#you might see me bring it up in the time loop story maybe

[cabeswaterdrowned]

Gansey’s ‘confession’ to Blue about how he had to talk Adam into talking to her is so… I think I mentioned it before but it’s interesting to me that we get the scene from Blue and Gansey’s pov but not Adam’s…. I think it could have gone several ways and we’ll never know (well I think the graphic novel has an opportunity to make some interpretational choices with it but other than that). It could have been Adam is clearly looking at Blue and Gansey can tell he wants to talk to her but isn’t confident enough so he says some things about how Adam is wonderful and desirable and any girl would be lucky to date him and Adam relents and Gansey goes to talk to Blue for him, it could be that Gansey was actually looking at Blue first and maybe even had the thought that he isn’t the type of guy a girl who presents and dresses like Blue would like so doesn’t pursue her even though he would like to, she would obviously be more interested in a guy like Adam in his eyes, and because he wants to do something nice for Adam that doesn’t involve money pointed her out to Adam then did the set up thing. Another thing I think I mentioned to you I had contemplated before is that this is the day after the corpse road and therefore the day after Gansey hears his own voice on the recording and subconsciously knows he’ll die. Which definitely influences things like his desperation to get Adam out of the trailer and Ronan protected. So maybe he has a specific idea to set Adam up with a girl because he deserves love / should have someone when Gansey is gone, and Gansey can have done this for him without it being something that would instigate a fight, and it would in a way tie Gansey’s memory to the relationship for Adam. But then he meets Blue properly and he’s fascinated by her and feels seen by her in a way he isn’t by anyone even Adam, and knows she’s his death and maybe is even more excited by that on some level, and also less afraid… This is extrapolation to the extreme but. Basically I think there are a lot of creative places to take this concept.

[eff-plays]

Ok so I watched the interview with Stephen Rooney, Astarion's writer, and here are some highlights. (I'm an aspiring writer and current game design student who wants to write for games so I'm sorry if some of these insights aren't as interesting to you as they are to me <3)

He calls Astarion his "horrible little vampire boy"

He loves seeing the fandom around Astarion<3

He did write other characters in the game, but mostly NPCs surrounding Astarion or his storyline, so it mostly revolved around Astarion

Astarion is not as connected to other companions/Origins as, for example, Lae'zel and Shadowheart, or Wyll and Karlach are to each other, but he is still reactive to their stories, even if it's just to stand off to the side and laugh when something terrible happens

He had a clear sense of where Astarion's story would start and end, but it got "muddy in the middle", but those are also moments where the best ideas come from

They write from the general idea that every character has one "good" and one "evil" ending, in order to give the player choice. RIP Ascendant apologists :(

According to Stephen, two of the most important aspects of Astarion's character (to keep consistent when bringing him to Idle Champions, at least) is that he enjoys violence, but is also fun about it

"He has a certain appreciation for violence, I guess? A bit of a murdery streak. [...] He's a vampire, he's all about blood, and he's all about, kind of, those darker sides of humanity. [..] But at the same time, he is ... He is really fun, he's really fun to write, he's really fun to have in your party, and it's very important for me that that is also represented."

"He's gonna stab you, but will have a smile on his face as he does it? I mean, I dunno. That's kind of him in a nutshell."

Larian would not have allowed for Astarion to be a typical brooding Dracula type, and there were scenes that were shot down for not being original enough

The main thing about Astarion was trying to get a "sense of fun." It would be easy to write a character that was very unlikable, and they absolutely did not want to do that

Rooney says Astarion is consistently terrible throughout the game and awful in a whole lot of ways, but he also needed to be charming enough that you could tolerate his presence and wanted him around

Rooney also had a lot of input on Astarion's stats (meaning the 10 Charisma is probalby 100% intentional)

He also had input on how certain lines should be delivered, even though the writers didn't directly work with voice actors

The way Astarion moves and poses is "all Neil"

Apparently, Neil Newbon worked on the character for years and Rooney did not speak to him once, though his voice work did influence how Astarion's lines were written and it became a "feedback loop" (Possible context for "ONLY SLIGHTLY, NEIL")

There were no points where a line delivery drastically changed Astarion's writing; rather it was a constant, slow evolution

However, there was one very spoilery moment where Neil gave such emotion to some "basic" lines that it fundamentally changed the scene (WHAT IS IT OMG)

It's difficult to balance approval, as you don't want to straight up write a monster. Every character needs to have some humanity in them. So if it comes to leaving the party, it needed to be the result of something central to said character. They wanted to be mindful of situations that would cause actual rifts between characters. (I assume this is why most generic disapprovals/approvals are +/- 1 or 2, while character-related ones give +/-5 or more)

However, as they don't write straight up horrible people/monsters, it doesn't come up as often as one might think.

The interviewer makes a point about how characters like Astarion and Lae'zel are good examples of how to play "evil" characters, as they are maybe not the best people but are still eager and willing to stick around the other party members

They worked to make sure the characters would work as a group, no matter the configuration of the group. The characters needed to be on the same path, even if they don't always agree or walk that path the same way.

Stephen Rooney is very proud of the "climactic" scene of Astarion's story. (AS HE SHOULD BE.) He even had to step away from the computer and have an emotional moment. Me too, man.

He's also "extremely pleased" that there's a point where you can punch Astarion in the face. "Actually, that one might be my favorite part" A MAN OF THE PEOPLE!!

Stephen Rooney's tip on what specific thing you should try out with Astarion: When he's trying to get a "sneaky nibble" at night, you should "probably" let him bite you. Way ahead of you there, sir.

No discussion about Astarion's romance unfortunately, but that's that!

[sabertoothwalrus]

I’ve seen you post some labru stuff and I’m curious what your thoughts on it are. personally I don’t see it? I can buy Kabru having feelings for Laios, but I think Laios wouldn’t be interested in Kabru, so it makes me wonder why so many people ship them. (Tbh I feel like Kabru has more chemistry with Mithrun anyway)

Sorry if this ask sounds rude, I just genuinely don’t understand the appeal of the ship, but I want to understand and I trust your analysis of characters very much :] maybe there’s something I’m missing

I really like both ships, actually!

For labru, there’s sooooo much I could talk about. The inherent homoeroticism of being narrative foils. The inherent homoeroticism of being the king’s advisor. All of chapter 76. The fact that Kabru has mask upon mask upon mask, and Laios is the first person that made his facade absolutely crumble.

Kabru struggles with being genuine!!! Everything he says and does is so perfectly calculated, even when he sort of means it. But since Laios doesn’t get social cues, Kabru gets thrown for a loop.

I get so frustrated when people act like Kabru still hates Laios by the end of the manga!!!!! He killed those corpse retrievers for being corrupt, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to kill Laios. He has such a strong sense of justice, and knew that killing Laios would be a mistake. Because, after meeting him, he could tell he wasn’t actually evil. He’s strange, sure, but not evil.

Kabru DEFINITELY wants to be friends with Laios!! He was not lying about this!!!

But this last comic shows how much Laios wants to be friends with Kabru, too. He’s so nervous after calling Kabru his friend 😭 he doesn’t want to be presumptuous and fuck it up again.

Laios does show an interest in Kabru, at least when Laios thinks he’s interested in eating monsters too. Like,, what was up with THIS

Laios’s gaze is LINGERING. Plus, (this is before that bit at Thistle’s house when he forgets his name) he brings up Kabru when they first form their plan to eat Falin.

And maybe this is just because of my own personal experiences, but Laios reminds me a lot of my own girlfriend. I think they have a similar flavor of gay/aspec & autism combo where, had I not asked her out first, she probably never would have considered being interested in me. But she was very down when I did.

The tricky part about labru is more the political aspect. Regardless of whether you see Laios as aroace or not, he’s in a situation where he will probably get married. He had a fiancée before he was age 13, likely betrothed since he was a baby. He’s already comfortable with the idea of getting married because He’s Supposed To.

However, Laios is king, and could make gay marriage legal if he wanted to (He would probably do this for his sister and Marcille before considering it for himself ). But at the same time, I think Kabru would object to Laios making whatever policies he wants without considering the repercussions of how other kingdoms might react, especially when they’re just getting Melini off the ground and need lots of support from other countries. Laios and Kabru getting gay married anyway and dealing with the aftermath could make for a really compelling story.

I do think Kabru would be a good ruler. He’s already fit for it. He speaks a dozen languages, he knows people and their motivations, and likes politics. The manga already joked about Chilchuck’s daughters trying to marry a king, so it seems like noble blood isn’t too important, but Kabru’s foster family IS nobility. When it comes to heirs, I do like trans Kabru headcanons, but at the same time, I think it’d be cute if they adopt anyway. Kabru seems like he’d have strong feelings about adoption given,,, yknow.

The alternative version of labru to this is Laios gets straight married out of obligation, and Kabru is his mistress hdhdhshsj. I don’t know if I could see Laios doing that? or if Kabru would risk the scandal of being outed as Royal Advisor and Regent trying to seduce the king. It could go SO downhill. but maybe that would be fun.

