#can you tell that the way romance routes are handled in most games has always been a huge disappointment to me

[theoneprecioustome]

Aigis' S-Link: Platonic & Romantic Route

P3R (finally!) introduced the option to stay just friends with the girls, and Aigis wasn't the exception. I think there's a lot to be said about the way both routes were handled, especially in regards to the rooftop scene, so I wanted to share my thoughts about it while the game is still fresh in my mind lol

First things first: No matter what route you pick, Aikoto truly are the cutest. Just look at them! Their bond is truly phenomenal regardless of how you choose to interpret it.

From what I've seen, the rooftop scene remains the same whether you romanced Aigis or not. Which is logical, because the rooftop scene has been the same since Vanilla, back when Aigis didn't even have a Social Link. It is not influenced by whether the player chose to romance Aigis or not, because it's mandated by the main story rather than by optional choices.

In other words, whether you choose to interpret it romantically or not, Makoto's bond with Aigis (and the strength of it) has never been optional.

That said, now that we have a "platonic" and a "romantic" route to compare, I feel like P3R makes it even more obvious that the rooftop scene we all know and love features an Aigis who is in love with Makoto rather than one that just sees him as a friend 😂

Beware of spoilers for the entire game and Episode Aigis - The Answer!

Let's begin chronologically. In P3R, you can avoid having to reject the girls by simply not giving them any reason to confess to you in the first place. For Aigis, this happens on Rank 8 of her social link, where we get this choice:

If the player chooses to tell Aigis that what she feels for Makoto is just friendship, Aigis will accept it and focus on becoming Makoto's best friend (more on that later, because there's a lot to be said about that, too). If the player tells Aigis that what she feels for Makoto is love, Rank 9 and 10 of her Social Link happen just like they did in FES and P3P (unless the player rejects her, of course).

What is really interesting here though is the way the Social Link Cards choose to describe Aigis' mindset in each route. During the platonic route, we get a very general description telling us that Aigis has "shared her thoughts on the significance of finite things such as life..."

Meanwhile, if you go for the romantic route, you get the following description:

"She's decided to cast her doubt aside and share her true feelings with me..."

There's no description like that in her platonic route. This is also true of the way Aigis chooses to "confess" her wish to Makoto.

In the platonic route, Aigis says: "I have to tell you my feelings..."

While in the romantic route, she says: "Even if this wish of mine is to never come true... I still want to tell you my true feelings..."

So, the game itself describes Aigis' romantic feelings as her true feelings.

With that important distinction out of the way, let's go back to their platonic route:

As you can see, it keeps the parts of Aigis' Rank 10 speech that (retroactively) tie it to the rooftop scene. The lines are just modified so they work in a platonic context. This is achieved by including the rest of SEES into the mix, and by having Aigis define herself as Makoto's "best friend".

However, aside from Aigis promising that she will always be by his side, there's no mention of Aigis wanting to protect Makoto, or of the fact that being by his side is what's most important to her. The Rank is focused on Aigis remembering Makoto and being able to carry her memories of him & SEES forever, and this is what is highlighted in its description.

Now, let's compare this with the romantic route we've always known:

And what do we see in the rooftop scene?

Aigis echoes the same sentiments she expresses during her romantic S-Link, in which she is confirmed to be in love with him. Coincidentally, it is her Romantic S-Link's description that deliberately gives focus to Aigis' promise to be by his side in his last moments, even though this promise of hers is present in both routes:

So I feel that the addition of this Platonic Route and its contrast to Aigis' usual S-Link has helped prove what most of us have been saying along: Aigis falls in love with Makoto through the course of the game, regardless of whether you do her S-Link or not 😭

It is not a coincidence that Aigis' speech to Makoto is very similar to Chidori's speech to Junpei. As I've mentioned before, the only thing missing is the "I love you", but Arena explains why Aigis refrained from saying it:

Which begs the question, what about Makoto?

Unlike in FES, P3P and especially Vanilla P3, this time the player does have a choice as to whether Makoto reciprocates Aigis' feelings or not. If the player allows Aigis to confess to Makoto during her S-Link, they can even reject her outright.

That's why Makoto's behavior during P3R's rooftop scene stands-out even more than usual. After all, while some of Vanilla/FES Makoto's reactions to Aigis' weren't reproduced in P3R, his behavior towards her in the rooftop scene remained intact.

And the rooftop scene shows him being intimately close to her in a way that he isn't shown being to anyone else in the game.

We see him laying in her lap, reaching out to wipe her tears away, smiling at her as she confesses that she wants to stay by his side. Most importantly, she is the very last thing he sees and yet he still passes away with a smile on his face, looking perfectly at peace.

When P3P gave players a choice as to who Makoto should have by his side during his last moments, this choice was described as being Makoto's "precious person". I'd argue that the way the rooftop scene is executed in P3R implies that Aigis is still meant to be that person for him, even in this new iteration of P3 where he is much closer to everyone in SEES.

Even if you choose the platonic route, the game makes sure to establish that Makoto and Aigis are supposed to be really close, to the point that she is the only one, out of the platonic social routes with the girls, that can be called his "best friend".

If you choose "that's a beautiful wish", the scene ends the same way, with Aigis thanking him and declaring them best friends. So even in the platonic route, Aigis is established as being particularly close to Makoto.

So, technically the rooftop scene could work within that context, right? Aigis is Makoto's best friend, who just so happens to realize she's actually in love with him during the fight with Nyx. It fits and doesn't stop Makoto from being in love with whoever the player chooses for him.

But... whoever the player chose to date instead of Aigis isn't there, yet Makoto doesn't look like he misses them.

Truth be told, he doesn't look like would rather be anywhere else than right there with Aigis lol

Another interesting little detail is that P3R itself tells you that whoever Makoto is dating is supposed to be his strongest bond. A bond that is "far stronger and different from the others."

So even if Aigis is his best friend in the platonic version of her S-Link, whoever Makoto has feelings for is supposed to have an even stronger bond with him than her according to this.

And that doesn't quite add up with The Answer, where Yukari acknowledges that Aigis was the one who felt the strongest about Makoto (or even the one "closest to him", if you consider this official side-story as canon).

You know what does line up with The Answer, though?

"And the bond you share will deepen even more, entwining their fate with yours..."

Aigis' is the one whose fate was inexorably tied to Makoto's, to the point that she gained his Personae (the ones that come from the sea within his soul), his Velvet Room and reached the same Answer to Life that he did.

(Granted, I'm basing all of this on The Answer as we know it. It is entirely possible that the P3R Team will rewrite it and come up with a new reason as to why Aigis gains Makoto's Persona, so that P3R SEES are all equally close to Makoto now 😂)

So personally, I'd say that just like Aigis' feelings for Makoto are the way they are regardless of player input, it's fairly easy to assume that the Makoto we see at the end of the game reciprocates her feelings regardless of player input as well 😭 But of course, this all just my opinion!

[xanfeursel]

heard you were bored so here are some questions :) (i realized halfway through that these are all durgetash because those little shits have taken over my mind) do you like leaning into the angst of durgetash or do you prefer the more lighthearted (aside from the atrocities) dynamic? if larian dropped a gortash romance, is there any icks that would absolutely ruin it for you?

or conversely, what would be the best thing they could add in a hypothetical gortash route?

what were your biggest inspirations for lophi and vyper? do you prefer one over the other or are they equal in your eyes?

(hopefully you won't have to answer these since you'll get out of work soon)

HELLO ANON. im sorry to tell you infact waited till i actually got home to answer these because i have!!! THOUGHTS and OPINIONS about the questions asked . thank you very much btw these are all really good questions ill have fun answering

FIRSTLY, it all depends on the kind of durge gortash is being paired w imo. with vyper i tend to lean more into These Two Are Fucking Insane while w/ lophi i lean more into the sort of melancholic 'angsty' side of durgetash that i think can be real yummy too. and it's all because of who vyper and lophi are as characters pre-tadpole, too. vyper liked being a loud insane freakus while lophi was a lot more reserved and kind of a miserable mess, and that informs their relationships w/ the characters around them. i think both are good and fun to explore and i definitely like exploring the more angsty side w vyper x gortash and vice versa w lophi x gortash, so. i guess both. really. LOL .

secondly, going to answer both of the gort romance related questions in one, but i think i'm probably in the unpopular opinion that gortash doesn't really neeeeeeeed a romance and i could go without it in game. i do think he deserves more content and screentime, but that's something i can say about orin also, and frankly a Lot of parts of act 3. me and act 3 have a toxic on/off again relationship. alright.

that being *said*, if i was mr larian and i was to implement a gortash romance, i'd have it be something exclusive to a durge/evil run. or at the very least, have it have consequences with your party (i.e karlach leaving or something. love gort but i do not think you should go off romancing him scott free).

i Do think having it be exclusive to a more evil-aligned run would help add more actual content to doing an evil run (and god knows we need some with how bg3 seems to like punishing people who just want to do the evil options They Gave You) and would make the most sense, but all in all i'd just hope it's handled better than the mizora sex scene cause god how that whole thing is handled still pisses me off. hopefully this all makes sense

tl;dr, its a fun idea but i can very easily go without it especially knowing how the game treated its one other antagonist romance option

now for the lophi and vyper question... i do obviously have my biases towards vyper /looks at my blog theme/, but i genuienlly cannot pick favourites with them besides that... i use them both to explore different aspects of the durge origin in different ways bc despite what some other people say i Do think you can be very flexible w durge as a concept despite the pre-established lore for them ^_^ and i think it's very fun to play around with.

as for specific inspirations, lophi takes a lot of insp from vintage pierrot art + has accidentally gotten a very 1920s makeup vibe in My Mind. i should also note her name comes from the scientific name for anglerfish, cuz thats what i had in mind when giving her those freaky sharp ass teeth i always draw her with

and while of course, both of my durges are trans, lophi specifically was birthed from my want to make a dark urge that leans in as heavily as she possibly could in the whole trans allegory thing. so theres that as well!

vyper's specific inspos are harder for me to pinpoint cause he's much more of a 'made up as i went' character than lophi, given he was my First dark urge and i didnt really fully know what i was going into all this yet while making him (and also i was maybe a little bit high while doing so...lol) THAT SAID THOUGH, i did initially make him with akira fudo from devilman in mind. he has the horn style he does because it reminded me of devilman ... although the akira insp is very lose and barely effects his character now.. ~_~ despite bg3 being my main fixation atm devilman is still a very very important piece of media to me so vyper being loosely akira-pilled is not too surprising if you know me well enough lololol

[suzuran777]

Re;quartz Reido review + summary

Today I wanted to write about an all-ages BL visual novel called Re;quartz Reido, released by B-cluster! It's their second game and both games take place in the same universe, but the stories and characters have no connection to each other. Even though it is an all-ages BL game, there's not a lot of romance and the story is pretty dark.

Protagonist Uni belongs to an organization of people with supernatural powers. These individuals are called "savants" and they have a special ability, which makes it impossible for them to die. There is only one exception, and that is by choosing to end their own life (which is considered the ultimate sin). Uni's nickname is "Miracle" and the organization has high hopes for him. One day he is relocated from the European headquarters to the branch in the Far East, however, before he can even leave the ship, he is attacked by someone. When he wakes up at midnight, he tries to leave the ship again, but the same incident repeats itself. Uni has to figure out how to get out of this time loop and unravel who exactly this killer is.

This review won't mention any big spoilers, but just a lot of general information about the characters and the worldbuilding, so feel free to read it even if you intend to play the game yourself someday!

Uni's real name is Unity but everyone calls him Uni. Similar to other savants, every time he dies, the day repeats itself like a timeloop. This is something only savants seem to be aware of, and regular people don't notice the timeloops at all. Savants can also get stuck in timeloops of other savants, so they don’t always have to die to experience this phenomenon. Normal people who get killed during these timeloops are completely erased from history and nobody remembers them. It’s the organization’s duty to get rid of their belongings, making it seem like these individuals never existed in the first place. The organization works together with the church that controls the entire world, and they intend to keep the savants and timeloops a secret from society.

Uni hates troublesome and painful things and has trouble sleeping when he's completely alone. It's pretty easy to guess that something happened in his past which he doesn't seem to remember. His childhood friend Manna also doesn't want to tell him. He is called "Miracle" because his mother was also a savant and he was born within the organization. He received special treatment at the European headquarters because of this and didn't have to take part in many missions. One day, it is decided to relocate him to the organization's branch in the Far East, to look into the disappearance of a savant called "White Cat". 

The second character is Manna, who is Uni's childhood friend. He's another savant who secretly boarded the same ship as Uni. His role within the organization is to do the dirty work, which means he’s in charge of eradicating and assassinating resistance forces. Therefore his nickname is "Kegare" (Impurity/uncleanness). He always works alone, unlike other savants who often have a "link" or partner. He had a difficult past as the organization "tames" young savants in the most terrible way you can imagine. He was treated even worse than the others because he came from a pagan village, which is a big sin in this universe in which the church is the most powerful organization. Manna's route is incredibly painful because he seems like such a sweet character, but in the end he can never escape the organization. It's also the route with the most hints of romance because it's immediately very clear that he has romantic feelings for Uni (Even though the church also forbids that, of course).

Nijo works at the Far East branch of the organization. Also the only love interest who doesn’t experience the time loops, as he's a human (all the other 3 LIs are savants). He's good at material arts and handles a wide range of tasks, from the annihilation of resistance to paperwork. Doesn't reveal his true feelings often and takes his duty very seriously. Also seems to be fond of sweets. Most savants don’t work alone, therefore he’s Uni’s "link" and partner for this mission. It’s Uni’s first time meeting him, so you only learn more about this character in his own route. Originally, the Far East was ruled by five royal families, called the "five emperors" which Nijo's family belonged to. However, the intervention of the church destroyed this empire and these days they don’t have any power anymore. The church creates this illusion that the members of these families are now peacefully living among them, however a lot of them despise the church and want to abolish the whole system. These individuals started their own group called the "Imperial Conference" which eventually became an enemy of the church.

Konoe is a famous pianist who was also on the ship for some reason. He's a mysterious man who doesn't seem to talk much. His music is one of the only things that can make Uni fall asleep. It is revealed that the Konoe family is also one of the families that used to rule the Far East. Konoe is also rumored to be a savant, however things aren't as easy as it seems. In some routes he's clearly a human, but in other routes he seems to be the savant who ran away from the organization "White Cat". It’s the organization’s goal to capture any savants and to use them, however he refuses to work together with them.

Lionel is the manager of the Far East branch. He's also a savant and his nickname is "Young Lion', because he's the yougest branch manager of the organization in history. While he's an excellent savant, he doesn't have the best reputation and is also known as the "savant killer". Many savants who worked together with him ended up taking their own lives, which is considered the ultimate sin and the only way a savant can die. He's also the person responsible for moving Uni to the Far East branch. Uni immediately gets a terrible feeling when he meets this guy for the first time... I don’t think anything can prepare you for this guy’s route, because it's very dark! Lionel has a habit of erasing the memories of those who don't obey him too. Uni’s full backstory is revealed in this route and it’s definitely a wild ride which I wouldn’t want to spoil.

Honestly this game gets surprisingly dark sometimes...! And often deals with topics like abuse, death, trauma and despair. I think it's good to know that most of the endings are not the usual happy endings (which is not really a spoiler because on DLsite, one of the tags they used is...'depression'). As mentioned earlier in this post, it's also not your typical romance story, there’s some elements of it but it’s definitely different than most BL visual novels. If I had to compare it to anything else I’ve played, Parade’s games come to mind (minus the NSFW scenes). Even though some of the characters don’t support the organization or the church, it’s extremely difficult for them to escape and they have to do what they’re told. The church controls the entire world and uses savants to get rid of people who opposes them, to create their ‘ideal’ world.

I think my favorite route is Manna but his route is very painful to say the least. I’m also not sure if this game has a ‘true’ ending, because Lionel’s final ending suddenly takes place in modern day Japan, while the other routes don't really show what happens years later. I’ve been wanting to play this game for a long time now because it seems like it was fully funded by a crowdfunding project. I also really like doujin BL games because the stories are often unique and the games are created by a small team. It’s not fully voiced, but the official account did tweet that they would release a "complete" edition of the game, which will be fully voiced. This will also be released on the Nintendo Switch! They got some pretty popular voice actors, for example Nijou is voiced by Miyabi Shou who also voices Slow Damage’s Fujieda, and Lionel is voiced by Morikawa Toshiyuki who voiced Rai in Lamento.

