#voicing characters in a visual novel is so much fun you guys. if you can gather up pals and have someone play the game for the first time-

[transgaysex]

god remember jake marshall. from rfta

[lovelyfirebouquet]

Okay, so. I had this really cute idea that player/MC/(Y/N) is playing GoGM and Jack gets jealous. After all, why play a game about a ghost when his sunshine has a perfect loving ghost right here? Spicy implications but nothing directly explicit. Short (~1030 words) because I’m just getting back into writing and stretching the creative muscles. Criticism and feedback are welcome!

The Groom of Gallagher Mansion and Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack are both 18+ games, minors DNI! Thank you!

--- Leg bouncing excitedly, I adjust my headphones over my ears and grin at the familiar music. Both spooky and jovial, I hum along as I admire the tattered blue wallpaper on the game’s title screen, decorated with roses. The momentary blackness as I begin a new game seems far too long. Taking a gulp from the water bottle Jack had so kindly left on my desk earlier, I let out a tiny, excited cheer and began clicking through dialogue.   Having just recently added voice acting with the new update, I’ve been eager to play all week. Listening along, one line causes me to chuckle.  ‘G-g-g-ghost clown?! No!’ ‘Poor Taylor would be screwed knowing me, poor guy.’  I think to myself, lifting one side of my headphones. The sound of splashing and happy humming from the kitchen told me Jack was still doing dishes, so I fixed the device back on my ear and smiled. ‘Thankfully, my ghost clown isn’t too scary.’  Moving through the familiar dialogue, my character begins their performance and I can’t help but follow suit, dramatically laying the back of my hand to my forehead. “Alas, my poor aching heart!” I grin, leaning back with a theatrical flourish. Before I can give my next line, I hear Jack’s heavy footsteps approach. “Sunshine?” He leans against the doorway, broad shoulders on display in his normal white shirt, his jacket presumably left somewhere in the kitchen. “What are you doing?” “Oh, well,” I pause a moment, a tad embarrassed, “I’m playing a game, actually. Did I disturb you?” “No, of course not.” He flashes his signature grin, slipping his gloves back on as he comes to stand beside my chair, glancing down at the screen curiously. “What kind of game?” “Well..” I’ve explained a fair bit of modern technology to Jack in the months we’ve known each other but disclosing the idea of a romance game still seemed somewhat embarrassing. “It’s a… romantic visual novel, which is just as it says. It kind of acts as a choose your own adventure book, with added sounds and visuals.” He nods along and listens intently, though he raises a brow at the mention of romance. “So, what’s this game about then?” At that I grin, nerd brain taking over as I click idly. “It’s about you and your college friend, Taylor, summoning a ghost in a spooky cursed manor. You make choices to see who you end up with, but I always choose Elias.” Coming to the beginning of Elias’ dialogue, I unplug my headphones and raise the volume, smiling as the familiar line echoes from the speakers. “Alack, alack, what blood is this, which stains the stony entrance of this sepulcher?” I mouth along with the words and click through, watching Elias’ ghostly sprite fade into view. As I glance back at Jack he wears an odd expression, furrowed brows and pursed lips forming a slight pout as he stares at the screen. “Jack? What’s wrong?” I return the game’s audio to its normal level and spin my chair to look at him fully. He studies me a moment, warm brown eyes reflecting unknown emotions. Before I have time to process, he grabs my hand and presses a warm kiss to my knuckles. Immediately my face turns a bright shade of red, heat emanating from my ears as I stutter. “I- you… Why?” Smiling lovingly, he lowers my hand and brings his gloved one to my cheek, brushing his thumb against it. He brings his face closer, pressing his forehead against mine. “Why play a game when I’m right here, Sunshine? Fantasies can be fun, but too much can be bad for you.” His hot breath fans across my face, blue hair tickling my cheek. His body is so warm looming over me. “Maybe you should take a break?~” He hums, tilting my chin upward slowly, taking a single breath to examine my flustered state before pressing his lips to mine. All at once soft and sweet and intoxicating, I find myself leaning into him, reaching upward to hold his hand on my cheek and wrap my arm around his neck. Locked together like this, we kiss until my lungs begin to burn, aching for breath. I pull back first, taking a great gasping breath as I recover. Looking up at him, his cheeks are dusted a light red and his breathing is more ragged than before. My face burns like hot coals as he looks at me, purest love mixed with building desire reflected in his eyes. “(Y/N)?” His tone is sweet, and yet it sends a shiver down my spine. “Yes?” He grasps my forearm gently, pulling me from my seat and carefully guiding me to the bed. My heartbeat thumps like distant thunder as he nudges me, motioning to lay upright against the pillows. Within a moment he straddles me, his arms acting as a heavily muscled cage. Leaning down to my neck, he plants a knowing kiss, murmuring into my skin. “I love you.” I gasp at the sensation, craning my neck unconsciously. “I love you, Jack.” With those words he melts into my arms, peppering me with kisses and divine praises. Our bedroom is filled with laughter as I am enveloped in a warm embrace, arms and legs cocooned under his hold. A sunny grin takes over his features as I weakly wiggle, seemingly proud of his capture. “Good.” He chuckles, leaning down to peck my cheek. Rubbing my arm lovingly, I notice his expression shift subtly as he glances back to the computer, still softly looping the game’s background music. “You know… I’d love to show you just how I feel,” he sighs, running his hands over my sides and gently teasing my inner thigh, “but if you’re busy…” I groan, looking back toward my desk and the sprite of Elias waiting patiently on the screen. Looking back at Jack, acknowledging my own arousal, I make up my mind. “I guess it can wait a liiiiiittle longer.” Jack got off the bed, quickly powering down the computer and fixing the desk chair before returning to his perfect, waiting sunshine. He’d make sure to delete that game later.

[maleyanderecafe]

Honey Hotline (Visual Novel)

Created by: chuiipon

Genre: Horror

Phew, I was really happy to see this game come out since I've been following this artist for a while. It's always really fun seeing people create ocs that are in games, especially now that there's this trend of yandere vns (which I appreciate). Anyways, this is an r18 game and it's a good introduction to the story of this game. If you are interested, you can learn more at @ringringringbananafone.

Honey is the default name, so I'll just be calling them as such.

Honey wakes up after a strange dream in the middle of their college class. They find out that they're going to be part of a group project and Amesy asks them to join their group. Their group consists of her, a guy named Fone and Seon. Fone is a quiet guy who has trouble communicating and writes on a notebook, while Seon seems to be a tidy guy. Amesy suggests that Honey and Fone work together on the slideshow and the two head to Honey's house to finish. The two work on the project together, getting closer with one another until Fone has to go home. Honey fiddles with the slides more until they get a strange recording of someone moaning their name and seemingly masturbating to them. This person sends message after message apologizing and stating that they love honey, asking them to not block them. Honey realizes that with this new phone, the only people who could have sent this message are the three classmates that they're working on the project with. With this, they set out to investigate which one it is. The next day, Honey can go to Amesy, Fone or Seon's place.

Going to Fone's place makes Fone very excited. In his house, Fone reveals that he has a cat named Mallow (Marshmallow), which Honey (and I) enjoy very much. Honey can ask Fone about a lot of different topics like hobbies, what his family is like and why he has a hard time speaking. After hanging out, Honey returns hom.

Going to Seon's place, there is a chance to reveal that Seon is really into anime, which makes him really happy and blurt out a thousand facts about anime. Seon even invites Honey to a convention later before walking them home. Otherwise, Seon and Honey will still have a good time, but won't find out that he's really into anime.

Going to Amesy's house, she offers Honey some cookies and the two talk about various things. We find out that Amesy and Fone are actually cousins and that Fone used to be a very cheerful and extroverted child, but isn't sure what happened to make him the way he is now. Thus the reason why Amesy was trying to help Fone and Honey talk to each other. Afterwards, Amesy offers to bring Honey home on her motorcycle.

After all of that, Honey gets another voice recording stating that they enjoyed their time together today and wishes them a good night. Honey deduces it must be someone who they've hung out with today.

For an introduction, it does a good job of showing off all the different characters, and sets up the mystery of who the person stalking Honey is, though if you follow the creator's blog, you'll find out pretty quickly that it's Fone who is the one sending these messages. It's hinted at as well when Honey mentions that the person sounds raspy as if they haven't talked in a while, as well as when talking to Fone there's the chance to talk about the neighbors, and the recent murders happening, which is awfully suspicious and likely related to Fone. Still, there are other mysteries such as what kind of childhood Fone had to have changed from a cheerful child to how he is now. The artwork in this is very nice, though I'm biased because I really love the art style of the characters.

As for yandere behavior from Fone, there is several that goes on. The first one and most obvious is the message sent to Honey on the first and second day. Based on what Honey mentions about the neighbors, likely is also next door to hear what Honey is saying. There's also the aforementioned murders which are likely tied to Fone, and if Honey refuses to work on the project with Amesy in the beginning, the game will sort of reset, forcing them to be in that team. Ominous messages at the beginning and end of the game also play out, as well as some text files that will spawn inside of the folder depending on what options are chosen. I'm not sure how these breaking the fourth wall things will come to play later as a lot of yandere vns are using them these days, but hopefully it will be a unique idea.

Overall, for a demo, I thought it was an interesting premise. Even though I believe we already know who is the one sending these messages to Honey, I am curious about other aspects of the game. If you enjoy these types of games, please feel free to try it out.

[oh-shtars]

Reach for the Stars! AU QnA:

(Part 2)

Part 1

May I give a reward to @wings-of-sapphire for completely being the cause of Part 2?

LMAO, thanks so much Sapphire! You’re the best ✨🥰

Onto the questions!!

1.) Are there any other ships you’re going to add? (Other than the given Ashueño and royal couple?)

Ashueño and the royal couple (Magnaya? Amnifico? Idk) are definitely there.

Other ships? Well, there is one but you’re going to have to wait and see to find out.

If you’re thinking Halzeema, no not really. Sorry guys 😅

They’re close friends and really fond of each other, but I’d like to put some QPR representation in the back too. As an ace person, I feel like these kinds of relationships need more recognition. :))

…….

2.) Are you adding any new characters in the story? Like for example, I’m adding Evangeline.

Not really?? I guess there would be some random citizens and maybe some mentions of the 7 teens parents, but they don’t really play a major part.

The already existing characters do play very different roles than they did in the canon movie. (For example, Sabino not being Asha’s paternal grandfather and is instead a close friend of Tomás during his time working in the castle.)

But other than that, there’s really nothing new that I know of.

………..

3.) If you could use one word to describe each of the characters of RFTS, what would they be?

Asha = Compassionate

Sueño = Fun-loving

Magnifico = Vengeful

Amaya = Ambitious

Valentino = Bold. Sometimes too bold for his own good.

……..

4.) How long do you predict your story to be? Have you plotted it all out yet or are you more of a “see where it takes you” writer?

Hmmmm, I don’t actually know. Looking at my outline, it looks like it’s going to be quite a long story. Maybe even novel-length. Plus, all the unplanned in-between scenes would add more to it.

Though, I doubt you’ll get bored reading it. I think-

Hopefully not. 😓

When writing, I prefer to really outline my planning because I would HATE to write myself in a corner and not know what happens next. Imagine restarting and rewriting your work T_T.

With a defined plan, I’d be confident enough to just write because I have a guide to follow right next to me :D

But dammit, the middle of the story and what happens in there is killing me.

I DON’T KNOW. AHHHHH HELP-

……..

5.) Is there a certain scene you’re super excited to write? What about one you’re dreading?

