#all stars gacha

[cloud-ya]

big win for butch lesbian community

[guzekna]

[starcurtain]

The Kinda Unhinged Ratiorine Fic I Want to Read

In an (admittedly very contrived) AU situation, Dr. Ratio finds out he's about to be cut out of his (mostly estranged) family's inheritance forever because of his complete lack of interest in continuing the family line. Which, all factors considered, does make perfectly logical sense. Investment of capital should go to the branch of the lineage most likely to benefit from it, and Cousin Tiberius has five sons and daughters already. Let the house and the trust fund go to them.

But the library.

There's absolutely no way Veritas could bear to be permanently parted from the staggering assemblage of paper volumes under his collected family's auspices. Not only would being separated from tomes so full of memories be heart-wrenching, but think of the devastating blow to his research! There are records in those archives that no other mortal eyes have ever gazed upon!

So there's only one solution for it: He needs to pass on his family name, immediately.

(Andddd the rest is under a read more because what is brevity?)

Problem 1: Veritas Ratio is very gay.

Problem 2: Statistically, single men have the lowest chance of being selected for adoption placement, and this Child Welfare Agent is looking at his alabaster head very, very strangely.

Think, Ratio, think. What is the most efficient way to solve such a tedious quandary?

The obvious first step is to increase his likelihood of being selected by the adoption agency, and the quickest way to do that is... Eureka! How elegant a design! He just needs to enter into a (temporary) committed and stable partnership to demonstrate a degree of domestic dedication and home-building prowess!

Problem 3: ...Where in the universe is he going to find a stable and committed man willing to marry him?

Ratio does not exactly possess the world's most endearing personality. He might... never have had any form of romantic relationship lasting past a one-night stand even, because it turns out most people don't like being scored a 2/10 on their technique during intercourse.

So he's probably not going to find a stable and committed man.

But... He might at least find someone willing--for the right price.

Enter Aventurine (stage left). He's as expensive as they come, the greatest reward saved for the highest bidder, but despite his festering ambitions, he's still trapped as nothing more than a high-class escort, owned by a company the IPC has on the books as selling everything but what they actually trade in: Avgin slaves.

Sigonians... The reputation--and sleazy men's curiosity--precedes him, and though he only has to get on his knees for the truly bold nowadays, he hasn't yet been able to make the ultimate gamble, pull the last string needed to finally gain his freedom: the freedom to live his life as he pleases--and to enact every ounce of vengeance he's been storing for decades like cards up his sleeves.

Until now.

Until an absolute madman shows up at the underground headquarters waving around an offer that no average person would possibly make: He wants to buy Aventurine and wed him.

(Because marrying a Sigonian thrall is a safe and sane thing that safe and sane people do.)

The offer is far too good to be trusted: A real marriage certificate but a perfectly fake marriage, a no-fault divorce once an adoption is finalized, and a guaranteed sponsor for his citizenship documents. A year or two of fake homemaking, this Veritas Ratio claims, and then Aventurine can walk away a completely free man, no strings--no chains--attached.

Well, Aventurine of the Myriad Stratagems has always held one skill dearer to his heart than any other: a crystal clear knowledge of when to fold--and when to go all in.

(...Problem 4: Amber Lord help him, Aventurine's new husband is the most irritating man in the entire universe.)

Alas, if only that was their biggest problem. Somewhere between learning to navigate the citizenship process, the adoption process, a truly unacceptable level of systemic racism, and also, increasingly, each other, Ratio and Aventurine discover that the circumstances of their lives might be far more entangled than they ever could have imagined from the beginning, and the same shadowy parties that profited off Aventurine's existence might have a vested interest in parting Ratio from valuable research secrets--permanently.

While struggling to maintain a charming and loving facade and struggling not to kill each other behind the scenes, Aventurine and Ratio also end up having to out-roll and out-plan a particularly dangerous enemy; something they can really only do together.

Or, tl;dr: Dr. Ratio chooses the most efficient but most unhinged method of finding a husband that intelligence could possibly contrive, only to determine that marrying a guy whose track record for unexplained deaths matches his track record for card counting really is the encyclopedic opposite of "committed and stable." Ridiculously enough, the trouble they get into is almost entirely Ratio's fault, the only one who is remotely convincing in front of the Child Welfare Agency is Aventurine, and sometimes it turns out the guy you married for the library ends up being the guy you married for life.

[midocotea]

if your chinese gacha mobile game doesn't have a rock'n'roll obsessed girly with elemental powers and a friendly personality who also uses her guitar as a weapon i don't want it

[massivechestplate]

Is anyone else tired over recent events? Not in a sleepy way, but in that bone-deep depression way?

Bit of a long post about the general Gacha game-sphere. Needed to get this off of my chest, might as well scream into the void.

I ask this as someone who flirts between these gacha games out of boredom mostly. They're free, they're phone, they got Story, and I'm not spending a cent on them personally, so that's why I play them.

But every fucking day it seems we got another controversy. Bad VA this, fired an artist that, White_Pharaoh.png being handed out like fucking candy on Halloween lately.

