#this quest was so fun and cute on the whole i LOVED seeing everyone in sumeru again

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

hi! love love love all of your haikaveh analyses! they're so wonderfully done and itch my brain so right. i was wondering if you had any thoughts on the recent quest featuring them ('an odd textual mystery')? hope you have a wonderful day!

hiya! firstly, thank you so much for your ask! i'm so glad you enjoy my haikaveh analyses!?? they truly live in our heads <333 secondly i am so sorry this reply is coming late!! i wasn't able to play during the first half of the event, and then i've had technical difficulties, so i've only recently finished the quest! that being said, here is part one of two of my thoughts!

firstly, i love how this event feels like a reference to kaveh’s hangout, in which alhaitham says that kaveh’s annotations, according to the ex grand conservator, are too long and hard to read, and that as a student, kaveh had the habit of scribbling in all sorts of books, which won him the nickname “the urchin of Kshahrewar” ???

we're starting off strong with kaveh canonically hiding behind a ladder out of sheer embarrassment after trying to find the book on which he inadvertently founded a conspiracy. things will just never go his way huh :(

i thought it was interesting (and very deliberate) that when we go to where we would find kaveh, it's The House, and when the traveller and paimon believe they've heard kaveh-

it's this guy... homosexual jumpscare next time.... and then he says this phrase (before leaving in his typical manner, which parallels his 'see ya' in his character quest, plsss he's so !?!?!?)

after waiting again, the traveller and paimon believe theyve heard kaveh, and this time it IS kaveh... you mean they couldnt be told apart...?? really leaning into alhaitham and kaveh being innately bound by the mirror motif i think.!!

paimon then impersonates alhaitham, to which kaveh recognises, saying that paimon doesn't sound herself - which could parallel how the kaveh comments that the traveller sounds like alhaitham in one dialogue option within his hangout, a cute detail <3

also, kaveh clinging onto the narrative that no one knows he lives with alhaitham, and then listing a scroll of names, being all of his and alhaitham's close friends... ironically very intimate

also it being confirmed that kaveh has low stamina, i didn't know i needed this until i was given it

kaveh drunkenly circling a spelling error in permanent ink, thinking nothing about it but that the book is terrible, returning it, and then creating a city-wide mystery, believing it to have happened AFTER he returned the book, and frantically trying to piece together what happened is so kaveh coded, ofc it WOULD happen to him

tighnari checking the book out when kaveh complained about it him because he thought it sounded FUNNY!! i love hibm..,m,,,

also kaveh using red ink and alhaitham using green ink... oh so the contrasting outfits aren't enough, you're also canonically using complementary colours... oh so.. huh...

tighnari immediately clocking that alhaitham joined in by adding a circle, calling it a 'game', so he knows that alhaitham is having fun doing this...? dare i say... f-flirting,,,

tighnari saying flirting.!! HE DESERVEDLY CALLEDHAIKAVEH OUT!!! they are too much in their intricate (homoerotic) rituals.

tighnari using a leaf in the forest metaphor... very interesting

cutting to cyno and sethos, cyno being bitter that sethos makes excuses to not play TCG, referencing their voice lines about the other, this is such a nice detail

absolutely no thoughts here just pure homoerotic brainrot of knowing what style of ink and the penmanship of your life partner, along with an unnecessary specific memory of the two taking breaks from their schedules to spend time together in their secret spot in the tree in cyno's second story quest... ive not had one coherent thought since this, the writing for cynonari is so so great and lovely and everything, they deserve the best

"back to the book" BRO GOT DISTRACTED!!! FR THERE WAS NO NEED TO TELL THAT STORY ABOUT HIM WATCHING TIGHNARI DO HIS HOMEWORK IN THEIR SECRET PLACE HELPPPPPP

also, cyno wanting to solve the mystery of the book for tighnari's sake and protection. oh. (if this weren't haikaveh's fault/event then cynonari would own it... tighnari, i, too, am so tired of them.)

and cyno canonically calling sethos bro!! another reason as to why its a crime this mini quest wasn't VOICED????

this is part one! part two is here and focusses on the final scene with alhaitham and kaveh, my bane...

[minart-was-taken]

The wild references to Finland in Honkai Star Rail

Hello, in this post I'm going to go over the various references to Finland in Honkai Star Rail (Also touching a little on HI3) and explaining them the best I can so that non-finns can understand how hilariously delightful they are.

_

Starting with a funny one: Welt Yang.

The man is canonically 1/2 finnish, 1/4th chinese and 1/4th german according to sources I dont understand.

The way this is represented in Honkai Star Rail comes in one intentional form and one that may be an accident but I love it anyway:

1.

Welt's given name is Joachim Nokianvirtanen, a name that is utterly hilarious to a finn like me. Why? Well Nokianvirtanen is not a surname anyone here would ever have. Virtanen is a real surname, but for some reason Mihoyo decided slap Nokia in the front of it??

The name translates to "Nokia's rapids." Which adds to the funniness because yes Nokia is an actual place in Finland and not just the brand, but it is also very much the brand.

(Also Joachim is not a finnish name even if many finns are christian.)

This is the equivalant of naming an american character Jesus McDonaldslake.

2.

Welt's hair colour! A lot of people imagine blond and blue eyes when imagining a finn, but that's not actually accurate to the statistics. The most common hair colour here is in fact "Maantien harmaa." Translating to country road grey. Sometimes they leave out the word grey or replace it with blond. The colour is known as dirty blond or pale brown in english speaking countries 👍 This is less funny and just a cute detail.

_

Secondly we'll be going over Sampo Koski, a man many know to have a very finnish name.

BUT FIRST Fun backround info: I didn't know Sampo was in this game when I first started playing, so when he showed up and suddenly dropped finnish words at me I was utterly jumpscared.

Finland is very rarely referenced in media outside of our country, so most of us are NOT used to hearing anything about our home in media.

Furthermore there's actually a meme about this very thing that everyone in the country knows: Torilla Tavataan. This translates to "Lets meet at the marketplace" which is referring to the idea that when something massively cool happens we should gather together and celebrate.

The finns REALLY want to be acknowledged by the wider world lol

Anyway back to Sampo. His name is actually something I could totally see a real finn having, although his first name is a little out there.

Sampo is an item from finnish* mythology that was forged by a super capable smith with the help of his whole village. The item is golden with multiple spouts that produce valuable things like flour, gold and I believe... salt? You can find more about the item online.

Koski meanwhile means a river rapid. Uhm, lotsa water themed names here, huh!

Nothing that funny going on with his references to be honest. I can even say the voice actor did an amazing job pronouncing his name correctly.

_

Yunli's companion quest!

This is the newest batch of references I've ran into, but if I or anyone else finds more I'll be updating this list :]

In Yunli's companion quest we meet... Paavo. His name is Paavo--

This NPC introduces himself as a traveler from far away who's come to deliver a sword from his homeland back to the Xianzhou where it was originally forged. Here's why he made me giggle uncontrollably every moment he was on screen.

1.

Paavo is considered kind of a joke name, very comparable to naming someone Bob in america. The way NPC's referred to him sounded like "Mr. Bob" to me. It was so funny

2.

He is from the PLANET KALEVALA?? SAFlJ LJ ???

Kalevala is the national epic of Finland* and tells stories such as the one of Sampo's creation. The title does refer to setting of the story, but it is still weird to hear it as a name of a planet lol.