There is like one scene where Sueño really loses his sht and me, as the lovely author~, get to have the fun and satisfaction of knocking Mag’s pride down.

Muahahahaha-

I’m also pretty excited to write the “At All Costs” scene and the final battle because DAMN, something possessed me to make up pretty good ideas for them. But I’m also really looking forward to writing character dynamics and how fun it would be for them to interact with each other.

For scenes that I’m dreading to write?

The middle of everything. And.

The Middle.

Did I mention I’m stuck in the middle?

KCNEICJEOFKDKSKS THE FREAKING MIDDLE-

……

6.) How are you going to show the songs/lyrics changes to said songs?

I’ve actually already answered this same question with chillwildwave.

I’m writing them out similar to Anny’s, I guess. I’m no animator, so I can’t really show them visually. I would use gifs and my own drawings to visually show what’s going on though.

I would be either tweaking the lyrics of some of the canon songs or in some certain scenes, pretend there’s a song being sung there and just describe what’s going on.

I might also be using some already pre-existing Disney songs to set the vibe and reference what I’m going for.

Yeaaaaah, sorry I can’t write songs even if my life depends on it. 😭

………

7.) Do you have any sneak peaks you can give us?

Sneak peaks huh?

Hmmmmmmmmmm…..

Okay, maybe some screenshots of my outline and some quotes I wrote down.

Enjoy these random moments of Asha interacting with her family: ☺️

………..

8.) Do you have any voice actors chosen yet?

Actually, I’m pretty fine with the canon voice actors we have now. So they’ll just be voiced by the same people.

(Chris Pine and Ariana were good in their role, change my mind.)

Though I was thinking about this very fun thought on what Sueño might sound like if he could speak. Imagine that! :D

So far, I’ve really just headcanon Sueño’s voice similar to Adam Young, aka Owl City. I love listening to his songs and it’s funny, because I can REALLY envision Sueño singing these songs because it just…fits. ^^

“Shine Your Way” is a pretty cool duet that really fits Starsha in my opinion too. ✨✨

……..

9.) How are you exploring the world building of Rosas?

I’m not entirely sure what you mean with this question. I guess through the use of songs, dialogue and bits of flashbacks and examples of magic?

Sorry if I didn’t answer this right. 😅

………

10.) How much research do you do for your storyline?

*Remembers how I’ve spent around an hour to find a name for Sueño and how I’ve spent ages to find inspiration for the magic rules of this world and a monarch system that isn’t completely historically accurate but enough to make a bit of sense*

…..A normal amount. Why do you ask?

………

*holds hands up*

OKAY OKAY! I’M DRINKING! I’M DRINKING!! 🏃‍♂️💨

………

@annymation @gracebethartacc @emillyverse @uva124 @chillwildwave @tumblingdownthefoxden @spectator-zee @mythartist21

I’m still open to having a Part 3 if you guys are interested :))

[realcube]

YOU GOT: SATORI TENDŌ (time-skip)

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ matchup for @rav--en / @frostfall-matches

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ if you would like a matchup, read this!

'distant but pleasant, introverted but not shy (disinterested, takes a LONG time to open up), generally respectful of others but not necessarily kind/sweet, somewhat apathetic (flat affect, rarely has strong emotional reactions, but a majority of the time mood baseline is content/relaxed)'

𓆩♡𓆪 okay so like

𓆩♡𓆪 a big reason i chose tendou for you is because of your personality and how reminiscent it is of ushijima's

𓆩♡𓆪 like y'all might be long lost twins icl 😭

𓆩♡𓆪 and ofc tendou and ushijima are shown to get on really well despite their personality differences

𓆩♡𓆪 bffs even??

𓆩♡𓆪 you'd think because of tendou's playfulness and cheerfulness would clash against apathy and he'd find it demoralising, but really it's shown that it doesn't bother him so much and he will be his rambunctious self regardless

𓆩♡𓆪 so naturally he would get on well with you

𓆩♡𓆪 like he is not the type to be fazed by how distant you might come across, he understands how that is just your demeanour and not a reflection of your opinion of him

𓆩♡𓆪 unlike others who might be put-off by not feeling immediately welcomed

𓆩♡𓆪 but tendou doesn't mind, though he would make it his mission to see you warm up to him a little

𓆩♡𓆪 and also the fact you are a lot more chill and calm than he is would work so much in his favour 😭 like needs a voice of reason (besides ushi) to stop him from going wild lol

𓆩♡𓆪 tbh i kinda hc that moving to paris was just a decision he made on a whim lmao

𓆩♡𓆪 like he was studying in japan to be a regular chef or smth but when he was scrolling on websites to look for apprenticeships related to cooking, he found one in paris for being a chocolatier

𓆩♡𓆪 and he was like 'hell yeah!' and applied bc that sounds cool and chocolate is yummy

𓆩♡𓆪 plus he didn't fully expect to be offered the placement anyway.. but when he was , he appeared at your door, wearing a beret and holding a single rose, "do you want to go to Paris?"

𓆩♡𓆪 (all of that is said in japanese except for 'paris' which is said the french way, like pariee lol)

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

'hobbies: video games (tactics, RPGs, visual novels), anime, drawing (digital, portraits/fanart), painting (watercolor, portraits or landscapes/architecture), baking, cosplay, writing, reading (fantasy, suspense/thriller, psychological, abstract), taking care of houseplants, home/decor DIY projects, hiking, jogging, thrill-seeking activities (an adrenaline junkie).'

𓆩♡𓆪 these next few hcs are gonna be a bit brief but

𓆩♡𓆪 tendou would love to play video games with you , especially RPGs but he seems like the type to play silly joke characters

𓆩♡𓆪 dwarves and gnomes especially !!

𓆩♡𓆪 and he's always gonna be a magic user ofc

𓆩♡𓆪 silly wizard gnomes 😔

𓆩♡𓆪 always protecting you too, he's like your personal bodyguard in video games

𓆩♡𓆪 except for when he gets distracted on side quests.. but he'll really want you to do them with him bc he says they are no fun without you

𓆩♡𓆪 i can imagine tendou is pretty good at drawing himself but still, whenever you draw literally anything, he's like 'zamn they need to hang this in the louvre'

𓆩♡𓆪 probably has one of your fanarts or portraits as the background on his phone 😩 literally even if he doesn't know the show that it's from

𓆩♡𓆪 he wouldn't mind you drawing a portrait of him. he'd be most grateful if you drew him all cute-like , it'd make his heart melt to see that you percieve him in that way

𓆩♡𓆪 however even if you do draw him scary-looking, he'll likely just find it badass lol

𓆩♡𓆪 you can literally do no wrong in his eyes !!

𓆩♡𓆪 he's decent at painting so you guys could to that cute couple thing where you swap a canvas between yourselves and paint something on it , then hand it back to the other person so they can paint something onto it too (pls that's such a bad description but i hope you know what i'm talking about 😭)

𓆩♡𓆪 he would draw things that are super trippy and weird and whimsical like toads with angel wings and mushrooms with cute faces

𓆩♡𓆪 OMG he would draw a toad with angel wings sitting on a big mushroom with a cute face and be like 'this is us btw 🥰'

𓆩♡𓆪 meanwhile you were in the middle of drawing a sky so it looks like they are floating in the air ... 😅

𓆩♡𓆪 aww baking with tendou would be so much fun too but he is so playful about it , he likes to make a bit of a mess

𓆩♡𓆪 sprinkles.. everywhere.. and he is the type to boop icing on your nose with a spoon. and to squish your cheeks while his hands are covered in flour.

𓆩♡𓆪 i am also a firm believer that tendou simply knows how much of what to put into a recipe

𓆩♡𓆪 you'd be like 'erm sweetie the book says to add only one egg, not four?!?'

𓆩♡𓆪 and he's like 'just trust me ;) ' and you do (bc by the time he's said that, he's already cracked the eggs so it's too late not to trust him lol) and those end up being the best cookies you've ever tasted in your life, somehow ?!?

𓆩♡𓆪 it's canon that tendou was picked on as a kid for being weird and looking different so OF COURSE he is going to cosplay now

𓆩♡𓆪 like yes kids used to bully him for having red hair but jokes on them, just means he can do a killer diluc cosplay without spending a penny on a wig??

𓆩♡𓆪 and he'd cosplay with you from any fandom you like, even if it's one he's never heard of

𓆩♡𓆪 and he'd be so excited about it ESPECIALLY if the characters y'all cosplay are canon love interests/couple RAH

𓆩♡𓆪 he'd go crazy !! he'd be picking you up and spinning you about and doing all sorts of poses for the pics

𓆩♡𓆪 say you're more into it than he is though, bc he is probably a casual cosplay enjoyer, he would also be your biggest supporter in taking photos as stuff

𓆩♡𓆪 he'd be sure to get all your right angles and the perfect lighting lol

𓆩♡𓆪 but this commentary while he's doing it is too much and you're always struggling not to burst out laughing

𓆩♡𓆪 'ooh yes, werk it girl! pose with more sass! the blade of the sword really brings out your eyes! fierce!'

𓆩♡𓆪 and the pics do turn out looking good but don't tell him, otherwise it will get to his head and he will quit work as a chocolatier to be a full-time cosplay photographer lol

𓆩♡𓆪 omg tendou would be such a good plant dad 🥺 he'd need an introduction and biography to every single one of your plants and if they don't have names yet, he will be naming them with you haha

𓆩♡𓆪 which , giving them names is cute n all, until you are screaming at him from the living room 'CACTUS EVERDEEN HAS DROWNED!!!'

𓆩♡𓆪 he does care about the plants very much but he is still mindful that they are your babies not his

𓆩♡𓆪 however, if you ever entrust him to water your plants for you while you are busy/away or smth.. o m g.. his heart would implode!!

𓆩♡𓆪 in his eyes, that's as meaningful as a marriage proposal lol

𓆩♡𓆪 oh and i'm just imagining y'all going furniture shoping when you first move to paris

𓆩♡𓆪 but you end up spending the majority of your time in the houseplant section 🤭 trying to pick the cutest one for your apartment

𓆩♡𓆪 he'd also leave notes for you in the leaves or atop the plants , either affirmations and compliments like 'you are strong!' and 'i adore you <3' or just reminders like 'pls replace remote batteries ☹'

𓆩♡𓆪 other thing when you move in, is that there is going to be no shortage of DIY/home projects

𓆩♡𓆪 in fact your lives are basically consumed by IKEA furniture for like.. three months

𓆩♡𓆪 but neither of you really mind; since you find DIY to be a fun hobby and, well, tendou thinks anything done with you is automatically a great time

𓆩♡𓆪 though soon he finds out it's like building life-size lego structures and he likes it himself

𓆩♡𓆪 every night for a solid few months is spent with tendou on the floor of your new apartment, with the tv on, watching your favourite show while building some sort of furniture

𓆩♡𓆪 he mostly lets you take the lead since diy is your forte but he's definitely helpful

𓆩♡𓆪 he likes to nail stuff!

𓆩♡𓆪 also tendou is so on your wavelength when it comes to thrill-seeking

𓆩♡𓆪 he is so down for stuff like rollercoasters, sky-diving, scuba diving, mountain climbing, bungee jumping, paragliding etc

𓆩♡𓆪 but ofc he enjoys them the most with you

𓆩♡𓆪 he's a big screamer though lol but it's cute

𓆩♡𓆪 his favourite out of the aforementioned activities though are definitely rollercoasters and sky-diving bc those are the only ones he can do while holding your hand 💕💞

𓆩♡𓆪 ( i think?? i'm not a skydiving expert but i assume you can hold someone's hand while doing it. tendou definitely grips yours all the way down, only letting go so he can pull the parachute. OR he would hold both your hands so he can look at you in the eyes!! )

𓆩♡𓆪 during rollercoasters, he grips onto your hand for dear life and it almost makes you think he's scared, despite him cheering the whole time, and on-ride pic of him always looking like 😃

𓆩♡𓆪 and you tease him for holding onto you so hard and he gets a little defensive about it like 'i wasn't afraid!! i just .. uh .. didn't want you to go flying out of the ride.. that happens, y'know!'