I wanted to mention the gameplay a bit too because this game has so called 'front (表)' and 'back (裏)' routes, it's recommended to play the front routes first because you learn a lot of information you're going to need for the back routes. I also recommend playing any bad ends you encounter first! The official Twitter account posted a recommended route order, which is as follows:

Nijo (front) > Lionel (front) > Konoe (front) > Manna (front) > Manna (back) > Nijo (back) > Konoe (back)> Lionel (back)

Common route guide can be found here: X  After that I used this guide: X 

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Why Cullen?

Today I bring you a post I’ve been in the process of mentally drafting for a while, a post that essentially analyzes the age old question in the Dragon Age fandom: Why is there always something with Cullen?

To do this, I am going to go through different “phases” of Cullen discourse. My thesis and answering the titular question: It’s complicated, and I don’t think I can answer “Why Cullen,” but “there’s sometimes recycled discourses made about his character through the years, maybe there’s a pattern.” When it comes to Cullen’s detractors, I understand the fact that it might be frustrating to see much content for someone so “boring” when there’s more “interesting” and “well done” characters (though interest is of course relevant) so it leads to a lot of vitriol from both new and old fans who think the man had too much screen time already. Furthermore, he is highly complicated man dressed as a Disney prince, and the “Disney-esque” feel of his romance creates a dissonance between coming to terms with his problematic past and reveling in the romanticism. We can have a happy medium everyone,  but because of what I can only describe as “tik tok thought” it’s become looked down upon to have problematic favorites, which leads to guilt in liking something problematic, or outright revisionism.

But liking things with problematic elements doesn’t make you a bad person.

Alright, let’s begin: 

The first phase truly began of course with DAO with Cullen’s crush on the female Circle Mage Warden. Some were endeared, others not so much. I cannot speak to this phase too much as I was around 15-16 and pretty preoccupied with my high school drama instead of fandom, though I played both DAO and DA2 upon it’s release and followed updates for DA2 before it came out. Despite not being an active fandom member I was what they would call, a lurker. I knew some people liked Cullen and thought he was cute, wishing for more screen time after the game and hoping he’d be in DAI through IMDB message boards (remember those?) and YoutTube comments. When news broke he’d be an advisor in DAI and a romance option, I remember seeing a lot of people in those same spaces rejoice. I’m sure there were also people who weren’t so pleased, but from what I saw, people were happy. When Inquisition did release, I actually did quite a bit more lurking on tumblr despite the fact I didn’t have a blog, because I played the romance route, really gravitated toward it, and wanted to see fanart and such. People liked the romance, liked his arc and how Bioware handled his struggles with lyrium; and found it realistic. Even in my lurking days I did see some blowback on Cullen from detractors, those who didn’t think he should have been the military advisor (which canonically it makes total sense to me why he’s where he’s at, but I won’t get into it here however.) But likely because I wasn’t fully “in fandom,” my surface level understanding of how tumblr felt about Cullen was relatively positive and there was only standard fare discourse.

Phase 2: I can speak about this phase better because I established this blog in 2017. Two years after DAI was released, you still had a lot of fans who loved his romance and character, but you also saw a lot of those fans really dive into his flaws, insisting even that just focusing on the Disney Prince aspects of him reduced his character. There were also more internal debates. Would realistically Cullen be a good father was one. One thing however was for sure, there was a strange them and us line between detractors and fans, and to many fans, myself included, oftentimes the Cullen blowback would extend beyond the valid, “hey I don’t think his characterization was handled well” or “his redemption arc isn’t that great” to outright vitriolic hate that blatantly ignored his PTSD and lyrium addiction, and even sometimes “you just like Cullen because he’s white.” As a POC fan it was a fantastic thing to be accused of. I used to be more involved with discord during this period and I remember a few discussions about this as well. Even those indifferent to Cullen didn’t get it.

Overall, I have to say the air was one where people in Cullen fandom enjoyed all aspects of him, from delving into this troubled past to indulging in the Disney prince aspects of him. It was a happy medium I think, even if occasionally I would see a Cullen fan feel bad for liking him, and feel like they needed to justify it. Heck I even did and still do feel that way sometimes, like I need to justify what I like. But we all come into fandom for different reasons. I come into fandom some days for different things. Sometimes I want smut with my favorite character, other times I want more intense thought pieces and challenging fics. Great thing about fandom is that it’s a bakery that has cherry tarts, cinnamon rolls, or all kinds of pie depending on your mood. Craving a different sweet treat, you can make your own. Or you can commission an artist or writer for something you fancy.

*(sexual assault mentions here late in the paragraph****)And now I’ve been warped back into Cullen/DA fandom through what I am calling phase three, where the general air on Cullen reads as….very different. After having one foot outside DA fandom for a while coming back and reading the air has been different. There was the bizarre nuggetgate and other things with Cullen. Now, instead of accepting his flaws and exploring him there seems to be a lot of revisionism going on, as if his past never happened or we’re supposed to ignore he was a templar. A sexually active Cullen is looked down upon but in a different way from before. Instead of smut works with him “reducing his complicated character.” it’s distasteful to write smut with him where he’s sexually dominant or even just a lot of smut because he was sexually assaulted. (***Now, it is implied that he was, if you are a female Circle mage in DAO, with “sifting through my thoughts, tempting me with the one thing I always wanted but could never have” but this is an implication. I will be honest, it is what I have implied. However, it’s not there if you’re not a female Mage. He was however canonically sexually harassed in the Winter Palace, something I will always argue, even if canon treats it like a joke, even if Leliana tells him to “just look pretty.” Just because he is a man doesn’t make it funny that someone grabbed his bottom, and if you take Cole he flat out says “Cullen is afraid.”***)

So here I am, wondering what changed and what’s going on. Here’s what I believe: Cullen is a complicated character and his flaws and his past make him interesting to me, and they are interesting to explore. However there is nothing wrong with wanting to just explore a romantic, sexual Cullen. He’s a character with many facets. He’s romantic, determined, nostalgic, stubborn, unrelenting, loyal, driven, all things that made him seem so real. Here we get to my theory: in today’s media “criticisms” I see people—particularly younger people—beat themselves up for liking something problematic. It’s like every time you engage with media that’s potentially problematic you have to write essays to yourself why it is so and hold yourself accountable. I see this on tik-tok a lot and why I refer to it as “tik tok thought.” Look at the way some young Hamilton fans talk about the musical, or heck even here, and you may see what I mean. It’s like if you don’t acknowledge the problematic aspects of the historical figures behind their fictional portrayals in the show you’re a bad person. Same thing with nostalgic Disney fans my age in younger, if you don’t clown on Ariel for “choosing a man over anything” (SHE LIKED THE SURFACE WORLD BEFORE SHE MET ERIC) you don’t get your brownie points.

I want to make it clear: being critical of media is good. I am glad I see young people and people my age think about the messages we are given in media, but somehow this is turned into ANALYZE EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. Ya’ll I’m a grad student. I’m critical most of the time, when I come to my tumblr blog’s lawn I’m here mostly to have some fun, and hey sometimes my fun is being critical. But sometimes it isn’t. You do not have to always be critical. You do not have to beat yourself up for liking something that’s problematic or write an essay about why it is as if that’s your due diligence in stanning a fictional character. I’m going to be honest I used to kind of think I had to justify my likes once, especially because of the Cullen vitriol on tumblr. I worked overtime in my early fanfic efforts to try to prove to the world I knew Cullen was problematic for fear I’d be perceived as just an idiot horny fangirl. Well, let me tell you: I largely don’t think that way anymore. If I want to just enjoy writing some smut or reading some smut with him, I am. But I think there is a second part of this in Cullen fandom currently, a revisionism of his problematic elements. Now, if you have to do mental gymnastics with a character in an effort to ignore problematic elements, perhaps you don’t like the character that much. That’s totally okay. DA has many awesome characters to write about and stan.

So, why Cullen? For so many reasons a bit of a shit show has always followed this character. There’s a divide between fans and his detractors and sometimes there’s a divide within the Cullen fandom. What I can extrapolate for now is the need to keep him squeaky clean and safe and away from anything “problematic” because his of past, his templar roots, or the fact that he’s white when there are POC characters with less content. It reads as a guilt associated with liking him. But please, do not be guilty. He’s not real. Templars aren’t real, mages aren’t real, Cullen isn’t real. Here’s my advice, something I learned while in my directing class in college. What my teacher always said was direct what turns you on, direct a story that gets you thinking, gets you excited. What gets you thinking and excited in a fictional world may be tons of conflict and dramatics, or it may be peace and love. Sometimes it can be both or more. Don’t shame others for coming to a bakery and wanting blueberry when you want cherry, and the baker has both, especially if the baker labels each pie, especially if the recipe for the pie has some salt in it and people like the salt. We can have it all and enjoy it all. What we want in our fiction doesn’t always align with something we may want real life. Lots of people write Modern girl in Thedas stories. Ya’ll if that actually happened to one of us it would probably suck. I’d probably get killed and not even get to meet Cullen and pose around the desk to get things going, so I’d rather it not happen. However, it is fun to read about.

Again, don’t be guilty for liking Cullen, please. But if you have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to like Cullen, maybe you don’t like him at all. To that I say, there are many other amazing characters, or perhaps you could write your own.

[starryasmo]

Cottagecore MC x Demon Brothers

this has a bonus chapter with the undateables in the making!! cross posted on my ao3, which can be found in my bio ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ ☆☆

——— 

Sometimes, Lucifer wondered truly how innocent you could be.

You were simply the purest. You were like a little woodland fairy, flitting about and bouncing upon mushrooms and through the foliage of the Devildom as you skittered about, doing your tasks diligently and with a warm smile all the while. Your delight at seeing a tree in your room was like that of the warm sun of the human world, the sun that Lucifer remembered as golden rays and a warm embrace. You would hum as you completed your tasks and when you finished, you would beam proudly at your handiwork, and Lucifer would swear on his life that he could see the pale white sparkles surrounding your face as you preened at your hard work, bringing an innocuous light to the usually dark and enigmatic Devildom.

You were as cute as a human could be, with doll lashes framing sweet gentle eyes and fluttering against cherubic cheeks that flushed with pink. Mammon had even tried to market you as a doll to sell at one point, and Leviathan liked to have you standing next to his Ruri-chan life-sized cardboard cutout or figurines to make it feel like his collection was complete. You smelled of tea leaves and spring petals and warm sugar cookies and soft cream puffs, and the scents brought a small dosage of serotonin to Lucifer’s heart whenever you passed by. When you weren’t in your RAD uniform, you liked to dress up in pale peasant blouses, flouncy pinafore dresses, and cozy knits that Satan would gift you. You were like a forest wanderer, skipping along the trails of the Devildom as if it were a leisure stroll through the woods, wicker basket hanging off your arm as you hummed, carefree and bright. Had you been anyone else, Lucifer would have scolded you for your naivety as to walking carelessly in a world of ravenous demons, but one look in your pure, sweet eyes, and the words died on his tongue like melted snow.

You had even managed to attain the favor of the other six brothers, albeit you had no clue that you had six of the seven overlords of Hell vying for your attention and your gentle smile as you invited the Little D’s to have tea with you in your room.

Mammon would accompany you to the human world market on Wednesdays when you went to go shop for groceries and to buy little trinkets. He’d trail after your happy figure, your linen apron fluttering in the early spring breezes as you filled your basket with vegetables and meat, as well as sweet bread, milk, and sugar. At first, he’d been reluctant, trudging after you boredly because it had been his obligation to accompany you to the human world and bring you back. However, after he’d noticed you always tucking the afternoon tea menus into the pockets of your dress and buying hand painted teacups from the shop with the elderly owner more often than not, he’d questioned your motives, and you introduced him to starting collections of things that you found pleasing. Now, whenever Wednesday struck, he was pulling you along excitedly to the human realm, eager to add on to his collections of cute rings, little trinkets such as lockets and charms, and other treasures that caught his eye. You had even bought him a comical-like treasure chest for him to store his newest finds in. Every time he finished a collection, something new would catch his eye, and he’d be rushing to buy it. It was one of the perfect ways to spend leisure time with the second born. He especially loved it when you invited him to bake with you, surprisingly. He passed it off with the excuse that he could sell some of the pastries and make good money, but he found himself eagerly looking forward to you waking him up gently in the wee hours of the morning on the weekends so you two could sneak into the kitchen and bake something. Those hours were usually spent baking batches upon batches of treats, enough to satiate Beelzebub’s ravenous urges and still have enough left over for everyone else. You two would dust powdered sugar on each other’s cheeks, sharing laughs and jokes as you cleaned each other up. The treat that Mammon liked to bake with you the most was your infamous honey tarts. They tasted delicious, and they reminded him of gold, therefore combining his two favorite things — gold, and you. He loved spending time with you that way, and when you’d offered to feed him a honey tart once, he was sure that something in him short circuited.

Leviathan wasn’t as easily convinced as Mammon had been. Being someone who preferred to stay in his room, he was a lot more hesitant to allow you to visit his room, especially considering your fondness with nature and his aversion to it, as cute as you were. However, you had noticed the plants that he’d gotten just to give his limited edition porcelain Ruri-chan flower pots a purpose, and your sweet and gentle smile had twisted into a slight frown, which had caused his heart to shrink and tighten up in slight fear upon seeing your calm and loving demeanor fade, although he would deny it to this day. When you lifted the pots from their shelves, he’d tutted anxiously, warning you with rushed words to be careful. You had sighed and carefully emptied out the pots, filling them with richer soil from the farms of the human world. You had brought some flower seeds with you, and you had pulled Leviathan over from his game to help you. He couldn’t deny that the way that your soft and gentle hands guided his to tend to the flowers was something that pleased him greatly, and when the first blooms had sprouted from the soil, you had smiled before giving each bloom a small kiss on the bud, and while the sight was totally moe, it sparked up that familiar twinge of envy in Leviathan’s heart, which he shoved down quickly in favor of seeing your beautiful smile as you kissed the blossoms. Your hands were gentle in handling both the flower pots and in squeezing his and untangling his fingers from his hair during anxiety attacks or episodes, and they were probably his favorite thing about you. They were incredibly soft, and your fingers were delicate and smelled like the light lemon pies you would bring in during gaming sessions to feed him while he played. You loved baking for him, and he loved it when you baked for him, especially when you would decorate the desserts to make them seem like they were straight out of a fantasy anime. He honestly liked sneaking peeks into the kitchen to see you baking more than he liked the desserts themselves, but he’d be damned if he ever told you that. After all, he needed the perfect dating sim route to go slow and steady, right?

Getting along with Satan was something that had come surprisingly easy to you once you got past his distrusting facade, because nobody, especially not a human, could possibly be this gentle and sweet . When you had earned his trust, however, you two would pass the wee hours after studying by curling up before the ornate fireplace and reading together, cups of enchanted cocoa steaming next to you. You enjoyed reading with him — his presence was comfortable and warm, and more often than not, he would read to you in a silky smooth voice that you absolutely adored. When Diavolo had sent you to the human world to retrieve some of your belongings in order to make you feel more at home, one of the things you had brought back was a thick book full of fairytales and worn pages. That was the thing that had caught his eye the most, and when you’d noticed him reading not-so-subtly over your shoulder, you had shot him a gentle smile and began to read the story of Hansel and Gretel aloud to him. Of course, he didn’t understand the merit of the story, but hearing your voice reading all these fantastical stories of grandiose warriors and heartwarming romances was enough to make his heart melt. Your voice was probably his favorite thing about you — it was soothing and sweet, like a sip of his favorite tea. Earl grey, which you somehow knew already because you were a clever little pixie of a human who could read him like an open book, no pun intended. You even made it the way he liked it. He especially loved hearing you talk to his cats about mindless little things, even if he thought that they couldn’t understand you and you couldn’t understand them. Truth be told, he liked hearing you chatter to any woodland creature; when you two went to the human realm together, he noticed that you would always stop to tell the birds about your day, or strike up a friendly conversation with the bunnies who lived in the rosebushes, or tell the deer that seemed to draw towards you about Satan himself and how kind he was. You always seemed so happy to talk to them, even if they couldn’t understand you. He was becoming unsure of that, however, but he ignored it. Why dwell on that when he could watch you chatter with the frogs and ducks by the pond instead?

