#a lot of little things in other stories and voicelines also make me want to die so

[cubesugarss]

One thing i really like about hiiai's dynamic is that they contrast each other in so many ways. Hiiro who is super honest about everything vs. Aira who expresses himself differently depending on who he's talking to. Hiiro the naturally talented genius vs. Aira the "ugly duckling" who constantly feels left behind. Hiiro with no personal ambition to become an idol (initially) vs. Aira who has had one clear dream since childhood

I love thinking about their early dynamic bc it's a lot of Aira looking at Hiiro who is everything he ever wished he was in terms of being an idol and he just feels so. Conflicted. He knows he's in the wrong for thinking of Hiiro in such a negative light because they're Unitmates for god's sake, but he can't help but be a little selfish when he does what Aira's always wanted so effortlessly. He admires him and wishes he were like him but also resents him for how good he is at everything. The fact that Hiiro was only really there to get his brother back was also like rubbing salt in the wound

But then u look into them a little more and ur like oh. They're each other's first and best friend. Thermometry means so much bc it's the first time their demeanors completely switch around.. this time, Hiiro lets himself be vulnerable in front of Aira and Aira kind of pours his heart out and that's when u realize they Both feel like they would be back at square one if they didn't have each other.

I love how meaningful of a relationship they managed to develop despite how they're basically complete opposites. There's a lot of push and pull with them but look at them now. They are best friends and each other's idol. They go from rivals in the I'm going to kill you way to the you make me want to become a better person way. I'm sick!!!!! I'm so sick!!!!!!!!!

[imlostinmy20s]

Just little details I found while playing Kaveh's hangout event.

And just my thought about these two after Cyno's second story quest. Cuz I'm in awe and I can't stay silent.

Anyway, soooo

In Kaveh's hangout event, you have an opportunity to walk around Alhaithams home (which Kaveh also call home?? but i might be delulu).

There is a main entrance, which leads to a living room. Here, you can see a table, sofas (? not sure if it's the right word.), bookshelfs. But when I first played the main storyline, I missed some details in Alhaitham's house - back then, I didn't give it much thought. Well, there are a lot of books, books are everywhere, and... decorations? vases? Ok, whatever. Suddenly - a pair of musical instruments?

Oh, wait, the table? There are two pairs of cups (for coffee?) and wine glasses. And.. A lot of fruits. Maybe I'm delulu, but, in Kaveh's voice-over (in "favourite food", to be specific) was stated:

"Oh, I'll never say no to fresh fruit". Just like in a scene from Cyno's second story quest:

- "Can you see if the cookies are still on the table?" - "The are. And so are the fruits"

After that Kaveh appeared on a screen from the right side of the house, where Alhaitham's.. Office? Study room is located? Whatever. I'm sayng, besides that office, there is no other room in the right side of the house.

And, well, there isn't much about that office. It's.. Lots of books, a table, which also contains books both from outside and inside. Pretty much in Alhaitham's style.

But I wonder what's this thing on the left of Alhaitham's table? Kinda looks more like an architect's tool. Maybe it's not, but there is just another thing in this room that makes me think that way:

A smaller table with two seats🤨 , that has a coffee cup and a coffee maker and..of course, fruits. Wait a minute. A camera? It's... kinda out of place, isn't?

Why a camera tho? May I assume that this is Kaveh's camera, which he uses to take.. idk... references for his projects? Or, maybe, which he uses to get better undrstanding of enviroment for his projects?

Idk. But if Kaveh has his own room, why his (possible! maybe they are not) belongings (and fruits!!!) are located in Alhaitham's study room?

In Cyno's SQ 2 we had a scene with Kaveh and Alhaitham having a casual conversation (gossip flavored one 🤭🤭🤭). A the start of it, we have Kaveh looking for wine glasses, which he washed. So, there has to be a kitchen, right? Anyways

In the left side of Alhaitham's house we have two more doors. One with yet ANOTHER bookshelf and second, with a painting on a nearby wall. Let me assume that books are leading to Alhaitham's bedroom, and the painting is leading to.. Kaveh's room? (cuz in "A parade of providence" Kaveh stated, that he does have his own room) But that raises a very important question. where the HELL is the kitchen and bathroom? 🤨🤨🤨

ANYWAYS. It's just nice to see these two blended in eachother's life, since their first interaction in main story quest was.. erm... kinda uncomfortable to watch. But I should note that in the beginning, we didn't know much about both Kaveh and Alhaitham, and so we had zero clue on why they were acting like this.

Later we got Kaveh in the game and his voicelines, "A parade of Providence" event, and, oh my god, Cyno's 2nd story quest. It was my last straw, because now I want to make a comic about kavetham\haikaveh, but I still have to learn a lot about these two. Especially Kaveh. Cuz if I'm being honest, CURRENTLY I relate more to Alhaitham and the way his brain works. My past self, tho, would relate more to Kaveh and his feeling of guilt, struggles as an artistic and idealistic person, but those are quite dark times in my life, even my memory is kind of blurry\toned sown 💀💀💀 So it will take time to explore Kaveh's character.

In the end, thank you for coming to my YAPtalk and reading my "nothing burger" of a post. See you in my next drawing!

[shalomniscient]

Hello Sev, I just wanted to drop by and offer you the image of Mantis making a nest at the Bureau that includes a lot of the Chief's things that have recently gone missing...including the chief as well.

Nightingale and the other sinners find the nest and see the chief giving Mantis headpats as Dreya sits next to them reading a book, all while surrounded by the bones of countless animals and vermin of course.

Also, imagine Mantis regains her memories of the Chief and has a wholesome moment of asking the chief if she is still their superhero, with the chief hugging her and saying always.

That is all for now, I have to go back to writing the Chief trolling the Garden.

Till next time.

MANTISSSSS AUGHHHHHHHHH

she’s so tragic since ptn hates letting their women be happy, like… the thing she desired most was connection and in the end, that was the very thing she lost. she can’t communicate with chief (in story, voicelines nonwithstanding) and chief can’t communicate with her. they’re both so close to each other yet at the same time, so far. but despite it all, deep down they both know one thing: i care for you. and i know you care for me. god, it’s so heartbreaking and i love it.

ANYWAY HELL YEAH MANTIS NEST !!! i started playing as dreya event was ending so i don’t have quite a clear grasp on her character, but now that EN is permanent i’ll go back and sit through her story. that being said, i’ll focus on my bbg mantis for now, who totally brings you all sorts of trinkets from her ‘foraging’—which include a few dead mice, Hella’s beanie, EMP’s Nintendo switch and a very cool shiny rock she found outside. You accept all of them, though very discreetly gets rid of the mice.

ALSO ALSO since Mantis can fly she has the ability to literally whisk you away to where no one can get to you easily, like the roof of the bureau. Mantis will proceed to hog all of your attention, chirping and vocalising softly as you pat her hair. She’ll also insist on hovering around you sometimes, which is cute but a little inconvenient when you’re meeting with someone from the FAC or something. Mantis will watch them over your shoulder, cooing and chirping intermittently as the FAC agent sweats under her gaze. Like imagine trying to give a report to your colleague and floating behind them is something two steps away from being an eldritch monstrosity ?? Chief is insane but the people who work with Chief are even more insane lmfao, if your tolerance for supernatural shenanigans is low then the MBCC is not the place for you

chief, watching mantis hunt a rat on all fours with her scythe arms: she don’t bite

visiting officers, screaming when mantis focuses her attention on them instead: YES SHE DO GET YOUR FUCKIN BUG—

mbcc staff: I Pretend I Do Not See

[nitewrighter]

aince we're not getting any this year, could you write some pride month related fanteractions between some heroes?

I mean, I wouldn't say a whole short story confirming Pharah as a lesbian and Baptiste as bi is nothing. But yeah, some in-game voicelines would have been fun...

---

Pharah: Mum, when I was growing up, did you kno--

Ana: Oh I knew. I immediately knew. You could see it from a mile away. I remember you were on a soccer team and you were fond of this little boy and his mother said the two of you were cute together and I just burst out laughing in her face.

Pharah: Aw, mum!

---

Tracer: Growing up in a small town, did you always know?

Soldier 76: There was always a feeling, but I didn't really let myself explore it until I was traveling the world. Even then, I was still in the military, so it was one of those things I didn't want to be the... defining thing about me to my squad mates.

Tracer: But you were pretty open about it with Overwatch!

