#Pretty much just make a dating sim of every fandom I'm in

[animentality]

It's tough because I hate the Astarion haters on Reddit, who are just misogynistic and homophobic and dismissive of the character because they hate how gay he acts and also how many women love him.

but I also hate BookTok Astarion fangirls who feel the need to assert how superior Astarion is on every fucking Gale, Wyll, Halsin, Shadowheart, Minthara, Lae'zel, Karlach or pretty much any BG3 video at all. Like we get it. He's white.

And then I'm ambivalent on the Tumblr Astarion fans because there are the people who simply like him and make fun art and fun meta analysis about him, and then there are the people in my inbox currently telling me that Astarion's Ascended ending is morally correct and it's not a bad ending for the character, and if I disagree, then I hate women.

You're correct that I hate women, but it has nothing to do with Astarion.

Also, I once again point out, that your own husbando literally tells you outright in both endings that being Ascended ruins/ruined who he used to be and also your love for one another.

Your man literally says that your love would have been corrupted by becoming his spawn, and you still cling to the idea that your character is living happily ever after.

He's not making you a vampire queen, he's making you a vampire pet. And it's fine to like that ending. I don't care if you LIKE bad, unhappy endings. That is your prerogative. But you are simply incorrect if you say that it's the "happy" ending for the character, when it clearly is not.

No one ever said you had to use your skull for anything other than cold cut storage, I just don't see why it's even necessary to argue your point to me.

Stay in your Astarion echo chamber, and block me. I don't have time or energy to block all of you.

Anyway.

It sucks because I really like Astarion, he's my favorite love interest.

I really enjoy his storyline and his growth as a person and how sweet he is. He's also very funny. All the companions have great voice acting behind them, but Neil really knocked it out of the park, and I honestly think the character would be far less popular if they'd picked any other actor.

But the fandom around him is just...awful.

It's a mixed bag of normal, unnormal in a fun way, and unnormal in a "you need to fucking step off in this Walmart bitch" way.

It's why I'd rather interact with Dark Urge and Gortash fans.

Much smaller subset of the fandom, so I don't have to deal with the generic crazies, and we're all such freaks that we don't feel the need to go around acting like Gortash is a good person.

I also only ever see people saying these two are fucking disgusting and horrible and I'd murder them in real life and honestly, true and based.

No happy endings for those two, and that's fine for me. In fact, it's great.

See, Astarion girlies, this is called...knowing your ship doesn't deserve a happy ending after all they have done, and knowing it wouldn't be a happy ending if they got together, but being able to acknowledge that and not get bent out of shape trying to justify it.

Stop tying your irl morality to your tastes in fiction.

I never said that liking the ascended ending made you a bad person in real life.

I just said that pretending it's good and happy and great and not continuing the cycle of abuse, is factually incorrect.

And it is.

Every single bad ending for all the love interests is literally continuing the cycle of abuse. Why would Astarion's be any different?

But maybe I'm being bold in assuming you even know the other love interests exist or have stories. Maybe you don't even know the general story of baldur's gate 3, because it is, as you say, the vampire dating sim, and it's definitely not about anything other than banging the sexy vampire.

Media literacy weeps.

Anyway.

Not ruining my enjoyment of the game.

Just my general tolerance for the fandom that is not Durge and Gortash obsessed.

[yuikomorii]

Ayato used to be special, that’s true but now? He pretty much lost the personality that made him stand out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

No offense here but one thing I hate about dating sims is when the guy starts worshipping the MC to the point that they always do as she says whether if that’s wrong or right.

I can remember the times Ayato got in troubles due to trusting Yui’s words too much or caring too much about her comfort when more serious issues were around and I swear there is even a ‘I will build a castle for you’ scene ??? that made me cringe so bad

I don’t get what this fandom got with simps, it’s none of my business tho but that’s not even funny at this point anymore.

// No because at this point I’m convinced more than half of the fandom mischaracterizes Ayato so bad that I’m genuinely questioning whether you truly played the games/read the translations or you simply couldn’t care less about what you were playing/reading.

First of all, there is a distinction between worshiping and appreciating someone. Ayato treats Yui as an equal; he does not regard her as a goddess or an inferior, which is completely fine because this is the healthiest way for a relationship to function. He trusts her words so much because he loves her and believes in her abilities.

Secondly, Ayato didn’t lose his personality and if you went through his routes, listened to the serious CD dramas, read the official short stories + YB and paid attention to what’s written about him in the books, you would know that.

It was mentioned several times that Ayato’s true face is the one of a sweet and pure-hearted boy. Usually, when people hear the word “pure-hearted” they think of someone kind or innocent, but the term goes beyond that. Everyone can be kind sometimes, everyone was pure at some point and some still continue to be like that if life didn’t hit them hard enough but not everyone can be pure-hearted. Being pure-hearted ( 純情 ) means having a self-sacrificing devotion, helping and forgiving the ones who wronged you and empathizing with them. This perfectly describes Ayato because I swear, this boy is the King of Second Chances.

Even Rejet mentioned in the second picture that by touching the true side of Ayato, who always pretends to be strong, you will fall in love with him.

That’s actually a true statement and I can clearly see why he’s the apple of Yui’s eye because Ayato is by far the most hardworking and ambitious Diaboy and the fact he would do anything to make his girl happy, even starting to study in order to get into college (although part of his trauma has to do with it since Cordelia mercilessly punished him every time he refused to study), adds +100 respect points.

The "I'm gonna build a castle for you!" scene from his MB After Story wasn’t cringe at all; he was just trying to show Yui how grateful he is to have her by his side all the time. He didn't expect her to get a job too; he simply wanted to be the one who worked so as she could live a happy life and fulfill his role as her husband.

In the official after story of the MB After story (translated by Koiiro), Ayato stopped skipping classes at college so as to make Yui proud. He’s trying his best to be a better person just for her and if you still find THIS cringe, then… that’s on you.

Last but not least, it’s true that Yui’s decisions aren’t always the best but instead of blaming her for making dumb choices and Ayato for trusting her, why not blame the person who put them in an uncomfortable situation??

[caernua]

re: your arcana post - i literally don't even go here but i live for drama.... if you were ever to do a video essay or even just a write up in a post about the situation.... i want to know what happened, can't resist 👀👀

oh my goodd it's so eerie to explain it to someone who wasn't involved but this silly little mobile dating sim was just an initial passion project from a small team of employees of an indie game developer that was basically given six weeks to turn in something completely self-indulgent and it quickly got a backing on kickstarter around 2016-2017? beyond that it was quite a classic case of a project becoming more famous than its creators expected and it turns into a bit of a mess bc of their lack of experience. and by that i mean they got very close to the fans, and that's bound to open a can of worms. they used to make weekly q&as and you can't imagine what an exciting event that was, oh my god literally everyone was in a discord server losing their shit bc the devs had opened the askbox and we could ask the stupidest questions in the world about their characters and they would answer bc frankly they were very funny and the characters were all like... established in a funny enough way that it was so easy to make good jokes about them.

and i think what makes it very interesting is that the fandom was actually pretty small, but it felt HUGE. those q&as seemed like the most viral posts you could run into when you logged on tumblr but really most of them had a couple thousand notes at best, even when the arcana was at its most popular. it was literally like living in a small village where everybody knew EVERYBODY. if you posted something, high chance everyone in the fandom would see and reblog. it was like a hive mind.

also part of the reason why it felt so huge was bc everyone was churning out fan content like CRAZY, i don't think there was ever any fandom i've personally been in where i've seen so many people create so much damn stuff and frankly i think it's one of its strongest features. idk what it is about this game but everytime i revisit it inspires me so much, suddenly i wanna pick up my tablet after months, i wanna try writing again, etc. it's just wonderful at urging you to create and i have no idea how one even achieves that.

but yea the fandom slowly disappeared partly due to controversies, some of the creators were found to have been into some questionable stuff back in their not so olden days and they stepped away from the limelight, afterwards i believe a lot of the team stepped away from the game altogether. but it was weird because the controversies were constant, not just towards the creators but also within the fandom itself 💀 and given the huge volume of them they of course ranged from reasonable criticism especially regarding the representation of the characters of color, or the absurd microtransaction to stuff like 'his eyes are drawn bigger in this cg so the artists wanted to make him look like a child so this game caters to pedos actually' dkjgdkfj i saw some CRAZY takes and the bad faith criticism definitely overshadowed the reasonable voices in my opinion, it was not balanced at all. they stopped doing the q&as, the posts they made on their official tumblr became way more sanitized, and actually in a way so did some aspects of the game, and little by little it grew quieter.

and now it's... silent. but it's so near and dear to my heart, i think it's an absolutely wonderful game and what i love about it the most is how much it inspires people to create. and i think the reason why is bc unlike in many games like this (at least i think, i'm not sure cause i haven't played many) your character doesn't just suddenly meet every love interests. they have a connection to some of the love interests and a past they don't remember so it's very interesting to peel those layers back, BUT because it's your character the story stays quite vague about the past. so it's incredibly fun to speculate, to create a backstory, etc! that's i think one of my favorite things about it and it's not a coincidence that arcana went on to inspire some fans to venture into the visual novel genre as creators themselves.

and yea overall it just felt like a close positive community (well. mostly really, we are talking about a fandom on tumblr here so) and a super creative and inspiring one. the jokes were super fun, the art was top notch, the writing was also good. so yea i kinda miss it and it's sad to see how empty it seems now? like i see people from 2020 onward go 'ohh i just discovered this game' and i'm like... MY SWEET SUMMER CHILD... YOU HAVE NO IDEA.... YOU HAD TO BE THERE.... and ig i didn't really answer your question bc i kind of glossed over the drama but i went through the whole phenomenon bc i think it was. really interesting to witness 🫡

[spooky-steamel]

DATING SIMS AND DATING SIM ADJACENTS part 1

So I've decided to make a review of all the dating sims and games where you can date characters I've played yet. (Okay that's a lie, all the dating sims I feel like talking about right now)

This is a review by a player for players so buckle up, I'm doing this for the people! And it’s only part 1 so more is coming when I feel like writing again

Remember that it's mostly from memory and that I'm not a God so I can be wrong, feel free to correct me if so! Ok let's start-

MYSTIC MESSENGER

Story: Downloading an app to 'chat with pretty guys' you get thrown into the chatroom of a charity organisation called the RFA by some hacker. The head of the organisation decides to make you their newest member to fill the role of their dead leader to start holding charity parties again. Will you be able to uncover the secret behind this hacker and why he wanted you in this chatroom?