𓆩♡𓆪 but really he knows you're just joking :P

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

'love languages: physical touch and gifts. physical touch reserved for close friends/partners.'

𓆩♡𓆪 the fact that iirc tendou literally gave ushijima his magazine or smth like that ; king of gift giving 😩

𓆩♡𓆪 he'd let you borrow/give you videos games and books because he wants you to enjoy them as much as he did

𓆩♡𓆪 and he'd be so honoured if you did the same thing for him 😖 so you guys could be in all the same fandoms and fangirl togther lol

𓆩♡𓆪 discussing your fan theories in depth until the sun comes up

𓆩♡𓆪 although it would probably get to the point where you guys exchange books/video games so much that you would lose track of who stuff originally belonged to 😭

𓆩♡𓆪 (but tendou's solution to that is just asking you to marry him so now all your stuff is shared anyway so it doesn't matter :P )

𓆩♡𓆪 his love language probably flacuates between physical touch and words of affirmation but he would definitely start getting you gifts more as soon as he realises you particularly appreciate them

𓆩♡𓆪 but all his gifts are so silly lol bc he has awful taste

𓆩♡𓆪 if you ever mention needing more clothes, he is going to use the fact he knows you like cats and end up buying you something like this

𓆩♡𓆪 it wouldn't offend him if you don't wear it but he would really like it if you did bc he unironically thinks it would look so cute on you

𓆩♡𓆪 omg and bc he knows you like lattes, he'd buy you a thermos but it would be like holographic and shiny and sparkly with a message printed on it like 'stay hyslayted' or 'latte love' that he got off temu for half a shilling

𓆩♡𓆪 but he genuinely doesn't see the issue and thinks he's buying you something super useful

𓆩♡𓆪 as for physical touch , he'd let you initiate whenever you felt comfortable enough to do so tbh

𓆩♡𓆪 like he doesn't have any issue with having to wait months, years even, for you to get familiar and trust him enough to engage in physical affection, because you mean a lot more to him than just the way you feel — you're his friend first, so spending time together makes him more than happy enough

𓆩♡𓆪 that being said, when you do finally start slipping your hand into his while you're walking beside each other, or when you casually run a hand through his hair during conversation, it takes every ounce of discipline in his body to prevent him from JUMPING WITH JOY

𓆩♡𓆪 bc like he's just so pleased and honoured that you trust him enough to be open with him like this 😭 it's so sweet

𓆩♡𓆪 plus, he is very tactful when it comes to reciprocating, although he just wants to squeeze you in his arms like a fluffy stuffie, he refrains from doing so (somehow) and simply leans into the touch

𓆩♡𓆪 in terms of later on into the relationship, when you guys have known each other for 5+ years at least, subtle acts of physical intimacy that i think tenodu would show are booping your nose and kissing your knuckles/up your arm

𓆩♡𓆪 i think he would've got the latter one from his time in france (though idk if they actually do that over there if i'm just being stereotypical 😥 sorry)

𓆩♡𓆪 oh and he takes his hugs seriously!! he's the type of hugger where he will run up to you from behind and scoop you up into his arms and dramatically twirl you around with your feet in the air, like something from a movie

𓆩♡𓆪 bc hearing you're giggles literally means everything to him !! plus, ever since retiring volleyball, picking you up is the only use he has for being 6'1" lol

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

'coffee/dessert for initial chatting and then something active like an amusement park or arcade so i don't have to focus too hard on conversation.'

𓆩♡𓆪 dessert with satori would be so cute

𓆩♡𓆪 and he is so expressive when you show up looking gorgeous, you're gonna be able to see it on his face how star-struck he is lol, jaw literally on the floor!!

𓆩♡𓆪 if this is the first date, i imagine he would be a bit nervous during the chatting but he would slowly warm up to you and start making jokes and messing about

𓆩♡𓆪 and if it's a dessert place, that's a great conversational segue into his love of food

𓆩♡𓆪 but also he's happy to sit there and listen to you talk about anything and everything

𓆩♡𓆪 omg and he is gonna be falling by the time you make him laugh like... stunning and funny!?!? he just can't believe it

𓆩♡𓆪 he'd end up trying really hard to make you laugh to and argubly makes a fool out of himself 😭 but you can tell he's trying

𓆩♡𓆪 though ironically , he is a lot funnier when he doesn't try

𓆩♡𓆪 anyway the phase 2 of the date would honestly be a saving grace for him bc it would help you see him less nervous and more playful

𓆩♡𓆪 at the arcade he'd bring you into those booth horror games where you shoot zombies/dinosaurs or smth , and he'd be so impressed if you do well 😫 literally stars in his eyes while watching you slaughter the undead

𓆩♡𓆪 omgg plss do the photo booth with him too

𓆩♡𓆪 you guys would be so cute..

𓆩♡𓆪 he'd be doing all silly faces and either you'd do the faces too and you'd come out looking twinsss with matching energy

𓆩♡𓆪 or he'd pull a bunch of weird faces and you're still like normal which makes the photos look HILARIOUS bc of the contrast between the two of you

𓆩♡𓆪 it looks like this 🤪 ✌🙂

𓆩♡𓆪and he would put all the fake background on the pics too, so it looks like you guys are in all sorts of crazy places like under the sea, at disneyland or in front of the eiffel tower (omg foreshadowing????)

𓆩♡𓆪 hopefully the photo booth gives two strips of pics bc he most definitely will be keeping one to put in his wallet or in his phonecase

𓆩♡𓆪 OR he would get one made into a keychain for his house keys oml 🙌

𓆩♡𓆪 like you're royalty to him so ofc he needs to rep the merch

𓆩♡𓆪 let all the parisian gals know he is OFF the market

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

'majored in international studies and french in uni w/ minors in psychology and medieval history'

𓆩♡𓆪 this is the major reason i picked tendou for you bc like ?? you speak french and he's going to paris!!!! is that not just perfection??

𓆩♡𓆪 he'd insist you teach him a lil something before he goes

𓆩♡𓆪 and that could be like a fun couple bonding experience

𓆩♡𓆪 he isn't particularly bright though (i think he's canonically in class 2.. also he is literally called the guess monster.. can't imagine that strategy would go down well in exams) so you're stuck teaching him for a while

𓆩♡𓆪 tbh his accent is great though , i think that would be the part of french he'd have the least trouble picking up on; it's just remembering what words mean what and sentence structure and trying to recall the gender of a table

𓆩♡𓆪 so he makes some decent progress before you guys leave, and when he gets there, he's certain he can try learn the rest himself

𓆩♡𓆪 but it's sooo obvious he can't

𓆩♡𓆪 like you see him struggling and stammering while ordering a coffee at a local cafe

𓆩♡𓆪 so you just .. need to step in and do something, he's your bf, after all

𓆩♡𓆪 so you order his coffee for him and the whole time he just starts to the side like ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ nodding along and pretending as though he understands what you're saying (he doesn't)

𓆩♡𓆪 and once you're done he's like 'thanks love but i think i could've done that on my own ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯ '

𓆩♡𓆪 meanwhile you're like.. right..

𓆩♡𓆪 but no , he actually does learn french properly soon enough and the first time he every said he loves you in french is actually like.. a core memory

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

for @rav--en: i was thinking akaashi at first because, similarly to tendou, he's also very unlikely to change his whole personality around a relationship and is independent. however, you'd probably banter better with tendou, as well as you speaking french matching with his career. hope you liked it!

[4ragon]

Can I convince you to play Octopath Traveler 2?

Hello my lovely followers! I have recently run into a problem where I have fallen in love with another video game and do not have enough people to talk about it with. I have therefore decided I’m going to do what I do best and talk WAY too much about the subject for an unreasonable amount of time. 

So! Why should you, dear followers of mine, play this hip new rpg called Octopath Traveler 2?

Well, to put it simply, this game was the most genuine fun I’ve had playing a video game in a very long time!

What is Octopath Traveler 2?

Octopath Traveler 2 is a new turn based action rpg by Square Enix, combining the charm of old school pixel art with modern graphical capabilities to create one of the most beautiful-looking 2D games out there. Like. It’s so pretty! Look at this shit!

It’s so good! Look at that presentation! Great graphics, full voice acting, orchestrated music, just. The presentation, guys!

The Gameplay

Now. Here’s the deal. I am not the most crazy about turn-based rpgs. I like them fine, but they can get very repetitive! Pokemon is a prime example. Rival sends out a Charizard? Well, better go get my Vaporeon and wreck his shit! And yes, I know there’s more strategy behind it, but like. I have never once bothered. At a certain point, the game is just “water beats fire, grind levels until you win” and that’s kind of as much as you need to bother with.

BUT

BUT BUT BUT

Here’s the deal. Octopath (both 1 and 2) is SO much fun. It is the greatest turn based rpg I have ever played. Because it’s no longer about elemental damage and sending out the right Pokemon that a lot of other turn based games use.

In each fight, the enemy has an unknown list of weaknesses, which you can discover as you fight. Each successful attack chips away at their “shield points,” until you can knock the enemy out for one round, weakening their defenses and stopping them from mercilessly beating your ass. (At least until they wake up in the next round and get to attack first.)

There are also boost points which build up each turn, just as long as you don’t use them up. Those either boost the damage on your single attack OR, and here’s the kicker, allows you do use a regular melee attack up to four times.

These two things in tandem open up a HUGE amount of strategizing! Suddenly, it’s not “will my Vaporeon be able to use hydro pump before Charizard uses fly,” it’s “do I use my turn to heal, or do I boost my attacks so I can knock this boss out before he kills me? Do I knock him out now, or do I save my boost points to do one massive attack once he’s weaker? Do I knock all of the enemies out at the same time, or should I stagger it so they don’t all Kick My Teeth In next round?”

It’s about timing! It’s about strategy! It’s like one huge puzzle combined with all of the terror of a normal action rpg! And it’s!!! So fucking fun!!!!

Just. I know most of the people following me are following me for my love of murder mystery visual novels like Ace Attorney, so this may be a bit of a harder sell than if I was trying to convince you all to play Murder By Numbers or Return of the Obra Dinn, but still! It’s not too terribly difficult to get into the game, and hey, it’s turn based! Reaction speed not required.

(Important note: Octopath Traveler OG is also just as fun to play. They added some cool mechanics in 2, and tweaked certain characters’ movesets, but overall, both are just as much fun. Try 8path 1 too! I highly recommend it.)

The Music

I have a running list of games with the greatest soundtracks of all time. We got Zelda of course, we got Kingdom Hearts, Ace Attorney, but Octopath is quickly clobbering its way into my favorites. Every single track in both games slaps so hard. Boss fights? Town music? CHARACTER MUSIC? I mean. Come on.

Come on.

Every song is gorgeous. Fully orchestrated, incredibly well done. I don't know shit about music theory, but 8-Bit Music Theory did a cool video on game one that I think holds up pretty well.

AND, because this game added a Day/Night cycle, most of the songs have multiple arrangements. Even the character themes have multiple arrangements. And I won’t spoil any of them here, but I swear, when Agnea’s final battle track started playing, I had the biggest, goofiest grin on my face. It’s just. It’s so good you guys.

