#Character: An Unnamed Protagonist Who Is Also Me

[indefenseofkara]

ok, managed to play the OG MW3, with a controller. not a great experience since it wasn't properly supported, but whatever.

i have a lot of thoughts. i think the music is better than the remakes. i wonder if we'll topple the eiffel tower.

i have doubts things will end with the new game because makarov hasn't even really been established yet

and, as always, i am evil and i hope a main character dies in the new one lol.

[wizardlyghost]

thing about deltora quest that only occurred to me in hindsight is not only just how much jasmine carries the entire party on this quest but also how genre-defyingly brutal she is lol. like, this is a kid's series that hinges on riddles and puzzles far more heavily than combat - even when deaths occur, they're often the result of cleverness in some way rather than straight up combat ability. that said, let's look at the villain kill count at the end of book five of eight of the first series:

- lief: 1 - even there it's with a well-thrown bottle of cursed water rather than his sword.

- barda: 0 - i'm not counting that one unnamed sand beast, that's an animal not a villain.

- filli: 0 - he is a squirrel, this is unsurprising.

- kree: 1 - killed an invincible sorceress all by himself, good bird best friend.

- jasmine: 5 - dropped a tree branch on a mf, drowned two cannibals in quicksand, cut a giant snake's throat, shoved a dude down a pipe full of toxic mold (after having to be told not to cut his throat while he slept jfc).

idk it just suddenly struck me as really funny how this one character who isn't the protagonist is almost from a different, far more brutal story, and uses that fact to consistently be the mvp and save everyone else's asses. i need to read this series again it's been too long.

[yanderederee]

Alright, let’s talk about Ken Wakui’s newest work

Negai no Astro

Or Astro Royal, whatever you prefer.

I will be giving no blatant spoilers in this post, only speculations:)

Manga PV here; ITS SO GOOD!!!!

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯✦

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, Ken Wakui has a very distinct art style. And I love it! A lot of people are making fun of it (mostly on Twitter/X), and it’s really sad. I love his style, and character development.

I have high hopes for this manga, and want to paint a picture of what to expect for those who also want to get into it♡

Let’s start Character Designs

—our main-trio—

We’re only one chapter in so far, so we’ve only met the main two boys, Terasu and Hibaru (left to right).

Terasu Yotsurugi - 12th Son

Loving Terasu’s take-no-shit personality so far. Simultaneously, he seems very kind and loyal to Hibaru’s ideals.

Terasu is giving Ryusei/Chifuyu lovechild.

Hibaru Yotsurugi - only Biological Son

I love Hibaru’s chivalrous/“old-fashion” ideology. He may seem ‘generic shonen protagonist’ right now, but i don’t care. I will appreciate him.

Hibaru is giving Mikey/Takemitchi lovechild.

As for our blue eyes beauty over here, we have yet to see her yet. She seems very cute though.

She’s also giving lovechild vibes; Senju/Hina specifically…

—The Yotsurugi family—

There are 13 Siblings of the Yotsurugi family, whom has a history of being Yakuza.

12/13 Siblings are adopted.

So far, we only have designs for 11 siblings.

We do not know a lot of names thus far, WHICH I NEED BTW, so let’s go over what we do have, and my first impressions of them.

—Names going Left to Right per image

Shio Yotsurugi - Eldest Son

He’s giving Timeskip!Taiju vibes. Anyone who says he looks like Ran…. I can’t see it. He’s too beefy- sorry.

I just know I’m not going to like this guy.

Has a lot of the people’s support, but not mine.

Probably thinks he’s going to make the family better when he’s really ruining it:(

Unnamed Glasses Guy - maybe 2nd Son?

Mmmmm no thoughts.

Token megane character—

Probably corrupt.

I hope he proves me wrong.

Kou Yotsurugi - 11th Son

Middle child vibes

He will be deranged and misguided.

Probably “hates” Hibaru because he’s so much like their father, who I assume he respects, but doesn’t agree with.

He probably secretly admires them both though.

Unnamed Hottie - maybe 9th Son?

MINE. 👹👹👹 RAPID. FERAL. BARKBARKBARK—

Based on vibes alone, I lay claim. Awoogaawooga♡

I NEED NAMES, NOW WAKUI. NOW.

Who is he. Where was he. I must know.

also lowkey giving Angry’s blue-ogre vibes…

Didn’t appear in chapter 1 though so:( </3

Unnamed ScarGuy - maybe 10th Son?

Eyes always closed, speaks with ♡ at the end of his sentences…

Seems charming. I mean, look at those eyelashes…♡

Wanna give him a kith.

I have a feeling he and Unnamed Hottie are biological brothers… not sure.

Wakui please, sir, just one chance—-

Unnamed BraidGuy - maybe 8th Son?

Mr. I’ll just stay in my lane. Respect.

Realistically, I think he’ll be my first/second favorite eye candy, depending on how these characters personalities/canons end up being explored.

I’m sorry I have a thing for men with long hair!

Cool earrings too lol

Seems neutral to who’s in charge.

Wakui, seriously, I CAN TAKE HIM—!!!

BENKEI???? - maybe 5th Son?

Has lion-like eyes and sharp canines….big nose

My size kink is acting up—no, please nO—!

Okay but seriously. I’m not sure what to expect from him yet.

He seems honest, but I can see him getting power hungry:(

Handsome Lady - Maybe 3rd Daughter?

Cooler older sister vibes.

Awoogawooga

Please be a lesbian or at least bisexual—

Seems logical and cool. Probably doesn’t coddle innocence.

Mr.BigNose - Maybe 4th son?

Uh-uh. No thanks. Not bc of his appearance, but bc his character is depicted as insufferable so far.

Probably sexist.

Probably too coward to admit it, but if things with the family bond start turning south, he’s the first one OUT.

Hehe I may have left this screenshot wide to show off the One Panel that shows Mr. Unnamed Hottie *twirls hair*

I mean seriously look at him I’m going to scream without the s

Story Direction and Expectations

I trust Wakui. The way he explores his stories is through character bonds and personal ideals.

This is one of the reasons why I grew so fond of Tokyo Revengers.

Plus… it’s Found-Family Gang activity. It’s my soft spot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I would say Yakuza but I want to be respectful in how I throw that word around, so I’ll avoid it for now if I can.

The supernatural powers that get involved will surely lead to a type of succession war between the siblings.

“What it means to be strong” will probably be the fundamental lesson of the story.

I am so excited to see how Negai no Astro will progress!

Please support Ken Wakui however you can by reading Chapter 1 onwards!♡

[ilyareads]

short books recs (under 200 pages)

1. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

This book follows Sentaro, who runs a dorayaki stall, and his friendship with Tokue, who makes killer sweet bean paste. It is a heart-warming and endearing story that brings you comfort. I love the friendship between Sentaro and Tokue, especially seeing how it develops. The ending feels a little rushed. I kind of wished it was longer. Kind of sad. I cried. 10/10 would read again.

2. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

The Funiculi Funicula cafe provides a time-traveling service, and the book, divided into four parts, retells different characters' experiences traveling in time. I always associate time-traveling with angst and regret, and this book has just that. I love how each part explores different relationship dynamics, so the time-traveling experience varies for each character. Very heart-warming, but very emotional as well. Cried a lot. It's a series but you don't have to read other books. But if you want more info on the cafe and the characters' backstory, then I highly recommend reading the other books.

3. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

This book revolves around two students, who are victims of bullying. Due to their shared struggle, a friendship blossoms between them. The depiction of bullying and its impacts is raw and authentic, the story providing the perspectives of both the victims and the perpetrators. It was a rage-inducing but thought-provoking read.

4. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

This book follows Nana the cat as he embarks on a road-trip with his owner, Satoru. Now, cats are my absolute weakness. I love cats. I WOULD DIE FOR THEM. Which is why reading this book was hard and painful. The writing is witty, since it is written from the perspective of a cat. The plot itself is kind of predictable, but it doesn't make it any less painful. Tldr; Shredded my heart into pieces. Cried so hard, I couldn't breathe.

5. Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn

The story follows the main character, Yunjae, who suffers from a rare condition called Alexithymia that essentially makes him unable to feel emotions. Due to that, he couldn't understand social cues so people shun him. The development of the story centers on the people Yunjae are going to meet, and how his relationship with these people develops. The ending felt a little anticlimactic, but I loved it nonetheless.

6. Eartheater by Dolores Reyes

The unnamed protagonist can locate missing people and find out their fate by eating dirt, so people seek her to know the fate of their missing loved ones. It was definitely an interesting read, with elements of magical realism in relation to the protagonist's ability. It is also an intriguing depiction of femicide, a reflection of a system that continuously fails women. I felt rage for the women failed by the system and the sufferings they had to endure at the hands of hateful men.

7. A House is a Body by Shruti Swamy

This book is a collection of short stories, which is a raw and authentic depiction of what it is like being human. I enjoyed certain stories, while some left me utterly confused. The narratives are enticing and poetic, so despite some stories not hitting that hard, I enjoyed the writing.

8. The Vegetarian by Han Kang

After having a bizarre dream, Yeong-Hye declares that she is turning vegetarian, and this sudden change concerned her family. I made the mistake of thinking that this book is merely a depiction of what it's like to be a vegetarian. HELL NO. It utterly deviates from my expectation. I could only describe the book as bizarre and spooky, in an unconventional way. It depicts the complexity of the human mind when the contraint of societal expectations is disregarded.

[rayless-reblogs]

Goldstone Wood and the Oddness of Christian Fantasy

Princess Varvare in a kingdom of roses

I want to share some illustrations inspired by the Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. It's a Christian fantasy series that I really like. Give me a moment to talk about that – unless you absolutely love Christian fantasy, all Christian fantasies, in which case, maybe skip this.

I spent a chunk of the early 2000s defending fantasy as a genre to a variety of Christians I ran across – not the majority, but still a variety of them – both in my head and to their faces. The preacher who said, from the pulpit, that Harry Potter was Satanic. Writers explaining why JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were (of course) okay, but all other fantasy novels were suspect. Websites that dissected the occult symbolism you never realized was buried in fantasy media. My friend who frowned at me in concern and said she wouldn't want to have to explain to God why she read “that kind of thing” when she met him after death.

This is Rosie (and her goat Beana, who talks.) I love Rosie utterly, she tries so hard and she feels things so much. The next image is a spoiler, showing her unveiled.

I think that's partially why I'm interested in the genre of Christian fantasy, this attempt to make these two things fit. For me, the fusion often doesn't work. Either writers mix theology and fantasy in a weird confusing way. (Wait, you just had your heroine marry an angel. Do you actually think that happens? Which parts of this actually reflect your belief system?) Or they play things extremely safe and traditional. (Oh boy, another story about a young farm boy who's going to go on a quest and fight the Satan figure and become a hero while his girlfriend does... something peaceful off-screen.) Or they try to be another Lewis in the belief that since Lewis and John Bunyan did it, allegory is an acceptable vehicle for fantasy, and let's be really obvious about the symbolism. (I bet this demon symbolizes evil.) I read Christian fantasy, but it's partially optimistic curiosity, it's partially pessimistic irony, and I haven't found many that I'd recommend.

Rosie unveiled.

But I do like Tales of Goldstone Wood, at least what I've read so far (still missing a few of the installments). I like it enough that I would recommend it to a Christian who wants to read fantasy, or a fantasy reader who doesn't mind Christian themes. Anne Elisabeth Stengl often approaches the Christian elements indirectly, from less obvious angles, so you don't have all the heavy-handed symbols you see in the Lewis and Tolkien knockoffs. She has many, many interesting female characters and a lot of humor. Her series also builds, adding complexity to the world and characters with each installment, many of the characters showing up in multiple books.

Varvare and the unicorn. This unnamed unicorn is one of my favorite elements of the third book – beautiful but dangerous and eldritch. Corrupted – but not exactly evil.

Stengl's also not afraid to get weird and fey with her fantasy elements, at times reminding me strongly of things like Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, and no end of Celtic and European folklore. Her magical characters are unpredictable, merry, fearsome, and unabashedly over the top. Her heroes have depth, flaws to go with their heroism, and never become morally perfect even after their conversions – unlike in so much Christian fiction. Much of Christian fantasy bears the thumbprint of CS Lewis; in Stengl's case, though her writing shows clear nods to Lewis (and not just his Narnia books), she isn't trying to replicate him. These aren't books that Lewis would have written.

Daylily and Lionheart. If the series has a protagonist, it's probably Lionheart there on the right. He seems to be doomed to keep showing up in different story arcs, and he's always interesting.

I recommend you begin with the first one, Heartless. Though Heartless is the least ambitious/unique entry – it's straightforward and, of all of the books, the most directly allegorical. (I bet this guy's the Jesus figure. Yep, yep he is.) But it lays the foundation for the world and establishes many of the central characters, including my favorite Eanrin, the blind cat-shapeshifting bard-knight with the heroism of a knight, the selfishness of a cat, and endless flair. Stengl does explore Christian themes, but at the same time she clearly wants to create beautiful language, memorable characters, and engrossing stories. The stories and characters don't feel secondary to the message.

Eanrin, I like him a lot. He also shows up in almost every book, at least the main books, sometimes pre-injury, sometimes post-.

My favorite book is Starflower, the fourth, because of its courageous heroine (who grows into the librarian-knight Imraldera we see in other books), its twisted echoes of “Beauty and the Beast” and Till We Have Faces, and its focus on, who else, Eanrin in his younger years, before he's really gotten that whole hero thing worked out.

Imraldera. (She's looking at Eanrin.) The series is allegedly over, but I feel like there are still some narrative threads hanging, including with Imraldera here. My hope is that the author returns to the series someday.

As with any recommendation, this isn't a blanket recommendation; you may find things in here you don't like. I don't sign off on every element as perfect. But Christian fantasy is a small genre, it's a weird genre, in my opinion it's often a clumsy genre. Goldstone Wood is proof that it can produce interesting, original material – stuff not merely “good for a Christian fantasy”, but just a good series, period.

[epersonae]

Director's cut of "For The Benefit of All the Broken Hearts", please! (p.s. - is it annoying if I send more than one of these? I have Curiosity)

I saw that it was for the whole fic and I just [stares into space] - because not only is it 62,158 words, which is a lot of words, for me anyway, but it also is one of those stories that occupied my entire brain for months on end, and is still kind of a core part of my personality. I could probably do a whole Taika-commentary-track-of-Boy thing with it, and be equally weird and revealing. 😅

But in trying to pick out a single aspect to write commentary, I realized I've never written the post I've been threatening to write for a year (WHAT), which is what I learned about writing an unnamed protagonist. (Or at least I can't find anything in the #carlita coded content tag.) It's now been a year, so it's likely I will miss something important, but it was such a striking learning experience that I think I can do pretty well with it.

This got long, so more under the cut:

Because aside from being obsessed by the subject matter and vibes and all that, writing for the benefit of all the broken hearts was an incredible boost in my writing craft. (the other big boost was around dramatic pacing and narrative tension and foreshadowing, btw.)

She didn't have a name in the original, and deliberately so, and I was committed to that in my work. See also: Rebecca; this post's tags has some thoughts about Rebecca as a narrative influence in addition to the technical aspects. And unlike Rebecca, I was writing in close third person. (One of the reasons that when I'm feeling particularly cocky I will say SUCK IT DAPHNE DU MAURIER.)

And that's not that hard to do when there's only two characters in a scene and they use different pronouns, but so much of the story is her and Mary. (this post made me laugh A LOT) Which means I can't use pronouns to do the lifting, instead I had to think about other ways to handle it structurally.

Using Mary's name probably more than I would normally, to be quite honest. Her name is in many more dialogue tags and starting actions than I think it would be otherwise, because if Mary's doing one action, she's doing the other action; if Mary is saying one bit of dialogue, she's saying the other.

Using line breaks strategically, clearly separating character actions; and I think over time this actually made a difference in distinguishing how they act (and speak) differently from one another, that carried over to her interactions with Ed and Stede as well. And that carries over to how Mary also becomes a more distinct character.

In some cases, this went as far as actually rearranging the physical action. I don't remember the precise details, but there's something about when they first go into the kitchen in Ch 15, when Stede is making drinks, where you have all four characters directly interacting: I reworked who was doing what where to disambiguate which "she" I'm talking about.

There's also a lot of very fiddly sentence rewording, rethinking every individual sentence, and does every clause need to be there, and what is every single sentence doing. Because there's a lot of ways of writing that are "natural" (aka I have been writing fiction off and on since I was probably nine years old, and even with a wholeass English degree and a lot of supplemental reading about craft, I'm still kind of intuitive about my writing) that lead to structures where clearly her name would go here, but I can't do that, so: is the sentence working? Should it get flipped the other direction? Do I need a paragraph break? Is it okay if it's a little ambiguous -- there's a line in one of the coffeeshop scenes where it's kind of unclear which one of them does some gesture or another, and I decided that the ambiguity worked, actually.

And then probably my favorite craft becomes theme trick, particularly where there's sort of a repetition of sentence structure, or where Mary has been doing something and her actions are in reaction to that: sometimes it makes it work to just remove the subject of the sentence. Walks across the room. Picks up her coffee. It both somehow makes things clearer despite offering less detail AND reinforces this thematic thing of her being both absent and present.

Bonus difficulty level, btw: even if epithets had made sense for the tone (which they did occasionally, iirc), I deliberately chose to have very limited physical description of both her and Mary, on account of them both being amalgams not of actor and character (like Ed, Stede, Jim, Roach, etc), but of either two real people and real person and character played by a different real person respectively. They are both entirely secret third thing, and giving them things like hair color/style (beyond a vague reference to length) or eye color takes that away. (Instead they have some details of their overall physicality - age, respective heights - and clothing, both of which also tie into the themes of the thing.)

Honestly, overall it was an interesting creative puzzle, and I learned a ton -- Through the Storm, which is a very very very different story, owes a lot to it, and I've managed to commit to the bit through all the missing scenes fic (altho since a lot of that is alternate POV, there's a lot of "Ed's wife" construction, which is not my favorite) and the alternate bad endings fic.

tagging the beta team in case anybody has anything to add; this was very much a group project, esp in identifying places where it was clear to me but not to other people: @emi--rose @veeagainsttheday @gaypiratebrainrot

also, going to leave this here - when I went to ECCC in 2023 the original artist of this meme was selling versions with a blank word balloon and you could have her write in something, and I got it left blank with the idea that I would write other things on the plastic or if ever get a glass frame, but uh, it's been Carlita? since March of 2023.

there's so many other things I could have written about at this length about this story (both specific details and the thematic stuff), I'm serious.

and to answer your ps: NOT ANNOYING AT ALL. clearly I enjoy talking about my writing. :D

[director's commentary asks]

[urfavisdisabled]

This is Desmond from Carole&Tuesday!

SPOILERS:

Desmond is an intersex-nonbinary character who has multiple disabilities. They are a wheelchair user with an unnamed chronic illness, partial paralysis and an unspecified condition that makes them unable to leave their home or have any exposure to sunlight. While they debut later in the series, they made a significant impact on both the protagonists and viewers alike. They are a very famous, yet reclusive singer. Their music is characterized by its calm and nostalgic feeling, similar to their personality. After the man they fell in love with dies young, they find themselves unable to sing. They are seen avoiding medication in order to have the strength to sing, falling unconscious after.

Negative stereotypes? SPOILERS

While it can be argued that they fall under the "bury your gays" trope (as they are only briefly seen before falling unconscious) this can be explained as a side affect of their disability and not a malicious act by the writers. While the show has faced backlash for its portrayal of trans and nonbinary characters, many love them despite their short stay on the show.

Note (mod Yuki): As a nonbinary person myself, I found their representation perfect. It always makes me happy to see so much diversity in C&T, Desmond being no exception. It also always makes me happy to see meaningful queer relationships

[chillychive]

Hi! You mentioned we could ask any questions so I was wondering who is on the bridge? Who are the highest ranking officers on board?

Did the protagonists get on the ship all at the same time? And, if not whose the newest on the ship?

Also, what in which year/time frame are you setting the story? (Mostly asking because Cleo’s poll clothes were from Strange New Worlds set in like early 2300, whilst Bajorans really enter into the Federation’s notice a hundred odd years later)

(Sorry if this is too nitpicky, I’m just really excited!)

OH MY GOD!! IM SO HAPPY

(this image was the happiest thing i could think of so im using it to prove my joy (and my oddity))

*deep breath*

Okay! bridge first. Captain is Xisuma, I don't know who his first officer is. Chief Engineer Doc, of course. Other bridge crew are Martyn (pilot, im thinking), and tactical at the start is Grian, but after Evo... probably someone else... and then later Pearl.

So interestingly- yes! The ship is brand new, this is it's first voyage, I suppose. So the ENTIRE crew is new to the ship. That being said, a lot of them have served in Starfleet for longer, except some of the cadets. Their mission starts off kind of oddly so a LOT of people get promoted unexpectedly. For example, X wasn't even captain initially- an unnamed character was (he didn't seem like the command type to me lmao), but days before their maiden voyage she got too drunk celebrating, stole a shuttle and crashed it, killing herself and some of her buddies along with it.

before that tho, she wasn't the best captain ANYWAY, she mostly ignored the crew, but she was tactically intelligent and knew what to say to superiors, so she got captaincy. Xisuma was originally her first officer and did most of the crew interaction, so after she died, they speed promoted him and he very naturally became the captain. He leads a very collaborative ship.

Another person who's served for a while in starfleet is Etho- despite being quite young for a commander. He's kind of a prodigy, flew through the academy and got promoted very quickly. He's definitely a legendary figure among most officers. still unsure of what species to make him. Trill would be cool but I dont think so.

All that being said, Oli is the newest to Starfleet of all the characters. He's an ensign who spends most of his freetime at the bar, either serving drinks or playing various alien instruments. At this point, the bartender considers him an apprentice.

As for timeframe, the best answer I can give is I dont know. I spent probably WEEKS trying to figure it out... and I ended up hopelessly confused. If you have any suggestions that would be AMAZING

Edit: I just wanna emphasize how INSANE I was when i saw this ask- i literally screamed it's been A YEAR of thinking about this AU inside my own little crowded brain... having other people 1- know BOTH fandoms and 2- be interested??? EIILSDILFHI LHHEAdrthfhd

[thegreatcaptainusopp]

Been thinking about like. Luffy & killing. It’s a difficult thing for me to parse through exactly what his moral stance on this bc he very much is the type of person to avoid killing whenever he can, even if it would be easier for him in the long run. But he almost certainly has caused the deaths of many unnamed characters, however unintentionally, and isn’t really bothered by that. He also may have also killed named characters (I’m thinking of Kaido specifically here), again not really intending to, and still that hasn’t really seemed to cause any kind of moral quandary for him. And I’m pretty sure he knows that some people in his crew have killed with intention in the past (Robin and Zoro, mainly) but doesn’t seem to judge them for it at all.