Asmodeus was quick to smother you with affection. How could he not? You were as cute as a button and twice as precious, and you smelled like honey and wild berries! You were simply too cute for him to resist. Almost immediately after your transfer to the House of Lamentation, he’d whisked you into his room and sat you down for an impromptu makeup session. You’d been a bit overwhelmed at the fast pace, but eventually just let it happen as you let him do your makeup. He couldn’t stop crooning at how cute you looked, both naturally and with touches of subtle but elegant makeup here and there. He had definitely taken you out to find clothes that you liked at Majolish, and he’d entertained your hobbies of collecting little trinkets by taking you to shops that sold items that you liked. In return, you gifted him little homemade pieces of jewelry you made, such as the gold necklace with flower charms and little baby buds on it that you’d given him for his birthday, or the honey earrings and bee pendant you’d made him as a thank you gift for taking you to a farmer’s market when everyone else had been busy. Picnics in the human realm were also a common occurrence with you two, and they usually ended in you two weaving flowers into each other’s hair and telling each other stories as you snacked on blueberry cheesecake and passionfruit tarts. You would bring two portable cups for the two of you, and the drink would be different every time — some days, it would be raspberry cordial for him and a berry mix for you, and other days he would get a sweet latte while you sipped on honey tea. There was never a dull moment with you two, and you loved running through grassy lavender fields with him, especially when he would catch up with you and lift you by your waist, the breeze filtering through your hair and ruffling the skirt of your dress as you let out giddy giggles that brought a blossom of warmth to his chest, right under his heart. The sun would beam down upon you two and kiss your scalps gently, and you would lean on Asmodeus’ shoulder with a contented smile, never really noticing the faint twinges of pink on his cheeks or the way he subtly pulled you closer to him.

Beelzebub, truth be told, didn’t really like you at first, although he never expressed it. You reminded him too much of Lilith, too much of her breezy laugh and gentle smile and pure demeanor, and even though he knew that you weren’t trying to replace her and that you didn’t know what had happened, it still hurt to look at you and see Lilith’s face flicker behind his eyelids. However, when the events of freeing Belphegor and you dying had occurred, Beelzebub had felt a primal desire to protect you, defend you, save you , rip through his body like a papercut. He wanted to protect you. You , not Lilith. So he embraced that change and tried to be a bit more friendly with you, which he found surprisingly easy. No doubt had you noticed the shift in his demeanor around you, and while it miffed you slightly that it took you dying and freeing his twin brother for it to happen, you were still happy that he didn’t seem to hate you anymore. You weren’t Lilith, he knew. And he didn’t see her when he looked at you anymore. What sealed the deal for him, however, was when you were put on cooking duty. He’d tried Solomon’s cooking before and left his plate untouched for the rest of the night, but when he came downstairs on your first night to see what you had prepared for them, he was met with a pleasant smell that had his mouth filling with drool as he trailed after the scent, right into the kitchen, like a moth drawn to a flame. Luckily, you were plating the food by the time he made it into the kitchen, and his eyes roved over a main course of sweet chickpea potato curry with halloumi and roasted cherry tomatoes, accompanied with mushrooms and sauced lamb chops. Next to the bowl of curry was a plate of strawberry beignets dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with maple syrup. You had ever so kindly offered him one — one , mind you — and he’d been stunned at how incredible your cooking was. Needless to say, with your constant gifts to Beelzebub in the form of steamy homemade soup with toasted croutons or treacle tarts with dollops of cream, it wasn’t a surprise that he found himself adoring you and showing you more affection than any of the other brothers.

Belphegor, of course, hadn’t met you until a bit later after your transfer. Despite your frankly adorable features and demeanor, he wasn’t below deceiving you and killing you. Although he acted like he adored you and was smitten with your gentle and sweet personality, his hands still gripped your throat until what was supposed to be your final breath. However, unlike all of his other victims, something in him had shriveled up in horror upon seeing your delicate eyes wide with fear and pain. Something in him had eaten at his stomach uncomfortably when he saw the blood from your neck dripping down his nails and staining the pure white of your linen apron. His mind had been flooded with a split second tidal wave of pure shock and horror at what he had done when your fragile body ceased to move. When you came back due to Barbatos’ power, he couldn’t help but throw his arms around you desperately after he got over the tiny spark of anger in his mind. You, being the sweet and forgiving angel that you were (not literally), dismissed it, and although you were weary around him, you soon learned to lighten up and trust him again. You did slip a few times around him due to reflex, like when you’d accidentally burned your hand against the tray of pastry croissants and golden twist rolls that you’d pulled out of the oven when you turned around and he was suddenly there, sitting on the counter, towering over you. However, you found yourself warming up to him in time, and when you’d invited him to come up to your own little leafy treehouse in the mossy forest, he’d felt a bit honored that you had invited him out of all the brothers. There, you two had shared snacks and pressed your hands against the lilypads in the pond. You two had sat at the edge of the lake, looking around at the variety of mushrooms surrounding you two while your feet dipped in the water, talking about everything and nothing at all. It was just the two of you enjoying a quiet moment together, and when you two had climbed the tall tree back to the treehouse, you fell asleep with your legs loosely tangled together, listening to the sound of rain pattering the windows.

With how quickly you charmed his brothers and were able to get them to be at your every beck and call, even without the pact, Lucifer would have thought that you were an angel in disguise, or perhaps a magical being. Perhaps a pixie, or a woodland fairy, or maybe a little doll come to life.

But he was soon to find out that your charm was all natural, no magic.

It had started when you’d knocked gently on the door to his study, carrying a tray in your slightly shaking hands. Perhaps you were intimidated by him — the thought of your sweet and cheerful nature being withered by fear of him was a thought that made his chest swell with pride. Either way, you had let yourself in upon his approval, setting the tray down on the part of his desk that wasn’t swamped in paperwork.

With a small voice, you explained to him that you’d learned a bit of magic due to your time in the woods, and you had charmed the treats that you brought him — soft tea cakes with sweet glaze and your signature ‘lucky tea’; a brew of dried gold clover, lotus petals, and enchanted honey. The tea cakes were supposed to relieve pains in your muscles and bones, and the glaze was steeped in mountain snow, so it was supposed to relieve Lucifer of the burn in his body due to stress. The tea had calming properties, as well as being charmed to grant the consumer good luck for a short amount of time. You said that you hoped it would help Lucifer breeze through the paperwork stacked on his desk. He hadn’t reacted much other than a slow eyebrow raise, a nod of thanks, and a dismissal. You bowed at the waist and scampered off, clutching the hem of your apron anxiously.

Most of your other interactions had been more lighthearted, like when he’d swiped a small dollop of ganache from where you were baking molten lava cakes. He’d used his finger to smudge the chocolate across your nose, and you blinked, snapping out of your baking trance, before giggling slightly and wiping it off with your thumb, sucking the sweet concoction off of your finger. Lucifer had followed the motion with his eyes and briefly wondered what else he could get away with, if only to elicit those soft little reactions from you.

He also noticed that you never reacted the way anyone else would have when Asmodeus made a dirty joke, or when Mammon nudged you into the more scandalous clothing sections of Majolish. When you heard those comments from Asmodeus, you simply blinked and voiced your confusion. When mammon tried to get you to dress in skimpy leather or latex, you frowned slightly and said that the clothing wasn’t really your type before opting to go over to the sections you usually shopped in.

Later, he learned that you had grown up alone, with only the woods and your otherworldly connection with nature keeping you alive. You had only started interacting with others at the ripe age of eight years old — before that, you lived amongst the small creatures of the forest, feeding off of the foods they brought you, as if they were your family. Perhaps they were. You spent most of your life building shelters for yourself, until you were old enough and experienced enough to begin building your own cottage. It was a quaint little stone cottage, nothing fancy, and it was humble and hidden away, and you absolutely loved it. You had spent most of your life in it, baking tarts and pastries with the ingredients you bought from the merchants in your village in exchange for rare mushrooms, seeds, and plants with healing properties that you seemed to have a sixth sense for finding. Most of your life had been spent frolicking in the woods, swimming in the lake and snacking on pastries of your own creation and chatting with the woodland creatures you encountered. You were a creature of the forest, a creature of flower scented skin and a honey voice.

What an innocent being you were, Lucifer mused over a cup of your lucky tea. The teacup, he noticed, was one of your favorites, the porcelain one with the gold rim and the hand painted floral design. Briefly, he wondered how you found the time to collect all of these things, all while pulling together so many gifts for him and his brothers and still miraculously completing each of your tasks with perfect marks.

His eyes flickered to the plate on the same tray — hand carved and painted by you yourself, and he was the only one who got this privilege; honestly, it was going to make his heart combust — that the tea had come on, the circular dish scattered in crumbs and smears of cream and jam from your latest impulse baking session; heart shaped waffles with cream and raspberry puree. Of course, Beelzebub had immediately poked his head into the kitchen at the smell of fresh fruit and waffles, but you had managed to hide some from his hungry eye — just enough to give to the rest of the brothers. Of course, you had taken the liberty of drawing a little panda bear on one of the two waffles you’d given him, using chocolate and cream, because he was special to you, he knew he was, and because he was special, you gave him special treatment. Just the thought of it brought a prideful smile to his face, lips twisted somewhat informally.

Perhaps he’d made the right choice in sneakily slipping your folder away for future reference during the selection process of the exchange students.

But nobody needed to know that but him.

[shadowstalker732]

ALRIGHT LETS GIVE THIS POSTING THING A GO

MY REVAN TIME (one of them at least)

Also spoiler warning a guess for a game over a decade old? (Am I meant to say spoiler warning? Who knows not me)

(Please don’t yell at me about stats I do what I want)

Anyway first playthrough where I don’t stop and hard restart Tarris or Dantooine 13 times because choice reasons and me forgetting that stealth is useless and just letting the game auto level for me (learnt that the hard way), I’ve basically done Tatooine but I haven’t beaten the dragon yet cos I wanted to bugger off to another planet first and chose Kashyyyk. And I’m down in the shadow lands now (do not worry Zaalbar I WILL GET YOU BACK) and yeah that’s where I’m at.

ANYWAY, Shay or Shar Stalker (because the game won’t let me do non-binary) is a light side Revan. Good of heart dumb of ass and yet will still rob you dry if you place bets on a strategy game against them. Height wise around the 1.6m mark (5′3″ for the Americans). Prefers the double lightsaber look (currently got a short green one and a normal blue one for amnesia version). Not a flirt but definitely had something going on with my Exile in the past but that ended in the Mando war at some point… teenagers in war don’t usually do well mentally wise.. back story and post events of Kotor under the cut (also warning it’s long, like super long, and goes into their future story? As well)

SO BACKSTORY,

Shar got some Mando blood floating in their veins from some ancestor and that causes them to go full buir sometimes hence why Mission, Zaalbar, HK-47, T3-M4 and Juhani get bed time stores aboard the Ebon Hawk and chocolate space milk whenever they stop (Rev gets some too because who doesn’t love some good old Choccy milk), droid duo get cleaned basically daily while Bastila gets the bird for even thinking that this is a waste of time and resources.

Wait I said backstory… TEMPLE LIFE!

Rascal trio with Exile and Alek at their heels. All three, good of heart dumb of ass. Shar was a prodigy and excelled in basically all Jedi subjects at the time, was pretty popular with most people and just a nice person who didn’t stand for bullshit. Got into a few “heated” (honestly that’s an understatement) arguments with council members about how some things in the galaxy were handled but mostly had a positive response from people. At this time their main saber was purple and their off hand a short cyan. Joined the Republic in the Mandalorian wars a few months before their 17′th birthday. Didn’t not return to the Temple once after leaving for war.

The War 

(I should mention I get most of my knowledge from wiki skims (not deep reads) and other Tumblr posts so if it’s off canon… it’s my story and Star Wars is my sand box so I MAKE THE RULES HERE BABY!)

After many battles and the relationship between the battle trio growing stronger with time it was also weakening. At one point Shar and Exile had a romantic relationship going but only kept that going for a few months, they both decided that this was not the time to be doing this and if they both survived would actually give the lovers thing a shot (doesn’t happen). Throughout the war all three realise that they must make sacrifices to stop the war, the old saying “sacrifice one to save the many” is said often between the three at first before it becomes second nature. During one of the battles Shar’s cyan lightsaber is completely destroyed including the crystal being completely shattered. After taking the mantle of the Revanchist only uses the name Revan and never removes the helmet unless it’s only the trio and only then will respond to their old names. All three are slipping mentally in this war but have all managed to hold onto the Light side by trusting each other. After the mass shadow generator event Revan looses all contact with Exile (force and otherwise) and assumes death, despite it being Revan’s own order it’s a major pushing point towards the dark.

The End of the War

Revan faces off against Mandalore the Ultimate and slays him, in his dying breathe speaks of the Sith Empire growing in the Unknown Regions and how this war wasn’t only about giving the Mandalorian’s a good fight but also to weaken the republic for Ultimates Empire allies. Not many Mandalorians knew of the Sith truth behind the war and just followed their Mandalor’s word that this war would bring them the honour of a good fight, and it did in a way. After Revan learns of the empire growing hidden amongst uncharted routes, knew that the council would never believe them and so took matters into their own hands. Taking a fleet and insisting it was to chase down the last of the Mandalorian high command, Revan left for the unknown regions.

The Unknown 

Yeah everything went to shit. Rev and Alek get captured and Sith tortured and kind probed by old man Sith Emperor but in that time Revan gains acute knowledge via reverse mind prob, of how the Sith empire is running, where resources are coming from and key weak points. During this time Alek falls completely and Revan fains it for now. Torture continues for a good while until Revan makes the choice that they have been making all through out the war “sacrifice one to save the many”… Revan embraces the dark side and makes a plan, a plan to empower the known galaxy enough to destroy the “true” Sith empire by uniting it as their own Sith empire. Revan knows light will always rise to face the dark and that the light side is strong, someone will rise to take them down after the “true” Sith empire is defeated and only in death will Revan have fulfilled their promise to the unknown Mandalorian and finally be able to be one with the force. Revan embraces the dark fast and is soon sent off by the Sith emperor who thinks Revan is under his control to take control of the star forge and start building the Sith army in the known galaxy, Revan assumes command with now Malek as their right hand.

Beginning of Darth Revan

Basically what is described in the first Kotor game, Darth Duo go find star maps, get to forge, start fucking up the galaxy yadeyadeya. Malek pulls a sick move and fucks up Revan’s plan to stop the Sith Emperor and boom Amnesia time baby. Oh also during Sith times used a red and their old purple lightsaber but when they got captured by Bastila both lightsaber’s goy yoinked and locked up on Coruscant for simple reasons. 

No Memory Time Baby

Council is smart as fuck and call them Shay Stalker AKA their old name to see if that will reawaken light memories or thoughts in Revan and basically try and nudge amnesia Rev to stay lightside cos they don’t want to see their lost padawan fall back to the dark, (Jedi are a complicated subject), also ONLY SHAY no mention of their other name Shar at all! So that will cause problems later for poor Rev when they start remembering things :), basically the game from here on. Memories of a calm life on a farming planet before joining the military, lost both their siblings (AKA Alek and Exile) while away on service. Joined to stop the Sith from taking any more innocent lives. Throughout the game Shay try’s to help as many people as they can and choose the option that will benefit good and innocent people, constantly says fuck to corporations and nasty people, is not afraid to kill a bitch. As I haven’t completed the game fully (but I am planing a lightside finish and I’m not exactly sure when the “I am Revan” bit comes in I’m gonna leave this as it is. Oh and blue main saber and a short green saber with a crystal they managed to purify (AKA was red but returned to its natural colour through meditation and force cleansing, also helped by Bastila)

Memories

Like I said I haven’t finished the game yet BUT after the whole “oh fuck oh stars IM REVAN?????” Lots of shit starts to make sense and the force “spell” (I’m gonna call it spell) that repressed Revan’s memories had already begun to weaken somewhat before this point but this kinda opens the flood gates but not too far just enough for it to not make any sense at all. Team is there for Rev and the game finishes lightside. (Also I know I said this rev not gonna romance but this is post game stuff now and I just don’t wanna romance Bastila in game so yeah) ANYWAY, Revan and Bastila build a healthy relationship together and Revan starts to regain a lot of memories that their friends help them through. Revan remembers why they took the name Revan and actually goes to Coruscant to the high council to explain why they put on the helmet in the first place and the Council adheres to Revan’s request and returns the original helmet. The Star forged one stays in storage for now. Revan also requests their old armour and lightsabers to help regain memories as to why they fell, the council is hesitant at this request and only allows Revan to meditate with their old things at the main temple with a council member present. Over one or two years a lot comes back but there is still a few key dates, names, moments and details missing. Oh and Revan uses force powers to make Bastila preggers. IF BOBA FETT CAN SURVIVE A SARLAC AND PALPATINE CAN EXIST IN THE SEQUELS. REVAN CAN PULL FORCE BULLSHIT TOO!