NOW FOR KABUMISU.

I knew people shipped them, and I could see the basis for it while reading, but I wasn’t really sold on it until the very end. There’s something about “I had no desires left. I decided to create new desires, and one of them is you” that’s really charming.

There’s also something funny about “the demon ate my heterosexuality so I’m gay now”

I think it’s interesting that Kabru hates elves. He was raised by them, and he hates them. He hates feeling patronized by them. He made absolutely sure that elves wouldn’t take control over Melini, not just for his sake, but for Rin’s.

But Mithrun’s interactions with Kabru are founded on more mutual respect. Though, that’s not to say that Mithrun doesn’t still have his biases towards short lived races..

Where Laios doesn’t understand social cues, Mithrun does but just doesn’t care. For that reason, I think Kabru would enjoy spending time with Mithrun. It’d give him a break from his compulsion to calculate all of his social interactions. But at the same time, Kabru is the KING at bottling his emotions. Mithrun is blunt, but also doesn’t care enough to pry. If Kabru had anything bothering him, I could imagine him seeking Mithrun’s company to avoid thinking about it. Could make for a fun dynamic.

I do think it’s funny that Milsiril 1) took care of Mithrun for potentially 20 years and 2) is only four years older than him. I imagine this could lead to funny situations.

I don’t ship things for no reason! I think both of these could work platonically, romantically, one-sided, or even “requited but they don’t do anything about it.” Their relationships compel me and I think it’s sort of bad faith to brush off either like they’re nothing more than baseless yaoi pair-the-spares. To me, I see just as much of a foundation in the source material as farcille.

After all, dungeon meshi isn’t a story about romance, but it IS a story about love. It’s a story about life and death and grief and the love that comes with it. Regardless of shipping, these characters love each other!!! And I love talking about it!!

[genericpuff]

wait wait wait, regarding that Minthe post, you're telling me that Rachel literally wrote the character as having BPD.....and portrayed her as an abusive mean piece of shit??? WOW. fucking WOW. sorry for being so angry, but even if she "retconned" that - it's still so god damn disrespective. as someone who has BPD it hurts so much to see my mental illness villanised :(

ugh I'm so sorry pal. and I don't blame you for being angry about it, like I don't even have BPD and I'M fucking pissed LOL like I can understand why Rachel might have wanted to backtrack from that knowing fully well that Minthe's story wasn't gonna have a happy ending, but writing her with BPD in the first place and then BACKTRACKING from it as soon as she likely got heat for it (or just realized it wasn't a good look) isn't much better because it means now all she's done is written the stigmatized negative effects of BPD into her character without showing the more positive outlooks of healing and managing. Maybe that was doomed to happen considering Minthe is someone who doesn't get a happy ending in the myths, but it begs the question of why she'd write her with BPD to begin with because in hindsight it really does seem like she just wanted to use it as a way to make her "evil".

But like, when you read the actual episode, you can SEE the potential there for character growth, you can SEE that she's aware of her actions - but doesn't understand why she's "like that" which is a VERY common feeling among people with undiagnosed mental illnesses - but it was never meant to be.

Like jfc not only is it HEAVILY IMPLIED, but again, the episode is literally called "Splitting". And we see exactly that with Minthe, who can't seem to rationalize with herself that she messed up.

But... that leads me to another point that I failed to mention in that first ask response: she DIDN'T mess up. Like, yes, she messed up by escalating it to the point of slapping Hades, but it wasn't her fault that she didn't make it to her date with Hades. Whose fault was it?

Continuously throughout the first season we see Thetis being an awful influence who manipulates and gaslights Minthe. They're "friends", but it's clear Thetis does not have Minthe's best interests in mind. In this very scene we see Thetis manipulate Minthe and even attempt to get her so drunk that she won't be able to show up to her date. And then of course when that plan works and Minthe freaks out, Thetis spins it around on Minthe in a very passive-aggressive way.

But of course, the narrative has to find a way to turn this whole thing on Minthe being the bad guy. Hence we get the slap which shifts the focus entirely away from what led up to it back onto Hades who has, in a lot of ways, put her in a situation that she can't control. And of course, being in those kinds of situations does not help with mental health.

Like, sorry, I'm really going off here now, but... the slap happens in Episode 76.

When is it finally addressed again? Episode 103.

It took Rachel nearly THIRTY EPISODES to finally bring it back to Minthe, and in that time the reader has spent SEVERAL EPISODES reading about how sad and lonely Hades is, and about how cute and lovey he is with Persephone. The reader has not had ANY time to reflect on Minthe's circumstances, because it completely pivots away from her to focus on H x P as a sort of distraction from the fact that Minthe is a victim in her own right.

And when it DOES return to Minthe in 103, we get this harrowing reminder that her entire life is dependent on Hades-

And once again, here comes Thetis to the "rescue", reinforcing the negative feedback loop that Minthe is trapped in where she's put in unhealthy situations. She drags her to a bar and the whole time Minthe is not having fun because she's understandably still reeling from what happened.

Now we DO get some character development here, where Minthe realizes exactly what I've just finished explaining, that Thetis isn't her friend, that she'd rather not have Thetis as a friend than continue being talked down to and manipulated.

But then, as we know, because Rachel still needs Minthe to be the "bad guy", the breakup between Hades and Minthe winds up being all about Persephone from a POV that attempts to villainize Minthe for being "jealous" (rather than focusing on how shitty Hades actually is for having an emotional affair with Persephone to begin with) and then Minthe goes right back to hanging out with Thetis anyways for the sake of having the "evil other girl" who wants to "ruin" H x P's relationship.

It's not until Season 3 that we finally see Minthe tell Thetis to fuck off for good, but by then it's too little too late, and Minthe has lost an entire character arc. Rachel tries to go "see! Minthe's life is so much better now that she's taking care of children!" but that's an entirely different solution to a problem Minthe never had. She never got treatment for her BPD. She just got away from H x P which, while is a good thing, isn't actually analyzed as such. It's treated more as a "good thing" for H x P and the readers, because now they don't have to be subjected to Minthe's evil scheming anymore, something something "the evil is defeated". And don't even get me started on this comic's problem with constantly resolving female characters' story arcs through motherhood.

It bums me out so fucking much. Minthe deserved so much better. She's one of the many characters in LO who make it so painfully ironic when they're done dirty, because despite Rachel's attempts to write a "feminist retelling" that focuses on "moving on from trauma", she's inadvertently done more damage to feminism and the stigmas around mental health and trauma through her assassination of grounded and realistic and relatable characters like Minthe and Demeter who are shown ZERO empathy or understanding for their actions (unless it can be done so by making Persephone and Hades into the heroes). It happens so often throughout the comic it almost feels like how the comic markets itself as a "progressive feminist retelling" is some sick joke that I'm just not getting.

[viquipo]

No bc I'm so mad rn I usually post my rants on ig stories but I need the tumblrites to tell me if I'm crazy or what. Jwcc/ct spoilers WHATEVER

First of all I want to preface this by saying that this is just my opinion on the matter, I'm not saying your headcanons are "wrong" or whatever tf, it's a kids cartoon where they unironically use terms like "fam". You can play with the characters however you'd like.

That being said, this is why TO ME it does not makes sense for Ben to be anything other than gay. Again, if you think he's bi or straight or anything else that's cool. I'm also leaning towards the opinion that he does actually have a girlfriend. I don't think the shows gonna pull a 180 on it because, realistically, 2 queer characters is already a lot for a DreamWorks kids show. As much as I'd like it not to be.

But, since the beginning, Ben has been very clearly coded as exclusively into men to me. Before finally going into it, I remind everyone on here that I'm a lesbian. I have felt an affinity with his character specifically for the experience of only liking the same gender. I might be totally projecting.

Ok, so.

1. The arc Ben goes through during the show is yes, one of self discovery, but also one of self acceptance. He changes a lot from the start of s1, but he also comes to terms with stuff himself or other people didn't like about him. He doesn't throw the dork pouch away or tells Kenji to keep it, the first thing he does when he takes it back from Kenji is put on hand sanitizer. He is covered in dirt, he's not afraid of filth anymore, but he still does that action because it's part of who he is as a person. He also becomes very unashamed at the things he does. He went from being embarrassed of his carob bars to eating grubs in front of people who he knows think it's gross. He knows himself as he is and he accepts it. To me (and to lots of other people) this works very well as a gay metaphor, and pairs up pretty nicely with the whole "jungle boy? Jungle MAN" arc being a trans metaphor. But how does this make Ben uniquely into men?

Well, it doesn't. But I think this next one does.

2. Enter Yasmina. She's pretty, she's smart, athletic, funny, all that good stuff. I'm not saying that means every wlm character should automatically be into her, but it certainly helps. Now forgive me if I don't remember specific episodes/seasons, but we all remember that episode where Ben convinces himself that Yaz is in love with him for some reason. When he "rejects" her, he says : "I'm just now starting to find myself". That's cool, cause I'm pretty sure Ben's " finding himself " personality wise was over and done a couple of seasons ago. To me, that is a really good hint at him dealing with his gayness.