And then we discuss on how Its Bad, and we all know Its Bad, people discuss on what to do, Boycott, torch the franchise and run, stay and try to fix it, ignore it because it's been your Comfort Media for the past 3 years, all that stuff. And it's hard. And a lot of those choices always feel half-assed.

I've been around a bit, I've seen it. I was around when Fate Grand Order had LB7, Wandjina, and all the other shit on 2023 JP hit, and there was talk, some talked but stayed, others left but chose to still engage with Type-Moon works, some might've left completely but I never heard of them.

I was around when Project Moon fired Vellmori, and there was betrayal, some deciding to leave, others staying because Project Moon wormed into their hearts and they decided to stay even knowing what was happening. Knowing what it was now built on and where the lines were drawn.

And I'm here now in the midst of the Hoyoverse shittery round 2, I don't think I need to speak at length on that. We've all seen it.

And all the time every potential choice to take feels half-assed?

Do you leave, abandoning the franchise as if leaving without fighting to improve something makes you good, preserving your own morality at the cost of never making anything better? The lack of evil substituting for substantial good?

Do you boycott? If so is it purely not spending money or not even logging in? Does it even make a difference? After all, when do these oversea companies really listen to anyone outside their country of origin? Is it enough to stop on that one specific game and still buy other works, or do you condemn the whole?

Do you continue on as normal, to indulge in the media? To continue what brings you joy and comfort? Is criticizing and acknowledging the faults enough or just lipservice?

Are we arrogant to impose our values on others, hating foreign companies not conforming to our beliefs? Or is this completely reasonable, every scathing speech and point completely justified and never bordering on some level of sinophobia?

And just... it's hard. Hard enough trying to be a Good Person normally but here? In this space? Part of it feels natural and some action is necessary for the Good of Everything, the other part feels like a big fuss over something ultimately small and meaningless.

And it hurts. You give out pieces of yourself to these stories, let it become a part of you, then become forced to tear it out of your heart just to be Good. And when I say that I don't mean in that internet point "I'm a good person way" but the way of being Good with yourself, proving only to yourself.

And it doesn't help that plenty of us have devolved into humanity's good old passtime of tribalism, mockery, and a lack of empathy for The Other. Everyone's been taking the piss out of the other gacha players for the stuff their games pull as if their own games haven't done the same. Some of it might be in good nature, over exaggerated and self-deprecating, a joke or criticism, but its honestly become indistinguishable from genuine malice and contempt.

And...

I'm tired.

Tired of seeing this. Tired of dealing with it. Tired of wondering what to do, what's the best choice, what choice even is there.

Part of me is honestly tempted to just not care. To accept that I'm a bad person by playing these games and going through with it anyways because I'm so tired and cynical that hedonistic indulgence just becomes more worth it than trying to be good. At most accept a Gacha-game that's a 'Lesser Evil' compared to another, if that even counts.

Because it hurts. Because you let these stories change you, touch you, let them into your heart, and then have to tear it out with your own two hands and pretend it doesn't hurt. And you can't feel like you can mourn what you lost, because someone will come in and start raving about how it's dumb you even cared to begin with.

I've seen arguments for every option, from people I don't respect and people I do, strangers and prominent community figures. I've warred with the argument of "Morally Pure Media doesn't exist, don't beat yourself up over it" and wonder just how absolute that statement should be.

And I don't know.

And all I want is to go to sleep, and wake up and have it magically be better.

[kaeya-senpai]

oopsies someone just subconsciously made ruikasa

They both took almost exactly 3 hours each 💀 and i suffered with details in both of those

But guess who got jellyfish Rui and is begging for piano tsukasa to come home

[puppyeared]

Space girl

[wa3jetisbestpony]

revstar fans we need to put on the best talent show this towns ever seen and save ReLive!!

[mattastr0phic]

I went on the 963 wiki thing and hit random and the first one I got was Myr!!!!

Congrats on the roll! You received a 5 star Myriad!

[sekaitransparents]

in my fairytale gacha: a talk so amusing that it makes you smile? ~ shiho hinomori (untrained submitted by @/1zsei)

[animefeminist]

BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!! and the value of letting female characters suck

Spoilers for BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!!

When the Summer 2023 anime season started, I didn’t have high expectations for BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!!. While I had grown to love the BanG Dream! franchise, It’s MyGo!!!!! was centered on a new band that I had no attachment to, especially as a member of the western fandom where our mobile game is two years behind the Japanese version, and there was limited access to the hard launch of MyGo!!!!! via their concerts where the characters’ voice actors perform as pseudo-idols. To my shock and awe, this show ended up being a standout, not just in the BanG Dream! universe but in the realm of idol/music anime more broadly. What really stuck with me was the way all of the characters, with one in particular, were allowed to showcase the full breadth of human emotions in a way that this genre doesn’t always allow. 

BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!! is the latest installment in the BanG Dream multimedia franchise, which chronicles the lives of groups of Girls Bands as they navigate school life and the ups and downs of being in the music industry both from an indie and professional lens. What sets MyGo!!!!! apart is that it focuses on an entirely new cast of girls and relegates the girls in the mainline series to cameos, making this the perfect introduction to newcomers. 

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[wanologic]

yuri hiiro

[vineboom-sfx]

chat is it bad that i cant commit to a gacha game? I've played Twst, Rev1999, and hsr but i've kinda abandoned all of them yet i still want to try out limbus company

[sorrinslays]

Hot take or whatever but HSR would benefit a lot from announcing more 4*s instead of 5*s. I'm not joking, at this point, we have more 5*s than 4*s. 27/49 characters are 5*s, and we'll be getting 4 more in the next few updates, so that means that 58% of the characters are five stars.

There are characters that don't even need to be 5*s. Some examples are Silver Wolf, Clara, Gepard, Sparkle, Luocha, Bailu, Yanqing, Huohuo, Fu Xuan, Yunli and Jiaoqiu (last two are upcoming characters). And I'm not saying that because I don't like them or their gameplay or something. I'm saying that because they weren't present in the story almost at all. Sure, they are interesting but it doesn't change their inactivity in the story. What's the point of making an almost painfully irrelevant character a 5*?

I could make a post just about why certain characters don't work for me as 5* and how they could've worked better as 4*s lore-wise. Instead, it's better if we look at the 4*/5* ratio of each path.

While most of them are balanced (as of writing this post), looking at the upcoming characters tell us that it's not gonna be like that for long.

Right now, the Destruction has a 50/50 ratio (if you don't count the protagonist). However, in 2.3 and 2.4 we'll be getting two new 5* units (Firefly and Yunli). So that changes the percentage to 60% (again, not including the Trailblazer).

The Hunt is probably is probably one of the worst in this regard alongside the Preservation. 71% of the units are 5*s, with only two 4*s. And it's not even characters that people use all that much (Dan Heng and Sushang)!

The Erudition is fine, it's a 50/50 as of right now too. Next update Jade is going to be added but it's whatever, not all that bad.

Same goes for the Harmony too, it's a 50/50. There aren't any 5*s promised anytime soon but I wouldn't be surprised to see Sunday being announced as Harmony or something.

Nihility is almost similar, there are nine characters and 4 of them are 4*s, so 55% of the characters are 5*s. Soon it's gonna be 60% with Jiaoqiu coming in 2.4.

The Preservation has only one 4* unit for Qlipoth's sake! 85% of the units are 5*s and I bet you the only reason March is a preservation unit is because they couldn't think of anyone else to be the 4* preservation character and since March will definitely be getting a 5* version they just plopped her in preservation (Arlan would've fitted better but I digress).

Once again, the Abudance is balanced, with three 4*s and three 5*s with no upcoming healers any time soon.

So, then, if most of the paths are somewhat balanced. if not for the few exceptions, what's the big deal, right?

Well, this is more of my own opinion but. I think 5*s should feel more special. The ratio of 5*s/4*s should be in favor for the 4*s as a way of saying "yeah, there's a reason this character is a 5* compared to others!" instead of pumping out 5* characters every update for people to spend more money with the only selling point being "they are better than the standard 5*s/the previous unit and they are attractive".

[jaaisofficial]

I win

[zeravmeta]

Navi is the morosexual’s wet dream.

see there's an important caveat to this that I feel a lot of people miss: Navi literally spent the first 17 years of his life trapped underground with only Soroz (a giant airships AI) to raise him after narrowly escaping the genocide of his race

Like navi should be significantly more fucked up about this fact than he is and even then the moment he gets any sort of inkling/chance that there could be another Caelestite or some remnant of their technology/history he has full blown panic attacks about reaching/reclaiming it because he wants at least SOMETHING of his people so that they aren't gone together. And even further along when he learns about their dark past in how they once terrorized Astra with their psychic abilities, he's still committed to preserving them because he doesn't want this history to be forgotten and more specifically wants to redeem his people's bloodstained legacy by making a new one.

Case in point: Navi considers everyone friends and family because he desperately wanted friends and family. Soroz absolutely is irreplaceable to Navi as the being which raised him but he was legitimately paranoid about living his entire life underground without another flesh and blood person to interact with

However. it has never since occurred to Navi that to repopulate his kind he would need to. Have Sex. And even moreso the actual comedy of him not understanding romance or intent doesn't have to do with him never having been interested/never giving thought to it

Its That Hes A Fucking Mind Reading Empath

someone like azure will try to hit him with every single seduction technique known to man that has made many a man and woman swoon over her and beg her to call them a dog and navi The Guy Who Sense Emotions will be like. cmon azure dont be rude what would your girlfriend jona think if she saw you joking around like that :(. youre my friend so i know youre just messing around :). multiple characters will drop so many hints through navis dms to visit them at night or that they love him and navi The Guy Who Can Read Minds will be like What Did They Mean By This...?

An NPC in one event straight up said Navi was a canonical infamous lady-killer among multiple gossip circles in all the character factions and his response was "What? I hope not, that sounds scary..."