Soldier 76: Vincent helped a lot with that. But also... Overwatch was this new thing. I realized, I could help make it this new thing.

Tracer: It meant a lot to me. :)

Soldier 76: That was the hope.

---

Baptiste: Is Vishkar picky about what partners you can have?

LifeWeaver: Not that picky. Different kinds of couples look good on their brochures, after all. All they ask is that you give up everything else interesting about you.

Baptiste: *shuddering noise* Glad you got out of there.

LifeWeaver: Me too. The present company is much more preferable.

---

Echo: Am I trans?

Cassidy: Uh, I can't rightly say..

Echo: I was previously genderless, but now I primarily identify with she/her pronouns, and frequently take the forms of other genders. Is that not trans?

Cassidy: I mean, Liao would probably know more about this than me-

Echo: Is being organic a prerequisite to being trans?

Cassidy: Uh--no? I don't think it is... Heck, I don't know...

Orisa: The OR-15 frame was originally designed to be genderless, but with Efi's learning programming, I too use she/her pronouns! *gasp* Did Efi make me trans?

Cassidy: WHY ARE YOU BOTH ASKING ME?!

[therosefrontier]

TWST Family Lore: Heartslabyul Part 1

As a fanfic writer, the family question has been coming up a lot for me with these guys, especially with me wanting to potentially actually write these unseen family members that get mentions thrown out there, so I started collecting information, and then, I thought I'd make a post about it! This first part is just Heartslabyul, about their family members and what we know about them (that I could find, anyways), plus some of my thoughts/guesses. This very well might not be exhaustive, but maybe if I see something more I'll add on!

That said! Spoiler warning! I am including info from various vignettes, card voicelines, and events, including JP server only cards, but I will try to avoid too many specific JP event story spoilers (which in this post is pretty much just a lot of White Rabbit). I include main story stuff from book 1 and also the first part of book 7 (which is out in EN), but nothing from the rest of book 7 which is out in JP. Which probably doesn't have anything Hearts-related anyways (I do not know)? I might be waiting for the rest of book 7 to come out before posting a Diasomnia edition to this, though...

So anyways! Let's get to it!

ACE TRAPPOLA

He has an older brother (seven years older than him, as mentioned in his school uniform vignette), whom he seems to be fairly close with. We also have mention of his dad, but so far, as far as I can tell, there is mention of no one else. He does mention his parents in the plural once: in his ceremonial robes voicelines, he says that "I think my brother was happier than my parents when we found out I made it into this school." We also know that his brother was a student at NRC himself and was also in Heartslabyul, which may very well be one reason for his enthusiasm at his little brother getting into the same school. At the freshmen orientation ceremony, Ace shows no surprise to getting chosen for Heartslabyul, assuming that he'd end up in the same place as his brother (Ace robes vignette).

But first, Ace's dad! He gets mentioned in his birthday boy vignette. He is not a mage (implying that, perhaps, Ace and his brother get their magic from their mom's side? As it does appear to be a genetic thing of some sort according to some mentions, but also, it can skip generations, as is seen with Epel), but he is really good at old-fashioned magic of the sleight-of-hand variety. When asked what got Ace into sleight of hand by Yuu for the birthday interview, he says it'd be his dad, who was "ridiculously good" at it.

(image credit: Songstress Studios)

Ace goes on to say that he learned the "nuts and bolts" of it from his brother, whom he believes was also inspired by their dad, and he also says that whenever he visits home, he and his brother will show off to each other and challenge each other to spot the trick!

Ace also talks about his brother in relation to learning tricks in his dorm uniform vignette. He shows sleight of hand tricks to his dormmates, and when Riddle shows surprise and awe over the 'pick a card' trick he's definitely never seen before, Ace says that he reacted in pretty much the same way when his brother first showed it to him. When asked about his brother, Ace says that he "started playing around with cards for funsies" while he was a student, and Ace later learned from him, but not directly. He never gave away the secret, but Ace learned by watching him. (And he learned well, too! Ace has been shown to be very good at this, also coming up notably in the Fairy Gala IF event, for instance).

(image credit: RedAngel)

Earlier, Cater had asked Ace to show him the secret, and Ace made a deal with him for it since he'd never do it for free, and after hearing Ace's story, Cater guesses that Ace's mentality of never giving away anything for free could have come from his brother.

It also seems that Ace's brother was absolutely the type to tease him. In his birthday boy vignette, Ace tells a story of how on his birthday, his brother gave him a box with a fancy watch inside, which got Ace all excited, but then he clarifies that the watch was *his* watch, not Ace's. Ace's gift was the box. His brother afterwards fills the box with candy, but Ace was not amused.

And in other notes:

He is bad at cooking, according to Ace, who says he "doesn't know a cake from a steak" (school uniform vignette).

He taught Ace how to "kill time in the dorms" (school uniform vignette).

He took a theme park management internship in his fourth year at NRC, and he's continued to work there after graduation (Book 7, Chapter 4).

(Also, this thing about the theme park might be a reference, maybe?? In the Tokyo DisneySea park, there was this "villain recruiters" show that ran from 2015 to 2018, featuring original minions of various Disney villains who would make a pitch to invite guests to join the "Villains' World," and there was a Queen of Hearts card soldier character named Jack Heart, whose costume design does resemble Heartslabyul's! And he does the heart thing with his hands like Ace does in his official art! So, might have been inspiration? Anyways, this tumblr post by ceeyuin666 has a nice summary of it so there).

Anyhow, back on track and back to the school uniform vignette, Ace mentions how before he came to NRC, his brother would "take him about everywhere," which does seem to imply they spent a lot of time together, and he also seems to have been a big influence on Ace. For better or worse :). In this vignette, Ace does a favor for Trey in exchange for a slice of cherry tart, when tips for the history test were what he really wanted, a second motive Trey totally expected, and when asked if he was lying about loving cherries so much, Ace said that he wasn't: his brother told him "the most convincing lies are sprinkled with a dash of truth." Knowing Ace, Trey is not surprised.

(anyways I really want to meet this guy so please Ace hometown event please!!)

DEUCE SPADE

(translation credit to Ekala on Youtube!)

He has no siblings and was raised by his single mother, whom we have actually met! In the JP server, anyways! She shows up in Deuce's hometown event, the White Rabbit Festival. So, we have a name! Meet Dilla Spade (or Dilah? Dira? Deela?)! Romanization isn't clear yet; I'll just say "Dilla" for now. Also, we find out she's a delivery truck driver for the thematically-named White Rabbit Delivery company.

Deuce is shown to have been very close to his mom growing up, noticeable enough to the point that his old middle school friends teased him for it and called him "childish" (starsending vignette). We find early on that this is an important part to his story—when Deuce was in middle school, he was acting like a delinquent: skipping school, disrespecting teachers, being reckless and getting into fights. Then, one night, he overheard his mom talking to his grandma (only mention of his grandma that I know of, but, noted that she's in the picture too!), and he could tell that she was crying. She was feeling like a failure of a mother, and said that "maybe she never should have tried to raise him herself." Deuce, however, doesn't blame her at all. Seeing her like that really shook him up, and he resolved to "never do anything to make her cry" again. This is his motivation for wanting to be an honor student; he wants to be the opposite of what he was before and prove himself. He wants to be "someone she can be proud of."

As far as I know, we don't have any mention of Deuce's father or what happened to him. From context and with what his mom said on the phone that day, she might have been a single parent from the start, with the father never being in the picture.

Deuce, in talking to Silver during Silver's Wish in the Starsending event upon Silver mentioning his father in his wish, talks about his mom and how she raised him as a single parent, saying "I know she's had her share of hard times... So I just want her to be happy now. I'd love for her to live a long life." In chapter 10 of the event, Deuce wishes to be a police officer, specifically a magic marshal, which is a hard job to get, saying that he is "sure my mom will worry a lot less if I get a respectable job." He also talks about this in his event vignette! He reveals that upon getting a bad reputation at home, people stopped trusting him, and they'd accuse him of things he didn't do, but if he said he didn't do it, there were always two people who believed him: his mom and the neighborhood police officer. The officer would always come by to talk to him and hear him out, and both he and his mom were very grateful for that. Deuce says that if he could be like that, maybe his mother wouldn't worry so much, so he decided that he wanted to be a police officer.

