#Magus my beloved

[pix3lplays]

Ramble about video games~

Also um spoilers for Chrono Trigger…game came out in 1995 but just in case-

Random but I was thinking about my favorite video game of all time today.

Who else played Chrono Trigger? I was a kid…and I remember watching a video where someone talked about a boss from the game and somehow that was enough for me to go and find it for myself and play it-

Love at FIRST SIGHT I’m TELLING YOU-

I don’t remember my exact age but something I did when I was little was name everything after myself haha, but I remember using the default names for this game. Random and unimportant but I thought it was funny lol. I had this How To Train Your Dragon game on my DS and all my dragons just. Had my name or the name of a random color because those were the only things I could spell haha, I was so young-

But yeah I used the default names for Chrono Trigger, though now every time I replay I tend to name Frog ‘Glenn’ and when I’m feeling extra angsty I’ll name Magus ‘Janus’ haha

BUT SERIOUSLY that game is so good the amount of DETAIL and EFFORT put into every little part of it??

I used to know like EVERY single secret and stuff haha but anyways-

My party was always Frog, Ayla, and Magus and I remember that quest where you upgrade the Masamune. Like the little details were INSANE- if you had Magus on your party he would look away when the Masamune upgraded-like I know it’s just a little thing but oh my gosh I was OBSESSED??

And the music was SO good. SO GOOD. So many of the songs are a PART of me now, and Magus Confronted/Battle with Magus?? I will STILL stand by that as one of the greatest boss themes ever made-also World Revolution and Last Battle but yeah

And also you could have Magus fight and kill his own horrible mother, and they had SPECIAL DIALOGUE WITH EACH OTHER?? I was ALL about that-actually if I remember correctly he has a monologue and his theme starts playing during it too-

And going to that little village…if you’re playing as Magus his cat will recognize you and follow you??? Yeah. That was cool.

I do talk about Magus a lot haha…and he was the one I wrote the most fanfiction for too, I think I have five different note tabs of Magus fanfiction haha…I WANTED him haha I ADMIT IT…but my favorite character is still Glenn. Magus is a VERY close second but…Glenn.

And I love how their stories are interwoven. I LOVED that scene on the cliff’s edge where you can choose revenge or mercy as Glenn.

(I restarted haha because I totally went revenge first and I killed Magus and then got sad when all that remained was his pendant…)

Honestly Glenn’s mercy dialogue?? I was INSPIRED, I was a KID and I was like how is he going to justify not taking revenge on Magus?? But then he DID and I just- :0

Also when the game wants to be funny it ACTUALLY is funny haha, Dalton getting mad when the music was wrong was so funny. Him throwing the fireball at you only for it to immediately deflect was funny. Him hitting you with “whoa look over there!” and it actually working on your entire party was FUNNY-

And Magus and his dry humor was immaculate. Have him on your party when you’re doing the Marle’s mother mission and he’ll be the first one to find the genuine, heartfelt letter from her mother and his immediate reaction is to turn to you and say, “shall we burn it?” What is WRONG with him I love him so much-

That one ending where you can get Glenn and the Queen together?? Thusly turning Marle part frog?? That is GENIUS and HILARIOUS-the fact that they even let you do that…

Ozzie being all haha you can’t beat me and making himself impervious to damage only for you to just…flip a lever and defeat him immediately. And also the whole sequence of going through Ozzie’s castle was great haha. You can walk into an obvious trap and he’ll laugh at you and fade into the shadows?? That was so funny.

That one boss fight that was afraid of heights and thusly wouldn’t attack you because you were high up-

Also there is so much to say about how complicated the characters were despite being a video game that came out in 1995-

Specifically referring to Glenn and Magus though I swear THOSE TWO were the main characters to me haha.

Glenn’s my favorite and his story is GREAT but MAGUS?

(Also I still remember those scenes where you find the monsters worshiping the Magus statues they were so ominous…)

He’s so complicated I love it. He’s mean he’s grouchy he threatens you all the time he’s prideful on the surface but he plays the part of the villain even though his goal is to LITERALLY save the world. That scene leading up to the confrontation?? With the fire?? Epic. YEAH he’s a bad mean cruel man but…his main goal is to save the ONE person who had ever showed him true genuine kindness. Him and Schala make me emotional-he just wants to save and protect his big sister-

Also I feel like I should mention it haha I DID play Chrono Cross too, purely because I wanted to see how it connected to Chrono Trigger and. Yeah it’s not a bad game by any means but it just wasn’t for me. I thought a lot of the character designs were pretty cool and I thought the story was interesting enough. But yeah it was not Chrono Trigger. I think I got about halfway through it before I just. Went back to replaying Chrono Trigger-

Also I know I’m not the only one-Magus’s sprites were lowkey kinda hot haha. Him adjusting his glove. His cool arm motions when he casts a spell. The way his hair flows when you run as him. His COOL attack animations-especially the critical hits. I’m about it. And then you open the menu to mess with your equipment and he just looks…so scary haha. I still love him I WOULD marry him and I say that CONFIDENTLY haha. It’s like still having feelings for your childhood love~

And okay the criticisms about Chrono Trigger are typically pretty fair but that doesn’t make it a bad video game at all.

In my opinion…10/10.

Also side note Earthbound is really really really good too also one of my favorites~ AND THE REVITALIZER?? FROM CHRONO TRIGGER?? MAKES AN APPEARANCE IN EARTHBOUND??? THANK YOU.

