#and they aren't a freaking harem protagonist

[dlartistanon]

While I always enjoy your buff Arknights characters (thank you for the Saria especially), what're your headcanons for your Doctor in your version of AK?

Hmm... My Doctor is either nonbinary or fem. Also very ace. Appearance-wise, they have medium-length hair and dark under-eye circles. They have spiral pupils. They're relatively short. Skinny and undernourished. Honestly my design for Doctor is just a haggard version of that one promotional concept art of Doctor that looks vaguely feminine.

Let me list some things about Doctor that I actually like, and kept intact in my own portrayal:

their parental relationship with Amiya

their awkward, sometimes hostile dynamic with Kal'tsit

they have lingering feelings of depression and detachment surrounding their amnesia and separation from Priestess

implied autistic

they’re physically weak and sensitive to light

their acute observational skills

a fondness towards physical contact

their academic background in neurology/history

a strange tendency to drink boiling hot liquids directly and eat random consumables

A lot has happened in over four years. Particularly the way Doctor is written and how certain characters are written around them. In a perfect world, Doctor as a vehicle for self-insertion does not exist. What currently exists is canon discontinuity for me, and I've realized that the only way for me not to gag at Doctor content in the game is if I reconcile their existence by superimposing my own take.

However, in doing so, I refuse to call it a self-insert. That word is so loaded with awful baggage and is a viscerally unpleasant reminder of how some of my faves' writing is ruined for the sake of pandering to the lowest common denominator in order to make the player feel special. At the same time, I'm not depicting "Canon Doctor" either because so much of the "canon" writing around them is so half-baked and poorly-constructed in a failed attempt to appease both self-inserters and people who want an Actual Character.

My Doctor is not In-Game Buckethead, not a self-insert, but a secret third thing. Taking characterization bits that I like and discarding the ones I don't. Same goes for every operator who's writing suddenly takes a nosedive whenever in-game Doctor is involved.

If I have any singular Doctor ship, it's with Priestess. Priestess is their tragic soulmate, and Doctor wanting to reunite with her gives even more reason/justification for other characters to distrust them because of the implication that Priestess was responsible for the Oripathy outbreak.

Maybe with Kal'tsit too, but the dynamic has to be very specifically complex and not reduce Kal'tsit into a tsundere.

[sunderwight]

Scenario where PIDW Bingge had something like the fucked up baby dimension from Fire Emblem: Fates for handling his kids.

For those who haven't played enough Fire Emblem games: in Fates you can hook up various characters who will, once they've bonded sufficiently, get married and have children. Because there is a dangerous war on and nobody has time for childcare, these babies get sent to various pocket dimensions where time moves differently, where they are raised by servants. They then reappear in the story as adults (mostly) who are also just like, barely younger than their own parents. This is of course hilariously fucked up, for even more reasons than what a simple overview can convey, and it's also just kind of shrugged off by the narrative despite the many, many bewildering implications involved.

So I'm imagining Airplane stealing this whole concept and sitting down to write about Bingge sending all of his children away in order to protect them from his enemies or whatever other excuse, creating special nursery dimensions with Xin Mo only to not really spend any time with his offspring at all, resulting in a lot of them growing up extra fast and reentering the story as adults at wildly unpredictable intervals (i.e. whenever Airplane feels like it without having to remember the timelines involved because *waves hand* time passes differently in the different dimensions too). For the daughters, this just gets them married off into alliances (if they're even mentioned at all, because Airplane doesn't want to write incest and there's basically only one reason female characters get mentioned in this story), but for the sons, this usually has them showing up as upstart challengers to their father's throne. With a conclusion, generally, of them getting their asses kicked and then being sent back to their pocket dimensions with their tails between their legs (Binghe killing his own kids would be too reprehensible, after all). Sometimes (rarely) they become loyal generals. One or two have died to fuel revenge arcs. The protagonist halo extends only limited benefits to his kids.

Anyway, Shen Yuan of course reads all of this and absolutely hates it. What do you mean Binghe doesn't even raise his own kids?! What do you mean even their mothers don't?! Shen Yuan understands that Luo Binghe is an important guy with important things to do, but handling it this way makes it impossible to even consistently visit his children on their birthdays! They'd be having birthdays every day because they're all on freaking Narnia time! And of course his sons keep growing up and trying to overthrow him, surely Binghe himself should appreciate that under these conditions, his children are going to see the servants raising them as parents more than some distant emperor they've never met...? Not to mention, if time moves quickly in these dimensions, theoretically Binghe could just stay there with his kids himself and not have to worry too much about things changing in his realm, because only a few months would pass there! He could have it both -- spend plenty of time with his kids and not worry about neglecting his responsibilities! So why doesn't he do that?!

The answer (never actually provided by Airplane) is that Bingge doesn't really feel a strong connection to his children, and because of his reverence for his adoptive mother, he thinks that giving them peaceful lives with simple people to raise and love them is the kindest thing he can do for them. If he could have had an idyllic childhood with his mother in a place where nothing could harm him, he would have never sought power at all.