3. He's also the first person Yasmina talks to about her feelings for Sammy. Now, in this particular context, the options for Yaz to talk to were Darius, Brooklynn, or Ben. It would initially seem to make more sense for her to confide in Brooklynn, since the two of them are far closer than her and Ben, and it also wouldn't be the first time she brings up Sammy as a romantic interest for Yaz (see: everyone tweaking abt that one line back in like s2). So why does Yasmina, a very private and reserved person, choose Ben to talk to about her same sex crush? She has probably gathered from the previous conversation that Ben relates to her struggle in a unique way in which Brooklynn just can't. Ben seems very receptive of what Yaz is saying ("feelings, am I right?") and it seems like he REALLY gets where she's coming from.

4. This is one I don't see talked about a lot, and maybe it's just cause I'm too out of the loop with the fandom, but I want to examine it as well. It's when Ben decides to not actually stay on the island. Everyone (except Sammy) already knew he wasn't going to stay in the end, but still didn't force him out. I think this is especially clear in a line Darius says when they reunite on the boat that goes something like "you needed to figure it out on your own" *smile hand on shoulder combo*. No explanation needed I think

I am diagnosed with autism did you guys know what

[lime-bloods]

thoughts on Scratch's Parlor that don't really lead anywhere in particular:

I saw someone point out that these final three chapters consist of two different pool balls separated by what looks like it could be a sprite-oriented intermission, and that this might be taken as suggesting two takes on the Doc Scratch confrontation - the 8-ball chapter representing the version where Vriska is in control, and not the cueball. I'm torn on this.

one the one hand, I think it would be a really compelling elaboration on the "recovery isn't linear" theme for Vriska's therapyquest to not involve beating Scratch at all! (in my search for sicklyseraphnsuch's post I saw someone refer to this as scars "healing around" the trauma and moving on, which I thought was really good but immediately lost the post. shoutout if that was you.) this chapter didn't end like previous fail states; the time loop didn't repeat (Scratch specifically says no do-overs!) and we end on a level-up screen, which brings a level of finality to the interaction.

on the other: having Vriska spend some time working on herself, hanging out with the sprites like they asked, and then be able to re-approach the same situation with a new mindset and ultimately come out victorious would be a great demonstration of her ability to grow and solve problems without brute force. after all, while Vriska did level up this month, she didn't fill out her echeladder like she has in previous chapters, and her previous failures to advance in the time loop have all ended in death, either by Tavros' lance or being eaten by her mother... so maybe that's all "no do-overs" means? Scratch won't kill her, so she won't get to play this conversation out again, but that doesn't mean she can't come back and initiate another dialogue entirely, try to overcome him a different way... if Vriska needs to learn to grow without burning her candle, maybe she just won't earn any new levels in sprite chapter, and she can come back and finish what she started for the big finale?

both options clearly have thematic value, which is a great position for a story to be in.

I absolutely see the appeal of the common theory, too, that the 8-ball chapter will feature Vriska confronting herself (possibly in the form of the alternate (Vriska)). but I also think the events in Scratch's Parlor cast the idea of Vriska confronting a younger version of herself in a totally new light... one thing I realised upon reading the linked post is that the final chapter is of course represented by an 8-ball because the 8-ball is the ball the player has to pocket to finish the game. but Vriska is already in a pocket in the form of a black hole: so for Vriska to sink the 8-ball here means what, exactly? to sink another Vriska into the hole so she can be free? leaving a younger Vriska behind while the alpha continues on into adulthood would be a potent symbol of growth, for sure - but it would also be a repeat offense.

say that is the path we go down, though; the big finale to Vriska's therapy is a confrontation with herself. it occurs to me that there's an alternative - but equally nonoptimal - consequence to journeying into the underworld and confronting the shadow-self. and it's one that anyone who's seen Twin Peaks will already be intimately familiar with: what if isn't Vriska who sinks {Vriska} into the pocket to win the game? what if the "Hell Tier" Vriska who escapes from the Plot Point is in fact the shadow-Vriska? it would certainly put a dark spin on this particularly emphatic thread of philosophising we've followed in the pages leading up to now:

JAKE: [...] its nice to think that there might be countless janes somewhere out there who never stopped being happy [...] If i can believe in those janes, / i think i can let this one go. (p. 635) VRISKA: C'mon, we're not doing this again. You can't keep comparing yourself to her! She's a freak and you're like the least freakish person I've ever met. NANNASPRITE: [...] it's simply a fact of reality. [...] The past is always going to be the past. [...] And while in my twilight years of retired spritehood, I have often pondered the "could be." / Seeing that choice isn't innate to every iteration of Jane Crocker has assured me that I did indeed fulfill a path of potential to its fullest degree. I'm grateful to her for that... marginally. (p. 666)

of course, we've already seen this play out to an extent with the younger Vrissy, who Vriska evokes directly in her conversation with Momfang ("I didn’t have to go through aaaaaaaall of THAT to 8e strong. Vrissy didn’t!"). and something I've maintained ever since the the veil was finally pulled off the Plot Point is that there is absolutely no way Beyond Canon can possibly sustain itself if that damn black hole manages to produce yet another set of duplicate characters- OH SHIT

Due to principles of uncertainty regarding the existence of angels in a vacuum, each splits in to ANGEL/ANTIANGEL PAIRS. For each pair, one of the two escapes, while the other falls back into the black hole.

[beauty-and-passion]

CCCC Vol.1 - Cacophony: back into one (5/5)

Wow, we’ve reached the end of the Cacophony act!

Let’s recap the story until now:

Mind and Heart try to cooperate, then start drifting apart because of their natural differences

The Juno incident fucks everything up

Heart surrenders to apathy, he leaves Mind in full control of the vessel

Mind berates Heart whenever he can, trying to get a reaction out of him. He fails so much, in the end, he thinks Heart is nothing more than a virus that should be removed.

And since now things can become truly dangerous, Soul finally intervenes.

<- Previous post - First post

_______________________________

The Soul Eclectic: the real ultimatum

* Soul’s nature

Heart is associated with “acoustic” to emphasize his connection with songs and Mind with “electric” to emphasis his nature as “cynical machine”. Soul, on the other hand, is associated with “eclectic”, to point out how broad and variegated his nature is.

He admits this firsthand, by saying “you can call me whatever”.

* Soul’s leading role

While Mind and Heart fight and bicker about who the leader is, Soul simply appears and:

scolds them both like kids (“Call me your host or call me insane/If that will help you stay in line”)

reminds them that no matter who the leader is, they still answer to him

reminds them that neither of them can control the Soul

calls them parasites living inside of him and scolds them again for nothing useful aside from their constant bickering

Mind or Heart might fight for leadership, but Soul is clearly a superior power - some sort of authoritarian/adult figure who controls the other two.

And yes, he’s not nice to them at all, but he said it since Dream: he’s tired of their bickering.

* Soul’s awareness

Soul is more aware than Heart and Mind about how right and wrong they are. Why each of them tries to insist that they’re 100% right and the other is 100% wrong, Soul can see that it’s more of a 50/50. He has a more detached, external view to their discussion - and a more objective one.

Also, he can see that they’re exhausting themselves: in order to win their stupid war at all costs, all they do is deteriorating their vessel.

And since Soul doesn’t want to destroy the vessel and resort to suicide, all he can do is give a real, final ultimatum. They have one last chance to cooperate. If they fail again, Soul will bring both of them down with him. And unlike Mind or Heart, who are equally powerful and thus cannot bring the other down, Soul proved he’s more powerful than them. So if Soul wants to destroy them both, he can definitely do it.

_______________________________

The Bidding: the reunification

There are four things in particular that got stuck with me here:

1) For the first and only time, Heart talks shit about Mind. He calls him “the piece of shit”, admits he stole his throne (aka his leader role) and even points out Mind never was the ruler - probably referring to a moment before the time loop (maybe the same Mind hinted in Be Born).

And Souls not only confirms that, but he points out it doesn’t really matter who the leader is, because neither Heart nor Mind can fully control him.

So the leader position is basically useless. Heart and Mind are equal. Sometimes, one can be more prominent than the other, but that’s it, they still won’t overcome Soul.

And if it sounds very realistic, it’s because it is.

2) All Soul needs is to confirm they will die today if they do not harmonize and bam, Heart and Mind find a way to harmonize. Talking about being persuasive and the true leader.

3) The harmonization happened over this line:

“Your silence (violence) deafens more than any sound”

Heart and Mind managed to find common ground only while stating their mutual distaste for each other. And yet, this is a step forward, because while stating “yes, I don’t like you”, they also point out the core reason why they do not like each other. The foundation of that mutual distaste.

