#also i remembered this one game randomly while writing some of the dialogue

[undertale-fic-librarby]

Delightful Distraction

A genderswapped FluffyNight drabble to celebrate reaching 300 followers! This was briefly looked over & written in two sittings! Happy reading!

Ccino hums quietly to the music that's playing in the otherwise quiet café & picks up the dirty dishes of the table that had just left, leaving the building free of customers for the time being.

Carrying the plates carefully with both hands, she walks into the back where the kitchen is & deposits the dirty dishes into the sink, already filled with plates from earlier in the day.

Ccino debates with herself for a moment before grabbing a pair of dish washing gloves from nearby & slipping them on. She might as well take advantage of the lack of customers & get a head start on washing up.

Scrubbing away at a dirty cup, Ccino's unaware of a presence approaching her from behind until there are suddenly arms wrapped around her waist, causing her to jump & tighten her grip on the mug in her hand in surprise.

Looking over her shoulder, Ccino glares at the grinning face behind her, huffing in annoyance. "Was that really necessary?" Nightmare lets out a quiet chuckle as she tightens her hold around Ccino, resting her head on the other's shoulder.

"No, but it was funny." She mumbles softly in response to the question, pressing a soft kiss against Ccino's neck in apology. "Will you ever find it in yourself to forgive me?"

Ccino rolls her eyelights & sighs with a shake of her skull, unable to keep the smile off of her face as she turns back to face the sink. "I don't know, what will you do to make it up to me?"

Nightmare hums as she thinks, grin softening into a smile as she tries to come up with a satisfying reply. "I could always make dinner for us tonight?"

Ccino stands straight & pulls away from Nightmare's hold slightly to look at her, a look of panic on her face as she frantically tries to backtrack. "N-No, it's fine! No further apology needed, I'm good!"

Nightmare huffs with a pout, reluctantly pulling away & taking a step back from the other. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Ccino pauses to take off the gloves she's wearing before turning to face Nightmare fully. "Honey, you know I love you," she takes the other's hands into hers, squeezing them softly as she meets Nightmare's gaze & continues speaking, "but your cooking could use some work."

Nightmare frowns as if she's upset, but shrugs after a moment as a smile forms on her face again. "Yeah, that's fair." She squeezes Ccino's hands in return, leaning in & pressing a chaste kiss against the other's teeth.

Ccino hums as she goes to kiss Nightmare again, unsatisfied with how short the last one was, only to jump at the sound of the bell hanging in front of the door ringing & signaling the presence of a customer.

She pulls away in a panic, adjusting her apron with a light blush on her face as she walks away from Nightmare & back out to the actual café area, calling out to the customer. "Just a moment!"

Nightmare watches as Ccino walks away with a pout, tentacles drooping in disappointment as she hears her begin to take the customer's order. She had hoped to have Ccino's attention for longer, but that clearly wasn't going to happen.

Nightmare looks over at the dirty dishes that she had distracted Ccino from, sighing & grabbing the gloves that the other had been using. She may as well help her darling out a little since she had distracted her.

[diamonddeputy]

Okay I put this together for a buddy who couldn’t make it so I may as well put it here too now that I have it all in one place

All the dev commentary I picked up from the UTY anniversary stream

PLEASE REBLOG WITH ANYTHING I MAY HAVE MISSED

• It apparently took them FOREVER to solidify a design for Decibat. One of the early concepts was a literal baseball bat with wings and I enjoy this fact very much

• They originally had an idea that Dalv would accidentally try and move into Martlet’s house after leaving the Ruins LMAO

• They expanded on this piece of concept art that had been floating around: there were never really plans for the Feisty Five to be evil, they just made their own wanted posters to inflate their own egos LOL

• I didn’t really write any of the specifics down, but listening to them talk about the Flowey fight was so interesting because they were all chiming in about who worked on what parts and where the inspirations were from and where they sourced their materials. Some details I remember off the top of my head:

- Flowey’s voice lines were pulled from the same McDonald’s commercial as his canon ones

- The audio for the scene where Martlet melts before Meta Flowey was a combination of a stock laugh and a clip one of the devs just so happened to have, when they used to edit for a YouTube channel, and the file got corrupted and just randomly made that sound

- The heartbeat monitor sound that plays during the Organic speciman is taken from the frequency of an actual human heart. Don’t remember the story about how they acquired that one

- The graphics for the Polygonal speciman were inspired by PS1 horror, Ben Drowned and that meme that went around in the late 2010s of a gif of a bug that made it look like a bug was on your screen (in specific reference to the little Flowey gremlins that crawl down the screen)

- They originally had plans to include a spectrogram in the fight, but decided it would make them seem too tryhardy

• There were plans for an underwater segment that were scrapped extremely early in development, something about a bridge in Waterfall breaking

• The comment Starlo makes in the Wild East about there being a fourth mission that was scrapped from the regimen is a reference to a literal fourth mission that the devs cut because they felt like it killed the pacing, where Virgil would kidnap the Feisty Five and tie them up in places around town and you had to go rescue them and it was a stealth game type thing

• - The designs for the Feisty Five have a lot of funny inspirations

- Ed was originally designed to be a normal monster, but they liked his design so much they used it for something more important

- Initial concepts of Moray’s design had them in a fisherman’s cap or a paper boat hat, to show how unserious they were about this. Also, they weren’t originally designed to be Angie and Gillbert’s child, a playtester just made that assumption and they were like y’know what sure we’ll roll with it

- Mooch’s design originated from a Minecraft RP OC that one of the devs had that she never got to use. Which is iconic tbh

• Mo was inspired by this lil dude, who showed up and had babies in one of the devs’ attic. Additionally, while coding the game, there were little variables they put in for fun like a timer. One of them was a number that just incrementally increased, and was labelled “Crimes that Mo has committed”

• The fact that sparing Dalv doesn’t abort Geno, that everyone chalked up to being a genius narrative decision, was AN OVERSIGHT??????? It was a coding error caused by the fact that they were initially gonna make everything that happens in the Dark Ruins not count towards any route, like Flowey implies in his dialogue, but they went back on that decision and fixed it for everyone except Dalv. They made a comment on stream like “we should really fix that” and everyone in chat was like PLEASE don’t LOL

• There were never really concepts for a Geno Starlo fight. And a lot of it is the reasons the fandom talks about that he’s a coward before his character development and it makes more sense for him to back out in the face of real danger. But also because in terms of power level, it didn’t make sense for him to stand a chance. And also because they were making all the routes at once and designing the boss fights at equal times and this was the first chance they got to make a boss fight for Ceroba LOL. But the plan was already set by that point that it was gonna be her instead of him

• No one truly knows the origins of the super faded silhouette standing in the background of the UG Apartments shop in Geno. Apparently the dude who made the CG just. Put it there

• We got more insight into the Martlet transformation animation. It was made with SO much purpose. If you look closely, she starts to melt and the determination puddles underneath her, but then she gains control of it and the puddle ABSORBS BACK INTO HER, then shoots out in a burst when her first wing transforms. THAT’S SO COOL

• Additionally, they also canonized that Martlet took the determination before Alphys had any of the fallen-down bodies, and that she had no idea what it actually WAS, other than that it had something to do with the human SOULs. Which makes this even MORE impressive because she wasn’t intrinsically prepared to control determination, she just DID it

• Additionally, they also canonized that Martlet took the determination before Alphys had any of the fallen-down bodies, and that she had no idea what it actually WAS, other than that it had something to do with the human SOULs. Which makes this even MORE impressive because she wasn’t intrinsically prepared to control determination, she just DID it

• The dive-bomb attack Martlet does in her first-phase Zenith fight was inspired by Dyna Blade, as a Kirby fan that fact just made me happy lol

• Retribution was the last song made for the game, and was composed in just a couple days, which is WILD to me

• We got confirmation that Flowey is still in control of saves after defeating Axis in Geno, and Clover’s text in the overworld/after dying is just them being so focused on their mission that they’re drowning out everything else

• CANNOT forget The Jincident

[dhddmods]

Dissociation guide!

After writing our guide to plurality, we figured a guide to dissociation would be helpful too.

(We also recommend reading our regression & executive dysfunction guide, anthro & alterhuman guide, and intersex guide!)

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Dissociation is an experience where a person disconnects from themself or reality in some shape or form. This typically occurs during/after a traumatic/stressful experience, as a symptom of dissociative disorders (DID, OSDD, DPDR, UDD, PTSD, etc) and attention-disruptive conditions (ADHD, MADD, etc), or as a symptom of a mood disorder (BPD, bipolar disorder, IED, etc), or an anxiety disorder (OCD, social anxiety, etc.)

Dissociation could occur randomly or have specific triggers. It typically occurs as a protective method for the brain to disconnect from a painful situation, or occurs when a person is flooded with intense repressed memories and flashbacks (such as with PTSD.) It can also be induced through sleep deprivation, hypnosis, meditation, or specific drugs.

Dissociation comes in multiple forms. These forms can overlap (ie; immersive daydreaming + identity confusion).

Dissociative types include the following:

-Dissociative Trance: a form of dissociation in which a person "zones out" to an extreme extent. They do not respond to things happening around them, and may be sitting still or moving around. Their eyes can be open or closed. -Autopilot: a form of dissociation similar to a dissociative trance, however they do respond to the things around them. They move around and act out things that they subconsciously know how to do (ie; cleaning dishes), and can conversate with people talking to them. Their responses may be clear and coherent, or their responses could be slurred, nonsensical, or slow. They might have efficient physical control, or they might act uncoordinated. They may or may not remember what happened after the autopilot is over. -Depersonalization: a form of dissociation where a person feels disconnected from their own body/self, and may not view themself as a real person, or may view themself as a stranger. It might feel like controlling a video game character, or watching a TV show. This could be an in-body experience or an out-of-body experience, where they observing themself from a 3rd person POV. -Derealization: a form of dissociation where a person feels as though the world around them is fake, dreamlike, or foggy. They feel real, but the world/people around them do not.

-Immersive Daydreaming: a form of dissociation where a person enters a daydreaming state, which is more extreme than typical daydreaming. It feels like truly entering another universe, and the real world genuinely feels as though it slips away. A person may be doing tasks while daydreaming (autopilot) or zoning out (trance). Unlike typical daydreaming, it is usually not easy to break an immersive daydreamer out of their daydreams, and they can get "lost", and might even begin acting out what they see in their daydreams in real life (speaking the dialogue, walking around in the same way, etc.) Some immersive daydreamers are able to re-enter a previous daydream in the future, in the same way a system headspace works. If an immersive daydreamer has one of these headspaces, it is known as a Paracosm. If a paracosm has characters within it, they are known as Paras. Immersive daydreaming exists for all people with MADD, and is common amongst people with ADHD, autism, and similar conditions. -Dissociative Amnesia: a form of dissociation, when a person experiences memory loss or blurry memories after an event. Unlike autopilot, they were not dissociating mid-event, and only felt any signs of dissociation after the event was complete. Usually this is a smaller scale (such as forgetting two hours of time), however long-periods can be forgotten as well. In extreme cases, they may forget large portions of their life, and not remember essential details (name, age, location, etc.) Lost memories, in both small and large scale cases, can be revived with time or psychological help. This is common amongst PTSD, DID, OSDD-1a, OSDD 2, and OSDD 3. -Identity Alteration: a form of dissociation where a person's identity (gender, attraction, name, skills, mannerisms, personality, etc) shift for an episode of time, however when that episode is over, the person does not recall the shift happening. Even though they do not remember the shift happening, they might retain skills learned while shifted (for example, suddenly having better art skills, but not remembering how they learned it.) These episodes could last for a short or long period of time, and might be confused as dissociative amnesia or autopilot. For example, a person with a mood disorder who has a huge mood-swing episode (ie; suddenly becoming enraged and destroying household items), but once it is over, cannot remember it happening. Another example is a LITERAL shift in identity; plurality with amnesia barriers, where the person that switched either did not have access to the innerworld, or no innerworld exists, and so the next thing they know, several hours have passed and people are accusing them of saying/doing things they did not do. -Identity Confusion: a form of dissociation where a person has episodes where their identity feels blurry or inconsistent. For example, a person who is partially age regressed, and cannot properly recall their age, and keeps going back and forth between acting childlike and like an adult. Another example would be two (or more) sysmates who are blending in an unstable way, and cannot properly identify who they are or what is happening.

