#PAMITHA AND CELESTE!!!!

[raynewton]

I totally forgot to post this!!!

It was a... uhm... happy valentine day... after three months...

(I'm sorry)

For @marithefriendlyghost

[rainbowsparklecur]

for science

these are all the ships i could think of off the top of my head. there were a few more but tumblr has an option limit so you can just use the others option orz

[gautiersylvain]

favorite video game women (37/?) ⇒ the women of pyre

[mechecolomar-archive]

i made pyre icons of pamitha/celeste! like/rb if you use, credit is appreciated. 

[pyrepalaver]

[kawee-chan]

guess who figured out how to use the school scannerrr~

have some pyre doodles from the summer...that i sadly totally forgot about til now *sob*

[goth-greyhound]

i’m back bitches

this time with pyre

i was originally just gonna do the heroes but i love oralech too much ok

as usual please don’t repost without crediting thank you!

[yourfaveisntcishet]

Pyre Pride Icons!

Please Like, Reblog, or give credit if you use!

[supergiantgamescentralfan]

[PYRE SPOILERS AHEAD; SCROLL AT YOUR OWN RISK!!]

.

.

.

.

.

Honestly, I forgot Celeste/Tariq can even be considered a rare pair LMAO... They were like, my otp of pyre. Everytime I got to do a liberation rite, I was more excited to see their interactions than actually play the game. There's just do much to break down about them.

in that same breath they are written in a way that very heavily puts them up to player interpretation. Their interactions do not have to be taken in a romantic light at all, and many people don't see them that way, but I for one had shipped them for most of the game. I was so surprised to see how little content there is for them in the fandom bc I figured if anything them, Oralech/Volfred, and Pamitha/Jodi would be some of the biggest ships in the fandom. One has a lot of unspoken tension and healing to do together and the other is the classical "we act like we hate each other but let's be honest; if my life were in danger you'd be the first to stand up for me," energy.

Celeste and Tariq is a little more unique with Tariq being this patient and kind man who NEVER forgets his manners and is very soft and gentle, with this bold and confident woman who is very work-heavy and goal-oriented and she isn't rude but she does speak her mind and put her work first. Their dynamic is like the perfect reflection of what the other person needs... the sun and the moon being the twilight of the stars got me messed up man

maybe i'll crack and end up writing something for them myself bc i need that content

[laughingpinecone]

ToT letter 2021

I am laughingpineapple on AO3

Hello dear author! I hope you’ll have fun with our match. Feel free to draw from general or fandom-specific likes, past letters, and/or follow your heart.

Art likes: characters doing something, even something very simple, illustrating a moment rather than abstractly posing. I also enjoy seeing them wear different clothes, getting a feel of what their fashion sense is like beyond their canon outfit(s). Or dressing them up for some outlandish AU!

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (especially if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots, outsider POV, UST, resolved UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played straight, sensory details, sickfic, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships), emphasis on inhuman traits of characters who were human once and have sort of shed it all behind

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay!), canon retellings

All requests are for both fic and art!

Death Crown: Death, trick

(I haven't played the DLC yet so, alas, no demons, or no spoilers for the demons, at least) I am absolutely charmed by the overall mood of this game and would like to see something more in that vein! Anything! Got more sacred (or unholy?) geometrical architecture for Death to interact with, maybe in greater detail than just wrecking it? What else feels like a contemporary take on a Bosch painting? Can Death get lost?

Ghost Trick: Jowd, Cabanela, trick, treat

Anything focused on Cabanela being an unstoppable force (confident, untiring, sparkling, stubborn, dexterous, loyal to the bitter end, legs) and/or Jowd being an immovable object (sarcastic, strong, depressed, self-deprecating but knowing he's hot stuff, also stubborn, clever but an emotional dumbass, round). Figuring out stuff? Something in the new timeline is linked to the old timeline? Coat? Dancing? Scarves? Halloween costumes?

I like Cabanela/Jowd and Cabanela/Alma/Jowd and Cabanela/Alma in scenarios where Jowd isn't around and Alma/Jowd in general (REALLY like all these, okay. like this is the one request where I'd love the most self-indulgent shippy takes as well), and dig Lynne/Memry. Yomiel/fianSissel and Emma/JM also cool!

Hylics: any, trick, treat

(I have only played the first game so far so please no overt spoilers for Hylics 2. Feel free to include stuff from it but... stealthily, I guess?) This is an "anything that feels somewhat like canon, please" sort of request! Love the mood, love the cast, love the little added details in their menu screen. Those can be prompts? Or the oddball stats? How do ToT's trick and treat freeforms apply to Hylics' overall... hylicsness, what would those guys think constitutes a "creepy" moment or a "fluffy" one?

Not into ships for this one, however I WILL say that Dedusmuln has all the proverbial curves in the right places. mostly their face.

Kentucky Route Zero: Weaver

Math, debt, the liminal state of almost being a ghost, seeing the world with a strange clarity... just anything Weaver, please! How'd she make her way to the town? What was it like for her to be working on Xanadu for a time? What about the community broadcast! Does she have an opinion on Carrington's oeuvre? You know... things... stuff. Weaver things. and stuff.

I love the whole cast and Weaver... wove... her story through most of them so feel free to bring in whomever. Not interested in ships here though.

Paradise Killer: Lady Love Dies, trick

A post-canon glimpse of life on '''''perfect''''' 25? That's not QUITE enough class consciousness to make the whole thing work, you guys. What does 'normal' life feel like to LD now? After following Henry's case and talking to Shinji so much, can she see that it's doomed to fail again, and then what? What IS Island 25 like, anyway? (what comes after Island 25, even?)