At the end of the event, in chapter 12, Dilla calls Deuce in excitement over the falling stars in the sky. In response to Deuce saying that yes he saw it, because he's a Stargazer, his mom replies that "Night Raven College couldn't have asked for a finer Stargazer than you." And she says she's proud of him and it's really sweet :)

And then he starts crying happy tears :)

Anyways! Deuce's character arc can be a whole essay in itself, so back to his mom! Some of the stories we got include:

"Battlefield" Sales Shopping. Dilla would bring Deuce with her when shopping limited-time sales, which she seemed to seek out actively. Deuce recounts spending "forever" thumbing through pamphlets looking for sales, and Dilla would then coax him into coming with her, saying things like "Deuce is so strong, and can carry a lot." Deuce remembers getting shoved around a lot by the other customers, and so, he takes his sales quite seriously today (school uniform vignette, new year's vignette).

Spring cleaning! Or, winter cleaning? Dilla and Deuce would go on a cleaning frenzy after the holidays and before the new year, because “if the house is clean, we’ll feel renewed too” (new year’s voicelines)

In his apprentice chef vignette, Deuce recalls how recently, his mom got sick with a cold but didn't tell him until she was better. This made Deuce sad, because he wished she would depend on him a little more when she was struggling, so he was motivated to learn to cook so he could be more dependable.

Also in his apprentice chef vignette, Deuce says that he did help his mom "a little" with cooking back home and knew how to dice vegetables, and the ghost chef was impressed by his skills! So she seems to have taught him well.

In her own words she claims that she is not very good at cooking, but she does know a lot of egg dishes, because Deuce likes them (White Rabbit, 2-4)

She would bring Deuce to the office sometimes, so her coworkers know him (White Rabbit, 3-10). In the event, they were a little nervous around him at first but then were surprised to find how different his behavior was now compared to middle school, and they complimented him on getting into NRC.

She made Deuce a bunny outfit for the White Rabbit Festival long ago, saying that Deuce was complaining over not having anything special to wear, and she didn't have the money to make or buy an outfit, but she asked her coworkers for some spare fluff and made it work. She looks back on this fondly, saying she was just happy to see Deuce having fun at the festival. (chapter 6)

She is great with cars, but terrible with electronics (White Rabbit Festival, birthday boy vignette). Deuce has to show her how to do stuff and recounts “fixing” home devices by simply changing the batteries, and he is the one to set up appliances at home, as she refuses to read instruction manuals. She only uses her smartphone for calls and pictures. Dilla calls cars "trusted partners" but says that electronics are too “self-important” (White Rabbit, Chapter 2-6).

In this scene, Dilla also praises Deuce in front of his friends for "fixing" so many electronic things around the house, which embarrasses Deuce as he does not think it was that big of a deal. She also mentions embarrassing stories like she knows full well what she's doing, teasing in a very affectionate kind of way.

I do wonder if Dilla dragging Deuce onto shopping trips all the time was in part her way of finding ways to spend time with him. She really seems to care about him a lot, and quality time is something that means a lot to her, but perhaps she also struggles with connecting and really getting through to him. In White Rabbit, she mentions sadly how she used to take Deuce to the festival every year, but then he lost interest. Deuce sees this as normal, but it seems there were some growing pains there.

Also on another note which I honestly just find funny, there is a point in White Rabbit where Dilla is worried about Deuce having gotten hurt, and he says it's fine because he's "used to it," and she's just like...I don't how I feel about this but I support you! (sorry Dilla, your son's a budding shounen protagonist and his school's a disaster magnet. He's going to get so used to this haha)

One more thing we really get to see from the event, Dilla definitely seems to have nerves of steel, too. Not revealing too much about what happens, she doesn't back down from this gang that is harassing her festival stall that her coworkers are terrified of, and then joins in with the idea to challenge them without hesitation. Deuce seems to allude to this when introducing Epel, saying that he thinks they'd get along because Epel has "grit and iron courage," as if he sees his mom the same way.

Going back to Deuce's story at the beginning...I feel like this is pretty significant, too. The impression I get from all of this is that she's scrappy and resourceful, strong-willed and vigorous, someone who'll keep an easy sense of humor and a smile in the face of a challenge... but also, she's someone who will bend over backwards to hide her struggles, such as when she hid her being sick with a cold from Deuce. Which is to say, she doesn't seem like the type to be brought to tears easily. This being just speculation on my part, but what if, that day Deuce overheard her on the phone, that was the first time Deuce really saw her break down like that? His mom, the strongest person he knows, the one always keeping up a smile? Although, in the background, she probably hid so many of the struggles she did have? Just saying, it'd have a lot of impact, I'd think...realizing the turmoil he put her through to get her like that...

But that said, I think it's important to note that she cares about him a lot, and she is proud of Deuce and who he's become, and I don't think that hinges at all on him becoming an honors student. Deuce struggles to try to make himself more reliable, but Dilla says as much in White Rabbit: he doesn't have to "go overboard." It doesn't have to be complicated. She just wants him to live life and be happy, simple as that. And also he could come home every once in a while, too :)

[electric-plants]

I totally believe you, but I'd be interested to see your receipts of haitham being nice if you're willing to share~

hello weary traveler please take a look at my wares~

top ten (read: 3) reasons alhaitham is a SWEETIE w/ receipts:

1) he’s got really good manners:

*leaves to the entrance to wait patiently for you so he can say goodbye* and i just like how offended he seems at the implication in the last one

these voicelines in particular stick out to convey that he doesn’t really want to be responsible for causing others trouble:

also tbh basically all of his about lines are just him talking about people’s good qualities, which always makes me a little sad when i think about most of the voicelines about him in comparison rip

here’s some faves though tighnari’s especially sticks out in regard to alhaitham being nice i think:

2) he does a lot of things for other people:

“i’m not going to field any questions” proceeds to take us to his house, gather a bunch of books to help us understand, and then field all of our questions🤔 also just the entire concept of him being able to be talked into being acting grand sage at ALL

also not included but little things like taking the time to teach us how to use the knowledge capsules, taking the aaru villager’s feelings into account/getting shani to talk, and just generally taking the time to carefully address the rest of The Squad’s™️ questions/concerns during sumeru’s archon quests

3) and perhaps some people will disagree with this one but i just think he has a very kind view of humanity:

(⬆️ from sq also not cropped cause pretty🥰)

i feel that if someone is so intimately aware of the limits and faults of humanity while also still having an innate curiosity about other people and an affinity for finding people’s positive qualities it’s indicative of an inherently kind/forgiving way of thinking

i can and will defend any of these examples if anyone disagrees😤 i spend every moment of my life ready for a debate😤

but seriously lol idk there’s just SO MUCH that he does and says that can be interpreted as kind if you look for it and connect it, like this isn’t even all the examples i could think of off the top of my head

also thank you anon for giving me an excuse to talk about him and how he is GOOD i owe you my life sorry for adding so much lol

my sources for your convenience: SQ = alhaitham’s story quest, TP = teapot dialogue, KH = kaveh’s hangout, PoP = the parade of providence event

[fruityfroggy]

ASGKJKUYFG TYSM @anonymocha FOR GIVING ME A DIRECTION TO GO WITH MY RAMBLINGS<3

Anyways…oh Verdigris, I’ve come up with so many extra bits and pieces to her lore in the past month or so and I didn’t really get to talk about her in the first place, so I’m glad that someone’s interested (this is gonna be so long, I can feel it)

First things first, we’ll get the big thing out of the way: her arcane skill. Kind of a big part of her story is how she is a “plant whisperer”, which means that she’s able to hear the voices of plants and therefore communicate with them. This made her form a prominent sense of empathy for plants, as they are unheard by everyone except her.

(Now, a lot of the things I’ll mention about Verdigris will make a lot more sense)

So a fun little fact is that plants have a “way of speaking” that sounds more poetic than your normal speech, since they’re just describing things based off of what they know from nature. And because of her arcane skill, Verdigris does talk like them a little (which just comes off as being poetic/dramatic). Another thing that comes with this “way of speaking” are “Titles of the Plants”, which is the thing that you remind the plants of, that they therefore refer to you by (Vertin is “The Wandering Wind”, Sonetto is “The Shade in Daylight”, etc).

Why am I mentioning this? Well but of course it’s for yuri reasons! Because this is the perfect way for Verdigris to subtly and sapphic-ly pine for a certain arcanist by the title: Ray of Sun (and who this refers to is not disclosed). She mentions this “Ray of Sun” quite frequently in her diary, which I’d imagine could be one of those pages of text you can find between stages, as well as in her intimacy voiceline (which I haven’t written, but we can imagine, okay).

