#I feel like it’s a bit unfair to make comparisons between the two games

[grasstimes]

[raspberriesoda]

paranoia » njm + ljn

‼️currently being edited and rewritten!! i didn’t really like the pacing so i’m revamping it, check back soon‼️

genre | smut (mdni!!) jaemin x afab!reader x jeno

word count | 3k

summary | an innocent game of paranoia with your friends while on a ski trip makes you realize that maybe you never knew you wanted to fuck your boyfriend jaemin’s best friend. and maybe, your boyfriend is okay with that.

warnings | smut, swearing, alcohol consumption, threesome, unprotected sex but he pulls out, established relationship with jaemin, jeno is shy and a little bit of a perv ig?, dom!jaem sub!jen basically, cuckolding, lots of pet names from jaemin he’s a sweetie pie

a.n | this fic was purely self indulgent lmaoo, when i would go on choir ski trips in high school we would always play paranoia in the hot tub at the resort (no nomin threesome though unfortunately ugh unfair) and my bestie and i had major brainrot one day a few years later and uhh this was born!

also if anyone doesn’t know what paranoia is, basically you get a group of friends and sit in a circle, one person whispers a “who in the group is most likely to” type question to the person next to them so the rest of the group doesn’t hear it, and then they answer it out loud. if the person who asked wins rock paper scissors the other person has to reveal what the question was, but if they lose then the question remains a secret (i added the caveat that if you lose and you really don’t want to tell you can take a shot as a safety)

“ooohhh,” haechan muses, his hand scratching at his chin. he glances around the circle of his friends surrounding him in the hot tub, eyeing everyone very intently and contemplating the question ningning had just whispered in his ear.

“probably renjun,” he answers after some thought.

“renjun??” ningning gapes. “my money was totally on mark.”

“shut up! you’ll give it away!” haechan hisses.

the pair turn to each other and present their fists. after three slaps to their hands, ninging lets out a ‘ha!’ when her two fingers snip at haechan’s open palm.

without missing a beat, haechan reaches into the middle of the circle, snatching one of the pre-prepared shots sitting in a slot in a little yellow floaty.

“you loser!” ningning yells. “was it not you who said you’re a pussy if you chicken out when i took a shot?”

“cry about it.” haechan throws the shot back down his throat and tosses the little plastic cup behind him to clatter on the wet tile. suddenly ningning grabs haechan by his shoulders and in one swift motion his head is completely underwater. his arm holds his fruity blue cocktail high in the air so as to not spill it, but it still sloshes around as he flails, frantic bubbles rising up to the surface. jisung reaches forward and grabs the floaty to pull it away from the chaos and keep the shots from dancing across the water.

haechan resurfaces when ningning lets him go, coughing dramatically and wiping the water away from his eyes. “my drink! my drink!” he sputters.

you giggle at the antics of your drunken friends, but its difficult to give them your full attention when jaemin is pressed against your left side. his right hand glides across your thigh under the hot water, dangerously close to the bottom of your white bikini.

he’s paying no mind to the game. his nose is pressed against your neck, his breath feeling cold against your skin in comparison to the hot air around you. you swat at his hand when his thumb brushes against the fabric between your thighs; jaemin has never been one to shy away from public affection, especially when he’s tipsy, so you’re the one tasked with keeping him under control. you find that it's hard to care that much though, considering that even before the game began you were already three shots deep. jaemin just chuckles, lifting his free hand to brush your wet hair from your shoulder and places a hot kiss behind your ear.

you turn to look over at him, your head tilting back and to the side so your lips brush lightly against his own as you move. it's snowing, the night sky completely clouded over, but the heat from the hot tub makes the puffy white flakes dissolve in the air before they can touch the water, and they fizzle away as you watch them land in his hair. jaemin catches his bottom lip between his teeth, a dazed and loving smile matching the way his glossy eyes look at you in the winter air. you lean forward just a bit to meet him in a kiss. he sighs happily, leaning in closer to deepen it.

the game has made its way down the circle and someone grabs your attention by telling jaemin that it’s his turn. he chases your lips when you pull away, your face flushed upon remembering you aren’t alone, all the while he seems unphased.

without looking away from you he hums in thought, watching as the condensation clinging to your skin rolls down your chest. he brings a hand up to cup your ear and whispers his question.

“who’s most likely to fuck you better than me?”

even in the steamy air, the blush that rises to your face is unmistakable. your eyes widen, making a devilish smile appear on his lips.

“ohhh look at her face!” karina says coyly. “must have been a spicy question!”

you’re too stunned to speak. you’d never been conscious of it, but apparently you knew the answer to this question before even being presented with it.

your eyes then flicker over to scan your group of friends; everyone’s eyes are on you and all of a sudden you feel like you’re a second from overheating.

“you’ve gotta answer, baby. its part of the game,” jaemin teases, snapping you out of your thoughts. the smirk playing his features is mischievous; his hand slyly finds its way between your legs again, and when his fingers slip under the band of your swimsuit and press roughly against you, you blurt out your answer without being able to stop yourself.

“jeno!”

its clear everyone was under the impression that the question presented to you was intimate, and a series of surprised and boisterous hoots and hollers erupt all around you. jeno laughs nervously from a few spots down the circle, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. you swallow hard. it's too late now to wonder if you should have just kept your mouth shut.

jaemin pulls your attention back to him. your eyes are apprehensive when they meet his; he immediately takes notice of your change in demeanor, and he gives you a sweet, reassuring smile. when you smack your hands down in sync, he waits just a second to see your fist still clenched, and he slips two fingers out of his to let you win.

“that’s cheating!!” haechan whines from across the hot tub. “you saw her play!”

jaemin just presses a soft kiss to your wet cheek and drapes his arm around your shoulders. “cry about it.”

the next morning, you wake up to the sounds and smells of breakfast being made. through the dehydration and dull headache of your small hangover, what you’d said the night prior runs rampant in your head.

you feel a strange sense of guilt gnawing at you. jaemin acted no differently than normal following your confession, but you can't shake the feeling that you’d upset him. it was his best friend's name you’d said after all, so you aren’t quite sure why he hasn't at least brought it up again.

the dream you’d just awoken from involving said best friend didn't help settle your nerves either.

you shuffle out of the sheets and walk into the kitchen of the small condo you and your boyfriend are sharing for the weekend. you take a seat on one of the barstools surrounding the kitchen island, tapping your fingers on the marble countertop as you watch jaemin from behind him. he hums to himself, dropping ingredients into a sizzling pan.

“jaem?” you start. he spins around, and he grins at you.

“good morning, my love,” he greets you, crossing the space and leaning down to kiss you.

“are you mad at me?”

in retrospect, it's a stupid question; he hadn’t given any indication that he was upset with you at all, but your worried conscience outweighs your common sense.

jaemin’s smile falls, a look of confusion replacing it. “of course not, baby, why would i be?”

“because of last night,” you mutter, your shoulders slumped.

jaemin takes a seat on a stool across from you and pauses to think. “i don’t remember you doing anything last night to make me upset, babydoll.”

“i mean, like, what i said in the hot tub.”

he blinks at you. after a second, his face lights up in realization. “what, about jeno?”

you nod, lowering your head in shame. jaemin chuckles, placing a warm hand under your jaw to bring your eyes back up. his thumb brushes against your burning skin.

“baby, why would i be mad about that? i asked you the question in the first place.”

“because he's your best friend.”

“so? as his best friend, i know better than most that he’s attractive,” he jokes. you’re honestly confused as to why he's so casual about it.

“i um- i had a dream about him last night.”

when he lifts a brow and tilts his head, you reach up to tightly squeeze his hand that still lays on your face and scramble to clarify. “but it didn't mean anything jaem, i promise! please don’t be mad, please, i really would never do anything like that-“

“baby, shh, its okay,” he cups your face in his hands, squishing your cheeks together. heavy, anxious breathing fills your chest. “i love you and i trust you, i promise i’m not upset with you, sweetheart.”

a sigh falls, your worries dissolving into the warm air. jaemin presses a kiss to your forehead. an idea seems to pop into his head just then, and he smirks.

“besides, there's no one i'd rather share my girl with than my best friend anyway.”

heat rushes up your neck again. “share?”

“well yeah, if you’re comfortable with that. i’d love to help my pretty baby bring that dream to life for a night.”

there's snow piling on the sill just outside the bedroom window, but jeno’s forehead still glimmers with a light sheen of sweat in the soft glow of the bedside lamp.

as you and the girls were on the slopes earlier in the day, jaemin pulled jeno aside to talk to him once he knew you were on board with his idea. jaemin had always known jeno thought you were pretty, it was in the way he looked at you and spoke a little softer to you than most. but it didn't bother jaemin; after all, who could really blame him? jaemin had fallen in love with you for a reason.

needless to say though, jaemin’s proposal left jeno completely shocked. he really tried to hide his crush on you so as to not upset anyone; losing his best friend over it wasn't worth the risk and he saw how in love you were, he would feel like a monster if he did anything to ruin that. so learning about your little crush on him made his heart flutter in his chest.

he would have to be an insane man to decline this offer.

so now, you kneel in front of him on yours and jaemin’s bed, your bare knees digging into the plush of the mattress. you’d just showered after your long day of skiing, and the lingering scent of vanilla has jeno reeling already.

“are you nervous?” you ask him. your shorts are riding up, disappearing behind the hem of your thin white tshirt. your hair is still damp, and the wetness seeps through the fabric, making the top of your chest slightly more visible.

jeno gives a hesitant nod, a quiet laugh slipping through his shy smile.

“me too,” you admit, matching his timid demeanor.

jaemin catches your eye from his spot by the window, the ice clinking in his frosted glass as he stands between the sheer curtains.

“she's a good girl, jen. she’ll do what you tell her, right baby?”

you turn back towards jeno and give him an innocent nod. jeno feels embarrassed by how hard he already is just from your sweet doe eyes and the way you puff your lips up in a little pout. you lean forward on your knees, your fingers gripping the sheets. your elbows push your chest forward and jeno has to remind himself he doesn't have to force his gaze away this time.

“tell me what you want, nono,” you coo. jeno swallows hard.

“show me what happened in your dream.”

you obey immediately, crawling forward and situating yourself on his lap. your fingers trace ever so delicately up his abdomen and chest; you can feel how his muscles are tense under his shirt, but when you dip down to press warm, feathery kisses to the side of his neck, the strain fades away almost instantly. you grip his shoulders and rock yourself against him. his fingers dig into your hips and he shudders at the soft, slow friction.

jaemin watches you intently, leaning his weight on his arm against the perch of the window, and he lifts his glass to take a sip. this brand new view of you absolutely captivates him; you look so.. so pretty it makes him twitch in his sweat pants.

with your lips still attached to jeno’s neck your hands find their way down his waistband. you tug at the elastic of his basketball shorts, reaching in to palm him over his boxers, eliciting a low groan that vibrates against your lips. his head falls back and his eyes flutter closed.

pulling away you scoot back enough to pull the fabric away from his waist, watching as his cock springs up and out of his shorts. you keep your gaze locked with his as you grab him by the base and drag your hand slowly up the shaft. jeno whimpers as you pump your fist up and down, squeezing every time your fingers reach the tip.

you lift yourself up and stand on your knees that sit on either side of jeno’s lap, your chest almost pressing against his face as you use his shoulders for balance. he has to suppress the moan that rises in this throat when you shove your shorts and panties off your legs and sink down onto him without warning.

your wet hair sways in front of your face as you bounce slowly up and down on him, adjusting to his length. you’re so warm and soft and you grip around him so well that jeno feels delirious; he might not be able to last long.

your lips suddenly mesh with his and he feels like he's on cloud nine. jeno’s tongue flicks into your mouth and he feels you dig your nails into the back of his neck, tugging at his hair. you whimper into his mouth as jeno kisses you like his life depends on it.

suddenly your hair is tangled in jaemin’s grip and your head is yanked back, your lips pulling away from jeno’s with a wet smack and a loud cry is ripped from your throat. your head falls back onto jaemin’s shoulder and an earth shattering whine echoes through the room. jeno feels embarrassed by the heavy groan he can't help but let out, until jaemin looks at him with a knowing smirk.

“you like that, jen? she’s very vocal.” jaemin’s free hand reaches up to squeeze the base of your neck. “isn’t that right, baby girl? you make such pretty noises when you feel good, yeah?” you nod, reaching a shaky arm up and behind you to scratch at jaemin’s shoulder. you let out a trembling whimper.

“you wanna show jen how good i can make you feel, huh?”

your swollen lips press together; a strangled ‘mhm’ is all you can manage.

jaemin then pulls your hips towards him, a sticky wet sound making you blush as jeno slips out of your folds. the empty feeling doesn't linger for long, however. jaemin replaces him immediately, slamming his hips up into you and hitting the spot that makes you crumble every time.

your face looks so beautiful to jeno in this moment, scrunched up in pleasure. jaemin’s hand still grips your hair to tilt your head back as he rams into you, his face buried in your neck leaving messy purple bruises across your skin.

jeno thinks he might just cum untouched from the sight.

one of your hands reaches out to grip jeno’s cock again in an attempt to aid him in just that, but jaemin is fucking into you so mercilessly that you can’t manage to keep up a steady pace. so jeno grips your hand in his, guiding your arm up and down. tears begin to spill through your lashes and you see stars behind your closed eyes. jeno kisses up your jaw on the side opposite jaemin, making his way up to lock his lips with your own once again.

“ah, a-ahh hah.” you begin to babble and whine and your kiss becomes sloppy. jeno knows you’re close. he begins to pump faster to reach the height you’re at, and as you clench around jaemin’s cock and scream out through your orgasm your head falls forward to rest on jeno’s shoulder. with a humiliatingly loud moan jeno cums with you, sticky thick ropes shooting out and painting your thighs a milky white.

jaemin rides you through your orgasm, and when you start to whine from overstimulation, he pulls out and let’s you fall back on his chest. your vision is blurry, your breath is labored. in jaemin’s warm arms you decide that staying completely conscious would be entirely too difficult, so you allow yourself to drift off.

later that night, you lay in bed between both jaemin and jeno, your exhausted body having been cleaned up and taken care of by the pair of boys. jeno is out cold behind you, snuggled up into your back and snoring softly.

jaemin is settled in front of you. your arms wrap around his neck as you kiss him, pressed up against his bare chest. his fingers trace along your side as he hums on your lips, moving slowly and tenderly along with you.

he grabs your chin softly in his fingers, pulling away from the kiss gently. you smile dreamily as his thumb brushes your bottom lip.

“did your dream come true, baby?” he asks, his voice breathy.

you sigh. “it was even better.”

“better?”

“of course, you were there.”

its rare that you fluster jaemin, but his eyes light up at your words and you swear you see him blush in the dim light. he grins at you, leaning down to connect your lips again.

“wait,” you say suddenly, stopping him. though its only been a short while your memory is foggy, and you realize you don't remember jaemin reaching his own high. “jaem, did you not-“

somehow, jaemin reads your mind. “don't worry about that, baby girl. i wanted you to feel good tonight.”

“noo jaem that’s not fair to you,” you whine, beginning to slide your hand down, but he catches it.

“we’ll wake jeno up if you do that, baby,” he whispers. you glace over your shoulder, noticing how jeno is basically spooning you, his face buried in the fabric of your sweatshirt between your shoulders and his arms circling your waist.

you smirk, turning back around.

“why not let him help, then?”

[sapphire-weapon]

Seeing as how I just got two asks back to back trying to claim that I'm being unfair to Leon and that his behavior towards Ada in RE4make is "justified," I figured I'd just make an independent post about it instead of answering two questions that'll have overlapping answers. (And a third one came in as I was writing, even.)

No, I'm not being unfair to Leon, and no, his behavior isn't justified. Leon's being immature in RE4make, straight up.

The way that people talk about this, and the way that Leon acts towards her -- you would think that Ada had been a childhood friend that Leon had known for years, and that she betrayed him at the zero hour and destroyed a lifetime of trust between them.

Ada is some chick that Leon knew for a total of, like, six hours, years ago. And in Remake canon, she makes it very clear to him at the end of RE2make that her lying to him wasn't personal; it was just business.

He's had six years to think about this and compartmentalize it, but he's still taking it so intensely personally that he's being petty. He spends all of RE4make trying to ensure that Ada knows how personal it is, and he digs at her in such a way that it's like he wants her to feel personally hurt in return.

He's being fucking childish.

Especially when you consider that, even if Ada had wanted to reach out to him and let him know she's not dead -- how, exactly, do you propose she do that? Just saunter right on through CIA security and surveillance? Call Leon on a phone that's definitely being tapped and traced? Come the fuck on, man.

It's also not an either/or situation. It's not like the only two options for his attitude towards her are "overtly romantic" or "total cunt." OG RE4 had him be wary of her intentions and suspicious of her motives without being a complete and total asshole about it.

Think about this honestly. If the "she's like a part of me I can't let go" line didn't exist in OG, would you think that his feelings towards her were romantic at all in that game? Because I wouldn't. Half of their interactions are him questioning her or blowing her off.

And this was done with OG Leon knowing that Ada was explicitly working for Wesker. He knows that she's working for Albert Fucking Wesker, and he's still able to pull off being suspicious without being a cunt.

Remake Leon has no idea who she's working for and never, ever has. For all he knows, she could be working for someone who's in the fight against bioterrorism. The last thing he knew about her was that she was a fellow adversary of Umbrella who was getting shot at by Annette Birkin. He has no reason to treat her like a villain outside of his own personal butthurt.

He's just being petty because she hurt his feelings six years ago, and he's refused to grow up and move on since then and, at the very least, treat her with the bare minimum of cold professionalism that she actually deserves. They both establish in their first conversation that they're both here for work. They're doing a job. And he can't get over his personal butthurt enough to be a professional about it.

She makes him look terrible by comparison, because she very clearly does still have feelings for him in RE4make, but she's able to still be an adult and recognize the reality of the situation they're in.

I'm so tired of these takes where people treat Leon like he's a perfect innocent angel baby who did nothing wrong and is right to be mean to the bad lady who hurt him. Leon was a dumbass who got played and hasn't been able to gracefully take the L and move forward in life. That's what actually happened.

Like, damn, man. I know we all love Leon, but he's not always right. He has flaws. And this is one of them. Let him be flawed. And maybe examine things a bit further the next time you want to fully lay the blame for a male character being butthurt at a female character's feet.

[stillthewc]

YEAR OF THE FANGAN - MAY EDITION

ꕥ DANGANRONPA UNDERLAND ꕥ

Is it a little unfair to include a story that had one of its entries already having a YOTF entry written on it? Maybe. But do I feel the need to gush about this particular part of the series anyways, since I love it so much? HELL YEAH I DO!

Okay, let me explain: in January, I covered a fangan called "Danganronpa Wonderland", a fantastic story filled with great relationship writing and a fun, engaging story. "Danganronpa Underland" serves as both a sequel and prequel to it, explaining the events of an incident central to Wonderland's conflict, while being narrated to one of Wonderland's survivors. It's very much a story I can't get super-detailed on due to spoilers, but it's one worth talking about regardless.

Now, I'll be the first to admit I'm not one for fangans where you already know the outcome of it. It's a big reason why I can't get into V2 fics (even if I want people to check out Despair From The Heart and Vicious Veracity regardless of my own disinterest of the subgenre), so knowing the key survivors of this story's killing game was gonna be an uphill battle for me. However, I can safely say that this story not only lives up to the quality of its predecessor, but improves upon its own formula.

The first point of comparison is the cast between both series. While several of the characters in Wonderland are genuinely top-notch, some cast member I liked moreso from a storytelling perspective rather than their personality traits. Here, everyone feels super grounded, with even some of the more goofy characters like Ayato feeling like actual people you can meet in real life. This mainly stems from the narrative giving time to get to know these character's lives, insecurities, and struggles, something that makes character-focused scenes (like explosive arguments) all the more compelling.