[otakween]

Digimon World: Dusk (AKA Digimon Story Moonlight) - Final Thoughts

Another Digimon game done and dusted, woohoo! I finally played the game that JaidenAnimations made a video about (kinda). I definitely enjoyed it more than her, but I get her frustrations at the same time. Navigation was pretty ridiculous and most of the game was dumb side quests. Even though it expanded on the first Digimon Story game a bit, I definitely preferred Digimon World DS for its simplicity. I did really dig the aesthetics of this one though (pink and purple ftw!)

While a lot of the gameplay was tedious, all of the stuff I appreciated from the first game are still here. Great pixel art, fun digivolving mechanics, cool bosses, and a colorful world to explore. Overall, I thought it was a good time. Maybe it helped that I went in fully knowing what to expect and already understanding how to play?

Notes:

For a series called Digimon "Story" the story is always the weakest part. Like...what even was this story? It seemed like all of the usual nonsense to me. Every single digimon villain wants to rewrite the world and awaken the ultimate digimon yadda yadda yadda. The annoying thing in this one were all the weird inscrutable words they used. Of course I didn't write these down, but I remember at some point they wanted me to find the "D WORD" and I had no idea wtf a d word was nor did they ever explain it. Also, they suddenly called me a "real being" at the end which felt weird cuz it was the first time they used that phrase. The villain also mentioned "digi entelecheia" once or twice and I had completely forgotten what that was (okay maybe that one's my bad lol). Also, the city is always called "CITY" (in all caps) for no apparent reason. Just weird quirky stuff that had me confused for the majority of the game.

I didn't connect to a single character and completely forgot about Phascomon's existence until he popped up at the end. (I literally thought, "Who is that, this game's mascot or something?") The dialogue was kind of funny because the characters were constantly saying "we could try to solve this problem ourselves, but [player character] is so much better than us at everything, let's just let her do it" lol. Thanks guys...

Due to translation error, one dude kept misgendering me lol (called me "he" every time he spoke).

The animation of the main character going "aww shucks" whenever people gassed her up was really cute and I looked forward to it every time.

This game is actually HUGE. Kind of annoyingly so. There were all those random dark areas that I never really explored because I wasn't sure what the point of them was. I think there was also some kind of coliseum (maybe?) but I skipped that as well. There are also wifi connection features which are required for completionists which is kinda shitty nowadays.

Plenty of new digimon designs for me to enjoy. Really enjoyed Lunamon's digivolution line (hell yeah, Dianamon!). It was fun having a "dark" party for once. All of the giant bosses looked amazing too.

Although navigating this game was harder than it was in Digimon World DS, the game felt easier battle-wise. It's probably just due to all the built in grinding, but I beat the final bosses very easily. Of course, it helps that it's easy to become very rich and buy 99 of every item you need. I don't think I lost a single battle once.

This game introduced jogress digivolution but I simply never used it. I don't like just randomly combining digimon when I don't need to. If I was to 100% the game I may have experimented though.

One thing I missed from the first game was that you couldn't regress to the lowest digivolution for the best results anymore, you could only go back one digivolution at a time. I found this less satisfying, but I could see others seeing it as a plus.

The end credits that have you and your digimon parading by were very cute. That's always a nice touch. It was funny seeing my wimpy farm digimon that I never used included in the bunch.

Maybe I missed something but I wish the game had more equipment? Once you get to level 40 the options seemed pretty limited for some digimon types.

The interruptions of the farm report and digimon always getting new attacks got kind of annoying after awhile. I guess you wouldn't want to miss out on better attacks, but I wish the option to manage them was tucked away in a menu that you can pull up later instead of popping up after a battle. (Oh and getting a pop up to rename your digimon every time you digivolve...)

I missed being rewarded with tamer levels just for progressing through the story. I actually ended this game as a "normal tamer." I believe getting higher than that involves more fetch quests....I'm good for now.

I was pretty proud that I had a decent amount of mega-level digis at the end there. You can form some really badass parties in this game.

Wish I could teleport to 2007 and play this game with a friend who had Dawn so we could trade 🥺

Despite my gripes, I think this game has a lot going for it for the more hardcore Digimon fans that are willing to put up with some tedium. The eye candy alone made it worth it. I give it a 6 out of 10.

[zayadotnet]

EPIC GAMING

To follow up from last gaming centric post, I had set out to play all of the remaining Rockstar titles that I hadn't gotten to in 2024. I regret to inform you that I didn't finish my goal. After Red Dead Redemption II, I proceeded to finally play and 100% Grand Theft Auto III, as well as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I also finished Max Payne that year, and loved all. Max Payne has such a charm to it, and I am very excited for the remakes coming in 2026/2027. Being this far removed I only remember a handful of things, but I enjoyed it a lot. I still need to finish the series. Grand Theft Auto III was kind of a lot to deal with, being the funkiest of the trilogy. However I still enjoyed it, and I appreciate it for pioneering the genre. My favorite thing from this game is the random NPC dialogue, and the mission passed jingle. That being said it's easily my least favorite Rockstar title so far. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is such a step up in my opinion from III, with the writing, music, and just the world. Ignoring a few little silly things, I really enjoyed my time with it. I played it as kid but never went past the opening mission and am glad I did! At the tail end of 2024, I got really into platinum hunting. As I purchased a Playstation, I need to beef up my account. I started with some easy ones that were mostly done, that being Fallout 76 and Minecraft. These took a few days but were pretty fun to complete. As of now I need to go back and 100% them but I am satisfied with the platinum. For 2025, my goal has been to platinum all Rockstar Games titles on Playstation. I kicked that off a few months before then with Grand Theft Auto V. I want the 100% but I refuse to play the Doomsday Heist for longer than necessary. I am a weenie. So far in 2025, I have gotten Bully, L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, and the entire Grand Theft Auto Trilogy, definitive editions of course, as I am stupid and didn't buy the original versions beforehand. Bully is such a gem, and I didn't realize how much I would love this game. Seriously, play it! It took me two days to play all the way through as well as get the platinum. I am so sad Rockstar shelved the sequel. L.A. Noire, like Bully was a first for me. I was so impressed by how real everything felt. I hope someday Rockstar will revisit this style of game and give us another classic. While I didn't enjoy it as much as Bully, I'd recommend this to anyone as well. I think part of my reasoning for not liking it as well was down to the platinum grind. I know I am robbing myself of joy, but I'm in too deep man. Red Dead Redemption is in my top five games of all time, possibly sitting at the top. I have played this game many times in the past, but of course I wanted to replay it again and experience it at 60fps, and get that beautiful platinum. This game holds up amazingly well and rivals the second game. I cannot say enough good things about this game. The atmosphere, the soundtrack, the characters, the writing, the everything. Please play this if you haven't already. John Marston gets overshadowed now because of the great Arthur Morgan, however two legends can definitely co-exist. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Definitive Edition is definitely a game series of all time. Launching in a god awful state, with a sparse amount of patches, randomly received a massive one sometime last year fixing lots of things the series needed so desperately bad. Biggest of all, Classic Lighting. This was such a godsend, and it was partially sparked me to replay these remasters. I don't have much more to say on them beyond what I wrote earlier, but I will say they're playable now. I do feel bad for those experiencing them for the first time this way, as they still aren't perfect, nor do they do the originals justice.

*Bonus Section Because I Don't Know Where To Put This* I started work on the Terraria platinum sometime at the end of 2024, but didn't finish it until January 2025, but i had loads of fun doing it as Terraria is one of my favorite games. In March, I decided to give Fallout Shelter a spin after not really ever taking it seriously for all these years. I am happy to say, I love this game. It is so addicting. I am working towards the platinum, and in the homestretch. Finally, I would like to finish the post by saying that I've been heavily enjoying modded Minecraft, as well as document my plans for the rest of the year. I intend to knock out the rest of Rockstar's games, whether they're on Playstation or not. I also intend to finally cut through my backlog of games, including Cyberpunk 2077, and the Alan Wake series.

[taoofshigeru]

Sea of Stars Final Thoughts

See this post for my initial thoughts. Comprehensive spoilers to follow, obviously.

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1) World design was the highlight of the game for me. Each area looked unique and was fun to navigate around, and the way they were able to integrate some puzzle design into it was quite nice. Using the Graplou to get around felt super-smooth, which isn't always the case in isometric-style platformers.

2) Combat was solid but really not much of a challenge. I never game-overed on a boss up to and including the final boss, and both times I did lose was just a mob where I went in without bothering to heal. The key reason for this was Seraï's Disorient was busted and allowed my team to rip through every single-enemy boss like tissue paper. And most bosses were single enemies. You just keep hitting them with turn delays and then they never take turns. Tack on Arcane Barrage and Great Eagle later on in the game and it gets pretty ridiculous.

I mean, lock-breaking is a neat idea but I've experienced very similar things done better in Octopath Traveler's break/boost system, and when I was fighting bosses I kind of wanted to just be doing a game that didn't depend so much on timed hits. Bravely Default II included similarly stunlock-focused moves like BP Depleter or the Bravebearer class' entire moveset, and the main criticism of that game was how it had a counter system where late-game bosses would randomly counter actions taken by the player in ways that many, myself included, felt were punishing and unfair design. And I feel like this game showed me the other side of what happens when you just let a move like Disorient be usable without any sort of punishment.

Crustaleon dropped minions that lasted more then one multitarget attack before he could be delayed, and the Sea Slug dropped boulders even when it wasn't its turn, and I was excited to see one or both of those mechanics be folded into the final boss battle. Given this, the final fight with Aephorul felt like a real anticlimax. It was just a literal curb stomp for the heroes. Aephorul got to take like, 5 whole turns.

All that said, I enjoyed managing and being able to swap out the party of 6 in real time was nifty. I just wish they had done more with it in terms of late-game/true ending bosses with some real teeth.

3) The music was great. Particularly a fan of the Dweller boss theme mix that plays during the Dweller of Torment fight, and that super-amped Glacial Peak theme.

4) Writing/story was where I felt the game really ran into real inconsistencies. If I divide the game into acts.

The first act, up until the Dweller of Woe fight, I was fairly consistently not enjoying the story. The second act, from the Sea of Nightmares to Swan Song of the Warrior Cook, I found to be genuinely inspired. The third act, Seraï's World, Fated Hour up until the final boss fight, did well but also felt like it was somewhat coasting to the end off the strength of the second act. (Resh'an kind of just quits the story after you fight the birds to scroll through his text history with Aephorul and I was expecting him to play a mildly bigger part in the true ending.)

And the pirate dialogue in particular had some real turds that came off as mean-spirited rather than humorous. It's okay to have a story with some whimsy and humor, and for an RPG to poke fun at itself or the genre in general. But there were some jokes there that just personally felt sour to me. Case in point:

My honest opinion is that when the entire second half of your game boils down to using one move on bosses repeatedly until they die, maybe cut the Keenathan half of that exchange. The game and the script is more than this, but that's the quote I'll remember from it the most.

5) All that said, the cast had its moments. Garl is the good boy of all time, and while I'm neutral on Resh'an and Seraï as characters they had this great dynamic during the Dweller of Strife fight that ultimately leads to the warrior cook's untimely death.

Resh'an: "The rules exist for a reason and people will get hurt if I break them." Seraï: "People have gotten hurt following your god damn rules!"

Given that a) Garl dies as a result of Seraï tossing the vial of time at the Dweller and b) Valere and Zale would have died had she not done so, the script leaves room for them to both be kind of right, which I thought was a neat and nuanced writing decision.

I kind of wished they had explored it a bit more, too. Valere and Zale understandably focus on what Garl does while living on borrowed time and that does take precedence. However, after the funeral, it may have been effective for one of them to exchange some harsh words with Seraï over her decision back there. That would have helped crystallize them as two distinct characters with a wider range of emotions. As opposed to just being Garl's matching sidepieces. (Which is itself a fine role, still!)

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To be clear, I liked Sea of Stars quite a bit! I had beef with some specific elements that keeps it out of my top tier of pixel RPGs, but more than anything I'm really, extremely appreciative that people make games like this. Will look forward to seeing whatever Sabotage does next.