The Unknown part 2: Electric boogaloo 

Revan finally remembers what made them go dark and realises they fucked up their own plans pretty bad and the Republic IS WORSE OFF THAN HOW IT STARTED COS OPPS REVAN ACCIDENTALLY KILLED A SHIT TON OF FORCE USERS LIGHT AND DARK SO yeah. Bastila was holding the brain cell of the force bond in this moment and Revan decides the best course of action is to go face the Emperor alone… fucking brilliant Revan how the fuck did you win the Mandalorian wars again my good sir? Revan tells Bastila that they (Rev) has been assigned a mission to infiltrate the remanence of Revan’s old Sith Empire and basically destroy it from within and that this mission is basically so hush hush that Bastila isn’t meant to know but Revan thought it only fair to say that they would be gone for potentially a long time for this mission and Bastila, unaware that this would be the last time she saw them, accepted this goodbye and hoped they would return before their baby was born. But Revan has always been a good lier… even to themselves. Without anymore fuss they left the Known Galaxy leaving all their friends and family behind never to be seen again to face off against the bitch that started it all. (I haven’t read the novels or played the SWTOR game and never plan to do either so again I say this is wiki knowledge that I’m doing what ever I please with that knowledge because Star Wars is a sand pit and I’m the kindy kid that’s decided to sit and play with it today)

Mmmmm Watcha SaaaaaaaAy

Revan gets their ass handed to them and imprisoned for three hundred years and tortured and mind probed AGAIN. Also cut off their connections to any other force user to ensure old dude couldn’t get to them as well. Absolutely not having a good time here. After the 300 years of PAIN the force within Revan gets so fucked up that their physicality splits into two entirely separate beings, Dark Revan and Light Revan. When this happens the prison breaks and Light Revan makes their escape and gets out barely alive while Dark Revan hangs back and swears allegiance to Sith Empire and starts plotting to overthrow old dude cos Sith. Light Revan makes it back to the council and they heal them and have a very hard time believing they are Revan until Revan perfectly describes a gift they gave Bastila before they left that now a descendent of Revan now owns. The council doesn’t understand how Revan split into two entire different beings but accept “the force acts in mysterious ways at times”. Revan is FINALLY given knighthood and helps prepare the republic for the Sith Empire that hasn’t attacked yet but definitely will soon. And this is where Tarre comes in.

Mando Time Yeah!

My Tarre will get his own beefy post (def not as big as this one) maybe tomorrow or the next day so for now it’s just what Tarre does and means to Revan. ANYWHO, Tarre becomes Light Revan’s padawan. (I should mention that Light Revan despite being called Light Revan is leaning towards a grey area within the force but isn’t down right evil like dark Revan is. Dark Revan is killing puppies of an endangered species cos their bored evil). Tarre is Revan’s padawan and becomes a knight. Revan enjoys teaching Tarre about the force and understanding how Tarre was brought up a Mandalorian and with the peace between Jedi and Mandalorian’s at this point was welcomed into the Jedi temple later than most. Revan raises Tarre like he is their own son/little brother and they form an extremely powerful force bond because of it. I’ll go in depth on Tarre’s post but Tarre still gets Mando training for 4 months of the year but the jedi training is the rest of the year. Revan joins Tarre when he return to Mandalore to continue his Mando training and learns more about Mandalorian history and culture while there. While on Mandanlore Light Revan truely feels relaxed for once despite random Mando’s sometimes jumping out and challenging them to fights because apparently Revan is now a ghost story and a feared mighty warrior legend and when anyone finds out that Revan is “alive” immediately tries to prove that they are stronger than Revan (which they are not). A few years after Tarre is knighted the war with the True Sith Empire begins.

I don’t know what to call this bit sooooo UWU

Battles, fights, old shit, it’s a war. Revan proves to be supper fucking useful in leadership but doesn’t do as much “sacrifice one to save the many” moves anymore. Revan keeps predicting what the Sith are gonna do an THATS cos Dark Revan is leading the, and Revan knows Revan best but not the reverse. Light Revan knows how Dark Revan will act but Dark Revan doesn’t know how Light Revan will act since Light Revan technically includes Shay/Shar, Mandalorian War Revan, Amnesiac Shay, and post Amnesia. While Dark Revan is only really Darth Revan and post Amnesia so Light Revan technically outweighs Dark Revan. I’ve probably butchered that explanation or done it too late but that’s how it’s gonna be cos it’s midnight and I wanna finish this and post it today. ANYWAY, final battle between the Revan’s. They have a massive duel on the battle field and eventually Light Revan strikes Dark Revan down but also receives some pretty nasty injuries. Light Revan understands the need to be whole again and as Dark Revan “dies” reunites with that half of the force and Revan returns but Revan is so done, so fucking done with living and trying and they had a good run and now they have what was Dark Revan’s and Light Revan’s injuries all on one body and sure if Rev really tried they could probably suck the life force out of some Sith warriors to keep themselves alive but… they just don’t want to. Eventually Tarre finds the fallen Revan reunited at last and stays by their side as Revan finally lets go and becomes one with the force. After the battle Tarre brings Revan’s body back to the Temple to be burnt as Revan had requested but their armour, lightsabers, and other possessions would be taken to a place only Tarre knew of to be sealed away until a far descendent of Revan’s comes along to claim them as their own. The war isn’t over and Revan’s passing only fuels Tarre further into defeating the Sith empire that the republic eventually does after 20 years of war. 

Conclusion 

And that’s the overall story of this Revan, I know very long, very deep, wtf this is your second post after a what? 1 year break? Actually let me check… yeah nope about a year has passed since my Crash post. If you have made it this far thanks for reading my first ever “decent” post about something I’ve been developing for a while now in bits and pieces. Sorry it was so long but then again I did miss a lot of shit. If you want to interact and ask more questions about this Revan go ahead my ask box is open (don’t be weird tho and just cos I post long doesn’t mean you have to ask long unless it’s legit). I’ll try and get the Tarre post out tomorrow around this time too or earlier depends. Thanks again for taking the time to read my word vomit. Also sorry if there are any spelling mistakes I have missed.

Have a good one!

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Characters in ANF Who Would’ve Made Better Love Interests Than Kate

There are a lot of mixed opinions on TWDG: A New Frontier. Some people like it, some don’t, and some people hate it so much that they refuse to accept as canon in the series. Extreme? Yeah, but hey, to each their own. 

One thing that always bothers me when I do my replay of the series and this game is how much Kate is forced on us and even kinda punishes us for not romancing her. Like, no offense, but I’m not really interested in dating my sister-in-law, especially when her husband is actually alive, and even if she wasn’t my brother’s wife, she’s still not a character I have chemistry with, y’know? 

And every time I play, I can’t help but think that almost anyone else in ANF would’ve been a better romantic interest for Javi over Kate, so I decided to make that the list for this week. 

I would’ve loved more choices and for the game to actually show Javi’s canon bisexuality outside of a flirty line with Jesus that most players didn’t even pick. Just sayin’.

I do want to note that if you enjoy the romance with Kate and the relationship between her and Javi, that’s totally cool. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you can’t ship them, y’know? I’m not here to try to change your mind or tell you you’re bad for shipping something I don’t because I’m not a dingus. You do what makes you happy, friend. :)

Besides, going off the stats, a majority of players romanced her so if anything, I’m the weirdo. This list is just for fun! 

Before we start, just wanna say a big thank you to @pi-creates​ for helping out with this one! Really appreciate it! Now, here are my top 5 characters who, in my opinion, would’ve made better love interests for Javier than Kate.

5. Jane if the writers didn’t turn her into a dead potato

Oh man, you should see your face right now. 

Wait, wait, stop! Before you click outta here in a huff with your “Kenny good Jane bad” grunts and come yell at me, just hear me out-- this entry is mostly a joke and the other four on this list are serious, okay? 

I needed someone to put at #5 and after talking over some options and going back and forth.... Jane came up as a joke and then kind of made the list. Because really, I thought about it. I was like, “Would I really rather have dingdong “whatever happens stay out of it” potato face Jane as a love interest over Kate? Do I dislike Kate as an option that much?” and Pi and I talked about this for a while and yeah.... yeah I would actually. 

When I said anyone but Kate, I guess I really meant anyone. 

Trust me, I know, I’m just as surprised. I guess this really says a lot about my feelings for Kate. I didn’t know I disliked her this much either.

But for fun, let’s entertain this idea of the writers NOT pulling the ol’ character assassination on Jane and she made it to Richmond with Clementine and AJ because--

Jane: "One time I ate glass because I was drunk and thought it was sugar."

Javier: "I gambled on my own baseball matches and disgraced myself for money."

Jane: “Well, I dragged my little sister around with me after everything went to shit until I finally gave her what she wanted and left her to die.”

Javier: “I wasn’t there when my dad was fighting cancer and when I finally showed up, I was too late and he was already dead, then he turned and I bashed his skull in with a piece of wood.” 

Jane: “I shot a dude’s dick off once.”

Javier: “Oof. I insulted an old lady’s cake and then shot her eye out.”

Jane: “I screwed a guy when I was supposed to be securing a place for some lady to have her baby and it resulted in the death of a teenage girl.”

Javier: “I screwed my brother’s wife.” 

Jane: “...”

Javier: “In my defense, I thought he was dead.” 

Jane: “That’s fair.”

Clementine, exasperated and emo: “Oh my god.” 

....I mean... we might be onto something here, c’mon--

Okay, now onto the more legit entries. 

4. Conrad

Now listen... I know, okay? I know. I know this one can be seen as a bit problematic considering the fact that Conrad, in his grief and anger over Francine’s death, held a gun to Gabe’s head and threatened Javi and Clementine.... plus Javi can literally murder him.

...and if you don’t do anything, Conrad with murder both Gabe and Javi and you’ll get a “YOU ARE DEAD” screen...

But we don’t talk about that because it’s not canon.

I know, but listen... I’m allowed to have ships that are difficult, as are you, and this is my list so... there.

If Conrad was a love interest that’s the route I’d take because I love him and I think a relationship between him and Javi could’ve been so damn good if properly done.

I just find Conrad to be an interesting character with a great arc that you only get to see if you don’t shoot him... which is what most people did, so they missed out. And like, I get it, I get why y’all shot him but maybe next time you play, you could consider not doing that?

So here’s the thing, Javi and Conrad share something-- they both lost loved ones because of shithead Badger. Javi is heartbroken after Mariana’s death, Conrad is devastated after Francine’s death, and they both handle that in different ways. Conrad becomes so focused on revenge and getting into Richmond, that he’s willing to threaten two kids in order to get what he wants but the thing is... that’s not him.

He even says so himself when you keep him alive-- he genuinely apologizes for what happened and will end up coming back to save Javi’s life in ep4. The potential for this to work as a relationship? It’s there... the only problem is that my confidence in the writers handling something like this is low, but let’s pretend they used their time and brains wisely-- ya got yourself a classic slow-burn friends to enemies to friends again to lovers romance and I’m here for it. 

3. Paul “Jesus” Monroe

A lot of people really like the idea of Javi and Jesus and wanted him to be a romantic option, and I don’t blame them. They have chemistry in the scenes they share, and Javi can straight up flirt with him at the end of the season, and it’s super cute... of course, I wish we had more but Telltale was too scared to actually show Javi’s bisexuality outside of that one line, I guess.

But, anyway, this ship has a lot of sweet fanart that we love to see.

The only real reason he isn’t higher on the list is that Jesus is apparently already in a relationship at this point? I guess? From what I’ve been told? Listen, I don’t read the comics, I don’t watch the show, I just go off what y’all tell me. Plus, I believe Kent joked about Jesus having someone in each community during the commentaries so like... that’s a thing?

But let’s pretend that we throw that all out and Jesus is single and ready to be in a committed relationship with our boy Javier here. Like I mentioned above, these characters have a believable chemistry from the moment they meet and I think that has a lot to do with how charming they are by themselves. Those different charms work well together.

I also enjoy how much of a badass Jesus is when it comes to fighting off walkers. Javi has a lot of force that you feel with each hit, while Jesus almost has a lighter but just as impactful hit? I dunno if I’m explaining that well-- basically, Javi strong but Jesus can bounce off walls and do cool shit with weapons that feels effortless.

It’s a combo of fighting styles that I love, so these two fighting together? *chef kiss*

There’s also Jesus’ morality and how he wants to see Javier make “good” decisions, y’know? Sure, he gets pissy if you murder the shit outta Badger, which is mostly just Telltale showing you consequences, but I get it. He sees a lot of potential in Javi, more than Javi himself sees. And unlike certain characters, Jesus doesn’t completely hate you for doing something he doesn’t agree with to a frustrating degree.

If the game gave us the option to pursue Jesus as a love interest, he and Javier would’ve been such a badass couple with a sweet romance.

2. Eleanor

This one might come as a surprise to those of you who know my feelings about Eleanor... as in, I don’t like her. I never forgave her for the shit she pulled in ep4/ep5, and now every time I replay ANF and she shows up? Well, all I really hear is the hissing of a snake.

But, putting those feelings aside and looking at her from a different perspective, I do believe that she would’ve made for a better love interest than Kate assuming that if you romanced her, she wouldn’t rat everyone out to Joan, y’know?

Hell, most people believed that Eleanor was going to be the second option with Kate back when the episodes were coming out, and for good reason. The chemistry is there in the flirting, and their relationship could’ve been super cute.

Of course, Eleanor being a love interest also comes with things becoming awkward with Tripp, but c’mon-- as awkward as pursuing a relationship with your sister-in-law and never telling your brother after finding out he’s alive? Nah, I don’t think so.

Plus, for the first three episodes, Eleanor’s not a bad character. In fact, she’s pretty damn likable, she deeply cares for the group and wants to use her medical skills for good.

And you can tell through the dialogue that she and Javi are fond of one another... well, I guess until they shove the Kate thing in our faces and suddenly Eleanor’s like “oh, I thought you two were a thing??” like... Eleanor, we were flirting and I totally rejected all of Kate’s advances last episode I mean??

If she were a love interest, instead of turning on us, she would... y’know, not do that and instead help us out. We have a couple cute moments like back in ep1 where she’s patching Javi up but this time with a smooch? Super cute.

1. Tripp

Okay but seriously, why wasn’t Tripp a love interest? 

He’s the perfect option. I just-- uuuughhhhh. 

They already have a great believable bromance, so why not take it a step further and make it an official romance? Oh wait, that’s right, ya gotta kill off 95% of your determinant characters, I forgot. Sorry Tripp. 

Well, fuck that. Out of all the other adult characters, Javi has the most chemistry with this man. I believe them more than I believe him and Kate. Sure, they got off to a rocky start the progression of their relationship felt natural with every episode. 

That scene where Tripp is confiding in Javi about his feelings for Eleanor? And in turn, Javi can confide in him about Kate? One of my favorite scenes. I only wish there was an option to tell Tripp he can do much better and set the path for the romance. 

Seriously, I’d probably feel more okay about the romance with Kate if Tripp were the second option. That way, Kate wouldn’t be so forced onto the player, the writers confirming Javi’s bisexuality on Twitter or whatever wouldn’t feel like they were trying to earn points without actually showing representation, and we would’ve gotten the beauty that is Javier and Tripp. 

Also, then Tripp could make it to the end without dying that dumb death of his that no one likes. 

And if I haven’t convinced you yet, then look at these swaps Pi did--

--and tell me they aren’t fucking perfect?? You can’t, because look at them. 

Where’s my Tripp route, Telltale??