3.

Our food is really repetitive u right Mr. Paavo

4.

Paavo explains the sword he has come to deliver is called Miekka Kivessä. This is the finnish translations of "The sword in the stone." he proceeds to then explain the legend of the sword in the stone, which. It's not a finnish legend. We've never had a king, yet alone chosen them with a sword-- Not even in myths. Kalevala's highest ranking guy in the mortal realm is Väinämöinen who's an old wise man.

Also he says Miekka Kivessä wrong but that's to be expected, very funny, and also I admire the effort to at least try and make it sound natural.

5.

Finally, he later reveals his last name-- Which, why are we refering to him as Mr. Paavo if he has a last name...? Oh well! Mr. Paavo's last name is Kalastaja, which translates to Fisher. This is not a real last name in Finland. The english equivalent of this man's goddang name would be something like Mr. Bob Employee.

_

Since you've made it this far I assume you won't mind me rambling a bit more. I'm personally psyched to see Finland mentioned in non-finnish media and love the wonky but genuine attempts to include us!

I think considering how many weebs there are in Finland who've come up with illogical "Asian names" to sound cool online, it's only fair we got the same treatment back :P I hope they'll keep delivering and I'd love to visit planet Kalevala one day.

_

*It's worth noting Finland is a colonizer of the Sami people, and a lot of their culture has been annexed without any care or respect towards them.

Finland was also under colonialism itself for hundreds of years, and our myths have been largely lost to time with only some information left. It's super difficult to tell what is finnish mythology and whats the Sami people's mythology.

That's a fact that's deeply important to remember when discussing things like this, and I hope that the people reading this consider looking into how to help the indigenous people of the nordic region. Thank you.

[eccentricwritingbaby]

masterlist!

formula one

-lando norris-

yes, and? you’re famous, he’s famous - your new relationship is out for criticism with the world to see. neither of you care. loose basis on ‘yes, and?’ by ariana grande. 

please please please with lando’s past track record of women, you get nervous entering this new relationship. it leads you to do the only thing you know how - write a song. based on please please please by sabrina carpenter. 

arm candy enemies to lovers as the two embark on a pr relationship. reader is heavily based on cristina yang and olivia pope - intelligent and knows her worth. lando treats her as just a piece of ass on his arm. the two need to keep up appearances, yet always have time to find a fight.

i miss you, i'm sorry breakup, missed calls, and lando at your doorstep.

baby finn series

house divided yours and lando’s little boy has decided to become a fan of a different team, leading lando into a little spiral bedtime stories finn is begging for a bedtime story, and lando has the perfect one to share.  sneaking onto stream little baby norris misses his dad and goes on a mission to find him, when found - it can only result in cuddles babysitting and date nights uncle carlos comes over to babysit finn as you and your husband enjoy a night out.  the necessary reactions y/n is pregnant again, time to tell the world - well, their whole world.  preparations lando and y/n begin their quest to prepare for their baby on the way, while their first baby is just happy to be included.  the godfather a collection of max fewtrell's importance to your son as his favorite godfather. the last hooray in order to give finn some extra attention before the baby comes, the young family heads to the english countryside, visiting lando’s parents, and granting finn the last little bit of time all about him. interruptions parents with a high sex drive plus a toddler who doesn’t like to be alone equals lando and y/n facing a funny yet frustrating dilemma. set before pregnancy with baby girl norris.  welcome home your young family of three has now added another little piece of joy. reminiscing adjusting to life with a newborn and toddler, you and your husband reminisce on the easier, more fun, and even hotter times.

meet-cute series

part one y/n y/l/n just needed a coffee when she walked into the shop, she didn’t expect to also walk out with a date.  part two y/n is giving lando a run for his money in playing hard to get, and lando knows he's in love so so soon.  part three first ‘i love you’s’ and worries of going public

-charles leclerc-

thank you reader has been stressed from work, leading charles to give her comfort.

she's a lady based on the song 'shes a lady' by tom jones. just y/n being cool and charles being a simp lol

fake or real? y/n sainz had just broken up with her boyfriend of four years. with the tension of both ferrari drivers at each other's throats, their pr team believes it a good idea to have y/n and charles date. y/n can look like she’s moving on from her boyfriend and save her company, charles can look like he likes his teammate, ferrari can avoid any future pr disaster. everyone wins! right?

-carlos sainz jr-

cooking up some fun with the sainz' y/n sainz is a successfully famous chef with her own restaurant and ever since covid, she has been cooking on instagram live once a week. fans adore the sweet interactions between her and carlos and their little baby girl. 

baby, incoming! you and carlos have been married for over a year now and you’ve gone MIA. what could be the reason? new music or a new beginning? maybe both?

can we make this work?  carlos falls for lando's sister, lando forbids it, you and carlos push to get your brother and his best friend back

funny wife, happy life the grids beloved couple have begun a prank war, subjecting the drivers and fans to their hilarious antics

sex ban carlos puts down a sex ban in order to try and improve his racing performance. after he caves and realizes he can’t do it, you place your own sex ban to get payback. and it’s killing the both of you. 

hard life or wag life? reader and carlos are in a fresh romance, but the comments online are starting to drive her crazy, questioning if the relationship is even worth all of the hate she receives.

-daniel ricciardo-

i miss you, i love you danny gets back from the mexican gp and realizes just how badly he missed his wife and kids. that all leads to many questions about his future.

-lewis hamilton-

family ties lewis and y/n have been going out for about half a year and he can tell she’s hiding something, or somebody. her son, a little five year old boy that lewis so desperately wants to meet. but is y/n ready for that next step?

home a small drabble of lewis coming back home from a race to his wife and babies.

-oscar piastri-

surprise! after a few long months of not being able to see each other - y/n at university, oscar racing and training - reader is feeling the blues of long distance. until a certain surprise comes her way. 

-group headcannons-

f1 driver's bday posts for their babies daniel ricciardo, lando norris, charles leclerc, lewis hamilton, carlos sainz jr, oscar piastri, logan sargeant, max verstappen, george russell

[robobarbie]

Hello hellooooooo! We recently had a banner contest in the discord server, and I wanted to show y'all the awesome entries that didn't win. They're all really cool in their own ways, so I wanted to give them each a lil moment.

(by @/jestie)

Love the focus on xyx!! He reminds me almost of what I'd think teenage him would look like. Very chill, sporty, and out with friends on a beautiful spring day. The linework in this feels really soft as well -- especially on those hat details. AND THERE'S CAT!! CAT!!!

All other submissions under the cut!

(by @/hunddenseje)

I like the details in the flowers a lot for this one. The way people draw roses and how they choose those inner patterns is always neat. And the little plants and mushrooms on his shoulders are fun!! They go well with that striped shirt pattern!!!

(by @/stintsy)

The way this artist circled the boys with that pink rosy pattern will stick in my brain for a while. It's v pretty, and it's like they opened a bush and found us in there for some reason. "Hello! Happy Spring!" Thanks boys please close it back up!!! It's my cry hour in the bush!!!!

(by @/emmascient)

This person's artstyle is so unique and full of life. The little spots of light coming through the trees just adds to whole thing, too. And I really like seeing fanart of owl with textured hair!!! Also check out xyx's fucking biceps holy fucking sh-

(by @/.mewo.)

