#I also just dislike how mean the trials are to people in general

[shamera]

..I'm sorry, Fontaine Archon Quest, it took me like half a year to get this far because I'm not... an Ace Attorney player.

And as much as I love the storyline, I can't throw down 4 hours at a time for each chapter that they do with the trials, because they won't let you go if you don't complete those cutscenes.

[writingwithcolor]

My alternate universe fantasy colonial Hong Kong is more authoritarian and just as racist but less homophobic than in real life, should I change that?

@floatyhands asked:

I’m a Hongkonger working on a magical alternate universe dystopia set in what is basically British colonial Hong Kong in the late 1920s. My main character is a young upper middle-class Eurasian bisexual man.  I plan to keep the colony’s historical racial hierarchy in this universe, but I also want the fantasy quirks to mean that unlike in real life history, homosexuality was either recently decriminalized, or that the laws are barely enforced, because my boy deserves a break. Still, the institutions are quite homophobic, and this relative tolerance might not last. Meanwhile, due to other divergences (e.g. eldritch horrors, also the government’s even worse mishandling of the 1922 Seamen's Strike and the 1925 Canton-Hong Kong Strike), the colonial administration is a lot more authoritarian than it was in real history. This growing authoritarianism is not exclusive to the colony, and is part of a larger global trend in this universe.  I realize these worldbuilding decisions above may whitewash colonialism, or come off as choosing to ignore one colonial oppression in favor of exaggerating another. Is there any advice as to how I can address this issue? (Maybe I could have my character get away by bribing the cops, though institutional corruption is more associated with the 1960s?) Thank you!

Historical Precedent for Imperialistic Gay Rights

There is a recently-published book about this topic that might actually interest you: Racism And The Making of Gay Rights by Laurie Marhoefer (note: I have yet to read it, it’s on my list). It essentially describes how the modern gay rights movement was built from colonialism and imperialism. 

The book covers Magnus Hirschfeld, a German sexologist in the early 1900s, and (one of) his lover(s), Li Shiu Tong, who he met in British Shanghai. Magnus is generally considered to have laid the groundwork for a lot of gay rights, and his research via the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was a target of Nazi book-burnings, but he was working with imperial governments in an era where the British Empire was still everywhere. 

Considering they both ended up speaking to multiple world leaders about natural human sexual variation both in terms of intersex issues and sexual attraction, your time period really isn’t that far off for people beginning to be slightly more open-minded—while also being deeply imperialist in other ways.

The thing about this particular time period is homosexuality as we know it was recently coming into play, starting with the trial of Oscar Wilde and the rise of Nazism. But between those two is a pretty wildly fluctuating gap of attitudes.

Oscar Wilde’s trial is generally considered the period where gay people, specifically men who loved men, started becoming a group to be disliked for disrupting social order. It was very public, very scandalous, and his fall from grace is one of the things that drove so many gay and/or queer men underground. It also helped produce some of the extremely queercoded classical literature of the Victorian and Edwardian eras (ex: Dracula), because so many writers were exploring what it meant to be seen as such negative forces. A lot of people hated Oscar Wilde for bringing the concept to such a public discussion point, when being discreet had been so important.

But come the 1920s, people were beginning to wonder if being gay was that bad, and Mangus Hirschfeld managed to do a world tour of speaking come the 1930s, before all of that was derailed by wwii. He (and/or Li Shiu Tong) were writing papers that were getting published and sent to various health departments about how being gay wasn’t an illness, and more just an “alternative” way of loving others. 

This was also the era of Boston Marriages where wealthy single women lived together as partners (I’m sure there’s an mlm-equivalent but I cannot remember or find it). People were a lot less likely to care if you kept things discreet, so there might be less day to day homophobia than one would expect. Romantic friendships were everywhere, and were considered the ideal—the amount of affection you could express to your same-sex best friend was far above what is socially tolerable now.

Kaz Rowe has a lot of videos with cited bibliographies about various queer disasters [affectionate] of the late 1800s/early 1900s, not to mention a lot of other cultural oddities of the Victorian era (and how many of those attitudes have carried into modern day) so you can start to get the proper terms to look it up for yourself.

I know there’s a certain… mistrust of specifically queer media analysts on YouTube in the current. Well. Plagiarism/fact-creation scandal (if you don’t know about the fact-creation, check out Todd in the Shadows). I recommend Kaz because they have citations on screen and in the description that aren’t whole-cloth ripped off from wikipedia’s citation list (they’ve also been published via Getty Publications, a museum press). 

For audio-preferring people (hi), a video is more accessible than text, and sometimes the exposure to stuff that’s able to pull exact terms can finally get you the resources you need. If text is more accessible, just jump to the description box/transcript and have fun. Consider them and their work a starting place, not a professor. 

There is always a vulnerability in learning things, because we can never outrun our own confirmation bias and we always have limited time to chase down facts and sources—we can only do our best and be open to finding facts that disprove what we researched prior.

Colonialism’s Popularity Problem

Something about colonialism that I’ve rarely discussed is how some colonial empires actually “allow” certain types of “deviance” if that deviance will temporarily serve its ends. Namely, when colonialism needs to expand its territory, either from landing in a new area or having recently messed up and needing to re-charm the population.

By that I mean: if a fascist group is struggling to maintain popularity, it will often conditionally open its doors to all walks of life in order to capture a greater market. It will also pay its spokespeople for the privilege of serving their ends, often very well. Authoritarians know the power of having the token supporter from a marginalized group on payroll: it both opens you up directly to that person’s identity, and sways the moderates towards going “well they allow [person/group] so they can’t be that bad, and I prefer them.”

Like it or not, any marginalized group can have its fascist members, sometimes even masquerading as the progressives. Being marginalized does not automatically equate to not wanting fascism, because people tend to want fascist leaders they agree with instead of democracy and coalition building. People can also think that certain people are exaggerating the horrors of colonialism, because it doesn’t happen to good people, and look, they accept their friends who are good people, so they’re fine. 

A dominant fascist group can absolutely use this to their advantage in order to gain more foot soldiers, which then increases their raw numbers, which puts them in enough power they can stop caring about opening their ranks, and only then do they turn on their “deviant” members. By the time they turn, it’s usually too late, and there’s often a lot of feelings of betrayal because the spokesperson (and those who liked them) thought they were accepted, instead of just used.

You said it yourself that this colonial government is even stricter than the historical equivalent—which could mean it needs some sort of leverage to maintain its popularity. “Allowing” gay people to be some variation of themselves would be an ideal solution to this, but it would come with a bunch of conditions. What those conditions are I couldn’t tell you—that’s for your own imagination, based off what this group’s ideal is, but some suggestions are “follow the traditional dating/friendship norms”, “have their own gender identity slightly to the left of the cis ideal”, and/or “pretend to never actually be dating but everyone knows and pretends to not care so long as they don’t out themselves”—that would signal to the reader that this is deeply conditional and about to all come apart. 

It would, however, mean your poor boy is less likely to get a break, because he would be policed to be the “acceptable kind of gay” that the colonial government is currently tolerating (not unlike the way the States claims to support white cis same-sex couples in the suburbs but not bipoc queer-trans people in polycules). It also provides a more salient angle for this colonial government to come crashing down, if that’s the way this narrative goes.

Colonial governments are often looking for scapegoats; if gay people aren’t the current one, then they’d be offered a lot more freedom just to improve the public image of those in power. You have the opportunity to have the strikers be the current scapegoats, which would take the heat off many other groups—including those hit by homophobia.

In Conclusion

Personally, I’d take a more “gays for Trump” attitude about the colonialism and their apparent “lack” of homophobia—they’re just trying to regain popularity after mishandling a major scandal, and the gay people will be on the outs soon enough.

You could also take the more nuanced approach and see how imperialism shaped modern gay rights and just fast-track that in your time period, to give it the right flavour of imperialism. A lot of BIPOC lgbtqa+ people will tell you the modern gay rights movement is assimilationalist, colonialist, and other flavours of ick, so that angle is viable.

You can also make something that looks more accepting to the modern eye by leaning heavily on romantic friendships that encouraged people waxing poetic for their “best friends”, keeping the “lovers” part deeply on the down low, but is still restrictive and people just don’t talk about it in public unless it’s in euphemisms or among other same-sex-attracted people because there’s nothing wrong with loving your best friend, you just can’t go off and claim you’re a couple like a heterosexual couple is.

Either way, you’re not sanitizing colonialism inherently by having there be less modern-recognized homophobia in this deeply authoritarian setting. You just need to add some guard rails on it so that, sure, your character might be fine if he behaves, but there are still “deviants” that the government will not accept. 

Because that’s, in the end, one of the core tenants that makes a government colonial: its acceptance of groups is frequently based on how closely you follow the rules and police others for not following them, and anyone who isn’t their ideal person will be on the outs eventually. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have a facade of pretending those rules are totally going to include people who are to the left of those ideals, if those people fit in every other ideal, or you’re safe only if you keep it quiet.

~ Leigh

[wc-confessions]

re: WC misogyny

This is solely to get my thoughts out abt this bc I’m probably not gonna be able to articulate this to the best of my ability but I feel like it’s incredibly important to say that these books are pretty damn misogynistic and so was the fanbase for the longest time.

Not saying that to be "throwing the word around without knowing what the word means", because misogyny is defined as a dislike/contempt against women. This can also absolutely be an unconscious bias (which is primarily what I see anyway!) I've seen far more people dismiss these characters while holding up male ones that do similar/worse things (i.e. Thistleclaw primarily but a lot of the MV characters to an extent)

The reason why discussion about sexism usually ends up against cats like Mapleshade, Squirrelflight, Frecklewish, and Nightcloud is primarily due to how the universe of the books is written to chastise these characters while their male counterparts go thru barely half of the shit thrown onto the girls.

Mapleshade gets her kids and herself exiled for breaking the code while Appledusk literally gets a slap on the wrist for breaking the same code she did? The Riverclan leader just tells him "well, you'll not do it again so you don't need to be punished" while Mapleshade doesn't even get to bury her kits. Even if she's the Warrior Cats evil woman that's still really fucked up!? And this goes to Frecklewish as well, who does not watch them drown oh my god. The flood that kills Maple's kits is incredibly loud--saying Freckle would have been able to do anything else OTHER than watch dismisses the fact going to the flooded stones was an idea doomed to fail (of which Mapleshade has a lot of in MV specifically.)