For Heart, it’s Mind’s silence: that same silence from Night, after Heart asked Mind “What do you want?”. The silence that made his anxieties rise, that convinced him of Mind’s dangerous goals. The same silence that pushed Heart to act and led to the Juno incident.

For Mind, it’s Heart’s violence: the same violence we talked about in The Mind Electric, the violence that struck Mind the most because he was supposed to work with this guy and yet not only Heart tried to kill him, but even dug a hole for him.

And by pointing them out at the same time, they managed to switch perspective and see the problem from the other side’s point of view. Heart saw his own violence, Mind saw the effect of his own silence. It’s extremely clever and Chonny made it even more clever with the switching colors.

4) As soon as they harmonize, Soul immediately drops the suicidal thoughts and rejoices. It was a weak attempt, it wasn’t very harmonious either, but it happened and that’s what matters the most. No matter how flawed it was, they still managed to do it.

As I said in my first post, it’s very typical of people with suicidal tendencies to drop the idea of suicide and immediately latch to a possible hope, no matter how small it is. And since Soul is closer and more similar to Chonny than the other sides, it makes sense he shows this kind of behavior. Heck, he even begs the other two sides to try again to harmonize. He, who was sick and tired of their constant bickering, who was ready to resort to suicide, as soon as he found some hope, immediately got his strength and his will to try again.

And no, it’s not weird, because it’s the same thing that happened in Dream: right from his very first song, Soul showed how tired he is, but also how hopeful he is. And if there is even one small possibility of success, he wants to give it a try. He did it with the time loop, he’s doing it again now.

_______________________________

Light: blurring the lines

*Soul’s payoff: as soon as Soul decides they should blur the lines, Mind and Heart’s rhythms change: Heart’s becomes more robotic, Mind’s becomes softer. I don’t know you, but to me that looks like another confirmation that Soul is the most powerful of the three sides.

And his hard work is finally paying off: by switching perspectives, Heart and Mind can better understand each other, to the point they manage to unify and Chonny as a whole can finally sing.

*Whole!Chonny is incredibly human: he’s the perfect representation of an ex-suicidal on the road to recovery. He still sees his flaws and imperfections, he’s still a “sad sulking mess”. But the negative, dark, pessimistic feelings are taking a step back, because of the overwhelming optimism born from the previous spark of hope in The Bidding. Going over something as dreadful as the idea to die makes the will to live grow stronger - consequently, the love for life increases too, as well as all positive, optimistic feelings. Even if things are still far from perfect, the mere idea of being alive is enough to push Chonny forward and convince himself things can go well.

_______________________________

We’re Gonna Win: a positive perspective

*Connection to Sanders Sides: after so many songs in which they were always at each other’s throat, Heart and Mind finally comes to the realization all they need is each other.

This heavily reminds me of the song Family of Me, from Thomas’ playlist. The interpretation I gave at the time is the same of this song: even if you’re physically alone, you’re never truly alone, because there will always be these parts of you at your side. Friends and family can disappear, love can fade, but your own self will never betray, nor leave you alone.

*Building confidence: If you think it’s a lonely though, consider this from the point of view of an ex-suicidal as Chonny: knowing that, no matter what, you’re never truly alone reassures you a lot. You’re not left to deal with these dark thoughts by yourself, there is always someone who loves, cares and supports you. It calms you, it reassures you - and it makes you more confident. You won’t fear being alone anymore, because you have yourself.

*After a heartbreak: this realization helps a lot especially after an heartbreak. Heartbreaks tend to make people feel weak, wrong, incomplete. But once you realize you’re not alone because you have yourself and yourself is all you need, then the ex isn’t so essential anymore. You can survive without them. Chonny survived without them. And if he’s alive now, it’s thanks to his own strength, not a loved one. Hence, he can face everything now.

*A burning passion for art: as soon as Chonny realizes he can do anything, he immediately reconfirms his love for songwriting and states he wants to make his own songs, until the day he dies. What a perfect representation of what the love for art is.

_______________________________

Two Wuv: the religious theme

We can’t have psychological stories without a sprinkle of religion.

This album makes it very clear that Chonny was/is a dark, depressed, disheartened person. A person who thought and talked about his dark thoughts, suicide and how bad he was feeling.

And yet, when he did it, the people around him failed to understand, help or accept him: they told him to cheer up, to stop talking about this, to “play the happy song”.

Is it so hard to believe that some religious figure told him the same? That instead of offering him the solace he needed, condemned him for being who he is and for his thoughts? That instead of helping, they made it worse?

So, Chonny taking a stand is very, very brave. He doesn’t just admit his flaws to himself, but he does it to the people around them, his family and religion itself. He goes against those huge old institutions to reaffirm who he is, flawed and all.

And, honestly, this is closer to Jesus’ original message, than the religious teachings he probably got. It’s more Christian to love someone for who they are, as long as they’re good people at heart, than judging people according to labels and arbitrary rules.

_______________________________

Variations on a Cloud: synchronized harmonies

Chonny is a lot more confident now. The Bidding started an “optimistic wave” that led him to a bigger understanding of himself and a higher self-esteem. He’s even strong enough to face the people in his life and show himself for who he is - the imperfect, flawed, human person he is.

But still, no matter how flawed he can be, he’s not alone. He has his sides with him, a “tridental sovereignty” helping and supporting him.

So, he shows this by letting them sing and showing us how they all work together now. Sure, they may have slightly different lines, but there is harmony. They are moving together in the same direction.

And so, since they’re all on the same page, they make the same ask: to “keep it coming back”. But back to what?

In the original song, this line was about memories. And here I think the meaning is the same: they are asking Chonny to remember. To revisit what happened, in order to find a closure. Now they’re together, they’re harmonized: they are strong enough to do it.

So Chonny does it and goes back to the start.

_______________________________

The Whole World & You (Outro from Cacophony): a meta retrospective

We have several voices here, all explaining what happened during this arc and drawing their conclusions:

*Chonny (alongside Heart) reconfirms his goal was the same as the Q&A: he wanted to sing about love and duality, the “blues and greens”, his dark thoughts. He wanted to better understand himself. And, if you remember, this exploration of himself always went hand in hand with a sense of inadequacy, because he was just making covers, “singing songs someone already sung”, not writing new ones. Everything he said was “trite”.

But now, he’s finally at peace with this. He made covers and he loves to do them.

*Mind reveals it was all a test. He never forgot the original goal to become one, never. He simply played a part: Heart was Dr. Jekyll, so he just played Mr. Hide. And since Hide is the villain, Mind played the role of a villain.

Honestly? I believe him. Because, for the entire Cacophony, Mind kept trying to get a reaction out of Heart. He repeated he wasn’t a villain, trying to make him understand he’s not the bad guy. He kept blaming and scolding Heart, trying to get something out of him. And when the insults didn’t help, he moved to actual threats, hoping those would do the trick.

But also: Mind really really wanted that leadership position. And the way he kept pointing out how Heart “dug a hole for him” showed some real hurt. So maybe yes, it was all a plan. But this plan definitely had some personal components.

*Soul can finally relax. He endured Heart and Mind, he managed to make them harmonize. He’s on the other side of the time loop now, the worst is in the past. Things will be easier from now on.

In fact, this is the end of the “lore-packed” act. Now Chonny will “go back”, as his sides asked. He will talk about the past, himself and his work.

But before doing that, he offers his thanks to his Muse, the inspiration behind his work: Tally Hall, the original authors of these songs. After all, without them and their songs, this album wouldn’t exist either.

So just like a book starts with the credits, Chonny starts reminiscing his story with the credits as well.

-> Next post

(How about a coffee? ☕)

_______________________________

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[momo-shut-the-fuck-up]

So i ve done the main story in infinity nikki and im gonna stop playin now, before i squeeze the game dry of content and have nothing (new) to do on release.

Time for a lil review/thoughts post

I m not gonna review every single mechanic in the game, simply things that stood out to me or that i wanna talk about. I also wont add more images, i kinda want ppl to see the world for themselves... i ll share more when the game comes out tho.

There s a lot of text under this. Tldr, i like the game i think it's a solid, enjoyable experience with a good gameplay loop, the story isn't for me, and i'll keep playin of course. And u should try it too if ur device wont blow itself up tryin to run it.

Dress up

The bread and butter of Nikki games... it's good as usual. Game doesn't shy away from long skirts or coat tails or complicated ballgowns just cuz nikki can run and jump and dash now and i'm very happy bout that. There's some clipping issues once in a while, but it's nothing major and the clothes we do have in the game are lovely. There s an evolution system for some of the sets, which makes em a diff color.... usually they can evolve once, but i saw Three extra evolutions for one of the UR sets and that scares me. Bcs to evolve them u have to craft the suit again. So u have to pull 4 copies of a suit to max it out..

Combat

Game's definitely succeeding in its quest for being cozy. There's no real stakes, combat isn't difficult in the slightest but i do welcome it- super simple but it's pretty fun regardless. The boss fights were surprisingly creative and fun for what they are, it's just unfortunate that you have to do them more than once or twice (crafting mats)- but they do change what the boss does so it's different depending on what mat u are farming for... and u can claim double or triple or however much stamina u got-le of the mat after u complete it once. So that s rly nice.