I liked the choice of canon romances - if it has to be just one I'd prefer it to be Crimson, but I'd also be interested in seeing what a V or triad with Doom Jazz would look like. They're all so chill about stuff

Pyre: Volfred, trick, treat

Pragmatic idealist, charismatic and bad at people, pacifist, activist, physiologically incapable of shutting up for a hot second, what's there not to love... I am very into either of the following: C. Volfred Sandalwood has a fantastic day; C. Volfred Sandalwood has a terrible no good day. Everything is great! Pre-exile antiestablishmentarian antics, maybe with Bertrude? Political gambits? The very physical dangers of the Downside which may or may not catch a scholar by surprise (who saves him?)? Tree problems? Meeting Oralech for the first time and Volfred thinks he himself is hot stuff but out of the two, Oralech is clearly the VIP? Feeling like he should live up to Lu Sclorian's legacy but he feels much closer to other Scribes (and what does Lu have to say about it, one way or another?)? The thrilling intimacy of Reading? The thrilling intimacy of lowercase reading also, maybe reading old manuscripts found in the Downside?

I very much ship him with Tariq and/or Oralech. The only canon ship I like is Hedwyn/Fikani. I also like Soliam/Gol, Bertrude/Pamitha and Celeste/Jodariel. Love all the Nightwings + Dalbert (+Deluge...?); love to dunk on Manley, Brighton and Lendel (I don't enjoy flat-out bashing, more like... I enjoy the way they are portrayed as horrible gremlins in canon and if they turn up in fic I'm not interested in more positive portrayals)

Signs of the Sojourner: Rhea, Elias, trick, treat

Once again pretty much an "anything in the style of canon" request. I love this setting, its themes and all the little lives that fill it. I am interested in a wide range of postcanon scenarios and love the whole cast - does Rhea come back to $town any number of years down the line and find $character? How'd their storyline end up in the medium-long term? What the hell is up with the Stranger (seriously, three runs and I never managed to speak with them, I have no idea)? What's life like for Elias back home, or in a new home if they can't keep the store, or if Rhea landed the Oscar ending or whatever (just, please, not dead Rhea. I love that ending but can't stand to consider what it'd do to Elias)? Or does he join the caravan just once? Who did Rhea grow to really like and can't wait to see every time? Any ghost stories or creepy encounters on the caravan's route? Does Thunder help?

I'm neutral on ships here - good with Rhea&Elias, good with background Rhea/Elias but I wouldn't like a romantic focus.

Totally Normal Wizard Apprentice: apprentice, wizard, master, trick, treat

(conflict of interest disclaimer, I illustrated this but didn't write nor nominate it) What awaits the apprentice outside the wizard's tower? It sounds like a pretty wild moon out there, I loved all the worldbuilding hints of the bigger setting. Does the wizard keep track of the apprentice, with her telescope or otherwise, and how does she take care of her ruined parlor? Was this all some sort of 5d chess on the master's part, and if so to what end? And what kind of otherworldly patience does this man possess, anyway, to handle the apprentice on a daily basis?

Twin Peaks: Margaret, Diane, Lucy, Tammy, trick, treat

(bass-boosted ethereal whooshing) For tricks, I would like to see any of these characters face the woods, the mystery of the woods, and/or a new symbol of your liking. Or: Margaret in the city, Diane and the moon, Lucy and the color blue, Tammy incognito.

For treats, a happy meeting. I love the whole cast and I'm always thrilled by gonzo "&" pairings, bring in whomever! Coffee and pie? The Bookhouse Boys? A kinder aspect of the woods?

Fandom-specific notes: love s3, love the books too. I like Lucy/Andy, Margaret/Sam fwiw, and rarepairs Tammy/Cynthia and Diane/Constance. Please no Fireman's-house-is-the-white-lodge, no Twin Perfect, no Judy-was-destroyed (nor is destroyable).

Arcade Spirits: Percy, Teo, treat

More than anything, I love the sense of group and camaraderie among the arcade's staff and regulars, and I'd love to see some more of it. I picked Percy and Teo 'cause they're my faves but anyone you may want to add, up to and including Sue, is very very welcome. Is there any aspect of gaming that feels like it could be adapted to this strange world of contemporary arcades? Cosplay shenanigans for everyone courtesy of Ashley? Any other activity that could show how Percy and/or Teo get along with the others, like they were all forming little groups during the beach chapter? It's such a feel-good canon, any feel-good situation would be great!

My Ari is with Percy but I'm not really interested in shipping here. All sorts of friendships though!

[runicmagitek]

Your choice for the 001/002/003 prompt. 001: Pyre; 002: RedBlue; 003: Edea. Pick which one you feel like writing about!

Why not all of the above? ;D many thanks for this!

Pyre

Favorite character: Ti’zo. I love him so much. Even have the plushie of him, too!

Least Favorite character: I was always meh about Hedwyn. I am not as enthusiastic about him as the rest of the fandom

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): The Reader/Sandra, Celeste/Tariq, Pamitha/Bertrude, Volfred/Oralech, and Jodoriel/Ignarius

Character I find most attractive: Sandra! That sass alone makes me swoon.

Character I would marry: Obviously my orb wife, Sandra. Even if she’s blind and/or trapped in an orb forever, we’d make it work.

Character I would be best friends with: Definitely Ti’zo, because have you seen him??? But also the moon-touched girl, because she deserves a hug and she’s such a kind individual. I also feel like I’d get along well with Pamitha.

a random thought: I’m so happy you could choose they/them as your Reader’s pronouns

An unpopular opinion: of all the Supergiant Games OSTs, Pyre’s is my least favorite (though I still love it and listen to it a lot, I just LOVE Bastion’s and Transistor’s WAAAAY more)

My Canon OTP: Uh… Jodi and Iggy, I guess? They’re at least more explicit about what they are in comparison to the rest, which are more vague

My Non-canon OTP: Celeste/Tariq. I mean, they’re heavily implied imo, but there’s nothing explicitly stating their relationship?

Most Badass Character: All the ladies? Jodi and Sandra and Pamitha and Bertrude and Celeste and even the moon-touched girl in her own way. I love them all.

Most Epic Villain: Brighton was A+, especially when the truth about him is revealed.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Jodariel/Pamitha, Volfred/Tariq, Hedwyn/anyone :\

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I don’t feel like anyone was screwed up, but I wish there was more with Erisa.

