenever he looked for those shadows he thought he saw, there was nothing there...

...All the same, Dohithra kept his guard up...

Continuing to wander this dead land, Dohithra’s pendent was suddenly starting to become more insistent with its pulling.

He was getting close.

The pendent lead him to the edge of a crater, and, upon inspection, he could just make out the shapes of holes along it’s edges.

Artificially made holes.

Caves.

Someone- or thing lived here.

Dohithra forced the pendent into his satchel, even as it still tried to pull him forward, this was as far as he was going to go blind. For now, he’d stay hidden there at the edge of the crater, watching, waiting...

Planning.

“Hurry it up, slowpoke!” A voice echoed from one of the caves in the craters.

Dohithra strained his ears as he ducked down among the dead foliage, it wasn’t much of a hiding spot, but it was better then nothing.

The voice seemed to be coming from the tunnel right underneath the edge he resided at...

Suddenly, a BRIGHT red Imperial sprinted out of the tunnel, her playful laughter echoing loudly in the air.

Dohithra honestly felt himself momentarily taken aback. He hadn't seen such a RED Imperial since... well, Janto himself...

...And to think, Dohithra thought his blue scales made him stand out in this dull, grey land...

‘Is that the Seer...?’ Dohithra thought, narrowing his eyes.

...No.

No, it couldn’t be.

For one, the Seer was the child of the Water elemental of Loth-Ysalamiri, and the former grave keeper. No child of theirs would be such a bright RED.

And, for two, the Seer was always described as a young boy, this red Imperial was clearly female...

No, this wasn’t the Seer.

...But who was she? Why would she possibly be here, in these dead lands...?

“You’re so slow in the mornings!” The red Imperial laughed. “I’m gonna get to Sorceress’ first if you don’t pick up the pace!”

It was then, when another dragon shambled out of the tunnel.

‘Hellllooo...’

Dohithra felt his heart start to race in excitement.

THIS.

This Imperial seemed more like it.

Dohithra just needed more proof to be sure...

“I’m not racing you, Amser...” The blue Imperial grumbled.

“Why not? Know you’re gonna lose?” The red Imperial, apparently named Amser, teased.

“No, I just don’t care.”

“Liar, liiiiiar!” Amser laughed. “You’re just a slow poke sore loooooserrr- OWW!!”

Amser suddenly yelped, as the blue Imperial suddenly gave her a small shove with his paw, causing a bright spark of electricity to go off.

“MOOOOOMMMM!!! ONVYR SHOCKED MEEE!!”

A wicked smile spread across Dohithra’s face.

THIS.

This was it.

The Seer child was born in the Empire, and Dohithra recognized the name ‘Onvyr’ from a census of children whom were born around the time the Seer was still in the Empire.

This was the Seer, Dohithra knew it. He really WAS still alive.

And soon, he’d be dragged back to the Empire, brought before Janto, and-

“Children, please...” A third voice spoke, breaking Dohithra out of his thoughts.

The dragon that emerged from the tunnel next... it stopped Dohithra’s breath in his throat.

‘...No...That...’

“Your mother’s trying to sleep.” The Nocturne spoke to the two Imperials. “You know she is exhausted from traveling all the way to Sornieth yesterday...”

“Sorry, dad...” The two Imperials said in unison, bowing their heads apologetically.

‘...That’s impossible...’

Corius.

...Dohithra‘s paternal father, Tlas’iniza’doazzag, Sinizad, had once told him a story, one of the time before the Executrix Empire rose to its current glory.

There was this pathetic, broken, time traveling cyborg, named Corius, and he had brought forth the original blueprints for AT-AT, but he had kept the brilliant war machine’s true combat parameters hidden within his data banks, keeping AT-AT from accomplishing its true function.

And so, Sinizad took it from Corius.

Ripped it right from his head, and killed him, dumping the worthless body into the Sea of a Thousand Currents, never to be seen again.

...Or so, Dohithra had been told...

...But there he was... Standing right there, still alive...

...And with the Seer.

Dohithra’s shock slowly morphed into anger and disgust.

His father failed.

He was sloppy! He was careless!

He failed to make sure the cyborg was dead, and left a loose end.

And now, that loose end holds possession of another loose end that could threaten Janto...

This had all the marks of an uprising in the making, and all because Dohithra’s father, was a failure!

