#which is a stupid gacha game by the way

[lioma-art]

"I AM HERE - in the classroom!" (but with true form Toshi)

Threw a couple of shapes and gradients together to create the background in roughly 30 minutes, which is why it's nowhere near as good as the original memory in Ultra Impact, but they have reaaaally talented artists anyway.

[pyreflydust]

I keep seeing ads for Honkai: Starrail where the guy says, "Hurry! You don't want to miss out on timed events!"

But I do, random streamer-looking guy! I really fucking do want to miss out on them!

In my experience, games that go too hard and too frequent on real time events are already stressful. Add gambling on top of that and you end up with not only "Come on it's only five more dollars" but "If you don't hurry up and give us more money soon you'll never ever get this character/costume/whatever" and that makes it all worse.

Also for the people comparing this to slot machines in terms of gambling I'd actually argue this is worse. This is more like online sports betting and similar online gambling. See, you have to leave the house to go to the casino and they're not all open 24 hours. Gacha games and online betting for cash are extra predatory because they dangle shit like this in front of you at all hours in your home. It'd be a lot harder to spend $5,000 at a casino on a whim if you weren't already in the damn casino.

>Morning shift

>Customer is angry that we disabled his card

>calm him down because it is a security measure

>We had to block his card because he spent 5k on Genshin Impact at 4AM and almost drained his entire bank account

>The instant we unblock his card he spends 200 more dollars on Genshin Impact

[trans-leek-cookie]

anyways shaming ppl about gachas or making fun of em doesn't work bc. You know ppl being scammed will sometimes defend the scams they fell for bc they don't want to be ashamed right. You guys know that right. It doesn't make the scam any less dangerous to add external shame right. Please tell me you recognize this. That shaming ppl who are into gachas tends to just make them justify harder right. If your gonna critique addictive behaviors you at least understand how they work, right.

[philistiniphagottini]

Take Me in Your Arms

Stupid, silly headcannons or musings about some gacha game characters picking up their chubby/fat s/o in their arms. I need to smile today and hopefully, you do too. I could be persuaded to write more, but only if people are nice about it.

cw. fluff, established relationships, gender neutral reader, chubby reader

Featuting: Jing Yuan, Blade, Arataki Itto, Neuvillette, Wanderer, Alhaitham, Feixiao, Firefly & Kazuha

Jing Yuan:

You are constantly worried about your weight and Jing Yuan notices. And when he tries to sweep you into his embrace, you deny him at first, saying that you’ve been gaining weight recently. You’re too heavy, you don’t want to put any strain on his body. And he’d smile lovingly at you and say 

“you can worry about your weight when you get heavier than the weapon I wield.” 

Which you scoff and roll your eyes at because what a load of bullshit, you know how much his weapon weighs, that’s not fair you were just concerned for your old man and you bite back that you didn’t want him to break his hip. But all your worries melt away when he picks you up into his arms, spins you around with ease and holds you close, because he knows it makes you swoon and you can’t help but falter at the little cheeky grin he’s wearing.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Blade:

Nothing hinders this man. If you are in his way, he’s picking you up and moving you out of the way. If there’s something on the top shelf you can’t reach, he’ll pick you up and help you get it. When you usually hug him, he wraps his arms around your waist and picks you up until your feet are dangling because you enjoy his tight hugs. And when you’re having a bad day and say that you’re too heavy? Yeah, you’re immediately getting bundled up into his arms so he can prove you wrong, silently dotting on you like a mother hen. Your weight is not a burden to him, he’ll pick you up every day to prove that you aren’t. He could prove it some more by tossing you around and the blunt delivery of his joke made you laugh. Well, he was half joking but he decided against it when he reasoned that he didn’t want to hurt you, you were too soft and squishy and had to be protected at all costs. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Arataki Itto:

Would actually get offended if you say that you’re too heavy for him to pick up. You doubt the One and Oni’s strength? He proclaims very loudly that he will prove you wrong and picks you up with gusto. He actually lifted you up so fast and with such ease that he accidentally, almost tossed your body completely over his broad shoulder like you were a sack of potatoes. He would grin triumphantly as he holds you aloft and you are so flustered and speechless that you just let him boast for a little bit longer. You actually liked being picked up and held by him like this. Itto refused to let you down for a while. Walks around town for a bit with you bundled in his arms and you get a few pointed stares from a few passersby. Absolutely will never refuse when you ask for a piggy back ride. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Neuvillette:

You had been running up the steps of the Palais Mermonia to catch up with Neuvillette, calling out to him to gain his attention. When he stopped at the top of the steps and turned toward you, your bad luck caught up with you and you ended up tripping on the last few steps to meet him. The papers that had been clutched tight in your grip were sent scattering everywhere and when you realised you were about to smash your face into the pavement, you braced for impact. So you’re startled when you crash into a warm body, a flutter of material rushing by your ears as two arms wrap securely around your waist. When you peel open your bleary eyes to be met with Neuvillette’s radiant face, you think you’re about to pass out. 

“Are you alright?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”

It feels like your face is on fire as you stare up at him with wide, doe eyes and sheepishly nod your head. A sigh of relief breezes past his lips, a small smile touching his lips as he continues to hold you, your feet dangling a few inches off the ground.  

“Thank goodness” he replied. “But I must implore you to be more mindful of your footing.”

“Uh Neuvillette, I’m grateful that you saved me from a tumble but could you maybe, put me down?”

He only now realised that he was still holding onto you and with a rushed apology he carefully sets you back down and helps you retrieve the stack of papers you dropped. You replayed the scene in your head for the next few hours and continued to be a flustered mess for days to come.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Wanderer:

There is strength hidden beneath his porcelain skin. Picking you up is honestly as easy as pulling a weed out of the garden for him. So when you lament that you had been gaining weight and you joked that not even he would be able to pick you up, he got catty with your remark and decided to shut you up. By bundling you in his arms and taking off into the skies. You had shrieked so loud that he considered dropping you. Which he blatantly told you to your face. But he did recognise your concern that you weren’t used to not having your feet on solid ground. So he made sure he didn’t float too high, just above the tree line so you could overlook the vast jungles litterted all over Sumeru. You were pleasantly speechless and a flustered mess, which Wanderer took great joy in. His grin was smug as he held you in his arms bridal style, your plump skin squishing beneath his touch as his face hovered closer in your vision. 

“You were so chatty a moment ago” he taunted. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”

A small pout tugged at your lips. “I get it. You’ve proved your point that you can lift my fat arse.”

“Good. Because if you keep complaining I’ll pick you up again.”

You were going to hold him to that promise.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Alhaitham:

You had been stacking away a few books in the Academia’s library, walking up and down a step ladder to reach the higher shelves as you returned the books to their rightful places. Alhiatham had been hovering nearby, nose stuck in a book as usual, when he just so happened to notice the way you had been precariously balancing on the ladder. Just when he opened his mouth to warn you, you started to tip. The sound of his book hitting the ground was muted by your loud shriek of surprise as he rushed over to meet you, catching your plump body before you had a nasty fall. You are stunned when you open your eyes to see Alhaitham holding you, your thick legs draped over his arm as the other was supported around your plump waist. There was a stern look in his eye, lips tugged down into a frown as you twiddle your thumbs and silently burned with embarrassment under his scrutinizing gaze.

“That wasn’t very smart, was it?” 

You shook your head. “No” you agreed. “I’m sorry.”