Anywho…when it comes to interacting with other arcanists, Verdigris is very much the most likeable out of my three ocs here (she’s just a cinnamon roll, not toxic or hard to communicate with). So she gets along with basically everyone in the suitcase. Chaotic or calm, she’s patient enough to talk to them. Tho she’s the closest with Lilya I’d say, since they’re bonding over a shared language/heritage and shut up, it’s adorable. Especially since Verdigris didn’t have anyone to speak Russian to for a long time (she lived in Spain, that’s why) and Russian was her mother’s language (she never got to meet her, so it holds special significance to her (things are getting angsty haha)). This problem was the whole reason she created her own critters actually. But hey, now she has someone and the vibes are good again.

As for their dynamic, it’s obvious that they have a “balancing each other out” situation, and I like to call it “Lilya and her designated driver” as a joke. But truthfully, Verdigris is surprisingly down with most of her shenanigans and no one understands why. Lilya kinda just wants to show Verdigris all the “fun stuff” she usually does, and she just goes along with it while some of the other arcanists watch them in horror (they’re just having a good time tho). When Verdigris is busy, Lilya would go visit her workshop to see what she’s doing like: "What you making, Verdie?:]" (she finds it interesting).

Considering what she does, I feel like Verdigris would probably be crossing paths with Medpoc kinda often as well (hehe). Verdigris just isn’t super affected by Medpoc’s hostility, and still treats them very well after getting yelled at. Once they warm up to her tho, she kinda becomes their emotional support (aka the person they rant to while she hands them a cookie or smth), and they’d pass out together while working across from each other, since neither of them remember to sleep (or do anything else).

I also think that she could help Shamane repair and/or upgrade his mechanical arm (since that’s kinda her specialty), and in turn gain a new father figure. Shamane would definitely like her Dendrogues and greet them when he sees them hopping around as well.

Some honourable mentions are the other calm healers (Dikke and Tooth Fairy). Dikke would grow fond of Verdigris for how fair and thoughtful is, but she'd tell her to not be so tolerant of everything. As for her and Tooth Fairy’s situation, they actually have pretty similar vibes, so they’d probably do some somewhat questionable things together that aren’t so questionable if they’re doing it, like baking together (there’s definitely no tooth fairies in the muffins they’re making, don’t question the taste of plums) and going out into the forest to look for teeth.

Oh right! Verdigris also has a small interaction with Pristine after implanting the new heart she made for her, since Pristine’s original heart (crystal) is the thing that makes her body possessable to Arcana (there’s some context from this post that is needed to understand what I’m talking about). This is a big plot point in Pristine’s story, so guess who’s growing attached to Verdigris. Yeah, she kinda just follows her around whenever she sees her from there on out, maybe even tugs on her sleeve saying “Where art thou headed to? Let me go with thee!” (Welcome to motherhood, Verdigris!)

[mirikitakato]

[Translation] July 2024 Shylock SR Card Story: Shopkeeper Casts His Spell

Shylock teaches Shino to not go against his desire lol.

Event: Obbligato of Soot-Coated Bravery (July 2024) Character: Shylock, Shino

Card story: The taste I’m satisfied with

Episode 1

Shino: Shylock.

Shylock: Oh, Shino. Is there anything you need?

Shino: I want something refreshing. I've been eating a lot of meat so my stomach feels heavy.

Shylock: In that case, how about a refreshing sangria? I'm making some right now.

Shino: Hmm...I'm more in the mood for food than a drink. That thing you're cutting, is that fruit for soaking in alcohol? Give me a piece.

Shylock: I'm sorry, but I can't. This is for infusing in wine, and it won't taste good eaten raw.

Shino: I don’t care, just give me that.

Shylock: No, it's not good. I don't want you to eat something I'm not satisfied with.

Shino: ......... ......So, you're telling me to just drink the sangria obediently?

Shylock: Hehe, don't pout so cutely. Invibelle.

Shino: Is this... a wine bottle?

Shylock: Please take a good look. What's floating inside?

Episode 2

Shino: Ah...looking closely, there are elderflowers and lemon floating. Is it syrup?

Shylock: You’re correct. The people from the Eastern Country gave us elderflowers as a souvenir the other day, didn't they? So I decided to make it into a syrup. How about I make you an elderflower soda with this syrup? Would you like that?

Shino: ...Fine, I guess. But what I really want is something to eat, not a drink.

Shylock: I know. Open your mouth.

Shino: ? Ah----- -----! What is---? Munch, munch...Lemon...?

Shylock: Yes, it's from the syrup I made. How does it taste?

Shino: ......Delicious. It's sweet and sour, with a hint of floral scent.

Shylock: I'm glad you like it. I have a few more slices, I'll put them on a small plate for you. Shino. This is the taste I can confidently serve you. Can you remember it?

Shino: I can. ...Sorry, I said something stupid earlier.

Shylock: Hehe. To reward you for being such a good boy, I'll feed you one more piece myself. It's perfect for a tired body. Here, once more——. Ahh………………

Card Episode: Which taste do you prefer?

Shylock: Sage, you've worked hard today. Please have this drink.

Akira: Thank you! I'll have some. ...It has a refreshing sweet aroma and is delicious! Are you perhaps using elderflower syrup?

Shylock: Oh my, you figured it out.

Akira: I knew it. I remember Faust gave me something similar before. But this’s a bit more spicy than the one I had then...

Shylock: Perhaps it's the taste of the spices. I use various spices to make mine, but Faust might have a different recipe.

Akira: I see! Even with the same syrup, the flavor and recipe can vary from person to person. In my world, things were cheap and safe, but they were mass-produced... It's kind of nice to have this individuality.

Shylock: Indeed. Because it's different from other people's syrup, I can truly love the taste that I create myself. By the way, Sage, which taste do you prefer, Faust's or mine?

Akira: Eh!? Well... uhh, what should I do, they're both delicious... I mean...

Shylock: I'm kidding. Which one you like best depends on your mood at the time, am I right?

Akira: (I was teased...)

Shylock: But if you had told me that mine was the best, I would give you a super sweet and sour reward. Hehe, guess I'll have to keep you waiting.

----Home-screen Voiceline----

“Let's open this wine bottle when Lennox comes. It's a flavor he likes, so I'm sure he'll enjoy it. Also, please try a sample of these snacks I make...It's a little sweet, but I think you two will enjoy the pairing.”

[wildissylupus]

Not gonna lie, but as someone who started playing widow (and is hitting her shots, might I add, hehe), I've come to see that her personality shifts between maps. Just in general. At some points she'll be heavy and a cold dead eyed stare, and at other times you'll catch her saying:

"Move the payload!"

"..."

-In a very polite quiet manner- "please"

And other times if she's actually killing people, not only is her emotion for the hunt poking through, but she actually becomes a lot...not friendlier...just...open? About things. Like the voicelines are all the same with executions, but her personal voicelines sound different? Could just be me? I dunno. But still. I adore her little:

"You can't hide from me forever."

Here's the thing, I think people misunderstand what Widowmaker is like with her emotions. I see people characterise her with her emotions as no different them without them but that's not the case. From what we know of her before her kidnapping and what we see from voice lines, she's a person who wears her heart on her sleeves. The reason she's emotionless now is because of the amount of guilt she felt for killing Gerard.

She's from a conservative helicopter family who she doesn't get along with and is obviously doing things to spite of, specifically the revealing clothing she wears. Not only that but the Black Widow theming? The little spider puns she makes? That's her. That was her choice to do.

Not only that but her two ballet skins are of one of the most iconic ballet shows, Swan Lake. Which implies that the type of Ballet she did the most was Romantic Ballet, aka ballet for theatre kids, as it tells a story.

Basically with her emotions she's an emotional dramatic dork, and though I don't think she'd be that if she get's her emotions back, I do still want to see her banter with some of the other agents around her.

Also I'd like to point out that she's a lot less blunt and more sassy with her OW2 interactions? Yes, she's still blunt and hostile with other members but there are a lot more lines of her starting a conversation without necessarily lashing out. Speaking of which she lashes out a lot more too.

And I just want to say, this is one of my favourite voice lines from her:

"No, Reyes. That was not the move."

She's so done with his shit, this is why I think her and Cassidy would get along.