The Story and Characters

Okay. Alright. Here’s where Octopath Traveler 2 goes from good to great. And here’s also where Octopath 2 edges out the first Octopath game. Now, this is not a dig at the original game. Play the original game! I love it so much! The characters are so much fun! The story is wonderful! But Octopath Traveler 2 does everything I wanted the original Octopath to do and more! More character interactions! More story! An endgame that isn’t deeply anticlimactic and actually involves the characters I care about! It’s so good.

Octopath Traveler 2, of course, stars 8 wildly different characters, each with completely different motivations and completely different skillsets, both in and out of battles. Different weapons, different spells, and different ways to interact with the NPCs around you.

And man, I love every single one of these characters so much. I feel like there’s a character for everybody, I’ve seen so much art of basically all of the main cast because every one of them is so different and interesting.

There's a favorite for everyone! We’ve got the dark, broody character, the pure-of-heart character, the character struggling with a dark curse. We’ve got revenge, chosen ones, amnesia, cowboys, one asshole detective who I am a little bit in love with. (Murder mysteries, guys! Come on! That’s my jam!) Often times, there’s usually one character that falls a little flat to me, but I just find all of them so much fun, even the ones with less going on in their backstories. They're fun! They're charming! I love it!

None of these stories are particularly complicated, of course. It’s no Tales game, where the stories twist and turn and build on each other constantly. In fact, by the very nature of this conceit, where no player character is the true main character, they can’t really build the sort of story other RPGs would usually have. Each character’s story is simple, even if they branch into different routes and do slowly start to tie into each other in subtle ways. Sure, there were surprises (and like holy shit to a few of these surprises) but overall, the stories are simple and straightforward.

And yet, even with 8 relatively simple stories, the characters absolutely shine. Sure, I took one look at the character who secretly did that murder in chapter one and went, “Ah. It was absolutely you.” And sure, we had an evil king who was so cartoonishly evil to the point of becoming farcical. But still, these stories didn’t have to be these huge, sprawling, mindblowing paths. They’re about the leads growing and meeting new people and bettering themselves. Each route has its own eclectic bunch of NPCs that bring so much life and color to the world, from the put-upon knight being dragged around by the world’s shittiest cleric to the happy-go-lucky scrivener looking for her big scoop to whatever the FUCK is happening with the Blacksnakes holy shit jesus christ what the actual fu

These stories made me laugh. They’ve made me cheer. They made me sob like a baby. They made me rage so fucking hard that I had to put down the computer for several hours and lay on the ground, which to be fair was absolutely the intended effect but I’m also still so fucking mad about it I swear to god.

PLUS

PLUS PLUS PLUS

Okay, I always say a jrpg with a huge cast rides or dies on their character interaction. Love is found in the found family y’all. And, again, it’s certainly no Tales game, in part because the game isn’t quite as scripted, but there’s still so much. Each chapter has a set number of side conversations between whoever is in your party (which if you miss them you can go back to that chapter in your menu and watch them anyway thank god). Several pairs of characters get to go on fun little side quests together throughout the story. Characters talk to each other during battles, which doesn’t feel like a ton but it really does add so much charm. They feel like friends, and even if they don’t tend to interact during story cutscenes, it feels like their relationships grow and develop over the course of oh holy shit I played 90 hours? Oops. Well. Whatever. That’s fine.

Anyway. That’s my pitch. Play this game. Join me in hell. Come on. You know you want to.

[shxtodxroki]

Match-Up Exchange

These are some BNHA match-ups done for @twilightpentagram for a match-up exchange we arranged! I hope you enjoy your match-ups (pls let me know what you think!), you’ve been super sweet and understanding throughout this exchange and I enjoyed getting to interact with you! Please feel free to visit my blog or my DMs if you ever have any requests for me, or if you just wanna chat! :D

For The Guys, I’d Match You With:

Hitoshi Shinsou! :D

Reasoning:

A lot of the things you mentioned that were important to you just seemed like they’d fit really well with Shinsou’s personality and characteristics to me. From interests and hobbies to things you find important and valuable in a partner, I thought Shinsou matched well with a lot of your major points and I think he’d be the kind of partner who you’d be able to be fully comfortable and happy around! 

Headcanons About Your Relationship:

- I absolutely see Shinsou as someone who really enjoys video games in his free time. Suddenly joining the hero course is stressful since he feels like he’s behind and needs to work extra hard to catch up to everyone else, so video games are a really nice way for him to unwind and let go of that stress for a bit, especially if he gets to play them with you either in co-op form, or just gaming in the same room together or watching one another :>

- I feel like he’d especially like playing visual novels with/alongside you! Idk if you’ve ever watched Game Theory or seen MatPat and Steph play those kinds of games together, but I could see you two having a similar dynamic to them! Making up voices for the characters together and giggling and debating/making the choices together, it’s one of his favorite ways to spend time with you when you both have the time to spare

- He’s also not the kind of boyfriend who ever minds giving you reassurance, in fact he can often tell when you’re feeling a bit down or just in need of a bit of a pick-me-up without you needing to explicitly say it :> And though he’s not especially poetic with his words or anything, he’s more than happy to tell you how much he adores you and how endearing he finds your habits and mannerisms. He makes sure that you always know that you’re the perfect s/o for him, that he loves you more than words and that he could never ask for anyone better than you <3

- Hitoshi absolutely loves whenever you dye your hair with new, fun colors, he always tells you how amazing he looks and if you dye your hair yourself, he’d probably eventually ask if he can help you! He enjoys getting to be a part of the process and helping you, and he loves being the first to see how the colors turn out when you finally get to wash all the dye out :> 

- Shinsou definitely understands your preference for one-on-one conversations vs. bigger group settings, as he feels the exact same way. He’s an introvert just like you, and he especially gets overwhelmed sometimes being around all the hero course students as it’s still a very new environment for him, so he much prefers spending the majority of his free time with you just relaxing in your dorm, cuddling and chatting about whatever comes to mind

- I definitely think that he would also be the kind of boyfriend who you can banter with and tease the way you mentioned. He feels completely comfortable and secure when he’s with you, so he’s very laid back and conversation flows so easily between you two that he doesn’t bat an eye when you jokingly insult or tease him. He also laughs at all your jokes, he loves that you feel comfortable and at ease around him to the point where you’ll crack jokes with him without fear and he genuinely thinks you’re very funny too!

- He’s also very cuddly, you definitely won’t be deprived of touch when you’re with this man. When you first get together he always asks before initiating affection to gain a better understanding of what you’re comfortable with, and he always backs off if you’re not wanting affection on any given day, but generally he loves laying with his head in your lap and having you play with his hair or vice versa, and the two of you tend to be very cuddly when you’re alone together in general

- He’s also the perfect mix between sometimes being assertive and initiative, and also letting you take the reigns a bit more once the relationship is more established. It takes him a bit of time to work up the courage, but I do feel like he’d be able to be the one to make the first move and ask you out, and take charge a bit more at the beginning of the relationship as you get more comfortable. At the same time, though, once you feel more comfortable in the relationship and want to be a bit more assertive and in control, he’s happy to give you that and step back a bit to let you initiate affection and stuff like that more. He’s content either way, and he prefers the nice balance the two of you have found in your relationship :)

- And when Shinsou’s in need of help with academics, since he sometimes struggles to understand the concepts in his regular courses as he spends so much time trying to catch up with hero course work, he’s quick to go to you if you’re not too busy. He knows how smart you are and truly appreciates how you explain things to him in a kind, understanding way without making him feel stupid when he doesn’t understand something <3 It’s very obvious that he feels secure and comfortable around you, and you can always see the way his face relaxes with ease whenever you gently help him with something he’s confused on

- While Shinsou may not be the most outgoing around others, once he’s comfortable with you he loves randomly making flirty comments at you or using pick-up lines when he sees an opening <3 He finds it adorable the way you get so excited when he flirts even when he’s already your boyfriend, and he just loves making you feel loved and wanted whenever he can

Second Choice:

I think if I were to match you with someone else, it would probably be Kirishima! He also seems like he could be a good fit for you as he’s an absolute sweetheart and would be so reassuring and invested in hearing you open up and sharing your interests with him, so I could see him also being a really good partner and think your relationship dynamic with him would be super loving and mutually supportive :D I just thought Shinsou would be a better fit overall, especially since he's more introverted and interested in one-on-one time rather than group events :)

Song For Your Relationship:

It’s You by Ali Gatie <3

For The Girls, I’d Match You With:

Mina Ashido! :D

Reasoning:

I know this could seem odd at first after the Shinsou pairing, since they’re pretty different characters. But while their personalities are different, I think that Mina is also the kind of person who could meet a lot of your relationship needs and values, and I absolutely envision her as the perfect supportive girlfriend for you! 

Headcanons About Your Relationship:

- Mina’s absolutely the kind of person who knows she likes you as soon as she sees you, and those feelings only grow as she gets to know you, so I’m sure she’d have no problem making the first move. She’s a confident, secure girl, and once she’s sure of her feelings she’s quick to approach you and ask you out on a date (And she finds it adorable how you act so casual and chill even when she can tell that internally you’re freaking out lol)

- She also totally loves the fact that you cosplay! She finds it so fun to help search for the perfect outfit or wig or accessory for whatever cosplay you’re in the process of creating, and she always offers to film videos of you in cosplay and acts as your number one hype woman, telling you how awesome you look and how amazing the cosplay is!

- She’s definitely a super supportive, reassuring s/o as well. You don’t even have to ask, and even when you’re not particularly in need of reassurance, she’s just very vocal with her love and is always complimenting you and saying how thankful she is to be with you. She just loves you so much, and she’ll constantly be telling everyone she knows about it (including you)

- Though Mina is extroverted and does enjoy spending time in groups when it comes to her friends, she understands that you don’t tend to prefer that environment as often, and she never forces you to join her and her friends (though you’re always more than welcome to, she loves showing you off and bragging about her amazing s/o). She makes sure to make plenty of one-on-one time with you without anyone else involved, to make sure you feel comfortable and relaxed when you’re with her <3

- Mina’s been known to not be the best at studying and academics in general, but you always motivate her to try harder and she always comes to you when she’s having trouble with her grades. She likes the way you’ll explain something until you find a way to help her understand, and you’re able to push her to getting better (or at the very least, passing) grades because she doesn’t want you to feel like your time helping her was wasted. Plus she loves it when you praise her for even just managing to pass a test, and her not failing gives her more time with you and less time in make-up classes :D 

- Mina’s not super big on electronics, but she loves watching you mess around and experiment with them! She finds it super cool how you understand something so complicated and foreign to her, and she loves watching the excitement and curiosity on your face, so even if she doesn’t understand much herself she still loves watching you fiddle around with them 

- And even outside of that, she totally enables and even encourages you to ramble on and on about your interests and passions as much as you’d like! She has a habit of getting carried away and rambling on when she’s excited about something herself lol, so if she can see there’s something on your mind she definitely probes you and gives you a safe space to chat about whatever you feel like! Plus it makes her feel more connected to you to know about your interests and the things you care about <3

- Even though she’s not much of a reader in general, Mina absolutely loves reading your writing if you’re willing to share! Sometimes she asks if she can see what you’re working on if she notices you writing, and though she never pushes it if you say no, she always takes the time to read anything you do let her see and gives you tons of positive feedback and encouragement :) Your writing is without a doubt her favorite thing to read

- She’s also the type who’s not afraid to banter and tease you, and she takes it in stride if you show the same treatment to her! Once you two find your footing in the relationship and are comfortable with each other, it’s easy to make light jokes while not crossing any of each others’ boundaries and allows you both to be so comfortable and at ease around each other and in the dynamic you manage to form together

- Mina’s another one who you’ll never feel deprived of affection around. The second she learns what you’re comfortable with, she’s the kind of girlfriend who always has her hands on you in some way if you’ll let her. From casually holding your hand in classes if you share them or when walking around together, to having her arm around your waist or shoulders when telling a story about you/the two of you, to collapsing into your arms after a long day of training. She’s very cuddly and forward with affection, so as long as you want it, she’ll never deny you of affection :>

Second Choice:

I struggled a bit more with this one, but of the students I think my next pick for you would be Ochaco! She’s a very thoughtful and generally empathetic girl, and she sometimes also feels a need for a bit of reassurance, so I think the two of you would be able to understand each other quite well and care for each other <3 I decided to go with Mina over her mainly because I figured Ochaco would probably be a bit more hesitant to initiate/approach first, so I thought Mina was a better choice in that regard/overall!