Frecklewish absolutely ended up in the Dark Forest over Oakstar or Ravenwing (who both condemned the kittens to their fate instead of?? idk punishing Maple and not the kits who didn't even know they were half clan?) because of the way the fandom perceived her at the time. Freckle's a lot like Squirrelflight where fandom opinion only recently shifted to people defending those characters--she's pretty awful for calling the same kits she doted on half-clan creatures! But I don't think she deserved to go to cat hell forever when the cat who actually caused those kittens to end up dead (and every other cat in MV!) ends up in Starclan without even so much of a trial.

Speaking of trials--Squirrelflight and Leafpool literally end up almost being sent to CAT HELL for following Starclan's orders. Leafpool ends up having forbidden kits but Starclan goes "it's okay!" until it isn't. Brambleclaw almost being involved in Firestar's fox trap murder never gets mentioned or brought up while both of the girls are questioned about if they even belong in Starclan because they "broke the code and lied"?? There's a pretty damn big bias towards the toms for doing bad/worse actions but Bramble never went to Starclan and had his ticket for heaven almost revoked. Oakstar didn't get put in the Dark Forest because he exiled 3 innocent kits.

I think it's important to note the fandom has a lot of say over how characters like these get interpreted (which is why Nightcloud ended up being hated a lot despite the fact Crowfeather is just. actually abusive to Breezepelt.) That's why I brought up unconscious biases, because I think generally a lot of WC content creators tend to stick to presenting the stories in a more radical/black and white way.

I think the discussion really should be that the books and the stories ARE pretty misogynistic but unconsciously so? A lot of the story beats I mentioned weren't written by just one person, and the Erins have different opinions on these cats than the fans do. That's not me stating an opinion, that's just me saying recognizing that it's very male-oriented IS an issue these books have.

Anyways this got way too wordy, Ashfur is one of my favorite villains so I don't even know why I typed all of this up /j.

[kotelok16]

Hii so I’m new here and haven’t touched danganronpa in years, so I’m just curious as to what got you into komamiki? My mind is blown whenever I see a ship that’s not implied in canon, so seeing your art was like woah!!!! And I just like getting people to infodump about stuff they love 💕

Thanks a lot for the question, anon! This is gonna be a long post, be prepared

In fact, I remember very poorly the moment when I got involved in this pairing. As I understand it, I saw one piece of art and just fell in love with this couple? That is, my brain clicked and was like, "Listen, I like it, there's something in this!"

If you still asking "why" I liked this pairing, then the main reason is an interesting dynamic. Yes, yes, komamiki haters, I know about the ending of the third trial and that these two "hate each other" (as they usually write). But... Isn't there a special charm in this? Has the path from hate to love stopped being a thing? I mean, at the end of the trial, it was shown how well Mikan caught Nagito's weakness. She could have left him speechless with a precise phrase. She understood Nagito.

Isn't there some spice in the fact that you are best understood by the person you dislike now? And everyone you admire didn't even try to understand you?? (yes, Hajime tried in free-time events. I know, I don't deny it. Just for now we are talking about the main plot).

Of course, I can think too much like any other fan of any other pairing. But this dynamic is driving me crazy!

It gives me pleasure to reflect on how difficult it would be for komamiki to restore a neutral relationship to begin with after the events of the game. And it's going to be difficult, as it's going to be difficult for all the killers and victims to talk about what happened, you know? And the difficulties are ✨interesting✨.

What I also like about komamiki is that they are two broken people who can understand each other. They both need psychological (and not only) help, okay?? But in this path of recovery, they can become each other's support.

Mikan is emotional, reads the general atmosphere and someone else's mood very easily, worries a lot. Nagito is actually more detached and calm (unless we're talking about hope-). He knows how to show the emotions needed at the moment, but he does not always read the general atmosphere (and does not always consider it necessary, he is on his own mind). In total, we have two broken people, one is very emotional and reads people well, and the second is calm, which adjusts to the mood of people. And both have low self-esteem and are very, let's call it, helpful. "I will do anything, just don't hate me!" and "I will do everything to become your stepping stone to hope!"

At the same time, they can learn a lot from each other and take care of each other. Mikan, of course, as a nurse. I like to think too much that she put all her strength into Nagito's life after him waking up from the New World Program. Komaeda, in turn, is sharp-tongued, and can protect his emotional girlfriend from unwanted comments verbally. He also knows how to express admiration, I think such words won't hurt Mikan. Tsumiki can also express in words and actions the importance of Nagito's life to her. Uh, a mutual aid circle??

Will such a relationship be difficult? OF COURSE, absolutely. But do you really think that any relationship does not involve difficulties? Including healthy relationships, which are being talked about a lot now? Like, guys, psychologists identify the crisis stages that ANY married couple goes through. The question is not what kind of problems are in the relationship, but how they will be solved. But I got off the subject.

If I think again about the post-canon, then I am hooked by the idea that the Class 77 will become the world's enemy. Not without reason, let's be honest. But, you see, there is no one left in their world who would accept them, except classmates (no, Makoto, don't look at me like that-). "In this world, we only have each other." Isn't this a bit dramatic, tragic and romantic?! (tragic for the most part, but we love it here)

Uh, I think this post is already quite long, it's worth taking stock. I love komamiki, I see an interesting, complex dynamic between them. Most of the time I draw them cute, gentle, romantic, well, because I like to draw them like that. I'm interested in thinking about their relationship, but drawing all sorts of cute things gives me peace of mind. Thanks again for the question, anon! It's always a joy to talk about your favorite couple^^

[flokali]

♦︎ SAGAU Thoughts

���.

Warnings: Cult AU, Religious AU, mentions of war, possible spoilers, etc. Ask to tag!

A/N: you guys thought i forgot about sagau or rem/vita didn’t you?

– All on-going wars seem to have stopped, at least to the public and you. However the Tsaritsa’s plan to steal all the Gnosis is very much still occurring, it’s just became harder to collect them. There is also tension between the Abyss order, which has halted its plans – at least, that’s what they alleged – and the Seven, and the Tsaritsa very much still plans to take down Celestia, however there are new, more complex motivations since you’re now involved in the equation.

For example, the Abyss order hopes to take down the Seven and Celestia, defaming them by exposing their nature and past actions, and restore Khaen’ria with you as its new head, meanwhile the Tsaritsa and her Harbingers hope to take destroy Celestia with the power of the Archons and build a new world, once again, with you and the Tsaritsa as its rulers.

– Since you have access to the teleport points, because let’s be honest, exploring Teyvat without them must be hellish, you’re also expected to be able to divide your time between the Seven Nations. Realistically, since they view you as a higher and wiser power, you’ll be consulted for all sorts of affairs such as politics, culture, the arts, and even the economy. Because of the amount of power you hold and how valuable your input is to them – even if you have no idea what you’re talking about – it’s likely your schedule has been adjusted with this in mind by the Archons and the Qixing, unfortunately this translates into having days where you won’t be able to so much as breathe for too long without messing up the time slots and you’ll have painfully uneventful days where you’re nothing but a glorified idol who’s wondered the same halls for the ninth time that day.

– With your arrival, Zhongli probably didn’t step down as an archon but rather is taking an “indefinite break”. He probably could have gotten away with retiring but it would have strippen him of too many privileges in regards to being with you, privileges he doesn’t want to hand over, so instead he’s order a contract with the Qixing that states he – as Rex Lapis, and now as Zhongli too – is still the Archon of Liyue but has given the harbor over to them for a “trial” period. This allows him to cease power if he thinks they’re getting too out of hand or if he feels his spot by your side is being endangered.

– Celestia is neutral about your existence, however many average citizens seem to think you’re both working together; only the Archons and the Abyss Order know you and Celestia work apart.

The Twin and the rest of the Abyss dislike how it has taken your name as its own, it only further fuels their distaste towards them and the Archons since they also don’t try and correct the mistake.

– We, as players, know how the wishing system works alongside the concept of event/limited-time banners, but the people who are in the game have virtually no clue what that is.

I imagine that they must have come up with some sort of an explanation, here’s my little take; it’s basically a prayer to them.

What I mean is, quite literally, that they pray to you, the player, to fulfill a “wish” of theirs — which in most cases is to be closer to you for guidance, comfort, and so on. When you pull for a character and get them, to them, it’s basically you answering their prayer and coming to them - a mutual bond of sorts. It’s less about if they want to come or if they believe in you - we’re going with the “all playable characters + The Fatui (Scara included) + Archons + Dainsleif + The abyss twin + most of Teyvat in general'' believe in you in different extents but extents nonetheless approach.

The minute they become accessible to you it’s sort of a semi-meditation-state where via their wish and Vision (yes, Vision — we’ll go with the idea that Celestia is somehow connected to you or the Vision also working as an asset that favors them in religious-ways) they manage to establish a “connection” with you where you’re temporarily sharing consciousness and controlling their body; they’re fully aware of what’s going which is why idle lines and animations are still playing, however it’s a painless and overly-euphoric state that could - in theory - become addictive, thus making characters you’ve pulled and used often become more delusional and attached to you compared to others and why sometimes you can still end up getting the same character even if you’ve already got them, aka constellations and dupes – the constellations act as a limit of wishes Celestia allows them to have, but when they appear even after you C6 them it’s kind of a testament of their devotion.

This is also why Visions are kind of a big deal, not only are they connections between the Archons, Celestia, and the user but you as well.

Characters such as Dainsleif - who don’t have a vision -, Scara - who we don’t know if he has a vision, delusion or what-not - and Baizhu who aren’t playable it’s less of a “we don’t believe in you” and more of a “we are so busy with other shit we literally cannot become vessels… yet”. Any character who hasn’t been released yet - could be considered to be “going on a journey” until they can become vessels, knowingly or not. Those who won’t become playable are a whole different story for another post entirely, but we could say it’s a “punishment” - at least, in La Signora’s case for possibly “betraying” Celestia or being too much of a danger to them.

Banners are similar, the standard banner is basically the “we are literally ready 24/7 for any blessing, lord help us” – basically, their prayers are more vague and easily answered.

Take Jean for example, her wish is to keep Mondstatd safe via being the best Acting Grandmaster and Dandelion Knight she possibly can — that’s a wish that’s easily accessible in the day to day in-game life compared to, let’s say, Raiden who’s a literal god having to repent for her past-mistakes. Of course, this logic doesn’t always apply - we can even go and tweak the explanation for each Event Banner. Standard banner = more achievable wishes, Event Banners = Harder – % up’s aren’t completely random and have more to do with the character’s importance in that moment - we know banners are loosely tied with whatever event is going on in-game, therefore we could say that it’s during the moment where the character are the spotlight that there wishes are given priority. In their eyes, they probably get told by the preachers something along the lines of: “In times of change, where our future feels the most uncertain, it’s that our Grace bestows us with their presence” or something.

The four-stars are similar, their wishes tend to be “easily achievable” and tend to be more… normal you could say. Compare Thoma who wants to protect and be loyal to the Kamisato Clan to Ayato or Ayaka’s wish to create a safe and happy Inazuma for all of the people, even Sara who’s main devotion is towards the Shogun has more achievable goals than someone like Kokomi who wanted to stop a whole decree and was an integral part of a literal civil war or even Zhongli who is a former Archon, Prime of the Adepti, who literally created a whole economy and city who is now a retired funeral employee who is keeping the progress of a whole harbor/city in check. I’m rambling here but you get the gist; four stars tend to have more “tame” and “ordinary” goals, while five stars are kind of… really, concerningly, ambitious.

In a way, being a five star AND an exclusive event banner character is kind of a curse for the characters, for the player it’s more of a “damn, Hoyoverse really wants us to spend money on this limited time character, huh?” but to the character it’s a whole religious/identity crisis akin to a “I am unworthy of my God’s love and there’s something literally wrong with me”.

[lookingkindofdumb]

Midoriya, Bakugou and teacher intervention:

More meta rants ahead!

Okay, so I just rewatched episode 61 of the BNHA anime the Deku VS Kacchan, part 2 where they fight after the hero licensing exam...and I actually liked it. (I do prefer the manga but I'm sticking with the anime for now).

I dislike Bakugou as a character, he's abrasive, rude and a bully. But, we catch him as he's in the process of evolving and while there are many legitimate complaints; I do think what happens with his character is good writing.

But this isn't about that! This is about this episode in particular.

We have Bakugou hitting a low point in this episode and getting Midoriya to come with him to another low point of his: Ground Beta where he lost the first classroom exercise to Midoriya. It is, from him, a cry for help. (Even more so in that he's actually verbalising his feelings enough for Midoriya to interpret them.)

Bakugou has treated Midoriya abominably.

And both of them acknowledge this! (Okay, roundabout for Bakugou but it is progress - something that is a theme of this story, people continuing to work on bettering themselves.) Midoriya even admits their relationship is screwed up and that Bakugou was so, so mean.

Before their fights never felt even.

But for the first time I felt that their fight was somewhat even footing. And i honestly feel that is some impressive writing/animation skills.

(Usually before it was Bakugou being the instigator and aggressor and Midoriya just fighting to, well, stay alive. This starts that way but it, too, evolves.)

This one feels like a fight. Rather than Bakugou just trying to punch Midoriya down.

It takes a while to get there and Midoriya is far more forgiving and accepting than anyone should ever be, but it really works for his character and the narrative place.

And we see that reflected in Yagi Toshinori's commentary.

(I always feel like he gets the wrong end of the stick in confrontations, and this is no different, but. He doesn't get core of it wrong.)

By this time both Yagi and Aizawa have to realise that there is something fractured about the dynamics between Bakugou and Midoriya but it really is too late by now.

Teacher intervention now isn't going to help. (It would have helped before now - the quirk test, the first battle trial, the exam.)

But after this episode they've, well, cleared the air. Teacher intervention now is just pointless - water off a ducks back.

I do think that Aizawa and Yagi failed Midoriya (at least in the beginning) but are they not allowed to improve too?

And this episode was such a brilliant showcase for the entire themes of the series. A true turning point.

...I wanted to end it there, but there is something else. Another theme of the series is that Midoriya is once again holding up the pieces of something broken and carefully gluing it together.

(This being Bakugou's psyche. This time.)

It isn't on Midoriya: Bakugou has bullied him, suicide baited him, and generally verbally insulted him non stop...but he does it anyway. Because, impossibly, he still cares. (It would be incredibly valid if he didn't.)

But again, Midoriya sees a way in which he can help, so he does.

He also says that he's not nice enough to let Bakugou just beat him up (at that point he still believes Bakugou is cross at not passing the licensing exam and just needs to blow off steam). Which again, is such an important line.

For all that Midoriya is forgiving and accepting of peoples flaws, he doesn't just stand by when they choose to inflict these flaws on the world.

We see this when he stands up to Endeavour in the sports festival, when he shouts at Todoroki and Yoarashi and saves a bystander during the licensing exam and every single time he saves someone. Even if it is just saving someone from themselves.

...now, obviously this is an anime and very very fictional, but i really think there is something to be taken away from this. That an action of genuine care, no matter how small, is in of itself: heroic.

[ca-suffit]

Hi! Have you watched Jacob interview? He made very clear he dislikes Loumand and kinda make the same point Lestans do, they are all monsters so you can’t judge them. He also said Louis know he has some kind of power ove Lestat, he means Lestat loves him so much he knows how to hurt his feelings and being cruel I guess. I love him but he gave some points to the worst part of the fandom :/

Putting this ask with this too: "have you watched jacob’s interview with autumn? he hates loumand so. much. and he does not seem to like armand much either lol maybe no jassad interviews was for the better"

I watched and took extensive notes and bitched on twitter.

To touch on Loumand first, here's the one positive thing he said that I wanted to get down word for word, cuz I knew the fandom would overlook it (not any of u, I mean in general).

"And, like, I think the fact he jumps into that relationship with Armand so quickly…which I think is, like, um….I think that it is based on something. There is an attraction, there is a pull. But, like, the fact that he jumps into that relationship in the way he does. And he has to construct this kind of dream version of Lestat. He's not able to be on his own. He's just not one of those people. He has to have a distraction and he has to have, I think, something to fight against. Like he needs…a….like a foil? He needs…he needs like…some…some passion but also somebody that he can disagree with and have a problem with. And it distracts him from all the problems he has with himself." (From the "Louis is finally living on his own" segment)

But, ya, overall...aside from saying at a point that he does feel bad for Armand (and complimenting Armand as an individual character outside of being with Louis), it is v heavy on disliking Loumand and kind of killing it all dead p instantly. He does say "Fuck Lestat" too but he also refers to them as "soulmates" and mentions the "vampire bond" and all (which I thought everyone agreed is not....rly real? Not in the way Louis is using it to excuse his pull to Lestat, anyway, but...idk w/e). But, ya, he says at a point that he feels like Loumand never rly even spent much time together. That Louis was always out eating and doing something and Armand would stay behind and "play house."

He also does later touch upon a fear of being too dismissive of them but also says he didn't understand their relationship in the book either and feels like the show is true to the book (it is and it isn't).

I mean. I think there's a lot that could be talked about more in all of this but Autumn isn't someone who...asks about much, so here we are.

Like. I fucking hated that whole "can't moralize," "they're all awful" shit too, bcuz ya I know the fandom is gonna run wild with that. I also think, sry to Jacob, that it's shit to say that? There's a lot u can still explore in a topic about a character's motivations. There's a LOT of racial motivations for things in these stories, for example, and it's v harmful to gloss over them and say they're all awful and it's just what it is. I also don't expect only the actors of color to speak on this tho, I think white actors should be talking about this more often too bcuz there's more protection there to speak about it without being seen as "a problem." I'm not trying to go too hard on Jacob for this part, just like I don't think Delainey needed to be the one asked about the trial (and still the only one who has been?).

There was a little bit of the cruelty part that I liked (this is in the "Louis's cruelty" section) where he calls threatening Lestat with "vampire loneliness" a "mutual punishment." I think there's a lot to explore there for the character of Louis, for the Loustat relationship, for what it does to Lestat too. But...not in this fandom lol. Not with the "mutual punishment" prbly leading to some bullshit about 1x5 again ffs. But there was a rly bad post in the last week about not being able to see all these "book" Louis qualities in Jacob's Louis and this is such a prime example of some real Catholic shit Louis does.

This is long. I might write separate posts later going into more stuff from my notes and having this sit in my head some more.

I want to be clear tho that this isn't meant to be any excuse for slamming Jacob or simplifying this down to shipping wars or whatever else. It's overall all connected to racism issues in this fandom and the ways that all of these conversations (or lack of them) affect these things too. All of these actors are their characters as well and all tend to speak from their perspectives and also know these stories from other angles and goals of the show instead of whatever reasons we're all here. I wish the interviews had more depth but I'm not trying to create more friction in the fandom with reducing this down to some kind of soundbite like "fuck Jacob cuz he doesn't like Loumand!" or w/e.