[thrilling-oneway]

I'd give you 5$ if you post that draft

you didn't even need to bribe. it's not actually in the drafts of this blog so i'll write a better version

i've said it a billion times before: tsukasa is the comedic relief weirdguy, the devs basically will do anything with him so long as it's funny.

so starting with that valentine's day vlive in 2021. during the MC part of that he gets jealous that rui has been getting chocolates and tries to brag that he got lots of chocolates too but then immediately reveals that he got friendzoned by multiple girls. his voiceline that year is something about how he catches everyone's attention on vday and year round bc he's a star or something like that but anyway that whole interaction there seems to suggest he's straight lol.

however.

he's REALLY oblivious. played for comedy ofc but i see a lot of people interpret this as him being somewhere on the aro spectrum (probably not what the writers intended but fair instance of accidentally coding a character as smth). examples include: not understanding why Akito doesn't want to be seen at PXL alone with Toya in an Akito's initial 3* (second story), literally says "thank you" when Asahi basically confesses to him and completely misses the point (he actually did seem to nearly get this one for a second), and he doesn't understand why Rui's friends are impressed that he's friends the incredibly attractive Shizuku (Tsukasa is the only not-gay-coded male character who isn't attracted to Shizuku, probably because they're childhood friends. or if you want to view him as being aspec, then that works too). also when he mentions that he's friends with guys in his class who are cool and popular and good with women, Hibiki says that he was in a class with one of those guys in 1st year and is amazed that tsukasa is in that crowd now, emphasis on the "tsukasa's friends are good with women part". tsukasa's just confused about that because of course they talk to girls a lot they're in the same class.

also he usually rewrites a lot of romance plays to remove the romance. he rewrote R&J to just make it focused on the action (which is probably because he likes playing action heroes more than anything else), and he got rid of the romance plot in little mermaid because he didn't felt it was needed (this one is justified in-universe as they do fun shows for small children and don't really need the tragic romance, and also from production standpoint like you don't do that because fandom). so yeah that could again be read as him being aspec if you want but i don't think the writers intended it to be read that way, especially the R&J one that was purely for comedy.

all that said, this is an idol game, which generally run on the rule of thumb that every character is some flavour of queer, even if it's just for fanservice (i don't play enstars but from what i do know of it it falls a bit on that last point). anyway you can probably tell where this is going but he gets ship tease with rui sometimes. vast majority of this is from Rui's side but there are things like Oki ni Mesu mama

Tsukasa: Waiting for the "1, 2…" signal, holding hands with you is an act of courage for me

or that one part in pandemonium where he drops his persona for a brief second when he's impressed by rui's plan that was very much put there on purpose, or that Tsukasa and Airi's cheerful carnival team name from that event is "swayed by their partners (相方, aikata)" and when you consider that Shizuku and Airi are heavily implied to like each other, and have canonically been on a "date", that was also a Choice.

idk whether to count KING because justified by them being actors and the fang motif in the song... vampires kinda homoerotic it makes sense that the dance routine was that. also i'm not sure if the connect lives are even canon, especially the wxs one since tokishun broke character and the 4th wall.

yeah i dunno. the writers kinda just do whatever they want with him. interpret any of this how you will i'm just recounting shit from the game.

oh hey it's longer than 300 words now

[jils-things]

❨♡❩ valentine's week ; familial day

familials have been such an important factor in my time as a selfshipper recently because i truly came to appreciate what is familial love. it's just that really nice feeling of pride and appreciation for someone you really care about. i'm excited to say that i have a lot in my roster to share! reading isn't mandatory for anyone viewing - writing my feelings help me articulate my words well.

first and probably my most important one yet is ruby stone! at first, I wasn't really interested in the whole "he's my son concept" but i just knew that ruby was an instant favorite of mine after reading the manga. it's funny, because i actually did kin him at one point (i mean, i can still say i kin him but because i'm a selfshipper first, manga consumer second. i see him as my son more). i see myself a lot in him especially in his flaws. but because a friend told me it would be fun if i had called him a familial, it wouldn't be so bad (and steven is also there. wouldn't it be a cute family?). i initially drafted jaide stone and ruby to just be friends but ruby has a special attachment to her (due to his personal issues with his father) but that shit changed FAST and thus, ruby stone was born. i adore my silly boy, he makes me so happy and i admire his character. he's different from the other protagonists and it makes him stand out all the more. I'm so proud of him, his whole story made me so emotional and i just want to hug him and let him know everything's okay and he has every right to be who he wants.

am i allowed to talk about my husband? i mean he IS ruby's father so,,, heheh. ill keep it short or else it becomes a romantic love letter to my hunni sorry 😚 anyways i always imagined steven to want to have kids and ruby was the best thing he ever asked for. he's so proud of him too. they went through a rough patch as a father and son but things gotten better and they're very happy to call each other family. 💚

ahh, my favorite silly stinky little brother. gold! this one's got a long history. i was always a big fan of ethan/gold as a protagonist in the games. but i had no idea that this version ethan (or as the manga calls him, gold.) was simply the best for me. he's got this special spark that really checks off my list of what makes a character my favorite! just like ruby, i also see myself a lot in him. (heck, even my sister thinks i'm super gold-coded) he was so shaped to be my best friend or little brother, and i picked the latter. he's probably the most comedic, and has a very deep emotional side that i like to philosophize about. po.kespe kids are written with much difficulty and he's no exception. if i had a brother, i feel like this is how i would treat him.

okay this one's gonna be SUPER confusing which i'll apologize over and over again i'm so sorry 😭😭 for this one, i'd like go introduce blake and nate (respectively). these two are completely different from each other, but i still have this maternal/big sister care for both of them. just like gold - nate is one of my favorite protagonists by game and learning their personalities in both manga and game (pkmn masters ex) made me adore them even more. i think ilynne (oc) is the first girl who has more priority over familial and platonics than romantics. i think that's very cool! it's hard to say everything here why i love both versions but if you took a look for yourself, maybe you'll understand hehe. (also, nate just has the BEST protagonist design. hello? who wouldn't love him? definitely not me!!!!) it was only because of pkmn masters ex that made me like nate a lot. his voicelines makes me feel so comforted like that's just a really happy boy! he sounds so excited for everything and his giggles just cleanse my soul 😭 i could pat his head all day. silly pineapple boy. blake just... i dunno man. it's probably because i already liked his base design so naturally I'd like his manga ver too 😭 they pulled a wildcard in designing this kid like he's a fuckin agent!!! that's so cool!!! hes a fuckin hater!!! look at him go i can fix the edgy kid !!! by being his mom!!! (lore accurate btw)

ah yes. the most fanbase developed kid ever. it's carmine! this kid is so special. his entire existence came from a fan created f.n.f mod and everyone ran with it - just like me. i remember constantly keeping tabs with this mod and i was always curious to know what carmine has in his story - playing the mod itself was such a pleasant surprise. my whole attention was shifted to carmine's story - it's rewritten slightly to make the creepypasta more impactful and it certainly did make me feel sympathetic for the little guy. giving him the sweetest and admired big brother to love and care for him was the best design i ever thought of. after the devs added more story, it made me feel all the more protective of carmine. unfortunately he's not the most lively boy around as he's bullied for his insignificance. i would do anything to let him know he's loved. (AGGRESSIVELY FORGETS THE PART WHERE HE'S PAINFULLY POSSESSED BY THE FUCKIN GHOST BEGONE!!!!)

i think what also powered how much i love carmine was the endless support i got from the actual fans of the mod on twt. even the devs approved it and it made me feel so happy and reassured that it's okay to appreciate him (it was actually a little nerve-wracking to post rhys and carmine on twt because carmine is... technically an oc). that's why i describe carmine to be a special kind of fo. he's an oc of a mod and that's pretty neat

those are my main familials, but i'd also like to give a shoutout to my secondary familials!

when i tell you there's so many cool characters in this game I wasn't JOKING. these guys are so... AUGHH i feel like they would be the best guys to have around to make my day better. looker is more uncle shaped to me, he's not exactly the BEST caretaker (shh i know emma) but i know he's trying his best. it's hard to juggle being an agent and a friend but i understand that and i appreciate his efforts. playing platinum to see this guy appear, i just KNEW he's gonna be the coolest. and i wasnt wrong! he's associated with my oc ilynne along with blake! for po.kespe consumers, yes - they are all coworkers!

professor sy.camore is definitely a father figure to me. i love his enthusiasm and i know he's the best guy to cheer someone up. his cheerfulness is endless and he literally mentors 4 kids, if he can do that then surely he can make my day better (a miserable young adult /jjj) i really wanted to make a kalosian oc for him. i envisioned the oc to be an ex team flar.e member who wanted to renew herself from her past deeds (as she was foolish to not understand lysandre's grand plan) and sy.camore was there to rescue her from her crisis and helped her start somewhere by being a student under his care. they would develop a father-daughter dynamic and i think that's very sweet 🥺💚

in case you noticed. my main familials are a case of like ... me wanting to nurture them. but my secondaries are the other way around and it's like... what if i was the one being nurtured and cared for? pretty cool...

that's all for today. thank you familials 💚

[regrator-pantalone]

(We love and respect Mod in this house. Mod is good mod)

(Your Pantalone and Dottore from dottore-official are adorbs together. It is so cute and sweet. I have my own ideas and headcanons for their characters BUT i love whats going on here! )

(I love Pantalone, he's my villian coded fave so he's the antagonist in all of my... yet to be written... stories and such BUT still love this man.)