The second point of comparison, and my personal favorite aspect of this story I might add, is how the story treats the act of giving out info on the side cast. In Wonderland, while the FTE segments were quite nice, they sadly only gave backstory to a handful of the characters. Here, though? Every single character who dies in the narrative is given a spotlight chapter. Did a fave of yours die early without being able to learn more about them? HAVE SOME BACKSTORY! Did the focus on the central narrative only allow for some character aspects to be hinted at? HERE'S SOMETHING THAT'LL FLESH THEM OUT, BABY! Not only is this an ingenious way to give insight on the characters without being too intrusive to the narrative, but the flower theming of these chapters is so damn cool as well!

Now, moving away from massive improvements done to the story's formula, I just like what it does to the Wonderland mythos as a whole. While I can't go into major specifics out of fear of spoiling the first entry in the series, it's neat to see the origins of some of the characters shown in Wonderland, and highlight just how much they've changed from how they started here. I particularly like the main character's relationships with Itsuki and Taihei, two newcomers that help showcase the more human aspect of them and serve as an interesting mirror counterpart to them, respectively.

I also really, really dig how despite this being about a whole new set of cast members, the narrative still shines a light on one of their previous survivor's development through interludes. Their traumas, as well as their slow exploration of this story's narrator, add so much to their character, and is shaping up to set them up super well for the third part of this story (even if I'm incredibly scared on just what their role's going to be, considering some of the new bits of lore)

And that's all I can really say without giving out massive spoilers! Even if the information below might become a bit outdated (as of writing, the story just ended Chapter 3, and it updates relatively quickly from what I've seen), please take a look at the highlight reel, read this dang story, and join me next month for whatever the hell I talk about next!

FORMAT: Written

WHERE TO FIND IT: Ao3 (although I'll reiterate once again, please read Wonderland before this one!)

FAVORITE CHAPTER: Chapter 3, for its absolute batshit-insane trial that involves the breaking of the typical formula from before that point, recontextualization of previous story events, and a complicated exploration of character motivations for a ton of the cast.

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Yuuki Kutsumukai. A tap dancer quick to be a pompous asshole who boasts about his own greatness, "pride is an insecurity", as he hides an inferiority-superiority complex and one of the most morally-repugnant-yet-tragic backstories out of anyone else in the cast.

OTHER STANDOUT CHARACTERS: Eren Hagoromo, a dressmaker who, while catty and drama-obsessed at a glance, masks a razor-sharp wit and pure heart full of emotional maturity, and Hime Nakaya, an ice skater with Disney Princess-like qualities, noted for being kindhearted, romantic, and unfortunately quite naive.

[karouvas]

For the ship game: Aria/Alison and Aria/Alex Drake

Aria x Alison

Whether I ship it or not: I obviously do a lot! They’re one of my favorite pll pairings/dynamics. I’d say they’re my favorite Aria ship rn (sometimes Sparia ties with it depending on my mood) and in my top 2 Alison ships (with Monison).

Why I ship it or not: They’re just a very intriguing relationship, I love anytime pll creates a sort of homoerotic mirroring effect between the girls so things like Aria wearing the red coat, parallels between their home lives (their being groomed by Ezra, their home lives where one of their parents was unfaithful but even though that was Byron for the Montgomery’s and Jessica for the Dilaurentis’ the gendered dynamics in the marriage are similar imo, and both girls are kind of regarded as More Adult (the correlation between that and them being groomed Spencer is also a comparison there rather than Hanna and Emily who have comparatively more stable/supportive guardians but this isn’t about Sparia or Spalison I just had to mention it), and being kind of the vortex of controversy and attention (although those aren’t really positive) while their brothers are kind of sidelined. So in terms of that theirs a lot going on to dig into, and then Alison’s treatment of Aria in the flashbacks is very interesting because she treats her so much more like an equal than the other girls, I mean she does see Spencer as an equal in a way but that’s based on their rivalry and with an understanding that Alison wants the upper hand. With Aria she just seems like she wants her to be there in a way that’s .. simpler isn’t the right word. But I think Alison likes being reflected in Aria vs her conflicted feelings about being reflected in Spencer or Hanna and that’s interesting to me. I also think I enjoy when Aria’s forgiving nature and open mindedness is brought out in her dynamics with morally ambiguous women which I think is why aside from Spencer most of my ships I feel strongly about for her are with more morally duplicitous female chars, Alison Mona Jenna Alex in descending order tbh. (I also find Aria’s sharp edge / parts of her char that conflict with her “sweet/nice” image very interesting and those are also emphasized in these and by her finding Alison so compelling by). And all the liars visions of Alison are very interesting and more than a little gay, but Aria’s “you know why I picked you right” scene is especially ripe for analysis imo.

My opinion on their canon potential (chemistry, canon interactions, etc): Oh I think there’s quite a lot of canon basis for especially Alison’s side of it between the photographs she secretly took while Aria was sleeping, which when we think Jason took them were meant to assume is out of a warped sense of romance and then his words about Alison’s tendencies to hide things really sound like they’re about internalized biphobia and being in the closet, the cosplaying as an Aria look alike and then taking on aspects of an Aria persona with Ezra, a lot of her treatment of Aria being a lot more.. seeing her as an equal rather than a subject or rival. On Ali’s side it’s very easy to make the argument imo. On Aria’s side the relationship is super intriguing and I can read stuff romantically but in the way you can kind of read all the liars as at least a bit in love with Alison / they all kind of talk about her and imagine her in hallucinations in that way. In terms of chemistry I think theirs is good, it’s maybe not the most chemistry in any pairing between the girls like I think if you compared Sasha’s scenes with Janel or Troian with her scenes with Lucy she probably has a higher level of chemistry with the former two (but also that’s a bit unfair because Janel and Troian just have copious amounts of chemistry with like. Everyone (except Keenan in Troian’s case)). But there are plenty of scenes especially in the flashbacks (the first secret is crazy in this regard) where I’m like. Girlfriend behavior, maybe accompanied by close face watch (the scene where they wreck Byron’s office especially + all of the first secret especially).

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (Favorite widespread hcs, pet-peeves, etc): Mostly that it’s massively underrated? Attribute that partially to I think a lot of fans are disdainful of Aria and don’t really think of her as a char Alison would be fascinated by or give a lot of thought to that, and Alison’s really polarizing as well, plus the fact the writers didn’t do much with the dynamic after Alison came back with the exception of 7.04. But I don’t remember a take about them I thought was *wrong* I just think they’re underrated/underexplored.

Aria x Alex

Whether I ship it or not: I ship it, not majorly because Alex as a concept isn’t super developed, but the things I like most about her are related to her fixation with Aria and the choices she made regarding her in 7b.

Why I ship it or not: I enjoy Aria’s whole 7b plot a lot and Alex is a contributing factor to it, and also like I said the Aria obsession piece made Alex more interesting to me and the Sparia compare/contrast is fun.

My opinion on their canon potential (chemistry, canon interactions, etc): well they don’t interact on screen a ton but Troian essentially plays Alex like Spencer but very British and more explicitly sapphic, “I’m so evil and skanky and I think I’m kind of gay”, so yeah I think they’re good on the chemistry front. And Alex Drake’s actions really only make sense if she was into Aria because why else would she kidnap Ezra of all people? Rather than idk, Peter Hastings? Too funny

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (Favorite widespread hcs, pet-peeves, etc): n / a I haven’t seen that much and what I did see I mostly agreed with.

thank you!

(Send me a ship and I’ll answer these questions about them)

[dragontamer05]

I get game comparison’s happen but I really do firmly believe that even if you wanted to try and take Sword/Shield or Scarlet/Violet and compare it to anything on the Switch BOTW is like probably the worst to choose.

1) As it is Zelda games have years worth of experience of home console 3D graphics to have improved to the level they are today

2) Where as Pokemon (main / core games) by comparison is still somewhat new to 3D- again compared to Zelda games- and newer still to being programmed and made for something like the Switch

3) Stylistically they are very different - While the characters might be much less chibi-esk the general aesthetic is far more cartoony, maybe a little fantastical but simplistic in nature- isn’t trying to aim for some hyper realistic design which I don’t think it should.

Where as LoZ while also not going pure realism - at least not say compared to what TP still seems aim for a more detailed design and I guess in away a believable sort of fantasy

4) Going back to the first point BoTW is hardly a new game either with years to have had graphics tweaked, bugs patched and whatever since it first released on the Wii U (idk how much or how little it changed between the two upon being ported but still)

5) i can only imagine the team set up and handling of their games is different- for one Zelda games seem to be allowed a lot more time to be worked on before a new big game releases out side of any smaller games here n there, like the hand held titles. Where as idk if they just aren’t allowed more time or what but Pokemon for better or worse tend not to have as large of gaps between games

6) Hot take but in someways it kinda looks better then Arceus. Now I like Arceus I really do and I’m not saying it’s a bad game or looks bad perse but Sw/Sh and specially S/V have a lot more popping colour to them.

There’s just a lot of areas in Arceus that feel like nothing but muddy and a bit samey at times

7) Who cares what one damn tree looks like - feels nit picky. Sure it’s basic and maybe the texture appears a bit flat but so what. You can tell it’s a tree and you can still tell that the texture is meant to be bark- doesn’t have to look real.

8) It’s Pokemon good or bad aside why would you expect it to be able to compare to or look like Zelda. Colosseum and Gale of Darkness sure as heck don’t compare to the graphics of Twilight Princess but over all I’d say they’re still good looking games

9) Having played both now, can it feel a bit odd going from looking at BoTW graphics to Violet’s sure but I still think it looks fine for a Pokemon game.

10) General thought but in a sea of games where so many are aiming for more realistic what’s wrong with the cartoonish / less detail focused- or at the very least I’m sure most people wouldn’t expect for a LoZ game to look like a Pokemon game so why would I compare and expect a Pokemon game to look like LoZ

11) Equally bad comparison or examples I think are when people take try to point a mod as ‘see it’s so easy’ when although I won’t knock the work that goes into mods and the like that’s still someone working with an already finished product - as well as working under their own time, without deadlines, having to work within someone else is specifications or anything else that comes with game development.

12) I know shit about coding but what I do know is sometimes even the smallest changes can make things go weird so maybe some of the design choices are just what worked without causing something else to bug.

13) To repeat they are fundamentally different games, whether at their best or worst graphically it’s simply unfair to compare them or at least compare them so closely without taking into account each games style (and the teams behind them)

I’m not saying there aren’t improvements to be made, or that it’s bad to compare games in general but I am however tired of the only game comparison I see people doing with Pokemon is to Zelda / Botw and whether intended or not just ends up sounding (to me) like Pokemon bad because it’s not realistic / detailed enough.

[ijwrsmff]

Hello there

This one is a bit lengthy but can i please get headcanons of the straw hats reaction to an admiral reader(gender neutral please) who quits the marine to join them, and is at first is distrusted but does something to gain theirs trust

I hope it's not too much trouble

It's no trouble at all! I really like this idea, it was a ton of fun to write! I hope you enjoy it ^^

Luffy:

He found you during a fight with the marines

He noticed...you were so much stronger than the marines you were fighting with

Maybe not strong in comparison to Luffy...but he was extremely powerful so comparing to him isn’t fair

He saw you deal what should have been a finishing blow to his crewmates…

But for some reason you never hit them hard enough to kill them

Down them, sure...but never kill

He makes quick work of the other marines, and approaches you with a smile

“Join my crew!”

You looked at him baffled

“Quit the marines and throw away all my hard work to become an admiral because some...kid thinks I would be a good match for his crew? No thanks.”

Luffy left it at that, but knew he’d see you again soon

You encountered him once more at a nearby island

“Is...is that offer still on the table?”

He grinned wide and pulled you by your hand to his ship

He couldn’t put his finger on it...but something was special about you

He just knew the crew would love you

After they get over their initial distrust that is

But Luffy? He trusted you already

No hesitation, he knew you had a good heart and that’s what really mattered

Zoro:

He didn’t trust you...at all

He would go silent when you talked to him, giving you the silent treatment

He didn’t trust the marines...how was he supposed to know you weren’t there as a spy?

You tried to talk to him a couple times...but he just pretended he was sleeping

One day, he was up in the crow’s nest training and you walked in

“Mind if we spar? It’s been a while since I was able to.”

Since you left the marines

He huffed but gave a firm “sure”

He didn’t go easy on you, which surprised him when you handled yourself fairly well

You parried his attacks, and gave a few good jabs of your own

He respected your strength

He still won...but he expected to beat you within seconds

Not minutes, nearly half an hour of sparring

From then on, he’ll make small talk with you

Every once in a while he’ll go to take a nap and he’ll pull you down to lay beside him

He also sits next to you at the dinner table, even helping you fend off Luffy when he tries to steal your food

Overall...he respected strength. And if Luffy chose you...you were here to stay

Once he starts to trust you, he’ll protect you at all costs

Nami:

She trusts Luffy’s decision...but that doesn't mean she has to trust YOU

She won’t go out of her way to be mean...but she won’t help you if it means bending over backwards

She interrogates you, wanting to know why Luffy had chosen you

After days of interrogation on and off...she thinks she sees why

You were unhappy in the marines

Sure...you managed to become an admiral...but the happiness you had hoped to feel just wasn’t there

She discovered that in the short time you’ve been on this ship, you’ve felt happier than you ever did in the marines

She’ll be nicer after that, slowly building up her trust in you

“Want me to show you how I chart the islands we go to?”

Even if cartography wasn’t your thing, you figured it would help get you closer to Nami

After that, you would spend hours upon hours with Nami

She can be very...very protective

So once she trusts you, any comments about you that weren’t warranted she’d defend you

She wants to get closer to you, and spends the majority of her time with you

Either sitting on the deck or working on her maps

She even tells Sanji off if he starts to bother you, making the hearts in his eyes break

She’ll protect you...and she knows in her heart you’d protect her too

Usopp:

He is so...so scared of you at first

You were an ADMIRAL

How could you just give up that position to join a crew?

Doesn’t trust you for a good long while

He’s convinced you’re a spy

He lets his imagination get to him, and that drives a wedge between you two

You don’t blame him...the situation is sketchy, but you were genuine

You would spend all the time needed to get the crew to trust you

After only being with them a short period of time...you trusted them with your life

And that’s never happened before

In the marines...people wouldn’t go out of their way to save another if it meant getting hurt in the process

During battle, you stepped in front of Usopp and took a harsh blow, forming a long slash across your chest

After that...he’s significantly nicer to you

He visits you in the infirmary and looks...troubled

“What’s wrong Usopp?” You give him a concerned look

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you save me...you’re hurt now. Because of me.”

You smiled at him...so he did care

This was a good first step

Maybe eventually you can become even closer

Sanji:

He’s reluctant to trust you at first, but Luffy seems to see something in you…

Just like he saw something in him

So he tries to get closer to you, even going so far as to not flirt with you

Not until he got to know you better

The first time he really began to see the trust between you building was a regular day

Nothing particularly special about it, except you went into the kitchen while he was cooking

“Mind if I help?” It was your attempt to get closer to him

“Of course! Here, I need this mixed.”

You cooked together in relative silence, small talking every once in a while

Overall it was...nice

It was a bonding experience and he cherished it

That day, he sat next to you at the dinner table

You gave him a wide smile, which he returned

He would defend you to anyone who spoke ill of you after that

He could be quite protective, and it showed

Especially to Zoro, who made comments about your being a spy (which only made Usopp and Chopper panic more about the situation)

“Hey marimo! They don’t deserve the bullshit you’re throwing at them. Back off.”

“What are you gonna do about it, shitty cook?” A smirk formed on Zoro’s face

Oh dear...it looks like they’re fighting again

You went to speak up, but Nami stopped you

“They get like this sometimes. Though it’s impressive how quick Sanji was to take the bait this time...I think he likes you.” She gives you a wink and your face flushes

Who knows what the future will bring...all you know? Is that you made the right choice to join this crew

Chopper:

He wants to trust you...he really does

But the nagging fear of you hurting his crew is at the back of him mind

He avoids you, not wanting to risk getting hurt

Once you get injured in battle...he realizes how unfair it was that he did so

“I’m sorry y/n...you’re hurt. Please follow me to the infirmary.”

He keeps it relatively formal, only talking when he needed to do something to check on you

“Would you...come back in a couple days so I can check on the wound and how it’s healing?”

You gave him a smile “yes doctor! Thank you!”

“Hehe you don’t have to thank me I don’t deserve your thanks I was just doing what I’d do for any of our crew!” He swayed back and forth, his paws on his face as he smiled

You could swear you saw flowers around him…

After that, he invited you to play games with him, Usopp, and Luffy

While Usopp was still reluctant, Luffy was 100% on board

“Come on y/n! Play with us!” Chopper smiled up at you and...well...there’s no way you could say no to his adorable face

So you joined in

It was fun...more fun than you thought possible to have

You laughed as Chopper tagged you, and you spun around picking him up in a hug

“Chopper...thank you.”

He smiled and laughed, “for what? Tagging you?”

You shook your head, putting him down

“No...for being a good friend.”

And he was, he was your best friend. You grew closer to him in the days following and you were certain you made the right decision

Robin:

She knows what it’s like to not be trusted by the crew initially...but at least with her it was one pirate to another

You were a marine

And not just a marine...but an admiral

She is reluctant to trust you, but will give you the benefit of the doubt

She spends a lot of time with you, gauging if you’re a threat to her crew or not

She would sacrifice herself for any one of them...you’re no exception

She almost thinks its her JOB to determine if you’re a threat or not

It wasn’t until your first battle together that she finds she trusts you

You give her a look, and she knows to use her devil’s fruit

You both coordinate perfectly together, and it shows your trust

She has only battled so flawlessly with her crew...which means you’re entirely one of them now

She will defend you from that fight forward, and stands up for you when the others express their doubts

“Y/n? Would you like to read with me?” She pats the spot next to her and smiled at you

“Of course! What are we reading today?”

The two of you grow closer and closer, spending hours upon hours just...enjoying each other’s company

She looks at your smile and knows...she would do anything to keep that happy smile on your face

Franky:

He doesn’t trust you...but he doesn’t...NOT trust you

He’s reluctant to get close, but finds it’s really easy with you

He’s newer to the crew, but he trusts Luffy’s judgement

So he doesn’t have any reason not to give you a chance

He’ll spend time with you, requesting you sit in his workroom as he works on a specialized weapon for you

Over that time, you make a lot of small talk

It brings you closer together

“Y/n! What do you think?” He’ll say holding up your now finished weapon “Pretty super, right? Don’t you just love it?” He has a look of pride on his face that makes you grin

You take the weapon into your hands and feel the weight is perfect

Not light, but not overly heavy either

“Thank you Franky!” You jump up to hug him and miss seeing his face turn a dark crimson

“O-of course! Anything for a crewmate!” He hugs you back, lightly as if he’s afraid he’ll break you

This makes you laugh, “Franky...I was an admiral remember? I won’t break from a hug!”

“Well then...take this!” He lifts you up, spinning you around in circles

You both laugh, pulling each other closer and closer

Once he sets you down you see the fleeting color of pink on his cheeks

You were sure your face mirrored the same color

He knows in that moment he would protect you

Even if you didn’t need it

Maybe...protect isn’t the right word

It sounds so...one sided

“I’ll protect you...will you protect me?” He looks sheepish, almost as if he hated asking

You lean up and kiss his cheek

“I’ll protect you Franky. I’ll protect all of us...this crew...it’s special.”

He nods, knowing exactly what you meant

“Then we’ll protect each other.”

And it was settled

Brook:

As soon as you stepped onto the ship he approached you

“Your name is y/n...correct?”

“Yup! That’s me!”

He leaned down so your…”eyes” were level with each other

“Can I see your panties?”

SLAP

“...is that a no?”

It’s safe to assume...he doesn’t judge you for being an admirable

Though seeing some of the crew be distant from you...it only motivates him to speak to you more

You looked tired after playing with the crew on deck, so he approached you

“Would you like me to play you a song to help you sleep?”