Where to play: It's a mobile game and I was gonna say 'you might find some way to play on PC with an emulator' but with its game mechanics it's not worth it

Price: The game is free but you can buy stuff inside the app but it's not needed to advance the story, just a nice bonus. I played the game without needing to buy anything

Play Time: A route lasts 11 real life days, in real time or less if you get a bad ending so it's kinda difficult to measure a real play time for it

Love Interest(s): There's 7 love interests in total, including one girl. You can either date the gamer college student, the narcissist musical actor, the overworked secretary, the funny mysterious hacker, the cat-loving CEO, the selfless photographer or another hacker but make it a pretty boy.

Main Character: The MC is automatically a girl, with only your name customizable

LBGT Representation: We know some of those dude ain't straight but it's not actually CANON but who cares about canon? The girl route really romantic and more platonic than anything but she's just lying to herself. You can hook up with a girl in one of the bad ends? Not too much representation but it's not inexistent at least.

Game Mechanics: The app is like a real chatroom, opening between certain hours to progress the story. You don't HAVE to got into every chatroom, especially those at 3 am but be sure to not miss too many so that you don't get a bad end. You can receive calls and personal messages by the characters and even try to call them back. To get a good ending you have to bring as many guests as you can to the party so you have to answer mails correctly but don't worry you can always look up on internet the answers if you don't want to use you brain.

Fandom: Not as huge as back when it first came out but still a big fandom, lots of fanarts and fanfics you won't run out of content anytime soon

Personal Opinion: Yeah I started with one of the most famous one but it's famous for a reason. I love the story and the characters, the mechanics are new even if they could have NOT MADE 3 AM CHATS EVERY DAYS but I mean it's my fault for wanting to 100% the game. Great game, it's the one that got me into dating sims and was my whole personality in high-school. You can go back to it years later and it'll still be as good, absolutely recommend.

OBEY ME: SHALL WE DATE?

Story: You're summoned into the Devildom to take part in an exchange program between angels, humans and demons by the ruler of demons. You have to spend an entire year down in Devildom going to school along with the representation of the 7 Deadly Sins who you live with. Will you survive the year, and will you attract the attention of one of them? (It's a dating sim, of course you will)

Where to play: Another mobile game

Price: Also free to play but since it's something that the people call a Gacha, trust me you'll be really tempted to buy currency to get the pretty cards of your newest blorbo. I personally didn't last long.

Play Time: There's like 40 chapters YET with each like 10 little stories in it so trust me, I've been playing for months and I'm still nowhere near the end of the game. There's also new side stories every three weeks or something so no chance of getting bored.

Love Interest(s): There's currently like 11 love interests, all guys. The 7 Deadly Sins, the dorky ruler of demons, his loyal butler, the beautiful angel and the shady sorcerer. They're all varied and not all of them are accessible from the start but you can date them all at the same time so it's a win for hoes everywhere. There's a pretty girl later on but you can't kiss her YET. There's no route just a main storyline where you kiss who you want.

Main Character: The MC is represented by a pretty pink sheep and I'm pretty sure the characters uses they/them to talk about us. You use your own name but not customize the MC further.

LBGT Representation: Gender Neutral MC = everyone is gay, I don't make the rules. The cast is pretty fruity but never outright said, except maybe for some allusions of the avatar of lust sleeping around.

Game Mechanics: To advance the game you got to use character cards to win dance battles to unlock the rest of the story. At some point you might get stuck because your cards are too weak so you gotta constantly upgrade those bad boys. That's like half of the game ngl

Fandom: Big fandom, not deteriorating anytime soon seeing as the game is constantly putting out new content. I take like an hour every morning to check every new post on tumblr

Personal Opinion: This game is addictive. I won't lie it has it's bad sides and the story is kinda progressively getting less well written but it's not a deal breaker for me. I like the characters and that I don't have to start all over again to get a certain character. The good thing about this game is that you can put down the game for months and then come back to it later when you need something to get fixated on again. Real good game for casual play, would recommend.

THE ARCANA

Story: You're a witch that is suddenly visited by Countess in the middle of the night to find the murderer of her late husband to punish him. Will you actually find what happened 3 years ago and solve the circumstances of the Count's disappearance?

Where to play: Another mobile game! But unlike the others this one should be easy to use an emulator for

Price: Free to play but if you're bored easily beware cause the button to buy keys to progress the game is easy to find and oh so tempting, and if you do it once you will never stop. Also, you need game currency for the best (mostly horny) game options but you can get them for free in the game. Or not if you got the money.

Play Time: Took me like a week to finish one of the route without spending too much money, it all depends on how much if any money you want to spend on the game

Love Interest(s): There's 6 love interest, including 2 girls and one nonbinary person. You can romance either the pretty magician, the beautiful and smart Countess, the charming runaway supposed murderer, the cute servant, the quiet forest man or the ghost of the Count.

Main Character: You can choose your name and pronouns, this MC has no mentioned physical appearance so just go wild with your imagination

LBGT Representation: Everyone is bisexual! Canon gay couples in some routes and the nonbinary love interest uses he/him. Gay/10

Game Mechanics: The main story is just a visual novel. There's some mini-games on the side to get game currency or bonus scenes but it's mostly a visual novel.

Fandom: The fandom is not as huge as the other two but the tumblr tag is still getting fed everyday

Personal Opinion: The atmosphere of the game is amazing. Good story with good characters. Actual romantic female route??? I'm surprised, you don't get that often in games that aren't R18. There's a good ending and a bad ending for each love interest and they're both really good. I may have spent way too much money on it but it's not like I HAD to so it's kinda my fault. Good game!

DREAM DADDY

Story: You're a single dad moving to a new house with your teenage daughter who is pushing you to actually be social for once. Among your new neighbours there are several other single dads who might be looking for love? Who knows?

Where to play: I played when it first came out on my old PC but now you can also play on mobile, switch and PS4

Price: Ngl I have no clues what the free version does but I'm pretty sure the good stuff isn't free. It should be around 15$ on every platforms.

Play Time: From memory I don't think it's that long to play through it? Not a short game but I've definitely played way longer dating sims.

Love Interest(s): There's 7 dads to choose from. You can either have the cold bad guy dad, the Victorian vampire dad, your childhood bro dad, the suburban (not actually single??) dad, the dorky barista dad, the english teacher dad or the friendly competitive bear dad.

Main Character: First game on the list where you can personalise your MC! You can dress up your character sprite and change his appearance and full name. But you are a dad and that won't change.

LBGT Representation: It's a game about a dad seducing other dads, of course it's pretty gay. But apart from that, you can make your MC wear a binder and one of the love interest is implied to be transgender. You can also choose whether your daughter is biological or not, and the gender of your late spouse.

Game Mechanics: Another pure visual novel, I don't have much to add about this.

Fandom: There was a fandom back in the days but I'll be real with you, I don't think it survived so don't expect anything too big regarding new content.

Personal Opinion: It's a good game. Not life changing but it's really funny and the love interests are good characters. I mean I'm not the target audience at all but still an enjoyable game! If you're bored and have 15 bucks to spare go for it!

MECHAT – LOVE SECRETS

Story: This is just a fake dating app, there's no real story tying the characters together, each love interest has their own little story.

Where to play: Another mobile app (I swear there are other platforms at the end of the list)

Price: Technically free to play but it's one of those game where you have to pay so much game currency to have a choice that doesn't suck, so you might get frustrated and spend money to see if it gets better

Play Time: There's no beginning or end to this game, but each character story should last like an hour or something

Love Interest(s): There's a lot of varied characters of all gender you can choose from, just like a real dating app. Except with furries.

Main Character: You can choose your name and sexual orientation and for a game like that I think that's already a lot

LBGT Representation: Like I said, you can find anyone on there so yeah it ain't a straight game

Game Mechanics: It's just a fake dating app with some 'real life' date parts. Nothing much to add.

Fandom: No real fandom as far as I've seen, but at least people are talking about it

Personal Opinion: If you're bored and horny (cause yeah this game is pretty horny) you can go do one or two stories but the wait for the currency makes you give up on the game pretty quickly but if you download this app you already know what to expect. If you're a fan of story-based visual novels like me this is not it honey

MONSTER PROM

Story: You're a monster going to high-school. You need a date to prom. Need I say more?

Where to play: You can get the game either on Steam or switch

Price: The base game is like 12$ but there's a bunch of dlc or sequels to the game if you want to spend more money

Play Time: The game says a full route takes around an hour but it's definitively less. Or not, don't look at me for answers.

Love Interest(s): I'm only talking about the base game so there's 6 love interest, including 3 girls. You can either pursue the typical bad guy demon, the himbo werewolf, the hipster vampire, the girlboss medusa, the life of the party ghost or the tyrannical princess mermaid.

Main Character: You can choose one of 4 characters to play: a Frankenstein gal, a zombie boy, a fire hottie or a dark humanoid blob. You can then choose their name and pronouns.

LBGT Representation: No set gender MC which means everyone is gay. There's also some space prince dude or something that hit on your love interests sometimes? And one of the DLCs includes a trans girl eldritch horror. Pretty gay game.

Game Mechanics: To get into a route, you gotta go to school to change your stats, each characters having necessary stats to romance them. You can also play this game with other people and race them to see who gets who first! Damn I wish I had friends

Fandom: The people know about this game but the fandom is not thriving as far as I've seen. Not a big fandom but it's existent at least

Personal Opinion: Ok real talk this game is absolutely hilarious. Everything is stupidly overdramatic and it's great! Ok there's barely any story but it's not a story driven game so it's good. If you have a few hours to spare to have a good laugh, buy this game. But if you're looking for a gut wrenching love story, this ain't it.

ERROR 143

Story: You're a hacker. You decide to hack another hacker who stole your first place. This loser hacker hacks you back and starts talking with you. You start to get feelings, oops

Where to play: On Steam and Itch.io

Price: This game is fully free yay

Play Time: Like, 2 hours? It's a rather short game

Love Interest(s): There's only one love interest here: Micah Yujin. He's a dorky little shit who's probably chronically online

Main Character: You can choose your name and pronouns, the MC doesn't have a mentioned appearance.

LBGT Representation: That dude ain't straight, and there's no other characters so congrats on the fully gay game

Game Mechanics: Works like a normal visual novel who doesn't look like a visual novel. There's some hacking hangman mini-games but it's not really important to win.

Fandom: Small fandom but for a 2 hours long dating sim by god they are here, I've seen medias with 10x the amount of official content have less fandom than that.

Personal Opinion: This game is funny, pretty and the voice acting is godly. Not a huge plot to it but that's alright, just a small feel good game and for free?? If you like dating sims you gotta play it, it's really great!

[dragonsongmakhali]

10 fandoms, 10 characters, 10 tags:

Basic rules: choose 10 fandoms that you are part of/support, and choose a favorite character from each of those. Then, tag ten folks!

Tagged by: @jigschosai @sealrock @reikatsukihana and @sasslett! Thank y'all :'D

This is not ordered by how much I'm into them, they're just in whatever order came to mind :) I will caution that I don't tend to choose favorite characters, I'm more of an OC maker. Feeling chatty, so I'm putting the actual list under a cut. You're welcome.

1. FFXIV : Pretty self-explanatory for the xiv sideblog. Since I'm not as in to the MSQ, I don't think I actually have a favorite character (which I know is illegal, I'm sorry :<). I really love seeing what the community does with the characters, though!

2. Halo : The storyline went to hell long ago, but I do still adore the original trilogy and constantly mine it for gpose captions. It was basically what I lived off of in high school. If I had a tumblr back then, I'd have been insufferable. Favorite character is easily Rtas 'Vadum.

3. WoW : Kind of. Asterisk. I really only know Classic, and even then, I'm way more Horde than I am Alliance. I have approximate knowledge of many things. No favorite there either - I'm all about the world and making OCs. We have two concurrent WoW tabletop games running at the moment, so this is where most of my headspace is. Their shared timeline is different from the canon, so I'm not really in the fandom per se.

4. Mass Effect : Alien dating sim, my beloved. I even enjoyed Andromeda (jump jets implemented perfectly, fun combat, the Jardaan reminded me of Forerunners). If you ask me to choose a favorite, I'll cry. How is a mother supposed to choose between her two sons (Legion and Grunt)? Drack also gets an honorary mention for his 100s of low res pictures of guns email.

5. Elder Scrolls : Mostly Skyrim, some Oblivion. I know, I'm one of those fans. Anyway, I've probably played over 1k hours of Skyrim by this point and yet. And yet! I don't have a favorite. The entirety of the Companions? I just wish that the faction questlines in Skyrim weren't "you killed 3 wolves and have been here a week. You lead us all now", but it does give me good scaffolding which. As an OC fiend. Grabby hands.

6. The World Ends With You : This game made me good at calculus in high school. My favorite character from here is Sho Minamimoto, and I was a completely normal teenager who dealt with that by doing calculus problems for fun. Turns out, the trick to get good at math is repetition.

7. Pokémon : Probably my earliest fandom. Still play the games now and again, just got Legends Arceus (super late, I know), and that's been a lot of fun. My favorite character from the franchise is Sinnoh's Rock type leader, Roark. I had a long-running sideblog dedicated to the Sinnoh region because gen IV is my favorite in general! It's inactive at the moment.

8. Guild Wars : 2, to be more precise. I started playing about a month after release, and since it's f2p, I still drop in from time to time. Like every MMO, I have no favorites. I really love playing Sylvari, though! (The glow!! The nightmare!! The [[Heart of Thorns spoiler!!]] They're just so neat)

9. Star Trek : we're now getting into "shows I watched and didn't hate" because I'm definitely not in the 'fandom' for Trek. We've been going through the old series as a way to wind down before bed, starting with TNG. We're on Enterprise now, and I'm sad that it got canceled. Still will probably have a better ending than Voyager. I don't have a favorite, but I can tell you that the writers' collective favorite must be either Seven of Nine or Data.

10. Uh. Various anime? I can't say I've recently loved any particular series to the point of fandom, but as a whole, I've been a weeb since I was in middle school. "Recent" series that I've enjoyed have included Mob Psycho and Love is War. Coincidentally, they both saved the most banger opening for their third season.

We had to stretch a little bit, but we made it to ten! Proud of this community (this community is my brain desperately trying to remember 10 things I like)

Have no idea who's been tagged in this, so if you've done this, please ignore! Or reblog it again!

@miqojak @airis-ray @wilanserulia @ahollowgrave @blackestnight @starstrider @iron-sparrow @sumifinalfourteen @jump-n-dive @otherworldseekers

[troublcmakcrs]

{ ⊾ } —- favorite rp memory? / { ⋎ } —- favorite thing about the rp community? ( forces you to be nice because its funny ) / { ⊿ } this was talk about your favorite character but amma add spice : talk about your favorite sim character <3

wahhh, i had to leave the mysims rpc after a huge stupid drama blew it up (part of my decision to leave was due to me being busy with school anyway, plus it was just boring to continue in that fandom when half of my rp partners (2 people) suddenly blocked me) but my time in that fandom will always hold a very special place in my heart. it was the first tumblr rpc that i really got into, and it was back in the days of people actually interacting and sending out random asks and tagging their mutuals in random starters. even with only 5 people, a pet rock, and a shoelace in the fandom, the dash felt so vibrant and alive.

i had one ship that i really loved, travis & crystal, wherein i wrote crystal and my friend (at the time) joey wrote travis. they were high school sweethearts, the dumb blond jock boy & the bitchy sassy goth girl riddled with teen angst. and they were sooo cute 💕 i struggle to listen to songs about summer love without going back to them

i do wanna bring my mysims muses back someday, but i'm worried i'll never be able to recapture the magic that was The Thems, i'm sooo :(

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fuck you

my favorite thing about the rpc community is... honestly... just existing as a community. i love seeing everybody's writing and posts on my dash and being able to get inspired by those! while i write entirely for myself (and you should, too!) i find that my writing is better when i'm faced with other writing. there's just something about getting a really good reply from your partner, like when eli hit me with the line "an ouroboros of narcissism" or something like that, that gets me.

you know when you read something so good that your fingers get twitchy and you feel compelled to put them on the keys yourself? i live for that feeling, and it's something i don't get as easily in the fanfiction community. but in the rpc, that feedback loop is pretty much constant

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AGH... how could you make me pick a favorite sim?? :( all of the residents of sunset valley (not you, thornton wolff) have me in a fucking vice. (i'm jk, even thornton gets me, but goddamn he is terrible, but that's what's fun about him. pretty much every time i play with thornton, i make him the biggest bitch imaginable)

but ig... my favorite sim out of all of them is probably mortimer goth. he's definitely gotten the most playtime out of all of the sunset valley townies. i love going against established canon and making him marry the ghost, lolita goth, in his backyard instead of bella bachelor like he's ~supposed~ to or whatever. sb pointed out that that was very twilight-ish, and i'm like. fuck it, idc, maybe twilight has a point. it is kinda freaky, but i think it's cute. weird but cute. let me live, goddamn!!

a very close second is agnes crumplebottom, mortimer's aunt. without player intervention, she will pretty much always die loveless and alone, despite having the "hopeless romantic" trait, and that breaks my heart :( so i intervene as often as i can bc i can't stand to see her die lonely :((

she's a recurring character from... i believe the very first sims game, although she didn't come in until one of the expansion packs. and she made her debut as a crotchety old woman who beat happy lovers who committed pda in front of her with her purse, which ok.......... queen...

but also with sims 3 giving us the backstory that her fiance died right before their HONEYMOON and the implication that she's only bitter about happy couples bc she feels she lost her chance at love... she got me like :(((

(also i just looked it up and i was right. agnes was first introduced in the expansion pack for the sims, "hot date." mortimer has also been in all 4 sims games released so far, in the very base versions of all.)