Favourite Friendship: Jodariel and the moon-touched girl forever warms my heart.

Character I most identify with: Ti’zo, somehow? I just resonated a lot with his extreme emotions.

Character I wish I could be: I really love Volfred’s resolve and wisdom.

Red/Blue

When I started shipping them: The second Blue did his whole, “You know I love you, right?” bit before Red went off to fight Royce

My thoughts: They are so tragic and warm and I just love them and want nothing but the best for them, despite their devastating ending :( I really love how the game doesn’t explicitly state at the beginning that they’re an item, yet when you replay, you notice all these little things that make so much sense. Like I was really prepared for Blue to be a villain somehow towards the end, so it was great to know it was actually someone incredibly close to Red.

What makes me happy about them: EVERYTHING???

What makes me sad about them: That canon ending :( they deserve so much better, yet it is a fitting ending for the game and their story

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: When Red is shown as someone soft and quiet in comparison to Blue. She’s the one who decided to stay in Cloudbank and fight the Process. She’s the one who made the “I’m going to find what did this to you and BREAK ITS HEART” comment. Girl is full of grit and vibrance and I get all :\ when people gloss over that.

Things I look for in fanfic: I love pre-canon goodness where they can be comfortable with one another. A little slice of happiness before their lives go to shit :(

My wishlist: I just want them to break free from recursion and live happily ever after in the Country.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Sybil/Red for sure, but something healthy and reciprocated instead of the stalkerish stuff that’s in the game. I’m not sure who I’d picture Blue with. Maybe Preston or Farrah? He seems fond and respectful of both of them.

My happily ever after for them: The events at the Empty Set never happened, they never had to fight the Process, and then they live happily together, eating flatbread after concerts and stuff *cries forever*

Edea

How I feel about this character: I feel like she gets forgotten a lot by the fandom and the game. Like once it’s revealed Ultimecia was controlling her the whole time, she’s kind of thrown out the window, which is unfortunate, because she’s a central character for the main cast or at least the orphanage crew. I really enjoy her and wish there was more insight in regards to when Ultimecia controlled her or how she adapted to her life post-loss of powers or how she coped upon becoming a sorceress and learning Squall’s fate.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: I don’t really ship her with anyone. Hell, I’m not even big on her with her husband :\ that never felt like the best relationship. 

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Her and Rinoa! I’d love to see more with Edea mentoring Rinoa and turning into a mother-like figure for her.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m not sure I really have one? I just think she’s awesome and doesn’t get enough attention :\

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I MEAN, ANYTHING. She gets dropped so fast, so I’d be happy with any content. What does she do when she no longer has her powers? Does she mend the connections she fucked up? Does she still support Garden? Or her husband? I WANNA KNOW.

Favorite friendship for this character: Outside of Rinoa, I love her interactions with Squall.

My crossover ship: Hmm…. haven’t really put much thought into this. I could see her and Yunalesca from FFX getting along. Maybe even her and Morrigan from Dragon Age - give her a better mom role model, too.

[werankladies]

Pyre Ladies Ranked by Ballerness

Captain Jodariel – Her Ballerness Captain Jodariel is hands down the coolest lady around, whether in the Downside or the Commonwealth. You wish your mom could dunk like her!

The Moontouched Girl A.K.A. Bae – Bae, Gae, Fae, whatever you want to call her, The Moontouched Girl has a special connection to the Scribes who created the Rites. Her unyielding devotion to their legacy and embodiment of the spirit in which the Rites are conducted – that of unity and camaraderie – make her a true baller.

Sandra The Unseeing – By the same token, Sandra knew the Scribes themselves, sort of. Sure, they trapped her in an orb for all eternity but what’s more baller than being a ball and helping future generations to realize their potential?

Big Bertrude – Big “Ball is Life” Bertrude studied the Rites from afar long before she ever actually stepped in and partook herself. She took to them quickly, and so I say she must possess the spirit of a natural baller.

Pamitha Theyn – Pamitha may be willing to throw matches but she does so for good reasons, as a way to try and truly help the members of the other team – or at least, one team in particular. She’s not the most baller lady around, to be certain, but she’s better than some.

Tamitha Theyn – Tamitha, on the other hand, is motivated to take part in the Rites almost solely by anger and vengeance – not a very baller attitude to have there, Tamitha.

Udmildhe – Speaking of bad attitudes, Udmildhe’s motivations are to resurrect an ancient monstrosity and lead to the destruction of the Rites entirely. How unsportsmanlike!

Celeste – Celeste does not actually ball, and thus on a technicality cannot be said to be baller. That said, she is instrumental to the Rites themselves, and in that way she allows others to be baller though she herself cannot.

The Reader – While the reader can be a pretty cool lady in her own right, she is like Celeste in that she never actually participates in the Rites. On technicality, The Reader is judged to be “not baller”.

[blacknovelist]

this rattle in my ears (Pyre fic)

Pyre’s got its nitpicks and issues, but by god, I love it so much

i’d literally die for this game and its characters sorry I don’t make the rules

Greg mentioned over on Steam that the language they speak in the game is an actual language he made up for the game itself - called Sahrian - even if just bits and pieces rather than a full-blown language. He also confirmed that when Tariq and Celeste sing, they’re singing in English and therefore, no one can understand them (save the Reader, who learned it due to the fact that all literature is in English). I’m so in love. It’s such depth, how good is that??

I listened to all of the vocal tracks from the Pyre OST on repeat to give myself the right vibes, with the occasional other song on repeat and some plays of King and Lionheart thrown in for kicks. It worked pretty well!

Also. I love Mae, but her dialogue is difficult to get the hang of, and now I can’t get her manner of speech out of my head. I hope I wrote her (and everyone else, for that matter) alright. Spoilers up to the Glade of Lu for characters, but, nothing really plot-relevant specifically. 

[ffnet] [AO3]

Music, often, is a universal sort of message.

Music is an interesting thing among the Nightwings.