Song For Your Relationship:

No Problem by Nayeon feat. Felix <3

[alicedrawslesmis]

Thinking about how much Tolstoy and Hugo are different...

I didn't read WaP but I did read Anna Karenina and other short stories by Tolstoy before. I like his voice much more than Hugo's and, as a brazilian, I was very tickled by the fact that there were so many similar worldviews between us and these russian writers (him and Dostoyevsky)?? like I would never have expected this, but it's there. Maybe it's cause we're both in the periphery of power but not quite there, whatever that means. Hugo is french and he's writing from the pov of a man at the center of the world and this just doesn't click as much for me as the weird confusing melancholy of being neither at the center nor away from it

However. As much as I love Anna Karenina it felt reeeeally long, much longer than it was. Stuff just kept happening, I had to read about Vronsky's attempt at painting and his and Anna's stint in Italy meanwhile Kostya was doing whatever Kostya does, rinse and repeat again and again and again. I mean that's the most endearing part of Levin as a character that he keeps going through the same breakthrough over and over but Leo, brother, at some point your novel has to end

Anyway with Hugo you at least have some diversity in the writing you know! If the plot is dragging a little he's gonna stop in his tracks to give you his extensive opinion on sewage with some very cool visuals. If Tolstoy was writing les mis the most you'd get is occasionally the story would be narrated by a horse. That's kinda fun but it's nowhere near the time Hugo got way too personal about octopuses and you find out that he has many more issues than you thought

I guess you could say Tolstoy disappears into his writing, he's the invisible puppeteer hiding just offstage letting his characters do the talking, but Hugo is the kinda guy who would be the Tim Curry among muppets and also never lets you forget that they're there to reenact the story he wrote.

Hugo is Hamlet and les mis is his play. Tolstoy is Shakespeare writing both the play and the one within the play, and somehow arriving at the same thing. If that makes sense?

Both are very verbose, but Tolstoy is like that in a completely different way. He's the proof that a book that has a lot of interesting plot can drag as much as Victor Hugo talking about Napoleon

[mythicamagic]

Otomes I played in 2022

I thought I'd do some quickie reviews of otomes I've played recently such as: Hakuoki, Cupid Parasite, Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly, Sweet Fuse, Taisho Alice, Variable Barricade, Theory of Fear, Diabolik Lovers HDB and MB, Birushana, Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Sengoku.

Whew, I played more than I thought XD remember all this ranting is just my personal opinion.

Aight so Hakuoki:

For the most part I didn't mesh well with this one. The months in game felt pretty drawn out and slow-paced, and I didn't latch onto any of the characters except for the demons. I'm not entirely sure why. I think I just didn't feel like mc belonged there- and that she was way more invested in the Shinsengumi than they were bothered about her. I did enjoy seeing some historical events play out in Hijikata's route, and I liked seeing Kazama show up to wreck shit. Kazama was great, Kazama gave me a few months of brain rot. I did LOVE the music in this game though, dayme it was beautiful, and it goes without saying but the art style of the CGs were gorgeous. I'm glad I played this one because it's seen as a classic but I didn't personally get the hype sadly. I actually watched a playthrough of a fan-translated spin-off game (SSL) and actually PREFERRED it, despite it being just a comedy game. Whats wrong with me?

Best boy: Kazama

Cupid Parasite

I remember having mixed feelings about this one, it was a mixed bag. Pretty ok! I really liked Allan's route and the voice acting was solid. Art style was interesting but it hurt my eyes after a while XD I think for me I just didn't find much of a 'replayability' factor. I enjoyed it fine, but it won't stay with me as one of the special otomes I love, capisce? I just couldn't stand Gil or Ryuki. Raul was fine and Shelby was fine, so overall it was just 'ok' for me.

Best boy: Allan. Really enjoyed Jupiters voice acting tho (from Yangs VA hehe)

Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly

I remember while playing this game my friend hated its art style but man I LOVED playing this one. It felt really unique in terms of atmosphere, with mystery/suspense elements. It took me back to the earlier days of visual novels because I didn't look up a walkthrough for a bunch of this and it led to a lot of frustration and dead ends, but even that was kind of fun to figure out. Loved its twists and turns and bittersweet moments. I also loved having a voiced heroine with Beniyuri (which was one of my first experiences with the feature) and wish more heroines were voiced. Also this one had a BANGING OP, whooo! Reminded me of early 2000's nostalgia cheese, love it.

Best boy: Hikage and Yamato

Sweet Fuse: At your side

Hi um WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT THIS OTOME? Yeah I think its a bit of a lost gem but if you have a PS Vita, I totally rec buying this one. It's such a fun ride, and with a great MC to boot. The Love interests in this game were all very unusual and not typical otome pretty boyz but I really enjoyed the way they were written. The groups chemistry was great as well. The age gap thing might bother some people though so keep that in mind before playing. Anyway, the setting and plot reminded me a little of Danganronpa 2 and I had a real fun time with it.

Best boy: Mitarashi

Taisho x Alice

Hooo boy people were excited for this on the otome subreddit. I sat down to try it and...

Well, I didnt think it was possible for an MC to ruin my game experience but here we are. I couldn't stand this game's heroine. Yes I understand why she was written that way, yes I enjoyed some of the guys and the end reveal was unique and impressive- but was it worth suffering through Yurika? Mn...possibly not. She seems to be somewhat divisive though and if you can stomach her 'memeing' and 'I'm not like OTHER GURLS' energy as she twirls, winks with both eyes and shouts to the world that she's SOOOO Quirky guyz- maybe you'll like this game. Thing is, even putting all...that, aside, I didn't like her attitude with Red by invading his personal space, and a certain thing she did in the last route made me incredibly uncomfortable but of course it was brushed aside bc she's the HEROINE GUYS.

Best boy: Ryoushi and lil gremlin man Alice- actually while I'm here, if you can stomach the MC, Alice's VA had probably the best performance I've heard in an otome. He was hilarious- and had super great range

Variable Barricade

Boy I was super hyped for this one, it was probably my most anticipated game of the year. Great art style, great common route, great voice acting...and then the routes went on. I've noticed people seem to share the same sentiment that they usually enjoy the boys routes but then shit hits the fan and the boy is insensitive, the main heroine is too harsh or dumb- the boy LEAVES, the guy is manipulative- point is, something sours the routes and they're hard to recover from. I really liked Hibari as a heroine at first but as the routes went on I was actively wanting her to NOT be in a relationship, as she demonstrated time and again that she just wasn't ready for one. I ended up selling this game as soon as I was done with it, which I feel sad about, because I really wanted to like VB.

Best boy: Taiga

Theory of Fear

I don't know why I played this game. XD I actually played a couple of 'indie' otomes like Trapped with Jester, Blooming Panic and Boyfriend to Death (the latter I wouldn't uh...call an otome...plus it awakened unpleasant revelations that I might be into some disturbing tropes so THANKS for that game. Never have I been more uncomfortable with being asked if I'd prefer a Hammer or Drill)

Anywho, Theory of Fear isn't discussed much. It's this awkward lil game with Russian voice acting you can find on Steam. Very 'this is someone's first fanfic' vibes, rife with sexual assault around every corner. Every time Yuki showed up I was like - oh boy here we go again. I found Sadaos route quite interesting in some ways though due to his way of 'fear exposure' and quite literally exposing the mc to her worst fears and mingling that with pleasure. I dunno, a twisted concept that made my brain itch in a good way. The game is bad no doubt about it and I don't rec it but I at least took something away from it. I really enjoyed Blooming Panic though and would totally rec that any day.

Best boy: Sadao- look don't you JUDGE ME

Diabolik Lovers HDB and MB

In keeping with this trend of dark romance stuff that shouldn't make my brain go brrr but does is Diabolik Lovers. It's not English Translated but with the first two games in the series now on Switch, I used fan translations to play through the games and had a grand ole time. This franchise is only for people who like trash men ok. These boys are awful in every way and quite frankly you can't defend any of their abuse or actions BUT... it's fiction. And if you enjoy your fav VAs whispering degrading things in your ear, moaning and blood-sucking noises (wear headphones for these games oml) then you'll lurve this series like I do. I found myself enjoying Reiji more than I thought I would and Shuu a little less than anticipated, considering I used to love him in my earlier fandom days. Subaru remains the undisputed champ though.

Best boy: Subaru

Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei

This game was aight! Better than Hakuoki in my opinion but I know people will come for my head by saying that lmao. It wasn't a perfect game and holy hell did some battles drag on (hi Benkais route) but it really introduced some unique elements plus the best Rivals/ Enemies to lovers trope I've seen so far in otome with Noritsunes route. I recommend this game just for his route, to be honest. I thought Tomomori would be my favourite but he fell a little short for me.

Best boy: Noritsune and Shigehira

Ongoing- Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Sengoku

I haven't finished all the routes in these mobile game otomes but yup they're my latest addiction. I'm obsessed.

I think Ikesen is my favourite of the three (I'm not touching Ikerev sorry) because of its writing being stronger in terms of just how fun and lively the world feels. Mc helps in a big way with that, and her chemistry with most of the guys is great to witness. Ikesen's menu layout is defo the worst though and could do with an update.

Ikevamp is aight, I didn't enjoy Comtes route like I thought I would and Leo made me sad but I'm loving Arthurs route, what a good boy. I have no gripes with the layout and the music is cute. I've spent the least amount of money on Ikevamp but still had a great time, which I feel is important if you want to be a free to play player. Also Faust route localisation WHEN?!

Ikepri's layout is the best no contest, everything looks super clean and stylish and the gacha systems are dangerous bc holy hell the cards look so good and pretty. Ikepri has hurt my wallet the most though and I defo feel the most pushed out of all of them to spend money. I think the writing is fine for Ikepri but oddly I enjoy the Events more the Routes themselves?? anyone else feel that way? I like it though, I just need to be stricter on myself not to get sucked into gambling because of it loll

Best girl and light of my life: Ikesen's MC Mai Mizusaki.

Best ikevamp boy: Faust

Ikesen: Mitsuhide or Motonari

Ikepri: Chevalier

[the-dark-elements]

Headcannons - The Dark Elements/The Harbringer Trilogy

Hello all! Since I'm just getting this blog up and running I wanted to start with something simple and easy to interact with. Feel free to add to this list or message me with your own thoughts and opinions.

As mentioned, I do love to talk about this world and these characters so I'm truly down to chat about anything, so don't be shy.

Also, as a reminder this is all for fun. I'm here to have a good time, so if this isn't your cup of tea that's fine.

Without further ado here are some of my personal headcannons:

Trinity has ADHD - this isn't really a headcannon because it's all but confirmed in Grace and Glory, but I like mentioning it.