[gamersonthego]

GOTG Review: AI: The Somnium Files and Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir

This is the next game in my Backlog Roulette series, where each month I spin a wheel to randomly select a game on my massive backlog that I must play (though not necessarily to completion). These wheel spins occur on the monthly preview episodes I co-host with my friends on The Casual Hour podcast.

Not every game on the Backlog Roulette wheel is going to be a winner, and they’re not meant to be. Many are games I curiously picked up on a sale or remembered from an old tweet or offhand comment from a friend. 

That was the case with AI: The Somnium Files. Someone described it as a Persona adventure game, and that was good enough for me to snag it on the cheap and hold onto for a rainy day. But it only took a couple of sessions to realize that while The Somnium Files isn't really what I had in mind.

AI is a detective game at its heart. You embody Special Agent Kaname Date, an acerbic yet disaffected gumshoe with a missing eye. In its socket instead is an AI robot called Aiba who pulls double duty as a sort of Zelda Navi-like character while also giving you a host of super powers (like being able to see through objects or hacking into phone records remotely). But despite having these tools available to you, it only makes the moment to moment gameplay even more of a hunt-and-peck ordeal. 

I just couldn’t get into it, especially once my AI eye turned into a scantily-clad anime waifu for little to no reason. The writing goes into a very creepy and horny mode once this transformation occurs, and that was enough for me. Maybe if the game was more fun to play, I’d have been able to overlook it, but after already being bored and frustrated by the larger mechanics, it ended up as the final straw.

Reeeeeal classy, Date.

So instead of slogging through AI: The Somnium Files any further, I put it down in favor of a different Japanese detective game that also happened to be on the Backlog Roulette wheel. One much more stripped down and straightforward (and much less horny), Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir. 

FDC is a series of two mystery games that (as the name implies) released on Nintendo’s Famicom console. While the 1988 and 1989 originals never saw a release outside of Japan, Nintendo and developer Mages remade the games from the ground up to release worldwide on the Nintendo Switch in 2021. 

What a difference 30+ years can make.

Loading up the first game, The Missing Heir, the interesting mix of new and old hits you immediately. Gone is the pixel art of the 1988 version, replaced by hand-drawn backgrounds and anime-inspired character designs. The chiptune music tracks have all been updated to more modern instrumentation as well. But ever-present is the simple list of actions and dialogue options of the UI.

And it plays like an old adventure game too, requiring you to select some of the same dialogue options multiple times (or in specific, untold sequences) to unlock further options to progress the story. Occasionally, the game will highlight options in yellow to tell you of new options that have just opened up by some trigger, but that is not always the case, nor do these highlighted options always further the plot either. I can appreciate how a detective game should leave the player room to actually make deductions on their own, but oftentimes in The Missing Heir, I would end up cycling through every dialogue choice multiples times, just crossing my fingers I would finally hit upon the right sequence or frequency. Eventually, I would give in and pull up a spoiler-free guide to cut down on the repetition and get through the story.

Because unlike AI: The Somnium Files, Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir actually has a fun story to uncover. Originally being a Famicom game, it’s no Sherlock Holmes, but there are ample rug pulls and intrigue, culminating in a twist you can probably see coming, but maybe not in quite the way you expected. Despite being a game centered around a murder (or two, or three), it’s just kind of a pleasant little experience to work your way through. It’s even got me interested in playing its prequel, The Girl Who Stands Behind.

AI: The Somnium Files may have ended up being a bummer for me (though other people seem to really enjoy it, according to numerous reviews), I’m glad it led me to a game I enjoyed much more. And even better, I was able to trim two games from my backlog this month. That's value, baby!

[fanficwhore1993]

Billy Cranston x Skull (Eugene Skullovitch)

Part 2

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fanfic

I honestly forgot to write a part 2 but then I randomly remembered and decided to do it. I honestly would say I would wanna take this in a more “heartstopper” type direction and keep it more PG but idk I might change my mind. I’m also sorry if there are any grammatical errors.I also changed it to dialogue format cuz it so much more easier😩.

CW:light hearted, one of the characters hyperventilates. Mentions of toxic friend

It’s finally Saturday. It’s the day that skull gets to hang out with anyone but bulk and his other mean friends. Since that day when Billy saved him from the putties, he has slowly been starting to avoid bulk and flaking on the plans with him. And even though he has no other friends and was not even able to hang with Billy throughout the week since the only talk they got was them confirming this day's plans, he was alone. And somehow he still felt good. He spent the past few days sitting at home, listening to music and gluing studs onto his pleather jacket. He didn’t go out much but it gave him time to think to himself and feel comfortable for once. But now it’s time to finally hang with Billy at the mall.

Skull spots Billy as he is walking up to the angel grove mall. Billy is sitting on a bench reading a book. Skull decides that this is the perfect opportunity to jump-scare Billy. He slowly tiptoes up to the back of the bench and then jumps out behind him while screaming.

Skull: “RAAAHHH”

Billy: “AAAAHH”

Billy screams as he jumps up from the bench, dropping the book.

Skull: “Hahahahaha”

Billy(annoyed): “It's NOT FUNNY!”

Skull continues to laugh.

Billy soon joins in and starts laughing too.

Skull picks up the book off the ground, it seems that Billy was reading a science fiction novel about two best friends exploring alien planets together. Skull walks up to Billy.

Skull(while handing Billy the book): “You should’ve seen the look on your face HAHAHA it was so stupid and funny!”

Billy(annoyed): “WELL IF YOU SCARE SOMEONE LIKE THAT, UGLY FACES WILL BE MADE!”

Skull: “Haha you can’t deny I scared you good though.”

Billy: “Ok fine! You did!”

Skull: “You look so cute when you’re annoyed.”

Billy: “What?”

Skull realizes what he just said and decides to play it off like he didn’t say anything.

Skull says, acting as if nothing happened: “SO! THIS ARCADE YOU HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, where is it?”

Billy pauses and then says: “It’s inside.”

They both walk into the mall. And they see a map of the mall near the fountain. They head up to the 2nd floor of the mall on an escalator. They reach and start walking.

Billy: “So, where have you been the past few days? I think I barely saw you and you only showed up yesterday to classes or at school at all.”

Skull: “Well I decided to take a break from school for a few days because I wanted to clear my head and just relax a little. That day I got attacked by putties kinda freaked me a little so I just needed rest and time off.”

Billy: “Well that’s nice. Rest is really important, especially after going through something like this.”

Skull: “oh and I also glued studs onto this jacket I’m wearing.”

Billy: “wow that’s so cool. I won’t say that I want to dress more punk but I do admire the fashion-forwardness of it.”

As they keep walking they see neon lights in the distance.

Skull: “hey I think that’s the arcade!”

Billy: “oh yes”

Skull grabs Billy’s hand and runs toward the arcade with him.

Billy: skull! Oh my god!!!

They both reach the arcade, out of breath, but ready to play games.

They both play Pac-Man and then skee ball together.

They then have a vs fight in Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. And then played some racing games together.

They walk out of the arcade laughing and having a friendly debate about which is better, Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat.

Skull: “I’m telling you! Mortal Kombat is so much more better and fun than Street Fighter.”

Billy: “Nope Street Fighter has better backstories for the characters and the moves are cool too. And the art style definitely has more thought out into it than Mortal Kombat.”

Skull: “Sure, but Mortal Kombat has BLOODSHED!”

Billy: “Well, Street Fighter has Ryu and Ken…

Skull: “well can rYu aNd kEn rip each other’s spines and hearts out?”

Billy sighs and admits defeat.

Billy: “Fine! You do raise a cool point.

Skull: “haha come on, I’m hungry.”

Skull grabs Billy’s hands again and starts running toward the food court. While running Billy says.

Billy: “COULD YOU STOP DOING THAT!”

Skull: “HAHA NOPE!”

They both run near the food court and as they are walking in Skull spots Bulk. Skull quickly runs out with Billy and stands in a corner.

Billy: “What happened?”

Skull: “Bulk is in there, I have been avoiding him for the past few days and if he spots me here with you he might just kill me!”

Skull starts hyperventilating. Billy tries to calm him down.

Billy: “Hey hey, it’s ok. We don’t have to see him. There is an ice cream place down the street maybe we can go there?”

Skull slowly starts to slow down, and starts breathing normally again.

Skull: “yea we can do that”

Billy nods in reassurance.

They both head out of the mall and go to an ice cream place.

Billy gets a double scoop with blueberry and strawberry.

Skull also gets a double scoop but with Oreo and butter scotch.

They both go to the nearest park and walk around talking to each other.

Billy: “So you haven’t met Bulk the past few days?”

Skull: “yea, I have been trying my best to avoid him. There were times when he would spot me and I would act like I didn’t hear him and just walk away. And the times he did get a hold of me, I would just make an excuse and leave.”

Billy: “so you’re just going to ghost him out of your friendship?”

Skull: “I guess so. Bulk is the kinda guy that thinks with his fists. So even if I do tell him how I feel, he won’t care and probably beat me up.”

Billy: “Wow, seems like bulk is a really shitty person.”

Skull: “What did you say?”

Billy: “what?”

Skull chuckles for a moment and then starts laughing.

Billy: “WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?”

Skull: “HAHAHAHA, I have just never heard you swear before HAHA!”

Skull continues to laugh.

Billy(while pushing skull in a friendly way): “IT’S NOT FUNNY!”

Skull continues to laugh as they walk out of the park.

They continue to walk and talk to each other. Talking about comic books until they reach a beach. It’s almost dark and no one is at the beach.

They walk near the shore.

Skull: “Hey today was a lot of fun. Thank you for inviting me to hang with you.”

Billy: “don’t mention it. I had a lot of fun too and I’m glad you were here with me.”

Skull: “you know this is the happiest I have felt in a long time. It feels like shit when you’re just this mean person and have friends like bulk who aren’t all that nice to you either. And since I’m a bully no one really talks to me. But you at least tolerated me HAHA! And I’m glad to get to know you a little.”

Billy: “I’m glad you feel that way. And I’m also glad to get to know you a little. Makes me see you as a better person.”

Skull: “wait.”

Skull grabs Billy’s arm. He looks into his eyes and then puts his hand on Billy’s cheek. Skull closes his eyes and softly kisses Billy. Skull pulls away gently with a little bit of fear in his eyes, wondering if he made a mistake. Billy then puts his hand on Skull's cheek and pulls him into a tender kiss. Skull's fears go away. A wave rushes onto their feet but they don’t care as they kiss each other. Billy pulls away. They both smile and start laughing gently while blushing.

Skull: “Billy, I like you, and I know that we only talked for like 2 days but since that day you saved me from the putties, I haven’t stopped thinking about you. You made me feel something that none of my current friends could make me feel. And that was comfort. You made me feel comfortable to be around you. And you don’t have to say yes or anything-“

Billy: “I like you too.”

Skull gets an excited smile and picks up Billy off the ground and spins around. He puts Billy down and gives Billy a peck.

Billy: “How about you meet my friends? I know that saying how you feel to bulk might feel scary but maybe if you have nicer people around you will get more courage.”

Skull: “I don’t think your friends like me though.”

Billy: “I’ll convince them, plus they only know you as a mean person, they haven’t seen the more nice and more caring side of you yet.”

Skull: “Are you sure?”

Billy nods.

Skull thinks for a second.

Skull: “Ok then. But can we hang after school hours? I’m still not sure if I can be spotted with you and your friends at the moment. It’s not that I’m ashamed or something I just-“

Billy puts a finger on Skull's lips and tells him to hush

Billy: “I understand.”

Skull smiles.

They both walk home together.

Skull was blushing the whole time.

[hide-in-imagination]

Hey baee! I wanted to ask what your writing process is like, when writing Roads to cross. And also any updates? (Btw this is is by no means me trying to rush you!! I’m just curious lol)

W-writing "pro-cess"...?

Hahaha, hello, love! 🥰💕 Alright, I'll try to break down the process. This might get long. Spoiler alert: don't expect a lot of method here. I'm a panster writer, flying by the seat of my pants 😂

Okay, so, it all starts with daydreaming tbh. Or nightdreaming; usually when I'm falling asleep at 3am my brain gets especially creative for some reason 😂 I have a lot of dialogues written down in my phone's notes app that confirm that.