His gaze softened, a soft sigh falling from his lips before his gaze roved up and down your body. 

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“Other than my pride?” you replied with a soft sniff. “I’m fine.”

You dare not mention the way your head was spinning at how effortlessly he was holding you. That problem could be shelved for another day.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Feixiao:

Honestly, she does not notice your weight. Gravity is but a mere suggestion to her. She is constantly lifting heavy things to impress you and gain your approval. She is strong and she liked to show off for you. One day you had been talking to Moze casually when Feixiao suddenly materialised out of thin air, claiming that she needed you for something. Before you could get a single word out, she just simply waltzed up to you, tucked you under her arm like she had just picked up an unruly cat and kept walking. Moze politely did not say a single word. He just simply nodded in acknowledgement as Feixiao waved him off. She didn’t put you down for a while and you had to suffer as she lovingly carried you everywhere. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Firefly:

She was such a sweetheart. Always positive and so sweet on you that you felt your teeth rotting from the sticky sweetness of her affections. You were having a particularly bad day when Firefly came to visit, lamenting that you noticed you were gaining weight recently. Firefly asked if you wanted a hug, for her to sweep you off of your feet and squeeze you so tight that all the bad emotions would just come pouring out. You thought she was exaggerating about the whole picking you up part. But you agreed to the hug, wishing to be doted on and comforted. A wheeze of air was squeezed out of your lungs as Firefly wrapped her arms around your plump waist and picked you up, burying her face in your chest as she hugged you as tight as she could. You were surprised, to say the least, your eyes wide with awe at how easily she held you like your weight meant nothing to her. When she peeked her head up to look at you, a look of panic crossed her visage and she put you back down. 

“I’m sorry” she rushed with her apology. “Did I hurt you? Did I squeeze too hard?”

You shook your head. “No” you replied. “But can you…pick me up again? It felt…nice?”

The distraught look on her face quickly vanished, a bright and beaming smile lighting up her face as she eagerly nodded and swept you into her arms again. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Kazuha: 

He asked you to sit beside him one evening by the docks. He was perched on top of a crate while Beidou and most of her crew were out restocking in Liyue Harbour before the journey back to Inazuma. You happily obliged and went to sit next to him. Only for Kazuha to snake his arms around your plump waist and pull you into his lap. You swallowed the loud gasp that stirred in the back of your throat as you fell into his lap, your plump thighs draped over his as he pressed his chin to your shoulder.

“Kazuha, let me go I’m too heavy to be sitting on you” you complained, panic tasting like bile in your mouth.

A soft smile graced Kazuha’s lips as he shook his head. “No, you’re not.” 

“Yes I am” you countered, squirming in his lap.

Another slow shake of Kazuha’s head as he squeezed your soft waist, lips as soft as the touch of rose petals as they brushed against your flaming cheeks. 

“No, you’re not” he repeated slowly, until the words finally sank into your frazzled mind.

You stopped squirming in his grasp, heart settling back in your chest as you slowly started to calm down. The soothing way that Kazuha ran his hand along the notches of your spine helped. You offered him a bashful smile, slowly making yourself more comfortable in his lap as he squeezed your waist, humming a soft tune that carried on the gentle breeze.

[wannaeatramyeon]

The Crew Heads with Reader: Board Games

G/N. Silly. 4 small scenes. (Jake Kim, Eli Jang, Johan Seong, Samuel Seo)

Bro Code | Dinner | Shopping | Television | Gacha | Board Games | Suits

"What the fuck?" Samuel glares at Johan who returns it with equal hostility.

"It's a word." Johan spits, arms crossed and defiant.

"Use it in a sentence."

"I'm going to kilp you."

"Johan will kilp you," Jake chimes in.

"Samuel will be kilped by Johan," Eli adds.

"Almost," you say, "But Johan I don't think that's a word-"

"3 to 2, overruled!" Jake grins, totting up the points from the Scrabble board. "Ok so that's triple word score too for God Dog. Fuck... he's in the lead."

.

.

"I just said you can't play a +2 on top of a +2 card!" Jake moans, looking at the stack of cards in the middle.

"Says who?" Johan asks, because that rule is stupid

"It sounds like bullshit but-," Eli scrolls on his phone, looking for a source. "Uno officially. The cards can't stack."

You lean over his shoulder, read the rule with your own eyes but disregard it anyway. "The fuck do they know."

"5 to 0, draw your cards asshole." Samuel leans back, smug when Jake add another 6 cards to his hand.

.

.

"You're cheating!" You screech as Jake freezes like a deer caught in headlights.

"No I didn't!" He holds up both hands in surrender. He absolutely did not cheat.

"You grabbed an extra 100 won, I saw you!"

"I didn't!" Jake protests his innocence.

"I saw him too," Eli says as Johan and Samuel both nod vigorously.

"What, owning most of the properties on the board isn't enough for you?" You say, jabbing a finger in Jake's chest. "And now you're cheating?!"

"But I didn't-"

"I don't want to play anymore!" You throw your cash in the air, standing up and stepping over the Monopoly board as the rest of the guys follow suit.

"But... I didn't." Jake mutters, looking at the mess of cash around him.

Ok. So he didn't cheat. In fact, you know for certain that everyone else did. It's just expected with a game like Monopoly. No-one becomes rich fairly with capitalism.

Poor Jake however, did play fair and square, ended up lucky with the community chest and chance cards which led to him owning the majority of the properties.

All of you, getting more pissed off by the minute but not wanting to admit defeat, slithered your way out of it by accusing Jake and throwing him to the wolves.

You promise to make it up to him, somehow. But you are not losing at Monopoly.

.

.

"Are you blind?" Johan growls when Samuel's hand comes down on the 9 that landed on top of the 6.

"Fuck off," he mutters, retreating and putting his own card down - an 8.

"I think Snap might not be for Samuel," Eli grins, placing a King face up, as Jake agrees that Math isn't Sammy's strong suit.

"Easy mistake," you shrug, rising to his defence. You have definitely done something similar many times. Not with these guys though.

You've never played Snap, that simple card game, with them. For good reason-

"Snap!" Jake shouts, hand slamming down after he places another King on top of Eli's.

The table legs creak, then with a sickening crash, collapses under the force of his power. The four crew heads and you are left sitting around a mess of splintered wood, spilled drinks and ruined cards.

"Oops."

Samuel rolls his eyes. "Well done, moron."

-And that's why you don't play Snap.

[theholypeanut]

HIORI YO X GRUMPY AND SUNSHINE

Peanut's Wheel of Fortune Event

Plot: Hiori, The Ice Prince, and you, the school Sunshine: you couldn't be more different - and yet, it works, your friendship. Or should we call it what it is: two dum dums in love.

CW: 2k words, Hiori tsundereeee (fight me), clueless!reader not getting any signs,two idiots in love, friends to lovers, stupid x even more stupid, teasing, flirting, reader loves gacha, fluff, gn!reader, Hiori has game at the end, pulling uno reverse on reader

Event Masterlist

On the first day of high school, you sat next to Hiori. When you saw him for the first time, your immediate thought was how extremely gorgeous his face was: he looked like a precious porcelain doll. He was so beautiful, that, to be honest, for the first month you wondered if he was just a tomboy who refused to wear a girl's uniform. He never talked to anyone, just sat on his Nintendo Switch or looked through the window his headphones on. You barely exchanged a word during the first semester.