But yeah I love Chrono Trigger. I remember I even played a fan game that gave more of a backstory to Magus making himself look like a Prophet to Queen Zeal. Cool.

Thinking about my Magus x reader fanfics now. I have in my notes something about a fic I wanted to write where Magus lost his lover to Lavos, or the flow of time, because I’m just angsty that way. Wonder why I never did it.

Other stuff included headcanons about his physical appearance and stuff. I had things like he has “sharp nails” and such.

Quote random person in Antiquity: “The prophet’s aura is clouded with hatred and sorrow. If he does not free himself of those emotions, he’ll destroy himself and those he loves along with him.” And I thought about that WAY too much-like EXCUSE ME??

Also I love the way Magus talks. “Unimaginable is the power of Lavos! Before him, all are as leaves cast to the bitter black winds that howl about Death’s black wings.” Yeah SAY It KING.

Anyways I’m just sayin it’s not weird to have a crush on Magus you can tell me I won’t judge.

Please marry me, Magus.

And of course I have a bit about reader calling him “Janus” instead of Magus I thought I was on to something haha.

Also I JUST remembered him being all, “oh kiss any princesses lately?” when he encountered Glenn. That was FUNNY.

Anyways I meant for this to be more of a Chrono Trigger appreciation post and not so much a Magus appreciation post but um yeah that’s very in-character for me to get a little off focus.

I think I’ve literally only found a single Magus x reader fic online hmm maybe I’ll change that…

Would anyone read that?? Seriously tell me. I’m adding Magus to my writing list lol…

Anyways yeah play Chrono Trigger. It’s GOOD. I wanna play it right now but I know if I start it up again I’ll disappear completely for a few days haha. But if I disappear for a few days you’ll know what happened, I have NO self-control lol.

[sailorstarr-chan4]

DISCLAIMER: I PLACED SERIES LIKE FRUITS BASKET IN A SEPARATE POLL. Reason being? While it IS a fantasy (family cursed with zodiac animal spirits), it is also very..... grounded, more "magical surrealism" than full-blown "fantasy." You can find my "non fantasy" romance poll here (and yes, Fruits Basket won lol)

Because there's a bazillion romance anime out there, especially in the fantasy category, I limited this list to only include ones I'm familiar with (even while cutting several other titles that I love, alas). But I still set some ground rules so I wouldn't make the list too complicated, mainly that romance is central to the characters, theme, and/or story.

Things I deliberately omitted to make this list simpler:

magical girls

anything by Rumiko Takahashi

any standalone movies (Studio Ghibli, Makoto Shinkai, Mamoru Hosoda, etc)

most harems/reverse harems (listen, I couldn't NOT count Fushigi Yuugi)

[regionbetween]

[carrotcouple]

Doodle of Vlad as a teenager that I will not finish coloring

[allynabean]

💙⚡️Vihrok, a commission for @goblincourier!!

♡ commissions ♡ support me ♡ tip jar ♡

[adamwarlock]

Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2 / The Infinity War #1 / The Infinity Crusade #1 & 6

[red-dyed-sarumane]

u know what im giving everyone homework. u have to perceive my blorbos from my songs now. no none of these have any other info outside of their respective songs. (some of them have other art tho!! sena yuta drew the unplanned apoptosis chara & kugutsu ashura chara a second time for example)

this is. in my opinion. the best song ever. i love screaming for 6 minutes straight & i love that the story telling is built into the instrumental as well as just. everythingn else god i love kyuuyaku hankagai so much

this is my wife my fave chara ever. (rn). this song is so dynamic and pretty it gives me so many emotions

this song HATES translators. u cant be super direct with it or it makes no sense bc its just words. the ending takes me out every single time tho i cannot overstate how much the end lyrics mean to me

she is soooooo funny to me. shes the only chara with teal eyelashes and she acts so petty(?) immature. i love her. song sounds like chaos. as it should.

okay this ones not aru sekai but its my layout rn. this one also sucks for translators bc its like 95% word play. the text in the bg is a silly little halloween theme story that is arguably less scary than the aru sekai series songs

welcome to the first song they uploaded. its 11 minutes long and it absolutely cannot be any shorter for thematic reasons. it holds so much info on the series while also somehow being completely incomprehensible without other songs for context. none of us have any idea what the greek(?) letters/phrases mean beyond i can hear that toroid & function is in there if u have any clue i am literally begging u to tell me. this is long but its like the easiest song in the world to listen to i promise they have amazing composition in it it works

this song gave me a crisis for like a solid month its so GOOD but the concept of having everything that makes u who u are torn away from u by force is downright devastating of a concept. somehow i think this is the most direct song in the series so far

me with my shuuenpro brain like haha what if they make the shuu song "shuuen" and then losing my mind when it actually happened. the distance in this song is absurd. i lost the link but hiiragima posted a vid about a super long journey like this outside of this series it still blows my mind

ill leave u with canon bc i always pretend its not one of my fave songs & then it makes me feel like crying. the "'no one's going to become a sacrifice' i clung to such ideals" gets to me okay

[theskeletoninthegarden]

I have the worst love-hate relationship with my Pop dolls.