[theangrygnomeempress]

A Baldur's Gate 3 Rant

tldr: woman is angry at a game and needed to scream and vent into the void. And this is cheaper than therapy.

TW: it's BG3, spoilers, and the game includes themes of abuse in all and every form. This post will be addressing some of those issues. I'm sorry if these matters are displeasing for you. Please bare this in mind going forward, especially with Astarion's part of the rant. I apologize in advance for any harmful emotions I bring up. I pray you are able to heal and continue to grow on your journey.

First off, I am not a gamer. I grew out of gaming back around 2020 since it no longer served as good or healthy escapism.

Most of the games I did play was stuff like Undertale, Skull girls, MK, Smash, Fnaf, and Overwatch. I have more titles under my gaming belt but these are just to name a few.

I am also not a DnD or Fantasy fan. I'm team sci-fi all the way. I just think magic is a cop out and used in lazy writing. Plus I can't play a game where the rules are basically whatever the dungeon master calls it. I need games with decent structure. Plus if I'm able to lift like 250, rolling a 3 shouldn't matter. It's like the will of the dice over rule your action and your stats don't matter.

So how the hell did I even get involved with this game? Youtube! The damn algorithm!

Every. Single. Recommend. Video. Short. Everything!

It was always the damn vampire. Only the vampire. I was almost convinced the game was just about him.

So, because I am a Fnaf fan that should tell you all that you need about my fascination and hyperfixation with gaming lore.

I blame MattPat!

So, I take a look into the game.

Immediately I'm hit with the Spider-Man vs BG3 drama. The absurd racism from some of the fans. The awful takes made about the game that was whole unjustified. And the very very concerning fixation on Astarion. This was all in January 2024.

Months later, the game is still popular. However I am beyond annoyed because the game sucks.

If you're a fan, that's fine. Honestly, it's the fans who drew me into the whole thing. You're a very talented lot who saw the wasted potential the game made. I'm pretty much became a fan of the Fandom. Until all the racism.

That being said, I'm going to be ripping into this game. I never played the game. I'm going off of clips, video essays, and posts that I've seen. I have also had to read some Fandom wiki to make sure I understood some story beats.

Lets get ready to rant!

First the game.

Is there a game? Seriously? Because if you're like me, a asexual who didn't want to romance anyone, what is there to do? I was expecting Diablo and I got some Otome game. Not to say that dating Sims can't be fun, but this feels so much like a dating sim. Almost everything relies on the relationships you make in the game. I just wanted to hack and slash, not.... kiss and miss?

I'm not clever, sue me.

And yes, I never played so how would I know? Almost all the posts I see about the game is about the companions. To me, it's like that's the only memorable parts. A good game should have memorable characters and game play. My example is undertale. It's a wonderful mix of memorable moments with the characters and great fights.

Also you can go on a date with the best boy of the game!

So if the focus of the game is made on the company of your party, how are they?

Bad. Their all bad.

Ok, that was a lie. The women are great, the men suck.

So let me begin with the most romanced character Shadow heart.

And it really shouldn't be a surprise why out of the 6 she's the most romanced. She actually has a story and while yes, all your choices impact the characters, she's the most believable character who would independently choose her path. Be it with Shar or Selune.

Plus she's the easiest to make a life with after the battle. Laezel needs to go to war. Karlach needs to go back to hell. Maybe you can make a life with one of the guys but why would you want to?

While everyone thinks Astarion was the writing room's favorite, it was actually Shadow heart. She has a clear cohesive story that doesn't feel cheap on either ending you get with her because it feels like despite your influence, her actions are hers. And I think it amounts to how the writers wrote her taking accountability of her actions in the clips I've seen. No complaints with this one. Sure, she's the embodiment "it's not a phase Mom!". But that's her charm and part of the reason why I like seeing her growth. 10/10 for me for the independence vibes into her own changes.

Now, Laezel was the second most romanced character and the second character with the best writing.

Another character with clear writing, clear motives, and a decent story.

She's also my personal favorite. Like, if I was isekaied into the game, we're besties. She'd probably hate me, but she would me my best friend.

Her story is ok, even if it's simple. It works.

I don't see much of how other's like her as a girlfriend. And I wouldn't know what her romance is like since I'm not playing the game. But she's a little emotional distant who warms up to you over time is the vibe I get. Which is much better than the vibes I get for Karlach.

I'd give her a 8/10 as a character and companion. Well crafted, but she leaves me wanting more.

Karlach is a 5.

Third romanced for a reason. Her crap story is what dooms her from the start.

She's a victim of the war and possibly a child soldier who's doomed to burn and die. Kinda hard to put your heart into someone who may not live to see if you can build a life together. Her death is certain and it's incredibly hard to see that for a woman so sweet.

All other companions get to be free but her. That sucks! She's pretty much in a doomed timeline. I feel awful for her as there's really no hope and a slim chance for getting better.

It's hard to romance someone with a constant bounty on her head.

Still would pick her over any of the guys any day. She's immature sure, but she's sweet. And if not a soldier, I could see her being that P.E. teacher everyone loves.

I could she her flourishing and thriving if she didn't have to deal with so much crap.

Her personality is a 8, smile is a 10, but she's a 5 because you will need to be constantly fighting to keep her safe. And even then, it feels like you can't.

She has the saddest story because unlike Astarion, she can't be free. There is no cannon event for her to have a proper mechanical heart like Tony Stark. So even if you some how free her from her devil, she's forever tied to hell. That's sad.

Now Wyll is a 4.

He's beautiful but he's morally corrupt. Which is why I couldn't nor could ever imagine romancing him.

Now, this poor man was dragged through the mud for no other reason than being a black man. I see this crap so much with fantasy/magic Fandoms. It's sad that in 2024 we can't have a black man in a video game. There's no justification to whitewash. Most of the critics I've seen of him has more to do with the critic than the actual problems with the character.

If you can't say what about the character gives you the ick, I'm questioning you.

Exactly what rubbed you the wrong way about him? And why can't you say it? There are valid reasons not to like a character. Even if it's just that you never connected with the character, that's OK too. But DnD does have a history with racism so it's sad to say that I shouldn't be surprised.

Wyll is a sweetheart. I love him to death. His romance is a breath of fresh air. I watched a compilation of his romance and I loved it. If he did that to me, I'd swoon. It was great to have someone who you could romance without sex. He is a true prince charming and easy to fall in love with.

However, I was upset when I found out he was a human turned devil and not a teifling. Again, I knew nothing about DnD when I was starting looking into this game. And nothing on his back story. I was smitten by his pretty face ok?

And once I looked into his back story, the image of the prince charming cracked. Instead, I'm left with a man child who wants to play hero.

Let me explain.

It's known that he was facing a evil cult and then panicked. He was a scared 17 year old, raised by the ideals of a lawfully good and just man. I could forgive him for making a deal with Mizora if he wasn't a literal duke's son.

Same situation but if Wyll was a commoner, or even as high class as a nobleman/ aristocrat's son, 100% understandable. He needs to save his people. It was the best he could do at the time.

But he's not a simple man. He is a duke's son. A person who would have had the means of military power. If not himself, he could have gone to a royal advisor and he could have lead a army.

This storyline is about as believable as BatMan. You know you messed up when Batman is more realistic than your character.

Ok, so let's go back to the start of his story. He was a scared kid and in his foolishness, made a deal to save his people. Noble. Good.

But then he served Mizora for 8 or so years. And for what? Powers that he doesn't use? He's the blade of frontiers. Man is a fighter, not a warlock.

And how many other innocent people has he killed because of Mizora? Someone made a really good point about his interaction with Karlach. You and Wyll see her burning, on the attack, and told she's evil not only by Mizora but from the knights.

You have no reason to really trust Karlach on her words alone. It's only through the tadpole that you are able to see her as the victim she is.

How many people has Wyll killed that were like Karlach? How much blood has he spilled thanks to his pact?

It's hard to like Wyll after noticing the hypocrisy. So much so that I can understand why people find him distasteful. (If only he was actually criticized for his actions)

He's not a good guy. He's lawful neutral. He's only good at playing the good guy. I say this as he really only cares about the glory of being a hero and nothing more. I don't blame his dad for disowning him. His dad fought and earned the right to be a Duke. Duke Ravengaurd was a man for the people, a true spirt of a guardian angel. Wyll looked up at him and sadly only saw the praise. I say this as his heart desires not the good of the people, but adventure and the tales of glory to boast about. All his interactions is about him gloating. If he's not gloating, he's playing the moral high ground.

Also, for a character that's so moral that quip to Astarion about the rat diet is out of line.

There's so many things you can make fun if Astarion for, why did you need to make fun of his abuse like that?

To me, Wyll is fools gold. Looks to be of great worth but is nothing more than a shimmering fake.