But of course, Binghe's kids aren't thinking "oh gosh yeah my humble childhood in a magic dimension was much better than starving on the streets!" because that wasn't ever going to be their fate in the first place. Instead they all develop varying complexes about being sent away by their impossibly remote father and his giant harem.

Possible fic ideas involving this setup:

-Bingyuan where Shen Yuan transmigrates into the intended tutor of one Luo Binghe's most troublesome sons. SY arrives in the baby dimension and immediately bonds with the little Luo, gets really mad about the whole situation all over again, and when Bingge shows up for a rare visit, rips him a new asshole about it. Romcom shenanigans ensue.

-Scenario where SV's Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe decide they're ready to adopt, and SQQ figures out a back door into PIDW Binghe's baby dimensions and just sort of, ehm, borrows some of the children he knows had really bad times in the novel (not all of the idyllic upbringings worked out, there were instances of the dimensions being attacked and the servants there being killed and etc). Bingge eventually finds out. Dramatics ensue.

-When PIDW Binghe tries to summon a Shen Yuan of his own to the PIDW world using Xin Mo, it accidentally creates some stability issues with the baby dimensions. Shen Yuan get teleported in and out of these dimensions instead, bonding with the kids there to various degrees, only to be swept away every time Bingge tries to use Xin Mo to find him again. A handful of years later, a bunch of new Heavenly Demon scions emerge as adults with the Luo family's Shizun Complex in full swing, right around the same time that Bingge finally captures Shen Yuan. Hijinks ensue.

[quietbluejay]

The Crimson Fist 1

Things are a bit less on fire so I can read more

dark

you know if i had a nickel for every BL work of fiction that started like this i'd have like 2 nickels possibly more

note from future bluejay: WAIT ITS THE SAME GUY JOHN FRENCH WROTE BOTH OF THESE INSTANCES

OH ITS ALEXIS the dude from Unremembered Empire that I wanted to know more about one of the big reasons I'm reading this

ok but why yeah yeah i know about all the stupid space marine joining rituals but they're stupid and his brother died to save him

oh we're going first person. groovy oh he woke up floating in the vacuum of space his armour is slowly failing he's surrounded by the corpses of the human crew

isn't dread a type of fear?

so Alexis is not good at reading people and he's now stuck in command because his mentor listed him as next and his mentor is dead so they lost 2/5ths of their force to the warp, rip

okay so Dorn lost his temper and since he couldn't go himself sent thirty thousand imperial fists as a retribution fleet things i know about Dorn as a commander: -did this -ordered them all to return and they did regardless of the situation on the ground i am not filled with confidence about these guys

he forgot to cherish them okay im memeing but it's true augh i. don't like when writers switch between third person and first person between chapters im reconsidering how i chose to write harem protagonist now like it seems to flow naturally to me when i read it, but i wrote it but also i don't alternate chapters third vs first okay so Alexis is chilling waiting, trying to make contact vs Tyr is unhappy and thinks they should go to Isstvan except lmao he's lost 10 ships trying to get through the warp storms …i wonder how the imperial fists would have dealt with The Buried Dagger i honestly keep getting similar vibes between them and the Death Guard in a lot of ways

This explains a lot

they get hit by a psychic attack, not anything Alexis was expecting okay they found Something on Phall and now back to terra

pleasant fellow

oh they just got news about isstvan v and thus he orders the Retribution Fleet back oh hey over to Iron Warriors Perturabo is making a major if understandable blunder in assuming that Sigismund is in command

Dorn needs like something he can do as stress relief some kind of hobby he should take up embroidery ah Sigismund is going to confess the real reason he stayed behind on Terra to Dorn it was Keeler

French really loves this kind of stuff huh

okay! there is a LOT to unpack here me @ black library: PLEASE stop giving me potential primarch blorbos i have too many already im being attacked at all my weak points but also like i mean dorn you could have ordered him if you thought the choice was unwise ah, he feels betrayed because he trusted sigismund's judgement

this guy is such a great villain

and then Dorn is like "okay you stay you keep your command"

wow so sigismund manages to finally screw up his nerve to be honest and it goes absolute worst case scenario in a way i'm pretty sure he was completely unprepared for and unaware could happen

it kind of makes sense that this guy ended up founding the Black Templars, huh i still need a moment to go AAAAAA okay im back from chewing furniture so the final bit Keeler said to him was

mwah ghhh i need to rip apart dorn with my teeth like a dog he needs to go on a magical journey of discovery

sdkjflsdf the Iron Warriors start blasting the moment they enter realspace and manage to take out an Imperial Fist ship immediately

so, Alexis did not know the Iron Warriors were traitors so he's freaking out about that