Just a bunch of bros on their lunch break bayBEEEEEEEEEE!!! I like the detail of toast's coat tied around their waist and the fucking anti-societyboy shirt quest is wearing LMFAO. Also cat is ADORABLE in this. God. More cat art. Always need more cat art!!

(by @/c1nnadoll)

Every time nightowl is drawn in a croptop, two months is added to my life. I just know it's true. God bless that cute ass flower crown and the perfect little peace sign. Man looks so stable and happy. I hope he had a nice day after this picture!!!

(by @/fluffydeer21)

Toast and Quest look so content and cute with their flowers. And there's another neat rose with a lil interior pattern! Held, of course, by this artist's fave LI. Xyx looks pretty good with gold jewelry, I cannot lie. I have no idea why I made them green in game. LMFAO

(by @/noneivly)

I like how this feels like a painting. Like those brush strokes and even the palette choice just look like something you'd see hung on a wall? It's really cool. Also the little detail of the chibi picnic boys in the background makes me giggle. Small!!!!! So fucking small!!!

(by @/kiki_221)

The energy in this is excellent. You can almost hear them laughing together at Toast's expense (deserved I'm sure). I'd like to imagine they're all relaxing at a park after a big lunch. I hope they got to discuss all the good things that happened to them this week.

(by @/01noxxie10)

Another excellent chillin in the grass pic! Purple actually looks really good on Quest. I don't think I've ever drawn him in that color before? So this image made me think about that a LOT. Also look at fuckin chill ass xyx. Calm beautiful motherfucker. Fuck you!!! Fuck you!!!

--------------

There's two more images, but those are the discord banner winner and the one I chose for my twitter! If you want to see those excellent drawings, check out my twitter here or join the discord server here!

Thank you everyone for all the submissions! I treasure them deeply!!

[awarmbowlofhomemadesoup]

Leoichi but make it Oblivious x Oblivious part 2

See part 1

Part 3

Leo and Usagi would be insufferable together even if everyone but them had realized that they were into each other. 

The turtle bros are casually physical with each other and Usagi had rubbed off on that with Leo, like grabbing Leo’s arm and dragging Leo’s attention to whatever distracted him this time. 

Leo and Usagi would definitely do victory poses together after defeating a bunch of bad guys (the others could tell they had practiced). 

Since there’s almost a foot of height difference between them, Usagi would sometimes use Leo’s shell as a landing pad or a springboard. Their team-up practices made Leo get used to bracing his feet each time. 

They definitely hype each other up, Mr. Greatest Swordsman Ever and Mr. Greatest Ninja of All Time.

Leo once confided in Usagi that who would want to date him if they found out he almost caused the world to end in the most devastating invasion anyone could ever imagine. 

Usagi immediately jumped to defend him. “That’s not true, Leo! You’re pretty and funny and strong, and you strive to do better! Anyone would be an idiot not to see that.”

Leo blinked before putting a hand over his mouth. But he wasn’t going to be one-upped in such manner. “Aaaw, you’re pretty awesome too, Usagi! Screw your grandfather’s tragic love life! If anyone would choose over you, they’re an idiot when you’re cute and dependable and-”

And because Usagi’s face was cupped by Leo’s hands in Leo’s attempt to drive the point home, Usagi’s voice was muffled when he interjected, “I think you’re handsome too, Leo!”

Gen, who was walking by at that point, aged 10 years in exasperation over the two before continuing on his way. 

Stupid Sparring

Usagi once mentioned the time he defeated a guy with a table. Leo mentioned the time he used two swordfishes to beat up bad guys. 

They ended up in a match against each other with Gen, Kitsune and Chizu cheering Usagi on while he has no weapon but a table, while Raph, Don and Mikey rooted for Leo armed with nothing but a pair of swordfishes. Both parties are waiting to make fun of their champion if they fail spectacularly. Donnie, of course, recorded the whole thing for his Youtube channel. 

Top comment of the YouTube video asked when would the rabbit and the turtle kiss.

How They Actually Spar

At least once a week, their spar would be a serious, learning-from-each-other, battle of skill and strategy. Then Usagi would respectfully thank Leo and Leo would mirror him since the formality is part of Usagi’s culture, and to Leo’s extent, his own. 

The rest of the time, it’s a sort of playful banter and showing-off-to-friends-brothers spar that somehow goes into an escalating self-feeding cycle of rivalry-to-tension-to-more-rivalry-to-more-tension because Usagi always rose to a challenge and Leo was competitive. They would often end up on the floor, too exhausted to even be confused about what the heck was that about.

A Moment in the Minotaur Maze

Leo wanted to go to the Minotaur Maze again to get his face on the wall of champions. Usagi wanted to go too because he, Gen, Kitsune, and Chizu couldn’t reach the maze's center in record time. 

Neither brothers nor friends wanted to go. So it was just Leo and Usagi.

“Good, maybe this time you’ll figure it out,” Kitsune said. “Figure what out?” Usagi asked before being dragged by Leo away to their epic quest. 

Said epic quest ended sourly when Leo had a flashback. They got out of the maze with Leo’s mood in shambles, frustrated at himself for having a flashback and failing at the maze again.

After making sure that Leo was alright, Usagi marched straight back to the maze and cheated.

Leo was flabbergasted out of his funk when Usagi presented his picture next to Leo’s in the Wall of Cheaters.

“I thought samurais are supposed to be honorable,” Leo said.

“An honor that I can regain,” Usagi said with dramatic loftiness, “when we’ll try again next time. But for now,” he gestured at their pictures together, “Anata wa hitori ja nai,” he finished in his native language to let Leo know that he meant it.

Usagi wondered why Leo was looking at him like that. 

The next day, Chizu, Gen and Kitsune stared at Usagi’s picture on the said wall. 

“And I cheated,” Usagi proudly said, “on purpose.” (“That’s the point of cheating, Usagi,” Gen said)

Reflections in the Night

On those nights when insomnia hits and Leo couldn’t distract himself with his family, Leo privately reflects. 

Leo knew that he could be egotistical and Usagi could be too. But that’s the thing. Usagi’s ego is based on valid confidence in his sword skill and a positive aspiration to be like his ancestor. While Leo’s ego comes from a feeling of lack and doubt. 

Leo was very much aware that while Usagi chased aft his ancestor Usagi like a beacon of light, Leo was chasing after the light that was his Usagi. Which was why Leo valued their friendship. A lot. More than he would let on.

He hoped their friendship would last for a long, long time. 

The First Base is Adoption

It was a while before they let Usagi know that Case Jr. was from the future.

When Usagi asked about himself, Junior said he had known Master Leonardo as a single dad his whole life. Usagi wondered what he meant by that. 

Leo happily said that at least they gave Splinter a grandkid in the alternate future timeline.

Usagi was silent as he thought of how isolated the turtles were before they knew of the hidden city, and how Auntie raised him alone on a farm. “Do you want to adopt together someday?” he asked.

Leo gasped, “You’d do that for me?”

“I’d do it for us; besides our friends and your brothers, we’re a team.”

At this rate, Chizu, who was in the same room, threw up her hands before saying, “I can’t.” At this rate, those two would have kids before they’d even start dating. 

The Fell Asleep Together Trope

Leo and Usagi once fell asleep together in the Hidden Lair’s living room. It looked less than a reason to cover Mikey’s eyes and more like the impression of a body dumped on top of another body. Leo’s temperature ran cool, and Usagi’s ran warm. Together they both achieved a perfect balance that conked them out deeper into their sleep. 