Usually, the first things that come to me are dialogues. I'll be daydreaming and a line of dialogue comes along and I go "Oh, that's good, I gotta write that down."

In the case of Roads, a lot of these loose dialogues/scenes piled up until I went "Okay, I gotta organize this sdkjfn". Which meant, okay, I have all these things I want to happen-- In which order should they happen? And since Roads it's a Canon Divergence fic, that meant I had to make these scenes fit between canonical plot points of season 3. To help myself with this (because I don't have a superbrain and my memory sucks) about 2 or 3 years ago, I don't remember, I rewatched some episodes of season 3 and wrote down in a Word document called "Timeline" everything that happened in each episode so I could remember later, separating them by day. So, if, for example, episode 35 started during the day, went through the night and ended in another morning, that would be Day 1 and the start of Day 2. I did this from episode 41 to episode 50. That document is 28 pages long😂

So, having all the pieces down, I had to organize them. It was kind of a game of Tetris hahah. Or probably more like this:

This should happen before this and this should happen after this, and some days should pass before this happens, BUT WAIT, THIS CAN'T HAPPEN BEFORE THIS HAPPENS BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T MAKE SENSE, AAAAAAAAAAH

It was at that moment that I decided to use my bedroom wall and post-its to organize my shit and make a somewhat functional timeline for the story😂 This is a step I like to call Decisions. You gotta make decisions about the story, when this scene you thought up will happen, in which chapter and in which moment it'll happen, or even if it'll happen at all! Like, what if it doesn't fit in any chapter? Should I force it? It is really necessary?

You gotta make decisions and you gotta commit. I hate this step. It takes so much time because I overthink everything.

But then, THEN, by some happenstance or meteor strike as Taylor my beloved would say, I manage to get the skeleton of a chapter. Which means, I've got about 5-7 loose dialogues or bits of scenes, in a specific order, and now I just gotta fill in the blanks... which usually means going from a 1k draft to a 7k finished chapter😂

For example, this is what "It is said that there's no such thing as coincidence" looked like before I actually started working on it.

If you compare it to the finished version, you can see what actually working on the chapter means: adding the narration, the dialogue tags, etc etc. And oftentimes, new ideas pop up in my brain while I'm writing it, so I add that too.

Since Roads it's a bunch of loose scenes that came to me randomly and in disorder, when I actually write the story down one event after another, this curious thing happens called natural progression of things ✨✨✨ Or, Event->Logical reaction to said event. Like, "Hey, this character broke his arm in the previous chapter, the others should... probably.. talk about that???"😂

So that's how new things get added to the chapter that I hadn't planned but just make sense, u know?

Now, this step of actually working on the chapter is... pretty slow skdnf. I especially HATE dialogue tags, I hate that I gotta add actions and thoughts and smells and sounds between what the characters say; sometimes I really don't know what to put there kjsd.

Oftentimes, ideas of what to write in a certain scene come to me while reading something else, like a fic or a book. Which doesn't mean I steal their narrations sdkjfn, it's just- the book will mention a certain word or feeling and I go "Oh, this is like in my fic! This is what X character is going through!" and I start daydreaming about it and the right words come and I run to my Word documents to write the magic down before it leaves me 😂💖

This doesn't only happen for the current chapter I'm working on, btw. Nonono, that would be too organized for my brain. Too normal. Too easy.

When I say my brain gets loose, random, disorganized ideas, I mean it. I'm currently working on chapter 27, and yet, I've written some bits for chapters 30, 31, or even 40. If I get an idea, I gotta write it down or I'll forget. Sometimes, I have a clearer view of what a future chapter will look like than what this current chapter is, but hey, that's life 😂

Now you get why I had to use my bedroom wall, right? I mean, when you have a timeline of about 20 future chapters and a hundred loose scenes to fit into those 20 chapters, things get overwhelming. I needed a visual way to fit the pieces into place or my brain was going to collapse.

Or I was going to cry.

Anyway, in summary.

Step 1: Daydreaming. This happens naturally; can be out of nowhere or from reading something else.

Step 2: Write the daydreaming.

Step 3: Decisions. Try to organize the loose ideas I've got in my phone or Word into a chapter structure that makes sense.

Step 4: Fill in the blanks. Once the chapter structure/skeleton is there, I gotta actually work on it.

Step 5: Proofreading. Once the chapter is done, I read it again to look for typos or just to overthink the whole thing again until I'm truly happy with how I narrated every single thing. I also use Grammarly to help me out caught errors.

And that's it! Another Roads chapter is done!

...I gotta translate it to Spanish to post on Wattpad though. (Kill me, I hate this, this is cringe, I'm such a terrible writer, English makes everything sound better, why did I think this was a good idea? Why do I always repeat this same word/sentence structure? Okay, whatever, I don't care anymore. No, wait, I do, this has to be good. Why though? Only 12-year-olds read me here. Okay, it's done, IT'S DONE, BYE, I DON'T WANNA WRITE THIS SHIT FOR ANOTHER MONTH, I HATE IT)

Rinse and repeat 😇

...Sorry for writing so much.

Now, updates! I have this page in my blog called "Progress status" in which I usually update how the chapters are going along: https://hide-in-imagination.tumblr.com/Progress-Status How I see it is: if a scene needs to be finished/ it's half-done-> That's 5% If there's a scene I need to write from zero-> That's 10% So, for chapter 27, I have 5 scenes half-done and one I gotta write from scratch, so that's 25% + 10%, 35% left to do. Meaning, chapter 27 it's currently 65% done.

This page can be found in my sidebar, btw. But if you use mobile I guess you can't see it.

Aaand, that's it! That was all your questions. I'm guessing I sated your curiosity with... way more information than you ever wanted to know🤣

Thank you for caring about my story❤️ See ya!

[runicmagitek]

tagged by the lovely @wingsyouburn - thanks bb! 💕

How many works do you have on AO3? 209?? I'm sorry what????

What’s your total AO3 word count? 958,942??? HOW????????????

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? *cackles* Oh sweetheart, sit down. We're gonna be here for a while.

According to my AO3 account, I have 54 different fandoms tagged. Most of them are for video games, but the occasional anime sneaks in now and then. I also have a few MCU fics, one book fic, and a podcast fic. My most prolific fandom is Final Fantasy VI with 50 fics.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Wings of Valor and Compassion (Pharah/Mercy - Overwatch)

No Safety in Desire (Urbosa/Zelda - Legend of Zelda)

Give Them Something to Talk About (Dina/Ellie - The Last of Us)

Finally, Beautiful Stranger (Aeris/Tifa - Final Fantasy VII)

Don't Bring Your Black Heart to Bed (Thanatos/Zagreus - Hades)

Glad to see everyone enjoying my quality gay shit. Also very amused that out of these five, three of them were from last year.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not? I do! Or I at least make a solid effort to do so! I usually can't really sit down to properly reply until the weekend, unless it's something super quick I can shoot off on my phone, so I hope people don't mind the wait.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Depends on the flavor? For straight-up Bad Ending vibes, absolutely Limbo (I really need to crack out another horror fic, because I love those, even if the majority of fandom doesn't). For right-in-the-feels vibes, Waiting for the Dust to Settle was a recent one I did that just sucker punches you with bittersweet Oh No goodness. It also reminds me of In Another Perfect Life, which ends on a similar note. *squints* actually, these are all for Final Fantasy VIII, which is saying a lot about... something lol

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written? Um... not really? I don't think I have? At least not in the traditional sense where characters from Fandom A interact with characters from Fandom B. I have written some fusion crossover stuff. If You Had Life Eternal comes to mind, where I took Jaina and Kael from WoW and plopped them in Diablo's setting, because reasons.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? I had someone leave a super homophobic comment on one of my Pharmercy fics back in the day, which like... dude, are you lost?? I've also gotten some general weird comments that have little to nothing to do with the fic. I do remember someone on FFN commented saying that I needed Jesus on one of my witch-y fics. Sigh.

Do you write smut? If so what kind? Yes. The delicious kind (I hope).

Have you ever had a fic translated? Probably?? I've had a handful of people over the years ask to translate my stuff, but I haven't seen anything pop up on AO3.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? LIKE JUST ONE???? My brain fluctuates when it comes to this, but I definitely have a type or two I always gravitate towards. The most recent addition is Keitaro/Natsuno (13 Sentinels), which lives in my head rent-free from now until I die. I also always find myself coming back to Celes/Setzer (FFVI) and Aeris/Tifa (FFVII).

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? A bunch of 2016 drafts I started and then dropped when my life imploded. I've yet to revisit any of them and I'm not sure if I ever will at this point :\

What are your writing strengths? Apparently sneezing out 7k words without breaking a sweat.

What are your writing weaknesses? Sneezing out 7k words without breaking a sweat *sobs in a corner* ALSO TITLES I HATE TITLES

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I'm... not sure I fully understand what this means? Like having characters speak in another language randomly? I did this sparingly in Darkness/Starlight, where I had Jidoor be a blend of French and Italian, thus giving Setzer an appropriate accent and the occasional French comment. I didn't translate those into English, because the POV character (Celes) wouldn't have understood what was being said. Plus any time Setzer did dip into it, he was speaking from the heart, but was too afraid to actually TELL her. So if anyone had half the mind to translate those bits, they'd find out Setzer said the most touching things to her in French.

ANYHOW. I honestly don't really do this much, especially when a handful of my fandoms are Japanese and I'm writing in English and we're just assuming everyone's talking in Japanese so... yeah. Take it or leave it, I guess.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Like when I was 10??? A crossover between Sailor Moon and Final Fantasy VII because FUCK YOU I DO WHAT I WANT.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? You're killing me, smalls, and I ain't picking just one.

Darkness/Starlight is forever near and dear to my heart for being a labor of love for such a small, old fandom and my beloved rarepair.

Learn to Fly is one I love for the amount of research I put in (I replayed Pyre and took so many notes on both Ti'zo's and Rhae's speech patterns to get them just right) and the delightful, yet bittersweet messages it exudes.

Long Journey Home is another favorite, because I poured my heart into it and it's got one of my favorite lines and ending.

Of What's Left of Us and Who We Used to Be was my attempt at evoking the surreal, yet heartwrenching vibes from the series and again, I also poured my heart into it.

Before We Have Another Chance to Go Loving was me cramming a massive longfic idea I had in my head forever into a small triple drabble series and it's forever canon in my heart.

The Lies We Tell Ourselves is my most recent fic I've published, which I wrote/edited/polished in four days, but I'm tickled pink with how it turned out.

tagging: @dvske @deemoyza @rosemochi @fury-brand @aliatori and any other writers who feel like swiping this! No pressure, as always 💕

[someone-elsa]

Hey!! I was wondering, before you started SAU, how much of the plot did you known? And how did you come up with the main idea, setting and characters? How do you decide what's next? You're my favourite storyteller and an authority when it comes to that topics 🥰

First of all, anon, thank you so much 😭😘

It's been a while since I started so I can't remember clearly but I think I had vaguely decided major things that would happen. Also, what the very last scene would be like. Many things have changed many times since then. And many things will.

The main idea is quite simple. I wanted to write something similar to my TS2 story Sagecastle Stories (which I cruelly abandoned 😢) but with original characters. That's about it!

Out of the main four, Alex and Paige were sims born in-game (they had different names and looked a bit different). Kody (he had a different name too) was a townie, Alex's high school sweetheart and later husband. I still have that save but I haven't loaded it in ages. River was just a sim I created and liked her enough to make her a character in the story. Originally, I had four more main characters but discarded them because I thought I had too many to handle. And I have too many characters and keep creating new ones...

I have a text document in which I write down ideas of future scenes or plotlines. They are supposedly in chronological order but sometimes things happen way sooner than I had planned. Some of the ideas are very detailed with dialogue that could be almost used as is. And some are like this:

I have a spreadsheet in which I plan what happens chapter by chapter:

So what happens next? I check the spreadsheet and also I might want to continue plotlines or I come up with something totally unrelated!

My writing process is quite chaotic because I come up with new things randomly and make things up as I go. I don't doubt it shows, at least as probably inconsistent timeline. So I wouldn't necessarily take my way of working as any kind of ideal, haha.