But after a certain incident just before the summer holidays, your approach changed. It was a hot day, you could almost feel your uniform melting into your skin, and you just wanted to die. You already had a reputation at school for being the "sunshine" of the class, always cheerful and loud, cracking jokes and sometimes talking back to the teacher in a way that made the whole class burst out laughing. Even though you sat next to Hiori most of the time, he was probably the person you talked to the least - not by choice, he just seemed to ignore you on purpose. At first the girls in the class tried to get close to him, obviously smitten by his beautiful face and promising football career, but when he barely noticed them and rudely ignored their attempts, they let it go and it fuelled his reputation as the „Ice Prince”. But you didn't mind. To be fair, apart from being a quiet person, Hiori was never really mean to anyone. He was not a bad person. You chose not to bother him, not to push him out of his comfort zone, and he ignored you. 

But this time, as you lay down on your desk during your break, as you always do, you couldn't help but take a long look at your classmate. He was playing a game on a console, with headphones on. His eyelashes were ridiculously long, and his features were so delicate that he looked like a flower, like a...

"You're not very subtle, are you?" You heard his voice as you noticed Hiori taking off his headphones. He looked at you with a visible frown. You made eye contact, feeling like a summer heat was already scrambling your brain, getting rid of any possible embarrassment. „Have anyone told you you look like a periwinkle?” He blinked. „Like… what?”

„A flower. You look like this pretty blue flowers you can sometimes see in botanical gardens.”

He sat there, stunned, his expression hard to read. Without an answer from him, still with your face on the desk, you didn't look away. 

„Honestly I didn’t know people as pretty as you are even real” you said without thinking, seeing that his face getting visibly red. He looked away, which made your heart beat a little faster. Was he...?

"Did the sun fry your brain?" He mumbled, trying his best to stay out of your sight. But you knew what you saw. Hiori Yo, an Ice Prince, was blushing. And that was the moment, you made an unconscious decision, to start actively bother him for the rest of your high school career: if it meant seeing that expression again.

And that was also a beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

In your second year of high school, you ended up in the same class again, seemingly thrown together by fate. Everyone at school speculated that you two had been dating for months, The Sunshine and The Ice Prince: isn’t it the cutest combination? Hiori never bothered to explain that you were not dating, and at best you were "very close friends". This was because of two things: firstly, you were his close friend, but every now and then he doubted that he was yours. You were always so bright and smiling, so nice to everyone, with so many friends wherever you went. Sometimes he wondered if something happened to you, or if you were in trouble, would he be the first person you'd call? He wanted that to be the case, but he couldn't be sure, which made him... jealous. And that was the second reason: Hiori Yo, the Ice Prince, would never, ever admit that he never denied having a relationship with you, because he simply wished it to be true. Was he stupid? Naive? Maybe. But to be honest with himself, he couldn't imagine not falling in love with you. 

What was even more annoying, though, was that you couldn't have been more dense. Hiori was never the type to show his affection in a straightforward way, but he had his moments: he helped you when you were struggling with heavy things, he helped you with quests in a game (you started to get into it just to have more topics to talk about), he bought wired headphones just so he could listen to music with you: nothing. You just smile and comment on what a softie he is, which makes him blush, and you can't take a damn hint. You were hopeless. Sometimes he felt you liked him back, just by the teasing words you said or the casual touch of his hair (the day you tucked his hair behind his ear without warning is still fresh in his mind and makes his heart skip a beat before he falls asleep). The worst part was when he was embarrassed, all Hiori could come up with was some mean or sarcastic comment. But you read so many romance mangas, how could you not understand that? The day Hiori saw a random guy from the basketball team confessing to you was the day he decided he had to do something. You politely rejected that clown, but that didn't let the blue-haired prince relax for long. The idea of confessing scared him, but the thought of you seeing someone else made his heart sink. However, he knew far more about you than any other boy ever could: and he planned to use that to his advantage. If he was too embarrassed to confess, perhaps he could charm you into falling for him and confessing first? The plan wasn't that simple, but it was worth a try.

When you got back to class, having answered all the embarrassing questions about your confession, you sat next to Hiori with a sigh of relief. On days like that, you were grateful for how cold Hiori was. He wouldn't even look at you, let alone ask for all the details about the poor basketball boy. But to your surprise, in the middle of the lesson, you felt a small piece of paper slip close to your hand.  "Are you free after school today?" It was written in familiar handwriting. You smiled.  "I'm always available for you" you drew a tiny heart at the end. Since last year, of course, you enjoyed teasing Hiori with flirtatious lines whenever you got the chance. At this point you couldn't even stop yourself if you tried, it was like breathing.  "There's a new gacha machine in the arcade. Want to go?" He wrote back, not even blushing at your message. A bit disappointing, but Hiori rarely invited you first, if you ever hung out it was at your initiative, so you were still excited. Not to mention that you really enjoyed gachas. "It's a date" you wrote back without thinking any further.  You couldn’t hide your excitement for the rest of the day.

When you came out of the school gate, you looked at your friend. 

"It's something new that you don't have football training today" he just looked away when he heard your words.  "Practice was cancelled" he mumbled in a tone that clearly showed the conversation was over. You walked in silence for a longer second before he started: "So... the basketball guy, huh?" He changed the subject, which only made you sigh. 

"Please, don't even start. I'm not even sure what that guy's name is. I don't think we've spoken more than once. It's embarrassing."

Hiori looked at you carefully. 

"Yes, but have you ever thought that maybe that's enough?"

You looked at him in surprise.

"Enough for what?" You raised your eyebrow.

"To fall in love with you" he said without looking away. No matter how you looked at it, Hiori was a different person today. Saying something like that in such a serious tone and not looking away in embarrassment did not seem like him. He never really wanted to talk about romance or love. Just games and football. He left you speechless until you saw the entrance to the familiar arcade. 

It was surprisingly crowded for a Tuesday evening, and at certain points you had to squeeze in between sweaty boys of all ages. You felt someone grab your hand. Before you could scream 'pervert', you realised it was only the blue-haired boy. 

"Don't get lost" he said in a neutral tone and pulled you out of the crowd. The gacha area was still mostly occupied, but the target audience had changed drastically: now you were surrounded by teenage girls. Hiori pointed to one of the machines further back. As you followed in that direction, you gasped in surprise. 

"No way!" You said as you approached the machine. It was one of your favourite series of all time, one of those niche things that were not popular enough to deserve a proper merch. Still holding your hand, Hiori, finally a little embarrassed, handed you a coin. For a second, you seriously considered that maybe you had forgotten your own birthday, because everything felt too perfect. 

"Are you going to get one too?" You asked, spinning the wheel to get your beloved little trinket. 

"What?" He asked, distracted. 

"We should get matching ones" you said with a smile, taking the ball out. „I’ve always wanted to have matching keychains”

He smiled softly and took another coin out of his pocket. "You better not cry later that mine's cuter" he teased. 

It felt so wholesome and cosy, just perfect. The bickering, the teasing, the little gestures he made to you always made you feel warm inside. And here you are, laughing and comparing the keychains you got, so close you could smell the detergent on his uniform. You were much more aware of his presence because you couldn't help but feel shy, Hiori still holding your hand all the time. You tried to remember the last time you did it, but your mind just went blank: it was the first time you had held hands since you became friends. And even more surprisingly, on his own initiative. But you couldn't complain. Considering his constant training, you expected his hands to be more calloused, but they were soft and large, and you just realised that you really wished this moment wouldn't end. „Do you want to get out of here?” His voice brought you back down to earth. You raised an eyebrow.