Danica and Jasmine are Hispanic.

Geoff left after Abbott died. Gideon was hired to replace him as the resident 'tech guy'.

Layla is a Scorpio. I've tried to do the math several times to figure out what her sign would be and based on the timeline she'd have to be either a Scorpio or a Libra. Yes, this is partially me projecting since I'm a Scorpio. (let me know if you think my math's off though).

Sam was autistic. Based on what we see of him he exhibits a lot of the traits of autism. I also headcannon that Layla is on the spectrum as well and that's part of why they got along so well. I feel like she doesn't read social cues or understand social norms very well, and honestly same.

Cayman fell in love with a human once.

Trinity is Bisexual. You can pry this from my cold dead hands.

Roth plays the piano really well. He also has an amazing singing voice. No one outside of Layla and Cayman have heard him sing.

Morris was on vacation during The Harbringer Trilogy. Because seriously where did he go? I loved him in The Dark Elements Trilogy and he was nowhere to be seen.

Layla prefers to stay at Roth's apartment because she can leave and go places without needing to drive. And it's smaller with a cozier feel to it.

Trinity loves The Last of Us. She played the first video game when she was younger and more recently played The Last of Us Part Two. I think she would appreciate the story telling and the fact that part two is the first fully accessible video game for the visually impaired. Yes, this is me projecting again as I love The Last of Us, never played the video games since my mom never allowed us to play violent games, but the storytelling is amazing.

Layla is a book nerd. I mean all kinds of books. Ranging from fictional novels to comics. She spent a lot of time reading when she was younger.

Since Roth and Layla shared Bambi as a familiar Roth's taken on some of her traits. Nothing too dramatic or noticeable, but he'll sometimes have much stronger human emotions.

[yuamusuzuran]

All games I played in 2022. after getting Steam account (in order of downloading and playing):

Cinderella Phenomenon (January 2022-Mid-April 2022)

Something I downloaded to see how my new PC would work with games and I didn't expect to enjoy it so much. Its an otome game/visual novel with a lot of content and non-conventional female MC who actually grows immensly in every of 5 routes, it was such a joy to play. Plus, in every route you discover something new about the world and story. Check it out if you like fairy tale-esque plots and interesting developments! Ranking of the boys/routes: Karma > Waltz > Fritz > Rumpel > Rod

Red Embrace (Mid-April 2022-Mid-May 2022)

It's a BL visual novel. Interesting setting, compelling characters and I have one complaint: its too short. You can literally spend 2 hours on one route (there are 4), but also the story is kinda predictable in this first installment. I liked it though! Especually Dominic's and Rex's routes. A game to play when you want to relax. My ranking of the routes: Rex > Dominic > Isaac > Luca

Maelstrom (Mid-May 2022-Mid-July 2022)

Another BL with interesting setting and a very retro vibe to it! It wasn't explicit to the extent I was expecting, but still made a compelling story and there was some gore that game warns you about beforehand. You really start caring for these guys and their future. Don't take some discussions in it seriously, tho. Also, watch out for bad endings, THERE'S A LOT OF THEM! My ranking of routes (based on personal preference): Jader > Helix > Zheng-Li > Sawyer

Amnesia: Memories (Mid-July 2022-Mid-November 2022)

Probably most famous game on this list, I wanted to play it for a while. It's a typical visual otome game so take some things in ut with a grain of salt and I lost my mind from anger in a few places (fuck Toma, I hate him), but the setting and the whole thing with Orion and the game'e mystery really kept me on edge more than once. My ranking of the boys is: Kent > Ukyo > Shin > Ikki (Toma is not even considered, I want him to burn in hell)

My Burning Heart (Mid-November 2022 - Beginning of December 2022)

Take this yaoi visual novel with a lot of grains of salt, it's not too serious and don't think too much about what's happening in it. It's very enjoyable for relaxation and voice-acting is very good (especially for Sultan and Harun), but yeah, if you want something meaningful and deep, this ain't it. Still very fun! My ranking of routes: Sultan Rashid > Halim > Harun (though I started to like Harun, he's such a sassy and awful bitch)

Currently playing HADES from SuperGiant and I'll probably write about it a lot in the future mostly because I LIVE for this game and will play it religiously for at least half of 2023.

[syrupspinner]

i didnt beat Affogato

they keep calling this magenta-haired lady a bleeding heart

so this games premise is that you're a witch that runs a coffee shop. don't worry it's not cozy. instead you go into people's mind palace and play a reverse tower defense game (tower assault?). I think this is done really well, especially considering how novel it is. the difficulty pacing is a bit spotty (more on that later), but I think it provides a decent challenge overall, especially by the halfway point. I am a little complacent with my cards, though. the game encourages you to switch up your loadout by introducing new cards that synergize really well with certain approaches, like the moon-sun-high priestess[!] deck where you shuffle your cards in and out. but once I fully leveled up some bread-and-butter cards like strength and the world there aren't a lot of combos that don't work well. but hey, that's a good thing! level up and approach with your favorite units instead of relying on the predetermined winning combo. I always value build freedom in an RPG, and this does really well. also, the gameplay itself is just so unique and interesting.

the first thing you'll probably notice about this game is the persona inspiration. you spend time progressing visual novel side stories (with an in game calender) with the NPCs to power up your tarot based rpg minions. personally, I'm one of those people that are super invested in the persona series, but I've mostly experienced it through letsplays and longplays and that kinda thing. the furthest I got was in 4, and that was pretty underwhelming, but I digress. I'm not sure how well this was implemented... I didn't finish any of them until the endgame, and this seemed pretty in line with how the difficulty progressed, but that means I didn't really get a chance to play around with the units you get as a reward. that said, the stories are all still really well written! natalie's felt a bit meandering in the beginning, but most of them felt really directed as fun little side stories that fit the theme of a devil mystery. also, the grand plot with Sera's whole demon shards thing is great, love the episodic nature where you meet new characters and it sets up new gimmicks for the rpg gameplay, great stuff. the dialog can be a little... meh at times, but I found it charming a good 70% of the time, which is a passing grade last I checked

the third genre this game employes, beside visual novel and reverse-tower-defense-rpg is... coffee minigame. honestly, it seemed a little half-baked. you have to make coffee for your social links pretty often, but people usually just want an Americano or sometimes a mocha. seeing all the weird drinks on the menu and the dedicate spice submenu made me excited to play around with orders kinda like VA-11 HALL-A, but people are usually just straightforward about wanting simple drinks, with like one or two exceptions in the whole game. I'm glad it's there, because the coffee shop makes for a good way of justifying Affogato (the character) getting dragged into drama so much and it'd feel a little awkward if there was no interactivity, but I feel like it was ultimately underutilized.

also the art style is cute. I love the chibi tarot guys and the talksprites... honestly the best way I can describe it is like, they look like they were designed like they should been tweening after a 4/5 star gacha pull, but that's not a bad thing per se? they're detailed and have a pretty stylistic feel by anime standards (no shade to anime, but you know what I mean), but it's weird to break the association in my brain.

I also wanted to talk about the voice acting! it's available in both Japanese and Chinese (I assume Mandarin). I don't listen to a lot of spoken Chinese, so it was actually pretty neat! I liked picking up on little linguistic idiosyncrasies, like how they have to pronounce it "Affojato" since Mandarin doesn't seem to have a hard g sound. also, the voice acting just did a good job at fitting and emphasizing the characters. mephista totally stole the show for that, but it helped with stuff like recognising that Dave was meant to be suave and handsome in a way that can't really be conveyed with text without going overboard. so, well done chinese voice actors!

okay. last thing i wanna talk about here - i think the game is good, and you should play it, but there is one level i have been stuck on for days. without spoiling too much, its the level you play with eva after you collect all the shards. its bizarrely hard. im playing on normal difficulty and there are so many things that are designed to kill you instead of challenge you. the level is so big and there are so many of those stupid laser enemies that i could not have any units survive long enough to kill all five(!) boss targets. i have been stuck on this level for days after spending no less than like half an hour on the hardest levels before this point. i had to switch to easy mode, and i think it is a failure on the game's part that it couldnt properly balance the default difficulty.

in addition to that, i only managed to complete 3 out of 5 of the games' social links. the only problem with this is, im not sure how youre supposed to do that with everyone? im pretty sure the game literally doesnt give you enough time to fully level everyone. i only opened the store like twice, and those were both in the morning and the only time you can advance the social links is the evening. i extended every chapter as long as i could by avoiding the boss to keep talking to people, and i still didnt have enough time. now ill need to do an entire second playthrough if i want to get the related achievements, including the one for collecting all the witch cards. i am incredibly dissapointed

the plot took such a weird turn at the end there too, so much stuff about sera just came up out of nowhere, and the turn the chapter takes is so sudden and unfitting in my opinion. it felt like when a show is told that this is gonna be their last season but theyre already halfway through writing so they need to cut stuff and write in stuff thats lets them have some finality

all this worked together to really sour this game for me right at the end. also i lost my save file but i dont hold it against this game, that was my fault. if this was any other game id power through from the start and try again, but this just has too many unfun caveats that im just gonna move on

if this game still sounds neat to you, by all means check it out. this is all just my opinion, and you might click with the game a lot better than i did. the core of the game is pretty solid, its just the execution that ruined it for me, but even that was forgivable until the end. im gonna see what befun studios puts together in the future, maybe a sequel where they iron out some of the flaws would work really well?

[skyberia]

what actually is disco elysium.. like what is the plot/who r the characters/whats it like to play etc. u r making me very interested but it costs money so

first off i do feel the need to point out that this game comes with a Lot of content warnings. them being: drug/alcohol usage/abuse, mental illness/suicide (suicidal imagery, suicidal ideation, actual suicide if you fuck up bad enough), racism (as in there are actively racist characters, usage of racist slurs, and you can choose to be racist/fascist with negative consequences), sexism, rape (mentions in the main plot, graphic mentions in a completely optional side interaction that you're warned about beforehand), war, homophobia (mostly homophobic slurs), fatphobia, child abuse/neglect, the fact that you're literally a cop, and probably more honestly, those are only the big ones/ones i can think of off the top of my head. please take care of yourself!!

anyway, if you're still interested:

the basic plot of disco elysium is that a cop-- fresh out of a 3 day long suicidal drug/alcohol bender that fucked him up so bad he ended up losing all his memories up to and including: everything about himself, everyone he knows, and basic concepts like "money"-- has to go solve a murder case. things escalate from there.

there are literally like a hundred or so characters probably. the game is set in a small neighbourhood and you can talk to basically everyone who lives there, and they have roles of varying importance. the main ones that you'll see throughout most/all of the story are: the aforementioned amnesiac detective, the 24 voices he has in his head, and kim kitsuragi who's his partner for this case (and everyone's best friend. he's the best). other fun characters include: the amnesiac detective's ugly ass tie! wild children whose dialogue is 50% slurs and insults! a cryptozoologist couple! a good handful of pretentious communists! a guy who's so rich light bends around him! and MORE!

the gameplay is 80% reading and making choices from a list of options. if you're familiar with visual novels then this isn't much different, it only has an added layer of having to walk around from place to place, clicking on things to interact with them, or to collect them. you can also dress up your character however you like. but it is mostly just reading. the game is fully voice acted though so if you don't enjoy reading that much you can just mostly listen instead!

additionally i feel it's important to say: the worldbuilding in this game is fucking Unbelievable, and can be extremely overwhelming at times. there's a stupid amount of detail put into Everything, and at the start it can just feel like you're losing your mind and nothing makes sense, so it's perfectly understandable if you bounce off of it the first time you play imo lmao. i know i did! but it's a super worthwhile experience and i would recommend giving it a few tries until it sticks if it sounds interesting to you.