You stared wide eyed, not knowing he was the musician on the ship

“Sure! Would you...maybe be able to teach me how to play an instrument?”

“Which instrument would you like to learn?”

You hummed, “I’m not sure. I’ll get back to you on that.”

And so he played you a song

It put not only you, but Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper to sleep

He would have grinned if he could, and looked over his crewmates with love

As he finished the song he looked at you once again

“Sleep well y/n...I’ll see you tomorrow.”

[independcnt]

sae-byeok + sang-woo: character comparison & analysis

so. sae-byeok and sang-woo. there’s a lot to be said, so let’s just dive right into it.

i wanted to write a meta that compares and contrasts their characters ( and discuss them as characters, from a literary and storytelling point of view ) because when you look at them, they are alike in quite a few ways... but the ways in which they are dissimilar make all the difference. my central statement, the thought i wish to convey above all others is this: sae-byeok and sang-woo’s character arcs are the inverse of each other. from a storytelling standpoint, it’s fascinating and heartbreaking, seeing as they both meet the very same end — a knife to the neck by sang-woo’s hand. 

so first, some comparisons.

i think one of the most interesting similarities between them is the fact that, in a way, they are both entering the games for the sake of their mothers. there is, of course, a huge difference in why they are there to help their mothers which sets up a startling dichotomy between them. sang-woo is the one who put his mother in a precarious position by putting her shop up for collateral against his debts. sae-byeok is actively trying to get her mother out of a dangerous and difficult life that neither of them signed up for. so while both sang-woo and sae-byeok entered the games to help their mothers, there is a significant divide behind that reasoning — sang-woo is trying to rescue his mother from circumstances that he himself put her in, to save her from his own mistakes. sae-byeok is trying to save her mother from the unfair tragedy of being born in the north, of getting caught at the border, taking on this task that was not asked of her but she does so anyway. this sets them up as the prodigal son versus the filial daughter.

and in my opinion, they are the two most well-equipped people to actually win the games by their own merits. they’re both incredibly intelligent: they both figured out the trick with red light, green light. sae-byeok was brave and curious enough to risk a trip into the vents, but also knew that her knowledge was useless without context and figured telling sang-woo would be a good way of actually getting something out of the information ( knowing to follow him during dalgona ). and sang-woo attended the top university in south korea, so that speaks to his intellect in and of itself, outside of the clear examples we see of it in the games. and what sae-byeok lacks in physical strength, she makes up for in resolve. she holds her own against deok-su long enough to get an injury on him and get away. she’s tough as nails and wily from her time on the streets, and that’s showcased enough in both her encounters with deok-su. sang-woo shows his strength during the night brawl when he’s smacking people around with one of those metal bars. i truthfully think they are both the best equipped to win the games, just in slightly different ways. but i’ll also say that while they both worked hard to get to where they are in life, sae-byeok was clearly way more disadvantaged than sang-woo ever was. a young woman from the north, impoverished, an immigrant. sang-woo had both opportunity and privilege on her due to nothing more than luck and circumstance.

personality-wise, they are also both pretty cold and aloof on the outside. i think sae-byeok a bit more than sang-woo because there are moments ( at least towards the beginning of the series ) where sang-woo at least tries to be cordial with people, namely gi-hun and ali. even if it is pretty evident to us viewers that these are done likely out of obligation to a past friendship ( gi-hun ) or to ensure that strong people stay on your team ( ali ). but deep down, sang-woo is coldhearted. analytical. logical. meanwhile, sae-byeok projects this cold and stoic attitude to conceal the fact that she is just full of heart. she is values-driven, motivated purely by her subjective feelings. when sae-byeok does display her cunning, she tends to use it versus her environment rather than against her fellow man.

and like... if gi-hun and sang-woo represent two opposing values, then sae-byeok is where it’s possible for those values to meet in the middle. she could never be as blindly optimistic as gi-hun, hold as much faith in the world and in people as he does. but she could never devolve as much sang-woo does, become so harsh-hearted and cruel that she would betray who she is and the people who helped her just so she could get what she wants. she is firm in her values and convictions, sticking to them even if it is against her own interests. she tried to make ji-yeong throw her marble again, after all. it is sae-byeok’s words that get gi-hun to put down the knife.

so now, to the real point of this meta, which is sae-byeok and sang-woo’s respective character arcs. because i operate visually, and my words don’t always match up with what i have in my head, i made a quick and very shitty depiction of my thoughts in ms paint.

when i say that their character arcs are the inverse of each other, i mean something like this:

they undergo the same journeys, but in reverse. as sae-byeok’s ability to trust in people builds, sang-woo’s ability to trust in people degrades.

sae-byeok goes into the games cold and untrusting, determined to win at any cost. she’s cagey and combative. she has no allies, only enemies — yet she is transformed by the people around her. she grows to trust and care for others outside of her blood family. so much so that she mourns someone’s death, clearly heartbroken over the loss ( ji-yeong ) and she entrusts someone with her the most precious things in her life: her family and her dreams for them ( gi-hun ). and it was in her efforts to spare gi-hun from guilt ( “you aren’t that kind of person” ) that led to her own death. but her story ends with something she had nothing of in the beginning: faith in her fellow man, trust in someone who is not her family or herself. someone who was not of blood relation that sae-byeok cared about enough to cry over, and someone who cried over her when she was killed.

sang-woo entered the games with allies, people who trusted in him. he has someone in his corner ( gi-hun ) and others quickly take a liking to him ( ali ). he starts off willing to help others, as we see him help gi-hun during red light, green light, and give ali the bus fare and food. granted, his interactions with ali aren’t 100% benevolent, but he was at least willing to do it, intentions aside. but over the course of the series, he allows greed and desperation to erode his morality. he becomes unable to trust in others, and thinks only of himself. sang-woo spirals down in this degradation of character until it comes to the point where he coldly distances himself from his own immoral actions under the excuse of “it’s me or them.” and in the end, it is a culmination of his own shame and wanting to spare gi-hun from the guilt of killing his childhood best friend that leads to his death, to sang-woo taking his own life.

and that’s what i’m trying to convey in the gif above, the parallel displayed. that looking over one’s shoulder, casting a glance back at someone they do not trust. sae-byeok’s happens in the beginning ( episode 2 ), the start of her arc. on the other hand, sang-woo’s happens towards the end ( episode 8 ), near the conclusion of his. their journeys as characters, as narrative storytelling pieces, are just inverses of the same arc. they bookend each other. and still, they meet the very same end.

and if episode 2 is the beginning of sae-byeok’s arc as a cold and distrusting individual and episode 8 is her full growth into someone willing to leave her beloved baby brother in the hands of a near-stranger; and opposite to that, if episode 2 is sang-woo entering as someone with friends and allies around him and episode 8 is his final fall into a desperate man who relies on only himself at the cost of everything and everyone, then episode 6 is the point at which their two arcs intersect. the point at which they cross over each other as sae-byeok rises into a person willing to trust again, and sang-woo falls from grace into someone willing to cheat and betray and kill his former allies to win.

this editing choice alone is so clever to me, sang-woo walking forward and immediately cutting to sae-byeok walking away. the both of them after a moment that has changed the trajectory of their lives and arcs forever: sae-byeok’s for the better, sang-woo’s for the worse. sang-woo cannot handle an honest loss at the cost of his own life, and sae-byeok cannot handle a cheap win at the cost of ji-yeong’s.

and this has been slowly built up over the first five episodes. for sae-byeok, we see the seeds of trust sown in gi-hun when she finds him during fight night and sticks with the team thereafter, before fully blossoming in ji-yeong’s company. in episode 6, we see her confide in ji-yeong in way she hasn’t done ( and never will ) with anyone else. she put her trust and opened up to ji-yeong because she could relate to her more than anyone else in that place, a sort of recognizing herself in the other girl. and it is only because of the trust she was able to place in ji-yeong, and in ji-yeong’s selfless sacrifice, that sae-byeok is ever able to put her trust in gi-hun the way she did. 

and same with sang-woo, we see hints of his deceptive behavior and cunning, his selfishness, in the earlier episodes. like splitting up the team in dalgona despite knowing the game, letting gi-hun take the most difficult shape. we see him start to put distance between him and gi-hun. and then it all comes out at full-force in episode 6, when he betrays ali.

after this, both characters sort of free-fall through the rest of their arcs more pointedly. sae-byeok gives gi-hun another chance, even after shafting her a bit during the partnering up for marbles. she saves his life during glass stepping stones. she saves gi-hun from himself, in that brief lapse in conscience when he goes to kill sang-woo. she has faith that he will win and he will take care of her brother. sang-woo, on the other hand, kind of devolves into a desperate mess the way he grabs the husband and yells in his face that they have to keep going. he pushes the glassmaker, makes that snap decision without any hesitation. he kills a man, and then gets upset when gi-hun tries to call him out on it. then he murders this weak, defenseless girl, someone just off the cusp of adulthood as she bleeds out in her bed, and tries to rationalize that. total degradation of character.

i really don’t have a cute way to wrap any of this up because it’s just kind of .... fucking sad that these two meet the same end either way. but they also get their wishes taken care of by gi-hun either way too, so i guess that’s a fair enough consolation prize. man idk this meta is kind of all over the place, but i hope i at least conveyed something of value sdfndfnafds. i just think these two are very interesting characters with very opposing values, yet somehow they share plenty of similarities and their journeys follow the same, but opposite, trajectory.

[alecmagnuslwb]

Bowling for Spirits

A part of my Double Date Fright series

Read on AO3

There isn’t much in this world John wouldn’t do for Zatanna. That’s never been more so true than in the fact that he’s currently wearing a black bowling shirt lined in purples, pinks and blues under blacklight while Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance kick their asses at bowling on what he’s fairly certain is about to become the first of many regular double date nights.

He looks ridiculous and Zatanna wouldn’t even let him wear his coat to try and hide it.

“Don’t look so grumpy,” Zee says pressing up close to him and pulling at the ends of his shirt. She tucks them into the front of his pants in a French tuck.

“I can’t believe I’m wearing this shirt and losing to Green bloody Arrow,” he huffs his grumpy exterior fading just a bit as Zee keeps her fingers tucked into the waistband of his pants.

“I’m wearing this shirt and losing to Green Arrow too,” she says with happy smile pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Also, it’s your turn.” She turns away from him falling into her swinging little chair next to Dinah, the two whispering to each other and giggling like a couple of teenagers.

He sighs a little walking over to the ball dispenser. Zee is wearing the same shirt as his however she’s chosen a fashionable way to display it the shirt tied up with a tantalizing sliver of skin showing between her high waisted matching bell bottoms.

It’s an unfair comparison to say they’re wearing the same shirt. He picks up the bright pink ball barely containing his eye roll when Oliver gives him a thumbs up. He takes a few brisk steps in his dumb borrowed bowling shoes and lets the ball go, directly into the gutter.

Dinah and Oliver clap as he walks back falling dramatically into his swiveling seat across from Zatanna.

“It’s alright, babe. You’ll get it next time,” she says reaching out and tangling their fingers together. She’s said some form of that with every gutter ball, of which there have been many.

“Yeah, babe, next time,” Oliver says with a chuckle as he circles the table knocking John on the back. John contemplates throwing his cheap beer at him.

Oliver Queen bowls like he shoots arrows, with great precision. He’s even got his own bag and ball and green bowling shirt with his name embroidered across the front. Dinah’s doesn’t quite match, but it is the bowling compliment to her superhero outfit.

Oliver hits another perfect strike Dinah hopping up and doing another complicated clearly rehearsed high five with him.

“This is supposed to be fun,” Zee says walking around and wrapping an arm around John.

“I am having fun,” John says reaching up a hand to squeeze hers. She gives him a pointed look. “Fine,” he huffs. “It’s just my shirt’s itchy and I hate losing to the rich.”

Zatanna chuckles pressing her face into his neck. She presses a quick kiss there before raising up. “Ed-hcti,” she says tapping his shoulder the very minor itch of his shirt disappearing in an instant. “Also, don’t forget he isn’t rich anymore.”

He tries to keep this in mind for the rest of the game as they lose frame after frame. He makes one good shot, a perfect strike that he’d chalk up to luck if it weren’t for the fact that he feels the familiar tingle of his girl’s magic as he lets the ball go.

“That’s cheating,” John whispers stealing Dinah’s seat next to Zatanna when she gets up for her turn. Zee just innocently smiles at him as she pops a bite of nachos into her mouth.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says swaying her shoulders and licking her fingers clean.

“Wanna make him miss?” he says conspiratorially as Oliver steps up to the lane. Zatanna’s eyes flick to Dinah whose full attention is on her boyfriend.

“Just this once,” she says. She reaches out a hand a tiny jolt of purple magic floating over Oliver’s way. “Eno gnorw pets,” she whispers and Oliver slips just as he goes to throw the ball down the lane completely ruining its trajectory sending it into the gutter halfway down the lane.

He looks dejected when he turns around Dinah giving him a consoling pat on his cheek, twirling his pointy little goatee until he smiles.

“Next time, babe,” John shouts his way just as condescendingly as Oliver had said it to him earlier. He’s about to add more on, bothering Oliver has become a favorite pastime of his since they started spending more time together, but the blacklight’s flicker and an electric current runs across the ceiling startling everyone in the building.

Sparks fly everywhere the other bowlers scattering and screaming some already heading for the door. The building rattles once, twice and Oliver heads for his bag pulling a collapsed arrow and bows out prepping three of them while Dinah braces for a fight beside him. John and Zatanna stand still, focused just as the cause of the rattling makes itself known, a great large shadowy thing rising up out of the ball dispenser they’ve been using all night.

The other bowlers who hadn’t run take off now as the thing rears its shadowy head twisting it round and round. The creature lets out a bellowing sound knocking out every light in the building before slipping back into the dispenser.

“What the hell was that?” Dinah says in the dark. Zatanna raises a hand little glowing firefly like lights letting them see the damage. Just about everything is blown over, balls and pins scattered everywhere, broken glass from bulbs littering every surface.

“Looked like a poltergeist to me,” Zatanna says meeting John’s eyes for confirmation. He nods rubbing his hands together in thought before picking his way over to the dispenser.

“It looked like the Babadook,” Dinah says crossing her arms as the lights flicker again. “Was it the Babadook?”

“It’s not the Babadook,” Ollie says finally lowering his bow. “Babadook’s aren’t real.”

“Oh, Babadook’s are real,” John says casually unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt before he puts his hands on the dispenser. There’s bad energy flowing out of it, very bad energy. He can’t believe he didn’t feel it earlier.

“Babadook’s are real?!” Ollie says his eyes wide as he looks back and forth between John and Dinah. Dinah just shrugs unbothered. “They’re real,” he adds on in a horrified whisper and Zatanna just barely contains her laughter as she picks her way over to John.

“We would find the one haunted bowling alley,” she says when she reaches him, bumping his hip playfully.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s not the only haunted bowling alley out there,” he says with a smile taking his hands off the dispenser. Zatanna chuckles when the crunch of glass sounds behind them, she readies her hands fire at their tips that she immediately extinguishes once she sees the shoe guy crawling towards the door.

“I’ll go help him,” Dinah says half running over to his side. “And I’ll tell the cops that just pulled up that there’s Justice League in here dealing with the situation.”

“You can tell them to go home,” Ollie says at the same time John says, “You can tell them to fuck off.”

Dinah just huffs a laugh helping the poor shoe guy up off the floor with a wave over her shoulder as John and Oliver share a friendly nod.

“So a poltergeist, that generally calls for a good old fashioned exorcism, right? At least that’s what they did in the movie,” Oliver says walking their way.

“It’s not quite as heartfelt as it was in the movie,” Zatanna says hands up as she scans the building for any more signs of paranormal activity. “John I don’t think our not Babadook is the only thing floating around in here.”

She gestures towards the snack stand bringing her hands together and twisting them around a few words spoken quietly as John joins her at her side. She breaks her hands apart a burst of light following the action and then the appearance of a not quite see through man.

The spirit moves his holey hat around unaware that they can see him. His clothes have seen better days and he looks just a little too thin, from the looks of him he probably spent most of his living life alone on the streets. Oliver rushes up beside them his bow at the ready again.

“Woah easy there blondie,” John says pushing Oliver’s bow down. “He’s a friendly.”

John approaches the spirit carefully the man not giving John a single bit of awareness. He hums pushing up one of his sleeves enacting a little sigil on his bicep. The spirit in front of him glows once and then turns his head smiling kindly at John.

“Well, hello there young man can I help you?” he says his voice a little gravely, but kind.

“I was hoping so it seems this bowling alley has a poltergeist problem and I was hoping you could help me out with that.”

The spirit nods grumbling under his breath. “Damn thing should know better this is my place, it’s been quiet for years and then one day this thing just starts terrorizing me and every living here. Playing with the lights and messing with the mechanics. Owner always let me have free hot dogs and didn’t mind when I pulled my tent up in the back alley, this is my place.”

John smiles at him a little sadly, another heartbreaking tale of a homeless man haunting the one place that’s shown him any bit of kindness. He’s seen it one too many times.

“You got a name, mate?”

“Charlie,” the spirit obliges.

“Well Charlie, I’m John and I’m gonna have to get rid of this poltergeist and I’m afraid that might send you somewhere else too,” John says, hoping he’s happy to pass on and won’t fight this.

“That makes sense,” Charlie says looking around the bowling alley a little forlorn. “I guess it’s due time I moseyed on to the next way anyways.”

John smiles at him as Zee walks over. “It’s gotten too quiet; I have a feeling this angry thing is about to get angrier.”

“And that’s why you should never build a bowling alley on an old mob spot,” Charlie says with a huff. “Owner was a good man, but a bit silly like that.”

Zee smiles at him. “Good advice.”

“Wisdom of years, young lady. Wisdom of years,” he says with a nod. Dinah re-enters the building the galaxy painted glass doors slamming closed and locking behind her. She jumps a bit when it happens before heading their way. Oliver quietly fills her in on what she’s missed while outside.

The quiet doesn’t last long though, the poltergeist isn’t having it for these four sticking around in what it’s decided is it’s place now.

The bowling alley comes alive pins violently shooting out from their place. Oliver shoots at one that comes directly his and Dinah’s way splitting it in half in the air before it can knock them out. Zatanna grabs John by the sleeves pulling him down when three pins fly their way. Their own shoes that had been tucked away on the ground beneath their table fly around in circles slinging out the windows, Zatanna looks after them a little sadly as one of her favorite pairs of platforms disappear.

“We better start that exorcism, now!” she shouts as the glass case behind the shoe’s shatters. John nods crouching down the two of them staying low and getting as close to the spot the poltergeist first appeared as possible.

Oliver shoots up again sending arrows flying at more pins as they come at them, he hits every one.

“Oliver!” Dinah shouts as a series of pins fly behind them she pulls him down, but a minute too late as he takes one right to the back of his head and falls forward.

“Dinah?” Zee questions from their spot on the ground as John starts carving sigils and pentagrams onto the galaxy carpet with his pocket knife.

“He’s okay,” she answers fingers pressed to his neck. “Just knocked out.”

Zatanna nods back her way ducking even lower as bowling balls start to fly their way next. “Stay down okay, this is gonna get a bit nasty.”

Dinah nods pulling an unconscious Oliver off to the side out of any more bowling pin or ball line of fire.

“You ready?” John asks Zatanna as he hovers his hand over the sigils.

“S’tel dnes siht tsiegretlop kcab ot lleh,” she says in response purple and red magic swirling through her eyes and at her fingertips.

He smiles back at her standing to his full height with her by his side. Pins and balls fly around them, another ball dispenser from further down the line flying their way. Zatanna readies to stop it, but Dinah beats her to it, her Canary Cry sounding all around them sending the dispenser back in the direction it came from.

She throws a wink Zatanna’s way as Zatanna nods bringing up a protective forcefield around all four of them. John starts in with the Latin, stamping his foot down on the sigils power surging up through them. Zatanna’s right beside him keeping them safe and surging her power to combine with his.

John throws in a few helpful bible verses that he’s nowhere near holy enough to get the true meaning of, but he likes the effect they have on angry violent things that shouldn’t be on this plane.

The poltergeist gets pissed at that finally showing itself again blowing wind through the building so hard it nearly knocks them over. The poltergeist flies at them with enough rage Zatanna worries it may break her protective barrier, but before it can touch it Charlie is in front of them his kind face twisted and angry.

He screams at the poltergeist a high pitched sound that even has Dinah the queen of the high pitched scream covering her ears. The poltergeist halts screaming its own angry noise back, giving John and Zatanna just the right number of seconds to push back at it.

The poltergeist falters shrinking in on itself a bit. The building shakes and Charlie statics a bit.

“Cleanse this place,” John shouts over the blowing wind and increasing static. Charlie turns his back to the shrinking poltergeist meeting John’s eyes.

“I’m ready, it’s okay,” Charlie says through the static nodding at both of them, tipping his hat one last time with a smile.

“Cleanse this place,” they say together, Zatanna’s just backwards, shouting it loud and clear one last time. Zatanna’s forcefield shrivels down a bit not quite shielding Dinah and Ollie anymore. The building practically cracks under the pressure, the poltergeist exploding in a blinding shatter of ectoplasm taking a few ball dispensers with it.

Charlie smiles again. “Take that poltergeist,” he says with a chuckle as he fades away simply, easily, onto the next plane of existence. John has a feeling it’ll be the good spot Charlie’s headed for.

Zatanna drops the shield as the place stops shaking, the few lights that weren’t shattered flickering back on. The place is a wreck, but there’s not a single supernatural thing left in this building. Well, that is except for the two of them.  

“Ugh,” Dinah says moving out from her coverage as Oliver starts coming to beside her. “You couldn’t have shielded us from ghost goo?”

“Ectoplasm,” Oliver grumbles sitting upright rubbing at the back of his head tenderly. “Not ghost goo.”

John snorts brushing his hands together before taking Zatanna’s hand in his picking their way over to the other couple. Dinah lifts Oliver up off the ground keeping his arm secured over her shoulders.

“This building might not be too stable, we should probably get out, tell the crowd outside its been dealt with,” Zatanna says using her free hand to send a bit of magic over towards the door to unlock it opening it with a windy breeze.

They get everything settled outside, the cops dispersing and the owner already talking to the insurance people. John wishes him the best of luck; he’s not certain supernatural destruction is covered.

“Send me the bill when it’s all done,” Zatanna says to the owner once the last of the straggling bowlers start to disperse. “And I’ll send it to a friend to cover.” The owner thanks her profusely.

“Gonna charge that to the Bat card without warning?” John asks as they head over to the only ambulance left. Dinah and Ollie sit on the steps of it a paramedic moving a flashlight back and forth across Oliver’s eyes.

“Oh, absolutely. He can afford it and write it off as a charitable donation,” she says with a smile stopping in front of Dinah and Oliver. The paramedic gives them a friendly smile as he circles away to the front of the rig.

“Well, I guess I can officially say I saw you perform an exorcism now,” Dinah says holding an ice pack to the back of Oliver’s head. “I could go without ever seeing another one though. I forget how scary the stuff you face down can be.”

Zatanna just waves a hand leaning into John’s side. “This is nothing. This is,” she pauses thinking of a way to describe it. “This is a date night.” She settles on with a smile. John chuckles and wraps an arm around her shoulders his fingers settling by her collarbone.

Oliver scoffs. “Well if that’s the case I think I should go back to not liking this guy,” he says gesturing towards John. “That way we don’t end up a part of those date nights.”

“Didn’t Count Vertigo interrupt your engagement?” Zatanna says with a sly smile. Dinah just laughs at Oliver’s put-upon look and non-answer.

“You’re all clear,” the paramedic says rounding back their way ushering Oliver and Dinah off the rig. Dinah walks him over to their car carefully, settling Oliver in the passenger seat. Dinah crosses her arms leaning against the door once it’s shut.

“So, how about putt-putt next Friday?” she asks Zatanna then shifts her gaze to John. “Don’t worry there’s no matching outfits required for this one.”

“But you have to vet the place first, full blown supernatural scan or whatever it is you do,” Oliver says rolling down the window flitting his hand around in a pale imitation of Zatanna’s movements. She refrains from flicking him in the head due to his light concussion.

“We can manage that, just find a place and text me the details, I’ve got a show Thursday, but we can swing a check in before it,” Zatanna says slipping an arm around John’s waist. They exchange goodbyes Dinah driving off way too fast past them as they walk out to the main road.

They’re quiet for a while the glowing lights of Star City guiding them around.

“So, bowling was fun right?” Zatanna asks tangling her fingers with John’s that rest on her shoulder.

“I especially liked the part where the poltergeist knocked greenie out with a bowling pin,” John says with a cheeky smile. Zatanna pinches his side, John dramatically dropping his mouth at the action.

“And the matching shirts weren’t so bad,” she says nudging at him.

“They’re ridiculous. I look ridiculous, but you asked and therefore I’m willing,” John says and then looks down at his feet. “Same goes for the shoes.”

Zatanna smiles up at him. “I do love it when you’re willing,” she says flirtatiously.

“Oh, I’ll wear any shirt you want if that’s the response I get,” he says leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “Matching whatever you like.”

“Forget what Dinah said then, let’s get matching golf putters and polos,” Zatanna says adding a little skip in her step.

John takes it back there is one thing he’s not willing to wear. “I am not wearing a polo, no chance in hell.”

Zatanna just looks up at him slyly and he can see the coordinating outfit ideas he’ll be forced into for next Friday swirling through her eyes already.

[mrpenguinpants]

Albedo HCs: Coming Home [Christmas Celebration 🎉]

For the Christmas Celebration Requests, please read this [we have 2 more days but I’ll possibly extend the deadline to Jan 10. I’m tackling all the Mondstadt rq first before moving onto Liyue]

---

Ohhh, I love idea a lot (might have gone overboard anon haha). No worries about being specific, I love getting specific requests. I just finished a super depressing fic and I’m back at it again. Though I will do my best to make this one happy because that Mona fic hurt me. But I’m glad to hear you love my writing haha 💕💕

I also know nothing about Albedo and have never written this man in my life but I’m going to ignore everything because these are happy hours. I love his man so much so this is some self-indulgent stuff (if you couldn’t tell from the word count) istg hcs have turned into fics just without the dialogue. I took many liberties lol what the hell is formatting?  

Also, shoutout to @asheseiler​​​ A beautiful human being that started chatting with me because we both love Childe haha. But seriously, I appreciate you 💕💕💕

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[taglist]  <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@hanniejji​​​​​  @mikeysbike​​​​​ @unionwitch​​​​ @musekala​​​​ @twistedsunnshiii​​​ @stanzastic​​​ @akaasea​​​ @xoneaboveallx​​​ @adoring-ghost​​​ @asheseiler​​​ @childelover​​

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Albedo HCs: Coming Home

As you finally reached the hill top by the Stone Gate, you could just make out the stone walls of the City of Freedom in Mondstadt. You were almost there and the butterfly’s racing through your stomach only seemed to fly faster. You had been on a long trip away by travelling between Liyue and Inazuma. From practicing your alchemy to finding new secrets, it had been awhile since you last saw Mondstadt. While it had been fun going from place to place and seeing all the new arts and techniques, you couldn’t stop the feeling of loneliness of not having an occasionally smug but talented ash blond companion at your side.

You hadn’t seen Albedo since Master Rhinedottir had left and sent Albedo to Mondstadt with a letter of recommendation. You travelled with him to the City of Freedom but you only stayed for a few nights before you departed to Liyue. Your master had different plans for you and you didn’t know how long your own journey would take but you both promised to stay in touch through letters. 

He was now acting as the Chief Alchemist and Captain of the Investigation Team of the Knights of Favonius. He managed to get a lab from Alice and he even had an assistant named Sucrose. He sent over some sketches for you and even if the bottom half of “Sucrose” was just a stick figure, you were happy that he wasn’t alone and cooped up in his lab all the time. You were, however, worried about these “Klee disasters” but happy that he still had the energy to write to you. At first it was hard, you found yourself talking to the air as if Albedo was still there but even after all these years, you couldn’t help but miss him. The occasional letter you received did help to lighten the mood however and you always made sure to store them carefully.

It seemed that your dapping mood was noticeable because even the ever stoic Zhongli asked if you were okay. He was nice and easy to talk to, even if he had a problem with Mora that you sometimes had to bail him out off, but you trusted him so you explained to him your growing loneliness. Which he simply replied that if you missed someone, you should go see them.

So here you are right outside the gates. The knights at the front were nice enough and let you through with ease once they checked that you didn’t have anything destructive. Now the hard part was actually finding Albedo. The knights had mentioned that despite being a highly respectable alchemist and one of the Captains, no one really knew where he was most of the time. Originally, you were thinking of planning some sort of surprise, even had made an entire game plan, but now that you were here. You just wanted to tackle the man, pride be damned.

You began to wander around the city, in comparison to Liyue it was quite small but so much more lively and warm. Christmas was right around the corner so everyone was rushing around hanging up lights and finding presents but it was nice. Everyone seemed to know each other and unlike Liyue, you didn’t need to be afraid if the walls were listening. You looked around for a man with bright teal eyes and ashy light blond hair, even asking around, but no luck. No one seemed to know where he was and if he was even in Mondstadt right now. You were beginning to loose hope and that your trip might have been in vain when you felt a small tap on your shoulder and-

Sweet jesus, what the fuck?

You were almost jealous at how good he looked now. He was always handsome when you were both younger but now it felt like cupid decided to descend from the heavens, laugh at you, then riddled you full of arrows. Was your pulse working? Brain still computing? You knew you had a small crush on Albedo when you were younger- who were you kidding, you were in love with this man since he helped you create cecilia flowers from a dead denro slime - but this was just unfair!

“Albedo! I was looking around everywhere for you. This place is actually a lot bigger than it se-”

“You’re back.”

Albedo was surprised to see that it was really you. He only caught a small glimpse of your profile but he knew it was you. He almost suspected that his vision was tricking him or that he might have accidently set one of his sketches of you to life but you were here. Albedo has always treated friendships with a constant degree of distance, always working or traveling to gathering materials to avoid social interactions even if it wasn’t intentional. He also had no memory of any family, only adventuring deep within the domains with his master and you. But when his Master left with one assignment left for him he couldn’t help but feel a bit hollow, but you were always there to lift his spirits up even if on the outside he didn’t appear upset.

But then you had left and gone on your own journey.

“Hm? Oh, sorry I didn’t mention it in my last letter. It was a bit of an impulse trip. But I’m not intruding in on anything right? You’re happy to see me...right?”

“You’re here.”

At first he was alright with it, even encouraged you to set off to Liyue since it was the closest. Promising that you would both keep in touch even if he found relationships a taxing cycle. But when a few months had passed and it began to settle in that you weren’t anywhere near him. That he couldn’t talk to you about new discoveries, that he couldn’t hear you voice anymore, that he had even forgotten how to sketch you. It felt...weird. He knew what he was feeling was loneliness, he wasn’t deluded or naïve, but even when he had Sucrose or Timaeus it wasn’t the same. But now you were here. He could see you and how the lines in his sketchbook were wrong whenever he attempted to re-create you. He could feel your warmth that sketches he brought to life couldn’t do. He could feel your presence and how it slowly but surely filled the void in him until it was bursting at the seams.

“Albedo? Are you alright?”

“You’re here.”

You were almost afraid that the holidays had broke Albedo. You knew he would sometimes get too deep in thought and wouldn’t register his surrounding but it was just you two. With the sun slowly going down, the snowflakes dancing around you both, and the Christmas light reflecting off his unique blue eyes. You took a slow blinked at him. Once. Twice. The same way you would when you were studying something, trying to unveil its secrets. Before sighing amusingly and opening up your arms to him. He was still the same. 

“I’m here.”

The final assignment Albedo received was too hard, too complicated, far beyond his own limits and he was worried that if he never completed it, would he ever see his teacher again? When you took your first step outside the walls of the city, waving back to him as you set off on your journey, he couldn’t help but feel that like his teacher, you were leaving him too. But when you looked at him with those warm but understanding eyes, opened your arms to him, he let go and stepped into your embrace. He was sure he was borderline crushing your frame but you hugged him back just as tightly. 

“My apologies. I got overwhelmed. Come with me, let’s get out of the cold first.”

You tried to hold it in but you laughed at his statement. He didn’t seem to mind as you felt him smile into your neck. Even with those words he hadn’t let go or slackened his grip in the slightest. So you both stayed there outside in the cold, the christmas lights reflected off snow, the sounds of laughter and singing playing in the background as you both embraced each other. 

I’m home

You’re home

---

Although Albedo was happy to see you again, he was wondering why out of all the years you had been away, all the other holidays you had missed, you decided to come to Mondstadt today. You were at his lab and marveling at all his new devices when he popped the question. You flushed a bit but quickly brushed it off, saying that after all the letters he sent you were finally curious as to what Mondstadt was like and the people he met. Plus, Liyue and Inazuma didn’t celebrate Christmas as much as Mondstadt so it would be nice to finally celebrate the holiday again.

He simply smiled smugly and nodded along before you eventually caved, because that look could steal your heart away, and revealed that honestly, you just really missed him and wanted to spend Christmas together. There wasn’t anything wrong with that was there? So what if you missed him? It was natural. It wasn’t like you were wondering what he was doing on slow days in Liyue. It wasn’t like you we- 

“You can stop laughing at me. I know you’re doing it even if I can’t hear it Albedo.” 

“I’m sorry you must be mistaken. Perhaps your observational skills have rusted?”

You huffed at him before turning your attention to a small but worn sketching book. It was different from the ones he had showed you and much smaller compared to the ripped out sketches he sent you. Albedo noticed your curiosity and almost flushed before striding over and showing you what was inside. It was either he do it now or you would constantly eye ball it until he finally let you see what was inside. 

He took out the old sketchbook and flipped all the way to the first page. They had been sketches of you. When it had just been you, Albedo, and your teacher he would often ask to draw you but he never showed you the finished product. What was surprising was they were all full sketches. No simple lines or unfinished colours. His interest in things, especially when he draws, were fleeting leading him to always create unfinished or basic lines. 

“Wow, was this your first sketchbook? Did you draw anything else? Oh, like your assistant perhaps?”

“No. I only drew one thing here. It’s been sitting here ever since but I tend to make sure it’s in good condition. Should I ever need to draw in it again.” 

Albedo almost reached for his pencil to sketch your smug but bright smile. But set his hand down. While he wants to capture moments so they remain forever with him, he felt that perhaps, it would be nice to live in them. Just for a moment. 

---

I never write at the bottom of my fics but I wrote too much at the start haha (plus tagging my screaming doesn’t work anymore). Not gonna lie, this was going to be different and you and Albedo would have role reversed AND I WAS GOING TO WRITE MONA IN but that didn’t happen. I made it so disgustingly sappy at the end that I want to throw up but when do I not? 

But I kind of like this version more. He’s super out of character but I don’t care and you’re gonna have to take this hcs out of my COLD DEAD HANDS. But I hope you enjoyed this and I’m using this as my Albedo catalyst so come home elevator boy. (cough celebration hcs are still open if you wanna feed me 👀 this )

[yandere-sins]

Could you please write the prompts Stripped socks and Photos with Asmo from Obey Me? I think it fits him really well!

I think so as well :D Thank you for requesting ♥

Striped socks - “I can’t resist not having some part of you near me! You wore this today right?”

»»———————— ♡ ————————««  

Whistling playfully, Asmo strolled down the long corridor towards his destination, passing by his brothers’ rooms with his ears taking in the different sounds coming from them. There was Levi’s room, video game sounds ringing from it. Satan’s room was as quiet as a cat. The jingling of coins from Mammon’s and laughter coming from Beel and Belphie’s room. Asmodeus stopped, holding his breath for a moment and leaning towards the wooden door of the twins tensely.

Between his brothers talking about food and the game you three were playing, your voice was the one Asmo recognized quickly. Even if you sat quietly most of the time, it was almost as if he could hear your heartbeat as clear as day. Feel your joy as if it was his own. When you did speak up, he felt his own heart swell from the beauty of your chuckles, every word you uttered so meaningful despite being small-talk at best. That’s how connected you two were, two hearts yearning for each other. A picturesque romance!

Fingertips brushing over the door, a longing sigh fell off his lips, wishing he could be inside with you, cuddle with you and kiss you, but it was Belphie’s night. He wouldn’t have given you up for anyone, especially not Asmodeus. It wasn’t Asmo’s virtue, but he felt the jealousy seething in his stomach, knowing that Belphie got to have fun with you while Asmodeus couldn’t. And as if that wasn’t enough, Beel was having his second night with you this week; he and Belphie having much more of you than any other brother since they worked together more often than separated.

Pretty unfair, how Asmodeus found. He’d have to go to bed alone tonight and not really in the mood to call a mere succubus over. Not when he could have had you in his bed instead. Not if it could have been you all along if not for the stupid rule they all agreed to in secret, that every brother could occupy your time for one night a week without the other’s interfering.

Sighing, Asmodeus moved on. It was too painful to stand and listen, always having to realize he wasn’t welcome at your side that night. The agreement was blatantly unfair. After all, even if he got a chance to keep you by his side for a night, it was so late into the week that you were already utterly exhausted after the four previous nights. Asmo did what he could to help you relax, but that ate up all the time he wanted to use to do other things with you. Innocent and less innocent things.

And then, he’d have another week of gloomily laying in bed - alone or not - wondering what you were up to. Sometimes he wondered how the others could keep themselves busy in their time off, but it wasn’t like Asmodeus had nothing to do. It all just wasn’t fun if it wasn’t with you.

Approaching his room, Asmodeus couldn’t help but sigh again, a sound unsuited for the self-assigned pretty boy. Hand laying down on the handle as his shoulders slumped in disappointment, Asmo wanted nothing more than to turn on his heel and take you back with him. It was nerve-wreaking. You probably didn’t even know about all these conflicting feelings he had inside of him. The Avatar of Lust wasn’t meant to love someone so dearly as he loved you. It should have only been him, himself, and he for the rest of his long, long life. But now, no matter how good he could put up a farce, it was all about you.

Your face, your hair, your body, your eyes, your laugh, your touch, your taste, your soul, your heartbeat, your magic, your...

All about you. You and him.

And how good you were together.

Turning around, Asmo slowly let go of the handle, looking back over his shoulder. Your room across his was empty that night, he knew as much. Even if he slept there, you wouldn’t scold him, and perhaps he had to admit he was desperate enough to do it. Or he could just slip in and grab something to take back with him. Something that would help him through this painful week of waiting for you to return to his side. Nobody needed to know he was even there.

You were supposed to lock your door, with so many entities around that were practically drooling at the thought of you. And Mammon. Especially Mammon. Lucifer told you often enough to just lock up. Still, you swore up and down that it was an inconvenience, and it bothered you to single yourself out from the brothers. It was your fault Asmo could easily slip in, but it was his luck that you were stubborn.

No worries, even that was cute about you!

Looking left and right, Asmodeus didn’t take the chance of anyone finding him linger around, quickly making his entrance. Even with the light off, your room was softly illuminated by the fairy lights he put up back when it became apparent that there would be a guest staying long term. He thought you’d appreciate the cute and tiny lights since it was awfully dark down in the Devildom.

With his back against the door, he took a deep breath. It was amazing how your presence tainted the room. It had been bare and boring before, but now the air tasted like you, and that was all he could want. Humming happily, Asmo let his fingers glide over the amenities in passing, feeling their texture under his touch. Knowing that you were using them almost made him greedy. He could surprise himself with how much he wanted to just take them all and keep them to himself in his own room. But that would be a little too obvious, wouldn’t it?