Because he didn't have to make the pact with Mizora. He chose to. He wasn't in a life or death situation. He didn't have to face the cultists with her alone. Throughout the game, Wyll is highly regarded in his city. You'll see this if he stays human. I find it very hard to believe he couldn't rally up some men to stage a coup, and kill off the cultists that way.

If that was his story, his dad could disown him for being rash, Wyll proves his worth being the blade of frontiers, and everything could still work the same.

Mizora ruins his story. Her addition doesn't feel genuine with the way Wyll is currently written.

Now how to fix that? Make Wyll power hungry. Have him be honest later in the game that he was blinded by the songs and praise such a deal could make. It would make it so much more satisfying for his story.

Unfortunately you are stuck with two characters that don't quite fit together that makes a emotional whiplash of a character.

Plus romance wise because someone mentioned this on reddit, Wyll will cry about being a devil but loves you for seeing more than his horns. But he cannot be seen with you if you become a squid man. That hurts.

Again, the good boy is not being a very good boy. His actions and words don't line up and I kinda hate him for it.

He's a 2 but his smile and charms makes those little red flags look green so he gets a 4.

Gale is a 2!

He may be handsome but, that literally cannot save him from my issues with him.

He is Neutral Good but left to his own devices would become Lawful Evil.

If Tav wasn't there, he'll gladly continue his toxic relationship with Mystra. He'd most definitely become a "god". And who knows what that would entail for a man with a dangerous ego.

But when Tav is there, to love him for who he is, to help him realize Mystra is awful and he can do so much better, he will still devote himself to a woman who will kill him.

Now Gale is a well written story of a male Harley Quinn. Someone so blinded by their love, they cannot see the torment.

I would also like to point out that she did indeed groom Gale. Anyone regardless of race, age, or gender can be groomed.

So whether they met when Gale was a teen or a young man, she groomed him.

Its scary how accurate they wrote someone who's been groomed. The way Gale justified her gaslighting and abuse is a very real response to how victims can't see there abusers as abusers.

But who is Gale if Mystra wasn't around him? He's still be a man who's love for magic causes him to become a wizard and his ambitious spirit is what makes him toxic. Because he needs to be the best. He cannot be humble. He does good things sure, but he can treat the one's closest to him like trash.

This man needs therapy and a class change.

I think this man's ego and self esteem relies too much on Mysta. My man is depressed and needs a hug.

He gets a 2 because while he's truly a 9, Tav cannot save him from his own destruction. And shame on Tara. She's his best friend but I don't see her trying to dissuade Gale from being with Mystra. And even if Gale heals, Tav will always be number 2. It's painful to be someone's rock only to be tossed aside.

It's a difficult romance that leaves you wondering, do you love me too?

Sorry, wrong photo.

GIVE IT UP FOR EVERYONE'S FAVORITE

✨️✨️⚜️ A S T A R I O N ⚜️✨️✨️

So....

I have very very mixed feelings about this character.

Firstly, Astarion is what you make of him.

You play a huge part in his discussions.

Like I know he's smoothed brain but still.

There is no Astarion. There is you.

You control his narrative.

That can be said of all the companions but it feels so much more with our dearest star.

There are two ways to play his character.

You fix him. Make it all better. Your love cures him. And he is grateful. He... is completely codependent.

Or, you can make him worse. Kill 7000 souls, doom them all, and prove him right. That he needed this to be safe all along.

I feel emotionally manipulated by the game devs on this character. Neither of these endings are healthy for him. The best ending is really being his friend and giving support. To show him people can be loving and care wholesome for another.

I feel emotionally manipulated because I don't believe his character nor the themes of abuse where properly used in the game or by the marketing team.

Looking at that onlyfans video Larian!

Similar to Angel dust from hazbin hotel, he's over sexulized. However, in Hazbin Hotel the characters fight against the exploitation of Angel where as it seems only Tav cares to treat Astarion other than a piece of meat.

Even then, with a character who LITERALLY GETS UPSET WITH HIMSELF if Tav wants to have sex with other people, there is no way to romance him without sex.

Like Wyll, there should be a path to allow the player to have a deep romance with him without sex.

It really breaks my heart seeing people over sexulize him or even ship him with Cazador.

This man has been through enough. He was pimped out by his master. Cazador sex trafficked Astarion. That's not a theory! That's a fact!

This man has been traumatized. He's fighting for his life out here and all he can do is think about ascending to finally be safe. To never have to worry. Something a lot of victims, me too, have wanted.

It's cathartic watching him kill Cazador. Many of our own Cazadors are still walking out there when they should be in jail.

This is the part of Astarion that Cazador made.

Cazador made him a scared wounded man who's reduced to his sexuality.

But he's so much more than that.

Prior to Cazador, he was a judge. So we at least know he was smart, wise, and/or trusted enough to be awared such a position. Astarion's also dead so that smooth brain may have more to do with the decomposition or trauma. Trauma changes your brain chemistry so much so we're able to map it on brain scans.

But one thing that people overlook is that he's always been lawful evil.

He was feeding guilty defendents to the Szarr family. This was supposedly a secret between him and the family from what I've read about the early game access. But either way, you don't get chummy with a vampire if not for nefarious reasons.

There's no explanation as to why this occurred. No potential political gain or even a mention of somehow of a relationship with Astarion and the Szarr family. Or even between Cazador and Astarion.

It's kinda obvious that Cazador planned on the attack. We're missing a lot of details as to why Cazador was targeting him. Because what vampire lord is just going to be conveniently walking past a dying man in the middle of nowhere?

Some one here on tumblr said it best. "He's an abuser who found a worse abuser."

He abused his power as a judge. Anyone he sent to Cazador could have been part of the 7000 souls used in the ritual. Anyone he sent faced the same abuse he faced later on the line.

Now, when we are wronged, we want revenge. And if you believe in karma. This very well could have been his karma for sending potential victims to Cazador that he would later use as sex traffic spawn. It's messed up. This is a very messed up back story.

But what truly bothers me is his lack of agency.

If Tav isn't guiding him one way or another, he kinda has to leave your party. There is no way around it. You either have to fix him and make him all better or turn him into an abusive husband. Both of these are wrong.

I have a problem with the "I can fix him", "beauty and the beast", "he's just misunderstood", or "bad boy with a heart of gold" tropes seen countless times in media. YOU CANNOT FIX SOMEONE. THEY ARE A PERSON! NOT A MACHINE!

Astarion needs a loving caring friend first and a lover later. I find the the above tropes vile and concerning because

A. It's always gendered. The female love intrest is held responsible and to the extent of responsibility a parent has over a child for the emotional well being of their male love interest.

B. It's dehumanizing to the male love interest as it perpetuates the idea that only a good woman can fix him. That he needs to be codependent in order to get better. To be better. To heal.

C. While this can be done regardless of the gender of "The broken" and "The Mechanic", to know or find out you're just a project to someone hurts. It breaks the love and trust between them as the mechanic never loved them in the first place. You do not try to make your partner a better person, you try to support them and give your advice. Trusting partners will consider each other's words. Controlling partners will insist they know what's best for the both of them.

Astarion is not going to change any time soon.

He will never be the sweet kind boy you want him to be. He's honest about this and you should listen.

He's a lovable ass and that's all he really cares to be.

Let him be. Let him grow in his own time. If he even does. I do see hope but again, this guy has been trying to win your favor. Who's to say he's above playing hero?

That being said, giving him what he wants kills him again. He is no longer the man you know.

When he ascends, as his master and his master before, it will only continue the cycle of abuse.

He says it so clearly when you break up with him. That he'll use up your love until you are nothing.

Nothing.

No one who loves someone, even in a twisted sense would want them to turn into nothing.

That being said, I feel bad for the Acended Astarion fans but this is a great example of what it's like to be in a abusive relationship. You're love bombed one minute and scared the next. You're now the spawn made to be consumed. And I agree 100% that the whole turning sequence falls in line with a vampire bride. That is your husband. And I am so sorry.

Everyone called out the kisses for being disturbing. They are. And they have every right to be. You fell in love with the monster you made. And you made him. He used your eyes to carve Cazador. He couldn't do it without you.

So, does this mean it's your fault? Are you to be punished for loving someone dearly?

See, this is my most horrific problem with this romance because you are held responsible for Astarion's well being. The blame is put on Tav. Not Astarion!

He tricked you, seduced you, said everything he could to gain your trust. And this is how your repaid? By being in a toxic relationship?

And the Devs answer to the back lash? Honestly, I can't find anything. Alot of people were upset. And to be fair, for months people role-playing as a evil but endearing to each other couple. Those kisses ruined the Mortica Gomez vibe and replaced it with domestic violence.

THAT 🐶 IS SMILING SLAPPING YOUR FACE!

SMUG MUG!

He likes the fear and control he has over you. And he was always like this. You just didn't catch on.

He repeats Cazadors rules.

He'll tell you till you drop, you're his equal.

But you are his property.

You were always meant to be a tool for Astarion.

Either to heal him or to be used by him.

Listen, I wasn't above his charm. When I first saw him I honestly was put off because he remined me of Prince charming from Shrek. But that didn't quite felt like the right character until I saw the comparison to Preminger. And that explains why when I first saw him, he scared me. Prince charming and Preminger have always scared me because they both kinda give a rapist vibe.

And to be quite honest, Astarion did kinda assult Sebastion. He got that poor man so drunk, kissed his with questionable consent, and then killed him through Cazador.