---

Honorable Mentions

-If I wasn’t sticking to just ANF characters, Luke probably would’ve made the list because that’s apparently a popular combo and I dig it.  -Pudding... because Javi fucking loves pudding.  -Honestly Max probably would’ve been a better love interest than Kate oof--

---

So, whattya think? Do you agree with this top 5 or nah? Do you have a favorite Javi ship? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you. :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Times Lee was the Absolute Best

[heretic-altias]

FFXIV Characters as Star Stable Players

Went through a ton of them talking to my friends and thought maybe some people out there somewhere might enjoy these so look below the cut to begin bc there's a lot of them.

Alphinaud: Every horse is level 15. He feeds them every day. Meticulously plans the best gear out for racing and studies each track. Top high score racer on his server, also does champs in his spare time. Will talk about racing to anyone who will listen

Alisaie: All her horses range from levels 1-5 and are depressed. She never feeds them, she's not wasting star coins on stable care when she could be saving up for another horse for her collection. Beat Alphie in a championship one time, will not let him live it down. Spends most of her time either chasing Alphie around or messing with her friends.

Thancred: has no idea what hes doing but Ryne really likes this game so he's playing with her. Lets her pick and name horses for him.

Ryne: Adores all of the horses. Roped both Thancred and Gaia into playing with her. All of her horses have names and personalities and she loves talking about them. Never asks for star coins because they're expensive, but Thancred always gifts her some on double sc weekend.

Gaia: Another one in the 'never feeds the horses club' has one Friesian and insists it's the best horse in the game and the only one she needs. It's level 15 bc she literally never rides another horse. Mostly plays with Ryne. Wrote a backstory for her horse at Ryne's urging, it's very edgy and tragic.

Y'shtola: Rarely plays. Saves up for a horse, logs on, buys it, takes pictures of it, and leaves for another two months until she can afford another.

Urianger: Spends 300 years naming each horse. Has an entire backstory for his character and all of their horses. Obsessed with the lore, frequently writes long lore posts for sso tumblr. Ryne loves reading his fics. Owns all of the old disc games, spent forever trying to get ahold of them and now treasures them.

G'raha Tia: The WoL likes this game so he expected it to be amazing. Ended up playing mostly with the others, but not really on his own. He just really likes hanging out with everyone else. Thinks all of the horses are nice, could never criticize a new release. Probably named his starter after the WoL or asked them to name it for him.

Emet-Selch: Hates every update. Writes long tumblr posts about how the game is terrible now and used to be better. Only rides old models, has thousands of star coins saved because he refuses to buy any of the new horses.

Lahabrea: Constantly leaves comments on sso's instagram about what they should add to the game. Takes it personally when those things don't appear literally the next week. People wonder why he still plays this game bc all he does is complain on instagram over stupid things. Still adores each of his horses and knows their names and personalities.

Elidibus: Analyzes every update and its pros and cons. Thinks SSO should hire him. Posts carefully worded critique posts that he spent hours thinking out. Forgets to actually play the game because he's so focused on doing this.

Aymeric: Loves taking screenshots. Will carefully coordinate every outfit and tack set he has and loves spending his time on it. Probably an instagram celebrity, maybe even an ambassador. Owns a well known club. Only says nice things about the game online to avoid drama, but admits criticisms to his friends.

Estinien: Instagram famous only because he's in Aym's club and Aym posts about him a lot. Complains about other players annoying him. Eventually privates his account bc Aym's fans are driving him insane. People probably wonder why Aym hangs out with him. Lets Aym take screenshots of him and goes to all the club events even though he'd rather just play his msq and save up for horses because he knows Aym is happy.

Lucia: acts as the co owner of Aym's ingame club. Helps filter out some of the chaotic join requests they constantly get. Manages the wait list, handles the club instagram page. Likes to run her training route every day.

Haurchefant: Thinks every horse is great, also in Aym's club. Loves being an instagram celebrity and talks to his fans all the time. Writes lots of posts about how great his friends and the game are. He's just here to have a good time.

Zenos: wants to race against everyone all the time. Gets mad if you say no. Competes with Alphie for those top scores on the server. Probably has one of those ongoing weirdly dark Instagram story accounts where characters like die and horses are stolen/abused and such.

Ysayle: collects pretty horses and enjoys screenshotting them. Likes light colors and a winter type aesthetic. Her club is the other big club on the server besides Aym's. They all ride white horses and matching outfits. She tries really hard to diffuse any drama in the community.

Hien: honestly just probably having a fun time. Likes to host tumblr meet ups just to talk to the people and hang out. Posts mediocre memes that are really only successful bc he's the most active meme page on tumblr. Everyone knows he's a really chill guy.

Arenvald: Probably plays with Alphinaud sometimes but is a little lost when Alphie starts talking about his racing obsession. Still likes to hang out with him even though Alphie crushes him whenever they race.

Minfillia: Owns the club all the scions are in, but it's really just a club for their friend group to chill in. Probably plans events for them all and coordinates everything so that everyone can make it. Takes good care of all her horses, reminds everyone to buy stable care each week even if they dont actually do it.

Lyse: Only feeds the horse she's riding. Loves running championships just for fun on whatever horse she happens to have when the announcement pops up for one. Chats with other players in the race waiting areas, and sometimes even in global if theres nothing happening.

Papalymo: Plays with Lyse. Tries to tell her she'd have more success in champs if she fed her horses and got some tack with actual stats, but she doesn't listen. Sometimes lets her beat him so she feels good about the race.

Fandaniel: insane. Constantly bugs the game and glitches into locked areas. Brags about it to anyone who will listen.

Magnai: really wants to start a romance RP in global. Never finds anyone who wants to play bc everyone reminds him they're against the game's rules.

Sadu: probably making fun of Magnai in global. Likes to start fights in that chat.

Nero: loves finding glitches and testing exploits. Knows a concerning number of ways to use cheat engine for funny things without being banned. Never actually cheats and uses these things solely for meme purposes. Probably leaks horse coats/models online before release just to watch the chaos.

Cid: Also good at finding bugs, but does so in order to report them to SSO support. Nero hates him reporting all the good bugs.

Ardbert: Has a little friend group club with the the other heros from the first. Doesn't really use social media, they prefer to just use their discord server with each other. All of them train together most afternoons.

Tataru: Her gear closet is perfectly organized. Every horse has an assigned stall. Also writes them backstories. Plans out her star coin saving months in advance and exactly what horses she'll buy in what order. Does not stray from it even if a new one comes out, she'll add it on to the end.

Krile: Another lore nerd, started playing at the same time Alphie did and sometimes reminds him about what he was like as a new player. Loves writing and responding to lore posts. Her and Urianger probably interact online a lot.

Louisoix: Played star stable years ago, was super famous in the community. Quit playing a couple years ago but everyone still talks about him. Others desperately try to be like him, but nobody can fill his shoes in the community.

Forchenault: Writes extensive posts of what he thinks of the game, mostly complaints. Will fight anyone who disagrees. Refuses to meet up with anyone else ingame, nobody actually knows if he even logs on still or just complains. Thinks actually playing every day is a waste of time.

Ashai: Instagram fanboy for zenos and his weirdly dark story. Zenos isn't even famous, he has like 220 followers, but Asahi worships the ground he walks on. Runs a fanpage for him where he just reposts Zenos's screenshots/edits and talks about how great they are. Draws fanart too, but he's a terrible artist. Zenos pretends he doesnt exist. Purposely switched his server to the one Zenos plays on and always keeps an eye out for him.

[alotsgonnachange]

Mystic Messenger Saeran’s AE Thoughts (.......And Prayers..) #Spoilerz

Hello, I just finished Saeran’s after ending and I have a lot of things to say and I am going to write it down while I'm still all keyed up about it.

First of all… Please DO NOT ask me how much money I spent to finish this as fast as I did…. I’m grown but my bank account is certainly going to have a good ole fashioned CHUCKLE at this….. It’s been a long quarantine I deserve a lil happiness as a treat methinks!

I have been playing this absolutely insane game since I think 2016? When I first started playing the deep routes had JUST come out I think? And I was just finishing up high school and am now a college grad...lmao

I’ve played all routes at least once except Jaehee but i’ve seen walkthroughs of her route (I’ve heard it makes you hate Jumin and he’s my favorite so um. hehe). V’s and Saeran’s routes I found to be so emotionally intense and just….a lot and I've been waiting a long ass god damn time for this after ending okay…. I would theorize and make up an ending in my head but i’m no writer so it was hard to figure out lol. I’m a Jumin stan mostly but I love everybody and yeah I should probably play that jumin dlc too but I need like a DAY to recover from Saeran’s AE. Enough about me HERE are my thoughts on it overall

Major Saeran AE Spoilers under da cut!

Can we please discuss V showing up to the C+R conference room with basically chloroform and made everybody Pass Out like??? I was alone in my room at like midnight just SCREAMING at my phone???? And the creepy ass CG ???? It’s like that gif of sarah paulson from ahs being like “I put arsenic in the wine….and the pasta”

Anyway I screamed at V a lot during this process!!

Loved RFA being sweet and kind to saeran (before V fucking drugged them…)

This is such common V behavior “I have to do it all myself...there’s no other way..” GIRL SHUT UPPP You do this every route....

SO many CG’s and I enjoy them a lot

Saeran’s sprite looks a little TOO crisp compared to everyone else but maybe its a glitch??? V next to him is in 480p while saeran is like 1080p

Hearing both Saeran and Saeyoung missing the other brother the whole time??? PAIN. All my homies know is PAIN

BOSS and his V for Vendetta ass guy fawkes mask??? I literally yelled “this game is TERRIBLE!!” several times at my phone

Their dad is so>??????? When he was sitting on the couch with saeyoung in that one CG while simultaneously telling him to kill himself?????????? Maybe chairman han is actually the best dad in this game somehow

When V and Rika were like we’re back together teehee teehee okay pack it up bonnie and clyde ..

When chairman han calls u and says hes jealous of u and saeran…..HUH????? I’m calling HR

When they go to the apartment and see boss and vanderwood and poor saeyoung is sitting there seeing his brother for the first time in years i wanted to D word sooooo bad like PAIN...PAIN….

Can we HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT JUMIN HAN BEING THE BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME AND HE LOST EVERYTHING IN THIS AE……. he just took the blame and moved on jumin what the hell….. I love him so much r we serious? He watched his 2 closest friends betray him in the worst way and found out abt how Rika abused Saeyoung and Saeran???? I felt just AWFUL. Terrible ...Terrible….

Rika’s change in demeanor from Saeran's actual route is certainly a Choice. I find her much more bearable this time around and unfortunately i think I was too nice to her and ended up with a bad end LMFAO

I was happy to see Saeran stand up for himself and become stronger and confident. You go king!

The CG of Yoosung laying in Zen’s lap is everything to me…

HOWEVER YUP I sure did get a bad ending and I was so mad fdsafdskfdhsf ! (I would be happy to clarify how I got the good one the second time.) MAKE SURE To SAVE EARLY in days 2 and 3 bc the branches on day 4 is where the bad end will show up. For me it was the first day 4 chat and then a story mode titled “SAVIOR”.... If you see that RUN FOR THE HILLS!!

I was so mad! But I had saved in day 2 and replayed and MANAGED to get good end

I’m obsessed with everyone calling V and Rika “that psychotic couple” like…..its true its true…

No those two are so toxic… V’s route was torture watching them go on and on about the sun like yo can yall just call each other babe like normal people.

I respect straight people but not V and RIka that shit was just wrong… Straight marriage was a mistake

Oh lord i also FULLY Forgot Rika killed the twins’ mother…. Yeah that scene was um Certainly a lot but it needed to happen eventually

Like it’s good they know but damn that storyline is just so bleak

I think it was satisfying TO A DEGREE….To see Rika understand where she was wrong, why she was wrong, fess up and even APOLOGIZE! I was very surprised.

Saeran and Saeyoung are Certainly twins with the amount that those two self sacrifice in every route MY GOD…..

The scene with Jumin talking to his father and the other scene of him praying oh my god I cannot tell you how happy I was to see him begin to understand and address his own feelings in a route that was not his own. My main problem with Jumin’s route has always been the trapping MC in his penthouse aspect.. This way Jumin understands love and emotions without being overly possessive !!! YAY also loved seeing him be on good terms with his dad who was surprisingly profound

That last Story mode was Really a Lot…. and Strange things occurred which I will get into in just a minute

Jumin becoming a politician is so funny but ngl … i see it.

Yoosung going to france to study pastries ok king I see u! (it made more sense to me than the vet thing anyway)

Lastly Zen FURRY ERA

MY BEEF With the AE

I was happy with how they handled it for the most part. I think Cheritz heard our feedback about V’s after ending and was like okay….let’s try something different

HOWEVER

Saeran…. Sweet kind saeran… IS SO AFFECTIONATE HAHA….

He must have said I love you like 300 times…..very mushy gushy flowery language...and maybe that’s just his personality but for me it was like eating cake with buttercream cake. It means well, but god damn is it sugary and going to cause a stomach ache later.

He was just… SO MUCH! SO forward and ON all the time in his affections. I honestly felt kind of smothered and by day 3 and 4 I was sooooo over all the compliments… King you’ve come a very long way, but ur still putting MC on a pedestal and probably need to see a therapist.

Nextly….Rika and V….. Naw that knock out gas really ...that hurt lol. Coming from “I would do anything to protect RFA” V? Idk like…. EYE felt betrayed reading that. It was just hurtful. I can’t even imagine how the members would have felt as they were passing out. It was just so cruel. I suppose I understand why but like?? Just TERRIBLE

Them being in cahoots with the agency and the prime minister..HUH??? Also too much

V just felt so irresponsible like I do understand that he ended up in a weird web of secrets that’s hard to untangle but he’s so fucking stubborn he’s SO stubborn it makes me insane. Like sir… It seems like in other routes he wanted to try to protect Rika and the RFA.. But in this AE it seems more to me that he was like yeah i’m protecting Rika and That’s It… so fucking hurtful to me. Both of y’all apologize ESPECIALLY to the twins and Jumin..

The forgiveness thing…… Okay so I think some people will not like that Saeran decided to “forgive” the people who hurt him (Rika, V, Saejoong, his mother). I would point out that I actually think this was approached somewhat well. He says at one point that he doesn’t think they’re good or bad, just people. I think he sounded mature and like this was the way for him personally to accomplish his healing process. Would I have loved for Saeran to flip V and Rika off and kick Saejoong off a cliff? Yea I really would. But like…. If that’s what HE needs to do to heal then who am I to judge?

HOWEVER…. Everything Eye just said goes out the window when the scenes at the end with Saejoong come up… I was PERPLEXED. Like why did he HUG his deranged father who just kicked the shit out of him??? Also all the chat options that MC has with him r like blah blah you’re like this because no one loves you were so corny to me LMFAOOOO?

AND WHEN HE WAS IN THE ROOM LATER WITH SAERAN… i’m sorry but if that were me I would have called a nurse to deck his ass. Cool he turned himself in YOU SUCK SOOOO BAD AND I NEVER WANT YOU TO COME NEAR SAEYOUNG AND SAERAN AGAIN THANKS.

*scratches ass* I wish I got to see saeyoung and saeran finally sit down and have that first conversation after a long time and hug CG but the ending was fine I GUESS….. I dont care about ROMANCE I want those boys to be happy brothers together

Anyway that was really emotionally exhausting but I fr think I got it out of my system after literal years… And I can rest in peace knowing the choi twins are happy. THATS ALL I WANTED TO KNOW!!!!

[spiffyspuffy]

My Mystic Messenger Opinions

(That no one asked for)

Zen

Character: 8/10 I know a lot of people think Zens annoying but I find him endearing. One of the best things about this game is the complexity of the characters and I love that Zen’s cockiness is actually how he hides his insecurities. Even though he’s egotistical about himself, he’s never shallow with MC. He says multiple times that he doesn’t care about MC’s looks. He loves her for who she is and shows this in how he makes an effort to get to know her and be her cheerleader everyday. An underrated thing about Zen is how emotionally intelligent he is. He’s great at helping the RFA members when they need emotional support (Yoosung’s grief over loosing Rika, Jaehee crying from the stress of her job and MC’s shock at almost being kidnapped). 

Route: 2/10 Zen is a great character and he deserves a better route. The false rape accusation plot is horrible and offensive. Also, his route functions as an introduction to the game’s plot, so it’s exposition heavy and lacks action. The creators said that the lesson of his route is that when our insecurities are handled in a healthy way, they can push us to be better people. I love this message and I wish it had been highlighted more in his route.