[spontaneousmusicalnumber]

i get what you meant with the anime post but i feel like boiling jjk season 2 down to just "sadness and horror" is really reductive.

like. yes, absolutely. in this comparison jjk is way grittier and darker, and the choice to have most of the season happen within the span of a single night means there is alot of the season happens in the dark of night (although even then i think given the fight that happens in the train terminal that i dont want to spoil if you didnt see it, and alot of the later fights do alot more with their colours so I dont know if i agree with calling out the pallete)

but at the same time, I think JJK isn't a series based around it being sad or horrific. it is, but at every turn, the series presents it as "these are horrors beyond your scope. you are direly outmatched by the literal manifestation of pain and hatred in this world. Find a way to fight against it"

and while this interpretation is alot more relevant in where we are in the manga, it's something I think the series is trying to communicate the entire time. at its core, JJK is about hope; about finding who you are, and using the very hurt that exists inside you to confront a world that is fundementally hostile to you with planted feet and renewed confidence, and i think that when it's given room to breathe (and probably given time to have some later material adapted), jjk is a genuinely refreshing story. its a story that is dark and sad and painful, but its a story about choosing to keep moving forward in spite of that pain and uses its sorld and systems to bolster that theme

I get that yeah, alot of this is more vibes than it is themes, and jjk does absolutely can feel like dark shonen slop at times, but I really do think that it deserves a little more reverence as a series wanting to use its darker tone to explore hope in hopelessness.

hope you can find more of the stuff you like though!! i dont mean this as some sort of inditement I just have hills i want to die on

I know it's MORE than grimdark shonen, however to me that grimdark shonen part was so overpowering that I wasn't able to find much enjoyment in the work as a whole. I compare it to Dorohedoro- just as gory, but with a much lighter heart to it. I also stand by the fact that Nobara was done dirty and her character is paper-thin compared to the other two of the main trio. The end of the season was vague on whether or not she's alive but either way she deserved so much better. That's my petty hill to die on she (is/was) my favorite.

Though it's got flaws, it's undeniably very well made and also just not the kind of story I enjoy. Same with Game of Thrones- I found it tiresome how quickly characters were introduced and killed and just started checking out emotionally altogether. It's like how some people like really dark chocolate or really spicy food. Not for me.

(Also I watch anime on an aging laptop so I literally couldn't see a chunk of stuff going on, like what I saw of the Todo vs Mahito battle was mostly vibes. The choso fight in the bathroom was SICK as hell though)

[forgetfulmachineart]

My brain: I have an idea for an animatic

Me: You're thinking of Scar and Grian taking a nap after session 4 of Double life where the only movement is them breathing to the song Like Real People Do thats not an animatic

Brain: ,,,,,,,,I,,,,,,I have an idea of an animatic

Me: ADDIN DIFFERENT ANGLES DOESNT MAKE IT AN ANIMATIC

[arimiadev]

why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail

I love visual novels. being a long time fate/stay night fan and only having heard of mahoyo from hushed whispers about its cinematography, I was super invested when it was announced to be coming to the west and I could finally play an official version of it.

however, a lot of people interested in type-moon works had never heard of mahoyo, let alone it getting an official english translation. but how? aniplex is publishing the game and they're one of the largest anime distributors in the world.

with the console release of mahoyo being almost exactly a year ago and the steam release being just 10 days away, I want to look over some of aniplex USA's bizarre and nonexistent marketing for one of my favorite visual novels.

let's clear up a few things, first.

mahoyo is the shortened form of mahoutsukai no yoru (not to be confused with mahoutsukai no yome, i.e. the ancient magus bride), which has been localized as witch on the holy night. mahoyo was a linear non-eroge visual novel released by type-moon in 2012, being one of the first scripts kinoko nasu (co-founder of type-moon) wrote back in 1996 and adapted into a VN many, many years later.

in April of 2022, a console remaster (switch, playstation 4) was announced with HD assets and voice acting, to be published by aniplex. notably, this console release would contain an english translation and was later confirmed in June to be sold in the west via online retailers. this was huge news, as this meant mahoyo would be the first type-moon visual novel (not including gameplay-oriented titles like fate/extella or fate/grand order) to be officially released in the west, as despite numerous fan translations, their more recognizable visual novels tsukihime and fate/stay night still had not received a localization.

type-moon is the developer behind mahoyo and aniplex is the publisher, meaning that type-moon made the game and aniplex is in charge of distributing (and marketing) the game worldwide.

timeline:

April 11 2022: Mahoyo rerelease announced for consoles (Switch & PlayStation 4), including English translation

July 4 2022: Aniplex confirms Mahoyo will be available to the West, localized under the name Witch on the Holy Night

October 14 2022: 2nd trailer released, more voice actor info announced

November 3 2022: physical pre-orders launched, demo version available

November 18 2022: Aniplex attends Anime NYC with Mahoyo

December 7 2022: Mahoyo released digitally on Switch / PlayStation 4 (Dec 8th in Japan, Dec 7th in America)

December 12 2022: Mahoyo reaches 110k units sold worldwide

January 27 2023: Mahoyo physicals release

July 5 2023: Mahoyo reaches 150k units sold worldwide

September 10 2023: Mahoyo announced for Steam via a now unlisted Aniplex livestream

December 13 2023: Mahoyo will be released on Steam (Dec 14th in Japan, Dec 13th in America)

some of the dates might be a little fuzzy, especially the release dates, as some sources go by japanese time and some go by american timezones, so just be aware of that.

now, let's talk a bit about mahoyo itself.

mahoyo is a masterpiece. it's a niche game not meant for everyone. its cinematography is top notch among visual novels. its writing style can be off-putting to people who want faster-paced stories. it's one of my most beloved visual novels I've ever played, and I've been in this field for almost a decade and have played well over 100 VNs.