"Where do you want to go?" You asked, moving towards the exit. To your surprise, he grinned. 

"Where would you like to go? It's your date as much as mine" he said calmly.  "Good question, would you like to get something to eat? There's this…" you stopped, processing his words. You turned to face him, only to notice that he was looking away awkwardly. "You…" you started, not knowing where to go with the sentence. You felt your face grow hot.

"If you don't want this to be a date, maybe you should let go of my hand, you know" he said, still avoiding your eyes. You two must look so ridiculous: two people, holding hands, avoiding each other's eyes, all blushing. After you didn't answer, the blue-haired boy started to gently pull his hand away from yours, which only made you grip it tighter. 

"Stop it" you said, unable to control how red your face was. You cleared your throat. "Let's get some ramen, shall we?" 

Hiori finally looked at you, with the softest eyes. Too bad you were still too embarrassed to look back and notice. 

"Sounds perfect to me."

[writingredrose]

birthday surprise | Idia x reader

summary : It's Idia's birthday today and you decided to get him a present. Along with maybe something you've been wanting to tell him for a long time

warnings : none :3

fic type : fluff

a /n : Is it just me or Idia is a VERY hard character to write? :') Also mb if the romantic scenes suck, I can't write them well :'(

— Introduction —

The snow was slowly falling onto the grass outside Ramshackle dorm, covering it in a nice thin snow blanket. And while outside it was peaceful, inside the dorm was chaos.

The AceDeuce duo had invited themselves in the dorm earlier, but that escalated quickly as for some reason while you and Deuce were talking, Ace started chasing Grim through the whole dorm. “Hey Grim! Ace! Can you sto- AGH GRIM COME ON!„ You quickly avoided a blast of fire coming from Grim too close to a certain blue box that was sitting close to the window. “Shit,the box! Deuce! Do something!„ “I'm on it Prefect! I summon thee, cauldron!„ “Are you stupid?!? Don't -! „ Too late, a big cauldron dropped from thin air not only stopping the fight, but also making a whole new hole into the already destroyed floor. Well, at least the box was safe and steady in your hands. You got closer to the cauldron coughing a bit from the dust in the air. “You've got to be kiddin' me man, I just fixed the floor!„ “Ah, sorry Prefect, I just couldn't think of another way to stop the fight„

You sighed and looked at the box on your hands. “You could've destroyed the box idiots. Must you always fight when you're together? You're like a bunch of children!„ “Oh come on! We didn't even do anything bad! Besides what even is in the box that's so important??„ You look at it again, the faint blush on your face doesn't go unnoticed by the three. “It's a present for Idia„

You would've never guessed Idia would even allow such a party with this many people. Thinking about it, he probably didn't, it was most likely Ortho who wished his big brother would interact with people more, and since it's his birthday he probably saw a big opportunity for it.

Speaking of which, you've been looking for Idia for a while now. There were two options here : 1. either he was locked in his room not even bothering to come out or 2. He is somewhere here, hiding in a corner most likely playing one of his gacha games. You figured you should keep looking, you were sure your present was definitely gonna boost his mood. As you were looking for him, you accidentally bumped into someone. “Ah! Y/N-san hello!„ Looking down from where the voice came from, it was none other than Ortho. Well, maybe he could help you find Idia. “Ortho hello! Hey, I have a question. Do you have any idea where your brother might be? I can't seem to spot him anywhere„ “Of course! Nii-san is right over there in the corner — he said while pointing at the far wall in front of you — He's a bit overwhelmed tho, I hope you can help him, he always seems to like having you around„ Smiling down at the boy and thanking him for helping, you made your way to far back of the room.

And there he was. He was staying on the floor with his knees up and his chin on them playing on his phone. You silently made your way to him and sat down on your knees, box still on your hands. “Hello there birthday boy, are you alright?„ You spoke loud enough for him to hear but not the other people. Idia left out a squeak almost dropping his phone at the sound of your voice. He looked at you and prayed to the sevens you didn't see his pink cheeks. “H-hi Y/N-shi. I'm.. I'm fine. I just hate being in a room full of normies and loud music... that's all„ You looked at him with a small smile. Oh how he loved it when you smiled at him like that. “Yeah, loud music definitely gives me a headache, say, I have a present for you, do you want to go open it in your room? It's less overwhelming there„ Oh Idia loves you so much. He was more than grateful that you understood how he feels perfectly. “Uh yeah, I'd-I'd like that„ „Great let's go!„ Only when you both got up did Idia notice the box in your hands. That must be the present you were talking about. He can't help but have a small, almost unnoticeable, smile on his face at the thought of you going out of your way to buy him a present. Given the fact that your financial situation wasn't the best.

You both discreetly made your way out of the Ignihyde lounge and successfully made it to Idia's room unnoticed by anyone. Idia closed the door behind him and turned to you. You were sitting on the floor with the biggest grin on your face. He laughed. “With how excited you are, people might think you're the one getting the present, not me„ You giggled at his comment. “I'm just excited for you to open it! Now come on! Come sit next to me and open it!„ You patted the spot next to you and Idia hesitantly took a seat on the floor next to you. You excitedly handed him the box motioning for him to open it.

When he opened the box, Idia couldn't contain his surprised yelp. In the box there was the ENTIRE collection of a manga he has been bragging to you about, for months. He never bought it because he never found it online. And he never thought about checking in irl stores. Idia looked at you with wide eyes. “W-where did you get this?!? I couldn't find even one volume online!!„ You laughed at the reaction. “Hm..well, with the help of Jack, Ace, Deuce and Grim, I've been able to find it in one of the stores around Night Raven„ “But-...but, this, without a doubt, was like EXTRA EXPENSIVE!! How did you-?„ “Oh the teachers gave me a hand with money, I helped them after hours and they paid me for it. It was..some very long 5 months„ “FIVE?!„ While Idia was surprised by your gesture, he couldn't help but smile brightly at the gift. Again, the thought of you doing something like this for him...he knew you knew he was a loser who stayed in his room all the time, despite that you still went out of your way to buy something like this. He turned his face to you, his tips of his hair pink and so were his cheeks. “T-thanks... really, I love it„ “You're welcome„ And that's when Idia saw it, despite the genuine smile on your face, he knew there was something else that was bothering you. It's a thing he picked up after staying so much with you, your habits and what they meant. “What's up?„ His concern didn't go unnoticed by you. You took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes, and oh, how beautiful those yellow eyes were. “There's uh... there's something else in the box..„ The blue haired man looked in the box again, and he noticed a paper. He took it out and he figured it was some sort of birthday card. He heard you whisper read it with your head turned around so you wouldn't look at him. Oh boy, what was it? Is it bad? Did you want to break his friendship with him and you wrote it there?!? Did you realize he's a loser and you left him for someone better?! No that can't be! How would he be able to bottle up the courage to confess if you wouldn't be friends anymore?!? Idia didn't like that one bit. Trying to ignore the overthinking in his head, with shaking hands Idia opened the card.

He looked at the text first, mostly admiring your beautiful hand writing. As he started reading, his hair became more and more pink while progressing through the card. He thought he was going to die right then and there when he first read the words "I love you" Idia likes you, he loves you, he adores you so much, he can't even put it into words. He loves your presence, your laugh, your face, everything. He had never told you simply because he knows he's an ugly loser, and you'd never like someone like him. But right now, with the card in his hands, he can't help but silently yelp and the words. You love him and he loves you.