(But those 2 are so cute together. We stan.)

((Ooc: Omg thank you!!! I'm so lucky you think so highly of me akbdkagka

Yes!!! They're so so so cute I- *smashes their faces together so they cut the crap and kiss already* The petnames THE PETNAMES *slams fist on desk* Ofc ofc! Diverse headcanons are so fun, your thoughts don't need to align with anyone else's ehehe!

Ugh yes I love Pantalone mostly because he's so misunderstood. Ofc we haven't seen much of him in-game but the lore is heavily reliant on his character archetype from the Commedia Dell'arte. A lot of people are very quick to dismiss him as a capitalist when in reality he is the opposite.

He grew up in complete poverty, and he's worked so hard for the titlesand honour he has now. Maybe what he's done in the past to get to where he is is not all morally just, but he's stood up for himself and has achieved what one could consider "greatness," yet knowing this, he hasn't forgotten his origins.

Pantalone has a deep desire to obtain Mora, and to "control its flow." In that very same voiceline, he mentions that the flow of Mora shall cease by the commands of the Fatui. This can be interpreted as the longing to destroy Mora and the vices it brings to people.

Wealth is certainly one of the straightest pipelines to corruption, but there is a little light that shines within our lovely Regrator. He has not been corrupted in a capitalist matter, but has become unhealthily obsessed with the goal to control and destroy the very thing that controls most politicians or other people in positions of power. Royalty simply stems from the fact that one has money and is fortunate enough to be born into a very rich family.

Naturally, he does believe in economic prosperity, but he also acknowledges that Mora (and all money) do the world more bad than good. For this reason, he desires to control the economy and longs to be its end.

Woooooooooooow I am so sorry that is a very long rant *runs away to hide in a corner* Whoops.

Oh my Archons! You're considering writing stories! (Or maybe you just have the details in your head teehee) I am an avid writer omggggg so I won't lie to you that sounds SO. FANTASTIC. You'll have to rant to me about your plans sometime! (Only if you'd want to, of course :)

Yes indeed! We do stan, Dottolone supremacy over here~

I'll have you know that I adore these little asks I get from you, they make my day!!!

I hope you're doing well! ~ Mod))

[bera-post-things]

Short Genshin Sagau

Prompt: Imagine the voice lines when like somebody else talks to the creator like now there a npc but at the same time no? And they like have voicelines imagine what the voicelines would be like “leave me alone I just want to go home…” so basically the creator is trapped in the game and the player who’s playing the game through like a pc can interact with the creator and you can find them wandering the lands like Liyue Mondstatd there be like secret story quest for him that’s not in the code or programmed and in the quest the cabarcetrs have their own voicelines that aren’t in the system as well and there’d be a whole lore around the creator and the caharcetrs would have voicelines regarding the creator/npc like their voicelines would be for example Venti “oh him/her? Don’t worry about them traveler me and them, we have a lot of history together and just don’t worry your little head and mind your own business m? okay?” Like that

✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫

A/N: I almost just deleted this whole thing lol

Published: September,25,2022 Edited:N/A

Credits to @evrsing for the inspiration that I got from reading their wonderful work!

A/N: Tumblr deleted like half of my fic so there’s that so I just rewrote it in here so yeahhh bye

✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫☆✫

You where currently wandering the hills of Mondstatd mindlessly The lands where lush filled with vibrant colors of many different colors of flowers, the hills where green, the sky was blue, there where birds chirping, the wind blew carryibg dandelion seeds with it, everything was so scenic and beautiful you thought to yourself to bad it was all fake… you thought solemnly looking down you where lucky to even be able to even let to go outside it seemed that they trusted you enough to allow that, but then again how could you even escape from here? no one would help you or even pity you they always said to you “you belong here your grace just accept it!” Or along the lines “your just being ungrateful” you thought to yourself until you bumped into someone bumping into someone you fell down on your butt making an omph sound you rubbed your but where it toke most of the impact “oh sorry there are you alright?” A fairy like creature flew towards you checking your head and you body while the blonde person just walked up to you and lend you there hand for yiu to get up, you accepted and held their hands to stand back up who where these people anyways? You thought taking a closer examination as you finally came to a conclusion it was the traveler was it finally time for another play to come? So soon? But wait you can use this to your advantage you thought also it seems like your a npc to them it looks like they don’t know that the other characters are self aware also… you thought before waving your hand infront of their face only receiving a blink you stood there for a few seconds before finally deciding to speak “well anyways can you help me with some traveler?” You asked them as they nodded and smiled oh right the traveler never spoke during half of the game you realized before hearing Paimon speak “yup we can help! But it will cost you!…” she said making the tarveler look at her “heheh uh… never mind! What do you need strange person?”

“Do you possibly know how you got here and a way to go back?” You asked them “uhm as far as I know the traveler over here has no clue has he got here and Paimon just got fished out of a lake so yeah we have no clue here” Paimon said Sheeplishly holding her hand towards on her head as the traveler only nodded making you frown “that’s alright it’s fine then I’ll just be on my way then!” You waved goodbye towards them before walking off and the traveler and Paimon doing the same before also waving goodbye they would soon make their way towards Mondstatd the city of the wind and freedom where they would meet a venti who was awaiting them at the gate of the city of freedom “hello there Venti!” Paimon waved “oh hello there traveler what brought you here to Mondstatd?” He asked them “oh nothing we just wanted to ask there was this really strange person by the stone gate askin* us if we’ve seen a gate that leads to other dimensions and we wanted to ask you about it” Paimon asked basically giving away everything about you as the traveler only just nodded “oh Traveler why don’t you go help Sara over there I’ll take care of this you go talk to Sara I heard that she needs some help with gathering ingredients “ Venti said suddenly getting very serious as he unusually ran off as the traveler only looked at Paimon with her only shrugging as well before they started walking off to their next destination…

… there you where sitting down under a tree waiting for the news of the traveler to inform you if they managed to gather anything as you waited for them for a while you heard incoming footsteps as you sat up and looked around but the only person you saw was Venti… walking towards you in a very serious manner compared to his usual happy one “your grace what did I tell you about trying to escape” Venti said looking down at you down at you, but you tried to play it off and said “oh I just wanted to see the flowers that’s all…” you said Him not buying it continued looking down at you “I hate to say this your grace but if you continue doing this I’m gonna have to put you back into the room again I may not be an archon anymore, but I still currently rule over this part of the land and your safety is my first priority above else your grace your grace, now stay here or I’ll let the others know of your misbehaving I may have been a little bit to kind to you these last few weeks”. He said as you tried to talk back but he only put his finger to your lips before walking away… leaving you only to sit back down on the green grass dread seemly already taking over you as you started sobbing “what is the point of a creator if your only seen as helpless puppet that can only roam the earth alone… you where so alone…” you said to yourself as you started grieving missing your “home” and what was taken from you, when you where forcefully put into this realm oh how you wanted to go back to the good times before all this ever happened but They wouldn’t let you…only able to roam the earth as the creator unable to do anything but watch…

[warriorend-2]

ok ok since i can't be stupid and gay all the time (<- college student)

putting this shit under a cut bc while it's mostly just me rambling it's. spoiler heavy. & also wound up being 1600 words. sorry

1: possibly the most glaring thing, which makes me doubt the Phantom being a lot of otherwise-possible candidates, is that they would have to be very good at infiltration

-I presume Roxana didn't put the medal in her computer herself, which means whoever did put it there had to get in after she left, get into the computer without waking up Robutler, modify it to put it there, & put everything back (mostly) the way it was & leave a combination. granted maybe they just gave the medal to Roxana to put in there, but like. why

-getting it into that spot in the mines wouldn't have been too hard i don't think, just. knowing where the mine is and then sneaking in during off-duty hours (...assuming those happen)

-tbh the one in blind spot is probably the easiest to place given that it's just behind a license plate, & cars do have to stop sometimes even if it's not often

-i'm. not sure how they got the medal into hot water though. i'm guessing they snuck it in among the materials? (the other option here is that Zor had a hand in getting it there, which opens up a whole other can of worms so i'm not gonna. think about that one too hard)

-the one in cold shoulder is also not too hard to see it getting there. i would laugh if they had to make a mold of that little compartment & then make a block of ice for it though.