So does it have a sister ship named Euryale

Metal

huh how'd Falk look at the warp then but honestly he's not wrong here people should stop looking out windows at the warp so the iron warriors are overall winning but the imperial fists aren't doomed yet

oh OKAY we get to see why Perturabo nearly killed Berossus and it's because he said "the fleet's being lead by some guy named Alexis Polux, not Sigismund" that was brutal anyways also Alexis ordered Tyr to kill Perturabo like talk about a tall order

ohh boy so they've been killing astropaths trying to get a message out and dorn is killing astropaths trying to reach them being an astropath sucks

and then Lezzek combusts lovely

oh okay so it's Alexis who decides this means RETREAT IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE okay okay he's worried Terra is falling and they're being called back as a last defence BUT ALEXIS DUDE Imperial Fists are not intellectuals but also given what we've seen of Dorn, I can see him meaning it re: LEAVING AN ACTIVE BATTLE and then regretting it later i want to impale him with a thousand pikes

but then would even Dorn be like "LEAVE YOUR ACTIVE BATTLEFIELD"???

okay

okay his choice is. understandable i guess. he's inexperienced with command he's got Dorn as his commander given the thing about the warp storms it makes a little more sense BUT STILL

and I'm going to have to finish next post because I hit image limit (again, as usual)

[thousandyearphantombunker]

TFP au where Miko's host family are the Darby-Esquivels- I have a lot of issues with the logic in TFP surrounding miko- inorder to be an exchange student she'd need consistently high grades and while the show tries to make it sound like mikos host family is neglectful and they basically don't exist- that's nonsensical why would anyone volunteer to be a host family and then not hang out with the kid? You don't get paid anything so it can't be about money! it really is about developing a relationship with the exchange student during the duration of the program. In this au, jack and raf are half-brothers, jack's dad divorced his mom and Raf's dad is dead, we get some actual backstory on miko, also here miko cares about her grades- cause if she started failing she'd be forced to drop the exchange program- this also subverts some expectations cause in this au I want miko to actually be punk! And I want to give Jack a bit more oomph, Raf would be heavily rewritten (he stays a shy hacker boy who becomes friends with Bee and Ratchet but can we give him something to work with outside of that?)

Also Silas and MECH and dark energeon aren't dropped from the story- MECH and Silas as villains where genuinely more interesting than the omega keys and artifact crap we got, I'd go as far to say Silas is more interesting than Megatron and after all the stuff we see with starscream being an actually competent scary villain that was also comedic it angered me to see him become so flanderized- so here we take a cyberverse route but do it a bit differently and Unicron stays a major threat (I'm taking some inspiration from armada so in this au sideways replaces arachnid but instead of starscream getting redeemed- well let's say he still doesn't get a happy ending) I changed arachnid out for sideways cause she made little sense in universe.

Raf doesn't understand bumblebee in this and there's at least one story where they have to find alternative means of communication- let be actually be disabled by his lack of a voice box

I'm probably never going to write this but I'd like to see other people add to this au with there own ideas, let's get freaking insane and do the stuff tfp didn't have the balls to do! kill Bulkhead and let him get actual character development so it hurts, give Dreadwing a redemption arc, lets give arcee her time to shine, let's get some gay shit with Knockout and Breakdown let's fucking go!

edit: I was thinking about what problems I have with most human characters in transformers is that they 1 aren't as interesting as the bots are, I understand they want the characters to be relatable but sometimes they make them into flat characters borderline harem protagonist, another problem is a problem more commonly found in YA books- when a 16 year old middle class scrawny white girl with no combat training or superpowers or anything can successfully fight off a room full of vampire fbi agents with no injuries or losses, so my goal is to make the kids badass but in a more believable way, so they aren't just damsels in distress either

like I know jack was chosen because he's suppose to be like a young Orion pax and whatever but like it never felt right to me, they could have drawn the parallels clearer, we can also make Miko's badassery and cool moments more emotionally satisfying and make them feel more...deserved idk how to explain my problems with the humans in transformers too well.

Also can we make this the ultimate found family au? And bringing back some inspiration from transformers animated for Bulkhead- not exactly mind you but I love the idea of miko showing bulkhead something cool/creative for a hobby like how sari showed him art, and in RID15 apparently raf and bee liked watching cowboy movies together so now I'm just imagining pure fluff with these ideas I'm trying to come up with some fun ideas for jack and arcee- I usually don't like fluff but I like seeing friends being friends- it's adorable