They woke up with the worst cricks on their necks.

[beansterpie]

8, 11, 17, 18, 20, 24, 30 and 33 for fitzfool/fitzloved!

ty for the ask!

8.) What do they love most about the other? Why?

I think what Fitz loves most about his Beloved is his kindness <3 and also his playful/mischeviousness lol, or more like a combination of the two. Beloved often uses the latter to express the former, and I think he was such an important presence in Fitz childhood (and adulthood, once the Tawny Man triology comes around) for caring and fun, considering so many other people in his life were concerned with his usefulness.

And I think the Fool loves Fitz's big heart. He fucks up a lot and is like, one giant ball of bad trauma responses, but he cares really deeply about a lot of things, and he feels strongly. In a world that has been so callous to him, I think that appeals to the Fool a lot. His kindness is also another one-- I find that Fitz is a guy who has a lot of shitty kneejerk reactions, but then he tries to see things from different perspectives and attempts to be accomodating (often to a serious fault lol).

And of course their shared history is a big part of all this. They were bright spots in each other's lives when they were still too little to defend themselves from all the people that wanted to hurt them, and I can't really undermine how important those memories are to both of them.

11.) How do they feel about nicknames/pet names? If they like them, what pet names do they use? If they hate them, why do they feel that way?

Oh I think they'd both really like pet names lol. Casual ones like 'dear' or 'love' or 'sweetheart'. That being said, idk if they'd have anything more specific or unique that they consistently called each other, considering "Beloved" is such a Thing™ between them. I also really like the idea of Fitz eventually gifting the Fool with his own true name, "Keppit". Idk I think it would be a really meaningful gesture, and also it's a very cute name lol.

17.) How well do they communicate? Are they open with their feelings/thoughts or more reserved? Why?

I think once they like, get their heads out of their asses, and finally admit that they have romantic feelings for each other, and will prioritize each other over everyone else, then yeah! Of course, that's the Big Obstacle though, and we see what happens when they don't manage to convey that to each other (so many decades of misunderstandings and missed opportunities like LEGIT).

But if they managed to admit that to each other, then I think they would be able to communicate pretty well, because the Fool's belief that Fitz doesn't return his feelings/his feelings for Fitz would be a burden on him (Fitz) vs Fitz's inherent low self esteem and deep depression and trust issues and heteronormative expectations is what really causes their miscommunications.

18.) How do they care for each other when one of them is wounded/sick?

I think we've basically seen this on Fitz's end, since the Fool goes through periodic bouts of illness whenever he sheds his current skin. (I'm sure the very few non-RotE followers I have who are even reading this are going ????? at that, but I am being literal.) Anyway, when the Fool falls to fever in Assassin's Quest, from what I remember Fitz literally held him almost the entire time, and also had Nighteyes cuddle him from the other side, no? So yeah, I think Fitz would be extremely attentative, maybe to the point of being a bit stifling lol.

And the Fool would also be very attentative, but like, in a slightly more chill way. He'd have great bedside manner, is what I mean lol. Unless it was really serious-- then I think he'd be pretty frantic and quite fragile about the whole thing.

20.) How do they comfort each other when one of them is upset? Is this method of comfort effective?

If they're in a place where they're able to communicate better than in canon lol, like they have an established romantic relationship, then yeah I do think their ways of comforting each other would be effective. I think even in canon, when their communication leaves something to be desired, they're still (usually) a very comforting presence to one another!

And I think largely that would be sitting and listening with understanding. Which the Fool especially is already excellent at, it's Fitz who usually struggles not to get defensive or otherwise put his foot in his mouth lol.

24.) How do their personalities affect their relationship? Do their characteristics compliment each other, or clash often?

I think they compliment each other quite well, for the most part! I think Fitz runs the risk of being like, overly clingly sometimes lol. Which to be clear I think the Fool would like most of the time, but he's also someone who values freedom so if Fitz isn't able to be chill about it, it could become a problem. But the solution to that of course is for Fitz to realize that everything is ok, and This Good Thing isn't going to disappear from his life suddenly.

30.) What are their respective love languages? Do their love languages work well together?

Hmmmmm love languages..... I think acts of service is definitely one for Fitz, spending time together for both of them, words of affirmation for the Fool, as well as giving gifts (his carvings). Ngl I'm not well versed in the concept of specific love languages lol, but I do think they work well together!

33.) How do they flirt? Who’s the worse flirt?

I feel like their flirting would be a lot of coy looks across rooms and comments that don't make sense to anyone else, at least from the Fool's end. And I suppose that depends on their living situation lol. If they're at Buckkeep, then they really can't be public about their relationship (unless the Fool is living as Lady Amber, which would open things up a bit more, but even then propriety is quite important at court), but if they've moved away somewhere private where they can live however they want, then they'd be a lot more obvious about things.

------

Ty for the ask, sorry for the late response!

[vo1dbug]

IM BACK HEHE

I finished the Natlan archon quest a couple days ago and wanted to share my thoughts + my Capitano art dump/ screenshot sketches cause he’s so fun to draw and literally my favorite character rn alongside bill lol :>>

I feel like you’d want to see this :]] @ezio-adonyn

Anyways, I even tried making my own version of what Capitano might look like w/o his mask even though I think he looks amazing with it on (I’m aware the scars may not look as accurate as they should but it was a trial and error for me so please don’t hate too much :,)

Edit: I FORGOT HIS STAR EYES WTH BROOO I JUST NOTICED

And my thoughts abt the archon quest + random things below :33 which means spoilers ofc

OKAY ARCHON QUEST STUFF + RANDOM STUFF TOO

If there’s spelling errors I’m not fixing them :,D

At first I didn’t like Mavuika that much mainly design wise but after playing the quest she started to grow on me 😭 and her design too

THE CUTSCENES WERE SO COOL?!? like the whole Capitano vs Mavuika was so epic Ragh whelp like something I’ve seen in those crazy anime fights 🤔 but idk since I don’t watch anime :/

I HOPE CAPITANO IS PLAYABLE I kept looking at those random videos online and everyone is saying he won’t be playable in Natlan but Columbina will or something around that 😐 honestly I’m not that interested in comunbina which is ironic because I loved drawing biblical angels and she kinda is one but she hasn’t really interested me yet so im really hoping Capitano is playable within Natlan

The friendship between Mualani and Kachina is amazing and so wholesome :))

I loved Mavuika’s room with all those items in it reminds me of me with my random items I collect but I got so sad when she had to use them as fuel 😭 cause some of the stuff was so damn pretty. Does that mean she also burned the picture of her family 😦

I love the damn animals in Natlan they’re so cutee EPESCIALLT THE CAPIBARAS RAGHHH

I’m excited to see who was talking to Capitano at the end of the archon quest cause I feel like it’s Ororon

And I’ve noticed that in the out of barrier areas there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t realized which looks like the other tribes they look so cool I can’t wait to finish my oc finally and make them based of the saurians from one of the tribes

I’ve gotten over 20 or so pulls in barely 3 days or so 😭 it’s so crazy I love it. All those wishes are being saved up for capitano >:D

I got kazuha on a one pull and I’m not complaining heh ( he’s at level 50 rn rotting as I travel Natlan I’ll probably forget I have him honestly )

Anyways that’s the end of my random yapping lol if you read all of this I’m surprised cause the grammar probably died during the middle of this

[thefirstknife]

This might be a silly question, but I am curious so I’ll ask it anyways.