[kiwibongos]

im back thinking again. regarding my last post with how i interpreted ibuki and fuyuhiko's friendship im heavily thinking abt him and hiyoko. hiyoko more specifically tbh. its hiyoko appreciation time. will contain spoilers

imo she should have lived. also tbh kazuichi shouldve died, not her. thats a whole other sauce tho (again) but like. i feel like hiyoko deserved to survive way more, in general. her potential was really there man

i used to hate hiyoko, i still kind of dislike her in a certain way but its because all of that points blame to the writers of sdr2, for the god awful pacing they thought was good, and how they just didn't really bother to show a lot of growth from her before her time was wrapped up? i enjoy how she was the mean character bc there's always gotta be That One Bitch, but i really would've loved for her to survive, for her to heal and live on for mahiru and even to grow close with fuyuhiko, ibuki, hajime and sonia, and she would perhaps even express sadness towards ibuki and mikan's deaths

its like everything that had happened in the game, and all the time they spent focused on hiyoko and what she was going through just went to waste, and they spent the rest on weaker material or scenes. hiyoko should have been given the same character arc fuyuhiko lived to see. and both of them have so much in common already, they'd make a pretty good duo. e.g., they both lost someone they loved (mahiru & peko), they're both mean, stubborn, and quippy but secretly soft around the right people, also hello they literally look related anyway ... the blonde hair and the rosy cheeks . come on. someone on spike chunsoft saw them. but it didnt work out. anyway i feel like they would bond amazingly, albeit very slowly, but they're definitely the duo to just gossip all the time about other people LOL, and fuyuhiko would try to comfort her as well, because he's lost two people

hiyoko wouldn't just easily forgive him of course, i dont think she ever could, hence why i emphasized they'd slowly bond because the tension would be agonizing. she was furious, and still mourning mahiru when she had just died, but she would at least understand him and grow to accept his company and genuine kindness overtime (and she had almost seemed to near the very end??). if she lived to see his genuine growth and saw that he actually cared and that he would do anything to make it up to her, she'd be way less cautious of him. and she'd realize that the fact that they're both stuck on an island in a killing game, and fuyuhiko genuinely seems to be the only one who seems to bother, and the only one who actually sees her. so if not him, who else does she really have, you know. at least, at that moment

afterwards, hiyoko would just calm down and be more cooperative and helpful overtime, she's not dumb at all and she knows what to say, though she might butt her head in at the worst times, she also doesn't put up with bullshit, the same way sonia doesn't, they both act thoroughly bc they're smart. she'd also be really helpful in the trials tbh, i think she'd be the kind to spot out little details

later on she'd have sonia and hajime to support her too! someone has to help her with her kimono.... fuck it they'd all collectively just tolerate her but also encourage her. compared to fuyuhiko she hadn't really done anything bad, she was just hurt. she just needs someone, now that her own someone was gone

of course id love if she stayed hotheaded but just not call everyone a skank or a pig every two seconds, keep her mean side i love a bad bitch, she just wouldn't have kept that mask up, and she'd learn like, "Oh Shit, these people are all i have, and i need them". if she stuck around, hiyoko wouldve been such a good help as a survivor. and just generally more interesting to see, she woulda stuck out to me more in general. wouldve LOVED to see her shine in chapter three, or the final two chapters

hiyoko fans please rise with me. i love her and her dumb pigtails. tldr im MAD she didn't get her redemption like she deserved she was so cool despite also being nasty but she had a CHANCE dude the potential was shining bright in front of our eyes

[regheart]

Considering Frank and Alice were aurors in extremely trying times, probably under Barty Crouch Senior’s leadership, I wonder if they shared some of his “whatever it takes” attitude to fight death eaters. When Lupin confronts Harry about using exclusively expelliarmus against DE, Harry’s answer reminds him of James. I wonder if James and the Longbottoms ever went head to head about strategies to fight Voldemort and his followers.

that's an interesting question, anon!

one thing about crouch, he doubles the strength of his attacks once they fail. the state apparatus hasn't been enough, we should use illegal weapons. there are too many death eaters, we should arrest every suspect without trial. and so on. that's obviously ineffective in a way the text implies, but also because it's dealing with the aftermath without dealing with the cause of the problem. and realizing that is what i think it's the biggest difference in approach between the ministry and the order (and the order and any other more left-wing leaning individuals)

i believe that frank and alice, being aurors, had the means to fight against voldemort in the name of the ministry, and if they decided to go and join the order, they must have had strong disagreements with the way the ministry was doing it. and i think crouch's politics, even beyond the decision of allowing law officials to use unforgivables, must have been a part of that

it would also seem plausible that even within the order people would have different views on how to fight the war. it's a bit tense already that they're all under dumbledore's command, not everyone could be always happy with that, and i'm sure some people didn't became part of the order because they disliked dumbledore, and some others did despite of it

with the longbottoms it's safe to assume they were aligned with dumbledore, and being some of the most light leaning characters, i don't see any textual implications that they might have enjoyed or preferred crouch's methods of handling things. they are brought up close to his name only as victims, never as perpetrators

but it's a bit naive to think that they've fought a war without being changed by it, right? moody doesn't kill unless he has to, remus and kingsley go "murder is okay" once the situation gets worse, the longbottoms might have fallen in between

so, did they kill? yes. i think they would've been bad at their jobs if they didn't. i also think that they must have avoided it as much as they could, because of plausible deniability (no killing on the spot just because someone is in a suspicious position) and because they, and the order in general, valued information above making critical hits and getting lower ranked death eaters to rattle on each other and maybe on the ones closer to voldemort is a better deal than just killing them

this actually matters a lot less during the second war, everyone knows who the death eaters are because they're the ones in power and killing before you get killed might be the best strategy. for remus, at least, i wonder if his pragmatism on the matter relates to a regret of not killing in the past, maybe because he was torn between what seemed like the safest option and what james thought was right

and i always have a lot of trouble trying to figure what james did during the war (that's a whole other post), but seeing frank and alice, who were probably people he admired immensely, being very rational about killing might have put his beliefs in check and i don't think he liked being aware of how cruel he truly was

[navree]

Why do people (especially here in tumblr) hate Tyrion so much?

I mean, from what I've seen, quite a lot of people like Tyrion, considering he's a well written character and his storylines are both some of the most compelling and the most central to one of the two core plots (the politics side of ASOIAF, while Jon's the one most central to The Others side). I think we also need to divide it up into show Tyrion and book Tyrion, because the reason people dislike show Tyrion is that he turned into a little idiot once D&D had to actually write out his plans himself and it's incredibly frustrating to watch him continually be such a fuck up but the narrative still treating him like he's in the right. Also his issues with Dany make no sense even before The Bells, which is also a heavy factor.

For book Tyrion, I mentioned it in a prior ask, but Tyrion's chapters can be genuinely hard to read. Tyrion is incredibly misogynistic - I don't consider this a flaw in the writing, GRRM is being incredibly purposeful with it and it's there for a reason and a lot of his actions are understandable, and Tyrion where he is in the books right now is in the midst of a darkening downward spiral for the furtherance of his arc - and even ignoring his actions, his constant thinking about how he wants to be violent towards various women he dislikes or sexually assault them (him constantly talking about wanting to rape and kill Cersei for thinking that he killed Joffrey when he knows she genuinely believes it, unlike Tywin who was using it as an excuse to get rid of him is particularly galling for me) can literally be draining. For me at least, it can be an actual trial to get through some of Tyrion's chapters, not just because the misogyny he exhibits is so constant, but also because this isn't a way of thinking that's isolated to ASOIAF.

The series tackles very real world issues, but still within the confines of a world and system most readers are never going to experience. It is highly unlikely that most of the readers are going to experience what it's like to live under a feudal system modeled on Middle Ages Europe and all the issues that entails, but men who feel that women owe them sex just cuz they're having it with another man (like Tyrion says to Cersei in ACOK), men who hit a significant other for saying the wrong thing (like Tyrion does to Shae in either ACOK or ASOS), men who take their own anger at their misperceptions out on other women (like Tyrion killing Shae in ASOS), men who immediately feel sexually violent when angry at women (like how Tyrion thinks about Cersei in ADWD), men who still have sex with women who are clearly not into it or in a position to consent because their pleasure matters more to them (like Tyrion with the slave in ADWD)? Those are very real men, that any female reader of ASOIAF can run into or have in her life.

There's also other stuff, I don't know how popular these reasons are but this is from my perspective, that Tyrion does that sometimes make me roll my eyes, mostly just things like not realizing that summarily banishing Janos might read badly to the general populace, or his tendency to be kinda rude to people who serve him like Pod (he's highborn, it's not unexpected but still aggravating), or even the fact that, for as smart as he is, he's nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is, especially when it comes to interacting with other people. Again, all of these are purposeful parts of Tyrion's character, they're not being done accidentally, but if I'm looking at Tyrion as a person, separate from a character constructed by an author (which I do generally try to do, since I think there's a difference between liking a character as a character and liking them as a person, similar to how I can find certain historical figures interesting but still dislike who they were as people), these also aren't things I particularly like about him.

I've said this before, but I don't think Tyrion is all bad. There's stuff I like about his arc, about how he's written, about what he means as a character and the things he does, and his place in the narrative, but as a person? No, I don't like Tyrion, and the reasons I don't like Tyrion are reasons that other people do share. It can be tough spending time in his head, what with all the aforementioned misogyny, and that can be enough of a turn off for people, especially socially conscious readers or female readers who have to deal with the real life misogyny Tyrion's is inspired from. That doesn't mean that no one likes Tyrion (most people I know actually do like him quite a lot, and he's an incredibly popular character, as well as the author's personal favorite), or that someone's a bad person for liking him, but there are reasons for the dislike some people have, and for me at least, these are mine.

[iamdevouring-god]

I am the Eternal Abyss... the Endless One...

T̵̙̒h̷̤̐e̴͚̽ ̴͖̿D̶̬̄e̸̼̽v̶͍͂ọ̶̀ù̸͜r̴̻͘ẹ̷͊r̵̖̔ ̵̨̌ò̸̝f̸̪̀ ̸̪̇G̵͇̓o̷̟̒d̵͍̍

(The Devourer of God)

Askbox is Open!

(Can be anything from random questions, actions, or deep stuff about lore, I guess? I'll answer em to the best of my ability. Oh, also I DON'T use a queue. I just post and answer as I answer.)

Mods mental health is shit but they want to try to run this blog! Please be aware responses may be slow!!

Rules / Blog and Mod information:

This is an ask and roleplay blog. Feel free to ask me whatever! I hope this actually gets attention lol. I liked this idea of mine.

( I'll do my best to answer in what I can garner is character [likely gonna project beause of how little the Endless One is shown. But I'll do my best to be consistent] *NOT Addison, specifically the Endless One.* I liked seeing all these ones around and went: "y'know what... let's add the un-god to the mix-" so... usually will likely be a silly unless it's in a bad mood. [Again. This blog will be HIGHLY NON-CANON, but I will do my best. This is like... kinda based on pre-trial events Endless. But also just combined with my own dumbass-ness *so... essentially I have made an eldritch un-god rp blog. It will be chaos.* ] also will have some Kenneth/Endless One *KennAddy or Kenneth/Addison* content.)