Because you can mold Astarion into the mold you want, it's easy to mold him into a redeemable character.

I know when I see him sad, my first thought is to comfort him because of all his trauma.

But he traumatized others too.

Hell, I tried to watch his romance comp as I've done with Wyll and I barely got past the bite scene. Just to see what all the hoopla was about.

It gave me flashbacks and I cried seeing it. Just as I did with the AA kisses in the kiss update.

He's a very violent man. He is scary. His love is twisted at best, a play at worst.

He wants you because he wants to use you.

And you, the one who loves him. The desperate need to take care of him, to protect him. You are not a bad person for wanting more for a person so hurt. You are a kind caring soul. And you will be hurt if you date an Astarion.

I'm no better, I was a loki fan girl once. I know what it's like to love like Harly Quinn and have it end up getting me hurt.

-🚩🚩🚩🚩♾️/10

Thank you for making it to the end of my rant.

I didn't feel like anyone else felt the way I did about these characters.

Especially Astarion and Wyll.

For a game so companion focused, they really made all the men toxic to all hell.

I'm sorry if I made anyone upset but Astarion really does scare me. I cannot find the appeal.

While I can sympathize with his character, some of his actions don't sit right with me.

I just wanted to say Neil did a great job as a actor.

Astarion made me every emotion under the sun.

That's a lot of range in one character.

And I'm really curious to see if anyone else felt this way too. I know I'm not the only one to feel like Wyll's fake and charming. But does Astarion scare anyone else too?

[ladyhoneydee]

30 Day Song(fic) Challenge: Day 20

Aaaand we are officially 2/3 of the way through my Song(fic) Challenge! I am very excited to be here, and with my progress so far! I'm doing a lot of things I've never done before this month--which extends to today's fic, which is a bit different!

Today's prompt was "a song that makes you feel cozy", and I had a bunch of options for this one, since I have an entire 4.5hr playlist of slow cozy love songs. I ended up going with "One and Only" by Teitur, though, which you may better recognize as the song from the water tower fireworks scene in the 2000s classic mermaid movie, Aquamarine. The instrumental in this song has always reminded me of the OST for the farming adventure sim Rune Factory 3, and so I deviated from my usual LoZ to write for a new fandom instead--for the first time in nearly four years!

Stars Above, Stars Below

Game: Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon

Pairing: Micah/Marian

Word Count: 1582

Keywords: romance, love confession, handholding

He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but sometime between running away from that two-handed weapon she called a syringe, waking up after fainting in one of the dungeons with her tending his bedside (gleefully overcharging him while she was at it), and their walks along the beach through the summer and fall, feelings had blossomed in his heart like the flowers he grew in his fields. He couldn’t help but to fall for her chaotic charm: her determination, her humor, her desire to understand the world and herself, her selfless desire to help others that still never outweighed her selfish desire to help herself.  Micah was a slow grower, but Marian made him want to keep up.

Read the fic on AO3, or under the cut!

The stars shone down on the Sol Terrano Sand Sea with dizzying brightness. Above their heads, Micah saw galaxies upon galaxies, layered atop one another like celestial tulle in one of Evelyn’s designs. Violet splashed into emerald green; silver sparkled atop indigo. He hadn’t known a night sky to contain so much color before in his life. Even if he’d had all his memories, he was pretty sure that would still be true. 

Of course, he hadn’t stargazed with Marian before like this, either. Perhaps every sky shone brighter with her by his side. 

She lay next to him on the dune. The sand, still releasing a soothing warmth from the day’s heat, cushioned them like the finest of mattresses. If Micah wasn’t hyperaware of his date’s every breath and shift in position—she never could sit still for too long—he might have found it comfortable enough to fall asleep. 

A warm glow flared to life in his heart at the thought of falling asleep next to Marian someday. Spirits, he was truly head over heels for her, wasn’t he?

He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but sometime between running away from that two-handed weapon she called a syringe, waking up after fainting in one of the dungeons with her tending his bedside (gleefully overcharging him while she was at it), and their walks along the beach through the summer and fall, feelings had blossomed in his heart like the flowers he grew in his fields. He couldn’t help but to fall for her chaotic charm: her determination, her humor, her desire to understand the world and herself, her selfless desire to help others that still never outweighed her selfish desire to help herself. 

Micah was a slow grower, but Marian made him want to keep up. 

“Micah, are you cold?” Marian asked suddenly. His brows drew together in concern at the slight quiver in her voice. 

“Maybe…a little? Why?” Was she the cold one? The desert did get chilly at night, it was true. If she wanted to go back…well, it would be a little disappointing, since they’d only been out for half an hour or so, but he would gladly walk her home to the apothecary if that was her choice.

“You just have those little gaps in your sleeve on your shoulders! It’s perfect for a shot, you know.” In the past, Micah might have shuddered at a comment like that, but after seasons of getting to know her—and watching her sense of medical ethics slowly improve—he only smiled affectionately up at the sky. “I thought maybe you’d be cold, with those exposed.”

“Oh!” Micah considered it, for a moment. He was a bit cold, if he was honest. Not enough to want to leave, or that it was unpleasant, but enough that he could feel it, and knew he’d feel nicer if he was warmer. “Maybe a little. …What did you have in mind?”

He snuck a peek over at Marian’s face beside him, and found her staring up at the sky with wide eyes, and a blush so hotly red he could see it even in the dark on her cheeks. “Well, I have my cloak with me, and it’s so warm and fuzzy…I thought, if you were cold, we could…share it? Like a blanket?”

Micah’s own cheeks flamed at the thought, and he turned back upright himself so as not to be caught with the incriminatingly gleeful, shocked smile on his face. “S-share a blanket? With you?”

Marian twitched beside him, just for an instant. “Um, yes? But you don’t have to if you don’t want to! I can just keep it to myself.” 

Oh, no, it hadn’t been a twitch after all. It had been a flinch. Micah’s heart dropped into his stomach. 

While he was feeling guilty, Marian had kept on rambling. “Actually, I might have some medicine here somewhere that would raise your body temperature—”

Micah interrupted as Marian’s hands darted to her skirt pockets. “No, no! I…want to.”

“To take medicine?”

“No!” His voice was too loud, but spirits, Marian could be so endearingly dense sometimes! He made a conscious effort to lower it. “To share your cloak, Marian.”

“Oh!” Micah wasn’t sure if she was trying to mask the delight in her voice at all, but if she had, she had failed. The pressure bearing down on him from his accidental near-rejection of her advances lessened, and he took a full, deep breath. “You should’ve said so from the start, silly!”

He laughed. “You’re right, I should’ve.”

There was silence for a few moments. Micah resisted the urge to look back over at Marian, worried that he would see something on her face she wouldn’t want him to see. Instead, he searched the sky above for any stars of the same candy-cloud blue as her hair. Many came close, but there was never an exact match.

“I’ll…scoot closer, then!” Marian said eventually, her voice high. “Although, I should take off my cloak first, I guess…”

She sat up beside him, and Micah watched, eyes wide, as she untied the large yellow bow that held the cloak together around her shoulders. Her shoulders weren’t anything new to see—they’d shared the beach before, after all—but under the desert starlight, her skin seemed to almost glow.

Or maybe that was a side effect of some new medicine she was researching. He wouldn’t be surprised. 

Marian laid back down, and began to scoot across the sand towards him. They’d been about a foot apart before, but that distance shrunk quickly. Micah felt his heart thump-thudding in his chest. Not to leave her hanging, he scooted forward too, until his left arm bumped into her right. 

Marian swiftly shook out her cloak and let it flutter down over them. The warmth was immediate: between the sturdy-yet-comfy thick fabric, and Marian’s own body heat that had radiated into that cloak all day long, he felt like he was in a soft cocoon of coziness. Not to mention the way feeling Marian beside him, with all her sharp edges and hesitant presses against his side, made his own internal temperature skyrocket.

“This is a lot warmer,” he said, although he felt quite foolish at such an inane comment. Why couldn’t he be more suave? What was he so scared about? “Thank you for sharing your warmth with me, Marian.”

“You’re welcome!” That higher-pitched tone was still there, but she seemed genuinely pleased by his words. He could take comfort in that.

They lay together under the cloak-blanket, and Micah felt them both begin to relax, ever so slowly. His own tension at not saying the right thing and the new challenge of functioning normally with Marian so close began to abate as he simply enjoyed her company, and Marian’s posture beside him became less rigid. 

“The stars are beautiful tonight.” Spirits, why had he opened his mouth? What a useless thing to say.

“They really are!” Marian agreed. He smiled at the zeal in her tone. No matter where, Marian was Marian. 

Still no stars in Marian’s color in the sky above them. He was beginning to think that the only celestial body in the whole universe with it was lying right beside him.

Micah took a steadying breath, and then reached out with something besides his stumbling words.

Under the cloak, his tentative hand found her own. His fingers grazed across her palm, and he felt her shiver, just before their fingers intertwined. 

Oh, oh. If Marian was a star, he was a supernova. And yet, the feeling of her hand in his brought a strength and courage he hadn’t felt before.

“Marian…there’s something I want to ask you.”

He turned his head to the side, instinctively seeking out the familiar aubergine of her gaze. To his surprise, she was facing him already, eyes widened, mouth poised in an ‘o’.

“I…really like you, Marian,” he confessed, heart thrumming in his throat like a hummingbird’s wings. “No, I—I love you. I don’t think I could’ve gone another day without telling you.” 