First his useless, frail sister, now his failure of a paternal father, was Dohithra’s family name doomed to be surrounded by such incompetence?!

Well, no more.

Soon, Dohithra would bring the Seer before Janto, perhaps also present the cyborg’s head while he was at it, and tell him of his father’s disgrace, and have him put back into his proper place.

Perhaps, Janto would use his father as an example on how to actually make sure you don’t leave survivors.

Perhaps, if he was lucky, Janto would graciously allow Dohithra to do it himself.

Sure, executions weren’t typical among Chiss... But Janto was the emperor, and he wasn’t a Chiss, and whatever he says goes-

Suddenly, Dohithra heard a small ‘WHOOSH’ pass his ear, breaking his concentration...

...And realized all too late, that the magic tracking pendent had managed to finally worm its way out of his bag, and was making a beeline towards its intended target.

Corius.

Dohithra ground his teeth at the tiny pendent struck the cyborg right in the head, before falling lifeless to the ground, now having completed its sole one-use purpose.

‘STUPID FUCKING PIECE OF JUNK!!’

Quickly, Dohithra ducked down.

If he just stayed down, he wouldn’t be spotted. Corius couldn’t see him...

“Dad, what was-?” Amser started to ask, when Corius suddenly vanished in a flash of gold light.

‘Damnit! Where’d he go?!’

A minute passed...

...Nothing...

‘...He’s a broken time traveler.’ Dohithra suddenly realized, forcing himself to relax. ‘He just jumped to another time. You’re fine...’

He turned his attention back to the Seer.

Corius was temporarily gone, leaving only Amser, and whomever her sleeping mother was, as obstacles in his way to reaching the Seer.

He was confident that he could take out Amser before she could call out and wake her mother, and if he baited the Seer into shooting an electrical bolt at the tunnel, he could make it collapse, with the mother inside, leaving the Seer on his own...

Dohithra got ready to pounce, aiming at Amser...

...When a sudden realization hit him...

His father... destroyed Corius’ time travel device...

He shouldn’t be able to time travel.

...Then, where-?!

Suddenly, a bright, golden flash of light burst in front of Dohithra...

...And he suddenly found himself face to face with Corius.

“YOU...!” The cyborg snarled, before suddenly lunging at Dohithra, once again filling his vision with a bright, golden light...

[ramblyravingnnjashark]

Nier Automata - Genius and Madness

the works of Yoko Taro are something that have eluded me for most of my life, and that I have given very little attention to. Probably for good reasons because from the outside, the gameplay of his games range from Mediocre to Average at best and I consider myself a very "gameplay First" person. Some of my Freinds would rave about Drakengard and how weird it is but that didnt quite convince me to look into them much further. However, one Fateful Day a little game called "Nier Automata" was announced, a sequel to Yoko Taros Xbox 360/PS3 game Nier with a little line of Text that would change things in an instant

                                   "Developed by PlatinumGames"

now friends of mine will know that, PlatinumGames is one of my alltime favourite Game Devs for their Crazy High skill Character Action Beat em up titles, containing Larger than Life characters and great and tight Gameplay that owes their roots in the Arcade games of old, which is something I have a appreciation for.

So, with a combination like this I finally decided to take on this series, by means of watching Youtube essays about it because goddamn, the gameplay in these games can get rather mind numbing sadly but honestly? Yoko Taro mighta earned himself now a nice cushy place as one of my favourite Directors, right next to  Hideki Kamiya and Hideo Kojima themselves.

But there is one thing I realised from watching these Essays and actually playing one of them it is one thing to watch a guy sum this series up for you, its a whole different thing to watch the Insanity for yourself

because the works of Yoko Taro arent stories about Heroic Knights slaying Demons and Evil Dragons, or Loving Fathers/older Brothers trying to survive the Fall of Humanity with their Daughters/Little Sisters

they are stories about Love, Hate, War, the meaninglessness of the Universe and the Hope growing from it, what it means to be Human, and what it means to lose all reason and go complete and genuinely Mad

(there will be spoilers, so be warned if you wish to expirience these games yourself!)

so originally, this was gonna be a brief recap of Drakengard and Nier, but then I realised I couldnt do these games justice so I just link this and this recap of these games that should give you a good idea what these games are about but to keep it brief