More on miko, in this au she'd be the master of malicious compliance and finding loopholes, she's scared of failing and cares about her grades as stated above, but she also has early onset senioritis so she finds her ways, she rarely actually breaks rules or skips out, so she works smarter not harder, she's still got some major flaws, she's got a secret case of overconfidence, she's cynical (I think her parents would be loving but super controlling and never gave her privacy so she became sneaky to get away from them, she might have become a lone wolf in school maybe people thought she was scary or something maybe she tried having friends but her parents scared them away I like the idea that mikos super outgoing but in a way that scares people or she struggles with deeper connections outside of surface level, more on Jack, I'm taking some spiderman inspiration- like the rest of the fanbase I shall torture him for fun, give him some hidden rage, a guilt complex, constantly stress over June Raf and Miko, and here he's going to be a senior, he still lives with June and pays her rent but it's always a little bit extra even though she says he doesn't have to, he remembers the time when his parents first divorced and when Raf's dad got sick in this so he worries about cash a lot and maybe has some depression, he's working out what he wants to do with his life and all around is trying to act stupidly responsible and mature to cope, raf is still a dorky lil baby but he's got a surprisingly dark and unsurprisingly gross sense of humor and is more interested in biology than computers at the start, but starts picking up on stuff real fast, he and bumblebee work on alternative means of communication together(one day the bots can't translate what he's saying so after that they start practicing sign or Morse code or something!) Idk just tell me random stuff that bothered you tfp and RID15 or ideas you guys have that could make this au interesting

[superkooku]

My thoughts on the apothecary diaries

(volumes 1 & 2 of the manga)

I'd like to write a review for the manga. Of course, it's just my subjective POV. I'm no professional reviewer, just a fan.

The (very) good

Maomao

If I had to pick knh's greatest strength, it's our protagonist.

Of course, many have noticed how we have an actually fleshed out female character, and that's great. But even by normal standards, she's awesome.

I could see both her strengths (levelheaded, curious, smart) and some weaknesses (too blunt, missing some social hints, getting carried away in her passion). She's also very expressive and it's delightful to see.

Finally, her sudden promotion is actually justified. She's helpful and smart.

The side characters

So far, no character has annoyed me (except maybe some maidens. But it's on purpose).

The rest of the cast may not be as fleshed out as Maomao, but they're all interesting.

I like how the concubines aren't villanized. We see how they themselves suffer, but also their qualities.

Lifa especially surprised me. I initially thought she'd be nasty, but she's quite nice. Her outburst at Gyokuyo becomes more interesting when we learn she isn't her normal self. She's just a sickly woman who's afraid for her son.

And of course, there's Jinshi. He's quite intriguing to me. He seems to put on some kind of facade in front of the others, one which matches his beauty, but it makes him seem shallow and annoying to Maomao.

Speaking of them.

The complicated relationship between Maomao and Jinshi

I talked about the characters in general, now, I'll focus on the "main" relationship.

(Right after Maomao X Poison, my OTP)

First of, yeah, Jinshi's a bit clingy with her 😅. I've seen some people dislike this fact, but personally, I don't mind it. It makes them imperfect and that's a good thing.

And it manages to stay funny instead of creepy (for now at least).

I'm pretty sure it'll become romantic, because I got spoiled 😅. Jinshi's clinginess and Maomao's comments kinda hint towards it anyways.

It's like a healthier version of "Enemies to lovers", though the first part is mostly one-sided.

(No actual hate or spite, just a bit of unease from her side.)

I seriously love how each one can throw the other off their game. Jinshi can't use his charm on her. But Maomao can't hide her schemes from him, he always catches her.

It's like a little mind game. Fun to read.

In volume 2, their interaction after the banquet felt different. I'm excited.

(also, if it becomes romantic, I'm pretty sure he'll realize his feelings way before she reciprocates, lol.)

The politics and commentary

I'm not that good with politics, so I could be wrong, but I like how knh delves into the palace (more specifically the harem).

We see how beautiful the concubines are, the lavish decorations in their rooms, but also the darker side of their lives.

The NINE YEARS OLD concubine (Lady Lishu), how women are put against each other and forced to always be careful in order to survive.

We also see how much damage superstition and ignorance can cause (r.i.p the prince), while most characters aren't dumb, but just used to the system.

There's also that sweet story on the woman dancing at night. We see how far she has to go just to reunite with her childhood friend.

Knh delves into many complicated themes inherent to the society in culture while staying tasteful.

The illustrations

Kudos to Nekokurage. The style is often cute and expressive, but some panels really are beautiful.

(like the final one in volume 1, with the woman dancing, or the freaking covers !)

The cuteness of the style doesn't make more serious scenes less impacting (like when Maomao gets angry at the maid).

Smaller points

The humor

Gyokuyo's three assistants are cute (though a bit foolish)

Other relationships (Maomao with Lady Lifa or Honnyan)

The mystery

The lack of useless fanservice

Maomao's past is acknowledged several times and not only in a negative way. Her background helps her. It's sweet.

The... less good

Although I really enjoyed reading this manga, there were some spots that (imo) can be improved or added on.

Pacing issues

I feel like some things are too fast or could be expended on.

Also, many months sometimes feel like mere days. For example, when Maomao first comes into the palace or when she spends time with Lady Lifa.

Some characters are too incompetent and mean for no reason.

MOST characters aren't dumb. There are exceptions.

It's probably made so Maomao seems even better in comparison. I don't really like this approach.

At least, the doctor is nice, but I would've liked to see him being useful. Maybe some flawed mentor figure for our protagonist.