I ship my Guardian with Lord Shaxx (no surprise there!) and I went to play Crucible but I was not vibing with the options so I chose to do Iron Banner for the first time (I did pretty well!) and was wondering…

Would Lord Shaxx get jealous of his partner not participating in/actively avoiding Crucible for a week to do Iron Banner?

I know he and Saladin recently reconciled about what happened at Twilight Gap, but I’m curious and can’t seem to make a conscious decision. I keep going back and forth. A jealous Shaxx sounds cute, but is it accurate?

You’re my go to for lore and Destiny vibes. Figured I’d toss this question out there and see where it lands.

Thank you :)

I don't think he would get jealous, mainly because Lord Shaxx is our polyamorous king!

There was a quest back in year 2 for the Crimson Days event which is an equivalent of Valentine's day. The reward for the quest was a bow called The Vow. In the lore on it, Shaxx proclaims that he will marry everyone who earns it:

"Today," he says. "I will marry them all." Hours later, after Arcite has finished tying off the bouquets and gathering the doves from the mountains beyond the City, Shaxx addresses the courtyard. "Guardians," he booms. "These Crimson Days are a time to renew our bonds to one another. We gather together. We remember what we owe each other. We declare our love." He holds up a bow for the crowd to see. "Bring your fiery passion to the Crucible. Prove your devotion to your Bond." He pauses. "To those of you who win this bow… I offer my hand in marriage! Take it or leave it!"

He's totally fine and chill with multiple partners and I think he wouldn't be jealous if some of them had other partners or did something else that isnt with him.

Even more so, I think Shaxx is totally fine with people taking time to do Iron Banner, as long as they're working to better themselves and become stronger. That's his whole thing with the Crucible, he wants to train Guardians to become better. I think that becoming better through some other tournament would be good enough for him.

And especially not that he's finally reconciled with Saladin. Fun fact about Shaxx and Saladin, there was a line in Crimson Days where Shaxx says Saladin used to be his partner:

He also had a line for Efrideet:

[beetlebug-bii]

Hello!🖤 Since it's Pride month and Luci(fer)'s birthday is soon, how do you think he'd react to the whole concept (of pride month)? Would be, well, proud that his sin gets an entire month to shine or would he be confused about it?

If that's an odd ask or you're not really sure yourself, can I request sleepy, tired, Lucifer x mc? I think it'd be a fun concept to explore.

If you don't want to do neither that's totally okay, I just wanted to ask.

-- V.X

Authors Note: Hi V.X! I think the concept of pride month and Lucifer is so funny hehe, its a bit short but I hope you enjoy!

Requests Open! We're in silly goofy mood time!

Content Warnings: Cussing, silly goofy writing

TLDR: Lucifer vs the gays, the gays won, L + Ratio

Lucifer Vs Pride Month

Lucifer was honestly a bit flabbergasted hearing about pride month

Not that he let that show of course

A WHOLE MONTH that's basically for HIM

Like he knew he was amazing but-

Oh

Oh it's for the gays

..not him?

Are you sure?

Like are you positive??

well this just won't do

He must change this

So you, Lucifer, Barbatos, and Diavolo ended up at a pride parade

not just one, no

Lucifer is on a QUEST

You are going to multiple

EVERY DAY

UNTIL THE END OF PRIDE MONTH

YOU ARE GOING TO ALLLL THE EVENTS

And you know Lucifer

Lucifer is

a hot

slay

bitch

SO TO SAY YOU WERE MOMENTS AWAY FROM FISTFIGHTING SOME BITCHES IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT

like

HE'S YOUR MAN

Lucifer thinks its pretty cute though

You being all jealous

He doesn't care for these humans, you should know that

But seeing you clinging to his arm protectively absolutely melts his cold dead heart

Lucifer also has a terrible, terrible habit of supporting small businesses

However that means you and the crew are all absolutely decked out in the shiniest rainbow pride wear

Honestly after the first like couple days Lucifer kind of forgot he was trying to like get the humans to worship him

Maybe it was the mass amounts of sugar he consumed

Maybe it was the bright neons

Maybe its because you were all smiley and happy and it made his heart pound in his chest

Whatever it was he just found himself enjoying every event

Being amongst the crowd of people so happy to just be themselves, so proud of being

It made him feel powerful and just...happy

Dancing with you, watching fireworks, looking at everything for sale

The only downside is that Barbatos had to put Diavolo on a baby leash and its kind of embarrassing

But overall

He loves it

He loves pride month

He loves that everyone can be themselves so openly- so- proudly!

Parents being proud of their children, people being proud of themselves

The large sense of togetherness unlike anything he's ever seen

A bunch of strangers celebrated his birthday with him too?

He didn't even know them and yet

Humans are so strange

...

So next year are you busy or-

[bluelancelion]

I just finished the last Fontaine Archon Quest... And I need to let it out

!!!Fontaine Archon Quest Act V Spoilers!!!

I have... Never... Witnessed... Such an impact... From any other archon quest...

I don't care what your fav archon quest was. To ME, Fontaine's archon quest and especially Act 5 is the peak of the peak, the highest point Hoyoverse could've reached.

Natlan? Snezhnaya? Brother, I have no clue what they'll come up with that because Fontaine is what I call a fucking masterpiece.

The cutscenes? Give those people a fucking raise.

Now, I wanna express a few thoughts. I haven't played Furina's story quest yet, but a thought that immediately came over me is that, now that she's finally free to create genuine connections, I still don't think the archons would be the best company for her.

This thought occurred to me after seeing a post with all the archons together. The difference between the archons and Furina, as clear as it is, is that everyone is an Archon except her. Everyone is a god, and has an history of being a god and being surrounded by gods and embody the power and responsibilities of a god... Except her.

Furina is just a human. She needs friends, not powerful gods. She needs to be herself and have fun with girls and talk about cute things, not be all mighty and whatever with Zhongli and Ei, or have to spend time with Venti or Nahida. Furina needs a different type of friendship and company, and I truly hope she'll find that. I truly hope she'll stop being the archon and start her life as her trueself, human.

This said, Neuvillette gaining back his dragon power, the death of the Hydro Archon and the whole fucking plan to deceive Celestia? Brothers, I am so overwhelmed by EVERYTHING, and the fucking Arc of Noè and everything... Jesus freaking Christ. I can't process what nuts Fontaine has been so far, and I truly am so, so much in love with this FREE?!!? FREE!!!!!!! game.

I can't.