(also as of time of writing it is 65% off on steam. also here's a guide on how to torrent things just in case)

godspeed!

[wonderfulwonderland]

Free and/or cheap indie otome games

Here’s a list of free and/or cheap indie otome games. They’re great to check out if you’re curious about otome games and don’t want to pay money to do so, and of course if you already know you like otome games, here are some recommendations!

These ones are still demos/uncompleted, but good:

7 Kingdoms: The Princess Problem: the MC is female, very customizable, and there are male and female romance options. Can also be played without romance. The premise is that delegates from 7 kingdoms come together on an island and over the course of 7 weeks make alliances, which can be romantic in nature or not. You take a quiz in the beginning which determines your country of origin, which then affects your stats. Conversations with others are vital for your reputation and also affect your stats, and you won’t be able to do certain things or pass events without sufficient stats. The romance is pretty solid too, and the cast of characters overall is fantastic. It’s a strategy and political game as much as it is a romance. It reminds me of Long Live the Queen, if you’ve played that. The demo is the first 3 weeks of the game, and I’m completely floored by how good it is. I can’t wait for the full game!

Andromeda Six: sci-fi visual novel. MC can be male/female/nonbinary and the love interests are male and female. Very fun adventure story set in space with a great cast of characters. Only about half of the episodes have been released so far (5 of I believe 10 episodes) and they’ve been really good! Romance is also optional. 

Some completed free games: 

Our Life: MC can be male/female/non-binary, love interest is one guy (though more to be added via DLC). Very heartwarming, slice of life story. Revolves around the MC growing up with the boy next door, and the game takes place over three summers at various stages in their lives. The MC is insanely customizable, and things you’ve said and done at various stages are remembered and often referenced or can affect certain things. Really just a lovely game that brings a smile to your face. Romance is optional too.

Cinderella Phenomenon: female MC with 5 male love interests (romance is mandatory, unless you feel like getting a bad ending). This is one of my fave games, I’ll try not to gush about it too much. The story take place in a kingdom where people are being cursed with fairytale curses, which are inversions of fairytale stories. The MC is a princess who gets cursed with the “Cinderella curse,” going from riches to rags. The other love interests all have a fairytale curse of some sort which you learn about in their routes. The MC is not customizable because she is a straight up jerk and some of the correct dialogue choices are being mean to people. This story has amazing character growth of the MC (and some of the love interests too). It has a fantastic cast of characters, who are memorable and lovable. It’s a great story and how things change in each of the routes is so interesting and well-executed. You should definitely play the routes in the recommended order!!!

Red-handed Robin: female MC, two male love interests (I don’t think romance is optional). Robin (the MC) has stolen some diamonds and is on a train out of town with her friend/bodyguard and encounters her friend from childhood who is now a detective. Will he catch on to her? Fun little story with some puzzles in each chapter (of which there are three). The main trio are great. 

Lake of Voices: female MC with male/female love interests, romance optional. A horror-ish game. Can you get across this spooky lake alive? Good luck with that. Once you manage to get across the lake, definitely replay it and see how else the story unfolds. It’s a cool story with intriguing characters and an interesting setting. It has absolutely beautiful art.

Dark Nights: female MC with four male love interests. Also horror-lite. Some of the people in your town have been disappearing. You encounter 4 strange men and wonder whether any of them might have answers as to what’s going on. Quite a fun game with pretty art! Very funny titles for the achievements, the creators definitely have a good sense of humor. 

A few cheap ones: 

Rose of Segunda ($8.99):  female MC with male and female love interests, romance is optional. Charming little story set in a kingdom whose prince is of the age to be married and everyone’s invited over for his birthday. Will you try to go after him (romantically or otherwise) or will you be interested in some of the other guests? The MC is somewhat customizable and can be quite funny. The characters are charming as well.  

Because We’re Here ($5.99 per act): female MC, male love interests (romance not really optional). Set in an WW1-era fictional universe. Seems like a bad idea to have romance during a war, huh? Prepare to for ALL the emotions. This one is only half completed (Act 1 and 2 of 4 planned). I’m looking forward to the other acts!!

Have fun! I checked out some of the free/indie ones before starting to actually buy some of the more popular/mainstream (but also more expensive) games. All of these games are great.

[mliter]

AI: The Somnium Files.

I got this one on sale. I have 2 friends that would never really stop talking about this title. I saw memes related to it, with no idea as to what type of game it was. So i bought it blindly. The last time that happened, i played one of the best games i ever played. Lightning strikes twice, right?

...this is a visual novel. My exact thoughts staring at that carousel. I was on a camping trip while playing this, and i didn't have much other to play. So i played. I got to get to know the characters, and found myself on the wild ride that is the story. The characters are fun. You'll find yourself invested and feeling for them quick. One of my favorites is Mizuki. Her voice work is astounding. I've never seen the aura of a brat be captured so perfectly in voice work and writing. Iris is bubbly, Ota is unfortunately Ota, and the rest of the cast are awesome. The sense of comedy here is great. I found myself laughing out loud to many of the scenarios the cast find themselves in here. Aiba herself is adorable and funny when she's not doing cool AI shit.

I instantly recognized Yusuke Kozaki's work here. It's so cool to see his artstyle be recreated in 3D so faithfully once again. Fire Emblem Heroes, Pokemon Go, this and the second game... He's getting work. That looks like the life to me. He seems to be the lead character designer and man, can he DESIGN. Everyone here has a look you could pick out of a crowd. He's such an amazing artist.

the game is quite linear. When you reach an ending, you can conveniently jump back to where the story branches into another one. I'm really happy i didn't need to replay the whole game just to see something different again. It also looks great. Mr. Kozaki’s art style translated very well into 3D, and the characters are very expressive.

The main gimmick of AI is the Somnium worlds. They're these creative worlds that are in reality the dreams of the character you're questioning. These somnium worlds are used to reveal clues, or tell powerful stories. Their logic is a bit odd though. You know how dreams are. Mayumi's was the best one to me. It was really sad.

This was a great experience. I'm not a visual novel guy but the strong ass storytelling and lively cast had my eyes peeled. Loved it. Thank you Michi, Ace. A game like this would've gone under my radar if i didn't witness your endless praise for this game for the past 2 years.

[dangermousie]

2020 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2020; if I had to make a post about all the cdramas I watched this year, I would still be doing it in three months...

Overall it’s been a fairly decent cdrama year (certainly better than the very lacklustre kdrama year.) It’s no miracle that 2019 was (so many excellent dramas!) but overall pretty solid.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

44 The Legend of Jing Yan - the worst cdrama I have seen this year, and possibly the worst drama of 2020, period. The hero and heroine were both uncharismatic, incapable of acting and saddled with such shrilly moronic characters, the only suspense was how they haven’t both perished long since from forgetting to breathe. Nor was anyone in the rest of the cast much better; the screenplay was written by a lower mammal and the cinematography was the best a third-rate wedding cinematographer could offer. Stay the HELL away from this one.

43 Unicorn Girl - the only unicorn about this bland yet irritating piece of pap was the fact that I was supposed to believe the leads are hockey players.

42 Autumn Cicada - I like spy stories, Allen Ren, and Republican Era settings. I can tune out Communist propaganda with the best of them. Yet, the propaganda ate the story to such a degree that there was nothing left; pre magic change Pinocchio was less wooden then this narrative.

41 You Complete Me - no you do not.

40 Skate into Love - the only positive thing I can say about this is that at least it’s better than Unicorn Girl, if for no other reason that only one of them is supposed to be a hockey player.

39 Irreplaceable Love - how do you make a story about fake siblings with a mad mother falling for each other boring? I don’t know, ask the makers of this.

38 Eternal Love Rain - I hate to rain on their parade, but these two actors cannot act, have about as much chemistry as a piece of bread, and are trapped in a story perfect for entertaining the mental abilities of the leads of Jin Yan.

37 For Married Doctoress - ummmm, you could do worse I guess. It only made me break out in mild hives. The sadistic ending did make me laugh though.

36 Dance of the Sky Empire - why you get Xu Kai and waste him in this insipid mess of a story is beyond me.

35 Love Designer - it’s inoffensive except to my sense of entertainment. There is nothing wrong with it but oh God is it bland.

34 Love a Lifetime - It felt like a lifetime watching this, but I didn’t love it. The story is incoherent, the actors have no chemistry and it’s all an epic waste of time.

33 Love is Sweet - so sweet it gave me diabetes. I like Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, but there is literally no plot. I don’t need to sink into a plotless morass to watch pretty people engage in PG-rated make-outs. I am an adult with access to stronger stuff if I am thus inclined, though to be fair they could get x-rated and I still wouldn’t be able to sit through so many episodes of plotlessness for that.

32 Fake Princess - I love Zhao Yi Qin, but the guy needs to pick better projects. The female lead in this one has the voice and personality that can strip paint but the story is also doing nobody any favors.

31 The Changan Youth - I lost my brain checking this out. I had to go and read a dense treatise on medieval coinage or Mayan farming to try to recover it.

30 My Dear Destiny - kinda cheesy fun. It honestly shouldn’t be as low except it really feels like community theater.

29 Handsome Siblings - why is the Nic Tse version so good and this one so bad? True mystery for the ages. Chen Zhe Yuan is the sole reason this isn’t lower, because that kid tries SO HARD to make this drama bearable and almost succeeds. I can’t wait to see him in Sha Po Lang which actually will give him something to do.

28 In a Class of Her Own - see my comment on The Changan Youth. But at least Song Weilong is gorgeous to look at.

27 General’s Lady - inoffensive, pretty and so utterly pointless.

26 The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion - those two leading actors are a no go to me but at least they considerately acted with each other instead of ruining two dramas for me. It’s very pretty though.

25 Jiu Liu Overlord - it’s a mess and I bailed, but I placed it this high merely due to the fact that Lai Yi finally gets a leading role and he’s sexy as fuck and I am shallow. Whoever styled Bai Lu should never work again except at a circus, however.

24 Cross Fire - not my genre and Luhan will always look too much like my cousin for comfort, but it’s a surprisingly gripping and dark drama. I liked it!

23 God of Lost Fantasy - if you want to watch a mediocre wuxia/xianxia, this is not a bad choice. Probably better than Legend of Fei actually, because at least it doesn’t have an A-list cast to waste and gives us Sheng Yilun himbo and shirtless.

22 Renascence - the insane cuts (it went from 70 eps to 36!!!) made a fairly cheesy story into a total mess. But I had a good time until I finally bailed mainly because of the male lead (Chen Zhe Yuan yet again carrying a not-good 2020 drama on his shoulders; the guy should be nicknamed Atlas) and the insane but in a fun way story. The female lead (both the character and the actress) were not up to par but oh well.

21 Legend of Fei - only this high because objectively there is nothing I disliked it. But there is nothing I liked either. The most uninspired drama on the list. If you could eat cardboard, this is what it would taste like.

20 Ever Night 2 - compared to EN1, it’s a waste of film. On its own merits, it’s not very good (the cast replacements are uniformly inferior and Dylan Wang is so wrong for Ning Que I cannot even put it into words; the script is useless.) But it had some parts I loved so very VERY much (all the shippy stuff was perfection) so I don’t feel too bitter.

19 Castle in the Sky 2 - a lovely if not too complex fairy tale. It is inferior to its prequel because it doesn’t have Zhang Ruo Yun who elevated it, but it’s still a solid bit of fun.