This is my favourite topic to talk about on this blog so ask away if there’s anything else you’d like to know! ♥

[witnessourescape]

On Omega's origins

I'm trying to make some posts on Omega so I don't lose track of what I think about the funny robot. :) What we know about Omega's planet:

It was in a war against the Dragonstar;

It considered Midgardsormr a threat;

It completely destroyed the Dragonstar;

It's presumably gone, having seen a Calamity.

I'll talk about each point. I believe there are already clues to what Omega's original planet is in the game.

1. It was in a war against the Dragonstar

Contrary to common belief, what happened in the Dragonstar was not that Omega alone randomly attacked it for no reason (or to get stronger) -- Omega and its planet were locked in an interplanetary war. We don't know why -- yet.

Midgardsormr: Foolish machine. What hast thou to show for all the years that have passed since the culmination of our war? Naught save thy continued existence. Hast thou no thought for what befalleth thy home star…?

2. It considered Midgardsormr a threat

Omega's objective was to kill Midgardsormr. Not to enslave, not to colonize the planet: to kill the Father of Dragons, paragon of wyrms, because it was a threat.

Omega: Prepare to face Midgardsormr--red-maned wyrm of the Dragonstar, and nemesis of my world.

3. It completely destroyed the Dragonstar.

"By thee and thine was my home laid waste". The Dragonstar as we see in Alphascape 2.0 seems devoid of life, aetherically unbalanced. If those are aether geysers, then something must have gone really wrong. Omega's planet didn't enslave the dragons or something like that -- they killed the Dragonstar itself.

4. It's presumably gone, having seen a Calamity.

Let's get back to this piece of dialogue.

Midgardsormr: Foolish machine. What hast thou to show for all the years that have passed since the culmination of our war? Naught save thy continued existence. Hast thou no thought for what befalleth thy home star…?

What did befell Omega's home star, after all? Why does Midgardsormr knows of it and why does he uses it to try to provoke Omega? Could it be related to their war? Could Midgardsormr have been responsible for Omega's planet's destruction?

The answer probably lies in From the Heavens, Final Omega's theme.

Our shadows lost in light, this life A fleeting kiss Hark! Temptation rings! Virtue slips through hands a-clenching wicked fruit Passion festers, black’ning sinless souls to root Sink’neath dark waters Drink deep, we suffer Drowning, drowning, drowning, drowning Irons sundered Paradise plundered Come welcome this Come welcome this Destiny Virtue slips through hands a-clenching wicked fruit Passion festers, black’ning sinless souls to root Sickles grate on heaven’s gate their fields ignored Seeking sinners deathlessly they reap discord As two become one Here ends this, our journey Never-ending, onward march! Witness our escape This our escape, this our escape This our escape, this our escape This our escape, this our ascension

From the Heavens tells the story of a society falling to hubris, temptation and sin, their paradise destroyed. Isn't that familiar?

Still on From the Heavens, it's strange that the first sentence is "our shadows lost in light": ascian means literally shadowless -- this is why the Heroes' Gauntlet set is called the Shadowless set. Then, "[sink] 'neath dark waters" is literally Amaurot's theme.

So, is there any other evidence Omega could be an Ancient machine?

Lots of them.

1. Omega and the Ascians got similar designs: both heavily use black and silver, and gold and purple as accents (Omega has a purple undertone and Final Omega has gold accents).

2. Omega and the Ascians share abilities: creation magicks and interdimensional travelling. It's not because they're both unsundered beings: I can't remember dragons having creation magicks or travelling interdimensionally. Midgardsormr enters Omega's rift in his Big form at the cost of his life energy. It isn't something that he does naturally and with ease.

3. Omega and the Ascians share a neighborhood at the Aetherial Rift, which is where ascians hide when they need to.

4. The Passionate Amaurotine NPC has weird dialogue about death-defying autonomous figures.

Passionate Amaurotine: Oh, did you want to ask me about my latest concept again? The autonomous figures I told you about before? They are utterly without feeling or fear, and will without hesitation or objection carry out their master's orders regardless of any injury or death they may suffer as a result. Truly magnificent, wouldn't you agree?

5. Both Amaurot the Dungeon and Omega quote the biblical Book of Revelation. This one may be the most important yet: the Final Days are akin to the christian Apocalypse as seen in the Book of Revelation. In the end of the Book of Revelation, Christ makes His Second Coming, saying:

12 Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Meanwhile, Final Omega's dialogue in O12SP2 is:

Final Omega: Experiment concluded. I am the Alpha. I am the Omega. Final Omega: <blip> <bleeeeeep> Witness...my coming... I bring...reward...and retribution...for all!

The dialogue in Japanese makes it even clearer that Omega is quoting Revelation 22:12 and Revelation 22:13. I'll make a post on it later. Why would the Ancients develop a war machine like Omega? Weren't them pacifists? Everybody is a pacifist until eldtrich abominations start banging at your door!

Research Report on the Akadaemia Anyder: High-ranking phantomologists have since been dispatched to afflicted areas, where they conducted the capture and transport of a single entity. This specimen, characterized by a disproportionately large maw, was dubbed “Archaeotania,” and investigations into its aetheric composition are ongoing. A theory posited by the esteemed Lahabrea suggests that the shape these fiendish beings assume is not random, but rather an amalgamation of the fears which lurk beneath our rational minds. As of this writing, researchers have begun pursuing methods by which potent guardians of deliberate design might be engendered to stand against this mounting threat.

Emet-Selch says Zodiark was summoned to rewrite the laws of the star because they went haywire with the creation magicks going wild, not to halt the monsters themselves. The Ancients also took time to develop the concept of Zodiark. Something must have been keeping the monsters at bay while the Convocation worked, and as we see in the Passionate Amaurotine NPC, there is some precedent that the Amaurotines could develop a death-defying autonomous figure ready to sacrifice itself for its masters if needed. How does the Dragonstar War enters the scenario, then? First, let's go back to Archaeotania. Archaeotania is a dragon.

It looks like a dragon-dinosaur mix, it attacks with Megaflare and Gigaflare, it has lots of Shinryu's -- who is a Midgardsormr-based primal -- attacks like Tidal Wave and Ice Boulder. Archaeotania, being one of the original fears that were birthed by creation magicks going haywire, must have been influenced by a dragon. Meanwhile, Omega ignores other primals on Hydaelyn but only bleeps and bloops when Primal Bahamut appears:

Magitek Terminal: Even with its stasis systems activated, Omega retained a measure of autonomy. Deprived of mobility, the weapon continued to scan the world around it, searching for a threat to engage. It was at the time of Bahamut's resurrection when Omega emitted a unique signal -- a signal which appeared to indicate the acquisition of a target -- and we first discovered that the machine had retained some degree of awareness.

So, for some reason, when Sophia, Zurvan and Sephirot appear, Omega ignores them: it only bleeps and bloops when Primal Bahamut is born. It could be that its aetherical signature is so similar to Midgardsormr's Omega thinks it got its original target. But it could be that Omega was built to hunt beings similar to Archaeotania: artificial, dragonlike and presumably drawing aether from the ambient like even Midgardsormr does. Now let's take a look at this dialogue in the lvl 50 The Rising Chorus quest:

Lucia: Last night, the dragon star burned with an intensity not seen in fifteen summers. Not since the Dravanians engaged the Empire in the Battle of Silvertear Skies. Urianger: "The northern sky doth burn full bright upon the wyrm lord's call. The red behemoth beckoneth, and flame consumeth all." Lucia: The old Coerthan rhyme, aye. The brighthening of the dragon star is said to accompany the roar of a great wyrm. The astrologians believe that it was Midgardsormr himself who cried out in this occasion.

So we know that the telepathic roar of a great wyrm can, from Hydaelyn, activate and make the Dragonstar shine bright in the sky. As the Dragonstar is a dead rock floating in space now, we can only imagine the roar messed with its aether enough to physically make it shine. Could the Sound be an echo of Midgardsormr's roar? Why would Midgardsormr roar? We still don't know. But Midgardsormr is in some kind a harbinger of doom. I'll make a post on it later. What could be the timeline? The [?]s are because I don't know when or the exact order it must have happened.

Midgardsormr, for some reason, roars.

The Ancient's planet gets destabilized, the Sound starts.

The Ancients get scared, leading to their creation magicks going haywire.

The Amaurotines capture Archaeotania and develop Omega to halt the monsters and to give the Convocation time to act.

Zodiark is summoned, rewriting the laws of the star.

Omega leaves for the Dragonstar.

Hydaelyn is summoned.

Midgardsormr flees from the Dragonstar.

[?] Hydaelyn sunders the planet.

[?] Hydaelyn calls upon Midgardsormr.

Omega, while hunting for Midgardsormr, loses both its homing coordinates and contact with its home star.

Omega crashes onto Hydaelyn and doesn't realize it's back home because it is lost and the planet is way different than it was when it left.

I don't like that even Omega and the Dragonstar would be "Ancients/Ascians again". That's okay. I get it. But it would explain a lot of things, such as: 1. Why would Hydaelyn accept Midgardsormr but ignore Omega? Because Hydaelyn saw an opportunity to neutralize the greatest threat to Herself, Midgardsormr, but recognizes Omega as native from the pre-sundering Planet so doesn't see anything wrong with letting a wayward child come back. Omega was wrong in trying to go back home: it was always home, but it doesn't realize it. 2. How would the Allagans have found Omega? It's very interesting, even Deus ex machina (hehe) like that the Allagans coincidentally found a super-advanced, ready-to-be-reverse-engineered, easily-turned-off machine that was the basis for their technological revolution that led to at least two calamities. But we know Emet-Selch was responsible for influencing the Allagan Empire. What if Emet-Selch, or even Lahabrea, or both, were working together on this? They would know Omega was back, how to activate it, how to work with its technology and, most important, how to turn it off so that Allag would never be threathened by it. Why wouldn't Emet-Selch talk about Omega, then? Because Omega is a symbol that his people weren't as perfect and pacifist as he wants to believe. The fact that his people could only be saved by a violent war machine, and not by their peaceful, elegant creation magicks and debate, must be abhorrent to Emet-Selch. This is why he must have chosen, like Mitron, to leave Omega to suffer at Allag's. In the end, Allag triumphed both against the Dragons -- the Ancient's planets nemeses in this scenario -- and against Omega -- the stain in the Ancient's peaceful history. Anyway, isn't Final Omega non-canon? Not exactly, not as I see it. For some reason, Alphascape Savage is the only Savage tier that isn't the Menestrel making things up: it's Omega itself that gives you the data it messed with. Final Omega is a form of Omega made by Omega. Is there anything else about this crazy theory? Both Omega's and the Ancient's planet's name have been mysteriously omitted. Omega physically cannot speak the name of its planet in any of Hydaelyn's languages, and Emet-Selch never gives us the original name of the planet. I think this is it. I'll keep updating this post and doing more posts as I think about more things about the robot. Thanks for reading.

[tsukikoayanosuke]

Behind the Fic: TW:OPT - Chapter 134 - 136

Unexpected road trip arc go brrr...

WARNING: This will contain a bit of spoiler for the newest chapters of my fan fiction Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure.

Chapter 134: Philosophyz

The chapter title and summary are from the song Philosophyz, the opening song of Key VN Rewrite. The summary is the first refrain.

This chapter is unexpectedly long, which comes as no surprise.

The original plan was only telling a brief moment with Grim before going fully into Deuce's POV (which also includes the first POV in the next chapter).

However, unexpected Mustafa's POV happened. Now, this scene is rather interesting because, again, it was unexpected. This scene canonically happened after the winter break, but here it happens before. The main reason is similar to the overblot explanation back in Chapter 36 where instead of it happening in Savanaclaw Arc, it was told right at the end of Heartslabyul Arc because of the urgency.

Since we probably wouldn't be seeing the Scarabia NPC gang again, it's only fair if we have some closure/final encore for them. Now, I have a possible vision of the Scarabia NPC gang having a short cameo in Kalim Arc, but it's still unclear.

Let's talk about Grim's scene. This is sort of related to Mustafa's scene. The dialogue between Mustafa and Grim was supposed in Grim's POV, however because of the Kalim and Scarabia NPC flashback, it was changed into Mustafa's POV so it won't be too jarring to switch for the next scene.