Exploration

I actually think it's really really good. Again this isn't a difficult or complicated game, not yet i guess... but with the major goal being "get new clothes" and "take pretty pictures maybe", the open world feels actively engaging to participate in. There's collectibles everywhere, little challenges you can do that are diverse but quick, styling battles, collecting everythin from animals fur to bugs to fish, and allll of this brings u closer to that never ending goal of woo more clothes.

However even if a challenge doesnt give you a blueprint, it's still just. Really Nice to exist in this world. It's very whimsical, as expected of Lilith, and the world has a combination of realism and cartoon artstyle that is just soso appealing to me. It's genuinely how i would've imagined miraland to look in 3d. Shame it's not the same miraland we know..

Story

Hmm... silly is one word i could use for it. Cute also. The story isn't doin anythin bad per se, and i did start skippin dialogue near the end w the pieceys because i want to keep at least Some part of the story for the game's release... but i get the gist of it, and it s just not my thing.

It feels like a story made for children, and it definitely would get a G rating. Easy and simple to follow, there's moments of tension or sadness sure but with the antagonist bein a literal babie lookin cutey fairy with a grown man's voice, or the creatures that i'm interacting with are a bunch of. Fuckin weird lookin big eyed balls of fabric that look closer to plushies than somethin Alive... it's all so silly and dramatic sometimes i can t help but cringe.

Part of it is a me problem, if u just open ur heart and free urself from the cringe the story is fine. It's just a little too kiddy for me and i so desperately hope it won't stay like this forever. My prayers might be answered though, there's a whole war beyond the borders and we have refugees around... shit's lookin bad for Umbrosa.

Other things i noticed that i liked:

The effect on nikki's skin when it's raining, she actually has water dripping down her face... its so cool

Momo capes are actually kinda neat ngl. Especially cuz the fucker follows u around everywhere, at least i can bedazzle him

Npc models look really good im a fan. They do suffer from "everyone is very beautiful" syndrome, which makes some of the npc villains look/sound ridiculous, but they have kid-teen-adult-elderly versions of models (i never see teen models in these games! Its cool!) And some body variation. The grandmas look so lovely i cry

The dark skin tone is really dark, and it looks quite nice and natural.

The lighting engine in this game is just rly good in general. God bless UE5

The edges of the map where there s forest, which u obv cant go thru, the forest is made to be darker, thicker.... i m a huge fan of this idk y. It's not just *invisible wall in front of an open field* nopee cant go there lets explore that area later tee hee. And it looks good to boot.

Camera function is p robust, has more options for changin brightness/saturation/contrast etc which i feel Shining Nikki lacks.

Some of the creature designs are so good man i looove themm <3.... the pieces are awful tho. Ok creature design is a hit and miss sometimes but the stray hatty? Peak. All the weirdy fashionable animals? Peak.

Bein able to quick switch thru ur saved sets while in the overworld is real neat

Oke that was it. Bye

[danieyells]

I'm the anon who asked for the Taiga lines, thank you so much for sharing!

I did not have much thoughts on Taiga before, other than him being surprisingly chill despite being a lil freaky but omg seeing his max affinity line along with his line on the ditched future.... the angst is unmatched.

You're stuck with him till death do us part? Whether you like it or not? Especially in a time loop situation, imagine that either of them have a high likelihood of dying within the year. One or both of them have tried to fix it, to no avail. Maybe they were a thing in one of the loops but only Taiga (vaguely) remembers it and that would make the max affinity line extra bittersweet because he's only succeeded at freaking out MC in the current timeline lol.

Maybe Taiga was invested in saving (everyone? himself? mc?) before but no matter what he does nothing changes? iirc he was an exemplary student going on a ton of missions to find anomalies, maybe he thought one of the random anomalies out there had something to do with their situation? But at some point between then and now he stopped giving a shit.

Also I find it interesting how the ghouls are constantly destroying anomalies instead of capturing them. It could be that they just don't give 2 fucks but also can't help but wonder if maybe the older ghouls have some kinda truce like don't bring back any anomalies if you can help it, nothing good can happen by giving the academy/institute more info on these things (bc at the very least Leo in the prologue implies the people up top are responsible for whatever messed up situation they were in, and he's the most likely person to uncover a conspiracy with his skillset + Jin and Tohma want to dethrone his dad as director or whatever his position was, possibly also found out smth behind the scenes)

It's all just speculation but god they are so good a pulling me around by the nose with this mystery when I had 0 expectations of this game (I mean, it still kinda sucks gameplay-wise but the story is so good)

Can't wait for new chapter soon, tho rn I am in gacha hell with wuwa, 18trip and gakuenmas.......

Thank you for being patient about them! I love Taiga so much hahaha

Yeah, the potential is there for this to be something big and for Taiga to be heavily involved in it, or at least the person who's most aware of it so far(Jin's "i know this won't last forever" line also kind of carries the implication that he knows but that has many other explanations.) It would probably be more angst-heavy if his memory weren't garbage lmaooooo THEN AGAIN maybe he'll remember you forever now that he loves you as much as he does haha. He definitely didn't remember you before this, or he didn't show any sign of remembering, so if he knew you in another timeline or you were together in another timeline i suspect he forgot, just like with everything.

As for dying, the PC is going to die within the next year if their curse isn't lifted and the prologue shows that someone else dies in the destruction of the school with the pc still alive(so either before the year is up or after the curse is lifted). So they both definitely have the potential to die in that period of time, if nothing is done to change the future. . ."if death do us part" is something Taiga very well might know will happen eventually. In fact, if his stigma actually does allow him to see the future like I'm beginning to suspect, he might know that that's what going to happen. I mean everybody dies eventually but I mean outside of a natural death.

From what Hyde says(I checked both Japanese and English) Taiga used to play more of an active part in the past, so yeah it seems like he's lost some of his enthusiasm. . .although it's very likely he's referring to that Sinostra's on probation and he can't go on missions at all right now, considering just a few months prior he was on a mission and seemed plenty enthusiastic. But as far as operating as captain goes(he's only been captain for around 6 months as of the start of the Sinostra chapter) it seems like he doesn't put any effort in. . .according to Romeo he only cares about anomalies and gambling, but if that were true he wouldn't care to tell you about the spy because he wouldn't even know. (Romeo also says he doesn't go after humans anymore which is. . .not true, so Romeo may just be blissfully unaware since their relationship is so bad these days.)

It'd make sense if this lack of enthusiasm arose from seeing an unfavorable future and thinking it isn't worth it to try at this point. He does say he's been telling someone(likely Romeo) that things will fall apart if they keep going the way they have been but since that person's been uncooperative with making changes he doesn't see a way things will change. . . .so why should he put in work? I assume he can see the future, not travel through it--hence 'ditch this future' he's simply refusing to play any part in impacting it. Even when he jumps from the ledge in the prologue if you choose to save him, he asks what he could have done to change things. I wonder how long he's been trying.

he doesn't even talk the same was he normally does, so you know it's kinda serious. He would love to know how to prevent this.

As for ghouls destroying anomalies, I think it's a matter of safety in the situation as well as a general lack of powers that can actually capture the anomalies. Most of them have weapons with destructive powers and stigmas that are destructive. But in almost every case capture wasn't much of an option due to safety concerns.

Frostheim had human children present. Jin's stigma only seems to work for a few minutes at best even with the PC buffing him. They didn't have a means to keep the anomaly contained and keep the children safe, not to mention the last living one was about to kill the PC and one of the kids. Like Kaito said, in a situation dealing with monsters it's hard to think to incapacitate and capture them, especially when someone else's life is at stake. To ensure their survival and minimize damage to civilians, the anomalies needed to be killed.

Vagastrom's anomaly was a tulpa and couldn't be captured in the first place. If people kept believing in it it would just reappear elsewhere. People no longer believing in it took it out of existence. No room at all for containment.

Jabberwock. . .well, they know Towa's unstable. Princess Oto severely injured Haru, and Towa wasn't going to let it get away with that. The Kraken and Calamari were allowed to escape because capturing them would do more harm to the ecosystem than good.

Sinostra had to destroy it theirs to prevent the destruction of the casino and prevent harm coming to the general students, Romeo, and the PC. Also Taiga's just a killing machine so--

Hotarubi. . .I kind of think I know what happens with them thanks to spoilers and one of Subaru's voicelines, but I won't spoil it.