The recipe for the silver-and-ruby engagement ring flashed in his mind’s eye, and he rushed to clarify. “I-I mean, I’m not ready to get married, I still have so much to do with the farm, and Vale River to free! And I know you still have dreams too at the apothecary that you want to focus on! Not that you’d have to give them up if you married me, of course! I only mean—” Spirits, he was digging himself into a hole here. “I’d like to promise myself to you, though, for the future. If you’ll have me.”

Marian’s gaze had transitioned from shocked, to confused, to amused, as he spoke. Now, she stared back at him with unbelievable tenderness. 

“I like you too, Micah,” she whispered, eyes sparkling. “And I love you. And I’d be the silly one if I turned down such an adorable guinea pig.”

Micah cracked a grin despite the seriousness of the moment. He squeezed her hand once, twice, three times. I love you. 

Someday, he’d tell her of the significance of the motion, and they would repeat it all the time, until he could get three squeezes back even while she slept beside him in their marriage bed, blue hair tickling his face and legs tangled with his. For now, he stared into the stars in Marian’s eyes, knowing that they were a reflection of the same joy and excitement in his own. 

[wolfofartblock]

Random "What if my favorite couples involving Ichigo were in a dating sim" sketches that I needed to get out. They were pretty quick and lazy, but I still like the idea a lot

Maybe one day it could be brought to life, but I'm sure I've said this 100 times already XD but maybe after my current dating sim is finished I could do this :')

[rosetinted-selfshipping]

hey!! hope you're doing well! sooo... I've seen a picture of a twisted wonderland character that looks very f/o shaped (if that makes sense). but here's the thing: I've never heard of that game before!

and since you're one of my mutuals that I know that knows the game, I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about it (and the character, if that's ok)

I forgot to say that the character I'm talking about is epel. it's this guy:

sorry if this ask is too random! you don't need to answer this if you don't want to /gen

I hope you have a nice day!

You got it Moot! I’ll give you all the Twst Knowledge I have!!!!

Okay so there’s a English version out rn of twst but from last I checked it’s so bare bones it’s painful

But it’s not a bad option to learn about the characters but I’m a really big Idia simp- like so big it’s painful so I lost interest in the English release pretty quickly because of a lack of Idia content and haven’t been paying attention to it as much

I’d recommend the game if you like 1 Visual novels and or 2 Raising sims. If you’re not familiar with the genre think just- Grinding or more or less if you just REALLY like watching the number go up while you put the game on auto lmao

But I say give it a shot if you want! I may not be giving the best explanation lol

But onto the twink of the hour himself: Epel

Epel was actually the first character I got interested in! The road to me Simping for Idia was like-

Epel < Ruggie < Malleus < Idia

His basic shtick is basically: he looks really soft and UwU and his Dorm leader Vil is super into that! Except actually Uh oh! He’s not soft and pretty on the inside he wants to be a hardcore manly man! Also he’s a country bumpkin. It’s very cute!

I always root for rebellious characters lmao

More on the dorms now that I think about it!

So there’s 7 Dorms based on 7 different Disney villains and Epel’s is Pomefiore based on the Evil Queen

Pomefiore is all about beauty and stuff

The Dorm leader is Vil this super male model that will ABSOLUTELY BULLY YOU (I feel like I’d enjoy dating and or being friends with him except I know he’d destroy my self esteem without caring)

And the Vice Dorm leader is Rook this ABSOLUTE Ray of positivity stalker :D also he’s French

(Here’s a dorm sorter If you want to do it for the lols, I got Pomefiore last time I took it)

Now twst has a small but dedicated fanfic community that’ll keep you VERY well fed if you simp for Malleus or Leona

Oh you wanna simp for any other character? Be prepared for like 2 fics of them every week at best

Sorry but while this isn’t very personal i have to throw shade on the twst fandom for only Simping for two characters and leaving the rest to starve but don’t worry Epel is more popular then Idia (*Cries*)

For one last note I HEAR the twst fandom can be pretty toxic and I don’t really disagree but I haven’t had any especially negative experiences myself but I’ll just say that as a warning to be a little careful just in case!

Also also!! Bonus points! The Twst Fandom is INCREDIBLY welcoming and warm to Ocs! (I don’t talk about mine but I would if asked)

I’m happy to know my ask box works I was really scared it just- DIDN’T EXIST lmao but I’m always happy to interact with a moot! So feel free to send another ask whenever!

[nyaitsu-writes]

Hello! Id like to ask a question, is there any fandom that you are currently in aside from esntars?

hi hiii! i love this question so much, feel free to listen to some more nya ramblings (tm) under the readmore <3

as a content creator, i'd say enstars is the only fandom i consistently make stuff for. i was actually very torn between making a genshin writing blog or an enstars one because,, both live rent free in my mind a lot more time than i'd like to admit ehehe but enstars,, makes me happier!! (❁´◡`❁) i love writing fluff and soft ideas because everyone has been through so much already and,, happyele won't give us the enstars otome/dating sim we deserve. so i had to make it myself! ( ‵▽′)ψ

i also remembered all the good writing i had read before and i also found some new writers that just,,, inspired me so much. i am indeed talking about sunny and swanee aka @/nnatsume and @/yumetokashite but they don’t have to know it (*/ω＼*) 

anyways stuff i like! i really really like genshin, even though i can only play for a tiiiny bit every day <3 i'm also super super into tales of series (mostly tales of symphonia, which is my recurrent obsession every so often) and i could write a whole thesis about ffxv ehehe more rpgs,, i like persona too! and pokemon <33

i also really. really. reeeeeeally love otome games! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ i'm not making a list or else this post would go past 2k words really fast but,, otome games my beloveds <3 it's pretty much the only thing i play other than rpgs when i have free time!! i haven’t played a new one in so long sobsob i promise if i had to make a top list of “3 things nya enjoys doing the most” would be like,, otoges, writing and art ehehe

mrmmm i'm also really into vanitas no carte! i'm up to date with the manga and i (almost) own all the volumes that have released in my country. vampires and pretty boys you know,,, i like that who would have guessed (●ˇ∀ˇ●)

i also think i mentioned it before to dango anon but hypmic! i used to be soooo much into hypmic but i haven't been able to read/listen to anything in a while. i do use the songs as writing playlist sometimes! <3 i've been thinking about bingee consuming? some hypmic stuff as soon as i'm free because my favourite unit finally got a good result and i'm proud ehehe

tldr; i’m really into japanese rpgs, otome games and genshin!!

[thefeistydragon]

Diversity win I guess. There's a nonbinary character in media I kind of hate. Which I mean I guess that's good because it means there's a greater diversity of characters out there now?

But it also sucks because there's no where near enough nonbinary rep out there for one of the few ones in gaming to be an annoying character with model issues, major design problems, and a bratty personality who likes to act like a Karen.

At least other people can enjoy them but....egh.

Off the top of my head they have demanded a customer service worker do things he's uncomfortable with because "I'm the customer, you have to do what I say," and forced him into doing something just to humiliate him for her amusement.

She also complained someone wasn't already attending to her when she didn't have a meeting with him for hours. She got the time wrong, but acted like she'd been done a great injustice. And "excused" her mistake with "Well I'm busy so you should do things on my schedule".

I get some people like that personality in a game, and I'm glad they are least can enjoy her. But I high key hate characters like that unless the story brings them down several pegs.

I also haven't seen any good sides to them yet. Every time I've seen them, they have been a giant entitled brat. All of the other characters have huge flaws too, but they also have upsides that have made me attached to them.

So yeah, finding out they're nonbinary was like ":/ okay I guess. You gonna include any other characters that are actually enjoyable, or are you just going to make your only nonbinary rep an entitled brat?" Also like.......there are three newish characters and so far it seems like neither of the masc ones use He/they, or are nonbinary, so again it's someone who's femme presenting.

I do appreciate the fact they're she/they and present in a way you'd expect of a binary woman. Most NB rep goes the androgynous route, which is fine to have but doesn't come close to encompassing the diversity of NB presentation.

I don't appreciate the fact she's likely to be the only NB rep that game is going to have though. Especially with the stereotype out there of NB people being immature/entitled etc. It definitely rubs me the wrong way.

At the end of the day she is very much not a character I enjoy, and I will actively be avoiding their content.

A lot of the hype around them also seems to boil down to "Omg gorl 😍" which also means I'm going to have to avoid the fandom so hard, because so many people are just going to ignore the "They" part of her pronouns and treat her like a cis woman too.

I am just glad overall the devs do give you the option to avoid things with characters a lot of the time.

And maybe she'll actually develop as a character and have some good points. But so far when I've asked people why they like them, I've gotten again "omg girl 😍"....which uh. Maybe if you're wanting a woman to romance so bad the dating sim focused on dating guys is not the game to find it on? Like please go and check out some games with romanceable women. So you can like the characters for their personality and/or design, not just the fact you can say "she".

I'm sure there are people who don't do that but so far all I've seen has been really weirdly tokenizing and kind of just. :/

The people who have liked them for their design at least have generally been the people who aren't interested in dating them, and even then I haven't seen anything about their personality. Just "pretty".

So yeah, not too fond of the whole situation around that.

But unfortunately a lot of the fandom got weirdly hostile and sexist about them when they were announced, so it's hard to criticize her without people assuming you're doing that.