mahoyo is a completely linear visual novel—meaning it has no choices or gameplay—that follows aoko, a high schooler mage trying to balance her perfect school president facade with her secret life as a mage, something she has to keep secret at the risk of death. this is one of the lesser known type-moon works but it's well beloved because of the care put into it.

if you've ever heard someone talk about it, it's almost impossible for them to not mention the visuals. mahoyo is one of the most visually impressive visual novels I've ever seen, with its inspired use of artwork and in-game animations. I cannot recommend this VN enough if you like modern fantasy and don't mind linear VNs.

before we dive into aniplex USA's marketing, I want to clarify a few marketing terms for people who don't market visual novels as a job. marketing is not just advertising—it's everything related to how a product communicates with potential users, including its branding, its packaging, its everything. when marketing a game, you have several different avenues: social media, press & influencers, trailers, store pages, and more.

today I want to show you how, based off what I have researched after a long, manic day, aniplex USA has failed mahoyo on all of these accounts.

so let's go back to its western release.

mahoyo has a few official english channels:

website

twitter

facebook

aniplex also has an official english twitter with almost 500k followers where they shared mahoyo very rarely—only 9 tweets about the game ever.

well, surely their other pages are more maintained right—

both accounts stopped posting July 10th/11th, with their last post being about mahoyo going on sale on consoles. let's look at their posts prior to this, though, starting with the twitter.

we can see that the twitter account was made in december of 2022. if we scroll down far enough (it's not hard, given they only have 33 tweets), we can see that their first tweet was on december 6th 2022:

let's go back to our timeline. can you tell me when mahoyo's remaster released digitally?

yes they made both of the english mahoyo social media accounts the day before the game launched

we can very easily add up the entire social media posts for the game thus far:

mahoyo english twitter - 30 tweets and 3 retweets

mahoyo english facebook - 27 posts

aniplex english twitter - 9 tweets

aniplex english facebook - 2 posts

no other english social media accounts were tied to the website, so these are the only ones I looked at. this means in total, there were only 68 social media posts for the console release of mahoyo by the publisher for english audiences.

but what about the steam release? after the game sold over 150k+ units on consoles, surely aniplex was ready to market it a bit more for pc users—

neither account has made a post about the upcoming steam release.

if we look at the twitter, they have 3 tweets since July that do talk about the upcoming steam release- however, these are retweets from the japanese mahoyo account.

we know that this twitter and this facebook account are the official social media for mahoyo as they're linked on the website, so they're definitely meant to be followed for game updates in the west. well, maybe the english aniplex twitter has posted about it—

none of the english aniplex or mahoyo accounts have made a single post about the steam release

that's right, the social media posts I counted above are the only posts for mahoyo on their english accounts, all dating back before the steam release was announced. since then, they have not made a single original post even mentioning the steam release.

meanwhile, the japanese mahoyo twitter has been hustling hard to promote the upcoming steam release—reposting trailers, character bios, and more almost every day with pretty good numbers.

in fact, the japanese mahoyo twitter did such a good job at marketing it that the aniplex USA twitter never mentioned the english mahoyo twiter, instead only @ ing the japanese one in tweets (despite the english one being linked on the website).

why they even bothered making social media accounts and then not running them despite being one of the largest anime distributors in the world I have no clue.

well, maybe they didn't need to rely on social media presence. maybe they were going for the in-person approach and marketing it at conventions.

mahoyo had basically no anime convention presence

the only reference I can find to aniplex notably promoting mahoyo at any western convention is this tweet of them at anime NYC. from someone who was at anime NYC, I've been told that they pushed the game heavily at their booth with TV screens promoting the game.

however, anime NYC is only one anime convention. you cannot hope to sell a game by just attending one anime convention. mahoyo might have had a presence at other american conventions, but I'm unable to find any images or news about this.

maybe they don't understand type-moon

aniplex is the publisher for fate/grand order, one of the most successful mobile games ever created. they're also the distributor for a majority of type-moon related anime, ranging from fate to garden of sinners to side series. aniplex's marketing team should have lots of experience with type-moon properties.

maybe it was promoted in other aniplex titles

I was also unable to find a news post in fate/grand order related to mahoyo's release, despite news posts for other type-moon series (namely fate but also things like melty blood) getting news posts in fate/grand order. I might've missed the news posts when looking back through FGO but I don't believe there was one.

maybe it sold well in other regions but not western ones

(I'm going to be referring only to the console release for these stats, keep in mind)

mahoyo released December 7th/8th 2022 with an english, japanese, simplified chinese, and traditional chinese translations. at the end of the release week, mahoyo's japanese twitter announced the game had sold 110k copies worldwide and famitsu reported that 66,344 of these units were sold in japan. this means we have around 43k units unaccounted for.

we know the game was available in english, japanese, and chinese languages but we don't know what regions. mainland china has a very large visual novel playerbase (I say this as someone who sells visual novels), which means if it were sold there then it's easy to say that a big chunk of that 43k units could be attributed to them—this also means it would be easy to believe that aniplex saw mahoyo selling worse in western countries and took this as a sign to not promote the game any more there.

but was it ever sold in mainland china? from what I could tell—no.

looking at pricing charts for the nintendo eshop and the playstation store, china is not listed on either. furthermore, searching the game's chinese title on the chinese playstation store does not bring back any results. it looks like the only predominantly chinese-speaking regions that were able to buy it are hong kong, taiwan and possibly singapore (the playstation store page for it doesn't look like it's available for purchase anymore).

so what does this tell us?

without any other numbers it's hard to tell how many of the 43k launch week sales came from english-speaking players, but even if we conservatively say that only around 20k of the 110k launch week units were from western countries, that's still almost a million in revenue (and remember, the physical limited edition of the game was available in english for $60, which is $20 more than the digital base version).

maybe the store page is so good they don't need to market it

here's a little secret: store pages matter a lot more than you'd think. there are entire job positions dedicated to tailoring store pages (like a steam game page) to make it perfect for the game's target audience. there's a science to it that includes the artwork, descriptions, tags, screenshots, and more.

let's see what aniplex did for the steam page of mahoyo.