So, I don’t know. On one hand, the nature of the story is very much accessible to younger readers and so is not going to go down a grimdark path of making their protagonist an intentional killer. I also do think it’s possible he may have a problem with it if someone in his crew kills someone else intentionally if they didn’t have to in self defense or anything like that (like, he won’t have a problem with past actions like that, only present). But I’m not even sure that that’s true, really. I think the crew has mainly picked up on the fact that he won’t really kill anyone and follow suit but in general, if any of them ever did kill in cold blood, even if it was a villain? I don’t know. That might not sit super well with Luffy, and even the rest of the crew.

On the other hand. They are pirates. Most of them have indirectly caused death, and know it too. And, especially as we progress further into the story, Luffy may be a little less likely to stick to this sort of unofficial, unspoken rule, or even expect his crew to stick by it too. I still don’t think he’d ever become a guy who finds killing easy and would still always try to avoid it, but. Do you think he’d have a problem with it if one of the crew intentionally killed an enemy even if they could’ve disarmed them instead, or taken a different route? I can’t really come to a decision on that

[suzuran777]

BLVN review: Paradise (PIL/SLASH)

Paradise is an 18+ BL visual novel developed by PIL/SLASH, who some might recognize for previous titles such as Shingakkou -noli me tangere-. The scenario writer is Kyuuyouzawa Lychee, who has previously worked on CAGE OPEN and CAGE CLOSE. The Japanese version of Paradise was originally released in 2017, but this month it's also getting an English release by JAST BLUE, which you can pre-order here! As usual the review will be mostly spoiler-free so I definitely recommend to buy the game yourself too!

Story Protagonist Azuma works at a local convenience store and his life is anything but eventful. He barely earns enough to pay his bills and also has no real ambitions. To his surprise, he suddenly receives a lottery ticket and wins a 6-day trip to Togajima Island. Hoping he would meet some cute girls during his trip, he's disappointed to find out the only other participants are also men. Soon Azuma realizes that this was not the luxurious trip he was hoping for...

Main characters

Azuma The protagonist of the game. His life is rather tedious and he doesn't really have any ambitions or dreams for the future, so he works at a convenience store and earns just enough money to survive. Voiced by Irakusa Netoru who's known for voicing Seiji in Room No.9 and of course Eiden in NU: carnival.

Mitsugi Architectural designer. Although he looks like the lone wolf type, he's a person with a lot of common sense. Despite that though, he gets angry surprisingly fast. Voiced by Ichijou Hikaru.

Matsuda Salesman. A responsible person who's good at taking care of others. If there's conflict, he takes a step back to analyze the situation and to choose the most logical solution. Looks older than he really is (he's 27). Voiced by Tetrapot Noboru.

Takara University student. He's very friendly and innocent looking. He's often teased by those around him because of his exaggerated reactions. Voiced by Yumachi Kakeru.

Hongo Tour guide. He's soft spoken and tries his best to be polite to everyone. Has a strong sense of responsibility. Voiced by Shinomori Hibiki.

Shimada Freelance photographer who joined the tour to take photos. Always carries his camera with him to take pictures whenever he feels like it. Voiced by Kishiri Tooru.

General info This game has three main routes (Mitsugi, Matsuda and Takara) but Hongo and Shimada do have their own endings as well and appear quite often in every route. There are also four other characters on the island (Kido, Uchimura and two unnamed guys). I actually wasn't sure if there was a recommended route order for this game, but I'd personally recommend Mitsugi > Matsuda > Takara. Though you can start with Matsuda's route too I don't think it affects the story much. I used a guide to get all the endings which you can find here, but you can also enable "easy mode" in the game which kind of guides you to the route you want to play. Usually, the bad ends were pretty easy to get too.

Just like some of PIL/SLASH's other games, this game does have horror themes and some of the CGs are a bit graphic, so be aware of that! If you're familiar with their other games I think you'll be fine, but I figured I'd give some kind of warning.

Let's start with a short summary of the common route! Azuma's dreams of travelling to a luxurious resort are already crushed when he's about to board the ship and realizes the island is uninhabited. Furthermore, he also learns that they will be staying in wooden cabins and have to cook their own food. Nevertheless, he tries to make the best out of the situation and actually ends up enjoying the first day together with his new friends. This positive mood doesn't last long however, as the ship that was supposed to deliver them fresh food every day stops showing up. Not only that, but they also lose communication with the outside world, as Hongo, who's the tour guide, is not able to contact anyone on the mainland.

At first the group tries to stay calm, hopeful that help might arrive soon. Aware that food shortages will be one of the first problems they will run into, they split up into different groups to look for ways to find food on the island. This proves to be quite difficult, as Matsuda comments that the currents around the island are unusual and the fish don't seem to be biting. The others don't have much luck either, as there aren't many edible plants or mushrooms on the island.

While exploring the island, they discover an abandoned village which most likely been abandoned since the Meiji period. Weirdly enough it doesn't seem like the former inhabitants took their belongings with them, almost as if they had to suddenly leave in a hurry. Another strange thing the group notices is that the storehouse has a jail cell in the basement, as if people had been imprisoned there in the past. Mitsugi mentions that this is not unusual for houses that were built during this time period, but it does make you wonder why people would need this on an island, and Azuma thinks the same.

Moving on to each route, I played Mitsugi's route first because I liked his character design. He's an architectural designer who came to the island for some work-related reasons, and at first he has no interest in talking to Azuma. This pisses Azuma off so he immediately tries to start a fight with Mitsugi. This kind of continues for at least a few days, but it was really funny to see their interactions. I was curious to see how their relationship would develop in this route. I think his route is a good one to start with because it doesn't really explain the full story about what's going on in the island, but I think it gives the player some interesting hints about what might happen in the other routes. I also recommend playing the bad ends, as you can also get Hongou's ending in Mitsugi's route.

The next route I played was Matsuda, who works as an salesman/office worker and traveled to the island for a well-deserved vacation. I wasn't sure what to think of him at first because he just seemed like a nice guy who liked fishing, so some parts of his route surprised me a little...! You can also get Shimada's ending in this route.

After finishing the first two routes, I played Takara's route. He's a student who similar to Azuma, also won the ticket for this trip. I think this route is locked (?) and for the right reasons because if you play it first it will spoil the entire game. In this route you finally learn more about the island. I can't really say more because it would spoil the ending, but definitely play the game until the very end so you can find out yourself!

Final impressions First of all, one thing I really liked is how the game really has no boring moments. I think my favorite character is still Mitsugi, but Azuma is such a funny protagonist and I always think it's fun how PIL/SLASH combines elements like horror and humor. I think I said something similar when I reviewed Dystopia no Ou, but these games always have such fun characters. I also liked the illustrations drawn by Kotomi Youji, the CGs are really nice and detailed.

Now I wouldn't say it's the most serious game ever, but honestly I think it doesn't need to be. This is one of these games in which I enjoyed the interactions between the characters the most. If you're a fan of BL games with dark themes I think it's definitely worth it to give this one a try! As usual, PIL/SLASH made sure to add some pretty dark and disturbing bad ends to this game, so I definitely recommend playing those too if you're into that. The dark themes are however also present in the routes that lead to the good endings, so if you're not comfortable with noncon scenes for example, this game might not be for you.