Romantic Potential: 9/10 Zen is arguably the most dateable of all the characters. He’s a bad boy without being sketchy. He’s protective without being possessive. He’s kind without being a pushover and he’s smart without being pretentious. His biggest drawbacks are his overconfidence and and how busy he is with working. There aren’t any glaring red flags. 

~ More under the cut ~ 

Jeahee

Character: 7/10 I love this adorable theater nerd! She comes across as formal and stuffy at first, but reveals herself to be passionate and funny the more you get to know her. I gave her a lower score because she does have a strong personality that rubs me the wrong way sometimes (her jealousy of MC in Zen’s route, her lack of sympathy towards Jumin in her own route and her general rudeness towards Yoosung). She is the most mature of the RFA though, so her exasperation is warranted. Being mature and grounded also makes Jaehee the least complex Mysme character. I’ve got a lot of respect for her though!

Route: 5/10 Getting to engage in discourse about capitalism and the patriarchy? Amazing and hands down the best part of her route. It’s really inspiring to see Jaehee stand up for herself and choose to follow her dreams. I think it’s important for every young person to hear that they should have a positive work/life balance and demand that their employer supports that. Other highlights are Seven helping Jaehee by making the Power Point presentation for Jumin’s cat project, getting to fangirl with Jaehee over Zen and the creepy stalker plot. I thoroughly enjoy her route and the only reason the score is so low is because some of the other routes are seriously incredible.

Romantic Potential: 8/10 Jeahee doesn’t have any red flags either. I think she’s perfectly capable of having a healthy, romantic relationship with MC. The biggest issue standing in their way is Korea’s bias against lesbian relationships. As a fellow coffee lover and theater enthusiast though, I could definitely see myself or someone similar having a happy life with her, even if it might have to be in secret.

Yoosung

Character: 6/10 I can’t stand people who aren’t competent. Yoosung is a terrible cook, he barely cleans and he doesn’t pay attention to his studies. On top of that, 80% of his personality is that he’s a gamer AND he’s in love with his “dead” adopted cousin. Yuck. ~ But ~ I understand that he’s depressed and depression can seriously effect someone’s executive functioning. Taking all of those negatives away, we’re left with a young man who’s trying to his best to be taken seriously, which is something I can relate to. It’s nice to see imposter syndrome represented and I admire his loyalty to his friends. 

Route: 8/10 This route is sooo good! Who can forget the night when the RFA starts being aggressively stalked by Minty Eye? And the pic Zen takes of a believer looking at him through his apartment window...chills. His route only gets better from there when he infiltrates Mint Eye with Seven. This is the first time we get to see the twins interact and damn, is it confusing. But in a good way!!   The biggest drawback is that MC is stuck in Rika’s apartment and doesn’t play much of an active role in the story. 

Romantic Potential: 7/10 Despite all the negatives I listed about Yoosung, I do think he’s capable of have a healthy, romantic relationship with MC. Yoosung is also the only true sub of the RFA men, which is a definite plus for some players. Yoosung’s yandere side is a huge red flag though. MC better watch out if she doesn’t dote on him as much as he wants. Once he falls for her, he’s all in. 

Jumin

Character: 5/10 Unpopular opinion, but I hate Jumin. I understand that he’s some people’s guilty pleasure though. Jumin’s good aspects are that he’s intensely loyal, an animal lover and has a dry sense of humor. I appreciate how devoted he is to the RFA and it’s members. He offers to help Zen multiple times (albeit rejected), sends everyone body guards in his route and pays the hospital in the SE to keep Saeran’s identity top secret. What I’m not a fan of is the way he obsesses over MC and traps her in his house. This isn’t the first time he’s shown obsessive tendencies either. Seven explicitly states that Jumin acted this way with Rika in the past. Huuuge red flag.  

Route: 3/10 His entire route is fraught with rich people problems. I’m supposed to sympathize with him for an arranged marriage? All he had to do was say no. His father couldn’t force him. He’s possessive of MC because women have only ever wanted to be with him for his money? Not an excuse. Elizabeth going missing was a vaguely interesting story line, but Jumin’s relationship with his cat was cringey enough to overshadow the drama of it for me.

Romantic Potential: 3/10 Jumin has some serious issues. He’s never had a good female role model which has given him a deep seeded hatred of women. Remember when he tells MC that respecting women goes against his core beliefs? Yikes. Then, after meeting a woman who respects him and he actually likes, he locks her up and tries to change everything about her (cutting her hair, buying her a new wardrobe, teaching her the ‘proper’ way to walk, etc). We’re supposed to believe Jumin learns to be better by the end of his route, but he still proposes to MC after only a week of knowing her! I’m having a hard time picturing Jumin in a healthy relationship. 

Saeyoung

Character: 10/10 I’m not saying Saeyoung is a good person. Far from it actually. But he IS very well written and extremely interesting. In the other routes, Saeyoung is energetic and funny, bringing much needed humor to heavy moments. It’s always a joy being in a chatroom with him. Then you have the reveal that he actually hates his job and that he was faking his personality, all to a sad and slowed down version of his theme song. This plot twist shook me to my core. What makes him so well written is that the devs did a good job dropping hints to his real personality in the other routes that players might not notice during their first play through. 

Route: 9/10 This route is a wild ride from start to finish. This is when the plot threads from the other routes come together and start make sense. This route has secret agents, assassins, a deadly bomb, kidnapping, an evil twin, a powerful cult... It’s action heavy while still carrying enough emotional weight to make me cry every time. Saeyoung’s route is heavy and emotional and sooo worth playing. 

Romantic Potential: 6/10 Saeyoung has a shady job and a complicated past. Choosing to be with him means putting your life in danger every day. If you’re okay with that, he’d be a decent romantic partner. He’s a little rough around the edges, but I do think he has potential to become more like his ideal self (God Seven) after reading his AE. He’ll always have that mean and serious side to him, but I don’t think he’s hopeless. 

V

Character: 4/10 He’s low-key the worst. I sympathize with his trauma from being abused by Rika, but I don’t understand why he feels the need to fix everything by himself. Rika might be the source of most problems in this game, but V is partially responsible for standing by and letting her get away with everything. 

My first issue with him comes from encouraging Saeyoung to join the agency. I know Saeyoung didn’t have many options, but how was encouraging him to train to become a hacker and assassin the best option?! On top of that, he stalked Zen per Rika’s request and took creeper photos of him, failed miserably at protecting Saeran and don’t get me started on how he loves Rika unconditionally. V has some good characteristics but I really don’t care about those when he’s so terrible otherwise. 

Route: 10/10 This route is *chef’s kiss* the BEST. I wouldn’t call it a romance since Vs barely in it but damn is it riveting. Saeran is the perfect amount of loving and unhinged, MC get’s to know Rika on a personal level and V finally gets to be active instead of just reactive like he is in all the other routes. It’s also  satisfying to find out how much V has been keeping secret and to get a glimpse into Rika’s psyche. But what really makes V’s route stand out among the rest is that there are spy action scenes like in Saeyoung’s route, but the player also gets to spend time in Mint Eye.

Romantic Potential: 7/10 I’ll be honest. I don’t think V will ever be able to move on from Rika. He’ll always love her, as evidence in his AE. Besides that drawback, I do think he’d be a good romantic partner for MC. V was never the issue in his past relationship with Rika. She was the abusive one and he was 100% the victim. I think he would treat MC just as well in their relationship as he treated Rika. 

Saeran

Character: 7/10 I know I’m not the only one who loved the suave and cunning Saeran of the main routes who, after getting the therapy he needed, became an adorably shy and awkward man. Sadly, that’s not the character we got in AS. Instead, we met Ray, the split personality of Saeran’s psyche. Ray is charming and sweet as well as possessive and manipulative...which is something I’m into. But it’s not for everyone. Saeran’s real personality in AS is revealed to be angry and abusive and not at all similar to who he was in the main routes. I’ll give Cheritz props for writing a fairly accurate portrayal of disassociative identity disorder, but I think Saeran’s characterization is inconsistent. I get the impression Ray was an afterthought when creating AS. 

Route: 7/10 A mixed bag for me. I really enjoy any chatroom/scene with Ray. He’s undeniably creepy, but those scenes were entertaining in a dark romance kind of way. On the other hand, the Saeran scenes had a lot of unrealized potential. Abuse is never cool. All his route needed to fix this was a scene where Saeran explained to MC that he was pretending to hate her to appease Rika and the other believers. While this fake hatred is implied, I think it needed to be outright stated. It’s also hard to believe that Saeran overcame his DID in the course of one night. I know all routes are limited to 11 days, but this one needed more. Highlights of this route are Saeyoung being kidnapped by his father and of course, dark Yoosung with Elizabun. 

Romantic Potential: 7/10 I truly do believe that Saeran could go on and live a happy life in any of the endings where he escapes Mint Eye and receives therapy. While we only get a glimpse of what an emotionally stable Searan looks like, we know that he was kind and attentive with MC. Saeran is a giver and would do anything to make MC happy. Red flags are that Searan is still clingy at the end of his route. Yoosung makes a comment that he’s always holding MC’s hand when he sees them together. Also, his DID is something that will occasionally return and that’s something MC has to go into their relationship knowing. 

[thisloveforyourmom]

hm. i’m lowkey...disappointed, by the portia route.

i think if i hadn’t played through nadia and asra’s routes first, i’d like it more – and it’s good for what it is, which is a plot-driven story. but i’ve always really preferred character-driven stories instead, which is much closer to what nadia and asra have? dont get me wrong im still playing it, but it’s not a romance game anymore, it’s an adventure.

the journey to getting together with portia seems really secondary to the plot to save vesuvia. she kisses you super early, and from then on, apparently you guys are partners, and everyone recognizes that. there’s no buildup to it, because they’ve added so much, like tasya and the merging of the city with the realms of the arcana and the history of vesuvia, that they really can’t just focus on the slow churn of emotions you’re supposed to get in a romance game.

also, it literally makes 0 sense with any of the other routes. they explicitly state tasya didn’t cause the storm – so why did it only come in portia’s route? why did TASYA only show up in portia’s route, when theoretically ALL of this is still happening under the surface in all the other routes? between asra and nadia’s route, at least, the only things that are different are different because of the apprentice making different choices. tasya has NOTHING to do with the apprentice.

also, the revelation that the apprentice died is so anticlimactic..? the whole point of the apprentice’s story is gaining the strength and confidence in themselves and establishing the place in the world they need to be able to handle that information. asra has tried to tell them before they were ready. they went catatonic. in the other routes the apprentice has to go through a fairly significant amount of trials to be able to confront their past; it makes it worth it. by “the star,” in nadia’s route, the apprentice was already near the end of their maze in the arcane realm. so what is this? why does tanya get to drop that bomb, and it has NO affect on the apprentice beyond “hey asra is this true? cool thx bigger fish to fry.”

there’s a lot, honestly. but portia’s route is SO dramatically different from what i’ve come to expect from the arcana, and while it’s fun, i don’t like it as much. nadia and asra felt like genuine stories of love; their endings depend on the way you interact with them, whether you encourage their worst tendencies or their best ones. slowly, they begin to lean into whatever you’ve been encouraging. as far as i can tell, portia is a static character: she’s fearless, she’s cheerful, and while she’s been hiding things, she has no trouble exposing all her secrets with the slightest hint of a nudge from the apprentice. and also WHERE are the tarot readings. i feel like the upright and reversed may depend on that SOME, but i can’t honestly tell what qualities, beyond portia’s secret-keeping, we’re supposed to be trying to curb. the one i WANT to curb is portia’s naivete and desperation to fill her life with people who SEEM like they could help her; that’s not what the dialogue options let me do (so far, the most satisfying dialogue choice was when i got to tell her that i didn’t trust Tasya AT ALL).

this got so much longer than i wanted it to but i have so many thoughts. they all boil down to “yeah, portia’s pretty cute and fun, but wtf is this??”

(also, are we supposed to ignore the fact that in the “good” ends for the other routes, vesuvia is still on the 777 year cycle of destruction, and there’s STILL a curse on all the soldiers who died there just fucking chilling underground??? what the FUCK??)

[obeymeluv]

Ohhh how about the boys reacting to a lower demon hitting on reader? Like aggressively hitting on them that it’s already quite uncomfortable? Or it could be the shy, almost sweet type?

Hey there! Holy wow, how long has this been here? I usually check Tumblr from my phone and I guess message notifications don’t come through? So sorry T_T

Either way, Nonnie, this isn’t good :o

Divider from Glitter Geeks

♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥ ♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥  ♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥

“It cannot be helped, for I am born of sin and they inspire it in me.”

♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥ ♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥ ♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥

Lucifer

This is the BIGGEST, ULTIMATE NO

Like, all of Mammon’s past transgressions don’t POSSIBLY add up to this insult

At first Lucifer pays no mind because you seem to be integrating into the Devildom and furthering Diavolo’s grand plan. Good!

Then it starts to gnaw at him and he really pays attention. Call it the keen eye of an ex-angel, to watch over humans

Half of him is earnestly trying to plan things to say on the way over, not hearing how his own footsteps echo thunderously with impending doom, but half of him can’t even concentrate due to the overwhelming sense of wrong.

You seem very uncomfortable, this lesser demon is more incompetent than he thought possible, and there’s something hot and nauseating burning in him. It almost hurts to clear his throat, honestly

It feels like the part he’d forgotten about...almost all that Satan was. He honestly thought he didn’t have any wrath left in him, for pride seemed far nastier a thing to be stuck with

He lets those big black wings, once the pride of the Celestial Realm, unfurl in a great and terrifying display. He used to shine in the Celestial Realm when he revealed his true form, but in the Devildom it translates as pure heat

He fans his wings to cool the air around you but the lesser demon now knows his looming shadow and his terrifying presence

If the demon is bold enough to stick around, Lucifer introduces you as the resident human transfer, discourages them from making you late, and suggests any further interaction happen in the presence of one of your seven guardians (“Of which I am one.”)

Although he mentioned seven guardians, it’s clear that he’s the key guardian. The one who will oversee all, and that’s enough to send the demon skittering away.

It takes a few minutes for the air to cool and his wings to fold back in and Lucifer uses that time to glare a burning hole into the lesser creature.

Finally he looks at you and asks you how you’re feeling. Nothing bad happened? Do you need to file paperwork?

Would probably consort with Diavolo to cast a minor enchantment so you could protect yourself if one of the brothers weren’t around

Mammon

You think another demon’s going to get close enough to talk to you? While in the presence of your NUMBER ONE MAN?! Ha!

Mammon may complain about having to go to classes and tries to convince you to ditch more often than not, but he really does look out for you

And boy is Greed’s Avatar so he’s not going to skimp on the company

That also means he’s not going to share your company when he doesn’t feel like it

Mammon may not be openly flirtatious like Asmo, but he knows all about swindling people for their heart (for it is just as valuable as money) and he knows when this demon comes slithering up that he’s BAD NEWS

He’s clever with money-making schemes, has successfully stolen from almost all of his brothers to pawn things, and has brokered deals with witches in such a way that he’s barely affected. Boy’s going to know how to dodge a creep

And for a while, it works. He teaches you back passages and all sorts of little things

But, inevitably, you have to face it alone. He’s not going to always be there.

And he kicks himself when he’s not. Seems he’s only minutes late but ANYBODY who knows you--like your number one man!--knows you’re uncomfortable and THE GREAT MAMMON has to do something!

What does he do? The biggest, loudest, flashiest thing possible. THE BIGGEST SIGN YOU COULD GIVE ANYBODY

If the demon isn’t discouraged from Mammon yell-talking at you halfway down the corridor, Mammon gets to see the delicious way he deflates after he throws an arm around your neck and starts apologizing to ‘his human’ about being late

If he’s in a bad mood that day, he’ll probably toss the demon a single Grimm and tell him to get lost or go buy himself something nice.

The height difference is probably pretty significant so it’s easier for him to just scoop you under his arm and carry you down the hall. Or let his tail wrap around you and walk you down the hall.

Leviathan

I’d be interested to see Levi in this position, honestly. Part of me thinks he’d be too shy to do anything, instead sulking in his room, but part of me thinks once he sees you as a friend (or something more) he’s going to go to bat for you

If it’s that second one, he’d be slyly demeaning. Being the third-born, he’s probably got an intelligent sarcastic streak like Lucifer and a subtle underhandedness like Mammon.