A tale told with vivid colors and rich sound in a classic TYPE-MOON visual novel.

I don't know how to describe this short description charitably other than to say it sounds like a person who's never heard of a visual novel has been tasked with describing a visual novel.

this tells me nothing about the game other than it's a visual novel. I hope you know what type-moon is, because if you don't then you've learned nothing else from this. alright, well, let's look at the screenshots—

there's only 1.

currently as of writing this, there's 10 images uploaded as screenshots (no trailers, they keep adding and removing the trailers for some reason). 9 of these images are just the full artworks from the game while 1 is an actual screenshot.

I really hate this, as you're not actually shown what the game looks like unless you look at the very last screenshot. this will absolutely lead to some people not understanding what they're getting into. what's worse is that some of these CGs are spoilers, especially one in particular featuring my wife touko.

why are we spoiling people instead of showing them screenshots? why not show people what mahoyo actually looks like??

there's also absolutely no use of the announcements section on steam. each game on steam can post announcements related to the game, including upcoming releases, new updates, and more. it's customary to post a steam announcement when a game has a release date announcement. mahoyo's steam page has none.

well they probably released the trailers in english for hype

I wish I had that much hope.

on mahoyo's english website, all of the videos listed are from the official type-moon youtube, which is their japanese channel. type-moon went through the effort to translate these videos. aniplex didn't upload these to their own youtube, where they already upload everything related to the fateverse and nasuverse.

searching up witch on the holy night brings up no results for the trailer—aniplex never uploaded the trailer to their channel.

maybe they got influencers to play it

according to steamdb, the max amount of viewers mahoyo streams have had on twitch was 71 viewers.

furthermore, if we check twitch and look for vods attached to mahoyo, we only find 4 videos total, all of which were posted in the past week. it looks like they didn't even reach out to streamers to play the console release, much less pay them.

over on the press side, it does look like they reached out to at least a few reviewers. for example, on the review by noisy pixel, they clarify that a review copy was provided by the publisher for review purposes. we can add that to the bare minimum of marketing—reaching out to press.

however, they did get for some other influencers to share the game! ...twitter game sale influencers, that is.

there's actually a lot more of these types of tweets for mahoyo than I was expecting when I searched it on twitter. as a friend pointed out, just because it says "#ad" doesn't necessarily mean these were paid for by aniplex—a lot of these links look to be referrals, which means they're getting a cut of any purchases.

let's recap

mahoyo released over 110k copies in the launch week for it's worldwide console release despite very, very limited marketing efforts from its publisher aniplex. now that the game has proven it can sell very well despite being a lesser known linear visual novel, aniplex has done no marketing for the steam release- no tweets, no influencer outreach, no localization of trailers, no announcements via steam, nothing.

so why?

why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail?

even after all of this, I still do not know why. to me, it's clear that the marketing team at aniplex were (most likely) given no budget for this game and just couldn't do anything with it, deciding to spend what little money they had on press outreach and an anime NYC booth.

but why? why didn't aniplex give them a budget, even a small one? why was their budget so tiny they couldn't even afford to tweet? to RT more posts from the japanese twitter? to share the already translated trailers to their own accounts?

I've heard a few excuses like "type-moon hates western fans and probably caused it" but this doesn't make any sense either. why would you authorize a translation of your game and allow your publisher to sell the game overseas but specifically make them not market the game (and what publisher would agree to that)? I've even heard excuses like "they just forgot it was coming out", to which I ask "how does an entire marketing team (a company the size of aniplex absolutely has a team(s) for marketing and not a singular person) forget a release for a game that's already sold over 150k copies?". the only excuse I've seen that I somewhat buy is that they did not have much faith in the game and relied almost entirely on fans doing word of mouth marketing for the game.

I don't think we'll ever get an answer. while I do believe the marketing team at aniplex was most likely given no budget for mahoyo, it still begs the question of why. why did someone at aniplex not want to give mahoyo a marketing budget? why are the japanese accounts for mahoyo and type-moon the only ones doing the marketing?

I hope the information I've provided here is accurate—if it's not, I'll try to update with corrections. I don't want this piece to cast hate towards the staff at aniplex or anyone involved with this projects, I'm just trying to assemble the pieces on what feels like a game being left to word of mouth. I've tried to include as many links to my sources as I could so you could come to your own judgements about what has happened regarding mahoyo's worldwide release.

mahoyo is a visual novel that's dear to me and will absolutely sell well on steam—with an estimated 50-80k wishlists, it's going to have a solid launch despite the zero marketing for its steam release. if you love other type-moon works or want to see an absolutely visually stunning visual novel, please check it out.