Maomao can't do everything in this big palace. Seeing other people actually doing their job would be refreshing.

Also, that maiden Maomao slapped is a bit too "strawman" to my taste. Is beauty the ONLY reason why she gave Lady Lifa the notoriously toxic powder again ? Really ?? Is someone actually that stupid ?

It doesn't really make the moment less impactful, but a bit more frustrating (maybe it's made on purpose).

The science can be a bit vague

The vagueness can be justified by the context. This part is handled very well (like Maomao explaining what an allergy is without using modern terminology).

Especially when it comes to Maomao's immunity. I googled it and it only works under very specific conditions.

It's effective against venoms, not poisons.

It takes many years

It can backfire in the long run

It's a small problem, because expositing everything to the reader is not the way to do it and I actually don't hate this subtler approach.

There's nothing too unrealistic, but it's very vague.

Now, there are three options.

It's vague on purpose. Knh will delve into it later on. This approach would mean Maomao would suffer from her methods. I don't want her to be hurt, ofc, but it'd be interesting to delve into the problems of this method.

It'll be justified later on. Not exactly like 1, because the problems will be cancelled instead of solved (for example: she used this method since her childhood)

It will remain vague and we will have to suspend our disbelief.

Also, chocolate isn't an aphrodisiac for us, but knh somewhat explains that it's because they're not used to it like we are.

(Maomao can eat chocolate for example).

Again, it's vague but not completely incorrect, so it's just a little personal issue.

I expected a bit something like Dr. Stone that delves deeper into it, but knh's approach is also interesting. It's not like Maomao doesn't explain anything, she does, it's just more focused on the knowledge she can gather in their era.

Final thoughts

But it's not 100% realistic and focusing more on the "apothecary" part of knh (without forgetting the characters) would be beneficial.

I love this manga and although it has it's little flaws, it's really a wonderful discovery.

I'm very excited to learn new things about the characters (especially Maomao and Jinshi) and the palace in general.

I give it 8.5/10 🤩

[justanotherfanfolks]

TWST 30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 1

When did you start playing?

I finally opened my TWST game for the first time March 5, 2022.

I had it downloaded onto my phone, but it took me a while to actually touch it. But here, the date I got my first card!

And my first screenshot's date (man I took a lot of screenshots of the hand selection part).

And for extra credit, I actually know the exact moment I fell into the TWST rabbit hole.

Storytime:

February 3, 2022. I'm eating lunch at my kitchen table, probably soup. I have a thing to do so I need to leave at 5PM and it's about 3:50PM (I actually do know exactly what the thing was)

Now, I will listen to music at pretty much every part of the day (if I was at school only if the teacher let us). So I'm eating and listening to my playlist on YouTube (because I'm a freak that doesn’t have Spotify). So while I'm picking a song I get an ad. This ad:

So at this point, I'm aware of TWST. But only because it trended in Tumblr one time and I saw it on the trending tab. And I learned A. This is a Disney Game, B. The characters are based on Disney Characters, and C. There are two people based on Maleficent and Scar (didn't see any pictures of them though). Oh and I saw a joke about TWST basing characters off of stuff like Jafar's staff.

And based on the maybe 4 posts I saw, I thought it was an otome game. So I didn't touch it. Otome games aren't really my scene. I don't want to romance characters and I don't like certain fan service. This is in no way to offend otome players, I'm just not the target audience.

But when I saw the ad I thought it looked really cool! But I thought it was an otome game so I went "darn, the story seems so cool." It's animated really good and I'm a Disney nerd, so I was really intrigued. Though I didn't want to be a harem protagonist, so no game download for me. However, Piece of My World IS A BOP! Oh my gosh, I love this song! I looked it up right after and replayed it for like an hour before I had to leave. I even checked a while back and boom:

Song took over my life.

So because I'm listening to this song on repeat, the YouTube Algorithm decides to work it's magic and recommends a vignette to me. Leona's Labwear. A couple of times because I didn't click on it. Curiosity gets the better of me, so I finally push it. And check the comments. And the first thing I see is someone sad that TWST isn't an otome game. And upon reading that... let's just say there are two types of people (I got overly excited over NOT being able to date the characters). And a month later I opened the game and the rest is history. I do have more stories about that month in between (like misconceptions I had and my experience reading parts of the game), but I'll save those for other questions.

And if you actually read this far, cool! I didn't think anyone would get this far. I think I ramble too much on this blog.

OG Post

[lesbunnian]

Since Twitter might be dying, I'm gonna post my Blue Reflection Sun rambles here. This is a more in-depth discussion about the Blue Reflection Sun "Controversy" here that I have already made a shorter statement on my Twitter: here

TLDR: I still feel the same way but with more looking into it and taking in more opinions. I'm even MORE cautious.

But here we go.

For those of you who aren't aware cause it is a niche franchise, Blue Reflection is a Magical Girl RPG developed by Gust (the same developers of the beloved Atelier series) and published by Koei Tecmo in early 2017 that eventually had gotten an anime called Blue Reflection Ray and a sequel game called Blue Reflection Second light that came out in 2021.

It's a small franchise but it is a beloved one for many, many reasons. As a game series that prides itself on all female casts with in-depth emotional storytelling that explores the nuanced of a young girls life in ways most games and hell even anime ignore. It caught the eye of A LOT of women. Plus the magical girl market isn't even touched really in the gaming sphere unless you play a game based on an already living magical girl IP. But Blue Reflection was new and it handled it's emotional storytelling gracefully as well as having very heavy lesbian or at least bi coded things. (You can take the girls on dates in Second Light). So, of course, this attracted the girls and the gays (mostly there are of course cis male het fans of Blue Reflection) to the series and to love it. And the fact this niche franchise got not only 2 games but an anime is very impressive. After the release and subsequent great positive reception of Second Light alot of Blue Reflection fans (which I will now abbreviate to BR) we're looking forward to the future of the series. Including me.

My relationship with BR is a very positive one. I played and genuinely loved the first game and still have yet to watch Ray or even play second Light due to financial troubles and time management. Though I plan to. But ive beaten the first game 3 times over and nearly 100% it. So I'm a very loyal fan to BR. It was the first RPG I played to explore such themes in life and honestly it is one of my favorite games of all time. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about Sun. A new game under the BR franchise. Of course, it diminished a bit when I heard it was a mobile game, as alot of niche mobile games never get sold to the west, but I was still interested and optimistic. Until, I saw an article mention the infamous thing-

'there is a male protag'

Now, again for the uninformed this isn't a big deal. Alot of jrpgs is male protag led. But for BR it is a BIG DEAL. as BR 1, Ray, and Second Light were entirely female lead casts. Cause the main theme of BR is female growth and development. It explores the nuances, day to day happenings, traumas, and more of a teenage girls life. Which, isn't new for the magical girl genre but it was new for the video game market. It was this that made BR so unique and beloved. That earned it it's audience that allowed BR to get not only a sequel but an anime. Besides Sun is not being developed by it's original maker Gust, it's being developed by DMM. Which I know little about so I shall not speak on them.

This sounds like the perfect pipeline to suddenly through in a harem whiteboard protagonist that every girl can use as a bouncing pad to grow from while being in love with him. Which, as you can expect from a series that original have well rounded female characters playing off of each other and learning to grow organically from their bonds, caused a large uproar from the fans. JP and western alike. Which surprised me, it's rare to see worldwide fanbases agree like this.

Now, I did mention that I have a bit of hope, cause it's not out yet and we can only tell how this male protag is handled. And many people outside of the BR community are calling the current fans 'stupid', 'overreacting', or even 'bigotted' for their freaking out. Which I also think is wrong. Cause we have a reason to be cautious. BR was a safe haven franchise for some. For WLW to see themselves and see their struggles either current or when they were younger being somewhat explored in a game. To see characters like them or hell, even be like me and see a game that encourages your femininity and tells you not to shy away from it. And any gender can really get attached to those themes. But of course, it really hits a chord with those fans. So of course they will be upset, of course they will feel alienated because after 2 games and an anime, Gust has built this IP that means so much to such a large marginalized group of people and seeing it suddenly fall into the norms of anime jrpg, or even worse MOBILE anime jrpg silliness hurts.

Now, I have hope. Why? Because Gust owns BR. and Gust writes men really really well. I feel like we all forget that half of the Atelier games also have male leads. Logy, Vayne, Felt, Razelux, and more. Those characters are good. And it's not like there are no men in BR at all. There are of course mentions of boyfriends, fathers, brothers, male teachers, etc. Also, there may be a twist with the protag that makes him more up to the girls level of characterization that makes up for it. Maybe he's trans? Maybe he's also just coming into a time to explore his feminine side? Who knows? Cause the game isn't out yet.

Of course, like I said, DMM is heading this project which still leaves me room for being worried. I love BR so,.so dearly and I wouldn't want to see this mobile title make it burst into flames. But I've already seen some fans who already have decided to not get the game, and even someone go as far to destroy their copies of BR 1 and Second Light. Which is NOT what you should do.

Personally, my move is this. Wait until Sun comes out, look out for the story and see how the protag is and if you think it's worth trying. Try the game (especially if it is free to play) but DO NOT use your money on it yet. Only use money when you can confirm that you like the protag and how they characterize and use him. If they do well, fall into it. If they fail, quit the game. Especially if the fabled "harem" route becomes a reality. You vote with your dollar people.

Now, remember everyone, we all love Blue Reflection, and we want more of the magic gust have us on 2017 and 2021. So we need to be willing to give them a chance to explore where to take BR but be critical when it is a way that takes away the magic we all loved. After all, BR reminded me that being a girl doesn't make me lesser or just a commodity for someone else's dreams.

Go on Reflectors!