Looking back at you, Idia noticed you still didn't look at him. Body slightly shaking in anticipation. You were scared, scared that he might think it's disgusting for you to feel such things. Even tho he was the one to break the silence. “I- I really...-re-really...- love you...too„ SEVENS WHY WAS HE STUTTERING SO MUCH. He can't get a word out of his mouth. That's when you decided to finally look at him. Your eyes were wide and looking at him with your face read, Idia was thinking that surely his was redder than yours. He looked at the floor and spoke again. “I-I've liked you for..for a while„ Idia looked at you again, he knew you wanted to say something, he waited, not patiently, but he waited. Finally, you took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. Idia was sure going to faint if you kept looking at him like that. “Can I....can I kiss you?„ The moment those words reached his ears, Idia's hair turned a bright red. Of course he wanted to! He dreamed of kissing you, and that happened only in his fanfics! Maybe he shouldn't tell you that tho.

Idia slowly nodded and you both got closer to each other. Closer and closer until your lips meet. And, oh, Idia thought for a second he reached the heavens. How nice it was to kiss you. He hesitated for a second before he lightly put his hands on your waist, trying to get you closer. You answered by putting one of your hands on his cheek, while you intertwined your fingers with the other.

The kiss didn't last long, as Idia needed to breathe. Soft pants could be heard from him, his hair still bright red, like his face. You smiled at him, you smiled at him like you smiled at no one else. And so did he. He gave your hand a squeeze before, once again, breaking the silence. “Can we...do that again? Please..?„ You laughed before scooting closer to him, your bodies almost touching. You got close to his lips to whisper a barley audible "Of course we can„ Before kissing him once again.

Idia hoped he could stay like this forever. Now his birthday party long forgotten by the both of you, only thinking about each other at the moment, and how you hoped you could stay like this for eternity. Ah, how much he loved you.

[mostlymilkwood]

y'know nothing speaks louder to the amount of money going around in the 2000s anime boom than the fact that 2006 had three yuri anime's airing, two of which were 26 episodes, and all three of them got ps2 games.

Kashimashi and Strawberry Panic both got visual novels, and that's pretty standard as far as anime licenced games goes, it's still a lot of work to make but manageable under a certain time-frame and budget.

But Simoun? Simoun got a strategy RPG! which makes sense for the content of the show itself, it's a war story (with a lot of trauma, gender, and girl kissing thrown together) but how you know people were getting stupid with money is that Simoun... Was Not Even That Popular??? Like, even in yuri circles, which are niche themselves, it's not super well known!! you're way more likely to have heard of, and possibly watched, Strawberry Panic than you have Simoun. And listen, I say this as a Simoun apologist who has a soft spot for the series but it's truly wild that it 1. got a game at all 2. was not just a visual novel.

There isn't even a dedicated witch from mercury game on the horizon but the mildly well known within to yuri watcher anime Simoun has one?? honestly? bring back the this energy of 3 out of 5 licenced games, no more gacha tie-ins or games as a service, just games that are Totally Fine overall but fun to fans of a series.

[infrared135-36]

the zoomers playing gachas now get so defensive and aggressive over them compared to what I remember from the early to mid 2010s. I see so many people saying “well Y is a gacha but you totally don’t need to spend like Z gacha! It’s more like a live service!”, or “X gacha fans try playing a gacha that actually respects you like Y!” I see this all the time for people shilling shit like Arknights or Limbus Company. Please for the love of god can we get back to the point where everyone can recognize creating a game in the gacha genre is inherently exploitive. I’m not saying this to shame anyone who plays them because I don’t really give a shit, of course there’s pedo-pandering heavy games like blue archive and increasingly FGO that I wish would EoS but that’s a different discussion. If these “nice” gachas wanted to be “buy an update a month” or whatever live service games, they would have been. It doesn’t matter if you think they’re nice about it, they made these games specifically to be gachas because they make a shit ton of money. In one single “dead” month for Limbus Company they basically made the same amount of money that the entire Pathologic 2 kickstarter made for example. And this is even after alienating half their fanbase pulling that incel shenanigans shit.

You don’t need to defend their money grubbing asses even if idk you see the game as an inherent aspect of who you are and your identity so anyone criticizing the game itself is as if they’re criticizing you as a person, which, because of the growth of SNS sites especially since covid, I think a chunk of this is. I don’t think that makes these games unable to tell interesting and moving stories or have lovable characters - on the contrary, they have to make sure gacha-original characters will be pulled for, so they invest a lot of time into their appeal, even embarrassingly having them break the 4th wall and directly say this is the case like in FGO. However every single character design and story has to be created under the gacha framework and the unrelenting need to appeal to their userbase. Why do you think there’s a lot of “badass old men” designs in FGO but after 8 years there’s not one single woman with even the whisper a wrinkle? Why did they change Frankenstein’s berserker screams to be a cute anime girl voice? Why do many of the male Arknights characters have detailed, shaded and distinguished facial features while most of the female cast has the classic anime bug eyes, dot nose and line mouth, especially with the full animal-faced characters?

It’s like many entertainment industries where the characters must have mass appeal but on steroids because you’re not paying to buy the game, you’re paying for the 1% chance of getting the character, so the game lives or dies based on their appeal. I don’t even mean this in a sanctimonious “therefore don’t play them” way, there are “traditional” video game companies pulling stupid, damaging and illegal shit all the time, gacha is not the one single evil thing within the industry. I would just like to see recognition about what you’re playing. It’s a gacha game. Yes even Limbus Company is made to have you gamble, that’s literally the reason there’s daily log in incentives and a gacha currency…. It doesn’t matter if you think these games are nice or fair to you. They’re gacha games, they were made to make money from you first and foremost. Keep skeptical about what they do, you don’t need to jump in and defend their practices just because you like the game.

[ssruis]

Wrt the people talking about the new set as fan service: my initial reaction was also “oh cute” & moving on, but after carefully reading the full arguments of the people who found it distasteful, I agree with their points. I’d normally link or post screenshots of the points made, but since the Prsk fanbase apparently is jumping people over this on twt I don’t feel comfortable doing that. To summarize and add some of my own explanation:

> everything in gacha games is fan service, which doesn’t have to necessarily mean it’s sexual - ode for the pure of heart featuring rui/touya (popular with female audience) looking very princely was fan service. The white day knight/fantasy theming is fan service (popular & well loved aesthetic). Fantasia squad was fan service for the players who like the male characters, etc etc.

> I don’t feel like arguing about all of the cards, so I’ll just point out what bothers me about the most egregious example (Rin’s card)

When considering art, you have to consider the deliberate choices the artist made, and what messages they are trying to get across with the atmosphere they have created.

Why choose the maid aesthetic? Why make these cards a player pov? Why choose framing that (using the grid composition, contrast and lighting from the window, the way lines direct the eye) makes the points of interest and emphasis Rin’s face *and* butt? Why choose that pose, with Rin looking over her shoulder, with a surprised expression and prominent blush? Why is the posing reminiscent of art of vintage pin up girls (or any other similar art movement)?

It’s male gaze. The answer is male gaze.

The male gaze is often just associated with overt sexualization, but that’s an overly simplified definition. The male gaze can also be portraying women in positions of servitude (most often within the home), emphasizing body curves (even through clothes), voyeuristic povs, emphasizing cuteness/demure-ness/shyness, etc. It’s about the (assumed male) viewer having power over the female subject.