Drakengard is essentially to RPGs what Evangelion was to Mecha Anime, and thats a fairly approviate comparsion when you just look at, this

its also notable for how it handles its different endings, usually referred to as Ending A, Ending B etc, Ending E of the first Drakengard game was a Joke ending that nontheless became the basis for the setting of Nier, a ruined Planet Earth set hundreds of years after the Fall of Humanity about a Father (in the Western Releases) or a Older Brother (Japanese release) having to fend for himself and his Daughter/Younger Sister in a world under constant threat of creatures known as Heartless Shades

both these games are interesting, because their gameplay is nothing special, in the case of Drakengard its outright terrible,they got mediocre reviews and poor sales and yet these games have a dedicated Cult following and  tons of Novels, Audio Dramas, Manga and even Stage Plays that expand the Universes of these games and its lore

and thats for a simple reason: these games may have mediocre gameplay but, their Stories, their Characters, their Art Direction is actually of fairly high quality featuring intriguing Characters and worldbuilding that makes you invested in them regardless I mean, theres a entire exchange in Nier thats entireley between two Magical Talking Books for cryin out loud, and its one of the best parts of the game!

however, these games have thus far had a life as just that, Cult Classics, that didnt manage to garner a mainstream audience due to its aforementioned quirks, the Gameplay just could never stand up to the well written stories of these games

this is where PlatinumGames comes into play

now, the gameplay of Automata I honestly felt like was more on par with what Revengeance offered: there is stuff you can do with it but all in all its below the likes of Bayonetta and Devil May Cry 3 but thats not to say its poor, of course not, it doesnt encourage you to try anything other than just Mash about, but thats Fine, theres also Chips that your characters can even equip Chips that enhance their abilities and giv e them new ones such as a Bayonetta style Parry and Witch time or give them Heals upon Killing the enemy and while the actual enviroments can be a bit of a chore to go through (until you get Fast Travel), it still felt good to Parkour your way through them, nice snappy and smooth which gives me hopes they take a cue or two from this game for Bayonetta 3 in that regard at least

another thing I loved is the Soundtrack itself. Now I dont consider myself a musical person, however I can tell when a Song is used perfectly, and in Automata? Every Song is used to actual perfection. Music to me can be the deciding factor wether a Area or Scene in a Game or Movie is Garbage, Forgettable or Legendary, and for Automata, every song makes each area fall niceley into the latter fortunatly. One Standout track for me is Birth of a Wish (Become as Gods) a retake of an earlier song that adds in additional Chorus, and the Theme for Pascals village which is a cute Melody involving Children singing.

now onto the game itself, Route A puts you in the sexy and Lucious Thigh High boots of YoRHa Unit 2B, whereas Route B puts you in the cute Boy shorts of her Partner and mostly Good Boy YoRHa Unit 9S both tasked with ridding the world of Machine Lifeforms and making Earth inhabitable for the Humans stuck on the Moon again Both Routes play out roughly the same, 2B plays like a Standard Character Action Heroine with Lights and Heavies and such, whereas 9S is mainly focused around his ability to hack enemies and engage into brief SHMUP segments.

of the two I felt like 2B was a little more fun to play all in all, the Hacking was fine but also felt a teeny bit like a pace breaker but not too much, at least until late in Route B the game throws curvebals and unique hacking segments into the mix

a thing Yoko Taro games have been very good at showing, is showing the process of a Person losing their mental stability and throwing it all away to become a one track minded Mad Man and I find that interesting.

Drakengard had a good example when the Character Inuart completley loses it and becomes obsessed with bringing back his Dead Love interest, causing here to turn into the monster posted above. Automata meanwhile, shows this also but with Machines, being that shouldnt even go mad in the first place but become Insane with concepts like Revenge, Fear or other. Now I am not a Psychology Major or anything but I cant help but feel "this is Intriguing", not sure if thats a bad thing or anything but thats how it is.

now, Route C is where officialy the PlatinumGame ends and the Yoko Taro game begins, in that things become utterly, utterly Bleak. Not to say it was happy funtime before, many of the sidequests end on a very sour or outright terrible note, but here? Shits gon Bad!