Hedwyn tends toward humming old Commonwealth songs and rhymes, from days when the heat and stress of the Bloodborder sun made visions swim and knees buckle. Mae tends towards exuberance in her performances, aimless tunes given shape by her joyful litling voice and Ti'zo’s attempts to sing along, and Gilman is often just as eager with half-remembered ballads from his days as a wyrm-knight of the Sea Dominion. Jodariel and Pamitha both tend to avoid singing, but they still both hum little nursery rhymes and military songs when they think no one’s listening.

As far as instruments go, however, finding something more than a bell (with a tongue that rings a little too loudly for something delicate like music, no less) is as much a challenge in the Downside as finding decent food. Tariq often leaves his lute leaning against the wall by the raiments - not quite where he sat during his early days of dozing - while he goes about his tasks, and he’s given permission to use the instrument at times he cannot, but Mae prefers to perform without the pluck of the strings beneath her and no one else wants to try using the Minstrel’s prized belonging. Which leaves you and Tariq himself the only ones to play.

Your understanding of the instrument is rudimentary at best, but you make do. The few times you played felt as natural as can be, like the lute itself guides your hand and keeps you from fumbling the music too badly. The amount of free time you ordinarily get dictates that you rarely have a moment to do more than look in the instrument’s direction, though, and so usually it sits there, waiting. Unlike you, Tariq knows what he’s doing and has the time to show it; the handful of nights you’ve heard the expert twang of strings are the nights you rest well, the stress of the rites and living in the Downside leaving you and your companions alone, even if just for a moment.

The fact that none of you have ever heard his voice alongside his instrument (and the thought that perhaps he plays too late at night for your fellow exiles have never heard him perform) doesn’t occur to you until Rukey suggests a song to take your minds off the storm raging outside, wagon afloat only by virtue of Big Bertrude’s work.

“Let me see what I can do,” Tariq says, the lute already in hand as he takes a seat. He begins to pluck a handful of notes, testing, and soon a gentle melody floats through the pound of rain and waves. The music is beautiful, reminiscent of the few sailor songs you remember from the Commonwealth, and you see even Jodariel’s untold worries begin to slide from her shoulders as she wrestles with the sea and steers towards the Black Basin under your guidance. The words themselves are unfamiliar but not entirely alien to you, and it’s not unlike the feeling you get from reading the book of rites.

His voice is as soothing as the song he strums, heard effortlessly even over the ruckus of the world outside. You don’t realize just how much so, however, until the wind blows a wave straight up the windowsill you’re leaning on to read the ocean, nearly smacking you in the face and making you sputter. Behind you, Rukey’s little chortle tells you that the others definitely noticed.

Damn.

You get to hear Tariq play more often, after that. Not often enough to become regular, not quite, but often enough nonetheless. He tends to save gentle songs for mornings and evenings when the world is just waking up or barely headed to bed, and the brighter productive ones for when it’s time to get going and for dinnertime, when the only worries are about what to eat and how to distract yourself. The most energetic of songs are played for midday or the rare moments of rest, the rest of the Nightwings scattering to do minor chores or explore or play. It seems as though he has a new tune for every occasion there is.

Songs with lyrics, however, are saved for very special nights.

Much like the day out at sea, Tariq waits until he’s been requested for some music before breaking out the words - unless, of course, the situation calls for it. So it is that the second time you hear his voice is atop the Fall of Soliam, intertwined with the rich tones of the Gate Guardian above you, with your heart thudding in time with an invisible beat and nothing in your focus but the rites, your triumvirate, the sway of their weight and twists of their wrists and determination, the combined thoughts of we will earn this freedom together.

And you do.

The third time you hear his voice is at the Moonlit Alcove, a mere few hours later, up in one of the old tower-rooms away from the blackwagon, as Volfred has requested. It’s a solemn mood that falls over you all, the mixed realization of how real this all is, the fact that if you don’t earn your freedom back one at a time you might never see each other again, how the stars themselves could take near forever before they start turning again…

“Play us something,” you hear your friends ask of him, when this weight threatens to overwhelm them too. “A celebration. Something to keep our minds off some things, if you can.”

“Of course. Allow me, then,” Tariq says, and he does. He sings of cities and soaring through skies, old ghosts and dark seas and standing together, a song more for those left here than for the ones returned to the world above. And if the words only you can understand the meaning of leave you more than a little bit teary-eyed, well, the Nightwings aren’t telling.

(they’re not against a few group hugs, hearts just as moved by the phrases they don’t quite hear and don’t quite understand, but then, no one’s telling that either.)

Mae is the one who asks about it, in the end.

“Excuse me, mister!” She says. “I think I have a question, a question I’d like to ask you, if I can?”

It’s laundry day, much to everyone’s chagrin. Various trinkets and belongings have been pushed aside and replaced by the raiments now adorning the blackwagon floor, the rest of the Nightwings gathered around the stacks of colored fabric and bone-white masks. There’s a nigh-ridiculous number of the things, multiples of various designs because even if most of the triumvirates have never had as many members to choose from per rite as they do now, the Nightwings of old clearly wanted to be prepared for the possibility regardless. Cleaning and folding the things is three chores in one, and then some. Still, her question at least gives the rest of you an excuse to stop working and direct your curiosity towards one of the quietest members of your group.

“Of course, Mae,” Tariq replies, and you all shuffle as discreetly as you can in his direction. “What would you like to know?”

“Well, it’s those songs, the songs you sing for us all the time, you see.” Mae’s gaze is unwavering, and she’s smiling. “I was wondering about the words! Yes, I was wondering about the words you sing, because… the songs, I think I might understand, just a little bit. But the words, I don’t quite know what they mean, not exactly, except, I think they are words that the Scribes know. They are words the Scribes have also heard, long ago, are they not?”

Tariq pauses, then; “They are,” he confirms. “Or at least, some of them.” He tilts his head in her direction, eyes closed as they always seem to be. “It’s a language that, last I heard, was outlawed in your Commonwealth many, many years ago.”

“It sounds much stranger than Sahrian, to be sure,” Hedwyn says. There’s a half-finished patch job lying in his lap, and he sweeps the extra string aside. “What’s it called?”