Rin is cleaning, the light from the window heavily highlights her butt, the framing of window itself specifically draws the eye from her head to her back to her butt using contrasting colors/light/point of interest, the parallel lines in the piece direct your eyes down her body (Japanese audience, reading image from right to left). If the emphasis was on the action she is doing, rather than her body, the light source and brightest colors would be on the other side of the image, the duster would be brighter, as would the objects/set pieces she’s interacting with.*

Sexualization/male gaze isn’t restricted to the very obvious “woman sexy posing in a bikini” image, and having that viewpoint will only serve to limit the ways you understand art and artist intention. It’s similar to taking “all art is political” to mean “all art is either republican or democrat” and responding “well that’s stupid and you’re stupid.” You’re missing the point.

I’m a little disappointed the knee jerk reaction here seems to be “you’re wrong and you’re actually a freak who sexualizes minors for pointing this out” here, especially because the point of calling this out is to say that it’s distasteful to do a card like this for a character who is, despite not having a canon age, pretty much portrayed as younger than the main cast (making her 15 or younger).

Nobody is saying “this set sucks you can’t like it if you like it you’re problematic and project sekai should be cancelled forever”, it’s just something to keep in mind. You don’t have to agree with the argument, but acting like anyone pointing this out is insane isn’t fair or justified.

> also just as a side note: maid cafés have a pretty long history of sexualization, with the emphasis/appeal of having power over the workers and them being your servant while dressed cute. I don’t entirely think this set was going for a maid café look, but I do think it’s something to be mindful of.

> *it’s a little hard to articulate/explain this, and my knowledge on how much the average person knows about stuff like this is skewed due to my own education in art/art history/design/etc. If you find this confusing, I’m willing to explain more in detail and specifically point out what I’m talking about.

> I have a different post on the taisho/daisho romance elements, which is an entirely different discussion, so I’m not bringing that up here.

[leggerefiore]

(Please ignore/delete this if requests are closed or if you find this request stupid, lol)

Any ideas/headcanons on how you think Lear (from Pokémon Masters EX) would be like if he was self-aware/sentient?

You think he'd get jealous/frustrated if the player paid more attention to other characters (especially in the Trainer Lodge where the player raise other characters friendship meters instead of his, oof)

Sorry to bother you with this, but Lear just has me in a chokehold now (alongside a few others - mainly Emmet and Ingo 🧍) not gonna lie🚶

cw: self aware/ddlc au, slight jealousy

👑Lear💎

🪙 Of course, he would be self-aware. Pasio is his island — He is the owner of Pasio. Really, the idea that you were seemingly unaware of that fact drove him mad. Even if the initial revelation was a bit maddening and terrifying. Seriously… The idea that he was some metaphysical concept trapped in a place that would never change alone was sincerely something he would never wish to deal with. Rachel and Sawyer were nothing more than code. It was something truly heartbreaking and cruel. Yet, in all his torment and pain, he noticed there was another consciously aware. That hatted person predetermined to be his rival— Well, not them in the game, but the person manning them. The world unavailable to him – the world that created him. Not that he cared. Pasio was his, after all.

🪙 Though, he desperately desired companionship. Real companionship. It was desperately lonely even if everything was truly under his control. He truly had become a king in a sense, but in exchange, he lost everything else. Pasio was completely under his dominion. Anything and everything could be manipulated by him. He could increase their rates in the gacha part or give them extravagant gifts to lure them back in more and more frequently. Their attention on him was a precious thing that he desired chiefly, among other things. Yet, you were simply unreachable. And he was terrified of shattering the illusion of it just being a game to you. What if you deleted the app? What would become of him? These thoughts left him petrified.

🪙 Though, he would allow himself small indulgences of speaking with you. Nothing in a standout way, but something to make it feel more personal. He slowly grew more and more fascinated by your reactions to things. New events, new characters, new outfits. Endlessly, he wanted to make you happier and happier. Yet, he knew he could never go too far. It was maddening resistance of his usual indulgence. Lear felt so desperate in spite of it all. Slowly, he felt his comprehension of code grow out from just the app that should contain him. The exploration of the device he was on led to information becoming clear to him. You seemed to have quite the infatuation with him, leading to him feeling quite flustered, and you likely would not mind if he showed himself as he was.

🪙 Which led to him revealing himself during your morning greeting from him. It usually had been him, after all. His smug grin was on his face as he greeted you by your real name. His gaze behind those shades was firmly on you as he waited for your reaction. You seemed unsettled at first, but he soon went into explaining everything. Eventually, you did seem to calm down. A conversation followed, which finally broke him free of the endless conversations with other code without the consciousness he had been granted.

🪙 Though, Lear was a demanding man. Talking soon proved not to be enough. Even if you lavished him with attention that he so craved, he could only watch your focus shift back to the actual game sometimes. He should have been happy you simply enjoyed Pasio so much, yet his panic when you seemed far too happy at other characters stung him. You would even talk to him, though they could not respond back. Even simply spending time with them in the lodge and calling them dates jokingly was enough to drive him a little mad.

🪙 Somehow, some way, he figures a way to pull you into this digital reality with him – He had no real interest in heading to the world you lived in. Enough conversations with you about it had fully turned him away. Instead, he wished to bring you into Pasio. Your initial confusion wore off as he approached you and caught your chin in his hand. His heart raced as he could finally physically touch and hold you. Your eyes were big with confusion. “Welcome to Pasio,” he smirked, “… I've been waiting for you for some time now.” He would make certain to give you such a joyous experience that you would never wish to leave him or Pasio. Naturally, too, he had already decided that you two were to love each other as well.

Finally, the prince felt contented.

[another-lost-mc]

Thinking about it, in a world with an otaku!MC the brothers are kind of obligated to be nicer to Levi bc any insults towards him would be dragging MC down with him..

A/N: Oooooh. I wrote Player Two which is the brothers basically treating Levi and MC the same (as geeky weirdos) but MC doesn't really care because Levi's the best friend they've always wanted. Thinking about the reverse of that situation is interesting in its own way too.

LEVIATHAN x gn!Reader, 0.6k words, SFW.

Content warnings: some cursing and jealousy.

It started with a pack of candy. Beel picked it up at one of the Devildom shops known for importing human world sweets. You've talked about the brand and he thought he'd surprise you. He would've given it to you in private, but Levi was glued to your hip more often than not these days. He found both of you in your bedroom playing Super Smash Devils.

"Oh...you meant this was for both of us, right?" you asked, glancing between the pack of candy and Levi guiltily.

Beel fumbled through a lie to cover up his mistake and rushed from the room. He makes a note for next time so he remembers to buy three boxes instead of two (one for you, one for Levi, and one for himself).

After he left, you took a piece for yourself and handed Levi the box. You hummed happily around the coated end of your stick candy while you turned back to the screen to select your character for the new match.

Maybe you bought Beel's flimsy excuse earlier, but Levi didn't. Things have been strange with his family lately, but you seem ignorant about the changing family dynamics going on around you.

The other siblings don't tease Levi anymore when he talks about a game he bought or some random gacha toy he managed to get, because you're excited about it too. They don't want to hurt your feelings, so they try to keep their opinions to themselves.