Any kind of asks are fine (I *the mod* prefer NOT to see NSFW, but depending on my mood, I might be fine with it *to extent of like... dirty jokes*.. also, I have never done a RP/ask blog. Hopefully, this is actually existing right)

OOC will be tagged with : Addison Speaks or if in the tags of an in character post : ooc. // or just // [insert ooc text]

(mod's name is NOT Addison but it makes most sense for this blog)

In addition, I will often use glitchy text. I will provide non glitched translations below.

My main is @thedancingclowns , I'm just overall a dork with dumbass ideas.

(Also I may drop little secrets and hidden things in posts, so keep an eye out if you can spot them. 🩶)

Do NOT send repetitive asks! This triggers the mod! To see what I consider as "repetitive" see THIS post.

(Ps. THIS was actually an instance of a somehow perfect overlap of two people asking similar things. But in general, I hope you get the idea.)

Oh! One last thing, mod is (unfortunately) American, so I mostly only speak English! I AM learning Russian, but by no means do I have good vocabulary or skill yet.

(ONLY BRINGING THIS UP BECAUSE MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO INTERACT HERE SPEAK RUSSIAN. So I'm saying this so people know I am not fluent or even knowledgeable, really. So I may get confused at times with posts in Russian. :'D )

Character information:

Name:

t̷̯̱͕̅h̸͉̦͝ȁ̴̱t̸͖̗̽͗͜ ̸̞̖͋̓̅ĩ̴̯̣͝͠š̷̡̆̇ ̷̼̫̾ṇ̸̿̓͠o̴̳̮͐͌t̷̜̀ ̸̧̑f̸̨̅̊̈ȏ̸̙̩r̷̝̺̹͂̊͝ ̸͔͇̿͌͝y̵͍̱͊̉̒o̴͚͗̽ŭ̵͓̫ ̸̛͍̀̀t̵̻̐̂͘o̵̢͔̺̒̄ ̵̲̒́͑ḱ̷̤n̴̲̯̬̓͝͝ȯ̶̩̏͜w̷̡͊,̵̣̟̠͂ ̵̇̒͜m̶̓͘͜o̵̠̊r̵̡͓̍̅̓t̴̠͒̚â̷̗͕̪͗̃l̶̦̮̄

(that is not for you to know, mortal)

Titles:

The Endless One, The Devourer of God, The Eternal Abyss

Pronouns:

It/He

Likes:

Sacrifice, souls, tea, being pampered, the Devourers of God, Kenneth, worship, piano, hymn-like singing, any sort of abnormal food that the Devourers (or others) attempt to feed to it, c̴̻͋ ̸̨̱̈́̕͜͝h̶͍̿ͅ ̷͉̈́i̶��̙̉ ̷͈͚̃͊p̵̱͈̯͗ ̶̳̈́s̸̘̭͓̅̅̀ (chips), Travis, nomming Kenneth, cats, the stars and astronomy

Dislikes:

Dissenters, the Johnson bloodline, the Fisher bloodline, the Campbell bloodline, the Sanderson bloodline, the Morrison bloodline, ghosts OR the living interrupting the cult proceedings, the Super Gear Boy, the Necrolight Guitar, Kenneth's treatment of Travis, lacking ability to interact with others, Kenneth's temper, Kenneth ignoring it's suggestions.

( OOC: Any other Sally Face rp blogs are free to interact, though. Even if the Devourer in character may be sort of "eugh... this one" *I think y'all are cool it's why I made this blog!* Also, you don't have to be a Sally Face RP blog to interact.)

The IC fiancé(s) :

@ihatemysontravis

And

@pastor-kenneth

(I think? I might be wrong, but :'/)

(Anon name list and tag guide below cut, you can claim one or you can let me give you one based on your confessions, lol. This is simply here because I like organization and it'll help me keep track.)

Wall Crawler - # wall crawler anon

(aka the Boop anon!)

This or That - # this or that anon

(To be confirmed)

Marriage - # marriage anon

(To be confirmed)

Meow - # meow anon

(To be confirmed)

Travis? - # travis anon

(To be confirmed)

Tea - # tea anon

(To be confirmed)

Bug - # bug anon

(To be confirmed)

Jesus - # jesus anon

(To be confirmed)

[wc-confessions]

This is a very long rant. There might be spelling, grammar errors, or random words there because of autocorrect, and I might miss them since I'm a bit blind and dyslexic.

The way the fandom instantly chalks up female character hate to misogyny is so damn ridiculous, and both shows people here don't know what that word means, and they also don't actually give a damn about the actual misogyny that women suffer if someone hating or slightly disliking a female character sets them off. The prime examples of characters that people get called misogynists for are Mapleshade, Squirrelflight, and, surprisingly, Frecklewish. I can guarantee you that nobody who hates or dislikes these characters is misogynist, and it's rare that you'll actually find a Warriors fan who is blatantly misogynist while understanding how and why they are. For one, not everyone here understands what things are and aren't misogynist, and to stick that label to them for zero reason is super shitty. There are many reasons why people hate the characters listed:

Mapleshade: Generally, she is just dumb as hell, cruelly used Birchface's name to cover up her lies,showed zero remorse when brought to trial, and stupidly crossed a flash-flooded river when there was a bridge (already somewhat flooded when she got there, if I remember). But if not, it was still heavily raining. Blame everyone else for the things she caused and did; she killed Spottedleaf (this is why some people hate her, yes, lol, and frecklewish, and attempted to on Reedshine). And for grooming kids, and for those who will argue that she isn't, you're instantly wrong, and simply reading the books while also looking at the definitions of that word will prove you're wrong. I am saying this as a victim of this topic. Crookedstar and Tigerstar are her victims. While Crookedkit was vulnerable and tossed aside, she took advantage of this and later went in to exploit him, emotionally abuse him, and cause psychological turmoil and distress. She later went on to do this to Tigerkit. Since birth, she has been inside his head, telling him what to do and raising him to be the cold killer he is. She even admits in his novella that she's walked with him since birth. While her grooming isn't sexual, it's still extremely gross. I can't speak for everyone who hates her, but this is the biggest reason I don't like her.

Frecklewish: Yes, while she was definitely grieving, and while Mapleshade was definitely a ass and in the wrong for her lies, Frecklewish is far from innocent. She never truly loved those kits and only saw them as extensions of her late brother once the truth was revealed that they weren't really related and instead were the kin of his killer. That's what caused her to turn on them so quickly; her "love" was purely conditional. She then went on to dehumanize and call literal babies slurs, tell them that they don't deserve to be warriors, and later call for their exile without a second thought. No matter how angry you are, don't do that to children. Mapleshade definitely deserved her wrath, but not those kids. And it just gets worse as she watches them drown. I don't care how much people try to argue about it; she did. Her story directly lines up with what Nettlepaw tells Mapleshade. What Mapleshade thinks isn't a misunderstanding; this isn't something she came up with herself because Nettlepaw literally told her this. However, everything else Mapleshade says and thinks is totally unreliable. Frecklewish also doesn't at all deny that she watched them die and instead says, "I thought they'd be saved.". Her seeing the Riverclan patrol isn't an excuse for why she couldn't have gotten more help. Those kits aren't even half the size of a medium-sized rock, so how could three RC cats find them in flooded waters? And before anyone says it, nobody is saying that she should've just jumped in; you're purposefully missing the point. It's a fact that she and Oakstar played a large role in why they met their fate the way they did.

Squirrelflight: I can't actually give a reason why people would hate her because I don't care enough about her and because I don't usually read the main books. However, it's usually for reasons that don't even relate to Bramblestar. People are often called misogynists for hating her without anyone bothering to know why. Also, no, hating her because you like Bramblestar doesn't make you a misogynist. Not how that works. Now maybe if you denied that he abused her, then yeah, that's misogyny, but if you're a normal Bramblestar fan, then no, you're not misogyny.

And to add on

Nightcloud is a big one I see people also get called misogynists for. It's important to remember that not a lot of people read books and heavily rely on maps or other people's opinions and interpretations to get information. Let's not forget that the maps that woobify Crowfeather and demonize her play a huge part in why Nightcloud is treated the way she is. So I think it's majorly unfair to just label a bunch of Nightcloud haters who probably don't know the actual story as being misogynistic. Realistically, Nightcloud is just a lady. She didn't do anything wrong other than being overly jealous. Also, no, she did not hit Crowfeather; she just pulled him away. (Stop labeling her as an abuser, goddamn.)

I'm anyway done, but I just wanted to say that I think it's incredibly stupid to see people throwing around this word. I just hope you know that if you're randomly calling people misogynists for no reason, then you're part of the problem, and you're just another toxic asshole. Please fix yourself or get out the fandom.

.

[spider-xan]

As a follow up to my post yesterday about how 'multiple interpretations can co-exist, even in opposition to each other' and 'but that doesn't mean every reading is correct and equally valid' are both true at the same time, I also wanted to add that disagreement with a specific sexual reading is not the same as arguing there is zero sexual symbolism, and there is something intellectually dishonest about characterizing everyone who disagrees with a sexual interpretation as just some kind of puritanical prude who is so sexually repressed that they just can't handle the idea of metaphorical dicks and sex in the novel.

Is there definitely a disturbingly puritanical movement right now on tumblr, and online in general? Yes, and I regularly see people on this site arguing things like how sex should be banned from all films bc it's gross and never has value, essentially wanting to bring back the Hays Code, instead of having a more nuanced and useful conversation about sexual exploitation and abuse in the industry. So I'm not denying that there is sexual symbolism in Dracula, and I would disagree with arguments that there is absolutely none, but if you're going to put forth a particular reading as definitive and above scrutiny, rather than just a personal reading, you have to be able to back it up like any other interpretation, sexual or not, rather than casting aspersions on people's character; sexual readings are not inherently correct or progressive just bc they're sexual, just like how they're not inherently wrong or backwards for the same reason either.

Also, at the risk of kicking a hornet's nest here, the idea that the Dracula Daily fandom is so repressed, it rejects all sexual readings is simply not true? Everyone absolutely caught on that Lucy's feeding and the blood baptism that Dracula forced on Mina are metaphorical (but obviously not literal) sexual assault and rape, and that is the core of a lot of people's dislike of romanticizing Dracula's relationship with Mina in adaptations - that these adaptations are pairing her off with her metaphorical rapist, especially when nothing is done to change Dracula's actions otherwise. There has also been non-stop discussion about the homoeroticism and possible queer allegories in the novel, especially in the context of Stoker very likely being a closeted gay man who had a thing for Walt Whitman and had to witness Oscar Wilde's gross indecency trial. The fact that there is disagreement on Freudian readings, who exactly in the book is a metaphorical or literal rapist, inappropriate comparisons, etc. is not a sign that everyone is just a socially conservative prude who is traumatized by the mere mention of an allegorical dick and can't accept literature more sexual than a Teletubbies episode.