“English,” Tariq says. “I believe it’s also the language the book of rites is written in, as it’s the language that dominated the Commonwealth during the time of the Scribes themselves.”

Heads immediately turn to you and Volfred, who is smoking his pipe and looking far too amused. For your part, you shrug a little helplessly. You’d never known the name itself before, either.

“So you both know what his songs mean?”

“Indeed, my boy.” Volfred lets out a breath. “And many of them bring back memories for me as well, from my past time being part of the Nightwings. I believe it was you, Tariq, that said most of the songs you know to play are as old as the Scribes - am I right?”

“Aye, that is correct.”

Ti'zo chirps questioningly, wondering if there is a translation into Sahrian for everyone who isn’t a Reader, since he cannot understand English either.

“I’m afraid none of these songs have any, given they nearly vanished along with the language centuries ago, and I’ve yet to try my own hand at it. If they had any, I would perform them without a doubt. Languages are tricky things.” Tariq reaches for his lute. “But if you like, I can explain their meaning while the Reader and Volfred transcribe, if they are willing?”

You are - especially since it’s completely escaped your mind that none of them can really understand a word of Tariq’s songs, which is something you’re ready to fix - as is Volfred. If the look on his face is any indication, even something like this is full of nostalgia to him.

The robes and masks remain on the floor, unsorted for now.

(Later, Mae startles you with a bizarre mix of Sahrian and English in one of her sudden bouts of song, the terms alien to her tongue but flowing through your ears like a warm breeze regardless. Your laugh startles almost everyone in turn, including yourself. You help her through the pronunciations and meanings - Mae is a swift learner, always is, and her smile is as bright as the stars eternally guiding you upward as you do.

If the others listen in turn and prod you about other words, later, it’s hardly a bad thing.)

[marithefriendlyghost]

AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH !!!!

I totally forgot to post this!!!

It was a... uhm... happy valentine day... after three months...

(I'm sorry)

For @marithefriendlyghost

[laughingpinecone]

Yuletide letter

I am laughingpineapple on AO3  

Hello dear author! I hope you’ll have fun with our match. Feel free to draw from general or fandom-specific likes, past letters, and/or follow your heart.

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (especially if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic (when in doubt, tell me what’s happening to them five, ten, twenty years in the future!), hurt/comfort, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, tropey plots that are already close enough to characters/canon, outsider POV, UST, resolved UST, exploring the ~deep lore, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played entirely straight, sensory details, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships), emphasis on inhuman traits of characters who were human once and have sort of shed it all behind

Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, IF, unrequested characters popping up.

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay!), canon retellings, consent issues, actual covid (fantasy plagues are okay)

Les Cités Obscures: any

This is a very general “please, anything in the style of canon, just maybe with less thoughtless sexism” request. I want to lose myself in these cities again, and in the strange lands that connect them. I’d be happy to follow any of the known characters and/or OCs, or eschew characters altogether and write about the cities themselves. What caught your imagination in Brüsel, Xhystos, Taxandria, Alaxis...? The history of some cool building that was only marginally featured in one of the stories? Or an OC city! If you’ve got a favourite European city that doesn’t already have its obscure counterpart, please tell me all about it! Go big, go wild! What strange and classically surrealist happenings take place within its walls? Or even... outside Europe... Nerding out about architecture is of course very welcome. I would also love to read a story based on any Schuiten illustration, contextualizing it as if it were part of this ‘verse. Here’s a bunch of them, for example!

Ghost Trick: Cabanela

You know.. him. Dazzlingly OTT, untiring, rock-solid self-esteem, loyal to a fault, following a rhythm of his own, flawless intuition until it fails and it all burns down… him. I just want to see more of him doing stuff! The way he’s chill and open toward new people (like Sissel and Missile in ch15) makes him perfect to throw at most other characters and see how they react to the sparkles… I’d love some focus on how ridiculous his aesthetic is, half Saturday Night Fever half hardboiled detective half bubbly preteen (for a total of 150%) and yet he makes it work. Or how ruthless he can be, possibly for the sake of the people he cares for. The quote “The intimacy of big parties”. Him and Alma in the new timeline bonding over knowing (once Jowd has spilled the beans) but not remembering that terrible timeline. Some tropey scenario on the job. Snark-offs with Pigeon Man, by which I mean PM snarks and it bounces off him like water off a spotless white goose’s back.

Ship-wise it’s only Cabanela/Jowd whenever it’s not infidelity, Cabanela/Alma in what-ifs also if it’s not infidelity and Cabanela/Alma/Jowd for me (and Lynne/Memry and Yomiel/fianSissel on the side). There are a bunch of shippy prompts in all my past letters - I would however reiterate here that Jowd. is. the worst tease. always. Like, just saying, but assume he’s pining big time and Jowd and Alma figure it out - they’d make a national sport out of excruciatingly protracted teasing.

Conversely, Cabanela/Lynne and Cabanela/Yomiel are NOTPs especially from Cabanela’s side. So while I appreciate the thick tension of a good Yomiel VS Cabanela confrontation like everyone and their cat, and also really appreciate a roughed-up Cabanela, and I do love Yomiel in his own right… I don’t want Cabanela being into it. Adrenaline junkie he may be but this hurts and his coat’s a mess and there’s no perfect winning scenario so he hates every second of it. (JOWD being super into Cabanela being roughed up is another matter altogether and he should probably mind his own business. ...incompatible kinks, truly tragic. they’ll have to find some other common ground. they’re smart, resourceful, playful fellows, I’m sure they’ll manage)