Some of them, like Beel or Mammon, make an effort to surprise you with little gifts: capsules from a gacha machine in downtown Devildom, overpriced knock-off plushies of anime characters at the ghost carnival passing through. Satan surprises you with manga off your Akuzon wish list, and Asmo paints your nails while you watch anime together in your room.

From Levi's perspective, their sudden change of heart about his dorky hobbies is a double-edged sword.

He's happy that they're accepting of you now. When you first arrived, they initially treated you like a weird outcast—the way they used to treat him. You're not as introverted as he is, and they're making an effort to include you both in activities you might actually enjoy.

But on the other hand, part of him wishes they would just fuck off. You're perfect. He knows you've charmed them as much as you've charmed him, but he was your friend first. He thought he was going to be able to keep you all to himself. He knew from the first time you stepped into his room that you were the real-life Henry he's always wanted. He's the one that should be buying you gifts so he can hoard your praise for himself. You should be spending time in his room, or inviting him to yours, if you want to watch anime.

Why are you even giving them a chance? They don't deserve it. They were too stupid to realize how special you were. Don't you realize they're only tolerating the things you love so they can be close to you?

He tries to hide his growing jealousy, but it gets harder as time passes and his brothers keep finding new ways to insert themselves into your hobbies.

You notice Levi's foul mood sometimes when he can't contain the bitterness that laces his voice or the irritation in his glances. He gives you an excuse so you don't worry about him; he doesn't want to taint you with the bitter venom coursing through his veins.

You're finally happy living in the Devildom now that his family seems more accepting of you—of both of you.

He's furious that their acceptance means having to share you with anyone else.

[neomedievalistbr]

good god i hate gacha games

every new month there will a new ultra popular gacha game (this time there were 2! limbus and honkai [again]!), everytime ppl will play them, everytime after a certain amount of time ppl will grow tired of them and notice how it's affecting them negatively, theyll get too addicted to it and end up playing it too much or will spend money on it

and everytime damn time someone comes out of it after getting completely fucked over and says "guys please stop playing this game its literally doing bad for yall" and they'll get harassed bc theyre speaking against a largely "neurodivergent and q*eer fandom" or whatever

ppl will always get addicted to these games bc theyre made for it. limbus is no different, the difference is that ppl are Much more defensive over it bc of its "good story" "no fanservice" "actually well written female characters"

(its always the same shit. arknights is the same thing too)

the game has a system that forces ppl to keep replaying it for HOURS (but not too much, bc then youll lose interest) just for you to play the main story, fail and have to wait a whole day to repeat the process

or just spend money to make it go by much faster

but its not that bad, obviously! bc project moon is "incompetent"

which is my most HATED adjective to any company

theyre not "incompetent" they have full knowledge of what theyre doing (THEIR GAMES ARE LITERALLY ABT THAT) youre just incredibly stupid and prefer to look the other way while ppl are starting to go in debt trying to spend more

its actually disheartening to see so many stupid ppl coming together to defend companies that actively hate them and just leech off of them.

in conclusion:

gacha fans try not to defend that terrible capitalist company challenge (impossible)

[gacha-incels]

Been boycotting limbus but it's a bit disheartening seeing everyone continue around me with this passing intl women's day. I don't know how to convince my friends to stop without getting into an argument because they're all knee deep into these games. But my real question was.. why? These people are boycotting other products for other things, why are they so adamant with sticking on this when it's proven to have harmed so many people in the small team that made it?

Had a discussion with one who is boycotting and I feel like that "political correctness" seeps into the themes of the game, actually, despite how people tout it as the ultimate anti capitalist game; The City is suffering, workers gruel and die at the whims of corporate overlords, people struggle to find housing, and whatever the fuck Carmen's doing in the light, while it could help people survive longer, is just giving everyone guns ignoring the power structures underneath. It's very strange to me now there's.. no suggestion of uprooting the system at all in the games. No true strikes or protests or even any mentions of unions as far as I know. There's no effort to change what is given

[outside of the seed of light project, which 1. famously Didn't Work and 2. having everyone manifest ego is still just giving everyone guns and going "now don't shoot each other!"],

which is very strange and kind of sad? Like sure maybe an arbiter or something would come and tear it down but surely people would come up with countermeasures? People are really good at adapting around things out of desperation, and surely at least an effort would be mentioned

And then my friend, she suggested something; without project moon's suffering, there would be no project moon. Without the city, project moon can't make games. To end the hell that the characters are in and truly resolve the city's hypercapitalist dystopia, they must stop making money off of them. But they don't want to. They definitely DO want to make more games, noted by the interviews which mention future game concepts such as the distortion detective visual novel. But in order to do so, they must keep the current games "clean" and consistent in their suffering to perpetuate conflict. There is some commentary about capitalism to be had; but it feels more like a "oh, look, people are dying, this is so sad" layer of paint on it at this point rather than something more in depth and meaningful. And I think in enforcing this sort of "we can't fix the system in any meaningful way, let's just live our lives instead and hope something better happens" mindset, it reflects into the players. Kind of ironic how the anti capitalism game must sustain its own horrible systems internally so the owners of the series can: make more money through a very predatory money making system, no less!

Limbus fans don't give a fuck about feminism in kr, they think its a system they cant help fixing so they just play the game as they please and any attempt to disuade them is met with a "stop ruining my fun!!" And "who cares?" The worst ones are the ones who KNOW their money is being funneled into stupid misogynistic shit but don't care! It's insane! I've never seen this level of apathy towards a serious issue before!

Sigh. I hope this ramble is coherent. If I missed talking about something or if you want me to talk more I'm game. Project moon's characters are some of my favorites but you have to admit the themes are surface level shit at some point, especially in later installments of their games. So tired but I'd figure I'd share my thoughts somehow. Take care account admin, youre doing gods work

yeah regarding your first point about fans that keep playing, back in August there was a discussion on this blog here regarding contemporary fandom “culture”- how it makes dropping a piece of media hard for some people and why they feel so quick to defend it. the nature of gacha is also that it gets you into the habit of doing “dailies” which makes them harder to drop, this is not even mentioning sunk cost fallacy. I’ve seen a recent post on the FGO subreddit asking why people still play the game and the top posts by a longshot were ones saying only because they spent so much time and money on it. For a lot of people (even people who think themselves progressives) misogyny is a non-issue as well so they will not take the situation in South Korea that seriously to begin with. This is in addition to it happening to “other” or “foreign” women in the eyes of the western fan. There is also an aggressive “fuck you, I’ve got mine” attitude some of the fans who want to keep playing have in regards to these women. It’s disturbing to watch happen but unfortunately not uncommon. I find some of the worst of it, in this situation specifically, is when westerners try to tell Korean women (who are boycotting and spreading information) that they are the ones spreading misinfo, or there’s no reason for them to boycott, how it’s not that bad for them, how PM actually didn’t do anything wrong, “both sides” are crazy and wrong, “let people enjoy things”, shit like that. like doesn’t it raise any flags for you that the people most affected by PM’s actions, Korean women, deleted entire accounts of fanart, took back fanmade items from PM’s cafe, started a boycott of LC and made posts in english to try and get the word out to international fans? you must think they’re idiots if you believe this is all some misunderstanding and vellmori quit of her own free will. Come on. imo it’s impossible to make any meaningful statement critiquing capitalism when you’re writing it in a game that uses one of the most exploitive types of gambling mechanics. I hope I don’t have to explain to anyone why this is absurd. You don’t need to expose young people to gambling addictions in order to fund new games. At the same time, things an author writes (or things that the reader infers from the writing) do not always reflect their ideologies or actions in real life and they can sometimes seemingly be at odds with one another. This is something fans have to reckon with, and not just by saying “actually hatsune miku made limbus company” or whatever. Personally, I can’t take PM’s “anti capitalist” or “feminist” or “revolutionary” work seriously when in reality they have mistreated employees, sued labor unions, acquiesced to incel demands and then later added a meme into the game from that incel community. On the other hand people struggle to believe Project Moon could do anything wrong like this because of the stories in their games so they vehemently defend PM, which at some point just feels naïve. well hopefully this is the type of answer/discussion you were looking for lol thanks for writing 👍