YoRHa falls, everyone on the Protagonists homebase dies or becomes infected with a Virus that makes them go insane, 2B dies and 9S is severeley wounded and has his mental state utterly ruined by seeing 2B, his Love interest, die. from this Point onward, you play as Either A2, a former YoRHa gone Rogue and 9S as he tries to kill every last Machine Lifeform, and as hes utterly loses his mind. Focusing entireley on his one Goal so that maybe, he can find Death and be with 2B in the Afterlife.

this is where the game really became interesting to me. Gradually 9S goes from this sweet pure boy to a Violent Mess that only wants to Kill and Kill and Kill, Over and Over, its a Interesting Development for such a Character I feel. A2 meanwhile, while still a Great Character and a Blast to play, I felt like was severeley underutilized, getting very little playtime compared to 2B and 9S, with most of her greatest character Development limited to a Japan only Stage play that got a short text recap on a terminal. and it just goes from there and it keeps going, plot twists happen, reveals happen, callbacks to the first Nier and Drakengard 1 happen, its just this huge Mountain of themes and stuff to uncover and analyse. references to old Philosophers and the Concept of Nihilism itself ebing explored, little details that popped up in the early game and now have much greater meaning, its....actually incredible?

I dont think I ever played a game that had so much going on, the last time I think I did was, Metal Gear Solid 3, maybe?! I think....this might actually be one of the best written games I ever played?

and there is still so much content I could go through, the Stage Plays, the Novels, theres probably a buncha Audio Dramas for it too already its like, Jesus christ. and then theres Ending E, which while rather difficult (and probably causes at least 4 people to fucking hate my Guts) was probably one of the best ending sequences I seen in recent years, I'm not gonna go into detail what it is because, it needs to be seen to be belived, but I find it genuiley incredible.

I dont think theres a single game in the Drakengard and Nier series I would actually consider my "Favourite Game", maybe Nier Automata but thats up for consideration still, but I think I can safeley say that both games story as a whole is easily up there with Metal Gear as  one of my favourite Game stories out there, and friends and followers of mine would know by now how much I love that Franchise and its wacky insane story, Drakengard and Nier are special little series that you dont see enough of these days, but maybe thats for the better

I'm not gonna say "Nier Automata rekindled my love for video games" or anything, but I am glad I got to expirience these two series.

[blckstrbbt]

☯ ♧ ☽ ☹ ☺

FIND THE TRUTH | accepting

☯ Is there a muse you've always wanted to play?

Idk, maybe Saffron? I always picture her to be a little shit, and it’d be nice to play a female character in that personality type rather than a male one for a change. Of course, Bonnie’s similar but ultimately good-hearted and prefers to make people laugh, while I picture Saffron’s main focus is getting herself some laughs instead.

But I can’t like. Bring it in myself to be mean unless it’s a clear villain character, and even then that’s hard for me. I always worry lel.

♧ Is there an RP partner(s) that you credit for becoming a better writer?

I won’t lie, there’s a couple--one of them ultimately turned out to be a terrible person anyway, but she’d pushed me to write para and grow to enjoy it. But she’s likely off Tumblr and getting herself into other drama, and good riddance to her.

Then there’s Queen, my bestie, who helped me enjoy writing out plots and expanding myself--though he also helped me become a better person. We actually watched Dawko’s POPGOES Arcade 2 stream last night, before I started rambling on. Oops.

And then there’s Miya ( @tearsdivine​ and @inkdecay​ ), one of my enablers even if she’d deny it. I’m very happy to be working alongside her with the CBKW verse, and it’s given me ideas to make a group verse of my own. But the latter’s a story for another day.

☽ Do you like writing angst? Why or why not?

I have a lot of mixed feelings about it, mostly because I’d often been used to give comfort to angst-prone yandere characters. I’m improving a lot, but I still feel bad about giving my characters problems that would be hard for others to fix.

I’m still working on that, mind you, but it’s difficult. Mostly because most people TEND to want their characters comforted and I hate to be a bother. Rip.

☹ What's a character that you refuse to play with? Why?

ANY Michelangelo or Raphael from TMNT who ISN’T played by a good friend of mine. The former tends to get picked up by people who leave or else shitty-ass abusers, and the latter is just so hard for people to get right that I just end up annoyed at their portrayals.

☺ What's a character that you desperately want your muse to play with? Why?

I want Bonnie to encounter a Funtime Freddy??? She’s not a very loud sort of person so I’m sure he’d overwhelm her a bit at first, but I can see those two learning to balance each other out and becoming good friends.