If Obscuary doesn't accidentally kill their anomaly because it touches Rui I will be disappointed /joke

I feel like Mortkranken are going to successfully capture their anomaly simply because Yuri wants to run experiments on it. but it does depend on what their Stigmas are. We know that Jiro's chainsaw doesn't actually cut very well(Yuri told him to get them a Christmas tree and he said that his weapon doesn't cut stuff very well) and we also know that Jiro does all of the fighting in Mortkranken, whereas Yuri is ineffective in combat. They have the highest chance of capturing anomalies I think.

so like. I think that ultimately in those situations it was kind of the safest option for everyone present, killing the anomalies. Cornelius acts like 'just capture the anomalies it's easy!' but these are life or death situations. There were so many in Frostheim's case that they had to collapse a building to reduce the risk of them getting back out to the public. On the other hand, Jin probably could have teleported at least one of them back to Darkwick before they collapsed the building or instead of them killing one, but in the heat of the moment that probably doesn't occur to him as an option--also he probably wanted to make sure the pc was okay since he'd never be able to use his stigma again if she died, so going back in there to pull one of them out wasn't going to happen. Also he may or may not be rebelling against his dad, president of the Japanese branch of the Institution.

So I doubt it's something like an agreement between the third-years. I feel like it's just coincidence.

As for what Leo says in the pre-prologue, by then he would definitely be in on the situation simply because he's paying more attention than others and Alan is about as subtle as a firework no matter how hard Tohma tries to keep things secret. But maybe he gets roped in instead, since his power would be beneficial--they just have to make sure they can trust him first. . . . He does say that someone is responsible, but I think he means that regarding that life sucks, not the catastrophe occurring? Although that very well might be referring to the people at the top of the Institute too. . .on the other hand I would assume it's referring to whoever the spy is working with, and the Institute themselves aren't bad people(although Jin's dad sounds kinda like a piece of shit.) That or the Institute is the problem, or the prophecy somehow. . .if I could see the Japanese text I could see if there's a difference lol. . . .

Jin is going to inherit the position of president I'm pretty sure. I don't think that's a matter of usurping or anything like that where "Jin becomes the new president" is like, they take down Jin's father first. Like I'm pretty sure this is a familial inheritance thing--I feel like it's a "you're the eldest son so you're expected to take on the position of running the company" deal. You see it all the time in manga with office/business settings. Even Haku is supposed to take over the shrine his family owns. I don't think Jin and Tohma are dethroning Jin's father, it's just a matter of 'we need to prepare you to be in power here, you need to learn to be responsible and better than your father so you can do better than he does.'

BUT. YEAH. A LOT OF THEORIZING AND STUFF but I'm definitely surprised by how into it I ended up getting haha. My hyperfocus said "yeah I fuck with this" and now I'm stuck here. I don't really remember the abandoned concept they originally had(afair I was more unique than the current one, which is trying to stay in line with what's popular with the industry right now) but I really still would've loved to see it. . .but I'm still enjoying the current result and looking forward to the new chapters. (One week away for Hotarubi!!! Home stretch, just gotta survive one more week of work!) I feel like it's much less of a mystery as more. . .slowly growing suspense haha like it feels like a mystery because of the investigation we do as fandom, but the story itself is gonna reveal everything eventually. . .probably. So it's just anticipation on our parts hahaha. (And yeah the gameplay elements are uh nonexistent haha. Pretty sure the only reason I'm able to keep up with the chapters is because I spent money. 🙃)

Good luck with your other gacha games tho!! Fortunately the only other gachas I play I've got pretty good units for so I'm not so worried about what pulls I do or don't get. . . . I hope all of your future pulls are what you need them to be!!!

[aer1ths]

FFXV Fic Recommendations

Hello! I thought I’d share some of my favorite fics from my most favorite game. Will update with more when I read more. Thank you!

Set Thy Hidden Stars On Fire by MYuzuki (16k words)

This time, when Prompto wakes up to start a new loop, it’s raining.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a cause for concern (or even a blip on his radar, really) but this time he wakes up outside for some reason, which means he’s in the rain.

And as his luck would have it, it’s something of a downpour.

-

If you love Prompto, you’ll love this fic. It’s relatively short, but managed to have me still think about it nearly a year after reading. MYuzuki is a great author!

Salvation by cassisluna (11k words)

Nyx Ulric lives and accompanies Lunafreya across Lucis to wake the six. Written for the 2021 FFXV Reverse Bang.

As she travels to wake Titan and Ramuh, Luna is grateful for the time given to her to see the land of Lucis with her own eyes and feet.

Nyx promised the King that he would see Princess Lunafreya to Altissia, and it seems easy enough—until he learns the Oracle's price for forging the covenants. After that, it's just a matter of... maybe going off-route for a while to let the princess sight-see for a bit.

-

I love anything that expands upon Lunafreya’s character or Kingsglaive. This fic did not disappoint with that at all.

Worth The Risk by Asidian (6k words)

It's captivating. Prompto's probably going to have thirty-eight photos of it for them to relive the experience, in vivid detail, later on.

But Prompto's not taking pictures anymore, Noct realizes. The camera's stopped.

And when Noctis looks over to see what the matter is, Prompto's just staring through the view-finder, head angled up. He's gone absolutely sheet-white – looks like he might pass out. He says, "Noct," very softly, like it's a plea.

Then the world explodes, and something slams into Noctis with the force of a subway train, and everything goes dark.

-

I adore Asidian’s writing, especially for Prompto. This, and any of their other fics you should absolutely check out!

Honor Bound by The_Asset6 (125k words)

It’s still hard for Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto to believe that Noctis has been gone for a year. However, when an old ally appears to tell them that what is gone might not be lost after all, that spark of hope they kept alive during their ten years apart is rekindled. Their only question: what will they have to sacrifice this time in order to bring their brother back alive?

-

This fic focuses more on the bros rather than Noctis himself, and it was really nice to see from their POV how far they’d go to get Noct back. A longer read but didn’t drag, great fic!

Somnus Ultima by The_Asset6 (349k words)

King Regis and Queen Aulea’s desire for a child has finally been fulfilled, as well as their kingdom’s need for an heir to the throne. However, when a dark mage with a vendetta against Lucis blesses the young prince with a deadly curse, they realize that no sacrifice is too much when it comes to someone you love.

But too much, it turns out, is never enough.

-

A sleeping beauty AU! I won’t lie, this one is long, but it’s so worth it. I don’t typically like AU fics, preferring canon-compliant work, but I gave this one a chance and didn’t regret it. The author made great use of the characters and created a lengthy but not hard to read story that was very enjoyable.

Reliance, Resolve by Gnine (13k words)

"Where are you?"

Noct. Voice controlled, each word precise and even. In other words, pissed off to the point of seething. Prompto had obviously screwed up. Again. Seemed about all he was capable of doing lately when it came to Noct—and just about everything else.

-------

Prompto's self-reliant streak kicks into overdrive, sending his life into a tailspin.

-

A nice pre-game fic centered around Prompto, giving some insight to his and Noct’s relationship. Author tagged as pre-slash.

[listenheresweaty]

uhhh for the hc requests limbobur cos he makes he go feral and i just want hime to have some comfort

Someone made a fangame of Limbobur, btw! It's called "Limbo: The Saddest story in the World" (i think. there is a playthrough on youtube. about 42 minutes).

Since he's receiving comfort, I'll assume that the reader has died and joined him in limbo

His reaction is going to depend on how long he's been there, and how much he knew you before he died.

If you were dating/close and you die during the late beginning (2-3 year) of his time in Limbo, you've stumbled upon the worst of Limbobur. It's when he's screaming himself hoarse, clawing at the walls, trying again and again to board the train no matter how many times that invisible force knocks him back. He's a mess. He doesn't want to return to life, exactly, but he really, really wants out of the train station. When the train rolls in with your soul in tow, he runs towards it, thinking that it's for his escape. Instead, it pushes him back again--- and pushes you in as well. You stumble into him, and he clasps his arms around you by instinct, staring at you uncomprehendingly.

Wilbur's almost disappointed. But no matter. At least he isn't alone anymore, as he cradles your face and bombards you with questions--- what do you see? are you really dead? are you with him? can you see him? hear him?

He obligates you to help with his escape attempts. Maybe if there are two people running at the doors, it'll work. Don't bother trying to argue. He isn't going to miss out on an opportunity to escape this hellhole just because you are acting all apprehensive.

Early Limbobur has so many breakdowns. He doesn't react when you hug him, only muttering, rambling on about how much he wants to leave, all his thoughts and theories on limbo so far--- but when you try and pull away, he sits up so quick it startles you half to death. He grabs your arm and looks at you with wild, pleading eyes, terrified you were about to disappear.

Please hold Wilbur's face, bring him to sit sideways in your lap as you cradle him. Let him cry and scream. He won't hug back, but trust me--- your actions will be appreciated later on. On the downside, he's never letting go. not for a couple years.

It's only towards the middle of his time in limbo, when he begins to give up, he's a little more attentive: closing his eyes in bliss when you stroke his hair, brushing his thumb across your knuckles, looping an arm around your waist. It's then that he starts holding conversations with you. It's then when he finally asks how you died.

Wilbur doesn't smile-- not even a fake one. He's withdrawn, distant. You both failed to get out, even with your combined efforts. Wilbur will never, ever believe it to be your fault.... but he can't help feeling bitter.