[lunas-otome-blog]

Luna's Review: Variable Barricade

Official Summary:

Hibari is the sole heir to her family’s fortune. Her grandfather is determined to find her a husband. He houses her in a luxurious home with handsome bachelors. As the men try to win her hand, Hibari endures endless trials and temptations. Has Grandpa chosen poorly, or is there more to these men than meets the eye? Hibari decides NOT to fall in love.

Luna's Thoughts (Spoiler Free)

Variable Barricade is a fairly straightforward plot, which isn't a bad thing. Sometimes you just wanna watch a socially-inept tsundere girl fall in love, right?

Hibari is a fun protagonist right off the bat, because she is, at heart, a total failgirl. A lot of otoge protagonists are just kind of generic try-hard heroines, but with Hibari, she starts off a total loser with only a single friend outside of her butler. She seems dignified at first but is quickly revealed to be socially isolated and completely unable to even go outside alone. When given the chance for friendship, she makes a complete fool of herself. We get to see her develop alongside her romantic interests and enjoy how they influence her in different ways. She's so pathetic that it's cute.

The real MVP of this game is her only friend Tsumugi, who serves as the audience surrogate as she tries to ship Hibari with...well, anyone, really. She's an otaku and a gothic lolita, and most importantly, she loves Hibari for who she is and just wants what's best for her.

Something I really loved about this game is how the suitors develop friendships of their own. They're competing for Hibari's affections, yes, but they support each other as well, and actually encourage Hibari to be affectionate with the other suitors of they've earned it. You can tell they all actually do like Hibari and each other, and are willing to give up if it means happiness for her and someone else.

It's not a flawless game. There are a few routes that I didn't love, some abuse references that aren't given the attention they deserve, and definitely a few unhealthy tropes and questionable morals. There's also not a lot of attention given to the "red flags" of each suitor outlined in the common route, which seemed like they were going to be the core of the game. But I ultimately loved the cast of fun characters and snappy dialogue.

While this isn't the deepest or richest plotline available in the otoge market, Variable Barricade is a fun game that plays out like an anime, with lots of attention given to each character, including side characters. The art is eye-catching and consistent, the pacing is decent and relationships develop naturally as Hibari lets down her guard around her new friends.

Please find below my thoughts on the character routes in the order I played them. Spoilers abound.

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Shion Route (Spoilers)

As per usual, I picked the character I liked least during the common route to start with. This was a good choice, as I think Shion's route was the biggest misstep in this game.

This isn't due to the route itself, which was decently paced, if not a bit repetitive — they go back to the same art museum three times, for example, and Hibari gets tricked by a child twice in a row. No, my issues with this route are more about the morality of it.

Shion is a "kept man," which is a term I had never heard before this game. He basically has lived his adult life with sugar daddies, doesn't work and has always had his needs attended to with other peoples' money. Nobody except Hibari and her butler seem to think this is a problem. (Side note: as this was the first route I played, I figured Kasuga would dislike all her suitors, but no, it's only Shion, which is hilarious.)

Shion's role in the game is to show Hibari that it's ok to make choices for herself sometimes, rather than always considering what's best for her family name, which our heiress protagonist struggles with. There's a scene in which Hibari is running herself ragged for a thing at school, and while all the other boys try to get her to take time off, Shion seems to understand that Hibari won't listen. Instead, he offers his support by spritzing her hair with calming scented spray, and letting her know he's there for her. It was rather sweet.

However, it was difficult for me to sympathize with Shion because he truly believes he doesn't need to work. For every patron he had, Shion allegedly provided a "service," whether that be to serve as eye candy or just a friend. He believes that belonging to someone is as good as a job. I know that Hibari is an heiress and anyone she marries won't need to work, but man, as someone who isn't wealthy, this is such a weird thing to buy into lmao.

In his scenes away from Hibari, we find out Shion wants to free Hibari from the chains of her family name. Allegedly he falls in love with her along the way, but it never felt like he actually loved her. It was more like he wanted to find someone he could live for exclusively, because nobody has ever actually needed him for an extended period of time. It felt like there were a bunch of psychological issues that just weren't addressed at all.

Also, while he says he'll be whatever Hibari needs, he actually doesn't cook or clean or do anything he doesn't feel like. So he's not even good enough to be considered a house husband. He's also shown to be standoffish to anyone who isn't Hibari. Not exactly a good trait for someone who's supposed to be the spouse of the head of the Tojo family.

Shion's route would have been better if he had been more vulnerable. Instead, he directly admits to manipulating Hibari. When she tells him to get a job, he does so — not because he wants to work hard for her, but because he wants her to feel bad that he's away. He literally tells another character that he wants to make her cry. It was pretty messed up.

Shion's character is also coded like an abuse victim, which is not ever fleshed out. His father abandoned him twice. His patrons continue to send him gifts, even though he doesn't ask for them, and sometimes they even do things like kidnap him. In another route, he implies more than one of his patrons has threatened suicide if Shion tried to leave. None of this is ever treated like a problem.

All in all, Shion's route was just...bizarre. I don't see how the average person would relate to the values conveyed.

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Nayuta Route (Spoilers)

I was really interested in Nayuta's route, because while he's a sweet boy, he truly felt like the least romantic option. Hibari says more than once that she views him as more of a puppy than a human. I was excited to see how he would become a man in her eyes. But I was surprised when the route took the opposite turn, and it's Hibari who falls for him first.

Nayuta, it turns out, was entirely sincere is his desire to protect Hibari, as he comes from a family of security workers. He met Hibari once when working a part time job and decided she was his ideal client due to her strong sense of justice. This is also when he developed his weird fetish for being stepped on, which is hilarious and also somewhat plot relevant.

Nayuta is able to switch into bodyguard mode when he's working, and while he's very cool, Hibari finds herself missing the casual, cheery Nayuta, while also falling in love with the mature Nayuta who protects her. But Nayuta never actually considered himself a candidate for her groom — he literally just wants to be her bodyguard.

This is a very different route from Shion's route, in a good way. Where Shion spent the entire route manipulating Hibari into needing him, Nayuta is able to prove he's an asset simply by doing. The romance developed naturally and I enjoyed learning the backstory and motivations of who I originally thought would be a simple character.

I did wonder where the "walking debt machine" plot went. It's completely irrelevant beyond the common route so it seemed weird to even mention it at the beginning.

The second half of this route was pretty predictable, with Nayuta stupidly misinterpreting his own feelings and Hibari sulking about it. The ending scenes are wild, silly and dramatic in a Power Rangers sort of way.

While it was a fairly predictable end to the route, it was fun and felt fitting for a boy like Nayuta who, in the end, just wanted to be Hibari's hero. Of the four suitors, this was my favorite route.

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Taiga Route (Spoilers)

I didn't love Taiga at the start of the common route. Abrasive and rude with an alleged gambling problem, there didn't seem to be any positives to him. But by the end of the common route, you learn he's a good kid with an allegiance to orphaned children. He works hard and doesn't want to rely on others.

Before his route, Taiga actually shined the most for me on the Shion and Nayuta routes. He is shown to be extremely mature in his decisions and seems to have a deep grasp on others' emotions and motivations. You really can't judge a book by its cover.

Of course, upon playing his route, you find out there's a reason he's so observant and never treated Hibari romantically. Naturally, he starts to fall for her anyway, which was cute. You gotta love the tsundere x tsundere dynamic. And I loved how Hibari's grandfather is friends with Taiga and ships him with his granddaughter.

The first half of his route was a little too pervy for me, even if the perviness was played up because Taiga was trying convince the other boys he wasn't a threat. But eventually he declares himself a proper marriage candidate and most of that goes away.

However, Taiga pretty much immediately changes his tune after he decides to pursue Hibari. Once it becomes obvious she's into him, he gets cold feet and decides to give up. The rest of the route is somewhat predictable, but I still enjoyed watching Hibari and Taiga figure out the intricacies of how to treat one another.

I will say the pacing of this route was not great. I don't get why Taiga declared himself a candidate, only to very quickly decide to quit participating. The route would have been a whole lot smoother if he'd just never said anything in the first place. Maybe the point was to show how wishy-washy he is, but it just made the pacing feel weird. The gambling addiction is briefly addressed in the first half as well, but is never treated like a big deal, making me wonder why it was brought up in the first place.

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Ichiya Route (Spoilers)

Ichiya is the flirty character of this game, which is a trope I don't love, so I thought I would hate him. I didn't like him very much in most of the common route. But his level one board reveals that he is actually a complete failboy, and I love that for him. In his route, there's a scene of him crying under a sheet and when I saw it I thought "He's so lame. I love him SO much."

Ichiya's route was a little topsy turvy, and a bit more meta than I expected. There's some overarching commentary about falling in love that felt really self-aware for an otoge. The first part of the route is mostly about Ichiya realizing that his method of attracting women is flawed. He does some stupid stuff and it takes Hibari getting furious for him to realize he needs to cool it.

The second half of the route, however, lacks a clear narrative. It starts off with Ichiya's twin brother revealing himself (even though we already knew who it was), setting up for a twin vs. twin dynamic.

I never knew how I was supposed to feel about Kazuya, because it's left ambiguous as to whether he's just inept at expressing himself or a cold, calculating bastard. You're supposed to believe he was an absolute jerk the entire route, only at the end for him to say "jk, I was just mad at you for walking out on me so I was having a little fun." Then he says he really was pursuing HIbari after all. I don't understand if I'm meant to like him or not.

This route could have done with some tightening up, because it felt like four or five mini arcs rather than a consistent plot. However, it was refreshing to see a realistic view of love. When Hibari asks why it has to be her, Ichiya is unable to answer, and in the end, he still isn't. He tells her honestly that just because there are other people he could have fallen for, that doesn't make his feelings any less valid. And Hibari realizes that's good enough.