So what should he take instead?

Your bath was now filled with products you received from him. It would be easiest to take back one of them. Even if he was found out, he could just say he needed it for his morning routine. Or your soap, so he could smell like you from head to toe! But no, that wasn’t enough to satisfy Asmodeus.

He needed more.

Asmo wanted to cuddle with you, hold you, kiss you, tease you, see your reactions... how could he do that without you? What else was there to even get close to the joy of holding you? Letting himself fall onto your bed, all it needed was a deep breath to make a smile creep onto his face. It was paradise. Here you were everywhere. Your pillow, your blanket, the stuffed animals you accumulated as presence from the brothers - they all were the closest to you he could get. Or were they?

Jolting up, Asmodeus looked around. The darkness wasn’t pleasant, but he prided himself on knowing his way around your room. After all, his nightly adventures sitting by the side of your bed, pushing the hair out of your sweet face tenderly had to be good for more than just having a moment with you unbothered by anyone. See, Asmodeus would have messed up his sleep schedule if it was for you. That’s just how special you were.

It pained him to crawl out of your bed, but he did it nonetheless, ever on the search for the thing. Even Asmo didn’t know what token would be enough to satisfy him. If it was for him, he could have gobbled everything up that belonged to you or just rest between your things instead to get a piece of mind. But there was this desire he held, to have something just for himself. A part of you, so to say.

Gliding to his knees in front of your basket laundry, Asmo’s hands began to shake both in excitement and hesitation. There was this one aspect that differentiated you from Asmodeus so much. Everything about him had to be perfect all the time. Asmo couldn’t stand the thought of doing something and not looking pretty or at least cute while at it. You were normal in comparison. At times you’d get muddy or wear your outfits twice, never wondering what others would think. He just wanted to coddle you with how cute your innocence was, but it also aggravated him that anything could sully you.

And yet, your clothes were his best options, weren’t they? He lifted the lid and sighed in relief that you hadn’t done the laundry that day. The first thing he pulled out was a lucky reach already, as he felt the soft material of your shirt. It wouldn’t fit him as well as it did you, but surely, Asmo would look cute in your clothes, right?

Bringing it up to his nose, there it was again, your scent, the ultimate confirmation that you were real and alive. Asmo couldn’t restrain himself, rubbing the fabric against his cheek and brushing it with his lips, honoring it for doing a service to the both of you. This was it, the chosen object he’d keep all to himself. He’d put it on his pillow and lay it beside him so he’d never be alone again.

He was wholly immersed in the thought of you wearing this shirt, how cute it fit you and how you were handling it. The only thing that finally tore him out of it was when a cone of light fell over him, the door opening. “Be right back!” you shouted before you stepped in. Just when you were about to close the door, your eyes fell on him, kneeling on your floor in front of the laundry basket, holding your white shirt, and you halted, mouth opening in surprise.

“Asmo... deus?” you mumbled, and oh god, it had been so long since he heard his name from your lips. Since dinner at least.

“Ah,” he hummed, smile back on his face just because he was able to see your face once more that day. “Welcome back.”

Was it too abstruse to welcome you back to your own room that he was in without permission?? Asmo wondered as you two stared at each other, your lovely gaze slowly but surely falling to the shirt in his hands that he gripped a bit tighter as a reaction. “What are you doing... with this?”

Even confused you were so cute!

“You see,” he chuckled, supporting himself into a stand. “I can’t resist not having some part of you near me! You wore this today, right?”

Holding up the shirt, he walked over, fitting it onto your chest while you stared at him, unbelieving. “I think so...?” was all you could mumble as you looked up at him with more questions than answers. “Sweet, I’ll borrow this then!” he giggled, knowing fully well he’d never give it back. Maybe he’d need more someday, but you couldn’t have this shirt back ever. Leaning forward, he gave you a long kiss to the cheek, taking your silence as an okay to take what he wanted before passing you by.

Sure, if Asmo could, he’d rather have you, but this was the next best thing. He couldn’t break the promise with his brothers to take you with him for the night, but he could pretend it was you in his arm instead of the piece of fabric. You didn’t really seem mad, much more dumbfounded as he left you there in the doorway. However, Asmodeus didn’t fear you getting upset about what he took from you that night.

After all, if you did get upset, you’d have to come to him if you wanted it back, and he’d only exchange it for something of equal value, just like any demon would.

A real piece of you just for himself.

[derekscorner]

The Neo: TWEWY Ramble

Welp here I am, main story of NTWEWY done, not sure how to start this and still lacking the extra stuff such as Another Day or all the reports. I haven’t looked at the wiki since I want to explore it personally but I feel I should start this now before my thoughts fade. I can come back once it’s all done as a secondary opinion. (maybe)

In a general sense, this was a bit of a weak experience thanks to “A New Day” added to the final remix (switch) version of the original TWEWY game. I did not, and still do not, like what that did. I see no valid reason to kill Neku, again, and ruin his friends ending just for sequel bait. And believe me, sequel bait is all that plot lined paid off to be in the main story.

I would fully expect for the old cast to appear in the sequel but I only would’ve accepted this in two facets. First, small cameos just to let us see them; Shiki is a great example because she has a whole clothing brand showing that her dream has reached reality. Small stuff like that would’ve been keen or perhaps placing them in ‘Another Day’. Granted, they’d be alts of the originals but it would’ve been an acceptable cameo for their sequel designs.

Secondly, the old cast was the new cast. If you’re going to ruin the ending for four very well written people just to force them to stick around then commit to that and continue their story. In all fairness, the new cast was perfectly fine, I wont sit here and tell you they weren’t. I would argue their arcs weren’t as well done nor did I feel as attached to them but I also find it unfair to make that comparison in objective terms.

The original game had a very strong thematic synergy. It’s title alone applied to far more in the story than at first glance and each week the partners had smaller arcs that added to Neku’s own arc. I consider this an ‘lightning in the bottle’ effect on the first games part and do not believe SE has it in them to replicate on demand. (nor anyone)

For example, spoilers btw, the first game is entirely a wager between Shibuya’s Composer (Joshua) and his top reaper (the Conductor) Megumi. The Composer runs a game in any given area, they’re effectively minor gods and can do as they please with their area. The Conductor had no way to win and given Joshua’s love of a game he set the story in place.

The Conductor had a month to convince Joshua that Shibuya was worth keeping, that judging and inspiring humans souls was still worth doing. Joshua handicapped himself to become the twink we know and chose a “proxy” which he found in Neku. Neku was the epitome of what Joshua saw as humanities problem. A fully self-absorbed soul, an ideal player to represent him, thus Joshua shot Neku and made him a player.

The entire TWEWY game is you, Neku, trying to win a game that will end Shibuya unknowingly. Every party involved tries to “expand borders” of the people in the city as it goes. The Conductor tries to make humanity a hivemind, Mr H (the producer) opens Sho Minamimoto’s eyes to taboo noise and Joshua’s identity because he doesn’t want the city to vanish, and Joshua who believes these boundaries can’t be expanded.

What makes that finale so great is that you technically won, the Composer technically won but, over the course of that story Neku changed. His world broadened, he got over himself and reached out, and through this Joshua saw Shibuya’s worst self-centered soul change. What saves Shibuya isn’t a grand battle, what saves the city is Neku changing Joshua. Neku expanded Joshuas world and made him believe that humans could still change.

Power or friendship anime logic didn’t win the day with a big attack, no, what saved the day was the genuine power of connection and change. This, among other things, is what made that finale so beautiful. It’s also these things that made ‘A New Day’ so fucking sour. It was all wasted because they just shot Neku and left us on a cliffhanger because “hey hey come buy a new game that may or may not happen”.

Now to loop it back around to our new cast, that shadow was just too damn large. These kids were handled fine but I didn’t feel as large a growth and it was hard for me to since I was just wondering when shit would really hit the fan and Neku would appear. By not letting the original four player group just have their ending they casted a shadow over the new cast that I couldn’t fully see past.

I know Rindo’s arc was indecisiveness which I would normally identify with greatly but I didn’t. Most of the time, I understood him waiting a bit due to the grave situation which made the bits at the end of him making actual decisions like a leader a bit flat.

Fret…honestly I didn’t care nor hate the kid. Him having lost someone is believable and his moment with Kanon is genuinely sad but I didn’t see much to hint that he wasn’t as happy-go-lucky as he presented until his crush called him out.

Nagi…well she didn’t have an arc but I don’t consider this a bad thing. I actually liked her a great bit over all. She was good for laughs, quips, even battle quotes that confused her team, and her moments of amazing insight. Nagi, like me, observes but is far more discerning in that skill. She didn’t need a deep arc because she has herself figured out. That, to me, is beautiful. Characters that grow are essential but a good support that’s already reached that enlightenment is just as needed.

However, of these four new kids, Shoka by far had the greatest arc that I both saw from early on and enjoyed from start to stop. You can discern very quickly she’s Swallow, you can discern even earlier that she’s trying to help the Twisters and hides behind real intention with snark. She immediately regrets betrayal, sticks to her guns, and doesn’t drag out a story with pointless melodrama. Nothing that she’s written to do is pointless and that is also beautiful.

She is a wellspring of emotion and conflict and it’s nice to see how she bounces off old colleagues and her new team. It’s even humorous to watch people call her out for her actions or tease her by her growing crush on “Mr. Twister”. She even did all this thinking she’d be erased because the Shinjuku reapers don’t let you quit. You either revive or you ride n die as a reaper forever.

Her bond to Rindo is a good portion of why he’s even memorable to me overall. I don’t think they were written to be that way but it’s definitely the reason I have his character stuck in my memory at all. It was a similar dynamic to what Shiki & Neku had in TWEWY but stretched out. Truly beautiful their ending.

Now to loop back a second time to earlier, what do I mean by “making the old cast the new cast” despite all this praise? Simple, I have these positive impressions but that shadow I mentioned still exists. This story works with the new group but it’d also work if the old crew was pulled back into the game. The second Neku was shot I found no good excuse for him to just not be there instead of Rindo.

This point especially hits hard because one of the plot points of this new game is that Shiba hands out reaper pins to pull in living people into the UG. Meaning that:

Neku didn’t even need to die.

The others could’ve joined him in the game since most of the cast were alive. They didn’t die like the first game.

Neku and Shoka were the only players truly dead within the ‘Wicked Twisters’ which just makes me wonder what about the point of it all. It was clearly sequel bait which left a negative taste in my mouth over the years between each game.

If you’re still confused my reader, let me put it this way, the story writes itself in such a way that there’s no reason Neku, Rhyme, Shiki, and Beat can’t be the leads which bothers me for a number of reasons.

While I’m on this tangent, I should note that I do mind the appearance of other old characters. Only a few named Reapers survived the first game but them being there makes total sense. It’s Shibuya, they work there, live in its game. That’s perfectly valid and makes sense logically.

Hell, I even liked seeing Kariya more often. Dudes my fave among the reaper cast even now. I don’t think I would’ve even minded Sho appearing again since he’s revived himself once. It would literally be as simple as removing ‘A New Day’ from the Final Remix and adding an unlockable scene or trailer in it’s place.

Showing us how Coco revived him- wait, that’s right, COCO!

Talk about something that fell flat on its face. Final Remix adds the reaper Coco and ‘A New Day’ has her cause all this sh*t leading to Neku’s death only for her to be…his friend in Ntwewy?

She did things in the Final Remix that you wouldn’t conceive a normal reaper of doing such as dragging a then living Neku and Beat into a fake game or bringing Sho back to life. She was set up to be something bigger or sinister but nothing comes of it.

When Neku died again Joshua admits he sent him to Shinjuku for both selfish reasons and to protect Neku. Yet, it’s Coco that helped him return forming a type of working “friendship” over those 3 years.

When Beat sees her and rages I do as well. What even was the point!? She doesn’t do that much in the main story either. Her entire motivation is stopping Shibuyas fall and saving her Shinjuku friend Tsugumi which just opens more questions.

How did Coco do the shit she did in Final Remix? How can she be friends with a Shinjuku reaper? Can reapers visit other cities? How did she revive Sho Minamimoto? What even makes her think she can control him?

I didn’t expect much nor theorize…well any but I expected more than what I got from her. This further fed my annoyance with what Final Remix did since it now felt wasted. I can’t even rant about “Hype-chan” since she was a support character.

She was sending people visions to avoid Shibuya’s inversion but since her soul spends most of the game trapped in a Mr. Mew doll we don’t get to see much of her. She’s a minor character bordering on mcguffin at one point.

I honestly forgot about her for a long time till the game drops that she’s one of Shiba’s two remaining friends and we need her to talk his dumbass down. I can’t hate nor like her, there was nothing too her other than having a Mr. Mew and being sequel bait like Neku’s death.

Hell, her having a Mew doll isn’t even a hint of much because Shiki now has a fashion brand. Lots of people potentially have one since he’s mascot that anyone can buy.

AND THEN THERE’S THE SHINJUKU REAPERS-

I was left with so many questions but no strong impressions. Shiba, genuinely, feels like a dumbass that got a lot of power. His own friend, Hishima, calls him out on this. Hishima’s snark made him stand out more than the main villain to me despite having not even a fraction of the screen time. I was happy to see someone call him an idiot.

Granted, Shiba isn’t the real final villain (in a sense) but he’s not intimidating nor does he have a cause I care for like Megumi did. I don’t even know how Shiba is a conductor or if he’s one at all. I’m sure an angel like Kubo could easily take out a Composer but did he?

Where’s Shinjuku’s composer and producer? Hell, where was Shibuyas!? …okay that last one isn’t fair. I’m sure those reports will tell me that last question. It just leaves me a bit confused because I don’t get the sense that Shiba even knew what a Composer or Angel even was.

I can only assume Shinjuku’s Producer withdrew since the city was slated for a cleansing. It’s possible the Composer did as well assuming Kubo didn’t remove said individual by force before giving Shiba the power he needed to be a Conductor.

I also do not agree with him getting off for just letting his city die. He had some last minute rebound of correcting mistakes and going back to Shinjuku but it doesn’t feel earned when this dumbass didn’t care about being manipulated so long as he could continue his game and watch Shibuya go up in smoke.

His personal entertainment overrode common sense which makes any ending he got feel cheap or any criticism Hishima gave him earned. He was truly a fool and a cheater. (I didn’t even get into what he did to Ayano)

As for the others…eh?

Ayano was tragic but that added to Shoka’s story not her own.

Susukichi was just annoying then had some last minute “I was good in my own way” twist they attempted to drop.

The only new reaper I found myself liking was Kaie. Unique design, just enough quirk and screen time to stand out, a good addition overall.

Then there was Kubo who’s not technically a reaper. He was clearly more than he seemed early on and I can’t think of anything overly bad or positive about him. He was simply a higher being doing his job.

I was actually more impressed with the ending than him as a person. Me and @blackosprey were joking about his “the power of friendship” usually ends escalated threats but I was pleasantly surprised that NTWEWY didn’t take that route.

Kubo was removed from the board by his own boss. He was only meant to cleanse one city and I get the impression the reapers left were meant to start over but that didn’t happen. Kubo’s manipulation took Shiba and the reapers to Shibuya to erase it as well. He was “overachieving” and just pulled out.

I loved that. It may feel weak to others but I like the idea that the higher plane and its angels are beyond even anime logic to beat. They’re something else entirely and rightfully remain so. Both games drop enough hints to tell us why something is happening but wisely keep the Higher Plane vague.

In my mind we shouldn’t know their inner workings. That’s not the point of these games, it’s exploring oneself and how expanding that requires others, it’s about humanity, it’s characters. This did apply to Rindo in that ending, the Higher Plane corrected Kubo’s mistake but they would only do so once otherwise they too would be “overstepping bounds”.

So Rindo has to choose to leave it as is or go back at a risk. Kubo is gone but his scheme, the noise he made, they will be there. The way each character helps in that ending is also well done despite how I feel about some of the cast being there.

The power of friendship and human bonds do save the day but it’s not some typical god-slaying ending. They use the power of people to neutralize the power of people. (a positive to cancel a negative.)

In a sense, as a character, Kubo is whatever but the way he leads to this ending is fine I think.

While I’m talking about the ending I minds well highlight other story beats I did enjoy. I’ve already said all I can about individual characters in-depth.

Aside Shoka & Rindo’s ending, I felt way more for the second ending Neku and his friends got. Neku and Shiki finally meeting felt like a punch in the heart.

Then there’s fucking Joshua. The twink just appearing out of thin air at the 9th hour was the most meta thing I’ve seen in this series. It was like they couldn’t think of a reason to put him in normally so they just had him appear at the end.

But because Joshua is how he is it doesn’t feel forced since it is fully within his personality to just drop in and joke about inviting himself because it’s interesting. That is something he’d fully do and so I had to laugh for a moment.

The final exchange between him and Neku was also nice even if his little “prank” on Shoka made me curse. I didn’t think he did something too bad but it was clearly like a cat teasing a toy.

As for Beat, I did like that he’s not changed. He’s definitely matured and it shines a lot in the story but he’s also the same in other ways. I didn’t like him being there but I appreciated that he never regressed.

I also feel bad for that stupid f*ck that was hitting on Rhyme at the end. They’ll never find that guys body. *tips hat*

A few other things the story did which I enjoyed in a broader sense were time travel and lack of melodrama. No conflict felt like a cheap sub plot nor was it drug out and the way time travel was used was welcome.

Time travel is usually a very bad thing to add since writers use it when they are stuck. In my own experience, the only time time-travel works is when the story is written from the ground up with it in mind. Something like Ocarina of Time or a show like Doctor Who, this story was written in such a fashion.

It’s made clear (and hinted early on) that time travel is a big bad. Every time you use it the remnants of thought and soul from the erased timeline becomes noise in the new one. Rindo effectively multiples negativity in the world every time he time travels because those lost souls and thoughts have nowhere to go.

That’s why the ending of using the casts various powers to get the city connected as one worked. Their positivity was used to counter the negativity created from a “them” that no longer exists in reality.

On a side note, I also appreciate that the cast knows Rindo can do this. I hate when stories make up weak excuses to keep something useful a secret. It just frustrates written characters and audience alike.

Then lastly is good ol Sho Minamimoto. You may think I left him for last for a big rant but I actually forgot and had to edit this back in, HA! No seriously, I forgot due to how underutilized he was in the story. He was effectively revived for no real reason other than sequel bait. He’s on your team for one week for…reasons. His entire existence serves no real purpose nor is his goal changed.

He was a wasted revival and that saddens me. He’s revived once, he’s all about taboo knowledge and noise, I could tolerate his revival due to this but they squandered him seems like. Sure, he helped at the end but only in a limited way.

Hey, guess what, we’re finally on the Gameplay section of this. (wooo!!!)

I should preface that you wont see as deep a look here as the story stuff above due to how subjective gameplay impressions are. Regardless of what others say online, gameplay rarely has objective issues. The same goes for this since I can sum up some of my gripes rather quickly such as the camera.

I know fully within my brain that this is a minor thing. I know the camera is the way it is due to how the game is mapped and the 3D nature of that map. I know these things yet I have to list it as an issue I had because I had no control of a camera. Navigating the streets and finding things were constantly a small annoyance for me even after I got used to the game.

The battle map is fine since it’s an arena but good lord I got annoyed so many times while trying to navigate and I have not one possible fix to that. I’m no pc or coding genius, I don’t even think you can change the camera in the game as is and make it work.

I also got very annoyed at Pin management at one point. It took too long to get a second set option but I don’t think I can list that as objective either. I don’t even remember if the original DS game gave you second set at the start. I unlocked more in time but I was f*ck’n livid at times prior to that.

Post Edit Derek here; I am replaying the original on the DS and the game did indeed give me a second set, four in fact. Four pin sets starting at four open pin slots.

So on that note I don’t know why Neo TWEWY couldn’t have gave me two from the get go. I certainly didn’t need three due to the lack of a PP experience grinder or Tin Pin Slammer nor did I like having to unlock the second set. Oh well.

I also had an issue with the team concept. At first it was fine but by the end I had six people on screen at once and it was too much for me to keep track of. And this is saying a lot since I play first game on its original DS format in which you have to control both screens at once.

Needless to say, I adjusted to it as I did the above example with time but I did not like it. I felt like I got hit at times by something I couldn’t see due to all the noise, pin attacks, and six cast sharing an HP bar. At the end of the day I wish they capped that team count at four.

I also greatly disliked the Pin button layout. I got confused by that more than once and wasted pins more than once due to this. I hate how the pins change what button they’re on, I hate that I have six to keep track of, and I spent the whole game wishing the pins remained mapped to specific buttons.

In particular, I think the better idea would’ve been to have players set to buttons and through them their pins. Like Rindo would be tied to X, Fret Y, Nagi A, Beat B, Shoka L, and Neku R. The pins would still vary every time I switched up gear but at least I wouldn’t have to keep remembering new buttons.

Of course, if we went with my earlier idea and limited the team to four people it’d be even better since each face button could be a character while dodge is dedicated to L or R. Something simpler would’ve been far more appreciated.

On the positive side, I liked how each person used their powers in this game on the overworld maps. I also loved how this changed was noted IN-GAME by Sho when he started to rant about how pins are dedicated to a person’s imagination. In this new game those rules don’t apply due to Shiba running it like a Shinjuku game. Any player can use a pin now.

Prior in TWEWY a pin or psych was dependent on imagination and personality. Neku being a creative powerhouse is why he can use any pin he wants while Shiki or Beat only have one type of attack. In NTWEWY, any pin is viable but the new reaper/player pin may draw out unique psychs.

Rindo’s time travel or Shoka’s telewarp are such skills. Used exclusively for story and explorative reasons but I love this in-game nod and explanation.

Something else I loved as a series fan from 2007 was the nods. I noticed several things instantly which made the city nostalgic at times despite the camera getting me lost. I even solved a mission on day 5 of week 2 thanks to Joshua’s silly ass trivia of the Shibuya river from “Another Day” on the first game.

Then there’s the music, it’s hard to find a song of any TWEWY you don’t like if you even can. I’m deaf to the finer things of music (not truly deaf just don’t notice things like others) but this series is one in which my brain will pay attention in earnest.

I love that Shiki has a clothing brand, I love that Shoka loves this brand. Good pay off.

I also liked tracking down optional people to save. The friendship board thing is neither here nor there to me but I appreciate the optional content and the minor things it offered. I wish we had seen more living cast from the first game though.

The city truly felt alive in the first game thanks to the missions giving many reapers or citizens in the RG a unique look or problem. This game kind of fell flat on that front.

Let’s see…what else…hmmm….oh yes. The menu is annoying but I don’t think that’s a game problem. My dumbass brain just keeps mixing up the LR with their Z counterparts so I go to menus I don’t intend too.

And lastly, light affinity pins are god-tier. They heal you with the chip damage they inflict. You get four or five of those on the team and you’re a f*cking monster. I still died at times but I rarely needed a true support pin. I also found it funny a pin themed to light has a skill named “Hp vampire”.

Post Editor Derek here, I forgot to add the hours of laughter Kubo’s name gave me due to me watching Bleach in my teenage years. It’s not even gameplay related, just a bonus~

Also, the 300% sync pin attack was called the “friendship nuke” by Osprey and I’ll never forget it.

To wrap this up, I got annoyed with gameplay, I haven’t did all the extra yet so I may come back to this, I’m not sure how replayable I’ll find this game, and I truly believe Neku and gang shouldn’t have been there.

Final Remix left a mar on this game that will never go away. I’ll always think about the issues I listed when I play it and this saddens me. The game is very loved and I think it deserves that but I personally cannot see past this point.

Either follow through with Neku or (preferably) leave Neku and his friends alone to give your full attention to Rindo and his friends. The villains were kinda weak and the didn’t feel that climatic for most of it.

I hope the gameplay is more enjoyable once I complete the friendship board and I hope you enjoyed reading this, bye~

A New Update

I spent the two weeks since this post doing as much post game as I could. True to form I did find the game more fun to play as I unlocked the Social Network board but I ultimately still had a pet peeve about the pin-button layout.

I spent so much time fighting with that trying to make a deck I’d use for serious battles and I just never could get the right layout despite swapping out some people with Sho.

That said, some of that pain was self inflected because I took joy in pairing pins and players. Like having Neku & Beat or Shoka & Rindo- I essentially tried to pair them in three sets of two. It worked at times but others it did not.

Other things I noticed were the sheer spike in difficulty on Another Day. I spent every chapter post game on hard mode and made it two level 91 but I was suddenly getting destroyed. I toned it down to Normal but had a bit of trouble here and there despite that.

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a “con” or negative but it just hit me like whiplash. I was so used to be the OP badass by that point. lol The only fight I encountered that became a hard nope for me was the super boss. I’m not a man that enjoys frustration, I do not feel joy or pride in overcoming something that gets me incredibly furious.

So when I ran into this boss that was the first sign I was likely never going to finish the extras. The sudden defense of the pig noise on Another Day started to add to that annoyance but I managed to get by those in time.

I ultimately forwent getting everything. As much as I praised things like the Social Media Board before I quickly came to annoyance trying to rack up points in those timed dive battles. The one with Rhyme just broke my interest in completing it.

I feel that some have too quick a time penalty, I was on bronze during Rhymes before I even reached 15 minutes. I’ve never liked timed activities so I just came to dislike something I found novel fun in prior.

I also came to dislike the Shibuya Scramble days. They became tedious very fast and I am not sure I’d want to redo one for a long time. I didn’t even complete the one demanding 600k, that was just ridiculous, no thank you.

My post game also reminded me of something that annoyed me even in the first game. Threads!

On their own they are fine but those days where you have to wear something specific to get by a reaper can be an annoyance for me. I usually have my team set by then and having to undo that just to clear a barrier was a pain in 07 and it is now.

I dont know why those can’t be a clear once objective.....I also dont know why I couldn’t get a fast travel but at that point I’m just whining to whine I think.

As a whole, gameplay wise, I had a few pet peeves but I do felt the game was good. I can’t consider it grand because of ‘A New Day’ or for story reasons I’ll list shortly but I can see how people would love and endear to this like I did the original back in the day.

I’d even go as far as to say this is way more impressive than I would expect given they took a game split on two screens in 2D sprites into a 3D style that doesn’t hurt your eyes or worry your brain with uncanny valley.

If they ever remade the original game or made a third one I’d like to see this continued and refined. This post may seem overtly negative to you readers but I did enjoy this game enough to nearly complete it and play it 3+ weeks straight.

It just did some story stuff I was baffled by which I’ll go over now.

One or the Other

As mentioned, getting so many reports (I had to look up report 10 & 24) I did have some of my questions answered. I learned that Neku was sent to Shinjuku to keep him out of the clutches of the Executor.

Neku, despite not being the lead this round, is probably the most powerful player there and it was clear the reapers were trying to find him which was clearly Kubos manipulation.

Now, what they’d do with Neku I have no idea. I just know that Neku is powerful enough to scan the entirety of Shibuya all at once, one shot rampaging Sho, and survive in a null space for three years. 

He doesn’t have specific powers like Fret or Nagi nor anything as broken as time travel but among the team he’s easily the most powerful all all-rounder.

The reports also explained how Coco revived Sho Minamimoto which was simpler than I expected. In the first game Sho had used a taboo noise sigil taught to him by the fallen angel Mr. Hanekoma.

Granted, Sho’s sigil had flaws which Mr. H fixed but what Coco did in A New Day was copy that sigil to bring Sho back for the second time. Mr. H speculates in the reports that this may be why Sho’s a bit different than before.

You can copy the sigil but your use of it depends on the user so Coco likely did something slightly wrong or something different intentionally...I guess this means Sho is more of a noise now than anything as well....wow. 0-0

That said, I do feel this all lead to nothing. I still dont know how Coco did the sh*t she did in A New Day barring this revival. 

There’s a lot of “what if this” I could do but at this point I see no reason too. I do still feel that this title should’ve focused entirely on it’s new cast or followed through on the set up with Neku’s death in A New Day but that’s moot now.

At this point I have to agree with @blackosprey and say that some shift happened somewhere. Whatever plans they had for this was ultimately dropped and we got Neo: TWEWY in it’s current form.

A form that is not bad in the slightest mind you. I have issues here and there but my biggest problem is what ‘A New Day’ did. I could not enjoy this as much as others and that’s a stain that will always remain for me regarding this sequel.

I love the series, I love the world, I want to see more but I dont want to see more of that cheap sequel baiting A New Day did. (especially if they’re going to drop it)

So here’s hoping we get more entries down the line. Perhaps in new cities and new cast. In a world so focused on people growing I’d love to see what can be done.

I double dipped on this game so next time dont be lazy on the advertising Square. It’s not our fault if your laziness doesn’t meet your ridiculous sale expectations. I promise you, if you make more it will sell.

Till the next game players~

P.S. I forgot to mention that my questions about Joshua were answered too. He was playing a game with the Executor thus his lack of prescence. If you notice, he didn’t even aid Neku, he just popped into give some literal moral support.

[kyoomiii]

♡ Weight Insecurity [hcs]

-  ➣. . . ❝ can i request the weight insecurity with sugawara, nishinoya, kenma, and bokuto?  ❞

― requested by: @ anonie ​ ―

- ✎ characters ❝ sugawara, nishinoya, kenma, and bokuto ❞

- [ trigger warning(s): heavy mentions of insecurity ]

- ⚘ genre ❝ fluff, angst ❞

❝ i’m so sorry you had to wait so long anonie. but i hope you enjoy this~ 

๑•́ㅿ•̀๑)ﾉ also i may or may not have gone a little overboard on bokuto’s... 

oopsie ❞

-kyo ♡

The gentle breeze that flows through the warm spring air is delightful against your skin, Sugawara’s small hums to an unknown tune filling the space as the two of you walk hand and hand to the vending machine. 

Despite the relatively quiet atmosphere, you don’t feel the least bit uncomfortable, rather the opposite really. But, then again there was always something about Sugawara that was so welcoming and soft- even mere strangers couldn’t help but fall into his warmth.

Your gaze trails aimlessly, the thought dancing in your head as you listen to his hum. Quietly, your eyes begin to wander over his features almost absentmindedly.

It’s then you begin to truly realize- The boy is absolutely beautiful. Whether it be his smooth unblemished skin or the tiny little beauty mark that’s settled right next to his eye. His appearance is nothing short of a delicate beauty. 

The longer you stare, the more you come to realize just how unreal his beauty is, something so pure seemed to belong to nothing short of a prince from a fairy tale. And though it never bothered you in the first place, you find yourself growing anxious.

Anxious because while you know Sugawara is beyond breathtaking, as shown in his countless admirers from all grades. You’d never truly realized just how gorgeous he is- and though you put him above wanting someone solely based on their appearance, you feel as though he could definitely do better- and maybe one day he will.

And now, as you come to a stop, despite being far from close to the vending machine. The loud thundering of your heartbeat drums through your ears. 

You can only watch as a girl- perhaps a 2nd year, catches Sugawara’s attention. Cheeks flushed, and hands folded neatly in front of her. Her lips are moving, but you can’t seem to catch what she’s saying. She’s pretty, big doe eyes, small, and thin- a delicate beauty, just like him.

Drifting in your own thoughts, you don’t even seem to notice as she walks away, somewhat dejected, though seemingly not too upset. 

“y/n? Is something wrong?”

The sudden call of your name startles you, but you can’t say that you weren’t expecting it, after all his observation skills are one of the many things you love about him, and with that you know there is no use lying. 

“Koushi- am I pretty?”

Wide-eyed and jaw-dropped, he can’t help but stop his tracks, his eyes carefully watching as you observe the retreating girl. 

“Oh y/n...Of course, you are. What makes you think you aren’t?”

“...I-... Well. I just think you could find someone better… You know, someone who is prettier- I mean, I’m not exactly… As beautiful as you are. And I think you deserve someone who fits that. Someone breathtaking and… thin.”

Not once, throughout your entire ramble do you look at him. Your eyes seemingly glued to the direction in which the girl has left.

But even so, Sugawara cups your rounded cheeks in each of his hands. His movements are slow and calculated as he turns your attention back to him. 

Hazel eyes boring into your own, and suddenly you feel vulnerable. Stripped bare to your insecurities, as his eyes, search what seemed to be the deepest spaces of your mind.

And though you don’t take your eyes off him. You are caught completely surprised as he places a gentle kiss to your lips, his thumbs caressing the soft plump skin of your cheeks as he takes the air from your lungs before pulling away slowly, and carefully as if you were glass.

“You are beautiful just the way you are okay? I love you and only you, and no one can change that, because you are gorgeous both inside and out and I am so so so lucky to have found you.  So please y/n… Try not to put yourself down like that ever again. You are amazing, and I’ll make sure you see that every day of our lives.”

The sound of volleyballs hitting the hardwood flooring followed by the shouts of teenage boys seemed to be nothing more than background noise. Your mind too adrift to focus on the intense practice happening just before your eyes. 

Instead, you find yourself completely entranced by her. How someone could hold such an elegant beauty was something you felt you’d never be able to understand. Even in the almost suffocating heat of the gym, and the faint smell of sweat, she looked completely flawless- almost as if she were not of this world. 

You suppose you could understand just why Nishinoya was completely at her mercy. She was nothing short of perfection, a true beauty- whereas you felt as if you were nowhere close in comparison to her. 

And the sudden realization has a stream of worry trickling through your body. You knew she’d never shown interest in Nishinoya, but, even so, she didn’t need to. She had him wrapped around her fingers, whether she acknowledged it or not. 

You felt as if you were being paranoid, Kiyoko would never try to hurt you. And Nishinoya, the ever-loving goof who’d stolen your heart was no doubt in your mind faithful, he too would never do something like that. But, no matter how hard you tried to push it away, the small ache that maybe one day he would return to her, settled itself deep within your chest.

The feeling of hands around your waist startles you, shaking you from your thoughts. 

A small smile graces your lips at the feeling of Nishinoya’s lips against the plush chubbiness of your cheek.

“Something on your mind?” 

Unsure of how to say it, you nod silently. Your lips pursing as your fingers find his own, fiddling with them as you search for how to voice your thoughts.

“Kiyoko-senpai… She’s pretty isn’t she?”

The silence that follows is quickly replaced with the thundering of your own heartbeat as you wait for his response. 

But after what seems like an eternity- which was really only a couple of seconds. You can slowly feel yourself being swallowed up by the floor. The walls begin to cave as you subconsciously shift, subtly trying to escape Nishinoya’s grasp.

“She is.”

You can feel them. The tears that gather in your eyes.

“But so are you.”

Turning to look back at Nishinoya, you are met with his signature grin- bright and warm as always, and his eyes- they shine like the sun as he gazes at you.

“Yuu…”

“I mean it y/n… Yes, Kiyoko is beautiful- But so are you. And I have eyes for only you. You mean so much to me, and it hurts to know that you don’t see it. I think you are really cute y/n. Don’t you dare think any less of yourself ever again!”

The tears that wet your cheeks are no longer of sadness as the widest smile you’ve ever had graces your features. It makes Nishinoya’s heart flutter more than he ever thought possible.

“You’re so sweet to me Yuu.”

“It’s what you deserve~”

The soft glow of Kenma’s t.v illuminated the otherwise dark room as the clicking of the controller in his hands followed by the sounds of the video game he was currently playing filled the relatively quiet space.

Your eyes trailed after the small avatar that scurried across the screen. Head leaning against Kenma’s shoulder as you nibbled on the small snack between your lips.

You thought it was silly really. To be jealous of a digital 2d character on a screen, but even so you can’t seem to help it. And the fact that Kenma spent most of his days glued to some sort of device, a pretty maiden with a body of a goddess displayed before his eyes seemed to only worsen that insecurity.

However, you could never find the heart to tell him that, knowing just how much his games meant to him, and to make him feel bad for something he probably didn’t even take notice of, or had the ability to control was unfair. So for his sake you would suck it up.

The gentle tug of your shirt sleeve catches your attention, drawing you from your thoughts. A small smile tugs at your lips as your eyes meet Kenma’s.

“Which outfit should I buy y/n?”

Your eyes trail back to the t.v, the character displayed shifting between two outfits of Kenma’s choice, both equally form fitting to highlight the character’s flawless curves.

You find your smile quickly turning into a frown, however one glance at Kenma has you trying to play it off as if you were merely thinking.

“What’s wrong?”

The sudden question startles you, but then again you should’ve known better than to hide from Kenma’s attentiveness. He could catch even the smallest changes of details in people, especially you- someone he has grown fond of.

That doesn’t stop you from trying though. Quickly putting on a smile and shaking your head.

“It’s nothing Kenma, just thinking I suppose.”

He doesn’t believe you, and he shows it in the form of a scrunched up nose and a small almost unnoticeable pout.

“You’re lying… But I guess if you don’t want to talk about it we don’t have to.”

A wave of guilt washes over your body, but, you can’t seem to find the words you want to say. Instead you curl your legs up to your chest, and to Kenma you look like an absolute ball of fluff as he continues with his game, choosing an outfit at random.

It’s not brought up again, not even as you feel yourself grow increasingly frustrated, nails digging into the plush skin of your thighs.

“-Kenma can I ask you something?”

Startled by the sudden noise, Kenma jumps slightly, looking over at you questioningly, not ignoring the way you stare almost longingly at the avatar on his screen.

“Would you find me more attractive if my body looked like that?”

He’s unsure of what to say, shifting nervously as silence engulfs you two. The only sound for a long while is the music track of the game. 

“Oh- I’m sorry… I’ve made you uncomfortable… I- Just forget I said anything.”

Shaking his head, he takes your hand in his own. A small shrug coming from his shoulders as his cheeks flush pink.

“I guess if you wanted to… But truth be told, I like you the way you are y/n. You’re beautiful.”

His words leave you speechless. A small flush matching his own coloring your cheeks.

“Thank you Kenma.”

There was no other way to describe Bokuto other than a pure ball of sunshine. Bright and welcoming with people flocking from all over just to bask in his warmth. And it didn’t hurt that he was quite the looker too. Truly someone special, and way out of your league in your opinion.

In moments like this you wonder how you got so lucky. With your head resting on Bokuto’s shoulder, your gaze directed out the window as he rambled on about something only he could make interesting as the two of you waited for class to begin. The sound of his voice calming, despite the energy that seeps from every word.

You don’t even notice the teacher enter the room. The only thing to catch your attention is the gentle nudge from Bokuto, and the wide grin you love so much before he heads to his assigned seat.

“Today we will be working in pairs.”

Before you had gotten with Bokuto, the announcement would have made you groan. But, one glance at him from across the room seems to make the assignment a little more bearable.

“-I’ll be choosing your partners today.”

And of course you should’ve known better, the feeling of dismay tugging at your lips in the form of a pout as the teacher lists off the pairs.

Disappointed, you can’t help but sigh, glancing over at Bokuto once more who sends you a small apologetic smile as he meets up with his partner. A girl you have come to recognize as someone who was admired by many for her appearance and sweet, sunny personality. 

The sight of them together doesn't bother you much, however, the small ball that sits at the pit of your stomach can’t be helped as she smiles up at him with a grin that almost seemed to rival his own… You had to admit, they were cute together.

Sucking it up you decide to push the thought away as best as you can. However, it doesn’t seem to be as effective with the occasional glance in their direction. It was like watching two angels, pure and bright. 

Luckily, the end of the class as well as the school day, arrive faster than you had expected it. And with a new found energy you find yourself bounding over to Bokuto- who you find happily conversing with his partner, the topic having changed from school to general personal topics. 

And much to your dismay, it doesn’t take long to notice the hand on his bicep. Her small frame leaning in close to his, eyes shining as if hearing about his assignment for a different class were the most interesting she had ever heard in her lifetime. 

You watched with wide eyes, suddenly nervous to approach the pair that shone like the sun. 

So instead you wait, busying yourself with some other mundane tasks, because surely he’ll be done soon- Bokuto has always been social anyway, it would be rude to suddenly pull him away now, especially when he looks like he’s having a good time.

 But seconds quickly turn to minutes, and Bokuto has yet to pull himself from her grasp. And you find yourself growing tired. 

Timidly you walk up to Bokuto, hand gently tugging his blazer, which he seems to immediately understand.

“Ah- See you tomorrow r/g/n-chan.”

Bokuto takes your hand in his own, bidding the girl goodbye with a small wave as he practically drags you out of the classroom.

The walk home is quiet, much too quiet for Bokuto’s liking. The tension thick in the air as you walk a distance away from him rather than holding his hand like you normally do.

“y/n-chan? What’s wrong?”

Stopping in your tracks, you direct your gaze to the ground, pout present on your face as Bokuto reaches out to hold you soft jawline, turning your attention towards him.

“Do you like her?”

Shocked his brows furrow.

“Ehhh? What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know… She’s just so pretty and nice- You two looked like you were getting alone… And I figured it was only time for you to want someone… Like her.”

Bokuto frowns, his hands moving quickly to engulf your plump body.

“Don’t you ever say that… You’re beautiful too- if not more. I don’t care if she’s skinny- or whatever! I only have eyes for you, no one else… You’re so silly- to not see just how gorgeous you are…”

“Thank you for making me feel better. I love you Kou.”

“Of course y/n… I love you too- forever and ever.”

“That’s quite a long time.”

“I know, but that’s okay- I want to spend it with you, and no one else.”

[rallamajoop]

The Witcher: The Games vs the Books part 2 – Characters and Accents

So, I've already talked at length about the relationship between the Witcher books and games, but how well they captured individual characters is its whole own subject – and you’d better believe I have enough thoughts on it for a whole extra post.

Andrej Sapkowski's skill for creating vivid and engaging characters really is so much of what brings the books to life, and no matter how much work an adaptation might put into worldbuilding and plot, it's the characters you've really got to nail to get the long-time fans on board. Especially when you’ve done what the games have, framing themselves as a direct continuation of Sapkowski's story. Nothing invites comparison to your source material like basically forcing fans to read the original novels to understand even half the backstory alluded to in-game. 

So how did they do? I can only offer my opinion – characterisation is necessarily going to be a lot more subjective than just telling you what plot points the games contradicted outright – but like any fan, I have opinions in plenty.

Of the main cast, I feel Yennefer is the character they've captured the best. They've done just as well with some supporting players – I have no real complaints about Dijkstra or Phillipa, for example, who are favourites of mine in both games and books. For the main players though, Geralt and Regis seem to be the ones who's differences I'm most inclined to forgive, whereas I don't feel like they've done Ciri justice at all. Book!Geralt is much less of a smartarse, for one thing, whereas Book!Ciri is much more of one. But if we're talking about the differences, I’m afraid we really need to start with Dandelion.

Dandelion

For all the genuinely good work the games do with characters, old and new, I don't think I can overstate what a disservice the they've done Dandelion, who I could not stand in TW3, but is now one of my favourite book!verse characters. Alas, Dandelion is a prime example of something the Witcher games really don't do well: camp. Being the archtypical bard, Dandelion is about as flamboyant as any enthusiastically-heterosexual man can be: you should be able to spot this guy by body language alone, he should be flouncing around and he should talk like a spoiled noble auditioning for Shakespeare. Book!Dandelion is over-the-top and ridiculous and just so much fun, and I loved him well before I'd even really gotten into the rest of the books around him.

Here's just a bit of dialogue from one of his first appearances, to give you a sense of how he and Geralt play off each other.

The  bard  seized  the  fingerboard  of  his  lute  and  plucked  the strings vigorously. ‘How would you prefer it, in verse or in normal speech?’ ‘Normal speech.’ ‘As you please,’ Dandelion said, not putting his lute down. ‘Listen then, noble  gentlemen,  to  what occurred  a  week  ago  near  the  free  town  of Barefield. ‘Twas thus, that at the crack of dawn, when the rising sun had barely tinged pink the shrouds of mist hanging pendent above the meadows—’ ‘It was supposed to be normal speech,’ Geralt reminded him. ‘Isn’t it? Very well, very well. I understand. Concise, without metaphors. A dragon alighted on the pastures outside Barefield.’

Though TW3's Dandelion certainly looks the part, you have to go hunting through art from the Gwent cards to find much that comes close to really capturing his personality (see left pic below – though even there, a Dandelion who'd voluntarily break his treasured lute is a very hard sell). Though a lot of fanart does better (right-below – credit goes to Tatiana Ortaliz).

But as poorly as the games capture his flamboyance, they're not that much better when it comes to taking him seriously. TW3 left me thinking he was all talk and no substance; the books make abundantly clear that he really is renowned enough to be welcome in courts across the continent. Though he often overestimates what he can talk himself out of, he isn’t stupid either: he's lectured at Oxenfurt, spied for Dijkstra, and then there are the moments where the frivolous playboy mask slips and you realise he's sometimes much better at understanding people and relationships than Geralt will ever be (which is honestly kind of funny considering how many of Dandelion’s relationships end with plates being thrown at him from an upper story). He's not at all above mocking Geralt when he deserves it either (and especially his personal and relationship issues) – Geralt will happily mock him right back.

We never do learn how they became friends (I'm pretty sure the incident listed in the wiki is just the date of their first expedition together, not their first meeting), but Geralt just doesn't form lasting friendships or romances with anyone he can't have an intelligent conversation with. And Dandelion is a damn good friend to Geralt – one who, despite being a helpless, squishy little bard, will keep Geralt's secrets under torture, or will follow him into Nilfgaard in the middle of a war simply because you don't let a friend make a trip like that alone. (Seriously, I don’t ship it nearly as much as some, but hot damn there is some material in here if you do.) In short, it's basically inconceivable that he'd leave an amnesic Geralt wandering around Vizima alone, as he does in the first Witcher game – which is the kind of thing I can mostly forgive as a gameplay conceit, only it doesn’t really get better from there.

He’s also supposed to be blond, something I don’t think is technically specified until fairly late in the novels, but 100% what I’d been picturing since his first description as a man in a colourful bonnet with cornflower-blue eyes (let’s face it: Dandelion’s hair isn’t the only thing about him that screams ‘blond’). It’s a shame no-one from the games to the show to the novels’ cover artists seem to have noticed – but at least there are some fanartists out there who were paying attention (credit for these goes to Asphaloth, Ghostcupdraws, Hvit-ravn (tumblr deleted), 94355 and itsmespicaa).

As for the games? Well, I cannot speak to how Dandelion came across in the original Polish, but I think it speaks worlds about the priorities of the English version that they didn’t even bother to cast someone with a halfway-decent singing voice as their master bard. There are isolated moments of dialogue that come close to sounding like book!Dandelion– mostly in Witcher 2, which comes closer to capturing the spirit of the books than either 1 or 3, or his attempts to convince his captor he's a disguised noble when you rescue him TW3 – but his voice actor is just painfully ill-suited to the role.

Geralt

Geralt fares much better than Dandelion, though he’s still a little hard to square with the Geralt of the books. Book!Geralt spends a lot more time sulking, just to begin with: he sulks because his job is complicated and gets him no respect, and because the world is unjust and unfair – and, most of all, he sulks because Yennefer has dumped him again. He also gets mocked for sulking, and usually deserves it. Book!Geralt is generally a lot more taciturn and a less prone to making smart comments just to have something to say – arguably because in book!Geralt's world, making smart comments often ends at the gallows, or at least with some corrupt official making your life much harder. Book!Geralt's world kind of sucks, and he's just got to put up with it.

As much as he often plays into the expectations of being an uneducated monster hunter, he's also got a more of an intellectual streak than you’d guess. He may prefer to stay out of politics (because damnit, his job is to save people from monsters, not people who are monsters), but he attended school at Nenneke's temple and has even taken classes at Oxenfurt academy, and there's a lot of thoughtful nuance to his opinions – his speech to Ciri about why he can't in good conscience take a stronger stance against the Scoiata'el contains a wealth of historical perspective, just for one example. Even his smart comments tend to be, well, somewhat smarter in the books.

Book!Geralt’s explicitly a lot younger than Yennefer – around 50 is the usual estimate, falling far short of the 100-ish the games suggest (the scandal of having a man fall for – gasp! – an older woman clearly didn’t bother Sapkowski one bit). You don’t see nearly as much "I'm getting too old for this" from book!Geralt, who's really not that old by witcher standards, and is apparently still hunting monsters long into his future. I'm also a little annoyed by the way they play off his hatred of portals like he's a grumpy old man who doesn't like mobile phones, when his distrust originally came from having seen the gruesome deaths that result when portals go wrong. This is not to say Book!Geralt lacks other ordinary human flaws, however – twice in the last two books of the main saga, he gets severely sidetracked after his ego gets the better of him (in the adulation he receives after being knighted, then after arriving in Toussaint), and it's quite some time before he properly gets back on track for that whole rescuing-Ciri thing again. He’s also pretty hopeless when it comes to romance and relationships – breaking things off gracefully is really not in his skillset.

So why does game!Geralt not bother me more? Well, he's the main player character of a game franchise, and one who has to carry the experience largely solo. Some adjustments for genre are pretty much inevitable in that position. He's certainly fared better than Meve, for example, who's been softened far more from her book characterisation for her PC role in Thronebreaker. Then there's the whole amnesia thing – it's easy to believe that sort of experience would change a man – and if he doesn't sulk so much as he used to, maybe he's grown up a bit. Geralt's also in many ways the straight-man of Sapkowski's Witcher universe – there largely as the reliable centre for other, louder personalities to play off. But I expect the real bottom line here is that I do still like game!Geralt enough to forgive him a lot of what he lacks.

The books never do describe Geralt as being very attractive – something book-based fanart often tries to reflect. The point has been made before that the rather-alien-looking Geralt of the first game (left pic above) is probably a lot closer to his book-description. However, the main distinguishing factor you’ll see in book-based fanart is probably the ubiquitous headband, which genuinely is what book!Geralt wears to make his hair behave (the example on the right above comes from Diana Novich).

All that said, if Sapkowski really wants me to believe that nearly so many women are eager to jump into bed with him, I’m going to have to shallowly assume our witnesses are unreliable on this front, and Geralt is at least as attractive as Witcher 3′s take on him. Nothing else makes sense. *g*

Regis

Regis varies mostly in that book!Regis is a lot more smug, sometimes verging on obnoxious – and a lot keener to make fun of Geralt (who generally deserves it). But then, Regis is old and wise and superpowered enough to dance rings around most everyone else – can you blame him? By Blood and Wine, Regis' overconfidence has been recently smacked down hard after his near-death-experience at the hands of Vilgefortz, and that kind of thing could knock some chips off anyone's shoulder. Throw in the fact that with Dettlaff, we have a situation not even Regis could make light of, and the changes to game!Regis make a certain amount of sense.

I do feel it's a bit of a shame that the vocal direction didn't work just a little bit harder to capture some of Regis' smugger side, or emphasise that his long-winded philosophising on human behaviour is supposed to sound a bit pretentious. This is actually something I suspect they were going for a few times in the script, but which didn't come through in the dialogue quite the way it was meant to. Still, again, I'm sure I'm biased by the fact that I like game!Regis far too much to find much fault in what they've done with him. They've done a lovely job capturing his friendship with Geralt too.

Looks-wise, there's a tendency in book-based art to portray Regis with long hair (even some pre-Blood-and-Wine Gwent art did so – see the two pics on the left above, from Gwent and early B&W concepts. The right-most pic is cover art from the books). I couldn't rightly tell you where long-haired-Regis comes from, though – perhaps it's described more explicitly in the original Polish, or perhaps it comes up in passing in some passage I've forgotten, though it may just as well just be a fannish meme.

The books do describe him as looking rather like a tax collector, slim, middle-aged, with an aquiline nose, prone to wearing black, and his hair as 'greying' or 'grey streaked', so presumably somewhat younger-looking than the game would have it. The hammer-horror-esque sideburns are likewise a game-verse addition, though I do like the look they went with – it's distinct from Geralt in a way that making him another long-grey-haired man wouldn't have been, and that's probably the point.

Being the hopeless Regis fan I am, I have quite the folder full of different fanart takes on book!Regis, so have a selection – art here is by gellihana-art, justanor, greysmartwolf, Nastyaskaya, NatalyLanier, beidak, natalliel, ellaine and afternoon63. For what it’s worth, I feel beidak’s (bottom pic, second from the left) comes the closest to what I’d have pictured personally, based on how he’s first described.

Ciri

I find it much harder to rationalise the changes to game!Ciri, who I didn't exactly dislike, but found stuck too close to the role of generic-macguffin-girl-who-just-wants-to-be-normal to be very interesting. Having read the books, not only do I much prefer book!Ciri, I'm not sure I can emphasize enough how much the game did NOT prepare me for utter gauntlet of whump and misery that girl survives in the last four titles. Book!Ciri is a character who works for me mostly because of the same flaws the game mostly strips her free of – TW3 makes some token noise about how you can't tell her what to do, but she’s an utter little royal brat when we first meet book!Ciri, and it’s so much of what brings her to life. She throws herself into her witcher training with the enthusiasm of a kid going completely native, but still revels in getting to be girly for a change when Triss first arrives at Kaer Morhen. She hates Yennefer at first, but soon bonds with her just as strongly as she ever did with Geralt, picking up some of Yennfer’s haughty mannerisms along the way. And then she gets thrown through a portal and lost in the distant wilderness, and the whole world comes down on her head.

The build up to the first time Ciri actually has to kill someone is intense... and things only get worse from there. Steadily. For another couple of novels at a stretch. Seriously, a major caveat that pretty much has to go into any rec for these books (and I will absolutely rec these books) is that Ciri's story gets heavy. So heavy one finds oneself using phrases like, "that time that one guy died of his wounds on top of her while semi-consensually feeling her up was honestly one of the less traumatic incidents in the period."

By the end of the novels, Ciri has nearly died of thirst, been beaten, tied up, dragged around the country as a prisoner, run with bandits and killed innocent people for the fun of it, done fantasy-cocaine and got a tattoo, fought off more than one attempted rape, been drugged, lain for multiple nights next to an impotent elf who completely fails to impregnate her, watched the bodies of her friends and girlfriend being mutilated in front of her, and did I mention where she got that scar? She has survived hell, and it is absolutely a testament to her own strength that she somehow comes through it and puts herself back together at the end. When Geralt finally arrives to rescue her, what matters most isn't that her ordeal is over, but that she finally knows she hasn’t been abandoned by everyone who’d ever loved her after all.

The Ciri of the books is fierce and wild and arrogant, but she's learned her morals from the best, and she holds onto them until she can't, then picks them back up again when she can, and above all she survives. For all that her story turns arguably too much of the last two books into a slog of misery, oh boy does it pay off at the end. And that's probably about as much as I can say about her Big Moment in the last book without spoiling too much, so suffice to say that by the end of the saga, Geralt has pretty much become a supporting character in Ciri's story, not the other way around. (Seriously, you’d be surprised how few chapters of the last two books he’s actually in.)

Finding art which captures the aspects of Ciri’s character and history which are missing from the game has turned out to be pretty hard, though the fanart above from her bandit phase takes a decent crack at it (credit to Loles Romero and NastyaSkaya). I do rather like that one shot of her on horseback beside her girlfriend too, which comes from Denis Gordeev’s illustrations for the novels (below).

How much of this does TW3 get across with her portrayal in the game? Well, she's still pretty headstrong, I guess. And they let you give a 'sorry, I like girls' answer in one bit of dialogue, so they remembered her girlfriend existed. That's nice. But game!Ciri still has a kind of wide-eyed innocence that book!Ciri lost years ago, while book!Ciri is a little force of nature in ways the games hardly even hint at, and that's a really shameful loss.

You'd think, with a character so young, it ought to be easier to imagine she's simply grown up since we saw her last, but so much of what's changed about Ciri feels like a step back rather than forwards. I can shrug off Geralt and Regis' differences and still enjoy their game-verse-selves, but Ciri leaves me genuinely disappointed.

I’d say the official art that comes closest to capturing book!Ciri is that one portrait of her as a very grumpy young child (right above). Some of the early concept art (left above) feels a little more like it has her attitude, though she’s rather too yellow-blonde – not to mention too pretty. I think it also bears pointing out that Ciri isn’t really supposed to be the kind of beauty she is in the game – even before she gets what’s meant to be a seriously ugly and disfiguring scar. (Fanart below by justanor and bobolip)

But of course, the male gamer fanbase can’t be expected to give a fuck about a girl they wouldn’t want to fuck, so game!Ciri must be generically gorgeous. Le sigh.

Triss

I suppose I should at least touch on Triss, too, though she's a very odd case. She's so out of character in the first Witcher game that I am wryly amused that the biggest thing they arguably do get right is that taking advantage of Geralt the moment he showed up with amnesia is... pretty well in-character for her (look, I gotta be honest here, I'm not much of a fan of Triss in any of her incarnations).

The second game does a much better job with her – she actually feels like book!Triss, she has some good dialogue, we're finally dealing with some of her conflicted loyalties to the Lodge and to Geralt – though by the third, her characterisation has been so softened into “the nice one” that none of that potentially meaty conflict is ever resolved, or even really mentioned. Perhaps there's more buried in the Triss-romance path, which I've never bothered with, but the writers seem to have just given up on dealing with anything that might make her look less than wholly sympathetic. Heck, we hardly even get a clear statement about why she and Geralt broke up between Witchers 2 and 3.

Even speaking as such a not-a-fan of Triss, I promise there is more they could've done with the character the books give us. There's her ongoing trauma in from the Battle of Sodden, where she was injured so badly she was memorialised as one the dead: the 14th of the hill. There's her furious impatience with the neutrality of both the witchers and the Lodge: Triss has fought and died for a cause, and is ready to do so again. The second game sort of gets into this, but by and large, the games really aren't up to tackling the moral complexity of having such a theoretically-sympathetic character as Triss, who was still broadly willing to go along with the Lodge's plans to pair Ciri off and get her pregnant as soon as possible – her own wishes be damned. No, instead, Triss has conveniently left the Lodge before the rest of them go spiraling into abject villainy in the second game, clearing all that messy grey stuff out of the conflict.

Of course, the really big unresolved plot point still hanging over book!Triss is how badly she needs to terms with the fact Geralt's just Not That Into Her, and never has been – but since the games want Triss to be a serious romantic option, that's definitely not getting the resolution it could've used.

Book!Triss also pointedly avoids any outfit with a plunging neckline because her chest is covered with the ugly scars she received in the Battle of Sodden, something the games did not have the guts to reproduce. In a more confusing note, the books do consistently describe her hair as 'chestnut', which we'd usually think of as meaning 'brown' – though it turns out the games actually may not have been wrong to make her a redhead, since in Poland 'chestnut hair' apparently mean dark red hair (google some pictures of actual chestnuts, and you'll see why). Still, the firy-red-haired Triss of TW3 who wears nothing but plunging necklines remains a bit of a stretch, however you slice it. Once again, TW2 gets her best (and I must say, gave her the nicest outfit) – though even here she's conspicuously unscarred in all her sex scenes.