-the one in kboom is where i'm like. OK this facility is presumably not super new but it's also not super old given its current purpose. it may have been repurposed but still. how did they get the medal where it is and then also tag the bucket. the volcano doesn't look like it's horribly far away from shore (in the ending credits) but (also i'm aware the medal shouldn't even be able to be where it is but. yknow.)

and odds are that it doesn't matter that much, i'm just. they had a little safe set up in the control point already, they had access to the pneumatic tubes, etc. if the locations have any bearing and aren't just "here's somewhere to stick this puzzle that would be hard to figure out", then that implies some Shit about the phantom (& possibly also their allies. if they have any. if they do I highly doubt they're Agency-related.). given where the phantom gets to i am somewhat leaning towards the idea it may be V. Vitti (also the. insignia), given that we've seen the sort of places Agent Phoenix gets into (...seat of power) & so

2: Zor's goals feel a lot more on a personal bent this game, not just irt destroying the Agency but also. destroying the kinesium & anything that uses it. so whatever their reason, it seems to be a lot more personal (+ they actively Address the player more often, which could be Phoenix's infamy but also in the other games they were barely present, both in terms of voicelines & actual like. Story Push. they were a very passive supervillain in the other games, is what i'm saying)

which leads me up to like. we all know characters can lie, & in this series it's kinda expected, but. idk. i keep circling back to the shield generator. & the lava generators being accessible from Phoenix's cabin, but not the one Roxana was in. & Phoenix's cabin seemingly having all this shit that the others didn't have, & it could have been a tactical choice on Phoenix's part, but.

i mean. Zor does definitely say they want you dead, but they don't say it directly a whole lot (iirc they say "kill you and Prism" but otherwise they don't directly address the player in death threats, it's usually just. agents, plural. or "whatever end you meet" which is also a threat but is vague)

which just. why is Agent Phoenix still alive? Game design aside, of course. It wouldn't be much of a game if the villain kills you in the first level, after all.

But it feels, to me, like the weaknesses are far too glaring to be just missed over, especially in 3, because. if they want you dead that badly, why. why leave things so safe?

Hot Water is one i wind up on a lot, because you could chalk things up to being deathtraps, but Ollie knew about the gas and the grenade trap, & seemed completely unfazed by them (& kinda implied that's just How It Is for new folks), so they're not necessarily targeted, it's just standard practice. Putting aside the fact that even if they were intended to be deathtraps, they're so. Mild. to put it bluntly. Zor knows Phoenix by this point, knows the shit they've pulled & survived, a gas trap & a grenade in a vending machine feel very. yknow. that's like throwing a rock at the back of someone's head, comparatively

and then the KBOOM demo & the shield generator, both explicitly left for you to see. & it's a pretty 1-to-1 comparison for how the actual KBOOM mission goes, except for the telekinesis save at the end. the squid gets involved, but for the most part, considering it's a lab Zor loosely implies they were at, the security is very. lax. & everything is accessible to the "new hire", popsicle-ID necessity aside. (also apparently Ollie has been down there a while, given he doesn't seem to. know about the whole "world domination" thing. which is Eerie because if that's the case then how long exactly has the whole Kinesium thing been a plan?)

to me. & it has felt like this since the end of the second game. When Zor says they want you dead, there's a whole host of unstated conditions to that, which they would be good at given the whole CEO thing.

"I want you dead if you aren't good enough at your job to survive" sort of deal. which also lines in nicely with how they seem to be as an Actual Boss. of course, they never say the second part out loud, but. short of them just being Really Smart in a lot of cases (failsafe in Juniper's mask, leading Roxana along long enough to get her research & then trying to kill her, etc) but Really Dumb in others (leaving the shield generator, making the squid the only real danger to Phoenix down there, not having any failsafes to make sure the missiles launch at the end of 2 even if the briefcase is compromised (or just not using them), etc), it's like. the ways their plans get foiled at the end of 2 & 3 feels intentional.

plus you could make the argument that Roxana was also being used to lead Phoenix along until they were where Zor wanted them, at which point both of what they were using her for (Kinesium research, kite Phoenix around until they're in position, even if that second one wasn't in the deal) was done & they could get rid of her without feeling bad.

would stopping KBOOM have been possible without Roxana's help? Dunno. Not the way it's presented in-game, because in-game she was also instrumental to stopping it.

i'm also going to briefly play semantics for a second. i'm not sure i consider "even the great Agent Phoenix will eventually burn out" to be a threat because. that's what phoenixes do. They burn, and then they come back. Sometimes it takes a while, but. if i'm not just thinking about semantics Way Too Hard, the wording of "burn out" suggests something far different than "die". combining that with Zor talking about the Agency like That, & the Phantom (at least vaguely) implying prior experience with the Agency, & realizing that their involvement would cost them their life, makes me think. maybe "burn out" isn't a threat of death, but a threat of something about Phoenix changing soon. Maybe as a result of almost dying. "burn out" is also used for like. becoming exhausted, stopping trying, & maybe that too. who knows. i don't, i'm not on the dev team, i'm just some 21 year old chewing on semantics.

at the end of the day, my current standing on Theories is. hard to sum up but i will do my best. o7

-The phantom is probably one of a very small handful of candidates, & I'm leaning towards it being V. Vitti or maybe possibly Zor in a funny hat.

-Zor is trying to kill Phoenix, but not inescapably. maybe they're testing Phoenix, maybe they're just trying to almost-kill Phoenix enough times they get tired of the Agency and fuck off so Zor can do the whole "world domination" thing (which i am not. wholly convinced they actually are after.)

-summing those two up made me think of something else. perhaps the Phantom was also testing Phoenix in a roundabout way, by seeing if they could survive everything else, because they only show up in the third game. Their note opening with "it seems you're as good as they say" indicates they are at least familiar with Phoenix & their reputation, albeit maybe not directly (if it is Vitti, i doubt she would have access to Agency knowledge, but post-Rising Phoenix, once the rumors started getting out...)

-this is a silly theory i like to throw around in my head, but i'm very fond of it, so: the "death room" you go to after dying in a mission may not necessarily always indicate Actual Death. in some cases, yes, but in other cases. idk. i've always gotten more the vibe of having been captured as opposed to outright killed (although being able to respawn does throw a wrench in there, but oh well. game has to be a game & all)

[teememdee]

thoughts on new lol narrative direction

Okay so today’s dev update basically confirmed my suspicions that the narrative team has deliberately moved away from short stories as a medium for lore. Which… if they have the evidence that people don’t engage with them as much as they’d like then I can understand why they made that decision but I’m still a little sad about it. Out of the way sure, but short stories are really effective on giving a character voice and personality along with a deeper insight to their thoughts and feelings about the world in a way that is shown and not told through a written biography or out of universe voicelines. I would hope they still return to written narrative for parts of bigger things (like the big Star Guardian ‘22 story) or just small gaps to be filled, like the random Yorick and Illaoi post-Ruined King story they dropped months ago.

Naturally it’s hard to have a full opinion on this as they’ve just said they’ll be exploring other mediums without specifying what those mediums will be. Short stories (while still requiring great care and effort from a writer) are definitely an easy and very accessible way to get information across quickly. Comics like the Katarina comic from earlier this year I really enjoyed, I’d definitely love more of those. My fear is that they’ll put a lot of hope into Riot Forge games. I love Ruined King and I know others have enjoyed Mageseeker, but games both cost money to experience and as of right now, all RF games are different genres, which appeal to some and don’t appeal to others. I haven’t played Mageseeker because it doesn’t exactly look like my kind of game but I might find the story really interesting. The thing that I like about League Lore is that it’s so detached from the actual video game you can consume and understand and be invested in it without ever playing a single round of it. Yes gameplay videos and everything get uploaded to the internet anyway, but I personally generally prefer going to an official website that I know would contain everything. So I don’t know. I hope these mediums they’re going to explore can still somehow provide the depth that short stories can, as well as be generally accessible to all who might be interested.