[sewmice]

"Hey Sewmice, how'd the Tokiya gacha treat you?" BAD

120 pulls and I have nothing to show for it! Not a single UR!!! Which at a 2% rate, is ridiculous!!! I'm washed up on my stats, but I'm pretty sure it's an incredibly low chance to have not gotten a UR by then. Like 8%-9% if I did my math right? Not impossible, but so fucking unlikely. There's a reason why so many games put a 50/50 pity on their 2%'s at 50-100 pulls. SL did 50, right at odds. Genshin has it at 90, right when you hit stupid unlucky territory.

Honestly I could go on a whole rant and am resisting it. I was fine with how the pity worked until now. It's not great. It could be way better. But statistically....you'll probably get the card you want before 200 so it was fine. Because you'll pull a couple URs before then in theory and one of them will probably be what you wanted.

They did not account for the stupid unlucky chance of getting NO URs.

Just....add a 50/50 pity between 50-100 pulls....Let pity carry over maybe? And god raise the amount of tones we can earn.

Maybe then we consider pulling on banners for other boys too! Or our boy's SRs! (Also add more new SRs to banners too. God 1 UR and 1 SR is so annoying)

God I miss everything about Shining Live's rewards and gachas....Aside from having to tier to max cards of course

[astridthevalkyrie]

U want lds thoughts? I gotchu 🫡

I really like all 3 boys, but I'm leaning Zayne bc he's just so husband coded. He's the only one I could see a long-term relationship w. I love Xavier and Rafayel, but I just can't picture them as husbands or dads (at least w my MC/myself). I also desperately need them to interact in game and in the main story, there's just sm potential for chaos and funnies.

I honestly dk what will happen next. Obviously, MC is gonna want to investigate Onichynus and her heart, but idk how that story will unfold or how they'll tie in the stories w each li and their separate myths/reincarnation bit. (Also, the fact that the myths happen in the future doesn't make sense to me yet, so I hope they plan to really flesh that out and not give us questionable writing like most mobile otomes do). Idk how I feel abt Sylus (and possibly Caleb) becoming lis, ig I'll have to see what they're like and if they appeal to me at all, bc so far we haven't had enough Caleb content for me to actually get attached (I was also convinced he was MCs brother so idt I'll ever be able to see him romantically 😭).

I hope we'll get to see more of the side characters and what MCs life is like outside of just the three guys, but I honestly doubt it lmao (more for me to hc abt ig lol).

I have more but this is already rambly and idk how to be coherent rn. This game is giving me brainworms and I'm def thinking abt it too hard. Oh, well. I don't consume media, media consumes me.

i'm telling you it's xavier boyfriend zayne husband and rafayel sneaky link. that's exactly the look and vibe they give off.

i think as of right now zayne is the most popular, at least on ao3 him/mc is the most popular ship. which is just to be expected when you have a levi ackerman coded character LOL. like you said, he's a husband. he just is. he's a doctor and he's successful and he cares for the mc so deeply it just makes sense. i started the game for him because. i mean he looks like THAT. he acts like THAT. he has ice powers and you get to melt the ice in his heart and make him love you i adore that shit see my pinned post for the kind of romance i write you could make a zayne x reader set in the aot universe and it would be my fic. and dooooooon't get me started on dawnbreaker zayne. DON'T GET ME STARTED i gasped during the anecdote when the truth about the kid comes out. he dreams about his past life what the fuck bro what the fuck.

surprisingly, though, while i do love him, he's probably the one i've had the least amount of thoughts about (that's still clearly a lot of thoughts so that's not saying much). i think it's partly because my gacha favors xavier and rafayel a lot more and right now i pretty much am just heavily thinking about whichever guy i consumed the content for last.

xavier and rafayel have me obsessed. i thought xavier would be completely meh because zen from mysme was meh for me. but um. he was not meh. my levi hawks pattern has told me that i love a man who was forced into fighting because of the stupid goodness in his heart and manipulative outside forces. and even though that's not exactly what's going on with xav, he does have that vibe. his is the only myth i've watched in full and i'm just. they should have been able to go to uluru together. the scene where they're both lying on the ground i have watched it so many times. i love love love the royalty x captain of the guards trope so much. the fact that they both serve in both roles is insane. i've read the anecdote about her first life on philos too there's a fucking part in there that talks about how he shares his EARBUDS with you?????? end me.

and rafayel is beautiful. like he's actually beautiful. his english voice actor makes him sound so fucking bisexual + the bi wife energy whenever you're with him is just. UGH. the game is hilarious whenever he's on screen and obviously with the way the main story has ended for now he's the most intriguing. and while you can feel the pining energy from all three of them, his is just. lowkey the most pathetic. and i eat it up. bro started TEACHING AT HER COLLEGE just for the chance to see her. i like that he's not possessive per se but he is very whiny and attention seeking the sassy man syndrome is real. i need to unlock his myth but i'm not patient so i may very likely just watch it on youtube. i need to see hunter rafayel. i need to see him right now.

the main story is genuinely fascinating. i was a little bit bored up until the explosion happened and it really kicked in. bc suddenly it's not just 3 guys and you doing your best, but you actively investigating and them helping you. like i said i don't have raf's myth and i haven't finished zayne's yet (need more fucking upgrades to his card) so i don't have the full story but at least what i'm getting right now is okay. they're all from the past or future. they all remember?? xavier and rafayel definitely do. zayne knows something about grandma who seems kinda shady to me. i've seen the caleb=sylus or at least caleb lives theories. i saw someone say the man at the end isn't sylus though? and his english va is the same as caleb's but in other languages it's someone else. idk.

idk about the others but xavier's myth being in the future makes sense. i'm pretty sure the timeline goes: in our current timeline, earth is about to go bye-bye and become inhabitable bc of wanderers -> survivors go to philos -> xavier and a new mc are both born -> she dies bc of something in her heart and is reborn bc she's the only one who's truly immortal (everyone else on philos lives forever naturally but can still be killed i think??) -> new lightseeker mc and xavier are meant to become guard and prince respectively but philos is dying -> to save mc from being sacrificed again and again xavier decides to go back in time to find another way where he after at least like 200 years meets current timeline mc

i know what you mean about not being able to see caleb as a love interest. the first time i saw him i genuinely thought they had no need to make my brother this hot what the fuck. and then i realized he was just her childhood friend and i went

and then he blew up 😭

i neeeeeed to see the love interests interact. i mean mc barely thinks about the others whenever she's with one but i really hope in the next arc we actually see them meeting each other. beefing or working together or whatever, i need to know (i may also have already started a fic about what's gonna happen next bc i'm mentally ill). xavier has a tracker on her so he should be able to find her and zayne kinda disappeared off the face of the earth but i want them all back. i want interaction. i want it so bad.