As the Avatar of Envy, his main game is to make the lesser demon feel insignificant by pointing out how little they know you. They’re not your real friend like him so obviously they’re nothing.

He’s much better, anyways. They’re an NPC, he’s Player 1.

I’m also very, very curious about his position in the Devildom Navy. Is that some kind of a switch-flip moment where he can command a room no questions asked, or is it some kind of wickedly good strategy innateness?

Being a background person (and having Asmo as a brother), he probably overhears a lot of gossip. He’d probably drop some real gossip, something embarrassing. Probably say you were needed by Lucifer, as that’s more to-the-point and believable

The aim of the game is to send the demon away, to create distance. Mission accomplished.

Satan

He won’t intervene until he gets the idea that you’re uncomfortable. It’s a whole process with this one.

On the one hand, he wants you to be able to handle yourself. If you are not enough to send the creature away, then he’ll intervene. Partly because he’s technically responsible for you, partly because he cannot stand idly by and entertain this idiocy.

Satan has many tricks but his favorite one is to freeze the demon out by ignoring him.

Totally dominates/inserts himself into the conversation. Makes the demon feel like he isn’t there.

If that doesn’t work and your scrambling to corroborate him or just back out of the conversation, Satan speaks for you. (”We’re studying later.”, etc.). If the demon tries for another day, Satan just coolly adds ‘and tomorrow’ or ‘for the rest of the week’ until the point is made.

The longer this issue continues--despite his help--the more the Avatar of Wrath begins to reveal himself. That aura alone is usually enough to send anything running.

Kinda feels like he made an ass of himself no matter what, and apologizes after you two are alone. Is very cute and embarrassed.

Gives you a biting book. It’s an enchanted tome you can train not to bite certain people. You two are the only ones that can hold it. He looks forward to seeing how many people it bites before the week is over (a little too happy). 

Asmodeus

Oh the many ways this could be handled! Asmo has so many ideas!

At first his little heart skips a beat because how cute is this?! A cliche romance unfolding in the halls of RAD between a human and a demon? Then his little ‘radar’ begins to ping and he realizes not all is well or cute

He was kind of glad, honestly. You could do MUCH better (like him!)

It could be as easy as Asmo sliding in and charming the lesser demon to leave you alone, walking away in a stupor, or more complicated and sinister

Asmo’s never done anything truly, intentionally sinister but rumor mills can be pretty devastating. The lesser demon may find himself at the center of some unsavory rumors that cause him to slink around the general populous

The narcissistic fifth-born probably has something of a following. He may appoint some of his followers as body guards or just extra eyes to keep you safe

Or he could do a total 180 and make this lesser demon seem totally dreamy to others so they get chased and leave you alone. Yes, he quite likes that one!

Then there’s the traditional route, the most obvious (which Asmo prefers because, honestly, you two would be the CUTEST couple) where he’s your boyfriend and you guys didn’t want to tell anyone but OOPS! SECRET’S OUT! Great, now go away! Wait, take a picture for his Devilgram first! Okay, now go. 

Beelzebub

Probably takes Beel a bit to notice your discomfort. If he’s not distracted with food, it’s because he didn’t want to act in bad faith. What if you actually liked talking to that demon? What if you were just awkward like Levi? It’s a delicate matter.

Beel is no fool, though. He’s very friendly. If he introduces himself and the lesser demon doesn’t quit his behavior, Beel will then turn serious.

Tries to emphasize to the demon that you’ve said no

May show muscle or offer up a challenge. Sometimes people are hard-headed like that and need action.

“You want to date them? Beat me in an arm-wrestling competition.” (they won’t)

Beelzebub can be down-right crafty. “You want to date them? Beat me in an eating competition.” (he’s the undisputed champion).

I think he’d use his size in a good way. If this demon keeps cornering you/pestering you, Beel’s going to make a habit of walking between you or just picking you up until the demon gets the hint that if Beel’s around, he’s not talking to you

Belphegor

The smallest part of him is too tired to deal with this but he’s powered by the sheer amount of HELL NO and decides he has to fix it.

Fix it once and it stops

Belphie, like Satan and Lucifer, has  a low tolerance for stupid things. This demon is one of them.

Very cut-throat and point blank. “They’re not interested. Go away.”

Lord Diavolo and Lucifer expressly mentioned they couldn’t use their powers on YOU, not other demons. Belphie can probably make people really sleepy. He’d make this demon so deliriously tired that he couldn’t flirt with you

Definitely the type to make the demon pass out in the hall and leave him there. Head injury? No clue, he had to go to class. It’s okay, the other RAD students probably won’t step on them.

So mad about the demon. “Honestly!” as he fluffs his pillow angrily after you two have settled in your next class. It’s the angriest nap he’s ever taken.

I don’t think he takes his pillow to school but you can bet he’d but a brick or something in it and whack them. Maybe try to suffocate them. Probably wouldn’t risk his precious pillow like that.

I bet he’d fake nap if the demon tries to flirt with you in class. LOUD, OBNOXIOUS, GRATING fake snoring.  

Hope you liked it :)

[scrapbookonthemantle]

OC Companion Meme

i got tagged by @ultrastimpaks​ !! thanks gio love u 

rules: pick out a fallout oc and fill out the prompts!

tagging uh. @sleights-of-hand​ @rocket-69​ and @rotarydials​​ !!

THE BASICS

>> which game would they be from?

Fallout 3

>> where would you find them?

A random encounter in the subways!

>> how do you recruit them?

"Just put it down! I didn't do anything to you!" Oppy shouts at the pair while holding her hands in the air.

"Aw, you really think I care, don't you?" The raider throws Oppy's backpack to another, who begins to dig through its contents.

"Never said that. Just give it back and I'll be on my--"

(I wrote it out as a dialogue tree scenario! Read the rest here!)

After rescuing Oppy from the raiders, you have the option to recruit her as a traveling companion.

>> do they have a specialized task?

If you give her dirty water, she’ll eventually hand back purified water!

(First time picking up dirty water with Oppy traveling with you) “Oooh! My mom taught me how to boil all the dirt and stuff out of water ages ago. I can clean those up for you if you want! Much healthier too, don’t want you getting sick on me!”

(Giving her dirty water) “Oh yuck! Will get this back to you as soon as I can!”

(Handing back purified water) “Bye dirt! You belong with the plants, not in my drinking water, thank you very much!”

>> do they give the player items? if yes, which items?

Oppy will occasionally pick up miscellaneous items on your journey with her. Sometimes they’ll even be useful! She will occasionally share them with the player. The things she picks up can range from an old pre-war phone to a stray stimpak she nabbed.

>> do they have a personal quest? if yes, what would it be?

Oppy doesn’t have a personal quest, but she’ll occasionally bring up smaller quests to go to different places around the DC area for research purposes. The player will likely need to take down low-level enemies from these locations before Oppy is able to complete her research.

If enough quests are completed, the player is granted the ‘In the Know!’ perk. This will grant special dialogue options while Oppy is by your side. 

(For example, during the Stealing Independence quest if you have Oppy by your side you can ask Abraham to tell you more about the location you’re going to.)

>> can you romance them?

No.

(If flirted with) “Oh! Well, I’m flattered, but I’m not really looking for romance right now. I’d rather just go on more adventures with you! Where to next?”

>> what perk would they give the player?

Walking on Sunshine: Well-rested will always be granted after sleeping in a bed - being around Opportunity just seems to put you in a good mood! You also receive bonus EXP for any non-combat related actions.

>> what are their SPECIAL stats?

S - 6, P - 4, E - 6, C - 9, I - 8, A - 7, L - 7

AFFINITY

>> loves

- Using a cooking station. “I love cooking! Do you need any help? I know what I’m doing, believe it or not.”

- Helping others, doing good deeds. “Good work! Some people are just down on their luck.”

- Taking down Paradise Falls. “No one deserves to be treated like that. No one.”

- Choosing the non-violent option in quests. “You handled that well! Sometimes words work better than bullets.”

>> likes

- Helping Moira with the Wasteland Survival Guide. “I know it’s tough, but it’s going to help a lot of people! No, really! ...What do you mean I sound just like her, shut up!”

- Siding with Roy Phillips and doing the non-violent route of the Tenpenny Tower quest. “You did the right thing, that Alistair guy is an asshole. ...Excuse my language.”

>> neutral

- Entering vaults. “The so-called height of the pre-war era... Did you know they were experimenting on people even before the bombs dropped? Cruel. We should get out of here as soon as we can.”

>> dislikes

- Drinking alcohol or using chems. “Hey! Being intoxicated isn’t going to help us get anywhere!”

- Pickpocketing/Stealing. “What are you doing?! Put that back!”

- Attempting to unlock owned doors or objects. “Stop it! How would you like it if I blatantly ignored your privacy? Those are locked for a reason!”

- Killing brahmin. “If you wanted to be a butcher you could have just said so, but this isn’t the time or place. What did they do to you?”

>> hates

- Leaving Harold alive during the Oasis quest. “I want plants back just as much as anyone else, but this isn’t the way to do it. He’s suffering at the hands of these people... Maybe you should have rethought that.” (Oppy will pull you aside to try talking you out of it multiple times during the quest.)

- Blowing up Megaton. “Why... would you.... I don’t understand your- What? You know what? No. I can’t stand to look at your face. Don’t try explaining yourself, I’m leaving. Don’t come running after me, either.” (Oppy will permanently leave you if you blow up Megaton. She will pull you aside to try talking you out of it multiple times throughout the quest.)

- Siding with the Brotherhood. “I’m afraid I don’t get why you would do that... They’re only out to help themselves. Have you seen the way they treat anyone different from their own?”

VOICE LINES

>> “use melee”

"Oh! Okay, I got my bat ready! I’ll try my best!”

>> “use ranged”

"I’m not sure that’s the best decision, I always seem to lose my ammo...”

>> “stay close”

“Right behind you! I’ll try not to trip you up.”

>> “keep distance”

“Got it! They’ll never see us- Er... Me, coming!” 

>> “back up”

“Oh sorry, was I too close?”

>> “be passive”

“Great! That’s my specialty.”

>> “be aggressive”

“Why would you want me to do that?”

>> “wait here”

“No problem! Do you want me to set up a camp while I wait?”

>> “follow me”

“Off we go!”

>> when healed

“Ow ow ow- Oh, thanks! You sure we don’t have to amputate?”

>> when killed (general)

“This wasn’t... how I planned this going...”

>> when killed (by player)

“I trusted you!”

>> when talking

“Back home my granmama would always make these tato cakes- they were the BEST. You’d love ‘em. Maybe I could make them for you sometime!”

“There’s a lot more to learn about our history than you’d think. Doesn’t do any good to just ignore it when it’s all repeating itself again.”

“One time my cousins and I were out playing in a nearby creek when we were young and Matty got his leg stuck in the mud.. We were out there for HOURS until my dad and my uncle came out to rescue us. Hey, at least we got snacks afterward!”

“Don’t you find feral ghouls fascinating? I mean, basically losing your mind and who you are as a person.. Only hanging onto what little threads of memory you can hang onto. Must be hard.”

“I think the Capitol Preseveration Society is doing good work, even if most people don’t appreciate it. History has to be remembered somehow!”

“Back home we didn’t have a lot of plants, but we at least had more than there are here.. Sometimes I get tired of all the concrete and rubble.”

“You know... As much as I enjoy looking back at history and all, I don’t want you to think I want to go back to it. Pre-war wasn’t good, I mean, hell, it ended up with a nuclear war that brought us to where we are now.”

“I’ve always thought people should make more of their own music. My family was always singing and drumming against things... I rarely see any of that around here. It’s kinda gloomy, really!”

“I’m not a fan of that Brotherhood of Steel group... They say they’re preserving old technology, but they’re not really helping anybody or teaching anyone outside of their crew, are they?”

>> when trading (neutral)

“Shoot... Which pocket did I put this in again?”

“Hold on, I think I lost... Nope, there it is.”

>> when trading (happy)

“Oh good! Do you have snacks?”

“I assure you I’ll handle your things with the UTMOST care and attention. I even have a dust rag around here somewhere!”

>> when dismissed

“Oh, okay... I’ll be in Rivet City if you need me!”

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

@theeyethatbinds​ Girl SING IT. SING IT LOUDER FOR THE GIRLS IN THE BACK, SWEAR TO GOD.

Like I’m gonna be real wit y’all I was looking forward to le Comte for a while, but I was always side-eyeing Jeanne. He’s a blunt hermit and grump and 100% mood, so I hoped his route would give me more insight into how I feel about him.

Ladies. When I tell you. It was EXCELLENT. I mean there are so many gr9 routes in the game, I don’t want to take away from them, but there was just something about his that hit me so hard???? (MY KOKORO BROKORO)

More under the cut since his route won’t be out for a little while (we still got Isaac, then Theo, then Jeanne), as a little treat. As usual, pls don’t read if you don’t want spoilers, thanks!

Okay so going into this route I was fully expecting the big sads. I mean, if history has taught us anything it was that Joan D’Arc was a badass but good lord, that doesn’t mean the people of her time were kind to her. (I need to do more thorough research on her, so if I’m getting any of her pronouns wrong or neglect something, I do apologize.)

That being sad, I was like aight DECK MY SHIT WITH TRAGEDY, JEANNE. And at the beginning it’s p fascinating. He’s very ornery and resistant to any kind of consideration or attempts at friendship MC extends. But eventually, after a good deal of persistence, he relents little by little.

I’d also like to level with y’all for a sec. Being someone who knows a great deal in regards to the kinds of mental and emotional shit Jeanne struggles through, I think they handled that part of the route so, so well. Granted, I’m not the kind of person to launch a crusade over different writing styles--but for me it just feels all the more poignant when it makes sense; when certain dispositions or trauma are conveyed with that depth. To me, it made 100% sense that Jeanne would be so against accepting other people into his life immediately.

He and Mozart vibe because they’re so similar, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s comfortable letting just anyone in--much less a complete stranger. I think it’s more that Mozart and Jeanne share a kind of indelible bond/mutual recognition through their talent, actually. They were both prodigies, absolute geniuses in their fields (military vs. music) but their social skills were shot to hell for the very same reason. To be brilliant--beyond one’s potential posthumous legacy--tends to mean being hated. Plus, they’re both principled to absolute extremes. When they’ve decided on something, they will not waver. They’re stubborn and austere, but behind those walls lies a molten core of sensitivity.

This is important to understanding him, I think, before I move forward.

While one could argue that their reaction is a result of that deficiency of emotional and social support (which I entirely concede does contribute to the matter at hand, it shouldn’t be overlooked) I think the real crux of the matter here is control. Think about it. Among the oldest residents in the mansion (let’s say that were born more than 100 years within the range of the present period of the game) are Mozart, Jeanne, Isaac, and Shakespeare. What do they all have in common?

Extremity. For Mozart, it comes in the form of a kind of OCD, as perfectionism. For Jeanne, it is generalized anxiety and PTSD. For Isaac, it is primarily social anxiety--but it’s still noticeably severe. And Shakespeare runs around with a knife, insecurity through the roof, literally unable to trust anything or anyone (psychosis? schizoaffective? I’m really not sure, these are all ballpark assessments based on the evidence I have). In order to adjust to their new surroundings, there was a cost--and in some ways their coping mechanisms become noticeably maladaptive. They were born into eras that were mercilessly unpredictable, and the only way they knew how to cope was to was to either take the blame--make it a personal failing that tragedy struck--or try to immerse themselves into their craft. They all seek to regain some kind of control (this is even visible in Vincent, to a degree--painting was an escape from his emotionally turbulent world).

Granted that’s not to say that the others don’t struggle with such issues at all, I just feel like the characters from more unstable time periods tend (as a general trend) to mirror that instability within their personalities.

All that being said, (I apologize I am a tangent-monger and love meta), Jeanne’s self-imposed isolation is only partially caused by the above dynamic. Yes, he is unwilling to let people into his heart for fear of betrayal. (It’s almost like an entire nation clamoring to watch you burn for something you didn’t do after spending your entire life and talents trying to protect them would do that to you, but I digress >:| ). But there’s another devastating and potentially less obvious reason for keeping people out.

He thinks he deserves it.