Kentucky Route Zero: Donald kentuckyroutezero

I love everyone in the cast, all acts and interludes, and I am extremely into all the themes this incredible work of art ended up exploring. Agreeing with the overall doom and gloom up to Act IV, I was blown away by Act V’s strong affirmation of the importance of the arts and of the bonds we make and of carving up spaces for ourselves in capitalism’s wake. Donald was, indeed, not a part of any of that. Even the final interlude updates us on Lula and mentions Joseph, but the big guy is nowhere to be seen. So, you know, there’s fanfiction! He’s so static, defeated. I am fascinated by the chain of metaphysical spaces that goes surface -> Zero -> Echo -> Dogwood and even within that framework, the hall of the mountain king is like a hopeless dead end. Dude’s terminally stuck. So - once again, in the spirit of transformative works, how could he get... you know... unstuck? Did Lula’s momentous appearance in Act III shake him? Having a functioning Xanadu again, perhaps? How could he interrogate that oracle, what recursive wonders would it show him? If he decides to leave, what does it feel to be on the surface again after so long, or on the river perhaps? Maybe he is forced to leave by the flood, if not this one, the next... Having him meet any other character would be amazing. Past or future time spent with Weaver... seeing Conway again, changed... programmer guy chatting up musician androids... did he know Carrington from his college days or was Carrington only a friend of Lula’s?

As for Lula herself and Joseph too: “Flipping through the pages, Conway is able to gather that it’s a story about three characters: Joseph, Donald, and Lula. It’s something like a tragic love triangle, but much more complex. Some kind of tangled, painfully concave love polygon.” 😔 I ship them as a full triad, if you can nudge them in that direction, good. But I’m very open to non-romantic resolutions as well, going past their messy feelings to find each other as friends after so many years maybe. Or... a start. idk.

I’d be interested in fic that leans on the game’s adjacent genres: wanna go full-on American Gothic? Dip into surrealism? Take a leaf from Twin Peaks with tulpa / split narratives to explore the characters’ issues? I’m also open to AUs, real or through Xanadu. This also feels like a good place to stress that I really, really like caves.

And now for something completely different: FAQ:  The “Snake Fight” Portion of Your Thesis Defense is in the tagset this year. I’d say that the crossover with the snake portion of Here and there along the Echo writes itself, but it would not be correct, as in fact I would like you to write it for me. Feel free to not feature Donald if you focus on this crossover instead!

Uru would be a fun crossover too, for Donald specifically. He’s very DRC-shaped in how he tilts at doomed projects which just so happen to be deep underground.

Pyre: Volfred Sandalwood

This is a Volfred solo, Volfred&literally anyone or Volfred/Tariq, /Oralech or /Tariq/Oralech request. I adore everyone in that Blackwagon+Dalbert+Celeste, so if you want to add a Nightwing or two to any prompt, please do! I also love all the Scribes and find Erisa a compelling tragic figure, while out of the other triumvirates, I’m “love to hate them” for Manley, Brighton, Udmildhe and Deluge and would not like to see them featured in sympathetic roles. fwiw I also enjoy Jodi/Celeste and Bertrude/Pamitha a lot!

I feel deeply for all of Pyre’s main themes - literacy, degrees of freedom, the fragile time that is the end of a historical cycle, nobodies rising up to the occasion, building a better society, and of course found family, “distance cannot separate our spirits” and all that jazz, and Volfred is squarely rooted at the center of all of them. I really really love everything he stands for, even if he’s overbearingly smug in standing for it. Just please tell me things about my fave. His relationship to the Scribes (as a historian, a some kind of vision, via *ae or once he’s a star himself)? A ‘forced vacay’ Downside ending where he looks at the Union from afar and keeps living in this strange transformational place? Life in a cramped Blackwagon that was meant for like 5 people tops and is currently eight Nightwings, a herald and an orb? Since he picked him for the job to begin with, does he respect and cherish Hedwyn as he dang well should? What does it feel like to try and Read a herald? Was he ever in danger, in the Commonwealth or in the Downside? What daring act of resistance did he and Bertrude pull off at some point in their past? It’d be cool if one of his old pamphlets came up at some point. Does he puff up as prime minister because he’s nervous, and who can see past his hyper-professionalism and lend a hand? Please roast him big time about the votes he assigns to the various Nightwings in his planner? What’s his attitude toward the flame’s purification (what with being a tree but mostly like, as a general concept. He did nothing wrong!) (well he definitely said some things wrong and sometimes oftentimes the ego jumps out, but his intentions did nothing wrong)? When did his calculating approach fail him? Something with Pamitha along the lines of that edit that goes “Can we talk, one ten to another?“/"I am an eleven, my girl, but continue”? Dude could easily be voted sexiest voice in the Downside - how much is he aware of it? Does he sing? I love how he bears his ‘reader’ brand proudly. And speaking of scars, I have to wonder, looking at Manley for comparison, if the shape of his head, with that massive crack, isn’t also due to injuries.

As a refrain from my general likes: emphatically yes xeno to both shippy interactions at all ratings and to gen explorations of what a Sap is like… I’d love to read all your headcanons.

Ship-wise, I enjoy him with Tariq as this kind of esoteric connection of minds, guarded words full of secret meanings, long contemplative walks together (is any external pov watching...?), Volfred’s Reader powers brushing against Tariq’s mind and getting weak in the knees at the starlit expanse he finds there, so unlike mortal thoughts. Tariq finds his individuality learning from him; Volfred presumably gets a transcendent glimpse of the Scribes. And I enjoy him with Oralech as pretty much the opposite of that, Oralech is so very mortal compared to him, such a precious, fleeting, burning life especially after his fall. Oralech’s idealism is very dear to me, it was their plan, their shared revolutionary spirit, I find it deeply moving. And I am very interested in seeing them rebuild their connection now that Oralech is back, changed, and in some ways he can learn to let go of his misconceptions and slowly open himself to Volfred’s love again, but in other ways that’s who he is now, with this deep-set anger, and what does it even feel to realize that you’re the symbol of the end of an era (the end of the Rites, the fading of the Scribes). I’m interested in both topside and downside endings for all of them, as long as they end up on the same side, the revolution was peaceful and they don’t angst too much about the side they ended in. Tariq can ‘find his way home’ in the near post-canon somehow or even be summoned again, as a different aspect of the same ‘moonlit vision’ that once inspired Soliam Murr.