----------

If you visit him around the time Tommy did, he's calmed down. Cheerfully, he welcomes you, bringing you over to a deck of cards and encourages you to play with him. Wilbur notices you staring at the old, bloody scratch marks on the wall, laughs and waves it off. "Pay no mind to that. The me from 6-7 years ago was a mess." (i think he canonically said something similar to tommy).

Wilbur still hates Limbo, but still believes he deserves to be there. He talks about his death with morbid ease, regardless of how uncomfortable about the topic you seem.

Actually, if you are particularly panicked about your new situation, he'll just keep talking about whatever's on his mind, not wanting to face your mental state-- it reminds him too much of his experience 6-7 years ago. rants about philosophy, politics, and random ideas. you don't want to talk? That's alright! You can just listen. It's been years since he's had anyone, he'll take what he can get

Act more composed though, and you might make a more meaningful connection. Talk about your previous lives with solemnity, and he will join you in your speculation, nodding along and occasionally giving his quiet input.

Ask him if he's alright, he will blink in surprise and confusion. "...I'm good." he says, but only because he didn't know what else to say. Did you really just ask him that? Have you seen where the two of you are trapped?

Ask him if he needs a hug, he will fall silent. ".. It's--- it's fine." He says, blinking as if he's having trouble remembering what one is.

Ask him if he wants a hug, and he will have nearly the same reaction. But instead of brushing you off, he will nod and say, "Sure", in a choked voice.

holds you so tight you fear your ribs will crack

pet his hair or scratch his scalp and he might actually whine.

He won't cry though. He wants to, but the pressure just builds up in his throat at chest cavity instead of leaking out of his eyes, which stay stubbornly dry. It's incredibly frustrating.

Give 👏 wilbur👏  back👏  massages

any kind of massage. rub his shoulders, jaw, back, scalp. anything to calm the tension and frustration of being unable to get his emotions out.

You offer him to sit in your lap one day, and although he's confused, he complies. as soon as you start rubbing circles into his shoulderblades, he melts like butter.

completely limp. he almost knocks you down by just falling back against you

it's not a perfect remedy, but it's the best you can do.

you better not let him go >:(

Will give faint, tired smiles if you give him physical or verbal affection.

Whenever you are holding him from behind, he will always turn his head to the side as if trying to get a look at you-- wanting to be as close as possible.

trembles when you hold him. he can't control it

------

visiting at the very end of his limbo

By the 13th year though, Wilbur is catatonic. He doesn't care about whether he deserves to be there or not--- what determines who deserves punishment, anyway? What moral code exists for a dead man?

He wants out. Tommy has already visited and left him (he screamed when tommy disappeared, for the first time in years)

As soon as Wilbur sees you roll in, he's rushing over, tugging you onto the platform

He's almost the same as if you had visited him towards the middle of his limbo, but with key differences

1. He is a lot quieter, ranting much less

2. He doesn't let you out of his sight. This is post Tommy's revival, so he's tense and half-expecting you to disappear, leaving him alone again.

3. Because he no longer believes (or cares) that he deserves to be in Limbo, he avoids the topic of his death. it's not as easy to talk about anymore.

If you hug him, he'll just hold you tight, silently.

You can't hug him from behind though. You have to be facing him, so he's able to wrap his arms around you and ensure that no one will take you away.

hope these were satisfactory :)

[light-wolf]

Now that I've had some time to process yesterday's trailer and all the new info, let's talk about Monster Hunter Wilds!

Ok, so right from the start the game seems much more "cinematic" than usual. I was actually surprised to see them spotlight the story/cutscenes/characters so soon since they usually wait until later trailers for that. We might get a bigger focus on the story this time. The tone seemed a bit too... serious? dramatic? I don't know, it felt a bit off for MH, but it's still far too early to jump to conclusions. To be fair, the trailer debuted in a PlayStation event so maybe they wanted to cater to that audience. I'm sure there will be plenty of the campy humor we're used to, so I'm not concerned.

What I'm not so sure about is our hunter and Palico talking. Sure, our hunter had (optional) voice lines in Rise, but they were limited to gameplay. Having the hunter actually engage in conversation with other characters worries me a little, because I've always felt that MH is one of those games where the player character works best as a blank state. Even some of Rise's voice lines felt wrong to me because they implied a certain personality for my hunter, one that wasn't necessarily the one I imagined. The other reason I'm concerned about this, is that it will very likely further reduce the amount of voice options for both hunters and Palicoes (if we even get options at all) and that makes me sad (I'm not a huge fan of the voices from the trailer), but I'll reserve judgement until we have more details. It's up to Capcom to prove me wrong.

About the other characters, I know Gemma is getting lots of attention (understandably), but I just want to say that I love Alma's design, she's so pretty! Also having MH4 characters (possibly?) returning is great. Cool stuff all around!

I'm very curious about the supposed seamless integration of story and gameplay. Breaking the traditional hub>quest>hub loop that we've always had makes me nervous, but it could be interesting. I wonder what it means for multiplayer, though. How will it even work? The way World implemented it was very criticized, so I hope Capcom has a better solution now.

The dynamic climate/seasons/whatever looks very cool, and I love the amount of small monsters and how they all interact. Large monster herds are also interesting, but I need to see how that works in actual gameplay.

Speaking of large monsters, I don't really have much to say about the two they showed. Probably early game monsters, so not the most interesting (and not the most memorable designs ever either), but they're not bad. Doshaguma has a very fucked up skrunkly face but it's growing on me. Chatacabra looks pretty fun and is my favorite of the two so far. Always cool to see more Amphibians.

We finally have a name for the raptor mount! Seikret! I LOVE these guys and I hope we're able to customize them. They seem like a natural evolution of the Palamutes (RIP) and I love them so much and I need to pet them and cherish them forever. Also them letting us bring two weapons to a hunt has interesting implications, but I need to know how it works exactly before getting hyped.

Other gameplay thoughts: I kinda hated the slinger in World so I groaned when I saw it was back, but we'll see how it works this time. Not sure what to think about Focus Mode and the wounding system, I really need to see actual gameplay before judging. Honestly I feel that way about almost everything, it's all too unclear still.

Overall, the trailer left me with a lot of questions, but I'm still incredibly hyped! Luckily we know we'll get more info during Summer Games Fest next week (including a new monster!), so it'll be a short wait this time!

The biggest question (for me) remains if this thing will be on the Switch 2, which would be the ideal scenario for me. Please Capcom I'm begging you. If that's not the case, I'll probably get a PS5 (there are a few other games I wouldn't mind having access to). I'll have to get a new console either way, but I have some money saved just for that.

That's it for now! Looking forward to next week!

[karinamay]

WIP Monday (why not, right)

Thanks for tagging me again @larvasmoon <3

Um. The fic I'm currently working on is kind of a surprise. And I haven't started the next chapter of High Heels. So um. Snippet of my novel WIP under the cut???

Lucian could move through the streets of the capital city like water, quick and twisting. People didn’t notice him. He was just a scrawny child, his clothes faded and dirty, long black hair covering most of the distinct features of his face. He could almost be invisible if he wanted to - or maybe he really could be. 

It felt almost like flying. When he’d picked a target and started trailing them, Lucian’s movements changed. They became more fluid. Where most boys in their early teens got clumsy as they suddenly grew taller, Lucian had somehow become more elegant, as if his body was growing into a shape it had already been in his subconscious mind. 

The world slowed down. Lucian could feel the subtle shifts in the air around him. 

The merchant’s daughter pointed at something in the distance and her parents laughed. Lucian slipped his hand under the man’s heavy purse. 

By the time the man noticed the lack of weight at his hip, Lucian was three blocks away, darting through a narrow alley, looping back to the city gate with the heavy purse folded into his shirt against his bare chest. 

“Lucian Douglas.” 

Lucian spun around at the sound of his name. He didn’t see anyone in the alley behind him the voice might belong to. 

“Look harder.”

The alley was narrow and the buildings on either side three or four stories high, leaving the passage shrouded in shadows. Lucian glanced around, and hesitantly took a step back. He wasn’t scared quickly, especially not in his own city, but something about this voice felt off. 

A figure dropped into view from high above where Lucian had been looking. A young man clad completely in black, a hood obscuring most of his face above a neatly trimmed reddish beard. 

“Please don’t run,” the man said, walking casually up to Lucian. “I hear you’re terribly hard to catch, and the king will have my head if I don’t bring you with me.” 

“The - the king?” Lucian stammered, taking another step back. 

“That’s right, the king has been looking for you - or, well, someone like you - for quite some time. Complete coincidence that I picked up a rumour about an ‘invisible thief’ not too long ago, here in the city, right under our noses. Seems there’s truth in rumours for once.” 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Lucian said. “I have to get back to my family. They’re waiting for me to get home.”

“They’ll have to wait a little longer, Lucian Douglas. His majesty isn’t to be kept waiting. You can come with me of your own volition, or I will take you anyway. I’d rather keep things civil, wouldn’t you?”