— arimia

[hubrisbracket]

Hubris Bracket Side A Poll 3: Trixie Lulamoon (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) vs Erin Ruunaser (Aurora Comic)

Propaganda below (may contain spoilers)

Trixie Lulamoon

If any mlp character deserves to be in the hubris bracket it should be Trixie. Also she literally didn't even do anything wrong except entertain people (which is literally her job) and was punished just because the mane six couldn't take a fking joke. And, I might be wrong about this- but Trixie was originally only supposed to appear for like one episode but the fans loved her so much they brought her back and she became one of the biggest characters on the show. literal legend. Stream Magic Bitch by Vylet Pony and Magic by The Living Tombstone btw "sometimes you gotta let your ego slip for your own mental health" -Vylet Pony

egotistical magician my beloved... petty stage magician. she has a long standing rivalry with the princess of friendship (twilight sparkle ofc) who is incredibly powerful with actual magic. she tried to run twilight out of town once. it didn't go well. oh also she's besties (gay) with twilight's protege which annoys her to no end. also also she's sooooo trans the entire fandom agrees

Erin Ruunaser

This man walked directly into a primordial magic storm with an almost 100% death rate because he wanted to look at what's in the middle; he's the current Elemental Magus, and it has definitely gone to his head; he's outsmarted (or tried to outsmart) an eldritch evil that killed the oldest and most powerful gods of his world twice, which possessed him because of his aforementioned storm-walk; and his creator has called him Sicktats McHubris at least once. Also, he acts incredibly smug all the time.

He’s kinda like the avatar, so he thought that it would be a good idea to walk into a magical storm that no person had ever seen the center of. He ended up getting possessed by an ancient god-killing evil and now has to get rid of him. The fandom has nicknamed him Sicktats McHubris, on account of his very cool magical tattoos.

[forbidden-sunlight]

yandere! kusuriuri with chise!reader headcanons

Warnings: obsessive behavior, violence, and blood.

There may also be possible triggers in this story.

If you do not feel comfortable venturing any further, please hit the 'back' button on your device or computer and read something much more pleasant than a possible series of unfortunate events.

Hey guys, welcome to the finale in this mini-series, featuring the beloved Medicine Seller of the classic anime horror series, Mononoke, and the character!reader who is Chise Hatori from the fantastic world of The Ancient Magus Bride. There will also be some references from the aforementioned manga/anime series as well as from the cozy novel Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I highly recommend it! :)

Shout-out to @enryegotrip for being a collaborator and being an awesome person as well @deathmetalunicorn1 for providing feedback and making sure all the characters weren’t too OOC 😅 Check out their stuff, guys, their blogs are fantastic.

So with that being said, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ending of this cozy yandere fic :) If you would like to see more adventures featuring these two, please let me know in the comments!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE : A FOX’S WEDDING PREPARATIONS

The flow of time is erratic and completely unpredictable in the Fairy Kingdom. A day here could be an entire season in the human world or even a week. It is not controlled by the rulers of this plane, so the neighbors cannot be completely blamed when they lure a beautiful human away from their home with enchanting music for the purpose of playing with them until there is nothing left of them, a soulless husk. That was how they entertained themselves for centuries. It would even be considered a sport.  Fortunately, the number of incidents has decreased drastically since I succeeded Elias as the mage of this village. My workload, however, is not the reason why I haven’t been writing in the leatherbound notebooks as I should have been; there is one to record my daily life, and another to document whatever discoveries I make in the field. 

As I am writing this, I am recounting what my houseguest Kusuriuri has told me, word for word. These are his words, not mine. The last memory I have is returning home from a day in the city. I had collected supplies for a lecture at the College. Because I am a Sleigh Beggy, I am much closer to the source of magic than any living creature, save for those who have existed for eons, such as Ashen Eyes and the ancient spirits that surround the forest just beyond the village. That was why the Director invited me to speak to the students, and impart my knowledge to them. Including a lengthy discussion, I was also entrusted with overseeing the first-years interacting with the neighbors, and stepping in if things got out of hand. 

Yet when I stepped into the backroom where I worked, organizing everything for the following morning, I had collapsed. Ruth had been the first one to hear the loud thud, having sat outside of the door curled up in a ball, bored and waiting for dinner to be ready so he could drag me out of there. Silky was in the kitchen, and so was he, Kusuriuri, assisting her in preparing the evening’s meal since he had already gone for a walk around the village and read some books earlier. He claimed to have heard Ruth's barking and followed the sound to see me laying on the floor, unconscious and bleeding from the mouth. 

Silky panicked, naturally, and rushed back to the kitchen to grab the smelling salts and other herbs that Elias had told her to specifically brew as soon as she saw symptoms of magical depletion. Kusuriuri lowered to the ground and lifted me off of the floor, being careful not to jostle me. When he saw Ruth mirroring the same condition as I, he asked him to get back in the shadows, as from what he understood, it is safer for him to maintain his state of mind and spiritual body. He swore to Ruth that he would look after me, doing whatever he could to help. 

It was Ruth who had instructed him to take me to see Shannon, the changeling doctor who has been treating me for my condition. By offering a trinket to the Ariels, he was led to a fairy mound and took me there, bundled up in a thick blanket and a blindfold around my eyes so that my body did not keep unconsciously absorbing the magic around me. They led him past the mound’s barrier, down the evergreen steps and into the Fairy Kingdom where Shannon ran her clinic. 