(Leftmost pic above is official Witcher 2 art, whereas Triss-with-scars fanart comes to us – once again – from nastyaskaya)

Shani

Shani sort of falls into a similar category as Triss as someone who isn't terribly well-served by any of her appearances, given that both exist in the first game largely to compete for Geralt's attentions. But I can't honestly say I find Shani’s portrayal in the Hearts of Stone expansion to be much better – the degree to which either version exists solely to fall all over Geralt is a bit painful, especially given that their relationship in the books is limited to a single, undramatic hook-up. Book!Shani really only appears in a couple of chapters: we meet her as a medical student friend of Dandelion's, who's been surreptitiously selling pilfered university supplies to fund her degree, then later see her again in the final book, where she proves herself as a battlefield medic during the climactic Battle of Brenna. She's pragmatic to a fault, and I really can't see her as the type who needs Geralt to point out to her that her patient is dead, for example, or who'd subject a guy with Geralt's problems to such an extended feelings-dump as you'll get out of her during the wedding.

Shani is a reasonably logical book-character to bring back, if only because she’s one of those who explicitly survives the ending, but for my money, "serious contender for Geralt's affections" is just not a role she works in.

Anna Henrietta

The duchess of Toussaint, Anna Henrietta, is another case who differs more from her book counterpart than you might think. In the books, the duchess is by far the least competent of the (pleasantly many and) various female leaders and rulers we meet – she comes across as rather young and naive, and every bit as absurd as everyone else in the ridiculous fairy-tale duchy she rules. She is, for example, most displeased to learn that Nilfgaard's war against the north is ongoing (something her courtiers have carefully avoided mentioning in her presence), because she'd long since sent the Emperor a stern note demanding he brought it to an end. She promptly has one of her ministers sent to the tower for misinforming her, and demands the others prepare an even sterner note for the emperor, which will surely do the job.

After Dandelion (inevitably) cheats on her, she has him repeatedly sent to the gallows, only to change her mind and send him a reprieve at the very last minute each time. Picture yourself a much younger and prettier version of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, and you've about got her general vibe.

Blood and Wine sort of waves at this part of her character when she first speaks about Dandelion, and again in suggesting there's a widespread feeling she lacks compassion, and once more as she proves utterly immovable on the subject of her sister. But the generally sensible and insightful woman you deal with for most of the main story is a far cry from her book-verse characterisation. That’s a bit of a shame, because I feel like there's a lot more they could have done to blend the two versions of her. Still, it’s hard to argue the duchess we get suits the story being told around her.

Other characters

Much as I love Yennefer, Dijkstra and Phillipa, I don't really have much more to say about them because I feel the games have done such a good job. The Yennefer of the books gets to show a lot more depth and complexity simply because she has more scenes and more space in which to do so, but when ‘there isn’t more of her’ is your biggest complaint, the game is officially doing pretty well. I could certainly gripe her about how “dresses in black and white” seems to have been taken as “dresses in black with maybe a trace of white trim”, or how Yennefer and Triss seem to be the only sorceresses in the world capable of wearing pants, when Phillipa (just for one) is in sensible men’s clothing the very first time we meet her, but that’s getting into serious nitpicking territory.

(Not that Yen can’t look amazing in outfits with more white – art by Emily Caroll, theclashofqueens, BarbaraRosiak, and cosplay by greatqueenlina)

Vesimir, Lambert and Eskel, Geralt's fellow witchers from the School of the Wolf, fall into a similar category for me – though we spend far less time with them in the books, everything we see of them in the games feels like a fairly logical extension of their book-roles. Vesimir is somewhat over-played as the old fogey, and his death is painfully cliched, but the impact on the characters and Kaer Morhen still hits home – and the games do some especially great work expanding Lambert into a much more complex character. To my mind, the only shame is that more of the book-original characters didn't get the same treatment.

Who have I missed? There's Avallac'h, of course, but I think I've got him pretty well covered by that last post. Zoltan, perhaps inevitably, has had his personality largely flattened into 'generic dwarf', with nothing better to do than hang around Geralt and Dandelion. You wouldn't know Book!Zoltan was apparently incapable of turning away women and children in need, for example – even human women and children with the chronic inability to say thankyou for his help. Or that he eventually admits to Geralt that the luggage he and his friends are carrying comes from a decidedly unsavoury source for such a supposedly charitable, upstanding guy. Yes, even Zoltan gets to be a morally complicated character in the books – who knew?

Speaking of dwarves, pleased as I am that Yarpen Zigren gets remembered in TW2, he's an odd one to talk about, since even in the books, he appears to have had a substantial personality transplant between his two main appearances. Yarpen’s a largely comedic figure in The Bounds of Reason short story, where he cheerfully admits to having considered letting his men knock down a particularly pompous aristocrat and piss all over him to teach him a lesson, but he’s evolved into a studious voice of reason against the scoiata'el by Blood of Elves. TW2 doesn't do a particularly good job of capturing either version, which I suspect probably bothered me more than most people – I liked the later book-incarnation of Yarpen immensely (and not even just because he's one of few ever to really call Triss out on just how much she needs to stop misreading Geralt's friendship as anything more than it is). His chapter in Blood of Elves packs a hell of a punch.

On the subject of accents

I do have to wonder if I'd have warmed up to characters like Triss, Shani and Dandelion (or even Letho) more if they'd only had halfway decent voice actors. It's not just that none are exactly leading the talent at the acting part of the job, it's that their American accents stick out in TW3 like a sore thumb.

Geralt mostly gets away his own US accent by dint of being the very first character we meet, so we've gotten used to the way he talks long before we notice how he stands out – hell, maybe that's just how they talk down in Rivia (hilariously, book!Geralt eventually reveals he's not even from Rivia, but simply picked the place and taught himself the accent so he could feel a bit less like the abandoned foundling he is, which only gives us yet more excuse for why his accent might sound a bit weird). More importantly, Geralt is meant to stand out, to be the outsider wherever he goes, so having him sound like no-one else fits the character.

But neither Triss or Dandelion are "of Rivia", and by the time they show up we've had dozens of hours in a game where literally everyone else sounds British, or Scottish, or Irish, or vaguely-eastern-European in the case of the Nilfgaardians. So why do these weirdos sound like no-one else on the continent?

The short answer seems to be that every character with an American accent in TW3 is someone who had an American accent in at least one of the previous games, which were way looser with their casting and had enough incidental American accents around that they didn't stand out. Clearly, by TW3, consistency with prior games has been prioritised over consistency with literally anything else we’re hearing.

Gaetan is an exception to the rule as the only new character (at least that I caught) with an American accent – presumably because between Geralt, Eskel, Lambert, Berengar, and Letho (and cohorts), some sort of 'witchers have American accents' rule has been pretty well established (another random American-accented witcher shows up in Thronebreaker, just to underline the point). We're going to mostly ignore Jad Karadin here, since his British accent is presumably a recent affectation to go with his new identity, and so makes sense.

This still doesn't really work though, since Letho’s school is all the way down in Nilfgaard (land of the Eastern European accents), while the oldest witcher from Kaer Morhen (Vesimir) is the one guy with a British accent. He sounds nothing like any of his students, despite the fact he's logically the guy they ought to have learned their accents from. So the logic falls in a heap however you slice it, and I'm thrown right out of the game.

With TW3 as your intro to the series, it feels almost as if characters like Triss and Dandelion have been assigned American accents because they're just too important to be saddled with the same pedestrian British accents as everyone else, which did nothing to endear them to me. The only one I eventually warmed up to was Lambert, and then only because he's just such a bitter asshole that he eventually goes full circle and comes out the other side (somewhere around when you've heard his miserable backstory, then gotten drunk together and told him how much you love him, man). Gaetan similarly snuck in under the same clause – American accents clearly work better for me in this series when attached to characters you're supposed to find pretty insufferable on first impressions.

Some final notes

To conclude, it seems only fair to throw in a quick nod to some of the more memorable book-characters who don't appear in the games. Neither Mother Nenneke (Geralt's sort-of-surrogate mother) or Vissena (Geralt's biological mother) ever appear either, alas – Vissena doesn't even merit so much as a Gwent card, which seems quite the wasted opportunity.

Milva, Cahir and Angouleme – the three remaining companions of Geralt’s who died alongside Regis but who were not so easily resurrected – naturally don’t appear. But nor are even really mentioned in all the games, which seems rather less than they deserve after giving their lives to Geralt's cause.

Cahir and Angouleme do at least have pretty badass Gwent cards to their names, though I am properly offended that Milva (who has the dubious honour of being my very favourite book character who doesn't ever appear in the games) is stuck with a card of her freaking death scene – which not only gets the scene wrong (believe me, there was no grimacing and gripping the arrow buried shallowly in her chest for poor Milva), but doesn't even bother to get her hair the right colour, for fuck’s sake. Basically, Milva was a stone cold badass and absolutely deserves better. #justice4milva

One can only guess how I'd have felt about some of these characters had I read the books before playing the games – I am obviously biased towards forgiving changes to characters whom I liked in their game incarnations, regardless of how they compare. Still, I think it does speak wonders that there still all these characters who suddenly made sense only after I'd met them in the books.

Even if only for Dandelion and Ciri, I can only dream of seeing a bit more of the book-original characterisations make it into the collective fannish consciousness. There's nothing wrong with getting into the canon purely based on the show or the games, but having read Sapkowski's novels, it's no longer any mystery how they spawned this massive franchise. That the saga wasn’t even fully available in English until well after Witcher 3 was released – a solid couple of decades late, and long after it had already been translated into Russian, French, German, Spanish and more – is a real shame. For once, it’s us in the anglophone world who’ve been missing out: these books deserve so much more than to be thought of as a footnote to the games or the show.

[st-just]

Semi-coherent thoughts on Oathbringer

So, overall probably the most even of the series so far, I’d say? Not to say I didn’t like it – I really, really loved the finale, and there were plenty of great lines, but my god were there a lot of pages spent on nothing happening (honestly it kind of reminded me of the latter volumes of ASOIF, in that sense) – then again, I suppose that is kind of just the nature of these 1000+ page fantasy epics. There were some setting reveals that really were fascinating, and legitimately a bit surprising. Going to have to take a break from the series until the friend I got Rhythm of War for is done so I can borrow it, though I suppose that’s no huge loss compared to the however many years everyone else had to wait in between them.

So in terms of pacing it’s...bad. Or, well, that’s probably a bit unfair. There’s absolutely plenty of fat to cute, but again I do think that might just come with the territory of committing to like a dozen POVs across a tree’s worth of paper (though there were absolutely like 100+ page stretches where I’m not actually sure the plot meaningfully progressed). That said, honestly the main pacing issue isn’t so much the bloat as, like – okay, Dalinar’s arc was a pretty consistent throughline, but for Kalidan and Shallan it kind of felt like there was one whole story in Urithiru, and then from the mission to Kholinar and the journey through the Cognitive Realm felt like its own separate novel? I mean, not sure if that makes any sense, but it really did kind of feel like there was a whole additional first act of table and stakes setting once they arrived in the city.

Though, to argue in favor of bloat for a moment – I was chatting with  @lifeattomsdiner​ bit back about The City We Became, and they mentioned that the size of the cast meant that you don’t actually really get to know any of the protagonists that well on their own. And I suppose that is the advantage of the 1200-page-per-volume epic cycle – even with characters you only really meet in interludes like Szeth, Vargo and Venli (incidentally three of my favorites), you spend enough pages inside of their head that you do really get to see what makes them tick and learn to love/hate them. Speaking of – props to Sanderson as an author, really – it’s vaguely astounding that he manages to keep track of that many internal monologues and actually make them seem distinct from each other.

Breaking things down by character a bit more – this book really did actually enjoy/get invested in Dalinar way more than either of the previous two, which again I’m told is more or less the expected reaction. Given the amount of tumblr brain poison I’m voluntarily exposed myself to, it’s honestly more than a bit of a nice change to see a character on a redemption arc who is actually unambiguously in need of redemption. Because holy shit, pulled, like, exactly two punches in terms of making the guy as genuinely loathsome as possible before he starts breaking. And, well, obviously he was on a redemption arc, but there was a bit near the end there where I really did think that the book was going to cut to black on an ‘end of Act 2, maximum darkness before dawn’ moment with, like, all the Skybreakers and him kneeling before Odium as the city fell. But I suppose that would be a bit much of a cliffhanger for a series with installments this weighty.

This was pretty clearly Shallan’s ‘getting over my personal bullshit’ book, like WoR was for Kaladin and WoK was for Dalinar, though spicing things up with increasingly severe DID as the book went on did make things more interesting at least. Also, I have no idea if this is actually true, but according to the friend who pestered me into reading these when someone asked Sanderson if he’d intentionally written her as bi he just kind of shrugged and said ‘sure, why not,’ which is fun. It was more than a bit, I don’t know, forced?, to have Wit just wander in from stage left and give her a desperately needed therapy session while she was in the middle of a breakdown and propel her development for most of the rest of the book, but on the other hand she’s pretty easily the main POV I’m most invested in by now, and the live triangle the text repeatedly threatened me with never actually became a thing, so I can’t really complain too much. Honestly super curious about the Ghostbloods and what they want out of her given, well, for a shadowy murderous conspiracy, everything they’ve wanted out of her so far has been pretty much entirely benign. Like, of the three major shadowy murderous conspiracies they’re easily the least problematic for the future of humanity at the moment. She should just commit and join for real imo.

As always, Kaladin’s POV is mostly good because it means we get more Syl, who is the single best character in the entire story I’ve decided. But also, I really quite liked his whole sojourn with the newly freed Parshmen and dawning realization that ‘wait these people are basically entirely right’. Also, the delicious delicious angst of spending however many dozens of pages getting to know them and then the wall guard and then the two groups killing each other in a confused melee while he has a mental breakdown. Easily best moment in the book (but then I’m a miserable person).

Adolin is honestly significantly more entertaining to follow than I really expected, though I’m still not like especially invested in him as a character. His relationship with his tailor was quite charming, though, as was the fact that he cares enough about fashion that he learned to sew. Honestly I was rather expecting/slightly dreading his main arc this book to be, like, inadequacy or insecurity over being almost literally the only member of his family that’s not a Radiant, so it’s kind of a pleasant surprise that he seems to have just accepted that (too well-adjust, I guess?). It is however extremely funny that the fact he just straight-up murdered one of the kingdom’s most important aristocrats and the major antagonist of the first two books seems to have resulted in absolutely zero consequences of any kind for him.

In terms of minor characters, the one I’m most invested in by a pretty substantial margin at this point is Venli, as she’s getting a front row seat to all the most interesting bits of the setting, ‘cultist growing increasingly disillusioned about return of ancient and terrible eldritch god’ is a really entertaining character arc just in principle, and because as of the end of the book she represents the morally objectively correct perspective and political line I’ve decided and will fight people about. Curious what sort of superpowers she’ll get. (Vargo and Szeth are still both great though, too).

The Unmade are really fun as a worldbuilding conceit/excuse for weird fucked up monsters. And it really is kind of funny that at least a third of the God of Evil’s nine generals/children/favoured beasts are, like, at conflicted or ambivalent about the whole ‘exterminate humanity and remake the world as a monument to my glory’ thing.  

Really, on an extremely shallow and entirely aesthetic level, between the evil red crystal/lightning aesthetic, the remote mountain fortress as a stronghold of the heroes in the face of the coming apocalypse, tears into the realm of spirits, the quirky evil minibosses each handling corrupting/conquering a given center of civilization, etc, the whole thing kind of reminded me of Dragon Age Inquisition. Which reminded me of how disappointing the story to that game was, which made me like the book more by comparison, but anyway. Yeah, good book.

[kkyujikoo]

As much as intellectually I find some claims around tk to make no sense (and that's just my opinion as a person who wanted to ship it, and as such tried to research on the topic, but ended up thinking "okay but there's nothing here"), it's starting to make me uneasy how this whole 'shipwar' keeps going on every damn day and how every single part of it conducts themselves. Even myself.

While I think comparison is fair game if we're trying to understand how a specific pair interacts (because that's how using context works: by comparing behaviour A to behaviour B, C and D and noticing if there are differences or similarities) there's also the fact that it's always those two pair who get compared to each other, and at some point it actually starts to feel malicious in its intents, like stirring shit into the pot.

Also, as much as I find honestly insulting the narrative people ascribe to Jimin, that of the homewrecker who gets in between tk every single moment, it's also unfair to tk to bring up every single time the fact that they've had a bit of a fallen out in recent years. Yes, they probably aren't as close as they were when they were teens. Which is also normal as relationships during your teenage years (especially in such an insulated context) are more consuming, whether they are friendships or romantic entanglements. That's the nature of teenage relationships. And yes, given their soop talk, they had to recalibrate something in their relationship to make it work again and to get to be closer again. And I think it's something that's very mature of them. But still bringing up that conversation on the verge of 2022 feels disingenuous, especially since it's crystal clear that by now they have patched up whatever rupture had been between them. Crying about distance between them in content filmed and posted in 2021 seems a lot like trying to "defend" the validity of your ship over a moment shared between two other people. And it doesn't diverge all that much from people trying to explain away jikook moments when they ship any other jm or jk ship. There is absolutely no need to. So while I understand perfectly the urge to defend JM (because yeah, it's always him getting the most shit, ngl), if people see a sweet tk moment and the only thing they're doing is saying "tk boyfriends" while I might not agree and not find that claim true, I do not think there is any need to go there with pitchforks and torches and light up their house because they're expressing their ship preference, they're not writing an essay over why that single glance means they love each other. They're simply celebrating and it may even be - shocked gasp - hyperbolic. Because that's how the internet works and as long as people say that in the privacy of their own social media profiles and not right under the interested parties' noses, I am a-okay with that. And even if for some reason I am not, I can choose to SCROLL TF DOWN.

Because if we're going to stir up shit every time a tk moment happens,

1. We're not going to be any different from tkrs. Like. Even if the m.o. is slightly different, slightly less insulting, it's still instigating a fight.

2. We're literally helping along the process of more people getting into conspiracy theories shitholes by polarising the two views. If we attack people or stir up shit just because someone innocently points out a cute tk moment, or thinks a tk moment is "Sus" (which is not the same as saying "yo bro they're definitely a couple and this is the nail in the coffin for me", it's literally just "this moment does not align with my personal view of platonic relationship"), all those people who thought "uhuh they're cute together" will NOT thank us for letting them see the light. They will, instead, get in defensive mode and be even MORE convinced of their own position, even if that position is biased, even if they're not 100% convinced about those opinions being the absolute truth. Which, I grant you, is something that has happened over the years to any pairing out there that has suffered over shipwars. I'm pretty sure it's something that happens to jikookers too. The only difference I see is that most of the time when people get polarised on the "jikook is real" spectrum" they do not tend to think any member is actively trying to get in between anything, meanwhile in the "tk is absolutely 100% real"... There are truly harmful narratives being spread.

And the fact is... Neither of those two positions are true. As much as I can think that there's a way higher probability of Jikook being together than any other pairing in bts, based on how they act and how the members around them, I know Nothing. I can infer and i can discuss with like-minded people, and it's an interesting observational study over human nature, but could I swear on it? I cannot. I should not, and I honestly do not care to do that because shipping is supposed to be a FUN activity that is based on finding some sliver of joy in observing a relationship you're not actively involved in. (And yes, that's exactly the same thing that happens with "supporting", because as much as we pretend it's two different things, supporting is just a nuance on the shipping spectrum.)

And yet, even I sometimes say, despite knowing I have no certainties and knowing I do not care to have them, "jikook boyfriends" with my whole chest. And I am being hyperbolic over my own knowledge, because maybe they are, but maybe they aren't, and I do not feel the need to explain this concept every time I say it, the same way I do not think the chill part of the tk fandom feels the need to explain themselves every time they say it.

In conclusion: I think if we treat people with the assumption that just because they ship something they have some mob mentality, we're gonna push them into behaving that way. Also, and that's a fact, tk HAVE become closer. And that doesn't undermine jikook any more than any other relationship in bts.

Now I know I might be taken for some kind of troll but yk what? Who cares. I needed to get this off my chest and I needed to put it down in writing because in the midst of shipwars even I myself have made these mistakes, and by writing this down I'm binding myself to do better. If you want to do the same, feel free. If you don't, that's also your choice