Loneliness, melancholy, aimlessness. These are all the punishments that he incurred on himself after a life of what he conceives to be considerable sin (hahaha battlefield enemies go ripppp). Whether or not he was operating purely out of a sense of duty, even if he felt sympathy for his enemy combatants, it’s not enough. And the condemnation of his king, of his entire nation, only served to magnify that self-loathing to a dangerous degree. (Don’t get me started on his parents I’m still so angry >:| they more or less disowned him since he was constitutionally weak as a young boy, and thus could not serve as an adequate farmhand. Don’t work? Don’t eat/live).

It’s hard enough living in a reserved way because you’re afraid of getting hurt, but to think that you deserve it when hurt finds you, no less? And my favorite part, that he’s so profoundly sure that it is an extension of a personal, fundamental failing? That for a person to survive, they must be strong, that there can be no other way--that there is no time or space for ruminations on fairness or unfairness, there are only those who manage to survive and those who die.

Now my friends, esteemed comrades, legendary sluts. Is that enough for us, Cybird asks, are we feeling enough pain quite yet? Fuck no.

Most of his route after we get over the hurdle of his hesitation is just him. Being. Bashful and gentle as all FUCK. Like he is the definition of “I'll kill you, but also I’m babie.” For instance, she insists on teaching him how to read and write at night when she finds him trying (and not succeeding) to read “The Ugly Duckling”. Yes I mean the children’s book. I CRIED THE FIRST TIME AND I’M CRYING NOW. So, naturally, MC buys him a notebook to practice with and he puts his name in big letters on the front. When MC sees this, she asks him about it--wondering why he would given he’s so self-conscious of his own writing (boy writes all squiggly like a little kid because he’s never done it before ;-;).

The scene goes a little something like this:

MC: Wh....whatcha go there Jeanne? Jeanne: ? My notebook? MC: I...mean that you wrote your name on it? Jeanne: Yeah? MC: Why? Jeanne: ._. It was a gift from you, and I figured it'd be hard to practice if I lost it...so I put my name on it... (HE WAS SECRETLY TOUCHED I BET AND IM--) MC: Why such big letters? Jeanne: So people can spot it quickly, obviously MC, inches from crying and laughing: Jeanne: Mademoiselle??? Why are you laughing? MC: Because you’re cute, Jeanne!

Like. They start out so rocky and Jeanne is so SIGH. I guess I’ll agree if it’ll get her to stop looking so sad and ask me to join her for stuff. But then he just can’t help but go full softe at how patient and kind she is, starts feeling comfortable just...being who he is deep down. A man that’s always hoped for better in life, a person that only ever takes up his sword to protect--that has an incredibly pure and clear heart, despite so much pain.

And good lord, they are GOD TIER romantic slow burn???? Swear to everything holy, I was BEGGING for them to make out by like chapter 10, I was just suffering for most of the route until the bangarang premium. Here’s probably my favorite moment in the entire route:

Basically Sebastian and Mozart pull out all the stops trying to bring Jeanne and MC together (once they see Jeanne show some interested in her). And so Jeanne asks her to join him in the courtyard the next morning, and they’re playing with Cherie (Jeanne’s pet baby white tiger). Besides being ungodly adorable--because Jeanne invited her for the sole purpose of hoping to see her delightfully surprised--Mozart begins to play a love song nearby. They don’t name the tune, but Jeanne canonically starts singing along (I wholeass cried, I WANT TO HEAR HIM SING????). And so she asks what the song is about, and he explains that Mozart once played it for him, but he couldn’t make out the words at first. Mozart explained that it was a love song that speaks to the difficulties of being in love (the worry, the strife) but also the beauty of the intensity and passion. He goes on to say that even when he learned the words, it never made much sense to him back then--it never resonated.

He’s singing softly with a fond look, and so she asks, does he understand it now? And he looks her dead in the eye, and says “...I think I’m starting to.” Like. AM I SUPPOSED TO NOT LOSE MY MIND AT THE TENDERNESS????? WHAT A SMOOTH MOFO????? MAN RAISED TO BE A SOLDIER, NO KNOWLEDGE OF ROMANCE OR WOMEN, AND KILLS ME IN MILLISECONDS?????? I DEMAND JUSTICE. (Or it’s just me thinking sincerity is the best aphrodisiac, but that’s beside the point.)

This has been your quarantine 2d boy meta and yelling, provided by your local mod Minnie. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to get to the things I’ve been procrastinating on while reliving/dissociating about one of my favorite rts in the entire game. Stay safe and well out there y’all, peace out!

[guardmesherlock-rowan]

Breaking the 4th wall

Anon:   Okay so I have a rather weird and very meta headcanon ask: How do you think each GMS character would react if they found out that they are characters in an otome game? It's something I've personally thought about a few times before, meta 'what-if' headcanons are always fun to think about imo.

I’ve thought about this way too much.  Mostly about what I would do if I go be inserted into the stories (which mostly boiled down to stealing coats and running like hell).  There are a lot of ways this could come about but I believe they’d think:

 “Hey Guys!  You’re characters in otome games!”

Sherlock Holmes

He is surprised, but not by much.  He is known for having said that ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’  Even if it’s so far fetched.  If there was a character to have inklings of other routes existing, Sherlock would be that character.  It is also the possible cause of he feels so much jealousy whenever he sees you next to another character.  He also judges the writers for their stories and hopes that future ones written about him aren’t so predictable.

He also cannot deny the heartache he feels at the thought of how you two cannot exist in the same world.  Though if he’s a construct of someone’s imagination, then he’ll have to accept that he’ll be close to you in your mind.  Which isn’t all that bad.  

John Watson

He thinks you’re messing with him.  It seems cruel to think that his history is included in some romance game.  And once it’s made clear that you two are definitely on two different sides of reality he gets depressed.  He aches to hold you in his arms and seek comfort in that.  However, he has to acknowledge that the way you feel next to him and the way you smell is all in his head.  He wonders what the real you is like.  How the real you is so much better than any pale imitation.  

James Moriarty

For now.

He is not surprised that he is a creation in a romance game.  Who wouldn’t want to love the Professor James Moriarty?  It has given him even more lofty goals.  If there is a way for him to become aware that he is an otome game character than there is a way to communicate.  If there is a way to communicate there are open lines between you two.  If there are open lines there must be ways to make it so he could be there.  The world is his, and now he as set his sights on the one you exist in.  Because his Little Robin will always be his. 

Mycroft Holmes

Unlikely.  That would mean that everything that he has done is fake.  Fictional.  That the pictures he has of Sherlock growing up are all fake.  With further convincing, he wonders what kind of world you live in that doesn’t have him or his brother.  Who does the Queen turn to in her hour of need, are they even the same Queen?  Are the sweets in our world just as sweet, sweeter?  The writers most likely based them on the same item, but does the fact one is imagined and one is real change their qualities?  He wonders and would love to get your opinions.  Talking with you was his favorite part of your relationship, so as long as he has that, he can be satisfied.

Jack Stillman

Bullshit.  He refuses to acknowledge that.  His history, the things he’s done, the things he continues to do both for work and for private reasons, all of it being fake?  Being someone’s idea of a fun story? Okay, he could agree on the fun part, but the fact that someone is making it up and deciding for him?  No.  He needs proof.  He doesn’t handle this news well and will take a long time for him to, begrudgingly, accept it.  Though the notion that someone wrote him into a romantic story?  He grimaces, “some love story.”

Sebastian Moran

Oh.  That’s alright.  As long as he’s with James and you, that’s alright.  He would like to see kitties from our world though.  Are they ignored and mistreated there too?  Are you okay?  If you tell him that you’re in any dangerous situation he will get angry and frustrated.  Protecting you is important to him, and that power is not there, not really.  That is the worst part of being a fictional character in his opinion.

Jeremy Cassel

Was his story good?  Did you instantly fall in love with him as he fell in love with you?  Do you crave to hold him as he wishes to gaze upon your real face?  He talks as if he isn’t bothered by it, and that it doesn’t surprise him that you are in a different world than he is.  But it does get to him, there’s another world to explore outside his reach.  Full of treasures and people to cherish.  He isn’t surprised that his story is one of romance though.  It’s fitting.

Hercule Poirot

He says he had his suspicions.  It doesn’t bother him too much.  It is the life he’s known and he will continue to live it the best he can.  Helping out people, and enjoying his time with his friends.  Of course, he wishes he could be with you and see your world, but it isn’t very likely and won’t break his heart.  Though he will struggle to keep proper sleep at night due to his thoughts about you and your wellbeing since he cannot see you all the time.  

Arthur Hastings

He’s at first surprised, thinking you’re playing tricks on him as Hercule had been when suggesting that.  It makes him curious if there is a way to use his computer skills to see behind the curtain and into the program for the game they are in.  But he’s not sure if that’s possible.  This also means that you are not the MC he knows, so he has a lot of questions about you and what you do and what you like.  Which is enough for him.

George Lestrade

Ha ha, very funny.  He also thinks you’re messing with him.  It isn’t funny to say things like that.  Of course he’s real, just as real as you.  But the more you insist the more he starts to believe you.  This man wants to be held has he contemplates this.  His life is stuck with these guys who tease and mock and ridicule him all the time for as long as the game lasts.  And only with you for brief moments.  Any moment without you now sticks out for him, wondering if anything he does really matters.

Mikah Hudson

There are worse things to be.  But he smiles knowing that this means he gets to spend time with you.  He becomes more clingy with this knowledge because now he wants to get to know more of who you are and what makes you different than MC.  What are your likes?  Dislikes?  Are the same things you like in your world the same in theirs?  Hard to tell but he’d like to talk about it more.

Henry Jekyll

Much like James, he takes this as a challenge, of a different sort.  What could be the science that allows him to be conscious of this?  What allowed communication between you two?  Is there something that he could do to make work so he could be in contact with you or be with you?  He’s only a chemist, but he thinks he might be able to find others willing to work on this experiment.  Even if you aren’t the MC he knows he’s enamored with you and wants to know your life.

Edward Hyde

That works.  He doesn’t see the romantic aspect, but at least this means that you are safe as he continues his search for who the truth behind his parent’s death.  Though it makes him wonder if there’s someone in your world that could tell him the answer, he would never put you in harm’s way if he could help it.  

‘Irene’ (based off of the conwoman headcanon)

Don’t tell the others.  Let this be a secret between the two of you.  She doesn’t know what to make of this fact, it could mean the struggle she has with Moriarty might all be for nothing.  That her history and the struggles she and her mother faced were all for nothing.  But there’s still you.  With this between the two of you at least she has one thing that’s real.  Which is more than she could say for James Moriarty.

[formashimataichi]

Okay this is really interesting.

To begin with Chihaya. What I understood, and correct me if I'm wrong. You like or prefer them not ending up together because you like the idea of a case where even if romantic feelings are rejected, a strong and close friendship can still flourish despite that.

I like the idea but I'm afraid at this point in the manga it's hard to execute well because... well the obvious question is do you think he still has feelings for her?

Depending on the answer the scenario can be good or bad. Like, I remember someone asking him that question and him saying that his feelings are fading away. Do you believe that?

I personally don't. I still think he has the same strong feelings. That why I'm skeptical about the close friendship. Like sure the idea is nice but it would not be good for him at all. Close friendship with someone who you have strong romantic feelings for but does not reciprocate is agonizing. And remaining close to them can instead of allowing him to get over those feelings can make things much worse. I don't see a close friendship in those circumstances ending up being a positive influence on either.

Now if you believe that his feelings are gone or are fading away then, while strong and close friendship runs the risk of rekindling those feelings, at least it's possible to have strong healthy friendship under those circumstances.

What's your opinion on this?

Now when it comes to Arata. I think he made a lot of progress. I think he found it in himself to be truly supportive and loving friend to him with no feelings of bitterness or ill will. But I think there is still an underlying feeling of inferiority that has not left. That's what the whole "it's not in my place to be there, there's nothing I can do for them" thing comes from. It could be just a defense mechanism that makes him think that because it'd kinda hurt seeing them share that stage while he couldn't, but eother way it still betrays a sense of inferiority.

Thing is though I get that going there to cheer them on can both make him realize that yeah his support is needed and appreciated and also can help by getting him to selflessly support people he care about without a sense of inferiority and possible biterness.

But I think whether those final moments of closure can help him decide to keep playing Karuta and find self worth, I'd much prefer if that happened in the process of playing Karuta, not outside of it. When it comes to his relationship to either Chihaya or Arata, if we were going the route you prefer, in which he both continues to play Karuta and is able to have healthy and close friendship with both Arata and Chihaya despite rejection by chihaya and loss to Arata, I'd much prefer it expressed through Karuta matches/competition, preferably against each other. I woulda hoped we got to see him get a point where he is able to play against both (again even if he loses or rejected) earnestly and enjoyably and without all the baggage and insecurities that he attached to the game. I think that can solidify the idea of him chosing to continue to play Karuta by literally seeing him do it enjoyably and free of the previous pressures, much more than him deciding by either supporting them in the final matches or telling us through conversation.

What so you think?

With regards to the “fading away” scene, I think I’m half-and-half; maybe a better way to describe it would be to illustrate what to me is a distinction between loving someone and being in love with them. I think Taichi is always going to love Chihaya, very deeply. That’s a love that’s grown since they were kids, and given the degree of importance that she holds for him, I don’t think it’s possible for him to just “stop” loving her and suddenly feel apathetic. That would feel more robotic and perhaps even unhealthy, because shutting down your emotions so abruptly doesn’t necessarily help you process or move on from them. But while I do think he’s always going to love her, regardless, I don’t think he’s necessarily “in” love with her anymore. He seems pretty close to accepting that a romance between them isn’t going to happen, and I think he’s in the process of making his peace with that, especially with the idea that loving her was still worth it even if she ultimately didn’t reciprocate (which is something that I had discussed earlier when I was talking about his conversation with Chitose). As for whether maintaining a close friendship with her despite the lack of reciprocation is feasible, I guess I don’t feel too skeptical because I’ve seen it executed well in other stories. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but Honey and Clover is a great example of a series that depicts unrequited love characters don’t have to remain feeling bitter about, because maintenance of their friendships is what matters most to them. They don’t want to lose these people who have changed their lives and whose presence in their lives matters so much just because their feelings weren’t reciprocated. And to be fair, I understand Taichi is sort of a special case because his friendship with Chihaya is deeply entrenched in his romantic feelings for her to begin with, and that in turn became entangled with many of his insecurities. But to me the fact that he’s working to address those insecurities and shed himself of them implies that he can reach a place mentally where he’s still able to maintain and value his friendship with her without allowing the regrets to overshadow any of that. I don’t think it’s going to be an easy process per se, nor one that’s neatly wrapped up with a bow on top by the end of the story, but so long as we’re shown that he’s moving in that direction mentally and emotionally, I think it’ll give the feeling of, “They’ll turn out okay, so long as they trust themselves and each other.” I can definitely understand if people are skeptical of such a mindset, because everyone is different, and some people handle this kind of situation better than others. Maybe it’s idealistic of me to hope that the positive outcome will be the case for Taichi and Chihaya; but I do desperately want it if he really doesn’t end up with her, because it would feel like such a shame to lose all of that history and support and care between them to only more and more distance. Even if I don’t ship them romantically, their relationship is super important to me and I don’t want to see them have to lose it just because the way they love each other is a bit different. Not to mention there’s still so much they have to actually sit down and talk to each other about, because they’ve kind of ran in circles around each other for the longest time, so I’d like to know that those conversations are going to happen and that we’re not just going to see them progressively distance themselves from each other even more under the guise of “moving on”. 

As for your second point, I honestly agree! Although it would be plenty impactful just to see Taichi resolve to continue playing karuta, it would be even more fulfilling if we got to see the manifestation of that decision in him physically playing against Arata (and/or Chihaya) once again. And I’m hoping we do see something like it before the very end, maybe not in the form of a huge time skip (lest it feel like a cop out to readers, lol) but just by the fact of them playing each other again at all. Maybe the series ends on a beautiful spread where the three of them are all playing on the same stage the following year, but we don’t know the specifics of the match. Or maybe the series ends on us seeing them play together again in the Shiranami Society, with the implication that they’ve finally made their way back to each other and are training and fighting together in a way they never have before. There’s lots of possibilities! I do hope we get to see them all playing together in some fashion before the end, though.