I played the trial version of the Japanese version years ago, but I had a good time playing the game in English this time and finishing all of the endings. Other than some minor typos and the game showing me hints when I wasn't using easy mode (I'm not sure if this also happens in the Japanese version) the English version was enjoyable to play. The game is also only 20 USD which is quite a good deal, since the Japanese versions tend to be more expensive.

Lastly, if you're looking for more content after finishing the game, Paradise actually also has two sequels, -MUSUBI- which is basically a fandisc that continues the story, and -KIWAME-, which is more of a re-telling of the first game's story. Apparently Takara's brother shows up in these games as a new character. Right now they are only available in Japanese though, so be aware of that!

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase Character Discussion (for your local Cyberchase trivia quiz) - #3: Jackie

Here we go again. I've made this style of post about Inez and Matt, and now it's Jackie's turn.

#3: Jackie

Let's start with her bio from "Meet the Cybersquad". Again, this almost 25 years old now, so who knows how much of it is still canon.

So, we get our introduction to Jackie. She's smart, funny, has a plan, and is over-the-top. Yeah, that's accurate so far.

For some reason, this page was not in her original bio when they released it in 2001. They went back and added this page later in 2002. This is the only bio that I have seen that had content added like this. This page lets us know that her favorite color is yellow, and she loves tofu burgers. I don't know if the show has confirmed that she is a vegetarian or vegan. She is shown to care about animals, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was canonically a vegetarian.

Her favorite book is one that I hadn't heard about until now: "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech. In this story, the 13 year old protagonist, Salamanca (Sal) Hiddle, goes on a cross-country road-trip to visit her mother. There are themes of coming to term with loss and building new relationships. It makes me wonder if, at some point in development, the show-runners might have been interested in giving Jackie a tragic loss similar loss to Sal. I haven't seen the later seasons where they bring in the kid's families, but I don't believe they have gone that route so far.

For her favorite music, we get two bands: Destiny's Child and NSYNC. These are very much a product of the time. Destiny's Child actually disbanded in 2006, as the members went off to do solo work. NSYNC disbanded in 2002, and then reunited in 2023. Well, we know that Jackie loves her R&B and Pop music, so I'm sure she found other bands to follow since then.

Her favorite movie is Shrek, which only came out in 2001. Matt and Inez have definitely sent her all the memes that have come out about that movie since then. Her pet peeves are bugs and anything messy. Yeah, that still tracks. She has a "Wheaton Terrier" named Brandy. I don't know if the spelling has changed over the years, or if they just made a spelling mistake in her bio, but I have only seen it spelled as "Wheaten".

Jackie also gets a bio from Nelvana, which is pretty cool. I've only been able to find surviving archives of bios for her and Matt. They have sections for Inez, Dr. Marbles, Motherboard, The Hacker, Buzz, and Delete. However, all of those are left empty in the surviving archives of the pages. I don't know if bios were completed for those other characters.

We get emphasis on the point of Jackie being organized. We also get more insight into how she solves problems. She uses diagrams, charts, and graphs among other things. She also touched on her tendency to use initials as shorthand for things. I remember the Blue Bunny Place (B.B.P) from "Of All The Luck". Was she hip in 2002? Is she still hip now? I'm not qualified to say.

We also get an introduction to Jackie through the official prequel web comic, "How It All Started: Episode 3". We see Jackie making her own skirt out of strips of fabric. I assume it is for cheer-leading.

Narration: Meanwhile, on Earth, three kids who don't know each other are about to have the adventure of their lives.

Jackie: I gotta organize this stuff

Narration: meet Jackie, who has her own sense of style...

Narration: And her own way of doing things!

Here's Jackie's Official Cyberchase Trading Card.

When they picked her favorite line as "Make room! I gotta pace!", they probably picked her most iconic line. She loves video games, piano, and foreign languages, which is great. We do get to see her play an unnamed videogame during Season 1 Episode 25 "A Battle of Equals". The hero "San Man" is trying to save the environment by stopping the villains that are trying to pollute it. One villain is called Johnny Grime. There are number riddles, and they are the same sort of riddles that the kids solve during the episode.

I don't think we ever see her playing piano or speaking a second language on the show. Quick question: What are those shoes that she wears? Inez has a pair or blue boots. Matt has a pair of red and white sneakers. Jackie's shoes are a little harder to place. They are purple, and they have considerable heels. Were these meant to be high-tops? I don't know that I've seen high-tops with heels in that size before.

The big thing that people remember Jackie for are her dramatic outbursts. And her most iconic one is probably from Season 3 Episode 4 "A Piece of the Action". You can tell that someone in the animation department had fun with this one.

Here's a transcript.

Jackie: Great! Now we'll never get into Hacker's control center. And if we can't get in there we can't stop Hacker. And if we can't stop Hacker, he'll erase Motherboard's memory with the magnetite! Cyberspace is doomed! Doomed I tell you! Doo-hoo-hoo-hoomed!

Matt: And the award for best dramatic outburst of today goes to Jackie!

Jackie: Matt!

What else can I say about Jackie. Well, she has an amazing tolerance for cold weather. Even in Arctic Cybersites, she still made do with the same short skirt.

Anyway, here's the prototype for Jackie. She had a completely different hairstyle and outfit. She was also called Julie. Again, I consider her current design an upgrade from the prototype.

And here's the Who's Who document on her.

We get more discussion on Jackie being a gymnast and artist. She loves Instant Messaging. I guess that would have been AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) at the time.

[mercurygray]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (if you feel like it, no pressure) Spread the self-love 💖

It's been a little while since I've done one of these! I had a hard time picking just five. All the links are for AO3 and since many of these are older, they're locked to prevent AI scraping.

A Virtuous Woman (TURN: Washington's Spies, rated T, 2,079 words)

The last season of Turn got a lot of criticism (some of it perhaps deserved) for its treatment of its female characters, and the introduction of a new one was widely lambasted by the fandom. I thought the character had a lot of potential and so I wrote this little character study of her side of the story, giving her a little backstory and a little room to breathe. I really liked the piece - and also got vague-blogged about for writing it.

The Cross, the Crescent, and the Star (Discovery of Witches, rated G, 22,220 words)

This piece was written to combine one of my favorite OCs and some of Matthew de Clairmont's backstory. It was written just after I was coming out of a writing slump and it was one of the first things I'd actually finished in a really long time. While it probably had a potential audience of, like, three people, I'm still really proud of the way it turned out and I think the writing is really good.

The Dark of the Lake (Dunkirk, rated G, 990 words)

I will always be sad that more people didn't read my Dunkirk fic, and I always kick these up when I'm asked to recommend stuff that I enjoy because I LOVED these pieces and I wish the fandom at the time had been more welcoming of OCs as a concept. There was a show on Netflix called Churchill's Spies about the formation of the SOE and I used that, and my love for Collins, to come up with a new character that I always wish I'd done more with. Perhaps Smallchurch the WAAF is due an outing in Masters of the Air.

A Lonely Impulse of Delight (Dunkirk, rated T, 904 words)

Another Dunkirk fic - this one with an unnamed protagonist. I'm most proud of this piece's attempt to capture the anonymous feeling of the movie and its ability to make us care about characters even when they themselves don't have names.

Knowing How To Pick 'Em (The Pacific, rated M, 2,481 words)

I will always be really pleased by the fact that I think Marie might be the first OC (at least on AO3) for The Pacific, which feels significant to me, but also that she represents me trying a lot of new things that I didn't think would work and succeeded at all of them. The writing here was really good and got me compared to Steinbeck.

This ask is from a little while ago, so I'm unsure who's done this recently and so I'm tagging some folks I don't know super well! @sagesolsticewrites, @blakelysco-pilot, @winniemaywebber, @lestweforget5 and @pastexistence

[heroictoonz]

I wanna make a like fan point in the timeline for Zelda where everything is fucking wack as hell cause I like to make things harder for the protagonist than it needs to be

Current concepts I have under the cut

-Hyrule currently has three royal princesses but they do have a forth half sister. The eldest of the four is named Zelda because everyone believed that she would take up the position as the goddess blood as Zeldas have before her in her ancestry. Zelda is trained and raised with a LOT of responsibilities on her shoulders including being the eldest sister who has to take care of the other three in some ways. However, come to find out she isn’t the chosen ancestor. Oops. Instead it’s the youngest and half sister (pictured on the left but currently unnamed) who is half sheikah and honestly didn’t even think she counted as a princess and spends most her days in the library or out in the forests

-Link (pictured on the right) in this timeline is born as a gerudo who grows up and declares himself as a man (trans) and because of the legend of the male gerudos becoming their king they take this as the sign that Link is the next gerudo king. Unfortunately he wants nothing to do with any of that kind of responsibility so he runs away from the village. Only to stumble on the master sword and meet Fi who, in turn, explains that he’s the hero spirit which, he also really really does not want and by running away from responsibility is only thrusted with more expected of him

-I had a few concepts for the new incarnation of the triforce of power. I was thinking of him being either a Rito or Zora who is haunted by the spirit of Ganon who threatens to take his body near constantly. Unfortunately at the start of our story Ganon’s spirit is only strong enough to possess a korok. However, he does state that if (currently unnamed character) is to ever give into the triforce or the curse of the Demise that Ganon will be able to take over completely. Whether this is true or not is up for serious debate. Either way it puts him on constant edge especially around Wisdom when he learns she has the goddess blood in her

-Other little ideas I had was that Link is almost a Robin Hood type during his solo travels. Fi is both happy he has a heroic air to him but also do you have to cause this much trouble everywhere you go?

-Wisdom and Power are friends growing up as Power is a royal guard for whatever species he is and has met Wisdom countless times during visits to Hyrule

-A part of me also was thinking of Power being half gerudo and is actually the rightful gerudo king, not Link but because he wasn’t raised in their village no one knows

-I was thinking of Link having a broken piece of the triforce of courage stuck in his body. Another part of the reason why Fi is like hey man I know you hate this responsibility shit but you literally can not ignore me here

-Power possibly coming to the concept of stealing all the pieces of the triforce not to use them but to destroy them, thus pushing him over that unfortunate edge of being against Link and Wisdom

[lassieposting]

I really liked your theories about the prototype and catnip and would like to hear your thoughts about some other stuff if that's okay with you. I'm sorry if it's not organised

who do you think we play as ? at first I thought it was one of the 3 most mentioned characters like Stella or Rich but poppy refers to the player by they (do you think one of those characters uses those pronouns or they used ot to keep the mc a mystery?)

also the most confusing thing by far for me is in the dream sequence we have the gulit hunts you and the radio messages but what do you think "happy and fun why was it done" it's so out of place compared to the others

Also the "get up " radio do you think it's the same as the death messages?

Also why do you think the prototype showed up at the hallucination when we weren't present at the at the hour of joy how did we know about any of this

Also is just me or is ollie after final fight call sound so passive aggressive 😅?

Aaaaaa thank you Nonnie! I'm glad you enjoy my unhinged rambling ❤

So I do actually have thoughts on some of these!

who do you think we play as ? at first I thought it was one of the 3 most mentioned characters like Stella or Rich but poppy refers to the player by they (do you think one of those characters uses those pronouns or they used ot to keep the mc a mystery?)

So like, I don't think we have enough information yet to fully discern who the protagonist is, but based purely on the details we do have so far, I'm tentatively inclined to side with MatPat on this one: I think the most likely candidate at this point is the unnamed Head of Security, owner of the executive slide with the missing name in Chapter 2.

We know that Playtime did take steps to conceal what they were doing from their Average Joe workforce. The instructional posters directly order employees to stay out of the Innovation Wing unless they have authorization. Marcas Brickley's tape indicates that he witnessed PJ Pug-A-Pillar moving around through the gap in the Innovation Wing gate, but he has no idea what the "monster" was, and he's disturbed and distressed by having seen it. The workers in the lobby in the Hour of Joy tape don't seem to have realised that Huggy Wuggy was not a statue. Poppy recalls workers panicking and asking, "What are those things?"

The correspondence between Playtime and the contracted construction company directly states that the secret labs they're building are strictly need-to-know, only to be discussed with those with authorization at Playtime and the building company.

Mommy Long Legs recognises us. Given that the average production-line worker was not aware of her existence, that means we are someone who was high-ranking enough to know about and be directly involved with the Bigger Bodies Initiative.

The Head of Security would absolutely have a good reason to be wracked with guilt. If that's us, keeping the Prototype contained, and the Bigger Bodies creatures compliant and harmless, was our responsibility, and we failed. We knew how dangerous the experiments could be - Huggy Wuggy killed several security staff during his escape attempt, after all, people whose lives were ours to safeguard, people whose families we would have had to break the news to - but we still failed to put sufficient measures in place to prevent a mass uprising (it's implied we as the player character are not fully aware of what happened at the factory, but we know that something went horribly wrong enough for all our coworkers to vanish from the face of the earth). It's entirely fair for us to feel like every single human life lost in the Hour of Joy is on our head.

Rich is an interesting possibility, but while he clearly doesn't like working for Playtime and suspects something is Off about the place - he brings up that the workers aren't allowed to talk to the orphans, and that the orphans are deprived of sunlight in the underground Playcare - he doesn't seem to be actively complicit in Playtime's atrocities. He's a regular day-job worker, not a high-ranking exec, and I don't think he has any clue just how evil his workplace really is. My suspicion is that Rich's audios exist to make a point to the player that good people also worked at Playtime, who didn't know about the Bigger Bodies initiative, and who were slaughtered regardless during the Hour of Joy. Rich exists to provide a face (or, at least, a voice) to the people who were killed who didn't deserve it.

also the most confusing thing by far for me is in the dream sequence we have the gulit hunts you and the radio messages but what do you think "happy and fun why was it done" it's so out of place compared to the others

So personally, I'm inclined to think that this is possibly CatNap, now a young adult, trying to rationalise what the Hour of Joy was meant to achieve versus what it did achieve. Because in the end, it didn't actually do shit. The experiments are still trapped in the factory. Cruelty is still ongoing, only now it's toys hunting toys rather than humans experimenting on children. CatNap is old enough to remember the glee and relief and catharsis brought on by the Hour of Joy, by being free, by being safe, by being reassured by the Prototype that it was all over. And then the gradual, sinking realisation that they're all trapped, every one of them, with a dwindling food supply and no hope of ever going back to their former lives. I think he's asking himself what the point was, when it didn't actually achieve anything long-term.

Also the "get up " radio do you think it's the same as the death messages?

Short answer: Possibly.

That's not Prototype's voice. We've heard him talk in his tape and in Project Playtime - he has a very deep, almost demonic growly voice. Honestly, the get up almost sounds more like Harley Sawyer, the doctor. But we also know Prototype is a vocal mimic, so that very well could be him talking to us, using one of his many imitable voices.

Since the hallucination is guided by CatNap, and CatNap has had a telepathic connection with Prototype, I actually have a few theories on what this could be.

It is Harley Sawyer. We know he essentially tortured the experiments post-transformation, Prototype in particular. This could be a memory CatNap has seen in Prototype's mind of one of those sessions - making a point to the player that the experiments were subjected to horrific abuse and an uprising was their only option.

It's us. Again, if we're the Head of Security, that could be us snapping at an experiment, suggesting we were somewhat callous and not particularly invested in their welfare. Which would make Prototype's Get Up death screens a deliberate mockery - turning our own words back on us.

It's Prototype, same as the death screens, and he's just using someone else's voice. You may have read my theory that Prototype was military, and if this is him, that comes through here; he's a stubborn, hard-headed determinator who has very little patience for us failing to make ourselves useful. He needs us. Get up. We can die later.

As a side note on this section, the "DON'T MOVE. DON'T MOVE AN INCH." voice? I have a fond headcanon that that's us. That's our voice. That's CatNap's - Theo's - final memory before he completely lost consciousness when he was electrocuted: it's us and our security staff cornering Prototype at gunpoint when he brought Theo back for medical attention. That's the moment he was recaptured - Theo's last memory of being human.

Also why do you think the prototype showed up at the hallucination when we weren't present at the at the hour of joy how did we know about any of this

Because it's a hallucination. We're not seeing what actually happened. We're seeing a representation of the protagonist's mind making sense of everything they've learned.

If we are the Head of Security, we know about the Prototype. Keeping his ass contained and making sure he couldn't hurt anyone would've been our primary job. Because we're a human and part of Playtime's executive board, we would have seen him as an evil monster who's violent for no reason, and we would have been given access to the shrink's reports on him - we'd know he's fiercely intelligent, we'd know he's stealthy, we'd know anything that would be relevant to us keeping the facility workers safe. But I think the protagonist underestimated him - a wholesale rebellion prompted by his mind control ability never crossed our mind. And here, I think the protagonist is realising for the very first time just how intelligent he is, just how much influence he has, and that he masterminded the toys' rebellion. We're realising it all comes back to the Prototype. And we're setting that knowledge in the wider context we now have of just how torturous the experiments' treatment and situations were while Playtime was functional.

However, it could also be to do with CatNap, since he's the one guiding the hallucination - Prototype's hand reaches down from on high to smite us, in line with CatNap's religious zeal. It could be CatNap trying to scare us off by showing us the Hour of Joy in a glorious light; his hero saving all the experiments. Fear him, lest ye be smoten, and all that.

Also is just me or is ollie after final fight call sound so passive aggressive 😅?

There is definitely a Vibe about that interaction, a distinct tone that he doesn't have the rest of the time. I'm undecided how I'd read that tone - on one hand, it sounds almost resigned, as though we've made our choice as to whose side we're on and the Prototype considers this us deciding we're his enemy, but on the other...that doesn't match up with my suspicions about his ultimate goal.

It could, of course, also be resigned as in grief. One tired old soldier to another tired old soldier: he knows we didn't really have any other choice than to try to kill CatNap, since CatNap was determined to kill us, and he had no choice but to follow through because all the doctors who could have tended to CatNap are dead, but he's hurting and angry and bitter about it all the same.

Anyway I hope you enjoy these ideas!

[accirax]

A Brief and Highly Speculative DRDT Thought

This damn character order. I don't get it. It vexes me.

Because, as far as I can tell, they aren't ordered in any particular way. It's not alphabetical first name order, alphabetical last name order, alphabetical talent order, death order, order of introduction, Class Trial seating order, gender order (like doing all the girls, all the boys, and then Nico), rainbow order of official colors... And, as far as I can tell, that remains true if you do any of the options in reverse, or if you remove Teruko.

I don't think they work if you remove Xander either, or even Charles too. I say that just because I think those three could be first as, like, a top billing sort of thing. At the start, I think you're meant to believe that (following standard Danganronpa protocol) Teruko is the protagonist, Xander is the support character, and Charles is the antagonist. As arguably the three most important characters, it would make sense to put them first. Of course, that's not exactly how their roles actually turned out, but that's what you want the audience to believe as a spoiler-free first watcher.

So, if it's not any of those things, what is it? I started thinking about what the most likely possibilities are.

#1: The Order is Completely Random

As in, DRDTdev took the finished cast, put all of the names (minus Teruko, and maybe Xander and Charles) into a randomizer, and this is how it turned out. That would be a good way to avoid giving us any hints as to the characters' development or stories. Honestly, fairly likely, but bear with me here.

#2: The Order is Something Story-Relevant We Haven't Learned Yet

And thus, once we get to Chapter 6 or whatever, we'd be like, "oh, so that's why they were put in that order." This could be something like "order in which characters were accepted into Hope's Peak" or "order in which characters met Mai." Potentially interesting, although such an open sandbox that trying to pin down what it means is basically as good as it being random.

#3: The Order is Order of Creation

This is the real "Brief and Highly Speculative Thought" the title promised. I think there's a chance that this order appears random to us because it's the order that the characters were developed in. We know from the July 31st Q&A that Arei was the subject of the "first ever drawing of DT," which could imply that she was one of the characters who was created/confirmed first. However, she's currently fifth, so, what about the characters before her?

Well, Teruko is the protagonist, so it would make sense if she was the first character DRDTdev created. She also has a lot of mysteries and secrets surrounding her, which, as the protagonist, are surely strongly interconnected with the main plot. Hell, it's even possible that the protagonist of altDRDT is Teruko's brother! Having brainrot about Teruko may have been what inspired altDRDT in the first place, which would mean that Teruko would have to exist for longer than altDRDT has. Why am I talking so much about Teruko. This is not a hard sell.

It might seem strange that your literal first death, the character with the least screen time, is the second one you create, but when it's a character as intriguing as Xander, it becomes less of a hurdle. The dramatic scene that occurs to bridge the silly times of pre-first death and the oh-shit entirety of post-first death is an important enough moment that I would believe it was conceptualized very early. It's a big tone-setting moment. Xander also seems to be pretty interconnected with Mai, as "Unnamed Student" once asked him to find something for her (it's uh... in that document somewhere). That implies big overarching plot relevance, which potentially implies early creation.

As stated above, Charles is meant to look like the antagonist archetype of DRDT, so it would make sense if he was developed third. Basically, "I have my protagonist and my support character, so who should my antagonist be?" Charles is alive for at least two Class Trials, and his fear of blood and bodies seems like something that would need to be planned around long in advance. He also has a lot of parallels to Teruko, which could be important to her development. Charles third doesn't seem like a stretch.

Ace fourth, however, feels like a bit more of a stretch. I still don't think it's impossible, though. Many people (including myself, more or less) believe that Ace will be a survivor. Being at the sixth Class Trial is reason enough to be important, but if Ace was designed to do something important at that Trial (god knows what), it could make sense if Ace was created early. Ace also has a number of important relationships-- Levi, Nico, and Hu, to name the most prominent. The fact that Ace is at the center of most of those conflicts, being the one inciting the main problem, makes me think it would have been much easier to plan out the daily life if he were in it from very early on.

And then, we're back to Arei. I wouldn't have guessed that our apparent second victim was developed as early as fifth place, but, that's canon, baby! I don't have to explain this one!

The characters being listed in order of creation would have a number of interesting implications on the roles that characters play. For instance, you would probably imagine that the mastermind would be amongst the characters you would develop first, right? If so, that would diminish the likelihood that characters such as Veronika, J, Whit, or Nico were the mastermind (that actually covers a lot of really popular options, damn). Conversely, it could implicate that characters like Ace, Rose, Hu, or Eden are more likely to be the mastermind.

From a writing standpoint, later characters may have also been created for the purpose of solving problems. Going back to Ace, let's say that (as Hu has already been developed 7th at this point), DRDTdev knows that Ace and Hu need to have a big conflict in Chapter 3 that, I don't know, leads to Hu being the blackened and Ace starting to regret his foul mouth or something. To solve that problem, let's create Nico, a character who Hu likes and Ace hates, who does something highly controversial. Hu defends this "Nico", Ace insists they're in the wrong, and the arguing causes Hu to snap. That's 1) a huge oversimplification of the character creation process and 2) wildly speculative about the future of DRDT's plot, but my point is to say that one character can be inspired by the needs of the plot and still be a cool and beloved character that perfectly fits in regardless.

(To be clear, I am of the firm belief that there are no losers/unimportant or underdeveloped characters in DRDT. That's part of what makes it so great!)

(And, when I referred to "loser" characters there, I am referring to my own writing, not anybody else's fangans.)

That's not to say that there aren't any issues with the concept that the characters are in development order, though. The one that most immediately jumped out to me was David being 12th. Like Charles, he also has a lot of parallels with Teruko, and his big reveal could be something that was in the cards from early on, like Xander's death. Honestly, though, I could seem him being a surprisingly late addition. If DRDTdev perhaps realized that Charles wasn't as antagonistic as he initially intended, he may have wanted a new character to become an antagonist in Chapter 2 to replace Charles. Or, once DRDTdev decided that Teruko wouldn't (outwardly) mourn Xander, he may have wanted a character that would to keep the idea of Xander as a good guy in the audience's minds. Maybe that's just me being delusional, though.

Min's 11th place creation is also kinda weird to me. On one hand, she is the Chapter 1 killer, so a character with a short lifetime and limited important character relationships could have been added closer to the end. Then again, if Xander (the victim) and Teruko and Charles (major baits) were created so early, it kinda feels like DRDTdev would have come up with the actual killer earlier too, right? Min also has connections to XF-Ture tech, which, if not that important to DRDT, certainly seems to be important to altDRDT. However, I guess those could have been "problems" too-- "who can I create that would kill Xander to save Teruko?" and "how can I incorporate XF-Ture tech into the story in a natural way?"

The inclusion of Bonus Episodes also adds some spice to the discussion. We don't technically know that the Chapter 2 victim and killer will get their own episodes once the chapter is over, although I think most people are assuming it at this point. Min, for example, could have also been conceptualized based on a need for an early bonus episode to drop some lore about American Hope's Peak. Thus, her talent of "Ultimate Student" could have been designed to lead to a conversation about the school in the future. The same could be true of some later killers and victims as well.

Also, going back to the "actual killer" bit, things may have also been confused if any characters were ever replaced. Maybe there was originally a different character intended to be the Chapter 1 killer. This hypothetical character could have been discarded entirely or moved somewhere else-- like how, in THH, the original Chapter 1 was Hifumi killing Hiro, but after the plans changed Hiro became a survivor, and Hifumi a third victim. It's another way to potentially explain the gap between first victim and first killer.

Anyways, in conclusion, I don't know if I really believe in this theory or not. I just thought it was interesting, and decided to serve it up to y'all as food for thought.

The creation and writing of DRDT is fascinating to me, so I'll have to ask you to bear with me as my theories get less concrete and relevant and more speculative and meta as the hiatus goes on. That's just the manner in which my brain is rotting at the moment. Are my discussions of reasons for character creation peeling back the layers of the Matrix, or am I just donning my tin foil hat and pretending to know more about writing than I do...? I guess only time will tell. Thanks for reading!

[pass1onepr1ncess]

JJBA Binary Stars: JuJou

(If you saw me repost this, no you didn't, I made some minor changes and additions and wanted make a better first post!)

I've been working on a Jojo Fan Part for quite some time now and I'm finally starting to get around to drawing the characters so that I can introduce them and talk about theProject!!! Also, if you follow my lovely partner @xxbattiepupxx you've probably seen him drawing one of the stand users for said fan part!!! ;)

In any case, the part is called Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Binary Stars and it takes place in the post-reset universe along side Steel Ball Run, Jojolion, and Jojolands! In terms of setting, Binary Stars takes place after the events of Jojolion and before Jojolands! Though Binary Stars starts off in Japan, it's in Okinawa instead of Morioh!

Jumi Joumae (Otherwise known as JuJou) is our protagonist Jojo! She has a twin sister named Jien who I'll talk about more in a following post. but the focus is on Jumi! My biggest inspiration for starting Binary Stars is that I really like how Golden Wind was heavily inspired by Y2K fashion, so I wanted to make a fan part that incorporates characters that are each based on/affiliated with a different genre of alternative fashion!

Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce JuJou and IT GIRL!

Jumi Joumae (Jujou)

Role: Protagonist/Jojo Age: 21 Pronouns: She/Her (Cis Girl) Fashion Style: Kogyaru

Jumi is a Kogal who, despite having graduated High School, continues to dress in kogal style into her early adulthood. She's very ambitious, and though her dreams of stardom and fame are far-fetched she takes them very seriously and won't let anyone talk her down from it. In fact, she's extremely protective of this dream. Anyone who makes fun of her or tries to tell her that her goals are unrealistic will discover that she can be quite confrontational. She remembers everyone who's ever laughed at her dream and holds grudges, frequently using her stand to cause trouble and mischief for them as well as just being plain petty in her interactions with them. Personality-wise, she's sort of like a fusion of Giorno and Josuke. Jumi is currently enrolled in a local college in Nagasaki for her General Studies Degree, but she has her sights set on a performing arts school in Tokyo. 

Jumi’s stand first appeared when she was around 13 years old. She’s never told anyone about it other than Jien, who of course didn’t believe her at first. It took about 3 months, but Jumi had finally gotten Jien to believe her about the “Pretty ghost lady” that lets her turn things into diamonds.Jien was never able to see IT GIRL since Jien hadn’t yet developed her own stand.

- Japanese (Has the littlest bit of White blood from Johnny but that’s a good few generations up the tree) - Younger twin to Jien by 30 minutes - Great-Great-Grandaughter of Johnny Joestar (Daughters of one of his unnamed descendants), Distant cousin to Jodio Joestar and Josuke "Gappy "Higashikata - Visually Inspired by Red Beryl (Houseki no Kuni), Clover (Zero Escape 999), and Yumemi Yumemite (Kakegurui) - Personality Inspired by Saki Tenma (Project Sekai) and Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)

IT GIRL

Stand Name: IT GIRL Namesake: IT GIRL - Aliyah’s Interlude Ability:

Anything Jumi or IT GIRL touches turns into hardened diamond. Jumi can choose the color of said diamond, and if she deactivates her stand or if the target leaves her range, the diamond will revert back to what it was before. IT GIRL’s range is 5 meters (15 feet) in which her stand can not exit that range. IT GIRL's diamonds are neither flexible nor breakable.

In terms of stands being an extension of the user’s soul, IT GIRL represents how Jumi is casual, friendly, and laidback most of the time but how she toughens and shines under pressure and scrutiny. While diamonds can be pretty and shine like a star, they also have a sharp edge- like Jumi. 

While Jumi is more aligned with Kogal, IT GIRL is more aligned with the more dramatic Yamanba style of Gyaru.

And there's Jumi!! Next up is Jien, so I hope people will look forward to that!! I've been working on this fan part for a quite a bit now and have made not only main Jojo, Antag, and Jobros but also many minor stand users!!! I'm excited to finally start telling my story!!!! >w<

When I add more characters and such, I'll tag each post about this project with #Jojo Binary Stars so look out for that if you wanna know more!!!!!!