[takerfoxx]

The G1 Climax is going to be taking up all my attention for the next few weeks, and after that is Good Omens 2, but I still wanted to drop a brief review of the first season of High School DXD. Why? Because I find schlock that has some measure of effort put into it to be weirdly fascinating. And a mix of hotblooded shonen action, an intricate supernatural world with honestly pretty cool concepts, and shameless rated-r ecchi harem antics hits that sweet spot. So, please indulge me as I ramble on about borderline pornography. And also, spoilers ahead.

So...I liked it.

The end!

Okay, seriously though, I still don't know if I'm giving this show too much credit on account of what it is, or not enough credit because of what it is. Which is to say, am I letting a lot of glaring narrative flaws just slide because it's an ecchi harem, so what do you expect? Or am I deliberately avoiding praising some genuinely neat shit because it's still an ecchi harem, and that just drags it down? I don't know. I just know I get a kick out of the silliness that would be dull if it stood on its own, and am honestly enjoying the story, but probably wouldn't have given it a second look if it weren't for the novelty of it all.

So anyway, I already talked about the first half and how much I liked the whole rescue of Asia from the evil church. The idea of a bunch of teenagers that got caught in the crossfire of some kind of supernatural war, got killed as a result, but were raised as demons and formed their little found family that has beef with all sides is the sort of thing I really like. That being said, the breakup of Rias's wedding wasn't quite as good, but it was still enjoyable. The big battle between the two harems in the faux version of the school was definitely MY SHIT, and I honestly would've preferred that they just stretched that out instead of the duel at the end. But it was still fun.

Though speaking of which, I really had to laugh during that duel. Like, the whole concept is that Issei gets a super-dragon form, but it only lasts ten seconds. Except they must've been operating on Freeza-time, because each one of those "seconds" lasted like five to ten seconds each, and yet Issei still ran out of time because he couldn't stop giving shonen protagonist speeches! Like, dude! Hurry it up, bro! Taunt the guy after you beat him!

But the way they ended up resolving that whole thing was clever, so it turned out all right in the end.

As for Issei, yeah, while I'm sure it was novel to have your harem protagonist actually be 100% into it whenever the ecchi shit goes down instead of freaking out every single time (coughRITOcough), his perv-out moments are so over the top that it does come out to the same thing in the end. But I guess that's just par the course for the genre.

Though it does mean that when he gets caught doing something perverted and gets hit with the slapstick for it, he actually 100% deserves it, so there's no having the protagonist get slapped around for situations that aren't his fault. Nah, every time Issei gets smacked around, he totally has it coming.

Actually, you know who was a surprise standout? Kiba. Yeah, surprised me too. I mean, he's not one of the girls, so he basically got no promotion, so I didn't even know about the guy until I started the show, and having another dude in the main cast did stick out at first. But honestly, he is such a bro that I really came to appreciate having him around.

And given that this is, in fact, a harem, I guess that means I gotta choose who I think is best girl. So I'm going with...Asia. Yeah, that also surprised me. But there's just something so charming about the stock wholesome girl next door type who is also just as much DTF as the protagonist is.

Actually, come to think of it, why haven't they done it yet? They're both living under the same roof, they're both clearly digging each other, Rias has his parents under that geas, so what's the holdup? I get why it hasn't happened with any of the other girls, but Issei and Asia genuinely seemed to click in that way, and don't have any weird demonic political stuff going on.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. It's an ecchi, not a hentai, and rules say the protag must not fuck, else you ruin the sizzle. But seriously, any other teenagers with their personalities in that situation would have by now.

And speaking of harem antics and fanservice...it's fine. Gotta admit, even though it's totally lacking on story, character development, and stakes in comparison to High School DXD, I still think it's a step backward from To Love-Ru. Like, it does the standard tropes, but other than uncensored nipples they doesn't really do anything new with them, whereas To Love-Run literally being at war with Japan's censorship laws and constantly winning was fucking hilarious. Still, it's pretty good.

Also, every time those eyecatches pop up during a big, dramatic moment is comedy gold. Like, the villain would have the heroes on the ropes, everyone is distraught, Issei is beaten half to death, and BOOM! Akeno doing a gravure shoot, ass in your face!

[cool-the-binge-eater]

Apothecary Diaries - manga rec

Summary

Before it had an English name I just called it Kusuriya no Hitorigoto. It's about mao mao who was forced by kidnappers to be a court maid. A plain freckled girl who is nonchalant about it but misses working as a doctor assistant for her father.When the high ranking court ladies babies come down with an illness that others deem a curse mao mao figures out the cause. Trying her best not to get stuck in court drama squabbles only leaving a note on the cause. However a eunuch named jinshi figures her out and is forced to solve palace mysteries while also working as poison tester. (it's fine she likes to test poisons on herself)😓 So basically Chinese historical story that deals with harem life that's also a detective and medical story. So their are modern conventions and solutions that we take for granted that are used as solutions in the story. That’s the draw of alot of time traveling stories but since its not we don’t get an outsiders perspective about what we would consider wrong. Maomao has resigned herself to whatever happens to her and dosen’t fight the system directly but she still has a strong sense of justice.