[thekorcariwilds]

okaaay just finished veilguard, spoilery thoughts below the cut. tldr is i liked it a lot :-)

dao=da2>dav>>>>dai

i have a handful of critiques and nitpicks that i will inevitably complain about in the future because this is a dragon age game HOWEVER i also had a great time and i am overall quite happy with it.

neve was my favorite character, surprising no one. second favorite was probably harding or lucanis, but i feel like i need to do everyone's romances before i make up my mind on that

sera-blackwall friendship mention from harding was huge for me

isabela cameo was better than i feared in all ways except clothing. we should all throw rotten tomatoes at whoever decided to put her in that fuck ass bikini loincloth thing. hoping eventually someone will make a mod that keeps the top (which i think is cute) but with Actual Pants like she had in dai's multiplayer instead.

choosing between treviso and minrathous was maybe the first time a dragon age game has forced me to make a choice where both options felt impossible to live with and also made me nauseous in real life. so i liked that.

had harding sacrifice herself killing ghilan'nain and thought i was handling it well and then as i was running around talking to everyone before the final series of quests i started heading towards her room on autopilot, remembered she was dead, and just burst into tears immediately. and then taash was like "everyone i love dies" and i started crying even harder. and then right after that i had sex with neve.

i'm probably doing harding romance next so i'm intrigued to see the sacrifice with davrin instead. will probably also make me cry.

probably my biggest story issue in the entire game is that i think what they did with the crows was sooooo boring why are only the wardens allowed to be flawed and morally corrupt why can't the assassin league that kidnaps and abuses children also be a little bit evil. as a treat. for me. >:(

didn't like varric's little narration montages that happened throughout the game, i felt like they could've been cut entirely and we wouldn't have lost anything

i was spoiled about varric being Dead The Whole Time and was expecting to find it annoying and contrived but i really liked what it did for solas's characterization so i'm mostly okay with it

speaking of solas, i looooved what they did with him this game. i did the tricksy ending and his "you are a mortal! a mortal! and i am a—(bitter laughter) i am a fool" was very good

ghilan'nain and elgar'nan were also very fun villains

non-story stuff: the combat was fine, the paraphrased dialogue wheel still annoys me, the cc isn't perfect but is soooo much better than any other bioware game that i can't complain too much, wish you could tint clothing/armor because i dislike the default color schemes for most of them lol

[otomegamesandme]

Infinity Nikki: First Impressions

Hello, the welcome event for Infinity Nikki is over, and seeing as I played every day since it launched, I thought I'd go over my first impressions. If you're new here, I don't really do full on reviews, this is more an informal post about various aspects of the game. If you aren't new here, welcome to my first non-otome Thoughts Post!

I'm going to be honest, I've only made it to Chapter 4 in the story so far because I keep getting distracted with all the various side quests and all the places to explore. I love all the little things to do, and it makes it feel really relaxing to play with the add on of all these different options we're given. With that in mind, here's some thoughts:

Gameplay:

There's nothing ground breaking in this department, it's a lot of basic things that you see in various games all thrown together into one. I also like that it's simple since the target audience is definitely younger girls, and the simplicity of it helps make it easier to play games if you're newer to the hobby! That said, I know everyone has commented on how the bikes are hard to handle, but I have a very specific pet peeve about jumping and how it sometimes registers when you're doing a double jump. I can't explain it, but there's like this slight delay when you're near a ledge that I notice during certain platforming sections. It's a super minor nit pick, but since there's so much jumping in this game, I feel like I notice it a lot.

Story/Characters:

I'm honestly really vibing with the story and characters so far. Nikki and Momo are super cute and fun, and again, while the story isn't anything ground breaking it feels familiar to a lot of books I used to read as a kid. It makes it almost nostalgic, and in turn it's easy to get in to. Again, I'm only on Chapter 4, but it's been nice coasting along and just seeing more of the world as I go through the story. I also ended up really liking some of the side characters as well (Nonoy is my daughter), and they really add to the atmosphere of the world. When I want to relax, I'm a big fan of simplicity, and this is what this story (and the whole game in general) delivers really well!

I also like the side quests. The way they're done makes the world feel more alive and lived in, which is something I feel like I don't normally experience in these types of game (ie Genshin or others in that vein). The little tidbits about the lore and the people in each area you get through the side quests are a nice touch. And while there are random quests that don't do any of that, I think there's enough that does that breathes more life into the game as a whole. I especially like the extra touch of the journal information for the various Styling Factions. It all just comes together to make everything feel cohesive.

Graphics/Performance:

The world of Infinity Nikki is the best part of the game for me, but that's definitely due to my play style. The entire reason I'm only halfway through the main story despite playing over twenty hours already is because I just want to keep running around and exploring. There are so many little details, even in areas you might not expect there to be, like in the woods. It makes exploring a great time. I do think there's something about certain bodies of water in the game that make the game stutter for me, but the ocean itself is nice to look at.

With that being said, the performance of the game for the first two weeks wasn't great. I kept getting the "Reconnecting" message, to the point where I'd just log off and do something else because it would give that message every few minutes. I think with the recent update its felt a little more stable, but that was my biggest issue with the game: the fact I couldn't connect to play the game.

The Gacha:

I'm going to be honest, I am the least qualified person in the world to talk about this because despite playing various games with gacha elements, I have not spent a dime on any of them. I've always gone into these types of games as a F2P player and I stick to it. I also think it's far too early to tell how bad the gacha is going to be in the long run, since the first few weeks is filled with so many freebies, you don't immediately feel the strain of it.

I would like to think that since it's focused on clothes instead of characters like other gacha games, the average player won't get hit with FOMO quite as bad as other gachas, but that's probably me being idealistic lol

Regardless, my first impressions is it feels on the "average to slightly worse" side of the scale. I'm used to freebie pulls being time limited to the duration of specific events, but the way they do it in Infinity Nikki feels off in a way I can't put my finger on. Maybe people who are more into the gacha can explain why that is, but it is the reason why I'm placing it on the "slightly worse" side of things.

Closing Thoughts:

Honestly, I was left feeling pretty positive about the game! There's definitely a few things here or there that could be better, but I've been having a lot of fun! I also like that there's plenty of free outfits you can earn in game, which I think helps take the pressure off for doing pulls (at least for me).

There's other things I didn't touch on because I just haven't experience it (like how it plays on mobile or the PS5. I play on desktop) so I know I'm missing a lot of the issues performance wise there. But for my experience so far, I've been having a lot of fun!

It's just been really nice playing a game that is so obviously made for girls and to see it doing as well as it is!

[riddlebot]

DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD - my thoughts and feelings after beating the game. obviously, spoilers for the whole thing. <3

so starting with pros, since i do have criticisms and i don't want it to immediately sound like i'm hating on the game when i genuinely had a great time playing it and there were a lot of things i liked, so i'll start with the good.

i loved all the companions. in every other DA game there are companions i love and companions i decidedly do NOT like. it was a nice refresher that i loved every single companion in DAV.

the way the locations were built were kind of fun! i am used to DAI's open world, and open world in general, so to me it kind of felt like every place i went was a different Destiny dungeon lol but also it was so cool to finally be in a city. i didn't really play DA2 that much so it's new for me, i'm use to opening up DAI and being lost in the wilderness wherever i go - everytime i ran across a roof top in dock town i felt like i was playing assassin's creed.

different endings! i like that there are different endings depending on how your inquisitor feels, how your rook comes to feel, and whether or not you do all of the memory quests. i liked the ending i chose, the "good" ending, in which we convince solas to use his own life force to keep the veil up to repent for all he has done. do i feel he DESERVES this ending? no. but it's what my inquisitor, and varric, would have wanted. despite how badly my rook wanted to knife him in the face, lmao.