Lucian swallowed thickly, his throat dry. He nodded once, folding his arms tightly as he walked up to the man in black. 

“Good,” he said. “I do appreciate civility. You can call me Aidan.”

[writingsgp]

Xenoblade chronicles 3: Future Redeemed

First of all this game and this series as a whole is so incredible. Second i just beat the DLC but haven't 100% it so i have so much to scream i basically gave it a standing ovation it managed to answer juat about every answer i had about XC3 normal game and give me so much delicious and well made fanservice while still leaving a few questions, complete spoilered mad rambling under the cut

Are Noah's and N's swords Logos and Pneuma (or gifts from them?) or am i just dumb and didn't understand the final scenes because THAT WAS THE AEGIS' CORE CRYSTAL IN MATHEWS GAUNTLETS WTF!!!(We don't see Logos' core crystal but N's sword has some purple bits so maybe? or is one Mythra and the other Pyra i hope not!)... *ahem* i am very normal about this... why couldn't Rex and Shulk just say "yo kiddo yer my child" just for continuity and angst?! how dare but also thank you monolift.

Why didn't we see Fiora? love my girl and i miss her also when will we have a anime/webcomic/book about Rex/Pyra/Mythra/Nia and Shulk/Fiora doing fun slice of life family advantures?? no amount of fanfic will satisfy me (but if you have any give them to me)

After XC3 base story will A come back together with Rex and Shulk or will Glimmer, Mio, Rex's third unnamed child and Nikol loose their cool Non binary Unty (is that the gender neutral for uncle?)

The game play loop is probably the best so far i don't know if it would work for a 60 hour game i finished the story in 25 ish while taking my sweet time so i don't know but it made fighting the later enemies just as fun as the ones at the beginning something most RPG struggle i love the community build aspect that they always try to bring to the loop and this satisfied it the best (also number go up and check boxes get filled in make monkey brain happy)

did the credits confirm that the worlds fuse back together correctly or was that just Alrest or Bionis appearing from the weird 4d geometry?

Finaly thank you Takahasi and everyone that worked on these 3 games and three DLC/additional content (sorry didn't play x) it is truly a master piece of a series and i can't wait to see what you all have next in store for us be it Xenoblade related (whether it's with the characters we've seen thus far or just in the world much later in the future) or a wholly new endeavor I am already quite interested

Edit/ P.S

i might me awkward and anxious but this is an invitation to talk about XC as a whole and sorry for any grammar mistake i am quite literally ecstatic with the end of the DLC is this how people feel when they drink caffeine?

[belphegorbillickin]

Hi again! Since you invited me to chat about TWST whenever, I may as well take the opportunity to pick your brain for more fun conversations. This time I want to hear your thoughts on where you think the main story will progress from what we know of ch7 so far. I’m personally quite curious to see what will be done with the battle and monologue from the tutorial.

(Actually, do you know anywhere where the opening monologue for the tutorial is recorded? It’s a real shame it doesn’t appear to be replayable through the game.)

You can watch it here! This person recorded everything.

TWST spoilers below! Sorry in advance for the incoherent rambling, I'm kinda out of it but didn't wanna leave you hanging too long.

Tbh I stopped reading about halfway(?) while I was waiting for translations because I knew I'd enjoy it more all in one go. Also because I was getting a little disappointed and thought it'd be better to hear stuff secondhand first and then go in with lowered expectations if needed tbh.

I highly doubt they'll go the romantic route as I said before, even with Malleus, but now I'm kind of unsure as to how much of a role Yuu will play.

Like, nobody even acknowledges us half the time apart from Malleus, that'd be a big change, and it seems like so far it's mostly focused on Lilia so that's who I would've said is going to snap him out of it before.

But maybe it'll be something where Lilia, Yuu, and Idia all have to talk some sense into him?

Or maybe Idia will come into play after and have a talk with Malleus about grief? Since Idia is someone who's dealt with way too young and Malleus is gone way too long without experiencing it.

Either way, I personally feel like they're saving the Overblot monster, which is almost definitely Grim, for a "surprise" chapter 8. I know Malleus has been given more focus than the others before their episodes, but I feel like it'd be really unlikely for them to skip out on Malleus' "redemption."

Plus Grim is probably going to overblot immediately after eating Malleus' considering the build up, and that would be a bit too much for one book. Besides, it'd make sense for it to happen when Malleus hasn't had a chance to recover yet, because that future looked rough, and Malleus is so insanely OP it wouldn't make much sense otherwise.

But who knows, maybe the time loop theory is way off base and they'll just tack it on at the end as just another boss battle. I really hope they don't though.

After that though? I have no idea, but I kind of doubt it'll just be NRC slice of life. Especially because that'd mean a lot of fan favorites leaving, but maybe they'll bring in new first years just for the gacha aspect?

I think it'd be really lame to lose the characters we've come to know just to get generic slice of life without them though, because it wouldn't make sense for anyone else to start overblotting.

Some people think maybe we'll start solving RSA's problems instead, which would also give them more gacha money I guess.

I don't know what to think, but I hope season 2 is when we try to find out who's causing all of these people start overblotting, something that's supposed to be super rare, and possibly put a stop to it.

We might not even get anything after this, but I feel like disney probably wouldn't kill it's cash cow for no reason like solomare did?

[escape-from-arcadia]

To The Ends of Our World: Prologue and Chapter 1

A Pre-Canon Douxie-centric Wizards Fic

A wicked king, a runaway sorceress, and a young boy... Ever since the disappearance of his mother left him under the care of Master Wizard Merlin Ambrosius, Hisirdoux Casperan has tried to be a good child. He is diligent in his work and studies, and his boundless enthusiasm for all things magical never wavers. All he hopes is that one day his efforts will be enough to become a master wizard himself and bring his mother back home. But on his thirteenth birthday, everything changes. Sudden flashes of memories that occur at seemingly random times and secrets Douxie's mother tried so desperately to keep hidden begin to spill out into the light. Douxie is starting to uncover a plot far greater than anything he ever could have imagined, but can the young apprentice evade the people trying to keep him from learning the truth of his mother's disappearance? What is it that they're trying so desperately to keep hidden? And will Douxie like what he finds?

General content warning for dark themes (abuse, mild gore, violence, depression). More tags will be added to the AO3 work as the story is written since most don't appear until later in the work. However, you can expect content involving torture, suicide, and a major (and a minor) character death in future chapters. There may be other untagged things that I haven't thought of yet or planned on.

Hi.

I'm back.

Maybe.

Long Convoluted Author's Notes Under the Cut:

I'm not doing particularly well (guess who got a mild case of Covid a week before winter break? lol), but here to say I've started a new fic. I like writing angst when I'm sad. And this slightly convoluted pre-Wizards origin story came to me in a dream. I planned most of it out, wrote the prologue and a few chapters, published it, and realized that since all of my content is now on archive-lock, I should probably promote the fic here.

So here we are.

No update schedule.

No minimum (or maximum) chapter word count.

No clue when it ends.

No beta.

We ball.

So this story doesn't have a hidden meaning or big message you should get by the end of it. It's just an angsty mystery drama with some cliches just because. And the ending (I know what the ending is for once, yes) is very cliche and annoying because it lets me say "Nothing is stopping me from making this canon!" Anyway...

You'll get to see a take on a younger Douxie and Merlin's very...complicated relationship with him. You'll see another interpretation of how Douxie and Archie meet!! You'll see a 17-year old Zoe!!! You'll meet two (2)!!! OCs I suddenly came up with while planning out this story!!!!!! One is a mean lesbian and the other is a cool cleric!!! You'll also see Douxie's mom!!!! Because she is very plot-relevant!!!

I was scared of publishing this fic because compared to a lot of the stuff I've written before (especially coming out of ADAU - I still owe y'all posts), this is much darker. I've written stories about time loops and the inevitability of death and somehow the existentialistic dread I got from writing that left me less unsettled than this fic. To be fair, I'm not working with a beta so this might actually be a lot lighter than I think it is. But compared to my other works, it is...a few shaders darker.

If you do read the fic, I'd be really glad to hear your feedback and comments. Yell at me if there are typos (because stars know I'll miss something as I'm editing). Ask me questions. And if you think there is something there that needs to be tagged, please let me know; I'll add it to the AO3 work tags.

All this is to say that I am very grateful if you managed to read this entire post. Thank you for bearing with me and this blog being...something. It's been abandoned and resurrected several times, and my relationship with this fandom is still a little bit funky. But hey, I've learned to make stuff for myself and on my own time. And if this content isn't your particular cup of tea, you can always not read it. And this blog is just for fun, no pressure to make content, so yeah. I'm going to have fun on the internet.

I guess I'm back.

P.S. I am yearning for more people I can share these darker fics/AUs with, but I'm also very anxious and very busy. Just saying, if anyone has Discord (or a server) and/or doesn't mind sporadic appearances that may or may end up leading to very long conversations, my DMs are open.