Maomao- the pharmacist

Maomao is the protagonist /pov chara and is the main reason you read the story she's very eccentric when it comes to medicines and poisons but is actually very quick witted and emotionally intelligent. She's a realist and down to earth often thinking little of herself. Maomao has resigned herself to whatever happens to her. She knows she's smart and might be toooo smart. Her only motivation is medcine so political infighting and conspiracies is the opposite of that. Whenever her sense of justice shows up it really bursts and it's great to see💖😊 Even though she pettite skinny and a commoner whenever she decides to do something it really feels like she's risking her life.Also aro/ace representing she really dosent care about much except medicine.💞

Jinshi -Eunuch

He works as a foil to maomao becasue hes a born noble, the boss of her and is one of the most conniving characters. His personality starts off as a sadist/playful tease but eventually really cares for maomao in the story as he gets to know her better. Jinshi is the one who presents the issues to maomao and is the one withe the authority to give her tools to solve the cases.He's obviously hinting at maomao alot but she dosent get it or doesn't care.His job is to work in the harem and to do whatever the emperor requests if him. He's the most beautiful person in the story and alot of woman and men want him. He drinks this a medicine that make him more eunuch like to maintain that appearance. The reason why we don't know and his backstory is one of the big mysteries.

Setting

It's not a specific year which is good Apparently mongels are still a problem and they can keep in contact with the west if they want. Historical Chinese dramas I guess 🤷‍♀️. Politically ppl dislike the last emperor and just over a decade before slavery was abolished. U can technically sell family members tho if ur poor. Maomao was sold as a palace maid and all her earnings go to her "family". In fact most of the maid charachters are the same way.So some cultural things need to be addressed if your new to court drama. Honestly it's a cliche for me cuz I watch alot of Asian dramas but others might not.

In the palace we have the outer court that does real work like paper work and women can join the outer court but they are akin to secretaries. I think they dislike inner court ladies cuz they had to take a test (Also technically maids but they don't do the best job compared to inner court ladies). The inner palace only has women and they are all concubines for the emperor. There have been cases of maids becoming lower ranked concubines if they were pretty. 4 great positions are taken by great noble ladies and their families. These 4 ladies each have their own palace and are the ones most likely to become empress/create heirs.

Hanmachi/red light district is a big part of the story. Mao mao was raised there and is the 2nd location the story takes place. It's both a beautiful gorgeous palace and a dark dangerous alley. Maomao says that the brothels are both a cage and a Wall that protects them from the streets Maomao isn't a courtesan but was raised with her 3 big sisters the 3 princesses of Rokushoukan. All high courtesans need to learn to dance, play instruments, talk, play go or other board games and read. Men don't usually get to sleep with high courtesans and it dosent work on all girls but the more pure you are to get the higher the price.

BTW we never go to them but there are brothels that are lecherous, and there are cases of rape within that district and maomao has almost been in that situation which also hasn't been shown.

Adaptations/art

There are like 3 types of versions of the story for some reason. There are 2 mangas and the og light novel. The mangas not done but maybe the first one went in a different direction of the novel 🤔 idk??? I've read a little bit about the the light novel but honestly not that different. Mao mao is a very introspective charachter she has alot of thoughts and won't say alot of her thoughts or feelings due to fear of nobility or just laziness.

So the manga makes her alot more expressive while keeping her introspective thoughts. She can be very funny and comedic with her expressions. Later on when she gets stitches they keep reopening(she just roles with it and everyone gets freaked out for her)

The 2nd manga makes mao mao her personality more serious and aparently there's less emphasis on romance. Only 1 volume so can't judge on much. (Only read 2 chapters) so I'm gonna talk about the 1st manga.

(Light novel, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto manga and Mao Mao no Kōkyū Nazotoki Techō manga)

The art is really good what happens alot in shoujo series set in harems or inner courts. Is that the women are not hot they can be beautiful, pretty even but they really aren't hot.

But damnnnnnn all the girls are 🔥🔥🔥

Specifically the hanamachi ones and even maomao herself sometimes. Lol 😆 I'm gonna stop now

But seriously I like how they talk about sex, prostitution and harems. Alot of shoujo are so PG about a place that is notorious for sex work.

Last minute thoughts

Check it out there's 2 manga volumes out and more coming. (Or read the scanlations I did both)

I like jinshi when he gets jealous since he's so cool and in control alot seeing him flounder about with mao mao is fun ❤

Maomao has a pretty interesting past too and it's hinted at really early there's this guy she definitely dosent wanna meet in the outer palace (that's my hint for foreshadowing) 🤐

I would read the light novels if ur like dying to know the plot the manga is a monthly series (I won't cuz I'm lazy)

Previous emperor is a pedo current one is a dick. So yea royal family sucks what's new 🙄