18 The Great Ruler - it’s very high fantasy, very pretty, and surprisingly involving.

17 (tie) Legend of Two Sisters in the Chaos - the secondary couple steals the show but the rest is not too bad if not too involving.

17 Legend of Awakening - a solid bit of fun with a seriously BDSM streak (theme this year apparently - but come on, the lead’s powers only activate when he’s in extreme pain!) It’s a bit generic and the costuming is done by a blind person, not to mention the OTP is a NOTP, but the rest of relationships (romantic and platonic) are wonderful (I live for the found siblings story in this one) and I like most of the characters.

16 Consummation - a rare modern cdrama I liked; a sweet coming of age story (and love story) even if wrapped in a pretty weird virtual reality concept.

15 Oops the King is in Love - this is how you do a low budget, sweet, silly piece of fluff. Our heroine pretends to be a eunuch and crosses paths with a powerless young king and they are adorable, even more so than the drama.

14 Song of Glory - pretty solid, though draggy and I didn’t love the toothpaste filter. But A+ cast, excellent leading couple chemistry, Li Qin being a BAMF and a leading man (Qin Hao) who is actually an adult.

13 And the Winner is love - objectively kind of a mess (and the heroine has the brainpower of a gnat), but the OTP chemistry is excellent and Luo Yunxi fighting and flirting with a fan as finally a leading man is worth the price of admission.

12 Miss S - snazzy and snappy and stylish and whatever else starts with S.

11 Eternal Love of Dream - I don’t know if it would work for you as well if you weren’t a hardcore shipper for this OTP in Three Lives but I was and this was such a darling, wonderful, shippy delight; plus I love this type of high fantasy.

10 (tie) Maiden Holmes - solid and sweet and a wonderful OTP. Proves that functional doesn’t have to mean boring. If you watch one cross-dressing drama this year make it this one.

10 Qin Dynasty Epic - srs bsns history epic. I am not far into it but it’s so good and smart and visually stunning (if you love battles, this one is for you.)

9 Love Lasts Two Minds - I adored this so much more than I should objectively have, but it’s so beautiful (and no I am not just referring to Alan Yu’s face) and the OTP has wonderful chemistry and the story is solid, and the whole trope of her memory being wiped but falling for him all over again while he’s constantly and utterly devoted is a fave; plus he’s in pain and semi-dyng for most of it so sluuuurp (happy ending, don’t worry)

8 To Love - yes, a modern drama is this high! But it involves intensity, tragedy, genuine adults and sexiness that is Lin Gengxin. And there is an actual plot and darkness OMG!

7 Legend of Xiao Chuo - so beautiful, so fun, so full of gorgeousness of Shawn Dou. Plus, Liao is a rare setting for a cdrama and there are a lot of characters and stories I liked a LOT. Less ship content than I wanted but more than I expected.

6 The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so so delightful. I was literally laughing out loud. I have no idea if it will work as well if one isn’t a seasoned watcher of period cdrama/reader of web novels, with bonus for watching/reading Goodbye My Princess, but it was a complete delight for me (and yes, I shipped for real, as well. Best of both worlds.)

5 Twisted Fate of Love - Jin Han gets a leading period drama role! And he’s enjoying it to the hilt, excellent as a smart, twisty bastard who is also charming and so madly in love with heroine. Sun Yi is beautiful and tough and her chemistry with JH is on fire, the story never drags, and it’s so twisty and fun and just awesome.

4 Love In Between - the most underrated drama on this list. It has no big names or big budget, but it’s wuxia that’s clever, driven, tragic, hopeful and so beautifully shot. Three separate (amazing) OTPs, a leading man who is so not typical (a doctor who cannot fight and who never acquires this ability) and who is intense and smart and damaged, a heroine who puts her quest ahead of her emotions, an unhealthy degree of involvement by yours truly. This is a drama Fei should have been.

3 Love and Redemption - such a lovely, addictive, utterly romantic fairy tale. I was obsessed with it for a reason. All the tropes you love and some you didn’t know you did, a star-crossed OTP to the nth power (and a secondary OTP I hardcore love), a twisty yet coherent plot, some insane chemistry and so much whump and hurt/comfort they must have bought blood packets in bulk.

2 Go Ahead - yes, I can’t believe it either. A contemporary slice of life cdrama made it this high on my list. But the way it feels so real, the found family perfection, the characters I love and loathe, the perfect cherry of a wonderful OTP that hits my narrative kinks on top, and just a perfect storm of loveliness all around with this one.

1 The Wolf - is that any surprise to anyone who’s checked out this tumblr for the last couple of months? Tragic, intense and gorgeous; so romantic and angsty and passionate it made me lose my mind (though some of it was gone the moment the camera panned to Darren Wang) - all my favorite tropes and then some; this is a drama that may not be perfect but it is 100% and then beyond perfect for ME.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The Wolf - I have seen objectively better cdramas; even this year. But it has been literal years since I have been this hardcore obsessed, this utterly pleased, this emotionally catered to and devastated at once. A beautiful dark fairy tale that manages to own me despite the storytelling gaps due to censorship, it took me for one of the biggest emotional roller coaster rides of my drama watching career. Visually gorgeous, poetic, intense, and so romantic it took my breath away, this is not just my favorite cdrama of 2020, it’s my favorite drama this year period, and the one cdrama this year to make it into my permanent Top 10 cdramas list.

WORST DRAMA

Legend of Jin Yan - see my write up for it for why as I refuse to waste more time on this stupid mess.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Wolfie, The Wolf - he is such a haunted, tormented, complex, dark mess; loving and violent, severely damaged and with a hidden yearning softness, longing and aloof. And the amount of charisma and sheer masculine sex appeal Darren Wang brings to the role is insane and not something I see much of in a cdrama. Plus, that character arc with its rapid fall and slow painful redemption is A++++

Runner Up:  Sifeng, Love and Redemption - has a male lead ever loved more utterly and selflessly, suffered more thoroughly and beautifully, and managed to have such chemistry with both his leading lady and his leading man (that his leading lady temporarily turned into) at once? The answer is no.

Almost made the cut - Feng Xi, Twisted Fate of Love, Han Shuo, The Romance of Tiger and Rose, Qing Ci, Love in Between.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Qian, The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so funny, so much the reason this drama was such a delight. I adore her beyond words.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Murder Daddy, The Wolf - I am sad the censors robbed us of seeing him die on screen. He was fully human but nonetheless managed to be the worst monster in a drama full of literal ones.

Ling Xiao’s Mom, Go Ahead - I hate her so much I don’t want to look up her name. She abused the kid, the disappeared and came back to abuse him some more. I mean she literally gave her child mental health issues. She is the WORST.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xing’er x Wolfie, The Wolf - are you kidding me? Who else could it ever be for me? They destroyed each other and saved each other, sworn enemies and childhood lovers, soulmates and epic messes, they couldn’t live with or without each other. The longing, the passion, the intensity, the angst, the epicness. LIKE THERE ARE NO WORDS!!!!

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Si Yuan, Shen Manqing, Love in Between - I loved them as much and often more than the main OTP. So much angst and passion and a happy ending! She is a seeming sect darling (except the sect is horrible and also sexist so her only worth is as a marriage candidate) and he’s an information broker who is actually one of the members of a destroyed sect that’s blamed for the massacre of her family. That chemistry and yearning is insane. The scene where she touches his face when he’s unconscious was in serious running for my favorite scene of 2020.

NOTP

Legend of Awakening - I have never seen a couple that didn’t just have no chemistry but exhibited actual revulsion towards each other before watching Chen Feiyu and Cheng Xiao try to act as lovers in this one. It was almost entertaining to be honest.

FAVORITE SCENE

It’s a tie and both are from The Wolf. One is a sequence where Wolfie marches to the walls alone, seeking death at Xing’er’s hands and the whole sequence with the battle and rescue follows. The other is the intercut between Xing’er going to her wedding and Wolfie going to his execution, and the auto-da-fe being intercut with her wedding.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Wolfie, The Wolf - Ummm have you seen this tumblr lately, it’s basically a drool shrine to the man.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yelü Yansage, The Legend of Xiao Chuo - I have loved this actor since The Myth and he continued to competently steal every scene he was in.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

To Love - come out of the coma, dammit!!!!!!!

NEEDS A DIRECTOR’S CUT

The Wolf - duh. It started out as 59 eps and got cut to 49. I reaiize some stuff is never gonna get put in due to censorship, but some of the stuff that got cut got for time reasons because they were deluded and hoping to get a TV broadcast so ep count had to be under 50. I mean I doubt the censors would care if they kept scenes of Wolfie building her a swing or whatever. I really really want a director’s cut the way Goodbye My Princess did even if like with GMP it’s only three extra eps. Hell, I will take extra three minutes, as long as those three minutes are Darren Wang shirtless or with a sword. Ahem.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

The Song of Glory - it’s a fairly solid drama but honestly it didn’t need to be as long as it was and kind of got draggy and I got lost interest. (I could have gotten snarky and said all the dramas I didn’t like needed scissors taken to them in their entirety but decided to play nice.)

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

There are a number of dramas I could complain about with regard to this (hi there, darling The Wolf!) but this award goes to Renascence - poor Renascence was never going to be a masterpiece, but it had the potential to be a bit of good cheesy fun until it had its run time cut by more than half and became an incoherent piece of insanity.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Dumb shrill innocent heroine who can’t tie her shoes - see basically all the cdramas I didn’t like this year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Male lead torture - I mean it’s always open season on that in cdramas, but between Love and Redemption, The Wolf, Love Lasts Two Minds, Love in Between and so on, it was a banner year!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Legend of Fei - what a waste of that cast; what a waste of our finite time on this Earth. What a waste of my intelligence to hope for something better and stick with it for a dozen eps. I have had stale wonderbread that had more personality than this drama.There is absolutely nothing that stands out about this drama in any way,  from half-dimensional characters, to actors who are sleepwalking, to a plot that moves at the speed of an arthritic snail, to uninspired cinematography and direction, to lack of any chemistry between anyone in the cast. If paint-by-numbers was done by a group of particularly linear robots, it might come across the same way as this drama.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

The Wolf - honestly, I did not expect it to come out AT ALL EVER let alone to become my favorite drama of 2020. I was not familiar with the leading man (hahah), I liked Li Qin but wasn’t yet obsessed with her, and Xiao Zhan was excellent in The Untamed but I was hardly going to follow him from drama to drama (and I don’t do SLS any way.) And the trailer was enjoyable but unlike seemingly everyone, I didn’t think it was going to be some epic masterpiece. And then it came out and while it wasn’t objectively an epic masterpiece, it pulled out all the favorite tropes, shippy and narrative kinks from the deepest darkest recesses of my id. And I fell harder than I have in years. 

2020 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

None. Covid Year gave me PLENTY of time

BEST NON-2020 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2020

Novoland Eagle Flag and Joy of Life - they are in my Top 10 dramas from anywhere now. They are quite different except being smart and giving me protagonists to obsess over.

ETA: Also The Untamed because @idlewilds3 pointed out I actually watched it in 2020 even though I didn’t think so because this hellyear has lasted about three decades.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2021

I am gonna limit it to dozen and leaving out ones that aren’t necesarily supposed to air next year (Joy of Life 2, Love in Flames of War, Novoland Princess from Plateau.)

Monarch Industry, Novoland Pearl Eclipse, Silk Washing Stream, Dream of Changan, Sword Snow Stride, Wu Xing Shi Jia, Ancient Love Poetry, Immortality, The Long Ballad, Mirror Twin Cities, The Imperial Age, Fall In Love