It appears that as soon as he stepped into the Fairy Kingdom, the glamor charms he had placed on him were removed. The Kusuriuri who now sits beside me in a chair with a strange smile, is the true form of my foxy guest. Wavy light pink hair that reflected orange highlights beneath the realm’s eternal sunlight, cat-yellow eyes, and skin that accentuated the intricate patterns that were painted on his face. The bright, hallucinogenic patterns of his kimono were turned inside out, transforming into greens, reds, and blues against obsidian silk.  He was, is, truly beautiful in such an ethereal way, anyone who could not succumb to his seduction charms would know immediately he was not a human. Then again, seduction charms have ensured that the fox spirits were still alive to this very day and not hunted down tirelessly by exorcists. 

If there is one truth I hate to admit…it is never knowing whether I have used too much magic, or just enough so that I do not keep passing out and getting treatment. I hate being a burden to others, even when I am getting better at asking for help if I truly need it. It is hard to believe that it might already be close to half of a year since Ruth brought him home, injured and very confused in an era of modern society that is nothing like his home country. 

But I am getting ahead of myself. Presently, Shannon is having me undergo extensive treatment, physical and magical therapy to be precise. Angela will need to be contacted to create another talisman to regulate the magic being absorbed and expelled from my body. Kusuriuri….well….he asked me a question that caught me off guard, completely out of the blue.

“At death’s door, you are given two choices: to be young, healthy, and beautiful forevermore….or would allow yourself to be ferried to the afterlife, and be judged for the life you have led as a human?”

Yes. That is what he asked me. And I answered truthfully, because….well, I cannot lie, even if I wanted to. Being an immortal does not give someone the ability to go against the laws of nature and control. Their time is just extended, and soon everything and everyone will return from where they came from; the soil beneath our feet, or the river of magic that sustains all life for the hidden ones.  There is not a single being in this world that is an exception of the inevitable. Looking back, from when I had almost all hope and sold myself on the black market, to being a respectable mage who has come to accept the demons of the past yet cannot forgive those who have harmed me and my loved ones…I’d say I have lived a very fulfilling life.

If I had died that day I blacked out in the lab...I would have only regretted being a burden to Silky and Ruth, for they have been here for me ever since Elias to travel the world on a sabbatical. He stared at me, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open for but only a moment before he smiled softly.  He then stood from his chair, stepping forward and pulling me into his arms, one hand placed on my shoulder and the other resting on the back of my head.

He whispered softly in my ear, two words that startled and confused me greatly. “You pass.” 

Pass? What did I pass, exactly?

Unfortunately I did not have an opportunity to ask what he meant because Shannon is now here, announcing it is time for our physical therapy session in the woods, which is why I will stop writing in here until much later, hopefully…

Kusuriuri watched the changeling and her patient walk away from the cottage towards the forest. Albeit tempted to follow them and become more familiarized with Shannon’s medical methods, he tried not to worry; the red string attached to his pinky reminded him that no matter where or how far he was apart from [First Name], he would always find his bride. There is no doubt that his creator is already aware that the mage had passed his test and was already coordinating with the other gods to prepare the wedding ceremony. Inari-sama always got like this whenever his children found their lifelong companion, acting more like an anxious mother-in-law who wanted everything to be perfect. 

No doubt it would take place in the temple, a traditional procession where the world would go silent as his kindred trailed after the bride, donned in kimonos and masks that coordinated with the clans they were affiliated with. Still…perhaps it was not too much of a stretch to ask his creator to allow him to have a tiny bit of control over the ceremony before things got too out of hand, yes? He is the groom after all. 

He felt his face heat up at the image of [First Name] donned in the white bridal kimono and wearing a fox mask, his heart beginning to hammer against his ribs. Ah…she would be so beautiful that day, he had no doubt. And she will be all his, so very, very, soon.  But he must be patient. He had not waited this long to attain a bride he personally desired by being hasty.  A love like theirs must be gently nurtured, after all. 

The love of a mage and a zenko who kills Mononoke, that is.

And a zenko will always guard what they treasure the most, keep them away from those who would dare to try and claim what is rightfully theirs. 

Bonus Content:

Because his bride possessed the Gift of Sight, [First Name] is able to see the Mononoke as clear as day. This revelation both relieved Kusuriuri and elevated his overprotective nature tenfold, especially when they traveled to Japan for their honeymoon. Neither had expected to cross paths with a highly aggressive bakeneko in the halls of an inn renowned for its hot springs, yet [First Name] proved herself to be highly efficient in using magical tools to keep the Mononoke at bay as well as helping him figure out its Form, Truth, and Regret.

Did he also mention...that she was also exceptionally beautiful when she yelled at him at the top of her lungs to release the Sword of Exorcism as she pushed back against the Mononoke, utilizing strength of The Dragon's Curse that was nestled within her arm?

Perhaps...he'll make more of an attempt to purposely anger if it meant seeing such a lovely expression on her face.

Taglist:

@saltyfruitbat

@westsidedrives

@himurakenshin25

@nastysparrow

@littlemintsister

@sketchlove

@i-am-the-pirate-queen

@simpgoddess3000

@praisethesuuun

@mitra555

@rin-matsuoka345-blog

@cassanderasblog

[crystal-lillies]

Knowing Dead Boy Detectives is part of the Sandman Netflix world, my brain is now primed to try and spot any and all details or hints or connections to the Sandman series haha

Obviously we've got Death (beloved), but I did have a quickly dispersed thought while watching the first episode of Dead Boy Detectives that the boys that unwittingly sacrificed Edwin to hell had some connection with the Burgesses and the whole Magus secret magic club since it happens very close (a year apart iirc) to when Roderick captured Dream. And as we know from Johanna Constantine, that news travelled in magical/supernatural circles. So, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for people in that time who might be affiliated with Roderick Burgess to also have demon-summoning magic books that could easily be stolen by nosy younger brothers who think it'd be fun to sacrifice someone to a demon.