And this is why I don't interact with that fandom.

[ask-readyplayergaymers]

((So on top of this blog you've got like, 2 other AU askblogs too (and they're both amazing), so I was wondering, how many AUs do you have? For like. All of your fandoms? I'm very curious uwu))

((UHHHMMM LMAOOO

Honestly probably way too many to count but uh. Let’s see if I can remember them all

Be More ChillThis AU, of course!

My Life Tickets AU where Michael hands in a ticket in exchange for living for another day,

Cyber AU where Michael is Jeremy’s squip and manifests in any technology near him (mostly his cellphone),

Timeloop AU where Jeremy relives the night of the fire over and over as he attempts to help his friends escape the house without dying,

Pirate AU (I HONESTLY DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW THIS CAME ABOUT BUT APPARENTLY IT’S MINE NOW?? IDK) where Michael is the captain of an awesome crew of pirates who kidnaps Jeremy, a young noble, and the two fall in love as they sail the seas and look for treasure and all that stuff lol,

Peculiar Steampunk AU based off of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children where all the kids live together under the squip’s protection with their own unique set of abilities, also set during a Steampunk sort of era. So Michael has powers over plants, Jeremy’s wicked awesome with electricity (and also has a prosthetic leg after an accident with some people hunting them), etc.

I put the rest under the cut to save space because there really is a lot whoops

Also if you want to know more about any of these AUs? Just send an ask and I can give you links to more thorough descriptions for each of them!))

Mother 3/EarthboundAsktwinheroesoftazmily: My first ever blog on tumblr, it’s a post-game AU where Lucas and Claus are living together in peace :’)

Reform/Hero AU: Lucas is part of the Pigmask Reform group which repairs damage done by the Pigmask Army, he’s assigned to Tazmily and meets Claus there, who has a personal vendetta against anything Pigmask and a huge secret revolving around the downfall of the army

Friends AU: Lucas befriends the commander and the two of them run away from the army together and attempt to pull the remainder of the Needles before the army can recapture Commander

2p AU: Lucas and Claus’ personalities take a complete 180! Lucas becomes an asshole and Claus is just insane lol (also they’re colored differently of course, Luke’s got red hair and Claus is blonde)

Sorcerer AU: Claus is a sorcerer living secluded in the woods, one day he finds Lucas covered in blood and having no memory of who he once was.

I actually have a LOT more AUs for Mother 3 but these are the only ones I’ve formally introduced so far haha, but yeah there’s also the Crazy Town AU, the Kingdom AU, and the Hospital AU to name a few

Big Hero 6Inari: Hiro is a superhero known as Inari, he runs into Tadashi one day after a skirmish with Yama and eventually Tadashi comes to discover his identity so they split the name and become crime fighting heroes together! Hiro’s 19 in this AU and attending SFIT, he’s not related to Tadashi and therefore his only friend is human!Baymax (who is a healthcare major, go figure), and then he befriends Dashi and the rest of the crew!

PokemonPokemon Legends: My very special very amazing and wonderful hack!! It’s about a girl named Aqua, her next door neighbor Magma and her caretaker Drake, as they all come to discover the secrets of their past and their connections to each other involving some of the legendary Pokemon.

Later on we get the counterparts of Green (Jade), Red (Crimson), Blue (Turquoise), Silver (Cobalt) and Gold (Aurum) that remain with them for the rest of the arcs!

Arc two is about the relationship between Jade and Crimson and how their rivalry nearly tore it apart. But then they make up and it’s very gay. Also we get the legendary birds involved and Mewtwo behind the scenes, pulling some strings.

Arc three is about Aurum, who’s been taken by Lugia to the depths of the sea, and Cobalt’s valiant rescue attempt along with the rest of the crew! He makes bonds with Ho-Oh in order to save Aurum and tells Aqua about his history with Team Rocket and how Aurum saved him.

Arc four is about the Distortion World (also a bizarre version of the land of the dead), and Aqua and some of the others are trapped there. While there they encounter other “them’s” from other timelines where they died, so they run into a blind Cobalt who was killed by Lugia, a burned Aurum who was overwhelmed by Ho-Oh, Jade, whose arm was cut off and killed by Crimson due to him being possessed psychically by Mewtwo, and Drake who was killed by Groudon in an attempt to make peace in one of the timelines. Yeah, it’s pretty dark compared to the other three arcs lol

SenyuuShadows Are Darker in the Light: Ahh yes my infamous Senyuu fic, it’s a high school AU that’s very dark and sad, the ending is bittersweet. Basically it’s a unrequited love sort of thing where Ros moves away without a word and Alba’s left to deal with the aftermath.

FNAF AU: YEAH I MADE AN FNAF AU it’s loosely based off of the plot but. Seven years ago Alba was murdered at a restaurant/arcade place, his body was never found and neither was the murderer. Years later Ros, who was present at the time of the murder, is still looking into what happened to the person he loved the most, and decides to start working at the restaurant in order to get access to files he wouldn’t be able to see otherwise. But his first day on the job he runs into the ghost of Alba, who has been trapped there for years and cannot move on unless he is brought to justice. It’s really sad but really heartfelt and fun at times, too :’)

Letters into Paper Airplanes: I can’t give too much away about this one, but basically Alba receives letters from Ros every week, having never met him in person before. He falls in love with Ros over the course of a year of getting the letters, but there’s a huge secret behind them that he finds out later which is absolutely devastating. It has a happy ending though, I swear!!

SonicRoomies AU: In which Shadow is a human and crashes with Chris after Sonic returns to his world and the two of them grow up and get into tons of shenanigans together :’) Shadow basically has to deal with Chris’ teenage rebellious phase, it’s pretty hilariousIn the end though they get together after the whole mess with the Metarex, and they return to Chris’ world since Shadow belonged there from the start

Mystic Messengerask-saeran-and-saeyoung: My Mystic Messenger ask blog, hey-o! It’s not too much different from the canon plot after Seven’s route ends, except that Seven isn’t dating MC. He lives with Saeran and the two of them have all sorts of fun together while Saeran adapts to being out of Mint Eye at last

VoltronSimulator AU: I sure do love this one…so basically it’s set in the future as a canon divergence to season 2, Keith was horribly injured during the final fight with Zarkon and was sent out into space in an escape pod and trapped inside a simulator that Pidge and Lance created. Inside the sim Keith is tricked into believing that he’s back on earth with an AI Lance watching over him. Of course he does end up discovering the truth eventually but he learns to forgive and falls in love with AI!Lance and they start a relationship together once Lance is granted with a physical body outside of the sim ;D

Kingdom HeartsEclipse Kingdom AU: Sora is the prince of light, Riku the prince of darkness—they’re forbidden from interacting with each other but lol Riku ends up falling in love with Sora, who does in return, and then they start having rendezvous on the border of their kingdoms. Eventually Riku discovers he’s engaged to Namine, so he and Sora decide to run away together to Destiny Islands to escape the marriage. Namine, Axel and Kairi go off in search of them and encounter Roxas, and they all team up to find the princes and bring them home. A lot of other stuff happens but that’s the gist of it!!

Swapped AU: Sora and Riku get swapped with their younger selves, so Riku’s stuck with a younger Sora going on about Kairi and Sora’s stuck with a younger Riku being all edgy and moody and shit lol;; the older counterparts make the younger ones realize they’re hella gay for each other and it’s a fun time

Hanahaki Disease AU: Riku has Hanahaki Disease and is faced with either getting it surgically removed, therefore erasing his feelings for Sora and completely destroying their current relationship, or admitting his feelings to Sora with the chance of them being not returned and the disease killing him as a result. Yeah. Yikes.

KingsmanFamily Coping AU (hell idk I just came up with that title just now lol): An AU ending to the second movie so SPOILERS AHEAD okay?! If you haven’t seen it yet please stop reading. Anyway. In this AU Roxy and Merlin live, but Princess Tilde dies. Eggsy has a hard time dealing with her death and the guilt he feels for not saving her in time, but Harry, Merlin and Roxy help a lot with that. They all move in together in a big house and get up to tons of shenanigans both at work and at home, and Harry and Eggsy especially help each other through their issues (guilt, butterfly visions, all that).

Adopted AU: HARRY ADOPTS A YOUNG EGGSY AND IT’S THE BEST GODDAMN THING EVER. Harry has to balance being a super spy and taking care of a seven-year old kid at the same time with Merlin constantly poking fun at him and Eggsy getting into mountains of trouble at Kingsman HQ whenever he brings them there. Then we get into fun things like kidnapping for ransom, Harry having panic attacks over said kidnapping and then him and Merlin charging in like fucking badasses to save his (their, Merlin totally gets attached too) son.

My Babysitter’s A VampireGrim Reaper AU: After finding out that Ethan’s fated to die, Benny makes a deal with a Grim Reaper to trade his life for Ethan’s, becoming a Grim Reaper in the process. Between his new job in the underworld and sneaking back to White Chapel to see Ethan, all sorts of crazy things happen!

AND PHEWWW I THINK THAT’S IT!! At least those are the ones that I’ve actually talked about and introduced before, I’m sure I have a lot more I’ve either forgotten about or haven’t had the chance to show yet, so yeah :’) I have way too many AUs lol but they’re all so dear to me and so much fun to talk about so!! Hmu with that good content we can chat about all of these any day, I’m down //high fives you