And maybe this is just the art student in me currently taking a class about artist books, but part of being easily accessible is how easy these short stories are to share. If you’re talking with a friend about the lore and they want to see for themselves, you can just send a link to the short story. You don’t have to be all like “well 15 hours into this one spin-off game there’s this cutscene and hidden piece of paper on the floor that says—” like that’s. Annoying. Additionally just for going back to check references the short stories are really easy to pop in and check on. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back to one to check a detail or characterization moment. Much easier than having to remember some gameplay moment or scroll through a wiki to find something that hopefully someone has uploaded. You know where everything is if it’s plain and simple on the Universe site.

As for Arcane being canon now I don’t particularly care? Like I’ve never minded the non-canonness of it but also because I’m not deeply knowledgeable about Piltover / Zaun champs and lore it might as well canon for me personally, and given the ratio of people who know everything about P/Z lore and the number of people who have watched Arcane I can understand why they made this decision, it’s easier to make the popular thing actually canon instead of having like 10 people on twitter scream at others for how it isn’t. I don’t know exactly how far the ripple effect of lore changes this makes will go. But basically I don’t mind. Those 10 people are going to be mad and I can understand to an extent but I’m not one of them.

Hextech and Skarner stuff, as the video says, has probably the largest ripple effect. Again I don’t super care and perhaps it’s too early to judge and cry “booo they’ve ruined Camille!” or “they’re retconning the whole lore!!!” before we even see what these changes are. Maybe I’m too much of an optimist. I like Seraphine and they’ve already mostly adjusted her to this non-Brackern Hextech lore situation so. I think she’s fine as is now. Again we’ll see. How we’ll see though??? Would love to know. I really don’t quite understand how they’re going to do things without short stories or without a big focus on them. Like not even champion color stories? Weird.

I think there is hope for me for the Kassadin and Kai’Sa reunion to actually happen now. If they play it out in a full cinematic in any way I think I might actually die. But that’s a pretty big thread that’s just been hanging over these two characters I love so much and Kai’Sa is a true It Girl at this point so. I think it’s coming. Please go poorly. Please give Kassadin’s wife a name.

One of the devs said they’re going to focus on actually getting the narratives up before focusing on how they’re presented on the Universe site, which… these seem like things that should happen pretty much at the same time but okay. Does this mean the map will get updated ever?

Lastly, of course as a Music Universe Lover I can’t help but wonder how these changes to the base lore could reach over into the AU. Riot Games Music used to post just a simple picture / illustration of what the music-verse characters were up to maybe every two to three months and I’ve really missed those. It’s really felt like they’re leaving that kind of immersive world/narrative behind, but maybe they were just focusing on preparing for this boy band to drop. Still wish it was K/DA or even better, True Damage getting another song? Why did we need another group. Pentakill has three full albums. Anyway.

tl;dr - I’m genuinely bummed about them moving away from short stories and can’t truly get excited for more without knowing exactly how they plan on telling stories in the future.

[starlight-phantom]

for the ask game--top ten danganronpa characters? from across all the games! :D

I feel like my answers might be a little bit basic bitch... But, if I like them, I like them, I guess.

1 - Hajime Hinata, ngl I adore all the protagonists but there's just something about Hajime that makes me so mentally ill. Like, if I think about his story for too long, I will cry. Just... I dunno the fact that his lack of self worth lead him to make a decision like that is heartbreaking. The older I get, the more I realise just how stupid and damaging the Hope's Peak system is.

2 - Shuichi Saihara, look... I love shy, quiet and reserved male characters, I love blue haired characters, I love detectives... The moment I saw Shuichi, I felt as if he had been made for me, and goddammit it worked because I love this boy. His development over the story is so good and I love how he bounces off all the other characters. I don't even know how to explain it, I just love him.

3 - Makoto Naegi, yes the three protag boys are my top three but that's probably because we get to hear their thoughts on everything throughout the game and that adds so much personality to everything. But Naegi's such a sweetheart and he's so cute. I feel like, even though he's basically the main protagonist of the whole series and he matures a lot in the DR3 anime... He's still everyone's baby boy. Also, his inner monologues when you investigate everything are just so funny.

4 - Kokichi Ouma, I fucking love this lil gremlin man. It makes me a little sad when people call him Komaeda 2.0 because I feel like the only thing they have in common is that they're antagonistic characters but other than that... Not really similar. But he is by far one of the most entertaining characters in the whole series, he steals the show in every scene he's in. And he, along with Kaito, perfectly embodies the themes of V3, with the whole truth vs lies and faith vs logic stuff going on and then Shuichi right in the middle, it makes for really interesting conflicts and character moments. Also, I wholeheartedly adore both the English and Japanese dubs for all of the games, but I just say that Derek Stephen Prince's performance as Kokichi is one of the best I've ever heard, he is clearly loving every single second of it and it makes Kokichi all the more entertaining.

5 - Chiaki Nanami, let's get the obvious part out of the way: she is adorable. I love her design, I love her personality, I love her voice, I love her little "hey hey" voiceline... She's just so cute, okay? But she's such a great character because she and Hajime seem to be able to bring everyone together but in very different ways and despite her more laid-back personality, she will immediately step in to calm things down - like when she smacked Akane when she attacked Nagito. Plus she's honestly so intelligent??? Like she is usually one of the first people to figure things out... But she's also the same girl that ate glue. And I love that duality. And while I have very mixed feelings on the DR3 anime, Chiaki was fantastic, seeing her continue to wait for Hajime after he had signed up for the Project broke my heart... But not as much as that one episode I just can't bring myself to ever rewatch.

6 - Nagito Komaeda, where do I even start with this fuckin guy??? He truly is one of the characters of all time. I feel kinda bad that he's ended up as such a meme because he is genuinely such a complicated character, but with some of the shit he does throughout the series, I am really not surprised he ended up like that. I do really want to explain why I love him so much but to do so would require an entire goddamn essay, so I won't. Also just... Megumi Ogata's voice. That's all. I love her performances.

7 - Kyoko Kirigiri, I said it before and I'll say it again: I love detectives. Honestly, I adore Kirigiri so much... Like I played the first game when I was thirteen and I had the biggest crush on Kyoko, I honestly don't understand how it took me an extra year to figure out I like women... But seriously, I love her design and colour scheme, her voice is gorgeous and I just love her relationship with Naegi so much.

8 - Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, again the character development for this guy is just so good. I really didn't think anything of him at the beginning of the game but by the end of the game I adored him. I love his relationship with Hajime and how, by the final few chapters, him, Hajime and Kazuichi are like a lil trio who stick together. And again, Derek Stephen Prince... Goddamn, his performance in the Chapter 2 trial ripped my heart out.

9 - Kiibo, I just love this lil robot guy. I feel kinda bad for him for all the stuff he goes through during the story. Like he keeps getting really excited to show off his features but then everyone's just like "... Is that it?" And let's not forget how everyone used him to a battering ram to break open that water tank and just fucking threw him at it. The boy's been through a lot, most of it from Kokichi tbh. But he's such a cute character and his pride of being a robot and love for his creator is so sweet. Also, that little section in chapter 4 where Monotaro gets confused and acts like Kiibo is his dad is really cute, I remember a manga anthology did a chapter about that scenario and it was adorable.

10 - Nagisa Shingetsu, I really like not as many people pay attention to Another Episode and I get it, it's a spin-off with a completely different playstyle. Hell, I prefer the main games over this game too. But wow, the Warriors of Hope make me feel so bad whenever I play this game. Like, y'know when something is so upsetting, it causes a pit in your stomach? Yeah, that's these kids backstories... All of them make me feel awful but I got really attached to Nagisa because he's one of the ones that stuck around the longest and he had that moment of allowing Komaru to escape but then basically everyone around him manipulates him to make him do what they want and completely mess him up and it just hurts to watch. And it's just disgusting that his father refers to him as 'the subject' not 'Nagisa' not 'my son' just 'the subject'... I just wanna give him a hug... He deserves one after all the shit he's been put through.