Strandbeest: any

https://www.strandbeest.com/

I would just like words to go with these, please and thank you so very much. Worldbuild to your heart’s content! Specifically: I’m fascinated by the premise that the strandbeest are living creatures that evolve and adapt to their ecosystem. A world where life is just wind stomachs and sandy joints, and the tide that can catch you unaware. I would like a story that feels distinctly inorganic. The wonder that is the existence of these creatures. Their unique struggles. Weird and experimental if you like. With a mechanical focus, maybe?

I nominated four critters as a selection of the different cool things they can do - Percipiere Excelsus is huge and has the hammer mechanism, Suspendisse’s tail senses the hardness of the sand, Uminami is my fave caterpillar and the caterpillars overall feel like a new paradigm after a mass extinction event, Ader straight-up flies... but they’re all wonderful. If you want to focus on different strandbeest, please do!

Twin Peaks: Lucy Moran

Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. Transcendence. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. Whatever goes on on Blue Pine mountain or the even more mysterious things that go on on White Tail mountain where exactly zero canon locations are found. Twin Peaks is all about the mystery to me, the awe of mystery and unknowability and the human drive to look beyond and the risks of getting a peek, and about shared consciousness and trauma taking physical form in an uncaring world. Go wild with the ethereal whooshing! But I also love the human warmth at the heart of it all, and sometimes it’s enough to anchor these characters and let them have a nice day. A fic entirely focused on some instance of coziness against the cold chaotic background of canon would be great too.

For Lucy specifically, a big draw for me is how canon (...s2 need not apply) empathizes with her way of processing the world. Not just Peaks, but On the Air’s protag who is basically a Lucy expy also gets the narrative completely on her side and that’s great. And I love how in s3, her focus on the small things around her is always echoed by bigger, climactic events beyond her horizon (bunnies / Jack Rabbit’s palace, chair order / Garland’s chair, her first scene talking about the two sheriffs / doubles everywhere...). It feels to me like some kind of off-kilter mindfulness and I love it. She’s also got a loving husband and an amazing son, which, in this economy and also this canon? Damn. The one functional family, imagine that. I am not interested in focus on family dynamics, but singularly, either Lucy/Andy or Lucy&Wally are great - in particular, I’m interested in how strange they are and yet they make it work. With the ruthless critique of traditional family structure that’s all over canon, maybe they make it work specifically because they’re not doing any of that. A bit like the Addams family... but... not goth...? Anyway. I’d love to see Lucy interact with and maybe strike a friendship with any character she’s never shared a scene with in canon! In the tagset, there’s Diane for some secretaries bonding, Audrey because??? why not?, Albert because it’d be an epic enemies to friends slowburn, some version of Laura in the future, if we’re feeling really daring maybe even some version of Coop in the future, still fragmented... or anyone you want! Outside the tagset I’d be curious about Hawk, Margaret and maybe Doris in particular, I think, and Phil, and Nadine and the Invitation to Love fandom in general (Frost says it still airs - did it get as weird as TP s3 did?), but if you have an idea with someone else, absolutely go for it!

Canon-specific DNWs: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, clear explanations for canonical ambiguities, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s House by the Sea being the White Lodge, whatever Twin Perfect’s on about, Cooper/Audrey, Cooper/Laura

[laughingpinecone]

Trick or Treat 2020 letter!

I am laughingpineapple on AO3  

Hello dear author! I hope you’ll have fun with our match. Feel free to draw from general or fandom-specific likes, past letters, and/or follow your heart.

All requests are art or fic - for art, the stuff I like is the kind that depicts the characters doing something. I’ll always be happier with a very simple drawing of two characters walking together or sharing a cup of coffee than with an ambitious composition that looks like an Avengers poster. I also enjoy seeing them wear different clothes, getting a feel of what their fashion sense is like beyond their canon outfit(s).

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (especially if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots, outsider POV, UST, resolved UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played straight, sensory details, sickfic, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships), emphasis on inhuman traits of characters who were human once and have sort of shed it all behind

Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, IF, nerdy canon references, unrequested characters popping up.

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay!), canon retellings, consent issues

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Hurdy

I love the game’s world and all the little stories and legends that fill it. Great atmosphere, great lore, so if you feel like getting a little worldbuildy and indulging in the scenery and its story, please do! A focus on the sense of camaraderie in a caravan would also be great (like people could do on Gamecube.....). Hurdy’s a bit of an odd duck for that theme, but maybe he hitched a ride at some point? With whom? Amidatty or De Nam maybe, among the nominated characters? I love the whole cast so anyone goes. Do they travel together enough for them to cotton onto the weirdness of the whole Gurdy situation? Got any run-in with Lady Mio? Or what’s his status after the miasma is lifted, can he go back to Tipa, can he/they begin to heal? What does healing even look like for him and Gurdy?

Ghost Trick: Cabanela

You know.. him. Dazzlingly OTT, untiring, rock-solid self-esteem, loyal to a fault, following a rhythm of his own, flawless intuition until it fails and it all burns down... him. I just want to see more of him doing stuff! The way he’s chill and open toward new people (like Sissel and Missile in ch15) makes him perfect to throw at most other characters and see how they react to the sparkles... I’d love some focus on how ridiculous his aesthetic is, half Saturday Night Fever half hardboiled detective half bubbly preteen (for a total of 150%) and yet he makes it work. Or how ruthless he can be, possibly for the sake of the people he cares for. The quote “The intimacy of big parties”. Him and Alma in the new timeline bonding over knowing (once Jowd has spilled the beans) but not remembering that terrible timeline. Some tropey scenario on the job. Snark-offs with Pigeon Man, by which I mean PM snarks and it bounces off him like water off a spotless white goose’s back. Dreaming Sissel but he’s strange... and wrong?

Ship-wise it’s only Cabanela/Jowd whenever it’s not infidelity, Cabanela/Alma in what-ifs and Cabanela/Alma/Jowd for me (and Lynne/Memry and Yomiel/fianSissel on the side). There are a bunch of shippy prompts in all my past letters - I would however reiterate here that Jowd. is. the worst tease. always.