I'm doubtful that's a real connection (more likely my overactive brain making connections where there are none) but it is possible!

Regardless, I'm really digging Dead Boy Detectives.

[saltyfruitbat]

Hey, Fruits!

May I ask for some romantic headcanons with Kusuriuri-san from Mononoke and Chise!reader from the series Ancient Magus Bride? I seriously need some inspiration for these two since my next project will feature them 😭 Thank you so much!

Heheheh don’t worry Moon 🌙 you’ll get that inspiration you need!! Hopefully this does inspire you

listening to summertime by cinnamon’s room helped making this

Kusuriuri-san is a very man of small words but he definitely treats his beloved very well.

Romance with him would take time, due to him having to go around the country and look for the malevolent spirits, so romance with him would take some time.

it would start with him noticing things about you, things that he would have memorized, like how you like honey in your tea, or like how you part your hair when you work on making medicine.

He shows he cares with little things, like him making you some herbal tea, to even buying hairpins, once that he thinks will look lovely with your complexion.

He’d even buy you pretty kimonos, and many hairpins and charms that would match with it. He likes how they look on you, but gets irritated when men look at you with lecherous stares. He may be a calm and collected man, but even he is protective of the one he holds dear to his heart and takes offense.

He would also take care of you when you have become exhausted, carrying you to bed, he likes how knowledgeable and smart you are, it shows how much you dedicate yourself to your work, but please take a break once in a while.

He’d get irritated when you would get hurt, sacrificing yourself for the sake of others is an admirable trait, but please be aware that you have him to protect you and the others around you. He won’t get mad at you but at himself for not being careful.

Since he has fallen for you, don’t be surprised when you become his spouse and you find out it’s your wedding day with this dashing kitsune.

Hopefully you manage with the “other” him *wink wink*

oh and don’t reach for those “marriage charms” and don’t even look at those books he has in his possession(those are porn books, it’s canon I’m not joking 😭)

[astarionposting]

hey!! Could you share your favourite tav's of others? I'd love to connect with other people who posts their tav's! Also thank you for your tutorial's, they helped me so much <3

Hello! I got a similar ask but about male tav’s as well, so I figured I’d post it all in one. I don’t really follow that many Tav-centred blogs, mostly Astarion/Halsin/Gale, BUT a lot of my lovely mutuals have some BEAUTIFUL Tavs and I’ve even had the privilege of being able to photograph and edit some sets of them! &lt;3

My lovely mutuals with their beautiful Tavs/Durges/OCS:

@vspin (I love her drow baby she is so beautiful I wanna give her a little smoochie smooch)

@cheekylittlepupp (BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS GODDESS ANGELIC OC I am going to be doing some edits of her soon hehe)

@anderwelt (their OCs are so beautiful and unique, I had the pleasure of editing Ceres, but working my way towards editing Tae who is equally as cool and awesome and amazing)

@tadpole-apocalypse (so much beautiful artwork of their oc I luv Morgan sm)

@honeysulani (ALSO MAKES BEAUTIFUL SIMS IF U LIKE SIMS AS WELL)

@stinkrascal (pls pls look at their ocs i beg u they are all so beautiful and handsome)

@mercymaker (beautiful beautiful ocs AND incredible edits, just u have to see for urself ok??)

@asykriel (really hot and sexy male tav but I didn’t wanna say it out loud)

@narrayya (they make their own self-sculpted heads and they are absolutely gorgeous and ethereal and SO SOOOO UNIQUE)

@tugoslovenka (a gorgeous DRACONIC BLOODLINE drow lady and a new pretty pretty elf gal-also most badass names I’ve ever seen-I just steal mine from other video games 😭 )

@bhaalbaaby (many beautiful tavs, but I must say Penelope is my absolute favourite she is just so so soooo cute)

@julietvoid (NOW HER OCS ARE SO BABYGIRL I LOVE THEM THEY ARE AO BEAUTIFUL I JUST WANNA GIVE THEM SMOOCHES AND TWLL THEM HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM OK???)

@korcariiwitch (super fucking cool drow oc I love love LOVE)

@haarleps (i forgot to add but then remembered, VERY VERY BEAUTIFUL TAVS/OCS, especially Freyr also bc i am biased since that is freyja's-the goddess my tav's name was yoinked from-twin brother's name in norse mythology so i rlly like)

@malewife-mansplain-magus (this one is for the male oc anon- u just need to look like their ocs are just 👌👌chefs kiss ALSO INCREDIBLE AMAZING BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK I WAS LIKE WTF WHERE DID THAT MASTERPIECE OF GALE COME FROM ITS ONE OF MY FAV GALE FANARTS)

So there are probably so many more of my beloved mutuals that have incredible tavs/durges/ocs, I’m just really bad with my memory but I also tried to focus on those who (I think) post their ocs consistently 😭 so if I didn’t mention you and you are mainly a Tav/Durge/OC blog, PLEAAASE comment like I wanna see it and I also would love to share it for others to see &lt;;3