Speaking of the next scene. In canon, Grim ate the rock at night time and alone, but here it was during the day and Jonah was there with him. This is actually intentional, one of the reasons is for the build-up hint to Jonah's potential falling to the darkness.

Another thing is Jonah is handing the rock toward Grim only after he listens to him. Also, Grim stops thinking about wanting more rocks when Jonah touches him. Basically, even if they are pokemon and trainers, there's a power dynamic between them.

And starting from Deuce's POV, the plan of 4-episode mini-arc shattered, because this is the start of the unexpected road trip arc.

Now, originally, Scarabia Arc would end with this chapter, with the Rescue Squad going back home. I honestly had no idea how to transition from Scarabia Arc to Christmas Arc with characters who aren't related to the previous conflict. It would be pretty jarring. Honestly, I'm glad that I decided to write the road trip arc, no matter how frustrating it was.

Now, remember back in Chapter 120 I asked whether Crowley basically kidnapped Ace and Deuce? Yeah. We have no time to fix that during editing, so let's put it here.

I actually had to think about Deuce's family's name. While not spoken, Deuce's mom's name is Galadriel Spade (you know, that elf princess from Lord of the Rings).

The conversation between Crowley and Deuce's mom is inspired by All Might and Inko's conversation about UA dorming system.

Yeah. I tried to make a timeline for the trip. It was still rough even at this point. I'm trying to make all of the boys get back home on the 24th of December.

Chapter 135: The Big Dango Family

The chapter title and summary are from the song Dango Daikazoku, the ending song of the anime Clannad, which is an anime adaptation of Key's VN with the same name.

Now, as usual, this is supposed to be one chapter full of Valley of Thorn/Diasomnia boys interaction, however, blame it on the sleepover section, it became so long that I have to cut it again.

Speaking of Valley of Thorn, I decided to name Malleus' grandmother Carabosse, which is the name of the wicked fairy of the original Sleeping Beauty ballet. Basically, it's the original name of Maleficent. Personality-wise, I'm leaning toward your usual gentle grandma, or maybe Dowager Empress Marie from the Anastasia (1997) animated film.

Early Tsunotarous revelation. Nuff said.

Adapted mafia game. Also a funny call back to Break & Gosh’s Tale of the Unfortunate Sacrificial Flower. Maryanne I miss you

I have no idea how this chapter is so long. Again, I blame it on the sleepover mafia game. This might be the longest chapter I've written. And this is a filler arc.

Chapter 136: My Soul, Your Beats!

The chapter title and summary are from the song My Soul, Your Beats!, the opening song of the anime Angel Beats!. Angel Beats! has a VN adaptation with the same name.

This chapter is actually quite interesting in the process because I think it's time to reveal some things about Jonah.

When I finally decided to keep the road trip arc, I knew at one point I have to visit Jonah's hometown. How it will go, I didn't have a clue. I'll pull it out, somehow...

Flashback chapter let's go. Malleus' flashback is interesting because it wasn't planned this way. Originally, young Jonah and Malleus would meet just randomly without the meteor shower, reminiscing the Aurora and Maleficent meeting in the live-action. However, adding the meteor shower part was in part an additional characterization of young Jonah who was curious and adventurous.

A small call back to Chapter 20 where Jonah mentioned that it felt natural for him to climb tree during the chestnut picking. In Malleus’ flashback, young Jonah could climb a tree.

The storytelling was an obvious reference to Treasure Planet.

Now. I read that if you give your name to a fae, they'll have control over you. But if you know their name, you can make them leave you alone. Jonah basically unknowingly giving Malleus power over him, but now that Jonah knows Malleus' name, he can counter his power. It's only a matter of who speaks the fastest.

Arriving at Radiant Haven, which was first mentioned in the Twisted, Twisted, Shooting Stars series.

And also the first appearance of my baby girl Bridgette! Interestingly, Bridgette wasn't supposed to appear. Her first appearance was planned during Fairy Gala, along with some Three Wishes Institute characters.

In the first draft, the Rescue Squad just straight up went to the inn and meet Jake there, without Magda also. But here, we have a brief old Shooting Stars gang reunion.

This also marks the first appearance of Magda, who was supposed to appear during the School Festival Arc.

In fact, the whole OG gang reunion was supposed to happen during the School Festival Arc.

[weterali]

Fic Ask

Tagged by @radio-chatter! <3 Thank you very much, this brought some memories. And made me finally browse the “stats” page on AO3. (Took me a while to find out about the kudos... I nearly started counting before I noticed the button, oh my god, that would’ve killed me.) 

Tagging, as in - if you feel like it, of course - @brujahinaskirt and @fooolie

How many works do you have on AO3?

49 - too lazy to put all my works there, though. (Maybe one day...) (Hah!)

What’s your total AO3 word count?

450,699

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Rat the Judge

2. Rat the Companion

3. Rat the Bastard 

All three are in the same series, for Red Dead Redemption 2. My first toe-tipping into the fandom and in English at that. I was very nervous. It’s very soft, a bit angsty, musing about what ifs, starring Arthur, Charles and Charlotte. 

4. Behind the Curtain - my first decision to try and start translating into English. A Son & Father fic. Kingdom Come Deliverance. I wanted the AO3 page to look as if it had more works.

5. No Statue for You - also KCD. I like this one. Nothing special! But so silly. I just had fun with it.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yah. I want the reader to know that they made me happy, and that their words meant a lot. Also it’s a good exercise in beating the overwhelming shyness.

As a reader, I don’t generally expect it from others, because we all feel differently about these things and we all have different reasons for yes or no, but I’m always happy to see a response. Not judging when I don’t.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Maybe The Birth - KCD where the beginning of the game goes a little bit differently. Reminds me I have other chapters as WIP... oh well.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Now that I’ve been thinking about it, I think the Czech Dáreček is one of the happiest ones. Avengers fic.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the strangest one you’ve written?

Never tried it. I can barely keep up with a simple canon divergence.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Of course.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I couldn’t write smut to save my life.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Who knows? I don’t. 

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! (Still can’t believe it.)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

It has been mostly at high school when we kept exchanging a notebook with my friend. The good old times of writing fics by hand.

It’s... not my thing, I think.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Who can answer a question like this! All-time! There are too many. 

Uhhh, uhhhhh---

I’ll go with the oldest one. Never was like 100% into it, but it’s been a kind of a constant in my life, reappearing randomly. And in many versions. Sherlock Holmes/John Watson.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

There are, again, too many. I’d love to finish my series for Avengers, but since certain time, I just can’t get back to it. 

My super secret AC fic?? I am not sure, I know I won’t but I also know I would very much like to. 

What are your writing strengths?

I wouldn’t know. But I enjoy writing dialogue very much, hopefully it shows. And I do treat the characters with love, hopefully that shows as well.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I wish I had a more flowery way with words, to describe the beauty of the world.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

That really depends. I’d like to do it in a way that the reader can understand it even without the translation. As in, the character’s POV makes it clear, or the situation, whatever. I like it, but only in very specific circumstances, and done in a specific way. In other words - not interested in qué pasa just to see someone went through a Duolingo lecture. But I will always appreciate a character going for small daily words like thank you, yes, no, and others, in their first language. Or some of their favorite phrases in the other language. (Example - Hercule Poirot) (Catch me anytime going for “fair enough”, no matter which language I speak.) Maybe some prepositions, funny kind of messing up the language, yes.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

That was probably Naruto? The firstest first when I was a kid? I think. Other than that, I consider the first fandom (as in, I realized it was a fandom) Thor. 

But then again, I used to write for some books as well. Mice and Men and Pygmalion were among the first I remember. Hard to say now, really, but I was about the same age, I think.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

You know what, my favorite one is the one I’ve been writing for a year and never published a single word. It’s for a fandom I’ve always written in secret for, and never published anything, because it felt as “not my place”. But I’ve never been so dedicated to writing a monster of a fic fully before even thinking of publishing, and that’s saying something. I am very afraid that I will lose the fire and joy, but so far so good. 

Also, I am rather fond of the one I’ve been working on these days - it’s a new one for Kingdom Come Deliverance, and I’ve had it in WIP for over a year, so the excitement from finally getting on with it is making it beautiful in my eyes. (That’ll fade, but so far, I need to enjoy that.)

[mammonslefttoe]

One Brain Cell Theories: Chapter 17 & 18

There are a few things that may confirm my suspicions and the new chapters have reinforced it. 

SPOILERS AHEAD, please click at your own risk and any input/more theories are welcome! I’m going to try and make this a series. 

This is also a relatively long read so grab some snacks! We diving in boys!!

(This is one of my many theories. One day, I’ll be able to write down what’s happening in my head.) 

TLDR; HUNNY we have to talk about the other human 

A few things to remember before I dive in: 

Solomon has a pact with Barbatos. Solomon has a ring of wisdom and is known to make a pact with larger and more powerful demons. We all know he lowkey wants a pact with Lucifer. 

Lucifer told us not to trust Solomon in Chapter 2 

There’s a possibility Barbatos has tried to poison us with tea, a Mandragora blend. Mandragora has the potential to be fatal, one of the most notable symptoms are hyperactivity and hallucinations. 

When Barbatos sent us back in time, we found out he is extremely OP. He even has the power to look into the past and future. 

Okay now onwards to the only viable explanation I can think of: Barbatos and Solomon are scheming a takeover. (or this really is a messed up “prove yourself” challenge from Diavolo) 

Let’s begin to when shit started to get real. 

A sorta shortened (?) recap of everything that has happened thus far, please feel free to skip if you don’t need it:  

After almost confessing your love to Lucifer and dying in the process Belphie comes down the stairs and its the big reveal, everyone essentially gasps in shock. Beel, Belph, and MC run away to Luke’s joint only to get busted by Dia & Barbatos and they drag away Belphie to throw him in jail for treason (and its implied he gon’ die). Lost and afraid, Beel and MC run back to the House of Lamentation. There we have a really heartfelt scene with all the demon boys and we are determined to storm into Dia’s castle and solve the situation. 

Arriving at Dia’s castle, the pair say they were expecting us. Lucifer stood up to Diavolo & he says please, LOUD AUDIENCE GASP. No matter how much we try to reason, the only way Belphie will be released is if MC goes back into the past alone and figure out who actually opening Belphie’s door. No reason is truly given to this. Diavolo explains that Barbatos has multiple abilities, some of this includes viewing the past & future and, most importantly, time travel. 

As we continue to Barbatos’ room, he is super happy (and creepy) but gives us a very dire warning - do not interact with the past in any way or it will alternate the current timeline. This includes speaking to anyone or being involved in any type of action. If we want to come back to the present, we have to go through the same door that we end up entering through. Then off we go and we land in the middle of Mammon’s room with ALL OF THE BROTHERS sans Lucifer and Belphie. And things go haywire.

As we are running to go up to the attic, we are forced to hide in Lilith’s room, where we have a flashback (or hallucination) of playing hide and seek. Flashback Levi reminds us to go find Belphie. During this time, it is revealed that MC may have been the one to open Belphie’s door and tldr; Belphie kills MC. 

As we lay dying, we are somehow saved by Lilith (our long lost aunt twice removed apparently) and we are outside of our own body...in another one. Dia and Barbatos stroll in saying they knew this would happen & Barbatos did us a favor and revived us using an alternate timeline MC (what). Everyone is pumped we have like 1/10,000,000 genes related to human Lillith and this is their closure. 

Everything seems to be looking up and MC patches things up between Belphie and the other brothers. They throw her a joint party with Diavolo’s birthday party & give her the sweetest gifts. At the end of Chapter 18, Belphie creates a pact with MC. 

This is all fine and dandy but...is it really? 

A few things really popped out during these two recent chapters: 

Belphie is by our side the entire two chapters. Whether this is supposed to signify a new start or something else, it isn’t entirely clear.

Beel and Belph are the only ones that text us during this time. Belphie texts us after every chapter moment. 

Solomon runs into Belph and MC while shopping, randomly asking Belph if he plans on making a pact with MC. Then brazenly offers to make a pact with him instead. Belph refuses vehemently but looks at MC for a reaction. Solomon notices this. 

As Belph gives us a gift of himself (lol same), he mentions how he’s doing this for us and not because of Lilith. 