Rather than try and force some sort of soulmates plot, Ichiya's route is more about finding happiness with another person in a realistic way. I actually appreciated that a lot.

The thing that really upset me about this route is how Ichiya threatens suicide if Hibari doesn't choose him. That is a classic abuse tactic, and it felt very weird and gross, even if he only did it because Kasuga suggested it. It was an icky, manipulative way to end what was otherwise a decent route.

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True Route (Light Spoilers)

I knew as soon as I started the game who the true end would be focused on. But I can promise you, whatever you're expecting from the true end, it's wrong. The true end of "Variable Barricade" is not a romance route and does not provide a satisfactory end to the game.

It does clarify some of the overlying mysteries of the series, like what happened to Hibari's parents and how she developed into such a failgirl. But I was NOT expecting the major twist of this route, even though looking back, there was one fairly obvious sign.

The true route felt like someone jumping out behind a corner and yelling "gotcha!" It accomplishes absolutely nothing and left a bad taste in my mouth. What a letdown.

[0809sysblings]

Hi!

For the general questions! - 1, 7, and 8

For the trial questions! - 3, 4, and 5 for both trials

For the prisoner questions - 1, 2, and 4 for Mikoto, John, and Amane

hi!!!! sorry, this took forever to answer because my brain likes to fight itself over the most trivial things lol. also this got kinda long so a read more!

General questions

1) Which Milgram character is your favourite, and why?

how could you make me pick between my two beautiful children :(??

well if i had to pick between Amane and Mikoto+... i think Amane probably makes me lose it /pos more frequently ♡

as for why? well.

7) Which prisoner do you think you would get on with the most if you met them in person, and why?

hmmm..... this is a difficult question to answer because I feel like there really isn't one singular answer for me. the kind of people I get along with and the kinds of behavior I like or dislike changes and ping pongs around too much.

that being said, I'll try to pick at least someone I think I'd get along with at some point in some capacity.

I think I could possibly get along with Fuuta. mostly due to the fact that we could have interests in common, so it'd be easier to talk. if we like some of the same video games we could talk about those. and I'd maybe be able to contribute to conversations about soccer since I used to play for awhile.

8) Which prisoner do you think you would get on with the least if you met in person, and why?

same idea as above; there's not really a single answer for this, but I'll try to pick someone.

I think Muu maybe. I love her as a character, and I don't really feel any negative feelings toward her, but I just Know that I would struggle trying to get along with her. I can admittedly be very self-absorbed and egotistical, so that would not mix well with her tendency to make things about her.

Trial questions

3) Which [T1 and T2] song do you enjoy the most, and why?

for T1, MeMe !! i'm a big fan of how the genre(?) sorta switches up and back and forth throughout the song. and also just.. the struggle portrayed in the song is #relatable. i like to listen to it when i get into those moods.

for T2, The Purge March !!!!!!! forever and ever. song of all time. it's just so. AAOAOAOOUGUGUG.... it just hits so hard. it's so real. just like MeMe, it too is very #relatable, and i will listen to it on loop while in that mood.

4) Which [T1 and T2] cover do you enjoy the most, and why?

not to give both Ws to Fuuta but... i think both of his covers have to be my favs. his voice is just That good. god i love his voice so much... and also the redone instrumentals i like a lot too.

for T2, a very close second would be Yuno's Vampire cover <3

5) Which [T1 and T2] MV do you enjoy the most, and why?

for T1, I think it'd have to be Magic. I just really like how innocent and "perfect" it tries to look. it's a perfect way to show how much Amane downplayed the abuse, and I also think the way in which it was portrayed as a show was very good meaning and narrative wise.

for T2, another 'W' for Amane because The Purge March MV is my favorite there. I just really really love it a lot. the animation is great and I very much appreciate the fact that a lot of it is based in reality and is not buried six feet under a thousand metaphors. like, don't get me wrong, I love metaphors and when art uses them. but I'm glad they decided to put the visual and narrative metaphors aside for the big parts in Amane's MV because she really needed all the help she could get with securing an innocent verdict...

Prisoner questions

1) What do you think of [Mikoto, John, and Amane], and why?

oh god, I don't know if I can put most of it into words 😭.

well, I like all 3 of them a lot! i simply think too many things about them. i apologize for not being able to properly answer this 😔..

2) What are your headcanons about [Mikoto, John, and Amane]?

hmm i'm not one to hold many headcanons about characters, and if i do theyre usually not super serious or big. an exception here for Amane tho <3. my biggest headcanon for her is that she's a (poly-fragmented) DID system. i mean just look at her.

one i can think of for Mikoto thats just small but sweet is that he learned a lot of ~girly~ skills for his little sister. being a single mom after the divorce, i doubt Mikoto's mom was able to have a lot of time to do that stuff for her. and i feel like Mikoto would be the kind of person to try to supplement that himself. so maybe he learned how to do her hair and helped her with makeup and stuff like that...

i'm not sure if i can think of anything for John.. 😔

4) What do you wish more people understood about [Mikoto, John, and Amane]?

hm........ many a thing...... i'm not 100% sure what a lot of ppl say and think about these characters bc i dont really interact or see much outside of my handful of mewtuals. so take these with a grain of salt.

for John... i know i saw a bit of this around when Neoplasm and Double first released, so maybe it's gotten mostly cleared up since then idk! but... i guess i wish more people understood that just because John is self aware of being an alter and is aware of their DID... doesn't mean he actually knows whats going on and what he's talking about MFDLFLDS. i mean this mostly in regards to the comment he made in Neoplasm about how if Mikoto is forgiven, he can "disappear and take everything with him". i would like to trust that Yamanaka is aware that that's not really how it works. John is just as much of an unreliable narrator as Mikoto. and i also like that he's this way. i think it's realistic and makes sense. of course he wouldn't want to have people know he's pretty fucking clueless about what's going on. because then he couldn't get people to believe him and listen to him when he's trying to get people to vote Mikoto innocent.

idk a lot of ppl have this idea that it's the host in DID systems that are completely clueless, but all the other alters understand it and know what's happening and know who they are and who everyone is. and that if an alter who is not the host doesn't know something, or is god forbid mistaken about something, then something ~fishy~ is going on.

tl;dr John may know more than Mikoto about some things, but that does not mean his information is complete or even accurate.

for Mikoto... i guess it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when ppl talk and jokingly(?) complain about the other characters not telling Mikoto about his DID and continuing to leave him in the dark. i know it's all probably just lighthearted and that im just being pretentious, but its just.. not that simple.

also for Mikoto.. his negative feelings towards John and how he thinks about him. i guess i feel like ppl can be kinda quick to look down on Mikoto for it? or act as if it's just a problem born from lack of communication and misunderstanding, or even an unwillingness on Mikoto's part to communicate and understand. when like... just like the other thing i just mentioned, i don't think it's really that simple? idk i think there's alot of factors at play. a lot of which are pretty inherent to DID and trauma and are not things that can easily be overcome on your own.

i may make this into a separate post actually... who knows if i'll actually do it tho lol

now for Amane... dear lord (haha). just. everything. i feel like if i open this can of worms i'm going to break tumblr and crash my browser. so forgive me once again for not having an actual answer <3

tysm for the ask!!!! sorry for the uh. wall of text <////3

[laciefuyu]

NXX Feat FFXIV

(aka I am blasting my niche)

Apologize in advance for long text LOL

People who follow me before my new obsession aka Tears of Themis definitely know I keep using FFXIV quotes for my Jedi gifset (which I will willingly attest that it has some of the best writing in the media.) 

Anyway if I didn't make it my niche aka Tears of Themis x FFXIV that won't be me. So let's ramble about NXX members and what they will play (race and main jobs) and faves NPCs in the game and whatever popped up in my mind.

Main Character/Rosa

She was thinking of an idea for team bonding because they are friends and she wants to do something together

Luke proposed FFXIV because it's an MMO (so they all can play together) and has a good story.

She looked up and immediately agreed after seeing the glams of the various wol (warrior of light/playable character)l.

She was thinking of playing as a female miqo'te at first but she saw how jacked female roegadyn is, immediately steering to it with the speed of light.

She knows she wants to avoid tanks and healers because that is too much responsibility when she just wants to attack.

She ends up with arch/brd (archer/bard) for starters because 1) physical range means away from big mechanics 2) she just wants to shoot the boss from far.

Later end up becoming the main mch (machinist) because 1) cool gun 2) she is learning to shoot irl so it makes it more fun for her 3) she can PEW PEW in the game.

Always going blind to any dungeon, trial, and raid.

Because FFXIV can make you play all jobs if you will it, she tried it all eventually but she prefers being dps especially range dps

Sometimes she fights with people on forums because people keep saying mch is a useless job, and she will not stand for it!!!!

Likes to collect glams so she often drags NXX boys to farm a certain raid and dungeon to get variations.

Her favorites are Minfilia and Lyse. She really loves their characters.

She is also fond of Aymeric and G'raha. 

Used to dislike Emet-Selch but then she sobbed over him. After that, she will clown Emet-Selch whenever he shows up on the screen.

She loves Venat after Endwalker.

Artem Wing

He chose to play Elezen. He actually prefers duskwight elezen but seeing the psychiatrist stating he is going to play duskwight, he detracted from his choice because he doesn't want to ruin the mood.

Rosa casually mentioned isn't he want to play as duskwight because he was looking for the lore, and because Vyn has brain cells he put it together and gave Artem a dirty look. 

(It's just a feeling, but I think Artem in general is not sure where to put himself in a friend group especially when one of them previously had some kinda bad blood between them.)

They Have a Fun Talk™

Anyway in the end Artem still played as wildwood elezen but at least the air between the two is no longer silly and tense.

(The younger trio wanna know so badly what they talk about but neither is relenting)

Because Artem is Artem he is looking up the game stuff after the idea is proposed. He is not used to playing games all that much and feels the need to know how to do it correctly so he won't end up being a bother.

Funnily, he looked up the race lore and the twelve but managed to avoid spoilers because there is always a preface of warning when it reaches that territory of expansion spoilers.

He actually studies mechanics before they enter any dungeon, trial, or raid. 