Conversely, Cabanela/Lynne and Cabanela/Yomiel are NOTPs especially from Cabanela’s side. So while I appreciate the thick tension of a good Yomiel VS Cabanela confrontation like everyone and their cat, and also really appreciate a roughed-up Cabanela, and I do love Yomiel in his own right... I don’t want Cabanela being into it. Adrenaline junkie he may be but this hurts and his coat’s a mess and there’s no perfect winning scenario so he hates every second of it. (JOWD being into it is another matter altogether and he should probably mind his own business)

Kentucky Route Zero: Carrington, Cate

Act after act, intermission after intermission, I somehow didn’t see the arts rising to such a dominant theme in KRZ and it’s stuck with me since the ending finally hit. It’s great and moving. So! Who better than good ol’ antler man to linger in those feels! Carrington’s playwright adventures or Carrington&anyone you fancy, either way I’d listen to him ramble for a week and I would like to know more about his big dramatic plans. Or maybe him helping someone, more or less accidentally, by offering his unique takes? Overriding my “no canon retellings” DNW for a hot second, did he ever figure out what was going down in the Death of the Hired Man (or Nap of the Hired Man as the case may be) interlude?

For Cate, I’m mostly interested in two things: life on the river and mushrooms. Maybe both! The Echo river ecosystem is intensely fascinating to me as opposed to life on the surface and life on the Zero, and yet all these environments are permeable. So what’s a moment in her daily life that encapsulates the river? Someone they picked up on the Mammoth, a strange island that popped up at some point? Cate&Will bonding extremely welcome, I’m love Will. And then there’s the mushroom hunting. I don’t know much about mushrooms, but I do know that they’re cool. Cate seems to agree, so if you’ve got a story or pic in you about her and them mushrooms, I’d love to see it.

Pyre: Volfred Sandalwood

This is a Volfred solo, Volfred&literally anyone or Volfred/Tariq, /Oralech or /Tariq/Oralech request. If &Manley or &Brighton, I am not interested in more lenient takes on their characters than canon’s. fwiw I also enjoy Jodi/Celeste and Bertrude/Pamitha a lot!

I feel deeply for all of Pyre’s main themes - literacy, degrees of freedom, the fragile time that is the end of a historical cycle, nobodies rising up to the occasion, building a better society, and of course found family, “distance cannot separate our spirits” and all that jazz, and Volfred is squarely rooted at the center of all of them. Just please tell me things about my fave. His relationship to the Scribes (as a historian, a some kind of vision, via *ae or once he’s a star himself)? A ‘forced vacay’ Downside ending where he looks at the Union from afar and keeps living in this strange transformational place? Life in a cramped Blackwagon that was meant for like 5 people tops and is currently eight Nightwings, a herald and an orb? Since he picked him for the job to begin with, does he respect and cherish Hedwyn as he dang well should? What does it feel like to try and Read a herald? Was he ever in danger, in the Commonwealth or in the Downside? Does he puff up as prime minister because he’s nervous, and who can see past his hyper-professionalism and lend a hand? Please roast him big time about the votes he assigns to the various Nightwings in his planner? What’s his attitude toward the flame’s purification (what with being a tree but mostly like, as a general concept. He did nothing wrong!) (well he definitely said some things wrong and sometimes oftentimes the ego jumps out, but his intentions did nothing wrong)? When did his calculating approach fail him? Something with Pamitha along the lines of that edit that goes “Can we talk, one ten to another?"/"I am an eleven, my girl, but continue."? btw that ‘emphatically yes xeno’ from my general likes is only applicable here I guess so: emphatically yes xeno to both shippy interactions at all ratings and to gen explorations of what a Sap is like...

Shenmue: Qiu Hsu, Xianzi Bei

Cormorants... kung fu... cormorant kung fu. They turned out to be my faves in a very likeable cast and I’d love to see either or both of them slice-of-life-ing it up in Niaowu, or anywhere up or down the river. The rest of the cast is welcome to join! Did Ren end up at Liu He Hall for whatever reason, or did Shenhua chat up a cormorant, as she does? Id love to see a spookier mood too! Ghost story time in Liu Jiao shrine maybe?

The Silver Case: Catherine, Kodai Sumio, Kuroyanagi Shinko, Kusabi Tetsugorou, Macalister Edo, Morishima Tokio

I‘m all for the surrealism, big things being introduced and never picked up again, Rashomon’ing it up with six explanations for the same thing where no single one can be true, people dying and then popping up again like nbd...  maybe the thing I like the most is characters transcending their humanity and looming over the dystopian world like ominous avatars. Correctness’ first ending had me swooning, that kind of mood is unparalleled. I have played TSC, FSR and 25W so far and have vague memories of K7. I’m aware of the “everything’s connected” readings but that’s not my main interest in these games. Mainly I see Lospass as a real island but also a metaphysical  place of transformation first and foremost, where strange things happen that don’t make sense elsewhere, but I’m good with anything that works for your story! There are a few & prompts for these fine folks in my Press Start letter [here].

For Catherine, I’d love to see something along the lines of her YAMI appearance, on Lospass on her own or hanging out with another character of your choice (or Tokio again). Sumio leaves me at a loss for words... if you’ve played 25W, maybe an expansion of his [intense ethereal whooshing] moment? He’s a gust away from vanishing from existence altogether... &Sakura and/or &/Tetsu if you want. Or his time in prison or a return to Lospass or whatever’s going on with that one, really. For Shinko I’m itching for different team-ups! Throw her at anyone you like and see what happens! FSR-era Tetsu could be cool, or off-the-grid Tetsu, or Tetsu&anyone... as for Edo, I’d be curious to see his pov on anyone and anything! WAS the Flower Sun and Rain the friends we met along the way? And Tokio... oh Tokio. Something about older Tokio and his gaggle of tulpas (Slash and whatshisface from YUKI who looks suspiciously like YAMI Tokio himself?)? Any...thing...about any part of his life from Lifecut onwards? Any portentous encounters?