In the game itself, there’s a completely different game style. MC has more options to speak and the dialogue options have become more brazen. Almost as if...this is a different personality (or could signify MC is more comfortable with them in general). It felt off playing the last two chapters though, for me at least. 

Now onwards to the theory: Solomon is our main antagonist.

In Chapter 2, we are formally introduced to Solomon, the other exchange student. Although the interaction is rushed, we can sense out two things: he’s insanely smart and he’s already comfortable around demons. As he runs off to class, MC runs into Lucifer and we learn a bit more about this mystery boy. 

Apparently, Solomon is a wizard and has a ring of wisdom, which makes him incredibly dangerous. He has pacts with more than 70 demons (I think the exact number was 78 but I might be wrong). Among these demons are Asmodeus and Barbatos. At the end of Lucifer’s explanation, he adds that MC shouldn’t trust Solomon. 

Historically and culturally, Solomon is most known as the “Wise King.” He is also regarded as a fantastical figure, someone who is known to have powers over both angels and demons. 

“According to the Rabbinical literature, on account of his modest request for wisdom only, Solomon was rewarded with riches and an unprecedented glorious realm, which extended over the upper world inhabited by the angels and over the whole of the terrestrial globe with all its inhabitants, including all the beasts, fowl, and reptiles, as well as the demons and spirits. His control over the demons, spirits, and animals augmented his splendor, the demons bringing him precious stones, besides water from distant countries to irrigate his exotic plants. The beasts and fowl of their own accord entered the kitchen of Solomon's palace, so that they might be used as food for him, and extravagant meals for him were prepared daily by each of his 700 wives and 300 concubines, with the thought that perhaps the king would feast that day in her house.” 

Additionally, he was given a ring, known as the “Seal of Solomon,” which gave him the ability to trap demons under his control. 

A magic ring called the "Seal of Solomon" was supposedly given to Solomon and gave him power over demons or Jinn. The magical symbol said to have been on the Seal of Solomon which made it efficacious is often considered to be the Star of David. Asmodeus, king of demons, was one day, according to the classical Rabbis, captured by Benaiah (my note: Benaiah is a human, he was a soldier that helped Solomon rise to power) using the ring, and was forced to remain in Solomon's service. The Seal of Solomon, in some legends known as the Ring of Aandaleeb, was a highly sought after symbol of power. In several legends, different groups or individuals attempted to steal it or attain it in some manner.

And this is a potential plot in our story.

MC is, of course, the main protagonist of the story. We typically are. But there was never a clear antagonist. Or maybe he was playing along with our situation, a wolf in sheep's clothing? 

We all know Levi’s strangely long anime names are a strange foreshadowing of the future. We have: 

Though all titles seem to have a connection with our current plot, I’m going to focus on the first one, which seems to have the most implications regarding our current situation. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the second image with the two titles might be a backstory for Barbatos but that’s another story that I cannot fully prove yet. The third title also refers to a legend regarding Asmo and Solomon.

The first title seems...has quite obvious implications when recounting the events of chapters 15 - 18. Halfway through our journey, here we are, thrust into an alternate timeline, alone and scared but we end up making a pact with...our sixth demon? And this isn’t just a regular demon, this is one of the deadly sins. So now we have 6/7 demon brothers under our power, some of the most powerful demons in Devildom. It’s alarming how quickly MC is able to gain the trust of these demons, effectively creating pacts in the course of...maybe a few months? 

What alarms me the most is how fast Belphie turned from, quite literally, killing us to making a pact with us in a course of 3 chapters. This brings me to my first suspicion in SoloBarb’s plot: This timeline is the only timeline where MC is able to make a pact with Belphie. All other timelines do not reflect this. This placement was 100% intentional from the start. 

It is a known fact that Barbatos is able to view time and its events. It’s revealed this extends to alternate timelines when saving MC. If he is this powerful, wouldn’t he be able to simply look back in the past and find out who opened Belph’s door without the need for MC? This would be the easiest and most direct solution. 

SIDENOTE: Keep in mind, part of the reason Barbatos could not stop the Belphie situation from happening is due to Diavolo’s restriction. Barbatos states that “Diavolo has forbidden him from using his powers freely.” HOWEVER, it then leads to the question: who really has the most control over Barbatos, Diavolo or Solomon? Traditionally, when pacts are made, it means that the demon is completely under the control of the individual but does it outweigh an authority figure? In my opinion, Solomon technically has the most power fo Barbatos. Solomon’s pact with Barbatos = a magically restrictive bond while Diavolo’s rule over Barbatos = a matter of respect of authority. There is no physically restrictive bond Diavolo has on Barbatos.

Also considering how cunning Solomon is, he could have easily manipulated Diavolo into this entire plan as well.

In addition, Solomon’s strangely direct question, asking Belphie if he was going to make a pact with MC, was alarming. It was as if he was proving his own theory: the demon brothers will make a pact with MC and never him. He seemed almost satisfied with this answer and didn’t seem to protest against it too much. Couple this with Solomon’s constant approval when MC makes pacts with the demon brothers during her stay, its...disconcerting. 

Omg he even says “If you change your mind” what kind of creepy

If we consider all of this, it truly does seem as if Solomon is our potential antagonist. It seems to me that everything is pointing at him. He’s quiet enough for us to overlook and disregard as a side character, though he seems to have a certain unnerving edge to him. My god, the demons are even wary of him. If that wasn’t the biggest tip-off, idk what is. 

Also physically, we have yet to hear his entire backstory in the game or have a chapter dedicated to him. So far, in terms of side characters, we have ample interaction with Diavolo and Luke (still waiting on Simeon) but no deep dives into Solomon and Barbatos. (Which means >.> we’ll get them in later chapters) 

This brings me to the next question: so how is MC a chess piece in his plot? 

Hey, remember that RANDOM moment Solomon lent out his power during Diavolo’s house party. AND NO ONE QUESTIONED IT. Honestly, what the hell was that all about?

In regards to this, why did he do this? Some answers include: he did it for shits and giggles, he wanted to test out the theory of us having powerful magic in our bloodline, or he wanted a test run. Yeah. You heard me. A test run. 

Prior to this, MC was unable to truly summon a demon on their own. The most she could do was give out a pretty strong verbal command and the demon (Mammon lol) must carry it out. However, MC cannot fully utilize the pact’s potential due to her lack of innate magic ability. 

This is both an affirmation and leverage for Solomon’s situation. On one end, it’s confirmed that MC has huge magic potential and can properly use it when needed. On the other end, this can be a bargaining tool for the future...

Which could lead to a large plot development: Once MC gains all seven pacts (c’mon, it is going to be impossible to not make a pact with Lucifer), what will they use it for? 

MY PREDICTION: Solomon will attempt to manipulate MC into his control. Magic is powerful in this game but so are humans. A human was the reason Lilith was going to be punished by God. Solomon, a human, has power and control over 70+ demons. Belphegor was set on destroying only the human world. MC has pacts with the, arguably, the strongest demons in Devildom who are also formerly fallen angels. 

From what I’ve seen so far, nothing is more powerful than a pact. And nothing is more powerful than human manipulation. 

What will he use MC’s powers for? ...I have a sneaking feeling it might be to overthrow Diavolo based on Solomon’s cultural legend. Solomon famously has power over Asmo, the king of demons. Of course, we know the Asmo in our game is not the king but Diavolo is. Obey me! has a funny way of interpreting these legends in a unique way. Who knows if they split up Asmo into two different entities. 

but who tf really knows what’s going on

BUT

I guess we’ll have to see what happens in later chapters. Of course, this is all really a far fetch theory but there seem to be so many underlying connections to Solomon in the game. I mean ffs, he’s the only other human here and he’s SOLOMON. The very character itself is so suspicious. 

THIS ENTIRE THING COULD ALSO BE A MESSED UP CHALLENGE FROM DIAVOLO 

OR SOME CRAZY HALLUCINATION CAUSED BY BARBATOS GIVING US THAT SUS TEA BLEND

But tbh who really knows what’s happening. The only confirmed thing is that we’re still on this alternate timeline (that MC totally messed up) and we haven’t returned to our OG timeline. lucifer please pick me up I’m scared 

If you made it this far, you are SUCH A TROOP. I hope this actually has a consistent flow and it makes sense. If you have any questions or observations I didn’t include please feel free to message me! I’m open to discussion! 

A big s/o to wikipedia for the quick info on Solomon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon#Seal_of_Solomon) and a thank you to @the-orizon​ for the screenshots & amazing info! Love you!

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Episode 30 Season 4: The Dead Joey Shuffle

Lets ignore everything happening on planet Earth right now and talk about old ass anime, shall we? Yes, my sky turned a horrible end of the world yellow/orange color for an entire day because of a LOT of fire in my state. But thankfully, the winds have changed, the sky is blue...and I can write about Yugioh again.

Last we left off, Tristan, Tea, and Yami stumbled across two fresh corpses. Now, when Joey died a season or two ago (I honestly can’t remember when), we had my favorite storyboarder at the helm just sweeping emotion all over the field and the intense weeping for Joey Wheeler lasted for like 30 minutes. Yugi freaked out in the puzzle headspace for like half an episode and nearly gave up playing cards again, Yami punched a wall and then put a duel disk on Joey’s arm like a funerary send off to the afterlife, Tea started losing her mind and begged Yugi to drop out of the tourney so Yugi wouldn’t die, and Pharaoh was like “yo Tea, Yugi can’t talk right now can we do this later????” And then Tristan, out of nowhere, just started shaking Joey and screaming at him to wake up (and I think he punched him in the face and it got censored? Yo that episode is wild.) Joey got plugged to some Kaiba Corp med bay that had like 2 dozen weird sensors attached to his chest and feet to keep him alive. Serenity was like hyperventilating in the back, just a LOT of stuff was happening all at once.

But this time, with an ordinary animation team, these three kids are so distracted by the other corpse, that they only cry just a little bit before being like “woah what?”

And like this is their second time. Maybe they’ve gotten used to Joey being dead? Maybe they got it all out of their system and are now a lot more accustomed to the fact that they all must die. Several times.

Confronted with this Agatha Christie brand debacle, Tristan makes an incredible reach that is also completely correct. Like this is such an amazing incredible reach.

Hire Tristan as your detective, hot damn. There are like 7.8 billion Orichalcos-possessed people on this planet right now trying to kill Joey Wheeler and Tristan actually called the right one.

Yami never tells us who he blames, but it’s OK, because the show immediately cuts over to Dartz’ silicon valley fortress to tell us without telling us. So while this animation team isn’t as insanely extra as our previous animation teams, they still know how to edit their cuts to work alongside their dialogue just fine.

(read more under the cut)

Lets take a little while to just take this in. Someone took a while to make it, so rather than look at it for half a second before it passes--please lets count the number of floating streets in this scene.

3.

So before when I talked about the history of San Francisco, I mentioned the old Embarcadero, which was a double decker street wrapped around the peninsula. (we still see parts of this double decker set up on parts of the highway to this day.) But what if--they actually have no idea that the Embarcadero was a thing before it fell down in an earthquake?

What if they just...wanted San Francisco to be vaguely cyberpunk in this universe and that floating freeway was supposed to be futuristic and not just an 80′s throwback?

Because there’s 3 streets stacked on top of eachother right here and yo there is no where in the city built like this. This is a Gotham situation where the poors live on the lower levels and the rich just kind of hang out on the top. We have too many Earthquakes in reality to ever support this setup but Yugioh...wow. They went for it.

Also, our art deco architecture isn’t quite in this style as Dartz’ mansion. Mind you, this isn’t full deco, and the structure has more of an ancient world vibe. But...while San Fransisco does have a lot of deco, it’s just different (sorry you’re not really here for the architecture but youknow, I’m an artist so I do think a lot about why concept artists may have gone where they went)

++++++++++RANT ABOUT SF DECO VS COMIC BOOK DECO FEEL FREE TO SKIP++++++++++++++

So I’m not going to dare say this is a mistake on the Yugioh team by any means, since Deco is Deco and who knows when Dartz built that building. But like I’ve seen the SF skyline many times in this show and it’s got some funky shapes in it that are just sooo off to me. They keep drawing a more Futurist New York. Truth is, we don’t have that many skyscrapers in SF.

Most of the pictures you see of scaling buildings are of this one area around the financial district--everything else is...pretty short. So in those photos they very carefully crop out all the really squat as hell buildings on either side of it, to give the impression that our city is super tall, much like a dating app.