Artem ended up playing tank as main because the younger trio preferred main dps and they needed a tank. Luke is an all-rounder but he avoids healer and tank roles when possible.

He chose gld/pld (gladiator/paladin). He studied the starter tank role and found that he would like to play that job the most.

He also played dps as either mch (because it feels right since he can use a gun) or blm aka black mage (he finds it fun to get a spot and to Not Move and deliver big damage)

Actually really into the story, and take notes while cutscenes play. 

(This left the other three confused while Rosa giggled to herself because she already knows it's his mockingbird self that is surfacing.)

Is actually a really good tank because he always does his rotation and mitigation correctly. Not without stumbles but he keeps improving to the point he can play tank with ease.

Multiple times saving a normal trial/raid because he got good mitigation and clemency (healing button) and finished the raid/trial or saving healer before dying so the healer can save the rest.

His opinion of Emet-Selch is sympathetic but ultimately the damage is already done, and his end is inevitable.

He really likes Aymeric. Find it admirable that the man is able to stay in his conviction even when the place and people he wants to protect would not always stand by him. He is glad to see Aymeric people in the corner no matter how few there are. Artem hopes that he could always stay true to his conviction too like Aymeric 

Is actually crying at Venat's famous monologue. (Flabbergasted the team)

His favorite scion is papalymo therefore it made him sad when he died.

Also loves watching countries' leaders growth, especially for Merlwylb and Nanamo.

Vyn Richter

He chose to play Duskwight because he finds them fascinating and also finds that they deserve better and should be given more fleshed-out lore.

He has a Fun Talk with Artem because they are friends now and Artem needs to understand that. (Albeit Vyn thought they would be enemies longer but they are friends now he needs to make it clear.)

(He would still annoy artem time by time but that's different vibes)

For him there was no other choice but play as a healer. This just makes sense to him because he in fact has an MD. Thank you very much, he would emulate this energy in a game too.

Vyn learned healing in the game very fast. 

His starter job is arc (arcanist) but immediately steers to sch (scholar) as soon as they get lvl 30, and he actually finds it funny when the fairy jank.

His main job is sge (sage) later on. It is interesting that the attack can heal, and he wants to master it.

He actually can play all healer but he finds whm (white mage) a bit mind-numbing, and while ast (astrologian) is fun with keeping up healing, cards, and attack he prefers something more reliable like sge.

He still plays because when there is a fairy jank, he finds it fun to play. It was also his first healer job, so he was kinda attached to it.

(And because he loves the barrier healer job. He will have to heal but he loves that he could mitigate or prevent the damages.)

He sometimes argues with Artem because of his use of clemency.

("Have more faith in your healer or play healer yourself, Artem." Vyn said in annoyance.

Artem sighed, "I canceled the clemency, Vyn.")

That said, sometimes he had to hand it to Artem because his decision to save or to mitigate the healer was usually top notch.

He only ever tells him good job and does not elaborate.

The only non-healer job he plays is rdm (red mage)

He sometimes studies the mechanic before entering the dungeon/trial/raid, but sometimes he trusts his ability enough to wing it. (He said 'I will wing it' usually when they all played in the same room instead of playing in their own place. He found it funny when Artem gave him an annoyed, yet fond look.)

That said, healing the younger trio is actually more stressful than healing Artem who plays tank.

Both Rosa and Marius play main range dps, and they are always somewhere in narnia (as in a far-off range of the heals) and Vyn either had to use a rescue button or adjust his range.

Vyn never does this to Rosa, but he sometimes uses the rescue button to drag Marius straight to the killing mechanic.

("IS THAT NECESSARY?"

"Easier to kill you than healing you.")

Luke is a different kind of trouble for Vyn. He is always on range most of the time, but he is always trying to maintain uptime therefore sometimes he dies at the silliest mechanic.

Vyn, pulling a face: behave or else

(Never make your healer mad, folks)

His favorite scion ironically is Thancred.

He took a glance and saw a man full of contradictions and took it personally. He loves to psychoanalyze Thancred.

He actually hates Thancred. He is a Hater but Thancred is fun to analyze then he grows to like him as a character because the chara growth is unexpected and endearing.

He grows to love Thancred (bitter)

Vyn is also very fond of Cid. He can relate to Cid's story and how made the decision to step away from the Garlemald. Vyn hates Garlemald as soon as they are mentioned in the game.

He takes one glance at Ishgard and is immediately a Hater. Remind him too much of Svart. He thinks Aymeric is too soft and should take care of himself more instead of the ungrateful country.

He is pretty sympathetic to Yotsuyu albeit in the end, he knows there is no good end for her.

He hates Emet-Selch. 

He is very fond of Y'shtola because one sane person (in his opinion) and the sass along with intellectuals are fun to see.

He grows to like the twin.

He has a lot of Opinion™ on Venat but ultimately he could see it as a desperate gambit at the end of the world.

"This is why an ethical class is needed for scientists and the like. Also, Hermes needs therapy. His coping mechanism is to drag the world to hell."

Luke Pearce

He is the one who suggested FFXIV when Rosa suggested gaming as bonding time.

He is actually a veteran player but uses a new game+ mode so he can enjoy the game with them.

He has an alts which male sun seeker mi'qote but his main is a male midlander hyur.

He likes to say he plays all roles but he actually doesn't like healing as much even though he can do it very well and his habit as a melee player is always bleeding through when he is tanking which causes healers to get annoyed at him.

(He still gets healer annoyed at him as melee dps but he always delivers big damage so.)

His main from the beginning is pgl/mnk (pugilist/monk) and he is one of the few people who lament when the devs tried to remove some positionals. ("But that's the fun of playing monk!!!")

Is actually a melee jobs specialist, but his best damage has always been when he plays mnk.

Luke tried to not be silly for Vyn but his Positional Is Important™

("Sorry Vyn! But-

"-My positional is important."

"Yes." Embarrassed.

Vyn sighed.)

He is the one who calls out for extreme trials or savage raids.

He knows most mechanics, that's why he can clear things with ease, the only issue is that as melee, he is very greedy for more damage so all his dead usually is silly.

He knows the story is good, so he was looking forward to seeing all of them reacting to it.

Luke already predicted all of Rosa's possible reactions to it. There is something satisfying watching people reacting as expected in certain scenes

He is happy to know Marius also likes it, commenting on what he likes and also sobbing at some parts. He finds all of Vyn's comments either funny or very on point.

Artem was unexpected because Luke didn't expect the oldest to be very taken to the story, even taking notes and all. He provides thoughtful opinions that give him more insight into a game. Luke thought he already aced all the lore then there is Artem.

Luke is HELLA curious about what is written in the notes.

His favorite scion is G'raha, previously it was Minfilia. He likes their optimistic view, and he cried a lot over Minfilia's fate and G'raha's life during shadowbringer. Hope Punk all the way!!

He hates Emet-Selch's gut for a while but also pities him because Emet-Selch lost so many people he loves and Luke could understand the feeling.

The burden of memory, but he couldn't approve of the way Emet-Selch handled it either. It's complicated.

He is very fond of Hythlodaeus and thinks that kinds of people are needed in life. To not take life too seriously and enjoy it.

He loves Meteion and is very sad about her story. In the first playthrough to Endwalker, he cried at cutscenes before the Final Dungeon.

When he played the game again with NXX, he found he started to take Venat quotes to heart. 

He respects Venat as a character.

Marius Von Hagen

He was scrolling through the races and found the most perfect fit of the character he wanted. Male Viera.

He took forever designing his character to the point that Rosa and Vyn are actually bombing his dm to get faster. Luke uses his main, so he waited for them to finish and in the meantime does roulette for dungeon/trial/raid. Artem is already finished but also looking for mechanics and lore, and most gameplay. 

His starter job is arch/brd but it also became his main. His other DPS are dnc (dancer) and smn (summoner).

Marius always goes blind when doing dungeons/trials/raids. He and Rosa high-fived over this.

He and Rosa are also the most obsessed with glam therefore he always roped all of them to hunt ones. 

("Listen, I want this so badly, Artem!"

 "Me too! The phys ranger gear is so good in this one so please 🥹")

Both of them always roped Artem 1) Easier to convince (softie mode on) 2) Luke prefers to heal if he has to fill in either tank or healer 3) Vyn can be convinced but takes time.

Also the one who is most into PVP in FFXIV

"Killing people is so fun." About Frontline mode PVP

Payton almost had a heart attack hearing it out of context once. Marius has to explain it's about a game.

"C'mon let's play Rival Wing mode!!!" Marius every time they could have time to play together. Luke and he tries to outdo kills each other whenever they get on different sides.

He sometimes knew that he annoyed Vyn with his playstyle, but that only tempted him more. The result, ofc, the occasional dragged to killing mechanic.

("Worth it." 

Marius famous last words)

His favorite character is Guydelot. Rosa knows who Guydelot is because she also plays brd. The others find out of curiosity.

("He speaks to my soul you see."

"Being a drama queen?"

"Missy! How could you!")

His favorite scions are Alphinaud and Alisaie. He is really fond of their character growth. He also has a few things he relates to each twin (family legacy, finding his own path, unlearning some behavior) and he couldn't help but cheer for them. 

He loves Emet-Selch but will clown him whenever he is on screen.

("Making fascist empire to cope? Please be serious.")

Venat/Hydaelyn's last farewell made him really sad. 

He is also really curious about Artem's notes on FFXIV.

Also despite his first playthrough blunder, he is a really good brd. He always maintains his rotation if he doesn't die.

("I am a perfect support."

"Please fix your bad habit of going far off then.")

Miscellaneous

They sometimes end up using FFXIV as a reference for what they talked about and confuse people

Luke carries them through other contents such as Deep Dungeon.

Whenever Luke used the callout for the first time ex trial/savage raid, Artem was always confused about what even fisting the ground meant.

Vyn is such a good healer that it carries thru PVP 

Marius really loves giving ideas for group glams. Artem and Vyn used to resist it but now it is just a fact of life.

Rosa has tons of their gpose.

That’s what I have so far lmao. Anyone can agree or disagree, this is just my opinion after all but if this is actually a springboard for a fic where NXX finds out about Artem’s mockingbird persona? Hahaha… Unless? The NXX Idols AU is shoving guns to my temple now.

 Hope you all enjoy my niche LOL