it's pretty!! even though i have to play on dogshit graphics so the game can even run on my dinky pc, it's such a beautiful game and every area is so fun - the only place i hated going was dock town's catacombs and thats because i kept getting lost

i actually loved all the codex entries and learning about the companions through their notes to each other or their diary entries or their book club letters like that was so cute

seeing my inquisitor again idc i felt he was perfectly in character which i know was NOT everyone's personal feelings depending on how they played but my boy was good

even thought it made me devastated i'm glad all the questions i ever had thought to ask about dragon age lore were answered and also hilarious that they are quite literally all solas and mythal's fault this is another thing i think a particular group of people are pretty upset about but it was blowing my mind

also i think solas is such a well written villain like IDK when he trapped my rook in the fade at the end i was gasping for air and so angry and the fact we watched him make so many sacrifices and then justify them over and over and then to tell us like you should be proud of how far you come did you not expect to lose anyone i was floored. and then the fact he tries to trick us into bringing down the veil again after that had my rook SEETHINGGGGG i'm not kidding if it weren't for my angel inquisitor who loved solas that man woulda died bc my rook was not fucking around anymore at that point

criticisms:

combat. on one hand it's fun, and flashy, but on the other hand i think they peaked with DAI's combat - it is fucking impossible to be a ranged attacker in this game. your character is the only one with a health bar, for some reason, so enemies do not attack your companions AT ALL and just swarm you. i often felt like my companions were doing absolutely nothing while i was drowning in demons and darkspawn. i also have no idea how the combo moves work so maybe once i figure that out i'll feel differently but i kept getting so frustrated with it. in DAI, i take blackwall and can literally build his character into a tank that draws all enemy aggro so i can pick them off from the sidelines as he holds down the fort. give my companions back their health bars so i can attack an ogre from a distance please i am begging you.

companion personal quests. i do genuinely enjoy most of them - emmerich's in particular, the one where you crash his rivals party and watch his skeleton son pretend to be one of the party's servants to get information was so fun to me, as someone whose favorite mission in the entire series is wicked eyes and wicked hearts from dai. but a lot of them felt repetitive and unnecessary. why does davrin drag me to arlathan forest every 2 seconds to do nothing and why is that a quest and not just a cutscene i don't have to like, go do as a mission? it would have made more sense to me if it was just a cutscene and i didn't have to fast travel around for it.

i also think the sheer amount of "mini bosses" was kind of absurd. why does literally every single companion have a mini boss. the only ones that make sense are neve and lucanis, since it has to do with the venatori. but everyone else it kind of seemed like the writers had all these ideas and just. put them all in to fit as much as they could into the game.

i did like most of the armor i just wish i could have dyed it and also dyed my companions so we could all match

this is coming from a transman but when i found out fucking governer ivenci was nonbinary i screamed. this game is so woke and it's genuinely very cool to see in such a huge franchise but the fact they just randomly tacked on being trans to some npcs kills me it was so hilarious. in some cases, like taash, i'm like absolutely yes in your fucking face transphobes, or like MAEVARIS I LITERALLY SCRAEMED WITH JOY WHEN I FOUND OUT SHE WAS TRANS but why ivenci that wsa so random to me JFKLDASJFK;LASDJ they're like btw nonbinary people can also be evil. and you know what. fair.

final thoughts is that i do genuinely love the game, and i am curious to see if they make any changes in updates in the future but i won't hold my breath. i love the characters very much. also, as someone who played with a noncanon solas romanced inquisitor (my inquisitor is male, so he romanced solas in dai via mods) i hate the solavellan ending where they walk into the fade prison/home together and lavellan just leaves everyone they ever knew and loved behind for a man that is crazy work. my inquisitor went through fucking hell after trespasser personally, and he is over solas and i am going to make a rook for him to end up with because i think it'd be cute and he deserves it.

anyway thats all have a good day.

[baeshijima]

I JUST FINISHED PLAYING THE EVENT QUEST AND PLEASE THAT ENDING WAS SOOOO CUUUTTEEEEE

The cutscene reminded me too much of the teaser, I was holding my breath in shock and worried it would take a sad turn, but it was soo sweet!!!!

And the picture frame we got, I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH, IT WAS SO FUN PLAYING THROUGH THE QUEST

The whole Kaveh being worried Mehrak had a mechanical existential crisis, and then him blaming Alhaitham drove away the cutie like pls lmaooo (on second thought... imagine being half awake on your way to get a coffee and seeing a toolbox float past you like it was nothing LMAO... so many mehrak headcanons swirling in my head like a cup in the microwave)

The number of jokes Cyno dropped, please it was so fun hehe, and I was so surprised to see Sorush, and then Traveler in the outfit in the cutscene like omg we're being robbed, first the flower crown the aranara gave us and then this... why hoyo why...

(Is it obvious I love the Sumeru cast a lot? Hehe, can't help it I guess, I'm too biased towards Sumeru and Fontaine characters...)

(On second thought, yours is favourite genshin tumblr blog, but was the Alhaitham theme, and now the Neuvillette theme just a halo effect? Lmao jk, you're a super fun person hehe!!! And your writing *chef's kiss* wonderful!!!!!)

🍀

I CAN ANSWER THIS NOW THAT IVE DONE THE EVENT HEHE

and pls i was the same during the cutscene.... when i first saw the style and with her waking up and it being her bday i was like no... pls let her be happy... dont do this to us rn hyv... no more pain while on the natlan aq break... AND THEN IT WAS SO SO CUTE AND OURGHHH !! and oh my gosh the picture frame.... genuinely love it so so much (cough i now have a picture frame with haitham beloved and it will be put in a special place in my teapot home cough) but it wouldve been even better with wanderer and layla 🫠

AND YES THE WORRIED MOTHER KAVEH & CURIOUS CHILD MEHRAK INTERACTIONS WERE SO !!! im glad we got to see more of kaveh and his dynamic with mehrak tho !! and him blaming alhaitham was so funny pls 😭 catching strays only to uno reverse them fr <//3 (if that were me on god i would chalk it up to sleep deprivation and pass it off as a hallucination LMAO but knowing mehrak it would literally just float there and smile at whoever was staring at it long enough and then continue what it was doing 😭)

cyno with his jokes.... while paimon didnt appreciate them, I did. and the fact he had them prepared in the back of his mind for our return so he could use them.... sobs hes so precious.... and his lil spark of joy at the end of the quest before taking the photo when he wanted to play genius invokation tcg with everyone and tighnari using collei as an escape, sethos wishing he had a collei to use as an escape and alhaitham and kaveh probably just walking away 😭

SORUSH AND THE PARI AND THE ARANARA !!!! the gasp i gasped when i heard the pari speak like???? HELLO???? i thought we would finally get aranara voice but there was none 😔 AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE TRAVELER OUTFITS AAAAAA both of the twins looked so good... pls we need it as a free skin.... or at the very least have more regional events from now on where they wear the nations style of clothing... manifests next lantern rite for cloud retainer to make us clothes..... pls.....

[videogametako]

baka review: touhou hero of ice fairy (+ prologue)

putting the prologue here because it is free and fun and not in the full game at all (which is fun but not free)

you get to fight the scarlet sisters and get a taste of the gameplay. emphasis on taste because the mechanics actually feel a lot better in the full game, so if you're hesitant on buying it because the prologue gameplay feels slightly clunky, you should buy it anyway and see for yourself and refund if you find you still don't like it. i managed to beat 3 of the story bosses before 2 hours so you can definitely get a good taste for it and your money back if you didn't like it

that is all about the prologue

baka game. real 9/9. link here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1955830/TouhouHeroofIceFairy/

overview

touhou hero of ice fairy is a bullet hell boss rush where you play as resident baka cirno, the hero of ice, on a quest to save her princess daiyousei from the clutches of the evil nightmare miko. it's a cute plot and the story segments are presented to us like a puppet show theater style that's super endearing with the art

even the tutorial stage plays into it, i love it

gameplay

cirno has two types of attacks, a basic shot and spell cards. hold down LMB or whatever is assigned to the controller to shoot and deal damage to the boss. to use spell cards you need courage, gained by dealing damage (i actually can't remember if there are other ways, but uh you'll mostly get it by dealing damage anyway). gain enough courage and you can use spell cards, consuming it. it's worth noting that some shot types do much better with higher courage, and all of them have additional benefits from being at higher levels of courage.

dash with RMB, and fly by dashing in the air. flying is completely free invincible movement and is really strong, but uses stamina obvs. the game honestly feels a bit like a souls-like, not that i play souls likes. there's a lot of dodging involved, but attacking is pretty much a continuous effort

i forgot to take pics of the gameplay and apparently this is the only screenshot i have. your goal is to clear the many phases/stages of the fight either by waiting out the timer or depleting their health bar. some phases force you to wait out the timer by making the boss invulnerable, indicated by chains

here's a store page screenshot

after finishing the main story battle, you can eventually choose to challenge past opponents in challenge mode. for completionists, there's no-hit and pacifist no-hit runs you can try

forgot to mention items, they're basically to modify your shot type and give you passives, you can see 'em in the lower right portion of the screenshots above

screenshot from the trailer

and, another thing i forgot to mention was the presence of an assist mode. it said it decreases boss difficulty as you lose so it's a pretty neat way to slowly lower difficulty as suited for you. it also gives cirno this cute chick thing on her head lol

story

the first stage sees us at the misty lake, where cirno begins her search for the nightmare miko's lair.

she's kinda dumb

we're then introduced to our first opponent, clownpiece

her being in a one piece latex suit might be a joke in itself i'm realizing. she's our first taste of real gameplay, and uses bullet patterns akin to someone who—as my partner so aptly put it—has a surface level understanding of what america is.

beating her shows her in a battle damaged state which i will not be showing here because she has her whole ass on display, but that'll be the trend for mostly everyone yeah. though, i think hers has the uh, most damaged outfit out of all of them. also losing enough times triggers taunting dialogue from them too, really made me wanna beat suika up more when i got it the first time.

oh yeah she promises to tell you the way to the nightmare miko's lair too! hooray! though, unsurprisingly, she is somewhat of a jester

and our hero is kind of dumb. in the forest, cirno stumbles upon some fairies harassing a bunny. after driving the fairies away, they invite us into their train

tewi's outfit is so cute

there are, naturally, bunnies on the bunny train

this bunny train serves as the menu and hub, i quite like it. there's an encyclopedia, a jukebox, etc.

reisen here changes your loadout for you

pls be nice to her, she's overworked

there's this cute board showing all the bosses you've beat thus far, too. incredibly charming

the story ramps up a bit later, coming with the difficulty spike (at least for me, idrk how others fared). will not be discussing it because uh no time rn, got other things to do

closing thoughts

this game is cute, charming, has great music. i'm impressed by it's quality, and it leans into its aesthetics very well. the redesigns i find quite interesting, and it's fun to compare and contrast the world they establish to canon lore

hmm, the english translation is a bit wonky, but it's honestly serviceable. other than that i've got no real complaints

edit: beat a challenge and like, this is a bit unfair i feel... i mean, i guess i could watch it on youtube....

if you like touhou for the shmup gameplay you will definitely find it here. if you like it for story and characters you will also find it here, feel free to use assist mode and stuff. if you don't like touhou, give it a try anyway

if this game looks fun, buy it over here:

[bookswithsyd]

My First Cozy Fantasy | Legends and Lattes

Cozy Fantasy is not a genre that I have hear a whole lot about, and the main title that I kept seeing come up again and again was “Legends and Lattes.” I kept going back and forth on if I really wanted to check this title out, and when I found it available to check out on the Libby app, I pulled the trigger and tried it out.

Like most other books for me, this was a rough start. We get Viv finishing up her last mission as an adventurer before finding her new home. Most of the story involves Viv and friends creating the first café in the town, introduce coffee to the townspeople, and create new sweet treats.

On a surface level, this book is nice, its got its fun moments, it has highs and lows. But, I feel like it’s lacking some substance. Nothing that happened in the story came as a surprise, there was no suspense. We see Viv trying to start a new life, go down a new path, and build a life of ease in this new town after killing and questing for all her life. I wish we saw more of a struggle during the adjustment time for her, see some character development. We get to see only a glimpse at this when she questions on if she should solve her problems with violence (as suggested by her old adventuring crew), but she scrubs the idea quickly.

This is an issue I have with the other main cast as well. There is not a lot of depth to any of them. They each play a role, and that is it, none of them grow or develop. Tandri is the only main player that seems to have a real personality, she pushes for the shop to be better and she also wants what’s best for Viv. It can be explained by the stone brining people together, but Tandri dropping everything to give her life to a shop that sells a product she has never heard of seems insane. Cal shows up when he is needed and does help process the story by building up the shop, but he always has the answer one way or another. Thimble is a character that has personality by moving around and only speaking when absolutely necessary, I wish more could have been done with his character in some way, I feel like he could have been more important than just a baker that makes new treats.

I will say, there is a single person who has an incredible turn around, and that is Pendry! Pendry starts out so incredibly shy that he sprints out of the shop the first night he tries to serenade that crowd. He slowly develops into a confident performer who proudly plays and sings for the large crowd of customers. Plus, during the re-building stages, he admits that the family business is stone laying, but that his performing is simply a passion (as seen why he explains why he doesn’t feel right putting out a hat for coins). Pendry feels like a real character that finishes in a different state than he entered the book.

All of the big events that happen could be spotted from a mile away. The issues with the Madrigal was obviously going to find a compromise. I will admit that I love the compromise that they came to, I thought that was such a cute thing. But once threats started and Fennus came into the story, I just had this terrible feeling that the café was going to be set on fire… I didn’t expect it to be set on fire at night with Viv and Tandri INSIDE or it to be magical fire that can’t be put out and burned down the whole thing. I was sad to see all the hard work vanish in minutes, and seeing Viv so depressed (as she has every right to be) was really taking away from the nice happy feeling that I came to this book to feel!

I did enjoy reading the rebuilding section where everyone comes together to make the café even better than before, proving that the community is behind Viv and what she was brought to them all. The ending with the perfect grand re-opening was a beautiful scene to imagine. It did seem to tie everything up in a lovely bow with all the important characters getting a share of the café as a show of gratitude that they all built this place together.

The last three pages escalate the side-lined romance plotline more than the rest of the story combined. The inkling of progress happens with the adorable picnic that Tandri packs for them, plus Tandri insisting on staying in the café with Viv in case anything happens. It is clear that feelings are there, but it is barely touched on. Then, all of a sudden Viv invites Tandri to live with her in the café with her own room with a bunch of art supplies, like where did this level of infatuation and love come from? And then it just ENDS! Reading this on my kindle, it said I was 85% of the way done with this book so I was thinking, “where are we going to go from here?” Only for the story to just END.

Overall, this book had a great ending half, but the middle lacked a lot of substance for me, so I’ve given this book 3-stars. I would not recommend this book, but I do want to try out more books in the genre.