And, as far as Art Deco Gotham-esque skyscrapers go, we got ones like this guy:

Where at a glance it’s like...that’s barely deco (and barely that impressive. This is 1/3 the height of the Empire State building.) Compared to a lot of cities in America, our skyscrapers aren’t as...clearly deco from far away? We don’t have the huge ass humps and long ass gilded lines of the Empire State building or the Chrysler building. You only really get those details when you zoom in.

Our other skyscrapers are kinda understated or modern in comparison. And the reason why we just don’t have many deco skyscrapers is because...our ground ain’t good for building skyscrapers at all, so it took us kind of a while to build up.

Like we got this tower that we built recently (the first skyscraper they built in SF in a good while) and they decided to name it the “The Millennium Tower” which...I know...good job, team, clearly you wanted to get cursed. Well the tower started leaning about 3 or 4 years ago, like well over a foot from it’s original spot, it’s just tilting and sinking away, and people are freaking out because it’s surrounded by other tall buildings so they’re like “damn it we’re gonna dominoes.” The people in charge were like “well...we don’t know why it’s leaning...but I’m sure it’s fine” and it’s like “the ground. It was the ground...you dumbasses” not to mention that it’s clearly cursed by at least one angry Egyptian Ghost but...what do you do?

I would absolutely watch the Yugioh spinoff season about the Millennium Tower and the SF tycoons that got possessed by a ghost and have to play card games to keep their tower from squishing all of San Francisco. Yo you should hire me, Yugioh, I got IDEAS.

Man...Yugioh predicting the future, how did they call the ill fate of The Millennium Tower????

But anyway, most skyscrapers in SF are kind of boring because they have to be sturdy as hell. But, they have some neat modern shapes (like the Transamerica Pyramid--in the shape of A PYRAMID that hasn’t shown it’s face once this entire Egyptian influenced anime)

I mean, come on Yugioh, it’s right there.

Also the hell is this weird UFO on this picture I lifted off of google?

Like I think it’s 4 jets? 

I may have lifted this from an alien website, so forgive me, q-anon for lifting your image, I’m trying to talk about architecture in my Yugioh blog.

In fact the only building I (and google) can think of that is both really tall and deco-ey is this one:

And it’s a Marriot hotel built in the late 80′s. And honestly, it looks way more 1980′s Las Vegas than it does Deco. (It honestly looks like photobashing but made real, this is a weird building.)

And I could be wrong and overlooking a very important structure, but most of the city’s really cool art deco buildings are in the form of theaters, libraries, churches, schools, and houses--which are only a few stories tall. They’re gorgeous buildings with cool and different silhouettes, it’s just not very big.

Like I believe this is an old high school?

also a lot of our “art deco” has no idea if it’s victorian, deco, or art noveau so they’ll just hit all of it to see what sticks. It’s a lot more eclectic than other places where Deco is typically more...straight-lined. I kinda hate defining art styles as masculine or feminine but honestly it’s the quickest way to really hit home the difference between a Bruce Timm art deco that you’d see in a comic book, (which is very New York inspired) and what we have in San Fransisco which is really decorative and decadent.

The Yugioh SF just has no curvy nonsense and that really sticks out to me.

Ornate swirls get shoved Everywhere. Willy nilly. Just everywhere randomly. And it sits next to other structures that are modern and simplistic. It’s very San Francisco to have this old world next to new world.

And it makes sense. SF is the other side of the continent from New York, and about as far West as you can go from the movement going on in Europe. So...we made our own take and tl;dr the art deco in our city doesn’t look like Gotham at all.

And, while it’s not as grand or dark or iconic, it’s a good thing. It’s what helps make San Fransisco look really unique compared to other American cities--the fact that we're...short and eclectic. Our district with the skyscrapers is where it’s kinda boring, actually--the good stuff is when you get away from that. Where every little building has a spunky wild personality.

But in a show like this you gotta make it seem more grand and less homely so--they scaled up the buildings a lot more than we really have and homogenized all the stylings into one (and they axed every Victorian swirl because they don’t want to draw that). They really just turned SF into comic book New York--especially since I’ve only seen like...one steep hill since we got here.

It’s fine, and it makes complete sense why they did it, (I’m more confused as to why most of California is a Nevada desert so I can easily forgive a San Francisco without the right Deco) it’s just a very different energy.

and honestly...it’s an energy influenced by the tone of the show. Everything has a very dark blue-gray palate, and it’s because it’s literally the end of the world, Joey has died, everyone is sad...maybe it would be out of place to have a building that looks like it sparks joy? The harsh and cold lines do add to the gravity of the situation.

Maybe I would have done the same thing? In the end, the legibility of your story matters more than the accuracy of your story--especially when it comes to TV. Which is somewhat a controversial statement, and there’s exceptions when it comes to cultural stuff. But while the culture of San Fransisco was erased (a culture that they did draw in the beginning of the season! they did show alcatraz, a trolly, and the golden gate!), it is at a point in the show where...all of humanity is being erased anyway. Could also be symbolic? Maybe?

+++++++++++++END OF THE ART DECO RANT+++++++++++++

So anyway, stepping away from lovely buildings and into this gross ass abandoned park, Yami decides he’s gotta get himself to this gaudy ass Batman building ASAP.

He can ride a horse but he absolutely will not ride a motorcycle. Or touch Joey Wheeler’s dead body.

Which is wild because apparently there’s a Yugioh spinoff where all they do is ride motorcycles??? But from what I heard, Yami is not in it. Which is the most wild thing.

So uh...you know how much I love art details, lets take a long look at this one.

AH no.

Nope nope nope nope.

I hate this logo. It looks like an emperor penguin’s eyebrow thingies. Like a face with just four huge eyebrows.

Not sure why we randomly have a new logo. It’s nearly the end of the season, we’ve already shown the Orichalcos logo so many times. Was this episode made earlier in development than the rest? Is that why there were like - I dunno, put this random logo here... Maybe we’ll figure out the rest of the logo later?

I don’t know. This weird logo feels so out of place.

And then because I’m thinking about buildings...maybe it’s influenced by our Shell building?

Maybe? Or not? Just saying you got a round thing with radial lines hovering over a trellis...the possibility is there that they were inspired but had to edit it down for animation? Eh, I’m reaching desperately for anything that looks like San Francisco at this point.

Anyways, the front door of this building is an elevator (????) and in a somewhat confusing set of cuts, out of this elevator comes the murderer herself.

And she’s dead.

SO HAPPY I didn’t have to watch that card game but like...c’mon. There’s no way Mai would lose to Raphael.

Maybe that’s why they couldn’t show it? Because she’s the only person on this show who uses a themed deck with cards that actually sync with eachother? (outside of Pegasus’ toon deck and Grandpa’s voltron deck ((sorry it’s name isn’t voltron, I’ve forgotten the name of the robot that you build out of other cards. Exodus? Exodysseus?

It’s Exodia isn't it? Wtv. 2020′s been a real long one, all y’all.)) )

(don’t ask where the smoke came from, we don’t know. Maybe Yami felt like making it to be more aesthetic. It is a fun visual tic to the show.)

So Yami goes into this elevator instead of anticipating that this is obviously a trap. Like most would just decide to take the stairs instead, but Yami loves falling for a good obvious trap every once and a while (or, in the case of this season--each and every single time a trap is placed in front of him) and so this takes him directly to the fightclub roof of yore.

Ah. We started this season on fightclub roof, in like...2010 or whenever I started this season. Feels like forever ago. How long has the year of 2020 been? 20 years of my life? 40 years of my life? Was I in fact never born before 2020 started? I honestly don’t remember anymore who I was before this year happened. Probably because I inhaled just a hell ton of wildfire smoke and now my brain is a bunch of jelly beans rattling around in a jar.

Anyway, Raphael just hands Yami (by hands I mean throws aggressively) Joey’s dragon card.

A little unsure why he’d do this since...this is the weapon to destroy Dartz. Why are you giving it back to the Pharaoh? But apparently, Raphael did that to prove that he is the murderer of Mai, who murdered Joey and...youknow...the stuff that we know but would be pretty difficult for the people in this show to follow.

Mai’s voice actor seeing “Mumbo-Jumbo” and being like “Well if I’m doing this, I’m going to commit.“

WE ARE NEVER DUELING DARTZ.

I refuse that a duel with Dartz, in fact, ever happens in this season.

Kind of surprised whenever I see there’s still people left. SF is basically abandoned in comparison.

Thing is...that’s just SF on a holiday weekend.

And then, because Tristan’s in the middle of the street, the rest of the party has to try and run him over.

It is really funny to me that Seto went out of his way to ditch these people so MANY times, but keeps ending up around them again and again, and each time in a wildly different vehicle, each and every time it’s when these guys need a lift...he’s very quickly turning into the group’s soccer mom. Should’ve gotten a minivan.

And then this happens?

I’ll just leave this here:

I’m sure that fanfic writers everywhere rejoiced when Seto reached out a hand to catch Joey’s face from hitting the pavement. In all this was a bizarre animation and now that I’ve figured out my blender settings for the new update, I can finally cap little segments again.

Just don’t you dare flag me, tumblr. Hopefully segments less than 10 seconds long are fine.

Like there was this part where they had to just drag around Joey’s corpse over this rail, and it was Mokuba and Tristan just prying him up there like he were a potato sack and like...

...Joey’s gonna wake up with so many rail-shaped bruises! They do not treat him gently!

Then back on fightclub roof, Raphael made me do a bit of a double take when he accidentally implied the existence of another bean within that Pharaoh bean.

And no, Bakura did not show up at this point.

I would LOVE IT if Pharaoh biffed it a second time and Bakura suddenly took the reigns and was like “Oi loves! that was bloody easy!” but I...have a feeling that this team didn’t actually watch the episodes where Bakura is just vibing in that puzzle piece.

If this never comes back to bite Pharaoh in the ass...

It might never come back guys...I don’t know. How do these writers have this much self control to ignore Bakura for like a full season. How do you do it? I can’t hold a plot twist in for even like 5 seconds. How....how do you do it?

Anyways, now that Seto has Tea who has a map, they walk up to the entrance (I honestly forgot if they drove or walked because knowing this show, Seto would absolutely ignore the car. Either way, the Ferrari isn’t necessary anymore. Written right out of the script. Cars are hard to draw. Get rid of it)

You know, Mokuba’s seen an awful lot of corpses for a kid! Like 20ish corpses if you count the 2 times the Big 5 biffed it. Really should have left him with Rebecca! Youknow, the other kid the same age as him!

But it’s fine, we gotta train Mokuba to suppress that trauma deep, deep down like a proper Kaiba.

Youknow when I started this series I was like “I don’t get why everyone talks about the Kaibas so much, these two seem kinda like whatever” but now I’m on like S4 and like...I’m SO concerned about the Kaibas. With Yugi...whatever...he’s gonna be fine, but the Kaibas? Oh boy. Either one of them could go completely evil and I’d buy it.

And probably root for them.

And I know they won’t go full tilt, I’m pretty sure--but like...they COULD. I can’t say that about the rest of the cast.

Everyone’s made it!

Even joey’s weird coma/dead body for some reason!

Lol also I love this random sci-fi tech water tower next to Tea. What is that?

My drought senses are screaming, is that a huge ass water tower the size of a 4 story building next to Tea? Chances are, it’s got a jet in it or something because this is Yugioh, but...man. At least it doesn’t look like one of those rusty New York rooftop water towers. This show just completely not getting what SF looks like.

Whatever, he can resurrect the leviathan, maybe Dartz can make water?

Youknow, all you have to do to make California worship you forever is make rain. Screw this lizard nonsense. The man can power water. What’s he doing with this stupid snake?

But youknow, Yugioh just never really figures out how to harness the weather. They CAN and they do it all the time. But, do they use it for their benefit? Like freakin never.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I went on a looong rant about SF but maybe I’m just sick of my own house? Been a lot of fire and quarantine over here. It’s been messing with my head a fair amount so thanks for bearing with me and my weird ass update schedule (remember when I used to be productive? Was that just a dream I once had?)

But if you just got here, here’s a link to read these recaps in order, from the beginning way back in S1.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono